The Lanterns Of The Strozzi Palace

“And what this man did was, as the proverb says, _mostrare altrui
lucciole per laterne_—made him believe that fire-flies were
lanterns—which means to deceive any one.”—_Italian Proverbs_.

As all visitors to Florence will have their attention called to the Strozzi Palace, and its rings and lanterns, the following will probably prove to them to be of interest:

“The _campanelle_, or great iron rings, which are on the Strozzi
Palace, were the result of rivalry with the Pitti family.

“The Strozzi built their palace first, and then the Pitti said that
it would only fill a corner of their own far greater building. And
when the latter was finished, the Strozzi, to be even with them,
placed those magnificent _campanelle_ at the four corners, and then
the great lanterns which are so exquisitely worked, and these were
made by Niccolò il Grosso, a very ingenious but also very poor man,
who, having begun the work, could not finish it for want of money.

“One morning when this Niccolo was sitting on the stone bench of the
palace, there came by an old man who was carrying some onions, and
the artist begged a few of these to eat with his bread, telling him
he had no money. But the old man said, ‘Take them, and welcome, for
a free gift, Niccolò. Truly, it pains me to see an excellent artist
like thee starving for want of proper patronage. Now I will lend
thee a round sum, which thou canst repay me when thou art in better
luck.’

“‘But tell me,’ inquired Niccolò, greatly amazed, ‘how dost thou know
who I am?’

“The old man replied, ‘I know thee, and that thou hast great genius
(_una gran testa_), and I find thee utterly poor and unable to finish
the Strozzi lanterns.

“‘Now I wish to do thee a service. Go, with these onions in thine
hand, and stand there in the street till the Lords Strozzi go forth,
and see thee with the vegetables, and then they will ask thee why
thou dost not finish the lanterns. And then thou shalt reply,
“Signori, because I must sell onions, not being able otherwise to
finish the lanterns, for truly all my art does not give me bread.”
Then they will give thee money, and after that return to me.’

“So it happened as the old man said: the Signori Strozzi, when they
came forth, found Niccolò their artist selling onions, and gave him a
good sum of money, and with that he went back to the old man. And
they gave him a great sum indeed, for he was to make the lanterns all
of solid gold, so that the palace might be far finer than the Pitti.

“The old man said, ‘Never mind paying me, but put an onion in your
pocket and study it.’ And this he did, hence it comes that the tops
of the lanterns are like onion sprouts. And Niccolò seeing that he
lived in a hard and cruel world, in order to be even with it, made
the lanterns of iron, though the work which he put upon it was like
jewellery, so fine was it, and then gilded the iron and passed the
lanterns off on the Signori Strozzi for solid gold, and was soon
heard of as being very far away from Florence, in company with the
good old man who had put him up to the little game (_bel giuoco_).

“But people say that after all the Strozzi were not so badly cheated,
for those onion-top lanterns could not have been bought even in their
time for their weight in gold, and that they are worth much more
now.”

It is needless to say that this ingenious tale owes its origin to the iron lanterns having been at one time gilt. These famous works of art have been copied far and wide: had the Strozzi family taken out and renewed the copyright for design on them, they might have found that the gold was a very good investment, especially in these times, when a thing of beauty brings in cash for ever. One of the latest and prettiest devices, to be seen in many shops, is a small iron night-lamp in imitation of these Strozzi lanterns.

The im-moral, or at least the concluding sentence of the tale is, “_E così Niccolò se ne fuggi a tasche piene_—And so Niccolò fled with his pockets full of money.” I spare the reader reflections on the history of many bankers in Florence and Rome, who during the past two years followed his example.

What is extremely interesting and original in this legend is the declaration that Niccolò took the idea of the long and very singular points on the lanterns from an onion. It recalls the story of the acanthus leaf and the basket which suggested the Ionic capital. It was understood by the narrator that the old man who gave “the tips” to Niccolò was a wizard.

There was much more meaning attached to the lanterns and rings, such as Niccolò made, than is generally known, as appears by the following extract:

“Among the striking features of the Florentine palaces are the
handsome ornaments of bronze or wrought-iron which adorn the façades
of many of them. These were called _fanali_ or _lumière_, and were
not, as one would naturally suppose, ornaments that a man might place
on his house according to his individual taste, but they were the
visible testimony of the public recognition of great deeds. On
festive occasions, these _fanali_ were provided with great pitch
torches, whose crackling flames gave a merry aspect to the whole
neighbourhood. Amerigo Vespucci addressed the account of one of his
voyages to the Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini, with whom he had formerly
been on intimate terms, and the latter procured a decree of the
Republic, in accordance with which _fanali_ were sent to the family
palace of the Vespucci, and kept burning day and night for three
days.

“The most beautiful of all the Florentine _fanali_ . . . are those
which adorn the corners of the famous Strozzi Palace. They are of
wrought-iron, and were made by a smith who enjoyed a local celebrity,
not only on account of his masterly work, but also because he carried
on his business on a strictly cash basis; nay, went further, and
refused to work for any one who did not prepay, in part at least, for
his order. Thus he received the name of _Caparra_, or
Earnest-money.”—_Florentine Life_, by W. B. Scaife, p. 58.

There is one thing in this legend which alone would seem to guarantee its being an authentic or old tradition. In it Niccolò appears as a man who is eminently grasping, and who takes care to get his money in advance. And he was in reality so noted for this, that, as Scaife declares, he went further than dealing on a cash basis—and so got the nickname of Caparra, or the Pledge—so well did he know the value of cash. _Il martel d’argento rompe le porte di ferro_, or—

“A hammer of silver, as we see,
Breaks the iron gates of poverty.”