Barbaras Heritage

Barbara's Heritage

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Barbara's Heritage, by Deristhe L. Hoyt This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Barbara's Heritage Young Americans Among the Old Italian Masters
Author: Deristhe L. Hoyt
Illustrator: Homer W. Colby
Release Date: July 7, 2005 [EBook #16241]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

[Illustration: TITIAN. ACADEMY, VENICE
VIRGIN. FROM ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN.]

BARBARA'S HERITAGE
OR
YOUNG AMERICANS AMONG THE OLD ITALIAN MASTERS BY
DERISTHE L. HOYT
AUTHOR OF
"THE WORLD'S PAINTERS"
THIRD EDITION.
BOSTON AND CHICAGO
W.A. WILDE COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1899,
BY W.A. WILDE COMPANY.
All rights reserved.
BARBARA'S HERITAGE.
To the Brother and Sister who have been my companions during many happy sojourns in Italy.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 13
II. ACROSS TWO OCEANS 29
III. IN BEAUTIFUL FLORENCE 45
IV. A NEW FRIEND APPEARS 61
V. STRAWS SHOW WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS 77
VI. LUCILE SHERMAN 93
VII. A STARTLING DISCLOSURE 107
VIII. HOWARD'S QUESTIONINGS 123
IX. THE COMING-OUT PARTY 139
X. THE MYSTERY UNFOLDS TO HOWARD 157
XI. ON THE WAY TO ROME 171
XII. ROBERT SUMNER FIGHTS A BATTLE 189
XIII. CUPID LAUGHS 205
XIV. A VISIT TO THE SISTINE CHAPEL 221
XV. A MORNING IN THE VATICAN 239
XVI. POOR BARBARA'S TROUBLE 259
XVII. ROBERT SUMNER IS IMPRUDENT 279
XVIII. IN VENICE 299
XIX. IN A GONDOLA 317
XX. RETURN FROM ITALY 335
EPILOGUE: THREE YEARS AFTER 355

ILLUSTRATIONS
VIRGIN. FROM ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN. TITIAN. Academy, Venice Frontispiece BYZANTINE MAGDALEN. PAGE Academy, Florence 58
GROUP OF ANGELS. FROM CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN. FRA ANGELICO. Uffizi Gallery, Florence 112
CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN. BOTTICELLI. Uffizi Gallery, Florence 146
HEAD OF MADONNA. PERUGINO. Uffizi Gallery, Florence 186
THE DELPHIAN SIBYL. MICHAEL ANGELO. Sistine Chapel, Rome 226
SAINT CECILIA. RAPHAEL. Academy, Bologna 296
MARRIAGE OF SAINT CATHERINE. LUINI. Poldi-Pezzoli Museum, Milan 350

ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT
_Pen and Ink Drawings made by Homer W. Colby_
PAGE
BARBARA'S HOME 15
A BIT OF GENOA 31
CHURCH OF THE ANNUNZIATA, FLORENCE 47
DUOMO AND CAMPANILE, FLORENCE 63
SANTA MARIA NOVELLA, FLORENCE 79
A GLIMPSE OF FLORENCE 95
CLOISTER, MUSEUM OF SAN MARCO, FLORENCE 109
PONTE ALLA CARRAJA, FLORENCE 125
PALAZZO PITTI, FLORENCE 141
SAN MINIATO AL MONTE, FLORENCE 159
ORVIETO CATHEDRAL 173
SAN FRANCESCO, ASSISI 191
RUINS OF FORUM, ROME 207
SAINT PETER'S AND CASTLE OF SAINT ANGELO, ROME 223
LOGGIA OF RAPHAEL, VATICAN, ROME 241
A BIT OF AMALFI 261
CAMPO SANTO, BOLOGNA 281
SAN MARCO, VENICE 301
GRAND CANAL AND RIALTO, VENICE 319
MILAN CATHEDRAL 337

PRELUDE.
Each day the world is born anew For him who takes it rightly; Not fresher that which Adam knew, Not sweeter that whose moonlit dew Entranced Arcadia nightly.
Rightly? That's simply: 'tis to see Some substance casts these shadows Which we call Life and History, That aimless seem to chase and flee Like wind-gleams over meadows.
Simply? That's nobly: 'tis to know That God may still be met with, Nor groweth old, nor doth bestow These senses fine, this brain aglow, To grovel and forget with.
--JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.


Chapter I.
The Unexpected Happens.
_And foorth they passe with pleasure forward led._
--SPENSER.
[Illustration: BARBARA'S HOME.]
"O Barbara! do you think papa and mamma will let us go? Can they afford it? Just to think of Italy, and sunshine, and olive trees, and cathedrals, and pictures! Oh, it makes me wild! Will you not ask them, dear Barbara? You are braver than I, and can talk better about it all. How can we bear to have them say 'no'--to give up all the lovely thought of it, now that once we have dared to dream of its coming to us--to you and me, Barbara?" and color flushed the usually pale cheek of the young girl, and her dark eyes glowed with feeling as she hugged tightly the arm of her sister.
Barbara and Bettina Burnett were walking through a pleasant street in one of the suburban towns of Boston after an afternoon spent with friends who were soon to sail for Italy.
It was a charming early September evening, and the sunset glow burned through the avenue of elm trees, beneath which the girls were passing, flooding the way with rare beauty. But not one thought did they now give to that which, ordinarily, would have delighted them; for Mrs. Douglas had astonished them that afternoon by a pressing invitation to accompany herself, her son, and daughter on this journey. For hours they had talked over the beautiful scheme, and were to present Mrs. Douglas's request to their parents that very night.
Mrs. Douglas, a wealthy woman, had been a widow almost ever since the birth of her daughter, who was now a girl of fifteen. Malcom, her son, was three or four years older. An artist brother was living in Italy, and a few years previous to the beginning of our story, Mrs. Douglas and her children had spent some months there. Now the brother was desirous that they