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Grande, by the late date at which he began to rule, which makes it impossible for Dante to have found with him his

first refuge and first inn," and also by the fact that the eagle (the symbol of the Empire) nowhere appears upon the elaborate monument to Can Grande above the door of S. Maria Antica in Verona, though the dog is very much in evidence.* The "Gran Lombardo" must, then, be either Bartolommeo or Alboino.

The tombs of the Scaligers (certainly among the most impressive sepulchral monuments to be found in Europe) occupy the small graveyard of the old Lombardic Church of S. Maria Antica, once the chapel of the Scaligers, and closely adjoining their old palazzi in the Piazza de' Signori. Within the curious and elaborate iron railings, which separate them from the street and the entrance to the church-railings in which the constantly recurring ladder (scala) forms an important feature-there are altogether, so far as I recollect, eight sarcophagi, seven of these covering, in all probability, the remains of the Lords of Verona; and if to these seven we add the monument of Can Grande above the church door, we have enshrined within this narrow space the dust of all the ruling members of this illustrious family. The huge Gothic monuments of two of these Scalas-showing a raised sarcophagus within a

* This argument may not seem very conclusive in itself, and is rather scoffed at by Scartazzini ("Commento Lipsiese," III., 468), who declares that seals and all arguments drawn from blazonry prove nothing to the present point; though his purpose is merely to emphasise the conclusion arrived at from Dante's words, that in 1300 (the year of the supposed vision) the eagle must have appeared above the ladder in the family arms, unless we suppose an error on Dante's part. Dr. H. Spangenberg, who devotes an excursus in the second part of his "Can Grande I. della Scala" (in Jastrow's "Historische Untersuchungen" Berlin, 1895), to the consideration of this passage in Dante, says that we possess no coins or seals of Can Grande; but he quotes a description of the latter's seal from the authentication of a document, whence it appears that "within a wreath is displayed the figure of a dog, holding in the right paw a small shield displaying a ladder," thus corresponding with the dogs who carry the sarcophagus. Spangenberg concludes, from the total absence of the eagle on this monument that "Can Grande cannot be intended by the Gran Lombardo."

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pointed canopy, surmounted by an equestrian statue-the magnificent monuments of the second Mastino and of Cansignorio, contrast with the plain, nameless marble sarcophagi of the others, most of which bear the ladder sculptured, as well as other devices, but no indication as to the identity of their tenants. Not far from the church. wall are two which in all probability cover the murdered Mastino I. and Alberto; and on the side of the street, between the elaborate monuments already mentioned, are three more, which tradition assigns to Bartolommeo and Alboino, sons of Alberto, and to the second Can Grande, murdered (a common incident enough in those days) by his brother Cansignorio, in whom the dominion of the Scaligers over Verona came practically to an end. On at least four of these five nameless sarcophagi appears the ladder as the symbol of the family, and in several also the eagle; but in only one instance, the midmost of the three on the side adjoining the street, does the eagle appear seated upon the highest rung of the ladder, as we have it in Dante's lines on the arms of the "gran Lombardo.' Unfortunately we have, so far as I know, no evidence as to the tenant of this sarcophagus beyond tradition, but a general tradition assigns this particular tomb to Alboino. Going one day to visit these tombs, with Dante's words. running in my head, I thought I had made an important discovery when I found the device upon this particular sarcophagus; and, indeed, Dr. Spangenberg, in his "Cangrande I. della Scala " (Berlin, 1892-1895), which I found in the Communal Library of Verona, claims to have been the first to draw attention to it in its bearing on the question when the eagle, the symbol of the Empire, came to be borne by this family on their arms in addition to the ladder. Several other writers have, however, mentioned the device on this tomb, which some of them conjecture

to be that of Bartolommeo. It would be pleasant to believe that Bartolommeo is intended by the "gran Lombardo," and that Dante found his first refuge at his court, for a reason which I must now mention.

It is disputed among scholars whether the story on which Shakespeare founded the plot of the tenderest of his tragedies, "Romeo and Juliet," is based upon events which actually occurred at Verona; but if we believe in the historical truth of those events, there can be little doubt that they occurred when Bartolommeo della Scala was Lord of Verona, and thus possibly when Dante was actually a guest at his court. The chief authority on the affirmative side is the Veronese historian Girolamo della Corte, who, in his "Istoria di Verona" (Verona, 1594-6, Vol. I., p. 589), narrates, under the date 1303, and as the chief event of that year-narrates, too, with much circumstantiality and with an apparent confidence in the truth of his narration—the story of the two lovers almost exactly as it was afterwards adopted by Shakespeare. Thus, "Escalus, Prince of Verona," who, at the close of the play, upbraids the chiefs of the two rival houses with the result of their enmity

Where be these enemies? Capulet! Montague !

See what a scourge is laid upon your hate,

That Heaven finds means to kill your joys with love

would be none other than Bartolommeo della Scala, the generally accepted host of Dante. It should be said, moreover, that della Corte professed to have seen the monument containing the bodies of the two lovers, and gives an exact account of its position. Dr. F. Scolari,* a distinguished Italian scholar and student of Dante, who, in opposition to the sceptical Germans, stoutly maintained the genuine

*"Su la pietosa morte di Giulia Cappelletti e Romeo Montecchi." Livorno, 1831.

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