The Tuscan landscape, writes H. V. Morton, "is embroidered everywhere by human living, and there is scarcely a hill, a stream, a grove of trees, without its story of God, of love or death." Morton's stories and observations of Tuscany, Lombardy, Emilia, and Veneto, whether relating to the fantastic reconstruction of the La Scala opera house or the superstitious lovers at Juliet's Tomb, make his style as engaging as the landscape and people he evokes.
| Chapter I13 | ||
| To Lombardy by Settebello | ||
| Milan and its Cathedral | ||
| The Bones of S. Ambrose | ||
| The Conversion of S. Augustine | ||
| English Travellers in Milan | ||
| The Visconti | ||
| Chaucer and Milan | ||
| A Visit to La Scala | ||
| The Tomb of Verdi | ||
| Chapter II67 | ||
| The Castle of the Sforza | ||
| Ludovico il Moro, and Beatrice d'Este | ||
| Murder in the Cathedral | ||
| The Last Supper | ||
| Leonardo's Scientific Inventions | ||
| Byron in the Ambrosiana | ||
| Lucrezia Borgia's Hair | ||
| Pavia and its University | ||
| The Certosa and the Story of a Tomb | ||
| Chapter III108 | ||
| The Canals of Ancient Lombardy | ||
| Lake Maggiore and Isola Bella | ||
| A Visit to Pliny's Villa on Lake Como | ||
| How Mussolini Died | ||
| The Iron Cross of Lombardy | ||
| Theodolinda's Chickens and Her Oil Bottles | ||
| The Town of Gorgonzola | ||
| Chapter IV145 | ||
| The Beauty of Bergamo | ||
| Colleoni's Chapel | ||
| A Renaissance Farm | ||
| San Pellegrino | ||
| The Violin-Makers of Cremona | ||
| Mantua and the Gonzaga | ||
| A Mysterious Scotsman | ||
| The Palace of Isabella d'Este | ||
| An Admirer of Henry VIII | ||
| An Early Glimpse of Ireland | ||
| The Ghost Town of Sabbioneta | ||
| Lake Garda and Sirmione | ||
| Chapter V208 | ||
| The Via Emilia | ||
| Parma and Marie Louise | ||
| Parmesan and Parma Ham | ||
| The Etruscan Liver of Piacenza | ||
| Where Verdi was Born | ||
| A Visit to the Composer's Country House | ||
| The Este Archives at Modena | ||
| Mary of Modena | ||
| Bologna | ||
| The Law Schools of the Middle Ages | ||
| Undergraduates of the Renaissance | ||
| Women Professors | ||
| The Stuarts in Bologna | ||
| Chapter VI254 | ||
| Rimini | ||
| The Temple of Malatesta | ||
| A Man who was sent to Hell | ||
| Crossing the Rubicon | ||
| Ravenna and its Revival | ||
| The Tomb of Galla Placidia | ||
| The Mosaics | ||
| The Fall of Rome | ||
| Ferrara and the Estensi | ||
| England's First Greek Scholars | ||
| Renaissance Space Travel | ||
| Where Lucrezia Borgia was Buried | ||
| Chapter VII293 | ||
| Verona, a City of Red Marble | ||
| The Roman Amphitheatre | ||
| The Tomb of Juliet | ||
| Vicenza | ||
| The Palladian Theatre | ||
| Padua and its University | ||
| The Anatomy Theatre | ||
| English Medical Students | ||
| S. Anthony of Padua | ||
| The Road to Venice | ||
| Chapter VIII332 | ||
| Arriving in Venice | ||
| The Beadle of S. Mark's | ||
| The Theft of S. Mark's Body | ||
| The Greek Horses | ||
| A Table at Florian's | ||
| The Doges of Venice and the Dogaressas | ||
| A Gondola on the Grand Canal | ||
| Byron's Palace | ||
| The Old German House | ||
| Brother Fabri | ||
| Chapter IX369 | ||
| The Pigeons of S. Mark's | ||
| The Arsenal of Venice | ||
| The Mediaeval Assembly Line | ||
| Life in a Venetian Galley | ||
| Women of Venice | ||
| Choppines | ||
| Tom Coryat and the Courtesan | ||
| Bellini and Carpaccio | ||
| Painters and their Dogs | ||
| Titian and Aretino | ||
| Teriaca | ||
| The Glass Works of Murano | ||
| Chapter X402 | ||
| Florence | ||
| The Ponte Vecchio | ||
| The Pazzi Conspiracy | ||
| The Secret of the Medici | ||
| The Benefactress of Florence | ||
| The End of the Medici | ||
| A Modern Troubadour | ||
| The Gozzoli Fresco | ||
| Innocents at Play | ||
| Alone in a Palace | ||
| The Boboli Gardens | ||
| The Brownings and the Anglo-Florentines | ||
| Chapter XI492 | ||
| The Towers of S. Gimignano | ||
| Siena and the Palio | ||
| The Sienese Contrade and their Origins | ||
| Blessing the Horse | ||
| The Race | ||
| A Pope's Adventures in Scotland | ||
| Arezzo | ||
| The House of Vasari | ||
| The Madonna of Carda | ||
| La Verna and S. Francis | ||
| The Hermits of Camaldoli | ||
| The Improvvisatori of Tuscany | ||
| Chapter XII562 | ||
| Into Umbria | ||
| Hawkwood's Castle | ||
| S. Margaret of Cortona | ||
| Perugia, the City of Popes and Conclaves | ||
| Rise of the Flagellants | ||
| Visit to Gubbio | ||
| Assisi | ||
| S. Francis | ||
| How the Saint's body was lost and found | ||
| A Bird Sanctuary | ||
| The Waters of Clitumnus | ||
| Appendix I | The Elevation of the Ceri at Gubbio | 612 |
| Appendix II | Famous Families of Italy | 616 |
| The Visconti of Milan | ||
| The Sforza | ||
| The Gonzaga of Mantua | ||
| The Estensi of Ferrara | ||
| The Scaligeri of Verona | ||
| The Medici of Florence | ||
| The Borgias | ||
| Bibliography | 620 | |
| Index | 624 |
Overview
The Tuscan landscape, writes H. V. Morton, "is embroidered everywhere by human living, and there is scarcely a hill, a stream, a grove of trees, without its story of God, of love or death." Morton's stories and observations of Tuscany, Lombardy, Emilia, and Veneto, whether relating to the fantastic reconstruction of the La Scala opera house or the superstitious lovers at Juliet's Tomb, make his style as engaging as the landscape and people he evokes.