undertaking to erect a church of such a character, having five naves, and being almost entirely covered with marble both within and without. The edifice was constructed after the designs, and under the directions of, Buschetto, a Greek, of Dulichium,[1] an architect of rare excellence for those times ; the Pisans devoted an infinite amount of spoils to its erection and adornment ; these were brought by them in their fleets from the most distant regions, (they being then at the very summit of their greatness), as is made clearly manifest by the columns, capitals, bases, cornices, and other stones of every kind to be seen there ; and as some of these were small, others large, and others again of a middle size, great judgment must have been exercised by the architect, and much skill displayed, seeing that the whole fabric is nevertheless well-arranged, both within and without. To say nothing of other parts, and speaking only of the principal façade, Buschetto effected the gradual diminution of its summit with great ingenuity, employing a vast number of columns, and enriching the whole with antique statues and varied sculptures. The principal doors of the same façade were adorned in like manner, and between these doors, near that of the Carroccio namely, Buschetto himself was afterwards laid in an honourable tomb, bearing three sepulchral inscriptions, one of which, in Latin verses, I subjoin here, when it will be seen to be in nowise dissimilar to other attempts of the same period:—
Quod vix mille bourn possent Juga Juncta movere
Et quod vix potuit per mare ferre ratis,
Buschetti nisu, quod erat mirabile visu
Dena puellarum turba levavit onus.
And now, since I have before named the church of Sant’Apostolo in Florence, I will not omit to mention, that on a marble stone of this building, and at one side of the high altar, the following words may be read:—
“viii. v. Die vi Aprilis in resurrectione Domini Karolus Erancorum Bex a Koma revertens, ingressus Elorentiam cum magno gaudio et tripudio susceptus, civium copiam torqueis aureis decoravit, et in Pentecostem fundavit ecclesiam Sanctorum Apostolorura; in altari inclusa, est lamina plumbea, in qua descripta apparet praefata fundatio et consecratio facta per Archiepiscopum Turpinum testibus Rolando et Uliverio.[2]
