South by East: Notes of Travel in Southern Europe (page 1/3)

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The Columbarium.

It is a funeral procession: the mourners walk in line down the steps and into the columbarium where the ashes of the dead will be placed. The chamber is lit by torches carried by mourners and also by narrow shafts of sunlight from above. In the walls are niches for the ashes. The bereaved kneels ready to receive the ashes; on the righ, two musicians [...] [more...] [$]

Frontispiece: Cathedral o Messina

This engraving was published in 1877; since then, the cathedral was damaged in an earthquake in 1919 and mostly rebuilt, only to be bombed in the Second World War and again partly rebuilt. [more...] [$]

Ornate initial letter “W” with silhouettes of naked women

This ornate capital letter W has a long vertical tail or stem of trellis-work beneath the letter, which is an “inhabited initial” with two women inside it. One of the women, who are drawn as dark shaded silhouettes and face each other, is holding a large shallow bowl. The other woman pours a jug or ewer of liquid into the bowl. it is possible that behind the jug there is a pomegranate. The other initials in this series are religious in nature, so I suspect a libration is involved.

In the book, the large black letter W is five lines of text high, and the stem is another eight and a half lines, giving a total (of course) of thirteen and a half lines. The [more...] [$]

The Catacombs of Naples

The Catacombs of Naples are of great interest even after those of Rome; they are said to extend for several miles underground; and they consist of broad arched passages hollowed out of the rock, containing on either side niches which once contained the bodies of the dead. They were without doubt [says Rodwell] excavated by the early Christians; many [...] original fresco has been covered with a coating of plaster, and a second fresco has been painted over the first, occasionally even a third. (p. 141) [more...] [$]

Decorative initial letter “M” – Roman military standard

This decorative initial letter “M” was used sa a drop cap at the start of the chapter; it is in the shape of a Roman standard that might have been carried by a legion of soldiers, and contains [...] [more...] [$]