4678. RB to William Wetmore Story & Emelyn Story
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 28, 20–22.
Siena,
June 8. ’60.
Dear Friends,
I said I would tell you how we found things & fared on the Orvieto road: we arrived at 4 yesterday afternoon and preferred resting here for four & twenty hours to going forward at once. We travelled 48 or 50 miles delightfully the first day & reached Viterbo early: next morning we began the new part of the journey—continued 30 miles at a stretch and got to Orvieto,—thro’ a pleasant, placid country—(such work of Luca Signorelli at the Cathedral!)– [1] On wednesday we advanced to Ficulle,—but for Ba’s fatigue, it would have been better to push on to Città della Pieve where a fresco of Perugino’s is worth the trouble of a longer journey: [2] & the comfort of the Inn would have been much greater: [3] but it was our own choice to divide the way so. We reached Chiusi early—having travelled all day thro’ exquisite scenery. We felt the heat—not intolerably however, nor before this third day: there was never any dust to mention. We left Chiusi at nine, or later, yesterday (I got up early every morning and saw sights for an hour or two) [4] and reached Sinalunga by 1 oclock—had there been an endurable inn, Ba might have rested sufficiently to proceed to Florence—but she was forced to choose between the kitchen & the carriage & preferred the latter—so here we stopped, as I began by saying. We were perfectly served throughout—the Vetturino caring for all things, and his charge for the three days & a half amounted to 19 scudi. 2 pauls. I paid the service myself: surely this was not much. The end is, we have had a delightful journey, which Ba has borne very well on the whole—tho’ the whole business is far more fatiguing than by the short stages on the Perugia Road.
I have seen Aliberti [5] & all but arranged with him for the Villa– [6] I have also seen Nencini [7] —who is to receive your box to-day and take care of it: he had heard nothing from you on the subject, & perhaps you wished it to be conveyed to the Villa thro’ other hands—but he told me that the “magaz[z]inaggio” [8] would be considerable if there were any delay in removing it—therefore it seemed best to consign it to him.
We are going in a few minutes– What shall I say that you do not know? How grateful we are for all that is past & how hopeful of more pleasures in your company. If we can do anything at Florence, you know how you will oblige us by letting us know. Kind love to you all– Wild and all—from all of us.
Ever yours faithfully & aff<y>
Robert Browning
Publication: BAF, pp. 58–59.
Manuscript: University of Texas.
1. RB refers to frescoes by Luca Signorelli (ca. 1450–1523) in the chapel of the Madonna di S. Brizio in the Orvieto Cathedral. Executed from 1499 to 1503, the work depicts, in various scenes, the end of the world. “The daring and terrible invention of the great compositions, with their powerful treatment of the nude and of the most arduous foreshortenings, and the general mastery over complex grouping and distribution, marked a development of art which had never previously been attained” (EB).
2. “Adoration of the Magi” (1504) by Perugino (see letter 3290, note 4). This work, in the Church of Santa Maria dei Bianchi, is described in Murray’s A Handbook for Travellers in Central Italy (1861) as “one of his finest frescoes” and “although injured by the damp … has suffered less than any other by Perugino in the town” (p. 320).
3. Giornella’s inn at Città della Pieve is described in Murray’s as a “clean and very fair accommodation” (Handbook, p. 320).
4. Chiusi, one of the principal cities in the confederation of ancient Etruria, is noted for its numerous Etruscan tombs.
5. Sic, for Alberti; see letter 4456, note 4.
6. The Villa Alberti, where the Brownings resided the previous summer (see letter 4456, note 2).
8. “Warehouse charge.”
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