The sculptor Mino da Fiesole, whom we shall shortly see again, at the Bargello, in portrait busts and Madonna reliefs, is at his best here, in the superb monument to Count Ugo, who founded, with his mother, the Benedictine Abbey of which the Badia is the relic.  Here all Mino’s sweet thoughts, gaiety and charm are apparent, together with the perfection of radiant workmanship.  The quiet dignity of the recumbent figure is no less masterly than the group above it.  Note the impulsive urgency of the splendid Charity, with her two babies, and the quiet beauty of the Madonna and Child above all, while the proportions and delicate patterns of the tomb as a whole still remain to excite one’s pleasure and admiration.  We shall see many tombs in Florence—­few not beautiful—­but none more joyously accomplished than this.  The tomb of Carlo Marsuppini in S. Croce by Desiderio da Settignano, which awaits us, was undoubtedly the parent of the Ugo, Mino following his master very closely; but his charm was his own.  According to Vasari, the Ugo tomb was considered to be Mino’s finest achievement, and he deliberately made the Madonna and Child as like the types of his beloved Desiderio as he could.  It was finished in 1481, and Mino died in 1484, from a chill following over-exertion in moving heavy stones.  Mino also has here a monument to Bernardo Giugni, a famous gonfalonier in the time of Cosimo de’ Medici, marked by the same distinction, but not quite so memorable.  The Ugo is his masterpiece.

The carved wooden ceiling, which is a very wonderful piece of work and of the deepest and most glorious hue, should not be forgotten; but nothing is easier than to overlook ceilings.

The cloisters are small, but they atone for that—­if it is a fault—­by having a loggia.  From the loggia the top of the noble tower of the Palazzo Vecchio is seen to perfection.  Upon the upper walls is a series of frescoes illustrating the life of S. Benedict which must have been very gay and spirited once but are now faded.

The Badia may be said to be the heart of the Dante quarter.  Dante must often have been in the church before it was restored as we now see it, and a quotation from the “Divine Comedy” is on its facade.  The Via Dante and the Piazza Donati are close by, and in the Via Dante are many reminders of the poet besides his alleged birthplace.  Elsewhere in the city we find incised quotations from his poem; but the Baptistery—­his “beautiful San Giovanni”—­is the only building in the city proper now remaining which Dante would feel at home in could he return to it, and where we can feel assured of sharing his presence.  The same pavement is there on which his feet once stood, and on the same mosaic of Christ above the altar would his eyes have fallen.  When Dante was exiled in 1302 the cathedral had been in progress only for six or eight years; but it is known that he took the deepest interest in its construction, and we have seen the stone marking the place where he sat, watching the builders.  The facade of the Badia of Fiesole and the church of S. Miniato can also remember Dante; no others.