The marble was not at all abashed nor degraded by
being made to assume the guise of the mediaeval furred robe, or the
close-fitting tunic with elaborate ruff, or the breastplate and gorget,
or the flowing wig, or whatever the actual costume might be; and one is
sensible of a rectitude and reality in the affair, and respects the dead
people for not putting themselves into an eternal masquerade. The dress
of the present day will look equally respectable in one or two hundred
years.
The Fair is still going on, and one of its principal centres is before
this church, in the Piazza of the Annunziata. Cloth is the chief
commodity offered for sale, and none of the finest; coarse, unbleached
linen and cotton prints for country-people's wear, together with yarn,
stockings, and here and there an assortment of bright-colored ribbons.
Playthings, of a very rude fashion, were also displayed; likewise books
in Italian and French; and a great deal of iron-work. Both here and in
Rome they have this odd custom of offering rusty iron implements for
sale, spread out on the pavements.
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