n the O of Giotto."

156. _Quiddit._ Quibble. The humorous rhyme "did it--quiddit" is but one
of the many whimsical rhyming effects in the poem. The use of a light,
semi-jocose form to give the greater emphasis to serious subject-matter
is characteristic of Browning. Lowell in "A Fable for Critics" employs
the same device.

161-176. Not Browning's usual attitude. Even this poem is a deification
of progress through effort, not through repose.

178. _Art's spring-birth._ Nicolo the Pisan and Cimabue lived in the
second half of the thirteenth century. From them to Ghiberti
(1381-1455), who made the famous bronze doors of the Baptistry at
Florence, and Ghirlandajo (1449-1494), a Florentine fresco painter, was
a period in which Browning was especially interested. Mrs. Orr says that
he owned pictures by all the artists mentioned here.

192. _Italian quicklime._ Many of the fine old Italian fresco paintings
have been whitewashed over.

198. _Dree._ The pictures "endure" the doom of captivity. But they might
be ferreted out if the ghosts of the old painters would only indicate
where the lost works are.

201-224. He does not hope to get pictures of the famous Florentine
painters, Bigordi (probably another name for Ghirlandajo), Sandro,
Botticelli, Lippino (son of Fra Lippo Lippi), or Fra Angelico. But he
might hope for better success in finding pieces by the obscure painters
mentioned in lines 205-224. These painters are so described that we know
concerning each one, some characteristic quality or work.

206. _Intonaco._ The plaster that forms the ground for fresco work.

214. _Tempera._ A pigment mixed with some vehicle soluble in water
instead of with oil as in oil paintings.

218. _Barret._ A kind of cap.

230. _Zeno._ The founder of the sect of Stoics, and hence supposedly not
stirred by "naked High Art."

232. _Some clay-cold vile Carlino._ Commercial dealers in art are
unmoved by true beauty, but they go into ecstasies over uninspired work
like that of Carlino. (Carlo Dolci, 1616-1686.)

236. _A certain precious little tablet._ Mr. Browning wrote to Professor
Corson that this was a lost "Last Supper" praised by Vasari. The stanza
in which this line occurs explains ll. 17-24.

237. _Buonarroti._ Michael Angelo.

241. _San Spirito_, etc. "Holy Spirit" and "All Saints," old churches in
Florence.

244. _Detur amanti._ "Let it be given to the one who loves it."

245. _Koh-i-noor._ A famous Indian diamond pre