palace or on the green terraces of the
garden. But she did not long enjoy the splendors of her surroundings,
for two years after her marriage she died. Her husband then ordered of
the sculptor Jacopo della Quercia a marble tomb to be placed in the
cathedral. On the sarcophagus lay the portrait figure of the lady
herself; the sides were richly carved with cherubs holding festoons of
flowers, and above was a canopy.

Ilaria lies with hands crossed just where they would naturally fall in
her sleep.[24] Her feet rest against a little dog, which, according to
the old writer, Vasari, was an emblem of conjugal fidelity. It is
surely no harm to fancy that the little creature was the lady's pet.
The gown is girdled high, and falling in long, straight folds, is
wrapped about the feet. Over this is worn a mantle made with large,
loose sleeves, and a high flaring collar, which comes well up under
the chin.[25]

[Illustration: DETAIL OF TOMB OF ILARIA DEL CARRETTO (JACOPO DELLA
QUERCIA) _Cathedral, Lucca_]

Our illustration shows only the head and shoulders of the figure. The
head rests on a pillow in a hollow shaped to receive it, and the
shoulders are supported by a second and larger cushion underneath.
Ilaria's waving hair is parted over the high brow, and brought down on
each side the face, completely concealing the ears. A few short
tendrils have escaped, and curl daintily over the forehead. She wears
a large flower-wound wreath or crown, set aslant over the shapely
head. It may be that this is a sort of head-dress worn in her time. No
one can look at the face without thinking of a flower, and most of all
of the lily. The mouth is moulded in exquisite curves; Ilaria was,
indeed, a bewitching woman.

Had the fair marchioness lived to middle age her fortunes would have
been sadly altered. In 1430 there was a political upheaval in Lucca,
and Guinigi was driven from the city.[26] His palace was pillaged, and
the mob even laid desecrating hands upon Ilaria's tomb. An attempt to
remove it seems to have been frustrated, and it was dropped on the
floor of the transept, where it now stands. It lost, however, the
canopy and one ornamented side of the base.

As a work of art, Ilaria's tomb has been greatly admired by critics.
Even in our little picture we can, with no great training, see how
well the sculptor has rendered the texture of the hair and the
softness of the plump chin. Even the tassels on the cushion are carved
with cl