Florence

Grayscale illustration displaying the Arno River in Florence, Italy. Over the river, stands a stone bridge with buildings attached.

In this scene, the illustration shows the Arno flowing beneath a stone bridge lined with buildings, opening the city toward the hills beyond. As Baldassarre wanders Florence, the image mirrors the quotation’s focus on the river as the path that draws him to the city’s edge and temporary shelter.

“When Baldassarre was wandering about Florence in search of a spare outhouse where he might have the cheapest of sheltered beds, his steps had been attracted towards that sole portion of ground within the walls of the city which is not perfectly level, and where the spectator, lifted above the roofs of the houses, can see beyond the city to the protecting hills and far-stretching valley, otherwise shut out from his view except along the welcome opening made by the course of the Arno” ("Baldassarre makes an Acquaintance", Chapter 33).

Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896)

Michael Steele

George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org

1872

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896), Florence, George Eliot Illustrations Gallery, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/83317