A Florentine Joke
Title
A Florentine Joke
Alt Text Description
Grayscale illustration of two men chasing a monkey on a horse through a crowded street. Onlookers stand to the side, smiling and laughing.
Description
In crowded Florence, Nello’s prank has unleashed chaos: a monkey meant to stand in for a sick baby has escaped, and the street instantly becomes an audience for the “Florentine joke.” The monkey tears away on a horse while the cerretano (skirts hitched up) and the sweating, spectacled doctor race after it, and the onlookers lining the walls and doorway laugh as the chase turns into a ridiculous public spectacle.
"It was a scene such as Florentines loved, from the potent and reverend signor going to council in his lucco, down to the grinning youngster, who felt himself master of all situations when his bag was filled with smooth stones from the convenient dry bed of the torrent. The grey-headed Domenico Cennini laughed no less heartily than the younger men, and Nello was triumphantly secure of the general admiration" ("A Florentine Joke", Chapter 16).
"It was a scene such as Florentines loved, from the potent and reverend signor going to council in his lucco, down to the grinning youngster, who felt himself master of all situations when his bag was filled with smooth stones from the convenient dry bed of the torrent. The grey-headed Domenico Cennini laughed no less heartily than the younger men, and Nello was triumphantly secure of the general admiration" ("A Florentine Joke", Chapter 16).
Illustrator
Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896)
Contributor
Swain, Joseph (1820-1909), engraver
Publisher
George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org
Date
1863, 1880
Rights
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Work Illustrated
Romola
Citation
Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896), A Florentine Joke, 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/83598
Illustration
