- Amphoræ, Rhytons, etc.
(British Museum) The modern jars in any of the wine districts of Italy, such as Asti Montepulciano or Montefiascone, thin earthen two-handled vessels holding some twenty quarts, are almost identical with the ancient amphoræ. Suetonius speaks of a candidate for the quæstorship who drank the contents of a whole amphora at a dinner given by Tiberius. This amphora was probably of a smaller size. - Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci was born in Florence, March 9, 1451, just one hundred and fifty years after Dante was banished from the city in which both first saw the light. The Vespucci family had then resided in that city more than two hundred years, having come from Peretola, a little town adjacent, where the name was highly regarded, as attached to the most respected of the Italian nobility. Following the custom of that nobility, during the period of unrest in Italy, the Vespuccis established themselves in a stately mansion near one of the city gates, which is known as the Porta del Prato. Thus they were within touch of the gay society of Florence, and could enjoy its advantages, while at the same time in a position, in the event of an uprising, to flee to their estates and stronghold in the country. - A store of crossbow bolts, shafts and heads
The crossbowman is aiming at a target to the left of the picture. From a catalogue of the Arsenal of the Emperor Maximilian I. (6. 1459, d. 1519). - A medieval method of combating the plague. The persecution of the anointers in Milan in 1630
In Milan the visitation of 1630 was credited to the so-called anointers,—men who were supposed to spread the plague by anointing the walls with magic ointment—and the most horrible tortures that human ingenuity could devise were imposed on scores of victims, regardless of `rank` or of public service. Manzoni's great historical novel, "The Betrothed" has well pictured conditions in Italy during this period. - 81 mm medium mortar, model 35
- 8-mm medium machine gun
- 65-17 Infantry gun
- 47-32 antitank gun, model 37
- 45 mm light mortar
- 20-65 Anti Aircraft gun, ready for transport
- 20-65 Anti Aircraft gun, model 35