289.] People observed that the Emperor in his excursions through the streets of Bologna usually wore the Spanish habit.

He was dressed in black velvet, with black silk stockings, black shoes, and a black velvet cap adorned with black feathers.

This somber costume received some relief from jewels used for buttons; and the collar of the Golden Fleece shone upon the monarch's breast.

So slight a circumstance would scarcely deserve attention, were it not that in a short space of time it became the fashion throughout Italy to adopt the subdued tone of Spanish clothing.

The upper classes consented to exchange the varied and brilliant dresses which gave gayety to the earlier Renaissance for the dismal severity conspicuous in Morone's masterpieces, in the magnificent gloom of the Genoese Brignoli, and in the portraits of Roman inquisitors.