To the Chekhovs, 1891. Florence.

A brief postcard of 29 March (10 April) 1891, from Florence, addressed on the reverse to his sister Maria Pavlovna Chekhova (– "Masha") but salutationless in the body, so catalogued to "the Chekhovs" as a family postcard. Chekhov’s party has moved on from Venice to Florence. Part of the celebrated spring 1891 European travel series (with Suvorin, through Vienna, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, and on to Nice and Paris). dateline, header date, a short paragraph of impressions, a play-signature, a one-line postscript, and the envelope’s reverse-side address block.

Chekhov reports himself in Florence, exhausted from museum- and church-going, and offers a mock-serious verdict on the Venus de’ Medici – that dressed in modern clothes she would look ugly, especially at the waist. He notes he is well, remarks that overcast Italian skies are like a face under a mask, and signs off wishing them health. He signs again as "Antonio," the mock-Venetian/Italian persona he adopted for this trip (compare), and adds a one-line aside praising the monument to Dante. The envelope address (Russia, Mosca / Moscow, Malaya Dmitrovka, Firgang’s house / to M. P. Chekhova) is preserved from the reverse of the postcard.