The next thing to be said of _Sordello_ is its vivid realisation of certain aspects of mediaeval life.

Behind this image of the curious dreamer lost in abstractions, and vividly contrasted with it, is the fierce activity of mediaeval cities and men in incessant war; each city, each man eager to make his own individuality supreme; and this is painted by Browning at the very moment when the two great parties were formed, and added to personal war the intensifying power of two ideals.
This was a field for imagination in which Browning was sure to revel, like a wild creature of the woods on a summer day.

He had the genius of places, of portraiture, and of sudden flashes of action and passion; and the time of which he wrote supplied him with full matter for these several capacities of genius.
When we read in _Sordello_ of the fierce outbursts of war in the cities of North Italy, we know that Browning saw them with his eyes and shared their fury and delight.

Verona is painted in the first book just as the news arrives that her prince is captive in Ferrara.

It is evening, a still and flaming sunset, and soft sky.