by small bronze flutes, such as are seen at feasts, and give a sound
similar to that produced from those little earthen vessels full of
water into which children blow with a mouthpiece. This is worked by
mechanism like that used in the organs; and by another device an owl
is made to appear on the top of a rock, whereupon all the harmony
ceases at once, the birds being terrified at his presence. Then the
owl retires and they sing again. Thus they may be brought forward and
made to retire in turn as long as any one likes. Elsewhere a noise like
the report of a cannon is produced, and again other sounds, less loud
and very frequent, like the fusilade of arquebusiers. This is made by
the sudden falling of water into certain pipes, the air therein, by
struggling to find a vent, causing this noise. These same inventions,
or something like to them, working by the same natural causes, I have
seen in other places.
There are many pools or reservoirs edged all round with stone
balustrades, on the top of which are set divers high columns of stone,
distant one from the other about four paces. From the summits of
these pillars the water spouts forth with strong impetus, not upward,
but down towards the water in the basin. All the jets, being turned
inwards and facing one another, discharge the water into the tank with
such velocity that, when the threads of water collide in the air, they
let descend into the basin a thick and continual mist. The sun falling
upon the same produces on the surface of the basin, in the air, and
all round about, a rainbow so marked and so like nature that it in no
way falls short of the bow seen in the sky. I saw nought to equal this
elsewhere.
Under the palace itself are several vast cellars and ventilating
chambers, artificially made, which give out a cooling vapour and temper
the air in the basement, but this portion of the palace is still
imperfect. In this villa I observed many statues of great merit, the
most notable being two nymphs, one dead, and the other asleep; a Pallas
with divine attributes; a replica of the Adonis which is in the palace
of the bishop of Aquino; a wolf in bronze; a boy extracting a thorn,
like the one in the Capitol; the Laocoon and the Antinous, after those
in the Belvedere; the Comedy, also of the Capitol; and the Satyr of
the country villa of Cardinal Sforza; a copy of a recent work, the
Moses, from the tomb in S. Pietro in Vinculo, and of the beautiful
woman who is at the feet of Pope Paul III. in the new church of Saint
Peter’s. These same statues, indeed, gave me greater pleasure than any
others in Rome.[129]
Pratolino was certainly built in rivalry with this place. In the
richness and beauty of the grottoes Florence is far superior, but the
gardens of the cardinal of Ferrara surpass Pratolino in abundance of
water. As to the various diverting artifices produced by water-work,
they are about the same, what though the Florentine designer may have
produced a more elegant effect in laying out and ordering the ground.
This palace certainly has the advantage in antique statues, and in the
house itself. The Florentine erection, in the beauty of its site, and
in the view over the adjacent country, is vastly superior to that of
the cardinal of Ferrara. I should, however, have nothing but praise
for the natural surroundings of the villa at Tivoli were it not that
by ill-luck all the water therein, except that flowing from a fountain
in a little garden high up, of some which is brought into one of the
apartments of the palace itself, is the water of the Teverone, a branch
of which the cardinal has manipulated and cut therefor a special canal
for his own use. If this water were only clear and good to drink,
instead of being turbulent and dirty, this place would stand beyond
all comparison, especially with regard to the great fountain and its
adjuncts, which in construction and aspect is the most exquisite work
to be seen in this garden or in any other place. At Pratolino, on the
other hand, all the water comes from springs, and is brought from
afar. For the reason that the Teverone comes down from mountains still
higher than those of Tivoli, divers of the people of the neighbourhood
make what use they list of the river water, wherefore the cardinal’s
handiwork seems less noteworthy, because others have done the same
thing.
On the morrow I departed after dinner, and passed by a vast ruin on the
right-hand side of the road, which is by report six miles in extent.
This was formerly a villa, and known as the _prædium_ of the Emperor
Adrian.[130] The road from Tivoli to Rome crosses a rivulet impregnated
with sulphur. The banks of the stream are all white therewith, and the
stench may be smelt half a league away, but no medicinal use is made
of the water. In this stream may be found divers little substances
compounded of the scum of the water, which are so much like our
medicinal powder that few could tell the difference, and the people
of Tivoli make out of this same material all sorts of medicaments,
two boxes of which I bought for seven sous and six deniers. In Tivoli
are divers antiquities, two terminal images of a very ancient shape,
and the remains of a temple with several columns still perfect, which
legend declares to have been the temple of the ancient Sibyl. However,
on the cornice thereof there may still be seen five or six large
letters; but this inscription seems to have been left unfinished, for
the stonework beyond them is still intact. Whether any other letters
preceded these I know not, as on that side the wall is ruined. All that
are now visible run as follows: Ce ... Ellius L. F. What may be their
signification I cannot say.
[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF THE SIBYL AT TIVOLI
_To face p. 174_, vol. ii.
]
In the evening we arrived at Rome after a journey of fifteen miles.
I travelled in a coach without any tedium or discomfort, a rare
experience with me. The people here pay more careful heed to one
particular usage than in any other place; that is to say, for the
sake of health they find out the different characteristics of the
various streets and quarters of the city, and even of the suites of
apartments in their houses. This consideration is held to be of such
high importance that they always change their residence according to
the seasons. Even those who live in hired dwellings maintain at great
cost three or four houses, so that they may shift at the proper season
according to the advice of their physicians.
On the 15th of April I went to take leave of the Maestro del Sacro
Palazzo[131] and his associate. They begged me “to pay no regard to
the censures which had been passed upon my book; censures which,
as certain Frenchmen had informed them, contained many ignorant
statements: they declared that they honoured my purpose, my affection
towards the Church, and my ability: that they rated my good breeding
and conscientiousness highly enough to allow me at my own discretion
to cut out of my book with my own hand, at the next reprinting of the
same, any passages which might seem too plain spoken, and amongst
others those remarks about Fortune.” It seemed to me that they were not
ill pleased with me: moreover, to justify their careful examination
of my book and their condemnation of the same in divers particulars,
they instanced several contemporary books, written by cardinals and
ecclesiastical personages of high repute, which had been censured for
blots of a like character, the good name of the author and the book
itself having been left quite scatheless thereby. They ended by begging
me to give the Church the benefit of my eloquence (these are their
usual _mots de courtoisie_) and to make my abode with them in this
peaceful and untroubled city. Both of these men were of high authority
and competent for the cardinalate.
We tasted artichokes, beans, and peas about the middle of March.
In April it is light at what they call ten hours,[132] and, as I well
believe, at nine when the days are at their longest.
It was at this time that I made the acquaintance of a certain Pole, who
had been the most intimate friend of Cardinal Hosius.[133] This man
presented to me two copies of a book which he had written with great
care concerning the cardinal’s death. The pleasure of a sojourn in
this city becomes vastly greater by usage. I never breathed air more
pleasant or more healthy to my temperament.
On the 18th of April I went to view the inside of the palace of Signor
Giov. Giorgio Cesarini, which contains countless rare antiquities, the
most noteworthy of which are the authentic busts of Zeno, Possidonius,
Euripides, and Carneades, according to the very ancient Greek
inscriptions which are thereon. I saw also portraits of the fairest
Roman ladies of the present day and of the owner’s wife, the Signora
Clælia Fascia Farnese, who, though she may not be the most beautiful,
is assuredly the most amiable lady in Rome; or, for all I know, in the
whole world.[134] This nobleman boasts descent from the race of the
Cæsars, and by this right carries the banner of the Roman nobility.
He is a rich man, and he bears for arms the column with the bear
attached thereto, and above the column an eagle with outspread wings.
The vineyards are amongst the most beautiful features of Rome, and
these are in season in midsummer.
[Illustration: PALAZZO FARNESE
_Reproduced from Piranesi’s Views of Rome_
_To face p. 178_, vol. ii.
]
VIII
ROME TO LORETO
On Wednesday, April 19th, I quitted Rome after dinner, being escorted
as far as the Ponte Molle by Messieurs de Marmontie,[135] De la
Trimouille, Du Bellay, and divers other gentlemen. When we had crossed
the bridge we turned to the right, leaving to our left the high-road to
Viterbo by which we had entered Rome, and having on our right the Tiber
and the mountains. We followed a road, exposed and very uneven, running
through a barren country void of inhabitants, and passed the spot known
as the _Prima porta_, _i.e._ the first gate, situated seven miles from
Rome. Some hold that the ancient walls of Rome reached to this point,
but I cannot see how this can be true. Along this road, which is the
ancient Via Flaminia, are situated divers rare antiquities about which
nought is known. After riding sixteen miles, we arrived at bedtime at
Castel Nuovo.
This is a small village belonging to the Colonnas, lying buried amongst
the low hills, in a situation which strongly reminded me of the fertile
passes in our Pyrenees on the road to Aigues Caudes. On the next day,
April 20th, we went on through the same sort of country, mountainous
but very pleasing, fertile, and well peopled, till we arrived at a
gorge beside the Tiber in which was situated Borghetto, a small village
belonging to Duke Ottavio Farnese. We resumed our journey when we had
dined, and, after traversing an exceedingly pleasant valley with low
hills on either side, we crossed the Tiber at Corde,[136] where may
still be seen vast piles of stone, the ruins of the bridge which
Augustus caused to be built in order that the country of the Sabines,
towards which we were travelling, might be united to that of the
Faliscii on the other side of the river. We next came to Otricoli,
a small village belonging to the cardinal of Perugia,[137] in front
of which, in a very fine situation, are some large and important
ruins. The country, mountainous and exceedingly pleasant of aspect,
is everywhere broken and uneven, but very fertile and populous. On
this road we passed an inscription which proclaimed how the Pope had
made and levelled this road, which he called _Viam Boncompagnam_ after
his own name. This custom, a common one in Italy and Germany, of thus
setting up a written record as a testimony of works of this sort, is an
excellent stimulus to urge on men of that temper which recks little of
the public weal to execute some useful work, from the hope of gaining
fame and reputation thereby. In sooth this road was formerly, for the
most part of the way, uncomfortable to travel, whereas now it has been
made level enough for coaches as far as Loreto. After travelling ten
miles we arrived in time for bed at Narni, which in Latin is called
_Narnia_.
This little town belongs to the Church. It stands on the top of a rock
at the base of which flows the river Negra, or in Latin _Nar_, one side
of the town being situated so as to overlook a pleasant plain through
which the river goes joyously along and winds in marvellous fashion. In
the public place is a very fine fountain. I went to see the cathedral,
and remarked that the tapestry therein bears divers inscriptions and
rhymes written in our old French tongue. I was not able to ascertain
whence it came, although I learned from the people of the place that
they had always been well disposed towards our nation. This tapestry
shows forth the story of the Passion and occupies one entire side of
the nave. For the reason that Pliny declares that in this country is
found a certain sort of earth which softens with the heat and dries up
in the rain, I made inquiries of the inhabitants concerning the same,
but they could tell me nought thereof. About a mile distant there are
some springs of cold water which work the same effects as our hot ones.
Certain patients still make trial of them, but they are in no great
repute. The inn, judged by the Italian standard, was a good one. We had
no candles, all the house being lighted by oil.
Early on the morning of the 21st, we went down the very pleasant valley
along which runs the Negra. This stream we crossed by a bridge at the
very gates of Terni,[138] where in the public place, we remarked a
very ancient column still upright. I found no inscription thereon,
but at the side is an effigy of a lion in relief, below which is a
dedication to Neptune in ancient characters, and also Neptune himself
sculptured in marble with his customary train.[139] In this same place
is an inscription in a prominent position in honour of a certain A.
Pompeius A. F. The people of the town, which was known as _Interamnia_,
because of the river Negra which passes close on one side and of a
brook which flows on the other, erected a statue to this man in memory
of the services which he had wrought, but it is no longer to be seen. I
calculated the antiquity of the inscription aforesaid by the use made
of diphthongs in writing _periculeis_ and other similar words. The town
occupies a very pleasant site. At the bottom of the valley, by the
road we had traversed, the level ground is very fertile, and farther
on the sides of the hills are populous and well tilled, the abundance
of olive trees making a picture as fair as the eye could wish, while
here and there along these slopes arise tall mountains, which display
themselves well cultivated and productive of all manner of fruits up to
the very tops. For the last four-and-twenty hours I had been grievously
tormented with colic, and at this moment the pain was at its worst,
but I did not on this account fail to enjoy the beauty of the country
around me.
After our departure we found ourselves in the passes of the Apennines,
and then we were able to appreciate what a great and seemly and noble
work the Pope has accomplished in the making of this new road at such
a vast expense and labour. The neighbouring people were forced to give
their labour in its formation, and they do not complain on this account
so much as of the fact that all the land required for the road, whether
arable, orchard, or aught else, was taken from them and no price paid
therefor. On our right hand we perceived a little town placed on the
summit of a pleasant elevation, called Colle Scipoli, or, according
to ancient usage, _Castrum Scipionis_. The other mountains are lofty,
arid, and rocky; and faring between these and what must be in winter
the channel of a torrent, we arrived at Spoleto after travelling
eighteen miles.
This is a famous and well-built city, situated in a hollow amongst
the mountains. There we were compelled to show our _bolletta_, not by
reason of the plague, of which all Italy was then free, but on account
of a certain Petrino,[140] a citizen of the place, and the most
notorious bandit of the country, of whom wonderful stories are told.
The people of Spoleto and of all the towns round about were in great
fear that they should be taken unawares by him. This country is thick
set with taverns, even in places where there are no houses. These they
make out of the boughs of trees, where you will find tables spread
with boiled eggs and cheese and wine. They have no butter, but serve
everything fried in oil.
On leaving the town this same day after dinner, we found ourselves
in the valley of Spoleto, a plain lying between the mountains, and
as fair a one as the fancy can picture, and two good Gascon leagues
in width. We could likewise discern many houses on the crests of the
adjacent hills. The road running through this plain is a continuation
of the papal road I have just spoken of, being made like a high-road as
straight as a line; and in our course we passed many towns on either
hand--amongst others, on the right, was Trevi. Servius, in his comment
on Virgil, declares that this is the place to which the poet refers
in Book VII. as _olivifer æque Mutiscæ_, a view which certain other
writers contradict. However this may be, it is a town built on the side
of a high hill, occupying a site which reaches half-way up the slope,
and most pleasantly situated, the mountain being covered throughout
with olive trees. Pursuing this road, which was renovated three years
ago and is now the finest that can anywhere be seen, we arrived in the
evening at Foligno, after travelling twelve miles.
This is a fair town situated on a plain, which, as I neared it,
reminded me strongly of the plain of St. Foi,[141] though it was beyond
all comparison richer and the town more seemly and populous. It is
situated on a rivulet called the Topino, and was formerly known as
Fulignium or Fulcinia, being built on the site of the Forum Flaminium.
On this road the inns are for the most part as good as those of
France, except that they hardly ever provide other food than hay for
the horses, and salt fish is almost always served in lieu of fresh.
Moreover, all through Italy they eat beans raw, and peas and almonds
green, and rarely cook their artichokes. The floors are paved with
tiles. They hold in their oxen by the nose, by means of a piece of iron
which pierces the division of the nostrils, the same as that used for
buffaloes. Their baggage mules, which are excellent and very plentiful,
are not shod before in our fashion, but with a round shoe, which is
larger than the foot and goes all round it. At divers spots there are
monks whose wont it is to give holy water to travellers, and to look
for an alms in return; and crowds of children who beg for money, and
promise to say a dozen paternosters on the beads which they hold in
their hands in return for what may be given to them. The wines are poor.
On the morning of the morrow, after quitting this beautiful plain, we
once more set out along the mountain road, on which we encountered many
fine level spaces, some on high ground and some on low. In the early
part of the morning we enjoyed for a time a most exquisite view of a
thousand varied hills, clad everywhere with the finest shady trees or
by fruit trees of all sorts, or by the richest cornfields, the ground
being often so steep and broken that it seemed a marvel how horses
could find their way thither. These lovely valleys, the countless
brooks, and the houses and villages on every side, reminded one of the
roads near Florence, except that here are no palaces or houses of
consequence, and round Florence the land is arid and barren for the
most part, unlike these hills where scarce a span of vacant ground is
to be seen. Certes, I saw it at its best in the spring-time. Often
we could espy one village far up over our heads and another beneath
our feet, each well fitted with the conveniences of life. What made
the prospect all the more delightful was that, beyond these fertile
hills, we could distinguish the rugged and inaccessible summits of the
Apennines, and the torrents descending therefrom, which, when they have
lost their primal impulse, come down into the valleys as gracious and
gentle brooks. While traversing these hills we could see, both on the
heights and down below, many fertile level fields, some of them wider
than the eye could cover on account of a slight slope in the distance,
the landscape being of a beauty and richness beyond the power of a
painter to imitate. Onward hence the aspect of our road took a varied
character, but the highway was always easy and level; and, after a
twenty-mile journey, we came, in time for dinner, to La Maccia, a
little town on the river Chiento.
We kept along the road, which took an easy course at the base of the
mountains, and here I had a dispute with the _vetturino_ and gave him
a box on the ear, which the custom of this country rates as a violent
outrage; as is exemplified by the case of the _vetturino_ who, for
a similar assault, killed the Prince of Tresignano. As I saw that
the fellow had left our company, and felt some apprehension lest he
should make a charge against me or work other mischief, I changed my
plan, which was to push on to Tolentino, and halted for supper at
Val Chimara, a small village at the end of the eighth mile, situated
on the bank of the Chiento. On the morrow, Sunday, we kept along the
valley between fertile and cultivated mountain slopes, as far as the
little town of Tolentino, through which we passed, and then came to a
more level region. Now on either side the hills were small and easy of
access, the whole region reminding me strongly of L’Agenois[142] in
the fairest part thereof beside the Garonne, except that here, as in
Switzerland, no castles or gentlemen’s houses are to be seen, but many
villages and towns are built on the hill sides. We made our journey
along the Chiento over a very fine road, the latter part of which was
paved with brick, for twenty-eight miles, and reached Macerata for
dinner.
This is a fine town, about the size of Libourne, built in circular
form on a hill, and rising equally on all sides towards its centre.
It contains very few houses of consequence, but I remarked one palace
of hewn stone enriched outside with square diamonds rising to a point
like the palace of the Cardinal d’Este at Ferrara,[143] a design which
gives a very pleasing appearance. At the entrance of this town is a
new gate with the inscription, _Porta Boncompaigno_, written in letters
of gold, which gate stands on one of the roads which the reigning
Pope has reinstated. The town is the residence of the legate for the
Marches. On these routes they serve the travellers with wine that has
been boiled, their custom being to boil it until it shall have shrunk
one-half, in order to improve it. By this time we were advised by the
crowds of people going and coming that we were on the road to Loreto.
Besides many single pilgrims, were troops of rich people going on foot
in pilgrim garb, some of these companies being distinguished by a flag
and by a crucifix, which was carried in front, and by a particular
sort of dress. After dinner we traversed an uninteresting country, now
passing over plains and small rivers and now over gentle hills, but all
the way the land was very fertile and the road for the most part paved
with tiles set on edge. We passed through Recanati, a straggling town
on high ground, which adapts itself to the hills and hollows of its
site, and arrived in the evening at Loreto, having gone fifteen miles.
[Illustration: LORETO
_From Civitates Orbis Terrarum_
_To face p. 196_, vol. ii.
]
Loreto is a small village enclosed with walls and fortified against
attack by the Turks,[144] and built on a slightly elevated plain. It
overlooks a very fair stretch of country, and is not far from the
shores of the Adriatic Sea or Gulf of Venice; indeed they say that in
fine weather the Sclavonic mountains on the other side may be seen.
The town contains few inhabitants except those who serve the needs of
the religious devotees, some as innkeepers--and their lodgings are
dirty enough--and some as traffickers, that is, vendors of tapers,
images, paternosters, Agnus Dei, Saviours, and wares of this sort, many
of these dealers having fine and well-furnished shops, in which I,
personally, left behind some fifty good crowns. The priests and church
officials and the College of Jesuits are all lodged together in a large
modern palace, where lives also the governor, a cleric, to whom, as
representative of the legate and the Pope, all applications must be
addressed.