both at one end of the Piazza. The one, _del nome di Maria_, does not
demand much attention. The other, designed by Sangallo, and dedicated to
Santa Maria di Loreto, is said to have given in its double cupola, the
model of that in the Vatican. It is an octagonal church, with broken
pilasters at the angles. Three square recesses, and a deeper one for the
altar, mark in some degree the form of a cross; four niches occupy the
remaining sides. The disposition is pleasing, but the minor parts are
not well managed, and it is over-ornamented, especially about the
niches. The gilding is badly disposed, and being too equally scattered
all over, looks spotty, and not rich. Thus in the cavetto of the
cornice, which occupies the place of a sima, the roses and husks which
ornament it are gilt, and a little ornament surrounding the roses left
white; the modillions are partly gilt, partly white; in the ovolo, the
eggs and darts are gilt, the band round the eggs is white; in the ogee a
similar arrangement is observed; the fillets of the columns are gilt,
the flutes white; thus every part has a portion of gilding, none is
entirely gilt; and this equality of distribution produces no effect, or
rather I should say it has a flat and disagreeable one. This church
contains one of the finest productions of modern sculpture, in the
statue of Santa Susanna; a very graceful figure, with a beautiful
expression of countenance. It is the work of Francis du Quesnoy, who is
called here _il Fiamingo_.
Making a little diversion to the left, to the foot of the Capitoline
hill, we find the sepulchre of C. Publicius Bibulus, remarkable, not so
much for its architecture, for that is not particularly fine, but for
its date. The inscription is not Publicio, but Poplico, but however his
name was spelt, he is supposed to have been tribune of the people in the
year of Rome 543, and a strenuous opposer of the authority and influence
of the patricians. The building is a small edifice of peperino, probably
square, but one sees only the front, which is ornamented by four
pilasters of a sort of Doric order, plain and simple, but on the whole
well proportioned, and it appears to have been neatly executed.
Hence we pass into the Piazza de’ Santi Apostoli, where the great palace
of the Colonna family has, externally, neither beauty nor magnificence;
and the entrance is very ill-disposed. Inside, I should fill my letter
if I only were to sketch a slight description of the treasures of art
which it contains; but if I spare you this, I must nevertheless say a
word about the magnificent gallery, to which it would be difficult to
find a parallel. It is, according to the Guide-book, 208 feet long, and
25 wide, but at each end, a portion nearly square, is separated from the
rest of the room by two columns, and two pilasters of _giallo antico_,
the most beautiful for the purposes of architecture of all the coloured
marbles. These support an arch. The ceiling is coved without any flat
part, and altogether painted, without any ribs, or appearance of solid
architecture. In the lower part, the ornaments are gold on a white
ground. There are two ranges of windows on each side, which is too many,
especially for the pictures, and without pictures the room would not
look half so well. It has a most rich and noble effect, which you will
not understand from description; I only regret that I cannot send it to
London for you to look at.
The gardens of this palace occupy the slope of the Quirinal, and there
is a casino belonging to them in the Piazza di Monte Cavallo, which
would be a large house in England. Within their circuit are the remains
called the baths of Constantine, (though they exhibit nothing analogous
to what we have of the other baths) and here also lie the _disjecta
membra_, attributed sometimes to one, and sometimes to another, of what
the ancients have described to us as the largest buildings in Rome. The
site of the baths is supposed to have extended over a great part of the
Quirinal hill, and to be now covered by I know not how many palaces. The
remains I have just mentioned, contained two lofty stories of vaulted
halls above ground, and exhibit some traces of a third. A raking line
seen in one part, with a range of arches following it, seems to announce
a great flight of steps; but how the rooms were disposed, or to what
purpose they were applied, can only be guessed at. The marble fragments
were not found where they now lie, but I believe where the Consulta has
been since built. They consist of parts of an entablature of Parian
marble. Palladio made out from them Aurelian’s temple of the Sun, with
twelve columns in front; but the style and workmanship are far too good
for the age of Aurelian, and more suited to that of Nero. The blocks are
of an immense size, and the whole entablature must have been near 16
feet in height, which would imply a column of 6½ feet in diameter. The
ornaments are full and rich, and exhibit that luxury of finish, which I
have before noticed in the temple of Jupiter Tonans, with an execution,
perhaps not quite so good. The extent of plain surface close to him
appears to have offended the eye of the workman, and he has covered the
ovoli and part of the foliage with very neat parallel striæ.
Our next object will be the Fountain of Trevi, attached to one end of
the Palazzo Conti, which seems to make part of the ornament of the
fountain. Plenty of fault may be found both with the architecture, and
with the sculpture; yet on the whole it is very magnificent, and with
its profusion of bright water, makes a most noble object, such as are
seen in Rome, and in Rome alone. The rocks, and jets of water below, are
admirably disposed, and if the banks are sometimes dirty, we must not
fix our attention on them. Milizia considers it as a fault, that you
nowhere see the whole body of water at once, but this is on the contrary
an advantage, as it leaves the imagination more at liberty.
If we leave the Colonna gardens by the gate on Monte Cavallo, we find
ourselves near the Rospigliosi Palace, where there is a fine collection
of paintings. From the palace we may pass into a small garden, with a
casino at the end of it, formed of an open loggia between two wings, and
ornamented with bas-reliefs; which must have had originally an elegant
appearance. The arches of the loggia are now filled up, and all beauty
of the composition destroyed; yet you cannot regret it when you enter,
and contemplate on its ceiling, the exquisite Aurora of Guido, whose
dancing hours tread so lightly on the clouds, that they seem quite
sufficiently supported; and the whole is so living and so graceful, that
in spite of yourself, you gaze till your neck is stiff.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
J. M’Creery, Tooks Court,
Chancery-lane, London.
Footnotes
Footnote 1:
Windows in the roof.
Footnote 2:
I do not understand what is here meant by the frieze, and there
appears to be some error, since the sum of the heights, of the parts,
is made rather to exceed the whole height.
Footnote 3:
Rivoire gives his dimensions in feet and in metres, which in this
instance do not agree. I have, throughout, followed the metres.
Footnote 4:
Page 42.
Footnote 5:
Not however to be compared with the Southwark Bridge, since erected in
our metropolis.
Footnote 6:
Copied from the journal of a friend.
Footnote 7:
On my return he was engaged in preparing etchings for publication from
these subjects; they were done on stone, and are by far the most
beautiful things of that sort I ever saw: the effects both of pen and
chalk are faithfully given, and it is not too much to say that they
preserve all the spirit and sentiment of the originals.
Footnote 8:
Something of this may be seen in York-Minster, and the western
extremity of the cathedral at Strasburg, with the tower, exhibits
this, and many other characters of this style.
Footnote 9:
Whittington, p. 87, _et seq._
Footnote 10:
In 1826 I found it newly repaired and decorated, and the impression
produced was very different.
Footnote 11:
Whittington, p. 147, _et seq._
Footnote 12:
See Whittington, p. 124, _et seq._
Footnote 13:
To Sawkerf is to wear away the stone at the joints by the introduction
of a saw; the weight above, thus deprived of its support on the
external face of the work, sinks down on to the internal mass of the
wall or pier.
Footnote 14:
They have since been considerably altered.
Footnote 15:
These paintings have been since removed to the Louvre, and the rooms
are now filled with modern productions.
Footnote 16:
When I first visited Paris, this place was so blocked up with tubs and
barrels, that I could hardly walk about; and on my return, not being
aware that any alteration had been made, I did not visit it. I am
indebted to my friend Mr. Scott for the following description of it in
a more accessible condition:—
“The ruins of the Palais des Thermes, in the Rue de la Harpe, are very
extensive. They consisted originally in baths of water and vapour, but
till about three years ago, were occupied as wine vaults. The French
government at that time purchased a considerable portion of them, and
has since built stone props and arches to sustain whatever seemed in
danger of falling. In the centre is a spacious, lofty, vaulted hall,
without any key-stone; the walls are extremely thick, formed of rubble
and squared stones, and at certain intervals are layers, each of four
courses of brick-work: the whole is cemented by a mortar of extreme
hardness; the bricks are of various colours, from light yellow to dark
brownish red, and admirably made. The disposition of the bathing
recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, along the walls,
the tubes both for water and vapour, and the channels for the former
to flow off, may still be clearly perceived. At the springing of the
vault, at each corner of the large hall, is a large stone, carved in
the shape, and with the ornaments of a Roman galley. One of the
smaller apartments, about 18 feet by 15 in dimension, is the most
astonishing object in these ruins. The floor is perfectly flat, both
as to its upper and under surfaces; it is about one foot thick,
composed of rubble and mortar, without beam, joist, or large stone; it
is not inserted into the wall, but merely presses laterally against
it, and this floor not only sustains itself, and has sustained itself
for at least fifteen centuries, but it has also resisted the passage
of loaded carts over it.
“In the vaults of the building, is to be seen the aqueduct which
brought a supply of fine water from beyond Arcueil to Lutetia, and as
far as the subterraneous part is concerned, in perfect preservation.”
Footnote 17:
Huyot afterwards accompanied the mission of Count Forbyn into the
east; he had, I believe, the misfortune to break his leg at Smyrna,
and was left there on that account; but not discouraged, he resumed
alone, the task of examining the monuments of that country.
Footnote 18:
My notes were not clear, and I am afraid I have made some confusion
between this church and St. André le Bas, above-mentioned.
Footnote 19:
The cloisters of St. John Lateran, and of St. Paul _fuori delle mura_
at Rome, are of a character very similar to this. They are said to be
of the twelfth century, but I know not on what authority.
Footnote 20:
The domes of the little churches in Greece rise in this manner from an
octagonal tower.
Footnote 21:
Menard says it had seven sides.
1st, 2nd, 3rd of 30 French feet.
4th 48.
5th 53.
6th 21.
7th 33.
The sides of the octagon above are each 17 French feet.
Footnote 22:
Millin.
Footnote 23:
Even this was not effected on my return to Paris in 1819.
Footnote 24:
Of course this was written long before the events of 1820. In the
clamours for the Charte, that feeling seemed to be excited, or at
least such clamours would tend to excite it, but the ministers of the
day did all they could to stifle it.
Footnote 25:
1,422 toises, equal to 9,080 English feet above the sea. See _Nouvel
Itinéraire des Vallées autour du Mont Blanc, par J. P. Picté_, a
useful little manual.
Footnote 26:
This was much improved in 1826.
Footnote 27:
The model made by General Pfyffer at Lucern may perhaps be an
exception. One may see, at the first glance, from the finely varied
characters of the different mountains, how carefully nature has been
studied.
Footnote 28:
The batz is in value equal to about three halfpence, but it varies in
the different cantons.
Footnote 29:
It is, probably, this smaller chesnut which Mr. Rose has taken for
horse-chesnuts, which assuredly do not enter into the common food of
the Italians; indeed the tree is of rare occurrence.
Footnote 30:
These measures are reduced from some in French feet; those in Braccia
agree so little with them, that I thought it better to give both. The
Milanese Braccio is about 23½ English inches.
Footnote 31:
The word order, as here used, includes the column with its
entablature, and the pedestal, if there is one; all which goes to make
up one of the Grecian orders of architecture.
Footnote 32:
The precinction is a broad step, leaving a passage behind the seated
spectators.
Footnote 33:
He reckons, I suppose, the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth,
seventeenth, and eighteenth.
Footnote 34:
This was towards the end of the year 1816, a period of great distress
in Italy.
Footnote 35:
I do not understand this term; I give it as I find it in a little
account of the church, value 1¼_d._
Footnote 36:
Some notices of this city will be found in Letter XXXIX.
Footnote 37:
Yet this is nearly the arrangement of the cathedral at Florence, but
the Bolognese church would have been larger.
Footnote 38:
The observations on Florence were made principally on a subsequent
visit, but I thought it better to unite them together.
Footnote 39:
Sopra gli occhi che sono sopra le porte.
Footnote 40:
In 1826 I found it once more a church, and it contains a curious
Gothic altar.
Footnote 41:
160 br. long.
54 br. wide.
98 br. transept.
Footnote 42:
These fine woods have been since burnt down, to do honour, as I was
informed, to the Emperor of Austria, on his visit to Rome in 1819. My
informant, (who was then my fellow traveller) was a man of sense and
of a cultivated mind, yet he could not enter into my feelings, in
preferring a noble wood to the blackened stumps.
Footnote 43:
Joggles are projecting parts on the lateral surface of some of the
stones forming the arch, fitted into corresponding recesses in the
surface of the adjoining stone. They are only now used, where we wish
to obtain the strength of an arch, without the appearance of one.
Footnote 44:
Other restorations in a better style, and preserving the character of
the old work, were in progress in 1826.
Footnote 45:
This church has since been destroyed by fire, and the beautiful marble
columns destroyed; many of them seemed at first little injured, but
split afterwards in different places, shewing that the substance had
been partially calcined. The granite and porphyry do not seem to have
stood the fire better than the marble.
Footnote 46:
Fea, on the contrary, cites Procopius to prove that columns existed
there as late as 536.
Footnote 47:
I have copied these dimensions from Uggeri, but I suspect they are not
correct, because in the old church he assigns 68 French feet to the
width of the central nave, and 200 to the whole width of the building;
while in the present, which is always understood to stand on the old
foundation, reinforced perhaps, but not destroyed, the width of the
nave according to the same author, is only 54 such feet, and the whole
width 164. The difference, if correct, can only arise from the
additional thickness of the present walls and piers.
Footnote 48:
“Chi visiterà ciascheduna delle sunnominate chiese mentre vi sarà
l’orazione delle quarante ore, confessato e communicato, acquistera
Indulgenza plenaria, e con fermo proposito di confessarsi, acquistera
dieci anni ed altrettanti quarantine d’Indulgenza per ciascheduna
volta come apparisce, &c.”
Footnote 49:
In 1826 these were chiefly filled with fragments of architecture and
sculpture; the paintings having been removed into some apartments in
the upper story.
Footnote 50:
One of these has since been carried into execution.
Transcriber’s Note
This book uses inconsistent spelling and hyphenation, which were
retained in the ebook version. Ditto marks, dashes and spaces used to
represent repeated text have been replaced with the text that they
represent. Some corrections have been made to the text, including
normalizing punctuation. Further corrections are noted below:
p. 63: admitted in jacket and towsers-> admitted in jacket and trowsers
p. 78: the downfal of Gothic architecture -> the downfall of Gothic
architecture
p. 202: set in a frameof magnificent mountains -> set in a frame of
magnificent mountains
p. 323: places were the agitation was -> places where the agitation was
p. 362: shortening the the nave -> shortening the nave