_S. Paolo di Campo Marte_--_SS. Nazzaro e Celso_--_The Grotto di S.
Nazzaro_--_St Thomas of Canterbury_--_Giardino Giusti_--_Sta. Maria
in Organo_--_S. Giovanni in Valle_--_Teatro Antico_--_SS. Siro e
Libera_--_Castle of Theodoric_--_S. Stefano_--_S. Giorgio in Braida_
THE left bank of the Adige lies in that part of the city known as
“Veronetta,” where several churches are scattered at no wide distances
the one from the other; some small and of but meagre interest, others
striking both from an historical and artistic point of view. After
passing the church of S. Paolo di Campo Marte, where Paolo Farinato lies
buried, and where are to be seen works by Girolamo dai Libri, by Paolo
Veronese and others; and leaving the little church of S. Giacomo in the
Via XX. Settembre, we eventually arrive at the church of SS. Nazzaro e
Celso. The external aspect of this church, dating from the eleventh
century, is more imposing than the interior which was restored in 1510.
Before visiting the church it will be well to go first to the Grotto of
S. Nazzaro, a small chapel excavated out of the “tufo,” and in which
the early Christians met to worship. The walls were evidently once all
covered with frescoes, and many traces yet remain which have given rise
to much discussion, and about whose date and execution opinions are
still divided. Some writers claim for these paintings an epoch as remote
as the sixth century, and ascribe them to the period when the Ostrogoths
ruled in Verona. Others again say that the very oldest of the paintings
are not prior to the year 996, while the latest belong to the eleventh
century. There is no doubt whatever that the church or grotto is of far
older date than the paintings on the walls; and the historical interest
centring around the spot can on no account be called in question.
Whatever the date of the frescoes they betoken different periods from
their style, the earliest being of a crude, primitive nature that make
one at first more inclined to smile than to admire. Those of the second
period--among them being our Lord’s Baptism in Jordan--have a less comic
appearance, while one and all bear traces of the Roman influence which
permeated into the works of art carried out by the invaders of Italy in
the land of their adoption.
The church of S. Nazzaro consisted originally of five aisles. The
restoration brought about in 1510 reduced it to three, and though not as
imposing as it must formerly have been, there is a dignified and
religious feeling in its present character which suits the traditions
that haunt its neighbourhood and hallow to this day the fine Renaissance
building. There are many good paintings in the church; in the transept
on the right are two panel paintings by Bartolomeo Montagna of St John
the Baptist, and of SS. Nazzaro, Celso and Benedict; and in the sacristy
there is a Pietà, and a S. Biagio and Sta. Giuliana also by him. (It is
impossible not to utter a protest against the state of neglect and
decay into which most of the frescoes in this church have fallen, and to
hope that some effort may be made to preserve them ere it is too late.)
In a beautiful old frame over the altar of S. Biagio is a grand work by
Francesco Bonsignori; while in the predella below are some lovely
miniatures by Girolamo dai Libri. The dome is decorated with frescoes,
all by Falconetto, except the “Annunciation” over the principal door
which is by Cavazzola--a fine bit of work. There are more works by this
master, as well as others by Brusasorci, Falconetto, Badile, Torbido,
and Farinata. Indeed most of the best known Veronese masters have left
some evidence of their work in this out-of-the-way church; would that
the Veronese of to-day would show themselves worthier of the treasures
bequeathed to them by their ancestors, and provide at least for their
preservation!
Not far from here after two or three turns to the left rises the church
of St Thomas of Canterbury. The doorway is a fine example of Italian
Gothic, and some interesting inscriptions beside it relate how the piety
of two women of the Stagnolo family contributed towards the work of the
façade. Inside the church are some frescoes by Brusasorci; and before
the altar of Sta. Maria Maddalena lie the mortal remains of the
architect San Micheli, to whom Verona owes so much, and whose work,
though so pre-eminently famed for fortified buildings and all relating
to military constructions, is admirable in secular and ecclesiastical
edifices as well.
Wandering through this part of Verona the eye is often arrested by
frescoed palaces and houses of marked architectural beauty and merit,
among them being the Casa Barbarani; the Seminario Vescovile; and other
houses belonging to private individuals. In the Via
[Illustration: WINDOW AND BALCONY IN VIA SEMINARIO]
Giardino Giusti stands the Palazzo Giusti, a handsome block of masonry,
decorated externally by Paolo Farinato, and leading through a pleasant
cortile to the beautiful and famous Giardino Giusti. The cypress trees
in this part of the garden form its chief glory and renown; and very
striking is the view on entering of these grand trees leading up in a
straight long avenue to the upper part of the grounds, while single ones
dotted about “stand like Druids of old” imparting a sense of solemnity
and grandeur to the scene. It is evident that this garden was well known
in the seventeenth century from the relation of a Cardinal Rossetti’s
journey from Cologne to Ferrara via Verona written by his secretary one
Vincenzo Armanni. He tells how they embarked at Bussolengo the evening
of Friday, July 8, 1644, and came in the space of an hour in a straight
course down the Adige to Verona, where they were courteously entertained
by the Dominicans. “Saturday the 9th,” he writes, “we remained incognito
in Verona, and went to see a most beautiful garden of the Signori
Giusti, and many places in that city which in sooth is possessed of
conditions so estimable as to cause it to rank among the best in Italy.”
The age of the cypresses is remarkable, some being no less than four
hundred, others again five hundred years old; while only a short time
ago a patriarchal giant died at the age of seven hundred years. The lie
of the land is also well suited to show off these noble trees to
advantage; the ground slopes upwards to the walls of the city till it
stops close to where the church of S. Zeno in Monte once stood, and
where the tower still stands marking the site of the former monastery.
No words can better describe the magnificent view over the town of
Verona than those used by Ruskin when he depicts this view, and in
language of equal force and beauty presents the panorama, instinct with
life and loveliness, to all who have eyes to see and to read. He wrote,
it is true, from another spot, but he might have been standing on the
upper terrace of the Giardino Giusti when he penned the following lines
so
[Illustration: GIARDINO GIUSTI]
admirably does the description tally with the scene here laid before us.
“There is, first, this blue Lombardic plain, wide as the sea, and in the
very centre of it, at about twelve miles away from you, a little cluster
of domes and towers, with a gleam of white water round them. That is
Mantua. Look beyond its fretted outline, and you will see that in that
direction the plain, elsewhere boundless, is ended by undulations of
soft hills. Those are the Apennines above Padua. Then look to the left,
and just beyond the roots of the Alps, you will see the cluster of the
cones of the Euganean hills, at the space at their feet in which rests
Padua, and the gleam of the horizon beyond them in which rests Venice.
Look then, north-eastward, and touched into a crown of strange rubies as
the sun descends, there is the snowy cluster of the Alps of Friuli. Then
turn to the north-west, and under the sunset itself you will see the
Adige flow from its enchanted porch of marble, and in one strong and
almost straight stream, blanched always bright by its swiftness,
reflecting on its eddies neither bank nor cloud, but only light, stretch
itself along the vines, to the Verona lying at your feet; there first it
passes the garden wall of the church of S. Zeno, then under the
battlements of the great bridge of the Scaligers, then passes away out
of sight behind the hill on which, though among ghastly modern
buildings, here and there you may still trace a grey fragment of tower
and wall--the remnants of the palace of Theodoric of Verona--Dietrich of
Bern.
“Now I do not think that there is any other rock in all the world, from
which the places and monuments of so complex and deep a fragment of the
history of its ages can be visible, as from this piece of crag, with its
blue and prickly weeds. For you have thus beneath you at once, the
birthplaces of Virgil and of Livy; the homes of Dante and Petrarch; and
the source of the most sweet and pathetic inspiration of your own
Shakespeare; the spot where the civilization of the Gothic kingdoms was
founded on the throne of Theodoric, and where whatever was strongest in
the Italian race redeemed itself into life by its league against
Barbarossa. You have the cradle of natural science and medicine in the
schools of Padua; the central light of Italian chivalry in the power of
the Scaligers; the chief stain of Italian cruelty in that of Ezzelin;
and, lastly, the birthplace of the highest art; for among these hills,
or by this very Adige bank, were born Mantegna, Titian, Coreggio, and
Veronese.”[53]
Beyond the Garden Street of the Giusti lies the tract of the “Acqua
Morte,” formed by the branch or canal of the Adige, which once flowed
here but was filled in in 1895 when the great works of the “muraglioni”
were executed which have confined the river into bounds which it cannot
pass, nor break the limits now imposed upon it. In this quarter is the
church of Sta. Maria in Organo, another of the Veronese churches of
special interest and individuality. The date of the church is uncertain,
but of its antiquity there can be no doubt, some writers placing it even
as far back as the sixth century. The foundation of the monastery of
Sta. Maria in Organo is ascribed to the piety of the Lombard Duke Lupone
and his wife Ermelinda in the year A.D. 615. The actual building was
erected on the site of an older one in 1131. It was committed to the
monks of Monte Oliveto in 1444; shortly after that date the campanile
was added, and San Micheli began the façade which for some unknown
reason was never completed. The interior of the church is rich in
paintings and frescoes, every chapel having its picture over the altar,
and the
[Illustration: THE GIUSTI GARDEN]
sides being decorated as well. There are some fine frescoes in the nave
from Old Testament scenes, which are probably by Brusasorci, though
occasionally ascribed to Francesco Morone. A great deal of Morone’s work
is to be found here both in the church and sacristy, and speaking of
this latter Layard says: “He (Morone) excelled as a painter in fresco,
as he has shewn in the decoration of the sacristy of the church of Sta.
Maria in Organo in Verona, in which he has introduced half-length
figures of popes, monks, and nuns, of the Olivetan order.”[54]
Over the third altar on the left facing the high altar is “the most
lovely Madonna and Child under a canopy adorned with flowers; on each
side an angel sings and plays. Below, the stately figures of SS.
Augustine and Martin. A very fascinating work. Signed work (1503),
painted apparently on silk backed by canvas.”[55] The detail of this
picture is exquisite; the composition powerful, and the grace and
dignity of each figure in turn is striking. There are fine paintings
throughout the church all by Veronese masters, the most marked among
them being by Brusasorci, Giolfino, Farinato, Caroto, Balestra, Zavoldo,
Torbido. The chapel in the right transept contains a Sta. Francesca
Romano by Guercino, with paintings on the side by Cavazzola. In the
chapel to the left of the choir is a picture of St Benedict by Brentana.
This picture serves as a screen, and is sometimes removed when a quaint
mediæval statue is revealed of our Lord seated on the ass’s colt. The
statue, of a great age, is known as “La Muletta,” and is an object of
great veneration. It is shown to the public on Palm Sunday when no doubt
the gaudy colours--for the figure and animal though of wood are
painted--impress each gazer’s eye with wonder and admiration. Above the
seats of the high altar are frescoed landscapes by Cavazzola and
Brusasorci.
The centre of interest in this church culminates however in the sacristy
which Vasari rightly pronounced to be one of the most beautiful in
Italy. On the right hand side are some lovely intarsia panels by Fra
Giovanni da Verona, one of the monks belonging to the monastery of this
church. “The rich play of fancy shown by this illustrious brother
deserves a volume and a pen of gold to describe it,” says an Italian
writer; “festoons of fruit and flowers, sphinxes, chimeras, birds,
perspective--all is wrought with a perfect and exquisite sense of art,
all has succeeded in producing an unparalleled harmony of line and
colour in a calm outpouring of inspiration, in a continuous and
marvellous freshness.”[56] The richness of design employed is indeed
wonderful, and is only equalled by the execution of the work. The
carving is as perfect and delicate as it is bold and crisp; and it is
not difficult to believe that this intarsia possesses the renown of
being the most perfect of its kind in Italy. Above these lovely panels
are frescoes by Morone of the Olivetan monks in their white garbs; while
again in the lunettes overhead are portraits of the popes who were
elected out of the order to fill the Papal See. In a corner by the door
leading into the choir and almost concealed by a cupboard is the
portrait of Fra Giovanni himself, the friar who as has been said did
this intarsia work, the greatest master of the kind that Italy has ever
produced. He died in 1520. The frescoes are all by Morone, and it has
well been said that this sacristy is a masterpiece of Veronese art.
There is also here a lovely picture by Girolamo dai Libri, the “Madonna
del Limone,” of the Blessed Virgin enthroned, with
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF CARVED WOOD IN THE SACRISTY OF S. MARIA]
St Stephen and St Catherine below, a delightful setting of leaves,
fruit, and architectural detail, all in a flood of sunlight which
enhances the effect a hundredfold.[57]
The choir of the monks opens out from the sacristy, and here again are
treasures of carving and of inlaid woodwork also by Fra Giovanni,
possessing a topographical value as well as an artistic one in that they
represent views of the city of that date and place before us scenes
which no longer exist. There are here views of Rome also; and the value
of such abiding testimony as to “the days that are no more,” is enough
in itself to make one linger in the church of Sta. Maria in Organo, and
muse in delight and wonder over the industry and talent that prompted
this labour of love so many centuries ago. In the choir there is also a
magnificent candelabrum equally by Fra Giovanni, carved in walnut wood;
and the carving and inlay work testify anew to the craft and power of
this frate, and prove him to have been indeed a consummate master of his
art. The inundation of 1882 did frightful damage to the woodwork in this
church; and though the damage has been remedied to a great extent traces
of it yet remain and show to what an extreme peril these treasures were
exposed.
Beyond the church of Sta. Maria in Organo the winding narrow by-way of
S. Giovanni in Valle leads to the little church of the same name. Its
antiquity is great seeing that it dates from the fifth century; and its
plan of erection, its crypt, and all its accessories point to its being
one of the earliest churches in Verona. There are frescoes by
Brusasorci, and Giolfino, inside, and traces of paintings of a far
earlier date than these are being discovered under the whitewash and
plaster that cover the walls. Fragments of Roman remains are to be
found near the tower and the cloisters, and here too is the peculiar
sort of column similar to the one in the Piazza delle Erbe and in the
Piazza Brà, and which gives evidence that a market-place once stood
there. In the beautiful crypt are two sarcophagi of Greek marble, dating
from the very earliest days of Christianity. One of them is supposed to
contain the bones of St Simon and St Jude; and both of them have
bas-reliefs of great interest and originality. The fresco over the
principal entrance is by Stefano da Zevio, and close beside are two
modern windows that sadly deface the pure early style of the façade.
The next point of interest that we come to is the “Teatro Antico,” the
old theatre of the Romans, which is said to have been built in the age
of Augustus. In true Roman fashion it is posted on the side of a hill;
this plan for saving labour together with increased convenience in the
construction of a theatre being often resorted to in days of old. Nor
was the hill at the back the only natural adjunct to the theatre. The
river was also turned on to aid in whatever scenery required water
effects, and above all for the naval displays that formed a part in the
representations which were given in the theatre. The excavations made
here in 1836 by Cav. Andrea Monga have brought to light almost all that
remains of this ruin, and revealed what has so far escaped the
destroying hand of Time. There is not however a great deal to be seen,
for one thing after another has combined to wreck this archæological
relic. An earthquake in the year 793 damaged it to a great extent; and
rather more than a century later tradition says that Berengarius I.,
under the impression that its stability was of so insecure a nature as
to threaten every habitation in its neighbourhood, issued a decree that
anyone who chose might demolish it and carry away the materials to use
as they saw fit. How
[Illustration: CHOIR STALL OF INTARSIO WORK IN S. MARIA]
many a building in Verona may not have been enriched with stones, or
capitals, or columns from this mighty ruin! It is interesting to see
among the recent excavations some of the seats where the spectators once
sat in rows, together with what is said to have been the box with the
name over its entrance of a private family, and part of the stage, and
to wander among the ruins of what must certainly have been one of the
finest theatres of antiquity.
At no distance from the “Teatro Antico” rises the little church of SS.
Siro and Libera, built over a part of the theatre, and deriving a
legendary interest from the tradition that Christianity was introduced
into Verona by S. Siro, and that the first time mass was ever celebrated
in the town it was celebrated by the saint in the church now dedicated
to him and to Sta. Libera.
The ground around and about here is replete with associations of Roman
and Gothic times, and with the very earliest existence of Verona as a
town; for the hills above this left bank of the Adige--the hills of S.
Pietro and S. Felice--are the sites where the first inhabitants of the
city had their dwelling. On the “colle di S. Pietro” stood the castle of
Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, of whom Carlo Cipolla (the most
trustworthy of Verona’s modern historians) says: “He embellished Verona
with baths, with palaces, with covered ways; he fortified it with new
walls, and renewed the aqueduct thereof. Considerable traces of his
palace on St Peter’s hill still remain in the walls which encircle the
summit, and which are built on the Roman system.... Less numerous and
less evident are the vestiges of his real and own palace which stood on
the part of the hill overlooking the river, and it is not always easy to
distinguish between what actually belonged to the palace of Theodoric
and what were fragments appertaining to the theatre that stood below.”
On a previous page speaking of Theodoric the same writer says: “In the
poetic legends of Germany the king is called Theodoric of Verona,
Dietrich von Bern! The last chapters of the _Nibelungenlied_ are filled
with tales of his heroic deeds and with those of his warriors. Likewise
in Germany up to the time of Frederick II. of Swabia, and maybe even
after Verona was known as ‘Dietrich’s Bern.’ The mountaineers of Giazza
to this day never speak of Verona save as ‘Bearn,’ which is nothing
after all but the Latin name turned into German.”[58]
The king of the Ostrogoths, as has been said, spent his time gladly in
Verona; but little remains of his buildings or fortifications, imposing
as they must have been. The walls he set up have been built over by
Cangrande, who erected those with forked battlements which remain to
this day, a token of picturesque strength to the town, stamping it for
ever as a city whose bulwarks can defy every foe, and laugh to scorn
every invader.
The Castel di S. Pietro is now a fortress, so too is the Castel di S.
Felice, which stands on the hill above it; and from both these forts
magnificent views can be had over the city.
Beyond the Ponte di Pietra, and almost at the very bend of the river,
stands the church of S. Stefano, for many years the Cathedral of Verona,
and linked with all its early history, and with days of persecution and
trouble. This church, standing on the foundations of a former one
destroyed by King Theodoric, was rebuilt in the eleventh century, though
the crypt and choir are of an earlier period, and are both beautiful and
interesting in the character and originality of their conception.
[Illustration: CHURCH OF S. GIORGIO IN BRAIDA, MARTYRDOM OF ST GEORGE
(PAOLO VERONESE)]
The whole plan--though on far smaller and simpler lines--recalls that of
S. Zeno, for here again is the nave and two side aisles, as well as the
three floors formed by the crypt, the central building, and the raised
choir. This latter forms a striking feature in S. Stefano; and very
remarkable indeed it is with its rough-hewn bishop’s throne--recalling
the one in the cathedral church of Torcello, erected there in 1008--and
leading to another and older choir beyond, both of which are decorated
with frescoes. From the older choir a passage communicates with the
crypt, a most unusual contrivance, and one that serves perhaps to
demonstrate that those parts of the building date from the same epoch.
The crypt is in the form of a Latin cross, and has rows of columns
disposed somewhat in the same fashion as those in the crypt of S. Fermo,
save that at S. Stefano the columns are of Oriental marble. Many of the
bishops of Verona lie buried in this crypt, together with forty martyrs
who were done to death in the reign of Diocletian. Here too is the tomb
of Galla Placidia, the daughter of the Emperor Valentinian, and wife of
Olibrius, Emperor of the East. An ancient statue of St Peter stands in
the church, and there are besides several paintings by Brusasorci,
Farinato, Giolfino, and other Veronese painters. The façade of the
church is impressive, dating probably from the eleventh century, though
a careful study will detect traces of a still earlier date; and were it
possible to remove two or three additions made in more recent times, the
original frontage would stand out in all its simplicity and beauty.
A little further on is the church of S. Giorgio in Braida, or S. Giorgio
Maggiore, as it is also called, a building partly raised by San Micheli.
This church contains some very fine pictures, for the most part by
Veronese masters. Behind the high altar is a grand painting by Paolo
Veronese, of peculiar value, as few of his works are to be met with in
his native town, most of them having found a home in Venice, the scene
of his labours, and where he lived and worked and died. The subject is
the martyrdom of St George; and apart from the fine treatment of the
figures, the boldness of outline and depth of colour, the picture is
intensely interesting as showing the artist’s own portrait in the person
of the warrior on horseback in the left hand corner. On either side of
this picture are two good paintings, the one on the right by Felice
Brusasorci, of the giving of the manna in the desert, fine in tone and
in conception, though finished by his pupils; the other by Paolo
Farinato in extreme old age, when perhaps his hand had lost some of its
cunning. Farinato’s portrait is to be seen in a group of his own family
painted in a corner of the picture. The altar below the organ, the first
on the right coming down the church, contains a beautiful work by
Alessandro Bonvicini of Brescia, known as “Il Moretto,” of St Cecilia
between St Catherine, St Lucy, and other saints, with the Virgin above.
This picture bears the inscription, “Alexandro Morettus Brix. MDXC.”
Just beyond is a most lovely Virgin and Child by Girolamo dai Libri,
also signed by the author, and dated 1526. The Virgin, who is enthroned,
has S. Lorenzo Giustinian on her right, and S. Zeno on her left; below
are three exquisite angels, two of whom are singing, while the third
accompanies them on the lute. The detail of the picture is of the same
lovely and finished order in which this great miniaturist delighted and
excelled, and which he introduced into almost all his work. The third
altar has paintings, by Caroto, of SS. Roch and Sebastian; and by
Domenico Brusasorci, of the Apostles exorcising an evil spirit. Beyond
that is the martyrdom of Lorenzo
[Illustration: THE MADONNA WITH HOLY WOMEN (MORETTO DU BRESCIA)]
by Sigismondo da Stefano; and a not very beautiful St Ursula is in the
adjoining chapel by Caroto. In the second altar coming down the church
on the left are some angels by Brusasorci; and an Annunciation by
Caroto, in which the Archangel Gabriel is more beautiful to look on than
the Blessed Virgin. Above the main door is a picture of our Lord’s
Baptism by Tintoretto, but hung at so great a height it is not easy to
see.
The way back into the town leads either across the modern iron bridge
called after Garibaldi, or by that known as the Ponte della Pietra, a
magnificent example of Roman work, and one of the most picturesque
bridges in Verona. The two arches towards the hill are of recognised
Roman construction; the rest leading into the town and towards the tower
on that side erected by the Scaligers, is said to be the work of Fra
Giocondo in 1521. Soon after crossing the “Pons marmoreus,” as it was
also called, we come to an old house at the bend of the road and facing
the bridge which has a fresco painted under the eaves depicting the
wares sold in the shop below, among which may be seen a bunch of tallow
candles tied by their wicks and suspended on high--a practice familiar
enough among ourselves. The painting was done in the “cinque cento,” and
the trade of “wholesale grocer” goes on in the building to-day as it did
some five centuries ago.
In the Via Cappelletta, that opens out from the Via Ponte Pietra, is a
house which claims to have been that of the Capulets--a claim that has
no foundation, and that perhaps has only been raised in order to entice
the passer-by to go in to see a very pretty courtyard, which certainly
deserves a moment’s glance if the inspection of the many sights of
“Veronetta” has not exhausted all our powers of endurance.