LUCRETIA AT NEPI
Travelers from Rome to Nepi, then as now, followed the Via Cassia,
passing Isola Farnese, Baccano, and Monterosi. The road consisted in
part of the ancient highway, but it was in the worst possible condition.
Near Monterosi the traveler turned into the Via Amerina, much of the
pavement of which is still preserved, even up to the walls of Nepi.
Like most of the cities of Etruria, Nepi (Nepe or Nepete) was situated
on a high plain bordered by deep ravines, through which flowed small
streams, called _rii_. The bare cliffs of tuff constituted a natural
means of defense, and where they were low, walls were built.
The southern side of the city of Nepi, where the Falisco River flows and
empties into a deep chasm, was in ancient times fortified with high
walls built of long, square blocks of tuff laid upon each other without
mortar, like the walls of neighboring Falerii. Some remains of Nepi's
walls may still be seen near the Porta Romana, although much of the
material has been used in constructing the castle and for the high
arches of the Farnese aqueduct.
The castle defended the weakest side of Nepi, where, in the old days,
stood the city fortress. In the eighth century it was the seat of a
powerful duke, Toto, who made a name for himself also in the history of
Rome. Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia gave it the form it now has, rebuilding
the castle and enlarging the two great towers inside the walls, the
larger of which is round and the smaller square. Later the castle was
restored and furnished with bastions by Paul III and his son, Pierluigi
Farnese, the first Duke of Castro and Nepi.[80]
In 1500 this castle was as strong as that of Civitacastellana, which
Alexander VI rebuilt. Unfortunately, it is now in ruins. The remains of
the castle-palace and all the outer walls are covered with thick ivy.
Time has spared nothing but the two great towers.
On the side toward the city the ruined stronghold is entered through a
gateway above which is inscribed in the fair characters of the
Renaissance, YSV VNICVS CVSTOS. PROCVL HINC TIMORES. YSV. This leads
into a rectangular court surrounded by walls now in ruins. The beholder
is confronted by the façade of the castle, a two-storied structure in
the style of the Renaissance, with windows whose casements are made of
peperino (cement). The inscription P. LOISIVS FAR DVX PRIMVS CASTRI on
the door frame shows that this was also the work of the Farnese.
The interior is a mass of ruins, all the walls having fallen in. This
notable monument of the past has been suffered to go to decay; it was
only eighty years ago that the walls of the last remaining salon fell
in. The only room left is an upper chamber, reached by climbing a
ladder. The place where the hearth was is still discernible, as is also
the paneled ceiling found in so many of the buildings of the early
Renaissance. The ends of the rafters are supported by beautifully
carved consoles. All the woodwork is stained dark brown, and here and
there on the ceiling are wooden shields, on which are painted the Borgia
arms in colors.
In various places in the interior, and also without, on the towers of
the stronghold, the same arms may be seen carved in stone. There are
also two stones, with the arms very carefully chiseled, set in the walls
of the entrance hall of the town house of Nepi, which were originally in
the castle where they had been placed by Lucretia's orders. The Borgia
arms and those of the house of Aragon, which Lucretia, as Duchess of
Biselli, had adopted, are united under a ducal crown.
Lonely Nepi, which now has only 2,500 inhabitants, had but few more in
the year 1500. It was a little town in Campagna, whose streets were
bordered by Gothic buildings, with a few old palaces and towers
belonging to the nobles, among the most important of whom were the
Celsi. There is a small public square, formerly the forum, on which the
town hall faces, and also an old church, originally built upon the ruins
of the temple of Jupiter. There were a few other ancient churches and
cloisters, such as S. Vito and S. Eleuterio, and other remains of
antiquity, which have now disappeared. There are only two ancient
statues left--the figures of two of Nepi's citizens whose names are now
unknown--they are on the façade of the palace, a beautiful building
dating from the late Renaissance. Owing to the topography of the region
and the general decadence peculiar to all Etruria, the country about
Nepi is forbidding and melancholy. The dark and rugged chasms, with
their huge blocks of stone and steep walls of black and dark red tuff,
with rushing torrents in their depths, cause an impression of grandeur,
but also of sadness, with which the broad and peaceful highlands and the
idyllic pastures, where one constantly hears the melancholy bleating of
the sheep, and the sad notes of the shepherds' flutes are in perfect
accord.
Here and there dark oak forests may still be seen, but four hundred
years ago, in the neighborhood of Nepi, they were more numerous and
denser than they are to-day; in the direction of Sutri and
Civitacastellana they are well cleared up; but there are still many fine
groves. From the top of the castle may be seen a magnificent panorama,
which is even more extensive than that which greets the eye from the
castle of Spoleto. There on the horizon are the dark volcano of
Bracciano and Monte di Rocca Romana, and here the mountains of Viterbo,
on whose wide slopes the town of Caprarola, which belonged to the
Farnese, is visible. On the other side rises Soracte. Towards the north
the plateau slopes gently down to the valley of the Tiber, across which,
in the misty distance, the blue chain of the Sabine mountains stands out
boldly, with numerous fortresses scattered about the declivities.
August 31st Alfonso's young widow went to the castle of Nepi, taking
with her part of her court and her child Rodrigo. These knights and
ladies, all generally so merry, were now either oppressed by a real
sorrow or were required by court etiquette to renounce all pleasures. In
this lonely stronghold Lucretia could lament, undisturbed, the
taking-off of the handsome youth who had been her husband for two years,
and together with whom she had dwelt in this same castle scarcely a
twelve-month before. There was nothing to disturb her melancholy
brooding; but, instead, castle, city, and landscape all harmonized with
it.
Some of Lucretia's letters written during her stay at the castle of
Nepi are still in existence, and they are especially valuable, being the
only ones we have which date from what is known as the Roman period of
the life of the famous woman. Lucretia addressed them to her trusted
servant in Rome, Vincenzo Giordano; some are in her own handwriting, and
others in that of her secretary, Cristoforo. She signs herself "the most
unhappy Princess of Salerno," although she herself afterwards struck out
the words, _principessa de Salerno_, and left only the words, _La
infelicissima_. In only a single letter--and this one has no date--did
she allow the whole signature to stand.
The first letters, dated September 15th and October 24, 1500, "in our
city of Nepi," are devoted to domestic affairs, especially clothes, of
which she was in need. Two days later she states that she had written to
the Cardinal of Lisbon, her godfather, in the interest of the bearer of
the letter, Giovanni of Prato. October 28th she directs Vincenzo to have
certain clothes made for the little Rodrigo and to send them to her
immediately by a courier. She also orders him to have prayers said for
her in all the convents "on account of this, my new sorrow." October
30th she wrote as follows:
VINCENZO: As we have decided that the memorial service for
the soul of his Lordship, the duke, my husband--may the glory of
the saints be his--shall be held, you will, with this end in view,
go to his Eminence the Lord Cardinal of Colenzo, whom we have
charged with this office, and will do whatever his Eminence
commands you, both in regard to paying for the mass and also for
performing whatever his Majesty directs; and you will keep account
of what you spend of the five hundred which you have, for I will
see that you are reimbursed, so it will be necessary. From the
castle of Nepi, next to the last day of October, 1500.
THE UNHAPPY PRINCESS OF SALERNO.
There is an undated letter written by Lucretia which, apparently,
belongs to the same period, because it is written in a melancholy tone,
and in it she asks Heaven to watch over her bed. The last dated letters,
which are of October 31st and November 2d, are devoted to unimportant
domestic affairs; they show that Lucretia was in Nepi as late as
November. Another undated letter to the same Vincenzo Giordano refers to
her return to Rome; it purposely contains obscurities which it is now
impossible to decipher and fictitious names which had been agreed upon
with her servant. Even the signature is a conventional sign. The epistle
is word for word as follows: "I am so filled with misgivings and anxiety
on account of my returning to Rome that I can scarcely write--I can only
weep. And all this time when I found that Farina neither answered nor
wrote to me I was able neither to eat nor sleep, and wept continually.
God forgive Farina, who could have made everything turn out better and
did not do so. I will see whether I can send him Roble before I set
out--for I wish to send him. No more for the present. Again look well to
that matter, and on no account let Rexa see this letter."
Lucretia, it appears, wished to leave Nepi and return to Rome, for which
her father at first might refuse his permission. Perhaps Rexa in this
letter means Alexander, and the name Farina may signify Cardinal
Farnese, upon whose intermediation she counted. Vincenzo finally wrote
her that he had spoken to the Pope himself, and Lucretia, in an undated
letter, showed her servant how pleased she was because everything had
turned out better than she had expected. This is the only letter in
which the signature, "The unhappy Princess of Salerno" is not stricken
out.
We do not know how long Lucretia remained in Nepi, where, in summer,
the moisture rising from the rocky chasms caused deadly fevers, and
still renders that place and Civitacastellana unhealthful. Her father
recalled her to Rome before Christmas, and received her again into his
favor as soon as her brother left the city. Only a few months had passed
when Lucretia's soul was again filled with visions of a brilliant
future, before which the vague form of the unfortunate Alfonso sank into
oblivion. Her tears dried so quickly that, on the expiration of a year,
no one would have recognized in this young and frivolous woman the widow
of a trusted consort who had been foully murdered. From her father
Lucretia had inherited, if not inexhaustible vitality, at least the
lightness of mind which her contemporaries, under the name of joy of
living, discovered in her and in the Pope.
FOOTNOTES:
[80] Over the Porta Romana and on the bastions may still be seen the
colossal arms of Paul III and those of his son carved in stone. The
inscription reads:
P. ALOISIVS FARNESIVS DVX I. CASTRI ET NEPETE MVNIMENTVM HOC AD TVTELAM
CIVITATIS EXSTRVXIT. MDXL.