the _Liberian Basilica_, was founded A.D. 352, by Pope Liberius, and
John,[273] a Roman patrician, to commemorate a miraculous fall of snow,
which covered this spot of ground and no other, on the 5th of August,
when the Virgin appearing in a vision, showed them that she had thus
appropriated the site of a new temple.[274] This legend is commemorated
every year on the 5th of August, the festa of La Madonna della Neve,
when, during a solemn high mass in the Borghese chapel, showers of white
rose-leaves are thrown down constantly through two holes in the ceiling,
"like a leafy mist between the priests and worshippers."
This church, in spite of many alterations, is in some respects
internally the most beautiful and harmonious building in Rome, and
retains much of the character which it received when rebuilt between 432
and 440, by Sixtus III., who dedicated it to Sta. Maria Mater Dei, and
established it as one of the four patriarchal basilicas, whence it is
provided with the "porta santa," only opened by the pope, with great
solemnity, four times in a century.
The west front was added under Benedict XIV. (Lambertini) in 1741, by
Ferdinando Fuga, destroying a portico of the time of Eugenius III., of
which the only remnant is an architrave, inserted into which is an
inscription, quoted by its defenders in proof of the existence of
Mariolatry in the twelfth century:--
"Tertius Eugenius Romanus Papa benignus
Obtulit hoc munus, Virgo Maria, tibi,
Quæ Mater Christi fieri merito meruisti,
Salva perpetua Virginitate tibi.
Es Via, Vita, Salus, totius Gloria Mundi,
Da veniam culpis, Virginitatis Honos."
In this portico is a statue of Philip IV. of Spain by _Lucenti_. In the
upper story are preserved the mosaics which once decorated the old
façade, some of them representing the miracle which led to the
foundation of the church.
"To 1300 belong the mosaics on the upper part of the façade of Sta.
Maria Maggiore (now inserted in the loggia), in which, in two rows,
framed in architectural decorations, may be seen Christ in the act
of benediction, and several saints above, and the legend of the
founding of the church below--both well-arranged compositions. An
inscription gives the name of the otherwise unknown master,
'Philippus Rusuti.' This work was formerly attributed to the
Florentine mosaicist Gaddo Gaddi, who died 1312."--_Kugler._
Five doors, if we include the walled-up Porta Santa, lead into the
magnificent nave (280 feet long, 60 broad), lined by an avenue of white
marble columns, surmounted by a frieze of mosaic pictures from the Old
Testament, of A.D. 440--unbroken, except where six of the subjects have
been cut away to make room for arches in front of the two great side
chapels. The mosaics increase in splendour as they approach the tribune,
in front of which is a grand baldacchino by Fuga, erected by Benedict
XIV., supported by four porphyry columns wreathed with gilt leaves, and
surmounted by four marble angels by Pietro Bracci. The pavement is of
the most glorious opus-alexandrinum, and its crimson and violet hues
temper the white and gold on the walls. The flat roof (by Sangallo),
panelled and carved, is gilt with the first gold brought to Spain from
South America, and presented to Alexander VI. by Ferdinand and Isabella.
"The mosaics above the chancel arch are valuable for the
illustration of Christian doctrine: the throne of the Lamb as
described in the Apocalypse, SS. Peter and Paul beside it (the
earliest instance of their being thus represented); and the four
symbols of the Evangelists above; the Annunciation; the Angel
appearing to Zacharias; the Massacre of the Innocents; the
Presentation in the Temple; the Adoration of the Magi; Herod
receiving the head of St. John the Baptist; and, below these
groups, a flock of sheep, type of the faithful, issuing from the
mystic cities, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. We see here one curious
example of the nimbus, round the head of Herod, as a symbol of
power, apart from sanctity. In certain details these mosaics have
been altered, with a view to adapting them to modern devotional
bias, in a manner that deserves reprobation; but Ciampini
(Monumenta Vetera) shows us in engraving what the originals were
before this alteration, effected under Benedict XIV. In the group
of the Adoration the child _alone_ occupied the throne, while
opposite (in the original work) was seated, on another chair, an
elderly person in a long blue mantle veiling the head--concluded by
Ciampini to be the senior among the Magi; the two others, younger,
and both in the usual Oriental dress, with trousers and Phrygian
caps, being seen to approach at the same side, whilst the mother
_stood_ beside the throne of the child,--her figure recognisable
from its resemblance to others in scenes where she appears in the
same series. As this group is now before us, the erect figure is
left out; the seated one is converted into that of Mary, with a
halo round the head, though in the original even such attribute
(alike given to the Saviour and to all the angels introduced) is
_not_ assigned to her."--_Hemans' Ancient Christian Art._
The vault of the tribune is covered with mosaics by Jacopo da Turrita,
the same who executed those at the Lateran basilica.
"A general affinity with the style of Cimabue is observable in some
mosaics executed by contemporary artists. Those in Sta. Maria
Maggiore are inscribed with the name of Jacobus Torriti, and
executed between 1287 and 1292. They are surpassed by no
contemporary work in dignity, grace, and decorative beauty of
arrangement. In a blue, gold-starred circle is seen Christ
enthroned with the Virgin; on each side are adoring angels,
kneeling and flying, on a gold ground, with St. Peter and St. Paul,
the two St. Johns, St. Francis, and St. Anthony (the same in size
and position as at St. J. Lateran), advancing devoutly along. The
upper part is filled with graceful vine-branches, with symbolical
animals among them. Below is Jordan, with small river gods, boats,
and figures of men and animals. Further below are scenes from the
life of Christ in animated arrangement. The group in the centre of
the circle, of Christ enthroned with the Virgin, is especially
fine: while the Saviour is placing the crown on His mother's head,
she lifts up her hands with the expression both of admiration and
of modest remonstrance.[275] The forms are very pure and noble; the
execution careful, and very different from the Roman mosaics of the
twelfth century."--_Kugler._
In front of and beneath the high altar Pius IX. has lately been
preparing his own monument, by constructing a splendid chamber
approached by staircases, and lined with the most precious alabaster and
marbles.
On the right of the western entrance is the tomb of the Rospigliosi
pope, Clement IX. (1667--69), the work of Ercole Ferrata, a pupil of
Bernini. His body rests before the high altar, surrounded by a number of
the members of his family. Left of the entrance is the tomb of Nicholas
IV., Masci (1288-92), erected to his memory three hundred years after
his death by Sixtus V. while still a cardinal. He is represented giving
benediction, between two allegorical figures of Justice and Religion,--a
fine work of Leonardo da Sarzana.
"It is well to know that this pope, a mere upstart from the dust,
sought to support himself through the mighty family of Colonna, by
raising them too high. His friend, the Cardinal Giacomo Colonna,
contributed with him to the renewal of the mosaics which are in the
tribune of Sta. Maria Maggiore, and one can see their two figures
there to this day. It was in this reign that Ptolemais, the last
possession of the Christians in Asia, fell into the hands of the
Mohammedans; thus ended the era of the Crusades."--_Gregorovius._
Behind this tomb, near the walled-up Porta Santa, is a good tomb of two
bishops, brothers, of the fifteenth century, and in the same aisle are
many other monuments of the sixteenth century, some of them fine in
their way.
Nearly on a line with the baldacchino is the entrance of the _Borghese
Chapel_, built by Flaminio Ponzio for Paul V. in 1608, gorgeous with
precious marbles and alabasters. Over its altar is preserved one of the
pictures attributed to St. Luke (and announced to be such in a papal
bull attached to the walls!), much revered from the belief that it
stayed the plague which decimated the city during the reign of Pelagius
II., and that (after its intercession had been sought by a procession by
order of Innocent VIII.) it brought about the overthrow of the Moorish
dominion in Spain.
"On conserve à Sainte Marie Majeure une des images de la Madonne
peintes par St. Luc, et plusieurs fois on a trouvé les anges
chantant les litanies autour de ce tableau."--_Stendhal._
The "Scheme of decorations in this gorgeous chapel is so
remarkable, as testifying to the development which the theological
idea of the Virgin, as the Sposa or personified Church, had
attained in the time of Paul V.--the same pope who in 1615
promulgated the famous bull relative to the Immaculate
Conception"--that the insertion of the whole passage of Mrs.
Jameson on this subject will not be considered too much.
"First, and elevated above all, we have the 'Madonna della
Concezione,' 'Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception,' in a glory of
light, sustained and surrounded by angels, having the crescent
under her feet, according to the approved treatment. Beneath, round
the dome, we read in conspicuous letters the text from the
Revelation:--SIGNUM. MAGNUM. APPARAVIT. IN. CŒLO. MULIER.
AMICTA. SOLE. ET. LUNA. SUB. PEDIBUS. EJUS. ET. IN. CAPITE. EJUS.
CORONA. STELLARUM. DUODECIM. Lower down is a second inscription
expressing the dedication. MARIÆ. CHRISTI. MATRI. SEMPER. VIRGINI.
PAULUS. QUINTUS. P.M. The decorations beneath the cornice consist
of eighteen large frescoes, and six statues in marble, above life
size. We have the subjects arranged in the following order:--
"1. The four great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel,
in their usual place in the four pendatives of the dome.
"2. Two large frescoes. In the first the Vision of St. Gregory
Thaumaturgus, and Heretics bitten by Serpents. In the second, St.
John Damascene and S. Ildefonso miraculously rewarded for defending
the majesty of the Virgin.
"3. A large fresco, representing the four Doctors of the Church who
had especially written in honour of the Virgin: viz., Irenæus and
Cyprian, Ignatius and Theophilus, grouped two and two.
"4. St. Luke, who painted the Virgin, and whose gospel contains the
best account of her.
"5. As spiritual conquerors in the name of the Virgin, St. Dominic
and St. Francis, each attended by two companions of his Order.
"6. As military conquerors in the name of the Virgin, the Emperor
Heraclius, and Narses, the general against the Arians.
"7. A group of three female figures, representing the three famous
saintly princesses, who in marriage preserved their virginity,
Pulcheria, Edeltruda (our famous Queen Ethelreda), and Cunegunda.
"8. A group of three learned Bishops, who had especially defended
the immaculate purity of the Virgin, St. Cyril, St. Anselm, and St.
Denis (?).
"9. The miserable ends of those who were opposed to the honour of
the Virgin. 1. The death of Julian the Apostate, very oddly
represented; he lies on an altar, transfixed by an arrow, as a
victim; St. Mercurius in the air. 2. The death of Leo IV., who
destroyed the effigies of the Virgin. 3. The death of Constantine
IV., also a famous iconoclast.
"The statues which are placed in niches are--
"1--2. St. Joseph, as the nominal husband, and St. John the
Evangelist, as the nominal son, of the Virgin; the latter, also, as
prophet and poet, with reference to the passage in the Revelation,
xii. i.
"3--4. Aaron, as priestly ancestor (because his wand blossomed),
and David, as kingly ancestor, of the Virgin.
"5--6. St. Dionysius the Areopagite, who was present at the death
of the Virgin, and St. Bernard, who composed the famous 'Salve
Regina' in her honour.
"Such is this grand systematic scheme of decoration, which, to
those who regard it cursorily, is merely a sumptuous confusion of
colours and forms, or at best a 'fine example of the Guido school
and Bernini.' It is altogether a very complete and magnificent
specimen of the prevalent style of art, and a very comprehensive
and suggestive expression of the prevalent tendency of thought in
the Roman Catholic Church from the beginning of the seventeenth
century. In no description of this chapel have I seen the names and
subjects accurately given: the style of art belongs to the
_decadence_, and the taste being worse than questionable, the
prevailing _doctrinal_ idea has been neglected, or never
understood."--_Legends of the Madonna_, lxxi.
On the right is the tomb of Clement VIII. (1592--1605), the Florentine
Ippolito Aldobrandini, the builder of the new palace of the Vatican, and
the cruel torturer and executioner of the Cenci. He is represented in
the act of benediction. The bas-reliefs on his monument commemorate the
principal events of his reign,--the conclusion of peace between France
and Spain, and the taking of Ferrara, which he seized from the heirs of
Alphonso II.
On the left is the tomb of Paul V. (1605-1621), Camillo Borghese,--in
whose reign St. Peter's was finished, as every traveller learns from the
gigantic inscription over its portico,--who founded the great Borghese
family, and left to his nephew, Cardinal Scipio Borghese, a fortune
which enabled him to buy the Borghese Palace and to build the Borghese
Villa.
"It is a truly herculean figure, with a grandly developed head,
while in his thick neck, pride, violence, and sensuality seem to be
united. He is the first pope who wore the beard of a cavalier, like
that of Henry IV., which recalls the Thirty-years' War, which he
lived through; as far as the battle of the White Mountain. In this
round, domineering, pride-swollen countenance, appears the
violent, imperious spirit of Paul, which aimed at an absolute
power. Who does not remember his famous quarrel with Venice, and
the rôle which his far superior adversary Paolo Sarpi played with
such invincible courage? The bas-reliefs of his tomb represent the
reception given by the pope to the envoys of Congo and Japan, the
building of the citadel of Ferrara, the sending of auxiliary troops
to Hungary to the assistance of Rudolph II., and the canonization
of Sta. Francesca Romana and S. Carlo Borromeo."--_Gregorovius._
The frescoes in the cupola are by _Cigoli_; those around the altar by
the Cav. D'Arpino; those above the tombs and on the arches by _Guido_,
except the Madonna, which is by _Lanfranco_. The late beloved Princess
Borghese, _née_ Lady Gwendoline Talbot, was buried in front of the
altar, all Rome following her to the grave.
The funeral of Princess Borghese proved the feeling with which she
was regarded. Her body lay upon a car which was drawn by forty
young Romans, and was followed by all the poor of Rome, the
procession swelling like a river in every street and piazza it
passed through, while from all the windows as it passed flowers
were showered down. In funeral ceremonies of great personages at
Rome an ancient custom is observed by which, when the body is
lowered into the grave, a chamberlain, coming out to the church
door, announces to the coachman, who is waiting with the family
carriage, that his master or mistress has no longer need of his
services; and the coachman thereupon breaks his staff of office and
drives mournfully away. When this formality was fulfilled at the
funeral of Princess Borghese, the whole of the vast crowd waiting
outside the basilica broke into tears and sobs, and kneeling by a
common impulse, prayed aloud for the soul of their benefactress.
The chapel has been lately the scene of a miraculous story, with
reference to a visionary appearance of the Princess Borghese, which has
obtained great credit among the people, by whom she is already looked
upon as a saint.
The first chapel in the right aisle is that of the Patrizi family, and
close by is the sepulchral stone of their noble ancestor, Giovanni
Patricino, whose bones were found beneath the high altar, and deposited
here in 1700. A little further is the chapel of the Santa Croce, with
ten porphyry columns. Then comes the _Chapel of the Holy Sacrament_,
built by Fontana for Sixtus V. while still Cardinal of Montalto. Gregory
XIII., who was then on the throne, visited this gorgeous chapel when it
was nearly completed, and immediately decided that one who could build
such a splendid temple was sufficiently rich, and suppressed the
cardinal's pension. Fontana advanced a thousand scudi for the completion
of the work, and had the delicacy never to allow the cardinal to imagine
that he was indebted to him. The chapel, restored 1870, is adorned with
statues by Giobattista Pozzo, Cesare Nebbia, and others. Under the altar
is a presepio--one of the best works of Bernini, and opposite to it, in
the confession, a beautiful statue of S. Gaetano (founder of the
Theatines, who died 1547[276]), with two little children. On the right
is the splendid tomb of Pius V., Michaele Ghislieri (1566--72), the
barefooted, bareheaded Dominican monk of Sta. Sabina, who in his short
six years' reign beheld amongst other events the victory of Lepanto, the
fall of the Huguenots in France, and the massacre of St. Bartholomew,
events which were celebrated at Rome with _fêtes_ and thanksgivings. The
figure of the pope, a monk wasted to a skeleton (by Leonardo de
Sarzana), sits in the central niche, between statues of St. Dominic and
St. Peter Martyr. A number of bas-reliefs by different sculptors
represent the events of his life. Some are by the Flemish artists
Nicolas d'Arras and Egidius.
On the left, is the tomb of Sixtus V. (1585-90), Felice Perretti, who
as a boy kept his father's pigs at Montalto; who as a young man was a
Franciscan monk preaching in the Apostoli, and attracting crowds by his
eloquence; and who then rose to be bishop of Fermo, soon after to be
cardinal, and was lastly raised to the papal throne, which he occupied
only five years, a time which sufficed for the prince of the Church who
loved building the most, to renew Rome entirely.
"If anything can still the spectator to silence, and awaken him to
great recollections, it is the monument of this astonishing man,
who, as child, herded swine, and as an old man commanded people and
kings, and who filled Rome with so many works, that from every side
his name, like an echo, rings in the traveller's ear. We never
cease to be amazed at the wonderful luck which raised Napoleon from
the dust to the throne of the world, as if it were a romance or a
fairy story. But if in the history of kings these astonishing
changes are extraordinary accidents, they seem quite natural in the
history of the popes, they belong to the very essence of
Christendom, which does not appeal to the person, but to the
spirit; and while the one history is full of ordinary men, who,
without the prerogative of their crown, would have sunk into
eternal oblivion, the other is rich in great men, who, placed in a
different sphere, would have been equally worthy of
renown."--_Gregorovius._
In a little chapel on the left of the entrance of this--which is as it
were a transept of the church--is a fine picture of St. Jerome by
_Spagnuoletto_, and in the chapel opposite a sarcophagus of two early
Christian consuls, richly wrought in the Roman imperial style, but with
Christian subjects,--Daniel in the den of lions, Zaccheus in the
sycamore-tree, Martha at the raising of Lazarus, &c.
At the east end of the right aisle, near the door, is perhaps the finest
gothic monument in Rome,--the tomb of Cardinal Gonsalvi, bishop of
Albano, _c._ 1299.
"A recumbent statue, in pontifical vestments, rests on a
sarcophagus, and two angels draw aside curtains as if to show us
the dead; in the background is a mosaic of Mary enthroned, with
the Child, the apostle Matthias, St. Jerome, and a smaller kneeling
figure of Gonsalvi, in pontifical robes; at the apex is a
tabernacle with cusped arch, and below the epitaph 'Hoc opus fecit
Joannes Magister Cosmæ civis Romanus,' the artist's record of
himself. In the hands of St. Matthias and St. Jerome are scrolls;
on that held by the apostle, the words, 'Me tenet ara prior'; on
St. Jerome's,'Recubo presepis ad antrum', these epigraphs
confirming the tradition that the bodies of St. Matthias and St.
Jerome repose in this church, while indicating the sites of their
tombs. Popular regards have distinguished this tomb; no doubt in
intended honour to the Blessed Virgin, lamps are kept ever burning,
and vases of flowers ranged, before her mosaic image."--_Hemans'
Mediæval Christian Art._
At the west end of the right aisle is the entrance of the _Baptistery_,
which has a vast porphyry vase as a font. Hence we reach the _Sacristy_,
in the inner chamber of which are some exceedingly beautiful bas-reliefs
by _Mino da Fiesole_.
One of the greatest of the Christmas ceremonies is the procession at 5
A.M., in honour of the great relic of the church--the Santa
Culla--_i.e._, the cradle in which our Saviour was carried into Egypt,
not, as is frequently imagined, the manger, which is allowed to have
been of stone, and of which a single stone only is supposed to have
found its way to Rome, and to be preserved in the altar of the Blessed
Sacrament. The "Santa Culla" is preserved in a magnificent reliquary,
six feet high, adorned with bas-reliefs and statuettes in silver. On the
afternoon of Christmas eve the public can visit the relic at an altar in
a little chapel near the sacristy. On the afternoon of Christmas Day it
is also exposed, but upon the high altar, where it is less easily seen.
"Le Seigneur Jésus a voulu naître dans une étable; mais les hommes
ont apporté précieusement le petit berceau qui a reçu le salut du
monde, dans la reine des cités, et ils l'ont enchâssé dans l'or.
"C'est bien ici que nous devons accourir avec joie et redire ce
chant triomphant de l'Église: _Adeste, fideles, læti triumphantes;
venite, venite in Bethleem_."--_Une Chrétienne à Rome._
Among the many other relics preserved here are two little bags of the
brains of St. Thomas à Becket.
It was in this church that Pope St. Martin I. was celebrating mass in
the seventh century, when a guard sent by the Exarch Olympius appeared
on the threshold with orders to seize and put him to death. At the sight
of the pontiff the soldier was stricken with blindness, a miracle which
led to the conversion of Olympius and many other persons.
Platina, the historian of the popes, was buried here, with the epitaph:
"Quisquis es, si pius, Platynam et sua ne vexes, anguste jacent et soli
volunt esse."
Sta. Maria Maggiore was the scene of the seizure of Hildebrand by
Cencius:
"On Christmas Eve, 1075, the city of Rome was visited by a dreadful
tempest. Darkness brooded over the land, and the trembling
spectators believed that the day of final judgment was about to
dawn. In this war of the elements, however, two processions were
seen advancing to the Church of Sta. Maria Maggiore. At the head of
one was the aged Hildebrand, conducting a few priests to worship at
the shrine of the Virgo Deipara. The other was preceded by Cencius,
a Roman noble. At each pause in the tempest might be heard the
hallelujahs of the worshippers, or the voice of the pontiff,
pouring out benedictions on the little flock which knelt before
him--when Cencius grasped his person, and some yet more daring
ruffian inflicted a wound on his forehead. Bound with cords,
stripped of his sacred vestments, beaten, and subjected to the
basest indignities, the venerable minister of Christ was carried to
a fortified mansion within the walls of the city, again to be
removed at daybreak to exile or death. Women were there, with
women's sympathy and kindly offices, but they were rudely put
aside; and a drawn sword was already aimed at the pontiff's bosom,
when the cries of a fierce multitude, threatening to burn or batter
down the house, arrested the aim of the assassin. An arrow,
discharged from below, reached and slew him. The walls rocked
beneath the strokes of the maddened populace, and Cencius, falling
at his prisoner's feet, became himself a suppliant for pardon and
for life.... In profound silence, and with undisturbed serenity,
Hildebrand had thus far submitted to these atrocious indignities.
The occasional raising of his eyes towards heaven alone indicated
his consciousness of them. But to the supplication of his prostrate
enemy he returned an instant and a calm assurance of forgiveness.
He rescued Cencius from the exasperated besiegers, dismissed him in
safety and in peace, and returned, amidst the acclamations of the
whole Roman people, to complete the interrupted solemnities of Sta.
Maria Maggiore."--_Stephens' Lectures on Eccles. Hist._
Leaving the church by the door behind the tribune, we find ourselves at
the top of the steep slope of the Esquiline and in front of an _Obelisk_
erected here by Fontana for Sixtus V.,--brought from Egypt by Claudius,
and one of two which were used to guard the entrance to the mausoleum of
Augustus. The inscriptions on three of its sides are worth
notice:--"Christi Dei in æternum viventis cunabula lætissime colo, qui
mortui sepulchro Augusti tristis serviebam."--"Quem Augustus de vergine
nasciturum vivens adoravit, sed deinceps dominum dici noluit,
adoro."--"Christus per invictam crucem populo pacem præbeat, qui Augusti
pace in præsepe nasci voluit."
CHAPTER XIII.
THE BASILICAS OF THE LATERAN, SANTA CROCE, AND S. LORENZO.
Via S. Giovanni--The Obelisk and Baptistery--Basilica and
Cloisters--Mosaic of the Triclinium--Santa Scala--Palace of the
Lateran--Villa Massimo Arsole--SS. Pietro e Marcellino--Villa
Wolkonski--(Porta Furba--Tombs of the Via Latina--Basilica of S.
Stefano)--Santa Croce in Gerusalemme--Amphitheatrum
Castrense--Porta Maggiore--(Tomb of Sta. Helena--Torre dei
Schiavi--Cervaletto--Cerbara)--Porta and Basilica of S.
Lorenzo--Catacomb of S. Hippolytus.
Behind the Coliseum the Via S. Giovanni ascends the slope of the
Esquiline. In mediæval times this road was always avoided by the popes,
on account (as most authorities state) of the scandal attaching to the
more than doubtful legend of Joan, the famous papessa, who is said to
have horrified her attendants by giving birth to a child on this spot,
during a procession from the Lateran, and to have died of shame and
terror immediately afterwards. Joan is stated to have been educated at
Athens, to have skilfully obtained her election to the papal throne,
disguised as a man, between the reign of Leo IV. and that of Benedict
III. (855), and to have taken the name of John VIII. In the cathedral of
Siena the heads of all the popes in terra-cotta (down to Alexander
III.) decorate the frieze above the arches of the nave, and among them
was that of Pope Joan, inscribed "Johannes VIII. Femina de Anglia," till
1600, when it was changed into a head of Pope Zacharias by the Grand
Duke, at the request of Pope Clement VIII.
On the left of this street is S. Clemente (described Ch. VII.). On the
right, a long wall flooded by a cascade of Banksia roses in spring, and
a villa inlaid with terra-cotta ornaments, are those of the favourite
residence of the well-known Marchese Campana, the learned archæologist
of Etruria, and the chief benefactor of the Etruscan museum at the
Vatican, cruelly imprisoned and exiled by the papal government in 1858,
upon an accusation of having tampered with the revenues of Monte di
Pietà.
Beyond the turn of the road leading to S. Stefano Rotondo (Ch. VII.),
bas-reliefs of Our Saviour's Head (from the Acheirotopeton in the Sancta
Sanctorum) between two candelabra--upon the different buildings,
announce the property of the Lateran chapter.
The _Piazza di San Giovanni_ is surrounded by a remarkable group of
buildings. In front are the Baptistery and Basilica of the Lateran. On
the right is a Hospital for women, capable of containing 600 patients;
on the left, beyond the modern palace, are seen the buildings which
enclose the Santa Scala, and some broken arches of the Aqua Marcia. In
the centre of the piazza is the _Obelisk of the Lateran_, 150 feet high,
the oldest object in Rome, being referred by translators of
hieroglyphics to the year 1740 B.C., when it was raised in memory of the
Pharaoh Thothmes IV. It was brought, from the temple of the Sun at
Heliopolis, to Alexandria by Constantine, and removed thence by his son
Constantius to Rome, where it was used, together with the obelisk now in
the Piazza del Popolo, to ornament the Circus Maximus. Hence it was
moved to its present site in 1588, by Fontana, for Sixtus V. The obelisk
was then broken into three pieces, and in order to piece them together,
some part had to be cut off, but it is still the tallest in the city.
One of the inscriptions on the basement is false, as it narrates that
Constantine received at the Lateran the baptism which he did not receive
till he was dying at Nicomedia.
An octagon building of mean and miserable exterior is that of the
_Baptistery of the Lateran_, sometimes called S. Giovanni in Fonte,
built, not by Constantine, to whom it is falsely ascribed, but by Sixtus
III. (430-40). Of his time are the two porphyry columns at the entrance
on the side nearest the church, and the eight which form a colonnade
round the interior, supporting a cornice from which rise the eight small
columns of white marble, which sustain the dome. In the centre is the
font of green basalt in which Rienzi bathed on the night of August 1,
1347, before his public appearance as a knight, when he summoned Clement
VI. and other sovereigns of Europe to appear before him for judgment.
The cupola is decorated with scenes from the life of John the Baptist by
_Andrea Sacchi_. On the walls are frescoes pourtraying the life of
Constantine by _Gimignano_, _Carlo Maratta_, and _Andrea Camassei_.
On the right is the _Chapel of St. John the Baptist_, built by Pope
Hilary (461-67). Between two serpentine columns is a figure of St. John
Baptist by _L. Valadico_ after Donatello.
On the left is the _Chapel of St. John the Evangelist_, also built by
Hilary, who presented its bronze doors (said to have once belonged to
the Baths of Caracalla) in remembrance of his delivery from the fury of
fanatical monks at the Second Council of Ephesus, where he appeared as
the legate of Leo I.,--a fact commemorated by the inscription:
"Liberatori suo B. Joanni Evangelistæ Hilarius Episcopus famulus
Christi." The vault is covered with mosaics representing the Spotless
Lamb in Paradise. Here is a statue of St. John by _Landini_.
Close by is the entrance to the _Oratory of S. Venanzio_,[277] built in
640 by John IV., and dedicated to St. Venantius, from a filial feeling
to his father, who bore the same name. Nothing, however, remains of this
time but the mosaics. Those in the apse represent the Saviour in the act
of benediction with angels, and below him the Virgin (an aged woman) in
adoration,[278] with St. Peter and St. John Baptist, St. Paul and St.
John the Evangelist, St. Venantius and St. Domnus--and another figure
unnamed, probably John IV., holding the model of a church. Outside the
chancel arch are eight saints, with their names (Palmianus, Julius,
Asterius, Anastasius, Maurus, Septimius, Antiochianus, Cajanus), the
symbols of the evangelists, and the cities Bethlehem and Jerusalem; also
the verses:--
"Martyribus Christi Domini pia vota Johannes
Reddidit antistes sanctificante Deo.
Ac sacri fontis simile fulgente metallo,
Providus instanter hoc copulavit opus:
Quo quisque gradiens et Christum pronus adorans,
Effusasque preces impetrat ille suas."
The next chapel, called the _Capella Borgia_, and used as the
burial-place of that family, was once an open portico, but this
character was destroyed by the building up of the intercolumniations. On
its façade are a number of fragments of ancient friezes, &c. Over the
inner door is a bas-relief of the Crucifixion, of 1494.
The piteous modernization of this ancient group of chapels is chiefly
due to the folly of Urban VIII. The baptistery is used on Easter Eve for
the ceremony of adult baptism, the recipients being called Jews.
The _Lateran_ derives its name from a rich patrician family, whose
estates were confiscated by Nero, when their head, Plautius Lateranus,
was put to death for taking part in the conspiracy of Piso.[279] It
afterwards became an imperial residence, and a portion of it being given
by Maximianus to his daughter Fausta, second wife of Constantine,
received the name of "Domus Faustæ." It was this which was given by
Constantine to Pope Melchiades in 312,--a donation which was confirmed
to St. Sylvester, in whose reign the first basilica was built here, and
consecrated on November 9, 324, Constantine having laboured with his own
hands at the work. This basilica was overthrown by an earthquake in 896,
but was rebuilt by Sergius III. (904--11), being then dedicated to St.
John the Baptist. This second basilica, whose glories are alluded to by
Dante,--
----"Quando Laterano
Alle cose mortale andò di sopra."
_Paradiso_, xxxi.
was of the greatest interest, but was almost entirely destroyed by fire
in 1308. It was rebuilt, only to be again burnt down in 1360, when it
remained for four years in utter ruin, in which state it was seen and
mourned over by Petrarch. The fourth restoration of the basilica was due
to Urban V. (1362-70), but it has since undergone a series of
mutilations and modernizations, which have deplorably injured it. The
west front still retains the inscription "Sacrosancta Lateranensis
ecclesia, Omnium urbis et orbis Ecclesiarum Mater et Caput;" the Chapter
of the Lateran still takes precedence even over that of St. Peter's; and
every newly elected pope comes hither for his coronation.
"St. J. Lateran est regardé comme le siége du patriarchal romain. À
St. Pierre le pape est souverain pontife. À St. J. Lateran il est
évêque de Rome. Quand le pape est élu, il vient à St. J. Lateran
prendre possession de son siége comme évêque de Rome."--_A. Du
Pays._
The west end of the basilica is in part a remnant of the building of the
tenth century, and has two quaint towers (rebuilt by Sixtus IV.) at the
end of the transept, and a rich frieze of terra-cotta. The church is
entered from the transept by a portico, ending in a gloomy chapel which
contains a statue of Henry IV., by _Niccolo Cordieri_. The
_transept_--rich in colour from its basement of varied marbles, and its
upper frescoes of the legendary history of Constantine--is by far the
finest part of the basilica, which, as a whole, is infinitely inferior
to Sta. Maria Maggiore. The nave, consisting of five aisles, is of grand
proportions, but has been hideously modernized under _Borromini_, who
has enclosed all its ancient columns, except two near the tribune, in
tawdry plaster piers, in front of which are huge statues of the
apostles; the roof is gilt and gaudy, the tabernacle ugly and
ill-proportioned,--only the ancient pavement of opus-alexandrinum is
fine. Confessionals for different languages are placed here as in St.
Peter's. The _Tabernacle_ was erected by Urban V. in the fourteenth
century. Four granite columns support a gothic canopy, decorated at its
angles with canopied statuettes. Between these, on either side, are
three much restored frescoes by _Berni da Siena_, those in central
panels representing the Annunciation, the Crucifixion, the Coronation of
the Virgin, and the Saviour as a shepherd (very beautifully treated)
feeding his flock with corn. The skulls of SS. Peter and Paul are said
to be preserved here. The altar encloses the greater part of the famous
wooden table, saved at great risk of life from the conflagration of
1308, upon which St. Peter is supposed to have celebrated mass in the
house of Pudens.[280] The steps of the altar (at the top of which the
pope is installed) have an allegorical enamelled border with emblems of
an asp, a dragon, a lion, and basilisk, in allusion to Psalm xci.
In the confession, in front of the altar, is the bronze tomb of Martin
V., Oddone Colonna (1417--24), the wise and just pope who was elected at
the Council of Constance to put an end to the schism which had long
divided the papacy, and which had almost reduced the capital of the
Church to ruins. A bronze slab bears his figure, in low-relief, and is a
fine work of _Antonio Filarete_, author of the bronze doors at St.
Peter's. It bears the appropriate surname which was given to this
justly-loved pope--"Temporum suorum felicitas."
The tribune is of the time of Nicholas IV. (1287--1292). Above the arch
is a grand mosaic head of the Saviour, attributed to the time of
Constantine, and evidently of the fourth century,--of great interest on
this spot, as commemorating the vision of the Redeemer, who is said to
have appeared here on the day of the consecration of the church by
Sylvester and Constantine, looking down upon the people, and solemnly
hallowing the work with his visible presence. The head, which is grand
and sad in expression, is surrounded by six-winged seraphim. Below is an
ornamented cross, above which hovers a dove--from whose beak, running
down the cross, flow the waters which supply the four rivers of
Paradise. The disciples, as harts (panting for the water-brooks) and
sheep, flock to drink of the waters of life. In the distance is the New
Jerusalem, within which the Phœnix, the bird of eternity, is seated
upon the tree of Life, guarded by an angel with a two-edged sword.
Beside the cross stand, on the left, the Virgin with her hand resting on
the head of the kneeling pope, Nicholas IV.; St. Peter with a scroll
inscribed, "Tu es Christus filius Dei vivi;" St. Paul with a scroll
inscribed, "Salvatorem expectamus Dominum Jesum." On the right St. John
the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, St. Andrew (all with their names).
Between the first and second of these figures are others, on a smaller
scale, of St. Francis and St. Anthony of Padua. All these persons are
represented as walking in a flowery Paradise, in which the souls of the
blessed are besporting, and in front of which flows the Jordan. Below,
between the windows, are figures of prophets, and (very small) of two
Franciscans, who were the artists of the lower portion of the mosaic, as
is shown by the inscriptions, "Jacobus Turriti, pictor, hoc opus
fecit;"--"Fra Jacobus de Camerino socius magistri."
Behind the tribune, is all that remains internally of the architecture
of the tenth century, in the vaulted passage called "Portico Leonino,"
from its founder, Leo I. It is supported on low marble and granite
columns with Ionic and Corinthian capitals. Here are collected a variety
of relics of the ancient basilica. On either side of the entrance are
mosaic tablets, which relate to the building of the church. Then, on the
right, is a curious kneeling statue of Pope Nicholas IV., Masci
(1287--92). On the left, in the centre, is an altar, above which is an
ancient crucifix, and on either side tenth century statues of SS. Peter
and Paul.
On the right is the entrance to the sacristy (whose inner bronze doors
date from 1196), which contains an Annunciation by _Sebastian del
Piombo_, and a sketch by _Raphael_ for the Madonna, called "Della Casa
d'Alba," now at St. Petersburg; also an ancient bas-relief, which
represents the old and humble basilica of Pope Sergius. On the left, at
the end of the passage, is a very handsome cinquecento ciborium, and
near it the "Tabula Magna Lateranensis," containing the list of relics
belonging to the church.
Near this, opening from the transept, is the _Capella del Coro_, with
handsome wooden stallwork. It contains a portrait of Martin V., by
_Scipione Gaetani_.
The altar of the Sacrament, which closes the transept, has four fluted
bronze columns, said to have been brought from Jerusalem by Titus, and
to be hollow and filled with earth from Palestine.[281] The last chapel
in the left aisle is the _Corsini Chapel_, erected in 1729 in honour of
St. Andrea Corsini, from designs of Alessandro Galilei. It is in the
form of a Greek cross, and ranks next to the Borghese Chapel in the
richness of its marble decoration. The mosaic altar-piece, representing
S. Andrea Corsini, is a copy from _Guido_. The founder of the chapel,
Clement XII., Lorenzo Corsini (1730--40), is buried in a splendid
porphyry sarcophagus which he plundered from the Pantheon. Above it is a
bronze statue of the pope.[282] Opposite is the tomb of Cardinal Neri
Corsini, with a number of statues of the Bernini school.
Beneath the chapel is a vault lined with sarcophagi of the Corsini. Its
altar is surmounted by a magnificent Pietà--in whose beautiful and
impressive figures it is difficult to recognise a work of the usually
coarse and theatrical artist _Bernini_.
Of the many tombs of mediæval popes which formerly existed in this
basilica,[283] none remain, except the memorial slab and epitaph of
Sylvester II., Gerbert (999--1003). This pope is said (by the
chronicler Martin Polonus de Corenza) to have been a kind of
magician, who obtained first the archbishopric of Rheims, then that
of Ravenna, and then the papacy, by the aid of the devil, to whom,
in return, he promised to belong after death. When he ascended the
throne, he asked the devil how long he could reign, and the devil,
as is his custom, answered by a double-entendre, "If you never
enter Jerusalem, you will reign a long time." He occupied the
throne for four years, one month, and ten days, when, one day, as
he was officiating in the basilica of Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme, he
saw that he had passed the fatal threshold, and that his death was
impending. Overwhelmed with repentance, he confessed his
backslidings before the people, and exhorted them to lay aside
pride, to resist the temptations of the devil, and to lead a good
life. After this he begged of his attendants to cut his body in
pieces after he was dead, as he deserved, and to place it on a
common cart, and bury it wherever the horses stopped of their own
accord. Then was manifested the will of the Divine Providence, that
repentant sinners should learn that their God preserves for them a
place of pardon even in this life,--for the horses went of their
own accord to St. John Lateran, where he was buried. "Since then,"
says Platina, "the rattling of his bones, and the sweat, or rather
the damp, with which his tomb becomes covered, has always been the
infallible sign and forerunner of the death of a pope"!
Against the second pillar of the right aisle, counting from the west
door, is a very interesting fresco of _Giotto_, originally one of many
paintings executed by him for the loggia of the adjoining papal palace,
whence the benediction and "plenary indulgence" were given in the
jubilee year. It represents Boniface VIII. (Benedetto Gaetani,
1294--1303), the founder of the jubilee, between two priests.
"On y voit Boniface annonçant au peuple le jubilé. Le portrait du
pape doit être ressemblant. J'ai reconnu dans cette physiognomie,
où il y a plus de finesse que de force, la statue que j'avais vue
couchée sur le tombeau de ce pape, dans les souterrains du
Vatican."--_Ampère, Voyage Dantesque._
Opening from this aisle are several chapels. The second is that of the
newly established and rich family of Torlonia, which contains a marble
Pietà, by Tenerani, and some handsome modern monuments. The third is
that of the Massimi (designed by Giacomo della Porta), which has, as an
altar-piece, the Crucifixion by _Sermoneta_. Beyond this, in the right
aisle, are several remarkable tombs of cardinals, among which is the
tomb of Cardinal Guissano, who died in 1287. The painters Cav. d'Arpino
and Andrea Sacchi are buried in this church.
Entered from the last chapel in the left aisle (by a door which the
sacristan will open) is the beautiful twelfth century _Cloister of the
Monastery_, surrounded by low arches supported on exquisite inlaid and
twisted columns, above which is a lovely frieze of coloured marbles. The
court thus enclosed is a garden of roses; in the centre is a well
(adorned with crosses) of the tenth century, called the "Well of the
Woman of Samaria." In the cloister is a collection of architectural and
traditional relics, including a beautiful old white marble throne,
inlaid with mosaics, a candelabrum resting on a lion, and several other
exquisitely wrought details from the old basilica; also a porphyry slab
upon which the soldiers are said to have cast lots for the seamless
robe; columns which were rent by the earthquake of the Crucifixion; a
slab, resting on pillars, shown as a measure of the height of Our
Saviour,[284] and a smaller slab, also on pillars, of which it is said
that it was once an altar, at which the officiating priest doubted of
the Real Presence, when the wafer fell from his hand through the stone,
leaving a round hole which still remains.
Five General Councils have been held at the Lateran, viz.:--
I.--March 19, 1123, under Calixtus II., with regard to the
Investiture.
II.--April 18, 1139, under Innocent II., to condemn the doctrines
of Arnold of Brescia and Peter de Bruys, and to oppose the
anti-pope Anacletus II.
III.--March 5, 1179, under Alexander III., to condemn the
doctrines of Waldenses and Albigenses, and to end the schism
caused by Frederick Barbarossa.
IV.--Nov. 11, 1215, at which 400 bishops assembled under Innocent
III., to condemn the Albigenses, and the heresies of the Abbot
Joachim.
V.--May 3, 1512, under Julius II. and Leo X., at which the
Pragmatic Sanction was abolished, and a Concordat concluded between
the Pope and Francis I. for the destruction of the liberties of the
Gallican Church.
It is in the basilica of the Lateran that the Church places the first
meeting between St. Francis and St Dominic.
"Une nuit, pendant que Dominique dormait, il lui sembla voir
Jésus-Christ se préparant à exterminer les superbes, les
voluptueux, les avares, lorsque tout-à-coup la Vierge l'apaisa en
lui présentant deux hommes: l'un d'eux lui-même; quant à l'autre,
il ne le connaissait pas; mais le lendemain, la première personne
qu'il aperçut, en entrant au Latran, fut l'inconnu qui lui était
apparu en songe. Il était couvert de haillons et priait avec
ferveur. Dominique se précipita dans ses bras, et l'embrassant avec
effusion: 'Tu es mon compagnon,' lui dit-il; 'nous courons la même
carrière, demeurons ensemble, et aucun ennemi ne prévaudra contre
nous.' Et, à partir de ce moment, dit la légende, ils n'eurent plus
qu'un cœur et qu'une âme dans le Seigneur. Ce pauvre, ce
mendiant, était saint François d'Assise."--_Gournerie, Rome
Chrétienne._
Issuing from the west door of the basilica, we find ourselves in a wide
portico, one of whose five doors is a Porta Santa. At the end, is
appropriately placed an ancient marble statue of Constantine, who is in
the dress of a Roman warrior, bearing the _labarum_, or standard of the
cross, which is here represented as a lance surmounted by the monogram
of Christ. From this portico we look down upon one of the most beautiful
and characteristic views in Rome. On one side are the Alban Hills, blue
in morning, or purple in evening light, sprinkled with white villages of
historic interest--Albano, Rocca di Papa, Marino, Frescati, Colonna; on
the other side are the Sabine Mountains, tipped with snow; in the
middle distance the long, golden-hued lines of aqueducts stretch away
over the plain, till they are lost in the pink haze, and nearer still
are the desolate basilica of Santa Croce, the fruit gardens of the Villa
Wolkonski, interspersed with rugged fragments of massive brickwork, and
the glorious old walls of the city itself. The road at our feet is the
Via Appia Nuova, which leads to Naples, and which immediately passes
through the modern gate of Rome, known as the Porta _San Giovanni_
(built in the sixteenth century by Gregory XIII.). Nearer to us, on the
right, is an ancient gateway, the finest on the Aurelian wall, bricked
up by Ladislaus, king of Naples, in 1408. By this gate, known as the
_Porta Asinaria_, from the family of the Asinarii, Belisarius entered
Rome in 505, and Totila, through the treachery of the Isaurian Guard, in
546. Here also, in 1084, Henry IV. entered Rome against Hildebrand with
his anti-pope Guibert; and, a few years after, the name of the gate
itself was changed to Porta Perusta, in consequence of the injuries it
received from Robert Guiscard, who came to the rescue of the lawful
pontiff.
The broad open space which we see beneath the steps was the favourite
walk of the mediæval popes.
"The splendid palace of the Lateran reflected the rays of the
evening sun, as Francis of Assisi with two or three of his
disciples approached it to obtain the papal sanction for the rules
of his new Order. A group of churchmen in sumptuous apparel were
traversing with slow and measured steps its lofty terrace, then
called 'the Mirror,' as if afraid to overtake him who preceded
them, in a dress studiously simple, and with a countenance wrapped
in earnest meditation. Unruffled by passion, and yet elate with
conscious power, that eagle eye, and those capacious brows,
announced him the lord of a dominion which might have satisfied the
pride of Diogenes, and the ambition of Alexander. Since the
Tugurium was built on the Capitoline, no greater monarch had ever
called the seven hills his own. But, in his pontificate, no era had
occurred more arduous than that in which Innocent III. saw the
mendicants of Assisi prostrate at his feet. The interruption was as
unwelcome as it was abrupt; as he gazed at the squalid dress and
faces of his suitors, and observed their bare and unwashed feet,
his lip curled with disdain, and sternly commanding them to
withdraw, he seemed again to retire from the outer world into some
of the deep recesses of that capacious mind. Francis and his
companions betook themselves to prayer; Innocent to his couch.
There (says the legend) he dreamed that a palm-tree sprouted up
from the ground beneath his feet, and, swiftly shooting up into the
heavens, cast her boughs on every side, a shelter from the heat,
and a refreshment to the weary. The vision of the night dictated
the policy of the morning, and assured Innocent that, under his
fostering care, the Franciscan palm would strike deep her roots,
and expand her foliage on every side, in the vineyard of the
Church."--_Stephens' St. Francis of Assisi._
The western façade of the basilica, built by Alessandro Galilei in 1734,
has a fine effect at a distance, but the statues of Christ and the
apostles which line its parapet are too large for its proportions.
_The ancient Palace of the Lateran_ was the residence of the popes for
nearly 1000 years. Almost all the events affecting the private lives of
a vast line of ecclesiastical sovereigns happened within its walls.
Plundered in each successive invasion, stricken with malaria during the
autumn months, and often partially burnt, it was finally destroyed by
the great enemy of Roman antiquities, Sixtus V. Among the scenes which
occurred within its walls, perhaps the most terrible was that when John
X., the completer of the Lateran basilica, was invaded here by Marozia,
who was beginning to seize the chief power in Rome, and who carried the
pope off prisoner to St. Angelo, after he had seen his brother Peter
murdered before his eyes in the hall of the pontifical palace.
The only remnants preserved of this famous building are the private
chapel of the popes, and the end wall of their dining-hall, known as the
_Triclinium_, which contains a copy, erected by Benedict XIV., of the
ancient mosaic of the time of Leo III. which formerly existed here, and
the remains of which are preserved in the Vatican.
"In this mosaic, Hallam (Middle Ages) sees proof that the authority
of the Greek Emperor was not entirely abrogated at Rome till long
after the period of papal aggrandisement by Pepin and his son, but
he is warranted by no probabilities in concluding that Constantine
V., whose reign began A.D. 780, is intended by the emperor kneeling
with St. Peter or Pope Sylvester."--_Hemans' Ancient Christian
Art._
Professor Bryce finds two paintings in which the theory of the mediæval
empire is unmistakeably set forth; one of them in Rome, the other in
Florence, (a fresco in the chapter-house of S. M. Novella).
"The first of these is the famous mosaic of the Lateran triclinium,
constructed by Pope Leo III., about A.D. 800, and an exact copy of
which, made by the order of Sixtus V., may still be seen over
against the facade of St. John Lateran. Originally meant to adorn
the state banqueting-hall of the popes, it is now placed in the
open air, in the finest situation in Rome, looking from the brow of
a hill across the green ridges of the Campagna to the olive groves
of Tivoli and the glistering crags and snow-capped summits of the
Umbrian and Sabine Apennine. It represents in the centre Christ
surrounded by the apostles, whom He is sending forth to preach the
gospel; one hand is extended to bless, the other holds a book with
the words 'Pax vobis.' Below and to the right Christ is depicted
again, and this time sitting: on His right hand kneels Pope
Sylvester, on His left the Emperor Constantine; to the one He gives
the keys of heaven and hell, to the other a banner surmounted by a
cross. In the group on the opposite, that is, on the left side of
the arch, we see the Apostle Peter seated, before whom in like
manner kneel Pope Leo III. and Charles the Emperor; the latter
wearing, like Constantine, his crown. Peter, himself grasping the
keys, gives to Leo the pallium of an archbishop, to Charles the
banner of the Christian army. The inscription is 'Beatus Petrus
dona vitam Leoni P. Pet victoriam Carulo regi dona;' while round
the arch is written, 'Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax
omnibus bonæ voluntatis.'
"The order and nature of the ideas here symbolized is sufficiently
clear. First comes the revelation of the gospel, and the divine
commission to gather all men into its fold. Next, the institution,
at the memorable era of Constantine's conversion, of the two powers
by which the Christian people is to be respectively taught and
governed. Thirdly, we are shown the permanent Vicar of God, the
apostle who keeps the keys of heaven and hell, re-establishing
these same powers on a new and firmer basis. The badge of
ecclesiastical supremacy he gives to Leo as the spiritual head of
the faithful on earth, the banner of the Church militant to
Charles, who is to maintain her cause against heretics and
infidels."--_J. Bryce_, _Holy Roman Empire_, ch. vii. pp. 117, 118,
3rd ed., 1871.
In the building behind the Triclinium, attached to a convent of
Passionist monks, and erected by Fontana for Sixtus V., is preserved
_the Santa Scala_. This famous staircase, supposed to be that of the
house of Pilate, ascended and descended by our Saviour, is said to have
been brought from Jerusalem by Helena, mother of Constantine the Great,
and has been regarded with especial reverence by the Roman Church for
1500 years. In 897 it was injured and partially thrown down by an
earthquake, but was re-erected in the old Lateran palace, whence it was
removed to its present site on the demolition of that venerable
building. Clement XII. caused the steps to be covered by a wooden
casing, which has since been repeatedly worn out by the knees of
ascending pilgrims. Apertures are left, through which the marble steps
can be seen; two of them are said to be stained with the blood of the
Saviour!
At the foot of the stairs, within the atrium, are fine sculptures of
_Giacometti_, representing the "Ecce Homo,"--and the "Kiss of Judas,"
purchased and placed here by Pius IX.
Between these statues the pilgrims kneel to commence the ascent of the
Santa Scala. The effect of the staircase (especially on Fridays in Lent,
and most of all on Good Friday), with the figures ascending on their
knees in the dim light, and the dark vaulted ceiling covered with faded
frescoes, is exceedingly picturesque.
"Reason may condemn, but feeling cannot resist the claim to
reverential sympathy in the spectacle daily presented by the Santa
Scala. Numerous indulgences have been granted by different popes to
those who ascend it with prayer at each step. Whilst kneeling upon
these stairs public penance used to be performed in the days of the
Church's more rigorous discipline; as the saintly matron Fabiola
there appeared a penitent before the public gaze, in sackcloth and
ashes, A.D. 390.... There is no day on which worshippers may not be
seen slowly ascending those stairs; but it is during Holy Week the
concourse is at its height; and on Good Friday I have seen this
structure completely covered by the multitude, like a swarm of bees
settling on flowers!"--_Hemans' Ancient Sacred Art._
"Brother Martin Luther went to accomplish the ascent of the Santa
Scala--the Holy Staircase--which once, they say, formed part of
Pilate's house. He slowly mounted step after step of the hard
stone, worn into hollows by the knees of penitents and pilgrims. An
indulgence for a thousand years--indulgence from penance--is
attached to this act of devotion. Patiently he crept half-way up
the staircase, when he suddenly stood erect, lifted his face
heavenward, and, in another moment, turned and walked slowly down
again.
"He said that, as he was toiling up, a voice as if from heaven,
seemed to whisper to him the old, well-known words, which had been
his battle-cry in so many a victorious combat,--'The just shall
live by faith.'
"He seemed awakened, as if from a nightmare, and restored to
himself. He dared not creep up another step; but, rising from his
knees, he stood upright, like a man suddenly loosed from bonds and
fetters, and with the firm step of a freeman, he descended the
staircase, and walked from the place."--_Schönberg-Cotta
Chronicles._
"Did the feet of the Saviour actually tread these steps? Are these
reliques really portions of his cross, crown of thorns, &c., or is
all this fictitious? To me it is all one.
"'He is not here, he is risen!' said the angel at the tomb. The
worship of the bodily covering which the spirit has cast off
belongs to the soul still in the larva condition; and the ascending
of the Scala Santa on the knees is too convenient a mode for
obtaining the forgiveness of sins, and at the same time a hindrance
upon the only true way."--_Frederika Bremer._
Ascending one of the lateral staircases--no _foot_ must touch the Santa
Scala--we reach the outside of the _Sancta Sanctorum_, a chapel held so
intensely sacred that none but the pope can officiate at its altar, and
that it is _never_ open to others, except on the morning before Palm
Sunday, when the canons of the Lateran come hither to worship, in solemn
procession, with torches and a veiled crucifix, and, even then, none but
the clergy are allowed to pass its threshold. The origin of the
sanctuary is lost in antiquity, but it was the private chapel of the
mediæval popes in the old palace, and is known to have existed already,
dedicated to St. Laurence, in the time of Pelagius I. (578--590), who
deposited here some relics of St. Andrew and St. Luke. It was restored
by Honorius III. in 1216, and almost rebuilt by Nicholas III. in 1277.
It is permitted to gaze through a grating upon the picturesque glories
of the interior, which are chiefly of the thirteenth century. The altar
is in a recess, supported by two porphyry columns. Above it a beautiful
silver tabernacle, presented by Innocent III. (1198-1216), to contain
the great relic, which invests the chapel with its peculiar sanctity,--a
portrait of our Saviour (placed here by Stephen III. in 752), held by
the Roman Church as authentic,--to have been begun by St. Luke and
finished by an angel, whence the name by which it is known,
"Acheirotopeton," or, the "picture made without hands."
"The different theories as to the acheirotopeton picture, and the
manner in which it reached this city, are stated with naïveté by
Maroni--_i.e._, that the apostles and the Madonna, meeting after
the ascension, resolved to order a portrait of the Crucified, for
satisfying the desire of the faithful, and commissioned St. Luke to
execute the task; that after three days' prayer and fasting, such a
portrait was drawn in outline by that artist, but, before he had
begun to colour, the tints were found to have been filled in by
invisible hands; that this picture was brought from Jerusalem to
Rome, either by St. Peter, or by Titus (together with the sacred
spoils of the temple); or else expedited hither in a miraculous
voyage of only twenty-four hours by S. Germanus, patriarch of
Constantinople, who desired thus to save such a treasure from the
outrages of the Iconoclasts; and that, about A.D. 726, Pope Gregory
II., apprised of its arrival at the mouth of the Tiber by
revelation, proceeded to carry it thence, with due escort, to Rome;
since which advent it has remained in the Sancta
Sanctorum."--_Hemans' Mediæval Christian Art._
Above the altar is, in gilt letters, the inscription, "non est in tota
sanctior urbe locus." Higher up, under gothic arches, and between
twisted columns, are pictures of sainted popes and martyrs, but these
have been so much retouched as to have lost their interest. The gratings
here are those of the relic chamber, which contains the reputed sandals
of Our Saviour, fragments of the true cross, &c. On the ceiling is a
grand mosaic,--a head of Our Saviour within a nimbus, sustained by
six-winged seraphim--ascribed to the eighth century. The sill in front
of the screen is covered with money, thrown in as offerings by the
pilgrims.
The chapel was once much larger. Its architect was probably Deodatus
Cosmati. An inscription near the door tells us, "Magister Cosmatus fecit
hoc opus."
Here, in the time when the Lateran palace was inhabited, the feet of
twelve sub-deacons were annually washed by the pope on Holy Thursday. On
the Feast of the Assumption the sacred picture used to be borne in
triumph through the city, halting in the Forum, where the feet of the
pope were washed in perfumed waters on the steps of Sta. Maria Nuova,
and the "Kyrie Eleison" was chaunted a hundred times. This custom was
abolished by Pius V. in 1566.
The _Modern Palace of the Lateran_ was built from designs of Fontana by
Sixtus V. In 1693 Innocent XII. turned it into a hospital,--in 1438
Gregory XVI. appropriated it as a museum. The entrance faces the obelisk
in the Piazza di San Giovanni. The palace is always shown, but the
terrible cold which pervades it makes it a dangerous place except in the
late spring months, and a visit to it is often productive of fever.
The ground floor is the principal receptacle for antiquities, found at
Rome within the last few years. It contains a number of very beautiful
sarcophagi and bas-reliefs.
Entering under the corridor on the right, the most remarkable objects
are:--
_1st Room._--
LEFT WALL:
Relief of the Abduction of Helen.
RIGHT WALL:
High relief of two pugilists, 'Dares and Entellus.'
Grand relief of Trajan followed by senators, from the Forum of
Trajan.
The sacred oak of Jupiter, with figures.
Bust of Marcus Aurelius.
_2nd Room._--
Beautiful architectural fragments, chiefly from the Forum of
Trajan.
_3rd Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Statue of Æsculapius.
RIGHT WALL:
Statue of Antinous, called the Braschi, found at Palestrina.
Bought from the Braschi family by Gregory XVI for 12,000 scudi.
WALL OF EGRESS:
Sarcophagus of a child, with a relief representing pugilists.
_4th Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Greek relief of Medea and the daughters of Peleus.
Above (one of a number of busts), 762. Beautiful head of a Dryad.
Statue of Germanicus.
RIGHT WALL:
Statue of Mars.
WALL OF EGRESS:
Copy of the Faun of Praxiteles.
IN THE CENTRE:
A fine vase of Lumachella.
A passage is crossed to the
_5th Room._--
IN THE CENTRE:
1. Sacrifice of Mithras.
2. A stag of basalt.
3. A cow.
RIGHT WALL:
Sepulchral urn, with a curious relief representing children and
cock-fighting.
_6th Room._--
An interesting collection of statues, from Cervetri (Cære),
including those of Tiberius and Claudius; between them Agrippina,
sixth wife of Claudius,--and others less certain.
BETWEEN THE WINDOWS:
Drusilla, sister of Claudius, and, on the wall, part of her
epitaph.
_7th Room._--
RIGHT WALL:
Faun dancing,--found near Sta. Lucia in Selce.
FACING THE ENTRANCE:
_A grand statue of Sophocles_ (the gem of the collection), found at
Terracina, 1838. Given by the Antonelli family.
"Sophocle, dans une pose aisée et fière, un pied en avant, un bras
enveloppé dans son manteau qu'il serre contre son corps, contemple
avec une majestueuse sérénité la nature humaine et la domine d'un
regard sûr et tranquille."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 573.
_8th Room._--
Statue of Neptune, from Porto--the legs and arms restored.
_9th Room._--
Architectural fragments from the Via Appia and Forum.
_10th Room._--
A series of interesting reliefs, found 1848, at the tomb of the
Aterii at Centocellæ, representing the preparations for the funeral
solemnities of a great Roman lady.
ENTRANCE WALL:
The building of the sepulchre. A curious machine for raising heavy
stones is introduced.
RIGHT WALL:
The body of the dead surrounded by burning torches, the mourners
tearing their hair and beating their breasts.
WALL OF EGRESS:
Showing several Roman buildings which the funeral procession would
pass,--among them the Coliseum and the Arch of Titus--inscribed,
"Arcus in sacra via summa."
Signor Rosa has considered this last relief of great importance, as
indicating by the different monuments the route which a
well-ordered funeral procession ought to pursue.
A second passage is crossed to the
_11th Room._--
Containing several fine sarcophagi.
_12th Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Sarcophagus, with the story of Orestes.
RIGHT WALL:
Sarcophagus decorated with Cupids bearing garlands, and supporting
a head of Augustus.
WALL OF EGRESS:
Sarcophagus representing the destruction of the children of Niobe.
_13th Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Statue of C. Lælius Saturninus.
IN THE CENTRE:
Sarcophagus of P. Cæcilius Vallianus, representing a funeral
banquet.
LEFT WALL:
Unfinished statue of a captive barbarian, with sculptor's marks
remaining, to guide the workman's chisel.
_15th Room._--
This and the next room are devoted to objects recently found in the
excavations at Ostia.
LEFT WALL:
Mosaic in a niche.
_16th Room._--
IN THE CENTRE:
Reclining statue of Atys.
RIGHT WALL:
Frescoes of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, from a tomb at
Ostia.
The _Christian Museum_, founded by Pius IX., and arranged by Padre
Marchi and the Cavaliere Rossi, is of great interest. In the first hall
is a statue of Christ by _Sosnowsky_, and in the wall behind it three
mosaics,--two from the catacombs, that in the centre--of Christ with SS.
Peter and Paul--from the old St. Peter's. Hence we ascend a staircase
lined with Christian sarcophagi. At the foot are two statues of the Good
Shepherd.
"Une des compositions de Calamis ne doit pas être oubliée à Rome,
car ce sujet païen a été adopté par l'art chrétien des premiers
temps. Les représentations du _Bon Pasteur rapportant la brebis_,
expressions touchante de la miséricorde divine, ont leur origine
dans le _Mercure porte-bélier_ (Criophore). Quelquefois c'est un
_berger_ qui porte un bélier, une brebis ou un agneau; l'on se
rapproche ainsi a l'idée du _bon pasteur_. En général, le bon
pasteur, dans les monuments chrétiens, porte une _brebis_, la
brebis égarée de l'Évangile; mais quelquefois aussi il porte _un
bélier_; et alors le souvenir de l'original païen dans la
composition chrétienne est manifeste."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii.
256.
The sarcophagus on the left, which tells the story of Jonah, is
especially fine. The corridor above is also lined with sarcophagi. The
best are on the left; of these the most remarkable are, the 1st, the
marriage at Cana; 4th, the Good Shepherd repeated several times among
vines, with cherubs gathering the grapes; 7th, a sarcophagus with a
canopy supported by two pavonazzetto columns, and on the wall behind,
frescoes of the Good Shepherd, &c. At the raised end of the corridor is
the seated statue of Hippolytus, Bishop of Porto in the third century
(the upper part a restoration), found in the Catacomb of Sta. Cyriaca,
and moved hither from the Vatican Library; upon the chair is engraved
the celebrated Paschal Calendar, which is supposed to settle the
unorthodoxy of those early Christians who kept Easter at the same time
as the Jews.
Hence, three rooms lined with drawings from the paintings in the
different catacombs, lead to,--
THE PICTURE GALLERY.
_1st Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Cartoon of stoning of Stephen: _Giulio Romano_.
Below this is the celebrated mosaic called _Asarotos_, representing
an unswept floor after a banquet. It is inscribed with the name of
its artist, _Heraclitus_, but is a copy from one of the two famous
mosaics of Sosus of Pergamus (the other is "Pliny's Doves"). It was
found on the Aventine in 1833 in the gardens of Servilius, and
"probably adorned a dining-room where Cæsar may have supped with
Servilia, the sister of Cato, and mother of Brutus." A similar
pavement is alluded to by Statius:--
"Varias ubi picta per artes
Gaudet humus superare novis asarota figuris."
_Sylv._ i. 3, 55.
LEFT WALL:
Christ and St Thomas--a cartoon: _Camuccini_.
WINDOW WALL:
The first sketch for the famous fresco of the Descent from the
Cross at the Trinità de' Monti: _Daniele da Volterra_.
On the right is the entrance of the
_2nd Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Annunciation: _Cav. d' Arpino_.
RIGHT WALL:
George IV. of England (most strangely out of place): _Lawrence_.
WALL OF EGRESS:
Assumption of the Virgin: _After Guercino_.
From the corner of this room, on the right, a staircase leads to a
gallery, whence one may look down upon the huge and hideous mosaic
pavement--with portraits of twenty-eight athletes--found in the Baths of
Caracalla in 1822.
"Les gladiateurs de la mosaïque de Saint Jean de Latran ont reçu la
forte alimentation qu'on donnait à leurs pareils; ils ont bien cet
air de résolution brutale que devaient avoir ceux qui prononçaient
ce féroce serment que nous a conservé Pétrone: 'Nous jurons d'obéir
à nôtre maître Eumolpe, qu'il nous ordonne de nous laisser brûler,
enchaîner, frapper, tuer par le fer ou autrement; et comme vrais
gladiateurs, nous dévouons à notre maître nos corps et nos
vies.'"--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iv. 33.
On the left of 1st room is the
_3rd Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Madonna with SS. Peter, Dominic, and Anthony on the right, and SS.
John Baptist, Laurence, and Francis on the left: _Marco Palmezzano
di Forli_, 1537.
IN THE LEFT CORNER:
Madonna and Saints: _Carlo Crivelli_, 1482.
LEFT WALL:
St. Thomas receiving the girdle of the Virgin (the Sacra Cintola of
Prato)--with a predella: _Benozzo Gozzoli_.
WALL OF EGRESS:
Madonna with St. John Baptist and St. Jerome: _Palmezzano_.
_4th Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Sixtus V. as Cardinal: _Sassoferrato_.
Madonna: _Carlo Crivelli_, 1482--very highly finished.
LEFT WALL:
Sixtus V. as Pope: _Domenichino_(?).
Two Gobelins from pictures of Fra Bartolommeo at the Quirinal.
WALL OF EGRESS:
Christ with the Tribute Money: _Caravaggio_.
_5th Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Entombment: _Venetian School_.
LEFT WALL:
Greek Baptism: _Pietro Nocchi_, 1840.
WALL OF EGRESS:
Holy Family: _Andrea del Sarto_.
_6th Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Baptism of Christ: _Cesare da Sesto_.
LEFT WALL:
SS. Agnes and Emerentiana: _Luca Signorelli_; Annunciation: _F.
Francia_; SS. Laurence and Benedict (very peculiar, as scarcely
showing their faces at all, but magnificent in colour): _Luca
Signorelli_.
WALL OF EGRESS:
Coronation of the Virgin, with wings, of saints, angels, and doves:
_F. Filippo Lippi_.
BETWEEN THE WINDOWS: S. Jerome, in tempera: _Giovanni Sanzio,
father of Raphael_.
_7th Room._--
ENTRANCE WALL:
Pagan sacrifice: _Caravaggio_ (?).
LEFT WALL:
_Altar-piece by Antonio da Murano_, 1464.
WALL OF EGRESS:
Christ at Emmaus: _Caravaggio_.
_8th Room._--
An oil copy of the fresco of the Flagellation of St. Andrew by
Domenichino, at S. Gregorio.
_9th Room._--
A set of beautiful terracotta busts and reliefs by _Pettrich_,
illustrative of North American Indian life. This room is called the
Hall of Council, and is surrounded by fresco portraits of popes,
and pictures allegorical of their arms, &c.
The walls of the open galleries on this floor of the palace have been
covered with early Christian inscriptions from the catacombs, which have
been thus arranged in arches:--
1--3. Epitaphs of martyrs and others of temp. Damasus I. (366 to 384).
4--7. Dated inscriptions from 238 to 557.
8--9. Inscriptions relating to doctrine.
10.--Inscriptions relating to popes, presbyters, and deacons.
11--12. Inscriptions relating to simple ecclesiastics.
13.--Inscriptions of affection to relations and friends.
14--16. Symbolical.
17.--Simple epitaphs from different catacombs.
On the third floor of the palace are casts from the bas-reliefs on the
column of Trajan.
Before leaving the Lateran altogether, we must notice amongst its early
institutions, the famous school of music which existed here throughout
the middle ages.
"Gregory the Great, whose object it seems to have been to render
religion a thing of the senses, was the founder of the music of the
Church. He instituted the school for it in the Lateran, whence the
Carlovingian monarchs obtained teachers of singing and
organ-playing. The Frankish monks were sent thither for
instruction."--_Dyer's Hist. of the City of Rome._
Opposite the palace is the entrance of the _Villa Massimo Arsoli_, to
which admission may be obtained by a permesso given at the Palazzo
Massimo alle Colonne. There is little to see here, however, except a
casino beautifully decorated with scenes taken from the great Italian
poets by the modern German artists, Schnorr, Kock, Ph. Veit, Overbeck,
and Führich.
"Les sujets sont tirés de Dante, de l'Arioste, et du Tasse. Dante a
été confide à Cornélius, l'Arioste à Schnorr, le Tasse à Overbeck,
les trois plus célèbres noms de cette école qui croit pouvoir
remonter par une imitation savante à la naïveté du XVe.
siècle."--_Ampère, Voyage Dantesque._
Leading from the Piazza di San Giovanni to Sta. Maria Maggiore is the
Via Immerulana, where, in the hollow, is the strange-looking _Church of
SS. Pietro e Marcellino_, in which is preserved a miraculous painting of
the Crucifixion; the figure upon the cross is supposed to move the eyes,
when regarded by the faithful. This picture, a small replica of the
magnificent Guido at S. Lorenzo in Lucina, is shown, behind a grille, by
a nun of Sta. Theresa, veiled from head to foot in blue, like an
immovable pillar of blue drapery.
"SS. Pietro e Marcellino stands in the valley behind the Esquiline,
in the long, lonely road between Sta. Maria Maggiore and the
Lateran. SS. Peter Exorcista and Marcellinus are always represented
together in priestly habits, bearing their palms. Their legend
relates, that in the persecution under Diocletian they were cast
into prison. Artemius, keeper of the dungeon, had a daughter named
Paulina, and she fell sick; and St. Peter offered to restore her
to health, if her father would believe in the true God. And the
jailer mocked him, saying, 'If I put thee into the deepest dungeon,
and load thee with heavier chains, will thy God deliver thee? If he
doth, I will believe in him.' And Peter answered, 'Be it so, not
out of regard to thee; for it matters little to our God whether
such an one as thou believe in him or not, but that the name of
Christ may be glorified, and thyself confounded.'
"And in the middle of the night Peter and Marcellinus, in white
shining garments, entered the chamber of Artemius as he lay asleep,
who, being struck with awe, fell down and worshipped the name of
Christ; and he, his wife, daughter, and three hundred others, were
baptized. After this the two holy men were condemned to die for the
faith, and the executioner was ordered to lead them to a forest
three miles from Rome, that the Christians might not discover their
place of sepulture. And when he had brought them to a solitary
thicket overgrown with brambles and thorns, he declared to them
that they were to die, upon which they cheerfully fell to work and
cleared away a space fit for the purpose, and dug the grave in
which they were to be laid. Then they were beheaded (June 2), and
died encouraging each other.
"The fame of SS. Pietro e Marcellino is not confined to Rome. In
the reign of Charlemagne they were venerated as martyrs throughout
Italy and Gaul; and Eginhard, the secretary of Charlemagne who
married his daughter Emma, is said to have held them in particular
honour. Every one, I believe, knows the beautiful story of Eginhard
and Emma,--and the connection of these saints with them, as their
chosen protectors, lends an interest to their solitary deserted
church. In the Roma Sotterranea of Bosio, p. 126, there is an
ancient fragment found in the catacombs, which represents St. Peter
Exorcista, St. Marcellinus, and Paulina, standing together."--_Mrs.
Jameson._
Behind the Santa Scala, a narrow lane leads to the _Villa Wolkonski_ (a
"permesso" may be obtained through your banker), a most beautiful
garden, running along the edge of the hill, intersected by the broken
arches of the Aqua Claudia, and possessing exquisite views over the
Campagna, with its lines of aqueducts to the Alban and Sabine mountains.
_No one should omit to visit this villa._
"Where the aqueducts, just about to enter the city, most nearly
converge, and looking across the Campagna--which their arches only
seem able to span--towards Albano and the hills, stands the Villa.
Embosomed in olive and in ilex trees, it is rich in hoar cypresses,
in urns, and in those pathetic fragments of old workmanship which
an undergrowth of violets and acanthus half hides, and half
reveals."--_Vera._
* * * * *
About a mile beyond the Porta S. Giovanni, a road branches off on the
left to the _Porta Furba_, an arch of the Aqua Felice, founded on the
line of the Claudian and Marcian aqueducts. Artists may find a
picturesque subject here in a pretty fountain, with a portion of the
decaying aqueduct. Beyond the arch is the mound called _Monte del
Grano_, which has been imagined to be the burial-place of Alexander
Severus. Beyond this, the road (to Frescati) passes on the left the vast
ruins, called _Sette Bassi_.
The direct road--which leads to Albano--reaches, about two miles from
the gate, a queer building, called the Casa del Diavolo, on the outside
of which some rude frescoes testify to the popular belief as to its
owner. Just beyond this a field track on the left leads to the _Via
Latina_, of which a certain portion, paved with huge polygonal blocks of
lava, is now laid bare. Here are some exceedingly interesting and
well-preserved tombs, richly ornamented with painting and stucco. The
view, looking back upon Rome, or forward to the long line of broken
arches of the Claudian aqueduct, seen between these ruined sepulchres,
is most striking and beautiful.
Close by have been discovered remains of a villa of the Servilii, which
afterwards belonged to the Asinarii. Here also, in 1858 (on the left of
the Via Latina), Signor Fortunati discovered the long buried and
forgotten _Basilica of S. Stefano_. It is recorded by Anastasius that
this basilica was founded in the time of Leo I. (440--461) by Demetria,
a lady who escaped from the siege by the Goths, with her mother, to
Carthage, where she became a nun. It was restored by Leo III. at the end
of the eighth century. The remains are interesting, though they do
little more than show perfectly the substruction and plan of the ancient
building. An inscription relating to the foundation of the church by
Demetria has been found among the ruins.
Not far from this is the _Catacomb of the Santi-Quattro_.
Three and a half miles from Rome is the Osteria of _Tavolato_, near
which is one of the most striking and picturesque portions of the
Claudian Aqueduct. It is on the rising ground between this aqueduct and
the road, that the _Temple of Fortuna Muliebris_ is believed to have
stood. This was the temple which Valeria, the sister of Publicola, and
Volumnia, the mother of Coriolanus, claimed to erect at their own
expense, when the senate asked them to choose their recompense for
having preserved Rome by their entreaties.
"As Valeria, sister of Publicola, was sitting in the temple, as a
suppliant before the image of Jupiter, Jupiter himself seemed to
inspire her with a sudden thought, and she immediately rose, and
called upon all the other noble ladies who were with her, to arise
also, and she led them to the house of Volumnia, the mother of
Caius (Coriolanus). There she found Virgilia, the wife of Caius,
with his mother, and also his little children. Valeria then
addressed Volumnia and Virgilia, and said, 'Our coming here to you
is our own doing; neither the senate nor any mortal man have sent
us; but the god in whose temple we were sitting as suppliants put
it into our hearts, that we should come and ask you to join with
us, women with women, without any aid of men, to win for our
country a great deliverance, and for ourselves a name, glorious
above all women, even above those Sabine wives in the old time, who
stopped the battle between their husbands and their fathers. Come,
then, with us to the camp of Caius, and let us pray to him to show
us mercy.' Volumnia said, 'We will go with you:' and Virgilia took
her young children with her, and they all went to the camp of the
enemy.
"It was a sad and solemn sight to see this train of noble ladies,
and the very Volscian soldiers stood in silence as they passed by,
and pitied them and honoured them. They found Caius sitting on the
general's seat, in the midst of the camp, and the Volscian chiefs
were standing round him. When he first saw them he wondered what it
could be; but presently he knew his mother, who was walking at the
head of the train, and then he could not contain himself, but leapt
down from his seat, and ran to meet her, and was going to kiss her.
But she stopped him, and said, 'Ere thou kiss me, let me know
whether I am speaking to an enemy or to my son; whether I stand in
thy camp as thy prisoner or thy mother?' Caius could not answer
her; and then she went on and said, 'Must it be, then, that had I
never borne a son, Rome never would have seen the camp of an enemy;
that had I remained childless, I should have died a free woman in a
free city? But I am too old to bear much longer either thy shame or
my misery. Rather look to thy wife and children, whom, if thou
persistest, thou art dooming to an untimely death, or a long life
of bondage.' Then Virgilia and his children came up to him and
kissed him, and all the noble ladies wept, and bemoaned their own
fate and the fate of their country. At last Caius cried out, 'O
mother, what hast thou done to me?' and he wrung her hand
vehemently, and said, 'Mother, thine is the victory; a happy
victory for thee and for Rome, but shame and ruin to thy son.' Then
he fell on her neck and embraced her, and he embraced his wife and
his children, and sent them back to Rome; and led away the army of
the Volscians, and never afterwards attacked Rome any more. The
Romans, as was right, honoured Volumnia and Valeria for their deed,
and a temple was built and dedicated to 'Woman's Fortune' just on
the spot where Caius had yielded to his mother's words; and the
first priestess of the temple was Valeria, into whose heart Jupiter
had first put the thought to go to Volumnia, and to call upon her
to go out to the enemy's camp and entreat her son."--_Arnold's
Hist. of Rome_, vol. i.
"Il y a peu de scènes dans l'histoire plus émouvantes que celle-là,
et elle ne perd rien à la décoration du théâtre; en se plaçant sur
un tertre à quatre milles de Rome, près de la voie Latine, dans un
lieu où il n'y a aujourd'hui que des tombeaux et des ruines, on
peut se figurer le camp des Volsques, dont les armes et les tentes
étincellent au soleil. Les montagnes s'élèvent à l'horizon. A
travers la plaine ardente et poudreuse défile une foule voilée dont
les gémissements retentissent dans le silence de la campagne
romaine. Bientôt Coriolan est entouré de cette multitude suppliante
dont les plaintes, les cris, devaient avoir la vivacité des
démonstrations passionées des Romaines de nos jours. Coriolan eût
ré sisté à tout ce bruit, il eût peut-être résisté aux larmes de
sa femme et aux caresses de ses enfants; il ne résista pas à la
sévérité de sa mère.
"Le soir, par un glorieux coucher du soleil de Rome qui éclaire
leur joie, la procession triomphante s'éloigne en adressant un
chant de reconnaissance aux dieux, et lui se retire dans sa tente,
étonné d'avoir pu céder."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii. 402.
The return drive to Rome may be varied by turning to the right about a
mile beyond this, into a lane which leads past the so-called temple of
Bacchus to the Via Appia Vecchia.
* * * * *
We may now follow the lines of white mulberry-trees across the open
space in front of St. John Lateran, which is a continuation of the
ancient papal promenade of "the Mirror," to Sta. Croce. The sister
basilicas look at each other, and at Sta. Maria Maggiore, down avenues
of trees. On the left are the walls of Rome, upon which run the arches
of the Aqua Marcia.
"Few Roman churches are set within so impressive a picture as Santa
Croce, approached on every side through these solitudes of
vineyards and gardens, quiet roads, and long avenues of trees, that
occupy such immense extent within the walls of Rome. The scene from
the Lateran, looking towards this basilica across the level common,
between lines of trees, with the distance of Campagna and
mountains, the castellated walls, the arcades of the Claudian
aqueduct, amid gardens and groves, is more than beautiful, full of
memory and association. The other approach, by the unfrequented Via
di Sta. Croce, presents the finest distances, seen through a
foliage beyond the dusky towers of the Honorian walls, and a wide
extent of slopes covered with vineyards, amid which stand at
intervals some of those forlorn cottage farms, grey and
dilapidated, that form characteristic features in Roman scenery.
The majestic ruins of Minerva-Medica, the so-called temple of Venus
and Cupid, the fragments of the Baths of St. Helena, the Castrense
Amphitheatre, the arches of the aqueduct, half concealed in cypress
and ivy, are objects which must increase the attractions of a walk
to this sanctuary of the cross. But the exterior of the church is
disappointing and inappropriate, retaining nothing antique except
the square Lombardic tower of the twelfth century, in storeys of
narrow-arched windows, its brickwork ornamented with disks of
coloured marble, and a canopy, with columns, near the summit, for a
statue no longer in its place."--_Hemans' Catholic Italy_, vol. i.
The site of the _Basilica of Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme_ was once
occupied by the garden of Heliogabalus, and afterwards by the palace of
the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, whose residence here was
known as the Palatium Sessorianum, whence the name of Sessorian,
sometimes given to the basilica.
The church was probably once a hall in the palace of Helena, to which an
apse was added by Constantine, in whose reign it was consecrated by Pope
Sylvester. It was repaired by Gregory II. early in the eighth century;
the monastery was added by Benedict VII. about 975, and the whole was
rebuilt by Lucius II. in 1144. The church was completely modernized by
Benedict XIV. in the last century, and scarcely anything, except the
tower, now remains externally, which is even as old as the twelfth
century. The fine columns of granite and bigio-lumachellato, which now
adorn the façade, were plundered from the neighbouring temple in 1744.
The interior of the church is devoid of beauty, owing to modernizations.
Four out of twelve fine granite columns, which divided its nave and
aisles, are boxed up in senseless plaster piers. The high altar is
adorned with an urn of green basalt, sculptured with lions' heads, which
contains the bodies of SS. Anastasius and Cæsarius. Two of the pillars
of the baldacchino are of breccia-corallina. The fine frescoes of the
tribune by _Pinturicchio_ have been much retouched. They were executed
under Alexander VI., on a commission from Cardinal Carvajal, who is
himself represented as kneeling before the cross, which is held by the
Empress Helena.
"The very important frescoes of the choir apsis of Sta. Croce (now
much over-painted) are of Pinturicchio's better time. They
represent the finding of the Cross, with a colossal Christ in a
nimbus among angels above,--a figure full of wild
grandeur."--_Kugler._
"Near the entrance of the church is a valuable monument of the
papal history of the tenth century, in a metrical epitaph to
Benedict VII., recording his foundation of the adjoining monastery
for monks, who were to sing day and night the praises of the Deity;
his charities to the poor; and the deeds of the anti-pope Franco,
called by Baronius (with play upon his assumed name Boniface)
Malefacius, who usurped the Holy See, imprisoned and strangled the
lawful pope, Benedict VI., and pillaged the treasury of St.
Peter's, but in one month was turned out and excommunicated, when
he fled to Constantinople. The chronology of this epitaph is by the
ancient system of Indictions, the death of the pope dated XII.
Indiction, corresponding to the year 984: and the Latin style of
the tenth century is curiously exemplified in lines relating to the
anti-pope:
'Hic primus repulit Franconis spurca superbi
Culmina qui invasit sedis apostolicæ
Qui dominumque suum captum in castro habebat
Carceris interea auctis constrictus in uno
Strangulatus ubi exuerat hominem.'"
_Hemans' Catholic Italy._
The consecration of the Golden Rose, formerly sent to foreign princes,
used to take place in this church. The principal observances here now
are connected with the exhibition of the relics, of which the principal
is the Title of the True Cross.
"In 1492, when some repairs were ordered by Cardinal Mendoza, a
niche was discovered near the summit of the apse, enclosed by a
brick front, inscribed 'Titulus Crucis.' In it was a leaden coffer,
containing an imperfect plank of wood, 2 inches thick, 1½ palm
long, 1 palm broad. On this, in letters more or less perfect, was
the inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, _Jesus Nazarene King_.
It was venerated by Innocent VIII., with the college of cardinals,
and enclosed by Mendoza in the silver shrine, where it is exposed
three times a year from the balcony. The relics are exposed on the
4th Sunday in Lent. On Good Friday the rites are more impressive
here than in any other church, the procession of white-robed monks,
and the deep toll of the bell announcing the display of the relics
by the mitred abbot, are very solemn, and it is surprising, that
while crowds of strangers submit to be crushed in the Sistine,
scarcely one visits this ancient basilica on that day."--_Hemans'
Catholic Italy._
"The list of relics on the right of the apsis of Sta. Croce
includes, the finger of St. Thomas Apostle, with which he touched
the most holy side of our Lord Jesus Christ; one of the pieces of
money with which the Jews paid the treachery of Judas; great part
of the veil and of the hair of the most blessed Virgin; a mass of
cinders and charcoal, united in the form of a loaf, with the fat of
St. Lawrence, martyr; one bottle of the most precious blood of our
Lord Jesus Christ; another of the milk of the most blessed Virgin;
a little piece of the stone where Christ was born; a little piece
of the stone where our Lord sate when he pardoned Mary Magdalen; of
the stone where our Lord wrote the law, given to Moses on Mount
Sinai; of the stone where reposed SS. Peter and Paul; of the cotton
which collected the blood of Christ; of the manna which fed the
Israelites; of the rod of Aaron, which flourished in the desert; of
the relics of the eleven prophets!"--_Percy's Romanism._
Two staircases near the tribune lead to the subterranean church, which
has an altar with a pietà, and statues of SS. Peter and Paul of the
twelfth century. Hence opens the chapel of Sta. Helena,[285] which women
(by a perversion especially strange in this case) are never allowed to
enter except on the festival of the saint, August 18. It is built upon a
soil composed of earth brought by the empress from Palestine. Her statue
is over the altar. The vault has mosaics (originally erected under
Valentinian III., but restored by _Zucchi_ in 1593) representing, in
ovals, a half-length figure of the Saviour; the Evangelists and their
symbols; the Finding of the True Cross; SS. Peter and Paul; St.
Sylvester, the conservator of the church; and Sta. Helena, with Cardinal
Carvajal kneeling before her.
Here the feast of the "Invention of the True Cross" (May 3) is
celebrated with great solemnity, when the hymns "Pange Lingua" and
"Vexilla Regis" are sung, and the antiphon:--
"O Cross, more glorious than the stars, world famous, beauteous of
aspect, holiest of things, which alone wast worthy to sustain the
weight of the world: dear wood, dear nails, dear burden, bearing;
save those present assembled in thy praise to-day. Alleluia."
And the collect:--
"O God, who by the glorious uplifting of the salvation-bearing
cross, hast displayed the miracles of thy passion, grant that by
the merit of that life-giving wood, we may attain the suffrages of
eternal life, &c."
The adjoining _Monastery_ belongs to the Cistercians. Only part of one
wing is ancient. The library formerly contained many curious MSS., but
most of these were lost to the basilica, when the collection was removed
to the Vatican during the French occupation and the exile of Pius VII.
The garden of the monastery contains the ruin generally known as the
_Temple of Venus and Cupid_, but considered by Dr. Braun to be the
Sessorian Basilica or law-court, where the causes of slaves (who were
allowed to appeal to no other court) were wont to be heard. Behind the
monastery is the _Amphitheatrum Castrense_, attributed to the time of
Nero, when it is supposed to have been erected for the games of two
cohorts of soldiers, quartered near here. It is ingrafted into the line
of the Honorian walls, and is best seen from the outside of the city.
Its arches and pillars, with Corinthian capitals, are all of brick.
(On the left of the Via Sta. Croce, which leads hence to Sta. Maria
Maggiore, is the gate of the _Villa Altieri_, chiefly remarkable for its
grand umbrella pine, the finest in the city. Further, on the right, is a
tomb of unknown origin, now used as a farm-house and a wine-shop.)
Turning to the right from the basilica, we follow a lane which leads
beneath some fine brick arches of an aqueduct of the time of Nero, cited
by Ampère,[286] as exemplifying the perfection to which architecture
attained in the reign of this emperor, "by the quality of the bricks,
and the excellence and small quantity of the cement." These ruins are
popularly called the Baths of Sta. Helena.
Passing these arches we find ourselves facing the _Porta Maggiore_,
formed by two arches of the Claudian Aqueduct, formerly known as the
Porta Labicana, and Porta Prenestina, of which the former was closed in
the time of Honorius, and has never been re-opened. Three inscriptions
remain, the first relating to the building of the aqueduct by the
Emperor Tiberius Claudius;--the second and third to its restoration by
Vespasian and Titus. Above the Aqua Claudia flowed a second stream, the
Anio Novus.
Outside the gate, only lately disclosed, upon the removal of
constructions of the time of Honorius (the fragments of those worth
preserving are placed on the opposite wall), is the _Tomb of the Baker
Eurysaces_, who was also one of the inspectors of aqueducts. The tomb is
attributed to the early years of the Empire. Its first storey is
surmounted by the inscription: "EST HOC MONUMENTUM MARCEI VERGILEI
EVRYSACES PISTORIS REDEMPTORIS APPARET." Its second storey is composed
of rows of the mortars used in baking, placed sideways, and supporting
a frieze with bas-reliefs telling the story of a baker's work, from the
bringing of the corn into the mill to its distribution as bread. In the
front of the tomb was formerly a relief of the baker and his wife, with
a sarcophagus, and the inscription: "FUIT ATISTIA UXOR MIHEI--FEMINA
OPTVMA VEIXSIT--QUOIVS CORPORIS RELIQUIÆ--QUOD SUPERANT SUNT IN--HOC
PANARIO." This has been foolishly removed, and is now to be seen upon
the opposite wall.
* * * * *
From this gate many pleasant excursions may be taken. The direct road
leads to Palestrina by Zagarolo, and at 1½ mile from the gate passes,
on the left, _Torre Pignatarra_, the tomb of Sta. Helena, whence the
magnificent porphyry sarcophagus, now in the Vatican, was removed. The
name is derived from the _pignatte_, or earthen pots, used in the
building. Beneath it is a catacomb, now closed. The adjoining _Catacomb
of SS. Pietro e Marcellino_ contains some well preserved paintings; the
most interesting is that of the Divine Lamb on a mound (from which four
rivers flow as in the mosaics of the ancient basilicas), with figures of
Petrus, Gorgonius, Marcellinus, and Tiburtius. At three miles from the
gate the road reaches _Centocellæ_, whence, near the desolate tower
called _Torre Pernice_, there is a most picturesque view of the aqueduct
_Aqua Alexandrina_, built by Alexander Severus, with a double line of
arches crossing the hollow. At five miles, on the right, is the Borghese
farm of Torre Nuova, with a fine group of old stone pines.
The road which turns left from the gate leads by the _Aqua Bollicante_,
where the Arvales sang their hymn, to the picturesque ruins of the
_Torre dei Schiavi_, the palace of the Emperors Gordian (A.D. 238),
adjoining which are the remains of a round temple of Apollo. This is,
perhaps, one of the most striking scenes in the Campagna and--backed by
the violet mountains above Tivoli--is a favourite subject with artists.
"Les Gordiens, très-grands personnages, furent de très-petits
empereurs. Ils montrent ce qu'était devenu l'aristocratie romaine
dégénérée. Le premier, honnête et pusillanime, comme le prouvent
son élection et sa mort, était un peu replet et avait dans l'air du
visage quelque chose de solennel et de théâtral (_pompali vultu_).
Il aimait et cultivait les lettres. Son fils également se fit
quelque réputation en ce genre, grâce surtout à sa bibliothèque de
soixante mille volumes; mais il avait d'autres goûts encore que
celui des livres: on lui donne jusqu'à vingt-deux concubines en
titre, et de chacune d'elles, il eut trois ou quatre enfants. Il
menait une vie épicurienne dans ses jardins et sous des ombrages
délicieux: c'étaient les jardins et les ombrages d'une villa
magnifique que les Gordiens avaient sur la voie Prénestine, et dont
Capitolin, au temps duquel elle existait encore, nous a laissé une
description détaillée. Le péristyle était formé de deux cents
colonnes des marbres les plus précieux, le cipollin, le
pavonazetto, le jaune et le rouge antiques. La villa renfermait
trois basiliques et les thermes que ceux de Rome surpassaient à
peine. Telle était l'opulence d'une habitation privée vers le
milieu du troisième siècle de l'empire."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 328.
The road which continues in a straight line from hence passes, on the
left, the Torre Tre Teste. The eighth mile-stone is of historic
interest, being described by Livy (v. 49) as the spot where the dictator
Camillus overtook and exterminated the army of Gauls who were retreating
from Rome with the spoils of the Capitol.
At the ninth mile is the _Ponte di Nono_, a magnificent old bridge with
seven lofty arches of lapis-gabinus. This leads (twelve miles from Rome)
to the dried-up lake and the ruins of Gabii (Castiglione), including
that of the temple of Juno Gabina.
"Quique arva Gabinæ
Junonis, gelidumque Anienem, et roscida rivis
Hernica saxa colunt."
_Virgil, Æn._ vii. 682.
The road which branches off on the left leads (twelve miles from Rome)
to _Lunghezza_, the fine old castle of the Strozzi family, situated on
the little river Osa. Hence a beautiful walk through a wood leads to
Castello del Osa, the ruins of the ancient _Collatia_, so celebrated
from the tragedy of Lucretia. Two miles beyond the Torre dei Schiavi, on
the left, is the fine castellated farm of _Cervaletto_, a property of
the Borghese. A field road of a mile and half, passing in front of this
(practicable for carriages), leads to another fine old castellated farm
(five miles from Rome), close to which are the extraordinary _Grottoes
of Cerbara_,--a succession of romantic caves of great size, in the tufa
rocks, from which the material of the Coliseum was excavated. Here the
"Festa degli Artisti" is held in May, which is well worth seeing,--the
artists in costume riding in procession, and holding games, amid these
miniature Petra-like ravines. Beyond Cerbara are remains of a villa of
Lucius Verus, and, on the bank of the Anio, the romantically-situated
castle of _Rustica_.
From the Porta Maggiore we may follow a lane along the inside of the
wall, crossing the railway--whence there is a picturesque view of the
temple of Minerva Medica--to _The Porta S. Lorenzo_, anciently called
the Porta Tiburtina (the road to Tivoli passes through it), built in
402, by the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius, on the advice of Stilicho,
as we learn from an inscription over the archway of the Marcian,
Tepulan, and Julian Aqueducts, now half buried within the later brick
gateway.
The road just beyond the gate is connected with the story of the
favourite saint of the Roman people.
"When Sta. Francesca Romana had no resource but to beg for the sick
under her care, she went to the basilica of _S. Lorenzo fuori_
Mura, where was the station of the day, and seated herself amongst
the crowd of beggars, who, according to custom, were there
assembled. From the rising of the sun to the ringing of the
vesper-bell, she sate there, side by side with the lame, the
deformed, and the blind. She held out her hand as they did, gladly
enduring, not the semblance, but the reality, of that deep
humiliation. When she had received enough wherewith to feed the
poor at home, she rose, and entering the old basilica, adored the
Blessed Sacrament, and then walked back the long and weary way,
blessing God all the while."--_Lady G. Fullerton._
A quarter of a mile beyond the gate we come in sight of the church and
monastery, but the effect is much spoilt by the hideous modern cemetery,
formed since the following description was written:--
"S. Lorenzo is as perfect a picture of a basilica externally, as S.
Clemente is internally. Viewing it from a little distance, the
whole pile--in its grey reverend dignity--the row of stones
indicating the atrium, with an ancient cross in the centre--the
portico overshadowing faded frescoes--the shelving roof, the
body-wall bulging out and lapping over, like an Egyptian
temple--the detached Lombard steeple--with the magic of sun and
shadow, and the background of the Campagna, bounded by the blue
mountains of Tivoli--together with the stillness, the repose,
interrupted only by the chirp of the grasshopper, and the distant
intermitted song of the Contadino--it forms altogether such a scene
as painters love to sketch, and poets to re-people with the shadows
of past ages; and I open a wider heaven for either fraternity to
fly their fancies in, when I add that it was there the ill-fated
Peter de Courtenay was crowned Emperor of the East."--_Lord
Lindsay, Christian Art._
"To St. Laurence was given a crown of glory in heaven, and upon
earth eternal and universal praise and fame; for there is scarcely
a city or town in all Christendom which does not contain a church
or altar dedicated to his honour. The first of these was built by
Constantine outside the gates of Rome, on the spot where he was
buried; and another was built on the summit of the hill, where he
was martyred; besides these, there are at Rome four others; and in
Spain the Escurial, and at Genoa the Cathedral."--_Mrs. Jameson._
We have already followed St. Laurence to the various spots in Rome
connected with his story,--to the green space at the Navicella, where he
distributed his alms before the house of St. Cyriaca (in whose catacomb
he was first buried); to the basilica in the Palace of the Cæsars, where
he was tried and condemned; to S. Lorenzo in Fonte, where he was
imprisoned; to S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna, where he died; to S. Lorenzo in
Lucina, where his supposed gridiron is preserved; and now we come to his
grave, where a grand basilica has arisen around the little oratory,
erected by Constantine, which marked his first burial-place in the
Catacombs.
The first basilica erected here was built in the end of the sixth
century, by Pope Pelagius II., but this was repeatedly enlarged and
beautified by succeeding popes, and at length was so much altered in
1216, by Honorius III., that the old basilica became merely the choir or
tribune of a larger and more important church. So many other changes
have since taken place, that Bunsen remarks upon S. Lorenzo as more
difficult of explanation than any other of the Roman churches.
In front of the basilica stands a bronze statue of St. Laurence, upon a
tall granite pillar.
The portico is supported by six Ionic columns, four of them spiral.
Above these is a mosaic frieze of the thirteenth century. In the centre
is the Spotless Lamb, having, on the right, St. Laurence, Honorius III.,
and another figure; and on the left three heads, two of whom are
supposed to be the virgin martyr Sta. Cyriaca, and her mother
Tryphœna, buried in the adjoining cemetery. Above this is a very
richly decorated marble frieze, boldly relieved with lions' heads. The
gable of the church is faced with modern mosaics of saints. Within the
portico are four splendid sarcophagi; that on the left of the entrance
is adorned with reliefs representing a vintage, with cupids as the
vine-gatherers, and contains the remains of Pope Damasus II., who died
in 1049, after a reign of only twenty-three days. At the sides of the
door are two marble lions. The walls of the portico are covered with a
very curious series of frescoes, lately repainted. They represent four
consecutive stories.
On the right:--
A holy hermit, living a life of solitude and prayer, heard a
rushing noise, and, looking out of his window, saw a troop of
demons, who told him that the Emperor Henry II. had just expired,
and that they were hurrying to lay claim to his soul. The hermit
trembled, and besought them to let him know as they returned how
they had succeeded. Some days after, they came back and narrated
that when the Archangel was weighing the good and evil deeds of the
emperor in his balance, the weight was falling in their
favour--when suddenly the roasted St. Laurence appeared, bearing a
golden chalice, which the emperor, shortly before his death, had
bestowed upon the Church, and cast it into the scale of good deeds,
and so turned the balance the other way, but that in revenge they
had broken off one of the golden handles of the chalice. And when
the hermit heard these things he rejoiced greatly; and the soul of
the emperor was saved and he became a canonized saint,--and the
devils departed blaspheming.
The order of the frescoes representing this legend is:--
1, 2. Scenes in the life of Henry II.
3. The Emperor offers the golden chalice.
4. A banquet scene.
5. The hermit discourses with the devils.
6. The death of Henry II.--1024.
7. The dispute for the soul of the Emperor.
8. It is saved by St. Laurence.
The second series represents the whole story of the acts, trial,
martyrdom, and burial of St. Laurence; one or two frescoes in this were
entirely effaced, and have been added by the restorer. Of the old series
were:--
1. The investiture of St. Laurence as deacon.
2. St. Laurence washes the feet of poor Christians.
3. He heals Sta. Cyriaca.
4. He distributes alms on the Cœlian.
5. He meets St. Sixtus led to death, and receives his blessing.
6. He is led before the prefect.
7. He restores sight to Lucillus.
8. He is scourged.
9. He baptizes St. Hippolytus.
11. He refuses to give up the treasures of the Church.
13, 14, 15. His burial by St. Hippolytus.
The third series represents the story of St. Stephen, followed by that
of the translation of his relics to this basilica.
The relics of St. Stephen were preserved at Constantinople, whither
they had been transported from Jerusalem by the Empress Eudoxia,
wife of Theodosius II. Hearing that her daughter Eudoxia, wife of
Valentinian II., Emperor of the West, was afflicted with a devil,
she begged her to come to Constantinople that her demon might be
driven out by the touch of the relics. The younger Eudoxia wished
to comply,--but the devil refused to leave her, unless St. Stephen
was brought to Rome. An agreement was therefore made that the
relics of St. Stephen should be exchanged for those of St.
Laurence. St. Stephen arrived, and the empress was immediately
relieved of her devil, but when the persons who had brought the
relics of St. Stephen from Constantinople were about to take those
of St. Laurence back with them, they all fell down dead! Pope
Pelagius prayed for their restoration to life, which was granted
for a short time, to prove the efficacy of prayer, but they all
died again ten days after! Thus the Romans knew that it would be
criminal to fulfil their promise, and part with the relics of St.
Laurence, and the bodies of the two martyrs were laid in the same
sarcophagus.
The frescoes in the left wall represent a separate story:--
A holy sacristan arose before the dawn to enjoy solitary prayers
before the altars of this church. Once when he was thus employed,
he found that he was not alone, and beheld three persons, a priest,
a deacon, and sub-deacon, officiating at the altar, and the church
around him filled with worshippers, whose faces bore no mortal
impress. Tremblingly he drew near to him whom he dreaded the least,
and inquired of the deacon, who this company might be. 'The priest
whom thou seest is the blessed apostle Peter,' answered the spirit,
'and I am Laurence who suffered cruel torments for the love of my
master Christ, upon a Wednesday, which was the day of his betrayal;
and in remembrance of my martyrdom we are come to-day to celebrate
here the mysteries of the Church; and the sub-deacon who is with us
is the first martyr, St. Stephen,--and the worshippers are the
apostles, the martyrs, and virgins who have passed with me into
Paradise, and have come back hither to do me honour; and of this
solemn service thou art chosen as the witness. When it is day,
therefore, go to the pope and tell what thou hast seen, and bid
him, in my name, to come hither and to celebrate a solemn mass with
all his clergy, and to grant indulgences to the faithful.' But the
sacristan trembled and said, 'If I go to the pope he will not
believe me: give me some visible sign, then, which will show what I
have seen.' And St. Laurence ungirt his robe, and giving his girdle
to the sacristan, bade him show it in proof of what he told. In the
morning the old man related what he had seen to the abbot of the
monastery, who bore the girdle to the then pope, Alexander II. The
pope accompanied him back to the basilica,--and on their way they
were met by a funeral procession, when, to test the powers of the
girdle, the pope laid it on the bier, and at once the dead arose
and walked. Then all men knew that the sacristan had told what was
true, and the pope celebrated mass as he had been bidden, and
promised an indulgence of forty years to all who should visit on a
Wednesday any church dedicated to St. Laurence.
This story is told in eight pictures:--
1. The sacristan sees the holy ones.
2. The Phantom Mass.
3. The sacristan tells the abbot.
4. The abbot tells the pope.
5. The pope consults his cardinals.
6. The dead is raised by the girdle.
7. Mass is celebrated at St. Lorenzo, and souls are freed from
purgatory by the intercession of the saint.
8. Prayer is made at the shrine of St. Laurence.
The nave--which is the basilica of Honorius III.--is divided from its
side aisles by twenty-two Ionic columns of granite and cipollino. The
sixth column on the right has a lizard and a frog amongst the
decorations of its capital, which led Winckelmann to the supposition
that these columns were brought hither from the Portico of Octavia,
because Pliny describes that the architects of the Portico of Metellus,
which formerly occupied that site, were two Spartans, named Sauros and
Batrachus, who implored permission to carve their names upon their work;
and that when leave was refused, they introduced them under this
form,--Batrachus signifying a frog, and Sauros a lizard.
Above the architrave are frescoes by _Fracassini_, of the lives and
martyrdoms of SS. Stephen and Laurence. Higher up are saints connected
with the history of the basilica. The roof is painted in patterns. The
splendid opus-alexandrinum pavement is of the tenth century. On the left
of the entrance is a baptismal font, above which are more frescoes
relating to the story of St. Laurence. On the right, beneath a mediæval
canopy, is a very fine sarcophagus, sculptured with a wedding
scene,--adapted as the tomb of Cardinal Fieschi, nephew of Innocent IV.,
who died in 1256. Inside the canopy, is a fresco of Christ throned, to
whom St. Laurence presents the cardinal, and St. Stephen Innocent IV.
Behind stand St. Eustace and St. Hippolytus. The west end of the church
is closed by the inscription, "Hi sunt qui venerunt de tribulatione
magna, et laverunt stolas suas in sanguine agni."
The splendid ambones in the nave, inlaid with serpentine and porphyry,
are of the twelfth century. That on the right, with a candelabrum for
the Easter candle, was for the gospel; that on the left for the epistle.
At the end of the left aisle, a passage leads down to a subterranean
chapel, used for prayer for the souls in purgatory. Here is the entrance
to the _Catacombs of Sta. Ciriaca_, which are said to extend as far as
Sant' Agnese, but which have been much and wantonly injured in the works
for the new cemetery. Here the body of St. Laurence is related to have
been found. Over the entrance is inscribed:--
"Hæc est tumba illa toto orbe terrarum celeberrima ex cimeterio S.
Cyriacæ Matronæ ubi sacrum si quis fecerit pro defunctis eorum
animas e purgatorii pœnis divi Laurentii meritis evocabit."[287]
Passing the triumphal arch, we enter the early basilica of Pope Pelagius
II. (572--590), which is on a lower level than that of the nave. Here
are twelve splendid columns of pavonazzetto, of which the two first bear
trophies carved above the acanthus leaves of their capitals. These
support an entablature formed from various antique fragments, put
together without uniformity,--and a triforium, divided by twelve small
columns.
On the inside, which was formerly the outside, of the triumphal arch, is
a restored mosaic of the time of Pelagius, representing the Saviour
seated upon the world, having on the right St. Peter, St. Laurence, and
St. Pelagius, and on the left St. Paul and St. Stephen, and with them,
in a warrior's dress, St. Hippolytus, the soldier who was appointed to
guard St. Laurence in prison, and who, being converted by him, was
dragged to death by wild horses, after seeing nineteen of his family
suffer before his eyes. He is the patron saint of horses. Here also are
the mystic cities, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
A long poetical inscription is known to have once existed here; only two
lines remain round the arch:--
"Martyrium flaminis olim Levita subisti
Jure tuis templis lux veneranda redit."
The high altar, with a baldacchino, supported by four porphyry columns,
covers the remains of SS. Laurence and Stephen, enclosed in a silver
shrine by Pelagius II., a pope so munificent that he had given up his
own house as a hospital for aged poor. St. Justin is also buried here.
"No one knew what had become of the body of St. Stephen for 400
years, when Lucian, a priest of Carsamagala, in Palestine, was
visited in a dream by Gamaliel, the doctor of the law at whose feet
Paul was brought up in all the learning of the Jews; and Gamaliel
revealed to him that after the death of Stephen he had carried away
the body of the saint, and had buried it in his own sepulchre, and
had also deposited near it the body of Nicodemus and other saints;
and this dream having been repeated three times, Lucian went with
others deputed by the bishop, and dug with mattocks and spades in
the spot which had been indicated,--a sepulchre in a garden,--and
found what they supposed to be the remains of St. Stephen, their
peculiar sanctity being proved by many miracles. These relics were
first deposited in Jerusalem, in the church of Sion, and afterwards
by the younger Theodosius carried to Constantinople, whence they
were taken to Rome, and placed by Pope Pelagius in the same tomb
with St. Laurence. It is related that when they opened the
sarcophagus, and lowered into it the body of St. Stephen, St.
Laurence moved on one side, giving the place of honour on the right
hand to St. Stephen: hence the common people of Rome have conferred
on St. Laurence the title of 'Il cortese Spagnuolo'--the courteous
Spaniard."--_Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art._
Behind the altar is a mosaic screen, with panels of porphyry and
serpentine, and an ancient episcopal throne.
The lower church was filled up with soil till 1864, when restorations
were ordered here. These were entrusted to Count Vespignani, and have
been better carried out than most church alterations in Rome; but an
interesting portico, with mosaics by one of the famous Cosmati family,
has been destroyed to make room for some miserable arrangements
connected with the modern cemetery.
It was in this basilica that Peter Courtenay, Count of Auxerre, with
Yolande his wife, received the imperial crown of Constantinople from
Honorius III. in 1217.
Adjoining the church is the very picturesque _Cloister of the
Monastery_, built in 1190, for Cistercian monks, but assigned as a
residence for any Patriarchs of Jerusalem who might visit Rome. Here are
preserved many ancient inscriptions, and other fragments from the
neighbouring catacombs.
The basilica is now almost engulfed in the Cemetery of S. Lorenzo, the
great modern burial-ground of Rome. It was opened in 1837, but has been
much enlarged in the last ten years. Hither wend the numerous funerals
which are seen passing through the streets after Ave-Maria, with a
procession of monks bearing candles. A frightful gate, with a laudatory
inscription to Pius IX., and a hideous modern chapel, have been erected.
There are very few fine monuments. The best are those in imitation of
the cinque-cento tombs of which there are so many in the Roman churches.
That by Podesti, the painter, to his wife, in the right corridor of the
cloister, is touching. The higher ground to the left, behind the church,
is occupied by the tombs of the rich. Those of the poor are
indiscriminately scattered over a wide plain. A range of cliffs on the
left were perforated by the catacombs of Sta. Cyriaca, which, with the
bad taste so constantly displayed in Rome, have been wantonly and
shamefully broken up. Those who do not wish to descend into a catacomb,
may here see (from without) all their arrangements--in the passages
lined with sepulchres, and even some small chapels, lined with rude
frescoes, laid open to the air, where the cliff has been cut away.
A Roman funeral is a most sad sight, and strikes one with an unutterable
sense of desolation.
"After a death the body is entirely abandoned to the priests, who
take possession of it, watch over it, and prepare it for burial;
while the family, if they can find refuge anywhere else, abandon
the house and remain away a week.... The body is not ordinarily
allowed to remain in the house more than twelve hours, except on
condition that it is sealed up in lead or zinc. At nightfall a sad
procession of _becchini_ and _frati_ may be seen coming down the
street, and stopping before the house of the dead. The _becchini_
are taken from the lowest classes of the people, and hired to carry
the corpse on the bier and to accompany it to the church and
cemetery. They are dressed in shabby black _cappe_, covering their
head and face as well as their body, and having two large holes cut
in front of the eyes to enable them to see. These _cappe_ are
girdled round the waist, and the dirty trousers and worn-out shoes
are miserably manifest under the skirts of their dress--showing
plainly that their duty is occasional. All the _frati_ and
_becchini_, except the four who carry the bier, are furnished with
wax candles, for no one is buried in Rome without a candle. You may
know the rank of the person to be buried by the lateness of the
hour and the number of the _frati_. If it be the funeral of a
person of wealth or a noble, it takes place at a late hour, the
procession of _frati_ is long, and the bier elegant. If it be a
state-funeral, as of a prince, carriages accompany it in mourning,
the coachman and lackeys are bedizened in their richest liveries,
and the state hammer-cloths are spread on the boxes, with the
family arms embossed on them in gold. But if it be a pauper's
funeral, there are only _becchini_ enough to carry the bier to the
grave, and two _frati_, each with a little candle; and the sunshine
is yet on the streets when they come to take away the corpse.
"You will see this procession stop before the house where the
corpse is lying. Some of the _becchini_ go up-stairs, and some keep
guard below. Scores of shabby men and boys are gathered round the
_frati_; some attracted simply by curiosity, and some for the
purpose of catching the wax, which gutters down from the candles as
they are blown by the wind. The latter may be known by the great
horns of paper which they carry in their hands. While this crowd
waits for the corpse, the _frati_ light their candles, and talk,
laugh, and take snuff together. Finally comes the body, borne down
by four of the _becchini_. It is in a common rough deal coffin,
more like an ill-made packing-case than anything else. No care or
expense has been laid out upon it to make it elegant, for it is
only to be seen for a moment. Then it is slid upon the bier, and
over it is drawn the black velvet pall with golden trimmings, on
which a cross, death's head, and bones are embroidered. Four of the
_becchini_ hoist it on their shoulders, the _frati_ break forth
into their hoarse chaunt, and the procession sets out for the
church. Little and big boys and shabby men follow along, holding up
their paper horns against the sloping candles to catch the dripping
wax. Every one takes off his hat, or makes the sign of the cross,
or mutters a prayer, as the body passes; and with a dull, sad,
monotonous chaunt, the candles gleaming and flaring, and casting
around them a yellow flickering glow, the funeral winds along
through the narrow streets, and under the sombre palaces and
buildings, where the shadows of night are deepening every moment.
The spectacle seen from a distance, and especially when looked down
upon from a window, is very effective; but it loses much of its
solemnity as you approach it; for the _frati_ are so vulgar, dirty,
and stupid, and seem so utterly indifferent and heartless, as they
mechanically croak out their psalms, that all other emotions yield
to a feeling of disgust."--_Story's Roba di Roma._
"Ces rapprochements soudains de l'antiquité et des temps modernes,
provoqués par la vue d'un monument dont la destinée se lie à l'une
et aux autres, sont très-fréquents à Rome. L'histoire poétique
d'Énée aurait pu m'en fournir plusieurs. Ainsi dans l'Énéide, aux
funérailles de Pallas, une longue procession s'avance, portant des
flambeaux funèbres, suivant l'usage antique, dit Virgile. En effet,
on se souvient que l'usage des cierges remontait à l'abolition des
sacrifices humains, accompli dans les temps héroïques par le dieu
pélasgique Hercule. La description que fait Virgile des funérailles
de Pallas pourrait convenir à un de ces enterrements romains où
l'on voit de longues files de capucins marchant processionnellement
en portant des cierges.
... 'Lucet via longo
Ordine flammarum.'"
_Æn._ xi. 143.
--_Ampère_, i. 217.
On the other side of the road from S. Lorenzo is the _Catacomb of St.
Hippolytus_, interesting as described by the Christian poet Prudentius,
who wrote at the end of the fourth century.
"Not far from the city walls, among the well-trimmed orchards,
there lies a crypt buried in darksome pits. Into its secret
recesses a steep path in the winding stairs directs one, even
though the turnings shut out the light. The light of day, indeed,
comes in through the doorway, as far as the surface of the opening,
and illuminates the threshold of the portico; and when, as you
advance further, the darkness as of night seems to get more and
more obscure throughout the mazes of the cavern, there occur at
intervals apertures cut in the roof which convey the bright rays of
the sun upon the cave. Although the recesses, twisting at random
this way and that, form narrow chambers with darksome galleries,
yet a considerable quantity of light finds its way through the
pierced vaulting down into the hollow bowels of the mountain. And
thus throughout the subterranean crypt it is possible to perceive
the brightness and enjoy the light of the absent sun. To such
secret places is the body of Hippolytus conveyed, near to the spot
where now stands the altar dedicated to God. That same altar-slab
(mensa) gives the sacrament, and is the faithful guardian of its
martyrs' bones, which it keeps laid up there in expectation of the
Eternal Judge, while it feeds the dwellers by the Tiber with holy
food. Wondrous is the sanctity of the place! The altar is at hand
for those who pray, and it assists the hopes of men by mercifully
granting what they need. Here have I, when sick with ills both of
soul and body, oftentimes prostrated myself in prayer and found
relief.... Early in the morning men come to salute (Hippolytus):
all the youth of the place worship here: they come and go until the
setting of the sun. Love of religion collects together into one
dense crowd both Latins and foreigners; they imprint their kisses
on the shining silver; they pour out their sweet balsams; they
bedew their faces with tears."--See _Roma Sotterranea_, p. 98.
CHAPTER XIV.
IN THE CAMPUS MARTIUS.