ENTRANCE WALL:

1. St. Jerome: _Leonardo da Vinci_, painted in bistre.

16. St. John Baptist: _Guercino_.

4. The Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, and Presentation in the

Temple: _Raphael_;--formerly a predella to the Coronation of the

Virgin in the third room.

5. The dead Christ and Mary Magdalen: _Andrea Mantegna_,--from the

Aldrovandi gallery at Bologna.

7. Madonna with the Child and St. John: _Fr. Francia._

RIGHT WALL:

The Story of St. Nicolo of Bari: _Fra Angelico da Fiesole_,--two

out of the three predella pictures once in the sacristy of S.

Domenico at Florence, whence they were carried off to Paris, where

the third remains.

(Above,) The Adoration of the Shepherds: _Murillo._

The Virgin surrounded by Angels: _Fra Angelico._

3. The Story of St. Hyacinth: _Benozzo Gozzoli._

(Above,) The Marriage of St. Catherine: _Murillo._

2. "I Tre Santi:" _Perugino._

Part of a large predella in the church of S. Pietro Casinensi at

Perugia. Several saints from this predella still remain in the

sacristy of S. Pietro; two are at Lyons.

"In the centre is St. Benedict, with his black cowl over his head

and long parted beard, the book in one hand, and the asperge in the

other. On one side, St. Placidus, young, and with a mild, candid

expression, black habit and shaven crown. On the other side is St.

Flavia (or St. Catherine?), crowned as a martyr, holding her palm,

and gazing upward with a divine expression."--_Mrs. Jameson._

(Above this) The Holy Family and Saints: _Bonifasio_.

_Left Wall._--The Dead Christ, with the Virgin, St. John, and the

Magdalen lamenting: _Carlo Crivelli_.

_Wall of Egress._--Faith, Hope, and Charity, _Raphael_:--circular

medallions in bistre, which once formed a predella for "the

Entombment" in the Borghese gallery.

_2nd Room._--

_Entrance Wall._--The Communion of St. Jerome: _Domenichino_. This

is the master-piece of the master, and perhaps second only to the

Transfiguration. It was painted for the monks of Ara Cœli, who

quarrelled with the artist, and shut up the picture. Afterwards

they commissioned Poussin to paint an altar-piece for their church,

and, instead of supplying him with fresh canvas, produced the

picture of Domenichino, and desired him to paint over it. Poussin

indignantly threw up his engagement, and made known the existence

of the picture, which was afterwards preserved in the church of S.

Girolamo della Carità, whence it was carried off by the French. St.

Jerome, dying at Bethlehem, is represented receiving the Last

Sacraments from St. Ephraim of Syria, while St. Paula kneels by his

side.

"The Last Communion of St. Jerome is the subject of one of the most

celebrated pictures in the world,--the St. Jerome of Domenichino,

which has been thought worthy of being placed opposite to the

Transfiguration of Raphael, in the Vatican. The aged

saint,--feeble, emaciated, dying,--is borne in the arms of his

disciples to the chapel of his monastery, and placed within the

porch.[353] A young priest sustains him; St. Paula, kneeling,

kisses one of his thin bony hands; the saint fixes his eager eyes

on the countenance of the priest, who is about to administer the

Sacrament,--a noble, dignified figure in a rich ecclesiastical

dress; a deacon holds the cup, and an attendant priest the book;

the lion droops his head with an expression of grief;[354] the eyes

and attention of all are on the dying saint, while four angels,

hovering above, look down upon the scene."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

"And Jerome's death (A.D. 420) drawing near, he commanded that he

should be laid on the bare ground and covered with sackcloth, and

calling the brethren around him, he spake sweetly to them, and

exhorted them in many holy words, and appointed Eusebius to be

their abbot in his room. And then, with tears, he received the

blessed Eucharist, and sinking backwards again on the earth, his

hands crossed on his heart, he sung the 'Nunc Dimittis,' which

being finished, it being the hour of compline, suddenly a great

light, as of the noonday sun, shone round about him, within which

light angels innumerable were seen by the bystanders, in shifting

motion, like sparks among the dry reeds. And the voice of the

Saviour was heard, inviting him to heaven, and the holy Doctor

answered that he was ready. And after an hour, that light departed,

and Jerome's spirit with it."--_Lord Lindsay, from Peter de

Natalibus._

_Right Wall._--"The Madonna di Foligno," _Raphael_, ordered in 1511

by Sigismondo Conti for the church of Ara Cœli (where he is

buried), and removed in 1565 to Foligno, when his great-niece, Anna

Conti, took the veil there at the convent of St' Anna. The angel in

the foreground bears a tablet, with the names of the painter and

donor, and the date 1512. The city of Foligno is seen in the

background, with a falling bomb, from which one may believe that

the picture was a votive offering from Sigismondo for an escape

during a siege. The picture was originally on panel, and was

transferred to canvas at Paris.

"The Madonna di Foligno, however beautiful in the whole

arrangement, however excellent in the execution of separate parts,

appears to belong to a transition state of development. There is

something of the ecstatic enthusiasm which has produced such

peculiar conceptions and treatment of religious subjects in other

artists--Correggio, for example--and which, so far from harmonizing

with the unaffected serene grace of Raphael, has in this instance

led to some serious defects. This remark is particularly applicable

to the figures of St. John and St. Francis: the former looks out of

the picture with a fantastic action, and the drawing of his arm is

even considerably mannered. St. Francis has an expression of

fanatical ecstasy, and his countenance is strikingly weak in the

painting (composed of reddish, yellowish, and grey tones, which

cannot be wholly ascribed to their restorer). Again, St. Jerome

looks up with a sort of fretful expression, in which it is

difficult to recognise, as some do, a mournful resignation; there

is also an exaggerated style of drawing in the eyes, which

sometimes gives a sharpness to the expression of Raphael's figures,

and appears very marked in some of his other pictures. Lastly, the

Madonna and the Child, who turn to the donor, are in attitudes

which, however graceful, are not perhaps sufficiently tranquil for

the majesty of the queen of heaven. The expression of the Madonna's

countenance is extremely sweet, but with more of the character of a

mere woman than of a glorified being. The figure of the donor, on

the other hand, is excellent, with an expression of sincerity and

truth; the angel with the tablet is of unspeakable intensity and

exquisite beauty--one of the most marvellous figures that Raphael

has created."--_Kugler._

"In the upper part of the composition sits the Virgin in heavenly

glory; by her side is the Infant Christ, partly sustained by his

mother's veil, which is drawn round his body: both look down

benignly on the votary, Sigismund Conti, who, kneeling below, gazes

up with an expression of the most intense gratitude and devotion.

It is a portrait from the life, and certainly one of the finest and

most life-like that exist in painting. Behind him stands St.

Jerome, who, placing his hand upon the head of the votary, seems to

present him to his celestial protectress. On the other side, John

the Baptist, the meagre wild-looking prophet of the desert, points

upward to the Redeemer. More in front kneels St. Francis, who,

while he looks up to heaven with trusting and imploring love,

extends his right hand towards the worshippers supposed to be

assembled in the church, recommending them also to the protecting

grace of the Virgin. In the centre of the picture, dividing these

two groups, stands a lovely angel-boy, holding in his hand a

tablet, one of the most charming figures of this kind Raphael ever

painted; the head, looking up, has that sublime, yet perfectly

childish grace, which strikes one in those awful angel-boys in the

'Madonna di San Sisto.' The background is a landscape, in which

appears the city of Foligno at a distance; it is overshadowed by a

storm-cloud, and a meteor is seen falling; but above these bends a

rainbow, pledge of peace and safety. The whole picture glows

throughout with life and beauty, hallowed by that profound

religious sentiment which suggested the offering, and which the

sympathetic artist seems to have caught from the grateful donor. It

was dedicated in the church of the Ara Cœli at Rome, which

belongs to the Franciscans, hence St. Francis is one of the

principal figures. When I was asked, at Rome, why St. Jerome had

been introduced into the picture, I thought it might be thus

accounted for:--The patron saint of the donor, St. Sigismund, was a

king and warrior, and Conti might possibly think it did not accord

with his profession, as a humble ecclesiastic, to introduce him

here. The most celebrated convent of the Jeronymites in Italy is

that of St. Sigismund, near Cremona, placed under the special

protection of St. Jerome, who is also in a general sense the patron

of all ecclesiastics; hence, perhaps, he figures here as the

protector of Sigismund Conti."--_Jameson's Legends of the Madonna_,

p. 103.

_Wall of Egress._--"The Transfiguration:" _Raphael_. The grandest

picture in the world. It was originally painted by order of

Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (afterwards Clement VII.) Archbishop of

Narbonne, for that provincial cathedral. But it was scarcely

finished when Raphael died, and it hung over his death-bed as he

lay in state, and was carried in his funeral procession.

"And when all beheld

Him where he lay, how changed from yesterday--

Him in that hour cut off, and at his head

His last great work; when, entering in, they look'd,

Now on the dead, then on that masterpiece--

Now on his face, lifeless and colourless,

Then on those forms divine that lived and breathed,

And would live on for ages--all were moved,

And sighs burst forth and loudest lamentations."

_Rogers._

The three following quotations may perhaps represent the practical,

æsthetical, and spiritual aspects of the picture.

"It is somewhat strange to see the whole picture of the

Transfiguration--including the three apostles, prostrate on the

mount, shading their dazzled senses from the insufferable

brightness--occupying only a small part of the top of the canvas,

and the principal field filled with a totally distinct and

certainly unequalled picture--that of the demoniac boy, whom our

Saviour cured on coming down from the mount, after his

transfiguration. This was done in compliance with the _orders_ of

the monks of S. Pietro in Montorio, for which church it was

painted. It was the universal custom of the age--the yet unbanished

taste of Gothic days--to have two pictures, a celestial and a

terrestrial one, wholly unconnected with each other; accordingly,

we see few, even of the finest paintings, in which there is not a

heavenly subject above and an earthly below--for the great masters

of that day, like our own Shakspeare, were compelled to suit their

works to the taste of their employers."--_Eaton's Rome._

"It must ever be matter of wonder that any one can have doubted of

the grand unity of such a conception as this. In the absence of the

Lord, the disconsolate parents bring a possessed boy to the

disciples of the Holy One. They seem to have been making attempts

to cast out the Evil Spirit; one has opened a book, to see whether

by chance any spell were contained in it which might be successful

against this plague, but in vain. At this moment appears He who

alone has the power, and appears transfigured in glory. They

remember His former mighty deeds; they instantly point aloft to the

vision as the only source of healing. How can the upper and lower

parts be separated? Both are one; beneath is Suffering craving for

Aid; above is active Power and helpful Grace. Both refer to one

another; both work in one another. Those who, in our dispute over

the picture, thought with me, confirmed their view by this

consideration: Raffaelle, they said, was ever distinguished by the

exquisite propriety of his conceptions. And is it likely that this

painter, thus gifted by God, and everywhere recognisable by the

excellence of this His gift, would in the full ripeness of his

powers have thought and painted wrongly? Not so; he is, as nature

is, ever right, and then most deeply and truly right when we least

suspect it."--_Goethe's Werke_, iii. p. 33.

"In looking at the Transfiguration we must bear in mind that it is

not an historical but a devotional picture,--that the intention of

the painter was not to represent a scene, but to excite religious

feelings by expressing, so far as painting might do it, a very

sublime idea.

"If we remove to a certain distance from the picture, so that the

forms shall become vague, indistinct, and only the masses of colour

and the light and shade perfectly distinguishable, we shall see

that the picture is indeed divided as if horizontally, the upper

half being all light, and the lower half comparatively all dark. As

we approach nearer, step by step, we behold above, the radiant

figure of the Saviour floating in mid-air, with arms outspread,

garments of transparent light, glorified visage upturned as if in

rapture, and the hair lifted and scattered as I have seen it in

persons under the influence of electricity. On the right, Moses; on

the left, Elijah; representing respectively the old Law and the old

Prophecies, which both testified of Him. The three disciples lie on

the ground, terror-struck, dazzled. There is a sort of eminence or

platform, but no perspective, no attempt at real locality, for the

scene is revealed as in a vision, and the same soft transparent

light envelopes the whole. This is the spiritual life, raised far

above the earth, but not yet in heaven. Below is seen the earthly

light, poor humanity struggling helplessly with pain, infirmity,

and death. The father brings his son, the possessed, or as we

should now say, the epileptic boy, who oftentimes falls into the

water, or into the fire, or lies grovelling on the earth, foaming

and gnashing his teeth; the boy struggles in his arms,--the rolling

eyes, the distorted features, the spasmodic limbs, are at once

terrible and pitiful to look on.

"Such is the profound, the heart-moving significance of this

wonderful picture. It is, in truth, a fearful approximation of the

most opposite things; the mournful helplessness, suffering, and

degradation of human nature, the unavailing pity, are placed in

immediate contrast with spiritual light, life, hope,--nay, the very

fruition of heavenly rapture.

"It has been asked, who are the two figures, the two saintly

deacons, who stand on each side of the upper group, and what have

they to do with the mystery above, or the sorrow below? Their

presence shows that the whole was conceived as a vision, or a poem.

The two saints are St. Laurence and St. Julian, placed there at the

request of the Cardinal de' Medici, for whom the picture was

painted, to be offered by him as an act of devotion as well as

munificence to his new bishopric; and these two figures commemorate

in a poetical way, not unusual at the time, his father, Lorenzo,

and his uncle, Giuliano de' Medici. They would be better away; but

Raphael, in consenting to the wish of his patron that they should

be introduced, left no doubt of the significance of the whole

composition, that it is placed before worshippers as a revelation

of the double life of earthly suffering and spiritual faith, as an

excitement to religious contemplation and religious hope.

"In the Gospel, the Transfiguration of Our Lord is first described,

then the gathering of the people and the appeal of the father in

behalf of his afflicted son. They appear to have been simultaneous;

but painting only could have placed them before our eyes, at the

same moment, in all their suggestive contrast. It will be said that

in the brief record of the Evangelist, this contrast is nowhere

indicated, but the painter found it there and was right to use

it,--just the same as if a man should choose a text from which to

preach a sermon, and, in doing so, should evolve from the inspired

words many teachings, many deep reasonings, besides those most

obvious and apparent.

"But, after we have prepared ourselves to understand and to take

into our heads all that this wonderful picture can suggest,

considered as an emanation of the mind, we find that it has other

interests for us, considered merely as a work of art. It was the

last picture which came from Raphael's hand; he was painting on it

when he was seized with his last illness. He had completed all the

upper part of the composition, all the ethereal vision, but the

lower part of it was still unfinished, and in this state the

picture was hung over his bier; when, after his death, he was laid

out in his painting-room, and all his pupils and friends, and the

people of Rome, came to look upon him for the last time; and when

those who stood round raised their eyes to the Transfiguration, and

then bent them on the lifeless form extended beneath it, 'every

heart was like to burst with grief (_faceva scoppiare l'anima di

dolore a ognuno che quivi guardava_), as, indeed, well it might.

"Two-thirds of the price of the picture, 655 'ducati di camera,'

had already been paid by the Cardinal de' Medici, and, in the

following year, that part of the picture which Raphael had left

unfinished was completed by his pupil Giulio Romano, a powerful and

gifted, but not a refined or elevated, genius. He supplied what was

wanting in the colours and chiaroscuro according to Raphael's

design, but not certainly as Raphael himself would have done it.

The sum which Giulio received he bestowed as a dowry on his sister,

when he gave her in marriage to Lorenzetto the sculptor, who had

been a friend and pupil of Raphael. The cardinal did not send the

picture to Narbonne, but, unwilling to deprive Rome of such a

masterpiece, he presented it to the church of San Pietro in

Montorio, and sent in its stead the Raising of Lazarus, by

Sebastian del Piombo, now in our National Gallery. The French

carried off the Transfiguration to Paris in 1797, and when

restored, it was placed in the Vatican, where it now is."--_Mrs.

Jameson's History of Our Lord_, vol. i.

_3rd Room._--

_Entrance Wall._--Madonna and Saints: _Titian_.

"Titian's altar-piece is a specimen of his pictures of this class.

St. Nicholas, in full episcopal costume, is gazing upwards with an

air of inspiration. St. Peter is looking over his shoulder at a

book, and a beautiful St. Catherine is on the other side. Farther

behind, are St. Francis and St. Anthony of Padua; on the left St.

Sebastian, whose figure recurs in almost all of these pictures.

Above, in the clouds, with angels, is the Madonna, who looks

cheerfully on, while the lovely Child holds a wreath, as if ready

to crown a votary."--_Kugler._

"In this picture there are three stages, or whatever they are

called, the same as in the Transfiguration. Below, saints and

martyrs are represented in suffering and abasement; on every face

is depicted sadness, nay, almost impatience; one figure in rich

episcopal robes looks upwards, with the most eager and agonized

longing, as if weeping, but he cannot see all that is floating

above his head, but which _we_ see, standing in front of the

picture. Above, Mary and her Child are in a cloud, radiant with

joy, and surrounded by angels, who have woven many garlands; the

Holy Child holds one of these, and seems as if about to crown the

saints beneath, but his Mother withholds his hand for the

moment(?). The contrast between the pain and suffering below,

whence St. Sebastian looks forth out of the picture with gloom and

almost apathy, and the lofty unalloyed exultation in the clouds

above, where crowns and palms are already awaiting him, is truly

admirable. High above the group of Mary hovers the Holy Spirit,

from whom emanates a bright streaming light, thus forming the apex

of the whole composition. I have just remembered that Goethe, at

the beginning of his first visit to Rome, describes and admires

this picture; and he speaks of it in considerable detail. It was at

that time in the Quirinal."--_Mendelssohn's Letters._

Sta. Margherita da Cortona: _Guercino_. She is represented

kneeling,--angels hovering above,--in the background is the Convent

of Cortona.

RIGHT WALL:

Martyrdom of St. Laurence: _Spagnoletto_.

22. The Magdalen, with angels bearing the instruments of the

Passion: _Guercino_.

23. The Coronation of the Virgin: _Pinturicchio_.

24. The Resurrection: _Perugino_. The figures are sharply relieved

against a bright green landscape and a perfectly green sky. The

figure of the risen Saviour is in a raised gold nimbus surrounded

by cherubs' heads, as in the fresco of Pinturicchio at the Ara

Cœli. The escaping soldier is said to be a portrait of Perugino,

introduced by Raphael,--the sleeping soldier that of Raphael, by

Perugino.

25. "La Madonna di Monte Luco," designed by Raphael: the upper part

painted by _Giulio Romano_, the lower by _Francesco Penni_ (Il

Fattore). The apostles looking into the tomb of the Virgin, find it

blooming with heartsease and ixias. Above, the Virgin is crowned

amid the angels. There is a lovely landscape seen through a dark

cave, which ends awkwardly in the black clouds. This picture was

painted for the convent of Monte Luco near Spoleto.

26. The Nativity: _Giovanni Spagna_.

27. The Coronation of the Virgin: _Raphael_. The predella in the

first room belonged to this picture, which was painted for the

Benedictines of Perugia.

28. The Virgin and Child enthroned under an arcade--with S.

Lorenzo, St. Louis, S. Ercolano, and S. Costanzo, standing: On the

step of the throne is inscribed 'Hoc Petrus de Chastro Plebis

Pinxit.'

29. Virgin and Child: _Sassoferrato_. A fat mundane Infant and a

coarse Virgin seated on a crescent moon. The Child holds a rosary.

END WALL:

The Entombment: _Caravaggio_.

"Caravaggio's entombment of Christ is a picture wanting in all the

characteristics of holy sublimity; but is nevertheless full of

solemnity, only perhaps too like the funeral solemnity of a gipsy

chief. A figure of such natural sorrow as the Virgin, who is

represented as exhausted with weeping, with her trembling

outstretched hands, has seldom been painted. Even as mother of a

gipsy chief, she is dignified and touching."--_Kugler._

LEFT WALL (RETURNING):

31. Doge A. Gritti (_Titian_), half-length, in a yellow robe.

Two very large pictures in many compartments, by _Niccolo Alunno_,

of the Crucifixion and Saints. (Between them.)

Sixtus IV. and his Court: _Melozzo da Forlì_. A fresco, removed

from the Vatican library by Leo XII., which is a most interesting

memorial of an important historical family. Near the figure of the

pope, Sixtus IV., who is known to Roman travellers from his

magnificent bronze tomb in the Chapel of the Sacrament at St.

Peter's, stand two of his nephews, of whom one is Giuliano della

Rovere, afterwards Julius II., and the other Pietro Riario, who,

from the position of a humble Franciscan monk, was raised, in a few

months, by his uncle, to be Bishop of Treviso, Cardinal-Archbishop

of Seville, Patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop of Valentia,

and Archbishop of Florence, when his life changed, and he lived

with such extravagance, and gave banquets so magnificent, that

"never had pagan antiquity seen anything like it;"[355] but within

two years "he died (not without suspicion of poison), to the great

grief of Pope Sixtus, and to the infinite joy of the whole college

of cardinals."[356] The kneeling figure represents Platina, the

historian of the popes and prefect of the Vatican library. In the

background stand two other nephews of the pope, Cardinal Giovanni

della Rovere, and Girolamo Riario, who was married by his uncle (or

father?), the pope, to the famous Caterina Sforza,--was suspected

of being the originator of the conspiracy of the Pazzi,--was

created Count of Forlì, and to whose aggrandisement Sixtus IV.

sacrificed every principle of morality and justice: he was murdered

at Forli, April 14th, 1488. Beneath is inscribed:

"Templa domum expositis fora mœnia pontes:

Virgineam Trivii quod repararis aquam

Prisca licet nautis statuas dare commoda portus:

Et Vaticanum cingere Sixte jugum:

Plus tamen urbs debet: nam quæ squalore latebet.

Germitur in celebri bibliotheca loco."

_4th Room._--

ENTRANCE WALL:

32. The Martyrdom of SS. Processus and Martinianus, the gaolers of

St Peter: _Valentin_. It is stigmatised by Kugler as "an

unimportant and bad picture," but, perhaps from the connection of

the subject with the story of St Peter, has been thought worthy of

being copied in mosaic in the basilica, whence this picture was

brought.

"This picture is terrible for dark and effective expression; it is

just one of those subjects in which the Caravaggio school

delighted."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

33. Martyrdom of St. Peter: _Guido Reni_.

"This has the heavy powerful forms of Caravaggio, but wants the

passionate feeling which sustains such subjects,--it is a martyrdom

and nothing more,--it might pass for an enormous and horrible genre

picture."--_Kugler._

34. Martyrdom of St. Erasmus: _N. Poussin_. A most horrible picture

of the disembowelment of the saint upon a wheel. It was copied in

mosaic in St Peter's when the picture was removed from thence.

LEFT WALL:

35. The Annunciation: _Baroccio_. From Sta. Maria di Loreto,

detained in the Vatican in exchange for a mosaic, after it was sent

back by the French.

36. St. Gregory the Great--the miracle of the Brandeum: _Andrea

Sacchi_.

"The Empress Constantia sent to St. Gregory requesting some of the

relics of St. Peter and St. Paul. He excused himself, saying that

he dared not disturb their sacred remains for such a purpose,--but

he sent her part of a consecrated cloth (Brandeum) which had

enfolded the body of St. John the Evangelist. The empress rejected

this gift with contempt: whereupon Gregory, to show that such

things are hallowed not so much in themselves as by the faith of

believers, laid the Brandeum on the altar, and after praying he

took up a knife and pierced it, and blood flowed as from a living

body."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 321.

37. The Ecstasy of Sta. Michelina: _Baroccio_. This picture is

mentioned by Lanzi as "Sta. Michelina estatica _sul Calvario_." The

story appears to be lost.

BETWEEN THE WINDOWS:

The Madonna and Child with St. Jerome and St. Bartholomew: _Moretto

da Brescia_ (_Buonvicino_).

38. The Dream of Sta. Helena (of the finding of the true Cross):

_Paolo Veronese_. Once in the Capitol collection.

RIGHT WALL (RETURNING):

39. Madonna with St. Thomas and St. Jerome: _Guido_. The St. Thomas

is very grand.

40. Madonna della Cintola with St. John and St. Augustin. Signed

1521: _Cesare da Sesto_.

41. Salvator Mundi. Christ seated on the rainbow: _Correggio?_

42. St. Romualdo: _Andrea Sacchi_. The saint sees the vision of a

ladder by which the friars of his Order ascend to heaven. The monks

in white drapery are grand and noble figures.

"It is recorded in the legend of St. Romualdo, that, a short time

before his death, he fell asleep beside a fountain near his cell;

and he dreamed, and in his dream he saw a ladder like that which

the patriarch Jacob beheld in his vision, resting on the earth, and

the top of it reaching to heaven; and he saw the brethren of his

Order ascending by twos and by threes, all clothed in white. When

Romualdo awoke from his dream, he changed the habit of his monks

from black to white, which they have ever since worn in remembrance

of this vision."--_Jameson's Monastic Orders_, p. 117.

* * * * *

A door on the ground-floor of the Cortile di S. Damaso will admit

visitors (with an order) to visit the _Papal Manufactory of Mosaics_,

whence so many beautiful works have issued, and where others are always

in progress.

"Ghirlandajo, who felt the utmost enthusiasm for the august remains

of Roman grandeur, was still more deeply impressed by the sight of

the ancient mosaics of the Christian basilicas, the image of which

was still present to his mind when he said, at a more advanced age,

that 'mosaic was the true painting for eternity.'"--_Rio._

CHAPTER XVII.

THE ISLAND AND THE TRASTEVERE.

Ponte Quattro Capi--Gaetani Tower--S. Bartolomeo in Isola--Temple

of Æsculapius--Hospital of the Benfratelli--Mills on the

Tiber--Ponte Cestio--Fornarina's House--S. Benedetto a

Piscinuola--Castle of the Alberteschi--S. Crispino--Palazzo

Ponziani--Sta. Maria in Cappella--Sta. Cecilia--Hospital of S.

Michele--Porta Portese--Sta. Maria del Orto--S. Francesco a

Ripa--Castle of the Anquillara--S. Chrisogono--Hospital of S.

Gallicane--Sta. Maria in Trastevere--S. Calisto--Convent of Sta.

Anna--S. Cosimato--Porta Settimiana--Sta. Dorotea--Ponte Sisto.

Following the road which leads to the Temple of Vesta, &c., as far as

the Via Savelli, and then turning down past the gateway of the Orsini

palace, with its two bears,--we reach the _Ponte Quattro Capi_.

This was the ancient Pons Fabricius, built of stone in the place of a

wooden bridge, A.U.C. 733, by Fabricius, the Curator Viarum. It has two

arches, with a small ornamental one in the central pier. In the twelfth

century the greater part was faced with brickwork. An inscription, only

partly legible, remains. L. FABRICIUS. C. T. CUR. VIAR. FACIUNDUM.

CURAVIT. EIDEMQ. PROBAVIT.--Q. LEPIDUS. M. F. M. LOLLIUS. M. F. COS. EX.

S. C. PROBAVERUNT. From this inscription the inference has been drawn

that the senate always allowed forty years to elapse between the

completion of a public work, and the grant to it of their public

approval. This bridge, according to Horace, was a favourite spot with

those who wished to drown themselves; hence Damasippus would have leaped

into the Tiber, if it were not for the precepts of the stoic Stertinius:

"Unde ego mira

Descripsi docilis præcepta hæc, tempore quo me

Solatus jussit sapientem pascere barbam,

Atque a Fabricio non tristem ponte reverti."

_Horace, Sat._ ii. 3.

The name of the bridge changed with time to "Pons Tarpeius" and "Pons

Judæorum," from the neighbouring Ghetto. It is now called Ponte Quattro

Capi, from two busts of the four-headed Janus, which adorn its parapet,

and are supposed to have come from the temple of "Janus Geminus," which

stood in this neighbourhood.

On crossing this bridge, we are on the Island in the Tiber, the

formation of which is ascribed by tradition to the produce of the

corn-fields of the Tarquins (cast contemptuously upon the waters after

their expulsion), which accumulated here, till soil gathered around

them, and a solid piece of land was formed. Of this, Ampère says:

"L'effet du courant rapide du fleuve est plutôt de détruire les

îles que d'en former. C'est ainsi qu'une petite île a été entraînée

par la violence des eaux en 1718."--_Histoire Romaine à Rome._

On this island, anciently known as the _Isola Tiberina_, were three

temples,--those, namely, of Æsculapius:

"Unde Coroniden circumflua Tibridis alveo

Insula Romuleæ sacris adsciverit urbis."

_Ovid, Metam._ xv. 624.

"Accepit Phœbo Nymphaque Coronide natum

Insula, dividua quam premit amnis aqua."

_Ovid, Fast._ i. 291.

of Jupiter:

"Jupiter in parte est, cepit locus unus utrumque:

Junctaque sunt magno templa nepotis avo."

_Ovid, Fast._ i. 293.

and of Faunus:

"Idibus agrestis fumant altaria Fauni,

Hic ubi discretas insula rumpit aquas."

_Ovid, Fast._ ii. 193.

Here also was an altar to the Sabine god Semo-Sancus, whose inscription,

legible in the early centuries of Christianity, led various

ecclesiastical authors into the error that the words "Semoni Sanco"

referred to Simon Magus.[357]

In imperial times the island was used as a prison: among remarkable

prisoners immured here was Arvandus, Prefect of Gaul, A.D. 468. In the

reign of Claudius sick slaves were exposed and left to die here,--that

emperor--by a strange contradiction in one who caused fallen gladiators

to be butchered "for the pleasure of seeing them die"--making a law that

any slave so exposed should receive his liberty if he recovered. In the

middle ages the island was under the jurisdiction of the Cardinal Bishop

of Porto, who lived in the Franciscan convent. Under Leo X. a fête was

held here in which Camillo Querno, the papal poet, was crowned with ivy,

laurel, and cabbage (!). In 1656 the whole island was appropriated as a

hospital for those stricken with the plague,--a singular coincidence for

the site of the temple of Æsculapius.

The first building on the left, after passing the bridge, is a fine

brick tower, of great historic interest, as the only relic of a castle,

built by the family of the Anicii, of which St. Gregory the Great was a

member, and two of whom were consuls together under Honorius:

"Est in Romuleo procumbens insula Tibri,

Qua medius geminas interfluit alveus urbes,

Discretas subeunte freto, pariterque minantes

Ardua turrigeræ surgunt in culmina ripæ.

Hic stetit et subitum prospexit ab aggere votum.

Unanimes fratres junctos stipante senatu

Ire forum, strictasque procul radiare secures,

Atque uno bijuges tolli de limine fasces."

_Claudius, Paneg. in Prob. et Olyb. Cons._ 226.

From the Anicii the castle passed to the Gaetani. It was occupied as a

fortress by the Countess Matilda, after she had driven the faction of

the anti-pope Guibert out of the island, and was the refuge where two

successive popes, Victor III. and Urban II., lived under her

protection.[358]

The centre of the island is now occupied by the _Church and Convent of

S. Bartolomeo_, which gives it its present name.

The piazza in front of the church is occupied by a pillar, erected at

the private expense of Pius IX., to commemorate the opening of the

Vatican Council of 1869--70,--adorned with statues of St. Bartholomew,

St. Paulinus of Nola, St. Francis, and S. Giovanni di Dio. Here formerly

stood an ancient obelisk (the only one of unknown origin). A fragment of

it was long preserved at the Villa Albani, whence it is said to have

been removed to Urbino. The church, a basilica, was founded by Otho III.

_c._ 1000; its campanile dates from 1118. The nave and aisles are

divided by red granite columns, said to be relics of the ancient

temple,--as is a marble well-head under the stairs leading to the

tribune. This was restored in 1798, and dedicated to St. Adalbert of

Gnesen, who bestowed upon the church its great relic, the body of St.

Bartholomew, which he asserted to have brought from Beneventum, though

the inhabitants of that town profess that they still possess the _real_

body of the apostle, and sent that of St. Paulinus of Nola to Rome

instead. The dispute about the possession of this relic ran so high as

to lead to a siege of Beneventum in the middle ages. The convent belongs

to the Franciscans (Frati-Minori), who will admit male visitors into

their pretty little garden at the end of the island, to see the remains

of

The Temple of Æsculapius, built after the great plague in Rome, in B.C.

291, when, in accordance with the advice of the Sibylline books,

ambassadors were sent to Epidaurus to bring Æsculapius to Rome;--they

returned with a statue of the god, but as their vessel sailed up the

Tiber, a serpent, which had lain concealed during the voyage, glided

from it, and landed on this spot, hailed by the people under the belief

that Æsculapius himself had thus come to them. In consequence of this

story the form of a ship was given to this end of the island, and its

bow may still be seen at the end of the convent garden, with the famous

serpent of Æsculapius sculptured upon it in high relief.[359] The

curious remains still existing are not of sufficient size to bear out

the assertion often made that the whole island was enclosed in the

travertine form of a ship, of which the temple of Jupiter at the other

end afterwards formed the prow, and the obelisk the mast.

"Pendant les guerres Samnites, Rome fut de nouveau frappée par une

de ces maladies auxquelles elle était souvent en proie; celle-ci

dura trois années. On eut recours aux livres Sibyllins. En cas

pareil ils avaient prescrit de consacrer un temple à Apollon; cette

fois ils prescrivirent d'aller à Epidaure chercher le fils

d'Apollon, Esculape, et de l'amener à Rome. Esculape, sous la forme

d'un serpent, fut transporté d'Epidaure dans l'île Tibérine, où on

lui éleva un temple, et où ont été trouvés des _ex-voto_,

représentant des bras, des jambes, diverses autres parties du corps

humain, _ex-votos_ qu'on eût pu croire provenir d'une église de

Rome, car le catholicisme romain a adopté cet usage païen sans y

rien changer.

"Pourquoi place-t-on le temple d'Esculape en cet endroit? On a vu

que l'île Tibérine avait été très-anciennement consacrée au culte

d'un dieu des Latins primitifs, Faunus; or ce dieu rendait ses

oracles près des sources thermales; its devaient avoir souvent pour

l'objet la guérison des malades qui venaient demander la santé à

ces sources. De plus, les malades consultaient Esculape dans les

songes par incubation, comme dans l'Ovide, Numa va consulter Faunus

sur l'Aventin. Il n'est donc pas surprenant qu'on ait institué le

culte du dieu grec de la santé, là où le dieu latin Faunus rendait

ses oracles dans des songes, et où étaient probablement des sources

d'eau chaude qui ont disparu comme les _lautulæ_ près du Forum

romain.

"On donna à l'île la forme d'un vaisseau, plus tard un obélisque

figura le mât; en la regardant du Ponte Rotto, on reconnaît encore

très bien cette forme, de ce côté, on voit sculpté sur le mur qui

figure le vaisseau d'Esculape une image du dieu avec un serpent

entortillé autour de son sceptre. La belle statue d'Esculape, venue

des jardins Farnèse, passe pour avoir été celle de l'île Tibérine.

Un temple de Jupiter touchait à ce temple d'Esculape.

"Un jour que je visitais ce lieu, le sacristain de l'église de St.

Barthélemy me dit, '_Al tempo d'Esculapio quando Giove regnava._'

Phrase singulière, et qui montre encore vivante une sorte de foi au

paganisme chez les Romains."--_Ampère_, iii. 42.

Opposite S. Bartolomeo, on the site of the temple of Faunus, is the

_Hospital of S. Giovanni Calabita_, also called _Benfratelli_, entirely

under the care of the brethren of S. Giovanni di Dio, who cook, nurse,

wash, and otherwise do all the work of those who pass under their care,

often to the number of 1200 in the course of the year, though the

hospital is very small.

"C'est à Pie V. que les frères de l'ordre de la _Charité_, institué

par saint Jean de Dieu, durent leur premier établissement à Rome.

"Au milieu du cortége triomphal qui accompagnait don Juan

d'Autriche (1571), lors de son retour de Lépante, on remarquait un

pauvre homme misérablement vêtu et à l'attitude modeste. Il se

nommait Sébastien Arias _des frères de Jean de Dieu_. Jean de Dieu

était mort sans laisser d'autre règle à ses disciples que ces

touchantes paroles qu'il répétait sans cesse, _faites le bien, mes

frères_; et Sébastien d'Arias venait à Rome pour demander au pape

l'autorisation de former des couvents et d'avoir des hospices où

ils pussent suivre les exemples de dévouement que leur avait

laissés Jean de Dieu. Or, Sébastien rencontra don Juan à Naples, et

le vainqueur de Lépante le prit avec lui. Il se chargea même

d'appuyer sa requête, et Pie V. s'empressa d'accorder aux frères

non-seulement la bulle qu'ils désiraient, mais encore un monastère

dans l'île du Tibre."--_Gournerie_, _Rome Chrétienne_, ii. 206.

A narrow lane near this leads to the other end of the island, where the

temple of Jupiter stood. It is worth while to go thither for the sake of

the view of the river and its bridges, which is to be obtained from a

little quay leading to one of the numerous water-mills which exist near

this. These floating _Mills_ (which bear sacred monograms upon their

gables) are interesting as having been invented by Belisarius in order

to supply the people and garrison with bread, during the siege of Rome

by Vitiges, when the Goths had cut the aqueducts, and thus rendered the

mills on the Janiculan useless.

The bridge, of one large and two smaller arches, which connects the

island with the Trastevere, is now called the _Ponte S. Bartolomeo_, but

was anciently the Pons Cestius, or Gratianus, built A.U.C. 708, by the

Prætor Lucius Cestius, who was probably father to the Caius Cestius

buried near the Porta S. Paolo. It was restored A.D. 370 by the emperors

Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian, as is seen from the fragments of a

red letter inscription on the inside of the parapet, in which the title

"Pontifex Maximus" is ascribed to each--"a tide accepted without

hesitation," says Gibbon, "by seven Christian emperors, who were

invested with more absolute authority over the religion they had

deserted, than over that which they professed."

We now enter _the Trastevere_, the city "across the Tiber,"--the portion

of Rome which is most unaltered from mediæval times, and whose narrow

streets are still overlooked by many ancient towers, gothic windows, and

curious fragments of sculpture. The inhabitants on this side differ in

many respects from those on the other side of the Tiber. They pride

themselves upon being born "Trasteverini," profess to be the direct

descendants of the ancient Romans, seldom intermarry with their

neighbours, and speak a dialect peculiarly their own. It is said that in

their dispositions also they differ from the other Romans, that they are

a far more hasty, passionate, and revengeful, as they are a stronger and

more vigorous race. The proportion of murders (a crime far less common

in Rome than in England) is larger in this than in any other part of the

city. This, it is believed, is partly due to the extreme excitement

which the Trasteverini display in the pursuit of their national games,

especially that of Morrà:--

"Morrà is played by the men, and merely consists in holding up, in

rapid succession, any number of fingers they please, calling out at

the same time the number their antagonist shows. Nothing,

seemingly, can be more simple or less interesting. Yet, to see them

play, so violent are their gestures, that you would imagine them

possessed by some diabolical passion. The eagerness and rapidity

with which they carry it on render it very liable to mistake and

altercation; then frenzy fires them, and too often furious disputes

arise at this trivial play that end in murder. Morrà seems to

differ in no respect from the _Micare Digitis_ of the ancient

Romans."--_Eaton's Rome._

A house with gothic windows on the right, soon after passing the bridge,

is pointed out as that once inhabited by the _Fornarina_, beloved of

Raphael, and so well known to us from his portrait of her in the Tribune

at Florence.

Crossing the Via Longarina, we find ourselves in the little piazza of

_S. Benedetto a Piscinuola_, where there is a tiny church, with a good

brick campanile intersected by terra-cotta mouldings, which occupies the

site of the house inhabited by St. Benedict before his retreat to

Subiaco. The exterior is uninviting, but the interior very curious; an

atrium with antique columns opens to a vaulted chapel (of the same

design as the Orto del Paradiso at Sta. Prassede), in which is a picture

of the Virgin and Child, revered as that before which St. Benedict was

wont to pray. Hence is entered the cell of the saint, of rough-hewn

stones. His stone pillow is shown.

The church has ancient pillars, and a rich opus-alexandrinum pavement.

"Over the high altar is a picture--full-length--of St. Benedict,

which Mabillon ('Iter Italicum') considers a genuine contemporary

portrait--though Nibby and other critics suppose it less ancient.

The figure on gold background is seated in a chair with gothic

carvings, such as were in mediæval use; the black cowl is drawn

over the head, the hair and beard are white; the aspect is serious

and thoughtful, in one hand a crozier, in the other the book of

rules drawn up by the Saint, displaying the words with which they

begin: 'Ausculta fili precepta magistri."--_Hemans' Ancient Sacred

Art._

Turning down the Via Longarina towards the river, we pass, on the left,

considerable remains of the old mediæval _Castle of the Alberteschi

Family_, consisting of a block of palatial buildings of handsome

masonry, with numerous antique fragments built into them, and a very

rich porch sculptured with egg and billet mouldings of _c._ A.D. 1150,

and beyond these, separated from them by a modern street, a high brick

tower of _c._ A.D. 1100. Above one of the windows of this tower, a head

of Jupiter is engrafted in the wall.

We now reach the entrance of the Ponte Rotto (described Chap. V.). Close

to this bridge is the Church of _S. Crispino al Ponte_ (the saint is

buried at S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna). The front is modernized, but the

east end displays rich terra-cotta cornices, and is very picturesque. On

the river bank below this are the colossal lions' heads mentioned in

Chap. V.

Turning up the Via dei Vascellari, we pass on the right, the ancient

_Palace of the Ponziani Family_, once magnificent, but now of humble and

rude exterior, and scarcely to be distinguished, except in March, during

the festa of Sta. Francesca Romana, when old tapestries are hung out

upon its white-washed walls, and the street in front is thickly strewn

with box-leaves.

"The modern building that has been raised on the foundation of the

old palace is the Casa dei Esercizii Pii, for the young men of the

city. There the repentant sinner who longs to break the chain of

sin, the youth beset by some strong temptation, one who has heard

the inward voice summoning him to higher paths of virtue, another

who is in doubt as to the particular line of life to which he is

called, may come, and leave behind him for three, or five, or ten

days, as it may be, the busy world, with all its distractions and

its agitations, and, free for the time being from temporal cares,

the wants of the body being provided for, and the mind at rest, may

commune with God and their own souls.

"Over the Casa dei Esercizii Pii the sweet spirit of Francesca

seems still to preside. On the day of her festival its rooms are

thrown open, every memorial of the gentle saint is exhibited,

lights burn on numerous altars, flowers deck the passages, leaves

are strewn in the chapel, on the stairs, in the entrance-court; gay

carpets, figured tapestry, and crimson silks hang over the door,

and crowds of people go in and out, and kneel before the relics or

the pictures of the dear saint of Rome. It is a touching festival,

which carries back the mind to the day when the young bride of

Lorenzo Ponziano entered these walls for the first time, in all the

sacred beauty of holiness and youth."--_Lady G. Fullerton._

In this house, also, Sta. Francesca Romana died, having come hither from

her convent to nurse her son who was ill, and having been then seized

with mortal illness herself.

"Touching were the last words of the dying mother to her spiritual

children: 'Love, love,' was the burden of her teaching, as it had

been that of the beloved disciple. 'Love one another,' she said,

'and be faithful unto death. Satan will assault you, as he has

assaulted me, but be not afraid. You will overcome him through

patience and obedience; and no trial will be too grievous, if you

are united to Jesus; if you walk in His ways, He will be with you.'

On the seventh day of her illness, as she had herself announced,

her life came to a close. A sublime expression animated her face, a

more ethereal beauty clothed her earthly form. Her confessor for

the last time inquired what it was her enraptured eyes beheld, and

she answered, 'The heavens open! the angels descend! the angel has

finished his task. He stands before me. He beckons me to follow

him.' These were the last words Francesca uttered."--_Lady G.

Fullerton's Life of Sta. F. Romana._

Almost opposite the Ponziani Palace, an alley leads to the small chapel

of _Sta. Maria in Cappella_, which has a good brick campanile, dating

from 1090. This building is attached to a hospital for poor women ill of

incurable diseases, attended by sisters of charity, and entirely under

the patronage of the Doria family.

We now reach the front of the _Convent and Church of Sta. Cecilia_

(facing which is a picturesque mediæval house), in many ways one of the

most interesting buildings in the city.

Cecilia was a noble and rich Roman lady, who lived in the reign of

Alexander Severus. She was married at sixteen to Valerian, a heathen,

with whom she lived in perpetual virginity, telling him that her

guardian angel watched over her by day and night.

"I have an angel which thus loveth me--

That with great love, whether I wake or sleep,

Is ready aye my body for to keep."

_Chaucer._

At length Valerian and his brother Tiburtius were converted to

Christianity by her prayers, and the exhortations of Pope Urban I. The

husband and brother were beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to idols,

and Cecilia was shortly afterwards condemned by Almachius, prefect of

Rome, who was covetous of the great wealth she had inherited by their

deaths. She was first shut up in the _Sudatorium_ of her own baths, and

a blazing fire was lighted, that she might be destroyed by the hot

vapours. But when the bath was opened, she was found still living, "for

God," says the legend, "had sent a cooling shower, which had tempered

the heat of the fire, and preserved the life of the saint." Almachius,

then, who dreaded the consequences of bringing so noble and courageous a

victim to public execution, sent a lictor to behead her in her own

palace, but he executed his office so ill, that she still lived after

the third blow of his axe, after which the Roman law forbade that a

victim should be stricken again. "The Christians found her bathed in her

blood, and during three days she still preached and taught, like a

doctor of the Church, with such sweetness and eloquence, that four

hundred pagans were converted. On the third day she was visited by Pope

Urban, to whose care she tenderly committed the poor whom she nourished,

and to him she bequeathed the palace in which she had lived, that it

might be consecrated as a temple to the Saviour. Then, "thanking God

that he considered her, a humble woman, worthy to share the glory of his

heroes, and with her eyes apparently fixed upon the heavens opening

before her, she departed to her heavenly bridegroom, upon the 22nd

November, A.D. 280."

The foundation of the church dates from its consecration by Pope Urban

I., after the death of St. Cecilia, but it was rebuilt by Paschal I. in

821, and miserably modernized by Cardinal Doria in 1725. The exterior

retains its ancient campanile of 1120, and its atrium of marble pillars,

evidently collected from pagan edifices and surmounted by a frieze of

mosaic, in which medallion heads of Cecilia, Valerian, Tiburtius, Urban

I., and others are introduced. In the courtyard of the convent, which

belongs to Benedictine nuns, is a fine specimen of the Roman vase called

Cantharus, perhaps coeval with St. Cecilia's own residence here.

Right of the door, on entering, is the tomb of Adam of Hertford, Bishop

of London, who died 1398, the only one spared from a cruel death, of the

cardinals who conspired against Urban VI., and were taken prisoners at

Lucera--from fear of King John who was his friend. His sarcophagus is

adorned with the arms of England, then three leopards and fleurs-de-lis

quartered. On the opposite side of the entrance is the tomb of Cardinal

Fortiguerra, conspicuous in the contests of Pius II. and Paul II. with

the Malatestas and Savellis in the fifteenth century. The drapery is a

beautiful specimen of the delicate carving of detail during that period.

The altar canopy, which bears the name of its artist, Arnolphus, and the

date 1286, is a fine specimen of gothic work, and has statuettes of

Cecilia, Valerian, Tiburtius, and Urban. Beneath the altar is the famous

statue of St. Cecilia.

In the archives of the Vatican remains an account written by Pope

Paschal I. (A.D. 817--24) himself, describing how, "yielding to the

infirmity of the flesh," he fell asleep in his chair during the early

morning service at St. Peter's, with his mind pre-occupied with a

longing to find the burial-place of Cecilia, and discover her relics.

Then in a glorified vision the virgin-saint appeared before him, and

revealed the spot where she lay, with her husband and brother-in-law, in

the catacomb of Calixtus, and there they were found, and transported to

her church on the following day.

In the sixteenth century, Sfondrato, titular cardinal of the church,

opened the tomb of the martyr, when the embalmed body of Cecilia was

found, as it had been previously found by Paschal, robed in gold tissue,

with linen clothes steeped in blood at her feet, "not lying upon the

back, like a body in a tomb, but upon its right side, like a virgin in

her bed, with her knees modestly drawn together, and offering the

appearance of sleep." Pope Clement VIII. and all the people of Rome

rushed to look upon the saint, who was afterwards enclosed as she was

found, in a shrine of cypress wood cased in silver. But before she was

again hidden from sight, the greatest artist of the day, Stefano

Maderno, was called in by Sfondrato, to sculpture the marble portrait

which we now see lying upon her grave. Sfondrato (whose tomb is in this

church) also enriched her shrine with the ninety-six silver lamps which

burn constantly before it. In regarding this statue it will be

remembered that Cecilia was not beheaded, but wounded in the throat,--a

gold circlet conceals the wound.

In the statue "the body lies on its side, the limbs a little drawn

up; the hands are delicate and fine,--they are not locked, but

crossed at the wrists: the arms are stretched out. The drapery is

beautifully modelled, and modestly covers the limbs.... It is the

statue of a lady, perfect in form, and affecting from the

resemblance to reality in the drapery of white marble, and the

unspotted appearance of the statue altogether. It lies as no living

body could lie, and yet correctly, as the dead when left to

expire,--I mean in the gravitation of the limbs."--_Sir C. Bell._

The inscription says: "Behold the body of the most holy virgin

Cecilia, whom I myself saw lying incorrupt in her tomb. I have in

this marble expressed for thee the same saint in the very same

posture of body."

The tribune is adorned with mosaics of the ninth century, erected in the

lifetime of Paschal I. (see his _square_ nimbus). The Saviour is seen in

the act of benediction, robed in gold: at his side are SS. Peter and

Paul, St. Cecilia and St. Valerian, St. Paschal I. carrying the model of

his church, and St. Agatha, whom he joined with Cecilia in its

dedication. The mystic palm-trees and the phœnix, the emblem of

eternity, are also represented, and, beneath, the four rivers, and the

twelve sheep, emblematical of the apostles, issuing from the gates of

Bethlehem and Jerusalem, to the adoration of the spotless Lamb. The

picture of St. Cecilia behind the altar is attributed to _Guido_.

At the end of the right aisle is an ancient fresco representing the

dream of Pope Paschal,--the (mitred) pope asleep upon his throne, and

the saint appearing before him in a rich robe adorned with gems. This is

the last of a series of frescoes which once existed in the portico of

the church. The rest were destroyed in the seventeenth century. There

are copies of them in the Barberini Library, viz.

1. The marriage feast of Valerian and Cecilia.

2. Cecilia persuades Valerian to seek for St. Urban.

3. Valerian rides forth to seek for Urban.

4. Valerian is baptized.

5. An Angel crowns Cecilia and Valerian.

6. Cecilia converts her executioners.

7. Cecilia suffers in the bath.

8. The Martyrdom of Cecilia.

9. The Burial of Cecilia.

10. The dream of Paschal.

Opening out of the same aisle are two chambers in the house of St.

Cecilia, one the sudatorium of her baths, in which she was immured,

actually retaining the pipes and calorifers of an ancient Roman bath.

The Festa of St. Cecilia is observed in this church on November 22nd,

when--

--"rapt Cecilia, seraph-haunted queen of harmony"--[360]

is honoured in beautiful music from the papal choir assembled here.

Visitors to Bologna will recollect the glorious figure of St. Cecilia by

Raphael, rapt in ecstasy, and surrounded by instruments of music. This

association with Cecilia probably arises from the tradition of the

church, which tells how Valerian, returning from baptism by Pope Urban,

found her singing hymns of triumph for his conversion, of which he had

supposed her to be ignorant, and that when the bath was opened after

her three days' imprisonment, she was again found singing the praises of

her Saviour.

It is said that "she sang with such ravishing sweetness, that even the

angels descended from heaven to listen to her, or to join their voices

with hers."

The antiphons sung upon her festival are:

"And Cecilia, thy servant, serves thee, O Lord, even as the bee

that is never idle.

"I bless thee, O Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, for through thy

Son the fire hath been quenched round about me.

"I asked of the Lord a respite of three days, that I might

consecrate my house as a church.

"O Valerian, I have a secret to tell thee; I have for my lover an

angel of God, who, with great jealousy, watches over my body.

"The glorious virgin ever bore the Gospel of Christ in her bosom,

and neither by day nor night ceased from conversing with God in

prayer."

And the anthem:

"While the instruments of music were playing, Cecilia sang unto the

Lord, and said, Let my heart be undefiled, that I may never be

confounded.

"And Valerianus found Cecilia praying in her chamber with an

angel."

It will be remembered that Cecilia is one of the chosen saints _daily_

commemorated in the canon of the mass.

"Nobis quoque peccatoribus famulis tuis, de multitudine

miserationum tuarum sperantibus, partem aliquam et societatem

donare digneris cum tuis sanctis Apostolis et Martyribus: cum

Joanne, Stephano, Matthia, Barnaba, Ignatio, Alexandro, Marcellino,

Petro, Felicitate, Perpetua, Agata, Lucia, Agnete, _Cæcilia_,

Anastasia, et omnibus sanctis."

Just beyond St. Cecilia is the immense _Hospital of S. Michele_, founded

by Cardinal Odescalchi, nephew of Innocent XI., in 1693, as a refuge for

vagabond children, where they might be properly brought up and taught a

trade. Innocent XII. (Pignatelli) added to this foundation a hospital

for sick persons of both sexes, and each succeeding pope has increased

the buildings and their endowment. The establishment is now divided into

an asylum for old men and women, a school with ateliers for boys and

girls, and a penitentiary ("Casa delle Donne cattive"). A large church

was attached to the hospital by Leo XII. No old men are admitted who

have not inhabited Rome for five years; if they are still able to work a

small daily task is given to them. The old women, as long as they can

work, are obliged to mend and wash the linen of the establishment. The

boys, for the most part orphans, are received at the age of eleven. The

girls receive a dowry of 300 francs if they marry, but double that sum

if they consent to enter a convent. A printing press is attached to the

hospital.

S. Michele occupies the site of the sacred grove of the goddess Furina

(not of the Furies), where Caius Gracchus was killed, B.C. 123.

Protected by his friends, he escaped from the Aventine, where he had

first taken refuge, and crossed the Pons Sublicius. A single slave

reached the grove of Furina with him, who having in vain sought for a

horse to continue their flight, first slew his master and then himself.

One Septimuleius then cut off the head of Gracchus, and--a proclamation

having been issued that any one who brought the head of Caius Gracchus

should receive its weight in gold--first filled it with lead, and then

carried it on a spear to the consul Opimius, who paid him his

blood-money.

At the end of this street is the _Porta Portese_, built by Urban VIII.,

through which runs the road to Porto and Fiumicino.

Outside this gate was the site of the camp of Tarquin,--afterwards given

by the senate to Mutius-Scævola, for his bravery in the camp of Lars

Porsenna. The vineyards here have an interest to Roman Catholics as the

scene of one of the miracles attributed to Sta. Francesca Romana.

"One fine sunny January day, Francesca and her companions had

worked since dawn in the vineyards of the Porta Portese. They had

worked hard for several hours, and then suddenly remembered that

they had brought no provisions with them. They soon became faint

and hungry, and, above all, very thirsty. Perna, the youngest of

all the oblates, was particularly heated and tired, and asked

permission of the Mother Superior to go to drink water at a

fountain some way off on the public road.

"'Be patient, my child,' Francesca answered, and they went on with

their work; but Francesca withdrawing aside, knelt down, and said,

'Lord Jesus, I have been thoughtless in forgetting to provide food

for my sisters,--help us in our need.'

"Perna, who had kept near the Mother Superior, said to herself,

with some impatience, 'It would be more to the purpose to take us

home at once.' Then Francesca, turning to her, said, 'My child, you

do not trust in God; look up and see.' And Perna saw a vine

entwined around a tree, whose dead and leafless branches were

loaded with grapes. In speechless astonishment the oblates

assembled around the tree, for they had all seen its bare and

withered branches. Twenty times at least they had passed before it,

and the season for grapes was gone by. There were exactly as many

bunches as persons present.'--_See Lady G. Fullerton's Life of Sta.

F. Romana._

From the back of S. Michele a cross street leads to the _Church of Sta.

Maria dell' Orto_, designed by Giulio Romano, _c._ 1530, except the

façade, which is by Martino Lunghi. The high altar is by Giacomo della

Porta. The church contains an Annunciation by _Taddeo Zucchero_.

"Cette église appartient à plusieurs corporations; chacune a sa

tombe devant sa propre chapelle, et sur le couvercle sont gravées

ses armes particulières; un coq sur la tombe des marchands de

volaille, une pantoufle sur celle des savetiers, des artichauts sur

celle des jardiniers, &c."--_Robello._

Close to this, at the end of the street which runs parallel with S.

Michele, is the _Church of S. Francesco a Ripa_, the noviciate of the

Franciscans--"Frati Minori." The convent contains the room (approached

through the church) in which St. Francis lived, during his visits at

Rome, with many relics of him. His stone pillow and his crucifix are

shown, and a picture of him by G. de' Lettesoli. An altar in his chamber

supports a reliquary in which 18,000 relics are displayed!

The church was rebuilt soon after the death of St. Francis by the knight

Pandolfo d'Anquillara (his castle is in the Via Lungaretta), whose tomb

is in the church, with his figure, in the dress of a Franciscan monk,

which he assumed in the latter part of his life. It was again rebuilt by

Cardinal Pallavicini, from designs of Matteo Rossi. Among its pictures

are the Virgin and St. Anne by _Baciccio_, the Nativity by _Simon

Vouet_, and a dead Christ by _Annibale Caracci_. On the left of the

altar is the Altieri chapel, in which is a recumbent statue of the

blessed Luigi Albertoni, by _Bernini_. In the third chapel on the right

is a mummy, said to be that of the virgin martyr Sta. Semplicia. The

convent garden has some beautiful palm-trees.

Following the Via Morticelli we regain the Via Lungaretta near S.

Benedetto. This street, more than any other in Rome, retains remnants of

mediæval architecture. On the right (opposite the opening to the west

end of S. Chrisogono) is the entrance to the old _Castle of the

Anguillara Family_, of whom were Count Pandolfo d'Anguillara already

mentioned, and Everso, his grandson, celebrated for his highway

robberies between Rome and Viterbo in the fifteenth century; also Orso

d'Anguillara, senator of Rome, who crowned Petrarch at the Capitol on

Easter Day, 1341. "The family device, two crossed eels, surmounted by a

helmet, and a wild boar holding a serpent in his mouth, is believed to

refer to the story of the founder of their house, Malagrotta, a second

St. George, who slew a terrible serpent, which had devastated the

district round his abode, and received in recompense from the pope the

gift of as much land as he could walk round in one day."[361]

The existing remains consist of an arch, called "L'Arco dell'

Annunziata," and a brick tower, which is now in the possession of a

Signor Forti, who exhibits here, during Epiphany, a remarkably pretty

_Presepio_, in which the Holy Family and the Shepherds are seen backed

by the real landscape. For those who witness this sight it will be

interesting to turn to the origin of a Presepio.

"St. Francis asked [of Pope Honorius III. 1223], with his usual

simplicity, to be allowed to celebrate Christmas with certain

unusual ceremonies which had suggested themselves to

him--ceremonies which he must have thought likely to seize upon the

popular imagination and impress the unlearned folk. He would not do

it on his own authority, we are told, lest he should be accused of

levity. When he made this petition, he was bound for the village of

Grecia, a little place not far from Assisi, where he was to remain

during that sacred season. In this village, when the eve of the

nativity approached, Francis instructed a certain grave and worthy

man, called Giovanni, to prepare an ox and an ass, along with a

manger and all the common fittings of a stable, for his use, in the

church. When the solemn night arrived, Francis and his brethren

arranged all these things into a visible representation of the

occurrences of the night at Bethlehem. The manger was filled with

hay, the animals were led into their places; the scene was

prepared as we see it now through all the churches of Southern

Italy--a reproduction, so far as the people know how, in startling

realistic detail of the surroundings of the first Christmas.... We

are told that Francis stood by this, his simple theatrical (for

such, indeed, it was--no shame to him) representation, all the

night long, sighing for joy, and filled with an unspeakable

sweetness."--_Mrs. Oliphant, St. Francis._

On the left, is the fine _Church of S. Chrisogono_, founded by Pope

Sylvester, but rebuilt in 731, and again by Cardinal Scipio Borghese

(who modernized so many of the old churches), in 1623. The tower is

mediæval (rebuilt?), but spoilt by whitewash; the portico has four

ancient granite columns. The interior is a basilica, the nave being

separated from the aisles by twenty-two granite columns, and the tribune

from the nave by two magnificent columns of porphyry. The baldacchino,

of graceful proportions, rests on pillars of yellow alabaster. Over the

tabernacle is a picture of the Virgin and Child by the _Cav. d'Arpino_.

The mosaic in the tribune, probably only the fragment of a larger

design, represents the Madonna and Child enthroned, between St. James

the Great and St. Chrisogonus. The stalls are good specimens of modern

wood-carving. Near the end of the right aisle is the modern tomb of Anna

Maria Taigi, lately beatified and likely to be canonized, though readers

of her life will find it difficult to imagine why,--the great point of

her character being that she was a good wife to her husband, though he

was "ruvido di maniere, e grossolano." Stephen Langton, Archbishop of

Canterbury, was titular cardinal of this church.

S. Chrisogono, represented in the mosaic as a young knight, stood by

Sta. Anastasia during her martyrdom, exhorting her to patient endurance.

He was afterwards himself beheaded under Diocletian, and his body

thrown into the sea.

In 1866 an _Excubitorium_ of the VIIth cohort of Vigiles (a station of

Roman firemen) was discovered near this church. Several chambers were

tolerably perfect.

On the left, we pass the _Hospital of S. Gallicano_, founded by Benedict

XIII. (Orsini), in 1725, as is told by the inscription over the

entrance, for the "neglectis rejectisque ab omnibus." The interior

contains two long halls opening into one another, the first containing

120 beds for men, the second 88 for women. Patients affected with

maladies of the skin are received here to the number of 100. The

principal treatment is by means of baths, which gives the negative,

within these walls, to the Italian saying that "an ancient Roman took as

many baths in a week as a modern Roman in all his life." The

establishment is at present under the management of the Benfratelli

("Fate bene fratelli"). S. Gallicano, to whom the hospital is dedicated,

was a Benfratello of the time of Constantine, who devoted his time and

his fortune to the poor.

At the upper end of the Via Lungaretta is a piazza with a very handsome

fountain, on one side of which is the _Church of Sta. Maria in

Trastevere_, supposed to be the first church in Rome dedicated to the

Virgin. It was founded by St. Calixtus in _A.D._ 224, on the site of the

Taberna-Meritoria, an asylum for old soldiers; where, according to Don

Cassius, a fountain of pure oil sprang up at the time of our Saviour's

birth, and flowed away in one day to the Tiber, a story which gave the

name of "Fons Olei" to the church in early times. It is said that

wine-sellers and tavern-keepers (popinarii) disputed with the early

Christian inhabitants for this site, upon which the latter had raised

some kind of humble oratory, and that they carried their complaint

before Alexander Severus, when the emperor awarded the site to the

Christians, saying, "I prefer that it should belong to those who honour

God, whatever be their form of worship."

"Ce souvenir augmente encore l'intérêt qui s'attache à l'église de

Santa Maria in Trastevere. Les colonnes antiques de granit égyptien

de cette basilique et les belles mosaïques qui la décorent me

touchent moins que la tradition d'après laquelle elle fut élevée là

où de pauvres chrétiens se rassemblaient dans un cabaret purifié

par leur piété, pour y célébrer le culte qui devait un jour étaler

ses magnificences sous le dôme resplendissant de

Saint-Pierre."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 318.

The church was rebuilt in 340 by Julius I., and after a series of

alterations was again almost entirely reconstructed in 1139 by Innocent

II., as a thanksgiving offering for the submission of the anti-pope.

Eugenius III. (1145--50) finished what was left uncompleted, but the new

basilica was not consecrated till the time of Innocent III.

(1198--1216). The tower, apse, tribune, and mosaics belong to the early

restoration; the rest is due to alterations made by Bernardino

Rossellini for Nicholas V.

The west façade is covered with mosaics; the upper part--representing

the Saviour throned between angels--and the lower--of palms, the twelve

sheep, and the mystic cities--are additions by Pius IX. in 1869. The

central frieze was begun in the twelfth century under Eugenius III., and

completed in the fourteenth by Pietro Cavallini. It represents the

Virgin and Child enthroned in the midst, and ten female figures,

generally described as the Ten Virgins,--but Hemans remarks:

"It is evident that such subject cannot have been in the artist's

thoughts, as each stately figure advances towards the throne with

the same devout aspect and graceful serenity, the same faith and

confidence; the sole observable distinctions being that the two

with unlit lamps are somewhat more matronly, their costumes

simpler, than is the case with the rest; and that instead of being

crowned, as are the others, these two wear veils. Explanation of

such attributes may be found in the mystic meaning--the light being

appropriate to virgin saints, the oil taken to signify benevolence

or almsgiving; and we may conclude that those without light

represent wives or widows, the others virgin saints, in this group.

Two other diminutive figures (the scale indicating humility), who

kneel at the feet of Mary, are Innocent II. and Eugenius III., both

vested in the pontifical mantle, but bareheaded. Originally the

Mother and Child _alone_ had the nimbus around the head, as we see

in a water-colour drawing from this original (now in the Barberini

Library) dated 1640, made _before_ a renovation by which that halo

has been given alike to all the female figures. Another much faded

mosaic, the Madonna and Child, under an arched canopy, high up on

the campanile, may perhaps be as ancient as those on the

façade."--_Mediæval Christian Art._

The portico contains two frescoes of the Annunciation, one of them

ascribed to _Cavallini_. Its walls are occupied by early Christian and

pagan inscriptions. One, of the time of Trajan, is regarded with

peculiar interest: "MARCUS COCCEUS LIB. AUG. AMBROSIUS PRÆPOSITUS,

VESTIS ALBÆ, TRIUMPHALIS, FECIT, NICE CONJUGI SUÆ CUM QUA VIXIT ANNOS

XXXXV., DIEBUS XI., SINE ULLA QUERELA." Between the doors is preserved a

curious relic--the stone said to have been attached to St. Calixtus when

he was thrown into the well. The interior is that of a basilica. The

nave, paved with opus-alexandrinum, is divided from the aisles by

twenty-two ancient granite columns, whose Ionic capitals are in several

instances decorated with heads of pagan gods. They support a

richly-decorated architrave. The roof, in the centre of which is a

picture of the Assumption of the Virgin, is painted by _Domenichino_. On

the right of the entrance is a ciborium by Mino da Fiesole. The high

altar covers a confessional, beneath which are the remains of five

early popes, removed from the catacombs. Among the tombs are those of

the painters, Lanfranco and Ciro Ferri, and of Bastari, librarian of the

Vatican, editor of the dictionary of the Della Cruscan Academy, and

canon of this church, ob. 1775.

Pope Innocent II. is buried here without a tomb.

In the left transept is a beautiful gothic tabernacle over an altar,

erected by Cardinal d'Alençon, nephew of Charles de Valois, and brother

of Philippe le Bel. On one side is the tomb of that cardinal (the fresco

represents the martyrdom of his patron St. Philip, who is pourtrayed as

crucified with his head downwards like St. Peter); on the other is the

monument of Cardinal Stefaneschi, by _Paolo_, one of the first sculptors

of the fourteenth century. Opening from hence is a chapel, which has a

curious picture of the Council of Trent by _Taddeo Zucchero_. At the end

of the right aisle are several more fine tombs of the sixteenth century,

and the chapel of the Madonna di Strada Cupa, designed by _Domenichino_,

from whose hand is the figure of a child scattering flowers, sketched

out in one corner of the vaulting.

The upper part of the tribune is adorned with magnificent mosaics,

(restored in modern times by Camuccini,) of the time of Innocent II.

"In the centre of the principal group on the vault is the Saviour,

seated, with his Mother, crowned and robed like an Eastern Queen,

beside him, both sharing the same gorgeous throne and footstool;

while a hand extends from a fan-like glory with a jewelled crown

held over his head; _she_ (a singular detail here) giving

benediction with the usual action; He embracing her with the left

arm, and in the right hand holding a tablet that displays the words

'Veni, electa mea, et ponam in thronum meum;' to which corresponds

the text, from the song of Solomon, on a tablet in her left hand,

'Læva ejus sub capite meo et dextera illius amplexabitur me.' Below

the heavenly throne stand, each with name inscribed in gold

letters, Innocent II., holding a model of this church; St.

Laurence, in deacon's vestments, with the Gospels and the jewelled

cross; the sainted popes, Calixtus I., Cornelius, and Julius I.;

St. Peter (in classic white vestments), and Calepodius, a martyr of

the third century, here introduced because his body, together with

those of the other saints in the same group, was brought from the

catacombs to this church.

"As to ecclesiastical costume, this work affords decisive evidence

of its ancient splendour and varieties. We do not see the keys in

the hands of St. Peter, but the large tonsure on his head; that

ecclesiastical badge which he is said to have invented, and which

is sometimes the sole peculiarity (besides the ever-recognisable

type) given to this Apostle in art.

"Above the archivolt we see a cross between the Alpha and Omega,

and the winged emblems of the Evangelists; laterally, Jeremiah and

Isaiah, each with a prophetic text on a scroll; along a frieze

below, twelve sheep advancing from the holy cities, Jerusalem and

Bethlehem, towards the Divine Lamb, who stands on a mount whence

issue the four rivers of Paradise--or, according to perhaps juster

interpretation, the four streams of gospel truth. Palms and a

phœnix are seen beside the two prophets; also a less common

symbol--caged birds, that signify the righteous soul incarcerated

in the body, or (with highest reference) the Saviour in his assumed

humanity; such accessory reminding of the ancient usage, in some

countries, of releasing birds at funerals, and of that still kept

up amidst the magnificent canonization-rites, of offering various

kinds of birds, in cages, at the papal throne.

"Remembering the date of the composition before us, about a century

and a half before the time of Cimabue and Giotto, we may hail in

it, if not an actual Renaissance, the dawn, at least, that heralds

a brighter day for art, compared with the deep gloom

previous."--_Hemans' Mediæval Christian Art._

Below these are another series of mosaics representing six scenes in the

life of the Virgin, the work of Pietro Cavallini, of the thirteenth

century, when they were ordered by Bertoldo Stefaneschi, who is himself

introduced in one of the subjects. In the centre of the tribune is an

ancient marble episcopal throne, raised by a flight of steps.

In the _Sacristy_ is a picture of the Virgin with S. Rocco and S.

Sebastiano, by _Perugino_. Here are preserved some beautiful fragments

of mosaics of birds, &c., from the catacombs.

Outside the right transept of Sta. Maria is a picturesque shrine, and

there are many points about this ancient church which are interesting to

the artist. The palace, which forms one side of the piazza at the west

end of the church, formerly _Palazzo Moroni_, is now used as the summer

residence of the Benedictine monks of S. Paolo, who are driven from

their convent by the malaria during the hot months. During the

revolutionary government of 1848--49, a number of priests suffered death

here, which has led to the monastery being regarded as "the Carmes of

Rome." The modern _Church of S. Calisto_ contains the well in which he

suffered martyrdom, A.D. 222. This well, now seen through a door near

the altar, was then in the open air, and the pope was thrown into it

from the window of a house in which he had been imprisoned and scourged,

and where he had converted the soldier who was appointed to guard him.

His festival is celebrated here with great splendour by the monks.

Opposite S. Calisto is the _Monastery of St. Anna_, in which were passed

the last days of the beautiful and learned Vittoria Colonna. As her

death approached she was removed to the neighbouring house of her

kinsman Giuliano Cesarini, and there she expired (February, 1547) in the

presence of her devoted friend, Michael Angelo, who always regretted

that he had not in that solemn moment ventured to press his lips for the

first and last time to her beautiful countenance. She was buried, by her

own desire, in the convent chapel, without any monument.

Hence a lane leads to the _Church of S. Cosimato_, in an open space

facing the hill of S. Rietro in Montorio (where stands of seats are

placed during the Girandola). A courtyard is entered through a low arch

supported by two ancient columns, having a high roof with rich

terra-cotta mouldings,--beautiful in colour. The court contains an

antique fountain, and is exceedingly picturesque. The church has

carefully sculptured details of cornice and moulding; the door is a good

specimen of mediæval wood-carving. The wall on the left of the altar is

occupied by a most beautiful fresco of _Pinturicchio_, representing St.

Francis and St. Clare standing on either side of the Virgin and Child.

Opening from the end of the left aisle is a very interesting chapel,

decorated with frescoes, and containing a most beautiful altar of the

fifteenth century, in honour of the saints Severa and Fortunata, with

statuettes of Faith, Justice, Charity, and Hope. Attached to the church

is a very large convent of Poor Clares, which produced two saints,

Theodora and Seraphina, in the fifteenth century.

Following the Via della Scala, on the south side of Sta. Maria in

Trastevere, we reach the _Porta Settimiana_, built by Alexander VI. on

the site of a gateway raised by Honorius, which marked the position of

an arch of Septimius Severus. This is the entrance of the Via Lungara,

containing the Corsini and Farnesina Palaces (see Chapter XX.). The

gateway has forked battlements, but is much spoilt by recent

plasterings. Near this is _Sta. Dorotea_, an ugly church, but important

in church history from its connection with the foundation of the Order

of the Theatins, which arose out of a revulsion from the sensuous age of

Leo X.; and as containing the tomb of their founder, Don Gaëtano di

Teatino, the friend of Paul IV.

"Dès le règne de Léon X., quelques symptômes d'une réaction

religieuse se manifestèrent dans les hautes classes de la société

romaine. On vit un certain nombre d'hommes éminents s'affilier les

uns aux autres, afin de trouver dans de saintes pratiques assez de

force pour résister à l'atmosphère énervante qui les entourait. Ils

prirent pour leur association le titre et les emblèmes de l'amour

divin, et ils s'assemblèrent, à des jours déterminés, dans l'église

de Sainte-Dorothée, près de la porte Settimiana. Parmi ces hommes

de foi et d'avenir, on citait un archevêque, Caraffa; un

protonotaire apostolique, Gaëtan de Thiène; un noble Vénitien aussi

distingué par son caractére que par ses talents, Contarini; et

cinquante autres dont les noms rappellaient tons, ou une

illustration ou une haute position sociale, tels que Lippomano,

Sadolet, Ghiberti.

"Mais bientôt ces premiers essais de rupture avec la tendance

générale des esprits enflammèrent le zèle de plusieurs des membres

de la Congrégation de _l'Amour divin_. Caraffa surtout, dont l'âme

ardente n'avait trouvé qu'anxiétés et fatigue dans les grandeurs,

aspirait à une vie d'action qui lui permit de s'employer, de tous

ses moyens, à la réforme du monde. Il trouva dans Gaëtan de Thiène

des dispositions conformes à ce qu'il désirait. Gaëtan avait

cependant un caractère très-différent du sien; doué d'une angélique

douceur, craignant de se faire entendre, recherchant la méditation

et la retraite, il eût voulu, lui aussi, réformer le monde, mais il

n'eût pas voulu en être connu. Les qualités diverses de ces deux

hommes rares se combinèrent heureusement dans l'exécution du projet

qu'ils avaient conçu, c'était de former des ecclésiastiques voués,

tout ensemble à la contemplation et à une vie austère, à la

prédication et au soin des malades; des ecclésiastiques qui

donnassent partout au clergé l'exemple de l'accomplissement des

devoirs de sa sainte mission."--_Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne_, ii.

157.

"When Dorothea, the maiden of Cæsarea, was condemned to death by

Sapritius, she replied, 'Be it so, then I shall the sooner stand in

the presence of Christ, my spouse, in whose garden are the fruits

of paradise, and roses that never fade.' As she was being led to

execution, the young Theophilus mocking said, 'O maiden, goest thou

to join thy bridegroom? send me then, I pray thee, of the fruits

and flowers which grow in his garden.' And the maiden bowed her

head and smiled, saying, 'Thy request is granted, O Theophilus,'

whereat he laughed, and she went forward to death.

"And behold, at the place of execution, a beautiful child, with

hair like the sunbeam, stood beside her, and in his hand was a

basket containing three fresh roses and three apples. And she said,

'Take these to Theophilus, and tell him that Dorothea waits for him

in the garden from whence they came.'

"And the child sought Theophilus, and gave him the flowers and the

fruits, saying, 'Dorothea sends thee these,' and vanished. And the

heart of Theophilus melted, and he ate of the fruit from heaven,

and was converted and professed himself one of Christ's servants,

so that he also was martyred, and was translated into the heavenly

garden."--_Legend._

This story is told in nearly all the pictures of Sta. Dorotea.

Hence we reach the _Ponte Sisto_, built 1473--75 by Sixtus IV. in the

place of the Pons Janiculensis, (or, according to Ampère, the Pons

Antoninus,) which Caracalla had erected to reach the garden in the

Trastevere, formerly belonging to his brother Geta,--but which was known

as the Pons Fractus after a flood had destroyed part of it in 792. The

Acts of Eusebius describe the many Christian martyrdoms which took place

from this bridge. S. Symphorosa under Hadrian, S. Sabas under Aurelian,

S. Calepodius under Alexander, and S. Anthimius under Diocletian, were

thrown into the Tiber from hence, with many others, whose bodies,

usually drifting to the island then called Lycaonia, were recovered

there by their faithful disciples.[362] An inscription upon the bridge

begs the prayers of the passengers for its papal founder.

Beautiful views may be obtained from this bridge,--on the one side, of

the island, of the temple of Vesta, and the Alban hills; on the other,

of St. Peter's, rising behind the Farnesina Gardens, and the grand mass

of the Farnese Palace, towering above the less important buildings.

"They had reached the bridge and stopped to look at the view,

perhaps the most beautiful of all those seen from the Roman

bridges. Looking towards the hills, the Tiber was spanned by Ponte

Rotto, under which the old black mills were turning ceaselessly,

almost level with the tawny water; the sunshine fell full on the

ruins of the Palatine, about the base of which had gathered a crowd

of modern buildings; a brick campanile, of the middle ages, rose

high above them against the blue sky, which was seen through its

open arches; beyond were the Latin Hills; on the other hand, St.

Peter's stood pre-eminent in the distance; nearer, a stack of

picturesque old houses were half hidden by orange-trees, where

golden fruit clustered thickly; women leant from the windows, long

lines of flapping clothes hung out to dry; below, the ferry-boat

was crossing the river, impelled by the current. Modern and ancient

Rome all mingled together--everywhere were thrilling names

connected with all that was most glorious in the past. The moderns

are richer than their ancestors, the past is theirs as well as the

present."--_Mademoiselle Mori._

Close to the further entrance of the bridge, opposite the Via Giulia, is

the _Fountain of the Ponte Sisto_, built by Paul V. from a design of

Fontana. The water, which falls in one body from a niche in the wall of

a palace, is discharged a second time from the mouths of two monsters

below.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE TRE FONTANE AND S. PAOLO.

The Marmorata--Arco di S. Lazzaro--Protestant Cemetery--Pyramid of

Caius Cestius--Monte-Testaccio--Porta S. Paolo--Chapel of the

Farewell--The Tre Fontane (SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio--Sta. Maria

Scala Cœli--S. Paolo alle Tre Fontane)--Basilica and Monastery

of S. Paolo.

Beyond the Piazza Bocca della Verità, the _Via della Marmorata_ is

spanned by an arch which nearly marks the site of the _Porta Trigemina_,

by which Marius fled to Ostia before Sylla in B.C. 88. Near this stood

the statue erected by public subscription to Minucius, whose jealousy

brought about the execution of the patriot Mælius, B.C. 440. Here also

was the temple of Jupiter Inventor, whose dedication was attributed to

the gratitude of Hercules for the restoration of his cattle, carried off

by Cacus to his cave on the neighbouring Aventine.

It was at the Porta Trigemina that Camillus (B.C. 391), sent into exile

to Ardea by the accusations of the plebs, stayed, and, stretching forth

his hands to the Capitol, prayed to the gods who reigned there that if

he was unjustly expelled, Rome might "one day have need of Camillus."

Passing the arch, the road skirts the wooded escarpment of the

Aventine, crowned by its three churches--Sta. Sabina, S. Alessio, and

the Priorato.

"De ce côté, entre l'Aventin et le Tibre, hors de la porte

Trigemina, étaient divers marchés, notamment le marché aux bois, le

marché à la farine et au pain, les _horrea_, magasins de blés. Le

voisinage de ces marchés, de ces magasins et de l'emporium,

produisait un grand mouvement de transport et fournissait de

l'occupation à beaucoup de portefaix. Plaute[363] fait allusion à

ces porteurs de sacs de la porte Trigemina. On peut en voir encore

tous les jours remplir le même office au même lieu."--_Ampère,

Hist. Rom._ iv. 75.

From the landing-place for modern Carrara marble, a new road on the

right, planted with trees, leads along the river to the ancient

_Marmorata_, discovered 1867--68, when many magnificent blocks of

ancient marble were found buried in the mud of the Tiber. Recent

excavations have laid bare the inclined planes by which the marbles were

landed, and the projecting bars of stone with rings for mooring the

marble vessels.

In the neighbouring vineyard are the massive ruins of the _Emporium_, or

magazine for merchandise, founded by M. Æmilius Lepidus and L. Æmilius

Paulus, the ædiles in B.C. 186. Upon the ancient walls of this time is

engrafted a small and picturesque winepress of the fifteenth century.

The neighbouring vineyard is much frequented by marble collectors.

A short distance beyond the turn to the Marmorata the main road is

crossed by an ancient brick arch, called _Arco di S. Lazzaro_, or Arco

della Salara, by the side of which is a hermitage.

About half a mile beyond this we reach the _Porta S. Paolo_, built by

Belisarius on the site of the Ancient Porta Ostiensis.

It was here, just within the Ostian Gate, that the Emperor Claudius,

returning from Ostia to take vengeance upon Messalina, was met by their

two children, Octavia and Britannicus, accompanied by a vestal, who

insisted upon the rights of her Order, and imperiously demanded that the

empress should not be condemned undefended.

"Totila entra par la porte Asinaria et une autre fois par la porte

Ostiensis, aujourd'hui porte Saint-Paul; par la même porte,

Genséric, que la mer apportait, et qui, en s'embarquant, avait dit

à son pilote: 'Conduis-moi vers le rivage que menace la colère

divine.'"--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 325.

Close to this, is the famous _Pyramid of Caius Cestius_. It is built of

brick, coated with marble, and is 125 feet high, and 100 feet wide at

its square basement. In the midst is a small sepulchral chamber, painted

with arabesques. Two inscriptions on the exterior show that the Caius

Cestius buried here was a prætor, a tribune of the people, and one of

the "Epulones" appointed to provide the sacrificial feasts of the gods.

He died about 30 B.C., leaving Agrippa as his executor, and desiring by

his will that his body might be buried, wrapped up in precious stuffs.

Agrippa, however, applied to him the law which forbade luxurious burial,

and spent the money, partly upon the pyramid and partly upon erecting

two colossal statues in honour of the deceased, of which the pedestals

have been found near the tomb. In the middle ages this was supposed to

be the sepulchre of Remus.

"Cette pyramide, sauf les dimensions, est absolument semblable aux

pyramides d'Égypte. Si l'on pouvait encore douter que celles-ci

étaient des tombeaux, l'imitation des pyramides égyptiennes dans un

tombeau romain serait un argument de plus pour prouver qu'elles

avaient une destination funéraire. La chambre qu'on a trouvée dans

le monument de Cestius était décorée de peintures dont quelques

unes ne sont pas encore effacées. C'était la coutume des peuples

anciens, notamment des Egyptiens et des Etrusques, de peindre

l'intérieur des tombeaux, que l'on fermait ensuite soigneusement.

Ces peintures, souvent très-considérables, n'étaient que pour le

mort, et ne devaient jamais être vues par l'œil d'un vivant. Il

en était certainement ainsi de celles qui décoraient la chambre

sépulchrale de la pyramide de Cestius, car cette chambre n'avait

aucune entrée. L'ouverture par laquelle on y pénètre aujourd'hui

est moderne. On avait déposé le corps ou les cendres avant de

terminer le monument, on acheva ensuite de la bâtir jusqu'au

sommet."--_Ampère, Emp._ i. 347.

"St. Paul was led to execution beyond the city walls, upon the road

to Ostia. As he issued forth from the gate, his eyes must have

rested for a moment on that sepulchral pyramid which stood beside

the road, and still stands unshattered, amid the wreck of so many

centuries, upon the same spot. That spot was then only the

burial-place of a single Roman; it is now the burial-place of many

Britons. The mausoleum of Caius Cestius rises conspicuously amongst

humbler graves, and marks the site where Papal Rome suffers her

Protestant sojourners to bury their dead. In England and in

Germany, in Scandinavia and in America, there are hearts which turn

to that lofty cenotaph as the sacred point of their whole horizon;

even as the English villager turns to the grey church tower, which

overlooks the grave-stones of his kindred. Among the works of man,

that pyramid is the only surviving witness of the martyrdom of St.

Paul; and we may thus regard it with yet deeper interest, as a

monument unconsciously erected by a pagan to the memory of a

martyr. Nor let us think they who lie beneath its shadow are indeed

resting (as degenerate Italians fancy) in unconsecrated ground.

Rather let us say, that a spot where the disciples of Paul's faith

now sleep in Christ, so near the soil once watered by his blood, is

doubly hallowed; and that their resting-place is most fitly

identified with the last earthly journey, and the dying glance of

their own patron saint, the apostle of the Gentiles."--_Conybeare

and Howson._

At the foot of the Pyramid is the _Old Protestant Cemetery_, a lovely

spot, now closed. Here is the grave of Keats, with the inscription:

"This grave contains all that was mortal of a young English poet,

who, on his death-bed, in the bitterness of his heart at the

malicious power of his enemies, desired these words to be engraven

on his tombstone: 'Here lies one whose name was writ in water.'

February 24, 1821."

"Go thou to Rome--at once the paradise,

The grave, the city, and the wilderness;

And where its wrecks like shattered mountains rise,

And flowering weeds, and fragrant copses dress

The bones of desolation's nakedness,

Pass, till the spirit of the spot shall lead

Thy footsteps to a slope of green access,

Where, like an infant's smile, over the dead,

A light of laughing flowers along the grass is spread,

"And grey walls moulder round, on which dull Time

Feeds, like slow fire upon a hoary brand;

And one keen pyramid, with wedge sublime,

Pavilioning the dust of him who planned

This refuge for his memory, doth stand

Like flame transformed to marble; and beneath

A field is spread, on which a newer band

Have pitched in Heaven's smile their camp of death,

Welcoming him we lose with scarce extinguished breath."

_Shelley's Adonais._

Very near the grave of Keats is that of Augustus William Hare, the elder

of the two brothers who wrote the "Guesses at Truth," ob. 1834.

"When I am inclined to be serious, I love to wander up and down

before the tomb of Caius Cestius. The Protestant burial-ground is

there, and most of the little monuments are erected to the

young--young men of promise, cut off when on their travels full of

enthusiasm, full of enjoyment; brides, in the bloom of their

beauty, on their first journey; or children borne from home in

search of health. This stone was placed by his fellow-travellers,

young as himself, who will return to the house of his parents

without him; that, by a husband or a father, now in his native

country. His heart is buried in that grave.

"It is a quiet and sheltered nook, covered in the winter with

violets; and the pyramid, that overshadows it, gives it a classic

and singularly solemn air. You feel an interest there, a sympathy

you were not prepared for. You are yourself in a foreign land; and

they are for the most part your countrymen. They call upon you in

your mother tongue--in English--in words unknown to a native, known

only to yourself: and the tomb of Cestius, that old majestic pile,

has this also in common with them. It is itself a stranger among

strangers. It has stood there till the language spoken round about

it has changed; and the shepherd, born at the foot, can read the

inscription no longer."--_Rogers._

The _New Burial Ground_ was opened in 1825. It extends for some distance

along the slope of the hill under the old Aurelian Wall, and is

beautifully shaded by cypresses, and carpeted with violets. Amid the

forest of tombs we may notice that which contains the heart of Shelley

(his body having been burnt upon the shore at Lerici, where it was

thrown up by the sea), inscribed:

"Percy Bysshe Shelley, Cor Cordium. Natus IV. Aug. MDCCXCII. Obiit

VIII. Jul. MDCCCXXII.

'Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea change

Into something rich and strange.'"

Another noticeable tomb is that of Gibson the sculptor, who died 1868.

From the fields in front of the cemetery (_Prati del Popolo Romano_)

rises the _Monte Testaccio_, only 160 feet in height, but worth

ascending for the sake of the splendid view it affords. The

extraordinary formation of this hill, which is entirely composed of

broken pieces of pottery, has long been an unexplained bewilderment.

"Le Monte-Testaccio est pour moi des nombreux problèmes qu'offrent

les antiquités romaines le plus difficile à résoudre. On ne peut

s'arrêter à discuter sérieusement la tradition d'après laquelle il

aurait été formé avec les débris des vases contenant les tributs

qu'apportaient à Rome les peuples soumis par elle. C'est là

évidemment une légende du moyen âge née du souvenir de la grandeur

romaine et imaginée pour exprimer la haute idée qu'on s'en

faisait, comme on avait imaginé ces statues de provinces placées au

Capitole, et dont chacune portait au cou une cloche qui sonnait

tout-à-coup d'elle-même, quand une province se soulevait, comme on

a prétendu que le lit du Tibre était pavé en airain par les tributs

apportés aux empereurs romains. Il faut donc chercher une autre

explication."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 386.

Just outside the Porta S. Paolo is (on the right) a vineyard which

belonged to Sta. Francesca Romana (born 1384, canonized 1608 by Paul

V.).

"Instead of entering into the pleasures to which her birth and

riches entitled her, Sta. Francesca went every day, disguised in a

coarse woollen garment, to her vineyard, and collected faggots,

which she brought into the city on her head, and distributed to the

poor. If the weight exceeded her womanly strength, she loaded

therewith an ass, following after on foot in great

humility."--_Mrs. Jameson's Monastic Orders._

A straight road a mile and a half long leads from the gate to the

basilica. Half way (on the left) is the humble chapel which commemorates

the farewell of St. Peter and St. Paul on their way to martyrdom,

inscribed:

"In this place SS. Peter and Paul separated on their way to

martyrdom.

"And Paul said to Peter, 'Peace be with thee, Foundation of the

Church, Shepherd of the flock of Christ.'

"And Peter said to Paul, 'Go in peace, Preacher of good tidings,

and Guide of the salvation of the just.'"[364]

Passing the basilica, which looks outside like a very ugly railway

station, let us visit the scene of the martyrdom, before entering the

grand church which arose in consequence.

The road we now traverse is the scene of the legend of Plautilla.

"St. Paul was beheaded by the sword outside the Ostian gate, about

two miles from Rome, at a place called the Aqua Salvias, now the

'Tre Fontane.' The legend of his death relates that a certain Roman

matron named Plautilla, one of the converts of St. Peter, placed

herself on the road by which St. Paul passed to his martyrdom, to

behold him for the last time; and when she saw him she wept

greatly, and besought his blessing. The apostle then, seeing her

faith, turned to her, and begged that she would give him her veil

to blind his eyes when he should be beheaded, promising to return

it to her after his death. The attendants mocked at such a promise,

but Plautilla, with a woman's faith and charity, taking off her

veil, presented it to him. After his martyrdom, St. Paul appeared

to her, and restored the veil stained with his blood.

"In the ancient representations of the martyrdom of St. Paul, the

legend of Plautilla is seldom omitted. In the picture by Giotto in

the sacristy of St. Peter's, Plautilla is seen on an eminence in

the background, receiving the veil from the hands of St. Paul, who

appears in the clouds above; the same representation, but little

varied, is executed in bas-relief on the bronze doors of St.

Peter's."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

The lane which leads to the Tre Fontane turns off to the left a little

beyond S. Paolo.

"In all the melancholy vicinity of Rome, there is not a more

melancholy spot than the Tre Fontane. A splendid monastery, rich

with all the offerings of Christendom, once existed there: the

ravages of that mysterious scourge of the Campagna, the malaria,

have rendered it a desert; three ancient churches and some ruins

still exist, and a few pale monks wander about the swampy dismal

confines of the hollow in which they stand. In winter you approach

them through a quagmire; in summer, you dare not breathe in their

pestilential vicinity; and yet there is a sort of dead beauty about

the place, something hallowed as well as sad, which seizes on the

fancy."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

The convent was bestowed in 1867 by Pius IX. upon the French Trappists,

and twelve brethren of the Order went to reside there. Entering the

little enclosure, the first church on the right is _Sta. Maria Scala

Cœli_, supposed to occupy the site of the cemetery of S. Zeno, in

which the 12,000 Christians employed in building the Baths of Diocletian

were buried. The present edifice was the work of Vignola and Giacomo

della Porta in 1582. The name is derived from the legend that here St.

Bernard had a vision of a ladder which led to heaven, its foot resting

on this church, and of angels on the ladder leading upwards the souls

whom his prayers had redeemed from purgatory. The mosaics in the apse

were the work of _F. Zucchero_, in the sixteenth century, and are

perhaps the best of modern mosaics. They represent the saints Zeno,

Bernard, Vincenzo, and Anastasio, adored by Pope Clement VIII. and

Cardinal Aldobrandini, under whom the remodelling of the church took

place.

The second church is the basilica of _SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio_,

founded by Honorius I. (625), and restored by Honorius III. (1221), when

it was consecrated afresh. It is approached by an atrium with a

penthouse roof, supported by low columns, and adorned with decaying

frescoes, among which the figure of Honorius III. may be made out. The

interior, which reeks with damp, is almost entirely of the twelfth

century. The pillars are adorned with coarse frescoes of the apostles.

"S. Vincenzo alle Tre Fontane so far deviates from the usual

basilican arrangement as almost to deserve the appellation of

gothic. It has the same defect as all the rest--its pier arches

being too low, for which there is no excuse here; but both

internally and externally it shows a uniformity of design, and a

desire to make every part ornamental, that produces a very pleasing

effect, although the whole is merely of brick, and ornament is so

sparingly applied as only just to prevent the building sinking to

the class of mere utilitarian erections."--_Fergusson's Handbook of

Architecture,_ vol. ii.

The two saints whose relics are said to repose here were in no wise

connected in their lifetime. S. Vincenzo, who suffered A.D. 304,

was a native of Saragossa, cruelly tortured to death at Valencia,

under Dacian, by being racked on a slow fire over a gridiron, "of

which the bars were framed like scythes." His story is told with

horrible detail by Prudentius. Anastasius, who died A.D. 628, was a

native of Persia, who had become a Christian and taken the monastic

habit at a convent near Jerusalem. He was tortured and finally

strangled, under Chosroes, at Barsaloe, in Assyria. He is not known

to be represented anywhere in art, save in the almost obliterated

frescoes in the atrium of this church.

The third church, _S. Paolo alle Tre Fontane_, was built by Giacomo

della Porta for Cardinal Aldobrandini in 1590. It contains the pillars

to which St. Paul is said to have been bound, the block of marble upon

which he is supposed to have been beheaded, and the three fountains

which sprang forth, wherever the severed head struck the earth during

three bounds which it made after decapitation. In proof of this story,

it is asserted that the water of the first of these fountains is still

warm, of the second tepid, of the third cold. Three modern altars above

the fountains are each decorated with a head of the apostle in

bas-relief.

"A la première, l'âme vient à l'instant même de s'échapper du

corps. Ce chef glorieux est plein de vie! A la seconde, les ombres

de la mort couvrent déjà ses admirables traits; à la troisième, le

sommeil éternel les a envahis, et, quoique demeurés tout rayonnants

de beauté, ils disent, sans parler, que dans ce monde ces lèvres ne

s'entr'ouvriront plus, et que ce regard d'aigle s'est voilé pour

toujours."--_Une Chrétienne à Rome._[365]

The pavement is an ancient mosaic representing the Four Seasons, brought

from the excavations at Ostia. The interior of this church has been

beautified at the expense of a French nobleman, and the whole enclosure

of the Tre Fontane has been improved by Mgr. de Merode.

"As the martyr and his executioners passed on (from the Ostian

gate), their way was crowded with a motley multitude of goers and

comers between the metropolis and its harbour--merchants hastening

to superintend the unlading of their cargoes--sailors eager to

squander the profits of their last voyage in the dissipations of

the capital--officials of the government charged with the

administration of the provinces, or the command of the legions on

the Euphrates or the Rhine--Chaldean astrologers--Phrygian

eunuchs--dancing-girls from Syria, with their painted

turbans--mendicant priests from Egypt, howling for Osiris--Greek

adventurers, eager to coin their national cunning into Roman

gold--representatives of the avarice and ambition, the fraud and

lust, the superstition and intelligence, of the Imperial world.

Through the dust and tumult of that busy throng, the small troop of

soldiers threaded their way silently, under the bright sky of an

Italian midsummer. They were marching, though they knew it not, in

a procession more really triumphal than any they had ever followed,

in the train of general or emperor, along the Sacred Way. Their

prisoner, now at last and for ever delivered from captivity,

rejoiced to follow his Lord 'without the gate.' The place of

execution was not far distant, and there the sword of the headsman

ended his long course of sufferings, and released that heroic soul

from that feeble body. Weeping friends took up his corpse, and

carried it for burial to those subterranean labyrinths, where,

through many ages of oppression, the persecuted Church found refuge

for the living, and sepulchres for the dead.

"Thus died the apostle, the prophet, and the martyr, bequeathing to

the Church, in her government, and her discipline, the legacy of

his apostolic labours; leaving his prophetic words to be her living

oracles; pouring forth his blood to be the seed of a thousand

martyrdoms. Thenceforth, among the glorious company of the

apostles, among the goodly fellowship of the prophets, among the

noble army of martyrs, his name has stood pre-eminent. And

wheresoever the holy Church throughout all the world doth

acknowledge God, there Paul of Tarsus is revered, as the great

teacher of a universal redemption and a catholic religion--the

herald of glad tidings to all mankind."--_Conybeare and Howson_.

Let us now return to the grand Basilica which arose to commemorate the

martyrdom on this desolate site, and which is now itself standing alone

on the edge of the Campagna, entirely deserted except by a few monks

who linger in its monastery through the winter months, but take flight

to St. Calisto before the pestilential malaria of the summer,--though in

the middle ages it was not so, when S. Paolo was surrounded by the

flourishing fortified suburb of Joanopolis (so called from its founder,

John VIII.), whose possession was sharply contested in the wars between

the popes and anti-popes.[366]

The first church on this site was built in the time of Constantine, on

the site of the vineyard of the Roman matron Lucina, where she first

gave a burial-place to the apostle. This primal oratory was enlarged

into a basilica in 386 by the emperors Valentinian II. and Theodosius.

The church was restored by Leo III. (795--816), and every succeeding

century increased its beauty and magnificence. The sovereigns of

England, before the Reformation, were protectors of this basilica--as

those of France are of St. John Lateran, and of Spain of Sta. Maria

Maggiore--and the emblem of the Order of the Garter may still be seen

amongst its decorations.

"The very abandonment of this huge pile, standing in solitary

grandeur on the banks of the Tiber, was one source of its value.

While it had been kept in perfect repair, little or nothing had

been done to modernize it, and alter its primitive form and

ornaments, excepting the later addition of some modern chapels

above the transept; it stood naked and almost rude, but

unencumbered with the lumpish and tasteless plaster encasement of

the old basilica in a modern Berninesque church, which had

disfigured the Lateran cathedral under pretence of supporting it.

It remained genuine, though bare, as S. Apollinare in Classe, at

Ravenna, the city eminently of unspoiled basilicas. No chapels,

altars, or mural monuments softened the severity of its out-*lines;

only the series of papal portraits, running round the upper line of

the walls, redeemed this sternness. But the unbroken files of

columns along each side, carried the eye forward to the great

central object, the altar and its 'Confession;' while the secondary

row of pillars, running behind the principal ones, gave depth and

shadow, mass and solidity, to back up the noble avenue along which

one glanced."--_Cardinal Wiseman._

On the 15th of July, 1823, this magnificent basilica was almost totally

destroyed by fire, on the night which preceded the death of Pope Pius

VII.

"Quelque-chose de mystérieux s'est lié dans l'esprit des Romains à

l'incendie de St. Paul, et les gens à l'imagination de ce peuple

parlent avec ce sombre plaisir qui tient à la mélancolie, ce

sentiment si rare en Italie, et si fréquent en Allemagne. Dans le

grand nef, sur le mur, au dessus des colonnes, se trouvait la

longue suite des portraits de tous les papes, et le peuple de Rome

voyait avec inquiétude qu'il n'y avait plus de place pour le

portrait du successeur de Pie VII. De là les fruits de la

suppression du saint-siège. Le vénérable pontife, qui était presqu'

un martyre aux yeux de ses sujets, touchait à ses derniers moments

lorsqu'arriva l'incendie de Saint-Paul. Il eut lieu dans la nuit du

15 au 16 Juillet, 1823; cette même nuit, le pape, presque mourant,

fut agité par un songe, qui lui présentait sans cesse un grand

malheur arrivé à l'église de Rome. Il s'éveilla en sursaut

plusieurs fois, et demanda s'il n'était rien arrivé de nouveau. Le

lendemain, pour ne pas aggraver son état, on lui cacha l'incendie,

et il est mort après sans l'avoir jamais su."--_Stendhal_, ii. 94.

"Not a word was said to the dying Pius VII. of the destruction of

St. Paul. For at St. Paul's he had lived as a quiet monk, engaged

in study and in teaching, and he loved the place with the force of

an early attachment. It would have added a mental pang to his

bodily sufferings to learn the total destruction of that venerable

sanctuary, in which he had drawn down by prayer the blessings of

heaven on his youthful labour."--_Wiseman, Life of Pius VII._

The restoration of the basilica was immediately begun, and a large

contribution levied for the purpose from all Roman Catholic countries.

In 1854 it was re-opened in its present form by Pius IX. Its exterior is

below contempt; its interior, supported by eighty granite columns, is

most striking and magnificent, but it is cold and uninteresting when

compared with the ancient structure, "rich with inestimable remains of

ancient art, and venerable from a thousand associations."[367]

If we approach the basilica by the door on the side of the monastery, we

enter, first, a portico, containing a fine statue of Gregory XVI., and

many fragments of the ancient mosaics, collected after the fire;--then,

a series of small chapels which were not burnt, from the last of which

ladies can look into the beautiful _cloister_ of the twelfth century,

which they are not permitted to enter, but which men may visit (through

the sacristy), and inspect its various architectural remains, and a fine

sarcophagus, adorned with reliefs of the story of Apollo and Marsyas.

The church is entered by the south end of the transept. Hence we look

down upon the nave (306 feet long and 222 wide) with its four ranges of

granite columns (quarried near the Lago Maggiore), surmounted by a

mosaic series of portraits of the popes, each five feet in

diameter,--most of them of course being imaginary. The grand triumphal

arch which separates the transept from the nave is a relic of the old

basilica, and was built by Galla-Placidia, sister of Honorius, in 440.

On the side towards the nave it is adorned with a mosaic of Christ

adored by the twenty-four elders, and the four beasts of the

Revelation;--on that towards the transept by the figure of the Saviour,

between St Peter and St. Paul.

It bears two inscriptions, the first:

"Theodosius cœpit,--perfecit Honorius aulam

Doctoris mundi sacratam corpore Pauli."

The other, especially interesting as the only inscription commemorating

the great pope who defended Rome against Attila:

"Placidiæ pia mens operis decus homne (_sic_) paterni

Gaudet pontificis studio splendere Leonis."

The mosaics of the tribune, also preserved from the fire, were designed

by _Cavallini_, a pupil of Giotto, in the thirteenth century, and were

erected by Honorius III. They represent the Saviour with St. Peter and

St Andrew on the right, and St Paul and St Luke on the left,--and

beneath these twelve apostles and two angels. The Holy Innocents

(supposed to be buried in this church!) are represented lying at the

feet of our Saviour.

"In the mosaics of the old basilica of S. Paolo the Holy Innocents

were represented by a group of small figures holding palms, and

placed immediately beneath the altar or throne, sustaining the

gospel, the cross, and the instruments of the passion of our Lord.

Over these figures was the inscription, H. I. S.

INNOCENTES."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

Beneath the triumphal arch stands the ugly modern baldacchino, which

encloses the ancient altar canopy, erected, as its inscription tells us,

by Arnolphus and his pupil Petrus, in 1285. In front is the

"Confession," where the Apostle of the Gentiles is believed to repose.

The baldacchino is inscribed:

"Tu es vas electionis,

Sancte Paule Apostole,

Prædicator veritatis

In universo mundo."

It is supported by four pillars of Oriental alabaster, presented by

Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt. The altars of malachite, at the ends of the

transepts, were given by the Emperor Nicholas of Russia.

"Les schismatiques et les mussulmans eux-mêmes sont venus rendre

hommage à ce souverain de la parole, qui entraînait les peuples au

martyre et subjuguait toutes les nations."--_Une Chrétienne à

Rome._

In a building so entirely modern, there are naturally few individual

objects of interest. Among those saved[368] from the old basilica, is

the magnificent paschal candlestick, covered with sculpture in

high-relief. The altar at the south end of the transept has an

altar-piece representing the Assumption, by _Agricola_, and statues of

St. Benedict, _Baini_, and Sta. Scholastica, by _Tenerani_. Of the two

chapels between this and the tribune, the first has a statue of St.

Benedict by _Tenerani_; the second, the Cappella del Coro, was saved

from the fire, and is by _Carlo Maderno_.

The altar at the north end of the transept is dedicated to St. Paul, and

has a picture of his conversion, by _Camuccini_. At the sides are

statues of St. Gregory by _Laboureur_ and of S. Romualdo by _Stocchi_.

Of the chapels between this and the tribune, the first, dedicated to St.

Stephen, has a statue of the saint, by _Rinaldi_; the second is

dedicated to St. Bridget (Brigitta Brahe), and contains the famous

crucifix of Pietro Cavallini, which is said to have spoken to her in

1370.

"Not far from the chancel is a beautiful chapel, dedicated to St.

Bridget, and ornamented with her statue in marble. During her

residence in Rome, she frequently came to pray in this church; and

here is preserved, as a holy relic, the cross from which, during

her ecstatic devotion, she seemed to hear a voice

proceeding."--_Frederika Bremer._

The upper walls of the nave are decorated with frescoes by _Galiardi_,

_Podesti_, and other modern artists.

The two great festivals of St. Paul are solemnly observed in this

basilica upon January 25 and June 30, and that of the Holy Innocents

upon December 28.

Very near S. Paolo, the main branch of the little river Almo, the

"cursuque brevissimus Almo" of Ovid, falls into the Tiber. This is the

spot where the priests of Cybele used to wash her statue and the sacred

vessels of her temple, and to raise their loud annual lamentation for

the death of her lover, the shepherd Atys:

"Est locus, in Tiberim quo lubricus influit Almo,

Et nomen magno perdit ab amne minor,

Illic purpurea canus cum veste sacerdos,

Almonis dominam sacraque lavit aquis."

_Ovid, Fast._ iv. 337.

"Phrygiæque matris Almo quà levat ferrum."

_Martial, Ep._ iii. 472.

"Un vieux prêtre de Cybèle, vêtu de pourpre, y lavait chaque année

la pierre sacrée de Pessinunte, tandis que d'autres prêtres

poussaient des hurlements, frappaient sur le tambour de basque

qu'on place aux mains de Cybèle, soufflaient avec fureur dans les

flûtes phrygiennes, et que l'on se donnait la discipline,--ni plus

ni moins qu'on le fait encore dans l'église des _Caravite_,--avec

des fouets garnis de petits cailloux ou d'osselets."--_Ampère,

Hist. Rom._ iii. 145.

The Campagna on this side of Rome is perhaps more stricken by malaria

than any other part, and is in consequence more utterly deserted. That

this terrible scourge has followed upon the destruction of the villas

and gardens which once filled the suburbs of Rome, and that it did not

always exist here, is evident from the account of Pliny, who says:

"Such is the happy and beautiful amenity of the Campagna that it

seems to be the work of a rejoicing nature. For truly so it appears

in the vital and perennial salubrity of its atmosphere (_vitalis ac

perennis salubritatis cœli temperies_), in its fertile plains,

sunny hills, healthy woods, thick groves, rich varieties of trees,

breezy mountains, fertility in fruits, vines, and olives, its noble

flocks of sheep, abundant herds of cattle, numerous lakes, and

wealth of rivers and streams pouring in upon its many seaports, in

whose lap the commerce of the world lies, and which run largely

into the sea as it were to help mortals."

Under the emperors, the town of Ostia (founded by Ancus Martius) reached

such a degree of prosperity, that its suburbs are described as joining

those of Rome, so that one magnificent street almost united the two.

There is now, beyond S. Paolo, a road through a desert, only one human

habitation breaking the utter solitude.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE VILLAS BORGHESE, MADAMA, AND MELLINI.

Protestant Churches--Villa Borghese--Raphael's Villa--Casino and

Villa of Papa Giulio--(Claude's

Villa--Arco-Oscuro--Acqua-Acetosa)--Chapel of St.

Andrew--Ponte-Molle (Castle of Crescenza--Prima Porta--The

Crimera--The Allia)--(The Via Cassia)--Villa Madama--Monte

Mario--Villa Mellini--Porta Angelica.

Immediately outside the Porta del Popolo, on the left, are the English

and American churches.

"As to the position selected for these buildings, it is to be

observed that, although restricted by the regulations of the Roman

Catholic hierarchy to a locality outside the walls, the greatest

possible attention has been paid to the convenience of the English,

the great majority of whose dwelling-houses are in this immediate

quarter. The English church in Rome, therefore, though nominally

outside the walls, is really, as regards centrality, in the very

heart of the city. The greatest possible facilities are afforded by

the authorities to our countrymen in all matters relating to the

establishment; and though the general behaviour of the Roman

inhabitants is such as to render the precaution almost unnecessary,

the protection of the police and military is invariably afforded

during the hours of divine service.... Whatever be the

disagreements on points of religious faith between Protestant and

Catholic, there is at least one point of feeling in common between

both in this respect; for the streets are tranquil, the shops are

shut, the demeanour of the people is decent and orderly, and,

notwithstanding the distance from England, Sunday feels more like

a Sunday at Rome than in any other town in Europe."--_Sir G. Head's

"Tour in Rome."_

The papal government of Rome had more tolerance for a religion which was

not its own than that of the early emperors. Augustus refused to allow

the performance of Egyptian rites within a mile of the city walls.

On the right of the Gate is the handsome entrance of the beautiful

_Villa Borghese_, most liberally thrown open to the public on every day

except Monday, when the Villa Doria is open.

"The entrance to the Villa Borghese is just outside the Porta del

Popolo. Passing beneath that not very impressive specimen of

Michael Angelo's architecture, a minute's walk will transport the

visitor from the small uneasy lava stones of the Roman pavement,

into broad, gravelled carriage drives, whence a little further

stroll brings him to the soft turf of a beautiful seclusion. A

seclusion, but seldom a solitude; for priest, noble, and populace,

stranger and native, all who breathe the Roman air, find free

admission, and come hither to taste the languid enjoyment of the

day-dream which they call life.

"The scenery is such as arrays itself to the imagination when we

read the beautiful old myths, and fancy a brighter sky, a softer

turf, a more picturesque arrangement of venerable trees, than we

find in the rude and untrained landscapes of the western world. The

ilex-trees, so ancient and time-honoured are they, seem to have

lived for ages undisturbed, and to feel no dread of profanation by

the axe anymore than overthrow by the thunder-stroke. It has

already passed out of their dreamy old memories that only a few

years ago they were grievously imperilled by the Gauls' last

assault upon the walls of Rome. As if confident in the long peace

of their lifetime, they assume attitudes of evident repose. They

lean over the green turf in ponderous grace, throwing abroad their

great branches without danger of interfering with other trees,

though other majestic trees grow near enough for dignified society,

but too distant for constraint. Never was there a more venerable

quietude than that which sleeps among their sheltering boughs;

never a sweeter sunshine than that which gladdens the gentle bloom

which these leafy patriarchs strive to diffuse over the swelling

and subsiding lawns.

"In other portions of the grounds the stone pines lift their dense

clumps of branches upon a slender length of stem, so high that they

look like green islands in the air, flinging down a shadow upon the

turf so far off that you scarcely know which tree has made it.

"Again, there are avenues of cypress, resembling dark flames of

huge funeral candles, which spread dusk and twilight round about

them instead of cheerful radiance. The more open spots are all

a-bloom, early in the season, with anemones of wondrous size, both

white and rose-coloured, and violets that betray themselves by

their rich fragrance, even if their blue eyes fail to meet your

own. Daisies, too, are abundant, but larger than the modest little

English flower, and therefore of small account.

"These wooded and flowery lawns are more beautiful than the finest

English park scenery, more touching, more impressive, through the

neglect that leaves nature so much to her own ways and methods.

Since man seldom interferes with her, she sets to work in her quiet

way and makes herself at home. There is enough of human care, it is

true, bestowed long ago, and still bestowed, to prevent wildness

from growing into deformity; and the result is an ideal landscape,

a woodland scene that seems to have been projected out of the

poet's mind. If the ancient Faun were other than a mere creation of

old poetry, and could reappear anywhere, it must be in such a scene

as this.

"In the openings of the wood there are fountains plashing into

marble basons, the depths of which are shaggy with water-weeds; or

they tumble like natural cascades from rock to rock, sending their

murmur afar, to make the quiet and silence more appreciable.

Scattered here and there with careless artifice, stand old altars,

bearing Roman inscriptions. Statues, grey with the long corrosion

of even that soft atmosphere, half hide and half reveal themselves,

high on pedestals, or perhaps fallen and broken on the turf.

Terminal figures, columns of marble or granite porticoes and

arches, are seen in the vistas of the wood-paths, either veritable

relics of antiquity, or with so exquisite a touch of artful ruin on

them that they are better than if really antique. At all events,

grass grows on the tops of the shattered pillars, and weeds and

flowers root themselves in the chinks of the massive arches and

fronts of temples, as if this were the thousandth summer since

their winged seeds alighted there.

"What a strange idea--what a needless labour--to construct

artificial ruins in Rome, the native soil of ruin! But even these

sportive imitations, wrought by man in emulation of what time has

done to temples and palaces, are perhaps centuries old, and,

beginning as illusions, have grown to be venerable in sober

earnest. The result of all is a scene, such as is to be found

nowhere save in these princely villa-residences in the

neighbourhood of Rome; a scene that must have required generations

and ages, during which growth, decay, and man's intelligence

wrought kindly together, to render it so gently wild as we behold

it now.

"The final charm is bestowed by the malaria. There is a piercing,

thrilling, delicious kind of regret in the idea of so much beauty

being thrown away, or only enjoyable at its half-development, in

winter and early spring, and never to be dwelt amongst, as the home

scenery of any human being. For if you come hither in summer, and

stray through these glades in the golden sunset, fever walks

arm-in-arm with you, and death awaits you at the end of the dim

vista. Thus the scene is like Eden in its loveliness; like Eden,

too, in the fatal spell that removes it beyond the scope of man's

actual possessions."--_Transformation_.

"Oswald et Corinne terminèrent leur voyage de Rome par la

Villa-Borghèse, celui de tous les jardins et de tous les palais

romains où les splendeurs de la nature et des arts sont rassemblées

avec le plus de goût et d'éclat. On y voit des arbres de toutes les

espèces et des eaux magnifiques. Une réunion incroyable de statues,

de vases, de sarcophages antiques, se mêlent avec la fraîcheur de

la jeune nature du sud. La mythologie des anciens y semble ranimée.

Les naïades sont placées sur le bord des ondes, les nymphes dans

les bois dignes d'elles, les tombeaux sous les ombrages élyséens;

la statue d'Esculape est au milieu d'une île; celle de Vénus semble

sortir des ondes; Ovide et Virgile pourraient se promener dans ce

beau lieu; et se croire encore au siècle d'Auguste. Les

chefs-d'œuvre de sculpture que renferme le palais, lui donnent

une magnificence à jamais nouvelle. On aperçoit de loin à travers

les arbres, la ville de Rome et Saint-Pierre, et la campagne, et

les longues arcades, débris des aqueducs qui transportaient les

sources des montagnes dans l'ancienne Rome. Tout est là pour la

pensée, pour l'imagination, pour la rêverie.

"Les sensations les plus pures se confondent avec les plaisirs de

l'âme, et donnent l'idée d'un bonheur parfait; mais quand on

demande, pourquoi ce séjour ravissant n'est-il pas habité? l'on

vous répond que le mauvais air (_la cattiva aria_) ne permet pas

d'y vivre pendant l'été."--_Madame de Staël._

The _Casino_, at the further end of the villa, built by Cardinal Scipio

Borghese, the favourite nephew of Paul V., contains a collection of

sculpture. The first room entered is a great hall, with a ceiling

painted by _Mario Rossi_, and a floor paved with an ancient mosaic

discovered at the Torre Nuova (one of the principal Borghese farms) in

1835.

"Cette mosaïque fort curieuse nous offre et les combats des

gladiateurs entre eux et leurs luttes avec les animaux féroces.

Cette mosaïque est d'un dessin aussi barbare que les scènes

représentées; tout est en harmonie, le sujet et le tableau. Le

sentiment de répulsion qu'inspire la cruauté romaine n'en est que

plus complet; celle-ci n'est point adoucie par l'art et paraît dans

toute sa laideur.

"On voit les gladiateurs poursuivre, s'attaquer, se massacrer,

couverts d'armures qui ressemblent à celle des chevaliers: vous

diriez une odieuse parodie du moyen âge. Dans le corps de l'un des

combattants un glaive est enfoncé. Des cadavres sont gisant parmi

les flaques de sang; à côté d'eux est le Θ fatal, initiale du mot

grec Θἁνατος--à laquelle leur juge impitoyable, le peuple, les a

condamnés; du grec partout. Le maître excite ses élèves on leur

montrant le fouet et la palme; les vainqueurs élèvent leurs épées,

et sans doute la foule applaudit. Ils ont un air de triomphe. Ce

sont des acteurs renommés. Auprès de chacun son nom est écrit; ces

noms barbares ou étranges: l'un s'appelle Buccibus, un autre

Cupidor, un autre Licentiosus, avis effronté aux dames

romaines."--_Ampère_, iv. 31.

The collection in this villa contains no exceedingly important statues.

In the vestibule are some reliefs from the arch of Claudius in the

Corso, destroyed in 1527. Leaving the great hall to the left we may

notice:

_1st Room._--

IN THE CENTRE:

Juno Pronuba, from Monte Calvi.

_2nd Room._--

IN THE CENTRE:

A Fighting Amazon, on horseback.

_3rd Room._--

4. Daphne changed into a Laurel.

13. Anacreon, seated.

"La statue d'Anacréon est très-remarquable, elle ressemble à la

figure du poëte sur une médaille de Téos. Le style est simple et

grandiose, l'expression énergique plutôt que gracieuse, la draperie

est rude, la statue respire l'enthousiasme; ce n'est pas le faux

Anacréon que nous connaissons et dont les poésies sont postérieures

au moins en grande partie à la date du véritable; c'est le vieil et

primitif Anacréon; cet Anacréon-là ne vit plus que dans cet

énergique portrait, seule image de son inspiration véritable, dont

les produits authentiques ont presque entièrement

disparu."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 567.