SAN PIETRO DE' CASINENSI
The most remarkable church in Perugia is the church, at the end of the
southern point of the city, attached to the convent of San Pietro;
below it is the gate named after San Costanzo, said to have been the
first Bishop of Perugia. On the opposite side of the way from the
convent wall is a pleasant public resort, shaded by trees, called
Passeggiata Pubblica. From this point, looking down the steep road,
one gets a delightful view of the near valley and distant Apennines,
framed in by the arch of Porta Costanzo. This view goes by the name of
La Veduta. La Veduta and a lovely country walk beyond the gate are
associated with the memory of that accomplished artist and delightful
companion, Lord Leighton. He dearly loved the old hill-city; in its
delightful quiet he used to write his lecture for the Royal Academy
students. One of his favourite walks was to go out by the Porta
Costanzo, and along the lovely lanes beyond it, grown over with
honeysuckle, wild gourd, and an abundance of wild myrtle.
The ancient church of San Pietro, with its very picturesque exterior
and campanile, serves as a conspicuous landmark in the country over
which it gazes. It is said to be the oldest church in Perugia, and to
be built on the site of an Etruscan temple; it was certainly in old
days the first cathedral. Built by Pietro, a saintly abbot of the
monastery in the tenth century, it seems to have remained for a long
period almost untouched; in the fourteenth century the campanile was
considered one of the wonders of Italy. A century later it was
restored and decorated with rich Renaissance work, some of which is
very fascinating and interesting. Then came a warlike abbot, resolved
to convert the very salient tower of San Pietro into a fortress to
overawe the surrounding country; and also to use it as a means of
defence against the ever-turbulent people of Perugia, and the despots
who were always quarrelling among themselves in order to attain
supreme power in the city.
[Illustration: LA VEDUTA, PERUGIA.]
The campanile was still further injured by Pope Boniface the Ninth,
who also wished to construct an ordinary fortress on the site of the
beautiful tower. Finally, the monks rebuilt it at a great cost. It was
then struck by lightning, and severely damaged. For a long period of
time the injuries caused by lightning were so frequent that it was
feared the entire building would suffer ruin; then at last the idea of
a lightning conductor suggested itself. This saved the campanile, and
it has since remained in its present condition.
We went up the steps in the convent wall, and entered the old church
of San Pietro from the courtyard, by a doorway with a deeply carved
heading in marble. The interior is at once rich and fascinating, and
every subsequent visit we made to it revealed many treasures.
Some of the Perugino pictures in the sacristy are worth examination,
but the large altar-piece he painted for this church was carried away
to Paris by Napoleon Bonaparte. The choir books can be seen here,
illuminated by the monks of San Miniato, near Florence. There are
several pictures in the church; in one of the aisles is a painting by
the early Umbrian master, Benedetto Bonfigli. The ancient, dark grey
columns on either side of the nave are much older than the church,
having been brought here from the curious old church at Porta San
Angelo, near the most northern gate of Perugia. We had already seen
sixteen of these columns in the ancient round church; they are
supposed to date from a very early period. The altar tomb of the
Baglioni, by Fieado, is in San Pietro; but the most remarkable feature
of this church is its choir. The stalls and their seats are full of
exquisitely carved wood-work, and the doors at the east end are
marvellous specimens of intarsia work. The sacristan shows them with
great pride, and then opens the doors which lead on to the balcony
behind.
Below us we see a very lovely picture: the fertile valley and its
surroundings of richly-tinted hills, while in front is Assisi,
clinging to the side of rugged Monte Subasio. It is said that three
citizens of Perugia escaped by means of this balcony from the Pope's
Swiss guards, when, less than fifty years ago, the Swiss forcibly took
possession of the convent. The delicate work of the eastern doors was
executed by Fra Damiano of Bergamo; it is singularly beautiful;
perhaps the finding of Moses in the bulrushes is one of the most
curious subjects depicted.
The choir seats and stalls were done by Damiano's brother, Stefano da
Bergamo. They are worth a very careful examination, for, besides the
intarsia on the backs and seats, and the fine carving of the
poppy-heads, notable both for subject and execution, there are,
between each stall, wonderful and beautifully-modelled creatures. Now
we see a beast like a crocodile, and next it a harpy; then an
elephant, a dolphin, a sphinx, and so on; an infinite variety, almost
every creature is different, and the carving of each is most artistic.
We saw many treasures in the church, before we went out into the
cypress-bordered garden of the convent, and again enjoyed the lovely
view from the top of its high wall,--the view which wearied Popes and
other great and jaded personages have taken pleasure in gazing at when
they came to Perugia for refreshment.
An intelligent-looking priest showed us the garden. He said it was
kept in order by the boys belonging to the convent. This formerly
sheltered a reformatory for lads sentenced to prison for their first
offence. It is now, I believe, used as an Agricultural College. We had
previously noticed the reformatory boys at work on the olive fields
outside the town gates, and had admired the picturesque effect of
their blue uniforms and straw hats against the silver grey of the
leafy background.
They had then come trooping into the cloisters, and on close
inspection they did not look so interesting as we had thought them;
some of them, however, had simple, honest faces, and as they passed
into the cloister they smiled and raised their hats to the Fra. Most
of the bigger fellows had an ugly scowl, and went in with bent heads,
without any greeting.
The Fra told us the lads behaved fairly well; his trouble was to find
suitable employment for them when they were discharged from the
reformatory. He said he greatly approved of English laws, especially
in regard to the working class. "The English are so good to
foreigners," he said.
He asked us what would be the cost in London of a working-man's board
and lodging. We told him that we had in England already too many boys
of this sort, for whom it was difficult to find employment; we,
however, gave him an average of the expenses he inquired about. This
seemed to alarm the good Padre; with lifted hands he said, "Such a
plan would prove far too costly, it would teach the lads expensive
habits of living." But he thanked us courteously for our information.
When we left the convent garden we stood again enjoying the view over
the lovely valley, under a glorious sunset which glowed on the distant
hills. It seemed to us that splendid sunsets were another and special
charm of Perugia.
We had meant this evening to visit the Etruscan sepulchres of the
Volumnii, discovered only about sixty years ago, and within a walk of
the San Costanzo gate; but San Pietro, even in this short visit, had
proved such an interesting study, that we saw we must defer our walk
to the ancient tomb.
We were, however, told that, without much adding to the length of our
walk, we should considerably increase its charm, if, instead of
passing out by the Porta Costanzo, we turned aside by the Porta San
Pietro, or Romana, as it is called, and quitted the city by the little
gate at the bottom of the descent. This is indeed a delightful walk
under the old grey walls, and from it one has a perfect view over the
lovely country and the purple hills.