"People pass through two regular courses of study at Rome,—the first in learning, and the second in unlearning.
"'This is the tower of Nero, from which he saw the city in flames,—and this is the temple of Concord,—and this is the temple of Castor and Pollux,—and this is the temple of Vesta,—and these are the baths of Paulus-Æmilius,'—and so on, says your lacquey.
"'This is not the tower of Nero,—nor that the temple of Castor and Pollux,—nor the other the temple of Concord,—nor are any of these things what they are called,' says your antiquary."—Eaton's Rome.
The Convent of Sta. Caterina was built by the celebrated Vittoria Colonna, who requested the advice of Michael Angelo on the subject, and was told that she had better make the ancient "Torre" into a belfry. A very curious account of the interview in which this subject was discussed, and which took place in the Church of S. Silvestro a Monte Cavallo, is left us in the memoirs of Francesco d'Olanda, a Portuguese painter, who was himself present at the conversation.
Near this point are two other fine mediæval towers. One is to the right of the descent to the Forum of Trajan, being that of the Colonnas, now called Tor di Babele, ornamented with three beautiful fragments of sculptured frieze, one of them bearing the device of the Colonna, a crowned column rising from a wreath. The other tower, immediately facing us, is called Torre del Grillo, from the ancient family of that name.
Opposite Sta. Caterina is the handsome Church of SS. Domenico e Sisto, approached by a good double twisted staircase. Over the second altar on the left is a picture of the marriage of St. Catherine by Allegrani, and, on the anniversary of her (visionary) marriage (July 19), the dried hand of the saint is exhibited here to the unspeakable comfort of the faithful.
Turning by this church into the Via Maganaopoli (formerly Baganaopoli, a corruption of Balnea Pauli—Baths of Emilius Paulus), we pass on the left the Palazzo Aldobrandini, with a bright pleasant-looking court and handsome fountain. The present Prince Aldobrandini is brother of Prince Borghese. Of this family was S. Pietro Aldobrandini, generally known as S. Pietro Igneo, who was canonized because, in 1067, he walked unhurt, crucifix in hand, through a burning fiery furnace ten feet long before the church door of Settimo, near Florence, to prove an accusation of simony which he had brought against Pietro di Pavia, bishop of that city.
In the Via di Mazzarini, in the hollow between the Quirinal and Viminal, is the Convent of Sta. Agata in Suburra, through the courtyard of which we enter the Church of Sta. Agata dei Goti. A tradition declares that this (like S. Sabba on the Aventine) is on the site of a house of Sta. Silvia, mother of St. Gregory the Great, who consecrated the church after it had been plundered by the Goths, and dedicated it to Sta. Agata. It was rebuilt by Ricimer, the king-maker, in A.D. 472. Twelve ancient granite columns and a handsome opus-alexandrinum pavement are its only signs of antiquity. The church now belongs to the Irish Seminary. In the left aisle is the monument of Daniel O'Connell, with bas-reliefs by Benzoni, inscribed:—
"This monument contains the heart of O'Connell, who dying at Genoa on his way to the Eternal City, bequeathed his soul to God, his body to Ireland, and his heart to Rome. He is represented at the bar of the British House of Commons in MDCCCXXIII., when he refused to take the anti-catholic declaration, in these remarkable words—'I at once reject this declaration; part of it I believe to be untrue, and the rest I know to be false.' He was born vi. Aug. MDCCLXXVI., and died xv. May, MDCCCXLVIII. Erected by Charles Bianconi, the faithful friend of the immortal liberator, and of Ireland the land of his adoption."
At the end of the left aisle is a chapel, which Cardinal Antonelli (who has his palace near this) decorated, 1863, with frescoes and arabesques as a burial-place for his family. In the opposite chapel is a gilt figure of Sta. Agata carrying her breasts—showing the manner in which she suffered.
"Agatha was a maiden of Catania, in Sicily, whither Decius the emperor sent Quintianus as governor. He, inflamed by the beauty of Agatha, tempted her with rich gifts and promises, but she repulsed him with disdain. Then Quintianus ordered her to be bound and beaten with rods, and sent two of his slaves to tear her bosom with iron shears, and as her blood flowed forth, she said to him, 'O thou cruel tyrant! art thou not ashamed to treat me thus—hast thou not thyself been fed at thy mother's breasts?' Thus only did she murmur. And in the night a venerable man came to her, bearing a vase of ointment, and before him walked a youth bearing a torch. It was the holy apostle Peter, and the youth was an angel; but Agatha knew it not; though such a glorious light filled the prison, that the guards fled in terror.... Then St. Peter made himself known and ministered to her, restoring with heavenly balm her wounded breasts.
"Quintianus, infuriated, demanded who had healed her. She replied, 'He whom I confess and adore with heart and lips, he hath sent his apostle who hath healed me.' Then Quintianus caused her to be thrown bound upon a great fire, but instantly an earthquake arose, and the people in terror cried, 'This visitation is sent because of the sufferings of the maiden Agatha.' So he caused her to be taken from the fire, and carried back to prison, where she prayed aloud that having now proved her faith, she might be freed from pain and see the glory of God;—and her prayer was answered and her spirit instantly departed into eternal glory, Feb. 5, A.D. 251."—From the "Legende delle SS. Vergini."
Agatha (patroness of Catania) is one of the saints most reverenced by the Roman people. On the 5th of February her vespers are sung here, which contain the antiphons:—
"Who art thou that art come to heal my wounds?—I am an apostle of Christ, doubt not concerning me, my daughter.
"Medicine for the body have I never used; but I have the Lord Jesus Christ, who with his word alone restoreth all things.
"I render thanks to thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for that thou hast been mindful of me, and hast sent thine apostle to heal my wounds.
"I bless thee, O Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, because through thine apostle thou hast restored my breasts to me.
"Him who hath vouchsafed to heal me of every wound, and to restore to me my breasts, him do I invoke, even the living God.
* * * * * * *
"Blessed Agatha, standing in her prison, stretched forth her hands and prayed unto the Lord, saying, 'O Lord Jesus Christ, my good master, I thank thee because thou hast given me strength to overcome the tortures of the executioners; and now, Lord, speak the word, that I may depart hence to thy glory which fadeth not away."
The tomb of John Lascaris (a refugee from Constantinople when taken by the Turks) has—in Greek—the inscription:—
"Lascaris lies here in a foreign grave; but, stranger, that does not disturb him, rather does he rejoice; yet he is not without sorrow, as a Grecian, that his fatherland will not bestow upon him the freedom of a grave."
Passing the great Convent of S. Bernardino Senensis, we reach the Via dei Serpenti, interesting as occupying the supposed site of the Vallis Quirinalis, where Julius Proculus, returning from Alba Longa, encountered the ghost of Romulus:
Turning to the right down the Via dei Serpenti, we reach the Piazza Sta. Maria in Monti, containing a fountain, and a church dedicated to SS. Sergius and Bacchus, two martyrs who suffered under Maximian at Rasapha in Syria.
One side of this piazza is occupied by the Church of Sta. Maria in Monti, in which is deposited a figure of the beggar Labre (canonized by Pius IX. in 1860), dressed in the gown of a mendicant-pilgrim, which he wore when living. Over the altar is a picture of him in the Coliseum, distributing to his fellow-beggars the alms which he had obtained. His fête is observed here on April 16. (At No. 3 Via dei Serpenti, one may visit the chamber in which Labre died—and in the Via dei Crociferi, near the fountain of Trevi, a chapel containing many of his relics,—the bed on which he died, the crucifix which he wore in his bosom, &c.)
"Benoît Joseph Labre naquit en 1748 dans le diocèse de Boulogne (France) de parents chrétiens et jouissant d'une modeste aisance. D'une piété vive et tendre, il voulut d'abord se faire religieux; mais sa santé ne put résister, ni aux règles des Chartreux, ni à celles des Trappistes, chez lesquels il entra successivement. Il fut alors sollicité intérieurement, est il dit dans la notice sur sa vie, de mener une vie de pénitence et de charité au milieu du siècle. Pendant sept années, il parcourut en pèlerin-mendiant, les sanctuaires de la Vierge les plus vénérés de toute l'Europe; on a calculé qu'il fit, à pied, plus de cinq mille lieues, pendant ces sept années.
"En 1777, il revint en Italie, pour ne plus en sortir. Il habitait Rome, faisant seulement une fois chaque année, le pèlerinage de Lorète. Il passait une grande partie de ses journées dans les églises, mendiait, et faisait des œuvres de charité. Il couchait quelquefois sous le portique des églises, et le plus souvent au Colysée derrière la petite chapelle de la cinquième station du chemin de la croix. L'église qu'il fréquentait le plus, était celle de Ste. Marie des Monts; le 16 Avril, 1783, après y avoir prié fort longtemps, en sortant, il tomba, comme évanoui, sur les marches du péristyle de l'église. On le transporta dans une maison voisine, où il mourut le soir."—Une Année à Rome.
Almost opposite this church, a narrow alley, which appears to be a cul-de-sac ending in a picture of the Crucifixion, is in reality the approach to the carefully concealed Convent of the Farnesiani Nuns, generally known as the Sepolte Vive. The only means of communicating with them is by rapping on a barrel which projects from a wall on a platform above the roofs of the houses,—when a muffled voice is heard from the interior,—and if your references are satisfactory, the barrel turns round and eventually discloses a key by which the initiated can admit themselves to a small chamber in the interior of the convent. Over its door is an inscription, bidding those who enter that chamber to leave all worldly thoughts behind them. Round the walls are inscribed,—"Qui non diligit, manet in morti."—"Militia est vita hominis super terram."—"Alter alterius onera portate"; and, on the other side, opposite the door,
In one of the walls is an opening with a double grille, beyond which is a metal plate, pierced with holes like the rose of a watering-pot. It is beyond this grille and behind this plate, that the abbess of the Sepolte Vive receives her visitors, but she is even then veiled from head to foot in heavy folds of thick bure. Gregory XVI., who of course could penetrate within the convent and who wished to try her, said, "Sorella mia, levate il velo." "No, mio padre," she replied, "E vietato dalla nostra regola."
The nuns of the Sepolte Vive are never seen again after they once assume the black veil, though they are allowed double the ordinary noviciate. They never hear anything of the outer world, even of the deaths of their nearest relations. Daily, they are said to dig their own graves and lie down in them, and their remaining hours are occupied in perpetual and monotonous adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Returning as far as the Via Pane e Perna (a continuation of the Via Maganaopoli) we ascend the slope of the Viminal Hill, now with difficulty to be distinguished from the Quirinal. It derives its name from vimina, osiers, and was once probably covered with woods, since a temple of Sylvanus or Pan was one of several which adorned its principal street—the Vicus Longus—the site of which is now marked by the countrified lane called Via S. Vitale. This end of the hill is crowned by the Church of S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna, built on the site of the martyrdom of the deacon St. Laurence, who suffered under Claudius II., in A.D. 264, for refusing to give up the goods of the Church. Over the altar is a huge fresco, representing the saint extended upon a red-hot gridiron, and below—entered from the exterior of the church—a crypt is shown as the scene of his cruel sufferings.[236]
"Blessed Laurentius, as he lay stretched and burning on the gridiron, said to the impious tyrant, 'The meat is done, make haste hither and eat. As for the treasures of the Church which you seek, the hands of the poor have carried them to a heavenly treasury.'"—Antiphon of St. Laurence.
The funeral of St. Bridget of Sweden took place in this church, July 1373, but after resting here for a year, her body was removed by her son to the monastery of Wastein in Sweden.
Under the second altar on the right are shown the relics of St. Crispin and St. Crispinian, "two holy brothers, who departed from Rome with St. Denis to preach the Gospel in France, where, after the example of St. Paul, they laboured with their hands, being by trade shoemakers. And these good saints made shoes for the poor without fee or reward (for which the angels supplied them with leather), until, denounced as Christians, they suffered martyrdom at Soissons, being, after many tortures, beheaded by the sword (A.D. 300)."[237] The festival of St. Crispin and St. Crispinian is held on October 25, the anniversary of the battle of Agincourt.
Throughout the middle ages the statues of Posidippus and Menander, now in the gallery of statues at the Vatican, were kissed and worshipped in this church under the impression that they represented saints (see Ch. XV.). They were found on this site, which was once occupied by the baths of Olympias, daughter-in-law of Constantine.
The strange name of the church, Pane e Perna, is supposed to have had its origin in a dole of bread and ham once given at the door of the adjacent convent. In the garden belonging to the convent is a mediæval house of c. 1200. The campanile is of 1450.
The small neighbouring Church of S. Lorenzo in Fonte covers the site of the prison of St. Lawrence, and a fountain is shown there as that in which he baptized Vicus Patricius and his daughter Lucilla, whom he miraculously raised from the dead.
Descending the hill below the church—in the valley between the Esquiline and Viminal—we reach at the corner of the street a spot of preëminent historical interest, as that where Servius Tullius was killed, and where Tullia (B.C. 535) drove in her chariot over the dead body of her father. The Vicus Urbius by which the old king had reached the spot is now represented by the Via Urbana; the Vicus Cyprius, by which he was about to ascend to the palace on the hill Cispius, by the Via di Sta. Maria Maggiore.
"Servius-Tullius, après avoir pris le chemin raccourci qui partait du pied de la Velia et allait du côté des Carines, atteignit le Vicus-Cyprius (Via Urbana).
"Parvenu à l'extrémité du Vicus-Cyprius, le roi fut atteint et assassiné par les gens de Tarquin auprès d'un temple de Diane.
"C'est arrivés en cet endroit, au moment de tourner à droite et de gagner, en remontant le Vicus-Virbius, le Cispius, où habitait son père, que les chevaux s'arrêtèrent; que Tullie, poussée par l'impatience fièvreuse de l'ambition, et n'ayant plus que quelques pas à faire pour arriver au terme, avertie par le cocher que le cadavre de son père était là gisant, s'écria: 'Eh bien, pousse le char en avant.'
"Le meurtre s'est accompli au pied du Viminal, à l'extrémité du Vicus-Cyprius, là où fut depuis le Vicus-Sceleratus, la rue Funeste.
"Le lieu où la tradition plaçait cette tragique aventure ne peut être sur l'Esquilin: mais nécessairement au pied de cette colline et du Viminal, puisque, parvenu à l'extrémité du Vicus-Cyprius, le cocher allait tourner à droite et remonter pour gravir l'Esquilin. Il ne faut donc pas chercher, comme Nibby, la rue Scélérate sur une des pentes, ou, comme Canina et M. Dyer, sur le sommet de l'Esquilin, d'où l'on ne pouvait monter sur l'Esquilin.
"Tullie n'allait pas sur l'Oppius (San-Pietro in Vincoli), dans la demeure de son mari, mais sur le Cispius, dans la demeure de son père. C'était de la demeure royale qu'elle allait prendre possession pour le nouveau roi.
* * * * * * *
"Je n'oublierai jamais le soir où, après avoir longtemps cherché le lieu qui vit la mort de Servius et le crime de Tullie, tout-à-coup je découvris clairement que j'y étais arrivé, et m'arrêtant plein d'horreur, comme le cocher de la parricide, plongeant dans l'ombre un regard qui, malgré moi, y cherchait le cadavre du vieux roi, je me dis: 'C'était là!'"
Ampère, Hist. Rom. ii. 153.
Turning to the left, at the foot of the Esquiline, we find the interesting Church of Sta. Pudenziana, supposed to be the most ancient of all the Roman churches ("omnium ecclesiaram urbis vetustissima"). Cardinal Wiseman, who took his title from this church, considers it was the principal place of worship in Rome after apostolic times, being founded on the site of the house where St. Paul lodged, A.D. 41 to 50, with the senator Pudens, whose family were his first converts, and who is said to have himself suffered martyrdom under Nero. On this ancient place of worship an oratory was engrafted by Pius I. (c. A.D. 145), in memory of the younger daughter of Pudens, Pudenziana, perhaps at the request of her sister Prassede, who is believed to have survived till that time. In very early times two small churches existed here, known as "Titulus Pudentis" and "Titulus Pastoris," the latter in memory of a brother of Pius I.
The church, which has been successively altered by Adrian I. in the eighth century, by Gregory VII., and by Innocent II., was finally modernised by Cardinal Caetani in 1597. Little remains of ancient external work except the graceful brick campanile (c. 1130) with triple arcades of open arches on every side separated by bands of terra-cotta moulding,—and the door adorned with low reliefs of the Lamb bearing a cross, and of Sta. Prassede and Sta. Pudenziana with the vases in which they collected the blood of the martyrs, and two other figures, probably St. Pudens and St. Pastor.
The chapel on the left of the tribune, which is regarded as the "Titulus Pudentis," has an old mosaic pavement, said to have belonged to the house of Pudens. Here is a bas-relief by Giacomo della Porta, representing our Saviour delivering the keys to St. Peter; and here is preserved part of the altar at which St. Peter is said to have celebrated mass (the rest is at the Lateran), and which was used by all the early popes till the time of Sylvester. Among early Christian inscriptions let into the walls, is one to a Cornelia, of the family of the Pudenziani, with a rude portrait.
Opening from the left aisle is the chapel of the Caetani family, with tombs of the seventeenth century. Over the altar is a bas-relief of the Adoration of the Magi, by Paolo Olivieri. On each side are fine columns of Lunachella marble. Over the entrance from the nave are ancient mosaics,—of the Evangelists and of Sta. Pudenziana collecting the blood of the martyrs. Beneath, is a gloomy and neglected vault, in which all the sarcophagi and coffins of the dead Caetani are shown by torchlight.
In the tribune are magnificent mosaics, ascribed by some to the eighth, by others to the fourth century, and considered by De Rossi,[238] as the best of all ancient Christian mosaics.
"In conception and treatment this work is indeed classic: seated on a rich throne in the centre, is the Saviour with one arm extended, and in the other hand holding a book open at the words, Conservator Ecclesiæ Pudentianæ; laterally stand SS. Praxedis and Pudentiana with leafy crowns in their hands; and at a lower level, but more in front, SS. Peter and Paul with eight other male figures, all in the amply-flowing costume of ancient Romans; while in the background are seen, beyond a portico with arcades, various stately buildings, one a rotunda, another a parallelogram with a gable-headed front, recognizable as a baptistery and basilica, here, we may believe, in authentic copy from the earliest types of the period of the first Christian emperors. Above the group, and hovering in the air, a large cross, studded with gems, surmounts the head of our Saviour, between the four symbols of the Evangelists, of which one has been entirely, and another in the greater part, sacrificed to some wretched accessories in woodwork actually allowed to conceal portions of this most interesting mosaic! As to expression, a severe solemnity is that prevailing, especially in the principal head, which alone is crowned with the nimbus—one among other proofs, if but negative, of its high antiquity."—Heman's Ancient Christian Art.
Besides Sta. Pudenziana and St. Pudens,—St. Novatus and St. Siricius are said to be buried here. Those who visit this sanctuary every day obtain an indulgence of 3000 years, with remission of a third part of their sins! Excavations made by Mr. J. H. Parker, in 1865, have laid bare some interesting constructions beneath the church,—supposed to be those of the house of Pudens—a part of the public baths of Novatus, the son of Pudens, which were in use for some centuries after his time, and a chamber in which is supposed to have been the oratory dedicated by Pius I. in a.d. 145.
"Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren."—2 Timothy iv. 21.
The following account of the family of Pudens is received as the legacy of Pastor to the Christian Church.
"Pudens went to his Saviour, leaving his daughters strengthened with chastity, and learned in all the divine law. These sold their goods, and distributed the produce to the poor, and persevered strictly in the love of Christ, guarding intact the flower of their virginity, and only seeking for glory in vigils, fastings, and prayer. They desired to have a baptistery in their house, to which the blessed Pius not only consented, but with his own hand drew the plan of the fountain. Then calling in their slaves, both from town and country, the two virgins gave liberty to those who were Christians, and urged belief in the faith upon those who had not yet received it. By the advice of the blessed Pius, the affranchisement was declared, with all the ancient usages, in the oratory founded by Pudens; then, at the festival of Easter, ninety-six neophytes were baptized; so that thenceforth assemblies were constantly held in the said oratory, which night and day resounded with hymns of praise. Many pagans gladly came thither to find the faith and receive baptism.
"Meanwhile the Emperor Antonine, being informed of what was taking place, issued an edict commanding all Christians to dwell apart in their own houses, without mixing with the rest of the people, and that they should neither go to the public shops, nor to the baths. Praxedis and Pudentiana then assembled those whom they had led to the faith, and housed them. They nourished them for many days, watching and praying. The blessed bishop Pius himself frequently visited us with joy, and offered the sacrifice for us to the Saviour.
"Then Pudentiana went to God. Her sister and I wrapped her in perfumes and kept her concealed in the oratory. Then, at the end of twenty-eight days, we carried her to the cemetery of Priscilla, and laid her near her father Pudens.
"Eleven months after, Novatus died in his turn. He bequeathed his goods to Praxedis, and she then begged of St. Pius to erect a titular (a church) in the baths of Novatus, which were no longer used, and where there was a large and spacious hall. The bishop made the dedication in the name of the blessed virgin Praxedis. In the same place he consecrated a baptistery.
"But, at the end of two years, a great persecution was declared against the Christians, and many of them received the crown of martyrdom. Praxedis concealed a great number of them in her oratory, and nourished them at once with the food of this world and with the word of God. But the Emperor Antonine, having learnt that these meetings took place in the oratory of Priscilla, caused it to be searched, and many Christians were taken, especially the priest Simetrius and twenty-two others. And the blessed Praxedis collected their bodies by night, and buried them in the cemetery of Priscilla, on the seventh day of the calends of June. Then the virgin of the Saviour, worn out with sorrow, only asked for death. Her tears and her prayers reached to heaven, and fifty-four days after her brethren had suffered, she passed to God. And I, Pastor, the priest, have buried her body near that of her father Pudens."—From the Narration of Pastor.
Returning by the main line of streets to the Quattro Fontane, we skirt on the right the wall of the Villa Negroni (see Ch. XI). Beyond this, on the left, is the Church of S. Paolo Primo Eremita. The strange-looking palm-tree over the door, with a raven perched upon it and two lions below, commemorates the story of the saint, who, retiring to the desert at the age of 22, lived there till he was 112, eating nothing but the dates of his tree for twenty-two years, after which bread was daily brought to him by a raven. In his last hours St. Anthony came to visit him and was present at his burial, when two lions his companions came to dig his grave. The sustaining palm-tree and the three animals who loved S. Paolo are again represented over the altar. Further on the left, we pass the Via S. Vitale, occupying the site of the Vicus Longus, considered by Dyer to have been the longest street in the ancient city. Here stood the temples of Sylvanus, and of Fever, with that of Pudicitia Plebeia, founded c. B.C. 297, by Virginia the patrician, wife of Volumnius, when excluded from the patrician temple of Pudicitia in the Forum Boarium, on account of her plebeian marriage. "At its altar none but plebeian matrons of unimpeachable chastity, and who had been married to only one husband, were allowed to sacrifice."[239]
The Church of S. Vitale on the Viminal, which now stands here, was founded by Innocent I. in A.D. 416. The interior is covered with frescoes of martyrdoms. It is seldom open except early on Sunday mornings. S. Vitale, father of S. Gervasius and S. Protasius, was the martyr and patron saint of Ravenna who was buried alive under Nero.
Beyond this, on the left of the Via delle Quattro Fontane, is the Church of S. Dionisio, belonging to the Basilian nuns, called Apostoline di S. Basilio. It contains an Ecce Homo of Luca Giordano, and the gaudy shrine of the virgin martyr Sta. Coraola.
END OF VOL. I.
WALKS IN ROME
TWO VOLS. —II.
BY AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE
AUTHOR OF "MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE," "WANDERINGS IN SPAIN," ETC.
TWO VOLUMES.—II.
FIFTH EDITION
LONDON
DALDY, ISBISTER & CO.
56, LUDGATE HILL
1875
[All rights reserved]
JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS.
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| PAGE | |
| THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN | 7 |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| THE ESQUILINE | 46 |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| THE BASILICAS OF THE LATERAN, SANTA CROCE, AND S. LORENZO | 94 |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| IN THE CAMPUS MARTIUS | 148 |
| CHAPTER XV. | |
| THE BORGO AND ST. PETER'S | 223 |
| CHAPTER XVI. | |
| THE VATICAN | 282 |
| CHAPTER XVII. | |
| THE ISLAND AND THE TRASTEVERE | 360 |
| CHAPTER XVIII. | |
| THE TRE FONTANE AND S. PAOLO | 392 |
| CHAPTER XIX. | |
| THE VILLAS BORGHESE MADAMA, AND MELLINI | 410 |
| CHAPTER XX. | |
| THE JANICULAN | 432 |
The Cappuccini—S. Isidore—S. Niccolo in Tolentino—Via S. Basilio—Convent of the Pregatrici—Villa Massimo Rignano—Gardens of Sallust—Villa Ludovisi—Porta Salara—(Villa Albani—Catacombs of Sta. Felicitas and Sta. Priscilla—Ponte Salara)—Porta Pia—(Villa Torlonia—Sant' Agnese—Sta. Costanza—Ponte Nomentana—Mons Sacer—S. Alessandro)—Villa Torlonia within the walls—Via Macao—Pretorian Camp—Railway Station—Villa Negroni—Agger of Servius Tullius—Sta. Maria degli Angeli—Fountain of the Termini—Sta. Maria della Vittoria—Sta. Susanna—S. Bernardo—S. Caio.
OPENING from the left of the Piazza Barberini, is the small Piazza of the Cappuccini, named from a convent suppressed since the Sardinian occupation, but which was one of the largest and most populous in Rome.
The conventual church, dedicated to Sta. Maria della Concezione, contains several fine pictures. In the first chapel, on the right, is the magnificent Guido of the Archangel Michael trampling upon the Devil,—said to be a portrait of Pope Innocent X., against whom the painter had a peculiar spite.
"Here the angel, standing, yet scarcely touching the ground, poised on his outspread wings, sets his left foot on the head of his adversary; in one hand he brandishes a sword, in the other he holds the end of a chain, with which he is about to bind down the demon in the bottomless pit. The attitude has been criticised, and justly; the grace is somewhat mannered, verging on the theatrical; but Forsyth is too severe when he talks of 'the air of a dancing master': one thing, however, is certain, we do not think about the attitude when we look at Raphael's St. Michael (in the Louvre); in Guido's it is the first thing that strikes us; but when we look farther, the head redeems all; it is singularly beautiful, and in the blending of the masculine and feminine graces, in the serene purity of the brow, and the flow of the golden hair, there is something divine; a slight, very slight expression of scorn is in the air of the head. The fiend is the worst part of the picture; it is not a fiend, but a degraded prosaic human ruffian; we laugh with incredulous contempt at the idea of an angel called down from heaven to overcome such a wretch. In Raphael the fiend is human, but the head has the god-like ugliness and malignity of a satyr; Guido's fiend is only stupid and base. It appears to me that there is just the same difference—the same kind of difference—between the angel of Raphael and the angel of Guido, as between the description in Tasso and the description in Milton; let any one compare them. In Tasso we are struck by the picturesque elegance of the description as a piece of art, the melody of the verse, the admirable choice of the expressions, as in Guido by the finished but somewhat artificial and studied grace. In Raphael and Milton we see only the vision of a 'shape divine.'"—Jameson's Sacred Art, p. 107.
In the same chapel is a picture by Gherardo della Notte of Christ in the purple robe. The third chapel contains a fresco by Domenichino of the Death of St Francis, and a picture of the Ecstasy of St. Francis, which was a gift from the same painter to this church.
The first chapel on the left contains The Visit of Ananias to Saul, by Pietro da Cortona.
"Whoever would know to what length this painter carried his style in his altar-piece should examine the Conversion of St. Paul in the Cappuccini at Rome, which though placed opposite to the St. Michael of Guido, cannot fail to excite the admiration of such judges as are willing to admit various styles of beauty in art."—Lanzi.
On the left of the high-altar is the tomb of Prince Alexander Sobieski, son of John III., king of Poland, who died at Rome in 1714.
The church was founded in 1624, by Cardinal Barberini, the old monk-brother of Urban VIII., who, while his nephews were employed in building magnificent palaces, refused to take advantage of the family elevation otherwise than to endow this church and convent. He is buried in front of the altar, with the remarkable epitaph—very different to the pompous, self-glorifying inscriptions of his brother—
"Hic jacet pulvis, cinis, et nihil."
This Cardinal Barberini possesses some historical interest from the patronage he extended to Milton during his visit to Rome in 1638.
"During his sojourn in Rome Milton enjoyed the conversation of several learned and ingenious men, and particularly of Lucas Holsteinius, keeper of the Vatican library, who received him with the greatest humanity, and showed him all the Greek authors, whether in print or MS.—which had passed through his correction; and also presented him to Cardinal Barberini, who, at an entertainment of music, performed at his own expense, waited for him at the door, and taking him by the hand, brought him into the assembly. The next morning he waited upon the Cardinal to return him thanks for these civilities, and by the means of Holsteinius was again introduced to his Eminence, and spent some time in conversation with him."—Newton's Life of Milton.[240]
Over the entrance is a cartoon (with some differences) for the Navicella of Giotto.
From this church is entered the famous cemetery of the Cappuccini (not subterranean), consisting of four chambers, ornamented with human bones in patterns, and with mummified bodies. The earth was brought from Jerusalem. As the cemetery was too small for the convent, when any monk died, the one who had been buried longest was ejected to make room for him. The loss of a grave was supposed to be amply compensated by the short rest in the holy earth which the body had already enjoyed. It is pleasant to read on the spot the pretty sketch in the "Improvisatore."
"I was playing near the church of the Capuchins, with some other children who were all younger than myself. There was fastened on the church door a little cross of metal; it was fastened about the middle of the door, and I could just reach it with my hand. Always when our mothers had passed by with us they had lifted us up that we might kiss the holy sign. One day, when we children were playing, one of the youngest of them inquired, 'why the child Jesus did not come down and play with us?' I assumed an air of wisdom, and replied that he was really bound upon the cross. We went to the church door, and although we found no one, we wished, as our mothers had taught us, to kiss him, but we could not reach up to it; one therefore lifted up the other, but just as the lips were pointed for the kiss, that one who lifted the other lost his strength, and the kissing one fell down just when his lips were about to touch the invisible child Jesus. At that moment my mother came by, and when she saw our child's play, she folded her hands, and said, 'You are actually some of God's angels, and thou art mine own angel,' added she, and kissed me.
"The Capuchin monk, Fra Martino, was my mother's confessor. He made very much of me, and gave me a picture of the Virgin, weeping great tears, which fell, like rain-drops, down into the burning flames of hell, where the damned caught this draught of refreshment. He took me over with him into the convent, where the open colonnade, which enclosed in a square the little potato-garden, with the two cypress and orange-trees, made a very deep impression upon me. Side by side, in the open passages, hung old portraits of deceased monks, and on the door of each cell were pasted pictures from the history of the martyrs, which I contemplated with the same holy emotions as afterwards the masterpieces of Raphael and Andrea del Sarto.
"'Thou art really a bright youth,' said he; 'thou shall now see the dead.' Upon this, he opened a little door of a gallery which lay a few steps below the colonnade. We descended, and now I saw round about me skulls upon skulls, so placed one upon another, that they formed walls, and therewith several chapels. In these were regular niches, in which were seated perfect skeletons of the most distinguished of the monks, enveloped in their brown cowls, their cords round their waists, and with a breviary or withered bunch of flowers in their hands. Altars, chandeliers, bas-reliefs, of human joints, horrible and tasteless as the whole idea. I clung fast to the monk, who whispered a prayer, and then said to me, 'Here also I shall some time sleep; wilt thou thus visit me?'
"I answered not a word, but looked horrified at him, and then round about me upon the strange grizzly assembly. It was foolish to take me, a child, into this place. I was singularly impressed with the whole thing, and did not feel myself easy again until I came into his little cell, where the beautiful yellow oranges almost hung in at the window, and I saw the brightly coloured picture of the Madonna, who was borne upwards by angels into the clear sunshine, while a thousand flowers filled the grave in which she had rested.....
"On the festival of All-Saints I was down in the chapel of the dead, where Fra Martino took me when I first visited the convent. All the monks sang masses for the dead, and I, with two other boys of my own age, swung the incense-breathing censer before the great altar of skulls. They had placed lights in the chandeliers made of bones, new garlands were placed around the brows of the skeleton monks, and fresh bouquets in their hands. Many people, as usual, thronged in; they all knelt and the singers intoned the solemn Miserere. I gazed for a long time on the pale yellow skulls, and the fumes of the incense which wavered in strange shapes between me and them, and everything began to swim round before my eyes; it was as if I saw everything through a large rainbow; as if a thousand prayer-bells rung in my ear; it seemed as if I was borne along a stream; it was unspeakably delicious—more, I know not; consciousness left me,—I was in a swoon."—Hans Ch. Andersen.
The street behind the Piazza Cappuccini leads to the Church of S. Isidoro,[241] built 1622, for Irish Franciscan monks. The altar-piece, representing S. Isidore, is by Andrea Sacchi. This church contains several tombs of distinguished Irishmen who have died in Rome.
Opposite are the recently founded convent and small chapel of the Pregatrici—nuns most picturesquely attired in blue and white, and devoted to the perpetual adoration of the Sacrament, who sing during the Benediction service, like the nuns of the Trinità di Monti.
The Via S. Niccolo in Tolentino leads by the handsome Church of that name, from the Piazza Barberini to the railway station. In this street are the hotels "Costanzi" and "Del Globo."
Parallel with, and behind this, the Via S. Basilio runs up the hill-side. At the top of this street is the entrance of the Villa Massimo Rignano, containing some fine palm-trees. This site, with the ridge of the opposite hill, and the valley between, was once occupied by the Gardens of Sallust (Horti Pretiosissimi), purchased for the emperors after the death of the historian, and a favourite residence of Vespasian, Nerva, and especially of Aurelian. Some vaulted halls under the cliff of the opposite hill, and a circular ruin surrounded by niches, are the only remains of the many fine buildings which once existed here, and which comprised a palace, baths, and the portico called Milliarensis, 1000 feet long. These edifices are known to have been ruined when Rome was taken by the Goths under Alaric (410), who entered at the neighbouring Porta Salara. The obelisk now in front of the Trinità di Monti, was removed from hence by Pius VI. The picturesque old casino of the Barberini, which occupied the most prominent position in the gardens, was pulled down in 1869, to make way for a house belonging to Spithover the librarian. The hill-side is supported by long picturesque buttresses, beneath which are remains of the huge masonry of Servius Tullius, whose Agger may be traced on the ridge of the hill running towards the present railway station. Part of these grounds are supposed to have formed the Campus Sceleratus, where the vestal virgins suffered who had broken their vows of chastity.