The masterpiece of Domenichino, the Last Communion of St. Jerome, in which Sta. Paula is introduced kissing the hand of the dying saint, hung in this church till carried off to Paris by the French.

We now reach the Palazzo Farnese,—the most magnificent of all the Roman palaces,—begun by Paul III., Alessandro Farnese (1534—50), and finished by his nephew, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Its architects were Antonio di Sangallo, Michael Angelo, and Giacomo della Porta, who finished the façade towards the Tiber. The materials were plundered partly from the Coliseum and partly from the theatre of Marcellus; the granite basons of the fountains in front are from the baths of Caracalla. The immense size of the blocks of travertine used in the building give it a solid grandeur.

This palace was inherited by the Bourbon kings of Naples by descent from Elizabetta Farnese, who was the last of her line, and it has for the last few years been the residence of the Neapolitan Court, who have lived here in the utmost seclusion since their exile. For this reason the palace is now very seldom shown. Its vast halls are painted with the masterpieces of Annibale Caracci—huge mythological subjects,—and a few frescoes by Guido, Domenichino, Daniele da Volterra, Taddeo Zucchero, and others; but there has not been much to see since the dispersion of the Farnese gallery of sculpture, of which the best pieces (the Bull, Hercules, Flora, &c.) are in the museum at Naples. In the courtyard is the sarcophagus which is said once to have held the remains of Cecilia Metella.

Behind the Palazzo Farnese runs the Via Giulia, which contains the ugly fountain of the Mascherone. Close to the arch which leads to the Farnese gardens is the church of Sta. Maria della Morte, or Dell' Orazione, built by Fuga. It is in the hands of a pious confraternity who devote themselves to the burial of the dead.

Beyond the arch is the Palazzo Falconieri (with falcons at the corners), built by Borromini about 1650. There is something rather handsome in its tall three-arched loggia, as seen from the back of the courtyard, which overhangs the Tiber opposite the Farnesina. Cardinal Fesch (uncle of Napoleon I.) lived here, and here formed his fine gallery of pictures.

Further on are the Carceri Nuove, prisons established by Innocent X. (appropriately reached by the Via del Malpasso), and then the Palazzo Sacchetti, built by Antonio da Sangallo for his own residence, and adorned by him with the arms of his patron, Paul III., and the grateful inscription, "Tu mihi quodcumque hoc rerum est." The collection of statues which was formed here by Cardinal Ricci, was removed to the Capitol by Benedict XIV., and became the foundation of the present Capitoline collection.

In front of the Palazzo Farnese, beyond its own piazza, is that known as the Campo di Fiore, a centre of commerce among the working classes. Here the most terrible of the Autos da Fé were held by the Dominicans, in which many Jews and other heretics were burnt alive.

On the left of this piazza is the gigantic Palace of the Cancelleria, begun by Cardinal Mezzarota, and finished in 1494 by Cardinal Riario, from designs of Bramante. The huge blocks of travertine of which it is built were taken from the Coliseum. The colonnades have forty-four granite pillars, said to have belonged to the theatre of Pompey. The roses with which their (added) capitals are adorned are in reference to the arms of Cardinal Riario, nephew of Sixtus IV.

This palace was the seat of the Tribunal of the Cancelleria Apostolica. In June, 1848, the Roman Parliament, summoned by Pius IX., was held here. In July, while the deputies were seated here, the mob burst into the council-chamber, and demanded the instant declaration of war against Austria. On the 16th of November, its staircase was the scene of the murder of Count Rossi.

Entered from the courtyard of the palace is the Church of SS. Lorenzo e Damaso, removed by Cardinal Riario in 1495, from another site, where it had been founded in 560 by the sainted pope Damasus. It consists of a short nave and aisles, and is almost square, with an apse and chapels. The doors are by Vignola. At the end of the left aisle is a curious black virgin, much revered. Opening from the right aisle is the chapel of the Massimi, with several tombs; a good modern monument of Princess Gabrielli, &c. Against the last pilaster is a seated statue of S. Hippolytus, Bishop of Porto, taken from that at the Lateran. His relics are preserved here, with those of S. Giovanni Calabita, and many other saints. The tomb of Count Rossi is also here, inscribed "Optimam mihi causam tuendam assumpsi, miserebitur Deus." The story of his death is told in the words: "Impiorum consilio meditata cæde occubuit." He was embalmed and buried on the very night of his murder, for fear of further outrage. St Francis Xavier used to preach in this church in the sixteenth century.

Standing a little back from the street, in the Via de' Baullari, is a pretty little palace, carefully finished in all its details, and attributed to Baldassare Peruzzi. It is sometimes called Palazzetto Farnese, sometimes Palazzo Linote, and is now almost in a state of ruin.

In a picturesque and dimly-lighted hall on the first-floor, partially hung with faded tapestries, is the famous statue believed to be that of Pompey, at the foot of which Julius Cæsar fell. Suetonius narrates that it was removed by Augustus from the Curia, and placed upon a marble Janus in front of the basilica. Exactly on that spot was the existing statue found, lying under the partition-wall of two houses, whose proprietors intended to evade disputes by dividing it, when Cardinal Capodifero interfered, and in return received it as a gift from Pope Julius III., who bought it for 500 gold crowns.

The collection of pictures in this palace is little worth seeing. Among its other sculptures are eight grand reliefs, which, till 1620, were turned upside down, and used as a pavement in Sant' Agnese fuori Mura; and a fine statue of Aristotle.

A little further, on the right, is the Church of the Trinità dei Pellegrini, built in 1614; the façade designed by Francesco de' Sanctis. It contains a picture of the Trinity by Guido.

The hospital attached to this church was founded by S. Filippo Neri for receiving and nourishing pilgrims of pious intention, who had come from more than sixty miles' distance, for a space of from three to seven days. It is divided into two parts, for males and females. Here, during the Holy Week, the feet of the pilgrims are publicly washed, those of the men by princes, cardinals, &c., those of the women by queens, princesses, and other ladies of rank. In this case the washing is a reality, the feet not having been "prepared beforehand," as for the Lavanda at St Peter's.

An authentic portrait of S. Filippo Neri is preserved here, said to have been painted surreptitiously by an artist who happened to be one of the inmates of the hospital. When S. Filippo saw it, he said, "You should not have stolen me unawares."

A short distance further, following the Via dei Specchi, surrounded by miserable houses (in one of which is a beautiful double gothic window, divided by a twisted column), is the small Church of Sta. Maria in Monticelli, which has a fine low campanile of 1110. Admission may always be obtained through the sacristy to visit the famous "miracle-working" picture called "Gesù Nazareno," a modern half-length of Our Saviour, with the eyelids drooping and half-closed. By an illusion of the painting, the eyes, if watched steadily, appear to open and then slowly to close again as if falling asleep,—in the same way that many English family portraits appear to follow the living bystanders with their eyes; but the effect is very curious. In the case of this picture, the pope turned Protestant, and disapproving of the attention it excited, caused its secret removal. Remonstrance was made, that the picture had been a "regalo" to the church, and ought not to be taken away, and when it was believed to be sufficiently forgotten, it was sent back by night. The mosaics in the apse of this obscure church are for the most part quite modern, but enclose a very grand and expressive head of the Saviour of the World, which dates from 1099, when it was ordered by Pope Paschal II.

Prince Santa Croce claims to be a direct descendant of Valerius Publicola, the "friend of the people," who is commemorated in the name of a neighbouring church, "Sancta Maria de Publicolis."

This is one of the few haunted houses in Rome: it is said that by night two statues of Santa Croce cardinals descend from their pedestals, and rattle their marble trains about its long galleries.

The last piers of the nave are occupied by the tombs of Pius II., Eneas Sylvius Piccolomini (1458—64), and Pius III., Todeschini (1503), removed from the old basilica of St. Peter's. The tombs are hideous erections in four stages, by Niccolo della Guardia and Pietro da Todi. The epitaph of the famous Eneas Sylvius is as good as a biography.

Pius III., who was the son of a sister of Eneas Sylvius, only reigned for twenty-six days. His tomb was the last to be placed in the old St. Peter's, which was pulled down by his successor.

To the left from St. Andrea della Valle runs the Via S. Pantaleone, on the right of which, cleverly fitting into an angle of the street, is the gloomy but handsome Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, built c. 1526 by Baldassare Peruzzi. The semi-circular portico has six Doric columns. The staircase and fountain are peculiar and picturesque. In the loggia is a fine antique lion.

The palace is not often shown, but is a good specimen of one of the smaller Roman princely houses. In the drawing-room, well placed, is the famous Statue of the Discobolus, a copy of the bronze statue of Myron, found in 1761, upon the Esquiline, near the ruined nymphæum known as the Trophies of Marius. This is more beautiful and better preserved than the Discobolus of the Vatican, of which the head is modern.

On the second floor is a chapel in memory of the temporary resuscitation to life by S. Filippo Neri of Paul Massimo, a youth of fourteen, who had died of a fever, March 16th, 1584.

The back of the palace towards the Piazza Navona is covered with curious frescoes in distemper by Daniele di Volterra.

In buildings belonging to this palace, Pannartz and Schweinheim established the first printing-office in Rome in 1455. The rare editions of this time bear in addition to the name of the printers, the inscription, "In ædibus Petri de Maximis."

Further, on the right, is the modernized Church of S. Pantaleone, built originally in 1216 by Honorius III., and given by Gregory XV., in 1641, to S. Giuseppe Calasanza, founder of the Order of the Scolopians, and of the institution of the Scuola Pia. He died in 1648, and is buried here in a porphyry sarcophagus.

Adjoining this, is the very handsome Palazzo Braschi, the last result of papal nepotism in Rome,—built at the end of the last century by Morelli, for the Duke Braschi, nephew of Pius VI. The staircase, which is, perhaps, the finest in Rome, is adorned with sixteen columns of red oriental granite. Annual subscription balls for charities are held in this palace.

Pasquin has naturally been regarded as a mortal enemy by the popes, who, on several occasions, have made vain attempts to silence him. The bigoted Adrian VI. wished to have the statue burnt and then thrown into the Tiber, but it was saved by the suggestion of Ludovico Suessano, that his ashes would turn into frogs, who would croak louder than he had done. When Marforio, in the hope of stopping the dialogues, was shut up in the Capitoline museum, the pope attempted to incarcerate Pasquino also, but he was defended by his proprietor, Duke Braschi. Among offensive Pasquinades which have been placed here are:

Among the earliest Pasquinades were those against the venality and evil life of Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Borgia, 1492—1503):

and,

and, upon the body of his son Giovanni, murdered by his brother Cæsar Borgia, being fished up on the following day from the Tiber:

and, in allusion to his warlike beard:

At a moment of great unpopularity:

In reference to the sale of indulgences and benefices by Leo X.:

and to his love of buffoons:

and with reference to the death of Leo, suddenly, under suspicion of poison, and without the sacrament:

On the death of Clement VII. (1534), attributed to the mismanagement of his physician, Matteo Curzio:

To Paul III. (1534—50) who attempted to silence him, Pasquin replied:

Upon the spoliation of ancient Rome by Urban VIII.:

"Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini."

Upon the passion of Innocent X. (1644—55) for his sister-in-law, Olympia Maldacchini:

Upon Christina of Sweden, who died at Rome, in 1689:

In reference to the severities of the Inquisition during the reign of Innocent XI. (1676—89):

To Francis of Austria, on his visit to Rome:

After an awful storm, and the plunder of the works of art by Napoleon occurring together:

During the stay of the French in Rome:

Against the vain-glorious follies of Pius VI., Pasquin was especially bitter. Pius finished the sacristry of St. Peter's, and inscribed over its entrance, "Quod ad Templi Vaticani ornamentum publico vota flagitabant, Pius VI. fecit." The next day Pasquin retorted:

Upon his nepotism, when building the Braschi palace:

And in allusion to the self-laudatory inscriptions of this pope upon all his buildings, at a time when the two-baiocchi loaf of the common people was greatly reduced in size; one of these tiny loaves was exhibited here, with the satirical notice, "Munificentia Pii Sexti."

But perhaps the most remarkable of all Pasquin's productions is his famous Antithesis Christi:

The statue called Pasquin is said to represent Menelaus with the body of Patroclus, and to be the same as two groups which still exist at Florence, but so little remains of either of these heroes, that it could only have been when overpowered by "L'esprit de contradiction," that Bernini protested that this was "the finest piece of ancient sculpture in Rome."