26. Madonna and Child: _Spagna_.*

_9th Room._--

2. Village Interior: _Teniers_.

9. Innocent X.: _Velasquez_ (a replica of the Doria portrait).

26. Female Portrait: _Bronzino_.

28, 29. Battle-pieces: _Salvator Rosa_.

30. Two Heads: _Giorgione_.

40. Madonna Addolorata: _Cignani_.

49. Madonna and Child: _Gherardesco da Siena_.

One of the gems of the collection, a highly finished Madonna and Child of Carlo Dolce, is usually shown in a glass case in the first room.

The Corsini Library (open every day except Wednesdays) contains a magnificent collection of MSS. and engravings, founded by Cardinal Neri Corsini. It has also some beautiful original drawings by the old masters. Behind the palace, on the slope of the Janiculan, are large and beautiful _Gardens_ adorned with fountains, cypresses, and some grand old plane-trees. There is a fine view from the Casino on the summit of the hill.

"A magnificent porter in cocked hat and grand livery conducted the visitors across the quadrangle, unlocked the ponderous iron gates of the gardens, and let them through, leaving them to their own devices, and closing and locking the gates with a crash. They now stood in a wide avenue of ilex, whose gloomy boughs, interlacing overhead, effectually excluded the sunlight; nearly a quarter of a mile further on, the ilexes were replaced by box and bay trees, beneath which the sun and shade divided the path between them, trembling and flickering on the ground and invading each other's dominions with every breath of wind. The strangers heard the splash of fountains as they walked onwards by banks precipitous as a hill-side, and covered with wild rank herbage and tall trees.

Stooping to gather a flower, they almost started, as looking up, they saw, rising against a sky fabulously blue, the unfamiliar green ilex and dark cypress spire."--_Mademoiselle Mori_.

Opposite the Corsini Palace is the beautiful villa of _the Farnesina_ (open on Sundays from 10 to 3), built in 1506 by Baldassare Peruzzi for the famous banker Agostino Chigi, who here gave his sumptuous and extravagant entertainments to Leo X. and his court--banquets at which three fish cost as much as 230 crowns, and after which the plate that had been used, was all thrown into the Tiber.[386] This same Agostino Chigi was one of the greatest of art patrons, and has handed down to us not only the decorations of the Farnesina, but the Sibyls of Sta. Maria della Pace, which he also ordered from Raphael.

"Le jour ou Leon X. alla prendre possession de la basilique de Latran, l'opulent Chigi se distingua. Le theatre qui s'elevait devant son palais etait rempli des envoyes de tous les peuples, blancs, cuivres, et noirs; au milieu d'eux on distinguait les images de Venus, de Mars, de Minerve, allusion singuliere aux trois pontificats d'Alexander VI., de Jules II, et de Leon X. _Venus a eu son temps_: disait l'inscription; _Mars a eu le sien; c'est aujourd'hui le regne de Minerve_. Antoine de San-Marino, qui demeurait pres de Chigi, repondit aussitot en placant sur sa boutique la statue isolee de Venus, avec ce peu de mots: Mars a regne, Minerve regne, Venus regnera toujours."--_Gournerie, Rome Chretienne_, ii. 109.

The Farnesina contains some of the most beautiful existing frescoes of Raphael and his school. The principal hall was once open, but has now been closed in to preserve the paintings. Its ceiling was designed by _Raphael_ (1518--20), and painted by _Giulio Romano_ and _Francesco Penni_, with twelve scenes from the story of Psyche as narrated by Apuleius:

A king had three daughters. The youngest was named Psyche, and was more lovely than the sunshine. Venus, the queen of beauty, was herself jealous of her, and bade her son Cupid to destroy her charms by inspiring her with an unworthy love (1). But Cupid, when he beheld Psyche, loved her himself, showed her to the Graces (2), and carried her off. He only visited her in the darkness of night, and bade her always to repress her curiosity as to his appearance.

But while Cupid was sleeping, Psyche lighted a lamp, and looked upon him,--and a drop of the hot oil fell upon him and he awoke.

Then he left her alone in grief and solitude. Venus in the mean time learnt that Cupid was faithless to her, and imprisoned him, and sought assistance from Juno and Ceres that she might find Psyche, but they refused to aid her (3). Then she drove to seek Jupiter in her chariot drawn by doves (4), and implored him to send Mercury to her assistance (5). Jupiter listened to her prayer, and Mercury was sent forth to seek for Psyche (6). Venus then showed her spite against Psyche, and imposed harsh tasks upon her which she was nevertheless enabled to perform. At length she was ordered to bring a casket from the infernal regions (7), and even this, to the amazement of Venus, she succeeded in effecting (8). Cupid, escaped from captivity, then implored Jupiter to restore Psyche to him. Jupiter embraced him (9), and bade Mercury summon the gods to a council on the subject (see the ceiling on the right). Psyche was then brought to Olympus (10), and became immortal, and the gods celebrated her nuptial banquet (ceiling painting on left).

"On the flat of the ceiling are two large compositions, with numerous figures,--the Judgment of the Gods, who decide the dispute between Venus and Cupid, and the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche in the festal assembly of the gods. In the lunettes of the ceiling are _amorini_, with the attributes of those gods who have done homage to the power of Love. In the triangular compartments between the lunettes are different groups, illustrative of the incidents in the fable. They are of great beauty, and are examples of the most tasteful disposition in a given space. The picture of the three Graces, that in which Cupid stands in an imploring attitude before Jupiter; a third, where Psyche is borne away by Loves, are extremely graceful. Peevish critics have designated these representations as common and sensual, but the noble spirit visible in all Raphael's works prevails also in these: religious feeling could naturally find no place in them; but they are conceived in a spirit of the purest artlessness, always a proof of true moral feeling, and to which a narrow taste alone could object. In the execution, indeed, we recognise little of Raphael's fine feeling; the greatest part is by his scholars, after his cartoons, especially by G. Romano. The nearest of the three Graces, in the group before alluded to, appears to be by Raphael's own hand."--_Kugler_.

The paintings were injuriously retouched by _Carlo Maratta_. The garlands round them are by _Giovanni da Udine_. The second room contains the beautiful fresco of Galatea floating in a shell drawn by dolphins, by _Raphael_ himself.

"Raphael not only designed, but executed this fresco; and faded as is its colouring, the mind must be dead to the highest beauties of painting, that can contemplate it without admiration. The spirit and beauty of the composition, the pure and perfect design, the flowing outline, the soft and graceful contours, and the sentiment and sweetness of the expression, all remain unchanged; for time, till it totally obliterates, has no power to injure them.... The figures of the attendant Nereid, and of the triumphant Triton who embraces her, are beautiful beyond description."--_Eaton's Rome._

"The fresco of Galatea was painted in 1514. The greater part of this is Raphael's own work, and the execution is consequently much superior to that of the others. It represents the goddess of the sea borne over the waves in her shell; tritons and sea-nymphs sport joyously around her; _amorini_, discharging their arrows, appear in the air like an angel-glory. The utmost sweetness, the most ardent sense of pleasure, breathe from this work; everything lives, feels, vibrates with enjoyment "--_Kugler._

The frescoes of the ceiling, representing Diana in her Car, and the story of Medusa, are by _Baldassare Peruzzi_; the lunettes are by _Sebastian del Piombo_ and _Daniele da Volterra_. Michael Angelo came one day to visit the latter, and not finding him at his work, left the colossal head, which remains in a lunette of the left wall, as a sign of his visit.

In the upper story are two rooms; the first, adorned with a frieze of subjects from Ovid's Metamorphoses, contains large architectural paintings by _Baldassare Peruzzi_; the second has the Marriage of Alexander and Roxana, and the family of Darius in the presence of Alexander, by _Sodoma_.

The _Porta Settimiana_ at the end of the Lungara preserves in its name a recollection of the gardens of Septimius Severus, which existed in this quarter. From hence the Via delle Fornaci ascends the hill, and leads to the broad new carriage-road, formed in 1867 under the superintendence of the Cav. Trochi. A Via-Crucis with a staircase will conduct the pedestrian by a shorter way to the platform on the hill-top.

The succession of beggars who infest this hill and stretch out their maimed limbs or kiss their hands to the passers-by will call to mind the lines of Juvenal:

"Caecus adulator, dirusque a ponte satelles, Dignus Aricinos qui mendicaret ad axes, Blandaque devexae jactaret basia rhedae."

_Sat._ iv. 116.

_The Church of S. Pietro in Montorio_ was built by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, from designs of Baccio Pintelli, on the site of an oratory founded by Constantine upon the supposed spot of St. Peter's crucifixion.

The first chapel on the right belongs to the Barberini, and contains pictures by _Sebastian del Piombo_, (painted in oil upon stone, a process which has caused them to be much blackened by time,) from drawings of _Michael Angelo_. The central picture represents the Scourging of Christ, a subject of which Sebastian was especially fond, as it gave the opportunity of displaying his great anatomical power. On the left is St. Peter, on the right St. Francis,--on the ceiling is the Transfiguration,--outside the arch are a Prophet and a Sibyl. The second chapel on the right has paintings by pupils of Perugino; the fifth contains St. Paul healed by Ananias, by _Vasari_.

The fourth chapel on the right is of some interest in the history of art. Julius III. had it greatly at heart to build and beautify this chapel as a memorial to his family, to contain the tombs of his uncle Cardinal Antonio di Monti, and of Fabiano, who first founded the splendours of his house. The work was entrusted to Michael Angelo and Vasari, who were at that time on terms of intimate friendship. They disputed about their subordinates. Vasari wished to employ Simone Mosca for the ornaments, and Raffaello da Montalupo for the statues; Michael Angelo objected to having any ornamental work at all, saying that where there were to be marble figures, there ought to be nothing else, and he would have nothing to do with Montalupo because his figures for the tomb of Julius II. had turned out so ill. When the chapel was finished Michael Angelo confessed himself in the wrong for not having allowed more ornament. The statues were entrusted to Bartolomeo Ammanati.

The first chapel on the left has St. Francis receiving the stigmata attributed to _Giovanni de Vecchi_.

"A barber of the Cardinal S. Giorgio was an artist, who painted very well in tempera, but had no idea of design. He made friends with Michael-Angelo, who made him a cartoon of a St. Francis receiving the stigmata, which the barber carefully carried out in colour, and his picture is now placed in the first chapel on the left of the entrance of S. Pietro in Montorio."--_Vasari_, vi.

The third chapel on the left contains a Virgin and Child with St. Anne, of the school of Perugino; the fourth, a fine Entombment, by an unknown hand; the fifth, the Baptism of Christ, said to be by _Daniele da Volterra_.

The Transfiguration of Raphael was painted for this church, and remained here till the French invasion. When it was returned from the Louvre it was kept at the Vatican. Had it been restored to this church, it would have been destroyed in the siege of 1849, when the tribune and bell-tower were thrown down. Here, in front of the high altar, the unhappy Beatrice Cenci was buried without any monument.

Irish travellers may be interested in the gravestones in the nave, of Hugh O'Neil of Tyrone, Baron Dungannon, and O'Donnell of Tyrconnell (1608). Near the door is the fine tomb, with the beautiful sleeping figure of Julian, Archbishop of Ragusa, ob. 1510, inscribed "Bonis et Mors et Vita dulcis est." An inscription below the steps in front of the church commemorates the translation of a miraculous image of the Virgin hither in 1714.

In the cloister is the _Tempietto_, a small domed building resting on sixteen Doric columns, built by Bramante in 1502, on the spot where St.

Peter's cross is said to have stood. A few grains of the sacred sand from the hole in the centre of the chapel are given to visitors by the monks as a relic.

"St. Peter, when he was come to the place of execution, requested of the officers that he might be crucified with his head downwards, alleging that he was not worthy to suffer in the same manner his divine Master had died before him. He had preached the cross of Christ, had borne it in his heart, and its marks in his body, by sufferings and mortification, and he had the happiness to end his life on the cross. The Lord was pleased not only that he should die for his love, but in the same manner himself had died for us, by expiring on the cross, which was the throne of his love. Only the apostle's humility made a difference, in desiring to be crucified with his head downward. His Master looked toward heaven, which by his death he opened to men; but he judged that a sinner formed from dust, and going to return to dust, ought rather in confusion to look on the earth, as unworthy to raise his eyes to heaven. St.

Ambrose, St. Austin, and St. Prudentius ascribe this his petition partly to his humility, and partly to his desire of suffering more for Christ. Seneca mentions that the Romans sometimes crucified men with their heads downward; and Eusebius testifies that several martyrs were put to that cruel death. Accordingly, the executioners easily granted the apostle his extraordinary request. St.

Chrysostom, St. Austin, and St. Austerius say that he was nailed to the cross; Tertullian mentions that he was tied with cords. He was probably both nailed and bound with ropes."--_Alban Butler._

The view from the front of the church is almost unrivalled.

Behind it is the famous _Fontana Paolina_, whose name, by a curious coincidence, combines those of its architect, Fontana, and its originator, Paul V. It was erected in 1611, and is supplied with water from the Lake of Bracciano, by the aqueduct of the Aqua Trajana, thirty-five miles in length. The red granite columns, which divide the fountain, were brought from the temple of Minerva in the Forum Transitorium.

"The pleasant, natural sound of falling water, not unlike that of a distant cascade in the forest, may be heard in many of the Roman streets and piazzas, when the tumult of the city is hushed; for consuls, emperors, and popes, the great men of every age, have found no better way of immortalising their memories, than by the shifting, indestructible, ever new, yet unchanging, up-gush and down-fall of water. They have written their names in that unstable element, and proved it a more durable record than brass or marble."--_Hawthorne._

"Il n'y a rien encore, dans quelque etat que ce soit, a opposer aux magnifiques fontaines qu'on voit a Rome dans les places et les carrefours, ni a l'abondance des eaux qui ne cessent jamais de couler; magnificence d'autant plus louable que l'utilite publique y est jointe."--_Duclos._

A little beyond this fountain is the modern _Porta S. Pancrazio_, near the site of the ancient Porta Aurelia, built by Pius IX. in 1857, to replace a gate destroyed by the French under Oudinot in 1849. Many buildings outside the gate, injured at the same time, still remain in ruins.

The lane on the right, inside the gate, leads to the _Villa Lante_, built in 1524 by Giulio Romano, for Bartolomeo da Pescia, secretary of Clement VII. It still contains some frescoes of Giulio Romano, though they are only lately uncovered, as the house was used, until the last two years, as a succursale to the Convent of the Sacre Cur at the Trinita de' Monti.

Not far outside the gate are the _Church and Convent of S. Pancrazio_, founded in the sixth century by Pope Symmachus, but modernized in 1609 by Cardinal Torres. Here Crescenzio Nomentano, the famous consul of Rome in the tenth century, is buried; here Narses, after the defeat of Totila, was met by the pope and cardinals, and conducted in triumph to St. Peter's to return thanks for his victory; here, also, Peter II. of Arragon was crowned by Innocent III., and Louis of Naples was received by John XII.

A flight of steps leads from the church to the _Catacomb of Calepodius_, where many of the early popes and martyrs were buried. It has no especial characteristic to make it worth visiting. Another flight of steps leads to the spot where S. Pancrazio was martyred. His body rests with that of St. Victor beneath the altar. A parish church in London is dedicated to St. Pancras, in whose name kings of France used to confirm their treaties.

"In the persecution under Diocletian, this young saint, who was only fourteen years of age, offered himself voluntarily as a martyr, defending boldly before the emperor the cause of the Christians. He was therefore beheaded by the sword, and his body was honourably buried by Christian women. His church, near the gate of S. Pancrazio, has existed since the year 500. St. Pancras was in the middle ages regarded as the protector against false oaths, and the avenger of perjury. It was believed that those who swore falsely by St. Pancras were immediately and visibly punished; hence his popularity."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

Turning to the left from the gate, on the side of the hill between this and the Porta Portese, is the _Catacomb of S. Ponziano_.

"Here is the only perfect specimen still extant of a primitive subterranean baptistery. A small stream of water runs through this cemetery, and at this one place the channel has been deepened so as to form a kind of reservoir, in which a certain quantity of water is retained. We descend into it by a flight of steps, and the depth of water it contains varies with the height of the Tiber. When that river is swollen so as to block up the exit by which this stream usually empties itself, the waters are sometimes so dammed back as to inundate the adjacent galleries of the catacomb; at other times there are not above three or four feet of water. At the back of the font, and springing out of the water, is painted a beautiful Latin cross, from whose sides leaves and flowers are budding forth, and on the two arms rest ten candlesticks, with the letters Alpha and Omega suspended by a little chain below them. On the front of the arch over the font is the Baptism of our Lord in the river Jordan by St. John, whilst St. Abdon, St. Sennen, St. Miles, and other saints of the Oriental Church occupy the sides. These paintings are all of late date, perhaps of the seventh or eighth century: but there is no reason to doubt but that the baptistery had been so used from the earliest times. We have distinct evidence in the Acts of the Martyrs that the sacrament was not unfrequently administered in the cemeteries."--_The Roman Catacombs--Northcote._