Eustace.

"One day, while hunting in the forest, he saw before him a white stag, of marvellous beauty, and he pursued it eagerly, and the stag fled before him, and ascended a high rock. Then Placidus (Eustace was called Placidus before his conversion), looking up, beheld, between the horns of the stag, a cross of radiant light, and on it the image of the crucified Redeemer; and being astonished and dazzled by this vision, he fell on his knees, and a voice which seemed to come from the crucifix cried to him, and said, 'Placidus!

why dost thou pursue me? I am Christ, whom thou hast hitherto served without knowing me. Dost thou now believe?' And Placidus fell with his face to the earth, and said, 'Lord, I believe!' And the voice answered, saying, 'Thou shall suffer many tribulations for my sake, and shalt be tried by many temptations; but be strong and of good courage, and I will not forsake thee.' To which Placidus replied, 'Lord, I am content. Do thou give me patience to suffer!' And when he looked up again the glorious vision had departed."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 792.

A similar story is told of St. Hubert, St. Julian, and St. Felix.

A fresco of St. Peter, by _Pierino del Vaga_, in this church, was much admired by Vasari, who dilates upon the boldness of its design, the simple folds of its drapery, its careful drawing and judicious treatment.

Two streets lead from the Piazza S. Eustachio to--

_The Pantheon_, the most perfect pagan building in the city, built B.C.

27, by Marcus Agrippa, the bosom friend of Augustus Caesar, and the second husband of his daughter Julia. The inscription in huge letters, perfectly legible from beneath, "M. AGRIPPA. L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT,"

records its construction. Another inscription on the architrave, now almost illegible, records its restoration under Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla, _c._ 202, who, "Pantheum vetustate corruptum cum omni cultu restitverunt." Some authorities have maintained that the Pantheon was originally only a vast hall in the baths of Agrippa, acknowledged remains of which exist at no great distance; but the name "Pantheum" was in use as early as A.D. 59.

In A.D. 399 the Pantheon was closed as a temple in obedience to a decree of the Emperor Honorius, and in 608 was consecrated as a Christian church by Pope Boniface IV., with the permission of the Emperor Phocas, under the title of _Sta. Maria ad Martyres_. To this dedication we owe the preservation of the main features of the building, though it had been terribly maltreated. In 663 the Emperor Constans, who had come to Rome with great pretence of devotion to its shrines and relics, and who only staid there twelve days, did not scruple, in spite of its religious dedication, to strip off the tiles of gilt bronze with which the roof was covered, and carry them off with him to Syracuse, where, upon his murder, a few years after, they fell into the hands of the Saracens. In 1087 it was used by the anti-pope Guibert as a fortress, whence he made incursions upon the lawful pope, Victor III., and his protector, the Countess Matilda. In 1101, another anti-pope, Sylvester IV., was elected here. Pope Martin V., after the return from Avignon, attempted the restoration of the Pantheon by clearing away the mass of miserable buildings in which it was encrusted, and his efforts were continued by Eugenius IV., but Urban VIII. (1623--44), though he spent 15,000 scudi upon the Pantheon, and added the two ugly campaniles, called in derision "the asses' ears," of their architect, Bernini, did not hesitate to plunder the gilt bronze ceiling of the portico, 450,250 lbs.

in weight, to make the baldacchino of St. Peter's, and cannons for the Castle of S. Angelo. Benedict XIV. (1740--58) further despoiled the building by tearing away all the precious marbles which lined the attic, to ornament other buildings.

The Pantheon was not originally, as now, below the level of the piazza, but was approached by a flight of five steps. The portico, which is 110 feet long and 44 feet deep, is supported by sixteen grand Corinthian columns of oriental granite, 36 feet in height. The ancient bronze doors remain. On either side are niches, once occupied by colossal statues of Augustus and Agrippa.

"Agrippa wished to dedicate the Pantheon to Augustus, but he refused, and only allowed his statue to occupy a niche on the right of the peristyle, while that of Agrippa occupied the niche on the left."--_Merivale._

The _Interior_ is a rotunda, 143 feet in diameter, covered by a dome. It is only lighted by an aperture in the centre, 28 feet in diameter. Seven great niches around the walls once contained statues of different gods and goddesses, that of Jupiter being the central figure. All the surrounding columns are of giallo-antico, except four, which are of pavonazzetto, painted yellow. It is a proof of the great value and rarity of giallo-antico, that it was always impossible to obtain more to complete the set.

"L'interieur du Pantheon, comme l'exterieur, est parfaitement conserve, et les edicules, places dans le pourtour du temple forment les chapelles de l'eglise. Jamais la simplicite ne fut alliee a la grandeur dans une plus heureuse harmonie. Le jour, tombant d'en haut et glissant le long des colonnes et des parois de marbre, porte dans l'ame un sentiment de tranquillite sublime, et donne a tous les objets, dit Serlio, un air de beaute. Vue du dehors, la coupole de plomb qui a remplace l'ancienne coupole de bronze couverte de tuiles dorees, fait bien comprendre l'expression de Virgile, lequel l'avait sous les yeux et peut-etre en vue, quand il ecrivait:

... 'Media testudine templi.'

En effet, cette coupole surbaissee ressemble tout a fait a la carapace d'une tortue."--_Ampere, Emp._ i. 342.

"Being deep in talk, it so happened that they found themselves near the majestic, pillared portico and huge black rotundity of the Pantheon. It stands almost at the central point of the labyrinthine intricacies of the modern city, and often presents itself before the bewildered stranger when he is in search of other objects.

Hilda, looking up, proposed that they should enter.

"They went in, accordingly, and stood in the free space of that great circle, around which are ranged the arched recesses and stately altars, formerly dedicated to heathen gods, but Christianized through twelve centuries gone by. The world has nothing else like the Pantheon. So grand it is, that the pasteboard statues over the lofty cornice do not disturb the effect, any more than the tin crowns and hearts, the dusty artificial flowers, and all manner of trumpery gewgaws, hanging at the saintly shrines. The rust and dinginess that have dimmed the precious marble on the walls; the pavement, with its great squares and rounds of porphyry and granite, cracked crosswise and in a hundred directions, showing how roughly the troublesome ages have trampled here; the grey dome above, with its opening to the sky, as if heaven were looking down into the interior of this place of worship, left unimpeded for prayers to ascend the more freely: all these things make an impression of solemnity, which St. Peter's itself fails to produce.

"'I think,' said Kenyon, 'it is to the aperture in the dome--that great eye, gazing heavenward--that the Pantheon owes the peculiarity of its effect. It is so heathenish, as it were--so unlike all the snugness of our modern civilization! Look, too, at the pavement directly beneath the open space! So much rain has fallen there, in the last two thousand years, that it is green with small, fine moss, such as grows over tombstones in damp English churchyards.'

"'I like better,' replied Hilda, 'to look at the bright, blue sky, roofing the edifice where the builders left it open. It is very delightful, in a breezy day, to see the masses of white cloud float over the opening, and then the sunshine fall through it again, fitfully, as it does now. Would it be any wonder if we were to see angels hovering there, partly in and partly out, with genial, heavenly faces, not intercepting the light, but transmuting it into beautiful colours? Look at that broad, golden beam--a sloping cataract of sunlight--which comes down from the aperture, and rests upon the shrine, at the right hand of the entrance.'"--_Hawthorne._

... "'Entrons dans le temple,' dit Corinne: 'vous le voyez, il reste decouvert presque comme il l'etait autrefois. On dit que cette lumiere qui venait d'en haut etait l'embleme de la divinite superieure a toutes les divinites. Les paens ont toujours aime les images symboliques. Il semble en effet que ce langage convient mieux a la religion que la parole. La pluie tombe souvent sur ces parvis de marbre; mais aussi les rayons du soleil viennent eclairer les prieres. Quelle serenite; quel air de fete on remarque dans cet edifice! Les paens ont divinise la vie, et les chretiens ont divinise la mort: tel est l'esprit des deux cultes.'"--_Mad. de Stael._

"In the ancient Pantheon, when the music of Christian chaunts rises among the shadowy forms of the old vanished gods painted on the walls, and the light streams down, not from painted windows in the walls, but from the glowing heavens above, every note of the service echoes like a peal of triumph, and fills my heart with thankfulness."--_Mrs. Charles._

"'Where,' asked Redschid Pasha, on his visit to the Pantheon, 'are the statues of the heathen gods?' 'Of course they were removed when the temple was Christianized,' was the natural answer. 'No,' he replied, 'I would have left them standing to show how the true God had triumphed over them in their own house."--_Cardinal Wiseman._

"No, great Dome of Agrippa, thou art not Christian! canst not, Strip and replaster and daub and do what they will with thee, be so!

Here underneath the great porch of colossal Corinthian columns, Here as I walk, do I dream of the Christian belfries above them; Or, on a bench as I sit and abide for long hours, till thy whole vast Round grows dim as in dreams to my eyes, I repeople thy niches, Not with the martyrs, and saints, and confessors, and virgins, and children, But with the mightier forms of an older, austerer worship; And I recite to myself, how 'eager for battle here Stood Vulcan, here matronal Juno, And, with the bow to his shoulder faithful, He who with pure dew laveth of Castaly His flowing locks, who holdeth of Lycia The oak forest and the wood that bore him, Delos' and Patara's own Apollo.'"

_A. H. Clough._

Some antiquarians have supposed that the aperture at the top of the Pantheon was originally closed by a huge "Pigna," or pine-cone of bronze, like that which crowned the summit of the mausoleum of Hadrian, and this belief has been encouraged by the name of a neighbouring church being S. Giovanni della Pigna.

The Pantheon has become the burial-place of painters. Raphael, Annibale Caracci, Taddeo Zucchero, Baldassare Peruzzi, Pierino del Vaga, and Giovanni da Udine, are all buried here.

The third chapel on the left contains the _tomb of Raphael_ (born April 6, 1483; died April 6, 1520). From the pen of Cardinal Bembo is the epigram:

"Ille hic est Raphael, timuit quo sospite vinci Rerum magna parens, et moriente mori"[310]

"Raphael mourut a l'age de 37 ans. Son corps resta expose pendant trois jours. Au moment ou l'on s'appretait a le descendre dans sa derniere demeure, on vit arriver le pape (Leon X.) qui se prosterna, pria quelques instants, benit Raphael, et lui prit pour la derniere fois la main, qu'il arrosa de ses larmes (si prostr innanzi l'estinto Rafaello et baciogli quella mano, tra le lagrime). On lui fit de magnifiques funerailles, auxquelles assisterent les cardinaux, les artistes, &c."--_A. Du Pays._

"When Raphael went, His heavenly face the mirror of his mind, His mind a temple for all lovely things To flock to and inhabit--when He went, Wrapt in his sable cloak, the cloak he wore, To sleep beneath the venerable Dome, By those attended, who in life had loved, Had worshipped, following in his steps to Fame, ('Twas on an April-day, when Nature smiles,) All Rome was there. But, ere the march began, Ere to receive their charge the bearers came, Who had not sought him? 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;[311] when, entering in, they looked 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._

Taddeo Zucchero and Annibale Caracci are buried on either side of Raphael. Near the high altar is a monument to Cardinal Gonsalvi (1757--1824), the faithful secretary and minister of Pius VII., by _Thorwaldsen_. This, however, is only a cenotaph, marking the spot where his heart is preserved. His body rests with that of his beloved brother Andrew in the church of S. Marcello.

During the middle ages the pope always officiated here on the day of Pentecost, when, in honour of the descent of the Holy Spirit, showers of white rose-leaves were continually sent down through the aperture during service.

"Though plundered of all its brass, except the ring which was necessary to preserve the aperture above; though exposed to repeated fire; though sometimes flooded by the river, and always open to the rain, no monument of equal antiquity is so well preserved as this rotunda. It passed with little alteration from the pagan into the present worship; and so convenient were its niches for the Christian altar, that Michael Angelo, ever studious of ancient beauty, introduced their design as a model in the Catholic church."--_Forsyth._

"Simple, erect, severe, austere, sublime-- Shrine of all saints and temple of all gods, From Jove to Jesus--spared and bless'd by time, Looking tranquillity, while falls or nods Arch, empire, each thing round thee, and man plods His way through thorns to ashes--glorious dome!

Shalt thou not last? Time's scythe and tyrant's rods Shiver upon thee--sanctuary and home Of art and piety--Pantheon! pride of Rome!"

_Byron, Childe Harold._

In the Piazza della Rotonda is a small _Obelisk_ found in the Campus Martius.

"At a few paces from the streets where meat is sold, you will find gathered round the fountain in the Piazza della Rotonda, a number of bird-fanciers, surrounded by cages in which are multitudes of living birds for sale. Here are Java sparrows, parrots and parroquets, grey thrushes and nightingales, red-breasts (_petti rossi_), yellow canary-birds, beautiful sweet-singing little _cardellini_, and gentle ringdoves, all chattering, singing, and cooing together, to the constant splashing of the fountain. Among them, perched on stands, and glaring wisely out of their great yellow eyes, may be seen all sorts of owls, from the great solemn _barbigiani_, and white-tufted owl, to the curious little _civetta_, which gives its name to all sharp-witted heartless flirts, and the _aziola_, which Shelley has celebrated in one of his minor poems."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

(Following the Via della Rotonda from hence, in the third street on the left is the small semicircular ruin called, from a fancied resemblance to the favourite cake of the people, _Arco di Ciambella_. This is the only remaining fragment of the baths of Agrippa, unless the Pantheon itself was connected with them.)

Behind the Pantheon, is the _Piazza della Minerva_, where a small _Obelisk_ was erected 1667 by Bernini, on the back of an elephant. It is exactly similar to the obelisk in front of the Pantheon, and they were both found near this site, where they formed part of the decorations of the Campus Martius. The hieroglyphics show that it dates from Hophres, a king of the 25th dynasty. On the pedestal is the inscription:

"Sapientis aegypti insculptas obelisco figuras Ab elephanto belluarum fortissimo gestari Quisquis hic vides, documentum intellige Robustae mentis esse solidam sapientiam sustinere."

One side of the piazza is occupied by the mean ugly front of the _Church of Sta. Maria sopra Minerva_, built in 1370 upon the ruins of a temple of Minerva founded by Pompey. It is the only gothic church in Rome of importance. In 1848--55 it was redecorated with tawdry imitation marbles, which have only a good effect when there is not sufficient light to see them. In spite of this, the interior is very interesting, and its chapels are a perfect museum of relics of art or history. The services, too, in this church were, under the papal government, exceedingly imposing, especially the procession on the night before Christmas, the mass of St. Thomas Aquinas, and that of "the white mule day." Some celebrated divine generally preaches here at 11 A.M. every morning in Lent.

Hither, on the feast of the Annunciation, comes the famous "Procession of the White Mule," when the host is borne by the grand almoner riding on the papal mule, followed by the pope in his glass coach, and a long train of cardinals and other dignitaries. Up to the time of Pius VI., it was the pope himself who rode upon the white mule, but Pius VII. was too infirm, and since his time they have given it up. But this procession has continued to be one of the finest _spectacles_ of the kind, and has been an opportunity for a loyal demonstration, balconies being hung with scarlet draperies, and flowers showered down upon the papal coach, while the pope, on arriving and departing, has usually been received with tumultuous "evivas."

On the right of the entrance is the tomb of Diotisalvi, a Florentine knight, ob. 1482. Beginning the circuit of the church by the right aisle, the first chapel has a picture of S. Ludovico Bertrando, by _Baciccio_, the paintings on the pilasters being by _Muziano_. In the second, the Colonna Chapel, is the tomb of the late Princess Colonna (Donna Isabella Alvaria of Toledo) and her child, who both died at Albano in the cholera of 1867. The third chapel is that of the Gabrielli family. The fourth is that of the Annunciation. Over its altar is a most interesting picture, shown as a work of Fra Angelico, but more probably that of _Benozzo Gozzoli_. It represents Monsignore Torquemada attended by an angel, presenting three young girls to the Virgin, who gives them dowries: the Almighty is seen in the clouds. Torquemada was a Dominican Cardinal, who founded the association of the Santissima-Annunziata, which holds its meetings in this chapel, and which annually gives dowries to a number of poor girls, who receive them from the pope when he comes here in state on the 25th of March. On this occasion, the girls who are to receive the dowries are drawn up in two lines in front of the church. Some are distinguished by white wreaths. They are those who are going to "enter into religion," and who consequently receive double the dowry of the others, on the plea that "money placed in the hands of religion bears interest for the poor."

Torquemada is himself buried in this chapel, opposite the tomb, by Ambrogio Buonvicino, of his friend Urban VII., Giov. Battista Castagna, 1590,--who was pope only for eleven days.

The fifth chapel is the burial-place of the Aldobrandini family. It contains a faded Last Supper, by _Baroccio_.

"The Cenacolo of Baroccio, painted by order of Clement VIII.

(1594), is remarkable for an anecdote relating to it. Baroccio, who was not eminent for a correct taste, had in his first sketch reverted to the ancient fashion of placing Satan close behind Judas, whispering in his ear, and tempting him to betray his master. The pope expressed his dissatisfaction,--'che non gli piaceva il demonio se dimesticasse tanto con Gesu Christo,'--and ordered him to remove the offensive figure."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 277.

Here are the fine tombs erected by Clement VIII. (Ippolito Aldobrandini) as soon as he obtained the papacy, to his father and mother. Their architecture is by _Giacomo della Porta_, but the figures are by _Cordieri_, the sculptor of Sta. Silvia's statue. At the sides of the mother's tomb are figures emblematical of Charity, by that of the father, figures of Humility and Vanity. Beyond his mother's tomb is a fine statue of Clement VIII. himself (who is buried at Sta. Maria Maggiore), by _Ippolito Buzi_.