Now, on the right, is the tomb of Clement X., Gio. Baptista Altieri (1670--76), by _Rossi_, the statue by _Ercole Ferrata_; and on the left, is a mosaic of St. Peter raising Tabitha from the dead, by Costanzi.

Ascending into the tribune, we see at the end of the church, beneath the very ugly window of yellow glass, the "Cathedra Petri" of _Bernini_, supported by figures of the four Fathers of the Church, Augustine, Ambrose, Chrysostom, and Athanasius. Enclosed in this, is a very ancient wooden senatorial chair, encrusted with ivory, which is believed to have been the episcopal throne of St. Peter and his immediate successors.

Late Roman Catholic authorities (Mgr. Gerbet, &c.) consider that it may perhaps have been originally the chair of the senator Pudens, with whom the apostle lodged. A magnificent festival in honour of St. Peter's chair (Natale Petri de Cathedra) has been annually celebrated here from the earliest times, and is mentioned in a calendar of Pope Liberius of A.D. 354. It was said that if any pope were to reign longer than the traditional years of the government of St. Peter (Pius IX. is the first pope who has done so), St. Peter's chair would be again brought into use.

On the right of the chair is the tomb of Urban VIII., Matteo Barberini (1623--44), who was chiefly remarkable from his passion for building, and who is perpetually brought to mind through the immense number of his erections which still exist. The tomb is by _Bernini_, the architect of his endless fountains and public buildings, and has the usual fault of this sculptor in overloading his figures (except in that of Urban himself, which is very fine,[335]) with meaningless drapery. Figures of Charity and Justice stand by the black marble sarcophagus of the pope, and a gilt skeleton is occupied in inscribing the name of Urban on the list of Death. The whole monument is alive with the bees of the Barberini. The pendant tomb on the left is that of Paul III., Alessandro Farnese (1534--50), in whose reign the Order of the Jesuits was founded.

This pope (the first Roman who had occupied the throne for 103 years--since Martin V.) was learned, brilliant, and witty. He was adored by his people, in spite of his intense nepotism, which induced him to form Parma into a duchy for his natural son Pierluigi, to build the Farnese Palace, and to marry his grandson Ottavio to Marguerite, natural daughter of Charles V., to whom he gave the Palazzo Madama and the Villa Madama as a dowry. His tomb, by _Guglielmo della Porta_, perhaps the finest in St. Peter's, cost 24,000 Roman crowns; it was erected in the old basilica just before its destruction in 1562,--and in 1574 was transferred to this church, where its position was the source of a quarrel between the sculptor and Michael Angelo, by whose interest he had obtained his commission.[336] It was first placed on the site where the Veronica now stands, whence it was moved to its present position in 1629. The figure of the pope is in bronze. In its former place four marble statues adorned the pedestal; two are now removed to the Farnese Palace; those which remain, of Prudence and Justice, were once entirely nude, but were draped by Bernini. The statue of Prudence is said to represent Giovanna Gaetani da Sermoneta, the mother of the pope, and that of Justice his famous sister-in-law, Giulia.

"On a dit de ces figures que c'etait le Rubens en sculpture."--_A.

Du Pays._

Near the steps of the tribune are two marble slabs, on which Pius IX.

has immortalised the names of the cardinals and bishops who, on December 8, 1854, accepted, on this spot, his dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

Turning towards the left transept;--on the left is a mosaic of St. Peter healing the lame man, from _Mancini_. On the right is the tomb of Alexander VIII., Pietro Ottobuoni (1689--91), by _Giuseppe Verlosi_ and _Angelo Rossi_, gorgeous in its richness of bronze, marbles, and alabasters. Beyond this is the altar of Leo the Great, over which is a huge bas-relief, by _Algardi_, representing S. Leo calling down the assistance of SS. Peter and Paul against the invasion of Attila.

"The king of the Huns, terrified by the apparition of the two apostles in the air, turns his back and flies. We have here a picture in marble, with all the faults of taste and style which prevailed at that time, but the workmanship is excellent; it is, perhaps, the largest bas-relief in existence, excepting the rock sculpture of the Indians and Egyptians--at least fifteen feet in height."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 685.

Next to this is the Cappella della Colonna, possessing a much revered Madonna from a pillar of the old basilica, and beneath it an ancient Christian sarcophagus containing the remains of Leo II. (ob. 683), Leo III. (ob. 816), and Leo IV. (ob. 855). In the pavement near these two altars is the slab tomb of Leo XII. (ob. 1828), with an epitaph illustrating Invocation of Saints, but touching in its humility.

"Commending myself, a suppliant, to my great celestial patron Leo, I, Leo XII., his humble client, unworthy of so great a name, have chosen a place of sepulture, near his holy ashes."

Over the door known as the Porta Sta. Marta (from the church in the square behind St. Peter's, to which it leads), is the tomb of Alexander VII., Fabio Chigi (1655--67), the last work of _Bernini_, who had built for this pope the Scala-Regia and the Colonnade of St. Peter's. This is, perhaps, the worst of all the papal monuments--a hideous figure of Death is pushing aside an alabaster curtain and exhibiting his hour-glass to the kneeling pope.

Opposite to this tomb is an oil painting on slate, by _Francesco Vanni_, of the Fall of Simon Magus. The south transept has a series of mosaic pictures; The Incredulity of St. Thomas from Camuccini, the Crucifixion of St. Peter and a St. Francis from Guido, and, on the pier of the Cupola, Ananias and Sapphira from the Roncalli at Sta. Maria degli Angeli, and the Transfiguration from Raphael.[337]

Opposite the mosaic of Ananias and Sapphira is the last tomb erected in St. Peter's, that of Pius VIII., Francesco Castiglione (1829--31), by _Tenerani_. It represents the pope kneeling, and above him the Saviour in benediction, with SS. Peter and Paul. It is of no great merit.

The Cappella Clementina has the Miracle of St. Gregory the Great from the Andrea Sacchi at the Vatican. Close to this is the fine tomb of Pius VII., Gregorio Chiaramonte (1800--23), who crowned Napoleon,--who suffered exile for seven years for refusing to abdicate the temporal power,--and who returned in triumph to die at the Quirinal, after having re-established the Order of the Jesuits. His monument is the work of _Thorwaldsen_, graceful and simple, though perhaps too small to be in proportion to the neighbouring tombs. The figure of the pope, a gentle old man (he died at the age of eighty-one, having reigned twenty-three years), is seated in a chair; figures of Courage and Faith adorn the pedestal. The tomb was erected by Cardinal Gonsalvi, the faithful friend and minister of this pope (who died very poor, having spent all his wealth in charity), at an expense of 27,000 scudi.

Turning into the left aisle,--on the right is the tomb of Leo XI., Alessandro de Medici (1605), to which one is inclined to grudge so much space, considering that the pope it commemorates only reigned twenty-six days. The tomb, in allusion to this short life, is sculptured with flowers, and bears the motto, _Sic Florui_. It is the work of _Algardi_.

The figures of Wisdom and Abundance, which adorn the pedestal, are fine specimens of this allegorical type.

Opposite, is the tomb of Innocent XI., Benedetto Odescalchi (1676--89), by _Etienne Monot_, with a bas-relief representing the raising of the siege of Vienna by King John Sobieski.

Near this, is the entrance to the Cappella del Coro, the very inconvenient chapel (decorated with gilding and stucco by Giacomo della Porta), in which the vesper services are held. The altar-piece is a mosaic copy of the Conception by Pietro Bianchi at the Angeli. In the pavement is the gravestone of Clement XI., Giov. Francesco Albani (1700--21).

Under the next arch of the aisle, on the left, is the interesting tomb of Innocent VIII., Gio. Battista Cib (1484--92), by Pietro and Antonio Pollajuolo. The pope is represented asleep upon his sarcophagus, and a second time above, seated on a throne, his right hand extended in benediction, and his left holding the sacred lance of Longinus (said to have been that which pierced the side of our Saviour), sent to him by the sultan Bajazet. It is supposed that it was owing to the representation of this relic, that this tomb alone (except that of Sixtus IV., uncle of the destroyer), was replaced after the destruction of the old basilica. Upon the sarcophagus of the pope is inscribed, in allusion to the name of Innocent, the 11th verse of the 26th Psalm, "In innocentia mea ingressus sum, redime me Domine et miserere mei."

Opposite, is a tomb which is a kind of Memento Mori to the living pope, which always bears the name of his predecessor, and in which his corpse will be deposited, till his real tomb is prepared. "This tomb is now empty, and awaits its prey, Pius IX."[338]

Passing the Cappella della Presentazione, which contains a mosaic from the "Presentation of the Virgin," by _Romanelli_, we reach the last arch, which contains the tombs of the Stuarts. On the right is the monument, by _Filippo Barigioni_, of Maria Clementina Sobieski, wife of James III., called in the inscription "Queen of Great Britain, France, and Ireland"; on the left is that by Canova to the three Stuart princes, James III. and his sons, Charles Edward, and Henry--Cardinal York. It bears this inscription:

"JACOBO III.

JACOBI II., MAGNae BRIT. REGIS FILIO KAROLO EDOARDO ET HENRICO, DECANO PATRUM CARDINALIUM, JACOBI III. FILIIS, REGLae STIRPIS STVARDIae POSTREMIS ANNO MDCCCXIX BEATI MORTUI QUI IN DOMINO MORIUNTUR."

"George IV., fidele a sa reputation du _gentleman_ le plus accompli des trois royaumes, a voulu honorer la cendre des princes malheureux que de leur vivant il eut envoyes a l'echafaud s'ils fussent tombes en son pouvoir."--_Stendhal._

"Beneath the unrivalled dome of St. Peter's, lie mouldering the remains of what was once a brave and gallant heart; and a stately monument from the chisel of Canova, and at the charge, as I believe, of the house of Hanover, has since arisen to the memory of _James the Third, Charles the Third, and Henry the Ninth, Kings of England_,--names which an Englishman can scarcely read without a smile or a sigh! Often at the present day does the British traveller turn from the sunny crest of the Pincian, or the carnival throng of the Corso, to gaze, in thoughtful silence, on that mockery of human greatness, and that last record of ruined hopes!

The tomb before him is of a race justly expelled; the magnificent temple that enshrines it is of a faith wisely reformed; yet who at such a moment would harshly remember the errors of either, and might not join in the prayer even of that erring Church for the departed, 'Requiescant in pace.'"--_Lord Mahon._

The last chapel is the Baptistery, and contains, as a font, the ancient porphyry cover of the sarcophagus of Hadrian, which was afterwards used for the tomb of the Emperor Otho II. The mosaic of the Baptism of our Saviour is from Carlo Maratta.

Distributed around the whole basilica are confessionals for every Christian tongue.

"Au milieu de toutes les creations hardies et splendides de l'art dans le basilique de St. Pierre, il est une impression morale qui saisit l'esprit, a la vue des confessionaux des diverses langues.

Il y a la encore une autre espece de grandeur."--_A. Du Pays._

_The Crypt of St. Peter's_ can always be visited by gentlemen, on application in the sacristy; but by ladies only with a special permission. The entrance is near the statue of Sta. Veronica. The visitor is terribly hurried in his inspection of this, the most historically interesting part of the basilica, and the works of art it contains are so ill-arranged, as to be difficult to investigate or remember. The crypt is divided into two portions, the _Grotte Nuove_, occupying the area beneath the dome, and opening into some ancient lateral chapels,--and the _Grotte Vecchie_, which extended under the whole nave of the old basilica, and reaches as far as the Cappella del Coro of the present edifice.

The first portion entered is a corridor in the Grotte Nuove. Hence open, on the right, two ancient chapels. The first, _Sta. Maria in Portico_, derives its name from a picture of the Virgin, attributed to _Simone Memmi_, which stood in the portico of the old basilica; it contains, besides several statues from the magnificent monument of Nicholas V., which perished with the old church, a statue of St. Peter which stood in the portico, and the cross which crowned its summit. The second chapel, _Sta. Maria delle Partorienti_, has a mosaic of our Saviour in benediction, from the tomb of Otho II.; a mosaic of the Virgin, of the eighth century; several ancient inscriptions; and, at the entrance, statues of the two apostles James, from the tomb of Nicholas V. Behind this chapel were preserved the remains of Leo II., III., and IX., till they were removed to the upper church by Leo XII.

Entering the _Grotte Vecchie_, we find a nave and aisles separated by pilasters with low arches. Following the south aisle we are first arrested by the marble inscription relating to the donation of lands made by the Countess Matilda to the church in 1102. Near this is the small _Cappella del Salvatore_, containing a bas-relief of the Virgin and Child by _Arnolfo_, which once decorated the tomb of Boniface VIII.,--and the grave of Charlotte, Queen of Cyprus, who died in 1487.

Near this are the sepulchral urns of the three Stuart princes, commemorated in the upper church. At the end of this aisle is the tomb of the Emperor Otho II., who died at Rome in A.D. 983; this formerly stood in the portico of the basilica.

Here is the empty tomb of Alexander VI., Rodrigo Borgia (1492--1503), the wicked and avaricious father of Caesar and Lucretia, who is believed to have died of the poison which he intended for one of his cardinals.

The body of this pope was not allowed to rest in peace. Julius II., the bitter enemy of the Borgias, turned it out of its tomb, and had it carried to S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli, whence, when that church was pulled down, it was taken to Sta. Maria di Monserrato. The empty sarcophagus is surmounted by the figure of Alexander, who was himself a handsome old man, and in whose features may be traced the lineaments of the splendid Caesar Borgia, known to us from the picture in the Borghese Palace.

At the end of the central nave is the sarcophagus of Christina of Sweden, who has a monument in the upper church.

The first tomb in the south aisle, beginning from the west, is that of Boniface VIII., Benedetto Gaetani (1294--1303).

"The last prince of the Church, who understood the papacy in the sense of universal dominion, in the spirit of Gregory VII., of Alexander and Innocent III. Two kings held the bridle of his palfrey as he rode from St Peter's to the Lateran after his election. He received Dante as the ambassador of Florence; in 1300 he instituted the jubilee; and his reign--filled with contests with Philip le Bel of France and the Colonnas--ended in his being taken prisoner in his palace at Anagni by Sciarra Colonna and William of Nogaret, and subjected to the most cruel indignities. He was rescued by his fellow-citizens and conducted to Rome by the Orsini, but he died thirty seven days after of grief and mortification. The Ghibelline story relates that he sate alone silently gnawing the top of his staff, and at length dashed out his brains against the wall, or smothered himself with his own pillows. But the contemporary verse of the Cardinal St. George describes him as dying quietly in the midst of his cardinals, at peace with the world, and having received all the consolations of the Church."--_See Milman's Latin Christianity_, vol. V.

The character of Boniface has ever been one of the battlefields of history. He was scarcely dead when the epitaph, "He came in like a fox, he ruled like a lion, he died like a dog," was proclaimed to Christendom. He was consigned by Dante to the lowest circle of Hell; yet even Dante expressed the universal shock with which Christendom beheld "the Fleur de lis enter Anagni, and Christ again captive in his Vicar,--the mockery, the gall and vinegar, the crucifixion between living robbers, the cruelty of the second Pilate." In later times, Tosti, Drumann, and lastly, Cardinal Wiseman, have engaged in his defence.

Boniface VIII. was buried with the utmost magnificence in a splendid chapel, which he had built himself, and adorned with mosaics, and where a grand tomb was erected to him. Of this nothing remains now, but the sarcophagus, which bears a majestic figure of the pope by _Arnolfo del Cambio_.

"The head is unusually beautiful, severe and noble in its form, and corresponds perfectly with the portrait which we have (at the Lateran) from the hand of Giotto, which represents his face as beardless and of the most perfect oval. His head is covered by a long, pointed mitre, like a sugar-loaf, decked with two crowns.

This proud man was indeed the first who wore the double crown,--all his predecessors having been content with a simple crowned mitre.

This new custom existed till the tune of Urban V., by whom the third crown was added."--_Gregorovius, Grabmaler der Papste._

Close to that of Boniface are the sarcophagi of Pius II., aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (1458--64) and Pius III., Antonio Todeschini Piccolomini (1503), whose monuments are removed to S. Andrea della Valle.

Next beyond Boniface is the tomb of Adrian IV. (Nicholas Breakspeare, 1154--59), the only Englishman who ever occupied the papal throne.[339]

He is buried in a pagan sarcophagus of red granite, adorned with Medusa heads in relief, and without any inscription.

Opposite this, is a sarcophagus bearing the figure of Nicholas V., Tomaso di Sarzana(1447--55), being nearly all that has been preserved of the glorious tomb of that pope, who founded the Vatican library, collected around him a court of savants and poets, and "with whom opened the age of papacy to which belonged the times of Julius II. and Leo X."

His epitaph, attributed to Pius II., is by his secretary Mafeo Vegio.

"The bones of Nicholas V. rest in this grave, Who gave to thee, O Rome! thy golden age.

Famous in council, more famous in shining virtue, He honoured wise men, who was himself the wisest of all.

He gave healing to the world, long wounded with schism, And renewed at once its manners and customs, and the buildings and temples of the city.

He gave an altar to St. Bernardino of Siena When he celebrated the holy year of jubilee.

He crowned with gold the forehead of Frederick and his wife, And gave order to the affairs of Italy by the treaty which he made.

He translated many Greek writings into the Latin tongue;-- Then offer incense to-day at his holy grave."

Next comes a remnant of the tomb of Paul II., Pietro Barbo (1464--71), chiefly remarkable for his personal beauty, of which he was so vain, that when he issued from the conclave as pope, he wished to take the name of Formosus. This pontiff built the Palazzo S. Marco, and gave a name to the Corso, by establishing the races there. He also prepared for himself one of the most splendid tombs in the old basilica, for which he obtained Mino da Fiesole as an architect It was his wish to lie in the porphyry sarcophagus of Sta. Costanza, which he stole from her church for this purpose; hence the simplicity of the existing sarcophagus, which bears his effigy. Beyond this, are sarcophagi of Julius III., Gio.

Maria Ciocchi del Monte (1550--55), builder of the Villa Papa Giulio; and Nicholas III., Orsini (1277--81), who made a treaty with Rudolph of Hapsburg, and obtained from him a ratification of the donation of the Countess Matilda. Then comes the sarcophagus of Urban VI., Bartolomeo Prignani (1378--87), the sole relic of a most magnificent tomb of this cruel pope, who is believed to have died of poison. It bears his figure, and in the front, a bas-relief of him receiving the keys from St. Peter.

His epitaph runs: