Beyond the courtyard is the entrance to the larger garden, which may be reached in a carriage by those who do not wish to visit the palace on the way, by driving round through the courts at the back of St. Peter's.

Formerly it was always open till 2 P.M., after which hour the pope went there to walk, or to ride upon his white mule. It is a most delightful retreat for the hot days of May and June, and before that time its woods are carpeted with wild violets and anemones. No one who has not visited them can form any idea of the beauty of these ancient groves, interspersed with fountains and statues, but otherwise left to nature, and forming a fragment of sylvan scenery quite unassociated with the English idea of a garden. They are backed by the walls of the Borgo, and a fine old tower of the time of Leo IV. The _Casino del Papa_, or Villa Pia,[351] built by Pius IV. in the lower and more cultivated portion of the ground, is the chef-d'uvre of the architect, Pirro Ligorio, and is decorated with paintings by _Baroccio_, _Zucchero_, and _Santi di Tito_, and a set of terra-cotta reliefs collected by Agincourt and Canova. The shell decorations are pretty and curious.

During the hours which he spent daily in this villa, its founder Pius IV. enjoyed that easy and simple life for which he was far better fitted by nature than for the affairs of government; but here also he received the counsels of his nephew S. Carlo Borromeo, who, summoned to Rome in 1560, became for several succeeding years the real ruler of the state.

Here he assembled around him all those who were distinguished by their virtue or talents, and held many of the meetings which received the name of _Notte Vaticane_--at first employed in the pursuit of philosophy and poetry, but--after the necessity of Church reform became apparent both to the pope and to S. Carlo--entirely devoted to the discussion of sacred subjects. In this villa the late popes, Pius VIII. and Gregory XVI., used frequently to give their audiences.

The sixteenth century was the golden age for the Vatican. Then the splendid court of Leo X. was the centre of artistic and literary life, and the witty and pleasure-loving pope made these gardens the scene of his banquets and concerts; and, in a circle to which ladies were admitted, as in a secular court, listened to the recitations of the poets who sprang up under his protection, beneath the shadow of its woods.

"Le Vatican etait encombre, sous Leon X., d'historiens, de savants, de poetes surtout. 'La tourbe importune des poetes,' s'ecrie Valerianus, 'le poursuit de porte en porte, tantot sous les portiques, tantot a la promenade, tantot au palais, tantot a la chambre, _penetralibus in imis_; elle ne respecte ni son repos, ni les graves affaires qui l'occupent aujourd'hui que l'incendie ravage le monde.' On remarquait dans cette foule: Berni, le poete burlesque; Flaminio, le poete elegiaque; Molza, l'enfant de Petrarque, et Postumo, Maroni, Carteromachus, Fedra Inghirami, le savant bibliothecaire, et _la grande lumiere d'Arezzo_, comme dit l'Arioste, _l'unique Accolti_. Accolti jouit pendant toute la duree du seizieme siecle d'une reputation que la posterite n'a pas confirmee. On l'appelait le _celeste_. Lorsqu'il devait reciter ses vers, les magasins etaient fermes comme en un jour de fete, et chacun accourait pour l'entendre. Il etait entoure de prelats de la premiere distinction; un corps de troupes suisses l'accompagnait, et l'auditoire etait eclaire par des flambeaux. Un jour qu'Accolti entrait chez le pape:--Ouvrez toutes les portes, s'ecria Leon, et laissez entrer la foule. Accolti recita un _ternale_ a la Vierge, et, quand il eut fini, mille acclamations retentirent: _Vive le poete divin, vive l'incomparable Accolti!_ Leon etait le premier a applaudir, et le duche de Nessi devenait la recompense du poete.

"Une autre fois, c'etait Paul Jove, l'homme aux _ou-dires_, comme l'appelle Rabelais, qui venait lire des fragments de son histoire, et que Leon X. saluait du titre de Tite-Live italien. Il y avait dans ces eloges, dans ces encouragements donnes avec entrainement, mais avec tact, je ne sais quel souffle de vie pour l'intelligence, qui l'activait et qui lui faisait rendre au centuple les dons qu'elle avait recus du ciel. Rome entiere etait devenue un musee, une academie; partout des chants, partout la science, la poesie, les beaux-arts, une sorte de volupte dans l'etude. Ici, c'est Calcagnini, qui a deja devine la rotation de la terre; la, Ambrogio de Pise, qui parle chaldeen et arabe; plus loin, Valerianus, que la philologie, l'archeologie, la jurisprudence revendiquent a la fois, et qui se distrait de ses doctes travaux par des poesies dignes d'Horace."--_Gournerie, Rome Chretienne_, ii. 114.

The _Loggie of Raphael_ are reached, except on Mondays, by the staircase on the left of the fountain in the Cortile S. Damaso. Two sides of the corridors on the second floor (formerly open) are decorated in stucco by _Marco da Faenza_ and _Paul Schnorr_ and painted by _Sicciolante da Sermoneta_, _Tempesta_, _Sabbatini_, and others. The third corridor, entered on the right (opened by a custode), contains the celebrated frescoes, executed by Raphael, or from the designs of Raphael, by Giulio Romano, Pierino del Vaga, Pellegrino da Modena, Francesco Penni, and Rafaello da Colle. Of the fifty-two subjects represented, forty-eight are from the Old Testament, only the four last being from the Gospel History, as an appropriate introduction to the pictures which celebrate the foundation and triumphs of the Church, in the adjoining stanze. The stucco decorations of the gallery are of exquisite beauty; especially remarkable, perhaps, are those of the windows in the first arcade, where Raphael is represented drawing,--his pupils working from his designs,--and Fame celebrating his work. The frescoes are arranged in the following order:

_1st Arcade._

1. Creation of Light.[352] } 2. Creation of Dry Land. } 3. Creation of the Sun and Moon.} _Raphael._ 4. Creation of Animals. }

_2nd Arcade._

1. Creation of Eve. _Raphael._ 2. The Fall. } 3. The Exile from Eden. } _Giulio Romano._ 4. The Consequence of the Fall.}

_3rd Arcade._

1. Noah builds the Ark. } 2. The Deluge. } 3. The Coming forth from the Ark.} _Giulio Romano._ 4. The Sacrifice of Noah. }

_4th Arcade._

1. Abraham and Melchizedek. } 2. The Covenant of God with Abraham.} 3. Abraham and the three Angels. } _Francesco Penni._ 4. Lot's flight from Sodom. }

_5th Arcade._

1. God appears to Isaac. } 2. Abimelech sees Isaac with Rebecca.} 3. Isaac gives Jacob the blessing. } _Francesco Penni._ 4. Isaac blesses Esau also. }

_6th Arcade._

1. Jacob's Ladder. } 2. Jacob meets Rachel. } _Pellegrino da Modena._ 3. Jacob upbraids Laban.} 4. The journey of Jacob.}

_7th Arcade._

1. Joseph tells his dream. } 2. Joseph sold into Egypt. } 3. Joseph and Potiphar's wife. } _Giulio Romano._ 4. Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream.}

_8th Arcade._

1. The Finding of Moses. } 2. Moses and the Burning Bush.} 3. The Destruction of Pharaoh.} _Giulio Romano._ 4. Moses striking the rock. }

_9th Arcade._

1. Moses receives the Tables of the Law. } 2. The Worship of the Golden Calf. } _Raffaello da Colle._ 3. Moses breaks the Tables. } 4. Moses kneels before the Pillar of Cloud.}

_10th Arcade._

1. The Israelites cross the Jordan. } 2. The Fall of Jericho. } 3. Joshua stays the course of the Sun. } _Pierino del Vaga._ 4. Joshua and Eleazer divide the Promised Land.}

_11th Arcade._

1. Samuel anoints David.} 2. David and Goliath. } 3. The Triumph of David.} _Pierino del Vaga._ 4. David sees Bathsheba.}

_12th Arcade._

1. Zadok anoints Solomon. } 2. The Judgment of Solomon. } _Pellegrino da Modena._ 3. The Coming of the Queen of Sheba.} 4. The Building of the Temple. }

_13th Arcade._

1. The Adoration of the Shepherds.} 2. The Coming of the Magi. } 3. The Baptism of Christ. } _Giulio Romano._ 4. The Last Supper. }

"From the Sistine Chapel we went to Raphael's Loggie, and I hardly venture to say that we could scarcely bear to look at them. The eye was so educated and so enlarged by those grand forms and the glorious completeness of all their parts, that it could take no pleasure in the imaginative play of arabesques, and the scenes from Scripture, beautiful as they are, had lost their charm. To see these works _often_ alternately and to compare them at leisure and without prejudice, must be a great pleasure, but all sympathy is at first one-sided."--_Goethe, Romische Briefe._

Close to the entrance of the Loggie is that of

_The Stanze_, three rooms decorated under Julius II. and Leo X. with frescoes by Raphael, for each of which he received 1200 ducats. These rooms are approached through,--

The _Sala di Constantino_, decorated under Clement VII. (Giulio di Medici) in 1523--34, after the death of Raphael, who however had prepared drawings for the frescoes, and had already executed in oil the two figures of Justice and Urbanity. The rest of the compositions, completed by his pupils, are in fresco.

"Raphael se multiplie, il se prodigue, avec une fecondite de toutes les heures. De jeunes disciples, admirateurs de son beau genie, le servent avec amour, et sont deja admis a l'honneur d'attacher leurs noms a quelques parties de ses magnifiques travaux. Le maitre leur distribue leur tache: a Jules Romain, le brillant coloris des vetements et peut-*etre meme le dessin de quelques figures; au Fattore, a Jean d'Udine, les arabesques; a frere Jean de Verone les clairs-obscurs des portes et des lambris qui doivent completer la decoration de ces spendides appartements. Et lui, que se reserve-t-il?--la pensee qui anime tout, le genie qui enfante et qui dirige."--_Gournerie, Rome Chretienne._

_Entrance Wall._--The Address of Constantine to his troops and the vision of the Fiery Cross: _Giulio Romano_. On the left, St Peter between the Church and Eternity,--on the right, Clement I. (the martyr) between Moderation and Gentleness.

_Right Wall._--The Battle of the Ponte Molle and the Defeat of Maxentius by Constantine, designed by Raphael, and executed by _Giulio Romano_. On the left is Sylvester I. between Faith and Religion, on the right Urban I. (the friend of Cecilia) between Justice and Charity.

_Left Wall._--The donation of Rome by Constantine to Sylvester I.

(A.D. 325), _Raffaello da Colle_. (The head of Sylvester was a portrait of Clement VII., the reigning pope; Count Castiglione the friend of Raphael, and Giulio Romano, are introduced amongst the attendants.) On the left, Sylvester I. with Fortitude; on the right, Gregory VII. with Strength. _Wall of Egress._--The supposititious Baptism of Constantine, interesting as pourtraying the interior of the Lateran baptistery in the 15th century, by _Francesco Penni_, who has introduced his own portrait in a black dress and velvet cap. On left, is Damasus I. (A.D. 366--384), between Prudence and Peace; on right, Leo I. (A.D. 440--462), between Innocence and Truth. The paintings on the socles represent scenes in the life of Constantine by _Giulio Romano_.

The _Stanza d'Eliodoro_, painted in 1511--1514, shows the Church triumphant over her enemies, and the miracles by which its power has been attested. On the roof are four subjects from the Old Testament,--the Covenant with Abraham; the Sacrifice of Isaac; Jacob's dream; Moses at the burning bush.

_Entrance Wall._--Heliodorus driven out of the Temple (Maccabees iii.). In the background Onias the priest is represented praying for divine interposition;--in the foreground Heliodorus, pursued by two avenging angels, is endeavouring to bear away the treasures of the Temple. Amid the group on the left is seen Julius II. in his chair of state, attended by his secretaries. One of the bearers in front is Marc-Antonio Raimondi, the engraver of Raphael's designs.

The man with the inscription, 'Jo. Petro de Folicariis Cremonen,'

was secretary of briefs to Pope Julius.

"Here you may almost fancy you hear the thundering approach of the heavenly warrior and the neighing of his steed; while in the different groups who are plundering the treasures of the Temple, and in those who gaze intently on the sudden consternation of Heliodorus, without being able to divine its cause, we see the expression of terror, amazement, joy, humility, and every passion to which human nature is exposed."--_Lanzi._

_Left Wall._--The Miracle of Bolsena. A priest at Bolsena, who refused to believe in the doctrine of transubstantiation, is convinced by the bleeding of the host. On the right kneels Julius II., with Cardinal Riario, founder of the Cancelleria. This was the last fresco executed by Raphael under Julius II.

_Right Wall._--Peter delivered from prison. A fresco by Pietro della Francesca was destroyed to make room for this picture, which is said to have allusion to the liberation of Leo X., while Legate in Spain, after his capture at the battle of Ravenna. This fresco is considered especially remarkable for its four lights, those from the double representation of the angel, from the torch of the soldier, and from the moon.

_Wall of Egress._--The Flight of Attila. Leo I. (with the features of Leo X.) is represented on his white mule, with his cardinals, calling upon SS. Peter and Paul, who appear in the clouds, for aid against Attila. The Coliseum is seen in the background.