19. Magdalen: _Guido Reni_.

24. Family Portrait: _Titian_.

25. Portrait: _Bronzino_.

26. St. Sebastian: _Perugino_.

29. Bella Donna: _Titian_.*

Sometimes supposed to represent Donna Laura Eustachio, the peasant Duchess of Alphonso I. of Ferrara.

"When Titian or Tintoret look at a human being, they see at a glance the whole of its nature, outside and in; all that it has of form, of colour, of passion, or of thought; saintliness and loveliness; fleshly power, and spiritual power; grace, or strength, or softness, or whatsoever other quality, those men will see to the full, and so paint, that, when narrower people come to look at what they have done, every one may, if he chooses, find his own special pleasure in the work. The sensualist will find sensuality in Titian; the thinker will find thought; the saint, sanctity; the colourist, colour; the anatomist, form; and yet the picture will never be a popular one in the full sense, for none of these narrower people will find their special taste so alone consulted, as that the qualities which would ensure their gratification shall be sifted or separated from others; they are checked by the presence of the other qualities, which ensure the gratification of other men.... Only there is a strange undercurrent of everlasting murmur about the name of Titian, which means the deep consent of all great men that he is greater than they."--_Ruskin's Two Paths, Lect. 2._

31. Death of the Virgin: _Albert Durer_.

32. Maddalena della Radice: _Guido Reni_.*

"The two Magdalens by Guido are almost duplicates, and yet one is incomparably superior to the other. She is reclining on a rock, and her tearful and uplifted eyes, the whole of her countenance and attitude, speak the overwhelming sorrow that penetrates her soul.

Her face might charm the heart of a stoic; and the contrast of her youth and enchanting loveliness, with the abandonment of grief, the resignation of all earthly hope, and the entire devotion of herself to penitence and heaven, is most affecting."--_Eaton's Rome._[11]

Near the Piazza Sciarra, the Corso (as Via Flaminia) was formerly spanned by the Arch of Claudius, removed in 1527. Some reliefs from this arch are preserved in the portico of the Villa Borghese, and though much mutilated are of fine workmanship. The inscription, which commemorated the erection of the arch in honour of the conquest of Britain, is preserved in the courtyard of the Barberini Palace.

On the right of the Piazza Sciarra is the Via della Caravita, containing the small but popular _Church of the Caravita_,[12] used for the peculiar religious exercises of the Jesuits, especially for their terrible Lenten "flagellation" services, which are one of the most extraordinary sights afforded by Catholic Rome.

"The ceremony of pious whippings, one of the penances of the convents, still takes place at the time of vespers in the oratory of the Padre Caravita and in another church in Rome. It is preceded by a short exhortation, during which a bell rings, and whips, that is, strings of knotted whipcord, are distributed quietly amongst such of the audience as are on their knees in the nave. On a second bell, the candles are extinguished--a loud voice issues from the altar, which pours forth an exhortation to think of unconfessed, or unrepented, or unforgiven crimes. This continues a sufficient time to allow the kneelers to strip off their upper garments; the tone of the preacher is raised more loudly at each word, and he vehemently exhorts his hearers to recollect that Christ and the martyrs suffered much more than whipping. 'Show, then, your penitence--show your sense of Christ's sacrifice--show it with the whip.' The flagellation begins. The darkness, the tumultuous sound of blows in every direction--'Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us!'

bursting out at intervals,--the persuasion that you are surrounded by atrocious culprits and maniacs, who know of an absolution for every crime--so far from exciting a smile, fixes you to the spot in a trance of restless horror, prolonged beyond bearing. The scourging continues ten or fifteen minutes."--_Lord Broughton._

"Each man on entering the church was supplied with a scourge. After a short interval the doors were barred, the lights extinguished; and from praying, the congregation proceeded to groaning, crying, and finally, being worked up into a kind of ecstatic fury, applied the scourge to their uncovered shoulders without mercy."--_Whiteside's Italy in the Nineteenth Century._

Beyond the Caravita is the _Church of S. Ignazio_, built by Cardinal Ludovisi. The facade, of 1685, is by Algardi. It contains the tomb of Gregory XIV. (Nicolo Sfondrati, 1590--91), and that of S. Ludovico Gonzaga, both sculptured by _Le Gros_.

"In S. Ignazio is the chapel of San Luigi Gonzaga, on whom not a few of the young Roman damsels look with something of the same kind of admiration as did Clytie on Apollo, whom he and St. Sebastian, those two young, beautiful, graceful saints, very fairly represent in Christian mythology. His festa falls in June, and then his altar is embosomed in flowers, arranged with exquisite taste; and a pile of letters may be seen at its foot, written to the saint by young men and maidens, and directed to Paradiso. They are supposed to be burnt unread, except by San Luigi, who must find singular petitions in these pretty little missives, tied up now with a green ribbon, expressive of hope, now with a red one, emblematic of love, or whatever other significant colour the writer may prefer."--_Mademoiselle Mori._

The frescoes on the roof and tribune are by the Padre Pozzi.

"Amid the many distinguished men whom the Jesuits sent forth to every region of the world, I cannot recollect the name of a single artist unless it be the Father Pozzi, renowned for his skill in perspective, and who used his skill less as an artist than a conjuror, to produce such illusions as make the vulgar stare; to make the impalpable to the grasp appear as palpable to the vision; the near seem distant, the distant near; the unreal, real; to cheat the eye; to dazzle the sense;--all this has Father Pozzi most cunningly achieved in the Gesu and the Sant' Ignazio at Rome; but nothing more, and nothing better than this. I wearied of his altar-pieces and of his wonderful roofs which pretend to be no roofs at all. Scheme, tricks, and deceptions in art should all be kept for the theatre. It appeared to me nothing less than profane to introduce _shams_ into the temples of God."--_Mrs. Jameson._

On the left of the Corso--opposite the handsome Palazzo Simonetti--is the _Church of S. Marcello_ (Pope, 308--10), containing some interesting modern monuments. Among them are those of Pierre Gilles, the traveller (ob. 1555), and of the English Cardinal Weld. Here, also, Cardinal Gonsalvi, the famous and liberal minister of Pius VII., is buried in the same tomb with his beloved younger brother, the Marchese Andrea Gonsalvi. Their monument, by Rinaldi, tells that here repose the bodies of two brothers--

"Qui cum singulari amore dum vivebant Se mutuo dilexissent Corpora etiam sua Una eademque urna condi voluere."

Here are the masterpieces which made the reputation of Pierino del Vaga (1501--1547). In the chapel of the Virgin are the cherubs, whose graceful movements and exquisite flesh-tints Vasari declares to have been unsurpassed by any artist in fresco. In the chapel of the Crucifix is the Creation of Eve, which is even more beautiful.

"The perfectly beautiful figure of the naked Adam is seen lying, overpowered by sleep, while Eve, filled with life, and with folded hands, rises to receive the blessing of her Maker,--a most grand and solemn figure standing erect in heavy drapery."--_Vasari_, iv.

This church is said to occupy the site of a house of the Christian matron Lucina, in which Marcellus died of wounds incurred in attempting to settle a quarrel among his Christian followers. It was in front of it that the body of the tribune Rienzi, after his murder on the Capitol steps, was hung up by the feet for two days as a mark for the rabble to throw stones at.

The next street to the right leads to the _Collegio Romano_, founded by St. Francis Borgia, Duke of Gandia (a descendant of Pope Alexander VI.), who, after a youth spent amid the splendours of the court of Madrid, retired to Rome in 1550, in the time of Julius III., and became the successor of Ignatius Loyola as general of the Jesuits. The buildings were erected, as we now see them, by Ammanati, in 1582, for Gregory XIII. The college is entirely under the superintendence of the Jesuits.

The library is large and valuable. The _Kircherian Museum_ (shown to gentlemen from ten to eleven on Sundays) is worth visiting. It contains a number of antiquities, illustrative of Roman and Etruscan customs, and many beautiful ancient bronzes and vases. The most important object is the "Cista Mistica," a bronze vase and cover, which was given as a prize to successful gladiators, and which was originally fitted up with everything useful for their profession.

The _Observatory_ of the Collegio Romano has obtained a European reputation from the important astronomical researches of its director, the Padre Secchi.

The Collegio Romano has produced eight popes--Urban VIII., Innocent X., Clement IX., Clement X., Innocent XII., Clement XI., Innocent XIII., and Clement XII. Among its other pupils have been S. Camillo de Lellis, the Blessed Leonardo di Porto-Maurizio, the Venerable Pietro Berna, and others.

"Ignace, Francois Borgia, ont passe par ici. Leur souvenir plane, comme un encouragement et une benediction, sur ces salles ou ils presiderent aux etudes, sur ces chaires ou peut-etre retentit leur parole, sur ces modestes cellules qu'ils ont habitees. A la fin du seizieme siecle, les eleves du college Romain perdirent un de leurs condisciples que sa douce amenite et ses vertus angeliques avaient rendu l'objet d'un affectueux respect. Ce jeune homme avait ete page de Philippe II.; il etait allie aux maisons royales d'Autriche, de Bourbon et de Lorraine. Mais au milieu de ces illusions d'une grande vie, sous ce brillant costume de cour qui semblait lui promettre honneurs et fortune, il ne voyait jamais que la pieuse figure de sa mere agenouillee au pied des autels, et priant pour lui. A peine age de seize ans, il s'echappe de Madrid, il vient frapper a la porte du college Romain, et demande place, au dortoir et a l'etude, pour Louis Gonzague, fils du comte de Castiglione. Pendant sept ans, Louis donna dans cette maison le touchant exemple d'une vie celeste; puis ses jours _declinerent_, comme parle l'Ecriture; il avait assez vecu."--_Gournerie_, _Rome Chretienne_, ii. 211.

We now reach (on right) the _Church of Sta. Maria in Via Lata_, which was founded by Sergius I., in the eighth century, but twice rebuilt, the second time under Alexander VII., in 1662, when the facade was added by Pietro da Cortona.

In this church "they still show a little chapel in which, as hath been handed down from the first ages, St. Luke the Evangelist wrote, and painted the effigy of the Virgin Mother of God."--_See Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 155.

The subterranean church is shown as the actual house in which St. Paul lodged when he was in Rome.

"And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him."

"And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening." ...

"And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him."--_Acts_ xxviii. 16, 23, 30, 31.

"St. Paul after his arrival at Rome, having made his usual effort, in the first place, for the salvation of his own countrymen, and as usual, having found it vain, turned to the Gentiles, and during two whole years, in which he was a prisoner, received all that came to him, preaching the kingdom of God. It was thus that God overruled his imprisonment for the furtherance of the gospel, so that his bonds in Christ were manifest in the palace, and in all other places, and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by his bonds, were much more bold to speak the word without fear. Even in the palace of Nero, the most noxious atmosphere, as we should have concluded, for the growth of divine truth, his bonds were manifest, the Lord Jesus was preached, and, more than this, was received to the saving of many souls; for we find the Apostle writing to his Philippian converts: 'All the saints salute you, chiefly they which are of Caesar's household.' The whole Church of Christ has abundant reason to bless God for the dispensation which, during the most matured period of St. Paul's Christian life, detained him a close prisoner in the imperial city. Had he, to the end of his course, been at large, occupied, as he had long been, 'in labours most abundant,' he would, humanly speaking, never have found time to pen those epistles which are among the most blessed portion of the Church's inheritance. It was from within the walls of a prison, probably chained hand to hand to the soldier who kept him, that St. Paul indited the Epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews."--_Blunt's Lectures on St.

Paul._

"In writing to Philemon, Paul chooses to speak of himself as the captive of Jesus Christ. Yet he went whither he would, and was free to receive those who came to him. It is interesting to remember amid these solemn vaults, the different events of St. Paul's apostolate, during the two years that he lived here. It was here that he converted Onesimus, that he received the presents of the Philippians, brought by Epaphroditus; it was hence that he wrote to Philemon, to Titus, to the inhabitants of Philippi and of Colosse; it was here that he preached devotion to the cross with that glowing eagerness, with that startling eloquence, which gained fresh power from contest and which inspiration rendered sublime.

"Peter addressed himself to the Circumcised; Paul to the Gentiles,[13]--to their silence that he might confound it, to their reason that he might humble it. Had he not already converted the proconsul Sergius Paulus and Dionysius the Areopagite? At Rome his word is equally powerful, and among the courtiers of Nero, perhaps even amongst his relations, are those who yield to the power of God, who reveals himself in each of the teachings of his servant.[14] Around the Apostle his eager disciples group themselves--Onesiphorus of Ephesus, who was not ashamed of his chain;[15] Epaphras of Colosse, who was captive with him, _concaptivus meus_;[16] Timothy, who was one with his master in a holy union of every thought, and who was attached to him like a son, _sicut patri filius_;[17] Hermas, Aristarchus, Marcus, Demas--and Luke the physician, the faithful companion of the Apostle, his well-beloved disciple--'Lucas medicus carissimus.'"--_From Gournerie, Rome Chretienne._

"I honour Rome for this reason; for though I could celebrate her praises on many other accounts--for her greatness, for her beauty, for her power, for her wealth, and for her warlike exploits,--yet, passing over all these things, I glorify her on this account, that Paul in his lifetime wrote to the Romans, and loved them, and was present with and conversed with them, and ended his life amongst them. Wherefore the city is on this account renowned more than on all others--on this account I admire her, not on account of her gold, her columns, or her other splendid decorations."--_St. John Chrysostom, Homily on the Ep. to the Romans._

"The Roman Jews expressed a wish to hear from St. Paul himself a statement of his religious sentiments, adding that the Christian sect was everywhere spoken against.... A day was fixed for the meeting at his private lodging.

"The Jews came in great numbers at the appointed time. Then followed an impressive scene, like that at Troas (Acts xxi.)--the Apostle pleading long and earnestly,--bearing testimony concerning the kingdom of God,--and endeavouring to persuade them by arguments drawn from their own Scriptures,--'from morning till evening.' The result was a division among the auditors--'not peace, but a sword,'--the division which has resulted ever since, when the Truth of God has encountered, side by side, earnest conviction with worldly indifference, honest investigation with bigoted prejudice, trustful faith with the pride of scepticism. After a long and stormy discussion, the unbelieving portion departed; but not until St. Paul had warned them, in one last address, that they were bringing upon themselves that awful doom of judicial blindness, which was denounced in their own Scriptures against obstinate unbelievers; that the salvation which they rejected would be withdrawn from them, and the inheritance they renounced would be given to the Gentiles. The sentence with which he gave emphasis to this solemn warning was that passage in Isaiah, which recurring thus with solemn force at the very close of the Apostolic history, seems to bring very strikingly together the Old Dispensation and the New, and to connect the ministry of Our Lord with that of His Apostles:--'Go unto this people and say: Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive: for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.'

" ... During the long delay of his trial St. Paul was not reduced, as he had been at Caesarea, to a forced inactivity. On the contrary, he was permitted the freest intercourse with his friends, and was allowed to reside in a house of sufficient size to accommodate the congregation which flocked together to listen to his teaching. The freest scope was given to his labours, consistent with the military custody under which he was placed. We are told, in language peculiarly emphatic, that his preaching was subjected to no restraint whatever. And that which seemed at first to impede, must really have deepened the impression of his eloquence; for who could see without emotion that venerable form subjected by iron links to the coarse control of the soldier who stood beside him? how often must the tears of the assembly have been called forth by the upraising of that fettered hand, and the clanking of the chain which checked its energetic action.

"We shall see hereafter that these labours of the imprisoned Confessor were not fruitless; in his own words, he 'begot many children in his chains.' Meanwhile, he had a wider sphere of action than even the metropolis of the world. Not only 'the crowd which pressed upon him daily,' but also 'the care of all the churches'

demanded his constant vigilance and exertion.... To enable him to maintain this superintendence, he manifestly needed many faithful messengers; men who (as he says of one of them) 'rendered him profitable service'; and by some of whom he seems to have been constantly accompanied, wheresoever he went. Accordingly we find him, during this Roman imprisonment, surrounded by many of his oldest and most valued attendants. Luke, his fellow-traveller, remained with him during his bondage; Timotheus, his beloved son in the faith, ministered to him at Rome, as he had done in Asia, in Macedonia, and in Achaia. Tychicus, who had formerly borne him company from Corinth to Ephesus, is now at hand to carry his letters to the shores which they had visited together. But there are two names amongst his Roman companions which excite a peculiar interest, though from opposite reasons,--the names of Demas and of Mark. The latter, when last we heard of him, was the unhappy cause of the separation of Barnabas and Paul. He was rejected by Paul, as unworthy to attend him, because he had previously abandoned the work of the Gospel out of timidity or indolence. It is delightful to find him now ministering obediently to the very Apostle who had then repudiated his services; still more to know that he persevered in this fidelity even to the end, and was sent for by St. Paul to cheer his dying hours. Demas, on the other hand, is now a faithful 'fellow-labourer' of the Apostle but in a few years we shall find that he had 'forsaken' him, having 'loved this present world.'

"Amongst the rest of St. Paul's companions at this time, there were two whom he distinguishes by the honourable title of his 'fellow-prisoners.' One of these is Aristarchus, the other Epaphras. With regard to the former, we know that he was a Macedonian of Thessalonica, one of 'Paul's companions in travel,'

whose life was endangered by the mob at Ephesus, and who embarked with St. Paul at Caesarea when he set sail for Rome. The other, Epaphras, was a Colossian, who must not be identified with the Philippian Epaphroditus, another of St. Paul's fellow-labourers during this time. It is not easy to say in what exact sense these two disciples were peculiarly _fellow-prisoners_ of St. Paul.

Perhaps it only implies that they dwelt in his house, which was also his prison.

"But of all the disciples now ministering to St. Paul at Rome, none has a greater interest than the fugitive Asiatic slave Onesimus. He belonged to a Christian named Philemon, a member of the Colossian Church. But he had robbed his master, and fled from Colosse, and at last found his way to Rome. Here he was converted to the faith of Christ, and had confessed to St. Paul his sins against his master."--_Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul._

A fountain in the crypt is shown, as having miraculously sprung up in answer to the prayers of St. Paul, that he might have wherewithal to baptize his disciples. At the end of the crypt are some large blocks of peperino, said to be remains of the arch erected by the senate in honour of the Emperor Gordian III., and destroyed by Innocent VIII.

Far along the right side of the Corso now extends the facade of the immense _Palazzo Doria_, built by Valvasori (the front towards the Collegio Romano being by Pietro da Cortona, and that towards the Piazza Venezia by Amati). Entering the courtyard, one must turn left to reach the _Picture Gallery_ (which is open on Tuesdays and Fridays, from ten till two)--a vast collection, which contains some grand portraits and a few other fine paintings.

The _1st Room_ entered is a great hall--to which pictures are removed for copying. It contains four fine sarcophagi, with reliefs of the Hunt of Meleager, the Story of Marsyas, Endymion and Diana, and a Bacchic procession. Of two ancient circular altars, one serves as the pedestal of a bearded Dionysus. The pictures are chiefly landscapes, of the school of Poussin and Salvator Rosa,--that of the Deluge is by _Ippolito Scarsellino_.

_2nd Room._--In the centre a Centaur (restored), of basalt and rosso-antico. On either side groups of boys playing.

_Pictures:_--