Ladies are admitted to the beautiful garden of the convent on ringing at the first large gate on the left below the church.

This lovely plot of ground, fresh with running streams, possesses a glorious view over the city, and the Campagna beyond S. Paolo. At the further extremity, near a picturesque group of cypresses, are remains of the oak planted by Tasso, the greater part of which was blown down in 1842. A young sapling is shooting up beside it. Beyond this is the little amphitheatre, overgrown with grass and flowers, where S. Filippo Neri used to teach children, and assemble them "for the half-dramatic musical performances which were an original form of his oratorios. Here every 25th of April a musical entertainment of the Accademia is held in memory of Tasso,--his bust, crowned with laurel wreaths, and taken from the cast after death, being placed in the centre of the amphitheatre."[384]

Returning to the Lungara, on the left is a Lunatic Asylum, founded by Pius IX., with a pompous inscription, and beyond it, a chain bridge to S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini. On the right is the handsome _Palazzo Salviati_, which formerly contained a fine collection of pictures, removed to the Borghese Palace, when, upon the property falling into the hands of Prince Borghese, he sold the palace to the government, who now use it as a repository for the civil archives. The adjoining garden now belongs to the Sapienza, and has been turned into a _Botanic Garden_.

The modernized church of S. _Giovanni alla Lungara_ dates from the time of Leo IV. (845--857), and is now attached to a reformatory. On the right is a large _Convent of the Buon Pastore_.

We now reach, on the right, the magnificent _Palazzo Corsini_, built originally by the Riario family, from whom it was bought by Clement XII.

in 1729, for his nephew Cardinal Neri Corsini, for whom it was altered to its present form by _Fuga_.

This palace was in turn the resort of Caterina Sforza, the brave duchess of Imola; of the learned Poet Cardinal di S. Giorgio; of Michael Angelo, who remained here more than a year on a visit to the cardinal, "who,"

says Vasari, "being of small understanding in art, gave him no commission"; and of Erasmus, who always remembered the pleasant conversations (confabulationes mellifluae) of the "Riario Palace," as it was then called. In the seventeenth century the palace became the residence of Queen Christina of Sweden, who died here on April 19, 1689, in a room which is distinguished by two columns of painted wood.

"With her residence in Rome, the habits of Christina became more tranquil and better regulated. She obtained some mastery over herself, suffered certain considerations of what was due to others to prevail, and consented to acknowledge the necessities incident to the peculiarities of her chosen residence. She took a constantly increasing part in the splendour, the life, and the business of the Curia, becoming indeed eventually altogether identified with its interests. The collections she had brought with her from Sweden, she now enlarged by so liberal an expenditure, and with so much taste, judgment, and success, that she surpassed even the native families, and elevated the pursuit from a mere gratification of curiosity, to a higher and more significant importance both for learning and art. Men such as Spanheim and Havercamp thought the illustration of her coins and medals an object not unworthy of their labours, and Sante Bartolo devoted his practised hand to her cameos. The Coreggios of Christina's collection have always been the richest ornament of every gallery into which the changes of time have carried them. The MSS. of her choice have contributed in no small degree to maintain the reputation of the Vatican library, into which they were subsequently incorporated. Acquisitions and possessions of this kind filled up the hours of her daily life, with an enjoyment that was at least harmless. She also took interest and an active part in scientific pursuits; and it is much to her credit that she received the poor exiled Borelli, who was compelled to resort in his old age to teaching as a means of subsistence. The queen supported him with her utmost power, and caused his renowned and still unsurpassed work, on the mechanics of animal motion, by which physiological science has been so importantly influenced and advanced, to be printed at her own cost.

Nay, I think we may even venture to affirm, that she herself, when her character and intellect had been improved and matured, exerted a powerfully efficient and enduring influence on the period, more particularly on Italian literature. In the year 1680, she founded an academy in her own residence for the discussion of literary and political subjects; and the first rule of this institution was, that its members should carefully abstain from the turgid style, overloaded with false ornament, which prevailed at the time, and be guided only by sound sense and the models of the Augustan and Medicean ages. From the queen's academy proceeded such men as Alessandro Guidi, who had previously been addicted to the style then used, but after some time passed in the society of Christina, he not only resolved to abandon it, but even formed a league with some of his friends for the purpose of labouring to abolish it altogether. The Arcadia, an academy to which the merit of completing this good work is attributed, arose out of the society which assembled around the Swedish queen. On the whole, it must needs be admitted, that in the midst of the various influences pressing around her, Christina preserved a noble independence of mind. To the necessity for evincing that ostentatious piety usually expected from converts, or which they impose on themselves, she would by no means subject herself. Entirely Catholic as she was, and though continually repeating her conviction of the pope's infallibility, and of the necessity for believing all doctrines enjoined either by himself or the Church, she had nevertheless an extreme detestation of bigots, and utterly abhorred the direction of father confessors, who were at that time the exclusive rulers of all social and domestic life. She would not be prevented from enjoying the amusements of the carnival, concerts, dramatic entertainments, or whatever else might be offered by the habits of life at Rome; above all, she refused to be withheld from the internal movement of an intellectual and animated society. She acknowledged a love of satires, and took pleasure in Pasquin. We find her constantly mingled in the intrigues of the court, the dissensions of the papal houses, and the factions of the cardinals.... She attached herself to the mode of life presented to her with a passionate love, and even thought it impossible to live if she did not breathe the atmosphere of Rome."--_Ranke's Hist. of the Popes._

In 1797 this palace was used as the French embassy, and on the 28th of December was the scene of a terrible skirmish, when Joseph Buonaparte, then ambassador, attempted to interfere between the French democratic party and the papal dragoons, and when young General Duphot, who was about to be married to Buonaparte's sister-in-law, was shot by his side in a balcony. These events, after which Joseph Buonaparte immediately demanded his passports and departed, were among the chief causes which led to the invasion of Rome by Berthier, and the imprisonment of Pius VII.[385]

The collections now in the palace have all been formed since the death of Queen Christina. The _Picture Gallery_ is open to the public from nine to twelve, every day except Sundays and holidays.

The following criticism, applicable to all the private galleries in Rome, is perhaps especially so to this:

"You may generally form a tolerably correct conjecture of what a gallery will contain, as to subject, before you enter it,--a certain quantity of Landscapes, a great many Holy Families, a few Crucifixions, two or three Pietas, a reasonable proportion of St.

Jeromes, a mixture of other Saints and Martyrdoms, and a large assortment of Madonnas and Magdalenes, make up the principal part of all the collections in Rome; which are generally comprised of quite as many bad as good paintings."--_Eaton's Rome._

The 1st room is chiefly occupied by pretty but unimportant landscapes by _Orizzonti_ and _Vanvitelli_, and figure pieces by Locatelli. We may notice (the best pictures being marked with an asterisk):

_1st Room._--

24, 26. _Canaletti._

_2nd Room._--

12. Madonna and Child in glory: _Elis. Sirani_.

11, 27. Fruit: _Mario di Fiori_.

15. Landscape: _G. Poussin_.

17, 19. Landscapes with Cattle: _Berghem_.

20. Pieta: _Lod. Caracci_.

41. S. Andrea Corsini: _Fr. Gessi_.

_3rd Room._--

1. Ecce Homo: _Guercino_.*

9. Madonna and Child: _A. del Sarto_.

13. Holy Family: _Barocci_.

16, 20. Rock Scenes: _Salvator Rosa_.

17. Madonna and Child: _Caravaggio_.

23. Sunset: _Both_.*

26. Holy Family: _Fra. Bartolomeo_.

43. Two Martyrdoms: _Carlo Saraceni_.

44. Julius II.: _after Raphael_.

The portrait of Julius II. (della Rovere) is a replica or copy of that at the Pitti Palace. There are other duplicates in the Borghese Gallery, at the National Gallery in England, and at Leigh Court in Somersetshire. Julius II. ob. 1513.

49. St. Appollonia: _Carlo Dolce_.

50. Philip II. of Spain: _Titian_.

52. Vanity: _Carlo Saraceni_.*

88. Ecce Homo: _Carlo Dolce_.

_4th Room._--

1. Clement XII. (Lorenzo Corsini, 1730--40): _Benedetto Luti_.

4. Cupid asleep: _Guido Reni_.

11. Daughter of Herodias: _Guido Reni_.*

16. Madonna: _Guido Reni_.

22. Christ and the Magdalen: _Barocci_.

27. Two Heads: _Lod. Caracci_.

28. St. Jerome: _Titian_.

40. Faustina Maratta--his daughter: _Carlo Maratta_.

41. Fornarina: _Giulio Romano, after Raphael_,--replica of the picture at Florence.

42. Old Man: _Guido_.

44. A Hare: _Albert Durer_.*