  Gate of Sto. Spirito—Church, Convent, and Garden of S. Onofrio—The Lungara—Palazzo Salviati and the Botanic-Garden—S. Giovanni alla Lungara—Palazzo Corsini—The Farnesina—Porta Settimiana—S. Pietro in Montorio—Fontana Paolina—Villa Lante—Porta and Church of S. Pancrazio—Villa Doria-Pamfili—Chapel of St. Andrew's Head. THE Janiculan is a steep crest of hill which rises abruptly on the west bank of the Tiber, and breaks imperceptibly away on the other side into the Campagna towards Civita Vecchia. Its lower formation is a marine clay abounding in fossils, but its upper surface is formed of the yellow sand which gave it the ancient name of Mons Aureus,—still commemorated in Montorio—S. Pietro in Montorio. A tradition universally received in ancient times, and adopted by Virgil, derives the name of Janiculum from Janus, who was the sun-god, as Jana, or Diana, was the moon-goddess. On this hill Janus is believed to have founded a city, which is mentioned by Pliny under the name of Antinopolis. Ovid makes Janus speak for himself as to his property: "Arx mea collis erat, quem cultrix nomine nostro Nuncupat hÆc Ætas, Janiculumque vocat." Fons, the supposed son of Janus, is known to have had an altar here in very early times. Janus was represented as having a key in his hand. "Ille tenens dextra baculum, clavemque sinistra." "Par un hasard singulier, Janus, qu'on reprÉsentait une clef À la main, Était le dieu du Janicule, voisin du Vatican, oÙ est le tombeau de Saint Pierre, que l'on reprÉsente aussi tenant une clef. Janus, comme Saint Pierre, son futur voisin, Était le portier cÉleste."—AmpÈre, Hist. Rom. i. 229, When the first Sabine king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, "like the darlings of the gods in the golden age, fell asleep, full of days," Ancus Martius, the fourth king of Rome, connected the Janiculan with the rest of the city by building the Pons Sublicius, the first bridge over the Tiber; and erected a citadel on the crest of the hill as a bulwark against Etruria, with which he was constantly at war. After the time of the kings this hill appears less frequently in history. But it was here that the consul Octavius, the friend of Sylla, was murdered by the partisans of Marius, while seated in his curule chair,—near the foot of the hill Julius CÆsar had his famous gardens, and on its summit the Emperor Galba was buried. The Christian associations of the hill will be noticed at the different points to which they belong. From the Borgo (Chap. XV.) the unfinished gate called Porta Sto. Spirito, built by Antonio da San Gallo, leads into the Via Lungara, a street three-quarters of a mile long, formed by Sixtus V., and occupying the whole length of the valley between the Tiber and the Janiculan. Immediately on the right, the steep "Salita di S. Onofrio" leads up the hillside to the Church of S. Onofrio, built in 1439 by Nicolo da Forca Palena, in honour of the Egyptian hermit, Honophrius. "St. Onofrius was a monk of Thebes, who retired to the desert, far from the sight of men, and dwelt there in a cave for sixty years, and during all that time never beheld one human being, or uttered one word of his mother-tongue except in prayer. He was unclothed, except by some leaves twisted round his body, and his beard and hair had become like the face of a wild beast. In this state he was discovered by a holy man whose name was Paphnutius, who, seeing him crawling on the ground, knew not at first what live thing it might be."—Jameson's Sacred Art. From the little platform in front of the convent is one of the loveliest views over the city. The church is approached by a portico, decorated with glazed frescoes by Domenichino. Those on either side of the door represent the saints of the Hieronomyte Order (the adjoining convent belongs to Hieronomytes), viz.: S. Jerome, Sta. Paula, St. Eustochium, S. Pietro Gambacorta of Pisa, St Augustine the hermit, S. Nicolo di Forca Palena, S. Onofrio and the Blessed Benedict of Sicily, Philip of St. Agatha, Paul of Venice, Bartholomew of Cesarea, Mark of Manuta, Philip of Fulgaria, and John of Catalonia. Over the door is a Madonna and Child. In the side arcade are three scenes in the life of St. Jerome. 1. Represents his baptism as a young man at Rome. 2. Refers to his vision of the Judgment (described in his letter to Eustochium), in which he heard the Judge of the World ask what he was, and he answered, "I am a Christian." But the Judge replied, "No, you lie, for you are a Ciceronian," and he was condemned to be scourged, but continued to protest that he was a Christian between every lash. 3. Is a scene alluded to in another letter to Eustochium, in which Jerome says, "O how often when alone in the desert with the wild beasts and scorpions, half dead with fasting and penance, have I fancied myself a spectator of the sins of Rome, and of the dances of its young women." The church has a solemn and picturesque interior. It ends in a tribune richly adorned with frescoes, those of the upper part (the Coronation of the Virgin, and eight groups of saints and angels) being by Pinturicchio, those of the lower (the Virgin and Saints, Nativity, and Flight into Egypt) by Baldassare Peruzzi. On the left of the entrance is the original monument of Tasso (with a portrait), erected after his death by Cardinal Bevilacqua. Greatly inferior in interest is a monument recently placed to his memory in the adjoining chapel, by subscription, the work of De Fabris. Near this is the grave of the poet, Alessandro Guidi, ob. 1712. In the third chapel on the left is the grave of the learned Cardinal Mezzofanti, born at Bologna, 1774, died at Rome, 1849. The first chapel on the right, which is low and vaulted, with stumpy pillars, is covered with frescoes relating to S. Onofrio. The second chapel on the right, which is very richly decorated, contains a Madonna crowned by Angels, by Annibale Caracci. Beyond this is the fine tomb of Archbishop Sacchi, ob. 1502. The beautiful lunette, of the Madonna teaching the Holy Child to read, is by Pinturicchio. The tomb is inscribed: "Labor et gloria vita fuit, Mors requies." Ladies are never admitted to visit the convent, except on April 25th, the anniversary of the death of Tasso. It is approached by a cloister, decorated with frescoes from the life of S. Onofrio. "S. Onofrio is represented as a meagre old man, with long hair and beard, grey and matted, a leafy branch twisted round his loins, a stick in his hand. The artist generally tries to make him look as haggard and inhuman as possible."—Mrs. Jameson. In a passage on the first floor is a beautiful fresco of the Virgin and Child with the donor, by Leonardo da Vinci. "To 1513 belongs a Madonna, painted on the wall of the upper corridor of the convent of S. Onofrio. It is on a gold ground: the action of the Madonna is beautiful, displaying the noblest form, and the expression of the countenance is peculiarly sweet; but the Child, notwithstanding his graceful action, is somewhat hard and heavy, so as almost to warrant the conclusion that this picture belongs to an earlier period, which would suppose a previous visit to Rome."—Kugler. Torquato Tasso came to Rome in 1594, on the invitation of Clement VIII., that he might be crowned on the Capitol, but as he arrived in the month of November, and the weather was then very bad, it was decided to postpone the ceremony till late in the following spring. This delay was a source of trouble to Tasso, who was in feeble health, and had a presentiment that his death was near. Before the time for his crowning arrived he had removed to S. Onofrio, saying to the monks who received him at the entrance, "My fathers, I have come to die amongst you!" and he wrote to one of his friends, "I am come to begin my conversation in heaven in this elevated place, and in the society of these holy fathers." During the fourteen days of his illness, he became perfectly absorbed in the contemplation of divine subjects, and upon the last day of his life, when he received the papal absolution, exclaimed, "I believe that the crown which I looked for upon the Capitol is to be changed for a better crown in heaven." Throughout the last night a monk prayed by his side till the morning, when Tasso was heard to murmur, "In manus tuas, Domine," and then he died. The room in which he expired, April 25, 1595, contains his bust, crucifix, inkstand, autograph, a mask taken from his face after death, and other relics. The archives of S. Onofrio have this entry: "Torquato Tasso, illustrious from his genius, died thus in our monastery of S. Onofrio. In April, 1595, he caused himself to be brought here that he might prepare for death with greater devotion and security, as he felt his end approaching. He was received courteously by our fathers, and conducted to chambers in the loggia, where everything was ready for him. Soon afterwards he became dangerously ill, and desired to confess and receive the most Holy Sacrament from the prior. Being asked to write his will, he said that he wished to be buried at S. Onofrio, and he left to the convent his crucifix and fifty scudi for alms, that so many masses might be said for his soul, in the manner that is read in the book of legacies in our archives. Pope Clement VIII. was requested for his benediction, which he gave amply for the remission of sins. In his last days he received extreme unction, and then, with the crucifix in his hand, contemplating and kissing the sacred image, with Christian contrition and devotion, being surrounded by our fathers, he gave up his spirit to the Creator, on April 25, 1595, between the eleventh and twelfth hours (i.e., between 7 and 8 A.M.), in the fiftieth year of his age. In the evening his body was interred with universal concourse in our church, near the steps of the high altar, the Cardinal Giulio Aldobrandini, under whose protection he had lived during the last years, being minded to erect to him, as soon as possible, a sumptuous sepulchre; which, however, was never carried into effect; but after the death of the latter, the Signor Cardinal Bevilacqua raised to his memory the monument which is seen on entering the church on the left side." 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 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 mellifluÆ) of the "Riario Palace," as it was then called. In the seventeenth century "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 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. The collections now in the palace have all been formed 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 PietÀs, 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.— 2nd Room.— 3rd Room.— The portrait of Julius II. (della Rovere) is a replica or copy 4th Room.— In this room is an ancient marble chair, found near the Lateran—and on a table "the Corsini Vase," in silver, with reliefs representing the judgment of Areopagus upon the matricide of Orestes. 5th Room.—(In which Christina died, with a ceiling by the Zuccari.) 6th Room.— 7th Room.— "A Last Judgment by Angelico da Fiesole, with wings containing the Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Ghost, is in the Corsini Gallery. Here we perceive a great richness of expression and beauty of drapery; the rapture of the blessed is told, chiefly by their embraces and by their attitudes of prayer and praise. It is a remarkable feature, and one indicative of the master, that the ranks of the condemned are entirely filled by monks."—Kugler.
8th Room.— In this room are two modern family busts with touching inscriptions. Cabinet: 9th Room.— One of the gems of the collection, a highly finished Madonna and Child of Carlo Dolce, is usually shown in a glass case in the first room. The Corsini Library (open every day except Wednesdays) contains a magnificent collection of MSS. and engravings, founded by Cardinal Neri Corsini. It has also some beautiful original drawings by the old masters. Behind the palace, on the slope of the Janiculan, are large and beautiful Gardens adorned with fountains, cypresses, and some grand old plane-trees. There is a fine view from the Casino on the summit of the hill. "A magnificent porter in cocked hat and grand livery conducted the visitors across the quadrangle, unlocked the ponderous iron gates of the gardens, and let them through, leaving them to their own devices, and closing and locking the gates with a crash. They now stood in a wide avenue of ilex, whose gloomy boughs, interlacing overhead, effectually excluded the sunlight; nearly a quarter of a mile further on, the ilexes were replaced by box and bay trees, beneath which the sun and shade divided the path between them, trembling and flickering on the ground and invading each other's dominions with every breath of wind. The strangers heard the splash of fountains as they walked onwards by banks precipitous as a hill-side, and covered with wild rank herbage and tall trees. Stooping to gather a flower, they almost started, as looking up, they saw, rising against a sky fabulously blue, the unfamiliar green ilex and dark cypress spire."—Mademoiselle Mori. Opposite the Corsini Palace is the beautiful villa of the "Le jour oÙ Leon X. alla prendre possession de la basilique de Latran, l'opulent Chigi se distingua. Le thÉÂtre qui s'Élevait devant son palais Était rempli des envoyÉs de tous les peuples, blancs, cuivrÉs, et noirs; au milieu d'eux on distinguait les images de VÉnus, de Mars, de Minerve, allusion singuliÈre aux trois pontificats d'Alexander VI., de Jules II, et de LÉon X. VÉnus a eu son temps: disait l'inscription; Mars a eu le sien; c'est aujourd'hui le rÈgne de Minerve. Antoine de San-Marino, qui demeurait prÈs de Chigi, rÉpondit aussitot en plaÇant sur sa boutique la statue isolÉe de VÉnus, avec ce peu de mots: Mars a rÉgnÉ, Minerve rÈgne, VÉnus rÉgnera toujours."—Gournerie, Rome ChrÉtienne, ii. 109. The Farnesina contains some of the most beautiful existing frescoes of Raphael and his school. The principal hall was once open, but has now been closed in to preserve the paintings. Its ceiling was designed by Raphael (1518—20), and painted by Giulio Romano and Francesco Penni, with twelve scenes from the story of Psyche as narrated by Apuleius: A king had three daughters. The youngest was named Psyche, and was more lovely than the sunshine. Venus, the queen of beauty, was herself jealous of her, and bade her son Cupid to destroy her charms by inspiring her with an unworthy love (1). But Cupid, when he beheld "On the flat of the ceiling are two large compositions, with numerous figures,—the Judgment of the Gods, who decide the dispute between Venus and Cupid, and the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche in the festal assembly of the gods. In the lunettes of the ceiling are amorini, with the attributes of those gods who have done homage to the power of Love. In the triangular compartments between the lunettes are different groups, illustrative of the incidents in the fable. They are of great beauty, and are examples of the most tasteful disposition in a given space. The picture of the three Graces, that in which Cupid stands in an imploring attitude before Jupiter; a third, where Psyche is borne away by Loves, are extremely graceful. Peevish critics have designated these representations as common and sensual, but the noble spirit visible in all Raphael's works prevails also in these: religious feeling could naturally find no place in them; but they are conceived in a spirit of the purest artlessness, always a proof of true moral feeling, and to which a narrow taste alone could object. In the execution, indeed, we recognise little of Raphael's fine feeling; the greatest part is by his scholars, after his cartoons, especially by G. Romano. The nearest of the three Graces, in the group before alluded to, appears to be by Raphael's own hand."—Kugler. The paintings were injuriously retouched by Carlo Maratta "Raphael not only designed, but executed this fresco; and faded as is its colouring, the mind must be dead to the highest beauties of painting, that can contemplate it without admiration. The spirit and beauty of the composition, the pure and perfect design, the flowing outline, the soft and graceful contours, and the sentiment and sweetness of the expression, all remain unchanged; for time, till it totally obliterates, has no power to injure them.... The figures of the attendant Nereid, and of the triumphant Triton who embraces her, are beautiful beyond description."—Eaton's Rome. "The fresco of Galatea was painted in 1514. The greater part of this is Raphael's own work, and the execution is consequently much superior to that of the others. It represents the goddess of the sea borne over the waves in her shell; tritons and sea-nymphs sport joyously around her; amorini, discharging their arrows, appear in the air like an angel-glory. The utmost sweetness, the most ardent sense of pleasure, breathe from this work; everything lives, feels, vibrates with enjoyment "—Kugler. The frescoes of the ceiling, representing Diana in her Car, and the story of Medusa, are by Baldassare Peruzzi; the lunettes are by Sebastian del Piombo and Daniele da Volterra. Michael Angelo came one day to visit the latter, and not finding him at his work, left the colossal head, which remains in a lunette of the left wall, as a sign of his visit. In the upper story are two rooms; the first, adorned with a frieze of subjects from Ovid's Metamorphoses, contains large architectural paintings by Baldassare Peruzzi; the second has the Marriage of Alexander and Roxana, and the family of Darius in the presence of Alexander, by Sodoma. The Porta Settimiana at the end of the Lungara preserves in its name a recollection of the gardens of Septimius Severus, which existed in this quarter. From hence the Via delle Fornaci ascends the hill, and leads to the broad The succession of beggars who infest this hill and stretch out their maimed limbs or kiss their hands to the passers-by will call to mind the lines of Juvenal: "CÆcus adulator, dirusque a ponte satelles, Dignus Aricinos qui mendicaret ad axes, Blandaque devexÆ jactaret basia rhedÆ." Sat. iv. 116. The Church of S. Pietro in Montorio was built by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, from designs of Baccio Pintelli, on the site of an oratory founded by Constantine upon the supposed spot of St. Peter's crucifixion. The first chapel on the right belongs to the Barberini, and contains pictures by Sebastian del Piombo, (painted in oil upon stone, a process which has caused them to be much blackened by time,) from drawings of Michael Angelo. The central picture represents the Scourging of Christ, a subject of which Sebastian was especially fond, as it gave the opportunity of displaying his great anatomical power. On the left is St. Peter, on the right St. Francis,—on the ceiling is the Transfiguration,—outside the arch are a Prophet and a Sibyl. The second chapel on the right has paintings by pupils of Perugino; the fifth contains St. Paul healed by Ananias, by Vasari. The fourth chapel on the right is of some interest in the history of art. Julius III. had it greatly at heart to build and beautify this chapel as a memorial to his family, to contain the tombs of his uncle Cardinal Antonio di Monti, and of Fabiano, who first founded the splendours of his house. The first chapel on the left has St. Francis receiving the stigmata attributed to Giovanni de Vecchi. "A barber of the Cardinal S. Giorgio was an artist, who painted very well in tempera, but had no idea of design. He made friends with Michael-Angelo, who made him a cartoon of a St. Francis receiving the stigmata, which the barber carefully carried out in colour, and his picture is now placed in the first chapel on the left of the entrance of S. Pietro in Montorio."—Vasari, vi. The third chapel on the left contains a Virgin and Child with St. Anne, of the school of Perugino; the fourth, a fine Entombment, by an unknown hand; the fifth, the Baptism of Christ, said to be by Daniele da Volterra. The Transfiguration of Raphael was painted for this church, and remained here till the French invasion. When it was returned from the Louvre it was kept at the Vatican. Had it been restored to this church, it would have been destroyed in the siege of 1849, when the tribune and bell-tower were thrown down. Here, in front of the high altar, the unhappy Beatrice Cenci was buried without any monument. Irish travellers may be interested in the gravestones in In the cloister is the Tempietto, a small domed building resting on sixteen Doric columns, built by Bramante in 1502, on the spot where St. Peter's cross is said to have stood. A few grains of the sacred sand from the hole in the centre of the chapel are given to visitors by the monks as a relic. "St. Peter, when he was come to the place of execution, requested of the officers that he might be crucified with his head downwards, alleging that he was not worthy to suffer in the same manner his divine Master had died before him. He had preached the cross of Christ, had borne it in his heart, and its marks in his body, by sufferings and mortification, and he had the happiness to end his life on the cross. The Lord was pleased not only that he should die for his love, but in the same manner himself had died for us, by expiring on the cross, which was the throne of his love. Only the apostle's humility made a difference, in desiring to be crucified with his head downward. His Master looked toward heaven, which by his death he opened to men; but he judged that a sinner formed from dust, and going to return to dust, ought rather in confusion to look on the earth, as unworthy to raise his eyes to heaven. St. Ambrose, St. Austin, and St. Prudentius ascribe this his petition partly to his humility, and partly to his desire of suffering more for Christ. Seneca mentions that the Romans sometimes crucified men with their heads downward; and Eusebius testifies that several martyrs were put to that cruel death. Accordingly, the executioners easily granted the apostle his extraordinary request. St. Chrysostom, St. Austin, and St. Austerius say that he was nailed to the cross; Tertullian mentions that he was tied with cords. He was probably both nailed and bound with ropes."—Alban Butler. The view from the front of the church is almost unrivalled. Behind it is the famous Fontana Paolina, whose name, by a "The pleasant, natural sound of falling water, not unlike that of a distant cascade in the forest, may be heard in many of the Roman streets and piazzas, when the tumult of the city is hushed; for consuls, emperors, and popes, the great men of every age, have found no better way of immortalising their memories, than by the shifting, indestructible, ever new, yet unchanging, up-gush and down-fall of water. They have written their names in that unstable element, and proved it a more durable record than brass or marble."—Hawthorne. "Il n'y a rien encore, dans quelque État que ce soit, À opposer aux magnifiques fontaines qu'on voit À Rome dans les places et les carrefours, ni À l'abondance des eaux qui ne cessent jamais de couler; magnificence d'autant plus louable que l'utilitÉ publique y est jointe."—Duclos. A little beyond this fountain is the modern Porta S. Pancrazio, near the site of the ancient Porta Aurelia, built by Pius IX. in 1857, to replace a gate destroyed by the French under Oudinot in 1849. Many buildings outside the gate, injured at the same time, still remain in ruins. The lane on the right, inside the gate, leads to the Villa Lante, built in 1524 by Giulio Romano, for Bartolomeo da Pescia, secretary of Clement VII. It still contains some frescoes of Giulio Romano, though they are only lately uncovered, as the house was used, until the last two years, as a succursale to the Convent of the SacrÉ Coeur at the TrinitÀ de' Monti. Not far outside the gate are the Church and Convent of S. Pancrazio, founded in the sixth century by Pope Symmachus, but modernized in 1609 by Cardinal Torres. Here Crescenzio Nomentano, the famous consul of Rome in the tenth A flight of steps leads from the church to the Catacomb of Calepodius, where many of the early popes and martyrs were buried. It has no especial characteristic to make it worth visiting. Another flight of steps leads to the spot where S. Pancrazio was martyred. His body rests with that of St. Victor beneath the altar. A parish church in London is dedicated to St. Pancras, in whose name kings of France used to confirm their treaties. "In the persecution under Diocletian, this young saint, who was only fourteen years of age, offered himself voluntarily as a martyr, defending boldly before the emperor the cause of the Christians. He was therefore beheaded by the sword, and his body was honourably buried by Christian women. His church, near the gate of S. Pancrazio, has existed since the year 500. St. Pancras was in the middle ages regarded as the protector against false oaths, and the avenger of perjury. It was believed that those who swore falsely by St. Pancras were immediately and visibly punished; hence his popularity."—Jameson's Sacred Art. Turning to the left from the gate, on the side of the hill between this and the Porta Portese, is the Catacomb of S. Ponziano. "Here is the only perfect specimen still extant of a primitive subterranean baptistery. A small stream of water runs through this cemetery, and at this one place the channel has been deepened so as to form a kind of reservoir, in which a certain quantity of water is retained. We descend into it by a flight of steps, and the depth of water it contains varies with the height of the Tiber. When that river is swollen so as to block up the exit by which this stream usually empties itself, the waters are sometimes so dammed back as to inundate the adjacent galleries of the catacomb; at other times there are not above three or four feet of In this catacomb is an early Portrait of Christ, much resembling that at SS. Nereo ed Achilleo. "The figure is, however, draped, and the whole work has certain peculiarities which appear to mark a later period of art. Both these portraits agree, if not strictly, yet in general features, with the description in Lentulus's letter (to the Roman senate), and portraits and descriptions together serve to prove that the earliest Christian delineators of the person of the Saviour followed no arbitrary conception of their own, but were guided rather by a particular traditional type, differing materially from the Grecian ideal, and which they transmitted in a great measure to future ages."—Kugler, i. 16. In this vicinity are the Catacombs of SS. Abdon and Sennen, of St. Julius, and of Sta. Generosa. Opposite the Porta S. Pancrazio is the entrance of the beautiful Villa Pamfili Doria (open to pedestrians and to two-horse carriages after 12 o'clock on Mondays and Fridays), called by the Italians "Belrespiro." The Casino contains a few (not first-rate) ancient statues, and some views of Venice in the seventeenth century by Heintius. The garden, for which especial permission must be obtained, is full of beautiful azaleas and camellias. From the ilex-fringed terrace in front of the casino is one of the best views of St. Peter's, which is here seen without the town,—backed by the Campagna, the Sabine Mountains, The site of the Villa Doria was once occupied by the gardens of Galba, and here the murdered emperor is believed to have been buried. "Un certain Argius, autrefois esclave de Galba, ramassa son corps, qui avait subi mille outrages, et alla lui creuser une humble sÉpulture dans les jardins de son ancien maÎtre; mais il fallut retrouver la tÊte: elle avait ÉtÉ mutilÉe et promenÉe par les goujats de l'armÉe. Enfin Argius la trouva le lendemain, et la rÉunit au corps dÉjÀ brÛlÉ. Les jardins de Galba Étaient sur le Janicule, prÈs de la voie AurÉlienne, et on croit que le lieu qui vit le dernier dÉnouement de cette affreuse tragÉdie est celui qu'occupe aujourd'hui la plus charmante promenade de Rome, lÀ oÙ inclinent avec tant de grÂce sur les pentes semÉes d'anÉmones et oÙ dessinent si dÉlicatement sur l'azur du ciel et des montagnes leurs parasols ÉlÉgants les pins de la villa Pamphili."—AmpÈre, Emp. ii. 80. The foundation of the Villa Pamfili Doria is due to the wealth extorted by Olympia Maldacchini during the reign of her brother-in-law, Innocent X. "Innocent X. fut, pour ainsi dire, contraint de fonder la maison Pamphili. Les casuistes et les jurisconsultes levÈrent ses scrupules, car il en avait. Ils lui prouvÈrent que le pape Était en droit d'Économiser sur les revenus du saint-siÉge pour assurer l'avenir de sa famille. Ils fixÈrent, avec une modÉration qui nous fait dresser les cheveux sur la tÊte, le chiffre des libÉralitÉs permises À chaque pape. Suivant eux, le souverain pontife pouvait, sans abuser, Établir un majorat de quatre mille francs de rente nette, fonder une seconde gÉniture en faveur de quelque parent moins avantagÉ, et donner neuf cent mille francs de dot À chacune de ses niÈces. Le gÉnÉral des jÉsuites, R. P. Vitelleschi, approuva cette There are two ways of returning to Rome from the Villa Doria—one, which descends straight into the valley to the Porta Cavalleggieri, passing on the left the Church of Sta. Maria delle Fornaci; the other, skirting the walls of the city beneath the Villa Lante, which passes a Chapel, where St. Andrew's head, lost one day by the canons of St. Peter's, was miraculously re-discovered! "On ne voit pas que de nouveaux monuments religieux se rapportent aux deux apparitions de Pyrrhus en Italie; seulement les augures firent rÉtablir le temple du dieu des foudres nocturnes, le dieu Étrusco-sabin Summanus, en expiation sans doute de ce que la tÊte de la statue de Summanus, placÉe sur le temple de Jupiter Capitolin, avait ÉtÉ dÉtachÉe par la foudre, et, aprÈs qu'on l'eut cherchÉe en vain, retrouvÉe dans le Tibre. "Je ne compare pas, mais j'ai vu le long des murs de Rome, entre la porte Cavalleggieri et la porte Saint Pancrace, une petite chapelle ÉlevÉe au lieu oÙ l'on a retrouvÉ la tÊte de Saint AndrÉ apportÉe solennellement de Constantinople À Rome au quinziÈme siÈcle, et qui s'Était perdue."—AmpÈre, Hist. Rom. iii. 55. "Therefore farewell, ye hills, and ye, ye envineyarded ruins! Therefore farewell, ye walls, palaces, pillars, and domes! Therefore farewell, far seen, ye peaks of the mythic Albano, Seen from Montorio's height, Tibur and Æsula's hills! Ah, could we once ere we go, could we stand, while, to ocean descending, Sinks o'er the yellow dark plain slowly the yellow broad sun, Stand from the forest emerging at sunset, at once in the champaign, Open, but studded with trees, chestnuts umbrageous and old, E'en in those fair open fields that incurve to thy beautiful hollow, Nemi imbedded in wood, Nemi inurn'd in the hill!— Therefore farewell, ye plains, and ye hills, and the City Eternal! Therefore farewell! we depart, but to behold you again!" A. H. Clough, Amours de Voyage. THE END. Showing the more important streets and buildings. (right-side of map)] |
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