Behind the remains of the theatre, perhaps on the very site of the Curia, rises the fine modern Church of S. Andrea della Valle,[305] begun in 1591, by Olivieri, and finished by Carlo Maderno. The façade is by Carlo Rainaldi. The cupola is covered with frescoes by Lanfranco, those of the four Evangelists at the angles being by Domenichino, who also painted the flagellation and glorification of St. Andrew in the tribune. Beneath the latter are frescoes of events in the life of St. Andrew by Calabrese.
"In the fresco of the Flagellation, the apostle is bound by his hands and feet to four short posts set firmly in the ground; one of the executioners, in tightening a cord, breaks it, and falls back; three men prepare to scourge him with thongs: in the foreground we have the usual group of the mother and her frightened children. This is a composition full of dramatic life and movement, but unpleasing."—Jameson's Sacred Art, p. 229.
In the second chapel on the left is the tomb of Giovanni della Casa, archbishop of Beneventum, 1556.
The last piers of the nave are occupied by the tombs of Pius II., Eneas Sylvius Piccolomini (1458—64), and Pius III., Todeschini (1503), removed from the old basilica of St. Peter's. The tombs are hideous erections in four stages, by Niccolo della Guardia and Pietro da Todi. The epitaph of the famous Eneas Sylvius is as good as a biography.
"Pius II., sovereign pontiff, a Tuscan by nation, by birth a native of Siena, of the family of the Piccolomini, reigned for six years. His pontificate was short, but his glory was great. He reunited a Christian Council (Basle) in the interests of the faith. He resisted the enemies of the holy Roman see, both in Italy and abroad. He placed Catherine of Siena amongst the saints of Christ. He abolished the Pragmatic Sanction in France. He re-established Ferdinand of Arragon in the kingdom of Sicily. He increased the power of the Church. He established the alum mines which were discovered near Talpha. Zealous for religion and justice, he was also remarkable for his eloquence. As he was setting out for the war which he had declared against the Turks, he died at Ancona. There he had already his fleet prepared, and the doge of Venice, with his senate, as companions in arms for Christ. Brought to Rome by a decree of the fathers, he was laid in this spot, where he had ordered the head of St. Andrew, which had been brought him from the Peloponnese, to be placed. He lived fifty-eight years, nine months, and twenty-seven days. Francis, cardinal of Siena, raised this to the memory of his revered uncle. MCDLXIV."
Pius III., who was the son of a sister of Eneas Sylvius, only reigned for twenty-six days. His tomb was the last to be placed in the old St. Peter's, which was pulled down by his successor.
To the right, from S. Andrea della Valle runs the Via della Valle, on the right of which is the Palazzo Vidoni (formerly called Caffarelli, and Stoppani), the lower portion of which was designed by Raphael, in 1513, the upper floor being a later addition. There are a few antiquities preserved here, among them the "Calendarium Prænestinum" of Verrius Flaccus, being five months of a Roman calendar found by Cardinal Stoppani at Palestrina. At the foot of the stairs is a statue of Marcus Aurelius. At one corner of the palace on the exterior is the mutilated statue familiarly known as the Abbate Luigi, which was made to carry on witty conversation with the Madama Lucrezia near S. Marco, as Pasquin did with Marforio.
To the left from St. Andrea della Valle runs the Via S. Pantaleone, on the right of which, cleverly fitting into an angle of the street, is the gloomy but handsome Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, built c. 1526 by Baldassare Peruzzi. The semi-circular portico has six Doric columns. The staircase and fountain are peculiar and picturesque. In the loggia is a fine antique lion.
The palace is not often shown, but is a good specimen of one of the smaller Roman princely houses. In the drawing-room, well placed, is the famous Statue of the Discobolus, a copy of the bronze statue of Myron, found in 1761, upon the Esquiline, near the ruined nymphæum known as the Trophies of Marius. This is more beautiful and better preserved than the Discobolus of the Vatican, of which the head is modern.
"Le tête du discobole Massimi se retourne vers le bras qui lance le disque, απεστραμμἱνον εἱς τἡν δισκοφὁρον. Cette tête est admirable, ce qui est encore une resemblance avec Myron, qui excellait dans les têtes comme Polyclète dans les poitrines et Praxitèle dans les bras."—Ampère, iii. 271.
The entrance-hall has its distinctive dais and canopy adorned with the motto of the family "Cunctando Restituit," in allusion to the descent which they claim from the great dictator Fabius Maximus, who is described by Ennius as having "saved the republic by delaying."
"Napoléon interpella un Massimo avec cette brusquerie qui intimidait tant de gens: 'Est il vrai,' lui dit-il, 'que vous descendiez de Fabius-Maximus?'
"'—Je ne saurais le prouver,' répondit le noble romain, 'mais c'est un bruit qui court depuis plus de mille ans dans notre famille.'"—About.
On the second floor is a chapel in memory of the temporary resuscitation to life by S. Filippo Neri of Paul Massimo, a youth of fourteen, who had died of a fever, March 16th, 1584.
"S. Filippo Neri was the spiritual director of the Massimo family; it is in his honour that the Palazzo Massimo is dressed up in festal guise every 16th of March. The annals of the family narrate, that the son and heir of Prince Fabrizio Massimo died of a fever at the age of fourteen, and that St. Philip, coming into the room amid the lamentations of the father, mother, and sisters, laid his hand upon the brow of the youth, and called him by his name, on which he revived, opened his eyes, and sate up—'Art thou unwilling to die?' asked the saint. 'No,' sighed the youth. 'Art thou resigned to yield thy soul to God?' 'I am.' 'Then go,' said Philip. 'Va, che sii benedetto, e prega Dio per noi.'—The boy sank back on his pillow with a heavenly smile on his face and expired."—Jameson's Monastic Orders.
The back of the palace towards the Piazza Navona is covered with curious frescoes in distemper by Daniele di Volterra.
In buildings belonging to this palace, Pannartz and Schweinheim established the first printing-office in Rome in 1455. The rare editions of this time bear in addition to the name of the printers, the inscription, "In ædibus Petri de Maximis."
"Conrad Sweynheim et Arnold Pannartz s'établirent près de Subiaco, au monastère de Sainte-Scholastique, qui était occupé par les Bénédictins de leur nation, et publièrent successivement, avec le concours des moines, les [Oe]uvres de Lactance, la Cité de Dieu de saint Augustin, et le traité de Oratore de Cicéron. En 1467, ils se transportèrent à Rome, au palais Massimi, où ils s'associèrent Jean André de Bussi, évêque d'Aleria, qui avait étudié sous Victorin de Feltre, et dont la science leur fut d'une haute utilité pour la correction de leurs textes. Le savant évêque leur donnait son temps, ses veilles:—'Malheureux métier,' disait-il, 'qui consiste non pas à chercher des perles dans le fumier, mais du fumier parmi les perles!'—Et cependant il s'y adonnait avec passion, sans même y trouver l'aisance. Les livres, en effet, se vendirent d'abord si mal que Jean-André de Bussi n'avait pas toujours de quoi se faire faire la barbe. Les premiers livres qu'il publia chez Conrad et Arnold furent la Grammaire de Donatus, à trois cents exemplaires, et les Épitres familières de Cicéron, à cinq cent cinquante."—Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne, ii. 79, 1.
Further, on the right, is the modernized Church of S. Pantaleone, built originally in 1216 by Honorius III., and given by Gregory XV., in 1641, to S. Giuseppe Calasanza, founder of the Order of the Scolopians, and of the institution of the Scuola Pia. He died in 1648, and is buried here in a porphyry sarcophagus.
Adjoining this, is the very handsome Palazzo Braschi, the last result of papal nepotism in Rome,—built at the end of the last century by Morelli, for the Duke Braschi, nephew of Pius VI. The staircase, which is, perhaps, the finest in Rome, is adorned with sixteen columns of red oriental granite. Annual subscription balls for charities are held in this palace.
At the further corner of the Braschi palace stands the mutilated but famous statue called Pasquino, from a witty tailor, who once kept a shop opposite, and who used to entertain his customers with all the clever scandal of the day. After the tailor's death his name was transferred to the statue, on whose pedestal were appended witty criticisms on passing events, sometimes in the form of dialogues which Pasquino was supposed to hold with his friend Marforio, another statue at the foot of the Capitol. From the repartees appended to this statue the term Pasquinade is derived.
Pasquin has naturally been regarded as a mortal enemy by the popes, who, on several occasions, have made vain attempts to silence him. The bigoted Adrian VI. wished to have the statue burnt and then thrown into the Tiber, but it was saved by the suggestion of Ludovico Suessano, that his ashes would turn into frogs, who would croak louder than he had done. When Marforio, in the hope of stopping the dialogues, was shut up in the Capitoline museum, the pope attempted to incarcerate Pasquino also, but he was defended by his proprietor, Duke Braschi. Among offensive Pasquinades which have been placed here are:
Among the earliest Pasquinades were those against the venality and evil life of Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Borgia, 1492—1503):
and,
and, upon the body of his son Giovanni, murdered by his brother Cæsar Borgia, being fished up on the following day from the Tiber:
In the reign of the warlike Julius II. (1503—13), of whom it is said that he threw the keys of Peter into the Tiber, while marching his army out of Rome, declaring that the sword of Paul was more useful to him:
and, in allusion to his warlike beard:
At a moment of great unpopularity:
In reference to the sale of indulgences and benefices by Leo X.:
and to his love of buffoons:
and with reference to the death of Leo, suddenly, under suspicion of poison, and without the sacrament:
On the death of Clement VII. (1534), attributed to the mismanagement of his physician, Matteo Curzio:
To Paul III. (1534—50) who attempted to silence him, Pasquin replied:
Upon the spoliation of ancient Rome by Urban VIII.:
"Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini."
Upon the passion of Innocent X. (1644—55) for his sister-in-law, Olympia Maldacchini:
Upon Christina of Sweden, who died at Rome, in 1689:
In reference to the severities of the Inquisition during the reign of Innocent XI. (1676—89):
"Se parliamo, in galera; se scriviamo, impiccati; se stiamo in quiete, al santo uffizio. Eh!—che bisogna fare?"
To Francis of Austria, on his visit to Rome:
After an awful storm, and the plunder of the works of art by Napoleon occurring together:
During the stay of the French in Rome:
Against the vain-glorious follies of Pius VI., Pasquin was especially bitter. Pius finished the sacristry of St. Peter's, and inscribed over its entrance, "Quod ad Templi Vaticani ornamentum publico vota flagitabant, Pius VI. fecit." The next day Pasquin retorted:
Upon his nepotism, when building the Braschi palace:
And in allusion to the self-laudatory inscriptions of this pope upon all his buildings, at a time when the two-baiocchi loaf of the common people was greatly reduced in size; one of these tiny loaves was exhibited here, with the satirical notice, "Munificentia Pii Sexti."
But perhaps the most remarkable of all Pasquin's productions is his famous Antithesis Christi:
The statue called Pasquin is said to represent Menelaus with the body of Patroclus, and to be the same as two groups which still exist at Florence, but so little remains of either of these heroes, that it could only have been when overpowered by "L'esprit de contradiction," that Bernini protested that this was "the finest piece of ancient sculpture in Rome."
"A l'angle que forment deux rues de Rome se voit encore il Pasquino, nom donné par le peuple à un des plus beaux restes de la sculpture antique. Bernin, qui exagérait, disait le plus beau; cette assertion fut sur le point d'attirer un duel à celui qui se l'était permise. Tout homme qui s'avise d'avoir une opinion sur les monuments de Rome s'applaudira pour son compte, en le regrettant peut-être, qu'on ne prenne plus si à cœur les questions archéologiques."—Ampère, Hist. Rome, iii. 440.
"Jan. 16, 1870: The public opinion of Rome has only one traditional organ. It is that mutilated block of marble called Pasquin's statue ... on which are mysteriously affixed by unknown hands the frequent squibs of Roman mother-wit on the events of the day. That organ has now uttered its cutting joke on the Fathers in Council. Some mornings ago there was found pasted in big letters on this defaced and truncated stump of a once choice statue the inscription, 'Libero come il Concilio.' The sarcasm is admirably to the point."—Times.
Following the Via dell' Anima from hence, on the right, opposite the mediæval Torre Mellina, is the Church of Sant' Agnese. It was built in 1642 by Girolamo Rainaldi, in the form of a Greek cross, upon the site of the scaffold where St. Agnes, in her fourteenth year, was compelled to be burnt alive.[306] When
"The blessed Agnes, with her hands extended in the midst of the flames, prayed thus: 'It is to thee that I appeal, to thee, the all-powerful, adorable, perfect, terrible God. O my Father, it is through thy most blessed Son that I have escaped from the menaces of a sacrilegious tyrant, and have passed unblemished through shameful abominations. And thus I come to thee, to thee whom I have loved, to thee whom I have sought, and whom I have always chosen."—Roman Breviary.
Then the flames, miraculously changed into a heavenly shower, refreshed instead of burning her, and dividing in two, and leaving her uninjured, consumed her executioners, and the virgin saint cried:—
"I bless Thee, O Father of my God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who, by the power of this thy well-beloved Son, commanded the fire to respect me."
"At this age, a young girl trembles at an angry look from her mother; the prick of a needle draws tears as easily as a wound. Yet fearless under the bloody hands of her executioners, Agnes is immoveable under the heavy chains which weigh her down; ignorant of death, but ready to die, she presents her body to the point of the sword of a savage soldier. Dragged against her will to the altar, she holds forth her arms to Christ through the fires of the sacrifice; and her hand forms even in those blasphemous flames the sign which is the trophy of a victorious Saviour. She presents her neck and her two hands to the fetters which they bring for her, but it is impossible to find any small enough to encircle her delicate limbs."—St. Ambrose.
The statue of St. Sebastian in this church is an antique, altered by Maini, that of St. Agnes is by Ercole Ferrata; the bas-relief of St. Cecilia is by Antonio Raggi. Over the entrance is the half-length figure and tomb of Innocent X. (Gio. Battista Pamfili, 1644—55), an amiable but feeble pope, who was entirely governed by his strong-minded and avaricious sister-in-law, Olympia Maldacchini, who deserted him on his death-bed, making off with the accumulated spoils of his ten years' papacy, which enabled her son, Don Camillo, to build the Palazzo Doria Pamfili, in the Corso, and the beautiful Villa Doria Pamfili.[307]
"After the three days during which the body of Innocent remained exposed at St. Peter's, say the memoirs of the time, no one could be found who would undertake his burial. They sent to tell Donna Olympia to prepare for him a coffin, and an escutcheon, but she answered that she was a poor widow. Of all his other relations and nephews, not one gave any sign of life; so that at length the body was carried away into a chamber where the masons kept their tools. Some one, out of pity, placed a lighted tallow-candle near the head; and some one else having mentioned that the room was full of rats, and that they might eat the corpse, a person was found who was willing to pay for a watcher. And after another day had elapsed, Monsignor Scotti, the majordomo, had pity upon him, and prepared him a coffin of poplar-wood, and Monsignor Segni, Canon of St. Peter's, who had been his majordomo, and whom he had dismissed, returned him good for evil, and expended five crowns for his burial."—Gregorovius.
Beneath the church are vaulted chambers, said to be part of the house of infamy where St. Agnes was publicly exposed[308] before her execution.
"As neither temptation nor the fear of death could prevail with Agnes, Sempronius thought of other means to vanquish her resistance; he ordered her to be carried by force to a place of infamy, and exposed to the most degrading outrages. The soldiers, who dragged her thither, stripped her of her garments; and when she saw herself thus exposed, she bent down her head in meek shame and prayed; and immediately her hair, which was already long and abundant, became like a veil, covering her whole person from head to foot; and those who looked upon her were seized with awe and fear as of something sacred, and dared not lift their eyes. So they shut her up in a chamber, and she prayed that the limbs which had been consecrated to Jesus Christ should not be dishonoured, and suddenly she saw before her a white and shining garment, with which she clothed herself joyfully, praising God, and saying, 'I thank thee, O Lord, that I am found worthy to put on the garment of thine elect!' and the whole place was filled with miraculous light, brighter than the sun at noon-day.
* * * * * * * *
"The chamber, which, for her preservation, was filled with heavenly light, has become, from the change of level all over Rome, as well as from the position of the church, a subterranean cell, and is now a chapel of peculiar sanctity, into which you descend by torchlight. The floor retains the old mosaic, and over the altar is a bas-relief, representing St. Agnes, with clasped hands, and covered only by her long tresses, while two ferocious soldiers drive her before them. The upper church, as a piece of architecture, is beautiful, and rich in precious marbles and antique columns. The works of art are all mediocre, and of the 17th century, but the statue over her altar has considerable elegance. Often have I seen the steps of this church, and the church itself, so crowded with kneeling worshippers at matins and vespers, that I could not make my way among them;—principally the women of the lower orders, with their distaffs and market baskets, who had come thither to pray, through the intercession of the patron saint, for the gifts of meekness and chastity,—gifts not abounding in these regions."—Jameson's Sacred Art.
Yorkshire maidens, anxious to know who their future spouse is to be, still consult St. Agnes on St Agnes' Eve, after 24 hours' abstinence from everything but pure spring water, in the distich:
Here, on the festival of St. Agnes, the papal choir sing the antiphons of the virgin saint, and the hymn "Jesu Corona Virginum."
The front of Sant' Agnese opens upon the Piazza Navona, a vast oblong square on the site of the ancient Circus Agonalis, decorated with three fountains. That in the centre, by Bernini, supports an obelisk brought from the Circus of Maxentius, where it was erected in honour of Domitian. Around the mass of rock which supports the obelisk are figures of the gods of the four largest rivers (Danube, Nile, Ganges, Rio de la Plata). That of the Nile veiled his face, said Bernini, that he might not be shocked by the façade which was added by Borromini to the Church of St Agnes.
"Bernin s'ingéra de creuser un des fameux piliers de St. Pierre pour y pratiquer un petit escalier montant à la tribune; aussitôt le dôme prit coup et se fendit. On fut obligé de le relier tout entier avec un cercle de fer. Ce n'est point raillerie, le cercle y est encore; le mal n'a pas augmenté depuis. Par malheur pour le pauvre cavalier, on trouva dans les Mémoires de Michel-Ange qu'il avait recommandé, sub pœnâ capitis, de ne jamais toucher aux quatre piliers massifs faits pour supporter le dôme, sachant de quelle masse épouvantable il allait les charger; le pape voulait faire pendre Bernin, qui, pour se rédimer, inventa la fontaine Navone."—De Brosses.
The lower fountain, also by Bernini, is adorned with tritons and the figure of a Moor. The great palace to the right of the church is the Palazzo Pamfili, built by Rainaldi for Innocent X. in 1650. It possesses a ceiling painted by Pietro di Cortona with the adventures of Eneas. Its music-hall is still occasionally used for public concerts.
It was in this palace that the notorious Olympia Maldacchini, foundress of the Pamfili fortunes, besported herself during the reign of her brother-in-law, Innocent X.
"The great object of Donna Olympia was to keep at a distance from Innocent every person and every influence that could either lessen her own, or go shares in the profits to be extracted from it. For this, after all, was the great and ultimate scope of her exertions. To secure the profits of the papacy in hard cash; this was the problem. No appointment to office of any kind was made, except in consideration of a proportionable sum paid down into her own coffers. This often amounted to three or four years' revenue of the place to be granted. Bishoprics and benefices were sold as fast as they became vacant. One story is told of an unlucky disciple of Simon, who on treating with the popess, for a very valuable see, just fallen vacant, and hearing from her a price, at which it might be his, far exceeding all he could command, persuaded the members of his family to sell all they had for the purpose of making this profitable investment. The price was paid, and the bishopric was given to him, but with a fearful resemblance to the case of Ananias, he died within the year; and his ruined family saw the see a second time sold by the insatiable and incorrigible Olympia.... During the last year of Innocent's life, Olympia literally hardly ever quitted him. Once a week, we read, she left the Vatican, secretly by night, accompanied by several porters carrying sacks of coin, the proceeds of the week's extortions and sales, to her own palace. And, during these short absences, she used to lock the pope into his chamber, and take the key with her!"—Trollope's Life of Olympia Pamfili.
On the opposite side of the piazza, some architectural fragments denote the half-ruined Church of S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli of the fifteenth century. It possesses a gothic rose window, which is almost unique in Rome. There is a handsome door on the other side towards the Via della Sediola. The lower end of the square near this is occupied by the Palazzo Lancellotti, built by Pirro Ligorio, behind which is the frescoed front of Palazzo Massimo, mentioned above. The Piazza Navona has been used as a market ever since 1447. In the hot months, the singular custom prevails of occasionally stopping the escape of water from the fountains, and so turning the square into a lake, through which the rich splash about in carriages, and eat ices and drink coffee in the water, while the poor look on from raised galleries. It is supposed that this practice is a remnant of the pleasures of the Naumachia, once annually exhibited almost on this very spot, formerly the Circus Agonalis.
Vitale Mascardi gives an extraordinary account of the magnificent tournament held here in 1634 in honour of the visit of Prince Alexander of Poland, when the piazza was hung with draperies of gold and silver, and Donna Anna Colonna and Donna Costanza Barberini awarded gorgeous prizes of diamonds to noble and princely competitors.
Nearly opposite Sant' Agnese, a short street leads (passing on the left, Arvotti's, the famous Roman-scarf shop) to the front of the Palazzo Madama, which is sometimes said to derive its name from Margaret of Parma, daughter of Charles V., who once occupied it, and sometimes from Catherine de' Medici, who also lived here, and under whom it was altered in its present form by Paolo Marucelli. The balcony towards the piazza is the scene every Saturday at noon of the drawing of the Roman lottery.
"In the middle of the balcony, on the rail, is fixed a glass barrel, with a handle to turn it round. Behind it stand three or four officials, who have been just now ushered in with a blast from two trumpeters, also stationed in the balcony. Immediately behind the glass barrel itself stands a boy of some twelve or thirteen years, dressed in the white uniform of one of the orphan establishments, with a huge white shovel hat. Some time is occupied by the folding, and putting into the barrel, pieces of paper, inscribed with the numbers, from one onwards. Each of these is proclaimed, as folded and put in, by one of the officials who acts as spokesman or crier. At last, after eighty-seven, eighty-eight, and eighty-nine have been given out, he raises his voice to a chant, and sings forth, Numero novanta, 'number ninety,' this completing the number put in.
"And now, or before this, appears on the balcony another character—no less a person than a Monsignore, who appears, not in his ordinary, but in his more solemn official costume; and this connects the ceremonial directly with the spiritual authority of the realm. And now commences the drawing. The barrel having been for some time turned rapidly round to shuffle the numbers, the orphan takes off his hat, makes the sign of the cross, and having waved his open hand in the air to show that it is empty, inserts it into the barrel, and draws out a number, giving it to the Monsignore, who opens it and hands it to the crier. This latter then proclaims it—'Prima-estratta, numero venti cinque.' Then the trumpets blow their blast, and the same is repeated four times more: the proclamation varying each time, Seconda estratta, Terza, Quatra, Quinta, etc., five numbers being thus the whole drawn, out of ninety put in. This done, with various expressions of surprise, delight, or disappointment from the crowd below, the officials disappear, the square empties itself, and all is as usual till the next Saturday at the same time....
"In almost every street in Rome are shops devoted to the purchase of lottery tickets. Two numbers purchased with the double chance of these two numbers turning up are called an ambo, and three purchased with the treble chance of those three turning up, are called a terno, and, of course, the higher and more perilous the stake, the richer the prize, if obtained."—Alford's Letters from Abroad.
"Les étrangers qui viennent à Rome commencent par blâmer sévèrement la loterie. Au bout de quelque temps, l'esprit de tolérance qui est dans l'air pénètre peu-à-peu jusqu'au fond de leur cerveau; ils excusent un jeu philanthropique qui fournit au pauvre peuple six jours d'espérances pour cinq sous. Bientôt, pour se rendre compte du mécanisme de la loterie, ils entrent euxmêmes dans un bureau, en évitant de se laisser voir. Trois mois après, ils poursuivent ouvertement une combinaison savante; ils ont une théorie mathématique qu'ils signeraient volontiers de leur nom; ils donnent des leçons aux nouveaux arrivés; ils érigent le jeu en principe et jurent qu'un homme est impardonnable s'il ne laisse pas une porte ouverte à la Fortune."—About, Rome Contemporaine.
The court at the back of the palazzo is now occupied by the General Post Office.
Close by is the Church of S. Luigi dei Francesi, rebuilt 1589, with a façade by Giacomo della Porta. It contains a number of tombs of eminent Frenchmen who have died in Rome, and some good pictures.
Following the right aisle, the second chapel has frescoes from the life of Sta. Cecilia, by Domenichino (she gives clothes to the poor,—is crowned by an angel with her husband Valerian,—refuses to sacrifice to idols,—suffers martyrdom,—enters into heaven).
"Domenichino is often cold and studied in the principal subject, while the subordinate persons have much grace, and a noble character of beauty. Of this the two frescoes in S. Luigi at Rome, from the life of Sta. Cecilia, are striking examples. It is not the saint herself, bestowing her goods from a balcony, who contributes the chief subject, but the masterly group of poor people struggling for them below. The same may be said of the death of the saint, where the admiration and grief of the bystanders are inimitable."—Kugler.
"Reclining on a couch, in the centre of the picture, her hand pressed on her bosom, her dying eyes raised to heaven, the saint is breathing her last; while female forms, of exquisite beauty and innocence, are kneeling around, or bending over her. The noble figure of an old man, whose clasped hands and bent brow seem to bespeak a father's affection, appears on one side; and lovely children, in all the playful graces of unconscious infancy, as usual in Domenichino's paintings, by contrast heighten, yet relieve, the deep pathos of the scene. From above, an angel—such an angel as Domenichino alone knew how to paint, a cherub form of light and loveliness—is descending on rapid wing, bearing to the expiring saint the crown and palm of glory."—Eaton's Rome.
The copy of Raphael's Sta. Cecilia over the altar is by Guido. The fourth chapel has on the right frescoes by Girolamo Sicciolante, on the left by Pellegrino da Bologna, the altar-piece is by Giacomo del Conte. The fifth chapel has on the right the monument of Agincourt (ob. 1814), the famous archæologist, on the left that of Guerin the painter.
The high altar has an Assumption by Bassano.
The first chapel in the left aisle has a St. Sebastian by Massei. In the fifth chapel, of St. Matthew, three pictures by Caravaggio represent the vocation and martyrdom of that saint.
"The paintings of Caravaggio at S. Luigi belong to his most comprehensive works. The Martyrdom of St Matthew, with the angel with a palm branch squatting upon a cloud, and a boy running away, screaming, though highly animated, is an offensive production. On the other hand, the Calling of the Apostle may be considered as a genre picture of grand characteristic figures; for instance, those of the money-changers and publican at the table; some of them counting money, others looking up astonished at the entrance of the Saviour."—Kugler.
"Over the altar is St. Matthew writing his Gospel; he looks up at the attendant angel, who is behind with outspread wings, and in the act of dictating. On the left is the Calling of St. Matthew: the saint, who has been counting money, rises with one hand on his breast, and turns to follow the Saviour: an old man, with spectacles on his nose, examines with curiosity the personage whose summons has had such a miraculous effect: a boy is slyly appropriating the money which the apostle has thrown down. The third picture is the martyrdom of the saint, who, in the sacerdotal habit, lies extended on a block; while a half-naked executioner raises the sword, and several spectators shrink back with horror. There is nothing dignified or poetical in these representations; and though painted with all that power of effect which characterized Caravaggio, then at the height of his reputation, they have also his coarseness of feeling and execution: the priests were (not without reason) dissatisfied; and it required all the influence of his patron, Cardinal Giustiniani, to induce them to retain the pictures in the church where we now see them."—Jameson's Sacred Art, p. 146.
Amongst the monuments scattered over this church are those of Cardinal d'Ossat, ambassador of Henry IV.; Cardinal de la Grange d'Arquien, father-in-law of Sobieski, who died at the age of 105; Cardinal de la Trémouille, ambassador of Louis XIV.; Madame de Montmorin, with an epitaph by Chateaubriand; and Claude Lorraine, who is buried at the Trinità di Monti.
The pillars which separate the nave and aisles are of splendid Sicilian jasper. They were intended for S. Ignazio, but when the Order of the Jesuits was dissolved by Clement XIV., he presented them to S. Luigi.
The site of this church, the Palazzo Madama, and their adjoining buildings, was once occupied by the baths of Nero. They are commemorated by the name of the small church "S. Salvatore in Thermis."
In front of S. Luigi are the Palaces Patrizi and Giustiniani, and, following—to the right—the Via della Sediola, on the left is the entrance to the University of the Sapienza, founded by Innocent IV. in 1244 as a law school. Its buildings were begun by Pius III. and Julius II., and extended by Leo X. on plans of Michael Angelo. The portico was built under Gregory XIII. by Giacomo della Porta. The northern façade was erected by Borromini, with the ridiculous church (S. Ivo), built in the form of a bee to flatter Urban VIII., that insect being his device. The building is called the Sapienza, from the motto, "Initium Sapientiæ timor Domini," engraved over the window above the principal entrance. Forty professors teach here all the different branches of law, medicine, theology, philosophy, and philology.
Behind the Sapienza is the small Piazza di S. Eustachio, containing on three sides the Giustiniani, Lante, and Maccarini palaces, and celebrated for the festival of the Befana,[309] which takes place here.
"The Piazza and all the adjacent streets are lined with booths covered with every kind of plaything for children. These booths are gaily illuminated with rows of candles and the three-wick'd brass lucerne of Rome; and at intervals, painted posts are set into the pavement, crowned with pans of grease, with a wisp of tow for wick, from which flames blaze and flare about. Besides these, numbers of torches carried about by hand lend a wavering and picturesque light to the scene. By eight o'clock in the evening crowds begin to fill the piazza and the adjacent streets. Long before one arrives the squeak of penny-trumpets is heard at intervals; but in the piazza itself the mirth is wild and furious, and the din that salutes one's ears on entering is almost deafening. The object of every one is to make as much noise as possible, and every kind of instrument for this purpose is sold at the booths. There are drums beating, tamburelli thumping and jingling, pipes squeaking, watchman's rattles clacking, penny-trumpets and tin-horns shrilling, the sharpest whistles shrieking,—and mingling with these is heard the din of voices, screams of laughter, and the confused burr and buzz of a great crowd. On all sides you are saluted by the strangest noises. Instead of being spoken to, you are whistled at. Companies of people are marching together in platoons, or piercing through the crowd in long files, and dancing and blowing like mad on their instruments. It is a perfect witches' Sabbath. Here, huge dolls dressed as Polichinello or Pantaloon are borne about for sale,—or over the heads of the crowd great black-faced jumping-jacks, lifted on a stick, twitch themselves in fantastic fits,—or, what is more Roman than all, long poles are carried about strung with rings of hundreds of Giambelli (a light cake, called jumble in English), which are screamed for sale at a mezzo baiocco each. There is no alternative but to get a drum, whistle, or trumpet, and join in the racket,—and to fill one's pocket with toys for the children, and absurd presents for one's older friends. The moment you are once in for it, and making as much noise as you can, you begin to relish the jest. The toys are very odd, particularly the Roman whistles; some of these are made of pewter, with a little wheel that whirls as you blow; others are of terra-cotta, very rudely modelled into every shape of bird, beast, or human deformity, each with a whistle in its head, breast, or tail, which it is no joke to hear, when blown close to your ears by a stout pair of lungs. The scene is extremely picturesque. Above, the dark vault of night, with its far stars, the blazing and flaring of lights below, and the great, dark walls of the Sapienza and church looking down grimly upon the mirth."—Story's Roba di Roma.
The Church of S. Eustachio commemorates one, who, first a brave soldier of the army of Titus in Palestine, became master of the horse under Trajan, and general under Hadrian, and who suffered martyrdom for refusing to sacrifice to idols, by being roasted alive in a brazen bull before the Coliseum, with his wife Theophista, and his sons, Agapetus and Theophistus. The relics of these saints repose in a porphyry sarcophagus under the high altar. The stags' heads on the portico and on the apex of the gable refer to the legend of the conversion of St. Eustace.
"One day, while hunting in the forest, he saw before him a white stag, of marvellous beauty, and he pursued it eagerly, and the stag fled before him, and ascended a high rock. Then Placidus (Eustace was called Placidus before his conversion), looking up, beheld, between the horns of the stag, a cross of radiant light, and on it the image of the crucified Redeemer; and being astonished and dazzled by this vision, he fell on his knees, and a voice which seemed to come from the crucifix cried to him, and said, 'Placidus! why dost thou pursue me? I am Christ, whom thou hast hitherto served without knowing me. Dost thou now believe?' And Placidus fell with his face to the earth, and said, 'Lord, I believe!' And the voice answered, saying, 'Thou shall suffer many tribulations for my sake, and shalt be tried by many temptations; but be strong and of good courage, and I will not forsake thee.' To which Placidus replied, 'Lord, I am content. Do thou give me patience to suffer!' And when he looked up again the glorious vision had departed."—Jameson's Sacred Art, p. 792.
A similar story is told of St. Hubert, St. Julian, and St. Felix.
A fresco of St. Peter, by Pierino del Vaga, in this church, was much admired by Vasari, who dilates upon the boldness of its design, the simple folds of its drapery, its careful drawing and judicious treatment.
Two streets lead from the Piazza S. Eustachio to—
The Pantheon, the most perfect pagan building in the city, built B.C. 27, by Marcus Agrippa, the bosom friend of Augustus Cæsar, and the second husband of his daughter Julia. The inscription in huge letters, perfectly legible from beneath, "M. AGRIPPA. L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT," records its construction. Another inscription on the architrave, now almost illegible, records its restoration under Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla, c. 202, who, "Pantheum vetustate corruptum cum omni cultu restitverunt." Some authorities have maintained that the Pantheon was originally only a vast hall in the baths of Agrippa, acknowledged remains of which exist at no great distance; but the name "Pantheum" was in use as early as A.D. 59.
In A.D. 399 the Pantheon was closed as a temple in obedience to a decree of the Emperor Honorius, and in 608 was consecrated as a Christian church by Pope Boniface IV., with the permission of the Emperor Phocas, under the title of Sta. Maria ad Martyres. To this dedication we owe the preservation of the main features of the building, though it had been terribly maltreated. In 663 the Emperor Constans, who had come to Rome with great pretence of devotion to its shrines and relics, and who only staid there twelve days, did not scruple, in spite of its religious dedication, to strip off the tiles of gilt bronze with which the roof was covered, and carry them off with him to Syracuse, where, upon his murder, a few years after, they fell into the hands of the Saracens. In 1087 it was used by the anti-pope Guibert as a fortress, whence he made incursions upon the lawful pope, Victor III., and his protector, the Countess Matilda. In 1101, another anti-pope, Sylvester IV., was elected here. Pope Martin V., after the return from Avignon, attempted the restoration of the Pantheon by clearing away the mass of miserable buildings in which it was encrusted, and his efforts were continued by Eugenius IV., but Urban VIII. (1623—44), though he spent 15,000 scudi upon the Pantheon, and added the two ugly campaniles, called in derision "the asses' ears," of their architect, Bernini, did not hesitate to plunder the gilt bronze ceiling of the portico, 450,250 lbs. in weight, to make the baldacchino of St. Peter's, and cannons for the Castle of S. Angelo. Benedict XIV. (1740—58) further despoiled the building by tearing away all the precious marbles which lined the attic, to ornament other buildings.
The Pantheon was not originally, as now, below the level of the piazza, but was approached by a flight of five steps. The portico, which is 110 feet long and 44 feet deep, is supported by sixteen grand Corinthian columns of oriental granite, 36 feet in height. The ancient bronze doors remain. On either side are niches, once occupied by colossal statues of Augustus and Agrippa.