The Project Gutenberg eBook of Walks in Rome, by Augustus J. C. Hare.

549. Jupiter Serapis.

550. *The Barberini Juno.

551. Claudius.

552. Juno Sospita, from Lanuvium. This is the only statue in the Vatican of which we can be certain that it was a worshipped idol; the sandals of the Tyrrhenian Juno turn up at the end,—no other Juno wears these sandals.

553. Plotina, wife of Trajan.

554. Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus.

556. Pertinax.

The Sala a Croce Greca contains:

On the right.—The porphyry sarcophagus of Sta. Constantia, daughter of Constantine the Great, adorned with sculptures of a vintage, brought hither most inappropriately, from her church near St'Agnese.

On the left.—The porphyry sarcophagus of Sta. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, carried off from her tomb (now called Torre Pignatarra) by Anastasius IV., and placed in the Lateran, whence it was brought hither by Pius VI. The restoration of its reliefs, representing battle scenes of the time of Constantine, cost £20,000.

At the end of the hall on the right is a recumbent river-god, said to have been restored by Michael Angelo. The stairs, adorned with twenty ancient columns from Palestrina, lead to:

The Sala della Biga, so called from a white marble chariot, drawn by two horses. Only the body of the chariot (which long served as an episcopal throne in the church of S. Marco) and part of the horse on the right, are ancient; the remainder is restoration. Among the sculptures here, are:

608. Bearded Bacchus.

609. An interesting sarcophagus representing a chariot-race. The chariots are driven by Amorini, who are not attending to what they are about, and drive over one another. The eggs and dolphins on the winning-posts indicated the number of times they had gone round; each time they passed another egg and dolphin were put up.

610. Bacchus, as a woman.

611. Alcibiades?

612. Veiled priest, from the Giustiniani collection.

614. Apollo Citharædus.

615. Discobolus, copy of a bronze statue by Naubides.

616. *Phocion, very remarkable and beautiful from the extreme simplicity of the drapery.

618. Discobolus, copy of the bronze statue of Myron—inferior to that at the Palazzo Massimo.

"Il n'y a pas une statue dont l'original soit connu avec plus de certitude que le Discobole. Cet original fut l'athlète lançant le disque de Myron.

"C'est bien la statue se contournant avec effort dont parle Quintilien; en effet, la statue, penchée en avant et dans l'attitude du jet, porte le corps sur une jambe, tandis que l'autre est traînante derrière lui. Ce n'est pas la main, c'est la personne tout entière qui va lancer le disque."—Ampère, Hist. Rom. iii. 270.

619. Charioteer.

Proceeding in a straight line from the top of the stairs, we enter:

The Galleria dei Candelabri, 300 feet long, filled with small pieces of sculpture. Among these we may notice in the centre, on the right, Bacchus and Silenus, found near the Sancta-Sanctorum, also:

194. Boy with a goose.

224. Nemesis.

'Une petite statue da Vatican rappelle une curieuse anecdote dont le héros est Agoracrite. Alcamène et lui avaient fait chacun une statue de Vénus. Celle d'Alcamène fut jugée la meilleure par les Athéniens. Agoracrite, indigné de ce qui lui semblait une injustice, transforma la sienne en Némésis, déesse vengeresse de l'équité violée, et le rendit aux habitants du bourg de Rhamnus, à condition qu'elle ne serait jamais exposée à Athènes. Ceci montre combien sa Vénus avait gardé la sévérité du type primitif. Ce n'est pas de la Vénus du Capitole ou de la Vénus de Médicis, qu'on aurait pu faire une Némésis. Némésis avait pour emblème la coudée, signe de la mesure que Némésis ne permet point de dépasser, et l'avant-bras était la figure de la coudée, par suite, de la mesure. C'est pourquoi quand on représentait Némésis on plaçait toujours l'avant-bras de manière d'attirer sur lui l'attention. Dans la Némésis du Vatican la donnée sévère est devenue un motif aimable. Cet avant-bras, qu'il fallait montrer pour rappeller une loi terrible, Némésis le montre en effet, mais elle s'en sert avec grâce pour rattacher son vêtement."—Ampère, Hist. Rom. iii. 260.

253. Statuette of Ceres, the head from some other statue.

Hence we enter:

The Galleria degli Arazzi (open gratis on Mondays), hung with tapestries from the New Testament History, executed for the lower walls of the Sistine Chapel, in 1515—16, for Leo X., from the cartoons of Raphael, of which seven were purchased in Flanders by Charles I., and are now at Hampton Court. The tapestries are ill arranged. According to their present order, beginning on the left wall, they are:

1. St. Peter receiving the keys. (On the border, the flight of Cardinal de' Medici from Florence in 1494, disguised as a Franciscan Monk.)

2. The Miraculous draught of Fishes.

3. The Sacrifice at Lystra.

4. St. Paul preaching at Athens.

5. The Saviour and Mary Magdalene.

6. The Supper at Emmaus.

7. The Presentation in the Temple.

8. The Adoration of the Shepherds.

9. The Ascension.

10. The Adoration of the Magi.

11. The Resurrection.

12. The Day of Pentecost.

Returning, on the right wall, are:

1. An Allegorical Composition of the Triumph of Religion (by Van Orley and other pupils of Raphael).

2. The Stoning of Stephen (on the border the return of the Cardinal de' Medici to Florence as Legate).

3. Elymas the Sorcerer (?—removed 1869—70).

4, 5, 6. Massacre of the Innocents.

7. (Smaller than the others.) Christ falling under the Cross.

8. Christ appearing to his disciples on the shore of the Lake of Galilee.

9. Peter and John healing the lame man.

10. The Conversion of St. Paul.

The Arazzi were long used as church decorations on high festivals.

"On Corpus-Christi Day I learnt the true destination of the Tapestries, when they transformed colonnades and open spaces into handsome halls and corridors: and while they placed before us the power of the most gifted of men, they gave us at the same time the happiest example of art and handicraft, each in its highest perfection, meeting for mutual completion."—Goethe.

The Library of the Vatican is shown from 12 to 3, except on Sundays and festivals, but the visitor is hurried through in a crowd by a custode, and there is no time for examination of the individual objects. The entrance is by a door on the left at the end of the Galleria Lapidaria, which leads to the museum of statues. The Papal Library was founded by the early popes at the Lateran. The Public Library was begun by Nicholas V., and greatly increased under Sixtus IV. (1475) and Sixtus V. (1588), who built the present halls for the collection. In 1623 the library was increased by the gift of the "Bibliotheca Palatina" of Heidelberg, captured by Tilly from Maximilian of Bavaria; in 1657 by the "Bibliotheca Urbinas," founded by Federigo da Montefeltro; in 1690 by the "Bibliotheca Reginensis," or "Alexandrina," which belonged to Christina of Sweden; in 1746 by the Bibliotheca Ottoboniana, purchased by the Ottobuoni pope, Alexander VIII. The number of Greek, Latin, and Oriental MSS. in the collection has been reckoned at 23,580.

The ante-chambers are hung with portraits of the Librarians;—among them, in the first room, is that of Cardinal Mezzofanti. In this room are facsimiles of the columns found in the Triopium of Herodes Atticus (see the account of the Valle Caffarelli), of which the originals are at Naples. From the second ante-chamber we enter the Great Hall, 220 feet long, decorated with frescoes by Scipione Gaetani, Cesare Nebbia, and others,—unimportant in themselves, but producing a rich general effect of colour. No books or MSS. are visible; they are all enclosed in painted cupboards, so that of a library there is no appearance whatever, and it is only disappointing to be told that in one cupboard are the MSS. of the Greek Testament of the fifth century, Virgil of the fifth, and Terence of the fourth centuries, and that another contains a Dante, with miniatures by Giulio Clovio,[348] &c. Ranged along the middle of the hall are some of the handsome presents made to Pius IX. by different foreign potentates, including the Sèvres font, in which the Prince Imperial was baptized, presented by Napoleon III., and some candelabra given by Napoleon I. to Pius VII. At the end of the hall, long corridors open out on either side. Turning to the left, the second room has two interesting frescoes—one representing St. Peter's as designed by Michael Angelo, the other the erection of the obelisk in the Piazza S. Pietro under Fontana. At the end of the third room are two ancient statues, said to represent Aristides, and Hippolytus Bishop of Porto. The fourth room is a museum of Christian antiquities, and contains, on the left, a collection of lamps and other small objects from the Catacombs; on the right, some fine ivories by Guido da Spoleto, and a Deposition from the Cross attributed to Michael Angelo. The room beyond this, painted by Raphael Mengs, is called the Stanza dei Papiri, and is adorned with papyri of the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. The next room has an interesting collection of pictures, by early masters of the schools of Giotto, Giottino, Cimabue, and Fra Angelico. Here is a Prie Dieu, of carved oak and ivory, presented to Pius IX. by the four bishops of the province of Tours.

At the end of this room, not generally shown, is the Chapel of St. Pius V.

The Appartamenti Borgia, which are reached from hence, are only shown by a special permission, difficult to obtain. They consist of four rooms, which were built by Alexander VI., though their beautiful decorations were chiefly added by Leo X. The first room is painted by Giovanni da Udine and Pierino del Vaga, and represents the course of the planets,—Jupiter drawn by eagles, Venus by doves, Diana (the moon) by nymphs, Mars by wolves, Mercury by cocks, Apollo (the sun) by horses, Saturn by dragons. These frescoes, executed at the time Michael Angelo was painting the Last Judgment, are interesting as the last revival under Clement VII. of the pagan art so popular in the papal palace under Leo X.

The second room, painted by Pinturicchio, has beautiful lunettes of the Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, Resurrection, Ascension, Descent of the Holy Ghost, and Assumption of the Virgin. The ceiling of the third room has paintings by Pinturicchio of the Martyrdom of St Sebastian; the Visitation of St Elizabeth; the Meeting of St Anthony with St. Paul, the first hermit; St. Catherine before Maximian; the Flight of St. Barbara; St. Julian of Nicomedia; and, over the door, the Virgin and Child. This last picture is of curious historical interest, as a relic of the libertinism of the court of Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Borgia), the "figure of the Virgin being a faithful representation of Giulia Farnese, the too celebrated Vanozza," mistress of the pope, and mother of his children, Cæsar and Lucrezia. "She held upon her knees the infant Jesus, and Alexander knelt at her feet."

The fourth room, also painted by Pinturicchio, is adorned with allegorical figures of the Arts and Sciences, and of the Cardinal Virtues.

"On the accession of the infamous Alexander VI., Pinturicchio was employed by him to paint the Appartamento Borgia, and a great number of rooms, both in the castle of S. Angelo and in the pontifical palace. The patronage of this pope was still more fatal to the arts than that of the Medici at Florence. The subjects represented in the castle of S. Angelo were drawn from the life of Alexander himself, and the portraits of his relations and friends were introduced there,—amongst others, those of his brothers, sisters, and that of the infamous Cæsar Borgia. To all acquainted with the scandalous history of this family, this representation appeared a commemoration of their various crimes, and it was impossible to regard it in any other light, when, in addition to the publicity they affected to give to these scandalous excesses, they appeared desirous of making art itself their accomplice; and by an excess of profanation hitherto unexampled in the Catholic world, Alexander VI. caused himself to be represented, in a room in the Vatican, in the costume of one of the Magi, kneeling before the holy Virgin, whose head was no other than the portrait of the beautiful Giulia Farnese ('Vanozza'), whose adventures are unfortunately too well known. We may indeed say that the walls have in this case made up for the silence of the courtiers: for on them was traced, for the benefit of contemporaries and posterity, an undeniable proof of the depravity of the age.

"At the sight of that Appartamento Borgia, which is entirely painted by Pinturicchio, we shall experience a sort of satisfaction in discovering the inferiority of this purely mercenary work, as compared with the other productions of the same artist, and we cannot but rejoice that it is so unworthy of him. Such an ignoble task was not adapted to an artist of the Umbrian school, and there is good reason to believe that, after this act of servility, Pinturicchio became disgusted with Rome, and returned to the mountains of Umbria, in search of nobler inspirations."—Rio. Poetry of Christian Art.

A door on the right of the room with the old pictures opens into a room containing a very interesting collection of ancient frescoes. On the right wall is the celebrated "Nozze Aldobrandini," found in 1606 [349] in some ruins belonging to the baths of Titus near the arch of Gallienus on the Esquiline, and considered to be the finest specimen of ancient pictorial art in Rome. It was purchased at first by the Aldobrandini family, whence its name. It represents an ancient Greek ceremony, possibly the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis. There is a fine copy by Nicholas Poussin in the Doria Palace.

"S'il fait allusion à un sujet mythologique, le réel y est à côté de l'idéal, et la mythologie y est appliquée à la représentation d'un mariage ordinaire. Tout porte à y voir une peinture romaine, mais l'auteur s'était inspiré des Grecs, comme on s'en inspirait presque toujours à Rome. La nouvelle mariée, assise sur le lit nuptial et attendant son époux, a cette expression de pudeur virginale, d'embarras modeste, qui avait rendu célèbre un tableau dont le sujet était le mariage de Roxane et l'auteur Ætion, peintre grec."—Ampère, Hist. Rom. iv. 127.

Opposite to this is a Race of the Cupids, from Ostia. The other frescoes in this room were found in the ruins on the Esquiline and at the Torre di Marancia.

The Etruscan Museum can be visited on application to the custode, every day except Monday, from 10 to 2. It is reached by the staircase which passes the entrance to the Gallery of Candelabra: after which one must ring at a closed door on the right.

"This magnificent collection is principally the fruit of the excavating partnership established, some twelve or fifteen years since, between the Papal government and the Campanari of Toscanella; and will render the memory of Gregory XVI., who forwarded its formation with more zeal than he ordinarily displayed, ever honoured by all interested in antiquarian science. As the excavations were made in the neighbourhood of Vulci, most of the articles are from that necropolis; yet the collection has been considerably enlarged by the addition of others previously in the possession of the government, and still more by recent acquisitions from the Etruscan cemeteries of Cervetri, Corneto, Bomarzo, Orte, Toscanella, and other sites within the Papal dominions."—Dennis.

The 1st Room—

Contains three sarcophagi of terra-cotta from Toscanella, with three life-size figures reposing upon them. Their extreme length is remarkable. The figure on the left wears a fillet, indicating priesthood. The head of the family was almost always priest or priestess. Most of the objects in terra-cotta, which have been discovered, come from Toscanella. The two horses' heads in this room, in nenfro, i.e. volcanic tufa, were found at the entrance of a tomb at Vulci.

The 2nd Room—

Is a corridor filled with cinerary urns, chiefly from Volterra, bearing recumbent figures, ludicrously stunted. The large sarcophagus on the left supports the bearded figure of a man, and is adorned with reliefs of a figure in a chariot and musicians painted red. The urns in this room are of alabaster, which is the characteristic of Volterra.

The 3rd Room—

Has in the centre a large sarcophagus of nenfro, found at Tarquinii, in 1834, supporting a reclining figure of a Lucumo, with a scroll in his hand, "recalling the monuments of the middle ages." At the sides are reliefs representing the story of Clytemnestra and Ægisthus,—the Theban brothers,—the sacrifice of Clytemnestra,—and Pyrrhus slaying the infant Astyanax. In this room is a slab with a bilingual inscription, in Latin and Umbrian, from Todi. In the comers are some curious cinerary urns shaped like houses.

The 4th Room—

Is the Chamber of Terra-cottas. In the centre is a most beautiful statue of Mercury found at Tivoli. At the sides are fragments of female figures from Vulci,—and an interesting terra-cotta urn from Toscanella, with a youth lying on a couch. "From the gash in his thigh, and the hound at his bed-side, he is usually called Adonis; but it may be merely the effigy of some young Etruscan, who met his death in the wild-boar chase."

The 5th Room—

This and the three following rooms are occupied by Vases. The vases in the 5th room are mostly small amphoræ, in the second or Archaic style, with black figures on the ground of the clay. On a column, near the window, is a Crater, or mixing-vase, from Vulci, with parti-coloured figures on a very pale ground, and in the most beautiful style of Greek art. It represents Mercury presenting the infant Bacchus to Silenus. To the left of the window is a humorous representation of the visit of Jupiter and Mercury to Alcmena, who is looking at them out of a window. In the cabinets are objects in crystal from Palestrina.

The 6th Room—

In the centre of this room are five magnificent vases. The central, from Cervetri, "is of the rare form called Holmos—a large globe-shaped bowl on a tall stand, like an enormous cup and ball;" its paintings are of wild animals. Nearest the entrance is, with three handles, "a Calpis, of the third or perfect style," from Vulci, with paintings of Apollo and six Muses. Behind this, from Vulci, is "a large Amphora of the second or Archaic style," in which hardness and severity of design are combined with most conscientious execution of detail. It represents Achilles ("Achilleos") and Ajax ("Aiantos") playing at dice, or astralagi. Achilles cries "Four!" and Ajax "Three!"—the said words, in choice Attic, issuing from their mouths. The maker's name, "Echsekias," is recorded, as well as that of "the brave Onetorides" to whom it was presented. On the other side of the vase is a family scene of "Kastor" with his horse, and "Poludeukes" playing with his dog, "Tyndareos" and "Leda" standing by. 4th, is an Amphora from Cære, representing the body of Achilles borne to Peleus and Thetis. 5th, is a Calpis from Vulci, representing the death of Hector in the arms of Minerva.

The 6th vase on the shelf of the entrance wall is the kind of amphora called a Pelice, from Cære. "Two men are represented sitting under an olive-tree, each with an amphora at his feet," and one who is measuring the oil exclaims, "O father Jupiter, would that I were rich!" On the reverse of the vase is the same pair, at a subsequent period, when the prayer has been heard, and the oil-dealer cries, "Verily, yea, verily, it hath been filled to overflowing." By the window is a Calpis, representing a boy with a hoop in one hand, and a stolen cock in the other, for which his tutor is reproving him.

The 7th Room—

Is an arched corridor. In the second niche, is a Hydria with Minerva and Hercules, from Vulci. Sixth on the line, is an Amphora from Vulci; "'Ekabe' (Hecuba) presents a goblet to her son, 'the brave Hector,'—and regards him with such intense interest, that she spills the wine as she pours it out to him. 'Priamos' stands by, leaning on his staff, looking mournfully at his son, as if presaging his fate." Many other vases in this room are of great beauty.

The 8th Room—

"Contains Cylices or Pateræ, which are more rare than the upright vases, and not inferior in beauty."

The 9th Room—

Entered from the 6th room, is the jewel room. Among the bronzes on the right, is a warrior in armour found at Todi in 1835 and a bronze couch with a raised place for the head, found in the Regulini Galassi tomb at Cervetri, where it bore the corpse of a high priest. A boy with a bulla, sitting, from Tarquinii, is "supposed to represent Tages, the mysterious boy-god, who sprung from the furrows of that site."

At the opposite end of the room is a biga or war-chariot, not Etruscan, but Roman, found in the villa of the Quintilii, near the Via Appia. Near this are some colossal fragments of bronze statues, found near Civita Vecchia. A beautiful oval Cista, with a handle formed by two swans bearing a boy and a girl, is from Vulci; and so are the braziers or censers retaining the tongs, shovel, and rake, found with them:—"the tongs are on wheels, and terminate in serpents' heads; the shovel handle ends in a swan's neck; and the rake in a human hand." Among the smaller relics are a curious bottle from Cære, with an Etruscan alphabet and spelling lesson (!) scratched upon it, and a pair of Etruscan clogs found in a tomb at Vulci.

In the centre of the room is the jewel-case of glass. The whole of the upper division and one compartment of the lower are devoted to Cervetri (Cære). All these objects are from the Regulini Galassi tomb, for all the other tombs had been rifled at an early period, except one, whence the objects were taken by Campana. The magnificent oak-wreath with the small ornaments and the large ear-rings were worn by a lady, over whom was written in Etruscan characters, "Me Larthia,"—I, the Great Lady,—evidently because at the time of her death, 3000 years ago, it was supposed that she was so very great that the memory of her name could never by any possibility perish, and that therefore it was quite unnecessary to record it. The tomb was divided, and she was walled up with precious spices (showing what the commerce of Etruria must have been) in one half of it. It was several hundred years before any one was found of sufficient dignity to occupy the other half of the great lady's tomb. Then the high priest of Etruria died, and was buried there with all his ornaments. His were the large bracelets, the fillets for the head, with the plate of gold covering the head, and a second plate of gold which covered the forehead—worn only on the most solemn occasions. This may be considered to have been the headdress of Aaron. His also was the broad plate of gold, covering the breast, reminding of the Urim and Thummim. The bronze bed on which he lay (and on which the ornaments were found lying where the body had mouldered) is preserved in another part of the room, and the great incense burner filled with precious spices which was found by his side. The three large bollas on his breast were filled with incense, whose perfume was still so strong when the tomb was opened, that those who burnt it could not remain in the room.

The ivy leaves on the ornaments denote the worship of Bacchus, a late period in Etruria: laurel denotes a victor in battle or the games.

The 10th Room—

(Entrance on right of the jewel-room), is a passage containing a number of Roman water-pipes of lead, and the bronze figure of a boy with a bird and an Etruscan inscription on his leg, from Perugia.

The 11th Room—

Is hung with paintings on canvas copied from the principal tombs of Vulci and Tarquinii. Beginning from the right, on entering, they take the following order:

From the Camera del Morto: Tarquinii.
From the Grotta delle Bighe, or Grotta Stackelberg: Tarquinii.
From the Grotta Querciola: Tarquinii
From the Grotta della Iscrizioni: Tarquinii.
From the Grotta del Triclinio, or Grotta Marzi: Tarquinii.
From the Grotta del Barone, or Grotta del Ministro: Tarquinii.
From the painted tomb at Vulci.

"All the paintings from Tarquinii are still to be seen on that site, though not in so perfect a state as they are here represented. But the tomb at Vulci is utterly destroyed."

Each of the paintings is most interesting. That of the death-bed scene proves that the Etruscans believed in the immortality of the soul. In the upper division a daughter is mounting on a stool to reach the high bed and give a last kiss to her dying father, while the son is wailing and lamenting in the background. Below, is the rejoicing spirit, freed from the trammels of the flesh.

In the scenes representing the games, the horses are painted bright red and bright blue, or black and red. These may be considered to have been the different colours of the rival parties. A number of jars for oil and wine are arranged in this room. All the black pottery is from Northern Etruria.

The 12th Room (entered from the left of the jewel room) is a very meagre and most inefficient facsimile of an ordinary Etruscan tomb. It is guarded by two lions in nenfro, found at Vulci.[350]

The Egyptian Museum is entered by a door on the left of the entrance of the Museo Pio-Clementino. It is open gratis on Mondays from 12 to 3. The collection is chiefly due to Pius VII. and Gregory XVI. The greater part is of no especial importance.

The 6th Room contains eight statues of the goddess Pasht from Carnac.

The 8th Room is occupied by Roman imitations of Egyptian statues, from the Villa Adriana.

"Ces statues sont toutes des traductions de l'art égyptien en art grec. L'alliance, la fusion de la sculpture égyptienne et de la sculpture gréco-romaine est un des traits les plus saillantes de cosmopolitisme si étranger à d'anciennes traditions nationales, et dont Adrien, par ses voyages, ses goûts, ces monuments, fut la plus éclatante manifestation.

"Sauf l'Antinoüs, les produits de cette sculpture d'imitation bien que datant d'une époque encore brillante de l'art romain, ne sauraient le disputer à leurs modèles. Pour s'en convaincre, il suffit de les comparer aux statues vraiment égyptiennes qui remplissent une salle voisine. Dans celles-ci, la réalité du détail est méprisée et sacrifiée; mais les traits fondamentaux, les linéaments essentiels de la forme sont rendus admirablement. De là un grand style, car employer l'expression la plus générale, c'est le secret de la grandeur du style, comme a dit Buffon. Cette élévation, cette sobriété du génie égyptien ne se retrouvent plus dans les imitations bâtardes du temps d'Adrien."—Ampère, Emp. ii. 197, 202.

On the right is the Nile in black marble; opposite the entrance is a colossal statue of Antinous, the favourite of Hadrian, in white marble.

"Il est naturel qu'Antinoüs, qui s'était, disait-on, précipité dans le Nil, ait été représenté sous les traits d'un dieu égyptien ... La physiognomie triste d'Antinoüs sied bien à un dieu d'Egypte, et le style grec emprunte au reflet du style égyptien une grandeur sombre."—Ampère, Emp. ii 196.

The 9th Room contains colossal Egyptian statues. On the right is the figure of the mother of Rhamses II. (Sesostris) between two lions of basalt, which were found in the Baths of Agrippa, and which long decorated the Fontana dei Termini. Upon the base of these lions is inscribed the name of the Egyptian king Nectanebo.

"Dans cette sculpture bien égyptienne, on sent déjà le souffle de l'art grec. La pose de ces lions est la pose roide et monumentale des lions à tête humaine de Louqsor; la crinière est encore de convention, mais la vie est exprimée, les muscles sont accusés avec un soin et un relief que la sculpture purement égyptienne n'a pas connus."—Ampère, Emp. ii. 198.

"Ces lions ont une expression remarquable de force et de repos; il y a quelque chose dans leur physiognomie qui n'appartient ni à l'animal ni à l'homme: ils semblent une puissance de la nature, et l'on conçoit, en les voyant, comment les dieux du paganisme pouvaient être représentés sous cet emblème."—Mad. de Staël.

In the centre of the entrance-wall are, Ptolemy-Philadelphus, and, on his left, his queen Arsinoë, of red granite. These were found in the gardens of Sallust, and were formerly preserved in the Senator's Palace.

"There is a fine collection of Egyptian antiquities in the Vatican; and the ceilings of the rooms in which they are arranged, are painted to represent a starlight sky in the desert. It may seem an odd idea, but it is very effective. The grim, half-human monsters from the temples, look more grim and monstrous underneath the deep dark blue; it sheds a strange uncertain gloomy air on everything—a mystery adapted to the objects; and you leave them, as you find them, shrouded in a solemn night."—Dickens.

The Egyptian Gallery has an egress into the Sala a Croce Greca.

The windows of the Egyptian Museum look upon the inner Garden of the Vatican, which may be reached by a door at the end of the long gallery of the Museo Chiaramonti, before ascending to the Torso. The garden which is thus entered, called Giardino della Pigna, is in fact merely the second great quadrangle of the Vatican, planted with shrubs and flowers. Several interesting relics are preserved here. In the centre is the Pedestal of the Column of Antoninus Pius, found in 1709 on the Monte Citorio. The column was a simple memorial pillar of granite, erected by the two adopted sons of the emperor, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. It was broken up to mend the obelisk of Psammeticus I. at the Monte Citorio. Among the reliefs of the pedestal is one of a winged genius guiding Antoninus and Faustina to Olympus. In the great semicircular niche of Bramante, at the end of the court-garden, is the famous Pigna, a gigantic fir-cone, which once crowned the summit of the Mausoleum of Hadrian. Thence it was first removed to the front of the old basilica of St. Peter's. In the fresco of the old St. Peter's at S. Martino al Monte, the pigna is introduced, but it is there placed in the centre of the nave, a position it never occupied. Dante saw it at St. Peter's, and compares it to a giant's head (it is eleven feet high) which he saw through the mist in the last circle of hell.

"La faccia mi parea lunga e grossa
Come la pina di S. Pietro in Roma."

On either side of the pigna are two bronze peacocks, which are said to have stood on either side the entrance of Hadrian's Mausoleum.

"Je pense qu'ils y avaient été placés en l'honneur des impératrices dont les cendres devaient s'y trouver. La paon consacré à Junon était le symbole de l'apothéose des impératrices, comme l'oiseau dédié à Jupiter celui de l'apothéose des empereurs, car le mausolée d'Adrien n'était pas pour lui seul, mais, comme avaient été le mausolée d'Auguste et le temple des Flaviens, pour toute la famille impériale."—Ampère, Emp. ii. 212.

A flight of steps leads from this court to the narrow Terrace of the Navicella, in front of the palace, so called from a bronze ship with which its fountain is decorated. The visitor should beware of the tricksome water-works upon this terrace.

Beyond the courtyard is the entrance to the larger garden, which may be reached in a carriage by those who do not wish to visit the palace on the way, by driving round through the courts at the back of St. Peter's. Formerly it was always open till 2 P.M., after which hour the pope went there to walk, or to ride upon his white mule. It is a most delightful retreat for the hot days of May and June, and before that time its woods are carpeted with wild violets and anemones. No one who has not visited them can form any idea of the beauty of these ancient groves, interspersed with fountains and statues, but otherwise left to nature, and forming a fragment of sylvan scenery quite unassociated with the English idea of a garden. They are backed by the walls of the Borgo, and a fine old tower of the time of Leo IV. The Casino del Papa, or Villa Pia,[351] built by Pius IV. in the lower and more cultivated portion of the ground, is the chef-d'œuvre of the architect, Pirro Ligorio, and is decorated with paintings by Baroccio, Zucchero, and Santi di Tito, and a set of terra-cotta reliefs collected by Agincourt and Canova. The shell decorations are pretty and curious.

During the hours which he spent daily in this villa, its founder Pius IV. enjoyed that easy and simple life for which he was far better fitted by nature than for the affairs of government; but here also he received the counsels of his nephew S. Carlo Borromeo, who, summoned to Rome in 1560, became for several succeeding years the real ruler of the state. Here he assembled around him all those who were distinguished by their virtue or talents, and held many of the meetings which received the name of Notte Vaticane—at first employed in the pursuit of philosophy and poetry, but—after the necessity of Church reform became apparent both to the pope and to S. Carlo—entirely devoted to the discussion of sacred subjects. In this villa the late popes, Pius VIII. and Gregory XVI., used frequently to give their audiences.

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

"Le Vatican était encombré, sous Leon X., d'historiens, de savants, de poëtes surtout. 'La tourbe importune des poëtes,' s'écrie Valérianus, 'le poursuit de porte en porte, tantôt sous les portiques, tantôt à la promenade, tantôt au palais, tantôt à la chambre, penetralibus in imis; elle ne respecte ni son repos, ni les graves affaires qui l'occupent aujourd'hui que l'incendie ravage le monde.' On remarquait dans cette foule: Berni, le poëte burlesque; Flaminio, le poëte élégiaque; Molza, l'enfant de Pétrarque, et Postumo, Maroni, Carteromachus, Fedra Inghirami, le savant bibliothécaire, et la grande lumière d'Arezzo, comme dit l'Arioste, l'unique Accolti. Accolti jouit pendant toute la durée du seizième siècle d'une réputation que la postérité n'a pas confirmée. On l'appelait le céleste. Lorsqu'il devait réciter ses vers, les magasins étaient fermés comme en un jour de fête, et chacun accourait pour l'entendre. Il était entouré de prélats de la première distinction; un corps de troupes suisses l'accompagnait, et l'auditoire était éclairé par des flambeaux. Un jour qu'Accolti entrait chez le pape:—Ouvrez toutes les portes, s'écria Léon, et laissez entrer la foule. Accolti récita un ternale à la Vierge, et, quand il eut fini, mille acclamations retentirent: Vive le poëte divin, vive l'incomparable Accolti! Léon était le premier à applaudir, et le duché de Nessi devenait la récompense du poëte.

"Une autre fois, c'était Paul Jove, l'homme aux ouï-dires, comme l'appelle Rabelais, qui venait lire des fragments de son histoire, et que Léon X. saluait du titre de Tite-Live italien. Il y avait dans ces éloges, dans ces encouragements donnés avec entraînement, mais avec tact, je ne sais quel souffle de vie pour l'intelligence, qui l'activait et qui lui faisait rendre au centuple les dons qu'elle avait reçus du ciel. Rome entière était devenue un musée, une académie; partout des chants, partout la science, la poésie, les beaux-arts, une sorte de volupté dans l'étude. Ici, c'est Calcagnini, qui a déjà déviné la rotation de la terre; là, Ambrogio de Pise, qui parle chaldéen et arabe; plus loin, Valérianus, que la philologie, l'archéologie, la jurisprudence revendiquent à la fois, et qui se distrait de ses doctes travaux par des poésies dignes d'Horace."—Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne, ii. 114.

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

1st Arcade.
1. Creation of Light.[352] 2. Creation of Dry Land. 3. Creation of the Sun and Moon. 4. Creation of Animals.	—Raphael.
2nd Arcade.
1. Creation of Eve. 2. The Fall. 3. The Exile from Eden. 4. The Consequence of the Fall.	—Giulio Romano.
3rd Arcade.
1. Noah builds the Ark. 2. The Deluge. 3. The Coming forth from the Ark. 4. The Sacrifice of Noah.	—Giulio Romano.
4th Arcade.
1. Abraham and Melchizedek. 2. The Covenant of God with Abraham. 3. Abraham and the three Angels. 4. Lot's flight from Sodom.	—Francesco Penni.
5th Arcade.
1. God appears to Isaac. 2. Abimelech sees Isaac with Rebecca. 3. Isaac gives Jacob the blessing. 4. Isaac blesses Esau also.	—Francesco Penni.
6th Arcade.
1. Jacob's Ladder. 2. Jacob meets Rachel. 3. Jacob upbraids Laban. 4. The journey of Jacob.	—Pellegrino da Modena.
7th Arcade.
1. Joseph tells his dream. 2. Joseph sold into Egypt. 3. Joseph and Potiphar's wife. 4. Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream.	—Giulio Romano.
8th Arcade.
1. The Finding of Moses. 2. Moses and the Burning Bush. 3. The Destruction of Pharaoh. 4. Moses striking the rock.	—Giulio Romano.
9th Arcade.
1. Moses receives the Tables of the Law. 2. The Worship of the Golden Calf. 3. Moses breaks the Tables. 4. Moses kneels before the Pillar of Cloud.	—Raffaello da Colle.
10th Arcade.
1. The Israelites cross the Jordan. 2. The Fall of Jericho. 3. Joshua stays the course of the Sun. 4. Joshua and Eleazer divide the Promised Land.	—Pierino del Vaga.
11th Arcade.
1. Samuel anoints David. 2. David and Goliath. 3. The Triumph of David. 4. David sees Bathsheba.	—Pierino del Vaga.
12th Arcade.
1. Zadok anoints Solomon. 2. The Judgment of Solomon. 3. The Coming of the Queen of Sheba. 4. The Building of the Temple.	—Pellegrino da Modena.
13th Arcade.
1. Adoration of the Shepherds. 2. Coming of the Magi. 3. Baptism of Christ. 4. Last Supper.	—Giulio Romano.

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

Close to the entrance of the Loggie is that of

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

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

"Raphaël se multiplie, il se prodigue, avec une fécondité de toutes les heures. De jeunes disciples, admirateurs de son beau génie, le servent avec amour, et sont déjà admis à l'honneur d'attacher leurs noms à quelques parties de ses magnifiques travaux. Le maître leur distribue leur tâche: à Jules Romain, le brillant coloris des vêtements et peut-être même le dessin de quelques figures; au Fattore, à Jean d'Udine, les arabesques; à frère Jean de Vérone les clairs-obscurs des portes et des lambris qui doivent compléter la décoration de ces spendides appartements. Et lui, que se réserve-t-il?—la pensée qui anime tout, le génie qui enfante et qui dirige."—Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne.

Entrance Wall.—The Address of Constantine to his troops and the vision of the Fiery Cross: Giulio Romano. On the left, St Peter between the Church and Eternity,—on the right, Clement I. (the martyr) between Moderation and Gentleness.

Right Wall.—The Battle of the Ponte Molle and the Defeat of Maxentius by Constantine, designed by Raphael, and executed by Giulio Romano. On the left is Sylvester I. between Faith and Religion, on the right Urban I. (the friend of Cecilia) between Justice and Charity.

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

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