Entrance Wall.—Heliodorus driven out of the Temple (Maccabees iii.). In the background Onias the priest is represented praying for divine interposition;—in the foreground Heliodorus, pursued by two avenging angels, is endeavouring to bear away the treasures of the Temple. Amid the group on the left is seen Julius II. in his chair of state, attended by his secretaries. One of the bearers in front is Marc-Antonio Raimondi, the engraver of Raphael's designs. The man with the inscription, 'Jo. Petro de Folicariis Cremonen,' was secretary of briefs to Pope Julius.
"Here you may almost fancy you hear the thundering approach of the heavenly warrior and the neighing of his steed; while in the different groups who are plundering the treasures of the Temple, and in those who gaze intently on the sudden consternation of Heliodorus, without being able to divine its cause, we see the expression of terror, amazement, joy, humility, and every passion to which human nature is exposed."—Lanzi.
Left Wall.—The Miracle of Bolsena. A priest at Bolsena, who refused to believe in the doctrine of transubstantiation, is convinced by the bleeding of the host. On the right kneels Julius II., with Cardinal Riario, founder of the Cancelleria. This was the last fresco executed by Raphael under Julius II.
Right Wall.—Peter delivered from prison. A fresco by Pietro della Francesca was destroyed to make room for this picture, which is said to have allusion to the liberation of Leo X., while Legate in Spain, after his capture at the battle of Ravenna. This fresco is considered especially remarkable for its four lights, those from the double representation of the angel, from the torch of the soldier, and from the moon.
Wall of Egress.—The Flight of Attila. Leo I. (with the features of Leo X.) is represented on his white mule, with his cardinals, calling upon SS. Peter and Paul, who appear in the clouds, for aid against Attila. The Coliseum is seen in the background.
The Stanza della Segnatura is so called from a judicial assembly once held here. The frescoes in this chamber are illustrative of the Virtues of Theology, Philosophy, Poetry, and Jurisprudence, who are represented on the ceiling by Raphael, in the midst of arabesques by Sodoma. The square pictures by Raphael refer:—the Fall of Man to Theology; the Study of the Globe to Philosophy; the Flaying of Marsyas to Poetry; and the Judgment of Solomon to Jurisprudence.
Entrance Wall.—"The School of Athens." Raphael consulted Ariosto as to the arrangement of its 52 figures. In the centre, on the steps of a portico, are seen Plato and Aristotle, Plato pointing to heaven, and Aristotle to earth. On the left is Socrates conversing with his pupils, amongst whom is a young warrior, probably Alcibiades. Lying upon the steps in front is Diogenes. To his left Pythagoras is writing on his knee, and near him, with ink and pen, is Empedocles. The youth in the white mantle is Francesco Maria della Rovere, nephew of Julius II. On the right, is Archimedes, drawing a geometrical problem upon the floor. The young man near him with uplifted hands is Federigo II., Duke of Mantua. Behind these are Zoroaster and Ptolemy, one with a terrestrial, the other with a celestial globe, addressing two figures which represent Raphael and his master Perugino. The drawing in brown upon the socle beneath this fresco, is by Pierino del Vaga, and represents the death of Archimedes.
Right Wall.—"Parnassus," Apollo surrounded by the Muses, on his right Homer, Virgil, and Dante. Below, on the right, Sappho, supposed to be addressing Corinna, Petrarch, Propertius, and Anacreon; on the left, Pindar and Horace, Sannazzaro, Boccaccio, and others. Beneath this, in grisaille, are,—Alexander placing the poems of Homer in the tomb of Achilles,—and Augustus preventing the burning of Virgil's Eneid.
Left Wall.—Above the window are Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance. On the left, Justinian delivers the Pandects to Tribonian. On the right, Gregory IX. (with the features of Julius II.) delivers the Decretals to a jurist;—Cardinal de' Medici, afterwards Leo X., Cardinal Farnese, afterwards Paul III., and Cardinal del Monte, are represented near the pope. In the socle beneath is Solon addressing the people of Athens.
Wall of Egress.—"The Disputa," so called from an impression that it represents a Dispute upon the Sacrament. In the upper part of the composition the heavenly host are present;—Christ between the Virgin and St. John Baptist;—On the left, St. Peter, Adam, St. John, David, St. Stephen, and another;—On the right, St. Paul, Abraham, St. James, Moses, St. Laurence, and St. George. Below is an altar surrounded by the Latin fathers, Gregory, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine. Near St. Augustine stand St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Anacletus with the palm of a martyr, and Cardinal Buonaventura reading. Those in front are Innocent III., and in the background Dante, near whom a monk in a black hood is pointed out as Savonarola. The Dominican on the extreme left is supposed to be Fra Angelico. The other figures are uncertain.
"Raphaël a bien jugé Dante en plaçant parmi les Théologiens, dans la Dispute du Saint Sacrement, celui pour la tombe duquel a été écrit ce vers, aussi vrai qu'il est plat:
The chiaro-scuros on the socle beneath this fresco are by Pierino del Vaga (added under Paul III.) and represent, 1, A heathen sacrifice; 2, St. Augustine finding a child attempting to drain the sea; 3, The Cumæ Sibyl and Augustus.
"Raphael commenced his work in the Vatican by painting the ceiling and the four walls of the room called della Segnatura, on the surface of which he had to represent four great compositions, which embraced the principal divisions of the encyclopædia of that period; namely, Theology, Philosophy, Poetry, and Jurisprudence.
"It will be conceived, that to an artist imbued with the traditions of the Umbrian school, the first of these subjects was an unparalleled piece of good fortune; and Raphael, long familiar with the allegorical treatment of religious compositions, turned it here to the most admirable account; and, not content with the suggestions of his own genius, he availed himself of all the instruction he could derive from the intelligence of others. From these combined inspirations resulted, to the eternal glory of the Catholic faith and of Christian art, a composition without a rival in the history of painting, and we may also add without a name; for to call it lyric or epic is not enough, unless, indeed, we mean, by using these expressions, to compare it with the allegorical epic of Dante, alone worthy to be ranked with this marvellous production of the pencil of Raphael.
"And let no one consider this praise as idle and groundless, for it is Raphael himself who forces the comparison upon us, by placing the figure of Dante among the favourite sons of the Muses; and, what is still more striking, by draping the allegorical figure of Theology in the very colours in which Dante has represented Beatrice; namely, the white veil, the red tunic, and the green mantle, while on her head he has placed the olive crown.
"Of the four allegorical figures which occupy the compartments of the ceiling, and which were all painted immediately after Raphael's arrival in Rome, Theology and Poetry are incontestably the most remarkable. The latter would be easily distinguished by the calm inspiration of her glance, even were she without her wings, her starry crown, and her azure robe, all having allusion to the elevated region towards which it is her privilege to soar. The figure of Theology is quite as admirably suited to the subject she personifies; she points to the upper part of the grand composition, which takes its name from her, and in which the artist has provided inexhaustible food for the sagacity and enthusiasm of the spectator.
"This work consists of two grand divisions,—Heaven and Earth,—which are united to one another by that mystical bond, the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The personages whom the Church has most honoured for learning and holiness are ranged in picturesque and animated groups on either side of the altar, on which the consecrated wafer is exposed. St. Augustine dictates his thoughts to one of his disciples; St. Gregory, in his pontifical robes, seems absorbed in the contemplation of celestial glory; St. Ambrose, in a slightly different attitude, appears to be chaunting the Te Deum; while St. Jerome, seated, rests his hands on a large book, which he holds on his knees. Pietro Lombardo, Duns Scotus, St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Anacletus, St. Buonaventura, and Innocent III. are no less happily characterised; while, behind all these illustrious men, whom the Church and succeeding generations have agreed to honour, Raphael has ventured to introduce Dante with his laurel crown, and, with still greater boldness, the monk Savonarola, publicly burnt ten years before as a heretic.
"In the glory, which forms the upper part of the picture, the Three Persons of the Trinity are represented, surrounded by patriarchs, apostles, and saints: it may, in fact, be considered in some sort as a resumé of all the favourite compositions produced during the last hundred years by the Umbrian school. A great number of the types, and particularly those of Christ and the Virgin, are to be found in the earlier works of Raphael himself. The Umbrian artists, from having so long exclusively employed themselves on mystical subjects, had certainly attained to a marvellous perfection in the representation of celestial beatitude, and of those ineffable things of which it has been said that the heart of man cannot conceive them, far less, therefore, the pencil of man pourtray; and Raphael, surpassing them in all, and even in this instance while surpassing himself, appears to have fixed the limits, beyond which Christian art, properly so called, has never since been able to advance."—Rio. Poetry of Christian Art.
The Stanza of the Incendio del Borgo is decorated with frescoes illustrative of the triumphs of the Church from events in the reigns of Leo III. and Leo IV. The roof has four frescoes by Perugino illustrative of the Saviour in glory.
Entrance Wall.—The Victory of Leo IV. over the Saracens at Ostia, by Giovanni da Udine, from designs of Raphael. The pope is represented with the features of Leo X.; behind him are Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (Clement VII.), Cardinal Bibbiena, and others. The castle of Ostia is seen in the background. Beneath are Ferdinand the Catholic and the Emperor Lothaire, by Polidoro da Caravaggio.
Left Wall.—The "Incendio del Borgo," a fire in the Leonine City in 847. In the background Leo IV. is seen in the portico of the old St. Peter's arresting with a cross the progress of the flames, on their approach to the basilica. In the foreground is a group of fugitives, by Giulio Romano, resembling Æneas escaping from Troy with Anchises, followed by Ascanius and Creusa. Beneath are Godfrey de Bouillon and Astulf (Ethelwolf), the latter with the inscription: "Astulphus Rex sub Leone IV. Pont. Britanniam Beato Petro vectigalem fecit."
Right Wall.—The Justification of Leo III. before Charlemagne, by Pierino del Vaga. The pope is a portrait of Leo X., the emperor of Francis I.
Wall of Egress.—The Coronation of Charlemagne in the old St. Peter's. Leo X. is again represented as Leo III., and Francis I. as Charlemagne. This fresco is partly by Raphael, partly by Pierino del Vaga. On the socle is Charlemagne, by Polidoro da Caravaggio.
A Fifth Chamber has been decorated under Pius IX. with frescoes by Fracassini, in honour of the recent dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The Proclamation of the Dogma; the Adoration of the image of the Virgin; and the Reception of the news by the Virgin in heaven, from an angelic messenger, are duly represented!
From the corner of the Sala del Constantino, a custode, if requested, will give access to the
Cappella di San Lorenzo, a tiny chapel covered with frescoes executed by Fra Angelico for Nicholas V. in 1447. The upper series represents events in the life of St. Stephen.
1. His Ordination by St. Peter.
2. His Almsgiving.
3. His Preaching.
4. He is brought before the Council at Jerusalem ("his
accuser has the dress and shaven crown of a monk").
5. He is
dragged to Execution.
6. He is Stoned. Saul is among the
spectators.
"Angelico has represented St. Stephen as a young man, beardless, and with a most mild and candid expression. His dress is the deacon's habit, of a vivid blue."—Mrs. Jameson.
The lower series represents the life of St Laurence.
1. He is ordained by Sixtus II. (with the features of Nicholas V.).
2. Sixtus II. delivers the treasures of the Church to him for
distribution among the poor.
3. He Distributes them in Alms.
4. He is carried before Decius the Prefect.
5. He suffers Martyrdom A.D. 253.
Introduced in the side arches, are the figures of St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. John Chrysostom, St. Athanasius, St. Leo—as the protector of Rome, and St. Thomas Aquinas—as painted by the Dominican Angelico, and for a Dominican pope Nicholas V.
"The Consecration of St. Stephen, the Distribution of Alms, and, above all, his Preaching, are three pictures as perfect of their kind as any that have been produced by the greatest masters, and it would be difficult to imagine a group more happily conceived as to arrangement, or more graceful in form and attitude, than that of the seated females listening to the holy preacher; and if the furious fanaticism of the executioners, who stone him to death, is not expressed with all the energy we could desire, this may be attributed to a glorious incapacity in this angelic imagination, too exclusively occupied with love and ecstasy to be ever able to familiarise itself with those dramatic scenes in which hateful and violent passions were to be represented."—Rio. Poetry of Christian Art.
"The soul of Angelico lives in perpetual peace. Not seclusion from the world. No shutting out of the world is needful for him. There is nothing to shut out. Envy, lust, contention, discourtesy, are to him as though they were not; and the cloister walls of Fiesole no penitential solitude, barred from the stir and joy of life, but a possessed land of tender blessing, guarded from the entrance of all but holiest sorrow. The little cell was as one of the houses of heaven prepared for him by his Master. What need had it to be elsewhere? Was not the Val d'Arno, with its olive woods in white blossom, paradise enough for a poor monk? Or could Christ be indeed in heaven more than here? Was He not always with him? Could he breathe or see, but that Christ breathed beside him, or looked into his eyes? Under every cypress avenue the angels walked; he had seen their white robes,—whiter than the dawn,—at his bedside, as he woke in early summer. They had sung with him, one on each side, when his voice failed for joy at sweet vesper and matin time; his eyes were blinded by their wings in the sunset, when it sank behind the hills of Luni."—Ruskin's Modern Painters.
The same staircase which is usually ascended to reach the Stanze (that on the left of the fountain in the Cortile S. Damaso) will also lead, by turning to the left in the loggia of the third floor, to:
The Gallery of Pictures, founded by Pius VII., who acted on the advice of Cardinal Gonsalvi and of Canova, and formed the present collection from the pictures which had been carried off by the French from the Roman churches, upon their restoration. The pictures have, to a great extent, been recently rearranged and are not all numbered. Each picture is worthy of separate examination. They are contained in four rooms, and according to their present position are:
1st Room.—
Entrance Wall:
1. St. Jerome: Leonardo da Vinci, painted in bistre.
16. St. John Baptist: Guercino.
4. The Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, and Presentation in the
Temple: Raphael;—formerly a predella to the Coronation of the
Virgin in the third room.
5. The dead Christ and Mary Magdalen: Andrea Mantegna,—from the
Aldrovandi gallery at Bologna.
7. Madonna with the Child and St. John: Fr. Francia.
Right Wall:
The Story of St. Nicolo of Bari: Fra Angelico da Fiesole,—two
out of the three predella pictures once in the sacristy of S.
Domenico at Florence, whence they were carried off to Paris, where
the third remains.
(Above,) The Adoration of the Shepherds: Murillo.
The Virgin surrounded by Angels: Fra Angelico.
3. The Story of St. Hyacinth: Benozzo Gozzoli.
(Above,) The Marriage of St. Catherine: Murillo.
2. "I Tre Santi:" Perugino.
Part of a large predella in the church of S. Pietro Casinensi at Perugia. Several saints from this predella still remain in the sacristy of S. Pietro; two are at Lyons.
"In the centre is St. Benedict, with his black cowl over his head and long parted beard, the book in one hand, and the asperge in the other. On one side, St. Placidus, young, and with a mild, candid expression, black habit and shaven crown. On the other side is St. Flavia (or St. Catherine?), crowned as a martyr, holding her palm, and gazing upward with a divine expression."—Mrs. Jameson.
(Above this) The Holy Family and Saints: Bonifasio.
Left Wall.—The Dead Christ, with the Virgin, St. John, and the Magdalen lamenting: Carlo Crivelli.
Wall of Egress.—Faith, Hope, and Charity, Raphael:—circular medallions in bistre, which once formed a predella for "the Entombment" in the Borghese gallery.
2nd Room.—
Entrance Wall.—The Communion of St. Jerome: Domenichino. This is the master-piece of the master, and perhaps second only to the Transfiguration. It was painted for the monks of Ara Cœli, who quarrelled with the artist, and shut up the picture. Afterwards they commissioned Poussin to paint an altar-piece for their church, and, instead of supplying him with fresh canvas, produced the picture of Domenichino, and desired him to paint over it. Poussin indignantly threw up his engagement, and made known the existence of the picture, which was afterwards preserved in the church of S. Girolamo della Carità, whence it was carried off by the French. St. Jerome, dying at Bethlehem, is represented receiving the Last Sacraments from St. Ephraim of Syria, while St. Paula kneels by his side.
"The Last Communion of St. Jerome is the subject of one of the most celebrated pictures in the world,—the St. Jerome of Domenichino, which has been thought worthy of being placed opposite to the Transfiguration of Raphael, in the Vatican. The aged saint,—feeble, emaciated, dying,—is borne in the arms of his disciples to the chapel of his monastery, and placed within the porch.[353] A young priest sustains him; St. Paula, kneeling, kisses one of his thin bony hands; the saint fixes his eager eyes on the countenance of the priest, who is about to administer the Sacrament,—a noble, dignified figure in a rich ecclesiastical dress; a deacon holds the cup, and an attendant priest the book; the lion droops his head with an expression of grief;[354] the eyes and attention of all are on the dying saint, while four angels, hovering above, look down upon the scene."—Jameson's Sacred Art.
"And Jerome's death (A.D. 420) drawing near, he commanded that he should be laid on the bare ground and covered with sackcloth, and calling the brethren around him, he spake sweetly to them, and exhorted them in many holy words, and appointed Eusebius to be their abbot in his room. And then, with tears, he received the blessed Eucharist, and sinking backwards again on the earth, his hands crossed on his heart, he sung the 'Nunc Dimittis,' which being finished, it being the hour of compline, suddenly a great light, as of the noonday sun, shone round about him, within which light angels innumerable were seen by the bystanders, in shifting motion, like sparks among the dry reeds. And the voice of the Saviour was heard, inviting him to heaven, and the holy Doctor answered that he was ready. And after an hour, that light departed, and Jerome's spirit with it."—Lord Lindsay, from Peter de Natalibus.
Right Wall.—"The Madonna di Foligno," Raphael, ordered in 1511 by Sigismondo Conti for the church of Ara Cœli (where he is buried), and removed in 1565 to Foligno, when his great-niece, Anna Conti, took the veil there at the convent of St' Anna. The angel in the foreground bears a tablet, with the names of the painter and donor, and the date 1512. The city of Foligno is seen in the background, with a falling bomb, from which one may believe that the picture was a votive offering from Sigismondo for an escape during a siege. The picture was originally on panel, and was transferred to canvas at Paris.
"The Madonna di Foligno, however beautiful in the whole arrangement, however excellent in the execution of separate parts, appears to belong to a transition state of development. There is something of the ecstatic enthusiasm which has produced such peculiar conceptions and treatment of religious subjects in other artists—Correggio, for example—and which, so far from harmonizing with the unaffected serene grace of Raphael, has in this instance led to some serious defects. This remark is particularly applicable to the figures of St. John and St. Francis: the former looks out of the picture with a fantastic action, and the drawing of his arm is even considerably mannered. St. Francis has an expression of fanatical ecstasy, and his countenance is strikingly weak in the painting (composed of reddish, yellowish, and grey tones, which cannot be wholly ascribed to their restorer). Again, St. Jerome looks up with a sort of fretful expression, in which it is difficult to recognise, as some do, a mournful resignation; there is also an exaggerated style of drawing in the eyes, which sometimes gives a sharpness to the expression of Raphael's figures, and appears very marked in some of his other pictures. Lastly, the Madonna and the Child, who turn to the donor, are in attitudes which, however graceful, are not perhaps sufficiently tranquil for the majesty of the queen of heaven. The expression of the Madonna's countenance is extremely sweet, but with more of the character of a mere woman than of a glorified being. The figure of the donor, on the other hand, is excellent, with an expression of sincerity and truth; the angel with the tablet is of unspeakable intensity and exquisite beauty—one of the most marvellous figures that Raphael has created."—Kugler.
"In the upper part of the composition sits the Virgin in heavenly glory; by her side is the Infant Christ, partly sustained by his mother's veil, which is drawn round his body: both look down benignly on the votary, Sigismund Conti, who, kneeling below, gazes up with an expression of the most intense gratitude and devotion. It is a portrait from the life, and certainly one of the finest and most life-like that exist in painting. Behind him stands St. Jerome, who, placing his hand upon the head of the votary, seems to present him to his celestial protectress. On the other side, John the Baptist, the meagre wild-looking prophet of the desert, points upward to the Redeemer. More in front kneels St. Francis, who, while he looks up to heaven with trusting and imploring love, extends his right hand towards the worshippers supposed to be assembled in the church, recommending them also to the protecting grace of the Virgin. In the centre of the picture, dividing these two groups, stands a lovely angel-boy, holding in his hand a tablet, one of the most charming figures of this kind Raphael ever painted; the head, looking up, has that sublime, yet perfectly childish grace, which strikes one in those awful angel-boys in the 'Madonna di San Sisto.' The background is a landscape, in which appears the city of Foligno at a distance; it is overshadowed by a storm-cloud, and a meteor is seen falling; but above these bends a rainbow, pledge of peace and safety. The whole picture glows throughout with life and beauty, hallowed by that profound religious sentiment which suggested the offering, and which the sympathetic artist seems to have caught from the grateful donor. It was dedicated in the church of the Ara Cœli at Rome, which belongs to the Franciscans, hence St. Francis is one of the principal figures. When I was asked, at Rome, why St. Jerome had been introduced into the picture, I thought it might be thus accounted for:—The patron saint of the donor, St. Sigismund, was a king and warrior, and Conti might possibly think it did not accord with his profession, as a humble ecclesiastic, to introduce him here. The most celebrated convent of the Jeronymites in Italy is that of St. Sigismund, near Cremona, placed under the special protection of St. Jerome, who is also in a general sense the patron of all ecclesiastics; hence, perhaps, he figures here as the protector of Sigismund Conti."—Jameson's Legends of the Madonna, p. 103.
Wall of Egress.—"The Transfiguration:" Raphael. The grandest picture in the world. It was originally painted by order of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (afterwards Clement VII.) Archbishop of Narbonne, for that provincial cathedral. But it was scarcely finished when Raphael died, and it hung over his death-bed as he lay in state, and was carried in his funeral procession.
The three following quotations may perhaps represent the practical, æsthetical, and spiritual aspects of the picture.
"It is somewhat strange to see the whole picture of the Transfiguration—including the three apostles, prostrate on the mount, shading their dazzled senses from the insufferable brightness—occupying only a small part of the top of the canvas, and the principal field filled with a totally distinct and certainly unequalled picture—that of the demoniac boy, whom our Saviour cured on coming down from the mount, after his transfiguration. This was done in compliance with the orders of the monks of S. Pietro in Montorio, for which church it was painted. It was the universal custom of the age—the yet unbanished taste of Gothic days—to have two pictures, a celestial and a terrestrial one, wholly unconnected with each other; accordingly, we see few, even of the finest paintings, in which there is not a heavenly subject above and an earthly below—for the great masters of that day, like our own Shakspeare, were compelled to suit their works to the taste of their employers."—Eaton's Rome.
"It must ever be matter of wonder that any one can have doubted of the grand unity of such a conception as this. In the absence of the Lord, the disconsolate parents bring a possessed boy to the disciples of the Holy One. They seem to have been making attempts to cast out the Evil Spirit; one has opened a book, to see whether by chance any spell were contained in it which might be successful against this plague, but in vain. At this moment appears He who alone has the power, and appears transfigured in glory. They remember His former mighty deeds; they instantly point aloft to the vision as the only source of healing. How can the upper and lower parts be separated? Both are one; beneath is Suffering craving for Aid; above is active Power and helpful Grace. Both refer to one another; both work in one another. Those who, in our dispute over the picture, thought with me, confirmed their view by this consideration: Raffaelle, they said, was ever distinguished by the exquisite propriety of his conceptions. And is it likely that this painter, thus gifted by God, and everywhere recognisable by the excellence of this His gift, would in the full ripeness of his powers have thought and painted wrongly? Not so; he is, as nature is, ever right, and then most deeply and truly right when we least suspect it."—Goethe's Werke, iii. p. 33.
"In looking at the Transfiguration we must bear in mind that it is not an historical but a devotional picture,—that the intention of the painter was not to represent a scene, but to excite religious feelings by expressing, so far as painting might do it, a very sublime idea.
"If we remove to a certain distance from the picture, so that the forms shall become vague, indistinct, and only the masses of colour and the light and shade perfectly distinguishable, we shall see that the picture is indeed divided as if horizontally, the upper half being all light, and the lower half comparatively all dark. As we approach nearer, step by step, we behold above, the radiant figure of the Saviour floating in mid-air, with arms outspread, garments of transparent light, glorified visage upturned as if in rapture, and the hair lifted and scattered as I have seen it in persons under the influence of electricity. On the right, Moses; on the left, Elijah; representing respectively the old Law and the old Prophecies, which both testified of Him. The three disciples lie on the ground, terror-struck, dazzled. There is a sort of eminence or platform, but no perspective, no attempt at real locality, for the scene is revealed as in a vision, and the same soft transparent light envelopes the whole. This is the spiritual life, raised far above the earth, but not yet in heaven. Below is seen the earthly light, poor humanity struggling helplessly with pain, infirmity, and death. The father brings his son, the possessed, or as we should now say, the epileptic boy, who oftentimes falls into the water, or into the fire, or lies grovelling on the earth, foaming and gnashing his teeth; the boy struggles in his arms,—the rolling eyes, the distorted features, the spasmodic limbs, are at once terrible and pitiful to look on.
"Such is the profound, the heart-moving significance of this wonderful picture. It is, in truth, a fearful approximation of the most opposite things; the mournful helplessness, suffering, and degradation of human nature, the unavailing pity, are placed in immediate contrast with spiritual light, life, hope,—nay, the very fruition of heavenly rapture.
"It has been asked, who are the two figures, the two saintly deacons, who stand on each side of the upper group, and what have they to do with the mystery above, or the sorrow below? Their presence shows that the whole was conceived as a vision, or a poem. The two saints are St. Laurence and St. Julian, placed there at the request of the Cardinal de' Medici, for whom the picture was painted, to be offered by him as an act of devotion as well as munificence to his new bishopric; and these two figures commemorate in a poetical way, not unusual at the time, his father, Lorenzo, and his uncle, Giuliano de' Medici. They would be better away; but Raphael, in consenting to the wish of his patron that they should be introduced, left no doubt of the significance of the whole composition, that it is placed before worshippers as a revelation of the double life of earthly suffering and spiritual faith, as an excitement to religious contemplation and religious hope.
"In the Gospel, the Transfiguration of Our Lord is first described, then the gathering of the people and the appeal of the father in behalf of his afflicted son. They appear to have been simultaneous; but painting only could have placed them before our eyes, at the same moment, in all their suggestive contrast. It will be said that in the brief record of the Evangelist, this contrast is nowhere indicated, but the painter found it there and was right to use it,—just the same as if a man should choose a text from which to preach a sermon, and, in doing so, should evolve from the inspired words many teachings, many deep reasonings, besides those most obvious and apparent.
"But, after we have prepared ourselves to understand and to take into our heads all that this wonderful picture can suggest, considered as an emanation of the mind, we find that it has other interests for us, considered merely as a work of art. It was the last picture which came from Raphael's hand; he was painting on it when he was seized with his last illness. He had completed all the upper part of the composition, all the ethereal vision, but the lower part of it was still unfinished, and in this state the picture was hung over his bier; when, after his death, he was laid out in his painting-room, and all his pupils and friends, and the people of Rome, came to look upon him for the last time; and when those who stood round raised their eyes to the Transfiguration, and then bent them on the lifeless form extended beneath it, 'every heart was like to burst with grief (faceva scoppiare l'anima di dolore a ognuno che quivi guardava), as, indeed, well it might.
"Two-thirds of the price of the picture, 655 'ducati di camera,' had already been paid by the Cardinal de' Medici, and, in the following year, that part of the picture which Raphael had left unfinished was completed by his pupil Giulio Romano, a powerful and gifted, but not a refined or elevated, genius. He supplied what was wanting in the colours and chiaroscuro according to Raphael's design, but not certainly as Raphael himself would have done it. The sum which Giulio received he bestowed as a dowry on his sister, when he gave her in marriage to Lorenzetto the sculptor, who had been a friend and pupil of Raphael. The cardinal did not send the picture to Narbonne, but, unwilling to deprive Rome of such a masterpiece, he presented it to the church of San Pietro in Montorio, and sent in its stead the Raising of Lazarus, by Sebastian del Piombo, now in our National Gallery. The French carried off the Transfiguration to Paris in 1797, and when restored, it was placed in the Vatican, where it now is."—Mrs. Jameson's History of Our Lord, vol. i.
3rd Room.—
Entrance Wall.—Madonna and Saints: Titian.
"Titian's altar-piece is a specimen of his pictures of this class. St. Nicholas, in full episcopal costume, is gazing upwards with an air of inspiration. St. Peter is looking over his shoulder at a book, and a beautiful St. Catherine is on the other side. Farther behind, are St. Francis and St. Anthony of Padua; on the left St. Sebastian, whose figure recurs in almost all of these pictures. Above, in the clouds, with angels, is the Madonna, who looks cheerfully on, while the lovely Child holds a wreath, as if ready to crown a votary."—Kugler.
"In this picture there are three stages, or whatever they are called, the same as in the Transfiguration. Below, saints and martyrs are represented in suffering and abasement; on every face is depicted sadness, nay, almost impatience; one figure in rich episcopal robes looks upwards, with the most eager and agonized longing, as if weeping, but he cannot see all that is floating above his head, but which we see, standing in front of the picture. Above, Mary and her Child are in a cloud, radiant with joy, and surrounded by angels, who have woven many garlands; the Holy Child holds one of these, and seems as if about to crown the saints beneath, but his Mother withholds his hand for the moment(?). The contrast between the pain and suffering below, whence St. Sebastian looks forth out of the picture with gloom and almost apathy, and the lofty unalloyed exultation in the clouds above, where crowns and palms are already awaiting him, is truly admirable. High above the group of Mary hovers the Holy Spirit, from whom emanates a bright streaming light, thus forming the apex of the whole composition. I have just remembered that Goethe, at the beginning of his first visit to Rome, describes and admires this picture; and he speaks of it in considerable detail. It was at that time in the Quirinal."—Mendelssohn's Letters.
Sta. Margherita da Cortona: Guercino. She is represented kneeling,—angels hovering above,—in the background is the Convent of Cortona.
Right Wall:
Martyrdom of St. Laurence: Spagnoletto.
22. The Magdalen, with angels bearing the instruments of the Passion: Guercino.
23. The Coronation of the Virgin: Pinturicchio.
24. The Resurrection: Perugino. The figures are sharply relieved against a bright green landscape and a perfectly green sky. The figure of the risen Saviour is in a raised gold nimbus surrounded by cherubs' heads, as in the fresco of Pinturicchio at the Ara Cœli. The escaping soldier is said to be a portrait of Perugino, introduced by Raphael,—the sleeping soldier that of Raphael, by Perugino.
25. "La Madonna di Monte Luco," designed by Raphael: the upper part painted by Giulio Romano, the lower by Francesco Penni (Il Fattore). The apostles looking into the tomb of the Virgin, find it blooming with heartsease and ixias. Above, the Virgin is crowned amid the angels. There is a lovely landscape seen through a dark cave, which ends awkwardly in the black clouds. This picture was painted for the convent of Monte Luco near Spoleto.
26. The Nativity: Giovanni Spagna.
27. The Coronation of the Virgin: Raphael. The predella in the first room belonged to this picture, which was painted for the Benedictines of Perugia.
28. The Virgin and Child enthroned under an arcade—with S. Lorenzo, St. Louis, S. Ercolano, and S. Costanzo, standing: On the step of the throne is inscribed 'Hoc Petrus de Chastro Plebis Pinxit.'
29. Virgin and Child: Sassoferrato. A fat mundane Infant and a coarse Virgin seated on a crescent moon. The Child holds a rosary.
End Wall:
The Entombment: Caravaggio.
"Caravaggio's entombment of Christ is a picture wanting in all the characteristics of holy sublimity; but is nevertheless full of solemnity, only perhaps too like the funeral solemnity of a gipsy chief. A figure of such natural sorrow as the Virgin, who is represented as exhausted with weeping, with her trembling outstretched hands, has seldom been painted. Even as mother of a gipsy chief, she is dignified and touching."—Kugler.
Left Wall (returning):
31. Doge A. Gritti (Titian), half-length, in a yellow robe.
Two very large pictures in many compartments, by Niccolo Alunno, of the Crucifixion and Saints. (Between them.)
Sixtus IV. and his Court: Melozzo da Forlì. A fresco, removed from the Vatican library by Leo XII., which is a most interesting memorial of an important historical family. Near the figure of the pope, Sixtus IV., who is known to Roman travellers from his magnificent bronze tomb in the Chapel of the Sacrament at St. Peter's, stand two of his nephews, of whom one is Giuliano della Rovere, afterwards Julius II., and the other Pietro Riario, who, from the position of a humble Franciscan monk, was raised, in a few months, by his uncle, to be Bishop of Treviso, Cardinal-Archbishop of Seville, Patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop of Valentia, and Archbishop of Florence, when his life changed, and he lived with such extravagance, and gave banquets so magnificent, that "never had pagan antiquity seen anything like it;"[355] but within two years "he died (not without suspicion of poison), to the great grief of Pope Sixtus, and to the infinite joy of the whole college of cardinals."[356] The kneeling figure represents Platina, the historian of the popes and prefect of the Vatican library. In the background stand two other nephews of the pope, Cardinal Giovanni della Rovere, and Girolamo Riario, who was married by his uncle (or father?), the pope, to the famous Caterina Sforza,—was suspected of being the originator of the conspiracy of the Pazzi,—was created Count of Forlì, and to whose aggrandisement Sixtus IV. sacrificed every principle of morality and justice: he was murdered at Forli, April 14th, 1488. Beneath is inscribed:
4th Room.—
Entrance Wall:
32. The Martyrdom of SS. Processus and Martinianus, the gaolers of St Peter: Valentin. It is stigmatised by Kugler as "an unimportant and bad picture," but, perhaps from the connection of the subject with the story of St Peter, has been thought worthy of being copied in mosaic in the basilica, whence this picture was brought.
"This picture is terrible for dark and effective expression; it is just one of those subjects in which the Caravaggio school delighted."—Jameson's Sacred Art.
33. Martyrdom of St. Peter: Guido Reni.
"This has the heavy powerful forms of Caravaggio, but wants the passionate feeling which sustains such subjects,—it is a martyrdom and nothing more,—it might pass for an enormous and horrible genre picture."—Kugler.
34. Martyrdom of St. Erasmus: N. Poussin. A most horrible picture of the disembowelment of the saint upon a wheel. It was copied in mosaic in St Peter's when the picture was removed from thence.
Left Wall:
35. The Annunciation: Baroccio. From Sta. Maria di Loreto, detained in the Vatican in exchange for a mosaic, after it was sent back by the French.
36. St. Gregory the Great—the miracle of the Brandeum: Andrea Sacchi.
"The Empress Constantia sent to St. Gregory requesting some of the relics of St. Peter and St. Paul. He excused himself, saying that he dared not disturb their sacred remains for such a purpose,—but he sent her part of a consecrated cloth (Brandeum) which had enfolded the body of St. John the Evangelist. The empress rejected this gift with contempt: whereupon Gregory, to show that such things are hallowed not so much in themselves as by the faith of believers, laid the Brandeum on the altar, and after praying he took up a knife and pierced it, and blood flowed as from a living body."—Jameson's Sacred Art, p. 321.
37. The Ecstasy of Sta. Michelina: Baroccio. This picture is mentioned by Lanzi as "Sta. Michelina estatica sul Calvario." The story appears to be lost.
Between the Windows:
The Madonna and Child with St. Jerome and St. Bartholomew: Moretto da Brescia (Buonvicino).
38. The Dream of Sta. Helena (of the finding of the true Cross): Paolo Veronese. Once in the Capitol collection.
Right Wall (returning):
39. Madonna with St. Thomas and St. Jerome: Guido. The St. Thomas is very grand.
40. Madonna della Cintola with St. John and St. Augustin. Signed 1521: Cesare da Sesto.
41. Salvator Mundi. Christ seated on the rainbow: Correggio?
42. St. Romualdo: Andrea Sacchi. The saint sees the vision of a ladder by which the friars of his Order ascend to heaven. The monks in white drapery are grand and noble figures.
"It is recorded in the legend of St. Romualdo, that, a short time before his death, he fell asleep beside a fountain near his cell; and he dreamed, and in his dream he saw a ladder like that which the patriarch Jacob beheld in his vision, resting on the earth, and the top of it reaching to heaven; and he saw the brethren of his Order ascending by twos and by threes, all clothed in white. When Romualdo awoke from his dream, he changed the habit of his monks from black to white, which they have ever since worn in remembrance of this vision."—Jameson's Monastic Orders, p. 117.
A door on the ground-floor of the Cortile di S. Damaso will admit visitors (with an order) to visit the Papal Manufactory of Mosaics, whence so many beautiful works have issued, and where others are always in progress.
"Ghirlandajo, who felt the utmost enthusiasm for the august remains of Roman grandeur, was still more deeply impressed by the sight of the ancient mosaics of the Christian basilicas, the image of which was still present to his mind when he said, at a more advanced age, that 'mosaic was the true painting for eternity.'"—Rio.
Ponte Quattro Capi—Gaetani Tower—S. Bartolomeo in Isola—Temple of Æsculapius—Hospital of the Benfratelli—Mills on the Tiber—Ponte Cestio—Fornarina's House—S. Benedetto a Piscinuola—Castle of the Alberteschi—S. Crispino—Palazzo Ponziani—Sta. Maria in Cappella—Sta. Cecilia—Hospital of S. Michele—Porta Portese—Sta. Maria del Orto—S. Francesco a Ripa—Castle of the Anquillara—S. Chrisogono—Hospital of S. Gallicane—Sta. Maria in Trastevere—S. Calisto—Convent of Sta. Anna—S. Cosimato—Porta Settimiana—Sta. Dorotea—Ponte Sisto.
FOLLOWING the road which leads to the Temple of Vesta, &c., as far as the Via Savelli, and then turning down past the gateway of the Orsini palace, with its two bears,—we reach the Ponte Quattro Capi.
This was the ancient Pons Fabricius, built of stone in the place of a wooden bridge, A.U.C. 733, by Fabricius, the Curator Viarum. It has two arches, with a small ornamental one in the central pier. In the twelfth century the greater part was faced with brickwork. An inscription, only partly legible, remains. L. FABRICIUS. C. T. CUR. VIAR. FACIUNDUM. CURAVIT. EIDEMQ. PROBAVIT.—Q. LEPIDUS. M. F. M. LOLLIUS. M. F. COS. EX. S. C. PROBAVERUNT. From this inscription the inference has been drawn that the senate always allowed forty years to elapse between the completion of a public work, and the grant to it of their public approval. This bridge, according to Horace, was a favourite spot with those who wished to drown themselves; hence Damasippus would have leaped into the Tiber, if it were not for the precepts of the stoic Stertinius: