Chapter XIV: In the Campus Martius (2)

One of the most remarkable sufferers here was Giordano Bruno, who
was born at Nola, A.D. 1550. His chief heresy was ardent advocacy
of the Copernican system,--the author of which had died ten years
before his birth. He was also strongly opposed to the philosophy of
Aristotle, and gave great offence by setting forth views of his
own, which strongly tended to pantheism. He visited Paris, England,
and Germany, and everywhere excited hostility by the uncompromising
expression of his opinions. It was at Venice that he first came
into the power of his ecclesiastical enemies. After six years of
imprisonment in that city, he was brought to Rome to be put to
death. His execution took place in the Campo di Fiore on the 17th
of February, 1600, in the presence of an immense concourse. It was
noted that when the monks offered him the crucifix as he was led to
the stake, he turned away and refused to kiss it. This put the
finishing touch to his career, in the estimation of all beholders.
Scioppus, the Latinist, who was present at the execution, with a
sarcastic allusion to one of Bruno's heresies, the infinity of
worlds, wrote, "The flames carried him to those worlds which he had
imagined."[303]

On the left of this piazza is the gigantic _Palace of the Cancelleria_, begun by Cardinal Mezzarota, and finished in 1494 by Cardinal Riario, from designs of Bramante. The huge blocks of travertine of which it is built were taken from the Coliseum. The colonnades have forty-four granite pillars, said to have belonged to the theatre of Pompey. The roses with which their (added) capitals are adorned are in reference to the arms of Cardinal Riario, nephew of Sixtus IV.

This palace was the seat of the Tribunal of the Cancelleria Apostolica. In June, 1848, the Roman Parliament, summoned by Pius IX., was held here. In July, while the deputies were seated here, the mob burst into the council-chamber, and demanded the instant declaration of war against Austria. On the 16th of November, its staircase was the scene of the murder of Count Rossi.

"C'était le 16 Novembre, 1848, le ministre de Pie IX., voué dès
longtemps à la mort, dont la presse séditieuse disait: 'Si la
victime condamnée parvient à s'échapper, elle sera poursuivie sans
relâche, en tout lieu, le coupable sera frappé par une main
invisible, se fût-il réfugié sur le sein de sa mère ou dans le
tabernacle du Christ.'

"Dans la nuit du 14 au 15 Novembre, de jeunes étudiants, réunis
dans cette pensée, s'exercent sans frémir sur un cadavre apporté à
prix d'or au théâtre Capranica, et quand leurs mains infâmes furent
devenues assez sûres pour le crime, quand ils sont certains
d'atteindre au premier coup la veine jugulaire, chacun se rend à
son poste--'Gardez-vous d'aller au Palais Législatif, la mort vous
y attend,' fait dire au ministre une Française alors à Rome, Madame
la Comtesse de Menon: 'Ne sortez pas, ou vous serez assassiné!' lui
écrit de son côté la Duchesse de Rignano. Mais l'intrépide Rossi,
n'écoutant que sa conscience, arrive au Quirinal. A son tour le
pape le conjure d'être prudent, de ne point s'exposer, afin, lui
dit-il, 'd'éviter à nos ennemis un grand crime, et à moi une
immense douleur.'--'Ils sont trop lâches, ils n'oseront pas.' Pie
IX. le bénit et il continue de se diriger vers la chancellerie....

" ... Sa voiture s'arrête, il descend au milieu d'hommes sinistres,
leur lance un regard de dédain, et continuant sans crainte ni
peur, il commence à mouter; la foule le presse en sifflant, l'un le
frappe sur l'épaule gauche, d'un mouvement instinctif, il retourne
la tête, découvrant la veine fatale, il tombe, se relève, monte
quelques marches, et retombe inondé de sang."--_M. de Bellevue._

Entered from the courtyard of the palace is the _Church of SS. Lorenzo e Damaso_, removed by Cardinal Riario in 1495, from another site, where it had been founded in 560 by the sainted pope Damasus. It consists of a short nave and aisles, and is almost square, with an apse and chapels. The doors are by Vignola. At the end of the left aisle is a curious black virgin, much revered. Opening from the right aisle is the chapel of the Massimi, with several tombs; a good modern monument of Princess Gabrielli, &c. Against the last pilaster is a seated statue of S. Hippolytus, Bishop of Porto, taken from that at the Lateran. His relics are preserved here, with those of S. Giovanni Calabita, and many other saints. The tomb of Count Rossi is also here, inscribed "Optimam mihi causam tuendam assumpsi, miserebitur Deus." The story of his death is told in the words: "Impiorum consilio meditata cæde occubuit." He was embalmed and buried on the very night of his murder, for fear of further outrage. St Francis Xavier used to preach in this church in the sixteenth century.

Standing a little back from the street, in the Via de' Baullari, is a pretty little palace, carefully finished in all its details, and attributed to Baldassare Peruzzi. It is sometimes called _Palazzetto Farnese_, sometimes _Palazzo Linote_, and is now almost in a state of ruin.

Turning to the left, in front of the Palazzo Farnese, we reach the Piazza Capo di Ferro, one side of which is occupied by the _Palazzo Spada alla Regola_, built in 1564, by Cardinal Capodifero, but afterwards altered and adorned by Borromini. The courtyard is very rich in sculptured ornament The palace is always visible, but has a rude and extortionate porter.

In a picturesque and dimly-lighted hall on the first-floor, partially hung with faded tapestries, is the famous statue believed to be that of Pompey, at the foot of which Julius Cæsar fell. Suetonius narrates that it was removed by Augustus from the Curia, and placed upon a marble Janus in front of the basilica. Exactly on that spot was the existing statue found, lying under the partition-wall of two houses, whose proprietors intended to evade disputes by dividing it, when Cardinal Capodifero interfered, and in return received it as a gift from Pope Julius III., who bought it for 500 gold crowns.

"And them, dread statue! yet existent in
The austerest form of naked majesty,--
Thou who beheldest 'mid the assassins' din,
At thy bathed base the bloody Cæsar lie,
Folding his robe in dying dignity,
An offering to thine altar from the queen
Of gods and men, great Nemesis! did he die,
And thou, too, perish, Pompey? have ye been
Victors of countless kings, or puppets of a scene?"

_Byron, Childe Harold._

"I saw in the Palazzo Spada, the statue of Pompey: the statue at
whose base Cæsar fell. A stem, tremendous figure! I imagined one of
greater finish: of the last refinement: full of delicate touches:
losing its distinctness in the giddy eyes of one whose blood was
ebbing before it, and settling into some such rigid majesty as
this, as Death came creeping over the upturned face."--_Dickens._

"Cæsar was persuaded at first by the entreaties of his wife
Calpurnia, who had received secret warning of the plot, to send an
excuse to the senate; but afterwards, being ridiculed by Brutus for
not going, was carried thither in a litter.... At the moment when
Cæsar descended from his litter at the door of the hall, Popilius
Læna approached him, and was observed to enter into earnest
conversation with him. The conspirators regarded one another, and
mutually revealed their despair with a glance. Cassius and others
were grasping their daggers beneath their robes; the last resource
was to despatch themselves. But Brutus, observing that the manner
of Popilius was that of one supplicating rather than warning,
restored his companions' confidence with a smile. Caesar entered;
his enemies closed in a dense mass around him, and while they led
him to his chair kept off all intruders. Trebonius was specially
charged to detain Antonius in conversation at the door. Scarcely
was the victim seated, when Tillius Cimber approached with a
petition for his brother's pardon. The others, as was concerted,
joined in the supplication, grasping his hands, and embracing his
neck. Cæsar at first put them gently aside, but, as they became
more importunate, repelled them with main force. Tillius seized his
toga with both hands, and pulled it violently over his arms. Then
P. Casca, who was behind, drew a weapon, and grazed his shoulder
with an ill-directed stroke. Cæsar disengaged one hand, and
snatched at the hilt, shouting, 'Cursed Casca, what means
this?'--'Help,' cried Casca to his brother Lucius, and at the same
moment the others aimed each his dagger at the devoted object.
Cæsar for an instant defended himself, and even wounded one of his
assailants with his stylus; but when he distinguished Brutus in the
press, and saw the steel flashing in his hand also, 'What, thou
too, Brutus!' he exclaimed, let go his hold of Casca, and drawing
his robe over his face, made no further resistance. The assassins
stabbed him through and through, for they had pledged themselves,
one and all, to bathe their daggers in his blood. Brutus himself
received a wound in their eagerness and trepidation. The victim
reeled a few paces, propped by the blows he received on every side,
till he fell dead at the foot of Pompeius' statue."--_Merivale_,
ch. xxi.

The collection of pictures in this palace is little worth seeing. Among its other sculptures are eight grand reliefs, which, till 1620, were turned upside down, and used as a pavement in Sant' Agnese fuori Mura; and a fine statue of Aristotle.

"Aristote est à Rome, vous pouvons l'aller voir au palais Spada,
tel que le peignent ses biographes et des vers de Christodore sur
une statue qui était à Constantinople, les jambes grêles, les joues
maigres, le bras hors du manteau, _exserto brachio_, comme dit
Sidoine Apollinaire d'une autre statue qui était à Rome. Le
philosophe est ici sans barbe aussi bien que sur plusieurs pierres
gravées; on attribuait à Aristote l'habitude de se raser, rare
parmi les philosophes et convenable à un sage qui vivait à la cour.
Du reste, c'est bien là _le maître de ceux qui savent_, selon
l'expression de Dante, corps usé par l'étude, tête petite mais qui
enferme et comprend tout."--_Ampère_, _Hist. Rom._ iii. 547.

A little further, on the right, is the _Church of the Trinità dei Pellegrini_, built in 1614; the façade designed by Francesco de' Sanctis. It contains a picture of the Trinity by _Guido_.

The hospital attached to this church was founded by S. Filippo Neri for receiving and nourishing pilgrims of pious intention, who had come from more than sixty miles' distance, for a space of from three to seven days. It is divided into two parts, for males and females. Here, during the Holy Week, the feet of the pilgrims are publicly washed, those of the men by princes, cardinals, &c., those of the women by queens, princesses, and other ladies of rank. In this case the washing is a reality, the feet not having been "prepared beforehand," as for the Lavanda at St Peter's.

An authentic portrait of S. Filippo Neri is preserved here, said to have been painted surreptitiously by an artist who happened to be one of the inmates of the hospital. When S. Filippo saw it, he said, "You should not have stolen me unawares."

The building in front of this church is the _Monte di Pietà_, founded by the Padre Calvo, in the fifteenth century, to preserve the people from suffering under the usury of the Jews. It is a government establishment, where money is lent at the rate of five per cent. to every class of person. Poor people, especially "Donne di facenda," who have no work in the summer, thankfully avail themselves of this and pawn their necklaces and earrings, which they are able to redeem when the means of subsistence come back with the return of the forestieri. Many Roman servants go through this process annually, and though the Monte di Pietà is often a scene of great suffering when unredeemed goods are sold for the benefit of the establishment, it probably in the main serves to avert much evil from the poorer classes.

A short distance further, following the Via dei Specchi, surrounded by miserable houses (in one of which is a beautiful double gothic window, divided by a twisted column), is the small _Church of Sta. Maria in Monticelli_, which has a fine low campanile of 1110. Admission may always be obtained through the sacristy to visit the famous "miracle-working" picture called "Gesù Nazareno," a modern half-length of Our Saviour, with the eyelids drooping and half-closed. By an illusion of the painting, the eyes, if watched steadily, appear to open and then slowly to close again as if falling asleep,--in the same way that many English family portraits appear to follow the living bystanders with their eyes; but the effect is very curious. In the case of this picture, the pope turned Protestant, and disapproving of the attention it excited, caused its secret removal. Remonstrance was made, that the picture had been a "regalo" to the church, and ought not to be taken away, and when it was believed to be sufficiently forgotten, it was sent back by night. The mosaics in the apse of this obscure church are for the most part quite modern, but enclose a very grand and expressive head of the Saviour of the World, which dates from 1099, when it was ordered by Pope Paschal II.

A little to the left of this church is the _Palazzo Santa Croce_. This palace will bring to mind the murder of the Marchesa Costanza Santa Croce, by her two sons (because she would not name them her heirs), on the day when the fate of Beatrice Cenci was trembling in the balance, which brought about her condemnation--the then pope, Clement VIII., determining to make her terrible punishment "an example to all parricides."

Prince Santa Croce claims to be a direct descendant of Valerius Publicola, the "friend of the people," who is commemorated in the name of a neighbouring church, "Sancta Maria de Publicolis."

This is one of the few haunted houses in Rome: it is said that by night two statues of Santa Croce cardinals descend from their pedestals, and rattle their marble trains about its long galleries.

Hence a narrow street leads to the _Church of S. Carlo a Catinari_, built in the seventeenth century, from designs of Rosati and Soria. It is in the form of a Greek cross. The very lofty cupola is adorned with frescoes of the cardinal virtues by _Domenichino_, and a fresco of S. Carlo, by _Guido_, once on the façade of the church, is now preserved in the choir. Over the high altar is a large picture by _Pietro da Cortona_, of S. Carlo in a procession during the plague at Milan. In the first chapel on the right, is the Annunciation, by _Lanfranco_; in the second chapel, on the left, the Death of St. Anna, by _Andrea Sacchi_. On the pilaster of the last chapel on the right is a good modern tomb, with delicate detail. The cord which S. Carlo Borromeo wore round his neck in the penitential procession during the plague at Milan, is preserved as a relic here. The Catinari, from whom this church is named, were makers of wooden dishes, who had stalls in the adjoining piazza, or sold their wares on its steps. The street opening from hence (Via de Giubbonari) contains on its right the Palazzo Pio; at the back of which are the principal remains of _The Theatre of Pompey_, which was once of great magnificence. In the portico (of a hundred columns) attached to this theatre, Brutus sate as prætor, on the morning of the murder of Julius Cæsar, and close by was the Curia, or senate-house, where:

----"In his mantle muffling up his face,
Even at the base of Pompey's statue,
Which all the while ran blood, great Cæsar fell."[304]

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 _Œuvres 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:

"Venditur hic Christus, venduntur dogmata Petri,
Descendam infernum ne quoque vendar ego."

Among the earliest Pasquinades were those against the venality and evil life of Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Borgia, 1492--1503):

"Vendit Alexander claves, altaria, Christum:
Emerat ille prius, vendere jure potest."

and,

"Sextus Tarquinius, Sextus Nero--Sextus et iste;
Semper sub Sextis perdita Roma fuit."

and, upon the body of his son Giovanni, murdered by his brother Cæsar Borgia, being fished up on the following day from the Tiber:

"Piscatorem hominum re te non, Sexte, putemus,
Piscaris natum retibus ecce tuum."

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:

"Cum Petri nihil efficiant ad prælia claves,
Auxilio Pauli forsitan ensis erit."

and, in allusion to his warlike beard:

"Huc barbam Pauli, gladium Pauli, omnia Pauli:
Claviger ille nihil ad mea vota Petrus."

At a moment of great unpopularity:

"Julius est Romæ, quid abest? Date, numina, Brutum.
Nam quoties Romæ est Julius, ilia perit."

In reference to the sale of indulgences and benefices by Leo X.:

"Dona date, astantes; versus ne reddite; sola
Imperat æthereis alma Moneta deis."

and to his love of buffoons:

"Cur non te fingi scurram, Pasquille, rogasti?
Cum Romæ scurris omnia jam licent."

and with reference to the death of Leo, suddenly, under suspicion of poison, and without the sacrament:

"Sacra sub extrema, si forte requiritis, horâ
Cur Leo non potuit sumere: vendiderat."

On the death of Clement VII. (1534), attributed to the mismanagement of his physician, Matteo Curzio:

"Curtius occidit Clementem--Curtius auro
Donandus, per quem publica parta salus."

To Paul III. (1534--50) who attempted to silence him, Pasquin replied:

"Ut canerent data multa olim sunt vatibus æra;
Ut taceam, quantum tu mihi, Paule, dabis."

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:

"Magis amat Olympiam quam Olympum."

Upon Christina of Sweden, who died at Rome, in 1689:

"Regina senza Regno,
Christiana senza Fede,
E Donna senza Vergogna."

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:

"Gaudium urbis,--fletus provinciarum,--risus mundi."

After an awful storm, and the plunder of the works of art by Napoleon occurring together:

"L'Altissimo in sù, ci manda la tempesta,
L'Altissimo qua giù, ci toglia quel che resta,
E fra le Due Altissimi,
Stiamo noi malissimi."

During the stay of the French in Rome:

"I Francesi son tutti ladri."

* * * * *

"Non tutti--ma Buona parte."

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:

"Publica! mentiris! Non publica vota fuere,
Sed tumidi ingenii vota fuere tui."

Upon his nepotism, when building the Braschi palace:

"Tres habuit fauces, et terno Cerberus ore
Latratus intra Tartara nigra dabat.
Et tibi plena fame tria sunt vel quatuor ora
Quæ nulli latrant, quemque sed illa vocant."

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:

"Christus regna fugit--Sed vi Papa subjugat urbem.
Spinosam Christus--Triplicem gerit ille coronam.
Abluit ille pedes--Reges his oscula præbent.
Vectigal solvit--Sed clerum hic eximit omnem.
Pavit oves Christus--Luxum hic sectatur inertem.
Pauper erat Christus--Regna hic petit omnia mundi.
Bajulat ille crucem--Hic servis portatur avaris.
Spernit opes Christus--Auri hic ardore tabescit.
Vendentes pepulit templo--Quos suscipit iste.
Pace venit Christus--Venit hic radiantibus armis.
Christus mansuetus venit--Venit ille superbus.
Quas leges dedit hic--Præsul dissolvit iniquus.
Ascendit Christus--Descendit ad infera Præsul."

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:

"St. Agnes, be a friend to me,
In the boon I ask of thee;
Let me this night my husband see."

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.