Chapter XIV: In the Campus Martius (3)

"The Piazza and all the adjacent streets are lined with booths
covered with every kind of plaything for children. These booths are
gaily illuminated with rows of candles and the three-wick'd brass
_lucerne_ of Rome; and at intervals, painted posts are set into the
pavement, crowned with pans of grease, with a wisp of tow for
wick, from which flames blaze and flare about. Besides these,
numbers of torches carried about by hand lend a wavering and
picturesque light to the scene. By eight o'clock in the evening
crowds begin to fill the piazza and the adjacent streets. Long
before one arrives the squeak of penny-trumpets is heard at
intervals; but in the piazza itself the mirth is wild and furious,
and the din that salutes one's ears on entering is almost
deafening. The object of every one is to make as much noise as
possible, and every kind of instrument for this purpose is sold at
the booths. There are drums beating, _tamburelli_ thumping and
jingling, pipes squeaking, watchman's rattles clacking,
penny-trumpets and tin-horns shrilling, the sharpest whistles
shrieking,--and mingling with these is heard the din of voices,
screams of laughter, and the confused burr and buzz of a great
crowd. On all sides you are saluted by the strangest noises.
Instead of being spoken to, you are whistled at. Companies of
people are marching together in platoons, or piercing through the
crowd in long files, and dancing and blowing like mad on their
instruments. It is a perfect witches' Sabbath. Here, huge dolls
dressed as Polichinello or Pantaloon are borne about for sale,--or
over the heads of the crowd great black-faced jumping-jacks, lifted
on a stick, twitch themselves in fantastic fits,--or, what is more
Roman than all, long poles are carried about strung with rings of
hundreds of _Giambelli_ (a light cake, called jumble in English),
which are screamed for sale at a _mezzo baiocco_ each. There is no
alternative but to get a drum, whistle, or trumpet, and join in the
racket,--and to fill one's pocket with toys for the children, and
absurd presents for one's older friends. The moment you are once in
for it, and making as much noise as you can, you begin to relish
the jest. The toys are very odd, particularly the Roman whistles;
some of these are made of pewter, with a little wheel that whirls
as you blow; others are of terra-cotta, very rudely modelled into
every shape of bird, beast, or human deformity, each with a whistle
in its head, breast, or tail, which it is no joke to hear, when
blown close to your ears by a stout pair of lungs. The scene is
extremely picturesque. Above, the dark vault of night, with its far
stars, the blazing and flaring of lights below, and the great, dark
walls of the Sapienza and church looking down grimly upon the
mirth."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

The _Church of S. Eustachio_ commemorates one, who, first a brave soldier of the army of Titus in Palestine, became master of the horse under Trajan, and general under Hadrian, and who suffered martyrdom for refusing to sacrifice to idols, by being roasted alive in a brazen bull before the Coliseum, with his wife Theophista, and his sons, Agapetus and Theophistus. The relics of these saints repose in a porphyry sarcophagus under the high altar. The stags' heads on the portico and on the apex of the gable refer to the legend of the conversion of St. Eustace.

"One day, while hunting in the forest, he saw before him a white
stag, of marvellous beauty, and he pursued it eagerly, and the stag
fled before him, and ascended a high rock. Then Placidus (Eustace
was called Placidus before his conversion), looking up, beheld,
between the horns of the stag, a cross of radiant light, and on it
the image of the crucified Redeemer; and being astonished and
dazzled by this vision, he fell on his knees, and a voice which
seemed to come from the crucifix cried to him, and said, 'Placidus!
why dost thou pursue me? I am Christ, whom thou hast hitherto
served without knowing me. Dost thou now believe?' And Placidus
fell with his face to the earth, and said, 'Lord, I believe!' And
the voice answered, saying, 'Thou shall suffer many tribulations
for my sake, and shalt be tried by many temptations; but be strong
and of good courage, and I will not forsake thee.' To which
Placidus replied, 'Lord, I am content. Do thou give me patience to
suffer!' And when he looked up again the glorious vision had
departed."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 792.

A similar story is told of St. Hubert, St. Julian, and St. Felix.

A fresco of St. Peter, by _Pierino del Vaga_, in this church, was much admired by Vasari, who dilates upon the boldness of its design, the simple folds of its drapery, its careful drawing and judicious treatment.

Two streets lead from the Piazza S. Eustachio to--

_The Pantheon_, the most perfect pagan building in the city, built B.C. 27, by Marcus Agrippa, the bosom friend of Augustus Cæsar, and the second husband of his daughter Julia. The inscription in huge letters, perfectly legible from beneath, "M. AGRIPPA. L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT," records its construction. Another inscription on the architrave, now almost illegible, records its restoration under Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla, _c._ 202, who, "Pantheum vetustate corruptum cum omni cultu restitverunt." Some authorities have maintained that the Pantheon was originally only a vast hall in the baths of Agrippa, acknowledged remains of which exist at no great distance; but the name "Pantheum" was in use as early as A.D. 59.

In A.D. 399 the Pantheon was closed as a temple in obedience to a decree of the Emperor Honorius, and in 608 was consecrated as a Christian church by Pope Boniface IV., with the permission of the Emperor Phocas, under the title of _Sta. Maria ad Martyres_. To this dedication we owe the preservation of the main features of the building, though it had been terribly maltreated. In 663 the Emperor Constans, who had come to Rome with great pretence of devotion to its shrines and relics, and who only staid there twelve days, did not scruple, in spite of its religious dedication, to strip off the tiles of gilt bronze with which the roof was covered, and carry them off with him to Syracuse, where, upon his murder, a few years after, they fell into the hands of the Saracens. In 1087 it was used by the anti-pope Guibert as a fortress, whence he made incursions upon the lawful pope, Victor III., and his protector, the Countess Matilda. In 1101, another anti-pope, Sylvester IV., was elected here. Pope Martin V., after the return from Avignon, attempted the restoration of the Pantheon by clearing away the mass of miserable buildings in which it was encrusted, and his efforts were continued by Eugenius IV., but Urban VIII. (1623--44), though he spent 15,000 scudi upon the Pantheon, and added the two ugly campaniles, called in derision "the asses' ears," of their architect, Bernini, did not hesitate to plunder the gilt bronze ceiling of the portico, 450,250 lbs. in weight, to make the baldacchino of St. Peter's, and cannons for the Castle of S. Angelo. Benedict XIV. (1740--58) further despoiled the building by tearing away all the precious marbles which lined the attic, to ornament other buildings.

The Pantheon was not originally, as now, below the level of the piazza, but was approached by a flight of five steps. The portico, which is 110 feet long and 44 feet deep, is supported by sixteen grand Corinthian columns of oriental granite, 36 feet in height. The ancient bronze doors remain. On either side are niches, once occupied by colossal statues of Augustus and Agrippa.

"Agrippa wished to dedicate the Pantheon to Augustus, but he
refused, and only allowed his statue to occupy a niche on the right
of the peristyle, while that of Agrippa occupied the niche on the
left."--_Merivale._

The _Interior_ is a rotunda, 143 feet in diameter, covered by a dome. It is only lighted by an aperture in the centre, 28 feet in diameter. Seven great niches around the walls once contained statues of different gods and goddesses, that of Jupiter being the central figure. All the surrounding columns are of giallo-antico, except four, which are of pavonazzetto, painted yellow. It is a proof of the great value and rarity of giallo-antico, that it was always impossible to obtain more to complete the set.

"L'intérieur du Panthéon, comme l'extérieur, est parfaitement
conservé, et les édicules, placés dans le pourtour du temple
forment les chapelles de l'église. Jamais la simplicité ne fut
alliée à la grandeur dans une plus heureuse harmonie. Le jour,
tombant d'en haut et glissant le long des colonnes et des parois de
marbre, porte dans l'âme un sentiment de tranquillité sublime, et
donne à tous les objets, dit Serlio, un air de beauté. Vue du
dehors, la coupole de plomb qui a remplacé l'ancienne coupole de
bronze couverte de tuiles dorées, fait bien comprendre l'expression
de Virgile, lequel l'avait sous les yeux et peut-être en vue, quand
il écrivait:

... 'Media testudine templi.'

En effet, cette coupole surbaissée ressemble tout à fait à la
carapace d'une tortue."--_Ampère, Emp._ i. 342.

"Being deep in talk, it so happened that they found themselves near
the majestic, pillared portico and huge black rotundity of the
Pantheon. It stands almost at the central point of the labyrinthine
intricacies of the modern city, and often presents itself before
the bewildered stranger when he is in search of other objects.
Hilda, looking up, proposed that they should enter.

"They went in, accordingly, and stood in the free space of that
great circle, around which are ranged the arched recesses and
stately altars, formerly dedicated to heathen gods, but
Christianized through twelve centuries gone by. The world has
nothing else like the Pantheon. So grand it is, that the pasteboard
statues over the lofty cornice do not disturb the effect, any more
than the tin crowns and hearts, the dusty artificial flowers, and
all manner of trumpery gewgaws, hanging at the saintly shrines. The
rust and dinginess that have dimmed the precious marble on the
walls; the pavement, with its great squares and rounds of porphyry
and granite, cracked crosswise and in a hundred directions, showing
how roughly the troublesome ages have trampled here; the grey dome
above, with its opening to the sky, as if heaven were looking down
into the interior of this place of worship, left unimpeded for
prayers to ascend the more freely: all these things make an
impression of solemnity, which St. Peter's itself fails to produce.

"'I think,' said Kenyon, 'it is to the aperture in the dome--that
great eye, gazing heavenward--that the Pantheon owes the
peculiarity of its effect. It is so heathenish, as it were--so
unlike all the snugness of our modern civilization! Look, too, at
the pavement directly beneath the open space! So much rain has
fallen there, in the last two thousand years, that it is green with
small, fine moss, such as grows over tombstones in damp English
churchyards.'

"'I like better,' replied Hilda, 'to look at the bright, blue sky,
roofing the edifice where the builders left it open. It is very
delightful, in a breezy day, to see the masses of white cloud float
over the opening, and then the sunshine fall through it again,
fitfully, as it does now. Would it be any wonder if we were to see
angels hovering there, partly in and partly out, with genial,
heavenly faces, not intercepting the light, but transmuting it into
beautiful colours? Look at that broad, golden beam--a sloping
cataract of sunlight--which comes down from the aperture, and rests
upon the shrine, at the right hand of the entrance.'"--_Hawthorne._

... "'Entrons dans le temple,' dit Corinne: 'vous le voyez, il
reste découvert presque comme il l'était autrefois. On dit que
cette lumière qui venait d'en haut était l'emblème de la divinité
supérieure à toutes les divinités. Les païens ont toujours aimé les
images symboliques. Il semble en effet que ce langage convient
mieux à la religion que la parole. La pluie tombe souvent sur ces
parvis de marbre; mais aussi les rayons du soleil viennent éclairer
les prières. Quelle sérénité; quel air de fête on remarque dans cet
édifice! Les païens ont divinisé la vie, et les chrétiens ont
divinisé la mort: tel est l'esprit des deux cultes.'"--_Mad. de
Staël._

"In the ancient Pantheon, when the music of Christian chaunts rises
among the shadowy forms of the old vanished gods painted on the
walls, and the light streams down, not from painted windows in the
walls, but from the glowing heavens above, every note of the
service echoes like a peal of triumph, and fills my heart with
thankfulness."--_Mrs. Charles._

"'Where,' asked Redschid Pasha, on his visit to the Pantheon, 'are
the statues of the heathen gods?' 'Of course they were removed when
the temple was Christianized,' was the natural answer. 'No,' he
replied, 'I would have left them standing to show how the true God
had triumphed over them in their own house."--_Cardinal Wiseman._

"No, great Dome of Agrippa, thou art not Christian! canst not,
Strip and replaster and daub and do what they will with thee, be so!
Here underneath the great porch of colossal Corinthian columns,
Here as I walk, do I dream of the Christian belfries above them;
Or, on a bench as I sit and abide for long hours, till thy whole vast
Round grows dim as in dreams to my eyes, I repeople thy niches,
Not with the martyrs, and saints, and confessors, and virgins,
and children,
But with the mightier forms of an older, austerer worship;
And I recite to myself, how
'eager for battle here
Stood Vulcan, here matronal Juno,
And, with the bow to his shoulder faithful,
He who with pure dew laveth of Castaly
His flowing locks, who holdeth of Lycia
The oak forest and the wood that bore him,
Delos' and Patara's own Apollo.'"

_A. H. Clough._

Some antiquarians have supposed that the aperture at the top of the Pantheon was originally closed by a huge "Pigna," or pine-cone of bronze, like that which crowned the summit of the mausoleum of Hadrian, and this belief has been encouraged by the name of a neighbouring church being S. Giovanni della Pigna.

The Pantheon has become the burial-place of painters. Raphael, Annibale Caracci, Taddeo Zucchero, Baldassare Peruzzi, Pierino del Vaga, and Giovanni da Udine, are all buried here.

The third chapel on the left contains the _tomb of Raphael_ (born April 6, 1483; died April 6, 1520). From the pen of Cardinal Bembo is the epigram:

"Ille hic est Raphael, timuit quo sospite vinci
Rerum magna parens, et moriente mori"[310]

"Raphael mourut à l'âge de 37 ans. Son corps resta exposé pendant
trois jours. Au moment où l'on s'apprêtait à le descendre dans sa
dernière demeure, on vit arriver le pape (Leon X.) qui se
prosterna, pria quelques instants, bénit Raphael, et lui prit pour
la dernière fois la main, qu'il arrosa de ses larmes (si prostrò
innanzi l'estinto Rafaello et baciogli quella mano, tra le
lagrime). On lui fit de magnifiques funérailles, auxquelles
assistèrent les cardinaux, les artistes, &c."--_A. Du Pays._

"When Raphael went,
His heavenly face the mirror of his mind,
His mind a temple for all lovely things
To flock to and inhabit--when He went,
Wrapt in his sable cloak, the cloak he wore,
To sleep beneath the venerable Dome,
By those attended, who in life had loved,
Had worshipped, following in his steps to Fame,
('Twas on an April-day, when Nature smiles,)
All Rome was there. But, ere the march began,
Ere to receive their charge the bearers came,
Who had not sought him? And when all beheld
Him, where he lay, how changed from yesterday,
Him in that hour cut off, and at his head
His last great work;[311] when, entering in, they looked
Now on the dead, then on that masterpiece,
Now on his face, lifeless and colourless,
Then on those forms divine that lived and breathed,
And would live on for ages--all were moved;
And sighs burst forth, and loudest lamentations."

_Rogers._

Taddeo Zucchero and Annibale Caracci are buried on either side of Raphael. Near the high altar is a monument to Cardinal Gonsalvi (1757--1824), the faithful secretary and minister of Pius VII., by _Thorwaldsen_. This, however, is only a cenotaph, marking the spot where his heart is preserved. His body rests with that of his beloved brother Andrew in the church of S. Marcello.

During the middle ages the pope always officiated here on the day of Pentecost, when, in honour of the descent of the Holy Spirit, showers of white rose-leaves were continually sent down through the aperture during service.

"Though plundered of all its brass, except the ring which was
necessary to preserve the aperture above; though exposed to
repeated fire; though sometimes flooded by the river, and always
open to the rain, no monument of equal antiquity is so well
preserved as this rotunda. It passed with little alteration from
the pagan into the present worship; and so convenient were its
niches for the Christian altar, that Michael Angelo, ever studious
of ancient beauty, introduced their design as a model in the
Catholic church."--_Forsyth._

"Simple, erect, severe, austere, sublime--
Shrine of all saints and temple of all gods,
From Jove to Jesus--spared and bless'd by time,
Looking tranquillity, while falls or nods
Arch, empire, each thing round thee, and man plods
His way through thorns to ashes--glorious dome!
Shalt thou not last? Time's scythe and tyrant's rods
Shiver upon thee--sanctuary and home
Of art and piety--Pantheon! pride of Rome!"

_Byron, Childe Harold._

In the Piazza della Rotonda is a small _Obelisk_ found in the Campus Martius.

"At a few paces from the streets where meat is sold, you will find
gathered round the fountain in the Piazza della Rotonda, a number
of bird-fanciers, surrounded by cages in which are multitudes of
living birds for sale. Here are Java sparrows, parrots and
parroquets, grey thrushes and nightingales, red-breasts (_petti
rossi_), yellow canary-birds, beautiful sweet-singing little
_cardellini_, and gentle ringdoves, all chattering, singing, and
cooing together, to the constant splashing of the fountain. Among
them, perched on stands, and glaring wisely out of their great
yellow eyes, may be seen all sorts of owls, from the great solemn
_barbigiani_, and white-tufted owl, to the curious little
_civetta_, which gives its name to all sharp-witted heartless
flirts, and the _aziola_, which Shelley has celebrated in one of
his minor poems."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

(Following the Via della Rotonda from hence, in the third street on the left is the small semicircular ruin called, from a fancied resemblance to the favourite cake of the people, _Arco di Ciambella_. This is the only remaining fragment of the baths of Agrippa, unless the Pantheon itself was connected with them.)

Behind the Pantheon, is the _Piazza della Minerva_, where a small _Obelisk_ was erected 1667 by Bernini, on the back of an elephant. It is exactly similar to the obelisk in front of the Pantheon, and they were both found near this site, where they formed part of the decorations of the Campus Martius. The hieroglyphics show that it dates from Hophres, a king of the 25th dynasty. On the pedestal is the inscription:

"Sapientis Ægypti insculptas obelisco figuras
Ab elephanto belluarum fortissimo gestari
Quisquis hic vides, documentum intellige
Robustæ mentis esse solidam sapientiam sustinere."

One side of the piazza is occupied by the mean ugly front of the _Church of Sta. Maria sopra Minerva_, built in 1370 upon the ruins of a temple of Minerva founded by Pompey. It is the only gothic church in Rome of importance. In 1848--55 it was redecorated with tawdry imitation marbles, which have only a good effect when there is not sufficient light to see them. In spite of this, the interior is very interesting, and its chapels are a perfect museum of relics of art or history. The services, too, in this church were, under the papal government, exceedingly imposing, especially the procession on the night before Christmas, the mass of St. Thomas Aquinas, and that of "the white mule day." Some celebrated divine generally preaches here at 11 A.M. every morning in Lent.

Hither, on the feast of the Annunciation, comes the famous "Procession of the White Mule," when the host is borne by the grand almoner riding on the papal mule, followed by the pope in his glass coach, and a long train of cardinals and other dignitaries. Up to the time of Pius VI., it was the pope himself who rode upon the white mule, but Pius VII. was too infirm, and since his time they have given it up. But this procession has continued to be one of the finest _spectacles_ of the kind, and has been an opportunity for a loyal demonstration, balconies being hung with scarlet draperies, and flowers showered down upon the papal coach, while the pope, on arriving and departing, has usually been received with tumultuous "evivas."

On the right of the entrance is the tomb of Diotisalvi, a Florentine knight, ob. 1482. Beginning the circuit of the church by the right aisle, the first chapel has a picture of S. Ludovico Bertrando, by _Baciccio_, the paintings on the pilasters being by _Muziano_. In the second, the Colonna Chapel, is the tomb of the late Princess Colonna (Donna Isabella Alvaria of Toledo) and her child, who both died at Albano in the cholera of 1867. The third chapel is that of the Gabrielli family. The fourth is that of the Annunciation. Over its altar is a most interesting picture, shown as a work of Fra Angelico, but more probably that of _Benozzo Gozzoli_. It represents Monsignore Torquemada attended by an angel, presenting three young girls to the Virgin, who gives them dowries: the Almighty is seen in the clouds. Torquemada was a Dominican Cardinal, who founded the association of the Santissima-Annunziata, which holds its meetings in this chapel, and which annually gives dowries to a number of poor girls, who receive them from the pope when he comes here in state on the 25th of March. On this occasion, the girls who are to receive the dowries are drawn up in two lines in front of the church. Some are distinguished by white wreaths. They are those who are going to "enter into religion," and who consequently receive double the dowry of the others, on the plea that "money placed in the hands of religion bears interest for the poor."

Torquemada is himself buried in this chapel, opposite the tomb, by Ambrogio Buonvicino, of his friend Urban VII., Giov. Battista Castagna, 1590,--who was pope only for eleven days.

The fifth chapel is the burial-place of the Aldobrandini family. It contains a faded Last Supper, by _Baroccio_.

"The Cenacolo of Baroccio, painted by order of Clement VIII.
(1594), is remarkable for an anecdote relating to it. Baroccio, who
was not eminent for a correct taste, had in his first sketch
reverted to the ancient fashion of placing Satan close behind
Judas, whispering in his ear, and tempting him to betray his
master. The pope expressed his dissatisfaction,--'che non gli
piaceva il demonio se dimesticasse tanto con Gesù Christo,'--and
ordered him to remove the offensive figure."--_Jameson's Sacred
Art_, p. 277.

Here are the fine tombs erected by Clement VIII. (Ippolito Aldobrandini) as soon as he obtained the papacy, to his father and mother. Their architecture is by _Giacomo della Porta_, but the figures are by _Cordieri_, the sculptor of Sta. Silvia's statue. At the sides of the mother's tomb are figures emblematical of Charity, by that of the father, figures of Humility and Vanity. Beyond his mother's tomb is a fine statue of Clement VIII. himself (who is buried at Sta. Maria Maggiore), by _Ippolito Buzi_.

"Hippolyte Aldobrandini, qui prit le nom de Clément VIII., était le
cinquième fils du célèbre jurisconsulte Silvestro Aldobrandini,
qui, après avoir professé à Pise et joui d'une haute autorité à
Florence, avait été condamné à l'exil par le retour au pouvoir des
Médicis ses ennemis. La vie de Silvestre devint alors pénible et
calamiteuse. Dépouillé de ses biens, il fut, du moins, toujours
ennoblir son malheur par la dignité de son caractère. Sa famille
présentait un rare assemblage de douces vertus et de jeunes talents
qu'une forte éducation développait chaque jour avec puissance.
Appelé à Rome par Paul III., qui le nomma avocat consistorial,
Silvester s'y transporta avec son épouse, la pieuse Leta Deti, qui,
pendant trente-sept ans, fut pour lui comme son bon ange, et avec
tous ses enfants, Jean, qui devait être un jour cardinal; Bernard,
qui devint un vaillant guerrier; Thomas, qui préparait déjà
peut-être sa traduction de Diogène-Laërce; Pierre, qui voulut être
jurisconsulte comme son père; et le jeune Hippolyte, un enfant
alors, dont les saillies inquiétaient le vieillard, car il ne
savait comment pourvoir à son éducation et utiliser cette vivacité
de génie qui déjà brillait dans son regard. Hippolyte fut élevé
aux frais du cardinal Farnèse; puis, tous les emplois, toutes les
dignités vinrent successivement au-devant de lui, sans qu'il les
cherchât autrement qu'en s'en rendant digne."--_Gournerie, Rome
Chrétienne_, ii. 238.

The sixth chapel contains two fine cinque-cento tombs; on the left, Benedetto Superanzio, bishop of Nicosa, ob. 1495; on the right, a Spanish bishop, Giovanni da Coca, with frescoes. Close to the former tomb, on the floor, is the grave of (archdeacon) Robert Wilberforce, who died at Albano in 1857.

Here we enter the right transept. On the right is a small dark chapel containing a fine Crucifix, attributed to Giotto. The central, or Caraffa Chapel, is dedicated to St. Thomas Aquinas, and is covered with well-preserved frescoes. On the right, St. Thomas Aquinas is represented surrounded by allegorical figures, by _Filippino Lippi_. Over the altar is a beautiful Annunciation, in which a portrait of the donor, Cardinal Olivieri Caraffa, is introduced. Above is the Assumption of the Virgin. On the ceiling are the four Sibyls, by _Raffaelino del Garbo_.

Against the left wall is the tomb of Paul IV., Gio. Pietro Caraffa (1555--59), the great supporter of the Inquisition, the patron of the Jesuits, the persecutor of the Jews (whom he shut up with walls in the Ghetto),--a pope so terrible to look upon, that even Alva, who feared no man, trembled at his awful aspect Such he is represented upon his tomb, with deeply-sunken eyes and strongly-marked features, with one hand raised in blessing--or cursing, and the keys of St. Peter in the other. The tomb was designed by Pirro Ligorio; the statue is the work of Giacomo and Tommaso Casignuola, and being made in marble of different pieces and colours, is cited by Vasari as an instance of a sculptor's ingenuity in imitating painting with his materials. The epitaph runs:

"To Jesus Christ, the hope and the life of the faithful; to Paul
IV. Caraffa, sovereign pontiff, distinguished amongst all by his
eloquence, his learning, and his wisdom; illustrious by his
innocence, by his liberality, and by his greatness of soul; to the
most ardent champion of the catholic faith, Pius V., sovereign
pontiff, has raised this monument of his gratitude and of his
piety. He lived eighty-three years, one month, and twenty days, and
died the 14th August, 1559, the fifth year of his
pontificate."[312]

On the transept wall, just outside this chapel, is the beautiful gothic tomb of Guillaume Durandus, bishop of Mende,[313] with a recumbent figure guarded by two angels, the background being occupied by a mosaic of the Virgin and Child, by _Giovanni Cosmati_.

The first chapel on a line with the choir--the burial-place of the Altieri family--has an altar-piece, by _Carlo Maratta_, representing five saints canonized by Clement X., presented to the Virgin by St. Peter. On the floor is the incised monument of a bishop of Sutri.

The second chapel--which contains a fine cinque-cento tomb--is that of the Rosary. Its ceiling, representing the Mysteries of the Rosary, is by _Marcello Venusti_; the history of St. Catherine of Siena is by _Giovanni de' Vecchi_; the large and beautiful Madonna with the Child over the altar is attributed to _Fra Angelico_. Here is the tomb of Cardinal Capranica of 1470.

Beneath the high altar, with lamps always burning before it, is a marble sarcophagus with a beautiful figure, enclosing the body of St. Catherine of Siena. In it her relics were deposited in 1461, by Antoninus, archbishop of Florence. On the last pillar to the right is an inscription stating that, "all the indulgences and privileges in every church, of all the religious orders, mendicant or not mendicant, in every part of the world, are granted especially to this church, where is the body of St. Catherine of Siena."

"St. Catherine was one of twenty-five children born in wedlock to
Jacopo and Lupa Benincasa, citizens of Siena. Her father exercised
the trade of dyer and fuller. In the year of her birth, 1347, Siena
reached the climax of its power and splendour. It was then that the
plague of Bocaccio began to rage, which swept off 80,000 citizens,
and interrupted the building of the great Duomo. In the midst of so
large a family and during these troubled times, Catherine grew
almost unnoticed, but it was not long before she manifested her
peculiar disposition. At six years old she already saw visions and
longed for a monastic life: about the same time she used to collect
her childish companions together and preach to them. As she grew
her wishes became stronger; she refused the proposals which her
parents made that she should marry, and so vexed them by her
obstinacy that they imposed on her the most servile duties in their
household. These she patiently fulfilled, at the same time pursuing
her own vocation with unwearied ardour. She scarcely slept at all,
and ate no food but vegetables and a little bread, scourged
herself, wore sackcloth, and became emaciated, weak, and half
delirious. At length the firmness of her character and the force of
her hallucination won the day. Her parents consented to her
assuming the Dominican robe, and at the age of thirteen she entered
the monastic life. From this moment till her death we see in her
the ecstatic, the philanthropist, and the politician combined to a
remarkable degree. For three whole years she never left her cell
except to go to church, maintaining an almost unbroken silence.
Yet, when she returned to the world, convinced at length of having
won by prayer and pain the favour of her Lord, it was to preach to
infuriated mobs, to toil among men dying of the plague, to execute
diplomatic negotiations, to harangue the republic of Florence, to
correspond with queens, and to interpose between kings and popes.
In the midst of this varied and distracting career she continued to
see visions, and to fast and scourge herself. The domestic virtues
and the personal wants and wishes of a woman were annihilated in
her; she lived for the Church, for the poor, and for Christ, whom
she imagined to be constantly supporting her. At length she died
(at Rome, on the 29th of April, 1380, in her 33rd year) worn out by
inward conflicts, by the tension of a half-delirious ecstasy, by
want of food and sleep, and by the excitement of political
life."--_Cornhill Mag._ Sept. 1866.

On the right of the high altar is a statue of St. John, by _Obicci_,--on the left is the famous statue of Christ, by _Michael Angelo_. This is one of the sculptures which Francis I. tried hard to obtain for Paris. Its effect is marred by the bronze drapery.

Behind, in the choir, are the tombs of two Medici popes. On the left is Leo X., Giovanni de Medici (1513--21). This great pope, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was destined to the papacy from his cradle. He was ordained at seven years old, was made a cardinal at seventeen, and pope at thirty-eight, and at the installation procession to the Lateran, rode upon the same white horse, upon which he had fought and had been taken prisoner at the battle of Ravenna. His reign was one of fêtes and pleasures. He was the great patron of artists and poets, and Raphael and Ariosto rose into eminence under his protection. His tomb is from a design of Antonio di Sangallo, but the figure of the pope is by Raffaello da Montelupo.

Near the foot of Leo X.'s tomb is the flat monumental stone of Cardinal Bembo, his friend, and the friend of Raphael, who died 1547. His epitaph has been changed. The original inscription, half-pagan, half-Christian, ran:

"Hic Bembus jacet Aonidum laus maxima Phœbi
Cum sole, et luna vix periturus honos.
Hic et fama jacet, spes, et suprema galeri
Quam non ulla queat restituisse dies.
Hic jacet exemplar vitæ omni fraude carentis,
Summa jacet, summa hic cum pietate fides."

On the right of the choir is the tomb, by Sangallo, of Clement VII., Giulio de Medici (1523--34), son of the Giulio who fell in the conspiracy of the Pazzi,--who in his unhappy reign saw the sack of Rome (1527) under the Constable de Bourbon, and the beginning of the separation from England under Henry VIII. The figure of the pope is by _Baccio Bandinelli_. Among other graves here is that of the English Cardinal Howard, ob. 1694. Just beyond the choir is a passage leading to a door into the Via S. Ignazio. Immediately on the left is the slab tomb of Fra Angelico da Fiesole. It is inscribed:

"Hic jacet Vene Pictor Fl. Jo. de Florentia Ordinis
prædicatorum, 1404.

"Non mihi sit laudi quod eram velut alter Apelles,
Sed quod lucra tuis omnia, Christe, dabam.
Altera nam terris opera exstant, altero cœlo.
Urbs me Johannem flos tulit Etruriæ."[314]

"Fra Angelico was simple and most holy in his manners,--and let
this serve for a token of his simplicity, that Pope Nicholas one
morning offering him refreshment, he scrupled to eat flesh without
the licence of his superior, forgetful for the moment of the
dispensing authority of the pontiff. He shunned altogether the
commerce of the world, and living in holiness and in purity, was as
loving towards the poor on earth as I think his soul must be now in
heaven. He worked incessantly at his art, nor would he ever paint
other than sacred subjects. He might have been rich, but cared not
to be so, saying that true riches consisted rather in being content
with little. He might have ruled over many, but willed it not,
saying there was less trouble and hazard of sin in obeying others.
Dignity and authority were within his grasp, but he disregarded
them, affirming that he sought no other advancement than to escape
hell and draw nigh to Paradise. He was most meek and temperate, and
by a chaste life loosened himself from the snares of the world,
ofttimes saying that the student of painting hath need of quiet and
to live without anxiety, and that the dealers in the things of
Christ ought to live habitually with Christ. Never was he seen in
anger with the brethren, which appears to me a thing most
marvellous, and all but incredible; his admonitions to his friends
were simple and always softened by a smile. Whoever sought to
employ him, he answered with the utmost courtesy, that he would do
his part willingly so the prior were content.--In sum, this never
sufficiently to be lauded father was most humble and modest in all
his words and deeds, and in his paintings graceful and devout; and
the saints which he painted have more of the air and aspect of
saints than those of any other artist. He was wont never to retouch
or amend any of his paintings, but left them always as they had
come from his hand at first, believing, as he said, that such was
the will of God. Some say that he never took up his pencil without
previous prayer. He never painted a crucifix without tears bathing
his cheeks; and throughout his works, in the countenance and
attitude of all his figures, the correspondent impress of his
sincere and exalted appreciation of the Christian religion is
recognisable. Such was this verily Angelic father, who spent the
whole time of his life in the service of God and in doing good to
the world and to his neighbour. And truly a gift like his could not
descend on any but a man of most saintly life, for a painter must
be holy himself before he can depict holiness."--_Lord Lindsay,
from Vasari._

In the same passage are tombs of Cardinal Alessandrino, by Giacomo della Porta; of Cardinal Pimentel, by Bernini; and of Cardinal Bonelli, by Carlo Rainaldi.

Beyond this, in the left transept, is the Chapel of S. Domenico, with eight black columns, appropriate to the colour of the Order, and an interesting picture of the saint. Here is the tomb of Benedict XIII., Vincenzo-Maria Orsini (1724--30), by Pietro Bracci. This pope, who had been a Dominican monk, laboured hard in his short reign for the reformation of the Church, and the morals of the clergy.

Over a door leading to the Sacristy are frescoes representing the election of Eugenius IV. in 1431, and of Nicholas V. in 1447, which both took place in this church. The altar of the sacristy has a Crucifixion, by Andrea Sacchi.

Returning down the left aisle, the second chapel, counting from this end, is that of the Lante family, which contains the fine tomb of the Duchess Lante, ob. 1840, by _Tenerani_, with the Angel of the Resurrection, a sublime upward-gazing figure seated upon the sarcophagus. Here is a picture of St. James, by _Baroccio_.

The third chapel is that of S. Vincenzo Ferreri, apostle of the Order of Preachers, with a miracle-working picture, by _Bernardo Castelli_. The fourth chapel--of the Grazioli family--has on the right a statue of St. Sebastian, by _Mino da Fiesole_, and over the altar a lovely head of our Saviour, by _Perugino_. This chapel was purchased by the Grazioli from the old family of Maffei, of which there are some fine tombs. The fifth chapel--of the Patrizi family--contains the famous miraculous picture called "La Madonna Consolatrice degli afflitti," in honour of which Pope Gregory XVI. conceded so many indulgences, as we read by the inscription.

"La santità di N. S. Gregorio Papa XVI. con breve in data 17 Sept.
1836. Ho accordato l'indulgenzia plenaria a chiunque confessato e
communicato visiterà divotamente questa santa imagine della B.
Vergine sotto il titolo di consolatrice degli afflitti nella
seconda dominica di Luglio e suo ottavo di ciascun anno: concede
altresi la parziale indulgenza di 200 giorni in qualunque giorno
dell' anno a chiunque almeno contrito visiterà la detta S.
Immagine: le dette indulgenze poi sono pure applicabili alle
benedette anime del purgatorio."

The last chapel, belonging to a Spanish nobleman, contains the picture of the Crucifixion, which is said to have conversed with Sta. Rosa di Lima.

Near the entrance is the tomb of Cardinal Giacomo Tebaldi, ob. 1466, and beneath it that of Francesco Tornabuoni, by _Mino da Fiesole_. It was for the tomb of the wife of this Tornabuoni, who died in childbirth, that the wonderful relief of Verocchio, now in the Uffizi at Florence, was executed. In the pavement is the gravestone of Paulus Manutius, the printer, son of the famous Aldus Manutius of Venice, with the inscription, "Paulo Manutio Aldi Filio. Obiit CIƆIƆLXXIV."

The great _Dominican Convent of the Minerva_, lately suppressed, was the residence of the General of the Order. It contains the _Bibliotheca Casanatensis_ (so called from its founder, Cardinal Casanata), the largest library in Rome after that of the Vatican, comprising 120,000 printed volumes and 4500 MSS. It is open from 8 to 11 A.M., and 1½ to 3½ P.M. This convent has always been connected with the history of the Inquisition. Here, on June 22, 1633, Galileo was tried before its tribunal for the "heresy" of saying that the earth went round the sun, instead of the sun round the earth, and was forced to recant upon his knees, this "accursed, heretical, and detestable doctrine." As he rose from his humiliation, he is said to have consoled himself by adding, in an undertone, "E pur si muove." When the "Palace of the Holy Office" was stormed by the mob in the revolution of 1848, it was feared that the Dominican convent would have been burnt down.

The very beautiful cloister of the convent, which has a vaulted roof richly painted in arabesques, contains grand fifteenth century tombs,--of Cardinal Tiraso, ob. 1502, and of Cardinal Astorgius, ob. 1503. S. Antonino, archbishop of Florence, who lived in the reigns of Eugenius IV. and Nicholas V., was prior of this convent.

From the Minerva, the _Via del Piè di Marmo_, so called from a gigantic marble foot which stands on one side of it, leads to the Corso.[315]