Volume 2 — CHAPTER XVI. THE VATICAN. (continued 2)

The 6th Room—

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

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

The 7th Room—

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

The 8th Room—

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

The 9th Room—

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

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

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

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

The 10th Room—

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

The 11th Room—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1st Arcade.

1. Creation of Light.[352] 2. Creation of Dry Land. 3. Creation of the Sun and Moon. 4. Creation of Animals. —Raphael.

2nd Arcade.

1. Creation of Eve. 2. The Fall. 3. The Exile from Eden. 4. The Consequence of the Fall. —Giulio Romano.

3rd Arcade.

1. Noah builds the Ark. 2. The Deluge. 3. The Coming forth from the Ark. 4. The Sacrifice of Noah. —Giulio Romano.

4th Arcade.

1. Abraham and Melchizedek. 2. The Covenant of God with Abraham. 3. Abraham and the three Angels. 4. Lot's flight from Sodom. —Francesco Penni.

5th Arcade.

1. God appears to Isaac. 2. Abimelech sees Isaac with Rebecca. 3. Isaac gives Jacob the blessing. 4. Isaac blesses Esau also. —Francesco Penni.

6th Arcade.

1. Jacob's Ladder. 2. Jacob meets Rachel. 3. Jacob upbraids Laban. 4. The journey of Jacob. —Pellegrino da Modena.

7th Arcade.

1. Joseph tells his dream. 2. Joseph sold into Egypt. 3. Joseph and Potiphar's wife. 4. Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream. —Giulio Romano.

8th Arcade.

1. The Finding of Moses. 2. Moses and the Burning Bush. 3. The Destruction of Pharaoh. 4. Moses striking the rock. —Giulio Romano.

9th Arcade.

1. Moses receives the Tables of the Law. 2. The Worship of the Golden Calf. 3. Moses breaks the Tables. 4. Moses kneels before the Pillar of Cloud. —Raffaello da Colle.

10th Arcade.

1. The Israelites cross the Jordan. 2. The Fall of Jericho. 3. Joshua stays the course of the Sun. 4. Joshua and Eleazer divide the Promised Land. —Pierino del Vaga.

11th Arcade.

1. Samuel anoints David. 2. David and Goliath. 3. The Triumph of David. 4. David sees Bathsheba. —Pierino del Vaga.

12th Arcade.

1. Zadok anoints Solomon. 2. The Judgment of Solomon. 3. The Coming of the Queen of Sheba. 4. The Building of the Temple. —Pellegrino da Modena.

13th Arcade.

1. Adoration of the Shepherds. 2. Coming of the Magi. 3. Baptism of Christ. 4. Last Supper. —Giulio Romano.

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

Close to the entrance of the Loggie is that of

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Entrance Wall.—Heliodorus driven out of the Temple (Maccabees iii.). In the background Onias the priest is represented praying for divine interposition;—in the foreground Heliodorus, pursued by two avenging angels, is endeavouring to bear away the treasures of the Temple. Amid the group on the left is seen Julius II. in his chair of state, attended by his secretaries. One of the bearers in front is Marc-Antonio Raimondi, the engraver of Raphael's designs. The man with the inscription, 'Jo. Petro de Folicariis Cremonen,' was secretary of briefs to Pope Julius.

"Here you may almost fancy you hear the thundering approach of the heavenly warrior and the neighing of his steed; while in the different groups who are plundering the treasures of the Temple, and in those who gaze intently on the sudden consternation of Heliodorus, without being able to divine its cause, we see the expression of terror, amazement, joy, humility, and every passion to which human nature is exposed."—Lanzi.

Left Wall.—The Miracle of Bolsena. A priest at Bolsena, who refused to believe in the doctrine of transubstantiation, is convinced by the bleeding of the host. On the right kneels Julius II., with Cardinal Riario, founder of the Cancelleria. This was the last fresco executed by Raphael under Julius II.

Right Wall.—Peter delivered from prison. A fresco by Pietro della Francesca was destroyed to make room for this picture, which is said to have allusion to the liberation of Leo X., while Legate in Spain, after his capture at the battle of Ravenna. This fresco is considered especially remarkable for its four lights, those from the double representation of the angel, from the torch of the soldier, and from the moon.

Wall of Egress.—The Flight of Attila. Leo I. (with the features of Leo X.) is represented on his white mule, with his cardinals, calling upon SS. Peter and Paul, who appear in the clouds, for aid against Attila. The Coliseum is seen in the background.

The Stanza della Segnatura is so called from a judicial assembly once held here. The frescoes in this chamber are illustrative of the Virtues of Theology, Philosophy, Poetry, and Jurisprudence, who are represented on the ceiling by Raphael, in the midst of arabesques by Sodoma. The square pictures by Raphael refer:—the Fall of Man to Theology; the Study of the Globe to Philosophy; the Flaying of Marsyas to Poetry; and the Judgment of Solomon to Jurisprudence.

Entrance Wall.—"The School of Athens." Raphael consulted Ariosto as to the arrangement of its 52 figures. In the centre, on the steps of a portico, are seen Plato and Aristotle, Plato pointing to heaven, and Aristotle to earth. On the left is Socrates conversing with his pupils, amongst whom is a young warrior, probably Alcibiades. Lying upon the steps in front is Diogenes. To his left Pythagoras is writing on his knee, and near him, with ink and pen, is Empedocles. The youth in the white mantle is Francesco Maria della Rovere, nephew of Julius II. On the right, is Archimedes, drawing a geometrical problem upon the floor. The young man near him with uplifted hands is Federigo II., Duke of Mantua. Behind these are Zoroaster and Ptolemy, one with a terrestrial, the other with a celestial globe, addressing two figures which represent Raphael and his master Perugino. The drawing in brown upon the socle beneath this fresco, is by Pierino del Vaga, and represents the death of Archimedes.

Right Wall.—"Parnassus," Apollo surrounded by the Muses, on his right Homer, Virgil, and Dante. Below, on the right, Sappho, supposed to be addressing Corinna, Petrarch, Propertius, and Anacreon; on the left, Pindar and Horace, Sannazzaro, Boccaccio, and others. Beneath this, in grisaille, are,—Alexander placing the poems of Homer in the tomb of Achilles,—and Augustus preventing the burning of Virgil's Eneid.

Left Wall.—Above the window are Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance. On the left, Justinian delivers the Pandects to Tribonian. On the right, Gregory IX. (with the features of Julius II.) delivers the Decretals to a jurist;—Cardinal de' Medici, afterwards Leo X., Cardinal Farnese, afterwards Paul III., and Cardinal del Monte, are represented near the pope. In the socle beneath is Solon addressing the people of Athens.

Wall of Egress.—"The Disputa," so called from an impression that it represents a Dispute upon the Sacrament. In the upper part of the composition the heavenly host are present;—Christ between the Virgin and St. John Baptist;—On the left, St. Peter, Adam, St. John, David, St. Stephen, and another;—On the right, St. Paul, Abraham, St. James, Moses, St. Laurence, and St. George. Below is an altar surrounded by the Latin fathers, Gregory, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine. Near St. Augustine stand St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Anacletus with the palm of a martyr, and Cardinal Buonaventura reading. Those in front are Innocent III., and in the background Dante, near whom a monk in a black hood is pointed out as Savonarola. The Dominican on the extreme left is supposed to be Fra Angelico. The other figures are uncertain.

"Raphaël a bien jugé Dante en plaçant parmi les Théologiens, dans la Dispute du Saint Sacrement, celui pour la tombe duquel a été écrit ce vers, aussi vrai qu'il est plat:

The chiaro-scuros on the socle beneath this fresco are by Pierino del Vaga (added under Paul III.) and represent, 1, A heathen sacrifice; 2, St. Augustine finding a child attempting to drain the sea; 3, The Cumæ Sibyl and Augustus.

"Raphael commenced his work in the Vatican by painting the ceiling and the four walls of the room called della Segnatura, on the surface of which he had to represent four great compositions, which embraced the principal divisions of the encyclopædia of that period; namely, Theology, Philosophy, Poetry, and Jurisprudence.

"It will be conceived, that to an artist imbued with the traditions of the Umbrian school, the first of these subjects was an unparalleled piece of good fortune; and Raphael, long familiar with the allegorical treatment of religious compositions, turned it here to the most admirable account; and, not content with the suggestions of his own genius, he availed himself of all the instruction he could derive from the intelligence of others. From these combined inspirations resulted, to the eternal glory of the Catholic faith and of Christian art, a composition without a rival in the history of painting, and we may also add without a name; for to call it lyric or epic is not enough, unless, indeed, we mean, by using these expressions, to compare it with the allegorical epic of Dante, alone worthy to be ranked with this marvellous production of the pencil of Raphael.

"And let no one consider this praise as idle and groundless, for it is Raphael himself who forces the comparison upon us, by placing the figure of Dante among the favourite sons of the Muses; and, what is still more striking, by draping the allegorical figure of Theology in the very colours in which Dante has represented Beatrice; namely, the white veil, the red tunic, and the green mantle, while on her head he has placed the olive crown.

"Of the four allegorical figures which occupy the compartments of the ceiling, and which were all painted immediately after Raphael's arrival in Rome, Theology and Poetry are incontestably the most remarkable. The latter would be easily distinguished by the calm inspiration of her glance, even were she without her wings, her starry crown, and her azure robe, all having allusion to the elevated region towards which it is her privilege to soar. The figure of Theology is quite as admirably suited to the subject she personifies; she points to the upper part of the grand composition, which takes its name from her, and in which the artist has provided inexhaustible food for the sagacity and enthusiasm of the spectator.

"This work consists of two grand divisions,—Heaven and Earth,—which are united to one another by that mystical bond, the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The personages whom the Church has most honoured for learning and holiness are ranged in picturesque and animated groups on either side of the altar, on which the consecrated wafer is exposed. St. Augustine dictates his thoughts to one of his disciples; St. Gregory, in his pontifical robes, seems absorbed in the contemplation of celestial glory; St. Ambrose, in a slightly different attitude, appears to be chaunting the Te Deum; while St. Jerome, seated, rests his hands on a large book, which he holds on his knees. Pietro Lombardo, Duns Scotus, St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Anacletus, St. Buonaventura, and Innocent III. are no less happily characterised; while, behind all these illustrious men, whom the Church and succeeding generations have agreed to honour, Raphael has ventured to introduce Dante with his laurel crown, and, with still greater boldness, the monk Savonarola, publicly burnt ten years before as a heretic.

"In the glory, which forms the upper part of the picture, the Three Persons of the Trinity are represented, surrounded by patriarchs, apostles, and saints: it may, in fact, be considered in some sort as a resumé of all the favourite compositions produced during the last hundred years by the Umbrian school. A great number of the types, and particularly those of Christ and the Virgin, are to be found in the earlier works of Raphael himself. The Umbrian artists, from having so long exclusively employed themselves on mystical subjects, had certainly attained to a marvellous perfection in the representation of celestial beatitude, and of those ineffable things of which it has been said that the heart of man cannot conceive them, far less, therefore, the pencil of man pourtray; and Raphael, surpassing them in all, and even in this instance while surpassing himself, appears to have fixed the limits, beyond which Christian art, properly so called, has never since been able to advance."—Rio. Poetry of Christian Art.

The Stanza of the Incendio del Borgo is decorated with frescoes illustrative of the triumphs of the Church from events in the reigns of Leo III. and Leo IV. The roof has four frescoes by Perugino illustrative of the Saviour in glory.

Entrance Wall.—The Victory of Leo IV. over the Saracens at Ostia, by Giovanni da Udine, from designs of Raphael. The pope is represented with the features of Leo X.; behind him are Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (Clement VII.), Cardinal Bibbiena, and others. The castle of Ostia is seen in the background. Beneath are Ferdinand the Catholic and the Emperor Lothaire, by Polidoro da Caravaggio.

Left Wall.—The "Incendio del Borgo," a fire in the Leonine City in 847. In the background Leo IV. is seen in the portico of the old St. Peter's arresting with a cross the progress of the flames, on their approach to the basilica. In the foreground is a group of fugitives, by Giulio Romano, resembling Æneas escaping from Troy with Anchises, followed by Ascanius and Creusa. Beneath are Godfrey de Bouillon and Astulf (Ethelwolf), the latter with the inscription: "Astulphus Rex sub Leone IV. Pont. Britanniam Beato Petro vectigalem fecit."

Right Wall.—The Justification of Leo III. before Charlemagne, by Pierino del Vaga. The pope is a portrait of Leo X., the emperor of Francis I.

Wall of Egress.—The Coronation of Charlemagne in the old St. Peter's. Leo X. is again represented as Leo III., and Francis I. as Charlemagne. This fresco is partly by Raphael, partly by Pierino del Vaga. On the socle is Charlemagne, by Polidoro da Caravaggio.

A Fifth Chamber has been decorated under Pius IX. with frescoes by Fracassini, in honour of the recent dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The Proclamation of the Dogma; the Adoration of the image of the Virgin; and the Reception of the news by the Virgin in heaven, from an angelic messenger, are duly represented!

From the corner of the Sala del Constantino, a custode, if requested, will give access to the

Cappella di San Lorenzo, a tiny chapel covered with frescoes executed by Fra Angelico for Nicholas V. in 1447. The upper series represents events in the life of St. Stephen.

1. His Ordination by St. Peter. 2. His Almsgiving. 3. His Preaching. 4. He is brought before the Council at Jerusalem ("his accuser has the dress and shaven crown of a monk"). 5. He is dragged to Execution. 6. He is Stoned. Saul is among the spectators.

"Angelico has represented St. Stephen as a young man, beardless, and with a most mild and candid expression. His dress is the deacon's habit, of a vivid blue."—Mrs. Jameson.

The lower series represents the life of St Laurence.

1. He is ordained by Sixtus II. (with the features of Nicholas V.). 2. Sixtus II. delivers the treasures of the Church to him for distribution among the poor. 3. He Distributes them in Alms. 4. He is carried before Decius the Prefect. 5. He suffers Martyrdom A.D. 253.

Introduced in the side arches, are the figures of St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. John Chrysostom, St. Athanasius, St. Leo—as the protector of Rome, and St. Thomas Aquinas—as painted by the Dominican Angelico, and for a Dominican pope Nicholas V.

"The Consecration of St. Stephen, the Distribution of Alms, and, above all, his Preaching, are three pictures as perfect of their kind as any that have been produced by the greatest masters, and it would be difficult to imagine a group more happily conceived as to arrangement, or more graceful in form and attitude, than that of the seated females listening to the holy preacher; and if the furious fanaticism of the executioners, who stone him to death, is not expressed with all the energy we could desire, this may be attributed to a glorious incapacity in this angelic imagination, too exclusively occupied with love and ecstasy to be ever able to familiarise itself with those dramatic scenes in which hateful and violent passions were to be represented."—Rio. Poetry of Christian Art.

"The soul of Angelico lives in perpetual peace. Not seclusion from the world. No shutting out of the world is needful for him. There is nothing to shut out. Envy, lust, contention, discourtesy, are to him as though they were not; and the cloister walls of Fiesole no penitential solitude, barred from the stir and joy of life, but a possessed land of tender blessing, guarded from the entrance of all but holiest sorrow. The little cell was as one of the houses of heaven prepared for him by his Master. What need had it to be elsewhere? Was not the Val d'Arno, with its olive woods in white blossom, paradise enough for a poor monk? Or could Christ be indeed in heaven more than here? Was He not always with him? Could he breathe or see, but that Christ breathed beside him, or looked into his eyes? Under every cypress avenue the angels walked; he had seen their white robes,—whiter than the dawn,—at his bedside, as he woke in early summer. They had sung with him, one on each side, when his voice failed for joy at sweet vesper and matin time; his eyes were blinded by their wings in the sunset, when it sank behind the hills of Luni."—Ruskin's Modern Painters.

The same staircase which is usually ascended to reach the Stanze (that on the left of the fountain in the Cortile S. Damaso) will also lead, by turning to the left in the loggia of the third floor, to:

The Gallery of Pictures, founded by Pius VII., who acted on the advice of Cardinal Gonsalvi and of Canova, and formed the present collection from the pictures which had been carried off by the French from the Roman churches, upon their restoration. The pictures have, to a great extent, been recently rearranged and are not all numbered. Each picture is worthy of separate examination. They are contained in four rooms, and according to their present position are:

1st Room.—

Entrance Wall: 1. St. Jerome: Leonardo da Vinci, painted in bistre. 16. St. John Baptist: Guercino. 4. The Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, and Presentation in the Temple: Raphael;—formerly a predella to the Coronation of the Virgin in the third room. 5. The dead Christ and Mary Magdalen: Andrea Mantegna,—from the Aldrovandi gallery at Bologna. 7. Madonna with the Child and St. John: Fr. Francia.

Right Wall: The Story of St. Nicolo of Bari: Fra Angelico da Fiesole,—two out of the three predella pictures once in the sacristy of S. Domenico at Florence, whence they were carried off to Paris, where the third remains. (Above,) The Adoration of the Shepherds: Murillo. The Virgin surrounded by Angels: Fra Angelico. 3. The Story of St. Hyacinth: Benozzo Gozzoli. (Above,) The Marriage of St. Catherine: Murillo. 2. "I Tre Santi:" Perugino.

Part of a large predella in the church of S. Pietro Casinensi at Perugia. Several saints from this predella still remain in the sacristy of S. Pietro; two are at Lyons.

"In the centre is St. Benedict, with his black cowl over his head and long parted beard, the book in one hand, and the asperge in the other. On one side, St. Placidus, young, and with a mild, candid expression, black habit and shaven crown. On the other side is St. Flavia (or St. Catherine?), crowned as a martyr, holding her palm, and gazing upward with a divine expression."—Mrs. Jameson.

(Above this) The Holy Family and Saints: Bonifasio.

Left Wall.—The Dead Christ, with the Virgin, St. John, and the Magdalen lamenting: Carlo Crivelli.

Wall of Egress.—Faith, Hope, and Charity, Raphael:—circular medallions in bistre, which once formed a predella for "the Entombment" in the Borghese gallery.

2nd Room.—

Entrance Wall.—The Communion of St. Jerome: Domenichino. This is the master-piece of the master, and perhaps second only to the Transfiguration. It was painted for the monks of Ara Cœli, who quarrelled with the artist, and shut up the picture. Afterwards they commissioned Poussin to paint an altar-piece for their church, and, instead of supplying him with fresh canvas, produced the picture of Domenichino, and desired him to paint over it. Poussin indignantly threw up his engagement, and made known the existence of the picture, which was afterwards preserved in the church of S. Girolamo della Carità, whence it was carried off by the French. St. Jerome, dying at Bethlehem, is represented receiving the Last Sacraments from St. Ephraim of Syria, while St. Paula kneels by his side.

"The Last Communion of St. Jerome is the subject of one of the most celebrated pictures in the world,—the St. Jerome of Domenichino, which has been thought worthy of being placed opposite to the Transfiguration of Raphael, in the Vatican. The aged saint,—feeble, emaciated, dying,—is borne in the arms of his disciples to the chapel of his monastery, and placed within the porch.[353] A young priest sustains him; St. Paula, kneeling, kisses one of his thin bony hands; the saint fixes his eager eyes on the countenance of the priest, who is about to administer the Sacrament,—a noble, dignified figure in a rich ecclesiastical dress; a deacon holds the cup, and an attendant priest the book; the lion droops his head with an expression of grief;[354] the eyes and attention of all are on the dying saint, while four angels, hovering above, look down upon the scene."—Jameson's Sacred Art.

"And Jerome's death (A.D. 420) drawing near, he commanded that he should be laid on the bare ground and covered with sackcloth, and calling the brethren around him, he spake sweetly to them, and exhorted them in many holy words, and appointed Eusebius to be their abbot in his room. And then, with tears, he received the blessed Eucharist, and sinking backwards again on the earth, his hands crossed on his heart, he sung the 'Nunc Dimittis,' which being finished, it being the hour of compline, suddenly a great light, as of the noonday sun, shone round about him, within which light angels innumerable were seen by the bystanders, in shifting motion, like sparks among the dry reeds. And the voice of the Saviour was heard, inviting him to heaven, and the holy Doctor answered that he was ready. And after an hour, that light departed, and Jerome's spirit with it."—Lord Lindsay, from Peter de Natalibus.

Right Wall.—"The Madonna di Foligno," Raphael, ordered in 1511 by Sigismondo Conti for the church of Ara Cœli (where he is buried), and removed in 1565 to Foligno, when his great-niece, Anna Conti, took the veil there at the convent of St' Anna. The angel in the foreground bears a tablet, with the names of the painter and donor, and the date 1512. The city of Foligno is seen in the background, with a falling bomb, from which one may believe that the picture was a votive offering from Sigismondo for an escape during a siege. The picture was originally on panel, and was transferred to canvas at Paris.

"The Madonna di Foligno, however beautiful in the whole arrangement, however excellent in the execution of separate parts, appears to belong to a transition state of development. There is something of the ecstatic enthusiasm which has produced such peculiar conceptions and treatment of religious subjects in other artists—Correggio, for example—and which, so far from harmonizing with the unaffected serene grace of Raphael, has in this instance led to some serious defects. This remark is particularly applicable to the figures of St. John and St. Francis: the former looks out of the picture with a fantastic action, and the drawing of his arm is even considerably mannered. St. Francis has an expression of fanatical ecstasy, and his countenance is strikingly weak in the painting (composed of reddish, yellowish, and grey tones, which cannot be wholly ascribed to their restorer). Again, St. Jerome looks up with a sort of fretful expression, in which it is difficult to recognise, as some do, a mournful resignation; there is also an exaggerated style of drawing in the eyes, which sometimes gives a sharpness to the expression of Raphael's figures, and appears very marked in some of his other pictures. Lastly, the Madonna and the Child, who turn to the donor, are in attitudes which, however graceful, are not perhaps sufficiently tranquil for the majesty of the queen of heaven. The expression of the Madonna's countenance is extremely sweet, but with more of the character of a mere woman than of a glorified being. The figure of the donor, on the other hand, is excellent, with an expression of sincerity and truth; the angel with the tablet is of unspeakable intensity and exquisite beauty—one of the most marvellous figures that Raphael has created."—Kugler.

"In the upper part of the composition sits the Virgin in heavenly glory; by her side is the Infant Christ, partly sustained by his mother's veil, which is drawn round his body: both look down benignly on the votary, Sigismund Conti, who, kneeling below, gazes up with an expression of the most intense gratitude and devotion. It is a portrait from the life, and certainly one of the finest and most life-like that exist in painting. Behind him stands St. Jerome, who, placing his hand upon the head of the votary, seems to present him to his celestial protectress. On the other side, John the Baptist, the meagre wild-looking prophet of the desert, points upward to the Redeemer. More in front kneels St. Francis, who, while he looks up to heaven with trusting and imploring love, extends his right hand towards the worshippers supposed to be assembled in the church, recommending them also to the protecting grace of the Virgin. In the centre of the picture, dividing these two groups, stands a lovely angel-boy, holding in his hand a tablet, one of the most charming figures of this kind Raphael ever painted; the head, looking up, has that sublime, yet perfectly childish grace, which strikes one in those awful angel-boys in the 'Madonna di San Sisto.' The background is a landscape, in which appears the city of Foligno at a distance; it is overshadowed by a storm-cloud, and a meteor is seen falling; but above these bends a rainbow, pledge of peace and safety. The whole picture glows throughout with life and beauty, hallowed by that profound religious sentiment which suggested the offering, and which the sympathetic artist seems to have caught from the grateful donor. It was dedicated in the church of the Ara Cœli at Rome, which belongs to the Franciscans, hence St. Francis is one of the principal figures. When I was asked, at Rome, why St. Jerome had been introduced into the picture, I thought it might be thus accounted for:—The patron saint of the donor, St. Sigismund, was a king and warrior, and Conti might possibly think it did not accord with his profession, as a humble ecclesiastic, to introduce him here. The most celebrated convent of the Jeronymites in Italy is that of St. Sigismund, near Cremona, placed under the special protection of St. Jerome, who is also in a general sense the patron of all ecclesiastics; hence, perhaps, he figures here as the protector of Sigismund Conti."—Jameson's Legends of the Madonna, p. 103.

Wall of Egress.—"The Transfiguration:" Raphael. The grandest picture in the world. It was originally painted by order of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (afterwards Clement VII.) Archbishop of Narbonne, for that provincial cathedral. But it was scarcely finished when Raphael died, and it hung over his death-bed as he lay in state, and was carried in his funeral procession.

The three following quotations may perhaps represent the practical, æsthetical, and spiritual aspects of the picture.

"It is somewhat strange to see the whole picture of the Transfiguration—including the three apostles, prostrate on the mount, shading their dazzled senses from the insufferable brightness—occupying only a small part of the top of the canvas, and the principal field filled with a totally distinct and certainly unequalled picture—that of the demoniac boy, whom our Saviour cured on coming down from the mount, after his transfiguration. This was done in compliance with the orders of the monks of S. Pietro in Montorio, for which church it was painted. It was the universal custom of the age—the yet unbanished taste of Gothic days—to have two pictures, a celestial and a terrestrial one, wholly unconnected with each other; accordingly, we see few, even of the finest paintings, in which there is not a heavenly subject above and an earthly below—for the great masters of that day, like our own Shakspeare, were compelled to suit their works to the taste of their employers."—Eaton's Rome.

"It must ever be matter of wonder that any one can have doubted of the grand unity of such a conception as this. In the absence of the Lord, the disconsolate parents bring a possessed boy to the disciples of the Holy One. They seem to have been making attempts to cast out the Evil Spirit; one has opened a book, to see whether by chance any spell were contained in it which might be successful against this plague, but in vain. At this moment appears He who alone has the power, and appears transfigured in glory. They remember His former mighty deeds; they instantly point aloft to the vision as the only source of healing. How can the upper and lower parts be separated? Both are one; beneath is Suffering craving for Aid; above is active Power and helpful Grace. Both refer to one another; both work in one another. Those who, in our dispute over the picture, thought with me, confirmed their view by this consideration: Raffaelle, they said, was ever distinguished by the exquisite propriety of his conceptions. And is it likely that this painter, thus gifted by God, and everywhere recognisable by the excellence of this His gift, would in the full ripeness of his powers have thought and painted wrongly? Not so; he is, as nature is, ever right, and then most deeply and truly right when we least suspect it."—Goethe's Werke, iii. p. 33.

"In looking at the Transfiguration we must bear in mind that it is not an historical but a devotional picture,—that the intention of the painter was not to represent a scene, but to excite religious feelings by expressing, so far as painting might do it, a very sublime idea.

"If we remove to a certain distance from the picture, so that the forms shall become vague, indistinct, and only the masses of colour and the light and shade perfectly distinguishable, we shall see that the picture is indeed divided as if horizontally, the upper half being all light, and the lower half comparatively all dark. As we approach nearer, step by step, we behold above, the radiant figure of the Saviour floating in mid-air, with arms outspread, garments of transparent light, glorified visage upturned as if in rapture, and the hair lifted and scattered as I have seen it in persons under the influence of electricity. On the right, Moses; on the left, Elijah; representing respectively the old Law and the old Prophecies, which both testified of Him. The three disciples lie on the ground, terror-struck, dazzled. There is a sort of eminence or platform, but no perspective, no attempt at real locality, for the scene is revealed as in a vision, and the same soft transparent light envelopes the whole. This is the spiritual life, raised far above the earth, but not yet in heaven. Below is seen the earthly light, poor humanity struggling helplessly with pain, infirmity, and death. The father brings his son, the possessed, or as we should now say, the epileptic boy, who oftentimes falls into the water, or into the fire, or lies grovelling on the earth, foaming and gnashing his teeth; the boy struggles in his arms,—the rolling eyes, the distorted features, the spasmodic limbs, are at once terrible and pitiful to look on.

"Such is the profound, the heart-moving significance of this wonderful picture. It is, in truth, a fearful approximation of the most opposite things; the mournful helplessness, suffering, and degradation of human nature, the unavailing pity, are placed in immediate contrast with spiritual light, life, hope,—nay, the very fruition of heavenly rapture.

"It has been asked, who are the two figures, the two saintly deacons, who stand on each side of the upper group, and what have they to do with the mystery above, or the sorrow below? Their presence shows that the whole was conceived as a vision, or a poem. The two saints are St. Laurence and St. Julian, placed there at the request of the Cardinal de' Medici, for whom the picture was painted, to be offered by him as an act of devotion as well as munificence to his new bishopric; and these two figures commemorate in a poetical way, not unusual at the time, his father, Lorenzo, and his uncle, Giuliano de' Medici. They would be better away; but Raphael, in consenting to the wish of his patron that they should be introduced, left no doubt of the significance of the whole composition, that it is placed before worshippers as a revelation of the double life of earthly suffering and spiritual faith, as an excitement to religious contemplation and religious hope.

"In the Gospel, the Transfiguration of Our Lord is first described, then the gathering of the people and the appeal of the father in behalf of his afflicted son. They appear to have been simultaneous; but painting only could have placed them before our eyes, at the same moment, in all their suggestive contrast. It will be said that in the brief record of the Evangelist, this contrast is nowhere indicated, but the painter found it there and was right to use it,—just the same as if a man should choose a text from which to preach a sermon, and, in doing so, should evolve from the inspired words many teachings, many deep reasonings, besides those most obvious and apparent.

"But, after we have prepared ourselves to understand and to take into our heads all that this wonderful picture can suggest, considered as an emanation of the mind, we find that it has other interests for us, considered merely as a work of art. It was the last picture which came from Raphael's hand; he was painting on it when he was seized with his last illness. He had completed all the upper part of the composition, all the ethereal vision, but the lower part of it was still unfinished, and in this state the picture was hung over his bier; when, after his death, he was laid out in his painting-room, and all his pupils and friends, and the people of Rome, came to look upon him for the last time; and when those who stood round raised their eyes to the Transfiguration, and then bent them on the lifeless form extended beneath it, 'every heart was like to burst with grief (faceva scoppiare l'anima di dolore a ognuno che quivi guardava), as, indeed, well it might.

"Two-thirds of the price of the picture, 655 'ducati di camera,' had already been paid by the Cardinal de' Medici, and, in the following year, that part of the picture which Raphael had left unfinished was completed by his pupil Giulio Romano, a powerful and gifted, but not a refined or elevated, genius. He supplied what was wanting in the colours and chiaroscuro according to Raphael's design, but not certainly as Raphael himself would have done it. The sum which Giulio received he bestowed as a dowry on his sister, when he gave her in marriage to Lorenzetto the sculptor, who had been a friend and pupil of Raphael. The cardinal did not send the picture to Narbonne, but, unwilling to deprive Rome of such a masterpiece, he presented it to the church of San Pietro in Montorio, and sent in its stead the Raising of Lazarus, by Sebastian del Piombo, now in our National Gallery. The French carried off the Transfiguration to Paris in 1797, and when restored, it was placed in the Vatican, where it now is."—Mrs. Jameson's History of Our Lord, vol. i.

3rd Room.—

Entrance Wall.—Madonna and Saints: Titian.

"Titian's altar-piece is a specimen of his pictures of this class. St. Nicholas, in full episcopal costume, is gazing upwards with an air of inspiration. St. Peter is looking over his shoulder at a book, and a beautiful St. Catherine is on the other side. Farther behind, are St. Francis and St. Anthony of Padua; on the left St. Sebastian, whose figure recurs in almost all of these pictures. Above, in the clouds, with angels, is the Madonna, who looks cheerfully on, while the lovely Child holds a wreath, as if ready to crown a votary."—Kugler.

"In this picture there are three stages, or whatever they are called, the same as in the Transfiguration. Below, saints and martyrs are represented in suffering and abasement; on every face is depicted sadness, nay, almost impatience; one figure in rich episcopal robes looks upwards, with the most eager and agonized longing, as if weeping, but he cannot see all that is floating above his head, but which we see, standing in front of the picture. Above, Mary and her Child are in a cloud, radiant with joy, and surrounded by angels, who have woven many garlands; the Holy Child holds one of these, and seems as if about to crown the saints beneath, but his Mother withholds his hand for the moment(?). The contrast between the pain and suffering below, whence St. Sebastian looks forth out of the picture with gloom and almost apathy, and the lofty unalloyed exultation in the clouds above, where crowns and palms are already awaiting him, is truly admirable. High above the group of Mary hovers the Holy Spirit, from whom emanates a bright streaming light, thus forming the apex of the whole composition. I have just remembered that Goethe, at the beginning of his first visit to Rome, describes and admires this picture; and he speaks of it in considerable detail. It was at that time in the Quirinal."—Mendelssohn's Letters.

Sta. Margherita da Cortona: Guercino. She is represented kneeling,—angels hovering above,—in the background is the Convent of Cortona.

Right Wall:

Martyrdom of St. Laurence: Spagnoletto.

22. The Magdalen, with angels bearing the instruments of the Passion: Guercino.

23. The Coronation of the Virgin: Pinturicchio.

24. The Resurrection: Perugino. The figures are sharply relieved against a bright green landscape and a perfectly green sky. The figure of the risen Saviour is in a raised gold nimbus surrounded by cherubs' heads, as in the fresco of Pinturicchio at the Ara Cœli. The escaping soldier is said to be a portrait of Perugino, introduced by Raphael,—the sleeping soldier that of Raphael, by Perugino.

25. "La Madonna di Monte Luco," designed by Raphael: the upper part painted by Giulio Romano, the lower by Francesco Penni (Il Fattore). The apostles looking into the tomb of the Virgin, find it blooming with heartsease and ixias. Above, the Virgin is crowned amid the angels. There is a lovely landscape seen through a dark cave, which ends awkwardly in the black clouds. This picture was painted for the convent of Monte Luco near Spoleto.

26. The Nativity: Giovanni Spagna.

27. The Coronation of the Virgin: Raphael. The predella in the first room belonged to this picture, which was painted for the Benedictines of Perugia.

28. The Virgin and Child enthroned under an arcade—with S. Lorenzo, St. Louis, S. Ercolano, and S. Costanzo, standing: On the step of the throne is inscribed 'Hoc Petrus de Chastro Plebis Pinxit.'

29. Virgin and Child: Sassoferrato. A fat mundane Infant and a coarse Virgin seated on a crescent moon. The Child holds a rosary.

End Wall:

The Entombment: Caravaggio.

"Caravaggio's entombment of Christ is a picture wanting in all the characteristics of holy sublimity; but is nevertheless full of solemnity, only perhaps too like the funeral solemnity of a gipsy chief. A figure of such natural sorrow as the Virgin, who is represented as exhausted with weeping, with her trembling outstretched hands, has seldom been painted. Even as mother of a gipsy chief, she is dignified and touching."—Kugler.

Left Wall (returning):

31. Doge A. Gritti (Titian), half-length, in a yellow robe.

Two very large pictures in many compartments, by Niccolo Alunno, of the Crucifixion and Saints. (Between them.)

Sixtus IV. and his Court: Melozzo da Forlì. A fresco, removed from the Vatican library by Leo XII., which is a most interesting memorial of an important historical family. Near the figure of the pope, Sixtus IV., who is known to Roman travellers from his magnificent bronze tomb in the Chapel of the Sacrament at St. Peter's, stand two of his nephews, of whom one is Giuliano della Rovere, afterwards Julius II., and the other Pietro Riario, who, from the position of a humble Franciscan monk, was raised, in a few months, by his uncle, to be Bishop of Treviso, Cardinal-Archbishop of Seville, Patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop of Valentia, and Archbishop of Florence, when his life changed, and he lived with such extravagance, and gave banquets so magnificent, that "never had pagan antiquity seen anything like it;"[355] but within two years "he died (not without suspicion of poison), to the great grief of Pope Sixtus, and to the infinite joy of the whole college of cardinals."[356] The kneeling figure represents Platina, the historian of the popes and prefect of the Vatican library. In the background stand two other nephews of the pope, Cardinal Giovanni della Rovere, and Girolamo Riario, who was married by his uncle (or father?), the pope, to the famous Caterina Sforza,—was suspected of being the originator of the conspiracy of the Pazzi,—was created Count of Forlì, and to whose aggrandisement Sixtus IV. sacrificed every principle of morality and justice: he was murdered at Forli, April 14th, 1488. Beneath is inscribed:

4th Room.—

Entrance Wall:

32. The Martyrdom of SS. Processus and Martinianus, the gaolers of St Peter: Valentin. It is stigmatised by Kugler as "an unimportant and bad picture," but, perhaps from the connection of the subject with the story of St Peter, has been thought worthy of being copied in mosaic in the basilica, whence this picture was brought.

"This picture is terrible for dark and effective expression; it is just one of those subjects in which the Caravaggio school delighted."—Jameson's Sacred Art.

33. Martyrdom of St. Peter: Guido Reni.

"This has the heavy powerful forms of Caravaggio, but wants the passionate feeling which sustains such subjects,—it is a martyrdom and nothing more,—it might pass for an enormous and horrible genre picture."—Kugler.

34. Martyrdom of St. Erasmus: N. Poussin. A most horrible picture of the disembowelment of the saint upon a wheel. It was copied in mosaic in St Peter's when the picture was removed from thence.

Left Wall:

35. The Annunciation: Baroccio. From Sta. Maria di Loreto, detained in the Vatican in exchange for a mosaic, after it was sent back by the French.

36. St. Gregory the Great—the miracle of the Brandeum: Andrea Sacchi.

"The Empress Constantia sent to St. Gregory requesting some of the relics of St. Peter and St. Paul. He excused himself, saying that he dared not disturb their sacred remains for such a purpose,—but he sent her part of a consecrated cloth (Brandeum) which had enfolded the body of St. John the Evangelist. The empress rejected this gift with contempt: whereupon Gregory, to show that such things are hallowed not so much in themselves as by the faith of believers, laid the Brandeum on the altar, and after praying he took up a knife and pierced it, and blood flowed as from a living body."—Jameson's Sacred Art, p. 321.

37. The Ecstasy of Sta. Michelina: Baroccio. This picture is mentioned by Lanzi as "Sta. Michelina estatica sul Calvario." The story appears to be lost.

Between the Windows:

The Madonna and Child with St. Jerome and St. Bartholomew: Moretto da Brescia (Buonvicino).

38. The Dream of Sta. Helena (of the finding of the true Cross): Paolo Veronese. Once in the Capitol collection.

Right Wall (returning):

39. Madonna with St. Thomas and St. Jerome: Guido. The St. Thomas is very grand.

40. Madonna della Cintola with St. John and St. Augustin. Signed 1521: Cesare da Sesto.

41. Salvator Mundi. Christ seated on the rainbow: Correggio?

42. St. Romualdo: Andrea Sacchi. The saint sees the vision of a ladder by which the friars of his Order ascend to heaven. The monks in white drapery are grand and noble figures.

"It is recorded in the legend of St. Romualdo, that, a short time before his death, he fell asleep beside a fountain near his cell; and he dreamed, and in his dream he saw a ladder like that which the patriarch Jacob beheld in his vision, resting on the earth, and the top of it reaching to heaven; and he saw the brethren of his Order ascending by twos and by threes, all clothed in white. When Romualdo awoke from his dream, he changed the habit of his monks from black to white, which they have ever since worn in remembrance of this vision."—Jameson's Monastic Orders, p. 117.

A door on the ground-floor of the Cortile di S. Damaso will admit visitors (with an order) to visit the Papal Manufactory of Mosaics, whence so many beautiful works have issued, and where others are always in progress.

"Ghirlandajo, who felt the utmost enthusiasm for the august remains of Roman grandeur, was still more deeply impressed by the sight of the ancient mosaics of the Christian basilicas, the image of which was still present to his mind when he said, at a more advanced age, that 'mosaic was the true painting for eternity.'"—Rio.