Part 17

"The facing of the door is the only considerable portion still remaining of the rich bronze-work with which this edifice was formerly fitted up. Simple as the decoration of these massive doors now appears, it is yet imposing for such persons as are capable of appreciating pure symmetry and a judicious distribution of the parts in surfaces so extensive. The nails, with heads in the form of rosettes, separating the different panels, are the only ornament. The window above the door is closed by a grating composed of curves placed one above the other, thus admitting both light and air. The destruction of the bronze cross-beams which formed the roof of the vestibule till the time of Urban VIII., is most to be regretted. This was composed of bronze tubes, on precisely the same principle as that on which Stephenson, a few years ago, constructed the bridge over the Menai Straits.

"The cupola is nearly seventy feet in height, and rests on the attica, corresponding to the second outer belt. This attica has suffered most severely from modern alterations. The walls behind this afford space for a series of chambers. The massive wall of the third belt, on the other hand, surrounding the cupola to a third of its height, is rendered accessible by a passage running round the whole; and this again is spanned by frequently recurring arches, and lighted by the windows visible on the outside.

"The diameter of the cupola is nearly equal to its height. The round aperture at the top, by means of which the interior is lighted with a magical effect, measures about twenty-eight feet in diameter. Here is still to be seen the last and only remnant of the rich bronze decorations of which this edifice formerly boasted. It consists of a ring, adorned with eggs and foliage, encircling the aperture, and not merely strengthening the edge of the wall, but constituting a graceful and at the same time a simple and judicious ornament.

"It is certain that the five converging rows of gradually diminishing cassettoni have been decorated in a similar manner, and it is stated that vestiges of metal were discovered during the process of whitewashing.

"The six niches between the altars are each supported by two fluted pillars and a corresponding number of pilasters, the greater portion of them being composed of monoliths of that costly yellow marble frequently employed by the ancients. They are more than thirty-two feet in height, and, as regards size, are unique of their kind. It has been impossible, even for the ancients, to erect, of this rare material, all the pillars required for the embellishment of this splendid edifice, for which reason they were obliged to substitute six of pavonazzetto. These, however, they stained, without injuring the brilliancy of the marble or the transparency of the grain, in such a manner as to bring them into harmony with the other yellow masses, and to deceive even the most practised eye. This circumstance is of great importance in forming an opinion on the coloured architecture of the Greeks, as it shows how they contrived to harmonize the white marble masses without concealing the texture of the noble material.

"It is stated by Pliny that caryatides were placed here by a certain Diogenes of Athens, corresponding to the pillars which support the architrave.

"Apparently they were a free repetition of the caryatides of the Pandrosium; and probably the statue in the Braccio Nuovo, which was brought from the Palazzo Paganica, in the immediate neighbourhood of the Pantheon, was one of these, the scale being precisely adapted to this situation.

"Some of the large nails used in riveting the bronze plates together are still preserved in the different museums. We are indebted to Serlio, an architect of the sixteenth century, who preserved a drawing of it, for the only information we possess concerning this ingenious piece of mechanism. The Pope mentioned above, a member of the Barberini family, had the barbarity to carry off and melt down these important remains. An inscription on the left of the principal door celebrates the judicious transformation of these masses of bronze into cannons, and ornaments for churches" (Braun).

Urban VIII. "That the useless and almost forgotten decorations might become ornaments of the apostle's tomb in the Vatican temple, and engines of public safety in the fortress of S. Angelo, he moulded the ancient relics of the bronze roof into columns and cannons, in the twelfth year of his pontificate" (Inscription).

"What the barbarians did not the Barberini have done" (Pasquino).

"On each side of the entrance to the Rotunda are two immense niches, constructed of brick, in which the colossal statues of Augustus and Agrippa are supposed to have been placed. This opinion seems to me too hazardous, and contrary to the spirit of these two eminent statesmen.

"Standing among the sixteen granite pillars supporting the vestibule, we feel that there is something overpowering in the impression it produces. This, however, diminishes when we step out upon the piazza, which lies too high. At its original level, a flight of five steps led up to the building; and the effect when viewed from a distance must have been essentially different, as we may judge from the portion of pavement which has been excavated to the right of the Rotunda" (Braun).

Raphael's tomb is in the third chapel on the left.

"Living, great Nature feared he might outvie Her works; and, dying, fears herself to die." CARDINAL BEMBO: _translated by_ POPE.

A bust, by Nardini, of Raphael was originally placed near here, but was removed in 1820, in consequence of people offering their devotions to it.

THE BATHS OF AGRIPPA.

[Illustration: BATHS OF AGRIPPA.]

The houses built amidst the ruins of the Baths of Agrippa at the back of the Pantheon have been demolished, and part of a large hall has been exposed to view. Nothing that has been discovered is new to those who have studied the subject. It has long been known that these houses were built on the old walls and vaults of the Thermæ. In fact, the sacristy of the Pantheon was made out of a vaulted chamber, a floor being inserted about half-way above its base. Besides the vaults and walls now cleared, pavements, pipes, and fragments of pavonazzetto columns have been found; also an earthenware jar containing 1,200 debased silver coins--provincial money of the thirteenth century, with the motto, _Roma caput mundi_. Portions of a beautiful frieze, formed with tridents, shells, dolphins, and acanthus leaves, blended harmoniously together, were found, and skilfully replaced in their ancient position. It is almost impossible to say for what purpose this hall was used, as nearly the whole of these baths are buried under the surrounding houses; but judging from its relative position to the circular hall, and from the plans of other thermæ, it was most probably the tepidarium. The hall was 150 feet long by 70 feet wide. Oriental marbles decorated the floor and walls, the latter being relieved with niches containing statues. Through the central apse was the original entry into the circular hall behind. The wall now exposed to view has a large apse in the centre, with the platform, on which stood a statue; and on either side are three niches for statues. Agrippa served his first consulship in A.U.C. 717. He was ædile in 719-20. In this service he built his baths. (Dion Cassius, in "Augustus;" Pliny, xxxvi. 24.) In 726 he was consul for the second time. In 727 he was consul for the third time, when the circular hall of his baths was turned into a temple, as we are informed by the inscription _in situ_.

These were the first large baths erected in Rome. Only small fragments of them remain, built into the houses at the back of the Pantheon, and so difficult to see. In the VIA DELL' ARCO DELLA CIAMBELLA, some little distance back, are the remains of a circular hall.

_The Via Minerva, to the left of the Pantheon, leads to the Piazza Minerva._

THE OBELISK,

standing upon an elephant, stood, with the one in the square of the Pantheon, in front of the Temple of Isis. The elephant upon which it stands is the work of Ercole Perrata, and of course had nothing to do originally with the obelisk. _On the left is the_

CHURCH OF S. MARIA SOPRA MINERVA,

so named from being on the site of the Temple of Minerva dedicated by Pompey. It is one of the few Gothic churches in Rome.

The interior is highly decorated in the Gothic style. Second chapel on right, tomb of Princess Colonna. Fourth, the Chapel of the Annunciation. Fifth, Aldobrandini Chapel. The Caraffa Chapel contains a slab to a son of the late Bishop of Winchester, who joined the Roman Catholic Church, and died at Albano in 1857. The pictures of the Annunciation over the altar, the S. Thomas, and the Assumption are fine.

The roof represents four sibyls surrounded by angels, by Raffaelino del Garbo. The Altieri Chapel contains an altar-piece by C. Maratta. Next is the tomb of Guillaume Durand, with a very fine mosaic. Interesting to English visitors is the tomb of Cardinal Howard, Great Almoner of England, who died at Rome in 1694. The body of S. Catherine of Sienna reposes beneath the high altar. _On the right_ is Obicci's statue of S. John; and _on the left_ Michael Angelo's celebrated statue of the Saviour (the bronze drapery is an addition). In the sacristy is a chapel formed from the walls of the room in which S. Catherine died (1380). The festivals of S. Thomas Aquinas (March 7th) and of the Annunciation (March 25th) are celebrated here with great ceremony.

_On the left of the high altar_ is the tomb of Fra Angelico, a monumental slab of the artist-monk, standing, with clasped hands, within an arch, in low relief.

HIC . JACET . VENELIS . PICTO . TR . JO . ORDIS . PREDICATO . 1455.

The monument was executed by Nicholas V., who is said to have written the inscription--

"Let me not gain praise because I was a second Apelles, But because, O Christ, I gave all my gains to the poor. Seeing some of my works are extant on earth, others in heaven, The City of Flowers of Etruria reared me."

The MONASTERY attached was the headquarters of the Dominicans, and in it Galileo was tried "for asserting that the world revolved round the sun, in opposition to Holy Writ."

The LIBRARY is open every day from 7.30 to 11 A.M., and from 3 to 5 P.M.

On the façade are some curious inscriptions, referring to the height of the floods caused by the Tiber from 1422.

THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA CAMPENSIS

was erected by Pompey the Great in celebration of his Eastern victories. The cella was destroyed in the sixteenth century. In making some alterations, in April 1874, in the houses to the right of the church above, some remains of walls six feet thick, and having stamps of repairs A.D. 123, were found. Remains can be seen _in the court of the shop at the corner of the Piazzetta della Minerva and Via del Piè de Marmo_.

_Passing along the Via del Piè de Marmo, we reach_ the piazza in which is situated the COLLEGIO ROMANO, till recently the head-quarters of the Jesuits. It has been sequestered by the Italian Government, and the College is now carried on under the Government.

_In the street to the right of the College is the entrance to_ the LIBRARY VITTOR EMANUELE and Reading-room, open every day to the public, after the model of the British Museum. _On the floor above is_

THE KIRCHERIAN MUSEUM.

_This museum is in a chronic state of being "arranged." The entrance fee is one lira, and the old custodians follow the visitor about as though the latter wished to eat the bronzes. On Sundays and Government festas the entry is free._

ENTRY HALL.--In a case down the centre are many highly interesting objects, mostly in bronze--early money, gems, styli, etc. The _Glandes Missiles_, or lead sling-bullets, are unique; many of them have messages cut upon them. In the cases against the wall are many objects of interest. The second on the left contains _Silver Cups_ found at the Aquæ Aureliæ on Lake Bracciano, three of which have itineraries from Cadiz to Rome engraved upon them. They are of the times of Augustus, Vespasian, and Nerva, and are supposed to have been thrown in by people who had made the journey and were cured by the waters, as an offering to the _genii loci_.

An ancient mosaic forms the floor of the hall, and in a semicircle at the end statuettes are grouped.

FIRST ROOM, on the left of entry hall, is devoted to bronzes used for domestic purposes, and to Lares and Penates. In the centre of the room is the _Bisellium_, or chair of state, formed of bronze inlaid with silver. It was found at Otimo. The _Cista Mistica_ was a prize given to gladiators to contain the requisites for their toilets. Three eagles' claws pressing on toads form the feet. Upon the cylindrical vase are engravings,--a gladiator stepping out of a galley with the _cista_ in his hand; Amycus being killed by Pollux, the Argonauts looking on. It was found at Palestrina, where several similar ones have recently been found. The handle is formed by three figures with their arms entwined.

The THIRD ROOM, at end on left, contains the caricature found cut in the plaster of the Domus Gelotiana of the Palatine--_the Skit of the Crucifixion_. It represents the body of a man with an ass's head being crucified. Below, on the left, is the figure of a man in adoration; beneath, in Greek, "Alexamenos adores his God." The Romans mixed up the Jews and the Christians; and believing that the former worshipped a white donkey (Tacitus, "H." v. 3), they applied it to the Christians, and in this way, because they knew the Christian's God was crucified. Tertullian ("Apol." xvi.) says it was a common caricature against the Christians. The date is about 200.

The inscriptions and reliefs are early Christian; also the objects in the glass case. To the right, at the end of the entry hall, is the entry to the Natural History and Pre-historic Museums. Passing through these, or better, returning and passing by the entrance, we enter the rooms of

TREASURE TROVE AT PALESTRINA.

Whilst some peasants were recently digging up their plot of ground near the Church of S. Rocco they came upon a subterranean tomb, which, upon examination, was found to contain arms, shields, sacrificial implements, jewellery, utensils, and other objects of value and interest. We may remind our readers that Præneste was destroyed by Sulla,--that is, the ancient city founded by the Greeks, and surrounded by the Pelasgic wall. This tomb is of that period, and measures five metres by three, and is composed of large blocks of tufa, without cement. The vault had fallen in, and thus damaged some of the objects, the principal of which are:--

_Personal Ornaments._--1. An object which might be called a huge fibula, as without doubt it was sewn on a dress. It is made of a rectangular piece of solid gold, 0.17 m. long, 0.10 m. wide. The borders and the central line are ornamented with bands, worked "a meandro," ending with lions' heads. On the flat surface _one hundred and thirty-one_ animals, such as lions, sphinxes, and sirens, stand or crouch. The skill with which the gold is worked in the most microscopic details is quite wonderful. 2. A fibula of gold, 0.12 m. long, not different from the Etrusco-Roman shape. 3. A few yards of a golden fringe or _fimbria_, which trimmed the edge of the dress, and in which the movable strings are attached to a band or heading, ornamented with swallows and crows. 4. A stick of silver, which seems to have ended with a hand, and might be considered as a sceptre. 5. Many clasps of gold, on which are fixed couples of lions and sirens of the same material.

_Utensils: Familiar or Sacred Supellex._--1. The funeral-bed, with the framework of oak-wood and the ornamentation of bronze. On the junction of the four poles of the frame are groups of _telamones_, whose heads are dressed with huge feathers, not unlike South American caciques; chimeras carrying away human bodies; dogs persecuting lions, &c. 2. A kind of strong-box, inlaid with exquisite bas-reliefs of ivory, coated in gold, and representing heads of monsters, lions eating up bodies dressed in Eastern fashion, Egyptian boats, females in priestly attire, battle-scenes between horsemen and infantry, &c. 3. Three cylinders, 0.19 m. long, 0.027 m. in diameter, inside of which are concealed sticks of palm-wood. 4. Two tripods, with their basins or _lebetes_, round the lips of which are human figures and monsters looking inside. 5. Tazza of gold and silver, 0.18 m. in diameter, with reliefs representing an Eastern king hunting cynocephali, or some other kind of monkey. 6. Tazza of pure gold, 0.12 m. high, in the shape of a Greek "skyphos," with handles ending with winged male figures. 7. Several other cups of blue Phœnician glass, of gold and silver, and pure silver, one of which is exceedingly interesting, as it bears the signature of the artist. The paleography of the letters resembles that of the stones of _Mesa_ and _Esmunazar_; and the text, taken as a whole, recalls to mind the signatures of the cuneiform contracts discovered in Assyria, which belong to the seventh century before Christ. And such is certainly the date of the signature found at Palestrina, which has been interpreted by Professor Fabiani, "Esmunie 'ar ben 'asta." The same philologist thinks that the artist must be contemporary with, if not anterior to, Euchyros and Eugrammos; and if so, Esmunie 'ar would be the earliest goldsmith whose name is historically known, with the exception of Bezaleel (Ex. xxxi.), B.C. 1491.

THE PRE-HISTORIC MUSEUM

contains many objects of interest. In it are arranged different articles from various parts of the world, demonstrating how the same implements, weapons, and customs were once universally used. The collection of flints is one of the finest in the world, and to those interested in this branch of archæology is of special value. Each case is labelled with the names of the object and the country.

_Thence passing into the Piazza del Gesù_, we can visit the

CHURCH OF THE JESUITS (Il Gesu),

one of the finest in Rome. Its interior is rich in stuccoes, paintings, and sculptures. The frescoes of the tribune, the dome, and the roof are by Baciccio. The Chapel of S. Ignatius is very fine; the columns and ball over the altar are composed of lapis-lazuli. Beneath the altar, in an urn of gilt bronze, is the body of the saint. The small circular chapel close by is rich in paintings and stained-glass windows.

It is well worth a visit there to hear mass, vespers, or one of the fathers preaching.

The wind generally blows in the piazza, which is thus accounted for. One day the wind and the devil were out for a ramble; and, on arriving at this square, the old gentleman asked the wind to stop a moment while he went into the church. The wind is still stopping for the devil, who has not yet come out.

_The_ VIA CESARINI, down the new Corso Vittorio Emanuele, leads to the Piazza of S. Nicola a Cesarini. In the court of No. 56 is

THE TEMPLE OF CASTOR.

The remains show that it was a circular building. It stood near the Flaminian Circus. (Vitruvius, iv. 7.) Four fluted tufa columns exist.

_From Piazza del Gesù we proceed up_ VIA ARA CŒLI. _Before us is_

THE CAPITOLINE HILL.

It was originally called the Hill of Saturn (Dionysius, ii. 1), being occupied by Romulus as a defence for the Palatine Hill (Plutarch, in "Rom."), and was betrayed to the Sabines by Tarpeia, the daughter of the commandant of the fortress (Livy, i. 11). When the Palatine and Capitoline Hills were united into one city, and the two kings reigned together, the name of the hill was changed and called the Tarpeian Hill. In the 138th year after the foundation of Rome, when Tarquin the Great was making the foundations for the great Temple of Jupiter, they found a human head; and the oracle told them that the spot where the head was found should become the head of the world; and so they changed the name of the hill again, and called it the Capitoline Hill,--from _caput_, a head (Livy, i. 55; Pliny, xxviii. 4). The whole hill was the Arx or Citadel of Rome, just the same as at Athens, Veii, Tusculum, &c. Several ancient authors agree in this. The shape of the hill is a saddle-back,--the centre being depressed, with an eminence at each end. The one on our left is known as the Ara Cœli height, and the one on our right as the Caffarella height. On the Ara Cœli height stood the great Temple of Jupiter, facing south, and approached from the Area Capitolina (Piazza del Campidoglio) by a flight of steps. On the opposite or Caffarella height stood the Temple of Juno Moneta or the Mint, and the Temple of Concord, both built by Camillus; and the Temple of Jupiter Feretrius, founded by Romulus. Many other temples, altars, and shrines occupied the space inside the citadel, which was approached by three ascents upon its eastern side,--the Clivus Capitolinus, the Pass of the Two Groves, and the Hundred Steps. The ascents upon its western side date from 1348, when the marble stairs on our left, leading up to the Ara Cœli, were erected out of the stairs that led up to the Temple of Quirinus (Romulus) upon the Quirinal Hill. The ascent to the Square was made in 1536 for the entry of Charles V. The roadway on its right is quite recent. In forming it some remains of the tufa walls that protected the arx on this side were found, and can still be seen inside the iron gate.

On the balustrade at the bottom of the ascent to the Capitol are two Egyptian lionesses. At the top of the ascent are two colossal statues of Castor and Pollux, found in the Ghetto, and by their side are the miscalled Trophies of Marius. They belonged to the decorations of the Nymphæum of Alexander Severus, the picturesque ruins of which are on the Esquiline Hill, and which are represented on a coin. They were placed upon the balustrade of the Capitol, their present site, by Pope Sixtus V. Originally they formed part of the ornamentation of the Basilica Ulpia, and were erected in honour of Trajan by the Apollinarian and Valerian legions. Next to the trophies are two statues of Cæsar and Augustus Constantine; and in the same row, on the left, the stone that marked the seventh and, on the right, the stone that marked the first mile on the Via Appia.

_In the centre of the Square is_

THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF MARCUS AURELIUS,