Jfamca JJirhutb 
 
THE GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE LIBRARY 
 
 Halsted VanderPoel Campanian Collection 
 
I 
 
EXTRACTS FROM A JOURNAL 
 
 DURING A 
 
 TOUR IN ITALY, 
 
 IN 1829 AND 1830. 
 
 NOT PUBLISHED. 
 
 CHISWICK : 
 PRINTED BY C. WHITTINGHAAI, COLLEGE HOUSE. 
 
 MDCCCXXXVI. 
 
THE GETTY RESEARCH 
 INSTITUTE LIBRARY: 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 LAGO MAGGIORE. MILAN. COMO. MONZA. 
 
 CROSSED the Simplon, and entered Italy. The road 
 from Domo Dossola to Baveno lies through a valley 
 encircled by mountains ; and here we embarked for 
 the Isola Bella, on the Lago Maggiore. This lake 
 is fifteen leagues long, and two leagues and a half 
 across in the widest part ; and the Ticino enters it at 
 the northern, and leaves it at Cesto Calende, the 
 southern extremity ; and the Tresa connects it with 
 the Lago di Lugano. In the widest part of the lake 
 are the Borromean Islands. The Isola Bella, covered 
 with shrubs, vases, and statues, looks as if it were 
 raised by enchantment. Eight tiers of arches or 
 piles support this fairy land, a monument of the 
 wealth of Vitellianus Borromeus, who, in 1671, 
 transformed it from a barren rock, and even the 
 earth was brought from the opposite shores. On 
 the north side, ten terraces, one above the other, rise 
 to the height of a hundred feet, overspread with the 
 luxuriant foliage of the orange tree, pomegranate, 
 cypress, laurel, jessamine, and myrtle; the whole 
 surmounted by a colossal unicorn, the crest of the 
 family. 
 
2 
 
 The vegetable garden had been completely meta- 
 morphosed since 1818, and the choicest exotics 
 flourished luxuriantly : two bay trees, rising from 
 one stock, were pointed out as the largest known in 
 Europe ; one measured ten feet, the other nine feet 
 in girth, and their height was ninety-five feet. 
 
 The Isola Madre is ornamented with four terraces ; 
 and orange and lemon trees, pines, laurels, and cy- 
 press, are spread around in profusion. On this 
 island there is a small theatre, and the hall of the 
 mansion is hung with battle-pieces of the campaigns 
 in which Prince Frederick Borromeus was engaged 
 in 1 734. The Island of the Fishermen, the smallest 
 of the group, covered with mean houses, and con- 
 taining two hundred inhabitants, is near the Isola 
 Bella, and upon it is the church belonging to the 
 islands. The road follows the margin of the lake to 
 Arona; and the ancient towers at the entrance of the 
 harbour of this little town are extremely picturesque. 
 On an eminence above Arona (the place of his birth) 
 stands the colossal figure, in bronze, of St. Charles 
 Borromeus ; and some idea may be formed of its 
 gigantic proportions, when we hear that the head 
 will hold four persons ! The carriage lamps almost 
 touched the houses in the narrow dirty streets of 
 Arona. 
 
 At the southern extremity of the Lago Maggiore 
 we quitted the Piedmontese territory, and crossing 
 the Ticino, which flows out of the lake at this point, 
 entered Lombardy at the miserable town of Cesto 
 Calende, on the banks of the river, and passing 
 through a plain, bordered by hedges of acacias, and 
 
3 
 
 rows of mulberry trees, for the growth of the silk- 
 worm, arrived at Milan. 
 
 The capital of Lombardy is built in the midst of 
 an extensive flat country, watered by the Adda and 
 Tesin, and abounding in corn, rice, and pasturage. 
 The circuit of the town, not including the Boule- 
 vards and the ancient fortifications, is about six 
 miles ; the streets are paved with small round stones, 
 and with rows of smooth flags ; and the ground being 
 completely level, the wheels of carriages run almost 
 as freely as on a railway. The promenade of the 
 Corso on the old ramparts, planted with avenues of 
 the white mulberry, is one thousand five hundred 
 and forty toises in extent ; and on Sundays and other 
 festivals the display of equipages and company here 
 is quite equal to the Bois de Boulogne, or the Champs 
 Elysees at Paris. 
 
 But the chief ornament of the city is its Cathe- 
 dral, one of the most magnificent specimens of Gothic 
 architecture in Europe, and by many considered as 
 hardly yielding the palm to the Vatican. It is built, 
 paved, roofed, and vaulted with the finest Italian 
 marble from the quarries near the Lago Maggiore, 
 and all the ornaments and statues are of the same 
 costly material. Mr. Eustace says, u Inferior only 
 to the Vatican, it equals in length, and in breadth it 
 surpasses, the cathedral of Florence and St. Paul's : 
 in the interior elevation it yields to both ; in the 
 exterior it exceeds both ; in fretwork, carving, and 
 statues, it goes beyond all churches in the world, 
 St. Peter's itself not excepted." 
 
 John Galeas Visconti, first Duke of Milan, com- 
 
 B 2 
 
menced this costly edifice in 1386, and it is scarcely 
 yet finished : the grand western facade is adorned 
 with a profusion of sculpture, basso-relievos of sub- 
 jects in sacred history, and fretwork, and is termi- 
 nated by ten pinnacles, surmounted by statues, &c. 
 
 Bonaparte completed several of these pinnacles 
 and statues ; but the mixture of styles which he has 
 introduced in the pediments of the windows, and in 
 the portals of the west front, is injudicious and bar- 
 barous. 
 
 A cupola, three hundred and seventy feet high, 
 ornamented with eight pinnacles, and crowned with 
 figures of angels, and eight smaller ones above, adorned 
 with stars, and a pyramid, on the summit of which 
 is a large gilt statue of the Virgin (the patron saint) 
 terminates the building. In point of grandeur, the 
 interior is hardly equal to the exterior, and there 
 is a want of light. The capitals of the fifty-two 
 gigantic pillars in the nave, eighty-four feet in height, 
 and twenty-four feet in circumference, are ornamented 
 with statues in niches; the arches are pointed (Teu- 
 tonic), and the roof is groined. The tesselated pave- 
 ment, said to be superior to that of the Vatican, is 
 unfinished ; and the cedar beams between the pillars, 
 for supporting the hangings on the fete of St. Charles, 
 are in wretchedly bad taste, as is the cumbrous 
 pediment over the font. Mr. Eustace remarks thus on 
 two peculiarities in this Cathedral : " The admirer 
 of English Gothic will observe that there is no screen, 
 and that the church is entirely open, and separated 
 from the nave only by its elevation. In the front of 
 the chancel, and almost immediately above the steps, 
 
rises, on four additional steps, the altar; and behind 
 it, in a semicircular form, the choir. Thus the altar 
 stands, as in the Roman basilicon, and indeed in all 
 ancient churches, between the clergy and the people." 
 
 In this Cathedral, what is called the Ambrosian 
 rite is adopted, which allows only one altar and one 
 service in the same church ; hence there are no cha- 
 pels ; and baptism is also performed by immersion. 
 Near the choir is the entrance to the subterranean 
 chapel of St. Charles Borromeus. 
 
 In the shrine (containing four thousand ounces of 
 solid silver), formed of panelc of rock crystal, with 
 mouldings of silver gilt, lies the body of the saint, 
 who died A. D. 1584, clad in gorgeous pontifical 
 vestments ; with the mitre on his head, and the 
 crozier at his side. The face is tolerably perfect, 
 and the teeth ; the skin appears like discoloured 
 parchment; over the head is suspended a coronet, 
 set with jewels, and valued at fourteen thousand 
 crowns ; and on one of the hands (covered with em- 
 broidered gloves) is a ring of great value. 
 
 Amongst the numerous gifts in the shrine is the 
 figure of an infant of solid gold, the offering of 
 Maria Beatrix, wife of the Archduke Ferdinand, in 
 gratitude for a child born at Milan ! 
 
 The chapel is an octagon, and around it are basso 
 relievos beautifully chased, representing various 
 epochs of the saint's life ; viz. his attendance on the 
 sick during the plague of Milan, his giving alms to 
 the poor, his escape from an assassin at the altar, his 
 death and the translation of his remains, his armo- 
 
rial bearings, and the figures of Justice, Liberality, 
 and Fortitude, all of massive silver. 
 
 St. Charles built the greatest part of the choir, and 
 the exterior is ornamented with some fine sculpture 
 of the history of our Saviour. 
 
 A marble statue of St. Bartholomew, representing 
 the saint after his martyrdom, is much admired for 
 the anatomical accuracy with which the muscles are 
 portrayed, and for the excellence of the proportions. 
 
 This specimen has been considered by a late tra- 
 veller to be more adapted for a school of anatomy 
 than a church, but rather fastidiously, as many 
 celebrated paintings, especially of the Crucifixion, 
 may claim the remark with equal justice. The artist 
 has taken care to transmit his name to posterity with 
 some degree of vanity in the following distich : 
 
 " Non me Praxiteles, sed Marcus finxit Agrati." 
 
 The roof is by no means the least striking part of 
 the building, for there the spectator is enabled to 
 view more in detail the pains and cost expended on 
 this wonderful structure, 3\nd countless statues, 
 pinnacles, and fretwork appear in every variety 
 around. 
 
 On the right of the Cathedral is the Viceroy's 
 Palace ; the suite of state apartments is elegantly 
 furnished, and the ceilings are painted by Appiani of 
 Milan. In one of them, the vanity of the late Em- 
 peror of France is strongly exemplified. The subject 
 is the apotheosis of Jupiter, and the face of the god 
 is intended to resemble Bonaparte; but the likeness 
 
is not striking. One of the rooms is hung with 
 Gobelin tapestry, copied from the cartoons of Raphael ; 
 -g^Hhe gallery round the ball-room is supported by 
 half length figures, most elaborately executed by 
 Calani of Parma , and the bust of Modesty, veiled, 
 is considered to rival the best works of the ancient 
 sculptors. 
 
 The Archbishop's Palace, an old building with a 
 quadrangle and cloisters, formed a part of the Vice- 
 roy's Palace, and was erected as a residence for the 
 canons of the Cathedral by St. Charles Borromeus 
 in the sixteenth century ; the specimens of Titian, 
 Leonardo da Vinci, Domenichino, and Raphael, are 
 numerous ; but there is no variety in the subjects, 
 and the introduction of favourite saints, in nine out 
 often, is quite ridiculous. 
 
 Among the churches, that dedicated to St. Am- 
 brose is the most ancient. The west entrance is 
 enclosed by a square, surrounded with brick cloisters, 
 and pillars with stone capitals ; and the walls are 
 covered with fresco paintings. The facade of the 
 church is also of brick, and the folding doors are of 
 cypress (not bronze, as Mr. Eustace describes them), 
 carved with a representation of the history of St. 
 Ambrose ; but the pilgrims from Rome defaced them 
 so much by cutting off pieces as relics, that a grating 
 has been placed to protect them from further injury. 
 It is the received opinion that these are the doors 
 which were closed against the Emperor Theodosius 
 by St. Ambrose, and it was for this reason that they 
 were regarded with such veneration by the pilgrims. 
 Mr. Eustace has endeavoured to dispute the fact of 
 
8 
 
 the saint having closed the doors of any church 
 against the Emperor, from the mild character of the 
 latter; but the enterprising nature of the prelate, a 
 warrior as well as a churchman, seems to warrant 
 another conclusion ; and even had this been the case, 
 Mr. E. proceeds to state, that these were not the 
 doors. But the pains taken to preserve them is a 
 proof to the contrary. La Martiniere says, " This 
 (St. Ambrose) is the same church which the saint 
 closed against the Emperor Theodosius." Geog. 
 Diet. 
 
 The stone pulpit from which the saint used to 
 preach is curiously carved, and a brazen serpent is 
 piously believed to be the identical one worshipped 
 by the children of Israel. The choir is behind the 
 altar, agreeable to the Ambrosian rite, and the 
 mosaic work of the cupola is of the fourth century. 
 In this church the Emperors of Germany were 
 crowned with the iron crown of Lombardy. 
 
 The facade of Santa Maria presso San Celso is 
 the most highly ornamented in Milan, and the cupola 
 is beautifully painted by Appiani. Agate and lapis 
 lazuli are lavished with profusion on the high altar, 
 and the Virgin's Chapel is adorned with silver 
 pillars. 
 
 Santa Maria delle Grazia belonged to a Dominican 
 convent, now suppressed, and is converted into the 
 hotel of the Austrian gendarmerie. 
 
 At the end of the Refectory is the celebrated 
 fresco painting, by Leonardo da Vinci, of the Last 
 Supper (1497). The admirer of the fine arts will be 
 shocked when he sees the numerous marks of bullets 
 
9 
 
 fired at it by the French when they entered Milan in 
 1796 ; and the figure of our Saviour, in the centre of 
 the painting, afforded the principal mark of those 
 impious Vandals. Eugene Beauharnais, the late 
 viceroy, covered it with boards to preserve it from 
 further injury ; but when the chateau and the fortifi- 
 cations were rased, and the wet ditches drained, the 
 Refectory was flooded, and the fresco was much 
 damaged. The Dominicans, more anxious to have 
 their dinner smoking hot from the kitchen, than to 
 pay any attention to this superb work of art, have 
 broken an arch through the wall, in the genuine spirit 
 of gormandizing monks ! ! 
 
 At the other end of the room, a fresco of the Cru- 
 cifixion bears the date of 1495. 
 
 The altar of Santa Alessandro is covered with 
 oriental agate, jasper, and lapis lazuli; the cupola is 
 painted by some of the most celebrated Italian artists ; 
 and the Corinthian pillars are gilt, but the profusion 
 of ornament spoils the effect. 
 
 Opposite the church of Santa Lorenzo are the 
 celebrated Corinthian columns, the only remains of 
 Roman antiquity now existing in Milan. They are 
 sixteen in number, fluted, and with richly carved 
 capitals, and are supposed by some to have formed 
 the facade of the Baths of Hercules, built by Maxi- 
 mian, surnamed Hercules, the colleague of Diocletian; 
 but Mr. Eustace and other critics think that the pro- 
 portions and the architecture are of a date anterior to 
 that of Maximian. It was in contemplation some 
 years since to have pulled down these memorials of 
 Roman splendour, but the Milanese government gave 
 
10 
 
 orders to support them with iron braces and brick- 
 work, and to preserve them by every possible means 
 from ruin. 
 
 The Ambrosian Library was founded by Cardinal 
 Frederick Borromaeus, Archbishop of Milan, and the 
 nephew of St. Charles. One of the chief rarities is 
 a large folio manuscript, containing notes and remarks 
 on architecture, mechanics, and optics, with pen 
 sketches by Leonardo da Vinci ; and under the bust 
 of Galeaz Arconatus, the donor, is a Latin inscrip- 
 tion, purporting that James I. King of England, 
 offered in vain for the volume three thousand Spanish 
 ducats. The library consists of forty thousand vo- 
 lumes, and fifteen thousand manuscripts ; amongst 
 the latter are the Antiquities of Josephus, translated 
 by Ruffin, written on the Egyptian papyrus, and 
 said to be eleven hundred years old ; and a copy 
 of Virgil on vellum, illuminated, the property of 
 Petrarch, with numerous marginal notes in his own 
 hand-writing. Here are also preserved some relics 
 of St. Charles Borromaeus, parts of his dress, books, 
 manuscripts, and the large cartoon of Raphael, in 
 crayons, of "the School of Athens." Louis XVIII. 
 wishing to retain so fine a specimen of that great 
 master in the Louvre, offered an immense sum for it. 
 
 The Brera College was founded by St. Charles 
 Borromaeus for the Jesuits, and was, with the Char- 
 treuse at Pavia, abolished by Joseph II. Emperor of 
 Austria. It contains the most numerous and choice 
 collection of paintings at Milan. Some frescoes by 
 B. Zuino, 1521, on a wall of at least a foot thick, in 
 the chapel of the college, have been removed without 
 
11 
 
 suffering the least injury by the French, and the 
 experiment has answered completely. 
 
 The Hospital is capable of accommodating three 
 thousand patients, and was founded in 1456 by 
 Francis Sforza, fourth Duke of Milan, who converted 
 his palace to this benevolent purpose. The principal 
 court is upwards of three hundred feet square, lined 
 with double rows of porticos, supported by granite 
 columns of the Composite and Ionic orders. 
 
 The Visconti, Palace is still inhabited by the 
 descendants of that noble family ; and over the win- 
 dows are busts, with the names inscribed beneath, 
 and the armorial bearings of this ancient house, a 
 serpent, with a child in its mouth, appears over the 
 entrance. 
 
 On the spot where St. Augustine was baptized, 
 and converted to Christianity by St. Ambrose, a 
 small chapel is built, and they still show you the 
 sacred well. The inscription is as follows. " Divus 
 Augustinus ad lucem fidei per Sanctum Ambrosium 
 evocatus, hie unda coelesti abluitur, Anno Domini, 
 CCCLXXXVIII." 
 
 The Scala is the largest theatre in Europe, with 
 the exception of St. Carlos at Naples, and the form 
 is elegant and well proportioned. The great depth 
 of the stage is admirably suited for the display of 
 scenery and processions ; and the orchestra is con- 
 ducted in superior style. 
 
 All the fortifications of Milan were razed by the 
 French, the ramparts turned into promenades, and 
 the chateau, flanked by two immense octagon brick 
 towers, into barracks. Near the chateau, and in the 
 
12 
 
 Place d'Armes, is a circus commenced by order of 
 Bonaparte, for games, in imitation of the Romans, 
 and the arena can be filled with water for the exhibi- 
 tion of naumachia. There are ten rows of seats, 
 calculated to hold thirty thousand spectators ; the 
 Pulvinar is supported by eight Corinthian pillars, 
 and the metas used at the chariot races, (at which 
 we heard serious accidents frequently occurred), are 
 in strict accordance with those described in the 
 Roman antiquities. 
 
 At the extremity of the Place d'Armes, and facing 
 the Simplon road, is a triumphal arch of marble, 
 erected by Bonaparte, and nearly finished, adorned 
 with Corinthian pillars, and basso relievos of the 
 surrender of Ulm, the entry of the French into Vienna, 
 and into Milan, the genius of Lombardy delivering 
 the keys of the city to Bonaparte, and statues of 
 Fame, Minerva, Mars, &c. It appears extraordinary 
 that the Austrian government should complete this 
 monument of its own humiliation and defeat. 
 
 Como was the birth-place of Pope Innocent XI., 
 the poet Caecilius, and Pliny the younger ; and the 
 inscriptions found in the vicinity attest its high anti- 
 quity. The streets are as narrow and crooked as a 
 labyrinth ; and the arcades, a common mode of build- 
 ing in Italy, are, during the heat of the summer, 
 indispensable. 
 
 The Cathedral is of various coloured marble, and 
 at the west front are two statues of Pliny the younger, 
 who conferred several important privileges on his 
 fellow citizens, who erected these memorials as a 
 testimony of their gratitude. 
 
 
The Lake of Como, or the Larian Lake, is fifty 
 miles in length, varying from two to six miles in 
 breadth, and from fifty to six hundred feet in depth. 
 At Ballagio it spreads into two branches ; one flow- 
 ing to Como, the other to Lecco, where the Adda 
 issues out of it, and becomes a considerable stream. 
 The banks are diversified with such a combination 
 of romantic scenery, gardens, villas, and picturesque 
 villages, sloping down to the margin of the water, 
 that few, if any of the other European lakes can be 
 compared with it. 
 
 We landed at the Villa Pliniana, most beautifully 
 situated in a bay, formed by rocky promontories, 
 covered with wood, at the base of which a cascade 
 precipitates itself into the lake. The intermitting 
 fountain, mentioned in Pliny's 30th Epistle, Book IV. 
 flows under three rude arches in the solid rock, sup- 
 ported on small pillars, and the gradations of its 
 ebbing and flowing, which occurs once in three 
 hours, are marked by lines ; and we stayed to witness 
 this singular phenomenon, for which several reasons 
 have been assigned, but none of them very satis- 
 factory. Mr. Eustace expresses doubts as to this 
 being the fountain alluded to by Pliny ; but his 
 opinion is at variance with most other writers. 
 
 The Inn at Cadenabio, twenty miles from Como, 
 is one of the finest situations on the lake, which is 
 here divided into two branches, and the reach is 
 magnificent. Opposite, the bold promontory of Bel- 
 lagio swells into a lofty eminence, with a convent on 
 the summit, once the residence of the ancient and 
 
14 
 
 noble family of Serbelloni. The lodge at the entrance 
 is decorated with cuirasses, pikes, shields, and ban- 
 ners of Barcajoli di Bellagio, one of the ancestors of 
 the family ; and the old ramparts and loop-holes for 
 musketry still remain amongst the precipitous rocks 
 which surround the convent. 
 
 Near Cadenabio is the chateau of the Count Som- 
 mariva, containing many paintings and curiosities ; 
 and the count, who was elevated to his present rank 
 by the late Emperor of France, and enjoys immense 
 revenues arising from confiscated property, is conti- 
 nually making additions to his collection. 
 
 In returning to Como we landed on the small 
 island of St. Giovanni, about a mile long, and half a 
 mile broad, covered with vines and thickets, said to 
 have been the retreat of some of the early Christians 
 in the third century. Here is a chapel dedicated to 
 the Baptist, and the sacred interlude of his martyr- 
 dom is performed on the anniversary. 
 
 Wolves are sometimes taken in the mountains 
 above Lezzeno ; but as the Austrian government 
 gives a premium for their heads, the breed is nearly 
 extinct. 
 
 In most of the hamlets on the banks of the lake of 
 Como, the only inhabitants are the old men, women, 
 and children ; the young men being dispersed in all 
 parts of Europe, selling casts in plaster, jewellery, 
 barometers, &c., remaining abroad for several years, 
 then returning for a short time, and again resuming 
 their wandering occupation. 
 
 The following remarks by Mr. Eustace on English 
 
lo 
 
 lake scenery, as compared with Italian, may not 
 please every one , but an impartial observer must 
 subscribe to their truth : 
 
 " To a traveller lately returned from Italy, Win- 
 dermere appears a long pool, and Skiddaw shrinks 
 into a hillock. Ullswater alone, in the comparative 
 boldness of its banks, may perhaps present a faint 
 resemblance to some parts of the Lago di Como ; 
 but the parallel is confined to that single feature. 
 The rocks that frown over Buttermere may be suffi- 
 ciently grand, but how insignificant the sheet of 
 water spread beneath them." 
 
 The Cathedral of Monza is of marble ; but there 
 is nothing particularly striking in the exterior; the 
 walls and ceiling of the interior are painted in fresco, 
 and the altar is covered with bronze and lapis lazuli. 
 We were admitted by an order from the governor of 
 Milan to view the treasury of the Cathedral, rich in 
 jewels and antiquities, given by Queen Theodolinda 
 to St. Gregory. In the list is a cup of silver chased, 
 the bowl formed of an entire sapphire, and crucifixes 
 studded with jewels ; a book used by the saint, the 
 cover adorned with precious stones ; a crystal cross 
 ornamented with pearls, presented by St. Gregory 
 at the baptism of the Queen, who died A.D. 622; 
 very ancient ivory bas reliefs, of the time of the 
 Romans ; loaves (sacramental bread) of silver gilt, 
 used at the coronation of Bonaparte at Milan, and 
 given to the Cathedral of Monza by the Cardinal 
 Caprera. 
 
 But the great "lion" here, is the iron crown of 
 Lombardy, which has encircled the brows of thirty- 
 
1C 
 
 three kings and emperors, beginning with Constari- 
 tine. It is kept in a small chapel, and only shown 
 by an order from the Governor of Milan. A priest 
 mounts the steps, whilst another robes himself, and 
 twirls thrice the censer, making as many genuflexions 
 before the altar ; the massive door above is unlocked, 
 the gold curtain which shades the precious relic is 
 withdrawn, the great bell is tolled, and the cross of 
 crystal and jewels is handed down for inspection. 
 
 In the centre of the cross is the iron crown, and 
 within the circle of the latter part of the " sponge 
 filled with vinegar," offered to our Saviour at the 
 crucifixion, and remnants of "the reed," and of the 
 real cross, set in crystal. But the crown of Lom- 
 bardy is misnamed the iron crown, the only particle 
 of iron being a narrow rim, said to have been made 
 of the nails with which our Saviour was fastened to 
 the cross, and obtained by St. Helena, who gave the 
 inestimable relic to her son, Constantine, to be used 
 at his coronation. The outer rim of solid gold is set 
 round with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and pearls. 
 This relic is curious in point of antiquity and histo- 
 rical recollections ; and although much doubt is de- 
 servedly thrown on most of the relics of the Roman 
 Catholic church, yet it cannot be denied that the 
 antiquity of the iron crown is greater than the 
 majority of these pious frauds can boast of. 
 
 In the year 356, St. Helena having ordered the 
 Pagan Temple of Venus, which dejiled the sacred 
 ground of Calvary, to be destroyed, the remains of 
 the holy sepulchre and three crosses were found ; 
 and the legend proceeds as usual by citing a miracle. 
 
17 
 
 For as it was hard to determine which of the crosses 
 was the identical one on which our Saviour suffered, 
 the difficulty was forthwith solved by a learned 
 priest placing a woman in extremis upon each, and 
 the disease having departed, when placed on the 
 third, the identity was satisfactorily established. 
 When our curiosity was satisfied, the diadem of 
 Constantine and Charlemagne, and the precious 
 relics were deposited with the same form in the 
 tabernacle. 
 
 Over the west entrance of the Cathedral is the 
 following extract from an oration of St. Ambrose : 
 " Qusesivit Helena clavos quibus crucifixus est Do- 
 minus, et invenit; de uno clavo frsenos fieri praece- 
 pit, de altero diadema intexuit, misit itaque filio suo 
 Constantino diadema gemmis insignitum quas pre- 
 tiosior ferro innexas crucis redemptionis divinae 
 gemma connecteret." 
 
 Four emperors have been crowned at Monza. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 BRESCIA. VERONA. VICENZA. PADUA. 
 
 FROM Milan to Brescia, a dead flat; but the road, 
 bordered by acacias of large size, and alders, excel- 
 lent, with none of that execrable pavee for which " la 
 belle France" is so " infamous." 
 
 Brescia, the Brixia of the Romans, is a large town, 
 containing upwards of forty thousand inhabitants ; 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 and the principal streets, lined with colonnades, are 
 well built. The citadel and fortifications were for- 
 merly of great strength, but are now dismantled and 
 ruined. 
 
 The excavations, begun in 1820 and continued 
 for six years, show this to have been an important 
 Roman colony. The portico of the temple consisted 
 of fourteen Corinthian fluted columns of white marble, 
 with a rich entablature and frieze ; but one only of 
 these is perfect. A building has been erected on 
 the site for the reception of the numerous antiquities 
 found in the town and environs, and the walls are 
 covered with inscriptions, votive altars, and other 
 interesting relics ; and the pavement (of African 
 marble) belonged to the original temple. 
 
 Beneath the foundations was discovered a subter- 
 ranean passage of great extent, paved with mosaic , 
 to which we descended by torch-light. The walls 
 are painted in fresco, and the colours in many parts 
 quite fresh and vivid. 
 
 On the left of the portico, just as the workmen 
 were about to discontinue their labours, a most 
 perfect specimen of Grecian art, a bronze figure, 
 of the natural size, representing a winged Fame or 
 Victory, in the act of inscribing on a tablet the 
 name of some favourite hero, was found. At the 
 feet was a small figure of gilt bronze, the arms bound 
 behind the back ; therefore supposed to represent a 
 captive ; and near it, the busts in gilt bronze of 
 Marcus Aurelius, Antoninus Pius, and Faustina. 
 The Victory appears also to have been gilt, and the 
 gilding on the small figure is quite fresh. 
 
19 
 
 Hercules, by some, is said to have been the tutelary 
 deity of this temple, but no inscriptions or statues to 
 his honour were discovered ; but the following evi- 
 dently fixes it to the era of Vespasian : " Imperator 
 Caesar Vespasianus Augustus Pontifex Maximus 
 Tribunicia potestate IIII Imperator X Pater Patrias 
 Consul IIII Censor." 
 
 The Palace of Justice at Brescia, a mixture of 
 architecture, and built on arcades, is by Palladio ; 
 and in the front are busts of the Roman Emperors. 
 The Corinthian pillars in the court of the prison 
 display great antiquity, as does the old Cathedral, of 
 a circular form ; but the modern Cathedral, with its 
 heavy portico, and cupola, and pavement of glaring 
 yellow marble, is hideous. 
 
 The walls of the miserable towns and dirty villages 
 we passed through in our journey from Milan to 
 Brescia, were covered with daubs in fresco of the 
 infallible Virgin, and the whole army of Saints and 
 Martyrs. The peasantry are filthy in the extreme, 
 and, with naked legs and feet, sun-burnt as dark as 
 mulattoes, lounge about the streets and churches in a 
 state of idleness, begging from morning till night. 
 The countenance of the Italian here is fine, and often 
 reminds you of the bust of antiquity, but there is a 
 want of manly openness and candour, and a scowl 
 about the eye bespeaks perfidy and mistrust. You 
 may know an Hungarian directly, though stripped 
 of his uniform. The Milanese women are handsome, 
 their fine dark eyes are full of expression, and their 
 gait is very graceful, with a good height and well- 
 turned limbs; but the custom among the peasants 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 of deforming their Madonna heads of dark hair with 
 long pins with large silver knobs, stuck in behind in 
 rows, is quite abominable. 
 
 From Brescia, by Ponte St. Marco, Lonato, with 
 its old walls, the Alps in the distance, to Dezenzano, 
 where the road commands a beautiful view of the 
 Lago di Garda, and the mountains which surround 
 it. The lake was rough, and the waves broke on the 
 shore like the sea, verifying Virgil's description. 
 
 " Adde lacus tantos, te, Lari maxime, teque 
 Fluctibus et fremitu assurgens Benace, marino." 
 
 The Lago di Garda is thirty-five miles long, and 
 about fourteen across, in the widest part, and the 
 scenery on one side is very grand. 
 
 Through Peschiera, at the south extremity of the 
 lake, strongly fortified by the Austrians, with ^wet 
 ditches, bastions, and drawbridges, and the dirty 
 village of Castel Nuovo, to Verona. 
 
 Verona, the capital of the Veronese, in Venetian 
 Lombardy, contains upwards of fifty thousand souls, 
 and is situated on the Adige, one of the largest 
 rivers of Italy, and flowing with a remarkably strong 
 and swift current. 
 
 " Verona Athesi circumflua" Sil. Ital. 
 
 On entering the town we passed the ancient castel- 
 lated bridge, and the old fortress and square tower 
 of Castel Vecchio, built by Can le Grand II. one of 
 the Scaligers, and Prince of Verona, in the fourteenth 
 century, and passed also through the arch of Gal- 
 lienus. 
 
21 
 
 Verona must formerly have been a place of great 
 strength ; the brick walls are of vast height and 
 thickness, and the fortifications were planned by the 
 celebrated architect Sammicheli. 
 
 This was a flourishing city in the days of Imperial 
 Rome, and several relics of her splendour still 
 remain , the most remarkable of which is the Amphi- 
 theatre, attributed to the time of Trajan. Originally 
 there were three ranges of arches, but two only 
 remain, except in one part, which is perfect to the 
 extent of four arches. Part of the exterior has been 
 restored, and the whole of the interior, which measures 
 five hundred and sixty- four paces in circumference ; 
 and the seats will accommodate twenty-three thou- 
 sand spectators. 
 
 When Mr. Forsyth, in his remarks on Italy, says, 
 the present edifice is but the inner wall of the porti- 
 coes, he is not correct, as the outer wall is perfect to 
 the extent of four arches or porticoes. 
 
 The architecture of the Piazza Erbe is picturesque ; 
 the Maffi Palace was built by Sammicheli, and the 
 pillar also, in 1524. The Palazzo del Consiglio was 
 built by Sansovino ; the marks of musketry in the 
 front commemorate the rising of the citizens of Ve- 
 rona against their mild rulers, the liberal and patriotic 
 French, in 1812. 
 
 The church of St. George is Grecian, with a dome 
 by Sammicheli ; the altar-piece of the Martyrdom of 
 the Saint, by Paul Veronese, is a splendid work of 
 the master; and in the Cathedral, is a beautiful 
 picture by Titian of the Ascension of the Virgin. 
 
 In a small cemetery, in one of the narrow streets, 
 
22 
 
 are the tombs of the Scaliger family, princes of Ve- 
 rona; " models," as Forsyth observes, " of the most 
 elegant gothic, light, open, spiry, and, what is sur- 
 prising, entire for five hundred years in a public 
 street, the frequent theatre of sedition." 
 
 The small church of Notre Dame, which adjoins 
 the cemetery, was consecrated in 1185; and over 
 the entrance is the tomb of Cane Francesco de la 
 Scala, born 1291 , died at Treviso in 1329. The 
 recumbent statue is of marble, and above is his 
 equestrian figure in mail. 
 
 " Cane de la Scala was the chief of the Ghibeline 
 league, and occupied the highest rank among the 
 great captains and princes of Lombardy. To bravery, 
 which never forsook him, he added qualities still 
 more rare ; inflexibility of principle, frankness, fide- 
 lity in keeping his engagements. He had not only 
 assured himself of the love of his troops, but he was 
 beloved by the people whom he governed, and he 
 even gained the hearts of those whom he submitted to 
 his power by his arms. He protected the arts and 
 sciences, and his court was the asylum of all the 
 Ghibeline exiles; and he brought together the first 
 poets, painters, and sculptors of Italy. Verona, 
 Vicenza, Padua, Feltre, and Cividale, were subject 
 to him ; and in 1329 he took Treviso by capitula- 
 tion, but on entering the town he was seized with a 
 dangerous illness. He caused himself to be carried 
 to the cathedral, and died there on the fourth day after, 
 at the age of forty-one years." Sismondi, chap. 32. 
 
 The mausoleum at the corner is of Mastino II., 
 who died in 1351. Four columns support a slab of 
 
23 
 
 vcrd antique, and the sarcophagus, another range of 
 columns support the vaulted roof, which is crowned 
 by an equestrian figure of the deceased. The inscrip- 
 tion is rather fulsome. 
 
 " Scaligera cle gente fui, celebriq. ferebar, 
 Nomine Mastinus claras dominabar in urbes. 
 Me Dominum Verona suum, me Brixia vidit 
 Parmaq. cum Lucca, cum Feltro, Mavchia tota, 
 Jura dabam populis aequo libramine nostris 
 Omnibus; et Fidei Christi sine sorde sequutor, 
 Occubui primo post annos mille trecentos, 
 Et decies quinos lux ibat tertia Junii." 
 
 This sarcophagus was opened some years ago. 
 Within the leaden coffin was another of iron, which 
 enclosed the body, clad in complete mail, helmet, 
 sword, and spurs ; but the flesh mouldered away on 
 exposure to the air. 
 
 But the most sumptuous tomb is that of Can Sig- 
 norius, born 1340 , died 1375. He wished to outstrip 
 all his ancestors in " storied urn," and expended the 
 sum of ten thousand gold florins in the erection of 
 this mausoleum. It is of a sexa^onal form. The 
 
 O 
 
 altar tomb is of verd antique; a range of columns 
 supports the summit, and an equestrian figure of the 
 prince; and the tomb is surrounded by the colon- 
 nade of six pillars, adorned with the statues of war- 
 riors under canopies, and niches of rich tabernacle 
 work. The iron trellis is beautifully wrought; the 
 ladder, " scala," the arms of this ancient and power- 
 ful family, is frequently introduced, and appears on 
 all the " sarcophagi." On the ground are five altar 
 tombs of Verona marble, with the "scala" upon 
 them ; but no inscription appears on the four fol- 
 
24 
 
 lowing: Alberto I. died Sept. 10, 1301. Barto- 
 lomeo, his eldest son, May 7, 1304. Albino, his 
 second son, Nov. 30, 1311 : the eagle, the ensign of 
 the Ghibeline party, appears on this sarcophagus. 
 Can le Grand II., who built the Castel Vecchio, and 
 was assassinated by Can Signorius, Dec. 14, 1359. 
 Close to the wall of the church is the tomb of Mas- 
 tino I., assassinated by Scaramelle, Oct. 17, 1277. 
 The Scaliger princes seem to have been famous for 
 short lives and violent deaths. 
 
 Numerous fragments of Roman altars, coins, and 
 medals are dug up at Verona. The stone quarries 
 of Monte Bolca, about twenty-five miles from the 
 city, produce many specimens of petrified fish, em- 
 bedded in a soft-grained stone, which a few years 
 since were scarce, but are now often found. 
 
 Visited a suppressed convent of Franciscans, now 
 appropriated to orphans, to see what is called the 
 Tomb of Juliet, a coffin of Verona marble, hollowed 
 out at the upper end for the head, with a hole at the 
 side for the admission of air, and another as a socket 
 for a light, such being the custom in those days. 
 The identity of this relic may perhaps be question- 
 able; but tradition has long handed it down as 
 genuine. It originally stood in the cemetery, now a 
 garden, but was so exposed to injury that the Aus- 
 trian government ordered it to be removed to the 
 small court where it now is. The occurrences on 
 which Shakspeare founded the plot of his Romeo and 
 Juliet are said to have really happened at Verona. 
 
 When Bartolomeo della Scala (Escale ; hence the 
 Escalus of Shakspeare) was Prince of Verona, in 
 
25 
 
 1403, the families of Capello (Capulet), and of Mon- 
 tecchio (Montague), who had long been rivals, were 
 still more vehemently incited against each other, 
 from the peculiar favour of the prince towards the 
 former family. In the cemetery of the Franciscan 
 convent was the vault of the Capellos ; they pos- 
 sessed also a palace at Verona, whjch was pointed 
 out to us. The union of the two luckless lovers took 
 place in secret; the fray followed. Juliet came to 
 the convent under pretence of confession to the monk 
 Lorenzo ; he administered a sleeping potion, informed 
 her friends that she had been suddenly attacked by 
 illness, and on their arrival, the soporific draught 
 having taken effect, they believed her to be dead. 
 The body, therefore, was not removed from the con- 
 vent, but placed in the coffin there, and the obse- 
 quies performed. Lorenzo had in the meantime 
 written to Romeo, who was at Mantua, informing 
 him of all the circumstances ; but previously a report 
 of Juliet's death had arrived, and Romeo immedi- 
 ately left Mantua, scaled the walls of the cemetery at 
 Verona, and swallowed poison. Juliet wakes from 
 her trance, stabs herself, and the rival families and 
 the Prince Bartolomeo della Scala assist at the last 
 solemn rites. 
 
 On the invasion of Italy, in 1796, Verona and the 
 environs were the scenes of some desperate fighting 
 between the French and Austrians, in which the 
 former suffered great loss ; and over our room door 
 at "I due Torri" was fixed a large shell, inscribed 
 " 26 April, 1796," the day on which it was thrown 
 into the town. 
 
26 
 
 The productions of the country are silk, corn, and 
 olives , and the quarries abound in various marbles. 
 Verona has been rich in talent, and gave birth to 
 Catullus, Cornelius Nepos, Pliny the Elder, Vitru- 
 vius, Paul Veronese, Emilius Macer, Pomponius 
 Secundus, the Emperors Titus, Vespasian, and Domi- 
 tian ; San Micheli, the architect, and many modern 
 antiquaries and mathematicians. The Austrians had 
 a garrison here upwards of six thousand strong. 
 
 Through Coldiero, and Montebello, a wretched 
 place (which gave a title to one of Bonaparte's most 
 celebrated marshals, Lasnes, killed in Germany), to 
 Vicenza, the birth-place of the famed architect Pal- 
 ladio, who has adorned it with several palaces, and 
 the beautiful facade of the Palazzo della Giustizia, of 
 the Doric and Ionic orders. 
 
 In the Teatro Olympico, Palladio has endeavoured 
 to represent in its true details the Olympic Theatre 
 of the Ancients : the form is oval, half for the stage, 
 half for the audience, fifty-six feet wide, eighteen 
 feet deep, and fifty-two feet high. Geog. Diet. But 
 the statues are of stucco, the seats and scene of wood ; 
 and one cannot help regretting that so perfect a 
 model should be formed of such perishable materials. 
 Over the Proscenium is the following : " Virtuti ac 
 Genio Olympicorum Academia Theatrum hoc a fun- 
 damentis erexit Anno MDLXXXIIII Palladio Archit." 
 
 Through a flat monotonous tract of country to 
 Padua, with nothing picturesque but the vines, trained 
 in festoons from one mulberry tree to the other, and 
 bending to the very ground with fruit. 
 
 The Patavium of the Romans, and their faithful 
 
27 
 
 ally, was ruined by Alaric and his barbarian hordes, 
 and burnt by Attila. Antenor is said to have been 
 the founder, and they pretend to show his tomb in 
 one of the streets ; but, as Forsyth observes, this is 
 a gross imposture. The streets of this large and 
 gloomy town are narrow, and lined with arcades, 
 covered with old shields of arms, and the capitals of 
 the pillars curiously carved. The fortifications are 
 neglected, the surrounding country is marshy, and 
 the population is dwindled down from one hundred 
 thousand to forty thousand ; and the sixteen thousand 
 students of the University, founded by the Emperor 
 Frederick II., are now reduced to fourteen hundred. 
 
 The hall of the Palazzo della Giustizia, built by 
 Pietro di Corso, is three hundred feet long, one hun- 
 dred feet wide, and one hundred feet high ; the walls 
 are painted in fresco by Giotto, as was the roof, 
 blown off about eighty years since, and restored. At 
 the upper end are two Egyptian idols of granite, 
 presented by Belzoni, a native of Padua ; and at the 
 lower end is a monument in honour of Livy, who was 
 born at Padua, and died here, aged sixty-seven. 
 
 The church of St. Antony of Padua, begun by 
 Nicolo Pisano in 1237, and finished by Sansovino in 
 1307, is a huge pile of brick, with Turkish cupolas, 
 towers, and Gothic windows, a complete jumble of 
 architecture, and, as Forsyth observes, " the demon 
 of ornament has played strange tricks within also." 
 
 The chapel of the saint, in the centre of which is 
 the sarcophagus of verd antique, is rich in sculpture ; 
 and on the walls are nine bas reliefs in marble, of 
 
28 
 
 very bold design, by Lombardo, Sansovino, Cam- 
 pagna, and Minello, relating to the miracles per- 
 formed by him. The poor ignorant fools were leaning 
 their heads on the back of the shrine, and praying 
 most zealously ; and the sacred foot of the saint in 
 one of the relievos was absolutely worn away by the 
 frequent touch of their pious fingers. The priest 
 was always at hand with his box, to receive the 
 small offerings of the faithful to the all powerful 
 tutelary saint of Padua. 
 
 Near the entrance of the chapel is a bust of Ezze- 
 lino, the tyrant of Padua, and certainly his visage is 
 truly fiendish and diabolical. 
 
 In the chapel called the Sanctuary is a shrine, 
 enclosed with brass doors, said to contain the tongue, 
 the chin, and the manuscripts of St. Antony, and the 
 miraculous glass of the heretic Aleardino. A splen- 
 did equestrian statue in bronze, by Donatello, of 
 Erasmo Gattamelata, the celebrated Venetian general 
 who was buried here, stands in front of this church. 
 
 St. Giustina, of brick, built by Riccio, from the 
 designs of Palladio ; the exterior plain .and ugly ; 
 the Ionic arches in the interior, called by Forsyth 
 " noble," are heavy masses of whitened wall, vast, 
 but fit only for a theatre, a senate-house, or a palace. 
 The painting by P. Veronese of the martyrdom of 
 St. Giustina is faded, and there is a good deal of 
 confusion in the design , and it is much inferior to 
 the martyrdom of St. George at Verona. Marble 
 and pic.tra dura in every variety cover the walls of 
 the chapels ; and there are relics of saints by the 
 
m - - 
 
29 
 
 score : and the credulity of the Paduans would im- 
 press you with the idea that the bodies of St. Luke 
 and St. Matthew are enclosed in two sarcophagi in 
 this church. 
 
 In the Piazza dei Signori is the astronomical clock 
 of Dondi, which was "the admiration of Europe, 
 and gave nobility and name to the maker and his 
 descendants." Forsyth. 
 
 Dondi died in 1350. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 VENICE. 
 
 THE R1ALTO. THE FOSCARI. PIAZZA ST. MARCO. 
 DOGE'S PALACE. MARINO FALIERO- PRISONS OF 
 THE INQUISITION. BRIDGE OF SIGHS. THE CAM- 
 PANILE. CHURCHES. PALACES. THE ARSENAL. 
 
 THROUGH Strae, on the banks of the rapid Bfenta, to 
 Mestre. Here we embarked in the post-boat for 
 Venice, crossed the Lagune, the wind blowing fresh, 
 and right a head, and entered this extraordinary city, 
 rising as it were from the bosom of the ocean. Venice 
 is built on clusters of small islands, and on piles, in 
 the " lagune" or " shallows," at the head of the Adri- 
 atic, or Gulf of Venice, and about five miles from the 
 main land. 
 
 The Grand Canal flows in a serpentine direction, 
 and divides the city into two nearly equal parts, and 
 numerous small canals diverging from it, and inter- 
 secting each other in every direction, form, as it 
 
30 
 were, the streets. Carriages and horses are therefore 
 
 * O 
 
 useless, and the gondola, a long, narrow boat, painted 
 black, with a sharp prow with a metal head, with a 
 cabin in the centre, covered with black tufted cloth, 
 which gives to it a remarkably funereal appearance, 
 is the vehicle in use. Of bridges there are four 
 hundred and upwards ; amongst the principal is the 
 Rialto, on the Grand Canal, a single arch, eighty- 
 nine feet span, lined on both sides with shops, with 
 a covered portico in the middle, and two flights of 
 steps for passengers on the outside. It was built 
 from the designs of Palladio in 1538, and finished in 
 1591, and is entirely of Istrian marble, twenty-two 
 feet high, and forty-three feet wide. 
 
 " JAFFIER. Where shall we meet at night? 
 
 PIERRE. I'll tell thee : 
 
 On the Rialto, every night at twelve, 
 I take my evening's walk of meditation." 
 
 Venice Preserved, Act i. Sc. 1. 
 
 What a melancholy picture does the Grand Canal 
 exhibit : well may Lord Byron exclaim, " This doge- 
 less city's vanished sway ;" for this was the quarter 
 inhabited by her nobles and senators, whose palaces, 
 some displaying the correct style of Palladio, the rich 
 ornament of Longhena, or the airy lightness of Sansa- 
 vino, are now crumbling into ruin. The extensive 
 facade of the Palace of the Foscari, with its dilapi- 
 dated arabesque arches and pillars, broken windows, 
 the chambers let out to poor mechanics, displays a sad 
 picture of desolation. Two only of the family remain, 
 and their palace is seized by the Austrian government 
 for debt. 
 
31 
 
 On the history of the dreadful misfortunes of this 
 family, Lord Byron founded his well known histo- 
 rical drama. The following account is compiled 
 from the excellent work of Daru, and from the history 
 of the republics of Italy of the middle age, by Sis- 
 mondi. 
 
 (Translation.) " The Doge Francesco Foscari was 
 elected in 1423, being then fifty-one years old, and 
 his election had been vehemently opposed by the 
 Council of Ten, both on account of his ambition, his 
 love of war, and his numerous family. But his 
 government was energetic, his abilities considerable, 
 his valour unquestioned, and Ravenna, Brescia, Cre- 
 ma, and Bergamo, were added to the republic. 
 
 " In consequence of discontents, the Doge had 
 tendered his resignation in 1433 ; and he offered it 
 a second time in 1442, but the council refused, and 
 required an oath from him never to quit his dignity. 
 Three of his sons had died within the first eight 
 
 o 
 
 years after his election ; the fourth, and last, Jacopo 
 was destined to become the victim of the cruel jealousy 
 of the Council of Ten, and to imbitter by his misfor- 
 tunes the last years of his wretched parent. 
 
 " The Council of Ten, jealous of the talents and 
 popularity of the Doge, in that dreadful spirit of 
 revenge which too often characterised the narrow- 
 minded policy and aristocratical tyranny of the govern- 
 ment, watched continually for an opportunity to crush 
 his credit and his glory, and one soon presented 
 itself. 
 
 " In Feb. 1445, Jacopo Foscari was accused of 
 having received presents and jewels from Filippo 
 Visconti, Duke of Milan, Michele Bevilacqua, a 
 
32 
 
 Florentine, exiled to Venice for his crimes, being the 
 secret and infamous informer. Jacopo was brought 
 before his judges, and the Doge, who presided at the 
 tribunal, interrogated him. He was put to the rack, 
 declared guilty, and heard the sentence, which de- 
 creed him to perpetual exile at Napoli di Romania, 
 pronounced by his own father, and, as if the punish- 
 ment were not sufficient, he was commanded to pre- 
 sent himself every morning before the governor of 
 the place. 
 
 The galley touched at Trieste; and here Jacopo 
 became so ill from the effects of the torture, and the 
 humiliation he had suffered, that he besought the 
 favour of the Council of Ten to change the place of 
 his exile, which the Doge with the utmost difficulty 
 obtained, and he was allowed to retire to Treviso. 
 Here he remained in peace till 1450, when Almoro 
 Donate, chief of the Council of Ten, having been 
 assassinated on the 5th of November, in that year, 
 the two other state inquisitors laid their suspicions 
 on the unfortunate Jacopo, merely because his domes- 
 tic, named Olivier, had been seen on that evening in 
 Venice, and had given the first intimation of the 
 crime. 
 
 " Olivier was put to the rack with all the horrible 
 severities which the fiendish inquisitors could devise. 
 He denied all knowledge or participation in the mur- 
 der ; but the bloody tribunal immediately arrested 
 Jacopo, his master, submitted him to the same fright- 
 ful ordeal, and, notwithstanding his protestations of 
 innocence, they attributed his firmness to magic, and 
 banished him to Candia. 
 
 " In the meantime, Nicolao Erizzo, a man already 
 
33 
 
 known as an assassin, confessed on his death-bed 
 that he had murdered Almoro Donate. (Daru, how- 
 ever, says that this was after the death of Jacopo.) 
 In vain Jacopo Foscari appealed against the injustice 
 of his sentence, in vain he demanded his pardon from 
 the Council of Ten ; he could obtain neither answer 
 or redress, and he resolved to write to Sforza, the 
 new Duke of Milan, to implore his intercession with 
 the Venetian senate. This letter was accordingly 
 written in May, 1456, and, if we may credit Sis- 
 mondi, for the express purpose of its being discovered, 
 as Foscari exposed it in a place where he knew that 
 it would be seized by the spies which surrounded 
 him ; and as all communication with foreign poten- 
 tates, undivulged to the state, constituted a crime, so 
 attached was he to his country, that he preferred 
 dungeons and torture there, and the chance of once 
 more beholding his parents, to comparative liberty in 
 a foreign soil." (Another and more probable account 
 is that the letter was seized by a spy appointed to 
 watch the exile.) 
 
 " This was a new crime in Jacopo Foscari; he 
 was brought, 19th July, 1456, to Venice, and tor- 
 tured on the rack in the most dreadful manner, thirty 
 turns, or wrenches, of the estrapade being inflicted 
 on his writhing limbs. In the midst of torture, the 
 accused avowed that the letter was written purposely 
 that it might fall into the hands of the tribunal, every 
 other way being closed against him by which he could 
 appeal, and that he had hazarded all for the conso- 
 lation of seeing once again his wife, his father, and 
 his mother. 
 
 i) 
 
" He was again condemned to banishment, with 
 the additional punishment of a year's close imprison- 
 ment in Candia. 
 
 " The judges allowed the parents, wife, and chil- 
 dren to visit their victim in the dungeons of the 
 Inquisition previous to his eternal separation from 
 them in this world; but here they heaped cruelty 
 on cruelty by permitting no private interview, but 
 ordered a public one in their presence, in one of the 
 large halls of the Doge's palace ; and the unhappy 
 exile, his father, the Doge, upwards of eighty years 
 of age, the duchess worn down by infirmities, his 
 wife, and four young sons, mingled their tears before 
 these unnatural monsters. The Doge, in answer to 
 Jacopo's supplications for a remission of the hard 
 sentence, exclaimed, ' No, my son, respect your judg- 
 ment, and obey the signiory without complaint.' 
 Jacopo had scarcely arrived at Candia, when he died 
 broken-hearted. 
 
 "But the cup of bitterness was not yet full, and 
 we read that the Doge, now in his eighty-sixth year, 
 was doomed to undergo the most severe indignity 
 that the malicious hatred and revenge of his enemies 
 could inflict. 
 
 " Jacopo Loredano was then chief of the Council 
 of Ten, the son of Marco, and the nephew of Pietro, 
 the Grand Admiral, who, during their lives, had been 
 the bitter enemies of Foscari, who had endeavoured 
 to effect a reconciliation by offering his daughter in 
 marriage to Pietro ; the alliance however was rejected, 
 and the enmities of the two families increased. 
 
 " The Doge had one day dropped an expression, 
 
35 
 
 that as loner as Pietro Loredano lived, he could not 
 
 O * 
 
 in reality believe himself a prince ; and the admiral 
 dying 1 suddenly soon afterwards, the malevolent at- 
 tributed it to poison. The sudden death of Marco 
 Loredano, when, as avoyador, he had instituted a 
 process against a son-in-law of the Doge, accused of 
 peculation, increased these suspicions. 
 
 " Though there was not the shadow of proof 
 against the Doge, and though his rank conferred 
 neither impunity or indulgence, the Council of Ten 
 ever taking good care to humiliate the chief of the 
 Republic, and diligently to watch over his conduct, 
 yet Jacopo Loredano considered himself bound to 
 avenge these imagined crimes ; and it is said that in 
 his register of commerce and trade, in one page, he 
 had written the name of the Doge as his debtor for 
 the lives of his father and his uncle. In the oppo- 
 site page, a blank was left, which on the Doge's 
 death, he inscribed with the words ' he has paid 
 me.' At the instigation therefore of Loredano, it was 
 proposed to the Council of Ten, that the Doge, being 
 incapable from age and infirmities of filling his high 
 office with advantage and benefit to the republic, 
 should be forthwith deposed. The Council of Ten, 
 however, having twice refused to accept the voluntary 
 abdication of Foscari, as contrary to the constitution, 
 hesitated thus to annul its own decrees. 
 
 " To give more solemnity to the deliberations, 
 twenty-five Senators were called in to assist ; and as 
 the object was unknown, Marco Foscari, the brother 
 of the Doge, was chosen amongst the number ; but 
 he was bound by the oath of secrecy, administered 
 
 D2 
 
oo 
 
 on such occasions, and shut up in a separate chamber. 
 The debates were prolonged for the space of eight 
 days, when the Council repaired to the Doge, and 
 acquainted him with the result of their deliberations, 
 viz. that he was required to abdicate the functions of 
 a dignity, which he was no longer able to discharge. 
 They decreed him a pension of fifteen hundred ducats, 
 and twenty-four hours was only allowed for him to 
 determine. 
 
 " The unfortunate Doge replied that he had twice 
 wished to lay down his dignity ; but instead of allow- 
 ing him to do so, they had required him to swear that 
 he would never more repeat the request; that he had 
 sworn to fulfil till the day of his death honourably 
 and conscientiously the functions to which his country 
 had called him ; that he could not disengage himself 
 from his oath, but that an order of the Council might 
 dispose of him ; he would submit, but would not 
 promote it. He would give no other answer to the 
 twice-repeated commands of the Council, and they 
 accordingly pronounced the Doge freed from his oath, 
 deposed from his dignity, assigned to him the pension, 
 and ordered him to quit the place in eight days. 
 
 " Jacopo Loredano had the cruel satisfaction of 
 presenting the decree. The Doge stripped himself 
 of his ducal robes, delivered up the ring, which was 
 broken in his presence, and on the following day 
 quitted the palace which he had inhabited for thirty- 
 five years. He was invited to descend by a back 
 staircase, in order to avoid the crowds assembled in 
 the court; but the old man refused, saying, ' That 
 he would descend by the same staircase, the Giants', 
 
37 
 
 by which he had first entered his palace ;' and when 
 at the bottom, he turned round, leaning on his crutch, 
 and exclaimed, ' My duties called me hither, the 
 malice of my enemies hath driven me hence.' 
 
 " The people were indignant at the severity exer- 
 cised upon the Doge, whom they respected and 
 loved ; but a proclamation of the Council of Ten 
 prescribed the most absolute silence on the affair, 
 under the penalty of death, or, as Sismondi says, of 
 being taken before the State Inquisitor, which was 
 much the same thing. 
 
 " On the 30th of Oct. 1457, the electors met in 
 conclave, and appointed Paschale Malipieri, Procu- 
 rator of St. Mark's, Doge. The bells of the Campa- 
 nile, which announced to Venice the election of her 
 new prince, struck on the ears of Francesco Foscari : 
 for this time his firmness abandoned him, and he was 
 so overcome that he expired the next day, or, accord- 
 ing to Sismondi, he died suddenly of haemorrhage, 
 caused by the rupture of a blood-vessel on the chest, 
 in other words, broken-hearted. 
 
 " Daru adds that the Republic commanded that 
 the same funeral honours should be paid to him as 
 if he had died in his dogeship ; but that his widow, 
 Marina Nanni, vehemently opposed such mockery, 
 and avowed her intention of consecrating her dowry 
 to these last honours. 
 
 " Notwithstanding her protestations and resistance, 
 the corpse was taken forcibly away, clad in the ducal 
 robes, laid in state, and the obsequies celebrated with 
 the accustomed pomp, the new Doge assisting as a 
 simple senator. The pity however which the fate of 
 
38 
 
 Foscari had inspired was not without its fruits. A 
 year afterwards the Council of Ten was proclaimed 
 to have exceeded its powers, and a law of the Great 
 Council, in 1458, forbade that in future it should 
 interfere, and judge the prince, unless for the crime 
 of felony." 
 
 Piazza St. Marco. Three sides of this handsome 
 square are formed by the Procuratie Nuove, built by 
 Scamozzi and Sansavino, fronted with all the orders 
 of Grecian architecture ; the Procuratie Vecchio, and 
 another range of building, formerly a convent, sup- 
 pressed by the French, and the Cathedral of St. Mark, 
 form the other side. 
 
 This church, built in 1071, said to contain under 
 its high altar the relics of St. Mark, the patron saint 
 of Venice, brought hither from Alexandria, is rich 
 with the spoils of the East. It is surmounted by five 
 domes, and around them are galleries and corridors 
 of Syrian marble, and the west front is ornamented 
 with a profusion of gilding and mosaic, and a multi- 
 tude of Saracenic columns. 
 
 Above the architrave are the four celebrated 
 copper horses of the chariot of the sun, attributed to 
 Lysippus, and which once adorned Corinth. From 
 Corinth they were brought to Rome by the Consul 
 Mummius, surnamed Achaicus, when he conquered 
 and sacked that city ; and at the removal of the seat 
 of empire to Constantinople, they were transferred 
 thither, and thus became a prey to the Turks, from 
 whom they were wrested with many other spoils in 
 1204 by the Doge Dandolo, when the Venetians 
 crushed the Ottoman, and took his capital by storm. 
 
39 
 
 But their travels were not yet finished ; the French 
 entered Venice, and plundered it of its winged lion, 
 and bronze horses, the former gracing the Esplanade 
 of the Invalids, the latter the triumphal arch in the 
 Place Carousal. But the battle of Waterloo changed 
 the face of affairs; and the allies, in 1815, restored the 
 horses and the winged lion to their ancient domain. 
 
 " St. Mark yet sees his lion where he stood 
 
 Stand, but in mockery of his wither'd power, 
 
 Over the proud place where an emperor sued, 
 
 And monarchs gazed and envied in the hour 
 
 When Venice was a queen with an unequall'd dower." 
 
 Childe Harold. 
 
 Forsyth observes that " the mosquish cupolas of 
 St. Mark give it a strange unchristian look ;" and the 
 height of the west front is certainly insufficient for 
 grandeur; the architecture also is too bizarre, and 
 the different styles too much jumbled together ; still, 
 when viewed alone, the general effect is imposing. 
 
 The interior is as rich as mosaic, porphyry, and 
 oriental marble can make it; the trophies of the 
 Venetians, the spoils of the Turk, abound on all sides ; 
 gates of Corinthian brass both within and without, 
 four twisted pillars of oriental alabaster, and behind 
 the high altar four of verd antique, said to have 
 adorned the temple of Jerusalem. The whole of the 
 pavement is mosaic, and the walls are covered with 
 sacred and other subjects, wrought of the same costly 
 material ; and among them is a view of the church of 
 St. Sophia at Constantinople. In one of the chapels 
 is the tomb of the Count Dandolo, ornamented with 
 bronze statues. 
 
40 
 
 The Doge, Henry Dandolo, is a wonderful instance 
 of energy at a period of life, which in most men is 
 but " second childishness, and mere oblivion." He 
 was eighty-five years old when chosen Doge, com- 
 manded at the attack of Constantinople in 1204, 
 when two of the Venetian galleys being lashed toge- 
 ther, and a ladder let down from the yards to the 
 walls, the blind Doge was among the first to enter. 
 
 " Oh ! for one hour of blind old Dandolo, 
 
 Th' octogenarian chief, Byzantium's conquering foe." 
 
 Childe Harold. 
 
 This surprising old man died in 1205, having 
 reigned thirteen years and a half, and was buried in 
 St. Sophia's church at Constantinople. 
 
 Fronting the western facade, are three bronze tri- 
 pods, beautifully ornamented, supporting the lofty 
 flag-staffs on which the banners of Venice in the days 
 of rejoicing and victory once proudly waved ; and 
 on the left is the clock-tower, with the dial showing 
 the moon's age, the course of the sun, figures of the 
 Magi and the Virgin, of mechanism, an angel with a 
 trumpet, and above the lion of St. Mark, a Doge 
 kneeling before him, sa^-lhe whole surmounted by a 
 large bell, on which two negroes strike the hour. 
 
 At the corner of the square stands the massive 
 Campanile, upwards of three hundred feet high, from 
 which Galileo made his astronomical observations ; 
 and in the smaller piazza, next the Grand Canal, are 
 two columns of oriental granite, with ornamented 
 capitals, brought from Corinth in 1 175 ; one crowned 
 with the winged lion of Venice, the constant atten- 
 
41 
 
 dant of the patron saint ; the other with the figure of 
 St. Theodore, treading on a crocodile. 
 
 Public executions took place between these pillars. 
 
 The Doge's palace forms one side of the smaller 
 piazza, and opposite is the elegant facade of the 
 library, and the mint by Sansavino. The style of the 
 palace is arabesque ; the columns which support the 
 colonnade, under which the " broglio," or assembly 
 of the nobles, used to meet, are low and massive, the 
 capitals ornamented with figures and foliage. The 
 upper arches are Saracenic, and above is a heavy wall 
 of brick in red and white squares, crowned with a 
 sort of fretted cornice. The effect on the whole is 
 ugly, and has the appearance of insecurity ; and one 
 cannot avoid agreeing in Forsyth's remark, " It can 
 please only in perspective. It is not enough that the 
 structure be really durable, it should also appear so." 
 
 On the landing of the grand marble staircase in 
 the court yard, called the Giants 1 staircase, where the 
 Doges were invested with the ducal crown and 
 insignia, Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, was be- 
 headed for treason to the state. At the bottom of 
 the staircase are the figures of Adam and Eve, and 
 above are those of Neptune and Mars of colossal size. 
 Hence the name of the Giants' staircase. 
 
 In the notes to the tragedy of Marino Faliero, 
 Lord Byron says, " The conspiracy of the Doge 
 Marino Faliero is one of the most remarkable events 
 in the annals of the most singular government, city, 
 and people of modern history. Marino Faliero ap- 
 pears to have been a man of talents and courage. I 
 find him commander-in-chief of the land forces at the 
 
42 
 
 siege of Zara, where he beat the King of Hungary 
 and his army of eighty thousand men, killing eight 
 thousand, and keeping the besieged at the same time 
 in check, an exploit to which I know none similar in 
 history, except that of Caesar at Elesia, arid of Prince 
 Eugene at Belgrade. He was afterwards commander 
 of the fleet in the same war. He took Capo d'Istria. 
 He was ambassador at Genoa and Rome ; at which 
 last he received the news of his election to the duke- 
 dom ; his absence being a proof that he sought it by 
 no intrigue, since he was apprized of his predecessor's 
 death, and his own succession, at the same moment." 
 
 Lord Byron then quotes the numerous authorities 
 for the facts on which he grounds his plot, and repro- 
 bates the account of Dr. Moore, as false and flippant, 
 full of stale jests about old men and young wives, 
 and wondering at so great an effect from so slight a 
 cause. Sismondi, Byron adds, attributes the conspi- 
 racy to his jealousy ; but " I find this no where 
 asserted by the native historians. The first motive 
 appears to have been excited by the gross affront of 
 the words written by Michael Steno on the ducal 
 chair, and by the light and inadequate sentence of 
 ' the Forty' on the offender." 
 
 The following is the account in the lives of the 
 Doges in the " Cronica di Sanato." 
 
 1354. Marino Faliero, Doge XLIX. 
 
 " On the llth day of September, 1354, Marino 
 Faliero was elected and chosen to be the Duke of 
 the Commonwealth of Venice. He was Count of 
 Valdemarino in the Marches of Treviso, and a Knight, 
 and a wealthy man to boot. As soon as the election 
 
43 
 
 was completed, it was resolved in the Great Council, 
 that a deputation of twelve should be dispatched to 
 Marino Faliero, the Duke, who was then on his way 
 from Rome ; for when he was chosen, he was ambas- 
 sador at the court of the Holy Father at Rome. 
 When Messer Marino Faliero, the Duke, was about 
 to land in the city, on the 5th of October, 1354, a 
 thick haze came on, and darkened the air, and he 
 was enforced to land on the Place of St. Mark, between 
 the two columns, on the spot where evil doers are 
 put to death ; and all thought that this was the worst 
 of tokens. 
 
 " Now to this feast (the banquet given by the 
 Doge on his arrival at Venice) came a certain Sir 
 Michele Steno, a gentleman of poor estate, and very 
 young, but crafty, and daring, and who loved one of 
 the damsels of the Duchess. Sir Michele stood 
 among the women on the solajo, and the esquires of 
 the Duke flung him down from the solajo accord- 
 ingly. Sir Michele thought that such an affront 
 was beyond all bearing ; and when the feast was over, 
 and all the persons had left the palace, he, contin- 
 uing heated with anger, went to the hall of audience, 
 and wrote certain unseemly words relating to the 
 Duke and the Duchess upon the chair in which the 
 Duke was used to sit; for in \hose days the Duke ir 
 did not cover his chair with cloth of sendal, but he 
 sat in a chair of wood. 
 
 " Sir Michele wrote thereon ' Marin Falier, the 
 husband of the fair wife, others kiss her, but he keeps 
 her.' 
 
 "In the morning the words were seen, and the 
 
44 
 
 matter was considered to be very scandalous, and 
 the Senate commanded the Avogadori of the Com- 
 monwealth to proceed therein with the greatest 
 diligence. A largess of great amount was immedi- 
 ately offered by the Avogadori in order to discover 
 who had written these words. And at length it was 
 known that Michele Steno had written them. 
 
 " It was resolved by the Council of Forty that he 
 should be arrested ; and he then confessed that in a 
 fit of vexation and spite, occasioned by his being 
 thrust off the solajo in the presence of his mistress, 
 he had written the words. Therefore the Council 
 debated thereon. And the Council took his youth 
 into consideration, and that he was a lover, and 
 therefore they adjudged that he should be kept in 
 close confinement during two months, and that after- 
 wards he should be banished from Venice, and the 
 state for one year. 
 
 " In consequence of this merciful sentence, the 
 Duke became exceedingly wroth, it appearing to him 
 that the Council had not acted in such a manner as 
 was required by the respect due to his ducal dignity, 
 and he said that they ought to have condemned Sir 
 Michele to be hanged by the neck, or at least to be 
 banished for life. 
 
 " Now it was fated that my lord Duke Marino was 
 to have his head cut off. And as it is necessary 
 when any effect is to be brought about, that the 
 cause of such effect must happen, it therefore came 
 to pass that on the very day after sentence had been 
 pronounced on Sir Michele Steno, being the first day 
 of Lent, a gentleman of the house of Barbaro, a cho- 
 
45 
 
 leric gentleman, went to the arsenal, and required 
 certain things of the masters of the galleys. This he 
 did in the presence of the Admiral of the arsenal, 
 and he, hearing the request, answered, ' No, it cannot 
 be done.' High words arose between the gentleman 
 and the Admiral, and the gentleman struck him with 
 his fist just above the eye, and as he happened to 
 have a ring on his finger, the ring cut the Admiral, 
 and drew blood. 
 
 " The Admiral, all bruised and bloody, ran straight 
 to the Duke to complain, and with the intent of pray- 
 ing him to inflict some heavy punishment upon the 
 gentleman of Ca Barbaro. * What wouldst thou have 
 me to do for thee ?' asked the Duke ; ' think upon the 
 shameful gibe which hath been written concerning 
 me; and think on the manner in which they have 
 punished that ribald Michele Steno, who wrote it, 
 and see how the Council of Forty respect our per- 
 son?' Upon this the Admiral answered, ' My lord 
 Duke, if you would wish to make yourself a prince, 
 and to cut all those cuckoldy gentlemen to pieces, I 
 have the heart, if you do but help me, to make you 
 prince of all this state, and you may punish them all.' 
 
 " Hearing this, the Duke said, ' How can such a 
 matter be brought about?' and so they discoursed 
 thereon. 
 
 " The Duke called for his nephew, Sir Bertuccio 
 Faliero, who lived with him in the palace, and they 
 communed about this plot : and without leaving the 
 place, they sent for Philip Calendaro, a seaman of 
 great repute, and for Bertuccio Israelo, who was 
 exceedingly wily and cunning. Then taking counsel 
 
46 
 
 amongst themselves, they agreed to call in some 
 others ; and so for several nights successively they 
 met with the Duke in his palace. 
 
 "It was concerted that sixteen or seventeen leaders 
 should be stationed in various parts of the city, each 
 being at the head of forty men, armed and prepared ; 
 but the followers were not to know their destination. 
 On the appointed day they were to make affrays 
 amongst themselves here and there, in order that the 
 Duke might have a pretence for tolling the bells of 
 San Marco. These bells are never rung but by the 
 order of the Duke. And at the sojmd of the bells, 
 these sixteen or seventeen, with their followers, were 
 to come to San Marco, through the streets which 
 open upon the piazza. And when the noble and 
 leading citizens should come into the piazza, to know 
 the cause of the riot, then the conspirators were to 
 cut them in pieces ; and this work being finished, 
 my Lord Marino Faliero, the Duke, was to be pro- 
 claimed the Lord of Venice. 
 
 " Things having been thus settled, they agreed to 
 fulfil their intent on Wednesday, the 15th of April, 
 1355. So covertly did they plot, that no one ever 
 dreamt of their machinations. But the Lord, who 
 hath always helped this most glorious city, and who, 
 loving its righteousness and holiness, hath never for- 
 saken it, inspired one Beltramo Bergamasco to be 
 the cause of bringing the plot to light in the following 
 manner. 
 
 " This Beltramo, who belonged to Sir Niccolo 
 Lioni, of Santo Stefano, had heard a word or two of 
 what was to take place ; and so, in the before-men- 
 
47 
 
 tioned month of April, he went to the house of the 
 aforesaid Sir Niccolo Lioni, and told him all the 
 particulars of the plot. Sir Niccolo, when he heard 
 all these things, was struck dead as it were with 
 affright. He heard all the particulars, and Beltramo 
 pressed him to keep it all secret; and if he told Sir 
 Niccolo, it was in order that Sir Niccolo might stop 
 at home on the 1 5th of April, and thus save his life. 
 Beltramo was going; but Sir Niccolo ordered his 
 servants to lay hands upon him, and lock him up. 
 Sir Niccolo then went to the house of Messer Gio- 
 vanni Graderigo Nasoni, who afterwards became 
 Duke, and who also lived at Santo Stefano, and told 
 him all : the matter seemed to him to be of the very 
 greatest importance, and they two went to the house 
 of Sir Niccolo Lioni to examine the said Beltramo ; 
 and having questioned him, and heard all that he 
 had to say, they left him in confinement. And then 
 they all three went into the sacristy of San Salvatore, 
 and sent their men to summon the Counsellors, the 
 Avogadori, the Capi di Dieci, and those of the Great 
 Council. When all were assembled, the whole story 
 was told to them. They were struck dead, as it 
 were, with affright. They determined to send for 
 Beltramo. He was brought before them. 
 
 " They examined him, and ascertained that the 
 matter was true; and, although they were exceed- 
 ingly troubled, yet they determined upon their mea- 
 sures. And they sent for the Capi di Quaranta, the 
 Signori di Notti, the Capi da Sestieri, and the Cinque 
 della Pace; and they were ordered to associate to 
 their men other good men and true, who were to 
 
48 
 
 proceed to the houses of the ringleaders of the con- 
 spiracy, and secure them. And they secured the 
 foremen of the arsenal, in order that the conspirators 
 might not do mischief. 
 
 " Towards nightfall they assembled in the palace, 
 and caused the gates of the quadrangle of the palace 
 to be shut. And they sent to the keeper of the bell- 
 tower, and forbade the tolling of the bells. All this 
 was carried into effect. The before-mentioned con- 
 spirators were secured and brought to the palace ; 
 and as the Council of Ten saw that the Duke was in 
 the plot, they resolved that twenty of the leading 
 men of the state should be associated to them for the 
 purpose of consultation and deliberation ; but that 
 they should not be allowed to ballot. And Nicolo 
 Faliero, and another Nicolo Faliero of San Tomaso, 
 were expelled from the Council, because they be- 
 longed to the family of the Doge. 
 
 " And they sent for my Lord Marino Faliero, the 
 Duke; and my Lord was then consorting in the 
 palace with people of great estate, gentlemen, and 
 other good men, none of whom knew yet how the 
 fact stood. 
 
 " At the same time Bertuccio Israelo, who, as one 
 of the ringleaders, was to head the conspirators in 
 Santa Croce, was arrested and bound, and brought 
 before the Council. (Other names follow). On the 
 16th of April judgment was given in the Council of 
 Ten, that Filippo Calendorio, and Bertuccio Israelo, 
 should be hanged upon the red pillars of the balcony 
 of the palace, from which the Duke is wont to look 
 at the bull-hunt ; and they were hanged with gags 
 
49 
 
 in their mouths." (The names of nine conspirators 
 follow who were hanged on successive days on the 
 columns of the palace.) 
 
 " On Friday, the 16th of April, judgment was also 
 given in the aforesaid Council of Ten, that my Lord 
 Marino Faliero, the Duke, should have his head cut 
 off, and that the execution should be done upon the 
 landing-place of the stone staircase, where the dukes 
 take their oath when they first enter the palace. 
 
 " On the following day, the 17th of April, the 
 doors of the palace being shut, the Duke had his 
 head cut off about the hour of noon ; and the cap of 
 estate was taken from the Duke's head before he came 
 down stairs. When the execution was over, it is 
 said that one of the Council of Ten went to the 
 columns of the palace over against the Place of St. 
 Mark, and that he showed the bloody sword unto the 
 people, crying out with a loud voice, ' the terrible 
 doom hath fallen upon the traitor,' and the doors 
 were opened, and the people all rushed in to see the 
 corpse of the Duke, who had been beheaded. . . 
 
 " And as I have read in a chronicle, the corpse of 
 the Duke was removed in a barge, with eight torches, 
 to his tomb in the church of San Giovanni e Paolo, 
 where it was buried. The tomb is now in that aisle 
 in the middle of the little church of Santa Maria 
 della Pace, which was built by Bishop Gabriel, of 
 Bergamo. It is a coffin of stone, with these words 
 engraved thereon : ' Hie jacet Dominus Marinus 
 Faletro Dux.' And they did not paint his portrait 
 in the hall of the Great Council; but in the place 
 where it ought to have been, you see these words : 
 
' Hie est locus Marini Faletro decapitati pro crimi- 
 
 nibus." 
 
 In the open gallery above the Giants' staircase 
 still remain the holes which received the bronze lions 
 mouths (removed on the extinction of the republic), 
 into which were dropped anonymous denunciations 
 addressed to the Inquisition, and to the Council of 
 Ten, with whose secret chambers they communicated. 
 The liberty or the life of an innocent individual was 
 thus often cruelly sacrificed at the instigation of some 
 malevolent I ago, to gratify wounded pride, revenge, 
 or avarice. Thus was blood sold, and the denunci- 
 ator, the government, and the Doge, shared in the 
 spoil. 
 
 " The devil and the king divide the prize." Pope. 
 
 In the Great Council room is a series of paintings 
 by Tintoretto, representing the triumph of the Vene- 
 tians over the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa; and 
 under the " plafond" of the ceiling, on which is a 
 painting by Paul Veronese of Venice crowned by 
 Victory, are the portraits of seventy-six Doges, a 
 black curtain with the inscription, " Heic est locus 
 Marini Faletro decapitati pro criminibus," fills the 
 space allotted to Marino Faliero. 
 
 In the adjoining Council Chamber, under the ceil- 
 ing, are the portraits of forty-seven more Doges : the 
 last is that of Ludovico Manini, who abdicated about 
 thirty-one years since, when the French entered 
 Venice. 
 
 The Doges of Venice wore both in the council 
 and in " the tented field" a sort of cap ornamented 
 
51 
 
 with jewels, the hinder part turned up like a horn. 
 The first step of qualification was a general in the 
 service of the Republic, then a senator, and as a 
 senator, eligible. 
 
 Through the state apartments to the audience 
 chamber ; where the Doge, seated on his throne, and 
 surrounded by the magnificoes, received the am- 
 bassadors of foreign powers, who were never allowed 
 to mount higher than the third step, that they might 
 not contaminate the ducal state by too near an ap- 
 proach. 
 
 What a fatality seems to have attended the Vene- 
 tian Doges ! Byron says in his notes, that of the first 
 fifty, five abdicated, five were banished and their eyes 
 put out, five were massacred, and nine deposed : so 
 that nineteen out of fifty lost the throne by violence ; 
 besides two who fell in battle. Andrea Dandolo 
 died of vexation, and the tragedy of the Foscari has 
 just been related. The first Doge was elected in 697. 
 
 Passed through the chambers of the Inquisition, 
 the Council of Ten, and the Council of Three. Close 
 to the last, the tribunal of condemnation, is a stair- 
 case, communicating with the dismal dungeons of 
 that infernal engine of priestcraft and tyranny. At 
 the upper end the standard of the " Holy Office" 
 was displayed, the cross of the Redeemer, as if in 
 solemn mockery of the mercy and toleration which 
 he inculcated. This awful banner was borne at the 
 head of the sombre pageant of bigot triumph, in 
 which the wretched victims were led to torture, and 
 the stake at the hellish exhibitions of the Auto da fe. 
 
 According to the established principles of the 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 Inquisition, the accused was alike ignorant of his 
 prosecutors, of the witnesses to be produced against 
 him, or of the alleged crime for which he had been 
 cast into his gloomy cell. There perhaps torture 
 had been employed to induce him to confess, or the 
 familiars had visited him, under the cloak of sympa- 
 thy, to entrap him into the snare. Even in the court, 
 though secret proofs and testimony were strong 
 against him, he was told, that the attempt to defend 
 himself was vain, but that upon ample confession 
 being made, he might throw himself on the well- 
 known mercy of the judges and their chief. 
 
 " There was a laughing devil in his sneer, 
 That raised emotions both of joy and fear, 
 And when his frown of hatred darkly fell, 
 Hope with'ring fled, and mercy sigh'd farewell." 
 
 Byron. 
 
 Under the ducal palace are the dark dungeons of 
 the Inquisition, and beneath its roof, of copper and 
 lead, which in summer must have thrown out a most 
 dreadful heat, were also prisons of the same tribunal. 
 We descended to the former by torch-light. 
 
 When the French entered Venice, the doors were 
 thrown open, and the prisoners, of which there were 
 but three, set at liberty. One had been immured 
 for twenty-six years. The populace were admitted 
 soon after, and the dungeons for the most part de- 
 stroyed; one, however, is left entire as a specimen. 
 The doors were of iron ; a wooden truckle bedstead, 
 and a shelf fixed against the wall, the only furniture ; 
 the entrance very low, and not a ray of light entered 
 within, but an aperture for respiration was allotted to 
 
53 
 
 the wretched criminal, so that perpetual darkness, 
 and the damp of the cell, combined to render his 
 imprisonment most dreadful. 
 
 The upper range is above, the lower range of the 
 cells is level with the water, and a narrow staircase 
 conducted to the canal ; and from this the miserable 
 captive was sometimes hurled down, tied legs and 
 arms together, and drowned ; and after execution in 
 the dungeons, often the lot of nobles and individuals 
 of rank, whom it was not convenient to execute pub- 
 licly, the bodies were carried down the staircase, 
 placed in a boat, and buried in a spot appointed for 
 the purpose. 
 
 In one of these horrid dens of the Inquisition, 
 called " the strangling chamber," the walls were 
 absolutely stained with blood. Strangulation some- 
 times was practised, sometimes the executioner stab- 
 bed or cut the throat of his victim. A massive iron 
 grating is fixed in the wall of this cell, through 
 which the work of strangulation was performed. 
 
 In several the poor sufferers had inscribed their 
 names with charcoal on the walls, in dreadful me- 
 mory of their fate; and the following are copies, 
 from the Italian : " Andrew Tardivelo Orese, of 
 Padua, for ever ! a jolly companion. Lorenzo for 
 ever. I cannot turn back, but I hope. ' Hodie 
 mihi, eras tibi.'" These were brothers; one was 
 hanged, the other was stabbed by the executioner. 
 They were of great power in Padua, where they had 
 committed all kinds of excess and cruelty, and were 
 taken prisoners by the Venetians in an engagement 
 with the Paduan forces. 
 
54 
 
 Here perhaps there was only retribution. 
 
 From the Latin : " Cursed be the man who trust- 
 eth in another. To God alone be honour and glory." 
 This unfortunate had been betrayed. The lions' 
 mouths had been employed. 
 
 lo. Pre. Piero Savioni. 
 
 " 23 Aug. 1795, G. M. B. was put into this cell 
 most unjustly ; and if God will not remedy it, it will 
 be the ultimate ruin of a poor, numerous, and honest 
 family." (From the Italian.) 
 
 " To speak little, to be ready to deny, and to 
 consider at the conclusion : this alone can save the 
 lives of us unfortunates. 1605. I, John Baptiste 
 ad Ecclesiam Cortellarius." The name of a parish 
 near the sea, and churches and towers, are scratched 
 on the wall. (From the Italian ) 
 
 " Oh God ! preserve me from those whom I trust. 
 I will be well on my guard against those whom I 
 mistrust. The holy Roman Catholic church for 
 ever !" (From the Italian.) 
 
 " Trust in no one ; think and be silent, if you 
 would avoid the snares and the traps of spies. To 
 repent avails you nothing, but exhibit proofs of cou- 
 rage." (From the Italian.) The lions' mouths again 
 
 " An election to make a new prince. The very 
 illustrious Signors Emeno Priuli Donato the Tenth. 
 Jan. 1600. Leonardo Donato became at last Duke 
 of Venice." (From the Italian.) 
 
 " Marino Grimani Sir Princ. Obiit Die 26 xbri 
 1605." 
 
 Marino Grimani was Doge from 1595 to 1605. 
 Leonardo Donato, his successor, was Doge from 1606 
 
55 
 
 to 1612; he acquired great reputation by the firmness 
 with which he resisted the encroachments of Paul V. 
 
 Another inscription purports that Jacamo Gritti, 
 the writer, was immured for having offered an insult 
 to a corpse on the 2d of Jan. 1607. 
 
 The side of the palace, in which are these prisons, 
 adjoins the canal ; the architecture is handsome, and 
 the lower part of uncommonly bold masonry. 
 
 Opposite are the new prisons, built by Palladio, 
 and connected by the Bridge of Sighs with the 
 Doge's palace. 
 
 " I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs, 
 A palace and a prison on each hand." 
 
 Childe Harold. 
 
 The arch is the highest in Venice : it is covered 
 entirely, two small grated openings only being left 
 on each side to admit the light, and on both fronts 
 are escutcheons, and a figure of a female (Venice) 
 guarded by lions, a lion's head in the centre, and ten 
 small heads round the arch. 
 
 Well might it be named " The Bridge of Sighs," 
 for many a heart-rending one has been heard within 
 its gloomy passage, as the criminal was led through 
 it after trial to his dungeon. 
 
 " Keep those maxims for 
 Your mask'd nobility, your sbirri, and 
 Your spies, your galley, and your other slaves, 
 To whom your midnight carryings off, and drownings, 
 Your dungeons next the palace roofs, or under 
 The waters' level ; your mysterious meetings 
 And unknown dooms, and sudden executions, 
 Your Bridge of Sighs, your strangling chamber, and 
 Your torturing instruments, have made ye seem 
 The beings of another and a worse world !" 
 
 The Foscari. 
 
56 
 
 The ascent of the Campanile, by a succession of 
 inclined planes, and but few steps, is by no means 
 fatiguing ; and from this elevated position there is a 
 most splendid view of Venice and the numerous 
 islands which surround it. 
 
 About ten miles distant is the mole built to secure 
 the city from the tide, the Queen of the Adriatic, 
 the surprising monument of the labour and ingenuity 
 of man. But her commerce and her power have 
 alike vanished, the Grand Canal is almost deserted, 
 and a few merchant brigs were the only vessels on 
 its waters. 
 
 The church of St. Georgio, on an island opposite 
 to the Piazza St. Marco, was built by Palladio, and 
 that of Santa Maria della Salute, on the Grand 
 Canal, one of the most sumptuous in the city, was 
 built by Longhena in his most finished and elaborate 
 manner. There are two domes ; the inverted " con- 
 soles" have, however, a singular and unpleasing 
 effect ; but the statues and ornamented capitals of 
 the Corinthian columns are rich and lofty. Here 
 are several paintings by Titian, and the Marriage of 
 Cana by Tintoretto. 
 
 Sta. Maria Gloriosa dei Fratelli. In a wooden 
 sarcophagus over the door (the black velvet covering 
 having rotted away) is the body of Carmagnola, Ge- 
 neral of the Republic. He took Brescia, Bergamo, 
 and other places ; and a picture in the ducal palace 
 represents him in front of his tent, treating with the 
 enemy's general. 
 
 "Francesco Bussone, surnamed Carmagnola, hav- 
 ing been born at Carmagnola, in Piedmont, in 1390, 
 was of obscure origin. In 1412, he was a common 
 
57 
 
 soldier in the army of Philippe Marie Visconti, Duke 
 of Milan, and for his valour was raised to the highest 
 military dignities. He rendered Visconti the most 
 important services, bringing Pavia, Milan, and the 
 whole of Lombardy, which had thrown off the yoke 
 of the Visconti, again under his command. 
 
 " But the Duke at length became jealous of his 
 friendly ally: he resolved to remove him from all 
 military command, and to limit his exertions to the 
 civil career. Carmagnola demanded an audience, 
 which was refused : he insisted, was threatened, and 
 finding that his destruction was resolved on, escaped 
 from the Milanese States in 1425, and fled to Venice. 
 His goods were sequestered, and his wife and daugh- 
 ters thrown into prison. 
 
 " He excited the Venetians to take up arms against 
 the Visconti, who were bent on their destruction, and 
 to aid the Florentines, ready to sink under the power 
 of the Duke of Milan. Carmagnola was placed at 
 the head of the troops of the two republics, and 
 opened the campaign by the capture of Brescia, and 
 all the fortresses of the Bressan. 
 
 " He gained in the following year, Oct. 11, 1427, 
 a glorious victory at Macalo, over the four most cele- 
 brated generals of Italy, united then in the Duke's 
 service, viz. Francesco Sforza, Piccinino, Angelo 
 della Pergola, and Guido Torelli, but with impru- 
 dent generosity dismissed all his prisoners, and thus 
 raised the suspicions of the Venetians. 
 
 " By the peace obtained by his victories, he re- 
 gained the liberty of his wife and children, whilst he 
 assured to the Venetians the conquest of Brescia, 
 Bergamo, and the half of the Cremonese. But in a 
 
58 
 
 war which broke out soon afterwards, Carmagnola 
 did not answer the expectations which the Venetians 
 had conceived of his talents. He was the cause, 
 May 22, 1431, of the defeat of the Venetian flotilla 
 on the Po, and did not retrieve this check by his 
 activity in the remainder of the campaign. 
 
 " Carmagnola was recalled to Venice at the 
 commencement of 1432 by the Council of Ten, to 
 enlighten the state by his counsels, during the nego- 
 tiations for peace. He was received with extraordi- 
 nary pomp ; the Doge caused him to sit beside him 
 in the Senate, and expressed to him the affection and 
 gratitude of the Republic; but hardly had his sol- 
 diers retired, than Carmagnola was loaded with 
 chains, thrown into a dungeon, and soon afterwards 
 put to the rack, to make him confess pretended trea- 
 sons. At last, the twentieth day after his arrest, on 
 the 5th of May, 1432, he was beheaded, in the 
 Piazza St. Marco, between the two columns in front 
 of the Piazza, but they took care to gag him that he 
 might not protest his innocence. His fortune, which 
 was immense, was forfeited, and the Republic charged 
 itself only with settling a paltry pension upon his 
 two daughters." Translated from Simonde de Sis- 
 mondi. 
 
 In this church Titian was buried; he died A. D. 
 1576, a victim to the plague, which ravaged Venice. 
 Here are also the tombs of Nicolao Thron, and of 
 Francesco Foscari, 1457, and eighty-four Doges of 
 Venice ; and of Pisano, who commanded the Vene- 
 tian forces at the taking of Cyprus, A. D. 1503. 
 
 St. Giovanni e Paolo. The whole of the wall at 
 the west end is filled with monuments of the family 
 
59 
 
 of Mocinico, Doge of Venice, 1476. A monument 
 is erected here to the memory of M. Antonio Braga- 
 dini, general of the Republic, aged forty-six. 
 
 " In conjunction with Astorre Baglioni he gal- 
 lantly defended Fumagousta, in the isle of Cyprus, 
 against all the eiforts of Mustapha, the Pacha, for a 
 whole year ; but no succours arriving, owing to some 
 disputes of precedence amongst the Italian princes, 
 and having but seven barrels of powder left, on the 
 15th of August, 1571, they were obliged to surrender, 
 Mustapha guaranteeing to the garrison and com- 
 manders the means of returning to Venice ; but when 
 he was master of the place, and when Baglioni and 
 Bragadini were brought into his presence, as if for an 
 audience of leave, he ordered them to be seized by 
 his guards. Baglioni was beheaded, together with 
 all the officers of his garrison. Bragadini was flayed 
 alive, and his skin was carried in triumph through 
 the cities of Asia Minor, and the inhabitants of Fu- 
 magousta were abandoned to the fury of the soldiers." 
 Sismonde de Sismondi. 
 
 Here are also the tombs of Edward Windsor, an 
 English Baron, died 1574, aged forty-two; of Andrea 
 Vendramino, who raised the seige of Croia, and 
 defeated the Turks, and died, aged eighty-five, in the 
 second year of his dogeship, 1478. 
 
 Seventeen Doges are interred here, and among 
 them Ludovico Manini, the last. 
 
 Lord Byron says that in 1819, a priest pointed 
 out to him a sarcophagus in the outside wall, as the 
 tomb of the Doge Marino Faliero. It had been 
 placed originally, he said, in an adjoining convent, 
 
60 
 
 but was removed on the arrival of the French ; he 
 had seen the tomb opened at its removal ; there were 
 still some bones remaining, but no positive vestige of 
 the decapitation. 
 
 Amongst the numerous palaces may be mentioned 
 the Barberigo, full of the works of Titian, who died 
 there ; but the greater part of the pictures in this 
 palace are covered with dirt, and in a sad state. 
 
 Here are preserved an autograph letter from 
 Charles V. Emperor of Germany, who settles upon 
 Titian a pension of one hundred gold scudi, 1548 ; 
 and another from Philip II. of Spain, dated 22d of 
 Oct. 1561, by which he increases Titian's stipend. 
 
 In the Academia delle belle Arti is a large picture 
 by Titian, of the Ascension of the Virgin, formerly in 
 the church of St. Maria Gloriosa dei fratelli. One 
 of the last works of Titian, the Entombment of Christ, 
 is finished by Palma. In a porphyry urn is preserved 
 the right arm of Canova, " dextera magni Ca- 
 novae," and below is the last chisel which he used. 
 A bronze bust of M. A. Bragadini, Governor of 
 Salamis and Cyprus, " betrayed by perfidy, and 
 flayed alive for the faith of Christ and his country, 
 17th of August, 1571." 
 
 In the Manfrini Palace, a portrait of Ariosto, by 
 Titian ; the Prodigal Son, by Guercino ; Jesters, by 
 M. Angel o ; Lucretia, by Guido; a Magdalen, by 
 Coreggio, are beautiful. The sprawling figures and 
 fiery colouring of Julio Romano and his school bid 
 defiance to repose and nature. 
 
 Grimani Palace. In the court is a colossal statue 
 of M. Agrippa in fine preservation, and, Forsyth 
 
61 
 
 says, the only one existing of him. " Strange that 
 the head of this most magnificent patron of ancient 
 art should be rare. It is genuine, stamped with that 
 honest frown which Pliny remarks in the original." 
 The low forehead and scowl of Caracalla mark the 
 character of the imperial monster. 
 
 This palace also contains a small but unique col- 
 lection of Grecian and Roman antiquities : the 
 saloons are handsome, the ceilings painted in fresco, 
 the inlaid tables of lapis lazuli and jasper are magni- 
 ficent, and the floors are of tesselated marble. 
 
 The Thron Palace is deserted ; that ancient family 
 is no more, and the palace is in the hands of the 
 government. 
 
 The Pisano Palace on the Grand Canal, with its 
 richly ornamented front, covered with pillars and 
 statues, the design of Longhena, is unoccupied. We 
 were told that the last descendant of the family was 
 envoy at the English court, at the time of the extinc- 
 tion of the Republic, and has never returned. 
 
 The Arsenal is built on an island. On each side 
 of the outer gate are two colossal lions of white mar- 
 ble, taken by the Venetians from the Piraeus in 1687, 
 when they planted the banner of St. Mark at Athens ; 
 a lioness, the spoil of Corinth ; and a smaller one 
 taken from the Turks. The front of the gateway is 
 adorned with the favourite winged lion and warlike 
 trophies, " Victoriaa navalis monumentum, 1571," to 
 commemorate the victory of Lepanto, fought near the 
 promontory of Actium, where the fate of an empire 
 had been decided, and the banners of the crescent 
 and the cross waved in the most sanguinary naval 
 
62 
 
 encounter which any age had yet beheld. Thirty 
 thousand of the Turks were slain, two hundred of 
 their vessels were taken, burnt, or sunk ; and the 
 victors purchased their laurels with the lives of five 
 thousand men. 
 
 In the armoury is a large collection of arms ; flags 
 of the Turkish fleet, taken at Lepanto; figures of 
 several of the Venetian generals on horseback in 
 their suits of mail ; halberds, cross-bows, match- 
 locks, and two-handed swords; pieces with twenty 
 barrels, used in the galleys ; instruments of torture in 
 the time of the Inquisition, one resembling a large suit 
 of armour, into which the luckless victim was fastened 
 and screwed till he confessed ; an iron collar, lined 
 with spikes, and tightened by means of a vice, an 
 invention of Francesco Carena, tyrant of Padua. A 
 trophy, with small brass mortars, bearing an inscrip- 
 tion in honour of Henry IV. of France, " the friend 
 and ally of the Republic." 
 
 In the model room is a model of the Bucentaur, 
 the galley used by the Doge and the Senate upon all 
 state occasions, and in which the former embarked 
 when he threw into the sea the gold ring, and wedded 
 the Adriatic. This galley rowed forty-eight oars, 
 four men to each. Part of the flagstaff is all that 
 remains of the original ; the French destroyed it in 
 wanton mischief when they entered Venice. 
 
 The ancient and singular custom of the Doge 
 wedding the Adriatic is said to have thus originated. 
 In 1173, in the war against the Emperor Frederick 
 Barbarossa, and in defence of the Pope Alexan- 
 der III., the Doge Sebasliano Ziuni defeated Otho, 
 
63 
 
 the Emperor's son, and took him prisoner, and de- 
 stroyed forty-eight of his ships. 
 
 The Pope, on the Doge's return, went out to meet 
 him, and presented him with a ring, saying, " Take 
 this, Ziani, and give it to the sea, as a testimony of 
 your dominion over it. Let your successors annually 
 perform the same ceremony, that posterity may know 
 that your valour has purchased this prerogative, and 
 subjected this element to you, even as a husband 
 subjecteth a wife." 
 
 The ceremony took place on the feast of the Ascen- 
 sion, when the Doge, attended by all the Venetian 
 nobility, and the foreign ambassadors, went in the 
 Bucentaur to the outside of the port, and pronounced 
 his espousal of and dominion over the Adriatic, by 
 dropping a consecrated ring into its waves, and say- 
 ing, " Desponsamus te, mare, in signum veri perpe- 
 tuique dominii." 
 
 " The spouseless Adriatic mourns her lord ; 
 And annual marriage now no more renew'd ; 
 The Bucentaur lies rotting unrestored, 
 Neglected garment of her widowhood \" 
 
 Childe Harold. 
 
 There are numerous models of the Venetian war 
 galleys in the room, and a monument by Canova to 
 the memory of Emmo, the last admiral of the Re- 
 public. 
 
 The Austrians had two frigates on the stocks 
 nearly finished ; but the dock-yard is on a small 
 scale, and to an Englishman, habituated to his own 
 magnificent arsenals, utterly insignificant. 
 
 The present population of Venice is about seventy- 
 
64 
 
 six thousand. The only promenades of any extent 
 are the Piazza St. Marco, the public gardens made 
 by Bonaparte, and the Rialto. It is said to be prac- 
 ticable to walk through the town ; but the task is so 
 difficult that few are acquainted with the windings 
 of this Cretan labyrinth ; and from our hotel to the 
 Piazza St. Marco the navigation through the narrow 
 courts was sufficiently intricate. 
 
 As there is scarcely any soil, the fruit and vege- 
 tables are brought from the adjacent shores, and fresh 
 water is sold at rather a dear rate, a terrible tax on 
 the lower orders, and no great promoter of cleanli- 
 ness. Musquitoes are the great plague of Venice, 
 and in the season infest you the whole night unmer- 
 cifully ; but the natives seem to be hardened against 
 their venomous sting. 
 
 Venice has long been noted for the manufactory of 
 the small gold chain ; the most delicate cost from 
 three to four Napoleons the foot. 
 
 The celebrated navigator Marco Polo was born 
 here in 1288 ; and Zeno, Goldoni, Malespini, and 
 Cornaro, were natives ; and the Venetian school of 
 painting has produced Titian, Tintoretto, Paul Vero- 
 nese, Giorgione, Palma, Paduanino, and Bassano. 
 
65 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 FERRARA. BOLOGNA. THE APENNINES. 
 
 RETURNED from Venice to Mestre and Padua, and 
 left for Ferrara. At the small village of Boara, on 
 the Adige, we found that river frightfully swollen 
 from the heavy rain which had fallen for fifty-six 
 hours, and numerous huts had been erected on the 
 banks for working parties to throw up dams in case 
 of an inundation. 
 
 The same precautions had been taken on the banks 
 of the Po ; the immense stream, nearly level with 
 the top of its banks, was flowing with terrific rapidity, 
 and appeared to be on the point of verifying the 
 description of Virgil : 
 
 " Proluit insano contorquens vortice sylvas 
 Fluviorum Rex Eridanus, camposque per omnes 
 Cum stabulis armenta tulit." 
 
 Passed by a pont volant, moored to nine boats, 
 and at least a quarter of a mile over, and entered the 
 dominions of his holiness the Pope, and proceeded 
 through a marshy country to Ferrara, an ancient for- 
 tified town of considerable extent, and with a scanty 
 population of twenty-two thousand inhabitants (four 
 thousand of whom are Jews), instead of a hundred 
 thousand, which it once contained. 
 
 In the library are preserved a manuscript of Tasso, 
 written whilst in prison, Letters and Odes to the 
 Duke of Ferrara, by whose orders he had been con- 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 fined ; the original manuscript of " The Jerusalem 
 Delivered;" that of Guarini's "Pastor Fido;" the 
 tomb of Ariosto, his chair and inkstand, and a bronze 
 medal, with his effigy, found in his coffin, and sup- 
 posed to be the "only genuine one extant. Ariosto 
 was born at Reggio, 1474, and his remains were 
 removed from the Benedictine Church to the library 
 in June, 1801, in grand procession. 
 
 Beneath the Hospital of St. Anne is shown the 
 dark cell, in which Tasso was confined for seven 
 years and two months, and set at liberty the 6th of 
 July, 1586. 
 
 The Palace of the Dukes of Ferrara, moated and 
 embattled, stands in the centre of the town, as if to 
 awe and command it; and the following story is 
 connected with its gloomy towers. 
 
 " In the year 1405, Ugo, the son of Niccolo, Mar- 
 quis of Ferrara, became enamoured of his step-mother, 
 Parisina Malatesta ; and a servant, named Zoese, 
 discovered their amours by means of a female atten- 
 dant of Parisina, who had been ill treated by her ; 
 and the marquis, hearing the relation from the latter, 
 satisfied himself of the truth by looking through a 
 hole in the roof of Parisina's chamber. 
 
 " It was then in the prisons of the castle, and 
 exactly in those frightful dungeons which are seen at 
 this day beneath the chamber called the Aurora, at 
 the foot of the Lion's Tower, at the top of the street 
 Gioveca, that on the night of the 21st of May were 
 beheaded, first, Ugo, and afterwards Parisina. Zoese, 
 he that accused her, conducted the latter under his 
 arm to the place of punishment. She, all along, 
 
67 
 
 fancied that she was to be thrown into a pit, and 
 asked at every step whether she was yet come to the 
 spot. She was told that her punishment was the 
 axe. She inquired what was become of Ugo, and 
 received for answer, that he was already dead; at 
 the which, sighing grievously, she exclaimed, ' Now 
 then I wish not myself to live ;' and, being come to 
 the block, she stripped herself with her own hands of 
 all her ornaments, and, wrapping a cloth round her 
 head, submitted to the fatal stroke, which terminated 
 the cruel scene. 
 
 " A narrative of the proceedings was sent by Nic- 
 colo to the courts of Italy. On receiving the advice 
 the Doge of Venice gave orders, but without pub- 
 lishing his reasons, that stop should be put to the 
 preparations for a tournament, which, under the 
 auspices of the marquis, and at the expense of the 
 city of Padua, was about to take place in the square 
 of St. Mark, in order to celebrate his advancement 
 to the ducal chair. 
 
 " The marquis, in addition to what he had already 
 done, from some unaccountable burst of vengeance, 
 commanded that as many of the married women as 
 were well known to him to be faithless, like his Pari- 
 sina, should, like her, be beheaded. Amongst others, 
 Barberina, or, as some call her, Laodamia Romei, the 
 wife of the court judge, underwent the sentence at 
 the usual place of execution." Frizzis History of 
 Ferrara. 
 
 The water at Ferrara is execrable, and the climate 
 is said to be unhealthy, which, from the situation, 
 surrounded by marshes, is not surprising. 
 
 *2 
 
68 
 
 Through a dead flat, intersected by wet ditches, to 
 Bologna. 
 
 Bologna, on the small stream of the Reno, " par- 
 viq. Bononia Rheni," the Bononia of the Romans, is 
 surrounded by a high brick wall and fosse, and con- 
 tains a population of about seventy thousand. The 
 streets are in general narrow, with arcades : those in 
 the principal ones are lofty and handsome, and mostly 
 of brick stuccoed. 
 
 Bologna once boasted an university, the most an- 
 cient in Europe, and the first which conferred acade- 
 mical degrees ; but the present number of students 
 is only eight hundred, though twenty-five years ago 
 it was six thousand, with seventy- two professors. In 
 the anatomical school there are numerous models in 
 wax, beautifully executed, and all kinds of extraor- 
 dinary and supernatural formations, and likewise a 
 good collection of objects of natural history, minerals 
 and fossils ; and the schools of hydrostatics, optics, 
 mechanics, pneumatics, &c. are well furnished with 
 instruments and models. Several rooms are filled with 
 Roman antiquities, found in the vicinity ; amongst 
 them is an immense vase of " terra cotta," containing 
 forty " amphorae," and quite perfect. 
 
 In the Academia delle Belle Arti are some noble 
 specimens of Guido, Albano, L. Caracci, and Cor- 
 reggio. The St. Cecilia of Raphael was removed to 
 the Louvre by the French, and many engravings 
 were published of it in Paris: the countenance is 
 heavenly, and would disarm the murderous fury of a 
 hundred executioners ; but the colouring is too vivid 
 for nature. St. Peter Inquisitor, by Guercino, is a 
 
69 
 
 celebrated picture; the saint is in ecstasy, with a 
 dagger stuck in his breast, and a sword cleaving his 
 skull like a bill-hook in a block, and held by no 
 hand. What fairy tale trash is this ! 
 
 The Marescalchi Palace boasts some fine works of 
 the Flemish school, quite a rarity in Italy ; and the 
 Zambeccheri Palace contains one of the finest galleries 
 
 O 
 
 in Bologna, including Guercino's Sibyl ; St. Peter, by 
 L. Caracci; Herodias, by M. Angelo; Prometheus, 
 by Spagnoletto ; landscapes, by S. Rosa; and a silver 
 bas relief of the Taking down from the Cross, by the 
 celebrated Benvenuto Cellini. 
 
 In the Zambieri Palace are frescoes by the Caracci 
 and Guercino. Here are also sketches in crayons by 
 almost all the great masters of the Italian school, and 
 the original drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, from 
 which he painted the celebrated fresco at Milan. 
 
 The church of St. Petronio, the patron saint of 
 Bologna, was built in the fifth century, and was 
 enlarged in 1390. Charles V. was crowned here by 
 Pope Clement VII., and on the pavement is the 
 gnomon of the noted meridian of Cassini. 
 
 The Dominican Church, formerly belonging to the 
 College of the Inquisition, is adorned with a profu- 
 sion of altars and chapels of variegated marble, and 
 a fresco of St. Dominic in paradise, by Guido, and 
 considered as one of his finest works. Behind the 
 altar and the shrine, in which is enclosed the body 
 of the founder of the Inquisition, who died at Bologna 
 in 1221, were seven statues of solid silver, and mas- 
 sive candelabras, and tripods of the same metal. The 
 former are replaced by plaster casts, the latter by 
 
70 
 
 wood silvered over, the French troops having plun- 
 dered the chapel of the originals, and other treasures 
 to the amount of seven millions of francs. 
 
 In one of the chapels, the burial-place of the family, 
 which was noble, is interred the inimitable Guido ; 
 and the following inscription is in Latin. " Here 
 lie Guido Reni and Elizabeth Sirana. Guido died 
 15th of Sept. 1641, aged sixty-six. Elizabeth Sirana 
 died 5th of Sept. 1665, aged 26." 
 
 The Campo Santo, formerly the Carthusian Con- 
 vent, is about one mile and a half from the town. It 
 is distributed into arcades of great extent, and the 
 coffins are placed in recesses in the wall. 
 
 From the scarcity of marble the Bolognese are 
 forced to resort to another material for sepulchral 
 monuments, and they have succeeded to the utmost 
 perfection in imitating sculpture, by using a kind of 
 stucco and " scagliola," which resists the weather. 
 Here is the tomb of the Pope Alexander V., poisoned 
 at Bologna, A. D. 1410, by the orders of the Cardi- 
 nal who succeeded him ; and in the open area are 
 the " fossae" for the poor. 
 
 The church is full of altars and relics, neatly framed 
 and glazed in crystal ; and in several of the chapels 
 fetters are suspended, worn by individuals made pri- 
 soners by the Tunisians and Algerines, and inscribed 
 with the names of the wearers. Several of the sums 
 paid for ransom were enormous. 
 
 In our way to the Campo Santo we passed a part 
 of the portico, of six hundred and forty arches, which 
 extends from Bologna to the church of the Madonna 
 
 o 
 
 di San Luca, situated on the eminence of Delia 
 
Guardia. This portico, which, as Forsyth observes, 
 astonishes by its length (three miles), was built at the 
 cost of various families and religious foundations, 
 whose names are inscribed at the different parts 
 where they had contributed towards the pious work. 
 
 Facing the Hotel de Ville, a curious old structure, 
 on which appears the statue of St. Petronio, in the 
 Piazza del Gigante, is a bronze fountain, by Giovanni 
 di Bologna, adorned with various figures, and sur- 
 mounted by a colossal statue of Neptune, much 
 admired for " the style, the anatomy, and the tech- 
 nical details. In sculpture I saw nothing so grand 
 as this at Bologna." Forsyth. 
 
 The two remarkable leaning towers, of brick, are 
 close to each other. The one, called Dante's Gari- 
 senda, built A. D. 1110, is one hundred and forty 
 feet high, and declines eight feet and a half from the 
 plumb-line. This tower is heavy and clumsy in ap- 
 pearance : and in front is the figure of St. Michael 
 and the dragon, and an inscription, nearly illegible, 
 purporting that it was repaired in 1727. The other, 
 called the tower of Asinelli, built A. D. 1109, and 
 much more taper than its neighbour, is three hun- 
 dred and seven feet in height, declines one foot and 
 a half from the perpendicular, is machicolated, 
 crowned with a cupola, and rises from a building 
 surrounded with battlements. Whether these towers 
 were built with their present inclination, it is difficult 
 to determine. 
 
 Bologna was considered as the second school of 
 painting in Italy, and produced Guido, Dominichino, 
 Albano, Annibal, Agostino, and Ludovico Caracci 
 
72 
 
 their uncle, who, observing their abilities, instructed 
 his nephews in the art, though they had been destined 
 to follow other occupations. 
 
 To Florence. The country is flat to Pianoro, a 
 wretched village, beyond which the ascent of the 
 Apennines begins, and a yoke of oxen were considered 
 indispensable in addition to our six horses. These 
 animals are principally slate coloured or white, and 
 are remarkably handsome and docile. 
 
 Near Lojano the ascent is steep, and there is an 
 extensive view of the plains of Lombardy, the Bolog- 
 nese, and a glimpse of the Gulf of Venice. 
 
 Slept at Covigliajo, in Tuscany, a solitary post- 
 house in a dreary waste, the wind cutting like a razor. 
 
 Beyond Covigliajo, a wall has been built by the 
 order of Leopoldo It., the present Grand Duke, for 
 the protection of travellers against the gusts of wind 
 which are often so violent in winter as- to overturn 
 carriages. On approaching Florence, the city, with 
 its cathedral, churches, and numerous villas surround- 
 ing it, formed a pleasing contrast with the dull and 
 dreary tract through which we had just travelled. 
 
 The passage of the Apennines may be briefly dis- 
 missed ; the road is excellent, though perhaps in 
 some parts deficient in width ; but, unlike the Mont 
 Cenis and the Simplon, it is a perpetual succession 
 of ascents and descents ; and the tediousness of the 
 journey is by no means compensated by that stupen- 
 dous wildness of scenery which strikes the traveller 
 with admiration and with awe in the St. Gothard, 
 the alps of Switzerland, or Savoy. 
 
-< 
 
73 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 FLORENCE. 
 
 THE BAPTISTRY. CAMPANILE. CATHEDRAL. ST. LO- 
 RENZO, AND THE MEDICI CHAPEL. SANTA CROCE. 
 DEL CARMINE. SANTA MARIA NOVELLA. SANTO 
 SPJRITO. ANNUNZIATA. SAN MICHELE IN ORTO. 
 
 FLORENCE, the capital of Tuscany, on the Arno, is situ- 
 ated in an extensive plain at the base of the Apennines, 
 by which range of mountains it is almost surrounded, 
 and was one of the most ancient and considerable 
 cities of Etruria. It has been dignified with the 
 name of the Athens of Italy, from the encouragement 
 which has always been given here to learning and 
 the arts, particularly by the Medici family ; its public 
 establishments, buildings, statues, and paintings ; and 
 as reckoning among her citizens the imposing names 
 of Dante, Petrarch, Boccacio, Machiavelli, Galileo, 
 Michael Angelo Buonarotti, the founder of the Flo- 
 rentine school of painting, Torricelli, and Lorenzini. 
 
 The population is upwards of eighty thousand : 
 the river divides the city into two unequal parts ; the 
 circumference of the walls is nearly six miles, and 
 there are seven gates. The streets are paved with 
 smooth flag-stones, the houses are of stone, there are 
 several squares, and the wider streets are handsome 
 and tolerably clean. 
 
 Amongst the churches and buildings may be men- 
 tioned the Baptistry, a large octangular edifice near 
 
74 
 
 the Cathedral, and erected towards the close of the 
 seventh century, when the Lombards ruled in Tus- 
 cany. The exterior is coated with various coloured 
 marbles, and the roof rises in the form of a tent, sur- 
 mounted by a lantern ; the three bronze doors by 
 Pisano and Ghiberti are elaborately wrought. Mi- 
 chael Angelo admired so greatly the beauty of the 
 latter, that he said, they deserved to be the gates of 
 Paradise. Over the central door is a marble group 
 of St. John baptizing Christ, and on each side of this 
 entrance are two porphyry columns, presented by the 
 Pisans to the Florentines, in gratitude for having 
 guarded Pisa, whilst her troops were employed in 
 subduing Majorca and Minorca. 
 
 The massive chains suspended to these columns 
 are trophies of the valour of the Florentines, when 
 they took the Porto Pisano, the entrance of which 
 they defended. The two bronze groups over the other 
 doors are the beheading of the Baptist by Danti, and 
 the Saint between a Scribe and a Pharisee, by Rustici, 
 which is much admired. 
 
 In the interior are twelve large granite pillars, and 
 the statues of the Apostles in papier machc, and on 
 the mosaic pavement are the signs of the zodiac. A 
 recumbent figure in a pontifical habit (gilt bronze) 
 with a canopy over it, and an altar tomb with three 
 figures in bas relief, by Donatello, is the mausoleum 
 of Balthasar Cossa, elected Pope in 1410, and de- 
 posed three years afterwards by the Council of Con- 
 stance. 
 
 Near the Baptistry is a stone pillar and a cross, 
 erected in memory of a notable miracle performed on 
 
75 
 
 the spot by St. Zenobius, on a withered elm-tree, 
 which, at the very touch of the holy coffin, flourished 
 again in second spring. 
 
 The Campanile stands apart from the Cathedral, 
 and is a beautiful specimen of ornamented architec- 
 ture. The shape is square, and it is covered with 
 various coloured marbles, inlaid and disposed with 
 great taste, and adorned with a profusion of bas re- 
 liefs and statues. This light and elegant tower was 
 erected in 1334, from the designs of Giotto, and is 
 two hundred and fifty-eight feet in height. 
 
 The Cathedral, dedicated to St. Reparata, was 
 commenced 1298, and for the space of one hundred 
 and seventy-six years the pious work proceeded. The 
 exterior of this vast edifice is covered with various 
 coloured marbles of Tuscany, and Arnolfo di Lapo 
 was the architect ; but the stupendous dome is by the 
 celebrated Brunellesco (1440). 
 
 The " coup d'ceil" of this mass of variegated 
 marble is striking but the exterior of the colossal 
 
 O ' 
 
 cupola still remains unfinished, and the principal front 
 is a blank wall. 
 
 The total length is said to be four hundred and 
 sixty-seven feet ; the breadth, one hundred and twenty 
 feet ; the dome, from the pavement to the lantern, 
 two hundred and seventy-six feet ; the lantern itself, 
 sixty-four feet; and the diameter of the cupola 
 exceeds that of St. Peter's by upwards of seven feet. 
 
 Gloom and darkness pervade the interior, increased 
 by the heavy architecture, a mixture of Grecian and 
 Gothic, and the Tribune, surrounded by balustrades 
 and Ionic pillars, breaks the uniformity of the nave, 
 
76 
 
 and is but a sorry substitute for the rich Gothic screens 
 in our own cathedrals. 
 
 Behind the high altar is a marble group by Michael 
 Angelo, of Joseph of Arimathea, supporting the body 
 of Christ, and left unfinished, on account of the bad 
 quality of the marble, " ab artifice ob vitium rnarmoris 
 neglectum," and placed here by Cosmo III. in 1722, 
 having been brought from Rome by his orders. 
 
 In a niche in the wall on the right of the west 
 entrance is a bust of Brunellesco, who was buried 
 beneath, 1446, and another of Giotto, 1336, with 
 some doggerel Latin verses below ; and over the door 
 is a curious monument of Pietro Farnese, general of 
 the Florentine Republic. The valorous chief is in 
 mail, but his legs are so " curtailed of their fair 
 
 7 ~ 
 
 proportions" that they hardly reach half way down 
 the horse's side; and the steed, in armour too, dis- 
 plays marvellous bad action. On the other side of 
 the nave is a curious old portrait of Dante crowned 
 with laurel, and the view of Florence in the back- 
 ground, attributed to Orcagna; and this is the only 
 monument which Florence has raised to her illustri- 
 ous poet, whose ashes rest at Ravenna. There are 
 several fresco paintings of tombs on the wall, which 
 were to have been erected to various illustrious indi- 
 viduals, but the grateful Florentines have never yet 
 fulfilled their magnificent intentions, and amongst 
 them, one in memory of Sir John Hawkwood, called 
 by the Florentines " Giovanni Acuto," who com- 
 manded a body of English mercenaries in the Floren- 
 tine service, called the " white company" and for 
 nineteen years served in the wars between Pisa and 
 
77 
 
 Florence, and in 1394 was honoured with a sumptuous 
 funeral in the Cathedral. " He died 6th of March, 
 1394. His son requested Richard II. King of Eng- 
 land, to ask the Florentines to give up the bones of 
 this great general." Sismonde de Sismondi. 
 
 The space of the piazza is far too insignificant to 
 display to any advantage the exterior of this vast 
 edifice, and the back part is vilely blocked up with 
 houses. The pollutions are quite dreadful, and the 
 filth surpasses any thing that can be conceived. 
 
 Forsyth observes that the architecture is no mixture 
 of Greek and Gothic, " but the ancient Roman 
 revived as completely as the purposes of the church 
 would admit." 
 
 St. Lorenzo was rebuilt in 1425 by Brunellesco ; 
 the facade, of rough brick, is unfinished ; the columns 
 of the aisles and nave are Corinthian, but the style is 
 ugly and heavy. 
 
 In the centre of the church, is interred the founder 
 of the Medici family, and the first of the dynasty, a 
 man who appears from the concurrent testimony of 
 historians, to have merited the epithet of " Great." 
 A plain stone bears this inscription : " Cosmus Me- 
 dices hie situs est Decreto Publico Pater Patriae 
 Vixit annos LXXV Menses in Dies xx." 
 
 In the old sacristy is a handsome mausoleum of red 
 porphyry by Verrochio, raised by Lorenzo the Mag- 
 nificent and Julian de Medicis, in memory of Pietro 
 and Giovanni, the sons of Cosmo ; and here also is 
 an altar tomb, enclosing the remains of Averardo de 
 Medicis and Piccarda, his consort. 
 
 The new sacristy, or the chapel of the tombs, was 
 
designed by M. Angelo, and intended for the sepul- 
 ture of the Medici family, but two only are buried 
 here : Giuliano de Medicis, Duke of Nemours, and 
 brother of Leo X. : and Lorenzo de Medicis, Duke 
 of Urbino, the father of Alexander I. Duke of Flo- 
 rence. Both of these monuments are by M. Angelo. 
 
 Adjoining this church is a Medici chapel, com- 
 menced by Ferdinand I. in 1604. This superb 
 chapel is octangular, one hundred and seventy-nine 
 feet high, and eighty-six feet wide, and the walls are 
 incrusted with precious marbles in all their rich 
 varieties, and around are the arms of the Tuscan 
 towns, wrought in mosaic of the same costly material. 
 
 Six sides of the octagon are occupied by the colos- 
 sal tombs of the Medici. 
 
 " Cosmus Magn. Dux Etr : 1 Vix. Ann. 55. ob. 1 1 
 Kal. Maii 1574." 
 
 " Franciscus Magn. Dux Etr. 2. Vix. Ann. 46. ob. 
 19 Octob. 1587." He was father-in-law of Henry 
 the Great of France. The Medici arms were six 
 balls " rouge ;" but after this marriage, they were 
 privileged by the French king to bear three fleur de 
 lis on the upper ball, and to change the colour to 
 blue, the shield of France. On the top of this tomb 
 is a crown on a cushion of red jasper. 
 
 " Ferdinandus Mag. Dux Etr. 3. Vix. Ann. 60 ob. 
 7. Id. Febr. 1609." The sarcophagus is of Egyptian 
 granite, and the colossal bronze figure is by Tacca, a 
 scholar of Giovanni di Bologna. 
 
 " Cosmus Magn. Dux Etr. 4, Vix. Ann. 30. ob. 
 28 Febr. 1620." The sarcophagus is of oriental 
 granite ; the colossal statue of the Duke in bronze 
 
79 
 
 is by Giovanni di Bologna, and on a jasper cushion 
 is placed the crown studded with precious stones. 
 
 " Ferdinandus Magn. Dux Etr. 5 Vix. Ann. 59. 
 ob. 9. Kal, Jun. 1670." 
 
 " Cosmus Magn. Dux Etr. 6. Vix. Ann. 81. ob. 
 Octob. 1723." The coffins are not placed in the 
 sarcophagi, but in a vault beneath the chapel. 
 
 When the chapel is finished, the remains of the 
 late Grand Duke Ferdinand III., A died 1824, univer- 
 sally regretted and beloved by his people, will be 
 removed hither ; the altar will be adorned with jasper, 
 crystal, lapis lazuli, and sculpture, and a celebrated 
 artist, Benvenuto, is employed in painting the cupola. 
 The whole cost is defrayed by the present Grand 
 Duke Leopoldo II. 
 
 Santa Croce was built in 1294 from the designs of 
 Arnolfo di Lapo ; but the facade still remains unfi- 
 nished, an unsightly mass of brick. The octagonal 
 pillars which support the roof are heavy, and the 
 gloom which characterizes most of the Grecian 
 churches at Florence is conspicuous here. 
 
 The body of Michael Angelo was removed from 
 Rome and interred in this church in 1570; he was 
 born at Chiusi near Arezzo, and died at Rome, in 1 563, 
 aged eighty-nine. The bust of this great painter, sculp- 
 tor, architect, and poet, rests on a sarcophagus ; and 
 below are the allegorical figures of Sculpture, clumsy 
 and colossal, by Cioli ; Architecture, by Giovanni 
 dell' Opera; and Painting, by Cavalier; the best of 
 the three. 
 
 Here are also the tombs of Michelli, surnamed by 
 Linnaeus, " the lynx of botany," and that of the cele- 
 
80 
 
 brated Vittorio Alfieri, by Canova. The figure of 
 Italy is beautiful, but a prey to the French, she had 
 been spoiled of the choicest of her works, which en- 
 riched that grand emporium of plunder, the Louvre ; 
 and the Florentines made an epigram at the expense 
 of Canova " Canova has this time been mistaken. 
 He has clothed Italy when she was naked." Also 
 of the historian and politician, Nicholas Machiavelli, 
 erected two hundred and sixty-six years after his 
 death, by the literati of Florence, with the permis- 
 sion of the Grand Duke Leopold. The inscription 
 is unusually terse " Tanto nomini nullum par elogium, 
 Nicholaus Machiavelli, obit An. 1527." 
 
 A painting on panel of St. Francis and St. John 
 the Baptist by Andrea del Castagno, who having 
 pilfered the secret of painting in oil from a certain 
 Antonello da Messina, afterwards assassinated him. 
 
 In this church is the monument of Galileo ; the 
 half-length figure of the great philosopher holding 
 the telescope, is by Foggini. 
 
 Persecuted in his life by the tyranny of the Inqui- 
 sition, his bones were also exposed to its revenge, 
 and it was prohibited, on account of his alleged heresy, 
 to inter them in consecrated ground. The monu- 
 ment was erected by the order of his pupil Viviani, 
 whose executors found extreme difficulty in obtaining 
 leave to remove the heretical remains from the Piazza 
 Santa Croce to the church, nearly a century after his 
 death. Galileo died 1641, aged seventy-eight. 
 
 Adjoining is the Convent of Santa Croce, the seat 
 of the Inquisition in Tuscany, and Pope Urban IV. 
 entrusted it, with all its horrors, to the care of the 
 
81 
 
 holy brethren of St. Francis, who performed their 
 parts with laudable zeal and assiduity. 
 
 The republic armed them with power, the least 
 suspicion of heresy (a wide and undefined term with 
 these gloomy monks), was sufficient to immure the 
 victim in their private prisons, and a single witness 
 was only required to ensure condemnation. 
 
 In the black catalogue of crime committed by the 
 disciples of St. Dominic, occurs the name of Cecco 
 d'Ascoli, adjudged to be burnt alive as a necromancer, 
 A. D. 1328, because he had studied astronomy. 
 
 Ludovico Domenichi committed a grave offence, 
 in having presumptuously translated from the Latin 
 a work ascribed to the reformer, Calvin, and he was 
 sentenced to perambulate the town in procession } 
 with the book hung round his neck, and afterwards 
 to be kept in solitary confinement for ten years. 
 
 This tribunal lent also its utmost aid to the Holy 
 Office at Rome, in the condemnation of Pietro Car- 
 nesecchi, the secretary of Pope Clement VII. and to 
 the punishment of Galileo. 
 
 The people were at length weary of such cold- 
 blooded tyranny and abuse of power, and the Arch- 
 duke Leopold, by an edict on the 5th of July, 1782, 
 suppressed this odious court throughout his domi- 
 nions. 
 
 The fresco paintings in the church of Del Carmine, 
 by Panichale, and continued by Masaccio in the 
 beginning of the fifteenth century, and completed by 
 Filippo Lippi, of the life of St. Peter, are greatly 
 admired. They escaped the conflagration which 
 consumed the church, and are said to have been the 
 
82 
 
 studies of Bartolommeo, Leonardo da Vinci, Michael 
 Angelo, Andrea del Sarto, and Raphael. 
 
 The chapel, sacred to St. Andrea Corsini, is as 
 rich as sculpture can make it; and the cupola is 
 painted by the celebrated Luca Giordano. Over the 
 tomb of the holy bishop of Fiesole is a silver bas 
 relief. The inscription informs us that from simple 
 monk he rose to the dignity of Bishop of Fiesole, 
 that " daemonis fraudes obedientia delusit mulierum 
 perpetuo vitavit aspectum carnem ab Urbano 8. P. 
 x. Kal. Maii, 1629. Sanctorum numero adscriptus, 
 ac demum hoc in loco honorificentius repositus 7. 
 Kal. Novemb. 1683, et crebris coruscavit miraculis." 
 As this holy personage died in 1374, the Pontiffs 
 took their time in electing him Saint. 
 
 The alto relievos of Carrera marble in this chapel 
 are the boldest I ever saw; in one, the Bishop is 
 represented in the clouds, sword in hand, surrounded 
 with angels, assisting the Florentines to rout their 
 enemies at the battle of Anghiari, and in another he 
 is saying his first mass before the altar, the Virgin 
 appearing with cherubs, and signifying her choice of 
 him as her servant. 
 
 Santa Maria Novella, in one of the most extensive 
 squares at Florence, was built 1279, and the front of 
 black and white marble is of a mixed order of archi- 
 tecture. The interior (Grecian) was so admired by 
 Michael Angelo, that he called it his " sposa;" but 
 the gradual diminution of the arches, to increase the 
 effect of perspective, cannot be praised ; and the mass 
 of whitened wall above is ugly in the extreme. 
 
 The frescoes in one of the chapels by Orcagna of 
 
83 
 
 Heaven and Hell are curious, and the imagination of 
 " hellish" Breughel must have presided over the 
 composition. The painting over the altar (fresco) of 
 the Virgin and Child, by Cimabue, signalized the 
 revival of the art at Florence. 
 
 On one of the pillars of the nave is the martyrdom 
 of St. Peter, by Cigoli ; not to be mentioned for any 
 merit which it possesses, but merely for its absurdity. 
 The executioner having inflicted several wounds on 
 the saint, who has fallen beneath them, the latter is 
 represented as tracing with his finger, in his blood 
 on the ground, the word " Credo !"' " Credat Ju- 
 daeus." 
 
 In one of the cloisters of the adjoining convent 
 the walls are covered with the miracles of St. Domi- 
 nick, who is often portrayed as raising the dead. 
 
 The monks are usefully employed here, for they 
 compound drugs in a dispensary, and make an ex- 
 cellent liqueur, called " alchermes." 
 
 The celebrated architect of the dome of the Cathe- 
 dral (Brunellesco) built the church of the Santo 
 Spirito. The cupola is handsome ; the form of the 
 interior is the Latin cross, and the roof is flat. The 
 balustrade round the tribune is too massive, and the 
 marble angels, with brazen wings, are in a truly 
 barbarous taste. The picture, by Gabbiani, of St. 
 Nicholas raising three naked children, who are 
 jumping out of a tub, provokes laughter instead of 
 veneration ; and the beatified Claira de Montefal- 
 cone, Christ descending with angels, and putting 
 the holy wafer into the mouth of an old pale-faced 
 nun, can excite nothing but disgust. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 In the piazza of the Annunciation are two foun- 
 tains, made of brass cannon taken from the Turks, 
 and a fine equestrian statue of the time of Ferdi- 
 nand I. by Tacca, 1640. 
 
 The walls of the corridor in front of the church 
 are painted by Andrea del Sarto ; and there is a 
 marble bust of this celebrated artist, with an inscrip- 
 tion. 
 
 On the left of the west entrance is the main object 
 of superstitious attraction, the chapel of the Santis- 
 sima Virgine Annunziata. The altar is of massive 
 silver, adorned with bas-reliefs and tripods, and from 
 the cupola are suspended silver lamps, the gifts of 
 wealthy bigots. On the " ciborio" is a head of Christ, 
 by Andrea del Sarto, of beautiful design. The 
 walls of the oratory are inlaid with agate, jasper, 
 and oriental marbles. Pietro de Medici, the son of 
 Cosmo the Great, ordered this chapel to be built in 
 honour of the most bare-faced and impudent fraud 
 ever practised on a superstitious people, and to sup- 
 port the claims to sanctity of the miraculous picture 
 of the Madonna and Child, by Fra. Bartolommeo, 
 the following ridiculous tale is recounted : the afore- 
 said Bartolommeo, pondering within himself how to 
 give the proper seraphic expression to the Virgin's 
 countenance, fell asleep, and on awaking, found it, 
 to his infinite surprise and satisfaction, done to his 
 hand. He exclaimed " a miracle !" and his country- 
 men, as willing to be gulled as himself, piously be- 
 lieved it. 
 
 All this is, even now, credited to the very letter ; 
 the chapel is crowded with devotees. The lamps 
 
85 
 
 are constantly burning, and the holy picture, covered 
 with a silk curtain, is never exposed to vulgar gaze, 
 unless on sacred and rare occasions ; and nothing 
 short of an order from the Pitti Palace, or the Arch- 
 bishop of Florence, can unveil it to heretical eyes. 
 
 In the chapel of Bandinelli, the marble group of 
 the dead Christ supported by Nicodemus, is among 
 the finest specimens of his works at Florence ; and 
 the sculptor and his wife are interred beneath it. 
 " D. O.M. Baccius Bandinel : Divi Jacobi Eques 
 sub hac Salvatoris imagine a se expressa cum Jacoba 
 Doria uxore, quiescit An. S. MDLIX." 
 
 In the cloisters of the monastery of the Servites is 
 a celebrated fresco, by Andrea del Sarto, of the Holy 
 Family, called the " Madonna del Sacco," probably 
 from the sack of corn on which Joseph is leaning, 
 and not from the story of the author having painted 
 it as the price of a sack of corn, during a famine. 
 
 The picture is exquisitely finished, and was greatly 
 admired by Titian and Michael Angelo ; but it is 
 to be regretted, that so many inimitable masters 
 should have entrusted their works to perishable 
 stucco. 
 
86 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 FLORENCE. 
 
 PALAZZO VECCHIO. PALAZZO DEL PODESTA. PALAZZO 
 PITTI. BOBOLI GARDENS. THE GALLERY. LIBRE- 
 RIA LAURENZIANA. GABINETTO FISICO. ACADE- 
 MIA REALE. PALACES. BRIDGES. GATES. PALAZZO 
 POGGI. ST. MINIATO. MONKS. BRETHREN OF 
 " THE MISERICORDIA." 
 
 THE Palazzo Vecchio, in the Piazza del Granduca, 
 was commenced A. D. 1298, under Arnolfo di Lapo, 
 enlarged at various times, and finished by Vasari, in 
 1550. The embattled and machicolated tower is 
 two hundred and eighty-six feet high; the spaces 
 under the machicolations are filled with shields of 
 arms of the Republic, painted in fresco. 
 
 The interior portico, supported by columns of 
 Lombardian style, is handsome ; but the old paintings 
 on the walls of some of the towns in Germany can 
 hardly be traced. 
 
 The Great Hall, one hundred and sixty-one feet 
 long, and sixty-six feet wide, was built in 1495, for 
 the assembly of the citizens, according to the regene- 
 rating plans of the monk of St. Mark's convent, 
 Jerome Francis Savonarola, who having, by his 
 visionary schemes and promises, enlisted the popu- 
 lace on his side, fulminated forth hatred and venge- 
 
ance against the Medici and the Court of Rome, 
 and fell, like Masaniello, from the giddy eminence of 
 short-lived popularity ; and, with two of his fanatical 
 adherents, was burnt alive in the Piazza del Granduca, 
 the 23d of May, 1498. 
 
 Vasari has painted the walls of this immense 
 saloon with the battle of Marciano, and the con- 
 quests of Pisa and Sienna ; and on the ceiling are 
 paintings representing the various feats of the Floren- 
 tines and the Medici. 
 
 In front of the Palazzo Vecchio are two splendid 
 colossal groups, in marble, of Hercules conquering 
 Cacus, by Bandinelli, 1534, and David, by Michael 
 Angelo. 
 
 Close to the building is the Loggia dei Lanzi, an 
 elegant portico of three arches, built in 1355, by 
 Orcagna, for the lanzi or guards of the Palazzo 
 Vecchio. Under one of the arches is a group, in 
 bronze, of Judith beheading Holofernes, by Dona- 
 tello, but the effect is spoiled by the Lilliputian pro- 
 portions of Judith ; under another, Perseus holding 
 the bleeding head of Medusa, is considered by con- 
 noisseurs to rank as the chef d'ceuvre of the celebrated 
 Benvenuto Cellini; and under another arch is the 
 Rape of the Sabines, carved out of a single block of 
 marble, by Giovanni di Bologna, and worthy of any 
 gallery. 
 
 In the piazza is a noble colossal equestrian figure, 
 in bronze, of Cosmo I., by Giovanni di Bologna ; 
 and on the pedestal are relievos, in bronze, of the 
 most celebrated events of his life. The fountain 
 boasts a Patagonian statue of Neptune, in marble, 
 
88 
 
 eighteen feet high, of villanously awkward propor- 
 tions, erected by Ammannati, in 1563. 
 
 The Custom House occupies the site of the Palace 
 of the Uberti family, of the Ghiberti faction, which 
 was entirely destroyed by the Guelphs during the 
 dreadful commotions caused by these rival parties. 
 
 The Palazzo del Podesta, built by Arnolfo, in 
 1250, with its tower and massive walls, is a fine 
 specimen of ancient Florentine architecture, and has 
 been for a long series of years used as the public 
 prison and hall of justice. At the gate are two 
 marble lions, the supporters of the arms of the city, 
 and the walls of the court-yard are covered with the 
 escutcheons of the various citizens who filled the 
 highest judicial offices in the Republic. 
 
 The Palazzo Pitti, the residence of the Grand 
 Duke, was commenced by Luca Pitti, a citizen of 
 Florence, and Gonfalonier of Justice in 1440, from 
 the designs of the celebrated Brunellesco. The 
 undertaking, however, was soon too gigantic for the 
 falling fortunes of the Pitti family, and Luca's grand- 
 son sold it, in 1549, to Eleanora of Toledo, the 
 consort of Cosmo I., and Ammannati was charged 
 with its completion ; but to this day, although suc- 
 cessive sovereigns have contributed towards the work, 
 it remains unfinished. The rough rustic, or " bos- 
 sage," so common in the Florentine palaces, is univer- 
 sal here ; and the court, next the Boboli Gardens, 
 from the designs of Ammannati, who built it by 
 order of Cosmo I., though not spacious, is handsome. 
 The ceilings of five of the principal rooms were 
 painted by Pietro da Cortona, in 1640, and in these 
 
89 
 
 apartments is a collection of some of the most valuable 
 pictures in Italy. In the long list may be enumerated 
 the celebrated Madonna della Seggiola, so called on 
 account of the chair on which she sits, one of the 
 most finished works of Raphael ; Fortunetellers, by 
 Caravaggio ; St. Peter, and the Martyrdom of St. 
 Andrew, by Carlo Dolci ; a splendid picture of the 
 Fates, by Michael Angelo ; the Conspiracy of Cati- 
 line, by S. Rosa ; several battle pieces by the same 
 artist, and by Bourgognone ; and Judith with the 
 Head of Holofernes, by Christofano Allori. 
 
 In the Palace are some invaluable specimens of 
 Florentine mosaic; and in the centre of a circular 
 room, painted by Gherardini, is the Venus of Canova, 
 which supplied the place of the Venus de Medicis in 
 the Tribune of the Gallery, during the temporary 
 absence of the latter in the Louvre at Paris. 
 
 The Boboli Gardens are attached to the Pitti 
 Palace. Near the principal entrance is a grotesque 
 figure of apparently a Bacchus, or a Silenus, astride 
 on a turtle, but said to represent a dwarf of the court 
 of Cosmo I., named Pietro Barbino, as much noted 
 for his gallantries as for his literary acquirements ; 
 but one would think, from his appearance, that the 
 talent of gormandizing bore away the belle. 
 
 In the avenue are two colossal statues, in por- 
 phyry, of Dacian captives, placed here by the French ; 
 the bas-reliefs of the pedestals, to which they do not 
 belong, were brought from the Villa Medicis at 
 Rome, and are ascribed to the reign of Commodus. 
 
 A large oval, facing the interior court of the 
 
90 
 
 Palace, is laid out as an amphitheatre, and in the 
 centre rises an Egyptian obelisk of red granite, 
 covered with hieroglyphics, and brought by the 
 Grand Duke Leopold from the Villa Medicis at 
 Rome. 
 
 The colossal group of Neptune, the Nile, the 
 Ganges, and Euphrates, the Andromeda chained to 
 the rock, and Perseus on the seahorse, in the large 
 lake, are by Giovanni di Bologna. 
 
 The statues and groups of sculpture are almost 
 innumerable, and the labyrinths, evergreens, and 
 marble vases smack strongly of the genius of Lenotre,' 
 and Versailles, Marly, and the Tuileries were laid 
 out after this plan. But though 
 
 " Grove nods at grove, each alley has a brother, 
 And half the platform just reflects the other," 
 
 the general eifect is handsome and imposing. 
 
 The Uffizzi, built by Vasari, in 1561, by command 
 of Cosmo I., is of an oblong form, consisting of three 
 wings, supported on handsome and lofty porticoes of 
 the Doric order, and contains the Mint, the Archives, 
 the Magliabecchian Library, and the celebrated Gal- 
 lery of Florence. 
 
 This splendid collection was formed by the Medici 
 and Lorenzo the Magnificent. Cosmo I., Francis I., 
 and their successors, all contributed to its aggran- 
 disement. 
 
 In the corridor is a fine figure of a wild boar 
 (Grecian), from which the bronze in the Mercato 
 Nuevo, by Tacca, was copied, but it has been greatly 
 
91 
 
 damaged by the fire which broke out in the Gallery 
 in 1762; a horse rearing, and a colossal statue of 
 the Emperor Augustus in the act of speaking, con- 
 sidered as the best extant of him, are fine specimens 
 of sculpture. 
 
 The three long galleries of the Uffizzi are lined 
 with statuary ; the most complete collection of busts 
 of the Roman Emperors in Europe, Roman and Gre- 
 cian altars, bas-reliefs, and inscriptions. Amongst 
 the multitude of statues in the gallery may be noticed, 
 Agrippina, graceful and dignified, and the drapery 
 beautiful ; the Hercules of Glycon ; Cupid and 
 Psyche ; and the Venus Anadiomenes. 
 
 There are two Marsyas's, one restored by Dona- 
 tello is unnatural, as the countenance betrays no 
 pain ; in the other, restored by Verrochio, the muscles 
 are almost bared. A Sea-nymph, riding aside on a 
 sea-horse, is execrable ; a frightful animal, unlike the 
 steeds of Neptune's car, and we may exclaim with 
 Mercutio, " Oh ! flesh how art thou fishified." John 
 the Baptist, reduced by famine, by Donatello, is said 
 to be one of his best works. 
 
 In the Bacchus, by Michael Angelo, the head 
 leans rather forward, and the unsteady position of 
 the body, the effect of the orgies of the drunken god, 
 is admirably portrayed. 
 
 In the cabinet of ancient and modern bronzes, the 
 Mercury of Giovanni di Bologna, brought from the 
 Medici villa at Rome, is one of the most exquisite 
 specimens of the art. The messenger of Jove is re- 
 presented in the act of springing to his airy flight, 
 one foot resting on the breath of a zephyr, his cadu- 
 
92 
 
 ceus in one hand, and the other pointing to the sky, 
 
 ready 
 
 " to bestride the lazy-pacing clouds, 
 And sail upon the bosom of the air." 
 
 SHAKSPEARE. Rom. and Jul. 
 
 A superb bust of Cosmo I., by Benvenuto Cellini, 
 which he mentions in his entertaining life, written by 
 himself. 
 
 Here is also a large collection of household gods, 
 Etruscan divinities, a Roman eagle of the twenty- 
 fourth legion, altars, lamps, helmets, rings, and 
 tablets. A senator haranguing, found near the Thra- 
 symene Lake, in 1565; and an inscription on the 
 border of the tunic has furnished abundance of 
 employment for the antiquaries. As this statue is 
 considered to be neither Grecian nor Roman, but of 
 Etruscan origin, the value is immense. A beautiful 
 statue of Minerva, found near Arezzo, 1541, has 
 evidently been damaged by fire, and the right arm is 
 modern. 
 
 The cabinet of gems abounds in choice specimens 
 of " pietra dura :" small figures, vases, cups, and in- 
 numerable kinds of ornaments, set with precious 
 stones, in all their gorgeous varieties. 
 
 The Hall of Niobe. This matchless group was 
 found at Rome, near the Porta Ostiensis, and is con- 
 sidered to be one of the most elaborate specimens of 
 Grecian sculpture in Italy ; and Guido, and the most 
 celebrated painters made them the objects of their 
 study. 
 
 There are sixteen statues ; the most admired is 
 that of the Mother, the reviler of Latona ; the figure 
 
93 
 
 is colossal. The expression of grief, mingled with 
 despair, is so admirably depicted, that the painter's 
 art could hardly surpass it. The youngest daughter 
 is at her feet, clinging to her mother, who endeavours 
 to give her that protection which she seeks in vain. 
 The statues are, however, by no means of equal 
 merit, and are evidently the work of different hands. 
 The son, pierced dead by Apollo's darts, is exqui- 
 site, and the proportion of the figure symmetry itself; 
 but Amphion, the father, is inferior in execution. 
 
 Of all the attractions in the Gallery, the room 
 called the Tribune is the greatest; for here are the 
 Venus de Medicis, the Dancing Fawn, the Grinder, 
 the Wrestlers, the Apollino, and some of the sub- 
 limest productions of Raphael, Guercino, Leonardo 
 da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto, Titian, Coreggio, and 
 Caracci. 
 
 The Venus, restored to her place from that empo- 
 rium of plunder and robbery, the Paris Louvre, was 
 discovered in excavating Hadrian's villa, and brought 
 to Florence in 1680. The whole of the right arm is 
 modern, as is the left, from the elbow downwards ; 
 and the execution of the hands, in both, is very infe- 
 rior. The height of the statue, in English measure, 
 is barely five feet. 
 
 The names of Phidias and Praxiteles have been 
 handed down as the authors of this admired work ; 
 but conjecture and criticism have been exerted in 
 vain to demonstrate the assertion satisfactorily. Pliny 
 mentions several statues of the Paphian goddess : one 
 by Phidias, in the temple of Octavia at Rome ; ano- 
 ther by the same, close to Athens ; another at Rome, 
 
by an unknown artist, in the temple of Peace ; one 
 by Praxiteles, veiled, at Cos ; another by the same 
 sculptor, in the temple of Gnidus. But how are we 
 to reconcile all this with the inscription on the base, 
 KAEOMENH2 AROAAOAQPOY A9HNAIO2 EI1Q- 
 ESEN ? The antiquarian laughs at this ; vows the 
 inscription to be as modern as the fifteenth century, 
 the base to be an addition to the statue, and will not 
 hear a word against Phidias or Praxiteles. 
 
 In the Wrestlers, the difficult posture of the limbs, 
 interlaced as they are, and the tension of the sinews, 
 are finely expressed. 
 
 The Dancing Fawn is attributed to Praxiteles. 
 The head and the arms were restored by Michael 
 Angelo, and with such talent that it would puzzle 
 the observer to detect the restorations. 
 
 The Apollino measures but four feet six inches ; 
 the " tout ensemble " is effeminate, and must not be 
 named with the splendid Belvidere. 
 
 The Grinder. This statue was found at Rome, 
 and has been the subject of much controversy ; and 
 the antiquaries have puzzled their brains, and have 
 written long and laboured disquisitions, to little 
 purpose. The attitude of the slave, stooping and 
 whetting the knife on the stone, and the turn of the 
 head, listening as it were to commands, would ap- 
 pear to favour the opinion, that it represents the slave 
 preparing to flay Marsyas ; and in this, Lord Byron 
 concurs and cites a sarcophagus in the Basilica of 
 St. Paul at Rome, on which the fable of Marsyas is 
 depicted; and the Scythian slave, whetting the knife, 
 is represented exactly in the same attitude as this 
 
95 
 
 celebrated statue. Winkelmann and Zannoni are of 
 the same opinion. There is a bronze cast from this 
 statue in the gardens of the Tuileries. 
 
 O 
 
 Amongst the paintings in the Tribune, the Samian 
 Sibyl, by Guercino ; two Venuses, by Titian, one, 
 the mistress of the Duke of Urbino, rivals the Medici 
 Venus ; the Virgin, by Guido ; St. John in the 
 desert, one of the finest productions of Raphael ; the 
 Fornarina, the painter's mistress ; and the portrait of 
 Pope Julius II., by the same artist, are conspicuous. 
 
 In the Venetian school are several most superb 
 specimens of Titian; and in the Tuscan, the Descent 
 of Christ into Hell, by A. Allori, called il Bronzino, 
 is considered as the chef d'ceuvre of the master. 
 
 The Hall of the Hermaphrodite. This perfect spe- 
 cimen of Grecian sculpture lies recumbent on a lion's 
 skin, and is nearly the counterpart of that in the 
 Louvre, which belonged to the Borghese collection. 
 
 The Libreria Mediceo Laurenziana was built by 
 Michael Angelo, but is unfinished. The proportions 
 of the gallery, one hundred and forty -three feet in 
 length, and thirty-five in breadth, and lighted by 
 windows painted in arabesque, by Raphael and his 
 scholars, are extremely elegant. 
 
 This library was founded by Pope Clement VII. 
 for the exclusive reception of MSS. ; some of which 
 are chained to the desks, some locked up in glass 
 cases. Amongst the rarest, are a Virgil of the third 
 century, in capital characters, but without punc- 
 tuation, and the words run together ; the Pisan 
 Pandects of Justinian, in two volumes, of the sixth 
 century, the words joined together, discovered in 
 
96 
 
 1135, at Amalfi, in the kingdom of Naples; a Taci- 
 tus of the eleventh century, beautifully penned ; Ho- 
 race, with Petrarch's notes, and Cicero's Epistles, in 
 his hand writing ; " Dante's Inferno," curiously illu- 
 minated with illustrations, and written only twenty- 
 two years after his death ; MSS. ' of Boccacio, who 
 died in 1375, (the original of the Decameron was 
 burnt in the library of the convent of Santo Spirito, 
 at Florence , but luckily a certain Minelli had 
 amused himself by copying it, and thus the poem 
 was preserved, A. D. 1384). ^St. Augustine's works 
 on vellum, illuminated, 1400. The Geographical 
 System of Ptolemy, fifteenth century ; the importance 
 and extent of discoveries since that period, make his 
 map appear a blank. 
 
 In a crystal vase is preserved the finger of Galileo, 
 pointing towards the sky, the theatre of his dis- 
 coveries. 
 
 Gabinetto Fisico, originally founded by the Me- 
 dici, contains a large assortment of philosophical and 
 mathematical instruments, and the most perfect col- 
 lection of anatomical preparations in wax, in Europe, 
 executed by the Chevalier Felix Fontana, and occu- 
 pying no less than fifteen rooms. 
 
 In one is a representation of the plague, portrayed 
 in numerous figures, and the progress of decay in 
 the human body after death, the work of Gaetanus 
 Julius Zummo, a gloomy Sicilian monk, who exe- 
 cuted it by order of Cosmo III. 
 
 These models are about half a foot high, and the 
 stages of corruption from the first interment of the 
 corpse to its decomposition, and reduction to the 
 
97 
 
 skeleton are traced in all their disgusting varieties ; 
 and the artist has disclosed in his labours, the fear- 
 ful mysteries of the charnel-house, the loathsome 
 banquet of the beetle and the worm. 
 
 the charnel house 
 
 O'er-cover'd quite with dead men's rattling bones, 
 With reeky shanks, and yellow chapless skulls, 
 Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth, 
 Lies fest'ring in his shroud." 
 
 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 Under a glass case, containing a human head, in 
 wax, in a state of decomposition, is the following, 
 written by Haller : " Cajetanus Zummo ceream 
 anatomem excolebat. Caput cereum sollicita cura 
 fictum ostendebat, et putredinis progressum." This 
 room is locked ; females rarely present themselves 
 for admittance : but at Bologna I saw several view- 
 ing the anatomical preparations in wax, with the 
 utmost curiosity and sangfroid. 
 
 The Reale Academia delle Belle Arti contains 
 casts of most of the celebrated groups and statues of 
 antiquity; and those from the Elgin marbles pre- 
 sented by George IV. to the Grand Duke, who pre- 
 sented to his Majesty, in return, the casts from the 
 group of Niobe ; and in the picture gallery is a suc- 
 cession from Giotto, to the more advanced period of 
 the art. 
 
 The manufactory of the Florentine mosaic, intro- 
 duced in the reign of Cosmo I., is very curious. The 
 design for the table is painted, the stones, adapted by 
 their shades and colours to represent it, are then cut 
 with tedious labour, by means of a copper wire moist- 
 
 ii 
 
98 
 
 ened with emery powder and water, and afterwards 
 filed with a thin copper blade, moistened in the same 
 manner ; the touch-stone, or whatever may form the 
 ground-work, is cut to receive it so exactly, that the 
 joint is scarcely visible ; the whole is then secured 
 behind by gum-mastic ; a thin slab of touch-stone, or 
 slate, is finely cemented, and the surface is polished 
 with agate. 
 
 Sixteen years were employed in completing the 
 octagon table in the gallery ; and we have seen seve- 
 ral in the manufactory which had employed five 
 artists for three years. 
 
 Of the numerous palaces of the ancient nobility, 
 the Strozzi Palace, built by Cronaca, is the finest spe- 
 cimen of Tuscan architecture. The basement is of 
 bold and massive rustic, implying solidity and 
 strength, and, as is well remarked by Forsyth, giving 
 " always an imposing aspect, and sometimes a ne- 
 cessary defence to the nobility of a town for ever 
 subject to insurrection." The handsome, but heavy, 
 cornice is unfinished, and the court, with its Ionic 
 pillars and arches, does not correspond with the style 
 of the exterior. At the corners of this palace are 
 fixed large iron lanterns, with spikes for torches, the 
 mark of services rendered to the state ; no individual, 
 however high his birth, being allowed to make use 
 of such appendages, unless he had acquired the pri- 
 vilege from the commonwealth. 
 
 This palace was erected by Filippo, the father of 
 the unfortunate Filippo Strozzi, who fell a victim to 
 the unforgiving vengeance of Cosmo I. 
 
 The Palazzo Riccardi was built by Cosmo the 
 
99 
 
 Great, in 1 430 ; the cradle of Tuscan literature, and 
 the refuge of the learned who were driven from Con- 
 stantinople, and was inhabited by the Medici princes, 
 Charles VIII., King of France, and Charles V. ; and 
 was sold by Ferdinand II. to the family of Riccardi, 
 who were ruined by unfortunate speculations, and, 
 in 1814, the government purchased it. 
 
 The mixture of Tuscan, Corinthian, and Doric is 
 in bad taste; in the porticoes below are numerous 
 Roman altars and bas-reliefs, the genuineness of 
 which has been questioned. In the library is a large 
 collection of MSS., and the gallery is painted by 
 Giordano. The Cruscan Academy hold their sittings 
 in this palace. 
 
 Four bridges connect the two quarters of Florence 
 with each other. 
 
 The Ponte alle Grazie, so called from a small 
 chapel built upon it, is of seven arches, and flat ; 
 and there are houses on all the buttresses. 
 
 The Ponte Vecchio, built, 1345, by Taddeo Gaddi, 
 (three arches) is lined on both sides by shops, or 
 rather little cabins, monopolized almost exclusively 
 by the jewellers. The corridor, which communicates 
 between the Palazzo Pitti and Palazzo Vecchio, 
 passes over this bridge. 
 
 The Ponte della Trinita, of three arches, the most 
 elegant bridge in Florence, reflects great credit on 
 Ammannati, who built it in 1557, by command of 
 Cosmo I., and the proportion and curve of the 
 arches is so beautiful, that architects are constantly 
 taking plans of it. 
 
 n 2 
 
100 
 
 The Ponte alia Caraja was also built by Amman- 
 nati, but is very inferior to the other. 
 
 Florence is surrounded by high embattled stone 
 walls, and there are no less than eight gates, of 
 which the ancient one, San Gallo, is a heavy mass of 
 stone, built in 1284, and ornamented with a fresco, 
 by Ghirlandajo, now almost obliterated. The new 
 gateway, built for show, not use, as the road through 
 it is chained across, was erected by order of the Em- 
 peror Francis I., 1739, in imitation of Constantine's 
 arch at Rome ; and on the summit is the equestrian 
 statue of the Emperor, and allegorical statues on the 
 columns. 
 
 Close to the Ponte Vecchio, on a fountain, is a 
 very spirited group m marble, by Giovanni di Bo- 
 logna, of Hercules killing the centaur Nessus ; and 
 under the portico of the Mercato Nuovo, is an excel- 
 lent bronze, by Pietro Tacca, after the celebrated wild 
 boar in the gallery. 
 
 In the small square of La Trinita is a pillar of 
 oriental granite, surmounted by a porphyry statue of 
 Justice, with her attributes, erected by Cosmo I., in 
 commemoration of the victory of Montemurlo, and 
 the conquest of Sienna. The lofty elevation of the 
 immaculate divinity furnished the malicious remark, 
 that at Florence "Justice was out of reach." 
 
 A plain pillar of Seravezza marble, in the Via 
 Romana, was also raised by Cosmo I., in memory of 
 the victory of Marciana. 
 
 The Venetian ambassador, it seems, was grateful 
 to his steed for his services, for in the parapet wall 
 of the Quay, on a marble tablet we read : 
 
101 
 
 " Ossa equi Carolli Capelli, Legati Veneti, 
 Non ingratus herus Sonipes memorande sepulchrum, 
 Hoc tibi pro meritis haec monumenta dedit. 
 Obsessa urbe, MDXXXIH. Id. Mart." 
 
 The Porta al Prato conducts to the Cascini or 
 royal farms, an extensive promenade on the banks of 
 the Arno, and laid out in drives and walks, and thickly 
 planted with evergreens and fine timber. 
 
 The walls of Florence are strengthened at various 
 points by bastions ; and the fort of da Basso, or St. 
 Giovanni Batista, formerly of some importance, was 
 built by Pope Clement VII. to overawe the citizens. 
 
 Passing through the old embattled gate of St. Mi- 
 niato, a steep path, amid vineyards and olive grounds, 
 leads to the Church of San Salvatore al Monte ; and, 
 a little beyond, are the remains of the fortifications 
 raised under the directions of Michael Angelo in 
 1529, when the city was besieged by the Imperial 
 forces. Farther on is the Convent of St. Miniato al 
 Monte, founded by Hildebrand Bishop of Florence, 
 the Emperor St. Henry, and Cunegonda his consort, 
 in 1013. 
 
 The columns of the nave are said to have belonged 
 to ancient temples, and part of the pavement is of 
 mosaic. Below the altar is a chapel supported by 
 thirty-six marble pillars, with curiously wrought ca- 
 pitals ; and here are interred the relics of St. Miniato 
 and his seven followers. The view of Florence from 
 this convent is beautiful. 
 
 If religion consists in bell-ringing, or rather tolling, 
 the Florentines bear away the palm ; for, from morn- 
 
102 
 
 ing to night the discordant din strikes upon the ears 
 from every belfry of the town : and as each day in 
 the calendar is sacred to some male or female saint, 
 an excuse is never wanting for these noisy orgies, and 
 for nine nights previous to Christmas Day the priests 
 and monks keep up the most dissonant jingle possible, 
 in allusion to the nine months of the Conception ! ! 
 The priests are a numerous fraternity, and the trade 
 must be a thriving one ; and beside these, there are 
 hordes of Franciscans, in their coarse brown tunic 
 and cowl, girdle of rope, naked legs and sandals ; 
 and black and white Dominicans, the latter clad in a 
 vestment not unlike a blanket. The plan of subsist- 
 ing on the donations of tine faithful is pursued by all 
 the monks, and the brother with the havresack on his 
 shoulder gathers the contributions; but they refuse 
 money, as forbidden by the rules of their order. 
 
 Though meagre days now and then intervene, 
 there are feast days in abundance ; and in the refec- 
 tory of Sta. Maria Novella there was as goodly a 
 range of stewpans as ever graced the kitchen of an 
 alderman. A modern writer has well observed : 
 " The shaven, unmanly monk, with downcast eyes, 
 and head and heart bleached in the cold cloister." 
 
 The society called the " Brethren of the Miseri- 
 cordia" is peculiar to Florence. 
 
 "It originated in the great plague which ravaged 
 the city in 1348, celebrated by Boccacio in his 'De- 
 cameron/ Their small church near the Cathedral 
 was built soon after the termination of the plague, on 
 the brink of the pit dug to receive the dead. They 
 
103 
 
 wear a black dress, which covers both the person and 
 the face, two holes for the eyes only being left. 
 
 " The brother, whether noble or lowly, is alike 
 undistinguished and unknown, and charities are dis- 
 persed in the same indiscriminating ceremonies to 
 the noble and the beggar. Some of the brethren 
 watch continually, and medical aid is always in rea- 
 diness. The deep bell of the Campanile tolls, the 
 brethren repair to the chapel, the sick are carried to 
 the hospitals, the dead are conveyed to the grave; 
 they visit also the prisons, and prepare the culprit for 
 death. Their vow enjoins them to be ready, night 
 and day, to attend those overtaken by sickness, acci- 
 dent, or assault. 
 
 " This order possesses a privilege of great magni- 
 tude, extended once in every year, and to a single 
 person an individual of their body, becoming amen- 
 able to the law, in virtue of this privilege may claim 
 exemption from the penalty, receiving his life at the 
 prayer of his brethren. 
 
 " The order carry palm-branches in token of peace, 
 and present themselves in front of the palace of the 
 Grand Duke, when he deigns to deliver the act of 
 grace. They next proceed to the president of the 
 tribunal of supreme power, and this officer leads the 
 way, conducting them to the prison, into which they 
 enter, and there receiving their liberated brother, they 
 invest him with the dress of their order, and crown- 
 ing him with laurel, conduct him home in triumph. 
 Many in the highest sphere have sought expiation of 
 sins by assuming this order for a longer or a shorter 
 
104 
 
 time, proportioned to the measure of their crimes, 
 or the sensitive state of their consciences. Princes, 
 cardinals, and even popes have been numbered among 
 their penitents, and have joined in their vows and 
 services." Bell's Observations on Italy. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 FIESOLE. SIENNA. RADICOFANI. BOLSEJSTA. 
 VITERBO. ROME. 
 
 ABOUT a mile and a half beyond the Porta Pinti at 
 Majano, the road becomes impracticable for carriages, 
 and a yoke of oxen, and a wicker sledge of most pri- 
 mitive construction, is at the service of those who are 
 averse to climbing up the narrow, ill-paved road, 
 which leads to the insignificant remains of one of the 
 twelve powerful cities of ancient Etruria. 
 
 The Cathedral of the small bourg or village erected 
 on its site, dedicated to St. Peter, and St. Romulus 
 (a new saint to a Protestant's ears), was founded in 
 1028, and the columns of the nave are supposed to 
 have belonged to some Roman temple. In the church 
 is the chair of the Bishop of Fiesole, Andrea Corsini, 
 beatified by the bull of Pope Urban VIII. ; ancient 
 baptismal fonts ; the chapel of St. Romulus, contain- 
 ing his precious relics ; and some fine sculpture, by 
 Mina da Fiesole. 
 
 Behind the Cathedral, on the steep sides of the 
 hill, amid rank grass and vineyards, are the remains 
 
105 
 
 of the walls of this ancient city, supposed to have 
 been destroyed by an earthquake, consisting of im- 
 mense blocks of uncemented stone. A rude arch 
 below was pointed out as the entrance of the amphi- 
 theatre, and my little barefooted guide showed me 
 two or three subterranean chambers in the rock, 
 which he called " the fairies' caves," but evidently 
 the dens for the beasts kept there for the games. 
 
 In the church of St. Alessandro, the most ancient 
 in Tuscany, (sixth century), are sixteen Ionic pillars 
 of Cipollino marble, with bases and capitals of Parian 
 marble. 
 
 Between Florence and Sienna the country is hilly, 
 and abounds in vines and olives ; but the pale hue of 
 the latter gives scarcely the idea of an evergreen, and 
 the tree itself is by no means handsome. 
 
 Sienna, one of the twelve principal cities of Tus- 
 cany, was in the reign of Augustus a Roman colony, 
 called Sena Julia ; and the present arms, the she- 
 wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, allude to its 
 Roman origin. 
 
 In the middle ages Sienna was celebrated for its 
 population, nearly one hundred thousand (now re- 
 duced to seventeen thousand), its industry, fertility of 
 soil, and love of liberty. It maintained for many 
 years its freedom as a republic, and in 1260 defeated 
 the Florentines and the Guelph faction ; but, finally, 
 the seeds of dissension were sown among the nobles 
 and the people, foreign powers took advantage of 
 the discord, the Spaniards and the French disputed 
 the possession, which the former obtained, and at last 
 yielded it to the Medici. 
 
106 
 
 Sienna is built on the sides of a mountain of tufo 
 of volcanic origin; the streets are curved, narrow, 
 and steep, but well paved ; the houses of brick, and 
 some of the palaces are faced with stone or marble ; 
 and several are ornamented with towers, the mark of 
 nobility. The strength and thickness of the walls of 
 the buildings are immense, probably to guard against 
 the effects of the shocks of earthquakes, which are 
 not unfrequent. 
 
 The facade of the Cathedral was erected under the 
 direction of the celebrated architects Pisano, Agnolo, 
 and Agostino, of Sienna; the Campanile, a plain 
 square tower, with alternate layers of black and white 
 marble, is at the side of the building, and a dome 
 crowns the transept. This majestic pile of Tuscan 
 Gothic is entirely covered with black arid white mar- 
 ble, both within and without ; the pillars of the nave 
 are surmounted by statues of the Apostles and the 
 Siennese Popes ; and around the vaulted roof are 
 one hundred and seventy-one busts of Popes, (a 
 goodly list), in terra cotta. The pavement is one of 
 the most curious specimens of the kind in Italy : the 
 subjects, from the Old Testament, are wrought in 
 gray marble, inserted into white, and hatching or 
 joining both with black mastic, produces the effect of 
 " clair obscur" and the finest mosaic. Those in the 
 choir were covered two hundred years ago, and 
 Forsyth says that the others, exposed for a century to 
 the general tread, have been rather improved than 
 defaced. This art is now completely lost. 
 
 The pulpit, unique as a specimen of sculpture, 
 is the work of Niccolo Pisano, and is supported on 
 
107 
 
 eight pillars of oriental granite, four of which rest 
 on marble lions. The staircase of the pulpit (fif- 
 teenth century) is also richly ornamented. 
 
 In the library of the Cathedral are numerous 
 frescoes of the life of Pius II., by Pinturrichio, and 
 touched by Raphael ; but only the first of the series 
 is said to be unquestionably the work of the latter. 
 Here also is a group in marble of the Graces, much 
 mutilated, and found in digging the foundations for 
 the church. 
 
 The books have vanished, excepting some curious 
 old volumes of church music, beautifully illuminated 
 on vellum, and almost bound in massive brass. 
 
 The roof of the Cathedral is painted in blue and 
 gold, in imitation only of the gold and lapis lazuli of 
 the Chartreuse at Pavia. 
 
 In the small church of Fonte Giusta, is a cele- 
 brated fresco by Baltazar Peruzzi, of Sienna, of the 
 Sibyl announcing the Birth of the Messiah, and 
 highly esteemed as a chef d'ceuvre of the art. For- 
 syth observes of it: "A sublime figure, but perhaps 
 too sedate for the act of prophecy." 
 
 The Dominican Church is vast, but its blank walls 
 are covered with whitewash. Here is a curious fresco 
 by Guidi Sienna, of the Virgin and Infant, 1221, 
 who painted nine years prior to the birth of Cimabue, 
 and is said to have been the restorer of the art in 
 Italy ; and in the chapel of St. Catherine of Sienna, 
 a dyer's daughter who died in 1380, are frescoes of 
 the saint converting a heretic at the moment of exe- 
 
 O 
 
 cution, expelling an evil spirit, and her death. The 
 precious head of the saint is preserved in a shrine, 
 
108 
 
 and only exposed to the eyes of the faithful on very 
 special occasions. 
 
 Michael Angelo is said to have sculptured the 
 angels at the high altar. 
 
 The Piazza Grande is a fine square, sloped down 
 like the amphitheatre of the ancients ; and the Pa- 
 lazzo della Signoria is a large edifice of brick of 
 different designs, though the Saracenic prevails. The 
 square tower, on the corners of which appear the she- 
 wolf and Romulus and Remus, rises to an immense 
 height, and was built in 1325 by Agostino and 
 Agnolo. 
 
 Sienna contains a public library, a museum, and 
 an university ; produced seven popes, amongst whom 
 Gregory VII. and Alexander III. were highly dis- 
 tinguished ; the climate is cool and healthy, the water 
 excellent, the country fertile, and producing wine, 
 corn, oil, and fruit. It is celebrated also for impro- 
 visatori, and the Italian language is spoken here in 
 its utmost purity. 
 
 From Sienna to Radicofani. At Buonconvento, a 
 small village surrounded with old walls, Henry VII. 
 Emperor of Germany, was poisoned by a Dominican 
 monk, who administered the deadly drug in the con- 
 secrated wafer ! 
 
 " Are there no stones in heaven, 
 But what serve for the thunder? Precious villain !" 
 
 Othello. 
 
 Poderina is a lone post-house in the midst of a 
 desolate country, and Ricorsi is the counterpart of it; 
 and nothing can exceed the tediousness of the route 
 from the latter to Radicofani, climbing and winding 
 
109 
 
 amongst the steep ridges of the Apennines, the ruins 
 of the old fortress of Radicofani rising before you, 
 which it seems you are doomed never to reach. 
 
 The Post-house is situated near the summit of the 
 mountain, two thousand four hundred and seventy 
 feet above the Mediterranean, and the surface is co- 
 vered with stones piled around in the confusion of 
 chaos, and on the very highest point of this extinct 
 volcano are the ruined bastions and walls of the 
 fortress, which once defended this strong pass of 
 Tuscany. The sulphureous baths of San Philippe, 
 on this mountain, are considered to be very effica- 
 cious in cutaneous and rheumatic disorders ; and the 
 process of petrifying casts and moulds in their waters 
 is very curious. 
 
 Through the same wild region to Ponte Centino, 
 on the Papal frontier, where the ceremony of sealing 
 your luggage takes place, to prevent its being opened 
 till your arrival in the Holy City. This is the only 
 state where this annoyance and imposition is prac- 
 tised, for the traveller is obliged to pay so much per 
 seal for his constrained conformity to the regulation. 
 Pius VII. abolished this odious and useless custom, 
 but his successors have revived it. 
 
 Aquapendente, on the banks of the Paglia, is a 
 wretched place, a tolerable sample of what the tra- 
 veller is to expect in the realms of his Holiness, and 
 derives its name from a cascade which falls from the 
 rock on which the town is built, but the scenery is 
 wild and picturesque. Here is an episcopal palace, 
 and Pope Innocent X. transferred his residence hither 
 
110 
 
 from Castro in 1647, on account of the assassination 
 of their bishop by the inhabitants of the latter. 
 
 St. Lorenzo Nuovo was built by Pope Pius VI., 
 and the dwellers in St. Lorenzo Novinato removed 
 here from the pestiferous malaria of their climate. 
 
 Changed horses outside of Bolsena, now a petty 
 village surrounded with old walls, the ruins of the 
 chateau towering above it. 
 
 This is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient 
 Volsinium, destroyed, according to Pliny, by fire from 
 heaven; and the inhabitants are said to have num- 
 bered the years by fixing nails in the temple of the 
 Tuscan goddess Nortia. " Volsiniis quoque clavos 
 indices numeri annorum fixos in templo Nortiae 
 Etruscae Deae, comparere, diligens talium monimen- 
 torum auctor Cincius affirmat." Liv. vii. c. 3. 
 
 Near Bolsena is the lake, " Lacus Vulsinus," thirty 
 miles in circumference, surrounded by wooded hills, 
 and abounding in fish ; and in the centre are the 
 two small islands of Martana and Passentina. 
 
 Remains of an amphitheatre, cornices, capitals of 
 pillars, and mosaic pavements are to be seen in the 
 vicinity, and the classical soil abounds with antiqui- 
 ties ; but great interest is required to obtain leave to 
 excavate, and, as at Rome, the excavator must share 
 his treasure with the Pope. 
 
 In the church here, in 1 263, the following miracle 
 is said to have occurred, one of the most audacious 
 falsehoods ever invented by a superstitious priesthood 
 for the purpose of imposing on their ignorant dis- 
 ciples. 
 
Ill 
 
 After the consecration of the holy elements at the 
 celebration of the communion, the wafer appeared 
 suddenly covered with blood, to convince an incre- 
 dulous priest (who was about to administer it) of the 
 real presence ; and Pope Urban IV., who witnessed 
 this prodigy, from that day instituted the festival of 
 the Holy Sacrament. Over one of the altars is a 
 painting of this wondrous event, with the inscription 
 " Ex hostia sacra sanguis manavit. Anno Domini 
 1263;" and in a small chapel adjoining, is shown 
 the identical altar where it happened. In front of 
 the church is a marble sarcophagus (Roman) most 
 beautifully carved and in good preservation, and re- 
 mains of granite columns, tablets, and altars, found 
 in the neighbourhood. 
 
 The climate is considered to be particularly un- 
 wholesome. 
 
 Between Bolsena and Montefiascone the country 
 is wild in the extreme, and, a few years ago, was 
 much infested by banditti ; and the French, during 
 their occupation of Italy, burnt all the covers near 
 the road, but they were never able entirely to exter- 
 minate these villains, who, after the commission of a 
 robbery or murder, would cross a part of the lake of 
 Bolsena, and effectually conceal themselves in the 
 thick forests which skirt it. Small crosses, placed on 
 heaps of stones by the road side, point out the spot 
 where some hapless victim has fallen. 
 
 Montefiascone. The church, the old castle, and 
 the ruined walls and towers of the fortifications on a 
 hill above the lake of Bolsena, are striking and pic- 
 
112 
 
 turesque objects. This place is noted for the quality 
 of its wine. 
 
 Viterbo, the Volturna or Volumnae Fanum of the 
 Romans, is situated near the base of Monte Cimino, 
 Mons Cuminus. The streets are steep, and paved 
 with smooth stones, and the town is encompassed by 
 walls and massive square towers, places of asylum 
 and defence in the wars of the Guelphs and Ghibe- 
 lins, rival factions distinguished in the quarrels of 
 the houses of Bavaria and Suabia, and introduced 
 into Italy in the beginning of the fifteenth century. 
 " Guelf was the family name of the dukes of Ba- 
 varia, from whom the present royal family of Great 
 Britain claims its descent. The term Ghibelin is 
 derived from Wibiling, a Franconian town, the 
 birthplace of the Emperor Conrad II., the proge- 
 nitor, through females, of the Suabian emperors. In 
 the struggle between the emperors and the popes, 
 the friends of the church readily assumed the title of 
 Guelfs." Sismomli. Muratorl. Gibbon. 
 
 The entrance from Sienna is by a handsome gate- 
 way. There are some ancient porticoes round the 
 small piazza, and the Porta Romana, adorned with 
 the arms of Innocent X. and Clement XL, bears the 
 marks of cannon shot fired from the French batteries, 
 which were planted on the hill above. 
 
 The Dominican Church contains the monuments 
 of several Popes and Cardinals; and amongst others, 
 that of Rezzonico, (Clement XIII.) much ornamented 
 with mosaic, porphyry, and " verd antique." Here 
 also is a very ancient tomb of Pope Urban IV., the 
 
113 
 
 juggling priest, who authenticated and patronised the 
 miracle of Bolsena. 
 
 Viterbo contains about thirteen thousand inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 Near Ronciglione we passed the lake of Vico, 
 Lacus Ciminus, of the Romans, about three miles 
 in circumference, and environed by wooded hills. 
 Near Monterosi is a small lake, emitting a strong 
 
 1 o o 
 
 sulphureous smell; and here the Via Cassia, and 
 the desolate Campagna of Rome commences. 
 Baccano is but a solitary post-house in the midst of 
 malaria, and Storta is the same, but beyond the 
 latter, vestiges of ancient walls indicate the ap- 
 proach to the eternal city; and on the right is the 
 tomb of P. Vibius Marianus. The bas-relief of the 
 Eagle remains, but the inscription is illegible. A 
 view of Rome soon presents itself; but the surround- 
 ing plain is flat, and the buildings are too scattered 
 to produce a striking effect. None of the antiquities 
 are seen at all, and the traveller who approaches 
 Rome from Florence, with, as usual, excited expecta- 
 tions, will be disappointed. 
 
 The road soon crosses the Tiber, here about four 
 hundred feet wide, by the Ponte Molle, of four 
 arches, anciently the Pons jEmilius, built by M. 
 .ZEmilius Scaurus, and celebrated in history as the 
 scene of the desperate conflict between Constantine 
 the Great and Maxentius, who, being defeated, threw 
 himself into, or was drowned in fording the river, 
 A. D. 312. In this battle, Constantine is said to 
 have seen a cross in the sky with the words t 
 
 i 
 
114 
 
 " In hoc vince," and to the vision is partly 
 attributed his conversion to Christianity. 
 
 Of the ancient bridge there is scarcely a remnant 
 but the foundations ; and the tower, in singularly bad 
 taste, has been cut through, and turned into an arch 
 by Pius VII. in 1805. Four statues of some of the 
 numerous family of Saints in the Romish calendar, 
 ornament the Ponte Molle. 
 
 The road now joins the Via Flaminia, and you 
 enter Rome by a narrow suburb of mean-looking 
 houses, between the Marian and Pincian hills, pass- 
 ing through the Porta del Popolo. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 ROME. 
 
 PORTA DEL POPOLO. THE WALLS. TOMB OF CAIUS 
 CESTIUS. MAMERTINE PRISONS. THE COLOSSEUM. 
 THE ARCH OF CONSTANT1NE. THE FORUM. THE 
 CAPITOL. TEMPLE OF NERVA. PILLARS OF TRAJAN 
 AND M. AURELIUS. ARCHES OF JANUS AND S. 
 SEVERUS. CLOACA MAXIMA. TEMPLES OF VESTA 
 AND FORTUNA VIRILIS. THE PANTHEON. 
 
 THE Porta del Popolo was built by Vignola, and 
 repaired by Michael Angelo, the front having been 
 ornamented by Bernini, on the occasion of Christina, 
 Queen of Sweden's visit to Rome in 1655. 
 
 The square is spacious, and three streets, one of 
 which is the Corso, the principal street of Rome, 
 branch from it; but the two churches, with their 
 
115 
 
 small domes, and pigmy Corinthian facades, are 
 paltry. In the centre is an Egyptian obelisk of red 
 granite, covered with hieroglyphics, said to have 
 been erected at Hieropolis by Sesostris, brought to 
 Rome by Augustus, placed in the Circus Maximus, 
 and dedicated to the sun. 
 
 Rome was originally built on the Palatine hill, the 
 spot where Romulus and Remus were found; and 
 the Ficus Ruminalis, under the shade of which, 
 according to tradition, the she-wolf suckled them, 
 was held in veneration for centuries afterwards, and 
 Tacitus and Pliny both mention it as existing in their 
 times. But as the population of the city increased, it 
 occupied the Capitoline, Aventine, Coalian, Esquiline, 
 Viminal and Quirinal hills. The Mons Pincius, 
 afterwards enclosed within the walls, was anciently 
 the Collis Hortulorum. Suetonius calls it Collis 
 Hortorum, and it derived its present name from the 
 family of the Pincii, in the time of Constantine. 
 
 The walls of Rome exhibit on the Ccelian hill, and 
 in the gardens of the Villa Barberini (Sallust's), 
 some remains of the work of the Republic, and even 
 some which date their antiquity from the reign of 
 Servius Tullius. 
 
 Forsyth says that " they are specimens of every 
 construction, from the days of Servius Tullius, down 
 to the present: for to save expense, Aurelian took in 
 whatever he found standing in their line, and now 
 include some remains of the Tullian wall, the wall of 
 the Praetorian barracks, the facing of a bank, (the 
 Muro Torto, erroneously called the tomb of Domi- 
 tian, and sometimes the wall of his garden), aque- 
 
 i 2 
 
11G 
 
 ducts, sepulchral monuments, a menagery, an 
 amphitheatre, a pyramid. Thus do they exhibit the 
 uncemented blocks of the Etruscan style, the reticular 
 work of the Republic, the travertine employed by the 
 first emperors, the alternate tufo and brick employed 
 by their successors, and that poverty of materials 
 which marks the declining empire." 
 
 The circuit is considered to be between thirteen 
 and fourteen English miles; they are strengthened 
 by immense square towers, and Benedict XIV., A. D., 
 1749, repaired the whole of them. 
 
 Between the Porta del Popolo, and the Porta 
 -u Pinciana (now blocked up), is the M^.ro Torto, so 
 
 called from its obliquity; a huge mass, formed of 
 arches, with narrow deep recesses, and faced almost 
 wholly with the "opus reticulatum," the bricks being 
 placed with the angles resting on each other, and 
 thus resembling net-work. 
 
 Through the Porta Salara Alaric entered, and 
 sacked the once invincible capital of the Caesars; and 
 beyond is the Porta Pia, commenced by Pius IV., 
 from the designs of Michael Angelo, but unfinished, 
 and between this gate and that of St. Lorenzo, are 
 the remains of the barracks, built by Tiberius for the 
 Praetorian guards. 
 
 Close to the Porta Maggiore are the ruins of the 
 Claud ian Aqueduct, massive, ponderous arches of 
 Roman brick, begun by Caligula, and completed by 
 Claudius. One stream was brought from a distance 
 of forty miles, and was conveyed on arches for three 
 miles : the other was conveyed on arches for twelve 
 miles; both streams then passed under ground, and at 
 
117 
 
 the distance of six miles from the city, joined, and were 
 carried on arches to Rome, which they entered here. 
 
 This aqueduct has been restored, and by it the 
 " Aqua Felice," brought by Sixtus V. to the fountain 
 of Termini, supplies Rome. Near the Porta Maggiore 
 are open arches in the wall, apparently an aqueduct, 
 and the amphitheatre for the amusement of the Prae- 
 torian guards, of rude construction, and of brick. 
 
 The Porta Asinaria, flanked by two circular brick 
 towers, is now closed ; and it was by this gate that 
 Totila, and his devastating Goths, penetrated into 
 the city. 
 
 The tomb of Caius Cestius, near the Porta St. 
 Paolo, is rather older than the time of Augustus, and 
 stands in the line of wall built by Aurelian. This 
 massive pyramid, one hundred and twenty-one feet 
 high, and ninety-six feet wide, is built of large blocks 
 of marble, quite black from age, a foot thick, and the 
 base is of travertine. The interior is of brick, and the 
 sepulchral chamber is ornamented with fresco paint- 
 ings of five female figures winged a Fame or Victory 
 in the centre ; vases and candelabrae ; but all of these 
 have materially suffered from damp. There has been 
 much dispute as to who this Caius Cestius was; and 
 Burton argues, from the inscription at the Capitol 
 and the " Fasti Consulares," that Caius Cestius, 
 whose office as one of the " Septemviri Epulonum," 
 was to provide and preside also at banquets and 
 offerings to the gods, died about U. C. 716, or be- 
 tween 671 and 710. Alexander VII., in 1673, 
 restored it, and upon this occasion nearly sixteen feet 
 of earth was removed from the base ; two pillars, now 
 
118 
 
 placed near the pyramid ; the colossal bronze foot in 
 the museum of the Capitol, supposed to have belonged 
 to'the statue of Caius Cestius, and an inscription, by 
 which it seems that M. Agrippa was one of his heirs, 
 and gave up part of the property to F. Cestius, the 
 brother, were discovered. This brings it therefore to 
 
 * o 
 
 the Augustan age. 
 
 Adjoining is the Protestant cemetery. Among the 
 numerous tributes in poetry and prose to the English, 
 the following on the tomb of P. B. Shelley, the friend 
 of Byron, and the sworn disciple of that school, is 
 quaint enough : . 
 
 Nothing 1 of him that doth fade, 
 But doth suffer a sea-change 
 Into something rich and strange *. 
 Percy Bysshe Shelley 
 
 Cor Cordium. 
 Natus 4 Augt. 1792. Obiit. 8 Jul. 1822. 
 
 He was drowned in the bay of Naples with Capt. 
 , another disciple. 
 
 The Cloaca Maxima, the Mamertine prisons, and 
 the Appian way, are of the era of the kings. 
 
 The first was constructed in the reign of Tarquinius 
 Priscus. The stones of the arch are of stupendous 
 size, uncemented, and in concentric rows, one above 
 the other, the height of sixteen feet, and the lapse of 
 more than two thousand years has not shaken it. 
 Near the Ponte Rotto, and the arch of Janus, the 
 mouth and a part of this immense sewer is still visible. 
 
 The Mamertine prisons, built also of huge unce- 
 mented blocks of stone, were the works of Ancus 
 Martius, and being enlarged by Servius Tullius, 
 * The quotation is from the Tempest. 
 
119 
 
 have sometimes been called Tullian. The upper 
 prison is twenty-seven feet long, twenty feet wide, 
 and fourteen feet high ; the lower is twenty feet long, 
 ten feet wide and seven feet high. The entrance is 
 by a hole in the roof, and another in the floor served 
 as the entrance to the lower cell. State prisoners 
 were immured in these dreadful abodes, and Jugurtha 
 among the number. 
 
 The Catholics would persuade you that their 
 favourite St. Peter was imprisoned here for nine 
 months in Nero's reign, and pretend to show the 
 pillar to which he was chained, and the well which 
 miraculously appeared to wash out by baptism the 
 sins of his gaolers, and forty-seven companions, who 
 afterwards received, as a matter of course, the crown 
 of martyrdom. The prisons, therefore, of Ancus 
 Martius, with a paltry chapel in front, are consecrated 
 to this all potent saint, and bear the appellation of 
 " St. Pietro in Carceri." 
 
 The richest field in the remains of Roman magni- 
 ficence is the Forum, now the Campo Vaccino; and 
 among all other objects, the Flavian Amphitheatre is 
 pre-eminent. To this building the more modern 
 name of Colosseum has been applied, according to 
 some, from a colossal figure of Nero placed here by 
 Hadrian, or from the prodigious size of the edifice. 
 It was commenced by Flavius Vespasian, A. D. 72, 
 and completed A. D. 76, by his son, as a memorial of 
 their success in the Jewish war; and at the dedication, 
 games were given for one hundred days by Titus; 
 five thousand wild beasts were slain, and the combats 
 of gladiators and Jewish prisoners were exhibited. 
 
120 
 
 Time, spoliation, and war have committed great 
 ravages on this wonderful edifice; for the palaces 
 Farnese, Venezia, the Ripetta gate, the churches of 
 St. Lorenzo in Damaso, and St. Agostino, arose from 
 its ruins. The stones were also taken away for lime- 
 burning; and in the wars of the middle ages, this, 
 like many other ancient buildings, was seized by the 
 contending factions, and converted into a fortress, and 
 the Frangipani and the Annibaldi occupied it. 
 
 The Colosseum stands on the site of the pools and 
 lakes of Nero's golden house, nearly in the middle of 
 ancient Rome , is of an oval shape, and is said to have 
 been calculated to accommodate eighty-seven thou- 
 sand spectators in the seats, and twenty thousand 
 more in the piazzas above. Burton, vol. ii. p. 51. 
 Others, however, have rated it at a far less number; 
 and Forsyth says, " where fifty thousand could find 
 seats;" and though the games were but a repetition of 
 bloodshed and barbarities, it is recorded by contem- 
 porary writers, that such was the anxiety to procure 
 good situations, that the Romans would often keep 
 watch all night, in order to be present at the com- 
 mencement of the games in the morning. 
 
 The exterior circumference has been estimated at 
 one thousand seven hundred and forty feet; but Vasi 
 says one thousand seven hundred and two feet; 
 length six hundred and nineteen feet; width five 
 hundred and thirteen feet; and the arena or space for 
 the games is three hundred feet long, and one hun- 
 dred and ninety feet wide. More than half of the 
 outer wall (of travertine stone) is gone : the height is 
 one hundred and seventy-nine feet, and there are three 
 
121 
 
 rows of arches, one above the other, ornamented with 
 columns of the Doric order below, the Ionic above, 
 the Corinthian on the third story, and at the summit 
 is a fourth row of Corinthian pilasters, and forty 
 square windows. Two concentric walls rise within 
 this outer one, but of less height; and thus a double 
 row of porticoes was formed, which extended round the 
 whole amphitheatre, joining each other, and receiving 
 light from without. Burton, vol. ii. p. 47. 
 
 The spectators entered by eighty arches, and the 
 numbers on these remain from xxm. to LIV., and that 
 between xxxvin. and xxxix. of rather a different shape, 
 and wider, is pointed out as the private entrance of 
 the Emperor Titus. One end of the outer wall, 
 where the arches had been broken, has been com- 
 pleted; and the other, which was in a fearful state of 
 decay, has been shored up by an immense buttress of 
 brick, by Pope Pius VII. 
 
 The antiquaries have lavished much disquisition on 
 the subject of the awning for the amphitheatres to 
 protect the spectators from the sun or rain, and the 
 projections on the top, and the small corbels between 
 the pilasters on the fourth story, are supposed to have 
 been used for supporting the poles and awning. That 
 cruel and childish tyrant Caligula, is recorded by 
 Suetonius to have gratified his whim of annoying the 
 people, by shutting the doors, and ordering the awning 
 to be drawn aside, during the heat of a scorching 
 sun. " Gladiatorio munere reductis interdum flagran- 
 tissimo sole velis emitti quemquam vetabat." Suetonius. 
 Caligula, c. 26. 
 
 Around the Arena was a low wall, of which but 
 
122 
 
 little remains, to protect the spectators from the wild 
 beasts; and strong nets were also added as a safeguard, 
 and in this wall were gratings through which the gla- 
 diators and animals entered. Immediately behind were 
 the best seats in the amphitheatre, appropriated to the 
 Consuls, Praetors, Senators, and, above all, to the 
 Vestal Virgins. " Solis Virginibus Vestalibus locum 
 in theatre separatim et contra praetoris tribunal dedit." 
 Suetonius. Augustus, c. 44. 
 
 Many Christians are supposed to have suffered 
 martyrdom here ; and among others St. Ignatius is re- 
 corded to have been brought from Antioch, in the reign 
 of Trajan, and to have been cast alive into the arena 
 to be devoured by wild beasts. But these accounts 
 of the monks must be received with great caution. 
 
 In the arena are fourteen stations or small altars, 
 designating, according to the superstitious ceremonials 
 of the Romish church, the various events which 
 occurred between Jerusalem and Calvary; and they 
 deform, with their pigmy columns, the noble ground- 
 plan, and in the centre is a wooden cross, inscribed, 
 that every one who kisses it, shall receive an indul- 
 gence for two hundred years. 
 
 Close to the Colosseum, and at the base of the 
 Palatine hill, is the arch of Constantine, voted to him 
 by the Senate, in honour of his victory at the Ponte 
 Molle. 
 
 This structure consists of a large central, and two 
 small lateral arches; and each front is ornamented 
 with four Corinthian fluted pillars of "giallo antico," 
 surmounted by statues of Dacian captives. The bas- 
 reliefs on the fronts and sides of the arch relating to 
 
123 
 
 Trajan's life and actions, are beautifully executed, 
 and in fine preservation; but these, the Corinthian 
 pillars, and the statues, were taken from Trajan's 
 arch in his forum, by that botcher of antiquity, 
 Constantine; and Forsyth's remark on the Baptistery 
 of St. John Lateran, holds good here. " Like all 
 Constantine's works, this is but a compilation of 
 classical spoils, a mere thief of antiquity." 
 
 The other ornaments of the arch, of the time of 
 Constantine, exhibit proofs of the lamentable state of 
 the arts at that period. On the narrow frieze at the 
 top are sculptured military triumphs, infamously 
 executed ; and the Fames over the central arch, and 
 the relievos within of his entrance into Rome, and 
 his assisting at a sacrifice, are worthy of a common 
 stone-cutter. 
 
 This arch was buried to the depth of eight feet at 
 least; and Pius VII. opened it in 1805, and exposed 
 the pavement of the ancient Via Triumphalis. 
 
 The remains of the temple of the Sun and Moon ; 
 or, according to another opinion, of Isis and Serapis, 
 or of Venus and Rome, consist of a part of the walls, 
 and two semicircular alcoves, the cellae of the chapels, 
 ornamented with a sort of lozenge work. The whole 
 is of brick, and connected in a peculiar manner, the 
 concave parts facing opposite ways. The Emperor 
 Hadrian planned this edifice, and submitted the de- 
 sign to Apollodorus, the architect of the forum of 
 Trajan; but unfortunately for himself, being no flat- 
 terer, and having been already banished for having 
 given his opinion too frankly, upon this occasion, he 
 
124 
 
 drew upon himself, the last vengeance of the Emperor, 
 death. 
 
 Burton quotes Prudentius as a testimony of these 
 twin temples having been dedicated to Venus and 
 Rome. 
 
 Ascending by the ancient Via Sacra you arrive at 
 the Arch of Titus, at the foot of the Palatine hill, for 
 its proportions and architecture considered to be the 
 most beautiful existing at Rome. 
 
 The senate and Roman people voted this arch in 
 memory of the triumph of Titus, after the conquest 
 of Jerusalem; but, from the word "divo" in the in- 
 scription, it is evident that it was not finished till after 
 his death. " Senatus Populusque Romanus Divo 
 Tito, Divi Vespasiani F. Vespasiano Augusto." The 
 two fluted Corinthian pillars are tolerably perfect, 
 but the rich cornice and moulding is much broken, 
 and the frieze defaced. Beneath the arch the roses 
 are elaborately wrought, and in the centre appears 
 the Emperor, sitting on an eagle, alluding to his 
 apotheosis, and on the sides of the arch are very bold 
 relievos of the Emperor in a car drawn by four horses 
 abreast ; and the other side, the spoils of the temple 
 of Jerusalem, the golden candlesticks, the silver trum- 
 pets, the table, and the censer, are borne in triumph. 
 
 It has been said that the Jews, who abound in 
 Rome, refuse to pass under this monument of their 
 defeat and subjugation. 
 
 On the right is the Temple of Peace, but errone- 
 ously so called, as the superb edifice dedicated to 
 Peace by Vespasian, and in which the spoils and 
 
trophies of Jerusalem, and the treasures of the 
 citizens were deposited, was burnt in the reign of 
 Commodus. Nibby says it is a "basilica," built by 
 Constantine, who perhaps employed some of the re- 
 mains of the former temple in the new building 1 . 
 " Constantine, ambitious that Rome should appear 
 but the second city of his empire, abandoned its an- 
 cient edifices to ruin or to robbery, or to the church ; 
 the creature of occasion, cobbling its basilicas out of 
 temples and tombs." Forsyth. 
 
 The three arches which remain are of immense 
 height, and upwards of seventy feet span ; the marble 
 has vanished, and nothing but the inner walls of 
 brick are left. The roof was adorned with octagonal 
 
 o 
 
 compartments, and there are niches for statues. 
 
 Near the Arch of Titus are the desolate Palatine 
 Gardens, now 7 the property of the King of Naples ; 
 and above are the ponderous walls of the Palatine 
 Library, built by Augustus. 
 
 In the gardens, a flight of steps leads to a narrow 
 passage and chambers, which have been christened 
 " Livia's Baths;" and some traces remain of the ara- 
 besque paintings, despite of moisture and time. 
 
 The portico of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, 
 A.D. 168, consisting of six Corinthian fluted columns 
 of Cipollino marble, the capitals and bases of Carystian, 
 is tolerably perfect. The height of the columns, which 
 were recently half buried in the earth, is forty-six 
 feet, and the circumference fifteen feet; the cornice 
 of the portico is gone, but some of it remains on the 
 side walls, as well as a portion of the frieze, on which 
 griffins and candelabra may plainly be traced. 
 
126 
 
 An ugly little Grecian church is stuck behind the 
 facade of this temple, and deforms the whole; and 
 the frieze and cornice on the left side, which appears 
 to be the most perfect, is blocked up from view by a 
 shabby house built close to it. 
 
 Near this temple is the Temple of Remus, now the 
 vestibule of the ancient church of St. Cosmo and 
 Damiano (sixth century), but Pope Urban VIII. 
 raised the floor nearly twenty feet on account of the 
 damp, so that you descend by steps to the pavement 
 of the circular Temple of Remus. Nibby, however, 
 attributes it only to the time of Diocletian. 
 
 In the open space of the Campo Vaccino stand the 
 three magnificent fluted Corinthian columns of white 
 marble, crowned with a rich cornice and frieze, of 
 the Temple of Jupiter Stator, and the earth having 
 been removed, they are viewed to the very founda- 
 tions. Great force must have been used in destroying 
 this temple, for in one column, the pieces of which it 
 is composed have been so completely wrenched round 
 that the fluting is no longer in the same line. These 
 columns by some have been called a temple of Vulcan, 
 the Comitium, a senate house, and with infinite ab- 
 surdity a bridge. 
 
 " Ita admissis intra mcenia hostibus, atrox in ipso 
 foro pugna, adeo ut Romulus Jovem oraret, ut fcedam 
 suorum fugam sisteret. Hinc templum et Stator Ju- 
 piter." Florus, c. 1. 
 
 To this period, it must be acknowledged, the archi- 
 tecture never can apply ; but, from the perfect and 
 elaborate design of these columns, they may more 
 properly be ascribed to the Augustan age or the Em- 
 
127 
 
 pire, when, in all probability, the temple was erected 
 on the site of the former one. 
 
 Advancing into the Forum, the next object which 
 presents itself is a beautiful Corinthian pillar of 
 Greek marble, forty-six feet in height, respecting the 
 origin and destination of which the antiquarians 
 puzzled themselves considerably, and to little pur- 
 pose. But in 1813, excavations were made round it 
 at the cost of the Duchess of Devonshire ; and the 
 inscription on its base, a fulsome panegyric upon the 
 Emperor Phocas, an unrelenting bloody despot, 
 whose statue, shining with gold, " auri splendore 
 fulgentem," is recorded to have been placed on the 
 summit by Smaragdus, Exarch of Italy, A. D. 608, 
 has removed all doubts on the subject. 
 
 The fine proportions, and finished execution of 
 this pillar, warrant a date considerably anterior to 
 the above, when the arts were rapidly on the decline ; 
 and as a pillar was raised in the Forum in honour 
 of the Emperor Claudius, the statue of the Greek 
 tyrant may have afterwards crowned the pillar of the 
 Roman emperor. 
 
 A little farther, at the base of the Capitoline Hill, 
 are three fluted Corinthian columns, nearly four feet 
 and a half in diameter, with rich capitals, with an 
 entablature on which appears ESTITUER ; and on 
 the frieze are the cap worn by the high priest, the 
 knife, the dish, the axe, the hammer, the jug, and 
 the vessel for sprinkling the lustral water. 
 
 These remains have generally been attributed to 
 the Temple of Jupiter Tonans, raised by Augustus in 
 gratitude for his escape from lightning when travel- 
 
128 
 
 ling in Spain, and which killed the slave who pre- 
 ceded his litter. The remnant of the inscription, 
 " restituerat," refers to the restoration of this temple 
 by S. Severus and Caracalla. 
 
 Very near these are eight more columns, supposed 
 to have formed the portico of the Temple of Concord, 
 built by Livia, and dedicated by Tiberius to Concord, 
 in honour of the harmony subsisting between Livia 
 and Augustus. So says Vasi ; but now it is generally 
 believed that this was a temple dedicated to Fortune, 
 the former having been proved, by excavations in 
 1817, to have stood more towards the north. 
 
 These columns, thirteen feet in circumference and 
 forty-three feet high, are of one solid block of Egyp- 
 tian granite ; the capitals, Ionic and Doric, are of 
 white marble. The temple was burnt in the reign of 
 Maxentius, and was restored in the reign of Con- 
 stantine, and this the inscription records : " Senatus 
 Populusque Romanus Incendio consumptum res- 
 tituit." 
 
 " At no very distant period this temple was nearly 
 perfect, and was wantonly destroyed. Poggio, who 
 wrote in the beginning of the fifteenth century, tells 
 us that the whole of the temple, with part of the por- 
 tico, was burnt to make lime, and that the pillars were 
 thrown down after he came to Rome. Andrea Fulvio 
 relates the same story." Burton, vol. i. p. 215. 
 
 Close by is the Arch of Septimius Severus, in a 
 deep fosse, surrounded by a wall, and disinterred by 
 Pius VII. in 1803. It was erected (according to 
 the inscription) by the senate and the people in ho- 
 nour of S. Severus and his sons Caracalla (or M. Au- 
 
129 
 
 relius Antoninus, the name of Caracalla having been 
 given to him afterwards by way of reproach,) and 
 Geta, for two triumphs in the Parthian war. In the 
 inscription the words " optimis fortissimisq. princi- 
 pibus," referring to Severus and Caracalla, are sup- 
 posed to have been substituted for "P. Septimio 
 Getae nobilissimo Caesari opt." the marble being 
 sunk in here. 
 
 Of all the ancient inscriptions on the arches, the 
 bronze letters have been plundered by the barba- 
 rians, and the holes for inserting them in the stone 
 alone remain. 
 
 The bas-reliefs and ornaments are numerous ; but 
 they exhibit a decline in art, and they have also suf- 
 fered from dilapidation and time. 
 
 Near this arch a steep ascent leads to the Capitol, 
 and on the left are the immense blocks of Peperino 
 which formed a part of the ancient Tabularium or 
 Record Office, and the Palazzo Senatorio is raised 
 upon them as a foundation. This agrees with Livy's 
 description of buildings on the Capitoline hill : " Ca- 
 pitolium quoque saxo quadrato substructum est, opus 
 vel in hac magnificentia urbis conspiciendum." 
 
 The modern square of the Campigdolio is small ; 
 and though built from the designs of M. Angelo, 
 possesses neither grandeur nor magnificence. The 
 equestrian statue of M. Aurelius in the centre is 
 splendid. An inscription on the pedestal, (the work 
 of M. Angelo), purports that Paul III. in 1538 re- 
 moved this statue hither from the church of St. John 
 Lateran. 
 
 The statue has evidently been gilt, and it is the 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 only equestrian statue of ancient Rome which remains. 
 Some have called it Lucius Verus, and Addison says 
 that on a medal of that emperor it is represented, but 
 not one of the busts of L. Verus in the Florence Gal- 
 lery bears the slightest resemblance to this head. 
 
 On the balustrade of the Campigdolio are two 
 colossal marble figures of horses, and of Castor and 
 Pollux, but they are giants in comparison, and could 
 throw their les^s over their backs without the aid of a 
 
 o 
 
 stirrup. They were found under the Jews' Syna- 
 gogue, on the banks of the Tiber. 
 
 Here are also the statues of Constantine Caesar, 
 and Constantine Augustus, sons of Constantine, found 
 in the baths on the Quirinal Hill ; and beyond is the 
 Mile-stone which marked the first mile on the Appian 
 Way. The globe placed upon it is said to have con- 
 tained Trajan's ashes, and on a tablet beneath is the 
 following barbarous distich : 
 
 " Quae peregrina diu steteram mensura viarum 
 Nunc Capitolini Culminis incola sum." 
 
 Close to the Arco de Pantini are a pilaster and 
 three fluted Corinthian pillars of Parian marble, with 
 splendid capitals, seventeen feet eight inches in cir- 
 cumference, and fifty-four feet in height, supporting 
 an architrave, ornamented with roses beautifully 
 wrought, and a Grecian border. These columns 
 formed a part of the portico of the temple erected by 
 Trajan in honour of Nerva. 
 
 A short distance beyond, in the street, are the re- 
 mains of the Temple of Pallas, consisting only of two 
 fluted Corinthian pillars, half buried in the soil, sup- 
 porting a highly ornamented entablature. On the 
 
131 
 
 frieze are bas-reliefs alluding to the arts, much injured 
 by time ; and above is an attic, and in the centre a 
 figure in bas-relief of the goddess, with her helmet. 
 This temple is ascribed to Domitian. 
 
 Not far distant is the Forum of Trajan, which, till 
 within these few years was, like most of the antiqui- 
 ties, covered with earth and blocked up by houses on 
 all sides. The French have the merit of commenc- 
 ing the excavations which have brought to light the 
 ancient Forum Trajanum, and of laying open the 
 pedestal of the column. Trajan's Forum, therefore, 
 stands now in a complete fosse, below the pavement 
 of the modern city. 
 
 This beautiful pillar, one hundred and twenty-four 
 feet in height, was erected by Apollodorus the archi- 
 tect, " Inter Divos relatus est, solusq. omnium intra 
 urbem sepultus. Ossa ejus collocata in urna aurea, 
 in foro quod aedificavit sub columna sita sunt : cujus 
 altitude CXLIIII pedes habet." Eutrop. viii. c. 5. 
 by command of the Senate, in memory of Trajan's 
 conquest of the Dacians, A. D. 11 5. 
 
 The pedestal is covered with warlike trophies in 
 bold relief, and at the angles were eagles holding in 
 their talons oaken wreaths, but two headless ones 
 alone remain ; and the four Victories are much muti- 
 lated. The pillar is covered with bas-reliefs of the 
 Dacian campaigns, finely executed, winding spirally 
 to the summit. Below, the figures are about two 
 x'feet in height, but in every succeeding compartment 
 they gradually increase in size. A colossal statue of 
 the Emperor, of gilt bronze, (the head of which was 
 found near the base,) and a gilt ball, said to have 
 
 K2 
 
132 
 
 contained his ashes, surmounted this splendid pillar. 
 According to other accounts, the ashes were enclosed 
 in an urn, and deposited in the pedestal. 
 
 Sixtus V. removed the feet of the statue, which 
 alone remained, and consecrated the column to the 
 all-potent saint St. Peter, whose colossal figure in 
 bronze, holding in his hand the keys, crowns the 
 monument of the victories of the Roman Emperor 
 over the Dacians and Sarmatians : 
 
 " and Apostolic statues climb, 
 
 To crush th' Imperial urn whose ashes slept sublime." 
 
 Childe Harold. 
 
 The inscription, excepting a few letters, is very 
 perfect, and it appears from it that as much earth 
 was removed for sinking the foundations of the 
 Forum as equalled the column in height. From the 
 bas-reliefs the costume and military tactics of the 
 period receive great illustration ; and Forsyth calls 
 it an immense field of antiquities. " Trajan appears 
 as a sovereign, a general, a priest ; his dignity he 
 derives from himself or his duties, not from the trap- 
 pings of power, for he is drest like any of his officers, 
 unlike modern relievos, where dress appears in all its 
 distinctions, prostration in all its angles. None kneel 
 here but kings or captives, no Roman appears in a 
 fallen state, none are wounded and slain but the foe. 
 No monument gives the complete and real costume 
 of its kind so correctly as this column." 
 
 From these relievos we find that the Roman sol- 
 diers wore their swords on the right side, that on a 
 march they were bareheaded and hung their helmets 
 
133 
 
 to the shoulder, that they carried a staff over the left 
 shoulder, for slinging wallets with provisions ; that 
 their shields were oblong, and with devices. The 
 soldiers wear a tight pantaloon, reaching to the knee, 
 and the covering the head and back with the shield, 
 in whole ranks, in the attack, thus presenting a solid 
 mass, called the " Testudo," is plainly discovered. 
 The Dacians use curved swords; the Sarmatian ca- 
 valry, both men and horses, are clad in complete 
 mail ; the Dacian and Moorish horses are bare, and 
 the Germans are naked and unharnessed. 
 
 Trajan died at Seleucia of dysentery, and never 
 beheld the column raised to his honour. 
 
 The bronze column in the Place Vendome, erected 
 by Bonaparte, is, from base to summit, a servile imi- 
 tation of this fine monument of antiquity ; but in both, 
 the multitude of figures dazzles and distracts the eye ; 
 and Forsyth has well observed on those of Trajan 
 and M. Aurelius, " the narrow boundary is hardly 
 sufficient to prevent the confusion which such a 
 throng of prominent figures, and deep shadows must 
 throw on the general surfaces of these columns." 
 
 A staircase, lighted by small apertures, conducts 
 to the balcony on the summit. 
 
 The Piazza Colonna is so called from the lofty 
 column erected in honour of M. Aurelius, by the 
 senate, for his triumph over the Marcomanni, and, 
 like that of Trajan, is covered with bas-reliefs of the 
 campaign ; but they are not so perfect, and altoge- 
 ther inferior in execution. The column is Doric, 
 with a Tuscan base and capital, and having suffered 
 materially from time, was restored by Sixtus V. ; and 
 
134 
 
 the modern inscription which he has placed, gives an 
 erroneous description of its dedication. Amongst 
 the figures may be remarked, " Jupiter Pluvius," 
 showering down water from both arms, in comme- 
 moration of the rain which fell for the relief of the 
 Roman army, A. D. 174, during the campaign 
 against the Quadi. Sixtus V. made this column 
 truly Catholic, by sticking on the top a huge bronze 
 figure of St. Paul, who thus becomes the laurelled 
 conqueror of the Marcomanni, as his brother, St. Pe- 
 ter, is of the Dacians and Sarmatians. 
 
 Between the Campo Vaccino and the Tiber, in 
 the Forum Boarium, once the resort of the usurers 
 and merchants of Rome, is the Arch of Janus Qua- 
 drifrons, generally supposed not to have been a 
 triumphal arch, but an exchange ; and Forsyth says 
 it is of the age of Domitian, who erected many of 
 these, or even later. The building is square ; each 
 front is seventy-seven feet in length, and in the centre 
 are four arches of equal dimensions, cutting each 
 other at right angles; and on the east and west 
 sides are twelve niches, which no doubt contained 
 statues ; but these, and the columns have disap- 
 peared. The numerous holes in this arch are caused 
 by the barbarians, who plundered the bronze cramps 
 which united the blocks of marble. 
 
 One side of the Arch of S. Severus is buried in 
 the wall of the church of St. Georgio in Velabro, 
 close to the Arch of Janus, and consequently all the 
 ornaments on that side are concealed from view. 
 This is a small arch, not wide enough for carriages, 
 and was erected by the merchants of the Forum 
 
135 
 
 Boarium, in honour of Septimius Severus, Julia, his 
 consort, and their sons, Caracalla and Geta. The 
 pilasters are composite, and the whole arch is covered 
 with bas-reliefs and ornaments. Within is a repre- 
 sentation of Severus and Julia assisting at a sacrifice, 
 and on the opposite side is Caracalla sacrificing, the 
 figure of Geta having been torn away by the orders 
 of the impious fratricide. 
 
 The bronze Hercules, in the Capitol, was found in 
 this Forum. 
 
 In a narrow lane, near the arch of Janus, is a part 
 of that wonderful work of the era of the kings, the 
 Cloaca Maxima, or great sewer of Rome, began by 
 Tarquinius Priscus, U. C. 150, and enlarged and 
 completed by Tarquinius Superbus. The immense 
 blocks of peperino stone, each five feet long, and 
 three feet thick, are uncemented ; the height and 
 width of the drain is twelve feet, and the mouth of it 
 may be seen near the Ponte Rotto. 
 
 Not far from the Forum Boarium, and on the 
 banks of the river, is the Temple commonly attri- 
 buted to Vesta. The circular portico is supported 
 by nineteen Corinthian fluted pillars, with richly 
 wrought capitals; but the entablature, the cornice, 
 and the roof, which in Ovid's time, was of brass, 
 have vanished. 
 
 Much dispute has arisen amongst the antiquaries 
 respecting this temple ; and the idea that it is the 
 identical one erected on the banks of the Tiber, by 
 Numa, to the goddess Vesta, which was repaired by 
 Domitian, having suffered in Nero's fire, cannot be 
 maintained. 
 
136 
 
 The original edifice was burnt, U. C. 512, re- 
 built, burnt again for the amusement of Nero, 
 repaired by Domitian ; again burnt in the reign of 
 Commodus, A. D. 191, and restored by Julia, the 
 consort of Severus. Burton, vol. i. p. 46. It has 
 now been cleansed of all heathen impurities, by being 
 dedicated to St. Stephen, or Sta. Maria del Sole. 
 
 Close to this temple is that of Fortuna Virilis, 
 said to have been originally erected by Servius Tul- 
 lius, in gratitude for his extraordinary rise from 
 bondage to a throne ; but this temple was soon 
 afterwards burnt, and another, perhaps the present, 
 built on the site. The shape is oblong, the front is 
 plastered over with stucco, and more than half the 
 cornice is destroyed ; seven fluted Ionic pillars, of 
 beautiful proportion, remain on one side, half buried 
 in the wall. Pope John VIII., in the ninth century, 
 converted it into an Armenian church. 
 
 Opposite is the Ponte Rotto, the first bridge in 
 Rome, commenced by M. Fulvius the Censor, U. C. 
 574, and finished by Scipio Africanus and L. Mum- 
 mius, U. C. 611. The ancient name was Pons Pala- 
 tinus, or Senatorius ; but it has suffered so much 
 from inundations, and has been so often repaired, 
 that but little of the old part remains. 
 
 An old house near the bridge, on the walls of 
 which are the vestiges of rich ornament, which has 
 obtained, among the vulgar, the name of Pontius 
 Pilate's House, is said to have been the residence of 
 Cola di Rienzi, the celebrated tribune of Rome. 
 
 The Pantheon of Agrippa, now metamorphosed 
 into the church of St. Mary of the Martyrs, (and it 
 
137 
 
 well deserves the name, if it be true that Boniface IV., 
 in the seventh century, removed thither twenty-eight 
 wagon loads of bones of saints and martyrs,) was 
 erected by Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augustus, 
 about 27, A. J. C., and dedicated to Mars and Jupi- 
 ter Ultor, and to all the gods, in memory of the victory 
 of Actium. The portico, one hundred and ten feet 
 long, and fifty-four feet deep, is supported by sixteen 
 Corinthian columns, fifteen feet in circumference; 
 each being formed of one solid piece of Egyptian 
 granite, forty-two feet high, independent of the capi- 
 tals and bases, which are of marble. The diameter 
 of the interior is one hundred and forty-nine feet, 
 the height about the same ; there are no windows, 
 but the dome is lighted by a circular aperture in 
 the centre. The statues of the gods in gold and 
 silver, marble and bronze, the Caryatides, according 
 to Pliny, the work of Diogenes the Athenian, are no 
 more, and even the marble has been stripped from 
 the outside walls. Fire and barbarians have com- 
 mitted dreadful ravages ; it was partially burnt in 
 the reign of Titus, and Domitian repaired it. Struck 
 by lightning in Trajan's reign, and restored by Ha- 
 drian ; and again repaired by Severus and Caracalla. 
 The plates of bronze, which roofed it, were taken 
 away by Constans, the grandson of Heraclius, A. D. 
 663, but Gregory III. restored them. Urban VIII. 
 plundered these plates of brass, for the construction 
 of that unsightly toy, called the " Baldacchino," 
 which deforms the cupola of St. Peter's, and em- 
 ployed the rest in the casting of cannon for the 
 mighty castle of St. Angelo. This vain Pontiff, 
 
138 
 
 whose armorial bearings, the bee, is stuck up in all 
 quarters, was of the Barberini family ; and after this 
 Gothic spoliation, the following was affixed to Pas- 
 quin's statue : " Quod non fecerunt Barbari Romae, 
 fecit Barberini." With most consummate vanity, the 
 inscription records the robbery by this high-priest of 
 Rome. The weight of metal was enormous, two hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand pounds the nails alone, nine 
 thousand pounds. Urban VIII., in addition to the 
 spoliation of the roof, has the credit of having ordered 
 the two small belfries to be put up, under the direction 
 of Bernini, who certainly has not added to his fame 
 by these wretched performances ; and the interior 
 of the dome has been white- washed by the modern 
 Vandals. " The portal shines inimitable on earth. 
 Viewed alone it is faultless, positively the most sub- 
 lime result that was ever produced by so little archi- 
 tecture. Though plundered of all its brass, though 
 exposed to repeated fires, though sometimes flooded 
 by the river, and always open to the rain, no monu- 
 ment of equal antiquity is so well preserved as this 
 rotunda." Forsyth. 
 
 To give an idea of the accumulation of soil which 
 covers ancient Rome, seven steps formerly led to the 
 portico, and five are buried. 
 
139 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 ROME. 
 
 PALACE OF THE CLESARS. BATHS OF TITUS OF CA- 
 
 RACALLA OF DIOCLETIAN OF PAULUS ./EMILIUS. 
 
 TEMPLE OF ANTONINUS PIUS, THEATRE OF MAR- 
 
 CELLUS. MAUSOLEUM OF AUGUSTUS OF SCIPIO. 
 
 CIRCUS OF ROMULUS. TEMPLE OF BACCHUS. GROTTO 
 OF EGERIA. TOMB OF CECILIA METELLA OF HA- 
 DRIAN. TEMPLE OF MINERVA MEDICA. MUSEUM 
 OF THE CAPITOL. 
 
 NEAR the stupendous Colosseum are the equally 
 stupendous ruins of the Palace of the Caesars, on the 
 Palatine hill, " which originally contained all the 
 Romans, and was afterwards insufficient to contain 
 one tyrant." Forsyth. The house originally be- 
 longing to Hortensius, in which Augustus was con- 
 tent to reside, was neither vast nor costly. This was 
 burnt, and rebuilt by the Emperor, who added a por- 
 tico and a library, and Tiberius and Caligula made 
 large additions, and the Temple of Castor and Pollux 
 formed the vestibule. 
 
 This palace being burnt, Nero replaced it with 
 the Golden House, and the tyrant is said to have 
 merely exclaimed, on the completion of this gigantic 
 structure, "that now he could live like a man." 
 " In casteris partibus cuncta auro lita, distincta gem- 
 mis unionumq. conchis erant. Ejusmodi domum 
 
140 
 
 cum absolutam dedicaret, hactenus comprobavit ut 
 se diceret quasi hominem tandem habitare ccepisse." 
 Sueton. Nero, c. 31. This palace was again con- 
 sumed by fire in the reign of Commodus, and rebuilt 
 by him. Burton, vol. i. p. 106. Forsyth says, 
 " Palladio, whose imagination rebuilt so many ruins, 
 forbore from these. Panvinio tried in vain to retrace 
 the original plan." 
 
 In the Farnese Palace are some splendid speci- 
 mens of columns, friezes, and statues, which were 
 found here, and which attest the colossal magnifi- 
 cence of the Palace of imperial Rome. 
 
 In this direction are the ruins of the Baths of 
 Titus, but according to others, rather the Palace of 
 Titus, which covered the greater part of the Esquiline 
 hill. The site was occupied by the gardens and the 
 house of Maecenas, and in a tower here Nero stood 
 to view the conflagration of Rome, singing to the 
 sound of his lyre the burning of Troy. 
 
 The building consisted of two stories, but hardly 
 a vestige of the upper one is left. The baths and 
 saloons, though previously excavated, were completely 
 buried in 1776; but the French, in 1812, opened a 
 large saloon, and several of the corridors. The latter 
 are very narrow in proportion to their height (thirty 
 feet) ; the roofs are vaulted, and the arabesque fres- 
 coes may be distinguished by torch-light, and the 
 freshness of colouring strongly proves the excellence 
 of the brickwork, which has withstood the effects of 
 damp for such a series of years. All the marble 
 with which the walls were covered has disappeared ; 
 
141 
 
 but in the saloon opened by the French, enough of 
 the " giallo antico" remains to show that it once 
 lined the room. 
 
 The much admired group of the Laocoon was 
 found in these ruins. 
 
 Though inferior in size to the baths of Caracalla 
 and Diocletian, these are more admired for their 
 architecture. Raphael is said to have studied the 
 arabesques to assist him in painting the " Loggia" of 
 the Vatican ; and he is also accused of causing the 
 corridors to be rilled up again, to prevent a discovery 
 of his theft. But the story is not credited ; for, 
 during the excavations of that time, the frescoes 
 were seen by hundreds, and therefore the attempts to 
 conceal them afterwards would have been absurd, 
 and from the height and darkness of the corridors, 
 they could not have been copied without the aid of 
 scaffolding and numerous lights. 
 
 After the discovery of the Laocoon, most of the 
 the rooms were again choked up with rubbish, thrown 
 in through the apertures above by the peasants ; and 
 to this Forsyth must allude when he says, " the Baths 
 of Titus were the first gallery of ancient painting 
 that was restored to the world, buried for the second 
 time in the Esquiline." 
 
 In a garden near the Baths is a building contain- 
 ing nine rooms on the upper story, the lower being 
 buried, supposed to have served as reservoirs. Each 
 room is about forty feet long, thirteen feet wide, and 
 eight feet and a half high ; the walls are of great 
 thickness, and are coated with cement. All the cham- 
 bers communicate with each other. The " Sette 
 
142 
 
 Sale di Vespasiano/' as they were termed when only 
 seven chambers were discovered, are now used by 
 the peasants as cart-lodges. 
 
 The Baths of Caracalla, at the base of Mount 
 Aventine, form one of the most stupendous masses of 
 ruin in Rome, one thousand eight hundred and forty 
 feet in length and one thousand four hundred and 
 seventy-six feet in width (Burton, vol. i. p. 327) ; 
 and the circuit of the outer wall is nearly perfect. 
 These Baths are said by Olympiodorus to have con- 
 tained one thousand six hundred "sellae" of polished 
 marble. 
 
 The " Cella Solearis" cannot fail of striking the 
 visitor with astonishment, being upwards of two 
 hundred feet long, and one hundred and forty-four 
 feet wide ; and the flat roof was considered as a most 
 surprising work, being supported entirely by bronze 
 or copper bars, interlaced. 
 
 Caracalla lived to finish this immense structure, 
 which was floored with mosaic, and adorned with 
 the splendid marbles, and the most celebrated works 
 of sculpture, that Rome could boast. From him 
 they derived the name of " Thermae Antoninianse ;" 
 and Heliogabalus and Alexander Severus added por- 
 ticoes, of which there are still some remnants. In 
 these Baths a superb figure of Caligula on horseback 
 (marble), now in the Farnese Palace, the celebrated 
 Hercules of Glycon, or the Farnese Hercules, the 
 statue of Flora, and the Toro Farnese, now in the 
 gallery at Naples, were found. 
 
 Baths of Diocletian. These were commenced by 
 Maximian, on his return from Africa, A. D. 298. 
 
143 
 
 Seven years were spent in their completion, and 
 forty thousand Christians were employed in the 
 building by this persecutor of their religion ; and, 
 according to the dubious authority of the monkish 
 writers, they were afterwards massacred. Pius IV., 
 desirous of sanctifying the labours of these holy 
 martyrs, commissioned Michael Angelo to convert 
 part of the " Pinacotheca," the stupendous saloon of 
 painting and sculpture, into the nave of the church of 
 " Santa Maria degli Angeli ;" and the pillars, eight 
 in number, each of a solid block of Egyptian granite, 
 of the Corinthian order, sixteen feet in circumfer- 
 ence, are entire ; but as, on account of damp, the 
 pavement has been raised, the original bases of the 
 pillars are buried, and modern bases have been sub- 
 stituted. The circular vestibule, which forms the 
 entrance, was one of the saloons belonging to the 
 Baths ; and here are the tombs of the painters Carlo 
 Maratti and Salvator Rosa, died 1673. 
 
 At some distance is the church of St. Bernardo, 
 originally one of the four circular towers, which 
 stood at each angle of the Baths, and the roof, 
 resembling that of the Temple of Peace, is perfect. 
 Another of these gigantic circular towers was con- 
 verted into a granary by Clement XI. ; and behind 
 Sta. Maria are most extensive remains of the massive 
 walls of these Baths. Diocletian's Palace at Spoletro 
 is said to partake of the same vastness of dimen- 
 sions. 
 
 In a small street near Trajan's Forum, blocked up 
 by houses, are the ruins of the Baths of Paulus 
 The semicircular shape is easily traced, 
 
144 
 
 and six porticoes, one above the other, are perfect ; a 
 staircase is also entire ; and the porticoes appear to 
 have continued, but they are so crossed by walls and 
 houses, that it is impossible to trace them farther. 
 Some writers have supposed these remains to belong 
 to a theatre. 
 
 Near the Pantheon, and on what was the " Campus 
 Martius," is the Custom House of his Holiness, the 
 facade of which is formed of the remains of the 
 Temple of Antoninus Pius, consisting of eleven fluted 
 Corinthian pillars, nearly forty feet in height, but 
 they have suffered much from time, and also from 
 fire. The vast cornice, formed of one block, and 
 one hundred and thirty feet in length, is in tolerable 
 preservation. 
 
 Amongt the numerous relics of antiquity which 
 are either built upon, or choked up by the filthy 
 houses of the modern city, may be mentioned the 
 Theatre of Marcellus, in the Piazza Montanara. 
 This was the second theatre in Rome built of stone, 
 that of Pornpey being the first, commenced by Julius 
 Caesar, and finished by Augustus, who dedicated it to 
 his nephew Marcellus, U. C. 743. 
 
 Like the Colosseum, it probably consisted of four 
 stories, but two only remain in the outer wall, defaced 
 from time and deformed by dirty cellars and shops. 
 The portico below is of the Doric, the story above of 
 the Ionic order. It is built of enormous blocks of 
 " travertine," and would hold thirty thousand spec- 
 tators. This once magnificent Theatre was repaired 
 by Vespasian, and again by A. Severus, converted 
 into a fortress by the Savelli and the barbarians of 
 
145 
 
 the middle ages, part of the stone was plundered for 
 building- the Farnese Palace, and on the site and 
 
 c5 ' 
 
 arches of the rest, Peruzzi erected the palace which 
 now belongs to the Orsini family. 
 
 The Mausoleum of Augustus stood in the Campus 
 Martius, now within the city, and surrounded by 
 buildings in all directions, and was covered entirely 
 with white marble, of a circular form, four hundred 
 feet (three stories) high, and crowned by a cupola 
 and the statue of the Emperor ; but the cupola has 
 fallen in, and the accumulation of ruin has so raised 
 the area above the street, that you ascend by several 
 flights of stairs. Bullfights, fireworks, and other 
 shows are now exhibited here. 
 
 To such base uses has the mausoleum been con- 
 verted, in which the ashes of Augustus, his beloved 
 Marcellus, Julius Caesar, Germanicus, and the freed- 
 men of the Emperor's family were inurned. 
 
 Near it was a grove planted by Augustus, and 
 here was the " bustum," or funeral pile, for burning 
 the bodies of the Emperors ; and the inscriptions of 
 " Hie crematus est," which have been found, confirm 
 the opinion. 
 
 In the vicinity of the Porta St. Sebastiano is the 
 tomb, or rather the vault, of the Scipio family, 
 U. C. 456; and other tombs were ascribed to this 
 noble family, till the discovery of this, in 1780, 
 settled at once all dispute on the subject. The long 
 and gloomy corridors, and the recesses, are hollowed 
 out of the soft, porous " tufa;" but all the tombs and 
 inscriptions have been removed to the Vatican. 
 
 No memorial of Scipio Africanus was found here, 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 which seems to confirm the opinion that he died 
 and was buried at Liternum, in voluntary exile, hav- 
 ing commanded the well known inscription, " Ingrata 
 patria, ne ossa quidem mea habes," to be placed on 
 his tomb. 
 
 " Ejusq. voluntarii exilii acerbitatem non tacitus 
 ad inferos tulit, sepulchro suo inscribi jubendo, In- 
 grata patria, ne ossa quidem mea habes." Val. Max. 
 lib. v. c. 3. 
 
 The Gate of St. Sebastian was built by Aurelian, 
 when he extended the city walls, and the base and 
 two flanking towers are composed of immense blocks 
 of marble. 
 
 At this gate commences the celebrated Appian 
 Way, constructed by Appius Claudius the Censor, 
 A. U. C. 441, as far as Capua, and afterwards con- 
 tinued by Trajan to Brundusium, three hundred and 
 fifty miles in extent. Temples and tombs adorned 
 it ; Julius and Augustus Caesar, Vespasian, Domitian, 
 and Antoninus Pius improved and repaired it ; and 
 in later times Theodosius, Arcadius, and Honorius 
 expended large sums upon this great work. But the 
 inundations of the Pontine marshes caused sad havoc, 
 till Pius VI., at a cost almost incredible, overcame all 
 difficulties. 
 
 At about two miles distance from the walls are the 
 remains of the Circus of Romulus, the son of Maxen- 
 tius, which has for three centuries, merely on the 
 authority of a medal and a statue, been called the 
 Circus of Caracalla. Mr. Burgess, in his valuable 
 work on the Circus and on the Circensian games, 
 proves, from the ornaments and sculpture which have 
 
147 
 
 been found here, and the frescoes in one of the 
 towers, " which betray a rudeness of the art, scarce 
 worthy of the age of Constantine," compared with 
 the magnificence and taste displayed in Caracalla's 
 baths, that it would be absurd to suppose that they 
 were of the same period ; and he adds, that Spar- 
 tianus, who minutely describes all the works of the 
 Emperor, says not a word about the Circus. Under 
 the arch at the further extremity, are two inscrip- 
 tions, one, recording the excavations made here by 
 the proprietor, the Duke of Bracciano ; the other, 
 arranged of various mutilated fragments, by the cele- 
 brated antiquarian Nibby. Romulus died very young, 
 and before the defeat and death of his father at the 
 " Ponte Molle." 
 
 Forsyth has observed, that " this is the only circus 
 sufficiently entire to show what a circus was ;" for, of 
 the celebrated " Circus Maximus," and the others 
 which adorned Rome, not even the form can be 
 traced. According to Burgess, the area, or race- 
 ground, is one thousand six hundred and thirty-five 
 feet in length, and two hundred and fifty feet in 
 breadth. The outer walls are nearly perfect ; but of 
 the ten rows of seats, which would contain twenty 
 thousand spectators, not one can be seen. The 
 " Carceres," or starting places for the chariots, were 
 flanked on either side by a lofty tower, and of these 
 towers there are considerable remains ; and about 
 four hundred and fifty feet from the north tower is 
 the Grand " Pulvinar," or Imperial Stand, command- 
 ing the best view of the beginning and end of the 
 race (Burgess), and of this also, and of the " Spina," 
 
 L2 
 
148 
 
 nine hundred and sixteen feet long, which divides 
 the area into two parts, there are considerable ves- 
 tiges. At each end of the " Spina" were the 
 " Metse," or goals, round which the chariots turned, 
 answering to our distance and winning posts, and 
 the bases are standing. They are of brick and 
 cement, but were originally covered with marble, 
 and three conical pillars stood on these bases, about 
 twenty feet high, ornamented with bas-reliefs, and at 
 the top of these cones were marble balls, one of which 
 has been found. 
 
 The splendid obelisk of Egyptian granite, fifty-four 
 feet high, covered with hieroglyphics, which now 
 crowns the fountain in the " Piazza Navona," stood 
 on the middle of the " Spina," and when removed 
 from this Circus, in 1649, was lying on the ground, 
 broken into five pieces. 
 
 In the centre of the circular end of the Circus, 
 opposite to the " Carceres," is a gateway, the arch of 
 which is entire, and under it are placed the two 
 inscriptions before mentioned. 
 
 In the walls of the Circus are inserted numerous 
 coarse earthen jars, in rows, which are evidently 
 intended to lighten the weight of the mass, and to 
 act, from their spherical shape, like arches, also for 
 filling up and saving materials. Mr. Burton men- 
 tions these reasons, but seems to lean rather to the 
 opinion, that they were placed for the propagation 
 of sound ; arguing, that such vessels were inserted 
 under the seats of theatres, according to Vitruvius, 
 sometimes of bronze, sometimes of " terra cotta," 
 though he gives no instance of this in Rome, but 
 
149 
 
 adduces a theatre in Sicily as a proof. But for what 
 purpose was the transmission of sound so desirable 
 in an immense circus, where there was neither sing- 
 ing nor declamation, and where the purpose was as 
 widely different as possible from that of a theatre? 
 Nibby ridicules the supposition, and maintains the 
 far more probabfe one, that they were placed to 
 lighten the building ; and he is followed by Burgess, 
 who asks, whether the edifice called the Temple of 
 Venus and Cupid, near Santa Croce, or the brick 
 battlements on the arch of Janus, added by " the 
 Frangipani," in which these jars were used, could 
 possibly have been intended for the transmission of 
 sound ? 
 
 The Course was seven turns round the " Spina ;" 
 the chariots were drawn sometimes by two, some- 
 times by four horses abreast, and the starting-places 
 were chosen by lot. Originally there were but two 
 factions, or colours, red and white; but afterwards 
 there were four, green and blue, said to have been 
 emblematical of the seasons. 
 
 Burgess mentions a curious way of ascertaining 
 the state of the contest, at every circuit an egg was 
 set up, until the usual number of seven was com- 
 pleted ; and this was introduced by Agrippa, to pre- 
 vent all disputes between the parties. Prizes were 
 given to the second and third chariot, and Nero 
 extended it to the fourth. The victors won some- 
 times thirty thousand " nummi," about two hundred 
 and fifty pounds ; and sepulchral inscriptions show 
 that some died very rich. Burgess. 
 
 Between the " carceres" and the first " meta" was 
 
150 
 
 the " alba linea," a white rope drawn across, and 
 here the struggle commenced. 
 
 Behind the " carceres" are the ruins of massive 
 walls, supposed by some to have belonged to bar- 
 racks of the Praetorian guards who attended the 
 emperor, and to the stables for the horses used in the 
 chariot races. 
 
 To the left of the Circus of Romulus, are the 
 remains of what is now called the Temple of Bacchus, 
 from the altar dedicated to that deity, which was 
 lately found in the crypt below. It has been meta- 
 morphosed, as usual, into a church, by Pope Urban 
 VIII., who dedicated it to his namesake, St. Urban, 
 whose bones are believed to be interred here. The 
 four finely fluted Composite pillars, of gray marble, 
 are half buried in the brick and stucco, and nothing 
 remains of the frieze or entablature. 
 
 A steep path, close to the temple, leads to what is 
 called the Grotto of the nymph Egeria, to which 
 Numa Pompilius retired to consult her oracles ; but 
 the wood has vanished, and the barren valley and 
 the narrow brook have nothing romantic about them. 
 The grotto is arched, and built of reticulated brick- 
 work ; on each side are niches, and at the end is a 
 recumbent statue, much mutilated, called the statue 
 of the nymph, under which is the fountain. But, 
 independent of the modern appearance of the grotto 
 and the statue, the celebrated Egerian fountain was 
 near the Porta Capena ; so that the reveries of the 
 guide-books go for nothing. 
 
 On the Appian way, and a little beyond the Circus 
 of Romulus, is the tomb of Caecilia Metella, one of 
 
151 
 
 the finest sepulchral monuments, and the most perfect 
 of any in Rome. The date is of the close of the 
 Republic ; the form is circular, the diameter is ninety- 
 six feet, and the base (half buried) is square. The 
 circular part is built of immense blocks of traventine 
 stone, with lines chiselled on the outside to give them 
 the appearance of squares, and it bears the following 
 inscription: " Caeciliae Q. Cretici F. Metellae Crassi." 
 Q. Metellus was surnamed " Creticus," in honour of 
 his conquest of Crete, U. C. 687; and Crassus, the 
 husband of his daughter, is supposed to have been 
 the same who fell in the Parthian war. 
 
 The cornice is ornamented with wreaths and bulls' 
 heads, and hence it has been called the Capo di 
 Bove ; but the summit has been built upon, during 
 the civil wars of the middle ages (Boniface VIII., 
 A. D. 12941303), by the Gaetani, who converted 
 it into a fortress ; and on the other side of the road 
 are extensive ruins of buildings and fortifications 
 which belonged to that family. The arched entrance 
 into the tomb, which has lately been laid open, is 
 formed of huge blocks of stone; the shape of the 
 interior is conical, the brick-work is perfect, but not a 
 particle of the stone or marble with which it was, 
 most probably, covered, is left. 
 
 Here the marble sarcophagus, containing the re- 
 mains of Csecilia Metella, and now in the court of 
 the Farnese Palace, was found. This building has 
 shared the same fate as the majority of the other 
 monuments of antiquity; part was taken away to be 
 burnt into lime, and part was used by that wholesale 
 
152 
 
 spoiler, Urban VIII., in the construction of the foun- 
 tain of Trevi. 
 
 Beyond the tomb of Caecilia Metella, the road in 
 several parts is the ancient Via Appia, entire at the 
 end of more than two thousand years, paved with 
 stones nearly one foot and a half square. 
 
 About three-fourths of a mile beyond, is the tomb 
 of the Servilii, discovered in 1808 by the Marquis 
 Canova ; but it has been so patched and restored, that 
 little of the ancient tomb remains. The frieze appears 
 to have been handsome, and the following inscription 
 is legible : M. Servilius Quartus de sua pecunia fecit." 
 The custom of burying near the roads was universal. 
 " Quorum Flaminia tegitur cinis atq. Latina." 
 
 The castle of St. Angelo, formerly the tomb of 
 Hadrian, " though reduced to less than half its tower, 
 has been for ages the citadel of Rome." Forsyth. 
 This truly gigantic mausoleum was erected by the 
 Emperor Hadrian, and in rivalry, as it were, of that 
 of Augustus, on the other side of the Tiber. The 
 
 O ' 
 
 shape was circular, three stories high; the base 
 square, but the two upper stories, and the columns, 
 and the statues which adorned it, are destroyed, and 
 the base and the first story, five hundred and seventy- 
 six feet in circumference, is all that remains. 
 
 In the wars of the middle ages, the family of the 
 Orsini fortified it; and in 1378, the populace rose in 
 favour of Urban VI., forced the garrison, placed 
 there by the French Cardinals, to surrender; and in 
 their fury would have rased it to the ground, had not 
 the strength of the walls withstood their efforts, and 
 
153 
 
 they reduced it to its present form. Burton, vol. i. 
 p. 297. 
 
 On the summit a colossal clumsy figure in bronze 
 of the archangel Michael brandishing a sword, and 
 treading on the serpent, supplies the place of another 
 in marble, erected in memory of a vision of an angel 
 appearing to St. Gregory, and nnounc'ng to him the 
 cessation of the plague; or with equal probability, 
 appearing to the Pope in a grand procession after 
 the inundation in' 589. Hence the mausoleum of 
 Hadrian derived its present appellation of St. Angela. 
 
 The ancient entrance to the tomb has been dis- 
 covered very recently, and a vaulted corridor between 
 the massive walls of the first story conducts to the 
 sepulchral chamber. The porphyry urn which con- 
 tained Hadrian's ashes was taken away by Innocent 
 II. to St. John Lateran, to adorn his own monument, 
 for there were no greater thieves of antiquity than 
 these vicegerents of St. Peter. The interior walls 
 appear to have been coated with marble, as there 
 are still some remains of giallo antico left, and con- 
 siderable remains of mosaic on the floor. Near the 
 entrance is a large niche, supposed to have contained 
 the statue of the Emperor. 
 
 An immense number of convicts are confined here ; 
 and it is also a state prison. A draw-bridge com- 
 municates with a secret passage to the Vatican, con- 
 structed by that monster Alexander VI., but against 
 nothing of a more formidable nature than a mob 
 could the fortress protect the Sovereign Pontiff. 
 Some of the rooms are painted in fresco by Giulio 
 Romano; and there is a fine view of the Vatican, St. 
 
154 
 
 Peter's, and the modern city from the platforms of the 
 citadel. 
 
 The bridge of St. Angelo was built by Hadrian, 
 and called the Pons ^lius, from his name ^Elius 
 Hadriamis: but having been broken down by the 
 pressure of the crowd at the jubilee in 1450, it was 
 repaired by Clement IX., who employed Bernini to 
 erect the balustrade surmounted by awkward colossal 
 statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, and angels holding 
 the instruments of "the passion." 
 
 The temple of Minerva Medica is situated in a 
 garden near the Porta Maggiore. The form is cir- 
 cular without, decagonal within, and there are traces 
 of ten windows, and nine niches for statues, and 
 those of jEsculapius, Pomona, Antinous, the Faun, 
 Venus, and Adonis, were discovered here; and the 
 celebrated statue of Minerva, with the serpent at her 
 feet, furnished additional reasons for concluding that 
 the temple was raised to that goddess. The walls 
 are of brick; and the marble which once covered them, 
 and the columns, have disappeared. 
 
 In the same vineyard are two subterranean sepul- 
 chral chambers, or "columbaria;" the larger was 
 constructed by the Consul Lucius Aruntius, for his 
 family and freedmen. The urns remain embedded 
 within the recesses; but all the tablets and inscrip- 
 tions have been removed to the Vatican. The other 
 is supposed to have been appropriated to the ashes of 
 plebeian families, the inscriptions found here being 
 short, and bearing little more than the name of the 
 deceased. 
 
 The Museum of the Capitol was founded by 
 
155 
 
 Clement XII. In the court is a colossal statue called 
 Marforio, found in the forum of Mars, and by some 
 thought to have represented the Rhine or the Ocean. 
 On this figure were affixed the answers to the satires, 
 which appeared on Pasquin's statue, and hence 
 termed "pasquinades." 
 
 One room of the museum is called Canopus, from 
 the quantity of Egyptian monuments and statues 
 which it contains, found in the Canopus of Hadrian's 
 villa, and placed here with many others of the same 
 kind, by Benedict XIV. All these, however, are 
 sculptured in imitation only of the idols of Egypt. 
 One of the rooms is filled with ancient inscriptions 
 relating to the emperors, their consorts, and the con- 
 suls, from the time of Tiberius to Theodosius; and in 
 another is an immense sarcophagus of Alexander 
 Severus, and his wife Julia Mammsea, adorned with 
 bas-reliefs of subjects from the Iliad. On the walls 
 of the staircase are twenty-six square compartments, 
 fragments of the plan of ancient Rome, found in 
 repairing the church of St. Cosmo and Damiano, 
 formerly the temple of Remus. 
 
 In the long list of antiquities, may be enumerated 
 a large vase, adorned with masks and other Baccha- 
 nalian ornaments, found near the tomb of Caecilia 
 Metella, and another of bronze, with an inscription in 
 very ancient Greek characters, purporting that it was 
 given by Mithridates, King of Pontus, to the college 
 of the Gymnosiarque Eupators : the colossal foot of 
 bronze, found near the pyramid of Caius Cestius, and 
 attributed to his statue; a mosaic of four doves (pie- 
 tra dura) drinking out of a cup beautifully executed ; 
 
156 
 
 and a favourite design for the sculptor, found in 
 1737, at Hadrian's villa, and supposed to be the same 
 mentioned by Pliny; a statue of Hercules in gilt 
 bronze, found near the large altar in the Forum 
 Boarium. One of the Praeficae, hired to weep at 
 funerals, is, as Forsyth remarks, " an exquisite model 
 of ugliness;" not so the Faun in rosso antico, found 
 at Hadrian's villa, and supposed to be of the time of 
 Claudius. The dying Gladiator, (the right hand 
 restored by Michael Angelo), by some called a 
 herald, and the broken horn on the ground, has 
 sorely puzzled the critics. The Faun of Praxiteles is 
 splendid, and so is the Venus going out of the bath, 
 called the Venus of the Capitol. It was found in the 
 Suburra, the quarter of ancient Rome chiefly inha- 
 bited by courtesans, and by many has been ascribed 
 tj Praxiteles. 
 
 On the opposite side of the square of the Campig- 
 dolia, is the Palazzo di Conservator!. A group of a 
 lion devouring a horse, restored by M. Angelo, is 
 much admired. A colossal bronze head of Commodus, 
 and a hand, supposed to have belonged to the same 
 statue. Here also is the celebrated bronze wolf 
 suckling Romulus and Remus (the latter modern), 
 said to be the identical figure struck by lightning on 
 the day that Caesar fell; and the hind legs appear 
 as if melted by the electric fluid, A. U. C. 689. 
 The antiquarians have disputed warmly on the 
 subject. According to Venuti, it was preserved in 
 the church of St. Theodore, said to have been the 
 temple of Romulus, till the sixteenth century. Mr. 
 Burton says that the fractures do not answer to Cicero's 
 
157 
 
 description. Forsytli pronounces it Etruscan ; " its 
 scathed leg proves it to be the statue which was 
 ancient at the death of Caesar, and it still retains 
 some streaks of the gilding which Cicero remarked 
 on it." 
 
 In the Capitol are preserved the Fasti Consulares; 
 tablets much mutilated, containing the names of the 
 consuls, and all public officers from the foundation of 
 the city to U. C. 724, found in the Forum A. D. 
 1545, and some more in 1819. As the Capitol was 
 burnt in the reign of Vitellius, and all the records 
 destroyed, and as Vespasian rebuilt the temple, these 
 fragments were probably of that period. Burton, vol. i. 
 p. 155. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 ROME. 
 
 THE VATICAN. ST. PETER'S. ST. JOHN LATERAN. 
 SCALA SANTA. STA. MARIA MAGGIORE. ST. PAUL. 
 ST. LORENZO. ST. PIETRO IN MONTORIO. ST. 
 PIETRO IN VINCOLI. ST. THEODORE. ST. IGNATIUS. 
 JESUS. THE CAPUCHINS. ST. STEFANO ROTONDO. 
 FOUNTAINS. PALACES. 
 
 THE Vatican. This stupendous pile was built by 
 different Popes ; but the effect of the colossal edifice, 
 which, from the various Eeras of its erection, presents 
 no regularity in its architecture, is, from whatever 
 point it be viewed, unpleasing; and the lofty mass 
 interferes also in the most unfortunate manner with 
 
J58 
 
 St. Peter's. The Scala Regia, a fine staircase, leads 
 from the end of the vestibule of St. Peters to the 
 Sistine chapel, built by Sixtus IV., a large oblong 
 room, where the Cardinals meet in conclave to elect 
 the Pope, and various ceremonies during Easter are 
 performed here. Julius II. employed M. Angelo to 
 paint the roofs ; and so anxious was he for the com- 
 pletion, that he is said to have prepared the colours 
 himself. He had exhibited his talents hitherto prin- 
 cipally in sculpture; and Bramante is accused by 
 Vasari of having recommended him to the Pope upon 
 this occasion, that he might fail, and thus that the 
 success of his relation Raffael, and his favour with 
 the Pope, might be secured. 
 
 The subjects are taken from the Old Testament; 
 and the Sibyls and Prophets, over the windows, are 
 considered as some of the finest specimens of the 
 artist. The end of the chapel is completely rilled with 
 that splendid work of the same great master, the Last 
 Judgment, and eight years were occupied in its com- 
 pletion, 1542. The artist is supposed to have studied 
 Dante for the conception of many of the figures, and 
 he has blended sacred history with profane. 
 
 At the bottom of the fresco is the figure of a fat 
 man with asses' ears, encircled by a huge serpent, said 
 to represent one Biagio of Cesena, the Pope's master 
 of the ceremonies, whose decency was shocked, be- 
 cause the figures were naked. 
 
 Biagio complained to Paul III., who remonstrated 
 with M. Angelo; but the latter replied, that from 
 purgatory he could have released him, but, placed as 
 he was in hell, he was beyond redemption. 
 
159 
 
 But the modesty of Pius IV. was alarmed, and 
 Daniel da Volterra was employed to cover the naked- 
 ness of the figures: and Clement XIII. ordered it to 
 
 O * 
 
 be completed. Damp, combined with the smoke of 
 incense and wax lights, has played sad havoc with 
 this magnificent work. 
 
 Opposite is the Pauline chapel, built by Paul III. ; 
 and here are frescoes of St. Paul's conversion, and 
 the crucifixion of St. Peter by M. Angelo, and the 
 roof is painted by Zuccari. In the holy week, during 
 the exposition of the Sacrament, this chapel is bril- 
 liantly illuminated. 
 
 Between the Sistine and the Pauline chapels, is 
 the Sala Regia, painted by Vasari, Pierino del Vaga, 
 and others. On one side appears the Emperor, 
 Henry IV., naked, and kneeling, imploring the par- 
 don of Gregory VII. ; on another Tunis is taken, and 
 in the battle of Lepanto Christ appears in the clouds. 
 Here Charlemagne signs the donation to the See; 
 there Gregory XI. enters Rome, accompanied by 
 St. Catherine of Sienna, (a saint of rather dubious 
 character,) and an oblong painting of the massacre 
 of St. Bartholomew completes the collection. The 
 "amiable" Gregory XIII. employed Vasari on this 
 work, and ordered a medal to be struck to comme- 
 morate the cold-blooded murder of the Hugonots. 
 
 The stories, with open galleries, called the Loggia 
 di Raffaello, have a particularly ugly effect. The 
 exemplification of God separating the light from the 
 darkness, in a patriarch pushing away, as it were, the 
 dark clouds on one side, and the light on the other, 
 proves how improper is the treatment of such 
 
160 
 
 mysteries, even from the pencil of Raffael; and Moses 
 and the burning bush is absolutely grotesque. 
 
 In the Hall of Constantine, the appearance of the 
 cross in the sky, at the battle of the Ponte Molle, by 
 Julio Romano, is a legend invented by the priests, as 
 an episode in the history of their convent, and the 
 baptism of Constantine by Pope Silvester, and the 
 donation of the church patrimony to the Pope by the 
 Imperial convent, are convenient fables invented by 
 the Romish priesthood. In the second chamber is a 
 large fresco by Raffael of Heliodorus, the Praefect 
 of Seleucus Philopater, King of Syria, deterred from 
 the pillage of the temple of Jerusalem, by the mira- 
 culous appearance of a cavalier and two angels, and 
 Heliodorus is thrown down and discomfited. 
 
 There is a strange anachronism in this picture ; for 
 the Pope Julius II. is introduced, borne on men's 
 shoulders, and thus represented as the deliverer of 
 the Church from oppression. The impious falsehood 
 called "the Miracle of Bolsenna," was painted by 
 Raffael; and Julius II. usurps the place of Urban 
 IV., who is said to have witnessed it. In the fresco of 
 the discomfiture of Attila, St. Leo L, represented by 
 Leo XII., and two Cardinals, are introduced, and in 
 the clouds appear St. Peter and St. Paul, arresting 
 the progress of the Hun. Forsyth remarks, that 
 Raffael here sacrificed truth to the Pope, his patron. 
 The royal Hun is thrown into the back ground; and 
 the retreat, which was prudent, is turned into a miracle. 
 The Sarmatian horsemen, copied from the bas-reliefs 
 on Trajan's column, are very free and spirited. 
 
 The celebrated fresco by Raffael of the liberation 
 
1G1 
 
 of St. Peter from prison, is divided by a window, and 
 the light is thrown in the most disadvantageous 
 manner. The school of Athens, in which numerous 
 portraits of characters of his time are introduced, is a 
 chef d'ceuvre of the master, and amongst others, him- 
 self, his master Perugino, and his friend Bramante? 
 as Archimedes, are brought in. 
 
 The painting called "The miracle of the Borgo," 
 represents the fire in the Borgo St. Pietro in 817; 
 and St. Leo IV. appears on the balcony of St. Peter's, 
 from which the benediction was given, and by making 
 the sign of the cross, extinguishes the flames. Two 
 figures are dropping from a wall, another standing on 
 tiptoe stretch to take a child from a burning house> 
 are considered to display great anatomical accuracy 
 of design. Below the frescoes in this room are 
 paintings in " chiaro scuro ;" and over a figure holding 
 a jar full of gold, is " Aistulphus Rex sub Leone IV. 
 Pont. Britanniam Beato Petro vectigalem facit." 
 This bigot was Ethelwolf. Over another appears the 
 very MODEST assertion of " Dei non hominum est 
 Episcopos judicare." 
 
 In the adjoining rooms are the tapestries copied 
 from the cartoons at Hampton Court, executed by 
 order of Leo X. at Arras, and two sets were made. 
 
 The present one was taken from the Vatican by 
 the Spanish troops in 1527; but being afterwards 
 found by Montmorenci, the French general, were 
 restored to the Pope. The French, in 1798, again 
 removed them, and two were burnt by a Jew in Paris 
 for the sake of the embroidery; the remaining ten 
 were bought by Pius VII. 
 
 M 
 
1G2 
 
 The other set came into the possession of Henry 
 VIII., and were hung up in the banqueting room at 
 Whitehall, and at the death of Charles I., were pur- 
 chased by the Spanish ambassador, and sent to Spain ; 
 and nine out of the twelve are now the property of a 
 private individual in England. Rubens purchased 
 the cartoons for Charles I. in Flanders; and William 
 III. placed them in Hampton Court, but seven only 
 remain. Burton, vol. ii. p. 279. 
 
 The collection of paintings is small, but choice. 
 
 The celebrated Transfiguration by Raphael, painted 
 for the Cathedral of Narbonne, is considered as his 
 " chef d'oeuvre;" the female kneeling in front is the 
 Fornarina. Sebastian del Piombo painted as a rival 
 to this, the Raising of Lazarus, which was in Mr. 
 Angerstein's collection. 
 
 The Communion of St. Jerome is one of the most 
 noted productions of Domenichino. The Martyrdom 
 of St. Erasmus, by drawing out the entrails by a 
 windlass, (N. Poussin,) is truly horrible. 
 
 In the entrance chamber is a portrait of George IV., 
 as Regent, sent to Pius VII., who gave to the King 
 of England his own portrait in return. 
 
 The Museum of the Vatican is one of the most 
 extensive in Europe. The first gallery is filled with 
 monumental inscriptions, urns, and " sarcophagi " of 
 the ancient Romans, and the early Christians. The 
 second division contains an immense number of busts 
 and statues ; and adjoining/ is the splendid Gallery 
 of the Nile, erected by Pius VII., and here is the 
 celebrated group of the Nile in white marble. The 
 river god is colossal and recumbent, and sixteen little 
 
163 
 
 urchins, not more than one foot and a half high, 
 climb about his limbs in all directions, said to 
 represent the height to which the Nile rises, sixteen 
 cubits, and below are bas-reliefs of the plants and 
 animals of the country. This is of the time of 
 Hadrian. The Venus Anadyomenes, of Greek mar- 
 ble, the Minerva Medica, and the Demosthenes in 
 the act of speaking, are splendid statues. 
 
 At the end of the Corridor is the famous Belvi- 
 dere Torso, the admiration of Michael Angelo and 
 all sculptors, and the name of the artist "Apollonius, 
 son of Nestor, an Athenian," still remains. Some 
 have called it a Hercules struggling, with the arm 
 round another figure, and in this opinion Flaxman 
 concurs. Here is also the tomb of C. L. Scipio Barba- 
 tus, of coarse Alban stone, found in the vaults belong- 
 ing to that family, on the Appian Way, ornamented 
 with roses, triglyphs, and a Doric frieze. 
 
 The porticoes of the large court are filled with sta- 
 tues and immense baths, of porphyry, granite, black 
 and green basalt, and " sarcophagi." The Caledo- 
 nian boar hunt, the fable of Niobe, and the battle 
 between Theseus and the Amazons, are the favourite 
 subjects for the bas-reliefs ; and it may be noticed 
 that the distinguishing mark, vulgarly attributed to 
 the female warriors, does not appear in a single 
 instance. 
 
 The vestibules in these porticoes contain the most 
 celebrated specimens of ancient and modern sculp- 
 ture in the Vatican. 
 
 The Perseus of Canova, elegant, graceful, com- 
 
 M 2 
 
 
164 
 
 manding, of which Forsyth has remarked that, " mar- 
 ble has seldom received a form so perfect." 
 
 The attitudes of the pugilists, Creugas and Da- 
 moxenus, (by the same sculptor,) are explained by 
 the story related by Pausanias. Creugas of Dyrra- 
 chium, and Damoxenus of Syracuse, were so equally 
 matched, that no advantage was obtained by either ; 
 and at last it was mutually agreed on, that each 
 should receive the blow of the other without parry- 
 ing or guarding. Creugas struck his antagonist 
 with all his force on the head, and Damoxenus then 
 ran at him with his full strength, thrust his hand 
 into his side, and tore out his bowels. Creugas died 
 on the spot, but the prize was adjudged to him ; and 
 perpetual exile to his rival. Canova has represented 
 Creugas with his arm uplifted over the head, after 
 he has given the blow, and Damoxenus, in whose 
 features rage and malevolence are finely portrayed, 
 is preparing, by drawing in his hand, to plunge it 
 forward. 
 
 The celebrated group of the Laocoon, found in the 
 baths of Titus, is a fine group, but the sons are little 
 men, and the father is a giant. The Belvidere Apollo 
 was found at Antium in the fifteenth century ; the 
 fingers of the right hand are of plaster, the left has 
 been restored ; the ankles have been broken, and it 
 has also suffered in its removal from Paris. Critics 
 have discovered, from actual measurement, that the 
 left leg is rather longer than the right, but the majes- 
 tic god commands universal admiration in spite of 
 all such wondrous discoveries. The prevailing opi- 
 
165 
 
 nion (and supported by Winkelmann) is, that he has 
 just discharged an arrow, and this is fully borne out 
 by the position of the statue. 
 
 In the centre of the circular hall is a vase of red 
 porphyry, forty-one feet in circumference, found in 
 the baths of Titus, and the largest known, and the 
 floor round it is paved with some beautiful mosaic, 
 from Otricoli, representing the battle of the Centaurs 
 and the Lapithee. 
 
 In the vestibule of the Greek Cross are two im- 
 mense Egyptian idols, of red granite, bearing the 
 likeness of Antinoiis, from Hadrian's Villa, and two 
 gigantic " sarcophagi " of red porphyry, one of 
 which contained the ashes of St. Constantia, the 
 daughter of Constantine, and was found in her mau- 
 soleum on the Via Nomentana, the present church 
 of St. Agnes ; the other contained the ashes of 
 St. Helena, the discoverer of the real cross, the 
 saintly mother of the Imperial Convent, and found 
 in her tomb near the Porta Maggiore. The bas- 
 reliefs on these sarcophagi are in fine preservation ; 
 but they are coarsely designed, and furnish decisive 
 proofs of the wretched state of the arts at the period 
 in which they were executed. On the tomb of the 
 holy Constantia, the subjects are truly Anacreontic : 
 young Bacchanals, and Cupids with huge heads, 
 carrying bunches of grapes, or treading them in the 
 wine-vat, appear on all sides. The tomb of St. He- 
 lena is covered with figures of warriors on horseback, 
 men below chained as captives ; the horses' heads 
 are uncommonly clumsy, and the design of the whole 
 is execrable. Forsyth, in his remarks on the Museum 
 
166 
 
 of the Vatican, says, " Here are specimens of the 
 sculpture of ancient Rome, from its dawn to its de- 
 cline, from the old Doric tomb of Scipio Barbatus, 
 in plain Alban stone, to the porphyry ' sarcophagi ' 
 of St. Constantia and St. Helena, where men stand 
 erect under horses' bellies." 
 
 The Saloon, called the Hall of the Car, from the 
 Car of the Circus, and two horses of white marble 
 in the centre, of which however the car and the body 
 of one horse are the only parts which are antique, 
 contains several fine statues. 
 
 In this superb Museum, formed by Clement XIV. 
 and Pius VI., the name of the former is completely 
 forgotten. The pompous inscription of " Munificen- 
 tia Pii Sexti, P. M." stares you in the face on every 
 statue, bas-relief, and mosaic. 
 
 St. Peter's. The approach is through one of the 
 most filthy quarters of Rome, and excepting a glimpse 
 from the bridge of St. Angelo, you catch no view till 
 you enter the piazza. This is a noble area, and the 
 effect of the colonnade, bending in a graceful curve 
 on each side, the two fountains, and the Egyptian 
 obelisk in the centre, form an imposing " coup 
 d'ceil." The colonnades, from the designs of Bernini, 
 were built in the seventeenth century ; the four rows 
 of pillars are a mixture of orders, the bases being 
 Tuscan, the cornices and shafts Ionic, and the capi- 
 tals Doric. Burton, vol. ii. p. 127. The central 
 part is of sufficient width for two carriages to pass 
 abreast, and the whole is fifty-six feet wide, sixty-one 
 feet high, and crowned by a balustrade and statues 
 of saints. 
 
167 
 
 The obelisk, of red granite, eighty-four feet in 
 height, independent of the pedestal and the cross, 
 was brought by Caligula from Heliopolis, arid placed 
 in his circus, afterwards called the Circus of Nero, 
 and removed hither by Sixtus V., under the direction 
 of Fontana, at an expense of ten thousand pounds. 
 But it does not face the centre of the Basilica ; 
 and this blunder has been attributed, by some, to 
 Fontana, by others, to Maderno. The bronze lions 
 and eagles are in bad taste ; and the star, the arms 
 of Sixtus V. (Chigi) betrays the consummate vanity 
 of the Pontiff. Forty-six cranes, six hundred men, 
 and one hundred and forty horses, are said to have 
 been employed in the removal of this obelisk. 
 
 The old church, part of which remains, in what 
 are called the " Grotte Vaticane," was built by Con- 
 stantine, A. D. 306, in a cemetery, where the Chris- 
 tians, massacred in Nero's circus, were buried, and 
 the church was erected over the grave of St. Peter, 
 who suffered martyrdom on the hill, now called 
 " St. Pietro in Montorio." The present church was 
 commenced by Pope Nicholas V., 1450. Julius II., 
 in 1503, laid the first stone for the erection of the 
 cupola. Leo X. is said to have increased the sale of 
 religious indulgences to a prodigious extent, in order 
 to furnish funds for the undertaking ; and this infa- 
 mous traffic was one of the main causes of the Re- 
 formation. In 1546, the work was entrusted to 
 Michael Angelo, then seventy-two years old, who 
 designed and began to execute the splendid dome, 
 and projected a front similar to the Pantheon, but 
 was prevented, from death, at the age of eighty-nine, 
 
168 
 
 from commencing it ; and he also contemplated the 
 Greek Cross, which was afterwards abandoned. In 
 1566, Vignola and Ligorio proceeded, following 
 M. Angelo's plan; the two smaller domes were 
 finished by the former, and " Giacomo della Porta," 
 under Sixtus V., finished the enormous dome of 
 M. Angelo ; six hundred workmen being employed 
 night and day. Burton, vol. ii. p. 121. 
 
 Paul V., 1605, has the merit of having finished 
 the Basilica, if merit it can be called, in employ- 
 ing Maderno, who changed the noble plan of the 
 Greek Cross of M. Angelo to the Latin, and added 
 the tasteless facade. 
 
 The Corinthian pillars are very heavy, and the 
 balconies above the open windows, some with square, 
 some with circular pediments, the balustrade on the 
 summit crowned with statues of Christ and the 
 Apostles, and the two clocks, with the Papal arms 
 over them, present a " farrago " of the most barba- 
 rous architecture. 
 
 Most observers will be disappointed with the first 
 view of St. Peter's, deformed as it is by the front of 
 Maderno, the tall ugly buildings of the Vatican, the 
 dome, from the adoption of the Latin cross, and the 
 nature of the front, being scarcely visible, and the 
 smaller domes being entirely concealed. The re- 
 marks of Forsyth are quite at variance with the 
 usual puffing description of the guide books: 
 " How beautiful the colonnade, how finely propor- 
 tioned to the church ! how advantageous to its flat 
 forbidding front, which ought to have come forward 
 like the Pantheon, to meet the decoration. But ad- 
 
169 
 
 vance or retire, the cupola is more than half hidden 
 by the front ; a front at variance with the body, con- 
 founding two orders in one, debased by a gaping 
 attic, and encumbered with colossal apostles. M. An- 
 gelo left it an unfinished monument of his proud, 
 towering, gigantic powers ; and his awful genius 
 watched over his successors, till at last a wretched 
 plasterer came down from Como, to break the sacred 
 unity of the master's idea," &c. &c. 
 
 The lofty vestibule, which extends along the whole 
 front, is paved with various marbles, and the vaulted 
 roof is covered with gilding ; at one extremity is the 
 equestrian statue of Charlemagne, at the other that 
 of Constantine. and the architectural perspective is 
 striking. Opposite are the five entrances, of which 
 the central one is opened only on great occasions. 
 These bronze doors belonged to the old church, and 
 are ornamented with bas-reliefs of the martyrdom of 
 St. Peter and St. Paul. The " Porta Santa" is 
 walled up, and only used on the fete of the Jubi- 
 lee, which is now fixed to take place once in every 
 twenty-five years, and on Christmas Eve the Pope 
 begins the work by striking it thrice with a silver 
 hammer. This absurd custom, for which it is not 
 easy to account, was introduced by Boniface VIII., 
 in 1300. Burton, vol. ii. p. 130. 
 
 A brass cross is fastened on the wall, and the 
 devotees and the pilgrims have kissed it till it is quite 
 rusty. 
 
 The proportions of the interior of St. Peter's are 
 so admirable, that the colossal size will scarcely 
 strike the spectator. There are only four arches on 
 
170 
 
 each side the immense nave, and the side aisles, at 
 first sight, appear but as passages ; the dome is mag- 
 nificent, and on the frieze is the following, in mosaic 
 letters : " Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram oedi- 
 ficabo Ecclesiam meam, et tibi dabo claves reg-m 
 
 * O 
 
 ccelorum." 
 
 Each of the four pilasters of the cupola measures 
 two hundred and forty feet in circumference, and is 
 one hundred and seventy-eight feet high, and in these 
 are niches, containing colossal statues of St. Veronica, 
 St. Helena, St. Longinus, and St. Andrew. Fiam- 
 mingo, the sculptor of the latter, is reported, by 
 Evelyn to have died mad, because Bernini placed 
 the statue in a bad light! 
 
 St. Longinus, a sprawling figure, holding a lance, 
 the soldier who pierced our Saviour's side, is quite a 
 new saint, to Protestant ideas at least, but the infal- 
 lible church will have it that he was converted, 
 preached Christianity, suffered martyrdom, and, fur- 
 thermore, that part of the lance is preserved here! I 
 
 The holy napkin of St. Veronica, which received 
 the impression of our Saviour's features, when she 
 presented it to him to wipe his face, on the way to 
 Calvary, is one of the most preposterous of monkish 
 inventions. But there are numerous claimants for 
 this holy relic. The chapel of the "Saint Suaire," 
 at Turin, was built expressly for the reception of one, 
 and there are others at Milan, Besan^on, Compeigne, 
 and Aix-la-Chapelle ; and our Saviour himself is said 
 to have sent to Abgarus, King of Edessa, a cloth, 
 with the impression of his features. Burton, vol. ii. 
 p. 156. 
 
171 
 
 We saw the exposition of the relics on Easter Day, 
 but the balcony is so high, and the precious treasures 
 are so enchased in crystal, that nothing can be made 
 out. 
 
 In the centre of the dome is the high altar, and 
 in the subterranean church, beneath, the remains 
 of St. Peter are said to be deposited. The altar is 
 remarkably plain, and covered by the stupendous 
 " baldaquin," or canopy of bronze, supported by 
 four twisted pillars overrun with bees, the arms of 
 Urban VIII. (Barberini), which, as Forsyth observes, 
 " embarrasses the high cross," and spoils the gran- 
 deur of the cupola by its intrusive gaudiness. The cost 
 has been estimated at upwards of twenty-two thou- 
 sand pounds, and the gilding alone amounted to more 
 than nine thousand pounds. The Papal Vandal 
 robbed the Pantheon of its roof, to form this " bal- 
 dacchino ;" and a Catholic writer, named Fea, who 
 endeavours to shield Urban from the imputation, and 
 declares that the metal was brought from Venice, 
 defends the Pope at the expense of truth, as the 
 tablet under the portico of the Pantheon recounts the 
 theft in plain terms. 
 
 In front of the altar is the sacred confessional, 
 surrounded by a balustrade, on which one hundred 
 and twelve lamps constantly burn, and beneath, is a 
 plate of gilt bronze, which covers the precious relics 
 of St. Peter, and a statue of Pius VI., kneeling, by 
 Canova, in front of the bronze gates which enclose 
 the confessional. 
 
 At the extremity of the nave is the Tribune, and 
 a large pulpit of gilt bronze, called St. Peter's Chair, 
 
172 
 
 because it contains the seat used by St. Peter, and 
 his successors ; and this glaring mass of ornament, 
 executed by Bernini, under Alexander VII., was 
 also plundered from the roof of the Pantheon. 
 
 The gigantic figures of St. Ambrose and St. Au- 
 gustine, of the Latin, and St. Chrysostom and 
 St. Athanasius, of the Greek church, appear to sup- 
 port the cumbrous pulpit on their fingers, but this 
 cannot deceive the most unpractised eye. " St. Pe- 
 ter's chair, supported by the fingers of four scribbling 
 doctors is, in every sense, a trick." Forsyth. 
 
 The chapels, eight in number, are in recesses in 
 the aisles ; and all the paintings over the altars, and 
 in other parts of the church, are executed in mosaic. 
 
 The nave is adorned with marble statues, sixteen 
 feet high, of saints and founders of various religious 
 orders ; and on the pavement, the ground plans of the 
 most celebrated churches in the world are traced. 
 
 Against the last pilaster of the nave is the vener- 
 ated bronze statue of the patron saint, and the foot, 
 which no good Catholic will pass without kissing, is 
 absolutely worn away by the pressure of so many 
 faithful lips ; the forehead, in sign of adoration, is 
 also pressed against the brazen toe. But how shock- 
 ing, should the story be true, that this sanctified 
 St. Peter is a statue of Jupiter, metamorphosed, as 
 was often the case, from a heathen divinity, into a 
 saint ! 
 
 Below the pavement is the subterranean church, 
 called the " Grotte Vaticane," about eleven feet high, 
 which you may view by torch-light, and no females 
 are admitted, except on Whit Sunday, and then 
 
173 
 
 males are excluded ! Here are the tombs of the 
 early Popes, and many of modern date, an immense 
 sarcophagus of granite, containing the remains of 
 Adrian IV. of Nicholas Brekespere, the only English 
 Pope, of Christina, Queen of Sweden, and of several 
 of the Stuart family. Over the coffins, enclosed in 
 brick, are the following inscriptions : - 
 
 " Praecordia Christinas Alexandra Gothorum, 
 Suecorum Vandalorumque Reginae, obiit die 19 Apr. 
 1689." 
 
 " Hen. 9. Jacobi 3. M. B. F. et Hibernian Regis 
 films Dux Ebor. obt. 13 Jul. An. 1807. Vixit An. 
 82. M. 4. D. 7." 
 
 " D.O.M. Carolus III. Jacobi III. Magnas Bri- 
 tanniae Franc, et Hib. Regis films Natus 1720, obiit 
 Prid. Kal. Febr. 1788." 
 
 " Jacobus III. Magnae Britanniae Franciae et 
 Hiberniae Rex. Vixit Annos 77. M. 6. D. 11. obiit 
 Kal. Januar. 1766." 
 
 The monument to the memory of the Cardinal 
 d'York, and the old and young Pretender, was 
 executed by Canova, by order of George IV. when 
 Regent, at an expense of two thousand guineas, and 
 on the tomb are effigies of Charles Edward, in 
 armour, James III. (the old Pretender), and the 
 Cardinal d'York. " Jacob. III. Jacob. II. Magn. 
 Brit. Regis filio. Carolo Edvardo et Henrico Decano 
 Patrum Cardinalium. Jacob. III. filiis Regiae stirpis 
 Stuardias postremis, Anno 1819. Beati mortui qui 
 in Domino moriuntur." 
 
 The Papal tombs in St. Peter's are numerous. 
 Forsyth observes, " that they are richer than any 
 
174 
 
 line of kings can boast, but the Papal habit is too 
 cut and plaited to become an old man in the act of 
 benediction, poorly denoted by the divergent fingers." 
 The monument of Clement XIII. Rezzonico, by 
 Canova, is an exception. The genius of death, reclin- 
 ing at the base of the tomb, with a torch reversed, is the 
 finest statue in the church ; and the lions, one sleep- 
 ing the other watching, of colossal size, are unrivalled. 
 On the right of St. Peter's pulpit, is a celebrated 
 monument of Urban VIII. (Barberini) the plunderer, 
 by Bernini, and the figure, aptly enough, is of 
 bronze. 
 
 The ascent to the gallery of the dome and the 
 roof is very fatiguing, and the view of Rome is not 
 equal to that from the Capitol, or from the terrace of 
 St. Pietro in Montorio. St. Peter's and the Vatican are 
 situated in the outskirts of Rome, and near the river ; 
 the air in summer and autumn is very unwholesome, 
 and his Holiness generally removes to the Quirinal 
 Palace. 
 
 St. John Lateran. This " Basilica" ranks as 
 second, though formerly it was superior to St. Peter's, 
 and the Lateran Chapter even now take precedence. 
 It was called Lateran from having occupied the site 
 of the palace of Plautius Lateranus, executed by 
 order of Nero, as an accomplice in Piso's conspiracy, 
 " Basilica Aurea," from the wealth and precious 
 gifts which it possessed, and St. John, from being 
 dedicated to that saint. Very little, however, of the 
 ancient edifice remains. Huge Composite pillars 
 and pilasters, a flat colonnade, an entablature and 
 Ionic pediment, a balustrade, with colossal statues of 
 
175 
 
 our Saviour and various saints, and no less than five 
 balconies (from the central one of which, as at 
 St. Peter's, the Pope gives his benediction), grace 
 this heavy mass of building. The large bronze door, 
 adorned with bas-reliefs, was brought from the Tem- 
 ple of Peace in the Forum ; and in the corridor is a 
 clumsy statue of Constantine, found in his baths, 
 which betrays the miserable state of the arts in his time. 
 The nave was botched by Borromini, who covered 
 the ancient columns with twelve large pillars, and 
 two smaller behind. " Borromini being mad, I am 
 surprised at nothing that he has done. I am sur- 
 prised only, that, after having built one church, he 
 was employed on a second ; yet the man went on 
 murdering the most sumptuous edifices in Rome, 
 until at last he murdered himself." Forsyth. 
 
 The heads of St. Peter and St. Paul are said to be 
 enshrined at the high altar; and that of the holy 
 sacrament is ornamented with pillars of " verd an- 
 tique," and Composite columns of gilt bronze, nearly 
 nine feet in circumference, said to have been made 
 by order of Augustus, from the prows of the enemies' 
 galleys taken at Actium. Burton, vol. ii. p. 175. 
 Another account is, that Vespasian brought them 
 from Jerusalem. 
 
 The Corsini chapel, erected by Clement XII. in 
 honour of St. Andrew Corsini, his ancestor, is the 
 richest in Rome. The porphyry sarcophagus, which 
 adorns the Papal monument, was brought from the 
 Pantheon ; the cupola of the chapel is covered with 
 gilding, and the pavement is of fine marble. 
 
 The baptistry is an octagonal building, attributed 
 
176 
 
 to Constantino, where, according to the monkish 
 writers, he received baptism from Pope St. Silvester. 
 " The priests pretend that Constantine himself was 
 'baptized here ; but what a multitude of lies has the 
 Romish church told, and made the fine arts repeat, 
 on that doubtful character. Built in an a^e when 
 
 o 
 
 converts went down in crowds to be baptized, this 
 edifice blends the temple with the bath." Forsyth. 
 The font is below the pavement, and large enough 
 for the total immersion of adults. At the entrance 
 are two splendid Composite pillars of red porphyry, 
 with elaborately ornamented bases, the only instance 
 of the kind I saw in Rome ; and the cornice also is 
 a fine specimen of ancient sculpture, but they are 
 half buried in the wall. Forsyth says of these, 
 " how august must the temple have been which 
 resigned these stupendous columns to patch the brick 
 wall of this ecclesiastical farrago !" The font at 
 present used is an antique urn of basalt, and Jews 
 and other infidel converts are baptized here on the 
 Saturday before Easter. 
 
 The frescoes represent the appearance of the cross 
 in the sky, the battle of the Ponte Molle, Constan- 
 tine's triumphs, his burning the books written against 
 the bishops, his kissing the martyrs' wounds, his 
 destruction of the heathen images, and placing the 
 cross in their stead. 
 
 Close to St. John Lateran is a wonderful instance 
 of the gross superstition of the Roman Catholic faith, 
 exemplified in the hordes of devotees which are daily 
 seen ascending, on their knees, the holy staircase, 
 which was brought from Jerusalem, and piously 
 
177 
 
 believed to have belonged to Pilate's palace, and by 
 which our Saviour was led to judgment. The steps 
 of the "scala santa," twenty-eight in number, are of 
 marble, but the devotional clambering up has so 
 injured them, that they have been twice covered with 
 planks, and the third covering is now a good deal 
 the worse for wear. A small brass cross fastened 
 on the top stair is kissed by all who perform this 
 laudable penance. St. Leo III. placed in the chapel 
 also, for the attraction of the devotees, parts of the 
 cradle, of " the coat without seam," of the loaves 
 and fishes, of the table of the last supper, of the 
 reed, and of the purple robe ! 
 
 In the piazza is the highest obelisk in Rome, of 
 red granite, covered with hieroglyphics, brought by 
 Constantine from the Temple of the Sun at Thebes 
 to Alexandria, and from thence removed to Rome by 
 Julian, and placed in the Circus Maximus, where it 
 was found, A. D. 1588, broken in three pieces, and 
 buried sixteen feet under the soil. The height is one 
 hundred and nine feet, without base or pedestal, and 
 at the bottom it is eleven feet broad. 
 
 The Basilica of Sta. Maria Maggiore, the third in 
 rank, and called Maggiore from being the largest 
 church dedicated to the Virgin, is a flagrant instance 
 of that excess of ornament which characterises so 
 many of the churches at Rome. The aisles, how- 
 ever, are of handsome proportion, and the Ionic 
 pillars, of white marble, have a grand effect; the 
 ceiling of the middle aisle is flat, and gilded with 
 the first gold brought from Peru, and presented by 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 Ferdinand and Isabella, A. D. 1500, to that monster 
 of iniquity Alexander VI. 
 
 In the Borghese chapel, the altar of the Virgin is 
 a mass of oriental alabaster, lapis lazuli, bronze, and 
 agate ; and over it, surrounded by gems, and sup- 
 ported by four bronze angels, is the picture of the 
 Virgin, said to be painted by St. Luke, and a papal 
 bull declares it to be genuine ; but in these matters, 
 the Popes are not infallible. 
 
 The beautiful fluted Corinthian pillar, of white 
 marble, forty-seven feet high, brought from the Tem- 
 ple of Peace in the Forum, and placed in front of this 
 church by Paul V. in 1513, has been entirely spoiled 
 by the barbarous additions of Papal taste. A clumsy 
 pedestal takes off from its height and beauty of pro- 
 portion, eagles and wreaths have been added at the 
 base, the capital is crowned by a square pediment, 
 and a bronze figure of the universal deity of the 
 Romish church. The inscription purports that it 
 belonged to the temple dedicated to Peace by Vespa- 
 sian, on account of the conquest of Judaea, but is 
 " now consecrated to the most blessed Virgin." 
 
 A small granite pillar, in form of a cannon, sur- 
 mounted by a Madonna and cross, commemorates 
 the absolution given by Clement VIII. to Henry IV. 
 of France, in 1505, on his apostasy, and conversion 
 to the Roman Catholic faith. 
 
 St. Paul's, another of the " Basilicse," is situated 
 about two miles outside the walls, in the flat and 
 unwholesome " campagna." It was begun by Theo- 
 dosius in 386, and finished by Honorius in 395 ; but 
 
179 
 
 a fire, 16th of July, 1824, by some attributed to the 
 Jews, but with far greater probability to accident, 
 destroyed the whole fabric, with the exception of the 
 west front and the high altar. The rents made in 
 the columns by the fire are immense, and the ruins 
 present a scene of destruction hardly to be equalled. 
 This was the largest church except St. Peter's, and 
 the forty Corinthian pillars of the nave, thirty-nine 
 feet in height and eleven feet eight inches in circum- 
 ference, were considered to be unrivalled ; and the 
 whole of these, and the greater part in the aisles, were 
 taken from the villa of Gordian, or the " Basilica 
 Emilia," in the Forum. Forsyth and others say that 
 the violet coloured pillars of the nave were brought 
 from Hadrian's tomb. 
 
 St. Lorenzo, another of the " Basilicee," is about a 
 mile outside the town, and the original church was 
 built by Constantine, and probably cobbled out of a 
 temple of Neptune which stood here. In the nave 
 are twenty- two Ionic granite columns ; and, as the 
 frog and lizard appear upon one, Winkelmarin argues 
 that it was brought from the portico of Octavia, as 
 Pliny says that two architects of Sparta, Saurus and 
 Batrachus, were employed, and fearing to affix their 
 names, placed these emblems on the volutes. Bur- 
 ton, vol. ii. p. 200. 
 
 The tribune is raised, probably the ancient church, 
 and under the altar the bodies of St. Stephen and 
 St. Lorenzo are said to be enshrined. In the tribune 
 are four pilasters and twelve beautiful fluted Corin- 
 thian pillars of violet marble, and on the capitals of 
 two of them are warlike trophies, and this affords 
 
 N2 
 
argument to Nibby that they belonged to the portico 
 of Octavia, erected by Augustus after the victory of 
 Actium. 
 
 Through the gratings in the subterranean chapel 
 is a view of the catacombs, said to extend for two 
 miles, made by St. Ciriaca, a Roman matron, and in 
 which St. Lawrence and many martyrs are buried. 
 The guide told us that several visitors had nearly 
 been lost in wandering through these gloomy laby- 
 rinths, and they were therefore closed. 
 
 Adjoining St. Pietro in Montorio is a small con- 
 vent of twenty-one Franciscans, and a circular Doric 
 chapel, with a dome supported by pillars of black 
 granite, in the centre of the court, built by Bramante, 
 commemorates the spot where the cross stood on 
 which St. Peter was crucified. Beneath is a subter- 
 ranean chapel, where a lamp is kept constantly burn- 
 ing, the spot where the cross was fixed ; but several 
 other places, all in the vicinity of the Vatican, have 
 been mentioned. From the terrace in front of this 
 church there is an excellent view of Rome. 
 
 St. Pietro in Vincoli derives its name from possess- 
 ing the precious relic, the chain with which St. Peter 
 was bound in prison. But it is locked up in the 
 sacristy, one key is kept in the Vatican, another by 
 the senator, another somewhere else, and it is visible 
 to no one below the dignity of a Cardinal, or Royalty. 
 The pillars of the nave of this church are of Greek 
 marble, and were brought from Diocletian's baths. 
 
 The chief object of attraction is the colossal statue 
 of Moses, by M. Angelo, which ornaments the tomb 
 of Pope Julius II. Criticism, abuse, and admiration 
 
181 
 
 have been profusely lavished on this wonderful per- 
 formance. The figure is seated, the left arm rests on 
 the tables of the law. Some critics sav that the 
 
 tf 
 
 beard and horns make him resemble a satyr, and 
 that the drapery is cumbrous, and that the beard is 
 too ample. " One critic compares his head to a 
 goat's, another his dress to a galley slave's ; but the 
 true sublime resists all ridicule ; the offended law- 
 giver frowns on, undepressed, and awes you with 
 inherent authority." Forsyth. The pavement of 
 the sacristy was brought from Titus' baths, of which 
 the tribune formed a part. 
 
 St. Theodore, near the Forum, is a small round 
 church of brick, and called the temple dedicated by 
 Tatius, King of the Sabines, to Romulus ; and the 
 brazen wolf, now in the Capitol, was removed from 
 hence in the sixteenth century. The Roman women 
 still carry their sick children to the church of St. Theo- 
 dore to be cured, by the intercession of the saint, a 
 custom which was observed by the Roman matrons 
 of old in the temple of the founder of their city. In 
 all probability the present rotunda was built on or 
 near the site of the original temple, and this agrees 
 with the account of Dionysius of Halicarnassus. 
 
 The church of St. Ignatius, the saintly founder of 
 the Jesuits, to the college of which order it is annexed, 
 is covered with marble and gilding. A bas-relief, 
 by Le Gros, of the apotheosis of St. Louis Gonzaga, 
 is much admired ; and under the altar, enshrined in 
 crystal, is the sarcophagus of the saint, of lapis lazuli 
 and silver gilt Gregory XIII. erected the college 
 
182 
 
 in 1582. In the piazzas are pulpits, where the 
 learned sciences are taught gratis by this insinuating 
 and mischievous sect. The museum, commenced by 
 Father Kircher, contains a large collection of Roman 
 antiquities ; and there is also a library of seventy 
 thousand volumes. Here we saw lives of Mary, 
 Queen of England, Mary, Queen of Scots, Philip of 
 Spain, &c. written in the highest strain of panegyric, 
 violent criminations of Elizabeth, Luther, Calvin, and 
 all the Reformers, and long accounts of the perse- 
 cutions and martyrdoms of the Jesuits and Catholics, 
 illustrated with engravings of their sufferings and 
 torments : there were about one hundred and seventy 
 students in the College ; the landed possessions are 
 gone, but a large annual stipend is paid by his 
 Holiness. 
 
 The church of Jesus is loaded with gilding, 
 variegated marble, frescoes, and sculpture, and at 
 the high altar are busts of Popes and saints in solid 
 silver. 
 
 The chapel of St. Ignatius glares with decoration; 
 the altar is adorned with four fluted pillars of lapis 
 lazuli, and the tomb of the saint, of gilt bronze, shines 
 with precious stones. On one side is a bas-relief, by 
 Le Gros, of Religion vanquishing Heresy, according 
 to the Catholic manual ; but the Protestant will not 
 be much surprised at finding that the two figures 
 hurled down and prostrate at the sight of the cross 
 are Luther and Calvin, and poor Luther is also 
 embarrassed by a huge serpent. Where Forsyth 
 says, " Luther and his wife blasted by a fine young 
 
183 
 
 woman, named Religion," it should have been Luther 
 and Calvin. 
 
 In the church of the Capucins is one of Guide's 
 finest pictures, the Archangel Michael treading on 
 Satan, the latter said to be a portrait of Urban VIII. 
 who had offended the artist ; and here is also a 
 curious cartoon, by Giotto, of St. Peter fishing, and 
 called by our Saviour, from which the mosaic in the 
 vestibule of St. Peter, called the " Navicula," was 
 taken. 
 
 Under the church are the vaults, the walls and 
 ceilings of which are covered with bones and skulls, 
 disposed in festoons, crosses, and lamps, and twenty 
 skeletons, or more, recumbent, and in various atti- 
 tudes, are clothed in the habit of the order, with 
 their names and the dates of their decease affixed. 
 
 St. Stefano Rotondo, on the Ccelian Hill, by some 
 called a temple of Bacchus, by others a temple of 
 Claudius, erected by Agrippina and finished by 
 Vespasian. Many, however, doubt all this, and refer 
 it to Pope St. Simplicius, who certainly converted 
 it into a church, and dedicated it to St. Stephen, 
 A. D. 483. The form is circular, and the interior 
 displays great antiquity. There are two concentric 
 rows of columns of granite, with marble capitals and 
 bases, and the walls (of brick) in honour of the first 
 martyr, are covered with a complete slaughter-house 
 of saints in fresco. Each horrible subject of roasting 
 alive, scalding with molten lead, beheading, quar- 
 tering, and devouring by wild beasts, is inscribed 
 with the name of the saint, and the Emperor under 
 
184 
 
 whom he suffered. Julian the apostate, Trajan, De- 
 cius, Nero, Diocletian, S. Severus, Caracalla, Anto- 
 ninus Pius, Lucius Verus, and Gallienus figure in 
 this bloody list. 
 
 The fountains of Rome are numerous. The prin- 
 cipal, that of Trevi, is ornamented with statues and 
 bas-reliefs ; the rock-work is very bold, and the 
 figure of Neptune in his car, drawn by sea-horses, 
 and led by tritons, is appropriate ; but the niches in 
 the facade, the allegorical figures, and the cumbrous 
 entablature and attic, are in bad taste. 
 
 In the Piazza Navona, the largest in Rome, in 
 which the form of the Circus Agonalis, built by 
 Alexander Severus, is traced, are two fountains. The 
 larger is from the design of Bernini ; the basin is 
 seventy-nine feet in diameter, from the middle rises 
 an obelisk of red granite, brought from the Circus of 
 Romulus, and at the base of the rock are four 
 colossal statues of the Ganges, Nile, Danube, and 
 Rio de la Plata, which spout water. Forsyth says, 
 " it affects puzzling conceits, and looks like a fable of 
 JEsop done into stone" This piazza is flooded twice 
 a week in August, to cool the Romans during the 
 hot and unwholesome weather. 
 
 Termini. The name is derived from the adjacent 
 baths, " termi," of Diocletian. It was built from 
 Fontana's designs, and is ornamented with a colossal 
 figure of Moses commanding the water to flow from 
 the rock, and bas-reliefs of Aaron leading the Israel- 
 ites to the spring, and Gideon encouraging his soldiers 
 to cross the Jordan. Four lions spout water ; two, of 
 
185 
 
 white marble, are ill executed ; the others, of basalt, 
 and covered with hieroglyphics, were brought from 
 the portico of the Pantheon. 
 
 The fountain of the " Acqua Paola," built by 
 Paul V. 1612, of marble plundered from Nerva's 
 Forum, discharges volumes of water ; but the Ionic 
 pillars, and the heavy attic above, resemble the gable 
 of a church. The water is brought from the Lake 
 Bracciano, a distance of thirty-five miles. 
 
 The Piazza di Monte Cavallo, on the Quirinal 
 Hill, derives its name from the two horses held by 
 two colossal figures, nearly eighteen feet high, called 
 Castor and Pollux, standing on each side of an 
 Egyptian obelisk. One group is inscribed " Opus 
 Phidioe," and the other " Opus Praxitelis," and said to 
 have been found in the baths of Constantine. The 
 obelisk, of red granite, forty-five feet high, was 
 brought from the mausoleum of Augustus ; and the 
 circular basin, of granite, from the Forum, is the 
 largest in Rome. The horses are chiefly modern, 
 their necks are thick and clumsy, and great doubt 
 exists as to their having been the works of Phidias 
 and Praxiteles. 
 
 The Farnese Palace, belonging to the King of 
 Naples, is immense, and was built from the designs 
 of Sangallo, M. Angelo, and Giacomo della Porta, 
 of the stone of the Colosseum and the Theatre of 
 Marcellus. In the court is a splendid sarcophagus, 
 of Parian marble, of Caecilia Metella, and found in 
 her tomb ; the ceilings of the gallery are painted by 
 A. Caracci, and in the rooms are a fine equestrian 
 
186 
 
 figure of Caligula, found in Caracalla's Baths; a 
 beautifully carved sarcophagus from the same ; and 
 splendid cornices and friezes from the Palace of the 
 Caesars. 
 
 The Colon na Palace, an immense structure, was 
 commenced by Martin V. (Colonna), and contains a 
 large and valuable collection of pictures. Forsyth 
 observes of the numerous Madonnas in these galleries 
 of Italy, " round faced, mild, unimpassioned beauties. 
 Guide's have a faint tinge of melancholy diffused 
 over their large eyes and little mouths." The gallery 
 of this palace is the most splendid in Rome, two 
 hundred and twenty-five feet by thirty-seven feet ; 
 on the ceiling is the battle of Lepanto, painted by 
 Lucchesini, for which M. Antonio Colonna, who 
 commanded the Papal forces, was raised to the 
 honour of a Roman triumph. The pavement is of 
 Parian marble, and the vestibules at each end are 
 adorned with pillars of " giallo antico." In the gar- 
 dens, which are extensive, are statues of this noble 
 family (extinct in the male line), antiquities, and 
 friezes of ancient Rome. 
 
 The Corsini Palace. This huge building was the 
 abode of the profligate Christina, the apostate, who 
 died here in 1689, and is resplendent with the works 
 of S. Rosa, Titian, Caravaggio, Guido, Tintoretto, 
 and Domenichino. Here is also a curule chair of 
 marble, found near St. John Lateran. 
 
 The facade of the Doria Palace, which fronts the 
 Jesuits' College, was built by Bernini, and the galle- 
 ries boast specimens by Caracci, S. Rosa, Guercino, 
 
187 
 
 the celebrated landscape with the mill by Claude, and 
 several starved St. Jeromes, a favourite subject with 
 Spagnoletti. 
 
 In the Spada Palace there is a fine statue of An- 
 tisthenes, seated ; and a colossal figure holding a 
 globe, supposed to be Pompey, at the base of which 
 Caesar fell. 
 
 "And in his mantle muffling up his face, 
 
 Even at the base of Pompey's statue, 
 
 Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell." 
 
 Julius Ceesar. 
 
 The Barberini Palace is the joint production of 
 C. Maderno, Borromini, and Bernini; and Urban 
 VIII., the plunderer, finished it. The ceiling of the 
 great hall is painted by P. da Cortona, the Barberini 
 Bees carried to Heaven by the Virtues, and other 
 allegorical trash. The staircase is for horses as well 
 as men, in imitation of Bramante's, at the Belvidere : 
 and here is the original Fornarina, of Raphael ; Bea- 
 trice Cenci, from the Colonna Palace, by Guido ; 
 and St. Luke, by Guercino, as dark as any mulatto. 
 
 In the Borghese Palace is a small sarcophagus of 
 red porphyry, resting on four sphinxes, and said to 
 have contained Hadrian's ashes : and among the 
 paintings are, Domenichino's Sibyl ; an extraordinary 
 picture of St. Antony preaching to the Fishes, by 
 P. Veronese ; and the Taking down from the Cross, 
 by Raphael. One room is entirely filled with 
 Venuses. 
 
 In the Villa Albani is an immense number of sta- 
 tues, busts, bas-reliefs, and antique marbles, a list of 
 
188 
 
 which would fill a volume. A Caryatid, found in 
 the Appian Way ; Apollo Tauroctanus (bronze), by 
 Praxiteles, from the Aventine Hill ; the celebrated 
 Pallas, ascribed to Phidias ; and a marble basin, 
 twenty- two feet in circumference, sculptured with the 
 Labours of Hercules, from a temple on the Appian 
 Way, and raised to Hercules by Domitian ; are 
 amongst them. 
 
 O 
 
 The streets of Rome, with hardly an exception, 
 are narrow, and paved with small round stones. The 
 Corso is of great length, but there is no splendour in 
 the shops and the houses are mean, and in many of 
 them the small paltry wooden balconies have a very 
 bad effect. The stench in the streets is horrible; 
 linen is hung out on lines to dry, from the windows 
 on all sides, and old, shabby curtains flap with the 
 the wind at the shop doors. 
 
 The population, one hundred and fifty thousand, 
 includes fifty thousand foreigners, who fill the ma- 
 jority of the trades, even the ground is tilled by 
 them, and idleness and depravity distinguish the 
 degenerate race of the modern Romans. The win- 
 dows are filled with women, lolling out in listless 
 sloth from morning to night, and you meet the pea- 
 sants asleep on their cars or half-starved rnules, or 
 see them sitting on the ground smoking, or stretched 
 at full length. Twelve men were assassinated during 
 the carnival, and many of the wounded were sent to 
 the hospitals. The women in the quarters of Monti 
 and Trastavere carry knives, and often use the long 
 pins stuck in their hair as offensive weapons. They 
 are generally handsome, with fine black eyes and a 
 
189 
 
 profusion of dark hair, and pretty figures ; the men 
 are sallow, with a dark scowl and close expression of 
 countenance. The fair sex are absolutely too idle to 
 cook at home, and the family dines at the cook's shop, 
 and " Osteria con cucina" stares you in the face in 
 every street, whilst the Jewesses sit on the pavement 
 mending, for hire, the old clothes of the men, wo- 
 men, and children a glorious example of the indus- 
 trious habits of these modern Cornelias. The air of 
 Rome, during the summer and autumn, is unwhole- 
 
 7 O * 
 
 some in the greatest degree, and in the early part of 
 June, even in the shade, the air resembled the fumes 
 of a forcing-house or vapour-bath. The half-starved 
 mules carry enormous loads on their galled backs. 
 Paul V., in allusion to the number 5, made a regulation 
 that a gang in Rome should not exceed five, and so 
 it is still. The noble oxen of Tuscany are here 
 metamorphosed into Pharaoh's lean kine, and are 
 goaded to death. 
 
190 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 EXCURSION TO TIVOLI. LAGO DE TARTARI. SOL- 
 
 FATARA. PLAUTIA1ST TOMB. HADRIAN'S VILLA. 
 
 ALBANO. VELITRI. TERRACINA. ITRI. MOLA 
 
 DI GAETA. CAPUA. NAPLES. 
 
 THE distance from Rome to Tivoli is about eighteen 
 Roman miles over the most wretched and desolate 
 tract of country imaginable, and half-tilled fields, 
 broken fences, and every characteristic of unimproved 
 cultivation meet the eye in all directions. 
 
 About four miles from the Porta St. Lorenzo the 
 road crosses the small stream of the Teverone, the 
 ancient Anio, by the Ponte Mammolo, the Pons 
 Mammeus, built by Mammea, the mother of Alex- 
 ander Severus, and eight miles farther is the Lago 
 de Tartari, once the crater of a volcano. The colour 
 of the water is yellow, and the whole of the edge of 
 the lake, the roots of trees, the grass, weeds, and 
 vegetable matter around, are a mass of putrefaction ; 
 and from this process going on continually, the size 
 of the lake has been considerably lessened, and the 
 circumference now is barely half a mile. Returning 
 to the main road, you cross the Canal of the Solfatara, 
 about two miles in length, made by the Cardinal 
 Hippolito d'Este, to carry the superabundant water of 
 the lake above into the Anio. The colour is a light 
 blue, and the sulphureous smell most powerful. A 
 mile beyond is the lake, the Aquae Albulae of the 
 
191 
 
 Romans, one mile in circumference, and upwards of 
 one hundred and thirty feet deep. The stagnant 
 blue water, the vapours of sulphur and bitumen ex- 
 haling 1 from it, the flat barren region which surrounds 
 it, and the ruins of Agrippa's Baths on the banks, 
 combine a scene of arid sterility and lonely desolation 
 hardly to be surpassed. 
 
 " Itur ad Herculeae gelidas qua Tiburis arces, 
 Canaq. sulphureis Albula fumat aquis." 
 
 Mart. lib. i. ep. 5. 
 
 The Baths of Agrippa were frequented by Augus- 
 tuSj and were considered to be very efficacious in the 
 cure of cutaneous disorders. The bituminous vapour 
 which rises from the lake, unites with the dust and 
 small portions of earth, shrubs, and reeds, which are 
 condensed and interlaced as it were, and form small 
 islands, if they deserve the name, which float on the 
 surface, and are described by Pliny, ep. viii. 20. 
 
 The road again crosses the Teverone by the Ponte 
 Lucano, the Pons Lucanus built by M. Plautius Lu- 
 canus, and at the extremity of the bridge is the Plau- 
 tian Tomb, a circular massive tower, resembling that 
 of C. Metella in shape, but smaller, and built of 
 travertine stone. Of the Ionic pillars which adorned 
 it only some fragments remain. This tomb, from the 
 brickwork and vestiges of battlements on the top, was 
 evidently converted into a fortress during the wars of 
 the middle ages. 
 
 Tivoli, the Tibur of the Romans, celebrated for its 
 picturesque situation, for the magnificent villas which 
 surrounded it, and immortalized by Catullus, Horace, 
 and all the Latin poets, is as filthy and miserable a 
 
192 
 
 place as can be imagined. The narrow lanes, for 
 they are undeserving the name of streets, run in and 
 out like the windings of a labyrinth, and the squalid 
 inhabitants, half civilised and half starved, are but 
 sorry specimens of the paternal rule of the sovereign 
 pontiff. 
 
 Close to the Inn, the Sibilla, which furnishes 
 wretched quarters, is the Temple of Vesta, circular, and 
 surrounded by a portico of eighteen fluted Composite 
 pillars, nineteen feet high, ten of which remain, and 
 the entablature is decorated with festoons of fruit and 
 flowers, and heads of oxen, resembling that which 
 surrounds the tomb of C. Metella. It will be re- 
 marked that the doorway of this temple, and the win- 
 dow which remains, are narrower at the top than the 
 bottom, the Egyptian mode o f building ; and it has 
 therefore been supposed that it was repaired, or erected 
 by Hadrian, who, as appears from the quantity of 
 Egyptian gods and ornaments found at his villa, was 
 particularly fond of every thing Egyptian. 
 
 This was long called the Temple of the Sibyl, but 
 the modern critics decide it to have been wrong. 
 Fulvio, who wrote in the sixteenth century, calls it 
 the Temple of the Goddess Albunea, " Domus Albu- 
 neae resonantis," the fountain from which the Albula 
 flowed ; and Mr. Kelsall thinks, from an inscription 
 found near the spot, that it was raised in honour of 
 Drusilla, the sister of Caligula. Burton. 
 
 Forsyth leans to the old opinion, and says that 
 antiquaries have given up her Corinthian rotunda to 
 Vesta, merely because it is round. But Vesta is not 
 recorded among the Tiburtine deities ; the niche 
 
193 
 
 fronting the door is inapplicable, as there were no 
 statues in Vesta's temples. " But the Sibyl, we are 
 certain, had a temple at Tivoli, and a statue, which 
 was removed thence to the Capitol ; the traditional 
 name, too, was always Sibilla." Forsyth. Near the 
 temple is a small oblong building, with four Ionic 
 pillars in front, very much defaced, and now meta- 
 morphosed into the church of St. George, called the 
 Temple of the Tiburtine Sibyl, formerly Vesta's, be- 
 fore they changed names. Close to these temples is 
 a path, made by the orders of the French General, 
 Miollis, when governor of Rome in 1809, which 
 leads to Neptune's Grotto. From the platform of 
 rock, which overhangs the abyss, you behold the 
 Anio rushing down from the crags above, through an 
 immense vaulted cavern into the Grotto of Neptune 
 beneath, and on the left the river is precipitated 
 into the black chasm in two streams, and at the sum- 
 mit of the rock are the ruined arches of a Roman 
 villa. A curious instance of the petrifying properties 
 of the Anio may be seen close to the path, where a 
 mass of hard stone has been formed round a wheel, 
 the wood-work is gone, but the impression remains ; 
 and on the rocks, exposed to the falls, the roots of 
 the trees are petrified, and in places where the 
 ground has been flooded, it has been converted into 
 a plain of travertine stone. 
 
 Near the Villa d'Este, is the " Tempio della 
 Tosse," a circular building in tolerable preservation, 
 but the antiquarians have not settled whether it was 
 dedicated to " Tussis," the god of cough, a curious 
 deity certainly, or whether it was the mausoleum of 
 
194 
 
 the Tussis family. Close by are said to be the ruins 
 of the Villa of Sallust. 
 
 The great cascade of Tivoli, the admiration of 
 travellers, is no more. A dreadful inundation of the 
 Anio, in 1826, carried away the bridge, destroyed 
 several houses, swept away the rocks, and ruined the 
 cascade entirely, which is now reduced to a quiet 
 stream, falling down an artificial inclined plane. 
 
 At some distance beyond, are the small remains of 
 the Villa of Catullus, the situation of which has been 
 verified from his own description, and from marbles 
 found there. But Horace's exists only in name. 
 The Villa Lucretilis is more than ten miles from 
 Tivoli, and Forsyth says, " the Sabine farm has no- 
 thing to represent it within twelve miles of the 
 
 i " 
 place. 
 
 Following a rough path on the side of the hill, 
 you arrive in front of the smaller Cascatelle, which 
 rush down from the heights, and above are the Doric 
 arcades of the once magnificent Villa of Maecenas, 
 which now belongs to the Duchess of Chablais, who 
 lets it to an iron-founder ; the water turns his mill, 
 and the black smoke darkens the walls ! 
 
 Crossing the Anio by a bridge, built by the Ro- 
 mans, and ascending a steep and craggy path, which 
 reminds one of the mule-roads of Savoy, you reach 
 the plain, and approach Hadrian's Villa, through an 
 avenue of the mournful cypress. From the remains 
 still visible, and the ground which it covered, com- 
 puted at three miles in length, and one mile in 
 breadth, this must have been one of the most exten- 
 sive villas in Italy. Hadrian collected here all the 
 
195 
 
 most curious and valuable objects that he had seen 
 in Greece, Asia, and Egypt. 
 
 In imitation, therefore, of the former, we have the 
 Greek Theatre, the shape of the proscenium, and the 
 seats of which may still be traced. The "Pcecile" 
 of the temple of the Stoics, and, adjoining, a semi- 
 circular temple with seven niches for statues, the 
 whole of which was covered with porphyry. The 
 remains of a circular building have been called a 
 
 O 
 
 " naumachia," from the mosaics of marine monsters 
 found there ; and near this are the walls of the 
 library, and of a temple, said to be of Venus and 
 Diana. In accordance with the Emperor's taste for 
 the Egyptian, we find here the Serapeon, on the 
 model of the celebrated Serapeon of Canopus ; and 
 an open space behind a niche is supposed to have 
 been the place in which the priest stood concealed, 
 to give the oracular responses, and thus to prompt the 
 god of stone. Near this was the "Academia," the 
 entrance to the infernal regions, and the fields of 
 Elysium beyond. The vale of Thessalian Tempe, 
 and the small stream, christened the " Peneus," show 
 his Grecian taste. 
 
 The ruins of the Barracks of the Prtetorian Guards 
 are very extensive, but the lower story only remains, 
 and these are now called " Cento Camerelle," on 
 account of the number of chambers, between which 
 there was no communication, but all opened into an 
 outer gallery. Gardens, olive-yards, and vineyards 
 now occupy the site of Hadrian's Villa, and the mar- 
 ble statues, basalt, porphyry, caryatides, columns, 
 cornices, friezes, vases, and mosaics, have been trans- 
 
 o2 
 
196 
 
 ferred to the Vatican, and to various parts of Italy. 
 " Hadrian's invidious successors neglected it ; the 
 Goths sacked it. Antiquarian Popes and Cardinals 
 dug to plunder it. The masons of the dark ages 
 pounded its marbles into cement." Forsyth. 
 
 A score of small crosses stuck up by the road side, 
 between Rome and Tivoli, emblems of the amiabi- 
 lity of the Roman character, mark the spot where a 
 victim has been sacrificed for plunder, jealousy, or 
 revenge ! 
 
 Leaving Rome for Naples, we passed the ruins of 
 the Claudian Aqueduct, which stretch across the 
 flat campagna, and changed horses at the lone post- 
 house of " Torre di mezza via." Near Albano is a 
 large square building, once covered with marble, 
 called the Tomb of Julia, the first wife of Pompey, 
 and the daughter of Julius Caesar. 
 
 Albano, " Albanum," the name of which was de- 
 rived from the ancient Alba, is filthy, and the houses 
 mean. At the base of the mountain, Domitian built 
 a palace, and an amphitheatre for games, and the 
 reservoirs for the water remain, and there are also 
 vestiges of the Praetorian camp. 
 
 From the Capuchin convent there is a good view 
 of the Lake of Albano, and the wooded banks rise 
 shelving from it, like the crater of a volcano; the 
 circumference is five miles, and in parts the depth is 
 upwards of five hundred feet. The canal, above a 
 mile in length, three feet and a half wide, six feet 
 high, and cut through the rock, is one of the most 
 extraordinary works of the Romans, and is still per- 
 fect, and was made, 393, A. C., when the city was 
 
197 
 
 threatened with an inundation during the siege of 
 Veii; and the Delphic oracle being consulted, re- 
 plied, that the Romans would not take Veii, till they 
 made a passage for the waters of the lake of Albano. 
 
 The small village of Castel Gandolfo, and the 
 Pope's Palace, are finely situated on the banks. The 
 salubrity of the air is remarkable, especially when 
 contrasted with the vicinity of Rome, and with the 
 eternal city itself. 
 
 Beyond Albano, and close to the road, is the tomb 
 of the Horatii, on a lofty square base. Originally 
 there were five cone-shaped pyramids, one in the 
 centre, and one at each angle, and two of the latter 
 are entire. But the locality does not at all agree 
 with Livy's account ; and it has been supposed, by 
 some, to be Pompey's tomb, erected by Cornelia. 
 Burton quotes Varro Atacinus, to prove that Pompey 
 had no tomb, though Plutarch says that his ashes 
 were deposited near his Alban villa. 
 
 " La Riccia," Aricia, about a mile beyond, on the 
 Appian way, is most romantically situated on a lofty 
 eminence, covered with luxuriant foliage, and the 
 road, amid rocks and ilexes, after the desolate " cam- 
 pagna," which we had just quitted, seemed a fairy 
 land. 
 
 Near Genzano is the Lake of Nemi, " speculumq. 
 Dianae." The former is the Cynthianum of the 
 ancients, and in the vicinity is Pratica, the " Lavi- 
 nium" of the Romans. 
 
 Velletri, Velitrae, the capital of the Volsci, is pic- 
 turesquely situated, with a beautiful wooded fore- 
 ground in front of the heights, but within is a 
 
198 
 
 miserable collection of filthy houses, steep, narrow 
 streets, and a cadaverous population, the effects of 
 the unwholesome air of the "campagna," and the 
 men have the ferocious aspect of brigands. 
 
 Velitri is said to have been the birth-place of Au- 
 gustus, and Tiberius, Nerva, Caligula, and Otho, 
 had villas here. There are remains of the ancient 
 walls, and the gate towards Naples is flanked by two 
 round towers. 
 
 At Tre Ponti, " Tripontium," the Pontine marshes, 
 twenty-five miles in length, and from six to twelve 
 miles in breadth, commence. The road, along a 
 dead flat, and through an avenue of trees, is excel- 
 lent. On the right, runs the canal, twenty miles 
 long, cut to drain these noxious swamps, by Pius VI. 
 It was originally projected by Appius Claudius, the 
 Censor ; Cethegus and Caesar, Trajan, and Theodoric, 
 King of the Goths, proceeded towards perfecting the 
 work. 
 
 Boniface VIII., Martin V., and Sixtus V., cut 
 several canals; and Pius VI. (Braschi) made the 
 present road on the foundations of the Appian Way. 
 " Pius VI. having kept his road mathematically 
 straight for more than twenty miles, would not turn 
 it ; but, more obstinate than the Emperor Trajan, 
 pursued, at a tenfold expense, his dear right line to 
 the end." Forsyth. 
 
 A few tablets of Theodoric remain, and close to 
 the post-house of Meza, the ancient " ad medias 
 vias" is a marble column, with an inscription, and 
 the number of miles marked a milliary of Trajan. 
 The " malaria" is very prevalent here in July, Au- 
 
199 
 
 gust, and September; guard-houses are numerous, 
 but in the day there is no risk in travelling ; but ten 
 years ago it was nearly as bad as in the night. 
 
 The situation of Terracina, the "Anxur" of the 
 Volsci, at the termination of the marshes, is striking. 
 On the heights are the Cathedral, the ruined arches, 
 called Theodoric's Palace, and the Temple of Jupi- 
 ter Anxur. 
 
 " Impositum late saxis candentibus Anxur." Hor. 
 
 " O nemus! O fontes! solidumq. madentis arenae 
 Littus, et aequoreis splendidus Anxur aquis." 
 
 Mart. lib. x. 
 
 The sea has receded here considerably, the port, 
 made by Antoninus Pius, is choked up with sand, 
 and ruined ; but the rings for mooring the vessels 
 still remain. Pius VI. erected a palace at Terracina, 
 and some grottoes in the rock mark the site of the 
 Emperor Galba's. This is the last town in the 
 Papal states. 
 
 Beyond, the road runs close to the sea, and the 
 rocks are covered with myrtles, and a salt lake ex- 
 hales abundance of " malaria." At the guard-house 
 of " Torre di Confini," you enter the Neapolitan 
 territory. Fondi, on the Appian Way, is a small 
 wretched town, with the remains of old walls. The 
 environs abound in oranges and lemons, and near it 
 is the grotto where Sejanus saved the life of Tibe- 
 rius ; and on a rocky eminence is the Villa Castello, 
 the birth-place of the Emperor Galba. 
 
 Itri is also on the Appian Way. The surrounding 
 country, which is wild and picturesque, produces 
 
200 
 
 vines, figs, olives, myrtles, laurels, and the mastic 
 tree, from which the gum is extracted. 
 
 Itri is the " Mamurra " of Horace, and consists of 
 a long, narrow, dirty street, or rather lane, of stone 
 huts, which was lined by a complete phalanx of 
 beggars, whose clamours for charity were quite 
 deafening. 
 
 At a short distance from " Mola di Gaeta, is the 
 Tomb of Cicero, formed of immense blocks of unce- 
 mented stone, supposed to have been erected on the 
 spot where he was murdered in his litter, by the 
 emissaries of Mark Antony. The interior is circular, 
 and a column, in the centre, reaches from the top to 
 the bottom. 
 
 "Mola di Gaeta," the ancient " Formise/' 
 
 " Qui Formiarum moenia dicitur 
 Princeps." Hor. lib. iii. od. 17. 
 
 in the middle of a small bay, is a situation the most 
 charming that can be imagined. Orange trees, lau- 
 rels, pomegranates, vines, olives, and jessamines, grow 
 close to the sea, and the view from the Inn, the Villa 
 di Cicerone, with the islands of Procida and Ischia 
 in front, is superb. Cicero's Villa, " Formianum," 
 the retreat of Scipio and Lselius, is supposed to have 
 been near Mola di Gaeta, and the ruins of reticu- 
 lated walls and arches below the garden of the inn, 
 are said to have been a part of it. 
 
 The coast between Mola and Gaeta abounded in 
 villas ; and ruins, and mosaic pavements, are washed 
 up by the sea continually. 
 
 Gaeta is almost insulated, a narrow isthmus con- 
 
201 
 
 necting it with the shore, and the fortifications are 
 of great strength. 
 
 In the Castle, the body of the Constable, Charles 
 of Bourbon, the General of the troops of Charles V., 
 and killed at the siege of Rome, A. D. 1528, when 
 he besieged Clement VII., was preserved for many 
 years, till Ferdinand IV. caused the body to be in- 
 terred, with the honours due to his rank. On the 
 summit of the rock above Gaeta, is a tower, called 
 the " Torre d'Orlando," but really the tomb of Mu- 
 natius Plancus, the founder of Lyons. 
 
 Gaeta was the " Caieta" of the Romans. 
 
 The road to Naples passes through Garigliano, 
 Capua, and Aversa. Near the post-house of the 
 former place are the ruins of aqueducts, and of an 
 amphitheatre, of which the circular part for the seats, 
 and several arcades of stone, are left. The ancient 
 town of " Minturnse " was situated in the neighbour- 
 hood ; and in the adjacent marshes Marius concealed 
 himself from his pursuers. " Marius post sextum 
 consulatum annoq. LXX., nudus, ac limo obrutus, 
 oculis tantummodo ac naribus eminentibus, extrac- 
 tus arundineto circa paludem Maricae, in quam se 
 fugiens, consectantes Sullae equites abdiderat, injecto 
 in collum loro, in carcerem Minturnensium jussu 
 ii. viri perductus est." Patei'C. ii. 
 
 Crossed the narrow and brackish Garigliano, 
 which flows into the Mediterranean, by a bridge of 
 boats. 
 
 " Rura, quae Liris quieta 
 Mordet aqua taciturnus amnis." 
 
 Hor. lib. i. od. 30. 
 
202 
 
 The road beyond was so sandy, that six horses were 
 put to the carriage. The plain was like a. garden, 
 rich, and well cultivated, and however beggars may 
 swarm, and poverty and misery prevail among the 
 lower orders, the Neapolitans beat the lazy Romans, 
 hollow, in industry. 
 
 Capua is situated in the plain, and fortified, and 
 is on the river Vulturnus. " Vulturnusq. celer." 
 Lucan, ii. 28. 
 
 But Vulturno, supposed to have been the ancient 
 Capua, which softened by its luxuries the heroes of 
 Cannae and Thrasymene, and was called " Dives, 
 felix, amorosa," and produced Falernian, Massican, 
 and Caecubian wines, and Venafrian oil, is distant 
 more than two miles from this ill built, dirty town, 
 which possesses neither luxury nor attraction for 
 Hannibal, or any other conqueror. 
 
 The Carthaginians promised to make Capua the 
 capital of Italy, and she had the audacity to com- 
 pare herself to Rome. 
 
 The Romans besieged Capua, made the inhabi- 
 tants slaves, beheaded the senators, having first 
 scourged them ; and it was afterwards ruined by the 
 Vandals, restored by Narses, and destroyed by the 
 Lombards ; and the ruins of the old town were used 
 in building the new. In the walls are inscriptions, 
 heads or the key-stones of the arches, and pieces of 
 marble, let in. 
 
 A versa was re-established by the Romans, and 
 derived its name as being opposed to Naples, from 
 which city they wished to draw the inhabitants. 
 Charles of Anjou, King of Naples, destroyed it. In 
 
203 
 
 the Castle, Andrew, King of Naples, was barba- 
 rously murdered, by the orders of Joanna, his con- 
 sort, A. D. 1345. Aversa is a bishopric. La Mad- 
 delina, a large asylum for lunatics here, was founded 
 by Murat. From Aversa to Naples, the road is 
 broad, the vines hang in festoons from the elms, and 
 
 ' O * 
 
 the country is fertile. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 NAPLES. 
 
 CHURCH OF ST. FRANCIS. CASTELLO UOVO NUOVO. 
 ST. MARTIN. THE CATHEDRAL. ST. JANUARIUS. 
 CHAPEL OF ST. SEVERO. SANTA CHIARA AND THE 
 JESUITS' CHURCH. ST. PAULO. VIRGIL'S TOMB. 
 GROTTO OF POZZUOLI POZZUOLI. MONTE NUOVO 
 SOLFATARA. PISCINA MIRABILE. LAKE OF AG- 
 NANO. GROTTI DEL CANE. AVERNUS. BAY OF 
 
 BAI.E. 
 
 THE Parthenope of the Phoenicians, " otiosa Neapo- 
 lis." Hor. ep. v. Before Naples became a Roman 
 colony, the language and customs were Grecian. It 
 was augmented and embellished by Hadrian and 
 Constantine, passed through the destructive ordeal 
 of the Goths, and was ruled by the Greek Emperors, 
 the Saracens, the Normans, the French, and the 
 Spaniards. The French took Naples in 1804. Jo- 
 seph Bonaparte was succeeded by Joachim Murat, 
 expelled by the Austrians in 1814. 
 
204 
 
 The situation of this city is one of the most splen- 
 did in the world, and the buildings rise like an 
 amphitheatre from the very brink of the bay, sixteen 
 miles in breadth, about the same in depth, and thirty 
 miles in circumference. The Cape of Misenum 
 boundgag it on the west, the Cape of Massa, or 
 Campanella, and Sorrento on the east. The Island 
 of Capri, " Caprea," rises opposite, forming a natural 
 moat against the force of the Mediterranean, and on 
 the west, the Isle of Procida advances to within two 
 miles of the point of Cape Misenum. 
 
 Portici, Resina, Torre del Greco, Vesuvius, Pom- 
 peii, Castella Mare, and Vico, line the margin of the 
 bay towards Sorrento; and Pausilippo, the Island 
 of Nisida, Puzzuoli, and Baiae extend towards the 
 promontory of Miseno, and Naples; the Castle of 
 St. Elmo, on the heights above, crowns this superb 
 basin. 
 
 Naples contains four hundred and fifty thousand 
 inhabitants, among which, according to some state- 
 ments, there are forty thousand Lazzaroni. The 
 principal street, the Strada di Toledo, nearly a mile 
 long, was built by Peter of Toledo, the Viceroy, in 
 the sixteenth century, and the houses are lofty, with 
 balconies and flat roofs; and, like the rest of the 
 town, is paved with broad slabs of Vesuvius lava. 
 
 The quarter of Sta. Lucia, next the sea, is inhabited 
 chiefly by fishermen ; the Chiatamone, and the Chi- 
 aja, and the gardens of the Villa Reale, stretching 
 along the margin of the Mediterranean for more than 
 half a mile, are delightful promenades. The Neapo- 
 litans are superstitious in the extreme, and fond, 
 
205 
 
 beyond measure, of outward ornament and show ; 
 even the cars are gilt, and the mode of driving is 
 curious, the passengers holding the reins, and the 
 owner standing behind the carriage with the whip. 
 " A rage for gilding runs through the nation. It 
 disfigures walls, carriages, furniture. Even the 
 hackney caleche must have its coat of gold, the col- 
 lar-maker gilds his harness, the apothecary gilds his 
 pills, the butcher sticks gold leaf on his mutton." 
 Forsyth. And the fruit, lemonade, and iced-water 
 purveyor fits up his stand like a temple, gilt and 
 ornamented, and it is generally sanctified by the 
 figures of the Virgin, or some favourite saint. 
 
 " Even the tyrants of the world loved this alluring 
 region, spared it, adorned it, lived in it, died in it. 
 This country has subdued all its conquerors, and 
 continues to subvert the two great sexual virtues, 
 guardians of every other virtue, the courage of men 
 and the modesty of women." Forsyth. 
 
 The lower orders are mutinous, menacing, and 
 grossly ignorant, capable of every thing when no 
 danger is at hand, incapable of exertion and cowardly 
 at its appearance. 
 
 There is a good deal of vice in the national cha- 
 racter, and a lack of faith ; but the knife is not in 
 such common use as at Rome ; and though pas- 
 sionate, the people are not generally malicious, and 
 a well-timed joke will go a great way towards ap- 
 peasing the storm. Dirt and filth are as predomi- 
 nant as at Rome ; and the inhabitants of Pozzuoli, 
 Baise, Portici, and Salerno, are said to be brutally 
 ignorant, and of a ferocious spirit. 
 
206 
 
 Cast ell o dell Uovo, Chateau 1'CEuf, derives its 
 name from its shape, and is built on a rock in the 
 bay opposite the Chiatamone, and connected with 
 the shore by a narrow causeway. The wealthy 
 Lucullus, the Roman consul, had a villa here, hence 
 the castle was called Castrum Lucullanum; and 
 William I., the second King of Naples, built a small 
 palace, which was afterwards fortified, and to this the 
 infamous Joanna retired in 1381, when Charles 
 Durazzo, afterwards Charles III., entered Naples. 
 
 The Castello Nuovo, opposite to the Mole, which 
 it defends, was originally built, according to the in- 
 scription by Charles I., Duke of Anjou, the brother of 
 St. Louis, in 1283. The central part, flanked by 
 massive round towers, is the most ancient; the ex- 
 terior works and ditches were finished 1546, by 
 Peter of Toledo, the viceroy. 
 
 The harbour is enclosed by a large mole to the S. 
 and W., constructed by Charles II. of Anjou, A. D. 
 1302. The light-house at the end is a very pic- 
 turesque object; and on the battery below is an 
 inscription purporting that the former light-house 
 having been burnt, it was restored by the Duke of 
 Alba, viceroy under Philip IV., 1626. 
 
 The church of St. Martin once belonged to the 
 
 O 
 
 Carthusian Convent, suppressed by Murat, and con- 
 verted into a military asylum; and in richness of 
 decoration, marble, mosaic, and sculpture, is the most 
 splendid in Naples. Moses and Elias, and the twelve 
 prophets on the roof of the nave, are chefs d'ceuvres 
 of Spagnoletto "all seem variously inspired, yet all 
 the children of the same dark deep featured family."- 
 
207 
 
 Forsyth. The chapels are highly ornamented, and 
 enclosed within bronze gates; and that of St. Bruno, 
 entirely painted by Massino, is much admired. From 
 this eminence the view of Naples is unrivalled, com- 
 prising the bay, the hills of Posilippo, Capo di 
 Monte, Portici, Torre del Greco, Somma, Vesuvius, 
 Castella-mare ; the mountains of Sorrento, Vico, and 
 Massa; the islands of Capri, Ischia, and Procida, 
 "the most curious city, the most singular coast, the 
 most beautiful bay, and the most picturesque islands 
 in Europe." Forsyth. 
 
 Behind the Convent of St. Martin is the Castle of 
 St. Elmo, on an inaccessible rock. Charles II. for- 
 tified it in 1518; and when General Lautrec besieged 
 Naples, Charles V. made it a regular citadel, and 
 Philip V. strengthened it with outworks. The walls 
 are lofty, the counterscarp is cut in the rock, and 
 there are ditches, mines, countermines, subterraneous 
 passages, wells, and an extensive "place d'armes." 
 
 The old Cathedral was destroyed by the earthquake 
 of 1456, and was rebuilt by Alphonso I. The in- 
 terior is lofty, but not handsome; the front is an 
 antique base of Egyptian basalt, covered with the 
 attributes of Bacchus; and the pillars of African 
 marble, thickly coated with plaster and white-wash, 
 belonged to the temples of Apollo and Neptune. The 
 high altar is adorned with rare marbles ; and below is 
 a chapel, supported on columns of Cipollino marble, 
 said to have belonged to the temple of Apollo, and 
 here the body of the patron saint of Naples, St. 
 Januarius, is enshrined. 
 
 The chapel of St. Januarius cost nearly a million 
 
208 
 
 of ducats, and was built in 1608, in consequence of a 
 vow made by the Neapolitans during the plague; the 
 shape is circular, the gates are of bronze, and there 
 are seven altars. The cupola is painted by Lanfranco, 
 the ceiling and angles by Domenichino, who had 
 begun the cupola, but was prevented by death from 
 completing the work, and Lanfranco effaced it. 
 Domenichino is reported to have died of chagrin, 
 on finding that the workmen, gained over by the 
 Neapolitan artists, who were jealous of his fame, had 
 mixed lime with the coatinsr of the wall, in order to 
 
 O * 
 
 ruin his painting; and it is added, that he was in per- 
 petual fear of being poisoned. Forty-two Corinthian 
 columns of brocatello marble adorn the chapel, and 
 upon grand fetes silver busts of saints are placed 
 round the altar, behind which a tabernacle, with silver 
 doors, encloses the head of the, saint, and two phials 
 of his blood. Here is also a bronze figure of the 
 saint giving his benediction to the people; and a 
 painting by Spagnoletto, of his coming out of the 
 furnace unscathed, like Shadrach, Meshach, and 
 Abednego. 
 
 St. Januarius was beheaded at Pozzuoli; and a 
 Neapolitan lady collected some of the blood in two 
 phials, which becomes miraculously liquid, when 
 placed before the head. This miracle is repeated 
 thrice a year, during the eight first days of May, the 
 eight first days of September, and on the festival, the 
 1 8th of December. 
 
 We were present on the 4th May, close to the altar, 
 on which was displayed the head on a silver bust, 
 covered with jewels. The women who crowded 
 
209 
 
 round the rails, made the most violent vociferations ; 
 the old priest prayed loudly and fervently, turning 
 round in his hands the crystal case which contained 
 the precious phials, and absolutely wept at the non- 
 completion of the miracle, whilst the cries of the 
 women were redoubled. However, in about half an 
 hour, the blood became liquid ; the organ sent forth its 
 pious peals, and the crystal shrine was offered to the 
 faithful to press to their lips. 
 
 Four hours and upwards have sometimes elapsed 
 ere the saint has listened to his worshippers, and 
 such delay betokens misfortunes to the city, from the 
 eruptions of Vesuvius, earthquakes, famine, pesti- 
 lence, or war; and so besotted are the people, that 
 to ridicule their fanaticism, might be attended with 
 dangerous consequences. 
 
 The chapel of St. Severe, the mausoleum of the 
 Sangro family, rich in sculpture and precious marble, 
 is situated in one of the narrowest lanes of the city, 
 and has suffered dreadfully from earthquakes. Several 
 of the arches have been filled up to prevent it from 
 falling; the monuments have been shaken, and 
 numerous fissures appear in the walls. 
 
 St. Paolo is built on the site of a temple dedicated 
 to Castor and Pollux, by Julius Tarsus, a freedman of 
 Tiberius. Eight fluted Corinthian pillars, the portico 
 of the temple, adorned the front: all excepting two, 
 however, were destroyed by the earthquake of 1688, 
 and the bases of two others, and the trunks of the 
 statues of Castor and Pollux are buried in the wall. 
 In one of the chapels, are fifty-two neat gilt boxes, 
 containing the bodies of as many martyrs, and the 
 
210 
 
 Sacristy is one of the handsomest in Naples. Ad- 
 joining the church is a court surrounded by ancient 
 granite columns ; and the remains of the wall of the 
 theatre where Nero first appeared in public to sing 
 the verses he had composed " Reversus e Grsecia 
 Neapolim quod in ea artem primum protulerat albis 
 equis introiit, disjecta parte muri, ut mos hieronicarum 
 est." Sueton. Nero, c. 25. 
 
 The shore of Mergellina, on the western coast of 
 the bay, is lined with the wretched huts of fishermen ; 
 and climbing a steep and roughly paved road, you 
 arrive at what is called Virgil's Tomb, situated in a 
 vineyard, and near it are some large caverns in the 
 rock. The form is said to have been that of a temple, 
 with a dome; the interior consists of an arched room, 
 without ornament, and with recesses for urns in the 
 walls. But besides tradition, Donatus, an obscure 
 grammarian of the fourth century, is the sole 
 authority; and the epitaph on the rock, which he 
 declared to be Virgil's, is ascertained to be spurious ; 
 and the "columbaria" indicate rather a family se- 
 pulchre. 
 
 Below is the grotto of Posilippo. An immense 
 cavern, through which, a road is wide enough for two 
 carriages to pass abreast, and two thousand three 
 hundred and sixteen feet long, twenty-two feet broad, 
 fifty-three feet high towards Naples, and upwards of 
 eighty feet in the most lofty part. It has been attri- 
 buted to the Romans, and is mentioned by Strabo, 
 Seneca, and Pliny; but the origin is doubtful, and 
 possibly it was first begun for the purpose of getting 
 stone, and then continued to facilitate and shorten the 
 
211 
 
 communication between Naples and Pozzuoli. On 
 the hill of Posilippo, said to have derived its name 
 from Travmg rrjc XVTTTJC, " a cessation from sorrow," on 
 account of its beautiful situation, were the villas of 
 Lucullus, Pollio, and other wealthy Romans; and to 
 the former, Varro ascribes the formation of the grotto. 
 On the small and fertile island of Nisida, about a 
 mile and a half in circumference, was a villa of 
 M. Brutus, and at one extremity of the summit of the 
 rock, is the castle now used as a state prison. Lu- 
 cullus had also a villa on this island " Nisida insula 
 clarissimi adolescentuli Luculli. CVc." On an insu- 
 lated rock between the island and the shore, is built a 
 lazzaretto, and a small mole runs out, behind which 
 the vessels perform quarantine. 
 
 Pozzuoli is picturesquely situated on a rocky pro- 
 montory the Puteoli of the Romans, so called from 
 the wells sunk there by Quintus Fabius, the resort of 
 the opulent, and its situation, mineral springs, and 
 the magnificence of its buildings have been extolled 
 by Cicero. 
 
 The temple of Jupiter Serapis, discovered by a 
 peasant in 1750, was then almost entire, and with 
 some reparation of the parts thrown down by the 
 earthquake, would have been one of the most perfect 
 existing of antiquity, but stript of its ornaments, 
 statues, columns, cornices, bas-reliefs, and vases, by 
 the Kings of Spain and Naples, it is now a mass of 
 ruin. The shape is rectangular, one hundred and 
 thirty-four feet long, and one hundred and fifteen feet 
 broad, surrounded by porticoes, cells for the priests, 
 and lustral chambers or baths. In the centre is a 
 
 p2 
 
212 
 
 circular temple sixty-five feet in diameter, and three 
 of the columns of the portico, of Cipollino marble, 
 each of a solid block, are standing. Sixteen pillars of 
 red marble supported the cupola, and the "adytum," 
 or cell of the god, was discovered a few years since, 
 and two rings to which the victims were fastened. 
 
 The Cathedral of Pozzuoli is dedicated to St. 
 Proculus, who was martyred with St. Januarius. 
 
 The mole on the coast formerly extended far into 
 the sea, and thirteen of the buttresses remain. It was 
 built by the Greeks, repaired and improved by 
 Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, and Caligula joined to 
 it a bridge of boats three thousand feet in length, 
 covered with planks and earth, which reached as far 
 as Baise; and when it was finished, rode over it, 
 crowned with oak leaves, mounted on a richly capari- 
 soned steed; and on the next day traversed it in a 
 chariot, dressed as a charioteer, accompanied by 
 Darius, whom the Parthians had given as a hostage. 
 " Postridie quadrigario habitu, curriculoq. bijugi 
 famosorum equorum prae se ferens Darium, puerum ex 
 Parthorum obsidibus, comitante praetorianorum ag- 
 mine, et in essedis cohorte amicorum." Suet. Calig. 
 
 The Monte Nuovo, four miles in circumference, 
 and one thousand feet high, was ,'ormed in thirty-six 
 hours by a volcanic explosion, and dreadful earth- 
 quake, 29th September, 1538, which swallowed up 
 the village of Tripergole, with its unfortunate inha- 
 bitants, the ground opening, and ejecting flames, 
 smoke, sand, and stones; and at the same time a great 
 part of the Lucrine Lake, the Lacus Lucrinus of the 
 Romans, was filled up. 
 
213 
 
 There are considerable remains of the amphitheatre 
 of Puteoli, which was more ancient than the Colos- 
 seum. The Arena is now a vineyard, one hundred 
 and ninety feet by one hundred and thirty feet. The 
 corridors are gracefully curved, and great part of 
 them are perfect, and some of the troughs for the 
 beasts to drink out of, are left. Augustus was present 
 at games celebrated here to his honour. 
 
 A small chapel dedicated to St. Januarius and St. 
 Proculus, who were here imprisoned, sanctifies this 
 heathen amphitheatre, arid the legend records that 
 St. Januarius was exposed in it to be devoured by 
 bears, but that they crouched at his feet, and this 
 miracle having converted five thousand heretics to 
 the true faith, Timotheus, the lieutenant of Diocletian, 
 was so enraged, that he ordered the saint to be 
 beheaded forthwith. 
 
 Ascending by the old Roman road, paved with 
 immense stones, you arrive at the Solfaterra, now 
 enclosed, and turned into a manufactory of sulphur, 
 alum, sal-ammoniac, and vitriol. The plain, sur- 
 rounded by a ridge of hills, is the crater of an extinct 
 volcano, and was called by the ancients Forum 
 Vulcani. In some of the cracks or fissures in the 
 ground, a noise is heard resembling the boiling of 
 water; gravel is thrown up with considerable force, 
 and smoke strongly impregnated with sulphur and 
 sal-ammoniac, issues from the apertures. A large 
 stone thrown on the ground produces a hollow sound, 
 and seems to warrant the conclusion, that it is under- 
 mined by subterranean fires, and excavated by hot 
 
214 
 
 mineral substances. This is a most singular tract; 
 the lava and earth have been converted into a white 
 clay by the evaporation of sulphur, and a piece of 
 silver thrust into the ground, becomes quite black in 
 a few minutes. In the building erected over the 
 smoking soil, the minerals evaporate on the walls, and 
 are brushed off to be manufactured. 
 
 Above the Solfaterra is the Capucin church of the 
 Convent, built upon the spot where the all-powerful 
 patron Saint of Naples, and Bishop of Beneventum, 
 was decapitated A. D. 289, and in his chapel the 
 monks show the stone on which he suffered. But 
 the best remains to be told; for the Neapolitans 
 believe that when the liquefying miracle takes place 
 in the Cathedral, the blood on this stone, from 
 sympathy, assumes at the same moment its natural 
 colour. 
 
 In this expedition we saw the Piscina Mirabile; 
 thirty-six pilasters and arches form this ancient 
 reservoir, which is now filled with water, and used 
 by the proprietor of the estate. These reservoirs are 
 said to have belonged to Vedius Pollio, who kept 
 lampreys here fed on human flesh; but after the 
 instances of luxury adduced by Suetonius and Juvenal, 
 one can believe anything. 
 
 A mile and half beyond the grotto of Posilippo is 
 the Lake of Agnano, nearly circular, surrounded by 
 hills, the crater of a volcano, in which the old Roman 
 town of Anglano is reported to be sunk. The lake is 
 very deep, and swarms with frogs and toads, and the 
 water at the bottom is said to be salt. Wild boars 
 
215 
 
 and wild fowl resort here ; and there is a shooting box 
 for the royal family of Naples, for whom the game is 
 strictly preserved. 
 
 Near the lake are the vapour baths of St. Germano, 
 established by the ancients, and considered to be 
 excellent in cases of rheumatism, deafness, and bilious 
 diseases. From the bottom of the cells issue warm 
 vapours, impregnated strongly with sulphur and 
 alum, and the heat is 39 40. of Reaumur; the walls 
 are coated with these substances, and a light being 
 introduced, they emit smoke, which continues for 
 some time. Close to these baths, on the side of the 
 hill, are some ruined arches, ascribed to the villa of 
 Lucullus; and at the base, on the banks of the lake, 
 is the Grotte del Cane, so called from the dog being 
 the animal chosen to exhibit the effects of the noxious 
 vapour. 
 
 This small cavern is about ten feet deep, four feet 
 wide, and eight feet high; there is hardly any deposit 
 on the roof or sides, but the ground below is warm 
 and moist, and from it rises a thin blue vapour. The 
 dog being held down, at first struggles violently, and 
 is thrown into convulsions, breathes with difficulty, 
 and begins to lose all motion, and would soon die; 
 but being taken into the air, after staggering about a 
 little, recovers as quickly as he was before affected. 
 A fowl expires immediately; a lighted torch becomes 
 gradually extinct, but phosphorus resists the carbonic 
 acid. The last dog bore the trial for more than eight 
 years, and was none the worse for it; and the dis- 
 tressing symptoms do not continue half a minute, and 
 in the same space of time, the animal eats the bread 
 thrown to him, and appears as well as ever. 
 
216 
 
 The Lake Avernus, the crater of an extinct volcano, 
 in a valley surrounded by wooded hills, was called by 
 the Greeks Aornos, " without birds," as the tradition 
 was, that the sulphureous exhalations destroyed them, 
 and the gloomy Cimmerian forests on the banks, in- 
 habited by those barbarous fortune-tellers, dreaded 
 from their horrid rites and sacrifices, were cut down 
 by Augustus. 
 
 " facilis descensus Averni : 
 Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis: 
 Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras, 
 Hoc opus, hie labor est." Virg. Mn. vi. 
 
 Near the lake is a grotto one hundred and fifty 
 paces long, and of considerable height, called the 
 cavern of the Cumsean Sibyl, leading from the Tar- 
 tarus of poetic fiction to Acheron, Styx, Cocytus, and 
 Elysium. The end is stopped up by a fall of earth, 
 and a corridor leads to three small chambers, filled 
 with water to about the depth of two feet, called the 
 Sibyls' baths; and we inspected them by torch-light, 
 borne on men's shoulders, and the guides pretend to 
 show the secret door, the oracular seat, and the place 
 where Nero listened to the prophetic maid. Inven- 
 tions, as Forsyth has justly termed them, and in flat 
 contradiction to Virgil, for at Cumae was the fabled 
 cave. Some suppose that the grotto was the passage 
 excavated by Nero to conduct the waters of Baiae to 
 Mysenum, more probably a crypt leading from 
 Avernus to Baioe; and it evidently passed originally 
 through the hill, before the fall of earth and rock 
 blocked up the passage. The water in which fish 
 could not exist, and over which no bird could fly and 
 
217 
 
 live, has lost all its horrors; for it abounds in fish, and 
 is frequented by clouds of wild fowl. 
 
 Returning to the coast, a narrow path under the 
 rocks, leads to the Bay of Baiae, and the Stufe di 
 Tritole, called Nero's baths, as that emperor had a 
 villa here " so hot that the galleries serve for sweat- 
 ing baths; on the walls no mark of sulphur, or of any 
 mineral, that can account chemically for a fire which 
 has kept this cauldron burning for more than two 
 th ousand years . " Forsyth . 
 
 The path to Baiae, close to the sea, commands this 
 singular coast, where remains of walls of the villas of 
 the Romans; amongst them, those of Marius, Sylla, 
 Pompey, Tiberius Caesar, where Marcellus was poi- 
 soned by Livia, Piso, the scene of the conspiracy 
 against Nero, Julia Mammea, the mother of Alex- 
 ander Severus, magnificent above all; and Domitia, 
 the aunt of Nero, poisoned by him for her riches, are 
 blended with the rock, and fragments of frescoed 
 walls, and arched chambers, pieces of mosaic and 
 marble pavement continually washed up by the sea, 
 are all that remains of this celebrated abode of Roman 
 wealth. 
 
 "Nullus in orbe locis Baiis prselucet amoenis." 
 The sea has gained on this part of the coast, and you 
 may sail over the ruins of many of the villas. 
 
 Of the temple of Diana Lucifera, part of the circu- 
 lar alcove remains, and the bas-reliefs of stags and 
 dogs found near it, furnish the authority for this 
 temple; and on the coast is the temple of jjVenus, 
 octagonal without, circular within, and the walls of 
 brick and stone, are immensely thick. In a vineyard 
 
218 
 
 behind this temple, are some rooms called " Le 
 Camere di Venere;" and stucco ornaments and figures 
 in relief may be traced on the walls, black from the 
 smoke of the torches used in examining them. 
 
 Ascending the hill above Bauli, there is a view of 
 the lake Fusano, so called from being used now for 
 the steeping of flax and hemp, on the Palus Acherusa, 
 the Acheron of the poets. 
 
 " Hinc via Tartarei quae fert Acherontis ad undas 
 Turbidus hie cceno vastaq. voragine gurges. 
 ^Estuat, atq. omnem Cocyto eructat arenam." 
 
 Virg. JEn, vi. 
 
 On the lake, which abounds with oysters, is a 
 fishing cottage, belonging to the King of Naples, and 
 beyond are the Elysian fields. 
 
 The Castle of Baiae, a large fortress, rises on the 
 lofty promontory. Beyond Baiae, on the sea- side, is 
 the tomb of Agrippina ; a long vaulted corridor, with 
 stucco ornaments, which may be traced by the glare 
 of the torch, and a recess is pointed out as the burial 
 place of the murdered mother of Nero. But this is 
 not the "levis tumulus" of Tacitus, and probably 
 belonged to some villa, or to a small theatre above it, 
 and the form is not that of a tomb. 
 
 Passing the Castle of Baiae, a path near the rude 
 and miserable village of Bauli, the narrow streets full 
 of ruined walls and arches, and swarming with 
 beggars, is the Cento Camerelle, a complete laby. 
 rinth, arched and lined with hard cement; and below 
 are a number of small subterranean chambers, sup- 
 posed to have been prisons, and the walls of reticu- 
 lated tufo, are amazingly perfect. Further on is the 
 
219 
 
 Piscina Mirabile. Forty-eight pilasters, and bold 
 and lofty arches, form five divisions or corridors, and 
 the coat of cement is as hard as the brick itself. 
 This grand reservoir of water for the use of the Roman 
 fleet, stationed at Mysenum, is two hundred and 
 twenty-five feet in length, seventy-six feet in breadth, 
 and twenty feet high, " the most lofty and picturesque 
 object of a coast which is covered with patrician 
 ru ins. " Forsyth . 
 
 Above this is a fine view of the cape and harbour 
 of Mysenum, in which the Roman fleet was anchored 
 during that dreadful eruption of Vesuvius, which 
 destroyed Stabiae, Herculaneum, and Pompeii; and 
 Pliny, the elder, who commanded it, landing to have 
 a nearer view of the awful spectacle, was suffocated 
 by the ashes, A. D. 79. " Periit clade Campaniae. 
 Nam quum Misenensi classi prseesset, flagrante Ve- 
 sevo, ad explorandas propius causas, Liburnicos prae- 
 tendisset; neque adversantibus ventis remeare posset: 
 vi pulveris ac favillae oppressus est." Sueton. in vita 
 Pirn. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 HERCULANEUM. POMPEII. MUSEUM OF NAPLES. 
 
 AT Portici, on the eastern coast of the bay, and four 
 Italian miles from Naples, the road lies through the 
 court of the Palace ; and under Portici, and the ad- 
 joining village of Resina, is entombed the ancient 
 city of Herculaneum, said to have been founded by 
 
220 
 
 the Phoenician Hercules, one of the most celebrated 
 cities of Campania, and a Roman colony. Hercu- 
 laneum was buried A. J. C. 79, by the same dreadful 
 eruption of Vesuvius, which overwhelmed Stabiae and 
 Pompeii ; and it appears from excavations, that several 
 fresh streams of lava have passed over it since its 
 destruction. 
 
 " Hie locus Herculeo nomine clarus erat. 
 
 Cuncta jacent flammis et tristi mersa favilla." Mart. 
 
 Only twelve skeletons have been found. Some parts 
 are buried sixty-eight feet, others one hundred feet 
 beneath lava and ashes, and the three cities were for- 
 gotten, and there was nothing but tradition to assist 
 the antiquarian, till the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century, when Herculaneum was discovered by mere 
 chance by a peasant sinking a well, and rinding some 
 ancient mosaic. Emmanuel of Lorraine, Prince 01 
 Elbceuf, purchased a right to dig here, and brought 
 to light statues of Hercules and Cleopatra, Grecian 
 statues of Vestals, and a circular temple; but the 
 Government suspended any further operations, till 
 Charles III., in building the palace at Portici in 
 1738, excavated marble statues, columns, frescoes, 
 inscriptions, and finally the theatre, and a great part 
 of the city. Even in 1765, but small progress was 
 made; and in consequence of Portici and Resina 
 being built over Herculaneum, the works were carried 
 on horizontally; and after the houses were examined 
 and the ornaments removed, they were covered in 
 again. The Forum was two hundred and twenty- 
 eight feet long; a piazza of forty columns surrounded 
 it, and the entrance was adorned with equestrian 
 
 
221 
 
 statues in marble, of which Nonius Balbus and his 
 son, in the Museum of Naples, are noble specimens. 
 
 The Theatre is the only building not rilled up, and 
 the descent to it is by a subterranean passage close to 
 " the peasant's well." It would contain ten thousand 
 spectators; the proscenium one hundred and thirty 
 feet long ; the stage, the seats for the consuls, and the 
 orchestra, are entire. The walls of the corridors are 
 stained with dark red, and painted in arabesque; and 
 on the ceiling of one is the impression of a mask. 
 The arches are blocked up with lava, and the only 
 light is from a tunnel near the well. 
 
 Beyond Portici and Resina, is the small town of 
 Torre del Greco, built over the former town, destroyed 
 by the eruption of June 1794. Immense columns of 
 smoke issued forth, accompanied by a shower of 
 ashes ; and torrents of flaming lava poured down, and 
 a stream nearly a mile broad flowed towards the 
 town, buried it, and then ran into the sea, forming a 
 bed of lava on the shore. Other streams flowed 
 towards Resina and Torre del Annunziata, covering 
 the country to an immense extent; and the Palazzo 
 Caracciolo, near Resina, the Franciscan Convent, 
 and the church of Marinari were destroyed. 
 
 One of the churches here is built absolutely upon 
 the last, and the beds of lava form foundations for the 
 houses. 
 
 Near Torre del Annunziata the direful traces of 
 eruption are visible; and a road beyond it, deep in 
 ashes and sand, conducts to the disinterred city of 
 Pompeii. 
 
 This was a Roman colony, upwards of three miles in 
 
222 
 
 circuit, near the mouth of the small river Sarnus, and is 
 supposed originally to have been close to the sea, though 
 now a mile distant. It was buried under ashes, and 
 red hot pumice stones from, the eruption of Vesuvius 
 in A. D. 79, and deluged at the same time with 
 streams of boiling water from the mountain, and was 
 discovered in 1751, by some labourers digging in a 
 vineyard. The excavation was by no means difficult, 
 as there was not more than fifteen feet of pumice 
 stones, earth, and lava, above it. The inhabitants had 
 evidently removed a great part of their portable wealth ; 
 and the flat roofs of the houses only were destroyed by 
 the stones and ashes, which, for the space of four days 
 and nights, poured down upon them, and suffocated 
 or crushed those who remained within. 
 
 The progress of the Neapolitan government, who 
 neither excavate to any extent, or allow others to do 
 so, has been slow, and the credit of all the chief dis- 
 coveries rests with the French. The walls, the 
 amphitheatre, the forum, the basilica, the temples, 
 the street of the tombs near the Herculaneum gate, 
 have been disinterred, but great part remains buried. 
 The streets are straight and narrow, paved with large 
 slabs of lava; and there is a raised foot-path on each 
 side, and some of the smallest are but three yards 
 across, and the tracks worn in the pavement show how 
 narrow the carriages must have been. 
 
 The houses in general seem to have been small: 
 those of the higher class had vestibules, and were 
 adorned with columns; and there was a quadrangle 
 into which all the rooms opened. The rooms are 
 built of tufo and lava, coated with painted stucco; no 
 
223 
 
 chimneys or windows, but merely wooden shutters, 
 although there has been much dispute on this point, 
 some affirming that horn or talc was used; for of 
 glass, little has been found, except in vessels. The 
 houses rarely exceeded one story in height; and For- 
 syth observes, that they were too small for hospitable 
 men, and that the citizens, like their descendants, 
 associated probably in the streets and porticoes. All 
 the rooms and court-yards were paved with mosaic; 
 and on the exterior of many of the houses, the names 
 and occupations of the inmates were written. 
 
 Entering the suburb outside the Herculaneum gate, 
 you pass the villa of M. Arrius Diomedes, two stories 
 high, and opened in 1763. The quadrangle is sur- 
 rounded with open porticoes, and in the centre was a 
 reservoir; several of the rooms are provided with flues 
 for heating the water, and the banqueting room was 
 ornamented with rope-dancers, and figures of flying- 
 females, painted on the walls, now removed to the 
 museum of Naples. 
 
 The garden is also enclosed by porticoes, and in the 
 centre are the remains of a fountain, and a stew for 
 fish . At the gate two skeletons were found ; and near 
 one a key, gold ornaments, and coins, supposed to have 
 been the master, Diomedes ; and near the other, vases 
 of bronze and silver, conjectured to have been his 
 servant. Under the porticoes are the cellars, and 
 seventeen skeletons were found in them, one adorned 
 with rich gold trinkets, supposed to have been the 
 mistress, and a row of wine jars ranged against the 
 wall, are filled with, and embedded in ashes. Near 
 this villa is a small building, with the " triclinium," 
 
224 
 
 and the table on which the funeral repast was served ; 
 and in the interior are columbaria. Lamps, urns, 
 and glass vessels, filled with bones and ashes, were 
 found here, and therefore some have supposed it to 
 have been a public sepulchre. A building near this 
 has been called the Inn, no strangers being allowed 
 to sleep within the walls; and opposite was the 
 Ustrina, the place for washing the dead. 
 
 Under a roofed seat in a recess, skeletons were 
 discovered; and over another is the inscription 
 " Mammiae P. F. Sacerdoti publicae locus sepulturae 
 datus Decurianum decreto;" and behind is the tomb 
 of the priestess, which seems to have been much 
 ornamented. 
 
 Close to the gate, in a niche, the head of a lance, 
 helmet, and skeleton, were found, supposed to have 
 been a sentry; and near this is the post-house, 
 established by Augustus, and tires of wheels, horses' 
 bones, rings for tying them up, and remains of cars 
 were found here. Opposite is what has been called 
 a coffee-house, but more probably where drugs and 
 medicines were sold; and there is a stove, and a 
 marble counter, on which the marks made by the 
 spilling of hot medicated or corrosive liquors, are 
 still visible. 
 
 House of the Vestals. A quadrangle, and three 
 ranges of apartments ; and at the end of the quadrangle 
 is a small temple, with a place for the sacred fire in 
 the middle. On one of the door-sills is the word 
 "Salve'' in mosaic, on another two serpents. In a 
 room here, gold ornaments for females, and the bones 
 of a dog and man were found ; and in the adjoining 
 
 
225 
 
 house, a great number of surgical instruments were 
 discovered. In the Ponderarium or Custom-house, 
 weights, scales, and steelyards, one adorned with a 
 figure of Mercury, were found; and in the public 
 baking-house an oven, and four corn mills. The 
 house of Caius Sallustius, one of the largest yet 
 discovered at Pompeii, consists of a quadrangle, a 
 triclinium for the guests, and around the court are 
 bed-chambers, a banqueting-room, a kitchen, a hot- 
 bath, a room with frescoes of Diana and Acteeon, 
 Europa, Mars, Venus, and Cupid, all in good pre- 
 servation; and the pavement is of African marble. 
 In one of the rooms household gods, gold coins, 
 bronze vases, one of gold of three ounces, gold armlets, 
 a silver mirror, a gold chain finely worked, and ear- 
 rings, and four skeletons, were found. 
 
 The house of the ^Edile Pansa was adorned with 
 mosaics and marble; the kitchen is furnished with a 
 fireplace resembling the modern ones of Italy, and 
 there are coarse frescoes of a cook sacrificing eatables 
 upon an altar, a boar's head, a horn, spit, and a fish 
 resembling the lamprey. Culinary articles in bronze 
 and terra cotta, a candelabrum, gold bracelets, en- 
 graved stones set in rings, and four female skeletons, 
 were discovered here. 
 
 The public baths were only excavated in 1824. 
 The hall is surrounded with seats of lava; on the 
 vaulted roof of the " tepidarium " are bas-reliefs in 
 stucco, well executed; figures in terra cotta support 
 the cornice, and between them are recesses for the 
 vases of ointment. Here is a large bronze brazier, 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 and three seats of the same material, inscribed with 
 the donor's name, were found. 
 
 Adjoining is the " Calidarium," with apertures for 
 air; at the upper end, raised on steps, is a large 
 oblong marble bath, flues in the walls for steam, and 
 the pavement is hollow below for the same purpose ; 
 at the other end is a large basin of white marble, of 
 a single block, with a "jet d'eau" in the middle, and 
 an inscription, with the name of the person who, by 
 order of the Augustals, directed it to be made for 
 seven hundred and fifty sestertii. The " Frigidarium " 
 is circular, with a large circular bath, and in the 
 dome is a sky-light glazed, (at Museum,) therefore, 
 though glass was not common, it was certainly used. 
 More than seven hundred lamps of terra cotta were 
 discovered in these baths. 
 
 The Forum, three hundred paces long, and of an 
 oblong shape, is surrounded on three sides by porti- 
 coes, and double rows of travertine and tufo columns. 
 
 The Basilica, or principal Court of Justice, is the 
 most striking edifice in Pompeii, one hundred and 
 ninety feet long, and seventy-two wide. In the 
 centre is a double row of Corinthian columns, twenty- 
 eight in number; and at the upper end is the tribunal, 
 raised above the pavement, ornamented with six 
 columns, and below are subterranean chambers, 
 supposed to have been prisons. 
 
 The Temple of Isis. From an inscription found 
 here, it appears that it was destroyed by an earth- 
 quake in A. D. 63, and rebuilt. It is in tolerable 
 preservation; the style Doric, the walls of brick, are 
 
227 
 
 coated with painted stucco, the pavement of the 
 cella, the "sanctum sanctorum," raised on seven steps, 
 is of mosaic; there are niches for statues in the walls, 
 and on each side of the steps are altars where the 
 Isiaic tables, now in the Museum, hung. Two basins 
 of Parian marble for the holy water were found, 
 standing on a single foot of elegant design, and on 
 the altar was a statue of Isis, and beneath, the secret 
 stairs, and the hiding place for the priests, who pro- 
 nounced her ambiguous oracles. At the lower end, 
 facing the cella, was found the statue of Orus Har- 
 pocrates, the son of Isis and Osiris, the god of silence, 
 and near it bones of victims, the receptacle for the 
 ashes, and the reservoir for the priest's oblation. In 
 the kitchen were culinary utensils, bread, bones, and 
 a skeleton leaning against the wall, grasping an axe. 
 The large silver and bronze vases, with bas-reliefs 
 of the ceremonies of Isis, frescoes of Isis with the 
 "sistrum," of Anubis with the dog's head, the Ibis, 
 the hippopotamus, the lotus, statues of Isis, Venus, 
 Bacchus, and Priapus, two idols of basalt, sacrificial 
 vessals, and the bronze couch for the gods, now in 
 the Museum, prove the destination of this temple. 
 Forsyth remarks, that " it was well calculated for the 
 seclusion and progressive mysteries of the Isiaic rite, 
 altars ' sub dio,' a cistern for oblation, a small fane, and 
 last, the sacred temple. In the temple itself a grada- 
 tion of sanctity, a vestibule, an open altar, an adytum, 
 secret stairs, a sunken cell, the refectory called so on 
 the authority of a single fish-bone. The Isiaic rite 
 was notorious for the smoke of its suppers. ' Isiacae 
 sacraria lenae.'" 
 
 Q2 
 
228 
 
 In the Odeum or Comic Theatre, semicircular, 
 many of the seats remain, and the orchestra is paved 
 with marble. Close to it is the Tragic Theatre, much 
 larger, lined with Parian marble ; and on the right of 
 the orchestra the Podium for the chief magistrate, the 
 Curule chair was found ; the stage is wide, but very 
 shallow. This theatre is on a side hill agreeable to 
 the Grecian custom. 
 
 Contiguous is the Forum Nundinarium, a field for 
 antiquarian dispute, surrounded by Doric porticoes of 
 tufo, covered with stucco, painted, and there appear 
 names on them, and figures in armour. In the 
 colonnade there are supposed to have been shops, 
 and there was another story above. A corn mill and 
 oil-press were found here ; in the Guard-house, 
 skeletons, the legs in a machine, resembling stocks ; 
 various other skeletons, shields, warlike weapons, and 
 a helmet, adorned with a bas-relief of the destruction 
 of Troy. Some are of opinion that these were bar- 
 racks, or a gymnasium, from the figures in boxing 
 attitudes on the walls. But as Forsyth remarks, 
 " where are the baths, the statues, and inscriptions 
 inseparable from gymnasia; and why should prisoners 
 be found chained in one room, and an oil-mill standing 
 in the other ? I would rather assign it to the Governor's 
 Praetorium." 
 
 The Amphitheatre is without the town, but no 
 excavations have been attempted between them. The 
 form, as usual, is oval, and there were twenty-four 
 rows of seats, which would contain ten thousand 
 spectators; and a circular subterranean corridor sup- 
 ports the building. The fresco paintings on the walls 
 
229 
 
 cracked and fell off on exposure to the air. From the 
 gallery above the seats appropriated to the female part 
 of the audience, there is a splendid view of Vesuvius, 
 the Bay of Naples, Castellammare, the site of Stabiee, 
 Portici. In the upper part of the wall are stone 
 blocks, probably to receive the poles which supported 
 the awning. As not more than three hundred skeletons 
 have been discovered at Pompeii, the majority of the 
 inhabitants must have effected their escape. 
 
 The Museum of Naples contains the antiquities of 
 Herculaneum, Pompeii, Capua, Minturnae, Stabiae, 
 Nuceria, Paestum, and Baise, and the celebrated Far- 
 nese collection from Rome. In the numerous list may 
 be mentioned, the equestrian statues in Greek marble 
 of M. Nonius Balbus, and of the younger Balbus, from 
 the forum of Herculaneum. Agrippina, the mother of 
 Nero, seated, supposed to be taken when she hears the 
 doom pronounced by her son; the resignation ex- 
 pressed in the countenance is unrivalled. Augustus, 
 seated, of colossal size, from Herculaneum. The 
 Farnese Torso, attributed to Phidias. Aristides, in the 
 act of haranguing, from Herculaneum. Venus Calli- 
 pige, by Praxiteles, the rival of the Medicean, but by 
 no means equal to it. The celebrated Toro Farnese, 
 from Caracalla's baths. Dirce bound by her hair to a 
 bull's horns, by Lethus and Amphion, their mother, 
 Antiope, commanding them to set her free. But the 
 work of Apollodorus of Rhodes is so mixed with the 
 work of Bianchi of Milan, the restorer, that the group 
 is scarcely original in a single figure. The celebrated 
 Hercules of Glycon, found in the baths of Caracalla, 
 1540. "At first the legs were wanting, but they 
 
230 
 
 were found in 1560, and came into the possession of 
 Prince Borghese, who refused for some time to give 
 them up. They are now, however, rejoined to the 
 body. In the mean time, a fresh pair of legs had 
 been executed by Gulielmo della Porta, under the 
 direction of M. Angelo, and these may now be seen 
 in the Farnese palace at Rome." Burton, v. i. 
 p. 329. 
 
 Of antique bronzes the collection is the finest in 
 Europe. A drunken faun. Mercury seated. Bust 
 of Berenice. Colossal figure of Augustus as Jupiter. 
 The infant Hercules strangling the serpents ; all from 
 Herculaneum. A colossal head of a horse, from 
 Naples. It stood before the Archbishop's palace, 
 and the populace attributing the work to a magician, 
 considered that it possessed supernatural power to 
 remove the diseases of horses, and brought the ani- 
 mals from all parts to it, and Caraffa, the Archbishop, 
 ordered all but the head to be melted. 
 
 In the Cabinet of Glass from Pompeii, the mate- 
 rial is chiefly white, and not very transparent ; and 
 the Cabinet of Gems contains rings, necklaces, ear- 
 rings, armlets, bracelets of gold set with pearls, 
 rubies, and precious stones. " Penates " of gold, 
 silver clasps of officers' belts, pins for the hair, mirror 
 of metal set in silver, from Pompeii. The celebrated 
 onyx cup the apotheosis of Ptolemy on one side, 
 Medusa's head on the other, from Hadrian's tomb, 
 was sold by the French soldier, who found it, to an 
 officer for sixty zecchini, and is invaluable. 
 
 Here is also bread, black from fire, eggs, oil in a 
 glass jar, cherries, paste, nuts, fishermen's nets, shoes, 
 
231 
 
 silver vases, money and purse found in the hands of 
 Diomede's wife, all from Pompeii. 
 
 A portable stove for heating water, from Hercu- 
 laneum, pans and kettles of all sorts. 
 
 Stocks from the Forum Nundinarium, scrapers for 
 the skin, and essence bottles, from the baths of Pom- 
 peii ; helmets, cuirasses, spears, and shields, from 
 Psestum and Herculaneum, skeletons within the 
 armour, surgical instruments, writing tablets, tickets 
 for the theatres, toilet furniture, (in rouge, pins, ivory 
 bodkins, and mirrors,) locks, screws, hinges, keys, 
 bolts, stirrups, bits, cups, saucers, spoons. In the 
 tombs of children, toys were found ; in females', mir- 
 rors, combs, and ornaments ; in men's, armour and 
 dice, also vases for wine, oil, and grain. There is 
 a valuable collection of sepulchral vases from Nola, 
 Avella, Paestum, and Capua; those from Pompeii 
 and Herculaneum are of plain " terra cotta," whitish ; 
 the others, Etruscan, generally red on black ground, 
 are beautiful ; one from Nola, with a representation 
 of the festival of Bacchus, is valued at ten thousand 
 ducats. The collection of paintings is inferior to 
 those at Bologna, Venice, Rome, and Florence. The 
 frescoes from Pompeii are curious, and many of them 
 finely painted. 
 
232 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 P3TUM. VESUVIUS. ROME TO FLORENCE, BY TERNI 
 AND PERUGIA. 
 
 THE road from Naples to Pompeii, and for some dis- 
 tance beyond, is infamously bad. Nocera del Pagam 
 is the ancient " Nuceria," taken by Hannibal, and 
 was, under Augustus, a Roman colony, and was 
 nearly destroyed in civil commotions. The country 
 round " La Cava " is romantic, and the road winds 
 at the base of the hills, amid hanging gardens, vine- 
 yards, maize, flax, wheat, and cotton. To Vietri, 
 finely situated on the side of a mountain, in the gulf 
 of Salerno, and opposite to the promontory of Leu- 
 cosia. 
 
 Salerno is in a valley, enclosed to the north and 
 east by bold and picturesque mountains, and the sea 
 and land views are beautiful ; cultivation is blended 
 with rude nature, but there is abundance of priests, 
 beggars, filth, and misery. 
 
 " Man is the only growth that dwindles here." 
 
 There are no less than sixteen churches, and numer- 
 ous monasteries : the Cathedral is a strange medley 
 of modern and antique architecture, and the mosaic 
 is said to have been brought from Paestum, and in 
 the subterranean church, the relics of St. Matthew 
 are believed to be entombed. 
 
233 
 
 Beyond Salerno the coast is flat and fertile, but 
 the climate is unhealthy; and the plain abounds 
 with immense thistles, which grow like a bush, and 
 with trees resembling a cypress. 
 
 Crowds of buffaloes were browsing on the banks of 
 the Sele, the " Silarus " of the ancients, noted for the 
 petrifying qualities of its waters. " In flumine Silaro 
 ultra Surrentum non virgulta modo immensa verum 
 et folia lapidescunt," Pliny ; and the gad-fly still 
 torments the oxen. 
 
 " Est, lucos Silari circa, ilicibusq. virentem 
 Plurimus Alburnum volitans, cui nomen usilo 
 Romanum est, oestron Graii vertere vocantes : 
 Asper, acerba sonans : quo tota exterrita silvis 
 Diffugiunt armenta, furit mugitibus aether 
 Concussus, sylvaeq. et sicci ripa Tanagri." 
 
 Virg. Oeorg. iii. 146. 
 
 About four miles beyond, in the plain near the 
 sea, are the temples of Paestum, and on the right of 
 the road are the ruins of tombs, and bones were 
 lying there among fragments of " terra cotta " lamps. 
 
 The origin and foundation of Psestum is involved 
 in obscurity. 
 
 " Forsitan et pingues hortos quae cura colencli 
 Ornaret, canerem, biferiq. rosaria Paesti." 
 
 Virg. Georg. iv. 119. 
 
 They were said to bloom both in May and Septem- 
 ber. It was called Posidonia, being dedicated to Nep- 
 tune, and was under the power of the Leuconians, 
 then under the Roman yoke, when Pyrrhus, King of 
 Epirus, and his allies were conquered by the Con- 
 suls, C. Fabricius Drusus, and C. Claudius Canica, 
 
234 
 
 and then assumed the name of Paestum ; and in the 
 second Punic war, when the Romans were besieged 
 by Hannibal in Tarentum, Paestum supplied them 
 with provisions, money, and troops. It was under 
 the rule of the Emperors, till the invasion of the 
 Goths, underwent various calamities; its delightful 
 gardens of roses, and its vineyards, were transformed 
 into woods and pestiferous morasses, and it was 
 finally taken by the Saracens at the beginning of the 
 tenth century, and levelled to the ground by those 
 barbarous conquerors. 
 
 The only remains are portions of the walls, gates, 
 and towers, three temples, and a small part of the 
 amphitheatre. The walls, two miles and a half in 
 circuit, are of large smooth uncemented stones, resem- 
 bling those of Fiesole, flanked by eight square towers 
 opposite to each other, and in the middle of the town 
 are the temples. That of Ceres, the smallest, is on 
 a platform raised on three steps ; the shape is qua- 
 drilateral, length one hundred and eight feet, breadth 
 forty-eight feet, with two fronts ; the entablature, 
 supported by six fluted Doric columns, is much dila- 
 pidated, and there are twelve columns on each side, 
 the diameter of each, at the bottom, being four feet 
 three inches, at the top, three feet three inches, and 
 the length, including the capital, about twenty- four 
 feet four inches. There are no bases, and the dis- 
 tance between each column is four feet seven inches. 
 In the interior is a " cella," raised on four steps, 
 enclosed by a low wall, and there is a row of sarco- 
 phagi, in which human bones were found ; and 
 remains of mosaic pavement may be seen. The 
 
235 
 
 height of this temple is forty-one feet seven inches, 
 and the style of architecture is lighter than the 
 others. 
 
 Of the Theatre there is hardly a vestige, but near 
 it, the ground plan of the amphitheatre may be 
 traced, oval, one hundred and seventy feet by one 
 hundred and twenty feet, and there were ten rows 
 of seats. 
 
 The Temple of Neptune is raised on a platform of 
 quadrilateral form, one hundred and ninety-four feet 
 long, seventy-eight feet eight inches broad, the pedi- 
 ment supported by six gigantic fluted Doric columns, 
 and on each side are twelve others, twenty-seven feet 
 two inches hio-h, the diameter at the bottom six 
 
 O ' 
 
 feet ten inches, at the top four feet eight inches. 
 There are no bases, the capitals are plain, and the 
 frieze, cornice, and capital, equal half the height of 
 the column, and the space between each is seven feet 
 seven inches. The " cella," raised three feet above 
 the pavement and enclosed by four low walls, is 
 ninety feet long, and forty-three feet four inches 
 broad, and a double row of fourteen fluted columns, 
 four feet nine inches in diameter, and sixteen feet 
 eleven inches high, without the capitals ; and on the 
 architrave is another range of smaller columns, with 
 a cornice ; five remain on one side, three on the 
 other. The height of this temple is fifty-seven feet, 
 and it has apparently been lined with stucco. 
 
 Near it is the Basilica, one hundred and seventy 
 feet long, eighty feet wide, of quadrilateral form, and 
 raised on three steps; but there are no traces of 
 altars or " cella." There are two fronts, at each 
 
236 
 
 nine fluted Doric columns, and twelve lateral ones ; 
 no bases lower diameter, four feet and a half, 
 upper, three feet and a half, height, twenty feet, and 
 the interior is divided by a row of columns, but only 
 three remain. Much dispute exists as to the founders 
 of these temples ; they were visited by Augustus, as 
 antiquities, and remained in oblivion till 1755, when 
 they were discovered by a Neapolitan artist. They 
 have been ascribed by Paoli to the Etrurians, " Pa- 
 oli's dreams," according to Forsyth; by some to the 
 Sybarites, but they are not characteristic of that lux- 
 urious and effeminate people. The mass awes every 
 eye ; and Forsyth says, that from their immemorial 
 antiquity, preservation, grandeur, bold elevation, and 
 simplicity of design, he does not hesitate to call them 
 the most impressive monuments that he ever beheld 
 on earth. 
 
 All the temples are built of the stone formed by 
 the petrifying qualities of the Silaro, and the small 
 tubes of roots and vegetable matter incrusted in one 
 
 O 
 
 solid mass, as durable as granite, are observable in 
 every column. From the numerous small cavities, 
 it resembles cork, and models of that material convey 
 a far better idea of these majestic ruins than any 
 other. A few wretched huts, a rude inn, a dilapi- 
 dated residence for the Archbishop, who visits these 
 parts twice a year, a small church, an unhealthy 
 cadaverous peasantry, with sun-burnt naked legs and 
 arms, combine a striking picture of desolation and 
 gloom. Since the dreadful murder of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hunt, some gendarmes have been stationed here, but 
 no outrage has been committed since that time. 
 
237 
 
 May 20, Excursion to Vesuvius. At half past 
 four left Rosina, on donkey-back, by an execrable 
 road, through loose lava, dust, and ashes, between 
 vineyard walls, to the hermitage prettily situated 
 among trees, and inhabited by some Franciscan 
 monks, who furnish refreshments and " lacryma 
 Christi" to those who pay for it. The path beyond 
 the hermitage lies through fields of lava, and through 
 different strata of the destructive stream. Dismounted 
 at the base of the mountain, riding being no longer 
 practicable. The ascent is very laborious, being not 
 only steep, but from the loose cinders, scoria?, and 
 blocks of lava which cover the sides of the mountain, 
 the footing is extremely insecure ; and although the 
 height is insignificant, when compared with that of 
 the mountains of Savoy, Piedmont, and Switzerland, 
 the nature of the surface makes the ascent far more 
 difficult and fatiguing. In an hour and a half we 
 reached the edge of the crater. The dismal gulf is 
 thickly veined with sulphur ; smoke issues from the 
 precipitous sides ; and a small conical crater, in the 
 centre, not more than two hundred and fifty feet in 
 circumference, threw up volumes of smoke, several 
 showers of stones, and four or five bursts of flame 
 resembling fire-works, with a rumbling noise like 
 distant thunder. The depth of the crater towards 
 Somma, the mountain on the left, formerly a part of 
 Vesuvius, but disjoined by some convulsion of nature, 
 is two thousand feet, in another part about one thou- 
 sand two hundred feet, in another between four 
 and five hundred feet, and by this travellers often 
 
238 
 
 descend. Throughout there were incrustations of 
 sulphur of a bright yellow colour, in some places 
 tinged with rich orange, and from several points 
 arose exhalations of vapour. Spars of sulphur, in 
 the form of the crystalizations of hoar-frost, had the 
 appearance of a furnace at white heat, and the exha- 
 lations from them were so powerful, that, except to 
 windward, it was difficult to approach. 
 
 Not a vestige of vegetation appears on the surface 
 of Vesuvius, nothing but scoriae, ashes, arid lava. 
 The eruption of 1822 considerably enlarged the 
 crater, and diminished the height of the mountain 
 nearly seven hundred feet, and produced a large cleft 
 towards the east. 
 
 From the summit we enjoyed the view of a sun-set 
 on the Mediterranean, of which in our climate we 
 cannot form an idea, and left the crater at ei^ht, 
 
 9 O ' 
 
 descending by a steep path in a quarter of an hour, 
 mid-leg in cinders. 
 
 From the year 79, when Herculaneum, Stabiae, 
 and Pompeii were destroyed, to 1794, when Torre 
 del Greco was buried, there have been thirty-six 
 eruptions, and since that period two violent ones, in 
 1819 and 1822. This is an excellent field for the 
 mineralogist, and furnishes fine specimens of the 
 various species of lava, ore, spar, alum, sulphur, &c. 
 
 The Cainpo Marzo, near Naples, was laid out by 
 Murat, and was large enough for the review of two 
 hundred thousand men, but two-thirds of it have 
 been turned into cultivation. Below it is the great 
 cemetery ; three hundred and sixty-five tunnels and 
 
239 
 
 caverns are the receptacles into which the corpses of 
 the common people are shot down, without coffins, 
 every night, and a fresh one is opened daily. 
 
 At Naples, the priests appear to be the favoured 
 sect, and all seminaries for education, even the naval 
 college, are conducted by them, and the students, 
 with their large cocked hats, long coats, breeches, 
 and black gaiters half way up the leg, cut a most 
 ridiculous figure. But the Neapolitan navy is at a 
 mighty low ebb ; the seamen of the solitary frigate 
 in the harbour, two months in arrear, were paid in 
 copper, that the government might get the profit on 
 the silver, and the two line of battle ships were in a 
 sad rotten condition. The heat of the climate here 
 in the summer is extreme, and the naked legs and 
 arms of the lazzaroni are as dark as mulattoes. 
 
 Returned to Rome. At Monterosi changed the 
 road through Viterbo for that through Perugia. 
 Nepi is a small town, with ancient fortifications, and 
 aqueduct, with two rows of arches; and beyond it the 
 country is wild, and prettily wooded. 
 
 Civita Castellana, with its old walls and citadel, on 
 a peninsula of rock, is most picturesquely situated, 
 and some antiquarians have assigned to it the site of 
 the ancient Veii; but Forsyth says, "after a long 
 contest in prose and verse, it must be assigned to 
 Falerium/' This was formerly the capital of the 
 Falisci, and Furius Camillus besieged it for two 
 years in vain. A schoolmaster went out of the gates 
 with his pupils, and betrayed them into the hands of 
 the Roman general, in order to induce the town to 
 surrender, but Camillus was indignant at the proposal, 
 
240 
 
 ordered the traitor to be stripped, and to be whipped 
 back into the town by his own scholars, and this act 
 of generosity of Camillus, according to Plutarch, 
 determined the Falisci to surrender more than the 
 Roman arms. On the right is Mount Soracte. 
 
 " Summe Deum, sancti custos Soractis Apollo." 
 
 Virg. JEn. xi. 785. 
 
 Beyond the small and wretched village of Borghetto, 
 you cross the Tiber by a lofty bridge, said to have 
 been built in the reign of Augustus, and as appears 
 by the inscription, was repaired by Sixtus V. Otricoli 
 is a wild village, distant two miles from the ancient 
 Otriculum, which was on the Tiber, and between this 
 place and Narni, the country is very romantic; the 
 hills are covered with wood, and the road, on a 
 causeway, winds round a deep and rocky dell, the 
 ruins of old fortresses appearing on the summit, and the 
 river Nera flowing in the bed below. Narni is enclosed 
 by precipices and wood, and the ancient walls of the 
 town are built on the steep declivities. This was the 
 ancient Nequinum, or Narnia, and was celebrated for 
 the obstinate siege which it sustained, when the 
 inhabitants killed their wives and children, in order 
 to save the provisions, and finally themselves, rather 
 than surrender. Llvy. Narni was the birth place 
 of the Emperor Nerva. The town was destroyed by 
 the Venetian troops, who joined Charles V. when he 
 besieged Clement VII. in the castle of St. Angelo; 
 the women and children were murdered, and the 
 houses burnt. Near Narni are the ruins of a colossal 
 bridge over the Nera, attributed to Augustus. A 
 
241 
 
 rich plain extends between Narni and Terni. The 
 
 latter, in the dutchy of Spoleto, the Interamna of the 
 Romans, so called from being situated between two 
 branches of the river Nera or Nar, is a small town, 
 with a bishopric, and contains about nine thousand 
 inhabitants. The church of St. Salvadore partly 
 consists of an ancient circular temple, called the 
 Temple of the Sun, and below is a crypt built of 
 immense stones, formed by the petrifying qualities of 
 the Velino. Behind the Cathedral are the remains 
 of an amphitheatre, now a vineyard; the reticulated 
 walls are of immense thickness, and some of the 
 corridors, a crypt where the animals are supposed to 
 have been kept, and the reservoirs for water for them, 
 may still be seen. Tacitus, the historian, and the 
 Emperor of the same name, who built the amphi- 
 theatre, were natives of this town. 
 
 The celebrated Cascade is about five miles distant, 
 and is approached by the steep ascent of the Monte 
 di Marmore, where oxen are yoked to the carriage, 
 and the road made by Pius VI., on a narrow ter- 
 race of rock, winds above the deep abyss. In our 
 way we descended into a grotto hollowed out by the 
 waters of the Velino, whose petrifying qualities are 
 here most wonderfully displayed; and from the roof 
 hung large masses, some in the shape of pillars, some 
 like bags, and beyond this cavern, through an aper- 
 ture cat through the rock, the waters of the river are 
 seen rushing down with great rapidity. The first fall 
 is about three hundred feet in height, and descends 
 with such force, that it presents a complete sheet of 
 white spray. The two falls below are four hundred 
 
242 
 
 and eighty feet, and thus the Velino is precipitated 
 seven hundred and eighty feet before it reaches the 
 Nera, flowing in the defile beneath. From a small 
 building erected by order of Pius VI., there is a most 
 striking view of the upper cascade, and of the grand 
 scenery and mountainous gorge, rock rising above 
 rock, in sublime grandeur. Near Terni is the little 
 town of Rieti ; and in order to drain the water from 
 this territory, Curius Dentatus, A. U. C. 671, is said 
 to have cut channels to discharge the waters into the 
 Velinus, and thence into the Nera, and thus formed 
 these celebrated cascades. 
 
 Left Terni at four in the afternoon to avoid the 
 intense heat, by Strettura, Spoleto, Foligno, to Perugia. 
 Beyond Terni the country is mountainous and wild. 
 Spoleto, the ancient Spoletum, is surrounded by old 
 walls, and built on the summit and sides of a steep 
 mountain, the Clitumnus flowing near it, through the 
 plains of Mevania, famed for its snow-white oxen, 
 used for sacrifices, and the Roman triumphs. 
 
 " Qua Formosa suo Clitumnus flumina luco, 
 Integit et niveos abluit tinda boves." 
 
 Proper t. lib. 2. 
 
 The town is filthy, the streets are steep and badly 
 paved. The Cathedral is of marble, and the facade 
 was built in the time of the Lombardian Dukes. 
 
 A bridge six hundred feet long, and three hundred 
 feet high, crosses the torrent of the Maraggia. 
 
 After the battle of Thrasymene, Hannibal besieged 
 Spoleto, was repulsed by a sortie of the inhabitants, 
 and obliged to retreat with loss, and the Porta di 
 
243 
 
 Fuga, and the Latin inscription upon it, comme- 
 morates the event. Here are also the ruins of a castle 
 of the Dukes of Spoleto, on the foundations of a palace 
 of Theodoric, and in a church are six beautiful 
 columns, remains of the Temple of Concord. 
 
 Oxen were yoked to the carriage on approaching 
 Perugia, boldly situated on the summit of a lofty 
 mountain. This was the Perusia of the ancients, one 
 of the strongest cities of Etruria, and by nature ap- 
 pears to be impregnable. Hannibal dared not attack 
 it after his victory at Thrasymene, and it resisted for a 
 long time the assaults of the Romans, but followed at 
 last the fate of Etruria, stood a long siege against the 
 Goths, and was retaken by Narses. Perugia was 
 given up to the Pope, and A. D. 1416, elected 
 Forte Braccio for its chief, who, at the head of the 
 Peruvians, took Rome, but after his death, it again 
 
 & ' * ' O 
 
 fell under Papal sway, and Paul III., under pretence 
 of building a hospital, built a citadel on the very 
 highest point of the town, to curb a people impatient 
 of his yoke. Perugino and Dante were natives. 
 
 Beyond Perugia the country is wild and hilly. 
 Near Casa del Piano there is a view of Lake Thrasy- 
 mene, and close by is the village of Passignano, 
 supposed to be the spot where the decisive battle of 
 Thrasymene was gained by Hannibal, 217 B. C., in 
 which the Romans, commanded by Flaminius, are 
 said to have lost fifteen thousand killed, and ten 
 thousand prisoners, (according to Livy six thousand 
 prisoners,) whilst Hannibal's loss did not exceed 
 fifteen hundred men. A bridge over a small rivulet 
 is called to this day the Ponte Sanguinetto, from the 
 
 u 2 
 
244 
 
 effusion of Roman blood in this sanguinary contest ; 
 and near this is the site of the Roman camp, and the 
 defile through which Hannibal descended from the 
 heights to the attack. 
 
 We entered Tuscany at the village of Ossaia, 
 where the following inscription may be seen: 
 
 "Nomen habet locus hie Ursija ab ossibus illis, 
 Quae dolus Annibalis fudit et hasta simul." 
 
 Some antiquarians have therefore pronounced 
 Ossaia to have been the field of battle; but the dis- 
 tance between Passignano and Ossaia, fourteen miles, 
 is too large for the contending armies, and though the 
 narrow swampy plain, surrounded on three sides by 
 mountains, and on the other by the immense lake 
 near Passignano, strongly exhibits the military tactics 
 and skill of the Carthaginian in drawing the enemy 
 into so disadvantageous a situation, the same remark 
 will not hold good near Ossaia, for here the plain is 
 so extensive, that the Roman army might have fought 
 with advantage. 
 
 "Non ego te, quamvis properabis vincere, Caesar, 
 
 Si vetet auspicium, signa movere velim 
 
 Sint tibi Flaminius Thrasymenaq. litora testes." 
 
 Ovid. Fast. vi. 765. 
 
 A plain extends from Rigatino to Arezzo, the an- 
 cient Aretium. The streets are clean and well paved, 
 and there is a most extensive view from the town. 
 The Aretins were distinguished in the Guelph and 
 Ghibelin wars; and among them we find the names 
 of Maecenas, Petrarch, Pietro, and Gui Aretino, the 
 former celebrated for his satires and obscene writings, 
 
245 
 
 the latter, a Benedictine monk who invented notes for 
 music, and also Leonardo Aretino, the historian and 
 secretary of the Florentine republic. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 PISA. LEGHORN. LUCCA. THE BRACCO. GENOA. 
 
 FROM Florence, (the road lying on the banks of the 
 Arno, through a fertile and highly cultivated country,) 
 to Pisa, situated in a plain on the Arno, which divides 
 the town into two unequal parts, and over it are three 
 elegant bridges, the central one of which is of white 
 marble. The quays are broad and spacious, and the 
 Lungo 1'Arno exceeds in beauty the Lungo 1'Arno of 
 Florence. 
 
 Pisa was declared a Roman colony by Augustus, 
 and after the fall of the Empire, was an independent 
 republic, with considerable trade, became a maritime 
 power of the first order, took Corsica, Sardinia, and 
 Palermo from the Turks, assisted the Crusaders, and 
 raised the siege of Alexandria. The city was involved 
 in the destructive wars of the Guelph and Ghibelin 
 factions ; sometimes on the side of the Popes, some- 
 times of the Emperors, but the mortal blow to her 
 power was struck in the war against Genoa, when 
 the Pisans lost forty-nine galleys, and twelve thousand 
 men, and from this she never recovered. 
 
 Tyrants arose under the title of Counts, and 
 Ugolino della Gherardesca, aided by the Guelphs, 
 became the master. He was driven out, reinstated 
 
246 
 
 by the Florentines, and finally imprisoned in the 
 Tower of Famine, and his dreadful end furnished the 
 subject of one of the most celebrated pictures of Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds' pencil. 
 
 "A. D. 1288. The maritime war, civil commo- 
 tions, perhaps also the irregularity of the seasons, had 
 made corn both dear and scarce; the people com- 
 plained of it, and accused the Count of the high price 
 of provisions. Such was, however, the violence of 
 the temper of Ugolino, that no one dared to inform 
 him of the complaints of the people, and of the danger 
 to which they might expose him. One of his nephews 
 undertook the difficult commission, and at the same 
 time proposed to him to suspend the duty on salt, in 
 order to lower the price of provisions. Ugolino, 
 impatient alike of reproof and of advice, struck his 
 nephew on the arm with a poignard, which he drew 
 from his bosom, and would have killed him on the 
 spot, if they had not interposed. A nephew of the 
 Archbishop, intimately acquainted with the wounded 
 youth, whilst he defended him, by interposing between 
 the latter and the Count, broke out into reproaches 
 against Ugolino ; the rage of the latter was redoubled, 
 he threw a hatchet, which he found ready to his 
 hand, at the head of the Archbishop's nephew, and 
 stretched him dead at his feet. 
 
 " Roger, of the Ubaldini family, whatever might 
 have been his rage and his grief, did not yet give vent 
 to them, as he first wished to assure himself of the 
 support of all the Ghibelins. 
 
 "The 1st July, the Council having met in the 
 church of St. Bastian, to deliberate concerning peace 
 
247 
 
 with the Genoese, had separated in the morning 
 without coming to any conclusion, because whilst the 
 Ghibelins pressed the execution of the treaty, the 
 Count continued to throw obstacles in the way. 
 
 " On leaving the church, the Archbishop was told 
 that Nino, surnamed Le Brigata, was collecting boats, 
 in order to introduce the Guelphs anew into the town, 
 and he hesitated no longer, but ordered his partisans, 
 the Ghibelins, to cry ' to arms,' and to toll the tocsin 
 at the palace of the people. The Gualandi, the 
 Sismondi, and the Lanfranchi, with part of the 
 Orlandi, the Ripafratti, and other Ghibelin families, 
 ranged themselves round the Archbishop. The Count 
 Ugolino, with two of his sons, two of his grandsons, 
 the Upezzinghi, theGaetani, and his satellites, defended 
 the square, and the environs of St. Bastian and St. 
 Sepulchre; and after a long conflict, his natural son 
 being slain, and the Ghibelins appearing to be the 
 strongest, he shut himself up in the palace of the 
 people, which he continued to defend from mid-day 
 till the evening. 
 
 "The besiegers at length resolved to set fire to it, 
 and they entered it in the midst of the flames, and 
 made prisoners the Count Ugolino, the youngest of 
 his sons, Gaddo and Ugucctone, and his grandson, 
 Anselmuccio, whose father Lotto was dead. These 
 are the five persons, whose deplorable death Dante 
 has rendered so celebrated. 
 
 " After having shut them up in the tower of the 
 Gualandi, at the seven roads, in the square of Anziani, 
 the Archbishop, at the end of some months, caused 
 the key of their prison to be thrown into the Arno, 
 
248 
 
 and forbade any assistance or food to be carried to 
 them. Whatever might have been the crimes of 
 Ugolino, the horror of his punishment caused them to 
 be forgotten, and his name has remained, almost a 
 solitary example in history of a tyrant who inspires 
 pity, and who is punished by his people more severely 
 than he deserved. 
 
 " Dante relates that he beheld Ugolino in hell, 
 placed amongst the traitors to their country, in eternal 
 ice : but before him was set the head of the Archbishop 
 Roger, which he was gnawing with that furious 
 hunger which had been his punishment." Histoire 
 des Republiques Italiennes, par. S. C. L. Simonde 
 de Sismondi. v 
 
 Pisa was under the Florentine yoke from 1406 to 
 1494, and was freed by Charles VIII., King of 
 France, but Florence, allied with Louis XII., retook 
 it, and thus it fell into the power of the Medici. 
 
 With the hope of liberty, the Pisans lost all emu- 
 lation, and the population dwindled from one hundred 
 and fifty thousand to fifteen thousand. In vain the 
 Grand Dukes endeavoured to repeople it, and to re- 
 establish the arts, though the University was restored 
 by Cosmo I. in 1543, and produced several celebrated 
 characters; and the military order of the Cavaliers of 
 St. Stephen was instituted by the same prince, yet 
 this was alike unsuccessful. 
 
 When the Pisans took Amalfi in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, they found there the Justinian Pandects, and 
 the Pisan University had the honour of reviving the 
 study of the Roman civil law. On the middle bridge 
 in June, there used to be a combat between two 
 
249 
 
 parties of the citizens in armour and with clubs, for 
 the possession of the bridge ; but as lives were some- 
 times lost, and great confusion ensued, the battle of 
 the bridge is now forbidden. 
 
 This is curious as a relict of the martial games of 
 the Greeks and Romans, and were perhaps established 
 by Nero, who had a splendid palace here. 
 
 The Cathedral, built entirely of marble, and the 
 spoils taken at Palermo from the Saracens, was com- 
 menced in 1063, and finished in 1098. The western 
 facade is ornamented with a multitude of round 
 arches, and small pillars of different sorts of marble, 
 and the east front is adorned in the same manner. 
 The bronze doors, from the designs of Giovanni di 
 Bologna, are splendid specimens of the art. In the 
 interior are seventy-four lofty columns, sixty-two of 
 oriental granite, two beautiful fluted Corinthian, the 
 others of porphyry and verd antique, brought from 
 ancient temples. 
 
 The high altar is covered with lapis lazuli, Spanish 
 brocatello, verd antique, giallo di Siena, and bronze. 
 Twelve altars, designed by M. Arigelo, and executed 
 by Stagio Stagi, adorn the buildings, and the roof is 
 gilt, and ornamented with mosaic by Gaddi, and the 
 pulpit, of inlaid marble, is supported on marble lions, 
 said to be the finest specimens of the kind in Italy. 
 
 The architrave is massive, the black and white 
 marble in horizontal layers, one above the other, 
 have a remarkably heavy effect. 
 
 The Baptistry, built by Dioti Salvi, 1153, is of 
 marble, with a dome, surmounted by a statue of the 
 Baptist. The interior is plain, the twelve arches are 
 
250 
 
 supported by six immense pillars of Sardinian, two of 
 Elba granite, and above them another range of pillars, 
 the capitals of which are carved with figures of birds 
 and animals. The font in the middle is raised on 
 three steps, and is adorned with finely executed 
 mosaic; in the centre is a large basin for the immer- 
 sion of adults, and around are four smaller for the 
 immersion of infants, but the custom is now discon- 
 tinued, and baptism is performed in another font at 
 the side. The marble pulpit, resting on eight pillars 
 of precious marble (one of porphyry) standing on 
 lions' backs, is one of the most celebrated works of 
 Nicolo Pisano. 
 
 The Leaning Tower, the most singular edifice of 
 the kind in Europe, is the campanile, or bell-tower 
 of the Cathedral. It is built entirely of marble, one 
 hundred and eighty-eight feet in height, of a cir- 
 cular form, and declines fifteen feet Italian, thirteen 
 feet French, from the perpendicular, and was com- 
 menced from the designs of Gulielmo d'Almon, of 
 Nuremberg, continued by Bonano Pisano, and termi- 
 nated by Tommaso of Pisa, 1 1 74. There is a stair- 
 case of one hundred and ninety-three steps, and the 
 eight stories are ornamented with two hundred and 
 
 o 
 
 seven columns of marble and granite, many of them 
 taken from ancient buildings. There are seven rows, 
 one above the other ; the lower are coarse Corinthian, 
 and the greater part of the upper are the same. 
 
 The opinions as to the cause of the declination are 
 various and contradictory. Vassari thinks that it 
 arises from the foundation on the soft soil having 
 given way, whilst others suppose that after the four 
 
251 
 
 first stories were finished the soil sunk, and that the 
 architect, unwilling to demolish what he had built, 
 strengthened the foundations, and altered the three 
 upper rows of columns, making them longer on the 
 leaning side; but this opinion is not borne out by 
 the reality. Some think that an earthquake may 
 have produced the present extraordinary declination ; 
 and Forsyth seems to ridicule the idea of any other 
 than a natural cause. " As to the obliquity, I am 
 surprised that two opinions should exist as to its 
 cause. The Observatory in the next street has so far 
 declined from the plumb-line, as to affect the astro- 
 nomical calculations of the place. A neighbouring 
 belfry declines to the same side, and both these evi- 
 dently from a lapse in the soft soil, in which water 
 springs every where at the depth of six feet." 
 
 The Observatory has been pulled down, but from 
 late measurements taken by Mr. Taylor, an English 
 architect, the conclusion has been made, that the 
 Tower was built so originally as a trial of skill, and, 
 had the sinking of the soil, or an earthquake, been 
 the cause, there must have been cracks and fissures 
 apparent, but there is nothing of the sort. The 
 highest story, in which are the bells, is smaller in 
 circumference than the others, and is decidedly in- 
 clined in the opposite direction, thus serving as an 
 equipoise. 
 
 The Campo Santo, the ancient cemetery of Pisa, 
 is a vast quadrilateral portico of sixty arcades, from 
 the designs of Giovanni Pisano, and finished in 
 1281. The style is Gothic, the material white marble, 
 and the pavement the same. Ubaldo Lanfranc, a 
 
252 
 
 contemporary of Richard I., brought to Pisa large 
 quantities of earth from Mount Calvary, and placed 
 it on the spot now surrounded by the porticoes, and 
 to this holy earth was ascribed the property of con- 
 suming bodies in twenty-four hours, a fabulous story, 
 congenial to the superstition of the times, and de- 
 pending only on the wondrous fact of quick lime 
 being mixed with the mould. The cloistered arcades 
 are wide and lofty, the Gothic shafts are elegant, and 
 the sarcophagi (several of Parian marble) are nume- 
 rous ; the walls are covered with frescoes of the four- 
 teenth and fifteenth centuries, interesting from their 
 antiquity, as displaying the costume of the period, 
 and the rise and progress of the art. 
 
 " Such cloistered cemeteries as this were the field 
 where painting first appeared in the dark ages, on 
 emerging from the subterranean cemeteries of Rome. 
 The Campo Santo exhibits the art growing through 
 several ages, from the simplicity of indigence to the sim- 
 plicity of strength. Some of these frescoes have been 
 exposed to the air for five hundred years." Forsyth. 
 
 Here is also a bronze gryphon or winged monster, 
 which formerly stood on the cupola of the Cathedral, 
 said to be Egyptian, and perforated by balls fired by 
 the Spanish soldiers when they were at Pisa. 
 
 The Church of the Cavaliers of St. Stephen was 
 built by Vasari, and the roof is richly gilt and orna- 
 mented with paintings by Ligozzi, Empoli, and Allori, 
 alluding to the achievements of the Order, and the 
 walls are covered with standards and banners taken 
 from the Turks. On the porphyry altar is a superb 
 sarcophagus, said to contain the relics of the proto- 
 
253 
 
 martyr, and the bronze chair, suspended over it, was 
 given by Pope Innocent XII. to the bigot Cosmo III. 
 
 The Palace of the Order, in the same piazza, was 
 also built by Vasari, and is adorned with the busts of 
 the six grand masters. Cosmo I. instituted the order 
 to defend the Mediterranean against Turkish pirates, 
 and each knight was obliged to serve on board the 
 galleys three years before he could be admitted. Near 
 the Palace stood the Tower of Famine. 
 
 To Leghorn, fifteen miles, the country a dead flat, 
 but fertile, and in parts marshy; the road running 
 along the banks of the Canal. 
 
 Leghorn is situated in a large plain, is about two 
 miles in circuit, and contains sixty thousand inhabi- 
 tants, of which nearly twenty thousand are Jews. 
 The fortifications are extensive, but in bad condition, 
 and there is a strong garrison. Leghorn, the Libur- 
 nus Portus of the ancients, was subject to the Ge- 
 noese, and Cosmo I. exchanged the city of Sarnano 
 for the then small and unimportant village of Leghorn, 
 a master-stroke of policy, and the foundation of the 
 wealth of Tuscany. He drained and cultivated the 
 surrounding country, thus improving its salubrity, 
 and made Leghorn the first free port on the Medi- 
 terranean. 
 
 The principal street, the Via Ferdinanda, is wide 
 and straight, leading from the great square towards 
 the port, full of shops and bustle, and a strong con- 
 trast to the sombre stillness of Pisa. The port is fine, 
 and the roads, about two miles distant, will admit 
 vessels of large burden. The island of Gorgona, 
 famous for its anchovies, and the rock Meloria, on 
 
254 
 
 which is an arch visible at a great distance, are on 
 the right of the entrance of the harbour; and the 
 light-house, a circular stone tower on a rock in the 
 sea, is a pretty object. On the quay is a colossal 
 statue of Ferdinand I., in marble, and at the base of 
 the pedestal four African slaves in bronze, chained, 
 by Giovanni dell' Opera. 
 
 The Jews' Synagogue, one of the handsomest in 
 Europe, is in the centre of the dirty quarter inhabited 
 by the twelve tribes. The new Protestant Cemetery 
 is planted with cypresses and weeping willows ; the 
 monuments are chiefly of marble, many of elegant 
 design, and in this climate appear as fresh as if 
 erected yesterday. In numerous instances they 
 record the ravages of consumption, for Pisa and 
 Leghorn are the Clifton and Hastings of Italy. 
 
 Here is the tomb of Smollett, the historian and 
 novelist, with the inscription, " Memorise Tobiae 
 Smollett, qui Liburni animam efflavit 16th Septr. 
 1773, quidam ex suis valde amicis civibus hunc tu- 
 mulum fecerunt." 
 
 The peasantry of Leghorn wear cumbrous and ugly 
 gold ear-rings, and on the breast large crosses. 
 
 The country between Pisa and Lucca is cultivated 
 like a garden. Lucca is situated in a plain on the 
 river Serchio, surrounded by ramparts and fortifica- 
 tions, three miles in circumference, the bastions 
 planted with trees, forming an agreeable promenade, 
 and contains twenty-four thousand inhabitants. The 
 streets are narrow but clean, and paved with smooth 
 flag-stones. 
 
 The territory of the Grand Duke is about four hun- 
 

 255 
 
 dred square miles in extent, abounds in oil and silk, 
 and the peasantry are industrious, and excellent 
 labourers. 
 
 The apartments of the Palazzo Reale are elegantly 
 furnished, and the walls are hung with rich silk, the 
 manufacture of Lucca, and contain some fine speci- 
 mens of the old masters, lately purchased of Lucien 
 Bonaparte, and magnificent tables of pietra dura. 
 
 The Cathedral of St. Martin, of white marble, was 
 built in 1070, and the west front, ornamented with 
 numerous Saxon Lombard arches, and columns of 
 various design, is handsome ; and above is the figure 
 of St. Martin on horseback, giving his cloak to the 
 beggar. The arches of the nave are lofty, and the 
 capitals of the pillars richly foliated ; and at the 
 entrance is an inscription to the memory of Adalbert 
 the Rich, A. D. 925. 
 
 A chapel here is sacred to a miraculous picture of 
 the Crucifixion, begun unsuccessfully by a certain 
 Nicomedes, and finished by angels, who seing him at 
 work, took pity on him and seized the brush, but it is 
 only shown thrice a year. It is said that this picture 
 transplanted itself from the church of St. Frediano to 
 St. Martin, and in memory of this there is an annual 
 procession from the former to the latter. The nume- 
 rous silver lamps which once burnt round this chapel 
 have shared the fate of the republic. 
 
 Under a Turkish standard, a horse's tail, is an in- 
 scription purporting that Stephen Count Orsetti, in 
 the army of the Emperor Charles VI. placed this 
 trophy taken from the Turks in 1718. 
 
 At the corners of several of the old palaces at 
 
256 
 
 Lucca are fixed iron lanterns, as at Florence, the 
 mark of services rendered to the state. 
 
 Viareo;gio, the insignificant port, is fourteen miles 
 from the town ; the baths, thirteen miles distant, are 
 celebrated, and the resort in the summer of the courts 
 of Florence, Lucca, and Modena, and of the Italians 
 in general. 
 
 From Lucca, a rich country to Pietra Santa, in 
 Tuscany, formerly strong, judging from the walls 
 and bastions which remain. This town was given 
 up by Pietro de Medicis to Charles VIII., King of 
 France. 
 
 A plain, luxuriant in maize, vines, rye, and mul- 
 berry trees, extends to Massa, in the duchy of Modena, 
 an old town near the sea, with a chateau on the rock 
 above. Here is a palace of the Duke of Modena, 
 but the square in front, surrounded with stunted trees, 
 was choked up with weeds. 
 
 Beyond Massa the country is beautiful, the road 
 winding down a steep hill, commanding varied views 
 of the Mediterranean and the Apennines. Passed 
 through Carrara, in the duchy of Modena, celebrated 
 for the quarries in its vicinity, producing the finest 
 marble in Italy. 
 
 Lavenza, the Aventia of the ancients. From this 
 small port the Carrara marble is embarked. 
 
 Sarzana, the Luna of the Romans, famous also for 
 its marble, in the dominions of the King of Sardinia, 
 a bishopric, and surrounded with walls, was ex- 
 changed with the Genoese for Leghorn by Cosmo I. 
 
 Beyond is Lerici, and until 1824 travellers could 
 proceed no farther by the road, but were obliged to 
 
257 
 
 embark in a felucca for Genoa, and in winter at Via- 
 reggio, the port of Lucca. The present post road 
 was begun by the Genoese government, and is rather 
 narrow, and the hollows would be improved by small 
 bridges. Spezia is a small town, with a population 
 of three thousand, picturesquely situated on a gulf of 
 the same name, and environed by wooded hills. The 
 English wished formerly to purchase it of the Genoese, 
 and offered four millions for it in vain. 
 
 Beyond Spezia the ascent becomes steep, and to 
 Maltorana on the Bracco, one of the highest ridges 
 of the Apennines, the ascent is upwards of seven 
 miles. The view of the Mediterranean is splendid, 
 the mountains piled, as it were, one above the other, 
 and at Sestri, the marble and granite rocks have been 
 blasted to form a passage. In the plain are immense 
 quantities of aloes, and after crossing the Fumera, 
 you arrive at Chiavari, a neat town, containing six 
 thousand inhabitants, with a fine old castle, now used 
 as a prison. Here there was a fete to celebrate the 
 Visitation of the Virgin, dignified by illuminations, 
 fireworks, and idleness, for three successive nights. 
 
 From Chiavari the same grand and beautiful 
 scenery continues to Rapallo, on a gulf of the same 
 name, where we passed through two short galleries, 
 and near Recco, through another gallery cut in the 
 rock, the whole line of coast, and Genoa in the dis- 
 tance, is seen with a most striking effect. 
 
 Genoa, called "La Superba," from the quantity of 
 marble used in its palaces and houses, boasts of such 
 remote antiquity, that an inscription on the Cathedral 
 attributes its foundation to Janus, a Trojan prince ! ! 
 
258 
 
 The ally of the Romans, and therefore ravaged by the 
 Goths, re-established by Charlemagne, and in the 
 tenth century again destroyed by the Saracens, and 
 successively under the French yoke, the Duke of 
 Milan, and its own doges, Louis XI. used to say, 
 that if Genoa gave herself up to him, he would give 
 her to the devil. 
 
 Intestine divisions, its own fickle inconstancy, the 
 factions of Guelph and Ghibelin, and the ambition 
 of the doges, reduced Genoa to the brink of ruin, 
 when Andrew Doria, sirnamed the Father of his 
 Country, with the aid of the French troops, arrested 
 the course of these revolutions, gave a fixed form to 
 the government, instituted a senate, and elected a 
 doge, limiting his power to two years. This form of 
 government continued from 1528 to 1797, when the 
 French revolution changed the state of the affairs of 
 the whole of Europe. Genoa existed no more as a 
 free and independent state; and in 1800 was occu- 
 pied by the French army under Marshal Massena, 
 and stood a long siege and blockade by the Austrians, 
 numbers of the inhabitants dying of hunger, and in 
 1805 was annexed to the French empire, and formed 
 into three departments. 
 
 In 1814 Genoa was taken by the English, under 
 Lord W. Bentinck, and was re-established as a re- 
 public ; but in the following year passed under the 
 dominion of the King of Sardinia, and was sacrificed 
 by the Congress of Vienna. 
 
 The republic was about eighty leagues in length, 
 and ten in breadth ; the produce of silk, and the 
 manufactories of velvet, and of Voltri paper, sent to 
 
259 
 
 America and the Levant, proof against the worm, 
 from the sulphureous water used in the making, were 
 immense, and Genoa had also a large trade in salt, 
 coral, oil of vitriol, cotton, and marble. 
 
 Genoa boasts among her natives Christopher Co- 
 lumbus, born 1447 ; and Andrew Doria. The statue 
 erected to his honour in the square of the Palazzo 
 Publico, was thrown down and destroyed by the 
 Vandals of 1797, and the palace voted to him by the 
 state was sacked, and his titles of nobility, which 
 extended two hundred feet in front of the edifice, 
 were effaced by the revolutionary rabble. 
 
 Genoa is splendidly situated at the base of the 
 Apennines, on the shores of the Mediterranean, and 
 built like an amphitheatre on the sides of the hills 
 which surround it. The port, in the shape of a vast 
 semicircle, round which terraces on the walls offer a 
 promenade for nearly the whole of its extent, is formed 
 by the old mole to the east, and by the new mole to 
 the west, near which is the lighthouse, a lofty tower 
 on a bold isolated rock. The fortifications next the 
 sea are strong, and also on the land side towards the 
 mountains, and the walls are almost three leagues in 
 circuit. 
 
 The population is ninety thousand. In general the 
 streets are steep and narrow ; the Strada Balbi, the 
 Strada Nuovissima, the Strada Nuova, are in the 
 same line, and the latter boasts no less than thirteen 
 palaces, all from the designs of Galeas Alexis, of the 
 school of M. Angelo. These palaces have been de- 
 scribed by Rubens, and the facades are grand and 
 imposing, though perhaps rather too much orna- 
 
 s2 
 
2GO 
 
 merited. The houses, which are very lofty, add 
 greatly to the striking appearance of Genoa, and on 
 the stuccoed fronts are frequently painted columns 
 and figures. " The black and white fronts of the 
 ancient palaces were once the distinction of the 
 highest nobility, but most of these marble mansions 
 have disappeared, the modern palaces are faced with 
 stucco, and some are painted in fresco, introduced at 
 Venice by Giorgione. Nothing can be grand in archi- 
 tecture that bears a perishable look." Forsyth. 
 
 Genoa is well supplied with water ; the aqueducts, 
 begun in 1279 and completed in 1355, extend for 
 nearly six leagues across hills and mountains, and 
 leaden pipes convey it to the houses. 
 
 Amongst the churches may be mentioned St. Lo- 
 renzo, the Cathedral, said to have been built on the 
 site of the " hospice" in which the saint lodged in 
 his journey from Spain to Rome, where he was mar- 
 tyred under Valerian. The style is Lombard, and 
 the exterior is covered with black and white marble : 
 the square tower is heavy, and the alternate layers of 
 black and white marble in the nave have an ugly 
 effect. On the altar is a colossal bronze statue of the 
 Virgin and Infant, also of St. John Baptist and 
 St. Lorenzo, the three protectors of the city, and the 
 roof of the choir is painted and gilt profusely, with 
 the martyrdom of St. Lorenzo in the centre. In the 
 Baptist's Chapel, the relics of the saint are believed 
 to be contained in an iron vase, brought hither in 
 1088 from Myrrha in Lycia, and carried in grand 
 procession every year ; and in the sacristy is shown 
 an emerald vase or dish, "sacro catino," found at the 
 
261 
 
 capture of Caesarea in 1101, and selected by the 
 Genoese in preference to all the other spoils of the 
 place. It is kept with especial care, under two locks, 
 and you are obliged to have an order, and to pay 
 besides, for a sight of this precious rarity ! ! The 
 shape is hexagonal, with two handles, and the thick- 
 ness considerable, and it is alleged that our Saviour 
 ate the last supper in this dish ; by others that it 
 formed part of the presents made by the Queen of 
 Sheba to Solomon, and was kept in the treasury of 
 the Temple at Jerusalem. This cup was taken away 
 by the French in 1809, and remained at Paris till 
 1815, when it was restored amongst other plunder. 
 
 The Church of the Annunciation, built by the 
 Lomellini family, is the largest in Genoa, except the 
 Cathedral, but the front is unfinished. In the nave 
 are ten Composite columns of white marble, with red 
 marble flutings, very lofty ; and the roof is gilt, and 
 painted by Carloni. In the chapel of St. Louis, 
 a marble slab covers the remains of the Duke de 
 Boufflers, who died at Genoa 1747, the general of 
 the French troops sent to the succour of the republic 
 when menaced by the Austrians ; but the arms and 
 epitaph were entirely obliterated by the French at the 
 Revolution. 
 
 The Church of St. Ambrose belongs to the order 
 of the Jesuits, the Palavicini family being large con- 
 tributors, covered with various-coloured marbles, and 
 the seven domes are painted by Carloni. Here is 
 the famous picture of the Circumcision, by Rubens, 
 and a magnificent one by Guido, of the Assumption 
 of the Virgin ; St. Ignatius (the Jesuit saint) casting 
 
262 
 
 out a devil ! Believe the miracle if you can, but it is 
 a noble production of Rubens, and superior to the 
 Circumcision. 
 
 The Church of St. Maria, in Carignano, on the 
 model of St. Peter's, was built in 1552, from the 
 designs of the celebrated architect Galeazzo d'Alessi, 
 agreeable to the will of Bendinetti Sauli, at an enor- 
 mous cost, jealous, it is said, of the Fiesque family, 
 who had founded a church near it, now converted 
 into a warehouse. 
 
 Near the church is a bridge, built by the Sauli 
 family, connecting the two hills Sarnano and Carig- 
 nano, to serve as a communication between the church 
 and the palace of the family. The three central 
 arches are of immense height, overtopping even the 
 houses of seven stories. 
 
 The Ducal Palace, where the Doges and the Sig- 
 niory of Genoa resided, and where the secret Council 
 of Two Hundred and the tribunals of the Senate 
 assembled, solid as a fortress, exists no more, having 
 been burnt down in 1777. The present building, 
 appropriated to public offices, is the largest in the 
 city, but the barracks block up the view of the front 
 entirely. The hall of the council is a magnificent 
 room, but the statues of the illustrious Genoese who 
 had served the state were destroyed by the Vandals 
 of the eighteenth century, the two statues of the 
 Dorias at the foot of the grand staircase were thrown 
 down, and the inscription on the tomb of Andrea 
 Doria in the church of St. Matthew was erased. 
 
 The Arsenal is the ancient Dominican convent of 
 St. Esprit, suppressed by the French in 1798. Here 
 
263 
 
 are forty thousand stand of arms, and fourteen thou- 
 sand Tower musquets, sent by Lord W. Bentinck in 
 1814, ancient halberds and crossbows of the Genoese 
 infantry, spoils taken from the Turks, cuirasses, and 
 one of the breastplates of the Genoese women who 
 volunteered to join in a crusade against the Turks, 
 but the Pope, at the moment of embarkation, wrote 
 to persuade them to desist from such masculine enter- 
 prises, and hinted that their zeal would be sufficiently 
 shown by contributing towards the armament. Here 
 is also a bronze prow of a galley, found in the har- 
 bour in 1597, supposed to have been sunk there since 
 the naval action between the Genoese fleet and the 
 Carthaginian, commanded by Mago. This is a rare 
 and valuable piece of antiquity ; the head is that of 
 a boar, but it has suffered much from the effects of 
 the salt water. 
 
 The Naval Arsenal scarcely deserves the name ; 
 the maritime power of Genoa is no more, the wet 
 dock in which the galleys were launched is unfit for 
 use, and the navy is perfectly contemptible. 
 
 The space at the base of the mountains on which 
 Genoa is built being so confined, there is a scarcity 
 of promenades, of which the Acquasola is the most 
 considerable. The lighthouse, near the new mole, a 
 lofty square tower on a precipitous rock, is a bold 
 and striking object ; the rock is fortified, and close to 
 the Porta della Lanterna there is a battery, and the 
 approach to Genoa on this side is so defended by art 
 and nature, as to render it almost impregnable. 
 
 The Durazzo Palace was lately bought by the 
 King of Sardinia for three millions of francs, and is 
 
264 
 
 the largest in Genoa. In the hall are two pictures, 
 one representing the audience given by the Grand 
 Signior to Augustine Durazzo, ambassador of the 
 Genoese republic, the other the sumptuous banquet 
 given by the same. Here are some splendid paint- 
 ings, and amongst them the chef d'oeuvre of Paul 
 Veronese, the Magdalen washing Christ's feet in the 
 Pharisee's house; and a bust of the Emperor Vitellius, 
 the finest extant. 
 
 The Palace Brignole, or the Red Palace, from the 
 colour of the facade, is a handsome building in the 
 Strada Nuova, and boasts one of the finest galleries 
 of paintings in Genoa ; and the Palace Serra, mag- 
 nificently furnished, contains the grandest saloon in 
 Europe. It cost one million two hundred thousand 
 francs ; the pillars, fluted Corinthian, are gilt, the 
 walls are coloured with powdered lapis lazuli and 
 gold, lined with mirrors, and the furniture is of Lyons 
 silk embossed. On the ceiling is a painting of the 
 apotheosis of Ambrogio Spinola, formerly the pro- 
 prietor, one of whom is said to have lost it as a stake 
 at play. The proportions (oval) are considered as 
 perfect, and it is mentioned in the French Encyclo- 
 pedia. 
 
 Palazzo Doria Panfili, out of the town, is neglected 
 and crumbling to ruin. The front, four hundred and 
 fifty feet in length, bears the following inscription : 
 " Divino munere Andreas D'Oria Cava3 F. S. R. 
 Ecclesioe Caroli Imperatoris Catholici Maximi et 
 Invictissimi Francisci Primi Francorum Regis et 
 Patrice classis Triremium IIII Praefectus ut maximo 
 labore jam fesso corpore honesto otio quiesceret, 
 
265 
 
 sedes sibi et successoribus instauravit MDXXVIIII." 
 The paintings, by Pierino del Vaga, are nearly de- 
 stroyed, and the frescoes on the outside can hardly be 
 traced. 
 
 From the want of ground at Genoa, the gardens 
 are small, and they are laid out on terraces, and in 
 some houses on the different stories ; and the streets 
 being narrow, the beauty and exterior decorations of 
 the palaces are lost. 
 
 The Albergo de Poveri, founded in 1650, capable 
 of holding two thousand two hundred persons, and 
 the Hospital of Pammatone, are immense buildings. 
 The Hospital of Incurables appals us by its very 
 name ; and Forsyth has well observed, that " for- 
 bidding the patient to hope, and the physician to 
 struggle, cuts off at once two sources of recovery." 
 
 The lower orders are as dark and copper-coloured 
 as the Naples lazzaroni, and the fishermen in their 
 red caps look almost like Lascars. The women of 
 the lower and middle classes wear large silver pins 
 in their hair, and a white veil is thrown over the head. 
 Fans are also universal. 
 
 The national character of the Genoese is not po- 
 pular in Italy ; and there is a proverb that they have 
 " a sea without fish, land without trees, and men 
 without faith." The first is true, for the greater part 
 of the fish is caught near Spezzia and Chiavari ; the 
 second holds good ; and the last was certainly the 
 opinion of the ancients. 
 
 " Assuetumq. malo Ligurum." Virg. Georg. ii. 
 
 " Vane Ligur ! frustraq. animis elate superbis, 
 Nequicquam patrise tentasti lubricus artes." JEn. 
 
266 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 ALESSANDRIA. TURIN. SUSA. MONT CENIS. 
 LES ECHELLES. 
 
 FROM Genoa to Novi, in a plain at the base of the 
 Apennines, formerly in the territory of the Genoese 
 republic, but now belonging to Sardinia, contains 
 six thousand souls, and was taken by the Austrians 
 in 1746. Between this place and Alessandria we 
 passed over the plain of Marengo. Dessaix fell in 
 the decisive charge which turned the scale in favour 
 of the republicans, gave all this part of Italy to the 
 French, and established the power of the First Consul. 
 He was supposed to have been jealous of Dessaix's 
 popularity with the army, and some say that he did 
 not fall by the enemy s hand. The pillar, surmounted 
 by the imperial eagle, which marked the spot where 
 Dessaix received his death-wound, has been removed. 
 Crossed the Tanaro, and passed the out-works of 
 Alessandria. 
 
 The " Place" is spacious, and surrounded with ave- 
 nues of acacias ; and on one side is a palace of the 
 King of Sardinia, of brick, like most of the houses. 
 The streets are narrow, and infamously paved. 
 
 Alessandria, the Alexandria Statiellorum of the 
 ancients, a bishopric, and the capital of the district 
 Alexandrine, is seated on the Tanaro, which divides 
 it. The present town was built by the inhabitants of 
 Milan, Cremona, and Placenza, and attached itself 
 to the party of Pope Alexander III. against the Em- 
 
267 
 
 peror Frederic Barbarossa. Its name, " della paglia," 
 is supposed to have been derived from the original 
 walls having been thrown up in haste of straw, wood, 
 and clay mixed together, and the Ghibelins called it 
 in derision " Alessandria della paglia ; " but when 
 the Emperor besieged it, he experienced so vigorous 
 a resistance, that after six months of obstinate attack, 
 he was forced to raise the siege. According to other 
 accounts, it derived the appellation because the Ger- 
 man emperors were formerly crowned here with a 
 diadem of straw. 
 
 Crossed the Tanaro by a long and lofty covered 
 bridge, at the foot of which is the citadel, one of the 
 strongest in Europe. The fortifications of the town 
 were razed in 1814, but the citadel is in good repair, 
 and there is a strong garrison. 
 
 Asti, the Asta Pompeia of the Romans, the capital 
 of the Comte d'Asti, on the river Tanaro, is celebrated 
 for its wine, and contains ten thousand inhabitants. 
 The streets are narrow, the people appear sunk in 
 wretched poverty, the chateau and fortifications are 
 in ruins, and of its hundred towers there is hardly a 
 vestige. 
 
 Asti is a bishopric, and Victor Alfieri was a native 
 of the town. 
 
 Turin, the capital of Piedmont, is situated on an 
 extensive plain on the banks of the Po, backed by a 
 fine range of hills covered with villas, the view being 
 bounded by the distant Apennines. 
 
 The French took Turin in 1536, and kept it till 
 1562. Lord Harcourt took it again in 1640, and 
 the French army, commanded by the Duke of Or- 
 
268 
 
 leans, was defeated under its walls by Prince Eugene 
 and Victor Amadeus, with immense loss, A. D. 1706. 
 
 The circumference of the town is about a league ; 
 the Piazza Castello is surrounded on three sides 
 by arcades, and the fourth is formed by the facade 
 of the Palace, and in the middle is the ancient Castle 
 of the Dukes of Savoy, but the massive brick towers, 
 and the deep fosse, ill accord with the modern stone 
 buildings, and the pillars, balustrades, and statues 
 which have been plastered upon it. From this square 
 the three principal streets diverge; and at their ex- 
 tremities are the entrances from Genoa, Nice, and 
 France. The Contrada del Po is three quarters of a 
 mile long, well paved, and arcades extend on both 
 sides of the street, and is terminated by a very hand- 
 some stone bridge over the river, built by Bonaparte. 
 
 The elevation of the palace is plain, but the in- 
 terior is splendidly furnished, and contains a noble 
 collection of pictures. On the grand staircase is the 
 equestrian statue of Amadeus the First, in complete 
 armour of hammered iron, and the horse is sculptured 
 out of a solid block of marble. 
 
 All that ornament can bestow, has been lavished 
 on the churches of Turin, and in many instances 
 entirely at variance with good taste. That dedicated 
 to St. Philippe de Neri is the largest. Corinthian 
 columns and pilasters of the purest marble support 
 the roof; the chapels are of the same material, and 
 the high altar is adorned with twisted pillars of veined 
 marble from the valley of Aost. The massive columns 
 of black Como marble, under the organ, have a very 
 striking effect. 
 
269 
 
 The church of Corpus Domini displays a gross 
 instance of superstition, recorded on a slab in the 
 pavement. A peasant had stolen some rich offerings 
 from an altar, and the spoil having been placed on 
 an ass, was about to be carried away to a place of 
 safety by the sacrilegious thief, but when the animal 
 approached this spot, he not only threw the holy 
 burthen from his back, but dropped upon his knees, 
 and the church was founded in consequence, A. D. 
 1453!!! 
 
 The royal chapel of Sainte Suaire, built by the 
 Dukes of Savoy, in the beginning of the sixteenth 
 century, behind the high altar of the Cathedral, is 
 circular, and entirely of black marble, the cupola 
 being supported by fluted Corinthian columns, with 
 capitals and bases of gilt bronze. Six large arcades 
 rise from these columns ; and from the alcoves placed 
 one above the other, the dome has a very striking 
 effect, the marble crown at the summit appearing 
 almost to be suspended in the air. A relic of the 
 " holy napkin" is enshrined upon the altar, and above 
 it is a cross of rock crystal, supported by angels. 
 The Corso della Citadella is extensive, and planted 
 with avenues of fine trees ; in the fronts of the houses 
 many cannon balls still remain, the effects of the 
 cannonade when the Austrian army, under General 
 Melas, and the Russians, under General Suwarrow, 
 besieged the French under General Friel, in the 
 citadel, who, after an obstinate defence of seven 
 months, surrendered. 
 
 The promenades of Valentin, at the extremity of 
 the Contrada del Po, were planned by order of 
 
270 
 
 Bonaparte, and command a beautiful view of the 
 fertile plains which surround the city, the river, the 
 Convent of the Capucins, on a richly wooded 
 eminence, the Superga, on the hill above, and the 
 chains of the Apennines. 
 
 The citadel is one of the strongest in Europe, and 
 commands the town completely. The subterraneous 
 communications are numerous; there are three lines 
 of mines, one above the other, and it is well supplied 
 with water. A large well was pointed out, in which 
 more than two thousand French soldiers, during the 
 siege, were buried; in another three hundred; in 
 another two hundred were thrown. 
 
 Rode to the church of La Superga, on a lofty 
 eminence, five miles from the town. 
 
 Victor Amadeus having been expelled from his 
 dominions by the French, fled to the court of the 
 Emperor of Germany to solicit his assistance, and 
 Prince Eugene was sent at the head of a formidable 
 force to reinstate the Duke in the possessions of his 
 ancestors. The army under this great leader, and 
 Victor Amadeus, approached Turin, then vigorously 
 besieged by the allied French and Spanish armies, and 
 reduced to the last extremity A. D. 1706; and on the 
 spot where the church stands, the two leaders deter- 
 mined on the plan of attack. Before an image of the 
 Virgin, the Duke made a vow, that should victory 
 crown his arms, he would raise a temple as the monu- 
 ment of his gratitude. 
 
 It is said, that at the commencement of the siege, 
 the French regarded an eclipse, which happened at 
 the time, as a bad omen, the sun being the favourite 
 

271 
 
 device of Louis XIV., and the event justified their 
 fears; the French and Spaniards, after a bloody con- 
 flict, were defeated with immense loss, and obliged 
 with precipitation to raise the siege. In commemo- 
 ration, therefore, of this event, the Duke of Savoy 
 founded the church of La Superga. The exterior 
 consists of a dome and two towers, and the entrance 
 is under a square portico, surmounted with balustrades, 
 the columns supporting it being larger than those of 
 the peristyle of the Louvre. 
 
 Architects have, however, remarked, that the portico 
 is too large in proportion to the building, and that the 
 turrets are not elegantly terminated. Over the entrance 
 is the following inscription : " Virgini Genetrici Victor 
 Amadeus Sardiniae Rex Bello Gallico vovit pulsis 
 hastibus Extruxit Dedicavitque." 
 
 Eight Corinthian columns of gray marble, upwards 
 of four feet in diameter, support the dome, which is 
 two hundred feet high, and above is another range of 
 columns of red marble, and the chapels are adorned 
 with bas-reliefs; and on the high altar is one of the 
 battle in which the besiegers were defeated. In a 
 small chapel is a wooden image of the Virgin, before 
 which Victor Amadeus made his vow. The cemete- 
 ries of the royal family under the church, are orna- 
 mented with pillars of polished marble. A pyramidical 
 obelisk, at the base of which are warlike trophies, 
 and adorned with the figures of Liberality and 
 Justice, commemorates the founder. Died Novem- 
 ber, 1732, aged sixty-six years. Behind La Superga 
 is a quadrangle, with apartments for twelve canons, 
 
272 
 
 from which number the bishops in Piedmont are 
 chosen. The anniversary of the foundation of the 
 church is observed by the court with great pomp. 
 
 The population of Turin is about seventy-six 
 thousand, and the principal branch of trade is the 
 manufacture of the fine Piedmont silk so greatly 
 esteemed throughout Italy. 
 
 From Turin to Rivoli, a dirty ill-paved town, with 
 a palace of the King of Sardinia. Suza is situated in 
 a valley, at the foot of Mount Cenis, on the banks of 
 the river Doire. This was the Segusium, the Segu- 
 niensium civitas of the Romans, and was reckoned 
 among the most illustrious cities of the Cottine Alps. 
 Plin. lib. iii, c. 20. It was ruined by Flavius Valens, 
 the armies of Constantine sacked and destroyed it, 
 and afterwards the Emperor Barbarossa, on his way 
 from Germany, reduced it to ashes. The triumphal 
 arch, about which so much has been written, is 
 situated in the grounds of the chateau, and is in a 
 very good state of preservation. It is of marble, and 
 each facade is ornamented with two Corinthian 
 columns; and on the frieze is a representation of a 
 triumph and a sacrifice, and the meeting or alliance 
 between Augustus and Cottius, corroborating the 
 opinion that this arch was erected in honour of 
 Augustus, by King Cottius, an ally of the Romans, 
 or by the towns under his government. The streets of 
 Suza are narrow and filthy; the Doire in winter is so 
 much swollen by the melting of the snow, that it 
 frequently causes great ravages by its inundations. 
 
 At Suza the heat was intolerable, though the 
 
273 
 
 mountains above us glistened with snow, and when 
 we approached the summit of Mount Cenis we were 
 refreshed by a fine cool air, which we had not felt for 
 months past, and the ruddy countenances of the chil- 
 dren were strongly contrasted with the livid unhealthy 
 hue of the Romans and Neapolitans. The marks of 
 the auger in the rock show the labour and difficulty 
 in making this splendid road, which in winter is kept 
 open as long as possible by working parties stationed 
 in small houses at regular distances. 
 
 At the post-house, on the summit, we had some 
 excellent trout, taken out of the lake opposite, about a 
 league in circumference ; its transparent dark blue 
 water surrounded by crags of white rock, and the 
 bleak, barren ridges of the Alps. The summer lasts 
 but three months, and then vegetation is exuberant, 
 and the difference between autumn and winter is 
 hardly discernible. Fuel is a scarce article, as it 
 is brought from the valleys at great trouble and 
 expense. 
 
 Near the lake is the Hospice des Pelerins, a large 
 stone edifice, with a chapel, and containing numerous 
 apartments, and three monks reside here constantly, 
 whose duty it is to give succour, food, and lodging to 
 travellers, an establishment similar to those on the 
 St. Bernard, the St. Gothard, and the Simplon. 
 The space in front of the building is surrounded with 
 walls, with double rows of loop-holes for musketry, 
 and batteries, mounting one hundred pieces of can- 
 non, were also thrown up here by the late ruler of 
 France, but the Austrians have so jcompletely razed 
 them, that the vestiges are hardly seen. The highest 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 point of the road is one thousand and sixty toises 
 above the sea. The plain, about a league and a half 
 in length, and a quarter of a league in breadth, is 
 clothed with turf and clover, and being enclosed by 
 mountains, the temperature, except in the depth of 
 winter, is mild, but there is not a tree to be seen, and 
 the heights around are clad in eternal snow. 
 
 O 
 
 From the post-house to Lanslebourg the distance 
 is about twelve miles, and such was formerly the 
 impracticable nature of the road, that travellers were 
 carried in litters borne by two men, and during the 
 winter the only mode of descent was in a sort of 
 sledge, guided by a person in the front, and rushing 
 down with frightful rapidity. 
 
 The Alps, amongst which Mount Cenis is con- 
 spicuous, rear their snowy summits round Lanslebourg 
 (on the frontier of Savoy) in the most majestic style. 
 At the extremity of the long, straggling street is an 
 inn, built by Bonaparte, with barracks adjoining, 
 capable of holding three thousand men, and one 
 thousand horses, and when on his journey into Italy 
 they were always occupied by a body of the imperial 
 guard. 
 
 Leaving Lanslebourg, the road lies by the side of 
 the foaming Arc, through a valley girt in by the 
 majestic and towering Alps of Savoy, resembling 
 some of the wildest scenery in Switzerland, and cross- 
 ing a bridge thrown over a mountain torrent, we 
 passed an immense isolated rock, which overhung 
 the abyss, on which, in 1818, I had observed prepa- 
 rations being made for the erection of a fortress, now 
 completed at the joint expense of the Emperor of 
 
275 
 
 Austria and the King- of Sardinia, and which must 
 serve as a strong- check against any incursions of 
 the French in this quarter, the road being such a 
 complete defile, that any column of troops passing 
 along it must be annihilated by the fire from this 
 fortress. 
 
 Through the miserable village of Modane, and 
 approached St. Michel by a narrow valley, or rather 
 mountainous pass, the Arc dashing its foaming waters 
 over huge blocks of granite. 
 
 In the vicinity of the rude town of St. Jean de 
 Maurienne, the valley, about a mile in breadth, and 
 watered by the Arc, abounds in barley, rye, pasturage, 
 and flax. Here Charles the Bald, King of France, 
 was poisoned, A. D. 877, according to the quaint 
 account given by Mezeray, " by Sedecias, his physi- 
 cian, a Jew, and a reputed magician, who took this 
 opportunity of giving him poison, a chance common 
 enough to the great, who employ such people." 
 
 Aiguebelle consists of a long, narrow street, en- 
 closed by a complete amphitheatre of rocks, and 
 abounding in " goitres." 
 
 The gloomy and steep streets of Montmelian are 
 built on the banks of the Isere, beneath the castle, 
 which is situated on a lofty mountain. It belonged 
 to the Counts of Savoy ; Amadeus IV. was born there, 
 1197, and Thomas II. 1199, and it was so strongly 
 fortified as to be deemed impregnable. Francis I. and 
 Henry IV. took it, but in both cases by means of 
 treachery. Louis XIII. besieged it ineffectually for 
 thirteen months ; but in 1691, Louis XIV. was more 
 fortunate, and razed it to ts foundations. 
 
276 
 
 f CA * **.{,* f ) The streets of the capital of Savoy^are narrow and 
 ^ crooked, and the public buildings, with the exception 
 of the hospital, are insignificant; the cathedral has 
 neither tower nor steeple, and the arches of the nave 
 are badly proportioned. The fortifications were de- 
 stroyed in the French revolution, but many of the old 
 stone walls and the ditches may be traced. 
 
 La Chaile, the most dangerous part of the passage 
 of Les Echelles, is avoided by a gallery cut through 
 the rock, nine hundred and fifty feet long, twenty-four 
 feet wide, and twenty-four feet high, and commenced 
 by the Duke of Savoy, and nearly finished by Bona- 
 parte, and lighted at night with lamps. This gallery 
 was not completed in 1818 ; the traces of the batteries 
 raised by Marshal Suchet, who commanded on this 
 frontier in 1815, for the defence of the pass, were 
 visible, and the loop-holes for musketry still remained. 
 Between Les Echelles and Pont de Beauvoisin, the 
 scenery of the rocky defile on the banks of the Gard, 
 dashing its waters through crags covered with the 
 pine and fir, is extremely romantic, and at the latter 
 place, so called from its bridge over the Gard, a 
 French sentry posted at one end, a Sardinian at the 
 other, we entered France. 
 
 From Pont de Beauvoisin to Lyons and Paris. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 C. V.limiNGIIAM, CJIISWICK. 
 
GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 
 
 3 3125 00974 9769