PALACES.

"AN Englishman travelling in Italy," says Dr. Burton, "must divest himself of the idea which he usually attaches to the word palace. In our country we understand by it the residence of royalty, and affixing ideas of magnificence to the term, we often complain of being disappointed with the foreign palaces; whereas in our own country it is the general observation that the royal palaces are inferior to private houses. In Italy the residence of every nobleman is called a palace; in Rome they are abundantly frequent; and if a concise description were demanded of them, it would not be far from the truth to say, that with a splendid outside, they display a lamentable want of comfort and inattention to cleanliness in the interior. The plan is nearly the same in all of them; they are built round a quadrangle with a large staircase opening into the court: the rooms communicate with each other, sometimes round the whole of the quadrangle, and form a suite of apartments on each floor, sufficient to constitute a house. But with all this scale of splendour, there is little, or nothing, in a Roman palace worth seeing, except the works of art. Even this attraction has been diminished in latter times, the poverty of the nobles having compelled many of them to sell their pictures. That splendour of furniture and decoration which characterizes the English houses, whether in town or country, is unknown at Rome."

Mr. Mathews' general account of the palaces of Rome is contained in a few words, "splendid and useless;" he says "the owners live in a few obscure rooms, and the magnificent galleries are deserted." Forsyth says of them that they are built rather for the spectator than the tenant. Hence the elevation is more studied than the plan. "Some of them are mere fronts, facciate," said a friend of mine. "con mabilia e quadri dietro," (fronts, with furniture and pictures behind.) Their fronts, too, are so crowded with stories, that the mansion of a prince often suggests the idea of a lodginghouse. The lower file of windows is grated like a gaol: the upper files are divided by wretched mezzanini." Where different orders are piled in front, which is fortunately rare, their natural succession is seldom observed: it is even reversed." Their internal arrangement is generally the same. A grand staircase leads into the sala, the common hall of the palace; and if the owner be a prince who has the right of canopy, in this apartment stands his throne with a railing round it. "From this great Hall, when it occupies the middle of the first floor, you command the palace in different directions, and can pierce it at a glance through lengthening files of marble door-posts. In the distribution of the houses, the great object is the picturesque. Nothing is done for the comfortable, which is a term unknown to the Italian language, and a state unfelt in a hot country."

Mr. Rae Wilson describes the internal decorations and furniture of the Roman palaces as being in most cases unsuitable to their size and stately appearance: "These noble residences," he says, "exhibit more of stateliness and grandeur than of positive beauty in their architecture; and as to external elegance, hardly one can lay any claim to it. They are in a grandiose but heavy style, and the thick iron gratings before the lower windows of many of them have a gloomy, gaol-like appearance. Besides this there are very few of them suitably finished, or indeed that do not betray, more or less, either sad neglect, or the utter inability of their owners to keep them in order and repair. Sordid meanness seems to go hand-in-hand with prodigalitypenury with ostentation. In capacious saloons whose walls are decked with valuable paintings, may be seen furniture of the most ordinary description; and in apartments that are otherwise handsomely and consistently decorated, the eye is offended by the floor being of brick or of some composition of brick-like hue. Climate is no apology for such vile materials as these, because, if coolness be the object, marble, or at least stone, should be employed; else as a substitute for carpets, floor-cloth, painted either in imitation of them, or of inlaid marble floors. If such matters are not worth attending to, neither can it be worth while to bestow any thought upon the ornamental in the rest of the apartments, especially as the vileness of the floor becomes more offensively conspicuous, in proportion to the richness of the walls and

ceilings. Here and there we meet with a splendid marble pavement in some gallery or saloon, or perhaps an entire suite of elegant and consistently furnished apartments; yet such exceptions do not interfere with the general character of these Roman palaces, which for the most part have rather the air of public than of private buildings: just that kind of order is kept up in them as in places that acknowledge no individual owner or master who has a personal interest in them. However, when lighted up of an evening, their spacious chambers are well enough fitted for the reception of a fashionable crowd of loungers, who effectually conceal the meanness of their floors from observation; besides which, the dinginess of furniture and hangings is then less striking than in broad daylight."

"I have heard it suggested," says Simond, "that there might be something of the grandioso, lurking about the filth of a Roman palace. The noble owner occupies but a small part of the edifice, the rest being intended, not for private comfort, but for the display of wealth and power, to be enjoyed by an admiring multitude at all hours, and in their own way, that is, in a manner neither very refined nor very cleanly. Solidity is the general character of the architecture of these palaces; but few are rectangular, and an awkward obliquity of the walls spoils the look of most of the rooms. The Farnese Palace is, I believe, the only one standing insulated; but although deemed the finest at Rome and the most regular, it seems singularly heavy."

In former times the palaces of Rome were doubtless much more brilliant than they now are, The vicissitudes of fortune have been keenly felt by the Roman nobility; and of these noble structures, it may be now truly said, that "the poverty and dirtiness of the owner are in many instances disgustingly apparent,"

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"It is, however, not fair," as Dr. Burton remarks," condemn a Roman noble, because his palace is dirty on the ground-floor, or even on the first story. The quadrangle at the bottom generally serves for a court or stableyard, with offices round it, and the first floor is not unfrequently let to tradesmen or other occupiers. Many English families have of late been accommodated in the Roman palaces; the suites of rooms being so extensive, the owner finds one floor sufficient for his own use, and is glad to make money by letting the remainder. All this is very discordant with our notions: but if the Roman nobles are now become poor, we should recollect that at the time when their palaces were built, they must have far exceeded us in ideas of magnificence. In some of the quadrangles the whole house of a nobleman in London might be placed: nor, in point of style, can we at all compare the architecture of the two countries." Perhaps the best authority that we can quote concerning their architecture is Mr. Woods. It is his opinion that we do not at first sight do justice to the architecture of the Roman palaces. The great size of many of them, and the abundance and bold projection of the ornaments, produce a general impression of magnificence; but if we can get space enough in front to examine the parts distinctly, we often turn away dissatisfied, from the absurdity and disproportion they exhibit. Yet, with great faults, we may find amongst them great beauties which, when habit has enabled us to support their defects, the mind learns to enjoy. Generally speaking, there is great simplicity of design, so much so that in a large number the front is not divided into parts, either as a centre and two wings, or in any other way, but presents one simple, continued line of surface. They also exhibit much richness of detail. "It is true that these details are frequently very far from correct in themselves, and in proportions not always good; but to an architect the modern palaces of Rome are invaluable as a collection of experiments on architectural beauty on a grand scale; and let me add, in a grand style; for however they may be abused as extravagant, absurd, or preposterous, they at least avoid the greatest fault a building can have, that of being mean and paltry. The Romans, even in these degenerate days, have adopted a style fit for those who had the world at their command. These palaces are rarely degraded either with columns or pilasters: they are better without them; for these never look well in a building of many stories in height."

THE VATICAN.

To the north of St. Peter's, and therefore on the right hand of the spectator, looking upon its principal front, stands an enorious mass of building, bearing the name of the Palace of the Vatican; the reader will see a portion of this pile in our view of St. Peter's in a former number". It may be described as the state palace of the popes, though it is not their actual place of residence. For upwards of a thousand years from the time of Constantine the popes lived in the Lateran Palace; but that fell into such decay during the translation of the Holy See to Avignon, that Gregory XI., on the return in 1377, not thinking it suitable, or safe, removed to the Vatican, which had existed from an early period, and which was rendered secure by the proximity of the castle of St. Angelo. The Lateran Palace was rebuilt in 1586 by Sixtus V.; and in 1693, Innocent XII. turned it into a hospital for the poor. Paul III. (1534-1550,) was the first pope who took up his residence in the Quirinal Palace on the Monte Cavallo; and his successors have followed his example, leaving the Vatican for the celebration of ceremonies. The exterior of the Vatican is not prepossessing; in an architectural sense the term Palace is hardly applicable to it, as, instead of presenting one regular pile, it consists of a number of different structures. Simond describes it as "presenting only a shapeless mass of buildings, almost overtopping its neighbour, St. Peter's." Another writer speaks of it as "a huge collection of old buildings, curiously jumbled together, full of sharp angles and strange excrescences, and, as somebody once observed, it is not like a palace, but a company of palaces, which seem to be jostling each other in a contest for place and precedency." Its actual dimensions exceed those of the Louvre and Tuilleries united. There are twenty courts with porticoes, eight grand, and two hundred small staircases.

"The dimensions of this palace," says Dr. Burton, "and the number of rooms assigned to it, border upon the marvellous. The whole pile of building, together with gardens, is said to comprise a circumference of some miles; and while some accounts make the number of apartments 4,422, others swell it to 13,000! The effect of all this mass of architecture is anything but pleasing; from no point of view does it present any extent of front or magnificence of design; while its proximity to St. Peter's interferes most unfortunately with the view of that building. It is in fact a collection of apartments built by several popes. The date of its first commencement is not clearly known. There was certainly a palace here in the time of St. Leo II. as Charlemagne resided in it A. D. 800 Celestine III. added tɔ it in Ĭ191—8, as did Innocent III 1198-1216; and Nicholas III. in 1278. Nicholas V. in 1447-55, built the rooms which were afterwards painted by Raphael. Leo X. added the triple portico, the middle one of which is also painted by Raphael, and is thence called Le Loggie di Raffaello. Sextus V. added an entirely new palace, and Pius VI. built what is called the Museo Pio-Clementino. The paintings and statues preserved in this building, together with its prodigious library, have deservedly raised the fame of the Vatican above that of every other palace in the world. The pictures are not numerous; but those which are here are all excellent, and the paintings in fresco are some of the most wonderful productions which exist."

The principal staircase of the Vatican is that which leads into it from the vestibule of St. Peter's by the side of the equestrian statue of Constantine the Great. It opens into a hall which serves as a vestibule to two magnificent chapels, the Sistine and Pauline. This Sala Regia, or Royal Hall, as it is called, was built by Antonio San Gallo, and is adorned with fresco paintings by Vasari and others. Of these pictures Dr. Burton observes, that to a zealous Catholic they may be interesting, but will excite a smile in a Protestant, who prefers authentic history to the traditions of the church. They almost all relate to circumstances which tended to exalt the holy see; and among them is the massacre of St. Bartholomew which "might as well have been omitted." It was painted by Vasari during the pontificate of Gregory the Thirteenth (1572-1585), who also had a medal struck to commemorate the slaughter of the Hugenots.

THE SISTINE CHAPEL.

THIS chapel derives its name from Pope Sixtus the Fourth, who employed Baccio Pintelli to build it, and had the two

* See Saturday Magazine, Vol. XII., p. 161

side walls painted by several Florentine artists about 1474. It is an oblong room very large and lofty, with scarcely any of the usual furniture of a chapel; it is used only on few occasions, as on the First Sunday in Advent, and in the Holy Week. It is in this apartment that the cardinals meet in conclave to elect a new pope.

The principal attraction of the Sistine Chapel lies in the frescoes painted in it by Michel Angelo. Soon after his return from Bologna to Rome, in 1508, that great artist received orders from Pope Julius the Second to paint the vaulted ceiling of this apartment. Up to this period Michel Angelo had been very little employed in painting, having acquired his great celebrity as a sculptor. He had, however, astonished his countrymen at Florence, some years before, by his wonderful cartoon of the Battle of the Arno, painted for one end of the hall in the Ducal Palace, the other end of which had been assigned to the pencil of Leonardo da Vinci. We are told that Julius was advised to employ Michel Angelo to paint the chapel by Bramante and San Gallo, the eminent architects; and it is said that Bramante was instigated by unworthy motives in giving this counsel; imagining either that the large sums which the pope was expending in sculpture would leave less at his command for architectural purposes, or that Michel Angelo, who preferred the practice of sculpture to that of painting, would refuse to perform the task in question, and so enrage his patron, or that should he attempt it, he would manifest his inferiority as a painter to the great Raphael, who was Bramante's nephew, and whom therefore Bramante wished to bring into favour with the pope. Michel Angelo was at the time absorbed in the great work which he had undertaken of executing a monument for Julius the Second; he wished to decline the task, and is even said to have recommended Raphael as a person better qualified to perform it. But the pope was inexorable, and Michel Angelo reluctantly undertook the work. So anxious was he for the success of the work, that he prepared the colours with his own hands, and finished the whole with scarcely any assistance. Even the scaffolding is said to have been made under his own directions, and he gave the profits of it afterwards to a poor carpenter, who had executed it for him. The agreement, which he made with the pope, through Bramante, was for 15,000 ducats. He constantly refused to admit any person into the chapel while the work was going on: but in 1511, when about half of it was finished, the pope insisted upon its being 'thrown open to public inspection, this was accordingly done. The great artist was then urged, more than ever by the pope, to hasten its completion, and on November 1st, 1512, the whole work was concluded, and the public admitted without reserve. The whole time during which he was employed in it, did not exceed twenty months. Besides the twelve compartments of the roof, he painted a portion of the side walls.

"He selected subjects from the Old Testament for the ceiling," says Dr. Burton; "among which may be observed several circumstances attending the creation, treated in a most sublime manner, and with an effect truly astonishing. To artists it may be interesting to know, that the Deluge was the first subject executed by him. He also painted some Prophets and Sibyls over the windows, which are amongst the finest works which he has left. The Sibyls are five in number, and are known by the name of the Persian, Erythræan, Delphian, Cumaan, and Libyan. The introduction of such figures at all into a Christian Church may seem extraordinary." The cause of it is found by the learned writer in the attempt which was made in the early ages of the church to enlist the Sibylline bookst of the ancient Romans in the cause of Christianity, and even to invent others and class them under the same denomination. "A treatise has been written upon the subject by David Blondel, in which he conjectures, that the forgery began about the year 138; and he even accuses Hermas of being accessory to it; but the charge is certainly unfounded. The Gnostics pretended to have some genuine works of Noah's wife; to meet which formidable document, the orthodox party produced the writings of Noah's daughter, whom they called a Sibyl. As many as eight books were circulated under the name of Sibylline; and nearly twenty persons from different countries are mentioned as Sibyls. Of these, the five already named, became the most celebrated, and some of the early fathers, pious and learned men, believed that they really had prophesied of our Saviour. It will be sufficient to mention Justin Martyr

+ See Saturday Magazine Vol. X. p. 204.

and Clemens Alexandrinus. The Roman Catholics have particularly appealed to them in support of some of the doctrines which are now rejected by the Protestants: and this will sufficiently account for their being joined in company with the Prophets in the Sistine Chapel."

But the paintings in the compartments of the ceiling are not the only examples of Michel Angelo's genius in the Sistine Chapel. Above the altar is his celebrated Last Judgment. This great picture had been projected in the lifetime of Clement the Seventh; his successor Paul the Third, attended. by ten cardinals, went to visit Michel Angelo, and seeing the cartoons which had been prepared for it, determined that nothing should prevent its speedy execution. For eight years the great master was employed upon it, and it was opened to the public in Christmas, 1542. Dr. Burton speaks of this work as "perhaps the most wonderful specimen of the art in the world. I mean," he adds, "the most surprising monument of genius and imagination: for unless we confound the ideas of the beautiful and the sublime, and conceive that the former is always contained in the latter, it must be acknowledged, that many other paintings are more pleasing at the first view. But notwithstanding the ridiculous way in which some part of the subject is treated, and the mixture of sacred and profane history throughout, this work of Michel Angelo will surprise and please more and more every time that it is examined. It will perhaps be more admired when considered in single groups, than as a whole. It has often been remarked, that Michel Angelo was indebted for the conception of some of his figures to the poem of Dante."

The same writer mentions an amusing story told concerning a figure in this picture, which was intended as a portrait of a certain master of the ceremonies, who had complained to the pope of the indecency of the painting. His name was Biagio of Cesena: the painting was not quite finished when he made this complaint, and Michel Angelo introduced his portrait as a demon with ass's ears, encircled with a large serpent, and placed him in hell. Bragio again complained, and the pope requested the painter to release him. Michel Angelo replied, that had he been only in purgatory, it might have been possible, but from hell there was no redemption.

"After all, we see this sublime work in the most disadvantageous manner. It is now more than two centuries and a half since it was completed, and the action of damp, united with the smoke from the incense and the candles, has thrown a great obscurity over the whole. In the present age we may, perhaps, be allowed to regret, that the great masters painted so much in fresco. M. Angelo was accustomed to say, that painting in oils was an occupation for women, so convinced was he of the greater difficulty and merit of executing works in fresco. He confirmed this observation by his practice; and though he unquestionably amused himself occasionally with oils, it is asserted, upon the best authority, that there is not one undisputed oilpainting of his in existence. Many are exhibited as laying claim to this honour, which, perhaps, were executed by his pupils, and may have received some touches from the master himself. Whatever may be the comparative merits of the two arts, we have evidently suffered by fresco painting being preferred; for while we have pictures in oil by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and others, contemporary with M. Angelo, the colours of which seem as fresh as when they were first laid on, (and perhaps more pleasing in the effect,) those which were painted upon the wall, have in a great part perished, and the rest are daily becoming more indistinct; so that unless this new discovery of detaching frescos from the wall can preserve such works, our descendants will be enabled to judge of these great efforts only by copies and engravings. It might be thought that the ancients mixed their colours for painting upon plaster better than the moderns, at least, that they were more durable. Pliny mentions some paintings still existing at Ardea, Cære, and Lanuvium, which were older than the foundation of Rome, and had received little or no injury, though in a ruined building, and exposed to the air. This would give them an antiquity of eight hundred years and upwards."

THE LOGGIE AND CAMERE OF RAPHAEL.

THE Loggie of Raphael in the Vatican are, as the name implies, three open galleries, running round three sides of a square court. They were built by Pope Julius the Second, having been begun by Bramante, and finished from the designs of Raphael. In the middle gallery, the ceiling is

painted entirely after designs of that great master, who employed in the work Giulio Romano, Polidoro, Caravaggio, and other of his pupils. The ceiling is divided into thirteen compartments, each of which contains four paintings. "In the first compartment," says Dr. Burton, "which contains the Creation, God dividing Light from Darkness, is by him, and much admired. But surely this is a subject too sublime for the greatest human genius. Raphael probably chose it because Michel Angelo had represented the same subject on the roof of the Sistine Chapel. The two last paintings in this series, the Baptism of Jesus and the Last Supper, are also by Raphael." The walls are covered with Arabesques, which are also after the designs of Raphael; and he is said to have borrowed them from the Baths of Titus, which were excavated in his days. The story which is added, however, of his covering up the excavations as soon as he had finished his copies, in order that the imitation might be concealed, is one which "few would believe," as Dr. Burton remarks, except on the most undeniable evidence." The baths were undoubtedly open in his time, as the Laocoon was discovered in 1506, and he painted the Loggie in the Vatican in 1513-21. "It is also true, that they were sub sequently filled up, and the soil which occupied them was not an accumulation merely effected by time. Many of the rooms were filled up to the very top, a height, perhaps, of thirty feet; and the rubbish which has been dug out consists of stones and other ruins of buildings. The room in which the Laocoon was found, and which must have been cleared at that time, is stated by the guides to have been also choked up when the French began to dig. But we may ask, if the room was full of soil from the days of Raphael to the time of the late excavations, how was the tradition preserved, that this was the actual apartment where the Laocoon was found? It is a singular circumstance, that in almost all the rooms a round hole has been broken in the ceiling, as if purposely to throw in rubbish. So that it is, perhaps, not an improbable conjecture, that the owners of the land wishing to clear it for cultivation, got rid of sundry fragments which projected above the surface, by throwing them into this convenient receptacle. At all events, we must not believe the charge against Raphael without some satisfactory evidence. He is known to have been an eager searcher after antiquities, and to have made a proposal to Leo the Tenth for instituting a general examination. The Romans in his time, were perhaps, as enthusiastic in this pursuit, as they have been during any subsequent period; and we may imagine that when such a discovery was made, as that of the chambers. in the Palace of Titus, thousands would be led by curiosity to examine them. Such, indeed, is the express testimony of Gianbattista Armeni, a writer of that day, who says that all Rome ran in crowds to see the ornaments of stucco and painting, which presented such singular varieties. All these persons would have seen the arabesques; they must have formed the principal objects of the Ciceroni to point out. Owing to their great height, Raphael could not have copied them without scaffolding and without lights; so that it seems impossible that he could have conceived the idea of transferring these designs to the Vatican, and keeping the originals unknown. Beside which it is certain, from the work of Giulio Mancini upon painting, that the baths were open in the time of Urban the Eighth, who reigned in 1623-44, as well as in the time of Flaminius Vacca, who wrote in 1594."

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The Camere of Raphael are a series of four rooms, exhibiting some of the most remarkable of that great master's productions. These are all in fresco, and, as usual, have suffered considerably from time. "The rage for fresco painting," says Mr. Woods, or rather for admiring it, and regret that it is disused, seems to start up from time to time, even in our northern climates. It is, therefore, necessary to repeat again and again, that even in Italy fresco painting rapidly decays, and that in a climate such as ours, the value of its finest productions, if painted on the walls of a room, could hardly, by any care, be made to last a century."

The decoration of the Camere was commenced by Pope Julius the Second, who employed as painters Pietro della Francesca, Bramantino da Milano, Luca de Cortona, Pietro della Gatta, and Pietro Perugino. The latter was Raphael's master, and by his recommendation, as well as that of Bramante, Raphael was called from Florence to Rome in the year 1508, when he was twenty-five years of age. He was first employed in the Camera della Seg