HANDBOOK TO CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME. In Preparation. PART II. THE LITURGY IN ROME. PARTS III. AND IV. IN I Volume. Part III.-MONASTICISM IN ROME. Part IY.-ECCLESIASTICAL ROME. HANDBOOK TO CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME BY M. A. R. TUKER AND HOPE MALLESON JBart i. THE CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS OF ROME LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1900 This book was publisJud under initials until January, 1900 PREFACE. This Handbook is intended to give the visitor to Rome full information about the Christian side of its his- tory, about Roman churches, ceremonies, and customs, which does not fall within the scope of such an excel- lent Handbook as that of Messrs. Murray's general Guide. It was to have formed one volume, but the matter gradually exceeded all limits ; and it is now hoped that this little series of books (of which the present is much the largest) may prove as convenient, dealing as each volume will do, with a subject complete in itself. We cannot hope that among so much detail we have b^en able to avoid all error ; nor that we have always made the same choice as all our readers would have done, as to what pieces of information to give, and what to reluctantly withhold. When a choice has had to be made, we have elected to tell what is less generally known. There' remains only the pleasure of recalling the many kindnesses we have received, and of taking this opportunity of thanking all who have helped us with information, or by suggesting books. Our gratitude is specially due to Monsignor J, A. Campbell, Rector of the Scotch College in Rome, for unwearied helpfulness, and readiness in answering an infinity of questions, and for the courtesy of placing his library at our disposal : and for the kind help given us by Padre Semeria, Barnabite. For the archaeological portion of this handbook we are much indebted to conferences held on the spot by the late Commendatore G.-B. De Rossi, and by his pupil Professor Orazio Marucchi. And we desire also to thank Professor Barnabei and the Ministry of Public Instruction in Rome for facilities courteously afforded us. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. I'AGE Origin of the church in Rome — the church in the House — in the Cemetery — in the City — Regions — TituH — Diaconise — the Dominicum — earliest foundations — church build- ing after the Peace — destruction of pagan buildings i — 8 CHAPTER n. The Basilica — history — architecture — campanili — decora- tion— mosaics — the pictures of the Madonna — cross — crucifix ------ g — 27 CHAPTER HI. Interior of a church — the font — pulpit — ambones — images — iconoclastic controversy — lights — relics - - 28 — 45 CHAPTER IV. S. Peter's — S. Peter in Rome — the old basilica — the present basilica - - - - - - 4G — 87 CHAPTER V. The Lateran Basilica — the Palace — Patriarchium — Bap- tistery— Scala Santa — Christian Museum - 88 — 11 1 CHAPTER VI. Basilica of S. Paul — monastery and cloister — TrcFontane— S. Paulin Rome ----- 112— 125 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER VII. S. Maria Maggiore— S. Sebastiano — S. Croce — S. Lorenzo — S. Agnese ------ 126 — 158 CHAPTER VIII. The Churches in Rome — their titular Saints — Saints' emblems in art — shrines and rooms of saints in Rome — the Ghetto and Trastevere - - 159 — 366 CHAPTER IX. General history of the Catacombs — Art — Symbolism — In- scriptions— objects found - - - - 367 — 421 CHAPTER X. The Catacombs on the Via Appia — the catacomb of Callistus — of S. Sebastian — of Balbina — Praetextatus. On the Via Nomentana — S. Agnese — the Ostrianum — S. Nicomedes. On the Salaria Vetus— S. Ermete — Pamphylus— Liberale. On the Salaria Nova — S. Felicita— S; Thraso— Jordanorum — Priscilla — ^Novella. On the Via Ostia — Lucina — Commodilla^Hortus Theonis — Thecla — Zeno. On the Aurelia — Octavilla — Processus and Martinianus — Calepodius — S. Felix. On the Latina — Gordianus and Epimachus — Apronianus — TertuUinus. On the Ardeatina— S. Domitilla— Basileus — SS. Marcus and Balbina. On Via Portuense — Pontianus — Julius. On the Tiburtina— Cyriaca— Hippolytus. On the Labicana— SS. Petrus and Marcellinus and Helena — Castulus. On the Flaminia — S. Valentinus - - - 422 — 533 Visitors' Calendar ----- 534-539 Emperors and Popes during the Age of the Persecutions - . - . . ^40 — 541 Index ------- 542—547 LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED FOR PART I. Agincourt, Seroux d' .... Histoire de I'Art par ses monuments. Ampere Histoire Romaine a Rome. Armellini, Mariano Chiese di Roma. ,, Antichi Cimiteri Cristiani. Cimitero di S. Agnese. ,, Cripta di S. Emerenziana. Scoperto d'un Graffito Storico. Roma, 1874. Assemani, Joseph Aloysius Kalendaria ecclesiae universas. Romae, 1755. Bayet, Charles Art Byzantin. Benoit Architecture Bizantine. Bollandists. See De Smedt. Breviarium Romanum. Camerario, Cencio Liber Censuum. Regesti del Pontifice Onorio III. Canina Tempi Cristiani. Ciampini Vetera Monumenta. Romae, 1690. Couchaud Choir d'Eglises Bizantines. Corroyer Architecture Romane. De Rossi, G. B Bulletino di archeologia Cristiana Roma. ,, Inscriptiones Christianae. X LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED De Rossi, G. B Musaici. Roma Sotterranea. De Smedt. Pere J., S. J. de Backer, Houze, and van Ortroy Analecta BoUandiana. Paris, 1888. Einsiedeln Itinerary. Fergusson History of Architecture. Handbook of Architecture. Fontana Raccolta della Chiese di Roma. Tempio Vaticano. Roma, 1694. Germano, Padre La casa celimontana dei SS. martin Giovanni e Paolo. Gibbon Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gregorovius, Ferdinand . . History of Rome in the Middle Ages, English translation by Annie Hamilton, and Italian translation. Guerin, Monsignor Paul. . Les Petits BoUandistes. Paris, 1882. Itinerarium Salisburgense. Jameson, Mrs Sacred and Legendary Art. Johannes Abbas Index Oleorum. Johannes Diaconus (Hy- monides) Vita S. Gregorii Magni (in Migne). Justiniani Digesta. Kraus Real-Encyklopadie der Christlichen Alterthiimer. Laterouilly Edifices de Rome. Paris, 1840-1857. Le Vatican et S. Pierre de Rome. Le Blant, Edmond Inscriptions Chretiennes de la Gaule anterieures au VIII^ siecle. Paris, 1856. Lenoir Architecture monastique. Liber Pontificalis, Edition Duchesne. Paris, 1884. Malmesbury, William of Notitia Portarum, etc., circa Urbem Romam. Marchi, Padre Monumenti delle Arti cristiane primitive nella metropoli del cris- tianesimo. Roma, 1844. Martyrology, Roman. LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED xi Marucchi, Professor Orazio Memorie dei SS. Pietro e Paolo, Cimitero di S. Valentino. Mirabilia urbis Romae. Mullooly San Clemente. Nibby Roma Moderna. Roma, 1839. Okely Development of Christian Architec- ture in Italy. London, i860. Orsola, Suor Cronaca (Roma, 1607). Vat. Arch. 7847. Quatremere de Quincey . . Dictionnaire Historique d'Architec- ture. Paris, 1832. Renan, Ernest Hibbert Lecture. 1880. Ruinart, Thierrx Acta primorum Martyrum Sincera. 1713- Severano Le Sette Chiese (1629). Signorili Codex. Vatican Archs. Silvagni Corte e Societa Romana. Smith and Cheetham .... Dictionary of Christian Antiquities Smith and Ware Dictionary of Christian Biography. Tacitus Annali. Tertullian De corona militis. De Praescriptionibus contra Here- ticos. Tillemont, Le Nain de . . Memoires de I'histoire ecclesiastique des VI. premiers siecles. Paris, 1701, and Venezia, 1532. Torrigio, Francesco Maria Le sacre Grotte Vaticane. Roma, 1639- Trent Canones et Decreta Sacrosancti CEcumenici Concilii Tridentini. Romae, 1893. Twining Symbols of early Christian Art. Waal, Monsignor de I Luoghi Pii sul'territorio Vaticano. Roma. 1886. Wetzer und Welte Kirchenlexicon. ERRATA. Page 34, line 29, for " page 61 " yead " page 16." Page 49, first footnote, for " Annali " read " Annates." Page 108, line 34, for " Chapter IX." read " page 408." Page 113, line 3 of footnote, for " He was " read " His grandson was." Page 140, line 33, for " Cipolanno " read " Cipollano." Page 151, first note, for " See Catacombs, page 367, and Chapels, page 380," read " See Catacombs, page 380, and Chapels, page 31." Page 157, first note,/oy " See Chapter II." read " See S. Nicomedes, page 453." Page 167, for footnote substitute " Cf. the discovery mentioned on page 465." Page 257, line 30, for " page 127 " read " page 427." Page 277, footnote, /oj- "canon's choir" read "canons' choir." Page 280, line 13, for " Chapter X." read " page 523." Page 305, Hne 2, for " Chapter X." read " page 515." Page 311, Hne 6, for " Chapter X." read " page 502." fage 357, line 6 from bottom, for " SS. Anna " read " S. Anna dei Calzettari "; and in following line, /w " S. Anna" read " SS. Anna e Gioacchino." HANDBOOK TO CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME CHAPTER I. THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH IN ROME. The church tn the House — in the Cemetery — in the City — Regions— TituH — Diaconia — the Dominicum — the earliest foutidations — Church- bmlding after the peace — and destruction of pagan buildings. The first place used for Christian worship was the dwelling of the convert Christians, and the first idea of a church was the idea of a house, Domus. The reasons for this lay partly in the necessities of the time, it being impossible for Christians while they were persecuted to hold their worship in public places, but they were also peculiar to the genius of Christianity, and to the sentiment of the first Christians. The worship of Christians had begun in a room, its central point, the last Supper, had been celebrated in " an upper chamber," and the new church had issued forth on the day of Pentecost from a similar "upper room." So it was in a room of the villas and houses of The Room Christians, which were often contiguous to the sepolcreto P'' Church possessed by them outside the walls of Rome, that „ churches were first dedicated. " Salute Prisca and Aquila " writes St. Paul, "... and the church that I 2 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME is in their house " " Salute Nymphas and the church that is in her house."''' " L'EgHse n'avait riendu temple; car on maintenait comme un principe absolu que Dieu n'a pas besoin du temple, que son vrai temple c'est le cceur de I'homme juste . . . c'etait cependant deja un edifice a part ; on I'appelait ' la maison du Seigneur.' "f To this first place of reunion a strong and tender sentiment of piety attached. The risen Lord had appeared to the disciples in their own houses and at the hour of the breaking of bread, and the rite of ' breaking bread ' and the special sense of Christ's presence were inseparably connected by the earliest history of their faith with the house and assembly of the faithful. So too the significance of the words of the last Prophet " Presently the Lord whom you seek shall come to his temple," had been interpreted to them in the words of Christ : " Behold here more than the temple," transferring to His own person the sacredness of that House, which had hallowed all within it.j Henceforth, it is the presence of Christ which creates the temple. Herein lay the new genius of Christianity, the principle which in the fervour of aspiration and faith experienced in the first ' church in the house,' was the seed of every later development of the Christian church. The Next in chronological order to the church in the church in house, we find a chamber adapted in the catacombs comt» ^' for purposes of assembly. The Crypts of the cemeteries were primarily used for burial rites and anniversaries, and later for the instruction of catechumens, and were not designed for the celebration of the Liturgy, the occasion for these celebrations in a catacomb being the commemoration of a martyr, and the table-tomb then serving as the altar. Gradually, however, on account of the tombs of the martyrs, the Eucharist came to be more often celebrated there than in the • Rom. xvi. 3, 4; Col. iv. 15. f Renan, Marc Aurele et la Fin du Monde antique. J Cf. S. John ii. 19, 21 ; and Apocalypse, xxi. 22. THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH IN ROME 3 villa above ; and as the catacombs expanded, chambers came to be excavated opposite or near the martyr's tomb for the reception of a larger number of persons at these commemorations. Finally, following the precedent of the primitive The first room dedicated as a church in the villa of the Christian, churches the first church within the city walls w^as probably ^" ^'^^ '^"-" a house adapted to the purposes of a church, and is first met with under the name of domus ecclesits, the church-house. We find it called oikos, a house, and the phrase cts oikov used to describe where superfluous offerings to the altar were to be taken. The Roman houses lent themselves to such conversion, as we see them at Pompeii, with a porticoed atrium opening on the public way, and rooms disposed round a central court. Such an arrangement was well adapted to the various sorts of worshippers ; and when, instead of a room, an entire house was devoted as a church, hardly any alteration of the plan would have been required. So, too, when churches were first erected as separate buildings, the type chosen resembles most nearly that of a room or house. From an early period the domus ecclesice is found " Domus within the city as a centre of Christian assembly ecclesiae." and operativeness, and as it was named after the proprietor or donor, it was called titulus, a title, Tituli. tittilus Lwina, Pudentis, VestincB ; more rarely after some local memory, as titulus Pallacince. It is con- jectured that these tituli existed long anterior to the pontificate of Marcellus (a.d. 304.) They bore a strict relation to the 14 municipal regions into which The Augustus had divided the city, each ecclesiastical ""^gions of division being formed of two of these. These divisions ^^^ ^ axe still called rioni.^- Repeated allusion is made in * In his " Roma Sotterranea," vol. iii., p. 514 «^ seq., De Rossi illustrates the position of these original seven regions from the testimony afforded by the monuments. The first eccle.siastical region corresponded to the xiii'h civil region, embracing es- pecially the Aventine ; the second embraced the ii"^ civil region, I — 2 4 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME the Liber Pontificalis to these regions ; in the life of Evaristus we read of the appointment of presbyters to the various titles : " Hie titulos in urbe Roma divisit presbyteris " (a.d. 112). Fabian is said to have in- creased to 14 the 7 original regions, and to have ap- pointed 14 deacons (a.d. 238). Marcellus, in 308, con- stitutes 25 urban tituli for the purposes of baptism, penance, and the burial of martyrs ; and 50 years earlier the same is recorded of Dionysius.* The The titulus must be regarded as an authorized titulus. ecclesiastical centre providing for the spiritual needs of the Christians in its district ; for the instruction of catechumens, the ordering of deacons and priests, for sacred psalmody, and burial, and for the baptism of converts and infants. Later it became what we now mean by a parish church, and the special mark of the titulus, its font, is the invariable sign of the parish church to-day. At first the titulus was not devised for the celebration of the liturgy, the Bishop's Eucharist was the only one celebrated and all the faithful attended it. It is at a later date that the tituli became self-dependent centres. From the in. century a suburban cemetery was attached to each urban titulus, and the catacombs now being adminis- tered by the Church as a public body, each titulus appointed a cleric to officiate in its dependent cemetery ; an arrangement which De Rossi supposes to have existed from the time of Fabian, a.d. 238. The Seven The 7 ecclesiastical regions were presided over Deacons, ^^y y deacons. Clement is said by tradition to have established 7 diaconeries in Rome as the apostles had appointed 7 deacons. The Domus of the region The -was know^n as the Diaconia, literally a house of Diaconia. the CeUan hill ; the third embraced the iii"^ and v''' civil regions ; the fotirth covered the iv"> and v\^ ; the fifth included the vii'h and part of the viii"> ; the sixth probably corresponded with the ix'h ; and the seventh with the xiv'h. * This was when Gallienus (260-268) restored the property of the Church, confiscated during the persecutions. THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH IN ROME 5 ministry, to which was attached a hospice and church. The exact service rendered by the diaconia is disputed by writers on the subject ; some con- sidering that the functions enumerated above were pecuHar to tituli headed by presbyters, while those of the diaconia were restricted to the distribution of alms ; others, that the diaconiae were pious places or oratories with a hospice for the succour and maintenance of the infirm and poor of the region. The Abbe Duchesne has pointed out that while the diaconal titles are found in the central regions of the city, the presbyteral titles were in different and often remote sites. It would appear more probable that diaconiae were regional church-houses still more ancient than the presbyteral tituli, serving as centres of administration for the EccUsia Fratnim, centres to which everything was referred and everyone applied, and from which, more especially, the treasure of the church was ad- ministered.* The administrator of the titulus derived his own name from it, as presbyterus titidis Praxedis, priest of the title of Prassede ; but deacons were at first called after the region — deacon of the first, or of the second, region. Besides such names as titulus Praxedis, Piidentis, etc., the building was early called Domus Dei, and then Doininictim. Dominicum is the true ancient name for Domini- the Christian church, " the Lord's house or place." cum. The word Domus ceased to be used in the time of Constantine, the word Dominicum at the end of the IV. century. The only church still so called in Rome is the ancient archdiaconia of the city, which was Cyriaca's house, now dedicated as S. Maria in Domnica. The word ecclesia gradually and naturally attached to the domus, though its first meaning denoted the Christians themselves, the assembly, not the place of assembly. The word Domus is still preserved for us in the "Domus. • See " Deacons, " Part IV 6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME name for our cathedrals — Duomo, Dome; and the idea of the church as a House is by no means lost to-day. It has sprung naturally from the double aspect of the church as the Christian's house and as God's house (Domus ecclesics, Domus Dei). Churches have always been used on momentous occasions for assemblies and discussions, and as centres of the public life, and councils synods and miracle plays have been held in them. In Rome the church is the other house of the people ; mothers take their babies with them, little children play in them while their mothers pray, and the very raggedest little person in the church may be seen getting the best place in front at the great functions. Through the magnificence and brightness of the churches they share in what has beauty and splendour, and, by the contrast these afford to their ordinary surroundings, they live a life of the imagination otherwise closed to them. Basilica. The word Basilica was not adopted till the time of Constantine ; nor were the city basilicas and tituli dedicated to saints until the bodies of the martyrs were removed to them. The earliest dedications, there- fore, as the earliest feast days, in the Christian Church, all commemorate martyrs. Numberof There was probably no enumeration of the Roman the early churches earlier than the beginning of the sixth cen- Romaii tury. The register of public monuments in Rome made by the Armenian bishop Zacharias in the time of Justinian enumerates 24 ; but the number is so insignificant that the document must borrow from a much earlier authority. There were probably at least 28 tituli — presbyteral and diaconal churches — 150 years earlier than this, besides the 5 great basilicas and numerous oratories and chapels.* An interesting list of these churches appears from the • When Ambrose stayed in Rome, he was accustomed to cele- brate the liturgy in the house of a noble Roman woman. Optatus Milevius {circa 370), speaking of the Donatists, say that among 40 Roman basilicas, they had no place of assembly. THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH IN ROME 7 subscriptions of their titulars to the synod held by Pope Symmachus in a.d. 499. It is conjectured that churches were first built When in the 38 years of peace after Severus, or in the churches peace of Gallienus (260-268), although nothing re- ^^[j^ """^^ mains as evidence of this. Tradition says that the house of Priscilla and her son the senator Pudens, was dedicated as a " church " by S. Peter, and it is recorded of CeciHa in the 11. century that she wished to have her house consecrated as a " church," Cyriaca, in the middle of the iii. century, made a "church" in her house, and in the first years of the iv. century Lucina had her house converted into a " church." But the earliest foundations whose history is re- The corded for us date from the iv. century. Such are S. earhest Pudenziana, S. Lorenzo in Lucina, S. Prisca, S. Cecilia, ^?^ ^' S. Maria in Trastevere, S. Marco, the titulus Pallacinae, Rome. S. Lorenzo in Damaso, and at the end of the iv. century SS. Giovanni e Paolo, the titulus Bizantis or Pammachii. Two causes acted in this first foundation of churches. In the very earliest instances the Roman matrons con- verted their houses into churches ; the archpresbyteral title and the archdiaconal title in Rome both have this origin. The cult of the martyrs gave rise to the next foundations. From the time of Constantine basilicas were built over the contemporaneous oratories where they lay. the celebrated crypts becoming as many basilicas. Some of the earliest edifices belong to this category of sepulchral churches, as S. Agnese, S. Lorenzo, S. Paolo, S. Petronilla. The Roman people and patricians were always munificent church-builders, and from the viii. century the gilds built churches. Later still, cardinals became great constructors and restorers of their titular church, or of churches and chapels connected with their families. Apparently monachism gave rise to less church-build- ing in Rome than elsewhere, very few edifices having been constructed as monastic churches. Many edifices 8 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME also have been attributed directly to the Roman pontiffs because built in their time, as in other countries similar monuments are referred to kings. Christian The ancient tituli, or Church-houses, were in most churches cases probably converted into simple basilicas after within the ^j^g "Peace of the Church ;" Basihcas for the bodies of the Peace ^^^ great martyrs being as a rule built independently, as they had been built over their tombs outside the walls. The churches which retained the name of tituli were reckoned as the parish churches of the city. Destruc- The Christians must have overthrown many of the tion of temples of the gods before the invasion of Alaric (410).'-^ emp es. g^^ ^^^ chief destroyers of the ancient buildings were Totila and Belisarius (vi. century). Theodosius en- deavoured to finally suppress the worship of the gods, Honorius ^"^ under his successor Honorius Pagan Rome in fact J94-408. ' ceased to exist. By the time of Gregory the Great, writes Gregorovius, the city was strewn with great ruins of the monuments with which the munificence of her emperors from Augustus to Severus had dowered her. But Gregory himself was not a destroyer of the ancient monuments. * Gregorovius. CHAPTER 11. THE BASILICA. Its history — architecture — campanile — decoration— mosaics — pictures of the Madonna — cross — crucifix. The Roman basilica does not at first sight receive the appreciation it deserves, especially from the northern visitor, whose ideas of Christian architecture are inseparably associated with the gray Gothic cathe- drals of his country, ideas which it takes time to re- adjust. Later one gets to appreciate the beauty of the simple form and the straight parallel lines ; and the harmonious effect of the long rows of delicate pillars, the soft tones of the pavement, and the brilliant colour- ing of the apse mosaics, exert a constraining charm upon the beholder never again lost. The basilica in its primitive form, as we know it in the few beautiful examples which have come down to us, is the first parent of Christian temples. It was first built, as we have seen, in the iv. century, when the persecution of the Christians ceased, and the Church was enabled finally to abandon its secret life in the catacombs. At once the need arose to build a place of assembly for the faithful, but the moment was an unpropitious one : the greatness of pagan Rome had gone for ever, its great empire was falling into ruin, the age of crea- tion in art was over to be followed by one of imitation and decline. It was obvious that Christian builders could not take as their models the pagan temples which stood in their magnificence on every side. Such CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Name basilica. Use of pagan basilica. Roman- esque architec- ture. In North of Italy. In Rome and Ravenna. Byzantine influence on Rome. a course would have been against every feeling and tradition of the time. Incapable of creating a new type, they adopted instead the pagan basilica, or hall of justice, as the type of the Christian church, a building so well adapted to the new worship that hardly any alteration was necessary. The name " basilica," the Greek fiaa-ikiK-q, means a kingly place, where possibly kings held their audiences. In the Roman usage, although the form was borrowed from the Greek, it was used as a hall of justice or for the transaction of business in bad weather, for which its position on a forum made it especially convenient. The pagan basilica then, was the primitive form of the Christian church, a style of architecture which, with its later developments, came to be called Roman- esque or transitional Roman. With slight local dif- ferences, it was adopted throughout the empire for some two centuries. After this period it developed into the great styles of architecture, the Byzantine of the east, and the Gothic of the west, the Byzantine separating itself completely from western influence, the Gothic spreading and developing throughout the north of Europe. The Romanesque survived longest in those parts most under the influence of Rome : in the south of France and in the north of Italy, until the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In Pisa Florence and Venice we find, however, traces of Gothic influence, S. Mark's Venice being the one instance of distinctly Byzantine style. Rome, still the mistress of the civilized world in feeling, if not in fact, seems to have resisted the in- fluence of the northern barbarian upon her architecture, and we find within the city and at Ravenna the Roman- esque style practised during the middle ages, and until superseded by the Renaissance. Rome was undoubtedly also influenced by the Byzantine forms, which, developing from the Roman, reacted again upon them later, especially with regard Gothic influence on Rome. 12 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME to painting and decoration. The trace of Gothic in- fluence, on the other hand, is so shght in Rome as to be practically non-existent. It came there late, and at the moment of its own decline. Slight traces, a pointed arch or window, are met with in some of the cloisters, in the Church of S. Agostino, in the apse of SS. Giovanni and Paolo, and in the Church of PLAN OF BASILICA OF MAXENTIOS. S. Maria sopra Minerva which is entirely Gothic, but which was built by foreign monks in the xiv. century. By comparing the ground-plan of one of the pagan basilicas, such as the Flavian on the Palatine (built A.D. 70-80), or the Ulpian (a.d. 114), with that of a Christian basilica, such as S. Clemente, their similarity is manifest. Both are rectangular buildings with THE BASILICA 13 central nave divided from the aisles by rows of pillars supporting a straight wall, and a horizontal or arched roof. The Ulpian basilica was 87 feet in width, and Ulpian was higher than any English cathedral. An upper basilica, row of columns upon the pillars of the nave enclosed a gallery reserved for women, an architectural arrange- ment which occurs in S. Agnese Fuori and in S. Lorenzo Fuori. At the extremity of the nave was a semicir- cular apse at a higher level, where the seats for the judge and assessors were placed. The basilica of Maxentius in the Forum, built at a Basilica of later date (a.d. 306), is of the vaulted type. Here the Maxen- nave pillars were superseded for greater strength by ^^"^• eight piers to support the arches of the roof, an ar- rangement in its turn adopted by Christian architects, though never on so grand a scale. A wooden roof was adopted in the earlier Christian basilicas ; nor did the popes or the Christian builders scruple to demolish the monuments of ancient Rome to provide themselves with the nave pillars and the materials they required, and for many centuries the palaces and temples of the pagan Romans served as inexhaustible stone-quarries for their Christian successors. The Christian basilica, of which S. Clemente is Christian perhaps the most perfect type now in Rome, was pre- basilica, ceded by a square court or atrium, also called quadri- Atrium. porticus, surrounded by open colonnades, in which sat penitents begging for the prayers of the faithful. Here popes, benefactors and illustrious persons were buried, the body of the martyr alone resting within the basilica. The origin of this outer court is obscure. The form is said to have come from the East, where later it developed into the Moslem mosque, or it may be the relic or representation of the ancient forum which invariably accompanied the pagan basilica.* The portico next the church was called the narthex, Narthex. to which the catechumens retired during the more * Fergusson, History of Architecture. Til ^ a-' S f HI • f »• * wl H> • ^1 ^ loL- '1 • • Sffil CHRISTIAN BASILICA OF S. CLF.MENTE, A.D. 1 128. THE BASILICA 15 solemn portions of the mass. In the centre of the court was a fountain or marble basin, the cantharus, Can- for the washing of hands before entering the church, a tharus. custom which survives in the present habit of dipping the fingers in holy water at the church door. Generally, a circular building, the baptistery, stood Baptis- without the church. These detached baptisteries are ^^''y- found in Northern Italy to a late date ; but in Rome a baptismal font was early substituted, standing either to the right or to the left immediately within the main door of the church. This change is said to have been effected by the time of Gregory the Great. The basilica itself was a rectangular hall with a wide nave, flanked by a single or double row of pillars Nave, forming two or four aisles. These pillars, borrowed from pagan buildings, often vary in girth, height, and ornamentation in the same church. They support the high plain brick wall, pierced with rounded or arched windows. The entablature above the pillars is gener- ally horizontal, sometimes slightly arched. The plain wooden rafters of the roof are always visible in the Roof, early basilicas, with great beams spanning the immense width of the nave. Later, architects aspired to a vaulted roof; this was easily effected in the aisles, their height being, as a rule, half that of the nave, and being narrow a vaulted ceiHng was easily sub- stituted for the wooden rafters. In the nave how- ever we find a horizontal roof retained to a much later date, owing to the difficulty of supporting a vaulted ceiling upon a single row of pillars over such a wide space. The difficulty was met, as in the basilica of Maxentius, by substituting masonry piers in the nave for the original pillars, either enclosing these latter entirely in the piers, as in the Lateran, or in placing them alternately between each two pillars, or against them. The basilica nave terminates in a great semicircular apse or tribune raised, with the space in front of it, by some three to seven steps above the level of the i6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Transept. Bishop's throne or cathedra. Bema or presby- tery. Can- cellum. Pave- ment. Marble mosaic. Altar. nave. Sometimes a transverse nave or transept is in- troduced, which however extends but sHghtly beyond the width of the nave, with sometimes an apse at either end. The bishop's throne stands in the centre of the apse, with the seats for the clergy on either side of it. This raised portion of the extremity of the nave is sometimes enclosed with a balustrade, forming the so-called bema or presbytery, for the use of the clergy. A similar arrangement can still be seen in the Flavian basilica of Domitian on the Palatine. Here fragments of a marble balustrade or cancellum remain, dividing the nave from the raised tribune, to which, no doubt, culprits were brought before the judges who sat within. The pavement of the basilica, one of its most charac- teristic features, was of Roman mosaic ; of porphyry, serpentine, and marble, arranged in patterns of har- monious colouring. These marble mosaics, and the art of marble carving, flourished in Rome in the xii. and XIII. centuries under the hands of the great Cosma family and a whole school of artists, and the beautiful mosaic and marble altars, screens, tombs, thrones, and ambones, etc., which have come down to us from this epoch, are among the most characteristic and admirable features of the Roman basilicas. The basilica altar stands in front of the apse. The position of this one altar was determined by that of the martyr's tomb. And to understand the appear- ance of the basilican altar, we must bear in mind that Christianity in Rome grew into being in that vast city of the dead, the catacombs, and that when it commenced its life above ground, the first churches built by the Christians were inseparably connected in sentiment, and in many cases in position, with the hallowed regions which had been the cradle of their faith. As we have seen, some of the earliest basilicas were built within the house of some prominent member of the community, which had already served as a secret meeting-place ; others, and this type we find outside the walls of the city, commemorated some THE BASILICA I7 spot hallowed by the death or burial of a martyr. In the catacomb, the martyr's tomb was itself the altar ; The mar- and when the basilica was built, it centred round this ^y^'s tomb spot sanctified by many memories. In some cases the catacomb ground was cut away so as to place the foundations of the basilica upon the actual level of the catacomb, as in S. Agnese ; in others, the church was built immedi- In the ately over the site of the tomb, as in S. Peter's and basilica. S. Paolo Fuori ; while in the case of the destroyed Church of S. Valentine, the basilica was placed by the side of the catacomb on account of the hilly nature of the ground. The altar of the basilica, following the precedent of the catacomb, is thus placed upon the martyr's tomb. Round it is a depressed space the confession, in some Confes- cases the actual portion of the original catacomb con- sion. taining the grave. The name is derived from the word confessor, and means the tomb of a confessor of the faith. It is reached by two flights of steps, and is generally surrounded by a marble balustrade. When later, basilicas were built in honour of martyrs, not upon their actual tombs, the same plan was adhered to, and the bones or relics of the martyrs were placed beneath the high altar. The altar of a basilica faces the apse, with its back to the confession, and the priest in celebrating mass, stands with his back to the apse and the clergy, and facing the people and the main entrance of the church, which in some cases is to the east, though the custom of building churches direct east and west has never prevailed to any great extent in Italy. The choir of a basiUca for the lesser clergy was choir, placed in the centre of the nave in front of the con- fession. It was surrounded by a screen of carved marble, low enough to allow those without to see all Pectoral within, called the pectoral transenna. At either side of transenna. the choir were the two ainhones or pulpits, from which Ambones. .the Gospel and Epistle were read. Beside that to the Candela- right, the Gospel ambone, stood a candelabrum. The brum. CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Side chapels added later. Exterior. Fagade. Cam- panile. floor of the choir was raised some 9 or 12 inches above the level of the nave, and in some churches, as S. Maria in Cosmedin, where the choir has been rerrioved, this raised portion still remains in the pave- ment. At a later date the primitive form of the basilica was subjected to alteration and modification. Side chapels and oratories were added, nave piers were in- troduced, and the roofs were vaulted ; other tombs than that of the martyr were placed in the church itself, and the original regularity of the building was lost. Later again, elaborate hangings and tapestries were used as decoration, until in the time of Nicholas V., we read of the basilica being " ornee, meublee, en- combree."* The basilica like its pagan predecessor, was singu- larly plain and undecorated on the outside. Within the city, the Christian basilicas were, as a rule, built in streets among crowded houses, with no open space around them ; and little attention was paid to their walls, which were of plain brick, with simple arched, or round windows. The fa9ade alone was decorated with mosaic, or with tiers of windows with ornamented pillars. One of the earliest additions to the primitive form of the basilica was the erection of a bell-tower or campanile. The first of these was built to the atrium of S. Peter's by Adrian I. in the viii. century, and campanili were built through the xii. and XIII. centuries, and are among the most perfect and least altered buildings of the middle ages which have come down to us, the ancient apse and the campanile being often spared in late restorations. They seem to have been at first attached to the atrium, or to one of the transepts, or to have stood on one or both sides of the main entrance, or they were detached altogether ; they never seemed to form part of the main plan of the building. In other parts of^ * Batiflfol, Histoire du Breviaire Roma in. TYPE OF FACADE. I, of Pantheon ; 2, of Old S. Peter's, Basilica form ; 3, of New S. Peter's, Renaissance, as designed by Michael Angelo (from Seroux d'Agincourt). 2 — 2 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME In Northern Italy. Form. Round, square, and polygonal basilicas. Frescoes. Mosaics. Italy, round and polygonal campanili are found, and from them grew the towers and spires which form so important a feature of Gothic cathedrals ; but in Rome they never varied from the original square form. Here they are the same size from base to summit, the lower part of solid masonry, the upper portion consisting of a series of open windows, ornamented with tiny pillars one above the other, presenting the appearance of a series of loggie ; on the summit, a single cone, or a central cone, with smaller ones at the angles. The whole tower is often ornamented Avith mosaic, or with little slabs of coloured marble, porphyry or bronze. The campanili of S. Pudentiana and S. Prassede are among the earliest in Rome. Many date from the pontificate of Leo III., who was a great restorer and builder of churches. Round, square, and polygonal basilicas also existed contemporaneously with the rectangular forms, and preserved the same type of construction, although they never became so universal, or reached to such perfec- tion among the Roman architects, as they did in the Byzantine and Renaissance styles. S. Stefano Rotondo and S. Costanza are types of the circular basilica. The former, which is probably of the v. or vi. century, is 2IO feet in diameter. S. Giovanni in Fonte, the Lateran baptistery is an example of an octagonal basilica. The extreme simplicity and plainness of the Roman basilica, and the absence of architectural ornament, left more scope for the painter and mosaicist, whose work seems to have been considered of pre-eminent import- ance, all else, even form, being considered subsidiary. The plain walls of nave and aisles above the columns were covered with frescoes, generally representing scenes from the Old and New Testaments and from the lives of saints, while the great vault and arch of the tribune were decorated with mosaics. This latter form of decoration, used by the Romans on their pavements, was adopted for its durability, and became one of the most characteristic features of the basilica. THE BASILICA 21 At first the Christian artists followed classical models, and the change was one of subject and belief, not of style. In the first centuries this was mystical and symbolic. In the earliest mosaics, such as those in the church of S. Pudentiana, which are of the time of Pope Siricius (384-398), the four Evangelists are Emblems represented emblematically by the lion, ox, cherub, of Evan- and eagle ; these occur either in a row or at the four &^"^ts. corners. The Saviour is generally represented as the Lamb upon the Mount, or enthroned with the Book of The the Seven Seals ; the rivers of Jordan and Euphrates Lamb. flow from beneath His feet. The 12 Apostles ap- 12 pear as 12 sheep issuing from the two mystic cities Apostles. of Jerusalem and Bethlehem ; in S, Clemente, as doves upon a cross. Sometimes a hand holding a Hand wreath above the Saviour, typifies the Eternal Father, holding a The Prophets are generally in medallions high up, wreath. Sometimes and in later churches, the figure of the Prophets. Saviour is in the centre between apostles or saints ; and if a pope has been a benefactor to the church, he Bene- will appear at the side or on his knees below, and if factor, still living, will wear the square nimbus. The mosaics of S. Maria Maggiore, of Pope Sixtus III . (432-440), and those of S. Sabina (425) were of these types ; while those of S. Costanza, of the iv. century, represent flowers, fruit, and genii, and follow more closely the classic model. After the v. century a change creeps into the Byzantine work of the Roman artists, and gradually classical influence, models are abandoned for the Byzantine. The sub- jects become more historical, scenes from the Old and New Testaments are depicted, and worldly magni- ficence is introduced into the representations of Christ and the Madonna. The mosaics of SS. Cosma and Damian, of the vi. century, are of an interesting transitional period, when, without showing Byzantine influence, the grace of the antique is already gone. Those of S. Venantius, on the other hand, of the time of John IV, (640-642), are decidedly Byzantine, 22 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Pictures The representations of the Madonna have been of the subjected to the same transition of style. The earhest Madonna, ^f ^hese exists in the catacomb of S. Priscilla, and is In cata- probably of the i. century.* The Madonna is here S Pris- depicted seated in a natural attitude, the child upon cilia, I. her knee, above her head the star, and in front a century, figure, perhaps a prophet or one of the Magi. In Ostrian Another representation of the Madonna upon an catacomb, arcosolium in the Ostrian cemetery, which is of the tur ^^^' ^^' century, may be taken as the earliest example of a changing type. From this period a long series, extending into the xiii. century, shows the type be- coming sterner, more formal and more thoroughly Byzantine. In cata- The Madonna in the catacomb of S. Valentine, of the c°'v'i°^ VII. century, is a good and early example of the series, *-,\.^ ^!f."' The Madonna, in a stiff and formal attitude, is dressed tme, VII. ... ,'.... r T-. • T- century. ™- ^i<^" robes m imitation ol a Byzantine impress. She is stern of aspect, and wears a veil and round nimbus. The head of the child reaches to the exact centre of her breast ; he also wears a round nimbus. A similar cycle can be traced in the history of the The cross representations of the cross and of the crucifixion, and cruel- 'phg cross is not an emblem which occurs early, ^ save in allusion, and occultly. When it appears it has several forms : the equilateral or Greek cross -[-; the Latin cross "j" ; the tcui - shaped cross T, called in modern times the S. Antony's crossf ; and the trans- verse cross, or cross of S. Andrew, X, made like the Greek letter ch. Examples of all these are to be found in the cata- combs, but as decoration. It is not till about the middle of the v. century that the emblem of the * It is judged by De Rossi to be of the age of the Flavii, Trajan, or Hadrian ; at latest, of the first Antonines. t The T is the Egyptian cross, and is sometimes found in the hand of Philip the Apostle. From its likeness to the crutch borne by S. Antony, the great hermit, it is called S. Antony's THE BASILICA 23 cross is found at the head of an inscription, but in the catacombs it is never so used. A rare slab in the cemetery of S. Agnese is marked with a plain Greek cross. The croce gammata is very curious, and also occurs in the catacombs ; it is formed by the inter- linking of four Greek gammas (T) qj This is the sign svastika, that is of benediction and good augury, known to the ancients in extreme Asia. It was adopted by the Christians to simulate the cross, on account of its resemblance to the Phoenician form of the letter tau i-j-I, a letter celebrated from apostolic times as signifying the sign of the cross. This sign was sparsely used in the 11. and still less in the iii. century. After the anchor o — \ O, which was un- doubtedly used as a symbol of the cross, and such occult allusions to the cross as a dolphin entwined with a trident, and the tau and the gamma crosses, the earliest representations of the obvious cross are Greek or Latin crosses jewelled:^'- Such crosses appear in the catacombs and in all the early mosaics. It is not till the vi. century that the cross having become a crucifix, is no longer a mere emblem, but an image. Up to this time the cross is always an emblem.f One of the earliest ways in which the cross appears is as the sign of the cross made on the person {vide Part II.). In the early mosaics the cross, if portrayed at all, is always gemmed and jewelled, and it is evident that the early Christians were reluctant to represent it at all. The sentiments they loved to express in art were those of hope and promise, of joy and triumph, not ♦ When, later, crosses came to be made of precious metal, the five gems were intended to represent the five wounds • j • . t Mrs. Jameson marks the distinction between an object used as an emblem to remind, or as an image to represent to ourselves an event. The latter is a/'jV/wrf, 24 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME those of death and sorrow. They shrank from the painfulness of the Crucifixion, especially as this form of death was associated at that time with the shameful death of felons ; and though the need of concealing FLOWERED AND DECORATED CROSS FROM THE WALLS OF THE CATACOMBS. their beliefs under imagery ceased after the Peace of the church, the change from the symbolic to the actual representations of the Crucifixion was of very slow growth, and at first the painfulness was entirely omitted. Carica- If we except the caricature scratched upon a wall of uireof the ^}^g Imperial House on the Palatine,* and now in the fixion, * This caricature, which was discovered in 1856, is a rude III. cen- scratching upon a wall, representing a figure upon a cross dressed tury. in a toga with an ass's head, and has given rise to much con- troversy. The words beneath it have been variously interpreted, the most probable reading being " Alexammus worships (his) God" The chamber in which the scratching occurs was either a guard- room or a boys' school-room, and it is probable that the carica- ture was made by some boy in derision of the Christian belief of one of his school-fellows. In a neighbouring room, discovered in 1870, the name Alexamenus occurs again, followed by the word fdelis ; and it has been suggested that the boy scoffed at in the caricature here makes a private profession of faith, as the word fidelis would only be used or understood by Christians. The date of the caricature and these graffiti is probably the time of Septimius Severus, a.d. 197-215. See also Padre Garucci's article in the Civilta Cattolica of 1857, and Bulletino Christ. Arch., 1863, 1867. THE BASILICA 25 Kircherian Museum, which is of the in. century, we find the earhest representation of the Crucifixion upon Cruci- a IV. century sarcophagus in the Lateran Museum, fixion on and here the symboUc treatment is retained : Christ century carrying a Httle cross in His hand, is being crowned garco- with roses by a soldier. In the v. century we find phagus. the cross adorned with flowers and gems as a sign of triumph, and with the mystic lamb as a symbol of the expiating victim. Upon the famous Byzantine oil vessels presented OnByzan- to Queen Theodolinda, a further development can be ^"^"^^ °*^ traced (vi. century). Here an angel announces the ^^^^^ ^' Resurrection to the holy women, and above the sepulchre is a tiny cross of flowers and the head of the Redeemer in glory, at some distance the 2 thieves. At the end of the v. and beginning of the vi. century the v custom of representing the crucifixion becomes more general; it does not occur alone, but always as forming part of a series of scenes from the life of Christ. Upon the doors of S. Sabina we have On doors one of the earliest examples. Each panel represents of S. Sa- some scene from the New Testament ; the Crucifixion "^"^-^ ^• is depicted on the first on the left. The cross is not visible from below, and appears to be altogether absent. Christ stands in the attitude of an Orante draped in a girdle only, and wears no nimbus. The 2 thieves on either hand are smaller and youthful in type. Another instance of a similar representation is described by S. Gregory of Tours in the church of S. Genesius at Narbonne (vi. century). A little later we find the figure of Christ clothed in Eastern a long sleeveless tunic, called the colohio, in imitation usage. apparently, of the Eastern usage. The earliest example of this is to be found in the Syriac Gospel in the in Syriac Laurentiana at Florence.* In this painting the cross Gospel, is low, Christ is affixed to it by 4 nails, His feet resting on a projection, a nimbus is round His head ; * A copy by d'Agincourt exists in the Vatican Archives (Cod. Vat. Lat., 984, pi. xii.). CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME In cata- comb of S. Valen- tine, VII. century. In John VII. s chapel in S. Peter's In house ofSS. Giovanni e Paolo. In under- churqh ofS. Clemente. Changes in the represen- tation of the Cruci- fixion. the sun and moon are on either side, two soldiers with the spear and sponge stand below, with the Madonna and S. John. Another example occurs in the catacomb of S.Valen- tine, which is especially interesting, being the only one at present found in any Roman catacomb. It is of the VII. century, and occurs in a series of scenes from the New Testament, most of which have perished.* In this century however, the vii., the represen- tations of the Crucifixion were not so usual as to altogether exclude the symbolic forms, and we find in Pope Theodore's mosaics in S. Stefano Rotondo (642-649) the gemmed cross with the head of the Redeemer above. At the end of the vii. and beginning of the viii. century, the symbolic representations disappeared alto- gether, and a decree issued by a council in 692 enforced the substitution of the actual for the symbolic forms, on the ground that the latter were no longer understood by the people. We still find however, the Eastern form adopted. A Crucifixion resembling that of the Syriac Gospel existed, among other scenes, in Pope John VII. 's chapel in old S. Peter's. Another similar painting has recently been discovered in the church of S. Maria deir Inferno in the Foro Romano. Another instance exists in the house of SS. Giovanni e Paolo beneath their church on the Coelian. In the under-church of S. Clemente is another Cruci- fixion of the same century, the ix., but in this case the figure is draped in a loin-cloth only, and from this period we begin to find it so, and at a later date it is never found clothed. The custom of representing the figure clothed in the tunic obtained to a later date in the East. Other changes followed. The most ancient traditions exclude any signs of human weakness from the grief of the Madonna, and in the earlier representations she is • See Catacomb of S. Valentine, Chap. X. THE BASILICA 27 depicted as an Orante. Later she appears overcome with grief and distress. In the earher paintings again, Christ is very youthful in type ; He is represented hving, and looking upwards. Later, the dying Christ is always depicted ; the' support for the feet is with- drawn, and 3 nails are used instead of 4, in defiance of the actual usage. It is not known with precision at what epoch the changes from the direct dignity of the early art to the emotional realism of the later crept in ; the more cruel details were no doubt due to an exaggerated fervour and desire to excite piety, and were in keeping with the more dramatic and sensational religion of the middle ages. Giotto and his followers have been accused of being the authors of these changes, but they came in probably earlier, as the crucifix of the Lateran is an example of the later type, and is of the xi. century. The change from the living to the dying Christ is said to date from the x. century. A skull is often represented on crucifixes, in allusion to the tradition that Adam's head was buried on Mount Calvary, whence its name Golgotha, "the place of a skull." This Jewish tradition is cited by Origen in the early iii. century. CHAPTER III. INTERIOR OF A CHURCH. Interior of a Church — Altars — The font and holy water — Reservation — Ambones and pulpit — Lights — Iconoclastic controversy — Images and pictures — Relics. Altars. The bal- dacchino. Cornua altaris. Originally as we see from the form of the primi- tive Christian basilica, there was only one altar in the church. But in the iv. century Ambrose in a letter speaks of more than one altar in a church in Milan, and Gavantus tells us that 2 centuries later in Gaul more than one altar was to be found in the churches. The word used by early writers, and also in the New Testament, for the altar is thusias- terion, a rendering of the Hebrew word, and not the pagan word bomos. Origen, Cyprian, and Optatus all refer to it. The earliest altars faced the people ; they did not always face east, at least in Rome, and when they did so the congregation of necessity all faced west. Side chapels cannot of course face eastwards. The altar is always placed on a step, called the predella ; but the high altar has three steps, the predella for the priest, the next step for the deacon, and the lowest for the subdeacon, the rest of the sanctuary being a plane. As soon as basilicas were built the altar was placed under a baldacchimim* a canopy supported on 4 columns. The horns of the altar are its 4 angles ; four horns * Called also ciborium from its originally dome-like shape, like that of the bowl of a cup reversed. INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 29 were placed at these corners in the Temple at Jeru- salem (Exod. xxvii. 2). In cornu epistolcB or cornu evan- gelii means at the Epistle side (right of spectator) or the Gospel side (left of spectator) of the altar. In ancient churches, where the altar faces the people, the ' Gospel side is to the right, and the Epistle to the left, of the spectator. " At the north side " or the " south side " does not, then, mean that the celebrant must go round the altar, but simply that he must go towards its Gospel (north) or Epistle (south) angle. Anciently all actions of the bishop or priest were visible to the faith- ful, but this was not attained by standing at one flank or the other of the altar, but by the altar itself facing the church and the people. The celebrant thus faced the people neither more nor less when he stood at the south or north " horn," than when he stood in the centre. All altars are draped with linen cloths ; there must Drapery, be 3 white linen cloths for the celebration of mass, the blessing of which is mentioned in the Gelasian Sacramentary. The draperies in front of the altar are called antipendia or veils ; the colour varies with the season, and agrees with the sacerdotal vestments. Above the altar is a step called super-altar (or predella), it is a stand for candles or other ornaments. This predella has often been beautifully decorated by artists, and the fronts of altars are sometimes sculptured, or made of mother-of-pearl. The 3 cards on the altar contain those portions Cards. of the mass which it is most necessary to repeat cor- rectly, or which need not be committed to memory. On the centre card are the Gloria in excelsis, the Creed, prayers at the offertory, the prayer of consecration beginning Qui pridie, the 3 prayers before Communion, and the prayer Placeat at the end of mass. The card on the Epistle side has the prayer said when the water is mixed with the wine, and the psalm at the lavabo. The card on the Gospel side has the last gospel of S. John, which is said that side of the altar. The 30 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME rubrics only require the central card, but the addition of the other two has become customary. Wood and The first altars were made of wood ; stone altars are stone. attributed to Pope Sylvester, a.d. 314, but wooden altars were certainly used after this date, till in 517 any but stone altars were forbidden by a council. All that is necessary, however, in order to comply with this decree, is that a piece of stone large enough to contain the host and chalice be placed in the centre of every altar. This is called the pietra sacra ; it is signed with 5 crosses. Form. One of the very earliest forms of altar was the tomb of the martyrs ; tombs of the arcosolia shape were used as altars in the catacombs, the slab serving as the altar.* Jerome asks, " Male facit ergo Romanus epis- copus ? Qui, super mortuorum hominum, Petri et Pauli, secundum nos, ossa veneranda . . . offert Domino sacrificia, et tumulos eorum Christi arbitratur altaria ?"f Does the Roman bishop do ill ? Who offers sacri- fices to the Lord over the bones of dead men, Peter and Paul, which we think venerable, and considers their tombs altars of Christ ? When the martyrs' bones were translated to the churches, they were placed under the altars, I an allusion to that passage of the Apocalypse, vi. 9. "I saw under- neath the altar the souls of those that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." Altars may not now be consecrated unless they contain relics of a martyr. According to Merati this custom was enjoined by Pope Felix {circa 270). In the IV. century S. Ambrose would not consecrate an altar until relics were obtained to place in it. These relics are placed in the pietra sacra, and are deposited * Prudentius (348) speaks of the table-tomb of the martyr Hippolytus being used as an altar, so that while it is the faithful guardian of the martyr's bones, it " fills the dwellers on the Tiber with holy food." t Hieron. Adv. Vigilant. J This tomb is called the Confession, anciently martyrium. See p. 17. Martyrs' relics. INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 31 with the words, " Underneath the altar of God ye saints of God have received a place ; intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ." Durandus* says that the Eucharist must be placed there, when there are no relics. Dr. Rock mentions this custom in England. (Council of Calcuith, a.d. 816.) It is said that S. Martin of Tours was the first non-martyr whose tomb was made an altar. An altar can only be dedicated to God, and there- Consecra- fore it is wrong to speak of one as dedicated to a saint, tion and Altars are consecrated, and anointed with chrism. This ^.^^i^^- consecration with chrism has been performed for at least 1500 years. Paulinus of Nola (nat. 353) tells us that cuhicula Chapels, were placed along the sides of the church which he and his wife Terasia built in their place of retirement, as burial places, and for prayer and meditation. Similar cubicula ran along the sides of the great basilicas of S. Peter, S. Paul, and S. Sebastian, and Muratori has suggested that here was the origin of side chapels. These cubicula would not at first have contained altars. When there are not actual chapels in a church, we frequently see altars. " Altare privilegiata," These words are often in- Altare scribed over altars and chapels ; they mean that Z"''^''- •• plenary indulgence " may be gained by saying mass ^^S^"'^^- there for some soul in purgatory. There may be 7 such altars in a church, and then unum ex septem, Unum ex one of the seven, is written over each of the privileged septem. altars. The mass said at these altars should be a requiem mass. Every altar is "privileged" on the day of the commemoration of the dead, November 2. Outside churches in Rome the words indulgentia Indulgentia plenaria quotidiana pro vivis et defunctis, or some abbre- P^^"'^^^'''- viation of them, are inscribed over the door. This means " daily plenary indulgence for the living and the dead," or that plenary indulgence on the usual condi- tions can be obtained there. Though these words on * Durandus died a.d. 1296. 32 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Fonts and holy water. Asperges. The chapel of the Sacra- ment. the churches in Rome had some meaning before the great increase of indulgenced practices and devotions, they have not any very definite meaning now. On entering a church, the first thing we notice is the stoup, or basin for holy water. The merely ritual ob- servance of dipping the fingers in this water on entering the church probably arose, as we have seen, from the custom of washing in the canthams, which as a symbol of purity and perhaps of grace used to stand in the atrium. In the Liber Pontificalis, Pope Alexander (109) is made to decree the asperging of holy water in private houses ("in habitaculis hominum ").* Holy water is blest with salt ; it is used on many occasions, in bless- ing objects, in the burial of the dead, and at the asperges before mass, when it is sprinkled on the assistants and people with a brush. At Easter time the water from the newly blest font is placed in the stoups, and carried away by the people who value the " Easter water." This holy water would seem to be a figure of baptism and regeneration. The font is now placed immediately on entering the church, the baptistery, in all cathedral and parish churches, occupying the space of the first chapel to right or left. There are examples of very early bap- tisteries in the catacombs.! Further on in the church is the chapel of the holy sacrament ; in parish churches it is always reserved at the high altar. The Host is reserved in a ciborium, or pyx of precious metal, which is locked in the tabernacle. The tabernacle (Ital. ciborio) is covered with silk drapery, varying in colour with the liturgical season, A light always burns before it. If the Host should be removed to another altar, the light is removed and the door of the tabernacle left open, or the drapery {pall) is taken away. * C/. the water of aspersion, and expiation, Num. xix. t See external baptistery, p. 15 ; and Baptism, Part II. of the Handbook. INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 33 There has always been reservation in the Christian Reserva- Church. The Eucharistic bread was taken home by tion. the faithful during the period of persecution, and there were little boxes for this purpose, called arcula ; these have been found on the breast of Christians in the Vatican catacomb.* Besides this, one church sent the Eucharist to another church, one bishop to another, and the bishop of Rome for centuries sent it to the parish churches. (See bishops, Part IV.) The deacons of both sexes bore it to those who were prevented from assisting at the bishop's mass, to the infirm, and to the confessors in prison. Reservation in the churches arose from the same necessity, namely the communion of the absent the sick and the dying. At first it was reserved in a gold or silver dove suspended under the canopy over the altar, or in a turret-shaped vessel also suspended. It was suspended in England in the xvi. century ; we find among the answers given at the official enquiry in 1576, concerning the non-attendance of the working classes at church : " Isabel, wife of William Bow- man, locksmith, of the parish of S. Cross, Sayeth she cometh not to the church, for her conscience will not serve her, because there is not the sacra- ment hung up,f and other things as hath been afore- time." In the Greek rite, the Host is reserved behind the ikonostasis but not at the altar. In ancient churches we see an ambo (from di/a/BaivoD, Ambones to mount) a pulpit from which the gospel was read ; and pulpit sometimes there are 2 ambones, the second being for the reading of the epistle. The gospel ambo is then the more ornate, and is that to the right of the • Tertullian (circa 150-220) thus answers the scruples of those who feared, by receiving the Eucharist, to break the fast of the dies stationis : " Accepto corpore Domini et reservato utrumque salvum est." If you take the body of the Lord and reserve it, you keep both precepts. t The italics are ours. 3 34 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Platform. Sedilia. Faldstool Credence. Piscina. spectator. In the Ambrosian rite (Milan) the gospel is still read from the ambo. In more modern churches we see a pulpit for preach- ing, on the pattern of the ambo. The pulpit is peculiar and proper to the Christian church and the Christian religion. The bishop used to deliver his discourse from a cathedra or chair, and later, priests preached from the steps of the altar, and this is still frequently done. The crucifix on the modern pulpit is there in allusion to S. Paul's words : " Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom : but we preach Christ crucified,"''' At the great preaching seasons, a platform and chair are sometimes placed in the large churches, for the greater convenience of preaching. A mediaeval custom is still to be seen in the Roman churches, a discussion, namely, between il dotto e 1' ignorante, the learned and the stupid man : it is done by two priests, two chairs being placed on a platform for the purpose. L' ignorante says all the mal a propos, and the dotto finds him easy to vanquish. The sedilia are seats for the priest deacon and sub- deacon, placed in the sanctuary at the Epistle side of the altar. These three seats should be a bench, and not three stools, according to Scamnum ; and should be covered with green on ordinary days, and purple in the penitential seasons. In Gothic churches they are fixed stone seats ; in the Basilica they do not appear at all. (See Cathedra, p. 6i.) The priest sits in the centre, with the deacon on the right, and subdeacon on the left. Faldstool. (See Bishop's Mass, Part II,) The credence table is for the service of the altar, and is placed on the Epistle side of the sanctuary. Only one table is used, unless a bishop celebrates in his own diocese. The piscina is a basin fixed into the wall by the altar ; * I Cor. i. 22, 23. Cf. also i Cor. ii. 2, and Gal. ill. i. INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 35 it has a drain in it, and is used for pouring away the water for washings at mass. We have seen the piscina confused with the holy water stoup, and care- fully placed in the porch of an English church, by way of restoration to its original position. In all churches we see one or more confessionals, Confes- wooden structures for the purpose of confession. There sional. were no confessionals in the churches till the xvi. century ; S. Charles Borromeo left ordinances regard- ing them ; they did not however come into general use till the next century. To this day in Ireland the people, if the church is crowded, do not wait till the priest reaches the confessional, but make him stop and hear their confessions on his way up the church. Con- fessionals were not very necessary before the xvi. century, as for the previous three centuries, since the ordinance of 1215, the custom of frequent confession was almost unknown. In the Greek Church, confes.sion is made just within one of the two side doors of the ikonostasis. The Roman confessional is an open woodwork stall in two or three compartments, and this is the only pattern used. In other countries it is closed with doors, or may even be built in stone in the walls of the church, with wooden doors. Before altars, and sometimes before pictures and Lights, images, there is often a light burning. Lights, which had their place in the worship of the Temple, are the most ancient of all the symbolic adornments of churches. Assemani cites Exod. xxv. 37, and xxvii. 20, 21, in support of the custom.'^- A stand for per- fumed oils, in which wicks were set, is often found in the catacombs before the tombs or images of martyrs. Prudentiust tells us how the tomb and altar of Hippo- lytus was ablaze with lights ; and S. Paulinus of Nola * De Veto Ecclesics Sensu. t Pntdentius, the Christian poet, was born a.d. 348, in Spain. He visited Rome and wrote poems on what he saw. 3—2 36 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME in the same century speaks of the brilliant lights at the altars at a festival : " Clara coronantur densis altaria lychnis ; Lumina ceratis adolentur odora papyris. Nocte dieque micant." (The bright altars are crowned with lamps thickly set. Lights are burned odorous with waxed papyri. They shine by night and day.)* Lights were also used at the same epoch as a ritual part of the evening service of prayer. At high mass 6 candles must be lighted on the altar, at low mass 2, at Vespers 6 are required, at Benediction there must not be fewer than 12, and when the Host is exposed not less than 12 or 20. In the Notitia Dignitatum Imperii tapers are mentioned as an ensign of great dignitaries, and the Abbe Duchesne conjectures that the custom of carrying lights before the Gospel, and on certain occasions before the Pope, arose in this way. Pictures The representation of sacred persons and sacred and subjects is coaeval with the faith ; they were repre- Images. sented by ritual, by painting, and, less often, by sculpture. In the East however art was confined to painting, out of a presumed conformity to the Jewish and Eastern law which prohibits the graving of images. It is curious therefore that in the East the veneration of images is much in excess of that in the West. The prohibition to make images, which is absolute among Musulmans, cannot certainly have been absolute for the Hebrews, since in the Holy of Holies were figured the two Cherubim, and the Shema and Golden Candlestick were both set at the Holy Place, while Moses was directed to make the image of a serpent and raise it on a rod that all Israel might direct its gaze towards it.f The rule in the East has always been that images * Hymn on the Natalitia of S. Felix, a.d. 407. t See also 3 Kings vii. (Revised Version, i Kings), which speaks of the making of oxen, cherubim, lions, and palm-trees " in like- ness of a man standing," etc. INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 37 should be painted after one conventional pattern, and this pattern is the Byzantine. In Russia whole villages are devoted to the task of making the ikons for the churches on this stereotyped pattern. In the East also, none but the first saints and martyrs are placed for veneration in the churches ; the ikons of our Lord and of Mary hold the first place on the ikonostasis ; the 12 Apostles, S. John Baptist, and the archangels are also represented. In the West on the contrary, there is much greater freedom of representation, though a type, as e.g. that for the Sacred Heart, is sanctioned when it first appears.* All the saints can be imaged ; and their images placed in the churches and over the altars. There is no such thing in the West as Byzan- tinism in sacred art. In A.D, 717-741, arose the controversy about the use Theicono- of images. Leo the I saurian perceived that their clasts. prohibition had been a strength in Islam, and in 730 he abolished their use. The II. Council of Nicaea, under the auspices of the Empress Irene, restored the veneration of images in 788, with great solemnities. In 790 the Caroline Books of Charlemagne and Alcuin, and in 794 the Council of Frankfort pro- nounced decisively against the adoration [irpoa-Kvvqa-is) of images. 1 * Constitutions of Charlemagne. And Council of Trent, session XXV. t Charlemagne's manifesto, which he issued with the aid of Alcuin and other theologians, condemned all religious homage whatever paid to images, or through images to the Person repre- sented. It proceeds to reprove the image-breakers, especially the fanaticism which recognised no moral difference between the veneration of these images and that of idols. Man is not, it says, all soul, and may lawfully be helped by the senses. It reproaches the iconoclasts with sweeping away all with which Christendom had made its churches beautiful, and which preserved and kindled a lively sense of sacred persons and events in the minds of men. The representations of Christ gave the most offence ; and it may be said that the question involved is a close parallel to that raised by Arianism. It has been pointed out that Arianism was really a return to the primitive form of Hebraic monotheism. To the Arians Christ was a creature transcending all others, but 38 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME The Council of Trent defines : " Moreover, that the images of Christ, of the Virgin Mother of God, and of the other saints, are to be had and retained particularly in temples, and that due honour and veneration are to be given them ; not that any divinity or virtue is believed to be in them, on account of which they are to be worshipped, or that anything is to be asked of them ; or that trust is to be reposed in images, as was of old done by the Gentiles who placed their trust in idols " (Sessio xxv.).* Part We know that all the early churches presented a played by mass of colour. Old S. Peter's in Rome, and old (^n'stlan ^* P^^^'s in London, were rich with representations of worship, the mysteries of the faith. The images and repre- sentations in the churches, says Signer Armellini, were the hook of the ignorant and simple. This was es- pecially true in the 1,400 years before the invention of printing. But images are not only a book of fact — they are a book of imagination ; they instruct and restrain it. Standing round men in the churches, they signify the undeviating attitude of the spirit in the presence of the Eternal God, the Church's pre- paredness and fervour compared with the individual's inequality in spiritual things : " Domine Jesu Christe . . . ne respicias peccata mea, sed fidem ecclesia tua." No one can have seen the earliest Christian images without feeling that their power to fix, direct, and compel attention was well understood. From the pictures and inscriptions of the catacombs, we gather that the image was definitely intended to represent for us the watching, the vigil, of the blessed in heaven, always a creature, only a creature, like others : and throughout this controversy the special strength of Christianity, and the necessary distinctions between it and every form of Islamism, appear to have been uniformly neglected. For Christianity differed profoundly from this system of thought; it reconciled the two statements : " No man has seen God at any time," and : " Philip, he that has seen me has seen the Father." * The penny catechism says : ' ' We do not pray to relics or images, for they can neither see, nor hear, nor help us." INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 39 as both inspired by and suggesting the same attitude on earth. " Trophime, vigila ; SANOIIIIII AEIM- NE2TE rPHrOREI." (Trophimus, watch; Xantippe always watches.) We give the history of the crucifix-'' elsewhere. The There is a crucifix over every altar ; and it is crucifix, necessary for there to be one whenever mass is said. The early representations of Christ, as we see from images of our ancient basilicas, represent Him symbolically Christ, under the figure of a Lamb, an emblem due to the Apocalypse. Earlier still, it is as the Good Shepherd First ages, only that He is directly represented, except in scenes like that of the woman at the well, the raising of Lazarus, the haemorrhoissa, the denial of Peter, which occur in the paintings of the cemeteries and on the marble sarcophagi. In 692, the Council of Trullo, held in Constantinople, vii. decreed that Christ, represented hitherto by the century symbolic lamb, should in future be more fitly depicted in a human form. While the image of Christ was not yet openly displayed. He was represented under the Occult various Eucharistic emblems by which He had Him- emblems, self chosen to be commemorated. One of the images now most frequently seen in the Sacred churches is that of the Sacred Heart ; and many altars Heart. and chapels are under this invocation. The image is a figure of Christ, either in painting or sculpture, representing Him standing, with a heart on the left side or the centre of the breast. The devotion to the sacred heart of Jesus Christ is in one sense, of course, as old as Christianity, but in the special sense of to-day it owes its immediate origin to a French nun of the Visitation at Paray-le- Monial, Mother Margaret Mary Alacoque,t who taught this way of viewing the sacred person of Christ, and in 1675 believed that He encouraged and com- * See ante, p. 22. t Ob. 1690 ; beatified 1864. For an account of the Feast, see Part II. 40 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME The Im- maculate Concep- tion. Pieta. Calvary. Mater Dolorosa. The Holy Family. Lourdes grotto. manded her to spread this devotion, and made her many promises for those who should adopt it. To a world grown old, says Mother Margaret's biographer, she came to fulfil the prophecy of the great Gertrude, " and teach to the world the language ... of Jesus' heart." She made the Jesuit P^re de la Colombi^re its apostle, and after his death in 1682, his order supported the devotion. Since 1854 images of the Madonna representing this dogma, are frequently met with. She stands on a globe, draped in blue and white, the head uncovered, and a crown or nimbus of twelve stars. Her foot is on the serpent (Apocalypse, xii. i). This figure represents, the doctrine that Mary was immaculate, that is, free from the stain of original as well as from that of actual sin.''' The Pieta which we often see in churches is a representation, generally in sculpture, of our Lord, after the taking down from the cross, resting on His Mother's knees. A large sculptured crucifix, with Mary and John, or with the Magdalen, and less often with the two thieves on either hand, is called a Calvary. The Sorrowful Mother, or our Lady of Dolours, is an image representing Mary as she stood by the cross, or with a heart pierced by one or by seven arrows, in allusion to the prophecy of Simeon. Placing Jesus, Mary, and Joseph before us as the model of the family is by no means a recent, but neither is it a very ancient, conception. There is now a confraternity of the Holy Family in most churches, which meets for prayers at stated intervals in the month. Hence pictures of the Holy Family are not infrequent. A feast for Rome and its district, called " Festivita della S. Famiglia di Gesia, Maria, e Giu- seppe," was sanctioned by the Congregation of Rites in 1893. In some Roman churches may be seen a picture or * For the origin of the Feast, see Part II. . INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 41 Other representation of the Madonna, habited in white and blue, standing in the Grotto at Lourdes ; round her head are written the words which the young girl Bernadette heard her say : " Je suis rimmaculee con- ception," a sentence which, as it has no meaning in French, it is not easy to translate. For an account of the 14 pictures representing Stations of the journey of Christ from Pilate's hall to Calvary, the Cross. which are placed round many churches, but not round basilicas, see Part 11. Relics are often placed over altars in gold or silver Relics, reliquaries, or entire chapels are set apart for the custody of the relics, which are then exposed to view over the altar. On feast-days gilt busts of saints are sometimes placed on the super-altar, and these contain relics. Any relic which the church may possess is exposed over an altar on the feast-day, and candles lighted. It is customary for the clergy of the church to bow when passing this relic altar. Relics are only given away by the bishop, who seals the relic case, and a document accompanies it declaring that the relic has been duly taken from the source indicated. Nothing, of a secondary character, is more remark- Jewish able than the change of feeling about the bodies of the feeling. dead, in the followers of the new religion of Christ. Under the Law of Moses, he who touched the dead, or went into his chamber, was defiled ; and he who touched the bones of a dead man or his grave was defiled ; his state of legal uncleanness lasted for seven days (Numb. xix. 11-16). The sepulchres were whited before the Feast of the Passover, in order that the Jews coming up to Jerusalem to the feast might remain uncontaminated. But to the early Christian society in Rome their dead were sacred, and sanctified rather than defiled those who came in contact with them. There can be little doubt that the dreadful martyrdoms wrought this change ; those who had looked upon these miracles regarded the body, which had been the 42 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME instrument of this supreme witness, in a new way. Their veneration for the martyr was boundless : " Greater love," they remembered, " has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend." To gather the relics of the martyrs was an act undertaken by the noblest Christian women, assisted by pious presbyters and deacons. Early In the West, and especially in Rome, it was not per- Christian mitted to violate the sepulchres of the martyrs. To open feeling. their tombs, to remove, and much more to divide, their relics was considered a profanation, Gregory the Great gives us the account of the tomb of S. Laurence being opened by mistake, when within ten days the workmen and the monks who had been present all died.''' The martyrs themselves before their death adjured the faithful not to keep any- particle of their ashes. De Rossi has pointed out that the inviolabihty of the martyr's relics was a discipline of the Western Church not only in S. Gregory's time, but for long afterwards. When Justinian, in 519, wrote a letter to Pope Hormisdas asking for relics of S. Laurence to place in a church he had built, it is recited that the request for a martyr's bones was made according to the custom of the Greeks, "secundum morem Graecorum"; to this, in the reply, was opposed the usage of the apos- tolic See, " consuetudinem sedis apostolicae." The first mention we have of the removal of relics is in the viii. century table preserved in the Grotte Vaticane, where Paul L, when depositing the bodies of the martyrs in the church of S. Silvestro, reserved some relics of each, which were placed by himself or one of his successors in the Vatican. The " Apostolic Constitutions," which are of Eastern origin, prove that in some parts of the East Christians found it hard to overcome the Jewish repugnance to relics. Speaking of the passage, " He is not therefore the God of the dead, but of the living," the " Constitu- tions " say : " Wherefore of those that live with God, • Ep. 30, lib. iii. INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 43 even their very relics are not without honour." " And chaste Joseph embraced Jacob after he was dead upon his bed ; and Moses and Joshua the son of Nun carried away the rehcs of Joseph, and did not esteem it a defilement. Whence you also, O bishops, and the rest, who without such observances touch the departed, ought not to think yourselves defiled. Nor abhor the relics of such persons, but avoid such observances, for they are foolish " (book vi.). The religious history of the use of relics refers us to Religious the Old Testament, 4 Kings xiii. 21, which records ^^^'^°''y °^ that the touch of the bones of Eliseus (Elisha) restored j-eUc^^^ ° a dead man to life ; and to Ecclesiasticus xlix., which records that the bones of Joseph prophesied. The New Testament records that handkerchiefs from the body of Paul healed the diseases of the sick (Acts xix. 12) " and the wicked spirits went out of them." S. Augustine writes : " For even now miracles are wrought in the name of Christ, whether by His sacra- ments or by the prayers or relics of His saints"; and he relates ten miracles which he says were wrought through the relics of the proto - martyr Stephen in his own time {Civitas Dei). S. John Damascene writes : " Christ our Lord has given the relics of the saints as health-bringing fountains." We should not refuse credit to such wonders, he says, since we know that water flowed from the hard rock, and honey from the jaw of the dead lion cured Samson. The relics of saints are not to be com- pared to the dead bodies which defiled under the old Law, for the author of life Himself has been inscribed among the dead, and those bodies are not to be called dead which heal the sick, cleanse the leper, and make the blind to see {De Fide Orthodoxa). In this viii. century passage is contained all which ancients or moderns have claimed for relics. The Council of Trent in its xxv'^ Session defined that the " Sacred bodies of the holy martyrs, and of others Uving with Christ, which were His living members, and the temple 44 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME of the Holy Spirit (i Cor. iii. i6), and to be by Him raised to eternal life and glorified, are to be venerated by the faithful." Of what The first Roman Christians had the relics of their relics con- confessors and martyrs all round them ; they frequently sist. visited their tombs, they celebrated the hturgy there, and in time burnt perfumed oils at the sites. But those at a distance from the holy city soon desired to possess also the bodies of the confessors of the Faith ; even in the in. century it is said that a struggle took place between the Eastern and Western Christians for the bodies of Peter and Paul. When "relics" were asked for, cloths from the bodies of the martyrs or some instrument of their torture would be sent. The "relics" which were preserved outside the tombs of confessors in the Western churches, and transported from one place to another, consisted solely of cloths coloured with their blood, or the iron of their chains. When the Gothic Queen Theodolinda sent to Rome for relics, some of the oil which burnt before the tombs in the catacombs was sent to her at Ravenna, and was Genuine- regarded as a relic of price. Memorials of the martyrs nessoftheand of the sanctuaries were, then, sought by those relics. away from Rome ; and it is clear that, even when the common sentiment permitted the violation of tombs, it was impossible that actual relics or parts of the bodies of martyrs could be sent in each case. The custom was to touch the tomb with cloths, as the actual body- cloths had been preserved before the martyrs' burial, and send these as relics. Until the tomb of S. Peter was finally closed up, a long pole with a handkerchief attached used to be lowered till it touched the sar- cophagus of the Apostle, and these cloths or brandea were then called " Cloths from the body of S. Peter. "^'^ Theodolinda, when she had asked for a relic of the two Apostles, indignantly rejected such a cloth sent her by Gregory the Great ; and he then, to show that the * To-day the minutest particle of the ashes, bones, or dress of any saint may constitute a relic. INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 45 essential value of a relic lay in the dispositions of him who received it, pierced the rejected cloth with a knife, and it appeared covered with blood. This scene is depicted in the great mosaic in S. Peter's. It seems more than probable that, when the early custom and the early sentiment was forgotten, these hrandea should have given rise to false relics : a cloth which was but a bare memorial, was believed to have been a part of the dress, or stained with the blood of a martyr, and as such wonder-working ; the wonder- working properties becoming of much greater interest than the relic in its character of a memorial. Many relics cannot possibly be what they are represented to be, even had they been handed down by a careful and critical age. The absence of communication between place and place in the middle ages, made it possible for two or three shrines to boast of the same relic, and the long tradition, the celebrity, and the pious associa- tions with such sites, have created of these places veritable sanctuaries not to be desecrated by any amount of criticism. The devotional visit must always be distinct in idea and in fact from the historical visit. CHAPTER IV. S. Peter in Rome — The old basilica of S. Peter's — The present basilica. S. Peter ACCORDING to ancient tradition, S. Peter made his in Rome, first visit to Rome after his miraculous hberation from the prison in Jerusalem, namely about the year 42 A.D.,* during the reign of the Emperor Claudius; and upon this is founded the equally ancient tradition of his twenty-five years' episcopate. An early visit of the Apostle to Rome seems more than probable, and Allardin his recent " Histoiresdes Persecutions," makes this coincide in time with his escape from prison, and points out that the popularity of his miraculous libera- tion as a subject for the sculptures on ancient Christian sarcophagi in Rome would point to a near relation between the two events. From the fact that no allusion is made to S. Peter's presence in Rome in the Acts or in S. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, we conclude that at that date Peter was certainly not in Rome ; but this would not exclude the possibility of a former visit, as one may accept Signer Marucchi'sf suggestion that he may have been obliged to leave the city under the edict of Claudius for the expulsion of all Jews (a.d. 49). In any case, even if Peter's first visit to Rome under Claudius and his twenty-five years' episcopate in that city have not been established by indisputable testi- * This is the date also given by S. Jerome. t Memorie del SS. Apostoli Pietro e Paolo. Roma, 1894. 5. PETER'S 47 mony although maintained by unbroken tradition, his actual presence in Rome, a fact never doubted in the first centuries, * is now no longer disputed by modern criticism. If not in Rome in a.d. 58, Peter was probably in the city in 64, the year the great Neronian persecution commenced, as he alludes to it in his Epistle from Babylon, written after that date, an epistle now gener- ally admitted to have been written from Rome, as the real Babylon was in ruins at the time, while Babylon was a common figurative designation of Rome among the early Christians, being so used in the Apocalypse (xvii. 5 ; xviii. 2). It is impossible to believe that the circumstances S. Peter's and place of Peter's martyrdom were not well known to martyr- the faithful of the first centuries, and we find S. John '"■ (xxi. 18, 19) alludes to the manner of his death as to a well-known contemporary fact. S. Clement, a dis- ciple of Peter, makes allusion to his death in Rome in his letter to the Corinthians,! written in a.d. 96-97. Ignatius,! Bishop of Antioch ; Irenaeus, disciple of Polycarp (11. century) ; Caius,§ a priest of the be- ginning of the III. century (a.d. 200) ; Dionysius of Corinth (a.d. 170); Origen, Tertullian,|i and Eusebius — all writers of the first four centuries — bear testimony to the foundation of the. Roman Church by Peter, and to his death in Rome. The so-called " Apocryphal * No writer doubted Peter's presence in Rome before the Waldenses of the xiii. century. Patavinus made the first formal denial of it in the xiv. century. Schaff admits that it was not called in question till 1557 and 1591. Perrone points out that none of the heretics, schismatics, or rivals of the early Church ever called the fact in doubt, although it would have been greatly to their interest to do so. f For the discovery by Briennius of the text of this letter which is referred to by Irenaeus and Eusebius, see Duchesne, Les nouveaux Textes de S. Clement de Rome. Lyons, 1877. \ S. Ignatii Epist. ad Rom., cap. iv. § Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., v. 6; ii. 25. II Tertullian, De Pmscriptionibus , ch. xxxvi. 48 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Acts,"* erroneously ascribed to Linus, and which give the Uves of the Apostles Peter and Paul, were probably compiled at a later date; but they doubtless had an historical basis. Finally, monuments have existed from the first ages over the tombs of the Apostles in Rome, which have been venerated in their present position through all changes and vicissitudes, while there is an entire absence of any notice of Peter's martyrdom and burial elsewhere. Date. Peter's martyrdom is said to have taken place simul- taneously with that of S. Paul f — probably in the year 67, during the Neronian persecutions. | This persecu- tion was the result of a disastrous fire that had destroyed a great part of the city, and for this the Christians were held responsible by the Emperor. Mamer- A tradition, which however did not arise until the tine v. century, asserts that S. Peter, after having been prisons. for some months in the Mamertine prison at the foot of the Capitol, was led out with S. Paul to die. It is popularly said that they proceeded along the Via Ostia as far as the spot now marked by a bas-relief represent- ing their leave-taking, and from there Peter was led back along the Via Triumphalis to Nero's circus. We know that as a Roman citizen, Paul was exempt from a shameful death ; but it is said Peter was crucified, and chose the additional torture of being fastened to his cross head downwards, that he might show his un- worthiness to suffer the same death as his Master. ^ * Lipsius, Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha : Acta Petri, Acta Pauli. 1891. t The Leonine Sacramentary gives the same day for the passion of Peter and Paul, but adds tempore discrete "in different years." The statement occurs in one of two texts of the Liber Pontificalis. One says: "Post passionem domini anno xxviii. martyrio coro- natur," and the other, " Hie martyrio cum Paulo coronatur." + Vide Tillemont, Hist.. Eccles. I. § Tertullian : " ubi Petrus passioni dominicae adaequatur." Origen says: "at his own choice." Rufinus: " Ne exaequari Domino videretur." Jerome : " with head downwards . . . asserting that he was unworthy to be crucified in the same way as his Lord." S. PETER'S 49 Nero's circus, his villa and gardens, were beyond the Tiber, and beneath the Janiculum, in the region called Vaticanus. The Pons Tnumphalis, afterwards called Pons Vaticanus led to it, and the ruins of this bridge can still be seen in the water by the side of the present Ponte S. Angelo. Here was a temple of Cybele, and many Etruscan tombs we learn from Pliny. In Nero's gardens and circus many Christians were Nero's martyred, and burnt as torches for the amusement of circus the Emperor,''= and here is the traditional spot of Peter's ^ ^^^ crucifixion, near the obelisk which stood in the centre of the circus, f This obelisk was the only one which remained standing through the devastations of the middle ages, being removed to its present place by Sixtus V. The circus occupied roughly, the position of the present piazza of S. Peter's, its length parallel with the basiUca, and its width occupying the space between the modern sacristy and the German Campo Santo ; the original position of the obelisk is marked by a slab in the pavement, and the spot of Peter's martyrdom .- would correspond to the altar of SS. Simon and Jude in the church. Some writers believe Peter to have been martyred on the Janiculum ; but this is unlikely. It is more probable that he suffered upon the same spot as the first Christian martyrs — in the suburbs of the city, as was usual — and not upon the Janiculum, which was within the walls of Severus, and crowned by a fortress. The nauniachia of Domitian mentioned in the " Acts " was the tract of marshy ground between the Vatican and S. Angelo, and here stood the traditional terebinth-tree. After his death, the body of Peter was probably laid • Tacitus, Annali, xx. 44. t " Inter duas metas, sub Terebintho, prope Naumachiam, in Vaticano, juxta obeliscum Neronis in monte, juxta Palatium Neronianum, in territorio triumphali." The site is so described in the " Acts." 4 50 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME in some spot close by, and we know from the inscrip- tions found, that a place of burial existed near Nero's circus, and divided from it by a public road. A portion Vatican of the cemetery was pagan, but part was possessed cemetery, by the Christians, and had probably already served for the victims of Nero's persecution. The classical style of the inscriptions from this cemetery shows it to be of the highest antiquity, and the representations of the anchor and fish found upon them have been judged by De Rossi to be some of the earliest examples in exist- Two sar- ence. One of the most ancient Christian sarcophagi, cophagi that to Livia, now in the Louvre, is marked with the |?^"P" Good Shepherd and the sheep, between a fish and an LI VIA WCARVd LIVIAE PRIKITIVAE SO-ROM FECIT V • AN • xxiiii • M • vini Good Shepherd (j. ^T^S-, and 2 Sheep ' LIVIA NICARUS TO LIVIA PRIMITIVA, HER SISTER, WHO LIVED 24 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS. anchor ; and was one of those grouped round the Apostle's sarcophagus. The following also comes from here : At the top of the stone is a wreath, and below this D M. The line beneath this contains the Greek words : ixexc z&)NTg)N* In the next line is an anchor between two fish. The (incomplete) inscription to L icinia A mias follows. Icthus zontdn, "icthus of the living," i.e.^ the meat (fish) of those who live, the Christian sign placed beneath the * Found T870. Date, end of ii. or beginning of in. century. S. PETER'S 51 pagan letters Di Manibus (D M), alludes undoubtedly tothe words : " He that believeth on me, though he die yet shall he live," and "I am the living bread . . , if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever " (John xi. 25 and vi. 51). De Rossi supposes that, owing Grave- to the nature of the soil, the Vatican cemetery con- tombs, sisted of pits or wells, in the walls of which were cut large loculi. These sepulchral wells are very rare ; some exist in the catacomb of S. Agnes, four in the crypts of Lucina, and a few examples are found in area pavements, on the surface of the soil. Pope Anencletus (gi-io6), according to the Liber Cella Pontificalis, constructed a sepulchral monument over memoriae the grave of the Apostle (" Hie memoriam B. Petri construxit "), where he also was to be laid, " since he had been ordained a presbyter by Peter." Such a memorial chamber {cella memoria) above the tomb was usual among the Romans, and being a locus religiosus, although Christian was inviolable by Roman law. The chamber was no doubt above ground in the open air, and visible to all ; for so Caius, the contemporary of Eusebius, talks of it in his dispute with the Mon- tanists in the beginning of the iii. century — the tropaa apostolorum. So does Eusebius, in his account of the martyrdom of Tranquillinus, surprised and stoned while praying at the tomb of Peter. The old itineraries of the vi. and vii. centuries describe the tomb of Peter, to the west, near the Via Cornelia, at the first mile ;* with the interesting addition that at this spot the Vatican cemetery which doubtless grew round the primitive sepulchres, became the official burial place of the popes for the first two centuries, the popes from Linus to Victor (193) being buried here, after which date the papal * Also William of Malmesbury: "Via Cornelia, Prima Porta Cornelia quae modo porta S. Petri et Via Cornelia. Juxta earn ecclesia beati Petri sita est in qua corpus eius jacet, auro et lapidibus parata. Etenim nullus hominum scit numerum SS. MM. qui in eadem ecclesia pausant." 4—2 52 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Excava- tions of the Vatican cemetery. cemetery was transferred to the Via Appia until the Peace of the church, Leo I. (440) being the first pope to be again buried in the Vatican. The position of the tombs of the Apostles in Rome is spoken ®f by Optatus Milevius in his arguments against the Donatists''= in the iv. century : " Memoriae apostolorum in urbe Roma"; by S. Jerome,! who describes the tomb of Peter as venerated by all Christendom ; and by Prudentius,]; whose description of the tombs of both Apostles shows that they occupied the same position as now.§ Finally, during excavations in the xvi. century for the foundations of the present baldacchino of S. Peter's, the remains of this ancient cemetery were discovered. Severano j j and Torrigio, eye-witnesses, give an account of the many Christian sarcophagi then found. The tombs of great antiquity were grouped closely together in the spot now marked by the confession and high altar. Some of the sarcophagi, of terra-cotta, were filled with masses of burnt bones, fragments of glass vessels and cinders, possibly the relics of the martyrs of Nero's persecution, gathered and buried here by the faithful. In others, were bodies clothed in long gar- ments, or wrapped in crossed bands, as we see Lazarus represented on the early Christian sarcophagi. Gold threads and traces of embroidery and gold work were still to be detected in the wrappings of some of the bodies, and upon one sarcophagus was the simple in- scription Linus, the Pope who according to the Liber Pontificalis, was buried by the body of Peter (" juxta corpus b. Petri in Vaticano "). In a sepulchral chamber at a still lower level, the sarcophagus of Peter, with the gold cross of Constantine upon it, was seen * De Schismate Donatistarum, ii. 2. t De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, cap. i. I Peristeph, Hymn xii. § For the evidence for the burial of S. Peter in the Vatican, see Borgia, Vaticatia Confessio B. Petri. Rome, 1776. II Le Setie Chiese. S. PETER'S 53 by Cardinals Bellarmine and Antonianus, and by Pope Clement VI II,, but was again walled up, for fear of profanation. No vestige is visible of the primitive sepulchre of Sepul- the Apostle, all trace having been destroyed by the ^^^^ ^^^^ buildings erected at a later period. The sepulchral p^^gj. cell of Peter formed the confession of the ancient basilica, and was, in all probability, accessible till the v. century, when, during the invasion of the bar- barians, it was walled up for safety. Whether it was accessible again at a later date is uncertain. There certainly existed a rectangular well beneath the high altar of the older church, through which the pilgrims could look down into the chamber beneath, but all was walled up and entirely hidden during the Saracen invasion and sack of 846, and nothing further was known of the tomb until the excavations of 1594. The present floor of the crypt of S. Peter's, the so-called Grotte Vaticane, was the pavement of the older church, and the sepulchral chamber would thus be behind and below the altar of the crypt, some 40 feet beneath the pavement of the present church. It is narrated in the " Apocryphal Acts," and also Removal asserted by Jerome, Damasus, and Gregory, and the ?{^y^ martyrologies of the vii. century, that the bodies j^^^^ ° of the Apostles were "removed from their primitive Apostles, sepulchres and deposited upon the Via Appia In a catacomb. Tradition asserts that shortly after Peter's death the Eastern Christians, who regarded him as peculiarly their own, broke open the tomb, and carried off the body, leaving Rome by the Appian Way. Three miles beyond the city a storm of great violence overtook them, and overcome with fear, they allowed the Roman Christians to regain possession of the body of the Apostle, which was laid in a catacomb close by, in the region known as " ai catacumbas." On the other hand, the calendar of Furius Filocalus gives June 29, 258, as the Deposition of Peter at the Vatican and Paul on the Via Ostia, and an entry in the Liber PontificaUs 54 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME asserts that the matron Lucina removed the bodies from the catacomb " by night " — Corpora apostolorum Petri et Pauli de catacumbas levavit noctu. We thus have several conflicting statements, which have been to a great extent reconciled by De Rossi's discovery at Berne of a codex of the Hieronymian martyrology, in which is the following entry for the third kalends of July (June 29) : Rotnoe natalis Petri et Pauli apos- tolorum, Petri in Vaticano, Pauli vero in Via Ostiense, utriusque in catacumbis passi sub Nerone Tusco et Basso consulibus. " At Rome, on the feast of Peter and Paul Apostles — of Peter in the Vatican, and Paul on the Via Ostia, and of both in the catacombs suffered under Nero, Tuscus and Bassus being consuls." This passage should obviously read after the word ' ' apostles ' ' : " suffered under Nero — of Peter in the Vatican and Paul on the Via Ostia, and of both in the Catacombs, Tuscus and Bassus being consuls." Tuscus and Bassus were consuls in 258, the great year of persecu- tion under Valerian, when the cemeteries of the church were confiscated, and when Lucina may have moved the bodies of the Apostles "by night " from the Vatican and the Via Ostia to the catacomb on the Via Appia for greater safety, and not from the catacomb, as the entry in the Liber Pontificalis states. The spot where the bodies of the Apostles were laid, known as Platonia. Platonia, is beneath the basilica of S. Sebastian, and was long venerated as the temporary resting-place of the bodies of Peter and Paul, and is still shown as such. They lay here for one year and seven months,* and were probably restored to the Vatican and the Via Ostia by Pope Dionysius, the Christians having been granted their ancient rights by the Emperor Gallienus, after Valerian's death. Whether this was • This pericxi is mentioned in one of the Lectiones for S. Peter's Day, used in the French churches, also in the "Apocryphal Acts." The itineraries of the vii. and viii. centuries give forty years as the period that the bodies lay on the Via Appia, but the authority for this statement is unknown. S. PETER'S 55 the one and only time that the bodies were moved, all the accounts referring to this same period ; or whether they were moved at an earlier date also, soon after the martyrdom of the Apostles, is a much-dis- puted point. In any case, after their final restoration to the primitive sepulchres in the iii. century, we have no record that the tombs were ever again disturbed. Peace was finally restored to the Chuych by the Basilica of Emperor Constantine, and the unanimous voice of Constan- tradition maintains that he caused to be built over the ti"^- tombs of the Apostles at the Vatican and on the Via Ostia two magnificent basilicas, and it is recounted that he divested himself of his robes and himself dug twelve spadesful of earth for the foundations of the great church to be built over Peter's body. He further decorated the sarcophagi of the Apostles with golden Sarco- crosses, that upon the sarcophagus of Peter bear- phagus of ing an inscription, in which his own name appears P^ter. with that of his mother Helena, but of which part only has been preserved by Petrus Mallius.^'- The ancient basilica of S. Peter's which for its magnifi- cence and richness was the wonder of the civilized world, was thus erected in the iv. century. The circus of Nero was in great part destroyed to furnish materials for its construction, its north wall serving as a substructure for the south wall of the new church ; and in its destruction eleven hundred years later many stones were found bearing the inscription '^ Constantimis D NJ" The church was built in the pure basilica form, its exterior simple and unadorned, as we still see in the basilicas of Rome. It was approached by a wide atrium, surrounded by porticoes, and measuring 212 feet by 235 feet. Here, among other illustrious Atrium, persons, were buried Conrad King of Mercia, and Offa of Essex, who came to Rome and took the cowl, and Cadwalla, King of Wessex, who, " forsak- ing all for the love of God," as we learn in the in- * See also Mecchi, La Tomba di S. Pietro e V inscrizione della Croce d' Oro. Roma, 1893. 56 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME scription placed on his tomb by Sergius I. (689), made a pilgrimage to Rome to be baptized, and there died.* Steps. A flight of thirty-five steps led up to the atrium from the piazza below. Pilgrims ascended these upon their knees, and it is said that Charlemagne did the same on his memorable visit in 774. On the wide platform at their summit emperors were received by the popes before their coronation. Symmachus (498) enlarged and restored these steps, and added a covered portico at either side for the convenience of pilgrims. Porticoes. An unbroken series of porticoes or covered colon- nades united S. Peter's with the other great basilicas. The portion from S. Peter's to the Ponte S. Angelo, where it was entered by an imposing gateway, was called the Portico Maggiore. Here it joined other series, extending to S. Lorenzo Fuori, and two miles beyond the walls to S. Paolo. The ruins of these porticoes were still to be seen in the xiv. century, and their course is marked by the Via de'Pellegrini, " road of the pilgrims." These porticoes, along which we are told poured a continuous stream of pilgrims day and night, were especially devoted to sellers of religious pictures, and objects of devotion, called Paternostrari, and a street in the vicinity of S. Peter's is still called " dei Coronari" (of the Rosaries). The practice still prevalent, of setting up little stalls of cheap religious pictures, images and rosaries at the church doors on feast-days may be a relic of this ancient custom. The precincts of old S. Peter's seem to have been the centre for the civic, mercantile, and social activity of the Roman citizen of that day. Thus we learn from contemporary sources that the piazza before the church was thronged with stalls. Vendors of food, of gold ornaments, as well as of objects of devotion, sat with their wares even in the atrium of the church. Paradisus. This atrium was commonly called Paradisus, from its having been decorated with flowers and ferns, and we find "the place of the fig-sellers in paradise " loca * Bede, Ecclesiastical History. 5. PETER'S 57 vendentium ficus in paradiso. There was even a Jew a seller of Syrian wares, who sat at his stall " under the image of the Saviour."* The entrance to the atrium through bronze doors was flanked by two columns, which now decorate the fountain erected by Paul V. on the Janiculum. Beneath the portico was a marble statue of Peter. Pope Damasus further placed in the centre of the Fountain atrium a magnificent fountain. In its centre was the of huge gilded bronze pine cone from the summit of ^^.masus. FOUNTAIN OF DAMASUS. Hadrian's mausoleum, but which was popularly said to have come from the roof of the Pantheon, and this error led to the name della Pigna being given to that whole district. Water is said to have gushed through openings in the pine cone. Above, was a cupola of bronze upon columns of porphyry. Water also flowed from the bronze peacocks, which with the pine cone, can still be seen in the court della Pigna in the Vatican palace. * Cens. Bas. Vatic, 1384. 58 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Doors, Five doors led into the church itself from the entrance court.* The central one was the so-called Porta Argentea, so named from its silver decorations of the VI. century. The names of the cities given by Charlemagne to the pope were later inscribed upon these doors in letters of silver. These were replaced by Eugenius IV. (1431) by bronze doors which were removed to the modern church, and can still be seen at its main entrance. The two doors on the right of the Porta Argentea, were the Porta Romana for women, and the Porta Guidonea, or Pilgrims' Gate, so called from the guidones, or guides stationed within it, who could speak the Lombard dialect, and who accom- panied the pilgrims. On the left of the central entrance were the Porta Ravignana, or Ravennate, for the in- habitants of Trastevere, called Ravennati during the middle ages, and the Porta Giudizia, through which the bodies of the dead were carried. Near this latter was a small door called the Porta Anticha, which was opened only once in a century at the termination of the jubilee. It was small and narrow, to remind the faithful of the words of Christ, " Strive to enter by the narrow gate." In the pontificate of Sixtus IV. (1471) however, the use of this door was abandoned owing to the casualties that occurred in the crowding through it in jubilee years, and a wider door was then made, which has since been called the Porta Santa. Interior The old basilica which extended, roughly speaking, of old from within the present doors to just beyond the bal- basi ica. dacchino, consisted of a wide nave divided from the ^^®' aisles by a double row of ninety-six antique columns of various orders, in capital and base, some of marble and some of granite. Two of these which formerly stood nearest the door, of rare African marble, cut and shortened, now flank the main entrance to the present * For the most ancient description of S. Peter's, see Petrus Mallius Historia Basilica aniiqiia S. Petri in the Codex Vat. 3627 of the xn. century. Also that of Maphius Vegius, Canon of S. Peter's, edited by the Bollandists. A. Circus of Nero. B. Obelisk. C. Wall of pre- sent church. D. Atrium. E. Fountain of Damasus. F. Statue of Peter. G. Nave. H. Aisles. 1. Cathedra. K. Confession. L. Tribune. M. Transept. N. Baptistery. PLAN OF S. PETER S. 6o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Pave- ment. Tribune. Mosaics. portico. Light entered through arched windows in the high walls above the columns, showing the rough rafters of the horizontal roof. The size of the church was 395 feet in length, and 212 feet in width. It covered an area of 1 14,000 square feet. Its nave was 80 feet across, twice the average width of a Gothic cathedral. The floor was paved with slabs of white marble from the circus, replaced later by a pavement of marble, porphyry and serpentine, fragments of which can still be seen in the crypt. The nave terminated in a great semicircular tribune with throne and seats for the clergy. Of the seven porphyry steps which led to it, two remain in the same position to-day. On the arch of the tribune was the celebrated mosaic representing Constantine presented to the Saviour by Peter, and offering Him a model of the church he had built. Beneath was the inscription : ' ' Quod duce te mundus surrexit ad astra triumphans Hanc Constantinus victor tibi condidit aulam." Confes- The mosaics of the apse were renewed by Innocent III. (iigS) and finally demolished by Sixtus V.* The tribune arch was spanned by a beam upon which was a great cross between two keys, and beneath hung the gigantic lamp called Pharos,! containing, it is said, 1,300 lights, which was lit up on Christmas Day, at Easter, and for the Feast of Peter and Paul. The confession was reached by two flights of steps, and was surrounded by twisted marble columns, eight of which we now see in the loggia of relics in S. Peter's, * The inscription of Constantine in the apse is still preserved in the Einsiedeln Codex : " Justitise sedes fidei domus aula pudoris Haec est quam cernes pietas quam possidet omnis Quae patris et filii virtutibus inclyta gaudet Auctoremque suum genetoris laudibus acquat." t Said to have been stolen in the Saracen sack in 846. S. PETER'S 6i and two in the chapel of the Sacrament.* Successive popes vied with each other in the decorations they lavished upon the shrine of the Galilean fisherman. The whole confession was lined with silver by Sixtus III. (432-440), and then paved with silver by Adrian I. (772). A silver beam supporting silver figures of the Apostles was replaced by a gold beam and figures by Pope Zacharias, while candelabra, lamps and crosses of gold and silver without number were presented to the shrine, even King Theodoric and Belisarius making valuable gifts. f Pope Damasus repaired the sepulchral chamber of the Apostle it is said, and collected the water from the streams which intersected the Mons Vaticatius, to feed a baptistery he built beside the basilica.]: The inscription which Damasus placed within the bap- Baptis- tistery is preserved in the crypt of S. Peter's. Here tery. stood the famous chair of Peter, upon which sat the Bishops of Rome to receive and confirm the newly baptized. § So celebrated did it become that the bap- tistery itself became known as Cattedra Apostolica. The .chair of Peter, moved from the baptistery in the VI. century, was placed in various chapels and is now enclosed in the bronze throne in the tribune of S. Peter's. It is held by tradition to be the chair upon chair of which Peter sat, and it is undoubtedly one of the most Peter, ancient thrones in existence. j| It is composed of two portions, of four legs of yellow oak, worm-eaten and chipped by the pilgrims who carried away bits as relics, and a seat and back of acacia wood. This part is of * Said to have been brought from Greece, but probably Roman work of the ui. century. An eleventh column stands in the chapel of the Piet^. t The panels of the shrine decorated by Giotto can still be seen in the Stanza Capitolare of S. Peter's. I The same source to-day supplies the pope's apartments. § It is so described by Optatus Milevius in his work against the Donatists, and by Tertullian, De Prescript., cap. xxxvi. II It was last shown in 1867, when a careful description was given by De Rossi (BuUetino for June and July, 1867). 62 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME another and later period, and is ornamented with ivory panels carved to represent the labours of Hercules and the constellations. At the back of the chair a crowTied emperor is represented, possibly Charlemagne, with two angels. De Rossi conjectures that this acacia portion may have been a Byzantine throne presented to the Pope in the ix, century, and incorporated with the older and already existing chair of Peter. The whole is in the form of a sedan-chair, or sedia gestatoria, to be carried upon the shoulders of four or more bearers, a custom introduced by the Roman senators in the time of Claudius. In each century additions, restorations, and decora- tions were planned and carried out by the popes. Honorius I. (625) covered the whole of the basilica with gilt bronze tiles ruthlessly torn from the temple of Venus and Rome. Gregory IV. (827) adorned the fa9ade with mosaics; Adrian I. (771) added a bell tower to the side of the atrium overlaid with silver and gold, the first of the kind in Rome ; and Zacharias (741) introduced the custom of hanging costly silken* draperies between the columns of the nave, a custom which has come down to us in the Roman habit of festooning and covering the nave pillars with crimson cloth and tinsel on feast-days. Chapel of The interior of the old basilica was magnificent John VII. with gold, silver and mosaic ; 700 lights burnt per- petually at the fifty-two altars and chapels. One of the most beautiful and most frequented of these was the chapel of the Praesepio, added by John VII. (705- 708). Of the beautiful mosaic decoration of this chapel we still possess a few fragments in the crypt, a portion in S. Maria in Cosmedin, and in S. Maria Novella in Florence. The Here John VII. placed the ancient picture of Christ " Vero- known as the Veronica, as we learn from an inscription nica." * A manufactory of embroidered stuffs existed near S. Peter's from the time of Leo IV., and the custom of dressing wooden dolls in rich draperies dates from this time or earlier. S. PETER'S 63 Still extant and preserved in the crypt. The tradi- tional history of this picture is as follows : Tiberius being afflicted with leprosy heard of the " miracles wrought by the magician Jesus," and sent for Him to cure his disease, but his messenger was delayed on the road, and only arrived in Jerusalem to hear of the death of Jesus. He returned however to Tiberius, with the cloth of the pious matron Veronica, upon which Christ had left an impression of His face on His way to Calvary. On seeing this, Tiberius burst into tears and fell upon his face, and his leprosy w^as healed. Veronica herself brought the portrait to Rome, and upon her death bequeathed it to Pope Clement. This story was believed as early as the time of Eusebius and Tertullian, and the portrait was exhibited from the VII. century. It was often placed upon Roman coins with the inscription : Sanctam sive tit dicunt, sanctum Veronicam, and in a Bull of Eugenius IV. it is called simply the Sanctam.* Changes outside the basilica of S. Peter's grew con- Vatican temporaneously with those within. Houses, buildings township, of every description sprang up around it ; churches, convents, schools, hospitals for the poor, houses and baths for pilgrims of every nationality, dwellings for the clergy, crowded round the hallowed precincts, until the Vatican district became a populous little township. The Lombards possessed the church of S. Maria in Campo Santo with a burial-ground round it ; the English owned a church and cemetery, supported by taxes raised for the purpose by the King of Wessex, and as their possessions and dwellings increased, the whole region on the Tiber banks came to be called Borgo. Burgus Saxonium — town of the Saxons. f For greater security, and as a protection against the Leonine invasion of the Saracens, Leo IV. enclosed the whole city. Vatican township within fortified walls, built by Saracen * An antique chest was long shown in the Pantheon, in which it is said the picture was once kept. t Hence the present name of this district, the Borgo. 64 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME captives, and it has ever since been known as the Leonine City. One of the most ancient of the buildings Templum within this region was the so-called Templum Probi, Probi. the sepulchral chamber of the Probi, among the first of the senatorial families to embrace Christianity. Here were the sarcophagi of Faltonia Proba, and of the Senator Probus who died in 395 ; the latter is in the chapel of the Pieta in S. Peter's ; that of Junius Bassus, of another branch of the same family, ob. 358, is in the crypt. Close by, Stephen II. (752) erected a S. Petro- chapel to S. Petronilla, in fulfilment of the promise to nilla. King Pepin that in return for his assistance against the Lombards, the body of this saint should be moved from the catacomb of S. Domitilla''' to the Vatican. The chapel was built within the ancient mausoleum of Honorius, and the sarcophagi of that Emperor, of Valentinian III., and of other members of his family, were walled up and lost sight of until the sixteenth century. The chapel of Petronilla was placed under the patronage of the kings of France, and upon its destruction their patronage was transferred to the altar of Petronilla in the present church. An ancient oratory of S. Andrew long did duty as sacristy to the new basilica, and portions of its mosaics are still preserved in. the modern building. The Vatican and S. Peter's were under the protec- tion of Austria, and it was the custom for the em- perors and P'rankish kings to pay a visit to the shrine of Peter before making their triumphal entry into Rome, an example first set by Theodoric the Goth. As the centuries succeeded one another, pilgrims of every nationality and of every grade flocked in thou- sands to visit the shrine of the Apostle, bearing with them gifts and offerings, so that the Vatican coffers Sackings, became filled with treasure. It is said that the dona- tions of pilgrims alone amounted to over 30,400 gold florins yearly. The costly and magnificent decora- tions of the church, and the priceless objects of art * See Chap. X. S. PETER'S 65 which it contained, fell over and over again a prey to the enemies of Rome and her invaders. The basilica of S. Peter and that of S. Paul, although outside the city walls, were spared by the Goths when they be- sieged Rome in 410 under Alaric," but they fell victims to the Vandals, and were sacked by the Saracens and the Lombards, and during the insurrection against Inno- cent VII. (1404), when the archives were scattered about the streets. The last time was in 1526, when Cle- ment VII. fled to the Castel S. Angelo, and the Vatican was given over to pillage by the soldiers of Charles V. for nine months. Of this historical and magnificent basilica of S. Peter's nothing now remains but isolated and discon- nected fragments. It lasted for 1,150 years, w^hen the walls began to settle down on the side where the masonry of Nero's circus had been retained, and, judg- ing restoration impossible, Pope Nicholas V. deter- mined upon the construction of a new church. New S. Peter's was begun in 1450, but 176 years New elapsed before it was completed and finally consecrated S. Peter's, by Urban VIII. in 1626 ; a period extending over the reigns of forty-three popes, and during which at least ten architects were in succession employed on the work. The first design for the new basilica was by Rosse- Rosselino, a Florentine, and was that of a Latin cross lino's planned on so colossal a scale that the choir and tran- design, septs would have enclosed the old church. This pro- ject was brought to an end when the walls of the tribune were but a few feet high, by the death of Nicholas V. ; and his successor Paul II. did nothing to further the work. It was resumed almost fifty years * A story is told of the Goths coming upon the dwelling of an old woman who had devoted her life to the service of the altar. When her house door was forced, she showed them a store of treasure, the "consecrated vessels belonging to S. Peter," and warned the barbarians against the sacrilege of touching them. Alaric commanded that all should be carried to the basilica of S. Peter. 5 66 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME later by Julius II., who thought that a church built upon so magnificent a scale would be an appropriate spot in which to place the huge mausoleum being then constructed by Michael Angelo for his ashes. Bramante. The work was resumed ah initio in 1506, and Bra- mante was chosen, from other competitors, as archi- tect. His design, with those of his rivals, may still be seen in the Uffizi gallery at Florence. He began by pulling down Rosselino's walls, as he intended to build an immense dome similar to that of the Pantheon, supported upon four pillars, around which should be three tribunes, each tribune being surmounted by a cupola, a plan that has been adhered to in the main by subsequent architects. Julius H. laid the founda- tion stone of this new building in 1506, where we now see the statue of S. Veronica, and the work thus begun was continued by his successor Leo X., but not with- out various vicissitudes and changes of design and plan. In 15 14 Bramante died, after having completed the four piers of the dome and the transept arches, and he Raphael, was succeeded as architect by Raphael, who drew out new plans, but dying in 1520, was able to do little more than strengthen the work already begun. After Peruzzi. his death, Baldassare Peruzzi"'' was called in, who changed the design to that of a Greek cross. The work received a check upon the death of Leo X., and under his successors, Adrian VI. and Clement VII., Peruzzi was able only to complete the tribune. In 1534 Paul III. became Pope, and upon the death Sangallo. of Peruzzi, in 1536, Antonio Sangallof was appointed architect of the building. Sangallo retained the plan of a Greek cross, and made a complete model of the church he proposed to build, which is still pre- served. His design would have avoided many of the obvious defects of the actual St. Peter's, although it was severely criticised at the time for being too Gothic in style. He died before his plans could be carried * Lived from 1481-1536. t 1470-1546. S. PETER'S 67 out, and his successor Giulio Romano,* took up the Giulio work, but died in the same year, Romano. In 1546 Paul III. called in Michael Angelo,f then Michael in his seventy-second year. Being offered so many Angelo. thousand ducats on the completion of the work, he replied that he would take no payment, but would do it " for the love of God, the Blessed Virgin, and S. Peter," and his plans were out in fifteen days. It is probable that Michael Angelo was unable to alter very materially the plans of his predecessors ; but he per- severed in the work, in spite of discouragements, intrigues and jealousies, and changes in the administra- tion, which more than once threatened to drive him in despair from the task he had undertaken, and bring the work entirely to an end. He enlarged the tribune and transepts, and strengthened the piers, and con- structed the dome upon a new plan. " On that Greek cross," he said, " I will throw up into the sky the Pantheon." The drum was finished, with drawings and plans for the completed dome, w^hen Michael Angelo died in 1564, at the age of eighty-nine ; and from this time for twenty-four years the building was neglected, and left exposed to the effects of wind and weather. Finally, in 1590, the dome was completed by Giacomo Giacomo della Porta;]: during the pontificate of^®'^^ Sixtus v., although it had to be more than once ^°^^^- strengthened at a later date. Up to this time the plans of Michael Angelo had been carefully adhered to. The fa9ade and portico yet remained to be finished, and the latter was to have been after the style of Agrippa's portico to the Pantheon, with ten pillars standing free from the fa9ade, and a second row — more forward — of four pillars. This design, with the church in the form of a Greek cross, would have rendered the whole dome visible from the piazza, and its great size and height would have been more apparent. Fontana proposed some alterations of this portico, but * 1492-1546. t 1475-1564 + 1541-1604. 5—2 68 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME nothing was done towards its completion until the Maderno. pontificate of Paul V., who employed Carlo Maderno/'^ a very inferior architect, upon the death of Delia Porta, in 1604, and Michael Angelo's design was finally abandoned. The original design of a Latin cross was adopted, the nave was prolonged, and the present fa9ade and portico built, to which latter great objection has always been taken from its heaviness and want of proportion. By Michael Angelo's design, part of the ground covered by the old basilica, containing the tombs of many popes and hallowed by many memories, would have been left outside the new building. His proposed nave was also not considered large enough for the immense gatherings of the faithful to be held in this, the greatest of Christian churches ; and finally, no provision had been made by him for the papal benediction, urhis et orbis ; and these considerations led to the abandonment of Michael Angelo's design, and the completion of the church as it now stands. Paul V. had the remaining portions of the old basilica pulled down. The nave, portico and fa9ade were finished in 1614, and the basilica was finally consecrated by Urban VIII. on November 18, 1626, on the 1300th anniversary of the day when Pope Sylvester is said to have consecrated the original church. Bernini added the piazza, with its circular colon- nades and its fountains in 1667, and the sacristy was erected in the pontificate of Pius VI., in 1780. The cost of the building amounted to ^10,000,000, and it was to meet this enormous expense that Julius II. and Leo X. resorted to the sale of in- dulgences, which through the evil zeal of Tetzel produced so immense a scandal in Germany, and became one of the causes of the religious movements of that century. The great church of St. Peter's was unfortunately • 1556-1629. S. PETER'S 69 built at a period when architecture was in a bad and transitional state ; when the classical ideal and the Gothic influence were warring against each other. And although the best architects of the time were employed in its construction, although no money was spared, and although the best, as well as the most costly and beautiful materials were used in its decoration, it is full of the most obvious defects, and has always been subjected to the most severe criticism. The great beauty of the dome rising from the centre Exterior, of the three tribunes of the west end cannot be adequately appreciated owing to the flatness of the roof around it, which does not allow its base to be seen, except from a considerable distance, and this defect is of course increased by the prolongation of the nave. The exterior decoration, which consists of gigantic pilasters of Corinthian order placed at intervals, has been much criticised. The pilasters are obviously useless and meaningless, and the profusion of niches, and the three or four tiers of windows between each, with their indifferent ornamentation, gives the whole the appearance of a palace, and not of a church. The gigantic pilasters are also found in the interior, and in the nave are obviously too high for the height of the vaulting, and give a clumsy and dispropor- tionate appearance to the whole. The pilasters were designed bj"- Bramante, but as he intended to introduce five arches on each side of the nave, with lighter piers, they would not have been so objectionable. The present enormous pilasters — 40 feet in width — sup- porting the four huge arches of the nave are due to Carlo Maderno. Nothing, however, can mar the ex- ceeding impressiveness of the dome, with its great beauty of size and proportion, rising from the pave- ment to a height of 333 feet in the centre of the cross formed by the intersecting of the four great vaults of the nave, tribune, and transepts, each vault 50 feet wide by 150 in height. 70 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME In spite of all defects of style, taste, and architecture, it is impossible not to feel that S. Peter's is impressive in the grandevir of its proportions and the magnificence of its decoration, nor to believe it unworthy of its place as the greatest of Christian churches. It is designed as a great gathering-place for the Christians of the world — to represent Catholicity in its extensive sense as it were — rather than as the mystic home of personal devotion, and must be so judged and appreciated. Size. To clean and keep this great church in repair, now costs annually about ;^7,ooo. Its internal length is 613 feet, the height of the nave 152 feet, breadth 87 feet ; diameter of the dome 1 39 feet — three feet less than that of the Pantheon ; exterior height of the dome 405 feet (without the cross). It covers 240,000 square feet of ground, or about six acres. The relative lengths of the following churches are marked on a slab in the nave : S. Paul's, London, 520 feet. Duomo at Milan, 443 feet. S. Paolo Fuori, 419 feet S. Sophia, 360 feet. S. Peter's is open from early morning until dark. A certain number of attendants, in dark-purple liveries, are always on duty in the church. These men are known as sampietrini. Piazza. We now approach S. Peter's by the great piazza with its double colonnades. Its centre is adorned by the obelisk from Nero's circus, upon the pedestal of which we read: " Christus vincit. Christus regnat. Christus im- perat. Christus ab omni malo plebem suam defendat." Obelisk. The story runs that while this obelisk was being reared into position with infinite difficulty, by means of horses attached to it by ropes, the anxiety and suspense were so great, that absolute silence was enforced upon all present upon pain of instant death. At the most critical moment the ropes began to yield, and a young S. PETER'S 71 sailor from Bordighera named Bresca shouted out in spite of the prohibition that water should be thrown upon them. This was done, and the obelisk safely drawn into position ; and as a reward for this timely service, the Bresca family was given for ever the privilege of supplying S. Peter's with palms for the ceremonies of Palm Sunday. This incident is depicted in fresco in the Vatican library. A flight of easy steps lead from the piazza to the church, at the base of which are two modern statues of SS. Peter and Paul, placed in this position by Pius IX. As in the old basilica, five entrances lead into the vestibule of the church. Over the main Vestibule entrance, inside, is a mosaic by Giotto, unfortunately Giotto's much retouched and repaired, representing the Saviour mosaic, walking upon the waves ; the head at His feet is a portrait of Cardinal Giacomo Stefaneschi. This mosaic was removed here from the outer court of old S. Peter's, and is said to have been first placed in that position for the benefit of the Eastern Christians, who were in the habit of paying superstitious rites to the rising sun, and whose thoughts were by its means to be diverted into better channels. S. Carlo Borromeo who was in the habit of visiting the shrine of Peter every day for twenty years, used to kneel here on entering, and pray to be saved from death in the waters of sin, as S. Peter was saved from the waves. The present vestibule is 468 feet long by 50 feet wide, and 66 feet high. On the right is an equestrian statue of Constantine by Bernini, not seen from here unless the doors into the Scala Regia are open ; on the left, one of Charlemagne by Cornacchini. Above . the cornice are statues of all the popes up to the time of the building of the present church. The inscrip- tions built into the walls were removed from the outer court of the old basilica. One records the gift by QrQaOvy II. of certain olive plantations for the supply of oil for the church lamps. Another is a copy of a •gij]] of Boniface VIII. (1294), in which indulgences 72 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME are granted for the jubilee year of 1 300 ; and upon the third, are the lines written by Charlemagne in honour of Adrian I. Five doors lead from the vestibule into the church, corresponding to the five entrances into the latter. The one on the extreme right, walled up, is the so- called Porta Santa, opened originally once, now four times in a century.* Doors. The bronze doors in the centre were executed by order of Eugenius IV. (1431-1447), in imitation of the beautiful bronze doors of the baptistery in Florence. They were made from the designs of the Florentine workers Filarete, and Simone Baldi brother of Donatello. These doors which took twelve years to make, are divided into three panels. The bas-reliefs upon the frame-work represent mythological subjects in odd contrast to those of the panels. In these, above are represented the Virgin and Christ, below S. Paul, and S. Peter presenting the keys to Pope Eugenius IV., below again the martyrdoms of S. Peter and S. Paul. Upon the destruction of the old church these doors were removed to their present position, with additions in inferior bronze to make them the necessary height. The black wooden doors on either side are said to have been made from the timber planks of the old basilica. Interior. Immediately within the doors is an immense circular porphyry slab in the pavement, upon which it is said, the emperors were formerly crowned. Roof. The tunnelled ceiling of the nave and bays, coffered and gilded, is due to Bramante, although carried out by Carlo Maderno. A difference in the width of the roofing can be detected above the third pier, marking ' the point where the latter architect altered the original plan by prolonging the nave. Nave. The nave is divided from the aisles by four great piers faced with Corinthian pillars, which extend beyond the spring of the arches to the vaulting of the * See p. 58. S. PETER'S 73 roof. The entablature is richly gilded. The facings of the pillars are of stucco, but with few exceptions, the whole of the interior of the church is lined wdth marble. The pavement, designed by Giacomo della Porta Pave- and Bernini, is entirely of marble. In the niches of ment. the pilasters of the nave are colossal statues of all the founders of religious orders ; the statues are modern, Statues of and have no artistic merit. The series, which is con- founders tinned round the tribune and transepts, with, in of orders, some places, an additional row above, commences on the right with the statue of — 1. S. Theresa, founder of the reformed Order of the Discalced CarmeHtes, in the niche of the first pillar. 2. S. Vincent de Paul, founder of the Daughters of Charity and of the Congregation of Missions. 3. S. Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorians. Turning to the right into the transept the series con- tinues with — 4. S. Caetano, founder of the Clerks Regular. 5. S. Jerome ^Emilian, founder of the Somaschi. 6. S. Joseph Calasanctius, founder of the Clerks Regular of the Pious Schools {Scolopii). 7. S. Bruno, founder of the Carthusians. In the tribune are 8 figures : 8. Elias the prophet, founder of the Universal Order of Mount Carmel. 9. S. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers. 10. S. Francis, founder of the Friars Minor. 11. S. Benedict, founder of the Congregation of Monte Cassino. Over these are : 12. S. Francis de Sales, founder of the Nuns of the Visitation. 13. S. Francis Caracciolo, founder of the Clerics Minor. 14. S. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists. 15. S. Francesca Romana, founder of the Oblates of Tor de' Specchi. Following the series into the left transept, we find : 16. S. Juliana Falconieri, founder of the third Order of the Servites of the Blessed Virgin. 74 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME 17. S. Angela Merici, founder of the Ursulines. 18. S. Norbert, founder of the Premonstratensian canons of the Augustinian rule. 19. S. Guglielmus, abbot and founder of the Monastery of the Virgin on the mount of that name. 20. S. Peter Nolasco, founder of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the Redemption of Captives. 21. S. John of God, founder of the Hospitaller Orders. Turning back into the nave, and descending the church on our right, we come to — 22. S. Francis of Paula, founder of the Order of Minimites. 23. S. Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus. 24. S. Camillusof Lellis, founder of the Clerics Regular, Ministers of the sick. 25. S. Peter of Alcantara, restorer of the ancient spirit of the Order of S. Francis. Bronze On the right of the nave against the last pier is the statue of celebrated bronze sitting statue of Peter, beneath a ^*®^' canopy. The origin of this statue is unknown. It used to stand in the monastery of S. Martin, in the Vatican precincts, and was there venerated in the VI. century. It has been asserted that it was made from the molten bronze of the great Capitoline Jupiter, or that it was itself an image of Jupiter, but modern archaeologists consider it to be of Christian origin, and to be probably of the v. century. It was quite pos- sibly made, as tradition states, by order of Leo I. (440) in thanksgiving for the deliverance of Rome from Attila. It was placed in its present position by Paul V. The foot of this image has been partly worn away by kisses. Dome. Beyond rises the great dome, supported upon its four gigantic piers 253 feet in circumference. The height of the dome is 405 feet, 448 feet including the cross. In the niches of the four piers are four colossal figures, 16 feet in height — S.Veronica, by Mochi ; S. Andrew, by Fiammingo ; S. Helena, by Bolgi ; and S. Lon- Balconies ginus, by Bernini. Above are four balconies, from of the two of which the four major relics are exposed upon relics. certain days of the year. The relic of the Veronica Veronica. •' •' S. PETER'S 75 has been already described.''' The sacra lancia, or lance Sacra with which our Lord's side was pierced, is said to have lancia. been found in Jerusalem by Helena, and transferred to Constantinople in the vi. century, where it was kept in two parts. One portion was sent in 1492 by Bajazet, master of the city, as a gift to Innocent VIII., and was placed in a chapel built in the niche where now stands the statue of Longinus. It is now kept with the Veronica, and they are always shown to- gether. The third relic, that of the true cross, was Relic of encased in a silver reliquary by Urban VIII., who the cross, united portions kept at S. Crocef and in S. Anastasia. The fourth relic, the head of S. Andrew, enclosed in Head of S. silver, is shown on the eve and feast of this Apostle, j Andrew. Besides the ordinary exposition, the favour of in- specting these relics has been granted to sovereigns on three or four occasions by special indult of the Pope. The person so favoured must be first created super- numerary canon of S. Peter's, and must wear canon's dress. Frederick III. was granted this privilege by Nicholas V. ; in 1656 the veil and lance were shown to Queen Christina of Sweden in the vestibule of the church, and in 1717 the Pretender was shown them in the same place by Clement IX. Two separate keys are kept of the reliquary by two canons. Above the balconies are representations of the four Evangelists in mosaic, and upon the frieze beneath the dome the inscription in mosaic upon a gold ground : ' Tu est Petrus et super hanc petram aedifi- cabo ecclesiam meam et tibi dabo claves regni coelorum.' The letters are 4 ft. 8 in. high, and the pen in S. Luke's hand 7 feet. The surface of the cupola is divided into compartments, and the whole is deco- rated with mosaics, those below representing Christ, the Madonna, and the Apostles. Immediately beneath the centre of the dome is the high altar, at which the Pope alone can celebrate * See p. 62. t See p. 142, and Part II. chap. 5. I See p. 180. 76 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME mass, or a cardinal or other prelate especially appointed. Baldac- Above it is the great haldacchino, or canopy of bronze. chino. Many designs for a haldacchino were considered before the present was finally decided upon. One design, rejected on account of its enormous weight and size, was to place a figure of Christ upon the globe, sup- ported upon the four Evangelists as pillars. The present one, designed by Bernini, is 95 feet in height, and weighs some 92 tons. The bronze for its con- struction and for that of the figures in the tribune was recklessly stripped from the Pantheon roof by order of Urban VIII., and gave rise to the popular saying: ' Quod non fecerunt Barbari fecerunt Barberini.' It was executed during the pontificate of that Pope, and a portion of the funds was contributed by a Princess Barberini of that time, whose portrait Bernini has introduced in the faces of the cherubs, while the bees from the Barberini coat-of-arms occur frequently in the decoration of the columns. Confes- The confession in front of the high altar is reached sion. by two flights of marble steps, and is surrounded by a marble balustrade, upon which ninety -three lamps burn night and day. At the foot of the steps are some beautiful alabaster pillars from the golden house of Nero, while in the centre of the confession is a fine kneeling figure of Pius VI. by Canova. Immediately beneath the high altar are bronze doors enclosing a niche decorated at the sides by two mosaics of Peter and Paul from designs of Michael Angelo ; at the back, an ancient representation of Christ in mosaic from the older church. In the centre of the niche is a gold coffer, by Benvenuto Cellini, in which are kept the archbishops' pallia. Here, also, is an ancient sarcophagus, said to have been that one in which the body of Peter was laid in the catacomb on the Via Appia, and the spot is pointed out as being immediately above the tomb of Peter, although in the excavations of 1594 the sepulchral chamber was seen at a spot further back and to the left of this. S. PETER'S 77 Before the interior of S. Peter's was completed, there was considerable doubt as to how adequately to fill the tribune end, and the story runs that Bernini, Tribune, when quite a young man, heard it said that only a genius could solve the problem, and had wished him- self that genius. Some years later he was visiting the chapel to the left on entering, where was kept at that time the chair of S. Peter, and the idea came to him of raising this chair upon the shoulders of the four doctors of the church under the window of the Holy Spirit ; the bronze group now in the tribune is the result of this inspiration. When first completed, Bernini called in Sacchi to criticise his group of figures, and Sacchi pronouncing them 6 inches too small, the work was begun again from the beginning. The four figures of S. Ambrose, S. Augustine, S.Chry- sostom, and S. Athanasius are colossal in size, and hold upon their shoulders a bronze throne, in which is enclosed the ancient chair of Peter. Seen from the great distance of the end of the nave, the group is imposing, and probably anything less large and mas,- sive would have looked insignificant ; but seen close, the figures, like all Bernini's, are entirely wanting in beauty or grace, and their waving draperies are, in such a position, more than ordinarily out of place. The four great arches of the nave correspond to as Chapels- many chapels, opening on either hand into the aisles. "^^^ ^^^'®' These are richly decorated with marble ; the altar- pieces are, for the most part, copies, in mosaic of fine workmanship, of celebrated paintings. The aisles are rich in sepulchral monuments of popes and illustrious persons, but few of them have any artistic merit. Taking the chapels in order, that immediately to the right on entering is the chapel of the Pieta, so i. Pieta. called from the marble group by Michael Angelo of the dead Christ upon the knees of His mother which it contains. This group was executed by Michael Angelo when only twenty-four years old, and bears his name carved upon the girdle of the Madonna. It 78 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME 2. S. Se- bastian. 3. Sacra- ment. cannot unfortunately be properly seen in the position in which it is placed. To the right stands a white marble column protected by a grating of iron bars, said to have been brought from the Beautiful Gate of the Temple of Jerusalem, and against which Christ is said to have leant during some of His discourses,"'' Opposite is the sarcophagus of the Senator Probus, decorated v/ith bas-reliefs of Christ and the Apostles. Beyond is the chapel of the Crucifixion within bronze doors, containing a crucifix by Cavallini. This chapel was designed by Bernini ; it also contains a mosaic by Cristofari. Outside the chapel, under the arch, is the monument of Leo XII. (1823), and that of Christina, Queen of Sweden, daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, who died in Rome in 1689. The second chapel is that of S. Sebastian, with a mosaic altar-piece, a copy of Domenichino's picture of the saint in S. Maria degh AngeH. Beyond to the right is the tomb of Innocent XII. by Valle ; and to the left, that of Countess Matilda of Tuscia, the friend df Gregory VII., and stanch upholder of the authority of the popes against the German incursions. She died in Mantua in 11 15, and her remains were removed to their present position by Urban VIII. in 1635. The sarcophagus is decorated with bas-reliefs representing Henry IV. at Canossa with Gregory VII. and Matilda. The third chapel on the right is that of the Sacra- ment. It is enclosed with iron doors, and is richly decorated. To the right are the two twisted pillars from the old basilica. The altar-piece of the Trinity is by Pietro da Cortona. Over the altar is a magni- ficent tabernacle of gilt bronze and lapis lazuli, copied from Bramante's round temple at S. Pietro in Montorio. To the right is the tomb of Sixtus IV., the bronze worked by Antonio Pollajuolo. In the same tomb lies Julius II., who, it will be remembered, commissioned Michael Angelo to design for him the enormous sepulchral monument, part of which now • See note, p. 61. S. PETER'S 79 stands in S. Pietro in Vincoli. The altar behind this tomb is that of S. Francis, the mosaic represents his receiving the stigmata. Beyond this chapel under the archway are monuments to Gregory XIII. by Rasconi and to Gregory XIV. The former is decorated with a bas-relief representing the correction of the calendar, which took place during this pontificate. The next and fourth chapel is of the Madonna del 4. Ma- Soccorso, and contains a picture of the Madonna, donna del of the XII. century, removed from the convent in Soccorso, Campo Marzio, where it was much venerated. It ^onan was brought to S. Peter's in solemn procession, an chapel, event commemorated by Raphael in the Loggie. This chapel was erected by Gregory XIII. from designs of Michael Angelo, carried out by Giacomo della Porta, and is generally known as the Gregorian Chapel. Under the picture of the Madonna is the tomb of S. Gregory Nazianzen,"^ and before the altar the tomb (marked by a single slab) of Gregory XIII., to the right the elaborate monument to Gregory XVI. Against the last pillar of the nave outside this chapel is the altar of S. Jerome, with a- mosaic copy of the communion of the saint by Domenichino. Under the next arch, the tomb of Benedict XIV.; and opposite, the chapel of S. Basil, with a copy of ' Subleyras's picture of the saint celebrating mass. In the right transept beyond was held the Vatican Right Council of 1869, the partitions erected for it remaining transept. in position until 1889. The green pillars in the transepts come from the temple of Romolus and Remus, and here the canons used to sing the Litany of the Virgin every Saturday. The size of these two transepts together is such that they could contain the cathedral of Milan as to height and length, although the latter is slightly wider. At either end of the transepts are two pillars of giallo antico of great value, removed from some edifice of pagan Rome. Each transept contains three altars, * See p. 272. 8o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME although the original design was for nine. The centre chapel of the right transept is that of SS. Processus and Martinianus, whose relics were removed here from old S. Peter's, with a copy of Valentin's picture of their martyrdom. To the right of this, S. Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia, with a painting (copy) by Caroselli ; and to the left the martyrdom of S. Erasmus, by Poussin. Beyond the transept, on the back of the pier of the dome, is the chapel of the Navicella, with an altar- piece copy by Lanfranco ; opposite, the monument of Clement XIII. by Canova, the most beautiful in the church. 5. Arch- The last chapel on the right is that of the Archangel angel Michael, with a copy of Guide's well-known picture. Michael. Here also is the altar of S. Petronilla, spiritual daughter of S. Peter. This chapel is under the patronage of the kings of France, who often sent their children to receive baptism here. The altar-piece is a copy of Guercino's picture in the capitol. Passing on the left the tomb of Clement X., and on the right the resuscitation of Tabitha by S. Peter, from Costanzi's painting, one enters the tribune. Tribune. The altar of the tribune was erected by Pius IX. in . 1859. To the left of it is the tomb of Paul III. The monument was designed by Michael Angelo, and worked by Guglielmo della Porta. Beneath the statue of the Pope in bronze are two allegorical figures, said to be por- traits of the Pope's mother as Prudence, and his sister as Justice. The drapery of the figure of Prudence was added at two subsequent periods once by Bernini, and again by order of Pius IX. Two other figures belonging to this tomb are now in the Farnese Palace, and were separated from it when it was moved to its present position by Urban VIII.* To the right of the altar is the tomb of Urban VIII., the figure of the Pope * On the walls are inscriptions, with the names of all those present upon the declaration of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in 1854. S. PETER'S «i executed by Bernini, the other figures by his pupils. The bees from the Barberini coat-of-arms may be noticed, not within the shield, but wandering away over the monument, suggestive of the ended life of the occupant. Crossing the tribune, and entering the prolongation of the left aisle, one passes on the right the tomb of Alexander VIII., with a bas-relief of the canonization by him of five saints ; on the left, a mosaic copy of Mancini's Peter and John heahng the lame man. Beyond is the altar of Leo, above it, the great bas- relief, probably the largest in the world, by Algardi, representing Leo I. warning Attila against the wrath of the Apostles should he advance upon Rome. In front of the altar is a slab marking the grave of Leo XII., the inscription upon it composed by him- self. This chapel, at the extreme end of the church, is 5. Chapel called the Colonna, from a painting of the Madonna left of on a pillar which stood in old S. Peter's, and was "f-^^- much revered. Beneath this altar is an ancient sarco- colonna. phagus, which contains the bones of Leo II., Leo III., and Leo IV. (682, 795, and 847). Beyond, to the right, is the hideous tomb of Alex- ander VII., Bernini's last work, with four allegorical figures, the drapery of one of these being added at a later date by Innocent XI. Opposite is the Fall of Simon Magus, an original oil-painting upon slate by Francesco Vanni. The three chapels of the left transept are : in the Left centre, a copy of Guido's Crucifixion of S. Peter'' ; this transept, is the site of the tomb of the composer Palestrina (1520- 1594) ; to the right, S. Thomas, by Camuccini ; and to the left, the new mosaic of the miracle of S. Maurus.t This transept contains confessionals for eleven different languages, and the throne of the Cardinal Penitentiary. * The bodies of Simon and Jude lie here. t The S. Francis, by Domenichino, which stood here, has been moved to the chapel of the Sacrament. 6 82 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME 4. Clemen- tine Chapel. 3. Choir Chapel. 2. Presen tation. Beyond, one passes on the right above the door to the sacristy the monument of Pius VIII., and, on the left, a copy of Roncalli's death of Ananias and Sapphira over the altar of S. Peter and S. Andrew. The next chapel, the fourth in the left aisle, is the Clementine Chapel, erected by Clement VIII. (1592- 1605), which contains the tomb of Gregory the Great (590-604). The altar-piece above represents the miracle of the Brandeum by Sacchi." In the same chapel is the tomb of Pius VII., by Thorvaldsen. On the pier a mosaic copy of Raphael's Transfiguration. In the next arch are the tombs of Innocent XL (1676) and of Leo XL (1605), the latter by Algardi, with a bas-relief of the abjuration of Henry IV. of France. Beyond is the chapel of the choir, decorated by Giacomo della Porta, and shut in by ironworked doors. It contains stalls for the canons, and two galleries with organs for the choir. The altar-piece is a mosaic copy of Bianchi's picture of the Assumption, in S. Maria degli Angeli. Beyond the chapel, under the arch, is the monument of Innocent VI 1 1., by the brothers Pollajuolo, and opposite this a niche where each pope is laid at his death for the space of a year, when his remains are removed to some permanent resting-place. The next chapel is that of the Presentation, and contains a mosaic copy of RomaneUi's picture of that subject. Above the door in the arch to the right, is the tomb of Maria Sobieski, wife of the Pretender James Edward, called in the inscription James III. of Great Britain, France and Ireland, who died in Rome in 1745, and whose monument was erected at the expense of the Fabbrica, or building-fund, of S. Peter's. Opposite this is the Stuart monument, by Canova — a tomb guarded by genii, whose drapery was added *. See p. 45 S. PETER'S 83 in stucco at a later period. This monument was erected at the expense of George IV. of England to the last of the Stuarts, and bears an inscription to James III., Charles Edward, and Henry Cardinal York. In the crypt, where their ashes in reality lie, all three are given the royal title. The last chapel in this aisle is the Baptistery, con- i. Baptis- taining a mosaic copy of Maratta's baptism of Christ ; tery. S. Peter baptizing his gaolers, by Passeri ; and the baptism of the Centurion, by Procaccini. In the centre is an immense red porphyry basin, used as the font, which was originally the cover of the sarcophagus of Hadrian, and afterwards of Otho II. The sacristy, which consists of three principal halls. Sacristy, was built by Pius VI. in 1775. The entrance in the left aisle leads into a wide winding corridor. Imme- diately within the entrance are statues of SS. Peter and Paul by Mino da Fiesole, which used to stand in front of the old basilica. The corridor opens into the Sagrestia Commune, an octagonal hall, decorated with eight fluted pillars of higio, or gray marble, from Hadrian's villa, and containing an altar-piece of the Deposition by Sabattini. The gilt bronze cock here came from the bell-tower of the old church. On the left of this room is the Sagrestia dei Canonici (to see which and the following a guide is necessary), containing an altar-piece by Penni, of the saints Anna, Peter, and Paul, and another opposite, of the Madonna, by Giulio Romano. Beyond is the Stanza Capitolare, or chapter-house. Here are preserved some old doors from the confession of the ancient basilica, decorated by Giotto. These consist of eight panels representing Christ enthroned, the crucifixion of Peter, the martyrdom of Paul ; they were probably painted in 1300 for Cardinal Stefaneschi, whose portrait appears upon them. Here are, in addition, some fragments of paintings by Melozzo da Forli of angels playing various musical instruments, which originally decorated the tribune of the church 6—2 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Treasury. Ascent of Dome. Grotte Vaticane. of SS. Apostoli, and were removed here by Montana when he restored that church. Adjoining is the Sagrestia dei Beneficiati, with an altar-piece by Muziano, and the Madonna della Febbre, from the church of that name upon the site of which the sacristy stands. Beyond is the treasury, which however is seldom shown, containing jewels, ornaments, and church plate, among which are six candelabra by Benvenuto Cellini and Michael Angelo ; a dalmatic, said to have been worn by Leo III. at the coronation of Charlemagne; em- broidered copes and vestments of great value ; a chalice, presented by Cardinal York, and other objects of interest. Here, over the door into the Archives, are the chains of the gate of Tunis, presented by Charles V. to Sixtus IV. (1471-1481). The ascent of the dome can be made upon applica- tion. The entrance is opposite the Stuart monument in the left aisle. An easy staircase mounts to the roof, and further flights of steps and passages between the two walls of the drum lead to the base of the lantern, and another flight to the ball, which can contain sixteen persons, and is 8 feet in diameter. Openings lead into the galleries running round the dome, from which the interior of the church can be seen, while higher up a magnificent view of Rome and the surrounding country is obtained. In one of the chambers in the pillars of the dome is preserved a model of the proposed S. Peter's as designed by San Gallo. The crypts of S. Peter's, the so-called Grotte Vaticane, are the only portions remaining of the original basilica, and are interesting to visit on this account. They moreover possess many monuments and other objects of artistic and historical value, removed from the old church upon its destruction. Originally, access could be obtained for men upon application at the sacristy ; but women were not allow^ed entrance except by special permission, obtained through S. PETER'S 85 the cardinal archpriest of the basilica. Lately, the vaults have been closed to all by order of the Pope, and permission to see them is extremely difficult to obtain. The grotte consist of two portions — the so-called grotte niwve beneath the dome, which consist of a circular Grotte passage surrounding the confession, from which open nuove. various chapels ; and the grotte vecchie, consisting of three parallel corridors beneath a portion of the nave. The entrance into the vaults is behind the statue of S. Veronica. Beneath each of the four great pilasters of the dome are the four chapels of S. Veronica, S. Helena, S. Andrew, and S. Longinus, opening into the circular corridor, and, of course, added at a later date. The chapel of S. Helena is decorated with paintings of events in the life of S. Andrew ; that of S. Longinus has a mosaic altar-piece of the saint from Sacchi. In the centre of the circular passage is the chapel of Chapel of the confession in the shape of a Latin cross, and richly cpnfes- decorated. On either side of the entrance are bas- ^^'^^' reliefs of the lives of Peter and Paul, removed from the ciborium of Sixtus IV. in the old church. Opposite the entrance is the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (359), richly sculptured. The surface of the sarcophagus is divided into compartments, in each of which is represented some scene from the Old or New Testament ; at the ends Job and Peter, and above the compartments the lamb holding a wand. The altar of the confession is decorated with two XII. -century pictures of S. Peter and S. Paul. At the foot of the stairs leading to the grotte is the Chapel of ancient chapel of S. Maria in Portico, or della Boc- S. Maria ciata, containing a picture of the Madonna by Memmi, ^" Poi-tico. from the portico of the old church. Here also are some old sarcophagi ; the statue of S. Peter by Paolo da Siena, also from the old portico ; statues of Matthew and John from the tomb of Nicholas V. (1447) ; of Benedict XI. (1303); some Christian inscriptions, and 86 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Of S. Maria Partori- enti. a fresco representing old S. Peter's. The next chapel is that of S. Maria Partorienti, and between them is a X, century mosaic of Christ in the attitude of benediction from the tomb of Otho II. The chapel contains an viii. century mosaic of the Virgin, and of an angel attributed to Giotto; a portrait of John VII. (705); a figure of Boniface VIII, (1294) by Andrea da Pisa ; some v. and vi. century inscriptions, and the statues of the 2 apostles James from Nicholas V.'s monument. Popes Leo II., Leo III., and Leo IX. were originally laid in this chapel. Opposite to it is another chapel of the Salvatorino, with a cross in marble from the old church. Close to the chapel of S. Andrew is the inscription of Pope Damasus (366-384) from the old baptistery relating to the drainmg of the Vatican district. Others, of the time of Valentinian and Theodosius (376-379), relating to property held by S. Peter's; the statues of Bartholomew and John from the tomb of Calixtus III., and the four doctors of the church from Nicholas V.'s monument. The Grotte Vecchie lead out from this portion of the corridor. They have undergone hardly any alteration, and their floor is formed of the pavement of the old church. They contain a large number of monuments and sarcophagi of popes and illustrious persons which stood in the atrium of the old basilica. With the exception of a few popes in the x. and xi. centuries buried in the Lateran, by far the greater number were laid in S. Peter's (after Leo I.), at first in the atrium, later within the building. Upon its destruction some of these tombs were moved to the crypt of the new church ; a few were placed in S. Peter's itself ; others were scattered among the churches and chapels of the city, ^f^ >f ^^ At the upper end of the Grotte Vecchie is the chapel Salvatore °^ ^^^ Salvatore, with a Madonna in bas-relief by Arnolfo from the tomb of Boniface VIII. (1294-1303). Here also is the tomb of Charlotte, Queen of Cyprus Grotte Vecchie S. PETER'S 87 (1487), and the inscription recording Countess Matilda's gift of her property to the Church in 1 102. Following the wall of the corridor, we reach the tomb of the last Stuarts, named under their royal titles of James III., Charles III., and Henry IX. ; that of Pius VIII. (1831), and at the extremity of the corridor that of Gregory V. (996-999), of Otho II., ob. 983, and the empty tomb of Alexander VI. (1492). The further corridor is the richest in sepulchral monuments. Here is the sarcophagus of Boni- face VIII., the figure by Arnolfo ; that of Pius II. (1458-1464), of Pius III. (1503-1503), of Adrian IV. (1154-1159) the English Pope Nicholas Breakspear ; of Nicholas V. (1447-1455), and of Paul II. (1464-1471), the figure of this pope by Mino da Fiesole. Beyond are the tombs of Julius III. (1550-1555), Nicholas III. (1277-1281), Urban IV. (1261-1265), Marcellus II. (1555), and Innocent IX. (1591-1592), of Cardinal Ercole, and of Agnese Caetani Colonna. The corridor of the Grotte Vecchie here ends, and one enters once more the circular passage of the Grotte Nuove. Be- tween the chapels of Longinus''= and Helena are some statues of Christ and S. Andrew, taken from the tomb of Nicholas V. ; some bas-reliefs by Mino da Fiesole, representing the Last Judgment, Adam and Eve, and Charity, from the tomb of Paul II. There are also some mosaics here. Feast day : of SS. Peter and Paul, June 29 ; of the chair of Peter in Rome, January 18 ; of the chair of Peter at Antioch, February 22 ; of the dedication of the basilica, November 18. The Stations are kept on the 2nd Saturday and 5th Sunday in I_^nt. * Longinus was the centurion who pierced the side of our Lord upon the cross, and exclaimed : "Truly this man was the Son of God," It is related that, touching his eyes with his hands stained with the blood of Christ, he was cured of a weakness of sight which had long afflicted him. He sought out the Apostles, and was baptized. He dwelt in Caesarea for twenty-eight j^ears, converting many, and was finally beheaded for the faith. He is represented in art in the clothes of a Roman soldier, and carries a lance. Feast day, March i:;. CHAPTER V. The Lateran — Basilica — Palace — Patriarchium — Baptistery — Scala Santa — Christian Museum — 5. John the Baptist — S. John the Evangelist. The Church of S. Giovanni in Laterano rises upon the site of the House of the Laterani," a palace which that family had possessed from the time of Plautius Lateranus, the Consul Designate. This Consul, either through his embracing Christianity or through some other cause, had his estates confiscated by Nero,t but they were again restored to the family by Sep- timius Severus in a.d. 197. Later, the j^des Laterani passed into the possession of Fausta, wife of the Emperor Constantine, and was her dower house, and it was that portion known as the house of Fausta, domus Faust(B,\ which was given to the Bishops of Rome as a residence, and which the successors of Pope Sylvester occupied until the flight to Avignon. This donation was probably made in the first years of the IV. century, for as far back as October 2, 313, Pope Miltiades held the first council against the Donatists in " domo Fausta Laterano." This was the year when the Edict of Milan assured the Peace of the church. * Imperial inscriptions of a date prior to Nero have been found here, and here was found the statue of Titus now in the Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican. t Tacitus, Ann., xv. ; Juvenal, Sat., x. 11. * Optatus Milevius, Contra. Parm., i. THE LATER AN 89 The precise epoch at which a Christian basilica was The built within the Lateran palace is unknown. Its his- basilica, tory is interwoven with that of the development of Christianity in Rome, of which it becomes, as it were, the symbol, the *' glorious capitol of the Rome of Peter and Paul." The Lateran church, the first public Christian basilica, became the cathedral of Rome, and hence took priority of all the churches in the city ; its canons to-day taking precedence of the canons of S. Peter's. This first church built within the palace was probably of no great size, and its materials and columns were no doubt borrowed from Pagan buildings. Tradition asserts, as in the case of S. Peter's, that Constantine himself helped to dig its foundations. It was known as the Basilica Constantiniana, and the Liber Ponti- ficalis in Sylvestro specifies the treasures that Constan- tine gave it, treasures no doubt accumulated in later centuries. The dedication was to Christ the Saviour, Dedica- but it appears that about the vi. century the names tion. of S. John the Baptist and S. John the Evangelist were added, possibly derived from a monastery of monks, dedicated to those two saints, which existed near the Lateran from some time after the iv. century. The dedi- cation then became " Christo Salvatori, et in honorem S. Joannis Baptistae et S. Joannis Evangelistae." The Lateran church was so much damaged by the Restora- Vandals, that Leo the Great (440-461) had to restore tionsof it, and it was again restored by Adrian I. (771-795) ; ^^° ^• but in 896 it was almost totally destroyed by an earth- quake, and the Liber Pontificalis records that " hujus tempore ecclesia Lateranensis ab altare usque ad portas cecidit." Sergius III. (904-911) then completely rebuilt theofSer- church, upon the old foundations, retaining the old gius III. dimensions, and it is of this building, which was certainly dedicated to S. John the Baptist, in addition to the original dedication, that we have the first clear accounts. 90 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME The Sergian basilica lasted for 400 years, when on the night of May 8, 1308, it was almost totally destroyed by fire. The history of the great basilicas of Rome during these ages of turbulence and violence is one long Of Cle- narration of destruction and reconstruction. Clement V. ment V. (1305-1316) began the rebuilding of the church, which was completed under his successor John XXII. (1316- 1334), and decorated by Giotto. But in 1360 it was again burnt, and again rebuilt by Of Urban V. (1362- 1370). At this epoch little of the Urban V. Sergian church remained, but the building had re- tained its ancient type. And this, too, is the period of its greatest splendour. Under successive popes, the magnificence of the Lateran increased ; its gold and marbles vied with those of the palaces of the Caesars, and gave to it the name of "basilica aurea." The remembrance of its many treasures moved the imaginations of the Romans of the middle ages, and history and fable were inter- twined, until it was said, and then inscribed in the documents of the Lateran, that here, besides the Ark of the Covenant, were preserved the Tables of the Law, the Golden Candlestick, and the sacerdotal vest- ments of Aaron, and the Lateran was believed to have succeeded to the sanctity of the Temple of Jerusalem. So too we find it called " Aula Dei " as though it were a new Zion.* At this period the basilica was preceded by a large * On the Arch of Titus are represented the table of sacrifice, seven-branched candlestick, two censers, two long trumpets, and the ark. These Josephus describes as brought to Rome by Titus. Vespasian had sent the books ofxthe Law and the veil of the Temple to the palaces of the Caesars. The candlestick and the vessels he placed in his Temple of Peace. When Alaric sacked Rome, he obtained possession of some of those things, and Genseric shipped the sacred vessels to Carthage. Here they were discovered eighty years later by Belisarius, and brought to Constantinople. There has been no further trace of them since Justinian ordered them to be taken to a Christian church in Jerusalem, as related by Procopius. THE LATERAN 91 atrium, surrounded by colonnades, and with a fountain Atrium, in the centre, according to ancient usage. Here were noble sepulchres of popes and bene- factors, among the former, the tombs of John X. (915-928), John XII. (956-964), John XIV. (984-985), of Alexander II. (1061-1073), and of Martin V. (1417- 143 1), whose body was later transferred to the papal altar. Here also was an oratory of S. Thomas which formed a pontifical sacristy erected by John XXII. On the door was a x. century painting representing the pope vesting. The porticoes of the atrium were decorated with frescoes representing the Roman fleet under Vespasian, the siege of Jerusalem, the baptism of Constantine, and the " donation " of Sylvester, pos- sibly of the time of Alexander III. (1159-1181). Here also was the " stenoraria " or seat of rosso antico upon which the pope sat during his coronation, and which had this strange name from the verse of the psalm (113), " Suscitans a terra inopem, et de stercore erigens pauperem," which was sung during the cere- mony. The fagade of the church, with its three windows, Fa9ade. as we see at S. Maria in Trastevere to-day, and in the picture of old S. Peter's in the Raphael Stanze, was decorated with mosaics, representing Christ on a gold ground ; below, the figures of four prophets, with the books of their prophecies in their hands. The great doors into the church were flanked by Doors, statues of Peter and Paul, still preserved in the gallery near the sacristy. Within, long rows of ancient Interior columns divided the church into a nave and four aisles. °^ tjj? ol'i The walls were covered with mosaics and frescoes "^^^""^^ representing scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and light entered through ogive windows. A few steps ascended to the Clementine nave, or transept. In the centre of this rose the high altar, enclosing the wooden table upon which Peter is said to have celebrated. 92 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Transept. Beyond was the apse, with the sedilia and episcopal throne. Behind again, was an hexagonal portico of ancient pillars, around which was the celebrated epi- graph recording the vision of Innocent III. (i 198- 1 216), and here was kept later the register of relics, the " tabula magna " of Leo X. This was the Leonine portico, built it was said by the first Leo (440-461). Apse. An inscription upon the apse stated that it was decorated with mosaics by the munificence of Con- stantine Felix Flavius and his wife Padusia in 428. These seem to have been restored or replaced by Leo I. and by Sergius III., who recorded his work in an in- scription. In 1291, the work having again perished, Nicholas IV. entirely restored the tribune, and de- corated it with mosaics, the work of the Franciscan, Giacomo di Turrita. His work, restored and preserved, has lasted to our own time, and the first thing we admire on entering the Lateran to-day is the richness and beauty of the tribune, the renewal of which is the work of the present pontiff, making us feel that this is indeed a " basilica aurea." Of the church built by Urban V. (1362-1370) we still possess portions of the pavement, of fine Alexan- Taber- drine work, and the tabernacle of the high altar, "a nacle. most graceful monument of that epoch." The canopy, of Gothic style, is decorated with paintings by Berna da Siena, and rests upon four granite and marble columns. The tabernacle was erected partly at the expense of Charles V. of France, to receive the busts of SS. Peter and Paul, found among the remains of the old church. These busts were robbed in 1434, and again at the end of the xviii. century by the French Republicans who despoiled the church, and the present replicas we see, made in 1804, are not even faithful copies of the originals. Restora- The Lateran basilica was again restored by Martin V. tions of (1417-1431) and by Eugenius IV. (1431-1447), and was Martin V. g^riched by many new works undertaken by their Eugenius IV successors, until in the pontificate of Innocent X., THE LATER AN 93 (1644- 1655) for the third time it was entirely rebuilt, Inno- Borromini being the architect. cent X, The work was completed under Clement XII. (1730- 1740), who erected the modern fa9ade as we see it to- day, the work of Alessandro GaHlei (1734). In digging the foundations for the chapel "at the ex- tremity of the aisle of penitents in 1656, Mellini describes the finding of the remains of some large building, some 40 palms below the surface, with»terra-cotta pilasters and a red brick pavement, some portion, probably, of the Lateran buildings. The monastery, which was perhaps of the viii. Monas- century, covered the ground to the left of the basilica ^®^y- as one stands facing the apse, and between it and the walls of the city. The beautiful Benedictine cloister Cloister, was erected in the first years of the xiii. century by the Roman school of marble-workers, Vassallectus and the Cosmas. They are in a style transitional between Romanesque and Gothic, with delicate spiral columns decorated with mosaic. The inscription placed by Vassallectus, which had been covered by a pilaster, can now be seen in the cloister. In the centre of the quadrangle is the mouth of a well decorated with Christian subjects in bas-relief. Other fragments of the older buildings are still kept here ; among them the episcopal throne originally in the apse, 2 columns from the House of Pilate, a stone altar, some sepulchral slabs, and inscriptions. Opposite, on the right hand side of the basilica, was Lateran the great palace of the popes, an irregular mass of P^i^^e. building extending to and including the oratory of S. Lorenzo now at the head of the Scala Santa, which was then the private chapel of the popes, the Sistine of the Lateran. The palace, like the present Vatican, was a labyrinth of rooms, oratories, and halls, forming a great bovgo. Besides the pope's dwelling, it included a great Council Hall of which we have a painting in the Vatican Library, and to which the Scala Santa origin- ally gave access. The great tower and portico of Pope 94 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Zaccarias (731-741) formed the entrance to this part of the building, and from here papal benedictions were anciently given ; and here was kept a map of all the known world. A magnificent staircase flanked with porticoes led to the centre of the building. Near by was the Tower of Barons, and here was the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius now on the Capitol, which was known as that " of Constantine," and owes its Patriar- safety to this mistake. Gregory the Great founded a chium. residence here- for the instruction of young priests, and from his time we find the building called Patriarchium. Tri- Most magnificent of all the halls of the palace was clinium. the Triclinium or Banqueting-Hall, built at the end of the VIII. century by Leo III. in honour of Charle- magne's visit, and where they feasted together after his coronation on Christmas-day a.d. 800. It had no less than 10 apses, 5 on each side, and terminated in an ample tribune. To the north Boniface VIII. con- structed a covered loggia, from whence the papal bene- dictions were given, and the Jubilee of 1300 was an- nounced. It was decorated with frescoes by Giotto, representing the scene of the Jubilee ; the only frag- ment remaining is the portrait of Boniface VIII. attached to a pillar in the right aisle of the basilica. The triclinium was panelled with marble, and de- corated with mosaic. A facsimile of one of the apses has been preserved upon the outside wall of the Sancta Sanctorum chapel, facing the Campagna. The mosaic represents Christ in the centre of the eleven apostles ; to the right and left 2 scenes. To the right, the kneeling figures of Sylvester and Constantine ; to the left, Leo and Charlemagne ; while Peter, with the keys upon his knees, bestows a pallium upon Leo, and a banner upon Charlemagne. Of the apostles, Peter and Paul are large in size, and are sitting, the other nine stand behind. Round the arch is written : " Go out and teach all nations," etc., to the words, " con- summation of the world ;" and beneath, " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good- THE LATER AN 95 will." By Peter, are Linus and Clement. The copy of the mosaic was placed in its present position l3y Benedict XIV., but the original decorated the apse on the opposite side of the Triclinium. Fragments of this have been preserved in the Vatican library.* Around the Lateran " Borgo," foreigners gathered, Borgo. with their schools, hospices for pilgrims, and dwellings, but the English always seem to have preferred the Vatican precincts, and it is recorded that the popes sent food and clothing from the Lateran palace to the Anglo-Saxons gathered in their wooden dwellings round S. Peter's, who were suffering from cold and hunger, and were in great need. Boniface VI IL was the last pope to undertake any work in the Lateran Palace. The exile at Avignon followed, and in the xvi. century the palace being in a ruinous condition, it was ruthlessly demolished by Destruc- Sixtus v., who employed Fontana for the purpose, tion of and the present buildings were erected in its stead, palace. Among the many buildings of historical and artistic interest which then perished, in some cases with the expostulation and regrets of the Roman people, the baptistery, cloisters, and chapel of S. Lorenzo alone escaped. Among the many inscriptions which have perished, Signor Armellini records one, which was read by Galletti, in a corner of the atrium, as a rare example of truthful epigraphy : " Hie jacet in fossa Pietro Paolo Barbarossa L'anima del quale Credo manere male." In the Lateran, which we also find styled Sacro- sancta Laterancnsis Basilica, five general councils have been held, in 1123, 1139, 1179, in 1215, and in 1512. * The Liber Pontificalis is the document from which the topography of the Lateran can be reconstructed. Le Latran att Moyen Age, by Fleury, 1877, is also a valuable source of informa- tion. 90 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME From the return from Avignon until 1870, the popes have resided in the Vatican palace, and one of the first acts of each new pope, upon his election, was to take possession of the Lateran, the cathedral church of Rome ; a ceremony performed with much pomp and magnificence."' The Lateran was under the Protection of France. In visiting the Lateran church to-day, no one should neglect to go to the steps of the great front. From here one looks across the Campagna with the aque- ducts of Claudius, and in the distance the blue Alban Hills. Close by is the gate of S. Giovanni, replacing the ancient Porta Asinaria, through which Belisarius, and after him Totila, entered Rome ; and across the open space within the walls, the Church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme. Fa9ade. ^^ ^he great travertine fa9ade of the basilica, we read along the entablature the dedication, Christo Salvatori, and over the pilasters that this is the mother and head of all churches : " Omnium vrbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput." Over a mosaic bust of Christ, is the colossal figure of the Redeemer among • others of Apostles and saints — a procession of great figures which can be seen right across Rome. Among the columns and pilasters which support the entabla- ture and balustrade, are five balconies, from the central one of which the popes used to give their benediction. Vestibule. The church is preceded by a vestibule in which stands a marble statue of Constantine, formerly in his baths on the Quirinal hill. Five doors lead from here into the basilica. The central doors of bronze were removed from the church of S. Adriano in the Forum, and were said to have come from the iEmilian basilica. The church is one of the four with a Porta Santa, which is walled up according to custom. The ancient Nave. nave pillars of the former church were incased in massive pilasters by Sixtus V., in the niches of which are colossal and tasteless statues of the 12 apostles; ♦ See Part IV. THE LATER AN 97 above them, marble bas-reliefs by Algardi. Of the mediaeval basilica, besides the tabernacle, we still retain portions of the fine Alexandrine pavement, and the XIII. century mosaics of the apse, which how- ever have just been entirely renewed and restored by the present Pope. At the extremity of the nave is the High Altar enclosing the wooden Table of Peter ; over it the tabernacle described above. In the con- fession is the tomb of Martin V. in bronze, the work of Simone, brother of Donatello. The ceiling is from designs of Delia Porta. Immediately to the left on entering is the Corsini Left aisle : chapel built in 1734 during the pontificate of Cle- Corsini ment XII. (Corsini) by Galilei, in honour of the saint Chapel, of that pope's family, S. Andrea Corsini.''' This chapel is magnificently but tastefully decorated with rich and costly marbles, with bas-reliefs and gems. Over the altar is a mosaic copy of the S. Andrea Corsini by Guido. The monument to Clement XII. consists of a porphyry sarcophagus with a modern cover, removed from the portico of the Pantheon, where it formerly stood. The statue of the Pope, and that of Cardinal Neri Corsini, on his monument opposite, are by Maini. The other figures in niches are by followers of Bernini, and have no artistic merit. Beneath this chapel, in a vault, is a Pieta by Montanti. On the same side, further up, is the chapel where relics are preserved, and the seat of the Cardinal Peni- tentiary. The level of the transept or Clementine Transept, nave, is higher by some steps than that of the nave. At the extremity to the left is the Chapel of the Sacra- chapel of ment, designed by Paolo Olivieri. Here are four gilt the Sacra- bronze columns from the older basilica, said to have ment. been cast by Augustus from portions of the captured vessels at the battle of Actium, and afterwards to have adorned the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol. Above, is a fresco by Arpino of the Ascension, and * A Florentine, born 1302. Lived as a Carmelite from the age of 17, and died Bishop of Fiesole, aged 70 years. 7 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Choir chapel. Leonine portico. Sacristy. Transept. Tribune. behind and over the altar is preserved a table said to be that of the last Supper. It is of wood, and was once entirely covered with silver. Visitors should ask for admittance to the Benedictine cloister, and if possible, to the covered corridor which runs above it, from which the place over the altar where the table is kept, is entered. Next to this chapel is the choir chapel, containing carved stalls for the canons, an altar-piece by i\.rpino, and a picture of Martin V. by Gaetano. Here, also, is a monument to a lady of the Colonna family. The entrance into the Leonine portico (another portion preserved from the older church), a circular corridor surrounding the tribune, is next to this. On the left is the entrance to the Sacristy. On the wall here is a bas-relief found near the church of SS. Peter and Marcellinus, representing the old basiUca and the Porta Asinaria ; near this, some leaden water-pipes bearing the name Sextus Later anus. The sacristy contains a cartoon of Raphael's Ma- donna, now in S. Petersburg, an Annunciation by Venusti, and a wooden statue of John the Baptist by Donatello. The doors are of the xii. century, made by artists of Piacenza. In the centre of the portico is an altar flanked by the ancient statues of Peter and Paul from the older church, and above it a crucifix, said to be by Giotto. Further on, a kneeling figure of Pope Boniface VIII. of the X. century. In this gallery are also kept the Tabula Magna or list of relics and some mosaics relating to the building of the church. Close to the point where this gallery re-enters the transept, is the great tomb of Innocent III. (ii 98-1 216), erected by the present Pope in 1892. The Pope has also entirely restored the beautiful mosaics of the apse, prolonging the tribune by 60 feet. The mosaics, which are of the year 1292, represent a gemmed cross with a dove hovering over it ; on either side, the Madonna, SS. Peter, Paul, and Francis, and THE LATER AN 99 John the Baptist, SS. John Evangelist and Andrew. The Four Rivers flow from the mount of Paradise below, and at the feet of the Madonna kneels Pope Nicholas IV., the faithful, as stags and sheep, drink from the waters. At the right extremity of the transept is another entrance, with portico designed by Fontana, which is that most commonly used. The frescoes, representing scenes in the lives of Pope Sylvester and Constantine, are by Cesari and others. The chapel in the right aisle at this end, belongs to Right the Massimo family ; it was designed by Delia Porta, aisle, and contains a Crucifixion by Sicciolante. Farther down is the chapel of the Torlonia, magni- ficently decorated, and containing a Descent from the Cross by Tenerani. This aisle contains the picture of Boniface VIII. by Giotto before referred to, on the back of the third pillar ; also a monument to Cardinal Guissano of the xiii. century, and some fine sepul- chral monuments of popes removed from the old basilica. Visitors should not omit to pass round by the left from this transept entrance, to see the buildings from the outside, and the other very beautiful view of the Campagna from the terrace there. The portico at the big entrance contains a bronze statue of Henry IV. of F'rance by Cordiere, erected at the expense of the canons of the Lateran in gratitude to this King, who had bestowed upon them the monastery of Clerac in Germany. Feast day : of S. John Baptist, June 24 ; of S. John Evangelist, December 27 ; of dedication of the basilica of S. Salvatore, November 9. The Stations are held on the first and last Sunday in Lent. BAPTISTEEY OF THE LATERAN. — The beautiful bap- tistery of the Lateran, called S. Giovanni in Fonte, and S. Giovanni ad Vestes in allusion to the white dress of the neophytes, is a detached building with an entrance on the piazza, and the original entrance on 7—2 loo CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME the other side leading to the ambulacrum round the apse of the basilica ; this had an internal atrium, and a vestibule adorned with porphyry columns and mosaic of the IV. and v. centuries.* We now enter from the piazza. The The ancient atrium is still adorned by two fine ancient porphyry columns ; it was enclosed as it now stands atnum. by Anastasius IV. (1153-1154). Here he placed the relics of Rufina and Secunda, in two sarcophagi. When the apse of the Lateran was recently enlarged, among several old inscriptions found was, strangely enough, one to a Secunda Rufina, of the imperial household, placed by two of her companions called Zosimi. The plan The baptistery is octagonal, with 8 immense por- of the bap- pi^yj.y columns, and Ionic and Composite capitals; tistery. ^^ these rests an antique architrave, supporting 8 smaller columns, and these support the octagonal drum of the lantern. f The building, interiorly and exteriorly, retains its original general arrangement and appearance, though the height was increased by Pope Hilary. It has been repaired several times, and lat- terly in the last century by Urban VIII. and Inno- cent X. In the centre is the baptismal basin of green basalt, to which we descend by several steps into the veritable circular baptistery in which it stands. Sixtus III. (432-440), the first restorer, and according to Gregorovius, the original builder, of the edifice has placed an inscription on the architrave referring to baptism and its spiritual effects. This baptistery served as the model for all the baptisteries in Italy. Baptism The uniform tradition of the Church has been that of Con- here Constantine was baptized by Pope Sylvester, stantme. jj^^g jg however a fable. Constantine fell ill at Helenopolis where he had gone for the warm baths, after the feast of the Pasch a.d. 337, and there * De Rossi, Musaici delle Chiese di Roma. t The columns and architrave are said to have been the gift of Constantine. * THE LATER AN lOi received the imposition of hands as a catechumen. At Ancyrona he summoned the bishops to assist at his baptism, which he had delayed with the excuse that he desired to be baptized in the Jordan. He was baptized by Eusebius, who was confused later with Eusebius of Rome or Sylvester, in whose diocese of Nicomedia he was then residing.''' Here Cola di Rienzi bathed the night before he summoned Clement VI. and the electors of Germany to appear, August i, 1347, and before his coronation with seven crowns in the adjacent basilica. Above, in the octagon of the cupola are scenes from the life of John the Baptist by Andrea Sacchi. The events in the life of Constantine are portrayed on the walls by Carlo Maratta, Andrea Comasei, and Gia- cinto Gemignani. Round this building were added in the v. century chapel of 3 chapels or oratories, erected by Hilary (461-468) S. John in thanksgiving for his escape from the attempts of Evan- Dioscoros and his followers at the Council of Ephesus. ^^ '^^ On the right is the Chapel of S. John EvangeUst, ornamented with ancient mosaic of the v. century, representing flowers and birds on a gold ground. On the vault a lamb with the cruciform nimbus, a v. century ornament. The doors are of bronze, a.d. 1196. The statue is by G.-B. della Porta. Opposite is the oratory of the Baptist, with a statue in bronze by And of Valadier (1772), copied from Donatello's wooden S. John statue of the Forerunner. Hilary took the bronze Baptist, doors, it is said, from the baths of Caracalla. On the internal epistyle of the doors is written : Domine dilexi decorem domus tua. In the little apse Hilary has in- scribed : "To B. John the Baptist Hilary Bishop servant of God, has made it." In 1727 the ancient mosaics of the roof and walls disappeared. They are described by Panvinius : The mystical lamb stood within a wreath of laurel, birds perched on olive trees, and in the angles were fishes and dolphins. * " Episcopus baptizans " I02 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME This chapel of the Baptist is not open to women, and the explanation is that John met his death through the instrumentality of a woman. It is certainly re- markable that this, which is the only instance in the entire Gospel of evil suffered at women's hands, and then not in direct reference to Christ Himself, should have been seized on to point a moral and adorn a tale ; and in such a way as to upset our ethical balance, and destroy in the popular mind, by a silly conceit, the singularly beautiful picture of the Baptist's life. It is not only impossible to imagine why Salome was more culpable than Herod, but S.John's sanctity is especially connected with that of his holy mother, and of Mary. This exquisite gospel poem has not however been allowed to counterbalance the action of Herod's ballet- dancer. Third Of the third chapel dedicated to the Cross, preceded chapel by a triporticum, no trace has been left.''' It is men- Hikrv tioned in the inscription recording the Donation of Matilda, 1059. It has been conjectured that the chapels to the two S. Johns may have originated the later dedication of the Basilica. On the bronze door of the baptistery, nickelled silver, Hilary has placed the words : In honorem S. I. Bap- tistce Hilarus Ep. Dei famulus offert. A bishop has always baptized in this baptistery on Easter eve.f * " Oratoria tria in baptisterio basilicas Constantinianae . . . et triporticum ante oratorium Sanctae Crucis ubi sunt columnae mirae magnitudinis " Lib. Pont, in Hilaro. At the confession in the centre, Simmachus placed a piece of the true cross. It had four apses, and the fa9ade was cruciform, the roof covered with mosaic. Sixtus V. ruthlessly destroyed it to build the adja- cent palace, gemente urbe, the city sorrowing, says Ugonio. t The apsidal portico is called Chapel of SS. Rufina and Secunda. Anastasius placed an altar over their sepulchres in the left apse of the portico. A picture represents Christ crowning the two saints. The decoration in mosaic is a repetition of the Latin cross, and De Rossi conjectures that here the pope made THE LATER AN 103 In the line of procession from the ambulacrum of S. Ve- the basilica to the baptistery, is the Chapel of S. Venan- nanzio. tius. It was dedicated by John IV. (640-642), who transported the martyr's relics from his native Dalmatia. The chapel forms the Vestibule to the baptistery. A picture represents Venantius and other Dalmatian martyrs whose relics rest here. On the arch are Mosaics the 4 EvangeUsts' emblems, and 8 saints, 4 on each side. In the tribune Christ is represented with raised hand between two angels ; below is the Blessed Virgin draped in blue, her arms raised orante-wisc. Then 8 Roman and Dalmatian saints : Peter with the keys and a banner-cross, Paul with the Gospel, John the Baptist and Evangelist, Venantius and Domnus, the Bishop of Salona,''^ and the figure of John IV. The other figure on the right may represent Theodorus, who completed the chapel. There is an inscription underneath. This oratory was erected to Dalmatian martyrs, as a sort of monument to the cessation of the Istrian schism. A ceremony took place here on Easter Day, after the singing of the three vespers. The architriclinus presented the Pope with a cup of wine in this vestibule, and while he drank, a Greek sequence was sung. The cantores then kissed the pontiff's foot, and he then made them all drink out of the same chalice. In the Patriarchium, intra episcopiurn Lateranense, there were several other basilicas and oratories : near the Scala Santa was the Basilica Theodori built by that Pope; a ix. century oratory dedicated to "the Mother of God," the x. century church of S. Thomas in the the sign of the cross with the chrism on the foreheads of the newly baptized. Thus Prudentius sings : Castibus aut magnis Lateranas currit ad ades Unde sacrum referat regali chrismate signum. * Salona, in Dalmatia, was destroyed in the time of the Dalmatian Pope, John IV., by the barbarians. He removed the relics of the Dalmatian martyrs here. 104 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME ancient portico ; and 5. Silvestro in Laterano mentioned in the notice of Pope Theodore. Here on Holy Thursday the Pope supped after the washing of the feet ; and here the new Pope took possession of the Lateran Palace. Pope Hilary built a church to the proto-martyr, with a monastery where the children were trained to sing. In the xiv. century it was in a falling con- dition, and was still known as S. Stephanus de Schola Cantorum. It stood near the baptistery. On the site of the old Lateran sacristy stood 5. Pancratitis, built, with a monastery, by the monks who fled from Monte Cassino, a.d. 528. Theodore, Gregory 11. , Adrian, and CaUxtus II., added other oratories and churches. SANCTA SANCTOBTTM or S. Lorenzo in Palatio. This little chapel, at the head of the Scala Santa, is the original private chapel of the popes, which used to stand History, within the Lateran Palace. Its name of Sancta Sanc- torum is derived from the words carved by Leo III. (795-816) upon the chest of cypress wood in which the relics are kept. The chapel dates probably from the vi. century, when it was erected to receive the relics brought by Gregory the Great from Constantinople. This is referred to in a life of Gregory IV. (827-844), and the chapel is mentioned as " S. Laurentius " in the Liber Pontificalis of Stephen III. (768-772). Com- pletely restored by Honorius III., but damaged by an earthquake soon afterwards, it was nearly rebuilt by Nicholas III. (1277-1281). Most of the painting and decoration dates from this time, and an inscription : * Magister Cosmatus fecit hoc opus,' shows that the great marble workers, the Cosmati, were employed by Nicholas III. in his restorations.* The chapel is square in form, and to a certain extent Gothic in style. A marble dado, in which are marble seats, decorates the lower portion of the walls ; above they are divided into compartments by small THE LATER AN \o^ twisted pillars upon marble bases. There are 28 of these divisions, each decorated with frescoes, repre- senting in the centre, the Madonna and Child, on either side, the two S. Johns, the 12 Apostles and 4 Evangelists, Isaiah and David. The vault of the roof Roof, is supported upon 4 acute arches, resting upon 4 gilded pillars in the 4 corners. In the arches are the emblems of the Evangelists upon a blue field. In the 8 lunettes, SS. Peter and Paul, with a pope between them, probably Nicholas III. ; Christ on a throne, the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, of Stephen and Laurence, and two scenes from the life of S. Nicholas of Mira. The pavement is of beautiful Pave- cosmatesque work, and light enters through grated ment. windows. The sanctuary of the chapel is in portico Sane- form, with four porphyry columns supporting an archi- tuary. trave upon which is the inscription, " Non est in toto sanctior orbe locus."* The vault of this portion of the chapel is decorated with mosaics representing the Redeemer between four angels. In the lunettes, the busts of Peter, Paul, S. Agnes, S. Laurence, S. Nicholas, S. Stephen, with their names written beside each. The altar is of white marble, and is surrounded by Altar. an iron grating. In front, are two metal doors orna- mented with bas-reliefs of SS. Peter and Paul ; beneath the altar is an inscription which states that it was placed here by Innocent III., and the doors by Nicholas III. Above the altar is the celebrated picture of Christ picture of painted upon wood, and completely covered, with the Christ, exception of the face, with plates of silver by Inno- cent III. This picture has been venerated since the pontificate of Stephen III., the first historical mention of it being in 752. It is unknown at what date it was brought to Rome, possibly by Germanus Patriarch of Constantinople, during the iconoclastic disputes. P. Garrucci suggests that it may be the image men- tioned by S. Gregory of Nyssa, and possibly a copy of * " There is not in the whole world a place more holy." io6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME the Edessa image, now in S. Bartholomew of the Armenians at Genoa, supposed to have been sent by Christ to King Agbar. It resembles this latter, and both are painted upon wood as far as the beard, the rest upon fine canvas. These are the two most venerated of the many paintings whose prototype was said by Moses Coronese the Armenian (in the v. century), to have been painted by no human hand." They are hence called acheiropoieton. The painting represents a head with a short beard, a nimbus com- pletely round the face and hair, like a cap. This picture was carried by Pope Stephen III. through the streets of Rome in solemn procession, to implore Divine assistance during the Lombard in- vasions ; and one of the most ancient customs, said to have been instituted by Sergius II. (844), was to carry the picture to S. Maria Maggiore on Ascension day. The pope and the people of Rome took part in the procession, and at intervals the feet of the image were bathed in basilic water. The idea of this quaint custom, was to approach the picture of the Son to that of the Mother, and thus to appeal to their grace and intercession. The ceremony was abandoned in the XVI. century. Until the xi. century, the Pope washed the feet of 12 poor persons in this chapel on Holy Thursday, and on Easter Day came to kiss the feet of the image three times, repeating each time " Surrexit Dominus de sepulchro." Three other altars in the chapel contain relics. The picture in the chapel is exposed from the eve of Palm Sunday to the third Sunday after Pentecost. At these times, men may obtain an entrance into the chapel, which is usually closed, but entry to this, held to be one of the most sacred spots in Rome, is still forbidden to women. Scala In the xvi. century, Sixtus V. moved to this Santa. chapel the Scala Santa, or, as they were called in the • Storia dell' Arte Christ., i. 408. THE LATER AN 107 middle ages, the Scale di Pilato, which formerly led to the Council Hall of the palace. It is said by tradi- tion that this flight of 28 marble steps was brought from Pilate's house in Jerusalem by the Empress Helena, and that Christ Himself ascended them. Our earliest record of them, in fact, dates from the middle ages. Their ascent now is only permitted upon the knees, and the wooden protection to the marble steps has been often completely worn away and renewed. There are two parallel flights for the descent. All three are preceded by a portico of four columns, erected by Sixtus W from Fontana's designs, and enclosed with glass by Pius IX. At the foot of the stairs are two figures, representing Christ betrayed, with the in- scription : " Osculo filium homhiis tradis,'' and an Ecce Homo, with the words : Haec est hora vestra et potestas tenebrarum. These statues are by Jacometti. THE LATEEAN MUSEUM, or Museo Gregoriano-Lateran- The ense, is in the Palace built by Sixtus V. from the Christian designs of Fontana, on the site and ruins of the old ' "^^""^■ Lateran palace or Patriarchium. This was made into a Hospital in 1693 by Innocent XII. In 1843 Gregory XVI. converted it into the Christian Museum, which was arranged by Pius IX. under the direction of P. Marchi, and its interest much enhanced by its recent curator commendatore De Rossi, who arranged and classified all the inscriptions from the catacombs on the walls of the great Loggia. We now enter the palace by a door near the principal entrance to the church. On either side of the great (second) flight of stairs, leading up from the Cortile, are arranged the early Christian sarcophagi/'- The large sarcophagus at First the bottom of the staircase was found near the con- sarco- fession of S. Paolo Fuori, while the foundations were P^^^-g^^- being dug for the baldacchino columns. It is referred to the period of the Theodosian edifice, late iv. cen- tury. * The ground floor contains pre-Christian sculpture. io8 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME The centre is occupied by two busts of the deceased, man and wife, unfinished. Upon the upper tier of reUefs on the left is portrayed a seated figure in the act of benediction, with others behind and in front, supposed to represent the Trinity ; in a second reUef Christ presents Eve to the Eternal Father ; a third has Christ with Adam and Eve, and the serpent. On the other side is represented the change of water into wine, the miracle of the loaves, and the resurrection of Lazarus. Christ holds forth a rod towards Lazarus, represented as a mummy, and Martha kneels below. This is the usual treatment. In the lower tier, are the Madonna and child, with 3 magi in Phrygian caps ; the blind man restored ; Daniel in the den of lions (Habbacuc stands with a food pot beside him) ; Christ denied by Peter ; Peter made prisoner by the Jews, who wear the round Hebrew cap ; Moses striking the rock, the Hebrews drinking of the water. Of the 22 other sarcophagi, those on the left ascend- ing are the finest, and consist of high reliefs represent- ing the usual subjects treated in Christian sculpture. Sarcophagi are almost the sole representatives of early The sub- Christian plastic art. These subjects are : the Good jects re- Shepherd ; Adam and Eve ; the Sacrifice of Abram ; presented. Moses striking the rock, receiving the Law, and re- moving the shoes from his feet ; the three children m the furnace ; the Jonah-cycle ; the manna in the wilder- ness ; the multiplication of the loaves ; the change of water into wine ; the resurrection of Lazarus ; the Haemorrhoissa ; the blind man healed ; the paralytic. Sculpture was not a Christian art till the time of Constantine. Hence all sarcophagi with Christian subjects are of the iv. and v. centuries (see Cata- combs, p. 408). In the hypogeum of Lucina (catacomb of Callistus) a sarcophagus bought at the usual pagan workshop was found, having a bacchanalian scene depicted on one side, which is turned to the wall ; the rough side is outAvards and is inscribed " Irene." We find also the THE LATER AN 109 subject of Ulysses tied to the mast passing between the sirens Scylla and Charybdis — a symbol early adapted by Christianity of which Clement of Alexandria says : " Sail past the song, it works death , . . bound to the wood of the cross thou shalt be freed from destruc- tion." On the right of the stairway a sarcophagus has this Inscrip- inscription in Greek : " Paulina lies here, in the place ^°"^ °" of the blessed, whom Pacata buried, she being her phagi' sweet and holy nurse in Christ. (XPw.)"* A very ancient tomb from Lucina's hypogeum, which De Rossi thinks may have been of Apostolic date, has : Blastiane pax tecum. A husband inscribes on the sarcophagus to his wife, " Furia, my sweet holy soul." The tenth on the left should be noticed. The reliefs are in panels between columns ; the Redeemer, the sacrifice of Abram, resurrection of Lazarus, and the early Christian symbols above. At either side is represented a town, with temples and dwellings having glazed windows. The sarcophagus is under a canopy, with two pavonazzetto columns, as the sarcophagi used to stand in the atria of basilicas. At the top of the stairs is a bas-relief representing Elijah's ascent to heaven in a four-horsed chariot ; Elisha receives his mantle. This is a favourite symbolical subject. It formed the front of a sarco- phagus of, perhaps, the early iv, century. Immediately facing us at the head of the stairs is Hippo- the finest example of early Christian sculpture which lytus. has been preserved to us. It is the seated statue of S. Hippolytus, and is believed to be contemporaneous with that great doctor of the church who lived a.d. 240.+ On the left side of the chair is engraved a list of his writings, on the right the Paschal computation arranged by Hippolytus about a.d. 223, both in Greek. The head is modern. * From the ca.ta.comh Jordanorum , on the Salaria. t See Catacomb of Hippolytus, Chap. X. no CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Reproduc- Turning to our left, a door before us leads to two tions small rooms, in which are placed reproductions of the catacomb paintings. The scene of the adoration of the magi, in which four magi appear, is from the Catacomb of S. Domitilla, and is held to date from the end of the ii. century. The third room con- tains the frescoes taken from the walls of S. Agnese Fuori, attributed to the Cosmati, xiv. century. Others, which represent birds and prophets may be of the X. century ; they come from the crypt of S. Niccolo in Carcere. [The large hall to the left as we come out of these rooms contains on the pavement the great mosaic from the baths of Caracalla, the Athletes. Eight rooms and the Council Hall, all containing pictures, follow.] To our right runs the Loggia, round which are placed the catacomb in- scriptions. Each compartment is inscribed with the name of the catacomb from which the inscriptions come, and, where this is possible, with the date. One compartment contains the inscriptions of Damasus, chiefly, however, in facsimile. [The third floor contains the series of casts from Trajan's column, ordered by Napoleon III. There is a fine view from the top terrace across the Campagna to the Sabine hills, and over part of the city.] S. John s. JOHN was regarded for 15 centuries as the greatest t^e of the saints, and in the East he still retains this place. aptist. jjg jg always represented in early art next to the Madonna herself. In the Confiteof John is named after Mary and the archangel Michael, and before the Apostles Peter and Paul. It is of course easy to understand this. Christ had said that of those born of women none was greater than John ; the name of his mother had been men- tioned by the angel at the Annunciation ; Mary's first act had been to visit her, and John's life had begun with this visitation of " Mary bringing Jesus with her." It was believed Jesus and John had grown up together. John is the first to point to the Lord as the Messiah, THE LATER AN ill and more than this he points to what is hidden and mystical in that presence, " Behold," he says, " the lamb of God."''' As the " Baptist," it is he who foretells the baptism of the Spirit, and he baptizes Christ, and sees the likeness of a dove descend upon Him. To him is applied the beautiful first chapter of Jeremiah's prophecy. Finally, the two most lovely of Christian canticles are spoken at the time of his birth, Zachary's Beyiedictus and Mary's Magnificat. s. JOHN, " that disciple whom Jesus loved," the brother of James the Greater, was with him surnamed Boanerges, " thunderers," by Christ. He was the only one of the Lord's apostles to 5 10^^ follow Him to Calvary, and stand by Mary and the the Holy Women at the cross ; and Christ bestows on him, Apostle as representative of the faithful, the last gift He has ^"4 ^van- to bestow on His Church, " Ecce mater tua " : behold ^® ^^ ' thy mother. According to tradition John founded all the Churches of Asia and ruled them, being the first bishop of Ephesus. He is said to have been in Rome in the time of Nero. He outlived all the other Apostles, dying a.d. 98, and was buried near Ephesus. S. John is sometimes represented as an old man repeating to his disciples and to little children the one commandment he is said to have never tired of reiterating : " My little children, love one another." * These words are said to-day by the priest just before giving the Eucharist to others. CHAPTER VI. S. Paolo Fuori — Old basilica — Present basilica — Cloisters — Tre-Fontane. S. Paolo Fuori. — This great Christian monument, the Basilica Ostiensis, which was visited by pilgrims next after the Vatican, and was one of the greatest treasures of Christendom until the xix. century, has shared with that sanctuary its many sackings and mis- fortunes. History. Before the Peace of the church there existed on this site, which is about ij miles beyond the walls of Rome upon the Via Ostia, a tropcsum or sepulchral monument over the spot where Lucina buried the body of Paul. There Constantine founded a basilica, so tradition and the Liber Pontificalis assert : " Fecit basilicam S. Paulo apostolo cuius corpus recondidit in area et conclusit sicut S. Petri." — " He made a basilica to Paul the Apostle, whose body he placed in a chest and closed, as he did that of S. Peter." That some work was begun here in honour of the Apostle by Constantine seems to be confirmed by the engraved stone found over Paul's sarcophagus, the date of which is Constantinian ;* but, in a.d. 386, the three Emperors, Valentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius, ordered the consul Sallustrius to commence a great basilica on the same site. The work was continued after 392 by Theodosius, Arcadius and Honorius, and the last-named Emperor * See Catacomb of Lucina, Chap. X. 5. PAUL'S 113 completed it. Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius,* contributed to the work later, Theodosius capit perfecit Hotwrius we still read over the great tribune arch, together with the commemoration of Placidia's help. But one of the most interesting records of the work there undertaken, is engraved upon a bronze tablet, pierced on either side for suspension round some animal's neck, probably a sheep-dog. The inscription was edited by Muratori, but has only been explained by De Rossi ; it runs as follows : AD BASILICA APOS TOLI PADLI ET DDD NNN FILICISSIMI PECOR " Ad basilicam Apostoli Pauli et trium dominorum nostrorum Felicissimi pecorarii." The tablet must have been attached to the collar of the sheep-dog of a tenement belonging to the basilica, to which, and to the shepherd Felicissimus, the dog belonged. This takes us back to " our three lords," the three emperors, and to the time of their building the basilica of S. Paul. In the VI. century a certain Eusebius restored the vi. cen- cemetery, meaning the basilica buildings. This in- *^"''y- eluded erecting porticoes with columns and paintings ; restoring the roof and the adjacent baths, which were frequently attached to the old basilicas ; making con- duits for the water, and repairing the metisa stones on the tombs of the martyrs. * Theodosius was the Emperor baptized in 383-387, who placed Gregory Nazianzen on the episcopal throne of Constantinople. He was the author of the celebrated edict condemning all religions but the Christianity of the Theodosian code, and was refused admission to the Church at Milan by Ambrose in a.d. 390, after the massacre at Thessalonica. Galla Placidia was his daughter by his first wife Galla, daughter of Valentinian I. She was therefore sister to the two Emperors Arcadius and Honorius. She was a hostage in the hands of Adolphus the Goth, whom she married in 414. 114 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME viii. In the VIII. century Leo III. confided the work of century, the restoration of the basiUca to Felix a priest, and to Adeodatus a Levite. Annexed to the basihca was a great monastery, and around it minor basilicas, oratories and other buildings, giving it the appearance of a little township, as was the case with S. Peter's and S. Laurence, while a continuous colonnade joined it to the city. Being placed however on the borders of the river, it was open to the incursions of the Saracens, and in 880 John VIII. surrounded it with fortifications, and the place became entitled Joannipolis, John's town.* A fragment of the inscription over the principal gateway of this township may still be seen affixed to the walls of the monastery corridor. In the pontificate of Leo IV. (847-855) and Bene- dict III. (855-858) the Saracens sacked the church. In 937 Alberic confided the government of the church and monastery to Odo of Cluny. Odo took with him other brethren to restore the relaxed dis- cipline of the house, and proposed Baldwin of Monte Cassino for its superior. At the moment when Hildebrand ascended the throne of Peter as Gregory VII. (1073-1087), he was Prior of S. Paul's, and to him are due the restorations of that epoch ; but with each successive restoration the original type of a great basilica was preserved, of which S. Paul's came to present the only instance, S. Peter's having given place in the xvi. century to the present edifice. Descrip- Its dimensions exceeded those of old S. Peter's. A tion of old nave and four aisles were divided by four rows of churc . twenty columns each, brought from ancient buildings. The walls were of marble, and the roof of undecorated beams, was covered with bronze tiles. The nave terminated with the immense and beautiful arch erected by Galla Placidia, who placed here the two fine Ionic • In the time of Gregory VII. it is still called casUllum S. Pauli quod vacatur J oannipoUm, and is mentioned in a document of that Pope's time, 1074. It was over two miles in circuit. 5. PAULS 115 columns of Greek marble which still sustain it. It was decorated with mosaics of the v. century. The great bronze doors, silvered over, were cast at Doors. Constantinople, in 1070, by the artist Stauracios, by order of the abbot Hildebrand.* In the whole basilica there were 138 columns, the finest collection in the world. Upon the entablature above the columns was a series of portraits of all the popes from Peter. In the xvii. century however, nothing remained of those upon the east wall, and those upon the north had nearly all disappeared. The great arch was decorated with mosaics repre- senting a colossal figure of Christ with a sceptre in His hand, the emblems of the evangelists on either side ; below the twenty-four elders, Peter and Paul. In the visitation of Urban VIII. we read that the church was preceded by an ample quadviporticus, just destroyed at that epoch. Portions of the colonnade which joined it to the city were then still standing. Of the five doors into the basilica only one, the central, was in use.f Prudentius describes the glory of the church and its riches during the reign of Honorius. For 1,500 years the Christian Liturgy had been cele- brated in the basilica of S. Paul, which continued to be one of the greatest of Christian shrines in Rome — second only, as we have seen, to S. Peter. The kings of * These survived the great fire of 1823, but were much injured. What remains of them may be seen in the cloister. They were divided into compartments, in which were scenes in the life of Christ, figures of prophets, martyrs and saints. The technique is not bas-relief, but a drawing on bronze. Silver and gold lines were inserted, which suffered by fire and theft. In the time of Innocent VII. (1404-1406) and the great schism, on that Pontiff's return to Rome, Antonius Petrus, in his diary states : " That he went to S. Paul's Church on the feast-day, June 30, and found it a stable for the horses of the Pope's soldiers. No place was empty save the chapel of the High Altar and the tribune. There was no control kept, either over the Romans or the soldiery." t "Acta Visit. Sub Urb. VIII. " 8—2 Ii6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME England were its protectors until the Reformation, and when the campanile was taken down silver coins from more than seventy mints of Europe were found. On July 17, 1823, this great sanctuary was burnt to the ground. The pine-roof caught fire and fell into the nave. Even the columns were calcined and split. Recon- From this time the Catholic sovereigns of Europe, struction. and pope after pope, gathered together material and treasure for its reconstruction. In 1840 the com- pleted transept and high altar were consecrated by Gregory XVI., and the entire basilica by Pius IX. in December 1854, prelates from every part of Christen- dom assisting. The dimensions of the Honorian church have been carefully preserved. Of the ancient church there re- main the great arch and columns ; the series of papal portraits on the south wall, which was untouched ; a portion of the bronze doors, forty of the columns, and some sarcophagi with bas-reliefs ; of the church of the middle ages, some mosaics on the great fa9ade, and the Paschal candelabrum. On this last are some rude representations of the Passion, inscribed with the names of Nicholas de Angelo, and the noted Peter Vassallectus (xn. century). This now stands in the south transept. Papal The medallions of the popes are naturally not por- portraits. traits as regards the earlier members of the series. Forty-three of the original remain — namely, those from Peter to Innocent I. (402-417), including Felix II. Those which still existed on the north wall at the time of the fire are preserved for us in copy in a codex in the Barberini Palace (1634). ^^ ^^^ sixth place is the .antipope Laurentius, and De Rossi points out that this dates the series, as Laurentius could only have been inserted while he claimed the see — i.e., during the hfe of Symmachus (498-514). The conjecture which attributed it to Leo the Great is therefore un- founded. Each of the modern medallions has been executed in the pope's mosaic manufactory, and each S. PAUL'S 117 has taken the entire work of one man for a whole year. The effect produced by the basihca as it now stands Modem must certainly be finer than that of the older edifice, interior. It presents the appearance of a forest of marble ; four long rows of granite columns spring from a highly- polished marble floor, twenty in each row, with marble capitals of the Corinthian order. In place of the ancient wooden and bronze roof we now see a magnificent gilded coloured and carved one, with the arms of Pius IX. in the centre; but no one, we imagine, would prefer this to the undecorated basilica roof such as may still be seen in Ravenna. The great arch remains in its original position, sup- Arch of ported upon Galla Placidia's two Ionic columns, each Galla of which is a single block, conveyed here in 440, in "l^'^i^i^- sailing vessels from the mouth of the Po, to which they had been brought on rafts from the quarry near Lago Maggiore. An exact copy of the xiii. century mosaic, which was destroyed by the fire, is placed on the arch. Behind is the apse, with its beautiful violet marble columns, saved from the fire. The high altar is beneath a Gothic canopy on Altar, porphyry pillars, above which is a baldacchino sup- ported by four columns of Oriental alabaster, presented by Mahomet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, to Gregory XVI. Here, at some depth, he the remains of Paul. The sarcophagus was at one time accessible ; the spot from which the descent was made, says Bosio, lay under the transept, to the left of the tribune, towards the sacristy, and here was an altar in honour of S. Lucina. This was not open in his day, but could be entered from the subterranean oratory of S. Julian. " Near the high altar, opposite the tribune, in the centre of the transept," the chapel of S. Julian stood, but was removed by Sixtus V., as it cumbered the way. The stone, placed by Constantine, bears the inscrip- tion PAULO APOSTOLO MART. Ii8 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Confes- sion. First chapel. Second chapel. Third chapel. Fourth chapel. Transept chapels. Tribune. It remained buried and intact during the fire of 1823, and still exists. In it holes are pierced, through which pilgrims let down hrandea, grains of incense, etc. Before the altar is the confession of S. Timothy the disciple of Paul, where his remains rest. The tabernacle is said to have been the work of Arnolfo di Cambio, a pupil of Niccolo Pisano (1285). The usual entrance is by the left transept. The first chapel on our left is that of S. Stephen, designed by Poletti ; the statue of the martyr is by Rinaldi. The second that of the Sacrament, is dedi- cated to S. Bridget of Sweden. Over the altar is the crucifix which is said to have spoken to her ; it is attributed to Pietro Cavallini. A very ancient wooden statue of S. Paul, much injured by fire, and one of S. Bridget by Carlo Maderno, are on either side of the door inside. On the further side of the tribune is the chapel of the choir designed by S. Maderno, and which re- mains almost as it was before the fire. The next chapel is dedicated to S. Benedict, and contains a statue of the saint by Tenerani. The small columns of gray marble here were brought from the ruins at Veil. Of the two transept chapels, that in the left transept is dedicated to S. Paul, with his conversion by Camuc- cini above, statues of S. Gregory by Laboureur, and of S. Romuald by Stocchi ; that in the right transept to the Madonna ; over it, an assumption by Agricola, with statues of S. Benedict and S. Theresa. The frescoes above are by Podesti. Those of the transept representing scenes in the life of S. Paul are by Podesti, Balbi, and others. The tribune apse is decorated with the original XIII. century mosaics, of the time probably of Honorius III., completed by Nicholas III., and much retouched. In a lunette Paul is represented borne to heaven, the work of Camuccini. A modern episcopal chair stands beneath. S. PAUL'S 119 In the body of the church are some fine wooden confessionals, with bronze reliefs on the doors represent- ing appropriate subjects. The immense statues of the two Apostles at the upper end of the nave are by Obice and Girometti. The total length of the church, exclusive of the apse, is 396 feet, the length of the nave 306 feet, its width 222 feet ; the width of the transepts 250 feet, A gate in the right transept leads into the monastery corridors. Here are preserved Rinaldi's statue of Gregory XVI. and some mediaeval mosaics which adorned the old basilica. We pass from here to the cloisters, which are a beautiful example Cloisters, of early xiii. century work. The arcades of the fine square are formed by coupled columns, fluted, spiral, twisted, or all three combined, and some covered with mosaic. An inscription round the colonnade tells us that it was begun by Abbot Peter (1193-1208), and completed by Abbot John (i 208-1 241). From this convent, which has lately been restored, came Gregory VII. (Hildebrand), Nicholas III., and Pius VII., the simple monk Gregorio Chiaramonti, chosen as Pope. The great fa9ade of the basilica has been decorated with mosaics in imitation of the original, and they are considered the finest modern work of the kind. Above is the Redeemer with two Apostles, below the symbols of the Evangelists, with the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem; and below again, the four great prophets. The campanile is modern. An inscription is still preserved in this church refer- ring to the baths which were attached to the basilicas for the use of the clergy, and were in constant use until the fifth century, when the Roman baths were spoiled through the destruction of the aqueducts by the Goths. Feast day. — June 29 and 30. The Station is on the 5th Wednesday in Lent. s. PAUL is not one of the 12 apostles, though his place is so important that he is accounted, after Peter, I20 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME the greatest apostle :* this is especially so in Rome. Both Peter and Paul claim to have been chosen to call the Gentiles, Peter in Acts xv. 7, Paul in Gal. ii. 7, 8. It would appear that Paul had a Christian sister, and a nephew her son, and other kinsmen " of note among apostles," who professed the faith before his own conversion (Acts xxiii. 16 ; Rom. xvi. 7). Fewer legends are connected with S. Paul's life, in proportion as we possess more real knowledge of him than of other apostolic figures. The difficulties and defects of his own temperament, the inconsistencies, the puerilities of argument to which he descends, yet the unique profundity of other arguments, his curious pride, his moving humihty, together with the laborious apostolic fife, make him one of the most remarkable figures in Christian story. To him we owe the foun- dation of a wider Christology than that dreamt of by the other Apostles, if we except John : to him we owe the noble way of meeting the Gentiles, spite of the Pharisaic spirit strong within him, as in the midst of the Areopagus, where he boldly makes use of a Greek conception, saying, "We are the offspring of God"; or, writing to the Romans asks, " Is God the God of Jews only ?" or when he reaches the great conception : " There is no bond or free, there is no Jew or Gentile." On the spiritual side of religion he has rendered no greater service than in the much misquoted passages on the dignity of faith. It is almost incredible that such mistaken literary appreciation has been possible as has been shown in the theory that Paul preached Faith versus Works. Such critics make faith = dogmatic belief, and works-of-the- law = ' works.' Neither is true. And nothing can be * A recent writer, discussing Paul's claims to Apostleship — since it is clear he did not fulfil the conditions laid down by Peter in Acts i. 21, 22, when Matthias was elected — declares that S. Paul in effect said : I am an Apostle, because I have "seen the Lord," because I have suffered much for the faith, because of the singular success of my preaching. S. PAUL'S 121 stronger than that Paul with the exalted significance he gave to faith, preferred to it charity. Although S. Paul's presence in Rome is not doubted, S. Paul and Peter's has been, there are as a matter of fact i" Rome, more traces of Peter here than of Paul. Paul having landed at PuteoH (Pozzuoli), arrived in Rome in March, a.d. 6i. He was then held in custodia militaris, in a house at his own charges, but under the super- vision of a guard, the Prcefectus castrorum. He would probably therefore have been lodged in this official's region of the city, probably the Castro Pretoria, estab- lished since the time of Tiberius for the Pretorian Guard near the Porta Collina, now the Macao.'^' Two other sites are pointed out : one in the Camp of Mars (Campo Marzio), where the Church of S. Maria in Via Lata now^ is ; but this is a tradition of the middle ages (xi. century) and is perhaps due to a con- fusion with the subterranean oratory of S. Martial of Limoges, who was said to have been Paul's disciple. The other site is S. Paolo alia Regola in the Ghetto, but there is no ancient testimony to this site. It is likely that S. Paul bestowed his labours on that region of Rome which he perforce inhabited ; and hence the possibility of that conversion of two of the Pretorian Guard, Nereus and Achilleus, which tradition ascribes to him or to Peter. His two years' captivity ended in his acquittal, and he may have frequented the Palace of the Caesars during that time, in his attempts to obtain justice, and in this way may have converted members of the Imperial Household,! such being in fact named in the Epistle to the PhiHppians, written from Rome a.d. 59, 60 : " Those of Caesar's household salute you." * Vide Catacomb of S. Agnese, Chap. X. Cf. also Phil. i. 13 : " So that my bonds became manifest in Christ in the whole Praetorium " (i.e., place of the Praetorian Guard). In some ancient Greek codices of the Acts this name is, in fact, inserted in chapter xxviii., verse 30. t See Catacomb of Domitilla, Chap. X. 122 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Other sites connected with the Apostle are the "market of Appius," and the " Three Taverns " on the Appian Way.* After these two years, nothing is known of Paul's doings until his death. For his sepulchre refer to Chapter X, the Cemetery of Lucina on the Ostia. On this road, going towards S. Paolo Fuori, a small marble relief attached to a building on the left of the road, marks the spot where Peter and Paul embraced and parted on the way to martyrdom, June 2g, a.d. 67. The story is legendary. " Pierre et Paul reconcihes, voila le chef d'oeuvre qui fondait la suprematie ecclesiastique de Rome dans I'avenir " — writes Renan. To have combined the genius of those two men, of the greatest of the apostles whom Christ had chosen, and the great apostle who had never seen Him, as the foundation of the universal church, is indeed the work and glory of Rome. For the traditional types of SS. Peter and Paul, refer to the cemetery of Domitilla. Site of TBE FONTANE. — Two miles beyond the basilica of S. Paul's S. Paolo is the site of S. Paul's martyrdom, 5. Pavlo ™^*y" alle Tre Fontane, or ad Aquas Salvias its ancient name. To-day the group of buildings which forms the sanctuary lies concealed among eucalyptus trees, and forms a Trappist monastery. The site which they have only recently possessed, has been planted and reclaimed by this order ; to them is due the vine, the olive, and the eucalyptus, and the splendid agricultural feats which cover this hitherto malarial locality. They are given prison labour by the Government, and bands of prisoners, in red caps, with a guard over them, may be seen working in the fields round. They all reside on the spot, and the monks not only employ their labour but reclaim their lives. * Acts xxviii. 14. These sites were 43 and 23 Roman miles respectively from the city gate dom. S. PAUL'S 123 Here according to tradition Paul was beheaded, and his head bounding three times on the earth, three fountains sprang up at the spots, each at a different level! The Church upon the site was built in 1599 by s. Paolo Cardinal Aldobrandini, G. della Porta being the archi- alle Tre tect*. Panvinius mentions the three little chapels, one Fontane. more beautiful than the other, with three fountains, " whence the entire church is called ' of the Three Fountains.' " M. de Maumigny restored it in 1865, when the place was given to his compatriots the French Trappists. The ancient cosmatesque pavement was then found, at different levels, and with marbled descents obviously leading to the three springs. Two old columns w^ere found in situ, forming part of an ancient edifice dis- posed as a running Portico. Marble decorations of the VI. century were also discovered ; and a fragment recording the name of Paul and that of Pope Sergius (687). An inscription of Gregory the Great's at the monastery of S. Paolo also records " Aqua Salvias " as the site of Paul's decapitation. The Trappists when digging for water in 1878 came on some ancient money of the time of Nero, and a quantity of pine cones, nearly fossilized by time, lying at a great depth. The anonymous Greek Acts, edited by Tischendorf, though full of legendary matter and apocryphal, narrate that Paul suffered tiear a pine-tree. This discovery there- fore is very curious. In one corner of the church is a piece of a column on which it is said Paul was beheaded. It perhaps belonged to the ancient building. On the pavement is a mosaic representing the 4 seasons, found at Ostia. The 3 altars are decorated with rare black porphyry columns. 88. VINCENZO ED ANASTA8I0. — Honorius I. erected a church in honour of these martyrs, in 625-26, which was restored by Adrian I. that indefatigable restorer of Christian sites, and rebuilt in 796 by Led III. Honorius also erected a monastery, restored in 1128. Interior. 124 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME The church, under the title of S. Anastasius, is among those visited by Siric Archbishop of Canterbury in 990*. When the monastery and probably also the church were restored by Innocent II., he placed S. AD. 1 128. Bernard and his monks here, assigning farms and vine- yards for their maintenance. The first Abbot was Pietro Bernardo Pisano, afterwards Eugenius III. (1145)- There is something very attractive in this inornate church, with a wide nave and 2 aisles, divided by 8 arches and pilasters. An oblong window frame over each arch is pierced with 3 rows of circular windows now filled with glass but anciently with alabaster. Frescoes of the Apostles, painted by Raphael's pupils from his designs, form the only ornamentation, but these have been bedaubed by later hands. There are no side chapels; the flat roof is of open woodwork. At the east end are the high altar and 2 chapels. The door is always open, and is approached by a portico supported by granite columns, the exterior of the church resembling all old basilicas. Four windows, similar to those described over the aisle arches, decorate the fagade. A notice begs those who enter the church to keep silence while there. The relics and ikon of the Persian martyr Anas- tasius, who suffered in 626 when this church was building, were sent here by the Emperor Heraclius. Charlemagne bestowed lands in Siena on the church. In the adjeining cloister some ruinous frescoes, prob- ably of the XIV. century, relating to a funeral and mass in this edifice, still exist. In altering the level on account of the great humidity of the site, some Armenian inscriptions were found, with the name of Gregory the Illuminator, of Paul, and of S. Constantine the emperor, in the East regarded as a saint. In the xii. century then a monastery of Armenians existed here, as also at the great Basilica near by. • MS. at the British Museum. Exterior. Another S. Anas- tasius. Armenian remains. S. PAUL'S 125 S. MARIA SCALA C(ELI. — The third church on this beautiful site is S. Maria Scala Coeh, anciently known as Mansio S. Dei Genitricis Maria. The name " Ladder of heaven " is derived from a vision of S. Bernard's, who when celebrating mass here saw a ladder reaching to heaven, by w^hich the souls freed from torment as- cended. Cardinal A. Farnese commenced the work of rebuilding it, which was completed by Cardinal Aldo- brandini, the architect being Vignola, and later Delia Porta. In the Chapel of S. Bernard to the left, are Francesco Zucca's mosaics (on the vault), representing the Madonna and Child, with SS. Zeno, Vincent, Anastasius, and Bernard, and below Clement VIII., and Cardinal Farnese, then Abbe Commendataire of Tre Fontane. It is held to be the only good modern mosaic of the kind. From here we descend to a chapel of S. Zeno on the site, it is said, where he and many other martyrs were interred. According to an ecclesiastical tradition, the 12,000 Christians employed in building the Baths of Diocletian were buried at this spot. An early Christian cemetery in fact existed here : and a fragment of a 11 1. century Christian inscription, and a glass phial affixed to one of the tombs, have been found. The cell where it is said Paul was con- fined previous to his execution, and the altar at which Bernard had his vision, are also shown in this subter- Feast days. — June 30 (S. Paul) and January 22 (S. Vincent the deacon, and S. Anastasius the Persian monk). For the lives of these two titular saints, see p. 350. CHAPTER VII. S. Maria Maggiore — S. Sebastiano — S. Croce in Gerusalevime — 5. Lorenzo — An account of the saint — S. Agnese — S. Costanza. S. Maria Maggiore. — The origin of this great church is attributed to the dream of two Roman patricians, a certain Johannes and his wife who being childless vowed their wealth to the Blessed Virgin, and were then separately admonished in a dream to build a church where snow should be found on August 5. This was speedily told to Pope Liberius (352-366), who declared he had been favoured with a similar vision. Now in this same night, snow had fallen on the summit of the Esquiline Hill ; here Liberius and all the clergy and people found it ; and here John Patritius and his wife built the great basilica with their substance. It has been called the Liherian basilica, and may be considered as a monument to the creed of Nicaea, and to the return of Liberius, who from his having temporized with the Arians had been for some time regarded as a heretic.''' The church is also known as S. Maria ad Nives, of the Snow. In 432 it was rebuilt by Sixtus III., who placed the magnificent mosaics there ; and it was then that the basilica was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. The Liber PontificaHs says he built the basilica of his name, near the market of Livia ; it is also referred to as Basilicam S. Maria qua ah antiquis Liherii * In order to return to Rome. Liberius, who had courageously borne persecution and exile for his faith, signed a creed drawn up at Sirmium by the Arian bishops, a.d. 258. MAJOR BASILICAS 127 cognominabatur, juxta macellmn Livia (The basilica of S. Mary, which anciently was called the Liberian, by the market of Livia). From the vi. century the name ad Prasepe or post Pfasepe was given to the church, on account of the relic of the culla, or boards of the manger at Bethlehem, which is preserved there. The appellation ad Nives does not appear till after the x. century. On the a.d. 366. death of Liberius, the church was taken possession of by Ursicinius, the antipope to Damasus, after the dual election. A fight between the partisans of the two popes ensued, and De Rossi has discovered in the Vatican archives a rescript of Valentinian's, ordering the Prefect of Rome to restore the basilica to the right- ful bishop.* The church is here called basilica Sicinini, because it was held by the schismatics who followed Ursicinius. This is the oldest church solemnly dedicated to the Madonna in Rome, and is also the largest. For 1,450 years it has been known as Basilica S. Marige, and Basilica Major, or Greater. f As it stands, this beautiful church has more of the characteristics of a great basilica than any other within the city. The original plan of the enlarged Sixtian edifice has been preserved, and consists of a great nave a.d. 432. and two aisles, divided by thirty -six Greek white marble columns]: with Ionic capitals. On the entabla- ture rest thirty-six fluted Corinthian pilasters. This fine entablature is broken by the two modern arches and gray granite columns, placed as entrances to the transept chapels by Paul V. and Benedict XIV. The nave is 280 feet long, and nearly 60 feet wide. The roof is flat. The presbytery is apsidal, with the altar in the usual basilica position, facing the nave. The confession contains the relics of the apostle Matthias. * Codex Vat., 4961. t From the xiv. century it has been known as S. Maria Maggiore, S. Mary Major. \ From the temple, it is said, of Juno Lucina. 128 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME The church is usually entered by one of the doors, that to the right, at the apse-end. It is approached by a magnificent flight of steps, this fa9ade being the work of Carlo Rainaldi. The two doors at this end were opened in the xiv. century by Cardinal d'Estoute- ville. S. Maria The Sixtian church was not much modified until Maggiore the XII. century when Eugenius III. completely re- ^^'M\ newed the interior, and erected a fa9ade and portico. ages, and The Roman Senate erected an altar to S. Gregory in to 1741. the nave, while Giacomo and Vinia Capocci erected a reliquary chapel in 1256. Next to this was an altar with the image of the Madonna, attributed to S. Luke, erected by the Senate and Roman people. To these was added the ancient chapel of the presepio, and from 1288-1294. the time of Nicholas IV. the chapels began to multiply and change the aspect of the primitive basilica. Some 24 stood on either side, in the corners, even in the middle of the aisles. In 1575 Gregory XIII. entirely repaired the build- ing. In 1586, Sixtus V. erected the famous chapel to the right of the tribune ; and the chapel of S. Jerome, where the saint's body lay, was destroyed. In 1611 Paul V. erected the Borghese Chapel, on the opposite side. Finally Benedict XIV., in 1741, completely renewed the interior, and made the principal fa9ade. Entering from the Piazza dell' Esquilino, in which the old Via delle 4 Fontane terminates, we find ourselves The by the apsidal tribune of the church. On the great tribune arch, Sixtus III., who reconstructed and embellished and arch, ^^lis basilica as a memorial of the Council of Ephesus,* has placed in mosaic a cross, with Peter and Paul on either hand, and above, the emblems of the Evangelists. The Annunciation, the Presentation in the Temple, the adoration of the Magi, the slaughter of the Innocents, and the Dispute with the Doctors in the Temple, are * The Council of Ephesus condemned Nestorius, who distin- guished two persons in Christ, and declared Mary to be Theotokos, or Mother of God. MAJOR BASILICAS 129 the appropriate Gospel scenes represented : and Sixtus has dedicated his work in an inscription To the people of God : XYSTus episcopus sanxt^ plebi DEI. On the flanks of the arch are represented the two mystical cities, decorated with precious stones, the faithful at their doors, represented as sheep." The mosaics of the apse are much later ; they were Mosaics, placed in the time of Nicholas IV., at the end of the thirteenth century, and are the work of Giacomo 1295. Turrita, the great mosaicist, who did them for Jacopo Cardinal Colonna. The Redeemer and the Blessed Virgin, seated on a throne, are surrounded by angels ; He places a crown on her head, and on a book in His hand are inscribed the words : " Come My elect and I will place thee in My throne." The attitude repre- sents the verse in the Canticle of Canticles : " His left hand under my head, and His right hand shall em- brace me"; which are referred to the Coronation of the Virgin. Peter, Paul, the two Johns, S. Francis, and S. Antony of Padua, with Nicholas IV. and Cardinal Colonna introduced as tiny figures, stand on either hand. Below is the sea, and in the centre the Mount, from which flow the Four Rivers, the Celestial Jerusa- lem in their midst. An inscription beneath tells us that Nicholas IV. re-made this temple of the Virgin, which was ruinous, " making the old things new." At the same time Cardinal Colonna adorned the exterior of the apse with mosaics, which have perished. The Blessed Virgin was depicted between Agnes, Cecilia, Lucia, and Caterina ; and the Epiphany was also represented. Between the windows, underneath, Gaddo Gaddi has depicted the usual scenes from the life of the Virgin : the Purification, Annunciation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple, and her Death. The High Altar rests on a sarcophagus of red por- High phyry which stood anciently in the narthex, and was Altar. * They have often been restored, but are still formed for the most part on the original v, century moulds. 9 I30 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME believed to contain the remains of the founders." The baldacchino was designed by Fuga {temp. Bene- dict XIV.), and rests on 4 Corinthian red porphyry columns ; the angels by P. Bracci. The confession, with its semicircular atrium, is approached by 2 flights of steps, and was decorated with columns of Egyptian alabaster and coloured marbles by Pius IX., the designs being those of Virginio Vespignani. The Borghese Borghese or Paolina Chapel is to the left as we face the Chapel, tribune. It is one of the richest in Rome. It was erected in 161 1 by Paul V., and is the property of the Borghese family. Flaminio Ponzio was the architect. Over the altar is the image of the Madonna which was believed in the middle ages to have been painted by S. Luke, and which was removed here from the chapel in the nave. The copy of a Papal Bull at- tached to the wall affirms the picture to have been painted by the Evangelist : P. Garrucci asserts that it is certainly not older than the v. century ; and Baronius hazards a conjecture that this was the image carried in the great procession by Gregory the Great, A.D. 590. The altar-piece is of fluted jasper. Above the picture is Stefano Maderno's bronze bas-relief, repre- senting Liberius tracing the church in the miraculous snow. The frescoes on the pendants below the cupola and round the altar are by Cav. d' Arpino ; those on the arches and between the windows by Guido, the Madonna by Lanfranco ; the Madonna standing on a crescent moon in the cupola is by Cigoli. The monument of Paul V. is by pupils of Bernini ; that of Clement VIII. (Aldobrandini) by Mochi, Pietro Ber- nini, and others ; but the statues of both popes are the work of Silla da Viggiu. The statues of Aaron, Athanasius, and Bernard are by Niccolo Cordieri. The * The inscription, obviously a later one, is now on the walls of the baptistery : loHANNis Patritii huics Basilic^e Fundatoris sepulchrum. In 1746 the sarcophagus was opened, and remains of a man and woman found, with balsams and pieces of stuff. MAJOR BASILICAS 131 chapels as we enter, dedicated to Charles Borromeo and Francesca Romana, are painted by Croce and Baglioni. In the crypt beneath are the tombs of the Borghese family ; and here Gwendoline Talbot wife of Prince Borghese, lies. Crossing the nave, we enter the Chapel of the Cappella Blessed Sacrament, built by Sixtus V. in 1586, Fon- Sistina. tana being the architect. It is in the form of a Greek cross. It is richly decorated with marbles and monu- ments. In the centre is a large tabernacle in bronze, supported by 4 angels : this way of placing the holy sacrament high above the altar is the ancient mode in which it was reserved. Below is the Chapel of the Culla, or cradle ; the chapel was removed here as it stood, by means of the imperfect machinery of the time, from the original site 70 palms distant. This chapel was commenced by Innocent III., and com- pleted by Honorius III., the artist being Arnolfo di Lapo. Here are preserved the three boards from the The Culla. manger at Bethlehem, which constitute the relic called the culla. They were brought from Palestine, accord- ing to some, by Gregory III. (731), and according to others by Theodorus (642), both of Palestinian or Syrian origin. The first Mass of Christmas night used to be sung at this little altar by the Pope ; after which the culla was, and still is, borne in procession from a room off the baptistery, where it was exposed to view, to the altar of the Presepio. The papal monuments here are of Sixtus V. and Pius V. ; the first by Valsoldo, the second by Sarzana. The historic bas-reliefs are chiefly the work of Flemish artists, and refer to these two pontificates. Those on the papal tombs are by Cordieri. The frescoes are by Pozzo, Cesare Nebbia, and others. The statue of Dominic is by G.-B. della Porta ; that of S. Gaetano da Tiene, by Bernini. The little chapel as we enter, to the right, dedicated to S. Lucia, has as its altar a fourth-century Christian sarcophagus, with the usual subjects in relief, and a medallion of Petronius Probus, 9—2 132 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME who became a Christian through his distinguished wife Faltonia Proba, and was Consul a.d. 341. The whole chapel was repaired by Pius IX., under Vespignani's direction. This chapel was begun when Sixtus V. was Cardinal Peretti, and it is said that Gregory XIII. stopped his stipend on the ground that the Cardinal must be a rich man to undertake so great a work. It was then that Fontana generously placed all his savings at Peretti's disposal, and the work proceeded. The events recorded in the bas-reliefs on the tomb of Pius v., by Cordieri, are the Battle of Lepanto, and the Pope sending aid to Charles IX. of France in his conflict with the Huguenots. Baptis- On the same side as the Cappella Sistina, at the end tery. of that aisle, is the Baptistery, the work of Ponzio, converted into a baptistery by Leo XII. The font is a basin of red porphyry, the bronze adornments by Valadier. The Assumption over the altar, is by Ber- nini. From here opens the sacristy, with a picture of the Madonna and Child by Gaetani, and frescoes by Passignani. On the other side is a passage containing a bronze statue of Paul V. Gothic Outside the baptistery is the beautiful Gothic tomb tombs. of Cardinal Gonsalvo, Bishop of Albano, the work of G. Cosma, with the date 1299; and a mosaic of the Madonna with SS. Matthias and Jerome, above. Here also are the monuments to Nicholas IV., raised by Sixtus v., the work of Sarzana ; a monument to Clement IX., with sculptures by Guidi, Ercole Fer- rata, and FancelH, erected by Clement X.; and the tomb-stone of Platina the author of the " Lives of the Pontiffs," at the other end of the right aisle. By the principal entrance, at the extremity of the left aisle, are the tombs of Cardinal and of Archbishop De Levis, of Aries, of the early xvi. century. In the left aisle is the Cappella Cesi, belonging to the Massimi, with two monuments to Cardinals Cesi by Delia Porta ; and the Sforza Chapel, designed by Michelangelo, which is the Winter Choir of the Cations MAJOR BASILICAS 133 where the Divine office is said ; the Assumption over the altar is by Girolamo da Sermoneta, The pavement of this uniquely beautiful basilica is of the Cosmatesque work called Alexandrine, of the XIII. century. The roof was designed by Sangallo, Roof, and the 5 rows of panelling into which it is divided are said to have been decorated with the first gold brought from South America, presented by Ferdinand and Isabella to Alexander VI. This work had been begun by Callistus III., and was completed by Alex- ander when Cardinal of this church. Above the entablature between the pilasters, on both Mosaics sides of the nave, are the other famous mosaics, placed of the by Sixtus III. in 432, representing scenes from the ^^^^• Old Testament — the lives of Moses, Joshua, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These, and the mosaics of the great arch are mentioned by Adrian I. in a letter to Charle- magne (a.d. 771) as having been placed by Sixtus. The aspect of the church, which is S.E. (principal entrance) and N.W. (apse), makes it almost impossible to see these well ; the good light is in the morning. Going out by the great entrance on to the Piazza Fa9ade. S. Maria Maggiore, we see the fa9ade erected in 1 74 1 from Fuga's designs. The new fa9ade, with its balcony for the Benediction, which was always given from here on the Feast of the Assumption, has de- stroyed much of the xii. century mosaic that adorned the fa9ade of Eugenius III. This mosaic is in 2 tiers : above, in an oval, is Christ enthroned be- tween four angels ; on the book in His hand are the words, "Ego sum lux mundi qui." The artist has placed his name under the footstool, Philipp Rtisuti. Below this oval stand 8 saints : the Madonna inscribed MHP GT, who held in her hand an open book ; next is Paul, and on his volume is written, Michi vive. XC (" To me to live is Christ ") ; then James as a pil- grim ; then Jerome ; on the other side, the Baptist ; Peter, with his confession, " Thou art the Christ "; Andrew, who had written, " I have found the Messiah, 134 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME which is, being interpreted, the Christ "; then Matthias, with his sentence of the Creed, " I beheve in the resur- rection and eternal hfe." The figures of James and Peter, Cardinals Colonna, who made the mosaic, have perished. In the lower tier the Madonna appears to Liberius in a dream ; it is mutilated, but the inscrip- tion" in very abbreviated Latin says " Virgo Maria apparuit papae Liberio dicens fac mihi ecclesiam in montem Superagio sicut nix indicat."t The next scene is the apparition to the two founders ; in the next, Liberius seated on a faldstool hears John's account of the vision ; in the last scene, Christ and the Madonna cause the snow to fall, and Liberius, John, and the people mark out a church in it. Cam- The campanile, one of the finest though not one of the panile. most ancient in Rome, is of the time of Eugenius IIL (1145), rebuilt by Gregory XL on his return to Rome from Avignon, and restored by Paul V. The spire is Monas- a later addition. Round the basilica congregated 4 teries. monasteries ; one dedicated to SS. Andrew and Stephen ; the second to SS. Cosma and Damian ; the third of S. Andrew, with a basilica dedicated to that Apostle by Simplicms, a.d. 468-483 ;| the fourth under the invocation of SS. Laurence, Praxedis, Agnes, and Adrian. § In the xiv. century the first of these became a hospital ; the third was occupied by the convent of S. Antonio, now the military hospital ; the fourth was the convent of S. Prassede, close by. The From a passage in the Liber Pontificalis, in the ancient record of the acts of Paschal I., we learn, says De apse. Rossi, that the tribune of S. Maria Maggiore was * This inscription shows that the Esquiline used to be called Sjipera^to, a reminiscence of the agger of Servius Tullius, which ran across the front of the site of the basilica (De Rossi, Musaici). t The Virgin Mary appeared to Pope Liberius, saying : " Make me a church on the hill Superagio, as the snow shall indicate." I Lib. Pont, in Simplicio. § An ancient church dedicated to S. Agnese existed by S. Prassede to the time of Pius V. MAJOR BASILICAS 135 anciently constructed with open arches communicating with an ambulacrum. The passage states that the pontiff could not speak to his assistants without speak- ing across the women. De Rossi hence concludes that the place reserved for women in the basilica was in the tribune behind the episcopal chair, a portion incorporated later with the presbytery. Women had their places here in the time of Paschal I. ; the same arrangement obtained at S. Sebastiano Fuori, and in the apse of SS. Cosma and Damian in the Forum, and is found also in Naples. This celebrated church has witnessed two historical scenes : the first being the slaughter of the followers of Ursicinius, soon after it was built ; the other the abduction of Gregory VII., Hildebrand, in 1075, on Christmas day, when Cencio and his companion conspirators laid violent hands on him at the altar ; and here Hildebrand was brought back in triumph shortly after, to finish his interrupted Mass. The Kings of Spain were protectors of the basilica of S. Maria Maggiore. Feast day. — August 5 (Titular and Dedication feast). The Station is on the 2nd Wednesday in Lent. S. SEBASTIANO, on the Via Appia, on the right hand after passing the cemetery of Callistus. The original appellation of this ancient basilica appears to have been SS. Peter and Paul. It marks the site where the bodies of the Apostles rested. It is recorded of the martyr- bishop Quirinus, whose image is in the crypt of S. Cecilia at S. Callistus, but whose body was buried here ad Catacumbas, that he lay in basilica apostolorum Petri et Pauli ubi aliquando Jacuenmt et nbi S. Sebastia nus re- quiescit. In the visitation of Urban VIII., it is asserted that the walls of the church must have belonged to an ancient Gentile fabric ; and Bosius says that the church was built " per quanto si puo vedere, sopra le fonda- menta d'un antico edificio di Gentili." The erection of this basiHca is attributed to Con- 136 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME stantine ; and it is one of the seven churches of pilgrimage. Unfortunately Cardinal Scipio Borghese remodelled and restored away the ancient building, in 1611, from the designs of Flaminio Ponzio, so that the present church is a xvii. century structure. The portico and fa9ade were then added. The interior consists of a single nave, the wooden roof being the same Cardinal's work, from designs of the Fleming Vasanzio, together with the portico and frontage. To the left is Chapel of the chapel of S. Sebastian, which it will be observed S. Sebas- is not placed in the usual spot for the titular martyr or tian. saint of a church. The present chapel is the work of Ciro Ferri, and the recumbent statue of the martyr by Bernini's pupil, A. Giorgetti. Before 161 1 could be seen the original altar placed and dedicated by Honorius III. (12 16), under which lay the martyr's remains in the urn which we still see. But the level at which this altar stood was the primitive level — in luogo profondo, as it is described by Bosius — in which Lucina buried this celebrated martyr, at "the mouth of the crypts." This interesting crypt had been preserved and incorporated with the basilica by means of a staircase leading to it ; to-day it lies empty and neglected beneath the present confession/'- The earliest notice of S. Sebastian's shrine is of the time of Innocent I. (402-417) ; it consists in the follow- ing votive inscription placed there, and now in the Lateran Museum : "In the time of S. Innocent, bishop, Proclinus and Ursus, priests of the titulus Bizantis, have made this to the holy martyr Sebastian, ex votoJ" Right On the right, the first altar contains relics, and is Aisle. enclosed behind a grating ; the secojid chapel has a Madonna and S. Anna with the divine Child in her arms. The third altar has a picture of the Assumption. The fourth chapel has a statue of S. Fabian, pope and * When Adrian I. restored the old church [in ruinis prcBventam a novo restauravit), Sebastian's crypt was arranged so as to form the confession of the altar placed above at the level of the basilica. The body now however as we see lies above. MAJOR BASILICAS 137 martyr. In the tribune is a fresco of the Crucifixion. The third chapel on the left is dedicated to S. Francis, Left Aisle, who is represented ; the second is an altar with a , picture of S. Charles Borromeo. Opposite to the Chapel of S. Fabian is the entrance Subter- to the subterranean Chapel of SS. Peter and Paul (see ranean Cemetery ad catacimbas). On the left-hand side of the '^'^^P^'- nave, over a doorway, is an xviii. century inscription, in Latin and Italian, relating to S. Philip Neri, who here passed days and nights in prayer in a room adjacent, and in a crypt below ; and S. Sebastiano formed the centre-point of his " pilgrimages to the seven churches," the cemetery beneath being as we know mistaken for the illustrious catacomb of Callistus. Of the few ancient remains to be found here, one is the Damasine carmen on Eutychius, whose tomb is here ; it is on the left of the entrance. The Benedictines were placed here by Alexander III., Monas- and to this period belongs a fragment which has been tery. employed in the subterraneum : " . . . esima abba TissA. ... DE. . . ." To the Benedictines suc- ceeded, in the xvii. century, the reformed Cistercians. Finally Gregory XVI. gave the church into the care of the Minor Observants of S. Francis, of the Roman province, who now possess it. The Libri Indulgentiarum place S. Sebastiano, with the cemetery beneath, " of Callixtus," next after the basilicas of SS. Peter and Paul. It was made a parochial church by Clement XL Here Gregory the Great preached his thirty-seventh homily on the Gospels. Ruins of other Christian buildings may still be traced round the basilica. One of these was a church in honour of S. Maximus ; another to S. Quirinus. In the Jubilee of 1575, the charts "of the seven churches " mention " the portrait of S. Sebastian before the portico." This has disappeared. Feast day. — January 20. 138 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME B. 8BBABTIAK. — The Fcast of S. Sebastian is kept with that of Pope Fabian. He was martyred during the reign of Carinus and Numerianus, in 270 a.d. His acts were compiled in the v. century, at least 100 years after the events; they are embellished, and not of much value, and the chronology is erroneous. His father is said to have come from the ancient Narbonensis (Nar- bonne), and his mother from Milan. The Acta call him commander of the first cohort under Diocletian, and say that being secretly a Christian, he assisted the Christians in every way, and exhorted to constancy those who dreaded the torture. Amongst these were the brothers Marcus and Marcellianus, who were kept in charge of one Nicostratus, whose wife Zoe was healed by Sebastian. These things were told to Diocletian, who, with much vehemence, and by every means in his power, strove to turn Sebastian from the faith. Failing in this, he ordered him to be bound to a stake and shot with arrows. Being then, in the opinion of all, left for dead, a holy woman called Irene, who had obtained the necessary permission to bury him, had him carried away by night, and cured him in her house. When he was strong, he again met Diocletian, and freely charged him with his impiety. The Emperor, stupefied at seeing one he believed to be dead, yet the more burning with rage against him, ordered that he should be beaten till he died. His body was then thrown into a drain. But Lucina being, it is said, told by Sebastian in a dream where his body lay, and where he wished to be buried, buried him ad catacmnbas : '^Jnxta vestigia apostolorum," it is recorded. Gregory IV. removed his body to the Vatican, and Honorius III. retranslated it to S. Sebastiano, a.d. 1218. The subject of Irene curing the wounds of Sebastian has been treated in art. S. Sebastian cannot be mis- taken in pictures ; he is tied to the stake, the shot arrows in his body. MAJOR BASILICAS 139 S. CROCE IN GEEUSALEMME.— It is stated in the Liber Pontificalis of Sylvester I. that this basiUca owes its origin to the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, History, and it is possible that she erected on this site a chapel in which to deposit the rehc of the true cross said to have been brought by her from Calvary. Two in- scriptions found in the vicinity do certainly connect her name with the basilica. The first, much mutilated, is now in the Vatican Museum ; the other is cut upon a pedestal which now supports the statue of the Empress in the lower chapel of Helena, and is not later in date than 327," the year of Constantine's absence from Rome, when Helena went to visit the sacred places in the Holy Land. Ruins of the imperial palace of Sextus Varius, father of Heliogabalus, called the Sessorian Palace, still exist close to the church, and gave their name to the neigh- bouring gate of S. Maria Maggiore, which was origin- ally called Porta Sessoriana. It was perhaps in a portion of this palace that Helena erected the basilica. It was not called "Santa Croce " until after the iv. century. It was first known as Basilica Heleniana and is so called under Sixtus III. in 433, when a council was held in it ; then as Sancta Hierusalem, and for a long time it was the custom for the Pope to hold in his hand a golden rose during the ceremonies performed in this church on the fourth Sunday in Lent, symbolizing the joys of the celestial garden in mystic Jerusalem.! ♦ Dominas nostrse fl . iul Helense piisimae . aug Genetrici . d . n . costan Tini . maximi . victoris Clementissimi . semper augusti . aviae constat! tini . at constanti . beatis simorum . ac . florentis simorum principum Julius maximilianus . v . c . comes Pietati eivs semper dicatis. f De Rossi, Bull, d' Arch. Christ., 1872. See also Part II. for another suggested meaning. I40 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Gregory the Great declared Santa Croce a titular church, and it was entirely repaired by Gregory II. in 720, and again by Lucian II. (1144-1145) and Eugenius III. (i 145- 1 153). Through the middle ages it was one of the 7 pilgrimage churches. Monas- The annexed monastery was built by Benedict VII. ten'- in 975, as an inscription therein still records, and History. ^^^ ^X. (1049-1055) gave it to the Abbot of Monte Cassino. Alexander II, (1061-1073), however, sub- stituted the canons regular of S. Frediano of Lucca, who held it for 270 years, retaining the privilege of choosing from their own number the titular of the church. During the sojourn of the popes at Avignon, Santa Croce was deserted, and almost fell into ruins, a fate which befell many buildings at this time. It was however once more restored by Urban V. about 1370, with money left by two members of the Orsini family for the purpose of erecting a Carthusian monastery in this neighbourhood. Carthusian monks were therefore established in Santa Croce, and these remained until the time of Pius IV. (1559-1566), who removed here the Cistercians of S. Sabba. A portion of the Cistercian monastery is now used as a barrack by the Italian Government. The church retained its primitive basilica form until the pontificate of Benedict XIV., who destroyed the ancient fa9ade and portico, and substituted the present facade and oval vestibule in 1774 from the designs of Passalacque. This Pope also removed part of the hill then existing between S. Croce and the Lateran, which obscured the view from the former, and made it difficult of access. This hill was anciently called Monte Cipolantw, from the garlic and onions grown upon it for the feast of S. Giovanni. Onions, a dish of salt, and a broom- stick, being set outside each door at eleven or twelve o'clock at night on the eve of S. John, June 23, as a protection against the witches believed to be let loose on that day !; MAJOR BASILICAS 141 It is said that Innocent III. (11 98- 12 16) walked in procession barefoot from the Lateran to S. Croce to implore victory against the Saracens. The interior of the church has retained little of its Interior, original form. Some of its ancient columns were en- cased in masonry for greater strength when the new roof was made by Benedict XIV., and only 8, of red and gray Egyptian granite, still remain visible. The vault of the roof is painted by Giacquinto, and the paintings of the apse, representing the discovery and placing in this church of the relic of the true cross, have been attributed to Perugino and Pinturicchio, though on doubtful grounds. In the interior of the portico are 4 granite columns, and 2 of bigio lumachellata. Above the high altar is a baldacchino upon 4 pillars — two oi porta santa, and two of breccia corallina ; beneath is a fine urn of green basalt, containing the relics of SS. Cesareo and Anastasio. The most antique portion of the basilica is the Chapel of chapel of S. Helena in the crypt. This is another S. Helena. Christian monument closed to women, as an inscrip- tion upon the wall states. The vault of this chapel is covered with mosaics, said to date from the Emperor Valentinian III. (425), but much restored and re- touched. They represent Christ between the 4 Evan- gelists, with S. Helena and S. Sylvester. Over the altar a picture by Rubens used to stand, now in England, and replaced by a statue of S. Helena. On either side are statues of Peter and Paul, of the XII. century. The floor of this chapel is said to have been covered with earth brought from Jerusalem by Helena. The ciborium of the high altar of the church is the High work of the great marble carvers, the brothers Sassi, ^\fi^ . whose names appear in an inscription upon it. The nun»- name of Vassalectus has also recently been found. Another interesting inscription upon the sepulchral Inscrip- slab of Benedict VII. (974-983), on the right of the tions. 142 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME entrance, records the misdeeds of the Antipope Boni- face VII., who invaded the Holy See in 974, killed Benedict VI. (972-973), and robbed the treasures of the Vatican basilica. Other interesting and important inscriptions have been attached to the wall in and near the vestibule. The relic of the true cross, which consists of the title written in the three languages, was found walled up in one of the arches of the apse during some restora- tions undertaken by Cardinal Mendoza in 1492. Other relics are preserved in this church, which are shown on Good Friday, on May 3, and in the afternoon of the fourth Sunday in Lent. Here Pope Sylvester II. (Gerbert) died while cele- brating mass in- 1003. The bell tower dates from 1196. Feast days. — Invention of the Cross, May 3 ; Exaltation of the Cross, September 14 ; Dedication of the Chapel of S. Helena, March 20. The Station is on Good Friday, and on the 4th Sunday in Lent. For the account of Helena's finding of the cross, see Part II. of this handbook. THE BASILICA OF s. LOBENZO is one of the 7 founda- tions attributed to Constantine. The itineraries of the VII. century distinguish 2 basilicas — the church at- tributed to Constantine, which, first restored in the middle of the v. century under Sixtus III. at the cost of Galla Placidia, was certainly reconstructed by Pelagius II, (578-590), and was called Basilica Speciosior or Nova ; and the Basilica Maior — mentioned by the Liber Pontificalis in the life of Adrian I. (771-792), and in that of Hilary (461), and clearly indicated by the Salzburg Itinerary in the early VII. century — which was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.* The first church was built in the midst of the * In basilica majove quce appellatur S. Dei Genitricis, qua adharet beat! Laurentii. Lib. Pont., in Adriano. MAJOR BASILICAS 143 cemetery, its level corresponding with that of the lower galleries. A basilica here is mentioned by Prudentius,* while in the most ancient recension of the Liber Ponti- ficahs which ends with the name of Felix IV. (526), Constantine is declared to have been its author. This church ad corpus was small, in order that the cemetery might not be disturbed. The Pelagian reconstruction having taken place some 120 years after the probable date of the Basilica Maior, became thenceforth known as Basilica Nova. Again in the time of Leo IV. (850) we read of the " Basilica sanctae Dei Genitricis Juxta basiUcam S. Laurentii " : and so the two buildings remained di'stinct until the end of the xii. century. The level of the Constantinian basilica of S. Lorenzo was the same as that of the lower part of the church to which we descend to-day ; the door was on the east side, where the sepulchre of Pius IX. is now. The apse of the Pelagian church was back to back with the apse of the v. century church, and there was probably a communication between them. In 1 2 16 Honorius III. constructed the basilica as we now see it by uniting the two churches. The whole basilica was made to open towards the west, and the present portico was erected. This necessitated the destruction of the Pelagian apse, but the upper part remains in the mosaic which decorates the face of the present arch. The first Constantinian church was so buried in the cemetery that the great work of Pelagius consisted in " removing the darkness." He demovit tenebras, we are told, by raising the walls and the floor ; he also added another column each side, thus increasing the space. We see that the bases of these are higher than those of the original columns. Finally he removed a large part of the hill against which the basilica stands, which owing to inundations of the Tiber was in a falling condition and threatened to bury the church. * Lib. De Coronis, Hymn ii. 144 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Portico. Entering the portico of Honorius, which is supported by 6 columns, and has 3 entrances to the basiUca, the paintings round, in a rude style, represent scenes in the life of Laurence, and prodigies which are said to have taken place at his tomb as narrated by Gregory the Great ; as well as the Hfe of the hermit S. Hyacinth. But the paintings of special interest are those which represent, to the left, Honorius HI. bless- ing and communicating Pierre de Courtenay Count d'Auxerre who was crowned Emperor of the East in this basilica by Honorius in 121 7, with his wife lole. These pictures have been recently restored and re- painted. The paintings of the popes above are modern. On the left of the central door is a sarcophagus whith used to stand in the Pelagian church ; the bas-reliefs represent a vintage, and genii are the vine-gatherers. It is believed that this sarcophagus contained the body of Pope Zosimus (417), and then of Damasus H. (1048). The 2 canopied sarcophagi were brought from the cloisters. The posts of the central door rest on lions. (Compare with S. Lorenzo in Lucina, and SS. Giovanni e Paolo.) Nave. The Nave, added by Honorius, is divided from 2 aisles by 22 antique granite and cipollina columns with Ionic capitals. On the 8th column on the right a frog and lizard are sculptured ; this has led to the supposition that this column at least must have been brought from one of the temples in the portico of Octavia. Pliny relates that the architects of these temples, Sauros and Batrachus, asked, as their only reward, to be allowed to inscribe their names on their work. As this was re- fused, they sculped a lizard and frog among the orna- ments, these being the significations of their names. Fragments which are supposed to refer to the naval victory of Actium have been found in the ornamenta- tion near. On either side of the nave, on the wall be- tween the windows, are represented the story of the deacon Stephen and that of the deacon Laurence, by Fracassini. The latter, to the right, is divided into MAJOR BASILICAS 145 four scenes (beginning at the altar end) : (a) S. Laurence gives the goods to the poor ; {h) Laurence shows the Roman officer the "treasure of the church"; (c) his martyrdom ; (i) his burial. The subjects are treated with great beauty and simpHcity. On the left hand of a person entering the church is the cycle of the protomartyr Stephen. Before reaching the tribune there are 2 chapels, right and left ; the latter is cryptal, and reached by stairs ; the former is the chapel of the Sacrament, and has a picture representing Cyriaca recovering the body of Laurence. Two ambones stand in the nave, at the comers of that raised portion which constituted the body of the Pelagian church, but was converted into the tribune by Honorius. The Gospel ambo has 2 flights of steps. Near it stands a candelabrum decorated with mosaic, on a reversed Roman cippus sculptured with birds and olive. This portion of the church is adorned with 10 antique fluted pavonazzetto and white marble columns. The entablature consists of antique sculpture and friezes. We now ascend to the present pyesbyterium, by 7 steps. On the staircase to the right is an inscription of the date 1254 (Alexander IV.), which shows that this portion is later than Honorius. The platform was erected by Honorius half way up the shafts of the fine columns above mentioned ; the aisles were filled in, and have only been again exposed to view and the columns disengaged in this century.-'' The fine entab- lature of these columns supports a gallery, which like that of S. Agnese (the only other instance in Rome) was intended for women ; the men being in the nave below. This gallery is surrounded by smaller columns. In the tribune apse is a marble and mosaic screen, panelled with green and red porphyry ; in the centre, an episcopal chair flanked by mosaic twisted * Early Christian inscriptions and paintings belonging to the cemetery of S. Cyriaca were then found here. 10 146 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME columns. Over the arch, where originally was the apse of the Pelagian basilica, and facing the present apse, is the mosaic placed here by Pelagius ; the Re- deemer is represented between Peter and Paul, with SS. Stephen, Lawrence, Hippolytus, and Pope Pelagius offering the church ; on either side, the mystical cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The pavement is the cosmatesque called " opus alexandnniim." Crypt. If we now descend to the nave, a flight of steps on the left leads to the crypt which formed the vestibule of the Pelagian church ; part of the primitive pavement remains. The Madonna and saints and Sixtus III. are painted in arched niches. The period of the paintings is about the ix. century. The Confession contains the marble sarcophagus of SS. Stephen, whose body was brought here from Constantinople, Laurence, and Justinus. The stone on which the craticula of S. Laurence is said to have been laid is behind a bronze grating. The body of Laurence lies in its original position. The tabernacle of the high altar just above this, is dated 1148, and is therefore earlier than the Honorian church. It was executed by the sons of the XII. century Roman marble worker, Magister Paulus. Tomb of Within the last few years the tomb of Pius IX. has Pius IX. been completed in this portion of the old church. The marble urn, according to his wish, is very simple, but the walls have been magnificently decorated in mosaic ; the arms of the Pope and of all contributors of money (500 francs or more) towards the work, and, by the entrance, the armorials of the religious congregations — " Famiglie Religiose " — are inserted as decoration.* The principal figures are well chosen : Cyriaca the founder of the cemetery ; Laurence the Patron of the basilica ; Francis, who was seen by Innocent III. in • Pius IX. directed that only a small sum— ;^2oo — should be spent on his monument. The work we now see, therefore, is the result of voluntary offerings, and the offerers represent all nations. Over the simple urn is the Good Shepherd ; Stephen and Lau- rence on either hand. To the right S. Joseph, between SS. Francis and Catherine ; to the left, Cyriaca and Agnes. MAJOR BASILICAS 147 a dream upholding the fallen Lateran (typifying the Church) ; Catherine, who brought the popes back to Rome. The crypts of S. Cyriaca were entered from here ; and there are some old marble fragments to be seen. Returning to the entrance of the church, notice on the left the Roman sarcophagus, with sculptures repre- senting a marriage. It is now the tomb of the nephew of Innocent IV., Cardinal dei Fieschi. The ancient east front of the basilica is very inter- esting as affording some idea of the relation of the basilica to the cemetery ; the hill has been cut away so as to leave it exposed. In the cloisters are arranged inscriptions from the catacomb beneath. The present fa9ade of the basilica is painted to imi- tate mosaic ; the figures are Sixtus III., Pelagius II., Adrian I., Honorius III., Pius IX., and Constantine. They are all modern. The basilica with its chapels, small churches, and monasteries, was anciently sur- rounded by a wall, and formed a veritable little town- ship, as in the case of other basilicas. The Visitation of Urban VIII. tells us that it used " ad instar castri circumdatum fuisse," and a large part of the wall reaching to the Via Tiburtina still existed when the Visitation was made. It is very probable that in the iv. century an asci- tarium of virgines sacra, or society of dedicated women, existed near the basilica ; at any rate this was one of the regions where the earliest foundations of religious women were to be found. An inscription discovered here bears these words : ADEODATiE DIGN^ ET MERIT/E VIRGINI QUIESCIT HIC IN PACE JUBENTE XPO EIUS ; that is. To Adeodata, the worthy and justly -deserving virgin. She rests in peace by the will of her Christ. " Adeodata qui riposa in pace per volere del suo Cristo," De Rossi translates ; and points out the identity of meaning with the title of a virgin to-day, " the spouse of Christ." 148 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Near the basilica were found several iv. and v. century inscriptions, one is : QUIESCIT IN PACE PRAETEXTATA (a.D. 464.) VIRGO SACRA DEPOSITA D • VII ID • AUG • CONS • RUSTICI ET OLYBRI. Her name shows that she belonged to the noble Vetti Agori, of whom was Vettius Agorius Praetextatus, the pagan friend of Pope Damasus, to whom he would say : " Make me Bishop of Rome, and I will declare myself a Christian.'" In the vicinity of the basilica was found the tomb of a vir clarissimus, Licentius, whom De Rossi supposes to be the same Licentius beloved by Augustine and commended by him to Paulinus of Nola ; to whom also the latter addressed one of his hymns. " Live, I pray thee, but live to God, for to live to the world is a work of death, the living life is to live to God " {viva est vivere vita Deo). Fragments of two Damasine inscriptions have been found here. In the atrium of the basilica, and not far from the entrance to the Campo Verano, there existed an ancient oratory to SS. Abbondius and Irenaeus. A church of S. Stephen is mentioned by the Liber Pontificalis, and there was also one dedicated to Agapitus. The basilica of S. Lorenzo is now in the care of the Franciscans. Feast day. — August 10. The Station is on the 3rd Sunday in Lent. B. LORENZO. — No figure of the early Church in Rome exceeds in importance that of the martyr Laurentius (Laurence). His blameless life, his awfial martyrdom, and its effect on Roman society, combined to give him in life and in death an extraordinary influence. The " Acts of S. Laurence " were written in the v. century ; but the circumstances there recorded are referred to by the Fathers of the iv. and v. Laurentius was the first among the 7 deacons of Rome, and therefore MAJOR BASILICAS 149 its Archdeacon during the episcopate of Sixtus II. (a.d. 257-258). As such he administered the goods of the Church, and his apprehension on the charge of being a Christian is certainly due in the first instance to cupidity. The Church was known to possess treasure, and Laurentius was asked to give an account of it. He said he would do so, and appeared before the Roman officer, leading a band of the poor with him. " Behold," said he, " the treasure of the Church ; for I have expended its riches on the poor." Upon this Laurence was condemned to die ; and there appears to be little doubt that the great brutality of his martyrdom was due to his having disappointed his tormentors of their spoil. He was condemned to the torture of the burning craticula, or gridiron. But it is said that a few days before his OAvn death he saw his bishop the aged Sixtus being led to death, and thus accosted him : " Where goest thou without thy son, O father ? Whither goest thou forth, holy priest, without thy deacon ? Never hast thou been accustomed to offer the sacrifice without a minister. In what have I dis- pleased my father ? Hast thou found me a degenerate son, to whom thou didst commit the ministration of the Lord's blood?" "I do not leave thee, my son, or desert thee," said Sixtus, " but a still greater warfare for the faith of Christ is reserved to thee. We, as old, have the lightest of the fight, but thou, O youth, wilt more gloriously triumph over the tyrant ; in three days the levite shall follow the priest." The young deacon showed an heroic constancy, which excites our wonder and reverence to-day as it excited a supernatural awe in the men who looked upon him. Laurentius cried, " I adore my God and serve Him only, and therefore I fear not thy torments." It is said that the executioners increased the torment by insulting him with iron prongs. Laurence said to them : " This side is done enough, turn me over." The soldier Hippolytus was standing by, to whom he had I50 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME said " O Hippolytus if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, I will show thee great treasures, and promise thee eternal life." Then praying, " I give Thee thanks, O Lord, that I have been made fit to enter Thy gates !" Gratias tibi ago, Domine, quia januas tuas ingndi merui, he died in that torment. The circumstance that while he was on the revolving gridiron, he continued to deride his carnificers, is nar- rated by Prudentius, as well as in the "Acta." Laurence was interred in her cemetery by Cyriaca. His death is said to have had the largest share, together with that of the martyr Agnes, in promoting the conversion of the noble classes of Roman society. " The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." The feast day of this great saint has a vigil and octave ; and the breviary office for the day has a beauty and appositeness worthy of the blamelessness which called it forth. A prayer for recitation by every priest on returning from the altar runs as follows : Da twbis, quasumus, Domine, vitiorum mstrorum fiammas extinguere, qui heato Laurentio tribuisti tonnentorutn suorum incendia superare. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. '■'■'■ Campo THE CAMPO VEBANO, the cemetery of Rome, lies Santo. over the site of the crypts of Cyriaca. It dates from the first French occupation of the city, and was con- secrated in 1837, though much enlarged since. Ves- pignani designed the gate and Doric portico, and the church in its centre. Over the entrance are inscribed the words from the second book of Maccabees, xii. 46 : " It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins "; and on the other side the verses i Cor. xv. 52, 53. Apocal. xiv. 13. This great cemetery is being enlarged every day * ' ' Grant us power we beseech thee O Lord to extinguish the flame of our passions, who didst make blessed Laurence to over- come the fire of his torments." MAJOR BASILICAS 151 and contains many fine monuments. The form pre- ferred is that of a small oratory, which as the cuhiculum memoricB is a custom of very high antiquity.* A chair or a prie-dieu in these little chambers expresses that sense of remembrance of the dead, which never leaves us in this garden. The chief monuments are in the Portico, and on the so-called " Pincetto," up the steps. Behind the church are the graves of the poor. From November i until November 12 there may be seen an endless stream of carriages on the road which leads to Campo Verano, often filled with wreaths. Even the poor hire cabs to convey them- selves and their flowers to the cemetery. Here the mourners visit their dead, and hear Mass in the chapel or in the basilica. The poor light the little lamps which hang by the simple graves in the large field behind the church, the effect of which as can be imagined is charming. BASILICA OF SANTA AGNESE.— A group of Christian edifices anciently rose over the Cemetery of S. Agnese, of which to-day the ruins alone remain, except in the case of the Mausoleum of Costanza and the BasiHca of S. Agnese. This beautiful little basilica at the second mile of the Via Nomentana, preserves for the most part its early Christian character, and has retained almost unchanged its original arrangement and form. A famous acrostic epigraph, to be read in the ancient codices, lauds the founder, who is there called Con- stantina ; and the Liber Pontificalis calls her the daughter of Constantine.f The initial letters of the acrostic iorm Constantina Deo. * See Catacombs, p. 367, and Chapels, p. 380. t "Fecit . . . basilicam beatse Agnetis Martyris ex rogatu Constantinae filiae suae." She is variously regarded as sister, daughter, or niece of the Emperor ; perhaps the last, if it is really to her we owe the basilica. It may be noted that Agnes and Laurence were venerated in Rome immediately after the two 152 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME During the Arian persecutions Liberius took refuge here, as Boniface did later at S. Fehcita. " Liberius hved in the cemetery of blessed Agnes by Constantine's sister, Constantia Augusta." The church thus founded, according to tradition, at the Constantinian period, A.D, 324, was enlarged by Pope Symmachus a.d. 498- 514, and since then its main form remains unchanged, though Honorius I. also worked on the basilica (630). The church was altered in 1490 by Innocent VIII. Pius IX. thoroughly repaired it (1856), and it is now one of the most exquisite in or near Rome. To him is due the present marble pavement. The basilica was constructed at the level of the martyr's totnb in order that this might not be violated, and lies therefore below the level of the road, being approached by a wide flight of steps. The On the side walls of this staircase are arranged loculi Steps. epitaphs found in the cemetery beneath ; these were placed here in the time of Benedict XIII., having " in the centuries of barbarism" paved the floor of the basiHca! De Rossi added many others from the pavement of S. Costanza. The series includes inscriptions from the origin of Christianity to the xiii. and xiv. centuries, and appertains to all classes of the Christian society, so that we may gain from it an idea of Christian paleo- graphy, epigraphy, and symbolism. Many epitaphs come from the upper area and basilica. A III. century, and perhaps a very early, one has : ANeHPfi KAI lOYAIA ;i; ANTHERUS AND JDLIA. Apostles, and that to Constantine are attributed 4 basilicas in the first days of the peace — those of SS. Peter, Paul, Agnes, and Laurence. MAJOR BASILICAS 153 Another in very badly formed letters is : . . . CKATOLICA . . . . . . MACHEDONI . . . Chatolica Machedoni* Another : AIONYCIA CEMXH CYNBIo) MNIAS XAPIN. [Dionisia Semne coniugi memories gratia.) " To the dear memory of my wife {companion) Dionysia Semne." FELICITATI FILI^ VIRG BENEMERE ENTQUIVIVANN . XI . FIC . PARENT. Felicitati filise virgin! benemerenti qui. viv. ann. xi. fecerunt parentes. Another : MEM E a \N Tl- F f C 1 T VC) ¥i with the Constantinian monogram, 2 birds, and the flowering palm. {He made it to his well deserving wife Hermione.) It is iv. century. The following, of antique diction, belongs to the subterranean cemetery : THrATKITATH MOT eUFATPI BIKTwPIOM HCYXIS. T^ yXi/kittott; ixov dvyarpl BiKTUfKOfi. Eavxi-s- To my beloved daughter Victoria, Hesychius (made it). * An early use of the word Catholic. 154 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME A III. century inscription found near the basilica is : AUR . AGAPETILLA. ANCILLA DEI QUE DORMIT IN PACE VIXIT ANNIS XXI MENSES iii. DIES iiii. PATER FECIT. To the Handmaid of God Aurelia Agapetilla, who sleeps in peace. She lived 21 years, 3 months, 4 days. Her father made it. On an oblong stone occurs a bare equilateral cross, so rare a sign on the loculi : + The series of Christian names which occur here are given in the account of the cemetery of S. Agnese (Chap. X.). The tran- The late French Cardinal Lavigerie, the determined senna. opponent of African slavery, who was titular of S. Agnese, ordered a restoration of this staircase, which is built into the hill under which the sotterranea extend. Among inscriptions, bas-reliefs, and marbles, he found the front part of the pectoral transenna, or low marble chancel rails, which surrounded the presbytery, on which the figure of Agnes as an orante is represented. It is now affixed to the wall with the inscriptions, and is unique as a iv. century representation of her in marble. The name can no longer be traced. On the wall opposite, near the door (right), is the Damasine metrical inscription in her honour, perfectly preserved. This staircase, of 45 marble steps, which was recon- structed by Cardinal Verallo, leads into an interior vestibule which opened on the primitive atrium. We now enter the church from the end of the right aisle. The The basiUca consists of a nave and aisles, with 16 basilica, ancient Corinthian columns : two of these are of the rare portasanta marble, ten of Serravezza breccia, and two of pavonazzetto. Over this is a range of similar smaller MAJOR BASILICAS 155 columns, enclosing a gallery which extends completely round the 3 sides of the church (excluding the tribune), and has its separate entrance on to the Via Nomentana. This was a matronaeum, or part of the church destined for the women only. The apse was decorated with mosaic in the vi. Mosaics century, under Honorius I., and represents S. Agnes of the between Popes Symmachus and Honorius; these have ^P^^' been restored. Agnes is dressed as a Byzantine empress, her robe jewelled, a mitella on her head, and the inscription sca. agnes. The pontiff to the right offers her the church which he holds in his hand ; both wear the striped tunic, chasuble, and pallium, and the head tonsured. Some lines, below, of barbarous dic- tion record the restorations made by these two popes. The, fresco is by Gaghardi. The altar, as in all the old churches, is on a raised platform, hut it faces towards the episcopal chair. The tribune is approached by two flights of steps. The martyr's body lies beneath, under the rich taber- nacle erected by Paul V. (16 14), supported on 4 por- phyry columns. On the altar is a statue of her, the torso of which is ancient, in Oriental alabaster ; the head and hands in bronze gilt were added. The relics were seen in 1605, and then re-enclosed in a silver coffer. By the high altar is an antique marble candelabrum, brought from the cemetery. On the right, after the staircase which leads to the The gallery, are 3 chapels : (i) S. Jerome ; (2) SS. Stephen chapels, and Laurence, with a xv. century bas-relief and a fine inlaid altar ; (3) S. Emerentiana. On the left, extreme (vestibule) end, is the sacristy, which probably served anciently as the baptistery. The entrance to the cemetery comes next, and then 3 chapels, the centre that of the Blessed Sacrament, with an old fresco of the Blessed Virgin and Child. The Acts of S. Agnes and of other martyrs used to adorn the walls of the basilica, the work of xiii. and Exterior. The Canoni- cato. 156 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME XIV. century artists. Mr. E. Stevenson found a descrip- tion of these in the Bibliotheca Pontiana of Naples. To- day, between the windows, are paintings of the virgin martyrs. As we enter by the gateway, there is a building with glass doors on the right of the courtyard. A painting within represents an accident to Pius IX. and those with him, which took place on April 15, 1855. The floor of a room gave way, and the Pope fell into a cellar below, but was unhurt. The building on the right of the gate is the Canonicato, or Canon's house. On the first floor are some now ruinous frescoes of 1454, with an Annunciation. They were drawn by Seroux d'Agincourt. Recently, other frescoes have been found representing the Crucifixion. From the ly. century consecrated virgins lived near the cemetery of S. Agnese ; and their inscriptions have been found on the site. The basilica is at present served by the Canons Regular of the Lateran. Ceremony On the martyr's feast day January 21, the ceremony of blessing of blessing 2 lambs takes place.* These lambs are lambs. p^j^j yearly by the basilica to the Lateran canons, who present them to the Pope. They are afterwards kept by the nuns of the monastery of S. Cecilia, who tend and feed them till the octave of Easter, after which they make their wool into the archiepiscopal /a/Zwi "da consecrare il papa e li archiepiscopi." A document in the archives of S. Pietro in Vincoli, dated 1550, states that on January 21 the frati of that church gave the solito censo (usual tax) of 2 lambs to the White Canons of S. John Lateran. In the same document the origin of the tribute is said to be that Constantia dowered the basilica and monastery of S. Agnes with many privileges, and as it was in feud to la prima Chiesa del Mondo (S. John Lateran), it paid in recognition of this 2 lambs yearly to the chapter of the basilica. * Agnes, Agnus, a lamb. MAJOR BASILICAS 157 Immediately the celebrant has finished mass, the two lambs are carried from the sacristy to the high altar, tied with coloured silk ribbons in baskets, and are blessed with holy water and incense. Then they are carried up the staircase and borne away to S. Cecilia in Trastevere. As we leave the city gate on our way to the New basilica, immediately to the right is a newly erected church church belonging to the nuns of the Perpetual Adora- '^,\^^ tion, founded by the Belgian, Madame de Meuss. patrizi. These nuns provide poor churches with the necessary furniture. This church is on the site of the aticient basilica of S. Nicomede, visited by pilgrims in the vi. and VII. centuries, and built perhaps in the iv." Feast day. — January 21. (For S. Agnes, see p. 165.) 8. COSTANZA, near the basilica of S. Agnes and at the extreme end of the cemetery which runs beneath, has long been believed to be a temple of Bacchus. It is a beautiful circular building, 73 feet across, with doubled columns supporting a dome. Outside the columns is a circular aisle decorated with splendid mosaics, representing scenes from the vintage, birds, and genii. These are of the iv. century, among the earUest in Rome. The sheep and the pail of milk should be specially noticed, as some of the most ancient of all Christian symbols. S. Costanza is now known to have been built as the mausoleum of Con- stantine's two kinswomen, Constantia and Helena.! P. Garrucci found in the library of the Escurial the designs for the mosaics of the cupola, destroyed in the XV. century. These included scenes from the book of Genesis, with the sacrifice of Abel — and • See Chap. II. t A lady named Constantina is called the founder of the basilica of S. Agnes, and is identified by the Lib. Pont, with the Emperor's daughter. 158 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME some fishing scenes. In the principal recess in the building figured the Constantinian monogram. The large red porphyry sarcophagus, now in the Vatican Museo Pio-Clementitw, comes from this building, and a painting representing it has been placed in situ. At the Vatican it stands opposite the twin sarcophagus of the Empress Helena, brought from her mausoleum at Tor Pignattara. Both are of the fine Roman work of Constantine's time. The rude mosaics in the minor apses, representing the Almighty giving the Law to Moses, and Christ giving the Law to Peter, with the accompanying festoons, are perhaps as late as the VIII. century. The columns are from ancient build- ings, and have rich capitals. S. Costanza was consecrated as a church by Alexander IV. (1254-1261). Feast day. — -February 25. coNSTANTiA the daughter of Constantine, was married to Aniballianus, and secondly to Gallus Caesar. A. Marcellinus describes the latter princess as wicked : it is from the Acts of S. Agnes that we hear of her as a saintly virgin consecrated to God. As such, she has been honoured from the xiii. century, when the church was dedicated to her. It appears probable that a really holy woman called Constantina founded the basilica as the inscription informs us, and that her fame was in later times transferred to the unworthy daughter of Constantine ;'■' others assert that this Con- stantia was niece to the Emperor, and lived privately in this imperial retreat. * Bottari. Duchesne, Liber Pont., note 80. CHAPTER VIII. The Churches in Rome — Their titular saints — Emblems of the saints in art — Shrines and rooms of saints — The Ghetto and Trastevere. There are 352 churches chapels and oratories in Rome, including the 4 great basilicas outside the walls. 52 of these are parish churches, 24 being ad- ministered by secular, and 28 by regular clergy. Of the remaining 300 churches, about 68='' are monastic, while 22 are attached to different seminaries for the education of boys for the priesthood. The other 200 consist of those ancient titles no longer reckoned among parish churches, foundations due to the old guilds or to private initiative, the national churches, and those built by the many religious congregations which have arisen since the xvi. century. The national churches, which were in the first instance attached to hospices for foreign pilgrims, are in some cases very ancient foundations. Among the earliest was the hospice and church of the Anglo- Saxons, f The following are the national churches still in existence : Of the French : S. Luigi dei Francesi. National Germans : S. Maria dell' Anima. churches. Spanish: S. Maria di Monserrato. Portuguese: S. Antonio dei Portoghesi. Belgians : S. Giuliano dei Fiamminghi. Poles : S. Stanislao de' Polacchi. Slavs : S. Girolamo degU Schiavoni. * 26 of these are convents of women, 42 of men. t See p. 63. i6o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Parochial churches. Secular parish churches. Of the Armenians : S. Biagio in Via Giulia. Abyssinians: S. Stefano degl' Abissini. ,, Neapolitans: S. Spirito dei Napolitani. ,, Sicilians: S. Maria di Costantinopoli. Lombards: S. Carlo al Corso. Bolognese: SS. Petronio e Giovanni. Genoese: S. Giovanni dei Genovesi. Florentines: S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini. „ Calabresi : S. Francesco di Paola. ,, Bergamese : S. Maria della Pieta, Piazza Colonna. Lucchesi : S. Croce e Bonaventura. ,, Siennese : S. Caterina in Via Giulia. ,, Camerinesi : S. Venanzio. Savoyards and Piedmontese : SS. Sudario. ,, Burgundians: S. Claudio. Lorrainese: S. Niccolo in Agone. Bretons : S. Ivo. The parish churches of Rome are of two kinds — secular and regular. The secular are administered by secular clergy, with the parish priest''- (curato) at their head; the regular by "regulars" of religious orders, one member of which, not the superior, is appointed Padre curato. The following is the list of the parishes in Rome administered by secular clergy, twenty-five in number : SS. Celso e Giuliano. S. Tommaso in Parione. S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini. S. Caterina della Rota. S. Maria dei Monti. S. Giacomo in Augusta. S. Rocco. S. Salvatore in Lauro. S. Lucia del Gonfalone. S. Spirito in Sassia. SS. Vitale, GervasioeProtasio. S. Maria della Divina Prov- videnza, al Testaccio. The Apostolic Palaces. S. John Lateran. S. Peter's. S. Maria Maggiore. S. Lorenzo in Damaso. S. Maria in Trastevere. S. Maria in Cosmedin. S. Marco. S. Eustachio. S. Nicola in Carcere. S. Maria in Via Lata. S. Angelo in Pescheria. S. Eusebio. * The parish priests of Rome receive a stipend, called their congrua, of 3,000 lire a year. Besides this, they have what Italians call the stola bianca and the siola nera, i.e., the sums paid for baptisms and marriages, and for burials. For the first of these there is no charge fixed, and the amounts given in the other cases much depend on the means and will of the families concerned. There are still, however, in Italy some 1,300 parishes where the priest receives less than 800 francs a year. THE CHURCHES IN ROME i6i The following are secular suburban parishes : S. Maria del Carmine e S. Giuseppe. SS. Marcellino e Pietro a Torre Pignattara. Suburban secular churches. The following is the list of the regular parish churches of Rome, 24 in number : S. Lorenzo in Lucina, administered by Minor Observants (Fran- Regular Servites. ciscans). parishes S. Marcello, S. Maria in Via, SS. XII. Apostoli, S. Martino ai Monti, S. Maria sopra Minerva, S. Bartolomeo all' Isola, S. Crisogono, S. Agostino, SS. Quirico e Giulitta, S. Maria del Popolo, S. Maria in Campitelli, S Maria Traspontina, SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio a Trevi, S. Maria in Aquiro, S. Andrea delle Fratte, S. Carlo a Catinari, S. Maria in Monticelli, S. Salvatore della Corte, S. Dorotea, S. Bernardo alle Terme, S. Maria Maddalena, SS. Cosma e Damiano, SS. Cuore di Gesu al Castro Pretorio, ,, Servites. ,, Minor Conventuals. ,, Carmelites. ,, Dominicans. ,, Minor Observants. ,, Discalced Trinitarians. ,, Augustinians. ,, Dominicans. ,, Augustinians. ,, Clerks Regular of the Mother of God. ,, Carmelites. ,, Clerks Regular of the Ministersof the Infirm. ,, Somaschi Fathers. ,, Minimites. ,, Bamabites. ,, Doctrinarians ,, Minimites. ,, Minor Conventuals. ,, Cistercians. ,, Clerks Regular of the Ministersof the Infirm. ,, Fathers of the Third Order of S. Francis. ,. Salesians. Suburban churches with regular clergy are as Suburban follows : regular S. Paolo Fuori, administered by Benedictines of Monte Cassino. P^"^ S. Lorenzo Fuori, ,, ,, Minor Capuchins. S. Agnese Fuori, ,, ,, Canons Regular of the Lateran. S. Sebastiano Fuori, ,, ,, Minor Observants. S. Francesco a Monte Mario,* ,, ,, Jeromites. S. Maria del Rosario, „ ,, Dominicans. S.Maria alle Fornaci, ,, ,, Discalced Trinitarians. • S. Onofrio in Campagna. i62 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME S. ABBIANO^i' in the Roman Forum was also known as S. Adriano in tribiis foris like many churches in this area, from its position upon the limits of the three fora of Caesar Augustus and Rome. It was built, says the Liber PontificaHs, by Pope Honorius I. (625-640). The original building was no doubt at a lower level — at that of the Forum itself. A fragment of a column from this church has been preserved in the Lateran museum, bearing an inscription to the effect that those attempting to injure the church of S. Adriano will be anathema. In 121 3 the relics of SS. Nereus and Achilleus were removed to this church, which was completely restored by Gregory IX. in 1228. This restoration is recorded in an inscription, and another states that at the same time the relics of SS. Marius, Martha and Adrian, and of the "Three Children," were discovered. Adrian I. converted the church into a diaconate and presented to it rich gifts, vineyards, and olive gardens. Being deserted, it was transferred to the Spanish " Fathers of the Order of Mercy" in 1589, and the church was in such a state of neglect at this time that grass grew among its paving-stones. S. Adriano is still in the hands of the Spanish Fathers of Mercy. Its interior is plain and bare. It contains some pavement-tombs of members of the order. It is seldom open. Feast day. — September 8. 8. ADKiAH was a noble Roman youth, son of Probus, and the husband of a beautiful woman Natalia, who was secretly a Christian. He served under the Emperor Galerius Maximian in the persecutions of the Christians in Nicomedia in 290. On one occasion it was his duty to superintend the torture of thirty-four victims, and suddenly touched by their heroism and constancy, Adrian threw away his arms and called aloud that he * In describing interiors of churches the follomng order is observed : i. Chapels of right (facing high altar) aisle. 2. Tribune, transepts, etc. 3. Chapels of left aisle in returning order, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, etc. THE CHURCHES IN ROME 163 too would be a Christian. Thrown into prison, and subjected to various persecutions, he was sustained and encouraged by his wife, Adrian was sentenced to have his Hmbs smitten off on an anvil, and during this .torture Natalia held and comforted him until he died in her arms. Natalia fled to Constantinople, and soon after died. S. Adrian is represented in art as a Roman soldier, with an anvil at his feet or in his hand ; some- times a lion is beside him as an emblem of fortitude. S. AGNESE in Piazza Navona (Circo Agonale) on the site of the Stadium of Domitian. This church is built on the traditional site where the martyr S. Agnes was exposed, and the tradition agrees well with what we know of the ancient topography of Rome. This Ancient was the IX. Flaminian region of the city, and in topo- A.D. 64 Nero had increased the great baths of Agrippa S^apny. (Pantheon) towards the west. They were again ex- tended by Alexander Severus (222-235) ^^ ^^^ ^^ the present Piazza Navona. Tacitus says that Nero also built a gymnasium. It is certain that Domitian trans- formed this gymnasium into a stadium a few years later. Remains of the stadium have been found in the crypt The Sta- of this church and beneath the-^adjacent houses, and dium. the topography is rendered clearer by the retention of the name agone (a place for public games) for this piazza. That the stadium of Domitian was in fact situated here, adds force to the story preserved in the martyr- ologies. It is known that lupanaria were to be found round the stadia. When Severus increased the baths he restored this stadium,'" which would therefore have begun to take its part in the popular life of the Romans a few years before Agnes's torment and death. S. Agnese in Agone, as it was anciently styled, or The old oratorio in Cryptis Agonis, v,'a.s originally a small oratory church, probably occupying the site of the present sacristy. It is alluded to in a Bull of Urban II. (1088). Cal- • It has been therefore known also as Stadium Alexandrinum, Alexander's Stadium. II — 2 The present church (exterior). The obeHsk. Interior. 164 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME listus II. amplified it, and dedicated it in 1123. The front was then on the opposite side, the old " Via di S. Agnese," with a small door on the Piazza Navona. The church was affiliated to S. Lorenzo in Damaso. In the XIV. century it was a parish church, and here . in 1384 was baptized Francesca Bussa afterwards S. Francesca Romana, whose paternal house was opposite the church. The present building is in the form of a Greek cross, and was rebuilt in 1642 by the Pamfili family, losing then its original form. The late Prince Doria Pamfili restored it. It is considered to be the best work of its architect Rainaldi. The fa9ade and cupola are the work of Borromini ; and there is an amusing story told of him and the sculptor Bernini, who was engaged on the fountain in front of the church. Bernini has made the figure nearest Borromini's cupola hold up his hand as if to ward off" a prospective crash, or to hide the unsightly thing from view. It is said that when Borro- mini saw it, it gave him an illness, and he never got over his mortification. The obelisk which now faces the church was placed there by Innocent X., who brought it from the Circus of Maximus on the Via Appia. It is not one of the Egyptian trophies imported by the emperors, but is an imitation column worked in Rome. It stood originally in the Flavian Emperor Domitian's villa at Albano. It was this Emperor's Christian descendant Constantine, who founded the basilica of S. Agnes on the Nomentana, and by an odd coincidence this Flavian obelisk has found its way to the Flavian stadium to honour the same martyr. On entering the church we read in large letters round the dome : " Ingressa Agnes turpitudinis locum Angelum Domini praeparatum invenit." — "When Agnes came into the place of shame, she found the angel of the Lord whom He had prepared." The painting of the dome is by Ciro Ferri and Corbellini, the lunettes by Baciccio. The church is THE CHURCHES IN ROME 165 rich with marbles, and has 8 columns of red cotanella. On the right as we enter is a bas-relief represent- ing the death of S. Alexis (p. 175) by Rossi; next, forming one arm of the cross, is the chapel of S. Agnes, the statue of the saint by Ferrata. Next to this, an alto-relievo, representing the martyrdom of S. Emeren- tiana, is also by Ercole Ferrata. The large rehef over the high altar, representing the Madonna and S. Anna, is by Guidi. On the other side of this is the mar- tyrdom of S. CeciHa by A. Raggi, Pope Urban I. being represented as present (p. 212). The arm of the cross corresponding to the chapel of S. Agnese forms that of S. Sebastian, with a statue of the martyr by Paolo Campi. The alto-relievo next to this, and near the entrance, is by Ferrata and Caffa, and re- presents S. Eustachius in the amphitheatre among the wild beasts. Over the entrance is Maini's monument to the Pamfili pope. Innocent X. A door near the chapel of S. Cecilia leads to the sepulchral chapel of Mary Talbot, Princess Doria, obiit 1857. Attached to the church is the Pamfili College and the palace erected for his family by Innocent. The sotterraneo of the church — the site of the ex- Thesot- posure of S. Agnes — is entered from the door to the terraneo. right of S. Agnes's chapel. It has been newly decor- ated. At the first altar a marble relief represents her as shielded by her hair. Feast day. — January 21.* 8. AGNES is one of the most celebrated martyrs not Story of only of the Roman, but of the Universal Church. S- Agnes. She is placed almost with the Apostles, and, with S. Laurence, was regarded as co-operating with them in the conversion of Rome. The conversion of the Roman aristocracy is ascribed to her, and the liturgical books of both East and West celebrate her glory. In the very earliest art Agnes is portrayed effigied * About 3.30 p.m. on the 20th and 21st there are solemn vespers ; and High Mass on the feast day. The sotterranea are lighted up. i66 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME with the Apostles, and with S. Laurence, and often appearing as the principal figure, with her name over her head, and Peter and Paul below her.* Her bio- Agnes's parents, as alleged, wrote the account of her graphers. passion ; and Prudentius, visiting the Roman catacombs at the end of the iv. or beginning of the v. century, writes her story in verse. In the iv. century Jerome tells us that Agnes's renown was spread among all nations, hymns and homilies having been composed in all tongues in her honour. Ambrose speaks of' her with great veneration ; Martin of Tours tells her story, and so does Augustine. The The story of S. Agnes is found in the so-called " Acta." " Ambrosian Acts," which have been erroneously attri- buted to Ambrose of Milan. The compiler tells us that his information is obtained from voluminous existing sources, and the probability is that a monk called Ambrose re- wrote the acts in the vi. century. The " Acts of the Martyrs" cannot be regarded as authentic or primitive in the form in which they have reached us ; only genuine fragments may be expected. Round the story of S. Agnese fresh legends have grown up, as in other cases, but in this instance we have internal evidence of the genuineness of the main record, drawn from the allusions to the social and political circumstances of the age. It has been commonly believed that her story was a IV. century record of events which took place at the end of the in., in the persecution of Diocletian. It is, in fact, a vi. century recension of events, of which a contemporaneous record existed, happening during the persecution of Valerian (258), The "Acts" tell us that the name of the Prefect under whom Agnes suffered was Aspasius, and this * Nothing better emphasises the important place occupied in the early Christianising of Rome, not only by her celebrated martyrs — for Peter and Paul were such — but by her women martyrs, than these representations : not only do we find the great Agnes so portrayed, but S. Pelegrina appears orante-wise as the central figure, and the Apostles as her escort. THE CHURCHES IN ROME 167 is the name of the Prefect of Rome during the Valerian persecution, a.d. 257-258. She was mar- tyred, we learn, during a great persecution ; and the primitive names agellus and pradium, are used for her burial-place. But incidentally these names tell us Her much more : the large cemetery on the Via Nomen- family tana, venerable to Christians from the earliest times, '^^•i"^. has been called since the viii. century " S. Agnese." But it is not here that Agnes lies, but in the smaller catacomb close at hand. There must have been some reason for this, and the expressions " her ground," " her field," supply the clue. The term agellus commonly signifies a family burial place, and S. Agnes was most probably a member of the Gens Claudia, to whom this little catacomb has been shown to belong. Her own Her own name is found variously spelt ; Damasus tells us her name, name was AGNE.* It is really Greek in origin, de- riving from AFNH — Hague, pure. Ambrose writes : "As it seems to me, it was not the name of men, but rather a prophecy of martyrdom, indicating what was to be." {Agnus, lamb.) Before her martyrdom Agnes was taken to a place Her mar- of shame. We know that this brutal punishment was tyrdom. in use, and Tertullian says that the Christian feared more to be exposed in the lupanaria, than to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre. But when Agnes entered the place of iniquity " the angel of the Lord entered with her ;" and when she was exposed, her hair became as a veil and covered her: After this, con- tinuing openly and without fear to profess herself a Christian, she was thrown on a pile of lighted faggots, and then killed with a sword : " looking steadfastly to heaven, she yielded up her pure spirit, and fell bathed in blood." That evening a procession left the Porta Collina, with torches, and hymns ; it was the Christians bearing the martyr's body to her ground on the Via Nomentana, accompanied by her parents, and by Emerentiana her faithful foster-sister. The * See Catacomb Agnese, Chap. X. i68 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME " Acts " tell us that Agnes had been sought in marriage by a Roman youth, the son of the Prefect Aspasius, and her refusal on the ground that she had conse- crated her life to virginity, led to her martyrdom. Her office. The matins of S. Agnese, like those of S. Laurence, do not, as is usual, describe her history and death : in both cases it seems too well known for the Roman Church to reiterate it." Instead, we have lections from S. Ambrose's book, " De Virginibus," where he speaks of Agnes ; and the responsaries and.antiphons again and again repeat the well known words and phrases of her story, interchanged with apposite hymnody from the sacred Scriptures : — Blessed Agnes stretched forth her hands in the midst of the flames, and prayed: " Almighty adorable worshipable dread Father, I bless Thee because by Thy holy Son I have escaped the menaces of the tyrant, and by a narrow and clean foot-track have passed over the filthiness of the flesh : and behold I come to Thee, whom I have loved, whom I have sought, whom I have always desired." Rejoice together with me, and be ye glad, since I have received seats of light with all these blessed. Her After those of the two Apostles no festival has been memory, kept in Rome with greater solemnity than that of S. Agnes, f In art. In art she is represented as quite a girl — she is said to have been only 13 or 15 — and she carries a lamh, her emblem, and the palm of martyrdom. She is richly dressed, and often crowned. S. AGATA DEI GOTI in Via de' Mazzarini upon the slopes of the Quirinal Hill. In the vi. century this church was called degli Ariani, "of the Arians." It is now the chapel of the College foj Irish Semin- arists. The original edifice is said to have been founded about 460 by Ricimer the Goth, who certainly • For the formation of the Sanctoral office, see Part II., ch. hi. t Armelhni, Cimitero di S. Agnese. THE CHURCHES IN ROME 169 adorned the apse with mosaics, which with Ricimer's inscription "perished barbarously" when the church was restored in 1589. A painted copy is preserved in the Vatican Library. When Rome was occupied by the Goths, they possessed themselves of S. Agata as their national church, and hence the name "of the Arians." In 593 Gregory the Great restored it to Catholic worship, dedicating it to S. Agata, In the viii. century there was a monastery annexed, which under Alexander VIII. was possessed by the Benedictines of Monte Vergine. The present church dates from 1633. Nothing remains of the ancient building. The aisles are separated from the nave by 12 ancient columns of gray granite with Ionic capitals, 6 on each side. The chapel at the end of the .right aisle is dedicated to S. Agata. The monument to Daniel O'Connell who bequeathed his heart to this church, is on the left of the principal entrance ; it was executed in 1856 by Benzoni. The bas-relief represents him at the Bar of the House of Commons refusing to sign the Declara- tion. To the right is the monument to Lascaris, the Greek refugee, who fled to Italy on the fall of Con- stantinople, and thus became a chief means of the introduction of Greek literature into \\'estern Europe. There is also a monument in cinquecento style to the Spanish Cardinal, Mario y Catalan. Feast day. — February 5. 8. ASATHA of Catania in Sicily, was desired for her s. Agatha, beauty by Quintianus the Praetor, who delivered her to Aphrodisia and her nine abandoned daughters to make her compliant to his will. Aphrodisia returning to Quintianus, told him that the sword at his side should sooner become like liquid lead and the rocks flow like water than Agatha be moved. Quintianus then gave her the choice of sacrificing to the gods or undergoing torture. Agatha not hesitating, I70 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME she was beaten with rods, and three days later, being found in the same constancy, her breasts were torn from her bosom. That night there came into her dungeon a venerable old man, and placing ointment on her sores, restored her breasts. Agatha believed she had been visited and healed by the Apostle Peter. She was then ordered to be burnt, and was led back half dead ; when praying that she might be taken, she passed immediately away. The event takes place during the persecution of Decius (249). S. Agatha is represented with a dish on which are placed her breasts, and with the martyr's palm ; some- times she bears the shears used in her torture. Usually she wears a long veil, in allusion to the legend that at the eruption of Mount Etna a year after her martyr- dom. Christians and pagans alike took her silken veil which lay upon her tomb, ^.nd went forth in procession towards the molten lake of fire, and " it pleased God that by the virtue of this sacred relic the fire was turned aside, the mountain ceased to roar, and there was calm." S. AGOSTINO, in the piazza of the same name, is the first and only church in Rome dedicated to the great African Bishop. It was built in 1483-84 at the expense of Cardinal d'Estouteville, Ambassador of France, by the Florentine architect Baccio Pintelli, and upon the site of an earlier chapel with the same dedica- tion. The church is in the form of a Latin cross, and was the first built in Rome with a dome. Its fa9ade con- sists of travertine taken from among the ruins of the Colosseum. The style of this church shows traces of Gothic influence. The interior consists of a nave divided from the aisles by 5 piers on each side, faced with coloured marbles. The pointed roof is of the XV. century. On the third pillar to the left is the fresco of Isaiah with two angels holding a scroll, by Raphael (Isa. xxvi. 2). It is supposed to have been THE CHURCHES IN ROME 171 painted in 15 12, when he was much influenced by Michael Angelo's frescoes in the Sistine, Fifty scudi, or £10, were asked by Raphael for the work, and this price, says Vasari, was thought so high by the monks of S. Agostino that no further work was given him. The painting has been rnuch retouched by Volterra, and injured by cleaning under Paul IV. The pilasters are decorated with subjects from the Scriptures, and from the lives of S. Augustine and S. Monica. On the roof are the prophets, by Gagliardi. Chapels. — I. on right : Here is a S. Catherine by Venusti, formerly in the church of Loreto. II. on right : A copy by Nucci of the lost Madonna della Rosa by Raphael. IV. on right : Painting of Christ delivering the keys to Peter, by Cotignola. V. on right : Contains a monument to Honuphrius Panvinius, ob. 1568, the Augustinian whom Baronius thought more fit than himself to write the annals. In the right transept is an altar-piece of S. Augus- tine between John the Baptist and Paul the Hermit, by Guercino. The high altar and the angels were designed by Bernini. Above it is a Greek painting of the Madonna, brought from Constantinople shortly after it fell into the hands of Mahomet II. In the lunette of the apse is a fresco of Adam and Eve by Gagliardi. At the extremity of the left transept lies the body of S. Monica in an urn of " verde antico," brought here from Ostia in 1482. The altar-piece is by Gothardi, the marble group of S. Thomas of Villanova by Ercole Ferrata. IV. chapel on left : Contains an altar-piece of S. Apollonia attributed to Volterra. II. on left : Contains a well-known marble group of the Madonna with the Child and S. Anna, to which the Romans used to attach sonnets and poetical com- positions, the work of Andrea Contucci da Monte San- sovino. 172 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME In I. on left : A Madonna of Loreto by Caravaggio. To the right of the main entrance is a celebrated statue of the Madonna and Child, by Jacopo Tatti da Sansovino, highly venerated by the Roman people, and covered with votive offerings. S. Philip Neri was in the habit of coming constantly to pray in the chapel of the Crucifix in this church. The antiquary Maliani, Cardinal Norris, ob. 1704, the litterateur Massimiliano Sarti, and Cardinal Angelo Rocca, the founder in 1605 of the adjoining library (Angelica) which bears his name, are buried in this church. It was restored in 1740 by Vanvitelli, though for- tunately the roof and fa9ade were left untouched. It has again been recently decorated in a gay and tasteless manner. Feast day. — August 28. The Station is on the ist Saturday in Lent. AusELius AUGTTSTnnjs is, of the four Latin Fathers, the one who had least connection with Rome. The most famous theologian of the West, he was born at Tagaste, in Numidia, a.d. 354, his mother Monica being a Christian, his father Patricius a pagan of a violent and passionate character. The most interesting event in his life was his conversion at the age of thirty- three. In his youth he had taught rhetoric, and it was the reading of Cicero's Hortensius in 373 which dis- gusted him with his immoral way of life. He joined the Manichaeans, but was always repelled by that arid system. His mother who spent her life in works of charity and in praying for him, eventually found her way from Africa to Milan ; where the great Ambrose would comfort her, saying : " The son of so many tears can never be lost." Augustine here became a catechu- men, and attended the preaching of Ambrose. At length after a terrible struggle with himself in a garden, during which he heard the words " ToUe, lege," repeated, he opened the Epistle to the Romans, which he had been reading, and lighted on a passage which THE CHURCHES IN ROME 173 decided him. He was baptized by Ambrose in his mother's presence, a.d. 387. In 391 he was made a priest, and in 396 bishop, being eventually given the diocese of Hippo near Carthage ; this he would not leave, and constantly refused any other dignity. Here, when he had nothing else to give, he sold the sacred vessels to feed the poor. Though Augustine had no profound theological acquirements, it is as a theologian that he used his splendid talents in the cause of Christianity. The doctrine by which he is best known being that of pre- destination to salvation, which he however guarded. To his opponents he was no more disposed to be fair than other disputants of his time ; and his credulity, to judge from his writings, was unbounded. In intelli- gence he was both subtle and puerile, in character pious and scrupulous, and of strong religious feeling which no doubt was the main element in his conver- sion to Christianity. His imagination was ardent, and he dreaded being led away by his senses. During the 35 years of his episcopate he wrote, among a multitude of works, the De Civitate Dei, finished in 426, a discourse on the Trinity, De Beatd Vita, De Gratia Christi, De Peccato Originali, De Utilitate Credendi, and the Confessions. S. ALE8SI0 ON THE AVENTINE Roman tradition gives a great antiquity to this church, and affirms that it was founded in the house of Euphemianus father of Alessio, in the iv. century. There is a similar legend about these two saints in the East, The site is supposed to be that of the Armilustrum of the Romans. The church was originally called S. Boniface, and the name of S. Alessio does not appear with that of S. Boniface before the close of the X. century.''' Now, the names are reversed, and the church is called SS. Alessio and Bonifacio. In 977 * It is said the original title was: Oratory of S. Aglae and S. Boniface. 174 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Benedict VII. ceded it to the Greek Metropolitan Sergius, who had fled to Rome from his Damascus bishopric to escape the Arab persecutions ; and he founded close to it a large monastery partly for Basilian monks, and partly for Roman Benedictines, of which he became the first Abbot. This monastery became the home of a series of distinguished men. In 1217 the church was reconsecrated by Honorius III., to receive the relics of S. Alessio. From the xii. cen- tury the original monastery was divided into two, one portion called S. Boniface, the other S. Maria, now the Priorato of Malta ; but the Benedictines retained possession of the church till 1231, when Gregory IX. gave it and the monastery to the Pre- monstratensians. In 1431 they passed to the Jero- mites, who restored and altered the church. Now it belongs to the Somaschi Fathers, and attached to it is an institution for the blind. The campanile is of the xii. or xiii. century, but the church was modernized in 1750, and again recently. Adelbert, apostle of the Bohemians, Gau- denzius his brother, Boniface apostle of South Russia, and S. Anastasius are buried in this church, which was called by Baronius " domicilium sanctorum." In 1849 the Roman batteries were placed on the piazza in front to bombard the French on the opposite side of the Tiber. A French bomb came through the roof of the passage leading to the sacristy, and just escaped injur- ing the fine tomb by Murena, of Cardinal di Bagno, ob. 1 64 1, which stands there. S. Alessio was declared a Cardinal's titular church by Sixtus V. It is rarely open except on its feast day, July 17. The interior contains two fine columns decorated with mosaic by Jacobus Cosma, belonging to an episcopal chair, the one remaining of nineteen which stood together. The north aisle contains a well and wooden staircase, said to have belonged to the house of Euphemianus. Feast day. — July 17. THE CHURCHES IN ROME 175 s. ALEXIS (ALEssio). — According to the legend, this saint was the son of Euphemianus, and being the subject of a special call, left his home on the day of his marriage and travelled for seventeen years among all the churches, unknown. He returns to Rome and seeks alms at his parents' door, who are filled with pity saying " Perhaps our son is now a wanderer and in need, as this poor man." He lives as a beggar, fed by his parents and despised by the servants, for seventeen years more, soli Deo notus, known only to God. Here he is found one day dead, under the stairs of the palace, and on him is discovered a writing declaring his name, and re- counting all his life. He is represented old and worn, in pilgrim's habit. He is the patron of beggars and of pilgrims. S. ANASTASIA at the base of the Palatine, is an ancient titular church of unknown origin. Its priests are mentioned as early as 492 as subscribing to a synod held in Rome under Pope Gelasius, and it is there described as S. Anastasias suh Palatio. It is said, but without foun- dation, that S. Jerome was a priest of this church, and also that he lived in the vicinity ; an enamelled chalice is shown with which the saint is supposed to have celebrated mass. According to tradition the church was erected in the house of Publius, husband of Anastasia, and of her father Praetextatus. It origin- ally stood upon raised ground, and was approached by 20 steps, upon which were placed seats. It was restored by Innocent III. in 12 10, by Sixtus IV. in 1475, and remained in its primitive form till 1626, when Urban VIII. reconstructed its fa9ade and re- built the church. It stands upon ancient structures connected with the Circus Maximus, and with Roma Quadrata, and it still contains some fine fluted columns of pavonazzetto marble, built into the nave pilasters, which are said to come from the temple of Neptune on the Palatine. S. Anastasia is mentioned several times in the Liber 176 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Pontificalis. Leo the Great recited here a homily against Eutyches in the mass on Christmas morning, and it was the custom for the popes to celebrate the second of the three Christmas Masses in this church. In old documents it is stated that six canons were attached to the church, drawing stipends of 60 ducats annually. The altars are dedicated to the Madonna, to S. Anastasia, and to S. Jerome. In the left transept is the monument of Cardinal Mai, titular of the church ; and under the high altar a statue of the patron saint by Ercole Ferrata. In 16 15 a confraternity of tailors and cloakmakers was attached to the church. Up to 1628 traces of frescoes still remained in the 4:ribune. Feast day. — December 25. The Station is on the ist Tuesday in Lent. s. AMA8TA8IA. — This martyr is said to have been a noble Roman, burnt during the persecution of Diocletian, a.d. 304. Professing the Christian faith she was persecuted by her husband and kinsmen, but aided and encouraged by S, Crisogono. These events are not supposed to have taken place in Rome, but in Illyria ; although tradition tells us that Anastasia's friend Apollina buried her in her garden by the Circus Maximus, under the Palatine. Her church there was one of the most important in Rome in Jerome's day. (See Christmas Day, Part II. of the Handbook.) S. ANDREA. DELLE FRATTE, or inter hortos. The region on the slopes of the Pincian, the hill of gardens of ancient Rome, was called in the middle ages Inter Hortos, and hence the name of an ancient church which stood upon or near the site of the present one. The name della Fratta "of the shambles" occurs first in the XV. century, when the church was also called " ad caput domortim," an appellation which survives in the name of the neighbouring street of " Capo le Case." THE CHURCHES IN ROME 177 The church of S. Andrea originally belonged to some Augustinian nuns, then passed into the possession of the Scotch nation until the Reformation. After that time till 1574 it was possessed by a confraternity who annexed to it a hospice for lodging the poor gratuitously. In 1585 Sixtus V. gave it to the Minimite order who still possess it. The old church was entirely de- molished and the present one built in 161 2 at the ex- pense of the Marchese del Bufalo, whose palace was situated in its vicinity. It was designed by Padre Guerra, an Oratorian, and completed by Borromini, who also built the cupola and bell-tower. The fa9ade was designed by Valadier, but its upper part was not completed till 1826, when funds were left for the pur- pose by Cardinal Consalvi, derived from the sale of his costly collection o£ snuff-boxes. S. Andrea is the parish church of the region round the Piazza di Spagna, and is a very popular one with the Roman people. It contains the tombs of Angelica Kauffman, who died in Rome in 1805 ; of Schadow the Prussian sculptor ; of George Zoega, the Danish anti- quary, who died in 1809 ; of a king of Morocco, who was converted in Rome in 1733, and who there died in 1739. Otherwise the interior consisting of a single nave lined with chapels and terminating in an apse, contains little of interest or value. Chapels. — III. on the right: contains the tomb of a young Englishwoman, Judith de Palezieux Falconnet, with a beautiful reclining figure by the American sculptor Hosmer, 1856. The two figures of angels at the high altar are by Bernini, and were intended for the Ponte S. Angelo, but were judged too small for that position by Pope Clement IX. Decorating the apse are frescoes repre- senting scenes in the life of S. Andrew. In the III. on left are three pictures of the Madonna ; the central one, by Cades, representing her as she is said to have miraculously appeared in this church to a French Jew called Ratisbonne, in 1842. Ratisbonne was con- 12 178 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME verted to Christianity by this miracle, an event which caused quite a stir in Rome. The II. chapel on the left contains an altar-piece of S. Giuseppe Labbre. I. chapel on the left is dedicated to S. Philip Neri. S. ANDEEA A MONTE CAVALLO, also called de Equo Marmoveo and de Caballo, is situated opposite the Royal Palace in the Via del Quirinale, and is one of some 25 churches dedicated to S. Andrew at different epochs in Rome. It is said to stand upon or near the site of the temple of Quirinus, erected by Romulus. Camerario, afterwards Pope Honorius III. (i2i6), mentions this church as abandoned and without clergy ; and in 1556 we find this same area of ground granted by Giovanni Andrea Croce, Bishop of Tivoli, to S. Francis Borgia, under whose auspices the present church was erected at the cost of Prince Camillo Pamfili, nephew of Innocent X., its ancient name of S. Andrea a Monte Cavallo being retained. The Jesuits had a novitiate house here until 1870. It was built chiefly at the expense of Duchessa Tagliacozzo, who gave up to it her garden and some contiguous houses. The present church, from designs of Bernini, has a Corinthian fa9ade, with a semicircular portico of Ionic columns. The rich interior is oval in shape. Chapels. — To the right on entering is the chapel dedicated to S. Francis Zavier, containing three paintings of scenes in the life of this saint, by Baciccio. Above the High Altar is a crucifixion of S. Andrew by Borgognone ; on each side are fine columns of cottanella marble. . To the left is the chapel of S. Stanislaus Kostka, with an altar-piece by Carlo Maratta, of the saint kneeling before the Virgin. In an urn in this chapel are preserved the ashes of the saint, and the room in which he died, converted into a chapel, was preserved THE CHURCHES IN ROME 179 in the adjoining house until 1887, when it was de- stroyed by the present Government, a facsimile being however retained, containing a statue of the dying saint by Le Gros. It was in the original chapel that Leo XIII. said his first mass in 1837. Carlo Emanuele IV. of Sardinia, who abdicated his throne in 1802, entered the Society of Jesus and died in this novitiate house in 1808; he is buried in the church. S. ANDBEA DELIA VALLE, in the modern Corso Vittorio Emanuele, stands on the site of the curia of Pompey, which held his statue, now in the Farnese Palace. The present church is of the xvi. century, and occupies the site of a more ancient one dedicated to S. Sebastian. It was built in honour of S. Andrew by the desire of Costanza Piccolomini, who gave her palace for th^ pur- pose. The design is by Padre Obarin a Roman, com- pleted by Carlo Maderno, the fa9ade by Rainaldi. The cupola is the largest in Rome, after S. Peter's. On the fa9ade are rows of coupled columns, in the niches of which are statues by Ercole Ferrata, by D. Guidi, and by Fancelli. The interior consists of a wide nave, with 6 chapels and transept. The cupola is decorated with frescoes by Lanfranco, on the model of Corregio's cupola at Parma, and is considered one of his best works. The Evangelists at the corners are by Domenichino, as are also the paintings on the tribune vault, which represent scenes in the life of S. Andrew. The walls of the choir are decorated with frescoes of the crucifixion of S. Andrew, by Calabrese. Chapels. — The II. on the right : The Strozzi chapel, designed by Michael Angelo, contains copies in bronze of his Pieta in S. Peter's, and of the Elias and Rachel in S. Pietro in Vincoli. In the right transept is Lanfranco's picture of S. Andrea Avellino. III. on left : S. Sebastian, by Giovanni de' Vecchi. i8o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME II. on left : The Rucellai chapel, contains the tomb of the Archbishop of Benevento, ob. 1556. I. on left : The Barberini chapel, erected by Urban VIII. while still Cardinal Barberini, is rich in marbles and pictures. It contains the busts of his parents, sculptured in porphyry ; an Assumption by Passignani, and figures of S. Martha by Mochi ; S. John the Evan- gelist by Buonvicino, S. John Baptist by Bernini, and the Magdalen by Santi. In the nave are the tombs of Pius II. (1458) and III. (1503), by Paolo Romano and Pasquino of Montepulciano, removed here from old S. Peter's. A palace which these popes occupied formerly stood in the vicinity. The octave of Epiphany is kept at this church, with the celebration of the liturgy in Oriental rites.* Feast day. — November 30. S. An- s. ANDREW was the first chosen of the twelve Apostles; drew, he has hence been called 6 7r/)a)TOKA^Tos. Apostle. According to the Russian tradition he was the first to preach to the Muscovites. The beautiful account of his martyrdom given for November 30 in the Breviary, is the compilation of the priests and deacons of Achaia in the vii. century, though based on ancient tradition. There is also an apocryphal letter recounting his martyrdom. All authors agree that he was crucified, the occasion of his death being we are told his conver- sion of the wife of the Proconsul ^geas, Maximilla. He was tied with cords to a tree roughly arranged crosswise ; others say it was a transverse cross, and with such he has always been represented since the XIV. century. On the doors of S. Paolo the cross is Y-shaped ; Peter Chrysologus calls it a tree. In the Achaian story he adores his cross as he is led to it, being then a very old man. He hung on it for two days, not ceasing to preach the faith of Christ. The two scenes of his flagellation before crucifixion, and of his adoration of the cross, sometimes occur in art. His ♦ See Part II. THE CHURCHES IN ROME i8i body was removed by Constantine to Constantinople, and thence to Amalfi ; the head being brought to S. Peter's in Rome by Pius II. In the IV. century some relics of the Apostle were brought from Patras in Achaia where he suffered, to Scotland, and he has since this date been revered as Scotland's Patron. 8. ANICETO. — An interesting oratory, the ancient chapel of Palazzo Altemps. It is decorated with paint- ings of Pomarancio and Leoni, Over the altar is a painting of the Madonna, believed to be the work of Raphael. It is said that in the time of Clement VIII. the Altemps family brought the relics of S. Anicetus here. A chasuble used by S. Charles Borromeo is pre- served in the sacristy. The palace and chapel have just been temporarily given to the Spanish seminary by Leo XIII. On the feast of S. Anicetus, April 17, there is a picturesque festa here, and the floor is strewn with box leaves. The entrance is through Palazzo Altemps in Piazza di S. Apollinare. AMicETTJs was Pope after S. Pius I. and before Soter, A.D. 157-168, or 167-175, as the date is variously given. He was of Syrian nationality, and sat with great authority, consulted by the Christian world. In his day it was fully admitted by all that the Church of Rome had been founded by Peter. " Polycarp, the disciple of S. John visited Rome in this bishop's time, and Polycrates in his letter to Pope Victor quotes with approval their behaviour to each other on the question of Easter, and the modera- tion and fairness of Anicetus. 88. ANNA E GIOACCHINO at the Quattro Fontane is a little XVII. century church built by the reformed dis- • Renan, Marc-Avrele et la fin du monde antique. 182 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME calced Carmelites of Spain who remained in possession till 1809. It is now the chapel of the Belgian College of Seminarists. B. AMKA. — According to the "Gospel of James" the parents of the Blessed Virgin were Anna and Joachim. The veneration of S. Anna is of very ancient date, and the Liber Pontificalis states that Leo IIL (795) had the history of Anna and Joachim painted in S. Paul's Basilica. In the xiv. century the devotion to S. Anna was largely propagated, and from this period we find churches commonly dedicated to her.* Her feast day, July 26, was sanctioned for the Universal Church by Gregory XIII. in 1584. Story of The Gospel of James tells us that Mary's two Anna and parents were just and holy people who divided their Joachim, goods into three parts : one for the poor, one for the service of the Temple, and one for their own use. But they were childless, and Joachim was repulsed from the. Temple when he dared to offer his gift with the fathers of Israel. He retired to a mountain solitude, his soul bitter within him, and there received an answer that they should have a child. Anna prayed in her garden, receiving the same message, and then Anna and Joachim met at the Golden Gate of the city, each with the great news in their hearts, and fell upon each other's necks. The story is referred to in a sermon by Epiphanius in the iv. century. In art Anna is often represented with Mary learning at her knee, or in pictures with Mary, the Divine infant, and John. The feast of S. Joachim is kept on the Sunday within the octave of the Assumption. The present Pope has made the feast a double-major, S. ANTONIO DE" P0ET0GHE8I, near the Via della Scrofa, was built in the xv. century by Cardinal Martinez di Chales on his return from the Council of Florence. It is the national church of the Portuguese, and was * Vide the account of the Hail Mary. Part II. THE CHURCHES IN ROME 183 erected upon the site of a hospice for pilgrims of this nation. It was entirely rebuilt and much amplified at the national expense about 1695, and it was com- pletely repaired by Vespignani junior in 1870. The interior is rich with coloured marbles and Sicilian jasper. Feast day. — June 13. For the life of S. Antony, see the Part of the Handbook which deals with religious orders. S. APOLLINA££, originally called S. Apollinare in Archipreshyteratu, in the piazza of that name, is one of the four chief churches that existed in Rome dedicated to this saint. It was built about a.d. 780 by Pope Adrian I.* Here he placed, it is said, a convent of Basilian monks, who had fled from the iconoclast Leo the Isaurian. Adinolfi, however, refers this story to another church of S. Apollinare near the Vatican. In the XIII. century the church was administered by a chapter of secular canons. In the xv. century an archpriest is also mentioned, whence, perhaps, the name in '■^Archipreshyteratu.'" Leo X. made it a titular church, and its first titular Cardinal Pallavicino. Sixtus V. took away its title. The church we see to-day dates from the time of Benedict XIV., 1740. A very large vestibule leads to an undivided nave ; a painting at the altar on the left of the vestibule, representing the Madonna with SS. Peter and Paul, has been attributed to Perugino. It is a picture of the Umbrian school of the xvi. century. The picture over the high altar represents S. Apol- Interior, linare being consecrated bishop of Ravenna by S. Peter. Julius III., 1550, gave the old church to S. Ignatius Loyola, who here founded the Germanic College, the church being rebuilt in 1552. The seminary of the diocese of Rome, with the residence of the Cardinal- • Lib. Pont, in Adriano. 1 84 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Vicar and his curia, were placed at S. Apollinare by Leo XII., 1823, In a little basilica-shaped chapel in the annexed college is a large collection of relics of martyrs, and other objects from the Catacombs. These are ex- hibited on the day of the station. Another oratory dedicated to the Madonna, contains a little picture of her which belonged to the Venerable Maria Fornari. The image of the Madonna at present in the church was removed from the older building, where it stood in the little portico between the church and the door. Feast day. — July 23. The Station is on the 6th Thursday in Lent. B. APOLLiNAius is Said to have accompanied Peter from Antioch to Rome. He was ordained bishop by the Apostle, and sent to preach the Gospel at Ravenna. There he is said to have been taken by the pagan priests, and flagellated. At the prayer of the holy bishop, a certain Boniface who was mute began to speak, and his daughter was cleansed of an unclean spirit. These things led to a commotion in the city, and after being beaten with rods, and having burning coals applied to his feet, the fire being powerless to hurt him, he was cast out from the town. Apollinaris repaired to Emilia with other Christians ; but, neglect- ing the command to cease preaching the Gospel, he was barbarously tortured, and the fourth day placed on a ship and sent into exile. He came to Thrace, and thence to Ravenna, where being again tortured, he gave up his spirit on the seventh day, exhorting the Christians to constancy in the faith. This Martyr- Bishop is Patron of Ravenna, where he is buried. We find him represented in art as a Bishop with the martyr's emblems. SS. AFOSTOLI, in the piazza of the same name. This ancient basilica, constructed by Pelagius a.d. 555, and completed by John III. in 560, as we learn from an THE CHURCHES IN ROME 185 inscription on the epistyle of the old door, was dedicated to the Apostles PhiUp and James. According to some, it was the Basilica Julia built by Julius I. (337-340), juxta forum divi Traiani (Liber Pontificalis), but this is improbable. Nothing of the ancient church remains. While making the excavations for the present confession, the bases of columns still in situ, were found, showing that the level of the ancient edifice was some metres below that of the present church. In 1873 a little well was found with rehcs of the Apostles Philip and James, together with fragments of balsam, which were placed there in the vii. century, at the epoch of the foundation of the church. Adrian I., in a document directed to Charlemagne, speaks of the vastness of this church, and says it was adorned with mosaic. The material used was perhaps taken from the Baths of Constantine then in a state of decay. Stephen VI. (885-891), whose paternal house was adjacent to the church, rebuilt it. It was destroyed by the earthquake of 1348, and lay in a state of ruin for nearly a century with many other edifices of the city. Martin V. (Colonna), 1417, then renewed the basilica and the contiguous palace of his family, which he extended as far as the Quirinal. Sixtus IV. (147 1) added the tribune. The present church was entirely rebuilt by Clement XI. (1700), and consecrated by Benedict XIII. in 1724. The portico was added by Giuliano della Rovere (1500) afterwards Julius II., from the designs of Baccio Pintelli, who enlarged the convent then a residence of the popes. To-day it is converted into the Circolo Militare. Inside the portico is a stone lion which supported one of the columns of the mediaeval church, the work of Vassallectus, whose name pre- ceded by a cross, is engraved on the base. Here also is an eagle from the Forum of Trajan, esteemed as an early example of stone decoration, and Canova's monument to his friend Giovanni Volpato the en- graver. 1 86 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Interior. Chapels. Cloisters. Duca Giovanni Torlonia completed the facade in 1827. It was restored by P. Antonio Bonelli parocco of the church, a few years ago. The church belongs to the first order of S. Francis, or Minor Conventuals, called in Italy the " Signori," as did also the large convent until recent years. From the xvi. century the basilica has been com- monly called " basilica duodecim apostolorum " (of the twelve Apostles). Chapels. — The III. chapel on the right contains the S. Antony of Benedetto Luti, mentioned by Lanzi. At the high altar is Muratori's martyrdom of SS. Philip and James, said to be the largest altar-piece in Rome ; it is painted on the wall. In the tribune are the two monu- ments erected by Sixtus IV. to his nephews, Pietro and Alessandro Riario ; on the ceiling, the fall of the angels, by Giovanni Odassi. In the left aisle, over the door leading to the sacristy, is the monument to Clement XIV., executed by Canova in his twenty-fifth year. The Pope is seated, with figures of Temperance and Meekness on either hand. The remains of this pontiff, who was a Minor Conventual, are laid in the cloisters, having been removed from S. Peter's in 1802. The second chapel on the left contains the Descent from the Cross by Francesco Manni. On the roof of the nave is the Triumph of the Franciscan Order, by Baciccio. The passage leading to the cloisters contains a monument to Michelangelo, who died in this parish February 17, 1563, and was first buried here before the clandestine removal of his remains to S. Croce in Florence. The monument is a recumbent figure of the great artist, and the likeness is striking. There are also two monuments to the memory of Cardinal Bessarion, the great Patriarch of Constanti- nople, ob. 1472, who attached himself to the Roman Church, and was Bishop of Tusculum. He was born at Trebizond, and died at Ravenna. The Greco-Latin inscription on one of the monuments is by himself. Cardinal Bessarion greatly contributed to the introduc- THE CHURCHES IN ROME 187 tion of Greek literature in Europe after the Revival of Letters. In the centre of the cloister is the ancient marble vase or cantharus, which stood in the atrium of the old church. A xii. century document fixing the limits of the parish, mentions the road nhi est calix marmoreus — that is, this cantharus for the ablutions, used at that period as a font. In the old basilica were 12 chapels, 6 on each side. In the present church there are three on each side. A barbarous usage on the feasts of SS. Philip and James in the mediaeval church of the Apostoli is described by CanceUieri : A little pig was suspended from the roof, near the ground, and basins of water were thrown over the crowds as they rushed to possess themselves of it. Birds were also let loose into the church. An example of the extreme of buf- foonery co-existing in the spirit of the middle ages Avith an exaggerated lugubriousness and horror, especially as surrounding death. Feast day. — The patronal feast of this church is May i. 88. PHILIP AND JAMES. — All we Icnow of S. Philip from the New Testament is in John, chapters xii. and xiv. Papias speaks of " the daughters of the apostle Philip," who lived in HierapoHs, and who told him a wonderful narrative. Polycrates speaks, in a letter to Pope Victor, of the /xeydXa a-Tot-x^la, the great founda- tions of the Church, Philip one of the Twelve, his two daughters who were virgins, and a third daughter. In the Greek calendar Philip's daughter Hennione and sister Mariamne both appear. From the letter above quoted we learn that Philip was buried at Ephesus. JAME8 THE LESS, Called the brother of the Lord, and surnamed the Just, is said by tradition to have been so like Christ that " the Holy Virgin herself, could she have been deceived, might have mistaken one for the other ;" and that this likeness rendered necessary the kiss of Judas. Nothing is recorded of him in the i88 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME Gospels. He is called the " son of Alphaeus," and the brother of the Lord, and of Joses, After the Ascen- sion he becomes a figure of much importance, and was Bishop of Jerusalem. James was thrown down from a height of the Temple at Jerusalem, and then despatched with a club. He is said to have always dressed in white linen garments, and Cyril tells us the Patriarch of Jerusalem invariably wore white also. The identification of James the Lord's brother with James 6 Mixpos (the Less) is made by S. Jerome. The bodies of these two Apostles are said to have been brought, the one from Hierapolis, where the Christians had buried him, and the other from Jeru- salem where he lay near the Temple, to Rome to be placed in the Basilica " duodecim apostolorum." They are Con-protectors of Rome. Mar- Although Eusebius says that all the Apostles were tyrdom martyred, there is no testimony to support this. But, AposUes ^^ least, they were all " confessors " (" martyrs "), in the primitive sense of enduring sufferings for the faith they propagated. In an ancient Greek picture, 5 of the Apostles are represented crucified, of whom Peter and Philip have the head downwards, and Bartholomew and Simon Justus are crucified like their Master. John is buried and raised by angels. A similar series, of Greek x. century workmanship, adorned the doors of Old S. Paul's London. Attributes The attribute of S. Peter is the keys ; he is also in Art. represented with a. fish, with a hook, and with a cross. Anckew Andrew's attribute is his X-shaped cross, the instru- James the rnent of his martyrdom. James the Greater has a Greater, sword, as he was beheaded, or carries a pilgrim's staff. John. For John's " martyrdom " see p. 239. His attributes are the bath of oil, or the chalice in allusion to Christ's words to James and John, " You shall indeed drink of My cup," although two or three legends have been invented to account for it, one being that an attempt was made to poison him in the sacramental cup at THE CHURCHES IN ROME 189 Rome, the poison issuing in the form of a serpent. The cup is kept at S. Giovanni Porta Latina. Some- times the cup has a wafer over it, and the allusion is then to the institution of the Eucharist. In later Western art S. John is always young, and wears no beard (see " Evangelists," infra). Philip bears a crozier, Philip, or a tau-shaped cross as the instrument of his martyr- dom. Bartholomew bears a flaying knife, or his skin, Bartholo- in allusion to his death ; Thomas a spear, or a builder's mew. rule in reference to a legend. Matthew, as an Apostle, JJ^^"^^" holds a purse, in allusion to his previous post at the ^ ®^' receipt of customs, or he holds a book or a pen, as an EvangeUst. S. James the Less is distinguishable by s. James the resemblance to Christ, carefully preserved in the the Less, earliest representations, and by a club or thick stick in allusion to his martyrdom. S. Simon was sawn Simon, asunder ; S. Jude, or Thaddeus, killed with a halberd : jude. these attributes are pecuhar to Western art.* Judas Judas. Iscariot is represented carrying the " bag." S. Matthias Matthias. bears the instrument of his martyrdom — a lance or axe. S. Paul is always represented with a sword ; Paul, this emblem does not occur in the earliest art in Rome, but only after the vi. century. Barnabas is Barnabas, represented as a man of fine presence, and carries the Gospel of S. Matthew in his hand. Sometimes he is represented as a bishop, on account of the tradition that he was the first Bishop of Milan. The four Evangelists are often represented together. The four but in the earliest Roman art they appear under the Evan- symbols of the " four witnesses," the " living creatures " g^l^sts. of Ezechiel i. 5-14. S. Matthew is represented as the man-faced cherub, S. Mark as the lion, S. Luke the ox, S. John the eagle. It is not clear when these emblems began to be used. Jerome in his Com- * The " twelve martyrdoms " occur in a fresco at SS. Nereo e Achilleo. Peter, Andrew, and Philip are crucified ; James the Greater and Simon die by the sword, and so does Matthew ; Jude and Matthias by the club and halberd. On the old Greek doors of S. Paolo, S. Matthew dies peacefully in bed, incense being swung round him. 190 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME mentary on Ezechiel, allots them as we do now : Matthew being the recorder of Christ's human nature, Luke representing Him in the aspect of a sacrifice, while Mark's emblem refers to the third verse of his Gospel, where the verb used for crying is fSodo), to roar, and the lion thus signifies " the voice crying in the wilderness"; or because he represents to his readers the kingly nature of Christ. The eagle of John signifies inspiration, as he is the recorder of the divine nature. Luke S. Luke is variously represented to have been a physician or a painter (cf. Col. iv. 14), and is supposed to have painted many of the very ancient Byzantine pictures of the Madonna. The story that he was a painter is not traceable beyond the x. century, and then among the Greeks. It is also said that a drawing of Mary in the Catacombs had an inscription over it, " One of the seven painted by Luca," and this led to the supposition that this Luca was the Evangelist. Mrs. Jameson has pointed out that S. Luke has in fact " painted a portrait " of Mary in his Gospel. S. Luke was in Rome with S. Paul. A chapel is shown in the Church of S. Maria in Via Lata which is called the room in which he wrote his Gospel, and painted the Madonna. S. Mark is referred to in the account of the basiHca dedicated to him. ARA CCELI, or S. MARIA IN ARACOELI.— This famous church stands upon the summit of the Capitol Hill. It occupies according to the latest authorities, the site of the arx, or citadel of Rome, and not that of the Temple of Jupiter which stood where we now see the Caffarelli Palace, this point of the hill the Tarpeon, being divided from that occupied by the church by a slight depression. The church was originally called S. Maria in Campitoho, a name which is found changed to that of Ara Coeli about the xiv. century, and vary- ing to Aurocelio, Laurocelio, and Aracelio. History. The Benedictine chronicles state that the church was built by Gregory the Great in 591, and the THE CHURCHES IN ROME 191 adjacent monastery is found mentioned as early as 882. '■' Others attribute its foundation to Constantine. A legend of the middle ages relates that the emperor Octavius was one day consulting the Tiburtine sibyl, when he heard a voice saying, " Haec est Ara primo- geniti Dei ": " Thisisthealtar of the Firstborn of God." He thereupon erected an altar upon the Capitol, and later a church, which from the xii. century was called " Ubi est ara filii Dei,"f a name corrupted into Aracoeli.]; This legend is of Greek origin, certainly much anterior to the xiv, century. It is found in Suidas,§ and referred to in an antique Latin chronicle edited by Cardinal Mai|| ; it may even be as early as the VII. or viii. century. In any case, the popular tale may be regarded as a sort of allegory of the transformation of the Capitol of pagan Rome into a stronghold of Christianity. The celebrity of the Capitol of the middle ages seems to have passed into the church and monastery of Ara Coeli. According to Gregorovius, it became the centre of the parliamentary life of the Roman citizens. In the great nave of the church were held their solemn assemblies and their councils, and it was no doubt the scene of many of the great gatherings and discussions of the Republican factions of the middle ages. It became indeed, until the xv. century, the " con- sulto " of the Roman people, and was confirmed as such by Eugenius IV. in 1445. The whole Capitol passed into the hands of the monks of Ara Coeli ; and in 10 1 5 an Abbot signs himself " Ego Dominicus abbas Capitolii." It is not known at what date the Benedictines first * Cod. Sess., cclxii., p. ig. Teuzo Abb. ven. monasterii S. Maria Dei genetricis Virg. in Capitolio. f Petrus Mallius Abbazie Romane. X Gregorovius suggests " auro coelo " as the origin of the name ; Niebuhr and Becker, that it is derived from "in arce," a more likely explanation. § Hist. Eccl., i. 12. Chronicon Palatinum nello Spicil. rom., ix. 118. 192 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME occupied the monastery, but in 1250 they were re- placed under Innocent IV. by the Franciscans. The gift of the Capitol to the monastery is even confirmed in the celebrated Bull of the Antipope Anacletus II. in 1 1 30. When the Franciscans took possession of Aracceli, they decorated the tribune with mosaics destroyed later by Pius IV. ; and in gratitude for the escape of Rome from the great pestilence, described by Boccaccio in the " Decameron," the Romans built Steps. the great flight of steps leading to the main entrance of the church from the piazza below. The materials for these steps were taken from the Temple of Quirinus, a gift of the Senate, and an inscription still to be seen near the great doors records the work. Fa9ade. The decoration of the fa9ade of the church with mosaic was also commenced, but unfortunately never finished, and with the exception of a few traces of mosaic, it still remains of rough brick ; its sole orna- ment was a clock, which no longer exists. In the XVI. century a special office was instituted in Rome for the care of this clock, and in the Archives of Briefs* a document exists in which the pope confirms the appointment of the brothers Domenico and Fabio della Pedacchia to this office ; the street below Ara- cceli still bears their name. In 1464 Cardinal Caraffa rebuilt portions of the church ; and in 1564 the second door from the church on to the piazza of the Campidoglio was opened, an antique mosaic of the Madonna with adoring angels being placed above it. Pius IV. removed the innumerable sepulchral monuments from the body of the church, and de- stroyed the choir which stood in the centre of the nave. After the battle of Lepanto the rich roof was restored, and an inscription recording this was placed on the inside of the main entrance. Interior. The church is divided into a nave and two aisles by 22 columns of various kinds. On the third column, • Julii, 1601, fol. 23. THE CHURCHES IN ROME 193 on the left, are the -words in letters of the Imperial period, "/I cubiculo Augustonim," which may possibly be connected in some way with the legend of the origin of this church. The ancient pavement of green and ophite porphyry and serpentine, has been in great part retained, interspersed with slabs of white marble. The first chapel to the right on entering, the Bufalini Chapels Chapel, is decorated with frescoes by Pinturicchio, I.- on representing scenes in the life of S. Bernardino da "§^*- Siena, among them the reconciliation effected by him between the two great rival families of Perugia, the Bufalini and the Baglioni. Over the altar, S. Ber- nardino preaching ; on the left, his death and burial. The four evangelists on the roof are by Signorelli and Francesco da Citta di Castello, Pinturicchio's pupils. The pavement of this chapel is remarkable for its fine mosaic. Pietro da Valle is buried just outside this chapel, and in another tomb Michel Antonio Salezzo, Procurator-general of Francis I., who died in Arezzo in 1529, on his way to succour Pope Clement VII., besieged in Castel S. Angelo. The third chapel on the right contains a painting of m. on S. Jerome by Giovanni de' Vecchi ; in the SavelH right, chapel in the right transept, is a painting of S. Francis, by Trevignano. So great was the fame of Ara Coeli during the middle ages, that the great families of Rome sought to be buried in the church. The Savelli built for themselves a chapel in the xiii. century, and here are still to be seen some of the monuments to their family — that of Pope Honorius IV., of Luca Savelli (1266), of Pan- dolfo and Andrea, his daughter. The monument of Pandolfo was designed by Giotto, while the lower portion consists of a pagan sarcophagus ornamented with bas-reliefs of fruits and flowers. Vana Aldo- brandesca, the mother of Pope Honorius IV., -is also buried here, and in the choir Cardinal Savelli, 1498. In this church, also, are the monuments of Mariale, 13 t94 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME High Altar. Altar of S. Elena. VIII. on left. III. II. Monas- tery. Grand Prior of the Order of Malta, and of members of the AstalH and Margani families, whose palaces stood in the contrada at the foot of the hill. On either side of the high altar are the two ambones from the ancient choir, removed here when the latter was destroyed. They are beautiful examples of the mosaic work of the xiii. century, and are probably the work of the Cosma family. Close by is the tomb of Catherine Queen of Bosnia, ob. 1478, and in the centre of the transept the small temple known as the Cappella Santa di S. Elena, supposed to mark the site of the original altar of S. Maria. The red porphyry urn beneath is said to contain the relics of S. Helena, and of SS. Abbondio and Abbondanzio, martyrs. The original altar and ciborium, ornamented by the Anti- pope Anacletus in 11 30, stood here until the xvii. century, when it was replaced by a modern one. In 1798 the little temple was again destroyed, and rebuilt as we now see it. On the wall of the transept is the tombstone of Felice Freddi, the discoverer of the Laocoon group. In the chapel of the