CHAP. XIII.

PONTIFICAL PALACES: THE LATERAN---THE QUIRINAL---THE

VATICAN.

WE now proceed to the three pontifical palaces. The Lateran stands close to the patriarchal church of that name, and was appointed for the residence of the Bishops of Rome, at the same time as the adjoining Basilica was converted into a church by Constantine.* It had fallen into ruin, and was rebuilt by Sixtus Quintus. A part only is now reserved for the accommodation of the pontiff, when he comes to perform service at St. John's. The main body of the building was turned into an hospital for the reception of two hundred and fifty orphans, by Innocent XI. It presents three fronts of great extent and simplicity, and strikes the eye by its magnitude and elevation.

The Quirinal palace (Monte Cavallo), is become, from the

* Juvenal mentions egregius Lateranorum ædes, as surrounded by the bloody cohorts of Nero, who put the proprietor to death, confiscated his estates, and seized his palace. It continued at the disposal of the Emperors till the reign of

Constantine.

loftiness and salubrity of its situation, the ordinary, or at least the summer residence of the Roman pontiff. Its exterior presents two long fronts plain and unadorned; the court within is about three hundred and fifty feet long and near two hundred wide. A broad and lofty portico runs along it on every side and terininates in a grand staircase, conducting to the papal apartments, to the gallery and the chapel, all on a grand scale, and adorned with fine paintings. In the furniture and other decorations the style is simple and uniform, and such as seems to become the grave, unostentatious character of a christian prelate. The adjoining gardens are spacious, refreshed by several fountains, and shaded by groves of laurel, pine, ilex, and forest trees. In the recesses, arbours and alleys, formed by these trees, are statues, urns, and other antique ornaments, placed with much judgment, and producing a very picturesque effect. In other respects the gardens are in the same style as the edifice, and exhibit magnificence only in their extent. The square before, or rather on the side of this palace, is remarkable for an Egyptian obelisk, erected in it by the late Pope, and still more so for two statues, representing each a horse held by a young man, which stand on each side of the obelisk, and give the hill the appellation of Monte Cavallo. They are of colossal size and exquisite beauty; are supposed to represent Castor and Pollux, although the inscription says, Alexander and Bucephalus, and acknowledged to be the works of some great Grecian master. They were transported by Constantine from Alexandria, and erected in his baths which stood in the neighbourhood; and from thence they were conveyed by order of Sixtus Quintus to their present situation. The erection of the obelisk between these groupes has been censured by some as taking from their effect and oppressing them by its mass: but as it is admitted that they were made not to stand insulated but

probably to adorn the side or angle of some edifice, perhaps a mausoleum, and even, as appears from the roughness of their back parts, to touch the wall, and seem as if springing from it, their connection with the obelisk must be considered as an improvement and an approximation to their original attitudes and accompaniments.

The Vatican hill retains its ancient appellation, and gives it to the palace and church which adorn its summit and declivity. Whether this appellation took its origin from the influence of some local divinity, which was supposed to manifest itself in omens and predictions, more frequently on this spot than elsewhere, as Aulus Gellius imagines; or whether as Varro, whom he quotes, asserts, the god himself takes his title from the first efforts of the infant voice at articulation, over which it seems he presided, is a matter of little importance; from which we pass to the recollection of the pleasing imagery of Horace, so well known to our early years:

But I know not whether these sportive ideas have not, in the minds of most of my readers, given way to impressions less pleasing; and whether the accents of the echo have not been drowned in the thunders of the Vatican, that have rolled through so many ages and resounded so long and so tremendously in every English ear. But be that as it may, the Vatican has long ceased to be the forge of spiritual lightnings, the grand arsenal of ecclesiastical weapons,

"Sacri armamentaria cœli,"

and ages have now elapsed since the roar of its thunders has disturbed the repose of the universe, or perplexed monarchs fearful of change. The Vatican is now the peaceful theatre of some of the most majestic ceremonies of the pontifical court; it is the repository of the records of ancient science, and the temple of the arts of Greece and Rome. Under these three heads, it commands the attention of every traveller of curiosity, taste, and information. The exterior, as I have already hinted when speaking of palaces in general, does not present any grand display of architectural magnificence, nor even of uniformity and symmetrical arrangement: a circumstance easily accounted for, when we consider that the Vatican was erected by different architects at different eras, and for very different purposes, and that it is rather an assemblage of palaces than one regular palace. It was begun about the end of the fifth, or the beginning of the sixth century, and rebuilt, increased, repaired, and altered by various pontiffs, from that period down to the latter years of the reign of the late Pope, when the French invasion put an end, for some time at least, to all improvements. All the great architects, whom Rome has produced, were, in their days, employed in some part or other of this edifice, and Bramante, Raffaello, Fontana, Maderno, and Bernini, successively displayed their talents in its augmentation or improvement. Its extent is immense, and covers a space of twelve hundred feet in length and a thousand in breadth. Its elevation is proportionate, and the number of apartments it contains almost incredible. Galleries and porticos sweep around, and through it, in all directions, and open an easy access to every quarter. Its halls and saloons are all on a great scale, and by their magnitude and loftiness alone give an idea of magnificence truly Roman. The walls are neither

wainscotted nor hung with tapestry: they are adorned, or rather animated by the genius of Raffaello and Michael Angelo. The furniture is plain, and ought to be so: finery would be misplaced in the Vatican, and sink into insignificance in the midst of the great, the vast, the sublime, which are the predominating features, or rather, the very genii of the place. The grand entrance is from the portico of St. Peter's, by the Scala Regia, the most superb staircase perhaps in the world, consisting of four flights of marble steps, adorned with a double row of marble Ionic pillars. This staircase springs from the equestrian statue of Constantine, which terminates the portico on one side; and whether seen thence, or viewed from the gallery, leading on the same side to the colonnade, forms a perspective of singular beauty and grandeur.

The Scala Regia conducts to the Sala Regia or regal hall, a room of great length and elevation which communicates by six large folding doors with as many other apartments. The space over the doors, and the interval between, are occupied by pictures in fresco representing various events, considered as honourable or advantageous to the Roman see. Though all these pieces are the works of great masters, yet one only is considered as peculiarly beautiful; and that is the triumphal entrance of Gregory XI. into Rome, after the long absence of the pontiffs from the capital during their residence at Avignon. This composition is by Vasari, and may perhaps be considered as his master-piece. The battle of Lepanto, in which the united fleet of the Italian powers, under the command of Don John of Austria and the auspices of Pius V. defeated the Turks, and utterly broke their naval power, till then so terrible to Europe, is justly ranked among the most glorious achievements of the Roman pontiffs,