Foreign Correspondence

Rome, Maruh 5, 1873. Fhiend Pond: Among the great attraotions of Home, the palaoes and their gardena, are much too important to bs overlooked, for in them are to be found some of thosebeautifui frescoes, paiutings, and worksof Art, which are celebrated ibr their beautyjand great excellence, anii sotue of which rank among the great wonders of Art. We spent a deiightful hour at the Eoapigliosa a few days eince, is adiniring the world-renowned Aurora of Guido. Passing the largo gateway across the wide outer court leading to tho palace, we ascended the stone stairway into the orangerie, occupying a terrace some 20 feet higher, where the delicious fruit hung in its golden luxuriance, and statues, ilowers, and f'ountains ünited their charins to the tempting scène through which we passed on our way to the Gasino at itc opposlte extrpmity. Entering the Hall we are at onco in the presenceof the very beautiful work of Guido Eeni which adorna itsöeiling, the nlost celebrated of hia many beautiful productions. It represents the anoient myth of Aurora preoeding the God of the Suu and strewing the way with flowers, while harrying forward to open the gatos of the Morning, the chariot being surrounded by the dancing Hourifc. ít la the otiljr painting of particular valué, and oooupies the oblong space of the ceiling, and in length extends perbaps forty frt. To facilítate or rather to make its examination more easy a mirror is arranged beneath, so that its beauties are displaced upon a ditoitiishod ecalu bttt SV-ith the greatest distinctness upon a plañe below. Of the various fine pictures in Rome none seeins more to hare groessd the gancrüí adüliratioh. The Aurora of Gueroino is beautifül, btit there is more complexity and confusión arising from the iücreased number of üsureS) and less of easy, gracef ui movement in the mythologieal cortege. The other pictures in the hall ware of less interest, though of considerable merit. Of the statuary, the sruall bronie horse found in the Batha of Constantine was the only object worth particular notica or roention. ïhe distinguished landscape paititer( P. Brill, adorned one portion of the frieze m the Plallof tho Aurora with his pencil; but in the ovorshadowing beauty of the great work of Guido all other pictures isemed to lose their proper value. The Kospigliosi palace is situated on the Quirinal and adjoining the fine Piazza di Monte Cavalle, an interesting quarter, being the location of the celebrated Q,uirinal Palace fofmerly dCcüpied by the Pope, and from which he was gently dislodged in order to accoinraodate the more fortúnate Victor Emmanueh At the Palace Barberini the picture gallery is not large and strangers visit it principally on account of its possession of a ïeW origináis of moro thaa Usual celebrity. The palace itself is one of the most attractive, and occupies u comuiandint; 8.tation upon the Western slope of the Quinnal Hill, with beautifül grounds in ïta front, which are adorned with a Yery beautiful statue of Thorwaldsen, after a design by himself, as the insoription says. Asoending to the gallery we passed the door by somo oversight, and thus got a view of the principal Baloou of the palace on the ttext floor, a very large room with lofty oeiling and embellished with fine frescoes by Da Cortona. It is in the gallery of thia palaco that the celebrated. picture of Beatrice Cenci, by Guido, ia to be seen -that sweet, round face, those Urge, f uil eyes, so bewitohingly sad with their imploring appeal, and that turbaued head which is bo familiar and yet so chrnrming. While there may not be au absolute perfection in all the copies and prints and ohroicoa ttaat are to bo seea hero and elsowhere, yet the resemblanco in expressiou is so ítriking and well preserved in most tnat it would be rery difficult to point out in what the difference, if any, consists. Here, also, is another celebratd pioture, the Fornarina of Baphael, not the same lior at all like th'at other eo-called Fornarina in the Ufizzi at Florence. This is a seini-nude figure, and not so beautiful in features as the othbr, which is richly diaped. Among th other pictureg the portraitof Luoratia Cenci, step mother of Beatrice, bore striking resomblanca in features and fat to the latter, though not related by oonsanguinity. The gret attraction of the gallery is its Beatrioe, and an artist now in Rome, Leonardi, ig raaking me of th gaine interesting subject for the exerciss of his art. One of bis pictures representa the fair young girl in prison the night before her execution, and he ís al presant engaged upon a companion pioture, in which she is on the way to execution, attended by her family. Wheu we were visitiug the churoh S. Pietro in Montorio we inquired whether the tomb of this fair, and as many think innocen victiiu, of Papal suspicion and inquisitorial cruelty ivas not beneath the pitve ment in front of the grand altur, and our guido sliook his head but gave no verf satisfactory solution of the rotnoval. In an Italian romance in whioh she is made the heroine, purporting to be bistorica and docatnentary, it is said that tha soription only lias been erased in order tkat tho stigma sustained by the churck might not be so constantly reroeiabered by those who visited and suw the place of her burial thus idcntified. The palace of the eelebrated Coraini family ia another place well worthy of a visit : a building of groat extont, with a forest of columns iu its surrounding arcades, aud wich extensivo and flnoly projected grounds reaching far back and climbing quite to the top of the Janicilua. TkVaioent fco tbo jjallory ig ujr noble doublé staircase of mavblo, and the collection is quite a largo ono, with ma ny oxoollont pieturos, but atili more of little yalue. One of the must exquisito small paintings we have seen is in the first room. lt 13 the Holy Family, by Battoni, Tbig palace was ouoo tha residence of Chriatina, Queen of Swedon, and one of the rooms ia seen in whioh she breathed her last. Across the Via del Longara is the Vill Farnesina, belonging to the ex-King of Naples. The palace is small bat nono the less pleasing, aud gliinpse into the idjüiniug gardens, whose fine shrubbery borders upon the Tiber, display ed tempting golden fruit upon the orango and leraon trees as woll as beautiful parterres dí flowers. We enter directly into the Hall from tha court, for it originally forined a wide open pórtico, and tha now inValuable frescoes wero at first but the iecoration of this poroh. As noVy enslosed two fina rooms aro formed and [jonstitute an attraotion wbich draws hither all those who desiro to bco all the sjreat treasures of art in Rome. Tho first room oontaius various scènes deigned by liaphael, fröm tho m.ytb. of Psyohe, and paiuted by Q. Romano and F. Penni under his direction. There are twelvs of thcce paintings in a connected series uDon the walls and ceilina:. Each -i - t división ia encircled by garlands of flowera, by the great urtist Giovani da Undine, íiiiinitabia iu tlíia dearíment oí' decoration. Of the great beauty of these fressoes it is sufficient to know that the great Raphael desigued thera olí. In the aujoiníhg hall thero ate many fine frescoes by great artists, but the central attraction is the celubrited Galatea, execüted entirely by Ruphael, and one of those beautiful i'aucies which embodies the verv essence of the oharming fable. Nothiñg could be more beautiful than the distribution and Jfrouping of the Tritons, Nymphs, and Cupids about the sea-shell chariot in the air above. In a, [unette quito in one of the upper corners of the hall ia a iölciüsal head.sketohud in charcoal (such as artists use), whioh is said to havo been drawn by M. Angelo while waiting thero for souie brothor artist, and such ia the great raerit of this hasty sketoh that it haa been allowed to remain, and now forms one of the attractions of therooru. The attendant states that thi Work of Angelo was done one day in the absence of Iíaphael, and that Biich was the displeasure of the latter on his return that he ref usod to continuo his painting in that room. As nono of the books relatiiig to the controvorsies ween these two artista artists and their espective schools raention t.his circurntanee it is somewhat inythical. Theso vo last named palaces are sitúate on the 'urther side of the river, and in reaohing hem Wb cross at the Fohte Sisto, ivhich s built on ths site of the Pons Aurelius f ancient times, and through the Porta Settimius, so called after the gardens of Septiinus Beverus, whicb. were looated iear. The largest oollection in the private palaoes of Eome is at the Doria, and omprises some good and many poor pio tures. The palace itself is one of the anest and most exteniive in the city, having three itnposing facades and a flne ourt with tropical plants and shrubbery in its area, aud encircled by arcades. - The most notable picturo is the Money Ohangers, by Messys, which is often seen in prints and is remarkable for the expressivo features and heads of the two old misers. Several portraits and pictures" by other distinguished artists will afford an hour or two of muoh pleagure to the yisitor. There is, however, e, reat want of merit in this collection as a. whole. Espeoially after the Florentino galleries have been visited does thia apear quite palpably. We will epeak of other palaces and their oolleotions, if oonvenitjnt, at some other time. We made a very pleasant esoursion the other day to ths church S. Agnese( )eyond the Porta Pia about two miles. - ?rom the Quirinal to the gate the Via 2Oth Settembre leads in a straight direo;ion, passing on the way the circular church of S. Bernardo, at one time formïng a portion of the TherinEB of Diocle;ian, which spread over an extensive space in this vicinity, ths unconnected and dikpidated remaiiis buing visible in niany places. Anciently it was open afc the top like the Pantheon ; but there ii nothing of its old characteristios well preserved, and as a ohurch it has no epecial interest. Just beyond is the Fontanna dell' Aqua Felice, ereoted about throo centuries ago. It is muoh aiorned with statuary and reliëfs. The four lions are modern works, but of the Egyptian style, having divers unreadable.characters inscribed. A very fieroe-looking statue of Moses foms the principal and central figure, haviog a faiut reeemblanoe to the sitting statue oí' M. Angelo, and the story is told of the lattor sculptor, Bresciauo, having died froin vexation at his poor success in the attempt to equal that oelobrated work. Thia fountain and its facade oonstitute the termsnation oí the Aqua Felice, which conducís the water a distance oí 'i'2 miles from Colonna in the Alban mountaiuB. Across the streei is the S. Maria della Vittoria, a ohurch only notable as the dcpository of an image of the Virgin which is believed (by some) to have been the ocoasion of au imperial victory at Prague, in 1620, Maximilian, of Bavaria, leader of the Roman Catholie forcea attacking and defeating" the Protestant Boheroians undeT Fredorio V. The imago, having performed so great a servioa to the Komanist faith, Yiras aftervrards rteposited iu this churoh, and henee its naiyo from that time. Our Badecker says that, tho image, eo powerful to save others, eoukl not save itself, and was burned in 1833, but tho goodnatureti monk lot down the front lid of the altar, and thero lay the Bt. Vittoria, as he oalled it, and as hü asserted it was the real body : if so it wag very wondorfully if not miraoulouïly preservad, and jore a sjulewhat close reseniblance to vrax. Thsre are sorao good picture in ihe church. Port Pia is quite nea the ancient 3orta Nomentaua (now closed), aud has no great morit arohitecturally. It was against this gato (Porta Pii) that the King'8 troops, September 20th, 1870, diected their bombardinent aud attao.k, nd through the breaoh made in itg north ido entered thé city, thas completing he occupation of the statcs of the hurch, and putting a final quietus to'the emporal sovereignty of tho Pope. The jreach in tho wall has baen repaired, but he effects of the oannonade are yet visible in mauy plaoes. For a short distance ;he wall along tha road on the left is ony thre four feet high and parmils the vayfarer to indulge in tho luxury of a plendid view oxtending over the beautiul Villa Albana and takiug in the entire ango of the Sabine mountains, uiany of ha süuimits boing white with snow, whüe not a flalco has fallen in Rome durng the entire winte. Thore are several of those most dolightf ui retreats, the Ronan Villas-, near the gata. Just inside is ho Villa Buonaparte, on one eide ; on the other the Villa Tortonin, through the gates of which we could seo the fine walks and tasteful shrubbery, beautiful timmer houses and artificial ruins - for those who desivo can easily manufacture rom real arlciont reniains such colonnades and broken arches as they may fancy and in place3 selected favorably for effect. Out-üde is the Villa Patrizzi nd anothor of Tortoiliaj irid adjoiaing those named above are a half dozen others. - ?or the next mile, although the road is excellent the walls are "high, and it is not jll the church is nearly reached that the view again expands in all direotions and we are allowed to enjoy the wido prospect that reaohes off over the enoiicling ilain and is bounded only by the blue hills, which lend an eternal charm to the envifohü of this oíd city. ïhe road is identical with the ancient Via Nomen;ana, and like the Via Appia is bordered with those singular oíd tonaba, but not eo woll preserved, and has also its catacombs (St. friese). The church is 6aid :o havo been originaliy founded here by I Constan tine, over the tomb of St. Agnese, re-erected in C25, and subsequently altered and restored, and presenting in our day the íioí uncomrnon circumstance in Italy of a church quite underground. - To reach the entrance we pass through (1 court, stopping at a largo -tfindow to look at a large fresco representation of a miracüioüs ptoservation of the present tifï f rom injuiy, by the giving way of the floor on which ho was standing, aftir mass, April 15, 1855 whereby bis Holiness with others was preeipitated into the cellar beneath. The whole scen is very vividly portrayed, but ainid the wreek the Pope stands ereot, supported by the strong arm of St. Peter. To the artist's apprehension. the saint's interposition seemed to be of the most palpable nature. The chürch itself wo found by descending a flight of 45 atone steps, the wall8 upon both gides having numerou inscriptione frorn the catacoinbaitninured, with ocoasional rlieÍ3 and symbols taken also from those ancient tombs. Arriving at the bottom we found ourselves in a very coinmodious and very cold church, with naTO and aisles divided by sixteen ancient oolunins of various colors, material, size, and style. In eaca row was a single fluted Corinthian pillar, of the greatest beautyj ; the othars were round and hot so fine, Above was the eomewhat unusual arrangement ia Italy of a gallery around the entire nave,, supported by smaller columns. The high altar tabernacle were supported by four beautiful pillara of porphyry aud a statue of St. Agneao, bearing ths eymbolic latib in alabaster was placed beneath. A fine mosaic, represonting the saint between two Popes, ornamenta tho Tribune and is of the 7th century. There were also soma fine reliëfs and froscoea, but with temperature in the open air at 60 deg. and in the church at 40 deg. our feelings prompted us to shorten our stay, though quite a large number had begun to assernble for Tespers. The adjoining ohuroh of S. Costanza, arected by Constantino as a monument to hia daughter Cünstantia, and in which wa deposited the fine porphyry sarcophagus, now in tho Vatican, with its inscriptions and reliëfs, wai reconstructed as it now appsais in 1256, and ha8 no olalms to notice except its frecoes of the 14th century representing genii gathering grapea. The sarcophagus reforred to is of beautiful, dark red porphyry, and the relief of Cupjda pressing grapes, - a Christian syrabol of the vine associatöd ahvaya with the Passion, - .ambs, peaoooke, grotesquea, and festoons are Tery high and largp as well as somewhat rudely exeouted. The same romark may be made of another sarcophagus in the same room in the Vatican, of the saine material, size, and general appearanoe, exoept the relief on the iatter represent large equestrian figures, prisoners, &c, allusive to tho triumphs of Constantine, for whose mother, S. Helen, it formed the toinb. As some evidnnoe of the enonnous sums of money lavished upon this cplebrated colleotion it may ba added that these two eplendid sarcophigi were so badly mutüated as to require years of labor and an expense of the incredible sum of 96,000 scudi, about $100,to properly restore thera. Thore fvre many attractioas conftected with these short excursión outside the walls, whioh for three or four inile8 hedgo in the roads. There are the long lines of chubby donkeys, little more than tnree feet high, with great loads of hay arranged across thoiv backs like panniers, ene on each side, vastly larger than tho loug earred brutos hiddon beneath. Soarooly less interesíing are those samo subicissive animáis dragging along anomalo-iR two wheeled vehicles, with a net ■work of rope beneath to catch all that fall, on whioh are piled men, women und ohildren, arrayed in their indigcribabl h abiiiments of rags, blanke' B, oolored handkerchiofs, short breedtes, and lower extreraities wrapped in tnvelops nd hose, bound ou with stiiys of leather and string3. Or equally oharautexiatio, tha heavier dray3,ladeu with dirt or stones no matter how heavily alwajs surmounted by a peculiar movable weathei top, and tha driver urging his team forward with a peculiar and oft' repeated ejaculation, or the same beautiful animal rigged with a wooden saddlo from six to eight inches thiok, with bags and garbago Blung to both Bidea, astride all whiol rides the peasant muieteer, a oross betweon tho brigand and the poverino. Keturning, we stopped to look into thai strangest specimen of ehurch architectuia to be seen in this or any other city : in fact ao mixed up with and crowded by the remains of Diocletian's baths and aurrounding edificua that it is difficiüt to identify the ehurch even whan lcioking for it, and the interior at present exibiting the singular speetacle of a short navo with transepts thafe havo more thaa doublé its length, the 8. Mario degli Angeli. Bnt dismissing all tsohnicalcritioism what a world of wealth and beauty, marbles and paintinga, meet the eye. The grsmd transepts (ones the nare) 308 feet long, 100 feet high and 98 feet wide, well lighted and but littls brokn by ohapols paved with beautiful, póliühed marble, and hung with the splendid pictures whiüh foiinerly adorned St. Petei's, gave us a gratifioati6ngieat aa it was un expected. Tho tombs and monumont3 of the great paintere C. Maratta and Salvator Rosa are here. Among the paintings are workg by Fliaraingo, Muziand Baglioni, Battoni Maratta, Domeniohinc iiomanelli and others. Here, too, is a Éolosüal statue of St. Bruno, by Houdoc and the monument to Pope Piua IV., by AI. Angelo, and stretching for about 175 feet diagonally across the polished marble is laid with all the details tha meridian of Rome, 1703. Centrally in the spacious Piazia di Termini, in front of the ohuroh and railway station, is ono of the fiuest playitlg fountains of the oity. The water ia thrown in tho main stream to a height o 75 feet whilo numerous smaller onea, shooting upward perhaps ten feet, curvo jjracefully in to unite with the óeüteri forming a very brilliant display whea the raya of a bright siin are toying with the showers of stsray. An outer rim to the basin is oonstructed of rock Work and tho whole is surrounded by the prettiest bit of bright gresn lawu in Rome. Add to this a border of dark leaved live oaka and pines, and no more fresh and bright looking acre of ground could bo found within the Áurelian walls. This part of Borne is undorgoing the most varied transformatkms under the spur of the railroad, and of the new faith and con fidence inspired by the new order of tilinga. Oíd thiug3 aro passing away in doed. All this piazza and the vicinity, covering several acres, was once covered by the Thermoes of Dioclotian whoaa rnany grand arohes and lofty walls, witfc out colierence and order, are peering up all about the open space, cominirlgled with hay magaiinea, shops, dwellingr and chürches, which h%ve availed themsülves of the rendy made walls. Even the splendid nave of the church just described owes ita grand preportions and generoua light to the Btill preserved columns and auoient roof vaulting of tha old ïherma hall. And the adjoining rnonastery is largely indebted to the Samè source for niány of its rooms and ënclos ures ; but the baths have lost their connected signifleanoo by the hand of modern improvement and tnüst quite disappear in the zeal with which building corporations are laying out and erecting numberless edifices all about thi; portloü of the city. The comparison betweeñ the ancient and the late Eome shows niany remarkable comrasts, nöt merely in sanitary conditions but in substantial national differences. Old things and nsages are also passing away, many appearing for the last time within the past two yearg.