"Les étrangers qui viennent à Rome commencent par blâmer sévèrement la loterie. Au bout de quelque temps, l'esprit de tolérance qui est dans l'air pénètre peu-à-peu jusqu'au fond de leur cerveau; ils excusent un jeu philanthropique qui fournit au pauvre peuple six jours d'espérances pour cinq sous. Bientôt, pour se rendre compte du mécanisme de la loterie, ils entrent euxmêmes dans un bureau, en évitant de se laisser voir. Trois mois après, ils poursuivent ouvertement une combinaison savante; ils ont une théorie mathématique qu'ils signeraient volontiers de leur nom; ils donnent des leçons aux nouveaux arrivés; ils érigent le jeu en principe et jurent qu'un homme est impardonnable s'il ne laisse pas une porte ouverte à la Fortune."—About, Rome Contemporaine.
The court at the back of the palazzo is now occupied by the General Post Office.
Close by is the Church of S. Luigi dei Francesi, rebuilt 1589, with a façade by Giacomo della Porta. It contains a number of tombs of eminent Frenchmen who have died in Rome, and some good pictures.
Following the right aisle, the second chapel has frescoes from the life of Sta. Cecilia, by Domenichino (she gives clothes to the poor,—is crowned by an angel with her husband Valerian,—refuses to sacrifice to idols,—suffers martyrdom,—enters into heaven).
"Domenichino is often cold and studied in the principal subject, while the subordinate persons have much grace, and a noble character of beauty. Of this the two frescoes in S. Luigi at Rome, from the life of Sta. Cecilia, are striking examples. It is not the saint herself, bestowing her goods from a balcony, who contributes the chief subject, but the masterly group of poor people struggling for them below. The same may be said of the death of the saint, where the admiration and grief of the bystanders are inimitable."—Kugler.
"Reclining on a couch, in the centre of the picture, her hand pressed on her bosom, her dying eyes raised to heaven, the saint is breathing her last; while female forms, of exquisite beauty and innocence, are kneeling around, or bending over her. The noble figure of an old man, whose clasped hands and bent brow seem to bespeak a father's affection, appears on one side; and lovely children, in all the playful graces of unconscious infancy, as usual in Domenichino's paintings, by contrast heighten, yet relieve, the deep pathos of the scene. From above, an angel—such an angel as Domenichino alone knew how to paint, a cherub form of light and loveliness—is descending on rapid wing, bearing to the expiring saint the crown and palm of glory."—Eaton's Rome.
The copy of Raphael's Sta. Cecilia over the altar is by Guido. The fourth chapel has on the right frescoes by Girolamo Sicciolante, on the left by Pellegrino da Bologna, the altar-piece is by Giacomo del Conte. The fifth chapel has on the right the monument of Agincourt (ob. 1814), the famous archæologist, on the left that of Guerin the painter.
The high altar has an Assumption by Bassano.
The first chapel in the left aisle has a St. Sebastian by Massei. In the fifth chapel, of St. Matthew, three pictures by Caravaggio represent the vocation and martyrdom of that saint.
"The paintings of Caravaggio at S. Luigi belong to his most comprehensive works. The Martyrdom of St Matthew, with the angel with a palm branch squatting upon a cloud, and a boy running away, screaming, though highly animated, is an offensive production. On the other hand, the Calling of the Apostle may be considered as a genre picture of grand characteristic figures; for instance, those of the money-changers and publican at the table; some of them counting money, others looking up astonished at the entrance of the Saviour."—Kugler.