The third chapel on the left contains the tomb of Raphael (born April 6, 1483; died April 6, 1520). From the pen of Cardinal Bembo is the epigram:
"Ille hic est Raphael, timuit quo sospite vinci
Rerum magna parens, et moriente mori"[310]
"Raphael mourut à l'âge de 37 ans. Son corps resta exposé pendant trois jours. Au moment où l'on s'apprêtait à le descendre dans sa dernière demeure, on vit arriver le pape (Leon X.) qui se prosterna, pria quelques instants, bénit Raphael, et lui prit pour la dernière fois la main, qu'il arrosa de ses larmes (si prostrò innanzi l'estinto Rafaello et baciogli quella mano, tra le lagrime). On lui fit de magnifiques funérailles, auxquelles assistèrent les cardinaux, les artistes, &c."—A. Du Pays.
"When Raphael went,
His heavenly face the mirror of his mind,
His mind a temple for all lovely things
To flock to and inhabit—when He went,
Wrapt in his sable cloak, the cloak he wore,
To sleep beneath the venerable Dome,
By those attended, who in life had loved,
Had worshipped, following in his steps to Fame,
('Twas on an April-day, when Nature smiles,)
All Rome was there. But, ere the march began,
Ere to receive their charge the bearers came,
Who had not sought him? And when all beheld
Him, where he lay, how changed from yesterday,
Him in that hour cut off, and at his head
His last great work;[311] when, entering in, they looked
Now on the dead, then on that masterpiece,
Now on his face, lifeless and colourless,
Then on those forms divine that lived and breathed,
And would live on for ages—all were moved;
And sighs burst forth, and loudest lamentations."
Rogers.
Taddeo Zucchero and Annibale Caracci are buried on either side of Raphael. Near the high altar is a monument to Cardinal Gonsalvi (1757—1824), the faithful secretary and minister of Pius VII., by Thorwaldsen. This, however, is only a cenotaph, marking the spot where his heart is preserved. His body rests with that of his beloved brother Andrew in the church of S. Marcello.
During the middle ages the pope always officiated here on the day of Pentecost, when, in honour of the descent of the Holy Spirit, showers of white rose-leaves were continually sent down through the aperture during service.
"Though plundered of all its brass, except the ring which was necessary to preserve the aperture above; though exposed to repeated fire; though sometimes flooded by the river, and always open to the rain, no monument of equal antiquity is so well preserved as this rotunda. It passed with little alteration from the pagan into the present worship; and so convenient were its niches for the Christian altar, that Michael Angelo, ever studious of ancient beauty, introduced their design as a model in the Catholic church."—Forsyth.
"Simple, erect, severe, austere, sublime—
Shrine of all saints and temple of all gods,
From Jove to Jesus—spared and bless'd by time,
Looking tranquillity, while falls or nods
Arch, empire, each thing round thee, and man plods
His way through thorns to ashes—glorious dome!
Shalt thou not last? Time's scythe and tyrant's rods
Shiver upon thee—sanctuary and home
Of art and piety—Pantheon! pride of Rome!"
Byron, Childe Harold.
In the Piazza della Rotonda is a small Obelisk found in the Campus Martius.
"At a few paces from the streets where meat is sold, you will find gathered round the fountain in the Piazza della Rotonda, a number of bird-fanciers, surrounded by cages in which are multitudes of living birds for sale. Here are Java sparrows, parrots and parroquets, grey thrushes and nightingales, red-breasts (petti rossi), yellow canary-birds, beautiful sweet-singing little cardellini, and gentle ringdoves, all chattering, singing, and cooing together, to the constant splashing of the fountain. Among them, perched on stands, and glaring wisely out of their great yellow eyes, may be seen all sorts of owls, from the great solemn barbigiani, and white-tufted owl, to the curious little civetta, which gives its name to all sharp-witted heartless flirts, and the aziola, which Shelley has celebrated in one of his minor poems."—Story's Roba di Roma.