At the end of this room, not generally shown, is the Chapel of St. Pius V.
The Appartamenti Borgia, which are reached from hence, are only shown by a special permission, difficult to obtain. They consist of four rooms, which were built by Alexander VI., though their beautiful decorations were chiefly added by Leo X. The first room is painted by Giovanni da Udine and Pierino del Vaga, and represents the course of the planets,—Jupiter drawn by eagles, Venus by doves, Diana (the moon) by nymphs, Mars by wolves, Mercury by cocks, Apollo (the sun) by horses, Saturn by dragons. These frescoes, executed at the time Michael Angelo was painting the Last Judgment, are interesting as the last revival under Clement VII. of the pagan art so popular in the papal palace under Leo X.
The second room, painted by Pinturicchio, has beautiful lunettes of the Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, Resurrection, Ascension, Descent of the Holy Ghost, and Assumption of the Virgin. The ceiling of the third room has paintings by Pinturicchio of the Martyrdom of St Sebastian; the Visitation of St Elizabeth; the Meeting of St Anthony with St. Paul, the first hermit; St. Catherine before Maximian; the Flight of St. Barbara; St. Julian of Nicomedia; and, over the door, the Virgin and Child. This last picture is of curious historical interest, as a relic of the libertinism of the court of Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Borgia), the "figure of the Virgin being a faithful representation of Giulia Farnese, the too celebrated Vanozza," mistress of the pope, and mother of his children, Cæsar and Lucrezia. "She held upon her knees the infant Jesus, and Alexander knelt at her feet."
The fourth room, also painted by Pinturicchio, is adorned with allegorical figures of the Arts and Sciences, and of the Cardinal Virtues.
"On the accession of the infamous Alexander VI., Pinturicchio was employed by him to paint the Appartamento Borgia, and a great number of rooms, both in the castle of S. Angelo and in the pontifical palace. The patronage of this pope was still more fatal to the arts than that of the Medici at Florence. The subjects represented in the castle of S. Angelo were drawn from the life of Alexander himself, and the portraits of his relations and friends were introduced there,—amongst others, those of his brothers, sisters, and that of the infamous Cæsar Borgia. To all acquainted with the scandalous history of this family, this representation appeared a commemoration of their various crimes, and it was impossible to regard it in any other light, when, in addition to the publicity they affected to give to these scandalous excesses, they appeared desirous of making art itself their accomplice; and by an excess of profanation hitherto unexampled in the Catholic world, Alexander VI. caused himself to be represented, in a room in the Vatican, in the costume of one of the Magi, kneeling before the holy Virgin, whose head was no other than the portrait of the beautiful Giulia Farnese ('Vanozza'), whose adventures are unfortunately too well known. We may indeed say that the walls have in this case made up for the silence of the courtiers: for on them was traced, for the benefit of contemporaries and posterity, an undeniable proof of the depravity of the age.
"At the sight of that Appartamento Borgia, which is entirely painted by Pinturicchio, we shall experience a sort of satisfaction in discovering the inferiority of this purely mercenary work, as compared with the other productions of the same artist, and we cannot but rejoice that it is so unworthy of him. Such an ignoble task was not adapted to an artist of the Umbrian school, and there is good reason to believe that, after this act of servility, Pinturicchio became disgusted with Rome, and returned to the mountains of Umbria, in search of nobler inspirations."—Rio. Poetry of Christian Art.
A door on the right of the room with the old pictures opens into a room containing a very interesting collection of ancient frescoes. On the right wall is the celebrated "Nozze Aldobrandini," found in 1606[349] in some ruins belonging to the baths of Titus near the arch of Gallienus on the Esquiline, and considered to be the finest specimen of ancient pictorial art in Rome. It was purchased at first by the Aldobrandini family, whence its name. It represents an ancient Greek ceremony, possibly the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis. There is a fine copy by Nicholas Poussin in the Doria Palace.
"S'il fait allusion à un sujet mythologique, le réel y est à côté de l'idéal, et la mythologie y est appliquée à la représentation d'un mariage ordinaire. Tout porte à y voir une peinture romaine, mais l'auteur s'était inspiré des Grecs, comme on s'en inspirait presque toujours à Rome. La nouvelle mariée, assise sur le lit nuptial et attendant son époux, a cette expression de pudeur virginale, d'embarras modeste, qui avait rendu célèbre un tableau dont le sujet était le mariage de Roxane et l'auteur Ætion, peintre grec."—Ampère, Hist. Rom. iv. 127.
Opposite to this is a Race of the Cupids, from Ostia. The other frescoes in this room were found in the ruins on the Esquiline and at the Torre di Marancia.