Sometimes supposed to represent Donna Laura Eustachio, the peasant Duchess of Alphonso I. of Ferrara.
"When Titian or Tintoret look at a human being, they see at a glance the whole of its nature, outside and in; all that it has of form, of colour, of passion, or of thought; saintliness and loveliness; fleshly power, and spiritual power; grace, or strength, or softness, or whatsoever other quality, those men will see to the full, and so paint, that, when narrower people come to look at what they have done, every one may, if he chooses, find his own special pleasure in the work. The sensualist will find sensuality in Titian; the thinker will find thought; the saint, sanctity; the colourist, colour; the anatomist, form; and yet the picture will never be a popular one in the full sense, for none of these narrower people will find their special taste so alone consulted, as that the qualities which would ensure their gratification shall be sifted or separated from others; they are checked by the presence of the other qualities, which ensure the gratification of other men.... Only there is a strange undercurrent of everlasting murmur about the name of Titian, which means the deep consent of all great men that he is greater than they."—Ruskin's Two Paths, Lect. 2.
31. Death of the Virgin: Albert Durer.
32. Maddalena della Radice: Guido Reni.*
"The two Magdalens by Guido are almost duplicates, and yet one is incomparably superior to the other. She is reclining on a rock, and her tearful and uplifted eyes, the whole of her countenance and attitude, speak the overwhelming sorrow that penetrates her soul. Her face might charm the heart of a stoic; and the contrast of her youth and enchanting loveliness, with the abandonment of grief, the resignation of all earthly hope, and the entire devotion of herself to penitence and heaven, is most affecting."—Eaton's Rome.[11]
Near the Piazza Sciarra, the Corso (as Via Flaminia) was formerly spanned by the Arch of Claudius, removed in 1527. Some reliefs from this arch are preserved in the portico of the Villa Borghese, and though much mutilated are of fine workmanship. The inscription, which commemorated the erection of the arch in honour of the conquest of Britain, is preserved in the courtyard of the Barberini Palace.
On the right of the Piazza Sciarra is the Via della Caravita, containing the small but popular Church of the Caravita,[12] used for the peculiar religious exercises of the Jesuits, especially for their terrible Lenten "flagellation" services, which are one of the most extraordinary sights afforded by Catholic Rome.
"The ceremony of pious whippings, one of the penances of the convents, still takes place at the time of vespers in the oratory of the Padre Caravita and in another church in Rome. It is preceded by a short exhortation, during which a bell rings, and whips, that is, strings of knotted whipcord, are distributed quietly amongst such of the audience as are on their knees in the nave. On a second bell, the candles are extinguished—a loud voice issues from the altar, which pours forth an exhortation to think of unconfessed, or unrepented, or unforgiven crimes. This continues a sufficient time to allow the kneelers to strip off their upper garments; the tone of the preacher is raised more loudly at each word, and he vehemently exhorts his hearers to recollect that Christ and the martyrs suffered much more than whipping. 'Show, then, your penitence—show your sense of Christ's sacrifice—show it with the whip.' The flagellation begins. The darkness, the tumultuous sound of blows in every direction—'Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us!' bursting out at intervals,—the persuasion that you are surrounded by atrocious culprits and maniacs, who know of an absolution for every crime—so far from exciting a smile, fixes you to the spot in a trance of restless horror, prolonged beyond bearing. The scourging continues ten or fifteen minutes."—Lord Broughton.
"Each man on entering the church was supplied with a scourge. After a short interval the doors were barred, the lights extinguished; and from praying, the congregation proceeded to groaning, crying, and finally, being worked up into a kind of ecstatic fury, applied the scourge to their uncovered shoulders without mercy."—Whiteside's Italy in the Nineteenth Century.
Beyond the Caravita is the Church of S. Ignazio, built by Cardinal Ludovisi. The façade, of 1685, is by Algardi. It contains the tomb of Gregory XIV. (Nicolo Sfondrati, 1590—91), and that of S. Ludovico Gonzaga, both sculptured by Le Gros.