The courier engages to find us dinner and supper for one day, and dinner the next, but no breakfast; and he ingeniously contrived to give us dinner at five o’clock, and supper at eight, in order to save as much of the latter as possible; but every body felt it a duty to eat something at supper, out of spite. We changed boats, and soon afterwards entered the Po, a great, muddy river running above the level of the country, great part of which in the present season is under water. Our voyage terminated at midnight; but it makes no difference whether the boat arrives at six in the evening or six in the morning, you must remain in it till daylight, when all the lighter luggage is taken out and carried by land to Bologna. As however there might be some grumbling, if the passengers found themselves at Ponte di Lago Scuro early in the evening, and had no better place to sleep in than the boat, the courier takes care this shall never happen. We stopped five hours at Ferrara,[[36]] the courier assuring me we should not stay there above an hour. This is one of the customary lies of these people in Italy, but I was not sufficiently aware of it. If I had known beforehand, that the carriage would stay so long at Ferrara, I could have employed my time very pleasantly; but this was impossible with the expectation of having to go away at every moment. On the other hand, the couriers and vetturini usually mention a time of setting off in the morning rather later than that which they intend, thinking probably, that their passengers would be unwilling to dedicate so short a time to repose, and well knowing, that when once roused, a man does not easily settle to sleep again. We did not arrive at Bologna till past ten at night, but the kindness of Sig. Vracliotti had furnished me with a letter to a brother of his, who is a student in the university, and I stept at once into a comfortable lodging. I have a large bed-room, well furnished, and a great bed, with a silk bag of down to lay over my feet. No hangings, which are not usual in Italy. Adjoining is another room, or ante-chamber, of about the same size, which is my sitting room; and between this and the hall, another sitting-room, which communicates with two more bed-rooms; and I always have to pass through these two sitting-rooms in going to my own bed-room. No party is formed, and no fires are lighted, except in the kitchen, till about three o’clock, which is dinner-time. Afterwards they are kept up all the rest of the day, though the party always separate after dinner. In the evening we again assemble, but there is no other regular meal. Some are reading; the ladies are knitting; some are talking, and some playing at cards. Besides the Greek student, there are two lodgers, one of whom is an elderly gentleman, whom they call Sig. Paolo, but what his cognomen is I do not know, for the name in Italy is always that of baptism, and by this you are addressed. The other is also a student in the university, a very modest, pleasing young man. The Greek complains much of the fast days. The Greek church is, indeed, more severe in this respect than the Roman; but he tells me, that at Corfu they are little attended to.
We have here the Roman money, which ascends by tens; ten bajocchi making a paolo; ten paoli a scudo. This is the most convenient numeration of any, unless, indeed, that of twelve be preferable; the great thing is always to use the same multiple, even to the largest amount, and twelve has an advantage over ten, in its greater divisibility. The most common silver coins are, the piece of the two paoli, called also a papetto, and the half-paolo, or grosetto, for the Italian leaves nothing without a name. The latter generally has some charitable motto, Pauperi porrige manum; In cibos pauperum; and others similar.
The pictures here are, to my taste, far preferable to those of Venice; for if the Venetian school surpass in colouring, and perhaps, in composition, the Bolognese is decidedly superior in drawing and expression; and the Caracci shine here like gods. The two finest collections are, that of the paintings returned from Paris, which are put up for the present in the suppressed church of the Spirito Santo, and the one at the Pinacotheca, which is collected from the suppressed churches, and is, perhaps, even finer than the other. Yet it contains a great deal of trash, from which the other is free. There are fine things scattered about in the different churches, and several very extensive private collections.
In architecture I shall not have a great deal to say; Bologna is a fine city, abounding in large churches and handsome palaces; but though the general style is good, there is little of very excellent, or of very striking and characteristic, to demand attention. The foot-paths are under arches, as at Bern and at Padua, but here they are fine lofty arcades, and the architecture is in better taste, more finished, and on a larger scale. I must however, take you round as usual to the principal buildings.
I. The largest church is that of San Petronio, of which the nave alone, which, with a little temporary choir, is all that has been erected, is 400 feet long. It was founded in 1390, when Bologna was a republic; the first stone being laid with great solemnity on the 7th of July in that year. The architect was a Bolognese, of the name of Antonio Vincenzi, or Di Vincenzo, who, in 1396, was ambassador from the Bolognese, to the Venetian republic. The plan was to have been a Latin cross, with a door at the end of the nave, and of each transept; each door opening from a public square, to form which a number of houses and churches were to be pulled down. From a plan published in 1653, (but which I did not see), it appears that the whole length internally was to have been 570 Bolognese feet, or nearly 712 English, (the length of St. Peter’s at Rome is only 571,) that of the transept 370 Bolognese, or 462 English feet. An octagonal cupola in the middle was to be 130 feet in diameter, and 400 feet high, both in Bolognese measure, to which I shall adhere in the rest of the description, each foot being very nearly 15 English inches. This word cupola is perhaps ill-applied by the writer of the Bolognese Guide, but the size of it, equal to the diameter of the whole building, including the side-chapels, does not seem to be a Gothic idea.[[37]] There were to have been four towers at the four extreme angles of the transept. It appears however, that this is only one of several plans, none perhaps of much authority, but none of which I have been able to procure. In the description of a model, (which I believe exists no longer) it is said that the length was to have been 590 feet. The width of the three arms, each of them augmented by a chapel on each side, (I do not understand this) 390 feet; the diameter of the cupola 86 feet, and the height 250, including the lantern. This model was made by Arduino, who ceased to be architect to the fabric in 1530. It does not appear, that as far as has been executed, any alteration took place in the original plan; (with the exception of the choir already mentioned) the disputes are altogether on what was intended to have been the form of the remaining part.
The elevation at present begun would present a series of five gables, the middle of which is the largest and highest; those of the aisles are lower, and those of the side-chapels lower still; and between every two gables there was to be a pinnacle. The part erected is cut up with abundance of horizontal lines. The ancient design seems to have been hardly as high as the present, and had fewer horizontal lines; in the front there were three round windows, and no others. Multitudes of designs have been offered for this façade, and among others, two of Palladio are preserved. The best of these has a pediment supported on four columns (he would not venture to introduce a greater number even in a case like this, where he most wanted them); two wings of the same order as the portico, with their fragments of pediments abutting against an attic; and two secondary wings, with a smaller order. Each order was to be on pedestals, all of the same height, and entirely cut through by the doorways. It would not have succeeded; the thing was too big for the artist. The proper design for such a building, where western towers are out of the question, is a central gable, with two leantos on each side; but such an arrangement could only succeed in Gothic architecture, for it would be difficult, if not impossible, to give sufficient height to the centre, supposing it to form a Greek portico.
The principal nave of this church is 49 feet in width. The two first arches are 100 feet 10 inches high, but after these were erected, disputes arose about the proper height; many contending that it ought to form an equilateral triangle on the whole width of the base, which would give an elevation of 133 feet 6 inches. The work was suspended till 1647, when it was executed with a height of 118 feet. The aisles are 70 feet 6 inches high, and 24 feet 6 inches wide; the side-chapels 24 feet 6 inches square, and 48 feet high. The choir is 116 feet long, and 106 feet high, all in Bolognese measure. Two side-chapels open into each division of the nave; the width of the side-arches being the same as that of the nave. These wide arches give a great appearance of space; but they either become enormously high, or else the height of the arch itself is too great for that of the pier which supports it. Here the first is at least as much as the latter, a proportion, or rather a disproportion, which is very offensive, and rendered still more so by the great height of the capitals. These are but little ornamented, and do not gratify the eye by any richness of detail, or beauty of workmanship. Indeed there is much fault to be found throughout, in the proportions of the different parts. All the principal arches are retained by iron ties. Yet with all these faults, the size and simplicity of design, and the space which every part seems to enjoy, without confusion or huddling, produce a pleasing impression. On the pavement of this church is the meridional line marked by Cassini in 1653, 178 feet 11½ inches in length.
II. The church of San Stefano is a very curious building, being formed by the union of no less than seven churches. In one of these are some very ancient columns with whimsical capitals, supporting circular arches, but the precise dates do not seem to be known. There are coupled columns, one of rich marble, the other of stone, miserably painted to imitate it, and this combination is repeated several times in the circuit of a round church, which is said to have been, and with great probability, an ancient baptistery. The church adjoining is reputed to have been formerly the cathedral, and the earliest of this group. It was founded by S. Faustino about 330, is something like our Norman, with small, rounded windows in the nave. One of the chapels contains an Ionic capital, and some arabesques, which are probably antique; and several fragments of the middle ages, which are interesting to an antiquary.
III. San Giacomo Maggiore is a large church, which was finished in 1315, but modernized in 1478; and from its appearance it seems to have undergone a posterior modernization: here are three side-chapels to each arch of the nave. Almost all the old Italian churches have been modernized, but enough remains to shew that Gothic architecture was never well understood in this country. The outside reminded me of that of S. Fermo at Verona, but it has never been completed.
IV. The Cathedral is a fine building of modern architecture, (I speak of the inside) built in 1575, but the front was not put up till 1647. It is 174 feet long, (of Bologna) exclusive of the choir and presbytery, which are 74 more; 127 feet wide, including the chapels; and 103 feet high; the width of the nave is 72 feet, the piers are perforated, and instead of side-aisles there are recesses, forming, if you please, three short transepts; a disposition I have already described to you in the church of the Salvatore at Venice. It is not uncommon in Italy; and this cathedral is perhaps one of the best examples of the arrangement, which I confess is one which pleases me. It gives great width to the nave, and reduces the aisles to a row of side-chapels communicating with each other. The entablature, in this edifice, is continued without breaks; and the side-arches, instead of being carried up the height of the centre, are kept under the architrave; and this is also the case with the choir, which appears in consequence rather low and confined. The order is Corinthian, and not bad, though incorrect. Nothing however is gained by the deviation from the usual forms. The vaulting is semicircular, springing a little above the entablature, without any moulding to mark the precise point. Some of the altars are very good. A simple portico of two Corinthian columns never displeases; and with good ornaments, good proportions, and handsome marbles, cannot fail to be beautiful.