In front of this building is the solar obelisk, which Augustus brought from Egypt, and fixed in the Campus Martius as the gnomon of a sundial. It was found buried and broken in 1748, but was not repaired and re-erected till 1789. The height of the obelisk itself is 68 feet, and it is better, because more simply mounted, than most others in Rome; indeed the pedestal seems to be the ancient Roman one, but the moderns could not be contented without adding a little metal at the top.
I shall not take you to the Palazzo Ghigi to admire the external architecture, which has little merit except in size, or to see the collections, though there are some fine paintings, and some ancient statues restored by Canova, but to see some of the rooms themselves, which are very handsome. One in particular will be numbered among the handsomest rooms (of small dimensions) in Europe. It is 40 feet 9 inches long, 17 feet 9 inches wide, and about 28 feet high, with pilasters on a continued plinth, and a coved ceiling with arches above. The interpilasters are groined into the cove; the angles, both entering and salient, have bold wreaths of flowers; the mouldings, and ornaments of the centre panels, are white upon a buff ground.
With this palace I conclude my letter, having brought you again into the neighbourhood of the Piazza di Spagna. Our next excursion must be to the Trastevere.
LETTER XXXII.
TRASTEVERE—WALLS.
Rome, May, 1817.
I concluded my last with a promise, or perhaps I should say a threat, of a walk in the Trastevere, which I am now about to perform. I shall not however, entirely skip over the intervening ground, but glean whatever occurs on the way; and first I will take you to San Carlo, in the Corso; a church which looks better at a distance than near, because the general form of the front is that of a Greek temple crowned with a pediment, but on approaching we find so many breaks and angles, cutting through cornice, pediment, and everything else, that all beauty of design is lost: the interior is good, but there are others better of the same sort in Rome. Another church in the Corso, is that of Gesù e Maria. Not by any means one of the largest, or richest churches in this city, yet a priest who accompanied me, assured me that he had spent 7,000 crowns, raised entirely by voluntary contributions, in putting up an altar, and otherwise decorating one of the side chapels; and there is no reason to distrust his information. It was dedicated to La Madonna del divin Ajuto, and the father gave me her picture.
Not far from this is the Palazzo Rondadini, famous not in itself, but for two exquisite festoons of fruit and leaves in white marble, built up in the wall of the court. At a very short distance is the Mausoleum of Augustus, originally a vast circular edifice, composed of concentric circles, rising higher as they approached the middle, and forming a succession of terraces adorned with trees,[[2]] as we learn from the medals representing it. The outer circle, or perhaps circles, are now destroyed; and we have only the central mass formed of rubble, with facings of reticulated work, and the upper part reduced into an amphitheatre for the exhibition of fire-works, and of bull-fights. What is below I do not know. Piroli has given a section which represents it as nearly solid.
Our next step will be to the Ripetta, the resort of the smaller barks which navigate the Tiber. A large flight of steps leads down to the water, and a ferry will, if you please, carry you to a footpath across some meadows, affording a pleasanter, but somewhat longer, walk to the Vatican. The long succession of streets which conducts us to the Ponte Sant Angelo, is one of the most disagreeable of the principal avenues of Rome. In it we find the great Palazzo Borghese, shaped as you are told, like a harpsichord, not however from any predilection for this form, but to accommodate it to the shape of the ground. Externally, it has no architectural merit except that of size. Each story has its mezzanine, an arrangement which would be convenient in a large hotel, for the independent accommodation of a number of families, but which wants the unity of a princely residence. The court is admired by some persons, but I do not much like it; it is surrounded by arches supported on coupled columns; an arrangement which has neither the solidity of a pier, nor the lightness, and grace, of a single column.
But who thinks of the architecture, while painting here displays all its glories. The collection is immense, but what is more, the pictures are wonderfully fine. The Deposition from the cross, though executed before Raphael had gained the richness and force of colour exhibited in his latest pictures, in design, and expression, may rank with anything he ever did. I must not begin upon this subject; criticisms on paintings if not excellent, are worthless, and since I cannot hope that mine will stand in the first predicament, I will not expose them to the latter imputation.
The Church of Sant Agostino, is not praiseworthy for its architecture, but it contains some fine Guercinos, and a head of Isaiah by Raphael, which is much admired. In the convent is a library of old books (there are no new ones in Rome), which is open to the public every morning from eight to twelve, except on feast days.