From Sant Agostino, we may visit San Luigi de’ Francesi, which is very rich, and rather handsome (I speak of the inside, the outsides of Roman churches I seldom pretend to criticise). The dome springs from the same height as the vaulting of the nave, the diameter being from angle to angle. Its merits consist in a remarkably fine Francesco Bassan, a painter usually little thought of in Rome but this is really worth seeing for the character of the heads; and a chapel, containing a copy by Guido, of the Santa Cecilia of Raphael, and adorned by the frescos of Domenichino.
We pass by the Palazzo del Governo, i. e. the police office, a rich, but not handsome building, formerly the Palazzo Madama, and by the Sapienza, of which I have already given you some account, and we may go through the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli into the Piazza Navona, the ancient Circus Agonalis, or rather the Circus of Alexander Severus, the form of which it preserves. There are no remains visible, but probably some might be found in the cellars of the surrounding houses, if it were worth while to search for them. In the circuit of this long opening, we may admire the church of Santa Agnese, the Palazzo Pamfili adjoining, and the Palazzo Braschi, which I shall shortly describe to you; but of the latter little is seen.
Within the Piazza, the ornaments are three fountains; the middle consists of a great rock, with figures of rivers rising from a large basin; the rock is perforated in both directions, yet on the top is placed an obelisk fifty-one feet high, which was found in the circus of Caracalla. This absurdity is the admired work of Bernini, who is said himself to have been so much ashamed of it, that he pulled up the blinds of his carriage whenever he passed the Piazza Navona to avoid seeing it. Races are sometimes exhibited here, and the people are said to enjoy them the more, because the sharp turn at one end, taking place on the hard pavement, frequently produces serious accidents. If so, something of the detestable gladiator taste of the empire still subsists at Rome, but I hope, for the honour of human nature, that it is not true.
A portico has recently been added to the church of San Pantaleo, in which the Ionic order of the Athenian temple of Erectheus has been imitated; but the moulding within the volute is too strongly marked, and the recess which separates its folds is too deep; these faults quite spoil its effect. It is besides an order of very peculiar character, not suited to every situation.
Close by this is the Braschi Palace, of great size, and built of excellent, pale-coloured brickwork, with stone ornaments. The foundations were laid, according to Uggeri, in this manner. After the trenches were dug, water was introduced to the depth of about a foot, and stones and liquid mortar were thrown in, without order, and formed one solid mass, upon which the walls were afterwards built. According to the same writer this method is common in Rome, and certainly the present edifice does credit to the practice.
Though irregular in its form, and not very good in its details, there is perhaps, no building in Rome which has more the air of a palace. A coach was turning round in the hall, as I entered it for the first time. The staircase is very noble, and rich in marbles; the steps are supported on arches resting on columns, and these arches are not semicircles, with an upright addition to the lower part, to compensate for the different heights at which the columns are placed, but are curved immediately from the lower column, as well as from the upper; the tangent at each springing being vertical. The effect is grand, but the arrangement is not satisfactory, nor have I ever seen any that was, in an open staircase of more than one story, where the steps were too wide to be well supported by their insertion into the wall. There is a collection of ancient marbles in some unfinished rooms, the pride of which is an exquisite colossal statue of Antinous, found at Palestrina. There are also paintings on the second floor, but I could not obtain admittance.
At the angle of this palace is the mutilated trunk called Pasquin, the ancient receptacle of squibs against the government, and against conspicuous individuals; but he speaks no more, though the name is preserved.
If we continue our walk at the back of the Piazza Navona, we shall find the Church of the Santa Maria dell’ Anima: so called from an image of the Madonna with two little figures kneeling to her, representing two souls of the faithful. It would appear therefore, that it ought to be delle anime. The piers are very slender, and the church has this singularity, that the side aisles are as high as the middle. The effect is good, and we may be sure it is owing to the disposition, since the eye is not cheated into admiration by any richness of ornament, or beauty of detail. The altar-piece is by Giulio Romano, a fine picture, but much blackened.
Near this is the Church of Santa Maria della Pace, which has on the outside, a large, semicircular, Doric portico, with coupled columns. There seems no reason for the coupling, and all the other parts are bad. Here are the Sybils of Raphael, which, though they have lost something of their original value by time and retouching, are still fine frescos; and this church also exhibits a small quantity of very beautiful cinque cento ornament. There are also some frescos of Albano.
The cloisters are the design of Bramante; they are formed by arches between columns and pedestals below; and columns backed by little piers, and detached columns over the crown of the arch, form a gallery above. The effect is not displeasing, yet when the columns are thus placed upon arches, (if such a liberty is to be allowed at all) it is better to keep them very small, and put two in each space.