Room of Portraits.—A portrait of Virginie Le Brun, by herself; Iris, by Head; and a portrait of H.R.H. the late Duke of Sussex, in the costume of an officer of a Highland Regiment. 238. The skull shown in S. Luca belonged to Don Desiderio de Adintorlo, founder, in 1542, of the Society of the Virtuosi.
Saloon of Raphael.—Bacchus and Ariadne, by Guido Reni. 28. Susanna, by P. Veronese. 29. Calista and Nymphs, by Titian. 22. Venus and Cupid, by Guercino. 25. Tarquin and Lucretia, by Guido Cagnacci. 26. The Galatea, copied by Giulio Romano. 27. Fortune, by Guido Reni. 15. S. Luke Painting the Virgin, by Raphael. A Boy, fresco, by Raphael (very beautiful and life-like), formerly in a room of the Vatican.
Resuming our ramble up the Via Bonella, we take the Via Alessandrina, on the right; and the Via Croce Bianca, on the left. This was the site of
THE FORUM OF NERVA.
"Domitian erected a forum, which is now called Nerva's" (Suetonius, "Domitian," v.). It was known by several names, being called after Domitian, because he commenced it; Nerva, because he finished it; Pervium, because it was a thoroughfare; Pallas and Minerva, from the temple that stood in it, and which was destroyed by Pope Paul V. to build the fountain on the Janiculum; it was also called Transitorium, because a street passed through it for traffic. The only remains left are, on the right,
THE ALTAR OF MINERVA,
the prettiest bit of ruin in Rome, consisting of Corinthian columns, which support an architrave adorned with a frieze, and divided by ressauts, and an attic above. On the attic is a colossal figure of Minerva, represented in relief as the patroness of labour; on the architrave the goddess appears engaged in instructing young girls in various female occupations, and in punishing the insolence of Arachne, who had ventured to compete with her in the labours of the loom.
The wall upon which this altar stands was also a piece of the wall of the kings: in it was evidently a gateway, which was filled in when the wall was utilized for the altar. In the yard of the large new house opposite remains of a tower can be seen, probably the tower called Turris Mamilia. (See Festus.)
Leaving this ruin on our right, we proceed up the Via Croce Bianca, into the Via Madonna dei Monti, the district of the Suburra. (Carriages must proceed straight on down the Via di Torre di Conti, and turn up the first street to the left.)