Opposite to this monument is the monument of Maria Clementina, daughter of James Sobieski, and grand-daughter of John Sobieski, King of Poland, wife of James III., and mother of Charles Edward and Henry Benedict. She married on 3rd September, 1719, and died at Rome on 18th January, 1735. The monument stands against the wall over the door leading to the staircase by which the public ascend to the cupola. Pietro Bracci carved the monument from the design of Filippo Barigioni, consisting of a pyramid of porphyry on a base of Porta Santa marble, the whole relieved by a ground of blue sky and clouds painted on the wall. Under the elevated pyramid is the sarcophagus of porphyry, above which are two marble statues, one of Charity, and the other of an infant, which support a circular medallion portrait in mosaic, of Maria Clementina, by Cav. Cristofori, from a painting by Lewis Stern. Drapery of Sicilian alabaster, with a fringe of gilded bronze, falls in ample folds on both sides of the sarcophagus, which is flanked by two angels, one holding a crown and the other a sceptre; and upon it the words are carved "Maria Clementina M. Britann. Fr. et Hibern. Regina." It was erected by the "Fabbrica di S. Pietro," at the cost of 18,000 scudi. There is another monument in Rome to Maria Clementina, and it is in the church of the SS. Apostoli, in the nave, upon the second pier on the right-hand side. It contains her heart, and consists of a circular urn of verde antico, surmounted by a crown, over which two angels hover, of white marble; and below, a tablet of rosso antico, bearing an inscription, thus:
"Mariæ Clementinæ Magnæ Britanniæ
Etc. Reginæ, Fratres Min. Cons. venerabundi pp.
Hic Clementinæ remanent præcordia, nam cor
Cælestis fecit ne superesset amor."
Charles Edward has also another monument in addition to the one in St. Peter's, namely, at Frascati, fourteen miles from Rome, of which see Cardinal York was bishop. Its position is to the left of the great entrance door; the inscription runs thus:
"Hic situs est Karolus Odoardus, cui pater Jacobus III., Rex Angliæ, Scotiæ, Franciæ, Hiberniæ, primus natorum, paterni juris et regiæ dignitatis successor et hæres, qui, domicilio sibi Romæ delecto, Comes Albanyensis dictus est. Vixit annos LXVII et mensem: decessit in pace
pridie Kal. Febr. anno MDCCLXXXVIII.
"Henricus Card. Episc. Tusculan., cui paterna jura titulique cessere, Ducis Eboracensis appellatione resumpta, in ipso luctu amori et reverentiæ obsequutus, indicto in templum suum funere multis cum lacrimis præsens justa persolvit fratri augustissimo, honoremque sepulchri ampliorem destinavit."
Henry Benedict, or Cardinal York, was born at Rome on 6th of March, 1725. He was Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, Dean of the Sacred College, Vice-Chancellor of the Roman Church, Arch-priest of St. Peter's, and Prefect of the Fabric of St. Peter's. He deceased at Frascati in July, 1807. In the church at Frascati, on the left hand of the entrance into the sanctuary, there is a monument in his honour; but I have not a copy of the inscription.
It is needless to add that though all these monuments are made of the richest marbles, and at great cost, the effect produced by them as Christian sepulchral monuments is unsatisfactory in the extreme. The inscriptions upon them are in equally bad taste.
Ceyrep.