312 IV. Right Bank. ROME. e. The Vatican
Mengs, is fillcd with documents on papyrus of the 5-8th cent., found at
Ravenna. — The glass-cabinets of the 3rd Room contain a large number of
small pictures of the 13-15th cent., unfortunately not distinctly visible. On
the wall of the egress, on the right, a Russian painted calendar in the form
of a cross, of the 17th cent. ; next to it a large cross of rock-crystal, on
which the Passion is represented, by Valerio Vicentino, presented by Pius IX.
The handsome carved priedieu of Pius IX. is of French workmanship. The
adjoining room, formerly the Chapel of Pius V., adorned with frescoes by
Giorgio Vasari, and containing a Cabinet of Coins (not shown) which was
seriously pillaged in 1797 and 1849, contains a large portrait of Pius IX. in
his papal robes, in stained glass. In this and the following room are also
deposited the numerous addresses which Pius IX. received in the course
of his pontificate. — To the right in the third room is the entrance to a
collection of —
Ancient Pictures (admission only for extra fee). On the floor, ancient
mosaics. On the right wall: Phsedra andScylla; above, Ulysses and Circe;
then the so-called "Aldobrandine Nuptials, one of the finest ancient pictures
in existence, found in Rome in 1606; next to it, to the left, Warrior in
armour, found at Ostia in 1868 ; above it, Ulysses encountering the Lsestry-
gones; to the left, by a door, Ship being loaded, found at Ostia. By the
window, orientai gold and Silver trinkets and piate, presented by the
Emperor of Siam to Pius IX. To the left and right of these : Myrrha and
Pasiphaé. By the long wall, farther on : the spies of Ulysses among the
Lsestrygones ; below, a chariot with Cupids ; to the right, sacrificial pro¬
cession in front of a statue of Artemis; to the left, a boat mounted on a
waggon, probably connected with the worship of Isis (Isidis navigium).
Then, Ulysses in the infernal regions; below it, an unknown female figure
and Canace. The six named mythological figures of women celebrated for
their misfortune in love are from Tor Marancia. The representations from
the Odyssey were found on the Esquiline. — An adjacent cabinet contains
a collection of Graderai Tile-stamps and Maiolica, transferred from the papal
summer-palace at Castel Gondolfo.
[The so-called Appartamenti Borgia, in which a museum of Mediaeval
and Renaissance art is to be accommodated, are adorned with interesting
paintings, but are at present closed. We first enter the so-called Torre
Borgia (p. 279), two small rooms, the first of which is adorned with stucco
ceiling - ornamentation by Giovanni da Udine and Perin del Vaga. The
paintings on the spandrils and the prophets and sibyls in the lunettes are
ascribed to Pinturicchio (?). In the second room are twelve apostles and
prophets by Pinturicchio. The decorations in both rooms are much damaged.
— We descend a few steps, and enter the Hall of the Liberal Arts:
Astrologia (above the window), Grammatica, Dialectica, Rhetorica, Geo¬
metria, Arithmetica, Musica, ali by Pinturicchio. — The following Room
was also painted by Pinturicchio: on the rear-wall, St. Catharine's disputation
before the Emperor Maximinus; on the entrance-wall, SS. Anthony the
Abbot and Paul the Hermit in the Theban desert; Meeting of Mary and
Elizabeth; above the window, Martyrdom of St. Sebastian; on the exit-
wall, Susanna, St. Barbara; on the ceiling, Legend of Osiris (the Apis
bull is a reference to the arms of the Borgia family). — III. Room. On
the rear-wall, Annunciation and Nativity ; on the entrance-wall, Adoration
fo the Magi, Resurrection; above the window, Ascension; on the exit-wall,
Pentecost, Assumption of the Virgin., ali by Pinturicchio —- The last large
Saloon, containing Cardinal Mai's Library, is adorned with paintings and
stucco-work by Giov. da Udine and Perin del Vaga, in bad preservation.]
The Studio del Mosaico, or Papal Manufactory of Mosaic, is
under the gallery of the inscriptions ; entrance in the left angle of
the farther side of the Cortile di S. Damaso (p. 279). Permessi ob¬
tained at the Segretaria, of the Maggiordomo, on week-days from
9 to 1 o'clock. Numerous workmen are employed here in copying
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