JOTTINGS FROM A TRAVELLER’S JOURNAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1053, 18 January 1884, Page 2

JOTTINGS FROM A TRAVELLER’S JOURNAL.

[.SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR “ THE ASHBURTON GUARDIAN.”] CHAP. XXV.—(Continued). The Church < f the Oappucini —lts Pictures— An Interesting Cemetery —a Ghastly Scene Pillars and Pilasters of Bones and Skulls—A I EMARKABL ' FACT—A MONK’S SLEEP A Peculiar Festival—A Sight not to be Forgotten—Dr Bevan—The Tka-

jan Monument —A Legend. After the review I went to the Church of the Oappucini in the Piazzi Barberini. The Church itself, in comparison with others in Rome, is inferior, but it contains some good pictures. One by Guido, of the Archangel Michael trampling on the Devil is famous, because the features of the fallen angel are said to resemble faithfully those of Pop j Innocent X. It seems the painter and the Pontiff had quarrelled, and the artist revenged himself by the questionable trick of giving to the body of the devil the head of the Pope. The subjects of the other pictures are Christ in the purple robe, by Gherardo della Nottej the death of St Francis, a fresco, by Dominichino, and the ecstasy of ■■ t Francis by the same ; the visit of j

Ananias to Saul, by Phtro de Oortona. Lanzi speaks very highly of this last mentioned picture as exciting the admiration of judges, who are willing to admit various styles of beauty in art. But the interest of the Cappuosni centres in the cemetery, which is underneath the Chutch though still ab .ve ground. The visitor enters a corridor lighted by grated windows without glass. On one side of this corridor are several or chapels, which form the burial places, and h'Te a ghastly scene is presented to view. The pillars and pilasters that support the walls are formed of bones and skulls. Ezekiel tells us that in the valley of vision the bones he saw were “ very many,” and “very dry.” But in these gloomy vaults they are innumerable and crumbling with age. Architectural ornaments are not wanting; knobs and mouldings and has reliefs and flowers, and chandeliers, but all formed of bones ! There is almost every conceivable pattern of embellishment constructed out of these revolting materials. What a place for imagination to revel in! To heighten, shall I say the charms or the horrors of the place, in niches at the sides of the vaults complete skeletons are seen standing or sitting in various attitudes. They are cl id in the habits they wore when living and labels are attached disclosing the names by which they were known and the date of their decease. Some of the skulls are very white and bare—one or two 1 noticed still covered with yellow akin and fragments of hair and as the great round holes, the eye sockets are'seen in the middle of the nook and ihe extended jaw—the skeleton effigy seems to be grinning at you with a ghastly humor, as if the whole scene ware an ingenious jest. One remarkable fact, however, I must not withhold. There is no unpleasant smell. I deem this remarkable, because on several occasions when standing close by living monks in a crowded church I perceived a strong odour of sanctity. The earth in the cemetery is considered to be specially holy, because it was brought from Palestine ; and as the space is but limited, room for the interment of successive generations of monks, is obtained by limiting ihe time during which the dead brother can be allowed to rest in the holy ground. When a new death occurs, the register, I presume, is referred to, and the bones of the brother who has been longest in the grave are taken up, and the remains of the recently departed are consigned to the precious soil, there to repose until wanted to be removed. Thus ’ each good monk enjoys, in turn, the i privilege of sleeping awhile in the conae- . crated bed ; and this is considered to more than counterbalance the seeming I indignity of being disturbed before the i morning of the resurrection. On the

i festival of All Saints, the living members of the brotherhood assemble to sing masses i in the cemetery containing the bones of i the dead ; and the gloomy chambers are • lighted up by candles placed in the long : chandeliers. At the same time garlands > are placed upon the brows, and fresh > bouquets in the hands of the ske’etons. 1 who sit or stand, motionless, and grinning during the ceremony. Such a sight as i the cemetery of the Cappuoini presents » is not to be seen in any other part of the v world I should think, and once seen can i never be forgotten. s The npxt day I met Dr Bevan, a welli known Congregational Minister, who bad > returned to England from America, and I who now, with his father and mother, t and a party of friends, were enjoying a 5 short vacation at Rome. We arranged r an excursion together, the particulars of 1 which I proceed to relate. Our first halt i was at the forum of Trajan. The exoa- . vation only partially reveals the grandeur i that must originally have been displayed. ) Up to the year 107, the city and the i Campus Martius were separated ly a , space crowded by habitations of the p or. ■ Domitian commenced and Trajan ooml pleted the removal of what, in modern phraseology, we should call the “slums” , that obstructed the march of improve- > ment. Merivale says :—“He swept away - every building on the site, levelled the i spot on which they stood, and laid out a • vast of columnar galleries, connecting • halls and chambers for public use and r recreation.” But all these, the libraries, i the magnificent basilica, the-temple dedi- • cated to the worship of Trajan himself, i and the numerous groups of statuary in bronze and marble representing incidents ■ in the life of the Emperor, all these have ; disappear’d. The foundations of the four rows of columns that supported the Basilica Ulpia, alone, can now be traced. But the beautiful pillar beneath which the ashes of the Emperor were placed still • towers aloft. Most of my readers will be familiar with the appearance of this ancient monument, from the numerous engravings that are extant. It is constructed of marble, and is ornamented with a spiral band, on which, in bold relief, are sculptured exploits connected with Dacian war. On the apex of the column there stood originally a statue of the Emperor with a gilded globe in his hand. But as if in sympathy with the fallen fortunes of the Imperial city the statue fell to the ground, and as a substitute many years afterwards, Pope Sixtus V placed the effigy of St Peter. Amongst the legends of the forum is one relating to Gregory the Great. He was viewing one day the relics that told of the glory of the Emperor, and overwhelmed with pity at the thought of the loss of his soul, he prayed with many tears that he might be rescued from perdition. In answer to his supplications it was revealed that the soul of the heathen emperor might be saved on condition that ho (Gregory) consented to endure, for three days, the pains of purgatory, or suffer physical pain and sickness during the remainder of his life. The Pontiff accepted the conditions, and chose the latter alternative, and on this account, as his credulous biographers tell m, he never afterwards enjoyed good health. Dante has made use of this legend in his “ Purgatorio. ” (To be continued.)