Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/869

Rh ARCHAEOLOGY.] ROME 837 the rebuilding of the nave of the great basilica of S. Paolo fuori le Mura, burnt in 1823, in a style of great splendour, though some- what cold in effect. Its columns are enormous monoliths of grey granite from the Alps ; the confessio and transepts are lined with rosso and verde antico from the recently rediscovered quarries in Greece, and with Egyptian alabaster. The reconsecration of this magnificent edifice took place in 1854, after thirty years had been spent in the rebuilding ; the east fagade, with its new gaudy mosaics, and the atrium are not yet complete. x Another great Avork still in progress is the extension of the sanctuary of the Lateran basilica, which unhappily has involved the destruction of the ancient apse and its ambulatory, the only part of the church which had escaped complete disfigurement. The priceless mosaics of the apse (1290), among the most 'beautiful in Rome, have been refixed in the new apse, but of course in a sadly modernized and restored form. 2 Some large blocks of Government offices on the Esquiline Hill are the most important in size among the recent constructions. They have little architectural merit either in design, materials, or solidity of workmanship. s The Vatican contains the largest collection in the world of Graco-Roman and Roman sculpture, Avith a few specimens of true Hellenic art. It is also very rich in Greek vases and in objects from Etruscan tombs ; this latter division is called the Museo Gregoriano. There is also an Egyptian museum. In the great library are preserved a number of early glass chalices 3 and other rare objects from the catacombs, as well as many fine specimens of later Christian art, church plate and jewels. The picture gallery, though not as large as some of the private collections in Rome, contains few inferior pictures. The Lateran palace, still, like the Vatican, in the possession of the pope, contains a fine collection of classical sculpture, but is most remarkable as a museum of Christian antiquities. The two Capitoline museums are very rich in classical sculpture, bronzes, coins, pottery, and the contents of early Etruscan and Latin tombs. A large hall has lately been added, and is filled with sculpture found on the Esquiline since 1870. The picture gallery contains a few masterpieces and a large number of inferior works. A new museum is now (1886) being formed in the great cloister of S. Maria degli Angeli to hold the numerous fine examples of classical painting and sculpture found along the Tiber during the excavations for the new embankment, and in other places in Rome. The university of Rome possesses fine collections of minerals, fossils, and other geological specimens, and examples of ancient marbles used in the buildings of Rome. A new Museo Artistico has recently been formed in a monastery in the Capo le Case, to contain mediaeval works of art ; it will prob- ably be rapidly increased. The Museo Kircheriano is in some respects unique of its kind. It contains an unrivalled collection of prehistoric objects found in Italy and its islands, in stone, bronze, iron, and pottery. The collection of res grave is the finest yet made ; and the museum also contains a large quantity of inter- esting classical antiquities of various kinds. Another branch is the Ethnological Museum, as yet of no great importance. Un- fortunately all these museums are badly adapted for purposes of study, being neither well arranged nor catalogued. Among the private collections of pictures the Borghese is quite unrivalled. The next in importance is that in the Doria palace, of which, however, like most Italian collections, contains a large es ; proportion of very inferior works. The Corsini picture gallery, lately bought by the municipality of Rome, is chiefly rich in the works of the Bolognese and other third-rate painters. The Bar- berini and Sciarra-Coloima palaces contain a few fine paintings ; those in the latter collection are now arranged in the owner's private apartments, and are not visible to the public. lp- The largest private collection of sculpture is that of the Villa Albani, which, among a large mass of inferior Roman sculpture, contains a few gems of Greek art. The original Albani collection was stolen and brought to Paris by Napoleon I., and was there dispersed ; one relief, the celebrated Antinous, is the only piece of sculpture from the original collection which was sent back from Paris. The owner of this is now Prince Torlonia, who also possesses a very large collection of classical sculpture formed by himself ; it contains several very fine works, but unfortunately the greater number are much injured and falsified by restorations. The casino in the Borghese gardens possesses a great quantity of sculpture, mostly third-rate Roman works. The small collection of the Villa Ludovisi 4 contains a few works of Greek sculpture of the highest importance, of which the chief are the Pergamean group of the suicide of the Gaulish chief, a relief of Medusa's head, and a male terminal figure. Many other palaces, such as that of the Coloima family, contain less important collections of sculpture and painting.. Diaries. For an account of the chief public libraries, see LIBRARIES, vol. xiv. pp. 529-530, 548. 1 Fea, La Basilica Ostiense, 1826-33. 2 For the interesting discoveries made in excavating for the new apse, see Ann. Inst., 1877, p. 332. 3 See Garrncci, Vetri Ornati in Oro, 1858. 4 The beautiful gardens of the Villa Ludovisi are now (1S86) being destroyed and built over, and the fate of the sculpture gallery is as yet undecided. Population, Climate, <kc. 5 In the sixteen years which have ekpsed Popula- since Rome became the capital of Italy (1870-1886) the population tion. has largely increased, chiefly owing to the introduction of a great number of Government officials with their families from Northern Italy. Under the last papal census the number of inhabitants was 216,000 ; in 1881 it had increased to 276,463. Education of the working classes has much improved in these years, and there are now nearly 170 parochial schools. The streets are remarkable for their cleanliness, and are mostly well paved with hard lava and well lighted with gas. For municipal purposes Rome is still divided into the fourteen mediaeval "rioni"; these, though corre- sponding in number with the fourteen regiones of Augustus, include very different areas. The climate is mild and sunny, in winter Climate, averaging 10 Fahr. above the temperature of London ; but the variation between day and night is very great. The coldest months are December and February (average temp. 47) ; the hottest are July and August (average 75). The rainfall is slight, averaging le^th inches annually, and the rainy days are few proportionally. On the whole Rome is a healthy city, in spite of some malaria, usually confined to its more open parts.* The neighbouring Health. Campagna is in parts almost uninhabitable during the summer from this cause ; but the malaria is much checked by the planting of eucalyptus trees, which grow rapidly in and about the city. A very remarkable instance of this is the Trappist monastery of the Tre Fontane, about 4 miles from Rome on the Ostian road, which a few years ago was quite uninhabitable in the summer, while since a number of these trees have been planted the monks reside there with impunity throughout the year. Though almost free from typhus, there is a good deal of enteric fever in Rome, partly owing to the very unwholesome arrangement of the drainage in each house, though the general system of sewerage is good. That this disease is not more prevalent is probably owing to the magnificent water- supplyj 7 which flows in a constant service, thus doing away with the necessity of cisterns. The average annual deaths are 5750. Works on Christian Rome. CHURCHES. 16th and 17th Century Books : Pan- vinius, De Priecipuis Basilicis, 1570; De Albericis, Hist. S. Virginis de Populo, 1599 ; De Angelis, Bas. S. Marias Major., 1621 ; Severano, Le Sette Chiese di Roma, 1630 ; Landucci, S. Maria del Popolo, 1646 ; Rasponi, De Basil. Lateran., 1656 ; Torrigio, Sacre Grotte Vaticane, 1675 ; Fontana, Tempio Vaticano, 1694 ; Bonannus, Tern. Vatic. Historia, 1696. ISth Century : Crescimbeni, S. Maria in Cosmedin (1715), S. Giovanni a Porta Latina (1716), smd.Bas. di S. Anastasia (1722) ; Boro- minp, La Chiesa e Fabbrica d. Sapienza, 1726 ; Casimiro Romano, S. Maria in Am Cxli, 1736 ; Fonseca, Bas. S. Laurentii in Damaso, 1745 ; Erra, S. Maria in Cam- pitelli, 1750 ; Besozzi, S. Croce in Gerus., 1750; Caneellieri, Basilica Vaticana, 1786; F. di San Pietro, S. Giorgio in Velabro, 1791. 19th Century: Paulinus, Basil. S. Pancratii, 1803 ; Nicolai, Bas. di S. Paolo, 1815, and De Vatican. Bas., 1817 ; Nibby, Forma degli Antichi Tempj Cristiani, 1825 ; Dionysius, Vat. Basil. Crypt. Mon., 1828-40; Bunsen, Guttensohn, and Knapp, Basiliken des Christ. Rons, Munich, 1842 ; Canina, Arch, dei Tempj Cristiani, 1843-46 ; Fontana, Migliori Chiese di Roma (1855), Bas. di S. Paolo (1878), and Mtisaici delle Chiese di Roma (1870) ; Valentini, fine monographs on the Basilicas of the Vatican, the Lateran, and S. Maria Maggiore, 1832-45 ; Gori, Bas. di S. Lorenzo, 1862 ; Hiibsch, Alt-christlichen Kirchen, Carlsruhe, 1862 ; De Montault, Les Smtterrains de S.Pierre, Paris, 1866; Burckhardt, De Origine Basil icamm Christianarum, 1875 ; De Fleury, Le Latran, Paris, 1877 ; De Lorbac, S. Pierre de Rome, 1879 ; Geymiiller, Les Projets Primitifs pour la Bas. de S. Pierre, Paris, 1875-80 (gives a valuable series of facsimiles of the designs made by Bramante, Raphael, Fra Giocondo, Sangallo, and others) ; Letarouilly, Le Vatican et la Basilica de S. Pierre, ed. Simit, Paris, 1882 ; Debleser, Romeet ses Monuments, 1882 (especi- ally useful to the Catholic traveller for its information about church cere- monies and other religious matters). GENERAL WORKS. Pistolesi, II Vaticano, 1829-38 ; Nibby, Rotna Moderna, 1839 ; March!, Mon. dell' Arte Crist, primitira, 1844 ; Massimo, La Torre Anguillara in Trastevere, 1847 ; Letarouilly, Edifices deRome Moderne, Brussels, 1856-66; Gregorovius, GeschicJite. . . Romsim Mittd- alter, Stuttgart, 1859-72, and Die GrtLomaler der Pcipste, Leipsic, 1857 (both these valuable works have been translated into Italian) ; Garrucci, Mon. del Mm. Lateran., 1861, and Storia dell' Arte Cristiana, Prato, 1872-80; De Rossi, Rornu Sotterranea, 1864-80, and Musaici e Pavimenti delle Chiese di Roma (in progress), and (edited by him) Bull, di Archseo. Cristiana, 1863 (in progress), also Inscrip- tiones Christianie Urbis Romx, 1861 (in progress); Gerbet, Rome Chretienne, Paris, 1866; Pellegrini, Edijici de' Bassi Tempi, 1870 ; Rio, L'Art Chretien, Paris, 1861, and Epilogue a I' Art Chretien, 1872 ; Dohine, Kunst und Kiinstler Italiens, Leipsic, 1878 ; Wey, Description de Rome (well illustrated), 1871. Inscriptions. Forcella, Inscrizioni nelle Chiese di Roma, 1869-84 ; Galetti, Inscriptiones Rom. Infimi JEvi, 1760. A number of mediaeval wall-paintings in Rome, such as those in the Vatican library and in S. Martino ai Monti, though worthless as works of art, are very valuable for their representations of buildings now destroyed or altered. The great oil-painting, now in the museum at Mantua, which gives a bird's-eye view of Rome as it was in the 16th century, is published in the valu- able work by De Rossi, Piante di Roma anteriori al Sec. XVI., 1879, which con- tains also other early plans and drawings of the city. MUSEUMS AND SCULP- TURE. Pistolesi, II Vaticano, 1829-38 ; Visconti, Miis. Chiaramonti and Pio- Clementino, and Museo Gregoriano, 1803-43 ; Wolff, Bildwerke des Vaticans, c., Berlin, 1870 ; E. Q. Visconti, Sculture della Villa Borghese, 1796, and Seult. del Pal. Giustiniani, 1811 ; Winckelmann, Opere, best edition by Fea, Prato, 1830; Vitale, Marmi nel Pal. Torlonia, n.d. ; Benndorf, Die Bildwerke des Lateran. Miis., Leipsic, 1867 ; Schreiber, Antike Bildwerke der Villa Ludovisi, Leipsic, 1880 ; Bottari, Museo Capitolino, Milan, 1821-22 ; Matz and Von Duhn, Antike Bildwerke in Rom, Leipsic, 1881 ; De Montault, Musees et Galeries de Rome, 1880 ; Bernoulli, Romische Ikonographie, Stuttgart, 1881. (J. H. M.) 5 See Taussig, The Roman Climate, Health, and Disease, 1870. The Monograjia di Kama (1878) contains valuable articles on the population, climate, health, and public institutions of Rome. 6 See Balestra, L'Igiene di Roma, 1880 ; Vitelleschi and others, Atti della Giiinta per la Inchiesta Agraria, vol. xi., 1SS4 (see also their map showing the malarious districts, 1883) ; Tournon, Etudes Statistiqnes sur Rome, Paris, 1831. ^ The numberless fountains and jets of water which abound in the streets of Rome are one of its chief beauties ; these are all fed with pure hill water brought in aqueducts or pipes, and flow in apparently undiminished volume during the dry months of summer. The Trevi fountain (Aqua Virgo) and the Fontana Paolina on the Janiculum are the grandest of these ; see Falda, Le Fontane di Roma, 1691.