Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife: January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904Waddington, Mary King
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Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife: January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904
Waddington, Mary King
Rome (Italy) -- Social life and customs
We went again to the Piazzo Castello which is so large that it is a very
fair walk to go all around the square--and went into the hall to see the
statue (equestrian of course) of Victor Amadeus the First. The horse is
curious, in marble. Then we went to the Cathedral, which is not very
interesting. The sacristan showed us a collection of small, dark
pictures over the altar which he said were by Albert Dürer; but they
were so black and confused I couldn't see anything--a little glimpse of
gilding every now and then that might be a halo around a saint's head.
What was interesting was the "Cappella del S. S. Sudario," where the
linen cloth is kept which is said to have enveloped the body of our
Saviour. It is kept in an urn, and only shown by special permission.
This, however, the sacristan obtained for us. He disappeared into the
sacristy and soon returned bringing with him a nice fat old priest in
full canonicals and very conversationally disposed. He lifted off the
top of the urn and drew out the linen cloth most carefully. It is very
fine linen, quite yellow and worn--almost in holes in some parts. He
spread it out most reverently on a marble slab, and showed us the
outlines of a man's figure. Marks there were certainly. I thought I saw
the head distinctly, but of course the imagination is a powerful factor
on these occasions. The chapel was dimly lighted, a few tapers burning,
and the old priest was so convinced and reverent that it was catching. I
suppose it might be possible--certainly all these traditions and relics
were an enormous strength to the Catholic Church in the early days when
there were no books and little learning, and people believed more easily
and simply than they do now. The chapel is a rather ugly, round
building, almost black, and with a quantity of statues (white) which
stand out well. It is the burial chapel of the House of Savoy, and there
are statues apparently to every Emmanuel or Amadeus that ever
existed--also a large marble monument to the late Queen of Sardinia. Do
you remember when Prince Massimo, in Rome, always spoke of Victor
Emmanuel, when he was King of Italy, and holding his court in Florence,
as the King of Sardinia?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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