Walks in RomeHare, Augustus J. C. (Augustus John Cuthbert)
History
Walks in Rome
Hare, Augustus J. C. (Augustus John Cuthbert)
Rome (Italy) -- Description and travel
"The popular feeling burst forth on the occasion; it was no longer
to be restrained. Francesca was invoked by the crowd, and her
beloved name was heard in every street, in every piazza, in every
corner of the Eternal City. It flew from mouth to mouth, it seemed
to float in the air, to be borne aloft by the grateful enthusiasm
of a whole people, who had seen her walk to that church by her
mother's side in her holy childhood; who had seen her kneel at that
altar in the grave beauty of womanhood, in the hour of bereavement,
and now in death, carried thither in state, she the gentle, the
humble saint of Rome, the poor woman of the Trastevere, as she was
sometimes called at her own desire."--_Lady G. Fullerton's Life of
Sta. Francesca Romana._
A chapel on the right of the church contains the monument of Cardinal
Vulcani, 1322, supporting his figure, with Faith, Hope, and Charity
sculptured in high relief below. Near the door is that of Cardinal
Adimari, 1432, who died here after an ineffectual mission to the
anti-pope Pedro da' Luna. In the left transept was a fine Perugino
(removed 1867); in the right transept is the tomb of Pope Gregory XI.,
by Pietro Paolo Olivieri, erected by the senate in gratitude for his
having restored the papal court to Rome from Avignon. A bas-relief
represents his triumphal entry, with St. Catherine of Siena, by whose
entreaties he was induced to return, walking before his mule. A breach
in the walls indicates the ruinous state into which Rome had fallen, the
chair of St. Peter is represented as floating back through the air,
while an angel carries the papal tiara and keys; a metaphorical figure
of Rome is coming forth to welcome the pope.
"The greatest part of the praise due to Gregory's return to Rome
belongs to St. Catherine of Siena, who, with infinite courage,
travelled to Avignon, and persuaded the pope to return, and by his
presence to dispel the evils which disgraced Italy, in consequence
of the absence of the popes. Thus it is not to be wondered at, that
those writers, who rightly understand the matter, should have said
that Catherine, the virgin of Siena, brought back to God the
abandoned apostolical chair upon her shoulders."--_Ughelli, Ital.
Sacra_, vi. col. 45.
Near Pope Gregory's tomb some blackened marks in the wall are shown as
holes made by the (gigantic) knees of St. Peter, when he knelt to pray
that Simon Magus might be dropped by the demons he had invoked to
support him in the air, which he is said to have done to show his power
on this spot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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