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
At this point it may not be inappropriate to notice two other buildings,
which, though situated on the Palatine, are totally disconnected with
the other objects occupying that hill.
A lane runs up to the right from the arch of Titus. On the left is a
gateway, surmounted by a faded fresco of St. Sebastian. Here is the
entrance to a wild and beautiful garden, possessing most lovely views of
the various ruins, occupying the site of the gardens of Adonis. This is
the place where St. Sebastian underwent his (so-called) martyrdom, and
will call to mind the many fine pictures, scattered over Europe, of the
youthful and beautiful saint, bound to a tree, and pierced with arrows.
The finest of these are the Domenichino, in Sta. Maria degli Angeli, and
the Sodoma at Florence. He is sometimes represented as bound to an
orange tree, and sometimes, as in the Guido at Bologna, to a cypress,
like those we still see on this spot. Here was an important Benedictine
Convent, where Pope Boniface IV. was a monk before his election to the
papacy, and where the famous abbots of Monte Casino had their Roman
residence. Here, in 1118, fifty-one cardinals took refuge, and elected
Gelasius II. as Pope. The only building remaining is the _Church of Sta.
Maria Pallara_ or _S. Sebastiano_, containing some curious inscriptions
relating to events which have occurred here, and--in the tribune,
frescoes, of the Saviour in benediction with four saints, and below,
two other groups representing the Virgin with saints and angels, placed,
as we learn by the inscription beneath, by one Benedict--probably an
abbot.
Further up the lane a "Via Crucis" leads to the _Church of S.
Buonaventura_, "the seraphic doctor" (Cardinal and Bishop of Albano, ob.
July 14, 1274), who in childhood was raised from the point of death
(1221) by the prayers of St. Francis, who was so surprised when he came
to life, that he involuntarily exclaimed, "O buona ventura"--("what a
happy chance")--whence the name by which he was afterwards known.[67]
The little church contains several good modern monuments. Beneath the
altar is shown the body of the Blessed Leonardo of Porto-Maurizio (ob.
1751), who arranged the Via Crucis in the Coliseum, and who is much
revered by the ultra-Romanists for having prophesied the proclamation of
the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The crucifix and the picture of
the Madonna which he carried with him in his missions, are preserved in
niches on either side of the tribune, and many other relics of him are
shown in his cell in the adjoining convent of Minor Franciscans. Entered
through the convent is a lovely little garden, whence there is a grand
view of the Coliseum, and where a little fountain is shaded by two tall
palm trees.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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