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 Halls of the Conservators_ consist of eight rooms. The 1st, painted
in fresco from the history of the Roman kings, by the _Cavaliere
d'Arpino_, contains statues of Urban VIII., by Bernini; Leo X., by the
Sicilian Giacomo della Duca;[41] and Innocent X., in bronze, by Algardi.
The 2nd room, adorned with subjects from republican history by
_Lauretti_, has statues of modern Roman generals--Marc Antonio Colonna,
Tommaso Rospigliosi, Francesco Aldobrandini, Carlo Barberini, brother of
Urban VIII., and Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma. The 3rd room,
painted by _Daniele di Volterra_, with subjects from the wars with the
Cimbri, contains the famous _Bronze Wolf of the Capitol_, one of the
most interesting relics in the city. The figure of the wolf is of
unknown antiquity; those of Romulus and Remus are modern. It has been
doubted whether this is the wolf described by Dionysius as "an ancient
work of brass" standing in the temple of Romulus under the Palatine, or
the wolf described by Cicero, who speaks of a little gilt figure of the
founder of the city sucking the teats of a wolf. The Ciceronian wolf was
struck by lightning in the time of the great orator, and a fracture in
the existing figure, attributed to lightning, is adduced in proof of its
identity with it.
"Geminos huic ubera circum
Ludere pendentes pueros, et lambere matrem
Impavidos: illam tereti cervice reflexam
Mulcere alternos, et corpora fingere lingua."
_Virgil, Æn._ viii. 632.
"And thou, the thunder-stricken nurse of Rome!
She-wolf! whose brazen-imaged dugs impart
The milk of conquest yet within the dome
Where, as a monument of antique art,
Thou standest:--mother of the mighty heart,
Which the great founder sucked from thy wild teat,
Scorch'd by the Roman Jove's ethereal dart,
And thy limbs black with lightning--dost thou yet
Guard thy immortal cubs, nor thy fond charge forget?"
_Byron, Childe Harold._
Standing near the wolf is the well-known and beautiful figure of a boy
extracting a thorn from his foot, called the Shepherd Martius.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account