Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1872-06-01
LETTERS FROM ABROAD.
ROME, ITALY, April, 49,.

AS Monday, the 1st, was one of the two
days during the month that the Farnesina Vii
la is open, the tourists rushed to see the beau
tiIul lrescoes there. One room has the ceiling
and walls painted by Raphael and his schol-
ars, representing neurological scenes, all of
them full of grace. One of the three Graces
is perhaps the finest female figure ever paint
ed A colossal head of a man is drawn high
up on wall in the next room-a splendid
head; the story runs that Michael Angelo
came to pay a visit 10 Volterro, to see his frcs-
Goes here, and being impatient at the non-ap-
pearance of his host, he left his card in the
form of this charcoal sketch. Opposite is the
Corsini palace; where is a large, fine gallery
of pictures. On this day, we also took three
hours charming drive-visiting the churches
of interest on the way, and driving for some
distance along the immense acqueduct of
Claudus. This acqueduct is no thicker
than wall, the channel running upon top of
it. 1t must have been very high, for even
now there are two rows of arches in it, besides
one that seems to be nearly filled up Six
miles of it still eXist-think how strong the
Roman bricks and mortar must have been, to
last so many years. believe Caracalla was
the last to repair it, sixteen hundred years
ago. 1t makes grand old ruin, though like
all other ruins here, it has been repaired many
times. and now most of the arches have been
filled in.
"San Paulo," the church that We first visit
ed, is a most beautiful basilica, rebuilt since
1923, but in the same style as before, only more
beautiful. Like all basilicas, it is very long,
with aislcs on each side; this has two on
each, separated by eighty columns of granite;
back OF the high altar are the transeps. The
whole presents grand appearance, is rich in
marbles and mosaics of the present time, be-
sides few old mosaics that escaped the fire.
speak of this basiaca because it is one of
the most interesting churches in which Rome
is peculiarly rich 1t is satisfying to see one
of this pure style, after firing of the Renais
ance that is met with so often. Santa Maria
Maggoire and San Lorenzo, that we stepped
into, are also basilicas-the former rich the
latter connected with the Campo Santo, or bu-
rial ground, the only one of any size l have
seen here. Near the large and imposing San
Giovanni di LateraEo, is the Sacred Stair Case,
way up the twenty-eight steps covered with
wood, but not so completely but that the mar
bic underneath shows itself to be too fresh to
be those of Pilates house ,ET "a ,.f
On Tuesday the rain returned again, so the
Capitol was the best place for us 10 be. The
gallery of pictures in it is small, and il has
nothing worthy of note, but the Museum on
the other side of the piazza, of which the Cap
ital buildings form three sides, is ful, of won
derful antiques. OF course we fingered long
in the room of the "Dying Gladiator;" how
could one but admire that masterpiece, and
the Marble Faun" and "Antinous" in his
graceful altitude was glad to see the'Ve-
nus" but one cannot get acquainted in few
minutcs-I must go again. After lunch, we
made the most interesting excursion of all in
Rome, il seems to me. There. is a church of
the 18th century, st. Clements, which is built
upon another church Of the time Of Cpnstan-
tine Some Dominican iriars, Irish, live in
the adjoining convent, and it was the prior of
this convent who first. thought Of excavatng
down here, and he 1t was who spent half
hour with us down in the fine old under
ground church. telling us all about his won
derful discovery. In 1t are beautiful pillars
of various marbles and frescoes that have well
preserved their color, rudely drawn, but some
showing real beauty. felt more impressed
with the reality of age here than even in the
Baths of Caracalla, because the very man who
did the work was there TO answer all our
Questions and TO show us what be had found,
the frsi frescoes he discovered, bits OF fine or
namentaton. old sarcophagi that they suppos-
ed to be Pagan-as the Christians always left
their peculiar mark if not the name upon
them. Under this church he has still dug
away thirty feet down-in all sixty-seven feet
from tue modern road and he Showed us a
wall that is formed of Roman brick and tray-
estine, that they suppose is from the wall oi
Servius Tullius; little below the top of this
wall is a room which he thinks was the orato-
ny OF Clement as 'heilived about here; and
Paul says that "Clement has still his oratory
49,. 90