The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1880-11-19
AN ANCIENT ErRUsCAN CITY.

Older than Rome, more famous for its
science and learning than Athens, the
birth place of men renowned in science
and art, the home of women OF genius
and learning, the ancient etruscan city
of Felsina, the Bononia of the Romans,
the modern Bologna, impresses the
stranger with weird and CHASTITY feeling
of awe, as though passages and ex-
periences of another existence were re-
called to the memory. We sat down in
the night at the railway station outside
the walls, and passing through the mas
sive gateways, wander along under the
interminable corrodors through long and
narrow streets, dimly lighted by the
Pickering taper in many q shrine OF the
holy virgin; and imagine ourselves In a
medieval city, peop.ed only with the dim
phantoms of the past. Daylight scarcely
Serves to dispel the illusions of the
night in this quaint old city.
Domiciled in hotel entered from
the street through an arched passage into
O spacious court, with fountain and stat
uary, filed with rare plants and flowers,
we walk about for miles and miles under
stone arcades built out over the side
walks, the fronts of the tall and stately
palaces and other buildings of Roman
and Lombardic architecture overhanging
the narrow streets. We pass the cele-
brated leaning tower which has pre-
served its frail center of gravity for SO
many centuries, and sepulchers and mon
uments of heroes whose names are only
known to us, and enter the churches of
San Dominica and San Petronio and
many others, filed with columns, stat
utes and ornaments, the spoil of early
struggles with the Saracen and the Turk,
with many pictures of the ideal saints
and heroes, faithful teachers and holy
martyrs for conscience sake.
Passing the Pinacoteca, we find sue
cession of well-lighted galleries, better
adopted to the purpose of exhibiting
large pictures than any others in Italy,
except the magnificent galleries of Ven-
ice, and although the collection is not
large it comprises some of the finest ex-
amples of the works of Cimu di Come
gliano; Vannucci called it Perugino: Ro-
busti called it Tintoretti; Robolini called
it Francisco Francia, the friend of
Rapheal, and who painted his likeness in
Rome; Barbiera called it Guerino, Fam
pier called it Dominichino and Elizabetta
Sirami, the pupil and competitor of
Guide Reni. Raphaels famous picture
of st. Cecilia represents the Spanish
patron of music as q rather stout, and
even buxom middle-aged woman dressed
in heavy brocade garment reaching up
close to the neck and covering the arms,
with no attempt at artistic nudity, in
company with four others saints, listen
ing with ecstacy to concert around the
great white throne. The rapt, intense
spiritual expression, is very effective and
worthy of the great master. There are
no conventional tricks of pious custume
and pallid devotion, but the artist has
taken an ordinary, healthy wholesome
looking female and by his genius
transformed her into beautiful
and spiritual devotee; even the
drapery is full of extatic emotion. The
representation of various musical instru-
ments at her feet are beneath the dignity
of Raphael, and were painted in by Jean
di Udine, one of his pupils. This picture
alone draws many tourists to Bologna,
although not recognized as equal to many
othea of the great artists masterpieces,
for all of his works are masterpieces.
There is but one Raphael, and no other
artist approaches him as to be worthy to
kiss the hem of his garment. Here, also,
we see six great pictures of Guido Reni,
the most striking and beautiful being the
massacre of the innocents, and Samson
victorious over the Philistines. Here,
also, we see Guido's head of Christ
crowned with thorns, designed in paste
upon paper, which has been engraved so
often and is seen everywhere, and which
has become the traditional and conven.
tional representation of our Savoir. These
pictures establish the reputation of Guido
Reni and entitle him to be ranked among
the great artists of his age. Besides the
allegorical fresco of daybreak, the
"Aurora" of the Raspigliosi palace in
Rome, there are no other pictures that SO
fully exemplify his great genius and JUS
tify his being placed in the company of
the great masters in painting. His distin-
guished pupil, Elizabeth Sirani, daugh-
ter of Andrea of that name, but for her
early death, hastened by partiality and
injustice, would have outstriped the mas
ter as many gifted scholars have done in
all times. Although her designs |
and paintings were approved |
and her commission for an impor- |
tant work at Rome annulled, when it was |
known that the artist was a woman. It |
was even reported that her strange death,
in her 9th year, was cansed by poison |
by jealous and disappointed |
rivals. About a dozen of the produc-
tions of her brush, including her master
piece, "sThe Alteration of Saint An
thony," are found in these galleries,
which attest the prominence of her
genius. Some of the smaller ones are
exquisitely beautiful, especially .sThe
Apparition of Saint Phillip Neri," and
the Saint Mary Madelaine.." Among
other paintings by female artists we no.
lice one by Caterina V1gri, painted in
l452, two hundred years before Sirani's
lime, representing the martyrdom of st.
Ursula; also, some fine portraits by La
7inia Fontana, daughter of Prospero
Fontana, the preceptor of Calaoci, paint
ID about the year 1900.
The University of Bologna occupies
he palace of Cardinal Poggi, which was
.uilt by Tibaldi and improved and en-.
iched by Abati and Terachim about the
,iddle of the sixth century, and thus
nveils to us an epoch in the history of ]
Italian art. It became the property of &
snate in the year I'LL and the astyo- *
omical observatory was built in 1F25 ,
nder the patronage of thus RE- III