The Irish standard., 1903-11-21
THE VATICAN PALACE.
Home of the Popes for the Past Four
Hundred Years.


Hundred Years.
The Vatican Palace, so called from
its situation OH the Mons Vaticanus,
one of the seven hills of Rome, and
at the extreme northwestern part of
| the city, has been the official residence
of the popcs for about 400 years. Be-
fore that time the popcs had a villa
| on the present site of the Vatican
| because Of its ncnrness to st. Peters,
| but their official residence was the
Lateran Palace, which it was report
cd recently Pope Plus y had ordered
renovated and put in order for his
occupation When Gregory nj Q370
IS returned from Avignon he found
the Lateran ruined and took up his
residence in the Vatican. The papal
! palace nujoins the basilica of st. Peter
and is IL little less than half mile
from the castle Of st. Angelo, with
which it communicates by covered
gallery built by Pope John NN1I
early in the fifteenth century. The
palace, one of the most magnificent in
the world, has grown up by degrees,
and consequently exhibits IL great
want of architectural harmony.
There was Il palace attached to st.
Peters certainly in the time of Char
lemagnc, and probably before the
reign Of Constantine. 1t was rebuilt
by Innocent III Q19S121G) and en-
largcd by Nicholas Ill Q2T7-SD, but
| did not become the permanent resi-
dcncr of the popcS until 1877. Little
of the present ctiiicc is older than the
time of Nicholas Y u477). The reno
Walton of the Old palace, which he
commenced, was completed by Alex
anlcr vi 1392-11na, after whom that
part of the building is now called the
appartnmcnto Borgia. The famous
Sistine Chapel was added to SiXtus Nv
in 147i, and the Pauline Chapel by
Paul Ill in 1884. Innocent VIII Q4Sl-
1l92) constructed the Bclvcucre Villa.
Il short distance from the palace, and
Julius III Q5O3-13 connected it with
the Vatican by means of the celebrat-
ed ioggie and a terraced court. To
julius II is also due the foundation Of
the museum. Plus VII constructed
the brnccio liuovo for sculptures;
Gregory NVI added the Etruscan
Museum, and Plus IN added Il fourth
side to the cortilc Iii San DamasO. The
portion Of the Vatican which is now
the ordinary residence of the pOpes
lies on the cast side of the loggie and
was built chiefly by Sixtus V Q5S5-
9O) and Clement VIII u592-1GO5). The
whole palace, which is rather Il collec
ton of separate buildings than one
regular cdiiice, occupies !: space of
1,151X7G7 feet, and has POO stairca scs,
20 courts and i ,422 rooms. The scala
regia, or great staircase, is Il master
piece of Bcrnini, and chiefly remark
able for its perspective. 1t leads to
the Sala Regia, built by Antonio di
Sangullo as an audience hall for the
reception of ambassadors, and decorat-
cd with frescoes by Vasari, Marco da
Siena, Taddeo and FEDERICO Bucchero,
Giuseppe Porta and others. The Sis
tine and Pauline chapels open into the
hall. The former contains besides the
magnificent frescoes of the ceiling
Michelangelos first masterpiece in
painting, his Last Judgment" to-
gether with frescoes by Perugino,
Ghirlandaio and others, representing
passages in the life of Christ and
Moses; the latter possesses Michel
angeles frescoes of the Conversion
of st. Paul. and "Crucifixion of St.
Peter" The chapel Of San Lorenzo
has a series of remarkable frescoes by
Fra Angelica. The Stanza Of Raphael
is the name given to four chambers
decorated by the hand Of that great
master; the painting in one represents
events in the lives of Leo Ill and Leo
"; in another are the illustrations of
sciences of theology, philosophy, poet
ry and jurisprudence; in the third the
triumphs and miracles of the Church,
J and in the fourth the sovereignty of
! the Church. The frescoes on the roof
) of the first are by Porugino, and the
last contains only two figures by RAJ
phael, the rest having been completed
, after his death by Giulio Romano and
others. The loggie already referred
to forms triple colonnadc around
| three sides of the Court of San Dam.
aso, the uppermost story supported by
! columns and the two lower by pilas,
, tiers. They We're built after designs
, by Bramante, and on one side of the
court We're painted from the designs
, of Raphael. They have been much