chair, caused the emperor Frederic Barbarossa to hold his stirrup whilst he dismounted from his mule. The haughty monarch appears to have grimaced on this occasion, but he did stoop to the indignity; and having thus acknowledged the supremacy of the church, he received, in payment of his obedience, the kiss of peace. One finds it difficult to reconcile with the lofty valour of chivalrous times, so abject a submission to the hateful tyranny of ecclesiastical despotism.

The episcopal palace, now greatly ruined, is remarkable as the seat of a conclave assembled by the command of Charles of Anjou for the election of a pope; when, after thirty-three months of deliberation, the cardinals elected Tibaldo Visconti to the papacy, under the title of Gregory X. It was here also that the cardinals elected Martin IV. to the pontifical seat, though not until Charles had raised the citizens of Viterbo into insurrection, and had removed the roof of the building, to hasten the decision of the holy fathers. Letters it is said are still preserved in the archives of the city, dated from "the roofless palace." In the church of the convent of Santa Rosa, is preserved the body of the saint to whom the structure is dedicated. This holy maid excited the people against the emperor Frederic II.; but on the triumph of the Ghibellines she retired into exile. On the death of the emperor she returned to Viterbo, and there dying at the age of eighteen, received from the Guelphic party the honours of canonization. Her reputed miracles are many, and the greatest reverence is paid to the gilt tomb which contains her blackened and disfeatured remains.

The gothic church of San Francesco is enriched with the celebrated Deposition from the Cross by Sebastian del Piombo; and in the church of the Osservanti del Paradiso, is the Flagellation, by the same master; and also a Madonna, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. An Incredulity of St. Thomas, by Salvator Rosa, graces the church named della Morti; and a remarkable fresco by Lorenzo di Giacomo da Viterbo is preserved in the church of Santa Maria della Verita. The tomb of Galiana, the most beautiful woman of Italy, gives celebrity to the church of Sant' Angelo in Spata. The beauty of this lady, who appears to have been another Helen, led to a war between Rome and Viterbo; and when at length the Romans were reduced to capitulate, they stipulated to be allowed a last sight of Galiana, who was accordingly shown to them from a window still existing in the tower of the ancient gate of St. Antony.

The court of the Palazzo Pubblico contains two large Etruscan tombs; and an elegant fountain. In the hall of the Academy are preserved the frescoes of Baldassare Croce, the pupil of Annibale Caracci. And the Museum is richly stored with Etruscan antiquities.

The fame of Viterbo, for fountains and lovely women, has not departed: the first are numerous, and are highly worthy of regard for their antiquity and architectural beauty; the latter also are not few, and we may add that they likewise are deserving of the tenderest regard,. not, however, on the score of antiquity. One little fact, a scandal to the fair fame of the maids of Viterbo, remains to be noticed. Olimpia, the beautiful and dissolute daughter of Innocent X., is said to have had many lovers. The palazzo San Martino, the scene of her intrigues, still exhibits her portrait; and with this structure are connected dark tales of trap-doors and mysterious disappearances, very intelligible hints, in their way, to those who "love not wisely, but too well."

ORVIETO.

OTHING is known of the early history of Orvieto, beyond what is gathered from existing evidence of Etruscan origin. The city stands upon a rock of volcanic tufa, at the base of which flows the river Paglia. The position is well adapted for military defence; and the ruins of its walls and fortress are sufficient to attest to its strength and importance in the middle ages. This city was a stronghold of the Guelphic party; and no fewer than thirty-three popes retired hither, at different periods, to find a shelter from the violence to which the rage of contending factions exposed them. It is now the seat of a cardinal bishop, and numbers a population exceeding six thousand persons.

Orvieto is principally remarkable for its Duomo, or cathedral; and this structure itself has a two-fold interest,-first, as deriving its origin from the famous miracle of Bolsena; and, secondly, as being the joint production of a host of the most talented artists and artificers. We have already alluded to the miracle in our description of Bolsena, and if the reader have not in his memory what is there related, he must refer back to connect the story. The priest whose scepticism had been so wonderfully removed, departed from Bolsena with the bloody napkin, and other evidences of the miracle, and presented himself to Urban IV., then resident at Orvieto. The priest, it would appear, had sent an avant-courier to announce his coming, for his holiness, attended by several cardinals, repaired in solemn procession to the bridge of Rio Chiaro, to welcome the relics and their bearer. The successor of St. Peter beheld in the relics the infallible tokens of a miracle, and at once resolved that an edifice should be constructed for their especial reception. The design was furnished by Lorenzo Maitani, of Siena; but the first stone of the edifice was not laid till 1290, and then by Nicholas IV., the ninth pontiff in succession from Urban.* Thenceforward, however, till the end of the sixteenth century, this remarkable and costly structure was in constant progress; and in this long interval almost every artist of eminence in architecture, sculpture, and mosaic, was employed upon the work. History records thirty-three architects, one hundred and fifty-two sculptors, sixty-eight painters, ninety workers in mosaic, twenty-eight workers in tarsia,† and fifteen

nine

Urban IV. assumed the pontifical chair in 1261, and Nicholas IV. in 1288; in twenty-seven years, therefore, popes had fretted their hour upon the stage. The brief reigns of the popes is a remarkable feature in the anna's of the papacy. From St. Linus the first Roman bishop in 66, down to Pius VII. in 1800, the reigns of the popes average little more than five years. Eustace mentions, as the last ceremony at the inauguration of a pontiff, that as the vicar apostolic "advances towards the high altar of St. Peter's, the master of the ceremonies kneeling before him, sets fire to a small quantity of tow placed on the top of a gilt staff, and as it blazes and vanishes in smoke, thus addresses the pope, Sancte Pater, sic transit gloria mundi."-Holy Father, so passes the glory of the world. Truly, the ceremony is very pertinent and significant.

+ In-lay work.

capi maestri,* as having contributed to the erection or embellishment of this extraordinary building.

The Duomo is built of black and white marble, and the façade is exuberantly enriched with mosaics and sculptures;-of these alone it has been said, that it is worth a journey to Orvieto to examine and study them. The interior of the church is in the form of a Latin cross. Here the spectator's attention is riveted to the colossal statues of the Apostles, the works of various sculptors. At the high altar are the celebrated figures of the Virgin and the Announcing Angel. These sculptures are not, however, esteemed faultless: the angel is said to betray declining art and corrupt taste; and the attitude and expression of the Virgin are so little in consonance with the evangelical narrative, that the beholder grows irreverent in thought whilst contemplating the figure. There is too much of the tragic muse, and too little of the humble Mary. She starts from her seat at the salutation, grasps the chair with convulsive energy, and looks very unamiable. The chapel of the Santissima Corporale contains the miraculous relics. These are inclosed in a magnificent reliquary, executed in solid silver by Ugolino Veri of Siena. In form it represents the Duomo, and it is embellished with exquisite sculptures and enamels. The chapel of the Madonna di S. Brizio contains a miraculous image of the Virgin; but, to all, save good catholics, it is more remarkable for its frescoes by Signorelli, and the group of the Pietă by Scabza, together with other works of art. The paintings in this chapel exhibit a grotesque medley of sacred and profane subjects, too often observable in the churches of Italy.t

Next in interest to the Duomo, is the Pazzo di San Patrizio, or Well of St. Patrick. It was sunk for the purpose of relieving the garrison of Orvieto, when, after the sack of Rome in 1527, Clement VII. took refuge here with his whole court. It bears a great resemblance to Joseph's Well in the citadel of Grand Cairo. The depth is about 200 feet, and the width across the top 44 feet. The descent is by a double spiral stair-case which a mule can ascend and descend with ease. Orvieto having ceased to be a garrisoned city, this well is regarded

only as a local curiosity. Orvieto is celebrated for the wine to which it gives name. The traveller is met, at his entry into the city, by persons offering flasks of this beverage for sale, and making loud proclamation of its virtues.

* Designers.

This church is the scene of a facetious novel by Franco Sacchetti, which is in substance as follows:-Cola, a blind man of Orvieto, having collected a hundred florins by "the beggar's craft," placed them, for security, under a tile in the church. He was observed by a certain Juccio Pezzicheruolo, who waited Cola's departure, and then took possession of the treasure, leaving no traces of his handy-work to betray the theft. Cola returning a few days after discovered his loss. By the assistance of a young boy, who acted as his guide, the blind mendicant found out the thief. He then resorted to a cunning expedient for the recovery of his money. He visited Juccio, confided to him the concealment of the hundred florins, apprised him that he was about to add another hundred to the hoard, and intreated his assistance to invest the two hundred florins profitably. Juccio promised his assistance, and departed, so soon as Cola left him, to replace the one hundred florins whence he took them. No long time after, came Cola to ascertain the success of his experiment, when to his great delight he found his lost treasure restored. It is needless to add, that he neither deposited a second hundred, nor suffered the original sum to remain longer in danger. Juccio subsequently returned for his prize, and was much chagrined to find that he had been out-witted. P-Q