THE ART TREASURES OF THE VATICAN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 37, 13 September 1900, Page 19

THE ART TREASURES OF THE VATICAN.

The Vatican (writes a correspondent of some note in the art world) is the cucce^sor of the Lateran Palace, which was the official residence of the Popes prior to their departure to Avignon. Upon the leturn of the Popes in 14 IS the Lateran was found in a ruined condition, and Nicholas V., the ' Builder Pope,' determined to build upon the site of the Papal villa, near the old basilica of St. Peter's, the most imposing palace of Christendom, uniting in it all the offices of the Papal administration and the residences of the Cardinals. This was to cover the whole of the Borgo from the Castle of St. Angelo to the Cathedral. Although this stupendous plan was not carried out, it resulted in the greatest continuous mass of buildings in the world.

The name Vatican was borrowed from the adjacent Vatican Hill, which received its name, according to Crawford, from Vataciunim, an oracle or prophecy. Tradition says that Numa chose thin hill as a sacred place from which to declare to the people the prophetic utterances of the vates or seers. Truly, this is a felicitous appellation for the s-ource of the encyclicals of Leo XIII., and a happy evolution from heathen oracle to Christian Pope.

The main entrance to the Vatican is at the bronze prate. Here \i-itors apply for parses to the Swiss Guard, who are attired to this d.iy 111 the pietures-q'ie costume designed for them by Michael Angelo. A covered fairway leads to the court of St. Dainaao, which h. ems mil of the gaily-attired guard, carrying their medieval halberds and looking as they walk up and down the court very like enchanted tiger-hlies in their stripes of blue, red, and yellow.

From this court, named tor St. Peter's successor, St. Damaso, one may enter the Loggia of 'Bramante, where we find Raphael's Bible, the Stanze of Raphael, and the Picture Gallery. The Stanze are in the Tor de Burgia, the oldest portion of the palace.

The entraiue to the museums used at present is on the west side ot the palace. At, the sides of the entrance stand colossal Egyptian statues found in Hud rian'fl Villa ; in the floor are three ancient mosaics. The chief objects of interest here are the two enorniouh biiroophagi made of wl Egyptian porphyry. These contain the bodies of St Helena, mother of Constantine and of Constantma, his daughter, who died :?.">! AD. In the Arazzie, or Gallery ot Arm*, are exhibited tbo famous tapestries executed from cartoons de-ugi ed by Raphael. Seven of the cartoons are still in existence and are in the South Kensington Museum. The tapestry copies wore executed with wonderful skill in wool, silk, silver, and gold, the colors being far more brilliant than those of the cartoonß. The rich framework around each picture designed by Raphael's pupils exists in the tapestry and adds greatly to the decorative effect. Then 1 tuaivels ot textile coloring were wrought in Brussels (not Arras, as formerly supposed) at the cost of £7000. They hunsr in the .Sistine Chapel, ior which they were originally designed, about six years before the sack of Rome in 1.">27. They were then carried off and seriously injured. After many vicissitudes they were placed in this gallery by Pius VII. in ISUB. Entering the Cortile del Belvedere, the first corner to the right will be found to contain the famous Laocoon, of which Hi Hard says — ' It stands upon the very line by which the art of sculpture id di\ ided from p-etry and painting.' Passing the sculptures in the arcade, we di>cover Apollo, ' the most brilliant piece of sculpture of ancient times,' called Apollo Belvedere, because of its place in the Belvedere apartment. In the vestibule of the Belvedere we also find the celebrated Torso of Hercules made, according to the inscription, by Alphoniua of Athens. It was found in lf>o6 near the Theatre of Poropey. Michael Angelo declared it a masterpiece, and in his blind old aj;e, groped his way into the Vatican, where, with uplifted face, he used to pass his loving fingers over the torao.

In the same apartment stands the ancient sarcophagus of Scipio Barbatua, great grandfather of the illustrious Soipio Africans. This was taken from the town of the Scipios on the Appian Way. When the burial case was opened the skeleton within was well preserved. On a finger was a ring with a cornelian engraved with a standing figure of winged victory holding a palm. In LS'.H the ring was at Alnwick Castle in the Northumberland collection of gems. The Bracio Nuovo contains forty statue* and abrut eighty busts. The most beautiful sculpture is the Anoxyomenos after Lysippus. When the original stood before the bith- of Agripp* the people so loved it that they would not permit Tiberius to remove it to his palace. The pose of the figure is its chief charm The Venus rising from the sea is here ; also the portrait statue of Demosthenes found near the ancient Tusculum. After one more room ot terracotta urns, statues and reliefs, you come to the room of vases. There are four of these rooms, the rarest and mo->t beautiful vases being on single pedestals. The next room is hung with paintings, and the la<»t is the 'Chamber of the Tomb,' fitted up in imitation of Etruscan tombs. The Papal manufactory of mosaics is beneath the Gallery of Inscriptions. Men are here employed in copying pictures for churches. One may see the mosaics in process of manufacture. Two hundred differently tinted enamels are used. Opposite the studio of mosaics under the Gallery of Charts a"d Tapestry ami Candelabra is the longest room in the world— the Vatican Library, which, although surpassed in the number of its volumes, is unrivalled in the cities of Europe in extent, in beauty of proportions and in decorations.