After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819 Part 24

Here were the bankers' barge, the jewellers', the mercers', the tailors', the shoe-makers', and, to crown all, the printers' barge, which showered down from the masthead sonnets in honor of the _fete_, printed on board of the barge itself. Every trade or profession, in short, had a barge and appropriate flag and costumes. A quant.i.ty of private barges and gondolas followed this procession. The Archduke and his staff occupied the Government barge, which is very magnificent and made in imitation of the Bucentaur. Musicians were on board of many of the barges, and the houses on both banks of the _Ca.n.a.le Grande_ were filled with beautiful women and other spectators waving their handkerchiefs. Guns were fired on the embarkation of the Viceroy from the _Piazzetta di San Marco_, and on his return. The _Piazza_ itself was splendidly illuminated, and the _cafes_ which abound there, and which const.i.tute one half of the whole quadrangle, were superbly and tastefully decorated.

The _Piazza di San Marco_ is certainly the most beautiful thing of the kind in the world. It is a good deal in the style of the _Palais Royal_ at Paris, and tho' not so large, is far more striking, from the very tasteful and even sumptuous manner in which the _cafes_ are fitted up, both internally and externally; they have s.p.a.cious rooms with mirrors on all sides, some in the shape of Turkish tents, others in that of Egyptian temples. The _Piazza_, forming an oblong rectangle, is arcaded on the two long sides, and of the two short ones, one presents a superb modern palace built by Napoleon, and richly adorned with the statues of all the heathen G.o.ds on the top, which Palace was usually occupied by Eugene Napoleon; the other presents the church of St Marco and the old palace of Government, where in the time of the Republic the Doge used to reside. The church of St Mark is unique as a temple in Europe, for it is neither Grecian nor Gothic, but in a style completely Oriental, from the singularity of its structure, its many gilded cupolas and the variety of its exterior ornaments. At _first sight_ it appears a more striking object than either St Peter's in Rome or St Paul's in London. On the top of the facade, which is singularly picturesque, stand the four bronze horses which have been brought back from Paris to their old residence.

I ascended the top of the facade in order to examine them. They are beautifully formed, in very good cast and have not at all been damaged by the journey. The _Piazza_ is paved with broad flagged stones. The Doge's palace is a vast building, very picturesque withal, and seems a _melange_ of Gothic and Moorish architecture. At right angles to it and facing the _Piazzetta_, which issues from the _Piazza_ and forms a quai to the _Ca.n.a.le Grande_, stands the famous state prison and _Ponte de 'Sospiri_. On the _Piazzetta_ and fronting the landing place stand two columns of white marble, on one of which stands the winged Lion of St Marco and on the other a crocodile, emblematical of the foreign commerce and possessions of the Republic. The s.p.a.ce between these two columns was allotted for the execution of State criminals. Not far from the church of St Marco, and near to that angle of the _Piazza_ which connects it with the _Piazzetta_, stands the famous _Campanile_ or Steeple of San Marco. It is a square building 800 feet in height, from the top of which one has the best view of Venice and its adjacent isles, the distant Alps and the _marina dove il Po discende_. A Quai, if Quai it may be called, which has a row of houses on each side, one row of which is on the water's edge, leads from the _Piazzetta_ to some gardens, which terminate on a point of land. This Quai is very broad and well paved, and is the only thing that can be called a street in all Venice. The _Piazza di San Marco_, therefore, this Quai and the garden before mentioned form the only promenades in Venice. This garden moreover has trees, and these are the only trees that are to be met with in this city. In this garden are two _Cafes_.

The variety of costume is another very agreeable spectacle at Venice. Here you meet with Albanians, Greeks, Turks, Moors, Sclavonians and Armenians, all in their respective national costumes. The first Armenian I met with here was sitting on a stone bench on the _Piazza di San Marco_, and this brought forcibly to my recollection the Armenian in Schiller's _Ghost-seer_.

These _Cafes_ and _Casinos_ on the _Piazza_ are open day and night. Ices and coffee superiorly made and other refreshments of all kinds at very low prices are to be had. Some of these _casinos_ are devoted to gaming. The first families in Venice repair to the _Piazza_ in the evening after the Opera, female as well as male. They promenade up and down the _Piazza_ or sit down and converse in the _Cafes_ and _Casinos_ till a late hour. Few go to bed in Venice in the summer time before six In the morning, so that sleep seems for ever banished from the _Piazza_. Music and singing goes forward in these _casinos_, and the ear is often charmed with the sound of those delightful Venetian airs, whose simple melody ravishes the soul. The Venetian dialect is very pleasing, and scarcely yields in harmony to the Tuscan. It contains a great many Sclavonic words. It is the only dialect of Italy that is at all pleasing to my ear, for I do not at all relish the nasal tw.a.n.g and truncated terminations of the Piedmontese and Lombard dialects, nor the semi-barbarous jargon of the Genoese and the Neapolitan and, least of all, the execrable cacophony of the Bolognese.

I visited of course the a.r.s.enal and the Doge's Palace. The apartments in the latter are very s.p.a.cious and ornamented in the Gothic taste of grandeur. The chamber of the Council is peculiarly magnificent. There is a good deal of tapestry and some fine paintings and statues: among the former I particularly noticed an allegorical picture, representing the triumph of Venice over the league of Cambray. Venice is represented by the winged Lion, and the powers of the Coalition are pourtrayed by various other beasts. Among the latter is a beautiful group in marble representing Ganymede and the Eagle. The terror depicted in the countenance of the beautiful boy, and the pa.s.sion that seems to agitate the Eagle, are surprizingly well pourtrayed.

The princ.i.p.al theatre at Venice, the _Teatro Fenice_, is not open; but I have visited the other theatres, and among other things witnessed the representation of a new opera, call'd _Il Lupo d'Ostende_. The piece itself was rather interesting; but the music was feeble and did not seem to give general satisfaction. The singing is in general very good at Venice, but in scenery, dresses and decorations the theatres here are far inferior to those of Milan and Naples.

I find the air of Venice very hot and unpleasant, arising from the exhalation from the ca.n.a.ls; and it appears to me as if I were on board of an enormous s.h.i.+p. I begin to pant for _terra firma_ and green fields.

I have visited in a gondola some of the islands, viz., Malamocco and St Lazare, where there is a convent of Armenian monks.

Why are the gondolas hung with black? it gives to them such a dismal funereal appearance. They always resemble the bodies of hea.r.s.es placed on boats. I am not fond of gaudy colours in general, yet I do think a gondola should have a somewhat livelier color than black.

PADUA, 8th June.

Padua is not above ten miles distant from Fusina. As I started from Venice at six in the morning I had a fine receding view of the Ocean Queen, with her steeples and turrets rising from the sea. Venice has no fortifications and needs them not. Her insular position protects her from land attacks, and the shoals prevent the approach of s.h.i.+ps of war. Floating batteries therefore and gunboats are her best defence. The road from Fusina to Padua is on the banks of the Brenta the whole way, and is lined with trees. There are a great number of villas on the banks of the Brenta, well built in the best style of architecture, the most of them after the designs of Palladio, the Prince of modern architects.

Padua is an exceedingly large city: but its arcades and the narrowness of the streets give it a gloomy appearance. There are however some beautiful promenades in the suburbs. There are also the remains of an ancient Arena.

Padua is famous for its Seminario or University, which is a superb edifice.

The Church of St Anthony of Padua is of vast size, having six cupolas.

There are four organs in this church. In the chapel of the Saint himself are a great many ornaments, among which are a crucifix in bronze and fresques representing the different actions and miracles of this patron Saint of the Padovani. Probably as this city was founded by the Trojan Antenor they have transformed his name into that of a Christian Saint and called him St Anthony, just as Virgil has been transformed into a magician at Naples. There is a fine view from the steeple of this immense edifice.

There is another magnificent church also in this city, that of St Justine, built after the designs of Palladio, the princ.i.p.al ornament of which is a painting of the martyrdom of the Saint by Paul Veronese. But one of the greatest curiosities in this ancient city is the immense Saloon in the _Palazzo della Giustizia_. It is, I presume, the loftiest and largest hall in the world that is supported by nothing but its walls, it being three hundred feet long, one hundred feet broad and one hundred feet high. In the Saloon is the tomb of Livy, the Historian, who was a native of Padua.

The inhabitants of Padua dress much in black, seem a quiet, staid sort of people, and are very industrious. I put up at the _Stella d'Oro_, a good inn.

VICENZA, 10th June.

I arrived at this beautiful _bijou_ of a town on the morning of the 9th June at eight o'clock. I call it a _bijou_ from its exceeding neatness, and the extreme beauty of the architecture of its edifices, which are almost all after the designs of Palladio, of white stone and in the Greek taste.

Palladio was a native of Vicenza. The _Piazza_ and _Palazzo Pubblico_ perfectly correspond with the beauty of the rest of the city, and the promenades about it are tastefully laid out. But the two most striking objects in point of edifices in Vicenza and both constructed by Palladio are the covered portico and the _Teatro Olimpico_. The covered portico is two miles in length and leads to the chapel of the _Madonna del Monte_, situated on an eminence, at that distance from the city. A magnificent triumphal arch stands before it, and there is an extensive view of the surrounding country. The _Teatro Olimpico_ is a small, but beautiful theatre, built strictly after the model of the ancient Greek theatres. It is peculiarly precious as being the only one of the kind in Europe. How admirably adapted both for seeing and hearing are such theatres! It has, for scenery, the model of a Palace, curiously carved in wood, which represents a Royal Palace, for the ancients never s.h.i.+fted their scenes, and this may account for their adhering so strictly to the unities. Statues and bas-reliefs adorn this beautiful little theatre. Many years ago, on particular occasions, it was the custom to act plays here, either translated from the Greek, or taken strictly from the Greek model. This theatre is esteemed Palladio's _chef d'oeuvre_.

The _Campo di Marie_ is a vast _Place_ outside the town. The Place and its gate are well worth inspecting, so is the famous villa with the Rotonda, belonging to the Marchese di Capra, the original after which the villa belonging to the Duke of Devons.h.i.+re at Chiswick is built. The environs of this interesting city are very beautiful and present an exceeding rich soil, highly cultivated in corn, mulberry trees and vines hanging from them in festoons.

VERONA, 12th June.

I started yesterday morning from Vicenza and arrived here in about three hours, the distance being nearly the same as between Vicenza and Padua. We crossed the Adige which divides the city into two unequal parts and drove to the _Due Torri_, a large and comfortable inn with excellent rooms and accommodations. Verona is a very handsome city, for here also Palladio was the designer or builder of many edifices. It has a very cheerful and gay appearance, tho' not quite so much so as Vicenza. The reason of this difference is that in Verona the greater part of the buildings are in the Gothic style, which always appears heavy and melancholy, whereas in Vicenza all is Grecian. The Amphitheatre of course claimed my first notice. It yields only to the Coliseum in size and grandeur and is in much better preservation, the whole of the ellipse and its walls being entire, whereas in the Coliseum part of the walls have been pulled down. Indeed the Amphitheatre of Verona may be said to be almost perfectly entire. _Tempus edax rerum_ has been its only enemy; whereas avarice and religious fanaticism have contributed, much more than time, to the dilapidation of the Coliseum. The Amphitheatre of Verona can contain 24,000 persons. In it is constructed a temporary theatre of wood, where they perform plays and farces in the open air. Verona is much embellished by several _Palazzi_ built by Palladio, which form a curious contrast with the other buildings and churches which are in the Gothic style. Verona can boast among its antiquities of three triumphal arches, the first, _Porta de' Bursari_, erected in the year 252 in the reign of the Emperor Gallienus; the second, called _Porta del Foro_; and the third, built by Vitruvius himself, in honour of the family Gavia.

The churches here are richly ornamented and the _Palazzo del Consiglio_ has many fine marble and bronze statues. In this city also are the tombs and monuments of the Scala family, who were at one time Sovereigns of Verona.

They are in the Gothic style and of curious execution. The Cathedral has an immense _campanile_ (steeple), from which is a fine view of the surrounding country, and the progressive risings of the Alps, the lower parts of which lie close upon Verona. Beautiful villas and farmhouses abound in the neighbourhood of this city. The favourite promenades are the _Corso_ and the _Bra_. On the _Bra_ I saw a very brilliant display of carriages, and some very pretty women in them. The theatre is by Palladio, is exquisitely beautiful, and very tastefully fitted up. I a.s.sisted at the representation of _La Gazza Ladra_, one of Rossini's best operas.

I should think Verona would be a very delightful sejour; everything is very cheap; a fine country highly cultivated; a remarkably healthy climate; a society which unites much urbanity and a love of amus.e.m.e.nt with a taste for the fine arts and for the graver sciences, and a general appearance of opulence and comfort. The shops in Verona appear very splendid, and the _Bra_, when lighted up in the evening, is a very lively and animating scene.

MANTUA, 15 June.

I could not go to Milan without stepping a little out of my road to visit this ancient and redoubtable fortress, so celebrated in the early campaigns of Buonaparte, besides the other claims it has on the traveller's attention as the birth place of Virgil. This place is of immense strength, as a military post; being situated on a small isthmus of land, separating two lakes, and communicating with the rest of the country by an exceeding narrow causeway. This position, added to the strength of the fortifications, render the fortress impregnable, if well garrisoned and provisioned. The city is, however, unhealthy from the lake and marshy land about it, and there is but a scanty population. Gra.s.s grows in the streets and it is the dullest and indeed the only dull town in all Italy.

Everything in this city announces decay and melancholy, and I met with several men looking full as halfstarved and deplorable as Shakespeare's Apothecary in Romeo and Juliet. Yet the city is by no means an ugly one.

The buildings are imposing, the streets broad and well paved, and there is a fine circular promenade in the centre of which is a Monument erected in honor of Virgil by the French general Miollis, who had a great veneration for all poets. The _Palazzo pubblico_ and the Cathedral are the most striking buildings. The latter contains the tombs and monuments of the Gonzaga family, the whilom Sovereigns of Mantua. There are also several monuments in honor of some French officers, who were killed in the campaigns of Italy under Buonaparte and erected to their memory by his direction.

Outside the town, at a short distance from the causeway and _tete de pont_, is the celebrated palace called the T, from its being in the form of that letter, which was the usual residence of the Dukes of Mantua. It is a n.o.ble edifice and its gardens are well laid out. These gardens have this peculiarity, that at the entrance of each of the grand avenues is a figure of a man on horseback caparizoned in armour, like the Knights of old. This is all I have to say about Mantua. The Mincio beset with "osiers dank"

flows into the lake.

CREMONA, 16th June.

From Mantua I directed my course to this city, which is large and fortified, situated on the Po which forms many little islands in the environs. This city is of great antiquity, and has a number of Gothic buildings. You do not find here the specimens and imitations of Grecian architecture as at Vicenza and Verona. The _campanile_ of the Cathedral is of immense height, but one is repaid for the fatigue of ascending by the extensive view from its summit. There are 498 steps. I put up at the _Colombina_, a very good inn. The Cremonese seem to be an industrious people. There is a great deal of pasture land in the environs of this city and much cheese is made here and in the Lodesan. Several ricefields are also to be met with between this place and Lodi.

MILAN, 25 June.

I have been on a visit to the ancient and venerable city of Pavia, which is about eighteen miles distant from Milan, thro' a rich highly cultivated plain. The road lies in a right line the whole way. About three miles distant from Pavia on the Milan side stands the celebrated _Certosa_, which we stopped to visit. The church of the _Certosa_ contains the greatest quant.i.ty of riches in marbles, and precious stones, of any building in the world, probably. The architecture is Gothic, and the workmans.h.i.+p of the exterior exquisite; but the ulterior is most dazzling; and at the sight of the rich marbles and innumerable precious stones of all kinds with which it abounds, I was reminded of Aladdin and began to fancy myself in the cavern of the Wonderful Lamp. This church was built by Galeazzo Visconti, whose coffin is here, and his statue also, in white marble. There are several bas-reliefs of exquisite workmans.h.i.+p. There are no fewer than seventeen altars here and of the most beautiful structure you can conceive, being inlaid in mosaic with jasper, onyx and lapis-lazuli. Besides these precious marbles of every colour and quant.i.ty under heaven, here are abundance of rubies, emeralds, amethysts, aquamarines and topazes, incrusted in the different chapels and altars. Here again is a proof of the falsehood and injustice of the aspersions cast on the French army, as being the plunderers of churches; for if they were so, how comes it that the _Certosa_ the richest of all, was spared? Mr Eustace[119] in his admiration of Church splendour, should at least have given the French no small degree of credit for their abstinence from so rich a prize. A ca.n.a.l runs parallel to the road the whole way from Milan to Pavia, where it joins the Tessino.

The banks of the Ca.n.a.l and each side of the road are lined with poplars.

Pavia is one of the most ancient cities in Italy and has something very antique and solemn in its appearance. It is quite Gothic and was the capital city of the Lombard Kings. The streets are broad and the _Piazza_ is large. I could not find any traces of the ancient palace of the Lombard Kings, which I should like much to have done; for then I should have endeavoured to make out the chamber into which Jocondo peeped and discovered what cured him of his melancholy, and where the impatient Queen received the petulant answer from her beloved Nano, conveyed by one of her waiting maids who told her:

E per non stare in perdita d'un soldo, A voi nega venire fl manigoldo.[120]

Nor, lest he lose a doit, his paltry stake, Will that discourteous churl his game forsake

--_Trans._ W.S. ROSE.

MILAN, 28th June.

I have been to the _Scala_ theatre, to see the _Ballet of the Vestal_, one of the most interesting Ballets I ever beheld. Oh! what a mighty magician is the ballet master Vigano, and as for the prima ballerina, Pallerini, what praises can equal her merit? then, the delightful soul soothing music, so harmonious, so pathetic, and the decorations so truly tasteful and cla.s.sical! I can never forget the impression this fascinating Ballet made on me. It is called _La Vestale_. It opens with a view of the Circus in ancient Rome, and various gymnastic exercises, combats of gladiators, of athletes, and ends with a chariot race with real horses. The Roman Consuls are present in all their pomp, surrounded by Lictors with axes and fasces.

The Vestal virgins a.s.sist at this spectacle, and from one of them the victor in the games receives a garland, as the recompense of his prowess.

The victor is the son of one of the Consuls and the hero of the piece; the heroine is the Vestal Virgin who crowns him with the garland. The young victor becomes desperately enamored of the Vestale, and she appears also to feel an incipient flame. After the games are over, the victor returns to his father's house, and meeting there one of his friends, discloses to him his love for the Vestale and his idea of entering by stealth into the temple of Vesta, where his beloved was appointed to watch the sacred fire.

His friend endeavors, but in vain, to dissuade him from so rash an attempt, which can only end in the destruction, both of his beloved and himself. All the remonstrances, however, of the friend are vain; and the hero fixed in his resolve watches for the opportunity, when it is the turn of his beloved to officiate in the temple of Vesta, and enters therein. The Vestale is terrified and supplicates him to retire: in vain; and after a long but ineffectual struggle she sinks into his arms at the foot of the altar.

Suddenly the sacred flame becomes extinguished; a noise is heard; the Vestals enter; the unfortunate fair is roused from her stupor by the noise of footsteps and has just time to oblige her lover to retire, which he reluctantly does, but not unperceived by the Vestals. The Matron of the Vestals reproaches her with the crime she has committed and orders her to be placed in a dungeon. She is brought out to be examined by the High Priest, found guilty and condemned by him to the usual punishment of the Vestals for a breach of their vow, viz., the being buried alive outside the gates of Rome. The moment the sentence is p.r.o.nounced a black veil is thrown over her. The scene then changes to the place of execution; the funeral procession takes place; the vault is dug and a man stands by with a pitcher of water and loaf of bread, to deliver to her when she should descend. The Consuls are present, attended by the Lictors and Aediles. All the other vestals are present, of whom the culprit takes an affectionate leave and is about to descend into the vault. Suddenly a noise of arms and shouts are heard. It is her lover who having collected a few followers come rus.h.i.+ng forward with arms in their hands to arrest the execution. He forces his way into the presence of the Consuls, but the sight of his father inspires him with awe; he staggers back; at this moment a Lictor at the command of the other Consul plunges a spear into his breast. The Vestal is hurried to the brink of the vault, into which she is forced to descend to the accompaniment of mournful music, while her dying lover vainly endeavours to crawl towards her. The curtain falls.

The exquisite acting of La Pallerini drew tears from my eyes: it was indeed too horrible a subject for a _Ballo_, which in my opinion ought to end happily. The scenery was the finest of the kind I think I ever witnessed.

The first scene represents the _Circus maximus_; the interior of the temple of Vesta and the place of execution outside the walls of Rome were most cla.s.sically correct and appropriate: the music was beyond all praise and singularly affecting. This Ballet has excited such an enthusiastic approbation that Vigano the Ballet master, Pallerini who acts the Vestal and the young man who performs the hero of the piece were summoned every evening after the termination of the Ballet, to appear on the stage, and receive applauses, which seemed to increase at every representation. I have been to see this ballet six or seven times, and always with increased delight. I was there on the last night of its representation, when some amateurs and people connected with the theatre put in practice what appeared to mean ill-judged _concetto_, however well merited the compliment it meant to convey. When the Vestal was about to descend into the vault, a genius with wings rose from it and repeated a few lines beginning _Tu non morrai_ and telling her that the suffrages of the Insubrian people had decreed to her immortality, and printed sonnets were showered down on the stage from all parts of the house. I think it would have been much better to let the piece finish in the usual way, and then at its termination call for La Pallerini to advance and receive the garlands and hommage so justly her due.

I was in the _loge_ belonging to my friend Mme L-----; there were three or four _litterati_ with her, and they were all unanimous that it was an absurd and pedantic _concetto_.

In a day or two I shall start from Milan for Munich thro' Brescia and Verona and the Tyrol.

CHAPTER XVI

JULY-SEPTEMBER 1818