l. In the church of
St. Agnes, before the Porta Pia, among many other beautiful columns are
four of porphyry, belonging to the high altar, and considered the most
beautiful in Rome. In a small chapel is a bust of the Savior by Michael
Angelo--a masterpiece. In the church of St. Augustine, there is a
picture by Raphael representing the prophet Isaiah, and an Ascension by
Lanfranco. The monastery has a rich library, called the Angelica, and
increased by the library of cardinal Passionei. The following churches
also deserve to be mentioned, on account of their architecture and works
of art; the churches of St. Ignatius, St. Cecilia, S. Andrea della
Valle, S. Andrea del Noviziato, the Pantheon (also called la Rotonda),
in which Raffaelle, Annibale Caracci, Mengs, etc., are interred. All the
364 churches of Rome contain monuments of art or antiquity. Among the
palaces, the principal is the Vatican, an immense pile, in which the
most valuable monuments of antiquity, and the works of the greatest
modern masters are preserved. Here are the museum Pio-Clementinum,
established by Clement XIV., and enlarged by Pius VI., and the
celebrated library of the Vatican. The treasures carried away by the
French have been restored. Among the paintings of this palace, the most
beautiful are Raffaelle's frescos in the _stanze_ and _loggie_. The
principal oil paintings are in the _appartamento_ Borgia, which also
contains the Transfiguration, by Raphael. In the Sistine chapel is the
Last Judgment by Michael Angelo. The popes have chosen the palace of
Monte Cavallo, or the Quirinal palace, with its extensive and beautiful
gardens, for their usual residence, on account of its healthy air and
fine prospect. The Lateran palace, which Sixtus V. had rebuilt by
Fontana, was changed, in 1693, into an alms-house. Besides these, the
following are celebrated: the palace della Cancellario, the palace de'
Conservatori, the palace of St. Mark, the buildings of the Academy, etc.
Among the private palaces, the Barberini is the largest; it was built by
Bernini, in a beautiful style. Here are the Magdalen of Guido, one of
the finest works of Caravaggio, the Paintings of the great hall, a
masterpiece of Pietro da Cortona, and other valuable paintings. Of works
of sculpture, the Sleeping Fawn, now in Munich, was formerly here; the
masterly group representing Atalanta and Meleager, a Juno, a sick Satyr
by Bernini, the bust of Cardinal Barberini by the same artist, a