Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

William Gardiner (1770 - 1853) was an English composer who is best known for his hymns and for having enthusiastically supported and made known the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. He turned melodies from composers such as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven into hymn tunes in an attempt to rejuvenate the singing of psalms. He recorded his memories of various musicians in Music and Friends (1838-1853). He visited Rome in November 1846 - January 1847 and he attended many of the ceremonies which were held in that period including the possessio of Pope Pius IX. Because of his interest in sacred music he visited more churches than other travellers:
The number of churches which you pass in a day, walking through Rome, is incredible. You cannot go a street's length without passing many; besides other religious houses, monasteries, and convents. They are always open, and therefore can be visited with facility at all times, and without disturbing the service. The variety of their structure, the marbles, the tombs, the statues, and pictures are endless. (..) In this research I was under great obligation to H. Sharpe, Esq., of Sussex, who has wintered in Rome with his family for many years. This gentleman, who is learned in antiquities, and had frequently perambulated the city with the antiquarian Nibby, imparted much valuable information to me. He did me the kindness to walk out most days with me, conducting me to the objects of the highest interest - indeed, without the help of his experience I should have been quite at a loss, amongst such a multitude of buildings, to have selected those most worthy of notice, and must have spent much time unprofitably.
Excerpts from William Gardiner's Sights in Italy related to Rome. Published in 1847.

• Possessio of Pope Pius IX (November 8, 1846)
• Baker's Tomb (Marcus Virgilius Eurysaces)
• Tempio di Minerva Medica
• Giardino Colonna
• Music at S. Pietro
• The Jewish Ghetto
• Madonna del Parto
• Palazzo Farnese
• Players of Bagpipes
• Accademia di Santa Cecilia
• Interior of S. Giovanni in Laterano
• Concerts at S. Maria Maggiore and S. Maria in Ara Coeli
• Villa Doria Pamphilj
• Convent of the Capuchins
• Nuns of Trinità dei Monti
• Ball at Palazzo Torlonia di Borgo
• S. Stefano Rotondo
• Anfiteatro Castrense
• Teatro di Marcello
• Teatro di Pompeo
• Isola Tiberina

Possessio of Pope Pius IX November 8, 1846. The houses and palaces were adorned with the richest tapestry, and scarfs of crimson and gold were thrown out of all the windows, from the highest story. The churches were hung with folds of the richest drapery. His Holiness was to set off from the Quirinal, his winter palace , and to reach the Tribunal of St. John de Lateran at one o'clock. How surprised was I when we passed to see modern decorations on works erected two thousand years ago, especially on the vast indescribable Coliseum. The lower arcades were filled up with crimson trappings, in honour of the Christian Father, -the very spot where thousands of Christians were devoured by wild beasts. Presently a salvo of cannon poured forth from the Castle of St. Angelo, announcing the approach. First came the Master of the Horse, in black mail, - then the Chamberlain - the Swiss Guard in cuirass - the Supreme Pontiff in his chariot of gold - the horses ridden by men in crimson doublets and spangled boots -the Cardinals all on horseback, stiff with gold and damask mitres - the Guard Noble, composed of twenty Counts of the Holy Roman Empire - forty Bishops on horseback in fanciful dresses, and Prelates in scarlet robes, with a hundred other Officers in costumes too various to describe . On the Pope's arrival, he stood up and gracefully bowed to the people. I saw him well - a fine, handsome, middle-aged man, with an intelligent face. After the ceremony, inside the church, of taking possession, he ascended to the balcony, a hundred feet high, to bless the people, and came to the front under a canopy, guarded on each side with two enormous fans of peacocks' feathers. When, with outstretched arms, he was about to give the benediction, a salvo of artillery resounded from St. Angelo - the troops presented arms, the people were instantly uncovered, and on their knees. His Holiness holding up his two first fingers and thumb, chanted the benediction in a clear musical voice, upon the note A, which must have been heard distinctly even at the extremity of the immense concourse assembled. The cannon fired, and the echoes were returned from the ruins of ancient Rome, in the midst of which the church of John de Lateran stands. Raising his voice a note higher, he chanted another short strain, and a hundred thousand voices filled the air with Viva Papa! Viva Pio Nono! (..) Thus ended one of the grandest days that Rome ever saw, probably the commencement of a new era in her history, that of placing upon the throne of the Holy See, a man of extraordinary intelligence, who has the courage and good sense to adopt and carry out the improvements of the age.

Baker's Tomb (Marcus Virgilius Eurysaces) Close to the city gate, the tomb of a rich baker, who supplied the Romans with bread two thousand years ago, has lately been discovered. It is a large building upon which are sculptured, in basso relievo, some of his men kneading the dough, and others setting the oven. We have instances enough nowadays of monumental extravagance; but where shall we find an honest tradesman of our times perpetuating the memory of his calling upon his tombstone . I rather think a modern baker, still more his descendants, would call in the aid of the Herald's College to sink the shop, and would take any allusion to dough as little better than an insult.

Tempio di Minerva Medica A grand ruin in a vineyard near the Porta Maggiore. Like many of the Roman temples it is of a round form, and very large. The dome, not much less in size than that of the Pantheon, has fallen in. The niches remain, in which was placed the colossal statue of Minerva, now to be found in the museums. Not a building is near; and it is desecrated and applied to farming purposes. It stands in the midst of almond trees, and though it was the first month of the year they were dressed in their innocent pink blossoms and shedding a delightful perfume.

Giardino Colonna On the terrace, at the back of the palace, are four bridges passing over a neighbouring street, leading to the hanging gardens. These are full of the loftiest trees, which never lose their leaves. Though it was the twenty-fifth of November, thousands of roses and other brilliant flowers, were shedding their sweets upon the delightful air. We ascended, and walked through the alleys, cut through the almost impenetrable foliage, through rising plains, and up marble steps, to the top of the Quirinal Hill, where broke upon us a view of the very centre of Rome just beneath us. From this elevation we looked down a hundred feet, into the Baths of Constantine, now a frightful ruin. Near these we noticed the two immense fragments of stone cornice, supposed to belong to the Temple of the Sun; no one can guess how they came there, or, from their massive weight, how they can ever be removed.

Music at S. Pietro November the 18th was the dedication of St. Peter's, when High Mass was performed in the presence of the Pope. As music was to be introduced, the ceremony took place in the Capella di Coro; a side chapel of great magnificence, nearly a hundred feet high. The pomp and splendour upon this occasion were very great. (..) The music was grand and imposing. At one end of the chapel, on the right of the altar, was a gallery, an organ, and the pontifical choir, and at the opposite end was another organ and choir. The service was principally choral, with a few solos interspersed. It was the noble plan upon which the music was exhibited that delighted me, out of which arose new and striking effects. (..) The Catholics have brought down to us the antiphonal mode of singing in the temple, where two or more choirs responded to each other. For the first time I heard this in St. Peter's. Handel was aware of the sublime effect produced by this disposition of the voices, and wrote what are called his double choruses. (..) I stood midway between the orchestras, and found myself in voluntarily turning my head to the quarter whence the responses came. The effect was dramatic and sublime. The service was a selection from different authors Hadyn, Mozart, and others. (..) The whole concluded with a double fugue, à la Palestrina , finely illustrated by the two choirs, when both joined in some final clashes like Beethoven. In the evening, a similar performance took place, at which the whole of the cardinals were present. The effect of the two choirs was still more striking than in the morning performance, especially in a quartetto in the key of G, sung by the principals . On its closing note the opposing choir threw in the chord of the dominant 7th; and as the F natural was in fortissimo, the discord, upon which they stood a while, magnificently turned the harmony into the key of C, in which both choirs joined in a grand chorus. (..) I retired into the grand edifice to listen to these striking effects. I seated myself at a distance so remote that I could but just hear the softest music, or discern the twinkling lights and prostrate devotees. The floods of harmony, poured forth from both organs and choirs, filled the vast expanse of the edifice with rolling surges of sound, that awoke me from a reverie into which I had fallen. I felt that I was in the midst of a universe of sounds, and had dwindled into a point in some unknown sphere of harmony. Music is divine when heard in such a place.

The Jewish Ghetto The Jews live in a quarter of the city by them selves, called the Ghetto, where they are enclosed and locked up every night. Once a year the oldest among them are obliged to kneel at the Capitol, permission to live another year in Rome. In the late overflow of the Tiber, their district, being close upon the river, was suddenly inundated in the middle of the night, and had it not been for the good Pope, who thought of their dangerous situation and ordered the gates to be opened, many would have lost their lives. Under his mild reign they look forward to a relaxation of the severities practised upon them.

Madonna del Parto at S. Agostino Just as you enter is a statue of the Virgin and Child, which, being an object of especial veneration, is much visited, and greatly enriched with precious donations. The Dorias, Torlonias, and other princely families in Rome, have coutributed enormous sums towards her dress. (..) Near to the figure the walls are covered with small votive pictures, pretty well painted, representing sundry accidents; such as a person falling from a scaffold; being run over by a carriage; and a hundred other casualties, in which the sufferers have escaped with their lives; and on their recovery, have dedicated these representations to the Virgin, to whom they attribute their deliverance. The ancient Romans did precisely the same to their gods. Horace alludes to this practice in the case of a person who, having been saved from shipwreck, presented his votive picture to Neptune. Thus are customs transmitted from father to son, through eighteen hundred years. As the lady sits in the posture of the Holy Father, with her foot a little projecting, and as the church is situated in the midst of the lowest population in Rome, thousands in passing just come in, kiss the toe, and pursue their business.

Palazzo Farnese What a structure is the Farnesian! It is a compact square, like a solid block of stone cut out of a mountain, simple, yet grand in design, and perfect as if just erected. This palace stands in the meanest and filthiest district of the city. We meet with many such instances of incongruity in the situation of the splendid buildings in Rome. (..) This palace belongs to the King of Naples, it was filled with antiquities discovered in Rome, but these have all been removed to the Museum at Naples, except what have been dug up lately. In the saloon stands the gigantic statue of Hercules, sixty feet high or more; such is the amazing magnitude of these palaces. The walls are covered with the celebrated frescoes of Annibal Carracci, in which there is a scope and magnitude of design that fills the mind with wonder. It is not possible to produce this grandeur of effect in pictures confined to frames; you require a whole side of the building to develop the design of the artist.

Players of bagpipes We sat with the windows open, listening to the strains of the Abruzzi playing before the Virgin. From these simple musicians the Italian composers have stolen their prettiest airs, and animated their compositions. They are the gems we find in the Operas of Cimarosa and Paesiello, after they have passed through the crucible of science. It is in the evening, under these placid skies, that we listen to the voice borne on the breeze, aided by the sprinkled notes of the guitar. At such a time the soft touches of a tender air delight us.

Accademia di Santa Cecilia As I had the honour of being elected a foreign correspondent of this society, I attended the annual meeting when the Cardinal President was in the chair. The Academy was founded at the instance of Palestrina, during the pontificate of Pius V, in the year 1583, and was canonically established by his successor, Gregory XIII., who had the charge of preparing the choral music to the new Missal, in conformity with the decree of the Council of Trent. The Cardinal Protector is answerable for the progress of the students, and the propagation of good music for the church. (..) Among the associates are many crowned heads, but of none is the Academy more proud than of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, of England. We attended the annual performance on St. Cecilia's day, in the church dedicated to that saint. (..) In a society of such pretension I might have expected something like good music, and especially at its annual performance, which has been continued for near three hundred years; but it was no better than what I had previously heard. I recognized the same three unnatural voices, the male soprani, as I had done in every other place; but as the organ was small, their piercing tones were rendered more conspicuous. What the church will do when these unnatural voices are extinct I cannot guess, as in no instance will they allow females to sing in the church.

Interior of S. Giovanni in Laterano We saw it immediately after the Pope's possesso had concluded, and a brilliant sight it was - illumined with myriads of candles. The floor was strewn with herbs and the walls hung with draperies of crimson and gold. We saw it afterwards, when the gaudy decorations were removed, and were more sensibly affected by its grand and solemn architecture. The colossal statues, on each side of the nave or main aisle, are strikingly grand objects, and harmonize with the vastness of the structure.

Concerts at S. Maria Maggiore and S. Maria in Ara Coeli Christmas Eve. On this anniversary the Pope performs mass, and the cradle of our Saviour is exhibited. (..) At the beginning of the seventeenth century, a grand piece of instrumental music was performed every Christmas Eve, composed by Arcangelo Corelli purposely for the nativity, who led the band himself. He was the finest violinist of the age. The last movement, the pastorale, is beautifully simple, and the rhythm is made to accord with the rocking of the cradle. This performance greatly surpassed the Miserere, so much spoken of, performed in the Sistine Chapel. There was no music at that day, in any part of Europe, at all equal to the performance of this concerto. (..) We then visited the Church of Ara Coeli, to see the Bambino, and found it filled, though at midnight, with the lowest order of people, who had brought their children with them to see the infant Jesus. We were so wedged together that we could scarcely move. The organ and other instruments were better than we had commonly heard; and all the better for being concealed with the singers, behind the altar. Towards the conclusion of the service, the assembled thousands joined loudly in a few notes, at intervals, which had a sublime effect, discordant as it was. It reminded me of a similar effect I had heard in a Jewish synagogue. One of the side chapels was fitted up like the stage of a theatre, to represent a stable. The figures were as large as life, beautifully executed in wax. In the front was the principal group, consisting of the Virgin, with the Bambino in her lap - a large doll swathed up with ribbons, Joseph leaning on his staff, and the shepherds gazing with admiration upon the child.

Villa Doria Pamphilj On this elevated spot you have a superb view. From the mansion no part of the city can be seen, except St. Peter's and the Vatican, backed by the dark Apennines capped with snow. The gardens and pleasure - grounds occupy a vast extent, and are ingeniously laid out according to the Italian taste. From the terrace you look down upon the flower garden, and perceive that the walks assume the forms of birds and animals, which you would not suspect when walking through them. Beyond, is an alcove of fountains, throwing their jets into the air in the most pleasing forms. Like all these great villas, coolness is the first thing sought. Here you have covered walks of thickly - woven evergreens which the sun can not penetrate, and woods of tall pines forty feet high, with foliage spreading out at the top like umbrellas. These having no side branches, and a clear stem from top to bottom, form a ceiling of leaves which effectually screens you from the mid-day heat. In the open arcades below you enjoy a constant circulation of air. Innumerable avenues are bounded by hedges of orange and myrtle, emitting the most grateful odours. Amongst these are interspersed statues, pavilions, and fountains. The sparkling waters that supply these domains, are brought by an aqueduct thirty-five miles in length, and after they have served these ornamental uses, are collected at the Aqua Paolina, and made to turn many corn mills, as they make their way down Mount Orio, supplying the inhabitants of Rome with flour.

Convent of the Capuchins We visited the Cappucine Monastery, in the Piazza Barbarini, where a hundred and sixty brethren are lodged in the extensive old building; but there are apartments for a thousand. We wandered through all the dark and damp alleys, the walls of which are hung with pictures of monks who have died here for the last two hundred years. Each has his separate cell, with a narrow bed, leaving just room to turn yourself. A small grated window lets in a little light, out of which you can look into an orangery below. There is not a fireplace in any of the apartments. They all dine together in the refectory without a word being spoken. During this silence a brother reads the scripture to them. Their sole business is to fast and pray, during the whole of their lives, doing no good to themselves or any one else.

Nuns of Trinità dei Monti On the Pincian Hill is the monastery of Trinita di Monte, an institution for nuns, and one of the most towering objects in Rome. You ascend a hundred and fifty - four steps to the entrance. We went there to hear the sisters sing, and, for the first time in Rome, I heard something like melody. This is the only church in which the female voice is ever heard, and I recognised with pleasure an air of Mozart. The ladies were hidden behind a trellis near the altar, and it was with difficulty that we could get a peep at the imprisoned doves. They had abjured the world, and I thought in their voices I detected a tone of regret. They sounded to me like the melancholy notes of singing birds, who had been kidnapped from the grove, and imprisoned in a cage, who, if the door had been left open, would have flown back to their native woods.

Ball at Palazzo Torlonia di Borgo As we were in Rome at Christmas, when the Prince and Princess Torlonia annually give two grand balls, we were honoured with invitations. This superb entertainment took place in their third mansion, the Palazzo di Borgo, near St. Peter's, where about a thousand persons were presented to this family, among whom were five hundred English, then visiting at Rome. Fètes upon this grand scale are admirably conducted by the Italian nobility; the size of their palaces affording ample accommodation. The company presented a gay and elegant assemblage of persons from various countries. We had French, Spaniards, Germans, Greeks, and Russians, but the Italians and English greatly predominated. I had a good opportunity of observing the style, dress, and comportment of these two countries. The Princess Torlonia, whose appearance and manner surpassed that of all her countrywomen, was distinguished by the simplicity of her dress. (..) The Italian ladies of rank wore a profusion of diamonds, which are more thickly sown here than in England. Although in these precious ornaments our countrywomen were outshone, yet their beauty, fair colour, and gossamer lightness of dress, imparted an elegance beyond that given by the sombre, heavy attire of the Italian ladies. The English gentlemen, being without beards, were readily distinguished. (..) The dancing was perfectly a l'Anglaise, crowding so close together in the quadrilles as to trample on each other's toes. A supper was introduced into all the rooms as it were by magic, composed of Italian lightness, and eaten with Italian rapidity. It was not a little interesting to examine the tapestry and pictures which adorned the walls of the palace, having hung there since the time of Henry VIII., when it belonged to the English, and was the sumptuous residence of Cardinal Wolsey, who held his court here with great pomp and glory.

Santo Stefano Rotondo Is remarkable as an immense building of a circular form, supposed to have been the Temple of Bacchus, but now converted into a Christian church. Large as it is, it has evidently been deprived of its exterior circle of columns. Those that remain, fifty - six in number, are of granite , and in some instances three feet in diameter and forty feet high. It happened to be the Festival of St. Stephen the day we were there, and numbers of peasants were kneeling on the bay leaves which were strewn on the floor; others were looking in wild amazement at the horrible frescoes of martyred saints, painted as large as life on the entire circumference of the building. Here they saw their fellow beings boiled in oil, roasted, sawn asunder, and torn to pieces by wild beasts. However questionable may be the taste that could give rise to such horrible exhibitions, or the policy of holding them out as "raw head - and - bloody - bones" to subdue the minds of the weaker children of the church, we cannot but approve the zeal which has preserved these temples by converting them to their present use, without which they would have inevitably perished long ago.

Anfiteatro Castrense In the vineyard are the remains of the Amphitheatre Castrenso, which is half buried in accumulated earth. This amphitheatre was devoted to the use of the Roman soldiers for their martial games; and twenty feet below the surface they have lately discovered vast vaults, in which probably the wild beasts were kept for the exhibition of fights, as an amusement of the soldiers. Here was found the obelisk which is now placed on the Pincian Hill.

Teatro di Marcello What remains of this Theatre, built by Augustus, stands in the dirtiest quarter of Rome, and the sumptuous arcades are now converted into blacksmiths' shops, cowhouses, and wretched dwellings. In the front was a magnificent portico, as a place of shelter against the weather. Its form was a long square, with a double row of columns, of the amazing number of two hundred and seventy. Under this arcade were the temples of Juno and Jupiter. In these ruins was found the celebrated statue known as the Venus di Medici. In the very neighbourhood there are temples half buried, with fluted columns, and massy architraves, just peeping above the ground. (..) You would pass it unnoticed but for the ancient columns and capitals which appear in the fractured walls. Though it would hold eighty thousand spectators, it is so broken and encroached upon by the adjacent buildings, that it is difficult to trace its original extent. It is supposed by some that the eminence upon which the Orsini Palace stands, is formed by the mass of ruins of this theatre, which in magnitude, has only been exceeded by the Coliseum.

Teatro di Pompeo The remains of this grand work are scarcely traceable. It occupied a considerable space which can only be detected by fragments of pillars and capitals, intermixed with modern masonry. The noble Church of St. Andrea de la Valle occupies the very ground (now greatly raised) which formed the pit of the theatre. The streets westward partake of a semicircular form, answering to the back of the stage. The Via Satiri was the front of the orchestra, and takes its name from the figures of the satyrs which ornamented that part of the theatre. Some fragments of the three hundred columns are to be found in and about the wretched buildings which now hide this once imperial resort. It was here that the statue of Pompey was found, which now stands in the Palazzo Spada.

Isola Tiberina Here is a monastery of the Franciscan order. This island is one of the most fertile little spots in Rome. The garden is filled with trees borne down with oranges, citrons, and lemons. We begged permission to enter, and examined perhaps the most ancient relic in the old city. In the year 462 B.C., and in the times of the Kings of Rome, the plague raged with such violence that the Senate, having consulted the Sybilline books, sent ambassadors to the Temple of Esculapius at Epidaurus, who, to assuage the distemper, obtained permission to bring to Rome one of the serpents, which, as living symbols of that god, were fed in the temple. When landing it it was unfortunately lost in this island. In commemoration of this event the Senate built a temple on the spot, and dedicated it to Esculapius. The sides of the island were then fortified in imitation of a ship, which its eliptical form favoured. Part of the gunnel and stern still remain, upon which the figure of a serpent, wrought in the stone, is plainly to be seen. As the material is harder than most of the ancient remains, this fragment may record the curious legend another two thousand years.

Travellers covered in this section

• Introductory page
• Gregory Martin's "Roma Sancta", a description of Christian Rome in 1581
• Fynes Moryson's An Itinerary: Containing His Ten Years Travel .. in Italy .. in 1594
• John Evelyn's Diary and Correspondence related to his stay in Rome in 1644
• Francis Mortoft's Journal of his travels in France and Italy in 1659
• John Ray's Observations (..) made in a journey through part of (..) Italy in 1663
• Richard Lassels' The Voyage of Italy, or a Compleat Journey through Italy in ca 1668
• Joseph Addison's Remarks on several parts of Italy, in the years 1701, 1702, 1703
• Jonathan and Jonathan Richardson's Account of Some of the Statues, etc. in Italy - 1722
• Edward Wright's Observations made in France, Italy &c. in the years 1720, 1721 and 1722.
• Excerpts from John Dyer's The Ruins of Rome written in 1740
• Thomas Gray's Letters from France and Italy in 1739-1741
• James Boswell's Letters on the Grand Tour in 1765
• Tobias Smollett's Travels through France and Italy in 1765
• John Moore's View of Society and Manners in Italy (in 1775) - publ. 1781
• John Chetwode Eustace's Classical Tour of Italy (in 1802) - publ. 1813
• Joseph Forsyth's Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters in Italy in 1802-1803
• John Cam Hobhouse's Dissertations on the Ruins of Rome in 1818
• Henry Matthews' Diary of an Invalid (in 1817-1818)
• Anna Jameson's Diary of an Ennuyée (in 1821-1822) - publ. 1826
• Sir Charles Fergusson's Travel Notes a Journey Through Italy in 1824-1825
• William Hazlitt's Notes of a Journey Through France and Italy in 1824-1825
• Samuel Rogers' Italy - publ. in 1830 with illustrations by J.M. William Turner
• Hans Christian Andersen's The Improvisatore - 1834 (Engl. translation 1845)
• William Gardiner's Sights in Italy in 1846-1847
• George Stillman Hillard's Six Months in Italy in ca 1847-1848

Read What Dante Saw.
Read What Goethe Saw.
Read What Lord Byron Saw.
Read What Charles Dickens Saw.
Read What Henry James Saw.
Read What Mark Twain Saw.
Read What William Dean Howells Saw.
Read Dan Brown's Spaghetti Bolognaise (excerpts from Angels and Demons)