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
quantity of riches in marbles, and precious stones, of any building in the
world, probably. The architecture is Gothic, and the workmanship 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 workmanship. 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 quantity 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 canal runs parallel
to the road the whole way from Milan to Pavia, where it joins the Tessino.
The banks of the Canal 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
classical! 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 assist 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 pronounced 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.
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