THE SACRO MONTE OF ORTA. BY THE AUTHOR OF ECHOES FROM THE BACKWOODS." Ed allor sulle cime orientali E spuntavan del sole i dolci strali, * Colà s' innalza, e sta bene dicendo SILVIO PELLICO-San Carlo. OUR next object being a visit to the Sacro Monte at Orta, a ride over the Col di Colma to the Lake of Orta was preferred to retracing our steps to Romagnana by the carriage road. That point being settled, the bill had to undergo the same process, and of course to be disputed. When did ever Italian bill pass uncontested? After cutting off sundry lire for common imposition, we arrived at Allogiamento per il signor ammalato, 23 lire. Which was all fair enough; then followed Danno della malatia, 10 lire. But this was too bad. The invalid's lodging had been put at the highest price, including the use of hot water which had been supplied in little leaden ewers, doing duty alternately for "shaving or coffeepots," but it was rather too "bare-faced" a proceeding to make a charge for "the damage which the unfortunate invalid did to the hotel," by not being able to eat, and which is the literal translation of the last item.* However all was satisfactorily settled, and it was a lovely morning, when the somaro made its appearance to receive its fair freight, and just as we had fancied that all the waiter tribe had been paid, a diminutive "nondescript," to be found in most Italian locandas, by the sobriquet of "Piccolo," made his appearance, and demanded to be remembered; poor fellow, he was the personification of "no one's friend," and Piccolo for every one it was. Piccolo qui, Piccolo no, He thanked us for the small coin he received, and, as he deposited it in the pocket of his ragged nether garments (his wretched legs were worked to a threadpaper in running messages); he clearly expressed an opinion as to the advantage of being ill and taken care of; he never had been ill, he said, and imagined it must be very pleasant to lie in bed and have nothing to do! At last we got under weigh-passed the Campo Santo painted in fresco, and the still more pleasing chapel of Loretto, where, leaving the high road, we turned to the left, and began to ascend through a forest of chesnuts. The magnificence of some of these trees was very remarkable, and their picturesque old stems were of enormous girth. We soon arrived at the quarry from which the pillars for the portico of the church on the Sacro Monte were hewn. Large columns, pedestals, &c., were lying about in the brushwood and brambles on either side of our path; the difficulty of transporting them would naturally be very great, but our guide informed us that whole communes, however, would literally "put their shoulders to the wheel," should any movement take place to get them up. Several small and picturesque way-side chapels were passed, embosomed in trees, and now and then a village; from the summit of the Col is a grand view of the peaks of the Monte Rosa. A beautiful descent of two hours and we debouched upon the Lake of Orta-decidedly the most lovely of Italy's lovely lakes-in the midst floats the Isola Julia; it wants the grandeur of the Maggiore and the wildness of the northern parts of Como, but nothing could exceed the charms of the view that presented itself on all sides as our barcarole paddled us over to the island. From the water a flight of steps and a long gallery led to the church, a very ancient and curious building. In the sacristy is a piece of the vertebræ of a whale hung from the ceiling (by the superstitious believed to be the remains of the serpents which were said to have inhabited the island previous to St. Giulio's conversion of the natives to civilisation. The sacristan related with great faith the story of St. Giulio's setting off from the main land, and walking on his cloak, which bore him safely to the island; although this fabrication is still more unlikely to have happened, than the supposed appearance of the "sea-serpent" of North American celebrity, still infatuation on superstitious subjects is such that it is implicitly believed. In the sacristy is a picture attributed to Gaudenzio, the authenticity of which I should say was extremely doubtful-and some very old frescoes, in a very ruinous condition, supposed to be the work of Morazzone. The terraces of the "Leone" abutted upon the blue lake, upon one of which, trelliced with pomegranite and vines, and beneath the purple and orange-striped awning which served to screen us from the midday sun, we enjoyed our cutlet, wine, and dessert. Whilst sipping my coffee, and blowing away the fatigues of the march over "the Colma," in the fumes of a cigar, I was much amused by watching the finny tribe inhabiting the lake; the water was exceedingly clear and very deep; immediately under the terrace large trout of five and six lbs. weight occasionally passed by in review order; and perch were very numerous, although very small. But a small pike interested me most-the гараcious rascal, although not above half a pound in weight, was as cunning as the most accomplished "jack," and it was curious to watch his manœuvres, and the natural tact with which he contrived to match his colour, shape and general appearance with any bit of weed or dead stick lying on the bottom of the lake, or hanging from the terrace; no sooner had he quietly lowered himself to the desired position (for he did it so imperceptibly, that it was with difficulty I could trace his alteration of position), than he waited to pounce upon any of the small fry coming within his reach. I watched him for a long time, and was quite surprised that he did not attack the passing baits, when all at once he made a dart—a silver twinge for a moment glistened through the blue water; my friend had disappeared from his duty as sentinel, and borne off a prize. Upon the hill above the town is situated in what is called the English garden (i. e. a piece of ground laid out with shrubberies of laurels and bays), the Sacro Monte-the chapels are, in this case, placed, not as at Varallo, in the natural wood, but in an artificial piece of ground amidst walks and shady bowers. Some of the chapels contained good paintings and sculpture; but it was impossible to feel the same interest about a very legend (the supposed life of St. Francis), that we had in the mystery of a faith which is our own. The view of the lake from the Sacro Monte is very grand-but a haze obscured the Monte Rosa and the distance. The heat was intense, and it required considerable exertion to drag from chapel to chapel, and no little generalship to keep under the shade of the pines, laurels, and myrtles, and the finest and largest feathery mimosas. SACRO MONTE OF ORTE.* CHAPEL I. The Miraculous Circumstances of the Birth of St. Francis, and some Events of his Childhood. Statues by Prestinari and Bussola, "The Birth of Christ," by Camillo Procaccini adorns the walls, as well as several other paintings, by Philip Monti of Orta. CHAPEL II. The Calling of St. Francis. Some figures by Prestinari, and some by Bussola. All the paintings on the wall by the Aruberi Brothers, known by the name of Fiammenghini-a small chapel adjoining, representing the "Virgin and the other Marys weeping over the Body of Christ," is painted by Gianoli. CHAPEL III. St. Francis's Renunciation of his Worldly Goods. Statues by Prestinari. Very good paintings Fiammenghini, representing various events in the life of St. Francis. CHAPEL IV. The Establishment of the Regola of St. Francis. Pictures by one of the Fiammenghini, and the statues by Prestinari. Prestinari's statues. CHAPEL V. Propagation of the Order. Pictures by the Fiammenghini of above. The idea of this Sacro Monte seems to have been taken from a book published by Bartholomeus di Pisa at the beginning of the sixteenth century, entitled "Liber conformitatum vitæ beati ac seraphici patris Francisci ad vitam Jesu Christi domini nostri." The book purports to show no less than forty conformities between the life of St. Francis and the gospel history. CHAPEL VI. The Mission of the Brotherhood to preach. Some statues by Prestinari-some by Bussola. Very good paintings by the brothers Fiammenghini. Parts of the legend of St. Francis, and several Scripture subjects. "Our Saviour sending forth his Disciples," on the ceiling. "Jonah swallowed by the Whale.' "The Eternal Father dictating to Jeremiah." "Zaccariah and his Call." "Ezekiel ordered by God to eat the Mysterious Volume and cast the Vision of the Seven Candlesticks from the Revelations." From the site of this chapel the view is seen in its highest perfection. Four miles of the lake are visible from this point. Its shores richly dotted with villas, villages, and towns, mixed with olive-yards, viquas, and gardens. CHAPEL VII. Approbation of the Regola of St. Francis. Sculpture by the brothers Giuseppe and Melchior Rhigi; some figures by Bussola. Čeilings and walls painted in Scriptural subjects by Crespi, surnamed il Bustino; executed in 1628. CHAPEL VIII. The Approval of St. Francis and his Order-shown by various Visions with which he was favoured. Pictures all by Rocca, a pupil of Morazzone; executed in 1640. Statues by the brothers Rhigi and by Giacomo Ferni. CHAPEL IX. Institution of the Order of St. Chiara. Paintings by the two Nuvoloni, otherwise called Pamfili. CHAPEL X. Triumph of St. Francis in Temptation. Pictures by Nuvoloni; statues unknown. CHAPEL XI. The Madonna appearing to St. Francis. Statues by Prestinari; good paintings by Prestinari. CHAPEL XII. Great Flourishing and Success of the Regola of St. Francis. Statues by Prestinari; pictures by Miasino. CHAPEL XIII. Humility of St. Francis. A beautiful chapel, built by Grandi. Statues by Bianchi; bassi relievi by Faconi and Rusnati. CHAPEL XIV. The Zeal of St. Francis to convert Souls. Painted by Frederigo Ferrari. Statues by Carlo Beretta in 1757. CHAPEL XV. St. Francis receiving the Stimata. This chapel is said to be from a design of Michael Angelo's. CHAPEL XVI. Devotion of the People to St. Francis. Statues by Bussola, and pictures by Legnani. CHAPEL XVII. The Death of St. Francis. Statues by Bussola; good paintings by Pamfili. CHAPEL XVIII. The Sepulchre of the Saint and his Canonisation. Paintings by Busca; statues by Bussola. In the church which concludes the giro there are pictures by Del Busca and others; it has been celebrated for the miracles worked in it, and was hung with ex voto offerings, but, for the spectator, there was little to admire. Sorbetti, under the wide-spreading limes of the little piazza which serves at once for the quay and the loungers of Orta, were most refreshing after the broiling we had endured in visiting the Sacro Monte. A small caratello, with a swinging seat, was soon procured, and the goodhumoured landlord of the hotel volunteered to drive us as far as the first village on the way to Arona, where we exchanged our car for a more roomy contrivance with a hood to it, which was so far fortunate as a down-pour of rain obliterated all the beauties of the route. On awaking next morning, I looked from the windows of the albergo at Arona full on to the Lago Maggiore, and the picturesque Castle of Argiera crowning the height over the little village of that name. The colossal statue of St. Carlo is justly "a lion" of great magnitude, and is well worthy of a visit; but the operation of clambering up to explore the interior economy of the construction of the brazen Borromeo is not worth the sort of spread-eagle attitude which the victim is obliged to assume as he extends first one arm, then the corresponding leg, to reach the bars of iron employed for the double purpose of steps― although at a most inconvenient distance from each other—and to keep the sheets of bronze in their due position; and when at last that part of the brazen saint is reached which represents his head, the fact of being able to boast that one has sat in duplicate in the nose of St. Carlo Borromeo no more repays the trouble than does sitting with a larger party in the ball of St. Peter's at Rome. In the cathedral is a fine work of Gaudenzio on a folding altar-piecein his early manner, but of great softness and beauty. A stroll through the town, and about the little quay. Fruit in enormous quantities: in greater profusion, even much further south, I never saw it. Amongst grapes, peaches, and nectarines, under the name of "corni," large baskets of the coral-red fruit of the cornelian cherry were selling; they have an acid flavour, not disagreeable to the taste but not equal to the beauty of their colour. A pretty little opera-house and a good prima donna, who supped at our inn, and with her companions sung snatches of songs till far into the night. Having heard that some friends occupied a villa at Laveno, on the opposite side of the lake, we arranged to pay them a visit; and as the steamer made her appearance off Arona, on her upward voyage from Sesto Calende, we pushed off from the quaint, square-looking, but picturesque boat harbour of the town, and were soon steaming away up the beautiful Maggiore-passed the Borromean Isles-and landed at Pallanza; and *Cornus mascula. |