The South of France-East Half Part 48

Horse-trams traverse Turin in every direction; while the steam-trams run from the city to the towns and villages not only within but beyond the suburbs. The fare of the horse-trams is universally 2 sous; that of the steam-trams from 12 sous to 3 frs. 18 sous. In the horse-trams no more than four may occupy one seat.

[Headnote: STATIONS. POST OFFICE. BOOKSELLERS.]

_Stations._--The most important is the +Central Station+, a well-situated and well-arranged and s.p.a.cious edifice. On a tablet on the departure side is an inscription to the honour of George and Robert Stephenson. Parallel to the station is the wide and handsome Corso Vittorio Emanuele, which traverses the city from east to west, having at the eastern end the Po and the Giardino Pubblico, and at the western the model prison, the Carcere giudiziario, the artillery barracks, and the cattle-market. In front of the station is a bronze statue of Ma.s.simo d'Azeglio, a poet and painter, who died in 1866, one of those who helped to throw off the yoke of Rome. Behind the statue is the garden or Piazza Carlo Felice, and the straight street, the Via Roma, extending to the Piazza Castello, by the Piazza S. Carlo, with, in the centre, a bronze equestrian statue, modelled by Marochetti in 1838, of Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy, and son of Carlo III. il Buono. He died in 1580. The att.i.tude is rather theatrical. The station for Rivoli, at the west end of the Piazza dello Statuto, communicates with the P. Castello by the Via Garibaldi. The Cirie Lanzo station is on the Dora, N. side of plan, at the Ponte-Mosca. Opposite the Rivoli station, in the Piazza dello Statuto, is a monument to the engineers of Mt. Cenis tunnel, in the shape of a pyramid, 60 ft. high, composed of huge blocks of unhewn granite, up which scramble discomfited, colossal, naked t.i.tans in white marble. On the pinnacle stands the Genius of Science, of a slighter make, and on a tablet the names of the engineers, Sommeiller, Gratoni, and Grandi.

_Post and telegraph offices_ are in the Piazza Carlo Alberto, by the side of the Palazzo Carignano (p. 297). Stamps are sold at all the tobacco shops. This piazza is close to the P. Castello, and connected with the Via di Po by a lofty arcade, covered with gla.s.s, and bordered on both sides with well-stocked shops.

_Booksellers._--For maps of Italy, Carlo Crespi, 2 Via Lagrange. For guide-books, Loescher and Brero, both in the Via di Po.

Money-changers in the central railway station and in the princ.i.p.al streets. In the main streets are also elegant Cafes, where the charge in all of them for a good cup of coffee with a piece of ice is 6 sous. The same price for an excellent ice cream heaped up in a gla.s.s.

_Theatres._--See list on plan. A short way east from the central station, in the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, is the Vaudois church, built in 1853. Adjoining are the Vaudois schools, and behind, at 15 Via Pio Quinto, the Anglican chapel. Near the chapel is the synagogue, a handsome edifice with square towers crowned with balloon-like cupolas.

[Headnote: SIGHTS.]

_Sights._--The museums and picture gallery (Pinacoteca) in the "Accademia delle Scienze," with one side to the Piazza Carignano and another to the Via dell' Accademia delle Scienze. Nearly opposite is the Palazzo Carignano, containing the zoological and mineralogical collections. The white marble statue in front represents the philosopher, Vincenzo Gioberti, born 5th April 1801 in the house opposite, 5 Via Lagrange, where a white marble tablet states: "II Conte Camillo di Cavour naque in questa casa, addi 10 Agosto 1810. E vi mori il 6 Giugno 1861." The armoury, enter by door headed "Reale Armeria Antica" under corridor, 13 Piazza Castello; adjoining is the Royal Palace. On the other side of the palace is the cathedral, San Giovanni.

A walk down the Via di Po. Several drives in the horsetrams. All the above places are near each other, around the Piazza Castello. The only one that is at a little distance is the Museo Civico, up the side street, V. Rossini, from the Via di Po. The Superga, by steam tram from the Piazza Castello.

[Headnote: PALAZZO DELL' ACCADEMIA. MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES.]

+The Museum of Antiquities and the Picture Gallery.+

The Palazzo dell' Accademia delle Scienze, designed by Guarini, was built in 1678 as a college for the sons of n.o.blemen. It is a vast earthy-coloured brick edifice, of which the ornaments, mouldings, and cornices are also of dingy brick. On the ground-floor are the more ma.s.sive, and in the first story the smaller antiquities. In the second story is the picture gallery, containing about 800 paintings in fifteen rooms. Open daily from 9 to 4, 1 fr. On Sundays and feast-days free, when it is open from 12 to 4. The large antiquities are contained in two halls. +Hall 1.+ Left. In the centre, against the wall, under an inscription in honour of the Egyptologist Champollion, is the gem of the collection, a black basalt statue of Sesostris, Rameses II., 1388 B.C.

On his right, in rose-coloured granite, is the colossal statue of Amenophis II., 1565 B.C., and on his left a small black basalt statue of Amenophis II., the G.o.d Ptah. Opposite are three figures in a sitting posture, representing the Egyptian Trinity, Osiris, Horus, and Isis. At the head of this hall is the colossal red sandstone statue of Seti II., in whose reign the exodus of the Israelites took place. From this a room ramifies at right angles, containing Greek and Roman statues, busts, friezes, vases, etc.

Parallel to Hall 1 is +Hall 2+. At the head of this hall, in a sitting posture, is the black basalt statue of Thothmes III., 1591 B.C., who was one of the most powerful of the Pharaohs.

Upstairs, first floor, are the smaller antiquities, contained in three large halls and several rooms. Near the centre of the first hall, left, is the oldest of all the articles in the museum, the pedestal of a table covered with hieroglyphics, supposed to have been made about 2654 B.C.

A little farther down, in the centre of the hall, under a gla.s.s case, No. 13, is the Tabula Isiaca, a bronze tablet, 4 ft. long by 2 ft. 2 in.

wide, inlaid with hieroglyphics in silver, made at Rome in the reign of Hadrian. Exactly opposite this tablet commences the pa.s.sage that leads to the smaller rooms. In the first room, left, in the corner, is a colossal bust of Juno, hollowed, that the priest might the more easily work the oracle. In the first room, right, is a mosaic pavement, found at Stampacci in Sardinia. The rooms contain besides Phoenician terracotta figures, Etruscan vases, statuettes, urns, reliefs, ancient iron ornaments, lamps, etc.

The +Centre Hall+ contains idols, jewellery, amulets, sarcophagi, mummies, Egyptian heads with the hair on, and bricks made by the Israelites.

In the +Third Hall+ are the Papyri, of which the most important are: No.

4, near centre, against left wall, in second row, +The Book of the Dead+, 35 ft. long and 8 in. wide, ill.u.s.trated with plain vignettes.

Opposite, in centre of hall, is 126, fragments of the famous annals of +Manetho+, which contained a list of more than 300 kings of Egypt down to the 19th dynasty.

[Headnote: PICTURE GALLERY.]

In the second story is the +Picture Gallery+. All the paintings are labelled. In +Room 1+ are portraits of princes of the house of Savoy, and battles in which they were engaged. +Room 2.+ In this room are excellent specimens of the Turin painter, Gaudenzio Ferrari, No. 49, St.

Peter and Donor; 52, Madonna and St. Elizabeth; 53, G.o.d; 54, Descent from Cross; 57, Joachim driven from the Temple. +Rooms 3+ and +4+.

Italian pictures, Ma.s.simo d'Azeglio, another Turin painter, 90, a Landscape. +Room 5.+ Italian paintings of the 14th, 15th, and 16th cents.: Clovio, 127 bis, an Entombment, painted on silk; Bronzino, 127 and 128, Portraits of Eleonora da Toledo and her husband, Cosimo I. de Medici. +Room 6.+ J. da Ponte (II Ba.s.sano), 148, Portrait; P. Caliari (Paolo Veronese), 157, Queen of Sheba presenting gifts to Solomon; A. Carracci, 158, St. Peter; Caravaggio, 161, Musician; J. Robusti (Il Tintoretto), 162, The Trinity. +Room 7.+ Guido Reni, 163, S. Giovanni; Spagnoletto, 174, St. Jerome. +Room 8.+ Enamels and paintings on porcelain by Constantin of Geneva. +Room 9.+ A small room entirely filled with fruit and flower pieces by Dutch artists. Between rooms 9 and 10 is a dark lobby, hung also with pictures. +Room 10.+ Continuation of the Italian school, 16th, 17th, and 18th cents.: B. Strozzi, 232, Portrait of Prelate; 251, Homer singing his own Songs; Paolo Veronese, 234, Mary Magdalene at our Lord's Feet; Guido Reni, 235, Apollo; 236, Cupids; G. Dughet (Poussin), 237, 238, Tivoli Waterfalls; G. F. Barbieri (Il Guercino), 239, 262, *S. Francesca Romana, and in next room, Return of Prodigal Son. +Room 11.+ A. Ca.n.a.le (Il Ca.n.a.letto), 257 bis, Ducal Palace, Venice; F. Albani, 260, 264, 271, and 274, The Four Elements; S. Ricci, 272, Hagar sent away; 275, Solomon burns the Idols; C. Dolce, 276, Head of Madonna; B. Bellotto, 283, 288, Royal Palace, Turin; Old Bridge across the Po. +Room 12.+ Flemish and German school: Acken (Bosch), 309, an Adoration; G. Van Eyck, 313, St. Francis; Rogier Van des Weyden, 312, *Madonna; F. Franck, 335, Room with Ladies and Gentlemen; Van Dyck, 338, 351, The three Children of Charles I. of England; *The Princess Clara Eugenia of Spain; Rubens, 340, Sketch of his apotheosis of Henri IV. in the Uffici of Florence. +Room 13.+ Containing the gems of the collection: A. Mantegna, 355, Virgin, Child, and Saints; L. Credi, 356, *Virgin and Child; G. F. Barbieri (Guercino), 357, *Virgin and Child; Hans Memling, 358, *The Seven Sorrows of the Woman Mary; Saenredam, 361, *Interior of a Protestant Church, the figures by A. Ostade; Van Dyck, 363, *Large equestrian portrait of the Principe Tommaso di Savoia; his finest work is **384, Holy Family; D. Teniers, 364, Tavern; G. Ferrari, 371, Jesus giving up the Ghost; Raphael, 373, *La Madonna della Tenda; Donatello, 375, Virgin and child in relief on marble; Sodoma, 376, *Death of Lucretia; P. Potter, 377, *Cattle grazing in a meadow; H. Holbein, 386, Portrait of Erasmus. +Room 14.+ Dutch and German school: Picture by Jordaens; Sallaert, 398, Procession in Brussels; Floris, 410, Adoration; P. P. Rubens, 416, Resurrection of Lazarus; C. Vos, 417, Portraits of Snyders and his wife; Teniers (the younger), 423, Card Players; Schalcken, 458, Old Woman.

+Room 15.+ French school: C. Gelee (Claude Lorrain), 478, 483, Landscapes; I. Courtois (Bourguignon), 481, Cavalry Charge. Catalogues sold of the contents of the museums and picture gallery.

[Headnote: PALAZZO CARIGNANO.]

+Museum of Zoology and Mineralogy.+

Opposite the Palazzo dell' Accademia, but a little to the left, is the Palazzo Carignano, also by Guarini, and also of earthy-coloured brick; but the decorations are superior, more varied, and more pleasing than those of the Palazzo dell' Accademia. In large gilt letters, on the facade fronting the Piazza Carignano and the statue of Gioberti, are the words, "Qui nacque Vittorio Emanuele II." Within is a high and s.p.a.cious court, surrounded by lofty halls, and at the east end, fronting the Piazza Carlo Alberto, with the beautiful bronze monument to him by Marochetti, cast in London, is the more pretentious stone facade, built in 1871, but not in harmony with the rest of the building. (See also p. 293.) In this palace, magnificently housed, are the zoological and mineralogical collections. Open daily, 1 fr. Sundays and feast-days free.

[Headnote: ROYAL ARMOURY.]

+Royal Armoury.+

No. 13 Palazzo Castello, open on feast-days from 11 to 3 free. On other days procure admission from the secretary. This collection is of great interest only to the inhabitants of northern Italy, as it is filled chiefly with relics of their kings, dukes, and wars. In the first room is "Favorito," the favourite horse of the magnanimous Re, Carlo Alberto.

Above it, near the roof, are numerous tattered flags taken in battle. In the large hall are two rows of armed knights and foot-soldiers. At the head of this hall, in a gla.s.s case, numbered 301, is an embossed oval shield, inlaid with gilding, and surrounded by a fringe of ma.s.sive gold thread. On five medallions are represented, in _alto-relievo_, scenes from the war of Marius against Jugurtha. It belongs to the school of Giulio Romano, was executed probably in the latter half of the 16th cent., and was presented to the university of Turin by the Princess Vittoria di Sa.s.sonia Hilburghausen. Among the relics are the sword worn by Napoleon at the battle of Marengo, the saddle of Charles V., and some beautifully inlaid body-armour of the Dukes of Savoy. The large door at the end of this hall opens into the "Medagliere del Re," containing 30,000 Greek, Roman and ancient coins and medals, including a complete series of those struck in the State of Sardinia; and also 5000 medallions, seals and stamps. In this same part is the Biblioteca del Re, with 40,000 vols., 1800 MSS., numerous autographs, engravings and drawings by the great masters. To visit these special permission must be obtained. From the windows of the armoury is a view of the palace-gardens. At the N.E. angle of the Piazza Castello is the Teatro Regio, considered the finest work of Benedetto Alfieri. It is seated for 2500, and is open only during carnival and on extraordinary occasions.

In the absence of the royal family the palace may be visited. It is a plain brick building, commenced in 1646, with the front to the Piazza Castello, plastered to imitate stone. Having pa.s.sed the main entrance, turn to the left. At the end of this corridor is seen, through a gla.s.s door, the equestrian statue of Vittorio Amadeo I. (died 1675) in a niche at the foot of the grand staircase. The rider is in bronze, the horse in marble. Ascend the marble steps, then, to the right, two flights of narrow steps lead to the hall of the palace, where the servants will be found who show the palace. Fee, 1 fr.; party, 2 frs. After the guardroom succeeds a series of rooms with much gilding, inlaid floors, and rich furniture. The pictures are all modern, and of no great merit. The room called Maria Theresa's contains some fine china vases.

[Headnote: ROYAL PALACE. THE CATHEDRAL.]

+The Cathedral.+

Adjoining the western end of the palace is the +Cathedral San Giovanni Battista+. To the left of the altar is the pew of the royal family.

Behind the altar, and approached by two staircases of 37 steps each, is the +Cappella del Sudario+ (open till 9 A.M.), a circular chapel, separated from the church by a gla.s.s screen. It was built by Guarini in 1694, and is encrusted with the dark grayish-blue marble from Fabrosa, near Mondovi, which brings out in striking relief the pure white of the statues and the rich gilding of the ornaments, cornices, capitals, and eight-limbed stars which spangle the interior. Double monolith columns of the same dark marble, with bronze pedestals and capitals, support six arches ornamented with diaper-work on the soffits. Above them rise six smaller arches containing the windows, while the dome or cupola is composed of an intricate series of interlacing zigzag arched ribs rising from the second tier, and intermingled with loopholes, which throw light in such a manner upon the star at the summit as to give it the appearance of being suspended. The beautiful altar, lighted with gold and silver lamps, has two faces, so that two ma.s.ses are said before it at the same time. The shrine on this altar is said to contain the shroud (Sudario) in which Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the body of our Lord when he laid Him in the tomb. Round the chapel are the beautiful white marble monuments of three kings of the house of Savoy--Em. Filiberto (ob.

1580), by Marchesi; Carlo Emanuele II. (ob. 1675), by Fraccaroli; and Amedeo VIII., first Duke of Savoy (ob. 1451), by Cacciatori. One prince, the Principe Tommaso (ob. 1656), by Gaggini. In a sitting posture is the lovely statue of Queen Maria Adelaide, consort of Vit. Em. II. (ob.

1855), by Revelli. The door behind the altar communicates with the upper corridors of the palace. Outside the palace gates is +San Lorenzo+, designed by Guarini, and finished in 1687. The interior is gorgeous, but it is chiefly distinguished for the boldness of its arches.

[Headnote: THE CASTELLO.]

+The Castello.+

The large brick building in the centre of the Piazza Castello was erected in the 13th century, and called the Castello till 1718, when it became the favourite residence of the widow of Carlo Emanuele II., Madama M. G. Battista, who built the stone facade, and in honour of whom it has ever since been called the Palazzo Madama. Before the seat of government was removed to Florence the senators a.s.sembled in the great hall of this palace. One of the towers is used as an observatory, and another part of the palace by the "Accademia reale di Medicina," who here hold their meetings, and have also a museum of craniology.

[Headnote: MUSEO CIVICO.]

+Museo Civico.+

Via Gaudenzio Ferrari, No. 1, near the Via di Po. Open from 12 to 3, 1 fr. Sundays and feast-days free. First room, autographs and MSS. of celebrated Piedmontese. +2.+ Water-colours, representing landscapes and historical scenes in Piedmont. Under gla.s.s frame is a solid oblong chased silver vase, 3 ft. and some inches in its greater diameter, and 2 ft. 8 inches in its smaller. At each of the two long ends is a lion's head with a ring in his mouth. Near this vase, and also under a gla.s.s frame, and also in solid silver, are two candelabra, a vase, and two flower-holders adorned with figures in relief. The first was presented in 1871 by the English Government, and the other by that of the United States to the Count Frederic Sclopis, President of the Geneva arbitration in the Alabama question, and given to this inst.i.tution by his widow. None of them display much art; as for the English vase, it needs only a lid to turn it into a respectable soup-tureen.

The rooms from +4+ to +11+ contain modern oil-paintings, some very good, and all labelled. Down the centre are white marble statues; among the best are Eve and the Serpent by Fantacchiotti, and the Crucifixion of Eulalia by E. Franceschi. Second story.--Room +12+, Embroidery; +13+, Miniatures and ill.u.s.trated MSS.; +14+, Iron work; +15+, Carving in wood and ivory--notice 947, Judgment of Solomon; +16+, Gla.s.s and majolica; +17+, Italian porcelain; +18+, Busts; +19+, Small oil-paintings and uniform of Azeglio; *20, Italian painted gla.s.s from 1300; +21+, Egyptian pottery; +22+, Pottery and stone age.

[Headnote: VIA DI PO. UNIVERSITY. MADRE DI DIO.]

+The Via di Po.+

The finest of the streets is the +Via di Po+, which extends from the Piazza Castello to the great rectangular square, the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, on the bank of the Po; and as both of these s.p.a.cious squares, as well as this magnificent street, are lined throughout with wide and lofty arcades, they form together an excellent and interesting walk in all weathers. The Via di Po is 768 yards long and 19 wide, and the pavement within the arcade 6 yards wide. Good shops are ranged on both sides of the street under the arcades. In the Via di Po is also the University, built in 1713 by Vittorio Amedeo II., but founded in 1404 by the Prince Lodovico di Acaia. It is attended by 2500 students, and directed by 70 professors. The Library, open every day from 9 to 4, contains 200,000 volumes and 3000 MSS. In the court are Roman bas-reliefs, inscriptions, and statues, ancient and modern. Between the Via di Po and the Piazza Carlo Emanuele ramifies the Via dell' Accademia Albertina, containing at No. 6 the Accademia Albertina delle Belle Arti.

Open daily. Apply to the custodi.

The +Piazza Vittorio Emanuele+ is 394 yards long and 121 wide. In front, on the other side of the Po, is a conspicuous church, the Gran Madre di Dio, built in 1818, in the style of the Pantheon at Rome, by Bansignori, to commemorate the return of Vittorio Emanuele I. to Turin after the fall of Napoleon. A little to the right on a hill (Il Monte) is a Capuchin convent, built towards the end of the 16th cent. The road up is very easy, and the view from the terrace admirable. Immediately above the Madre di Dio church is the palace, La Vigna della Regina, built by Prince Maurice of Savoy, which after his time was inhabited by one of the queens of Sardinia, from whom it acquired its present name, "The Queen's Vineyard." It is now a government school for the education of children of military men. Up the river, beyond the suspension bridge, is the Castello del Valentino, distinguished from a distance by its four pavilions with high-pitched roofs. It was built by the widow of Victor Amadeus I., daughter of Henri IV. of France, and is now used as a government school of civil engineering. It contains a good collection of minerals, the larger part of which, obtained from Sardinian provinces, are topographically arranged. The +Botanical Garden+ belonging to the university is also here.

[Headnote: MONUMENT TO CAVOUR.]