number of curious pictures of the Umbrian School. The town is highly picturesque and has in the fullest degree the Italian character of a 'Borgata Alpestre.' In the Church of S. Francesco is a choir covered with frescoes of the Story of S. Francis, executed for the Franciscan Jacopo di Montefalco by Benozzo Gozzoli (1452), the pupil and contemporary of Fra Angelico. The three medallion portraits under the window represent Giotto-'Pictorum eximius Jottus fundamentum et lux ;' Petrarch-' Laureatus Petrarca omnium virtut. monarca ;' and Dante-' Teologus Dantes nullius dogmatis expers.' A Madonna and two saints are by Tiberio d' Assisi. The Church of S. Chiara contains the shrine of S. Chiara of Montefalco, an Augustinian nun, 1275-1308, in whom continual meditation on the Passion of our Lord is believed to have produced the outward signs of His suffering. Her sleeping figure has an exceedingly touching and beautiful expression. She was not canonised till December 8, 1881, but has long been supposed to shudder in her incorruptible body when any misfortune threatens the Church, and was chosen as an especial saint and protectress by Pope Leo XIII. The Church of S. Fortunato (3 m. from the town) was once covered with frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli. Only a fragment of the Virgin and Child, with an angel (1498), remains. In the cloisters is the Cappella delle Rose, covered with frescoes from the life of S. Francis by Tiberio d' Assisi. Trevi (Stat.). The town, the ancient Trebia, is one of the steepest places imaginable, each house apparently rising on the hillside almost where the roof of the house beneath comes to an end. The Church of La Madonna delle Lagrime contains a large fresco of the Adoration of the Magi by Perugino. In the same church are a set of frescoes by Lo Spagna, in which that of the Deposition is evidently taken from the Raffaelle in the Borghese Palace at Rome. In the lunette, S. Ubaldo sits in benediction between rows of kneeling monks. The Church of S. Martino, outside the town, has a fine altar-piece by Lo Spagna, of c. 1512. It represents the Coronation of the Virgin, with SS. Mary Magdalen and Catherine in the foreground, and in the distance a view of the convent of S. Francesco d'Assisi. In the dead-house of the adjoining convent is an Assumption by Lo Spagna, which is even more powerful in conception and design. A lunette of the Virgin and Child in the church is a beautiful work of Tiberio d'Assisi. Two miles and a half beyond Trevi, near the little hamlet of Le Vene, the tiny Temple of the Clitumnus is seen on the left of the railway. It stands on a steep bank overlooking the little river, here still called Clitumno, which has its source near this, the name Le Vene being derived from the numerous springs or vents of water by which it is formed. In classical times, as now, it was famous for its clear water and the beauty of the cattle on its banks: 6 'Hinc albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxuma taurus 'Et lavat ingentem perfundens flumine sacro Sil. Ital. viii. 452. 'Laeta sed ostendens Clitumni pascua sanguis Juv. Sat.' xii. 13. 'Quin et Clitumni sacras victoribus undas, Claud. Cons. Hon.' VI. 506. 'Nec si vacuet Mevania valles, Aut praestent niveos Clitumna novalia tauros, Sufficiam.' 6 Stat. Sylv.' i. 4. We learn from Pliny that this spot was not only one of local veneration, but was visited by strangers. The Emperor Caligula travelled here for this purpose.1 The building which still exists was probably a successor of one of the shrines or chapels (sacella) mentioned by Pliny, which were scattered over the hillside above the temple of the rivergod. The little existing building is of the Lower Empire. It will be interesting to read upon the spot the description of C. Pliny, written to his friend Romanus : 'Have you ever seen the sources of the Clitumnus? If not (and I think, if you had, you would have mentioned it to me), go and see them. I saw them not long since, and I regret that I did not see them sooner. There is a rising ground of moderate elevation, thickly shaded with ancient cypresses. At the foot of this, a fountain gushes out in several unequal veins, and having made its escape, forms a pool, whose broad bosom expands, so pure and crystal-like, that you may count small pieces of money that you throw in, and the shining pebbles. Thence it is impelled forward, not by the declivity of the ground, but, as it were, by its own abundance and weight. Though yet at its source, it is already a spacious river, capable of bearing vessels, which it transports in every direction, even such as come upwards, and strive against the stream; it is so powerful that oars give no assistance downwards, but upwards, oars and poles can scarce get the better of the current. It is a delightful recreation to those who amuse themselves with floating upon its surface, to exchange alternately, as they alter their direction, labour for ease, and ease for labour. Some parts of the banks are clothed with the wild ash, some with poplars, and the transparent river gives back the image of every one of them distinctly, as if they were submerged beneath its waters. The coldness of the water is equal to that of snow, and its colour nearly so. Hard by, is an ancient and venerable temple. There stands the God Clitumnus himself, not naked, but adorned with the praetexta. The oracles which are delivered there, indicate, not only the presence, but the prophetic power of the deity. Several chapels are scattered about the neighbourhood, each containing an image of the god; each has a sanctity, and each a divinity peculiar to itself; some also contain fountains. For besides the Clitumnus, who is, as it were, the father of all the rest, there are some smaller streams, distinct at the source, but which mingle with the river as soon as it passes the bridge. There ends everything sacred and profane. Above the bridge, navigation only is allowed; below it, swimming is permitted. The inhabitants of Hispella, to whom Augustus made a present of the place, supply a bath and an inn for the accommodation of the public. Along 1 Suet. Cal. 43. the banks are a number of villas, to which the beauty of the stream has given birth. In a word, there is nothing with which you will not be delighted. For you may even indulge your propensity for study, and may read many inscriptions written by different persons on every pillar and every wall, in honour of the fountain and the god. Many you will applaud, some you will laugh at, though, in fact, such is your good nature, you will laugh at none. Farewell.-C. Plin. Lib. viii. Ep. 8. Eustace's Trans. The scene is still one of unspoilt loveliness, as when Byron visited it : 'But thou, Clitumnus ! in thy sweetest wave Of the most living crystal that was e'er And most serene of aspect, and most clear; 'And on thy happy shore a temple still, Its memory of thee; beneath it sweeps While, chance, some scatter'd water-lily sails Down where the shallower wave still tells its bubbling tales.' Spoleto (Stat.). Carriage to town, 50 c. Inn, Albergo del Teatro Nuovo, spacious and comfortable; La Posta and Albergo della Ferrovia, smaller. Spoleto was the ancient Spoletinus, which is first mentioned in history when a Roman colony was established here B.C. 240, after the close of the first Punic War. In B.C. 217, just after the battle of Thrasymene, Hannibal advanced against Spoletium and was repulsed, a fact formally recorded on the gates of the town. In the later part of the same war this was one of the colonies which proved them selves most faithful and devoted to Rome. Florus speaks of Spoletium as Municipium Italiae splendidissimum,' Cicero as 'Colonia Latinis in primis firma et illustris.'1 Here the Emperor Aemilianus was put to death by his soldiers after a three months' reign. The fortifications of the town were partially destroyed by Totila, but were restored by Narses. The Lombards (c. A.D. 570) made Spoleto the capital of a duchy, which in time became entirely independent, and did not cease to exist till the 12th century. Since the accession of the existing Government, a quantity of new streets, and a broad road winding up the hill, have done much to annihilate the mediaeval aspect of Spoleto, but have greatly added to its convenience. The new road leads, by easy zigzags, almost to the castle-La Rocca-on the hill-top. This fortress was originally built by Theodoric, but, as it now stands, is chiefly the work of Pope Nicholas V. Just below it, is the entrance to the footway across the magnificent Aqueduct delle Torre, which unites. the town to Monte Luco. Though often repaired in later times, it was built by Theodelapius, first Duke of Spoleto, in 604.2 1 Cicero Balb. 21. pro 2 Campello, Storia di Spoleto. |