VATICAN
284
VATICAN
shrine, in which the text of the Bull of Promulgation,
translated into many languages, is preserved. The
shrine was presented to Pius LX by the French clergy
in 1878.
D. The Apparlamento Borgia. — On the first floor of the palace, looking towards the north and the Cortile del Belvedere, one may enter from the Loggie of Giovanni da Udine those apartments which Alexander VI had erected in what is called the Old Palace (of Nicholas V). These rooms received their title from Alexander's family name, Borgia. Here on IS Jan- uary, 1495, Alexander received King Charles VIII of France, and entered into long negotiations with him. Here also Charles V was accommodated, when, a few years after the sack of Rome, he returned victorious from Tunis and was received by the pope as the con- queror of the Turk. Succeeding popes did not occupy this suite, utihzing the Stanze di Raffaello, because there they had better light and air. From many sources it appears that, until the close of the seven- teenth century, the Appartamento Borgia was occu- pied by the cardinal nephews, or, as they were later called, secretaries of state. After the Palace of Sixtus V had been completed under Clement VIII (cf. Colnabrini, "Ruolo degh appartamenti e delle stanze nel Palazzo Vaticano al tempo di Clemente VIII", Rome, 1895), the Stanze di Raffaelo and the apartments of Alexander VI were neglected, and dur- ing the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they were used only for conclave purposes. About the middle of the eighteenth century the Sale Borgia were used only as a refectory for the lower officials of the palace during Holy Week. During the French occu- pation of Rome, these rooms suffered much injury from the soldiery, so that immense sums had to be spent by Pius VII for architectural repair. When the Appai'tamento Borgia was used as the Pinacotheca (see above), the marble cross-beams were removed from the windows, and replaced with iron grating, and everything was done to secure suitable lighting for the works of art. As every endeavour proved unsatis- factory, the paintings were removed in 1821 to the third story, and the pope then estabUshed here a museum of statues, known as the Museo Miscellaneo (for a detailed description see Platner-Bunsen, op. oil.; cf. the drawings of Craffonara and Guattani, and also Massi, "Indicazione antiquaria delle Sale Borgia", Rome, 1830).
As the Appartamento Borgia consisted of six rooms, and only the first four were employed for the museum, the remaining two were turned over to the Vatican Library, to which they are adjacent. In the winter of 1838-39 the museum was limited to the first two rooms, and the two which were then vacated were hke- wise transferred to the library. Finally, Pius IX added also the last two halls to the library, distribu- ting the marble works between the Vatican and the Lateran museums. Having acquired the renowned library of Cardinal Angelo IVIai on 8 September, 1854, the pope had this housed in the first two rooms of the Appartamento, clo.sing them to the public. The artistic creations of Pinturicchio which adorn the walls were, however, restored to the admiral ion of the public when Leo XIII opened the Borgia suite, estab- lishing there the con.sulting library of printed books by Decree of 20 April, 18S9. The ceilings and lunettes, which preserve the paintings of the great Umbrian artist, had suffered little despite the vici.ssitudes of the Sale Borgia, but the walls and the floor had received serious damage. Louis Seitz maintained, however, that a thorough cleaning and the covering of the damaged places with colour would s\ifficiently restore the frescoes, so that Pinturicchio's original work remains.
General arcliitectural restoration was successfully undertaken. The doors which had been broken through the walla were closed up, and the former doors
reopened. After the removal of the white colouring
which covered the walls, extensive traces of the old
ornamentation were revealed, and the whole restored
in the spirit of the Alexandrine epoch. Plaster
bUsters which had formed on the paintings were se-
cured in place without the shghtest damage to the
frescoes. The floor required complete reconstruction.
Remnants of the original majolica floor were dis-
covered, and with the aid of these, and special technical
studies, a new parquetry for the floor was elaborated
in perfect harmony with the remaining fittings of the
Borgia suite. The complete fitting of the rooms was
not attempted; but the huge walls were beautifully
furnished in exquisite taste. In 1897 Leo XIII
solemnly opened the Appartamento Borgia, declaring
it an integral portion of the Vatican collections which
were accessible to the general visitor. Simultaneous
with this manifestation of the pope's .sympathy with
art appeared the following work, dedicated to him:
"Gliaffresehi del Pinturicchio nell' appartamento Bor-
gia del Palazzo ApostoUco Vaticano, riprodotti in
Fototipia e accompagnati da un Comment ario di
Francesco Ehrle, S.J., prefetto della Biblioteca Vati-
cana, e del Commendatore Enrico Stevenson, diret-
tore del Mu.seo Numismatico Vaticano" (Rome,
1897). When Pius X occupied the former suite of the
secretary of state, the Appartamento Borgia was
temporarily devoted to the secretariate. The rooms
were then beautifully furnished for residence, thus
restoring the ensemble they presented in the time
of Alexander VI and his successors (cf. Ehrle-Steven-
son, pp. 26-27). When a special suite of rooms was
later prepared for the secretary of state, the Apparta-
mento Borgia was again opened to the pubhc.
(1) The first of the six rooms, Sala dei Pontefici, was not part of the pope's private apartments, being a pubhc hall in which audiences were given and con- sistories held. The beautifid stucco decorations har- monize well with the paintings of Giovanni da Udine and Perrin del Vaga, who painted the Zodiac and some representations of stars. (2) In the second hall, Sala dei Misteri, the mysteries of the life of Christ are depicted. Here are the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, the Resurrection and the Ascension of Christ, the Descent of the Holy Ghost, and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. Besides the general sketch for the pictures and other decora- tions in this hall, the lifehke figure of Alexander VI is from Pinturicchio's hand, as are also the figures of the prelates represented in the Assumption. All the rest was painted by his assistants; attempts have been made to prove that these belonged to one of the Itahan Schools. (3) Sala dei Santi is the name given to the third hall, which contains a series of scenes from the lives of Sts. Catherine of Siena, Barbara, Paul and Anthony, and Sebastian. All these glorious frescoes were executed by Pinturicchio himself, as was the beautiful circular picture of the Madonna and the scene of the Visitation. (4) Grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, music, and astrology, that is the seven liberal arts, were represented by Pinturicchio, with the extensive aid of his assistants, in the fourth hall, Sala deUe arti hberaU. These paintings have sulTered more from dampness than those in the other rooms. (5-6) The last two rooms, del Credo and delle Sibille. are situated in the Torre Borgia. The decorations in these rooms are not by Pintiu'icchio and have been injured by overpainting. A Latin inscription records the munificence of Leo XIII, who "restored this dwelHng . . . to its pristine dignity and dedicated it in the twentieth year of his pontificate". (Cf. Jcsorone, "L'antico Pavimento delle Logge di Raffaeflo in Vaticano", Naples,__1891; Volpini, "L'appart anient o Borgia", Rome, 1S87.)
E. Stiuizc di RnjTfuUo.— The Stanze di Raffaello are an exact reproduction of the Appartamento. but are situated one floor liigher. They thus include four
