He was accompanied by a cicerone, or
servant, as villainous-looking a fellow as one often meets, even in
Italy, where an evil expression is so often seen stamped on handsome
features.
Along the Via San Basilio the two men walked until they stood opposite
the door of No. 51. Sacred ground this, and historical as well. Art
had her votaries here, as the tourist of to-day will find she still
has, at whose shrines pilgrims from afar and from near worshiped, and
grew better and stronger for their ministrations. Crawford, then
at the acme of his fame, had his constantly-thronged studio in the
immediate vicinity, while those at No. 51 embraced, among others, that
of Tenerani, the famous Italian sculptor, whose work is always in such
fine dramatic taste, although he never sacrifices his love and
deep feeling of reverence for Nature, combining that with the most
delightful charms of Greek art. Among this artist's most noted works
will be remembered his "Descent from the Cross," which tourists
visiting the Torlonia chapel in the Lateran never gaze upon without
a thrill. The house was owned and also occupied by Bienaime, a French
sculptor who afterward became famous.
In the immediate vicinity stands the famous Palazzo Barberini, begun
by Urban VIII. (Maffeo Barberini), who sat in the pontifical chair
from 1623 to 1644, and finished by Bernini in 1640. This palace
contains many paintings of historical interest by Raphael, Titian,
Guido, Claude and others.
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