DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51585#0160
156
EAKLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
to inquire after his health, aciding the most kind
and cheering messages ; and when told that the
beloved and admired painter was no more, he broke
out into lamentations on his own and the world’s
loss. The body was laid on a bed of state, and
above it was suspended the last work of that divine
hand, the glorious Transfiguration. From his own
house near St. Peter’s a multitude of all ranks fol-
lowed the bier in sad procession, and his remains
were laid in the church of the Pantheon, near those
of his betrothed bride, Maria de Bibbiena, in a spot
chosen by himself during his lifetime.
Several years ago (in the year 1833) there arose
among the antiquarians of Rome a keen dispute
concerning a human skull, which, on no evidence
whatever, except a long-received tradition, had been
preserved and exhibited in the Academy of St. Luke
as the skull of Raphael. Some even expressed a
doubt as to the exact place of his sepulchre, though
upon this point the contemporary testimony seemed
to leave no room for uncertainty. To ascertain the
fact, permission was obtained from the papal go-
vernment, and from the canons of the church of
the Rotunda (i. e. of the Pantheon), to make some
researches; and on the 14th of September, in the
same year, after five days spent in removing the
pavement in several places, the remains of Raphael
were discovered in a vault, behind the high altar,
and certified as his by indisputable proofs. After
EAKLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
to inquire after his health, aciding the most kind
and cheering messages ; and when told that the
beloved and admired painter was no more, he broke
out into lamentations on his own and the world’s
loss. The body was laid on a bed of state, and
above it was suspended the last work of that divine
hand, the glorious Transfiguration. From his own
house near St. Peter’s a multitude of all ranks fol-
lowed the bier in sad procession, and his remains
were laid in the church of the Pantheon, near those
of his betrothed bride, Maria de Bibbiena, in a spot
chosen by himself during his lifetime.
Several years ago (in the year 1833) there arose
among the antiquarians of Rome a keen dispute
concerning a human skull, which, on no evidence
whatever, except a long-received tradition, had been
preserved and exhibited in the Academy of St. Luke
as the skull of Raphael. Some even expressed a
doubt as to the exact place of his sepulchre, though
upon this point the contemporary testimony seemed
to leave no room for uncertainty. To ascertain the
fact, permission was obtained from the papal go-
vernment, and from the canons of the church of
the Rotunda (i. e. of the Pantheon), to make some
researches; and on the 14th of September, in the
same year, after five days spent in removing the
pavement in several places, the remains of Raphael
were discovered in a vault, behind the high altar,
and certified as his by indisputable proofs. After