Phillipps, Evelyn March: The frescoes in the Sixtine chapel (London: John Murray, 1901)

32

THE WALL FRESCOES

Now we see the reason why the oak tree
of the house of Rovere (from robur, an oak)
shadows the temple so proudly. Here, too,
the portraits of the nephews of the house
find a place. Giuliano stands in front of
the other spectators, in his Cardinal’s dress,
and holding a white napkin. It is a face
full of melancholy and intensity, and has
something of the same expression which we
find again in the proud old man, painted
years later by Raphael. On the extreme
right is Girolamo Riario, the husband of
Catherine Sforza, who, since 1480, had been
Gonfaloniere or chief governor of the Church
of S. Maria del Popolo. He holds the
golden sceptre, which he had received a few
months before from the hands of his uncle
the Pope.
We have no grounds for naming any
others, but probably they were all patrons
of the hospital, for it was fashionable to
belong to the confraternity of S. Spirito.
The names of most of the nobles of the
day are inscribed upon its rolls. In front
is a child laden with fruit, and with a