by Michael Angelo, with the Statue of Moses, represented as on
the point of springing from his seat, in indignation at the idolatry
of the Jews, or (according to a later interpretation) summoning
the twelve tribes of Israel together in order to bid them farewell.
( Moses is here represented with horns owing to an erroneous trans-
lation in the Vulgate of Exodus xxxiv. 35). This is one of Michael
Angelo's most famous and most characteristic works; he has sacri-
ficed details in order to bring the total effect into more dominating
prominence. The proportions of the figure are inexact; the small
head, the powerful arms, and the gigantic torso are certainly out
of harmony, while the robe hangs from the celebrated knee in quite
impossible folds. But all the same the general effect is most im-
posing. Besides the Moses, the statues of Rachel and Leah (as
symbols, on the left of meditative, on the right of active life) alone
were executed by the great master, and even these were not entirely
his own workmanship. These figures are an allusion to the com-
plaint of St. Gregory after he was elected pope that his life instead
of being the beautiful Rachel whom he sought was the more fruitful
Leah (comp. Dante, Purg. xxvii. 108). The grouping only of the
remainder was from Michael Angelo's design. The figure of the
pope (who is not interred here, comp. p. 368), by Maso del Bosco,
is a failure; the prophet and the sibyl at the side are by Raffaello
da Montelupo. — To the right of the choir is St. Margaret, an
altar-piece by Guercino.
The Choir contains an ancient marble seat from a bath, con-
verted into an episcopal throne. A cabinet under the high-altar,
with bronze doors ( 1477), was presented by Sixtus IV. and his
nephew Giuliano, and contains the chains of St. Peter, which are
exhibited to the pious on August 1st.
The adjacent monastery of the Canonici Regolari is now the
seat of the Reale Scuola d'Applicazione per gli Ingegneri. The
monastery-court, attributed to Giuliano da Sangallo, is embel-
lished with a fountain, presented in 1512 by Leon. Grosso della
Rovere (entrance by No. 5, to the right of the church).
If we descend hence to the S. we presently strike the Via della
Polveriera, which leads to the Colosseum (Pl. II, 22, 23; p. 303).
f. Villa Borghese. Villa di Papa Giulio.
The beautiful park of the Villa Borghese has lost a good deal of
its attractiveness by neglect since it has become public property (p. 217),
but the art-gallery preserved in the casino still ranks as one of the
most important collections in Rome. The park is open to the public
daily from 9 till dusk (free). Besides the principal entrance near the
Porta del Popolo (Pl. I, 16), there are others on the Pincio (Pl. I, 16;
comp. p. 181), near the Porta Pinciana (Pl. I, 20, 23; p. 181), and near
the Viale dei Parioli (p. 429). Admission to the Casino, see p. 172. —
The antiquities in the Villa di Papa Giulio (p. 225) are also well
worth a visit.