The church of Saint Prassede is in a dirty little alley in Rome,
hard by the great church of Saint Maria Maggiore. You push through
the group of filthy, importunate beggars, open a leather door, and
you drop from the twentieth to the sixteenth century. It is one of
the most ornate churches in Rome; the mosaic angels in the choir are
precisely as the poet describes them. The tomb of the imaginary
Gandolf may be identified with a Bishop's tomb on the south side of
the church, and the Latin inscription under it, while it does not
contain the form "elucescebat," is not pure Tully, but rather
belongs to the Latin of Ulpian's time. The recumbent figure is in
exact accord with the description by Browning.
Skeptics are essential to the welfare of the Church; it is only in
periods of sharp, skilful hostility that the Church becomes pure. In
the Middle Ages, when it ran riot with power, there were plenty of
churchmen as corrupt as our dying man. His love for a Greek
manuscript is as sensual as his love for his mistress; and having
lived a life of physical delight, it is natural that his last
thoughts should concern themselves with the abode of his body rather
than with the destination of his soul.
Pages:
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222