Riassunto esame Letteratura inglese, Prof. De Angelis Irene, libro consigliato Pictures from Italy , Dickens

PICTURES FROM ITALY

CHAPTER X – ROME

(1) The tenth chapter is dedicated to Rome. Dickens tells us that he entered the city

on January the 30th through Porta del Popolo, diving into the Carnival celebrations, he

saw a parade of carriages and masks. He was not well prepared for this vision, being

tired after the travel.

The sight of the river Tevere, the Ponte Molle and that whole part of the city evoked a

decadent vision of Rome. This Rome was not the Rome that Dickens knew and

appreciated.

Later on he describes St. Peter's square, and especially the sumptuous Dome, defined

incomparable and unforgettable. Although the beauty of the cathedral itself is

impressive, it did not arouse any strong emotion in the author.

On the other hand, the colosseum is described as striking and unique, so much that

looking at it one can imagine how it used to be: perfectly whole and full of people

watching the fights. Its beauty and desolation are striking to the point any visitor will

be moved and affected.

Dickens proceeds to describe the desolation of the Colosseum and all the surrounding

ruins: the triumphal arches of Constantine, Septimius Severus and Titus; the Roman

Forum; the Palace of the Caesars; the Palace of the Romans. He writes that it is like

seeing the ghost of Ancient Rome.

Rome is portrayed as a desolate city composed mainly of ruins, and for this very

reason full of history.

The author then describes the celebration of the Holy Mass at San Pietro on Sunday.

The second visit to San Pietro had no different effect on the writer than the first one, in

fact he was still not impressed. The building is so full of details that it is impossible to

examine them all, it is in fact called an architectural trophy.

Dickens focuses on various elements of the cathedral: first of all, the black statue of

San Pietro, of great importance to believers but that does not elevate the overall effect

of the temple.

He then describes the space behind the altar consisting of boxes similar to the Italian

Opera in England, the floor covered with a green carpet and different groups of people

in the church: women dressed in black, the Pope’s guard and the Pope’s Swiss guard.

Dickens was in company of many other men attired in black and he observes the

crowd slowly moving on the bright green carpet: people talking to each other, the

singers and the friars, who looked miserable and in contrast to the higher degree

ecclesiastics. The latter, cardinals and priests, are gathered around the altar. The

vivacity and energy of the young British people was opposed to the prayers of some

other devotees.

Matilde Bianco

(2) In this passage Dickens talks about two different events. The first is a ceremony

celebrated by the Pope that consists in the blessing of candles that people bring to

him. After, while sitting in a chair, he is carried around the Church three times despite

as Dickens said he suffers from dizziness and nausea. He described this event as

nothing solemn or effective he only liked the rising of the Host.

The second event is Carnival which is announced on Monday afternoon by the rattling

of carriages into the court-yard of the Hotels. All of them have the linings covered with

white cotton or calico in order to prevent their proper decorations from being spoiled

by the confetti. All people are dressed in a peculiar way with polish pellisses, scarlet

jackets, tiny Greek caps all awry. Even the horses are dressed in a strange way with

flowing ribbons and trappings.

The carriages passed along the Corso, a street a mile long characterized by shops,

palaces and private houses with verandahs and balconies of all shapes and sizes. Here

people threw confetti and flowers on each other.

If any carriages dashed out of the rank with the idea of getting faster it was escorted

back to the very end of the row by a trooper on horseback.

Sofia Gilardi

(3) This passage describes the atmosphere and activities during the Carnival in Rome,

focusing on the events of the final days. In particular, it portrays the chaotic and

exuberant atmosphere of the Carnival, with its energy, colourful fancy dress, crowded

streets and several activities.

The main event that the author describes is the horse race which takes place in the

historical centre of the city. The description captures the frenetic energy of the race:

there are riderless horses adorned with ornaments that quickly go through different

streets and there is a huge number of spectators who, seated or standing, watch it

and, above all, take an active part. That is why he says, for example, that the rattling

of the horses’ hoofs was nothing to the roaring of the multitude. He underlined the

involvement of people who screams, clap their hands.

After the race, the festivity continues with the tradition of Moccoletti. As he explains,

Moccoletti is simply a diminutive of the word “moccolo” which indicates a little lamp

and this was a game that Everybody does: men, women, gentlemen and ladies, prince

or peasant, native or foreigner.

According to this game, people should hold candles or torches, trying to extinguish

each other’s lights while keeping their own lights. As a consequence, people adopted

different funny strategies in order to reach this goal.

Just the arrival of the Ave Maria marks the end of the celebrations and so the

atmosphere became calmer. Through this passage he also touches on the religious

significance of the Carnival, focusing on the transition from the Carnival to the Holy

week that suggests a shift from the innocence and simplicity of Carnival to a religious

observance.

In the last few lines, he introduces the figures of Mr and Mrs Davis, two English

tourists, that the author met during his visit in Rome.

Alice Gallo

(4) The last part of this paragraph is about the figure of Mr Davis who is a man with a

deep curiosity in particular things such as tombs and the engravings made on them.

For this reason, he always remained at the bottom of the group and they were

constantly afraid to lose him. The author specifies that the group had arrived from

London in about 9-10 days.

In the next paragraph he writes about a curiosity about the city of Rome which

amused him, in fact he talks about the presence of artists' models on the stairway

which led from Piazza di Spagna to the church of Trinità del Monte. Their faces were

actually familiar to him because he had seen them on the walls of Exhibition Galleries.

He describes some of them showing the type of model: the venerable model, the

“dolce far niente” model and the haughty or scornful model”. He also defines them as

“the falsest vagabonds in the world”.

Later, he refers to the final ceremony of Carnival as a mock funeral of the pleasures

which precede Lent. This remembers him about real funerals he had attended in Italy

and that had impressed him for the indifference that people reserved to the body of

the departed.

Then, he is at a sort of cemetery looking at the disposition of pits and he sees a coffin

left there without any type of shroud on it. He asks the reason to the person who had

shown him the place and the man explained him that the pit would have been opened

that night when the cart would come with the other coffins. At that point, he makes an

expression of disapproval for the manner in which the coffin had been left.

Following, he starts talking about the church of Ara Coeli and the miraculous Bambino

representing the Infant Saviour kept there. He first saw him one afternoon when he

entered the church and he was brought to a Chapel where there was a group of

Catholics waiting to see the Bambino. There were also two monks: the first one lit

some candles, while the second one began a sort of ceremony. He took the doll of the

Infant Saviour from a box (it was covered with jewels) and the monk started going

through the people setting the head of the doll on the forehead of every person and

each one had to kiss its feet. Then, he returned back, put it in the box again and

locked it up. At that point, the ceremony had finished, the monks collected the money

and then they all retired.

He continues by explaining that he also saw the Bambino while it was taken to the

house of a sick person. This was a widely used practice but it often was not successful

because sometimes it scared the sick to death. For this reason, when the sick was a

person to whom people cared about, they avoided the doll enter in the room of that

person. It is also popular in cases of child-birth, in fact, when women take more time

than usual to give birth, sometimes a messenger is sent to ask to bring the Bambino.

The religious community trust him a lot.

Chiara Di Domenico

(5) In this part of the chapter, Dickens talks about when people come down to St.

Peter's for various reasons, such as to kneel and say a silent prayer.

The scene in churches is strange, there are beggars begging for alms, cripples

showing their deformities, chickpeas clinking small pots. In these places the author

finds the strange mixture of respect and ineducation, such as standing up during

prayer to ask for alms.

In fact There is always a receptacle for the offerings of the faithful.

Dickens observers that some Roman altars bear the inscription "Every Mass celebrated

at this altar frees a soul from Purgatory." Dickens says that There are several crosses

in Rome and kissing them gives indulgences under different conditions.

The old church of Santo Stefano Rotondo, struck the author for its horrific paintings

representing martyrdoms of saints and early Christians.

One of the upper rooms of the Mamertine Prison, stands what was probably St. Peter's

Prison.

Dickens describes that many churches have large underground crypts and chapels,

which in ancient times were baths, secret chambers. Under the church of St. John and

St. Paul, there is the entrance to a series of caverns carved into the rock. These could

be prisons of wild beasts destined for the amphitheater or prisons of doomed

gladiators. But the scariest legend is that in the upper part were locked up Christians

destined to be eaten by the beasts in the spectacles of the Colosseum.

Beneath the church of St. Sebastian, on the Appian Way, lies the entrance to Rome's

catacombs, ancient quarries that later became labyrinths of hiding places for

Christians.

There were also graves where hundreds of Christians were locked up and walled in,

buried before Death and slowly killed by starvation.

Sofia Maria Tosatto

(6) In this passage there is a contrast between the figure of the gentle and earnest

friar and the horrors of the church. Here Dickens imagines the fear and agony of the

suffering people if only they had known about what they were going to face in the

catacombs. Dickens also talks about his 'dream of churches' which are marked by

what he calls a 'shadowy mark' referring to all the brutalities made by the Catholics.

These sacred places are described as very rich and full of pictures