treat our own Commodities Pope, Gregory XVI, Gregorio Sedici, and he's a very controversial figure. We're not going to get caught up in all the controversies, but I will tongue-in-cheek allude to some of them during my talk. You will have noticed as you came in, beneath the bulletin board, the library copies of the two-volume commemorative work on Gregory XVI that was published in 1948, and I've opened it to the frontispiece in each volume so you could see, well, I think one is a bust and another is a painting of Gregory XVI. Anyway, he wasn't an artist. We're not treating him because he was an artist, but what he did for the arts, as a great patron of the arts with his papal power.

[01:02]

Firstly, just let me point out these, there are a number of sources you can look to, but these are the ones most available to you. Firstly, this two-volume set, which was published by our own priests and brothers at San Gregorio in Rome, 1948. This first volume, a number of things that are really quite good, and I used five different works in here on Gregory XVI and antiquity and the fine arts, on each of these museums, and on Gregory and Christian archaeology, a number of other essays in here as well. In the second volume, you can actually find something in English, so if you're interested in reading on something of Pope Gregory in English on the arts, you won't find it, but

[02:11]

you can find things on, for instance, Gregory XVI and England, by a historian named Rope. Are you familiar with him? I've run into that name before. Church historian, not? Yeah. H-E-G Rope they have here. I've run into that name anyway. There's another one on Gregory XVI and the United States of America in here, a nice 20-page essay. Then there's a nice one in Spanish. I don't read Spanish, but knowing Latin and French and Italian, I could pretty well make it up, on the emancipation of Spanish America and Gregory XVI. And another one, a nice one in Italian here on Gregory and the missions. He's the great pope of the missions, and we'll get to that in just a second. Anyway, remember, this is the second volume, and this is in the Comaldolese section of our library.

[03:11]

This is the most important resource for you. The second most important is our own Giuseppe Caccimanni's work, which is in Italian. It's a little, oh, 40, 50-page booklet on the secrets of the conclave that elected Mauro as Gregory XVI. A lot of politicking going on there, of course. He's way to the right, way ultra-right, and the leftists were in there. It's interesting what happened to elect Gregory XVI. Also, this is the one, Bernard, you brought to my attention. This is a nice work by Carter Wiseman, who was living during that time. He wrote his own personal recollections of four popes at that time. I think Gregory is maybe the third of the four.

[04:15]

I think Pianonno. I think he treats Pianonno now. I think so. Maybe not. Pianonno is after him. Yes, I know. That's why I'm saying he would be the third treated in the book. I think he treated Pianonno also, is what I'm saying. Would be the fourth treated. Anyway, it's in English, so if you'd like to read that, it gives you a nice little feel for some of the aspects of the private life of the man, as well as a few things about what he did as pope in his many works, including for the arts. So I've got a few little things on this. This is, I would say, the least important of your resources, but it's nice to read. It gives you a nice flavor. I'm speaking least important historically. Also, you can, of course, find various treatments of Gregory XVI

[05:15]

in our church histories and papal historians and whatnot. You're going to find people on both sides of the issue, people screaming at him, about him being an obscurantist and a stuck-in-the-mud and prevented progress and whatnot. But he's really quite a paradoxical man. He was way ahead of his time in some ways and way behind in other ways. When it came to the railroad, what did he call it, the Whatcom Hill? He said it was an inspiration to Satan. I think he called them la macchina d'inferno or something like that. He said he wouldn't permit them in the papal space. Lots of apologists today say maybe he was right. He was so right, he went to the right and then down to the left. Although probably having trains rather than all the automobiles we have in this country would be better off for our ecology. In many ways, he was way ahead of his time.

[06:16]

He was anti-slavery. He came out with an actual papal document against slavery, which was still going on in the United States. We're talking 1800s, huh? Which isn't all that long ago. Some other things we'll get to. Mauro Capelaro. He was born in 1765. He was born—I didn't put it on there because you had it spelled yesterday—Bartolomeo. He was born Bartolomeo Alberto, Bartholomew Albert Capelaro. He was from the town of Belluno. Do you know exactly where Belluno is? It's in the mountains somewhere. I think it's up somewhere near where Bernardino is from. So, maybe northwest. Have you? In Belluno? Well, actually, Belluno comes into our history a number of times.

[07:23]

People from there, and I think we used to have a house there for a little while. It's picturized, no? Yeah. He was born on September 18th. He did his studies with a private tutor who was a canon named Giovanni Correra. The reason I mention this is because this man was still living when they enthroned him as Gregory XVI, and so he was there at the papal enthronement. It was a great thrill for him to hobble in and see his former pupil become pope. In the year 1780, so when he's 15 years old, his only sister, his only sibling, became a Cistercian nun. But the family became a Cistercian nun and enclosed at a convent named San Gervasio di Mussolini.

[08:25]

I mention this because there are a number of people who allude to this spurring him on to a religious vocation. That's the only reason I mention it. More than one person alluded to this fact, that he intonated, that it had an effect on him too at the age of 15, to go to the monastic life. Three years later, he did. When he was 18, he entered our famous monastery in Venice, St. Michael of Murano, on the August 23rd of that year. And then he studied science and philosophy. They had a great school, a great school at our monastery there in St. Michael. And they could do a lot of their own studies there, unless they were going on for their doctorates or not. They were doing their main studies, arts, sciences, philosophy, and some theology,

[09:30]

right there at St. Michael. So, they must have had the Venetians create them. Went all the way to the suppressions in the, what, 18, maybe 1810, 1813, it lasted that long? Well, so they were in line with like the French suppressions. Yeah, all of Europe. And there were two waves of suppressions. The later suppressions in Italy came in the 1860s, 1870s. But this one never, this house was never given back to us. So, the first suppression, wave of suppressions, Napoleon did them in. And we never got it back. He instigated the repression. Right. And he certainly instigated it. He wasn't personally involved in this suppression, but the Republic of Venice and other republics which were aligned with the republican movement

[10:30]

hot-footed it to close everything down like Napoleon wanted. Some of our houses were literally closed down by Napoleon's soldiers, some of them destroyed. We, one of our abbots jumped out of a window and killed himself, a suicide, as the Napoleon's soldiers were firing on the house and breaking in. And so he went a little crazy. We had another monk who was killed by Napoleon's soldiers trying to protect someone. I forget the actual details. But a number of our people went through horrible experiences with the soldiers of Napoleon. Anyway, this house lasts until that time. Bartolomeo was closed as a novice in 1785. So he was there for two years studying.

[11:34]

He had entered the school at San Michele, but he hadn't actually become a monk there yet until after a couple of years of science and philosophy. So in 1785 he was closed by an abbot named after a great Romanian saint, the ex-duche, Pietro Orseolo d'Alponte, Abbot d'Alponte. In 1785 he was given the name Mauro, Maor, or Maus. And the next year he professed. He had an 18-month novitiate. I don't know what that's all about. He was professed in September, September 21st actually, under another abbot. There was a new abbot at San Michele. They changed rather quickly by this time. When we're talking 1700s, it could be every two years, every other year, every three years. And his name was Giacomo James Cerucci.

[12:41]

And then he studied theology. This is Mauro. He studied theology. The following year, 1787, he was ordained. His ordainment was in December. Things were sped up in those days. The exact date cannot be found because the archives of the bishop who ordained him, and in those years we used Torcellio, another island in the lagoon, a very famous cathedral. That's the one thing I wish I didn't have. If I had another day in Venice, I would have gone there. But it would be a whole day trip. It has those wonderful mosaics there, the Cathedral of Torcellio. Anyway, they would have the bishop of Torcellio float over to Murano and ordain our people there. Or they would go to Torcellio. There were quite a few bishops around Venice at that time.

[13:45]

And we aligned with Torcellio. Anyway, their archives, to a great extent, burnt in a fire. So we don't have the exact details on the date regarding our ordination. Three years later, Mauro holds the chair of theology at San Michele. And he begins work on his doctoral dissertation or thesis on the church triumphant. Yes? He's the chairman of the department. And he begins a work which takes him years, which he finally takes to Rome, and it is accepted later on down the line, on the church triumphant. Five years later, 1795, we find him in Rome. He's doing the final touches on this thesis.

[14:49]

This thesis is rather important, and it is in three parts. The first part is on the immutability of church government. Unchanging church. The second part is on papal infallibility. So this leads up to what happens at the end of the century. That is the end of the 19th century, with Vatican Council one, with the dogma on papal infallibility. And the third section deals with Jantanism and Protestantism, and Mauro is against them. It is at this time that Napoleon's forces and Napoleon-like philosophies and struggles and whatnot, are republican problems,

[15:51]

are surfacing and going on all throughout Europe. And it's at that time that he publishes his thesis. He becomes, therefore, the arch-enemy of republicans, of republicanism and liberalism. He's the arch-enemy of liberalism. He's coming out with this major, past the right, ultra-right dissertation. Four years later, Pope Pius VI dies in prison on August 29th. I'm just including this because this gives you a feel for what's going on at that time. Imprisoned by Napoleon's forces. 1800, in this year, Pius VII was elected on March 14th in a renegade conclave of cardinals who were scattered out of Rome and collected themselves at the Benedictine Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore.

[16:53]

You saw it right from the Piazza di San Marco in Venice. And they elected Pius VII there. In 1805, so five years down the road, Mauro Capidari is named titular abbot of San Michele. So he returns to Venice. He's named titular abbot. He holds the title. And he goes back there to teach. But the next year he's called back to Rome because he's elected procurator general of the order. In those years, in these centuries, that is the number two man in the order. It's the general, and the office below the general, so like the vice president, would be the procurator general. And that was true in all the monastic congregations of this time. And other orders, in fact. Most of them even used that same term.

[17:54]

The following year, 1807, he was named the abbot of San Gregorio in Rome. You see, they're changing every year in these years. Of course, horrible things are going on in the early 1800s, regarding politics, politically. In 1808, the very next year, he returns to Venice to fight against the coming suppressions. There's all kinds of pressures in Venice. Coming from, they're slowly taking this, taking that, closing the little house down, putting, and the monks have to run to the bigger houses, and then they, there's all kinds of crap that went on for years in all of our houses. Big houses, especially. Because they had to carry the load when the smaller houses were suppressed. Anyway, that next year, he's back there fighting that. This is the year after he's appointed, or elected abbot of San Gregorio,

[18:59]

and then he's elected abbot of San Michele, St. Michael, in Venice, on June 21st. So he's really the last abbot, the last reigning abbot of San Michele. That is the mother house of this great congregation. Two years later, San Michele is suppressed. May 13th, 1810. 1810 was a horrible year for our order. Well, for all the orders, actually. However, they allowed the school to continue, and the school is a very prestigious school, and educating most of the high officials and children. But despite that, even that won't last long. At this time, Mauro's holding down the chair of philosophy at the school. Four years later, in 1814, he is recalled to Rome to help pick up the pieces at San Gregorio, which had basically fallen apart, and was horribly unorganized,

[20:03]

and just on its last strings, at this time. And he does so, and at this time, he also offers his first bishopric, which he flatly refuses. The next year, so he's in Rome now. The next year, 1815, he's made a consulter to the Holy See. Three years later, he's made procurator general again. So he's number two in the entire order, again. And two years later, he refuses his second bishopric. This one is the Tivoli, which would have been still a rather prestigious bishopric to have. That and Ostia, historically, were close to Rome. Both had great ritualistic rites regarding certain... For instance, just parenthetically, when Peter Damian was named cardinal archbishop of Ostia,

[21:10]

that meant that Peter Damian had the right, the position as bishop, to enthrone a pope. And at that time, Peter Damian actually had to run and hide at one point, because he had three popes. And then there was another one brought in, and he just ran and hid, so he wouldn't have to enthrone yet another one. But Tivoli is another one of these important seats that way. There were certain attachments that went along with these. Certain, what is the word? Yeah, well, even duties. But certainly, prolatial prerogatives that went along with that. And he said, no, he didn't want that either. Just to backtrack a little bit, all during this time, his best friend is Placido Zorba, another monk of San Dike, who was a scientist, very intelligent man, good teacher.

[22:13]

He goes to Rome before Mauro, and he's made a cardinal. He's made a cardinal there in what most people thought was a mistake, that the pope gave the red hat to the wrong man. Even Placido demonstrated. He said, you don't mean me, you mean Mauro, who was the abbot at the time at San Gregorio. They're both really good men, good, capable men. But the pope stood by his volume. It is a mistake, or maybe it wasn't. They think it was. It wouldn't be the first time the wrong person has given the red hat. But Zorba was a fine churchman, fine bishop. He was the vicar of Rome, in fact, for a number of people, including our own Mauro, and he became pope. Anyway, Placido becomes a cardinal,

[23:15]

and he is named protector of the order. We always have a cardinal protector during these years. Do we still have them? Do you know, since Vatican II? I don't know. Yeah, I think they probably have. But until then, every order had its own cardinal protector. We had a number of Englishmen, in fact, English cardinals, who were our protectors, and some Americans. I'll tell you a story. We had just arrived on 109 Rome, and our protector visited. He was this old, Italian cardinal, and they could hardly get him up the steps and inside, so there were some witty comments about how he was this magnificent. Then he put his magnificent cloak and hat in the waiting room, and he went off. And the monk snuck into the waiting room and put on his cloak and hat and took her pictures. Of course, there was a time, in fact, some centuries,

[24:22]

when it was very, very important who your protector was. And it meant a lot, what you got done for your congregation. Well, an example would have been, even in the time of the Trump Asylum, for instance. Had we not had a good cardinal protector at that time, we probably wouldn't have been able to pull off the reform that was badly needed in our congregation, and then Ambrosio's election, and then enacting the whole thing. A lot of it depended on the cardinal protector, yeah. Well, maybe it's hard enough to do, but was Bonaventure the protector cardinal of the Franciscans for a while? I don't know if he was cardinal. I don't even know when they started that particular... And I think there was a time when, more than anything else,

[25:26]

the protector was just yet another commandant-type person. There were times when it wasn't so good to have a protector, and then there were times when it wasn't. Anyway, when Bacido was named cardinal protector of the order, he immediately was the general of the order, also being Comaldolese. They just named him general. Well, he had Mauro at San Gregorio running the order for him. He was just, you know, vicariously for him, Placid was doing other things at the Holy See, and he was the vicar of Rome. So basically, as vicar general, vicar general, number two man, because the general was actually not the general as we usually have him, Mauro was technically running the order, even though he was only the vicar. At this time, again, we have Mauro involved in the Holy See, and he's made a consultant to the Holy Office,

[26:29]

the Propagation of the Faith, the committee for who's going to be appointing bishops throughout the world, and that other guy. So he's busy in the Holy See at this time also. And then in the year 1824, he's named cardinal, excuse me, apostolic visitator to four rather minor, actually, universities, at these universities, papal universities, within the papal territories. But even though it wasn't there, not all that important, it was an important step for him, because people saw him slowly. It was another step along the way. In 1825, the next year, he was created cardinal. What they didn't know was, when he was made apostolic visitator to the universities, he actually was already cardinal, but the pope held it off for one year, for reasons that are not fully known. It was so impector, right? Impector.

[27:30]

Impector for one year. And then on the feast of St. Benedict, the transitus, March 21st, he was given the red hat, 1825. And Zorla was just beaming. He announced to everyone, now, finally, things are made right. Well, they were best friends, too, for years and years and years. So we have two cardinals at one time. I don't know if there's another period in our history where we have two of our men cardinals. We've had a lot of cardinals, but I don't think more than two. In 1831, six years down the road, lo and behold, Mauro Capallari is elected pope. And he takes the name, in deference to his favorite saint, and in deference to the actual abbey of San Gregorio, he takes the name Gregory. Gregory XVI. He was elected through a coalition,

[28:33]

a coalition of ultra-right, various ultra-right bands, including, and still important at this time in history, Austria. So Metternich was politicking and running things in the Austrian sphere of influence, and he became very pro-Capallari because he was pro-absolutist. And that's what Capallari, remember his thesis, that's what he stood for. Had he not written that thesis, I wonder if he would have, I mean, things point to his not being elected, but he had, already for years now, he's had that reputation. The Zealand Team. Party, an ongoing party in these years, against republicanism, against liberal views. We're talking now of a situation

[29:34]

where various parties are killing one another in Italy. And we have assassinations of, including clergy and prelates, by various parties within the right and left. I mean, Italy is in its time of real struggle, political struggle, becoming a country, let's say, at this time, rather than a collection of vying city-states. Which, I mean, that's a broad statement, but over the centuries, basically it's that, but in different forms all along. And so now you have it coming close to being a republic, and it's a long struggle, and many, many lives are lost in that struggle. The Zealand Team align themselves with Capallari, he's elected. He's elected because they feel he will be against all changes, all modern trends, all nationalism.

[30:38]

That's why he's elected. And they're right in some ways, he was against those things. The very next year, he promulgates this papal document, Mirali Vos, which is on August 15, which is against all kinds of things. Notably against the freedom of conscience, the freedom of the press, and very pro-church and state separation. Did I say that? I mean, just the opposite. He's very much in favor of church and state being alive. He's against the separation of church and state, which the liberals are pushing. Get religion out of the government, out of the influence. Okay, he's against various reforms,

[31:40]

all of this is coming through Mirali Vos and other statements he makes during this time. He's against, just in general, various reforms, any kind of revolt, liberal ideas in general. He's against Protestants. He does begin a reorganization of the hierarchy, a reform of all the religious orders. He is very much involved in the development of missions worldwide. He creates 70 missionary dioceses. He creates 200 missionary bishops during his time. He's very much in favor of native clergy, native bishops. He creates 80 cardinals during his time. It's a good thing he did, because those of you who have been in St. Peter's and have seen his marble,

[32:41]

what do you call that, ethogy, at his place of entombment in the church, it's this immense, very much like his thesis, the church triumphant comes across as. Well, those cardinals that he created paid for that. I don't know if he knew they were going to do that, but he created 80 of them, and they got a magnificent monument done in the end. He's very pro-Immaculate Conception. This is before Immaculate Conception is defined as dogma. He's also, interestingly enough, and that's why we're getting to this point, very pro-arts and archaeology. But before we, yeah. What was the date that he ascended to the Vatican? 1831. So 31 to 46. So 15 years. But before we discuss the arts

[33:43]

and the work he did there then, in general, just a few more things. 1839, he came out with this document, for which he should be more famous than he is. It's against slavery. Way ahead of his time in this. 1839. I don't have the exact date of promulgation. I can find it for you. 1844. Five years later, he comes out with this, interestingly. This is just sort of parenthetically included. Interprecipuas Machinations. This is not against trains, planes, or automobiles. It is against the New York Christian Alliance and the London Bible Society. Various liberal ideas they're bringing out regarding scriptures. The next year, 1845, the year before he died, he created a whole new wave of native clergy

[34:50]

throughout the world, and then established ten new dioceses in the United States of America. The next year, he died on June 1st, 1845. 1846. His rather impressive monument in St. Peter's was done by this sculptor, Luigi Amici. And busts of Gregorio Sedici can be found at Murano, where he was originally a monk. Fabriano, did you see it there, down by the tomb? San Gregorio, I thought I saw one there. In fact, this volume two has a picture of the one from San Gregorio, but I didn't see it my last time. I didn't know where I ran across it the first time. Are you familiar with that one? Used to be in the gallery.

[35:51]

And then also at this particular museum, at the Labyrinth Palatial, Labyrinth Palace Museum, they have a bust of our Commodities Pope there. Okay. Yes. You mentioned three right-wing extremists or at least the sculptor can be elected. I have the Austrians, the Velazquez, and who's up there? Is that Metternich? No, Metternich would be aligned with Austria. I don't remember saying three. There are more than three groups. A whole coalition. Anyone against modern trends and nationalism would have voted for him. So, just regarding the art, before we discuss these three museums, which are his mark on the arts, let's just talk about it in general. This is a quote from Cardinal Wiseman. He did not confine himself to any one department of art,

[36:53]

but his attention was comprehensive and generous, not guided by caprice, but directed by a discerning taste. It sounds very British, doesn't it? Directed by a discerning taste, unquote. He instigated, he helped, and he continued to help some that were already in process, various excavations and restorations going on in and about Rome. If you go to Rome now, and you walk through the Forum area, and you go to various sites where temples have been excavated and whatnot, he is responsible for a lot of them. A lot of them. I'll name some of them. He's certainly responsible for the Domus Aurea, the golden house. Is that how you mean? Golden house? I don't know if I've seen that or not. Various parts of the Forum The Flavian amphitheater he excavated,

[37:55]

had excavated. He had the Arch of Titus restored. You may recognize some of these things that you've seen if you've been in Rome. This one I have. The porch area to the temple of Antoninus and Faustina he had excavated. They didn't even know it was there. There was a hypothesis that this portico was also connected with that temple, and he went with it and they excavated it. The Column of Phokas was excavated. The Arch of Septimius Severus was excavated. Imagine the whole arch was underground and whatnot. Imagine the layers of stuff on top of these things. What's still under there that hasn't been excavated? The Temple of Concordia, the Temple of Vestation were both excavated thanks to the command of this Pope. The Piazza di San Gregorio,

[39:02]

once he was Pope he had a nice piazza built in front of San Gregorio there, and the street paved, street made, the Via di San Gregorio. There's also Vianne. Is that another name for the same street in front of San Gregorio do you know, or is it Vianne? Maybe it's something that was added later on. Part of it's called Vianne I noticed at one point. Also there was this temple, a hypothesis regarding a temple of syncretism where they brought Greek and Latin gods together into a temple in Rome, and it was called Il Portico dei Consenti, so agreeing, gods agreeing together. And he went with that hypothesis and they found the Portico to what evidently was this temple of syncretism in Rome.

[40:04]

He pushed for the upkeep and maintenance of catacombs. A lot of them were in bad disrepair at this time. He added many books to the, if you go through the Vatican Museums, even if you're just running to get to the, before the crowd gets there early in the morning, I did the same thing one day, to get to the Sistine Chapel so you can have a little bit of quiet. You're going to run through this section, the Partimento Borgia, and he used to have a huge library there which they moved elsewhere to a great extent. He helped build that up personally with his own books and his own money in the end. Also the Museum of Christianity at that time, Museum of Christianity, so early Christian artifacts, to a great extent his own expense, he donated to that museum, including especially a whole series of Byzantine icons,

[41:07]

precious Byzantine icons, which he gave to the church. But that of course is in this museum. He had various frescoes restored and brought in the best restorer of the day, whose name was Agricola. Takes you back to first year Latin. They restored the frescoes of Michelangelo, Raffaello, Angelico, sounds like the choirs of heaven. Some of them were outdoor frescoes, and so they encased them in glass. So he had that done so they wouldn't lose them to the elements. This is another quote from Wiseman regarding his rooms, regarding Gregory's rooms. There Gregory had his most choice collection of books. From every part of the world, beautifully bound, and many other exquisite gems of art,

[42:09]

miniatures and copies, as well as original paintings. So he had a certain aesthetical side to him, which even his own papal rooms were pronounced. And it of course spilled over, thankfully so, into the church's heritage. He also promoted actively the study of Christian antiquity. This had already begun under Benedict XIV, but Kamali's book got right on the train and continued it, including the studies of sarcophagi, inscriptions, relics, sculptures, the whole trio. So, he's famous for these three museums, and I can actually do it in 15 minutes. The Gregorian Latin Palace Museum,

[43:10]

the Etruscan Museum, if you go to the Etruscan museums, this is one of the museums there, one of the departments, and the Egyptian Museum. Well, actually, as I say, I was responsible for them. Originally, the Labyrinth Palace was the preferred abode of the popes prior to Avignon in Rome. In fact, again, this is parenthetically, I'm doing some Peter Damian reading right now. In Peter Damian's day, during this time when they had three popes at once in Rome and there was going to yet be a fourth, one of the popes and his army were holed up in the labyrinth, and that's the one who had probably the most claim to being pope, and the first of the three chronologically.

[44:14]

The second one was in what is now called the Vatican, so St. Peter's and surrounding area, and his army was there, and the third one was in San Benedictine Monastery nearby, forget which one, outside of Rome. And anyway, he took this palace, and he decided to restore it as a museum for the church, universal. And it opened to the public in the year 1844, the Feast of the Ascension. He chose this date because it was always the Feast of the Ascension when the pope would go to the labyrinth regularly. I mean, it was a traditional date for a papal visit to the labyrinth. Even though it opened in 44, it really wasn't finished until 46. Well, it's never been finished, by the way. If you think about Roman museums, they've never quite been finished. They're always adding on, evidently, adding on, and various projects have gone on for decades and decades.

[45:20]

But it's probably finished as far as the original scope was, it can be considered. This, it was filled with various artifacts from ancient Christian sources, or the Christian holdings, but most of the artifacts were not Christian. So this is pre-Christian or secular, profane antiquity would be another phrase to use. He took articles out of the Pio Clementine Museum, which already existed in the Vatican holdings, the Chiaramonti Museum, which was set up by Pius VII. This one was set up by Pius VI, so it was just by his predecessors. So he's carrying on something that is going on before him, the whole heritage movement within Rome. And also from the Apartamento Borgia,

[46:22]

so these artifacts were taken out, and they were all moved to this Lathering Palace Museum, together, as a major holding. As well as many, many, many articles that were coming out of recent excavations. So articles they were digging up, including some quite huge pieces, were being put into this particular museum. And Pio Nono, who's down the line, will continue to build up this particular museum. Secondly, the Etruscan Museum. This one's fascinating. I love the Etruscan art. This opened on February 2nd, 2237. 2237. Which is the anniversary of his election. He was the elected pope on the feast of the presentation.

[47:23]

Etruscan. What does that refer to? It refers to a people, an entity called Etruria, or Etruria, I forget to pronounce it both ways, an ancient country in what is now Italy, covering Tuscany and parts of Umbria. Those of you who met Don Stefano, when he was a young priest, Stefano is on his way to Brazil. He's very proud of his Etruscan blood. He says he has, that's what he is, he's Etruscan. Very, if you want to see his eyes sparkle, and hear him go on and on, asking about his Etruscan blood sometimes. This is a civilization which existed mainly from the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century B.C. and appropriately enough, 6th century B.C. is their golden epoch, their golden, their high point, the apex.

[48:28]

They were foreigners. They were not indigenous people. They think they're probably from Asia Minor originally. And they were an alliance of city-states, based basically on religion. They had their own alphabet, an alphabet which was extracted from the Greek alphabet, a little bit different. They determined that, but they can't determine the vocabulary at all. They don't know where the vocabulary, their vocabulary is a mystery, in fact, too. At least until, let's put it this way, until 1948, this Etruscan vocabulary was a mystery. They may have made things. Since then, I didn't have the time to look up Etruscan, whatever, civilization. They were a maritime power, and they're known as a civilization for their gold work

[49:34]

and their bronze work, and a special kind of pottery which was black, and it's called boukero, boukero, or boukero pottery. Their art is fascinating. I love it. It's a strong Hellenic influence, strong Greek influence. It's like Hellenized art, but gone wild. Its flavor is barbaric, and so you get the refined Hellenic form and feel, and then this wild barbaric flavor thrown on it and painted on it. This Etruscan art became the primary source for what grows into Roman art and frescoes, early ones. No? I thought I said that. This is a quote from Perali, who did the article on the Etruscan museum.

[50:38]

Gregory XVI always favored and promoted the study of antiquity and fine arts as the greater splendor of Rome, buying many important Etruscan artifacts, preserving them from obscurity, collecting them into a place dedicated to culture, and this, parenthetically, precisely because he saw Etruscan art as being fundamental to early Roman art, as being the basic forms for what becomes Roman art. So he collected and bought a lot, and he had various people out doing this on behalf of the church collection. He bought a lot of vases and sculptures, bronzes, pottery, precious objects of all various sorts for this museum, and once he got this museum established and opened,

[51:40]

the Etruscan museum, that in itself drew in collections. People started leaving their collections in there as an inheritance, I think, to the Etruscan museum of the Vatican. Okay, lastly, the Egyptian museum, he was also the founder of the Vatican museums. Also, this one opened on 2239. Two years later, to the day, anniversary of his elevation to the papacy, he opened the Egyptian museum. This particular Egyptian museum pulled contents from various other holdings they had around. It was more of an effort to bring things together than to totally create from anew, because the Romans had always been Egyptologists.

[52:41]

They loved the whole culture of Egypt and its archaeology and history and its art and whatnot, and were all through the centuries great collectors. So if you go down Rome, don't be surprised when you drive down Rome and you see Egyptian obelisks all over the place. They've got Egyptian stuff all over the place. And many, many Roman nobles throughout the centuries had their Egyptian collections. Well, the Pope went to work collecting collections, and also pulling out of this particular holding, the Pio Clementine, so Pius VI's collection he brought together, he pulled Egyptian stuff out of that to add it to the other body that he was collecting. And so they have, continue to have, a number of sarcophagi, a number of burial boxes out of basalt and marble in particular,

[53:43]

with the carvings on the outside, Egyptian ones of course. A large collection of scrolls, papyrus, monks, vases, statues, all kinds of sculptures and jewelry, and many, many small little articles, a lot of which you can see in the collection, and there are other things that are not on open view. They have stuff in storage as well. There are three minutes left. I can quit there, and let's see if there's anything to, just for people who have been there from their own experiences, if you want to share anything or questions regarding Gregory and or these museums. All right. Oh, here it is. I was wondering where it was. I tore it apart.

[54:44]

I thought I might tape the clip while I was talking. How far did the colonel reach down there? How far did he reach? How far did he reach? Don't know. Because it was a combination of other Republican forces taking care of some areas. Was he angry at the church because it was too much wealth? Yes. Yes. And there were generations here where certain sections outside the papal states, what was left of them, were already Republican to greater and lesser levels

[55:46]

and were fighting against the papal states for years already, often on ongoing struggle. It's like the forces of Bonaparte were like the frosting on a cake. It had been ongoing for a long time. It had been supremal against slavery in 1839. That's significantly before the Civil War. Interesting to know how that impacted on the Catholic communities in our southern states. Whether they just ignored it as often happens or did it cause... Well, at that time, they were mostly French. You know? Especially from the Acadians that went down. In the 1830s, there aren't a lot of Catholics in this country. There are, I mean, there are Catholics, but the great immigrant wave still hasn't hit.

[56:47]

There are still many Catholics who were fighting slavery in the South, especially in Louisiana and the Reds. And if it hadn't been for the war, if we only needed money, we wouldn't even be able to buy it here in the United States. Oh, yeah, yeah. Purchase. Pretty interesting. Europe suffered. How many people have seen the Vatican Museum? I've seen quite a few, quite a few. Well, a lot of that's there because you come out of this place. I want to just say again that next time I'm home, I hope to be able to do histories of maybe six of our great houses. I'll come out of Leeds often and find others. We'll just see what I can get done. I don't know when the next time I'm going to be home is. But hopefully, we can have an ongoing thing

[57:51]

and get this stuff into our own archives and computer banks and end up with, ten years down the line, something we can just hand to our incoming people regarding our heritage in English because there isn't a lot written on English. So thank you for your attention and participation, even if you were forced to come.

[58:13]

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