Thursday 22nd March 1883
I spent the morning at the Hospital of St. John and St. James1 in company with Dr Polemsky and Dr Mazzoni, the aids of Prof. Mazzoni who were very courteous and showed me the whole of these institutions and also the details of their surgical practice which from that Italian ....[?] is quite up to the mark. Lister's treatment assiduously adopted and as a result only one case of erysipelas, although hosp. is old and its hygiene arrangements are far from perfect. After leaving there visited the House of Deputies which is a well arranged and handsomely fitted building. The chair of Garibaldi is taken away and a golden wreath of laurel occupies its place so that no one shall ever sit there again. Had another look at the Pantheon and saw the monuments of Raphael and Victor Emanuel. The sun shining through the open centre of the roof gave the church a warm and pleasant appearance. After lunch Tadie found me and we went to the Pal. Colonna whi. contains some good portraits by Holbein, Paolo Veronese and Titian but not much else. Took carriage to Lateran museum2 whi. contains some fine sculptures and exquisite mosaics but nothing great re. pictures. 2nd visit to St. John's church and then home by Colosseum wh. satisfactory and looks grander on acquaintance and then to the Palace of the Caesars wh. impressed me more than anything yet seen with the magnificence of the Roman emperors in their grandeur. There are several of the old buildings of the Republic then of Augustus and Sept[imius] Severus and other of the emperors. The stadium basilica and house of Livia are very disturbing and also the corridor paved with exquisite mosaic in wh. Caligula was assassinated. On the way home called at church of Ara Coeli, the Tarpeian Rock wh. does not now seem very high and the church of the Jesu in which the Tenebrae was being given. Heard Stabat Mater at Cafe Venezia.
1. The hospitals of San Giovanni in Laterano and San Giacomo in Augusta were in use at the time of West's visit, but they are on opposite sides of the city, whereas he seems to be talking here about a single hospital of John and James (Giovanni and Giacomo). If anyone can throw any light on the identity of the hospital which he visited, please speak up!
2. Collection now housed in the Gregorian Profane Museum in the Vatican.
1. The hospitals of San Giovanni in Laterano and San Giacomo in Augusta were in use at the time of West's visit, but they are on opposite sides of the city, whereas he seems to be talking here about a single hospital of John and James (Giovanni and Giacomo). If anyone can throw any light on the identity of the hospital which he visited, please speak up!
2. Collection now housed in the Gregorian Profane Museum in the Vatican.