668 L O R E T T O. 
der is acquainted with the legendary hiftory of the San- 
tiflima Cafa, or mol! holy hcufe ; that it was the very houfe 
which the Virgin Mother, with the Infant Saviour and St. 
Jofeph, inhabited at Nazareth ; that it was tranfported by 
angels from Paleltine, when that country was totally aban¬ 
doned to the infidels; and placed, firft in Dalmatia, and 
afterwards on the oppofite thore in Italy, clofe to the fea- 
fide, whence, in conlequence of a quarrel between two 
brothers, the proprietors of the ground, it was removed, 
and fiivlly fixed on its prefent fite. This wonderful event 
is laid to have taken place in the year 1294, and is at- 
telted by the ocular evidence of fome Dalmatian peafants, 
the teftimony of the two quarrelfome brothers, and, I be¬ 
lieve, the declaration of a good old lady of the name of 
Lauretta. Some had feen it in Dalmatia, others beheld 
it hovering in the air, and many had found it in the 
tnorning on a fpot which they knew to have been vacant 
the evening before. Such is, at lead in general, the ac¬ 
count given at Loretto, circulated all over Italy, pioully 
admitted by many holy perfons, and not a little encou¬ 
raged by the popes. I need not fay, however, that many 
imen of reflection in Italy, and indeed within the precincts 
Of Loretto itfelf, conlider this wonderful ftory as an idle 
tale, or, at belt, a pious dream, conceived by a heated ima¬ 
gination, and circulated among an ignorant race of pea¬ 
fants and fifhermen. They fuppofe the holy houfe to have 
been a cottage or building long buried in apathlefs forell, 
and unnoticed in a country turned almoll into a defert by 
a fucceilion of civil wars, invafions, and revolutions, dur¬ 
ing the fpace of ten or twelve centuries. A dream, an 
accidental coincidence of circumflances, might have led 
one or more perfons to the difeovery of this long-forgot¬ 
ten edifice; and fuch an incident, working on minds 
heated by folitude and enthufiafm, might eafily have pro¬ 
duced the conviction, and propagated the belief, of the 
wonderful tale. But, be the origin of the holy houfe what 
it may, the effeft of artifice or of credulity, it gradually 
attracted the attention, firft of the country round, then of 
Italy at large, and at length of the whole Chriftian world. 
The miracle was every-where heard with joy and admira¬ 
tion, and every-where welcomed with implicit unfufpefl- 
ing faith. Princes and prelates, rich and poor, Jhaftened 
with pious alacrity to venerate the terreftrial abode of the 
incarnate Word, and implore the prefent aid and influ¬ 
ence of his Virgin Mother. Gifts and votive offerings 
accumulated ; a magnificent church was erefted ; gold, 
filver, and diamonds, blazed round every altar, and heaps 
of treafures loaded the (helves of the facrifty ; various 
edifices rofe around the new temple, and Loretto became, 
as it ltill remains, a large and populous city.” Tour in 
Italy, 1813. 
The facred chapel (lands due eaft and weft, at the far¬ 
ther end of a large church of the moll durable (lone of If- 
tria, which has been built around it. This may be con¬ 
sidered as the external covering, eras a kind of great-coat 
to the Cafa Santa, which has a fmaller coat of more pre¬ 
cious materials and workmanfliip nearer its body. This 
internal covering or cafe is of the choiceft marble, after a 
plan of San Savino’s, and ornamented with baflo relievos, 
the workmanfliip of the beft Sculptors which Italy could 
furnifh in the reign of Leo X. The fubjeft of thefe baffo 
relievos are the hiltory of the Bleffed Virgin, and other 
parts of the Bible. The whole cafe is about 50 feet long, 
30 in breadth, and the fame in height; but the real houfe 
itfelf is no more than 32 feet in length, 14 in breadth, and 
at the (ides about 18 feet in height; the centre of the 
roof is four or five feet higher. The walls of this little 
holy chapel are compofed of pieces of a reddifli fubftance, 
of an oblong fquare fiiape, laid one upon another, in the 
manner of brick. At firft fight, on a fuperficial view, 
thefe red-coloured oblong fubftances appear to be nothing 
edfe than common Italian bricks; and, which is Hill more 
extraordinary, on a Second and third view, with all pofli- 
hle attention, they (iill have the fame appearance. Tra- 
'trellers, ho.wever, are affured with great earneftnefs, that 
there is not a (ingle particle of brick in their whole com- 
polition, being entirely of a (lone, which, though it cannot 
now be found in Paleftine, was formerly very common, 
particularly in the neighbourhood of Nazareth. The 
holy houfe is divided within into two unequal portions, 
by a kind of grate-work of filver. The divifion towards 
the weft is about three-fourths of the whole ; that to the 
eaft is called the SanEluary. In the larger divifion, which 
may be confidered as the main body of the houfe, the 
walls are left bare, to (how the true original fabric of Na¬ 
zareth (tone; for, once more, they rauft not be fuppofed 
to be bricks. At the lower or weftern wall there is a 
window, the fame through which the angel Gabriel en¬ 
tered at the Annunciation. The architraves of this win¬ 
dow are covered with filver. There are a great number 
of golden and filver lamps in this chapel : one of the for¬ 
mer, a prefent from the republic of Venice, is faid to weigh 
37 pounds, and fome of the filver lamps weigh from 120 
to 130 pounds. At the upper end of the larged room is 
an altar; but fo low, that from it you may fee the famous 
image, which ftands over the chimney in the Small room 
or fanfluary. Golden and filver angels, of confiderable 
(ize, kneel around her, fome offering hearts of gold en¬ 
riched with diamonds, and one an infant of pure gold. 
The wall of the fanfluary is plated with filver, and adorn¬ 
ed with crucifixes, precious ftones, and votive gifts of va¬ 
rious kinds. The figure of the Virgin herfelf by no means 
correfponds with the fine furniture of her houfe. She is 
a little woman, about four feet in height, with the fea¬ 
tures and complexion of a negro. Of all the fculptors 
that ever exifted, affuredly St. Luke, by whom this figure 
is faid to have been made, is the lead of a flatterer; and 
nothing can be a ftronger proof of the Bleffed Virgin’s 
contempt for external beauty than her being fatisfied with 
this representation of her. The figure of the infant Je- 
fus, by St. Luke, is of a piece with that of the Virgin ; 
he holds a large golden globe in one hand, and the other 
is extended in the afl of blefling. Both figures have 
crowns on their heads, enriched with diamonds, thefe 
were prefents from Anne of Auftria, queen of France. 
Both arms of the Virgin are enclofed within her robes, 
and no part but her face is to be feen; her drefs is moll 
magnificent, but in a wretched bad tafte; this is not fur- 
priling, for (he has no'female attendant. She has parti¬ 
cular clothes for the different feafts held in honour of her j 
and, which is not quite fo decent, is always dreffed and 
undreffed by the priefts belonging to the chapel; her robes 
are ornamented with all kinds of precious ftones down to 
the hem of her garment. The niche in which the image 
ftands is adorned with feventy-one large Bohemian to¬ 
pazes; and on the right fide of the image is an angel of 
call gold, profufely enriched with diamonds and other 
gems, which is faid to have coft 50,000 ducats, and which 
was offered by Maria Beatrix Eleonora, of the houfe of 
Efte, queen of king James II. of England, that, by the 
interceflion of the Virgin Mary, (he might conceive a fon. 
Accordingly, foon after, as it is faid, (lie had a fon ; who 
has fince occafioned fo much noife in Europe, under the 
name of the Pretender. On the left fide of the Virgin’s 
image is a filver angel; and on the right band another 
coftly one,’ which was the gift of Louis XIII. king of 
France, for the birth of the dauphin,afterwards Louis XIV. 
The robe which this famous image wore, when it was 
brought from Dalmatia into Italy, is of red camlet, and 
kept in aglafs fhrine. The diih outef which (he and her 
divine infant are faid to have eaten is a (hallow bowj, of 
glazed earthen-ware, plated over with filver. This uten- 
(il is not only kiffed, but rofaries, medals, agnus dei’s, cru¬ 
cifixes, and paper caps painted with t.he image of the 
Madona of Loretto, are rubbed againft it, from a firm per- 
fuafion that they thus become an infallible remedy againft 
the head-ache, and other difeafes. Key/ler's Travels, vol. iii. 
In the year 1797, the French republicans plundered the 
chapel, and carried off the image of the Virgin, which 
however they reftored to the pope in i8oj, and we are told 
that 
