Al Sepolcro di Papa Clemente XIV. Manuscript copy of an anonymous sonnet.

8vo. Italian manuscript on paper. 1 p. Together with another contemporary copy of the sonnet (8vo, p.). This unpublished sonnet was written in honour of the deceased Pope Clement XIV, who had died on 22 September 1774, and probably circulated in Rome at that time: "Chi giace in questa Tomba? Il Corpo giace / Del Gran Clemente. E l'Alma or salita? / In grembo al suo Fattor pronto e spedita, / E di sua luce ivi trionfa e tace. / Chi piange? Il Mondo. E chi duol si sface? / Roma. Ed al duolo qual cagion l'invita? / Perch sparendo Lui, seco sparita / E Giustizia, e Bont , Letizia, e Pace. / Chi f al Sepolcro suo fregio, e corona? / Religion. Chi serba [!] la memoria? / Colui, che alla Virtude applausi dona. / Dunque in van Morte rea si vanta, e gloria, / Se in Cielo, e qui fr noi vive, e risuona, / E chiaro andr nella futura Istoria". - The poem is a close adaptation of an elegiac sonnet in Giacomo Bratteolo's collection "Rime di diversi elevati ingegni della Citta di Udine" published in 1597. - The most consequential and controversial decision of Pope Clement XIV was the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773. This political act led to a surge in propaganda for and against the Jesuits and the Pope. The sonnet at hand must be seen in this context, although it does not refer to the disgraced Jesuits, choosing rather to elevate the deceased Pope as a beacon of virtue whose grave is rightfully crowned by Religion. - With minor fire damage.