In this mood of public feeling, a report
arose on April 18, 1485, that the corpse of a young Roman lady of the
classical period--wonderfully beautiful and in perfect preservation--
had been discovered. Some Lombard masons digging out an ancient tomb on
an estate of the convent of Santa Maria Nuova, on the Appian Way,
beyond the tomb of Caecilia Metella, were said to have found a marble
sarcophagus with the inscription: 'Julia, daughter of Claudius.' On
this basis the following story was built. The Lombards disappeared with
the jewels and treasure which were found with the corpse in the
sarcophagus. The body had been coated with an antiseptic essence, and
was as fresh and flexible as that of a girl of fifteen the hour after
death. It was said that she still kept the colors of life, with eyes
and mouth half open. She was taken to the palace of the 'Conservatori'
on the Capitol; and then a pilgrimage to see her began. Among the crowd
were many who came to paint her; 'for she was more beautiful than can
be said or written, and, were it said or written, it would not be
believed by those who had not seen her.' By order of Innocent VIII she
was secretly buried one night outside the Pincian Gate; the empty
sarcophagus remained in the court of the 'Conservatori.' Probably a
colored mask of wax or some other material was modelled in the
classical style on the face of the corpse, with which the gilded hair
of which we read would harmonize admirably.
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