286 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 



that they do not appear to be supporting media. Be- 

 tween the ribs are mosaic displays of great brilliance. 

 In the lowest intercostal space are tinted pictures of 

 the Savior, the Virgin, and the Apostles ; and in the 

 upper space, on a level with the lantern, is God the 

 Father. What is called the Canopy, over the High 

 Altar, is an immense display of bronze. The metal in 

 this weighs ninety tons, and was taken from the 

 Pantheon borrowed, and never to be returned. 

 What was Pagan is now sanctified and Christianized. 



To the left of St. Peter's is what is called the 

 Vatican. This was once a palace and the dwelling 

 place of the Popes. The home of the Pontiff is now 

 in the handsome grounds in the rear of the Vatican 

 Galleries. Here the Pope lives in voluntary seclusion, 

 but walks and drives in the extensive inclosures 

 which surround the Papal mansion. 



On certain days in the week the galleries of art 

 in the Vatican can be visited at a trifling expense. 

 The collection of antiquities is thought to be the 

 finest in the world. It was begun in Pope Julius the 

 Second's time, and has been going on ever since. In 

 the Greek Cross Hall is a 'Venus, with merit enough 

 to have come from the hand of Praxiteles. In the 

 Rotunda is a bust of Zeus, and the finest representation 

 of " the front of Jove" extant. It is from the chisel 

 of Phidias or Lysippus. The Hall of the Muses is 

 filled with very attractive figures in Carrara marble. 

 The Muses were found at Tivoli. In the Gallery of 

 Statuary is Sleeping Ariadne, a voluptuous beauty once 

 thought to represent Cleopatra. Near to the statue is 

 a beautiful Candelabrum found in Hadrian's villa. It 

 is adorned with the heads of Grecian gods, each being 

 a masterpiece. In the Cortile del Belvedere are a 



