440 



ROME. 



Rome. 



lia Mag- 

 giorr. 



St. Paul. 



phagus of porphyry, originally found in the portico of 

 the Pantheon. 



Santa Ma- The Basilica Liberiana, or church of Santa Maria 

 Maggiore, stands on the highest of the two summits of 

 the Esquiline hill, in the midst of two great squares, 

 which terminate two streets nearly two miles long. It 

 is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient temple 

 and grove of Juno Lucina. The principal front con- 

 sists of a double colonnade ; the lower Ionic, the upper 

 Corinthian ; and before it is a Corinthian pillar, sup- 

 porting a brazen image of the blessed virgin. On en- 

 tering the church, there appear two magnificent co- 

 lonnades lining the nave, and separating it from the 

 aisles. They are each supported by more than twenty 

 pillars. The Ionic pillars are thirty feet high, and the 

 length of the colonnade 250. The altar is overshadow- 

 ed by a large canopy of bronze, sustained by four 

 lofty Corinthian columns of porphyry. One of the 

 chapels was built by Sextus Quintus, and contains his 

 tomb. A chapel on the opposite side, belonging to 

 the Borghese family, surpasses it in decorations. In 

 the latter, bronze, marble, lapis lazuli, jasper, and'the 

 more precious stones, cover the walls with a blaze of 

 ornament. 



The Basilica of St. Paul, without the walls, at 

 some distance from the Porta Ostiensis, is one of the 

 grandest temples erected by Constantine on the spot 

 of the apostle's martyrdom. This church is said by 

 Procopius to have been held in such veneration, that 

 Theodosius and Honorius built a portico from the gate 

 to the Basilica, a distance of nearly a mile. This por- 

 tico, which seems to have equalled the greatest works 

 of the ancient Romans, was supported by marble pil- 

 lars, and covered with gilt copper, but not a trace of it 

 now remains. The interior of the church is of ancient 

 brick. The portico is supported by twelve pillars; 

 the principal doors of bronze, and the nave and double 

 aisles are supported by about 80 Corinthian columns 

 in double rows, 24- of which are of Pavonazzo marble; 

 the walls and arches rest upon 12 other columns, and 

 30 more decorate the apostle's tomb. These pillars are 

 in general porphyry, and the 4 that support the cen- 

 tral arches are of vast magnitude. The church is 300 

 feet long and 150 broad, and it exhibits the finest col- 

 lection of pillars now known. 



The church of Santa Croce in Gierusalemmo stands 

 in a solitary situation on the Esquiline hill, close by the 

 walls of Rome, and near the Claudian aqueduct. It 

 was erected by Santa Helena, the mother of Constan- 

 tine on the rums of a temple of Venus and Cupid. Jt 

 derives its name from some pieces of the holy cross, 

 and a quantity of earth taken from Mount Calvary and 

 deposited in it by its founder. It is remarkable only 

 for its antique shape, and the eight magnificent ancient 

 columns of oriental granite that support its nave ; two 

 of these, which support the canopy of the altar are of 

 the Peacock's eye marble. Beneath the altar is the 

 beautiful bagnaruola, a bath of some ancient Roman, 

 formed out of one block of basalt. Its front, which is 

 modern, is of rich materials, but indifferent architecture. 

 The church of St. Lorenzo was built by Constantine 

 on the Via Tiburtina, about a mile from the Porta San 

 Lorenzo, and over the tomb of the martyr of that 

 name. It is distinguished by ten magnificent columns 

 of pavonazzetta marble buried nearly to the top of their 

 shafts below the pavement of the old church. On the 

 right hand side, in walking up the nave, is the Ionic 

 column having a frog and lizard sculptured on its cap- 



SantaCroce. 



Lorenzo. 



ital, and which is considered as the very column which Rome. 

 Pliny mentions as having been that marked by two V *-*~Y~--' 

 Spartan architects, Battroccus and Saurus. It must, 

 therefore, have been brought here from the temple of 

 Jove in the portico of Octavia. The frog is sculptur- 

 ed in the eye of one volute in place of the rose, and on 

 the other the lizard, in its own natural posture, encircles, 

 the rose. 



The three pontifical palaces in Rome are the Lateral^ Pontifical 

 the Quirinal, and the Vatican. The Lateran is a palacs palaces. 

 of great extent, adjoining the church of the same name, 

 and a part of which is reserved for the pontiff, when he 

 performs service in the church. The main body of the Lateran pa- 

 building was turned into an hospital for the reception lace> 

 of 250 orphans by Innocent XI. 



The Quirinal palace on Monte Cavallo is the summer Quirinal 

 residence of the Pope. It has two long, plain, and un p palace. 

 adorned fronts. The court within is about 350 fee 

 long and about 900 wide ; a broad and lofty portico 

 runs along it on every side and terminates in a grand 

 staircase leading to the papal apartments, chapel, &c. 

 Theadjoining gardens are spacious, and are ornamented 

 with rivers, natural and artificial brooks, and by sta- 

 tues, urns, and other objects of antiquity. We have al- 

 ready mentioned the obelisk of the colossal horses. The 

 principal paintings here areGuercini's Madness of Saul'; 

 Caravaggio's Christ and the Doctors; the original sketch 

 of the Transfiguration; Domenichino'sEcceHomo; Bar- 

 tolomew's St, Peter and St. Paul, and some paintings by 

 Carlo Maratti. There is here a small chapel painted 

 by Guido. 



The Vatican hill gives its name to the pa- Vatican 

 lace and church which stand upon its declivity. The palace. 

 Vatican was erected by different architects, and is 

 more an assemblage of palaces than a regular pa- 

 lace. It covers a space of 1200 feet in length and 

 1000 in breadth. The number of its apartments is 

 reckoned to be 10,000, and its halls and palaces 

 are on a scale of grandeur truly Roman. The grand 

 entrance is from the portico of St. Peter's by the 

 Scala Ilegia, the most superb staircase in the world, 

 composed of four flights of marble steps with a double 

 row of marble Ionic pillars. This leads to the Sal.a - 

 Regia, a hall of great length and height, communicat- 

 ing by six folding doors with as many other apart- 

 ments. At one end of the Sala Regia is the Capella 

 Paolina, the altar of which is supported by porphyry 

 pillars, and bears a tabernacle of rock crystal. On the 

 other end of the hill on the left is the Sistine chapel, 

 containing on its walls and vaulted ceilings the fresco 

 paintings of Michael Angelo and his -pupils, which are 

 its only ornaments. The Last Judgment of Michael 

 Angelo occupies one end entirely. Opposite to the 

 Sistine chapel a folding door leads into the Sala Ducale, 

 a very large hall. Hence the visitor passes into the 

 Loggio de Raffaelli, a series of open galleries in three 

 stones, lining the three sides of the court of St. Damas- 

 us. These galleries were either painted by Raphael 

 or by his scholars. The first gallery in the middle 

 story is the only one executed by Raphael or retouch- 

 ed or corrected by him, The thirteen arcades that 

 form this wing of the gallery contain representations 

 of the history of the Old and part of the New Testa- 

 ment. The first compartment represents God with 

 arms and feet expanded darting into .chaos, reducing 

 its distracted elements into order by the word oP his 

 command. This representation is said to have aston- 

 ished Michael Angelo. From one of the galleries a 



