342 Antiquities, &c. R O 
below. The lofty situation of the fountain commands one 
of the finest views of Rome, and the plain of the Campagna, 
bounded only by the ridge of the Apennines. “ The trees,” 
says Eustace, “ that line its sides and wave to the eye, 
through its arches, shed an unusual beauty around it; and 
the immense basin which it replenishes, gives it the appear¬ 
ance, not of the contrivance of human ingenuity, but almost 
the creation of enchantment.” 
The fountain of Trevi, in the Piazza di Trevi, is the finest 
in Rome, and probably the most magnificent in the world. 
On a huge rough and broken rock, rises a palace adorned 
with Corinthian pilasters, and supported in the centre by 
Corinthian pillars. It is ornamented with statues. In the 
middle of the edifice, between the columns, under a rich 
arch, stands Neptune in his car, in a majestic attitude. Two 
sea horses, led by two tritons, drag his chariot, and “ emerg¬ 
ing from the caverns of the rock, shake the trees from their 
roots, while the obedient waves burst forth in torrents on all 
sides, roar down the clefts of the crag, and form a sea 
around its base.” The basin is of white marble, and the 
enclosure around it is flagged and lined with the same stone. 
A flight of white marble steps leads down to the basin. 
Rome is superior to all the other cities of Europe in the 
number and splendour of its churches. 
The church of St. Peter’s, with its superb cupola, its prodi¬ 
gious dimensions, and its extraordinary riches of sculpture 
and mosaic painting, is undoubtedly the most magnificent 
Christian temple in the world. The language of enthusiasm, 
at once poetic and religious, has been exhausted in celebra¬ 
ting its praises, and it really requires some freedom from pre¬ 
judice and some self-command, as well as boldness, to be 
able to form, and to venture to express a dispassionate, calm 
opinion upon its merits and defects. We cannot help think¬ 
ing, that considering the talents which were employed in its 
erection, the great length of time consumed betwixt its com¬ 
mencement and its termination, and the unbounded expense 
lavished on it, it is rather surprising that it is not much more 
magnificent. The great entrance to it is through a court 
surrounded by an oval Doric colonnade; tliis was indeed a 
grand conception, but its execution is open to some criticism. 
This court is adorned by an ancient obelisk, and two foun¬ 
tains of the utmost simplicity and elegance. The front itself 
is certainly rich and handsome, but it is very inferior to what 
it ought to have been, considering the importance of the 
building to which it belongs. It has many of the faults to 
which we have before alluded. Its columns are merely three- 
quarters, its windows look like very unsightly holes, and it 
has an ugly attic above its colonnade. Let any of our readers 
compare this front, with the western faqade of our own St. 
Paul’s, or still more with that of St. Genevieve at Paris, and 
they will see how much greater magnificence has been pro¬ 
duced on a much smaller scale. 
On entering St. Peter’s, every observer is astonished that 
its dimensions appear so much less than they really are. 
This has been attributed to the justness of the proportions of 
the building, and strangely enough has been adduced as a 
merit. On a very little consideration this must appear a 
most extraordinary error. If indeed it be owing to the pro¬ 
portions of St. Peter’s that it appears less than it is, this must 
be considered as a proof, not that its proportions are ex¬ 
actly what they ought-to be, but that tbere is something 
wrong about them; for its magnificent dimensions are ge¬ 
nerally and justly regarded as one fit cause of our admira¬ 
tion, and therefore that must be- thought a defect which 
conceals their immensity. If, on the other hand, it be a 
merit in the proportions of St. Peter’s that they diminish to 
the eye its real size, then that size must be a defect, and the 
expense and labour of producing it must have been more 
than wasted. In truth, however, we doubt altogether the 
justness of the theory which attributes to the general pro¬ 
portions of a building unassisted by its darkness or lightness, 
the power of diminishing or augmenting the whole magni¬ 
tude of a building. We think the true cause of the apparent 
diminution of St. Peter’s, in part at least, may be the great 
magnitude of the numerous statues in the church. These 
M E. Antiquities, &c. 
are, in fact, all colossal, and as our eye is accustomed to sta¬ 
tues more near the size of life, they serve as a false standard 
by which we measure the church in which they stand. We 
suspect also that statues of white marble have, from their 
brilliancy of ,colour, the appearance of being much nearer 
to the eye than they really are, which must of course di¬ 
minish their apparent magnitude, and render the scale afford¬ 
ed by them still more fallacious.. The great light of St. 
Peter’s especially when contrasted, as it will be involunta¬ 
rily by all foreigners, with the gloominess of their own Go¬ 
thic cathedrals, contributes to the same effect of reducing its 
seeming dimensions. 
On the whole, the interior of St. Peter's is very handsome, 
so handsome that our remarks may seem too minute, and 
hypercritical, when there is so much to admire; but we 
cannot help regretting that the entablature over the pilasters 
of the nave is so much broken, and that the beautiful frieze, 
which is over two of them, has not been continued. As it 
is, it only serves to make the deficiency more striking. There 
is also, too great a mixture of differently coloured marbles 
in the arches that support the nave, and the capella papale 
is certainly a disgrace to so noble, and generally simple an 
edifice. It is a singular circumstance that the tall fluted and 
reeded Corinthian pilasters between the arches of the nave, 
are only painted in imitation of white marble. The re¬ 
trenchment of some of the superfluous ornaments of the 
church would probably have sufficed to have made them 
what they pretend to be. Of the cupola we have already in¬ 
timated the highest admiration, and the only change which, 
to our apprehension, would render it more beautiful, we 
mean the continuing the entablature over its pilasters, would 
perhaps add too much to its weight for the security of the 
building. After all, the continuance of an internal enta¬ 
blature is of much less importance, as, in truth, any cornice 
within a building is rather a solecism, it being properly and 
originally the projection of the roof; for this remark we are 
indebted to Milizia, who suggests that it would be better in 
the interior of a building to omit the cornice altogether, 
making use of a simple frieze. It is difficult to conceive the 
splendid effect of the architecture of St. Peter’s, when the 
illuminated cross, notwithstanding its own extreme brilli¬ 
ance, casts a dim religious light over all the more remote 
parts of the edifice; while those which wholly retire from 
its effulgence are thrown into the deepest shade.—Then in¬ 
deed the church appears in its real gigantic proportions, all 
its minor defects are lost in the magnificence and sublimity 
of the whole ; and we are compelled to confess that it is 
worthy to be the chief temple of the great city, which claims 
for itself the pre-eminence of Christendom. 
At the west of the high altar of St. Peter’s is the descent 
by a double flight of marble steps, to the tomb or confession 
of St. Peter. These steps lead to an area before two brass 
folding doors, which conduct into a vault whose grated 
floor is right above the tomb. The rails that surround this 
space above, are adorned with 112 bronze cornucopias, 
which support as many silver lamps, that burn constantly 
in honour of the apostle. The stair-case, the pavement of 
the area, and the walls around, are lined with alabaster, lapis 
lazuli, verde antico, &c. 
The Sacre Grotte, which is on a level with the above 
pavement, has its regular entrance beneath one of the great 
pillars that support the dome. This grotto, consisting of 
several long winding galleries, stretching under the first 
building in various directions, is the remains of the ancient 
church built by Constantine. 
The vestry or sacristy of St. Peter’s is a splendid build¬ 
ing, connected with the church by a long gallery, and 
ornamented with mosaics, statues, and paintings. It is 
indeed a large church, covered with a dome, and surrounded 
with chapels. 
The dome of St Peter’s is ascended by a well lighted and 
broad paved staircase or road, of such gentle acclivity, 
that there is a continual passage of horses and mules upon it, 
which go up laden with stones and lime. Crowds of 
workmen are seen passing and repassing, and the whole has 
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