344 Antiquities, &c. R 0 
remarkable only for its antique shape, and the eight magni¬ 
ficent ancient columns of oriental granite that support its 
nave; two of these, which support the canopy of the al tar are 
of the Peacock’s eye marble. Beneath the altar is the beauti¬ 
ful 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 distin¬ 
guished 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 capital, and which is considered as the very 
column which Pliny mentions as having been that marked 
by two 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 sculptured 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 Lateran, 
the Quirinal, and the Vatican. The Lateran is a palace of 
great extent, adjoining the church of the same name, and 
a part of which is reserved for the pontiff, when he per¬ 
forms service in the church. The main body of the 
building was turned into an hospital for the reception of 250 
orphans by Innocent XI. 
The Quirinal palace on Monte Cavallo is the summer 
residence of the pope. It has two long, plain, and un¬ 
adorned fronts. The court within is about 350 feet 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. The adjoining gardens 
are spacious, and are ornamented with rivers, natural and 
artificial brooks, and by statues, urns, and other objects of 
antiquity. We have already mentioned the obelisk of the 
colossal horses. The principal paintings here are Guercini’s 
Madness of Saul; Caravaggio’s Christ and the Doctors; the 
original sketch of the Transfiguration; Domenichino’s Ecce 
homo; Bartolomew’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 palace and church 
which stand upon its declivity. The Vatican was erected by 
different architects, and is more an assemblage of palaces 
than a regular palace. 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 Regia, 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 Sala Regia, a hall of great length and height com¬ 
municating 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, con¬ 
taining on its walls and vaulted ceilings the fresco paintings 
of Michael Angelo and his pupils, which are its only orna¬ 
ments. 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 passed into the Loggio de Raffaelli, 
a series of open galleries in three stories, lining the three 
sides of the court of St. Damascus. 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 retouched or corrected by him. The thirteen 
arcades that form this wing of the gallery contain repre¬ 
sentations of the history of the Old and part of the New 
Testament. The first compartment represents God with 
arms and feet expanded darting into chaos, reducing its 
distracted elements into order by the word of his command. 
M E. ' Antiquities, &c. 
This representation is said to have astonished Michael Anv 
gelo. From one of the galleries a door opens into the 
Camere de Raffaello, which are a range of unfurnished halls 
the walls being covered with figures. 
Two antichambers, adorned with the paintings of great 
masters, lead to the first hall, called the Hall of Constantine, 
because it is adorned with the achievements of that emperor. 
The second chamber contains the story of Heliodorus from 
the Maccabees, the interview of Pope Leo and Attila, the 
miracle of Bolsena, and the fine picture of the liberation of 
St. Peter from prison. The third chamber contains the 
School of the Philosophers, the Debate on the Sacrament, 
the Judgment of Solomon, and Parnassus with its groves of 
bays, Apollo, the Muses, and the poets whom they inspired. 
The fourth chamber contains the Burning of the Borgo San 
Andre, the Victory of Pope Leo over the Saracens at Ostia, 
and the Coronation of Charlemagne. These paintings are 
the work of Raphael. 
From these state apartments of the Vatican, we pass to the 
Belvidere, so called from its elevation and prospect, and, 
advancing along an extensive gallery, we reach an iron door 
which conducts us into the library of the Vatican. The 
books are all kept in cases, and are not seen. Their num¬ 
ber, Eustace says, has been estimated at 2 and 400,000, 
while others raise it to a million, but a more recent author 
says that it scarcely possesses 40,000. The usual entrance 
into the library is by the office of that of the clerks, or 
writers of the principal European languages who are attached 
to the library. Passing through an anti-room, you enter a 
hall 200 feet by 50, painted in fresco. In this hall there is a 
column of oriental alabaster, from the baths of the emperor 
Gordian, and other curiosities. At both ends of this hall is 
a long gallery, the one being tenninated by the sacred, the 
other by the profane cabinet; the former a collection 
of Christian, and the latter of Pagan antiquities. The first 
consists of curiosities from the catacombs, carvings of 
Madonnas, Martyrdoms in bas-reliefs, &c. The adjacent 
chamber of the Papyras, decorated by Raphael and Mengs, 
is highly admired. The pavement is of the richest marble, 
and the walls are enamelled with giallo and verde antico, 
with porphyry and pilasters of oriental granite of the highest 
polish. The papyrus MSS. are enclosed in the walls in long 
columns under glass. At this end of the building the late 
pope has added some rooms, in which the books are visible 
and in which there is a fine collection of Greek vases. 
There is a good cabinet of medals in the library, and also a 
collection of prints. At the other end of this immense gal¬ 
lery is the profane cabinet, which possesses a grand collec¬ 
tion of antiques, particularly of bronze. Here there are 
some types for stamping, approaching closely to printing 
types. There are here several lead water-pipes marked with 
the plumber’s name; and perhaps the most singular curiosity 
is the long hair of a Roman lady, found in a tomb in the 
Appian way, and in a state of perfect preservation. 
The grand gallery which leads to the library terminates in 
the Museum Pio-Clementinum, begun by Clement XIV. and 
completed by Pius VI. It consists of several apartments, 
galleries, halls and temples, some lined with marble, others 
with mosaic pavement, and all of them full of statues, altars, 
tombs, candelabra, and vases. Three anti-chambers, called 
II vestibolo Quadrato, II vestibolo Rotondo, and La Camera 
di Baccho, lead to a court more than 100 feet square, with 
a portico supported by granite pillars, and decorated by 
antiquities of all kinds; with the Apollo Belvidere, the Lao- 
coon, the Cartoons, and the Torso. Next to the court is the 
hall of animals, furnished with the ancient statues of animals. 
At one end this hall opens into the gallery of Statues, con¬ 
taining on each side exquisite statues of Greek and Roman 
sculpture, and terminated by three apartments called the 
Stanze delle Buste. The busts rest on tables or stands of 
ancient workmanship, and commonly of the most curious 
and beautiful marble. At the opposite end of the gallery is 
an apartment called II Gabinetto, adorned by the united 
arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture. Its roof is 
supported by eight columns of alabaster. The place shines 
with 
