THE CHURCH OF S. MARIA MAGGIORE.
In the foreground is an Egyptian obelisk 63 feet high. The church was founded A.D. 352. It is 120 yards long by 50 wide. Its columns are of the Ionic and Corinthian orders. The interior is of three aisles, and has thirty-six Ionian columns of white marble, from the Villa of Hadrian at Tivoli. The high altar is formed of a large urn of porphyry, covered by a slab of marble, which is supported by four angels in gilt bronze. The canopy, erected by Benedict XIV., is supported by four columns of porphyry, surrounded by gilt palms. The four angels in marble were sculptured by P. Bracci. Under the high altar is the beautiful Confession, done by Vespignani, by order of Pius IX., in 1863, in which is preserved the relic of the cradle of the Saviour, and the bodies of S. Matthew and other saints. Here the late Pope was to be buried; but he would not allow his successor to ask leave of the Italian government, burial inside the walls being prohibited, and in his will he directed that his body should be interred in S. Lorenzo outside the walls. The monument is by Jacometti.
The mosaic pictures over the arches on each side are of the fifth century—a long series of panels of Scripture subjects, the historical books of the Old Testament.
BASILICA OF S. MARIA MAGGIORE.
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The Arch of Triumph over the altar is of the same period. Those on the vault of the tribune are of the thirteenth century. On the loggia, over the front entrance, is another very fine mosaic picture of the fourteenth century. On the left of the high altar is the