"Tu es vas electionis,
Sancte Paule Apostole,
Prædicator veritatis
In universo mundo."
It is supported by four pillars of Oriental alabaster, presented by Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt. The altars of malachite, at the ends of the transepts, were given by the Emperor Nicholas of Russia.
"Les schismatiques et les mussulmans eux-mêmes sont venus rendre hommage à ce souverain de la parole, qui entraînait les peuples au martyre et subjuguait toutes les nations."—Une Chrétienne à Rome.
In a building so entirely modern, there are naturally few individual objects of interest. Among those saved[368] from the old basilica, is the magnificent paschal candlestick, covered with sculpture in high-relief. The altar at the south end of the transept has an altar-piece representing the Assumption, by Agricola, and statues of St. Benedict, Baini, and Sta. Scholastica, by Tenerani. Of the two chapels between this and the tribune, the first has a statue of St. Benedict by Tenerani; the second, the Cappella del Coro, was saved from the fire, and is by Carlo Maderno.
The altar at the north end of the transept is dedicated to St. Paul, and has a picture of his conversion, by Camuccini. At the sides are statues of St. Gregory by Laboureur and of S. Romualdo by Stocchi. Of the chapels between this and the tribune, the first, dedicated to St. Stephen, has a statue of the saint, by Rinaldi; the second is dedicated to St. Bridget (Brigitta Brahe), and contains the famous crucifix of Pietro Cavallini, which is said to have spoken to her in 1370.
"Not far from the chancel is a beautiful chapel, dedicated to St. Bridget, and ornamented with her statue in marble. During her residence in Rome, she frequently came to pray in this church; and here is preserved, as a holy relic, the cross from which, during her ecstatic devotion, she seemed to hear a voice proceeding."—Frederika Bremer.
The upper walls of the nave are decorated with frescoes by Galiardi, Podesti, and other modern artists.
The two great festivals of St. Paul are solemnly observed in this basilica upon January 25 and June 30, and that of the Holy Innocents upon December 28.
Very near S. Paolo, the main branch of the little river Almo, the "cursuque brevissimus Almo" of Ovid, falls into the Tiber. This is the spot where the priests of Cybele used to wash her statue and the sacred vessels of her temple, and to raise their loud annual lamentation for the death of her lover, the shepherd Atys:
"Est locus, in Tiberim quo lubricus influit Almo,
Et nomen magno perdit ab amne minor,
Illic purpurea canus cum veste sacerdos,
Almonis dominam sacraque lavit aquis."
Ovid, Fast. iv. 337.