This temple has been nearly five hundred years in course of construction, and will probably require another century for its completion. In gazing with astonishment upon the forest of pinnacles and thousands of marble statues, together with millions of rich ornaments and endless works of carved marble, the great tower, with its lofty summit crowned with a colossal statue, one would fail to notice any deficiency or lack in its completion; yet millions are still required to carry out, in full, the magnificent design of the great artist who planned this astonishing specimen of Gothic architecture.
Up to the present about one hundred and ten millions of dollars have been expended, independent of the marble donated at the quarry. The walls are eight feet in thickness, built of fine white marble from Mount Gandoglia. The floors are paved with marble—the roof is formed with marble blocks united by cement. The length of the cathedral is four hundred and ninety feet, its breadth two hundred and ninety-eight, and its height to the summit of the tower is four hundred feet. It is built in the form of a Latin cross, divided into five naves, supported by fifty-two pillars, each about seventy-two feet high, and twenty-four feet in circumference. The interior of the building is decorated with fret-work, carving, statuary and numerous paintings, the production of the most skilful artists of Europe. The exterior is covered with marble statuary, representing some of the most remarkable events in biblical history—Moses rescued from the Nile by Pharaoh's daughter, Joseph's temptation in the house of Potiphar, the angel driving out Adam and Eve from Eden, Daniel in the den of lions, God appearing to Moses in a burning bush, David holding the head of Goliath, Sampson suffocating the lions, and carrying on his shoulders the gates of Gaza. Fifty-two representations of this character adorn the front of this temple.
Writers differ in their statements of the number of the statues which ornament this building. In a work published by a Mr. Prioli at Milan, the present number is estimated at seven thousand, and additions are constantly being made. The most celebrated artists in Europe have been employed, and are still engaged in embellishing this edifice.
We ascended by a flight of five hundred and twelve steps to the platform of the great cupola, where we enjoyed a magnificent view of the city, and the immense plains of Lombardy, chequered with towns and villages, stretching far away till lost beneath the surrounding girdle of snow-capped mountains. From this lovely picture of nature, we turn to gaze on the countless objects of beauty and splendor, the productions of the highest efforts of human genius, which constitute the exterior decorations of this extraordinary temple. Before us stood a forest of towers—one hundred and thirty-six in number, each adorned with twenty-five marble figures, life size, and thousands of ornamental objects in white marble, imparting to the scene richness, beauty and grandeur. We descended to the interior of the building, where, among the numerous objects which attracted our attention, was a marble statue, life size, representing St. Bartholomew flayed alive carrying his skin upon his shoulders. The artist was eight years engaged in this work, which is much admired as a specimen of the extraordinary skill and anatomical knowledge of the sculptor. In his right hand the saint holds a figure representing the knife with which his skin was taken off. The veins, arteries and muscles, together with the whole surface of the body and limbs in a flayed condition, are delineated by the hand of the sculptor with marvelous exactness.
We attended high mass in this church New Year's morning, the Archbishop of Milan presiding. But I must hasten to a close.
On the morning of the 3d of January we left Milan and arrived here, in Venice, the city of waters, the following evening.
Lorenzo Snow.
LETTER V.
Rome and its population.—The seven hills.—Excavations by the Government.—The Forum.—Antony and Julius Caesar.—Where Virginius stabbed his daughter.—Famous obelisks.—Temple of Venus.—The Tarpeian Rock.—St. Peter's.—Call on the American minister.—The Vatican.—Michael Angelo.—Paul III.—Appian Way.—Seneca.—Baths.—Footprints of the Savior.—Naples.—Mount Vesuvius.