The wonders of the world

by John Loraine Abbott

“We saw in the museum of the Capitol,” says Professor Silliman, “the original of that bust of Cicero, which represents him as a large man with a full face and round head, the very reverse of the bust formerly said to be Cicero’s, and which I saw in 1805 in the Earl of Pembroke’s palace, near Salisbury, England. That bust made Cicero’s features lean, muscular, and sharp, with a wart on the right cheek, near the nose. Artists and antiquaries have no doubt, I believe, of the authenticity of the bust in the Capitol, which bears his name, and was found in a villa of Mecænas. An excellent copy of this bust, by our countryman, Crawford, is in the Trumbull gallery in Yale college, along with copies by the same artist of the busts of Demosthenes and Homer, the originals of which we saw in the Capitol museum. In this museum is also to be seen the celebrated Venus of the Capitol, to which a separate saloon is devoted. The dying Gladiator is in a room with other noble antique statues. Byron has completely embalmed this figure in his memorable description in the fifth canto of Childe Harold’s pilgrimage. It is probable that the artist himself, could he have read the passage, would have confessed that it expressed his sentiment even more perfectly than the marble. Any one who has traversed Italy with Byron in his hand, will readily appreciate not only the wonderful fidelity of his descriptions, but that all other language seems poverty-stricken and unmeaning when compared with the masterly touches by which he has painted the various monuments of antiquity which adorn his pictured page. For example, besides the passage just alluded to, we have his tomb of Cecilia Metella, the Thunder-stricken Nurse of Rome! the Coliseum, the Pantheon, and St. Peter’s, &c. The original bronze wolf, representing the early nursing of Romulus and Remus, is in the Capitol museum. The little urchins, also in bronze, are eagerly drawing from the savage wet-nurse the means of life. This fable affords not an unapt symbol of the ferocious disposition of Romulus, who slew his brother, and of most of the Roman people, of whatever rank, to whom human blood seems to have been a delightful nectar. There has been much discussion as to the antiquity of this wolf. It appears probable that this is the image referred to by Cicero; and it bears marks of having been struck by lightning, according to tradition. There is a large piece of metal torn out of one of the hind legs of the wolf, and this is stated by tradition to have happened from a thunder-stroke, (to which, of course, Byron alludes in his immortal lines,) which fell upon the wolf the moment when it was announced in the Capitol that Julius Cæsar was dead.”

ST. PETER’S OF ROME.

The piazza of this masterpiece of architecture, a view of which as seen from the Tiber is given in the cut on the next page, is altogether sublime. The double colonnade on each side, extending in a semicircular sweep, the stupendous Egyptian obelisk, the two fountains, the portico, and the admirable façade of the church, form such an assemblage of magnificent objects, as can not fail to impress the mind with awe and admiration. The church appears in the background, and on each side is a row of quadruple arches, resting on two hundred and eighty-four pillars, and eighty-eight pilasters: these arches support one hundred and ninety-two statues, twelve feet in hight. The two noble fountains throw a mass of water to the hight of nine feet, from which it falls in a very picturesque manner, and adds greatly to the beauty of the scene. In the center is the fine obelisk.

At the first entrance into St. Peter’s, the effect is not so striking as might be expected: it enlarges itself, however, insensibly on all sides, and improves on the eye every moment. The proportions are so accurately observed, that each of the parts are seen to an equal advantage, without distinguishing itself above the rest. It appears neither extremely high, nor long, nor broad, because a just equality is preserved throughout. Although every object in this church is admirable, the most astonishing part of it is the cupola. On ascending to it, the spectator is surprised to find, that the dome which he sees in the church, is not the same with the one he had examined without doors, the latter being a kind of case to the other, and the stairs by which he ascends into the ball lying between the two. Had there been the outward dome only, it would not have been seen to advantage by those who are within the church; or had there been the inward one only, it would scarcely have been seen by those who are without; and had both been one solid dome of so great a thickness, the pillars would have been too weak to have supported it.

ST. PETER’S AS SEEN FROM THE TIBER.

It is not easy to conceive a more glorious architectural display than the one which presents itself to the spectator who stands beneath the dome. If he looks upward, he is astonished at the spacious hollow of the cupola, and has a vault on every side of him, which makes one of the most beautiful vistas the eye can possibly have to penetrate. To convey an idea of its magnitude, it will suffice to say, that the hight of the body of the church, from the ground to the upper part of its ceiling, is four hundred and thirty-two feet, and that sixteen persons may place themselves, without inconvenience, in the globular top over the dome, which is annually lighted, on the twenty-ninth of June, by four thousand lamps and two thousand fire-pots, presenting a most delightful spectacle. The vestibule of St. Peter’s is grand and beautiful. Over the second entrance is a fine mosaic from Giotto, executed in the year 1303; and at the corners, to the right and left, are the equestrian statues of Constantine and Charlemagne. Of the five doors leading to the church itself, one, called the holy door, is generally shut up by brick-work, and is only opened at the time of the jubilee. The middle gate is of bronze, with bass-reliefs.

Of the one hundred and thirty statues with which this church is adorned, that of St. Peter is the most conspicuous: it is said to have been recast from a bronze statue of Jupiter Capitolinus. One hundred and twelve lamps are constantly burning around the tomb of this saint; and the high altar close to it, on which the pope alone reads mass, is overshadowed by a ceiling, which exceeds in loftiness that of any palace of Rome. The splendid sacristy was built by Pius VI. But by far the greatest ornaments of the interior are the excellent works in mosaic, all copied from the most celebrated pictures, which are thus guarded from oblivion.

The great and truly awful dome of St. Peter’s is only two feet less in diameter than that of the Pantheon, being one hundred and thirty-seven feet; but it exceeds the latter in hight by twenty feet, being one hundred and fifty-nine feet, besides the lantern, the basis pedestal of the top, the globular top itself, and the cross above it, which, collectively, measure one hundred and twenty feet. The roof of the church is ascended by easy steps; and here the visitor seems to have entered a small town, for he suddenly finds himself among a number of houses, which either serve as repositories of implements and materials for repairing the church, or are inhabited by the workmen. The dome, at the foot of which he now arrives, appears to be the parish church of this town; and the inferior domes seem as if intended only for ornaments to fill up the vacuities. Add to this, that he can not see the streets of Rome, on account of the surrounding high gallery and its colossal statues, and the singularity of such a scene may be easily conceived. It is besides said, that a market is occasionally held here for the aerial inhabitants.

But although the adventurous stranger is now on the roof, he has still a great hight to ascend before he reaches the summit of the dome. Previously to his engaging in this enterprise, he is conducted to the inside gallery of the dome. From this spot the people within the body of the church appear like children. The higher he goes, the more uncomfortable he finds himself, on account of the oblique walls over the narrow staircase; and he is often compelled to lean with his whole body quite to one side. Several marble plates are affixed in those walls, containing the names of the distinguished personages who have had the courage to ascend to the dome, and even to climb up to the lantern, and the top. The emperor Joseph II. is twice mentioned; and Paul I. as grand duke. In some parts, where the stairs are too steep, more commodious steps of wood have been placed. By these the lantern can be reached with greater facility; and the view which there waits the visitor, is magnificent beyond description: it is an immense panorama, bounded by the sea.