The Chair of St. Peter is also of bronze, and gilt, and cost 107,501 scudi, 44 scudi being equal to 10l. sterling.
| Scudi. | |
|---|---|
| Bernini had for his superintendence | 8,000 |
| The founder (John Artusius) | 28,000 |
| The smoothing and polishing | 4,000 |
| Gold laid on | 6,000 |
| Labour of gilding | 3,000 |
The bronze weighed 219,061 lbs.; of this the bronze of the statue of St. Andrew weighed 34,023, of St. Augustin, 30,791, of St. Athanasius, 23,652, of St. Chrysostom, 27,791.
The bronze of the Confessional weighs 186,392 lbs. Bernini had for his superintendence 10,000 crowns and a pension: no architect seems ever to have been so well paid for his labours as Bernini.
About the end of the seventeenth century an alarm was excited that the dome was about to give way. Fontana in consequence examined it, and found that there were indeed some cracks, but none of any consequence, or such as to excite the least reasonable apprehension for the safety of the building. In 1742, however, the report again prevailed, and many mathematicians and architects were called upon for their opinions, and gave, as is frequently the case, very discordant ones: the architects not dividing against the mathematicians, but both classes disagreeing among themselves. There is in the Vatican a model of half the cupola, which is believed to be that made under the direction of Michael Angelo previous to carrying it into execution. It is carried down cylindrically to the floor, so that it does not exhibit the mode of construction in pendentive. The appearance is that of a triple dome, but perhaps with connecting ribs between the two outer. The chief strength seems to be placed in the middle dome, the weight of which is brought down to the internal face of the drum. Three iron bands are marked in the construction, one entirely buried in the united base of the domes; the other two on the outer surface of the middle dome. The cracks which took place in the drum are painted on this model, and on a comparison with those whose vestiges are still visible on the building, apparently with considerable care and attention. They occurred all round the drum, and denote some enlargement in that part from the expansion of the dome, but in spite of all these iron ties, the cracks in the buttresses are the most numerous and important, and from their direction, almost uniformly outwards and downwards, indicate a settlement of the whole drum upon the pendentives, while the columns, resting upon the direct arches of the nave, have retained or nearly retained their position. The great piers have therefore probably gone outward, and when in the building, by bringing my eye carefully so as to compare the angle of a pilaster not affected by this operation, with those of the central cupola, I think I can perceive that such an effect has taken place. Nor has the movement entirely ceased, since a dovetailed piece of marble, inserted to ascertain the fact in 1810 was found broken in 1825. Perhaps there never was any just ground of alarm; yet as one of the iron circles intended to contain the thrust had given way, there probably had been a considerable settlement, but not more than might have been expected from the different periods in which the work had been carried up, and the repeated strengthenings which the solids had received. Nevertheless it was determined to insert five bands of iron, which were all let into the masonry, and made tight and sound, under the direction of Vanvitelli. The broken chain was restored, but another chain had been originally inserted in the thickness of the wall: this there was no opportunity of examining: in order to be perfectly secure, a sixth band was inserted in its neighbourhood, so that in all probability the dome and its drum are now secured by eight iron bands, five of which are in the drum: one at the springing of the arch, and two on the surface of the dome itself. It is doubted among the Italian architects whether the insertion of all these bands did not do more harm than any strength they could afford to the building can compensate.
The Sacristy was added in 1780 by Pius VI. under the direction of Carlo Marchionni. It is a vast building, enriched with the most beautiful marbles; and cost above 900,000 crowns; but I shall despatch it with this short notice, as it is neither beautiful in itself, nor does it form an appropriate addition to the edifice to which it is attached. And now, putting an end to the history of the building, let us proceed to the result of all these efforts.
There is no distant point of view in which this church gives the impression of great magnificence, or from which it has the appearance of being such an immense building as it really is. This is owing to the situation; and perhaps no building of great consequence was ever so badly placed. It stands in a hollow between the Janicular and Vatican hills, which are connected by a neck behind it; so that on three sides it is surrounded by slopes rising almost immediately from it, and about equalling the height of the nave, and in front, in spite of the large space before it, it seems encumbered by houses, which prevent the view down to the base. These houses only occupy a slip extending from the church down to the river, and it is said the French intended to have cleared them away, and to have continued an open portico across, about at the extremity of the present colonnades. From the bridge of St. Angelo, and from the road beyond it, you would then have had a very noble view of the whole edifice, of which the dome would be the principal feature; till, as you approached more nearly, the increasing apparent magnitude of the colonnade for a short space would have excluded, or nearly so, the principal object: after passing through this, the church would have presented itself under another aspect, the dome being nearly lost, but the façade opening upon the spectator in all its magnitude, with its accompanying galleries and colonnades. The great advantage of such an arrangement would be this, that as the dome and front do not well correspond together, their union would be masked just at the point where it is most disagreeable; and as the columns of the portico could not be seen as objects of any consequence, in comparison with the church, till we were fairly among them; the false estimate usually formed of their magnitude would be avoided, and they would serve to correct our notions of the magnitude of the building, instead of helping to mislead, as they do at present. This scheme is, I apprehend, abandoned; and we now from the bridge of St. Angelo see little but the dome itself, and after passing it, proceed along a dirty narrow street, whence we see nothing; at last we catch a glimpse of part of the front, and at the same time, of the extremity of the circular colonnade. Lest you should not have a plan at hand, I give you a little sketch of one: (Fig. 1.) a is the church, b b the galleries leading to it from the colonnades, c c the circular colonnades, d the obelisk, ee the two fountains, f the point which first catches your eye on your approach.
Fig 1.
