VIEW OF THE CAPITOL.
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The church is the residence of the celebrated Santissimo Bambino, carved out of a tree from the Mount of Olives, and painted by S. Luke. This image is highly decorated with jewellery, and has a two-horse carriage at its disposal, with coachmen and footmen, when it pays a visit to the sick. "As thy faith, so be it unto thee." Apply at the sacristy to see it. The floor of the church is of the kind called opus-Alexandrinum, tesselated mosaic, and slab tombs of medieval period. A grand ceremony is held here on Christmas day, and at the Epiphany children recite the story of Christ.

In the left transept an isolated octagonal chapel, dedicated to S. Helena, is said by the church authorities to stand on the site of an altar erected by Augustus—Ara primogeniti Dei—to commemorate the Cumæan sibyl's prophecy of the coming of the Saviour. Its present name is traceable to this altar. Some traces of Gothic can be seen in the walls and windows of this church, which stands on the site of

THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER CAPITOLINUS.

"It stood upon a high rock, and was 800 feet in circuit, each side containing near 200; the length does not exceed the width by quite 15 feet. For the temple that was built in the time of our fathers, upon the same foundations with the first, which was consumed by fire, is found to differ from the ancient temple in nothing but in magnificence and the richness of the materials, having three rows of columns in the south front, and two on each side. The body is divided into three temples, parallel to one another, the partition walls forming their common sides. The middle temple is dedicated to Jupiter; and on one side stands that of Juno, and on the other that of Minerva. And all three have but one pediment and one roof." (Dionysius, iv. 61. See also Tacitus, "Hist." iii. 72; Livy, i. 55; Plutarch, in "Publicola;" Tacitus, "Hist." iv. 53.)

Four different temples have been erected on this site, and now it is occupied by a Christian church. The first, built by Tarquinius Superbus, and consecrated by Horatius the consul, was burned in the civil war. The second, erected by Sylla, and consecrated by Catulus, was destroyed under Vitellius. The third, erected by Vespasian, was burned before it was consecrated. The fourth was built by Domitian.

Access is now to be had to some curious vaults below the convent, which were formerly closed by the monks. Supporting these vaults are some remains of massive tufa walls—one piece in particular being about 36 feet long and 8 feet high—consisting of single blocks of stone, of which the other fragments seem to be continuations. These appear to have been built originally as substructions, and run parallel with the Via Marforio, and could not have been part of the city wall, for that is within the city of the two hills. Nibby records that tufa walls remain under the stairs leading up to the Ara Cœli Church. We think them to be part of the foundations of the celebrated Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

We may mention that among the rubbish contained in the vaults of the convent are two slender columns of Pentelic marble. May not these have belonged to the temple?