On The Piazza, Considerably In Front Of
This Wonderful Edifice And Nearly In The Centre, Stands An Immense Egyptian
Obelisk, And At A Short Distance On Each Side Of The Obelisk Two
Magnificent Fountains Which Spout Water To A Great Height And Which
Contribute Greatly To The Ornament Of The Piazza.
Now you must not expect me to give you a description of this glorious
temple.
I never in my life possessed descriptive powers, even for objects
of no great importance: how then could I attempt to delineate the
innumerable beauties of this edifice? Yet, vast as it is, the proportions
of the facade are so correct, that they, together with the semi-circular
colonnaded portico, serve to diminish its apparent size and to render its
mass less imposing, but perhaps more beautiful. On this account it appears
at first sight of less size than the Church of St Paul's in London. The
beauty of the architecture, viz., of the facade and of the colonnaded
portico would require days to examine and admire. What shall I say then of
the wonders of the interior, crowded and charged as it is with the finest
pieces of sculpture, columns of the most beautiful verd antique and of
jaune antique; the masterpieces of painting copied in mosaic; the
precious, stones and marbles of all sorts that adorn the variety of
magnificent chapels and altars; the immense baldachin with its twisted
columns of bronze (the spoils of the Pantheon and of the temple of
Jerusalem); the profusion of gilding and ornament of all sorts and where in
spite of this profusion there seems rien de trop. At first entrance the
eye is so dazzled with the magnificent tout ensemble as to be incapable
for a long time of examining any thing in detail. Each chapel abounds in
the choicest marbles and precious stones: in a word it would seem as if the
whole wealth of the Earth were concentrated here. Without impiety or
exaggeration, I felt on entering this majestic temple for the first time
just as I conceive a resuscitated mortal would feel on being ushered into
the scene of the glories of Heaven. The masterpieces of painting are here
perpetuated in mosaic, and so correctly and beautifully done, that unless
you approach exceedingly close indeed, it is impossible to distinguish them
from paintings. What an useful as well as ornamental art is the mosaic!
There are a great variety of confessionals where penitents and pilgrims may
confess, each in his own tongue, for there is a confessional for the use of
almost every native tongue and language in the Catholic world. The cupola!
What an astonishing sight when you look up at it from below! How can I
better describe it than by relating the anecdote of Michel Angelo its
constructor, who when some one made a remark on the impossibility of making
a finer Cupola than that of the Pantheon, burst out into the following
exclamation: "Do you think so? Then I will throw it in the air," and he
fulfilled his word; for the cupola of St Peter's is exactly of the size of
that of the Pantheon, tho' at such an elevation as to give it only the
appearance of one fourth of its real size, or even less.
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