The Statue Was Formerly A Statue Of
Jupiter Capitolinus, But On The Grand Revolution Among The Inhabitants Of
Olympus And
The downfall of Jupiter, it was broken to pieces, melted down
and fabricated into an image of St Peter, so
That this statue has lost
little of its former sovereignty and still rules Heaven and Earth if not
with regal, with at least vice-regal power, tho' under a different name.
In the Sistine Chapel is the celebrated painting al fresco of the day of
Judgment by Michel Angelo, an aweful subject and nobly and awefully
executed.
In the porch under the facade of St Peter's are two marble statues on
horseback, one at each end of the porch: they represent Constantine the
Great and Charlemagne, the two great benefactors of the holy Catholic
Church; the one, in fact, its founder, the other its preserver.
As the Palace of the Vatican stands close to the Church of St Peter's and
communicates with it by an escalier, I ascended the escalier in order
to behold and examine the famous Museum of the Vatican, the first in the
world, and unique for the vast treasures of the fine arts that it contains;
treasures which the united wealth of all Europe and India to boot could not
purchase at their just price. Here in fact it may be said are preserved the
riches and plunder of the whole world, which was stripped of all its
valuables by those illustrious brigands the ancient Romans. And mark in
this point the good fortune of Rome; instead of losing them again as other
nations have lost their trophies, Superstition came to her aid and caused
them to be respected and preserved, 'till an enlightened age arose which
guided by Philosophy, Humanity and Science will for ever preserve them
secure against all attacks of barbarians in a sanctuary so worthy of them.
Museum Vaticanum[90]
A superb flight of steps leads into a hall of immense length filled on each
side with statues, busts, sarcophagi, altars, urns, vases and candelabra,
all monuments of antiquity and of the most exquisite workmanship. The walls
on each side of this hall are inlaid with tablets bearing inscriptions in
Greek, Latin and Etruscan. One is quite bewildered amongst such a profusion
of Gods, Semi-Gods, Heroes. I must single out a few of the most remarkable
for their workmanship. Here is a group representing the sacrifice of
Mithras. On ascending a few steps at the other end of this hall, in a small
octangular room, are the statue of Meleager; the famous Torso; the tomb of
Scipio with bas-reliefs. On leaving the chamber you come into an octangular
gallery, issuing from which are four circular chambers; each chamber
contains a masterpiece of art. In one is the Apollo Belvedere, in another
the Laocoon (both safely arrived from Paris); in the third Antinous; in the
fourth the Perseus of Canova, with Medusa's head and his famous group of
the two pugilists.
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