THE PIAZZA DEL POPOLO,

FROM THE PINCIAN HILL..

THE Piazza del Popolo, the first spot within the walls of Rome upon which the traveller from the north of Europe sets his foot, is a spacious but irregular piazza, entered by the Porta del Popolo, a modern substitute for the Flaminian gate. The present portal, built by Vignola in 1561, from the designs of Michael Angelo, is of the Doric order; and in the intercolumniations are statues of St. Peter and St. Paul. The inner front, completed under Alexander VII. from designs by Bernini, is ornamented with decorations intended to commemorate the visit to Rome in 1567 of Christina Queen of Sweden.

On entering the gate, the first object that strikes the observer is the fine Egyptian obelisk of red granite, erected by Fontana in 1589, during the pontificate of Sixtus V. This is one of the two obelisks said to have been placed by Rhamses I. in front of the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, the On of Scripture. The site of this ancient city is now marked by the remaining obelisk. The one under review is coeval with Moses. It was removed to Rome by Augustus after the conquest of Egypt, and erected in the Circus Maximus, where, in the time of Valentinian, it had fallen from its pedestal, broken into three pieces. It remained buried in the earth until 1587, when it was removed, and shortly after placed in its present position. The length of the shaft alone is seventy-eight feet; and the entire height from the ground to the cross with which it is surmounted, is one hundred and sixteen feet. It still bears an inscription testifying that its dedication to the Sun was renewed by Augustus.

Beyond the obelisk are two churches with domes and façades alike;--the one, Santa Maria in Monte Santo, and the other, Santa Maria de' Miracoli. The street in the centre between the churches is the Corso, the principal street in Rome, leading through the heart of the city to the capital. This street is celebrated for the horse-races held in it during the carnival. The avenue on the right of the Corso is the Via Ripetta, running parallel with the Tiber to its principal quay, the Porto di Ripetta; and the street on the left is the Via Babuino, leading to the Piazza di Spagna, and thence direct to the Quirinal Hill. On the left of this street lies the high ground of the Monte Pincio, whence our view is taken. During the occupation by the French, under General Miollis, this mount was beautifully laid out into public gardens, terraces, and walks, and led to the French Academy,-formerly the Villa Medici,-and to the church of the Trinità de' Monti. This last named edifice contains one of the finest Italian pictures,— the "Descent from the Cross," by Daniello di Volterra. This work of art having been greatly injured by time, the French attempted to remove it, with a view to its future preservation. They placed a flat frame-work against the picture, and sawed down the face of the wall with great labour; but when they had succeeded in detaching the painting, the wall fell before it could be removed and destroyed it. A few fragments only of the genuine production have been preserved. On the Pincian Hill, and near the Trinità de' Monti, were formerly the houses of Poussin and Claude. Many modern artists have established their studies in the same locality, probably with the hope that the mantle of departed genius may there descend upon them.

Our illustrative view, taken from the public walk of the Monte Pincio, commands a great extent of modern Rome. and embraces amongst other features St. Peter's and the vast range

of the Vatican Palace, the Castle of St. Angelo, the distant Monte Mario, and the Janiculum Hill. The Tower, nearly in the fore-ground of the view, belongs to the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. This structure, founded in 1099, is reported to occupy the spot where the ashes of Nero were found and scattered to the winds. The victims of his cruelty were said to haunt the neighbourhood, and terrify the inhabitants, until the erection of a church appeased their manes and gave a sacred character to the locality. This church contains a statue of Jonah by Raphael. It is a work of great merit, and incontestably proves that this artist, like Michael Angelo, might have risen to the highest fame in sculpture, if he had chosen to withdraw his attention from painting. Raphael died at the early age of thirty-seven, and left behind him more pictures and designs of immortal excellence than were executed by the hand, or ever emanated from the mind, of any other painter.

THE Basilica Vaticana, or church of St. Peter, at Rome, is the most stupendous and magnificent temple in the Christian world. It stands between the Janiculum and Vatican hills, and occupies the site of the Circus of Nero,-a spot memorable for the sufferings endured there by the Christian martyrs, whom Nero accused of having caused the conflagration of Rome.

So early as A. D. 90, Anacletus, bishop of Rome, built an oratory where St. Peter's now stands to commemorate the martyrs. In 306 Constantine the Great erected a basilica on the same spot, which continued from that time to be the great attraction of the Christian world. In the reign of Nicholas V., 1450, the building had fallen into ruin, and that prelate set about its reconstruction. It had then stood eleven centuries, and was tottering to its fall. To pope Julius, however, is due the honour of having commenced with vigour the present magnificent structure. Under the advice of Bramante, the walls of the old basilica were razed; and on the 18th of April, 1508, Julius laid the first stone of one of those enormous pillars that support the dome. This was done with all the ceremonies which the importance of the undertaking, and the grandeur of the occasion demanded. This stupendous work was carried on during the reigns of thirty-five popes, which extended to nearly three centuries. It was ultimately completed by the erection of the sacristy, at the end of the year 1794, and under the pontificate of Pius VI. The cost of this great work exceeded twelve millions sterling. The sums which its construction demanded impoverished the resources of the church, and led under Leo X. to the adoption of the sale of Indulgences as a means of providing funds for carrying on the undertaking. It must strike

the mind as a most remarkable fact, that the erection of this vast temple gave a fatal blow to that very supremacy which it was intended to glorify and exalt. Had the progress of St. Peter's not required funds far beyond the ordinary means of the church, the sale of indulgences had perhaps never been devised, and the circumstances which led indirectly to the Reformation would not have taken place.

St. Peter's is approached by a wide street conducting in a straight line from the Bridge and Castle of St. Angelo. On entering the court, the spectator views two colonnades, each consisting of four rows of lofty pillars, sweeping off to the right and left in a bold semicircle. In the centre of the area which these colonnades inclose stands an Egyptian obelisk of granite, ascending to the height of one hundred and thirty feet, and on each side of it plays a fountain whose waters fall into a basin of porphyry. Two covered galleries, three hundred and sixty feet long, and twenty-three feet broad, connect the colonnades with the vestibule of the church, which is approached by three successive flights of marble steps. The front of St. Peter's is supported by a single row of Corinthian pillars and pilasters, and is adorned with an attic, a balustrade, and thirteen colossal statues. Above the façade rises the matchless dome which, whether viewed from the outside or the inside of the building, constitutes the chief feature in the edifice. Two smaller domes, or cupolas, complete the front view.

The interior of this magnificent temple is best described in the language of Eustace, which by a Procrustean process we adapt to our narrow limits.

Five lofty portals open into the portico or vestibule, a gallery equal in dimensions and decorations to the most spacious cathedrals. It is four hundred feet in length, seventy in height, and fifty in breadth, paved with variegated marble, covered with a gilt vault, adorned with pillars, pilasters, mosaics, and basso-relievos, and terminated by equestrian statues of Constantine and Charlemagne. A fountain at each extremity supplies a stream sufficient to keep a reservoir always full, in order to carry off every unseemly object, and perpetually refresh and purify the air and pavement. Opposite the five portals of the vestibule are the five doors of the church; three are adorned with pillars of the finest marble; the one in the middle has valves of bronze. Advancing up the nave, the spectator's attention is directed to the variegated marble pavement, and the golden vault that rises above his head. But how great is his astonishment when he reaches the altar, and standing in the centre of the church, contemplates the four superb vistas that open around him; and then raises his eyes to the dome resting on its four colossal piers, glowing with mosaics, and extending like a firmament, at the prodigious elevation of four hundred feet. Around the dome rise four cupolas, small when compared with the vast concave they neighbour, but of great boldness when considered separately. Three cupolas on each side of the nave cover the divisions of the aisles; and other six, of greater dimensions, canopy as many chapels. The whole of these inferior domes are lined with mosaics. The high altar stands under the great dome, beneath a canopy supported by four twisted pillars fifty feet in height. The entire height of the canopy, including the massive pedestal upon which the pillars rest, is one hundred and thirty-two feet. Behind the high altar stands the Cathedral, or Chair, of St. Peter, an enormous structure of bronze, consisting of a group of four gigantic figures of so many fathers of the Greek and Latin churches, supporting the throne of the apostolical primate. This edifice is seventy feet in height, and is occupied on gala days by the pope.

Beneath the high altar are the remains of the old Basilica of Constantine, in which is the tomb of St. Peter. The descent is by a double flight of steps into an area, whose walls, forming