Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/83

Rh dismal image! The picture in its entirety can now only be seen in photographs and engravings.

I went from the Chapel to Saint Peter's Church. That glorious temple—the largest and most beautiful, it is said, in the world, produces upon me the impression rather of a Christian Pantheon than a Christian Church. The aesthetic intellect is edified more than the God-loving or God-seeking soul. The exterior and interior of the building appear to me more like an apotheosis of the Popedom, than as a glorification of Christianity and its doctrine. Monuments to the Popes occupy too much space. One sees all round the walls angels flying upward with papal portraits; sometimes merely with papal tiaras. About the middle of the church, a garland of gilded lamps is kept continually burning around the grave of the Apostles Peter and Paul—a circle of silent praying worshipers knelt around—and within the marble-covered tomb, kneels a colossal marble bishop—a beautiful figure, which represents, I believe, Pope Pius VI. Not far from the grave is seated, in a stiff, upright position, a black bronze statue, which is said to represent the Apostle Peter, and to be very old, a recasting of the ancient image of Jupiter Capitolinus—as I have been told by learned men, and it appears like it. The expression is hard and unspiritual, the whole figure ugly and unpleasing. One foot is extended forward, and this is kissed by old and young, by all classes of the people who enter the church. The toes are in part worn away.

The side chapels are splendid, and so large that they might serve for independent churches. The