great edifice, and in this respect St. Peter's church is certainly disappointing. The remark of Addison strikes every traveller who visits this church. "The proportions are so well observed, that nothing appears to an advantage, or distinguishes itself above the rest. It seems neither extremely high, nor long, nor broad, because it is all in a just equality. As, on the contrary, in our Gothic cathedral the narrowness of the arch makes it rise in height, or run out in length; the lowness often opens in breadth, or the defectiveness of some other particular makes any single part appear in great perfection."
The same deception continues after one has entered the church, but in spite of his inability to grasp the vast magnitude of the building, the traveller is lost in admiration as soon as he crosses the portal. The magnificent gilded ceiling, the spacious marble pavement, the lofty marble pillars which rise on every side of him, the exquisite statues of saints and cherubs by which he is surrounded, the splendid bronze canopy supported by bronze pillars over the high altar, and the great dome towering far above, form a scene which for richness and elegance and grandeur surpasses his wildest expectations. The glorious edifice bursts upon his view in all its richness like the picture of a dream! It is an epic in marble,—but an epic of Virgil's,—ornate, elegant, and replete with beauty, as well as massive and stupendous.
"Rich marbles, richer painting, shrines where flame
"The lamps of gold, and haughty dome which vies
"In air with Earth's chief structures, though their frame
"Sits on the firm set ground, and this the clouds must claim!"
The deception of the eye however is complete. Letters
