The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-11 00:00:00

BURFORD'S PANORA3IA.

ROME-ANCIENT AND MODERN.

We yesterday afternoon attended at the private
view of this new and important addition to the
attractions of Mr. Burford's celebrated Panoramic
Ectablishment. Venice, during the Carnival, and
the matchless bird's-eye view from the Rigbi Kiilm,
are thero.still as powerful lures to the London sight-
seers. But added to these, there is now opened to
public inspection (from today)—in the principal
circular room, in the north-east corner of Leicester
Square, a grand and most illusive panorama of the
Eternal City, ancient and modern. This colossal
picture—taken from the drawings made by the
proprietor, Robert Burford—has been painted by
Robert Burford and his accustomed collaborateur,
Henry Selous. The effect is magical. The
spectator is' supposed to stand (as Mr.
Burford actually did stand when taking the
original drawings) upon the Tower of the Capitol
of Rome, or what is now called the Campidoglia.

From this wondrous elevation the Seven Hills are
distinctly visible. The windings of the Tiber are
clearly discernible here and there. Towards the
south-east lies what is yet left of the ancient
mistress of the world, those marvellous ruins of
Ancient Rome which (it is justly said in the
explanatory catalogue) " may be classed in three
distinct periods, the works of the kings, of the
republic, and of the emperors." The catalogue
adding—" Of the first, from the time of Romulus to
the expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus, very little
has escaped the ravages of time ; and of the second,
embracing a period of 480 years, the Pantheon, mili-
tary ways, and a few small temples only remain ; but
it was during the dominion of the emperors that Rome
attained the meridian of her glory, and the taste
and magnificence of the Romans were displayed in
the erection of temples to the gods, pillars and
triumphal arches to conquerors, forums, amphi-
theatres, palaces, and other works of ostentation
and luxury, for which architecture was made to ex-
haust her treasures, and no expense was spared to
decorate, as the many noble remains still extant
will fully prove." Yonder, for example, is the
magnificent pile of the Colisseum or Amphitheatre,
of which it is interesting to learn, as we stand there
gazing at its effigy, the following particulars :—" It
was commenced by Vespasian in the year 72, on
the site of the S tagnum Neronis, and was completed
by Domitian, and many thousand Jews were em-
ployed in its construction. It is of an elliptical
shape, about 1,788 feet in external circumference,
the total height being 160 feet ; the whole is a mixed
mass of enormous blocks of stone and bricks, metal
and cement. It presents a series of three ranges of
open arcades, each tier consisting of eighty arches,
above which was an attic or covered gallery ; al-
together it would accommodate 87,000 seated spec-
tators and about 20,000 more standing. It is sup-
posed to have been the first of the class of build-
ings erected for the purpose, and the Gladiatorial
spectacles, of which it was the scene for more than
400 years, were on the grandest possible scales ; at
the dedication, the games lasted nearly one hun-
dred days, and 5,000 beasts were slain in honour of
the occasion. Naval fights were also sometimes
represented, the arena being flooded for the pur-
pose. During the persecution of the Christians it
was the scene of fearful barbarities, the traditions
of the church being filled with the names of mar-
tyrs who perished here. Nearly two-thirds of the
original building have totally disappeared, for after
having been converted into a fortress in the
middle ages, it supplied the Roman princes
for nearly 200 years with materials for their
palaces." Towards the north-west lies the modern
city—principally occupying " the plain lying on
each side of the Tiber, which river divides it into
two unequal portions, traversing it from north to
south in an irregular winding course of not less
than three miles. On the left bank the Pincean,
Quirinal, Virminal, and Capitoline hills, form a
kind of amphitheatre, enclosing the irregular
plain of the Campus Martius, which area in-
cludes the principal part of the city, is the seat
of trade and commerce, and contains the bulk of
the population." Instead of amounting, however,
as it is said to have done at one period during the
classic ages to a vast total of some 7,ooo,ooo—the
population of Rome has shrunk in these times to an
aggregate of less than 200,000. Dwindled, however,
though she is in the number of her inhabitants,
Rome possesses still such wholly matchless attrac-
tions amongst the fairest and grandest cities of the
world, that it can yet be truthfully written of her
here—" Rome in whatever aspect she is viewed,
stands unrivalled, and is in the mass,
ancient and modern, incomparably the finest
and most interesting city in the world; few
have such vast and magnificent monuments, such
gigantic fragments, to tell of former grandeur, none
so many proud temples and gorgeous palaces as
adorn her modern state. Poets, painters, anti-
quaries, and scholars, flock from the most distant
countries to admire her magnificent buildings, to
meditate over her majestic ruins, or to study in her
matchless galleries of works of art. So peculiar
and powerful are her many associations and attrac-
tions, that to the learned and scientific, Rome will,
even in the latest period of her decay, present
greater claims to attention, than any other city in
the proudest season of prosperity." Looking
towards Messrs. Burford and Selous' represen-
tation of the Castle of St. Angelo the
visitor listens with interest in its regard to
the subjoined statistics :—" It is a massive circular
tower, 987 feet in circumference, on a square base-
ment of 247 feet each way. It was converted into
a fortress about 423. Urban VIII. constructed the
outworks in 1614, and furnished them with cannon
made from bronze stripped from the roof of the
Pantheon ; but, as a military position, its strength
is by no means remarkable. The Pons 'Elias cross-
ing the Tiber is the approach to it. It is now used
as a state prison, and it was in an attempt to escape
from it that Benvenuto Cellini broke his leg"—as
may be read of in Cellini's romantic and enthral-
ling " Autobiography." Yonder, soaring towards
the sky, is the loveliest dome ever constructed by
the genius of man in adoration of the Divinity—the
dome of the sublimest temple in the world, the
mighty cathedral of St. Peter's ! As the visitor
gazes upon it, he listens to the words of the Cice-
rone thus articulated—" The first basilica, and the
largest and most magnificent of Christian temples,
not only in Rome but in the whole world; the
labour of ages, the wealth of kingdoms, the spoils
of ancient times, and the proudest efforts of modern
art, have been employed to produce this noble struc-
ture, which may truly be called one of the most
wonderful of the works of man. As early as the
year 90 St. Anacletus, who had received ordina-
tion from St. Peter himself, erected an oratory in
the circus of Caligula to mark the spot where the
body of the saint was deposited after his crucifixion,
and in 306 Constantine founded a basilica on the
spot, which was demolished at the beginning of the
16th century to make way for the present church.
The works were commenced by Paul 11., on the
plans of Bramanti Lazari ; continued by Leo. X. on
those of Sangallo, and continued by Paul 111. on
those of Michael Angelo, to whose genius all the
magnificent portions are due; and it was at last
finished by Julius V. in 1614, having occupied pre-
cisely one century. The collonnade was added by
Alexander VII.,
.and much internal decoration by
Pius VII. as late as 1800, so that it has really taken
three centuries to bring it to its present state of
perfection, and the cost is estimated at ten millions
and a half sterling !" We hearken yet further to
these added particulars :—" The exterior of the
church is of Travertine stone of a pure white and
bright colour, much of which was taken from the
sept izonium of Sep Severus. The whole stands on
five acres of ground, and the cupola, the object that
commands the admiration of all strangers, is 448 feet
in height to the top of the cross. The front is 180
ft et in height by 400 in width, approached by thr( e
sum s ,ive flights of marble sty ps, from either side of
which extends a grand collonnade of four rows of
pillars, surmounted by 192 statues of saints, which,
sweeping round, encloses an immense area, having in
its centre an Egyptian obelisk and two beautiful foun-
tains. The obelisk is the largest wrought stone in
Europe, being 84 feet in height, and weighing 300
tons. It was brought to Rome by Caligula, who
erected it in his circus. Sextus V. placed it in its
present position at the cost of £9,000. The interior