The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-06-26

WEDNESDAY. &. June %, 1875
mr.. @. q. Fnston ia Rosaac-.-A Ray
Ancnx thc RainS OF Ancient Pagan
Temples. ~ s.s So
sEditortai Correspondence OF Baltimore Americana
ROME. May 1I.-Our second day In Rome
has been spent among The ancient ruins and
the great churches. It has been a day OF
almost Undesirable pleasure to our young
companioLs. |
THE PANTHEON.
We FIRST visited the grand old Pantheon,
which Is the best preserved OF all the stFuc-
lures OF ancient Rome, and giyes the be- |
holder some idea OF what was the original
character OF the massive ruins which are TO
be found in so many sections OF the city.
Michael Angelo got from this temple to
che heather gods not only his idea OF the
grand dome of st. Peters, but he made
the Pantheon the model for that dome,
both as to size and elevation. So also
Che portico OF st. Peters is a counter
rart OF the portico OF the Pantheon, and
this was built and used long before the
birth OF Christ as o temple to :" all the gods
OF the Roman empire" In fact, this
heather Pantheon has been to some extent
the model from which all the great church
architects OF Europe. from Michael Angelo
down, have drawn their inspirations. The
inches in the Pantheon. built for the glory
OF Hthe gods" and used for their worship,
have been copied not only in st. Peters,
but In all the churches for Christian affairs.
The Pantheon, when constructed by the
Romans, was covered on the exterior with
Parian marbles and on the interior with
bronze and gold. Pope Urban VIII. rob-
bed it OF all this metal to enrich St. Peters
and to cast columns for the Vatican. Thus
the Pantheon, after being rayaged by the
barbarians, was further despoiled by the
Christians, and it still stands unriyalled in
its architectural grandeur. The inches in
which Jupiter and the gods once stood are
now Christian affairs, and the statues OF the
gaints and the Virgin and Child look down
from the same pedestal from which Jupiter,
Juno, and Minerva faced their worshippers.
The Pantheon has no windows, the light
coming from circular opening in the apex
OF the dome, and althoughit does not appear
to be more than twelve feet in diameter it
floods the whole interior with light. This
opening was TO give free outlet to the smoke
from the sacriiciai altar, which stood di-
rectly under it. Pope Boniiace ". in COZ
preserved this building from being further
despoied by transforming it into Chris
fian church at time when Christians
deemed it an act Of piety to destroy pagan
temples. In order to overcome this desire
for destroying it he brought thirty cart
loads OF the bones Of martyrs from the cata-
combs and gave 1t the name OF San Maria
I'D Martyrs" burying them beneath its por-
phyry floor. 1t is, however, generally called
ssLa Rotunda" by the people of Rome.
We must not omit to mention that the pill
lars which support the grand portico OF the
he ffy,-f pyYrf foot lNfn
or nearly double the length of any mono
2iths ever quarried and set on end by Chris
tian builders. Nor has it ever been discoY-
cred where the qlarries were in Italy that
could be made to yield such columns. The
remains OF Victor Emanuel are Temporal
riiy deposited in niche in the wall OF the
Pantheon, and ia niche Immediately above
it is his crown, resting upon Il crimson vel
vet cushion with bullion fringe. A gold
chaplet is on the stone closing the recepta-
Gle in which the body rests.
THE COLOSSEUM.
We also visited the Colosseum. But we
have no intention to describe the Colos-
scum, which has never been attempted in
prose, except by CASTELAR,, the great Spanish
Republican, who, in his recent work en-
titled cold, Rome and New Italy," thus
apostrophlses the great ruin:
-"W While protesting with vain reflections
against human littleness, I arrived alone,
face to face, with the Roman Colosseum.
The first impression it produced was one
of astonishment. Ii I had not been born
on the sea-shore, and accustomed from
childhood to its expanse, should have
been overcome by emotion. Seeing the Co.
losseum for the first time in manhood, my
changing and lively fancy carried me back
to my professional chair. Indeed, it looks
less like the work of men than OF nature.
These gigantic proportions, these immense
masses, seem not to have been created
by human strength, but by the power OF the
Great Architect, OF the Great Artist, who
has raised the eternal pyramid Of the Alps,
and has built up the wondrous cone Of We
suyius by creating the fire whose reverbe-
rations resound with the manufacture Of
crystals and granite. It is only when we
observe the harmony OF its arches, the Sc
uuence Of its columns, the rhythm Of that
architecture which ascends to Heaven as q
canticle, that we find those enormous blocks
have been distributed by human thought.
and that the amphitheatre has been sealed
with the stamp Of its laws.
.Now, the Colosseum is for the most
part in ruins. When it was all perfect two
flights Of steps supported it as huge pedes-
tails. -Four stories are placed above. Eighty
open arches, forming eighty entrances, sur
round the first story. At the sides OF the
arches are raised half-columns, attached to
the wall, and belong to the severe Doric or
der. Upon the first story there extends a
corrice. and over the cornice other eighty
arches, by the sides Of which are placed half
columns of the lighter and more graceful
Ionic architecture. Another cornice, the
same as the preceding, completes the second
story, and serves rs base for the third,
also cut in arches, and ornamented with col
nmns, but Of the rich and f1orid Corinthian
order. This monument is completed by an
airy portico, resembling chiselled crown
light, ornamented by pilasters, and having
openings through which the heavenly azure
Of the sky looks more brilliant. This vast
building is fifty-two metres high 165 feet).
To define it in few words, I would call it
circular mountain, raised, sculptured, and
ehiselled by the labor OF man. The side to-
ward the northeast is in the best preserva-
ton. On its walls the succession Of arches
can be best studied, the harmonious stair
case formed by the columns, the order and
grace OF the cornices, the severe majesty Of
the first story, and the lightness OF the up
per part, which crowns all and gives to
such an enormous mass the finish and beauty
of a jewell
CASTELAR, is the best descriptive writer
living, and his description only goes to
prove that the Colosseum is Undesirable.
Those who have often visited it and studied
its proportions will thoroughly understand