The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-01-31

was before us, and there it was Belisarius
once beat back the Goths. Still no
glimpse of ST. Peters. Another turn, and
we were before the cathedral. the long
parenthetieal colonades on either hand,
the mass of the building concealing the
dome. The approach to ST. Peters must
be the finest in the world, unless that OF
the capitol of Washington exceeds i'll
mean the approach from Pennsylvania
avenue The front of st. Peters has been
pictured until all civilized creatures on
the European and American continents
know how it looks. The front at first
view is less magnificent than l had an
ticipated. and the approach had an unex-
pected grandeur. | fancy the facade
should be iofCier to perfect the harmony.
The obelsk, crowned with the bronze
cross, is at the central point OF the space
enclosed by the colonades that frame the
massive picture. On the right Is the huge
palace of the Vatican. with its 10000 rooms
and treasures of priceless art, and the res
idenee of the popes. The masters who
handled this great subject did not mean
that the vatican buildings should be OBJ
Irusive. They had to be extensive. but
the requirement was that they should not
rival in architectural attractiveness the
sacred edifice. They are simple and mod
est as possible, considering their bulk.
The slopes and steps by which you reach
st. Peters are easy and as you reach the
doors the gigantic proportions of
and am a more cls soa e Yoa lift more
heavy curtain of worked leather,
and enter, The effect is startling--not so
much that the scene is one of stupendous
proportions, as because it is so brilliant
l knew the edifice was enormous. but had
no conception of the spendors of its mar
bles, its mosaics, its ceilings, its tombs, its
Nai71 has- al
be written of these. Looking around St.
Peters is like studying a landscape in the
Alps. The guide-book says. as you are on
the way to Chamoni. that the rocks at a
certain place are 1000 feet high; but you
cannot believe it, though it is certainly
true. The scale by which the eye measures
the mountains is lofty, like themselves.
So with st. Peters. You can hardly under
stand that the dome is as high as history
tells you. Some of the monuments to the
popes possess merits as works of art of the
highest order; others appear to be pomp-
Gus failures. but perhaps they would seem
so in any other position. 1t was surprise
to see the honors paid in burial to the last
of the royal race of the Stuarts of England,
as well as to see in the floor a stone mark
ing the place where the cathedral of St.
Pauls, London, would come if taken into
st. Peters and measured from the throne
of Peter. | shouldn't have thought st.
Paui's so large in comparison with st.
Peters If it had not been for this stone
Plus X. is not without honors in the
grand cathedral; but unless there are vet
to be decreed for him distinctions he can
hardly be considered to have celebration
equivalent to his historical conspicuity.
However, l noticed one fine portrait of
him, and there is conspicuous white mar
bic tablet with an inscription relating to
his proclamation of the Immaculate con-
ception, and there are are other tablets
giving the names of all the members of
the ecumenical council. One of the fea-
lures of the cathedral that is of
greatest interest is the pillars from
the old Roman temples that are
introduced, and the mighty walls
are storehouses of relics; but to know
them as they are marked takes more time
than | can command. The hasty student
in Rome IS like the philosopher on the
seashore who gathered a few pebbles and
left the boundless and fathomless mys-
teries-the miracles of art as of nature
unexplored. unsounded. One turns away
YEARLY and goes TO the Vatican, where
sorrow that life is SO short and time so
swift has keenness almost unknown.
May | confess, without an admission of
utter incapacity, that the Sistine chapel is
a disappointmentP The work of Michael
Angelo may be the grandest that mortal
has accomplished, but either the light is
W
sight or faculty of comprehension.
If he handles the Supreme Being
reverently, l cannot see that God
appears half dozen times on the
ceiling in attitudes that I fear are
uncouth, and We are asked to palpitate
over the amazing foreshortening of his
figure; and | lind it difficult to behold
with awe the pulling of Eve from the side
OF Adam, or the expression of the serpent
in the Garden of Eden-a human head
and shoulders on the body of a snake
twined around an absurd tree. OF course.
this is not the spirit in which the majestic
accomplishments of the greatest of artists
should be scanned; but there should be
something in them to defend them from
involuntary ridicule. The Sistne chapel
is bleak as a barn, and the tremendous
Last Judgment is foggy. and the hill
that is introduced, with the devils
and all that, would be none the
Christ, the Judge, ought at least to possess
dignity and glory, but may / mention that
in the light in which / saw it the resem-
blance to faded chrome was forced upon
me? 1t may not be regarded as offensive.
and do not mean that it should be so, if
offer the hint that the introduction of the
Edison incandescent light into the chanel
would bring out the hidden beauties and
the grandeur, for which we have now to
rely upon the illuminating power of the i'm
agination. The Raphael frescoes and naint-
ings on canvas are not so Disappointing
as the great works of his only rival, but
his ceilings would hardly warrant the al
most divine reputation that has been ac-
corded TO him. Still there is the unmis-
taxable glow of genius in his touch, and I
would rather take off my hat when | see
his work than before some other things
that are accounted far hoiier. The Vati-
can paintings We're not an unmingled de-
tTf,t.f Il h.a "A
ala not present an appearance absolutely
tidy, let alone warlike and picturesque.
While on duty they should not lounge.
They need smartening up.
His holiness Is aged and feeble and per-
haps the administration OF the Vatican is
not as energetic as it was in material de-
tails. The story goes that his holiness
would really like TO rebuke this new Rome
by leaving 1t, but 1t is hard To remove in
Old age; and then ii comes from several
quarters that if he should go he might
seek an asylum in the New World, where
the most attached and loyal of his chill
dren dwell. Up TO this writing have not
encountered any of the high dignitaries of
the church on the streets. The feeling ex-
cited 10y the disturbance over the French
pilgrims has been profound and has
shown the existence OF dangerous ele-
ments. The Italians at large are in A con-
slant state OF mind about the church
they call themselves Catholics, and
yet scott at the temperatures, and
tell you unbiushinglv that st. Peter
never was in Rome. and that
the attraction of the Vatican as
dwelling place for priests can never be
overcome, because 1t cannot elsewhere be
found. The peculiar zeal and devotion of
American Catholics has had a percentible
influence upon the church in its home.
and the assertion Of independence of the
Italian Republicans and their passion for
LA-ln LLa mi. al .ae .i-.1- -.