Travels Through France And Italy - Tobias Smollett (diy ebook reader .TXT) 📗

Which Effectually Prevents The Eye From Taking In The Scope Of

The Building, Either Without Side Or Within; Consequently Robs

The Edifice Of Its Proper Effect. The Palace Of The Escurial In

Spain Is Laid Out In The Shape Of A Gridiron, Because The Convent

Was Built In Consequence Of A Vow To St. Laurence, Who Was

Broiled Like A Barbecued Pig. What Pity It Is, That The Labours

Of Painting Should Have Been So Much Employed On The Shocking

Subjects Of The Martyrology. Besides Numberless Pictures Of The

Flagellation, Crucifixion, And Descent From The Cross, We Have

Judith With The Head Of Holofernes, Herodias With The Head Of

John The Baptist, Jael Assassinating Sisera In His Sleep, Peter

Writhing On The Cross, Stephen Battered With Stones, Sebastian

Stuck Full Of Arrows, Laurence Frying Upon The Coals, Bartholomew

Flaed Alive, And A Hundred Other Pictures Equally Frightful,

Which Can Only Serve To Fill The Mind With Gloomy Ideas, And

Encourage A Spirit Of Religious Fanaticism, Which Has Always Been

Attended With Mischievous Consequences To The Community Where It

Reigned.

 

 

 

The Tribune Of The Great Altar, Consisting Of Four Wreathed Brass

Pillars, Gilt, Supporting A Canopy, Is Doubtless Very

Magnificent, If Not Over-Charged With Sculpture, Fluting,

Foliage, Festoons, And Figures Of Boys And Angels, Which, With

The Hundred And Twenty-Two Lamps Of Silver, Continually Burning

Below, Serve Rather To Dazzle The Eyes, And Kindle The Devotion

Of The Ignorant Vulgar, Than To Excite The Admiration Of A

Judicious Observer.

 

 

 

There Is Nothing, I Believe, In This Famous Structure, So Worthy

Of Applause, As The Admirable Symmetry And Proportion Of Its

Parts. Notwithstanding All The Carving, Gilding, Basso Relievos,

Medallions, Urns, Statues, Columns, And Pictures With Which It

Abounds, It Does Not, On The Whole, Appear Over-Crouded With

Ornaments. When You First Enter, Your Eye Is Filled So Equally

And Regularly, That Nothing Appears Stupendous; And The Church

Seems Considerably Smaller Than It Really Is. The Statues Of

Children, That Support The Founts Of Holy Water When Observed

From The Door, Seem To Be Of The Natural Size; But As You Draw

Near, You Perceive They Are Gigantic. In The Same Manner, The

Figures Of The Doves, With Olive Branches In Their Beaks, Which

Are Represented On The Wall, Appear To Be Within Your Reach; But

As You Approach Them, They Recede To A Considerable Height, As If

They Had Flown Upwards To Avoid Being Taken.

 

 

 

I Was Much Disappointed At Sight Of The Pantheon, Which, After

All That Has Been Said Of It, Looks Like A Huge Cockpit, Open At

Top. The Portico Which Agrippa Added To The Building, Is

Undoubtedly Very Noble, Though, In My Opinion, It Corresponds But 

Part 7 Letter 31 ( Nice, March 5, 1765) Pg 256

Ill With The Simplicity Of The Edifice. With All My Veneration

For The Antients, I Cannot See In What The Beauty Of Tile Rotunda

Consists. It Is No More Than A Plain Unpierced Cylinder, Or

Circular Wall, With Two Fillets And A Cornice, Having A Vaulted

Roof Or Cupola, Open In The Centre. I Mean The Original Building,

Without Considering The Vestibule Of Agrippa. Within Side It Has

Much The Air Of A Mausoleum. It Was This Appearance Which, In All

Probability, Suggested The Thought To Boniface Iv. To Transport

Hither Eight And Twenty Cart-Loads Of Old Rotten Bones, Dug From

Different Burying-Places, And Then Dedicate It As A Church To The

Blessed Virgin And All The Holy Martyrs. I Am Not One Of Those

Who Think It Is Well Lighted By The Hole At The Top, Which Is

About Nine And Twenty Feet In Diameter, Although The Author Of

The Grand Tour Calls It But Nine. The Same Author Says, There Is

A Descent Of Eleven Steps To Go Into It; That It Is A Hundred And

Forty-Four Feet In Heighth, And As Many In Breadth; That It Was

Covered With Copper, Which, With The Brass Nails Of The Portico,

Pope Urban Viii. Took Away, And Converted Into The Four Wreathed

Pillars That Support The Canopy Of The High Altar In The Church

Of St. Peter, &C. The Truth Is, Before The Time Of Pope Alexander

Vii. The Earth Was So Raised As To Cover Part Of The Temple, And

There Was A Descent Of Some Steps Into The Porch: But That

Pontiff Ordered The Ground To Be Pared Away To The Very Pedestal

Or Base Of The Portico, Which Is Now Even With The Street, So

That There Is No Descent Whatsoever. The Height Is Two Hundred

Palmi, And The Breadth Two Hundred And Eighteen; Which, Reckoning

Fife Palmi At Nine Inches, Will Bring The Height To One Hundred

And Fifty, And The Breadth To One Hundred And Sixty-Three Feet

Six Inches. It Was Not Any Covering Of Copper Which Pope Urban

Viii. Removed, But Large Brass Beams, Which Supported The Roof Of

The Portico. They Weighed 186,392 Pounds; And Afforded Metal

Enough Not Only For The Pillars In St. Peter's Church, But Also

For Several Pieces Of Artillery That Are Now In The Castle Of St.

Angelo. What Is More Extraordinary, The Gilding Of Those Columns

Is Said To Have Cost Forty Thousand Golden Crowns: Sure Money Was

Never Worse Laid Out. Urban Viii. Likewise Added Two Bellfrey

Towers To The Rotunda; And I Wonder He Did Not Cover The Central

Hole With Glass, As It Must Be Very Inconvenient And Disagreeable

To Those Who Go To Church Below, To Be Exposed To The Rain In Wet

Weather, Which Must Also Render It Very Damp And Unwholesome. I

Visited It Several Times, And Each Time It Looked More And More

Gloomy And Sepulchral.

 

 

 

The Magnificence Of The Romans Was Not So Conspicuous In Their

Temples, As In Their Theatres, Amphitheatres, Circusses,

Naumachia, Aqueducts, Triumphal Arches, Porticoes, Basilicae, But

Especially Their Thermae, Or Bathing-Places. A Great Number Of

Their Temples Were Small And Inconsiderable; Not One Of Them Was

Comparable Either For Size Or Magnificence, To The Modern Church

Of St. Peter Of The Vatican. The Famous Temple Of Jupiter

Capitolinus Was Neither Half So Long, Nor Half So Broad: It Was

But Two Hundred Feet In Length, And One Hundred And Eighty-Five 

Part 7 Letter 31 ( Nice, March 5, 1765) Pg 257

In Breadth; Whereas The Length Of St. Peter's Extends To Six

Hundred And Thirty-Eight Feet, And The Breadth To Above Five

Hundred. It Is Very Near Twice As Large As The Temple Of Jupiter

Olympius In Greece, Which Was Counted One Of The Seven Wonders Of

The World. But I Shall Take Another Opportunity To Explain Myself

Further On The Antiquities Of This City; A Subject, Upon Which I

Am Disposed To Be (Perhaps Impertinently) Circumstantial. When I

Begin To Run Riot, You Should Cheek Me With The Freedom Of A

Friend. The Most Distant Hint Will Be Sufficient To,--Dear Sir,

Yours Assuredly.

 

 

Part 7 Letter 32 ( Nice, March 10, 1765.) Pg 258

 

 

Dear Sir,--The Colossaeum Or Amphitheatre Built By Flavius

Vespasian, Is The Most Stupendous Work Of The Kind Which

Antiquity Can Produce. Near One Half Of The External Circuit

Still Remains, Consisting Of Four Tire Of Arcades, Adorned With

Columns Of Four Orders, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, And Composite.

The Height And Extent Of It May Be Guessed From The Number Of

Spectators It Contained, Amounting To One Hundred Thousand; And

Yet, According To Fontana's Mensuration, It Could Not Contain

Above Thirty-Four Thousand Persons Sitting, Allowing A Foot And

An Half For Each Person: For The Circuit Of The Whole Building

Did Not Exceed One Thousand Five Hundred And Sixty Feet. The

Amphitheatre At Verona Is One Thousand Two Hundred And Ninety

Feet In Circumference; And That Of Nismes, One Thousand And

Eighty. The Colossaeum Was Built By Vespasian, Who Employed

Thirty Thousand Jewish Slaves In The Work; But Finished And

Dedicated By His Son Titus, Who, On The First Day Of Its Being

Opened, Produced Fifty Thousand Wild Beasts, Which Were All

Killed In The Arena. The Romans Were Undoubtedly A Barbarous

People, Who Delighted In Horrible Spectacles. They Viewed With

Pleasure The Dead Bodies Of Criminals Dragged Through The

Streets, Or Thrown Down The Scalae Gemoniae And Tarpeian Rock,

For Their Contemplation. Their Rostra Were Generally Adorned With

The Heads Of Some Remarkable Citizens, Like Temple-Bar, At

London. They Even Bore The Sight Of Tully's Head Fixed Upon That

Very Rostrum Where He Had So Often Ravished Their Ears With All

The Charms Of Eloquence, In Pleading The Cause Of Innocence And

Public Virtue. They Took Delight In Seeing Their Fellow-Creatures

Torn In Pieces By Wild Beasts, In The Amphitheatre.

They Shouted With Applause When They Saw A Poor Dwarf Or Slave

Killed By His Adversary; But Their Transports Were Altogether

Extravagant, When The Devoted Captives Were Obliged To Fight In

Troops, Till One Side Was Entirely Butchered By The Other. Nero

Produced Four Hundred Senators, And Six Hundred Of The Equestrian 

Part 7 Letter 32 ( Nice, March 10, 1765.) Pg 259

Order, As Gladiators In The Public Arena: Even The Women Fought

With Wild Beasts, As Well As With Each Other, And Drenched The

Amphitheatres With Their Blood. Tacitus Says, "Sed Faeminarum

Illustrium, Senatorumque Filiorum Plures Per Arenam Faedati

Sunt," "But Many Sons Of Senators, And Even Matrons Of The First

Rank, Exposed Themselves In This Vile Exercise." The Execrable

Custom Of Sacrificing Captives Or Slaves At The Tombs Of Their

Masters And Great Men, Which Is Still Preserved Among The Negroes

Of Africa, Obtained Also Among The Antients, Greeks As Well As

Romans. I Could Never, Without Horror And Indignation, Read That

Passage In The Twenty-Third Book Of The Iliad, Which Describes

Twelve Valiant Trojan Captives Sacrificed By The Inhuman Achilles

At The Tomb Of His Friend Patroclus.

 

 

 

Dodeka Men Troon Megathumon Uias Eathlous

Tous Ama Pantas Pur Eathiei.

 

 

 

Twelve