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and the lofty centre, where a crescent has supplanted the cross, rises to the perpendicular height of 182 ft. above the pavement. The circle which encompasses the dome lightly reposes on four strong arches, and their weight is firmly supported by four massy piles (piers), "whose strength is assisted on the northern and southern sides by four columns of Egyptian granite. A Greek cross inscribed in a quadrangle represents the form of the edifice; the exact breadth from b. to b. is 231 ft., and 268 ft. from a. to a., or the extreme length; the width under the dome from c. to c. is 1096 ft. The vestibule opened into the narthex or exterior portico. That portico was the humble station of the penitents. The nave or body of the church was filled by the congregation of the faithful; but the two sexes were prudently distinguished, and the upper and lower galleries were allotted for the more private devotion of the women. Beyond the northern and southern piles" (piers), "a balustrade, terminated on either side by the thrones of the emperor and the patriarch, divided the nave from the choir; and the space, as far as the steps of the altar, was occupied by the clergy and singers. The altar itself, a name which insensibly became familiar to Christian ears, was placed in the eastern recess, artificially built in the form of a demi-cylinder, and this sanctuary communicated by several doors with the sacristy, the vestry, the baptistery, and the contiguous buildings, subservient either to the pomp of worship or the private use of the ecclesiastical ministers." We should be fearful of thus continuing the quotation, but that we prefer the language of Gibbon to our own: beyond which, the practical knowledge the rest of the description discloses is not unworthy the scientific architect, and the subject is the type of the great modern cathedrals, that of St. Paul, in London, among the rest. "The memory," he continues, " of past calamities inspired Justinian with a wise resolution, that no wood, except for the doors, should be admitted into the new edifice; and the choice of the materials was applied to the strength, the lightness, or the splendour of the respective parts. The solid piles" (piers) "which sustained the cupola were composed of huge blocks of freestone, hewn into squares and triangles, fortified by circles of iron, and firmly cemented by the infusion of lead and quick lime; but the weight of the cupola was diminished by the levity of its substance, which consists either of pumice-stone that floats in the water, or of bricks from the Isle of Rhodes, five times less ponderous than the ordinary sort. The whole frame of the edifice was constructed of brick; but those base materials were concealed by a crust of marble; and the inside of St. Sophia, the cupola, the two larger and the six smaller semi-domes, the walls, the hundred columns, and the pavement, delight even the eyes of barbarians with a rich and variegated picture." Various presents of marbles and mosaics, amongst which latter were seen representations of Christ, the Virgin, and saints, added to the magnificence of the edifice, and the precious metals in their purity imparted splendour to the scene. Before the building was four feet out of the ground its cost had ainounted to a sum equivalent to 200,000l. sterling, and the total cost of it when finished may, at the lowest computation, be reckoned as exceeding one million. In Constantinople alone, the emperor dedicated twenty

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tive churches to Christ, the Virgin, and favourite saints. These were highly decorated, and imposing situations were found for them. That of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople, and of St. John at Ephesus, appear to have had the church of St. Sophia for their types; but in them the altar was placed under the centre of the dome, at the junction of four porticoes, expressing the figure of the cross. "The pious munificence of the emperor was diffused over the Holy Land; and if reason," says Gibbon," should condemn the monasteries of both sexes, which were built or restored by Justinian, yet charity must applaud the wells which he sank, and the hospitals which he founded, for the relief of the weary pilgrims." Almost every saint in the calendar acquired the honour of a temple; almost every city of the empire obtained the solid advantages of bridges, hospitals, and aqueducts; but the severe liberality of the monarch disdained to indulge his subjects in the popular luxury of baths and theatres." He restored the Byzantine palace; but selfishness, as respected his own comfort, could not be laid to his charge: witness the costly palace he erected for the infamous Theodora, and the munificent gifts, equal to 180,000/. sterling, which he bestowed upon Antioch for its restoration after an earthquake. His care was not limited to the peaceful enjoyment of life by the empire over which he presided; for the fortifications of Europe and Asia were multiplied by Justinian from Belgrade to the Euxine, from the conflux of the Save to the mouth of the Danube; a chain of above fourscore fortified places was extended along the banks of the great river, and many military stations appeared to extend beyond the Danube, the pride of the Roman name. We might considerably extend the catalogue of the extraordinary works of Justinian; but our object is a general view, not a history of the works of this extraordinary person, of whom, applying the verses architecturally, it might truly be said—

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and by whom, if architecture could again have been restored, such a consummation would have been accomplished.

272. In 565 Justin succeeded to the throne of the East, after whose reign nothing occurs to prevent our proceeding to the Western part of the empire, except the notice necessary to be taken of Leo the Isaurian, who ordered the statues in the different churches to be broken in pieces, and the paintings which decorated them to be destroyed. Under him Ravenna was lost to the Eastern empire, and under his predecessors Mahomet appeared; and in his successors originated the Saracenic architecture described in a previous section. It was under Justin, in 571, that the prophet, as he is called, was born, and was in 632 succeeded by Abubekr.

273. We now return to the empire in the West, whose ruin, in 476, drew after it that of the arts, which had grievously degenerated since the fourth century, at which period their decadence was strongly marked. But we must digress a little by supplying a chasm in the history of our art relative to the ancient basilica of Rome, the undoubted types of the comparatively modern cathedrals of Europe; and within the city of Rome we shall find ample materials for tracing the origin whereof we speak.

274. The severe laws against the Christians which Severus had passed expired with his authority, and the persecuted race, between A. D. 211 and 249, enjoyed a calm, during which they had been permitted to erect and consecrate convenient edifices for the purposes of religious worship, and to purchase lands even at Rome for the use of the community. Under Dioclesian, however, in many places the churches were demolished, though in some situations they were only shut up. This emperor, as if desirous of committing to other hands the work of persecution he had planned by his edicts, no sooner published them, than he divested himself, by abdication, of the imperial purple.

275. Under Constantine, in the beginning of the fourth century, the Christians began again to breathe; and though that emperor's religion, even to the period of his death, is involved in some doubt, it is certain that his opinion, as far as we can judge from his acts, was much inclined towards Christianity. Out of the seven principal churches, or basilicæ, of Rome, namely, Sta. Croce di Gierusalemme, S. Giovanni Laterano, S. Lorenzo fuori le Murà, S. Paolo, S. Pietro, S. Sebastiano, and Sta. Maria Maggiore, all but the last were founded by Constantine himself. The ancient basilica, which derived its name from Barevs (a king), and ouxos (a house), was that part of the palace wherein justice was administered to the people. The building for this purpose retained its name long after the extinction of the kingly office, and was in use with the Romans as well as the Grecians. Vitruvius does not, however, give us any specific difference between those erected by one or the other of those people. In lib. v. c. 1. he gives us the details of its form and arrangement, for which the reader is referred to his work. The name of basilica was afterwards transferred to the first buildings for Christian worship; not because, as some have supposed, the first Christian emperors used the ancient basilicæ for the celebration of their religious rites, but more probably with reference to the idea of sovereignty which the religion exercised, though we do not assert that such conclusion is to be necessarily drawn.

There can be no doubt that the most ancient Christian basilica were expressly constructed for the purpose of religion, and their architectural details clearly point to the epoch in which they were erected. These new temples of religion borrowed, nevertheless, as well in their whole as in their details, so much from the ancient basilica, that it is not surprising they should have retained their name. We here place before the reader (fig. 141.) a plan of

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the ancient basilica of S. Paolo fuori le Murà, and (fig. 142.) an interior view of it, whereby

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its general effect may be better understood. The latter shows how admirably it was adapted to the reception of an extremely numerous congregation. The numberless columns which the ancient buildings readily supplied were put in requisition for constructing these basilica, whereof, adopting the buildings of the same name as the type, they proportioned the eleva tion to the extent of the plans, and, in some cases, decorated them with the richest ornaments. Instead of always connecting the columns together by architraves on their summit, which might not be at hand, arches were spanned from one to the other, on which walls were carried up to bear the roofing. Though the practice of vaulting large areas did not appear till a considerable time after the building of the first Christian basilicæ, it must be recollected that the Temple of Peace at Rome had previously exhibited a specimen of the profound know. ledge of the Romans in the practice of vaulting: in that example, groined vaults of very large dimensions were borne on entablatures and columns. Nor does this knowledge appear to have been lost in almost the last stage of decline of Roman architecture under the emperor Dioclesian. In the baths of this emperor are to be seen not only groined vaults in three

divisions, whose span is nearly 70 ft., but at the back of each springer a buttress, precisely of the nature of a flying buttress, is contrived to counteract the thrusts of the vaulting. 276. In recording the annihilation of the arts on the invasion of Odoacer, at the end of the fifth and during the course of the sixth century, historians have imputed it to the Gothic nations, qualifying by this name the barbarous style which then degraded the productions of the arts. Correct they are as to the epoch of their ruin, which coincided truly enough with the empire of the Goths; but to this nation they are unjust in attributing the introduction of a barbarous style.

277. History informs us, that as soon as the princes of the Goths and Ostrogoths had fixed themselves in Italy, they displayed the greatest anxiety to make the arts again flourish, and but for a number of adverse circumstances they would have succeeded. Indeed, the people whom the Romans designated as barbarous, were inhabitants of the countries to the north and east of Italy, who actually acquired that dominion and power which the others lost. Instructed at first by their defeats, they ultimately acquired the arts of those who originally conquered them. Thus the Gauls, the Germans, the Pannonians, and Illyrians, had, from their submission to the Roman people, acquired quite as great a love for the arts as the Romans themselves. For instance, at Nismes, the birthplace of Antoninus Pius, the arts were in a state of high cultivation; in short, there were schools as good out of as in Italy itself.

278. Odoacer, son of Edicon, the chief of a Gothic tribe, after obtaining possession of Rome in 476, preserved Italy from invasion for six years; and there is little doubt that one of his objects was the preservation of the arts. He was, however, stabbed by the hand, or at least the command, of his rival and successor, Theodoric, in 493. Theodoric, the son of Theodemir, had been educated at Constantinople, and though personally he neglected the cultivation of science and art, he was very far from insensible to the advantages they conferred on a country. From the Alps to the extremity of Calabria, the right of conquest had placed Theodoric on the throne. As respects what he did for the arts, no better record of his fame could exist than the volume of public Epistles composed by Cassiodorus, in the oyal name." The reputation of Theodoric," says Gibbon, “may repose with confidence on he visible peace and prosperity of a reign of thirty-three years; the unanimous esteem of his own times, and the memory of his wisdom and courage, his justice and humanity, which was deeply impressed on the minds of the Goths and Italians." The residence of Theodoric was

it Ravenna chiefly, occasionally at Verona; but in the seventh year of his reign he visited the apital of the Old World, where, during a residence of six months, he proved that one at east of the Gothic kings was anxious to preserve the monuments of the nations he had Subdued. Royal edicts were framed to prevent the abuses, neglect, or depredations of the Citizens upon works of art; and an architect, the annual sum of two hundred pounds of old, twenty-five thousand tiles, and the receipt of customs from the Lucrine port, were assigned for the ordinary repairs of the public buildings. Similar care was bestowed on he works of sculpture. Besides the capitals, Pavia, Spoleto, Naples, and the rest of the Italian cities, acquired under his reign the useful or splendid decorations of churches, aqueducts, baths, porticoes, and palaces. His architects were Aloysius for Rome, and Daniel for Ravenna, his instructions to whom manifest his care for the art; and under him Cassiodorus, for fifty-seven years minister of the Ostrogoth kings, was for a long period the tutelary genius of the arts. The death of Theodoric occurred in 526; his mausoleum s still in existence at Ravenna, being now called Sta. Maria della Rotunda. That city contains also the church of St. Apollinaris, which shows that at this period very little, if iny, change had been made in the arrangement of large churches on the plan of the basilica. The front of the convent of the Franciscan friars in the same town, which is reputed to be he entrance to the palace, bears considerable resemblance to the Porta Aurea of Dioclesian, At Spalatro. These buildings are all in a heavy debased Roman style, and we are quite at loss to understand the passage quoted by Tiraboschi, from Cassiodorus, who therein gives particular description of the very great lightness and elegance of columns; thus-" Quid licamus columnarum junceam proceritatem? Moles illas sublimissimas fabricarum quasi quibusdam erectis hastilibus contineri et substantie qualitate concavis canalibus excavatas, it magis ipsas æstimes fuisse transfusas; alias ceris judices factum, quod metallis durissimis ideas expolitum." (Lib. vii. Var. 15.) We know no examples of the period that bear ut these assertions of Cassiodorus; on the contrary, what is known of this period indicates totally different style.

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279. If the successors of Theodoric had succeeded to his talents as well as his throne, nd if they had been assisted by ministers like Cassiodorus, the arts and letters of Italy night have recovered; but, after the retirement of that minister, from the succession of Vitiges, towards 538, the arts were completely extinct. In 543-7, Rome was taken and lundered by Totila; and afterwards, in 553, this ill-fated city was again united to the Eastern empire by the talents of Belisarius and Narses.

280. From the year 568 up to the conquest of Italy by Charlemagne, in 774, the country was overrun by the Lombards, a people who quickly attained a high degree of civilization,

and were much given to the practice of architecture. Maffei, Muratori, and Tiraboschi have clearly proved that neither the Goths nor the Lombards introduced any particular style, but employed the architects whom they found in Italy. Fig 143. is the west end

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of the church of St. Michael, at Pavia, a work executed under the Lombards, and, therefore," here inserted as an example of style. The anxiety, however, of the Lombards to preserve the arts was not sufficient to prevent their increasing decay, which daily became more apparent. Not more than the Goths do they deserve the reproach for their treatment of and indifference to them. Besides fortifications and citadels for defence, they built palaces, baths, and temples, not only at Pavia, the seat of their empire, but at Turin, Milan, Spoleto, and Benevento. Hospitals under them began to be founded. The Queen Theodelinda, i particular, signalised her pious zeal in founding one at Monza, near Milan, her favourite residence, and endowing it in a most liberal manner.

281. In the eighth century the influence of the popes on the fine arts began to be felt. John VI. and Gregory III., at the commencement of the eighth century, showed great solicitude in their behalf. During this age the popes gained great temporal advantages, and their revenues enabled them to treat those advantages so as to do great good for Italy. In the ninth century Adrian I. signalis.d himself in this passion to such an extent, that Nicholas V. placed on his monument the inscription,

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Restituit mores, monia, templa, Domos.

His works were many and admirable. Among those of great use, he constructed porticoes from the city to San Paolo and S. Lorenzo fuori le Murà.

282. Before we advance to the age of Charlemagne, it will be necessary to notice the church of St. Vitalis, at Ravenna, which we have reserved for this place on account of the singularity of its construction. It was erected, as is usually believed, under the reign of Justinian, in the sixth century. See fig 144. and 145. The exterior walls are formed in a regular octagon, whose diameter is 128 ft. Within this octagon is another concentric one, 54 ft. in diameter, from the eight piers whereof (55 ft. in height) a hemispherical vault is gathered over, and over this is a timber conical roof. The peculiarity exhibited in the construction of the cupola is, that the spandrels are filled in with earthen vases; and that round the

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