a semi-circular sweep, the
stupendous Aegyptian obelisk, the two fountains, the portico, and the
admirable facade of the church, form such an assemblage of magnificent
objects, as cannot fail to impress the mind with awe and admiration:
but the church would have produced a still greater effect, had it been
detached entirely from the buildings of the Vatican, It would then have
been a master-piece of architecture, complete in all its parts, intire
and perfect: whereas, at present, it is no more than a beautiful member
attached to a vast undigested and irregular pile of building. As to the
architecture of this famous temple, I shall say nothing; neither do I
pretend to describe the internal ornaments. The great picture of Mosaic
work, and that of St. Peter's bark tossed by the tempest, which appear
over the gate of the church, though rude in comparison with modern
pieces, are nevertheless great curiosities, when considered as the work
of Giotto, who flourished in the beginning of the fourteenth century.
His master was Cimabue, who learned painting and architecture of the
Grecian artists, who came from Constantinople, and first revived these
arts in Italy. But, to return to St. Peter's, I was not at all pleased
with the famous statue of the dead Christ in his mother's lap, by
Michael Angelo. The figure of Christ is as much emaciated, as if he had
died of a consumption: besides, there is something indelicate, not to
say indecent, in the attitude and design of a man's body, stark naked,
lying upon the knees of a woman. Here are some good pictures, I should
rather say copies of good pictures, done in Mosaic to great perfection;
particularly a St. Sebastian by Domenichino, and Michael the Archangel,
from a painting of Guido Rheni. I am extremely fond of all this
artist's pieces. There is a tenderness and delicacy in his manner; and
his figures are all exquisitely beautiful, though his expression is
often erroneous, and his attitudes are always affected and unnatural.
In this very piece the archangel has all the air of a French
dancing-master; and I have seen a Madonna by the same hand, I think it
is in the Palazzo di Barberini, in which, though the figures are
enchanting, the Virgin is represented holding up the drapery of the
infant, with the ridiculous affectation of a singer on the stage of our
Italian opera. The Mosaic work, though brought to a wonderful degree of
improvement, and admirably calculated for churches, the damp