figure of the Virgin Mary, to whom the church is
dedicated.

"An aerial host
Of figures human and divine,
White as the snows of Apennine
Indurated by frost.

"Awe-struck we beheld the array
That guards the temple night and day,

Angels that might from heaven have flown
And virgin saints--who not in vain
Have striven by purity to gain
The beatific crown;

"Long-drawn files, concentric rings,
Each narrowing above each;--the wings--
The uplifted palms, the silent marble lips,
The starry zone of sovereign height,
All steeped in this portentous light!
All suffering dim eclipse!"

With the exception of the facade, it is in a pseudo-Gothic style. It was
founded about the year 1386, by Gian Galeazzo, Visconti Duke of
Milan--probably somewhat after the model of the Cologne Cathedral; and
in 1805 Napoleon added the tower over the Dome. A very large sum of
money was left for keeping the church in repair--a deed stipulating that
a certain amount must be expended annually on this object, I believe,
something at the rate of L2000 a month! The marble used is of an
unusually soft nature, hence its decay and cost of repair. But these
constant patchings certainly disfigure and spoil the beauty of the
surface architecture, especially at the Eastern end, and afford a
convincing instance of how a man may mar his own object by want of
judgment.

The first view of the interior is very striking, the vaulting being
supported by fifty-two exceedingly lofty clustered columns, dividing the
church into a nave and two aisles each side. These columns have most
beautifully sculptured capitals, formed of figures within niches. They
greatly impede the light, however, and the view within the church
generally, and from the pavement the canopies of the capitals have
somewhat the appearance of outspread parasols, which lends a slightly
grotesque air. The vaulting itself also being panelled, to resemble
elaborate stone fretwork, rather detracts from the general beauty of the
building, being but a meretricious kind of ornamentation, and quite
unworthy the building. There are three stained glass windows above the
choir--

"Through which the lights, rose, amber, emerald, blue,"

stream upon the pure marble and golden pulpits.

"Likewise the deep-set windows, stain'd and traced,
Would seem slow flaming crimson fires
From shadow'd grots