re, but not in unison with the rest--deserve separate
consideration. The two most beautiful churches in Rome next to St.
Peter's are the St. John's of the Lateran, and the Santa Maria Maggiore.
The former, built by Constantine the Great, is the parochial church of
the pope; it therefore takes precedence of all others, and is called
_Omnium urbis el orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput_ (the head and mother
of all churches of the city and the world). In it is celebrated the
coronation of the popes. It contains several pillars of granite, _verde
antico_, and gilt bronze; the twelve apostles by Rusconi and Legros; and
the beautiful chapel of Corsini, which is unequalled in its proportions,
built by Alexander Galilei. The altar-piece is a mosaic from a painting
by Guido, and the beautiful porphyry sarcophagus, which is under the
statue of Clement XII., was found in the Pantheon, and is supposed to
have contained the ashes of M. Agrippa. The nave of the church of Santa
Maria Maggiore is supported by forty Ionic pillars of Grecian marble,
which were taken from a temple of Juno Lucina: the ceiling was gilded
with the first gold brought from Peru. We are here struck with
admiration at the mosaics; the high altar, consisting of an antique
porphyry sarcophagus; the chapel of Sixtus V., built from the designs of
Fontana, and richly ornamented; the chapel of Paul V., adorned with
marble and precious stones; the chapel of Sforza, by Michael Angelo; and
the sepulchres of Guglielmo della Porta and Algardi. In the square
before the front is a Corinthian column, which is considered a
masterpiece of its kind. The largest church in Rome next to St. Peter's
was the Basilica di San Paolo fuori delle Mura, on the road to Ostia,
burnt a few years since. The church of S. Lorenzo, without the city,
possesses some rare monuments of antiquity. The church of San Pietro in
Vincola contains the celebrated statue of Moses, by Michael Angelo. The
church of St. Agnes, in the place Navona, begun by Rainaldi and
completed by Borromini, is one of the most highly ornamented,
particularly with modern sculpture. Here is the admirable relief of
Algardi, representing St. Agnes deprived of her clothes, and covered
only with her hair. The Basilica of St. Sebastian, before the Porta
Capena, contains the statue of the dying saint, by Giorgetti, a pupil of
Algardi, and the master of Bernini. Under these churches are the
catacombs, which formerly served as places of buria