In the foreground is an Egyptian obelisk 63 feet high. The church was
founded A.D. 352. It is 120 yards long by 50 wide. Its columns are of
the Ionic and Corinthian orders. The interior is of three aisles, and
has thirty-six Ionian columns of white marble, from the Villa of
Hadrian at Tivoli. The high altar is formed of a large urn of
porphyry, covered by a slab of marble, which is supported by four
angels in gilt bronze. The canopy, erected by Benedict XIV., is
supported by four columns of porphyry, surrounded by gilt palms. The
four angels in marble were sculptured by P. Bracci. Under the high
altar is the beautiful Confession, done by Vespignani, by order of
Pius IX., in 1863, in which is preserved the relic of the cradle of
the Saviour, and the bodies of S. Matthew and other saints. Here the
late Pope was to be buried; but he would not allow his successor to
ask leave of the Italian government, burial inside the walls being
prohibited, and in his will he directed that his body should be
interred in S. Lorenzo outside the walls. The monument is by
Jacometti.
The mosaic pictures over the arches on each side are of the fifth
century--a long series of panels of Scripture subjects, the historical
books of the Old Testament.
[Illustration: BASILICA OF S. MARIA MAGGIORE.]
The Arch of Triumph over the altar is of the same period. Those on the
vault of the tribune are of the thirteenth century. On the loggia,
over the front entrance, is another very fine mosaic picture of the
fourteenth century. _On the left of the high altar is the_