DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61894#0164
IM-
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. IV
in magnificent perspective before you; advanc-
ing up the nave, you are delighted with the
beauty of the variegated marble under your feet,
and with the splendor of the golden vault over
your head. The lofty Corinthian pilasters with
their bold entablature, the intermediate niches
with their statues, the arcades with the graceful
figures that recline on the curves of their arches,
charm your eye in succession as you pass along.
But how great your astonishment when you
reach the foot of the altar, and standing- in the
centre of the church, contemplate the four su-
perb vistas that open around you ; and then raise
your eyes to the dome, at the prodigious eleva-
tion of four hundred feet, extended like a firma-
ment over your head, and presenting, in glowing
mosaic, the companies of the just, the choirs of
celestial spirits, and the whole hierarchy of hea-
ven arrayed in the presence of the Eternal, whose
44 throne high raised above all height” crowns
the awful scene.
When you have feasted your eye with the
grandeur of this unparalleled exhibition in the
whole, you will turn to the parts, the ornaments,
and the furniture, which you will find perfectly
corresponding with the magnificent form of the
temple itself. Around the dome rise four other
cupolas, small indeed when compared to its stu-
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. IV
in magnificent perspective before you; advanc-
ing up the nave, you are delighted with the
beauty of the variegated marble under your feet,
and with the splendor of the golden vault over
your head. The lofty Corinthian pilasters with
their bold entablature, the intermediate niches
with their statues, the arcades with the graceful
figures that recline on the curves of their arches,
charm your eye in succession as you pass along.
But how great your astonishment when you
reach the foot of the altar, and standing- in the
centre of the church, contemplate the four su-
perb vistas that open around you ; and then raise
your eyes to the dome, at the prodigious eleva-
tion of four hundred feet, extended like a firma-
ment over your head, and presenting, in glowing
mosaic, the companies of the just, the choirs of
celestial spirits, and the whole hierarchy of hea-
ven arrayed in the presence of the Eternal, whose
44 throne high raised above all height” crowns
the awful scene.
When you have feasted your eye with the
grandeur of this unparalleled exhibition in the
whole, you will turn to the parts, the ornaments,
and the furniture, which you will find perfectly
corresponding with the magnificent form of the
temple itself. Around the dome rise four other
cupolas, small indeed when compared to its stu-