DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62267#0037
THROUGH ITALY,
27
Ch. L
casion; the piety of the Emperor rendered such
a precaution unnecessary, and in the next place
the present doors were made in the ninth cen-
tury.
The church is divided by arcades into a nave
and two aisles ; it is terminated by a semicircle,
and vaulted nearly in the same manner as the
church of the Carthusians at Rome (the great
hall of Diocletian’s baths). The body of the
saint is supposed to lie under the high altar toge-
ther with those of St. Gervasius and St. Prota-
sius, of his brother Satyrus and of his sister Mar-
cellina. St. Victor’s church called in St. Am-
brose’s time, Basilica Portiana, is ennobled by its
connexion with the actions of the saint, and by
his contests with the Arians. It is however old
in site and in name only ; the whole fabric being
entirely modern, and far too gaudy for ancient
^ste. This censure indeed may be passed upon
ma >y other churches in Milan, which lose much
of the'- majesty and even of their beauty by the
profusion r}cli and splendid decorations that
encumber thMn< The materials of all are costly,
the arrangement of most is tasteless; yet there
are few which do present some object of
curiosity worthy of a vut. The same observa-
tion is applicable both to the convents and to the
palaces.
27
Ch. L
casion; the piety of the Emperor rendered such
a precaution unnecessary, and in the next place
the present doors were made in the ninth cen-
tury.
The church is divided by arcades into a nave
and two aisles ; it is terminated by a semicircle,
and vaulted nearly in the same manner as the
church of the Carthusians at Rome (the great
hall of Diocletian’s baths). The body of the
saint is supposed to lie under the high altar toge-
ther with those of St. Gervasius and St. Prota-
sius, of his brother Satyrus and of his sister Mar-
cellina. St. Victor’s church called in St. Am-
brose’s time, Basilica Portiana, is ennobled by its
connexion with the actions of the saint, and by
his contests with the Arians. It is however old
in site and in name only ; the whole fabric being
entirely modern, and far too gaudy for ancient
^ste. This censure indeed may be passed upon
ma >y other churches in Milan, which lose much
of the'- majesty and even of their beauty by the
profusion r}cli and splendid decorations that
encumber thMn< The materials of all are costly,
the arrangement of most is tasteless; yet there
are few which do present some object of
curiosity worthy of a vut. The same observa-
tion is applicable both to the convents and to the
palaces.