DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55699#0190
152
THE LANDSCAPE ANNUAL.
was not entirely removed until the pontificate of Julius
the Second, in 1506, when the first stone of the present
building was laid.
The history of the building of St. Peter’s, and the de-
scription of the splendours of its architectural decoration,
would literally require volumes to do them justice. The
treasures of a succession of' pontiffs and the genius of
several generations of architects were lavished upon the
edifice. During the pontificates of Julius the Second,
Leo the Tenth, Adrian the Sixth, Clement the Seventh,
Paul the Third, Julius the Third, Pius the Fifth, Gregory
the Thirteenth, Sixtus the Fifth, Paul the Fifth, and
Alexander the Seventh, the vast work still proceeded ;
and it was not until three centuries and a half had been
consumed in the labour that the mighty mass was com-
pleted. The whole sum expended upon the church,
before its completion, has been reckoned at forty-seven
millions of scudi, upwards of ten millions and a half ster-
ling. It has been said that the building of the church
was one of the principal causes of the Reformation, since
the expenses of it were so great that the pontiffs were
compelled to discredit the Catholic faith by issuing an
extra number of indulgences. During the pontificate of
Sixtus the Fifth, six hundred workmen were employed
day and night upon the cupola, which, by this extra-
ordinary exertion, was completed in the space of twenty-
two months. In one story only of the dome eleven hun-
dred beams were employed, one hundred of which were
of such magnitude that the arms of two men could not
embrace them.
The eye of the traveller is generally deceived as to
THE LANDSCAPE ANNUAL.
was not entirely removed until the pontificate of Julius
the Second, in 1506, when the first stone of the present
building was laid.
The history of the building of St. Peter’s, and the de-
scription of the splendours of its architectural decoration,
would literally require volumes to do them justice. The
treasures of a succession of' pontiffs and the genius of
several generations of architects were lavished upon the
edifice. During the pontificates of Julius the Second,
Leo the Tenth, Adrian the Sixth, Clement the Seventh,
Paul the Third, Julius the Third, Pius the Fifth, Gregory
the Thirteenth, Sixtus the Fifth, Paul the Fifth, and
Alexander the Seventh, the vast work still proceeded ;
and it was not until three centuries and a half had been
consumed in the labour that the mighty mass was com-
pleted. The whole sum expended upon the church,
before its completion, has been reckoned at forty-seven
millions of scudi, upwards of ten millions and a half ster-
ling. It has been said that the building of the church
was one of the principal causes of the Reformation, since
the expenses of it were so great that the pontiffs were
compelled to discredit the Catholic faith by issuing an
extra number of indulgences. During the pontificate of
Sixtus the Fifth, six hundred workmen were employed
day and night upon the cupola, which, by this extra-
ordinary exertion, was completed in the space of twenty-
two months. In one story only of the dome eleven hun-
dred beams were employed, one hundred of which were
of such magnitude that the arms of two men could not
embrace them.
The eye of the traveller is generally deceived as to