number of French hairdressers who had introduced themselves into this country.

At the end of the last century the wig began to fall into disuse; many contented themselves with their natural hair, in which they wore powder, and those who still retained this article of dress were satisfied with a wig of less imposing appearance; but still, in many cases, the queue was retained, and sometimes it was made of an extravagant length and thickness, tightly bound round with riband so as to resemble a solid mass rather than a bundle of pendant hair. The statue of George the Third, in Cockspur-Street, London, furnishes a good example of this appendage to the wig, but even this sinks into insignificance when compared with the queue which was formerly worn by the sailors in the Royal Navy; this reached nearly to the bottom of the back, and must have been very inconvenient to the wearer. These tails were abolished in the navy some years back, and shortly after the filthy powder worn in the hair of the soldiery was also abolished, and the hair was cut close.

The wigs of the latter part of George the Third's reign, as we have noticed, assumed a less dignified appearance, as shown in the annexed figures. Since

As the wig had reached its largest size during the reign of William, so in the succeeding reigns, those of Anne and George the First, it was more generally worn by all classes, and was made in the greatest variety of forms. About 1720, it was fashionable to tie one-half of it on one side into a club, as in No. 3. A few years after, bag wigs came into fashion; several ludicrous specimens of these are represented in the next engravings; the first two are copied from Hogarth's plates, about 1730, and the third was in

that time even wigs of this description have fallen into disuse, and the chief work for the peruke-maker

now consists in the manufacture of natural scratches, as they are called, for the use of those whose health and comfort require such protection, and of those whose tastes deem them essential to appearances. The real wig is now confined exclusively to the bench of bishops, many of whom, however, do not wear it, and to the members of the legal profession, who cannot dispense with it.

SELF-LOVE but serves the virtuous mind to wake,
As the small pebble stirs the peaceful lake;
The centre moved, a circle straight succeeds,
Another still, and still another spreads;
Friend, parent, neighbour, first it will embrace,
His country next, and next all human race.
Wide and more wide, the o'erflowings of the mind
Take every creature in of every kind.-POPE.

LONDON:

JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, PRICE SIXPENCE.

Sold by all Book ellers and Newsvenders in the Kingdom.

HISTORY OF ST. PETER'S.

THE ancient basilica, which preceded the present Cathedral of St. Peter, was erected in 324, by the Emperor Constantine; and it has been a constant tradition of the Romish Church that the spot on which it stood was the burial place of St. Peter, after his supposed martyrdom on the site of S. Pietro in Montorio. In the middle of the fifteenth century this basilica was verging on ruin; and the reigning pontiff, Nicholas V., undertook to erect a new building "on such a scale, and with such accompaniments," to use the words of Mr. Woods, "that even the present work, with all its appendages, and the adjoining palace of the Vatican, are hardly equal to it. Three straight streets, with porticoes on each side, were to have conducted to the church. This was to have been formed on the most magnificent scale, and finished with the richest materials: adjoining would have been a palace, large enough to afford accommodation to the pope and all his court; to all the Cardinals and their attendants; to various officers of government; and, besides this, spacious apartments for as many Sovereigns with their numerous suites, as could be ever at one time at Rome: add to all this, pleasure-grounds, gardens and fountains, and a great theatre for the ceremonies of coronation." The pope died, however, and with him his vast designs. Fifty years afterwards, the project of *The coronation of the Emperor, apparently is meant. If the design of Nicholas had been carried into effect, his theatre would never have been used; for it happens that he was the last pontiff who was "importuned by the presence of a Roman Emperor." VOL. XII.

building a new church was resumed by Julius II., who invited different artists to send in their plans. Such a competition," continues the author of Letters of an Architect," took place on this occasion, as is not to be seen in these degenerate days: Bramante; Giuliano di San Gallo; Fra Giacomo, or perhaps rather Fra Giocondo; Peruzzio; Raphael; and J. Battista Berti, produced their designs; but that of Bramante was preferred."

Bramante began to clear the ground by pulling down a part of the old edifice in 1503; the first stone of the new structure was laid by Julius himself, on the 18th of April, 1506; it was deposited under one of the four enormous pillars which support the cupola. Bramante lived to see the whole of these four pillars raised as high as the cornice, and upon them the arches turned, upon which the great dome itself rests. He died in 1514. His patron, Julius II., had died the previous year; but the successor of Julius, Leo X., carried on the work with increased energy. "It is well known," remarks Dr. Burton, "that both Julius and Leo carried to a much greater length than any of their predecessors the sale of indulgences. The justification of such a measure was principally taken from the desire entertained by the Roman Pontiff for rebuilding the church of St. Peter and as the Reformation is certainly to be ascribed in a great degree to the offence raised by this scandalous traffic, we may say, without aiming at a paradox, that the efforts of the Roman Catholics to beautify their Metropolitan church, contributed, in some degree, to produce the Refor

mation."

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The architects who succeeded Bramante were Giuliano and Antonio di San Gallo, with whom was associated the great Raphael who had already immortalized himself by the great paintings which he had been executing in the Vatican since 1508. Dr. Burton quotes a letter written by Raphael upon the occasion of his appointment, wherein he says, "His Holiness, in conferring an honour upon me, has placed a great load upon my shoulders; this is the superintendence of the building of St. Peter's. I hope that I shall not sink under it: and the more so, as the plan which I have made for it pleases his holiness, and is commended by many men of genius. But I raise my thoughts even higher. I could wish to reach the beautiful forms of the ancient buildings; nor can I tell whether my flight will be like that of Icarus. Vitruvius affords me great lights, but not enough."

Raphael died in 1520, and Giuliano di San Gallo before him; they did nothing beyond strengthening the four great pillars which Bramante had raised, and which, though 59 feet in diameter, were thought insufficient for the weight of the intended cupola. The next architect was Baltassar Peruzzi, who, despairing of the time and money required for the completion of Bramante's design, intended to adopt a Greek cross for the plan; the edifice was under his superintendence during the pontificates of Adrian VI. and Clement VII., but it advanced very slowly, in those disturbed times. Paul III. who ascended the papal throne in 1534, employed Antonio di San Gallo, who brought the design back again to a Latin cross; a model of his intended edifice, which was made by his servant, at the cost of 4,184 crowns, may be still seen in the present church. He strengthened the supports of the intended cupola, vast as they had already become; and died in 1546.

We have now reached the period in which Michel Angelo was called in to superintend the work, he being then 72 years old. In the brief by which he received his appointment from Paul III. he was intrusted with authority to do and undo whatever he pleased; and in the same document he insisted upon the insertion of a declaration that he undertook the work for the love of God, and without any salary or reward. "Nor was this," says Mr. Woods," a vain boast, for although Paul III. repeatedly urged his acceptance of some remuneration he invariably refused it." Michel Angelo began by producing a model of the building, according to the altered design which he intended to adopt. "There was, perhaps, a little ostentation in producing a model of the altered design, in fifteen days, and at the expense of 25 crowns; while San Gallo's model had occupied several years: but St. Peter's at this time had become a standing job, and the underlings employed in it, instead of feeling any zeal to complete it, considered an appointment in the building as an establishment for life. All this Michel Angelo endeavoured to put an end fo, and excited great ill-will towards himself for so doing; but his wonderful talents and high character carried him through all opposition." Michel Angelo seems indeed to have had even a larger number of enemies than usually fell to the lot of great artists in those days; and Julius III., who succeeded Paul III. in 1550, was soon assailed from all sides with complaints of the overbearing temper of his architect, and of his determined opposition to the plans and labours of the most experienced brethren. The pope continued firm in his attachment, but Michel Angelo, despite of the countenance afforded him by a new diploma, confirming all his former powers, was so wearied by the incessant clamours and manœuvres of his enemies, that he would willingly have retired to end his days at Florence, had he consulted only his private ease. The feelings which he entertained upon the subject are often expressed in his letters to his friends; in one to Vasari he says: "My dear friend George, I call God to witness, that I was engaged against my will, and with very great reluctance, by Pope Paul III., in the building of St. Peter's ten years ago: and if the construction of that building had been followed up to the present day in the manner it was then carried on, I should now be arrived at such a point in the building, that I should turn to it with delight; but from want of money it has proceeded and still proceeds very slowly, just as it has come to the most laborious and difficult parts; so that by abandoning it now, the only consequence would be, that with excessive shame and propriety, I should lose the reward of the fatigues which I have endured these ten years, for the love of God." He concludes, "To make you understand the consequence of abandoning the said building; in the first place, should satisfy several scoundrels, and I should be the occasion of

its falling to ruin, and perhaps of its being shut up for

ever."

Michel Angelo began his labours by strengthening the four great piers, which, although they had been repeatedly reinforced, did not even yet appear to him so strong as they ought to be. He returned to the plan of a Greek cross, widened the tribune and transepts, and gave a much freer area than his predecessors had projected. "To what point he carried the work," says Mr. Woods, "I do not know; but the whole, as far as the extent of the Greek cross, seems to have been continued nearly according to his design." He died in 1563. The two small cupolas were finished by Vignola, in 1573. The great cupola was completed in 1590; Michel Angelo had raised the drum, or the tambúro as the Italians call it, that is to say, the cylindrical part, which rises to the springing of the arch of the dome. Its completion was the work of Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana, who were the architects of Sextus V.; and the zeal of that pope being as great, if not greater, than that of any of his predecessors, 600 workmen were employed night and day, and the money monthly expended was 100,000 golden crowns. By this incessant labour the cupola was completed in the short space of twenty-two months,or by the month of May, 1590; the outer covering of lead was all of the dome that remained unfinished; the lantern indeed was not yet erected.

Paul V., who occupied the papal chair from 1605 to 1621, pursued the work with equal ardour. At his accession a part of the ancient basilica was still standing; he lost no time in pulling it down, and on the 18th of February, 1608, laid the first stone of the great entrance. His architect was Carlo Maderno, who returned to the original plan of the Latin cross, and finished the body of the edifice in 1614. The great colonnade which stands in front of it was added by Bernini, under Alexander VII., who reigned from 1655 to 1667. The sacristy, which, strictly speaking, has nothing to do with the main edifice, was added so late as 1780 by Pius VI.

"How fortunate," exclaims Forsyth, "that a structure created by so many pontiffs, and the subject of so many plans, should keep its proportions inviolate, even in the smallest ornaments! Michel Angelo left it an unfinished memorial of his proud, towering, gigantic powers, and his awful genius watched over his successors, till at last a wretched plasterer came down from Como, and him we must execrate, for the Latin cross, the aisles, the attic, and the front." Mr. Forsyth is not the only person who has heaped a load of censure upon Carlo Maderno; but it is a disputed point among the critics whether the Greek cross would have been preferable to the Latin.

The reader will observe from this sketch that upwards of one hundred years elapsed before the body of St. Peter's Church was completed; and that nearly three centuries were required to bring it to its present form. In the middle of the seventeenth century, Carlo Fontana drew up an account of the building, by order of Innocent the Ninth, together with a loose estimate of its cost, not from the sums actually expended, for many of the accounts were lost,-but from the value of the materials employed. According to his calculations there had been expended upon it up to that time 47,151,450 millions of scudi, or about £11,625,000 of our money. This amount does not include the cost of the bronze chair of St. Peter, in which was used 219,061 lbs. of that metal, nor of the bronze confessional which contains 186,392 lbs.

THE APPROACH, COLONNADE, AND FRONT. THE Church of St. Peter stands on the left or western side of the Tiber, the great bulk of the city being on the opposite side. "There is no distant point of view," says Mr. Woods, "in which this church gives an impression of great magnificence, or from which it has the appearance of being such an immense building as it really is. This is owing to the situation, and perhaps no building of great consequence was ever so badly placed. It stands in a hollow between the Janiculan and Vatican hills which are connected by a neck behind it; so that on three sides it is surrounded by slopes, rising almost immediately from it, and about equalling the height of the nave, and in front, in spite of the large space before it, it seems encumbered with houses, which prevent a view down to the base." In fact, were it not for the dome, the buildings of the Vatican would actually overtop the church, as the reader may ob serve by referring to a former engraving.*

• See Saturday Magazine, Vol. IX., p. 121.

"The first modern structure," says Mr. Hope, "that attracted my attention was St. Peter's, that splendid basilica, built over the tomb of the prince of the Apostles, in the capital of Christendom, at the expense of all the Catholic part of Europe, which took more than a century to finish, was fabricated out of the spoil of the most splendid ancient edifices that remained, and is the most gigantic and most superb structure that the modern world can boast, or that is ever likely to rise in it.

In the way to it I passed over the bridge of St. Angelo, decorated with statues by Bernini, that look, from the distortion of their limbs, and the flutter of their draperies, as if caught in a whirlwind; and by that still more imposing mass, once the tomb of Adrian, now the citadel of Rome, where Belisarius defended himself against the Goths, by throwing down upon them the marble statues that adorned its numerous zones.

From that point a noble avenue should lead to the place of St. Peter's, in order to complete its magnificencea shabby street forms the approach. When, however, the circular colonnade, the central obelisk, the two foaming fountains, casting day and night, without ceasing, a vast stream into the air, and at the further end of a gradually ascending square, the immense façade, and the proud dome of St. Peter's suddenly opens upon the sight, all former impressions vanish, and admiration only remains. But when this again begins to cool, one smiles at the Egyptian obelisk carrying the Christian cross; one regrets its pedestal, too narrow for the spread of its base; one condemns in the Church its front so much broken by partial projections, its pediment standing on a base too narrow, and an expanse too small, and rendered evidently useless by the ponderous attic that rises behind it, and crushes the façade to which it was intended to give elevation.

"Contemplating those columns of nearly nine feet in diameter, but which, formed of a masonry of small stones, only look, on a near approach, like small turrets, one cannot help casting a lingering look back on the portico of the Pantheon, and thinking that elevation of insulated columns of granite, of one single piece, though smaller in its dimensions, grander in its conceptions, and more striking in its effect, than these clusters of huge pillars, all reticulated with joints and jammed up against a wall.

Undoubtedly the accessories to St. Peter's are fine; still they do not impress one like the vast areas that precede and lead to the imperial mosques at Constantinople, form an intermediate space between the bustle of a city and the silence of the house of God, and prepare the devout for meditation and for prayer."

The circular colonnade in front of St. Peter's is considered the master-piece of Bernini. It is composed of four rows of columns, forty feet high, and five feet in diameter, with a complete entablature; the pillars are 256 in number, and they are surmounted with 192 statues of saints, each 11 feet in height. The area which this colonnade encloses is 728 feet in length; its width at the broad end is 606 feet. In the centre rises an Egyptian obelisk, of one unbroken piece of granite, to the height of 132 feet, 48 of which are occupied by the base on which it stands; and on either side of the obelisk is a large and splendid fountain.

This colonnade is a fine erection. "It is beautiful in design," says Mr. Woods, "graceful, and even magnificent; yet magnificence is not its character. The design has richness and magnificence; but it has not majesty or sublimity; and it is this want of majesty which makes one unwilling to admit its size, and communicates an appearance of uselessness." This writer expresses an opinion that the design would have been better on a smaller scale, with Corinthian columns hardly as high as the present, and ornamented Corinthian entablatures. "But you will ask me, if thus enriched and adorned, would it form a suitable approach to St. Peter's? I answer, no, nor does it now; and the proof of this is that it looks better any way than towards the church. It is more beautiful alone than united with the building it was meant to accompany."

This want of harmony with the building itself seems to be generally admitted as the great defect of the colonnade; it has great beauty, but has evidently no business to be where it is. "How beautiful the colonnades!" exclaims Mr. Forsyth, "How finely proportioned to the church! How advantageous to its flat, forbidding front, which ought to have come forward, like the Pantheon, to meet the decoration! How grand an enclosure for the piazza! how fortunate a screen to the ignoble objects around it. But, advance or retire, you will find no point of view that com

66

The main front of St. Peter's must be examined from the area which this colonnade encloses. The common remark is that this front is more that of a palace than that of a church; it is 160 feet high and 396 wide. It consists of two stories and an attic, with nine windows to each, and nine heavy balconies awkwardly intersecting the Corinthian columns and pilasters at half of their height. The pillars of the front are 88 feet in height, including the base and capital, and eight feet in diameter; yet the whole front looks much smaller than it really is. Mr. Woods seeks the causes of this apparent diminution in the composition of the front itself, as well as in other circumstances. The breaks of the entablature have the effect of reducing the columns and pilasters into ornaments, " and one cannot imagine," as he says, "mere ornaments of such gigantic dimensions.' Another cause is the division of the height into three stories, and from this arises the greater similitude which it bears to a palace than to a church. 'An enormous palace is grand; but still the imagination is conducted towards the usual appearances of human life." The dimensions of an ordinary palace form the standard by which a spectator estimates the dimensions of a front which inevitably excites in his mind the idea of a palace; the stories form a scale by which he measures the whole height, and although the judgment to which he is insensibly led be the result of a misapplied proportion, still the effect is produced. "Then the attics form another story, and who wants garrets thirty feet high?" It is because nobody wants them that nobody can think them so high as they are, and a spectator, looking at the attics of the front of St. Peter's, naturally judges of their dimensions by the standard which he applies to the attics of a palace. It is from a similar cause that the colonnade looks much smaller than it is,-it is useless; "it is palpably a thing of mere ornament, not connected with or forming a part of the building, or applied to any useful purpose, and the understanding is not easily reconciled to such great masses thus employed."

There are five entrances in the front of St. Peter's.

They lead into a covered portico or vestibule, the length of which extends along the whole width of the front, and beyond it at either end, so as to equal 468 feet: its width is forty feet. The true magnificence of St. Peter's, observes Dr. Burton, begins here. Mr. Forsyth speaks in high terms of this lofty vestibule, "vaulted with gilt stuccoes, and paved with various marbles, lengthening on the eye by a grand succession of doors, and niches, and statues, till it ends in the perspective statue of Charlemagne. This is one architectural picture which no engraving can flatter." The statue of Charlemagne is equestrian; it occupies the left extremity; at the right one is a similar statue of Constantine. From this vestibule five doors lead into the body of the edifice.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERIOR.

ACCORDING to Dr. Burton, the length of the interior of this church is 609 feet from wall to wall; if the thickness of the walls and the depth of the portico be included, the length is 722 English feet. The width of the nave is 91 feet, and its height to the top of the vault is 152 feet. The length of the transepts is 445 feet. Upon the floor, which is composed of large blocks of marble of singular beauty, and disposed in various figures, are marked the lengths of some of the principal churches of Europe, as well as that of St. Peter's itself; they are given thus:

St. Peter's..

St. Paul's, London

837 palms

Milan Cathedral

St. Paul's. Rome

S. Sophia, Constantinople 492

609 feet. 521 439 39 415356

The proportion of marble is astonishing; much of it is ancient, and the varieties are of the greatest rarity and 374-2