G02

ITALY.

the identical doors ; but the more probable opinion is, that these doors are of the ninthcentury, made by order of Archbishop Anspcrt: they arc covered with a profusion ofcarving in figures and foliage; but the wire-work, added to protect them, almost hidesthe detail.”

“ The most ancient part of the building which presents any character of architecture isprobably of the same period, though one would not venture to deny that some remains ofthe original church of St. Ambrose may still exist. The court in front is acknowledgedto be of the ninth century, and the church exhibits very much of the same style of art.The court is a parallelogram, surrounded with arcades, having three arches at each end,and six on each side. The walls abound with fragments of inscriptions, and one or twocurious tombs are built upon them; particularly a large, rude sarcophagus of PagamusPctresanta, captain of the Florentines, who died in 800, and at whose funeral fourcardinals were present. Considerable vestiges of the old painting in stucco remain onthe wall, but the subject is no longer discernible. There is nothing in the details of thedesign, or in the execution of this little court, to demand our admiration; and yet it isexceedingly beautiful, from the mere simplicity and harmony of the general disposition.The tower is a square brick building. The inside of the church was originally divided,on the plan, into square portions, each division having two semicircularly archedopenings on each side, on the ground, and two above to the gallery, and a vaulting ofsemicircular groined arches. The two first squares remain in this state, but the thirdhas two pointed groins springing from a lower point; the strong ribs which separate thesquares unite likewise in a point. The fourth square is that of the lantern, which, fromthe external appearance, is probably an addition of the thirteenth century: within, itis entirely modernised. There is no transept. The parallel walls of the buildingcontinue a little beyond the lantern, and the building terminates in an ancient nicheor apsis.

“ The choir has been modernised, except the apsis, which is ornamented with mosaicsrepresenting our Saviour, and with saints and angels. It is said to have been executedby Greek artists in the tenth century. The pieces of the mosaic arc formed of a thinlamina of gold or metal, laid on a thick die of glass, and covered with a very thin plateof the same material, and the whole united by exposure to heat. In a little chapel ofSan Satyro, in this church, is another mosaic of the same sort, which is thought to bestill more ancient. The great altar contains the ashes of St. Ambrose , St. Gervase, andSt. Protasius. Over it is a canopy, supported on four columns, of a beautiful red porphyry.The canopy is attributed to the ninth century, but the columns are esteemed much moreancient, and I dare say are so, but not in their present situation. They pass throughthe present paving, and tradition says they are as much below as they are above, whichis about ten feet. The bases of the piers in the nave show the pavement there to havebeen raised above a foot; that of the choir is about two feet above that of the nave: ifwe add these two dimensions to the present height of the columns above the pavement,we shall probably have their total height. The canopy is composed of four arches, eachsomewhat exceeding a semicircle, and of four gables of a greenish colour, richly adornedwith gold. The ornament of the archivolt is formed of a series of intersecting arches, allgilt; and the little gilt crockets run along the gables. The altar is also very rich withgold, silver, and precious stones. Besides the altar, this church contains part of a granitecolumn, with a marble capital much too small for the shaft; and upon this is the identicalbrazen serpent made by Moses for the children of Israel in the wilderness. Moremoderate people say that it was made in imitation of that of Moses . It is entirely devoidof use or beauty, and does not seem to be an object of reverence. Near this is asculptured sarcophagus of white marble, of Christian times, supposed to have been madeto receive the ashes of Stilico and his wife Serena. Over the sarcophagus, and partly