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to ‘ht ( ? LL UM , in Roman antiquity, denoted a place sacred

tl, 8 ^ftp Withoutaroof -

a small family chapel in a Roman house, also8 4CRTM tera P les ' n which sacred things were deposited.

or Sanctus Bell, a bell to be found fre-hav e ^ er l he eastern or chancel end of a church, supposedrun s at the elevation of the host.tj (e ^TY, or Vestry, a room attached to a church, ine Kit e j Sa cred vessels, vestments, and other valuables, are

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» s i<le s L f' BACKED COPING-. Coping weathered onc ->Ur a | ;.; av ing two sloping tables on the top, falling from

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S4 G lia ge.

^'Sht'j^ Sa gging, the bending of a body that would be

in ^tal'] 1 a Vert *cal position ; but, when inclined, or laid,. l he j,..? u Pon supporters at each end, it becomes curvedI 'SsT ldle » from its own gravity: in which case it is

to architecture, a name sometimes used for°f an arch.

*L^bsej, ’ ln geometry, a term used by some writers, fortJ f^ IlT . a ? f a curve.

H ^ arc ■ ’ ln tr 'g°nometry, &c., the same as the versed sineor * an< ^ 80 called by some writers because it is likeetanding on the chord of the arc.

(jy p■ETER'S, a celebrated church, at Rome , betterhyp’ ar >d „! e na rae of Basilica Vaticana , from its originalfck^tam- Vatican hill, on which it stands, was foundedit Itle l he Great, over the reputed grave of St. Peter,°f C ' VaS a ^ so dedicated. In the days of paganism, the^°ris| IUS ’- al^fwarda of Nero , stood upon its site ; andant * ne > urged by Sylvester I., bishop of Rome ,

! hi 5 hpga^ a P°n erecting this basilica, he destroyed the circus,

! °Ul(] er >ltDs elf to dig the foundation, carrying away, onV Ve a p 03 ti’ twe l ye troughs of the earth, in honour of the>li e '''ere l 8 ‘ ^ ee Basilica. Some of the walls of thej of Silica’. °'vever, permitted to remain, and were used forj <j ar hle ^ ltx crder to accelerate its completion : a quantity^i^afatio^ 8 a ' lso taken from various ancient buildings, for'h^nifi an< ^ ^ was adorned with a hundred columns.N 6 l8th xr ntl y finished, it was consecrated by Sylvester ! ^p^^Wed T/ 0Vem ber, a.d. 324, and was richly furnishedj ^1, p f8 > kin ”7 Constantine, as it was afterwards by otherIl'P’ an< ^ particularly by the popes. In 460, or1 f'/'y presented two gold vases, set with jewels,ss. “?• each, with ten chalices, and twenty-foursuccessor, Simplicius , gave twelve moreanc l a golden vase, of 16 lbs. weight : Pope^nty j U ^ t * le beginning of the sixth century, pre-\ th e Actional lamps of silver, besides twenty-twoI 8),, °tHii S d an J e me tal, weighing 20 lbs. each. His succes-tl le S ’j la d a silver beam made, of 1400 lbs. weight,j a 'ght am ps given by his predecessors, and whichlI’H y^ont y day before the tomb of the apostles. Pela-8il v ‘ l H aijy le middle of the same century, adorned the(\j} ® r Col u ^ ’ an d Gregory I. added a canopy, supportedX° 'he n ( n ?’180 lbs. each. Honorius I. , who was^ (!p aac H^ atificate in 625, had silver doors made to thegilt in 61 ®, 8 ’ 11 ® 975 lbs., and he covered the roof witheta k taken from the temple of Jupiter Capi-

tolinus. Adrian I., towards the close of the eighth century, ihad a lamp made, in form of a cross, with 1,360 branches, jthat were lighted four times a year; and he adorned the itomb, used as a confessional, with 1,328 lbs. of gold. His jsuccessor, Leo III. , built a tower, then unequalled. In the ]year 846, the basilica was stripped of all its treasure by theSaracens ; but after they had been repulsed, Leo IV. hadnew doors made, with some basso-relievos of silver ; afterwhich, the building seems to have experienced very littlealteration till the time of Nicholas III. , who ascended thepapal chair in 1277. This pontiff adorned it with mosaic-work, and engaged Giotto to execute many paintings for it.He also erected a magnificent habitation, called the Canonica,for a chapter of canons, successors of the monks of fourmonasteries, who had formerly officiated in this temple, byturns, day and night. This Canonica has since been pulleddown, to make room for the modern basilica.

About 1,200 years from its foundation, this costly edificebegan to exhibit symptoms of considerable decay; and, in1506, Pope Julius II . began the new basilica, by enclosingall the old one. The first architect engaged in this under-taking was Bramante (see Bramante ), who, dying in 1514,was succeeded by Raphael d’Urbino , with others ; he dyingin 1520, the building was prosecuted by Baldassare Peruzzi .The troubles during the pontificate of Clement VII . causeda suspension of the work; nor was it resumed till 1546,when Paul III . employed Sangallo to carry it forward ; buthe dying the same year, the work was committed to thecelebrated Michael Angelo Bonarotti (see Bonarotti), whoconverted the design into the form of a Greek cross, andexecuted the design for the cupola. Bonarotti lived to seethe building carried to the height ot the tambour ; and, onhis death, which took place in 1564, he was succeeded byGiacomo Barozio da Vignola, till 1573, when Giacomo dellaPorta, assisted by Domenico Fontana , in the pontificate ofSixtus V. , raised up the wonderful cupola from Bonarotti’smodel; and, to complete the small cupola, he added a ball ofmetal, as a supporter to the cross; the concavity of whichball contains commodiously thirty-two persons sitting. Thisbuilding had been sixty-seven years in hand, under the super-intendence of seven architects, and during the reigns oftwelve popes,

In 1606, the plan of this building was changed from aGreek cross to a Latin one, by pope Paul V. , who also erectedthe portico with the grand front, after a design of CarloMaderno .

This church surpasses all the most celebrated buildings,ancient or modern, not only in its size, which is immense, but jin the excellency of its construction, within and without, and ;in the admirable works in marble, mosaic, metal, and gilt jstucco, with which it is adorned. 1

At the foot of the grand ascent to the church are the jstatues of St. Peter and St. Paul, executed for the old basilica, iin the pontificate of Pius II., by Mino da Fiesole . The basso- jrelievo on the front, under the benediction gallery, represent-ing our Lord committing the keys to St. Peter’s care, is byMalvicino. The portico is ornamented with statues of thefirst popes, who suffered martyrdom, surrounded by festoons,angels, and gilt stucco ; the performance of Algardi : themarble columns, of surprising magnitude, are from the origi-

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