Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/377

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ITALY.
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infancy of European civilization, and yet whose works have never since been equalled in any age or country in the world! These fathers of the art of sculpture did not try for effect; they did not put human forms in fantastic attitudes or violent action to attract attention. They knew the natural beauty and the dignity of the human figure, and they have sculptured that figure in repose or in dignified action, in calm delight or in patient suffering, such as no modern sculptors have ever since done. The celebrated Apollo Belvedere is in this collection.

Speaking of statues I ought to mention that there is another fine collection of old sculptures in the museum of the Capitol, comprising the celebrated Capitol.Capitoline Venus and the equally celebrated Dying Gladiator which inspired some of the finest lines that even Byron ever wrote.

Rome has more than 300 churches, and a few of them are worth a visit, even after one has seen St. Peter's. St. Paul's church originally founded Churches.by Constantine is just outside the town. The magnificent gilded ceiling, the spacious marble pavement, the rich chapels with mosaic designs, and the 80 Corinthian columns of granite, each of a single piece of stone, make the church one of the finest in the world. The church of St John Lateran within the town was also originally founded bp Constantine. The facade is composed of four large columns and six pilasters, supporting a massive entablature and balustrade, on which are the colossal statues of Christ and ten saints. The