Restoration Of Churches In Rome.

RESTORATION OF CHURCHES IN ROME .

The restoration of the St . Lorenzo Basilica on the Tiburtine Way has been carried out by the architect Vespignani in better taste and style than many such processes to Avhich Rome ' s churches have been subjected in modern times , though not , indeed , Avithout some prejudice to olden details , of interest . Absolutely Vandalic Avas one proceeding- that sacrificed a lateral porch Avith columns and mosaic decoration—one of those

beautiful monuments of the thirteenth century , by the Avell-knovra . Cosimati family , whose Avorks are among the finest examples of the Mediasval Gothic in Rome , this construction having been unscrupulously destroyed in order to form a sacristy in place of the lateral entrance it had so Avell

adorned . We cannot commend the filling of the narrow-arched Avindovps along the southern aisle , nor the opening of another I - , much Avider , though of similar form , along the lower part of the same A \ r alls ; nor can Ave see , Avithout regret , the complete repainting of the curious series of

frescoes carried , in two files , along the Avails of the atrium , attributed to the Romano-Greek school of the thirteenth century , and illustrating the life and martyrdom of SS . Stephen and Laurence , besides other strangely romantic legends , as the contest between Demons and Angels for

the soul of the Emperor Henry II . ; the phantom High Mass , seen in this church at midnight by a pious sacristan of the Benedictine community , once occupying its cloisters ; and the story ( In several acts ) of the transfer of St . Laurence ' s body from Constantinople to Rome in the year o 57 .

The history of St . Lorenzo is singular and complicated . Ifc appears that tAvo churches , both beautiful and famous in ancient times , existed on this side anterior to the conspicuous buildings of Honorius III ., AA ^ I IO added the nave and aisles , Avith the portico and colonnade supporting a

mosaic inlaid architrave under a hea \ y pent-roof . One of these churches existed in the fifth century , when it was enriched by some donations from Pope Hilary . Another is spoken of as ancient in the eighth century ; for Ave read in Anastasius that Hadrian I . constructed the major basilica to

which it Avas annexed—the Avriter in the sequel explaining Avhat he here means by constructedmerely the renewal of the roofing , which had been quite ruinous . The church ascribed to Pelagius , and in which the body of St . Laurence Avas laid , is shown by notices in ancient Avriters to have

been a building of earlier date , renewed and amplified by that pope in the seventh century , afterwards styled spniciosior-nova , on account of the splendour with , which Pelagius invested it . That "major" basilica AA'hich Avas newl roofed b

y y Hadrian , and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin , was the edifice to which pertained the great triumphal arch ( UOAV adorned Avith the mosaics of the seventh century ) , Ayhich , from having terini- j

nated the nave of the original church , became the boundary betAveen that compartment and the presbyterium , when the whole primitive structure Avas converted into the choir of the much larger basilica , brought to its present development under Honorius III ., about A . D . 1216 . This ancient portion

( two churches , in fact ) is on two levels—the lower like a crypt , Avith its altar before the tomb of the the martyrs Stephen and Laurence ; the upper , an elevated choir , paved with rich marbles , with double colonnade of antique shafts , divided by a richlychiselled architrave , and reached by several steps

from the nave of Honorius ' s building . In the course of time ( Avhat period is uncertain ) , the crypt became in the greater part filled Avith soil ; and the tomb-chapel consequently accessible but on one side—that Avhere stands its altar ; the magnificent antique colonnade of fluted Avhite marble , with

Corinthian capitals , some beautifully adorned with military trophies amidst the acanthus leaves—the spoils , no doubt , from some edifice of classic antiquity—being still preserved , like a connecting link betAveen the upper and lower churches . Those shafts rising hih around the actual choirtheir

g , basements , at much lower level , are looked CIOAATI upon from the parapet w-alls enclosing thafc sanctuary . It is the restoration of this primitive crypt to its original state , and the dismembering of the

sepulchral chapel under the high altar of Pelagius ' s church , so as to leave ifc accessible on every side , that constitute the most meritorious part of the project recently carried out by the architect of Pius IX . Before entering , Ave notice the bronze statue of St . Laurence leaning on the instrument

of his martyrdom , that UOAV stands on a column of red granite , Avith lofty pedestal and basement of marble ; the statue about life-size , and therefore too small for effect at its hi gh situation . The novelty that most strikes the eye on this church ' s front is the clothing of the Avhole upjDer facade

above the portico-roof , Avith frescoes in imitation of mosaic on a gold ground ( to be ultimately executed in that more enduring art ) by Caponari , a young artist , tho pupil of Podesti , representing the colossal figures of the Emperor Constantine , and the Popes Honorius III ., Pius IX ., Sixtus III .,

and Hadrian I ., the first tAvo holding small models of this basilica . The figure of the present pontiff is at once a recognisable and speaking likeness ; above , along a heavily projecting frieze , half-lengths ofthe Saviour ( AV ! IO is blessing Avith uplifted hand ) , SS . Stephen and Laurenceand four other saints

, , male and female—the general composition good ; but in the very vivid tints of the painting thus placed on trial , rather too jarringly contrasted wifcli the venerable and sombre aspect that distinguishes the Avhole exterior . The same artist is UOAV

engaged on another series of colossal figures in fresco over the triumphal arch , on the side toAvards the nave , only tAvo of several saints yet appearing in the group begun . Another Avork still in progress is the colouring of the hitherto bare rafters thafc