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THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
No. 379.] SATURDAY, JULY 4, 1829. [PRICE 2d.
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MILAN CATHEDRAL
[Illustration: MILAN CATHEDRAL.]
"Show the motley-minded gentleman in;"--the old friend with a new
face, or, in plain words, THE MIRROR _in a new type_. Tasteful reader,
examine the symmetry, the sharp cut and finish of this our new fount of
type, and tell us whether it accords not with the beauty, pungency, and
polish of the notings and selections of this our first sheet. For some
days this type has been glittering in the printing-office boxes, like
nestling fire-flies, and these pages at first resembled so many pools or
tanks of molten metal, or the windows of a fine old mansion--Hatfield
House for instance,--lit up by the refulgent rays of a rising sun.
The sight "inspires us, and fires us;" and we count upon _new_ letter
bringing us _new_ friends, and thus commence our Fourteenth Volume
with _new_ hopes and invigorating prospects. But what subject can
be more appropriate for such a commencement, than so splendid a
triumph of art as
MILAN CATHEDRAL;
situate almost in the centre, and occupying part of the great square
of the city. It is of Gothic architecture, and its materials are white
marble. In magnitude this edifice yields to few in the universe.
Inferior only to the Vatican, it equals in length, and in breadth
surpasses, the cathedral of Florence and St. Paul's; in the interior
elevation it yields to both; in exterior it exceeds both; in fretwork,
carving, and statues, it goes beyond all churches in the world, St.
Peter's itself not excepted. Its double aisles, its clustered pillars,
its lofty arches; the lustre of its walls; its numberless niches all
filled with marble figures, give it an appearance novel even in Italy,
and singularly majestic. The admirer of English Gothic will observe
one peculiarity, which is, that in the cathedral of Milan there is no
screen, and that the chancel is entirely open, and separated from the
nave only by its elevation.
The pillars of the cathedral of Milan are more than ninety feet in
height, and about eight in diameter. The dimensions of the church
at large are as follow:--In length four hundred and ninety feet, in
breadth two hundred and ninety-eight, in interior elevation under the
dome two hundred and fifty-eight, and four hundred in exterior, that
is to the summit of the tower. The pavement is formed of marble of
different colours, disposed in various patterns and figures. The number
of niches is great, and every niche has its statue, which, with those
placed on the ballustrade of the roof, are reported to amount to more
than four thousand. Many among them are said to be of great merit. Over
the dome rises a tower or spire, or rather obelisk, for its singular
shape renders it difficult to ascertain its appellation, which, whatever
may be its intrinsic merit, adds little either to the beauty or to the
magnificence of the structure which it surmounts. This obelisk was
erected about the middle of the last century, contrary to the opinion
of the best architects. Though misplaced, its form is not in itself
inelegant, while its architecture and mechanism are extremely ingenious,
and deserve minute examination. In ascending the traveller will observe,
that the roof of the church is covered with blocks of marble, connected
together by a cement, that has not only its hardness and durability, but
its colour, so that the eye scarcely perceives the juncture, and the
whole roof appears one immense piece of white shining marble. The view
from the summit is extensive and even novel, as it includes not only the
city and the rich plain of Milan, intersected with rivers and canals,
covered with gardens, orchards, vineyards, and groves, and thickly
studded with villages and towns; but it extends to the grand frame of
this picture, and takes in the neighbouring Alps, forming a magnificent
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