The Texas doctor and the Arab donkey, or, Palestine and Egypt as viewed by modern eyes / by J.M. Fort.

  • Fort, J. M. (Joseph Marstain)
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Texas doctor and the Arab donkey, or, Palestine and Egypt as viewed by modern eyes / by J.M. Fort. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    two hundred and twenty feet wide and one hundred in height. The plan and dimensions of the ])resent building- are about the same as the original. Eighty corinthian columns forming the nave are retlected in the marble pavement. A grand triumphal arch separates the nave from the transept.” On either side are statues of Sts. Peter and Paul. Around the church above the pillars are portraits of the popes in mosaic. The altar canopy is supported b}^ four magnificent alabaster columns given the church by Mahomet Ali, Pasha of Egypt. The base of the pillars supporting the altar canopy, and the altars at each end of the transept, are malachite given the church by the Czar of Russia. The front of the church, which is toward the Tiber, was uncovered but a short time before I saw it. The front is of beau- tiful mosaic, which has taken thirteen ears to complete, and is said to be the finest production of the Yatican manufactory. The mosaic in the gable represents various scriptural scenes. A rock occupies the center, from which flow the four rivers of the x\pocalypse. On the summit of the rock is the lamb supporting the cross. The cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem are on each side • of the rock, whilst flocks of sheep are seen between palm trees, said to be symbolic of the apostolic college. Below these Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel typify the Old Testament. The whole triangle of the o-able is beautifully bordered with the same mosaic O work representing fruit, flowers, foliage, etc. Reader, does the wealth bestowed upon these cathedrals, their magnificence and splendor, seem to you as it did to me to give an air of respectability to the superstitious, idolatrous, ritualistic worship conducted within them?