by them has been converted into pleasant walks, shaded by chesnut trees. Milan is one of the most opulent and populous cities of Italy; its streets are regular, wide, and well paved; the dwellings are tastefully built and commodious.

CHURCHES.

The most interesting object in Milan is the DUOMO, or CATHEDRAL. It is built of white marble, and is one of the most impressive ecclesiastical edifices in the world. Its foundation was laid in 1387, by Galeazzo Visconti, and during its erection many of the greatest European architects contributed designs for its embellishment. The Milanese have, in progress of time, furnished the means necessary for its construction. But the works went on very slowly till the year 1805, when they were resumed with great activity, in consequence of a decree issued by Napoleon I., and to him it owes the construction of twothirds of its facade, a considerable number of its statues, and the almost perfect condition in which it now strikes the eye. The length of the cathedral is 490 ft., its breadth 298 ft., its interior elevation, under the dome, 258 ft., and its exterior, to the summit of the tower, 400 ft. Its form is that of a Latin cross, divided into five naves, terminated by an octagonal apsis, and supported by fifty-two pillars, the interior being ornamented with fret-work, carvings, statues, and paintings. It has a facade of white Carrara marble, and the building is adorned by 106 pinnacles, and 2,500 statues. The roof is covered with slabs of marble, and above the dome rises an elegant tower, or spire, in the

shape of an obelisk. On the highest pinnacle is a colossal figure of the Virgin, in bronze.

The effect of the interior is very fine. The chancel is entirely open, and separated from the nave only by its elevation. In front of the chancel, and almost immediately above the steps, rises the altar, and behind it the choir. There are no chapels. Their absence contributes much to the simplicity and unity of he edifice. The pillars are more than 90 ft. in height, and 12 ft. in diameter.

The three large windows behind the choir are remarkable for their size, variety, and beauty. They are filled up with tracery and stained glass, in whose colours ruby and dark-blue predominate. The lantern is a striking combination of grandeur and simplicity. By the light, streaming from this cupola, the tabernacle of the great altar appears with remarkable effect.

Principal Objects in the Interior.

Entering the church and proceeding by the SOUTH or right aisle, we see the sarcophagus of Bishop Antimianus (date 1045), with a crucifix; a Gothic monument of Bishop Corellus. In the SOUTH TRANSEPT, a monument erected by Pius IV. to his brothers Giacomo and Gabriel de Medici; the three statues are by Leone Leoni. Near by is the door of the stairway leading to the roof, 194 steps; fee, 25 centimes. (The services of an intelligent guide add much to the enjoyment of a visit to the roof. Peter Ansoni, who may always be found in the cathedral, speaks English and French, and is intelligent and reliable). On the east wall of this transept is the altar of the Offering of Mary, with reliefs by Busti. Close by is the singular statue of St Bar

tholomew, represented as flayed, with his skin hanging from his shoulder.

In the CHOIR, to the right, is the door of the Sacristy, with finelysculptured decorations. (The Treasury may be seen for a fee of one franc. It contains many objects, such as are usually found in such collections, the most remarkable being life-sized statues in silver of St Ambrose and St Carlo Borromeo.) Beyond the Sacristy is the monument of Cardinal Caraccioli, 1538. New and handsomely carved confessionals have been erected along the wall, for confessions in various modern languages. The visitor will have remarked the three splendid windows of the choir, representing more than 300 scriptural scenes, The statue of Pius IV. is seen before we reach the richly-sculptured door of the North Sacristy. Entering the NORTH TRANSEPT, and passing an altar, we see a magnificent CANDELABRUM of bronze in the form of a tree, decorated with precious stones. It was made in the 13th century. In the North Aisle we see an altar-piece representing St Ambrose absolving the Emperor Theodosius from ecclesiastical penalties. On the adjacent altar of St Joseph, a painting, The Marriage of Mary. In the next chapel is the crucifix borne by St Carlo Borromeo during the plague of 1576. Near by, under the window, is a monument with a relief of the Virgin and of the two Saints John. The font near the door is a sarcophagus of St Dionysius. All the windows are filled with stained glass, nearly all being of much artistic merit.

Under the choir are two subterranean chapels. By a spacious gallery lined with fine marbles, and by a portal ornamented with beautiful columns, having the capitals and bases richly gilt, the

visitor enters the VAULT OF ST CHARLES BORROMEO. (Fee for showing the relics of the Saint, 5 francs for each party). It is of an octagonal form, and the ceiling is decorated with a succession of silver tablets, representing, in relief, the most remarkable events of the life of this famed prelate, from his baptism at Arona, to his death at the age of forty-six, and his canonization.

Above the altar stands the sarcophagus of crystal, containing the remains arrayed in pontifical garments, studded with precious stones. The crosiers and mitre are superb. The sarcophagus is placed on supports of wrought silver; and enriched with the armorial bearings, in massive gold, of Philip IV., king of Spain, whose gift it is.

"The subterranean chapel in which the body of San Carlo Borromeo is preserved, presents as striking and as ghastly a contrast, perhaps, as any place can show. The tapers which

are lighted down there, flash and gleam on alti-relievi in gold and silver, delicately wrought by skilful hands, and representing the principal events in Jewels, and the life of the saint. precious metals, shine and sparkle on every side. A windlass slowly removes

the front of the altar; and within it,

in a gorgeous shrine of gold and silver, is seen, through crystal, the shrivelled mummy of a man; the pontifical robes with which it is with diamonds, adorned, radiant emeralds, rubies-every costly and magnificent gem. The shrunken heap of poor earth in the midst of this great glitter, is more pitiful than if it lay upon a dunghill. There is not a ray of imprisoned light in all the flash and fire of jewels but seems to mock the dusty holes where eyes were once. Every thread of silk in the rich vestments seems only a provision from the worms that spin, for the behoof of worms that propagate in sepul

chres."-Dickens.

Carlo Borromeo was born in 1537. He was the second son of Count Borromeo, the representative of one of the noblest families in Lombardy. He

was dedicated to the Church from infancy. He was created Cardinal and Archbishop of Milan by his uncle Pope Pius IV. when he was in his twenty-third year. When he was twenty-six years of age he inherited the family estates, and used the revenues in charity, living himself in the extremest poverty. During the plague at Milan in 1575 he showed the most wonderful personal devotion to his people, selling his great property and giving away the proceeds to the poor and suffering. He constantly exposed his own life but escaped the infection, and died in 1584 in his 46th year. He was canonized 26 years after his death by Pope Paul V. His memory is still revered throughout Italy, where he is spoken of as "I

buon santo."

In order to form a correct idea of the exterior decorations of the cathedral, it is necessary to ascend to its roof, where alone the various fretworks, carvings, and sculptures can be seen to advantage. A staircase leads to the top of the cathedral, and a small fee is charged for the ascent.

The best views from the roof are to be had early in the day. They comprise, toward the southwest, Monte Viso, then Mont Cenis, Mont Blanc, the Great St Bernard, and, more prominent than any other, MONTE ROSA. To the left of the latter Mont Cervin (Matterhorn) and the Miscabel. To the north-west, the Bernese Alps, the peaks of the St Gothard range, the Splugen and the Ortler. To the south the Certosa at Pavia is seen, and, in the distance, the peaks of the Appenines.

Upon the roof one is lost in the labyrinth of ornaments, spires, statues, flying buttresses; pinnacles of Gothic fretwork are piled about in rich confusion.

So great is the variety of opinions among writers in relation to the architectural merits of this cathedral, that

the editor has deemed it advisable to quote from several well-known writers on the subject.

Goethe says of it :-

"All the northern church decorators sought their greatness only in the multiplication of minute details; few understood how to give to these small forms any mutual relation, and thus rose such monstrous buildings as the Cathedral at Milan, where man has transplanted a marble mountain at an immense cost, and forced it into the meanest forms; even daily they torment the poor stones, to continue a work which can never be perfected, since the inventionless folly that planned it had also the power to give to the design an almost limitless execution."

Eustace says of it:-"Inferior only to St Peter's, 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 the 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 in Italy and singularly majestic. Over the dome rises the 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 magnificence of the structure which it surmounts. It 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. In ascending

the traveller will observe that the roof 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 shining white marble.'

* * 66

Street, in his "Brick and Marble in the Middle Ages," says: "If it be indeed true that it was designed by a German, there is on the outside even more cause for astonishment at his work than if it had been done by an Italian. The west front is quite modern, but the rest of the exterior is as little German in its character as any building I have ever seen, and-shall I add it?as little really grand as a work of art. I had just caught a glimpse of its general outline and effect by the bright moonlight, and thus seen, there was certainly something wild and striking in its effect." * 'Absolutely and without doubt the grandest interior in the world is, I do believe, this noble work. Its grandeur amazes one at first, and delights all the more afterwards as one becomes on more intimate terms with it, and can look at it with less emotion than at first. How shall I describe it?-for to say that it has so many bays in length or in width is not sufficient; all this, and even the details of its designs, were familiar enough to me before I saw it, but still the reality was so very far beyond any description, that I felt, and still feel, averse to attempting it." * "There is a regular gradation in the heights of the five main divisions of the church, which are wellproportioned to their respective widths, and resting as these divisions do upon four rows of clustered columns of immense size and height, a more magnifi

*

cent internal effect is produced than in any other church, for not even in Cologne or in Amiens is there any effect so magnificent. The cathedral teaches little; its main office is rather to the prove consummate beauty and magnificence attainable by the pointed style carried out severely and simply on the very grandest scale, as its interior does most triumphantly beyond all cavil.”

SANT' AMBROGIO. This church is preceded by a cloister or a quadrangle of thick columns, with curiously wrought capitals of stone, whence spring ranges of brick arcades. There are some frescoes of the 12th century still remaining on the walls, and a great many very ancient sepulchral effigies of bishops and abbots. The interior might be properly compared to a museum; so great is the number of inscriptions, basso-relievos, monuments, and other objects, many of which date their origin from the remotest ages of Christianity.

This church is said to have been erected on the ruins of a temple of Minerva, though some antiquarians assert that here formerly stood a temple of Bacchus.

The oldest part of the present building is contemporaneous with the age of Charlemagne.

The gates of the western entrance are said to be of the time of St Ambrose, A.D. 387. The marble pulpit from which the saint used to preach is in the principal aisle, and a brazen serpent, standing erect on a column of porphyry, is shown as that which Moses held up in the desert before the afflicted Israelites. The Milanese believe that this serpent will hiss when the end of the world shall come. One of the chapels contains some fine frescoes by Gaudenzio Ferrari, and there are good sculptured

groups in others. In the Tribuna are some mosaics of the ninth century.

"Within this venerable and solemn old church may be seen one of the most extraordinary and best-preserved specimens of mediæval art: it is the golden covering of the high altar, much older than the famous pala d'oro at Venice; and the work, or at least the design, of one man; whereas the pala is the work of several different artists at different periods. On the

front of the altar, which is all of plates of gold, enamelled and set with precious stones, are represented, in

relief, scenes from the life of our Saviour; on the sides, which are of silver-gilt, angels, archangels, and

medallions of Milanese saints.

On

the back, also of silver-gilt, we have

the whole life of St Ambrose, in a series of small compartments, most curious and important as a record of costume and manners, as well as an

example of the state of art at that

time. In the centre stand the archangels, Michael and Gabriel, in the Byzantine style; and below them St Ambrose blesses the donor, Bishop Angilbertus, and the goldsmith Wolvinus. Around, in twelve compartments, we have the principal incidents

of the life of St Ambrose, the figures being about six inches high."

Jameson.

Sant' Alessandro is the most richly adorned of all the churches in Milan. There are two marble groups by Marchesi, and some modern stained glass; one representation being that of S. Carlo Borromeo visiting those ill of the plague.

San Carlo Borromeo, in the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, was erected in 1847, on the site of the ancient church of St Maria de Servi. The form is round, simple in its decorations, and remarkable only for the polished granite columns, several of which are in one piece.

San Lorenzo, in the Corso di Porta Ticinese. The interior is said to have formed part of a Roman temple. Its figure is oc

tagonal, surmounted by a dome. On four of its sides are semicircular apses of two storeys supported by columns. The Chapel of St Aquilinus, on the right of this church, contains some ancient mosaics, and the sarcophagus of Ataulphus, King of the Goths, its founder. He died in 416.

Close to this church is the CoLONNE DI SAN LORENZO, consisting of sixteen ancient columns of the Corinthian order, and forming the most prominent vestige of Roman Milan. Early historians state that they formed part of a temple of Hercules. Modern antiquarians state them to be part of the peristyle of the baths of Hercules, and that they belong to the third century.

Santa Maria della Grazie. This

magnificent church was erected

towards the end of the fifteenth century. Its dome, the choir, and the side chapels were executed after the design of Bramante. The front is built of brick in the Gothic style. paintings are very numerous.

The

"The Last Supper," by Leonardo da Vinci, is in the former refectory of the Dominican Convent attached to Santa Maria. It has suffered much from dampness, injudicious attempts at restoration, and other ill usage. "At the time that Milan was in the possession of Napoleon, this convent was converted into barracks, and as the refectory became a stable for the cavalry horses, the already mutilated painting received still further injury. Many anecdotes related of Leonardo da Vinci during the progress of his picture. It is said that the head of our Saviour was left unfinished; the artist, having invested the countenance of the disciple John with a beauty almost divine, shrank from portraying the mingled

are