THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| VOL. XIV. No. 379.] | SATURDAY, JULY 4, 1829. | [PRICE 2d. |
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 oftype, and tell us whether it accords not with the beauty, pungency, andpolish of the notings and selections of this our first sheet. For somedays this type has been glittering in the printing-office boxes, likenestling fire-flies, and these pages at first resembled so many pools ortanks of molten metal, or the windows of a fine old mansion—HatfieldHouse for instance,—lit up by the refulgent rays of a rising sun. Thesight "inspires us, and fires us;" and we count upon new letterbringing us new friends, and thus commence our Fourteenth Volumewith new hopes and invigorating prospects. But what subject canbe more appropriate for such a commencement, than so splendid a triumphof art as
situate almost in the centre, and occupying part of the great squareof the city. It is of Gothic architecture, and its materials are whitemarble. In magnitude this edifice yields to few in the universe.Inferior only to the Vatican, it equals in length, and in breadthsurpasses, the cathedral of Florence and St. Paul's; in the interiorelevation 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 allfilled with marble figures, give it an appearance novel even in Italy,and singularly majestic. The admirer of English Gothic will observeone peculiarity, which is, that in the cathedral of Milan there is noscreen, and that the chancel is entirely open, and separated from thenave only by its elevation.
The pillars of the cathedral of Milan are more than ninety feet inheight, and about eight in diameter. The dimensions of the churchat large are as follow:—In length four hundred and ninety feet, inbreadth two hundred and ninety-eight, in interior elevation under thedome two hundred and fifty-eight, and four hundred in exterior, thatis to the summit of the tower. The pavement is formed of marble ofdifferent colours, disposed in various patterns and figures. The numberof niches is great, and every niche has its statue, which, with thoseplaced on the ballustrade of the roof, are reported to amount to morethan four thousand. Many among them are said to be of great merit. Overthe dome rises a tower or spire, or rather obelisk, for its singularshape renders it difficult to ascertain its appellation, which, whatevermay be its intrinsic merit, adds little either to the beauty or to themagnificence of the structure which it surmounts. This obelisk waserected about the middle of the last century, contrary to the opinionof the best architects. Though misplaced, its form i