the interior of an ordinary church. Statues fill the
niches, and the chapels and confessionals are all beautifully decorated.
The Corsini Chapel is the richest and was executed by order of Clement
XII, in honor of St. Andrew Corsini, who is represented in a rich mosaic
painting copied from Guido. Two sculptured figures, "Innocence" and
"Penitence," stand before the altar, and above is a relief depicting St.
Andrew protecting the Florentine army at the battle of Anghiari.

The tomb of Pope Clement XII (who himself belonged to the Corsini family
and who was an uncle of Cardinal Corsini) is in a niche between two
columns of porphyry, and there is a bronze statue of the Pope. On the
opposite side is a statue of Cardinal Corsini, and in the crypt below
are tombs of the Corsini family. On the altar--always lighted--is a
"Pieta" by Bernini, of which the face of the Christ is very beautiful.

Near the centre of the Basilica is a rich tabernacle of precious stones,
defined by four columns of _verde antico_, and it is said that the
heads of St. Peter and St. Paul are preserved here. The table upon which
Christ celebrated the Last Supper is placed here, above the altar of the
Holy Sacrament, a sacred relic that thrills the visitors. In one chapel
is a curious and grotesque group of sculpture,--a skeleton holding up a
medallion portrait, while an angel with outstretched wings hovers over
it.

San Giovanni has the reputation of being absolutely the coldest church
in all Rome, which--it is needless to remark--means a great deal, for
they all in winter have the temperature of the arctic regions. In all
these great churches there is never any heat; no apparatus for heating
has ever been introduced, and the twentieth century finds them just as
cold as they were in the centuries of a thousand years ago. This
colossal Basilica is considered the most important church in the world,
as it is the cathedral of the Pontiff. It was founded in the third
century by Constantine, destroyed by fire in 1308, and rebuilt by Pope
Clement V, and every succeeding Pope has added to it. The facade is of
travertine, with four gigantic columns and six pilasters, and the
cornice is decorated with colossal figures of Jesus and a number of the
saints. There are five balconies, the middle one being always used for
papal benedictions. In the portico is the colossal statue of Constantine
the Great. Within the columns are of _verde antico_; the ceiling was
designe