and the Picture Gallery. The first alone is more
interesting than many an entire city. We went there yesterday afternoon
soon after reaching here. It stands in an irregular open place, closely
hemmed in by houses on two sides, so that it can be seen to advantage
from only one point. It is a mixture of the Gothic and Romanesque
styles; the body of the structure is entirely covered with statues and
richly wrought sculpture, with needle-like spires of white marble rising
up from every corner. But of the exquisite, airy look of the whole mass,
although so solid and vast, it is impossible to convey an idea. It
appears like some fabric of frost-work which winter traces on the
window-panes. There is a unity of beauty about the whole, which the eye
takes in with a feeling of perfect and satisfied delight.

Ascending the marble steps which lead to the front, I lifted the folds
of the heavy curtain and entered. What a glorious aisle! The mighty
pillars support a magnificent arched ceiling, painted to resemble
fretwork, and the little light that falls through the small windows
above, enters tinged with a dim golden hue. A feeling of solemn awe
comes over one as he steps with a hushed tread along the colored marble
floor, and measures the massive columns till they blend with the
gorgeous arches above. There are four rows of these, nearly fifty in
all, and when I state that they are eight feet in diameter, and sixty or
seventy in height, some idea may be formed of the grandeur of the
building. Imagine the Girard College, at Philadelphia, turned into one
great hall, with four rows of pillars, equal in size to those around it,
reaching to its roof, and you will have a rough sketch of the interior
of the Duomo.

In the centre of the cross is a light and beautiful dome; he who will
stand under this, and look down the broad middle aisle to the entrance,
has one of the sublimest vistas to be found in the world. The choir has
three enormous windows, covered with dazzling paintings, and the ceiling
is of marble and silver. There are gratings under the high altar, by
looking into which, I could see a dark, lonely chamber below, where one
or two feeble lamps showed a circle of praying-places. It was probably a
funeral vault, which persons visited to pray for the repose of their
friends' souls. The Duomo is not yet entirely finished, the workmen
being still employed in various parts, but it is said, that when
completed there will be four tho