n the Latin cross, not only the
foundations of the front had been finished according to Michelangelo's
design, but the front itself, with its coating of travertine, had been
built to the height of several feet. The construction of the dome was
begun on Friday, July 15, 1588, at 4 P. M. The first block of
travertine was placed _in situ_ at 8 P. M. of the thirtieth. The
cylindrical portion or drum (_tamburo_) which supports the dome proper
was finished at midnight of December 17, of the same year, a
marvellous feat to have accomplished. The dome itself was begun five
days later, and finished in seventeen months. If we remember that the
experts of the age had estimated ten years as the time required to
accomplish the work, and one million gold scudi as the cost, we wonder
at the power of will of Sixtus V., who did it in two years and spent
only one fifth of the stated sum.[85] He foresaw that the political
persecution from the crown of Spain and the daily assaults, almost
brutal in their nature, which he had to endure from count d'Olivare,
the Spanish ambassador, would shorten his days, and consequently
manifested but one desire: that the dome and the other great works
undertaken for the embellishment and sanitation of the city should be
finished before his death. Six hundred skilled craftsmen were enlisted
to push the work of the dome night and day; they were excused from
attending divine service on feast days, Sundays excepted. We may form
an idea of the haste felt by all concerned in the enterprise, and of
their determination to sacrifice all other interests to speed, by the
following anecdote. The masons, being once in need of another
receptacle for water, laid their hands on the tomb of Pope Urban VI.,
dragged the marble sarcophagus under the dome on the edge of a
lime-pit, and emptied it of its contents. The golden ring was given to
Giacomo della Porta, the architect, the bones were put aside in a
corner of the building, and the coffin was used as a tank from 1588 to
1615.

[Illustration: S. PETER'S IN 1588. (From an engraving by Ciampini)]

When we consider that the building-materials--stones, bricks, timber,
cement, and water--had to be lifted to a height of four hundred feet,
it is no wonder that five hundred thousand pounds of rope should have
been consumed, and fifteen tons of iron. The dome was built on a
framework of most ingenious design, resting on the cornice of the drum
so lightly that it seemed suspende