lics, which
was vigorously carried on by successive pontiffs until the crypts were
almost entirely despoiled of their dead. The relics having been removed,
the visits of pilgrims naturally ceased, and by degrees the very
existence of those wonderful subterranean cemeteries was forgotten. Six
centuries elapsed before the accidental discovery of a sepulchral
chamber by some labourers digging for _pozzolana_ earth (May 31, 1578)
revealed to the amazed inhabitants of Rome "the existence," to quote a
contemporary record, "of other cities concealed beneath their own
suburbs." Baronius, the ecclesiastical historian, was one of the first
to visit the new discovery, and his _Annals_ in more than one place
evidence his just appreciation of its importance. The true "Columbus of
this subterranean world," as he has been aptly designated, was the
indefatigable Antonio Bosio (d. 1629), who devoted his life to the
personal investigation of the catacombs, the results of which were given
to the world in 1632 in a huge folio, entitled _Roma sotterranea_,
profusely illustrated with rude but faithful plans and engravings. This
was republished in a Latin translation with considerable alterations and
omissions by Paolo Aringhi in 1651; and a century after its first
appearance the plates were reproduced by Giovanni Bottari in 1737, and
illustrated with great care and learning. Some additional discoveries
were described by Marc Antonio Boldetti in his _Osservazioni_, published
in 1720; but, writing in the interests of the Roman Church with an
apologetic, not a scientific object, truth was made to bend to polemics,
and little addition to our knowledge of the catacombs is to be gained
from his otherwise important work. The French historian of art, Seroux
d'Agincourt, 1825, by his copious illustrations, greatly facilitated the
study of the architecture of the catacombs and the works of art
contained in them. The works of Raoul Rochette display a comprehensive
knowledge of the whole subject, extensive reading, and a thorough
acquaintance with early Christian art so far as it could be gathered
from books, but he was not an original investigator. The great pioneer
in the path of independent research, which, with the intelligent use of
documentary and historical evidence, has led to so vast an increase in
our acquaintance with the Roman Catacombs, was Padre Marchi of the
Society of Jesus. His work, _Monumenti delle arti christiane primitive_,
is the fi