Restoration Of Churches In Rome.

RESTORATION OF CHURCHES IN ROME .

( Concluded from page 26 . ) Since the discoveries made in the last winter by Mr . J . H . Parker , in the subterraneans well known to exist , but long left unexplored , beloAV S . Pudenziana , on the Viminal Hill , neAv interest has attached to that venerable church , said to be the

most ancient in Rome , aud occupying the site of the house of the Christian senator Pudens , who entertained St . Peter as his guest , A . D . 44 , and to Avhose sainted daughter it is dedicated . Within this house were baths ( balnea , not thermaf ) , Avhich , it seems , continued in use till later ages , known as

the " Baths of Wonatus , " from the name of one of that senator ' s sons ; and Ave read in Baronius that considerable ruins of that building were erect in the sixteenth century ; iu the " Sacre Stazioni Romane , " by Piazza , an archasologic as Avell as devotional Avorkthat those remains Avere still

, conspicuous about the end of the century folloAVing . It is believed the house , or ( as tradition states ) the baths , were first consecrated for worship by Pope Pius I ., about A . D . 145 , on the prayer of Praxedes , another daughter of Pudens , who survived till that date ; that at this earliest

stage of the local conditions tAvo churches occupied this site , known as Titulus Pudentis and Titulus Pastoris , the latter dedicated to Pastor , a brother of the same Pope Pius .

These oratories ( as they might be called in respect to size ) Avere subsequently throAvn together into a single sanctuary , as the church Avas rebuilt first by Adrian I . in the ei ght century , afterwards by Gregory VII . in the eleventh , and by Innocent II . in the next ; and , last of all , Avere effected the

most injudicious restorations ( or rather alterations ) in a st yle announcing almost the worst period of Italian art by the titular Cardinal Gaetani , in 1597 . In its present state , little of the ancient architecture remains except twelve columns of bigio marblebarbarously built up into heavy

, square pilasters along the nave , and tAvo others flanking the portal , besides some quite plain mosaic pavement in one chapel and one aisle . But Ave recoo- - nise an early Christian period in the IOAV reliefs on

the lintel of the doorway , representing the busts of SS . Pudentiana and Praxedes , and of tAvo others , probably SS . Pudens and Pastor ; the divine Lamb , supporting a cross , in the centre , and a fraceful foliate ornament along the interstices , a the square campanile of brickwork ( date

probably about 1130 , the period of the buildings of Innocent II . ) Ave have ono of the finest specimens of its description in Rome , Avith three stories of triple arcades divided by marble shafts , several bands of terra-cotta cornice moulding , and , on the upper partinlaid disks and crosses in coloured

, stone . Reduced as the actual church is , by tasteless modern Avorks , to a level Avith the many other nninteresting sacred structures of the sixteenth century in Rome , Ave may still trace the original plan dividing it into two sanctuaries ; the larger

corresponding to the present chancel , and perhaps also to the nave ; the latter represented by a lateral chapel and narrow aisle , once the titulus Pudentis , in which a council was held under Pope Symmachus ( 498—514 ) , and Avhose pavement is still a field of primitive mosaic , laid simply in cubes of

white and gray marble , intermixed with porphyry aad serpentine , placed in irregular pieces . In the same chapel is kept the most revered relic of this church , said to be a part of the wooden altar on Avhich St . Peter here celebrated the Eucharist ; also a tablet recording the memories of the spot

, as more fully given in another very curious inscription in the nave , repeated in Latin and Italian . * One artistic treasure , of high value and antiquity is still fortunately left in its place—the mosaic of the apse , referred by Italian writers to the year 884 , by Germans ( v . Beschreibung Boms ) ,

supposed to be that ordered by Adrian I . in the eighth century—at all events a work of such merit that Poussin esteemed it the first among

ancient Christian mosaics ; and Ave see that Di Rossi , in his lately published " Roma Oristiana , " agrees as to such claims . In conception and treatment this work is trul y classic . Seated on a rich throne , with gilding and red cushions , is the central figure of the Saviour , in vestments of gold

tissue , extending one hand , and in the other holding a book that displays the words , " Conservator Ecclessioi Pudentianoe ; " laterally , the two sainted daughters of Pudens standing Avith leafy crowns in their hands ; and below , the half-length , figures of SS . Peter and Paul , Avith eight other

persons , all males , of different ages and in amplyflowing costumes , antique Roman in fashion : beyond this group , a portico Avith arcades , divided by pilasters , and a pent roof , " over Avhich , in the distance , are seen several stately buildings with arched AvindoAVSarcadesand pilasters ; one of

, , these edifices in form a great rotunda ; another near it , an oblong structure , with gable front ; the former we may suppose a baptistery , the latter a basilica , probably faithful transcripts of the archi-