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ST. PETER'S. SCHEME BY MICHAEL ANGELO (1547-1564)
The dimensions are considerable. To construct such a dome in stone was a tour de force that few men would have dared. St. Peter's covers an area of about 18,000 square yards as against Notre Dame, about 7,000 square yards, and Sta. Sophia at Constantinople about 8,000. The dome is 404 feet in height; the width across the transepts is 150 yards. The general arrangement of the apses and of the Attic storey is allied to that of the Colosseum; the heights are the same. The whole scheme was a complete unity; it grouped together elements of the noblest and richest kind: the Portico, the cylinders, the square shapes, the drum, the dome. The mouldings are of an intensely passionate character, harsh and pathetic. The whole design would have risen as a single mass, unique and entire. The eye would have taken it in as one thing. Michael Angelo completed the apses and the drum of the dome. The rest fell into barbarian hands; all was spoilt. Mankind lost one of the highest works of human intelligence. If one can imagine Michael Angelo as cognizant of the disaster, we have a terrifying drama.
