But thou, of temples old, or altars new, In this eternal ark of worship undefiled. Expanded by the genius of the spot, Byron. soar A dome [St. Peter's], its image, while the Into a fane surpassing all before, "The body is being taken out of the ground while the soul is received into Paradise. This is a composite work; the artist, according to the prac tice of schools not primitive, having assembled together three or four kinds of effect. The entire subject— death, cold and lugubrious, contrasted with a happy triumphant resurrection -serves to arrest the attention of the multitude, and excite its emotion. Painting thus regarded leaves its natu ral limits, and approaches literature." Taine, Trans. Byron. St. Petronilla. See SANTA PETRO NILLA. St. Philippe. The parish church of the Faubourg St. Honoré, Paris, built in 1784. St. Roch. A large and fashionable church in Paris, in the Rue St. Honoré. Here were buried Corneille, Descartes, and the Abbé de l'Epée. The chapels contain numerous paintings and sculptures of the last century, and the church shows the change from the style of architecture of the time of Louis XIV. to that of Louis XV. Then and there Napoleon ascended his throne: and the next day, from the steps of St. Roche, thundered forth the cannon which taught the mob of Paris, for the first time, that it had a master. That was the commencement of the Empire. So the Anti-slavery movement commenced unheeded in that" obscure hole" which Mayor Otis could not find, occupied by a printer and a black boy. W. Phillips. St. Roch distributing Alms. A picture by Annibale Caracci (1560-1609), and regarded as one of his chief works. In the Gallery at Dresden, Germany. St. Sacrément. A modern Italian church in Paris, also known as St. Dénis du Marais. St. Saviour (Southwark). A church in London, near London Bridge, a remnant of the priory of St. Mary Overy, but known as St. Saviour's before 1510. The choir and Lady Chapel remain excellent specimens of early English church architecture. In the former are the graves of Philip Massinger, John Fletcher, and Edward Dyer the poet; and here is the tomb of John Gower (Moral Gower). St. Sebaldus. See SHRINE OF ST. SEBALDUS. St. Sebastian. 1. A celebrated picture in the church of S. Maria degli Angeli, at Rome. 2. A picture by Domenico Zampieri, surnamed Domenichino (1581-1641). In the Städel Institut, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany. "Visitors to picture and sculpture galleries are haunted by the forms of two handsome young men, -Sebastian and Antinous. Both were saints: the one of decadent Paganism, the other of mythologizing Christianity. According to the popular beliefs to which they owed their canonization, both suffered death in the bloom of earliest manhood for the faith that burned in them. There is, however, this difference between the two: that, whereas Sebastian is a shadowy creature of the pious fancy, Antinous preserves a marked and unmistakable personality. . . . The pictures of Sebastian vary according to the ideal of adoles cent beauty conceived by each successive artist. In the frescos of Perugino and Luini be shines with the pale pure light of saintliness. On the canvas of Sodoma he reproduces the voluptuous charm of youthful Bacchus, with so St. Sebastian. A picture by Guido Reni (1574 ?-1642). In the Capitol, Rome. St. Sebastian. A celebrated votive picture by Antonio Allegri, surnamed Correggio (1494-1534), representing the Virgin and Child "enthroned on clouds and surrounded by a circle of infant angels; below are St. Sebastian, St. Geminianus, and St. Roch." This picture is in the Gallery at Dresden, Germany. "The figure of St. Sebastian is one of the most beautiful by Correggio, and the picture is thought to represent the most perfect period of the master." Eastlake, Ilundbook of Painting. St. Sebastian. A noted and admired picture by Giovanni Antonio Cavaliere Razzi, called Il Sodoma (1479?-1550 ?). In the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. St. Sebastian. See also CATACOMB OF ST. SEBASTIAN and MARTYRDOM OF ST. SEBASTIAN. St. Sepulchre's. A well-known church in London, near Newgate, containing one of the oldest and largest organs in the city. By a legacy left to this church in 1605, a person was employed to toll a hand-bell before the cells of those prisoners at Newgate who were condemned to death, on the night before their execution, reciting All you that in the condemned hole do lie, The Lord have mercy on your souls! Unreasonable people are as hard to reconcile as the vanes of St. Sepulchre's tower, which never looked all four upon one point in the heavens. Howell. St. Sernin. An ancient church of the Romanesque order in Toulouse, France. It was dedicated in 1090 by Pope Urban II. St. Séverin. A fine Gothic church in Paris, in the form of a central nave and two aisles, and rows of chapels on either side. This church, on the site of an older structure of the eleventh century, was begun as early as 1489. St. Simeon the Prophet. [S. Simcone Profeta.] A noted statue by Marco Romano. In the church of S. Simeone Grande, Venice, Italy. St. Simon's Pillar. The famous column upon the summit of which St. Simon Stylites (b. 388), the Eastern hermit, lived for 37 years. After his death, his admirers built a church upon the spot, enclosing the pillar on which he had so long lived. The pedestal upon which this column stood is still remaining among the ruins of Kul'at Sim'ân, between Antioch and Aleppo, in Syria. St. Sophia. A mosque in Constantinople, Turkey, and the principal place of Mohammedan worship in the world. It is a very fine example of Byzantine architecture. The mosque was originally a Christian church built by the Emperor Justinian in 531, and was converted into a Moslem temple by Mohammed II. in 1453. The building is in the form of a Greek cross, and is surmounted by a lofty dome with several lesser domes and minarets. The building is of brick, but is lined in the interior with costly marbles. Many of the tem ples of Greece and Egypt were pillaged to enrich this mosque. "When Justinian exclaimed, I have surpassed thee, O Solomon,' he took an exaggerated view of the work of his predecessor, and did not realize the extent to which his building excelled the Jewish temple. The latter was only equal to a small church, with a wooden roof, supported by wooden posts, and covering some 7,200 square feet. Sta. Sophia covers ten times that area, is built of durable materials throughout, and far more artis tically ornamented than the temple of the Jews ever could have been. But Justinian did more than accomplish this easy victory. Neither the Panthe on nor any of the vaulted halls at Rome equal the nave of Sta. Sophia in extent, or in cleverness of construction, or in beauty of design. Nor was there any thing erected during the ten centuries which elapsed from the transference of the capital to Byzantium till the building of the great medieval cathedrals, which can be compared with it. Indeed, it remains even now an open question whether a Christian church exists anywhere, of any age, whose interior is so beautiful as that of this marvellous creation of old Byzantine art." Fergusson. "It is certain that no domical building of modern times can at all approach Sta. Sophia's, either for appro priateness or beauty. If we regard it with a view to the purposes of Protes tant worship, it affords an infinitely better model for imitation than any thing our own mediæval architects ever produced." Fergusson. "Its immense dome is said to be more wonderful than St. Peter's; but its dirt is much more wonderful than its dome, though they never mention it." Mark Twain. I have beheld Sophia's bright roofs swell Their glittering mass i' the sun, and have surveyed Its sanctuary the while the usurping Mos lem prayed. Byron. Poor child! I would have mended it with gold, Until it gleamed like St. Sophia's dome When all the faithful troop to morning prayer. Mrs. Browning. O, Stamboul! once the empress of their reign? Though turbans now pollute Sophia's shrine, And Greece her very altars eyes in vain. Byron. St. Stephen. The name by which the great bell in Westminster Palace, London, is known. The | St. Stephen's Court. The English weight of this bell is 11 tons. "St. Stephen's Cathedral in the centre of the old city is one of the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in Germany. Its unrivalled tower, which rises to the height of 428 feet, is visible from every part of Vienna. It is entirely of stone, most elaborately orna. mented, and is supposed to be the strongest in Europe. The inside is solemn and grand, but the effect is injured by the number of small chapels and shrines." Bayard Taylor. "No one with a trace of poetry in his composition can stand under the great cavernous western porch [of St. Stephen's], and not feel that he has before him one of the most beautiful and impressive buildings in Europe. A good deal of this may be owing to the color. The time-stain in the nave is untouched, the painted glass perfect, and the whole has a venerable look, now too rare. The choir is being smartened up, and its poetry is gone. Meanwhile no building can stand in more absolute contrast with the cathedral at Cologne, than this one at Vienna. The former fails, because it is so coldly perfect: this impresses, though offending against all rules, because it was designed by a poet." Fergusson. 2. An admired church, in the rear of the Mansion House, London, the work of Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723). "If the material had been as lasting, and the size as great, as St. Paul's, this church would have been a greater monument to Wren than the cathedral." Fergusson. St. Stephen's Chapel. In the Old Palace at Westminster, London. See ST. STEPHEN'S HALL. "St. Stephen's Chapel was a beautiful specimen of rich Decorated Gothic, its inner walls being covered with ancient frescos relating to the Old and New Testament history: it was used as the House of Commons from 1547 till 1834; and its walls resounded to the eloquence of Chatham, Pitt, Fox, Burke, Grattan, and Canning." Hare. Exchequer. That cupboard, where the mice disport, Matt. Prior (Erle Robert's Mice). St. Stephen's Hall. A room in the New Palace at Westminster, London, leading from Westminster Hall. It derives its name from occupying the same space as St. Stephen's Chapel of the old palace, and is lined by twelve statues of eminent parliamentary statesmen and orators. See ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. What is the good of men collected, with effort, to debate on the benches of St. Stephen's, now when there is a Times Newspaper? Not the discussion of questions; only the ultimate voting of them (a very brief process, I should think!) requires to go on, or can veritably go on, in St. Stephen's now. Carlyle. St. Sulpice. This church, on the Place St. Sulpice in Paris, was commenced by Anne of Austria in 1646, but was not completed until 1745. It is in the form of a Latin cross. The exterior is very fine, and within, the high altar surrounded by statues of the Twelve Apostles is very imposing. St. Sulpice. See PLACE ST. SUL PICE. St. Theodore's Column. A wellknown pillar of granite in Venice, Italy, on the summit of which is a statue of St. Theodore resting upon a crocodile. It was brought from the Holy Land in the early part of the twelfth century. St. Theodore was the first patron of Venice; but he was deposed, and St. Mark adopted, when the bones of the latter were brought from Alexandria. St. Theresa delivering St. Bernardino de Mendoza from Purgatory. A picture by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). It is in the Museum of Antwerp, Belgium. St. Theresa. A statue by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). In the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, in Rome. "She is adorable. In a swoon of ecstatic happiness lies the saint, with pendant hands, naked feet, and St. Thomas. See INCREDULITY OF St. Thomas d'Aquin. A fashion- St. Thomas's Hospital. A hospital in London, originally founded in 1213 as an almshouse. Queen Victoria laid the first stone of the present building in 1868. St. Ursula. A well-known church in Cologne, Germany, containing the famous relics of the saint and of the 11,000 virgins. "The whole church is full of virgins. The altar-piece is a vast picture of the slaughter, not badly painted. Through various glass openings you perceive that the walls are full of the bones and skulls. Did the worship of Egypt ever sink lower in horrible and loathsome idolatry?" Charles Beecher. St. Ursula. A picture by the dis- St. Ursula. See RELIQUARY OF St. Veronica. A picture by Roger St. Winifred's Well. This was once the most_celebrated holy well in Great Britain. It was situated in Holywell in the county of Flint, England. In the Middle Ages it was regarded with great veneration. It is said to derive its name from the following legend: "Winifred, a noble British maiden of the seventh century, was beloved by a certain Prince Cradocus. She repulsed his suit, and he in revenge cut off her head. The prince was immediately struck dead, and the earth opening swallowed him up. Winifred's head rolled down the hill, and from the spot where it rested a spring gushed forth. St. Bueno picked up the head, and re-united it to the body, so that Winifred lived for many years a life of great sanctity; and the spring to which her name was given became famous for its curative powers." The Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII., built a court-house over this celebrated well. In the seventeenth century it was visited by thousands, but has since fallen into comparative neglect. St. Zaccaria. An admired church in Venice, Italy, built in the middle of the fifteenth century. Its façade is regarded by Fergusson as one of the finest in Italy. St. Zenobius, Burial of. A picture by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo (14821560), the Italian painter, and considered one of his chefs-d'œuvre. In the Louvre, Paris. St. Zenobius raising a dead child. A picture by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo (1482-1560), the Italian painter, and considered his masterpiece. It is in the Louvre in Paris. Sainte Chapelle. [Holy Chapel.] A small but beautiful religious edifice in the courtyard of the Palais de Justice in Paris, formerly the royal chapel. It was begun in 1244, and finished in 1248. It is in two stories, to correspond with the floors of the ancient palace. The upper chapel was for the royal family, and the lower for the servants. This chapel is attractive from its historical associations as well as from the |