eBooks Base 2000

San Pietro is a
simple and noble church, consisting of a nave divided from the side
aisles by rows of columns, that once adorned some ancient temple; and its
wide, unencumbered interior affords better breathing-space than most
churches in Rome. The statue of Moses occupies a niche in one of the
side aisles on the right, not far from the high altar. I found it grand
and sublime, with a beard flowing down like a cataract; a truly majestic
figure, but not so benign as it were desirable that such strength should
be. The horns, about which so much has been said, are not a very
prominent feature of the statue, being merely two diminutive tips rising
straight up over his forehead, neither adding to the grandeur of the
head, nor detracting sensibly from it. The whole force of this statue is
not to be felt in one brief visit, but I agree with an English gentleman,
who, with a large party, entered the church while we were there, in
thinking that Moses has "very fine features,"--a compliment for which the
colossal Hebrew ought to have made the Englishman a bow.


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