A quarter of a mile beyond the gate we come in sight of the church and monastery, but the effect is much spoilt by the hideous modern cemetery, formed since the following description was written:--

"S. Lorenzo is as perfect a picture of a basilica externally, as S.

Clemente is internally. Viewing it from a little distance, the whole pile--in its grey reverend dignity--the row of stones indicating the atrium, with an ancient cross in the centre--the portico overshadowing faded frescoes--the shelving roof, the body-wall bulging out and lapping over, like an Egyptian temple--the detached Lombard steeple--with the magic of sun and shadow, and the background of the Campagna, bounded by the blue mountains of Tivoli--together with the stillness, the repose, interrupted only by the chirp of the grasshopper, and the distant intermitted song of the Contadino--it forms altogether such a scene as painters love to sketch, and poets to re-people with the shadows of past ages; and I open a wider heaven for either fraternity to fly their fancies in, when I add that it was there the ill-fated Peter de Courtenay was crowned Emperor of the East."--_Lord Lindsay, Christian Art._

"To St. Laurence was given a crown of glory in heaven, and upon earth eternal and universal praise and fame; for there is scarcely a city or town in all Christendom which does not contain a church or altar dedicated to his honour. The first of these was built by Constantine outside the gates of Rome, on the spot where he was buried; and another was built on the summit of the hill, where he was martyred; besides these, there are at Rome four others; and in Spain the Escurial, and at Genoa the Cathedral."--_Mrs. Jameson._

We have already followed St. Laurence to the various spots in Rome connected with his story,--to the green space at the Navicella, where he distributed his alms before the house of St. Cyriaca (in whose catacomb he was first buried); to the basilica in the Palace of the Caesars, where he was tried and condemned; to S. Lorenzo in Fonte, where he was imprisoned; to S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna, where he died; to S. Lorenzo in Lucina, where his supposed gridiron is preserved; and now we come to his grave, where a grand basilica has arisen around the little oratory, erected by Constantine, which marked his first burial-place in the Catacombs.

The first basilica erected here was built in the end of the sixth century, by Pope Pelagius II., but this was repeatedly enlarged and beautified by succeeding popes, and at length was so much altered in 1216, by Honorius III., that the old basilica became merely the choir or tribune of a larger and more important church. So many other changes have since taken place, that Bunsen remarks upon S. Lorenzo as more difficult of explanation than any other of the Roman churches.

In front of the basilica stands a bronze statue of St. Laurence, upon a tall granite pillar.

The portico is supported by six Ionic columns, four of them spiral.

Above these is a mosaic frieze of the thirteenth century. In the centre is the Spotless Lamb, having, on the right, St. Laurence, Honorius III., and another figure; and on the left three heads, two of whom are supposed to be the virgin martyr Sta. Cyriaca, and her mother Tryphna, buried in the adjoining cemetery. Above this is a very richly decorated marble frieze, boldly relieved with lions' heads. The gable of the church is faced with modern mosaics of saints. Within the portico are four splendid sarcophagi; that on the left of the entrance is adorned with reliefs representing a vintage, with cupids as the vine-gatherers, and contains the remains of Pope Damasus II., who died in 1049, after a reign of only twenty-three days. At the sides of the door are two marble lions. The walls of the portico are covered with a very curious series of frescoes, lately repainted. They represent four consecutive stories.

On the right:--

A holy hermit, living a life of solitude and prayer, heard a rushing noise, and, looking out of his window, saw a troop of demons, who told him that the Emperor Henry II. had just expired, and that they were hurrying to lay claim to his soul. The hermit trembled, and besought them to let him know as they returned how they had succeeded. Some days after, they came back and narrated that when the Archangel was weighing the good and evil deeds of the emperor in his balance, the weight was falling in their favour--when suddenly the roasted St. Laurence appeared, bearing a golden chalice, which the emperor, shortly before his death, had bestowed upon the Church, and cast it into the scale of good deeds, and so turned the balance the other way, but that in revenge they had broken off one of the golden handles of the chalice. And when the hermit heard these things he rejoiced greatly; and the soul of the emperor was saved and he became a canonized saint,--and the devils departed blaspheming.

The order of the frescoes representing this legend is:--

1, 2. Scenes in the life of Henry II.

3. The Emperor offers the golden chalice.

4. A banquet scene.

5. The hermit discourses with the devils.

6. The death of Henry II.--1024.

7. The dispute for the soul of the Emperor.

8. It is saved by St. Laurence.

The second series represents the whole story of the acts, trial, martyrdom, and burial of St. Laurence; one or two frescoes in this were entirely effaced, and have been added by the restorer. Of the old series were:--

1. The investiture of St. Laurence as deacon.

2. St. Laurence washes the feet of poor Christians.

3. He heals Sta. Cyriaca.

4. He distributes alms on the Clian.

5. He meets St. Sixtus led to death, and receives his blessing.

6. He is led before the prefect.

7. He restores sight to Lucillus.

8. He is scourged.

9. He baptizes St. Hippolytus.

11. He refuses to give up the treasures of the Church.

13, 14, 15. His burial by St. Hippolytus.

The third series represents the story of St. Stephen, followed by that of the translation of his relics to this basilica.

The relics of St. Stephen were preserved at Constantinople, whither they had been transported from Jerusalem by the Empress Eudoxia, wife of Theodosius II. Hearing that her daughter Eudoxia, wife of Valentinian II., Emperor of the West, was afflicted with a devil, she begged her to come to Constantinople that her demon might be driven out by the touch of the relics. The younger Eudoxia wished to comply,--but the devil refused to leave her, unless St. Stephen was brought to Rome. An agreement was therefore made that the relics of St. Stephen should be exchanged for those of St.

Laurence. St. Stephen arrived, and the empress was immediately relieved of her devil, but when the persons who had brought the relics of St. Stephen from Constantinople were about to take those of St. Laurence back with them, they all fell down dead! Pope Pelagius prayed for their restoration to life, which was granted for a short time, to prove the efficacy of prayer, but they all died again ten days after! Thus the Romans knew that it would be criminal to fulfil their promise, and part with the relics of St.

Laurence, and the bodies of the two martyrs were laid in the same sarcophagus.

The frescoes in the left wall represent a separate story:--

A holy sacristan arose before the dawn to enjoy solitary prayers before the altars of this church. Once when he was thus employed, he found that he was not alone, and beheld three persons, a priest, a deacon, and sub-deacon, officiating at the altar, and the church around him filled with worshippers, whose faces bore no mortal impress. Tremblingly he drew near to him whom he dreaded the least, and inquired of the deacon, who this company might be. 'The priest whom thou seest is the blessed apostle Peter,' answered the spirit, 'and I am Laurence who suffered cruel torments for the love of my master Christ, upon a Wednesday, which was the day of his betrayal; and in remembrance of my martyrdom we are come to-day to celebrate here the mysteries of the Church; and the sub-deacon who is with us is the first martyr, St. Stephen,--and the worshippers are the apostles, the martyrs, and virgins who have passed with me into Paradise, and have come back hither to do me honour; and of this solemn service thou art chosen as the witness. When it is day, therefore, go to the pope and tell what thou hast seen, and bid him, in my name, to come hither and to celebrate a solemn mass with all his clergy, and to grant indulgences to the faithful.' But the sacristan trembled and said, 'If I go to the pope he will not believe me: give me some visible sign, then, which will show what I have seen.' And St. Laurence ungirt his robe, and giving his girdle to the sacristan, bade him show it in proof of what he told. In the morning the old man related what he had seen to the abbot of the monastery, who bore the girdle to the then pope, Alexander II. The pope accompanied him back to the basilica,--and on their way they were met by a funeral procession, when, to test the powers of the girdle, the pope laid it on the bier, and at once the dead arose and walked. Then all men knew that the sacristan had told what was true, and the pope celebrated mass as he had been bidden, and promised an indulgence of forty years to all who should visit on a Wednesday any church dedicated to St. Laurence.

This story is told in eight pictures:--

1. The sacristan sees the holy ones.

2. The Phantom Mass.

3. The sacristan tells the abbot.

4. The abbot tells the pope.

5. The pope consults his cardinals.

6. The dead is raised by the girdle.

7. Mass is celebrated at St. Lorenzo, and souls are freed from purgatory by the intercession of the saint.

8. Prayer is made at the shrine of St. Laurence.

The nave--which is the basilica of Honorius III.--is divided from its side aisles by twenty-two Ionic columns of granite and cipollino. The sixth column on the right has a lizard and a frog amongst the decorations of its capital, which led Winckelmann to the supposition that these columns were brought hither from the Portico of Octavia, because Pliny describes that the architects of the Portico of Metellus, which formerly occupied that site, were two Spartans, named Sauros and Batrachus, who implored permission to carve their names upon their work; and that when leave was refused, they introduced them under this form,--Batrachus signifying a frog, and Sauros a lizard.

Above the architrave are frescoes by _Fracassini_, of the lives and martyrdoms of SS. Stephen and Laurence. Higher up are saints connected with the history of the basilica. The roof is painted in patterns. The splendid opus-alexandrinum pavement is of the tenth century. On the left of the entrance is a baptismal font, above which are more frescoes relating to the story of St. Laurence. On the right, beneath a mediaeval canopy, is a very fine sarcophagus, sculptured with a wedding scene,--adapted as the tomb of Cardinal Fieschi, nephew of Innocent IV., who died in 1256. Inside the canopy, is a fresco of Christ throned, to whom St. Laurence presents the cardinal, and St. Stephen Innocent IV.

Behind stand St. Eustace and St. Hippolytus. The west end of the church is closed by the inscription, "Hi sunt qui venerunt de tribulatione magna, et laverunt stolas suas in sanguine agni."

The splendid ambones in the nave, inlaid with serpentine and porphyry, are of the twelfth century. That on the right, with a candelabrum for the Easter candle, was for the gospel; that on the left for the epistle.

At the end of the left aisle, a passage leads down to a subterranean chapel, used for prayer for the souls in purgatory. Here is the entrance to the _Catacombs of Sta. Ciriaca_, which are said to extend as far as Sant' Agnese, but which have been much and wantonly injured in the works for the new cemetery. Here the body of St. Laurence is related to have been found. Over the entrance is inscribed:--

"Haec est tumba illa toto orbe terrarum celeberrima ex cimeterio S.

Cyriacae Matronae ubi sacrum si quis fecerit pro defunctis eorum animas e purgatorii pnis divi Laurentii meritis evocabit."[287]

Passing the triumphal arch, we enter the early basilica of Pope Pelagius II. (572--590), which is on a lower level than that of the nave. Here are twelve splendid columns of pavonazzetto, of which the two first bear trophies carved above the acanthus leaves of their capitals. These support an entablature formed from various antique fragments, put together without uniformity,--and a triforium, divided by twelve small columns.

On the inside, which was formerly the outside, of the triumphal arch, is a restored mosaic of the time of Pelagius, representing the Saviour seated upon the world, having on the right St. Peter, St. Laurence, and St. Pelagius, and on the left St. Paul and St. Stephen, and with them, in a warrior's dress, St. Hippolytus, the soldier who was appointed to guard St. Laurence in prison, and who, being converted by him, was dragged to death by wild horses, after seeing nineteen of his family suffer before his eyes. He is the patron saint of horses. Here also are the mystic cities, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

A long poetical inscription is known to have once existed here; only two lines remain round the arch:--

"Martyrium flaminis olim Levita subisti Jure tuis templis lux veneranda redit."

The high altar, with a baldacchino, supported by four porphyry columns, covers the remains of SS. Laurence and Stephen, enclosed in a silver shrine by Pelagius II., a pope so munificent that he had given up his own house as a hospital for aged poor. St. Justin is also buried here.

"No one knew what had become of the body of St. Stephen for 400 years, when Lucian, a priest of Carsamagala, in Palestine, was visited in a dream by Gamaliel, the doctor of the law at whose feet Paul was brought up in all the learning of the Jews; and Gamaliel revealed to him that after the death of Stephen he had carried away the body of the saint, and had buried it in his own sepulchre, and had also deposited near it the body of Nicodemus and other saints; and this dream having been repeated three times, Lucian went with others deputed by the bishop, and dug with mattocks and spades in the spot which had been indicated,--a sepulchre in a garden,--and found what they supposed to be the remains of St. Stephen, their peculiar sanctity being proved by many miracles. These relics were first deposited in Jerusalem, in the church of Sion, and afterwards by the younger Theodosius carried to Constantinople, whence they were taken to Rome, and placed by Pope Pelagius in the same tomb with St. Laurence. It is related that when they opened the sarcophagus, and lowered into it the body of St. Stephen, St.

Laurence moved on one side, giving the place of honour on the right hand to St. Stephen: hence the common people of Rome have conferred on St. Laurence the title of 'Il cortese Spagnuolo'--the courteous Spaniard."--_Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art._

Behind the altar is a mosaic screen, with panels of porphyry and serpentine, and an ancient episcopal throne.