It consists of a solid block of masonry five feet long and two and a half wide, with chamfered plinth, standing quite free from the apse wall.

The Duomo has a little sister in the shape of the Museo di Santa Maria del Fiore, or the Museo dell' Opera del Duomo, situated in the Piazza opposite the apse; and we should go there now.

He is to be seen in the Uffizi portico, although that is probably a fancy representation; and again on a tablet in the wall opposite the apse of the Duomo.

He had already walled in the apse of the King where the three chapels are, and carried out the three upper windows.

When all were assembled, the Pope told Michelangelo that the deputies were of opinion the apse would have but little light.

From the entrance to the altar step, or platform, the distance is 55 feet, and from that point to the back of the apse 15 feet 6 inches; the width of the apse is 16 feet 6 inches.

From the entrance to the altar step, or platform, the distance is 55 feet, and from that point to the back of the apse 15 feet 6 inches; the width of the apse is 16 feet 6 inches.

This wall, also those of the church, of which several courses remain, and the interior of the apse, show that the building was originally painted, and some of the figures and designs can still be traced.

At the southeast corner of the church, leading from the apse, there is a narrow but well built passageway to the buildings in the rear.

Dr. Selah Merrill, in a note describing a late visit, says that the west wall of what he called the "main building," toward the apse of the church, has been removed and the floor cleared, exposing a fine pavement.

All galleries had been taken down in 1849 and the present seats, giving room for near 2,500 persons, introduced, while the incongruous wall-arcading in the apse was soon after added.

The apse is now encircled with a series of sacristies divided into five chambers and spanned by flying buttresses.

The five four-light windows of the apse are lofty and divided by two transoms, but the design is somewhat commonplace.

The best of the ancient glass now remaining has been collected into two windows, one on either side of the apse.

Some of these or similar ones, are now in the apse.

Apse, 36. Bells, 56. Brasses, 51, 55.

But our return route passes Abbas church and crosses the river to Easton, a rambling and pleasant river-village full of mellow half-timbered houses and with a church that boasts a Norman apse and fine chancel arch.

When the ritual demanded a retro-choir for processions, the Norman apse fortunately was not pulled down, but the new building, Tudor in style, and with a beautiful stone-vaulted roof, was built round it.

work (e.g. a S. doorway and a fragment of the original apse).

As it stands it was the work of Bishop Ralph in 1329-63, who reconstructed Bishop Robert's choir, removed the apse, and extended the building three bays eastwards.

An octagonal chamber is transformed within into a pentagonal apse by the simple device of resting the three western sides on piers, and thus throwing it into one building with the retrochoir, thereby considerably enhancing the general artistic effect.

Note (1) the curious recess in exterior S. wall of apse; (2) double square piscina in chancel; (3) rood-loft stair; (4) Norm.

The mosaics which were set up to adorn the apse and the arch of triumph were among the best works of the century, and, with colors still brilliant and design still unimpaired, they hold their place at the present day, and carry back the thought and the imagination of the beholder a thousand years into the very heart of this old story.

Under the great mosaic of the apse one may still read the inscription, in the rude Latin of the century, which tells of Paschal's zeal and Rome's joy, closing with the line, "Roma resultat ovans semper ornata per aevum.

The mosaics of the apse and the arch of triumph tell of the first finding of her body; Maderno's statue recalls the fact of its second discovery long after; and now this newly opened, long forgotten chapel shows where her precious body was first laid away in peace, brings the legend of her faithful death into clearer remembrance, and concludes the ancient story with dramatic and perfect completeness.