The Antiquary, Vol. 43 A Magazine Devoted to the Study of the Past (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Antiquary, Vol. 43: A Magazine Devoted to the Study of the Past
The Municipality of Barcelona propose to hold an International Art Exhibition this year in that city, from April 23 to July 15, and it may again be opened in September and October. The Exhibition will comprise the fine arts and art crafts generally. The time for receiving exhibits will extend from March 15 to 30. Copies of the regulations may be obtained from the Spanish Consul-General in London, Senor Joaquin M. Torroja, 40, Trinity Square, E.C.
The feast of St. Clement was celebrated at Rome on November 24, and the subterranean church which was discovered some fifty years ago beneath the twelfth-century church of that name (situated between the Colosseum and St. John Lateran) was illuminated, so that the wonderful frescoes, which date from the fifth to the eleventh century, could be better enjoyed. This church, or rather these churches, arc among the most interesting in all Rome, including foundations which date from Republican and Imperial times; the remains of an ancient Roman house, erected - as the brickwork shows - during the first fifty years of the Christian era, and almost unquestionably the home of St. Clement; the early Christian Basilica (or lower church, as it is now called), mentioned by St. Jerome in 392; a large Mithraic temple, containing an altar to that god, to whose worship the sanctuary must have been perverted during one of the Christian persecutions; and the very interesting upper church, in which, besides the beautiful marble choir screen and pulpits - translated from the earlier church - are to be found the epoch-making frescoes by Masaccio, possibly also by his master Masolino, whose work ushered in the great development of the Quattrocentists. The excavations which brought to light the earlier church, St. Clement's house, and the Mithraic temple, were carried out by the untiring efforts of the late prior of the adjoining monastery of the Irish Dominicans, Father Mulhooly, and it is sad to know that a heavy and continuous inflow of water, consequent on the new drainage system of Rome and the extremely low level at which the earlier buildings are situated, is now imperilling even the structural safety of the whole church, and is year by year destroying the frescoes, which from an historical and archaeological point of view are priceless.
A plan has been prepared by Mr. Mills, an able engineer, which would thoroughly drain the lower church and put an end to this distressing state of affairs. The city authorities have approved the project, and only money is required to carry it out. An influential committee of all denominations of clergymen and of archaeologists, under the presidency of the British ambassador, has been formed in Rome to raise the necessary funds. The work is estimated to cost about 1, 500, and over 100 has already been raised locally. The rector of the church, the Rev. J. T. Crotty, O.P., appeals to all lovers of ancient monuments, Christian and Pagan, to help the committee to raise the required sum. Subscriptions may be sent to the Western Branch of the Bank of England, Burlington Gardens, to the British Consul, or to the rector direct.
"By the generosity of Dr. F. Parkes Weber," says the Athenaeum of December 1, "the trustees of the British Museum have acquired a most remarkable numismatic collection. Dr. Weber placed his cabinet in the hands of the authorities of the museum, with permission to select everything that might be deemed desirable, and as a result no fewer than 5, 551 pieces have been added to the national collection.
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