This splendid church contains many chapels, decorated with paintings and statues worthy of attention. On the second pier of the right aisle is Giotto's Boniface VIII. The Gothic Tabernacle above the high altar, containing the heads of Paul and Peter, is a fine piece of workmanship of the fourteenth century, restored by Pius IX. In front of the Confession is a bronze tomb of Martin V., by Simone, Donatello's brother. Since 1876 the transepts and the apse have been closed to the public; but on Ascension day 1886, with grand religious ceremonies, they were again thrown open to public view, _having been restored_. The frescoes in the transept, representing scenes in the life of Constantine by artists of the seventeenth century, have been touched up; the gold work has been regilded, and the appearance of newness has been imparted to the whole. At the end of the right transept, looking towards the tribunal, is the grand organ and a banner captured from the Saracens. The left transept contains the altar of the Sacrament by Paolo Olivieri, the four gilt bronze columns being, it is said, from the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, made by Augustus out of the beaks of the fleet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Above the altar is the finest fresco in the basilica, the Ascension by Arpino, 1600. To the right is the Colonna chapel. The altar-piece is by Arpino, the roof by Croce, whilst the portrait of Martin V. is by S. Gaetano. In the recent restorations the old choir, tribunal, and the corridor of Leo I., 440-61, which surrounded it, have been destroyed, and a new one erected sixty-seven feet longer than the old one--a very unnecessary piece of work and vandalism. The church was quite large enough for any ceremonies that take place in it. The whole praise of _this restoration_ is claimed by Leo XIII.; but it is only just to Pius IX. to record that he initiated and left money to continue the work, although he is ignored in the laudations. In the four corners, above the spring of the arches, are doctors of the Eastern and Roman Churches--Ambrose, Augustine, Chrysostom, and Anastasius. On the left, above organ, the Commission submitting the Plans to Leo XIII.; on the right, Innocent III. approving the Doctrine of Transubstantiation (1215)--both the work of Francesco Grandi. The mosaic on the vault of the apse belonged to the old apse, and has been considerably _restored_ in moving it from one to the other. It is the work of Jacopo da Turrita and Gaddo Gaddi (1292). At the top is the Almighty's head surrounded by angels; from the Father proceeds the Holy Spirit (a dove) to the Cross (which represents the Son) erected on the mountain from which flow the four rivers of paradise round the heavenly Jerusalem, the gates of which are guarded by an angel. Two harts and sheep drink of the waters; saints are on either side; the Virgin has her hand on the head of Nicholas IV., who had the mosaic done. The