_In front of S. Maria Maggiore, on the right, Via S. Prassede, is_ THE CHURCH OF S. PRAXEDES, erected in 823 by Paschal I., and restored by Nicholas V. in 1450, and more lately by Carlo Borromeo. The main entry from the Via di S. Martino, consisting of the original portico, sustained by two granite Ionic columns, is seldom open. The entrance in use is on the side from the Via S. Praxedes. Sixteen granite columns, with composite capitals, divide the nave from the aisles. Double flights of steps of _rosso antico_ lead up to the tribune. On each side of the altar, over choir gallery, are remarkable columns of white marble, with foliage ornaments. In the middle of the nave is a so-called well, in which Praxedes is said to have collected the remains of martyrs. The MOSAICS are a striking feature of this church. They belong to the time of Pope Paschal I., and, like those in S. Cecilia and S. Maria in Navicella, are interesting as illustrating the low depth to which this art had sunk in Rome at that period. On the tribunal, our Lord stands on a mound, from which issues the river of life, JORDANES. On his left are S. Paul, S. Pudentiana, and S. Zeno; on his right S. Peter, S. Praxedes, and Paschal, the last carrying a model of the church which he built. He has a square nimbus, which shows that he was alive when the mosaic was executed. Beneath is a lamb with a nimbus, and with six sheep on either side, representing Christ and his apostles; at the extremities, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Below is the inscription:-- "_This holy fabric shines decorated with varied metals in honour of Praxedes, pleasing to our Lord above the heavens, by the care of the Sovereign Pontiff Paschal, nursling of the apostolic chair; who, burying many bodies of saints, puts them under these walls, that by the benefit of their prayers he may merit to enter the gates of heaven._" The oil painting of Praxedes is by Maria Dominico Muratori of Bologna. On the vault of the arch are flowers growing from two pots, and in the centre the monogram of Paschal. On the face of the tribunal are, in the centre of the arch, the Lamb, with three candlesticks on one side and four on the other, allegorical of the seven mysteries; on either side angels and the emblematical figures of the four apostles; then the four and twenty elders casting down their golden crowns, as at St. Paul's. These mosaics are evidently copied from those at SS. Cosmo and Damiano. On the face of the Arch of Triumph is the vision of S. John--our Saviour, with angels, Pudentiana, Praxedes, and the apostles, within the walls of the heavenly Jerusalem, the gates of which are guarded by angels. Other angels approach leading groups of the faithful, below whom are the martyrs with their palms. On the vault of this arch are mosaics similar to those of the tribunal.