VASTUS

A term applied by anatomist? to two muscles of the thigh, the external and internal vast i. VATIC.^N, the ancient palace of the popes, and the most magnificent in the world, stands at Rome on the right bank of the Tiber, and on the hill anciently called by the same name; derived, according to Aulus Gellius, from Vaticinium, or rather from an ancient oracular deity of the Latins, called by the Romans Jupiter Vatican us, who was worshipped there. Some say that Pope Symmachus began the construction of the palace. It was inhabited by Charlemagne in 800; and the present irregular edifice has been raised by the gradual additions of a long series of pontiffs. Us extent is enormous, the number of rooms, at the lowest computation, amounting to 4422; and its riches in marbles, bronzes, and frescoes, in ancient statues and gems, and in paintings, are unequalled in the world; not to mention its library, the richest in Europe in manuscripts. The length of the museum of statues alone is computed to be a mile: here are the Sistine Chapel; the Camere of Raphael, painted by himself and his pupils; the museum of Pius VI., peculiarly rich in objects of ancient Italian workmanship: and other deposits of art and antiquity, each of which by itself would suffice to render a city illustrious. V.\ [s. 1299]