Chapter XVI: The Vatican (2)

Close by, in a niche, is the celebrated peperino *Tomb of L. Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, consul B.C. 297. It supports a bust, supposed, upon slight foundation, to be that of the poet Ennius. Inscriptions from other tombs of the Scipios are inserted in the neighbouring wall.[347]

"L'épitaphe de Scipion le Barbu semble le résumé d'une oraison
funèbre; elle s'adresse aux spectateurs: 'Cornélius Scipion
Barbatus, né d'un père vaillant, homme courageux et prudent, dont
la beauté égalait la vertu. Il a été parmi vous consul, censeur,
édile; il a pris Taurasia, Cisauna, le Samnium. Ayant soumis toute
la Lucanie, il en a emmené des otages.'

"Y a-t-il rien de plus grand? Il a pris le Samnium et la Lucanie.
Voilà tout.

"Ce sarcophage est un des plus curieux monuments de Rome. Par la
matière, par la forme des lettres et le style de l'inscription, il
vous représente la rudesse des Romains au sixième siècle. Le goût
très-pur de l'architecture et des ornements vous montre l'avènement
de l'art grec tombant, pour ainsi dire, en pleine sauvagerie
romaine. Le tombeau de Scipion le Barbu est en pépérin, ce tuf
rugueux, grisâtre, semé de taches noires. Les caractères sont
irréguliers, les lignes sont loin d'être droites, le latin est
antique et barbare, mais la forme et les ornements du tombeau sont
grecs. Il y a là des volutes, des triglyphes, des denticules; on ne
saurait rien imaginer qui fasse mieux voir la culture grecque
venant surprendre et saisir la rudesse latine."--_Ampère, Hist.
Rom._ iii. 132.

The _Round Vestibule_ contains a fine vase of pavonazzetto.

The adjoining balcony contains a curious Wind Indicator, found (1779) near the Coliseum. Hence there is a lovely view over the city. In the garden beneath is a fountain with a curious bronze ship floating in its bason (see Vatican Gardens).

At the end of the _3rd Vestibule_ stands the *Statue of Meleager, with a boar's head and a dog, supposed to have been begun in Greece by some famous sculptor, and finished in Rome (the dog, &c.) by an inferior workman.

"Meleager is represented in a position of repose, leaning on his
spear, the mark of the junction of which, with the plinth, is still
to be seen. The want of the spear gives the statue the appearance
of leaning too much to one side, but if you can imagine it
replaced, you will see that the pose is perfectly and truthfully
rendered. This statue was found at the commencement of the
sixteenth century, outside the Porta Portese, in a vineyard close
to the Tiber."--_Shakspere Wood._

"Ce Méléagre du Vatican respire une grâce tranquille, et, placé
entre le sublime _Torse_ et les merveilles du Belvédère, semble
être là pour attendre et pour accueillir de son air aimable et un
peu mélancolique, où l'on a cru voir le signe d'une destinée qui
devait être courte, l'enthousiasme du voyageur."--_Ampère, Hist.
Rom._ iii. 515.

From the central vestibule we enter the _Cortile del Belvidere_, an octagonal court built by _Bramante_, having a fountain in the centre, and decorated with fine sarcophagi and vases, &c. From this opens, beginning from the right, the--

_First Cabinet_, containing the Perseus, and the two Boxers--Kreugas and Damoxenus, by _Canova_.

_The Second Cabinet_, containing *the Antinous (now called Mercury), perhaps the most beautiful statue in the world. It was found on the Esquiline near S. Martino al Monte. It has never been injured by restoration, but was broken across the ankles when found, and has been unskilfully put together.

"Je suis bien tenté de rapporter à un original de Polyclète, qui
aimait les formes carrées, le Mercure du Belvédère, qui n'est pas
très-svelte pour un Mercure. On a cru reconnaître que les
proportions de cette statue se rapprochaient beaucoup des
proportions préscrites par Polyclète. Poussin, comme Polyclète, ami
des formes carrées, déclarait le Mercure, qu'on appelait alors sans
motif un Antinoüs, le modèle le plus parfait des proportions du
corps humain; il pourrait à ce titre remplacer jusqu'à un certain
point la statue de Polyclète, appelée _la règle_, parcequ'elle
passait pour offrir ce modèle parfait, et _faisait règle_ à cet
égard. De plus, on sait qu'un Mercure de Polyclète avait été
apporté à Rome."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 267.

_Third Cabinet_, of *the Laocoon. This wonderful group was discovered near the Sette Sale on the Esquiline in 1506, while Michael-Angelo was at Rome. The right arm of the father is a terra-cotta restoration, and is said by Winckelmann to be the work of Bernini; the arms of the sons are additions by Agostino Cornacchini of Pistoia. There is now no doubt that the Laocoon is the group described by Pliny.

"The fame of many sculptors is less diffused, because the number
employed upon great works prevented their celebrity; for there is
no one artist to receive the honour of the work, and where there
are more than one they cannot all obtain an equal fame. Of this the
Laocoon is an example, which stands in the palace of the emperor
Titus,--a work which may be considered superior to all others both
in painting and statuary. The whole group,--the father, the boys,
and the awful folds of the serpents,--were formed out of a single
block, in accordance with a vote of the senate, by Agesander,
Polydorus, and Athenodorus, Rhodian sculptors of the highest
merit."--_Pliny_, lib. xxxvi. c. 4.

"Les trois sculpteurs rhodiens qui travaillèrent ensemble au
Laocoon étaient probablement un père et ses deux fils, qui
exécutèrent l'un la statue du père, et les autres celles des deux
fils, touchante analogie entre les auteurs et l'ouvrage.

"Les auteurs du Laocoon étaient Rhodiens, ce peuple auquel, dit
Pindare, Minerve a donné de l'emporter sur tous les mortels par le
travail habile de leurs mains, et dont les rues étaient garnies de
figures vivantes qui semblaient marcher. Or, le grand éclat, la
grande puissance de Rhodes, appartiennent surtout à l'époque qui
suivit la mort d'Alexandre. Après qu'elle se fût délivrée du joug
macédonien, presque toujours alliée de Rome, Rhodes fut florissante
par le commerce, les armes et la liberté, jusqu'au jour on elle
eut embrassé le parti de César; Cassius prit d'assaut la capitale
de l'île et dépouilla ses temples de tous leurs ornements. Le coup
fut mortel à la république de Rhodes, qui depuis ne s'en releva
plus.

"C'est avant cette fatale époque, dans l'époque de la prospérité
rhodienne, entre Alexandre et César, que se place le grand
développement de l'art comme de la puissance des Rhodiens, et qu'on
est conduit naturellement à placer la création d'un chef-d'œuvre
tel que le Laocoon.

"Pline dit que les trois statues dont se compose le groupe étaient
d'un seul morceau, et ce groupe est formé de plusieurs, on en a
compté jusqu'à six. Ceci semblerait faire croire que nous n'avons
qu'une copie, mais j'avoue ne pas attacher une grande importance à
cette indication de Pline, compilateur plus érudit qu'observateur
attentif. Michel-Ange, dit-on, remarqua le premier que le Laocoon
n'était pas d'un seul morceau; Pline a très-bien pu ne pas s'en
apercevoir plus que nous et répéter de confiance une assertion
inexacte."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 382, 385, 387.

... "Turning to the Vatican, go see
Laocoon's torture dignifying pain--
A father's love and mortal's agony
With an immortal's patience blending, vain
The struggle; vain against the coiling strain
And gripe, and deepening of the dragon's grasp,
The old man's clench; the long envenom'd chain
Rivets the living links,--the enormous asp
Enforces pang on pang, and stifles gasp on gasp."

_Childe Harold._

"The circumstance of the two sons being so much smaller than the
father, has been criticised by some, but this seems to have been
necessary to the harmony of the composition. The same apparent
disproportion exists between Niobe and her children, in the
celebrated group at Florence, supposed to be by Scopas. The raised
arms of the three figures are all restorations, as are some
portions of the serpents. Originally, the raised hands of the old
man rested on his head, and the traces of the junction are clearly
discernible. For this we have also the evidence of an antique gem,
on which it is thus engraved. This work was found in the baths (?)
of Titus, in the reign of Julius II., by a certain Felix de Fredis,
who received half the revenue of the gabella of the Porta San
Giovanni as a reward, and whose epitaph, in the church of Ara
Cœli, records the fact."--_Shakspere Wood._

"Il y avait dans la vie, au seizième siècle, je ne sais qu'elle
excitation fébrile, quelle aspiration vers le beau, vers l'inconnu,
qui disposait les esprits à l'enthousiasme.... Félix de Frédis fut
gratifié d'une part dans les revenus de la porte de Saint Jean de
Latran, pour avoir trouvé le groupe du Laocoon, et, lorsque l'ordre
fut donné de transporter au Belvédère le Laocoon, l'Apollon, la
Vénus, Rome entière s'émut, on jetait des fleurs au marbre, on
battait des mains; depuis les thermes de Titus jusqu'au Vatican, le
Laocoon fut porté en triomphe; et Sadolet chantait sur le mode
virgilien que durent reconnaître les échos de l'Esquilin et du
palais d'Auguste."--_Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne._

"I felt the Laocoon very powerfully, though very quietly; an
immortal agony, with a strange calmness diffused through it, so
that it resembles the vast rage of the sea, calm on account of its
immensity; or the tumult of Niagara, which does not seem to be
tumult, because it keeps pouring on for ever and ever."

"It is a type of human beings, struggling with an inexplicable
trouble, and entangled in a complication which they cannot free
themselves from by their own efforts, and out of which Heaven alone
can help them."--_Hawthorne, Notes on Italy._

_The Fourth Cabinet_ contains *the Apollo Belvedere, found in the sixteenth century at Porto d'Anzio (Antium), and purchased by Julius II. for the Belvedere Palace, which was at that time a garden pavilion separated from the rest of the Vatican, and used as a museum of sculpture. It is now decided that this statue, beautiful as it is, is not the original work of a Greek sculptor, but a copy, probably from the bronze of Calamides, which represented Apollo, as the defender of the city, and which was erected at Athens after the cessation of a great plague. Four famous statues of Apollo are mentioned by Pliny as existing at Rome in his time, but this is not one of them.

"Or view the Lord of the unerring bow,
The God of life, and poesy, and light--
The Sun in human limbs array'd, and brow
All radiant from his triumph in the fight;
The shaft hath just been shot--the arrow bright
With an immortal's vengeance; in his eye
And nostril beautiful disdain, and might,
And majesty flash their full lightnings by,
Developing in that one glance the Deity."

_Childe Harold._

"Bright kindling with a conqueror's stem delight,
His keen eye tracks the arrow's fateful flight:
Burns his indignant cheek with vengeful fire,
And his lip quivers with insulting ire:
Firm fix'd his tread, yet light, as when on high
He walks th' impalpable and pathless sky:
The rich luxuriance of his hair, confined
In graceful ringlets, wantons on the wind,
That lifts in sport his mantle's drooping fold,
Proud to display that form of faultless mould.
Mighty Ephesian! with an eagle's flight
Thy proud soul mounted through the fields of light,
View'd the bright conclave of Heaven's blest abode,
And the cold marble leapt to life a god:
Contagious awe through breathless myriads ran,
And nations bow'd before the work of man.
For mild he seem'd, as in Elysian bowers,
Wasting in careless ease the joyous hours;
Haughty, as bards have sung, with princely sway
Curbing the fierce flame-breathing steeds of day;
Beauteous as vision seen in dreamy sleep
By holy maid on Delphi's haunted steep,
Mid the dim twilight of the laurel grove,
Too fair to worship, too divine to love."

_Henry Hart Milman._

In the second portico, between Canova's statues and the Antinous, is (No. 43) a Venus and Cupid,--interesting because the Venus is a portrait of Sallustia Barbia Orbiana, wife of Alexander Severus. It was discovered in the fifteenth century, in the ruin near Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme, to which it has given a name. In the third portico, between the Antinous and the Laocoon, are two beautiful dogs. Between these we enter:

The _Sala degli Animali_, containing a number of representations of animals in marble and alabaster. Perhaps the best is No. 116--two greyhounds playing. The statue of Commodus on horseback (No. 139) served as a model to Bernini for his figure of Constantine in the portico of St. Peter's.

"La Salle des Animaux au Vatican est comme un musée de l'école de
Myron; le naturel parfait qu'il donna à ses représentations
d'animaux y éclate partout. C'est une sorte de ménagerie de l'art,
et elle mérite de s'appeler, comme celle du Jardin des Plantes, une
ménagerie _d'animaux vivants_.

"Ces animaux sont pourtant d'un mérite inégal: parmi les meilleurs
morceaux on compte des chiens qui jouent ensemble avec beaucoup de
vérité, un cygne dont le duvet, un mouton tué dont la toison sont
très-bien rendus, une tête d'âne très-vraie et portant une couronne
de lierre, allusion au rôle de l'âne de Silène dans les mystères
bacchiques."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 276.

On the right we enter:

The _Galleria delle Statue_, once a summer-house of Innocent VIII., but arranged as a statue-gallery under Pius VI. In its lunettes are remains of frescoes by _Pinturicchio_. Beginning on the right, are:

248. An armed statue of Claudius Albinus standing on a cippus which
marked the spot where the body of Caius Cæsar was burnt, inscribed
C. CÆSAR GERMANICI CÆSARIS HIC CREMATUS EST.

250. The *Statue called "The Genius of the Vatican," supposed to be
a copy from a Cupid of Praxiteles which existed in the Portico of
Octavia in the time of Pliny. On the back are the holes for the
metal pins which supported the wings.

251. Athlete.

253. Triton, from Tivoli.

255. Paris.

Le Vatican possède une statue de Pâris jugeant les déesses. Cette
statue est-elle, comme on le pense généralement, une copie du Pâris
d'Euphranor?

"Euphranor avait-il choisi le moment où Pâris juge les déesses? Les
expressions de Pline pourraient en faire douter: il ne l'affirme
point; il dit que dans la statue d'Euphranor on eût pu reconnaître
le juge des trois déesses, l'amant d'Hélène et le vainqueur
d'Achille.

* * * * *

"La statue du Vatican est de beaucoup la plus remarquable des
statues de Pâris. On y sent, malgré ses imperfections, la présence
d'un original fameux; de plus, son attitude est celle de Pâris sur
plusieurs vases peints et sur plusieurs bas-reliefs, et nous
verrons que les bas-reliefs reproduisaient très-souvent une statue
célèbre. Il m'est impossible, il est vrai, de voir dans le Pâris du
Vatican tout ce que Pline dit du Pâris d'Euphranor. Je ne puis y
voir que le juge des déesses. L'expression de son visage montre
qu'il a contemplé la beauté de Vénus, et que le prix va être donné.
Rien n'annonce l'amant d'Hélène, ni surtout le vainqueur d'Achille;
mais ce qui était dans l'original aurait pu disparaître de la
copie."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 300.

256. Young Hercules.

259. Figure probably intended for Apollo, restored as Minerva.

260. A Greek relief, from a tomb.

261. Penelope, on a pedestal, with a relief of Bacchus and Ariadne.

"L'attente de Pénélope nous est présente, et, pour ainsi dire, dure
encore pour nous dans cette expressive Pénélope, dont le torse nous
a montré un spécimen de l'art grec sous la forme la plus
ancienne."--_Ampère, Hist. Rome_, iii. p. 452.

264. *Apollo Sauroctonos (killing a lizard), found on the Palatine
in 1777--a copy of a work of Praxiteles. Several other copies are
in existence, one in bronze, in the Villa Albani, inferior to this.
The right arm and the legs above the knees are restorations, well
executed.

"Apollon presque enfant épie un lézard qui se glisse le long d'un
arbre. On sait, à n'en pouvoir douter, d'après la description de
Pline et de Martial, que cet Apollon, souvent répété, est une
imitation de celui de Praxitèle, et quand on ne le saurait pas, on
l'eût deviné."--_Ampère_, iii. 313.

265. Amazon, found in thé Villa Mattei, the finest of the three
Amazons in the Vatican, which are all supposed to be copies from
the fifty statues of Amazons, which decorated the temple of Diana
at Ephesus.

267. Drunken Satyr.

268. Juno, from Otricoli.

271, 390. Posidippus and Menander, very fine statues, perfectly
preserved, owing to their having been kept through the middle ages
in the church of S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna, where they were
worshipped under the belief that they were statues of saints, a
belief which arose from their having metal discs over their heads,
a practice which prevailed with many Greek statues intended for the
open air. The marks of the metal pins for these discs may still be
seen, as well as those for a bronze protection for the feet, to
prevent their being worn away by the kisses of the faithful,--as on
the statue of St. Peter at St Peter's.

Between these statues we enter:

The _Hall of Busts_. Perhaps the best are:

278. Augustus, with a wreath of corn.

289. Julia Mammæa, mother of Alexander Severus.

299. Jupiter-Serapis, in basalt.

325. Jupiter.

357. Antinous.

388. *Roman Senator and his wife, from a tomb. (These busts, having
been much admired by the great historian, were copied for the
monument of Niebuhr at Bonn, erected, by his former pupil the King
of Prussia, to his memory--with that of his loving wife Gretchen,
who only survived him nine days.)

"Les têtes de deux époux, représentés au devant de leur tombeau
d'où ils semblent sortir à mi-corps et se tenant par le main, sont
surtout d'une simplicité et d'une vérité inexprimable. La femme est
assez jeune et assez belle, l'époux est vieux et très-laid; mais ce
groupe a un air honnête et digne qui répond pour tous deux d'une
vie de sérénité et de vertu. Nul récit ne pourrait aussi bien que
ces deux figures transporter au sein des mœurs domestiques de
Rome; en leur présence on se sent pénétré soi-même d'honnêteté, de
pudeur et de respect, comme si on était assis au chaste foyer de
Lucrèce."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iv. 103.

Re-entering the Gallery of Statues, and following the left wall, are:

392. Septimius Severus.

393. Girl at a spring?

394. Neptune.

395. Apollo Citharœdus.

396. Wounded Adonis.

397. Bacchus, from Hadrian's Villa.

398. Macrinus (Imp. 217).

399. Æsculapius and Hygeia, from Palestrina.

400. Euterpe.

401. Mutilated group from the Niobides, found near Porta San Paolo.

405. Danaide.

406. Copy of the Faun of Praxiteles, very beautiful, but inferior
to that at the Capitol.

422. Head of a fountain, with Bacchanalian Procession.

(Here is the entrance of the _Gabinetto delle Maschere_, which contains works of small importance. It is named from the mosaic upon the floor, of masks from Hadrian's Villa. It is seldom shown, probably because it contains a chair of rosso-antico, called "Sedia forata," found near the Lateran, and supposed to be the famous "Sella Stercoraria" used at the installation of the mediæval popes, and associated with the legend of Pope Joan.

"Le Pape élu (Célestine III. 1191) se prosterne devant l'autel
pendant que l'on chante le Te Deum: puis les Cardinaux Evêques le
conduisent à son siége derrière l'autel: là ils viennent à ses
pieds, et il leur donne le baiser de paix. On le mène ensuite à une
chaise posée devant la portique de la Basilique du Sauveur de
Latran. Cette chaise était nommée dès lors '_Stercoraria_,'
parceque elle est percée au fond: mais l'ouverture est petite, et
les antiquaires jugent que c'étoit pour égouter l'eau, et que cette
chaise servait à quelque bain."--_Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique_,
xv. p. 525.)

462. Cinerary Urn of Alabaster.

414. *Sleeping Ariadne, found _c._ 1503--formerly supposed to represent Cleopatra.

"The effect of sleep, so remarkable in this statue, and which could
not have been rendered by merely closing the lids over the eyes, is
produced by giving positive form to the eyelashes; a distinct
ridge, being raised at right angles to the surface of the lids,
with a slight indented line along the edge to show the
division."--_Shakspere Wood._

"La figure est certainement idéale et n'est point un portrait; mais
ce qui ne laisse aucun doute sur le nom à lui donner, c'est un
bas-relief, un peu refait, il est vrai, qu'on a eu la très-heureuse
idée de placer auprès d'elle.

"On y voit une femme endormie dont l'attitude est tout à fait
pareille à celle de la statue, Thésée qui va s'embarquer pendant le
sommeil d'Ariane, et Bacchus qui arrive pour la consoler. C'est
exactement ce que l'on voyait peint dans le temple de Bacchus à
Athènes.

"Cette statue, belle sans doute, mais peut-être trop vantée, doit
être postérieure à l'époque d'Alexandre. Sa pose gracieuse est
presque maniérée: on dirait qu'elle se regarde dormir. La
disposition de la draperie est compliquée et un peu embrouillée, à
tel point que les uns prennent pour une couverture ce que d'autres
regardent comme un manteau."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 534.

Beneath this figure is a fine sarcophagus, representing the Battle
of the Giants.

412, 413. "The Barberini Candelabra" from Hadrian's Villa.

416. Ariadne.

417. Mercury.

420. Lucius Verus--on a pedestal which supported the ashes of
Drusus in the Mausoleum of Augustus.

From the centre of the Sala degli Animali we now enter:

The _Sala delle Muse_, adorned with sixteen Corinthian columns from Hadrian's Villa. It is chiefly filled with statues and busts from the villa of Cassius at Tivoli. The statues of the Muses and that called Apollo Musagetes (No. 516) are generally attributed to the time of the Antonines.

"Nous savons que l'Apollon Citharède de Scopas était dans le temple
d'Apollon Palatin, élevé par Auguste; les médailles, Properce et
Tibulle, nous apprennent que le dieu s'y voyait revêtu d'une longue
robe.

'Ima videbatur talis illudere palla.'

_Tib._ iii. 4, 35.

'Pythius in longa carmina veste sonat.'

_Prop._ ii. 31, 16.

"Nous ne pouvons donc hésiter à admettre que l'Apollon de la salle
des Muses au Vatican a eu pour premier original l'Apollon de
Scopas.

"Nous savons aussi qu'un Apollon de Philiscus et un Apollon de
Timarchide (celui-ci tenant la lyre), sculpteurs grecs moins
anciens que Scopas, étaient dans un autre temple d'Apollon, près du
portique d'Octavie, en compagnie des Muses, comme l'Apollon
Citharède du Vatican a été trouvé avec celles qui l'entourent
aujourd'hui dans la salle des Muses. Il est donc vraisemblable que
cet Apollon est d'après Philiscus ou Timarchide, qui eux-mêmes
avaient sans doute copié l'Apollon _à la lyre_ de Scopas et
l'avaient placé au milieu des Muses.

"Apollon est là, ainsi que plus anciennement il avait été
représenté sur le coffre de Cypsélus, avec cette inscription qui
conviendrait à la statue du Vatican: 'Alentour est le chœur
gracieux des Muses, auquel il préside;' et, comme dit Pindare, 'au
milieu du beau chœur des Muses, Apollon frappe du plectrum d'or
la lyre aux sept voix."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 292.

Here we reach the _Sala Rotonda_, built by Pius VI., paved with a mosaic found in 1780 in the baths of Otricoli, and containing in its centre a grand porphyry vase from the baths of Titus. On either side of the entrance are colossal heads of Tragedy and Comedy, from Hadrian's Villa. Beginning from the right are:

539. *Bust of Jupiter from Otricoli--the finest extant.

540. Antinous, from Hadrian's Villa. All the drapery (probably once
of bronze) is a restoration.

"Antinous was drowned in the Nile, A.D. 131. Some accounts assert
that he drowned himself in obedience to an oracle, which demanded
for the life of the emperor Hadrian the sacrifice of the object
dearest to him. However this may be, Hadrian lamented his death
with extravagant weakness, proclaimed his divinity to the jeering
Egyptians, and consecrated a temple in his honour. He gave the name
of Besantinopolis to a city in which he was worshipped in
conjunction with an obscure divinity named Besa."--_Merivale_,
lxvi.

541. Faustina the elder, wife of Antoninus Pius.

542. Augustus, veiled.

543. *Hadrian, found in his mausoleum.

544. *Colossal Hercules, in gilt bronze, found (1864) near the
Theatre of Pompey. The feet and ankles are restorations by
Tenerani.

546. *Bust of Antinous.

547. Sea-god, from Pozzuoli.

548. *Nerva.

"Among the treasures of antiquity preserved in modern Rome, none
surpasses,--none perhaps equals,--in force and dignity, the sitting
statue of Nerva, which draws all eyes in the rotunda of the
Vatican, embodying the highest ideal of the Roman magnate, the
finished warrior, statesman, and gentleman of an age of varied
training and wide practical experience."--_Merivale_, ch. xliii.

549. Jupiter Serapis.

550. *The Barberini Juno.

551. Claudius.

552. Juno Sospita, from Lanuvium. This is the only statue in the
Vatican of which we can be certain that it was a worshipped idol;
the sandals of the Tyrrhenian Juno turn up at the end,--no other
Juno wears these sandals.

553. Plotina, wife of Trajan.

554. Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus.

556. Pertinax.

The _Sala a Croce Greca_ contains:

_On the right._--The porphyry sarcophagus of Sta. Constantia,
daughter of Constantine the Great, adorned with sculptures of a
vintage, brought hither most inappropriately, from her church near
St'Agnese.

_On the left._--The porphyry sarcophagus of Sta. Helena, mother of
Constantine the Great, carried off from her tomb (now called Torre
Pignatarra) by Anastasius IV., and placed in the Lateran, whence it
was brought hither by Pius VI. The restoration of its reliefs,
representing battle scenes of the time of Constantine, cost
£20,000.

At the end of the hall on the right is a recumbent river-god, said to have been restored by Michael Angelo. The stairs, adorned with twenty ancient columns from Palestrina, lead to:

The _Sala della Biga_, so called from a white marble chariot, drawn by two horses. Only the body of the chariot (which long served as an episcopal throne in the church of S. Marco) and part of the horse on the right, are ancient; the remainder is restoration. Among the sculptures here, are:

608. Bearded Bacchus.

609. An interesting sarcophagus representing a chariot-race. The
chariots are driven by Amorini, who are not attending to what they
are about, and drive over one another. The eggs and dolphins on the
winning-posts indicated the number of times they had gone round;
each time they passed another egg and dolphin were put up.

610. Bacchus, as a woman.

611. Alcibiades?

612. Veiled priest, from the Giustiniani collection.

614. Apollo Citharædus.

615. Discobolus, copy of a bronze statue by Naubides.

616. *Phocion, very remarkable and beautiful from the extreme
simplicity of the drapery.

618. Discobolus, copy of the bronze statue of Myron--inferior to
that at the Palazzo Massimo.

"Il n'y a pas une statue dont l'original soit connu avec plus de
certitude que le Discobole. Cet original fut l'athlète lançant le
disque de Myron.

"C'est bien la statue se contournant avec effort dont parle
Quintilien; en effet, la statue, penchée en avant et dans
l'attitude du jet, porte le corps sur une jambe, tandis que l'autre
est traînante derrière lui. Ce n'est pas la main, c'est la personne
tout entière qui va lancer le disque."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii.
270.

619. Charioteer.

Proceeding in a straight line from the top of the stairs, we enter:

The _Galleria dei Candelabri_, 300 feet long, filled with small pieces of sculpture. Among these we may notice in the centre, on the right, Bacchus and Silenus, found near the Sancta-Sanctorum, also:

194. Boy with a goose.

224. Nemesis.

'Une petite statue da Vatican rappelle une curieuse anecdote dont
le héros est Agoracrite. Alcamène et lui avaient fait chacun une
statue de Vénus. Celle d'Alcamène fut jugée la meilleure par les
Athéniens. Agoracrite, indigné de ce qui lui semblait une
injustice, transforma la sienne en Némésis, déesse vengeresse de
l'équité violée, et le rendit aux habitants du bourg de Rhamnus, à
condition qu'elle ne serait jamais exposée à Athènes. Ceci montre
combien sa Vénus avait gardé la sévérité du type primitif. Ce n'est
pas de la Vénus du Capitole ou de la Vénus de Médicis, qu'on aurait
pu faire une Némésis. Némésis avait pour emblème la coudée, signe
de la _mesure_ que Némésis ne permet point de dépasser, et
l'avant-bras était la figure de la _coudée_, par suite, de la
mesure. C'est pourquoi quand on représentait Némésis on plaçait
toujours l'avant-bras de manière d'attirer sur lui l'attention.
Dans la Némésis du Vatican la donnée sévère est devenue un motif
aimable. Cet avant-bras, qu'il fallait montrer pour rappeller une
loi terrible, Némésis le montre en effet, mais elle s'en sert avec
grâce pour rattacher son vêtement."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 260.

253. Statuette of Ceres, the head from some other statue.

Hence we enter:

The _Galleria degli Arazzi_ (open gratis on Mondays), hung with tapestries from the New Testament History, executed for the lower walls of the Sistine Chapel, in 1515--16, for Leo X., from the cartoons of _Raphael_, of which seven were purchased in Flanders by Charles I., and are now at Hampton Court. The tapestries are ill arranged. According to their present order, beginning on the left wall, they are:

1. St. Peter receiving the keys. (On the border, the flight of
Cardinal de' Medici from Florence in 1494, disguised as a
Franciscan Monk.)

2. The Miraculous draught of Fishes.

3. The Sacrifice at Lystra.

4. St. Paul preaching at Athens.

5. The Saviour and Mary Magdalene.

6. The Supper at Emmaus.

7. The Presentation in the Temple.

8. The Adoration of the Shepherds.

9. The Ascension.

10. The Adoration of the Magi.

11. The Resurrection.

12. The Day of Pentecost.

Returning, on the right wall, are:

1. An Allegorical Composition of the Triumph of Religion (by _Van
Orley_ and other pupils of Raphael).

2. The Stoning of Stephen (on the border the return of the Cardinal
de' Medici to Florence as Legate).

3. Elymas the Sorcerer (?--removed 1869--70).

4, 5, 6. Massacre of the Innocents.

7. (Smaller than the others.) Christ falling under the Cross.

8. Christ appearing to his disciples on the shore of the Lake of
Galilee.

9. Peter and John healing the lame man.

10. The Conversion of St. Paul.

The Arazzi were long used as church decorations on high festivals.

"On Corpus-Christi Day I learnt the true destination of the
Tapestries, when they transformed colonnades and open spaces into
handsome halls and corridors: and while they placed before us the
power of the most gifted of men, they gave us at the same time the
happiest example of art and handicraft, each in its highest
perfection, meeting for mutual completion."--_Goethe._

* * * * *

The _Library of the Vatican_ is shown from 12 to 3, except on Sundays and festivals, but the visitor is hurried through in a crowd by a custode, and there is no time for examination of the individual objects. The entrance is by a door on the left at the end of the Galleria Lapidaria, which leads to the museum of statues. The Papal Library was founded by the early popes at the Lateran. The Public Library was begun by Nicholas V., and greatly increased under Sixtus IV. (1475) and Sixtus V. (1588), who built the present halls for the collection. In 1623 the library was increased by the gift of the "Bibliotheca Palatina" of Heidelberg, captured by Tilly from Maximilian of Bavaria; in 1657 by the "Bibliotheca Urbinas," founded by Federigo da Montefeltro; in 1690 by the "Bibliotheca Reginensis," or "Alexandrina," which belonged to Christina of Sweden; in 1746 by the Bibliotheca Ottoboniana, purchased by the Ottobuoni pope, Alexander VIII. The number of Greek, Latin, and Oriental MSS. in the collection has been reckoned at 23,580.

The ante-chambers are hung with portraits of the Librarians;--among them, in the first room, is that of Cardinal Mezzofanti. In this room are facsimiles of the columns found in the Triopium of Herodes Atticus (see the account of the Valle Caffarelli), of which the originals are at Naples. From the second ante-chamber we enter the _Great Hall_, 220 feet long, decorated with frescoes by _Scipione Gaetani_, _Cesare Nebbia_, and others,--unimportant in themselves, but producing a rich general effect of colour. No books or MSS. are visible; they are all enclosed in painted cupboards, so that of a _library_ there is no appearance whatever, and it is only disappointing to be told that in one cupboard are the MSS. of the Greek Testament of the fifth century, Virgil of the fifth, and Terence of the fourth centuries, and that another contains a Dante, with miniatures by _Giulio Clovio_,[348] &c. Ranged along the middle of the hall are some of the handsome presents made to Pius IX. by different foreign potentates, including the Sèvres font, in which the Prince Imperial was baptized, presented by Napoleon III., and some candelabra given by Napoleon I. to Pius VII. At the end of the hall, long corridors open out on either side. Turning to the left, the second room has two interesting frescoes--one representing St. Peter's as designed by Michael Angelo, the other the erection of the obelisk in the Piazza S. Pietro under Fontana. At the end of the third room are two ancient statues, said to represent Aristides, and Hippolytus Bishop of Porto. The fourth room is a museum of Christian antiquities, and contains, on the left, a collection of lamps and other small objects from the Catacombs; on the right, some fine ivories by _Guido da Spoleto_, and a Deposition from the Cross attributed to _Michael Angelo_. The room beyond this, painted by _Raphael Mengs_, is called the Stanza dei Papiri, and is adorned with papyri of the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. The next room has an interesting collection of pictures, by early masters of the schools of _Giotto_, _Giottino_, _Cimabue_, and _Fra Angelico_. Here is a Prie Dieu, of carved oak and ivory, presented to Pius IX. by the four bishops of the province of Tours.

At the end of this room, not generally shown, is the _Chapel of St. Pius V._

The _Appartamenti Borgia_, which are reached from hence, are only shown by a special permission, difficult to obtain. They consist of four rooms, which were built by Alexander VI., though their beautiful decorations were chiefly added by Leo X. The _first room_ is painted by _Giovanni da Udine_ and _Pierino del Vaga_, and represents the course of the planets,--Jupiter drawn by eagles, Venus by doves, Diana (the moon) by nymphs, Mars by wolves, Mercury by cocks, Apollo (the sun) by horses, Saturn by dragons. These frescoes, executed at the time Michael Angelo was painting the Last Judgment, are interesting as the last revival under Clement VII. of the pagan art so popular in the papal palace under Leo X.

The second room, painted by _Pinturicchio_, has beautiful lunettes of the Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, Resurrection, Ascension, Descent of the Holy Ghost, and Assumption of the Virgin. The ceiling of the _third room_ has paintings by _Pinturicchio_ of the Martyrdom of St Sebastian; the Visitation of St Elizabeth; the Meeting of St Anthony with St. Paul, the first hermit; St. Catherine before Maximian; the Flight of St. Barbara; St. Julian of Nicomedia; and, over the door, the Virgin and Child. This last picture is of curious historical interest, as a relic of the libertinism of the court of Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Borgia), the "figure of the Virgin being a faithful representation of Giulia Farnese, the too celebrated Vanozza," mistress of the pope, and mother of his children, Cæsar and Lucrezia. "She held upon her knees the infant Jesus, and Alexander knelt at her feet."

The fourth room, also painted by _Pinturicchio_, is adorned with allegorical figures of the Arts and Sciences, and of the Cardinal Virtues.

"On the accession of the infamous Alexander VI., Pinturicchio was
employed by him to paint the Appartamento Borgia, and a great
number of rooms, both in the castle of S. Angelo and in the
pontifical palace. The patronage of this pope was still more fatal
to the arts than that of the Medici at Florence. The subjects
represented in the castle of S. Angelo were drawn from the life of
Alexander himself, and the portraits of his relations and friends
were introduced there,--amongst others, those of his brothers,
sisters, and that of the infamous Cæsar Borgia. To all acquainted
with the scandalous history of this family, this representation
appeared a commemoration of their various crimes, and it was
impossible to regard it in any other light, when, in addition to
the publicity they affected to give to these scandalous excesses,
they appeared desirous of making art itself their accomplice; and
by an excess of profanation hitherto unexampled in the Catholic
world, Alexander VI. caused himself to be represented, in a room in
the Vatican, in the costume of one of the Magi, kneeling before the
holy Virgin, whose head was no other than the portrait of the
beautiful Giulia Farnese ('Vanozza'), whose adventures are
unfortunately too well known. We may indeed say that the walls have
in this case made up for the silence of the courtiers: for on them
was traced, for the benefit of contemporaries and posterity, an
undeniable proof of the depravity of the age.

"At the sight of that Appartamento Borgia, which is entirely
painted by Pinturicchio, we shall experience a sort of satisfaction
in discovering the inferiority of this purely mercenary work, as
compared with the other productions of the same artist, and we
cannot but rejoice that it is so unworthy of him. Such an ignoble
task was not adapted to an artist of the Umbrian school, and there
is good reason to believe that, after this act of servility,
Pinturicchio became disgusted with Rome, and returned to the
mountains of Umbria, in search of nobler inspirations."--_Rio.
Poetry of Christian Art._

A door on the right of the room with the old pictures opens into a room containing a very interesting collection of ancient frescoes. On the right wall is the celebrated "_Nozze Aldobrandini_," found in 1606[349] in some ruins belonging to the baths of Titus near the arch of Gallienus on the Esquiline, and considered to be the finest specimen of ancient pictorial art in Rome. It was purchased at first by the Aldobrandini family, whence its name. It represents an ancient Greek ceremony, possibly the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis. There is a fine copy by Nicholas Poussin in the Doria Palace.

"S'il fait allusion à un sujet mythologique, le réel y est à côté
de l'idéal, et la mythologie y est appliquée à la représentation
d'un mariage ordinaire. Tout porte à y voir une peinture romaine,
mais l'auteur s'était inspiré des Grecs, comme on s'en inspirait
presque toujours à Rome. La nouvelle mariée, assise sur le lit
nuptial et attendant son époux, a cette expression de pudeur
virginale, d'embarras modeste, qui avait rendu célèbre un tableau
dont le sujet était le mariage de Roxane et l'auteur Ætion, peintre
grec."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iv. 127.

Opposite to this is a Race of the Cupids, from Ostia. The other frescoes in this room were found in the ruins on the Esquiline and at the Torre di Marancia.

* * * * *

The _Etruscan Museum_ can be visited on application to the custode, every day except Monday, from 10 to 2. It is reached by the staircase which passes the entrance to the Gallery of Candelabra: after which one must ring at a closed door on the right.

"This magnificent collection is principally the fruit of the
excavating partnership established, some twelve or fifteen years
since, between the Papal government and the Campanari of
Toscanella; and will render the memory of Gregory XVI., who
forwarded its formation with more zeal than he ordinarily
displayed, ever honoured by all interested in antiquarian science.
As the excavations were made in the neighbourhood of Vulci, most of
the articles are from that necropolis; yet the collection has been
considerably enlarged by the addition of others previously in the
possession of the government, and still more by recent acquisitions
from the Etruscan cemeteries of Cervetri, Corneto, Bomarzo, Orte,
Toscanella, and other sites within the Papal dominions."--_Dennis._

_The 1st Room_--

Contains three sarcophagi of terra-cotta from Toscanella, with
three life-size figures reposing upon them. Their extreme length is
remarkable. The figure on the left wears a fillet, indicating
priesthood. The head of the family was almost always priest or
priestess. Most of the objects in terra-cotta, which have been
discovered, come from Toscanella. The two horses' heads in this
room, in nenfro, i.e. volcanic tufa, were found at the entrance of
a tomb at Vulci.

_The 2nd Room_--

Is a corridor filled with cinerary urns, chiefly from Volterra,
bearing recumbent figures, ludicrously stunted. The large
sarcophagus on the left supports the bearded figure of a man, and
is adorned with reliefs of a figure in a chariot and musicians
painted red. The urns in this room are of alabaster, which is the
characteristic of Volterra.

_The 3rd Room_--

Has in the centre a large sarcophagus of nenfro, found at
Tarquinii, in 1834, supporting a reclining figure of a Lucumo, with
a scroll in his hand, "recalling the monuments of the middle ages."
At the sides are reliefs representing the story of Clytemnestra and
Ægisthus,--the Theban brothers,--the sacrifice of
Clytemnestra,--and Pyrrhus slaying the infant Astyanax. In this
room is a slab with a bilingual inscription, in Latin and Umbrian,
from Todi. In the comers are some curious cinerary urns shaped like
houses.

_The 4th Room_--

Is the Chamber of Terra-cottas. In the centre is a most beautiful
statue of Mercury found at Tivoli. At the sides are fragments of
female figures from Vulci,--and an interesting terra-cotta urn from
Toscanella, with a youth lying on a couch. "From the gash in his
thigh, and the hound at his bed-side, he is usually called Adonis;
but it may be merely the effigy of some young Etruscan, who met his
death in the wild-boar chase."

_The 5th Room_--

This and the three following rooms are occupied by Vases. The vases
in the 5th room are mostly small amphoræ, in the second or Archaic
style, with black figures on the ground of the clay. On a column,
near the window, is a _Crater_, or mixing-vase, from Vulci, with
parti-coloured figures on a very pale ground, and in the most
beautiful style of Greek art. It represents Mercury presenting the
infant Bacchus to Silenus. To the left of the window is a humorous
representation of the visit of Jupiter and Mercury to Alcmena, who
is looking at them out of a window. In the cabinets are objects in
crystal from Palestrina.

_The 6th Room_--

In the centre of this room are five magnificent vases. The central,
from Cervetri, "is of the rare form called _Holmos_--a large
globe-shaped bowl on a tall stand, like an enormous cup and ball;"
its paintings are of wild animals. Nearest the entrance is, with
three handles, "a _Calpis_, of the third or perfect style," from
Vulci, with paintings of Apollo and six Muses. Behind this, from
Vulci, is "a large _Amphora_ of the second or Archaic style," in
which hardness and severity of design are combined with most
conscientious execution of detail. It represents Achilles
("Achilleos") and Ajax ("Aiantos") playing at dice, or _astralagi_.
Achilles cries "Four!" and Ajax "Three!"--the said words, in choice
Attic, issuing from their mouths. The maker's name, "Echsekias," is
recorded, as well as that of "the brave Onetorides" to whom it was
presented. On the other side of the vase is a family scene of
"Kastor" with his horse, and "Poludeukes" playing with his dog,
"Tyndareos" and "Leda" standing by. 4th, is an _Amphora_ from Cære,
representing the body of Achilles borne to Peleus and Thetis. 5th,
is a _Calpis_ from Vulci, representing the death of Hector in the
arms of Minerva.

The 6th vase on the shelf of the entrance wall is the kind of
amphora called a _Pelice_, from Cære. "Two men are represented
sitting under an olive-tree, each with an amphora at his feet," and
one who is measuring the oil exclaims, "O father Jupiter, would
that I were rich!" On the reverse of the vase is the same pair, at
a subsequent period, when the prayer has been heard, and the
oil-dealer cries, "Verily, yea, verily, it hath been filled to
overflowing." By the window is a _Calpis_, representing a boy with
a hoop in one hand, and a stolen cock in the other, for which his
tutor is reproving him.

_The 7th Room_--

Is an arched corridor. In the second niche, is a _Hydria_ with
Minerva and Hercules, from Vulci. Sixth on the line, is an
_Amphora_ from Vulci; "'Ekabe' (Hecuba) presents a goblet to her
son, 'the brave Hector,'--and regards him with such intense
interest, that she spills the wine as she pours it out to him.
'Priamos' stands by, leaning on his staff, looking mournfully at
his son, as if presaging his fate." Many other vases in this room
are of great beauty.

_The 8th Room_--

"Contains _Cylices_ or _Pateræ_, which are more rare than the
upright vases, and not inferior in beauty."

_The 9th Room_--

Entered from the 6th room, is the jewel room. Among the bronzes on
the right, is a warrior in armour found at Todi in 1835 and a
bronze couch with a raised place for the head, found in the
Regulini Galassi tomb at Cervetri, where it bore the corpse of a
high priest. A boy with a bulla, sitting, from Tarquinii, is
"supposed to represent Tages, the mysterious boy-god, who sprung
from the furrows of that site."

At the opposite end of the room is a biga or war-chariot, not
Etruscan, but Roman, found in the villa of the Quintilii, near the
Via Appia. Near this are some colossal fragments of bronze
statues, found near Civita Vecchia. A beautiful oval _Cista_, with
a handle formed by two swans bearing a boy and a girl, is from
Vulci; and so are the braziers or censers retaining the tongs,
shovel, and rake, found with them:--"the tongs are on wheels, and
terminate in serpents' heads; the shovel handle ends in a swan's
neck; and the rake in a human hand." Among the smaller relics are a
curious bottle from Cære, with an Etruscan alphabet and spelling
lesson (!) scratched upon it, and a pair of Etruscan clogs found in
a tomb at Vulci.

In the centre of the room is the jewel-case of glass. The whole of
the upper division and one compartment of the lower are devoted to
Cervetri (Cære). All these objects are from the Regulini Galassi
tomb, for all the other tombs had been rifled at an early period,
except one, whence the objects were taken by Campana. The
magnificent oak-wreath with the small ornaments and the large
ear-rings were worn by a lady, over whom was written in Etruscan
characters, "Me Larthia,"--I, the Great Lady,--evidently because at
the time of her death, 3000 years ago, it was supposed that she was
so very great that the memory of her name could never by any
possibility perish, and that therefore it was quite unnecessary to
record it. The tomb was divided, and she was walled up with
precious spices (showing what the commerce of Etruria must have
been) in one half of it. It was several hundred years before any
one was found of sufficient dignity to occupy the other half of the
great lady's tomb. Then the high priest of Etruria died, and was
buried there with all his ornaments. His were the large bracelets,
the fillets for the head, with the plate of gold covering the head,
and a second plate of gold which covered the forehead--worn only on
the most solemn occasions. This may be considered to have been the
headdress of Aaron. His also was the broad plate of gold, covering
the breast, reminding of the Urim and Thummim. The bronze bed on
which he lay (and on which the ornaments were found lying where the
body had mouldered) is preserved in another part of the room, and
the great incense burner filled with precious spices which was
found by his side. The three large bollas on his breast were filled
with incense, whose perfume was still so strong when the tomb was
opened, that those who burnt it could not remain in the room.

The ivy leaves on the ornaments denote the worship of Bacchus, a
late period in Etruria: laurel denotes a victor in battle or the
games.

_The 10th Room_--

(Entrance on right of the jewel-room), is a passage containing a
number of Roman water-pipes of lead, and the bronze figure of a boy
with a bird and an Etruscan inscription on his leg, from Perugia.

_The 11th Room_--

Is hung with paintings on canvas copied from the principal tombs of
Vulci and Tarquinii. Beginning from the right, on entering, they
take the following order:

From the Camera del Morto: Tarquinii.
From the Grotta delle Bighe, or Grotta Stackelberg: Tarquinii.
From the Grotta Querciola: Tarquinii
From the Grotta della Iscrizioni: Tarquinii.
From the Grotta del Triclinio, or Grotta Marzi: Tarquinii.
From the Grotta del Barone, or Grotta del Ministro: Tarquinii.
From the painted tomb at Vulci.

"All the paintings from Tarquinii are still to be seen on that
site, though not in so perfect a state as they are here
represented. But the tomb at Vulci is utterly destroyed."

Each of the paintings is most interesting. That of the death-bed
scene proves that the Etruscans believed in the immortality of the
soul. In the upper division a daughter is mounting on a stool to
reach the high bed and give a last kiss to her dying father, while
the son is wailing and lamenting in the background. Below, is the
rejoicing spirit, freed from the trammels of the flesh.

In the scenes representing the games, the horses are painted bright
red and bright blue, or black and red. These may be considered to
have been the different colours of the rival parties. A number of
jars for oil and wine are arranged in this room. All the black
pottery is from Northern Etruria.

_The 12th Room_ (entered from the left of the jewel room) is a very meagre and most inefficient facsimile of an ordinary Etruscan tomb. It is guarded by two lions in nenfro, found at Vulci.[350]

* * * * *

_The Egyptian Museum_ is entered by a door on the left of the entrance of the Museo Pio-Clementino. It is open gratis on Mondays from 12 to 3. The collection is chiefly due to Pius VII. and Gregory XVI. The greater part is of no especial importance.

_The 6th Room_ contains eight statues of the goddess Pasht from Carnac.

_The 8th Room_ is occupied by Roman imitations of Egyptian statues, from the Villa Adriana.

"Ces statues sont toutes des traductions de l'art égyptien en art
grec. L'alliance, la fusion de la sculpture égyptienne et de la
sculpture gréco-romaine est un des traits les plus saillantes de
cosmopolitisme si étranger à d'anciennes traditions nationales, et
dont Adrien, par ses voyages, ses goûts, ces monuments, fut la plus
éclatante manifestation.

"Sauf l'Antinoüs, les produits de cette sculpture d'imitation bien
que datant d'une époque encore brillante de l'art romain, ne
sauraient le disputer à leurs modèles. Pour s'en convaincre, il
suffit de les comparer aux statues vraiment égyptiennes qui
remplissent une salle voisine. Dans celles-ci, la réalité du détail
est méprisée et sacrifiée; mais les traits fondamentaux, les
linéaments essentiels de la forme sont rendus admirablement. De là
un grand style, car employer l'expression la plus générale, c'est
le secret de la grandeur du style, comme a dit Buffon. Cette
élévation, cette sobriété du génie égyptien ne se retrouvent plus
dans les imitations bâtardes du temps d'Adrien."--_Ampère, Emp._
ii. 197, 202.

On the right is the Nile in black marble; opposite the entrance is a colossal statue of Antinous, the favourite of Hadrian, in white marble.

"Il est naturel qu'Antinoüs, qui s'était, disait-on, précipité dans
le Nil, ait été représenté sous les traits d'un dieu égyptien ...
La physiognomie triste d'Antinoüs sied bien à un dieu d'Egypte, et
le style grec emprunte au reflet du style égyptien une grandeur
sombre."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii 196.

_The 9th Room_ contains colossal Egyptian statues. On the right is the figure of the mother of Rhamses II. (Sesostris) between two lions of basalt, which were found in the Baths of Agrippa, and which long decorated the Fontana dei Termini. Upon the base of these lions is inscribed the name of the Egyptian king Nectanebo.

"Dans cette sculpture bien égyptienne, on sent déjà le souffle de
l'art grec. La pose de ces lions est la pose roide et monumentale
des lions à tête humaine de Louqsor; la crinière est encore de
convention, mais la vie est exprimée, les muscles sont accusés avec
un soin et un relief que la sculpture purement égyptienne n'a pas
connus."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 198.

"Ces lions ont une expression remarquable de force et de repos; il
y a quelque chose dans leur physiognomie qui n'appartient ni à
l'animal ni à l'homme: ils semblent une puissance de la nature, et
l'on conçoit, en les voyant, comment les dieux du paganisme
pouvaient être représentés sous cet emblème."--_Mad. de Staël._

In the centre of the entrance-wall are, Ptolemy-Philadelphus, and, on his left, his queen Arsinoë, of red granite. These were found in the gardens of Sallust, and were formerly preserved in the Senator's Palace.