Ro^ia Illus o e ’ A DESCRIPTIO Of the moil Beautiful Pieces of PAINTING, SCULPTURE, AND ARCHITECTURE, Antique and Modern, at and neaf ROME. LONDON: Printed for W. Chet wood, at Cato's Head, Rujfel-flreet ^ Covent Garden , and S. C h a PM a N in Pall Mall. 17Z1. T O T H E Right Honourable THE Earl of Burl IN G TON. My Lord, A INTIN Gj Sculpture, and Archite&ure, have been worthy the Care of the great- eft Men of the W or Id, as well as Poefy : I make no mention of Mufick, becaufe they all partake of A 2 it. METRICATION. it. For if there flow not through all a delightful Harmony, the whole ap- pears difproportionate and grotefque. Fine Arts have ever been the darling Favourites of a fine Genius, and where they have been contemned or negleded, it has been obfervable that there is no publick Spirit, but a fa- vage Barbarity predominates, and a Po- verty of Soul ; or at beft, private Views, and a wretched Mind, bent on amaf- fing ufelefs Treafures. Princes have particularly fmiled on thefe, as proper Mediums to tranfmit down to Pofte- ritv their innate and acquired Glories. Indeed, thofe Perfons who have had no gallant Actions to boaft of, and were not confcious of any Merit to recom- mend them to their own or future Ages, \vere much in the right not to ered triumphal Arches, Columns, or Sta- tues, which would have been, they knew, the greatefl: Satyr in the World; no Trophies of their Honour, but Monu- ments of their eternal Infamy. T> E T> 1 C A T 1 0 R. Whoever has been at Rome muflr know the Truth of what I fay : Who can fee thofe fine Pieces of Sculpture and Archite&urc, Antique, and Modern, but mud have a high Idea of the pub- lick Spiritednefs of the Ancients, and which (confidering the vaft: and long Decay of the Roman Empire) fiill keeps up a great deal of its Vigour a- mongft the Moderns ? Of the Paintings of the Antients we have no Footfteps, and what wc fee now in Rome is entirely Modern 5 the feveral Revolutions and Changes Rome having underwent were the Caufe of its entire Deftrudion, fo that this Art lay deeply buried ( thank the Barbarity of the Goths and Vandals ) 'till it was reviv’d by Cimahue , who came into the World in the Year 1240. Then file began, with Sculpture, to rowfe, as from a Lethargy the mod profound, but neither appeared with that ma- jedick Air as formerly, till Michael An- gelo and Raphael , and other great Pain- A 3 ters 2) E T> 1 C A T 10 N. tcrs and Sculptors of their Time ( a- mongft whom one muft juftly reckon Julio Romano , and the incomparable Bernini) encourag'd by Popes and Kings, brought both with Architecture to that high Perfection they now appear in. The W orks of thefe great Men I have often viewed, and viewed with Amazement $ and the principal Pieces of all thefe are particularly deferibed in this little Treatife, which I humbly offer to your Lordfliip as an agreeable Amufement. Your Lordfliip, who has fo fine and delicate a Tafte in Painting, Ar- chitecture, and Sculpture, will find fomething here to divert and pleafe you. Here, my Lord, you will be en- tertain'd with the Defcriptions of thofe fine things you faw in Rome, the foft and flowing Pencil of Corregio , the Gracefulnefs of the divine Raphael \ and the ftrong and mufcular Manner of Michael Angelo , who yet was a much better Sculptor and Architect than dedicatio n: than Painter; the grand and majefticfc Mafter-pieces of the incomparable Ber- nini-, amongQ: which is a full Defcrip* tion of that inimitable Groupe of Apollo and Daphne, that marvellous Piece of Sculpture in the Villa Bor - gfoefe . This reprefenting one of the Fa~ bles in Ovid, whofe Metamorphofes I am now publifliing with as much Ex- pedition as the Nature of the thing, will allow of, I have been at the Ex- pence of having an exad Defign of it from Rome , which is now aftually en* graving, and will be the fined Print in England. This I hint to your Lordfhip, to ihew that no Expence or Care (hall be wanting to embeilifli that Work, and at the fame time, take this Occafion thus in publick humbly to thank your Lord (hip for encouraging that great Undertaking ; ( but a Lover of Paint- ing, Architecture, and Sculpture, mud, ofNeceflity, be a Friend to Poefy,) A 4 Nod T>ET>1CATI0N. Nor {hall I ever forget that Goodnefs and noble Affability with which your Lordihip treated me at Chefwick. Your Lordfhip is endued with all the noble Qualities of a true great Man ; but for all that, I fhall not tell you fo in fwelling and pompous Terms, and give you a long Roll of the illuftrious Names of your Anceftors, and their heroick and gallant A&ions, as is the ordinary Fra&ice of Authors : It favours too much of Common Place ; and I hate what may look like the very Shadow of Flattery. Your thorough Judgment and Difcernment in the Beaux Arts , difplay fufficiently your fine Genius and Gufto, and long may you live to enjoy what you now poflefs. You are Matter of what may make you lov’d and admir’d. Your Encouragement of Art and In- duftry is moft noble. Remember the whole World will, till the genefai Conflagration, ftand indebted for many invaluable Treafures to a Boyle. M A Y T>E but this re- quiring The PREFACE. quiring more Time than my other Affairs would admit of, \ I could not hope foon to perf iff; it : When there fell into my Hands a little Book^ which took only notice of the moft remarkable Monuments of Rome, An- tique and Modern , and I believed in the mean while , prefenting the Publick with thefe would not be difagreeable , efpecially to the Virtuofl. This Piece was collected by Monfieur Ra- guenet, whom I own I have almoft entirely followed , as may be eafily feen by the Style , which through the Englifh Drefs , may evi- dently be d if covered to he his own . I have purpofely omitted the Defcription of the Piblure of the Trinity, in the Church of the Trinity of the Pilgrims, painted by Guido Reni, and one of the fineft Pieces in Rome, becaufe I would give no Offence to Froteftant Ears . For the? the Roman Ca- tholicks make no Scruple to paint the Tri- nity, as God the Father like a venerable old Man , who holds extended between his Hands Jefus Chrift on the Crofs , with the Holy Ghofi: like a Dove above his Head , hover- ing in bright Glory , yet with the Reformed ^ it is look'd upon little lefs than a Species of Idolatry : I have for that Reafon omitted it , becaufe I would offend no Body . However , The PREFACE. However , I hope it may divert my Reader a little , if I relate what paft between my felf and a good Father at Rome on this very Subject. I had the Happinefts to be in Rome in the Tear 170 < 5 , and ft aid in and about that City nine Months. Going one Day to vifet St. Peter’s, ( the fineft Church in the FForld) after pafting the Bridge of Saint Angelo, I fell into Diftourfe with an Englifh Father about painting the Holy Trinity. Jfter fever al Words pafts'd^ No won- der, faid he^ you do not much care in England to be put in Mind of the Trinity , for I hear feveral of your great Men do not believe the Divinity of Jeftus Chrift . Bat however, Sir, do you think we pre- tend by painting a venerable old Perfon, any wife to reprefent or pourtray the Ef- fence of God the Father ? and pray, Sir, fince you go to that, have not you in your Common-Prayer Books, Jeftus Chrift re- prefented as a Man, and the Holy Ghoft like a Dove, and do you, by thefe Figures, believe the Divinity of either is there fet forth ? By no means, Father, ftaid ft but thefe were the Forms the Scripture tells us they appear’d in. You have ftudied the Bible to fine purpofe, ftaid he , and did not God appear to Moftes in the fiery Bufh, and may not that be painted think you ? But ftill, Father, this Bufh is not an old Man. The PREFACE, Man. Who knows not that? fays he a little warm , but turn to the firit Chapter of Ezekiel , and the feventh of Daniel , and you will find that God appeared in the Form of a venerable old Man to thefetwo Prophets, and is call’d by the laft of them the Ancient of Days. Befides, thefe kinds of Paintings are mere Symbols, and hie- roglyphicai Myfleries, and demand our ut- mofl Veneration and Refpeft 3 and this has nothing of it of Idolatry, for the Idols of the Heathens, as Jupiter KW&Juno^ and Hold, good Father, [aid /, we are juft entred a Chriflian Temple, let Jupiter and Juno alone till another Oppor- tunity, I befeech you. Your learned DiF courfe has abfolutely (truck me dumb, and I (hall have a better Opinion for the time to come of your Symbols and hiero- glyphical Myfleries, as you call them. Ay, ay, [aid he y when you have convers’d a little longer with us, you’ll fee into thefe things much better. We were now arriv’d at the Chapel of our Lady of Pity , which ferves as a Choir for the Canons , upon the Altar of which is plac’d that wonderful Groupe , the Workman - - pip of the great Michael Angelo de Buona- roti defcrihed in this Book. To this were fever al Perfons , and fome of the higheft Di- fiinttion , The PREFACE. ftinttion^ lowing and making Genuflexions , with all the external Adoration in the World. # Well, my good Father , faidl foftly^ what think you now? Here are graven Images, you fee, and the People bowing down be- fore them, and worfhipping them, con- trary to the exprefs Words of the Deca- logues but I think you leave out that which in England is called the fecond Com- mandment out of your Manuals and Ca- techifms. And han’t we Reafon? reply' d he : I think fo, faid /, for elfe I fuppofe the Unlearned would be apt to think they finned in worfhipping thefe fame Images. You have hit it, fays he^ and by leaving out this we aft more confident with ourfelves than you do, as I fhall have an Opportu- nity to fhew you before you and I part, I’ll warrant you. But, faid /, thefe Pro- bations here to an Image, and fo much Adoration to an inanimate Being, is a lit- tle {hocking tho 5 mcthinks. Why really, fays he , it may be fo till you are a little ufed to it I fuppofe. Sir, you fludiedthe t old Philofophy? We have nothing elfe at Oxford but old Ariftotle , they fludy I Defcartes indeed at Cambridge. Ah ! faid he , Don’t name him, he has done a great I deal of Mifchief to Religion, for between . you The PREFACE. you and I he is no better than a Heretick in Philofophy. Then you are for the old way I find. Undoubtedly Ariftotle was the Prince of Philofophers. O, [aid /, I am in love with the Ariftotelian way, I underhand a great deal of Ens rationis^ and have maturely digefted the Predicaments \ but what charms me moil is that admira- ble Definition of Quality, Qualitas eft ea qua quales qutedam dicuntur^ than which no- thing is fo clear and inftruftive, and then at Futurum contingens let me alone. Now I have fome hopes of you, [aid he, for I find you know how to diftinguifh, than which nothing is more neceffary in Divi- nity. You muff know therefore thatthefe People here commit no manner of Idolatry in bowing down to thefe Images, for you mu ft diftinguifti between the external Aft, and the internal. I grant you, as to outward Appearance, it is the fame Adoration as is paid to God, but the Mind pays another kind of Refpeft or Worfhip. And I hope your good Folks in England will make a vaft deal of Difference in Worfhips, tho’ expreffed by the fame Term. For in your Service-Book a Man fays, he worfhips his Wife, and yet I hope he is no Idolater. You muft diftinguifh, I tell you, for the Word Co fare has two or three Significati- ons, The PREFACE. ons,for there is colere Divos , colere Agrum^ and colere Uxorem . I am convinc’d, [aid /, of the abfolute Neceffity of thefe fame Diftin&ions. O Lord Sir, [aid he^ they are our Sine quibus non , we cannot do without them: This made me fmiie. Nor you neither, if you go to that, continued he y for have not l feerr many a grave Dodtor bow very de- voutly to the Altar, or Communion-Table, with the ten Commandments over it, fup- ported by Mofes and Aaron , and crown’d with the King’s Arms, Lyon and Unicorn and all? and yeti’ll warrant he would have taken it very ill to be accus’d of Idolatry, (tho’ the ill-natur’d DiJJ'enters are apt to call it fo) and let me tell you, if an Idol is nothing, as St. Paul fays, the Unicorn (I have nothing indeed to fay of his Camerade the Lionon the North Side) isan abomina- ble Idol, for there never was any fuch thing in the W orld ever in being as this fameUnicorn, and pray why may not poor Catholicks , without Idolatry, bow down to the Ima- ges of bleffed Mother Lherefa^ St. Rofe of Viterbo , St. Urfula , and the eleven thou- fand Virgins, good St. Patrick , St. George , and St. Simon Stocky as well as you to St. Mofes and St. Aaron , St. ten Command - vtentS) St. Kings Arms , and St. Lyon and St. Unicorn ? The PREFACE. St. Unicorn? Come, come, what is Sauce for the Goofe is Sauce for the Gander, the fame Anfwer ferves for both. Your Reverence is very merry, [aid /, ay, ay, ’twould make any Body merry to hear how fillily fome Folks talk, but I am not fo merry neither, I hate luderecum facris , as the Saying is. So do I indeed Father, tho’ I mull: tell you, you were a little ludicrous about St. ten Commandments over the Altar, but remember we leave none out. The more Shame for you, faid he , for my part I wonder how Men can go up to the Altar and rehearfe gravely the fourth Commandment, which enjoyns the keeping of the feventh Day, which is the Sabbath, the People afterwards defiring Mercy of God to incline their Hearts to keep this Law > that is, they defire God to encline their Hearts to keep this Law, which they have a firm Refolution be- forehand not to keep, and are told by their Paftors it is unlawful to do fo. Nor will your Salvo of a feventh Day mend the Matter: For tho’ the firft Day of the Week be a feventh Day , yet the ftrft Day of the Week is not the feventh Day of the Week. There’s a Rowland, for your Oli * ver y anfwer me this if you can. This is my The PREFACE. my Choak-Pear, my Argument um Palmare Scotifticum . I own, faid /, this is a Piece of Abfur- dity, and I (hall take care to have it re£ti~ fied when I come to England . Pray fee you do, [aid he , or you fhall hear farther from me. For I can teli you, both Bellarmine and Baronins Here he was inter- rupted by the Pope's co?ning in , preceded by the College of Cardinals to fing Vefpers , and 1 took the Opportunity of dropping the good Father , for I was apprchenfive I muft have flood the full Fire of thefe two Champions , and knew not how to confute Bellarmin, and put Baronius to a Nonplus , as a certain Per - fon ufed to do once a Tear in about half an Hour's time , and with them difpatch'd the whole Council of T rent, and Popery . Thus ended this C ontr overfly of Idolatry , which mofl People talk of y and few under- ft and. . ROMA Roma Illuftrata : O R, A Descrpition of the moft curious Paintings, Statues, and Busto’s in and about ROME. C HAP. I. Paintings in the Roof of the Church of S. Andrea della Valle. By Domenico Zampieri, commonly call'd Domenichino, Native of Bologna. T is by looking on thefe Paintings that one is feniible that the great Mailers in this Art, difpiay in their W orks the Lineaments and Fea- tures of a Beauty To moving, that all Man- B kind. 2 Paintings in the kind, even the very Populace and the Ignorant, are touched with its Excel- lence. In the moll: difadvantageous Place of the Roof of the Choir, and in a very narrow Space, Domenichino has painted Jesus Christ, who on the Bank of the Lake of Gennefareth , where he is reprefented to be, perceiving Andrew and Simon in a Vef- fel, calls them to be his Difciples. This A6H- on, which is marked by one only Gefture, and that too the moft plain and fimple, is exprefled after a Manner fo natural, that at firW View every one knows what it means, viz. That Jesus Christ calls to him thefe two Fifhermen : ThztAndrew Wretch- es out his Arm, as afking him, Which way he could come to him? And that Simon , full of Confidence, leaps out of the Boat, as fure of walking on the W ater as on dry Land, at the Sound of the divine Voice that called him. The moving of the VefTel, and the Acti- on of him who rows it, are fuch beautiful ExpreWions, as equal thofe of the fublimeft Painters that ever were. One plainly fees him plunge in his Oar, and lifting himfelf up with the whole Weight of his Body in the Air, give an Impreflion and Motion to the Boat. You would believe you faw him advance in his way, part the Waves, and make Church of S. A ndrea, &c. $ make them froth and foam. It is impoffi- foie that the Action, Effort, and beautiful Pofture of this Boatman, fhould ever e- fcape one’s Memory, after one has feen this Piece of Painting *, and yet thefe things we very frequently forget, after viewing thofe who row in real Veflels* fo true is it that Art, when it is pufhed on to a certain Degree of Excellence, makes more pow- erful Impreftions in one’s Mind, and more durable than Nature it felf. This made PouJJin , who, without Contradi&ion, was one of the moil; accomplifh’d of the mo- dern Painters, frequently fay, That he knew no Painter hut Domenichino for ExpreJJi - ons , and he went greater Lengths therein than the Caraci themfelves. But that beautiful PerfpedHve, in which Domenichino has plac’d this Boat and Boat- man, in my Opinion, furpaftes all the reft, and is even beyond the T ongue of Man to exprefs. And tho’ they are both painted in the moil; concave Part of the Vault, yet they ap- pear no more forefhortned, than if they were on a ftrait W all, and the plaineft Super- ficies. One of his Friends afking him one Day, by what Rules he found out the Means of producing an Effeft fo furprizing ? Domenichino , tho’ one of the moft modeft Men in the World, could not help faying, B z That 4 Paintings in the *fhat it being impojjible for him to have any Affiftance from Art , he had recourfe to his own Genius. The Evangelifls at the four Triangles under the Cornifh of the Cupola, are fo artfully contrived, that they look rather like fo many real Statues, than Paintings upon Plainer * and the Lion at St. Mark’s Feet, which the Children play with, is a mod incomparable Piece. The Virtues above the Cornifh, and be- tween the Windows of the Cupola, appear the fame, like real Statues in Niches > but that of voluntary Poverty, has a Relievo that furpafles every thing of that kind that ever was : It looks as if it did not fo much as touch the Wall on which it is painted, and there is no Body but what it would really deceive. The Landfkip that runs thro’ this Roof, is mod beautifully finifh’d, and of a grand Gudo 5 the feveral Sites have a perfedt Re- lation to each other, and yet at the fame time are free and difengag’d > compofed of a great many Obje&s, but well chofen. The Country is animated with Rivulets, whofe Nature is to be in Motion j and thefe, embellifh’d by the Refleftions of the neighbouring Obje&s, bedow a deli- cious Fredmefs thro’ the whole. The Co- lours are all exquiiitely true in the didant Objefts, Church of S\ A-ndrea, &c. s Objefe, the Trees of various Forms, the Touches fine and delicate, having few Lines, but cxpreffing much : In a W ord, the whole is after the exquifite Gufto of the Car ad his Mailers. B z CfHAP* 6 The Pillars of CHAP. II. The Pillars of Antoninus and Trajan. H E S E Pillars are both of them twilled, of white Marble, and co- vered with Bafs Relieves. The Pillar of Trajan is one hun- dred and forty Foot high} that of Anto- ninus one hundred and feventy five. They have both of them the true Proportion of Pillars, made according to the mofl exadt Rules of Architecture} fo that one may very well frame a Judgment of their Cir- cumference by their Height. They have each of them a Pair of Wind- ing-Stairs, by means of which one may go up even upon their Capitells. The Stair- Cafe of Trajan's Pillar has one hundred and feventy three Steps, that of Antoninus , one hundred and ninety } each of which has forty little Loop-holes, to let in the Light imperceptible in the Outfidc. The Antoninus and Trajan. 7 The Urns of Antoninus and Trajan were heretofore placed upon thefe Columns, and the Bals Relieves with which they are co- vered, reprefent the Conquefts of the Ro- mans in the Reign of thefe two Emperors. There you may fee their naval Engage- ments, their Field Battels, and their Tri- umphs, much better re prefen ted than one can fee upon any Print or Medal. The Men, Horfes, every thing is alive, moves and really fights, but with Rage and Fu- ry. The Romans in Triumph feem to part, advance, and walk round the Pillar 5 they all, even to their Habits of W ar, appear grand and full of Majefly as they march to Battel. You fee there an Infinity of Figures, a fur prizing Variety of Attitudes and Acti- ons, and nothing but an inexhauftible Ge- nius could furnifh a Defign of a Compo- fition full of fo prodigious an Abundance of Ideas fo entirely different. The Uniformity of the Work of thofe who cut thefe Bafs Relieves is alfo very aflonifhing $ the whole is finifhed with fuch Exaftitude and Equality, that it looks as if the whole was made by the fame Work- man, and cut by the fame Chiffel. But what is moft admirable in all the Figures of thefe Bafs Relieves, is the Pro- portion which is ftri&ly obferv’d in Re- B 4 gard 8 The Pillars of gard of their Situation ; For they go ltill larger, according as they are placed in Height* fo that thofe which are at the "Top of the Column, are feen as well and as plainly as thofe at the Bottom * and the whole is fo equal, that the Mind, deceiv’d by the Eyes, thinks not of the different Situation of the Objedts, which muff, by neceffary Confequence, take awayahe Dif- ference of their Dimenfion. In fhort,thefe are two of the moff valuable Monuments in the World, whence even the great Raphael Urhin borrowed his fineff Thoughts, and moff fingular Expreffions, wherewith he has enrich’d his famous Pic- ture of the Battel of Conflantine againit Maxentius^ which is to be feen in the Va- tican, and of which we fhall give a De- fcription in this Work. I fhall fay no more, but that thefe two Pillars are yqt almoff as entire as they were when they \fcere firft railed, and are much better preferv’d than moff of the Medals which wereftruck at the fame time. Thefe are what one may truly term eternal Mo- numents, and certain Inffruments to pro- cure Immortality to thofe who made them j for fo they are by themfelves, at the Expe- rience of the Injuries of Time * and fhould the World continue as long as it already has, thefe Pillars, in all Likelihood, would no Antoninus ^Trajan. 9 no lefs endure, if they are not purpofely thrown down and deftroy’d : So much are thefe Works beyond the Capacity of all other People, and the Genius of thefe lat- ter Ages. The Antientshave atleaft difplay’d fome fort of Fertility of Genius in the Art of inventing Monuments, to eternize the Glo- ry of their Princes j * Columns, Pyramids, Sepulchres, triumphal Arches, as one fees by the Variety of their Works 3 but thofe who meddle with this Talk now-a-days, feem to have nothing in their Heads but an Equeftrian Statue. * Thefe Pillars of Trajan and Antoninus ; the Pyra- mid of Cejlius i the Sepulchres of Auguftus and Adrian > the triumphal Arches of Sepimius Sever us, Titus 3 Conjlan- tine , &c. CHAP. 10 CHAP. m. St. Sebastian, A Picture in the Palace of Prince Borghese. By Domenico Becafumi , otherwife called Micarino de Sienna. H E Excellence of this Piece of Painting, plainly makes it appear, that a Painter whofe Name makes no great Noife in the World, may perform fometimes fuch Maflerpieces of Art, as may equal the Works of the great- eft Mailers. Saint Sebaftian is here repre- fented with his Body all pierced with Ar- rows j a holy and charitable W oman draws thefe Arrows out, but with an Adtion ini- mitable, which gives all thofe who look on, a perfedt Idea what Agony fhe under- goes on Account of the Pain fhe makes the holy Martyr fuffer, and that her In- tention in caufing this Pain againft her Inclination, was only to comfort and fuc- cour ^.Sebastian. i i cour him. She apprehends ihe fhall wound him, even in endeavouring to remedy his Wounds 5 fhe trembles, and is afraid to give him Pain in rendring him this dolorous Ser- vice > fhe firft fuffers, and before him, that officious Sorrow which fhe caiifes* fhe draws out thefe Arrows with Art, with Precaution, and with, I know not what, induftrioiis Prudence 5 never any one drew with an Addrefs fo delicate, and in doing fo little Injury to the wounded j fhe knows how to manage both Wound and Arrow, and fuits thereto the Movement of her Hand $ were it from her own Body fhe could not do it with greater Dexterity and Art $ one would certainly think fhe is per- fectly fenftble of the Degree of Pain he undergoes, and that ihe proportions there- to the Force fhe employs: This therefore makes it not only a bare Reprefentation that one looks at, but we think we affift at a Reality. One fympathizes with the holy Martyr, directs the Eyes and Hand of the holy Woman that affifts him 5 and the lefs one mu ft believe we can affift her, the more do we intereft our felves in this her Adtion. 12 CHAP. IV. Pieces of Sculpture, To BE SEEN IN THE VlLLA BoR- GHESE OUT OF ROME. Apollo and Daphne, A Groupe, In the Palace of this Villa. By Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, commonly called Cavallero Bernini , Native of Naples. H E Groupe of Apollo and Daphne has carried away the Reputation of all the W orks of latter Ages, ini o much that it is called, *The Miracle of modern Sculpture. It is what one cannot fufficiently admire that Bernini , out of a piece of Marble of fo (mall an Extent, knew how to make two Figures running as thefe do, one flying, the other purfuing. There is not above half a Foot diftance between Apollo and Daphne , the God has juft taken hold of the Nymph j how- Apollo and Daphne. 13 however one plainly fees that he did not do fo till he was quite out of Breath $ and the Expreftion which the Sculptor has given him, makes us fee, after a very fen- fible Manner, that he had almoft loft his Strength the very Inftant he took hold of her. Thus knew Bernini how to give Marble, not only the Agility of Motion, but even the Rapidity of the fwifteft Race. What fhall I fay of the Beauty of Apollo , and that of Daphne ? Has one ever feen more beautiful Lineaments, or a Body more beau- tiful for a God or Goddefs ? It is the hardeft Marble that ever was wrought on, and yet it is cut with that Tendernefs and Delicacy, that it appears Wax or Fafte, or rather very Flefti it felf. The Feet of Daphne , which begin to fhoot out into Roots, is certainly a Work of the fineft Chiflel and the moft mafterly Hand that ever was \ they are moft delicate Fibres of Marble, and formed with fo much Induftry and Art, that one ftill fees they are Feet, tho’ at the fame time they are Roots It is the very Inftant oftheTrani- formation, and the very A&ion of the Me- tamorphofis that is here exprefled : It feems as if one faw this Mutation grow infenfibly upon you and by Degrees. At the fight of that wonderful Exprefiion, one is fully perfuaded that Daphne is really me- tamor- 14 Apollo ^Daphne, tamorphofed. Bernini makes an Impofil- bility eafy and natural > for to look on this Miracle of a Groupe, it feems to be eafy and natural that a Foot fhould take Root, and a human Body be changed into a Tree. The Arms become Branches infenfibly, and the Fingers little Boughs, which inftantly form fmall Tufts of Leaves'*, fo that this Transformation feems to be made in the very Inftant you look at it, and that all thefe Changes are formed in the twinkling of an Eye. But that in my Opinion which is moft excellent in this Mafterpiece of Art, is the Body of Daphne , where tho’ the Pro- portions are exadtly obferved, one perceives already the Idea of a Trunk of a Tree, where that grofs Shape which fuch a thing fo thick as this Trunk muft neceflarily have, does no ways hinder the Artift from preferving not only the delicate T races of a human Body* but even thofe Colours fo elegant and graceful, by which the An- cients diftinguifhed the Bodies of their Gods and Goddefies from thofe of Men* and where, in fine, by a Prodigy of Art the A&ion of Growth, which is only cau- fed by imperceptible degrees in Nature, and which muft of Confequence be infenfi- ble, is notwithftanding very perceptible in the wonderful Attitude in which Bernini has Apollo and Daphne. 15 has placed this Body, by a kind of launch- ing out which he has given it, and who al- ready has made it appear higher than that of Apollo , from whom it is ready to efcape by fhooting it felf up into the Air by its fudden Growth. I fhall add no more, but the Modefly of the Sculptor, in my Opinion, feems to crown the whole Merit of his Work, and this Modefly fhews no lefs his Genius than his Prudence 5 for Apollo , all naked as he is, is covered by the Foliage, which is fo artfully placed between him and Daphne j and this Nymph, whofe Body he imagines to lay hold of, is already a Lawrel in that Place where he touches her, fo that one fee? nothing on that fide but the Rind of a Tree, which begins to form it felf all over the Body of Daphne. If after all this, one would refleCt that Bernini was only eighteen Years of Age when he made this excellent Piece, which equals the moft rare Productions of Anti- quity, and which furpaffes all thofe of la- ter Times, would one not admire the Force and Energy of Genius, that valuable Gift of Heaven, which is independent of Years and Ages which makes us at every Age of Life, and at all Times, carry on the W orks of Art to the higheft Perfection $ and that there is nothing in which the Moderns may id Be li sari us, a Begging. may not excel the Ancients > and that it is by no means impoffiblebut young Perfons, almoft juft come into the World, may fometimes produce by their firft Effay, Works which may furpafs the Mafter- pieces of the moft confummate Artifts ? Belisarius, a Begging . * An Antique Statue. HIS Statue has in its Attitude an Expreftion fo perfeft, that, without knowing what it reprefents,at the firft View one may plainly fee it is a Man a begging, and at the fame time that he is aPerfonof Quality : An Union rare and difficult to make and reprefent in the fame Perfon and almoft by the fame Chara&ers ! For the Air of a great Man , and that of a Beggar is very different j however the Sculptor knew fo well how to unite them in this Statue, that one evidently fees that this Man at the fame time is both the one and the other. * Belifarius , General of the Armies of the Emperor Juflinitm in the fixth Age, was reduced to fuch great Extremity as to ask Alms in the Streets of Cmjlantino - pie to get his Bread, Belisarius, a Begging. 17 Poverty here is fupported by I know not what noble Fieri e , which Merit and high Birth beftow \ and yet this noble Fi- eri e is here tempered with I know not what Chara&er of Modefty, which ever accompanies Indigence and Poverty. It is an Air of Elevation, but of an Eleva- tion ruffled by Mifery \ it is an Attitude of Beggary, but of a Beggary caufed by an un- juft Turn of Fortune. One plainly fees he is a great Man, but a great Man in the utmoft Neceility 3 one plainly fees he is a poor Man, but a poor Man brought up in Riches and Abundance ; and who, far from being born a Beggar, appears as if he had been accuftomed to give liberally himfelf to thofe in the like Neceffity; a poor Man who fees himfelf reduced to a ftrange Extremity of Mifery, but who is confcious neverthelefs of his Talents, Capacity, and of his paft Em- ployments \ a poor Man,infhort, who does not pride himfelf with the Idea of thofe im- portant Polls he once fo honourably filled, and who does not let himfelf be too much caft down by the fad State into which he fees himfelf fallen > who remembers his paft Fortune without being vain, and is fenfible of hisprefentDifgrace without be- ing in Defpair : For thefe different Senti- ments, tho’ united here in the Air and At- titude 1 8 Faustina and her Gladiator.' titude of Belifarius , make nevertbelefs no manner of Confufion, but are very eafily diflinguifhed. Faustina and her Gladiator. An Antique Groups. O NE cannot look upon this Groupe without believing one faw Faujiina her very felf, trembling for the Life of her dear Gladiator^ with whom fhe was paflio- nately in Love, being willing to retain him, when he was on the very point of leaving her, to go and fight in the Amphitheatre. One difeovers in thefe Sentiments the fond Love in which file is intangled j her Pafiion which burns to be fatisfied > her high Birth which fhe fees lhe difhonours •, the Grandeur of her high Rank which fhe vilifies 5 the fearful and immodefl, feeble and hardy Emprejjements of a W oman who loves and knows very well fhe fins* the Fear fhe has leflher Lover fhould be killed j the Efforts fhe makes to flop him } for all thefe Paflions are fo naturally expreffed in her Air and Attitude, that one cannot re- folve to look at her without entring into her Sentiments > and one would have Pity on the Pain, and wretched Inquietude of fo great anEmprefs,if one was notafhamed of her Weaknefs. A 19 A Gladiator. An Antique . By Agafias, Native of Ephefus, T HERE are only fix Statues in the World of equalStrength with this* it is one of thofe famous feven # of the firft Rank, which the Ancients have left us, amongft even whom they were looked upon as fb many Prodigies of Art : This Gladiator having pafled in the moft flourifhing Times of the Roman Empire for a Miracle of Grecian Sculpture. There is not one part of his Body that does not {hew that he has collected all its Force againft his Adverfary j all his Mufcles from the Head to the Foot are ftretched, fwoln with Spirits, and employed to fur- nifii him with that Vehemence he would make ufe of againft his Enemy. There is no Perfon in the World can put himfelf into thisPofition, or prepare the whole col ledted Forces of his Body after the manner of this Gladiator, unlefs he be a Gladiator by Profefiionjj that is to fay, has * The Venus of Medicis, the Hercules of Fame fe, Apollo* Laocoon, the Mimillon, Mete agar, and this Gladiator. been 20 ^ Gladiator, been inftrufted by a continued Courfe of Exercife, and has learnt the Trade by Rules of Art. It is wonderful to obferve, how his whole Body is extended from the very Ex- tremity of the Ball of his Foot, on which he fuftains himfelf to his Fingers Ends, which he advances in the Air - y it feems as if there were one ilrong and vigorous Nerve ftretch’d itfelf from one to the o- ther, palling thro’ the Reins, which areas fully llretched out as his Leg and Hand. Had aBoRELLi*, who ftudied to the bottom the Mechanifm of the Movements of human Bodies, deligned a Figure in the Attitude of this Statue, I fhould not at all be furprized, lince no Philofopher of our Times ever knew fo well as himfelf, in what Situation and Pofture Man has greateft Force, having through the whole Courfe of his Life made a particular Stu- dy of that Science * but that a Sculptor fhould make one as well as Borelli could, if with all his bright Knowledge he had been acquainted with Sculpture, would have been a Prodigy that would have gi- * A Mechanical Philofopher, who compofed a Trea- tile on the Motion of Animals, which is one of the molt excellent Productions of our Age. ven ^ Gladiator. 21 ven me the utmoft Confufion. For to con- ceive this, one muft fuppofe that the Dif- coveries which this great Philofopher has made, were effe&ed by profound Medita- tions, and at the fame time believe that the neweft things in this World were fo common to the Ancients, that People who were neither Phyficians, Anatomifts, nor Mathematicians by Profeffion, knew them fo well as Borelli. For it is mo ft certain that this Statuary, who defigned to produce the Figure of a Gladiator, who collects together ail the Force a human Body is capable of, to give the greateft Stroke poflible for a Man, has made this Statue in fuch fort, and has given him fuch an Attitude, that there is not fo much as one Mufcle in the whole Body, which does not concur to fortify this mighty Stroke * fo that tho’ it fhould have been Borelli that had undertaken to make this Gladiator, he would not have known how with all his Mechanicks to find out a Situation more proper to this A&ion than what has been given to this Sta- tue by a Ample Sculptor of Greece. 2 Z An Hermaphrodite asleep. An Antique. T HIS Antique was found in the Place where at prelent the Church of San- ta Maria della Vittoria (lands, when they were laying the Foundation of that Church. This Statue, to all Appearance, was one of thofe which was fet up for the Orna- ment of Dioclefian's Baths, or Saluft's Gar- dens. William Bertelot , a Frenchman by Birth, had the Care of refloring it, and it is one of the moll excellent Pieces left to us by Antiquity. The Genius of the Artift who made it is there difcovered in a wonderful Manner in that Art, by which, tho’ he has made only one Sex appear, one may notwith- ftanding perceive that hisPerfon has both 5 for he has reprefented it lying upon the Belly 5 and after fuch a Manner, that the back Parts vilibly appear to be entirely fe- minine, and the Male Sex perceived below j one mull agree that it is an Attitude and Exprellion the moll happy and ingenious that the Mind of Man could invent, to re prefent an Hermaphrodite after fuch a Manner, as appears by no means immodefl, I Bernini A Narcissus. ij Bernini made a Couch of Marble to lay this Statue on, and there is no one but would believe it to be made of a Stuff pro- per for fuch an Occafion. Every Body, without well knowing why, is apt to put their Finger to it, and is fenfible, with I know not what Confuflon, of the Hard- nefs of the Marble, which refills the Touch, where it was natural to believe it penetra- ble by the Finger. A Narcissus. An Antique. O NE has nothing elfe to do, but to cad ones Eyes on this Narcijjus , to fee at once, that he looks at himfelf, tho’ there is nothing about him, where he may obferve the Refledlion of his own Face. However, one would think it edential to place a Looking-Glafs or Fountain before a Perfon in this Circumdance; and yet, without either, the Sculptor evidently makes it appear, that Narcijfus looks at him- felf * the Force of his Expredion fupplying the Place of Fountains and Mirrors. One ought very well to know how to deceive Nature, thus to exprefs Adtions defpoiled of their mod eflential Circum- | dances. Statuaries now-a-days have a great deal 24 Seneca expiring . deal of Trouble in bringing about even the moft trifling and unneceflary, with their proper Circumftances. Here the Sculp- tor, without any of thefe Helps, pronoun- ces the A&ion of his Statue, in all its Force, by its bare Attitude, and mere Energy of Exprefllon. Seneca expiring . An Antique, S ENECA is here reprefented with his Veins open, and loflng all his Blood in a Ciftern of black Marble, where he ftands naked. The Ciftern is hollowed about the Height of half a Foot, and the inflde of it is of Porphyry. The Statue is not entire, it has nothing of the Legs, but the upper Parts, which are fet in the Porphyry*, which the Ciftern is full of. Nothing refembles fo much the Colour of Blood as this Porphyry, fo that Seneca in this Situation feems to be really in his own Blood to the Midleg in the middle of a deep Ciftern, which isalmoftfull of it. It is made of black Marble, which makes the Eyes that are of Alabafter appear yet more languifliing and dying. All Seneca expiring. 25 All the Sentiments which he is fall of in this Extremity, are reprefented in fo live- ly a Manner in his Face and Air, that there is no one but what may read them there. One fees there evidently that this great Philofopher is fenfible that he is drawing on to his laft Moments, and that he is go- ing to lofe his Life, with the Remainder of his Strength, which begins to fail him. That he is penetrated with the Immorta- lity of his Soul, already bulled by the Approach of the other Life, into which he is going to enter j perfuaded of a fupreme julfice, an univerlal Providence, and con- vinc’d of the Exillence of the firft one e- ternal Being. His expiring Attitude, his dying Looks towards Heaven, his Face wearing the Marks of a certain Death, lifted up to the Gods* his Blood exfiaufted, his Strength abated, all the Members of his Body lan- ji guifhing, a general Faintnefs juft approach- ing,form all together anExprelhon fo touch- ing, that all who look on him mult be af- fected with a fa i table T endernefs of Soul. One really thinks one felf adtually pre- font at the Death of this unfortunate Phi- lofopher, and that one fees him in his Ago- ny breathe out his laft. Indeed, after hav- ing well confidered this Statue, one cannot, as long as one lives, help believing that one C was 2 6 Hercules and Anteus, was an Eye-witnefs to this grand Event, and that one really affified at this fad Spec- tacle. If our Sculptors did but know how to make a C h r i s t of like Expreffion, it is certain it would draw Tears from the Eyes of all Chriftians, without any aid of Elo- quence $ fince this expiring Heathen ltrikes a fad Sorrow, by his only Exprelfion, into all thofe who look on him, tho’ one has no other Interefi: in him, than thatlntereft of Nature, the Sentiments of which makes us compaflionate at the Sight of all Ob- jefts worthy our Pity. Hercules and Anteus. A Pi&ure in the Palace of the fame Villa. By Cavalier Giovanni Lanfranco Native of Parma. H Ercules holding up Anteus in the Air, gripes him with fuch a furious Force in taking him hold under the Ribs, that he fqueezes all his Body to that de- gree, as to make both {ides touch each o- ther. One would almoft think one heard the dreadful Cries of that unhappy Wretch, vrho finds himfelf thus fqueezed to pieces. Hercules Hercules and An teus. 27 Hercules appears in this Action to make terrible Efforts, Anteus roars, and fufFers fuch intolerable Pains, as make him gnafh his Teeth 3 and one cannot comprehend how a Painter who never faw a Man thus fqueezed together in the Air, could divine all thefe Expreffions and Attitudes. I fhall fay no more, but that it is eafy to fee in this Work, the Guflo of the flrong, firm, terrible, and grand Defigning of Annibal Caracci , Lanfranco ' s Mailer: To which the Scholar, thro’ the whole, has added a Liberty of the Pencil, and a Lightnefs of Hand, which one may look on as his proper Chara&er and particular Talent. C H A P. 2 S CHAP. V. Pieces of Sculpture To be feen in the Capitol. The two Horfes of Marble upon the Baluftrade of the Court. Antiques . And the two others at Monte Cavalloj one of which was made by Phidias, and the other by Praxiteles. HE two Horfes of Marble which are at the Entry of the Court of the Capitol, have an Attitude fo full of Life and Movement, that one cannot go under them, as one mull: to come into the Court of the Capitol, with- out being afraid > for there is no Body can look up at them, but would almoft believe they were coming over his Head : it feems as they had nothing but their hin- Pieces ^Sculpture. 29 der Feet upon the Baluftradej that the o- ther advance out of the Court, and that they are going to throw themfelves to the Bottom of the Capitol. However thefe Horfes, fo lively as they feem to be, appear cold and dead, in Com- parifon of thofe at Monte Cav allo > one may judge therefore of what Fire and Viva- city is their Attitude. The Statuary has made choice of Hor- fes the mod fiery and impetuous , and he has known the rare Secret to give them their proper Expreflion. They ftand in tire Air* juft fupported by their hinder Legs, which appear writhed and twifted by the violent Effects they make to run away, in fpite of the two Men that hold them. You fee all their Skin rumpled, their fore Legs tofled up in the Air, their Neck in a violent Contorfton, and their whole Bo- dy in reftlefs Motion. Their Mouth is open, and their Tongue hangs out, their inflam’d Noftrils fnuff up and difcharge ra- ther Fire than Air : And to fee their un- quiet Movements, and their violent Acti- on, you would fay they were going either to throw themfelves at once on their Backs, or precipitate themfelves from the Pede- ftal, and drag along with them the Men 30 An E q^u estrian Statue. A real and living Horfe muft have been very vigorous, and incited after a very ex- traordinary Manner, to reprefent the Fire and Impetuofity of thefe. An Equestrian Statue O F The Emperor Marcus Aurelius. An Antique . T HERE never certainly was yet any Horfe, either Englijh or Spamjh , how lively and vigorous foever, that difeovered more Life and Vigour than this here, all Brals as it is. To obferve hisLightnefs, one would fay that he refts not upon the Pedeftal which fupports him, and that he has no manner of Occafion of fuch Afliftance. To fee his Aftioii and his Fire, you will not only fay that he is about to walk, but that his Feet do not fo much as touch the Balls on which he ftands, and that he moves along in Reality 5 he feems to have more Life and Motion than Horfes themfelves which live and move. With good Reafon then may one fay, That thefe ancient Founders blended Souls with the Metal they call. But An E qv estrian Statue. 31 But what fhall we fay of the gilding of Marcus Aurelius? What Gold! how fhining ! and full of what Luftre ! how du- rable! what Art in gilding! This is fo light, fo fine, fo intimately united with the Metal, that it makes but one Body with it 3 and it feems to be a Statue of pure Gold and not of gilded Brafs. c 4 CHAP. 32 C A A P. VI. A Saint Michael. A Pifture at the Capucins of Capole Case. By Guido R eni, commonly call'd , Xl Guido, Native of Bologna. |§M|1 Never in my Life faw a Picture of 808 Guido, that had fo rich and mag- nificent a Colouring as this * where, (if one mayufe the Exprefllon) he lias been even lavifh of Vermillion and Azure, which he employed fo little of in his other Pieces. S. Michael is painted in an Attitude the moil noble and auguil in the World* his Wings extended in the Air, his Arms ele- vated, and as if armed with Thunder * his Scarfe flying abroad, and his Garb after the Roman . The .whole Canvas is filled with the vail and fpacious Grandeur of this Angel, his viftorious and terrifying Air* all this has fomething in it fo grand and pompous, ^ Saint Michael. 33 pompous , that a Creature cannot poffibly have an Air more divine without appearing a What jfhall I fay more? All the rare Ta- lents of Guido appear to me tofhine with all their Magnificence in this onlyPi&ure, as in a common Expreffion * his Manner is eafy, grand, and noble, fweet and graceful * his Pencil light and flowing* his bold Strokes running thro’ Places the moft laboured to deprive the Sight and Idea of the Study they colt him* theFinefle of his Thoughts, the Noblenefs of the Figures, the Grace and Dignity flowing thro’ the whole: In a Word, all thofe great and no- ble Parts of his Art which have acquised him an immortal Honour and Reputation, God. CHAP. 34 CHAP. VII. A Saint Cecilia. A Statue over the Tomb of that Saint in the Church consecra- ted to her Name. By Stefano Maderna, a Lombard . HERE is no one but would believe this Statue to be the Workmanfhip of Bernini, fince, for the Delicacy of the Work, and the Tendernefs with which the Marble is cut, it is intirely of the Gufto and Genius of that famous Sculp- tor. Stefano has reprefented St. Cecilia in the Pofture {he was found in a long while after her Death \ that is, lying down, and extended after fuch a Manner, that one. half of her Face being towards the Ground, one commonly fee the other. It A Saint Cecilia. 3 5 It was the dead Body found after this manner the Sculptor would reprefentj and never Defign was better executed. One thinks one really fees a dead Per- fon, whofe Clothes have taken a Turn con- formable to the Pofture her failing on the Ground has given her. It is no longer Marble that one fees, it is Flefh, it is her Clothes that cover her, and are ranged according to the Impreffi- on which the Weight of a dead Body gives in falling down, to its Members deftitute of Life and Motion. The Nonchalance of thofe Members ftrike even the moft ignorant in Art : One fees the Arms joined, and the Head, carried by its own Weight, turn half of one fide, to make an Equilibrium to the reft of the Body, in that Situation we fee it in. Even to the very Wounds that the Saint received, all is divinely expreffed in this Statue : One evidently fees that it is not only a dead Body, but that it is the Body of a Perfon dead by violent Wounds, tho’ there does not appear the leaft Sign of thefe Wounds: However, herPoftureand Situation in her Fall, makes one fenlibleof them, and the Manner in which this Body lies, and whofe Members arc thus difpo- fed, makes one plainly know that it is the Bodv of a Perfon, who being mortally C 6 wounded* 3 6 A Saint Cecilia. wounded, fell with her Face towards the Ground, and has taken an Attitude fo na- tural. In fhort, the Marble lofes here its Stiff- nefs in the Folds of a pliant Stuff, which follows the Movement of a heavy Body, according to the Bent and Inclination to which, at firft View, one fees it yields and gives way. It lofes its Hardnefs in the Flefh of a Body, whofe Members turn accord- ing to the Situation which their proper Weight makes them take, and of all its Qualities, retains only its being cold and heavy, to exprefs thofe of the Flefh of a dead Body. A CHRIST. 37 A Christ. A Picture in the Cancellaria, or Chancery in the Apartment of Car- dinal Ottoboni. A Christ. A ‘Picture in the Cancellaria , or Chan- cery . By Guido Reni. I N this Pifture there is only the Head of a Christ, crown’d with Thorns: However, I do not think Painting can e- ver difplay more Riches than Guido has fhewn in this Head only. Never was feen in a Face fo much Tran- quillity with fo much Pain, fo much Force with fo much Suffering, and fo much Se- renity with fo much Grief. In a languifhing Complexion, livid with Wounds, and on the Blood, which almoft covers the Face of Christ, and where it feems to have been a while coagulated, Guido has made appear fuch fhining Strokes of 38 ^Christ. of Majefty, fuch an elevated Air of Gran- deur, fo tenfible an Image of Divinity, that nothing but a God could thus be form- ed, and that never a Man in the World, in the Flower of his Youth, and the moft happy Fortune, had an Air fo grand as this Chrift, in the moft deplorable Condition a Perfon could ever be reduc’d to. He muft certainly have poflefled a true Idea of the Grand and Beautiful , to know thus, in the midft of Wounds, and Lan- guor of a Face, (if I may ufe the Term) buried in Blood, which runs from every part of a Head all pierced with Thorns, how to reprefent it in its full Luftre and Magnificence. CHAP, 39 CHAP. VIII. Paintings To be feen in the Palace Ghigi, near the Church of the holy Apoftles, belonging to Prince don Livio Odescalchi. Danae. By Antonio, commonly called Corregio, born at Corregio, a "Town in the Mode- nefc. HIS Pi&ure is one of the fineft that ever came from the Hands of Corregio. Danae is here re- prefented in her Bed, with only one Sheet, and by means of which ihe difcovers almoft the- whole Body, by wrap- ping it in a proper manner, to receive the Golden Shower from a bright and yellow Cloudy 40 Danae. Cloud, which diffolves in Drops of Gold, and falls into thofe Hollows (he has formed within this Sheet. No Woman’s Body in the World could preferve its Whitenefsin the midit of thefe Sheets, which are as white as Milk, or the driven Snow •, and yet that of Danae is fo far from loling any thing of its Beauty, that it feems as if Corregio had difplay’d all the Magazine of the dazling Whitenefsof this Bed, as a proper Theatre to make that of the Woman’s Body fhine with greater Advantage. Her Beauty, adorn’d with the agreeable Charms of Youth, makes it appear wor- thy thePadion of thegreateftof the Gods* and her Air, full of all the Attra&ives of Innocence, feems to engage Jupiter to think it worthy his Care, not to ufe againft her his Omnipotence, but to manage his Con- queft by an Artifice fo (educing, as that of the new Metamorphofis, which he em- ploys to make himfelf Mailer of it. The Colouring of this Cloud big with Golden Rain, is of a wonderful Extent $ but the Genius of Corregio is yet more fo, in the Air with which he has made Danae receive the precious Drops of this ambrofial Liquid. A lefs able Hand would, perhaps, have painted her haftily gathering up thisTrea- fure* Danae. 41 fare *, but a Paffion fo odious as Avarice, is not the Character of aPerfon fo young and noble as was Danae j and one only fees in her Air, I know not what agreeable, but innocent Surprize; fhe receives this Gold, the Object of the Paffion of a wifhing Heart, with fome Complacency indeed, but without any avaritious Greedinefs. Cupid , who affilts her in receiving this Golden Shower, is of fuch finifh’d Beau- ty, that he appears rather a God than a Man. The little Loves, which rub upon T ouch- ftone the Point of an Arrow made of the fallen Gold, to fee if it is of good Alloy, are of an exquifite Gufto, and their Acti- on is natural to Admiration. One can fee nothing finer for Exp regi- ons, more delicate for vaft Variety of Co- louring, and more charmingly touch’d with the Pencil than this Work. The Colours are tender and flowing, the Forefliortnings wonderful, the Manner the moft finifli’d that ever was. All the Tlyoughts are ingenious, the Airs of the Head graceful and noble, and the Exactitude of the Work does by no means hinder its appearing to be very difingag’d and eafy. It feems as if Grace and Beauty dwelt about the Fingers of this excellent Painter, and 42 A Ganimede. and that they abandon’d them as he work’d, to expand themfelves in his Pi&ures. His Colours are tenderly united, and have in them I know not what of Enchantment •, his light and flowing Pencil feems to have been guided by an Angel’s Hand. And when one refle&s, that Corregio has carried Painting up to To high a Degree of Excel- lence, without having learnt any thing from the Ancients or Moderns, without feeing Antiques, and without any Mailer, one cannot help adoring the fupreme Author of all natural Talents, who, in the Difpenfa- tion he makes of them, is pleafed fometimes to bellow on force. Men a Genius fo much above the Common, as may fupply the Place of Rules and Precepts, Inftru&ions and Examples, and all foreign Aid, as he has done in Corregio, A Ganimede. By Michael Angelo di Buonaroti, born in the Territories of Arezzo in Tufcany, and Annibal Caracci, Native of Bologna. T HIS Pi&ure has this Angular in it, that the Subject was delign’d by Michael Angelo , the greatell Man in the World for Defigning, and the Painting is of ^ Gani MEDE. 43 of Annibal Caracci , one of the greateft Men that ever was in that Art. It is very difficult to comprehend how, according to the Fable, an Eagle could take up a Man and fly away with him up into the Air 5 the more one thinks of it, the lefs feems it poffible to be conceiv’d. However, Michael Angelo has fo well exe- cuted it in the Defign of this Pi&ure, that he has rendred very likely this Aftion, which appeared fo much the more impoffible, the greater the Efforts of the Imagination are that we are forced to employ to conceive it. For without having made the Eagle too large, or Ganimede too fmall, he knew how to give fo much Strength to the one, and fo much Delicatends to the o- ther, that it appears very natural that an Eagle, vigorous as he is, will lift up, with- out ufing much Force, a young Boy fo de- licate as Ganimede. The Attitude which Michael Angelo has given thefe two Figures is wonderful, for he has fo locked in Ganimede by means of the Eagle’s Neck, and one of his Claws, that he is held with an invincible Force, no manner of Hindrance at the fame time to his Flight. One of his Claws, with which hegrafps one of Ganimede' $ Thighs, and his Head and Neck, with which he cncompaffes his Body, 44 ^ Ganimede. Body, puts him fo much in his Power, tha he has the Movement of his Wings free and Liberty to fly, leaving his Prey nc Poflibility of efcaping. Thus the Painter, by this powerful Ex* preffion which he has given the Eagle, b) the delicate Structure of Ganimede * s Body, | and the twining of each within one ano- ther, has made probable an A£lion that feem’d impoflible to the Imagination of the greatefl Wits. There is yet another thing which I think very wonderful in this Delign, which is the Dog which looks up, with an Action full of Surprize at his Mailer, whom he fees carried away in the Air •, for nothing is fuller of the true Guflo of Nature than this Dog, which otherwife would be no- thing, and yet he has a wonderful Effeft. Nothing appears eafler than to imagine it when one fees it done 5 but before one has feen it, who would have thought on it? You fee here the Merit of Michael Angelo in the Defign of this Piece, and that of Car- raci in Painting, with the utmoft Force and Delicacy, the fineft Deflgn of the W orld : For never was feen an Eagle more perfect, nor a Man’s Body more beautiful and better painted. In a Word, one fees here all the Vivacity which he knew to give to Expreflion, and all the Strengthima- ginable ^Sybill. 45 finable in its Execution. All the Figures >f this Picture equally convince us of the wonderful Talent that this excellent Pain- :er had, to chufe in all the Objects of Na- aire, certain fpecifick and predominant ^harafters, which make them moil: efTen- :ially be what they are* and which alfo noil fcnfiblyand moft fpecificatively make :hem appear what one would have them ippear, when one knows how to take them is he does, and imprefs them on thofe things m evvould reprefent, A Sybils By Gtimo Reni. T HE Palenefs of this Woman’s Face, her W rinkles , her Headdrefs , and :very thing about her, make one fee immedi- itely that it is a Sybil!. | No one ever faw in any Pidture, an Ex« |>reffion more .natural and ftrong of a pro- bund Reverie, than this which Guido las reprefented in the Features of this Wo- nan. Her Soul all retired within it felf, >y the Force of her Application, feems to ,ave attracted, in that Depth in which it is lunged, all the Blood and Spirits of the xternal Parts of the Body, which are left ale and languid. It feems as if this Soul i had 4 6 A Sybill. had quitted all prefent Objedts, even ofhei own Body, to penetrate into thofe of Fu- turity * and the Air of this Sybill wears the Charadter of a Reverie quite different frorr that, by which one thinks on the paft anc prefent. She makes Efforts quite otherwife. great, to pierce that thick Darknefs which envelopes all things future* for this file feems to do a kind of Violence to her felf* anc I know not what Air of Suffering, mixed with a profound Application, makes us fen- fible what the Difcovery of obfeure Futu- rity, which fhe would penetrate, colls her. For my part, I find nothing more won- derful than this Charadter of Meditation, which Guido knew fo well how to repre* lent in this Picture. He mull have cer- tainly feen thofe who pradtife Divinatior force themfelves to penetrate into Futuri- ty, to know how to give an Air of like Efforts to any one’s Face* for it is this Aii which Guido has fo wonderfully given tc this Sybill. She meditates after a quite dif ferent Manner from that by which in Paint- ings we fee Philofophers, even the mof] Meditative, making Refearches after the Knowledge of Truths the mofl hidden anc abflrufe. The Senecas , the Catos ^ and the mofl learned Speculators among the Anci- ents, never meditated with fuch profounc I Thought- ^ Madonna. 47 Though tfulnefs as Guido has given to this Prophetefs. One plainly fees fhe fearches after Truths aftfcr another manner hidden, than thofe that were the Subject of their Meditation. You would fay fhe lifts up with a kind of Horror the dark Veils of future Events, which fhe difcovers, and at- tains with Fear and Dread the Knowledge of the Time to come, into which fhe pe- netrates. She feems to tremble and look pale 3 for all this is divinely exprefled in the Chara&er of the Application and Medita- tion which Guido has made appear in the Face of this Sybill. What Genius is that of Painters, who employ themfelves in finding out ExprefHons fo fludied and inflru&ive ! A Madonna. By Raphael Sanzio, commonly called Raphael Urbin. FT^HIS Picture, in the Judgment of all X. Connoiffeurs,is the fined: Raphael ever painted of this kind, tho’ he made an In- finity of fuch beautiful Madonnas 3 for thefe fort of Pi&ures feem to have been his favourite Pieces, and that he had a par- ticular Inclination to draw them 3 no Pain- ter ever drew fo many 3 no Painter ever drew them fo beautiful 3 and this certain- ly fo far furpaffes his other Madon- N*AS ? 48 ^ Madonna, nas, as they do thofe of all other Pain- ters. There is nothing more llmple than the Subjedt of this Pidure> it is compofed on- ly of a Virgin, a little Jefus , a St. John Baptift^ and a St. Jofeph. The Virgin holds the Infant Jefus by tl^ Arm, and St .John approaches towards him to kifs him. Raphaelhzs painted them at full length to make us fee the Beauty of their Bodies entire, and never were feen two Childrens Bodies more beautiful and per- fedt than thefe* and one would be fully perfuaded, having well confidered them, that Nature s had fhe wn her felf quite naked to Raphael , and revealed to him all her Charms, j having known thus to paint her in fuch Perfedtion. Nay, I doubt much whe- ther Nature her felf be fo beautiful as fhe appears to be in this Pidhire. Raphael cer- tainly went much farther than her in this Work, and he has painted her according to the Idea he had of her, rather than ac- cording to what fhe is. Undoubtedly it is not from Nature that Raphael has drawn thefe excellent Expreflions, which are more beautiful than her lelf j he mud have drawn them from the Idea of the Beautiful , the primitive Source, which is only known to great Men, and whence they drew Ex- preffions more or lefs perfect, in Propor- I tion A Madonna^ 49 tion to the Force and Beauty of their Ge- nius. The Virgin is Grand and Majeftick > fhe has an Air the moll Noble that ever was, but accompanied with a charming Simpli- city, which admirably well agrees with the Innocence of the two lovely Infants that are about her. The Body of St. John is no lefs beauti- ful, nor finely proportion’d than that of Jefus Chrift-y but the Carnation is fo dif- ferent, that it is eafy to know who is Jefus by his white and delicate Flelh. Tho’ Jefus fullers himfelf familiarly to be approach’d by Saint John^ who comes to Idls him with the Simplicity of Chil- dren, who know not how to make any Diliinftion of Qualities, he preferves ne- verthelefs, in that acceffible Goodnefs , I know not what ferious Gravity, which tru- ly makes him appear a Sovereign receiving the Homage of one of his Subje&s. And tho’ Saint John comes to him with fuch a familiar Adtion as that of killing is, this Aftion is fo modell, and fo full of Refpedt, that one plainly fees that he is, at moll, but a Favourite, who only makes ufe of it with that Liberty, becaufe he is thus authoriz’d by the Bounty of his Mailer. I lhall fay no more, but that the Colour- ing of this Piece is fo beautiful and fine, D that 50 A Venus. that from the great Diftance one looks at it, it charms the Eyes, without even di- fiinguifiiing the Subject, by the bare Beau- ty of its Colours. A Venus, In the Gallery of the Palace of the | Conftable Colonna. Painted by Paul Caliari, commonly called Paulo Veronese, Native of Verona. I T is impofiible to fee any Woman that has more exquifite Charms than this nus : She has, befides, that Air of Youth, on which Play fits fo well 5 for file actu- ally plays with Cupid her Son, who would take fomething from her that ihe has in her Hand, and which file holds up left he fhould do fo. He ftands on Tiptoe, and extends his Arm with all his Force to fnatch away what fiie will not let him, and this natural Action is beyond all Exprefiion > thofe little Efforts which he in vain makes ufe of, have in them fomething, I know not what, of Childifii- nefs, which is very enchanting, and gives a wonderful Grace to his little Body, the bed: A Venus, $t bed form’d that ever was. One would al- moft think one heard his Murmurs and Complaints 5 and that Venus , who takes a Fleafure in it, laughs at his vain Efforts, and little Complaints, after a Manner the moft natural and graceful in the World. As for my part, the more I confider this Picture, the more I am perfuaded that the Examination of the Works of Paulo Veronese, makes us evidently know the Juflice of thofe Praifes which are given this excellent Painter, when we are told that his Execution was firm and fure : That no one ever equall’d him for Eafinefs and Maflerfhip of the Pencil : That the Atti- tudes and the Aftions of his Figures are fo fimple and fo eafy, fo commodious and fo natural, and that the Colours are employ’d in his Works with a Praftice fo free and fo eafy, that it feems as if all things therein were made of themfelves, and without any Pain : That he under flood local Colours as well as thofe of his Profeffion, who excel- led in that part of Painting : That he de- figned W omens Bodies with a lingular Ele- gance : That his Heads participate of the Grand and Noble : That no W orks are more thoroughly wrought than his, and more fludied as to the Touches either in Light or Shade: And that in fhort, the brok- en Colours he has employ’d fo proper- D z lv ' jfz A Venus. ly through the whole, give fo perfect a Union to the others , that the Harmony and Agreement of all together, is what charms and enchants the Eye. But I can by no means comprehend the Motives of thofe who reproach him, that his Expref- fions have nothing fine in them, and that he has but ill touched the Chara&er of the Pafiions, which may eafily be anfvvered by she fimple View of thefe two Figures only. CHAP. n- CHAP. IX. A Statue. Which feme fay reprefents Popp^a, and o™ thers Agrippina, in the Gardens 0/ Far- nese, on Mount Palatine. And the Faune. A Statue in the Palace Barbaric Both Antiques . O M E Antiquaries fay that this Sta- tue of a Woman , who is in fuch deep Thought and Meditation in the Gardens of Fame fee , on Mount Palatine y is the famous Popp more what is laid to us, we even fee not what we look at, and our Body acts no more than like a mere Machine. This profound Reverie is not only ex- prefled by the Features of her Face, and the Air which the Sculptor has given this Statue, but even by the Pofture of her whole Body 3 fo that were the Head taken a- way,one would yet know after a veryfendble f Annal. c. j 3 c. 4. Manner, A Statue. f $ Manner, that this Woman is in a profound Reverie by her Attitude only. ^The Reverend Father Mabillon fays m * Voyage of Italy , that the Air of this W oman is wonderfully compofed to Sadnefs # r but perhaps this great Man, who apply’d himfelfin Rome to things of greater Impor- tance, only faw this kind of Curiofitys enpaf font) and I am fully perfuaded, if he had fuffi- ciently examin’d this Statue, he would have been convinc’d that the Expreffion does not come up to Sadnefs , and that it is only a Reverie, but a Reverie the moll: profound that ever was feen : And as the Antients not only made Statues of Men and Women, but even of Virtues, Pallions, Adfions, and the very Sentiments of the Soul 3 fuch as Chaftity, Honour, Concord, conjugal Society and Fidelity 3 fo it may very well be that they made this to re pre- fen t Reverie, under the Figure of a Wo- man. But be that as it will, there is nothing more natural than her Air and Attitude y the more one looks at her, the lefs does fhe appear a Statue 3 the more one is attentto conhder her, the more feems fhe a real Per- fon in profound Reverie; No modern Sta- * Mire ad triftitiam compoilta, D 4 tuc 5 6 A Statue. tue has in it To much Life and Nature j nor do I know whether theFAUNE in the Palace Barberini can compare with it. This Faune is represented deeping in an agreeable and peaceful Sleep ; one cannot help looking at it 5 nothing in the World is finer, nothing more natural > or rather it is Nature her Self, all living as fhe is, that one fees in this Statue \ thofe fine ones of Antiquity are only fo on this Account j that which makes them fo much admired* is very often only a Pofture, a Geflure, a Natural 3 but fo natural, that Nature her felf is not more fo : One fliould, if I may fay fo, fee her naked, to view thofe Airsfo delicate, thofe Lineaments fo fine, and thofe Veins fo natural ; a middling Genius thinks not of this, he is ever feeking fome- what, I know not how guided in every thing he does 5 only great Men knowhow to find out thefe, and when they have be- llowed them upon their Works, the Mar- ble is no more Marble, a Statue is no more a Statue, it is Flefh, it is a Man, a Perfon that lives and breathes. In ihort, I fliall not be afraid to fay, that there is not in Rome any Statue com- parable to thefe two for the Force of Ex- predion, in a Subject in which it is fo dif- ficult to make it appear. Others A F LORA* 57 Others generally reprefent one fhining A&ion, or ardent Faffion y this is not very hard to exprefs: But is there any thing more fimple than Sleep and Reverie? and in this rcfpeft, in my Opinion, thefe two Statues furpafs them without any Compa- nion ; iince Sleep, which is an Image of Death, and Reverie, which is a Species of Sufpeniion of Life, are there however, more naturally exprelTed than the moil fprightly Adlions, and the mod; violent Paffions are in all the other Statues. The Palace Farnese. A Flora, An Antique Statue . T HERE isnoDraperie of any other Statue whatsoever, but compared with this of Flora^ feems harfh and courfe* and mod certainly it is more difficult than one thinks to make Draperie fo fine and delicate as this is. & Pieces of Sculpture IN The 58 A Florae The Moderns generally fall into one of thefe two Faults $ either their Draperie is , too grofs, and hinders the View of the Body, or elfe to {hew the Body, they make it after fuch a Manner, as if there was no Draperie at all, but one faw the very Parts of the Body themfelves. All the Art confifts in making thefe af- ter fuch a Manner that they may neverthe- lefs feem covered*, and to cover them fo that one may yet very well fee them thro’ this Coverture. This is what the expert Sculptors of Antiquity were admirably well acquainted with* and it is a hardMatter to find anyof the Moderns, who to avoid one Excefsdo not generally fall into the other: Forfome to hinder their Figures from appearing rather naked than lightly cloathed, make their Draperie fo thick that one cannot fee any of the Body through it j and others on the contrary, to make the Body appear, fo ra- tify it, that it is quite nothing at all, fo that in Reality one fees nothing but the naked Body it felf. Not one of thefe Faults is to be feen in this Statue of Flora $ her Cloaths do not hinder but one may fee her whole Body* and yet it is a Body entirely, cloathed from Head to Foot. But A Flora. 59 But the Eafinefs of this Statue is no lets wonderful than the Delicacy of its Dra- pery > our fined; Dancers do not appear fo eafy and difengag’d in dancing as this Flora does in walking j Trie does not red: upon the Bads, fhe only juft fets one of her light Feet upon it, which it hardly touches j fhe does nothing But make the Earth bloom and flounfh, and moves over its Surface with an Agility like that of gentle Zephyrs 5 the more one looks at her, the lefs appears die fixed 5 fhe deems rather to fly than walk 5 and what is mod: furprizing is, that this Statue is. much larger than the Life* for it is no difficult Matter to give fuch a Delicacy to a fmall Figure, but to a Mafs of Marble fo large and fo heavy as this mud have been, out of which this Flora was formed, is certainly a Mader- piece of the greated Artids : However, it is as certain that there is no fmall Statue in the World that has in it fo much Eafi- nefs, and is fo much difengag’d as this. D <5 Hercules, Hercules, An Antique Statuf. By Glicon the Athenian. T HIS Statue, without being gigai> tick, or like a ColoJJus , repreients Hercules as a Man the moft rob u ft that ever was 3 and that only by the Mufcles which the Sculptor has made appear thro’ his whole Body. But what is very wonderful, this De- lign being to reprefent a Hero exhaufted thro’ Fatigue after all his Labours, he fo well knew how to ftxew us, in the fame Figure, a Prodigy of Strength and Weaknefs both together. Strength appears there furprizing, and capable of all what Fable has made prodi- gious in that Demi-god 3 for it is impoffi- fele to fee a Body more nervous and muf- cular 3 the Statuary, by the Largenefs and great Number of thefe Mufcles, has ex- prefted that prodigious Strength and Weak- nefs by the Nature and Situation of thefe Mufcles 3 which tho’ great and large, ap- pear neverthelefs void of Spirits, and are all inclined, according to the Impreffion of a Hercules 6r Body, which the whole fatigu’d Mafs bears upon one Foot, which fupports all its weight, together with the Club on which Hercules lets himfelf fall in order to reft himfelf upon it: So that never was feen a Man more ftrong and more weak at the fame time. This Body is the moft robuft and full of Mufcles as ever was known * but thefe Mufcles are every one of them the moft relaxed as can be, and the Attitude the moft abated that ever was figured out * fo that the more one examines this Statue, the more one is in doubt whether the Sculp- tor had an Intention to make it a Symbol of Strength, or an Image of Weaknefs, as having at the fame time exprefied both. It is a Strength , but fuch a Strength which extends it felf thro’ the whole* and fuch a Weakneis, that thro’ it one difco- vers the Foundations of the moft prodi- gious Strength in the World. It is Vigour it felf, but a Vigour dying and expiring* it is the laft Agony, but fuch an Agony, in which one fees the Remains of an indefatigable Strength and Force. Thefe Mufcles and Nerves are wonder- fully large, but quite exhaufted : Here is feen an Abatement of Spirits, which tends to an utter Defaillance, but in a Body the moft vigorous that ever was : In fhort, it is 6z The Bull; is a Power which can do no more* and fuch an exhaufling that has in it fomewhat terrible and frightful at the fame time* for all thefe Ideas awaken themfelves in e- very attentive Mind at the Sight of this Mafterpiece of Sculpture. The Bull. An Antique Groups. T HIS famous Piece is compofed of two Men, two Women, a Child, and a Bull* thefe fix Figures are larger than the Life, and diftant one from ano- ther, tho’ cut out of the fame Piece of Marble. It is certainly the greatefi Piece of Rari- ty of its kind in the World, and it muff have been an entire Mountain to form a Groupe of fuch Immenfity. However, the leaft Bit of Marble is there managed with all the Art and Induflry pofi* fi'ble* the Sculptor having made here a Dog, there a Serpent * on one fide a Bas- ket, on the other Flowers, with fuch a fine Oeconomy and Difpofition of the Mat- ter, as is no lefs wonderful than the Work and Labour of the Chifiel. One would otherwife admire the beau- tiful and lively Expreffions of all the Fi- i gures. The Bull; 6 $ gures, the furprizing Force of the refilling Bull, that of the Man, who would turn about and make him hold down his Head that he might put a Rope about his Horns, the Defpair of the W oman tied to this Bull, and who fees her Body a Frey to the Fury of that impetuous Animal which is going to be tom into a thoufand Pieces. The Beauty of this Body, the Charms of which en- chant us in fpight of its Diforder on Ac- count of her Refiftance, and the Efforts of the Executioners who bind her j for it feems the Sculptor, more nearly to touch the Speftator at the Sight of the miferable Condition fhe is in, has taken care to make her look yet more beautiful than wretched : One would admire, I fay, all thefe things in any other Piece > but in this the Singu- larity of the Groupe is fomething fo pro- digious, that all our Admiration is taken up on that. CHAP, 64 - The History of the 1 * CHAP. X Pieces of Painting In the little Farnese. The History of the fabulous Adventures of Psyche. Painted by Raphael Urbin. In the great Hall of the Palace. HIS Hall is certainly the mod celebrated Theatre of the Glory of the great Raphael Urbin , fince there is no place in the World where he has done things fo grand and magnificent, and in the fame Space. The Council of the Gods, held upon the Occafion of the Marriage of Pfyche r and the Banquet for her Wedding in two Pieces, injmitation of Tapi dry, fill all the Ceiling of that fpacious Hall. Thefe 6 s fabulous Adventures ^Psyche." Thefe are two Pieces of a Compofition the mod Grand, of the greated Extent, and the fined Contrivance that ever was. And I appeal boldly to all Judges to de- clare, if Fame has not been fincere in pub- lishing this Truth over the whole World, with a hundred different Mouths > that no Painter ever had a greater Elevation of Genius, greater Fertility and Richnefs in his Inventions, more Grandeur in his Ideas than Raphael Ur bin 5 that no Perfon e- quailed him for Strength of Judgment in the Choice of his Subjedfo, for the Magnificence of his Compofitions, and for a fage Conduit in the Difpofition of Fi- gures: That here his Attitudes are the mod noble and mod natural, hisExpref- fions the fined and mod picquante, and his Pencil the mod light and flowing, and the mod delicate that ever was 3 there^ that no Painter ever had a Defign more grace- ful, where he had more Spirit, more Cha- racter, and where the Correction of the Antique was fo well joined to Truth, and the Simplicity of Nature: That all his Figures have the Majedy of the fined Sta- tues left us by the Greeks and Romans 3 that nothing efcaped him that might ferve to the Embellifhment of his Works 3 that for the Greatnels of Manner, and grand Gufto, he furpaffes all others. In fhort, that 6 6 The Council of the Gods’. that for Grace and Beauty, that precious Gift of Nature, no one was ever fo much favour’d with as himfelf, not excepting even Coregio , whofe greateft Merit however is founded upon that Talent: We muft en- ter that Palace, and then fhall one be fa- tisfied that there is not one of thefe En- comiums, but what is juft and equitable. The Council of the Gods. T HIS Piece of Frefco is compofed of fixteen or feventeen Figures, which reprefent all the Gods and Goddeftes in an Aftembly, where Cupid comes to ask leave to marry Pfyche , and where Venus being enraged that her Son ftiould go to wed a Mortal, anfwers his Reafons, and oppofes his Demand. Every God and Goddefs may be imme- diately known by the Symbols with which Raphael has charadberifed them : Jupiter , has his Thunder * Neptune , his Trident 5 Pluto , a black Fork, which ferves him for a Scepter * Juno , her Peacock 5 Pal- lasy her Launce and Helmet 5 Diana , her ftlver Crefcent* Mars , his Arms* Apollo , his Lyre-, Bacchus , his Grapes and Vine- leaves with which he is crown’d 5 Hercu - JeSy his Club- and Lyon’s- Skin 3 Vulcan , The Council of the Go t>$. 6? his Pinces* Janus , his two Faces > and Mercury , his Caduceus. Frame to your felf what could be con- ceived moil Grand in the famous Tribu- nal of Areopagus , the Senate of ancient Rome , and the Councils of the wifeft Men in the World aflembled together in a Body, to decide the mod: important Af- fairs of the Univerfe : Raphael has foared higher than all this, and his Council of the Gods has in it yet fomething more Grand and Auguft: For what Majeily is Painted in thofe ancient Vifages of the three Brother Gods, Jupiter , Neptune , and Pluto ? It is here that they appear the true Mailers of Heaven, Earth and Hell, and are the fineft and moft finifhed Heads in the World. The GoddeiTes appearwithallthe Gran- deur of their Character > but Venus out- fhines them all, and her Majefty, Air, and AdHon fhew, at firft view, that fhe is one of the principal Perfons of the Piece. On the other Hand, Cupid , whofe inno- cent Attraftives have fo much the more Force as they are purely natural, pre- fents himfelf to the Gods 'with fuch a Grace, and conjures them to put an end to his Miferies, with an Air fo tenderly moving, that it feems impoffible they fttould refufe him the Succour he implores : <58 The Council of the Gods. They deliberate however upon it, but in a very different Manner from each other* Jupiter thinks \ and tho’ he is not infenli- ble to the Charms of Venus , yet more touched with Pity to the Son , feems ready to grant his Requefl, being not able to refill the Prayers of fo lovely a Child. Neptune reflects ferioufly on Cupid's De- mand, and deliberates like a Deity, more free and lefs fenfible than Jupiter. As to Pluto , he deliberates with an Air altogether fierce, fuitable to the Cha- racter of the God of Hell > he makes, on this Requeft, profound Reflections, he looks upon the Thing as a capital Affair, and appears fenfible to the Charms neither of Venus or her Son: All the Perfons of this numerous AiTembly think , refleCt , meditate, nothing could be more animated, more lively, more thoughtful * they are the very Soul, Life and thoughts themfelves that are here painted, and put into Bodies by the Help of Colours, or rather by the Ge- nius of the divine Raphael $ what do I fay? In looking upon this Piece of Paint- ing, I think I fee Bodies not fo much fpeak, aCt, and move, as Souls and Minds^ think, refleCt, and deliberate. The 69 The Banquet at Psyche's Wedding, And her other Adventures . R APHAEL fuppofing that the Gods had granted Cupid's Requeft, and that they had made Pfyche a Goddefs, that he might marry her with no Diminution of his Divinity, reprefents in this Piece the Feftival which was kept in Joy of thofe happy Nuptials. There are at leafl: thirty Figures in this Piece, but all feparated one from another, and all things fo well diftributed, that one , equally fees what every one of them thinks and does, and to what Employment the Painter has defigned them. The Grandeur and Majefly of the Guefts no ways hinder that agreeable Liberty that reigns in a Repaft: The Gods and God- deffes are very merry ( as having, if I may ufe the Expreffion, thrown by their Divi- nity) with thofe natural Sentiments of Mortals. Some are bulled in good eat- ing, others pleafethemfelvesin converfing; thefe join in Love and good Cheer > and thofe give themfelves up to thofe agreea- ble IUufions, with which the Vapours of Wine 70 The Banquet at Wine entertain the Brain j the ExprefHons of thefe feveral Characters are of a furprizing Force and Truth. The Gods moft advanc’d in Age, in whom the Cold of old Age moderates the Fire of W ine, fhew rather a kind of Re- verie than Gayety. Thofe of a middle Age, who are warm’d and animated by good Cheer, feem as if they would recal their Youth and Vigour j and the young Gods and Goddeffes, fuch as Cupid and Pfyche , in whom the Sallies of Love are joined with the Fumes of Wine, full of Ardour and Vivacity fhew themfelves in paffionate Attitudes and Tranfports all on Fire. Who could defcribe the Agility of Venus who dance, the Beauty of thofe Children that wait, the agreeable Air with which the Hours and Graces fcatter the Flowers by handfuls, and Perfumes in full Veflels, the Enjoyment of the Gods, the Playings of the little winged Amorets, and the Grace and Beauty of the Graces themfelves? But nothing appears to me more won- derful than the Manner in which Raphael has expreffed the different Conditions of the Guefts, and thofe who ferve them. Thofe at Table with fhining Faces, fpark- ling Eyes, appear however half afleep, and in a Manner the moft indolent in the W orld, without Psyche’s Wedding. 71 without much Thought, or minding what they fay or hear > while the Hours and Gra- ces who fcatter Flowers and Perfumes, the Boys that ferve up the Meat, and other Servants, in an Attitude ferious and employ’d, have a cold and quiet Air, the Eyes calm and foft, a Countenance compofed and at- tentive > the Diverfity .-of thefe Expreffi- ons make the molt beautiful Contrails that ever was feen in any Piece of Paint- ing. The Frife of this Hall, and the crofs Angles, are full of the like Malterpieces of Raphael and his Scholars. One fees there all the Adventures of Pfyche perfecuted by Venus , and all the Triumphs of Love upon every one of the Gods in particular. They are the finell Bodies in the World, the Carnations molt frelh and lively, the At- titudes molt grand and exprelfivei fo that by lifting up one’s Head to the Ceiling of this wonderful Hall, one fees, at firlt Sight, all that Heaven , in the Opinion of the Antients, ever contained molt beautiful and grand. A 72 A Galatea And other ‘Pictures of Raphael in the Gallery of the fame Palace . HE Body of this Woman is the beft that ever Raphael painted 5 the Co- lours are of a charming Elegance and Sweetnefs, and one may very well place it on a Level with the Venus of the Medi - cis , which is the moil perfedt that ever was in the World. The Grace with which fhe holds the Reins of the Dolphins that draw her Chariot 5 her eafy and natural Air, and the Lightnefs with which fhe rolls over the Waves, are things that one mull fee, but know not how to defcribe. The Nereids and Tritons that follow her have that beautiful Natural, thofe grace- ful Attitudes, and that Air of Life which one knows is peculiar to the Pencil of Ra- phael-, but to fay true, tho’ there is not one of thefe Figures which is not wonderful in it felf, that of Galatea fo much furpaffes them. A GaI/ATeaJ 7 $ them, that all the Demi-Gods and Demi- Goddeffes appear, in Comparifon of this Nymph, mere Mortals. All the other Pieces on the Ceiling of this Gallery, were painted from the De- flgns of Raphael^ by his bell Scholars, and they are as fo itiany Mafter- pieces, and one fcarce fees any thing even at Rome fo beautiful. Though the mod beautiful, for Exam- ple, and the mod ingenioufly invented, is that of the Year 5 which under the Figure of a Woman, drives a Car drawn by a red Ox, and an Aflr-coloured Buffalo, which reprefent the Sun and Moon $ the Adtion of this Woman, who lets loofe; the Reins to thefe two Animals, and guides them by her Eye, is very natural, and of a wonderful Gudo j and the Life of this Ox and Buffalo is beyond all Ex- preflion. Fame flying in the middle of the Air, is alfo an excellent Piece \ even to the lit- tle Genii of Stucco , upon a black Ground, all is divine, there is no Body but what be- lieves them to be in Relievo : However, every Body is deceived, efpecially in refpect to thofe that are upon the Frife on the Garden fide : And it is a thing much to the Honour of Raphael Urbin , that his Difci- E ’ pies A Galatea.' pies working upon his Defigns, have made iiich Pieces as they are, in the Judgment of all the World, of aPerfedlion and Beau- ty, to which ordinary Painters never could attain, and the greateft Mailers never fur- pafTed. 75 %$kx5C'x£ CHAP. XI. Christ taken down from the Cross. A Pi&ure in the Church of St. Francis alia Ripa . i?j> Annibal Caracci. Don’t believe that in thisPi&ure, I H which paffes for one of the fineft that ever Caracci painted, one can admire any thing more than the Lines and divine Characters which appear on the Face of Jesus Christ} for to diffufe the Expreffion of Divinity upon the Face of a living Man, is ever a moil difficult thing, and is only the Tafk of a Genius of the fir ft Order j but to make that Image fhine in a Manner yet more lively on the pale Vifage of one that is dead, is the utmoft Effort of the greateft Genius in the World for Painting 5 and E z this 7 -6 Christ taken from the Cross. this is a Mafter-piece of the great Ca - racci in the Christ of this Pi&ure. The Body of this Christ is perhaps the mo ft beautiful and moft perfect Body that ever was painted > one fees here a ten- der, foft, flowing Pencil, Colours imper- ceptibly blended together, a charming Sweetnefs \ never was a living Man fo beau- tiful as this dead Christ. The holy Virgin, and Magdalene , who are alfo painted in this Piece, have an infi- nite Majefty* the Grief of both equally great, but yet of a quite different Na- ture. That of the holy Virgin is a Mother’s Grief, which drowns the Soul, choaks up the Heart, flops the Pafiage of Sighs, and keeps all the Humours loekt up, without permitting fo much as one Drop to reach the Eyes * it is fuch a profound and inward Grief that takes away the Power of Speech, and has not the Comfort of Complaints and Tears > a Sorrow which perfectly well agrees to the beft of Mothers oppreffed with the Death of the moft dear and beft beloved Son that ever was. The Grief of Magdalene is alfo very great, but of a quite different Character : It is the Grief of a wailing Lover, which difplays it felf in Cries ^and Tranfports: The interiour Grief of the holy Virgin ap- pears Christ taken from the Cross. 77 pears by her Face all pale and dry * where- as that of Magdalene is all inflamed and bathed in Tears 5 it is a Grief as equal* but more free, and which, afllAed by the Forces of Nature in a very young Perfon* comforts it felf by Tears, which Areara down in Abundance. In fhort, there is nothing but what is grand and noble- in this Pi&ure^ and no Piece of Painting was better underAood either in Relation to the Difpoiition and Ordering of the Figures, theExpreflion of the Paflions, or the DiAribution of Light and Shade* $ v C H AB1 7 S CHAP. XII. Frescati. RESCATI is the antient Tufculum of the Latins , or at leaffc the Su- burbs of j fufcuhm came to the Place where now Frefcati is. This agreeable Place, all fown with Houfes of Pleafure of the greateft Lords of Rome , is on one fide of a delicious Mountain, form’d out of a great many lit- tle Hills, by which one infenfibly afcends from one to another. Here on the other fide terminates the Campania of Rome , which makes Frefcati yet more beautiful than it is j for this Campania lies unculti- vated, dark, and dry 9 fo that after one meets with Trees and Water, Cool and Shade, one finds Frefcati more charming by half than otherwife one fhould. There you have before you the whole Campania of Rome^ which indeed is very ugly > but at the end of it one fees Rome fomewhat after the fame Manner as one fees Paris The Girandola. 7^ Paris from Meudon •> and on the left Hand one fees the Mediterranean Sea, which com- monly is covered with Barks. Thefe are the general Beauties of Frefiati : # Come we now to Particulars. The Girandola, AND The Hall of Apollo and the Muses, In the Villa of Belvedere. T HE fined thing one fees at Belve- dere of Water- works is the Girandola \ the Water of which comes out of its Pipe with filch Violence and great Quan- tity,. that it turns into Foam, and breaks into a Million of Pieces > it is incredible to think to what a vafi: Height it throws the Water, which falls down again like Hail 5 and the Air, by means of thefe fubterra- nean Pipes, hiking out along with the Girandola , makes a Noife which fo per- fectly imitates Thunder, that one would * Trefccttij as I take it, is about fifteen Miles from Roms. £ 4 think So The Girandola. think it thunder’d indeed, and hailed at the fame time, and that a real Storm had bur ft the Clouds. The Grotto where all this is, is called Enceladus , becaufe you fee an Enceladus bearing the World upon his Shoulders. Not far off this Grotto, is the Hall of jd polio and the Mufes , where there is an Organ which plays by means of artificial Wind and Water. The Wind makes the Pipes found, and the Water turns the Wheels which prefs the Keys: On this you hear Mufick in two Parts, the beft perform’d in the W orld, as to time, with all the Propriety and Exa&nefs of the beft Mafters. The Girandola, In the Villa of the Duke de Gadagnola. T HIS Girandola imitates perfectly thofe Girandolas of Fire that one fees up- on rejoicing Days in Italy ; for at the fame time that the Water in mounting forms a Body ftreaming out into an Infini- ty of Divifions, like the Fuzees of thofe kind of Fireworks; the artificial Wind iffuesout with the Water from the fame Pipe, and makes a Neife like Rockets; The Girandol a* %jl and as at Belvedere one would imagine it was Thunder, To here you would think it the Noife of fo many Rockets, and other, kinds of Wildfire burning in the Air, € H As P. *£■ 'if ?£ * r *&• ’*r x(r ter -?rr %p *rrv? -ur xa tr yr *jt *{r -urvf v *£ VV * 4 » 4* V : f* C P r W £ *f» •

but the Painter has given him fo much Dignity, that there is no kind of Refpect which he does not infpire by that great and venerable Air which he keeps even in the very Ruins of a Body all broken with yf St. J E R O M. 8 J with old Age, and as much decayed by Austerities as Sicknefs. A Sage Matron, proftrate on one fide of him, takes humbly one of his Arms that file might kifs his Hand with Refpeft $ this A6tion alone raifes the Condition of this holy Priefi:, all poor as he is, above all human Magnificence > and makes us fee that he lofes nothing of his Grandeur, nor the Veneration one gives him, even by the greatefi: Poverty to which one fees him re- duc’d. In fhort, we may be aflured that Do- menichino. elevated his Thoughts and Imagi- nation to the Sublime in this Pifture, and that this Piece is nothing inferior to thofe of the great Raphael Urhin , neither for Ex- prefiion of the Subjeft in general, nor for thofe of the Figures in particular the Gufto and Corre&nefs of the Defign, the Simpli- city and Variety of the Airs of Heads, nor even, I ihall fpeak a bold Word, for a no- ble Grace and Beauty. E 6 C H A P 84 CHAP. XIV. The three Children, OR, The Seasons. An Antique Groupe in the Palace Jufti- niani. HESK three Children are cut out of the fame Piece of Mar- ble, but Marble fo white, that one would take it for Alabafter, if it had not a wonderfulPolrfh, which the fineft Alabafter is not capable of receiving. They lie in a Bafin of black Marble, which makes their Whitenefs ftill appear to the greater Advantage. They are all three naked \ and the Sculp- tor, by the different Attitude he has given them, defign’d to reprefent the three dif- ferent Times or Seatons of the Year. One The Three Children,^. gy One lies extended on his Back, with Arms and Legs fpread out, as Children may be when they die with Heat, and re- prefen ts Summer. The fecond is crouch’d up together, hav- ing his Head and Knees clofe to his Sto- mach, and creeping as near as he can to the other two to warm himfelf, and repre- fents W inter. The third, in feort, which reprefents Autumn and the Spring, has his Limbs lefs extended than the fed:, and lefs con- trafted than the fecond, having neither too much Cold nor Heat, but keeps the Mid- dle between the two Extremes. Thefe three little Bodies feem to give way to each other in their Cont-adfc like true Flefe \ and there is not in all Rome, a finer Groupe of a more curious Inven- tion, ora Work more finifet. Resits Jesus Christ before Pilate. A Picture in the same Palace. By Titian Vecelli, commonly called Titian. "TTESUS CHRIST is here reprefent- J ed in this Picture before Pilate , as a Perfon accufed of a Crime before his Judge. Pilate interrogates him* and for the Atti- tude of a Man who queftions, nothing could be more liveldy expreiTed. As to Jesus Christ, 'Titian has really given him the Air of a Pnfoner, but it is the Air of a Prifoner that is confcious he is guilty of nothing: He has the Modefty of a Suppliant before his Judge > but he has at the fame time the Countenance of a Man who has nothing to fear from the mo ft fe- vere Juftice. He is bound and manacled as a Crimi- nal and guilty Perfon, and with all that, he imprints Refped even in his Judge, inafc much as he difcovers through all his Per- fon, the Chara6ters not only of the moil: iuft and moit innocent of all Men, but even |e sm Christ before Pilate. 87 even of the Author of Innocence it felf and Juftice. I fhall fay no more, but that the Co- louring of this Pi6iure is of a Gufto fa excellent, that Titian , who feems to have been produc’d by Nature, to fhew to what Point this part of Painting might be carried, has not made Strength and Beauty fhine with greater Luflre than in this Pi&ure. The Carnations are frefh, vigorous, and fanguine, but fo pure, as that they are accompanied with that Force and Strength which make them natural. In fame places one fees that Eclat and Vivacity of Colours, the Choice of which is fo flaming, and yet fo neat and delicate : And in others that Diminution of them, which the Interpofltion of the Air is the Caufe of* and this judicious Attenuation of Light and Shade, only capable to pro- duce the various Degrees of Diftance, which draw to us or keep back every part of a Pifture, which brings towards us what ought to approach us, and keeps off that which fhould retire} which gives fuch a Roundnefs to Bodies, and makes their Co- lours and Extremities loofe themfelves after fuch an infenfible Manner, that one ima- gines to fee in thefe Figures fo well loofned. 88 Jesus Christ before Pilate. (if I may fo fay ) from their Ground # even what is behind them, and that the Eye furveys them round*, and in a Word, the mod charming EffeCts of this wonderful Performance of any Perfpective, which it pofleffes as- well as the lineal. One fees here that agreeable Contrafte, in the middle of which he has fo judici- oufly prefer ved the Union and Harmony of Colours. Thofe they call local are here chofen out with a Fidelity peculiar to a great Matter, but fo delicate and imperceptibly united, that nothing but his free, ready, and flowing Pencil could produce. The Oppofitions are ftrong, yet fweet, and the Touches fo rich and full of Spirit, and with that fo conformable to the Cha- racter of the Objefts, that the foft Har- mony and charming Concert which refults from them, makes every Judge own that no one ever penetrated with greater Suc- cefs the very Eflence of Painting, and the Myfteries of that divine Art than he. *■ Sic tnim definere debet extremitas ut promittat alia paft fe, oftendatque poft fe, oftendatque etiam quae occultat, Plin: i. 3^. c. 10. CHAP. 89 #■ Jfe J& ^ W W w CHAP. XV. A Satyrs. An Antique Statue, In the Villa Ludivisio.' EVER Satyre alive, ( if it bo true that there is any fuch thing) was a more Satyre than this *, it is the moil lively and moil beauti- ful Expreflion that ever was produced by the Genius of Man* the Eyes, the Ima- gination, the Soul, every thing is affe&ed with the View of this Satyre, and there is fuch a Life and Spirit in this Work, that makes it even furpafs Nature it fclf. At! 90 A Satyre. All that one can conjedture from the Phyfiognomy and Wiles of an old Fox, the Malice of an old Ape, the Petulance of a Satyre, is all livelily exprefled in the Air of this 5 firm on his Legs, tho* flender, he fhews himfelf with a bold Readinefs, braving, with his Body half a Goat, Mankind, whom he feems to in- fult with his Air full of a gay Impudence : You would fay he has juft left his Cave to catch fome travelling Nymph 5 and that being fure of his Snares, which he knows well how to Ipread, he does not donbt of Succefs. For my part* I am perfuaded that the Ancients have feen real Satyres, of which they have drawn and tranfmitted down to us fuch beautiful Images > it is not furpriz- ing that the Brutality of Men ftiould beget fuch fort of Moiifters in Pagan times : Befides, whence could come a De- fign of making an Animal half Man, half Goat ? Could fuch an Idea ever enter the Imagination, if one had never feen its Semblance in Nature? However, one fees an Infinity of thofe Satyrs made by the Antients. CHAP, 91 CHAP, XVI. A Madonna. A Picture over one of the Al- tars of Santa Maria Maggiore, which is the Original : Howe- ver, one may judge by this Co- py, that it is iefs an Image of the holy Virgin,- than an Expreffion of the Delica- cy of the Painter who drew it. The Hands of the holy Virgin are the moft beautiful Guido ever made, and the Manner of her holding the Linnen in which the little Jesus ileeps, puts the Beauty of thofe Hands into its greateft Light. By Guido Reni. HIS Picture is only a Copy, but by the fame Hand, and fo ex- a£t, that one cannot well tell Ifhall 92 A Madonna.' I {hall fay no more, but how valuable foever the Reprefentation of that auguft Depofitum which that Linen contains may be, the delicate Air with which the holy Virgin holds it, makes it yet more valu- able. In a Word, one cannot here too much admire the wonderful Talent that excellent Painter had, for I know not whatTender- nefs in the Extremities where he defign’d certain Parts $ the Delicacy of which feems to have efcap’d the Pencil of others. € H A P CHAR XVII. The Assumption of the holy Virgin. A Piece of Painting on the Ceil- ing of the Church of Santa Maria Trastevere. By Domenichino, HIS Piece is one of thofe charming Pi&ures which pleafe, at firft View, both in refpe£b of Colouring and Defign. The holy Virgin, with Eyes and Hands lifted up to Heaven, with an A&ion full of Ardour and Fire, feems ra- ther to mount by the Force of herDelires, than by the Help of the Angels that raife her. All the Faculties of her Soul feem reunited in her Eyes, and her Looks towards Hea- ven feem to feparate this Soul from the i Body, 94 7 he AJJumption of the holy Virgin . Body, and tranfport it into the very Bofom of the Almighty. I know not what Rays of a divine Splen- dor dreaming over her Face and her whole Perfon, makes her Body already appear all celeftial, glorious, and immortal : And tho’ to fee the Swiftnefs of Movement with which that Body is carried up, one would fay that it retains nothing of its natural Gravity and Weight j it feems neverthe- lefs, that her Soul, impatient to attain the Accomplifhment of her Glory, forces the Body to advance by thofe Struggles more rapid than any corporal Movement what- foever. The little Angels which are at the Feet of the holy Virgin are of a ravifhing Beau- ty * they are really Angels, and human Nature never produced any thing fo beau- tiful. Befides, all the Colours of this Piece are as frefh and lively as if but new- ly laid on* and methinks one fees I know not what harmoniousVigour between them, that feems Proof againft all the Changes and Alterations which Time brings to fuch kinds of Workmanfhip. CHAP. 95 C H A P. XVIII. Faustina the Younger, An Antique Statue, In the Villa. MattheL Religion. A Statue on the Tomb of Paul the Third, in the Church of Saint Peter in the Vatican. By William de la Porta A Lombard Comparison of these two Statues. H E Statue of Fauftina the young- er, Wife to the Emperor Mar- cus Aurelius the Philofopher, is in the Judgment of all Connoifeurs, one of the mod: excellent Antiques at Rome . * He was Difciple to Michael Angelo Buonaroti , he made this Statue according to the Defign that was given him by the famous Poet Anriibal Caro. Fauftina 9 6 Faustina ^Younger. Fauftina is hcrereprefentedas one of the moll beautiful Women in the World* fhe is large without being Mafculine * of a fine Shape but not lean, and plump without being grofs. Imagine it to be a Body the befl for- med that ever was, wrapt in a Woman’s Scarf over a Robe of Silk * for the Ex- tremities of the Veil which covers Faufii- tia from the Head to the middle of her Body fall over her Arms before, not un- like the Scarves Ladies now wear 5 this fort of Veil, only that it covers the Head, has much the fame Air and Turn with thefe * and the reft of the Body is foftly folded up in a long majeftick Robe, which covers it after a noble and natural Manner. Figure to your fclf, in ihort, the fineft Body of the World thus cloathed not to fhock Modefty , and dreft in a Stuff fo loofe and fine as to difcover all its Beauty * a Drapery which covers it from Head to Foot, and at the fame time is fo thin, as to let one fee through it the Beauties of the Body* fo- that this Woman has all the Graces of Modefty, and the Charms of Nudity both together. One cannot help admiring the Beauty that the Sculpture has laviiht out in her Air, and over her whole Perfon 5 thefe are modeft Charms that are attractive and yet F a u s t i n a the Y o tr n g e r. 9? yet fearful > more tender than brillant* foft yet flrong •, lively without dazzling j pe- netrating, but without having any thing in them above what is Human. The Statue which reprefents Religion, at the Tomb of Paul the III. is of a Beau- ty quite oppofite to this : For my part I cannot think there is, or ever was upon Earth a Woman fo beautiful as this Sta- tue 5 it is a Beauty, fuch as Imagination, which has Liberty to form Phantom es at Pleafure, might figure out 5 or rather fuch as the fined: Genius can form, when it e- levates its Ideas above Nature, which is ever defective \ it enchants even it felf in reprefenting under charming Images, things fo perfect as they might be, and lefs as they are, than as it could wifh they were: But be this as it will, it is certain this Beauty is of a Chara&er quite different from that of Fauftina. It is of a Woman all young, lively and brillant, and of the greateft Splendour, which effaces all that approaches it, which dazzles, and ravifhes j whereas Fauftina has, for Attraclives, only Sweetnefs, Tender- nefs and Modefty. The Statue of Religion ravifhes the Heart, without permitting it to delibe- rate ; her imperious Beauty carries it ra- pidly away by all powerful Charms, which F nothing 98 Faustina the Y ounger. nothing can refill. Faufiina , on the con- trary, lets us be fenfible of the Fleafures one tailes on looking at her 5 the Eyes have liberty to reflect on all the Charms that engages them, and all the Graces with which they are enchanted 3 and this Beau- ty by more tempered Charms , but againffc which it is impolfible to defend ones felf, is more penetrative of the Soul, and more engaging to the Heart. In a Word, if one is to be captivated more with one than the other, it mull be with Fauftina. For if the other carries away the Heart, the Heart willingly delivers up it felf to this 3 and if we have greater Admiration for the former, we have greater Love for Fauftina. CHAP. 99 CHAP. XIX. Niobe and her Children. An Antique in the Villa Medicis. By Praxiteles a Greek Sculptor. N E fhall not find in Rome , or in all Italy , or indeed in the W orld, To great a Number of excellent Statues, in fo fmail a Compafs as are thefe. Every Body knows the Fable of Niobe, her Vanity and Punifhmentj one may read the Defcription in Ovid, but no De~ fcription will ever form in the Mind an Idea like this, which the view of thefe precious Monuments of ancient Sculpture give us. Here are fifteen Figures together, which reprefent Niobe and all her Children ; fome are wounded by the vengeful Arrows of Apollo, others already dead , extended on F % the too Niobe and ^Children, the Ground - y thefe here crouch down to avoid the fatal Shafts , fome are flying a- way, others appear wounded > this expir- ing, and that already dead: And all this with Adtions fo lively, and in Attitudes fo natural, that being amongft all thefe Figures, one of which is frightned, and a- nother flys, one would no more think them Statues, but real Perfons $ fo that one can- not help participating of their Sentiments > being feized with the fame Affright and Terror, alarmed with their Alarms, and agitated with their feveral Movements. The Situation of fo many flying, fright- ned, dead, and dying Perfons is wonder- ful 3 who in States and A&ions fo differ- ent, are neverthelefs fo well placed, that they do not any ways embarafs each o- ther> and one may view them equally, ei- ther feparately, or as forming all together i Groupe of Figures fo judicioufly difpo- fed, that with a Call: of an Eye one may fee the whole Hiftory as if it paffed in our Prefence. Without entring into a Detail o£ this grand Work, which would be an endlefs T'afk, one may fay in general, that the Sculptor has here excellently well expref- fed, even ( if I may ufe the Term ) the ve- ry Life of Death, and its Agonies in the feveral Perfons that compofe it j fome of whom N i o b e and ^Children, ioe whom are expiring, others dead, others not yet pierced with the mortal Arrows, the Terror of thofe that are frightned, the Unmoveahlenefs of Niobe changed into Stone. Nothing can have greater Agility than thofe who fly > and the fine Shape of Niobe ' s Daughters and their Poflure in their Adti- on of Flight makes them to the Eyes of the Spectators, appear like Air, and rather that they fly than run. One fees, that perceiving the Danger, they would take a precipitate and hafly Flight, but that a chilling Fear flops and hinders them from running fo faft as the Danger requires. But in mort, our Looks are fixed more attentively on petrified Niobe , and this ex- cellent Piece engages all our Admiration > fo much is it a W ork beyond all one can fay, and a Subjcdt the moft difficult in the World for the Expreflion: For if one wonders that a Statuary can give Life and Motion to a Stone, out of which he makes a Man, who by confequence muff: be a moving and animated Figure 5 I find it much more wonderful, and much more difficult to make, out of Stone, a Fi- gure to reprefent both together, that is a real Perfon and Perfon petrified. F 3 This 102 Niobe and her Children. This is certainly the Mafterpiece of Sculpture} and one may well think it is much more eafy to make a Stone appear a Man free of Life, than to make a Man to appear at the fame time both a real Man, and a real Stone} which yet mu ft be to reprefent a Perfon petrified as Niobe } for the Sculptor mu ft have fo changed the Stone, that he worked upon, as to make it wear the femblance of a Woman} and afterwards fo have changed this Woman, as to make her return again to Stone, and at laft make her to be both together } that is, both a W oman and Stone, as {he appears to be. I fhall only add, that this Statue is lar- ger than the others, over whom fhe has even an Air of Rule and Dominion. She is placed on the higheft Ground} all the other Figures feem to be made for her, and regard her as their Principal : Who has therefore an Air fo Great, fo Noble, and fo full of Majefty , even in the ut- moft Grief and Defpair, that Latona and every other Goddefs, without Exception, even Juno herfelf, feem to yield to fuch a Mortal. In ftiort, nothing is more wonderful than allthefe excellent Statues, either con- fxdered feparately in themfelves, or in the Relation N i o b e and her Children. to$ Relation they bear each other, or what they have in general to Niobe. What a vail Collection of Beauties and Mafterpieces are had in the fpace of twen- ty or thirty Foot ! This would be enough entirely to adorn and furnifh a large King- dom j however it is only the Ornament of a Corner of one Garden in Rome. S’ .4 CHAP. f©4 CHAP, XX. An Epitaph In the Church of the Minerva. By Cavalier Bernini. HIS Epitaph is an ingenious Ca- price 5 whereas in all the other W orks of Bernini , one fees the Elegance, the Noblenefs, and I know not what Singularity and Novelty, the Off-fpring of a Genius, that invents every thing* he makes and copies after no Body, quite the reverfe from the gene- rality of the Profeflors of his Art : This Epitaph fixed to one of the Pillars of the Minerva , is of this Chara&er. It is a large Piece of black Marble, out of which he has formed a large flowing Cloth, or rather a great Carpet knot- ted An Epitaph. 105 ted up at Top, which in falling down forms a quantity of negligent Folds of fueh a large Size, as gives it an infinite Majefty. The Infcription is graved in Charafters of Gold upon this black Mar- ble 5 never was any thing invented more Noble for a fingle Epitaph: Thus in the very Caprices of great Men, one finds more Gufto and Genius than in the moft studied Pieces of others. 10 6 CHAP. XXL The Fountain De Montorio. By Cavalier Fontana and Carlo Maderna. S HEN one looks at this proud Fountain , one is in doubt to which of the two one fhould give the Preference in relation to its Mag- nificence, either to that in the Piazza N avon a, which we fhall defcribe in the next place j or to this, which is an entire River, and runs out of five Mouths, in a kind of Portal or triumphant Arch > and this River being thus divided, it looks as if it were attended with two Torrents. This Arch has five Gates, adorned with the moft beautiful Colours of oriental Granite that can be feen •, and is higher, larger, and more Grand than all the trium- phant Arches that eyer were. The The Fountain de Montorio. 107 The Torrents of Water by their conti- nual Movement, and great Noife they make in their Fall, feem to animate this magnificent Piece of Architefhire •, no Work of this Extent, either Antique or Modern, ever had more Majeflyand Gran- deur 3 and for its Situation, nothing in the World could be more favourable, being upon Montorio*, the Janiculum of the anci- ent Romans , which feems on that fide to lord it over Rome $ fo that from all places on the other fide the Tyler one fees this Work as a lofty Spe&acle to every V6 proud Eye. C H A F. io8 The Fountain in C H A P. XXIX, Tub Fountain in the Piazza Navona. By Cavalier Bernini. H I S is one of thofe modern Pieces that may be parallelled with the moft beautiful Things the-antient Romans - made to a- dorn old Rome\ and one mayo ven doubt whether they ever did anything To beautiful on the like Subjedf. Genius, good Tafte, Grandeur, are all here in this Work 5 and for a Fountain, never was form’d a Delign fo grand and magnificent. Four Colofii of Marble reprefent the four gretteft Rivers of the World, the $ Gunge s^ Euphrates , the Nile, and the Da- ■nube 4 thefe four Figures are of an admira- ble the Piazza N a vo n a. 109 ble Defign, formed with an Art entirely lingular, to figure out fymbolically thefe Rivers > the Nile efpecially, which is known by his Crocodiles, is yet more# ingenioufly charadterifed by his Head furrounded and half covered with Flags and Reeds, which wonderfully figures out this River 5 the Source of which is not too well known. Thefe four Cololli lie ftretched out at the four Corners of a Rock of Marble fo ruftick that it really looks like a Rock indeed. Below thefe Rivers, .through Pafiages made for that Purpofe, ifiiie out vaft Quan- tities of Water, but after a very irregular Manner, and yet the molt agreeable in the World, which makes the Rock appear yet much more natural, as well as the Water, which ifiues through Crevifles it feems it felf to have made in the Rock for its Pal- fage : Thefe Streams of W ater are fo large, that one alone would be fufficient for a very great Fountain * however, there are four of them that flow with equal abun- dance. The Rock is pierced on both fides, and hollowed fo as to make a Cavern, the bot- tom of which is filled with Waters of the Fountains that are above. A Lion of Marble drinks out of it on one fide, and a Sea Horfedeaps out on the others iio Fountain in other* and thefe two Figures are two Mafter-pieces in their kind, as well as the four Colofial Statues. The SeaHorfe feems to fhake himfelf a3 he comes out of the W ater to advance him- felf from the Cavern, and launch himfelf out at length * fo much Agility has he and Fire. # The Lion appears heated with Slaugh- ter, and fo greedy, as if he believed there was not Water enough there to quench his Third: : He opens wide his Paws, extends his Bread: in order to give more room to his Lungs, which feem as if they were go- ing to drain the Bafin and make the Ca- vern dry. The Antients made ufe only of one Statue to reprefent a great River * here four Cololfi ferve for the Decoration of one only Foun- tain * what Magnificence ! what Grandeur ! The Attitude of the River- Gods was uniform amongd: the Antients : It was al- ways an old Man with a long Beard lean- ing on an Urn, the Body lying down and extended: Here all is varied, and the four Statues have Attitudes quite different from each other. In fine, the whole Work is as it were crown’d by an Obelifk, which being plac’d on the Top of the Rock, that ferves as a Bafis for a very high Pedeflal* makes it look the Piazza NavonaJ* iii look like one of the greateft Obelifks of Rome '■> fo that Bernini has difplayed more Magnificence in this one piece of Archi- tedture, than the greateft Architects knew how to ftiew in Works of the vafteft Ex- tent, CHAP, I IZ CHAP. XXIII. The Gamesters, A Picture in the Palace Barberini. By Michael Angelo Merigi , commonly called Caravaggio, born at Caravaggio, M, Town in the Milanese HERE are only three Fi- gures in thisPi&ure, two Shar- pers, and a young Man very fimple, whom they rook out of his Money. dNever was a filly Ninny better reprefent- ed The Gamesters. 113 ed than here in the Phyfiognomy of this young Man who fuffers himfelf to be duped > nor a roguifh Slynefs better paint- ed than in the Face of the Gamefter that cheats him. There ftands by him a fecond Sharper, who th o’ he does not play, is of Confederacy with the others he ftands between the Players, and looking on the Cards of the Dupe, marks by his Fingers the Points of his Game to the other. This fecond Shar- per is much older than he that plays, and has in his Wrinkles certain Airs of a Rogue, fomewhat more crafty than the other of a confumm ate Villain, a Rogue grown old in his Trade > an incorrigible arch Cheat, a Matter Pick-pocket in Comparifon of the other, who as iharp as he appears to be, is only a Villain in his Apprenticeihip. In a Word, all the Exprettions of this Pifture are fo natural and fo perfect, that one comprehends, at firfh Sight, the Geni- us, the Charafter, and the Actions of the Perfons that compofe it, and even a Child, without telling him any thing of the Sub- je£t, would plainly fee it was a Fool cheat- ed by a Couple of Sharpers. T o conclude $ one fees in this Piece, as in all the others of Caravaggio^ that Manner equally foft and ftrong, without any thing borrowed from other Painters $ for he won- derfully 1 14 *The Gamesters. derfully joins a terrible Strength with an agreeable Sweetnels; his Pencil is the ilrongeil, and at the fame time the moil mellow that ever was. His local Colours are well iludied, his Lights and Shades diilributea with allpof- fible Under (landing, thro’ every one of his ObjeCts in particular, and the whole in gene- ral 5 his excellent Difpofitions well con- trailed ; his Compoiitions judiciouily rang- ed, and in all their Propriety ; his Manner of great EifieCl; his Work finished with the utmoil Exactitude ; and for what he has of the Chiarofcuro , he has pufhed that Sci- ence fo far in PraCtice, that even Rubens, who in the Judgment of moil People has carried it beyond all other Painters by his Capacity in that RefpeCt, owns Car- ravaggio in this to have been his Mailer; fo that nothing is more agreeable than that graceful Repofe one finds on that Account in all his W orks. This Painter, without too much agi- tating or torturing his Colours, or de- ilroying them as others do, by the Move- ment of his Pencil, knew how to unite them , and tenderly incorporate them together; and give by this means, fuch a prodigious Truth to his ObjeCts, that he has, if one may fay fo, rendred them palpable, The Gamesters. 115 palpable, and all the World muft own, that Nature could never be better co- pied than flic is painted in every thine he finiihed. ' , CHAP CHAP. XXIV. St. Peter’s Head, A Picture in the Palace Pam- filio. By Annieal Caracci. T is impoflible to fee a more lively and more perfe& Expref- iion of Contrition than that which Caracci has given this St. Peter , who is reprefented weeping for his Sin. It is the moft bitter Repentance, and moft forrowful Heart breaking in the World. The Soul of this Apoftle, all penetrated with Bitternefs, appears in his contrite Vifage, overwhelm’d more by that deep Sorrow which is there painted, than by the Tears which drown it. Thefe A St. Peter's Head. 117 Thefe Tears are fo true and fo natural, that one could not make them more fo with Water it felf thrown frefh upon it 5 that Element would not be different from it, either as to its being liquid or trans- parent. Never did any one iee a Face or Eyes more moiftened with real Tears 5 and every one is tempted to put his Finger upon it to fee whether he is deceived. CHAP. CHAP. XXV. The Crucifixion of St. Peter. A Picture at St. Paul’s all a tre Fontane out of Rome. By Guido Reni. Hether it be the Strength of the Shades, or Time that has blackened the Ground of this Pifture, there is not one in Rome where the Figures have fo much Relief as there is in this > fo that on looking upon it, one believes one fees real Executioners, who hold, nail, and crucify St. Peter ^ without any Pidhire* and becaufe the Cloth is fo black that it does 4- not The Crucifixion of St, Peter, i i 9 not appear, one imagines one fees no- thing but the Bodies, with all their Round-? nefs and Relief. One of thefe Executioners places him- felf at the Head of the Crofs, which is turn’d upfide down, with a Hammer and a great Nail to drive thro’ the Apoftle’s Feet, as foon as another who draws it up with a Cord {hall have got it high enough j and the third holds up the Head and Shoul- ders to facilitate the Action of his Compa- nion who draws the Rope. At firft View, one thinks the Blood leaves the. Feet and Legs to fall into the Head which is downward, and the other Parts of the Body near it , the Skin of the Cranium and Face are all over red, the Neck and Stomach are alfo red, but wi- thered, not fo deep as that of the Head and Face, whither a greater Quantity of Blood defcends. On the other Hand, the Soles of the Feet are much whiter by feveral Degrees than the Legs, becaufe the Blood fooner eft them, and fell down much lower. In fine, the Colours of white and red are diflributed with a Proportion fo judi- cious, that it feems as if theRednefsof the Face encreafed, and that the Legs grow more white and pale $ and more and more fo. 120 !T^ Crucifixion^ St. Peter. fo, according to the Duration of the time one takes in looking at them. To conclude j if one did not know o- therwife, that Guido did not obtain from Cardinal Borghefe the Preference to other Painters who offer’d themfelves to paint this Pi£ture, but upon Condition that he ihould paint it after the Manner of Carr a- vaggiO) which pleafed him then fo well, it would be eafily known by that ftrong and obfcure Gufto that reigns thro’ the whole, but which is throughout accom- panied with that Noblenefs and Grace which make the proper Chara&er of Guido Reni. 4 - C H A P X 2 1 CHAP. XXVI. Moses. A Statue on the Tomb of Pope Julius the second, in the Church of St. Peter ad Vincula. By Michael Angelo Buonaroti. HIS would have been one of the molt magnificent W orks of Rome , had it been finifh’d according to the Defign Michael Angelo made of it*, his Mofes is the greateft Ornament of it j and this excellent Statue, which is greater than the Life, is the molt majefiick of any modern Production. That venerable Beard fo long, and yet fo well turned, gives Mofes an infinite Grandeur andMajeitv, but a Majefty fierce G and 'I22 Moses. and firm, and an imperious and ruling Grandeur. All what the antient Sculptors have giv- en of the Grand and Venerable to their Gods of Rivers, Gods of the Sea., even their Neptune is much fhort of what Michael Angelo has given h is Mofes. No Defcription, no theatrical Decora- tion, where the Art of a Genius the mofb proper for it has been often exhaufled, e- ver fhewed an Expreflion fo noble, of fo grand a Majefly, or fo lively an Image of -Divinity. The Pompey of the Palace Spada , and the Conquerors of ancient Rome are not jfb. grand in their Statues as this Legiflator of- the People of God. One cannot by ali the Terms, and all the Exprefhons in the World, arrive at the Formation of the Idea which the Sight of this Figure im- prefles in the Minds of thofe who look at it it is Grandeur and Majefty it felf, un- der the Figure of Mofes . CHAP. 12 & & w & & & iP-tL? w & w .1 CHAP. XXVIL The Transfiguration of our Sa< viour. A Picture in San Pietro Montorio. By Raphael Urbin* |PMJ§ HIS Picture is twelve Foot and SjTlS five Inches high, above (even Foot ilfflgl nine Inches and a half broad, and has this in it in particular, that one fees nothing furprizing at fir ft, as hav- ing not one of thofe glorious Lines which make themfelves admired at firft fight by all thofe who look at them j but the more Under Handing one has in the Art of Paint- ing, the more one difeovers in it thofe Beauties, which make all Judges own that this Work is not only the Mafter-piece of G z Raphael I-Z4 The Transfiguration Raphael Urbin^ but even the very Triumph of Painting. Painters will tell you that this Picture is the^moft perfect in the W orld for Cor- rectnefs of Defign, for ordering the Sub- je£t, for the Aflemblage of Groupes, for the Variety and Harmony of Colours in fo many Garments, where they are diver- sified not only in their kinds of green, blue, red, and yellow, but even all different one from the other in the Species of fo many Greens, Blues, Reds, and Yellows, of dif- ferent forts more ftrong, or more weak, all managed with fuch Difcretion, and fo well accorded, that nothing in the World can be more lively. The fame Painters will bid you obferve well the Body of that Woman at the Front of the Pifture (who brings her Son polTeffed of a Devil to Chrilt) as one of thofe Bodies fo divinely well defign’d, by which one ever knows the great Ra- phael Urbin . One of thefe Bodies, the Colours of which are fo graceful and deli- cate, have an Elegance of a natural Beau- ty which enchants which fide foever he reprefen ts it to us: This which is turned, makes us fee a Shape the moft free and ea- fv and the moil: noble that could be fi- surctl. They of our Saviour. 12 -5 They will tell you in fine, that this Piece alone is fufficient to make one know that this excellent Painter has feen by the Penetration of his Art, into theNe- ceffity and Artifice of Chiarofcuro , the Idea of which he could not draw from any Pain- ter of his Time, nor learn its Principles, from any of his Mailers, who had abso- lutely no Knowledge of it : That in this Pi&ure the Strength of his Deiign isHich, that the Colours are there pronounc’d with fo much Neatnefs and Precifion, that no- thing more can be defired by the marked Lines even to the moll fecret and hid- den Extremities 3 and that this Strength is at the fame time accompanied with luch Softnefs, that even in the moll vifible Parts one fees a delicate Liberty which banifhes every thing that is hard and dry. That the Compofition is noble, rich, abundant, full , of Gravity and Difcretion* that all the A&ions there are exprefled with Grace and Propriety 3 that his Figures have all eafy and natural Movements 3 that if they are not always Groupes of Light and Shade, they pleafe however after the moil agree- able Manner by their A&ions3 and if his Draperies have fomewhat of the little Man- ner in them, he has made them in a grand? Gullo, and placed them when he pleafed, . in a beautiful Order of Folds 3 all which^ G 3 to 126 The Transfiguration to fpeak the Truth, could not be perfect- ly well known but by thofe of the Pro- feffion, and who know the Art and Rules of Painting : However, we fhall now fee what Wondersgood Senfe and a little good Tafte may difcover to the whole World in this Picture. This Piece is compofed of feven and twenty Figures, all fo well plac’d, that except four or five, one fees them all en- tirely •, contrary to the common Cuflom of Painters, who either to avoid Work, or that they know not how to difengage a Multitude of Figures one from another in the fame Picture, prefent us with a great many Heads behind fome Perfons who are painted at their full length in the Front* but here every thing is free anddifengag’d, and the Figures fo judicioufly ranged, that one fees them all alike, without any Con- fufion, or one hiding or covering ano- ther. Never were known Epifodes to form an ACtion more eafy to conceive at once than that of this Picture. An affliCted Mother, accompanied with a Parent and fome Jews, prefent to Jesus Christ her Son who was pofTeffed, that he might deliver him from the wicked Spi- rit: A ftrong robuftMan holds this Infant, who is horribly agitated by the Convulfi- ons of our Saviour. r it ons of the Poffefiion, with fliffned Arms, and Eyes flatting out of his Head, and the Fingers bent backward, tormented with the Pains he fuffers : One thinks one hears his Cries, and is fenfible of his Agonies; all his Veins are fwoln, the Skin of his Body flretched after an extraordinary Man- ner, his Mufcles tumid, and all the Parts of his Body in fuch a violent Condition, that no other Torment but that of Pof- feflion could vifibly put a human Body in the like Contorlions. This Mother finds the Apoflles without Jesus Christ at the Foot of Mount S Th abort flic fhews them the Tortures her Son fuffers ; all the Apoftles look with an Attention full of Aflonifhment at the Con- vulfions of this Child, but not believing it in their Power to free him from the De- vil that poffefies him, one of them con- tents himfelf to fhew the Mother the way which their divine Mafler had taken, who was retired to the Top of that Mountain, at the Foot of which they attended him. The Mother fhews the Apoflles her fuf- fering Son, the Apoflles in their turn to the Mother the Summit of the Moun- tain where their Mafler is. The Adlion of the Mother carries our Eyes to the Apoflles, and that of the Apoflles ele- vates them to Jesus Christ; and G . 4 thefe X28 The Transfiguration thefe two Actions have fuch Union one with another, that the Defign of the Pic- ture is difcovered at once, and the Hiftory alfo comprized at one View. The Heads of the Apoftles, and of the Jews that came along with the Mother, which have all Airs fo different, appear to be more and more animated the longer one looks at them 3 and the Life that flows thro’ the whole makes the Spe&ator en- ter into the ACHon, and that full of the fame Sentiments of thefe feveral Perfons, he quits them all to look as they do, with a Pity full of Aftonifhment at the fuffer- ing Infant. One believes ones felf really prefent at that very A&ion 3 that one fees a real Moun- tain in Size and Colour 3 that one is actu- ally at its Foot with the Mother of the poflefled Child 3 one looks up, as fhedoes, towards the Summit of Mount "Thabor , where the Son of God appears in the Air with fo Alining a Whitenefs as en- lightens the whole Picture, and by the Splendor of which one fees Jesus Christ full of a Majefty only peculiar to a Divi- nity 3 a Splendour fo brillant and fo lively, that the Top of the Mountain, which is all illuminated, makes the Bottom appear to lye in a kind of Davknefs and Obfcu- rity. Christ of our Saviour. 129 Christ appears in the Air with a tri- umphant Attitude, as a God, who fup- ports himfelf by his own proper Power. Mofes and Elias , who are on each fide, fiiine alfo with a very great Splendour, but which yet only appears as a Reflexion in refpedl of that of Jesus Christ \ and tho’ their Sufpenfion in the Air has an Attitude which difplays Viftory and Tri- umph, Raphael knew lo well to join with it fuch a Modefty, that they always appear two Creatures penetrated with the Ve- neration of their Creator and God, whom they adore with Sentiments of the molt profound Humility, even in their trium- phant Sufpenfion. The three Apoftles who went up with Jesus Christ to the Top of Mount ’Tha- borj feeing him environed with fo great a Splendour, and cloathed with fo much Majelty, remain equally dazzled and afto- niflied} and tho’ the Attitude of ail three arc very different, it would be a very dif- ficult Matter to. fay which exprelfes the Amazement and Surprize fuch a Spectacle produces. The Art of Raphael is above all admirable in the Exprefiion, by which he has fhewn in a Manner fo fen fible the Elevation of Jesus Christ, in refpedt to thefe three Apoliles j for tho’ there is only one Foot diflance 1 30 The Transfiguration, &c. difhnce between him and them, he Teems to touch the Empyreum, and that the Sum- mit of the Mountain where they are, in Relation to him, Teems a profound Abyfs, where he leaves them infinitely lower than himfelf * the firm and elevated Attitude of Christ, and theProftration of his Apoftles, one of whom has his Body extended almoft at its full length upon the Ground, pro- duce this EffeCt* and this is what no Pain- ter ever yet knew how to imitate in any of the Copies that I have Teen made of this Piece* indeed one Tees in theTe Copies, that this Apoflle is upon the Mountain, and that he touches it* but the Attitude of this Body To naturally extended, is one of thofe Productions of the Genius, and one of thofe Expreffions of the Pencil of the divine Raphael * all which no other Painter ever knew how to arrive at. CHAP. I ? I CHAP. XXVIII. Pieces of Sculpture at St. Peter’s, on the Vatican. St. Peter’s Chair. By Cavalier Bernini. d I S Work is one of thofe whofe Beauty is fo bright as to make the whole W orld render that Juffice which is due to their Authors > for one cannot look at it without admiring the Richnefs of that Genius, whofe Invention could make, if I may fay fo, out of nothing, a Thing fo grand and magnificent. G 6 To 132 St. Peter's Chair. To make a Chair, and to make it one of the greated Ornaments of the mod beautiful Church in the World! Here un- doubtedly it mud be own’d, that Art fur- pafles Nature, that the Mind fupply’d the place of Materials, and that the Magnifi- cence of a Genius elevates the Simplicity of a thing which has nothing grand and beautiful in it felfj and this is what Bernini has done in this Work. He has enclofed the Chair .of St. Peter in a Chair of Brafs gilt, pierted thro’, and enriched it with all the Ornaments that Sculpture can furnifh on the like Occafion : It is held up by four holy Do&ors *, all of Brafs, much larger than the Life, all crown’d with a radiant Glory of Brafs gilt *, and all this together, executed as it is, produces an Lffedfc fo grand and fo magnificent, that certainly there is nothing more beautiful in the Church of St. Pe- ter. * Athmafius, St, Chryfofiome , St, Ambrofe , and St. Agufline. Ma. in Madonna della Miseri- cord i a. o R, Our. Lady of Pity. A Groufe oyer the Altar of the great Chapel, which serves as a Choir to the Canons. By Michael Angelo Buonaroti. EVER Marble was better wrought than this *, it Teems to have been a kind of Palfe which the Sculptor has moulded as he pleafed. In other Pieces* one admires the Life which Sculptors give to Marble, which fometimes they animate after a wonderful Manner. In this Piece one muft Hand in as much Admiration of Death, of which Michael Angelo To well knew how to make an Expreffion in all the Members of * Michael Angelo made this Piece for Cardinal Bri~ cornet* I the 134 Madonna the Body of Jesus Christ, which this holy Virgin holds on her Knees. In other Pieces, one cries up the Ligfat- nefs which Sculptors give their Statues y in this one as much admires even the Heavinefs which Michael Angelo knew how to beftow on Marble it felf, in or- der to make the Members of Christ fall 5 the Gravity of which one fees as plainly here, as Lightnefs in the Statues of other Sculptors.. This Piece neverthelefs, has two Faults which will ever hinder it from being placed in the fame Rank with the other Works of this great Man. The firft is, that the holy Virgin has Jesus Christ upon her Knees without appearing any wile incommoded now it is not poffible that a Woman fhould have the Body of fo large aPerfon on her Knees without being feniible of the Weight, of being fomewhat uneafy. The fecond Fault regards the Virgin only : It is certain one cannot give more Majefty to a Woman than Michael An- gelo has given her \ fhe is all noble, full of all Grandeur and poffible Dignity j in this refpefl: fhe is indeed a Prodigy 5 but he has made her too young to be a Mo- ther of a Man above thirty Years of Age. Michael DELLA MlSERICORDIA. I 3 5 Michael Angelo thought of nothing but making an agreeable Figure, a fweet Face, model!: and beautiful, and he did lb ; but he did not attend to the Proportion of the Age which he fhould have given the holy Virgin in Relation to Jesus Chris t ; fhe is his Mother, and lhe appears here to be his Siller; die is a tender Mother, a Mother of Grief and Sorrow; and the oppreding Pains which fhe fuller’d on ac- count of the Paldon and Death of her Son ought to have made her old, but Michael Angelo has made her very young. Vasari in his Book of the Lives of Painters endeavours to excufe this Fault, and would even in this fhewus aCharadfer of a Beauty of the higheil Perfedtion; for my part I make no more Difficulty to agree with him, than to own at the fame time that the Merit of this excellent Sculp- tor is otherwife fo firmly elfablifh’d, that a Fault of this Nature would but very lightly affedl his Reputation. CHAP. I$6 C*h &} CHAP. XXIX. A Magdalene. A Picture in the Palace Pio, in Campo Fiore. By Giacomi Robusti, commonly called Tintoret, born at Venice. 0 H I S Magdalene is not the mod beautiful Perfon in the World, but fhe is fo full of Life, that ne- ver Pifture ever appeared lefs a Pi&ure than this: It is really a Woman alive, and weeping in the midd of all the Indruments of Chriftian Mortification * and in a Grotto, the Furniture of which infpires no lefs a penitential Sorrow than the Tears and Compunftion of this peni- tent Woman. The A Magdalene. 137 The Colouring of this Piece is as ex- cellent as lingular. Magdalene appears there upon Straw* her Habit is a Tiffue of the Barks of Trees of the fame Co- lour of the Rufhes, of which the Mat is made which ferves for her Bed* the Stones of this Grotto are likewife dry and yel- low like herHabit, Mat, and Straw * and all this fuits fo well with her pale and withered Face, that no Work in the World is bet- ter fet off with proper Colouring. I lhall fay nothing of the Chara&er of the Painter, only that not one of his Pic- tures Ihew better than this the particular Talent he had to chara&erife his Subjeft* that his Carnations were never more true, his Touches more judicious, and his Pen- cil more vigorous and ftrong. CHAP. CHAP. XXX. Porta del Popolo. By Michael Angelo Buonaroti, AND Cavalier Bernini. HE Porta del Popolo has this lingular in it, that it is only the W ork of the two greateft Archi- tects that Italy has produced in thefe latter Ages •, for the Front, or Fracciata which is out of the Town, was made by Michael Angelo - y and the o- ther, which is within the Town, by Ca- valier Bernini . The Porta del Popolo. 139 The Ornaments with which other Gates are fometimes all co vered and hiiloried over, will only look like fo many Pieces of cut Paper in Comparifon of the noble Simplicity of this, which has but three Ornaments, aFeftoon, and two Volutes, but of an Ele- gance by which one knows at firft fight that they muff have been the Produ&ions of one of the greateft Mailers of the Art. I fiiall add no more, only this, that I believe one cannot fee any thing more beautiful than this Gate, efpecially if one looks at it in the middle Street leading to the Piazza, where ones Eye is taken up with the View of an Obelifque that feems to crown the whole: For Bernini having made the Top of this Gate of a full Arch, very little different from a per- fe6t Circle, and the Obelifque appearing above it, this Arch ferves for its Bafis* the Obelifque feems to be placed upon the Gate, and to terminate it admirably well with the Crofs it has upon it * fo that at a cer- tain Diftance, one cannot fee a more beau- tiful Piece of Architecture, efpecially in the Evening, when the Twilight favours the Illufion of the Eyes * to which thefe two Pieces of Art, tho’ feparated from each other at a great Difiance, appear ne» verthelefs together, or rather one and the fame 140 Porto del Popolo. fame thing. One fees at fuch a time a perfect Obelifque, which Teems to have for its Bails a vaft Globe, on each fide of which are two kinds of Adouciffements en Gorge , which have the Tame Effe<5t as two large Parts of a Circle, and Balls upon Pedeftals, which rife from each fide of the AmoYtifjement of the Gate with a Re- gularity of Symetry which charms the Sight. CHAP. CHAP. XXXI Porta Pi a. By Michael Angelo Ruonarotl HERE is no Gate of a Town, even over all Italy , that can com- pare with the Porta Pia for De- licacy and Elegance of Archi- tefture 5 it is of fo furprizing a Lightnefs that it feems only to be made of Paper. It has nothing for Ornament but a Feftoon of Laurels ifiuing from two Vo- lutes, and two Bafins mounted upon a ’ Manipule hanging down of each fide for here it is that one may yet find that fimple Character by which all the Works of great Authors are imprefied > thus fimple and light, but grand and majeftick in its noble Simplicity, and delicate Lightnefs, it regales the Eyes with a Profped of Pomp and Magni- 142 Porta Pia. Magnificence, tho’ fet off with two Or- naments only, but of a Gufro that makes us fee it to be the Work of a Genius very much fuperiour to that of ordinary Archi- te£ts. CHAP HI CHAP. XXXII. A POMPEY. An Antique Statue in the Palace Spada. OMPEY has an Air fo grand in this Statue, that there is no Perfon living but muft think himfelf little in his Prefence, tho’it be but that of his Image. He has fomething of I know not what Auguft and Heroick which can only fuit with the Mailer of the World. One can- not look upon this Statue but one muft think it to be that of a Conqueror, a Hero, or an Emperor, only by the Majefty of him it reprefents. And tho’ it muft be own’d that the Statues of Cefar and Auguftus , which are now remaining, are alfo very beautiful, yet if one would place them near this, one i ihould t44 A Po MPEY. fhould mod certainly take them for the Officers of Pompey-, fo well has the Sculp- tor known how to give him the Air ot a Mailer. CHAP. 14 5 CHAP. XXXIII. Paintings in the Church of Saint Sylvester On Monte Cavallo. The Assumption of the Holy Vir- gin over the Altar of our La- dy's Chapel. By Scipio Pulzone Native ofG aietta. And Some Paintings by Domenichino • In the fame Chapel . HE Holy Virgin, who is painted in this Piece with an Air the moil fweet and graceful in the World, feems to afcend as one looks at her ^ and the Painter has given her an Attitude H f 0 x 4'6 Paintings in the fo excellent, for an Aflumption, that the more one drives to look at her, the more one believes fhe really afcends. The four Medallions on the arched Roof of this Chapel are done by the Hand of the famous Domeni chino. In that of Judith , the two little Boys who look upon the Head of Holophernes , are two Maderpieces for Expredion > and no Painter like himfelf ever knew how to paint Children after fo dnifhed a Manner, as may be feen here as well as in his other Pieces 5 the Airs of their Heads, the Pof- tures of their Bodies, a Promptitude of Movements, a Liberty of Gedures, and Attitudes of Nature, a Simplicity, and Likenefs which exceed every thing that o- thers have done of their belt in this kind, without excepting any one. Efiher falling in a Swoon before AJJ'uerus , is another Mafterpiece no lefs perfect > and never Swooning was better expreded, ei- ther by Palenefs of Vifage, or by the Fall of her Body, which would vifibly come to the Ground were it not fupported by her Women. But Domenichino , in my Opinion, has made an inexcufable Fault in the Medaillon or Circle, where he painted David danc- ing before the Ark, having put in the Re- tinue of that Holy King, a Bacchanal with Church of Saint Sylvester. 147 with her Timbrel advanced in the Air, and her Body half naked, preceding immedi- ately the Levites , who carry the Ark with a Modedy the mod: compofed, and which makes the Impudence and ^Nudity of the other the more ridiculous. Perspectives In the Roof of the sam ^Church, By Padre Mattheo Zaccolino a Theatirt, Native of Cefene in Romagna. T HE Cupola painted in Perfpedtive in the Roof over the Choir of this Church, is done with fuch Artifice, that the beft Eye is deceived. Unlefs Judgment co rre&s the Errors of the Eyes, one can- not help imagining, but that there is cer- tainly a Cavity in that part of the Roof where this Cupola is painted, and yet it is all flat and plain. One fees near this Cupola a little Angel painted in the Arch, which begins the Vault of the Choir, than which never any Painting appeared to have more of a real Reliefs thi s Angel feems to be entire- H 2 ly PECTIVES. leparated from the Roof, and to touch only with his Head *, Painting could ne- ver farther carry on Deception, nor was there ever Painter better underftood Per- fpedlive, and the Proportions of Light and Shade than Father Zaccolino , in the Opi- nion even of Poujfin , whofe Judgment ought to be of great Weight and Moment in fueh Occafions. CHAP, 149 v< C H A P. XXXIV. The Ruines of Dioclesian’s Baths, of which Michael Angelo Bu~ ONAROTI MADE THE CaRTHUSI- an ’s Church at Termini, the' Cloysters of those Fathers* one remains in Sufpenie between the Merit of the Anci- ents and that of the Moderns, and one does not know to whom to give the Preference. H 3 On 150 The Ruines of On one fide, the Grandeur of thofe vafl: and fpacious Halls of thofe ancient Baths is beyond all modem Buildings of this Nature 3 as foon as one comes in, one be- lieves one felf to be in fome auguft Tem- ple, one is feized with I know not what Refpedt at the fight of the Majefty of thofe proud Places, and moved with the fame Sentiments with which one is ftruck, entring fome Bafilick or mag- nificent Cathedral. The Columns which fupport the Vaults raifed out of thofe Baths, are the highefb, the molt beau- tiful, and mo ft perfedf we have left us by the Ancients 3 and one cannot think, without Aflonifhment, on the Capaci- ty of thofe Ages that produced fuch ilupendious Works. On the other Hand, one remains equal- ly feized with Surprife, when one confiders the Genius of that excellent Architedt, who knew how to make one of the fineit Churches in the World out of thefe an- cient Buildings 3 for Michael Angelo , by giving this Church the Form of a Greek Crofs, has in his Defign fo taken in, all thofe old Ruins, that the lead Corner has fome Proportion and Symmetry with the Body of the whole 3 one cannot fee any thing more clear and perfe&5 f° that one Dioclesian’s Baths. 151 one knows not which we ought moft to admire, either the Ancients, which built, fuch vail and proud Edifices 3 or the mo- dern Archited, who knew fo well how to preferve their Ruins, and out of fo many different Pieces to form a Veil'd fo Beau- tiful and Regular. The Cloyiler of tliefe Reclufes is alia the Work of Michael Angelo 3 and there is not one in all Italy of a Defign fo ele- gant, neat, and pretty, tho’ it is one or the greateil that ever was. It is a Light* nds of admirable Architecture. In the Gal* leries below, to the Garden fide, it has no* thing but fmall Pillars, but fo wonderfully delicate that thefe Galleries are as light as if they had none at all : Thofe above, tho 4 clofed, are however towards the Garden pierced with fo many Windows, that they are as light as if they were quite o- pen. Thefe Windows are of an half ob- long Square, but formed in fuch a Man- ner, that their Extremity makes a kind of Crefcent, which feems as it were willing to embrace the neighbouring Oval, which produces a very agreeable Eited: to the Eye. This Gallery is all covered over with the fineft Prints in Europe , ranged with H 4 the 152 The Ruins of, See. the greateft Judgment > and there is no Place in the World where one can amufe one felf more agreeably and with greater Profit. € H A P, *53 M M & M & & ^ ^ cfd C'i'2 cl- 9 Cf® CfS C*9 Cf» 6/5 6*9 Ct9 &>%$ tofcS ts->'fc3 %/%$£■ ^ ^7^3 tm<3 <* ofov* ok ■$ Cc'^3 gJ&TJ £3*02 s ^6. «T9_ ^<75 5-W i»W« swm fri* d ’***' -