A Tour through France and Italy (2011) [e-text], ed. W.G. Roberts
a Tour through France and Italy
undertaken in the Years
1739 to 1741
BY
Thomas Gray
transcribed and edited by W.G.Roberts
Northern Academic Press
Penrith
2011
2003, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Introduction and supporting notes © with W.G.Roberts, 2011
Revised for the internet in 2011
Introduction | 6 |
1. Rheims [June-September 1739] | 9 |
Cathedral of Notre Dame Ch. of S. Remi Ch. of S. Nicaise Ch. of Pierre aux Dames Triumphal Arch | |
2. Rheims to Dijon [September 1739] | 11 |
Chalons: Cathedral & Ch. of Notre Dame Dijon: Palais des Etats, Palais du Roi, Abbey of S. Benigne Lyons: Hotel de Ville, Eglise des Carmelites | |
3. Lyons [September 1739] to Geneva [October 1739] | 15 |
The Grande Chartreuse
| |
4. Turin [November 1739] | 17 |
Pal. Reale Pal. Ducale | |
5. Genoa [November 1739] | 22 |
Il Gesu Duomo/ Ch. of S. Lorenzo Ch. of Ste Maria in Carignano Ch. of the Annonciata Ch. of S. Francesco Pal. Durazzo Pal. Balbi Pal. Brignole | |
6. Parma [November 1739] | 30 |
Duomo Ch. of S. Giovanni de Monte Ch. of S. Antonio Abbate Ch. of Madonna della Steccata Teatro Farnese Villa Ducale | |
7. Modena [November 1739] | 35 |
Pal. Ducale
| |
8. Bologna [December 1739] | 40 |
Pal Ranuzzi Pal. Sampieri Pal. Zambeccari Ch. dei Mendicanti Ch. of S. Domenico Monache di Sta Agnese Pal. Magnani Ch. of Corpus Domini Pal. Publico Ch. of S. Giorgio Ch. of S. Gregorio Pal.Tanari Pal. Andravandi Ch. of S. Giovanni in Monte Ch. of Monastery of Sta Margherita Pal. Zani Pal. Monti Pal. Caprara Pal. Bonfiglioli Academy del Disegno Institute Ch. of St. Petronius Certosa St Michel in Bosco Ch. of Madonna di S. Luca | |
9. Florence [December 1739] | 56 |
Uffizi Pal. Pitti | |
10. Rome [April -May 1740] | 73 |
Pal. Spada Pal. Borghese Pal Sacchetti Ch of S. Maria della Concezione Pal. Colonna Pal. of the Pope Pal. Picchini Ch. of S. Gregorio & Andrea Ch. of S. Sebastiano Ch. of S. Francesco Ch. of S. Maria (Trastevere) Ch. of S. Cecilia (Trastevere) |
Ch. of S. Andrea della Valle Ch. of S. Crisogno Ch. of S. Ambrogio e Carlo Ch. of S. Maria alla Minerva Chiesa Nuova Pal. Barberini Pal. Corsini Pal. Bolognetti Pal. Santibuoni Pal. del Cardinal Giudice Pal. Chigi Pal. Pamfilii The Capitol | |
11. Naples | 122 |
Marino Velletri Cisterna Sermoneta Piperno Terracina Formiae Capua Naples: The Certosa | |
12. Environs of Naples [June 1740] | 131 |
Grotta [tunnel] at Puzzuoli Grotta del Cane Avernus Sibyl's Grotta Bauli Arco Felice Herculaneum | |
Bibliography | 147 |
List of Artists and Works | 148 |
Endnotes | 169 |
The copy texts for these notes have been taken from three sources. The notes on the journey through France and Italy as far as Bologna and Florence are taken from the notebook in Gray's handwriting in the possession of Mr John Murray; the notes on Florence (from the Palazzo Pitti onwards) and Naples are taken from the reprint in D.C. Tovey's Gray and His Friends (which are themselves taken from manuscript pages in the possession of Eton College); while the notes on Rome are taken from Volume IV of the 1836 edition of John Mitford's edition of Gray's Works (for which there appears to be no manuscript source).
The objective in printing these notes has been to make them available in a research document. There is a case in such a document for an exact transcript but, in order to make the notes more readable, I have taken some typographical liberties, without altering the wording of the text.
Gray's punctuation, like that of many eighteenth-century writers, was idiosyncratic and unsystematic. He is particularly prone in these notes to the use of varying numbers of dashes to indicate breaks and pauses, without grammatical significance. I have, therefore, standardized these usages to one dash for each pause. His use of italics (underlining in the manuscript) is also irregular. I have therefore had to adopt my own system. In order to make the lists more readable, I have used italics (a) for titles, (b) for the names of artists, and (c) for words from foreign languages. I have also used bold type with placenames (on their first occurrence). The asterisks which appear are Gray's, presumably to indicate important works, though he also seems inconsistent in his use of them. Since Gray moves in and out of Latin and Italian with some frequency, assuming the reader's comprehension, these have also had to be accompanied sometimes
with short explanations in square brackets. I have been obliged to omit some paragraph numbering, since it was unsequential in the original, and I have, on occasion, broken up stretches of writing into new paragraphs and set the lists of paintings into hanging paragraphs, with the objective of making the spread on the page both less daunting and more methodical. I have also varied the size of the font, using 12-point for narrative, 11-point in lists, and 10-point in notes. Finally, I have added end-notes to explain as many of Gray's references as I could; the only footnotes are Gray's own. The endnotes are not exhaustive or authoritative but are meant to indicate the extent of Gray's field of reference. The defence for them is that Gray is always allusive, in his prose as in his poetry, and that he offers the fullest rewards when the allusions are tracked down and the full range of his field of reference is revealed.
At times, Gray's notes on his tour, as they catalogue the paintings that he saw, have the limited interest of any list. His comments on paintings are often stylized and betray the prejudices of the period, but they are always thoughtful, often animated, sometimes challenging. There is scope in these lists for many errors, both by Gray, as he may have wrongly identified paintings, and by myself, as I stray out of my own literary specializations in attempting to cope with the names of painters unknown to me or now known by different names. However, what is extraordinary is the knowledge of this 23-year-old and the pertinacity and intellectual stamina of his exploration of Renaissance art. It is perhaps no wonder that his companion, Horace Walpole, seems eventually to have tired of this relentless daily examination of galleries and museums. I have done my best, with the help of Groves' Dictionary of Art and Bénézit's Dictionnaire des Peintres, to check, footnote, and list the artists that Gray mentions, though some have eluded me. Many of the palazzi that Gray visited have changed in use and many of the pictures that Gray saw are now relocated or scattered in galleries across the affluent western world; some will have been lost or destroyed. No doubt a thesis could be written on this diaspora.
Gray's notes (which were not intended for publication) do not have
the original vision or illuminating diction of the notebooks of the travels in the Lakes or Scotland. But, besides having the historical value of an intelligent and early record of a Grand Tour, they do show aspects of Gray's character, his encyclopaedic knowledge, his familiarity with the classics, his interests in science, that are valuable in constructing the persona which we need to have in approaching his poetry. Reconstructing Gray's experience from this incomplete record also gives an opportunity to revisit places made too familiar by modern tourism and to recreate attitudes and sensations which have been left behind but which may still have their values.
Perhaps this apologia amounts to saying that this is not a book to read, following the usual practice of that occupation, but it is a document that needs to be known about by eighteenth- century scholars and it does offer much as a resource.
I wish to thank Mr John Murray for his permission to transcribe and print the Gray notebook and Mrs Virginia Murray for her help in making the manuscript available. I should also like to thank Canon Walter Ewbank of Carlisle for his assistance in tracing and translating Latin and Greek quotations.
RHEIMS.
CHIEF city of Champagne, 3rd in France for bigness, water'd by the little River Vele [mod. Vesle], famous for Crawfish - a manufacture of Woollen - Pluviers [plovers] de Champagne - Croquants [biscuits] de Rheims1 - Cathedral of Nôtre Dame - beautiful Gothic front with two towers of surprising lightness, Kings of France crowned here, by the Archbishop, who is first Peer of the Kingdom - high Altar plated over with Gold wrought in figures of rude workmanship - Tomb of Card: John of Lorraine behind it - the Treasury, and rich vestments for the Coronation.
Church of St. Remi, the patron of the city, his Tomb behind the Altar, surrounded with the statues of the 12 Peers of France in a composition like white marble; within it the shrine of the Saint, of massy Gold; his Crosier set with jewels; the holy vial brought from heaven to anoint Clovis the 1st - in one corner of the Church an ancient Sarcophagus with a boar-hunting in Relievo - neat cloister, and library of Benedictins.
Church of St. Nicaise - a handsome, light, ancient structure - Buttresses, that tremble upon the ringing a bell - a Sarcophagus with a Lion hunting in high Relief, said to be about the age of the Emp. Julian - neat refectory and library - Benedictins.
Church of St. Pierre-aux-Dames. Handsome altar with rich Ornaments - in the Choir, the tomb of Margaret of Lorraine, Queen of Scotland, of the house of Guise, Mother to Mary Stuart, and Foundress of this Convent - Benedictine Nuns - Abbess, of the house Roucy.
Within the ramparts near the Porte de Mars lies buried under the mound a Triumphal Arch, a narrow passage leads into it; it is
composed of 3 arches pretty near of a height, adorn'd with Reliefs representing Romulus and Remus with the Wolf; Jupiter and Leda; the Seasons, and employments proper to them; with a border, of armour, thrown in heaps; and victories [statues of the goddess] at the corners, writing on shields; 6 Corinthian round Pilasters, fluted, appear withoutside the rampart, and two are wanting; it is here said to be erected to Jul: Cæsar, but the workmanship appears of a much later age. In the middle of the city is another small Roman Arch ill-preserved, called now La Porte-Basse.
Staid 3 months here - lodged at Monsr. Hibert's, Rue St. Dennis, June, July, August, 1739.
[List of residents visited]
Monsr and Madme Lelue.*—
Monsr and Madme Roland.*— Monsr and Madme de Résicourt.* Monsr and Madme Cogbert. Madme la Baronne de Pouilly.— Monsr and Madme de Pouilly.* Monsr and Madme Faval.* Monsr and Madme D'Herbigny. * Monsr and Madme Renart.* Monsr and Madme D'Aubert.* Mlle Petit.* 3 Demlles Rouillé.* Madme Bonvalon. Monsr and Madme D'Agny. |
3 Messrs Rogier.
Monsr de Beaugilliers. Monsr Fremin. Mr. L'Abbé Paumier. Mr. L'Abbé Huillote. Mr. L'Abbé de Vinet. Mr. L'Abbé Carbon. [Gosse's note on Mons. de Pouilly: "This must have been Levesque de Pouilly, a member of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres".] |
From Rheims to Dijon and Lyons.
Past by Verzenay, famous for the best red wines in Champagne, and Sillery, where is a house and gardens of the Marquis de Puisieux - the road running thro' a fertile, open country, but unpleasant enough to the eye; being without enclosures, and thinly sprinkled with trees.
Dined at Chàlons sur Marne [now Châlons-en-Champagne] - à la Poste.
Cathedral of St. Etienne.
Parish Church of Nôtre Dame.
Fine Back-front of the Benedictin's Convent.
Le Jars, the publick walks, an agreeable place, planted with alleys of large elms, en Patte d'Oye [in the shape of a goose's foot], and the River Marne, running along on one side of it. The Ramparts, handsomely planted with Elms.
Left Vitry le François, a large town to the right, passing thro'its suburbs - road from Châlons - Hemp, Buckwheat - Vineyards upon a flat, on each side, a little before you come to St Dizier - au Lion d'or. Lay. An ugly old town, with suburbs bigger than itself.
Beautiful way, commonly on the side of a hill, cover'd with woods, the river Marne winding in the vale below, and Côteaux cover'd with vines riseing gently on the other side: fine prospect of the town of Joinville, with the castle on the top of a mountain, overlooking it, dined at a village, called Vignoris [mod. Vignory]. Ruins of an old Castle on the brow of a mountain, whose sides are cover'd with woods.
Langres. Lay au Cerf volant. A small city on a high hill. The Bishop is Duke, and Peer of France, the Cathedral, an ill-shaped old structure with one square tower, and one spire in front, dedicated to St Mammet - Tombs of the bishops, some of Bronze, but unadorn'd - that
of Card: Gesuves, with his figure of Bronze kneeling.
Enter'd Burgundy at a village, called Ghil. Passed through a fine fertile plain by an Avenue of Lime trees, that leads to:
Dijon. - 4 days - a la Croix d'or. The Capital of the Dutchy, a very small, but beautiful city, of an oval form, full of People of Quality, and a very agreeable Society. Palais des États, a magnificent new building - the Vestibule, and grand Staircase fine - the Chappel small and unfinished, Altar of various beautiful marbles; Gates and wainscoting of handsome Menuiserie [carpentry] - Chamber of the States, Throne of blew velvet sprinkled with Gold Fleurs de Lis; Picture of the King under it. Palais du Roy, a large handsome structure, built in the beginning of the Late King's Reign on the ground, where stood the Palace of the ancient Dukes of Burgundy, a tower of the old building left standing from whose top you have a fine prospect of the City, and its Environs. The Duke of Bourbon is lodged here, when he comes every 3 years to hold the Assembly of the States, it is wholly unfurnish'd. Before it is The Place; lieing in a Semicircle, neatly built, a huge equestrian statue of Louis 14 of Bronze, in the midst of it. Into this leads on one side the Rue de Condé, a street of regular new Houses, 4 stories high, the entrance of every Shop is an Arch. Church of St. Michael, fine front in the latter Gothic taste. Church of the Cordeliers, much adorn'd, several handsome modern tombs. Church of the Bernardines, a neat Dome, cover'd with tiles of various colours. Abbey of St. Benigne, in it an ancient Christian church, composed of 3 vaults one upon another, that are supported by 104 pillars, forming a kind of Rotonda, which receives its light from an opening in the top.
The Chartreuse, a quarter of a mile out of the town thro' an alley of Limes. In their chappel are the tombs of Philip le Hardi, and Jean Sanspeur, Duke of Burgundy, with his Dutchess, Margaret of Bavaria, both these monuments are much in the same taste, the 3 figures are of
white marble, but painted to represent the life: the body of the tombs of black marble finely polish'd, and the sides adorn'd with hundreds of small figures, representing all the Religious Orders in various attitudes of Grief. The Parc, about a mile from the City thro' a double Avenue of fine Limetrees. It is a charming place, laid out into an Etoile with high hedges of Hornbeam, and Grass-Walks, a Mall, and a Parterre intermixed with tall Fir trees; on one side runs the River Ouche, across which is an old house of the Dukes, called La Colombiere, the other sides command a view of the town, and country adjacent.
Passed thro' Nuys [Nuits St George] & Beaune, 2 small cities near which grow the best wines of Burgundy, a most fertile, & beautiful country cover'd with vineyards, & fruit-trees, went without stopping thro' Chalons sur Saône, a large city, tolerably handsome. Lay at Mâcon. From Chalons, hither, one has commonly in sight the Saône, glideing very slowly thro' a delightful country. From the top of Mount Tornus you have a noble prospect of that River with the province of La Bresse on the other side of it, & the town of Tornus with the rich Abbey of St Philibert below you.
Thro' Villefranche, a little City, but the capital of the Beaujolois. This Province, & the Lionnois are fine countries, laid out into enclosures, full chiefly of Hemp, Buck-wheat, and Maize, with some few Vines. A charming view in descending a very steep Hill just before you come to Lyons, of the Fauxbourgs of that City, the Saône, & the little mountains about it, covered with Convents, Houses and Gardens of the Bourgeois.
Lions. Lodged à l'Hotel de Bourgogne, pres de la Grande Place, a fortnight.
Principal quarters of that great city lie in a Peninsula formed by the confluence of the Rhône and Saône, a Stone bridge of 18 Arches laid
over the first, which runs with extreme rapidity, and is full of Islands, joins this, and the Fauxbourg de la Guillotiere: another stone bridge, and 3 wooden ones over the Saône connect it with the rest of the City, and Suburbs, which lie mostly on the declivity of several very steep hills, the streets are generally extreme narrow & the houses high, but the whole enliven'd by its great Populousness & Commerce. The best prospects are from the Chartreuse, & St Marie de Fourviere. See Les Antiquités de Lyon par le Père Colonia en 2 vol: 12 mo.[duodecimo]
L'Hotel de Ville
Le College de Jesuites, leur Église, leur Bibliotheque, & leur Cabinet
La Place de Bellecour
La Mignature sur Fourviere
L'Église des Carmelites &c. &c.
From Lyons to Geneva, thro' Dauphine and Savoy.
5 Days, (en Voiture) & a half. First night at La Verpillier, a poor Village. 2nd Day entered Savoy at Pont-Beauvoisin, lay at Echelles. The road runs over a Mountain, which gives you the first tast of the Alps, in it's magnificent rudeness, and steep precipices: set out from Echelles on horseback to see the Grande Chartreuse2, the way to it up a vast mountain, in many places the road not 2 yards broad; on one side the rock hanging over you, & on the other a monstrous precipice. In the bottom runs a torrent, called Les Guiers morts, that works its way among the rocks with a mighty noise, and frequent Falls. You here meet with all the beauties so savage and horrid a place can present you with; Rocks of various and uncouth figures, Cascades pouring down from an immense height out of hanging Groves of Pine-Trees, & the solemn Sound of the Stream, that roars below, all concur to form one of the most poetical scenes imaginable: this continues for 2 leagues, and then (within a little of the mountain's top) you come to the Convent itself, which is only considerable for it's situation, & bigness. It contains about 100 Fathers, and Freres together, & 200 Servants. All is extremely neat, but in the greatest Simplicity; the Offices are remarkable for their contrivance, and cleanliness. 2 Fathers are appointed to entertain Strangers, if they please, dureing 3 days. They are served with Fish, Butter, Cheese, Fruits, and Wine, all perfectly good in their kind. We dined there, and returned in the afternoon to Échelles.
Passed thro' a road made with infinite labour thro' a mountain called La Grotte. At the beginning of it, is erected a monument with an inscription, to inform you, it was done by Order of Charles Emanuel the 2d, D: of Savoy. Chambéri is a very little, and a very bad town, tho' the Capital of the Dutchy; the vale of Savoy, and the hills that confine it seem pretty well cultivated, and exhibit various agreeable
Views to the eye: the road very stony, and ill kept. Lay at Aix, once famous for its hot-baths; there are some Roman remains about them.
Came to Annecy, where resides the exiled bishop of Geneva. It is a little city, situated upon a pretty Lake.
Comeing down from the mountains you have a fine prospect of the plain country, Geneva, and it's lake. The contrast between the poverty, and misery of Savoy, and the happiness of that little Republic is very strikeing. In one you see indeed beautiful vallies, but inhabited by nothing but ragged, and bare-footed Peasants, and those in no great number, in the other all is neat, and well-cloathed; the city itself has a compact, and military Air, and swarms with People, that have business in their faces. Part of it lies in an Island form'd by the Rhone, which seems almost as large here as at Lyon, and runs with an extreme rapidity. Geneva forms a semicircle at one end of the Lake, and from thence makes a very pretty appearance. The buildings are generally very neat, and substantial. The Greille [grating] and Ramparts are extremely pleasant for walking; the Lake, and its borders charming. They take Trout in it of 50 Pound weight, and more, which are sent ready dress'd by the Post into France and Spain.
Turin
Turin - a week - á l'Auberge Royale. The straitness of the streets, which in the new quarter are wholly laid out by the line, as it contributes much to the beauty of this City, so it makes it appear much smaller, than it really it is, for at your first entrance you see quite through it. The Strada del Po is near ½ a mile long with a handsome Corndore [Arcade] on both sides from one end to the other, & is terminated by a fine Doric Gate, that leads to the Po, which runs not a quarter of a mile from the Town. Just on the other side of it is a Convent of Capucins upon an eminence, which commands a view of the City, but this & a Monastery (called La Superga, founded on a high hill & richly adorned with marble by the late Victor Amadeus after the Battle of Turin) I unluckily had no opportunity of seeing. the buildings here in general are of brick, either plaister'd or intended to be so (for in those that are not, the holes of the scaffolding are all left unstopt) & generally of some regular order, 7 Story high for the length of whole Streets: the Windows are oil'd Paper, which is often torn & has a very ill Effect to the eye. Many great Houses the Architecture but indifferent, but altogether makes a good Appearance enough. The prince of Cavignan's Palace is very vast. The Piazza di Carlo is a pretty Square: on two of its Sides are Portico's, surrounded by Bodies of regular building; on one of the other's the Church of St Christina, which is neat enough; & a View runs across it, quite from the Porta Nuova to the Palace of the King [Palazzo Reale]. This Palace is of brick, like to the rest, the front plaister'd, not very large; runs round one square Court, & a Garden behind it. The appartments are small, but as magnificent as Gilding, Inlaying, Mirrours, & Painting can make them. The parquets are indeed very fine, the Queen's Closet, & some other Rooms have fine inlayed Work of an Artist now liveing at Turin in Ivory, & Mother of Pearl upon Ebony. Here is a pretty numerous collection of Pictures, the most considerable of which are:
Solomon & the Queen of Sheba - Paul Veronese.
2 very large Pictures, great number of Figures some fine, but little Grace or Propriety. there are some more of this Master.
Several capital ones of Bassan, with Cattle, Poultry, & Rustick figures.
Some of Titian, Portraits. These are in a Gallery with some Antique Busts, not considerable; at each end are Door-Cases with Pillars of a fine yellow Marble.
In several other Rooms:
K. Charles the 1st of England standing, Whole Length, in the Habit of the
Time - Vandike - a fine Picture. there is much Architecture in it, possibly
of some other hand, but exceeding good.
A Riposo; Boy Angels pulling Palm-Branches, which are all wither'd with
the heat of the Sun, to shade the Madonna: a small Picture; very fine -
Albano.
Rubens, embraceing his Wife, by himself. Half-figures.
The Elements of Albano. Greatly esteem'd, but I think not so fine as that
above mention'd.
Many others, called Vandyke, Titian, Rubens, &c. Several good Flemish
& Dutch pictures. Many pieces of Solymini: his usual, unnatural, strange
Colouring.
In a Cabinet of the King's Appartment:
Miniatures; they are Portraits after Vandyke, Titian, &c by Padre Ramelli,
a Religious now alive, inchased in the Wainscoting, some of 'em extreme
beautiful: they are all he ever did.
In an Alcove, opposite to the Window, with Glass Doors, in a small round is fix'd in the Wall a Madonna with Angels, very beautiful, Carlo Marat.
In another Chamber:
Charles the 1st's Children with a Dog. Vandike.
The Palace of the Duke of Savoy joins this; one of its Fronts is a good handsome Structure. Here many pictures are; of no value, except 4 great Views of a Palace intended to have been built at Rivoli; by Paolo Pennini.
Just by is the Royal Academy, 3 fine Galleries, one over another on two sides of a large Area are the Students' Lodgings, & the Appartments open upon them. Another side is fill'd by a building where the Archives are deposited: in one of the Rooms is kept the Isiack Table3 so well known. It was taken in Pope Clement the 7th's time in the Sacking of Rome, & carried to Mantua where it came into Cardinal Bembo's possession, who presented it to this Court. It is of a dark, Metallic composition with Silver Figures inlaid in it, & well preserved. Here are also many Volumes in MS: of Pirro Ligorio with Drawings after ancient Paintings & Bas-Reliefs: not very good, but rare. The 4th side is taken up by a noble Theatre, which the King is building. In the Strada del Po under a Portico, which runs round the Area of the University are fix'd in the wall many antique Inscriptions & Bas-Reliefs, that have been dug up hereabouts. Among them is one called a Bacchanal, but seems a Cassandra. She is naked, except a little loose Drapery, that falls from one Arm upon her legs. Her back is turn'd towards you but her head is thrown back so as to show a fine Profile; she kneels with one knee upon a square Altar, & holds in her hand a small figure of Pallas: behind her is a bust of an old Man on a Column. This Bas-Relief is of polish'd Pavian marble in a good Greek taste. Figure is not a foot high - All these antiquities are rang'd by C.Scipio Maffei.
The Church of St Phillipo Neri is building of white Marble; the Inside is finish'd, & beautifully adorn'd. The Court were at La Venerie, a Palace 2 or 3 Leagues from Turin.
Through Moncallier, which is a Palace, an ancient brick building on an eminence, where the Duke of Savoy then was - lay at Asti, a small City.
Pass'd thro' Alexandria, a large city situated on the River Tanaro in a rich & beautiful Plain, & strongly fortified. Here is held a famous Fair. Lay at Novi, the first Town in the Genoese State; it is well
peopled, & seem'd full of business. The road hither execrably bad, like most of those in Lombardy dureing the winter.
Passed the mountains; a bleak & uncomfortable prospect of barren Tops of hills, the highest of 'em called the Bouquet, over which the road winds, supplies Genoa with that beautiful Marble, speckled with Green, White, & Black, which you see in their Churches, & Palaces: the Rocks, as you go along, appear all of that hue, & huge rough blocks of it frequently are seen at the doors of little Villages, that lie hereabouts. After you have passed this the Road runs thro' a Plain, full of vein'd Pebbles of several Colours. You cross the Torrent, called Ponziera (wch passes by Genoa) above 20 times & at last you come into the magnificent Fauxbourg of that City; I believe, it is a little mile long with many noble Villa's on either hand, with their gardens & marble decorations. There is a sort of Terrace here in use, that I have not before seen; on the top of their high walls next the street, runs a row of marble Columns of a regular order; between 'em are Statues, or Orange trees plac'd, & on them rests a frame of Trellis-work, which is cover'd with Vines, or Jessamine; these have a noble effect, as have the Porticoes, that many of their houses are flanked with; they are usually even with the 2nd Story, supported by tall pillars of white Marble; and Balustrades of the same, with cielings of Stucco, white figures on a grey ground: they look cool, & stately. The Gates are commonly lofty arches, thro' which you have a view of the Vestibule, the square area surrounded by galleries upon which the appartments open, with double flights of Steps, that lead up unto them, & another opposite arch, that discovers to you, either the gardens behind, or a Nich with a Statue, & Fountain, or some piece of painting in perspective to represent one or the other. This is the general form of their palaces both without & within the City, & some of them are wholly built of marble, as that of the Duke D'Oria in the Strada Nuova &c: others have their Porticoes, Stuccoes & Terrasses of it, as the Prince Doria's, the Pal: Durazzo in the Strada Balbi, & that which this last-named Family have bestowed on the Jesuits, where the
3 galleries are supported by 96 Columns of white marble, each of one single block; & all the magnificent Staircases, with two Lions on each hand of the principal one (they are big as the life, crouching, & in admirable taste) are wholly of the same materials. There are abundance more adorn'd in the same manner; & none at all, that have not the Door, & Window-Cases of it. The City surrounds its Port, which is semicircular, entirely, and appears from the Sea, like a most stately Theatre, it's houses and palaces, Churches, & Porticoes gradually rising one above another & intermix'd with Gardens & Terrasses full of Oranges, Vines, Lemons, & Cypress-Trees. The declivity of it's situation, tho' it adds much to the beauty of the prospect, is a great inconvenience in reality, the streets being all too narrow & too steep to admit of Coaches; however, they are always clean and well paved. The mountains, that rise close behind it, rather set off than diminish it's beauty by their naked & barren appearance. At the Western gate is a very high Watch-tower & from hence runs a handsome Terrace along by the Sea-side for a great way; here Coaches can drive & enjoy a noble view of a part of the City with that beautiful Bay, which is usually cover'd with Vessels of all Sizes.
Genoa
Alla Sta. Martha. A week.
The next day was the feast of the Madonna della Vigne; we went in the morning to her Church: her Statue dress'd with jewels & altar finely lighted up. On the right side of the great Altar was a State for the Doge; he came, attended by the Senate. He was dress'd in long robes of crimson Damask, & a little Sattin Bonnet, his Pages of Honour wore short slash'd doublets of green & gold, & little Spanish Cloaks of Crimson Velvet laced: the Senate in black. A Lady of Quality set at a table to receive the charities for the redemption of Captives. Mass was celebrated to a fine Concert of musick; Agostini4, Scalzi5 & the Bolognese boy sung. The Churches of St Siro, & that of St Ambrosio called Il Giésu, are on the inside adorned with vast quantities of various Marbles, many of them exquisitely beautiful; the Columns of the first are remarkable for their diameter & height, and are all of as many single blocks of Carrara-Marble polished: the latter is cover'd with Mosaicks of many fine kinds of it.
Here at one of the side Altars is a noble picture of Guido. The Assumption*. Above 20 figures near as big as life, fine airs of heads & expressions of wonder below. The Virgin in a bright heaven above with vast beauty & devotion in the face, her hands cross'd upon her breast; white drapery in great noble folds. Angels round her adoreing with such airs & faces as one sees only in this Master's works. The preservation & the light pretty good. It is a good deal resembling his fine one in Sr Robert Walpole's Collection, the subject there is called, Doctors disputeing on the Immaculate Conception.6
In the opposite chapel is, The St Ignatius Loyola*, of Rubens; that Saint is represented as cureing a Woman possessed. She is in violent convulsions, her head flung back all pale, with eyes full of rage & distorted features, & two Men hold her with extreme difficulty; another woman is
Near the great altar is another of Rubens, not good: I forget the subject -
In one of the most elevated parts of the City stands the Church, called Ste Maria in Carignano; you come to it over a bridge of 5 or 6 arches of a prodigious height; it is laid across a deep valley & looks nobly. This was built by the noble family of Sauli, as was the Church & 12 Canons handsomely endowed at the same time. It is a large fabrick with a Dome & two towers in front. The inside neatly but plainly adorned with Stucco: the altars of white marble, as are the Portal & the Balustrades that run round the outsides of the Cupola.
At the first altar is St Francis at prayers; his companion sleeping at a
distance: it is a savage place & the colouring proper to such a scene - a
good Picture - Guercino -
Madonna with Angels, St Francis & St Carlo kneeling on each side, a dark
strong manner. a little Cherub kissing the foot of the Virgin, is exquisite -
G.C. Procaccino.
The next is somewhat of Cambiaso -
Martyrdom of a Saint: they are drawing him up by the wrists with a Pully.
The soul of some other saint (a young & graceful figure) born by Angels
above, a woman sitting upon the ground turns aside her head to weep.
Expression like the Domenichino, Colouring & Angels like Guido.
Extremely fine - Carlo Marat.
The high Altar I do not remember -
Magdalen dying: a Bishop is bringing her the Sacrament, an Angel holds
a torch. She is quite pale & expiring, supported by Angels very good -
F. Vanni.
The rest are modern hands, Franchescini, &c: Piola -
Under the Cupola are 4 Statues vastly large. 2 of them, the St. Christopher,
& B. Alessandro Sauli are of Puget, & have a great air.
From the top of this church one has a noble view of the City, & the Sea: they say in a clear day, one may discover Corsica from it. The Church called The Annonciata is a fine structure not yet finish'd on the Outside; the Inside as rich as Gilding, Painting, & Marble can make it, over the great door is:
The Last Supper, very large & well preserved, a great many figures, 'tis
dark but very fine - G. Cesar Procaccino.
All the other pictures are
modern - Lomellini7 -
St Fillipo Neri is a very rich & beautiful Church, the Altars admirably disposed & adorned with Marble of all Sorts. Here every Sunday is an Oratorio - St Lorenzo, the Dome - a great Gothick Pile, built of black and white marble, laid alternately. The shrine of St John the Baptist here is very fine. St Francesco is another old church; on the left side, the next chappel to the high altar has a strange Picture, designed to represent The Immaculate Conception. The Virgin (a good figure) is standing in the Clouds, supported by Angels. Opposite to her is God the Father, flying down in an odd attitude: he is naked as far as the middle, & a little angel seems about to uncover him still lower. Below is a Dragon with 7 heads, & other allegorical representations, it is by Tintoret -
The two noblest Streets in Genoa are those called the Strade Nuova & Balbi. They are neither of them very long, or wide; but have on each side 6 or 7 of the most beautiful palaces.
Palazzo Durazzo.
The view thro' this is vastly grand; it is very large, & abundance of noble appartments, exquisite marble Tables, Cabinets &c: here are several fine pictures, among the rest:
Seneca dying*; pretty dark, strongly color'd, like the Carracci; the Philosopher himself is the least good figure, those that are supporting him,
In the same room, & in a quite different manner are:
Sofronia & Olindo tyed to the Stake, Clorinda arriving8 - Ditto;
Perseus with Medusa's head, many turned into stone - Ditto
Several Rooms furnished with Paintings upon silk after Designs of Rafaël; they are the same with those of his Bible in the Vatican, but as large as life -
The Lady in green velvet & gold, Ritratto [portrait], whole length, Vandike.
Adam & Eve, Cam. Procaccino -
Christ* at the supper of Simeon, Magdalen anointing his feet. Many figures; the 2 principal ones very ungraceful. Paolo Veronese.
A Gallery with a range of antique Statues on each side, Nymph & Satyr, the heads good - Mercury standing, a gentile figure. Less than life - Hebe, a goblet in one hand, grapes in the other, much discolour'd but the drapery very fine, & natural.
In another gallery among other things, are some small antiques about a foot & ½ high -
A Laocoön. His 2 sons are here very young children, that which he raises
up in one arm is admirable -
Rape of Helen; or else a Roman Soldier with a Sabine. He is carrying her
off in his arms, & she seems not much unwilling. A very gentile Groupe.
Cleopatra naked; she is standing & applying the aspic to her breast. There
is a largeness & want of delicacy in the limbs: the head & attitude
extremely good. They are of white marble.
Palazzo Balbi.
The furniture here also is of much beauty, especially the Marble. Among the Pictures, which are numerous, are:
Venus asleep with Boys, big as the life. The Drawing not quite right & no great Grace. It looks like Guercino but is called, Annibal Carracci -
Another Venus reposing, not asleep, Small, very fine.
Some of Titian's School -
St Jerom in the Desert, in his first dark manner - Guido.
St Francis at Prayers, fine - Agostino Carracci -
Joseph in Prison, telling the Baker's fortune - Guercino.
Andromeda, she is not naked but has a thin white drapery, her attitude wants dignity. Perseus in the clouds on the winged horse. Execrable! - Ditto -
Conversion of St Paul; a very large picture; figures all huddled together & Christ (as it were) tumbling out of the Clouds upon them. Vast want of dignity in the whole (as usual) but finely painted & with a force of colouring9 - Michelang: Caravaggio.
A Christ bound, & crown'd with thorns - Vandike -
Christ praying in the garden. Small; called Rafaël.
Madonna, small, in a border of flowers - Vandike.
Holy Family - Rubens.
Christ, & St John, Boys - Small, very good, Rubens -
Finding of Cyrus - Castiglione -
Portrait of a Lady (same with that at the Durazzo, but sitting) - Vandike.
A Doge of the family, half length, fine, Paul Veronese.
A Man in armour, on horse-back. Very little - Vandike.
Head of a Girl, a Ritratto, dark but exquisite - Ann. Carracci.
In the Gallery.
Lucrece, head & hands; such beauty, & dignity! It is divine - Guido.
Artemisia10, it's companion, a fine face, but no expression. A Turbant on the head, & Goblet in the hand. Ditto.
Holy Family - Rafaël.
Another - Correggio.
Another - Parmeggiano.
Another - Vandike.
Another - Castiglione.
Assumption - Guido.
A Saint - Ditto.
These & last are small pictures, all of a size, all fine & kept cover'd with Glasses -
Temptation of St Anthony, vastly comical; there are Devils in the shape of Church-Steeples, Hillocks, & Trees - Brueghel.
Vandike's Wife sitting, her child upon her knee, not handsome, they both have great Ruffs on -
Portrait of One of the Spinola's in Armour, with grey hair, half-length, extremely good - Vandike -
Vandike himself. Same size. The gentilest attitude, & finest head in the world. Exquisite! It does not at all resemble that Sr Andrew Fountain11 has! T'is not so young, nor at all the same face -
There are several others of this Master in the Palace: he painted here 4 months -
Palazzo Brignole.
Jesus driveing the buyers & sellers out of the Temple, a large picture -
Guercino.
Rape of the Sabines - Tempesta.
Sofronia & Olinda - Cav. Calabrese -
St Sebastian, half-length, the same with the Grand Duke's, called also an
original of Guido -
Judith & Holofernes, an ungraceful picture - Paul Veronese.
Jacob* travelling with all his flocks - very fine. Castiglione.
A Præsepe [manger scene], small, vastly pretty - Parmeggiano.
Noli me tangere; same size; the airs &beauty exquisite. Albano.
These 2 little pictures are in one frame together -
Portrait of Calvin, a head; 'tis a broad, plump face with a square white
beard; very good - Holbein -
Sybils; heads they are called, Guido -
Madonna; very brown & disagreeable - Andrea del Sarto.
Holy Family - Carlo Marat.
Man in armour with a Cupid; Woman with a bottle, a Satyr by her -
Rubens -
Portrait of a Boy, dark but very good, a head. Old Palma.
A Holy Family - Ditto.
Man playing on a Pipe. Much Nature - Il Capucino.
Several Portraits more of him, & Titian -
The Mezzanine appartments of this Palace are truly Italian, & contrived with much Taste for Coolness in a sultry climate. But just high enough to stand upright in, the cielings a little arch'd, the windows small, & the glass of them painted with Ivy & Vines twining irregularly about; Marble Pavements with fine fountains of the same disposed in Niches, Bathing Rooms, & Beds of Repose in deep Alcoves; the furniture Drawings, & Sketches; among the rest are those for the heads of the 2 Portraits above-mention'd - Vandike.
Nov. 28, 1739. Left Genoa; cross'd the mountains again, & came to Tortona. This City is one of K. of Sardinia's last acquisitions, & strongly fortified. 'Tis on an eminence. We did not enter it, for the gates were shut.
The vast plains of Lombardy were now begun; lay at Castel St Giovanni.
Passed the famous river Trebia [now Trebbia]; the country on this side of it, where Scipio incamped, after Hannibal had crossed the Po, is still as Livy has described it12, loca altiora, collesque impeditores equiti, the more remarkable as the rest is a huge & very level plain. It was at this time so narrow & so shallow a stream that we crossed without a ferry in the Chaise; but the vast broad, & stony Channel of it, tho' then dry, was a sufficient intimation of it's bigness at certain seasons (all the other rivers we passed between this & Bologna were much in the same condition). On the other side of it is a naked plain for a little while, & beyond that Willows & Shrubs: here was the Scene of that Battle. There are in that plain some vestigia of an Aqueduct, 8 or 10 great ruinous masses of Brick, on which the Arches seem to have rose. Possibly it convey'd the water of that river to Placentia [mod. Piacenza]. We dined at that City, which makes a very mean appearance; here are some paintings at the Dome, & another Church, but I had not
time to see them - passed thro' Borgo St Dennino, a town where the young Dutchess Dowager of Parma resides, ferried over the Taro, & arrived very late at night at Parma, which is 5 little miles further, stayed there one day.
PARMA
The City being all built of Brick (like the others in this part of Lombardy) & that not plaister'd, has but a smoky & melancholy appearance; there are few, or no good buildings in it: it is large, & the little R. Parma runs thro' the middle of it. The Dome is a great Gothick Structure, much unworthy of such hands as have contributed to adorn it. It is damp, & gloomy; the whole vault is painted; on each hand of the middle Isle are Histories in squares, & Heads included in a sort of Laurel Wreaths; these are in proper colours; the rest are Cariatides, Grotesques, &c: in Chiaro Scuro. The Cupola so much celebrated is indeed in a sad condition; great pieces of the mortar are peel'd off & what remains so spoiled, that it is with much difficulty one distinguishes any thing at all: so that the beauties of this great work of the Admirable Correggio are only to be seen at present in the Copies of the Caracsi, & the Prints. One part of it, the Saints that sit in the Pennacchi [pendentives or spandrels] of the Arches are in better preservation than the rest, (tho' they too are much hurt) & seem extremely fine; as do the Chiaro Scuro13 ornaments; some of which are of the Parmeggiano. In short it is a sight that gives me more concern than pleasure. In St Giovanni de Monte (another great Church) are his other great works; they are in a Cupola too; I believe somewhat better preserved but there is so little light, that it is absolutely impossible to judge of that beautiful colouring & those heavenly airs that comprise the principal part of this master's character. One may indeed perceive the incorrectness of the drawing; & to me I own the figures appear all too large for the place they are in, tho' that is not small, and they are seen at a vast distance.
In one of the side-chappels are kept 2 pictures also of Correggio; they are
vastly esteem'd & in perfect preservation; small figures:
Descent from the Cross [now known as Lamentation], &
Martyrdom of Flavius & Placidia, in oil -
Over a Door that goes into the Abbey is:
a St John, the Evangelist, sitting, his book in his hand, & the Eagle beside
him - great Spirit - Correggio.
Fine Sacrifices in Chiao Scuro - Parmeggiano - these run along both sides of the middle Isle at a great height -
At the Church of St Antonio Abbate is the famous Altar-piece* of Correggio. It happen'd to be taken down, that somewhat might be done to the Frame, so we saw it in a room in what light, & as near, as we pleased. It is in perfect preservation except one place, which is not in any principal part of it; there are, I think, 6 figures, as big as the life. The Virgin is sitting in the middle; her head, & upper parts very good; the lower, which her drapery covers, & the foot that appears are manifestly disproportionate; the Bambino in her lap is not a beautiful child, but is exquisitely colour'd, & vast nature; it is stretching out both its hands to a smileing boy-Angel, that shows an admirable profile, & is turning over a book, which he holds to the little Jesus. This is on the Madonna's right side, & on the same, next the eye stands the St Jerom, a noble figure, in profile too; he is naked to the wast, & finely painted, in the corner you see the head of the Lion, that always accompanies him. On t'other side is the Magdalen, kneeling & kissing the Christ's foot. This figure is truly Correggio; the exquisite air of Sorrow & Beauty in the face, with that long flowing hair of a bright flaxen colour & the admirable Tints of the Flesh make the loveliest head (Profile) it is possible to see. The hand & little foot it holds, are the very utmost of Colouring; the drapery in great, & easy folds: in short this is the top figure in the picture: tho' here too the lower parts are too small & incorrect. Behind her is a Boy-Angel with the Phial of ointment. Divine!15
At the church of the San-sepolcro16; on the first altar, left-hand as you enter, is -
Opposite to it.
A Holy Family - very good - Girolamo Mazzioli. He was cousin to the
Parmeggiano, & imitated him.
Madonna della Steccata.
Here are Half-Cupolas in this Church painted (it matters not by whom). They have absolutely no light at all. On one side of the Arch of the Chancell, in the bending of it, over the Organ is:
Opposite to it are the Adam & Eve of the same master; but I could perceive nothing of them, the place is so dark -
The Capucins.
At the High Altar:
St Lewis, & the other Saint, on the sides are of Ludovico [Carracci]-
In a Vault of this monastery are the bodies of the Ducal family of Parma & Alexander Farnese among them; they are in wooden Chests painted & inscribed with their Names - At the Palace resides the old Dutchess Dowager of Parma, Mother to the Queen of Spain. There is nothing to be seen; for the famous Gallery of Paintings is all gone to Naples. The Theatre, which joins it, is still worth seeing for its spatiousness & contrivance, tho' much out of repair18 -
The Villa Ducale is a little way without the Walls: it seems deserted & in bad condition enough. The apartments are little & unmagnificent; many rooms execrably painted, in 2 or 3 are Medallions, & small Squares with poetical histories by Parmeggiano: most of them unfinish'd; many ill-drawn & that could never have been good for any thing; none very extraordinary. At last you come to a small chamber, whose sides & ceilings are wholly painted in Fresco by Carlo Cignano. They are his last works & not quite finish'd, when he died. On the left hand of the door & the same side is the Story of -
Opposite to it, is:
Bacchus & Ariadne. She is seated on the nuptial Couch, Venus is by her
side with Cunning & Persuasion in her Countenance, one of her hands is
around her Neck & with the other she leads Bacchus & presents him to her.
Cupid too is hanging upon her & indeed she appears, if not consenting, at
least stagger'd in her resolution. A Satyr, who kneels, holding back a
Curtain, & looks her in the face with a Rustick Grin, is an exquisite figure
both for expression, & painting. The Attendants of Bacchus are danceing
on the Shore - This is the finest of all, & indeed it is extremely so.
On each side the Windows are:
Apollo & Daphne; he has caught her & she is takeing root & rises with a
fine sweep - admirable. Cupid wrestling with a Satyr; he has got him
down; at a distance is a little Nymph looking on. This Groupe is exquisite,
as fine as possible! -
On the opposite Side:
Venus in her Chariot, drawn by two Cupids, & two little Satyrs, that are
prodigious good & make a beautiful Contrast. She herself is not so well;
there are Nymphs, & Zephyrs danceing about her, some of which are very
Passed the River Lenza (anciently Nigella) [mod. Enza] over a very long bridge, which goes across the whole channel of it: the Stream itself one might jump over. At the hither end of this bridge is a white Marble Statue of St John Neopomucenus20, as large, or larger than the life. Passed thro' Reggio without stopping; the country all hereabouts & quite to Bologna is as fertile & well cultivated as possible, & must in summer afford the most beautiful view in the world; the fields are regularly planted with rows of Elms, Mulberry, & Olive Trees, & Vines running up every one of them. Between them is Corn sown & the hedges are many of them kept cut, as in a Garden, the roads are commonly quite strait, & very broad for leagues together; we came in the afternoon to Modena.
MODENA
That City makes at least as bad an appearance as Parma, & much in the same kind; only that here are Portico's running along all the Streets, which add somewhat to the view & keep it clean. Stayed there one day. The Duke lives here in a private manner; we were twice at the Palace [Palazzo Ducale, now the Accademia Militare] without seeing almost anybody but the Man who showed us the Gallery; & a Centinel at the outward Gate. It is a new handsome Building, not yet finish'd. The Gallery is one of the first Collections in Europe for Pictures21; it consists of 6 Rooms full & few trifles amongst them. Those, that were the furniture of the two first were unluckily taken down to be clean'd & we could not see them; the other four we saw twice over. Those I most particularly remember, are:
In the 3rd Room:
History of St Roch, figures as large as life, & a great number of them,
many fine expressions, but a dark unpleaseing colouring, & altogether not
very agreeable. Annibal Carracci.
Over against it hangs, what was painted to rival it:
The other St Roch*, about the same Size, & much like it in the Colouring.
On one side of the picture next the eye a Woman lies dead (it is a
Pestilence) & her Child (a little boy) just expiring, & turning its eyes
towards her for assistance; there is a want of delicacy in the figures but the
expression vastly strong & moveing - Camillo Procaccini -
Abraham's Sacrifice. Isaac naked, bound & kneeling on the Pile, a fine
figure; the head of his father is so too but he has a great fluttering scarlet
drapery that hurts the eye excessively - Andrea del Sarto.
A Physician, Ritratto, Head and hands, holding a book, great nature -
Correggio -
Mars in armour, sitting, Venus with a Cupid standing, about a foot & ½
high - Benvenuto da Garofalo -
Madonna, Head & Hands - Flamino Torre -
Holy Family; these are at one end; at the other - a Lady, & men
with
several Children (a Venetian family) kneeling; a long narrow Picture - Paul Veronese.
Several Portraits - Titian & Vandyke -
4th Room
Madonna with many Saints - Guido -
Christ & Saints; a Woman kneeling is presented to him by S. Carlo -
Guido -
These are very large pictures in his first dark manner & have been much
injured by the Damp.
Adoration of the Magi: same shape with that in the other room - a fine
picture - Paul Veronese.
Peter denying Christ, the expression low, but vast force of colouring: the
Maid, & the Soldier asleep in the chair are exquisitely painted - Mich:
Ang: Caravaggio.
Man, & Woman at Cards, 2 more figures, nothing can be finer in the kind,
'tis alive - Ditto -
Last Supper. Small - Tintoret -
The Ceilings in this, & 2 or 3 more rooms have rounds with figures seen di sotto in su [from below upwards] & painted by Tintoret -
5th Room
Over the Doors are -
A Venus lying along in the Clouds with a Cupid, & Doves - Annibal
[Lud. & Agno.] Carracci -
A Satyr (Pluto) sleeping (of Agostino) , & 2 more of the same size, of
which this Satyr seems the finest. They are all foreshortened figures -
Ditto -
Christ in the Garden, sweating blood; a half figure; the face turned almost
in profile, & one arm resting on a Boy-Angel - Ditto -
Madonna with 4 Saints, big as life. His first manner, somewhat hard -
Correggio -
The Apostles; Heads and Hands: the St Peter is exquisitely fine. He is
looking up to heaven with an expression of heart felt sorrow, the Tears
running down his Cheeks; and his hand beating his wither'd Breast. This
and two more by Guido.
The rest, several of which are very fine, by Guercino.
A Magdalen. Half-figure. She is leaning on one arm, and looking a little upwards with an uncommon expression, much grief, but a mixture of indignation, that seems to say, why did you give me Passions? Her attitude, her Neck, & Drapery are as fine as possible. 'Tis vastly touching - Annibal Carracci.
Assumption*. The Virgin is in the attitude of one flying, tho' there are Boy-Angels that support her. The Apostles below perfectly fine. Large as life - Annibal Carracci -
Madonna* with Saints. A glorious Picture in the whole! The Angel with a book that lies upon the ground is prodigious life. The St John is a most noble, & beautiful Youth, but the St Matthew on the other side is the utmost Stretch of Painting, whether you regard the Air of the Head, the graceful Attitude, the Drapery in great noble folds; or the Strength of Colouring, it is a most perfect figure - Annibal Carracci -
Richardson22 calls these Ludovico. But they are always reckon'd by Annibal; they say so even at Bologna -
6th Room
A little fat Boy, drinking and piping at the same time; an odd thought -
Guido -
One wounded with Arrows; seems dead; a Physician busy in extracting
them - Sebastian del Piombo [M. Caravaggio]23.
A Valore (as it is called) an allegorical representation of Heroic Virtue
under the figure of a young winged Person with Laurel Wreaths in an
attitude of flying - very fine - Annibal Carracci.
St Francis, a head in Crayons, extremely good - Guido.
L'Amorosa del Titiano, a Ritratto, in white Sattin, an
Italian fan (à la
girouette) [like a weather-vane] in her hand. Half-length.
Madonna washing the Christ, the little St John pouring water & St
Elizabeth holding linnen to dry him - extremely fine - Giulio Romano.
Woman taken in Adultery*; many figures, & fine expression in their faces.
It is very beautiful, & the style resembles the best of Paul Veronese, but the
picture is said to be undoubtedly - Titian -
St Jerom at Prayers in the Desert*, finely drawn, & colour'd, his Lyon in the corner asleep, exquisite! - Rubens -
Diana & Actæon. He is seen at a little distance - hastening away, & his horns beginning to sprout. Not far from him a most beautiful nymph is attempting to conceal herself in a bush which hides but very little of her; another who stands upto the breast in water, is plucking a branch of the same, & by so doing exposes her companion the more. On t'other side is the Goddess herself sitting on the bank, a most majestick figure; the expression of Shame less, than in her attendants, as knowing that she could bind him to eternal Secrecy: 5 or 6 Nymphs round her; some spreading a Veil of Linnen before her; others shifting for themselves; all in most gentile, & lovely attitudes. 'Tis a most exquisite performance of the amiable - Albano.
Rape of Proserpine: this is rather the occasion of the Subject, than the Subject itself. Pluto is seen at a distance carrying her off, & Arethusa attempting to stop his chariot. On the nearer ground is a Dance of little Loves round a statue of Cupid: they bear in triumph one of the Bidens [hoe or mattock], (the Insigne of Pluto), another the keys of Hell, a third the Garland of Flowers, that Proserpine had begun to weave, & in the Clouds Venus is reclined, kissing her Son. This picture is the other's Companion; I know not which is finest: they are both exquisitely so, & both equally finish'd & preserved. They are small figures in his lightest, neatest, loveliest manner, & nothing can be gentiler, or more poetical than the Design; as he was the Ovid of painting. This last is the same (some small difference in the Composition, & the size of the Figures excepted) with that celebrated one at the Pal: Sampieri in Bologna, but I own this here seems to me much preferable - [Albano].
Madonna with Angels in a bright heaven above. St Geminiano & other Saints kneeling below; very bright & gracious - big as life - Correggio.
Madonna* with St George & others. That Saint is standing, the monster's head bleeding at his foot; a figure very noble & full of spirit. The Boy on
The famous Magdalen. A small figure lying on the ground, & reading. On the head, the neck, the hair & the arms, that support her head & book, are beyond all conception; it is a little Miracle of his incomparable Pencil, & deserves more praises than it has ever met with, as numerous as they are. This is shut up in the wall - Ditto.
The more famous Notte* [night-scene]. It consists of the Virgin, the Christ lying on straw before her; the Clown that stands upright; the younger one, who sits or kneels, & is talking to the old one concerning the wondrous birth; & a rustick Woman, that holds up her hand before her eyes, as dazzled with the amazeing Splendour, proceeding from the Child; besides these are Cattle, who partake of the Light, & are shown by it. beside the wondrous Clair-obscure so well known as the particular excellence of this glorious Picture; the expression in the faces of the Virgin, the young Shepherd, & the woman are exquisitely fine. The effect of this picture on the eye the moment you enter the room is surprizeing. The figures are less than life - Ditto.25
There are several Portraits of Titian & Vandyke &c.
The Beauty of the Country rather increases, than diminishes, as you go from hence to Bologna; but it is a beauty all of the same nature. That City does not at all strike the eye upon entering it, but rather has a mean & dirty appearance. Very few of the streets are without a Portico on each side, which, tho' irregular, is undoubtedly an ornament. But in general the buildings (some Palaces excepted) are very old & being of Brick, the whole has an air of Melancholy: neither does it seem so populous, as it is generally accounted. The Provisions & Fruits are as good as any in the World, & in the greatest Plenty imaginable -
Bologna.
12 Days, al Pelegrino26
Palazzo Ranuzzi27.
This is a handsome Structure. The grand double Staircase & the Hall are very magnificent, & there are great quantities of fine old Plate, dispersed about the Appartments. Of many pictures that are here, I remember -
Tobias, cureing his Father's Blindness - Guido -
Madonna, Head & Hands - Albano -
The Good Samaritan; fine in his manner - Spagnuoletto -
Little Christ Asleep - Carlo Cignani -
A vaulted Cieling; in the Border, are Plays of Boys, some shooting, others with a Tiger, caught in a Net, &c. Exceeding gentile, & much like Cignani his Master - Cav. Franceschini.
In the Summer Appartments
The Coriolanus* of Lor. Pasinelli, the most considerable work of this
Master, of whom I never saw anything, but at Bologna. The figures are big
as life; & much fine expression -
St Jerom with an Angel; very large: a Sbozzo - Guido -
Rape of Proserpine & Rape of Helen: Companions - Luca Giordano
Soldiers coming to murder Agrippina; she is saying, Uterum feri28. Great
Spirit! - Guercino.
Palazzo Sampieri.29
The Freezes, Sfondati [trompes d'oeil perspectives], & Rounds in the Cielings in this Palace are painted in Fresco by the Carracci, but I remember nothing very strikeing - Here is a large Collection of
Pictures, which are now to be sold. Among others are -
The Triumph of Venus upon gaining the Apple; a pretty gentile thought - Cav. Franceschini. This was done as a Companion to the former but should not appear near it -
Noli me tangere30 - Annibal Carracci.
Woman taken in Adultery - Ludovico Carracci.
Christ & Woman of Samaria - Agostino Carracci.
St Jerom - Old Palma.
Magdalen, a head - divine! Guido -
The Pool of Bethesda - Guido -
Profile of an Angel - exquisite - Guido.
Another of the Madonna. But indifferent - Cignani.
A Madonna - much like Guido - Elisa: Sirani.
The St Cecilia, copied; by Guido -
Assumption, many small figures, very beautiful, not much finish'd. Done at 18 years old - Guido -
Two Women singing - Dossa da Ferrara -
Abraham dismissing Hagar - Guercino -
St Peter & St Paul, large as life; extremely noble, & colour'd in a dark but warm Tint, like the best of the Caraches - Guido -
Groupe of Boys, in white Marble - Algardi -
Another - Mazza -
In one of the Cielings in Fresco -
Hercules & Antaus - Guercino.
Palazzo Zambeccari.
This is the largest Collection of Pictures in Bologna31; there are 22 Rooms full. They are to be sold; as is a part of the furniture, among which are the most beautiful Marble Tables I ever saw. Among the
paintings are -
2 Small Landscapes with figures - Young Brueghel.
Old Man's Head, Small, a Ritratto - Vandyke.
Sbozzo of the dyeing St Jerom - Agostino Carracci -
Angel's Head, a Profile, very beautiful & Guidesco by Giovanni di Sola.
Descent from the Cross - Paul Veronese -
Madonna - Lisabetta Sirani.
St Jerom - Ditto.
Magdalen - Ditto.
These are 3 large pictures; not bad, but incorrect.
Lot & his Daughters - Guercino -
Madonna - Carlo Cignani -
A Praesepe - Ludovico Carracci -
Head of a Saint at Prayers - Guido -
Sta Clara & A Christ, Heads, on a Gold Ground, his Gothick Manner, as usual - Albert Durer -
Lucrece* dyeing - larger than life, a gross undelicate Style - Pelegrino Tibaldi -
St Francis Praying,* fine! - Guido -
Judith & Holofernes - a most bloody & horrid expression, more fit for a Murtheress than an inspired Heroine; a good Picture notwithstanding that impropriety - wondrous Strength! M. A. Caravaggio -32
Old Lady with a Book (his Mother) in Black, standing - a three-quarters length - vast Nature - Guido -33
Birth of Christ - Ludovico Carracci -
Abraham & the Angels - Ditto -
Jacob's Vision - Ditto -
Moses breaking the Tables - Ditto -
These are much of a bigness; the figures about the size of Nic: Poussin's. I own, they none of 'em touch me extremely. The 2nd is the finest.
Martyrdom of St Ursula*; a large Picture, vastly fine Expression, particularly of extreme Fear in those 2 Virgins, that are embraceing each other, & of Resignation, & pious Courage in the Saint herself - Lorenzo Pasinelli.
Many Battles - Il Borgognone -
David, bringing Goliah's Head to Saul, a dark strong manner like the Caravaggio - Guercino -
Venus & Adonis, she is hanging upon him to detain him from the Chase; & Cupids are trying to hinder his Dogs from going too - small figures, a beautiful picture - Rubens -
Magdalen with Boy-Angels - Albani -
Head of St Francis in the Capucin's Dress, weeping, & praying; the expression is wonderfully fine - Domenichino34 - this & the Rubens are sold - it has a glass before it -
Madonna in a bright heaven with numerous Angels adoreing; St Francis, St Domenic, & two others kneeling below. Small figures but highly finish'd; the grace & beauty of it is inexpressible - Albani - this also has a Glass - they have refused 200£ St for it -
Madonna* - most divine expression - Domenichino - this they will not sell at all.
Church dei Mendicanti35
High Altar:
A Pieta*. The dead Christ laid at length, the Virgin standing with
Angels about her; this is atop, below are Saints, Protectours of
Bologna, adoreing. It is vastly large, & reckon'd the first Picture in
Bologna of this great Master - Guido.
At a Side-Altar
Capella dei Mercanti da Seta
Job*, seated on a Throne, receiving the Presents made him after his
misfortunes. A glorious Picture! The 2 naked figures with a Calf are
exquisite; the airs of heads & beauty in perfection - Guido - Sr
Robert Walpole has this in small, but in his first dark Manner -
Capella della Compagnia de' Salavoli
Christ*, calling Matthew from the Mony-Table, dark, but very fine
- Ludovico Carracci -
Capella Monticelli
The well-known whimsical Picture of Joseph, begging Pardon of the Virgin for his unjust Suspicions; it is of - Alessandro Tiarini.
Church of St Domenico
This is a vast large building, old but gay & light enough. It is finely adorn'd throughout but particularly the -
Capella di Domenico.
As large alone as some Churches. In the middle of it is the Shrine of that
Saint, in which is his body. It is of pure white marble with Bas-reliefs, &
small figures by several famous hands; among which, one of the Angels,
that kneels, the St Petronius, the St Proculus, & St Francis, are of
Michelangelo.
The Catino, or Half-Cupola, is painted in Fresco, where in a bright heaven are Christ & the Virgin, receiving St Domenic; many Angels playing on various Instruments, particularly Base-Viols, & Violins. 'Tis very fine in excellent preservation - Guido -
Capella Bolognini.
St Thomas Aquinas writeing, a fine figure, several Angels, very poor -
Guercino -
Capella Solimei
St Raimond crossing the Sea upon his Mantle - bad enough -
Ludovico Carracci -
Capella Guidotti
Very large & fine. In the vault is painted the Assumption - Colonna &
Mitelli.
On the Altar is a Madonna in Rilievo, round which, as a frame, are 15
small Squares of Painting by several great Masters -
The Visitation - Ludovico Carracci.
Scourgeing of Christ - Ditto
The Assumption - Guido.
Here is the Monument of Guido and buried with him lies Lisabetta Sirani ["his Scholar" crossed out].
In this Chappel (in the beginning of December we were present at the Voto Publico. Mass was celebrated to a fine Concert of Musick before the Cardinals Lambertini & Spinola (Archbishop & Legate) & the Gonfalonier [chief magistrate] (Count Casprara) with the Anziani & Senate. After Mass 4 poor Maids dress'd in White & cover'd with long Veils of Lawn were led up to the Altar by as many Ladies of the first Quality, & presented to the Cardinals, who give them a Portion of 200 Scudi a-piece to marry, or go into a Convent -
Capella Turrini
St Hiacynth, adoreing the Madonna36 - Ludovico Carracci -
Capella Malveggi
Communion of St Catherine of Sienna, many Angels, in a Corregesco taste
- Brizio -
Capella Casali
Here is a small monument of the 3 Carracci, a bust of
Ludovico upon it -
Capella Bero
Massacre of the Innocents*. Extremely famous, the woman who sets upon
the ground, her hands clasped together & both her children murder'd
before her, is as fine as possible. The rest not very touching - Guido -
The Convent is very spatious; the Library, & the Atrio leading to it of a handsome design: on each side are painted the Actions of St Thomas by Franceschini, & others -
Monache di Sta Agnese
Martyrdom of St Agnes*. A much admired picture. The Saint herself is a mere Child & does not seem very correctly drawn: the Angel receiving the
Palazzo Magnani37
In the Frize round the hall are painted in Fresco the principal Parts of the
History of Romulus & Remus - The 3 Carracci - They are not in very
good preservation, but enough still to show many noble Airs, & fine
Groupes. The pieces are separated from one another by noble Terms in
Chiaro-Scuro (Human figures capriciously situated) that are as fine as
those at St Michele in Bosco, & better preserv'd by much. Over the
Chimney is -
The Lupercalia, by Annibale -
In some other rooms are -
An Apollo sitting, various insignia of his Godhead round him - Annibal
& Ludovico Carracci -
Cupid striveing with a Satyr; same design (tho' different figures) with that
at Parma; the Cupid here is more robust & the Satyr a more capricious
figure: it is undoubtedly prodigious good. Much bigger than life! This &
the former are in Fresco; both preserved, tho' the building, where they
originally were, was long since demolish'd. This last is of Agostino -
A fine Magdalen, half-figure. Excellently coloured; not dark -
Guercino -
Holy Family - very fine! - Rafaël -
Church of Corpus Domini
Very ancient & extremely large: round it are painted in Fresco the Actions of St Catherine Vigri, by Franceschini.
Capella Angelelli
Sumptuously adorn'd with Marble; thro' a Grate in the Altar at certain
times is shown the Body of St Cath. Vigri setting in a Chair, & richly
dressed38. On one Side hangs -
The Resurrection; it is greatly esteem'd - An. Carracci -
The Padre Eterno with Angels, St Francis, & St Clara in white Marble - Algardi & Mazza.
Capella Monti
Death of St Joseph; the masterpiece of Franceschini -
Capella Fontana
Christ appearing in the Limbo - Ludovico Carracci -
Assumption - Ditto -
Much admired; but so dark, I do not pretend to judge of them.
Palazzo Publico
The famous Pallione39; it is extreme large; the Madonna, as lovely as possible, seated above on the Rainbow with Angels around her; below St Petronius in a rich Cope, St Domenic, & St Francis (3 exquisite figures) with St Francis Xavier kneeling; St Filip Neri, St Proculus, & St George, standing, & before them a model of Bologna. I never saw a more beautiful Picture - Guido - This is painted on Silk -
The Samson; he is refreshing himself with the miraculous Liquor out of the Jaw-bone, many Philistines lye dead at his feet: larger than life. A most exquisite figure, & in a noble attitude! It is much, & deservedly praised - Guido -
A Head, called, Rafaël.
St John, young, in the Wilderness; disputes originality with that of the D: of Orleans, & that of the Great-Duke, but has the least pretence of the three - Rafaël -
Over the Gate that opens upon the Gran Piazza is a fine Statue in Bronze of Pope Gregory 13: in an action of giveing his blessing. It weighs 11 thousand Weight, & was made by Alessandro Minganti, whom Agostino Carracci used to call Michelangelo Incognito -
In the middle of the Piazza is a noble fountain. Upon it a Colossal Statue of Neptune in the most majestick Attitude imaginable: it is prodigiously fine. Bronze. Giovanni Bologna.
Church of St Giorgio
Capella Guicchi
Baptism of Christ*, God the Father above with Angels, very fine, a dark
strong Colouring - Albani - It is the same almost with Sr Rob:
Walpole's, but that is a light airy Colouring, more like the small pictures
of this Master -
4th Chappel on the right
St Philip Benizio kneeling before the Madonna & Angels - begun by
Cantarini, finish'd by Albani -
Capella Landini
Madonna, with St John & St Catherine - Annibal Carracci -
Church of S. Gregorio
Capella Grimaldi
St George with the Dragon* dead, Sabina released & running away
frighted; in the upper part is St Michael precipitating the old Dragon;
Angels pursuing the Devils, whom they beat with their fists. An odd
Composition, but an exceeding fine Picture. The St George has a vast deal
in the air, & attitude of Correggio's at Modena - Ludovico Carracci.
Capella Locatelli St Felice
The St Guglielmo.* What the expression is, I cannot judge, as not knowing
the History. There are many figures, & prodigiously fine - Guercino -
Palazzo Tanari
Many pictures - among the others are -
Birth of Alexander; Diana is in the Clouds, as assistant at the Labour, & at
a little distance appears the Temple of Ephesus on fire - not good40 -
Lud: Carracci -
Martyrdom of St Andrew, after that in St Gregorio a Monte
Celio at
Rome by Guido; same size - Cavedona
Scourgeing of the same Saint, after Domenichino - Ditto -
Madonna in the Clouds on a Gold Ground, stippled, Small; very
beautiful
Solomon & the Queen of Sheba; as it is called but that is not the Subject; nor do I know what it is. There are two lovely figures, & she has a Crown in her hand, ready to put it, not on his head, but her own as it seems. Big as the life, & exquisitely fine - Guido -
In a small Gallery of Drawings
Design for the Pallione, very fine - Guido [Flam. Torri].41
Head, Profile, seems a Magdalen, or the Woman taken in Adultery, Red
& Black Chalk - Guido [Ditto]
Head of a Susanna; it has a small Turbant, & is the same with the picture
Ld Waldegrave42 has at Paris - Guido [Ditto]
Two more, very good - Guido.
Many fine ones of the Carracci, Guercino, M:Angelo &c.
Palazzo Aldravandi
Boy-Angels with Instruments; a Sketch - Pasinelli.
Zephyrus, sitting on Clouds, a gentile Imagination, but languid faint
Colouring - Giov. dal Sole -
Cleopatra dead; Augustus entering the Monument - Carlo Lotti.43
The Assumption*, very fine, but the Shades are exceeding black & without
harmony - Guercino -
Boy's Head, a Ritratto, admirable! An. Carracci -
Marriage of St Catharine; the Bambino is exquisite but the St Catharine
has the features of a Negro girl. This has a glass before it & is kept in a
case with great Care - Correggio44 [Parmeggiano].
Cupid Asleep*. Very young; as large as life; the Colouring & harmony
admirable! Beautiful to Perfection (now in England purchased by Strange45
for Sir L. Dundas) - Guido - cost 600 Secchins46.
Church of S. Giovanni In Monte
In the Inner Sacristy:
Madonna, hands crossed on the breast - Albani.
Capella Muratori
St Francis* kneeling with his hands clasped, adoreing the Crucifix;
the
Capella Ratta
Madonna of the Rosary; vast many figures huddled together &
disagreeable Colouring; nor is the Drawing correct - Domenichino.47
Capella Bentivoglia
The Sta Cecilia* - Rafaël - Still in good preservation. This celebrated
picture to me does not seem to merit all it's fame. In the midst is that Saint,
looking up to heaven, where are several angels singing & playing on
instruments; she holds a small Organ in her hands, which she seems going
to cast from her. This principal figure is rather ungraceful, than otherwise,
the head is the best part of it. At equal distances on either hand of her, are
St Paul, leaning on his sword, his hand at his chin, & seeming fixt in
contemplation and Mary Magdalen, her face turned towards you, & the
Vase of ointment in her hand. These are 2 noble figures indeed, especially
the last, the head & neck very great Stile & much like the Antique: the
Drapery in as large, & beautiful folds, as can be imagin'd. Just in the
spaces between these two & St Cecilia, come in St John & St Austin, 2
perfectly insignificant figures in all respects, nor do any of the five seem
to express any relation they bear to one another, any more than if they were
in so many different pictures; besides the great regularity they are placed
with, which savours a good deal of Gothicism; & the want of expression;
there is a heaven atop with angels, that are extremely bad. This is kept
cover'd over with another ordinary picture.48
Church of the Monastery of Sta Margherita
The Madonna*, St Margaret kneeling, an Angel bearing the Ensign of that
Saint; St Jerom, & St Petronius. The Grace & Majesty of the Virgin, the
beauty of the Angel & vast Gentleness of the kneeling Saint are beyond
Expression. A most lovely Picture! - Parmeggiano -
St Margaret with the Dragon slain, St Austin, & St Benedict; the Madonna
above. There are good things in it - Orazio Sammachini.
Palazzo Zani
The celebrated Madonna della Rosa. The little Christ lyes at his length in her lap naked, & is holding up a Rose to her, which she takes from him with a majestick Grace, that well becomes the Queen of Heaven, & Spouse of God, as they call her. She is not beautiful; but the Air of the head, & neck, & exquisite gentileness of the attitude with the lovely figure of the Bambino make up a most divine picture - Parmeggiano. It is to be sold, but they ask no less than 1000 guineas. I cannot help observing with regard to this & all other pictures of this master I have yet seen; that (tho' Colouring was certainly not his excellence) yet the Redness, & Rawness objected to him by Richardson, as the fault of his paintings, is by no means true; there is rather a remarkable Paleness in all his lights, which, if not quite natural, has something soft & not disagreeable to the eye in it -
The Hall & some other rooms in this palace have rounds in their Cielings in Fresco, but nothing very touching, tho' painted by Guido.
Palazzo Monti
Here is a collection of fine Pictures, but as they were taken down to clean, & all in confusion, I only remember -
The Stoning of St Stephen, a large Picture, vast numbers of little figures;
fine! - Salvator Rosa -
A Massacre, it's Companion - Ditto -
An Old Woman, who has left off Spinning to tell a Story with great
earnestness to a young one, that is turned to hear her, but seems to have her
mind employed about something entirely different. The great expression
of nature made me take notice of it; they are little figures in a border of
flowers, & done by Cav. Donato Creti, a master now alive at Bologna, &
a Scholar of Pasinelli -
Nymphs bathing by Moonlight; Diana in the Clouds; most gentile Design!
- Albani -
Venus between Bacchus & Ceres; same with the famous one the Duke of
Devonshire has. This does not seem much finish'd & has a Rawness -
Albani -
Liberality & Modesty, large as life; the expression of the two
Virtues is
Here they show you the 2 Coaches & Chariot the late Marquis had made at Paris to go Ambassadour into Poland with. They are in their kind vastly rich & handsome -
At the Palazzo Caprara50 are some Pictures; many fine Cabinets, & little Rarities, with a Profusion of Plate, & a Gallery adorn'd with Spoils taken from the Turks by the late General Caprara, disposed with much Taste & Fancy. The house itself is a noble building; the Master of it was Gonfalonier, when I was there -
The fine Drawings & Pictures at the Palazzo Bonfiglioli are all sold & dispersed. At the other Pal. Bonfiglioli, call'd Senatorio, are many good Paintings. At the Academy del Disegno are Pelegrino Tibaldi's works in Fresco, & some cielings of Primaticcio. Also a small collection of Antiques; there is a Priapus (a Term) [statue or bust] of Bronze, Small, of excellent workmanship -
At the Institute is a very noble collection of rarities, & disposed in many apartments with the greatest Order & Perspicuity. In one are samples of all kinds of Marbles, & Pretious Stones antique & modern. In another, Mineral productions, in another Birds & Insects, &c.
St Petronius is an old Building of a vast extent, only considerable on account of Cassini's famous Meridian Line51. The paintings are nothing remarkable, except the St Rocco of Parmeggiano; he is giveing his hand to kiss to the Patron of the Chapel. Figure larger than life, not very fine, nor correctly drawn -
About half a mile out of Town is the Certosa, one of the largest & richest Convents of this Order; every fryar has his separate apartment, his Chappel, & Garden; but the Winter hinder'd us from seeing it in
it's beauty, yet everything appeared spacious & neat. In the Church are, as you enter, at the Altars on each hand of you -
St Bruno at Prayers* in the Desert, Madonna with angels above. A solemn,
strong tint, & fine airs - Guercino .
Communion of St Jerom*: so much celebrated; perfectly fine, but the Saint
does not seem near Death: a dark Colouring - Agostino Carracci -
In one of the private Chappels
The St John Preaching. Vastly fine, but too dark by
much52 - Ludovico Carracci.
The Apartments design'd for Strangers are exceedingly well fitted up; handsome Beds, Lustres [glass balls], Marble Tables, Pictures, Drawings, & Figures in Bronze & Terra Cota -
At a like distance from the town another way is the rich Convent [monastery] of St Michel in Bosco, not that it is so magnificent, as the descriptions would make one imagine; it is a large handsome old building in a beautiful situation that commands a noble prospect of Bologna & the fruitful plains of Lombardy for many leagues round. You go up the hill by an easy ascent; it is cultivated to the very top, nor does there now appear any thing, that deserves the name of a wood, except here & there a thicket, one sees nothing but fruit-trees, & hedges.
In the Church. Over 4 Doors.
Four histories, with little figures in as many Medallions, each supported by
two Boy-Angels, great Spirit - in Fresco - Carlo Cignani.
In the Library
St Michael & the Devil, Bronze between 2 & 3 foot high - very fine -
Cav: Algardi -
The Cortile
These noble works are now many of them quite gone; none but are
Those that are most distinguishable of the fine ones are -
The Turbantina. Sadly spoil'd but yet the fine head, that gives name to the piece still remains, & one sees many lovely airs, & attitudes. The colouring of the flesh is changed in many figures to a high Crimson - Guido -
St Benedict driveing away the Devil, who lies upon a great stone, & renders it immoveable. The figures that attempt to raise it with Levers, have been exquisite - Lud: Carracci -
Totila54 kneeling before that Saint. The expression in his attendants & the figure of the young man that holds his furious horse, are admirable - Ditto -
The Mad Woman running to find him out. She is dress'd up in Straws & cut paper, with a whirligig in her hand, smileing at her own Conceits. A little boy & other people pursue her with great concern in their looks - Lud: Carracci -
The Lascivious Women in the Garden - Ditto -
The Dead Nuns riseing to hear Mass; very fine, but the people, who are present, do not appear surpris'd at it - Massari -
These are in a lamentable condition, that I have nam'd, but the rest are still worse -
One ascends the hill still, & comes to -
The Capucins, in whose Church is -
The Crucifix*, so much admired; it is a very noble picture; the St John is particularly excellent, I can't say the Virgin is so, nor has the Christ much expression. The head of the Magdalen is fine. The Sun strikeing through a Window upon it has in one place blister'd the colours - Guido.
The Portico, that leads to the Church of the Madonna di St Luca, is now finish'd, & makes an uncommon & beautiful appearance winding
(as it does) for the space of 3 miles upto the top of the Hill, on which that church stands.
To Florence [2 Days]
Begun to pass the Appenine. Cloudy damp weather. Road paved & admirably kept; what one could see of the prospect less savage than the Alps, & agreeable enough; lay at Fiorenzuola, a Paltry & ill-provided village. Next morning cross'd the Giogo, vastly steep & dangerous, particularly the descent. View of the plains of Florence in comeing down from the mountains very beautiful! Many olive & lemon trees -
Florence
This City is paved wholly with flat stones, roughen'd a little by Art to make them less slippery. The Arno, which runs through it, tho' shallow, is of very considerable breadth, & cross'd by 4 Bridges.
The Ponte Vecchio remarkable for it's strength in having resisted the force of the river (which at certain seasons upon the melting of the snows is prodigiously rapid) at times when all the rest were carried away before it. This has shops on both sides of it, & sustains on 3 arches the Corridore which runs across it & joyns the Old Palace to the Pal: Pitti.
The Ponte a Santa Trinita, one of the finest in the world. It was built in Cosimo II's time, 1607, by Ammanati. It has 3 Arches turned in the form of a Hyperbola, very broad, & the whole is of white Marble55. At the corners of it are 4 Statues (the Seasons) of the same materials by Francavilla, Caccini, &c.
The 2 others are called the Ponte Rubaconte, & Alla Caraia.
Many noble Statues & Buildings grace the principal parts of this City, one of the chief of which we may well reckon -
The Uffizi
Built in the reign of Cosimo II's by Giorgio Vasari. It makes 3 sides of a Square, 2 of which are 210 paces each, the 3d (which joyns them) of only 70, & the 4th open to the Piazza del G.Duca. Below is a Loggiato (or Portico) running round almost the whole edifice, supported by Columns of the Doric Order, intermix'd with Pilastroni [pilasters], & Niches of a handsome Design in them. Under this Arcade
are doors of the Architecture of Buontalenti, Ammanati, &c. that lead to the several Offices of the Magistracy, which are kept here. Over the Porta della Suppliche is a Bust of the G: D: Francis by Giov: dell Opera. This Loggiato is surmounted on the 2 long sides by the Appartments of the G: Duke's Workmen; there are 33 windows on each side, & the 3d has 3 Arches open to the River with Balustrades. Under the middle one is a Statue of Cosimo II's in Marble by the famous Giovanni Bologna. One one side is Equity, on the other Rigour, by Vincenzio Danti - over all this runs the celebrated Gallery, the receptacle of the first Collection without dispute in the World. You enter it about the middle of one of the long sides, but first you go thro' the Lobby, in which are many beautiful Pieces of Antiquity; among others are -
The Two Wolf-Dogs, both in the same attitude, their ears pricked up, &
mouths open, as if they were howling at the moon; rough & full of spirit,
in a noble Tast, bigger than life -
Vase, on one of whose sides is the head of Galba, in Mezzo-Rilievo56.
extremely fine!
Elements in Alto-Rilievo, large as life. I take it to represent only 2 of them.
Earth is sitting in the middle; fruits in her lap, & 2 children in her arms; a
Cow, & a Sheep with Flowers & Herbs about her. On one side is Water
seated on a sort of River-Dragon with other Symbols; on the other, a figure
they call air, but she has only a Swan, & another water-fowl near her with
some rushes, & an urn with a stream flowing from it, which seems to
denote Water too. It is somewhat stiff in general, but there are parts of it
very fine -
Roman Knight leading his horse, Alto Rilievo, as large as life. He is in a
Tunic very succinct, it not reaching his knee, & over it a sort of Trabea
[ceremonial robe], connected by a Fibula [clasp or brooch] on one shoulder;
in one hand a hasta pura [plain spear], in the other his horse's bridle, the
fore part of which appears, & is done with much Spirit. This is thought to
represent the ceremony of a Transvectio [Crossing], when that Order past
in review before the Censor at the closeing of a Lustrum [purificatory
sacrifice]. At the top of the piece are two heads of a Man & Woman, the
meaning of which is unknown. The whole is bold & good, & thought to be
of Adrian's time -
Rape of Ganymede, Rilievo, small, fine, but much hurt -
Priestess of the Goddess Fides; her hair veiled, & hands wrapped up in her Drapery; a small Statue -
Two Trophies of a noble fancy, unfinish'd by Mich:Angelo. They are set on antique Bases that have large Inscriptions. Abundance more such in this room, among which the famous ones in honour of Ap: Claudius Cæus & Q. Fabius Maximus,
A Gladiatour in a posture of Defence. The Shield & sword that were in his hands are gone. Much spirit. Fronting this statue is another gladiatour made to answer it by Piamontini, a Sculptour now alive, no contemptible performance -
The Gallery
It runs over the whole building; in both the long sides you have windows on one hand, & at each end; on the short side are windows on both hands, so that it is as light as possible, & the Statues, which are ranged on each side, intermix'd with busts, show themselves to the best advantage imaginable. The Cieling, divided into a sort of Testudini [vault] is painted with small figures in Fresco, Allegories mixt with Portraits, & some Grotesques, next the Cieling hangs a row of Portraits, illustrious Men of all Nations, in plain black frames, & very ill done; & here & there Ritratti of the great Duke's family among them: the rest is only white-wash'd down to the Ground. First of the Statues in the order they stand, beginning on the right hand, as one enters -
Æsculapius; leaning on one arm on a stump round which a Serpent twines, & in the other hand holding some medicinal Plant. His Drapery falls from the left Shoulder, so as to leave the Breast, & back with the right arm naked, & being gather'd up about his middle, falls down to his feet. A woollen Vitta [head-band] round the head; hair & beard pretty long à la Grecque but somewhat wormy. The workmanship is good & the attitude very easy. It is supposed to have made a Groupe with the figure of a
The Phrygian Commander, much larger than life. The Torso, or Trunk of this only is antique, & was undoubtedly part of an Atys, as he is seen on pretious Stones & Medals; a very thin & light drapery connected on the breast by a Medal-like Fibula, but open before, & discovering the Stomach, & Belly; a Sash, & Drawers button'd down each thigh, but discovering the bare flesh. The Sculptor, who has restored it, tho' with impropriety, has done it excellently well. He has given it one arm extended with a Truncheon, & a very gentile piece of drapery falling from the left shoulder, & hanging on the arm. The head with the Phrygian cap, & a little beard has a majestick frown, & an inexpressible Spirit in the eyes. An exquisite figure! -
Marsyas.57 Hanging by the arms on a tree, & ready to be flayed. He grins with pain, & anger; every limb is on the stretch, the veins all swelled, & muscles strain'd. Legs & feet particularly fine. 'Tis certain the arms are too short & little. Prodigious fine!
The Bacchus, of Bronze. It stands, Isolato, alone at the end of this wing of the Gallery, in a wondrous gentile attitude, naked, & without any sort of symbol to shew who it represents, but it has always been taken for a Bacchus; the Museum Florentium say it can not be one, because the hair is too short; but it is very little shorter than that of the famous Bacchus with Ampelus58 in the Gallery. They name it a Deus Praestes, a genius that presides over cities. It is a masterpiece of art, & stands on another no less beautiful, the Pedestal of bronze made by Lorenzo Ghiberti; on two of its sides are lovely Bas-Reliefs, one the Triumph of Ariadne drawn by Tygers, & preceded by Satyrs dancing; the other, Sacrifice of a Goat; Ornaments of Ivy & Vines with Ram's heads at the Corners, exquisitely fine! This Statue, & Pedestal were in the Collection of Fr: Maria, Duke of Urbino -
Here begins the shorter side of the Gallery, from the windows of which you have a charming Prospect of the City, & its Environs -
Terpsichore; 2 feathers stuck in her hair, that look like horns, in one hand
what seems to have been a Flute; with the other she holds up her drapery,
which shews the Naked through very skilfully -
The Ganymede; not so large as life. The head, arms, & feet restored by
Benvenuto Cellini; the rest antique in the softest Greek style, of polish'd
Parian marble, exquisitely beautiful! The Italian Sculptor has added a head,
The Chimæra; a Lyon out of whose neck grows the head of a goat, in a posture of defence, & wounded in two Places; so that it is probable some statue of Bellerophon59 went along with it. The workmanship is hard, & rude -
Venus pulling a thorn out of her foot; much less than life, in a gentile & easy attitude; the design better than the execution. It seems unfinish'd & rough.
Clio; her hand resting on the Cithera [lute]; in an awkward posture, extremely bad in all respects -
The Tuscan Oratour, in Bronze of great antiquity; stands at the head of the other long side of the Gallery. His right arm bare (for the Tunice has no sleeves at all) & extended, as of one declaiming, the Toga thrown over the left shoulder, but his hand appears from under it. On the Limbus [fringe, hem] of his Garment are 3 lines of Tuscan Characters, as yet undecypher'd, very good, & full of Spirit -
Two square Columns of excellent workmanship, a bas-relief of armour finely thrown together runs from top to bottom of both these - in good preservation.
Venus & Mars; she is restraining him from the war, one arm round his neck, the other on his breast; he reasons with her. The Mars is naked, a helmet without any Crest on his head; a short broad Sword hangs by his side in a belt from his right shoulder. This figure is finer than Venus, who is a little gross in the Style of Rubens; she has drapery from the middle downwards, & bracelets on her arms just below the shoulder, & Sandals on her feet -
Apollo Cælispex, for that it certainly is, as the Mus: Florent: names it, and not Prometheus, as it is vulgarly named; especially as P. Victor has mention'd a statue in Rome called by the aforesaid title near the Circus Maximus. It is vastly larger than life; of an unpolish'd Marble, & not of that hue most antiques have, which I take to proceed from its haveing been clean'd at the time it was transported (to preserve it from the injuries of the weather) from Boboli Gardens to this Gallery. He is looking up to heaven; & with one arm pointing thither, in the other he holds a lighted Fax [torch], & leans on the trunk of a tree. Nothing can be more easy than the attitude, nor more majestick than the figure, his long locks flow with wonderful
Mars; of Basaltes, an Ethiopian Marble of a dark grey colour a little inclineing to a green Cast, remarkable for its hardness; yet nevertheless this statue has been broke all to pieces, but is perfectly well set together again. A crested helmet on the head, & sword (the hilt only remains) in the hand, quite naked; a shield on the left arm. Vastly great style, & full of Spirit -
Gladiatour, a naked figure; the arms are modern & not good; the rest is excellent -
A Bacchanal Woman, crown'd with Ivy, grapes in one hand, in the other a Thyrsus [wand], at least the remains of one, a bracelet on one arm, & girt under the breast. It is a good figure, but tame, & without enthusiasm.
The famous Bacchus & Faun of Mich: Angelo. He holds a Vase in one hand & grapes in the other, which the little Satyr is eating with vast pleasure behind him. The swimming of the eyes, the Mouth a little open, & a certain twist of the body give it the most natural expression of drunkenness imaginable; for the rest it is a most beautiful body of a young man, & perfect flesh. Larger than life. The story told of this seems not improbable (tho' related by Vasari of another statue, a Cupid) for the hand of this Bacchus with the cup in it has been evidently broke off, & that is the only part, that has been so -
The Vestal; with the sacred fire, which is contained in a sort of Candelabrum; one arm she extends over it; & in the other she has a Vessel, but these are modern, she is habited in the Stola [long robe], girt under the breasts, her head veil'd with the Suffibulum [white, four-cornered veil], & the Infula [woollen band or fillet] round her hair: the nose has been broke off, & is ill set on again. It is a noble figure.
The Wrestler, with his prize; it is a Vase, which he holds in both hands to view it, but in so natural, so gentile, so unaffected an attitude, as is not to be conceived without seeing it. The trunk of a Palm-tree near him in sign of Victory -
The Leda, her drapery wrapt round the left arm falls from her middle to her feet in admirable folds; in one hand she holds the Swan (a mere little dead Goose) & presses it to her, & the other she holds before her breasts like the famous Venus. The naked part is true flesh, her hair is tied up, & a fillet round it -
A Consul in the Toga; a Scroll in one hand, the other in action, as if reasoning. The visage somewhat resembles a Tiberius -
Agrippina Major; sitting in exactly the same attitude with the former, but on a Pulvinar [sacred couch], which the other has not; the habit too is exactly alike, the features are said to resemble the Bust of her, but the face is older - it is extremely good - Richardson seems to describe the Poppæa*60 in the Capitol, as if it were much in the same posture -
Between these & at the end of the Gallery is -
The Hercules & Nessus. A noble Groupe; he has him by the neck, & by his own mere strength forces him to the ground. The Centaur, who is falling, has both hands raised above his head & does all he can to disengage himself from the Gripe of Hercules; his mouth is open & great pain in his face. It is truly admirable!
A Matron, dress'd in the Stola, & veil'd; the head, & hands are modern, & of white Marble, the rest of Basaltes - not very good -
Marcus Aurelius Cæsar, young, crown'd with laurel, in one hand a kind of Scepter, in the other a Globe. The Chlamys [military cloak] button'd on one Shoulder, & wrap'd round the left arm; all the rest naked. Done by a good hand, he was adopted by Anton: Pius, in his 18th year -
A Bacchanal; a young Nymph-like figure; her right hand lifted up as in act to throw her Thyrsus, or Spear; a Panther by her side. The drapery is fine to a miracle, & shews the Naked, as if it was of lawn. The attitude full of Spirit; the head is modern, but fine -
Mercury, resting his elbow on the trunk of a tree, on which is a Goat's Skin, on his head the Petasus altus [broad-brimmed hat], naked, in one hand the remains of a Caduce [herald's staff], in the other a Libellus [small book]. A very miracle of Sculpture in all respects & well deserving a place near the Venus of Medicis.
Pomona61; with fruits in her lap, crown'd with Grapes. The Drapery is very fine; the hands & head somewhat undelicate -
Endymion, looking up at the Moon, his hand over his eyes, as dazzled with
Flora, naked, except some loose drapery about the middle, which she collects with her left hand; the right is extended with flowers in it, head thrown a little back & looking up. A diadem & hair collected in a knot.
Apollo sitting on the trunk of a tree, on which his Quiver closed is hung; one of his feet on a Tortoise, he has Sandals on, a fillet round his hair, which is not long, as usual; a flute, or some such instrument in each hand. It is wondrous fine, & elegant -
Bacchus & Ampelus. The Boy is kneeling, & embraceing one of the God's knees, who looks upon him with a smile of the utmost complacency; he has a Goat's skin hanging on one shoulder, & a cup of wine in the left hand; with his right he strokes the head of Ampelus. A number of Masks lie behind them. It is of a yellowish brown Marble; exquisitely delicate & beautiful!
Bacchus & a Faun. The latter has a Panther's Skin on, & a Cynthus in his hand, he looks up in the face of the former, whose hand is gentilely thrown about his neck, as with difficulty supporting himself; he is naked, long locks, that flow upon each shoulder, & Cothurni [hunting-boots] of a beautiful design on his legs, he is crown'd with Ivy. A Fistula [shepherd's pipe] lies on the ground. A most lovely Groupe! I know not which is the finest this, or the former -
Urania. Her drapery finely wrap'd about her; a Diadem on her head. The arms that hold a globe, & Compasses, are modern -
Leda sitting; much less than life; one hand holds up the Swan to her. The design is gentile, but the work inelegant -
Cupid & Psyche embraceing; about Half Life. A celebrated Groupe; he is naked; she has Drapery from the Waste downwards, her face not at all handsome. 'Tis very fine, but has been miserably broke to pieces -
The Apollo. Leans with one arm on his lyre, which is set on an altar of colour'd Marbles, added by a modern Sculptour: his long curling hair is crown'd with laurel. A most majestick lovely figure -
Consul frowning & pointing to a Scroll, that he holds in the other hand; of middleing workmanship -
Venus Genitrix [mother, creator], sitting: the little Cupid, whose wings are hardly grown, in her lap; she has one arm round him, & with the other holds up a bow, which he is reaching after: she has a piece of drapery from her waste downwards, the rest naked. Somewhat indelicate & large, yet
Narcissus kneeling; one arm extended, the other behind him. It was made undoubtedly to stand against a wall, for this latter grows, as it were, to his back, & is not at all finish'd; there is an eager desire mixt with despair in the face, & the workmanship is wonderfully soft & fine -
Victory, without wings, a Palm in one hand, a wreath of Laurel in the other, her hair tied up on the forehead like an Apollo, the rest flowing on her shoulders, her drapery girt up about the middle. A very graceful figure!
A Roman Soldier; one of the Velites [skirmishers], kneeling on one knee, one arm held out, in which was once a Spear; on the other his Buckler square, & channel'd, Imbricis forma [streaked or rainy appearance]; a short Tunic with a Cuirass over it, arms & head bare. Workmanship rough, & bold without much finishing: great Spirit!
Apollo, sitting & playing on the Testudo [lyre or lute], Sandals on his feet, the rest naked, hair short & rough, a Serpent coil'd up between his feet; they say it is the Python -
Diana takeing arrows out of her Quiver; in the other hand a Bow; Dog looking up in her face, her hair rolled back from the Temples, & collected in a knot behind, the Crescent on her bow: her Stola falls as low as her feet, but is gather'd up on one thigh with a Fibula, so as to leave that leg naked. Over it a short Vest, that descends no lower than the Wast, & is girt as with a Sash, under the breasts, Soleæ [sandals] on her feet. This statue is of an admirable Prontezza [quickness], & lightness, the attitude & air vastly gentile, but the work seems unfinish'd, & a little hard -
Bacchus, one hand on his side, the other holding up Grapes, crown'd with the same, & cloathed in a Goat's-Skin; very gentile -
Hercules, young & naked, an apple in one hand, his club in the other, extremely good -
Bacchus sitting; a gentile attitude; long hair, Grapes in his hand, & Naked. The Panther by his side -
Paris, sitting on a very high Seat, & holding out the apple in one hand, naked, except a little Drapery on one thigh. Easy & beautiful!
The Bacchus & Faun, of Sansovino, not many of the antique go beyond this in Symmetry & Delicacy; he holds up a Vessel of Wine with a Smileing happy countenance. The easy turn of the limbs, & softness of the flesh is fine, as possible -
The famous Boar. It is in truth a most formidable animal; he is in a posture as if upon the approach of Men & Dogs, just rouseing himself from his
Aper multos Vesulus quem pinifer annos
Defendit, multosqu palus Laurentia, silva
Pastus arundinea -
- Infremuitqu ferox, & inhorruit armos
Nec cuiquam irasci, propriusve accedere virtus;
Sed jaculis. Tutisq procul clamoribus instant
Ille autem impetibus partes cunctatur in omnes
Dentibus infrendens -62
Not that he is exactly in the circumstances of Virgil's Boar, but with his
foreparts raised, his bristles & Ears erect, seems listening, & makeing
ready to meet the comeing danger. One sees in this statue, that the greatest
masters have not disdain'd the pains required to finish a statue even in
circumstances, the most minute, & almost unnecessary; the very tongue,
& roof of the mouth are not forgot here, the hair is nobly roughen'd with
infinite industry, & the closest imitation of Nature, nor is the force & Spirit
the less for it, but the whole is in the greatest Greek Tast possible (it is
destroy'd now by fire).
The Laocoön (destroyed too by the fire) of Baccio Bandinelli; a most
noble Copy of the famous one at Rome; white Marble; to which Time has
already begun to give the beautiful hue of the Antique: much bigger than
life. One of the boys is only in the terrours of death, & trying to release
himself from the folds of one of the Serpents, who is actually preying upon
the father; the other Son is dyeing, the Serpent having set his fangs into his
side near the heart. The expression most exquisite in all three. This is at the
end of this wing of the gallery on a high Marble Pedestal a little nearer the
window behind it, & fronting the boar, is -
The Hunter - one foot advanced, the arms in act of couching a Lance,
which is gone. Great Spirit in the head & attitude. Buskins of a singular
make; small thongs of leather interlaced chain-fashion in one another,
which hold on the Sandal. A very short Tunic, above the knees, girt about
the middle -
A Sbozzo of Michelangelo, a woman; perhaps design'd for an Omphale;
never could have been very good -
Minerva Ερχανή63
, in one hand a Radius Textorius [a staff for weaving],
in the other the remains of a Spear, or some such thing. On the head a plain
Helmet with a Serpent for the Crest, a Lorica [breastplate] with Medusa's
Juno, with a Patera [libation dish] in her left hand, & part of a Scepter in the right. On her head a Diadem; & habited in a very long Stola. The drapery very good; & upon the whole a fine figure. Jupiter Μειλιχιος. Cloth'd in a Vestment, that is wrap'd about him, a serene majestick aspect; his thunder in his hand but not in act of brandishing it, only holding it by his side -
Hygieia64, with one hand she holds a great serpent, & in the other a sort of Patera. The workmanship is gross, & undelicate enough -
A Camillus [acolyte], as it is called, tho' the dress resembles not that, which this Minister of the Sacrifices is seen to wear in the Bas-Reliefs. It is a young figure cloth'd in a kind of Pænula; a cloak that buttons on the right shoulder, & hangs down about half-way the legs, which are quite naked. No better work than the former -
Venus, a Scallop in her hand, & a fish by her side, of a middling beauty.
Philosopher. The upper parts naked, some drapery below, which he gathers up. One arm bent on his side; the other, as strokeing his beard, & in it he holds a Scroll, the elbow leans on the trunk of a tree. It is only Sbozzato [sketched], & the attitude excepted, very bad.
Omitted65
Morpheus; a winged boy, sleeping on his back, a horn in one hand,
Poppies in the other; a Lyon's hide spread under him. The whole of
polish'd Touchstone: Sculpture but indifferent -
A Muse, in an attitude as danceing -
Bacchus crown'd with Grapes; a Vase under his arm.
These two are small figures, & placed atop of the 2 Columns with the fine
Bas-Reliefs of armour.
A Roman Figure habited in the Toga, but with a beard. The arms, that hold
a Pen, & Scroll are modern additions -
Another Consul with a Scroll -
A Venus in the same attitude with the famous one, but not fine -
Between these statues are ranged the Busts two & two. What they have of Drapery, or Armour is commonly modern, tho' not so in all of them. The Cæsars are placed in the order of Succession on one side,
intermix'd with a few others, that have some relation to them, & fronting them are the Feminæ Augustæ, or where these are wanting, Philosphers, & others. The Series begins, at the end of that Wing of the building, where stands the Hercules, & Centaur on the right hand, by Julius Cæsar in Bronze, to which has been added a Drapery of colour'd marble. A thin face with hollow Cheeks, & somewhat old hair cut short, descending pretty low on the forehead, but retireing from the temples, as if inclinable to baldness. No Laurel; it does not much resemble the Medals of him. A fix'd stareing look strait forward -
Augustus, white marble, larger than life, seems turned of 30 years of age;
the head a little turned, so as to give an easy noble air; the nose gently
arched; lively eyes, & features full of Majesty, & masculine beauty; a little
down upon the Chin; the hair short, & negligent. The sculpture is exquisite
-
Fronting these are:
Cicero; wholly antique, without any drapery. About 45 years old; the Cicer
on his cheek; a careful, sensible, thinking face. Excellent workmanship.
Sappho, as it is called, the face & head-dress resembling hers, as seen on
pretious Stones & Medals. It is a good deal injured by time -
Agrippa frowning; the eyes deep sunk & beetle-Brows. Countenance full
of care & even Ill-nature, the Neck remarkably thick, & strongly made -
extremely fine -
Tiberius. A very white unpolish'd marble, young, but of a disagreeable
aspect; unlike the Medals, & very ill done -
Sophocles
Aristippus
Caligula; young, head turned over the shoulder; a pert sort of smileing air;
small features, & a strait nose; cheeks a little hollow -
Claudius. A heavy stupid countenance -
Agrippina, the wife of Germanicus; not above 30 years old; serious &
composed, Nose strait & cheeks pretty full. Hair parted from the forehead
with great simplicity & tied together behind; two curls are left hanging on
each side the neck -
Antonia, mother of Germanicus, & Claudius; a young look, hair rolled
back from the forehead, many small curls left on the temples; the rest
collected in a knot behind. The Tunic, & Palla of a piece with the bust,
&
Nero; a fat face, very full in the cheeks, & the lower part of it: a peevish sort of smile about the eyes, & mouth. the hair descends very low on the forehead & is disposed with great care; a small lock longer than the rest brought foreward on each cheek - it is very fine -
Galba66, much bigger than life; a long lean face, a very large high nose, & not resembling the common likenesses of him, but more like a Nerva.
Poppæa; a stiff attitude, the face not very handsome, nose gently arched; hair artfully divided, & dressed in little rolls, 2 long curls hang on each side the neck, & 2 more behind - not good -
Seneca*; as low as the breast, without any drapery, very old, some beard, which is much neglected, as well as the hair, which falls very low, carelessly, on the forehead, the eyes very small & mouth a little open; extremely natural & fine -
Otho, a broad full face, hook'd nose, descending strait down, mouth very small, & heavy dull eyes, hair etagé [in rows], & very short, like a Bobbwigg: the work very indifferent - in gradus facta coma ["the hair made up in steps or braids"] (Quintilia).
Vitellus67; almost Colossal; vastly fat, frowning a little, short careless hair: & not much of it.
Carneades*68. A fiece & earnest look, as eager in dispute, with the eyebrows drawn up: bald on the top of the head; some hair on the temples, & beard. A Greek bust of great Spirit -
Xenocrates*69; a wrinkled brow, seems speaking; hair & beard as the former & as fine if not finer than the former.
Vespasian; vultu nitentis [with shining contenance] (as Suetonius describes him). Much bigger than life; quite bald on the crown, & what hair he has very short -
Titus; a full face, very small mouth, uneasy & disagreeable aspect -
Berenice of Judea, the Mistress of the former; large features not very handsome; a Diadem, Hair dressed with two or three Trusses of long Curls (Calamistrati) [curled with the curling iron] on each side of the head, the rest turned up behind -
Julia, Daughter of Titus, & Mistress to her Uncle Domitian. Young, & of moderate beauty. She is dressed with what Juvenal (Statius) calls Suggestum Comæ [lofty head-dress]; a vast bush of small Curls, that stand up from the forehead, almost as high as the face is long; the hind-part braided, & brought quite round the back of her head.
Palazzo Pitti
A vast Structure begun by a private Man, Messer Luca Pitti. his Heirs finding themselves reduced by the great Expence he had been at, & themselves unable to finish it, sold it to Leonora of Toledo, the Wife of Cosimo 1st. It was begun on the designs of the famous Ser. Brunelleschi, who carried the building as high as the 2d Story of the Grand Front; afterwards Barto. Ammanati finish'd it on a Model of his own. The Terreno [ground-floor] has it's Windows placed at a great distance from one another, the next order has 23 arched Windows in a manner close together with a small & low Balustrade running alone before them of neither Use nor Ornament, over this is a 3d Story smaller of only eleven Windows of the same fashion. this whole front is charged all over with Rustick after the Tuscan fashion in large Bozzi, & makes an appearance grand enough, opening upon a large Piazza (tho' this Piazza is neither levell'd, nor paved, it has one Gate, which brings you into a Cortile, square, & surrounded on 3 Sides by a Loggia, over which run the Apartments. this Portico is of the Tuscan order, arched & both its Columns, & the face of its Arches charged all over with Rustick in the Manner of th' Hotel de Luxembourg at Paris. the 2d Order is Ionic, & its Pilasters have also a Rustick in square Bozzi, but placed at some distance one from the other, the highest Order is Corinthian, & this too has it's Bozzi Round, like the lower one, but not close together. the whole surmounted by a handsome & rich Intablature. the fourth side of the Cortile (which fronts you, as you enter) rises no higher than the top of the Loggia. in the midst of it is a kind of Grotta, containing a large Bason of stagnated Water with little leaden figures of Cupids, as it were swimming & sporting in it. in a Nich opposite to you is a bad Statue of Moses in Porphyry, & the Roof & Walls adorned with Rock-work & paintings, in the Court even with the front of this Grot are two large Niches on each hand. in one a Soldier supporting the body of a dead Youth, probably representing the same Persons with that Statue near the old Bridge, but in a manner much inferiour. in the other Hercules lifting Antæus from the ground.
both Antique, of indifferent workmanship, & much damaged. over this building, which joins the Ends of the Loggia; & even with the 2d Story, is a large fountain, & the prospect lies open to the garden call'd Boboli. in the Testate of the Portico are on one side a Statue of Pluto naked with Cerberus by him; on the other a Hercules Colossal in the attitude of the Farnese. this is Antique & good; inscribed with the name of Lysippus70 counterfeited. under it is the known Bas-Relief of the Mule. You go up a Staircase by no means answerable to the Greatness of the Palace, which brings you into the Sale des Gardes. on the left hand is the Apartment of the late Great-Prince Ferdinand. in the Salone are many Portraits of the house of Medici. a Square in the Cieling, but done in Oil -
Virtue presenting a Person to Jupiter &c - Luca Giordano.
Some very large Battle-Pieces, much damaged - Borgognone.
Nymphs surprised, & seized on by Satyrs, very bad indeed - Rubens.
Two very large Views of Bays with Gallys re-fitting. one is quite spoil'd by
Damp; the other exquisitely fine, Sun-beams playing on the Water, an old
Castle with Pine-trees, figures going into the Water, a Ship sailing at a
distance & loseing itself in Air, & Sunshine. admirable! - Salvator-Rosa.
In the other rooms:
Christ standing on a kind of pedestal. The Evangelists on each side, rather
less than life. The Shades very black, and but disagreeable in the whole. -
Il Frate.
A Madonna, with a figure by her like a Pallas, unfinish'd, his worst
Drawing - Correggio.
Annunciation. there is a magnificent piece of Building with a View thro'
into a Garden. It is a sort of Loggia. on one side kneels the Virgin, the
Angel on the other, & two huge Columns between them, so that it is
impossible they should see each other. - P: Veronese.
The Madonna sitting. on one hand St Peter stands, one arm extended, a
very noble figure, an air of a head like Rafaël, Profile. on the other St.
Sebastian, his hands tied behind him, & pierced with arrows, naked, &
finely painted. on the Ground sit Mary Magdalen, & another Male-Saint
in changeable garments; they both squint extremely, as does the principal
Madonna del Collo lungo [with the long neck]. the fault which gives name to the Picture immediately strikes the Eye. She is sitting, & uncovers the Child who sleeps in her Lap to several Angel-like figures, that crowd to see it. there is a Groupe of 3 heads inexpressibly fine, one a Youth's head in Profile (his whole figure appears, & he bears a Vase in his hand) another a face as of a Girl (seen full) with blew eyes & light hair dress'd as fine as any antique statue, lovely beyond imagination. the other is of a boy, who presses forward between these two, his hair curled in Ringlets, & a most Natural expression. the Virgin is not handsome, but a most majestick Air, the head & dressing of the hair in exquisite Taste, her Drapery in little folds, that shows the rising & turn of the breast to a wonder. it is cracked from top to bottom being on board otherwise well preserved, the Bambino is very bad, & lies sprawling in a strange manner, a building at a distance with a Man displaying a Scrowl. much finish'd & big as life - Parmeggiano.
Madonna della Pescia [of the fishes]. she sits on a high Throne under a Canopy, whose Curtains are supported by angels flying. on one side stand S: Peter & S: [sic]. 2 boy Angels on the foreground with Notes of Musick - extremely fine - Rafaël. -
Disputation on the Trinity. St Austin is speaking, & addresses to S: Peter Martyr. St Laurence in his Sacerdotal habit, & S: Francis attending. Mary Magdalen, & S: Sebastian sit on the foreground. it is famous, particularly for the degrees of Conviction, that appear in the figures suitable to their several Characters, finely painted undoubtedly, & perhaps the principal work of this Master, from whence he got his great Reputation I know not, Grace & Beauty 'tis certain he was an utter Stranger to; Harmony in the Tout-Ensemble he was ignorant of; his Subjects are always ill-chosen, & if he colour'd a particular figure well, this is by no means sufficient to put him on a rank with the greatest Masters. tho' even in this he often fails, & there is a smeariness in his shades that makes all his figures appear dirty. it is so even here - Andrea del Sarto.
S: Mark, sitting in a Nich, a Colossal figure, with a book in his hand, a most noble Style, Drapery in marvellous folds, vastly great! - II Frate.
Assumption of the Virgin: Apostles below looking into the Sepulchre. She looks like a dirty ordinary Girl, abundance of Boy Angels about her. much
Another; much the same, some few figures excepted - Ditto.
S. Andrea Corsini praying: the Virgin above with Saints & Angels. she is a most aweful beauty; there is S. Peter almost lost in Glory, the head is exactly Guido. the whole finely colour'd with great Warmth and Harmony - large as life - Carlo Maratti.
Ritratto of Card: Bentivoglio, easy and natural, yet perfectly great. the Colouring fine beyond all expression - Vandike.
Card: Hippolito of Medici, half length, in the habit of a Hungarian, very gentile - Titian.
Seven more Portraits, half lengths - some very fine - Ditto.
Charles the 5th, whole length, standing - the air has somewhat low & disagreeable - Ditto.
Philip the 2d, same size, Young, pale & thin, a most unpromiseing countenance - Ditto.
A Lady, dress'd in Crimson Satin. Half-length;fat, red-hair'd, & the air of a Cook-Wench, but painted to the greatest perfection of Colouring - Paris Bordone.
Luther (as it is called, tho' undoubtedly not so) playing on the Harpsicord. his head turned over his Shoulder towards a Man, who stands behind with a Lute; on t'other side a Woman in a black Cap & feather, the two latter figures perfectly insignificant. but the head of the principal one has a most exquisite life & Spirit in the eyes, & is admirably painted, the Drapery is one great black Spot - Giorgione71.
Secretary of Leo the 10th, head & hands, a sort of Man, that should not have set for his picture - something hard - Rafaël.
The famous Portrait of Leo the 10, with the Cardinals Medici & Rossi, as fine as a Portrait can possibly be, & excellently preserved! - Ditto.
Pilgrims of Emaus, his dark, sooty Manner - Apollo, fleaing Marsyas - same Style - Guercino.
S.Sebastian, all blister'd & spoil'd - [Guercino]
A fine Madonna, of Rubens.
rome
Palace Spada72
Not far from the Farnese, built in the Pontificate of Paul III. (Farnese) by Card. Capoferro, and afterwards purchased by the family Spada, with whom it continues. It is not very large, surrounding one small cortile only, with a little garden behind it; of an unpleasing architecture, much ornamented with festoons, medaglions, reliefs and niches with statues between every two windows. It has a deserted, dirty, melancholy air within side, as most of the old Italian houses have.
In the Summer Apartments
Death of Archemorus. The serpent has in-twisted the child, who is still
alive in his folds, and raises the fore part of his body to defend himself
against three warriors who are attacking him. Hypsipile73 stands by, her
hair dishevelled, and in great affliction, mezzo relievo. Figures about half
life, the workmanship indifferently good, and does not want spirit.
The
following are of the same size and character. Antique.
Zethus and Amphion74. The former sitting with a dog by him, the other
(a very gentile figure) stands before him, his hand resting on the testudo.
These insignia denote the different characters of the two brothers, and
seem to give some light to that passage in Horace:
Gratia sic fratrum geminorum, Amphionis atque
Zethi, dissiluit; donec suspecta severo
Conticuit lyra. Fraternis cessisse putatur
Moribus Amphion. Tu cede potentis amici
Lenibus imperiis; quotiesque educet in agros
Ætoliis onerata plagis jumenta canesque;
Surge, et inhumanæ senium depone Camenæ.75
There is some architecture in the sculpture perhaps alluding to the building
Dæda1us and Pasiphæ76. He is sitting, in one hand a saw, the other under the chin of the favourite bull, the fore parts of which only appear, (or it may perhaps be the cow of wood, that he had made, which the saw he holds seems to confirm,) on the other side of which, stands that queen, habited like a matron, one of her hands on the back of it. Dædalus has the Phrygian cap on his head. Antique.
Bellerophon watering Pegasus. Antique.
Meleager77 a temple, the boar's head hung up as a bow. Antique.
There are two more in a like style, whose subjects I do not know; these are squares, and fixed in the wall of a small room.
Bust called Scipio Africanus78. Septimius Severus. In black marble, very good. Antique.
Philosopher, head leaning on one arm, which rests on his knee; very fine, particularly the head, and that arm; the other is wrapped in his pallium. White marble. Antique.
In the Great Apartments
The great stair-case which leads to them is covered with an arched vault, (like that of Bernini in the Vatican,) which mounts gradually, as the stairs rise, but without columns. On the right hand in the sale is the famous:
Pompey, above twice as large as life. Chlamys [military cloak] buttoned on the right shoulder, whence it falls, and is twisted round the left arm, in which he holds a globe, the other extended in an attitude of command; all the rest of the body naked; the trunk of a palm tree by him, in token of victory. In a great taste, not much finished, and has a majestic air, in all likelihood, the same that stood in the Curia Pompeia. Antique.
Gallery and Other Rooms
Old Woman winding yarn, Girl at work by her; the latter an ordinary, dirty,
sullen creature, that pouts, and seems to labour against her will; the old one
seems scolding with a malicious sort of smile in her face, that one sees in
such people when they can have the pleasure of commanding, the very
perfection of low nature, and undoubtedly taken from life: it is admirable,
Several fine portraits - Titian.
The famous Ritratto of Cardinal Spada, (see Richardson, p. 190.) -
infinitely inferior to Vandyke's Bentivoglio at Florence, and in my opinion
to many other portraits of much inferior masters: it is languid, and wants
spirit - Guido.
Rape of Helena. Paris leads her to his vessel in triumph, (a beautiful youth,)
with a sanguine joy and exultation in his countenance, and she
accompanies him with very little reluctance; her head in profile, but the
most lovely and Guidesco imaginable, as is the face of one of her women
that follow (that with a sort of turbant tied under the chin,) with caskets of
jewels; an old slave precedes them, who seems to hasten them away for
fear of accidents, and there is a black boy with some favourite animal in
a string, it resembles a chameleon; whether time have altered this picture,
or whether it be not really original. I can not say, but the colouring is
reddish and thick, (I mean in the flesh,) and the sea and sky of so fierce a
blue, that it has no manner of harmony; that other at Paris, in the fine
gallery of the Hotel de Toulouse is exactly the same with this in every
thing but its defects, and is in all respects a most exquisite picture. - Guido.
Didob on the funeral pile; the sword she has fallen on comes a vast way
through her body, and must have pierced her heart, yet she is alive, and
a I since find that this was copied from the other, afterwards mentioned, for Card. Spada, by Giacinto Campana, (a scholar of Franco Brizio,) but retouched, and in many parts gone over by Guido himself. The original was done for the king of Spain, but the author being disgusted, and not like to meet with the reward due to his merit from that quarter, sold it to the queen-mother of France, Mary of Medicis; but the disturbances at that court ensuing, and she obliged to leave the kingdom, the merchant of Lyons, who had paid the money for it, sold it, and it came into the hands of Mons. de l'Antoliere at Paris. [Gray's note]
b Amidei, p. 92. See what Guido thought of this picture. There is another in France, the original one, I believe, the king's, which this master, Guercino, copied himself for Card. Spada; there is a book of verses in praise of it, printed at Bologna. [Gray's note]
Some landscapes of Claude Lorraine, and Gaspar Poussin.
Palace Borghese79
In the Via de' Condotti, Campo Marzo; one of the vastest in Rome, built in the time of Paul V. (head of this family,) and raised to save expense on the old foundations of an edifice that stood there before, from whence it has its strange form, somewhat resembling a harpsichord. The architect was Martino Lunghi, the elder, the chief apartments open on a double portico, which surrounds a square cortile, the lower order Doric, and the upper Ionic; these porticoes are supported by four hundred antique columns of granite, ranked two and two; the pictures are all below in the summer apartments - where they are perishing with the damp by hanging against a bare white wall, because the prince will not be at the charge of new frames, which he must, if they were transferred to the grand story. This wretch has 138,000 crowns per annum, (near £30,000 sterling,) and is master of many of the finest things at Rome.
Madonna; not at all hard, or stiff, a smiling natural air - Benvenuto Garofalo.
Another, very good - Meccarino da Sienna.
Another, one of the best of him; - Scipione Gaetano.
Several of Rafaël, Titian, Andrea del Sarto, &c. but in none of them all,
that heavenly grace and beauty, that Guido gave, and that Carlo Maratt has
so well imitated in subjects of this nature.
St. Jerom with a book sitting at a table, on which is a skull strongly and
well coloured in his first manner; not agreeable. - Guido.
Marriage of St. Catherine, exquisitely gentile. The amorous look, which the little Christ gives his spouse, is admirable. - Parmeggiano.
Another, where the Bambino looks up to the Madonna as asking her consent. In the corner is the old man's head one sees so often in his pictures, and which is so much too big for the rest of the figures. It is supposed to be himself. - Parmeggiano.
Joseph revealing Dreams in the Prison; dark, disagreeable manner. - Guercino.
David, with Goliah's head; same style, like Caravaggio - Ditto.
Same subject, monstrously ungraceful and dark80. - M. Angelo Caravaggio.
Angel delivering St. Peter. The saint lies all in a heap, and the angel without wings comes dropping down upon him. - Ditto.
Several other capital ones. Same indecent style and unnatural colouring. - Ditto.
Judgment of Solomon. Not one good figure, or attitude in the whole, besides the impropriety of making Solomon an old man.- Lanfranco.
Diana with her nymphs shooting at a mark (see Bellori's description of it, page. 219), figures about half life. It is very famous, I can't tell for what. On the foreground is a lake, with two nymphs bathing: beyond them the rest exercising, and the Goddess herself, who holds up the prize. The attitudes for the most part without grace, and the whole not agreeable. - Domenichino.81
Four rounds. Venus and her family with various sports of the loves. Many figures, small. Not in his finest lightsome manner, yet there are particular figures, and groups of extreme beauty. - Albani.
Country Girl with Flowers. Head and hands: a coarse wench, with black curled hair, yet vast life and nature - M. Ang. Caravaggio.
Temptation of St. Anthony. Small: the saint, dressed like a hermit, is extended in a sort of cave, under a rock. His eyes fixed upon Heaven, where Christ appears supported by Angels. A Devil (not a Dutch one, but in a human form) stands over him, gnashing his teeth, and menacing. Another in the shape of a lion, stands roaring at him. The landscape suitable to such a scene, and exquisite. The whole admirably painted, and finished to the height, covered with a glass. - Annibal Carracci.
St. Agatha. A head. She holds a goblet, with two breasts upon it; for, as in her martyrdom, they tore her's off, she presides over that part, and cures all distempers of it. Excellent, and finely coloured - Leonardo da Vinci.
Madonna dolorosa. Half figure, extremely pale, and worn with affliction, dressed like some nuns, in black and white. The face is old, and has no remains of beauty; the expression touching, but without grace - Titian.
There is a fine copy in Mosaic of this in the palace, by Marcello Provenzale.
St. Cecilia, with the man that came to ravish her, angels appearing over her. Small figures, hard manner, much finished, has the air of a Flemish picture - Correggio.
St. Cecilia. A head with a turbant, by her a harp, very beautiful; but not a saint-like beauty. It is extremely finished, and most excellent. - Domenichino.
A Man, kneeling naked on one knee, the other leg extended. Big as life, and finely painted; a sort of academy figure - Bronzino il Vecchio.
Christ fallen under the weight of the Cross. As big as life, not good - Sebastiano del Piombo.
The celebrated Ritratto called the Schoolmaster, and most deservedly so. Sitting at a table with a book in his hand, in an attitude not to be described, nor very common, yet easy to a miracle. An old man in black, with a black cap, half length. It is truly good, and perfect nature. - Titian.
Caesar Borgia; half length, black slashed doublet, that sits close to his shape, and a black cap with a feather. A thin man, with a little beard, and hair of a dark colour; pale, but not disagreeable countenance. - Ditto.
Machiavel, as they call it, though it does not resemble the following. It is a younger man, and has more spirit; both very good. - Ditto.
Caesar Borgia (as Cardinal) and Machiavel together. The Cardinal sitting in his habit at a table, the other standing (in black) looks him in the face. Profile. He is old, with a long brown beard, and a heavy look; the other same face with the former, very fine. - Rafaël.
Æneas with Anchises, Creusa following. (Bellori mentions it, page 116). The Sfumatezza [delicate shading of colouring], (or union of the figures with this ground) is generally carried to such a degree by this master, that it
Country Wedding with dancers. A number of small figures, and a fine landscape in the Flemish style. Upon a near view by the airs of heads, and some of the faces, you may perceive that it is of a superior hand. A great rarity, for it is of - Guido.
Venus naked, lying at length. Same with the grand duke's, but not so good. Large as life. - Titian.
A Family Picture, six or seven children; some of whose heads are exceeding fine. Pordenone.
Cardinal sitting. Half length, a fattish man, the head admirable. - Titian.
Two Buffoons' Heads. Twice as big as life; a sort of sketches. - Giorgione.
An Old Man's Head, with that of an Angel. Sketch, exquisite. - Correggio.
Another, Woman's Head drinking. - An. Carracci.
Venus, and two of the Graces hoodwinking Cupid. Half figure, rather larger than life. The Venus has a good deal of Paul Veronese's manner, extremely fine, and greatly esteemed. This is covered with glasses. - Titian.
St. Cosmo, and St. Damian, who were physicians, in consequence of which the painter has represented one feeling a man's pulse, the other examining an urinal, which a woman has brought him. Big as the life, very absurd, yet not ill painted. - Dossa da Ferraro.
Two Pieces with small Figures of Monsters and Devils, &c. One seems the destruction of Sodom, or perhaps they are only dreams of the author. - Ditto.
Ritratto of Paul the Fifth, in mosaic. A most laborious and beautiful work in the kind; only a head; it is as soft as painting. There is a little piece with a goldfinch, and another bird of the same hand, that are quite alive. - Marcello Provenzale.
Drawings
Design for the Battle in the Hall of Constantine. Small pen and wash, on a brownish paper. It is fine, and if it were a copy, (as Richardson says it is) it is not likely that the copier would deviate from Rafael. Whereas it is plain there are many parts of it not the same, particularly the principal figure, which is older, with a beard, and no crown on the head; it is here taken undoubtedly for original.
Death of Adonis. The Graces on one side mourning over his body, the Loves on the other in vast troops. They have caught the boar, and some run their arrows into it, others haul it along with a rope. They bring it to Venus, that she may revenge herself on it; she sits on a bank, her swans on each side of her, who by their motions seem striving to comfort her. A wondrous fine and poetical thought; an example to other masters in the choice and management of a subject - Ditto.
In one of the rooms is a noble Sarcophagus of porphyry, antique, which serves as a fountain. The obliquity of one side of the palace does not hinder the apartments there from preserving their due enfilade [suite with doorways opposite], and one sees through a noble suite of them. Nor does the view terminate in the house, but is continued through that of another person, which is pierced on purpose, and a fountain placed there, beyond which you see a beautiful country. When you come to the end, you find between the fountain and you, one of the longest and most frequented streets in Rome: and there is a long covered balcony with Gelosie [shutter with slanting slats], which upon opening at each end you catch the prospect of the street up and down, which is continually thronged with people; and before you it is laid open to the Tiber by means of a spacious wharf, built and handsomely adorned by Clement II (Albani) whither resort all the barks that come down the river with provisions. Beyond is seen Monte Mario, with the villas upon it, a most delicious scene. The ordinance of all this is in a true taste, and worthy of Italy. One of the rooms in this chain, is a small gallery of looking-glasses, painted in the Roman way, with festoons and ornaments of flowers irregularly running among them, and five boys by Ciro Ferri. In rounds a-top are placed busts of emperors and others in porphyry. Another is lined with marble, tables and fountains of beautiful alabaster. The grand front of this palace is of twenty two windows.
Palace Sacchetti
In the Rione del Ponte, on the Vatican side the Tiber, an old dirty house belongs to a Florentine family; the pictures are now to be sold, but very high priced. The Bacchus and Ariadne, either the copy of, or the first design, for that most capital one, which was lost in going to Spain, and that Giacomo. Freii has made a fine print of. The Venus and two principal figures are the same. Several others are wanting; and the Faun with a cymbal that is there dancing, on the foreground, here is only a little figure seen at a distance. These differences seem to prove it an original too. The heads are exceeding lovely; the flesh more pale and lifeless than common, even with this master, and seems to have been retouched in some places. It is not in good preservation. Figures large as life. - Guido.
Fortune, in an attitude of flying, one foot on the globe, big as life. A very
fine gentile figure. - Guido.
Magdalen, a head; a cross in her hand. Great beauty and sorrow. - Ditto.
Madonna, very small on wood. Exceeding lovely and well coloured. -
Albano.
Rape of the Sabines. Many figures, and large as life. Perfectly fine as to
the actions, particularly that group of the soldier who carries off the
woman, that lifts up both arms. Not much finished, very capital. - Pietro
Cortona.
Cleopatra prostrate before Augustus, large as life. She is but a tame figure,
with very little expression: but the emperor a very noble one, turned in
profile, as graceful as possible. The page at the door that holds his helmet,
is admirable; not his darkest manner. Painted An. Dom. 1640. - Guercino.
Triumph of Venus. Many figures. Had not time to observe it much, but
seemed very good, though ill coloured. - Nic. Poussin.
A Bacchanal. Many fine capricious actions, but darker than common - P.
Cortona.
Battle of Arbela82. The terror of Darius and his horses, that rear up in a
fright, are admirable. The page with a blue vestment that flies and looks
back, is the very perfection of this master. Besides being distinguished by
his person and situation, Alexander has an eagle flying o'er his head. Many
noble combinations and accidents of men and horses. The dying trumpeter,
Le Brun seems not a little obliged to this composition.
Sarah giving Hagar to Abraham. Figures the size of a Poussin, highly finished, the expression admirable. Abraham has the appearance of a man in the vigour of his age (about thirty). There is a timidity in his face, as if he concealed his pleasure on his wife's account, who is joining their hands, and looks him full in the face, as if afraid he should receive her present with too much pleasure. The modesty and downcast look of the handmaid, as well as her beauty and grace, perfectly fine and lovely. - P. Cortona.
Apollo and Marsyas. Bas-relief figure about two palms long. He has begun to flay him, and he twists himself about with anguish. A fine expression, and limbs full of pain. Excellent workmanship - Antique.
Transformation of Daphne. He has caught her, and she rises with a sweep, like Bernini's Daphne. He seems to have taken the thought from this; very fine.- Antique.
A Procession, and three more, whose subjects I do not recollect. They are much of a size, square bas-reliefs, all the six: framed and hung up.
Meeting of Jacob and Esau. Siege of Oxydraca. Figures large as life; juvenile performances of P. Cortona.
Church of S. Maria della S.S. Concezione de Cappucini
On Mount Quirinal, near Pal. Barbarini; a plain unadorned small church. Near the altar is a white marble monument erected to Alexander Sobieski, son of John, third King of Poland, with a half figure of him in mezzo-relievo; under a plain gravestone lies Antonio Barberini, Cardinal Saint Onufrio, brother to Urban VIII. and founder of the convent, of whicb order he was : the epitaph - Hic jacet pulvis, hic cinis, hic nihil ["Here lies dust, ashes, nothing"].
On the Right hand, in a side Chapel, as you enter
The celebrated St. Michael; rather larger than life. The Devil prostrate among burnt rocks, with fire issuing from among the clefts; on whose head he sets one foot, the other rests lightly on the ground; his wings spread, in
Opposite Chapel
St. Paul restored to sight. He is in armour kneeling before Ananias, whose head seems to be imitated from the priest in Domenichino's Cornmunion of St. Jerome: the youth who turns his head towards you on the foreground is admirable, the whole very fine, well and strongly coloured. - Pietro Cortona.
In some of the Rest
A Bishop incenseing the Madonna, who appears above. - Andrea Sacchi.
One raised from the dead.- Ditto.
St. Felix receiving the little Christ from the Madonna; very good -
Alessandro Veronese.
Palazzo Colonna84
In Piazza St. Apostoli; belonging to the constable. The gallery is the most magnificent room perhaps in the world, not for its size, (for it is not above eighty feet long, and thirty-six broad,) but for the noble taste with which the ornaments are disposed, and the richness of them, and the lightsomeness, and grand appearance of the whole; (see Wright, who describes its parts,) it truly deserves its great reputation. The pictures are fine, in good preservation, and the best light.
St. Sebastian. Women extracting the arrows, a fine figure. Air of a head, very noble and graceful - Ludovico Carracci.
Augustus sacrificing to Peace, before the Temple of Janus. She is seen in the air, with an olive-branch: many figures; airs very fine; but disagreeable colouring; the shades turned black, no harmony at all; Giac. Freji has graved it. There was another in France, made for Monsieur de la Vrilliere, a little less - C. Marat.
Pieta. Very large, the Christ lies in a posture not very natural, or rather sits; Madonna coming to him with both arms lifted up, a low expression, without dignity; it is finely painted. - Guercino.
Europa on the Bull; about half life. He is already got out to sea; one Love leading him along, a second pricking him with his dart, and another displaying a part of her drapery as a sail. She with one hand grasps his horn, the other extended to the shore, where are her maids greatly distressed. Face in profile, not very beautiful, nor is the picture very agreeable.- Albano.
Judgment of Adam and Eve. The Padre Eterno supported by many little angels, with one arm extended, seems demanding of their offence; Adam by his action seems to shew the offence was not from him; his eyes full of shame for his fault, and sorrow mixed with the utmost affection to her he must against his inclination accuse: she is stooping, (no good figure,) and points to the serpent; in one corner is a lion beginning to grow fierce, a lamb by his side, wondering at the alteration in his late companion, and creeping by stealth away from him; a very beautiful thought, and like Milton's on the same occasion, in some Sense:
Down from a hill the beast that reigns in woodsFigure about a foot and a half high; there is another in the French king's collection. - Domenichino.
(First hunter then) pursued a gentle brace,
Goodliest of all the forest, hart and hind. -
- Nature first gave signs, impress'd
On bird and beast.85
Herodias receiving the Baptist's Head, presented by a page; her maids behind her; the colouring even more languid than ordinary, but pleasing and very fresh; beauty and grace in perfection; almost as large as life - Guido.
The King of France has another such.
Cymon and Iphigenia; she is by the fountain just waked, and turned towards him, who stands gazing at her, her attendants still sleeping; not good, and spoilt - Ditto.
Joseph and Potiphar's Wife. Half figures; eagerness and expression of her face fine; he is a black ordinary boy without any grace.- Carlo Marat.
Council of the Gods; much damaged; air of the Venus' head, her smile and beauty are exceeding lovely; about half life. - Guido.
St. John preaching in the Wilderness; a little low; several fine and capricious attitudes among his audience - Salvator Rosa.
A vast number of Landscapes by Gaspar Poussin, Claude Loraine, and Salvator Rosa; as fine as possible; others by Orizonti with the figures of Carlo Marat.
These take up one of the two lobbies which indeed are parts of the gallery, and open into it, by noble arches all incrusted with Gallo Antic; in the same is a fine cabinet of small bas-reliefs in ivory, histories upon designs of Raphaël, and beautifully executed.
The ceiling of that at the other end is painted in fresco, a compliment to M. Antonio Colonna, with allegorical figures - Giuseppe Chiari.
This opens with glass doors to the garden, which rises terrace above terrace, and a large pine tree or two atop, that terminates the view admirably.
In the other Apartments
Venus detaining Adonis from the Chase. She hangs upon him with passion
in her eyes, he breaks from her, but still looks back; very fine. - Titian.
Ganymede in the air, borne by the eagle. Turn of the body and hinder
parts
Madonna; a brown, sullen, ungraceful countenance. This master had no great idea of beauty or dignity; he has treated this subject as often as anybody, but I never saw a virgin of his that suited the character; even the Madonna del Secco is but just handsome; I speak of the faces, and airs of heads only. - And. del Sarto.
Resurrection of Lazarus. Here is that absurd expression of women that stop their noses, nor is it he only that makes use of it on this occasion; it is not uncommon; as to the rest the picture is fine and gentile. - Frans. Salviate.
Death of Regulus87; an ill-chosen subject, as the Principal figure was not in a condition of appearing to advantage; he is in the cask, you see his head, and there are figures driving in the nails; many others standing by; the various attitudes and expressions admirably imagined, and full of fire, with which he abounded; the drawing most masterly and bold; a very capital picture; figure about two feet or more: he has etched it himself. - Salvador Rosa.
In the Summer Apartments Below
Room painted with landscapes in fresco; very fine. - Gasp. Poussin.
Apotheosis of Homer, as in the Admiranda. White marble, small figures
in several rows. - Antique.
The noble one of Claudius Caesar was sold, or presented to the king of
Spain; it is in the Admiranda.
A spiral column of Rosso Egizzio [ancient Egyptian red] with small figures
in relievo - Antique.
On the grand staircase is a bas-relief of Medusa's head, found in the ruins
of Nero's Domus Aurea88; very bad workmanship; porphyry.
Palace of the Pope at Montecavallo
The gardens of the palace last mentioned stretch up M. Quirinal near as far as this; in them is one of the most surprising remains of antiquity in all Rome: it is a part of the architrave, and frieze of a building adorned with foliage, that measures as it lies on the ground better than sixteen feet in length, in height, and in thickness; there is also a piece
of a cornish, and pediment in proportion, and one or two other smaller fragments; they are each of a single block of white marble, and larger than any stone employed throughout the whole fabric of St. Peter's. If masses of marble of this bulk and beauty were made use of in the smaller and more elevated members of the building, what must the columns have been that supported them, the expense that furnished, and the labour and contrivance that raised them to that height? It is not known to what magnificent edifice they belonged, but it seems certain that it could be no great distance from the spot they now lie in, and that where they fell, there they remain, for it must have been next to impossible to remove them. The only great Structures that are known of hereabouts, are the Thermæ of Constantine, (a part of whose aqueduct, and a few other ruins are seen just by in the garden,) and the Temple of the Sun with its porticoes, built by Aurelian. The late Constable Colonna had disposed of them for 5000 crowns to persons who would have cut them to pieces, and used the marble, (which seems Grecian,) but Pope Clement XI (Albani,) annulled the bargain, and made the possessor liable to 12,000 crowns forfeiture, if he destroyed them.
The Papal Palace is a huge structure, not very regular, being the work of several popes. Paul III, (Farnese,) pleased with the prospect, and airy situation, begun to build here a little summer palace. Gregory XIII. (Buoncompagni,) entered upon a design more grand, with the Architecture of Flaminio Ponzio, and Ottavio Mascherini: Fontana by order of Sixtus V. continued and enlarged it: Clement VIII. still added something, and Paul V. (Borghese,) commanded Carlo Maderna to complete it: Urban VIII. (Barberini,) found something to alter and add and Alexander VII. (Chigi,) built the offices that run so vast a length, on one side Strada Pia, on a design of Bernini's. The late Pope Clement XII. (Corsini) has made many considerable additions, and raised a new fine building close by for some of his great officers: the great cortile, surrounded by the principal apartments over a portico, has a noble plainness and simplicity, and pleases, without any ornaments; fronting you, as you enter, against the side of the tower where the clock is, you
see:
The Madonna, Mosaic; a noble design, and well executed. - Carlo Marat.
Under this goes up the chief staircase, straight forward at first, then divides in two, that snake right angles with the first ascent.
The apartments are light and airy; from severa1 of them you have a fine prospect of the Campus Martius, (the most inhabited part of Rome,) and the opposite region on the other side the Tiber, with the country beyond it.
Designs for the apostles and prophets executed in Mosaic, in the dome of
St. Peter's; figures of a colossal magnitude in various attitudes of great
spirit. - P. Cortona, Ciro Ferri, and Carlo Marat.
Design for the Madonna above mentioned. There is another at Florence,
that came out of the Palavicini collection, called original too, and seems to
be so. - C. Marat.
Martyrdom of St. Erasmus, brought from St. Peter's, where it was an altarpiece;
but as the damp would in a short time have utterly destroyed this,
and the other paintings there, it has been finely copied in Mosaic, and the
original transferred hither, together with the following: the. subject is too
horrible for painting:
Nec pueros coram populo Medea trucidet,I do not apprehend why a scene, that on account of its horror (even supposing it capable of being ever so lively represented,) would be utterly improper to introduce in a drama, (which is a combination of poetry and painting,) should be thought a fit subject to be set before the eyes in a picture; in the present case, the saint is extended on his back in all the paleness and agonies of so terrible a death; a hardened ruffian is tearing out his entrails, which are wound round a wooden roller by another; the expression of men inured to blood; and cruel by habit, as strongly painted in their faces and attitudes as possible; a priest of Hercules in white drapery (a noble figure,) is pointing to a statue of that god, and trying to instil his faith into the poor sufferer: several other figures, larger than life; undoubtedly an admirable composition90. - N. .Poussin.
Aut humans palam coquat exta nefarius Atreus.89
Martyrdom of St. Andrew, and three more fine pictures. - Andrea Sacchi.
Christ mocked; half figure; the expression too low. - Domenichino.
Several beautiful Madonnas. - Carlo Marat.
The Pope's Private Chapel - Altar-Piece
The Annunciation, large as life; such heavenly beauty in both figures as no
words can express; the drawing of the Virgin under her blue drapery
incorrect; lovely boy-angels above; excellent preservation. - Guido.
Cupola, painted in fresco. God the Father, his arms displayed, as scattering
life and blessings abroad on the world, a circle of angels with various
instruments, hymning and singing praise to him. Faces, and airs of heads,
divinely beautiful.
Against one of the walls is The Virgin at work. Near it, placed as a statue
in a niche, but in proper colours, big as life, Adam, as after the fall; hands
crossed on the breast, and eyes cast up to heaven, finely imagined, and a
most graceful figure. Against the Pilastroni, several smaller ones; in the
same manner, figures of women, but clothed; wondrous lovely. - Guido.
Palace Picchini
The celebrated Meleager, larger than life; it has lost the right hand, which
held a venabulum [hunting spear], as the marks on the pedestal shew;
otherwise perfect; of Parian92 marble, turned very brown by age; the boar's
head by him; on the other side, his dog; left hand behind him, in an easy
unaffected attitude; not so much finished, nor worked to, that imitation of
real flesh, that one sees in any of the other six principal statues; there are
some others not in the number, that seem to deserve a place equally with
this; however, a noble Greek taste. - Antique.
A Wolf-dog barking; same with the great duke's, but not so good. -
Antique.
Some few other antiquities, chiefly Egyptian; they are all entailed on the
estate; the pope (who might dispense with it,) will not suffer the Meleager
to be sold.
At a Sculptor's not far distant
Antinous93, as it is called, but does not seem to resemble him, nor is the hair in that manner; some drapery thrown loosely about his middle, as
d The gallery is painted in fresco by various hands; at one end is the Nativity, figure rather larger than life, not very pleasing, and a disagreeable raw colouring nor was he at all a master in this kind of painting, as this, and the Pal. Alturi may witness; many of his scholars have excelled him in fresco. - Carlo Marat. At the end opposite is Joseph and his brethren; good airs and expression. - P. V. Mola. The rest, scripture histories of various hands; Salvador Rosa, Borgognone, Ciro Ferri, &c. [Gray's note]
An Egyptian Deity, but of better sculpture than those monsters commonly are; white marble, twice as big as life.
Harpocrates94, a winged boy, his finger on his lips; the lotus-flower on his forehead. I do not know if any imposture can be suspected here, but it has all the air of a modern statue, much in Bernini's manner.
St. Gregorio and Andrea in Monte Celio
These two churches stand together, and belong to a monastery of the Camaldoleses95, situated on a lonely spot among the ruins of Rome. The first of them has a most handsome front of G. B. Soria's architecture at the expense of Card. Scipio Borghese; you enter a small cortile, surrounded by a portico, the opposite side of which the church forms; in this cloister are many monuments, among them several of Englishmen that fled hither on account of religion in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign. This spot was the patrimony of Gregory the Great, (the apostle of England,) and by him dedicated to St. Andrew; he here founded a convent, in which afterwards himself took the habit; you pass through the church to come to:
Capella Salviate
On one of the altars, an old picture of the Madonna said to have spoke to St. Gregorye, who is painted hard by, on his knees, (as in prayer,) with wonder in his face, as then hearing her voice; an angel on each side; a heaven above; with others, that admire the highly favoured mortal; figure large as life, exquisitely fine: the crimson velvet and linen of the drapery, and every minute circumstance finished as high as possible, and preservation as if just come from the pencil. - Annibal Carracci.
Close by, the church of St. Andrea, on one side in fresco:
The Saint [Andrea] led to martyrdom, and falling on his knees at sight of
the cross - Guido.
On the opposite, The scourging of the same saintf - Domenichino.
These celebrated pictures are in an equally bad condition; the plaster in
many places torn off, and the colouring all changed, black, or red, and
heavy. They are both too well known to need description; for expression,
the latter seems preferable; see Bellori, 180.
High Altar
Madonna with St. Andrew and Gregory; exceeding fine. - Pomaranceo.
In the little church of St. Silvia (for there are four within the monastery,)
is the statue of that saint, (Gregory's mother,) begun by M. Angelo, and
finished by his scholar, Franciosini; extremely good.
Ceiling painted in fresco by Guido.
In the fourth a very fine statue of St. Gregory sitting. - Franciosini.
Church of S. Sebastiano alle Catacombe
Without the walls, near three miles in the Via Appia, one of the seven principal [pilgrimage] churches of Rome, and of very ancient foundation. Under the altar of the Saint, in the posture they pretend his body was found, is his statue of white marble, extreme natural and beautiful. - Giorgetti.
Under this church, conducted by a friar, you descend into the catacombs, which they tell you extend twenty-five miles in length, but at present they have closed up the passages on purpose, within about half a mile from the entrance. They are rudely hollowed through a reddish sort of earth, that supports itself in an irregularly formed arch, and scarce room for more than two to go abreast. Many passages go off
on each hand the principal one. The places where the bodies are deposited are cut horizontally in the sides one above another, and the mouths closed with a narrow slip of marble, whereon the epitaphs are engraved, most of which bear the marks of Christianity. There are also certain niches with some traces of rude painting of that sort. Many fragments of earthen vessels with handles, that end in a point at bottom, which were with the bodies in those holes that have been opened. In height there is seldom more room than just to stand upright in, and frequently not even that.
The pavement of the Appian way has at different times been broke up and made use of within the city, and is destroyed for near fourteen miles distance from Rome. The height it anciently rose to one perceives by means of a small arched gate, belonging to a ruined convent of great antiquity, that went cross the road. The pavement on which it was founded, having been drawn away from under it, this gate is left as it were hanging (the old wall it joins to supporting it,) some feet distance from the present way. Joining to these Gothic remains is:
The Sepulchre of Cæcilia Metella; it is a round tower, that rises on a square basis; this last is very near buried in the earth, and despoiled of its incrustation of Tiburtine stone, which the tower still retains, and appears as fresh as if built but yesterday. The wall is near thirty feet in thickness of brick, and incrusted as aforesaid. The stone is finer, and less porous than any now found, and of a vast size; though on the outside it appears in small squares, being only marked with the chisel to give a neater and more regular look to the whole. It has a handsome frieze with festoons and bucrania [bullock's head] in relievo, from whence it is vulgarly named, Capo di Bue; it ended in a sort of cupola, which is hid by battlements, that have been added in latter times, it having been used as a little fortress. Against one side, that is turned to the Via Appia, is fixed a marble, inscribed in large characters,
You enter under an arched passage, and find a round room finishing en coupe, there is no niche at all. Here stood the great urn of this lady, which in Paul III's time, was carried to the Palace Farnese, where it remains in the cortile; in the middle of the entrance is a hole which has been made to descend into the square base by (the principal door being buried), where they found four other little rooms. P. Sancti Bartoli97 has graved both sepulchre and urn.
Hard by are the remains of Caracalla's Circus98; the walls of the circular part and side still are standing, as high as where the arches began to turn; where they break off, one sees many large earthen vessels, in the midst of the cement and brickwork, fixed there to make the work more light. The arch-gate is seen at the curve end, where the solemn processions, &c. made their entrance. The two square towers in which the sides terminated also remain to a considerable height but the transverse part between is utterly destroyed, nor does one perceive any traces of the spina in the middle. Here was found the obelisk that Bernini has erected in Piazza Navona; close to this ruin is another, in much the same condition, that takes up a very large space of ground, supposed to be the Castrum Prætorianum, fixed here by the same emperor.
Church of St. Francesco a Ripa Grande, Frati Zoccolanti. R[ione]. Trastavere.
Capella Albertoni, Madonna, and St. Anne, beautiful, natural, and wellcoloured
heads; the rest incorrect, as is most that this hand did, who had
otherwise a good deal of spirit. - Baccicio.
Under this, is the statue of St. Ludovico Albertoni, dying, or in a trance;
she is in the habit of a nun, and consequently wrapped up in a vast deal of
drapery, which is not very light or natural; however, there is abundance of
labour in it, and the head is good. - Bernini.
The altar of the opposite chapel has two noble columns of verde
antic, solid: Capella Mattei.g Pietà, with Magdalen, and St.Francis, large as life; the Magdalen is a fine figure, but without expression. Those of the virgin and the other saint have a good deal, but without dignity, which the two boy-angels that lament over the wounds of the Christ also want: finely painted, but not very pleasing. - Annibal Carracci.
Church of St. Maria. Trastevere. Benedettini
The ceiling divided into numerous small compartments of various forms with rich gilt foliage, on an azure ground: just in the midst of it is an octagon, with: The Assumption of the Virgin; only her figure foreshortened, with a few boy-angels; nothing can be more lovely, or graceful; strongly and well-coloured, and as well-preserved. The place it is in adds greatly to it, being quite alone, and nothing near it to distract the eye. - Domenichino.99
Church of St. Cecilia. Trastevere. Benedettini
Under the Tribune [apse], is the shrine of the saint, richly adorned with the
finest antique marbles: in a long niche is her statue lying in the posture they
pretend her body was found, of beautiful Parian marble: the face turned
from you, but by the shape it appears to be a very young person; extremely
natural, and the drapery easy and simple. - Stefano Maderna.
A hundred silver lamps burn perpetually before it.
Capella de' Bagni della Santa.
Beheading the Saint; her face, air, and dress apparently taken from
Rafaël's famous picture at Bologna; his first dark manner - Guido.
g In Malvasia's Life of Albani, is a letter of his, in which are the following words, concerning the Christ in this picture: Annibale Carracci sbbozzo di pratica il Christo morto in grembo alla madre ch'e nell altare a St. Francisco di Ripa, lo fece in somma divinissimo, fece doppo spogliare un tale suo servitore, che aveva alquanto del tozzo, e muto il primo parte del suo rarissimo intelletto, e per troppo non si fidare di se stesso lo guasto con le ultime sue pennellate: e questo fu giudicato da Zanpieri, e dagli altri, cosi come a me parve, che mi ci trovai presente. [Gray's note]
Near the principal door is the ancient monument of a cardinal, bishop of London100.
In the Loggiato before you enter the church, against the wall are fixed several antique marbles; there is one set up to his wife by M. Cocceius. Aug. Lib. Præpositus Vestis Albæ Triumphalis. There is another with an epitaph in small characters, filled with a red mixture, and about it are several little figures in this shape [a heart-shape diagram]; it is as follows:
Si. quis . forte . velit . tumuli. cognoscere . fatum.
Et. quorum. mæstus . contegat. ossa . lapis.
Accipiat . paucis . ne . sit. mora . longior . aequo.
Si. tumulus . teneat . quem vocat . ipsa. via.
Hic . situs . est. annis . plenus . vitaque . beatis.
EIIAETVS [not very legible].omni. more.Rhodanthion.
Nec . sit . mirum. quod . comis . quod . duIcis. amaenus.
In . vita. fuerit . nomine . Florus. erat.
Hunc . conjunx . talem. nimio . delexit. amore.
Atque. diem . vitae. una. fide . coluit.
Et postquam . fatis . morientia. lumina . solvit.
Supremisque . suis . reddidit . obsequim.
In . vita, hoc. munus. conjunx . Victoria. fecit.
Quodque .virum.vicit . aegra. dolore . fuit.
Sed . quoniam. fatis . nulla . est . obstare . potestas.
Quin . teneant . cursum . quem . statuere . semel.
Quod . solum . licuit . conjunx . fidissima. fecit.
Post . illum. nulli. fas. violare. toros.
Servtamque . diu . vitam . habitumque . pudice.
Post.. mortis . casum . pertulit . ad. tumulum.
Namque. simul . posita . est. fatoq . tenetur. eodem.
Quoque. modo . potuit . morte . secuta . virum.
Haec . est. sancta . fides . haec . sunt. felicia . vota.
Amplexus. vitæ . reddere . post. obitum.
Fortunati . ambo . si . qua. est . ea. gloria . mortis.
Quos .jungit. tumulus .junxerat . ut . thalamus.101
There is also a large sepulchral chest, with a very rude bas-relief, in a round are the busts of a man and woman; he wears that ornament, which some take for the Latus Clavus [broad purple stripe]; about them
are many figures, representing the miracle of the loaves, Abraham and Isaac, the pillar of fire, other pieces of Jewish and Christian history, mixed with allegorical figures of the seasons, &c. The church is divided into three naves, by twenty columns of granite, antique.
Church of St. Andrea della Valle. Teatini.102
R[ione]. S. Eustachio; a vast and noble structure; the cupola, and body of the building began by P. Paulo Olivieri, and perfected by Carlo Maderna, (who finished St. Peter's,) the front afterwards added by Cav. Rainaldi, and finished in 1624; it is rich, and adorned without heaviness, with two orders, Corinthian and Composite103; statues and bas-reliefs between the columns. The order of the dome is Ionic; within side, the principal nave is vast and handsome; its vault plainly beautified with Stucco in compartments; no gilding at all, which is not a disadvantage to the paintings at the upper end. The vast figures in the peducci, or angles, under the cupola, strike the eye first as you enter; they are the evangelists, those that face you -
h Bellori says, the head is in imitation of a well known Ritratto of Alexander. I do not know whether he means the famous one of the grand duke. [Gray's note]
St. Luke, displaying a volume; near him is couched the bull, and, small angels bear the signs of his sacerdotal dignity, and a picture of the Madonna. In the narrow part, at bottom of the same peducci, are four angels, as statues, painted to resemble stucco. - Domenichino.
Above these rises the famous cupola, with the Assumption of the Virgin; she is not far from the bottom, amidst numberless saints and angels. He has not made her a beautiful figure, but rather old. She is flying upwards, and in the very top of the lantern is seen the Christ almost lost in glory, who with open arms seems moving downwards to meet her. The harmony and just distribution of the lights, with the great skill in proportioning his figures to the immense height, and the noble taste, particularly of the draperies, are what make the great merit of this composition. - Lanfranco.
The principal figures are twenty-two feet and a half in height; the evangelists of Domenichino underneath, are of fifteen feet and three quarters. Beyond the dome, is the tribune, which finishes in a half testudine; this is parted by cartel (or ribs) of stucco, with figures and foliage gilt into three vani; in the middle one, Christ calling Peter and Andrew; he stands on the bank, his arm extended with an air of dignity and command. They are preparing to leave their boat, and follow him; extremely fine. On one side, The Scourging of St. Andrew, treated differently from that on Monte Celio [in the Church of S. Andrea]; he is here extended, with his arms bound to four posts. One of the ruffians, in straining the cord that ties his leg has cracked it, and is fallen backwards; others are laughing at him: the expression, though low, has somewhat in it that heightens the horror of the thing. These are a sort of circumstances that Shakespeare has often made use of; one sees his murderers have their jokes in the midst of the most tragic events; and when rightly taken, such
On the other side is the saint falling on his knees at sight of the cross; in a small round where the ribs meet, is the same, borne to heaven by angels; and in a square nearer the arch, John Baptist showing Christ at a distance to the two disciples; under these, between the windows over the cornish, are allegorical figures sitting; they are six, representing, Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Contempt of the World, and regular Religion, twice as big as life, extremely fine. Between and about these, many figures and ornaments in chiaroscuro: in all these works, he has amply proved himself a great master, and the worthy scholar of An. Carache. - Domenichino.
Under these are five squares vastly large; histories of the same saint; the
two at the extremities by - Carlo Cignani.
The two middlemost. - Cav. Calabrese.
Church of St. Crisogno. R[ione]. Trastevere
In the midst of the ceiling, which is a.1ll wrought in compartments of gilt
foliage, is St. Chrysogonus104 borne up to heaven on angels' wings: others
playing on instruments; seems painted in oil, in his usual dark manner, that
sudden transition from lights to the blackest shades without any medium. -
Guercino.
In the ceiling also, over the altar, is a Madonna, very stiff, without grace
or nature, as is all I have seen of him. - Cav. Arpino.
On each side the ascent to the high altar are two noble columns of
porphyry; the naves are also divided by others of granite.
Church of St. Ambrogio, e Carlo, nel Corso, de Milanesi
A vast new structure begun by Onorio Lunghi, the cupola and crociata [cross-pieces or transepts] designed by Pietro da Cortana, and the front lately added by G. B. Menicucci, of the Corinthian order: handsome
enough, but that the pediment seems unnecessarily broken into too many parts; three naves; within, spacious and light enough; the vault, the tribune, and angles of the dome, are painted by Giacento Brandi. The principal altarpiece is:
The Virgin presenting St. Carlo kneeling to her son surrounded by angels; in one corner of the picture, St. Ambrose habited in his archiepiscopal vestments, with a volume in his hand; vastly large, and undoubtedly a noble performance; the air and beauty of the Madonna particularly exquisite, but in the whole not pleasing, for want of harmony. It is thirty feet high, painted in 1690. - Carlo Marat.
Church of St. Maria alla Minerva. Domenicani
This is the church of the Inquisition; an ancient Gothic structure, none of the nicest in that sort of architecture, but large and rich. On the left hand as you go up to the high altar, the famous Christi, a statue; white marble, to which age has given the beautiful hue of the antique; it is standing a little larger than life, and with both arms holding the cross, the reed, and the scourge; the head somewhat inclining to one side, the looks full of mildness and extensive humanity, and an attitude perfectly easy and natural; the marble truly softened into flesh; nothing can be more exquisite than the turn of the limbs; sculpture can go no farther. - Michel Angelo.
Capella Altieri. The Madonna above, as abstracted in divine contemplation, with saints and angels; below, St. Rosa (a lovely figure,) with the Bambino, S: Luigi Beltramo, S: Francis Borgia, and others; a great many figures grouped together in a narrow compass, yet without confusion; the clair-obscure well-observed, and coloured with harmony and strength. - Carlo Marat.
Capella Orsini; the monument of Benedict XIII. who was of this convent.
[Church of] St Maria and Gregorio in Valicella, detta Chiesa Nuova. Padri dell' Oratorio
Very large and magnificent; the body of the building of Martino Lunghi's Architecture; the façade by Fausto Rughesi, grand enough, of the Corinthian and Composite orders; the vault, the cupola, and tribuna all painted in fresco, and enriched with gilding and stucco on the first of them. Miraculous preservation of some scaffolding from falling by the assistance of the Madonna, which is said to have happened to St. Filippo Neri in the building of this very convent; in the rest a heaven of saints and angels, the assumption, &c. but little harmony, and a languid colouring; however, a vast composition, and many beauties in it. - Pietro da Cortona.
Visitation, large as life; extremely gentile; his usual colouring. - Barocci.
Presentation of the Virgin; she is a very little girl, kneeling with much
humility on the steps of the temple, before the high priest, many attendants
round them; a little lower St. Anne and Joachim; one corner, with some
other figures, a country maid with a pair of doves, and in the other, a boy
with a calf, perfect beauty and nature, extremely in the best style of
Correggio; some incorrectnesses in the drawing, but a harmony and
sweetness in the tout-ensemble that makes ample amends. The finest I have
seen of him. - Barocci. [See Bellori, (p.110).]
Capella Spada; Madonna very graceful, seated on the clouds; below St. Charles and St. Ignatius Loiola, with angels; a most beautiful picture; see Lioni (p.186). - C. Marat.
Palazzo Barberini alle 4 Fontane
A vast edifice, in a very conspicuous airy Situation, almost on the top of M. Quirinal. The main body of the building and its wings make three sides of a long square; the fourth open, but the view obstructed by a row of ordinary houses just before it. The architecture is of Bernini; the windows of the principal front arched in the ancient fashion, between the pilasters, which is an advantage to it, and gives it
a French air. A coach can drive quite through the vestibule, the middle of the building rising on columns. The grand staircase winds in a square, arched all the way, and open to the air in the midst, with statues in niches on the other side. A Hercules, an Adrian, &c. of a middling style, antique. Facing you and fixed in the wall, near the top, the famous lion, as big as life, mezzo-relievo, stalking along in surly majesty, prodigiously grand and natural: it was on a sepulchre near Tivoli now destroyed. P. S. Bartoli has graved it from a drawing of Pietro Cortona. - Antique.
The Grand Sala
The Triomfo della Gloria; in the vault; an immense composition in the
allegorical way, strongly and harmoniously coloured. Admirable groupes,
fine airs and heads, and well-chosen ornaments. In one part the cave of
Vulcan, in another Pallas confounding the giants, Hercules and the
Stymphalides, Silenus and his crew, &c.: but I confess myself of the
French author's opinion, who says, "Je ne pense pas que les personnages
allégoriques doivent être eux-memes des acteurs principaux des
personnages, que nous connoissons pour des phantomes imaginés à plaisir,
à qui nous ne sçaurions prêter des passions pareilles aux nôtres, me
peuvent pas nous intéresser beaucoup à ce qui leur arrive." (See Réflex. sur
la Poésie et la Peinture, vol. i. p. 176.) There are fine prints of the whole
in Ædes Barberinæ105, and the author describes it at length in his fulsome
way. The hall is vastly large, and this takes up the entire ceiling. - P. da
Cortona.106
Four vast cartoons for a cupola; saints sitting. - Andrea Sacchi and P. Cortona.
Grand Apartment on the Same Floor and the Summer Ones Below
Colossal figure with a tiara, the arms lost; seems a Sabina in the attire of Juno; the drapery exquisitely fine. - Antique.
Several large Egyptian idols, of Touchstone and Granite.* - Antique.
St. Paul, St. Simon, St. Bartholomew, St. James, the Greater, and the Less, and St. Matthew; single figures, larger than life, whole length, in great taste and finely colouredk. - C. Maratta.
Story of Niobe, vastly large, many fine expressions. - Andrea Camassie.
Banquet of the Gods, of a prodigious size and number of figures, much damaged, but never was good; black and heavy colouring and entirely without harmonyl. - Romanelli.
Bacchus and Ariadne; its companion, and alike in all respects. - Romanelli.
Marius and Sylla; busts much bigger than life. Extreme spirits, Gusto, Grandissimo. The first almost bald, hair of the second short and negligentm. - Antique.
Four beautiful columns of Nero and Verde Antic.
In the Chambers
Alexander the Great (as it is called); a bust, larger than life; a helmet of marble of another colour, yet does not seem added: it is not like common busts, a mere Ritratto, calm and composed, or with an affected smile or frown, that people assume when they are to be drawn, but the head of a man about twenty-eight years of age, (no beard), agitated by some violent passion, that seems a mixture of wrath and honour; the brows raised, the
In the same room is a huge Focone [fire-place or grate] (to hold embers) of massy silver, and two vases on their stands of the same metal, and throughout the palace many other most magnificent pieces of ancient plate dispersed. Adrian. Septimius Severus. Busts, in bronze, excellent.
Ritratto of Urban the VIIIth; only a head looking upwards, exquisitely painted. - And. Sacchi.
The S. Romualdo. Small; a sketch in oil, pretty much finished; admirable. - And. Sacchi.
Noah exposed; his son deriding him; very good; large as life. - And. Sacchi.
Julius Cæsar in Basaltes, or a marble like it; a bust. - Antique.
The Prince's Antichamber
The Divine Wisdom, a ceiling. Allegorical figures, see the description, but without a print, in Ædes Barberinæ. It is a famous work, but does not touch me much; the damps have hurt it a great deal. - Andrea Sacchi.
Other Rooms of his Apartment etc., etc.
Creation of the Angels; fresco, a ceiling. The Padre Eterno is a noble
figure, and very light. See the print and description in the book. An odd
subject for a chamber. - Andrea Camassie.
The Parnassus; another ceiling. See a print of this also. - Andrea
Camassie.
Groupe of heads. The Boy with a Vase, and two women in the Madonna
del Collo Lungo at Florence; sketch in oil; big as life; very beautiful. -
Parmeggiano.
Holy Family, small. - ditto.
Head of a young Woman; seems a portrait; most exquisite. - Corregio.
Silenus naked, but with shoes on; standing, yet very drunk; his head sunk
on his breast. - Antique.
Bust of an Empress, crowned with towers, as a Cybele. - Antique.
The famous Death of Germanicus (see Richardson), the colouring much
Sketch in oil of the Martyrdom of St. Erasmus; very fine. - Nicolas Poussin.
Satyr lying on his back, very drunk and wanton; big as life; the head most exquisite. - Antique.
The Gamesters; extremely famous, and with great reason, half figure, large as life. If this master had known his own talent, which was that in painting which comedy is in writing, a just imitation of common nature, he would far have surpassed the Flemish school. This is not coloured in his usual style, but bright and mellow, most admirable in its kind.107 - Michelangelo Caravaggio.
Dædalus fitting on Icarus's Wings; half figure, big as life, extremely good. - Andr. Sacchi.
Noli me Tangere. The Magdalen's Head in profile; exceeding fine - Annibal Carracci.
Madonna del Silentio. The Christ asleep. She makes signs to the little St. John not to disturb him. - Annibal Carracci.
Hagar and the Angel; small; the expression of maternal tenderness very touching. - And. Sacchi.
Raphael's Mistress, the famous Ritratto; head and hands; naked, except some lawn which she holds up before her breast, and which discovers what it should conceal admirably well; no very elegant beauty, yet by no means so disagreeable as Richardson would make her. She may pass for a Bella Bruna. It is much finished and finely coloured; on the bracelet his name inscribed. - Rafaël.
Copy of the same, a good deal fresher, but somewhat hard, yet very fine. - Giulio Romano.
St Andrea Corsini kneeling at prayers; a glory above, and two boy angels; large as life, the profile most exquisite; the colouring all light, and harmony very capitaln. - Guido.
Head of a Bishop with a Cap, and another old head; fine. - Guido.
The Plague ceasing at the prayer of St. Rosalia; very weak and languid,
n This is finely executed in Mosaic, and makes the altar-piece to the magnificent Capella Corsini in St. Giovanni Latirano. [Gray's note]
The Baptism; large as life, very like that of Albani in the church of St. Georgio at Bologna; as to the design, an excellent picture. - Andrea Sacchi.
Magdalen; same as the famous one, but only three quarters length, finished like that, and divine. - Guido.
Landscape, a building by the sea-side, with many figures; that lovely gleam of sunshine and universal harmony that only he could paint. - Claude Loraine.
Another, with little figures, the story of St. George, in a charming scene. - Claude Loraine.
Another, with the setting sun; a delightful picture. - Claude Loraine.
Meeting of Jacob and Esau; less than half life, very beautiful. - Pietro Cortona.
Old Woman sitting, her hands wrapped round her knees, and a distaff between them; a small figure in fresco, extremely good, and seems an ancient painting.
Head of a Satyr laughing, bigger than life, and of a most admirable taste, perhaps of one of the Carracci, painted also on a piece of plaster, greatest antique style.
Large piece of fresco, with figures all antica, in chiaroscuro, stone-colours. - Polydore.
The Venus naked; big as life, antique painting, but retouched by Carlo Marat, who has added three boys, preparing the bath for her use in a great vase, which represents the real one (in the palace) that was found at the same time the picture was. There seems some small incorrectness in the drawing of the arms, but altogether an exceeding fine figure.
Dea Roma; another antique fresco, big as life, sitting, armed with a spear in one hand, and a victory in the other; a Gothic taste, stiff, and illcoloured.
The Magdalen; larger than life, sitting, leans on one arm, her eyes thrown up to heaven, but such eyes and such a face, such beauty and sorrow sure as never were seen in any mortal creature; the hands and feet equal to the head the hair of a very light brown, flowing to a great length, and inexpressibly soft. Drapery in vast magnificent folds; boy-angels above; a colouring solemnly sweet, though all is light and exquisitely harmonious; most divine! - Guido.
Angel's head. Another of the Madonna, with downcast eyes. Modesty and
Portrait of a Man sitting, in black; excellent. - Vandike.
The sleeping Fawn, (or rather Bacchus), much beyond life; he sits on a rock, one arm thrown over his head, and one leg raised; he sleeps, but unquietly; great care and uneasiness in the countenance; noblest style possible, and perfectly fine in every respecto. - Antique.
Narcissus standing, his hand lifted up, as in admiration of his own image; not very beautiful, nor a good expression. (See the print of C. Bloemart). - Antique.
The fine Vase found along with the Venus; of white marble fluted thus [wavy lines], in it they have placed the figure of a man as bathing. - Antique.
Hippomenes and Atalanta108, about half life; she is caught, and attempts to break from him, gathering up her drapery with one hand before; great part of the groupe is modern, but exceeding well added.
Marcus Aurelius, completely armed, the head excepted; standing with the globe and sceptre, bigger than life. Griffons in bas-relief, or the Lorica [leather cuirass], and a belt or sash tied about the middle of it; extremely good. - Antique.
Nero; a bust in bronze, the head turning over the shoulder, like the Caracella Farnese, but with a more haughty air; perfectly fine - Antique.
The Septimius Severus, in Bronze, large as life, Paludatus [dressed in a military cloak]; buskins much wrought, and adorned; this shews that sculpture was not universally at the low ebb it is imagined in these times; it is great, and in a good taste, extremely valuable for its rarity. - Antique.
Addend[um]: Adonis wounded by the boar; I do not admire it; the hair particularly unantique, and heavy, the face indeed has some expression, but the boar is a mere hog. - Bernini.
The fine bas-relief of Hunters returning with dead Game in a Plaustrum [wagon] drawn by two oxen. There are good prints of it in the Æd. Barberinæ, by Cam. Cungius, and in the Admiranda by S. Bartoli; this is the best.
Herodias; half figure, extremely finished, but hard and disagreeable enough. - Lion. da Vinci.
Madonna, same character, the Bambino is a little monster. - Lion. da
o There is the print in the Æd. Barberinæ, but it gives but a poor idea of the statue's excellence. [Gray's note]
Plato asleep, a child with bees about him; his parents wondering, and several young figures; fresco, on a ceiling, extreme grace and nature one of the most pleasing little compositions I have ever seen; the best thing he has done, and coloured admirably. - Guiseppe Chiari.
The Sun in his Car, accompanied by the Hours; a difficult subject to treat after Guido, yet well conducted; many lovely airs and attitudes; it is a large ceiling. - Guiseppe Chiari.
Palazzo Corsini109. R[ione]. Trastevere
The apartments here, and their furniture, have a gayer and more
modern appearance than most of the rest; everything is new, being
collected in the last pope's time. A small, but pleasant room; the doors
in it that go off to the apartments are painted on one side with views of
ruins, and little figures, of a spirit like Salvador Rosa. - Paolo Pannini.
Landscapes on the other, very pretty. - Pietro Lucatelli. It is hung with
pictures, among which are:
Ritratto of Paul III. when Cardinal, (Farnese,) only a head; red cap and
rochet [vestment, surplice], a glass over it; extremely fine. - Rafaël.
St. Austin writing, to whom appears the vision of a child, that would empty
the sea with a cockleshell; the air of the head, and indeed the saint's whole
figure as great a style as Rafaël. Madonna (an admirable figure,) in a
heaven of angels above, finished to a nicety, as the manner then was. A
Landscape, also somewhat dry and hard; the whole finely coloured! this
likewise covered with a glass. - Benvenuto Garofalo.
Marriage of St. Catherine; the usual half-figure of an old man, so out of
all proportion to the others. - Parmeggiano.
Annunciation, little figure, disagreeable enough; she is old, and lifts up
both hands in a fright; much finished; also a glass. Seems of Michel
Angelo.
St. Francis, who faints in ecstacies upon the sound of a violin touched by
an angel; small, Covered with a glass; much finished, and extremely fine.
One of the Carracci, or else Domenichino.
A very fine riposo, large as life; his usual strong touches of red upon the
flesh. - Barocci.
Ritratto, head and hands, man with a black cap and a book; his strong bold manner; it is his own portrait, extremely good. - Rembrandt.
Venus dressing; same with the king of France's. - Albani.
Angel; Madonna; large as life; neither drawing nor colouring of his best. - C. Maratta.
A Madonna, half length, very beautiful. - C. Maratta.
Martyrdom of St. Andrew; thought in oil, for that Sir Erasmus Philips110 bought out of the Card. Imperiali's collection. Giacomo Freii has graved it. - C. Maratta.
Cardinal's Apartment
God confirming the Covenant with Noah and his family after the Flood;
the Padre Eterno is a most noble figure, much in Rafael's style, as is the
picture in general; two of the younger figures hide their eyes, as dazzled
with the splendour, excellent! - Nic. Poussin.
Flight into Egypt; same with that in the dome of Sienna, where they are
crossing a torrent, but small, a most lovely picture! Giac. Freii has graved
it. - Carlo Marat.
Madonna sitting; same figure with that in Cap. Spada at the Chiesa Nuova,
but in little. The idea is of Correggio in the famous picture at St. Antonio
in Parma. - Carlo Marat.
St. Rosalia kneeling with the Bambino; a charming figure; same in small
with that in Cap. Altieri at the Minerva. - Carlo Marat.
Venus lying on a bed, and judging between two Loves who have shot at a
heart; the loveliest boys, and most natural expression imaginable; besides,
a sort of gleam in the colouring, like sunshine, that gives a vast softness
and beauty: much the same with the French king's. - Albani.
Venus asleep; one Love makes a sign of silence, another holds a fan of
feathers. - Albani.
St. John; Madonna; heads big as life, in ovals: the former extremely good.
- School of the Carracci.
Madonna, in a large oval, big as life, not of his best. - Carlo
Marat.
Palazzo Bolognetti
In the Corso, on Piazza S. Marco. Here are amongst many others,
Magdalen, half figure, large, not very agreeable, his dark manner. - Albani.
Madonna; head with the hands crossed on the breast, and eyes cast
upwards; same with the great duke's, and with another at Bologna; they are
all called originals, and perhaps are so; a heavenly face. - Guido.
Europa on the Bull; her maids on the shore, stretching out their arms in
extreme distress; three Loves employed much the same as in that at the
Palace Colonna; large as life, and in his darkest manner; the thought
exceeding pretty, otherwise unpleasing enough, and much spoiled with
damp. - Albani.
The Charity, lying under a pomegranate tree, with three children about her;
same size and manner as the former, but better preserved; the boys
extremely fine: both these are well graved by Giac. Freii. - Albani.
Gamesters; same thought and actions with that at the Barberini, but the
persons and habits diversified; I think little inferior to that. - Mich.
Caravaggio.
Palazzo Santibuoni
Belonging to a Neapolitan duke of that name; the pictures mostly come from Spain.
Scourging of Christ; large as life, somewhat shocking, his figure being all
covered with blood; the attitude fine and natural, for though the countenance
be full of patience, yet one sees a certain twist in the body, that
necessarily will shrink from pain, be the mind never so much resolved.
One of the figures that has the features of a negro, who sets his foot against
the leg of the Christ, that he may add more strength to his blow, has an expression
of cruelty, too savage and outrée: a very fine picture. - Rubens.
Christ tied to the Pillar; a single figure; it has a fine sweep and expression
in the head, but illcoloured. - Morellio.
Adoration of the Magi; very good; a style like Vandike. - Morellio.
Family piece of six figures; half lengths, two of them sitting at a frugal
repast, alla Spagnuola, the rest standing by; figure extreme natural and
Palazzo del Cardinal Giudice
Near Piazza Navona; very large and many pictures, but few considerable.
Mars, half figure, in an oval; seems going from you, but turns his head
back with great spirit. - Guercino.
Venus, its companion, but not so good. - Guercino.
Erminia111 discovering herself to the countryman and his family; large.
Hagar and Ishmäel; same size; both in a dark manner; not very good. -
Pietro Cortona.
Draught of fishes; a sketch in oil; many fine attitudes; great spirit. -
Rubens.
Madonna del Collo lungo; small; same with the great duke's; but the
circumstance of the length of her neck not so remarkable: the figure with
a vase, and other heads grouped with it, exquisitely beautiful; the Bambino
(as in that) execrable, covered with a glass. - Parmeggiano.
In the closet where this is, are a few drawings.
A boy; slight sketch, but excellent. - Barocci.
One of the heads, in the S. Romualdo. - Andrea Sacchi.
Donation of Constantine; very small, on a yellowish paper, pen and wash,
but scarce original.
Palazzo Chigi112
In the Corso: a large noble building of Giacomo della Porta, and Carlo Maderna.
Landscape with the story of Europa, figures bad, otherwise admirable. -
Claude Loraine.
Another fine one, its companion. - Ditto.
A battle; small, vast spirit, and in fine preservation. - Borgognone.
Another battle; larger, the expression too savage, and faces too much the
same, but good. - Salvador Rosa.
Landscape, story of Mercury and Argus; a scene nobly wild and savage;
The God Pan appearing to Pindar in a wood; large, extremely capricious, and excellent. - Salvador Rosa.
The Guardian Angel, large as life. - Pietro Cortona.
Satyr and Boy with fruit; half figures, fine. - Rubens.
Saint presenting a scroll to the Madonna, and little Christ, an angel by; very small, beautifully coloured, and with perfect harmony, which this master understood admirably well. - An. Sacchi.
Nativity; same with the fresco at Monte Cavallo, but small and very lively; the action of the shepherd that kneels with both arms stretched out, is imitated from a design of Polidore, which has been graved by one of the Sadelers, and by Cornelius Cort. - Carlo Marat.
Madonna, and boy-angels worshipping the Christ; same as in the former, in an oval. - Carlo. Marat.
Lucrece, stabbing herself; half figure, beautiful, but ill-coloured. - Guido.
Magdalen, head and hands; much warmer, though extreme light; a divine face. - Guido.
Two Loves, lifting up another on their arms, as in triumph; big as life, perfectly well drawn, and coloured; airs and joyous faces in Correggio's best style; the loveliest thing in this collection, and one of the finest I ever saw of him. - Barocci.
Christ, a child, his eyes and hands elevated towards heaven, where is the Father in glory; round the little Jesus many boy-angels with various instruments of the Passion; fine; the great duke has another much the same. - Albani.
Nymphs lying down, with a Love pouring out pearls; a group in the element of water, that the king of Sardinia has, but larger than in the picture; not much finished, exceeding beautiful. - Albani.
Three Guardian Angels conducting Children; one over a bridge, another up a mountain, &c. little figures much finished, and in his most pleasing manner. - Albani.
Venus dressing by the Loves and Graces; a little Cupid tying on her pendants upon himself, and many of his charming imaginations different from the king of France's, and exceeding pretty. - Albani.
Palazzo Pamfilii
The Sala is hung from the ceiling almost to the ground with landscapes, very large: one of Castiglione with animals; another by Paul Brill, stiff and dry, with buildings in it; a third of Borgognone, in which is a grey horse drinking, of a vast spirit; all the rest of Gaspar Poussin; the figures in several of them said to be of Nicolas.
In the Two Great Rooms of the Principal Apartment next to it:
The celebrated Sacraments; same that were done for Cav. Pozzo. That
which seems to be evidently superior to the rest, in every respect, is The
Extreme Unction; the dying person, pale and almost insensible, is laid on
his bed in the midst, receiving this last office from the priest; his wife is
sitting at the feet. Here the author has made use of the same expression he
has given the Agrippina in the Germanicus; she covers her face with her
drapery, but her whole air discovers unutterable affliction. Nothing can be
more noble than the sweet and graceful attitude of this figure; on the other
side, one of the daughters by cries, and wringing of her hands, gives a
loose to her grief; while another with eyes and hands lifted up, implores the
assistance of Heaven. There are several more who assist, and testify their
concern according to their several characters, and proportionate to the
relation they bear to the dying man; the priest, the youth in a surplice that
kneels, and the man bearing a torch, have a great deal of three similar
figures in Domenichino's St. Jerome, which, it is well known, was this
master's favourite picture. The maid who is carrying somewhat out of the
door, and turns back her head, is an extreme Rafäelesca figure, and in all
these pieces there is somewhat of that style; this is well-coloured, solemn,
and harmonious. - Nic. Poussin.113
Marriage, that of the Virgin and Joseph; the next in beauty, and excellent.
The Chrism; well-fancied expressions, and strongly coloured.
Baptism; that of Christ by St. John; the various appearances of surprise
upon hearing the voice from heaven, finely imagined; here is a figure of a
Pharisee with a turbant, that is a mere caricature.
Ordination, (the giving of the keys;) a difficult subject to treat after Rafaël.
Penance; (Magdalen at the Christ's feet.)
The Last Supper; much inferior to the rest, and indeed a bad picture:
the
Baptism repeated; John baptizing the multitude; extremely good. - See Bellori, do.
Landscape, with small figures, only introduced by way of accident; the
story of the Assumption, with the Apostles looking into the Tomb; the air
of the St. John's head is fine, and the Madonna atop in the clouds; the
draperies and the colouring good; both the expression and the drawing in
the main indifferent enough; but the scene which is properly the subject of
the picture is nature finely chosen, and an example of taste in this kind; the
sky is too strong a blue, and here and there some hardnesses, but these are
rather the faults of time than of the painter; they are undoubtedly much
changed one is quite spoiled. - An. Carracci.
Another, with the Adoration of the Magi; this is the best on all accounts;
the trees are particularly admirable; great, easy, and wild. - An Carracci.
And two more, their companions; they are large lunettes [decorated semicircular
spaces in ceiling]; the following are smaller ones.
The Salutation, fine, and three others, same manner with the former. - An.
Carracci.
Adoration of the Magi; large, finely coloured, and in the best preservation;
less hard, and of a greater taste than common with him, yet wants a good
deal of perfection. - P. Perugino.
Salutation; large, and in a style much like the former. - Ben. Garofalo.
Descent from the Cross; large, much of the drawing terribly incorrect,
especially in one of the women, that kneels; the Christ is good, but the
head of a woman employed about the Virgin (that in profile, with her
coeffure tied under her chin) is admirable, and in a noble style. Coloured
like the Roman School, not natural, but pleasing enough. - G. Vasari.
Angel and St. Peter in Prison; big as life. I never saw any thing of this
master in oil that pleased me; his colouring is disagreeable, and the shades
very black: indeed in general, his figures want grace and expression; but
in his great Fresco compositions, there is a certain greatness, a copious
fancy, great harmony throughout, and his draperies are the noblest one can
see anywhere. Such excellences (which are the first one considers in
cupolas, and such vast works) are sufficient to compensate the aforementioned
defects, here that is not the case; and these faults are the first
Hagar and Ishmael; same size, vastly disagreeable. - Lanfranco.
The famed portraits of Bartolus and Baldus, drawn together, perfect nature and life, exquisitely painted. - Titian.
Polypheme114 playing on his Pipe; nymphs and tritons listening; small figures, the best of them here; there are several others - Lanfranco.
Christ praying in the Garden; disciples asleep. Small, very bad indeed, there is another, at Genoa. - M. Angelo Buonarota.
Madonna del Scodilla [bowl]; it is a riposo, she is taking up water in a porringer for the little Christ; his soft, sweet manner, and usual misty colouring, troppo sfumato; the design has been often repeated, there are many prints of it (See Bellori,116.) - Barocci.
Prodigal Son returning, embraced by his father; half figure, large as life, very fine. - Guercino.
Youth kneeling, and writing; beautiful head, and most genteel attitude. - Guercino.
St. John; (Young) drinking at a fountain in the wilderness; one cannot see a more charming figure of him; it is alive, and admirably painted, big as life. - Guercino.
There are many other fine ones of this master.
Hagar and Ishmael; big as life, a good expression in the face, otherwise somewhat low. Drapery a la moderne. - Cav. Calabrese.
Dædalus and Icarus; same as at the Barberini; called original too. - Andrea Sacchi.
Two very capital landscapes; one the Setting Sun, lovely as possible, Lord Lovel115 once offered £1500 for them, they are not well preserved. - Claude Loraine.
The penitent Magdalen; one of the most ridiculous things I ever saw even of him. She is a dwarfish, ordinary little girl, drunk, and asleep, her head nodding upon her bosom; and dressed in a flowered stuff petticoat; I do not doubt, but it was done from life.116 - Mic. Caravaggio.
In the Chamber of Portraits, the Gallery etc
A Lady in black, with a ruff, sitting, thin, and oldish; no grace, or beauty for a portrait. A painter must take nature as he finds it, and must imitate also the Gothic dress of the times; but the face, the hands are painted to a miracle, the skin perfectly transparent, true flesh and blood. - Vandike.
Himself; a half length, long grey beard, and a gold chain, very good. - Titian.
Machiavel; a head profile, with a round black cap, middle-aged, and a hook nose. - P. Perugino.
A Lady's head; in profile, with a veil of lawn, a glass before it, excellent. - Barocci.
Many other fine portraits of Titian, Vandike, Rembrandt, and others.
A Bacchanal, where is a satyr wrapped about with serpents, and a little one dragging along the leg of a calf in a string; a nymph dancing and tossing the tympanum [tambourine]; her head is admirable, but the arms very incorrectly drawn: figure not half life, it has been ill used, the colours are all peeled off in many places; yet is in high esteem, though there are many faults and disproportions. - Titian.
Magdalen in the Desert; sitting on the ground, with a skull in her hand; small, a fine solitary scene, and coloured like Correggio. - Agostino Carracci.
St. Sebastian bound to a tree, and pierced through with arrows; they go in at one side, and come out at the other, yet he is quite alive; this is a fault, but the figure is an extremely fine one. - Ludovico Carracci.
Satyr teaching a boy to play on the fistula; only heads, larger than life. I never saw anything beyond the expression; the slyness concealed under an appearance of innocence in one, and the lust even to drunkenness of the other, are admirable. There is a famous groupe of the same subject at the Villa Medici; but the expression seems not comparable to this for strength; this is not at all borrowed from it. - Ann. Carracci.
Peter going from Rome, and meeting Christ bearing his Cross; who, when he asked him, Quo vadis Domine? answered, 'Iterum crucifigi.'117 The apostle starts back with astonishment and horror, and lifts up both his hands. The Christ (an exquisite figure) points towards the city, and with his looks upbraids the saint's timidity. His eyes, that silently reproach him, with a mixture of joy and sorrow in the countenance, and the head a little inclining to one shoulder, conveying as moving an idea as it is possible for painting to express; figures about the size of a Nic. Poussin. - Annibal Carracci.
St. Jerome waking at. the sound of the Angel's Trumpet; small, but exquisite. - Ann. Carracci.
St. Francis supported by Angels; after receiving the stigmata; same size
St. Eustachio with the Stag; that has a crucifix between its horns; small, with a landscape, is the same he has graved, mighty hard and gothic. - Albert Durer.
Madonna, in a round; a head and hands adoring the Christ, who sleeps; divine beauty and devotion. C. Bloemart has graved it; big as life. - Guido.
Conversion of St. Paul; same that Enea Vico has graved so finely, and about the same size as the print, coloured in Mich. Angelo's manner. - Salviate.
Madonna squirting milk out of her breast into the child's mouth; a very Flemish thought. - Rubens.
The design in water colours for the Barberini Ceiling: small, exceeding pretty, but worn and spoiled. - Pietro Cortona.
There are a vast number more of fine things here, chiefly small, of Parmeggiano, Albani, the Carracci, and the old masters.
In the Chapel
A Pietà, large as life, much the same with that the King of Naples has. - An. Carracci.
The Capitol
The disposition of these three buildings is well known from the prints, as well as that of the statues that adorn them; the whole is in a very noble taste, as is that of the flight of steps conducting to them, and the grand area before them. The palace in front is that of the senatour, of Giac. del Duca's architecture, who only finished the first order; the other was added by Rainaldi; and the Ringhiera [balustrade] with the fountain before it, designed by Michel Angelo; the palace on the right is also of him, except the finestrone over the entrance, which is of Giac. del Duca, and good for nothing; the opposite building is lately finished on the same design, in that to the right [Palazzo dei Conservatori] is kept the noble collection of statues, amid other antiquities made and given to the public by the late Pope Clem. XII. One enters into a small cortile, with a portico on one side of it, at the end to the left, stands:
At the other end is a beautiful column of oriental alabaster, entire; and in niches on the sides:
The famous Pyrrhus that was in the Palazzo Massimi, more than three times as large as life; standing, in complete armour; helmet and Lorica beautifully adorned with bas-reliefs, a double row of labels, also with masques and grotesques in relievo; a thick beard in small curls, as in the medals; the legs, both arms, the buckles and the crest, are added by Carlo Napoleone and not ill; it is a most noble figure, and unique perhaps.
Adrian, his head veiled, as for sacrifice, a patera in one hand, and scroll in the other; but indifferent workmanship.
Jupiter, one arm raised with the thunder; drapery on one arm, and below the middle.
Diana, hair in a knot, like the Apollo's, and a crescent; one arm extended with the remains of a bow; in an attitude of motion.
Pomona, with grapes, in the skirt of her palla, crowned with corn; a sort of crupotia or castanets in her hand, tied round the wrist with a ribbon: Scabillum [instrument like castanet, played with foot] under the foot; gross sculpture.
Minerva armed; long hair flowing in curls on the shoulders from under her helmet; her ægis [shield] on, fringed with serpents. Stole and short tunic girt over it; twice as big as life, great taste, but not very good.
Two Egyptian figures, like Cariatides, with hieroglyphics at their backs; one of Thebaic granite, the other of a greyish dark marble spotted a dirty yellow.
In the Cartel
Marforio, a colossal river-god, lying along, restored and turned into a
fountain, as it perhaps was formerly; not good.
The two satyrs, used as Caryatides, with baskets on their heads; of an
excellent style - with several busts, termini, &c.
Upon the Stairs
Pudicitia, a long stole and palla that veils the head, and is wrapped about
her, covering both the arms; I have heard the head is modern, and of Mic.
Angelo, if it be so, he has restored it with judgment, having given it the
face of Faustina junior, who is represented under the form of this goddess
on medals. The whole is extremely gentile and delicate.
Allocution [exhortation] of M. Aurelius to his army; this and the following
made a part of the arch called di Portugalla, which stood in the Corso, till
Alexander VII. demolished it; figures large as life, and excellent.
Apotheosis of Faustina; she is borne up from the Rogus on the wings of
a figure bearing a torch; S. Bartoli has graved them both in the Archi Antichi.
Juno Lanumvina, as it is inscribed, habited in a stola; over it is a goat's
skin, that veils her head, and comes under the arm cross her breast, being
connected with a tibula on the left shoulder; a diadem under it, and part of
a sceptre in one hand, something broke in the other; very good.
A Lion couching; rough, but in a great manner.
First Room. Urns and Inscriptions
A noble vase of Parian marble, about five feet high, simply adorned with
beautiful foliage.
Sepulchral Marble of Atimetus, a Freed-man of Tiberius, and Homonoea,
his wife; the husband's epitaph on one side, (who died first,) the wife's on
the other, in elegiac verses, tender and natural enough: it is solid, like an
altar, and in the. top two cavities for the Ollæ Cinerariæ [receptacles for
ashes of dead], the cover is lost; at the bottom inscribed the measures of the
ground they had purchased to place it upon, which is only five feet in
length.
Sarcophagus, of an oblong shape; on the front of it, a fine
bas-relief, with
Another, with the same story; Endymion here lies in the lap of a winged figure (a man,) that sits, perhaps Somnus too, and Venus herself in the clouds points the way to Diana; this is rather finer than the other, and of Parian marble; the Coperchio of another sort, and latter age.
Another, with the nine Muses; at one end, Homer with a figure representing Poetry; at the other, Socrates in a sort of Cathedra, and a figure of Philosophy, habited like a matron, capite velato [head covered or veiled]; in all these one sees certain cavities made in the covers, with little holes at bottom to pour in the inferiæ [sacrifices in honour of dead].
Small urn, supposed (I know not on what authority,) to be that of Didumenianus, with the fine bas-relief on it representing the progress of human life, where is Prometheus, the Cyclops, &c.; it is in the Admiranda.
In the corner is a column of a beautiful kind of Breccia antica, that seems composed of all other sorts of marble, purple, green, yellow, white and black, in small spots: the wall is covered with inscriptions relating to the Consular Chronology, and with round bricks, inscribed with large letters, that either denote the Consuls under whom the edifice in which they were employed was raised, or bear the names of the workmen; see Ott. Falconieri's118 Letter on this subject at the end of Nardini's Roma Antica.
Second Room
Walls in like manner covered with inscriptions, relating to military
honours; here is the famous 'Lex Regia,' made in honour of Vespasian119,
and graved in small characters on a huge plate of bronze, that weighs 2147
pounds; it is in perfect preservation.
A little round altar inscribed Ara Ventorum [altar of the winds], with figures
of them in relief flying with wreathed conchæ at their mouths.
Many bas-reliefs fixed in the wall, that appear to have been friezes; Vulcan
at his forge, Cupids at a Vintage, &c.
Statue of Apollo standing; his arm (as common) bent over his head, and
leaning on the lyre, a griffon standing at his feet; larger than life, and
very
Old Woman sitting on the ground, a great bottle or amphora betwixt her knees, which is encompassed with an ivy chaplet, her head thrown back, eyes cast up, and mouth open; with vast pleasure in the face, a most natural and humorous expression; excellently good; it is graved in Rossi's collection120.
The fine bas-reliefs of Nymphs and Tritons who are supposed to be transporting the souls of the deceased to Elysium: see the Admiranda.
The Sala
Among a vast number of fine things, are, upon pedestals, isolati, in the middle of the hall:
The Dying Gladiator, (that once belonged to the Ludovisii; (see
Richardson,) large as life, of the finest white marble; for expression (after
the Laocoon,) to be sure the noblest statue in the world; Clement XII.
purchased it for 6000 Roman crowns; it is graved by Perrier, and is in
Rossi's book.
The Hercules (Verospi), more famous than excellent; a young figure larger
than life, with a torch in the hand, as searing the hydra's necks; the head
stiff, and without meaning, and the torso wreathed and distorted in an
unusual manner; very unpleasing; (see Rossi,) and the Gladiator fallen, and
attempting to recover himself again; the arms and shield with which he
shelters himself are modern, with some other parts; what is antique, is
extremely fine.
NAPLES
The Road to Naples.
You pass thro' the Porta Coelimontana near S: John Lateran, & continue along the road to Albano with numberless little ruins of Sepulchres spread in the fields all round you, particularly toward the right hand, where at a little distance the Via Appia runs along. they have been all extremely injured by time, & other means, so that there are but few, whose external form remains, some seem to have been small Rotundas, raised on a square Base, & ending in a Cupola; others quadrangular buildings with a flat roof & adorn'd with Pilasters; (unless perhaps these last may have been little Sacella [chapels]). they all are huge Masses of Brickwork, whose walls are often many Yards in thickness containing one or two appartments within & undoubtedly have been formerly incrusted with marble, or Tiburtine Stone, for all the ground is coverd with fragments of it. there are everywhere remains of Aqueducts with 50 or 60 Arches standing entire and uninterrupted together in many places, which add a vast deal to the prospect. the Campagna of Rome is not alone ill-cultivated but naturally a barren & disagreeable plain, & has need of these monuments of antiquity to add a beauty to it. one has always in view before one the hills at about 14 miles distance or more with the towns of Tivoli, Palestrina, & Frescati upon them, & a mixture of other little cities, & villages. beyond the Torre di Mezzavia one turns to the left out of the Alban road towards Marino a large town belonging to the Colonna family situated on the side of one of those hills, that form a sort of natural bason, or receptacle for the Alban Lake. in the principal Church is a side Altar -
The Martyrdom of S Bartholomew, a famous picture, the. 2 ruffians, who are employ'd about that bloody work are greatly in character, & are figures of much spirit. for the rest the Saint seems to feel nothing of the matter, but
There is the Martyrdom of another Saint at the upper end, seems also of him; not good.
In the Church della Trinita behind the great Altar is:
The Trinity, of a size more than half-life. the Father with Sorrow in his countenance, & arms spread, supporting on his knees the dead Christ. some few Cherubs that form a Semicircle over them; no other angels. the same Giac: Freii has graved. a fine picture. But much better treated by him in the Ch: of the Trinita de' Pellegrini at Rome - Guido.
Here the way ascends the hills, & continues by a very pleasant & shady road along them-with the Lake in the Vale below to the right, & Clo. Gandolfo appearing on the top of the mountains on t'other side of it. on the left is the Mons albanus, & the Dorsum running along it's side, on which Alba. Longa was once situated. you continue among the hills, which are very green, & well cultivated to Velletri, seated on the top of a little mountain with a pretty Vale below it, anciently famous for nothing, as Sil. Italicus says: Quos incelebri miserunt valle Velitrae121. upon descending these hills you have a most extensive view of the plain to the right, & the Marshes (Pomptina Palus) with the Sea beyond, & the Circeian Promontory, (that seems a huge Mountain, all alone) stretching into it. here turning something to the right one continues along the plain to Cisterna, a small town, whose inhabitants are Vassals of a Neapolitan Prince, of the Gaetano Family: he is also Lord of Sermoneta, & Caserta with a pretty extensive Territory round about them. a little farther we past thro' a large Park of his, one part of which is a noble wild Scene all overrun with huge old Oaks, & Cork- Trees. the Mountains now begin to thicken, & approach nearer to the Sea, so as to leave but a narrow Tract of cultivated land between
themselves, & the Marshes. one soon comes to the foot of a steep hill on whose top stands Sermoneta (Sulmo Volscorum). just by it one crosses a little stream of sulfureous Water, like the Albula. 'tis like that of a blewish white, & the Stench intolerable. they call it Aqua Puzza. we past by Sezza (Setia) of ancient fame for its wines,
- Ipsius mensis seposta Lyaii
Setia - Sil: Ital: 8.122
Adde tot egregias urbes, operumque laborem
Tot congesta manu praeruptis oppida saxis,
Fluminaq antiquos subterlabentia muros. Georg: 2.123
One has here the little river Ufens creeping along on the right hand among the Fens, & slowly working it's way into the sea.
Qua Saturae jacet atra palus, gelidusq per imas
Quaerit iter valles, atq in mare conditur Ufens. Virg: 7.
- pestiferâ Pontini uligine campi
Qua Saturae nebulosa palus restagnat, & atro
Liventes caeno per squalida turbidus arva
Cogit aquas Ufens, atq inficit aequora limo. Sil: Ital: 8.124
Somewhat farther is Piperno [Priverno] also seated on a high Hill. the Peasants here wear a sort of Buskin, the sole of which is made of a raw hide with the hair on, bound about the foot, & half way up the
Leg with Whipcord. Virgil distinguishes the inhabitants when they came to war, by almost a similar sort of Chaussure, only that they wore it on one foot only -
vestigia nuda sinistri
Instituunt pedis, at crudus tegit altera pero. Virg: 7.125
Hic primus labor inchoare sulco,
Et rescindere limites, & alto
Egestu penitus cavare terras:
Mox haustas aliter replere tossas,
Et summo gremium parare dorso,
Ne nutent sola, ne maligna sedes,
Et pressis dubium cubile saxis;
Tunc umbonibus hinc et hinc coactis,
Et crebris iter allegare gomphis.
O quantae pariter manus laborant!
Hi caedunt nemus, exuuntq montes;
Hi ferro scopulos, trabesq caedunt;
Illi saxa ligant, opusq texunt
Cocto pulvere, sordidoq topho:
Hi siccant bibulas manu lacunas,
Et longe fluvios agunt minores.127
There are frequent ruins on each hand of it, not only of Sepulchres, but the foundations of larger buildings, & arched vaults of brick disposed Particulatim [piecemeal]. one continues along this way, which goes up several mountains, & thro' deep vallies, still running obliquely towards the Sea, till one comes to Anxur, or Terracina seated on a fine hill with an open view of the Sea - Aequoreis splendidus Anxur aquis. Mart.128 - passing by which one goes on along the shore between the Sea, & some exceeding lofty rocky Cliffs; on the very top of one of 'em are large remains of an ancient edifice. here are frequent square towers along the Coast built to prevent sudden descents of the Moorish Corsairs, but very inconsiderable, & ruinous. against the side of one of these rocks are cut the 12 Numbers mention'd by Addison129 in decimal proportion, decreaseing upwards: a little further one enters the Kingdom of Naples, the bounds are marked by an Inscription on a large stone monument erected in Philip 2d's time. one now sees several tracts of land, & little Isthmus's stretching into the Sea, which enters far in, & forms several bays, & lakes (as it were) - which, with a mixture of woods among them, form a view very agreeable to the eye. now one turns again to the left leaving the shore, & journeying thro' charming Vales to Fondi. the hedges abound with the broad-leaved Myrtle, Bay, Spanish-Broom, Laurustine & many flowering Shrubs I never saw before. one comes round to the Sea again very soon at Mola (Formiae) most charmingly situated on the Bay of Gaëta, the Usual Station of his Sicilian Majestic's Gallies. the air here is all perfumed with the large plantations of ancient Orange-trees about the town; they were at this time all cover'd with flowers & ripe fruit at once, & the first I had yet seen in Italy, that seem'd to grow kindly in the natural earth, being of great bulk,& beauty. The bay was full of Fishing-Vessels; on the right hand lies the Town and Castle of Gaëta in full view overlooked by a high hill on which is the Monument of Munatius Plancus, like a round tower, all alone. 'tis about half a dozen miles from Mola cross [sic] the Bay to it. one still follows the Appian way, which runs thro' this town, to the banks of the River Garigliano: just on this side are pretty large ruins of Minturnae, a small aqueduct of
brick entire for a good way together, a Theatre, & something like a Circus, with many other little remains of building scatter'd about quite down to the Sea. one crosses this River (the Liris) in a ferry. it retains it's former calmness, and clearness, winding slowly thro' a charming plain, & full to the very brink, not like the generality of Italian rivers, shallow, and turbulent. one now leaves the Appian, which goes off towards the ruins of old Capua, that lay some miles more inland, than the new City does. the road now grows extremely spatious, like those in Lombardy, &, tho' unpaved, is in extremely good condition, haveing been repair'd, & in a manner new-made against the arrival of the new Queen. one finds an extraordinary change upon leaving the Pope's dominions, the roads grow chearful, & frequented, the country cultivated, & the towns populous, this part of Italy is indeed a miracle of beauty, & fertility, these are the Massic, the Calatine, & Falernian fields, & indeed nothing can go beyond these. What must such a country be in the times of liberty, when even under the execrable government it has now long been subject to, it can flourish in this manner? at Capua one crosses the Vulturnus, which runs under it's walls, a shallow muddy furious Stream at that time not near filling it's Channel: the City is small, but full of people, an Archbishoprick, & gives the Title of Prince to a Son of the Royal family. the road passes thro' Aversa [mod. Atella] a city of the Saracen's foundation, very neat, & airy. one enters Naples thro' a very handsome Suburb, in which are several Palaces, Churches, & publick buildings, large, & grand enough, but commonly of a very ill taste in Architecture, charged with abundance of clumsy Ornaments. upon entering the grand Street (Strada di Toledo) the infinite number of people, & coaches are somewhat amazeing, it is with difficulty one passes, & it is one continued market from one end to the other for Fruits, flowers, & Provisions of all kinds, I believe near a mile in length, reaching from the Porta della Spirito S[anc]to to the King's Palace; towards the further end it winds something, otherwise quite strait, & paved admirably well (as are the streets in general) with square Stones laid corner-wise, so as to resemble the Opus reticulatum, flat, & of about
a foot & ½ dimensions, the houses are of the common people, but lofty (4 Stories high) & equal throughout, & the breadth of the street proportionable to it's length.
The Certosa [di San Martino].
This Convent one of the richest in Italy enjoys a most delicious Air, & Situation, being seated on a very lofty hill just above the ancient Castle of S. Elmo. from a Portico in it you have a noble prospect of the whole City below you, & the Bay in it's whole Extent with M: Vesuvius, Surrentum, & all the country beyond it as far as the promontory of Minerva on the left, & on t'other hand Pausilipo stretching out into the Sea, & behind it a part of the Bay of Baiae, the view being bounded by M: Miseno. before you is Capreae (30 Miles distant) appearing as a barren Mountain of a vast height divided into 2 Summits which lyes across the mouth of the Gulf, & leaves a Passage on each side of it.
Insula portum
Efficit objectu laterum, quibus omnis ab alto
Frangitur, inq sinus scindit sese unda reductos.130
A Crucifix, only a single figure, (of which the old Story is told of the Porter) between 2 & 3 foot long. Air like that of the Grand Duke, but not
Martyrdom of S: Laurence, a Sketch in Oil for that in the Escurial. small figures - Titian.
The Sacresty
The whole cieling painted with histories in squares, small; & single figures
between of a larger size. better than ordinary for him; there are some fine
things - Cav: Arpino.
Crucifixion, large as life, in Oil. not good; no nature at all - Ditto.
Denyal of Christ; heads and hands, this on the contrary is true nature
indeed, and excellent in a low way, but it is a perfectly Dutch Scene - M:
Angelo Caravaggio.
Several others, but not good - Luca Cangiari, Giacomo Puntormo
&c.
The Treasuries
A Pietà, large as life, only the Virgin, & S: John; she has a fine expression of Sorrow, but without beauty, or grace; the other a very mean, & ordinary figure: but the dead Christ, who is thrown in a very uncommon attitude upon her knees, is a most admirable figure both for drawing & colouring; nothing can be more easy, & it perfectly comes forward from the Canvass, the finest thing I ever saw of him. it cost 4000 Ducats, but the Fathers now esteem it at 10,000 - Spagnuoletto.
Here are Ornaments for the Altar of amazing richness. half-figures of several Saints bigger than life, a Statue of the Virgin, great numbers of wrought stands, & large vases, all of massy Silver, & a Custodia [vessel for preserving sacred objects] adorn'd with Sapphires, Emeralds, Topazes,& Rubies of a huge size.
The Church.
In the Choir behind the Great Altar is the Nativity, fig: as large as life, the Joseph is the only one quite compleat, for he left the picture unfinish'd. it shews no decay of Genius at all, & the heads have all that Divine beauty one sees only in his works - Guido.
The whole Vault of the Church in 3 vast Compartments, the Figures, that serve for Ornaments, & the 12 Apostles above the Cornice are all in general of the same Master, an immense Work, yet there are several others of him in Naples at least as considerable, as this. if you come to particular parts, there is no great grace, or expression, neither is the Drawing always correct; but in the whole a Greatness in the execution, a perfect Mastery in the management of his colours, & a great harmony, that strikes the eye all at once, a certain Furia in his Airs, & the Draperies always noble & simple. his works here are well preserved, & bright as if but just done.
The Environs of Naples.
M. Pausilypo [Posillipo] lies on the right side of the city. it is a long Dorsum, or Promontory, that runs out a good way into the Sea; of a considerable height, cover'd with little woods, & Villa's with Vineyards intermix'd. the [Via] Chiaia runs along from Naples almost as far as the side of this Mountain, thro' the bowels of which is cut the famous Grotta.131 one passes for some little space along a passage also pierced through the solid rock, but this is carried quite thro' to the top, & open to the Air, till one comes to the mouth of the Cave, which is a tall Arch better than 50 (?) Foot in height, & of a breadth sufficient for 3 Carriages at least to enter abreast. these latter dimensions are continued quite through it, but the height greatly decreases, till a little beyond the middle, where it appears not one fifth of what it was at first; it then rises again till at the mouth next Puzzuoli, 'tis almost as great as before. the top is form'd into an arch the whole way, & makes a solemn appearance, like some long vaulted Isle of a Gothick Church. upon entering it, as the light falls chiefly upon the two ends, & one has in view the Outlet at the opposite end, the eye is much deceived in it's length, which seems not above 100 Yards, tho' in reality near half a mile. there are 2 square passages over each entrance at a great height, that run obliquely thro' the rock, & open into the vault contrived to throw the light still a little further in, & admit more air. in a fine day one sees very well, till near the middle, where it grows somewhat dark, & carriages that meet are obliged to warn one another by crying out Alla marina, or Alla montagna. about the midst of it in a small cave cut into the rock-side is a small chappel of the Madonna with lamps burning continually, tended by a Hermit. Alphonso the lst enlarged the Grotta, & in Charles 5's time D: Peter of Toledo, the Viceroy paved it, & made an excellent road, which still continues: as large Inscriptions near it testify. when it was first made is uncertain; some people name one Cocceius, as the author of it; but these are of no authority. it is
likely to have been done in the earlier days of Rome, as it appears more design'd for convenience than ostentation, for it seems to have been but a disagreeable passage in Seneca's time, & the aforemention'd king gave it it's present loftiness. haveing passed the Grot one comes into a most beautiful country, consisting of fertile hills cover'd with Vines, & Figs; or else Corn with rows of elms, & their Vines running up them, & hanging in Festoons from one to the other. one turns a little to the right of the Pozzuoli-Road, & ascending for some time between the rocks one comes to the top of a hill, from whence the Lake of Agnano discovers itself with its charming borders surrounded with mountains of a moderate height all cultivated & planted to the top. Upon descending into the Vale even at a distance the sulphureous Steams that rise from the Lake & the Ground about it are easily perceived. at the time I saw it, the way thither for a quarter of a Mile at least, & the whole country about the lake was cover'd with an infinite swarm of very small frogs. there was no stepping without treading upon them. the Country people said it was common, & that they fell in the Rain; but it had not rain'd that day, nor for several before it. on the right side of the Lake under the rocks is the Grotta del Cane132. they have closed up the mouth of it with a door, that locks; it is very small & low not above 5 foot & ½ high at the entrance, & does not extend above 3 yards into the rock growing still lower & lower. we made the usual experiment with a middle-sized Cur-Dog, that had frequently before undergone the same operation: the Man held his 4 legs, & laid him on the earth on his side with his head close to the ground. he struggled much, & began to pant in a few Moments, in 3 Minutes fell into Convulsions, his strength soon left him, & he lay without motion of his limbs, only fetching his breath shorter & shorter, we took him out, & laid him on the Grass, & in about 5 Minutes he was quite recover'd, whineing, & seeming to rejoice, that he was restored to life. several of the little frogs were put in, who hop'd about a little, but stretch'd themselves out, & died in less than half a minute. the torches went out immediately being dip'd in the Vapour, which is not visible, but the experiments proved it did not rise more than ½ a foot above the
ground. one may enter the cave without hurt; there is a sensible warmth in it, as in all the rocks hereabouts, & the ground & sides are moist. the Lake is very agreeable to the eye, almost round, & about a mile in compass; it has much fish in it (Tench & Eels) but more frogs. near the margin in some places it boils very strongly, yet there is no perceptible heat in the water. a little distance from the Cave is a building with several little appartments call'd I Sudatorii di S: Germano133. in the innermost of them the Vapour that rises is so violent as to put anybody into a strong Sweat in some few Minutes. this is a visible smoke Issuing out continually, & the Smell of Sulphur is extremely offensive. these places are used with success in several distempers, particularly the Pox, & the Itch, some say the Gout too. continuing along the side of the Lake to the left one ascends again to the top of a mountain, & thro' a narrow passage comes into a large hollow, or plain of better than a mile in compass surrounded with high Cliffs of a naked dismal appearance, with a little thin herbage scatter'd here & there. the tallest of these towards one end of the plain from several parts send forth a thick white Smoke & that up to their very top. about the roots of them, and in 3 or 4 places of the plain are certain small cavities in the ground, from whence rises the same Vapour, but more strongly; on throwing a large stone against the ground it returns a deaf report, that shews all beneath is hollow. over several of the smaller Vents they pile up broken Potsherds, about which a Crust of Sal Armoniac gathers in a short time. in this part of the Solfatara the heat is very sensible to one's hand upon touching the earth; the other end of it seems in comparison to have but little of these warm springs & minerals; plants grow there pretty thick: here they have built up Sheds under which they make Alum, the Rain-water that falls hereabouts, naturally stagnates in the middle of the plain, which is the lowest part of it, from whence being impregnated with earth, they bring it hither, & digest it in proper receivers, where the Alum forms itself into a thin ice-like Crust on the surface, & sides of the Vessels. Petronius134 gives a good Description of this wonderful Spot in his fragment of a Poem: it was called Forum Vulcanium. the Capucins have a small convent a little above it; no very
secure Situation. Pozzuoli is about a mile distant from hence; the country of extreme beauty and fertility with openings every now & then among the hills, that discover that part of the Bay between the little promontory on which this town is situated, & M: Pausilypo; with the little Isle of Nisida, that lies just before the point of it; it is a high rock (but cultivated) & with a Castle on it's most elevated part, which gives to a Neapolitan Cavalier the title of Marquis of Nisida. it is about a Mile & ½ round, anciently call'd Nesis, & remarkable for certain unwholesome exhalations; now no such thing is observed there: between this & the land is a low flat rock with buildings on it, call'd the Lazaretto. from Pozzuoli we took a large boat with 4 oars to go round the Bay of Baiae in, which presented a beautiful calm Sea to the eye. from this town runs for a considerable way into the water the Mole of Antoninus Pius. the large massy piles of Brick and Cement appear not to have been all of equal width135. we went coasting the bay round, passing by Monte Barbaro (the ancient Gaurus). eversince the strange Eruption of M: Nuovo by it's side it has lain barren & neglected, till within these few years past they have begun to cultivate it anew, & to plant Vines in some parts, which they find succeed very well. a little further on is the New Mountain136 itself, not so high as the last mention'd, thinly cloath'd with a burnt, and rusty herbage - Quae scabie, & salsa laedit rubigine ferrum137. it retains no other marks of it's former horrours. every one knows how accompanied with an earthquake, & vomiting out fire it rose out of the earth in the space of one night about 200 years ago, & destroy'd or overwhelm'd all the country about it: it reaches from M: Gaurus to very near the lake Avernus. between the foot of this Hill, & the Sea lies the Lucrine Lake, whose present condition can give but an imperfect Idea of its former beauty, since the mountain has rose in it's place, & cover'd the springs that used to supply it, so that nothing remains but a meer puddle, shallow & overgrown with reeds, & dwarf-myrtle. the ground that at present separates it from the Sea is not 10 Yards in breadth, & one sees no traces of the Julian Port Virgil mentions138. here we landed, & walked about ½ a mile up among the Hills to the place,
where the Avernus discovers itself in a charming vally surrounded by Vineyards & woods; now much frequented by Waterfowl, & stock'd with fish. it is of a vast depth, & near 2 Mile in compass. at one end of the margin of it are the ruins of an Octagon temple of Brick, round withinside with 7 large Niches, & as many Windows over them: it is commonly named the Temple of Apollo, & by others of Neptune, or of Mercury139. on another side of the Lake, after ascending some way up one of the mountains by a narrow passage thro' the wood, one finds the mouth of the Sibyl's Grotta140; 'tis very small, & one bends almost double to enter it; the straitness continues for a few paces; & then the cave rises into a tall Arch: this Vault continues strait on (being about 13 foot broad, & 12 high) 95 Canes [It. canna: 7ft. 3½ in] in length, where one sees the Earth has fall'n in, & stop'd it up. not far from the end by a very narrow winding passage one descends into a little arched bathing room, where one can hardly enter for the water that comes into it; the cieling has been adorn'd with little Grotesque paintings, & Mosaic. there is also another little Cell near it, where are the remains of a brick winding Staircase, which is supposed to have led up to the top of the mountain. it is very hard to imagine the Use of these subterraneous ducts. in all likelihood they were older than the Roman's time, & that their mere age & oddness gave room to apply certain religious Fables to them, that obtain'd among the Vulgar: some of them they took for the mouth of Hell, others for the habitation of a Sibyl, others for the Cave of the Cimmerians, &c: the little rooms fitted up for bathing seem to have been a Use they were afterwards put to by people, near whose Villa's they happen'd to be. this tho' call'd so, is undoubtedly not the Sibyl's Grot of Virgil; that he says was
Excisum Euboicae latus ingens rupis in antrum141.
Summits of those Mountains that surround it down to their foot, & quite out into the Sea for many Paces. vast vaults & arches of Masonswork, that hang over, & seem to grow to the sides of those Cliffs, still supporting themselves without the help of their foundations, which appear far off below in ruins, being huge Masses of Brickwork, that stretch themselves far into the bay.
Marisq Baiis obstrepentis urges
Summovere littora,
Parum locuples continente ripâ. (These were call'd Caementa)
....
Caementis licet occupes
Tyrrhenum omne tuis—
....
Contracta pisces aequora sentiunt
Jactis in altum molibus: hu frequens
Caementa demittit redemptor
Cum famulis - 142
were very sensible of the hot vapour proceeding from the ground, & the mountain on our right: every now & then for a Pace or too [sic] it was intolerable, then one felt it no more, but only the common warmth of the Sun reflected from the Rock. there were several holes, in which one could scarce bear to thrust one's hand for the heat. a little further where the hills retire something from the shore, one sees a lofty Rotunda; above half the Cupola is fall'n in, and a part of the Inclosure. the Structure is of Brick (as are most of the remains hereabout) neatly & strongly built. it has 4 great Niches below, and 7 Windows over them. there are so many ruins scatter'd about, & joining to it, that it is imagined to have been an appartment of the Baths of Piso, the famous head of a Conspiracy against Nero: but however it goes by the name of Diana's Temple. a little further are several large arch'd Vaults, which stand always pretty deep in water, thro' which a Man carries you under a little arch into another round Edifice adjoining, about 25 Paces in Diameter, with an opening atop as usual, & 4 windows below it. here they make you whisper, & it has the same effect, as in the Dome of S. Pauls. this they name Truglio di Mercurio144. a little farther, & upon the Shore is an Octagonal Edifice. the whole Recinto [enclosure] remains, but the top is demolish'd. it has an arch'd opening atop for a window in each side, & four great Niches. the shape of the frontispiece remains, being a large Arch, & two small ones on the sides; these make a strait line, longer than the temple side they join to, & must have had but a bad effect. this is call'd the Temple of Venus. a little farther on the Shore is the Castle of Baiae, built by D: Pedro of Toledo, seemingly pretty strong & in good repair. the body of it on an eminence, but it's fortification's descend to the Sea. something beyond it are some remains of Bauli [Bacoli, but not actually the ancient Bauli], where on the coast they show you a sepulchre for that of Agrippina Minor145. it is almost cover'd with earth; they have made a hole, into which by a ladder one descends. there is a vaulted passage runs round the double Walls, like that in the Mausoleum of Augustus, only in little: the roof has some remains of Stucco with little figures in Compartiments & Borders of Grotesque, Sphinxes, & foliage, but much damaged &
blacked by the smoke of Torches. a little distance from hence are the Cento Camerelle. there is a large Vault, sustain'd by about a dozen square pillars, & by a small staircase one descends under ground by narrow passages into certain other appartments, whose use nobody seems to conceive. there are many & various ruins spread about the country here, to which they have affix'd the names of various great Men, whose Villa's are mention'd as situated somewhere hereabouts, but upon trivial grounds. you now are not far from the Bay of Miseno the Station of the Roman fleet upon this Sea, & consequently almost at the end of the promontory: one ascends up the charming hills cover'd with Vineyards, & Plantations, that form the Back of it, about ¾ of a mile, & passes in the way by rows of ruin'd sepulchres, in some of which is a little Mosaic, & a few grotesque ornaments of painting. this place they now call Mercato di Sabbato, & the country about it Campi Elisii, it is indeed of miraculous fertility, & beauty. one has here a View of the Mare Mortuum, a pleasant lake, or rather bay, for it communicates with the Sea, & is only separated from it by a little tongue of land, a few paces in breadth, & M: Miseno beyond it which rises gradually without precipices, & is cultivated up to the Very top, where it spreads into a plain, a fine situation for some Temple, or lofty building. there once was a Pharos upon it, but nothing now, it joins to the land by a narrow & low Isthmus, we tasted the wine of this country, which is of a full red, strong, & rough, like Bourdeaux Claret, & might with time come to be excellent. beyond Misenus are the Isles of Ischia & Procita (Arimae or Inarime, & Prochyta) the former much the larger, very lofty, especially to the N: East; the more plain End of it has a large town, & several buildings, that make a great figure in the prospect, for it is much frequented on account of it's baths: Procita is much lower, less, & not so well inhabited. between the Mare Mortuum & Mercato di Sabbato is the huge antient Reservoir, call'd Piscina Mirabilis146; one descends into it by 40 Steps; it is supported by 148 square Pilastroni. the whole work cover'd with a plaister as hard as stone itself. there are Spiracula [air-vents] in the roof for the passage of air & light, some attribute this work to Lucullus, others to Agrippa &
say it was a Conservatory of fresh water for the Use of the Fleet, that lay at Misenus. the ruins of Cumae lie but a little way on the other side of the Promontory, however we return'd to Pozzuoli cross the bay, and made another day of it thither wholly by land, near the foot of M: Gaurus by which one passes we turn'd towards the right to the place called Via Campana, where for more than a mile are numberless ancient remains without much distinguishable form or beauty indeed, but huge, & massy; beside abundance of Sepulchres,some of them open'd not many years since: one is the most entire I have ever seen. 'tis a square Columbarium with 4 or 5 rows of Niches; in the midst of 3 of the sides are as many large Enfoncemens [recesses] with a Column on each side of them sustaining a pediment, much like a modern Chimneypiece; the whole of brick cover'd with plaister, the roof & sides between the niches adorned with little Grotesques of painting, & Stucco in square Compartiments with small figures in the middle prettily executed enough & in tolerable preservation. there are Centaurs, Sphinxes, Loves, Harpies, &c: it seems to have been the monument of some considerable family, but all the inscriptions & Urns are taken away, & I could get no information of what might have been learnd from thence. the road runs along the hills, that form a circle about the Avernus. less than a mile on this side Cuma one passes under the Arco Felice147. it joins two Hills together, handsomely built of Brick, & with vast Solidity, for the Mass is above 50 foot in thickness. the Arch is 20 foot wide, & 70 high, & there are 2 or 3 little ones still atop of that, so that it was even with the summit of the hills. not far from thence is the little temple call'd Del Gigante, where is said to have been found the Colossal Statue of Jupiter now before the Palace at Naples. it is square with a vaulted roof in Compartiments, such as those of the Pantheon, at the end is a large Nich, but not near of a sufficient size to hold that statue. the remains of Cumae are nothing in themselves very considerable, but (as everything else hereabouts) vast, and such as give one a great Idea of ancient art & the rock, on which the famous temple of Apollo & Diana is supposed to have stood, is very close to the shore; the Substructiones [foundations] remain on the
sides of it, & are of hewn Stone, extremely solid, & neat: this seems to have been the situation of both Temple, & Citadel. below this hill, on one side, where the rocks retire a little from the shore, is the mouth of a Cave, perhaps the true Grotta della Sibylla. this is very spacious, & only inconvenient by the number of loose stones that roll down into it, for it is a gradual descent all the way. where the rock did not seem capable of supporting itself, it has been propped in several places of the sides by a wall of hewn stone built up to it. some paces within it on the left hand is a large & wide ascent of Stairs (I believe) more than 60 Steps. it goes strait at first, but winds a little towards the top, where when you land, there seems to have been another narrow flight of steps, leading still higher, but this is quite stop'd up with earth, as is the Cave itself not a great way further, this many imagine to have been the other mouth of the Grot near Avernus, but it is conjecture only. all this part of the coast is exposed to an intense heat of the sun, fruits are consequently in very early perfection here, they used to have figs ripe at this Season, & Grapes in great forwardness; at the time we were there indeed there was no appearance of it, the year being remarkably backward I believe all over Europe; however Barley was then ready to cut, & the Wheat had chang'd colour. we made a little journey also on the otherside of the Bay of Naples to Portici, where the King has a Villa about 4 Miles out of town, the way thither is thro' a number of small towns, & seats of the nobility close by the Sea, for Mount Vesuvius has not ever been able to deter people from inhabiting this lovely coast, & as soon as ever an irruption is well over, tho' perhaps it has damaged, or destroy'd the whole country for leagues round it, in some months every thing resumes its former face, and goes on in the old channel. that mountain lies a little distance from Portici towards the left, divided into 2 Summits, that farthest from the Sea is rather the largest, & highest called Monte di Somma. this has been hitherto very innocent; the lesser one, which is properly Vesuvio, is that so terrible for it's fires; it is better than 3 Miles to ascend & those extremely laborious. 'twas extremely quiet at the time I saw it: some days one could not perceive it smoke at all, others one saw it riseing like a white
Column from it, but in no great quantity. about a mile beyond Portici we saw the Stream of combustible Matter, which run from it in the last eruption; within one eighth of a mile, or less from the Sea is a small church of Our Lady, belonging to certain Zoccolanti [observants, followers], into this church it enter'd thro' one of the side-doors without otherwise damageing the fabrick, run cross it, & was stop'd, I suppose, by the opposite Wall. the Fryars have dugg away that part of it, & left it whole riseing in a great rough mass at the door where it enter'd, as if the miraculous power of our Lady had forbid it to advance further: this is well-contrived, & carries some appearance with it. that part of the Stream, which comes along thro' the fields, at a distance resembles plough'd Land, but rougher, & in huge Clods; they are hard, & heavy, like the dross of some metals; the people pile the pieces up, & make an enclosure to their fields with them. this place is call'd Torre del Greco; it is about 4 Years since the Eruption happen'd. I imagine the river of fire, or Lava, as they call it, may be 20 Yards, or more in breadth. it is not above a Year since they discover'd under a part of the town of Portici a little way from the Shore an ancient & terrible example of what this mountain is capable of as they were digging to lay the foundations of a house for the Prince d'Elboeuf, they found a Statue or two with some other ancient remains, which comeing to the King's knowledge he order'd them to work on at his expence, & continuing to do so they came to what one may call a whole city under ground; it is supposed, & with great probability to be the Greek settlement call'd Herculaneum, which in that furious Eruption, that happen'd under Titus (the same in which the elder Pliny perish'd) was utterly overwhelmed, & lost with several others on the same coast148. Statius, who wrote as it were on the spot, & soon after the accident had happen'd, makes a very poetical exclamation on the subject, which this discovery sets in it's full light -
Haec ego Chalcidicis ad te, Marcelle, sonabam
Littoribus, fractas ubi Vesbius egerit iras,
Æmu1a Trinacriis volvens incendia flammis.
Mira fides! credetne virum Ventura propago
Cum segetes iterum, cum jam haec deserta virebunt,
Infra urbes populosq premi, proavitaq toto
Rura abiisse mari? nec dum lethale minari
Cessat apex.
Silvae: Epist: ad Vict: Marcellum L: 4.149
The work is unhappily under the direction of Spaniards, people of no taste or erudition, so that the workmen dig, as chance directs them, wherever they find the ground easiest to work without any certain view. they have been fearful of the earths falling in, & with reason, for it is but soft, & crumbling, so that the passage they have made, is but just sufficient for one person to walk upright in: I believe, with all its windings it is now a good mile in length & every day is increaseing. one descends conveniently to the depth of about 30 foot by the stone Steps of a Theatre, that they have found. one walks a good way by the side of one of it's Galleries; one see's buildings of brick with incrustations of white marble, & here & there a solid column of it, some upright, others fall'n, & lieing at length. there is what appears the front of some edifice, an arch with double pilasters on each side, these are of brick cover'd with a coat of plaister, and painted green with shades to imitate the trunk of a Palmtree. one passes by many walls cover'd with the same plaister, painted in square compartiments either green, or red, & sometimes a little figure, or piece of grotesque in proper colours amongst it. most of these buildings are still upright, it's plain; other parts seem overturn'd, & in ruins; there is a mixture of woodwork amongst the brick, all black, as a coal, & tho' so firm as to show one even the Grain distinctly, yet upon being touch'd, moulders away into dust. whether this be the effect of Fire, or merely Age, I can not say: it is certain, there are no marks of the first in any other instance; what there maybe nearer the surface, I can't say. they have found an Olla [jar] with Rice, & Dates in it. the first I saw none of, but they say it retain'd it's hardness. the latter was as black as the wood; & of a firmer consistence. there are inscriptions placed where the principal paintings, & Statues were found, which have been convey'd to the Palace, & there we went to see them. there are more than 40
pieces from half a foot square to 6 or 7 feet. as they are painted on Wall considering the difficulty of removeing, & conveying them one may call them well-preserved; one may say the same of them, as to the colouring, with regard to their antiquity, it is not to be imagined very lively; it is sufficient if the Clair Obscur be distinguishable; the colours are laid on in a bold manner with strong strokes of the pencil, & not much softned one into the other, but that is a delicacy time may easily have destroy'd. the Airs, particularly of heads, are commonly the best, in other parts there are frequent incorrectnesses of drawing: one of the most considerable is, I think The Chiron & Achilles150. figures a little less than life. the latter is a Boy, whom the Centaur is instructing to touch the Lyre, & a perfectly genteel figure; he has a little drapery, about his middle, otherwise naked, & looks up in the other's face with a natural innocent air. the old Man's head is excellent for the, air, & expression; the hair & beard very great, & bold in a Style like Rafaël; the naked too of the human part is fine, but the Horse (his hinder parts) is vastly too small, & out of proportion to the rest: the Scene is the front of a temple with a Portico, this is the best preserved among them.
Theseus after his victory over the Minotaur. that Monster (a human figure with the head of a Bull, but no horns) lies dead at his feet. the Youth are flocking round him, & kissing his hands. they are little figures with the proportions of full-grown people, but not a quarter so big as life, tho' he himself is rather larger. his head with the Sweep of the body as far as the middle is very noble, & resembles the famous Meleager: the legs & arms, particularly the extremities vastly inferiour, & good for little. A Woman sitting on a rock, her head on her hand, looking upwards, she is crown'd with flowers & (I think) has a Cornucopiae. before her a naked figure, like a Hercules, his back towards one, & face in Profile, & beyond him a Victory half-appearing out of the clouds. on the foreground a small Doe (Capreola) giveing suck to an infant, & a little further an Eagle, & Lion. the principal figures big as life, some good things, but the extremities not good as in the former -
There are other large pieces but more damaged than these. another old man (not a centaur) instructing a Youth; this is almost vanish d.
somewhat like a tryal, figures in Roman habits, & a Man seated, & crown'd with Lawrel, who seems to judge them. A Muse with two Flutes, &c: among the lesser are 2 Satyrs heads, one of them in a good taste; a sort of Landscape with buildings on each side a Lake, where they lessen in proportion to their distance according to the rules of perspective. A piece of architecture, where thro' an opening is seen a Portico with it's Columns showing, also according to art; & many others exceeding curious, as indeed the whole discovery is one of the most considerable made for these many ages. there are 6 Consular Statues of white Marble in the Toga, & a Scroll in their hands, as usual. the head of one of them, an elderly Man, as fine as possible.
An Imperfect figure of a woman without head or arms; the Drapery perfectly good -
Part of a Horse, much bigger than life, Bronze; & many more fragments of brazen statues, several Ollae; a Tripod of Marble with animals heads, & foliage; some Inscriptions, one very large to the honour of Vespasian, another to Domitian's Wife, before he was Emperour (he is call'd Caesar in it) several Medals, particularly of Claudius Caes: many small Gold and silver instruments; but these were in the King's own hands, & we could not see them.
The view of Naples, & it's Bay in returning from hence is as beautiful, as possible. it forms a huge Semicircle, & the mountains, that rise behind are (not like the barren ones of Genoa), but as deliciously fertile as one can imagine, all cover'd with Verdure, & woods intermix'd with Villas, so is the whole Chain of Côteaux, that run along to the S: E. of the City in a line parallel to it. Naples has not the stately buildings of Genoa, the materials are not so rich, nor the tast so good, but in recompense it is larger, and it's bay with the country about it infinitely more beautiful. the streets are spacious, & well paved, the houses high, & of equal goodness for a great way together; they reckon it 9 mile in circumference without the Suburbs, of which it has 7, & large ones. it is peopled to a redundancy; they reckon 500,000 Souls, & it seems not hard to believe: there are a greater number
of children than ever I saw anywhere; they walk at 6 months old, and go stark naked for 4 or 5 Years which the Climate will easily bear. the people are lively to a degree, and seem less inclined to Laziness than the rest of Italy. every body is busy, till the evening: then they give themselves up to diversion; the Men take their Colascione (a great sort of Lute) or their Guitarre, & walk on the Shore to enjoy the Fresco, sometimes singing in their Dialect in concert with their instrument. the women sit at their doors playing on the Cymbal, to the sound of which the children dance with Castanets. this one sees all along the Chiaia, which runs out from the City near a mile in length towards Pausilypo, on one side are houses, chiefly of the common people intermix'd with some great ones, the other open to the Sea with Trees, & here and there a fountain. hither the Coaches resort in the evening, & drive slowly in 2 ranks backward & forward for an hour or two. a little beyond the end of this, & halfway up the side of Pausilipo is the little Church founded and endowed by Sanazarius in honour of the Partus Virginis; at the end of it, where you enter, opposite to the high-Altar is his Monument, of the finest white Marble. on a spatious Basis are situated the figures of Apollo and Minerva sitting, & between them is a square bas-relief of Satyrs with Neptune & other figures, that shew he was the inventor of Piscatory Eclogues. above rises a Sarcofagus of a handsome figure with his bust upon it, an elderly man in long lank hair. the whole is a fine performance of Girolamo Santa Croce, a Neapolitan artist, compleated by Frà Gio: da Montorsoli, the Florentine. over the Mouth of the Grotta almost is the Tomb call'd of Virgil; 'tis of difficult access, & all cover'd with Shrubs, that grow over it, a square sepulchre with a vaulted roof, & 10 little Niches like the Columbaria [dovecot]: it belonged to be sure to some family. The Grand Street (di Toledo aforemention'd) winding a little toward the further end opens into an irregular Piazza, one side of which (to the left) is form'd by the Palace, a fine piece of Cav: Fontana's Architecture; it is of 23 Windows in front, & 3 Orders, Doric, Ionic, & Corinthian, the first of them is a Loggia, the other 2 the Apartments. the Great Gate consists of 4 Doric Columns of Granite, that support a Ringhiera [railing, banister] of 50
Palms [length or breadth of hand] in length; the whole front is of 520 Palms, the 2 ends of 360; the height 130 Palms: these buildings enclose a Cortile, where the same Orders are observed.
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Albani, Francesco, [occasionally spelt by Gray: "Albano"] Italian painter, b. Bologna 1578, d. Bologna 1660, "a distinguished artist of the Bolognese school .... deeply influenced by Annibale Carracci's classicism" (Grove).
Arpino, Il Cavalier, otherwise known as Giuseppe Cesari, b. Rome c. 1568, d. Rome 1640, painter of mythological and religious subjects and portraits.
Bacciccia, Giovanni Battista, otherwise known as il Baciccio, or Giovanni Gaulli, b. Genoa 1639, d. Rome 1709, Italian painter, a celebrated artist of the Roman High Baroque.
Bassano, Jacopo, b. Bassano dal Grappa c.1510, d. Bassano dal Grappa 1592, Italian painter; as a compliment, Veronese included him in "an ensemble with Titian, Tintoretto, and himself" (Grove).
Barocci, Frederico, born c. 1535 Urbino, d. Urbino 1612, Italian painter .... "the leading altar painter in the second half of the 16th century" (Grove).
Bloemart, Cornelis II (the younger), b. Utrecht 1603, d. probably in Rome 1680, Dutch painter of religious subjects and engraver.
Bordone, Paris, b. Treviso 1500, d. Venice 1571, Italian painter and draughtsman, "best known for his strikingly beautiful depictions of women" (Grove).
Brandi, Giacinto, b. Rome 1623, d. Rome 1691, painter of mythological and religious subjects, and frescoist.
Brill, Paul, b. Anvers 1554, d. Rome 1626, Flemish painter of religious subjects, animated landscapes, miniatures; [he] "influenced the development of idealizing landscape in Italy" (Grove).
Brizio, Francesco, b. Bologna c. 1574, d. Bologna 1623, Italian painter and engraver, "not a highly gifted painter but noted for his witty narratives" (Grove).
Bronzino il Vecchio, properly known as Allori Angelo di Cosimo, born 1503 at Monticelli (near Florence), died 1572 at Florence, Italian mannerist painter of mythological and religious subjects and of portraits.
Brueghel, Pieter (The Elder), Netherlandish painter and draughtsman, b. Breda 1525, d. Brussels 1569.
Brueghel, Pieter (The Younger), b. Brussels 1564/5, d. Antwerp 1637/8, the less famous son of Pieter Brueghel I, painter of religious and mythological subjects and
Brun, Charles Le, b. Paris 1619, d. Paris 1690, French painter and designer; "he dominated seventeenth-century French painting as no other artist" (Grove). He accompanied Poussin to Rome in 1642; he specialized in battle scenes.
Calabrese, Il Cavalier, also known as Mattia Preti, b. 1613 Taverna, d. Malta 1699, Italian historical painter; "his mature style is intensely dramatic" (Grove).
Calvart, Denys or Dionisio, b. 1540 Anvers, d. 1619 Bologna, Flemish painter, active in Italy; [he remained] "faithful to the Mannerist style of painting, even when it was already out of fashion" (Grove).
Camassei, Andrea, b. Bevagna (near Foligno) c.1601/2, d. Rome c. 1648/9, Italian painter of mythological and religious subjects and engraver.
Cambiaso, Luca, b. Genoa 1527, d. Madrid 1585, Italian painter, "the leading artist in Genoa in the 16th century and founder of the Genoese school (Grove)".
Campidoglio, Michele Pace del, b. Rome c. 1610, d. Rome c. 1670, Italian painter, "one of the main painters of his time in Rome, painting still-lifes and animals" (Grove)
Cangiari, Luca, unidentified Italian artist
Cantarini, Simone, b. Pesaro 1612, d. Verona 1648, Italian painter and engraver; "one of the most eminent pupils of Guido Reni" (Grove).
Capucino, Il, also known as Ippolito Galantini, b. Florence 1627, d. 1706 Monastery of Montughie, Italian history painter.
Caravaggio, Michelangelo, b. Milan or Caravaggio 1571, d. Port d'Ercole 1610, Italian painter; "the most persuasive religious painter of his time" (Grove).
Carracci, Agostino, b. Bologna 1557, d. Rome 1602, Italian painter, brother to Annibale Carracci; [his style distinguished from that of Annibale] "by its Raphaelesque sentiment and the less illusionistic rendering of form" (Grove).
Carracci, Annibale, b. Bologna 1560, d. Rome 1609, brother to Agostino Carracci, "one of the greatest Italian painters of his age" (Grove).
Carracci, Ludovico, b. Bologna 1555, d. Bologna 1619, Italian painter, draughtsman, and etcher; "highly regarded in England by such critics as Joshua Reynolds.... fell out of fashion in the 19th century" (Grove).
Castiglione, Giovanni Benedetti, b. Genoa 1609, d. Mantua 1664, Italian painter and print-maker; most of his works are scenes of the journeys of the patriarchs.
Caverdone, Giacome, b. Sassuolo 1577, d. Bologna 1660, Italian painter, "known for his monumental altarpieces but also executed numerous fescoes" (Grove).
Chiari, Giuseppe, b. Lucca or Rome 1654, d. Rome 1727, Italian painter, "the most faithful pupil of Carlo Maratti" (Grove).
Cignani, Carlo, b. Bologna 1628, d. Forli 1719, Italian painter and draughtsman, [whose works were] "celebrated among 18th century visitors .... for their outstanding life-like quality" (Grove).
Colonna, Angelo Michele, b. Ravenna 1604, d. Bologna 1687, Italian painter, active also in Spain.
Correggio, originally known as Antonio Allegri, b. Correggio c.1489, d. Correggio 1534, "the most important northern Italian painter of the first half of the 16th century", known for his "combination of technical virtuosity and dramatic excitement" (Grove).
Creti, Donato, b. Cremona 1671, d. Bologna 1749, Italian painter; "the last significant expression of the classical-idealist strain in Bolognese painting" (Grove).
Cungius, Camillo, or Congio, b. 1604 Rome, no death date but active around 1630, Italian engraver and designer.
Domenichino, originally Domenico Zampieri, b. Bologna 1581, d. Naples 1641, Italian painter and draughtsman .... "the most influential exponent of the 17th century classical style" [Grove].
Durer, Albrecht, b. Nuremberg 1471, d. Nuremberg 1528, painter, draughtsman, printmaker and writer - "now considered by many scholars the greatest of all German artists" (Grove).
Franceschini, Marcantonio, Italian painter and draughtsman, b. Bologna 1648, d. Bologna 1729, pupil of Carlo Cignani, "a leading master of his time" (Grove).
Frate, Il, unidentified Italian artist.
Frey, Johan, (spelt by Gray, Freii) b. Hochdorf 1681, d. Rome 1751, Swiss engraver working in Rome; "his very precise and accurate reproductive engravings after 17th and 18th century Old Masters .... are his most important works" (Grove).
Gaetano, Il, now better known as Scipio Polzone, b. c. 1550 Gaete, d. Rome 1598, Italian painter of historical and religious compositions and portraits.
Garofalo, originally known as Benvenuto Tisi, b. Ferrara 1481, d. Ferrara 1559, Italian painter, "one of the most outstanding figures in Emilian classicism during the first half of the 16th century" (Grove).
Giordano, Luca, b. Naples 1634, d. Naples 1705, Italian painter and draughtsman,
Giorgione, "Big George", originally known as Zorzo da Castelfranco, b. 1477/8 Castelfranco, d. Venice 1510, Italian painter of historical subjects, portraits, and landscapes.
Guercino, originally known as Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Italian painter and draughtsman, b. Cento 1591, d. Bologna 1666, "one of the leading painters of the Bolognese school and one of the most accomplished draughtsmen of the Italian Baroque" (Grove).
Holbein, Hans, b. Augsburg 1497/8, d. London 1543, painter and draughtsman, active in Switzerland and England, "the most important portrait painter in England during the Reformation" (Grove).
Lanfranco, Giovanni, b. Parma 1582, d. Rome 1647, Italian painter and draughtsman, who painted many altar-pieces and was "notable above all for a number of dome frescoes" (Grove).
Ligorio, Pirro, b. Naples 1513, d. Ferrara 1583, Italian architect, painter, draughtsman, and antiquary; built the Casina (or summerhouse) in the Vatican gardens.
Lorraine, Claude, b. Chamagne, Lorraine 1604-5, d. Rome 1682, French painter, draughtsman and etcher, active in Italy .... "the greatest of all ideal landscape painters" (Grove).
Lucatelli, Pietro, born Rome c. 1634, d. Rome 1710, Italian painter of historical subjects, pupil of Ciro Ferri.
Maratta, Carlo, b. Camerano 1625, d. Rome 1713, "the last major artist of the classical tradition that had originated with Raphaël" (Grove).
Massari, Lucio, b. Bologna 1569, d. Bologna 1633, Italian painter.
Meccarino da Siena, now better known as Domenico Beccafumi, b. Cortine 1484, d. Siena 1551, Italian painter, sculptor, print-maker and illuminator .... "one of the protagonists of Tuscan mannerism" (Grove).
Michel Angelo di Lodovico Buonarotti Simoni, b. Caprese 1475, d. Rome 1564, "the greatest practitioner of the three visual arts of sculture, painting and architecture" (Grove)
Mitelli, Agostino, b. Baltidizzo 1609, d. Madrid 1660, collaborated with Colonna on quadratura [illusionistic artchitectural perspectives].
Morellio, uncertain identity but, since Gray identifies the paintings concerned as Spanish, possibly Bartolome Esteban Murillo, b. 1618 Seville, d. 1682 Seville; the most popular Baroque religious painter of 17th century Spain.
Orizzonti, otherwise known as Jan Frans van Bloemen, b. Antwerp 1662, d. Rome 1749, Flemish painter; "inspired by the classicizing landscape paintings of Gaspar Dughet" (Grove).
Palma Vecchio, otherwise known as Jacopo Nigretti (referred to by Gray as "Old Palma"); b. Serina, nr. Bergamo 1479/80, d. Venice 1528: "the most talented of a number of painters of his generation from the Bergamo region who worked in Venice" (Grove).
Paninni, Giovanni Paolo, b. Plaisance 1691, d. Rome, 1765, Italian painter of landscapes, church interiors.
Parmigianino, originally known as Giorolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, [spelt by Gray as "Parmeggiano"] b. Parma 1503, d. Casalmaggiore 1540, Italian painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, "hailed in the Rome of Clement VII as Raphael reborn" (Grove).
Pasinelli, Lorenzo, b. Bologna 1629, d. Bologna 1700, a leading master in Bologna noted for "scenes thronged with ponderous and richly vested figures" (Grove).
Perrier, Francois, called le Bourguignon, born c. 1584 at St Jean-de-Losne, died 1650 at Paris, painter of historical and religious compositions and engraver.
Perugino, Pietro, b. Cilla della Pieve 1450, d. Fontignano 1523, Italian painter, now known chiefly as the teacher of Rafaël.
Piola, Domenico, b. Genoa 1627, d. Genoa 1703, Italian painter, draughtsman, printmaker and designer, "the leading artist in Genoa in the second half of the 17th century" (Grove).
Piombo, Sebastiano del, b. Venice 1485-6, d. Rome 1547, Italian painter, "one of the most important artists in Italy in the first half of the 16th century, active in Venice and Rome" (Grove).
Polidoro da Caravaggio, b. Caravaggio c.1499, d. Messina 1543, Italian painter who worked with Maturino da Firenze on classical themes.
Pomaranceo, Niccolo, b. Pomarance, Volterra c. 1517, d. c. 1596, Italian painter, who worked in Rome and was "strongly influenced by late Florentine and Roman Mannerism" (Grove).
Pordenone, Il, also known as Giovanni Antonio di Lodesanis, b. Pordenone 1484, d. Ferrara 1539, Italian painter of historical subjects.
Poussin, Gaspar, properly Gaspard Dughet, b. Rome 1615, d. Rome, Italian painter, (apprenticed to Nicholas Poussin), "one of the most distinguished landscape painters working in Rome in the 17th century" (Grove).
Poussin, Nicholas, b. Les Andelys 1594, d. at Rome 1665, French painter of historical, mythological and religious subjects, "telling a story with the greatest possible concentration of emotional response" (Grove).
Procaccini, Camillo, Italian painter, b. Bologna 1555, d. Milan 162, Italian painter, print-maker and draughtsman; "Camillo's direct narrative style answered a need for religious illustration" (Grove).
Provenzale, Marcello, b. Cento 1575, d. Rome 1639, Italian painter.
Pontormo, properly known as Jacopo da Carucci, b. Pontormo 1494, d. Florence 1556 or 57, Italian painter of historical and religious compositions.
Rafaël, or in full, Raffaelo Santi, b. Urbino 1483, d. Rome 1520, Italian painter, draughtsman and architect, "acknowledged as one of the greatest European artists" (Grove).
Ramelli, Felice, b. 1666 Asti, d. 1741 Rome, Italian priest, who enjoyed a great reputation for his portraits and miniatures.
Reni, Guido, b. Bologna 1575, d. Bologna 1642, early Italian Baroque painter noted for the classical idealism of his renderings of mythological and religious subjects. His sentimental style clearly made him a favourite with Gray, who refers to him simply as "Guido".
Ribera, Jusepe, known as Lo Spagnuoletto, b. Jativa, Valencia 1591, d. Naples 1652, Spanish painter & printmaker.
Romanelli, Giovanni Francesco, b. Viterbo c. 1610, d. Viterbo 1662, Italian painter, the pupil first of Domenichino, then of Pietro da Cortona.
Romano, Giulio, b. Rome 1499, d. Mantua 1546, Italian painter & architect, pupil of Raphael.
Rosa, Salvator, b. Arenella, Naples, 1615, d. Rome 1673, Italian painter, draughtsman, etcher, poet and actor - "one of the most original artists and extravagant personalities of the seventeenth century" (Grove).
Rossi, Giambattista di Jacopo di Guasparre, also known as Il Rosso, b. 1494 Florence, d. 1541 Fontainebleau, Italian painter.
Rubens, Pieter Paul, Flemish painter, draughtsman, and diplomat, b. Siegen (Westphalia) 1577, d. Antwerp 1640, "the most versatile and influential Baroque artist of northern Europe in the 17th century" (Grove).
Sacchi, Andrea, b. Rome 1599, d. Rome 1661, Italian painter and designer .... "occupied an important position between Annibale Carracci and Carlo Maratti" (Grove).
Salviati, Francesco, b. Florence 1510, d. Rome 1563, Italian painter and draughtsman, [who] "developed a High Mannerist style of great elegance and complexity" (Grove).
Sammachini, Orazio, b. Bologna 1532, d. Bologna 1577, Italian painter, pupil of Pelegrino Tibaldi.
Santacroce, Girolamo, b. Santacroce, Bergamo, 1480-85, d. Venice c. 1556, Italian painter.
Sarto, Andrea del, b. Florence 1486, d. Florence 1530, Italian painter and draughtsman, "the leading painter in Florence in the early years of the 16th century", noted for his "easy and spontaneous talent" (Browning's "faultless painter").
Sirani, Elisabetta, b. Bologna 1638, d. Bologna 1665, "painting professionally by the age of 17 .... on her death at the age of 27, she was buried in a tomb adjoining that of Reni in S. Domenico in Bologna" [Grove].
Sole, Giovanni dal, b. Bologna 1654, d. Bologna 1719, Italian painter and engraver, influenced by Guido Reni and Ludovico Carracci, "a great decorator and mediator between the two generations which represented the turn of the sixteenth century" (Grove).
Solimena, Francesco, b. Canale di Serino 1657, d. Barra 1747, "a prolific artist who created many frescoes, altar-pieces, mythological paintings and portraits" (Grove).
Stefano, Ambrogio di, known as Il Borgognone, b. 1455 at Fossano or Milan, died between 1522 [a]nd 1535, Italian painter and frescoist.
Strozzi, Bernardo, also known as Il Cappuccino, b. Genoa 1581, d. Venice 1644, Italian painter.
Tempesta, Antonio, b. Florence 1555, d. Rome 1630, Italian painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, [his] "hunting and fishing scenes, sweeping landscapes and urban backdrops reveal the influence of Netherlandish art" (Grove).
Tiarini, Alessandro, b. Bologna 1577, d. Bologna 1668, Italian painter & draughtsman; his work shows "a wide range of stylistic influences" (Grove).
Tibaldi, Pelegrino, b. Puria di Vasolda 1527, d. Milan 1596, Italian painter and architect, "inspired by Raphael's manner" (Grove).
Tintoretto, Jacopo, Italian painter, b. Venice 1519, d. Venice 1594, "the most prolific painter working in Venice in the later 16th century" (Grove).
Titian, originally known as Tiziano Vecelli, b. Pieve di Cadore 1485? d. Venice 1576, Italian painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, "the greatest painter of the Venetian School" (Grove).
Torri, Flaminio, b. at Bologna 1621, d. at Modena 1661, Italian painter, "attracted both by the idealizing art of Guido Reni and the expressive power that Cantarini had developed" (Grove).
Van Dyck, Anthony, Flemish painter and draughtsman, b. Antwerp 1599, d. London 1641, "the leading Flemish painter after Rubens in the first half of the 17th century" (Grove).
Vanni, Francesco, Italian painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, b. Siena 1563, d. Siena 1610, "in the 1590's the leading figure in the artistic life of Siena" (Grove).
Vasari, Giorgio, b. Arezzo 1511, d. Florence 1574, Italian painter, architect, writer and collector, author of Le Vite de piu excellenti architetti, et scuttori, "the father of art history" (Grove).
Velazquez, Diego, b. Seville 1599, d. Madrid 1660, Spanish painter; "one of the most important European artists of the 17th century" (Grove).
Veronese, Paolo, Italian painter and draughtsman, b. Verona 1528, d. Venice 1588; "With Titian and Tintoretto, he makes up the triumvirate of great painters of the late Renaissance in Italy" (Grove).
Vico, Enea, b. Parma 1523, d. Ferrara 1567, Italian engraver , medallist and illustrator.
Vinci, Leonardo da, b. Anchiano, near Vinci 1452, d. Amboise near Tours 1519, Italian painter, sculptor, architect, designer, theorist, engineer and scientist, "the founding father of what is called the High Renaissance" (Grove).
1 Gray was very interested in food. His mention of plovers ("pluviers") probably means that this game bird was a local delicacy, as were "croquants". I am informed by Professor Raimond of Rheims that the latter were a biscuit, once a delicacy, available as late as the late 19th century but unavailable now.
2 The Grande Chartreuse made a profound impression on Gray. In a letter to his mother he described it as "one of the most solemn, the most romantic, and the most astonishing scenes I ever beheld". He made a point of visiting it again on his return journey to England, writing a moving Latin poem in the visitors' book.
3 A copper table embellished with figures of Egyptian deities, Isis in the middle.
4 Paolo Agostini, b. Vallerano, nr. Viterbo c. 1583, d. Rome 1629, Italian composer of church music and organist.
5 Carlo Scalzi, an Italian soprano castrato of European repute; interestingly Groves gives the dates of his performing career as 1719-38.
6 The painting mentioned by Gray at Houghton was the most valuable item in Sir Robert's collection, valued at £3,500 for its sale to the Empress Catherine of Russia (vide Aedes Walpolianae).
7 Lomellini: Not the name of a painter but the name of a wealthy Genoese family responsible for the rebuilding of the Annunziata between 1591 and 1620.
8 The story comes from Tasso's epic about the the first Crusade. Sofronia and Olinda were condemned to be burnt at the stake by Aladine, king of Jerusalem, but rescued by the Persian warrior-maiden Clorinda. Gray also saw another treatment of this subject by Mattia Preti [now in the Getty] at the Palazzo Brignole in Genoa.
9 This painting (possibly a copy) would seem to be the first version of this subject painted by Caravaggio for the Church of S. Maria del Popolo in Rome, a painting described by the modern critic, Helen Langdon (op. cit.) as "an old-fashioned Brescian work, an odd blend of Raphael and clumsy rustic realism". Gray seems to have seen this realism but clearly did not like Caravaggio's style.
10 Artemisia was the wife of King Mausolus in Caria, to whom, after his death, she built the celebrated Mausoleum.
11 Sir Andrew Fountaine (1676-1753), distinguished as a connoisseur, Warden of The Mint after Newton, lived at Norford in Norfolk, surrounded by his collections.
12 Gray is recalling the battle, described by Livy in Book V (Loeb edition, London: Heinemann, 1957, pp.141-5), in which the Carthaginians won a major victory and half the Roman army, commanded by Cornelius Scipio Publius, was destroyed. The Latin phrases which Gray quotes refers to Scipio having "encamped on higher ground, where hills made it more difficult for cavalry to operate".
13 "Sometimes understood of light and shadow in a picture, as when we say, Here is a good Chiaro Scuro, 'tis the same as to say, The lights and shadows are well disposed in this piece. Sometimes it is applied to a picture done only in two colours, to distinguish it from one painted in all its natural colours" (Wright, op. cit.).
14 This painting, now known as The Martyrdom of Four Saints, is now in the Galleria Nazionale in Parma. Gray's reaction to a very dramatic picture, which depicts both the gory detail and the ecstasy of martyrdom, is remarkably cool. A modern critic (D. Ekserdjian, op. cit.) describes the painting as "a masterpiece of psychological understanding".
15 This painting, now known as The Madonna of S. Jerome or Il Giorno, is now in the Galleria Nazionale in Parma. Jerome, as the saint to whom this chapel was dedicated, had to receive some prominence but the focus is on the domesticity of the Madonna, drying the Christ child's body with a white cloth and on the devotion of the Magdalene anointing the Child's foot. It is typical of Gray to respond to "the exquisite air of sorrow" and to find fault with the "disproportionate" foot!
16 This attractive small church still has its Correggio (though it is not obvious that Joseph is plucking dates) but the painting of the Holy Family has been moved to the Sacristy, out of public view.
17 Gray remembered this picture for 20 years. In 1765 he advised his college fried, William Palgrave to look out for it on his Grand Tour: 'ill-lighted but immense'.
18 Bombed during the Second World War, this theatre has been rebuilt, though without its frescoed ceilings. It dates from 1617. Gray is quite right about its spatiousness - it has a huge unsupported roof - and he may have been referring to its theatrical contrivances (movable sets).
19 Wright, Edmund (fl. 1720-30). A native of Church Stretton in Cheshire, Wright left England in March 1720 on the Grand Tour as the companion of George Parker (1694-1764), the future astronomer. In 1730 Wright published an account of his journey [Some Observations made in Travelling through France, Italy &c., London: Andrew Millar, 1764, 2nd ed.]. Wright's transcription/translation reads as follows: 'While Augustine Carracci was attempting to give the finishing touches of his immortal pencil to this half-painted vault, he here beneath the lillies, with glory at once resign'd both his art and life. Whoever thou art that view'st the sweet roughness of these [p. 171] paintings, feed thine eyes, and confess that it was fit they should rather be view'd without being farther touch'd than be wrought up and finish'd by any other hand'.
20 This must refer to St John Nepomucen, born at Nepomuc, a little town in Bohemia, not far from Prague, in about 1330. He was stretched on a rack and burnt on a slow fire and thrown into the River Muldaw on 16th May, 1383.
21 Some of these paintings survive in the Galleria Estense in the Palazzo dei Musei.
22 Jonathan Richardson (1665-1745), toured Italy in 1721, and published An Account of some of the Statues, Bas-Reliefs, Drawings, and Pictures in Italy - a vade-mecum for the Grand Tour.
23 It is not clear why Gray adds the name of Caravaggio in brackets, unless to indicate some unsureness about attribution.
24 This painting is now in the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden. It is the last altar-piece that Correggio painted and was originally intended for the chapel of the confraternity of St Peter Martyr in Modena.
25 This painting was originally intended for the Pratoneri chapel in the church of San Prospero in Reggio; it is also now in Dresden. Modern critics see the "rustick Woman" as a midwife and see her leaning against the pillars as the ruins of an earlier civilisation. Gray is looking for simpler visual impact.
26 The Hotel Pelegrino, the usual tourist hotel.
27 This building, in the Piazza dei Tribunali, was begun in 1572 for the Ruini family and taken over by the Ranuzzi in 1679. It now houses Bologna's Court of Law.
28 "Strike the womb". The reference is to the incident in which Nero sent soldiers to murder his mother (Tacitus XIV, 8, sect. 6). In Tacitus the word is ventrem [belly]; Gray is either misquoting from memory or quoting from the Greek of Dio Cassius, where the word for womb is used.
29 The Sampieri were an Italian family of patrons of the arts, flourishing from the late 14th century to the end of the 18th. The Casa Sampieri still stands in the Strada Maggiore and still contains the Carracci and Guercino frescoes, though declining family fortunes forced the sale of paintings to the Austrian government in 1811.
30 "The usual term in Italy for the representation in painting of our Saviour appearing after his resurrection to Mary Magdalen; when he said to her, 'Touch me not'" (Wright, op. cit.).
31 This palazzo now belongs to a bank. Some of its paintings have migrated to the Pinocoteca Nazionale. Others survive in the Quadreria Zambeccari, owned by the Banca Popolare di Milano (open on Sat/Sun).
32 "An image of horrifying violence" (Helen Langdon, op. cit.). "Holofernes is shown [....] at the very moment of death". Judith's expression is "appalled yet intent". The modern reaction is quite different! This painting is now in the Pal. Barberini in Rome; perhaps Gray saw a copy.
33 This painting, now in the Pinocoteca Nazionale in Bologna, is a fine portrait of a dignified lady. She is, in fact, seated and without a book.
34 Richard Spear (op. cit.) states that this painting, now in the Pinocoteca Nazionale, is "certainly not by Domenichino".
35 This church, in my experience, is difficult to find. It is located at 112 Via San Vitale, at almost the end of a very long street. It has lost most of its most famous pictures, while 'the whimsical picture of Joseph' appears to be a mis-identification.
36 Hyacinth had passed the years of his noviciate in Bologna. He was sent to Kiev to strengthen the order when it was attacked by Tartars. As he fled, the Virgin appeared to him to send him back to the city to rescue the statue of the Madonna. The painting tries to capture the ecstasy of this vision. It was requisitioned by Napoleon in 1796 and never returned; it is now in the Louvre, where it has been restored.
37 This building in the Via Zamboni, was designed by Domenico Tibaldi and built in the 1570s. It now belongs to a bank, the Rolo Banca, but it is still possible to see the frescoes of Romulus and Remus.
38 It is now possible to visit this chapel and see, perhaps better than Gray did, the miraculously preserved body of St. Catherine, who came to Bologna in the mid-1400s to found a monastery of the poor Clares.
39 A pallione or pallium was an altarcloth. This painting was commissioned by the Senate to be displayed for three days each year to celebrate relief from the plague in 1630; it is now in the Pinocoteca Nazionale, as is the Samson. One can see why Gray so admired Guido Reni.
40 This painting appears to have been one of three commissioned for the Palazzo Tanari in the Via Avesella (since destroyed). One of the three, Alexander the Great and Thais, has survived but not this one.
41 This is written over the top of "Guido", as if meant to be a correction.
42 James Waldegrave (1685-1741), educated in France but declared himself a Protestant, sent as Ambassador to Paris in 1730 as successor to Sir Horatio Walpole, died of dropsy.
43 This is possibly Johan Karl Loth, known as Carlolotto in Italy, b. 1632 at Munich, d. 1698 at Venice, a German painter active in Italy.
44 This does not sound like Correggio's Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, the original of which is in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples. The name of "Parmeggiano" is written over the top, possibly as an alternative attribution.
45 John Strange, British Resident in Venice from 1773 to 1788, who often acted as an agent in the purchase of paintings.
46 Zecchins were Venetian coins. This valuation is in fainter ink, added later, and is not very clear: there could be another figure in front of the "6".
47 This painting, which Gray seems to think so little of, was praised by its Bolognese engraver in 1830 in the following terms: "The painting of this masterwork is marvellous - absolutely correct and elegant in drawing, robust and beautiful in colouring, admirable in expression" (Spear, p. 215). Removed by Napoleon, the painting is now in the Pinocoteca Nazionale.
48 Gray's dissatisfaction with this famous painting is disturbing. He misses the ecstasy of Cecilia and misconstrues both her gesture with the organ (which she is offering to heaven) and the symmetry of the five figures. "Gothicism" (signifying barbarism) is the ultimate insult for the classicist Gray to employ. Possibly Gray was unable to study the picture clearly, which is now well displayed in the Pinocoteca Nazionale, its place being taken by a copy by Clementi Alberi in the original frame.
49 Sir George Oxenden (1694-1775), described in DNB as "an extremely handsome man", but "notorious for his profligacy".
50 This building in the Via 4 Novembre dates from 1603, when the Caprara family first became powerful. Napoleon stayed here in 1805. It is now the headquarters of the prefecture.
51 Jean-Dominque Cassini (1625-1712), an Italian-French astronomer, who began the measurement of the meridian through Paris, which was completed by his son Jacques Cassini de Thury. The meridian in Bologna was first traced, with the help of a hole in the roof, by the older Cassini in 1655. It is represented on the floor by a brass line.
52 This is indeed a dark painting but the figures in it have been described by a modern critic (Gail Feigenbaum, op. cit.) as "brimming with passionate ardour, overcome by their emotions". The painting dates from the same time as Agostino's Last [p. 174] Communion of St Jerome, probably 1592.
53 This elegant courtyard has survived intact but the frescoes have deteriorated further and very little is now distinguishable of the subjects which Gray relates. The convent itself is indeed a handsome building in a beautiful situation but is now a hospital.
54 Totila (d. 552), Ostrogoth king, who recovered most of central and southern Italy, which had been conquered by the Eastern Roman Empire in 540.
55 "In 1558 the Ponte di Santa Trinita was destroyed [....] [The arches of Ammanati's new design] were derived from chain-like curves ("hyperbola") and so look long and low, as they spring from substantial and high piers with pointed breakwaters; they are the resolution of complex static and dynamic forces into a whole that displays both energetic robustness and airy lightness" (Grove).
56 Alto/Basso/Mezzo Rilievo: "Pieces of sculpture, where the figures are, in several degrees of projection, from the flat of the stone, as the figures in the impression of a seal do from the field, or flat part of the wax. Where they are very high, 'tis called Alto-relievo; where they rise but little, 'tis called Basso-relievo; and the mean between them is Mezzo-relievo" (Wright, op. cit.).
57 Marsyas, a legendary Greek figure, who challenged Apollo to a contest with his lyre. The Muses declared in favour of Apollo, who tied Marsyas to a tree and flayed him.
58 Ampelus was a beautiful youth beloved by Bacchus.
59 Bellerophon, in Greek myth, son of Glaucus, ancient Corinthian hero, set a number of tasks by King of Lycea, including the killing of the Chimera.
60 Sabina Poppaea, daughter of T. Ollius (d. AD 31). By 58 AD during her second marriage to the future emperor Otho, she became mistress to Nero.
61 Pomona, goddess of fruit and fruit-trees.
62 "The boar grunted savagely and bristled at the shoulders. Pine-clad Mt. Vesulus and the marsh of Laurentum had kept him safe over many years, supporting himself in the reedy woodland. No man now had courage to lose his temper and approach too close. All assault him instead with javelins and with loud shouts from a safe distance. Gnashing his teeth, he holds his ground against attacks from every direction" (from Virgil) [translated by WFE].
63 A word which is not to be found in the dictionary! It might possibly mean "weaver" or more probably there has been a mistake in the transcription.
64 Hygieia personified Health and was said to be the daughter of Asclepius.
65 This is Gray's bracketed note but it is not clear what has been omitted. It is just possible that what has been omitted is his notes on the Tribuna gallery. He must surely have seen this gallery and perhaps lent the notes to a friend. It is however, worth observing that Gray seems to have deliberately omitted visiting tourist "honeypots" such as Michelangelo's David and the Sistine Chapel ceiling. He also ignored early or primitive painters.
66 Servius Sulpicius Galba (3-69 AD), Roman emperor.
67 Roman emperor, became emperor after defeat and death of Otho in April 69, killed by Vespasian.
68 Carneades from Cyrene (214-129 BC), Greek philosopher, who headed the New Academy at Athens when scepticism reached its greatest strength.
69 Xenocrates (396-314 BC), a native of Chalcedon and a Platonic philosopher.
70 Lysippos (fl. 370-300 BC), "the greatest Greek sculptor from the school at Sikyon" (Grove).
71 This painting, now known by the title Concert, has also been attributed to Titian. A modern critic (Pietro Zampetti) also sees "a genuinely dramatic spirituality" in the face of the harpsichord player, who is not, as Gray says, Luther.
72 Built in 1544, now the seat of the Council of State (or Supreme Court). The Galleria Spada, at the rear of the Palazzo building, is open to the public and contains the collection of Cardinal Spada and some 2C and 3C Roman sculpture.
73 Hypsipyle, daughter of Thoas, queen of Lemnos in the time of the Argonauts, she saved her father when the women killed all the men.
74 The sons of Antiope, who became the rulers of Thebes and built its walls.
75 "The bond of good feeling between the twin brothers, Amphion and Zethus, was impaired until Amphion ceased to strum his lyre, which the philistine Zethus regarded with disdain. For Amphion, we are told, yielded to his brother's importunity. So do you, sir, yield to the mild desire of your distinguished friend, and, whenever he leads out his hounds into the countryside and his pack-mules loaded with hunting-gear, bestir yourself and put by your dreamy, unfriendly poetry and go with him" (from Horace) [translated by WFE].
76 Pasiphæ, the wife of Minos, King of Crete, was enabled to gratify her passion for a bull with the help of Daedalus, and so became mother to the Minotaur.
77 Meleager, in Greek myth, son of Oeneus, killed a great boar and gave the head to Atlanta.
78 Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Maior (236-183 BC), victor in Second Punic War, defeating Hannibal at Zana in 202 BC, hence his cognomen.
79 Begun in about 1560, the palace was acquired by Cardinal Camillo Borghese (later Pope Paul V) in 1605. It is now the seat of the Circolo della Caccia, an exclusive club. The paintings have been transferred to the Galleria Borghese.
80 It is interesting that Gray should be so unimpressed by this painting. The modern critic, Helen Langdon, in her life of Caravaggio, draws specific attention to the "grace" of David's figure and to the homoerotic relationship of David to Goliath, of which Gray seems quite unaware.
81 This painting, now known as Diana with Nymphs at Play, is now in the Galleria Borghese. Though Gray speaks of it dismissively, a modern critic draws attention to the way in which "the richness and sensuousness of North Italian art are held in check by the structural order of a Roman sensibility" (Spear 60 op. cit.).
82 Arbela was a town in Assyria [now Arbil]; in 331 BC a battle was fought here, in which Alexander finally overthrew Darius.
83 Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IV, line 845. Milton is actually describing Zephon, one of the angels dispatched to seek out Satan in the garden of Eden.
84 The Palazzo Colonna was built by Oddone Colonna, later Martin V, who lived here as Pope from 1424 until 1431. The Galleria Colonna was begun in 1654 and finally opened in 1703.
85 Milton, Paradise Lost, Bk. 11, lines 182-90. Gray has the lines in the wrong order, which seems to show that he is quoting from memory. The lines come from that passage where Milton is depicting the consequences in Nature of the Fall of Man.
86 Azotus, Ashdod in the Bible, modern Esdud, now in Israel, north of Gaza. "In choosing the plague of Ashdod as the theme for a painting, Poussin was following a long tradition which made of it a type of salvation but it may also have been brought to his mind by a contemporary event, the terrible plague that struck Milan in 1629" (Anthony Blunt, op. cit.).
87 Marcus Aurelius Regulus, Roman consul in 265 and 256 BC. His death by torture (as related by Horace) made him a national hero and a figure whose steadfastness in misfortune Rosa could identify with. A modern critic says of the painting that "Rosa proved triumphantly that he did not rely on the beauties of natural landscape for his effects and that he was capable of producing complex figure compositions" (Scott, op. [p. 177] cit., 118). Like the painting of St John Preaching (now in St Louis), this painting has also crossed the Atlantic and is now in Richmond, Virginia.
88 One of Nero's palaces, now in ruins, on the Oppian Hill.
89 "Do not allow Medea to murder her sons in front of the audience nor that godless Atreus to cook those human entrails on the stage" (from Horace, Ars Poetica) (translated by WFE).
90 Even a modern critics can be shocked by this painting: "The painting shows for Poussin an unusually dramatic treatment of horror and emotion - indeed his painting is in some ways more vehement than Cortona's designs - but at the same time, decorum, in the classical sense, is preserved" (Anthony Blunt, op. cit.).
91 This painting is now in the Pinocoteca Capitolina. Petronilla's sarcophagus was moved to Rome in the 8th century and her chapel became that of the Kings of France.
92 Parian marble was a white marble from the island of Paros in the Cyclades, "highly valued among the ancients for statuary" (OED).
93 Antinous (110-130) was the favourite of the Roman emperor Hadrian and a model of youthful beauty.
94 The Greek name for the Egyptian god, Horus, the child of Isis. He was regarded as the god of silence and was depicted as a child holding a finger to his lips to indicate secrecy.
95 The Camaldoleses were an order of monk-hermits, an off-shoot of the Benedictine order, founded c. 1012 at Camaldoli near Arezzo by St Romuald.
96 Cecilia, daughter of Quintus Metellus Creticus and wife of M. Licinius Crassus, elder son of the Triumvir and one of Caesar's generals in Gaul.
97 Pietro Santi Bartoli, Le Antichi lucerna sepolcrali figurati etc., 1702.
98 Caracalla was the nickname of the Roman emperor Aurelius Antoninus (AD 211-217). In fact, this circus was wrongly attributed to Caracalla. It is now known as the Circus of Maxentius (Emperor AD 306-312). It was probably capable of holding some 10,000 spectators. What Gray calls the Castrum Praetorianum must be the Villa of Maxentius, built in 309 AD.
99 This painting, as Gray says, is part of a coffered ceiling. Bellori notes that "the Cardinal's secretary bet that Domenichino's foreshortening of the Virgin would prove to be inaccurate when the octagonal canvas was installed, and won the wager" (quoted in Spear, op. cit., 189).
100 Cardinal Adam Easton (d. 1398), a distinguished English churchman.
101 "If anyone, detained by this tombstone, wishes to know whose tombstone it is, whose bones are buried beneath this doleful slab, here is the answer in brief, not to delay you longer than need be while your journey calls. Here, having lived to a ripe and happy old age [next line is unintelligible being corrupt and incomplete]. Nor need you be surprised that he flourished in life, a genial, sweet, agreeable person, since his name was Florus. His wife loved him deeply as such and lived all his life with him in mutual fidelity. When his dying eyes had been closed in death she observed the funeral rites with due decorum.. Victoria was her name, and it was her one sad victory over him to outlive him and perform this duty. The Fates pursue their relentless course, and none can resist them. What remained for a most loyal wife to do she did, thinking it wrong to marry any other man after him, pursuing the tenor of her remaining days in purity, until death laid her to rest beside him in this tomb. Here they lie in death together. Such is holy fidelity; such are vows good and true; to be united after death in the embraces of life. How fortunate a couple they are and honoured in the other world, if there is honour there, being joined in their tomb as they were in their marriage bed." (translated by WFE)
102 Theatine, a religious order founded in 1524.
103 The name of the fifth of the classical orders, being composed of the Ionic grafted on the Corinthian (OED).
104 Chrysogonus was a Roman official who was martyred under Diocletian in Aquileia c. 304 AD. His body was recovered from the sea by Christians and his cult spread to Rome. The original of this painting was removed by the Duke of Sutherland in 1801. It is now the centre-piece of the lantern in the Long Gallery of Lancaster House in London.
105 Aedes Barberinae, Roma, 1662. A book, written in Latin, listing and describing the paintings and sculptures collected by the Barberini family - one of a number of works consulted by Gray in preparation for his tour. The Reflexions critiques sur la Poesie et sur la Peinture is another such work, by an anonymous author, on aesthetic theory, published in Paris in 1719.
106 This painting is often considered to be Cortona's masterpiece. It was painted between 1633 and 1639 to celebrate the glory of the Papacy of Urban VIII and the Barberini family.
107 This would appear to be the painting now known as The Cardsharps. According to Helen Langdon (op. cit.), this picture was so successful that many collectors sought copies of it: hence the copy that Gray saw later at the Palazzo Bolognetti.
108 Hippomenes was given three of the golden apples of the Hesperides by the goddess; when he dropped them, Atlanta stopped to pick them up and so lost the race.
109 This palace was built in the 15th century and rebuilt for Cardinal Corsini in 1732-6. In 1883 the palace was sold and the collection of paintings donated to the state, becoming part of the Galleria d'Arte Antica.
110 Sir Erasmus Philipps d. 1743, writer on economics, MP for Haverfordwest, accidentally drowned in the Avon. His cousin was first wife of Sir Robert Walpole.
111 Erminia, Saracen princess of Antioch, mentioned by Tasso in his Gerusalemme liberata as having a secret passion for Tancred, an Italian hero. She sets off in search of her loved one but instead finds a shepherd and his children. There is a painting of this subject by Claude at Holkham Hall in Norfolk.
112 The Palazzo Chigi is now the official residence of the Prime Minister.
113 Poussin painted two series of paintings on the Seven Sacraments. This is one of the first series and is now in the Duke of Rutland's private collection in Belvoir Castle. "It has been said that Poussin has represented the death of an ancient Roman" (Anthony Blunt, op. cit.); hence Horace Walpole's remark: "Old Romans don't make good Christians".
114 Polyphemus was a Cyclops. He is represented in Homer's Odyssey as one of a race of savage one-eyed giants rearing sheep on Sicily.
115 It proved impossible to identify this presumably minor aristocrat, who does not feature in the DNB and whose existence is merely confirmed by a passing reference to him in The Gentlemen's Magazine for June, 1733.
116 Helen Langdon (op. cit.) speaks of the "warm naturalism" of this painting. Far from being drunk and asleep, Langdon sees "a figure helpless and weighed down by guilt and grief". Gray seems to have missed the tear on the cheek and the cast away pearls!
117 "Where are you going, Lord? .... I am crucified a second time". The reference is to the story of St Peter's attempt to leave Rome (from the apocryphal Acts of St Peter c.180) because of the danger of persecution under Nero, from which he was dissuaded by this vision. This painting is now in the National Gallery in London.
118 The Falconieri were a family of patrons and collectors. Ottavo Falconieri (1636-75) resided primarily in Rome and supervised Leopold de Medici's collection of classical antiquities. His letter is included in Roma Antica di Famiano Nardini, published in Rome in 1666 - a book, written in Italian and illustrated with maps and engravings, of archaeological remains, still an authority for Gray to read.
119 Vespasian was Roman emperor 69-79 AD, first of the Flavians, responsible for the pacification of southern Britain in the invasion of AD 43.
120 Fillipo Rossi, Descrizione di Roma antica, Roma, 1719.
121 "Whom Vellitrae sent from her little-known valley" (translated by WFE).
122 "[Wines] set aside for the tables of Lyaeus [Bacchus] himself" (translated by WFE).
123 "Think too of all the noble cities, the achievement of man's toil, all the towns his handiwork has piled high on steepy crags and the streams that glide beneath those ancient walls" (from Virgil, Eclogues, Georgics &c., London Heinemann, 1930, p. 86).
124 "Where the dark unfriendly Pomptine marshes lie and the chilly stream of Ufens finds a way through deep channels to lose itself in the sea".
"The unwholesome, muddy Pomptine levels and the stagnant, mist-covered marsh of Satura, where the turbulent Ufens propels its waters, black with the mud, across the barren fields to stain the seas with slime" (translated by WFE).
125 "They plant [on the soil] the prints of their bare left feet, but rough buskins cover those of their right" (translated by WFE).
126 The Pomptine marsh [palus], a malaria-stricken region formed by the stagnation of the Ufens.
127 "The first task was to prepare the furrow, to open a track and with deep digging hollow out the earth; the next in other wise to re-fill the caverned trench, and prepare a lap on which the convex surface of the road might be erected, lest the ground should sink or the spiteful earth yield an unstable bed for the deep-set blocks: then with closeknit revetments on this side and on that, and with many a brace, to gird the road. What a multitude of hands wrought together at the work! These felled the forest and stripped the hills; those made smooth the beams and the rocks with steel: these bound the stones together and wove fast the work with baked bricks and dingy pumice; others with might and main dried the thirsty pools and drained off afar the lesser rivulets" (The Sylvae of Statius, translated by D.A. Slater, Oxford: O.U.P., 1908).
128 "Anxur with its glorious sea-views" (translated by WFE).
129 Joseph Addison, Remarks upon Several Parts of Italy in years 1701-3: "I don't know whether it be worth while to take notice that the figures which are cut in the rock near Terracina, increase still in Decimal Proportion as they come nearer the Bottom" (p.118). Addison's book went into ten editions and was still staple reading for travellers on the Grand Tour. Addison was interested in anecdote and classical reference, not in painting. He crossed the Mont Cenis pass as if the Alps were not there - "Had a very easy journey over the Mount Cennis" is all he has to say!
130 "The island makes a safe anchorage; its extended length breaks up and divides the waves before they penetrate to the inner recess" (from Virgil, translated by WFE).
131 The Grotta della Pace: "Agrippa's tunnel to Cumae, a passage more than 1 km long executed by Cocceius [....] Straight and wide enough for chariots to pass, it is the most ambitious work attempted by the Romans and, being lighted at intervals by vertical openings, it could be traversed with ease, even without a light, until it was damaged in the fighting of 1943 (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 193).
132 "The Dog Grotto, in which carbon dioxide covers the floor to the height of ½ metre, instantly extinguishing lights held in it and stupefying and killing animals, as was formerly demonstrated to thoughtless visitors at the expense of an unhappy dog" (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 189). Addison (see footnote 257), who visited the caves some forty years earlier, observed the same phenomenon but went further and experimented with trying to detonate gunpowder!
133 A sudatorium was a sweating room or steam-bath. "The Stufe di San Germano, a series of rooms with gradually increasing temperature" (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 189).
134 Petronius Arbiter, d. AD 65, Latin satirical writer, author of the Satyricon (of which only parts of Books 14, 15, and 16 survive), dealing with the adventures of two young men in southern Italy.
135 The Moles Puteolana or Opus Pilarum consisted of a breakwater of 25 piers connected by arches, cleverly arranged to prevent the silting up of the harbour. At the end was a triumphal arch to Antoninus Pius, who restored the harbour in AD 120 after a destructive tempest (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 190).
136 Monte Nuove (140 m.) "A volcanic cone of rough scoriae and tufa [....] This crater was thrown up during the earthquake of 29 Sept 1538, when the Lucrine Lake was half filled up, and Pozzuoli deluged with mud and lapilli" (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 188).
137 "Which mars iron with roughness and salty rust" (from Virgil, translated by WFE).
138 Gray is referring to the description in the Georgics, Book 2 (ll. 161-4) of the Portus Julius. "To counter the threat of Sextus Pompeius' fleet (37 BC) he [Agrippa] cut down the forest and united Lake Avernus with the sea by a canal via the Lucrine Lake and to Cumae by a tunnel, thereby constructing a military harbour of perfect security, the Portus Julius. This was later abandoned, and finally wrecked by the eruption of 1538" (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 193).
139 "The most remarkable remains, arbitrarily known as a Temple of Apollo, are of an octagonal building with a round interior broken by niches, the dome of which (now fallen) once spanned a space of over 36 m." (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 193).
140 "A path along the S. side of the lake, and rising above it to the left, leads in c. 3 min. to a long gallery cut into the rock, off which opens a chamber blackened with torch smoke. Once a rival claimant to be the cave where Aeneas came to consult the Sibyl, this is now thought to be part of Agrippa's defensive works" (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 193). Since 1932 the Cave of the Cumaean Sibyl has been located in the acropolis at Cumae. It is interesting that Gray should be so sure that the earlier attribution was a mistake.
141 "A side of the cliff at Cumae hollowed out into a huge cave" (Virgil Aeneid, VI, 42-51) [translated by WFE].
142 These are three short extracts from different odes of Horace:
(i) "Since for lack
Of building-land you feel so poor
You order men to shift that shore
At Baiae back
To give you more".
(ii "Though your great lumps of masonry
Should fill the whole Etruscan sea."
(iii) "Bustling contractors and their slaves
Dump new foundations in the waves
And leave the fishes no
Wide waters where to go."
[translated by WFE]
143 "On the right of the road are some ruins of thermae, called the Stufe di Neroneor di Tritole, including a remarkable sudatorium hewn out of the tufa" (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 193).
144 Now known as the Tempio dell'eco, from the unusual acoustic effects created by the water with which it is filled.
145 "The so-called Tomb of Agrippina, really the ruins of a small theatre". [....] The Cento Camerelle is " a two-storied ruin of which the upper part was a reservoir; the function of the lower storey is not known" (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 194).
146 "The Piscina Mirabile is the largest and best preserved reservoir in the district It is constructed like a basilica with five pillared aisles of equal height. It lay at the extremity of an aqueduct and was used for provisioning the fleet stationed at Misenum" (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 195).
147 "The Arco Felice, a massive brick archway, 20 m. high and 6 m. wide, in a deep cutting made in the Monte Grillo by Domitian to secure direct communication between Cumae and Puteoli" (Blue Guide to Southern Italy, p. 197).
148 Herculaneum, destroyed with Pompeii in AD 79 and rediscovered in 1709. It was not until 1748 that antiquarian excavations were begun at Pompeii.
149
"These verses from the Bay of Naples echo
Their way to you, while fumes and flames to rival
Etna'OBs pour down the flank of our volcano here
Preparing a strange wonder. How will ages
To come believe it, when the barren pumice
Bears crops once more, that underneath
Wide cities and their populations lie,
That whole ancestral farms have disappeared
Into the sea? Nor has our lethal crater
Ended its angry business yet." [translated by WFE]
150 Chiron was, as Gray says, one of the Centaurs, son of Chronos. He lived at the foot of Mt Pelion in Thessaly and was famous for his wisdom and knowledge of medicine. Many Greek heroes, including Achilles, were instructed by him.
Title page | Notes on A Tour through France and Italy | p. [1] |
Imprint | [Imprint] | p. 2 |
Contents | Stages of the Tour | p. 3 |
Preface | Introduction | p. 6 |
Section | 1. Rheims | p. 9 |
Section | 2. Rheims to Dijon | p. 11 |
Section | 3. Lyons to Geneva | p. 15 |
Section | 4. Turin | p. 17 |
Section | 5. Genoa | p. 22 |
Section | 6. Parma | p. 30 |
Section | 7. Modena | p. 35 |
Section | 8. Bologna | p. 40 |
Section | 9. Florence | p. 56 |
Section | 10. Rome | p. 73 |
Section | 11. Naples | p. 122 |
Section | 12. Environs of Naples | p. 131 |
Bibliography | Bibliography | p. 147 |
Index | List of Artists and Works | p. 148 |
Notes | Endnotes | p. 169 |
Digital Library ID: | RoB_2011 |
Title: | Notes on a Tour through France and Italy undertaken in the Years 1739 to 1741 by Thomas Gray [e-text] |
Author: | Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771 |
Collaborator: | Roberts, William, 1931- [editor] |
Print Source: | Penrith: Northern Academic Press, 2011 [1st ed. Carlisle: The Colophon Press, 2003] |
Medium: | 185p. |
Holding Library: | Thomas Gray Archive |
Notes: | 185 pages: E-text created from PDF with additional markup by the Thomas Gray Archive, 04 - 15/07/2011. |
Copyright: | Copyright © 2011 W.G. Roberts |
Other formats: | PDF [0.9 MB] |