said, what a place to work for! what an exciting thing for an artist to know that his creation will stand in the midst of such splendours, and under that glorious cupola! Went to the Sistine Chapel to see the Universal Judgment of Michael Angelo; but could not understand it, or feel its beauties. Some of the dead aspirants are pulled up by rosaries, others are putting on their flesh for the trip. An extraordinary person that Michael Angelo; seems to have been judged more upon the credit of what he could have done than what he has done; his imagination too warm and rapid for such a slow and stubborn material as marble. A better architect, in Chantrey's opinion, than sculptor: a great affinity between him and Dante. The ceiling in this chapel full of fine things of his, Sibyls, &c.; some with as much grace as grandeur. Went to the Gallery; Chantry so right about the beauty of repose in works of The tomb of the Scipios, a sarcophagus of peperino (so called from its appearance), or pietra Albana. The torso not to be compared, in Chantrey's opinion, with those of the Ilissus or of Theseus: showed me how far it was untrue to nature, in the flesh not yielding to the pressure of the seat. The Greek marble is like coarse salt, that of Pentelicus streaky; so is the Cipolino, but in a different way. Chantrey said, if, by any trick, the Creugas of Canova could be buried, and dug up again in fragments as an ancient statue, it would produce a great sensation. The Mercury, or Antinous, a beautiful head, but the right leg is bowed awkwardly. The boys in the Laocoon, it has been justly remarked, are rather little men than boys. The Apollo glorious! no detail of muscle given, as would be fit in a human form, but merely the general beauty of shape and action. In the gallery of statues an exquisite group of a Nymph and Satyr; full

art.

of meaning, most spiritedly conveyed. In the same gallery is a fine sitting figure of Menander, with all the bel riposo of good sense and taste. The mutilated statue, called the Genius of the Vatican, is very beautiful. It is evident, from the holes in the shoulders, that there have been wings to it. In the Sala delle Muse, I remarked Thalia as particularly feminine and graceful. A fine colossal head of Adrian in the Sala Rotonda, and not far from it, one of Giulia Pia: these busts must be portraits, they have so much truth and reality about them; it is easy to distinguish ideal heads. Saw the Loggie of Raphael, which are much injured by the air, except on the ceilings: Murat had windows put here to preserve them. It is only one arm of the second piano that is painted from the cartoons of Raphael (sui cartoni) by his scholars; the image of the Eternal Father " flying all abroad" is said to be entirely his. The paintings a fresco of the Camera de Raffaello wonderful. In the Angel releasing St. Peter from Prison, the lights are miraculous, and the courage of the artist in drawing those dark iron bars across the exquisite group he had finished, strikes me with astonishment. The pictures of the School of Athens and the Burning of Borgo are two perfect specimens; the one of calm, contemplative repose, and the other of agitated expression and action; the figures of the mothers in this last are beautiful. In the Appartamento Borgia is the celebrated Transfiguration: Chantrey's remark of the frequent duplicates there are of attitudes and actions in all Raphael's pictures, very true; the two men here with outstretched hands on the left is a remarkable instance: the woman who forms the leading point in the background is the Fornarina. The Crowning of the Virgin, in two different pictures, by Raphael, very fine; so is his Madonna di

Foligno. One of the interesting things here is the Aldobrandine Marriage, found at the foot of the Esquiline, full of grace and beauty, and not at all deficient in perspective. Dined at the inn with Camac. Guercino's pictures very spotty, and the figures interrupted by abrupt lights and shadows: much better in detached heads, for the same reason nearly as that given above for the defect in statuary,—he does not seem to have had any blending medium for his groups.

31st. Went with Chantrey to Canova's: saw the grand colossal group he has nearly finished, of Theseus and the Centaur; an answer to those who say he only excels in the smooth and graceful. Saw among other things a cast of his Magdalen that is at Paris; a most touching thing; beauty emaciated, and an attitude full of humility and sorrow the best of all the Magdalens I have seen. Was introduced to Canova, who was sitting for his picture to Jackson for Chantrey; an interesting man, simple and kind in his manners. His Endymion was in the room; promised that I should see another Magdalen he has done, and a Nymph, of which Chantrey speaks highly. Drove with the Scroopes to S. Paolo fuori delle Mure, remarkable for its magnificent columns, 138 in number; the church supposed to be erected by Constantine. In returning, stopped at the Pyramid of Caius Sestus, the burying ground of the English and other strangers. Went thence to the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, to see the Moses of Michael Angelo; none but he could have dared such an extravagant prodigality of beard. The head appears too small and tapering up to the horns, and is, let them say what they will, very like that of a satyr; but still the expression of the face is full of menace and dignity, and the whole thing has a very grand and imposing

effect. From thence to Sir Thomas Lawrence's to see his pictures: the daughter of Metternich (a girl about fifteen) as Hebe delicious; the brilliant youthfulness of the face, the delicacy with which the pearls lie on the neck, all charming. Did not much care about his Pope, his Emperor of Austria, nor his Blucher, though they are all finely executed. A clever head of Ghentz (?) and a most animated full length of Gonsalvi. Went to the Chiesa di S. Maria della Vittoria, a rich and beautiful little church, fit to be the chapel to a royal palace. The Teresa here in the ecstasies of divine love very celebrated, but it is not easy to see it well, both from its high situation and the redundant flutter of Bernini's drapery, but the face of the saint seemed well imagined. The smile of the angel, however, is vulgar and inappropriate. Forsyth calls the ecstasy of the saint "equivocal;" but I could not see the face well enough to be sure of what he means. Thence to S. Martino di Monti, remarkable for the gilding of the capitals of the columns, begun but not finished; this is one of the uses of gilding which may be pronounced decidedly tasteless. There is a church under this, and another still deeper, connected by passages with the Baths of Titus. Thence to the Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli, or the Carthusian church, a magnificent temple formed by Michael Angelo out of the principal sala of Diocletian's baths. The round vestibule which forms the entrance, and the unencumbered spaciousness of the Pinacoteca which forms the navata transversale of the church, all is magnificent. Here is the San Sebastian of Domenichino, a fresco, which has all the fulness and richness of oil; the lower part of the picture, the mother with the arm round the child, the expression of the head nearly under the prancing horse, and

the character of the saint's countenance, all exquisite. This church altogether one of the grandest I have seen. Went from this to the Capuchin church to see the St. Michael of Guido; a most glorious picture; the calm consciousness of power in this young and lovely archangel, who, without effort or anger, subdues and chains his adversary, is imagined with all the power of genius, and executed with all the power of art. Dined at Sir H. Davy's; company, Sir T. Lawrence, Chantrey, and Jackson. Went to the Princess Borghese's; Adair there, and M. and Madame Bourke. The Borghese very charming; said she should have something for me to take to Lady Jersey, &c. when I was returning: again showed her hand. I spoke of Denon's model of it in marble; said he had also done her foot, but the cast broke. Came away early. Scroope to-day said he could trace all the seeds of the Gothic architecture in Rome; the circular arch, the fluted columns, which, by turning the concave into convex, became the bundle of small pillars of the Gothic; the zigzag ornament which is continually found in the Mosaics, &c. &c. Have heard from Lord John Russell that he is hurried away sooner than he expected by the meeting of Parliament, and that I must join him immediately at Genoa. This, being impossible, alters my plans, and I believe I shall go on to Naples.

Nov. 1st. This being All Saints' Day, went with Sir T. Lawrence and Chantrey to the Pope's private chapel ; the scene very new to me and very striking. The assemblage of cardinals, the singularity of the ceremonies, the venerable weak old age of the Pope (who looked like a dying man in a rich dressing gown), and some parts of the music, affected my mind considerably. Among the most