The Royal Palace Is Called La Favorita, Its Architecture Is
Beautiful; The Garden Or Rather Lawn Which Is Ornamented By Statues And
Enriched By Orange Groves Extends To The Sea.
The first thing that presents
itself to the view of the visitor at the Museum of Portici are the two
equestrian statues of Marcus Balbus proconsul and procurator and of his
son, which statues were found in Herculaneum.
I forgot to mention that
there is an inscription with that name on the side of the proscenium of the
theatre easily legible by the light of flambeaux.
To return to the Museum at Portici, we were then shewn into a room
containing curious morceaux of antiquity discovered at Pompeii: a tripod
in bronze and various other articles of the same metal; tables, various
lamps in bronze, resembling exactly those used in Hindostan, wooden pens,
dice, grains of corn quite black and scorched, a skeleton of a woman with
the ashes incrusted round it (the form of her breast is seen on the crust
of ashes; golden armlets were found on her which were shewn to us), steel
mirrors, combs, utensils for culinary purposes, such as casseroles,
frying pans, spoons, forks, pestles and mortars, instruments of sacrifice,
weights and measures, coins, a carcan or stock, &c.
In the upper rooms are to be seen the paintings and fresques found in the
same place. The paintings are poor things, and in their landscapes the
Romans seem to have had little more idea of perspective than the Chinese;
but the fresques are beautiful: the female figures belonging thereto are
delineated with the utmost grace and delicacy. They consist of subjects
chiefly from the mythology. I noticed the following in particular, viz.,
Chiron teaching the young Achilles to draw the bow; the discovery of
Orestes; Theseus and the Minotaur (he has just slain the Minotaur and a boy
is in the act of kissing his hand as if to thank him for his deliverance;
the Minotaur is here represented as a monster with the body of a man and
the head of a bull); a Centaur carrying off a nymph; a car drawn by a
parrot and driven by a cricket: a woman offering to another little Loves
for sale (she is pulling out the little Cupids from a basket and holding
them by their wings as if they were fowls); a beautiful female figure
seated on a monster something like the Chimaera of the ancients and holding
a cup before the monster's mouth (emblematical of Hope nourishing a
Chimaera). The arabesques taken from Pompeii and preserved here are very
beautiful. Here also are two statues found in Pompeii: the one representing
a drunken Faun, the other a sitting Mercury. We met two Polish ladies here,
who were amusing themselves in copying the fresques. We returned to
Naples at five o'clock, and dined at the Villa di Napoli. In the evening
we went to the Teatro de' Fiorentini. The piece performed was Pamela or
La virtu premiata, which I understand is quite a stock piece in Italy.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 182 of 291
Words from 95281 to 95792
of 151859
