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. It
is written by Goldoni. It was very badly performed; the actors were not
perfect in their parts, and the prompter's voice was as loud as usual. The
costume was appropriate enough, which is far from being always the case at
this theatre.
NAPLES, 13 Octr.
We started on the 12th at six o'clock in the morning (Mr R - - - D. and
myself) in a caleche in order to visit Puzzuoli, Baii and all the
classical ground in that direction. We of course passed through the grotto
of Pausilippo. This grotto is thirty feet high and about five hundred feet
long. In fact, it is a vast rock undermined and a high road running thro'
it, the breadth of which is sufficient for three carriages to go abreast.
From its great length it is of course exceeding dark; in order therefore to
obviate this inconvenience lamps constantly lighted are suspended from the
roof and on the sides of the grotto, and holes pierced towards the top to
admit a little daylight. The road pierced thro' this rock and called the
grotto of Pausilippo abridges the journey to Puzzuoli very considerably, as
otherwise you would be obliged to go round by Cape Margelina, which would
increase the distance ten miles. On issuing from the grotto on the other
side, you arrive in a few minutes on the seashore, on the bay formed
between Cape Margelina and Puzzuoli. We stopped at the lake Agnano which is
strongly impregnated with sulfur. On the banks of this lake are the
Thermae or vapour baths, and here is also the famous Grotto del Cane,
the pestilential vapour arising from which rises about three inches from
the ground and has the appearance of a spider's web. An unfortunate dog
performs the miracle of the resurrection to all those who visit this
natural curiosity; and we also were curious to see its effect. The guardian
of the Thermes seized the poor animal and held his nose close to the place
from whence the vapour exhales. The dog was seized with strong convulsions
and in two minutes he was perfectly senseless and to all appearance dead;
but on being placed in the open air, he soon recovers. The poor beast shews
evident repugnance to the experiment, and I wonder he does not endeavor to
make his escape, for he has sometimes to perform this feat four or five
times a day. I should suppose that he will not be very long lived, for the
repeated doses of this mephitic vapour must surely accelerate his
dissolution. The heat of the Thermae and steam of the sulphur is almost
insupportable; but it has a most beneficial effect on maladies of the
nerves and cutaneous complaints.
We then proceeded on our journey to Puzzuoli, the ancient Puteoli, where
are the remains of the famous mole (or bridge as others call it) of
Caligula, intended to embrace or unite the two extremes of the bay of Baiae
formed on one side by Puzzuoli and on the other by cape Misenus.
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