in Rome, and brought hither under the reign of Leo the Tenth. There are abundance of pictures in the several apartments, by the hands of the greatest masters.

But 'tis the famous gallery of the old palace, where are, perhaps, the noblest collections of curiosities to be met with in any part of the whole world. The gallery itself is made in the shape of an L, according to Mr. Lassel, but, if it must needs be like a letter, it resembles the Greek II most. It is adorned with admirable pieces of sculpture, as well modern as ancient. Of the last sort I shall mention those that are rarest, either for the person they represent, or the beauty of the sculpture. Among the busts of the emperors and empresses there are these that follow, which are all very scarce, and some of them almost singular in their kind. Agrippa, Caligula, Otho, Nerva, Elius Verus, Pertinax, Geta, Didius Julianus, Albinus, extremely well wrought, and, what is seldom seen in alabaster, Gordianus Africanus the elder, Eliogabalus, Galien the elder, and the younger Pupienus. I have put Agrippa among the emperors, because he is generally ranged so in sets of medals, as some that follow among the empresses have no other right to the company they are joined with. Domitia, Agrippina, wife of Germanicus, Antonia, Matidia, Plotina, Mallia Scantilla, falsely inscribed under her bust Julia Severi, Aquilia Severa, Julia Masa. I have generally observed at Rome, which is the great magazine of these antiquities, that the same heads which are rare in medals are also rare in marble, and, indeed, one may commonly assign the same reason for both, which was the shortness of the emperors' reigns, that did not give the workmen time to make many of their figures; and as the shortness of their reigns was generally occasioned by the advancement of a rival, it is no wonder that nobody worked on the figure of a deceased emperor, when his enemy was in the throne. This observation, however, does not always hold. An Agrippa or Caligula, for example, is a common coin, but a very extraordinary bust; and a Tiberius a rare coin, but a common bust, which one would the more wonder at, if we consider the indignities that were offered to this emperor's statues after his death. The Tiberius in Tiberium is a known instance.

Among the busts of such emperors as are common enough, there are several in the gallery that deserve to be taken notice of for the excellence of the sculpture, as those of Au

gustus, Vespasian, Adrian, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus,
Septimius Severus, Caracalla, Geta. There is in the same
gallery a beautiful bust of Alexander the Great, casting up
his face to heaven, with a noble air of grief or discontented-
ness in his looks. I have seen two or three antique busts
of Alexander in the same air and posture, and am apt to
think the sculptor had in his thoughts the conqueror's weep-
ing for new worlds, or some other the like circumstance of
his history. There is also, in porphyry, the head of a faun,
and of the god Pan. Among the entire figures I took parti-
cular notice of a Vestal Virgin, with the holy fire burning
before her. This statue, I think, may decide that notable
controversy among the antiquaries, whether the vestals, after
having received the tonsure, ever suffered their hair to come
again, for it is here full grown, and gathered under the veil.
The brazen figure of the consul, with the ring on his finger,
reminded me of Juvenal's majoris pondera gemma. There
is another statue in brass, supposed to be of Apollo, with
this modern inscription on the pedestal, which I must con-
fess I do not know what to make of. Ut potui huc veni
musis et fratre relicto. I saw in the same gallery the famous
figure of the wild boar, the Gladiator, the Narcissus, the
Cupid and Psyche, the Flora, with some modern statues that
several others have described. Among the antique figures,
there is a fine one of Morpheus in touchstone. I have al-
ways observed, that this god is represented by the ancient
statuaries under the figure of a boy asleep, with a bundle of
poppy in his hand. I at first took it for a Cupid, till I had
taken notice that it had neither bow nor quiver. I suppose
Doctor Lister has been guilty of the same mistake in the
reflections he makes on what he calls the sleeping Cupid
with
poppy in his hands.

Qualia namque
Corpora nudorum tabulâ pinguntur Amorum
Talis erat, sed ne faciat discrimina cultus,
Aut huic adde leves aut illis deme Pharetras.

Such are the Cupids that in paint we view;
But that the likeness may be nicely true,
A loaden quiver to his shoulders tie,

Or bid the Cupids lay their quivers by.

Ov. MET. lib. x.

'Tis probable they chose to represent the god of sleep under the figure of a boy, contrary to all our modern design

ers, because it is that age which has its repose the least broken by cares and anxieties. Statius, in his celebrated invocation of sleep, addresses himself to him under the same figure.

Crimine quo merui, juvenis placidissime Divum,
Quove errore miser, donis ut solus egerem

Somne tuis? tacet omne pecus, volucresque feræque, &c.
SILV. lib. v.

Tell me, thou best of gods, thou gentle youth,
Tell me my sad offence; that only I,
While hushed at ease thy drowsy subjects lie,
In the dead silence of the night complain,
Nor taste the blessings of thy peaceful reign.

I never saw any figure of sleep that was not of black marble, which has probably some relation to the night, which is the proper season for rest. I should not have made this remark, but that I remember to have read in one of the ancient authors, that the Nile is generally represented in stone of this colour, because it flows from the country of the Ethiopians; which shows us that the statuaries had sometimes an eye to the person they were to represent, in the choice they made of their marble. There are still at Rome some of these black statues of the Nile, which are cut in a kind of touchstone.

Usque coloratis amnis devexus ab Indis. VIRG. Geor. 4, de NILO. At one end of the gallery stand two antique marble pillars, curiously wrought with the figures of the old Roman arms and instruments of war. After a full survey of the gallery, we were led into four or five chambers of curiosities that stand on the side of it. The first was a cabinet of antiquities, made up chiefly of idols, talismans, lamps, and hieroglyphics. I saw nothing in it that I was not before acquainted with, except the four following figures in brass.

I. A little image of Juno Sispita, or Sospita, which, perhaps, is not to be met with anywhere else but on medals. She is clothed in a goat's skin, the horns sticking out above her head. The right arm is broken that probably supported a shield, and the left a little defaced, though one may see it held something in its grasp formerly. The feet are bare. I remember Tully's description of this goddess in the following words: Hercle inquit quàm tibi illam nostram Sospitam quam tu nunquam ne in Somniis vides, nisi cum pelle Caprina, cum hasta, cum scutulo, cum calceolis repandis.

II. An antique model of the famous Laocoon and his two sons, that stands in the Belvidera at Rome. This is the more remarkable, as it is entire in those parts where the statue is maimed. It was by the help of this model that Bandinelli finished his admirable copy of the Laocöon, which stands at one end of this gallery.

III. An Apollo, or Amphion. I took notice of this little figure for the singularity of the instrument, which I never before saw in ancient sculpture. It is not unlike a violin, and played on after the same manner. I doubt, however, whether this figure be not of a later date than the rest, by the meanness of the workmanship.

IV. A Corona Radialis, with only eight spikes to it. Every one knows the usual number was twelve, some say, in allusion to the signs of the Zodiac, and others, to the labours of Hercules.

Ingenti mole Latinus

Quadrijugo vehitur curru; cui tempora circum
Aurati bis sex radii fulgentia cingunt,

Solis avi specimen

VIRG. EN. xii.

Four steeds the chariot of Latinus bear :

DRYDEN.

Twelve golden beams around his temples play, To mark his lineage from the god of day. The two next chambers are made up of several artificial curiosities in ivory, amber, crystal, marble, and precious stones, which all voyage-writers are full of. In the chamber that is shown last, stands the celebrated Venus of Medicis. The statue seems much less than the life, as being perfectly naked, and in company with others of a larger make: it is, notwithstanding, as big as the ordinary size of a woman, as I concluded from the measure of her wrist; for from the bigness of any one part it is easy to guess at all the rest, in a figure of such nice proportions. The softness of the flesh, the delicacy of the shape, air, and posture, and the correctness of design in this statue, are inexpressible. I have several reasons to believe that the name of the sculptor on the pedestal is not so old as the statue. This figure of Venus put me in mind of a speech she makes in one of the Greek epigrams.

Γυμνην οἶδε Πάρις μὲ καὶ Ανχίσης καὶ Αδωνις.
Τοὺς τρεῖς οἶδα μόνους. Πραξιτέλης δὲ πόθεν ;
Anchises, Paris, and Adonis too

Have seen me naked, and exposed to view;

All these I frankly own without denying:

But where has this Praxiteles been prying?

There is another Venus in the same circle, that would make a good figure anywhere else. There are, among the old Roman statues, several of Venus in different postures and habits, as there are many particular figures of her made after the same design. I fancy it is not hard to find among them some that were made after the three statues of this goddess, which Pliny mentions. In the same chamber is the Roman slave whetting his knife and listening, which, from the shoulders upwards, is incomparable. The two wrestlers are in the same room. I observed here, likewise, a very curious bust of Annius Verus, young son of Marcus Aurelius, who died at nine years of age. I have seen several other busts of him at Rome, though his medals are exceeding rare.

The Great Duke has ordered a large chamber to be fitted up for old inscriptions, urns, monuments, and the like sets of antiquities. I was shown several of them which are not yet put up. There are the two famous inscriptions that give so great a light to the histories of Appius, who made the highway, and of Fabius the dictator; they contain a short account of the honours they passed through, and the actions they performed. I saw too the busts of Tranquillina, mother to Gordianus Pius, and of Quintus Herennius, son to Trajan Decius, which are extremely valuable for their rarity, and a beautiful old figure made after the celebrated hermaphrodite in the Villa Borghese. I saw nothing that has not been observed by several others in the Argenteria, the tabernacle of St. Laurence's chapel, and the chamber of painters. The chapel of St. Laurence will be, perhaps, the most costly piece of work on the face of the earth when completed, but it advances so very slowly, that 'tis not impossible but the family of Medicis may be extinct before their burial-place is finished.

The Great Duke has lived many years separate from the Duchess, who is at present in the court of France, and intends there to end her days. The cardinal, his brother, is old and infirm, and could never be induced to resign his purple for the uncertain prospect of giving an heir to the dukedom of Tuscany. The great prince has been married several years without any children, and notwithstanding all the precautions in the world were taken for the marriage of the prince his younger brother, (as the finding out a lady for