Foreign Correspondence

BOlfB, Peb. 2, 1373. Fmênd Pond: This is the uarnivttl season, but none of lè (llstinctive folHes of that animal fete j ïave yet appeared, as they generally ompress it as far as practieable ■withiti ie ten days immediately prior to lent. nstead of being a sort of general abanoninetii without regulation of order it is onductod under the management of a ommittee of the younger aoions of nojility, and within oertain limits is conroücd by certain understood and preoribcd rules. It is expeeted to be soinewhat more lively this, year. than for the wo past, and I ;vüí endeavor to take ome notes at the time. Speaking of the emporary abandonment of the people to 'ree and innocent mischiof duiing the arnival recalls the ihcidents of the anual Bpiphahy Pair, called the Befana, vhich this year was held in the Piazza STavona, one of the finest squares in lome, being in fact the site of the anierit circus o? L'otuitian, For sereral ays the booths ht.d boen in procesa of oustruction for the protection of suih vares as might be exbibited for sale. - 'he grand opening, however, and one to which the Roman children look forward with a zest which Christmas and its gifts re apt to ongeuder iii the bosom of oung America, always takes place on he Eve oí' Epiphany, and continúes till fier midnight. The twiligbt Jiad scaroely given place o night before the sounds upon the stveet ndioated sometliing unusual. There vere heard in all directions squeaking ïorns, shrill wbistles, tin rnttles, and all hat infinito Val'ifty of Èedlatnite inVenioris out of which a stout boy can ex;ract noise, and occasionally a squad of a dozen would pass along, furnishing a ombination of sweet sounds not conained in the inventions or scores of any nusical Maestro. About half past ten we gtarted for the wild center fïora which all these harmonies radiated. The ven ing was charming and the Corso was looded with light, as it was also crowded vith people, old and young, and all evidently for the time joyous and lightlearted. And bere rre got a sight of tbo ent-.rtainments of the hour as weü as ;he sounds. Lorg pröcesaions were oocasionally met, marching two and two, eaoh with soms dire inauufactory of sound and preceded by a large buffoonike effigy, worked by wires and perförmng most ludicrous antics in the air above the crowd. Mirth was toe provokitig spirit of the occasion, and it was contaffious. Crowded a was the Corso the jlot thiokened as we proceeded and evideiitly tbe deity of the bour was Moinus' By the time we reached the narrowstreet which leads from Piazza Madama to that of Navona we were forciMy retíiítíded of seeking in early admission to one of Gougli's lectures At last, bownver, we emerged with our clothes all on into the brilliantly lighted and o;ipaoious piazza last naraed, and amid "confusión worse oonfounded" spent a half hour walking abcut in the ortowd- 'looking al; tlïo tíiyriad forms of juvenile nick-nacks at the various stands, and witnossing and casionally experiencing the practical jokes of the occasion, one of the nïost popular fcppearing to bc to place the raüzzleof a long glass trumpet as near as possiblo to the drum of one's ear, and inject a tretn'endoua blast beforo discovery and prevention. The booths were Binull büt numerous, and each repreeented on a small scalo some of the toy and notion stores of our cities in America, the dolls, however, of ever}' conoeivable material and' sizo, dressed in the fntastlc costumes of the peasantry and expanded with crinoline, were m excess of any othcf drrglc afticle as well as more sbowy. But tho boys went in for something that wouid malte a noiso, and the supply seetued adequate to meet all demands. - Tliefe must have been -several thousoda present, and the tide was constantly flowing in and out till long ai'ter midnight, froui all classes. We returnod to our rooms leavng the niSi animated and good natured crowd whieh it has been oar fortune to meet in our tra veis, and duriüg the night, at whatover hour sleep did not drown all oonsciousness, we could hear tlie belated tooters pass along the' street aiïd tbfo pleasant songs of the merry-makers on their wa}' home. We expected to hear nothing but hörns and whistles for a weck at least, but strange to say, with but au iafrequont exoeption, duvirig tho day wo wero not in ths ner reminded of the BedUim ot Befana. The Pair itself continned for several days but " its glory had departed," and trafilo md salu asbunied their legitímate sobriety. Vo have nat yet disposed of all tlïe ruirts, biit just as we find it more pleasant to intersperse occasionally soraething less ancient, so no doubt you will bc glad . to hear at times oí' o tb er things than Rounan antiquities. Among tbe most interesting placea tbe stranger isits in this city must be ranked ihe Vatican. Who has not read and heard and possibly dreamod of its galleries ? who has nat soii)i:times fanciod it tho very central bulwark of all tho malign influences that diaturb Christendom, and aim t universal domininon ? Considerable forftïality is now neoossary in order to complete a satisfactory examination of this almost literally endiosa round of deeply intoresting collections and art treasures. - ïhrce sets of "peimesi," as they are ealleój, are issbsá; one admita the bearer ouly on Thursday in tho forenoon, betwoen the hours of 8 and 11, to the museuir.s of soulpture ; anoihor admits tho bearer whose name is inserted, with a party not excoeding foar persons, to visit the samo galleries on any day betweon the above hours and between 2 and 4 in the afternoon, excepting Thursdays and Mondayafternoons and festival days, and still another is requircd to secure admissicn to tbo gistin,d Chapel, to Kapbael's loggia and the picture gallery, wilh the same limitation as to times and number of tbc party. This requireniont 01 iijkets is bad enough, but to be coih pelled to leave at eleven o'clock when with one's greatest diligence he has imt been able to reacll the gallery before '.) 1-2, and whon at the best it Would tako two entire days merely to make the simplest inspection of the soulpture alone is quite proToking. ín the afternoon we are compellod to go agaiu over tho not inconsidcrable distance, for St. Poter's and the Vatican are quite at the western extremity of the city, and if ever so punetual can only be in the galleries two hours, and again must leave to return another day And beforo the -whcle circuit is made several days are fritterod away and and rnauy trips to and fro - unless a person darts from one room to another (as indeed some do) as if the Swiss Gruard was after thein. But in spite of all this hindranco and bother the labor is well repaid, for if one never loyed to gaze upo!i the cold, colorless marble forias before ho must needs give up his ropugnan.ee ov want of appreciation when hu sees the wonders of this reuowned gallory. lts extent is amazing, whilo in the endless variety and excellence of its ïnyriad " things of beauty" the inind is fairly overwheluied with the ceaseless deinand for admiration. The portion of this immense ediflee devoted to Works of sculpturu only is divided into, lst, the Corridor of Inscriptions, and, 2d, Bracoio et NuMvdj or new wiug, ereoted by Pius vil., and principally ocoupied by remarkable statues. It is 238 feet long by 28 in breadth, and both sides and often the Hoor space are filled with rure soul jitures; the ligbting from skylights above is very good, and in every respect the cciling dcorations upon the vaulting are maóe with a riobness tlint is suitable to such a treasnry of art, the floor belng inlaid with ancient marbles and with a great variety of white and black mosaics. 3d, the Chiaramonti 2ki Beaat, whíeh continúes in the Bame direution with the Ceñidor of IliBOriptions, separaied only by an hun grating and forining tagether a hall of the nstonishing length oí' 226 feet and of the width of 27, preseníing ta actual view the two walls and side niches lined throughout with its prolusión of art treasures, stretohing so far that persons at the other extremity look ÜKe pigmies. Ceiling and tlojr are embellished with stucco and frescoes and inosaics on a scale of fitting UJ"B"lfl " 4-th tiut P,r niomííníino Museum, to which there is an aacent of a few steps fi'oux the preceding división. - This is made up of a series of several gulleries or departments, presenting a somewhat complicated arrangement at first, but together forming the most mag nificent colleotion in the world, many of the finest specimens nnd tnaeterpieoes having been congregated here from all thu other gal'.eries and by the private pürohiises of the several Popes. And, öth, the Ha.ll of the Muses, embracing the round hall, the Greek Cross, the Biga) and including ako the gallery of Vases and Candelabra, each of these halls being a distinct room and each having its peculiar objects of interest, Besides all the preceding there are also two other grand divisions associated with thera but iiot occupied exolusively with sculptures: lst, Hall of the Arazzi, or Tapestries, and (jallery of Geographical Maps ; and, 2d, The Etruscan and Egyptian Museums This gives in a summary way vhat the visitor has to nndeetako to see in the Department of Sculptures alone in visits o: two hours at a time. It -Wiíl scarcely be desired or expected that anything like a dotáiled sketch will be made of all the wonderful obiects we have had the grea pleasure ot' seeing ; but if enough. can be said to convey to others some inteligible idea of tbo vast riches Wliich are here brought togetuer from tbe world of An cient Art it inay not be without some in terest. The Corridor of Inscriptlöns is a long hall devoted to the preservation and or derly arrangement of a very extensiv and select oollection of Christian anc Pagan inscriptioiis, ítígeíheí Witri ie mains of sejulchral architecture, cipp (cinerary altars), eediculm (cinerary urn in foriu of temples), statues, bas relief míirble tases and earcophagi, The ii sciiptions itnmured along the right hand wall are the Pagan, and upon the opposite side are those of Chrsstian origin. Of course they are in Latin and Greek, not always elassicalljr correct, perhaps, often very rudely oarved and with many abbreviations ; but it is very notieeable aow the contrast between the two stands forth when thus brought iu opposition. In the one class occur prayera k the gods, inroeatiofis to the earth to rnst lightly on the ashes of the dead, and sacrificial representations, while in the othcr aro used words that implya rest in peace, a happy resurrection, a love that shall endure through a long etemity, and symbolic signa and illustrations, suoh as the monogram of a P upon an X, signifying the peace of Christ, tho dove with an olive branch, the anchor, the palm, the Sheph'WÖ bearing thp sheep, and othera all indicative of a belief and trust in the future through the intervention of Christ for the saka of whom they wero in thos days compelleti to tafee their lives in thei hand, as it were. The lattor are princi pally derived from tho various catacomb about Romo, an evidenco that between these subterrauoan passages and the early C'hristiünS' there was an intímate relation at least i'or sepulehrul uses, if not more They are generally of a simple style and to the ïuemory of those vvho did no wield eitber great woalth or bigh station in lite. But it would be impossible to speak of them in detail, there beiug, it is gaid, about 3,000 heathen specimens, wbile of the Christian insoriptions thero are about 1,100. Looking frouionr standpoint it seems singular that nowbere in the catecombs, whore symbolic represen - tatioiis were so oi'ton used, does the cross appuar to have been introdueed as a symbul in any of its forn'.s. But we now approaeh another and to raoat persons more iuteresting división of these galleries, for, valuable and curious as ave these insenptions, cippi, &c, toone who desires to inspeet tbem carefully in the liglit of a study and as an object of research in this peculiar field, they present to the ordinary spectator a certain sameneas and. juonotony which soon lessens the enjoyratnt and satisties the curiosity. Aa wu enter the brginning of tho Chiaramonti we turn at right augles into the Nuovo Braccio, between two columns of granite supporting busts of Trajan and Augustus, with heads of black basalt, with cuirass and drapery of flowered alabaster, the oaring of the jams of the entrance being of Sicilian jasper. During the despotic occupation by Napoleon I. all the rarest paini'Oga and sculptures of Italy were seized and borne away to decórate his own capital, Paris, and wben hÍ3 day of reckouing carne and these oolleotions ludao by the great amateur wero returned, uuder the Pontifieate of Pius vil., the choicé seulptures were placed in the new hall. Among the many valuaule objeets wliich here meet tha eye a few are lefericd to áa an indicatiou oí' the rare enjoylnent that is offored to the lover of art or admirar of beauty. Wo nee many things as to which critica do not ahvays agres couoerning the proper appellation, and so in regard to the origin and age, but the most faithful and loving study by the most eminent artists and competent judges has been bestowed i'or centuiius upon many of these precious suulptures, and it is but a becoming modesty i'or travulers from a land itself but the diseoYery of yestaxday to accept their deoisioua with unquestioning coniidence. We pause ñrst, af ter one admiring glunce down the splendid hall, before a Caryatide, whioh was either one of the statpsexeouted by Diogenes, of Athcns, tor ie Pantheon, or peiiiaps (still more reaikably) is one of the six celebrated atues, the work of Phidias, which jortecl the Eandroseiu.cn, at Athons. - ?hat it inay be the work of uiiberof those minent Greek artists the beanty of the tatuó suffloiontly provea. A colossal atue of Augustus in Pariau marblo, ouud in 1863, at the first Eoman station n the Flaminian way, and beiieved' to lave been executed by soino eminent TCtek artist Bojourning at Eome. denands by its noble majesty soraething more thau tho passing glance already iven to many. The cuirass is beautifulyuiboliziüg the principal aohifcvements f the Emperor. A fine anoient mosaio ound at Tor Merancio is inlaid in the oor atthis point. It representa Ulysses, ashed to the mast of his galley, escaping 'rom the bewitching musio of the siten i'arthenope, who is playing on the lyre. On one side of Charybdis stands Soylla, beating some wreeked sailors, and her ogs are devouring them ; and various other figures are on the other. It te an nteresting oomposition indeed. With eal admiration we stop before the iful personificaron oí' Modesty, a veiled 'ernale figmre of great beauty and expression. It was found on the Ccelian lili aad is the production of Greek art. We admire, also, the Ganyuiede of .FedmuSr whose name, in Greek, is engruved on the status ; a wounded Amazon, whose graceful attitudes and dignity cause us to ;'orget our prejudice against the wurlike race ; a Demosthene's, one of the finest figures in the collection. Souiething of the expressiveness of this celebrated orator's " action" has been lost in the restoration of the four arms, but it is wondeffully animated' even now, and seems instinct with some of his noblest Philippics It was found at Frascati. The Apoxyarnenos, or Athlote, is also a fine figure, and is supposed to be a copy of the celebrated bronze of Lysippus. Venus, risen from the waves and arraugiug and drying her hair, is a beantif al work añd the drapery exceadingly graceful. Here, too 18 the well-known colossal group, tho Nile, with the sixteen graceful genii and cupidsupon and about the half-reolining river-god. We had frequently seen this group in prints and took it to be tho fainous Brobdignag being bound by the Lüliputians. When the work is exauiined in raarble, with the iigures of the chneiïinon, crocodile, hipp'opotaraus, and he lotus flowor, all emblema of Egypt, h(3 mistake could not well ocour. A linerva is here which is supposed to be eopy in Parían marble of the eelebratd statue of gold and ivory, by Phidias. fhu goddess is clothcd in the poplum, irelessly throvvn over her shoulders, the egis is in her left hand, a lauco in her right, a heimet upon her head, the folds of the ruantle graoefully reaching to her f eet. Sueh are a few of the 136 sculp tured forms whioh stani in such bcautiful array on both sides as we pass down the long corridor. The conteuts of tbc Chiararaonti gal lery are still more extensive and diversiiiod. The title is dorived from the f'amily name of Pius VIL, and the arrangement was made by tbü eminent artist Canova. Eacb of the tüirty sections is liglited by a largo window, and everything that refined taste aad judicious expeuditure oould accomplish seemb hero united to ittorease the attractions. Here the whole heathen world secms assembled in its gods and goddesses, its Cupids aud Fauns, its Einperors and noble ladios, its reliëfs of g:imes and kants and mythological myths, its emblematic fig iras of iivers and the soasons and the virlues, its ma.sk.; nd 8atyra, its sarooph a,gi md oippi, its Muses, ÍNereids, ai" Tritons, its birds and animáis, its griffin and sea monsters, ar.d other objects pe culiar to aneient times and usages. - Theré is here a colossal bust of PaUas the goddoss of war, with holmet. Th eye.s are of onamel. It is highly iinishe and a fine head, and the colossal, life-like t ' eyes do not, in auch a noble setting, appear inharmonious, ts they piobably would in a less comman ling figure, lt was f'ouncl at tho ancient Laureutinm. Ilere also is the fragment of a bas i ' frotb the eastern frieze of tho Parthenon, at Athens. Strange to siiy, this smal] fragment; onfy three ör föür ffeéi lor the ouly one in Ituly trom tho boiiutiftil bas reliëfs eculptured by Phidiaa toadorn iliat celebrated temple, so thoroughly was the splendid larceny of I'ord Blgin completed. Here, too, is tho celebrated Cupid of Praxiteles, represuntiug the god in tho act of bending his bow. A beautifnl statue of the Vestal Virgin Tuccia uarrying water in a seive, to prova by this test the falsity of the charge against her ehastity, is very expressi ve in its coinbined eniotions of modesty and conscious innocence as exhibited in the features and attitude. Upon the side of the seive ij cngraved " S. K. Pello - Thus I disprove calumny." But we corae now to tho steps that asoend to the depaituiunt callea the Pio Clementino Museum, so called after Pius VI and Clement XIV., by whom tho galleiies of this portion of' the Vaticun were so greatly anlarged and embellished asto inake them the most magnificent in the worid, and within which are some of the grandest works ot human art. Instead . ot' being one long, continuous hall, as ' each of the departmonts already noticed, this is composed of several rooms of vary ing sizes and shapes adjoining each other, and vac.h having it? distinot appellation. The firstroom is termed tho " Sqaare Vestibule of the Belvidere." The frescoes and stuccos whioh adorn the oeiling are by the great painter and sculptor Giovani da Undine. In the first división is (30 bc seen the faraous Torso Belvidere, by somo antiqüaries termed the Torso of Hurciles, by Apolonius of Athens. Over this fragment of a semi-eolossal sitting ñgurc, headless, armlesS) and nearly legless, tutists and critios of tho most acknowledged ability have lmug with adUiiring gazo and on it lavished all of praise that tongue could speak or pen indite. Kaphael and Hiehael Angplo agreed in this. if in little else. It is pronounced the most beautiful pipce of sculptnre in existence, excelling all others in real grandeur. AU this heightens our interest very naturally, but, life-like as is the wort, we laok the enthusiasm whioh an expert would feel and svhich we too might feel, very likely, if only a head of oorrespouding perfeqüon wereremaining; and, half ashamed of our mental confession, we pass on. It is supposed to be of a date somewhat later than Alexander the Great, is of Pentelic marble, and was found at the oloso of the 15th ceutury, near the ancient site of the theater of Pompey. Bnterinsr the Eon'id Vestibule vre find other niuch admired iragments, benig in sonie way, either in drapery or attitudes or otherwise, of especial inerit. The room of the Meleager containa tba celebrated statue of tUatname, whicb, though wanting its tófti ariri, is of very ereat beauty. It represents the son of CËueus just as he has triuuiphed over the dreadtd wild boiir which the spiteinl Diana had sent to ravage his fatner's country, with his faithful dog at hisside. lts per - lWUVii '■- 'i' -"'■ -c?1-1 "" made it a favoiite study with great artists, and Michael Angelo is said to have declined to undertako the restoration o: the arm because ot' its beauty. Passiöj through a beautii'ul octagonal court, we enter the adjoiuing room of the ootagoi and pause with an admiration we canno repress before the Mercory of the Belvi dere, a statue of Parian uiarble, pro nouhced by Poussin the only statue w'iiicl adequately representithe highest beauty and symmetry of the human forra. We rh:d in the third'foom the original anc world-renowned Laoooon, familiar to al in nasts innumerable, but neverso perfec and admirable as here. It was discov med in 1506 on the Esquilins, among th ruina of the baths of Titus, in the same niche, it is supposed, where it stood and was admired in Pliiiy's time, and is the work of Agesiinder and his two sons, of the time of Alexander the Great. At last we enter, with a feeling akin to awe, into thepresnnce of the Apollo Belvidere, the most beautitnl and exquisita as well as the most noble and dignified work of ancient Greek csculpture. As t'ar as possible, apparently, the artist has ünited that beauty of form and feature suited to the handsomest of the gods and that grand eur and elevation of mien which denotes his celestial origin. It properly talies that position with respect to the male figure which the Venus de Medici does in regard to the i'emale. In explanation of thü attitude and expression, which is so iull of nmjesty, it is supposed that the artist has in tended to représent the god when elated with some one of his gieat triumphs. lts material is of the tinest marble, the Parian, but by whom sculptured is not well settled. It became the property of the Papal government in lóOG and has now i'or three centuries and a half been regarded as the brightest eem of this renowned collectioñ, and is irenurally thought to be the finest statue in the world. Tho only criticisra that is ventbrod upon its wonderful perfection is that tho legs muy be disproportionally long, whieh, if eoncsded, is jnstified as it is claimed by the greatnr liehtness, fleetness, and elovation in the god, who as the most beautiful ani graceful could not exhibittho more fitting characteristioa of strongth of of a gt-o3s })}iysique. For tho present, we will here leave the Vatican, to return at some otber time, regrettitig that we catmot more adequately reprosfeiit that beauty and agreeableemotion which BW nisoparably assooiatod as we stand befoie tliese rjiasteruieces, but which scaroely admit of trausference to others through the medium of description.