Foreign Correspondence

Rome, Feb. 10, 1873. Friend Pond: In a previous lottor some account of n portion of the great Vatican gallcrio9 was given, and though the tale is Still moro than half untold enougli wa3 said to show that in the department of Sculpturo uo place can compare with Romo, as in tho sister art of Painting Florence and her galleries stand pre-cminent. It seems a little singular that whilo at home there is so little ptlblia or private encouragemont to professional artista as compared to the seeming high respect in which Art and its inastere are held in these older nations, thoro arp, notwithstatiding this fact, more artista here engaged in their studies who como frorri America than f rom England or anyjother single nationality, Italy excepted. This was also truc, as beforo stated, in Forrmce. And it is gratifying to believe that1 the American artists here tafee a rank as high as the best from other lands in their skiilful execntion and fertility of design. The great rebellion was in a certain senso highiy profitable to American sculptors in conscrj-.ior.co of the many orders received by them from the various municipal and state authotities and public and private associations for statues and monuments of exceptional magnitude and a corresponding more liberal oompensation. Mr. Rhinehart, in his recent visit to Baltimore, takihg with him the proceeds of one 'order, the statue of the lato ChiefJustice Taney, returns charged with the execution os at loast one one othcr im portant commission, a statuo of Lord Baltimorp, the founder of Maryland - Some one of several contestants (among whom is our fellow townsman Randolph Rogers) will tik course have the ple'.isun of ülling the proposal of Congress í'or a monument to Admiral Farragut, and thera 13 scarcely any une of the number heere who has riot dono sonicthing which grew directly out of soms incident of the war. The appcarance of tho respectivo studios of the above-nwied artists exhibitg, in tho many casta arranged about and iillihg their shelvess, evidence of a wide field in which they have been successfully laboring. The latest production of an ideal kind from the chisel of Mr. Hogers is the " Somnámbula," a very fine figure gracefully draped, bearing in her hand an Bgyptian lamp, whose antiquo pattern and origin scem very fitting to be consciously in tho hight and dafltuBSS. - Bat beautiful as, is the countenance, and charming as is the statue in its ontirety, it is doubtful VfhetheT the Nydia may not still claim the palm wero another Paris to preside ovor the boauties of his studio. Yet any private collection might well b3 prowi if either the "Young In dian Hunter," tho " Fisher Boy," tho "Skater," the " Ruth," or any ono of a half dozen othor " things of beauty" [ïom his ehiscl, was in its niches - to gay nothin about tho exquisite " Psyche'' bust which he has loviügly modeled af ter liis second daughter. The modfils of various public moiiuments already completed, alld of that nearly finished for Worcester, Mass. - all of which are composed of uiany parts and figures- and the numerous Imsts of public men and indivicU uals which are arrayed abont, filling several rooms, look lika devotion to an art ho loves, and coustitute quite a gallery without further additions. A visit to the studio of Mr. Rbinehart is nearly gratifying, an.1 gives similar evidenco of successful industry and ariistic taste. " Latona and the Twins" is his last fair cri'ation from the illimitablo ideal world, aided, hovvever, in th3 instance, by the ancient myth. Othar graceful figures are posed on pedestals and otherwise in tho somewhat migoellailötms way of all these proper workshops of Art, but none the less pleasing for thnt. Tuis artist seems to have been particularly popular for his portrait busts, whioh fill so many shelves in various nooks and corners that it waa a task of somo mirmtes diligent search to find that particular pieco of plastpr whioh when found full plainly bure the Bnmistakable Websterian features of our good friend ar.d townsman, the Hon. II. W. R. It was somowhat beyond reaeh or wo should hava taken pleasure in despoüing it of sorno of the du3t whieh had acoumulft'ed during the ten vears it bas been standing there. Just now that the death of Lord Lytton has revived the memory of his intensely fascinating works at tention is oagerly directed t everything asaociated with their well-known characters, and among these tho papers havo quito recently spoken favorably of a group just linished at tho studio of Mr. Cardwoll, of Nydia attompting to dÍ3tinguish the beautiful features of the more favored Ione by passing her hand over the face of tho latter - one of the most chunuing incidents in tlmt charming story of tlie bnried city. Bef'ore leaving tliia subject mentios should be mada of the f net that Mr. Hogers has very reoently boen clected to a Professorship in the Acadcmy of S. Luca - being the first Arnorican artist upon whoin this highly complimentary honor has been oonferred. Tho position does not neeessarily imply any active duties or emolumonts, it being an assotiiation nanied after St. Luko, tho patrón of Paiating, foonded in lö'J., for the encouragement of art and termed a School of Art, of whioh tho distinguishod painter Zuccaro was the first director. Wc paid a visit to tho rooms of the Academy a few days ago, and wero high-lyjyratifred by the sight of soiüo vpry exoeUetlt pictures by sorae of tho first masten. Of especial valuó is tho picture of St. Luke painting tho Madonna, a woik of Iiaphael'd, tliough not ontirely dono by his hand. It has a doublo valué from tho introduotiou of tho portrait of the great artist himself, represented as standing by looting on, and is highly prized by the Academy. Perhaps tho ihost interosting object there is a oopy of Raphaeí's original first sketch of hia great picture of tho Transfiguraron (tho sketch itselt is lost). It does tho entire groupiug precisely as scen in tho eompleted work, except that tho figures are allnude. For threo weeks or moro the papers havo been much oooupied with notices, favorable and nnfavorable, of tho late Empeior Napoleon m., and bero in Italy the sentiments of the peoplo aro somewhat mixed, though there seems to bo a teudency to regard him a3 having aided in the regeneration and freedom of Italy, and in many places movements have been made to commemorato his virtnes by monuments, büt uot, as yet, in Eome. On the day of tlio fnneral obsequies at Chiselhurst funeral services were a'.so held here, with all the more appro priateness becausa thero are several members of the Bonaparte family rosiding here, inoluding a Cardinal. The church selected was the S. Maria in Via Lata - well adapted from its interior construction for the arrangement of the tions or drapery of heavy black veivct with a wide tringo of bullion, whiota hung in massivo folds continued around tho ontire navo from near the ceiling, to within about five feet of the floor, theii rising again and agairi descending, till the cifcuit was öotnpleted. The efifect, combined with tho richly decórated ceiling, was exceedingly rich. - Central iy on tho nave stood the sombre catafalqttft, covered with its vel vet pall and surrounded by a largo cushion of criinsou and gold, upon which lay an imperia] crown of gilt (or gold). Ëvory inch of fipaeo was eröwdod, fur the ehiirca is not largo ainrt strnngers were fully representad. High mass waa chauted by the Bishop of Lntri, arrayed I in very rioh canonical robes. The mnsiö oonaieted in part of an ode compoced by I Signor Torsinni, conductor of t'e grand opera, who led the ohoir in pereon, the principal vocalista from the choir of Sf. Pe.ter's assisting - and was vory fine thronghont. The several merabers of tho Bonaparte fiunily wero present, and tiu; King, Pvinco Humbert, and the Princess were each dnly present, bj pro&j. Ot' the Roman arigtooracy thero was a large sprinkling, bat not partionlarly notice, able, of course, on an occasion where display would liave been highly out of place. As tho cïosing service of the occasion, the Bishop, preceded by tho ushers and followod by the train of priests catafalqne, aid to tho low walling of the organ and subdued chant of tho aseistants performed the final ceremony of the Asperges, after which the erowd began the diffiealt process of dispersión. - Throughout the services there was respectful attention, nothing moro - we saw no involuntary tears shed ovor tho suddon exit of tho " Liberator ot' Italy," as his adinirers are pleased to cali him. In a previous letter wo stopped gome account of the many inteíostlng object s along the Appiín Way at the catacombs of St. Calixtas ; but thcss objacts are still inore nuraorous as we proceed further, and the mind ig faírly overwhelmed as one rain after another comes constantly into view, all telling in unmistakable languáge of the former grandeur and immonsity of ancient Borne. From the time 8t. Calixtus is pxssod vve find both sirios of the oíd road, which is still the one in use, lined with tombsof süch peculiar constrnction that in more or lees perfcction thoy havo successfully battled ag.iinst the efforts of timo and depay fotheir nttev excinction. In addition to this the great qnantity of fragmenta of decorativo architecture lying aloug the way. which was exhumed when tho Via Appia was exc. vat-d to its ancient leve], indioatea tho elabórate charaoter of many of these oíd tomb3 in their externa! finish. Thia would naturally bo tho gtrotching as they didfor miles alóng the border of this most important highway, forroing the most Oonspicuous objects upon the level plain, and containhig tho last resting places of many of the iich patriciniia of that day. A short distiinoe bevond the catacombs is tho church of St. Sebastian, one of the seven churcheson the side road which is oalled the " Via Setti Chinse," to which pilgrims havo resQrted lor many centurius. It is erec'.ed ii'oove tho entranco to to cfftacombs in which it was believo 1 many Christiaii martyra were intcrred. They a;e of limited extent and uninter eating as compared to thoso of S. Calixtus, but are the only catacombs which have alwayscontinued open and accr:sible through all tht chunges of fifteen hundred years. In the Piaza opposita a connneinorative niarble colum'.i has been erected to the " uucon-quercd martyr, Sebastiano." Just beyond the chuich is a low dnpression in the snrface of the country, forming a narro w valloy, in which, adjoining the north side of tho Via Appia, aro tho extensivo ruins of tho circus of Maxentius, tho great rival of Constantino, oonstructed 31i. Many of thü brick walls aro yot remaiuing, and the L'cnerp-1 plan may yet be traoed. lts lengtli !ias been found tobo 1521 feet and its width 2G9 feet, tho lateral walla being still nearly twenty feet high, running obliquely from tha road. About 18,000 epeqtators could oocupy scats arranged in ten tiers iround tho circus,- only the foundations of theso eau now be seen - A circular structure, .vith which a more m-odorn haï been combinod, standing near the road, is supposed to h avo been erected to a son of Maxontius, who died at an carly age. the existenco of this immense strncture at a distance of nea - ly two miles from the Porta Latina and Porta Appia in the Aurelian wall is anothor indication of tho amazing magnitude upan which the old Itomans projected everything, and at the saino timo of tho demanda of this great people in that day for such extraordinary conveniences for thoir enjoyineut. It is also probable that a dense population lived outside tho walls, extending, porhaps, quite to this vicinity. Some writers even' claim that tho walls were onco fif'ty miles in circumferonce, being less than fliteen now. Asconding the opposite sido of the valloy, on its further slope and close upon the highwa gtanda that "stern, round tower of other day," which, erected about 60 B. C, still stands " firm as a fortress," after all the Ticwaitudes of two thousand years. Not that it has escaped unharmed, fot its great injuries are but too evident; yet its appea'ranee is so far well-preserved that approaehing it from direction of the city it looks as fair and bright as if scHi-ce a tithe of the long Ltttcu-VLil had passed over it. Itis buiH upon a square base of solid pepperinebloeks of immense size, and upon this stands the circular Buperstructure of masoury, the walls of whbh are thirty-five feet thicl, solid, arouud a central chamber about fifi ty feet in diameter. This chamber reaches duwn to the lower strata of the basement. The over-arching, coTiical top, however, has fallen in and partially fllled the lower portion. The extorior ís eneased with largnï blocks of finely dressed travertine, having the frieze and eornice neatly scuiptured, the former being adorncd with a continnous wreath gracefulijr festoonnd arounii the ontiré Btruoture, the heads of hulls being represen td abovo each festoon. The 'present battlemented finish was sutetitutad for the plaln balustrade in the 13th century, when tho Gaetanis erected their extensive palace and stronghold adjoining, the walls of whioh extend for fifty rods on both sides of the road and embrace in their compass the ruins of a good-sized phurch. Upon the side facing the Street is iinmured a largo inarble slab, bëating the simple inscription " Ccscilice, Q. Cretïci filia, MetUUa CrattL" This splendid monument of the "love or pride"of the rich Crassus is referred to in soine of Ihe most felieitous linea of "Childe Harold." We come uow into the more open campagna country, with an almost unobstructed view on cither side quite to the mountains On the let't the picturesquc arches of tho Marcian and Claudian acts stretehing for miles auross the ide plain, and bere and there breaking entirely through and in places most beautiiully garliuded with ivy; on the right an almo.it vordureless piain with nut a house or a living thing visible for several miles, and most vividly rerninding us of the prairie regiems of the west in the very eariy spring; wh.tle before na are the Alban hills, with Frascati and other villages parohed 0:1 their sides, and quito plainly in view, their bighest swnmit, Munti.! Cavo, the ancient Mons Albanus, 3,200 f.' 't above the sea, where the temple of Júpiter Latiaris stood, but whose ruins have been converted into a raonastery withia tho last cenlury. The Appian Way has ftoiij this poiñt been tlioroughly oleared of its superimposeJ debri8, and with its curbstone border and often the very flagging that covered it m al daysj is visible as it extends onwaid, straight as an arrow, asoending . ,;iuu'aLihj3..uioiuitniu„nud á miles Soine care bas been taken to prevent the further, dilapidation of the tombs, which for three or four miles are po closely built as to appoar like a long village, over wbich the night of ages huís huiig its sluinberous silence. Reliëfs, inscriptions, busts, broken facades and ornamental fragmenta of all kinds keep the attention and curiosity incessantly a wake. and as we reach Roma Vecohia, a small "city of the dead" whoso extensive ruins .r.' supposed to have once belonged to a spacious villa of tho Quiactilia faniily, wo foei quite preparêd to bolieve all that the poels or the eloquent üibbon have said of the sp'.endor and glory of ancient Rome. ïhis open Canipagua ia the fuvorite resort of the young lioinan nobility, whose mettle is kept in proper tone by weekly hunts here, master Beynard being deemed a foeman worthy of their steel. A lava stream once ejected trom the Alban mountains extended as far as the tomb oí Cecilia Hetella, and irement of the road seoms to have bc'en of this mattrial, Tliore are few exoursions about this venerable city that offer so niany attractions for a day ; inU!"i if we weré to begin at tho Palatino hill a week migiit well be consuaied in the examination of one object after another, direetly upon this fainous road. The Paiatine itself, Baths of Carraoalla, Scipio's tomb, that of the freedman of Octavia, Ai-.jh of Drusus, Porta Sebastiano, the e hu re ti es, small temples, catacombe, circus of Maxentius, tomb of Ce(.itia Metella, tho stronghold of the Gaetani adjoining, the hundreda of Mausolea along the way, ümii-j Yeoenia and the endlet museum of marbles everywhere in vii'u-, to sy ftotbing of the aqueducts and tho spleüdid seenery, aio all in one continuous liae Bot exceding about fivo miles in tength. II ippily for the future oí visitors to this city there is somo prospect of a stable or at least more stable govemnient, in which the aims of authority are made consistent with the enlighteuuttent of the people, 'and instead of being the football of Pranoe and surrounding natioas Italy muy como to berespected. Anything which tends to these desi rabie resalta vvill tavor the protervation of her great monuments of the ptvgt; direetly, hacau39 of thoir evident valui.' iu the interest of goience and bistorj', as '.veil as o-roat a-ttiaction to the stranger andartist, and indiréctly by the prevention of tiiose constant fluJtuations and disseiisions which have caused the grefctest injury by disacting attention from the great valun uf these remains. The sivat quantity of fragmeuts yet lying loose about the ground and still in ihoso wails and dilapidated structuren which are roofloss and slwpeless, aearly, and therefore of no valué as habitatlons or tor ornament is incredible, and were these permitted to be utilized as building i il or cleared away as uasightly in" cambrances they vvcnid doubtless be eonvorted into an immense equivalunt iu mouey. This stroug temptrttion of a poverty-stricken Btate, aa well '.s the frequent couimotiona and wars which have mged withiu this devoted city, have in the pa.st (Luie moro than tho "ravages ot timo tu leur down amldestroy. Even today thero is not a stond yard or inarble shop in ilo:ne whioh is not largely filled witu materiala hom theso old remains - especi-iily of inarb'e. But the principal buildings and most extensive ruine are now oontrolled by the govurnun-nt and aio Oftrefully supervisecf, and jusl now the buildings which havo for hnndro'ls of vea abutted upon tht noble survivor ot' tho past, the Pantheon, compietely hiding all the rear neatly onehalf ot the rotunda portion, are beini' removedr the principaüty paying ove" $30,000 for them, and in a short time the splendid edilice will stand out in all its proper glory to bo tho continued admira tion of future centuries as it bas ever been tbrough t!e long vist.i of two thousand years in the - that s: much dihtarbs the narvi s ei ;: seii8itive admirer of aun. art that are everywhero to I amid the older parts of tho city as this insano desiio to utiliza the,=o venerable templpsand to divert every availablo pillar to some purpose foreign to its original placo or use. To answor this end many landmarks of ancient times have been wholly ovorturncd aud nota vestige yvnruns to corrobórate the record, whiJe in other casos we seo structures of 'a conparativoly recent date iu whose massiva walLr we recogni the use of materials trom the Colosseuna or elsewhere. feut Btill turther and more often we find the ruins sought for. bui so corapletely transtormed by somo inharnionious modern a-.lnptation that it requirea far more ima gin ation to strip a way these new irarpings and roconstruot the classic pile of other daya than it doca to stand by the three only surviving noble pillars of Vespasian and re-arrang'u h; fatey all that is wanting to complete that ruagnificent original. We look, for instanco, as we wandor along the Forum, upon the facadg of the temple of Faustina- there it stands i's columns and peditnent, its frieze and inscnption, almost perfect, even its lateral walls and nohly sculptured entablature are stnl romaining; but notwithstahdinir Ho much is left tile temple is gone, and ia ïis Btead is its church of S. Lorenzo ia Miranda, with all its gilt and tawdry ppurtenanöos. A few steps beyond we see the ancient portal of porphyry pillar?, the door of massive bronzn, and portions oí the circular walls of another temple probably of the Penates ; but here too a church to the saints Uosma e Damianó has h ien incorporatod with it, giving the more recent such predominance over the anciont edifico that it is a temple no lonKW, oxcept by courtesy. Nor is the oase uelped at all by beiug eshown the original pillar immured in the walls or made the boundary ot the church nave. Near the bank of the Tiber is the church of 8. Maria Egiziuoa, and when we look at its peculiar architecture we ascertain that all ihe Ionio olumns of the open Pórtico of tile temple of Fortuna Virilis, togethor with the fiieze ortiamented with reliëfs of heads of oxen and wreaths of flowershave been subsidized, and that to form its external walls the spaces between the pillars have been filïed, learing as the result a spoiled temple and an ill-looking church. These are a few only of the instances iu whioh ancierit remains that would have been exceedinely interesting if preaerved as ruins háve lost much of their interest and all of their picturesqua beauty by their transformation. In a few cases the changes have been oomparati-3ly so slight that the mini ovcrlooks the mudern innovations iri the wondrons spell of a hoary Antixiity which broods over the whole. Such is that pride of the past, the Pantheon, ia which the six small altars that constitute tho " S. Maria ad Martyros" of Boniface IV. are of such intrinsio littlenoss as compared to the grand circumference around and the spiendid over-arching dome. ísuch is that nobiest ruin of the world, the Colcsseum, in wnose wide arena the t(w square feet occupied Ky the half dozen chapéis are poaitively nothing, physic ally, in the midst of those towering wallf. And e?en the small temple of Vesta, or (as sume cali it) of Hercules, in its beautiful exterior still shows the temple only and aothing of the church S. Maria del Sole. Indeed, to atteuipt its conversión into a church at all romiodg one of tho "BiOTM purtvriunt " ai Hontce, the interior being only twerity six feet in circumference. In these instances, if the fornial consecration by the Pope to religio'fis purposes has tended to their better pre-7 serva tion, th3 world may well acknöwledge its indebtedness for the nominal alteration. But where the transiofraation has quite swallowed up the ancient charaoteribtics one cannot avoid a feeling of regret. Tbe small templo just referred to is one of the most perfect and beautiful of the buildings left to U3 from the ancient city, and though so small comes most nearly to our ideal temple. It stands upon the branch of old Tiber, in a rather luw plaeo.is circular andsurronnded by an open pórtico of twenty beautiful Corinthian columns, ;)2 feet high, oniv oi)e of which is .missinr. JH Wn, great caro so that the joints are scarcoly noticoiible. It stands upon a foundation of largó blocka of stone ábóut six föet above tho surface, the lower course of which is dressed with a deep groove to lead off the water. The temple was approached by a flight of step3 surróundmg it. The circumference outside the columns is only 156 feet. The present roof is modern and not consonant with the edifice it covers, when the anoient and tasteful open roof snrmounted it it must have been quite a, charmmg feature in the scenery, cspeeially from tha river.