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CANOVA. THE APOLLO.

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Canova holds a place of high honour at the Vatican. His Persius . . . . which, with a good deal of hyperbolical admiration, was set upon the vacant pedestal of the Apollo, and named the Consolatrice, during the short-lived possession of the chef-d'œuvre by France.... together with his two famous Wrestlers, occupy one of the four cabinets in the portico of the court of the Vatican gallery. the three others being occupied by the Meleager.... the Laocoon ... and the Apollo. Were I the ghost of Canova, I would incessantly haunt the pope, the seventy-two cardinals, the Cav. Fabris, and all the custode of the Vatican, major and minor, till these three admirable works were placed where they would not be brought into such very cruel competition with the wonders of the world.

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The Apollo was not, as it seemed to me, one of the figures which profited the most by the torchlight. I had admired it so heartily before, perhaps, that it was impossible I could admire it more. The colossal Nile, with its sixteen skipping Fairies (so very like Gulliver and the Lilliputians), though always eloquent with a sort of fanciful poetry, had something unspeakably mysterious and striking when flashed upon, first in one direction and then in another, by our wonder-working light. . . . and so, in good truth, had THE Torso which, like the Laocoon, then came for the first time with full force upon my eyes and my

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THE TORSO. - HEAD OF JUPITER.

understanding.

How fully I believe the story about Michael Angelo's being taken to touch this peerless fragment with his hands, when the sight of his eyes failed him! It is said that Michael Angelo was wont to call this colossal morsel, "il mio maestro".... and this, too, I can believe and I could fancy, if I dared to fancy any thing upon such a subject, that the stronglydeveloped muscles in the arm of the reposing Moses as well as some similar details in the chapel of the tombs at Florence, are the products of this pupilage.

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The great Head of Jove, in the circular room, actually made me tremble from head to foot, when all the power and might of the countenance was brought out by the skilful application of the torches. . . . What terrible tricks might be played upon weak nerves among these god-like marbles if all circumstances of light and darkness, and surprise and mystery, were made the most of!.... But I must not go on enumerating all the things that the taste of our admirable cicerone commanded to stand forth on this occasion. . . . or my letter would never be finished. Should you, however, ever be happy enough to find yourself in the halls of the Vatican by torch-light, fail not to remark the magical effect of the lights upon the staircase leading from the circular hall. It is the closing scene of the drama, and will send you away in a fine dreamy state of mind, that may

FAREWELL VISIT TO THE COLISEUM.

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make you feel doubtful whether the last hours have been passed on earth, in heaven, or in the shades below.

I must repeat that this exhibition gave me more delight than any other I have seen at Rome.... but if I say Rome, when speaking of such like sights, need I add the world also? Yes, this view of the statues by torch-light is what I have most completely enjoyed and thus my letter about it is a rondo.

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We had hoped to have seen also that other magical lighting up for which Rome is famous namely, the Coliseum by moonlight. We have the moonlight certainly, and bright enough it is, though within but a day or two of Christmas but we have had heavy showers, and the place is the very dampest in Rome. . . . so prudence gets the better of poetry, and we give it up. We would not, however, give up our last look at the majestic ruin, and all that surrounds it, and we have this morning passed a melancholy sort of hour or two there. . . . and I gathered a handful of acanthus leaves, which nestle between the fragments as if there were some natural affinity between them . . . . and then we wandered about the Palatine hill, among the traces of Cæsar's palace and the Orti Farnesiani. Here I made acquaintance with a gardener, and purchased sundry garden seeds. . . . and then we descended

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CONTEMPLATION OF ANCIENT ROME.

with torches to the pretty gilt-roofed baths of Livia.... and then we stood on the beautiful terrace that overlooks Rome and its Campagna, with the Coliseum and its surrounding columns and arches almost at our feet; and from this spot it was that we bade adieu to ancient Rome, — for the few days we have still left to pass here are so crammed full of engagements for morning, noon, and night, that we cannot hope to get to this favourite quarter again. We made the carriage follow us as we retreated by the Via Sacra, and walked over the old pavement, and stood before every column, and under every arch, with a very disagreeable consciousness of the doubt that rested upon our ever finding ourselves there again.

LETTER XXII.

The Papal Mass on Christmas Day at St. Peter's.

of Cardinals.

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The College

- Rank of Bishop hereditary in some Roman Families. Simplicity of the Pope's Manner of Living. Anecdote.-Cardinal Géramb. Anecdotes. Villa Ludovisi.

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His appeal to the Abbé de la Mennais.

Group of Petus and Arie.

The Chevalier Campana's Collection.

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Tomb of a Baker at the Porto Maggiore. The Pope at the Church of St. Ignatius. — Private Theatricals. Final Ball.

Rome, December, 1841.

A PAPAL mass is certainly a solemn spectacle, despite all that can be said about mummery, and so forth. I am quite aware that it might easily be made more solemn still, and that, merely by leaving out a little of the toilet business. I shall never be able to comprehend how people who have so long studied, and so well understand producing striking scenic effect by their ceremonies, can continue to think that the dressing, and undressing, of an old gentleman by his servants can have any thing solemn and impressive in it. This part of the ceremonies, however, was not new to me. I have seen the same thing done at the inauguration of a bishop in Flanders, which, but for this, would have been a most dignified and imposing service . . . . but the whole thing, as

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