a table, universally allowed to be a masterpiece of sculpture. It also
contains a few busts, and the walls are ornamented with twenty-seven
paintings; among which is a Venus, by Titian, universally admired: but
it has been observed, that she labours under a disadvantage, in being so
near the incomparable one in the Tribuna.
The fourth is filled with small statues, busts and pictures.
But the room called La Tribuna is the boast of the whole Gallery. It
contains the Venus of Medicis, the Wrestlers, the Listener, and the
Fawn, which surpass what I thought it possible for marble to express.
Nobody that has heard of Florence, but must have read a particular
description of these admirable statues: but, in obedience to your
desire, I have set down the following measurements of the Venus of
Medicis, taken by myself:
Feet. In. 10ths.
From the top of her forehead, in a
right line, to the ground 4 9 7
But, as she leans considerably forward,
her real height, as well as I
could measure, is 5 2 0
Circumference of the largest part of
her below her hips 2 11 5
Round her shoulders and her arms 3 1 3
Circumference of the smallest part
of her leg 0 8 0
Of the largest 1 1 2
Of her ankle 0 8 6
Length of her foot 0 9 0
Her arms are modern, and by no
means equal to the rest of the
statue. Their length is 2 5 5
The paintings in the Tribuna are equal to the statues. The most famous
is Titian's celebrated Venus, which justly merits the high encomiums
universally conferred upon her. She is lying on a bed, with all her
beauties displayed. The painter, with great judgment, has given her a
passive countenance, and introduced a softness in her air, full of
languishing desire, but free from lascivious wantonness. One might
compare her to a most beautiful married woman, deprived for the first
time of the presence of a beloved husband. In a word, nothing can be
more perfect, or more delightful.
St. Catherine also by Titian, is another excellent painting, and the
Virgin Mary, with the infant Jesus on her knees, like all Carlo Dolce's
pictures, is divine and beautiful.
Had I found the visitation of St. Elizabeth and St. John, fondling the
little Jesus on the Virgin's lap, and several others, in any place but
where there is so much to admire, I should have thought each of them
worthy a particular description.
The next four chambers contain the Venus Anadyomene, and a few more
statues in marble; together with a variety of beautiful vases, plates,
cups, and tables, richly inlaid with lapis lazuli and other rich stone;
near four hundred paintings in the Flemish manner; a collection of
original designs, or rough sketches, of the best masters, and another of
prints; but these are very inferior to those of the moderns, and are
only meant to show the progress of the art.
The cabinet of jewels and precious stones, cameos, intaglios, &c. closes
the Eastern range.
It is with great pain that I find myself inadequate to an entertaining
description of these invaluable treasures. The picture of St. Lawrence
conducted to the tyrant; Hercules after he had killed the Giants, by
Alexander Allori; Helena Forman, by Paul Rubens; the pearl fishery, in
lapis lazuli, by Anthony Tempesta; the Rape of Dejanira, by Giordano;
the copy of Correggio's Mary Magdalen, and many others I could gaze upon
for ever. But the objects of admiration I here meet with, are too
numerous to permit me to send you even a list of them.--I have already
transgressed the bounds I had proposed to myself; but having gone thus
far, I will proceed in the same style through the apartments on the west
side.
The first then is called the Cabinet of Medals, and contains a well
arranged collection, amounting to the astonishing number of upwards of
fourteen thousand. Many false antiques have been admitted, that amateurs
may have an opportunity of studying the difference between them and real
ones. Over the seven bureaux, in which the medals are preserved, the
Labours of Hercules are represented in as many silver groupes, copied
from John Bologna.
But these are not the only masterpieces contained in this chamber. Over
the chimney there is a hand in relief, by Michael Angelo, equal to his
most celebrated work; and the walls are ornamented by thirty-six
pictures, painted at Florence.
The second and third rooms contain the portraits of several hundred
painters, most of them drawn by themselves. What a satisfaction to
contemplate the characters of those celebrated masters, whose works have
afforded us the highest gratification. But as admittance has never been
refused to the most humble candidate for fame, who may choose to send
his portrait, many have gained a place here, who will soon be forgotten
every where else. In point of execution, my friend the Princess
Belmonté, I am afraid, is among this number; but as a patroness of the
arts and sciences, she is justly entitled to a place in the gallery of
Florence; and, as long as St. Cecilia is held in veneration, the
tuneful, the generous Belmonté will ever be remembered.
The fourth is filled with the heads of illustrious persons, and a
variety of inscriptions. On one of which, Seraspandes and Rhodaspes, the
sons of Phraates, are mentioned; and it is particularly valued because
Justin, the only Roman historian who takes notice of these Princes being
at Rome, omitted their names.
The fifth contains a beautiful statue of an hermaphrodite, which gives
name to the chamber; an Adonis, by Michael Angelo; Venus Victrix; Venus
Celeste, and a Bacchus. All excellent statues; and near fifty valuable
paintings.
The present Grand Duke fitted up the sixth hall for the reception of
Niobe, and her fourteen children, with a taste and magnificence worthy
these admirable statues.
The collection of old paintings in the next room is also the work of the
reigning Prince. They are accompanied by several busts and statues.
The eighth contains copies in bronze, not only of the Venus of Medicis,
and the most admired pieces in the preceding apartments, but of every
other celebrated statue, of which the Dukes of Florence have not been
able to procure the original. Among these are the _Quirinal_ group of
horses; the _Capitol_ Gladiator; the _Vatican_ Apollo, and Meleagre; the
little _Spanish_ fawn; the _Farnese_ Hercules, Bull, and Flora, and many
others, which the severest critics have allowed to be equal to the
originals.
But it is not copies only which here ravish the sight. John Bologna's
incomparable Mercury soon arrests the eye. He is absolutely flying, and
in so easy, and so natural an attitude, that it is some moments before
one perceives that he is supported by the breath of Zephyr, on which he
is rising into the air.
From this we pass into the cabinet of bronze antiques, where a variety
of miniature Gods and Goddesses, animals, and monsters; altars, tripods,
and lamps; helmets, rings, and bracelets, &c. &c. are preserved in
fourteen cases.
We now close the Gallery with the Tuscan Museum, whose chief contents
are the instruments used by the ancients in their funeral ceremonies,
with a variety of urns, in which the burnt bones of the dead were
deposited.
There let them rest in peace, and if sleep has not already overpowered
you, indulge it now--I shall not be offended with you. I am aware, that
however refined and extatic the satisfaction, the objects I have
mentioned afford to the senses, this pleasure is not to be communicated
in a description by so humble a Dilettante as your poor friend. I have,
therefore, nearly confined myself to an abridgment of the catalogue,
which, as I before apprised you, fills a large volume. And since a long
list, even of painters, and sculptors, statues, and paintings, must ever
be dry and tautological, what can we expect from its epitome? But to me,
I confess, it has afforded the greatest satisfaction; that of proving
that to please you, I willingly risk exposing myself.
LETTER XXIV.
TO CAPTAIN SMITH.
Naples, April 23, 1788.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
We left Florence on the 27th of March, and, on the 6th instant, sailed
from Leghorn.
The little island of Elba lying in our course towards Naples, we meant
to stop there, for a few hours, to examine the harbour, which, it is
said, is a very convenient one for vessels watching an enemy in Leghorn
Roads; but, having no wind till three o'clock in the afternoon, we did
not reach it till dusk. We were now going nine knots an hour. Nothing
could be seen till the morning; and, as we did not think it right to
lose a night's run with so favourable a wind, we were deprived of the
satisfaction of informing ourselves with regard to the harbour, and of
gratifying our curiosity, by seeing the natural state of the curious
stones found in this island.
The wind continuing fair, we passed Mount Cercelle, and the coast of
Rome, on the 7th; at day-light on the 8th, were in sight of Ischia and
Capria; but, our fair wind dying away, we did not get to an anchor in
the bay of Naples till the afternoon of the next day.
Mount Vesuvius is in a very different state from that in which we left
it. There have been several eruptions. The sides of the crater or cone
have fallen in, and the lava has given itself vent, by forcing the side
of the mountain. It is now running; and, as this is a phenomenon I had
not an opportunity of seeing when I was here last autumn, I made it my
first object on my return.
But the violence of the eruption is over; and it has now more of the
curious and beautiful, than of the awful and sublime. The side of the
mountain has closed, and the lava issues from it, without its source
being seen, in a stream of liquid fire, at present not more than four
feet wide. It moves at a slow rate, and, although so much a fluid as to
be capable of this motion, yet it has such a degree of solidity, that
stones of some pounds weight, thrown with force, did not penetrate its
surface. No flame was emitted by the lava, except when we threw slicks,
paper, or other combustible matter upon it, which immediately took fire,
and blazed. Water had no effect, but that of blackening, for a moment,
the part it fell upon.
After having sufficiently admired this beautiful phenomenon, we
scrambled up the cone, and went into the inside of the old crater, which
I find is already assuming its former state; the working of the fire in
the bowels of the earth, having overcome the weight above it, and formed
a chasm in its former direction, to the very summit of the mountain.
This aperture is continually widening, and will soon again become a
monstrous fiery gulph. I heard several explosions below, which were
accompanied by flashes of fire, which, darting from side to side, in the
direction of the chasm, came up like so many immense flashes of forked
lightning.
We began the ascent before sun-set; and our attention was so well
engaged, that it was near day-light before we returned to Naples.
The Princess Belmonté has renewed her civilities; and the Nobile have
sent us tickets for their musical Conversazione.
LETTER XXV.
TO CAPTAIN SMITH.
Palermo, May 2d, 1788.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
After a pleasant passage of scarce forty hours, at day-break on the 26th
ult. we found ourselves in sight of Palermo. Nothing can be more
picturesque than this bay. It forms a large amphitheatre, with the
Capital of Sicily in the center, surrounded, for some miles, by a most
beautiful country, interspersed with villas, and inclosed by romantic
rocks and mountains. A calm, which lasted several hours, gave us an
opportunity of admiring this beautiful scene at our leisure; and in the
afternoon we anchored in the mole.
The town was formerly surrounded by a strong wall, but the
fortifications are now entirely neglected, except towards the sea, where
there are still a few weak works.
Prince Caramanico, the Viceroy, was lately Ambassador at London. We paid
our respects to him the morning after our arrival, and he gave us a
state dinner the next day. But we have seen nothing of him since.
Our stay here is rendered remarkable by the sudden death of Prince
Palagonia.
Whilst other men endeavoured to reach the Temple of Fame, by making art
equal nature in her most captivating forms, this Prince struck out a new
road, by producing such monsters as nature, however perverted, could
never have brought forth. With him, whoever designed the most ridiculous
and unnatural object, became the greatest artist. He had a number of
sculptors and stone-cutters constantly employed for upwards of thirty
years, and their productions amount to near a thousand pieces. But
notwithstanding the great encouragement he gave, and the ample field he
held out, very few of his statues display either genius, execution, or
invention. Some of them, indeed, are as extravagant as he could wish,
but even these are extravagant without humour, from the total want of
connection in the members. We sometimes laugh at a body a little
deformed, because the parts that compose it may be set in a ridiculous
point of view; but where they are totally heterogeneous, and
unconnected, we may be surprised, but cannot be pleased. The principal
pieces are birds and beasts with human heads, and men with the heads of
beasts.
Whilst we were beholding this grotesque collection with a smile, half of
pity, and half of contempt, I was struck by an antique bust of
Cleopatra, by much the most beautiful I ever saw; but its owner set so
little value upon it, that it is stuck against the outside of his house,
with another of M. Anthony, nearly as good.
The dead at Palermo are never buried; but their bodies are carried to
the Capuchin Convent, where, after the funeral service is performed,
they are dried in a stove, heated by a composition of lime, which makes
the skin adhere to the bones. They are then placed erect in niches, and
fastened to the wall by the back or neck. A piece of coarse drab is
thrown over the shoulders, and round the waist; and their hands are tied
together, holding a piece of paper with their epitaph, which is simply
their names, age, and when they died.
We of course visited this famous repository, and it is natural to
suppose, that so many corpses would impress one with reverence and awe.
It was near dusk when we arrived at the Convent. We passed the chapel
where one of the order had just finished saying vespers, by the gloomy
glimmering of a dying lamp. We were then conducted through a garden,
where the yew, the cypress, and the barren orange obscured the remaining
light, and where melancholy silence is only disturbed by the hollow
murmuring of a feeble waterfall. All these circumstances tuned our minds
for the dismal scene we were going to behold, but we had still to
descend a flight of steps impervious to the sun. And these, at last,
conveyed us to the dreary mansion of the dead.
But (will you believe me?) notwithstanding the chilling scene we had
gone through; notwithstanding our being in the midst of more than a
thousand lifeless bodies, neither our respect for the dead, or for the
holy fathers who conducted us, could prevent our smiling. For the
physiognomies of the deceased are so ludicrously mutilated, and their
muscles so contracted and distorted in the drying, that no French mimick
could equal their grimaces. Most of the corpses have lost the lower part
of the nose--their necks are generally a little twisted--their mouths
drawn awry in one direction--their noses in another--their eyes sunk and
pointed different ways--one ear perhaps turned up--the other drawn down.
The friars soon observed the mirth these unexpected visages occasioned,
and one of them as a kind of _memento_, pointed out to me a Captain of
Cavalry, who had just been cut off in the pride of his youth. But three
months ago he was the minion of a King--the favorite of a
Princess--Alas! how changed! Even on earth there is no distinction
between him and the meanest beggar. This in a moment returned me to
myself, and I felt, with full force, the folly of human vanity. I turned
to the holy father, who gave me this lesson. His eyes were fixed on what
was once a Captain of horse--I saw in them
"Read this, titled pomp, and shrink
to thy original nothingness."
"Hie thee to my lady's chamber,
tell her, though she paint an inch
thick, to this must she come at last--make
her laugh at that."
The relations of the deceased are bound to send two wax tapers every
year, for the use of the Convent; in default of which the corpse is
taken down and thrown into the charnel house. Were it not for the number
of vacancies occasioned by the non-payment of this stipend, the
Capuchins would be unable to find niches for the number of men who must
die every year in so populous a city as this.
Women are dried as well as the men, but are not exposed. Nobles are shut
up in chests.
I am just returned from seeing Prince Palagonia become a member of this
society. The beginning of his funeral, although similar to that of every
Lord in this island, struck me as being as preposterous as his palace.
He was carried to the Convent in a sedan, attended by all his household.
As soon as he entered the Chapel, the sedan was opened, and two pages
supported him to an armed chair. Here he was seated in state, dressed in
his richest clothes--his hair full powdered--a sword by his side--his
hat under his arm. The Nobility of the island were assembled to meet
him. They all bowed to the corpse, and after a short pause the ceremony
began.
The masses were interwoven in an Oratorio composed for the occasion,
which, notwithstanding only two days were given to prepare it, did great
credit to the composer; and the performers, both vocal and instrumental,
gave him every support. The exordium beginning with "Ecco il Principe
preso da Dio." "Behold the Prince whom God hath taken," was in the
highest degree pathetic and affecting. The immortal Handel could not
have exceeded the energy of the musick, and the corpse of the departed
Prince carried the words with full force to the heart.
I regret that I cannot procure this excellent piece, since, as we are
preparing to sail on our second voyage to the Archipelago, I was obliged
to come on board the moment the ceremony was over.
But before I leave this place, I will raise your philanthropy, by
mentioning a charitable institution which is here carried to a
particular height. I mean a foundation, by which a number of female
children are not only brought up in morality and religion, and taught
some useful art, that will enable them to earn their bread; but when
they arrive at a certain age, and are qualified to undertake the cares
of a family, portions are assigned to those who choose to marry. When
virgins have these advantages, their Guardians will never be long in
search of unexceptionable husbands.
LETTER XXVI.
TO CAPTAIN SMITH.
Smyrna, May 27th, 1788.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
After an absence of four months, we returned here on the 24th instant,
and found the Turks in the highest spirits. The Emperor has declared
against them: but this was a proceeding they had been prepared for; and,
far from his arms having as yet been attended with any decisive success,
he tarnished them in the onset, by beginning the war in a pusillanimous
style, not at all expected from so powerful an enemy.
We had scarce left this country, before advice was received of a
treacherous attempt to take Belgrade; but the slovenly manner in which
this enterprise was conducted, gave the Emperor an opportunity of
denying his being privy to it. It proved unsuccessful; and, as the Baron
De Herbert, the Imperial Minister, had changed his threats into
negociations for settling a peace between Turkey and Russia, the Porte,
unwilling to provoke the Emperor to hostilities, and in hopes that this
failure would discourage him from pursuing his designs against a people
who were so much better prepared than he expected, very politically
seemed to admit the Internuncio's excuses for this breach of faith.
It seems, that an officer who had passed through Belgrade, reported at
Vienna, that the fortifications were in a most ruinous state, and that
none of the cannon were fit for service. On this fallacious information,
orders were hastily sent to Generals Mitrowski and Alvinzy, to pass the
Save, with a detachment of troops, who were to be supported by Generals
De Gomingen and Klebeck, and to make an immediate attempt on this
important fortress; but the latter Generals not arriving at the
appointed time, and the fortifications appearing in a very different
state from that in which they had been represented, Mitrowski and
Alvinzy were obliged to retreat, and to repass the Save.
Notwithstanding the Internuncio's disavowal of the Emperor's knowledge
of this attempt, accounts were soon received, that Generals Mitrowski
and De Gomingen were ordered to Vienna, to answer for their failure;
and, on the 8th of February, Baron De Herbert delivered a formal
declaration of war.
After the journey to Cherson, the unremitting armaments which
immediately followed, and, to crown the whole, the treacherous attempt
upon Belgrade, the Imperial Manifesto, to the surprise of every body,
begins in the following manner.--
"All Europe have been witness
to the good faith with which the
Court of his Imperial Majesty has,
for many years, cultivated peace with
the Ottoman Empire; the sincere dispositions
it has manifested, on every
occasion, to preserve their good neighbourhood;
its disinterested and indefatigable
endeavours to avoid any
interruption of their mutual harmony,
and its readiness to lend every office of
mediation, to prevent any rupture between
the Porte and the neighbouring
Courts.
These pacific intentions, &c. &c."
Notwithstanding the serious events which this declaration must produce,
it was impossible for the Porte to refrain from laughing at the
bare-faced manner in which the Emperor attempted to impose on the
understandings of the rest of the world.
The declaration of war was read to the Imperial troops in Croatia on the
9th of February, and the same day Dresnick was attacked by them. The
garrison consisted of only seventy men; but this little corps made a
most gallant defence, and, small as their numbers were, they obliged the
enemy to set fire to the place before they could compel them to
surrender.
At the same moment a second detachment made an attempt on Sturlich,
another inconsiderable post. The Turkish Commandant reserved his fire
till the Austrians were near enough for every shot to take place, he
then gave them a volley, which destroyed a considerable number of the
enemy. The place, however, was afterwards taken; and, it is said, that
in revenge for the loss the Imperialists had sustained, they put all the
prisoners to the sword. I cannot believe this report, notwithstanding
the following account published by authority.
Vienna, Feb. 27th, 1788.
"During the attack of Dresnick, a
detachment was sent to summon the
Turks posted at Sturlich to surrender.
They invited the Commanding Officer
to advance within fifty paces on parole,
when they made so brisk a fire
on the detachment, as to kill fifty
men, which so enraged the Imperialists,
that they put the whole Turkish garrison
to death."
I do not think this account at all extenuates the severity, which it
admits to have been exercised; for I never knew that it was the custom
to accompany a flag of truce by an armed force; neither was it very
military in the German Officer to advance with his whole detachment,
even had he imagined the place was going to surrender, before he sent a
party to receive the post from the enemy.
The Imperial army now took post with their left flank on the river
Korana, near Dresnick, and their right towards the mountains of
Plessivicza, so as to have the road to Bihacz open before them.
In the mean while, a considerable corps under Colonel Kesnowick passed
the Unna, and attacked Turkish Dubitza, but were repulsed with a heavy
loss. The Austrians themselves acknowledge to have had 431 men killed
and wounded.