THE MUSEUM.
The great museum at Naples is one of the most wonderful collections of
curiosities in the world. It is contained in an immense building, which
is divided into numerous galleries and halls, each of which is devoted
to some special department of art.
It was the plan of our party to go and see the museum on the day after
their visit to Pompeii,--or rather to begin to see it; for it requires a
great deal more than one day even to walk cursorily through the rooms.
On the morning of the day in question, Mrs. Gray said to Mr. George, at
breakfast, that she had a plan to propose.
"What is it?" asked Mr. George.
"I am afraid that you will not think it very polite in me to propose
it," said Mrs. Gray, "but it is this: that when we get into the museum,
we should divide into two parties. Let Rollo go with me and the
children, while you join your friends the students, and accompany them.
Then we can go through the rooms in our way, and you can go in yours."
Mr. George hesitated. For a moment he seemed not to know what to reply
to this proposal.
"The reason is," said Mrs. Gray, "that the objects which you and the
students will have in view in the visit, may very likely be different
from ours. You will want to study the antiquities, and the old Latin and
Greek inscriptions, and the monuments illustrating ancient history; but
we should not understand such things. We shall be interested in the
paintings, and the rings, and jewels, and ornaments found in Pompeii,
and in the household implements and utensils."
"But we shall want to see all those things, too," said Mr. George.
"True," replied Mrs. Gray; "but you will not wish to devote so great a
portion of time to them. You will wish to devote most of your time to
the learned things, and will pass rapidly over the pretty things and the
curious things, while with us it will be just the other way."
"Yes, uncle George," said Rollo, "that will be the best plan. Josie and
I can take care of Mrs. Gray, and you can go where you please."
Mr. George seemed at first quite unwilling to accept this proposal. He
said he would go with Mrs. Gray to any part of the museum that she
pleased, and remain there with her as long as she desired; and that, far
from being any inconvenience to him to do so, it would be a pleasure.
But Mrs. Gray said that it was on her account more than on his, that she
made the proposal.
"Because," said she, "if you are with us I shall be thinking all the
time that perhaps it would be better for you to be somewhere else;
whereas, with Rollo and the children, I can stroll about wherever I
please."
In this view of the case, Mr. George consented to her proposal.
Accordingly, after breakfast, he left Rollo to engage a carriage and
take Mrs. Gray and the others to the museum, while he went to find his
two friends, the students, at another hotel, where they were lodging.
They were all to meet in the hall of the museum at ten o'clock.
At half past nine Rollo had a nice carriage at the door. Josie sat in
the carriage while Rollo went up to Mrs. Gray's room to tell her that it
was ready. Rosie, who was still far from being strong, leaned on Rollo's
arm coming down stairs.
"I am very glad that you are going to have the care of us to-day,
instead of Mr. George," said she.
"So am I," said Rollo. "I am very glad indeed."
"I don't care any thing at all about his old learned inscriptions," said
Rosie.
"Nor do I much," said Rollo. "Still they are very curious, when once we
understand them."
"Perhaps they may be," said Rosie, "but I don't care about them. What I
want is, to see the pretty things."
"Yes," said Rollo, "and I will show you all the pretty things I can
find."
Rollo assisted the two ladies into the carriage, and then, after getting
in himself, he ordered the coachman to drive to the museum. The way lay
first through one or two open squares, bordered with churches, porticos,
and palaces, and then through a long, straight street, called the
_Toledo_. This is the principal street of shops in Naples, and is said
to be the most populous and crowded street in Europe. It was so thronged
with people every where, in the middle of the street as well as upon the
sidewalks, that the carriage could scarcely pass along.
At length, however, it arrived at the museum. There was a spacious stone
platform before the building, with a broad flight of stone steps
ascending to it. Rollo assisted his party to descend from the carriage,
and then he stopped to pay the coachman, while they went up the steps.
Rollo joined them on the platform.
The doors of the museum building, which were immensely large, were open,
but they were guarded by a soldier, who walked back and forth before the
entrance, carrying his gun with the bayonet set. Rollo paid no attention
to him, but walked directly in. Josie walked by his side, and Mrs. Gray
and Rosie followed them.
"Now," said Rollo, "we must wait here until uncle George comes."
The hall into which they had entered was very large and very lofty, and
the columns and staircases that were to be seen here and there adorning
it were very grand. On different sides were various passages, with doors
leading to the several apartments and ranges of apartments of the
museum. These doors were all open, but the entrance to each was closed
by an iron gate, and each gate had a man standing near it to guard it.
Over each of these doors was an inscription containing the name of the
particular department of the museum to which it led.
By the side of the great door of entrance was a small room in a corner,
kept by two men in uniform. This was the place for the visitors to
deposit their canes and umbrellas in. It is not safe to allow people in
general to take such things into cabinets of curiosities, for there are
many who have so little discretion, that, in pointing to the objects
around them, they would often touch them with the iron end of the
umbrella or the cane, and so scratch or otherwise injure them.
Rollo took Mrs. Gray's parasol from her hand and gave it to one of the
men. The man put a strap around it. The strap had a ticket with the
number 49 upon it. He gave another ticket, also marked 49, to Rollo, and
Rollo put it in his pocket.
At this moment Rollo saw Mr. George and the two students coming in at
the door. The three gentlemen deposited their canes at the little office
just as Mrs. Gray had done with her parasol, and then the whole party
advanced into the great hall.
Mr. George and the students went with Mrs. Gray and the children into
the first room, but they soon left them, and after that Rollo was the
sole guide.
Each department of the museum was contained in a separate suit of
apartments, at the entrance to which, as I have already said, there was
a small iron gate across the doorway. This little gate was kept shut and
locked; but there was a man who stood by it, inside, always ready to
open it whenever he saw any visitors coming. He always shut and locked
the door again when the visitors went in. Then, finally, when they were
ready to come out, he unlocked the gate for them, and it was then that
they were expected to pay the fee for visiting that part of the museum.
Rollo had taken care to inquire about this beforehand, and he had
provided himself with a sufficient number of pieces of money of the
right value, so as not to have any trouble in making change.
In most of the rooms there were men who had pictures for sale,
illustrating the objects contained there, for visitors to buy, in order
to carry them home as souvenirs of their visit, and to show to their
friends at home. Mrs. Gray bought quite a number of these pictures, and
Rollo himself bought several.
The rooms that interested the young persons most were those which
contained the tools and household implements, and the various utensils
found at Pompeii. In general these things were much more similar to the
corresponding articles of the present day than one would have expected
to find. But yet there were many differences, both of form and
structure, which made them extremely curious to see.
For instance, there was a _bell_ found in one of the houses; but
instead of being hollow, and having a clapper inside, as is the custom
at the present day, it consisted simply of a large, flat ring, like a
plate, with a hole through the centre of it. This ring was hung up by
means of a short chain, and by the side of it there was hung a sort of
hammer. To ring the bell it was necessary to strike it with this hammer.
An attendant in the room did this while Mrs. Gray and Rollo were there,
to let them hear how the bell sounded.
"It sounds very well indeed," said Rollo.
"Yes," replied Rosie; "but I don't think it is quite so musical as one
of our bells."
There were several pairs of steelyards in the room, too, which were very
much like the steelyards of the present day, only they were made of a
more ornamental form. The weights were quite pretty little pieces of
sculpture and statuary.
There were some very curious and pretty little cooking fireplaces, one
of which, in particular, the young people admired very much indeed.
Rosie said that she should have liked it very much herself, when she was
a child, to play with. In the centre was a sort of pan for the coals, or
embers, and all around was a raised border, made double, with a space
between to contain water. In one corner there was a raised part, with
an opening to pour in the water, and in front, below, there was a small
faucet for the purpose of drawing the water out. Of course the embers or
coals in the centre of the pan kept the water in the reservoir around it
always warm.
There was also a little place on one side where a kettle or a saucepan
could stand on two supports, with an opening below to put the coals
under.
A great many of the floors in Pompeii were found to be in mosaic; that
is, they were formed of various colored stones, arranged together in a
sort of bed of cement, in such a manner as to show a picture, or some
other ornamental design. In many cases there were only two kinds of
stones used, black and white; and these were arranged so as to form
borders, scrolls, and pattern work,--as it is called,--of various kinds.
In some places a border was formed around the room, and the figure of
some animal was placed in the centre. In other cases groups of animals,
or of men, were represented, in a very perfect manner. It has always
been considered wonderful that such spirited and beautiful designs could
be so well represented by a method apparently so rude as the arrangement
on a floor of bits of different colored stones.
The best of these mosaics were taken up and removed to the museum. You
would think at first that it would be impossible to remove them in any
other way than by taking them all to pieces and putting them together
again, each little stone in its proper place, on the floor of the
museum, where the mosaic was intended to go. But the artists contrived a
way to take them up without all this labor, and thus several of the best
ones have been removed without disturbing the arrangement of the stones,
and have been laid down on the floors of the museum.
[Illustration: THE MOSAIC.]
One of the most curious of these mosaics is a representation of a dog,
which was placed just _within_ the entrance of a house, and just _at_
the entrance were the words, also in mosaic, CAVE CANEM, which is the
Latin for LOOK OUT FOR THE DOG. On the preceding page is a
representation of this mosaic.
This mosaic was curious rather than wonderful; but in another house
there was one which has always been considered a most marvellous
production, on account of the complicated character of the design, and
the immense number of stones composing it. It represents a battle scene,
and contains a great number of men and horses, all mingled together in
great confusion on the field of battle. The number of pieces of stone
used in making this mosaic is almost incalculable.
Although it was originally made as part of a floor, it is now very
carefully guarded, and no one is allowed to walk upon it. It is
surrounded by a railing, and along one side of it there is a raised
platform for visitors to stand upon in order to see it to advantage.
There were one or two large rooms that were filled with
beautifully-formed jars and vases, of a brownish color, and ornamented
upon the outside with figures and devices of all kinds. These devices
represented all sorts of scenes, and they are considered extremely
valuable on account of the light they throw on the manners and customs,
and the modes of life, which prevailed in those ancient days. Some of
these vases are of very great value. They are very large, and to enable
the visitor to see them on all sides, without danger of breaking them, a
great many of them are mounted in the museum on stands fitted with a
revolving top, so that they can be turned round, and made to present all
the sides successively to the spectator. In addition to this, some of
the finest specimens are protected by a large glass bell placed over
them.
Mrs. Gray and the children found Mr. George and the two students in this
room, when they first came into it. Mr. George said that they were going
to stay there nearly all that day. They wished to examine the drawings
on the vases in detail. Rollo looked at a few of them, but he could not
understand them very well.
"You will understand them better," said Mr. George, "when you have
learned more about the ancient mythology."
"But then I shall not be here to see them," rejoined Rollo.
"True," replied Mr. George, "but they have all been copied and engraved,
and you will find them exactly reproduced in books in all the great
libraries of the world. All that you can do now is to take a general
view of them, and of the room containing them, and to examine one or two
in detail, and then, by and by, when you wish to study them more
particularly, you must do it from the drawings. You will find that the
interest that you will take in the drawings will be greatly increased by
your having had this opportunity to see the originals."
Mr. George conducted Mrs. Gray and Rosie to one of the vases which stood
near a window, on one of the revolving stands; and while an attendant
turned it slowly round, so as to exhibit the successive sides to view,
he explained to them the meaning of the figures, and showed them what
the different people were doing.
After remaining a short time in this department, Rollo and his party
went on, leaving Mr. George and the two students still there.
But the room which interested Mrs. Gray and Rosie most, was what is
called the _Gem Room_. It contains all the gems and jewelry, and other
personal ornaments, that were found at Herculaneum and Pompeii, as well
as a great many other very curious things. There were rings, bracelets,
and necklaces, made of gold, and adorned with precious stones; and there
were a great many signets and other gems engraved in the most delicate
and exquisite manner. These things were all arranged in glass cases, so
that they could be seen to great advantage, but they could not be
touched. There were a great many other curious things in this room; and
there were also a great many other very curious rooms, all of which Mrs.
Gray and the children walked through, though there were so many things
to be seen in them, that, in the end, they became quite bewildered. In
the mean time the hours passed away, and at length Mrs. Gray, looking at
her watch, said it was nearly four o'clock, which was the hour for the
museum to be closed. So they did not go into any more rooms, but
concluded to go home. They went down the great staircase, towards the
entrance door, and then, after stopping to get Mrs. Gray's parasol, they
took a carriage and drove home. Mrs. Gray said that she had seen the
museum, but not the things that were in it.
"We have scarcely seen one in a thousand of them," said she.