The first Roman Emperor. Trained for his public career by his

great-uncle, Julius Cæsar. After the death of Cæsar (B.C. 44), he formed

with Antony and Lepidus the league known as the triumvirate. But

subsequently quarrelling with Antony, and overcoming him, he annexed

Egypt to Rome, and became sole master of the State. His reign was

tranquil, and he conciliated the people. His disposition appears to

have been cold; he lived simply, and despised pomp and pageantry.

[Suetonius mentions the handsome features of Augustus as well

preserved in his old age. He is described with eyebrows meeting and

thick, the ears small and well formed, the nose finely chiselled.

There are several busts of him taken at different periods. This Bust

is from the Statue Gallery of the Vatican. It represents him in old

age wearing a fillet and a medal bearing the effigy of his wife Livia.

No. 35A is a portrait at a younger period: it is from the Museo

Chiaramonti of the Vatican. There is a noble statue of him in the

“toga” in the Bas-relief gallery, see No. 80, Handbook of Greek

Court.]

35A. AUGUSTUS. _Roman Emperor._

36. NERO--CLAUDIUS CÆSAR DRUSUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 54-68.

[Born at Antium, in Latium, A.D. 37. Died near Rome, 68. Aged 31.]

When we desire to express in a word the height of sanguinary cruelty and

atrocious tyranny, the name of Nero at once occurs to us. He was the son

of Domitius Ahenobarbus, and of the infamous Agrippina, through whose

intrigues he was adopted by Claudius, to the exclusion of his own son,

as successor to the throne. Nero’s government, at first moderate and

prudent, soon degenerated into fearful licentiousness. He poisoned

Britannicus, the son of Claudius; he assassinated his mother; he

divorced and murdered his wife Octavia, the daughter of Claudius, in

order to marry the beautiful and depraved Poppæa; he set fire to Rome,

and put many Christians to death, on the pretence that they had caused

the conflagration; he killed Poppæa by a brutal kick, and he ordered

executions and perpetrated wrongs of all kinds, and without number. The

Roman world was at length tired of this monster; an insurrection broke

out in Gaul; and Galba, the governor of Spain, was proclaimed Emperor.

Rome followed the example of the provinces, and rose in insurrection.

Nero took to flight, and gave himself a mortal wound, when he heard the

trampling of the horses on which his pursuers were mounted. It is said

that in his youth he was instructed in many branches of knowledge--that

he wrote poetry, and had some skill in music. His criminal career may

possibly have been the result of furious insanity--we think, at least of

a lunatic, when we read that Nero appeared on the Roman stage as an

actor, and played the fiddle whilst the city was burning.

[From the marble in the Louvre. The circlet round his head was worn by

him to imitate the rays of the sun; the holes for the rays are

observable. No. 36A, the bust crowned with laurel, is from the Statue

Gallery of the Vatican.]

36A. NERO--CLAUDIUS CÆSAR DRUSUS. _Roman Emperor._

37 (_outside_). TIBERIUS--CLAUDIUS NERO CÆSAR. _Roman Emperor_, A.D.

14-37.

[Born, B.C. 42. Died at Misenum, A.D. 37. Aged 79.]

Son of Titus Claudius Nero, and of Livia, whose second husband was

Augustus. The successor of his stepfather and the husband of Julia the

daughter of Augustus. During his earlier years of rule he governed with

moderation and justice; but, growing suspicious of those around him, he

patronized a detestable class of men who acquired infamy in the state

under the title of “Delatores,” or “Informers,” and by establishing in

its utmost extent the law of _læsa majestas_ (high treason) obtained

opportunity to the shedding of some base, and of much honourable blood.

He also became a religious persecutor, unfilial, hateful of the rising

glory of other men, and sensual. He quitted Rome, A.D. 26, and never

returned to the city. He took up his residence in the delicious island

of Capreæ, lying off the Campanian coast. Mean, timid, irresolute,

insincere: yet wise in his generation, with some penetration and

political skill. He wrote a brief commentary of his life. His youthful

name has been immortalized by Horace. In the reign of Tiberius and in

the year 33, Jesus Christ suffered crucifixion in Judea, under the

condemnation of Pontius Pilate.

38 (_outside_). CLAUDIUS I.--TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS DRUSUS NERO GERMANICUS.

_Roman Emperor_, A.D. 41-54.

[Born at Lyons, in Gaul, B.C. 10. Died A.D. 54. Aged 64.]

Fourth in the series of Roman Emperors. Called to the throne in his

fiftieth year, upon the murder of his nephew Caligula. Branded as a

tyrant, but ought rather to be pitied for his weakness, timidity,

vacillation, and utter helplessness. He was the sport of the wicked, and

the victim of his own wretched feebleness. Unfortunate in every relation

of life. His third wife was the notorious Valeria Messalina; his fourth,

his own niece, the shameless Agrippina, who prevailed upon the

half-witted Emperor to disinherit his offspring in favour of her son

Nero, and who afterwards caused the unhappy Claudius to be poisoned. The

rule of this Emperor, when left to himself, is described as mild and

popular; but he had seldom the advantage of independent action, and in

the hands of others he was robbed of moral will. Fond of building,

Claudius raised the Claudian aqueduct. He wrote Greek as well as Latin,

and composed some works on history, besides memoirs of his own life.

39. GALBA--SERVIUS SULPICIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 68-69.

[Born at Terracina, in Italy, B.C. 3. Died at Rome, A.D. 69. Aged 73.]

The successor of Nero; and governor of Spain when he was raised to the

supreme dignity. A strict military disciplinarian, and remarkable for

care and prudence. But when Emperor, his prudence became avarice, and he

practised sordid measures, under the plea of imitating the frugality of

the ancients. His niggardliness gave offence to the military and to the

citizens, who had been used to festivals under Nero; and in his old age,

Galba was cut down in the streets of Rome. He reigned 7 months.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

39*. VESPASIAN--TITUS FLAVIUS SABINUS VESPASIANUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D.

69-70.

[Born at Nursia, in the country of the Sabines, A.D. 9. Died at

Cutiliæ, in the country of the Sabines, A.D. 79. Aged 69.]

Of low origin. Went to Britain and subdued the Isle of Wight. Afterwards

sent to the East by Nero against the Jews, and was proclaimed Emperor by

his troops at Alexandria. On the death of Vitellius proceeded to Rome,

where, as Emperor, he restored order, reformed abuses, and improved the

condition of the empire. He commenced the Coliseum. A great Emperor,

popular with his army, upright, conscientious, simple in his living, and

affable in his manners.

[For account of the colossal Bust of Vespasian, see Handbook to Roman

Court and Nave, No. 338.]

40. CALIGULA. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 37-41.

[Born at Antium, in Latium, A.D. 12. Died at Rome, A.D. 41. Aged 29.]

Son of Germanicus and Agrippina. His real name was Caius Cæsar, but

called Caligula by the soldiers, from his wearing in his boyhood small

caligæ or soldier’s boots. Passed his boyhood in his father’s camp in

Germany. On the death of Tiberius he became Emperor, and for a time

ruled wisely. On recovering, however, from a severe illness, he

perpetrated acts of horror characteristic of a madman. He murdered the

innocent for his amusement, and married and dissolved his marriages in

the most shameless manner. His favourite horse he raised to the

Consulship, and he deified himself. After passing three years in raving

crime and folly, he was struck down by the conspirator’s sword.

[From the marble in the Gallery of the Emperors, of the Capitoline

Museum. Busts of Caligula are very rare, because, like those of

Commodus, they were as far as possible destroyed, on account of his

atrocities. He is said to have had a complexion of repulsive paleness.

Suetonius alludes to his thin lips and expression of confirmed

dissimulation.]

41. VITELLIUS--AULUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 69.

[Born on the Island of Capreæ, A.D. 15. Died at Rome, A.D. 69. Aged

54.]

A royal glutton. He commanded in Lower Germany, where his popularity

with the troops led to his being proclaimed Emperor by the soldiers at

Cologne. Vitellius succeeded Otho, and reigned eight months after the

death of the latter, when he was murdered. Avaricious of money for the

sake of what it would purchase for the stomach. The life of Vitellius is

told when we state that it was devoted to eating, drinking, and acts of

cruelty. It was his boast that the infamous Nero was his chosen model.

[From the Louvre. Full of the character of the man--bloated and

debased. He is said to have spent nine millions of sesterces in

suppers.]

42. NERVA--MARCUS COCCEIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 96-98.

[Born at Narnia, in Umbria, A.D. 32. Died at Rome, A.D. 98. Aged 64.]

Pliny says that the commencement of the reign of Nerva was the era of

returning freedom; and Tacitus praises the same Emperor, for reconciling

supreme authority with the liberty of the citizen. He succeeded the

Emperor Domitian, who was murdered, and his first care was to restore

tranquillity, and to repair the effects of his predecessor’s tyranny. He

put an end to the persecution of the Christians, attended to the wants

of the poor, and exercised a rigid economy. Gentleness and goodness were

marked features in his character.

[From the gallery of the Emperors in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

43. TITUS--FLAVIUS SABINUS VESPASIANUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 79-81.

[Born at Rome, A.D. 40. Died at Cutiliæ, in the country of the

Sabines, A.D. 81. Aged 41.]

Elder son of the Emperor Vespasian, and one of the best of the Roman

emperors. It was he who besieged and destroyed Jerusalem (A.D. 70); he

also completed the Coliseum at Rome, and during his reign Pompeii and

Herculaneum were buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (A.D. 79). As

a soldier and general, his conduct marked by great humanity and bravery.

As Emperor, administered the laws justly and improved the condition of

his people by whom he was beloved. “The being beloved,” to use the

words of Voltaire, constituted his greatest glory. Possessed great

intellectual refinement and delicacy of feeling. It is said that he was

poisoned by his brother Domitian, who was impatient to succeed to the

empire.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome. Busts of Titus are

not common: yet his statues were in every house, on account of his

popularity. For an engraving of one, see Handbook of Roman Court and

Nave.]

44. DOMITIAN--TITUS FLAVIUS SABINUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 81-96.

[Born at Rome, A.D. 51. Died there, A.D. 96. Aged 45.]

Son of the Emperor Vespasian, and brother of Titus. He was bloody and

cowardly throughout his career. Suetonius says his very virtues were

turned into vices. Before the death of his brother Titus he made many

attempts upon his life, and, during his own reign, he frequently

compelled individuals to undergo the terrors of death, sparing their

lives, in order to enjoy the sight of their sufferings. His government

was disastrous for Rome, though he boasted annually of great victories,

and assumed the title of God. Pliny used to say that the triumphs of

Domitian were certain “proofs that the enemy had gained an advantage.”

Neither talent nor virtue was safe from his persecutions, yet, although

the last three years of his life form one of the most frightful epochs

in history, Domitian had talent and a cultivated mind. He promoted

architecture and beautified Rome; he rebuilt the libraries which had

been burnt in the preceding reign, and sent literary men to the famous

Alexandrine library to make copies of books there. He was the victim of

a conspiracy, and the last of the twelve Cæsars.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

45. TRAJAN--M. ULPIUS TRAJANUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 98-117.

[Born at Italica, in Spain, A.D. 52. Died at Selinus, in Cilicia, 117.

Aged 65.]

Trajan endeavoured to emulate the glory of Alexander by extending the

Roman Empire in the East, but with imperfect success. He improved the

social and physical condition of his subjects, was easy of access,

possessed good sense, a profound judgment and knowledge of the world.

Not a man of letters himself, he was the friend of Pliny the younger,

Tacitus, Plutarch, and Epictetus. He was tall, majestic, robust, and his

hair perfectly white.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum. Busts of Trajan are not

uncommon. The seated statue of Trajan is described under No. 343, in

Handbook to Roman Court and Nave.]

46. HADRIAN--PUBLIUS ÆLIUS HADRIANUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 117-138.

[Born at Rome, A.D. 76. Died there, A.D. 138. Aged 63.]

In his youth wedded to literature, especially that of Greece. He was the

adopted son of Trajan, whom he succeeded as Emperor, in A.D. 117.

Travelling was with him a passion. In A.D. 119, he set forth on a

journey which lasted for the space of 17 years. He visited Gaul, Britain

(where he erected the famous wall between the Solway and the Tyne),

Spain, Africa, and part of Asia. On a second visit to the East he lost

his favourite page Antinous, and his grief for this youth has since

resounded through the world. Shortly after his return to Rome in 132,

the Jewish war broke out. It ended in the subjugation and slavery of the

chosen people. He was a wise Emperor, a cultivator of the arts, and a

lover of peace, though stained with vices of his age.

[Busts of Hadrian are common. This is from the Rotunda of the Vatican.

No. 123 is from a very perfect one in the Naples Museum. For engraving

of the fine statue in the British Museum, see Handbook of Roman Court

and Nave, p. 13.]

47. ANTONINUS PIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 138-161.

[Born near Lanuvium, A.D. 86. Died at Lorium, A.D. 161. Aged 74.]

The successor of Hadrian, and one of the most distinguished of the Roman

Emperors. Improved the condition of his people, and consolidated the

power of the empire by enlightened and conciliatory measures. He was

respected and beloved. Of commanding aspect and dignified demeanour. A

deep-toned melodious voice heightened his native eloquence. One of the

most virtuous princes that ever sat upon a throne.

[From the marble in the Berlin Museum. There is in the Louvre a bust

of Antoninus Pius, having the head covered with a fold of the toga,

and crowned with ears of wheat, a copy of which is described under No.

381, Handbook of Roman Court and Nave.]

48. MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 161-180.

[Born at Rome, A.D. 121. Died at Sirmium, in Pannonia, A.D. 180. Aged

59.]

Surnamed “The Philosopher.” One of the best and greatest princes of

antiquity. He succeeded his adoptive father Antoninus Pius in A.D. 161,

and from that time until his death, his public and private acts conduced

to the welfare of his people and to the true glory of the empire. His

sole misfortune was to be father of the brutal Commodus, who succeeded

him on the Imperial throne. He was clement, charitable, generous, and

forgiving. His bodily health, always weakly, gave way beneath excessive

labour of mind and body, and his death created universal sorrow. After

the lapse of a hundred years his memory was still held in veneration by

the people. He was of a thoughtful nature. At an early period he admired

the precepts and adopted the costume of the Stoic philosophers. Later in

life he was wont to repeat with great satisfaction the saying of

Plato--“How happy would the people be, if philosophers were kings, and

kings philosophers.” His “Meditations”--a work in the Greek language--is

one of the noblest productions of Pagan philosophy.

[From the marble in the Berlin Museum. No. 48A is called the young M.

Aurelius. The colossal head from the Louvre is described under No.

344, Handbook to Roman Court and Nave. The Senate decreed that a bust

of M. Aurelius should be in every house.]

48A. MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS. _Roman Emperor._

49. PERTINAX--PUBLIUS HELVIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 193.

[Born at Villa Martis, in Liguria, A.D. 126. Assassinated at Rome,

A.D. 193. Aged 67.]

The son of a charcoal-burner. First a schoolmaster in Liguria, then a

soldier. Rising to important command, he served in Great Britain and

Africa. Upon the murder of Commodus, the Prætorians prevailed upon him

to assume the purple. He accepted the honour in difficult times, when

virtue met with as little mercy as vice. He stipulated that the dignity

should not extend beyond himself, to his wife or son; he proclaimed that

no man should be prosecuted for treason; he at once set about useful

reforms in the state; but in less than three months after his

accession, he was murdered by the same Prætorians, simply because he was

too upright and too good a man. He had a venerable aspect, and was mild

and winning in his address.

[From the marble in the Rotunda of the Vatican.]

50. VERUS---LUCIUS AURELIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 161-169.

[Born at Rome, A.D. 130. Died at Altinum, in the country of the

Veneti, A.D. 169. Aged 39.]

Licentious and dissolute; the colleague of Marcus Aurelius in the

empire, and the husband of Lucilla, daughter of the latter. During a

four years’ war against the Parthians, Lucius held command of the Roman

army: but, a drunkard and a gamester, his sole part in the war was to

reap the glory of the victories won by his generals. In his youth, he is

described as well made in person; frank, simple, and gentle of

disposition.

[A colossal Bust of him will be found described under Nos. 331 and

333, in the Handbook to the Roman Court and Nave. It was found in the

same place as the colossal Marcus Aurelius.]

51. ÆLIUS VERUS. _Adopted Emperor._

[Born (uncertain). Died at Rome, A.D. 138.]

Of a noble Etrurian family. His beauty and literary accomplishments drew

the favour of the Emperor Hadrian, who changing his name, adopted him

for his successor. Twice Consul. Governor, for a short time, of

Pannonia. Died suddenly. Of a luxurious character.

[From the marble in the gallery of the Emperors of the Capitoline

Museum at Rome.]

52. ANNIUS VERUS. _Roman Prince._

[Born A.D. 162. Died at Præneste A.D. 170. Aged 7.]

The son of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina, and the brother of Commodus,

with whom he was raised to the rank of Cæsar, A.D. 166.

[From the marble in the Louvre. Taken when young. A graceful little

Bust, remarkable for having the pupil of the eye so firmly indicated.]

53. MARCUS GALERIUS ANTONINUS. _Roman Prince._

[Date and place of birth unknown. Flourished A.D. 140.]

Son of Antoninus Pius and Annia Galeria Faustina. Nothing is known of

his life or death. His effigy is extant with that of his mother upon a

rare Greek coin; but he is not styled Cæsar in the inscription. Marcus

Galerius, no doubt, died before his father became Emperor.

[From the marble in the Gallery of the Emperors of the Capitoline

Museum.]

54. SEVERUS--LUCIUS SEPTIMIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 193-211.

[Born at Leptis, in Africa, A.D. 146. Died at Eboracum (York), A.D.

211. Aged 65.]

His family was of equestrian rank, and originally came from Gaul. In

A.D. 185, he was commander-in-chief of the army in Pannonia and

Illyricum; and on the murder of Pertinax was elected Emperor. He

disbanded and banished the Prætorian guards, re-constituted the army,

whose fidelity he secured, and marched against his two rivals,

Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus, the first of whom had been

declared Emperor in the East, and the last, in Gaul. Defeating them

both, he passed three years in the East, warring against the Parthians,

whom he subdued. In A.D. 208, he went to Britain, in order to punish the

Caledonians. But before his design could be carried out, he fell himself

a victim--it is said to grief, to the dissensions of his sons--in the

city of York. He had many kingly qualities, but was without clemency. A

rigid disciplinarian, simple and sober in his tastes.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

55. GORDIANUS--MARCUS ANTONIUS, surnamed AFRICANUS. _Roman Emperor_,

A.D. 238.

[Born at Rome, A.D. 157. Died at Carthage, in Africa, A.D. 238. Aged

80.]

Born of an honourable family, claiming high descent, and possessing

great wealth. When Ædile, his public spectacles were pre-eminently

magnificent. At one of them 1000 gladiators fought at once. When

appointed Pro-Consul in Africa, he was called “The New Scipio,” on

account of his popular manners. When eighty years of age he was forced

to become Emperor by the people of Carthage, who would not submit to the

ferocious Maximinus. After a few months’ reign, however, he was attacked

by Capellianus, the Procurator of Numidia, and hearing of the fall of

his son, strangled himself with his own belt. A man of extraordinary

self-command and sobriety, and very studious. In his youth he composed a

poem in thirty books; and, to his latest hour, he passed some portion of

the day in the study of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Virgil. In temper

gentle and affectionate.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

56. COMMODUS--LUCIUS AURELIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 180-192.

[Born at Lanuvium, in Italy, A.D. 161. Died at Rome, A.D. 192. Aged

31.]

Son of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Junior. It is said that he was

handsome in form and feature. If history can be believed, he was a

monster in human form. He was cruel in hot and cold blood, vain,

cowardly, impious. He appeared many times in the Circus as gladiator,

and condescended to become a buffoon for the amusement of the lowest of

his people; but he is chiefly famous for his human butcheries. He was

poisoned at last by his mistress, Marcia, who was only just in time to

save her own life, which had been already doomed by her sanguinary

paramour. His death gave occasion to almost frantic joy in Rome.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

57. MACRINUS--MARCUS OPILIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 217-218.

[Born at Cæsarea, in Numidia, A.D. 164. Died near Archelaïs, in

Cappadocia, A.D. 218. Aged 54.]

An Emperor of obscure birth. He is said to have been, in his youth, a

gladiator. When Præfect of the Prætorian guards, he contrived the murder

of Caracalla, then at Antioch, in order to fulfil the prophecy of a

soothsayer, who had predicted his accession to the throne. Elected

Emperor by the soldiers, he was himself dethroned and assassinated in

Cappadocia, after a brief reign of fourteen months. He is represented as

haughty, bloodthirsty, cruel, and cowardly.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

58. PUPIENUS--MARCUS CLAUDIUS PUPIENUS MAXIMUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D.

238.

[Born A.D. 164. Died at Rome, A.D. 238. Aged 74.]

Called “the Sad” from the melancholy expression of his countenance. He

was of an obscure family, but a distinguished soldier. After the death

of the two Gordiani, he was elected with Balbinus, by the senate, to the

empire, in order to oppose Maximinus; but that tyrant was soon after

murdered by his own soldiers. The Prætorians, however, regretting

Maximinus, assassinated the two Emperors when they were preparing to

depart on separate expeditions.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

59. MAXIMINUS--CAIUS JULIUS VERUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 235-238.

[Born on the confines of Thrace, A.D. 173. Died before Aquileia, A.D.

238. Aged 65.]

An Emperor of Gothic origin, who was originally a shepherd, and owed his

elevation entirely to his physical power and stature. He stood eight

feet high, and was muscular in proportion. Serving with Alexander

Severus on the Rhine, he excited a mutiny in the troops, in which

Alexander and his mother were assassinated, and he himself declared

Emperor by the soldiers. His reign was marked by mad severity, cruelty,

and rapacity, and was fiercely closed by a band of Prætorians, who broke

into his tent and slew him, having first put an end to his son before

his eyes. He was a rare monster. It is related that his thumb was of the

girth of a woman’s wrist; he could wear his wife’s bracelet as a ring:

his eyes were inordinately large; with a kick, he could break the leg of

a horse; and his appetite corresponded with his muscular development.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

60. CARACALLA. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 211-217.

[Born at Lyons in France, A.D. 188. Died in Mesopotamia, A.D. 217.

Aged 29.]

In early life remarkable for gentle and pleasing address; but on the

death of his father, Septimius Severus, he assassinated his brother

Geta, who was left, with himself, joint heir to the throne. Other crimes

were added, and, conscience-stricken, he soon gave rein to the passions

of a madman. He oppressed his citizens by extortionate taxation, and

plundered the world for the means of paying for his soldiers and his

amusements. He, however, erected some great monuments in Rome. He was

assassinated in Mesopotamia by order of Macrinus, his chief officer.

[All busts of him show the peculiar deformed turn of the neck with

which he was afflicted.]

61. GETA--PUBLIUS SEPTIMIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 211-212.

[Born at Milan, A.D. 189. Died A.D. 212. Aged 23.]

The second son of Septimius Severus. During his second Consulship

proceeded to Britain (208) and obtained the surname of Britannicus. Upon

the death of his father, he and his brother Caracalla were declared

joint successors to the Imperial crown; but Geta, at the instigation of

Caracalla, was assassinated in the very arms of his mother, to whom he

had fled for refuge. Caracalla caused his brother’s statues to be

destroyed, and his inscriptions to be obliterated. Geta was depraved in

his habits, and unpolished, but not without some good qualities.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

62. GORDIANUS II.--MARCUS ANTONIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 238.

[Born, A.D. 192. Died at Carthage, in Africa, A.D. 238. Aged 46.]

Eldest son of Gordianus Africanus, with whom he was proclaimed Emperor,

in Africa, in opposition to Maximinus. He was defeated and slain by

Capellianus, the Procurator of Numidia, who remained faithful to

Maximinus. His instructor, Serenus Sammonicus, left him heir to a large

library. Gordianus II. had a good knowledge of law, and cultivated

literature.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

63. DECIUS--CAIUS MESSIUS QUINTUS TRAJANUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D.

249-251.

[Born at Bubalia, in Lower Pannonia, A.D. 201. Died near Abricium,

A.D. 251. Aged 50.]

The first of a long line of monarchs who traced an Illyrian ancestry. In

A.D. 245, he was entrusted with an important command on the Danube.

Shortly afterwards he was ordered by the Emperor Philippus to calm the

rebellious soldiery of Mœsia; but, on attempting to pacify them, he was

offered, with a sword to his breast, the alternative of instant death or

the purple. Choosing the purple, he was opposed in the field by

Philippus, who fell. After reigning thirty months, he met his death in

battle against the Goths. During his short rule, the Christians were

bitterly persecuted. It is difficult to form a just estimate of this

Emperor’s character. He has been described as “most amiable, highly

accomplished, mild, affable, and brave.” He has also been stigmatized as

a monster of iniquity.

[From the gallery of the Emperors in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

64. ALEXANDER SEVERUS--MARCUS AURELIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 222-235.

[Born at Arce, in Phœnicia, A.D. 205-208. Died in Gaul, A.D. 235.]

Elected Emperor on the death of Elagabalus, in A.D. 222. His reign was

marked by a gradual improvement in religion, morality, and politics. In

A.D. 232, he drove the Persians under Artaxerxes, in defeat across the

Tigris. He was about to advance against the Germans, then ravaging Gaul,

when he was murdered, together with his mother Julia Mamæa, by a band of

mutinous soldiers, instigated by the ferocious Maximinus, who seized the

crown. His life was simple and pure; his government considerate and

just. His death caused general regret.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

65. HELIOGABALUS or ELAGABALUS--VARIUS AVITUS BASSIANUS. _Roman

Emperor_, A.D. 218-222.

[Born at Antioch, A.D. 204. Assassinated A.D. 222. Aged 18.]

From his earliest years a priest of the Sun in the Temple of Emesa, in

Syria: but by the intrigues of his grandmother, Julia Mæsa, declared

Emperor of Rome, in place of Macrinus, whom he defeated in battle, and

put to death. Elagabalus--so called from his sun-worship--the priest

taking the name of the God--introduced into Rome the superstitions in

which he had been nurtured. By way of strengthening his power, his

grandmother induced him to associate with himself, in the government,

his cousin Alexander Severus. Repenting of this act, he was about to

undo it, when a revolt of the Prætorians decided the question of rule by

assassinating him and throwing his body into the Tiber. A more worthless

carcase had never floated down the polluted river. His vices were as

gross as his superstitions. He left behind him a smirched and hated

name.

[All Busts of him were ordered to be destroyed by the Senate: they are

consequently rare. This is from the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

66. GALLIENUS--PUBLIUS LICINIUS VALERIANUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D.

253-268.

[Born A.D. 218. Died before Milan, A.D. 268. Aged 50.]

Son of Valerian. When associated with his father in the empire, he

commanded with success against the barbarians on the Rhine and Danube.

In 260, Valerian was made captive by the Persians, and during the eight

years of his imprisonment, his son made no effort to release him. Rome,

whilst Gallienus reigned, was a prey to pestilence, internal rebellion,

and the ravages of foreign nations. In A.D. 268, he laid siege to Milan,

whither Aureolus, an invader of his empire, had fled for refuge. During

the siege Gallienus fell--it is said by the hands of his own soldiers.

His character was very bad. He was cruel, treacherous, and indolent,

apathetic to public disaster, self-indulgent, frivolous, and a glutton.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

67. GORDIANUS III. or PIUS--MARCUS ANTONIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D.

238-244.

[Born A.D. 224. Died near Castrum Circesium, in Mesopotamia, A.D. 244.

Aged 20.]

An emperor, endowed with many good qualities. He was son of the Consul

Junius Balbus and Metia Faustina, daughter of Gordianus Africanus. When

sixteen years old he married the beautiful and virtuous daughter of

Misitheus, a wise and eloquent man, whom he appointed Prefect of the

Prætorians, and by whose prudent advice he was successfully guided. Upon

the death of this able minister, Philip the Arabian contrived to

associate himself in the government with Gordianus, who shortly

afterwards fell a victim, it is supposed, to the conspiracies of his

colleague.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

68. CAIUS JULIUS VERUS MAXIMUS. _Roman Prince._

[Date and place of birth unknown. Died at Aquileia, A.D. 238. Aged 18

or 21.]

Son of the Emperor Maximinus, who, on his accession to the purple in

235, raised him to the rank of Cæsar. Well educated, vain of his

personal beauty, and haughty of demeanour, but not evil disposed. He was

massacred with his father at Aquileia by the rebel Prætorians.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

69. PHILIP THE YOUNGER.--MARCUS JULIUS PHILIPPUS II. _Roman Prince._

[Born (place unknown), A.D. 237. Died A.D. 249. Aged 12.]

Son of Philip I., Emperor of Rome. When seven years old dignified with

the title of Cæsar. When ten years old chosen Consul, and shared the

empire under the title of Augustus. A child of singularly serious

temperament. He could never be induced to laugh, and would turn away his

head when his father indulged in merriment.

[From the Statue Gallery of the Vatican.]

70. CARINUS--MARCUS AURELIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 283-285.

[Born probably at Rome, A.D. 249. Died in Moesia, A.D. 285. Aged 36.]

Eldest son of the Emperor Carus. Was appointed to the command of the

Western Provinces, A.D. 282. In A.D. 283, on the death of his father,

was associated in the government with his brother Numerianus, who was

assassinated when Diocletian was proclaimed Emperor by the army in

Asia. Carinus marched against Diocletian, but in the moment of triumph

he was slain by one of his own officers, whose domestic happiness he had

destroyed. Carinus was a brave and skilful general, but a profligate and

vicious man. He was sensual and ferocious.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

71. JULIAN THE APOSTATE--FLAVIUS CLAUDIUS JULIANUS. _Roman Emperor_,

A.D. 361-363.

[Born at Constantinople, A.D. 331. Died in Persia, A.D. 363. Aged 32.]

Unquestionably a ruler of extraordinary capacity and power. He was the

nephew of Constantine the Great, and was brought up in strict seclusion

by the Christians, in order to save him from Constantius II., who, upon

his accession, had murdered the male members of Julian’s family. He

withdrew for a time to Athens; was thence recalled by the relenting

Constantius, and invested with command in Gaul. He resided chiefly in

Paris, and it is worthy of note that at a time of scarcity in that city,

Julian drew his supplies of corn from England. During his stay in Gaul,

the soldiers proclaimed him Emperor. He marched against Constantinople,

but before he reached the city Constantius had died. Julian, created

Emperor, renounced Christianity for the Paganism of Greece; hence the

name which he has carried as a brand ever since. The Heathens extol this

prince, the Christians blame him. His life at least was pure, and his

rule sagacious; and, although he naturally hated his former

co-religionists, he was no religious persecutor. After his accession to

the throne he carried war into Persia, where he was slain in battle. He

was a prince of profound knowledge, of great eloquence, and remarkable

for philosophic calm. He professed Stoicism. He was also a writer, and

many of his works, displaying reflexion and inquiring thought, have come

down to us.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome. A very interesting

statue of Julian will be found described under No. 92, Handbook of

Greek Court.]

72. DIOCLETIAN--CAIUS VALERIUS AURELIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 284-305.

[Born in Dalmatia, A.D. 245. Died A.D. 313. Aged 68.]

At first a simple soldier, he rose by his own merit to the rank of

Captain of the Palace Guard, an office which he held until the death of

Numerianus, when he was declared his successor. He associated Maximianus

with him in the empire, and appointed Constantius Chlorus and Galerius,

Cæsars. At the instigation of Galerius he barbarously persecuted the

Christians. In A.D. 305, he resigned the empire in consequence of

growing infirmities, and withdrew to Salona, where he cultivated his own

garden and lived in philosophical retirement. Whilst he held power, he

thought less of the freedom and dignity of Rome, than of maintaining the

power of the sovereign, and of securing a regular succession. His

cruelty to the Christians has caused his reign to be described as “The

Age of Martyrs.”

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum.]

73. CONSTANTIUS CHLORUS--FLAVIUS VALERIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D.

305-306.

[Born A.D. 250. Died at York, in England, A.D. 306. Aged 55.]

The father of Constantine, surnamed “the Great,” who was founder of

Constantinople. Constantius governed, as colleague of Diocletian,

beyond the Alps, and his dominion extended over Gaul, Britain, and

Spain. He died in England whilst preparing for an expedition against the

Scots. He was the best of the later Roman Emperors, having a regard to

the welfare of his people, and exhibiting no rapacity in his

administration. In religious matters he was mild and tolerant, showing

great humanity towards the Christians. He had excellent talents, and was

surnamed “Chlorus,” or “the pale,” from the pallor of his countenance.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

74. HOSTILIANUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 251 or 252.

[Date and place of birth unknown. Died A.D. 251 or 252.]

Generally regarded as the second son of the Emperor Decius, whom he

survived. Declared Cæsar in A.D. 249, and was afterwards adopted by

Trebonianus Gallus as his colleague in the empire. Died either of poison

or the plague.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

75. VOLUSIANUS--CAIUS VIBIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 252-254.

[Date and place of birth unknown. Died at Interamna, in Italy, A.D.

253 or 254.]

Son of the Emperor Gallus, with whom he reigned, being elected Augustus

in A.D. 252. Little is known of his life or character. When Æmilianus

was chosen Emperor, he went with Gallus to oppose him; but, before a

battle could be fought, father and son were slain by their own troops.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]

76*. MAGNUS DECENTIUS. _Roman Prince._

[Date and place of birth unknown. Died at Sens, in Gaul, A.D. 353.]

A brother or cousin of the Emperor Flavius Magnentius. Nominated Cæsar,

A.D. 351, he went into Gaul, and suffered defeat in defending that

country against the Germans. He strangled himself upon hearing of the

defeat and deposition of his brother by Constantius, who succeeded to

the throne of Magnentius.

[For an account of a curious head of this Prince, placed in the

Bas-relief gallery, see Handbook to Greek Court, No. 217.]

AVENUE IN FRONT OF ROMAN COURT.

(_Numbers continuing at the end next to the Greek Court._)

77. TRAJAN. _Roman Emperor._

For life, see No. 45.

78. TRAJAN. _Roman Emperor._

79. ANTINOUS. _Bithynian youth._

[Died in Egypt, A.D. 132.]

Celebrated for his beauty. He was the page and companion of the Roman

Emperor Hadrian, whom he accompanied to Egypt. He was drowned in the

Nile, and the Emperor was inconsolable for his loss. On the spot where

he died, the city of Antinœa was raised; temples and statues in Egypt

and Greece were erected to his memory; and in Greece, coins were struck

in his honour. The numerous representations of his beauty gave a fresh

impulse to the Fine Arts, and may be compared with the works of the best

periods of Grecian Sculpture.

[From the marble in the Louvre; the head bound with a fillet of vine.

For account of the many beautiful statues of Antinous see Handbook to

Roman Court and Nave.]

81.}

}

82.}

} _Four duplicate busts removed._

83.}

}

84.}

85. ANTONINUS PIUS. _Roman Emperor._

For life, see No. 47.

[From the marble in the Naples Museum.]

86. AUGUSTUS. _Roman Emperor._

For life, see No. 35.

[This very beautiful Bust is from the Florence Gallery.]

87. TIBERIUS. _Roman Emperor._

For life, see No. 37.

[This Bust is from the Berlin Museum.]

88. CLAUDIUS. _Roman Emperor._

For life, see No. 38.

89. HERENNIUS. _Roman Emperor_, A.D. 251.

[Date and place of birth unknown. Died near Abricium, in Thrace, A.D.

251.]

Little interest is connected with the history of this emperor. In 249,

he was declared Cæsar, and in 251, Augustus, as the colleague of his

father Decius. In a battle fought near Abricium, between the Emperor

Decius and the Goths, both he and his father were slain.

[From the Capitoline Museum.]

90. SCIPIO AFRICANUS. _Roman General._

For life, see No. 109.

91. JULIA MÆSA. _Roman Empress._

[Born at Emesa, in Syria, (date unknown). Died, probably at Rome, A.D.

223.]

Daughter to a Priest of the Sun. When her sister, Julia Domna, as wife

of Septimius Severus, became Empress, Julia Mæsa resided at the Imperial

Court. Her bold political intrigues placed her grandson Elagabalus on

the throne. Against law, she was made a member of the Senate. She bore

the title of Augusta to her death, and was afterwards deified. A woman

of powerful mind, unscrupulously ambitious, but using power well.

[From the marble in the Gallery of the Emperors, in the Capitol, at

Rome.]

92. SABINA.

[Died probably A.D. 137.]

Wife of the Emperor Hadrian, and grandniece of Trajan. Ill treated by

her husband, by whom, it is said, she was poisoned. Others assert that

in despair she put an end to her life. She was deified after her

decease.

[From the original in alabaster in the Capitoline Museum, at Rome.]

COURT OF THE ROMAN LADIES.

(_Numbers commencing on the right._)

93. LIVIA DRUSILLA. _Roman Empress._

[Born B.C. 56-54. Died A.D. 29.]

Married to Tiberius Claudius Nero, a Roman general; but her beauty

captivating the Triumvir Octavian, afterwards Augustus, her divorce was

effected, and she became the Triumvir’s wife. A consummate actress, full

of craft and dissimulation, possessing great knowledge of the world,

and, by an affected purity of life, maintaining to the last her

influence over the mind of Augustus. She successfully intrigued for the

succession in favour of Tiberius, her son by her first marriage, and, it

is said, removed by poison the grandsons of Augustus, who stood in the

way of her own offspring. Tiberius became Emperor, and repaid the

service by base ingratitude. He removed his mother from all share in the

government, declined all intercourse with her, refused to see her when

she was dying, and rejoiced, in open show, at her death.

94*. DOMNA--JULIA (PIA FELIX AUGUSTA). _Roman Empress._

[Born at Emesa, in Syria, about A.D. 170. Died A.D. 217.]

A woman of humble origin, but beautiful, ambitious and crafty. She

became the wife of Septimius Severus, then of the rank of general, and

acquired boundless influence over his mind, persuading him that a

prophecy had destined her to become the wife of an Emperor, and inciting

him to labour to that end. After the death of her husband, her son Geta

was murdered in her arms by his brother Caracalla; and after the

successful revolt of Macrinus, being suspected of treason, she, possibly

to avoid punishment, starved herself to death.

[From the marble in the Rotunda of the Vatican. This colossal head

will be found No. 334, Roman Court.]

95*. JULIA, daughter of AUGUSTUS.

[Born at Rome, B.C. 39. Died at Rhegium, A.D. 14. Aged 53.]

The daughter of the Roman Emperor by his third wife Scribonia. Strictly

brought up, she was married at fourteen to Marcellus. Left a widow at

sixteen, she was forced by her father to marry the veteran Agrippa, by

whom she had three sons and two daughters. Her conduct dissolute and

unrestrained. Agrippa dying, she married again Tiberius Nero (afterwards

emperor) who left her in disgust. She was banished by her father until

the accession of Tiberius, when she suffered still harsher exile.

Consumption killed her. In spite of her vices, the people of Rome loved

her for her frank and lively manner, and frequently solicited Augustus

to recall her.

[For further account of this graceful Statue of Julia, see No. 229, of

Handbook to Roman Court, and Nave.]

96. AGRIPPINA--THE ELDER.

[Born B.C. 15. Died A.D. 33. Aged 48.]

Daughter of Vipsanius Agrippa, and wife of Cæsar Germanicus, to whom she

bore nine children. Accompanied her husband in all his campaigns, and

aided him by her cool foresight and energetic will: once, on the Rhine,

in his absence, by her heroic resistance to the timid counsels of those

about her, saving the relics of an army. On his death in Asia, she

returned to Rome, whence she was banished by Tiberius, jealous of her

popularity. After three years’ persecution and suffering, she

died--possibly by her own hand. She had all the lofty qualities of a

Roman matron--nobility of soul, purity, and a devoted love for her

husband and children. Tacitus says of her, that “the cares which belong

to men supplanted, in her mind, the vices common to her sex.”

[From the seated Statue, for account of which, see No. 281, of

Hand-book to Roman Court, and Nave.]

97. AGRIPPINA THE YOUNGER. _Roman Empress._

[Born at Oppidum Ubiorum (Cologne), A.D. 14-17. Died at Rome, A.D.

60.]

The ruthless and dissolute daughter of noble parents--of Germanicus and

Agrippina the elder. The unenviable mother of the madman, Nero. Upon the

death of her second husband, whom she was accused of poisoning, she

married her uncle Claudius, whom she induced to nominate Nero for his

successor, excluding his own son. She poisoned her uncle-husband, and

received her reward from her son, the matricide,--dying by hands

commissioned by him to the murder. Tacitus speaks of some interesting

memoirs of her time, written by Agrippina, to which he had access in

writing his history. She was beautiful, but ambitious, and as wicked as

she proved unfortunate.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum, at Rome.]

98. VALERIA MESSALINA. _Roman Empress._

[Born, uncertain. Died at Rome, A.D. 48.]

The third wife of the Emperor Claudius I. Her name has become a bye-word

for profligacy. A murderess. Herself pierced through the breast by the

sword of a tribune entrusted with the execution of one of her victims.

The slave of lust, avarice, and ambition. Difficult to find in history a

woman more blackened by crime than Valeria Messalina.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum, at Rome.]

99. PLOTINA--POMPEIA. _Roman Empress._

[Date, and place of birth and death unknown.]

The wife of the Emperor Trajan. A woman of clear, strong mind, and an

exemplary purity of life and consistency of character. Childless

herself, she prevailed upon her husband to adopt Hadrian, in whose reign

she died. Hadrian built a temple in her honour, and composed hymns in

her praise.

[From the marble in the Rotunda of the Vatican.]

100. MATIDIA.

[Date and place of birth unknown.]

The niece of Trajan. Declared Augusta, A.D. 113, and after death,

deified.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum, at Rome.]

101. CRISPINA.

[Date and place of birth unknown. Died at Capreæ, A.D. 183.]

Was married to the Roman Emperor Commodus, A.D. 177, but divorced for

infidelity, banished, and put to death in her exile. She was very

beautiful and ambitious.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum, at Rome.]

102. MAMÆA--JULIA. _Roman Empress._

[Born at Emesa, in Syria (date unknown). Died in Gaul, A.D. 235.]

The mother of Alexander Severus, for whom she governed wisely during his

minority. With many virtues, she possessed what, in the eyes of the

Roman soldiers, was invariably considered as a great vice--she was an

economist in her expenditure; and, disgusting the army by recommending

retrenchments, she gave occasion to a mutiny, to which she and her son

Alexander both fell victims. It is said that, whilst at Antioch, she

received instruction from Origen in the Christian faith.

[From the very beautiful Bust in the Florence Gallery.]

102A. MAMÆA--JULIA. _Roman Empress._

[The same as preceding, in advanced age.]

103. SALONINA--CORNELIA. _Roman Empress._

[Date and place of birth unknown. Died before Milan, A.D. 268.]

Supposed to have been of Greek origin. Was the wife of the Emperor

Gallienus, and dignified with the title of Augusta upon his ascending

the throne. She cultivated literature and philosophy, and was the

protector of Plotinus the philosopher. She is described as a woman of

great good sense, and exceeding benevolence. She roused him to repel the

barbarians, and accompanied his army that she might attend to the wants

of the soldiers. She was massacred with her husband and youngest son

before Milan.

[From the marble in the Capitol at Rome.]

104. MARINIANA.

[Date and place of birth and death unknown.]

Little is known respecting this Princess, who was either wife, sister,

or daughter of the Emperor Valerian, and died at least four years before

his Persian expedition. Some coins, having on the obverse her name and a

veiled head, were struck, A.D. 254.

105. FAUSTINA JUNIOR--ANNIA FAUSTINA.

[Date and place of birth unknown. Died A.D. 175.]

The daughter of Antoninus Pius, and wife of Marcus Aurelius, whom she

accompanied into Asia, and there died suddenly. One of the most

abandoned and dissolute of the Roman Empresses, yet her virtuous husband

preserved his first affection for her to the last; and, on the spot

where she died, erected to her honour the city of Faustinopolis.

[From the Capitoline Museum, at Rome. The original is in the marble

called “Paonazzetto” (peacock-stone).]

105A. FAUSTINA.

[This bust, which is from the Florence Collection, bears the name of

“Faustina, Junior.” It is a beautiful bust, well preserved, but bears

little resemblance to the preceding portrait. If it really represent

the same person, the work has been executed by a more flattering

hand.]

106. SABINA--POPPÆA. _Roman Empress._

[Date and place of birth unknown. Died A.D. 65.]

“She possessed,” says Tacitus, “everything but a virtuous mind.” She

became the wife of the Emperor Nero, after having been his mistress; at

her instigation Nero’s mother was killed by him, and his former wife,

Octavia, divorced and put to death. She was herself destroyed by a

brutal blow from Nero, who pronounced her eulogium at the tomb. “As he

could not,” says Tacitus, “speak of her virtues, he enlarged upon her

beauty.” She was deified, and honoured with a temple. Her luxurious

tastes were extravagant. It is related that her mules were shod with

gold; and that when she travelled, she was followed by five hundred

asses, whose milk furnished a bath to preserve her complexion.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum, at Rome.]

COURT OF ROMAN GENERALS AND POETS.

ADJOINING THE COURT OF ROMAN LADIES.

(_Numbers commencing on the right._)

107. LUCIUS JUNIUS BRUTUS. _Roman Consul._

[Date and place of birth unknown.]

The first Consul, and one of the Founders, of the Roman Republic. Before

he was elected to the Consulate in B.C. 509, he had been the main cause

of the expulsion of royalty from Rome in the persons of Tarquin and his

sons. He fell in battle whilst defending, as Consul, the infant Republic

against the royal exiles fighting for their restoration. These are

admitted facts in the life of Lucius Junius Brutus. His assumption of

idiotcy during the reign of the Tarquins, in order to carry on with

greater safety his patriotic designs, and his connexion with the

affecting history of the devoted Lucretia, are events which in recent

years have passed from the grave volume of history to the more

fascinating pages of poetry. Philosophical historians permit us to sing,

but no longer to believe in, the once cherished narratives of earliest

Rome. The act, whether historical or merely traditionary, which the most

memorably distinguishes his name, is that of ordering the execution of

his two sons, convicted of conspiring for the restoration of the

Tarquins.

[From the bronze in the Palazzo dei Conservatori of the Capitol at

Rome.]

108. MARCELLUS--M. CLAUDIUS. _Roman General._

[Born about B.C. 268. Died in Apulia, B.C. 208. Aged about 60.]

A Roman of high fame. At his hands Hannibal received the first check

that he experienced in Italy. He subsequently besieged Syracuse, but was

forced to convert the siege into a blockade in consequence of the genius

displayed in the defence of the city by the great Archimedes, who

rendered of no avail every engine brought against Syracuse, and inspired

dread by his own instruments of war. At length Marcellus triumphed, the

city was given over to pillage, and its defender perished, whilst

pondering over a geometrical problem, by the hand of a common soldier.

He again turned his victorious arms against Hannibal, winning fresh

laurels and new honours from the state. It was whilst fighting against

the Carthaginian hero that he fell, slain by a spear of the enemy.

Hannibal sympathized with his fall, and paid honour to his remains. A

plain, stern, unlettered soldier, brave to recklessness, rude and

unpolished in manners, unyielding in temper.

[This Bust bears the name of Marcellus in the Capitoline Museum. It

may be the nephew of Augustus when a child.]

109. SCIPIO--PUBLIUS CORNELIUS AFRICANUS MAJOR. _Roman General._

[Born probably at Rome, B.C. 234. Died at Liternum, in Campania, B.C.

183. Aged 51.]

Son of Publius Cornelius Scipio, whose life he saved in the battle of

the Ticinus. One of the few Roman generals who survived the fatal battle

of Cannæ, and chosen with Appius Claudius to command the remains of the

army. Went as Prætor or Pro-Consul to Spain at the age of 24, where he

took Carthagena, gained the battle of Bœcula, and recovered the whole

country. Forcing Hannibal, the victorious Carthaginian general, to carry

the theatre of war to Africa, he gained the celebrated victory of Zama,

which decided the long conflict between Rome and Carthage for dominion.

Received the surname of Africanus in consequence, but, vexed with the

ingratitude of his countrymen he withdrew to Liternum, where he died.

Like Mahomet and Cromwell, he believed himself the special instrument of

Heaven. He was undoubtedly the greatest man of his age, and one of the

first of the Roman worthies. The affectionate friend of the poet Ennius,

and the patron of literature. The Spaniards, for his virtues, would have

made him king.

[From the Capitol at Rome. Many busts of this great general are in

existence. They all represent him with the head and face close shaved,

according to the fashion of his day, when men shaved closely after the

age of forty. The authentic busts have the scar on the left side of

the head, and some have a scar on each side, and some on the wrong

side. No. 127 is from the bust in basalt belonging to the Rospigliosi

Palace. No. 125 is from the bronze found in the Villa of the Papyri at

Herculaneum, and now in the Naples Museum.]

110. CATO--MARCUS PORCIUS. _Roman Patriot and General._

[Born B.C. 95. Died at Utica, in Africa, B.C. 46. Aged 49.]

One of the classical undying forms reared in antiquity to symbolize high

moral purity, unquenchable love of liberty, and the sternest virtue.

Cato answers to the idea of Roman patriotism, as Julius Cæsar to that of

Roman conquest. Before this one we stand, wondering at human power;

before that, subdued by the might of the highest moral excellence. Cato

as a child was grave, pains-taking, resolute, tenacious; as he grew, he

became strong in the love of virtue, and in his hatred of oppression.

Attached to the philosophy of the Stoics, he aimed at happiness through

its teaching. He had served with honour many offices in Rome when

Pompey, Cæsar, and Crassus found it necessary to remove him to Cyprus,

in order that his patriotism might offer no obstacle to their ambitious

schemes. Returning to Rome, he was made Prætor, the highest office he

ever held. At the breaking out of the civil war he was entrusted by the

senate with the defence of Sicily: he afterwards joined Pompey.

Subsequently to the battle of Pharsalia, at which he was not present, he

sailed to Africa in search of Pompey. Suffering defeat at Thapsus, he

committed self-destruction. Before the fatal act he read Plato’s Phædon

several times through. His death caused great grief. It was mourned by

great Cæsar himself, who grudged Cato his death, since Cato grudged him

the glory of sparing his life.

[Double bust representing Cato and his daughter Porcia; it is from the

Capitoline Museum, but possesses no especial authenticity.]

111. JULIUS CÆSAR. _Roman Dictator._

[Born at Rome, B.C. 100. Died there, B.C. 44. Aged 56.]

The mightiest amongst the mighty of men. At the outset of his career he

served in Asia, where he won a civic wreath. Subsequently made Consul in

Rome (B.C. 59); and, at the close of his term of office, appointed to

the government of Gaul--which country in nine years he wholly subjugated

to Roman rule. His invasion of Britain is amongst the earliest

recollections of the English schoolboy. The renowned Commentaries of

Julius Cæsar graphically narrate these deeds. Rousing the jealousy of

Pompey, in Rome, by his splendid achievements, he marched into

Italy--afterwards into Spain, in order to crush the adherents of Pompey,

and then returned to Rome in triumph, to be created Dictator. As

Dictator he overcame his rival in the battle of Pharsalia, in Thessaly.

He performed fresh service to the state in Egypt, and going back to Rome

in order to advance the social and material prosperity of his country,

he fell a victim to a conspiracy, of which Brutus and Cassius were at

the head. Twice had the crown been offered to him, and twice had he

refused it. No Roman before his time had ever won such honour as was

heaped upon his head. He suffered from epilepsy, and was very

abstemious. He was tall, fair and slight--very careful of his person,

concealing his baldness by a laurel crown. His was indeed a head

inwreathed with palms. He was a great captain, a great statesman, a

great orator--a great writer. He had innate personal intrepidity,

instantaneous decision, answering celerity of action, resources to meet

every emergency, consummate military skill, an unshaken presence of

mind, a trust--whether in his fortune, as he said, or in himself--which

still augured and still conquered success. He had also the most implicit

confidence in his troops, whom he treated ever as companions and

brothers in arms. Intellectual action in him was without labour. It was

subtle, comprehensive, rapid, luminous, self-possessed. He dictated to

five secretaries at once, on different subjects: his strokes of

eloquence in the Senate, as his strokes of action in the field, were

quick and irresistible. In the terrible civil war of the dissolving

Republic--a war wasteful of Roman blood in the field,--thirstier for the

flow of the same drear beverage by the axe and the dagger,--there, where

the sole sad policy of the victor hitherto was revenge, Cæsar tried the

novel art of forgiveness: although in his Gaulish conquests--when the

barbarian stands before him--he looks to us, by his own reporting,

sanguinary and merciless. By toil and spare diet, he hardened a feeble

health for any work. A civilian, with but a taste, in youth, of war,

he, at forty, stepped into command, at once a supreme commander.

Recklessly licentious, yet no intellect could be keener, healthier, and

more vigorous. His writings, with the simplicity of a soldier, have the

clearness and precision of a grammarian. And why not, since we know that

in the versatility of his genius, he wrote two books on grammar. In the

history of the world, Julius Cæsar was a power. In the records of

psychology a wonder.

[From the bronze in the Florence Gallery. He wore the front of his

head shaven. It resembles the bronze medals of Cæsar, but is suspected

to be modern. He is said to have been sensitive on account of his

baldness, and this bust shows the hair combed forward to hide it. No.

111B possesses much individuality; it is from the head in basalt in

the Berlin Museum, and stood constantly on the study table of Frederic

the Great. No. 111A is the bust from the Poniatowsky Collection, and

remarkable for having the diadem round the head. No. 125 is from the

marble in the Gallery of the Emperors, in the Capitol at Rome.]

111A.}

} JULIUS CÆSAR. _Roman Dictator._

111B.}

112. MARCUS JUNIUS BRUTUS. _Roman General._

[Born B.C. 85. Died B.C. 42. Aged 43.]

The friend of Cicero--the fellow conspirator of Cassius--one of those

who shared in the deed memorable to all time--questionable in its

own--of killing Julius Cæsar. From his earliest youth, and through life,

absorbed in study and self-contemplation, to the detriment of his powers

as a man of action. He was much attached to Cato, whom he accompanied to

Cyprus, when it was found necessary to remove the republican leaders

from Rome. We are accustomed to think of Brutus--Shakspeare being

greatly answerable for the thought--as standing aloof from the vulgar

ambition and desires of his fellow-men; yet we find him in Cilicia (B.C.

53), growing rich by letting out money at usurious interest. In the

civil war of Pompey and Cæsar he took part with Pompey; Cæsar, however,

gave orders that at the battle of Pharsalia his person should be sacred.

Grateful for the consideration, Brutus, upon the defeat of Pompey, asked

pardon from Cæsar, which was generously accorded. In B.C. 48, appointed

by Cæsar governor of Cisalpine Gaul: the inhabitants of which, delighted

with his mild treatment of them, and his justice, honoured him with

public monuments. Four years later he joined the conspiracy against his

patron, and burdened his hand with the death of that great soldier. Then

took up arms against Antony; but suffering defeat at Philippi, fell by

his own sword. His reading and varied knowledge were immense: he was

speculative, superstitious, and highly imaginative. His aspirations pure

and noble, but his practical ability small, and his judgment imperfect

and too easily led. He wrote much, his chief productions being his

orations.

[From the Capitol at Rome, where it stands in the same gallery as the

Dying Gladiator (No. 309) in the Nave.]

113. M. VIPSANIUS AGRIPPA. _Roman General._

[Born B.C. 63. Died in Campania, B.C. 12. Aged 51.]

His victories mainly contributed to make the Emperor Augustus, whose

daughter he married, master of the Roman Empire: and he was the chief

support of the rising monarchical institution in Rome. He spent much

money on public works, erected several public buildings, including the

Pantheon and the Julian aqueduct; was a patron of the fine Arts, and

dying, bequeathed his goods and his gardens to the people of Rome.

[From a Bust in the Louvre.]

114. NERO CLAUDIUS DRUSUS. _Roman General._

[Born at Rome, B.C. 38. Died B.C. 9. Aged 29.]

A son of Livia who married the Emperor Augustus, and brother of

Tiberius. Victorious in Gaul and Germany. Unflinchingly firm and severe

towards all who resisted him, but generous to those who trusted and

submitted to him. He married Antonia, the daughter of Marc Antony. His

known desire to see the commonwealth restored endeared him to the Roman

people. Died in Germany, from an injury sustained in a fall from his

horse.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum, at Rome. See also a statue

of him, No. 222, Roman Court.]

115. GERMANICUS CÆSAR. _Roman General._

[Born B.C. 15. Died at Antioch, in Syria, A.D. 19. Aged 34.]

Son of Nero Claudius Drusus, and his wife Antonia; was adopted by

Tiberius, at the request of Augustus. Occupied for a time in an

exterminating war against the eastern Germans. Afterwards appointed by

Tiberius supreme ruler of the eastern provinces. Died at Antioch, where,

it is supposed, he was poisoned by the governor of the place. A man of

sensitive feeling, temperate, and virtuous. Remarkable for the dignity

of his person, for captivating eloquence, munificence, and unaffected

courtesy; but credulous, nervous, and a believer in magic. Idolized by

his soldiers, and popular with the multitude.

[From the marble in the Capitol, at Rome. The statue generally called

by his name is described under No. 312 in the Hand-book to Roman Court

and Nave.]

116. CORBULO--CNEIUS DOMITIUS. _Roman General._

[Date and place of birth unknown. Died at Cenchreæ, in Greece, A.D.

67.]

One of the most celebrated generals of his age, and brother-in-law of

Caligula. He composed some military memoirs after the manner of Cæsar’s

Commentaries, but they have not been preserved. He was a good

disciplinarian, and cautious as well as brave. He commanded against the

Parthians, and was victorious in every engagement. After Nero’s

accession, he continued faithful to his new master, who summoned him to

Greece, and for his fidelity greeted him with an order for execution on

his landing at Cenchreæ. He stabbed himself with his own sword. His

daughter Domitia Longina, celebrated for her beauty and vices, was the

wife of the Emperor Domitian.

[From the marble in the Gallery of Philosophers, of the Capitoline

Museum, at Rome.]

117. DECIMUS CLODIUS CEIONIUS SEPTIMIUS ALBINUS. _Roman General._

[Born at Adrumetum, in Africa. Date not known. Died at Lugdunum

(Lyons), in Gaul, A.D. 197.]

Entered the army at an early age, and served with distinction under

Marcus Aurelius. Held a command in Gaul, and afterwards in Britain,

under Commodus. After the murder of Pertinax, the successor of Commodus,

Clodius was proclaimed Emperor in Britain by the British legions, and

shared the purple with Septimius Severus. Subsequently discarded by

Severus, he put himself at the head of his legions, and met his

colleague in battle at Lugdunum, in Gaul, where he fell. He was of great

beauty and strength, and was called by his father “Albinus,” on account

of the great whiteness of his skin. A skilful general, but severe:

styled by some, the “Catiline” of his time.

[From the gallery of the Emperors, in the Capitoline Museum, at Rome.]

118. TERENCE--PUBLIUS TERENTIUS. _Latin Comic Poet._

[Born at Carthage, B.C. 195. Died (place uncertain), B.C. 159. Aged

36.]

The second and last of the Latin comic poets--Plautus being the

first--whose plays have descended to our time. He was the slave of a

Roman senator, who, having regard to his talents and handsome person,

gave him his liberty: on which occasion the freedman assumed his

patron’s name--Terentius. In person, he was thin and of the middle

height, with an olive complexion. Terence is the one Latin writer in

whom the stateliness and the lofty strength, seemingly inherent in the

language of Rome, at once ceases: and the tongue which we had deemed fit

only to be spoken by the Kings of the world,---by the Fathers convened

in the temple of Capitoline Jove,--gently condescends to the hearts and

the hearths of men. In the six preserved comedies of his--both by the

delineation of the characters, and by the strain of their speaking--we

feel ourselves in the familiar presence of known humanity. Not but that

the manner implies delicate choice and thoughtful art; but its easy,

natural air deceives the belief in the actual study. The words rise up

from the heart, to drop from the lip. In the dialogue of Terence, the

barrier that hitherto has stood inflexibly between the modern and the

antique world has fallen. We are at home in the Roman theatre. To great

purity, grace, tenderness, the style adds, even in description, or

narrative, or continuous argument, that utter simplicity and obviousness

of the sense, which is found in the most trivial uses of speech.

[From the marble in the Stanza dei Filosofi of the Capitol, at Rome.

On the right shoulder is sculptured the histrionic mask, a curious

fancy of the artist, which may have been suggested by the custom in

Egyptian portraiture, of carving the name in a small “cartouche” on

the shoulder, a practice alluded to in the scriptures.]

119. QUINTUS HORTENSIUS. _Roman Orator._

[Born B.C. 113. Died B.C. 49. Aged 64.]

He employed his great oratorical powers in the defence of Sylla, and of

the aristocratic party to which he had attached himself. Cicero styled

him “rex judiciorum.” He defended Verres against Cicero: and the triumph

of Cicero on that occasion threw Hortensius ever after into the second

rank. He acquired great wealth, and lived luxuriously. His oratory was

of the florid kind, and greatly aided by gesticulation; he had a

retentive memory, and a sweetly sonorous voice.

[From the marble in the Villa Albani, Rome. The Bust is inscribed with

his name. It was found together with the bust of Isocrates (No. 15).]

120. CICERO--MARCUS TULLIUS. _Roman Orator._

[Born at Arpinum, B.C. 106. Died at Formiae, B.C. 43. Aged 63.]

The acknowledged greatest name in Roman eloquence. A man diligent in

accomplishing himself by various study, and wonderfully gifted with the

power of clothing thought in copious and musical words. He is less

distinguished as an original thinker. He frequented the schools of the

philosophers, but seemed in heart more dedicated to the worldly ambition

of power and fame than to the studious zeal of truth. He courted

popularity, and lived in anticipated immortality. He was an ambiguous

partisan, waiting to be directed by victory to the side which he should

embrace. He loved to throw an air of philosophical reflexion over

questions of human affairs; and his expression of these reflexions is

felt even to this day as singularly felicitous. We quote his words,

because we can find no apter expression yet for the permanent thoughts.

His writings show him undisguisedly vain. After the assassination of the

great Julius (B.C. 44), he became the leader of the republican party,

and in his celebrated “Philippics” denounced Antony as the foe of his

country. This was his ruin. On the formation of the Triumvirate of

Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, he was included in the proscriptions; his

head was cut off, and fixed upon the Rostra which had so frequently

resounded with his eloquence. His greatest political achievement was the

detection and sudden overthrow of the revolutionary conspiracy headed by

Catiline (B.C. 63), his brilliant denunciations of whom we listen to in

our boyhood. Kind and pure in his life, but without true greatness of

character, and with many moral weaknesses.

[From the marble in the Vatican. Considered to be the most faithful

portrait of this renowned orator. No. 120A is from the Gallery of

Philosophers of the Capitoline Museum, at Rome.]

120A. CICERO--MARCUS TULLIUS. _Roman Orator._

121. VIRGIL--PUBLIUS VIRGILIUS MARO. _Latin Poet._

[Born at Andes, near Mantua, in Cisalpine Gaul, B.C. 70. Died at

Brundusium, in Italy, B.C. 19. Aged 51.]

The district in which Virgil was born not being then included in Italy,

he did not enjoy the native rights of a Roman citizen; and when Augustus

divided the lands in Cisalpine Gaul amongst his victorious veteran

soldiers, Virgil was ejected from his small patrimonial farm. Upon his

petitioning the emperor, however, the farm was restored to him. He was

the friend of Horace, whom he introduced to Mæcenas. Besides poetry, he

cultivated medicine and agriculture. He was tall, dark, rustic in

appearance, and feeble in body. He was drawn by the power of genius from

the obscure shade of a peasant’s life, to be the favoured poet and

friend of an emperor. In his verse the native majesty of the language

appears more perfectly tempered, than in any other, with grace and

sweetness. Virgil is the most pathetic of the Roman poets: the heart

speaks in his verse. He has the soul of the beautiful, like an earlier

Raffaelle in song. His poem on Husbandry--the most finished work of his

muse--is written with a cleaving of soul to the native theme. The

purport of the poem was to recall the luxurious Romans to the simple and

vigorous way of life of their ancestors, who lived cultivating the

earth. If the rural earth and free nature could have been endeared to

the voluptuous masters of the world by the charm of musical words, the

Georgics might have done this. We ourselves feel the pouring of a purer

atmosphere into the corrupted city. The epic poem of Virgil, “The

Æneid,” relating the transplantation of a Trojan colony from the flames

of falling Troy, to found (in Italy) future Rome, derives a high

poetical cast from the prophetic spirit that overshadows it. Both “The

Georgics” and the “Æneid” express love in the soul of the poet--love for

the scenes and vocation, in which he was born--love of Rome, which he

will purify or will glorify.

[From the marble in the Stanza dei Filosofi of the Capitol, at Rome.

The portraits of Virgil have been verified by Bellori. The tomb of

Virgil is a well-known object of interest near Naples. It is now an

ivy-grown, but venerated ruin, although so late as 1326 it was nearly

perfect.]

122. SENECA--LUCIUS ANNÆUS. _Philosopher._

[Born at Corduba (Cordova), in Spain, about A.D. 2. Died at Rome, A.D.

68. Aged 66.]

The tutor of young Domitius, afterwards the Emperor Nero, by whom he was

condemned and sentenced to self-destruction---probably that Nero might

secure his great possessions. Seneca underwent his punishment with great

firmness and philosophic calm. He was a writer of many works, and

Quintilian says that he corrupted the taste of his age by an affected

though elegant style. Many of his epistles and moral and physical

treatises are extant. His philosophy was Stoical, with modifications;

his manner of writing is antithetical, and apparently laboured. He

rejected the superstitions of his country, and was a monotheist.

[From the marble in the Berlin Museum. In the Florence collection

there are three Busts of him. The portrait of Seneca was identified as

early as the sixteenth century by a medallion engraved with his name,

possessed by Cardinal Mattei. A Bust in bronze was found at

Herculaneum.]

122*. LIVY--TITUS LIVIUS. _Roman Historian._

[Born at Petavium (Padua), B.C. 59. Died A.D. 17. Aged 76.]

Little is known of the life of this famous historian, save that he

enjoyed the patronage and friendship of Augustus, and established a wide

and instantaneous fame in his own time. The great and only extant work

of Livy is his History of Rome. It originally consisted of 142 books: 35

only have come down to us--of the remainder we have merely short

summaries. Livy is an admirable weaver together, without sifting

criticism, of received records and traditions. His reader glides on the

stream of his flowing narration. His style is lucid, animated,

picturesque. But in the annals of the warlike republic--that setter up

and putter down of kings--that mistress of the nations--we look for and

desire, more stern and majestic strength;--a profounder disclosure of

the heroic political wisdom, which steadily advanced in building up the

most memorable empire in the world.

[Bust yet to come.]

(_Leaving the Court of Roman Generals, we proceed to the Nave. The

numbers of the Portrait Gallery continue into the Nave from left to

right_.)

123. HADRIAN. _Roman Emperor._

For life, see No. 46.

124. LIVIA DRUSILLA. _Roman Empress._

For life, see No. 93.

[A fine statue of Livia will be seen in the vestibule adjoining the

Court of the Generals, No. 237.]

125. JULIUS CÆSAR. _Roman Dictator._

For life, see No. 111.

126. SCIPIO AFRICANUS. _Roman General._

For life, see No. 109.

127. SCIPIO AFRICANUS. _Roman General._

For life, see No. 109.

128. DECIMUS CŒLIUS BALBINUS. _Roman Statesman and Emperor_, A.D. 238.

[Date, and place of birth unknown.]

A man of Consular dignity, who had governed in nearly all the peaceful

provinces of the Empire, and was esteemed and beloved by all ranks;

when, upon the death of the Gordiani in Africa, he was selected as one

of the Emperors to oppose the ferocious Maximinus--Pupienus being the

other. Soon after the death of Maximinus, both Balbinus and Pupienus

were murdered by the Prætorians, who remembered to their disadvantage

the prodigal liberality of their lately-slain tyrant. They reigned only

four months. Balbinus was celebrated for his oratory and poetry.

[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum, at Rome.]

THE ITALIAN PORTRAITS.

INTRODUCTION.

Our Italian collection is formed, chiefly, from the busts of the

Capitoline Museum, at Rome, where Pius VII., in 1820, founded a portrait

gallery of celebrated Italians, to which he gave the name of the

Protomoteca. This gallery contains about 70 busts, and though dedicated

especially to the honour of Italians, still finds room for some of the

distinguished foreigners who derived much of their eminence from

studying at Rome. These are Nicolas Poussin of France, Raffaelle Mengs

the Bohemian, Winckelmann the German antiquary, Angelica Kauffman, the

most accomplished painter of her sex, and Giuseppe Suée, a French

painter. The busts of living men are not admitted, and the honour of

joining the famous company is awarded by the Academy of Rome, assisted

by men learned or skilled in any special science or art.

The series is a very complete one, and begins as early as the XIIIth

century. It is to be regretted that so few of these busts have been done

from the life; although it must be understood that none is the work of

mere imagination, some authenticated portrait having in every case

furnished a model. Most of these busts are the work of sculptors of the

time of Canova, and many of them were executed at his expense, and

presented to the collection. In general, it will be remarked that a

certain grandeur prevails in the treatment of the heads, an element that

seems to belong, naturally, to the works of the best Italian artists,

whether in painting or sculpture. Even where existing casts from the

face prove to us that in these busts there has been a certain departure

from the real features, we see it has been done only to afford a more

exalted idea of the person, and to give the stamp of that nobleness and

dignity which characterize the finest efforts of portraiture. A

comparison of the busts of Galileo, Nos. 185 and 185A, and of Michael

Angelo, Nos. 143 and 143A, will illustrate this point.

There is also in the Capitoline Museum, a large collection of antique

portrait busts, embracing many of the ancient philosophers, poets, and

Roman Emperors, a selection from which, as we have already stated, is

found in the Greek and Roman Courts.

In the Vatican (the palace of the Pope, at Rome), a splendid edifice,

which has, from time to time, been constructed and enlarged by various

eminent architects, and decorated by the greatest painters of the world,

are preserved many _chefs d’œuvre_ of art that are to be seen in no

other place. The collection of the Vatican includes many portraits of

every kind; but one portion of the vast structure is exclusively devoted

to portrait-statues and busts. This is a spacious and magnificent

apartment called the Rotonda, paved with antique mosaics, and surrounded

with antique statues and busts on pedestals of the rarest marbles.

Adjoining this saloon is another noble gallery, built by Pius VII. which

contains many statues of the Greek sages, and of other illustrious men.

In the Florence gallery there is a most interesting series of portraits

of painters by their own hands--a unique and unrivalled collection,

begun by the Cardinal Leopold, the brother of Ferdinand II., and

increased by the addition of the portraits from the collection of the

Abbé Pazzi, purchased by the Grand Duke Leopold in 1765. Besides these

paintings, there is a collection of more than 4,000 engraved gems and

cameos, amongst which are many antique portraits. There are also about

100 antique portrait busts, of which the rarest and best preserved are

Cicero, Marc Antony, Julius Cæsar, Augustus, Caligula, Galba, and Otho.

As the visitor will observe, several of these are in our portrait

gallery.

The Naples collection, besides many fine works of antiquity of every

kind, has contributed in the most important manner to the subject of

antique portraiture. It contains the invaluable relics found at

Herculaneum and Pompeii: and amongst these have, from time to time,

appeared portrait busts, statues, and even pictures with names upon

them, by which busts elsewhere have been recognised. There are in this

Museum, about 200 portraits in marble and bronze, from which our

collection has been enriched.

* * * * *

(_The portraits of Italians begin immediately behind the Statue of

Rubens, in the great Transept, on the east side of the Nave._)

ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS.

129. NICCOLA PISANO. _Sculptor and Architect._

[Born at Pisa, in Italy, 1205-7. Died at Sienna, in Italy, about

1290.]

The early reviver of Sculpture in Italy; memorable for being the first

Italian artist who quitted the dry, stiff, traditional forms which had

long prevailed, and founded a school based upon Truth and Nature. His

finest productions preceded those of Cimabue; and it was said of him

that “he was the first to see the light and to follow it.” His great

work is the marble pulpit, with bas-reliefs from Scripture, in the

Baptistery at Pisa.

[By Alessandro d’Este. Vasari mentions a Bust of him by his son

Giovanni, from which this may have been taken.]

130. ANDREA DI CIONE, better known by his surname ORCAGNA or ORGAGNA.

_Painter, Sculptor, Architect._

[14th century.]

Precise time of his birth unknown; it appears that he died about 1370.

Executed several works in his three vocations. The dignified grandeur

and admirable grouping of the figures in his paintings were at a later

period copied or adopted, even by Michael Angelo and Raffaelle. Orcagna

was a good as well as a great man. His chief works still exist, though

in a half-ruined state, in the Campo Santo at Pisa, and in the Strozzi

Chapel, and the Or-San-Michele at Florence.

[This Bust is by the Cav. Massimiliano Laboureur. There is, however, a

mezzo-relievo, by his own hand, behind the altar in Or-San-Michele, at

Florence, which contains his portrait. He is there represented as an

Apostle, shaven, and wearing a hood.]

131. FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI. _Sculptor and Architect._

[Born at Florence, 1377. Died there, 1446. Aged 69.]

The self-taught constructor of the Cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore, at

Florence, which, though smaller than that of St. Peter’s at Rome,

surpasses it in elegance and lightness. A builder of churches, palaces,

and fortifications. Michael Angelo declared that it was difficult to

imitate and impossible to excel him. Small and insignificant in person,

but of commanding genius. With many competitors, his goodness and

prudence preserved him from enmity.

[His tomb is next to that of Giotto, in the Cathedral at Florence, and

bears an epitaph by Aretino. This bust was done by Alessandro d’Este.

It is no doubt taken from that in the Church of Sta. Maria del Fiore,

at Florence, which was done from the life, in marble, by his pupil, Il

Buggiano. In 1830, statues of him and Arnolfo, his fellow architect,

were placed in the new chapter-house: they are by Luigi Pompaloni, a

Florentine.]

132. LORENZO GHIBERTI, or LORENZO DI CIONE. _Sculptor._

[Born at Florence, 1378. Died, 1455. Aged 77.]

One of the most memorable of the great Italian artists of the fifteenth

century. At the age of 23, he competed with Brunelleschi and Donatello

for the execution of the side doors of San Giovanni at Florence. His two

rivals confessed themselves vanquished and retired in his favour. These

gates were twenty-one years in course of completion, and are divided

into 20 panels, each containing a bas-relief cast in bronze, from a

subject in the New Testament. Another twenty years were spent in

producing the central doors of the same Baptistery, representing in ten

compartments the principal events of the Old Testament. Of these,

Michael Angelo said they were beautiful enough to stand at the entrance

of Paradise. A reproduction of these gates occupies the centre of the

south end of the Renaissance Court. Ghiberti modelled and cast statues,

worked in gold, painted on glass, and wrote a MS. history of Ancient and

Modern Artists.

[Buried in Sta. Croce, Florence; his tomb is now lost. This Bust is by

Carlo Finelli. There is an interesting portrait of him by his own

hand, amongst the heads on his celebrated gates in the Renaissance

Court. The two heads in the centre, between the upper corners of the

second panels from the ground, are portraits of Ghiberti and

Bartoluccio, the caster; the right-hand one, with the bald head, being

Ghiberti. In the original gates his name is inscribed near the head,

with the words,--

“Laurentii Cionis de Ghibertis mirâ arte fabricatum.”]

133. DONATO DI NICCOLO DI BETTO BARDI; called by his contemporaries

DONATELLO. _Sculptor._

[Born at Florence, 1386. Died there, 1468. Aged 83.]

He was the generous competitor and friend of Lorenzo Ghiberti. Employed

and patronized by Cosmo de’ Medici. Was one of the first Italian

sculptors who gave to their figures freedom of movement and force of

expression. A very fine work of this artist is the equestrian statue of

Gattamelata, in the city of Padua. A cast from it will be found in the

Gothic and Renaissance Sculpture Court. The character of Donatello was

remarkable for simplicity and generosity; he took no thought for

himself, and was devoted wholly to his art.

[This Bust is by Giovanni Ceccarini.]

134. FRA ANGELICO DA FIESOLE; called also FRA GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE, and

IL BEATO. _Painter._

[Born at Vicchio, in Tuscany, 1387. Died at Rome, 1455. Aged 67.]

This charming painter of the early Florentine school became, when a

youth, a friar of the Dominican order. Began by illuminating missals;

afterwards enlarged his style, and executed frescos. The finest of these

are in the church of San. Marco, and in the chapel of Nicholas V. at

Rome. His works are distinguished by simple grace, tenderness of colour,

and the most profound religious feeling. He excelled particularly in

painting angels.

[This Bust is by Leandro Biglioschi; but there is a life-size bust of

him upon his tomb, in Minerva di Roma.]

135. TOMMASO GUIDI, also called MASSACCIO. _Painter._

[Born at San-Giovanni, in the Val d’ Arno, 1402. Died at Florence,

1443. Aged 41.]

Massaccio-Tomasaccio (big or heavy Tom) was a nickname given to him when

a boy. A devoted student of the works of Brunelleschi and Donatello. He

lived for the most part in Rome and Florence, and died in the last-named

city. Time has destroyed the greater number of his works. His frescos,

which still remain in the Brancacci chapel of the Carmelite church in

Florence, representing the history of St. Peter, are remarkable for

their freedom, and for the absence of the conventionalities of the early

mediæval painters. Some of his noble figures became models for the later

Florentines, and were imitated by Raffaelle himself. He excelled his

contemporaries in the nude form, and gave to his draperies a style

unknown before, adapting them naturally and gracefully to the human

shape.

[By Carlo Finelli.]

136. ANDREA MANTEGNA. _Painter and Engraver._

[Born at Padua, in Italy, 1430. Died at Mantua, in Italy, 1506. Aged

76.]

This painter is celebrated among the early artists of Italy, and belongs

to the Paduan school of art. His _chef-d’œuvre_, the _Madonna della

Vittoria_, in the Louvre, is grandly treated, and remarkable for its

admirable finish. His cartoons of the triumphs of Cæsar are at Hampton

Court; the composition is grand and spirited, and knowledge of the

antique is blended with a feeling for nature. To Mantegna is attributed

the art of engraving with the burin, and also the invention of the art

of foreshortening figures, especially on ceilings. Distinguished for his

good and amiable qualities.

[He was buried in the Church of S. Agnese, in Mantua. His tomb is in

one of the chapels, and bears his statue, in bronze. This bust is by

Rainaldo Rinaldi.]

137. LUCA SIGNORELLI. _Painter._

[Born at Cortona, in Tuscany, 1440. Died 1521. Aged 81.]

An ancestor of Vasari, the author of “Lives of the Painters,” and a

distinguished painter of the early Tuscan school. Assisted in the works

of the Sistine Chapel at Rome; and his pictures there, according to

Vasari, are superior to those of his contemporaries. His great frescos

in the Cathedral of Orvieto, representing the Day of Judgment and the

History of Antichrist, are his principal works. His productions show too

great anxiety to mark the form with anatomical correctness. In this he

was the precursor of Michael Angelo; and Fuseli has frequently imitated

him. As a man he was upright, sincere, and kind-hearted. He lived and

decorated himself with great splendour.

[By Pietro Pierantoni.]

138. FRANCESCO LAZZARI BRAMANTE. _Architect, Painter, Poet._

[Born at Castel Durante, in Italy, 1444. Died at Rome, 1514. Aged 70.]

Memorable as the architect employed by Julius II. and Leo X. to rebuild

the church of St. Peter’s, at Rome, and to construct the famous Loggie

of the Vatican, afterwards completed and adorned by Raffaelle. Bramante

was a bold and original genius, but vain, impetuous, and impatient. As a

consequence of his recklessness, most of his works have speedily

decayed.

[By Alessandro d’Este. Bramante was buried in the crypt of S. Peter’s,

at Rome, called the “Grotte Vaticane.”]

139. PIETRO PERUGINO, or PIETRO VANUCCI DELLA PIEVE. _Painter._

[Born at Pieve, in Italy, 1446. Died there or at Perugia, 1524. Aged

78.]

Immortal as the instructor of Raffaelle, and himself a celebrated

painter of the Umbrian school. He was opposed to the more modern style

of which Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and his own great pupil

Raffaelle, are the renowned masters. His pictures are religious,

earnest, and graceful, but wanting in variety of character. In his best

pictures, his colouring is excellent, and the expression of his heads

very beautiful, but his numerous works are of very unequal value and

merit. Vasari has branded this painter as avaricious, eccentric, sordid,

and irreligious. Modern writers have attempted to rescue him from the

harsh verdict pronounced by his early biographer.

[By Raimondo Trentanove.]

140. DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO. _Painter._

[Born at Florence, 1449--51. Died sometime between 1490 and 1498.]

The son of a goldsmith who adopted the name Ghirlandaio (the

garland-maker) on account of his skill in making the gold and silver

ornaments worn by Florentine girls. The first work of Domenico was a

portrait of Amerigo Vespucci who had the honour of giving his name to

America. Devoted to his art, preferring honour and glory to riches.

Painted in fresco, in tempera, and in mosaic, but excelled in the first.

In his sacred historical pictures, he introduced portraits of remarkable

persons as spectators, which gives them a peculiar value. He was the

early instructor of Michael Angelo, and his finest works are in the

churches of Florence.

[By Massimiliano Laboureur. His portrait, by his own hand, is in one

of the pictures of the Choir of S. Maria Novella, at Florence.]

141. LEONARDO DA VINCI. _Painter._

[Born at Vinci, in Tuscany, 1452. Died at Amboise, in France, 1519.

Aged 67.]

One of the greatest names of the fifteenth century. His genius was all

but universal, and his faculty of acquiring knowledge of all kinds,

prodigious. He is most generally known and appreciated as a painter; but

he was also a distinguished writer, a man of general science, an

architect, an engineer, an accomplished musician, and a discoverer in

Natural Philosophy. As painter he was the pupil of Andrea Verrochio, and

the founder of the Milan school. It was at Milan that he painted his

great and universally known picture, of the “Last Supper.” From 1504 to

1515, he travelled through Italy as architect and engineer to Cæsar

Borgia, Duke of Valentino. He is the undoubted head of the highest

development of art, in which the most elevated subjects were represented

in the noblest Form. Every branch and attribute of Fine Art was

intimately known to him. In the expression of the passions, his eye and

mind were quick and eager; and he investigated every phase of life to

its minutest modifications. He was familiar with the spirit of the

humblest ranks, and could stamp divine subjects with a beauty and

sentiment which only the very highest genius is competent to attain.

There was great rivalry between Leonardo and Michael Angelo.--A Titanic

emulation! The faculties of both were mighty and analogous; their grasp

similarly broad and powerful. Leonardo passed his last years in France,

protected by Francis I., who showered favours upon this gifted man. A

story is current that the painter died in the arms of the monarch, but

there appears no good foundation for the statement.

[From the marble, by Filippo Albaccini. The bust resembles the painted

portraits, of which there are several of undoubted accuracy and truth,

painted by himself, at Florence, Venice, Paris, and Milan. The works

of Leonardo on Anatomy and Painting are still invaluable to students

in art. His treatise on Painting was first printed at Paris in 1651.

The MS. was in a curious hand-writing, and written backwards with the

left hand.]

142. FRA BARTOLOMEO, or BACCIO DELLA PORTA. _Painter._

[Born at Savignano, in Italy, 1469. Died 1517. Aged 49.]

At an early age he carefully studied the works of Leonardo da Vinci, and

the effect of the study is visible in his own productions. Whilst his

fame was growing, he became deeply influenced by the preaching of

Savonarola, at whose instigation he publicly burnt some of his finest

studies of the undraped figure. In 1500, Bartolomeo assumed the habit of

a Dominican friar, and forsook painting. But after the lapse of four

years he resumed his art, made the acquaintance of Raffaelle at

Florence, and the influence of these two eminent painters on each other

was mutually advantageous. Among the finest works of Fra Bartolomeo are,

the large picture of St. Mark, esteemed in painting equal to the “Moses”

of Michael Angelo in sculpture, and the “Madonna della Misericordia.” He

was the inventor of the lay figure, which he was the first to employ.

His style is characterized by calm seriousness, unaffected dignity, and

grace. The religious expression of his holy figures reveals conscious

elevation, not mere sentimentality; and in his Madonnas holiness is

always exquisitely blended with beauty. But Bartolomeo lacked inward

power. Sometimes he is cold and formal; at others, impetuous and wanting

in repose. The colouring of flesh is peculiarly soft in his pictures,

and his draperies are excellent.

[By Domenico Manera. In the last work of Bartolomeo, which is now in

the Uffizzi, at Florence, representing the patron saints of Florence,

and others, he has introduced his own portrait.]

143. MICHAEL ANGELO BUONAROTTI. _Sculptor, Painter, Architect._

[Born at Caprese, in Tuscany, 1474. Died at Rome, 1563. Aged 89.]

A demigod in art. All learning and all knowledge came to Michael Angelo,

perhaps even more than to Leonardo da Vinci, his mighty contemporary, as

a rightful inheritance, to be magnificently accepted and sumptuously

enjoyed. Poet, musician, sculptor, architect, engineer, painter,

anatomist, man of science--his titles to renown are inexhaustible. His

genius was universal, his grasp boundless. All his works, of whatever

kind, bear the broad, deep stamp of his haughty, masculine spirit, and

constitute the immortal expression of strength, energy, and sublimest

passion. The feeling of Michael Angelo was strong, intense, grand,

penetrating; his thought as clear as it was profound. His life is a

series of conquests in the world of intellect. Domenico Ghirlandaio has

the honour of claiming Buonarotti for his pupil. By Ghirlandaio the

stripling was introduced to Lorenzo de’ Medici, who, as well as his

successor, became the steady friend of the great artist. Upon the

expulsion of the Medici, he went to Bologna, thence to Florence, and

thence again, upon the invitation of the Pope, to Rome. In 1503,

commissioned to paint one end of the great Hall of Council, Leonardo da

Vinci being intrusted with the other. Never before had two such spirits

met to contend for glory. His statue of Moses, and the ceiling of the

Sistine Chapel, were produced under Pope Julius II. Under Leo X., and

Adrian, works of equal power issued from his inspired brain. In 1546, he

was commanded by the Pope to undertake the direction of the works at St.

Peter’s. He consented only upon condition that he received no salary,

and laboured “for the love of God alone.” For seventeen years he

prosecuted the pious service, and raised the sacred edifice as far as

the base of the cupola. The undying memorials of his chisel and pencil

speak the intellectual supremacy of the man beyond all words of praise.

They will command wonder, delight, admiration, respect, and awe, whilst

the world lasts. There is nothing factitious, no studied allurement, no

imposture in his work. It is all true, simple, sublime. Michael Angelo,

in 1530, directed in person the defence of Florence, and erected its

fortifications--which yet exist--when that city was besieged, and, after

a year of heroic defence, taken by the army of Charles V. The fall of

Florence, at this time, witnessed the last breath of Italian

independence. Look on his face! You see many furrowed lines there, and a

potent brow. The features and expression betray irascibility of temper,

jealous self-consciousness, towering sense of power. Michael Angelo had

all these. He was a lion aware of his strength. What if he used it as a

lion, at times vehemently, and regardless of the pain inflicted upon

others! He was also a staunch friend, disinterested, liberal, temperate,

upright, conscientious. The ancients had their Titans. Michael Angelo

too is the son of Heaven and Earth.

[This Bust is from the marble by Alessandro d’Este, and one of those

contributed to the Capitoline Museum, at the expense of Canova, when

he was President of the Academy of Saint Luke, at Rome. It conveys an

idea of coarseness which would hardly seem to belong to Michael

Angelo’s natural expression, marked as it is with power and energy. It

will be remembered how his nose was broken by a blow from his

fellow-student, Torrigiano. He was buried in Sta. Croce, at Florence,

his noble monument there being designed and executed under the

superintendence of Vasari, the historian of the painters. It consists

of a sarcophagus, supported by three figures, representing Painting,

Sculpture, and Architecture, and surmounted by his bust (of which No.

143A is a cast) and three crowns, with the motto “tergeminis tollit

honoribus.” This tomb and the bust were executed by three sculptors,

Domenico Lorenzi, a pupil of Bandinelli, Valerio Cioli, and Giovanni

dell’ Opera. There is, in the Capitoline Museum a bust of Michael

Angelo, said to be by his own hand; the head is of bronze, and the

rest of marble; and in the same place a painted portrait of him, by

Andrea del Sarto. Vasari mentions an alto-relievo of him in bronze, by

Danielo Ricciarelli, and a medal (“a very close resemblance”) by Cav.

Lioni, which was abundantly copied and distributed in his honour.]

143A. MICHAEL ANGELO BUONAROTTI. _Sculptor, Painter, Architect._

144. TITIAN, or, TIZIANO VECELLIO. _Painter._

[Born at Pieve di Cadore, in Lombardy, 1477. Died at Venice, 1576.

Aged 99.]

In the works of Titian, Venetian art reached its culminating point. He

was the pupil of Bellini; but the disciple soon surpassed his master.

Titian first instituted the custom of painting full-length portraits,

and his pictures of this kind, of which he painted many, have never been

surpassed. In the representation of undraped female forms he also

displayed the hand of a master. In softness, transparency, and delicacy

of colouring, he stands alone. All his figures seem to express a high

consciousness and enjoyment of existence. He was followed, throughout

his career, with great honours. Charles V., whose portrait he painted,

made him Count Palatine, and he received invitations from other crowned

heads. He died of the plague in Venice, and was buried with great

ceremony, at a time when raging pestilence had suspended the ordinary

rites of burial. Towards the close of his life his subjects were chiefly

religious.

[He was buried at the Chiesa delle Frazi, at Venice. This Bust is by

Alessandro d’Este. There is in the Church of St. John and St. Paul, at

Venice, a fine bust of Titian, which stands by the side of that of

Palma Vecchio; it was placed there forty-five years after his death,

by Palma il Giovine. There is little doubt that this and its companion

of Palma were the work of Jacops Albarelli, the intimate friend of

Palma Giovine, whose bust he also executed. Ridolfi mentions a Bust

of the great painter, by his friend Jacopo Sansovino. There is, in the

Vienna Gallery, a superb portrait of him, by his own hand.]

145. BENVENUTO TISIO, commonly called GAROFALO. _Painter._

[Born at Garofalo, 1481. Died at Ferrara, in Italy, 1559. Aged 78.]

A distinguished painter of the Ferrarese school. The sight of

Raffaelle’s works, in the Sistine Chapel, determined him to follow art,

and he became a friend of the great artist himself, though in style most

unlike him--brilliant but mannered. On festival days it was his custom

to work without payment at a convent in Ferrara, “for the love of God.”

Blind for the last few years of his life--cheerful in disposition, and

resigned under affliction.

[By Massimiliano Laboureur. In the Louvre are two portraits said to be

of Garofalo, but they are of doubtful authenticity. This bust is

probably done from a picture.]

146. RAFFAELLE SANZIO, commonly called RAFFAELLE. _Painter._

[Born at Urbino, in Italy, 1483. Died at Rome, 1520. Aged 37.]

The founder of the Roman school of painting. He was the son of a

painter, and the pupil of Perugino, whom his first style resembles, and

whom he quickly surpassed. He was already eminent in his art at the age

of seventeen. In 1506, he first saw Michael Angelo’s great and

celebrated “Cartoon of Pisa,” and a closer study of anatomy and form is

manifest in his works after this time. In 1508, in the pontificate of

Julius II., he was invited to Rome, where he continued until his death,

painting his exquisite frescos in the Vatican. Whilst executing these

works, Michael Angelo was completing the Sistine chapel, and a rivalry

arose between these two consummate artists, which was never

extinguished. Raffaelle was a sculptor and architect as well as painter.

In 1514, he directed the works at St. Peter’s, and was subsequently very

zealous in superintending the exhumation of the remains of antique art,

and in designing a restoration of ancient Rome. In the midst of his fine

labours, he contracted a fever and died. In his works, beauty of Form is

the expression of the utmost elevation of mind and perfect purity of

soul. Some of Raffaelle’s cartoons on scriptural subjects are at Hampton

Court Palace. Several of his pictures are in France, obtained by Francis

I., who tried in vain to allure Raffaelle to his capital. His

“Transfiguration,” in the Vatican, left unfinished at his death, and

carried in his own funeral procession, is considered by some the finest

picture in the world. It was finished by his pupil, Giulio Romano.

Little or nothing is known of his private life, save that his nature was

sweet and gracious, and that all men loved him. He was of a slender

frame, and five feet seven inches high. His skull was beautifully

formed.

[Raffaelle was buried in the Pantheon at Rome, now called Sta. Maria

Ritonda. His tomb was ordered by himself, and executed by Lorenzo

Lotti, who, it is said, restored one of the ancient tabernacles there

at Raffaelle’s request, and added an altar, with a figure of the

Virgin. Upon this monument there is a bust of him by Paolo Naldini, a

sculptor who lived in the early part of the 17th century. The tomb was

opened in 1833, and the remains were found entire, so that the skull

long exhibited in the Academy of S. Luke as that of Raffaelle was

proved to be a fabulous relic. Portraits of Raffaelle are to be found

in several celebrated pictures; in the Duomo and Sacristy of Siena, in

the Borghese Gallery at Rome, and one by his own hand in the picture

of St. Luke; but the most authentic one, and that which alone

possesses the beautiful expression of his remarkable countenance, is

the picture by himself in the Gallery of Portraits of Painters by

their own hands at Florence. This bust is from one probably by Carlo

Maratta, a great admirer and copier of Raffaelle’s works, and who

presented it to the Capitoline Museum. There was in 1791, in the Spada

Palace at Rome, a portrait of Raffaelle when 12 years old, by himself.

(See “Martyn’s Tour in Italy,” p. 242.)]

147. MICHELE SANMICHELI. _Architect._

[Born at Verona, in Italy, 1484. Died there, 1559. Aged 75.]

His works were chiefly fortifications. At the age of seventeen, he went

to Rome to study the remains of its ancient architecture, and there

gained the friendship of Buonarotti, Bramante, Sansovino, and Sangallo.

For Pope Clement VII. he fortified, with Sangallo, the cities of Parma

and Placentia. In 1527, entered the service of the Venetians, and for

them, at Verona, first employed angular bastions, which he invented. The

principle being generally adopted, Sanmicheli was employed to fortify

many of the Italian cities, as well as the islands of Candia and Corfu.

He then strengthened his native city with fortifications, and adorned it

with palaces and other works. One of these, the Capella di Guareschi, is

a masterpiece of architecture.

[Bust by Domenico Manera.]

148. FRA SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO, sometimes called SEBASTIANO VENEZIANO.

_Painter._

[Born at Venice, 1485. Died at Rome, 1547. Aged 62.]

The pupil of Bellini and Giorgione. At Rome he competed with Raffaelle,

and gained the friendship and approval of Michael Angelo, some of whose

designs he executed,--amongst others that of the “Raising of Lazarus”--a

picture now in our National Gallery. Besides painting in oils and

fresco, he invented a method of painting on stone, which was much

admired. His portraits are celebrated, and he excelled in beauty of

colouring. It is said that he was slow of execution, and not a lover of

his art, which he deserted for other pleasures when he attained

competency. His principal works are in Venice and Rome. He was called

_Fra del Piombo_ (Monk of the Signet), from the office of sealer of

briefs, which he held in the Pope’s Chancery.

[By Massimiliano Laboureur.]

149. GIOVANNI DA UDINE, or GIOVANNI DI NANI. _Painter._

[Born at Udine, in Italy, 1487. Died at Rome, 1564. Aged 77.]

A pupil of Raffaelle, whose style he so thoroughly imitated that it is

difficult to distinguish his work from that of his master, whenever he

acted as his assistant. In this capacity he was the chief painter of the

Loggie of the Vatican. Some ancient grottos having been discovered near

Rome, he detected the composition of their stucco ornaments; and so

successfully imitated the material, that he may be called the inventor

of modern stucco work. Excelled in painting birds, fruits, and animals.

[By Massimiliano Laboureur.]

150. ANDREA DEL SARTO, or ANDREA VANNUCHI. _Painter._

[Born at Florence, 1488. Died there, 1530. Aged 42.]

Called Del Sarto, from the trade of his father, who was a tailor. Long

trouble followed his early and unfortunate marriage. Visited France,

where he painted pictures for Francis I., who loaded him with gifts, and

commissioned him to buy works of art in Florence. Spent the money

entrusted to him, and bought neither pictures nor statues for his

illustrious patron. Disgraced, neglected, and poor, he died deserted by

his wife. This painter--whose works are admirable in design and colour,

and remarkable for the elegance and majesty of the figures, is deficient

in elevation and refinement of expression. His own character was morally

weak and degraded.

[By Antonio D’Este. A monument was erected to him by Raffaelle da

Monti Lupo at the expense of Domenico Conti, the heir of Andrea, in

the Church of the Servites. It was removed by the authorities, but in

1606 a Prior had another tomb erected in the cloister, between the

Madonna del Sacco and another of his frescos. A life-size bust in

marble, by Giovanni Caccini, surmounts this tomb.]

151. MARCANTONIO RAIMONDI. _Engraver._

[Born at Bologna, in Italy, about 1489. Died there, about 1537.]

The most celebrated of all the early engravers. The first impression

from any engraved metal plate is dated 1454. Within sixty years,

Marcantonio had carried the art to perfection. At Rome he was patronized

for some years by Raffaelle, who employed him to engrave some of his

most exquisite designs. The finest works of Marcantonio now bear a very

high value for their beauty and rarity. Unhappily he was a bad man. He

began his career as an artist by using his skill to pirate some of the

works of Albert Durer. After Raffaelle’s death, he was banished from

Rome by Clement VII. for gross immorality, fled to Bologna, fell into

poverty, and is supposed to have died assassinated.

[By Massimiliano Laboureur. The best specimens of Marcantonio’s

engraving are in the Imperial collection at Vienna.]

152. CORREGGIO, or ANTONIO ALLEGRI. _Painter._

[Born at Correggio, in Italy, 1493 or 1494. Died there, 1534. Aged 40

or 41.]

Of his private life and character little is known, but his works are

justly admired throughout the civilized world, while his frescos in the

cupola of the Cathedral at Parma have earned for him undying fame. He

painted in oil and fresco. In our National Gallery we have several of

his admirable productions. As an artist, remarkable for exquisite

sensibility. “In his compositions,” says Kugler, “all is life and

motion. All his pictures express the overflowing consciousness of life;

the impulse of love and pleasure.” Delicate in perception, with great

quickness, subtlety, and depth of feeling. His forms not always

beautiful, but his treatment of light and shade masterly, and almost

unique.

[There is no bust of Correggio from the life; this is by Philippo

Albacini, and no doubt from some authentic painted portrait.]

153. POLIDORO CALDARE DA CARAVAGGIO. _Painter._

[Born at Caravaggio, in Lombardy, 1495. Died at Messina, 1543. Aged

48.]

Was employed by Raffaelle to assist him in the Vatican, having been

originally a mason. Afterwards became distinguished as an ornamental

painter. He was assassinated by his servant for the sake of his money.

[He was buried in the Cathedral at Messina. The Bust is by

Massimiliano Laboureur.]

154. GIULIO ROMANO, or GIULIO PIPPI DE’ GIANNUZZI. _Architect and

Painter._

[Born at Rome, 1499. Died at Mantua, 1546. Aged 47.]

A pupil of Raffaelle, by whom he was employed on works at the Vatican.

Invited by the Marquis of Mantua to the city of that name, where he was

raised to the rank of nobility, provided with a house, a salary of 500

gold ducats, board for himself and his pupils, a horse, and some yards

of silk velvet and cloth for clothing. Built many palaces in Mantua, and

painted much in fresco. His later works are wanting in grace and purity,

and display wildness and even coarseness. Yet he has a memorable name as

one of the Roman school of art.

[This bust is by Alessandro d’Este.]

155. ANDREA PALLADIO. _Architect._

[Born at Vicenza, in Italy, 1518. Died there, 1580. Aged 62.]

He largely and accurately studied and described the Roman style of

architecture, and adapted it to modern purposes with admirable success.

Inigo Jones may be called his disciple; and the Banquetting House at

Whitehall is a good example of the style called _Palladian_. He was

small in stature, and agreeable in countenance. His most celebrated

buildings are at Venice, Verona, and Vicenza.

[This bust is by Leandro Biglioschi.]

156. PAOLO CAGLIARI, called VERONESE. _Painter._

[Born at Verona, 1528. Died at Venice, 1588. Aged 60.]

One of the great masters of the Venetian school of painting, whose

principle was the study and imitation of nature, but whose peculiar

excellence was colour, which the leaders of the school carried to the

highest point of perfection. The works of Veronese are remarkable for

splendour of colour, for the clear and transparent treatment of shadows,

and for comprehensive keeping and harmony. He represented festivals and

banquets suggested by Sacred History. The “Marriage at Cana,” now in the

Louvre at Paris, is a magnificent example of his style. He was a man of

courteous manners and generous disposition, and left a family of sons

and brothers, who pursued the same calling.