one of which is attributed to Cicero; but these are very imperfectly
exposed. At the end of the range is one belonging to Marcus Arrius
Diomedes, which is a very interesting specimen of the domestic
architecture of the time. The entrance is at the corner of a court,
surrounded by columns, which are painted red and yellow. In one part
there is a semicircular room, with three large openings into an
unoccupied piece of ground, which one is apt to fancy, in compliance
with our own habits, to have been irregularly ornamented with shrubs and
flowers, and to have merited the name of a garden. There are two baths,
one for hot, the other for cold water, with the stoves for warming the
former, and several small rooms about them. At the back is a large
court, surrounded by an open gallery, where square pillars and flat
brick arches supply the place of columns and epistylia. This gallery is
a story below the level of the entrance floor; a terrace on that level
overlooks it, and there are vaulted rooms, which you might call cellars,
underneath the terrace, but their rich decorations shew the taste of the
owners for the coolness of these semi-subterranean apartments.
The mosaics at Pompei are of two sorts; the first has a groundwork of
stucco, with a pattern formed of little squares of white marble, or
sometimes of black, or of both, fixed into it. The footway of the
streets is generally done in this manner; the white squares are placed
diagonally in continued lines, at a considerable distance apart, and
more appearance of design is produced from this simple arrangement than
you would easily conceive; in the houses, where it is executed with more
care, the effect is very good, but that composed of black squares is
decidedly inferior to that where white alone are employed. The more
finished mosaics are composed entirely of small squares, or _tessere_,
generally black and white, but sometimes also of various colours; the
patterns are very fanciful, some of them very good, but among the good
there is nothing which has not long been in use in modern times, for one
sort of ornament or another. These mosaics do not seem very ancient in
Pompei, for wherever one finds them in use among the ancient
architecture, they uniformly bury a portion of the lower part of it.
----------------------------
1826.
SINCE my former visits I find some additions to the number of objects
which have been excavated. A new street usually known by the name of
Strada de’ Mercanti has been opened into the forum. Part of this street
was exposed in 1818, but the whole is now cleared, and the communication
with the theatres completed. Towards the forum there is a step, and just
at the foot of this step, a small cone, and about three feet above it,
some places rubbed smooth, and somewhat hollow. Sir W. Gell has
suggested that to stand upon this cone might be a mode of punishment. In
another place in the same street there are remains of iron staples in
the wall. One apparently to confine the elbow, and one to fasten a chain
round the neck of some unfortunate offender. The stone here has been
rubbed smooth and hollow by the shoulder, and in some degree also by the
head of the prisoner; and there are other places in the street which
seem to have been rubbed by the shoulder. If we suppose the ancients to
have chained to their posts, the slaves who were employed as shopmen, we
can hardly imagine that the confinement was so close as to give occasion
to these marks.
An edifice of considerable splendour has been discovered at the
north-east angle of the forum. Twelve pedestals disposed in a circle in
the midst of a large open court, are imagined to have supported as many
statues of the _Dii majores gentium_, and the building has thence
obtained the name of Pantheon. The court seems to have been surrounded
with columns, and to have had a temple-like hall at the further end, on
each side of which was a large, irregular room, and one of these has a
sort of dresser or counter, with a sloping top, along three of its
sides. On the right hand of him who entered from the forum, was a double
range of small rooms or cells, one over the other, which communicated by
means of a wooden gallery, and probably of a wooden staircase, though of
the latter no traces now remain. The walls exhibit historic paintings of
no small merit, but neither the stucco nor the painting appear to have
been completed. In the same neighbourhood, but beyond the bounds of the
forum, we find the Temple of Fortune, a simple, tetrastyle, prostyle
edifice on an elevated basement, which you ascend by a flight of steps.
Near this are the Baths; the remaining vaulting of which rises so near
the surface that we are surprised they should have remained so long
unnoticed. There are four rooms; the first we enter was the
_spoliarium_, or undressing room, and some traces were found of the pegs
fixed in the wall to receive the clothes of the bathers. From this we
may pass into the _frigidarium_, a room with a small, circular, cold
bath, or into the _tepidarium_ or _sudatorium_, in the wall of which we
find a series of small niches, divided by caryatides; an immense brazier
of bronze, stamped with a cow, in allusion to the name of the maker,
Flaminius Vacca; and two benches of the same material. Beyond this room
is the _calidarium_, containing a vessel of warm water, where the
bathers seem to have been seated, leaning their backs against the
sloping marble side. One end of this room is semicircular, and in this
part there were five windows, in each of which, and also in one in the
cold bath, were plates of very thick glass. Both the _sudatorium_ and
_calidarium_ were lined with tiles, a little detached from the walls,
which received the stucco. Another set of baths less ornamented, in an
adjoining edifice, was for the use of the plebeians, or of the women.
Another interesting object among the late excavations is the House of
the Tragic Poet: which however is more remarkable for the paintings with
which it was adorned, than for the merits of its architecture. At the
entrance is the figure of a dog in mosaic, with the inscription _Cave
Canem_. The apartments are numerous and well finished, but one little
closet with a stove, seems all that was allotted for the slaves or their
employments. Here was found a cistern, of which, if the cicerone may be
trusted, the substance has been analyzed, and found to consist of two
parts of lead to one of copper. The substance is firm, and seems little,
if at all oxidated, so that perhaps it might be worth imitating. Close
by is the house of a fuller, with many of the conveniences and utensils
of his trade; and what is curious, representations of different parts of
the process painted on the piers.
LETTER LVII.
NAPLES—PÆSTUM.
_Naples, 20th November, 1818._[41]
I WENT yesterday to a private collection of paintings; and though I had
applied for permission without any sort of introduction, the proprietor
met me at the door, and attended me round the rooms; taking down many of
the pictures, some of which are very fine ones, in order to place them
in the best lights. The same gentleman possesses also some admirable
fictile vases, but he is afraid of obtaining any reputation for these,
as the government claims the right of purchasing all the finest for
itself. The tenacity with which the Tuscans still maintain their claim
to these vases, and to the style of ruins found at Pæstum, with every
sort of evidence against them, is a curious exemplification of the
character of that people. A Tuscan cannot bear to give up any thing
which appears to make for the honour of his country. The Neapolitans are
perhaps equally vain, though in a different way, and without so good a
foundation. They have indeed produced at least one good historian, but
they seem to have persuaded Eustace that their list of authors was
superior to any thing France could shew, and to have made him believe
that the lazzaroni were a race of angels descended on the earth to run
on errands, carry parcels, and do all sorts of odd jobs for the
Neapolitans. What would I think surprise you most with respect to these
lazzaroni is, that they are so much like the poorer class in other
cities. Certainly not worse clothed, though more lightly so than would
be comfortable in London; nor dirtier; and I believe better fed than in
most other places. The mildness of the climate enables them to sleep in
the open air, and you see them frequently curled up in the basket with
which they are provided to carry their loads; but it is not true of the
greater part, that they are without any fixed habitation. In most parts
of Italy the tradesmen are not accustomed to send their goods home, but
he who goes to market hires a porter and a basket, like Amina in the
Arabian nights, to carry his goods for him, and for this the lazzarone
is always at hand.
They reckon here, that at this time of year, the clouds are three days
gathering, and three or five in discharging themselves; after this there
is usually an interval of completely fine weather which is truly
delightful; and except on one or two wet evenings, I have had no wish
for a fire. Two years ago at this season in Venice, I was in the midst
of frost and snow. On the 10th I dined and slept at the Villa Galla,
which is now occupied by Sir H. L. It is a delightful place, on a hill
just out of Naples. The house stands on the top of a steep bank, which
forms the head of a deep ravine, the grounds at present are all
poplar-grove and vineyard, but with a very trifling sacrifice a most
delightful pleasure-ground might be formed. Can you fancy Hampstead
heath within view of a beautiful bay surrounded by fine mountains, and
Vesuvius included in the prospect; with all the luxuriant vegetation of
a warm climate, and all the brilliancy of an Italian sky? The most
delightful part was however, within doors, and here we planned an
expedition to Pæstum, of which I proceed to give you an account.
We set out on the 12th, passing through Portici, Torre del Greco, and
Torre dell’ Annunziata, and changed horses at Scafati; beyond this the
road assumes a new sort of beauty, passing along a winding valley
between rocks and wooded steeps, mixed with buildings and cultivation,
till we open again on the beautiful bay of Salerno. This tract occupies
the neck of the bold, mountainous promontory, which divides the two
bays, and is full of the most romantic and beautiful scenery. The bay of
Salerno is perhaps even finer than that of Naples; making up for the
want of Vesuvius by long perspectives of distant mountains, which
reminded me of the shores of Greece, and might almost vie with them,
were their names as well known. We slept at Salerno, and at four o’clock
next morning were seated in the carriage, and proceeded by a beautiful
moonlight to Eboli. The high road does not pass through the town, and
the inn is not within the walls, but the road to Pæstum turns off a
little before reaching it. A little beyond Eboli, the banks of the Sele,
or Silero, exhibit some very pleasing scenery. The road winds along the
shores of the river, under a steep and woody bank; on the opposite side
of the stream are a mixture of wood and lawn, and the towers of the
royal palace of Persano, bosomed in tufted trees; beyond are gentle
hills and lofty mountains in successive distances, the lower parts of
which are covered with wood, the upper bare and craggy.
I was agreeably surprised at Pæstum with the magnificence of the
principal Temple. I had imagined, that after Greece and Sicily, there
was nothing to be found in this style to excite much interest; but there
is no edifice in Sicily which can compare with it, as the temples there
which remain tolerably perfect are much inferior in size; and those
which would equal or surpass it in size, are too much ruined to exhibit
the effect of the architecture. This is almost entire, except the walls
of the cell, and it is perhaps an advantage that most of these are
destroyed, as it exposes the internal colonnades. In elegance, the
Athenian temples are far superior; and in the details of architecture as
originally formed, or in the perfection in which they still remain,
nothing can rival the edifices of Athens; but the colouring of the
coarse stone of which the temple at Pæstum is built, varying from rich
brown to gray, is beautiful, and harmonizes admirably with the character
of the building; the proportions, though solid, are good; the whole is
in perfect harmony; its character has been thoroughly felt and
preserved, and in the impress of magnificence, or rather perhaps of
sublimity, no building in the world is superior. It is as you know of
the Grecian Doric order, in its earliest and most solid proportions,
hexastyle, peripteral, and hypæthral, with fourteen columns on the
flanks. The cella is considerably raised, and I do not comprehend how
the ascent to it was managed. Wilkins mentions steps, but I could find
no traces of any. There is a small sinking both in the inside and
outside peristyles, which was perhaps filled with an ornamented stucco,
like those at Pompei, containing square bits of marble regularly
disposed; but I think more probably with slabs of marble, or at least of
a more compact and even stone than that of which the temple is built.
One of the young attendants at the cathedral at Salerno assured me that
the Byzantine pavements in that church came from Pæstum; and as he knew
nothing about these sinkings, the coincidence is remarkable, though we
cannot admit his fact. There is no sinking in the exposed part of the
central court, but a double one at the doorway. I must here notice, that
you generally find in the published plans of the Grecian temples, a
central doorway into the posticum, or opisthodomus, but it is doubtful
if such an opening ever existed in the original disposition of the
building. The wall of the cell is constructed in two thicknesses, like
that of the temple at Nemæa which I have before described to you. The
drops of the mutules are altogether wanting, the small round holes
remaining in which they were inserted. I conceived at the time that they
must have been either of marble or of metal, but I have been since
assured that one or two of them have been found, and that they are of
the same material as the rest of the building. The sima of the pediments
has also disappeared, and there are several little peculiarities in the
construction about which I shall not occupy your attention, and various
cuttings in the columns, which indicate their appropriation to posterior
uses. I could find no traces of stucco on the exterior columns, but
there is a good deal remaining on the walls, antæ, columns, and capitals
of the pronaos, very firm, but not very thin. On one column of the
interior, I could also distinguish it, but thicker and less hard. The
Basilica (a name which may serve for distinction,) is very near the
temple of Neptune. The stone is of a grayer colour, which Wilkins
attributes to its more recent erection. There are nine columns in front,
and consequently one in the centre, with which, a range along the middle
of the building corresponds. This seems inconvenient, but we know not
the purpose of the edifice. If there was a pediment, the central column
would have a very displeasing effect, but otherwise might pass with
little notice. The columns diminish in a line very much curved, and
having something the appearance of barrels, are consequently very ugly;
the necking is Sicilian. The mouldings and some of the capitals were
executed in a soft grit, which is much wasted by the weather. The steps
to this building are not so high as to be inaccessible, and there are
vestiges of steps opposite, ascending _from_ the building.
There is the peristyle of another temple remaining, which is usually
distinguished by the name of Ceres; but between this and the buildings
already described there are vestiges of two other considerable
structures. One is an Amphitheatre, of which nothing remains but traces
of its general form, and a winding vault. The other is called by Vasi
the Theatre, but the people here name it the Temple of Peace. The
capital of the
[Illustration: Illustration of column capital]
column resembles some I have already described at Pompei. It is
ornamented with two rows of leaves; the first of eight, the second of
four; the long points of the latter seem to have curled round to form
the volute, but these are now broken away. The shaft had flutes and
fillets, and an Attic base. The antæ were furnished with capitals of a
similar form. The frieze had triglyphs, and the metopes were ornamented
with sculpture, not of the earliest antiquity; yet it may have been
executed before the Romans had possession of Pæstum; (A. U. C. 481,) but
the rough nature of the porous limestone renders it difficult to form a
judgment.
The Temple of Ceres is of the Doric order, hexastyle, peripteral, and I
believe hypæthral. So far it resembled the great temple, but in other
respects it approached more nearly to the architecture of the basilica.
I could find no appearance of stucco on the columns. The pavement of the
peristyle is sunk, and filled in with a reddish stucco and square pieces
of white marble, like many of those at Pompei. Courses of softer stone
were prepared for the execution of the mouldings, and we trace the
remains of a carved ornament on the ogee, which crowns the architrave,
but I could not make out distinctly what it had been. Some tombs have
been constructed against the wall of the cell on one side. Parts of the
foundation of the peribolus still remain, which show its form to have
been irregular.
A few other ancient foundations exist within the present circuit of the
walls; one perhaps may be distinguished as a temple, but they are not
worth dwelling upon. The walls themselves are much more interesting. At
the northern gateway, by which we enter from Eboli, they are much broken
down, but my friend Mr. T. L. Donaldson has observed there, what escaped
my notice, a curious arrangement for the defence of the entrance. At the
western gate they are hardly marked, except by the mound of earth and
stones which shews their position. At the southern, are vestiges of a
round tower, but of smaller masonry. This gateway seems to have cut the
walls obliquely, and the arrangement appears to have been remarkable,
but I had not sufficient time to attempt making it out; and perhaps the
object would not have been attainable even with digging. Some brackish
springs rise nearly under the walls on the north-west of the city, and
at the southern gate we find a brisk and pellucid streamlet, the water
of which is also saltish, and it is said to be so at its source, some
miles distant among the mountains. There is one well in the town, the
water of which is pretty good. The most perfect part of the circuit is
that between the southern and eastern gates. The walls are there
constructed of large, square blocks, and those of the towers are perhaps
still larger. Some of the wall-stones pass behind the towers, while on
the other hand, some of the stones of the towers enter into the wall,
but the courses of stone in the walls do not generally correspond with
those in the towers. There were apparently two windows on each external
face of the tower, with round heads cut out of the stone, but these were
perhaps made afterwards, as they are larger than is suitable for such a
situation. These towers are very irregularly disposed, and a large
portion of the circuit is entirely without them. In one part we see
marks of several postern gates, apparently too close together to be of
any use; yet they evidently belong to the original work. The arch of the
eastern gateway remains entire. I thought at first that I could
pronounce it a posterior work, but my opinion was shaken by a further
examination; yet I would not venture to assert that it was coeval with
the rest, or adduce it as a proof that the use of arches was known at
the period when Pæstum was founded.
On the northern side of the city we find the remains of ancient
sepulchres. They have been mostly subterraneous, and covered with two
slabs, inclining against each other. There is one circular, and
above-ground, which has, I think, been domed.
We returned the same evening to Salerno, and the next morning climbed up
to the castle behind the town, and had some glorious views in the
ascent. I was delighted to have companions who enjoyed fine scenery, a
feeling from which the French and Italians seem almost exempt. The
Germans have it, but by no means so generally as the English, and I have
sometimes heard it pointed out as a very singular feature in the
national character.
The court of the cathedral at Salerno is surrounded by columns of
various materials, with capitals and bases of various styles, which do
not fit the columns. These support low square piers, and semicircular
arches. There are also many ancient sarcophagi, and some of the middle
ages. All this _roba antica_, according to a young attendant of the
cathedral, was brought from Pæstum, but I believe it is all of Roman
times. The inside of the church has been modernized, but it contains
sarcophagi, Byzantine pavements, and ancient pulpits or reading desks.
One of these is of immense size, and is supported on twelve columns,
which are probably ancient, though the capitals are of the middle ages.
In descending to the crypt, there is a curious ancient bas-relief, with
a boat, but it is in a very bad light. The crypt itself is large. It is
incrusted with inlaid marble like figured tapestry, and in the middle is
an altar with two faces. There are some Gothic cloisters in the church
of San Domenico, but I only saw them from the hill above.
In our way back we stopt at Nocera to see an ancient temple, or rather
baptistery. In its present form we may pronounce it not older than the
time of Constantine, but it is formed of fragments of better times. The
columns, of which there are thirty, are beautifully formed, and of the
richest marbles. The capitals have been good, but are much wasted, and
some were badly supplied when the present building was erected; the same
is true of the bases. The columns are not all precisely of the same
height, but the difference is trifling; they support a dome; and
although every thing but the columns is of the rudest workmanship, the
architect has happened to hit so good a proportion, that the appearance
is uncommonly pleasing, and vastly superior to the two buildings at
Rome, and the one at Perugia, which have the same general disposition.
LETTER LVIII.
JOURNEY TO ROME, AND LAST RESIDENCE THERE.
_Rome, 28th April, 1819._