“The greater part of the statues exhibited in this Gallery are the
fruits of the conquests of the army of Italy. They have been selected
out of the Capitol and the Vatican by Citizens Barthélémy, Bertholet,
Moitte, Monge, Thonin, Tinet--the commissioners appointed by the
Government for that purpose. To the scrupulous care with which these
artists and savans have packed up and transported them, we are indebted
for the happy preservation of these glorious fruits of victory; and the
distinguished choice they have made from among the masterpieces which
Rome possessed, proves their knowledge and skill, and all lovers of the
arts must owe them a debt of eternal gratitude.”
This account of the means by which they became masters of these
exquisite pieces of art is worthy of its writers. They consider
themselves worthy of credit for their perfidy and their predatory
adventures.
But I have already sufficiently animadverted on the philosophical
exploits of the National Institute, and will therefore now describe
to the best of my abilities this Gallery, to which I paid particular
attention.
It may appear strange, but I never felt equal disgust or distress
at the sight of these statues to that excited in my mind by the
magnificent gallery of paintings.
The herd of men flock to the gallery of paintings to indulge their eyes
with the brilliant luxury of beauty, but in the hall of statuary very
few admirers greet the trophies of French conquest.
Yet it contains more monuments of the capacity of men than all the
pictures in the Louvre put together. Indeed, the Laocoon and the
Belvidere Apollo alone, both of which incomparable statues are here,
may be justly said to equal if not exceed in value all the pictorial
tributes wrung from ravaged Italy.
In the court through which you pass to enter the Gallery are four
colossal statues of slaves and the celebrated statue of Jupiter Hermes,
all removed from Versailles to enrich Paris.
For the Revolution was made in Paris. The Republic was founded in
Paris--the rest of France _was made_ for Paris--therefore it must
be fleeced for the sake of Paris. In this way the patriotic members of
the Institute continually reason.
Every article in the Gallery merits attention, but I will only
enumerate a few while giving a general description of the various halls
in their order.
“The Hall of the Seasons,” which is so named on account of the painted
ceiling by Romanelli, representing the Seasons. This hall contains
twenty-six figures, of which the most celebrated and beautiful are:--
A faun, reposing, and holding a flute (supposed to be a copy of the
famous satyr of Praxiteles), stolen from the Museum of the Capitol at
Rome.
A naked youth extracting a thorn from his foot, and a young faun of
Parian marble, stolen as above.
Venus issuing from a bath of Pentelicon marble, stolen from the Museum
of the Vatican.
Ariadne, stolen from the Belvidere of the Vatican. Septimus Severus,
from Ecouen.
A colossal bust of Antoninus Pius and one of Lucius Verus, from the
same place.
Augustus, stolen from the Cabinet of the Bevilacqua, at Verona.
We then enter the “Hall of Illustrious Men,” decorated by eight antique
pillars of granatillo, plundered from the nave of the church of Aix la
Chapelle.
[Sidenote: SPOILS FROM THE VATICAN]
Here are statues of Zeus, the Philosopher from the Capitol,
Demosthenes, Trajan and a statue of Sextus, the uncle of Plutarch--all
removed from the Vatican. From the Papal Museum are also statues of
Menander, the Greek poet, and a fine Minerva of Pentelicon marble.
The next chamber is the “Roman Hall.”
The ceiling being ornamented with various subjects, taken from Roman
history.
It contains twenty-nine statues, all bearing relation to the Roman
people. Amongst them are:
The head of Scipio Africanus in bronze; the bust of Hadrian in the
same metal, stolen from the Library of St. Mark’s at Venice. From
the Capitol, the bust of Brutus; a Wounded Warrior[6] (this is a
magnificent piece of work); Urania, sitting on a rock.
From the Vatican, Melpomene, Antoninus, and Venus at the bath, are the
most striking figures.
And we now arrive at the “Hall of the Laocoon.”
This vast room is embellished with four beautiful columns of verde
antique, taken from the Mausoleum, erected after the designs of
Bulloin, of the famous Constable of France, Anne de Montmorency.
Each is a massive single block of the richest quality, about eleven
feet high and half a yard in diameter.
In this hall are twenty-one figures, of which the first which demands
attention is that wonder of the world and masterpiece of sculpture,
“The Groups of the Laocoon,” executed by Agisander, Polydorus and
Athenodorus. It surpasses all comment, and displays at once the
perfection of sentiment, plan and composition. Some other statues,
worthy of particular notice, in this hall, are a Thrower of the Disk;
a Hermes, representing Tragedy; a statue of an Amazon, drawing her
bow; and a colossal statue of a Triton, this latter discovered by our
countryman Hamilton,[1] in the neighbourhood of Naples, and given by
him to Pope Ganganalli. These are all, like the Laocoon, stolen from
the Vatican.
The fourth compartment of the Gallery is termed the “Hall of Apollo,”
ornamented with four superb pillars of red granite, stolen from a
Cathedral in Italy. It contains twenty-seven statues, of which “The
Apollo Belvidere,” that subject of delight to every tasteful eye,
stands in a niche at the end of the hall--two sphinxes of oriental red
granite, brought from the Vatican Museum, are placed on the steps which
lead up to the statue of the Sun God. These steps and the platform on
which the Apollo is fixed are of the most beautiful marble, and in the
centre there are five squares of mosaic antique, representing animals
in cars and other ornaments.
The pillars which ornament the niche were taken from the tomb of
Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle. The statue is preserved from too near
approach by a handsome railing. The name of the sculptor of this statue
is unknown. Giovanni Angelo di Montorsoli, pupil of Michael Angelo,
restored the right arm and left hand, which were missing when the
statue was discovered among the ruins of Antium.
It was fixed in the Belvidere of the Vatican by Pope Julius II., where
for more than three centuries it excited the admiration of mankind,
until, to use the language of the guide book provided by the Institute:
“Un héros, guidé par la victoire, est venu l’en tirer pour la fixer à
jamais sur les rives de la Seine.”
On the 16th Brumaire, year 9, the First Consul, Bonaparte, celebrated
the inauguration of the Apollo by placing upon the pedestal of the
statue the following inscription, engraved upon a bronze tablet:
“Le statue d’Apollon, qui s’élève sur ce piédestal, placé au
Vatican par Jules II., au commencement du XVI. siècle, conquise
l’an 5 de la République, par l’armée d’Italie,
Sous les ordres du Général Bonaparte,
A été fixée ici le 21 Germinal an VIII.
Première année de son Consulat,
Bonaparte, Ier Consul,
Cambacères, IIme Consul,
Lebrun, IIIme Consul.
Lucien Bonaparte, Ministre de l’Intérieur.”
[Sidenote: HISTORICAL TOMBS]
The thirty-six other statues, which decorate this hall, are all of
great merit; a statue of Mercury, called the Belvidere Antinous, from
the Vatican, is perhaps the finest and one of the most perfect remains
of antiquity, this once stood by the Apollo in the Vatican Belvidere.
The Capitoline Venus is also exceedingly beautiful.
The sixth and last portion of this Museum is termed the “Hall of the
Muses;” it contains twenty statues, every one of which was stolen from
the magnificent gallery Pius VI. built as an addition or annex to the
Vatican Museum. The members of the National Institute thus express
themselves in the catalogue upon the contents of this hall:
“Since the revival of the arts, the admirers of antiquity have several
times attempted to form collections or a series of the antique statues
of the Muses; but none have proved so complete as that formed by the
industry of Pius V., a collection which Victory has enabled us to
transport to the National Museum.”
This chamber contains, besides the celebrated Nine Muses, heads of
Bacchus, Hippocrates and a statue of the Cytherian Apollo, a Hermes and
busts of Socrates, Virgil and Homer.
I have now mentioned the principal antiques contained in the six
compartments of this Gallery, but were I to write a volume upon them
I could give no adequate idea of their exquisite beauty and artistic
merit.