which fill the cases numbered from 29 to 112. The visitor particularly
interested in Greek and Roman art, might here spend an entire day.
Bronze, a mixture of copper and tin, was used by the ancients for the
manufacture of all kinds of edge-tools, long before iron was smelted
from the earth in which it is invariably found; and mineralogists of
the present day are surprised to see the works which the ancients
executed with a material, that no modern workmen could use as a
cutting medium. Stone masons' chisels, and fine edged weapons of war,
were made of bronze in those days. The collection of bronzes which the
visitor is now about to examine, cannot be said to be a perfect
collection; yet it contains some beautiful specimens, and one that is
said to be the finest bronze in Europe. The antiquarian pauses with
delight before these marvellous specimens of ancient skill; and
reflecting upon the difficulties which beset the caster in bronze, it
is astonishing to see the precision and the exquisite finish with
which the artists of ancient Greece and Rome performed their labours.
Some of their bronze manufacture were hammered, but most of those
works from which we derive a knowledge of their greatness as artists
were cast. Of those colossal bronzes which were studded about Rome,
Athens, and Delphos, few remain at the present day. The material of
which they were composed was too valuable to escape the clutch of
barbaric conquerors; therefore the bronzes which remain are chiefly of
a small size, but still sufficiently perfect to assure us of the great
works that filled every open place in the towns of ancient Greece and
Rome. In these cases the visitor will find a great number of bronze
utensils and personal ornaments: metal mirrors; lamps; incense
vessels, or thuribula; the saucers for pouring libations, called
paterae; tripods of all kinds and variously ornamented; candelabra;
and the clasps of the Romans called fibulae.
Beginning with the first case, 29, 30, the visitor will first remark
three ancient vases or amphorae, and five jugs, from Corfu, aged about
five centuries before our era; and in the same cases, on the third and
fourth shelves, Athenian vases, variously ornamented with geometrical
designs, animals, and birds, in the most ancient style. The next case
also contains vases of the most ancient style, from Athens, including
a fine specimen surmounted by two horses. In cases 33, 34, are further
specimens of the vases of ancient Greece, on some of which red figures
are traced upon a black ground, and on others a red ground is adopted,
with the ornamental figures in black: among the ornaments on those
vases the visitor should notice the cupids represented in blue and
white on one of these vases, and on another the figure of a crawling
boy, with a low stool and an apple before him. The vases in the next
cases (35, 36) contain some fine specimens of Athenian art about the
time of Pericles, with figures traced red and black, representing
Orestes and Electra at the tomb of Agamemnon. In these cases also are
some Athenian glass vases, and opaque glass vessels from Melos;
terra-cotta bas-reliefs, representing Bellerophon destroying the
Chimera; Perseus destroying the gorgon Medusa, and other classical
subjects; and upon the third shelf, amid unguent boxes, terra-cotta
lamps, and a terra-cotta doll, is a curious vase containing bones,
with a silver Athenian coin, attached to the jar by careful relatives,
to pay for the deceased's transit across the Styx. A collection of
terra-cotta figures are arranged upon the four shelves of case 37.
These include an ancient comic actor as Hercules; Athenian ladies
bearing water jugs, called Hydriophorae; Ceres; a dancing group from
Athens; animals; stools; and dancing figures from the south of Italy.
No less than three hundred and thirty-three handles from the wine
vessels or amphorae of ancient Rhodes are deposited in cases 38, 39.
Some are inscribed with the names of the chief magistrate. Varieties
of vessels in terra-cotta fill the two first shelves of the cases 40,
41, from Etruria; upon the third shelf are fragments of large bronzes,
including the staff of AEsculapius with the serpent; and the bronze
groups distributed upon the fourth shelf include three figures of
Hercules; and two figures supposed to be a Ptolemy and his queen
arrayed as Fortune. The cases 42-45 are filled with bronze weapons,
including spear-heads from the sepulchres of Etruria; arrow-heads and
bronze swords of the Roman time; standards with the famous Roman
eagles; helmets, including a famous one dedicated to Jupiter Olympius,
by Hiero I. on the occasion of gaining a victory over the Tuscans at
Cumae, upwards of four centuries before our era; and one found at
Olympia, dedicated by the Argives; bronze plates, and military belts,
from Vulci. The next six cases (46-51) are filled with various Grecian
and Roman antiquities, of which the visitor should particularly notice
amid bronze amphorae, tripods, glass beads, weights in the shape of
busts, sacrificial knives, and bronze hatchet heads, three cistae or
boxes, with classical groups in relief upon them, the subject of one
being Hercules grasping serpents. These cistae were the toilette boxes
of the ancients. Here too the visitor should remark the hearth (a
tripod) with charcoal still upon it, with fire-irons and cooking
utensils; and a variety of tripods variously ornamented with sphinxes,
Boreas carrying away Orithyia; and leaden vases from Delos, holding
the ashes of the dead. An interesting collection of candelabra, from
the Etruscan sepulchres, is arranged in the next cases (52, 53). These
candelabra were highly esteemed throughout ancient Greece. They are
decorated chiefly with mythological subjects, and have, attached to
them, vessels for dipping into larger vessels. Those in the next case
(54) are of the Roman period. Having glanced at the censers and bronze
lamps in the next cases (56-57) the visitor may pass on to the case
numbered 58-64, in which is a large collection of bronze vessels,
including unguent vases, which are the most highly decorated,
braziers, cauldrons, and jugs. The two next cases contain a great
number of bronze figures of various heathen deities, representations
of mythological events. Here are, a winged Victory holding an egg;
figures of Juno Sospita; figures for mirrors; Apollos; a giant hurling
a rock; one of the Gorgons; figures of Mars, in the old grotesque
style; a reclining Dionysus, drinking; satyrs; Aphrodite; Aurora
bearing off Tithonus or Cephalus; Hercules; Ariadne playing on the
lyre; Hercules killing the Maenalian stag; Minerva; and other figures,
all drawn from Grecian mythology. These cases present, at a glance,
more than any other in the collection, the various excellences of
ancient bronzes. The ancient mirrors are arranged in the next two
cases (68, 69)--one polished to show their old effect; and in the 70th
case are Etruscan and Roman fibulae or clasps in general use in the
olden time, in lieu of buttons or hooks. The drainings of the lake of
Monte Falterona brought to light the most attractive objects of the
next three cases (71-73), including the fine Etruscan statue of Mars,
the large statue of a youth; and here also are a group of Aurora
bearing off Memnon; and a satyr and a bacchante for the top of a
candelabrum. Finely ornamented mirrors, with figures chased,
bas-relief, representing, among other subjects, Minerva before Paris;
Achilles arming before Thetis; a winged Hercules killing the Lernean
Hydra; Juno and her rivals preparing for the judgment of Paris;
Hercules bearing off a female figure; Venus holding a dove, as a
mirror handle; the Dioscuri, Clytemnestra and Helen; Aphrodite nursing
Eros; and Dolon, Ulysses, and Diomed. Bronze figures of Greek and
Roman divinities fill the next case, including a silver group of
Saturn devouring his children; no less than nineteen Jupiters, one in
silver with a goat at his side. These are continued in the following
case (78), including Isis; Ganymede and the eagle; Terpsichore;
Apollos; Junos; a fine Apollo from Paramythia; a Triton, with crab's
claws, and a face turning into sea weed; Dianas, one, in silver,
holding a crescent; and Neptune, distinguishable by his trident. Three
cases, next in order of number (80-82), are devoted to ancient Roman
horse-trappings. Busts of Minerva occupy the most prominent positions
in the 83rd case; and in the next case (84) are no less than
twenty-one figures of Mercury, one of which, distinguishable by the
gold collar about the neck, is reputed the most beautiful bronze in
Europe. These figures of Mercury are in various attitudes. Here the
cocks, emblematic of the athletic games, are before him--there he is
flying on Jupiter's eagle; and near these figures are arranged
twenty-eight figures of Venus; in one place the goddess is rising from
the sea, in another she is arranging her sandal, or riding her swan.
Playful Cupids, thirty-five in number, and gambolling variously,
occupy the position next in order to the figures of Venus. Here the
little god is running, there he bears the anointing-box of
Venus--there he is laughing, in another corner his laughter is turned
to tears, and in another he is ingloriously intoxicated. In another
direction he is exhibited in his amiable moods, feeding a hare with
grapes, or toying with a swan. The next case (86) contains an
assortment of ancient glazed articles including glass studs, buttons,
&c., from the sepulchres of Etruria; bronze sandals from Armentum; and
glazed ware of various shapes. In the 87th case are deposited four
curious fragments from Perugia, of chariot chasings, representing
various warlike emblems and doings; and an ancient scabbard engraved
with an outline of Briseis led by Achilles. Deities fill the next case
(89), including fourteen figures of Harpocrates; a Pan; and figures of
Bacchus. Silenus, with silver eyes and a crown set with garnets, will
be found in the next case (90) where Hercules is strangling the Nemean
lion; and another Silenus kneeling on a wine-skin. Cupid is seizing
the weapons of the strong Hercules while the latter sleeps; in the
next case (91), here also he is grappling with the Maenalian stag, and
Pan shows his goat's legs. The 92nd, 93rd and 94th cases are filled
with various mirrors from Athens; the anciently prized knuckle bones
of a small animal; bronze earrings from a tomb in Cephalonia; sling
bullets found at Saguntum; part of a lyre, and wooden flutes
discovered near Athens; a gilt myrtle crown; glass mosaics from the
Parthenon; iron knives and fetters from Athens; a jar that once held
the famed Lycian eye ointment; one of the bronze tickets of a judge;
and leaden weights. Hercules is vigorously at work in the groups of
the next case (95), and herein are figures of Victory and Fortune; two
sphinxes, and other groups. The head of Polyphemus appears prominently
in the 96th case; and in the remaining cases miscellaneously grouped,
are ancient dice, some of which have been loaded, suggesting the
antiquity of roguery; ivory hair pins; bronze needles; glass beads;
fragments of cornelian and other cups, and glass; bronze figures of
animals; inlaid and enamel work; styli for writing upon wax; ancient
medical instruments; and old Roman finger-rings.
Over the Egyptian cases are deposited fac-similes of paintings of a
tomb at Vulci, discovered in the year 1832. These represent various
ancient games of racing and leaping. Over the cases 38-58 are other
fac-similes from a tomb, also at Vulci, in a mutilated condition; and
against the southern wall are the ceilings of the tomb. Having
examined these things the visitor should proceed on his southward
course, and, passing through the southern entrance of the bronze room,
enter the fine apartment, known as the Etruscan room, in which the