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the Trojan war, with the adventures of Ulysses, were all employed as means of decoration'. A proof of the extent to which this mode of embellishment was carried, is to be found in the Baths of Titus at Rome, which, although now destitute of external grandeur, abound with curious examples of ancient painting, consisting of both simple ornament and fanciful figures, which Rafaello himself has not disdained to study. These baths contain apartments of considerable dimensions; the ornamental paintings in the smaller rooms of the building are neither in good taste nor well coloured, according to the opinion of an accomplished artist. Red, orange, and blue are the colours which here predominate; but advancing, a vast improvement is found; the roofs, where the various figures in fine taste are all painted upon a white ground, are at least thirty feet high, and can only be examined by wax lights.

The Gallery discovered in the time of Rafaello 1 Petronius's Satyricon, chap. 9.

is extremely interesting, not only on account of that eminent painter having improved his mind in studying there, but because the painting is superior to that found in the other chambers'. On the ceiling is a picture which has been accurately copied by Annibale Caracci, the founder of the Bologna School. It is said to represent Coriolanus and his mother Volumnia, and is quite upon the principle of a finished painting, the colouring and drawing being extremely beautiful. There are many other subjects that equally exhibit refinement of mind; and of the merits of the more elaborate and highly finished pictures of the ancients, ample testimony is afforded by various authors. These remains in the Baths of Titus and others discovered at Herculaneum, are sufficiently striking examples of what they really were capable of performing. All these were painted on walls,

See also "Description des Bains de Titus, ou Collection des Peintures trouvés dans les Ruines des Thermes de cet Empereur," by M. Pouce, published at Paris in 1786, which are preferable to those of Herculaneum.

and many of them in subordinate buildings. The Aldobrandini Marriage, now in the collection of Signor Nelli at Rome, was cut from a wall forming part of the Baths of Titus. This celebrated ancient painting has been often copied by eminent artists'. The picture, consisting of ten figures, all of them females with the exception of the bridegroom, is executed in a light sketchy style; the shade of flesh is hatched with a reddish purple heightened with a warm brown. The only colours used are red approaching to a crimson brown, green inclining to the hue of verdigris, brilliant orange, purple, and a beautiful white: these colours are almost exclusively employed in the drapery of the figures. The back-ground is principally taken up with a screen, which is of whitish purple, the vacant ground being of a pale green. As a work of art it has great merit, chiefly for the purity of taste displayed in it'.

A very beautiful copy by Nicolo Poussin is in the Doria Palace, which contains one of the finest collections of pictures in Rome.

2 Williams's Italy, vol. ii. p. 66.

THE SACRARIUM.

Most of the patrician families of Rome had a domestic chapel, independently of the Lararium before alluded to'. The Sacrarium, situated in a small retired court within the mansion, was approached by a little door inlaid with ivory. This apartment, devoted to private worship, was adorned with four columns, having the walls also covered with paintings representing divinities. On each side of the portal in

1 Lararium, that part of the Atrium in which the Lares were placed. See ante pp. 26 and 27.

2 See Ruines de Pompeii, plate 2; and the Essay on Buildings, fig. 3. n. 10. The Penates, who presided over houses and domestic affairs, were generally placed in the innermost part of the house, which was thence called Penetralia. These deities were chosen according to option, and Jupiter as well as other superior gods was sometimes invoked. Four classes of Penates comprehended the celestial, the sea gods, the gods of hell, and all heroes who had received divine honours. The statues were made of wax, ivory, silver, or potter's ware, in proportion to the affluence of the worshiper; and the only offerings to these gods were wine, incense, fruits, and rarely the sacrifice of lambs, kids, &c. When offerings were made, the statues were crowned with garlands of poppies or garlic, and a monthly day was

the interior of the court stood two basins' of lustral water, procured occasionally from Ethiopia, according to Juvenal:

Should Io's priest command

A pilgrimage to Meroe's burning sand;

Through deserts they would seek the secret spring,
And holy water for lustration bring2.

In the midst of the court of the Sacrarium stood an altar for sacrifice, and on the opposite side was a little temple dedicated to the Good Goddess, with the inscription BONA. DEA. on the door. The interior was enriched with precious marbles, of which the cornice and all the more delicate mouldings wrought in marble were gilded: the foliated gold was fixed on the sculpture with white of egg. The practice

set apart for their worship, independently of the festival of the Saturnalia.

Such are in the Museum of the Studii at Naples, and of the most elegant form.

2 Satire 6. Dryden's Translation.

3 Pliny's Natural History, book xxxiii. chap. 3. Virgil admires the effect of gold on marble; .... Pariusve lapis

circumdatur auro,"

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