length; while Josephine, by the addition of a plumed helmet was transformed into the goddess Minerva.

From Milan Mr. Bell proceeded through Placentia to Parma; the latter place naturally introduces the mention of Correggio, and criticisms on some of his most celebrated pictures. Mr. Bell writes of the art con amore: on one part of it his professional pursuits qualified him to decide with confidence, and we think his observations will be useful to those who have the opportunity and the inclination to study attentively the paintings on which these observations are founded. Passports and posthorses, guide-books, and the perambulation of galleries, will enable a man to talk of pictures with fluency; but knowledge of the subject, and correct taste, are only to be acquired by assiduous study of the best models. We forbear, however, from making any extracts from this part of the work; descriptions of pictures are rarely read with interest at a distance from the objects to which they relate, except when they are introduced, as they are in Sir Joshua Reynolds's incomparable lectures, to exemplify the progress and illustrate the principles of the art.

At Bologna our author visits the Academy, and, after noticing the famous St. Cecilia, by Raphael, dwells also with great pleasure on the Crucifixion, and several other productions of Guido Reni. We believe the magnificent picture of St. Peter and St. Paul, by the same artist, which once adorned the Zampieri palace, has been transferred to the Brera at Milan, where there is a considerable number of ancient paintings, and where the annual distribution of academical prizes encourages the efforts of modern genius. Still Bologna is rich in the works of her own Guido, more so than in those of her son Giovanni, whose fame as a sculptor is transmitted to posterity in connexion with the name of his birthplace.* "The Neptune (Mr. Bell says) is a colossal heavy figure : the whole composition and manner (of the fountain) is quaint, somewhat in the French style, and such as I should have been less surprised to find at Versailles than at Bologna." In fact, the city possesses nothing by this artist which will bear a comparison with. his equestrian statue of Cosmo di Medici, his group, entitled The Rape of the Sabine, the colossal St. Luke, and the aërial lightness of the Mercury,—all which are the pride and ornament of Florence.

For the general description of Bologna we must refer our read

* There is something of historical justice in combining the fame of so many of the celebrated painters with the names of their respective cities; i. e. Pietro Perugino, Corregio, Caravagio, Parmegiano, Daniele di Volterra, Paulo Veronese, Scipio Gætano, Pietro di Cortona, Claude Lorraine, Calabrese, Il Cavaliere d'Arpino, Pordenone.

ers to Mr. Bell's work: his instructions abridge the traveller's labour, and save his time, by pointing out in the various churches those pictures which deserve particular notice. The public edifices in this city are not remarkable: the tower of Asinelli has no recommendation but its extraordinary height; and those among our readers who remember its neighbour-that mass of oblique deformity, will readily assent to the observation of Le Comte Bernard Potocki," Comme elle est de brique et fort laide, ces airs penchés lui vont tres mal, et elle ne peut être comparée en rien à la tour penchante de Pise.”

Mr. Bell now crosses the Apennines to Florence; and it is not to be supposed that one who combined much taste and science with an active spirit of inquiry, would visit a city so interesting in its past history, its buildings, pictures, statues, and natural beauties, without embodying in his remarks much that is valuable in information, and just in criticism. It is to be regretted, that the notes he had prepared for a concise history of Florence were left in a state too imperfect to admit of their being presented to the public. Still we find a considerable portion of historical information introduced in connexion with the public edifices of Florence, and the progress of her "three different styles of architecturethe severe and imposing of Arnolpho Lapo, the refined Tuscan of Brunelleschi, and the decorous and magnificent of Michael Angelo." Mr. Bell's observations on the various treasures of the fine arts, free and original without caprice, candid and liberal without indiscriminate praise, will be valuable to those who are enabled to visit these classical scenes, and thus to contemplate in one view the text and the comment. The chefs-d'œuvres both of sculpture and painting are brought to the severest test of anatomical science; their beauties and defects are brought prominently into notice, and the student who remembers Mr. Bell's professional reputation will not fail to appreciate the accuracy and value of his criticisms.

Mr. Bell's account of the Florentine palaces is copious, and we must not omit to mention, that the engravings which adorn this part of his work are very neatly executed. One of these represents the grand ducal square: in the foreground is seen the Loggia dei Lanzi, which is thus described :

:

"The erection of this edifice naturally excited great interest; and the object was accordingly pursued with that zeal and emulation, which then so peculiary characterized this people. At the conclusion of many debates, and keen discussions, the design presented by Orcagna, an artist celebrated for his singular attainments in the three sister arts, architecture, sculpture, and painting, was preferred.

"The building presents a magnificent colonnade, or open gallery,

consisting of only three pillars, and three arches; but these are large, spacious, and noble. Five steps run along the front on which the platform is raised, with fine effect, giving a certain air of grandeur to the whole. The columns rise out of a short and highly-ornamented plinth, on flat clustered pilasters, great and small being bound together, in one vast massive shaft of thirty-five feet in height, terminating in a rich and beautiful capital of the Corinthian order. The shaft proceeds from a curved base, embellished by the arms of the republic, a lion sitting on its haunches. Much elegance and lightness of effect is produced, from the capitals being employed to support a frieze and projecting cornice of elegant proportions, which, rising with an open parapet above the arches, gives a fine square form to the whole building. Between the arches, sculptured in alto relievo, and of fine marble, are the seven Cardinal and Christian Virtues. Statues also line and fill the plinth, from which the columns rise.

"One of the chief beauties of the colonnade, and that which most especially excited the admiration of the contemporaries of Orcagna, is the construction of the roof, which, deviating from the practice then in use, of forming the circles into four equal divisions, is composed of half circles, according to the purest Grecian style. This edifice is a superb combination of Greek and Gothic architecture."

"In front, under each arch of the colonnade, stand three separate groups, by celebrated masters of the thirteenth century. The first is the Rape of the Sabine, by John of Bologna. This group, which was the last he ever executed, is composed of three figures. A bold and spirited youth is represented as forcibly tearing a beautiful female from the arms of her father, a feeble old man; he is beaten down, and kneels on the ground, clinging to the ravisher, and endeavouring to rise. The youth, whose figure is formed in the finest proportions, full of strength and manly vigour, not only lifts the young female from the ground, but holds her high in his arms, starting from the grasp of the old man, while she is struggling with uplifted hands, as if to break from his hold.

"All this is finely told, and constitutes a group of great merit, which, especially when beheld in a front view, is very fine."-p. 217— 220.

The circumstances to which the following extract relates occurred at Rome. Our author's extensive notes on that city were left, as we learn from the editor, in a state so incomplete, that a comparatively small part is printed. This part, however, contains passages of great beauty, some relating to the most celebrated statues in the Vatican and the Capitol, and others describing the ceremonies of the Holy Week; but we must be contented to invite the attention of our readers to the book itself, lest we should be tempted to make too copious extracts.

"

The profession of a young nun can hardly be witnessed without exciting feelings of strong emotion. To behold a being, in the early

dawn of youth, about to forsake the world, while its joys alone are painted to the imagination, and sorrow, yet untasted, seems far distant

to see her, with solemn vows, cross that threshold which may not again be repassed, and which separates her for ever from all those scenes that give interest, and delight, and joy to life-to imagine her in the lonely cell that is to replace the beauty and the grandeur of nature, presents a picture that must fill the mind with powerful feelings of sadness.". -p. 248.

"At length the solemn moment approached which was to bind her vows to Heaven. She arose and stood a few moments before the altar; when suddenly, yet with noiseless action, she sank extended on the marble floor, and instantly the long black pall was thrown over her. Every heart seemed to shudder, and a momentary pause ensued; when the deep silence was broken by the low tones of the organ, accompanied by soft and beautiful female voices, singing the service of the dead (the requiem.) The sound gently swelled in the air, and as the harmonious volume became more powerful, the deep church bell at intervals sounded with a loud clamour, exciting a mixed feeling of agitation and grandeur.

"Tears were the silent expression of the emotion which thrilled through every heart. This solemn music continued long, and still fell mournfully on the ear; and yet seraphic as in softened tones, and as it were receding in the distance, it gently sank into silence. The young novice was then raised, and advancing towards the priest, she bent down, kneeling at his feet, while he cut a lock of her hair, as a type of the ceremony that was to deprive her of this, to her no longer valued, ornament. Her attendant then despoiled her of the rich jewels with which she was adorned; her splendid upper vesture was thrown off, and replaced by a monastic garment; her long tresses bound up, her temples covered with fair linen; the white crown, emblem of innocence, fixed on her head, and the crucifix placed in her hands.

"Then kneeling low once more before the altar, she uttered her last vow to Heaven; at which moment the organ and choristers burst forth in loud shouts of triumph, and in the same instant the cannon from St. Angelo gave notice that her solemn vows were registered."—pp. 251, 252.

In discussing the causes of the excellence which the Greeks attained in sculpture, and comparing the superior advantages they enjoyed in the exhibitions of the Circus, with those which the modern artist derives from the discoveries of anatomical science, Mr. Bell gives this spirited description of the celebrated statue in the Louvre called the Fighting Gladiator :

"The limbs are thrown out with an animation which exhibits all their elasticity and youthful strength. The protruded shield repels the foe, and covers all the extended line of the body, which appears ready to spring with a force and action of intense velocity and irresistible power. The head and youthful countenance is turned round to face

danger, with a lively and daring animation, which expresses a sort of severe delight in the immediate prospect of it, and foretels the dreadful thrust that is aimed, while the right hand and arm are drawn back, strong, and every fibre is ready for the forward and active spring. All the parts, and all the action, even to the extremities, are peculiar, and could not be transferred to any other figure. The effect is confined to no one part, but animates the whole. The fine youthful head, the vigorous limbs, the animated form, strong for action, the lively courage and spirit expressed in every point, the hope and suspense excited from action begun, the result being yet undetermined, give me, in viewing this statue, sensations of admiration and delight beyond what I have ever received from any other work of art."—pp. 261-262.

Mr. Bell's work does not touch on the subject of Italian literature, or Italian society: we know not whether he was a proficient in the language; but if a second edition of this work is printed, the numerous errors that occur in Italian phrases, and in names of places and persons, ought to be corrected.*

In the present mania for continental excursions, much is often said of the advantages which Englishmen and English women are to derive from mixing in foreign society. Be these advantages great or small, we believe that opportunities of obtaining them are much less frequent in Italy than is commonly supposed. We do not mean that the two nations do not occasionally meet in the palaces of the foreign ministers, or the saloons of those whose commercial transactions bring them necessarily in contact with the English; but that there is very little of that intercourse in private life which alone deserves the name of society; and that an evening party in the Piazza di Spagna differs very little, in its component members, from a party in Portland-place. Before the

Revolution, the Italians had more money and fewer visiters, and the curiosity with which all men naturally regard foreigners was then a mutual feeling: the case is now altered: our countrymen flock to Italy in numbers sufficient to satiate the keenest curiosity; and though many still hail their appearance with feelings akin to those with which a sportsman expects the returning woodcocks, others

* E. G.-Panora, page 149, Pianora. Sajano, p. 150, Tojano. Andrea del Sarta, 231, del Sarto. Madonna del Saco, 232, del Sacco. gh Ufzi, 266, Ufizi. Arcagna, 168, Orcagna. Fece dal pettore, 168, Falto dal. Piazzo for Piazza. Bonotello, 222, Bonatello. Campanello for Campanile. Hall of the Niobes, 288, Hall of Niobe. Guido Rheni for Reni. Ara Cali, Ara Cæli. These, though trivial errors, are a blemish in the work. There is also a historical mistake respecting the Emperor Nero. Mr. B. speaking of Lyons, says, "In the year 145, it was in one night burnt to the ground, but shortly afterwards rebuilt by a grant from the Emperor Nero." His assistance would have been of little use, since he died in 68.