This Collection
Is A Most Excellent Commentary Upon The Roman Historians,
Particularly Suetonius And Dion Cassius.
There was one
circumstance that struck me in viewing the busts of Caracalla,
both here and in the Capitol
At Rome; there was a certain
ferocity in the eyes, which seemed to contradict the sweetness of
the other features, and remarkably justified the epithet
Caracuyl, by which he was distinguished by the antient
inhabitants of North-Britain. In the language of the Highlanders
caracuyl signifies cruel eye, as we are given to understand by
the ingenious editor of Fingal, who seems to think that Caracalla
is no other than the Celtic word, adapted to the pronunciation of
the Romans: but the truth is, Caracalla was the name of a Gaulish
vestment, which this prince affected to wear; and hence he
derived that surname. The Caracuyl of the Britons, is the same as
the upodra idon of the Greeks, which Homer has so often applied
to his Scolding Heroes. I like the Bacchanalian, chiefly for the
fine drapery. The wind, occasioned by her motion, seems to have
swelled and raised it from the parts of the body which it covers.
There is another gay Bacchanalian, in the attitude of dancing,
crowned with ivy, holding in her right hand a bunch of grapes,
and in her left the thyrsus. The head of the celebrated Flora is
very beautiful: the groupe of Cupid and Psyche, however, did not
give me all the pleasure I expected from it.
Of all the marbles that appear in the open gallery, the following
are those I most admire. Leda with the Swan; as for Jupiter, in
this transformation, he has much the appearance of a goose. I
have not seen any thing tamer; but the sculptor has admirably
shewn his art in representing Leda's hand partly hid among the
feathers, which are so lightly touched off, that the very shape
of the fingers are seen underneath. The statue of a youth,
supposed to be Ganymede, is compared by the connoisseurs to the
celebrated Venus, and as far as I can judge, not without reason:
it is however, rather agreeable than striking, and will please a
connoisseur much more than a common spectator. I know not whether
it is my regard to the faculty that inhances the value of the
noted Esculapius, who appears with a venerable beard of delicate
workmanship. He is larger than the life, cloathed in a
magnificent pallium, his left arm resting on a knotted staff,
round which the snake is twined according to Ovid.
Hunc modo serpentem baculum qui nexibus ambit
Perspice -
Behold the snake his mystic Rod intwine.
He has in his hand the fascia herbarum, and the crepidae on his
feet. There is a wild-boar represented lying on one side, which I
admire as a master-piece. The savageness of his appearance is
finely contrasted with the case and indolence of the attitude.
Were I to meet with a living boar lying with the same expression,
I should be tempted to stroke his bristles. Here is an elegant
bust of Antinous, the favourite of Adrian; and a beautiful head
of Alexander the Great, turned on one side, with an expression of
languishment and anxiety in his countenance. The virtuosi are not
agreed about the circumstance in which he is represented; whether
fainting with the loss of blood which he suffered in his
adventure at Oxydrace; or languishing with the fever contracted
by bathing in the Cydnus; or finally complaining to his father
Jove, that there were no other worlds for him to conquer. The
kneeling Narcissus is a striking figure, and the expression
admirable. The two Bacchi are perfectly well executed; but (to my
shame be it spoken) I prefer to the antique that which is the
work of Michael Angelo Buonaroti, concerning which the story is
told which you well know. The artist having been blamed by some
pretended connoisseurs, for not imitating the manner of the
ancients, is said to have privately finished this Bacchus, and
buried it, after having broke off an arm, which he kept as a
voucher. The statue, being dug up by accident, was allowed by the
best judges, to be a perfect antique; upon which Buonaroti
produced the arm, and claimed his own work. Bianchi looks upon
this as a fable; but owns that Vasari tells such another of a
child cut in marble by the same artist, which being carried to
Rome, and kept for some time under ground, was dug up as an
antique, and sold for a great deal of money. I was likewise
attracted by the Morpheus in touchstone, which is described by
Addison, who, by the bye, notwithstanding all his taste, has been
convicted by Bianchi of several gross blunders in his account of
this gallery.
With respect to the famous Venus Pontia, commonly called de
Medicis, which was found at Tivoli, and is kept in a separate
apartment called the Tribuna, I believe I ought to be intirely
silent, or at least conceal my real sentiments, which will
otherwise appear equally absurd and presumptuous. It must be want
of taste that prevents my feeling that enthusiastic admiration
with which others are inspired at sight of this statue: a statue
which in reputation equals that of Cupid by Praxiteles, which
brought such a concourse of strangers of old to the little town
of Thespiae. I cannot help thinking that there is no beauty in
the features of Venus; and that the attitude is aukward and out
of character. It is a bad plea to urge that the antients and we
differ in the ideas of beauty. We know the contrary, from their
medals, busts, and historians. Without all doubt, the limbs and
proportions of this statue are elegantly formed, and accurately
designed, according to the nicest rules of symmetry and
proportion; and the back parts especially are executed so
happily, as to excite the admiration of the most indifferent
spectator. One cannot help thinking it is the very Venus of
Cnidos by Praxiteles, which Lucian describes.
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