Strangers Are Generally Advised To
Employ An Antiquarian To Instruct Them In All The Curiosities Of
Rome; And This Is A Necessary Expence, When A Person Wants To
Become A Connoisseur In Painting, Statuary, And Architecture.
For
my own part I had no such ambition.
I longed to view the remains
of antiquity by which this metropolis is distinguished; and to
contemplate the originals of many pictures and statues, which I
had admired in prints and descriptions. I therefore chose a
servant, who was recommended to me as a sober, intelligent
fellow, acquainted with these matters: at the same time I
furnished myself with maps and plans of antient and modern Rome,
together with the little manual, called, Itinerario istruttivo
per ritrovare con facilita tutte le magnificenze di Roma e di
alcune citta', e castelli suburbani. But I found still more
satisfaction in perusing the book in three volumes, intitled,
Roma antica, e moderna, which contains a description of
everything remarkable in and about the city, illustrated with a
great number of copper-plates, and many curious historical
annotations. This directory cost me a zequine; but a hundred
zequines will not purchase all the books and prints which have
been published at Rome on these subjects. Of these the most
celebrated are the plates of Piranesi, who is not only an
ingenious architect and engraver, but also a learned antiquarian;
though he is apt to run riot in his conjectures; and with regard
to the arts of antient Rome, has broached some doctrines, which
he will find it very difficult to maintain.
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