It is a glorious statue and in every respect
characteristic; such grandeur, such majesty in the countenance! It is
impossible not to feel awe and reverence on beholding it. It was on
contemplating this venerable statue that an Englishman who was at Rome some
sixty years ago, stood wrapt for a time in silent veneration; then suddenly
breaking silence he made a profound obeisance before the statue and
exclaimed: "Recollect, O father of the Gods and men, that I have paid my
hommage to you in your adversity and do not forget me, should you ever
raise your head above water again!"
In the hall of the Muses are the statues of the tuneful Nine which were
found underground among the ruins of Hadrian's villa at Tivoli.
In the centre of a circular chamber of vast dimensions, is an enormous
circular basin of porphyry, of forty-one feet in diameter. A superb mosaic
adorns the floor of the centre of this chamber, and is inclosed.
Appropriate ornaments to this immense chamber are the colossal statues of
the Dii majorum Gentium. Here are Juno, Minerva, Cybele, Jupiter,
Serapis, Mars, Ceres, and others.
In another hall are two enormous Egyptian Gods in yellow granite; two
superb sarcophagi in red marble and two immense Sphinxes in granite.
