FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   202   203   204   205   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   214   215   216   217   218   219   220   221   222   223   224   225   226  
227   228   229   230   231   232   233   234   235   236   237   238   239   240   241   242   243   244   245   246   247   248   249   250   251   >>   >|  
gurtha was incarcerated and died. There are in Rome about three hundred other churches, all of which can boast of very interesting and valuable contents. One in particular called the Portuguese Church is uncommonly beautiful tho' small; another, that of St Ignazio, or the Jesuits' church, is vast and imposing, and very fine singing is occasionally to be heard there. ROME, 21st Sept. The Palace occupied by the Pope is that of the Quirinal, standing on the Quirinal Hill, which is commonly called _Monte Cavallo_ from the statues of the two _Hippodamoi_ or tamers of horses, thought to be meant for Castor and Pollux which stand on this hill; this group is surmounted by an Egyptian obelisk. These statues are said to be the work of Phidias; but there is a terrible disproportion between the men and the horses they are leading; they give you the idea of Brobdignagians leading Shetland ponies. The Quirinal palace is every way magnificent and worthy of the Sovereign Pontiff; there are large grounds annexed to it; it stands nearly in the centre of Rome and from this palace are dated the Papal edicts. The Pope resides here during the whole year, with the exception of three or four months in the hot season, when he repairs to Castel Gandolfo near la Riccia. Of the fountains the grandest and most striking is that of Trevi, which lies at the foot of Quirinal Hill. Here is a magnificent group in marble of Neptune, in his car in the shape of a mussel-shell drawn by Sea-horses and surrounded by Nymphs and Tritons. An immense basin of white marble, as large as a moderate sized pond, receives the water which gushes from the nostrils of the Sea-horses and from the mouths of the Tritons. There is a very good and just remark made on the subject of this group by Stolberg, viz. the attention of Neptune seems too much directed towards one of his horses, a piece of minutiae more worthy of a charioteer endeavouring to turn a difficult corner, than of the God who at a word could control the winds and tranquillize the Ocean. The fountain Termina, so called from its vicinity to the Thermes of Diocletian, is the next remarkable fountain. Here is a colossal statue of Moses striking the rock and causing the water to gush forth. The grandeur and majesty of this statue would be more striking but for the incongruity of the arcades on each side of the rock, and the two lions in black basalt who spout water. Moses and the rock would have been suffi
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   202   203   204   205   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   214   215   216   217   218   219   220   221   222   223   224   225   226  
227   228   229   230   231   232   233   234   235   236   237   238   239   240   241   242   243   244   245   246   247   248   249   250   251   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

horses

 

Quirinal

 

called

 

striking

 

Neptune

 

marble

 
Tritons
 
palace
 

leading

 

magnificent


worthy

 

statues

 

fountain

 

statue

 

immense

 

arcades

 

receives

 

gushes

 

nostrils

 
majesty

moderate

 

incongruity

 

surrounded

 

grandest

 

Riccia

 

fountains

 

basalt

 

grandeur

 
mussel
 

Nymphs


difficult

 

corner

 

Thermes

 

Diocletian

 

charioteer

 
endeavouring
 

vicinity

 

control

 

tranquillize

 

Termina


remarkable

 
colossal
 

subject

 

Stolberg

 

remark

 

attention

 
minutiae
 

directed

 

causing

 
mouths