ss beautiful.

The Gallery of Sculpture is so rich in chef-d'oeuvres, that to
particularise would be a vain attempt. Passing over those which every
one knows by heart, the statue of Aristides struck me most. It was
found in Herculaneum; and is marked with ferruginous stains, as if by
the action of fire or the burning lava; but it is otherwise
uninjured, and the grave, yet graceful simplicity of the figure and
attitude, and the extreme elegance of the drapery, are truly Grecian.
It is the union of _power_ with _repose_--of perfect _grace_ with
perfect _simplicity_, which distinguishes the ancient from the modern
style of sculpture. The sitting Agrippina, for example, furnished
Canova with the model for his statue of Madame Letitia--the two
statues are, in point of fact, nearly the same, except that Canova has
turned Madame Letitia's head a little on one side; and by this single
and trifling alteration has destroyed that quiet and beautiful
simplicity which distinguishes the original, and given his statue at
once a modern air.

The Flora Farnese is badly placed, in a space too confined for its
size, and too near the eye; so that the exquisite harmony and delicacy
of the figure are partly lost in its colossal proportions: it should
be placed at the end of a long gallery or vista.

There is here a statue of Nero when he was ten years old; from which
it would seem that he was not by nature the monster he afterwards
became. The features are beautiful; and the expression all candour and
sweetness.

One statue struck me exceedingly--not by the choice of the subject,
nor the beauty of the workmanship, but from its wonderful force of
expression. It is a dying gladiator; but very different from the
gladiator of the Capitol. The latter declines gradually, and sickens
into death; but memory and feeling are not yet extinct: and what
thoughts may pass through that brain while life is thus languishing
away! what emotions may yet dwell upon the last beatings of that
heart! it is the _sentiment_ which gives such profound pathos to that
matchless statue: but the gladiator of the Studii has only physical
expression: it is sudden death in all its horrors: the figure is still
erect, though the mortal blow has been given; the sword has dropt from
the powerless hand; the limbs are stiffening in death; the eyes are
glazed; the features fixed in an expression of mortal agony; and in
another moment you expect the figure to fall at your feet.