t 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. Bi