lustration: FIG. 6.--HUMAN SACRIFICE OFFERED BY ACHILLES TO THE SHADE
OF PATROKLOS. _From an Etruscan wall-painting._]

Fig. 6 belongs to a later period than the other, and is taken from a tomb
at Vulci which was opened in 1857 by Francois. This tomb has seven
different chambers, several of which are decorated with wall-paintings of
mythological subjects. A square chamber at the end of the tomb has the
most important pictures. On one side the human sacrifices which were
customary at Etruscan funerals are represented: the pictures are very
painful, and the terror and agony of the poor victims who are being put to
death make them really repulsive to see. On an opposite wall is the
painting from which our cut is taken. This represents the sacrifices made
before Troy by Achilles, on account of the death of his dear friend
Patroklos. The figure with the hammer is Charon, who stands ready to
receive the sacrifice which is intended to win his favor. Your mythology
will tell you the story, which is too long to be given here. The realism
of this picture is shocking in its effect, and yet there is something
about the manner of the drawing and the arrangement of the whole design
that fixes our attention even while it makes us shudder.

The ancient wall-paintings which have been found in Rome are far more
varied than are those of Etruria; for, while some of the Roman pictures
are found in tombs, others are taken from baths, palaces, and villas. They
generally belong to one period, and that is about the close of the
Republic and the beginning of the Empire. Modern excavations have revealed
many of these ancient paintings; but so many of them crumble and fade away
so soon after they are exposed to the air, that few remain in a condition
to afford any satisfaction in seeing them. But fortunately drawings have
been made of nearly all these pictures before they fell into decay.

[Illustration: FIG. 7.--THE ALDOBRANDINI MARRIAGE. _From a wall-painting
in the Vatican._]

Some of the ancient paintings have been carefully removed from the walls
where they were found, and placed in museums and other collections. One of
the finest of these is in the Vatican, and is called the Aldobrandini
Marriage. It received this name from the fact that Cardinal Aldobrandini
was its first possessor after its discovery, near the Arch of Gallienus,
in 1606.

As you will see from Fig. 7, from it, there are three distinct groups
represented. In the centre t