and pavements are numerous in the mansions of the wealthy at
Pompeii, but some walls are decorated with pictures in mosaic.

MOSAIC OF THE BATTLE OF PLATAEA.

A grand mosaic, representing as some say the Battle of Plataea, and
others, with more probability one of the victories of Alexander, is now
in the Academy at Naples. It was discovered at Pompeii, and covered the
whole side of the apartment where it was found. This great work is the
admiration of connoisseurs and the learned, not only for its antiquity,
but for the beauty of its execution. The most probable supposition is,
that it is a copy of the celebrated Victory of Arbela, painted by
Philoxenes, and described by Pliny as one of the most remarkable works
of antiquity, with whose description the mosaic accords.

THE ALDOBRANDINI WEDDING.

This famous antique fresco was discovered in the time of Clement VIII.,
not far from the church of S. Maria Maggiore, in the place where were
the gardens of Maecenas. It was carried from thence into the villa of the
princely house of the Aldobrandini; hence its name. It is very
beautifully executed, and evidently intended to represent or celebrate a
wedding. Winckelmann supposes it to be the wedding of Peleus and Thetis;
the Count Bondi, that of Manlius and Julia.

THE PORTLAND VASE.

The most celebrated antique vase is that which, during more than two
centuries, was the principal ornament of the Barberini Palace, and which
is now known as the Portland Vase. It was found about the middle of the
16th century, enclosed in a marble sarcophagus within a sepulchral
chamber under Monte del Grano, two miles and a half from Rome, supposed
to have been the tomb of Alexander Severus, who died in the year 235. It
is ornamented with white opaque figures in bas-relief, upon a dark blue
transparent ground; the subject of which has not hitherto received a
satisfactory elucidation, though it is supposed to represent the
Eleusinian Mysteries; but the design, and more particularly the
execution, are truly admirable. The whole of the blue ground, or at
least the part below the handles, must have been originally covered with
white enamel, out of which the figures have been sculptured in the style
of a cameo, with most astonishing skill and labor. This beautiful Vase
is sufficient to prove that the manufacture of glass was carried to a
state of high perfection by the ancients. It was purchased by the
Duchess of Portland for 1000 guineas