model that has ever been constructed of this beautiful temple, and, being coloured from actual remains and legitimate deductions, it possesses the great charm of a veritable copy. The scale is sufficiently large to give a complete idea of the original. This admirable model is due to the intelligent and successful researches prosecuted in Athens by Mr. Penrose, whose labours have thrown so much new light upon the refinements practised by the Greeks in architecture. Mr. Penrose has himself directed the construction of the model. In this gallery are ranged statues and groups, including the celebrated Niobe group, from Florence (187 to 187 L, inclusive). This subject of the punishment of Niobe's family by the gods was frequently treated by Greek artists; and certainly the group before us is one of the most beautiful examples of Greek sculptural art. It is supposed that the portion of the group at Florence occupied the pediment of the temple of Apollo Sosianus at Rome. The Niobe group belongs to one of the brightest periods. Casts from those most beautiful and wonderful remains of ancient art, the colossal figures from the pediment of the Parthenon at Athens, are also here (185 to 185 B.). The originals, brought over to England by Lord Elgin in 1801-2, are in the British Museum, and the nation is indebted for the acquisition to the painter Haydon, who was the first British artist to recognise the value, and appreciate the beauty of these mutilated but inimitable monuments of art at the highest period of its glory. They belong to the Phidian school, and are characterized by simple grandeur, great repose in the attitudes, and a deep study of nature in their forms. The Theseus more particularly displays a marvellous study and appreciation of nature. In connexion with the Parthenon will also be seen a cast from a part of one of the actual columns, also in the British Museum (150).* In this Stoa is the wonderful Belvedere Torso, from the Vatican (67); the far-famed Venus de' Medici (198), from Florence, and the exquisite Psyche (199), from the Museum at Naples. The visitor will not fail to be astonished, no less by the number than by the charming effect of these works which have come down to our time, and which will descend to the latest posterity as models of excellence. Proceeding until we arrive at the junction of the Greek and Roman Courts, we turn into the right hand division of the outer court; round the frieze of which are the names of the statesmen and warriors of Athens, the Peloponnesus and

* For a minute description of all the statues and other works of art in this Court, see the "Handbook to the Greek Court."

Attica.

The busts ranged on either side are portraits of the Greek philosophers, orators, generals and statesmen, arranged in chronological order, commencing at the entrance from the nave.

We walk through this court until we reach the nave; then

turning to the left find ourselves facing the

ROMAN COURT.

On approaching this Court the visitor will at once notice a new architectural element as useful as it is beautifulnamely, the ARCH, a feature that

has been found susceptible of the greatest variety of treatment. Until within the last few years the credit of the first use of the arch as an architectural principle has been given to the Greek architect under Roman rule, but discoveries in Egypt, and more recently in Assyria by Mr. Layard and M. Botta, have shown that constructed and ornamented arches were frequently employed in architecture many hundred years before the Christian era. It is to be

observed that architecture and sculpture had no original growth at Rome,

and were not indigenous to the soil. Roman structures were modifications from the Greek, adapted to suit the requirements and tastes of the people; and thus it happened that the simple severity, purity, and ideality of early Greek art degenerated under the Roman empire, into the wanton luxuriousness that characterized its latest period. In comparing the Greek and Roman statues, we remark a grandeur of conception, a delicacy of sentiment, a poetical refinement of thought in the former, indicative of the highest artistic development with which we are acquainted. When Greece became merely a Roman province, that high excellence was already on the decline, and the dispersion of her artists, on the final subjugation of the country by Mummius, the Roman general, B.C. 146, hastened the descent. A large number of Grecian artists settled at Rome, where the sentiment of servitude, and the love of their masters for display, produced works which by degrees fell further and further from their glorious models, until richness of material, manual cunning, and a more than feminine weakness characterized their principal productions; and the sculptor's art became degraded into a trade, in which all feeling for the ancient Greek excellence was for ever lost.

Thus, in the transplanted art of Greece, serving its Roman masters, a material and sensual feeling more or less prevails, appealing to the

Museum.

passions rather than to the intellects and high imaginations of men. The cumbrous dresses and armour which mark the properly Roman style, hide the graceful and powerful forms of nature under the symbols of station and office, creating a species of political sculpture.

In the wall now before us we have a model of a portion of the outer wall of the Coliseum at Rome, pierced with arches and ornamented with Tuscan columns. The Coliseum is one of the most wonderful structures in the world, and the Pyramids of Egypt alone can be compared with it in point of size. It is elliptical in form, and consisted outwardly of four stories. In the centre of the interior was the arena or scene of action,

Ves

Statue of Hadrian from the British around which the seats for spectators rose, tier above tier. The enormous range was capable of seating 87,000 persons. pasian and Titus erected this amphitheatre, and the work commenced about A.D. 79. In this vast and splendidly decorated building, the ancient Romans assembled to witness chariot-races, naval engagements, combats of wild animals, and other exciting sports.

Entering the Roman Court through the central archway we come into an apartment whose walls are coloured in imitation of the porphyry, malachite, and rare marbles with which the Roman people loved to adorn their houses. This style of decoration appears to have been introduced a little before the Christian era, and so lavish were the Romans in supplying ornament for their homes, that the Emperor Augustus, dreading the result of the extravagance, endeavoured by his personal moderation to put a stop to the reckless expenditure: although, it is recorded, that the lofty exemplar was set up for imitation in vain.

Following the same plan as in the Greek Court, we proceed round