derable; its semi-circular roof is supported by coupled Corinthian columns of marble, fluted and reeded, with an unbroken entablature. Behind them run galleries. The columus stand on pedestals united by balustrades. The colonnade does not rest on the ground, but on compartments of marble. The roof is rich with gilding, and the pavement with inlaid marbles. Altogether this chapel unites, in a high degree, simplicity of design, with richness and magnificence of decoration. In our consideration of the architecture of Italy, it is impossible to leave unnoticed the altars of the churches, remarkable as they are for their costliness and richness of ornament, and for the splendid achievements of painting which they contain. On this subject the philosophical Milizia has been, perhaps, too severe, though at the same time we can offer no valid defence for the greater part of these gaudy extravagances, which, at an enormous expense, have deformed the buildings they were intended to adorn. In these we see indeed the greatest richness of materials; jasper, lapis lazuli, porphyry, giallo, and verde antico, and other rare marbles, with abundance of gilding and carving, but disposed without the slightest regard to the principles of simplicity or taste, while twisted columns and broken members display all their deformity-in short, the love of ornament carried to the highest point, and every other consideration sacrificed to it. Having said thus much, we must in justice add, that there are nevertheless in Italy many altars of considerable elegance and beauty. Among these we consider Palladio's Corinthian altars in the church of the Redentore at Venice, as pre-eminent, and, in truth, they are of the purest and simplest Grecian taste. One of the altars by Dannesio Cattanio, in the church of St. Anastasio at Verona, is also simple and handsome, though not quite so correct. Count Cicognara, in his work on the buildings of Venice, the second of those which we have prefixed to this article, has given an engraving of an altar in the church of St. Mark, of great richness and beauty, though perhaps some of its ornaments might have been spared with advantage, It was erected during the reign of the Doge Cristoforo Moro, between the years 1462 and 1471, and is attributed by the learned historian of sculpture to Pietro Lombardi, whom he considers as the founder of elegant architecture in Venice. Its general form is very simple, and its richness consists in the sculpture, with which it is rather too abundantly adorned. In the same work may be seen a representation of Ogui nostro altare è una montagna di piedistalli con colonne, che nulla sostengono, e con frontispizj spezzati, incartocciati, rovesciati, ondolati, ripieni de maschere, de chimere, d' ingegnosi ricettacoli di polvere, e di nidi di ragui, tra un miscuglio di figure stranamente colorite e attegiate in un frammisto di derature.' another another altar, also in St. Mark's, which is, perhaps, inferior in general effect, in consequence of the extreme breadth of the intercolumniation, for which, however, Count Cicognara gives plausible reasons. We think also that the enriched shafts of the columns, which support a very beautiful frieze and pediment, would have had a better effect if they had been simply fluted. The high altar of the church of San Paolo at Bologna, which contains the chef-d'œuvre of Algardi's sculpture, is one of the richest and handsomest in Italy. It is very frequently the case, that there is at the high altars of the great Italian churches, a small representation of a church or temple, formed of lapis lazuli, &c. Of these the most magnificent is, perhaps, that existing at the high altar of the Certosa of Pavia, designed, as it is said, by San Gallo. In this general survey of the Palladian architecture of Italy, we have passed over many architects and many buildings well worthy of notice; we were obliged to do so by our limits, and consistently with our object, which was chiefly to trace its general merits, defects, and progress. This must be our excuse for omitting any mention of the works of Peruzzi and Bramante, as well as for the very brief notice we have taken of those of San Gallo, Vignola, and Scamozzi. At the revival of Grecian architecture in Italy, one of its earliest applications was to the monumental memorials of the illustrious dead. Among the artists who distinguished themselves in this sort of architectural sculpture, the names of Desiderio da Settignano, Bernardo Rosselini, Mino da Fiesole, Andrea Verrochio, Sansovino, Benedetto da Rovezzano, and Matteo Civitali, are particularly worthy of notice. These monuments in general consist of a rich entablature of pure Grecian taste, supported by two or four columns or pilasters, either fluted or ornamented with arabesques. Within them is an elegant sarcophagus, with a recumbent statue of the deceased. Over the entablature is a semi-circle or half oval, surrounded by a Grecian scroll or frieze; and within it usually a representation of the infant Saviour in the arms of his mother. Where there are four columns or pilasters there is of course the opportunity offered, and never neglected, of additional sculpture; and in the splendid Vendramini and Marcello monuments at Venice, an additional entablature surmounts the whole. These monuments are, perhaps, the most magnificent of their kind in Italy, but we think their architectural beauty considerably diminished by their having each two columns and two pilasters, instead of four pilasters, or four columns. In addition to this the columns in the first have their shafts adorned, or rather deformed, by the representation of a garland, which cuts them in two, and destroys the effect of their proportions; while in the second the columns columns are also divided by a band, above which they are perpendicularly, and below spirally fluted. The monument of Noceto by Civitali in the church of St. Martino at Lucca, and those of Leonardo Bruni by Rossellini, and of Marsuppini by Settignano, both in the Santa Croce in Florence, we think much more elegant, though less costly and magnificent. In the choir of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, at Rome, there are two of these ar chitectural monuments of extraordinary richness, and ornamented with the most spirited sculpture; they are the work of Sansovino. The most singular, however, of these memorials of the dead is the Orsini monument in the church of Santa Maria dei Frari at Venice; it represents a great circle supported by two angels and a spread eagle. This circle is surrounded by a rich border, and within it is a very rich and beautiful sarcophagus, with a handsome cover ending in a sort of crown, from which rise the figures of our Saviour, and the Virgin, emerging above the circle. The name of the author of this striking and ingenious design is unknown. These architectural monuments abound in Florence, Rome, and Venice; they are also not unfrequent in all parts of Tuscany, but in the rest of Italy they are very rare, and we are not aware of their existence at all on this side of the Alps. Although our remarks have already run to a considerable length, we ought not to close them without a short account of the works, which stand at the head of them, and which have been of material assistance to us in drawing them up. The first is a work of moderate size and expense, but at the same time of great interest, and the engravings which adorn it are extremely well executed; among the monuments it contains are some of every description of design; from Italian Gothic, through the elegant simplicity of the early Grecian, to the sublime sculpture of Buonarotti; then its decline and rise again in these our own times; comprising specimens of the architecture or sculpture of Settignano, Rossellini, Civitali, Donatello, Ghiberti, and Canova; while among the illustrious dead whose tombs are here pourtrayed are those of Galileo, Michel Angelo, Aretino, Macchiavelli, and Alfieri. Short accounts are added of the artists and of those whom they have been employed to commemorate, which serve to enhance the value of the work to which they are appended. The work of Count Cicognara has much greater pretensions, and from its price cannot expect a very great number of purchasers. It consists of beautifully executed architectural elevations, plans, and details of the most important edifices in Venice, engraved in outline on a large scale, and accompanied by interesting, critical and historical notices by Cicognara and his coad jutors jutors Diedo and Selva. The mere mention of Venice instantly recals to English minds, Othello, Shylock, and Belvidera, the fascinations of Shakspeare, and the pathetic Otway; but to the contemplation of the philosopher, the moralist, and the statesman, its associations are of a graver and deeper character. Its rise from nothing, the continuance of its very singular form of government during so many ages, the greatness of its power and commercial enterprise, its chivalrous warfare with the power of the Infidel, and successful defence against the combination of the greater part of Europe, the final surrender of its independeuce without a struggle, and its present degraded and distressing condition, are alike subjects of painful interest and philosophical inquiry. How are the mighty fallen! may we well exclaim when we survey the queen of the Adriatic in her present state of widowhood and abandonment. The seats of luxury and pride, the palaces of splendour and ambition may soon become places for owls to roost in;' and where pleasure held her midnight revels, the pestilence* that walketh in darkness may fix her throne, and thence devastate the shores of Trieste, Dalmatia, and Venetian Lombardy. We will pursue the painful theme no farther. If our forebodings should be realised, the Count Cicognara will by this work deserve the praise of having erected a noble monument to the departed greatness of his country. Had he so pleased, he could not have adopted a more beautiful motto for his work, than the fine lines of Tasso, which may well constitute the epitaph of Venice, and with which we will conclude and adorn this long Article: 1 Muoiono le città, muoiono i regni : Copre i fasti e le pompe arena ed erba : This is no poetical fiction. The misery, filth, and poverty of a great capital falling into decay in a warni climate are the surest forerunners of this most dreadful of human calamities. The narrow streets and exhalations of the comparatively neglected canals are likely to hasten the catastrophe. It is well known that even in the most prosperous times of Venetian independence, in spite of the greatest precautions on this important point, Venice was far from healthy in the summer. What consequences then may be expected, now that the government to which it belongs, encourages Trieste at its expense! The hope that this note, which repeats an opinion intimated by us before, may meet the eyes of some one who may have interest in that quarter, has induced us to add it, however at variance with our subject. ART. (67) ART. III.-1. Römische Geschichte, von B. G. Niebuhr. History of Rome. By B. G. Niebuhr. 2 vols. Berlin. 1811, 1812. 2. Die ältere Geschichte des Kömischen Staates untersucht von W. Wachsmuth, Professor in Halle. An Inquiry into the Early History of the Roman State. By W. Wachsmuth. 12mo. pp. 462. Halle. 1819. 3. Friedrich Creuzers Abriss der Römischen Antiquitäten. Creuzer's Sketch of Roman Antiquities. Leipzig and Darmstadt. 1824. 8vo. pp. 414. WE have a great deal to learn respecting the literature of Ger many; and there is a great deal in it which is well worth our learning. Of the works whose titles we have prefixed to this Article, the first has been published more than twelve years, and the second nearly six: all of them are written with great ability and extraordinary learning; and the history of Niebuhr, in particular, has thrown new light upon our knowledge of Roman affairs, to a degree, of which those, who are unacquainted with it, can scarcely form an adequate notion. Yet we are not aware that they have been so much as noticed in this country, except by ourselves in a former Number of this Journal,* and more recently, within the last few months, by a writer in another periodical publication. We shall consider ourselves, therefore, to have devoted some of our pages to a useful purpose, if we make them instrumental in introducing the works before us to the knowledge of the British public, and in impressing our readers with a sense of their high excellence. Niebuhr, whose name stands at the head of our paper, is a son of the celebrated traveller, whose merits are well known in this country. In the two volumes which he has hitherto published, he has carried the History of Rome no farther than to the dictatorship of Q. Publilius Philo, in the year of Rome 416. When he had thus far completed his task, he heard of the discovery of Cicero's Treatise de Republicâ, in the library of the Vatican; and he suspended the prosecution of his labours, in the full expectation that the work of such a writer upon such a subject, would furnish him with new and valuable information, more than sufficient to reward him for waiting for it. He had been previously appointed minister for the court of Berlin at Rome; and being thus on the spot while the newly discovered treatise was preparing for publication, he rendered considerable assistance to its editor, by giving him several conjectural corrections of the text and drawing up an index to the work. But he found out too |