to have been executed when he was seventy-five years old. They are very splendid efforts of genius; but they appear to have been darkened by the smoke from the tapers burned in the chapel.

The number of galleries, porticos, halls, museums, and libraries,-containing paintings, statues, and antiquities, which form the suite of public rooms in the Vatican, almost exceeds belief. It has been calculated that they cover a million square feet; and I cannot possibly attempt to give you any thing like a regular description of them. I will, therefore, name a few of the works which have caught my attention, and which are selected from the contents of more than five hundred rooms.

The Transfiguration, by Raffaelle, and the Assumption, by the same master, are in the same room. They are perfect contrasts in their colouring. The former is dark and heavy; the latter is rich, clear, and forcible. The Assumption much superior to any of Raffaelle's easel pictures which I have seen here; for most of them are painted in the dark style of the Transfiguration. Dominichino's celebrated picture of a Priest administering the consecrated wafer to a dying man, is very fine.

None of the antiquities which are, from time to time, discovered within the territories of the Pope, are allowed to be exported; and therefore the vast collections in the Vatican are constantly receiving additions of antique statues, bas-reliefs, &c. The Court of the Belvidere contains an immense number of bas-reliefs, columns, baths, and sarcophagi. In the angles of this Court there are four compartments, which contain the most valuable statues in the Papal collection, -I may say, in the world.

In one of these compartments is the Laocoon, a splendid group, full of action and of interest. The expression of the father is admirable. Entangled in the coils of the serpents, and unable to extricate himself, he still makes a desperate effort to disengage himself from their deadly folds. One of the sons is looking up to his father, for help, and is endeavouring to follow his

example, by struggling for freedom. The other son seems to have given up all hope of escape; and despair is fully depicted on his countenance.

The Apollo Belvidere is a beautiful figure, full of action; but it did not, at first sight, produce in my mind that feeling of admiration which some artists have felt. The Laocoon had more effect upon me. Muscular and powerful men, interwoven with serpents, form a beautiful composition, which is really a perfect specimen of art.

The Perseus and some other fine statues by Canova, occupy another compartment; and in another is the celebrated Antinous.

This gallery of statues was commenced by Clement the Fourteenth, and the collection was greatly increased by the late Pope, Pius the Sixth.

If I were to notice all the works of art, of all kinds, -paintings, statues, mosaics, bas-reliefs, &c., which attract the visitor's attention in the Vatican, I should fill a large volume, even in their bare enumeration. For the extent of the collection, and the choiceness of its specimens in all departments of art, the palace of the Popes far outstrips all the other palaces in the world. Indeed, all the rest united could not make up an equally valuable collection, and probably, in some departments, not one equally extensive.

I am, Dear Sir, yours truly,

J. H.

LETTER XIII.

PAINTINGS IN THE PALAZZO SCIARRA.-PAINTINGS IN THE COLONNA PALACE. THE RUINS OF ANCIENT ROME. THE PALATINE HILL. -THE ARCH OF TITUS. THE COLISEUM.THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN LATERAN.-THE BATH OF JULIUS.-THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA NUOVA-THE CASTLE OF ST. ANGELO. -COLUMNS OF THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER STATOR. THE CAPITOL.-CANOVA'S BUST OF PIUS VII.

To the Editor of the Halifax Express.

Rome, Dec. 17, 1840.

Dear Sir,-Some of the finest and best pictures in this city, are to be found in the churches and the palaces; and these buildings can only be visited at stated times. We have visited the Palazzo Sciarra, which contains many paintings that are said to have formerly belonged to the Palazzo Barberini. In one of the rooms is the portrait of a lady, by Titian. It is in good preservation, and the colouring is very rich. The lady is dressed in a crimson silk scarf, which comes in contact with the flesh, and, having a blue lining, gives richness to the complexion. This picture has been painted with very thin colour, and the dark ground of the canvas shines through many parts of the painting.

A portrait of a youth, by Raffaelle, is very finely executed. The youth has long brown hair, and wears a black cap; he is dressed in a green cloak, with a fur collar, and trimmed with black velvet. The colour of

the back ground is very light, gradating to the sides of the painting; and the expression of the countenance is very good.

Vanity and Modesty, by Leonardo da Vinci, is a very attractive picture. The paintings of this master are highly laboured; and I consider this one of the finest of his productions that I have seen. I have sometimes been pained to see exquisite works from his hand, nearly ruined by damp and dirt. Gamblers cheating a youth, by Carravaggio, is an excellent picture; and there are, in this room, many of Guido's works,-some of them good, and others very indifferent. There are several by Claude; one is a very small but very excellent painting.

The Colonna Palace is a very large building. At the entrance is a basso-relievo, in porphyry, of the head of Medusa; and on the staircase is a statue of a captive, said to have been taken from the forum of Trajan. The gallery is a fine apartment, more than two hundred feet long, and thirty-six wide. The ceiling is well painted, with a view of the battle of Lepanto.

Amongst the paintings which embellish this apartment is a fine one by Guido, in his first manner, very strong and round. There is, also, a kit-kat portrait of a monk, by Titian. The face has the appearance of real flesh, and has upon it a beautiful glow, as if the person had been taking exercise. There is not much appearance of shade; and yet it has great force and strength of colour. The back-ground is of a grey tone, inclining to olive.

Portraits of the two leaders of the Reformation, Luther and Calvin, were hardly to be expected in Rome itself; yet here they are, in this room. Both are the work of Titian; but they are not so good as that of the monk. Perhaps the artist was too good a Catholic to exert his abilities to the utmost upon the portraits of these heresiarchs.

A full-length portrait, by Vandyke, of a member of the Colonna family, is very fine. He is on horseback, and habited as a military commander. There is another fine full-length, by the same artist, of a man dressed in

K

black, with his hand upon a table covered with cloth of a yellow tone. The cloth hangs in large folds, and fills up the lower part of the back-ground, to which it gives great breadth.

There is a good painting of Twilight, by Claude. A few figures in the fore-ground, give great effect to the scene. Several paintings in distemper, by Nicholas Poussin, are very well executed; and the colouring is more natural than in many of this artist's works that I have seen. The subject of one of them is from Boccacio,

The Bard of Prose, creative spirit! he

Of the Hundred Tales of Love.

In this picture the naked parts of the figures are as finely coloured as could be wished. A female, clothed in deep olive and red, is seated on the ground. Above her is another lady, of a delicate complexion; and near her is a man, dressed in deep-toned red; and appearing to be in profound admiration of her beauty. A little cupid is coming towards him, in swift motion, which is so well expressed, that you might almost fancy that he was actually moving. In the back-ground is an old man, asleep, and quite in the shade.

Another picture, by the same artist, is St. John preaching in the wilderness. There are many figures in the fore-ground; and the colouring and grouping are very fine. Two very fine pictures, by Salvator Rosa, attracted my attention. One of them is a landscape, in which the reflections on the water, and the boldness of the distant mountains, are very well managed. The other is St. John. The figure is as large as life, and is well coloured.

A painting of a boy, by Titian, is well coloured, as that master's works generally are. The rich tones of the flesh, and the beautiful greenish tones on the shadow side of the body, are very transparent. The Assumption, by Rubens, is very fine; it is placed on an easel. There is, also, a fine painting by Paul Veronese.

Several paintings by Vasari are very well drawn, but