THE GLYPTOTHEQUE. 277 The statues of Venus, Paris, and Adonis, not only charm you by their transcendent truth and loveliness, but moreover inspire the hope that the Oblivion which has abandoned such Marvels of Art as the Gladiator and the Laocoon to be the monuments of doubtful genius will never overshadow the great names of Thorwaldsen and Canova. The Roman Hall, among numberless curiosities, exhibits three beautiful specimens of the Thrones or Couches, as they were called, of the Heathen Deities when they were exhibited at the Festival of the Triclinia, a ceremony esteemed so important by the Romans, that certain Patricians considered it a dignity to be appointed its Presidents, under the title of Decemviri Epulones. In this saloon also there is a Sacrificial Altar consecrated to Mercury, who, with his scanty Chlamys, his Caduceus, and Petasus or round hat (much resembling what is elegantly termed a Sammy), shares the four sides of the altar with a Priestess and a Muse. Nothing can excel the delightful symmetry of this elaborate piece of sculpture, which, rising to the height of about four feet, scarcely exceeds eighteen inches in breadth. Two Cinerary Urns of exquisite arabesques are distinguished, the one by an Eagle throned upon a Thunderbolt-the other by Candelabra and Festoons. They pleased us greatly, not only on account of their intrinsic elegance, but because 278 CHURCH OF MARIA HÜLFE. they recalled to us those pavilions of Domestic Sepulture, enshrouded in green vineyards and palled by dusky groves of cypress-the Columbaria of Rome-those Monumental Cabinets, those Archives of the miniature vase and tomb, blazoned all over with the legend of that awful Dedication" Diis Manibus." The epitaphs on these two urns are alike interesting,—the one as a monument of Fraternal Piety; and its companion a testimony of respect from an Imperial Master to his confidential Slave. Let it not be forgotten that this judicious and sumptuous collection contains the Figures (not more admirable in their original execution than in their skilful restoration) of the Trojan Combats in the eastern and western Tympana of the Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius at Egina. We found it difficult to contemplate these very fine groupes without wishing to enthrone them once more on the sublime Frontispiece from whence they are for ever fallen;-once more to see their snowy marbles illuminate the Archipelago from amidst a landscape of grove and glade, such as Williams drew, shining beneath the stainless azure of an Ionian sky, and blushing, morn and eve, at the salutations of an Ionian sun. We offered our last farewell to the marvels of München in the recently erected Church of Maria Hülfe, or Our Lady of Succour. Certainly, Painting is a fine thing, even when it only attracts the THE CHRONICLE OF THE WINDOWS. 279 eye and fails to awaken the understanding or penetrate the heart. But in this hallowed House, this Palace of the Sun, irradiated from Archivolt to Pavement with perpetual rainbows, he must be dull indeed who can survey without wonder and delight that burning zodiac of high windows engrained with the most exquisite pictures, and emblazoned with colourings which at least rival antiquity. They depicture the principal events in the life of the Blessed Virgin and though Truth and Fable be somewhat profanely blended, it is impossible to withhold our admiration when we see the most consummate excellence of Design contributing its graces to the wild glories of those antique dyes. There is neither Clerestory nor Triforium in this splendid little Church, so that the range of Painted Windows ascends in one unbroken line to the very roof. Amidst such a blaze of beauty it is perhaps invidious to make distinctions; but the Window which represents the Marriage of Cana attracted my attention beyond all its companions. The attitudes of the Saviour and His Mother are of wonderful expression. He in the calm dignity of mild command, in the exercise of a conscious omnipotence, calmly contemplating the servant who is employed in filling the vessels with water, while Mary, in the utmost self-abandonment-0! how those drooping arms and reposing hands express it!-regards her Son with reverential and 280 THE MARRIAGE IN CANA. affectionate faith, as if, while reading His Countenance, she were addressing the domestic, "WHATSOEVER HE SAITH UNTO YOU DO IT." Above the screen of the festal chamber there is a trelliced arcade of vines of the most intense verdure; and in the broad embroidery of golden tabernacle work-(which, emblazoned with the most refulgent vermillions and violets, azures and amaranths, forms a shrine round every picture) -the flaggon and grape clusters have a most delicious effect. The Marigold window in the West Front is of inconceivable splendour. An arrested Firework, you might imagine without much exaggeration that the most brilliant efflorescence of the Girandola has suddenly halted in its evolutions, converted by Art Magic into a fixed star. It is no trifling instance of a predominating good Taste, that with the exception of the pulpit and High Altar, there is not a spark of gold or colour to be discerned in any other part of the Maria Hülfe. Walls, pillars, arches, all soar in pure pale stone-work. THE THREE MOORS. 281 Augsburg, October 30th, 1844. "Give me the Merchants of the Indian Mines, TO RESCUE GREAT KINGS FROM CAPTIVITY." THE JEW OF MALTA. BEHOLD us then in the high and ancient Hostel of the Three Moors at Augsburg, the family palace of the lordly Fuggers, the temporary home of the Emperor Charles. What dazzling memories throng "the countless chambers of the brain" within these illustrious walls! The Diet which gave them their Imperial guest:-the princely Anthony, who wanted not the Cæsarean circlet to be his Sovereign's peer;-that wonderful man, whose ancestor was a mechanic, and whose descendants so swelled the ranks of the German patricians, that they numbered fifty nobles in their vast and opulent family;—that Creditor of |