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6

THE VATICAN.

upon a minute description of them. The Plate here given is rather
intended to give a general idea of this remarkable work, than to show
the splendour of its details. In each of the small cupolas of this Loggia
four representations of sacred subjects, chiefly taken from the Old Testa-
ment, form the centre of the arabesques ; and whatever train of thought
each group of these subjects may suggest, is pursued in the surrounding
ornaments. Clear, however, and evident as is the leading idea of these
decorations immediately round the painting to which they relate, it is so
fancifully and vaguely expressed in the remote parts, as gradually to
escape the common observer. In Raphael’s time, probably, this kind of
symbolism was better understood than now ; indeed we are commonly
content to regard its language merely as an harmonious combination of
form and colour ; and unless some zealous inquirer should soon undertake
to decipher its mystical intimations, decay will probably deprive us of its
meaning altogether. In truth, it is revolting to see what havoc has been
wrought in this Loggia, partly by the elements, but to a great and dis-
tressing extent by human hands. The delicately-moulded stuccoes, in
spite of the hardness of their material, have been broken ; almost all the
arabesques on the pilasters, especially where they could be reached by
the hand, have been effaced ; tasteless idlers have everywhere scratched
their names at random ; and of the chiaro-scuro compositions in gold
colour under the windows, which repeated the subjects of the cupolas,
hardly a vestige is to be found,—they are known only from the spirited
etchings of P. Santi Bartoli.1 Those versed in classical antiquity will be
surprised at the traces of it which are here met with at every turn—
coins, cameos, bas-reliefs, and statues, have been made to contribute to
the compositions ; they have not, however, been resorted to thoughtlessly
and for mere ornament, but almost always in relation to the higher object
which they serve.
The beautiful festoons of flowers and fruit which fall from the top of
1 Who also published etchings of many of the elegant stuccoes in this Loggia, in his series of Friezes :
Leonis X. admirandae yirtutis imagines 15 pi. ; and : Parerga : atque ornamenta in Vaticani Pallatii Xistis,
43 pi. 4to.
 
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