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ture and painting, all in one room ; among the rest 
St. John in the Wilderness, by Raphael, I could never 
cease to admire. We studied the countenances of 
the Roman Emperors, and various great men of an- 
tiquity, in their original busts. I would give one of 
my ears for the bust of Marcus Aurelius. The por- 
traits of the painters interested me much. I was 
sorry to see Sir Joshua Reynolds cut so very poor 
a figure among them as he does. His picture is 
one of the worst of his works I ever saw,—a bad 
likeness, and faded all away ; it hangs too in so low 
a situation that it appears a mere mass of daubing. 
Some of the best portraits in this collection are by 
painters of whom we know little or nothing. The 
inlaid tables are above all praise. You have read so 
many descriptions of thisjustly celebrated collection, 
that I need not attempt to describe it at present. I 
shall only say that it more than answered my ex- 
pectations. 
The collection of the portraits of illustrious men 
I think unworthy of the rest; most of them are 
only bad copies, not originals. 
The chapel built for the sepulchre of the Medici 
family, but never finished, is very large, and entirely 
lined with the most precious jaspers, agates, lapis- 
lazuli and various gems, in the finest taste possible : 
stones of which we generally see only small bits in 
snuff-boxes or rings, are here used for panels or cor- 
nices. There are innumerable fine statues and pic- 
tures to be seen about the town, to mention which 
would take several sheets. Ourafternoons were gene- 
rally spent with the celebrated Abbé Fontana, whose 
