328 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



are not sufficiently characteristic : a 

 statue or painting should declare 

 itself, seen at any distance, without 

 requiring a minute inspection of the 

 attributes ; but these statues, strip- 

 ed of their attributes, convey no 

 precise idea : they are what you 

 please— a Muse or a Pomona. 



Let us carry our minds forward, 

 and suppose that we should find 

 these statues a hundred years 

 hence, stripped by rapine or acci- 

 dent of their appendages, would it 

 be possible to affix to either of them 

 the character of tragedy or of co- 

 medy ? But tragedy and comedy 

 are decided characters of them- 

 selves: the masque, the bowl and 

 buskin, should not be required to 

 distinguish them. Sculpture and 

 fancy havealready assigned to them 

 naked and abstract peculiarities. 

 They are, moreover, too small for 

 the building ; as mere figures, the 

 parts of them, the adjustment of 

 the drapery, and the quantities, are 

 excellent ; we could only wish to 

 have seen what would have dis- 

 tinctly marked them as tragedy 

 and comedy. It was not correct, 

 we think, nor consistent with the 

 ample grandeur and severe dignity 

 of the doric order to mount them 

 upon lofty pedestals, and to cut 

 them down to the size of the hu- 

 man figure. It would have been 

 better if they had had no other pe- 

 destal than the basement of the 

 niche in which they stand, and had 

 mounted to the spring of the arch 

 without artificial elevation. 



Interior of the Theatre.— En- 

 trance.— The entrance from the 

 Piazza is by a double flight of stone 

 steps; the walls are also of stone, 

 and the whole is lighted by antique 

 lamps, placed on tripods of bronze. 

 —Taste and judgment have con- 



curred in producing the union of 

 beauty and convenience. Nothing 

 can be more elegant than the orna- 

 ments, and nothing more perfect 

 than the accommodation provided 

 for the public. The communica- 

 tion from one part of the house to 

 another is complete, being facili- 

 tated by staircases, by which one 

 may go from the stage or the pit 

 to the upper gallery, in a few 

 minutes. Large reservoirs of water 

 have been judiciouslj' formed, 

 from which pipes lead to every 

 part of the house. These conduits 

 are of a very considerable diameter, 

 and would in an instant innundate 

 any spot to which it might be ne- 

 cessary to direct the flood. 



Within the solid parts of the 

 walls, — and indeed in the very 

 heart of the building, are intro- 

 duced ventilators, for the purpose 

 of ceconomising and distributing 

 the air. The house, therefore, is 

 always capable of being purified and 

 refreshed, and, in figurative lan- 

 guage, may even be said to respire. 



The stage. — The stage, in height, 

 breadth, and especially in depth, 

 appears to be of admirable dimen- 

 sions, and excellently adapted to 

 scenic show and processions. The 

 boxes, except those over the side 

 doors, are not suffered to intrude 

 upon the proscenium ; a proper de- 

 parture from the common practice. 

 On each side of the proscenium are 

 two lofty pilasters in scaliogla, with 

 light gilt capitals ; between which, 

 are the stage doors and managers' 

 boxes, &c. These support an arch 

 (the segment of a circle): the 

 soffit painted in light relief; from 

 which descends the crimson dra- 

 per}', over the curtain. Above 

 is a bold and simple entablature, 

 with the royal arms (the sup- 

 porters 



