55-2 Essm/ upon the Art of the Fbundnj 



ness, and that the Romans, under the emperors, had th<! 

 luxuries of life too much at their command to be indus- 

 trious. After this we need not wonder that the emperor 

 -Adrian was agreeably surprised when he saw that every per- 

 son in Alexandria was busy*. 



If the monuments in marble have sometimes escaped the 

 fury of the barbarians, those in bronze have seldom outlived 

 their cupidity. The two remarkable monuments which re- 

 main to us from the Konjaiis, are the equestrian figure of 

 Marcus Aurelius and the statue of Septimus Severus, which 

 we see in the palace Barberini. M. Falconnetf, an excellent 

 statuary, has repaired the defects of the former, which is 

 founded in pieces ;{:. The statue of Severus is a fine piece 

 of workmanship, and infinitely s'lpcrior to the bas-reliefs 

 \ve see upon the arch of Severus §. Whence does this dif- 

 ference arise? We know that this emperor was very parsi- 

 monious, in order that he mii^ht fill his treasury, and leave 

 to his children the means of sustaining the conunanding at- 

 titude he had given to the empire: it seems, therefore, that 

 the sculptors of his arch were checked by this ceconomy. 



Nevertheless there w^re instances in which he displayed 

 as much liberality as magnificence, particularly when he 

 thcTught his glory interested. On one occasion he was anx- 

 ious to see represented the subject of one of his dreams, to 

 which he gave implicit faith. He bad dreamt that he saw 

 Pertinax adorned wuh all the attributes of the imperial dig- 

 nity, and mounted upon a m;,gnificenlly caparisoned horse, 

 jSassing along the via sacra. When the horse came near 

 where Severus stood, tie threw his rider and halted before 

 Severus, who mounted, and the animal carried him to the 

 public square, amidst the acclanjalious of the people assem- 

 bled. The subject of, this dream was to be represented in 

 the via sacra by a group of bronze figures worthy of ap- 



* See the letter from Adrian to ycveri mis when consul, rtferred to hj Fla- 

 vins l^hpisius in cita Satiiyuini, c. viii. ton. 2. p. 719. 



f Observations sar k Siatue de M;irc-Au:cle, address(:;e3 a M. Diderot, 

 par Etieiine Faiconiict. 



I Memoircs d.- Ircvoux, Juillct 170S, p. 120P. 



§ Letters of M. Wincliciman, arl. 7. vol. iii. of the History of the Arts. 



pearing 



