250 Memorandtim oji the Sulject of 



Naples at Portici, or in that of sir William Hamilton, excel 

 some which lord Elsin has procured, with respect to the 

 elegance of the form, the fineness of the materials, the de- 

 licacy of the execution, or the beauty of the subjects de- 

 lineated on them ; and they are, for the most part, in very 

 high preservation. A tunnilus, into which an excavation 

 was commenced under lord Elgin's eye during his residence 

 at Athens, has furnished a most valuable treasure of this 

 kind. It consists of a large marble vase, five feet in cir- 

 cumference, enclobing one of bronze thirteen inches in dia- 

 meter, of beautiful sculpture, in which was a deposit of 

 burnt bones, and a lachrymatorv of alabaster, of exquisite 

 iorm ; and on the bones lay a wreath of myrtle in gold, 

 having, besides leaves, both buds and flowers. This tu- 

 mulus is situated on the road which leads from Port Pirasus 

 to the Saiaminian Ferry and Eltusis. May it not be the 

 tomb of Aspasia? 



" From the thcatreof Bacchus, lord Elgin has obtained the 

 very ancient sun-dial which existed there during the time 

 of ^schvlus, Sophocles, and Euripides; and a large statue 

 of the Indian or bearded Bacchus*, dedicated by Thra- 

 syllus in gratitude for his having obtained the prize of 

 tragedy at the Panaihcnaic festival. A beautiful little Co- 

 rinthian temple near it, raised for a similar prize gained by 

 Lysicrates, and commonly called the Lantern of Demo- 

 sthenes, has also been drawn and modelled with minute at- 

 tention. It is one of the most exquisite productions of 

 Greek architecture. The elevaiion, ground-plan, and other 

 details of the octagonal temple, raised by Andronicus Cyr- 

 rhestes to the Winds, have also been executed with care; 

 but the sculpture on its frize is in so heavy a style, that it 

 was not judged vv(.rthy of being modelled in plaster." 



A search made through the churches and convents in 

 Athens and its nciehbourhood, by permission of the arch- 

 bishop, furnished many bas-reliefs, inscriptions, ancient 

 dials, and other antiquities. From the English consul 

 Logolheti lord Elgin obtained a bas-relief of Bacchantes, 

 as well as a quadriga in bas-relief, with a Victory hovering 

 over the charioteer ; and many curious antique votive tables 

 with sculpture and inscriptions were purchased Irom the 

 peasants. 



"A complete series has also been formed of capitals,of the 

 only three orders known in Greece, the Doric, the Ionic, and 

 the Corinthian ; from the earliest dawn of art in Athens, 



* This statue is reprcsenled by Stuart with a female's head, and v/as called 

 by him the Personifijatiou of the Dcrr.os of Atheh». 



to 



