274 Travels in Italy 



weaker and poorer. He then inquired into my plan, commenJed 

 highly the object of my journey, which, he was pleased to say, 

 had so little resemblance to that of the great mass of my country- 

 men that he hoped I met with no impediments in gaining the 

 information I wished; and added, that he was very sorry l.e was 

 going to Pisa, or he should have been happy in procuring me all 

 in his power, though he was no practical farmer. Signore Neri 

 appears to be well informed, sensible, and judicious; has a large 

 collection of books on useful subjects, particularly the various 

 branches of political economy, which he shows, by his conversa- 

 tion, to have consulted with effect. After all I had read and 

 heard of the Venus of Medicis, and the numberless casts I had 

 seen of it, which have made me often wonder at descriptions of 

 the original, I was eager to hurry to the tribuna for a view of 

 the dangerous goddess. It is not easy to speak of such divine 

 beauty with any sobriety of language ; nor without hyperbole to 

 express one's admiration, when felt with any degree of enthu- 

 siasm; and who but must feel admiration at the talents of the 

 artist that thus almost animated marble? If we suppose an 

 original, beautiful as this statue, and doubly animated, not with 

 life only, but with a passion for some favoured lover, the marble 

 of Cleomenes is not more inferior to such life, in the eyes of such 

 a lover, than all the casts I have seen of this celebrated statue 

 are to the inimitable original. You may view it till the un- 

 steady eve doubts the truth of its own sensation : the cold marble 

 seems to acquire the warmth of nature, and promises to yield to 

 the impression of one's hand. Nothing in painting so miraculous 

 as this. A sure proof of the rare merit of this wonderful pro- 

 duction is its exceeding, in truth of representation, every idea 

 which is previously formed; the reality of the chisel goes beyond 

 the expectancy of imagination; the visions of the fancy may 

 plav in fields of creation, may people them with nymphs of more 

 than human beauty; but to imagine life thus to be fashioned 

 from stone, that the imitation shall exceed, in perfection, all 

 that common nature has to offer, is beyond the compass of what 

 ordinary minds have a power of conceiving. In the same apart- 

 ment there are other statues, but, in the presence of Venus, who 

 is it that can regard them? They are, however, some of the 

 finest in the world, and must be reserved for another day. 

 Among the pictures, which indeed form a noble collection, my 

 eyes were riveted on the portrait of Julius II. by Raphael, 

 which, if I possessed, I would not give for the St. John, the 

 favourite idea he repeated so often. The colours have, in this 



