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are feveral pieces by the three Caraccis ; one cf the bed 

 ever done by Albano, reprefenting Cupid kifTing his mother 

 Venus, and, with an air of triumph, pointing at the rape of 

 Proferpine by Pluto ; and another, more admired than all 

 the rell, and confu'cred by the judges as the niafter-piece of 

 Guido, the fubjeft of which is the *' Repentance of St. 

 Peter," and confilling of two figures, that of the faint 

 who weeps, and a younj; apoftle who endeavours to comtort 

 him. Although the nobility of Bologna are not now very 

 rich, many of their palaces are furnifhed in a magnificent 

 tafte, and contain paintings, particularly thofe of the cele- 

 brated maimers which this city had the honour of producing, 

 that are their chief ornaments, and are held in high eftima- 

 tion. The palaces were built, and ornamented, when the 

 proprietors were richer, and when the fincft works of archi- 

 tcfture, fculpture, and painting, could be procured on eaficr 

 terms than at piefent. The galleries and apartments are 

 fpacious and magnificent ; and yet there are circumftances in 

 the mod fplcndid, that mull hurt the eyes of thofe who are 

 accuftomed to that perfe<5t exaftnefs in finifhing, whicli pre- 

 vails in Engli:h houfes. The glafs of the windows of fome 

 palaces is divided into little fquare panes, which are jc-ined 

 together by lead ; and the floors of all are fo indifferently 

 laid, that you often feel a loofe brick fliaking under your 

 feet, as you walk through the fineft apartmenti;. 



Bologna is alfo embellilhed with a great number of churches 

 and convento, which are enriched with a variety of paintings, 

 fculptures, &c. Of t!ie churches, of which there are faid to 

 be 200, tiiat of St. Petronius is the largeff . In this church 

 the emperor Charles V. was crowned in 15,30 ; and on the 

 pavement of it, CalTini drew his meridian line, confijling of 

 pieces of red and white marble inlaid, of a hand's breadth ; 

 thofe in which the figns of tlie zodiac are cut, are a foot 

 fquare. This hue is half the length of the church, which is 

 360 feet ; and at its comm.cnccment is a Latin infcription, 

 exprcfling that '• the whole length of this meridian line, di- 

 ttinguiOied by the fi^ns, &c. is the fix hur.dred thoufandth 

 part of the circumference of the terraqueous globe." On 

 the pavement, at the end of the line, is an inlcription in 

 white niarblf, denoting " the meridian line from the zenith 

 to the tropic of Capricorn." Oppofite to the vertical 

 point, is the date MDCLIL A fmall round aperture has 

 been made in the roof of the church, towards the fouth, 

 through which the rays of the fun f;rm a circular luminous 

 fpot, about eight inches in diameter, on the pavement, 

 which Ihews tl'.e proper meridional point on the line every 

 day. The church of the Dominicans is one of the moll 

 magnificent in Bologna. The chapel, dedicated to the ho- 

 nour of S:. Dommico, who is faid to have died at Bologna 

 in 1221, is much admired. It coufills of a curious dome, 

 in which theglitterln:; of gold appears throughout, adorned 

 with the mod capital paintings, reprefenting the hillory of 

 his life. His monument is of white marble, ornamented 

 with beautiful baflb-relievos, by Michael Angelo ; and the 

 altar, together with the large candlefticks that ftand upon it, 

 are of filver. The pavement and the walls are inlaid with 

 marble of different colours. In the veflry is depofited, 

 amidft jewels and various trcafures, a manufcript of the Old 

 Teftament, or at lead of the Pentateuch, pretended to have 

 been written by Ezra himfelf. See Bible. It is a large 

 folio, carefully prefcrvcd in a glafs cafe, and was prefcnted 

 to the convent by the Jews, when they removed hither from 

 Rome, and were allowed to ereil a noble fynagogue about 

 the clofe of the 14th century. The other principal churches 

 are the Francifcan, in which are paintings by Pacini, Luigi, 

 Caracci, Brizio, Guido, and Tiarini ; that of St. Agnes, 

 contaiaing, ever the high altar, the martyrdom of the faint, 

 & 



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by Domenichino ; St. Bartholomew, before which Hands a 

 marble ftatue of St. Petronius, by Brunelli, and in whieh 

 are an annunciation, the nativity, and the flight into Egypt, 

 by Albano; the church of the Capuchins, in the veftry of 

 which is a crucifixion, by Guido ; that of S. Giovanni in 

 Monte, famous for an admirable pifture of St. Cecilia, by 

 Raphael, which is much extolled by Addifon, and reckoned 

 one of Raphael's capital pieces, &c. &c. The convents alfo 

 are enriched with valuable paintings and other ornaments, as 

 well as the palaces and churches. A Dominican convent, 

 feated on the top of a hill, about three miles from the city, 

 is in poffeflion of a portrait of the virgin Mary, faid to have 

 been painted by St. Luke. Sigoni fays, that it was brought 

 from the church of Sanfta Sophia at Condantinoplc in i 160; 

 and it is thought to have wrought many miracles in favour 

 of the inhabitants of Bologna. A curious gallery, open to 

 the fonth, and clofcd by a wall to the nortli, is built all the 

 way from the city to the convent; on the open fide it is fup. 

 ported by a long row of pillars ; and was erefted by volun- 

 tary contribution, in honour of the virgin, and for the 

 convenitnce of pilgrims. This longcolonade is about twelve 

 feet in breadth, from the pillars to the wall, and about fix- 

 teen feet high; all the communities of the town walk, once 

 a year, in iulcmn proctffion, to the convent, and bring the 

 holy pifture to vifit the city. It is carried through the 

 principal llreets, attended by every inhabitant who can afford 

 to purchafe a wax taper. D\u-ing this procclTiou, the bells 

 continue ringing, the cannon are fired, and the troops under 

 arms praflile the fame ceremonies when the pi£lure pafTes, 

 as if it were commander in chief of the forces. In the libra- 

 ry of the convent, belonging to the church di S. Salvatore, 

 are many curious MSS.; particularly one of the hillory of 

 queen Edhcr, written on yellow coarfe leather in large He- 

 brew characters, and done up in a roll or volum.e, according 

 to the original fignification of the word. The csnors pre- 

 tend that this was written by Ezra. Here is alio Ihewn a 

 Hebrew MS. of the O. T. written on vellum, in 3 vols, fol 

 faid to have been written in 95^ ; it has, however, points or 

 vowels. Among other MSS. amounting to about ^co in 

 number, are the N. T. called the " Codex Bononienfis," 

 faid to be of the nth centuiy, containing the whole N. T. 

 except the apocalvpfe, ahoiuiding with abbreviations; and a 

 Greek verfion of the minor prophets and Daniel, fuppofed 

 to be of the lOth century; and among the printed books are 

 Manutius's edition of Cicero's works, 4 vols. fol. publiflied 

 at Milan in 149S, and a Latin bible in folio, which, by a 

 printed advertifement annexed to it, appears to have been 

 completed at Mcntz by John Full and Peter Schoiffcr in 

 1462. 



The univerfity of Bologna is one of the mod ancient and 

 moll celebrated feats of literature in Europe ; it was founded, 

 as lome fay, by the emperor Theodofiusin 453, but others, 

 with greater probability, attribute it to Charles the Great. 

 For an account of the academy of fciences, fee Academy. 

 Over the gate of the magnificent edifice appropriated to that 

 academy, is the following liberal infcription : " Bononienfe 

 Scientiarum atque artium inditutum ad publicum totius 

 orbis ufum." Here are an obfervatory, with the neceffary 

 indruments for aftronomical obfei'vations ; a very valuable 

 hbrai-y, in three fpacious i-ooms, where any perfon may 

 dudy and have the ufe of the books four hours every day ; 

 alfo, apartments for the ftudents of fculpture, painting, ar-chi- 

 tcfture, chemidry, anatomy, adronomy, and evei-y branch 

 of natural philofophy. They are all ornamented with de- 

 figns, models, indr-uments, and every kind of apparatus 

 requifite for illudrating thofe fciences. There are alfo pro- 

 feffors who regularly read leftures. There is a hall full of 



models 



