THE BOOK OF THE EOTAL 



ALBANI ARCADES. 



" Type of the antique Rome, ricli reliquary 

 Of lofty contemplation left to time 

 By buiied centuries of pomp and power." — PoE. 



The nortiern, upper, or Albani Arcades, are also the work 

 of Mr. Smirke, and have been designed in the style of the arcade 

 of the ViUa Albani, near Eome.* 



.tea. 



The accompanying woodcut, taken from a photograph (part 

 of a series of views of Rome which have been suspended on the 

 walls of the arcades), shows the coffee-house (as it is called) of 

 the Albani Villa. It consists of a semicircular portico, supported 



* " Tlie Albani Villa is situated not quite lialf a mile beyond tbe Porta Salaro. 

 It was built by Cardinal Alessandro Albani about the middle of last century ; 

 but altbough comparatively so modern in date, it may be looked upon as a genuine 

 antique. The Cardinal was not only a man of refined taste, but a deeply-read 

 antiquary. The villa was designed by liimself, and the execution also may be 

 said to be his, for although entrusted to Carlo Marchionni, his own superinten- 

 dence extended to the minutest details. Before he commenced it he had accu- 

 mulated an immense collection of ancient sculx^ture and other objects of the fine 

 arts ; and one of the objects he proposed to himself in constructing this villa was 

 to provide a suitable place for their exhibition. Hence the harmony between 

 the architecture of the villa and the decorations which it contains, or whicli 

 surround it, has resulted in a work of exquisite design. The porticoes, the halls, 

 the columns, and the statues, may all not only be relied on as of pure antique 

 Roman style, but are also distributed and proportioned as an artist of the Empire 

 would have done in its purest epoch of art." — Murray^s Handbook. 



