102 
ANTE-110031 
Antiquities. 
ANTE-ROOM. 
No. 1. In the centre of the Ante-Room, at the 
head of the stairs, is placed the celebrated Barberini 
vase, which was for more than two centuries the 
principal ornament of the Barberini Palace. This 
vase was purchased of Sir William Hamilton, nearly 
thirty years ago, by the Duchess of Portland, since 
which period it lias been more generally known by 
the name of the Portland Vase. It was found 
about the middle of the sixteenth century, two 
miles and a half from Rome, in the road leading to 
Frascati. At the time of its discovery, the vase 
was inclosed in a marble sarcophagus, within a 
sepulchral chamber, under the mount called Monte 
del Grano. The material of which the vase is 
formed is glass; the figures, which are executed in 
relief, are of a beautiful opaque white; and the 
ground, which is in perfect harmony with the 
figures, is of a dark transparent blue. The subject 
of these figures is extremely obscure, and has not 
hitherto received a satisfactory elucidation ; but the 
design and the sculpture are both truly admi¬ 
rable. 
This superb specimen of Greek art was deposited 
in the British Museum, in 1810, by his Grace the 
Duke of Portland. 
No. 2. An ancient painting in fresco, repre¬ 
senting deer; it was found in a subterraneous 
chamber at Scrofano, bout sixteen miles from 
Rome. 
