504 
ftanding on the right hand, and holding 
4m one hand a volume, or roll, which, 
according to the conjeCture of Buona- 
ROTTI, contains the legal form of the 
Tatrimonial compaét. It is probably 
to thefe portraits of the Roman ladies: 
placed) upon their jewelry or trin-. 
kets, that the poet Juvenal alludes in 
his eleventh fetire: when fpeaking of 
a prodigal, he obferves, that in order to 
diicharge his depots, perituram. arceffit 
fummam lancibus oppyfitts,, vel matris ima- 
gine facia. 
_ The'two principal figures are inchafed, . 
or carved, on the top of the coverlid, 
and are encircled with a crown of myr- 
tle, fupported. by two genii, or little 
cupids. | 
The cotfure of the bride confifts of 
hair, worked up into a number of ranks, 
and trefled together, fomewhat refem-. 
bling the mode of head-drefs to be feen 
on many portraits or fiatues of St. 
Helena. The bridegroom appears with 
a {mali beard, refembling that of the Em- 
_ peror Maximin, or that which is feen 
on the heads of Julian and Eugentus. 
His apparel is a chlamys, drawn together 
and fafiened over the right fhoulder by 
one of thofe buckles, with clafps or, 
braces, which are fo frequently to be 
found in the colleétions of the virtuofi. 
Of the four fides of the coverlid which 
compofe its valance or declivity, and are 
each in the form of a trapezium, three 
reprefent, in baflo-relievo, Venus maria 
with her nereids. On that face of the 
coyerlid which is next the hinges, Venus 
is reprefented with a number cf tritons,_ 
and fome cupids, in her train 3.a triton, 
is alfo prefenting her with an oval mirror. 
The drapery, and ornaments of the 
figures on thefe three fides, are gilt. 
@n the anterior face of the coverlid, 
although not git, is alfo reprefented, in 
relievo, the procefiiun of the bride to the 
houfe of her hufband ; in this, the front 
ef the houfe, and a number of cupolas 
and roofs, are plainly to be diftinguithed. 
The form of conftruétion of the houfe is 
much like that which is found on feveral 
Coxtorniat medals; the newly-marricd 
lady és feen walking between two women 
playing on initruments. 
The houte ts fituatéd in the middle of 
a fguare. On the other fide of the houfe 
are reprefented, on the fame face of the 
coveilid, a woman and two children car- 
rying revs, ewers, vafes, and othe, 
articles furniture. The 
& cone 
of houfehold | 
Sarspeccoqre fenaratre | from ach athe by 
fguresare leparated trom each otner by 
coluinns clafped or embraced by bands, 
ay yO 
. 
Dejcripiion of the Toilet of a Roman Ladys: 
[Sup- 
difpofed in the manner of fpiral lines. 
This mode of fupporting was introduced 
into architeéture in the better ages, al- 
though it is occafionally to be mét with 
in-the monuments of the following ones. 
_ On that border of the coverlid which 
is next to the two hinges, is a flat {mooth- 
furface,. about an inch wide, running 
along fide of jt;.on this the following 
words are read, in charaéters well fhaped, 
but fomewhat meagre: SECUNDE ET 
PROJECTA. VIVAT:IS:NCH. The 
Jaft words have been altered. This in- 
{cription contains. an acclamation or with. 
in favour of the newly married pair. 
It was a cuftomary- formula, and is to 
be met with in monuments of all defcrip-- 
tions, from the third century to the 
fifth; after which: it is no longer to be 
found*. M. VisconTt1 inclines to think. 
that the laft letters do not fignify zz 
Chrifio (vivati$ in Chrifta) grounding his: 
Opinion on this circumftance, that as the 
furniture in general.exhibits a number 
of pagan deities, it is fcarcely to fup-. 
pofed that it fhould ever have been the 
property of Chriftians. D’AzincourT, 
however,. on a clofer examination of the 
contours of the coffer, difcovered a mo- 
nogram of Chrift in the middle of the 
two Greek letters with which it is often. 
accompanied. 4 A Aw. The letter a 
is badly fhaped. So that it appears to 
have been thus written: Secunte © pro- 
jecia vivatisin Chriflo. . 
Thefe fore of infcriptions not occur- 
ring in monuments pofterior to the fifth 
century, the one before us may farther: 
afhft us to afcertain pretty nearly the 
epcech wherein the coffer was made; a. 
period certainly not very remote. ‘The 
art of defign difplayed in the feulptures 
and chafings, the columns, the figures, 
é&c. is, it muft be allowed, far from- 
coming up to the chef a’ ceuvres of Greece, 
fo fuccefsfully imitated by Roman artifts 
of the firft two or three centuries. There. 
is, however, a certain degree of elegancé. 
con{picuous in the forms, and of exaéti- 
tude and finifhed workmanfhip 1n the ex- 
ecution, which charaéterizes the whole 
colleétion. ‘The f{culpture is, beyond 

* BuonarorTmTi, in his Offervazion fofra t= 
vitrt, Art. v, 3. makes mention of a glais, on 
which is a with, including the name of the per- 
fon who makes it: Benedifte vives @ Jecu- 
fare. A formula, nearly fimilar, may be ifeen 
on-fome ancient. marbles in the | Capito- 
line Mufeum,. fuch as, maxima vivas cum 
dextro, Oy cum.charis tuis, or vivatis cum omnibys 
comparifons - 
