240 
Al Domator colla flefiibil voce | 
Di Timoteo poté si vari affettis 
E quei che il furto. della chioma bionda (Pope) 
Seppe cantare in si foavi tempres 
Segui colui che il fanguinofo {cempio (Gray} 
De’ figli di Parnafio alto piangendo 
Contro il Tiranno, del canuto vate. 
Di fulminante arm6 fuono di mofte . 
La profetica voce. Audace ingegno 
Che della Gloria al faticofo monte 
Due corfieri guid6 fuoco-{piranti 
Dalle fervide nari, il collo cinti . 
Della fiamma onde il folgor fi differray - 
Che muovon ftrepitofi e da lontano 
Romoreggianti paffi.. Appreffo folta 
Schiera di lieti fpirti iva cantando 
Tnni di lode al cenere facrato, 
A work of very great importance to the 
lovers of painting has appeared at Baffano. 
Storia Pitterica dell’ Italia, dell’ Abbate 
Luigi Lanzi, 3 vols. 1795—1797. After 
the manner of Zannetti’s Pittura Vene- 
tiana the author treats of each {chool fe- 
parately ; defines its peculiar character, 
and.traces with pun@uality its fucceffive- 
variations. The work is full of informa- 
tion, and very comprehenfive ; as not enly 
painters of all kinds, but even engravers 
of eminence are introduced to notice. 
Lanzi has long been’known as a 
earned and induftrious antiquary : his 
Effay on the Antient Language of Tuf- 
cany bas been applauded by every philo- 
loger. His ftyle is wnaffeétedly neat. Yet 
one defiderates, perhaps, that fagacity of 
difcrimination, which never praifes an 
imaginary merit, nor overlocks a latent 
blemifh—ihat precifion of judgment which 
conflitutes the philofophical critic. 
This writer thus fpeaks of fhe: caufe of 
excellencéin art. ‘‘I/ progreffoinslire delle 
belle arti dipende fempre da certe maffime 
edottate univerfalmenie dal fe colo, fecondo 
fe quali opera il profefore e giudica il pub- 
ico. A render communi ed a accreditare 
le mighori maffime affai é conducenie una 
_ fioria generale che le fuggelli. Cofi e gh 
artefict in operare, e gli altri im approbare 
0 in dirigere, avranno principj non incerii, 
nin controverfi, non dedotti dal gufto di una 
a. dun altra fecuola, ma certt e ficuri e 
fendats full? Operienza coftante di tanti 
luoght e di tanta fecol.”” Surely in attri- 
buting the progrefs of art to the maxims 
of the age (if by progrefs be meant pro- 
grefs toward perfection) this author errs. 
In the imitation of nature and in the fe- 
le&tion of obje&s worthy to be imitated 
confifts the whole duty of the artifi: the 
reft is prejudice, is tafhion, is opinion, 
tranfent, and fickle and _ convertible. 
The maxims of the age can never affect 
the fidelity of imitation ; nor prevent 
forms e a finer growth, w hether in men, 
Literary and Philefophical Intelligence. 
[Oacber 15. 
or trees, or mcuntains, from bein 
garded with fuperior emotion. — 
ree 
he 
_ number of excellent imitators will always 
bear, as it-has always borne, a certain. 
regular proportion to the whole number 
of. imitators: fo that whatever increafes 
the demand for art, and thereby occafions 
a greater number of perfons to devote 
themfelves to the practice of it, muft in-, 
creafe the chance for that higher order of 
excellence, which it is alone Juxurious 
for the connoiffeur to admire, and alone 
glorious for the artift to attain: O for the 
return of idolatry ! 
A new edition of MaccHiaVELLI’s ° 
’ Works was printed in 1797 in ix vo- 
‘lumes, with the fitious date Philadel- 
phia. It contains fome hitherto unpub- 
lithed reliques. s. Dell’ ira e dei modi di 
curarla. 2. Defcrixione della ~pefle di 
1522. 3. Ijiruxione a Raffaello Girolami. 
4. Allecuxione fatta ad un Magiftratos 
5- Two dramatic trifles. 6. Two. La- 
tin wilis, dated inxs1z, and in 1522. 
The following epitaph has been pro< 
pofed for the late Pope Pius VI. 
Perdita fub Sextis femper, teftante* poeta, _ 
Hoc quoque fub Sexto perdita Roma fuits 
Sed ne crede Pii culpa periiffe, viator ! 
Perdidit heu Romam temporis impietas. . 
Opere in Verfo é in Profa, di G.S. pE 
CourEIL, 2 wols. Pifa. 1798 € 1799: 
This dafhing writer “bas ftartled by his 
criticifms the acquiefcent tafte of the Ita- 
lian’ journalifts. «** After Petrarch (he — 
fays) our poetry made no progrefs for 
two centuries.—Caro has been too 
much praifed for his enervate profaic un- 
faithful verfion of the A®neid.—Fru- 
goni, except afew Anaereontics, has pro= 
duced nothing but what is mediocre, or 
worfe than mediocre.—Half Horace’s 
Odes are only worthy of a fchoolboy.— 
It is become a fafhion to cenfure the tra- 
gedies of Alfieri; but Pepoli, who fet the 
fafhion, is a ftill feebler tragedian.—La 
wnverzione dell’ Ariofto, che fpeffo é puerile 
offaite.—Bifigna, che un’ opera tnfetia 
dalla monotonia, come per efempip i poem 
ad Offian.—And how does this flingy eri- 
tic write verfes? Here is an Ode te 
ance” : it is executed with tafte. 
: Lafcia le tacite 
Frefche tue grotte, 
Degli egri cori 
Giocondo balfamo, 
O fonno, O figlio 
- Dell’ atra notte : 
* Sannazarlus made an epigram on Pope 
Alexander VI. which contained the. obfere 
Vation : : 
Semper fub Sextis perdita Roma fuit. 
E:a quefte 
