T revel and indulge my mental appetite 
on the choicest morceaux of the plastic 
arts. In pacing the rooms of the Town- 
ley Gallery, oftentimes alone, and hap- 
pily uninterrupted, my .mind enjoys 
her rich repast. Abstracted from all the 
cares of the present moment, Fam no 
Jonger an inhabitant of modern. times, 
IT am an unknown, an invisible spectator | 
of the ancient world. I fancy myself 
contemperary with Phidias, with Myron, 
with Scopas, with Agesander, with Apel- 
les,with Alcamenes; I fancy myself a sub- 
ject of Alexander the Great, or of Pericles,. 
mstead of an humble citizen of the Bri- 
tish isles; I indulge in reveries, | join the 
applauding testimonies of-an enlightened 
nation, at the first exposure to public 
view. of the inimitable Laocoon; I am 
among the first in congratulating Ages- 
awder on his success ; I join the illus- 
trious Athenians in the important task 
of deciding the claims of Alcamenes of 
Athens, and Avgoracritus of Paros, whose 
rival skill was exerted 1’. finishing a sta- 
tue of Venus ; and exult asif I were really 
a-citizen of Athens, in finding the palm 
of merit adjudged by the Athenians to 
their own citizen. : 
Taking up my description of the Town- 
ley Collection of Antiquities,’where I con- 
cluded my last, we euter the third room, 
which is appropriated to Greek and Ro- 
nian sculptures. The walls are embel- 
lished with basso-rilrevos of larger size | 
than in the first room.” In the centre of 
a very fine one (No.3) is a pilaster pede- 
stal, supportinga vase, the handles of 
which are composed of grifhns’ heads. 
There are several mythological symbols 
represented on this monument, which 
are peculiarly valuable as illustrations of 
the ancient poets and historians. 
The museum ts fortunate in having se- 
veral representations of that much dispu- 
ted figure, the Indian Bacchus ;—No. 3, 
No. 14, No. 47, and No. 75, in the first 
zoom; No. 4, No. 17, No. 19, No. 27, 
No. 29, No. 80, in this, &c. being all 
representations either in basso rilievo, 
busts, or terminal figures, of this bearded 
deity. The one before me (No. 4) is 
a basso-rilievo of large dimensions, 
representing the Indian Bacchus  re- 
ceived as a guest by Icarus. The In- 
dian Bacchus is neither the fat jolly boy 
of Anacreon, nor the beautiful youth of 
the Greek sculptors, but isa colossal ve-, 
nerable old man, with a majestic beard, 
and a profusion of hair, which, as well 
as the beard, is very carefully and for- 
mally arranged ia curls; he is clothed 
The Dilletanti Tourisi.—No. IV. 
later date than the statue. 
[April 1, 
from head to foot, in immense foldsof dra- 
pery, which leave him but his right hand 
at liberty. By referring to Mr. Thomas 
Hope’s, elegant publication of his Designs 
for Household Furniture, you will find se- 
veral engravings of antique busts of this 
deity in his possession. In the Napo- 
leon Museum at Paris there is a very. 
fine statue of this god, of Pentelican mar- 
ble, drest like the one in this example, 
which for a long time was considered to 
be a statue of Sardanapolus, the infamous 
king of Assyria, because his name was 
inscribed in’ Greek characters on the- 
folds of his garment but it has been dis- 
covered that the inscription is of a much 
The sagacity 
of the celebrated Winckelmann, was even’ 
imposed upon before this discovery ; ard 
not finding any traits of the Assyrian 
Sardanapolus in the statue, he searched in 
vain for some other of -the name. The 
learned Abbe Visconti, who is keeper of 
the statues, had the honour of restoring, 
by this important discovery, to the god 
of the East, his long lost property in this 
statue. But Tam intruding into the Nat 
poieon Museum without a passport, and 
at a‘time I[ should be in the British ; 
therefore, to return from this digression, 
several of these tablets have the holes 
through them that I alluded to ina fore 
mer letter, which I there supposed was. 
for the purpose of suspending them as 
studies tor their disciples in the rooms of. 
theancient artists. : 
Next to this is an exquisitely designed- 
basso-rilievo in marble (N6. 5), which ap- 
pears to have been a funeral monument 
to a father and his two sons, who are in 
Roman dresses. The attendant figures 
are the guardian divinities of the family. 
The inscription, which was in Greek, is 
unfortunately very nearly obliterated. At 
a small distance is a very fine one (No. 
9.) which was divided by the artist: into 
three compartments. li the upper divi- 
sion, the infant Jupiter is represented 
riding on the Amalthean goat; in. the 
middle, a triton is seizing a bull by the 
horns; and in the Jower, two men are. 
carrying a hog towards an elevated spot 
of ground to be sacrificed. 
A fine Bacchanalian groupe of three 
figures (No. 12) is deserving attention; 
the first figure is a Bacchante playing on 
a tambourin; the second, a Faun playing 
on the double pipe; and the third, an 
intoxicated Faun holdinga thyrsus, which 
has been for time immemorial an. attri- 
bute of Bacchus. Its origin may be da- 
ted from the conquest of India, and it is 
an 
