PANORAMA OF BAALBEC.
THE ruined temples of Baalbec, as they have been recently sketched by Mr. F. CATHERWOOD the architect, have supplied Mr. BURFORD with a subject for a small panorama ; which is painted with great vigour and exactness. The spectator is supposed to stand at one angle of the Temple of the Sun, the five remaining columns of which rise in bold relief against the sky ; opposite is the elegant façade of another temple ; and around are the massive walls of what appears to have been a fortified place, enclosing a sort of forum, of rich Roman architecture, and some remains of Saracenic buildings. The outer walls would seem to have been built from the debris of the fallen temples, and not to be of remote origin, from the shafts of columns built into them, and an arch regularly turned with keystone being visible at the base. Semicircular, domed recesses, resembling those where seats ofjustice were placed in the Roman Basilica, and niches for statues ranging with blank windows ornamented with pilasters and pediments, give a palatial character to the rich architecture that lines the enclosure beyond the temples. That the Roman edifices are the most ancient of the ruins, is, we think, as evident as that they are the most magnificent. The Saracenic structures are chiefly of the nature of fortresses ; and there appear to be no traces of the original temples erected to Baal that ex- isted in the days of Solomon. The picture is impressive as a scene of desolate grandeur ; and the architectural detail!) are cttriQII8 to the archaeologist,
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