FINE ARTS.
PANORAMAi OF ROME AND THE COLISEUM, ROME, as it now appears, and the Coliseum, the most stupendous frag- ment of its former magnificence, are the subjects of two separate panoramas, both exhibited under the same roof in Leicester Square, and painted by 31r. Bunsolin, front drawings made by himself in 1837. "The Eternal City " occupies the lower and larger circle ; and the N't:si; amphitheatre, with other remains of antiquity, the upper and smaller one.
The view of Rome is taken from the toner of the Cepitol, on which the spectator is supposed to stand ; on the one hand are seen the mills of the ancient city, on the other the more modern buildings. On the ancient side you look down on the site of the Forum, now the C tuna,' Vaccino, er cow-field, with its triumphal arches and columns, the scanty remains of its priatiae grandeur ; beyond is the Coliseum, on the left are the ruins of taw Baths orritus, and the (so-called) Temple of Peace, and ou the rWit these of the Palace of the Cassars, and the Baths of Caracalla, their shapeless masses of red brick being distinctly visible among the tin' kim structure of nizal,le and stucco ; inn taw distance, the level Campos:nit, with its long lines of aqueducts traversing the plain, is bounded la. the Laden hills ; the buil:limes of Castel Gil.'- don't), Fistscati. and Albano, gleaming out in marble site bne,s. fr ontthe blue horizon ; following wbieh you conic to the Sabine Hills, Tivoli, &c. backed by the A ppennines. On the modern side, you look down on the museum and galleries of the Capitol, with its statues and trophies; and thence the eye wanders among cupolas and columns, churches and palaces, the dome of St. Peter's towering above them all, " proudly emi- nent ;" and the hills bounding the view being studded with villas, whose gardens beautify the landscape. The modern portion seems a succes- sion of ecclesiastical and palatial museums fur the treasures saved from the wreck of the ancient city : cupolas of Catholic churches crown the columns of heathen temples, St. Paul and St. Peter surmount the tri- umphal columns of Antonine and Trejan, and Papal and patrician new- nificence eclipse the splendour of imperial state. Each edifice, every spot of ground, awakens some associations of human greatness, whether of the martial glories of old Rome, when she was "the queen of nations" and the conqueror of the world, or of her fairer conquests in the peaceful fields of arts and letters. The scene is interesting not only to the classical scholar, but to all who have heard the name of Rome : those who have seen the reality may retrace their footsteps on the canvas, and revive their recollection of the riches of art contained within the buildings; while such as have not enjoyed this advantaise will be able to form a complete idea of' a scene with whose wonders they are familiar only in description. From the central and command- hag point of view, some portion of every edifice of importance is visible the inequalities of the ground and the clearness of the atmosphere ren- dering recognition easy. The viet.v of the Coliseum is taken from the first tier of its arches ; whence you look down on one side into the interior of the vast edifice, whose structure is distinctly evident in its skeleton ; and on the other upon the triumphal was', crossed by time Arches of Constantine and Titus, the ruins of the Temples of Venus and Rome, and of the Golden House of Nero : we are thus supplied with a nearer viee, of the hind perfect and beautiful remains of Roman grandeur. The mighty fabric of the Coliseum does not appear at first sight in its immense magnitude, in consequence of the canvas being so near the eye, and the platform on which the visiter stands intercepting the view of that portion be- neath the feet ; moreover, the strong light and shade of the numerous pro- jections and the brilliancy of the local colours under an Italian sky, bring the distant parts closer, so that it requires a little calculation and the aid of fancy to realize its lofty proportions and extensive area. The
crucifix in the centre, and the altars raised in front of the entrances for the gladiators into the arena, strikingly exemplify the change in the state of Rome ; and to the imagination this amphitheatre looks like a huge link of the glittering fetters that enslaved the Roman people. The brick walls denuded of their marble casings, and the rifted arches
of the arcades, are here and there overgrown with creeping plants, whose greenness, together with the verdure and foliage of the Ceelian hill, relieves the ruddy glow of the brickwork standing out against the deep blue sky in the full glare of the noonday sun. When one re- flects that this edifice is as airy and elegant in its proportions as it is
solid and substantial in its fabric,-and that it has suffered front the ravages of earthquakes, storms, and sieges, during nearly eighteen hun- dred years, having been converted successively into a fortress, a bar- rack, and a manufactory, and moreover been the quarry from which the architects of modern Rome drew their materials,-wonder and ad- miration at the immensity and lastingness even of man's works rise to their full height. The colouring of' this picture is much more vivid and fresh than that of the view of Rome, which is comparatively. dim ; but a single object admits of far greater force of painting titan a multiplicity combined in one scene, where no one predominates above the rest : altogether, we see so little reason to find fault with the execution, and so touch to praise in the skill that spreads a whole city before the eye-its infini. tide of buildings distinctly visible, yet keeping their proper suhordina. tion to the general effect of the whole-that we are content to enjoy the beauties of the work without spying out little defects, that do not in any way interfere with the truth and reality of the representation. A panorama is not to be criticized like a cabinet picture ; and the abundant intellectual gratification which these views afford, so con- stantly diverts the attention front the means to the end, that the artist is forgotten in the interest of' the spectacle.
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