Pompeiana Part IV.
It is curious to observe the contrast afforded in the pictures discovered at Pompeii, by he refinement of the style and propriety of sentiment in their designs, and the rudeness of their landscapes. The natural and beautiful forms, characteristic expression, and graceful flow of the dra- peries, seem to belong to another age than that which produced those con- fused collocations of buildings, alike destitute of keeping and perspective, and arranged with that want of understanding which denotes the im- perfect state of knowledge in landscape drawing. One plate in the part beforeus is very curious. It is a picture of a waggon and horses, present- ing a striking similarity of form and contrivance to the light country waggons of our own day. The body of the vehicle is entirely divided into two parts, and the fore-wheels are smaller than the hind ones, in order to allow of the waggon turning round with greater facility. The wheels are of the size with those in modern use, with light spokes dimi- nishing in size from the nave to the fellies. We were not before aware that the ancients made other than wheels of small circumference, and those mostly solid, though latterly the spokes of their chariot-wheels formed a very ornamental addition. The waggon has a light rail along the sides, projecting over the wheels, as in ours, and a pole supported by hoops runs lengthwise along the top, to which is fastened one end of an immense wine-skin, from the other end of which two men are filling tall vessels without feet. The horses are destitute of any harness but a bridle and reins, and stand at rest with their }wadi to the wain. The work is full of interest ; but the plates being inserted arbitrarily, the portion of letterpress accompanying each part bears no reference to the part individually ; an arrangement which diminishes its interest to the subscriber until its completion.
We wish the proprietors had intrusted IVir-Moszs with the en- graving of all the outline plates; one beautiful design is deprived of much of its delicacy by the heaviness of the line : indeed the execution of all the plates corresponds better with the former series of this work, than with the finished atyle of most of the engravings at the pre- sent time.
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