f view of the subjects they represent.
They are divided into panels by pilasters and colored columns, each
half being distinguished by a different color: white (Nos. 1, 5, 6, of
the plan), red (Nos. 2, 4), or black (No. 3). The frieze of the
"black" series represents the trying of a criminal case by a
magistrate, very likely the owner of the palace, with curious details
concerning the evidence asked and freely given to him.

Near the frieze, the artist has drawn pictures as though hung to the
wall, with folding shutters, some wide open, some half-closed. They
are genre subjects, such as a school of declamation, a wedding, a
banquet; and though the figures are not five inches long, they are so
wonderfully executed that even the eyebrows are discernible.

The pictures in the centre of the panels are of larger size. Those of
the "white" room are painted in the style of the Attic lekythoi, or
oil-jugs. The figures are drawn in outline with a dark, subtle color,
each space within the outline being filled in with the proper tint;
though a few only are drawn without the colors. One of these
remarkable pictures represents two women,--one sitting, the other
standing, and both looking at a winged Cupid. Another represents a
lady playing on the seven-stringed lyre, each of the strings being
marked by a sign which, perhaps, corresponds to the notes of the
scale. In one of the panels from room No. 4 is still visible what we
suppose to be the signature of the artist: [Greek: SELEUKOS EPOEI]
(_sic_). It seems as if Baldassarre Peruzzi, Raphael, Giulio Romano,
il Sodoma, il Fattore, and Gaudenzio Ferrari, to whom we owe the
wonders of the Farnesina dei Chigi, must have unconsciously felt the
influence of the wonders of this Roman house which was buried under
their feet. It is a great pity that the two could not have been left
standing together. What a subject for study and comparison these two
sets of masterpieces of the golden ages of Augustus and Leo X. would
have offered to the lover of art!

[Illustration: DETAIL FROM THE CEILING OF THE HOUSE DISCOVERED IN THE
FARNESINA GARDENS]

The ceiling of the room No. 2, carved in stucco, is worthy of the
paintings. The reliefs are so flat that the prominent points do not
stand out more than three millimetres. The artist might have modelled
them by breathing over the stucco, they are so light and delicate. One
of the scenes represents the borders of a river, with villas,
temples, shrines