e agonies of
some vulgar assassin expiring on the wheel; and that the originals of
his Bambini, with their mothers, were literally found in a stable. In
the Sala Regia, from whence the Sistian chapel is detached, we see,
among other exploits of catholic heroes, a representation of the
massacre of the protestants in Paris, Tholouse, and other parts of
France, on the eve of St. Bartholomew, thus described in the
Descrizione di Roma, "Nella prima pittura, esprime Georgio Vasari
l'istoria del Coligni, grand' amiraglio, di Francia, che come capo de
ribelli, e degl'ugonotti, fu ucciso; e nell'altra vicina, la strage
fatta in Parigi, e nel regno, de rebelli, e degl'Ugonotti." "In the
first picture, George Vasari represents the history of Coligni, high
admiral of France, who was slain as head of the rebels and huegonots;
and in another near it, the slaughter that was made of the rebels and
huegonots in Paris and other parts of the kingdom." Thus the court of
Rome hath employed their artists to celebrate and perpetuate, as a
meritorious action, the most perfidious, cruel, and infamous massacre,
that ever disgraced the annals of any nation.

I need not mention the two equestrian statues of Constantine the Great,
and Charlemagne, which stand at opposite ends of the great portico of
St. Peter's church; because there is nothing in them which particularly
engaged my attention. The sleeping Cleopatra, as you enter the court of
the Belvedere, in the Vatican, is much admired; but I was better
pleased with the Apollo, which I take to be the most beautiful statue
that ever was formed. The Nile, which lies in the open court,
surmounted with the little children, has infinite merit; but is much
damaged, and altogether neglected. Whether it is the same described in
Pliny, as having been placed by Vespasian in the Temple of Peace, I do
not know. The sixteen children playing about it, denoted the swelling
of the Nile, which never rose above sixteen cubits. As for the famous
groupe of Laocoon, it surpassed my expectation. It was not without
reason that Buonaroti called it a portentous work; and Pliny has done
it no more than justice in saying it is the most excellent piece that
ever was cut in marble; and yet the famous Fulvius Ursini is of opinion
that this is not the same statue which Pliny described. His reasons,
mentioned by Montfaucon, are these. The statues described by Pliny were
of one stone; but these are not. Antonioli, the antiquary,