NAND IV. OF
NAPLES.]

All the portraits I had engaged to do at Naples being finished, I went
back to Rome, but hardly had I arrived when the Queen of Naples
arrived also, she making a stop there on her return journey from
Vienna. As I happened to be in the crowd through which she made her
way, she noticed me and spoke to me, and begged me with extreme
graciousness to visit Naples once more for the purpose of painting her
portrait. It was impossible to refuse, and I complied with her wish at
once.

Upon arriving at Naples I began the portrait of the Queen forthwith.
It was then so terribly hot that one day when Her Majesty gave me a
sitting we both fell asleep. I took great pleasure in doing this
picture. The Queen of Naples, without being as pretty as her younger
sister, the Queen of France, reminded me strongly of her. Her face was
worn, but one readily judged that she had been handsome; her hands and
arms especially were perfect in form and colour. This Princess, of
whom so much evil has been written and spoken, had an affectionate
nature and simple ways at home. Her magnanimity was truly royal. The
Marquis de Bombelles, the Ambassador at Vienna in 1790, was the only
French envoy who refused to swear to the constitution; the Queen,
being apprised that by this brave and noble conduct M. de Bombelles,
the father of a large family, had been reduced to the most unfortunate
position, wrote him a letter of commendation with her own hand. She
added that all sovereigns should be at one in acknowledging faithful
subjects, and asked him to accept a pension of twelve thousand francs.
She had a fine character and a good deal of wit. She bore the burden
of government alone. The King would have nothing to do with it; he
spent most of his time at Caserta. Before I left Naples for good the
Queen presented me with a box of old lacquer, with her initials
surrounded by beautiful diamonds. The initials are worth ten thousand
francs; I shall keep them all my life.

I had a burning desire to see Venice; I arrived there the day before
Ascension. M. Denon, whom I had known in Paris, having heard of this,
came to see me without delay. His cleverness and his great knowledge
of the arts made him the most charming mentor, and I congratulated
myself upon such a happy encounter. The very next day he took me out
on the canal, where the marriage of the Doge with the sea was enacted.
The Doge and all the members of the senate were on a vessel gil