The substance employed is a stone-paste, of innumerable different
views, and in bits of various sizes, quantities of which were seen in
cases along the whole series of rooms.
We next ascended an amazing height of staircases, and walked along I know
not what extent of passages, . . . . till we reached the picture-gallery
of the Vatican, into which I had never been before. There are but three
rooms, all lined with red velvet, on which hung about fifty pictures,
each one of them, no doubt, worthy to be considered a masterpiece. In
the first room were three Murillos, all so beautiful that I could have
spent the day happily in looking at either of them; for, methinks, of all
painters he is the tenderest and truest. I could not enjoy these
pictures now, however, because in the next room, and visible through the
open door, hung the "Transfiguration." Approaching it, I felt that the
picture was worthy of its fame, and was far better than I could at once
appreciate; admirably preserved, too, though I fully believe it must have
possessed a charm when it left Raphael's hand that has now vanished
forever.
Pages:
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274