October 21st.--. . . . I have been twice to St. Peter's, and was
impressed more than at any former visit by a sense of breadth and
loftiness, and, as it were, a visionary splendor and magnificence. I
also went to the Museum of the Capitol; and the statues seemed to me more
beautiful than formerly, and I was not sensible of the cold despondency
with which I have so often viewed them. Yesterday we went to the Corsini
Palace, which we had not visited before. It stands in the Trastevere, in
the Longara, and is a stately palace, with a grand staircase, leading to
the first floor, where is situated the range of picture-rooms. There
were a good many fine pictures, but none of them have made a memorable
impression on my mind, except a portrait by Vandyke, of a man in
point-lace, very grand and very real. The room in which this picture
hung had many other portraits by Holbein, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, and
other famous painters, and was wonderfully rich in this department. In
another, there was a portrait of Pope Julius II.
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