II. BUSTS OF MYTHOLOGICAL PERSONAGES.

Of these, many of which are probably copies or studies from fine Greek originals, and one or two perhaps themselves of Greek workmanship, the British Museum possesses a fair collection.

No. 1 is a colossal bust of Athene (Minerva) helmeted, her hair, which is drawn back from her temples to the hinder part of her head, disposed in a spiral twist. At the top of the helmet is a serpent, which was sacred to this Goddess, and one of her most usual attributes. The expression of countenance is that usually given to Athene: the full forehead, the long and finely-shaped nose, the somewhat stern cast of the mouth and cheeks, the large and often almost angular chin, the eyes not fully opened and rather downcast, the hair artlessly shaped back along the brow, and flowing down upon the neck, are the general marks of the ideal Athene, or Minerva.

The workmanship of this head is good, but it has been much restored. The chin, the nose, the upper part of the helmet, and great part of the serpent are modern.

Another bust of Athene, No. 7*, which has perhaps formed part of a statue: a bronze helmet and breast have been placed upon it in modern times, and do not at all improve its ap

pearance. The sockets of the eyes are now filled with plaster, but formerly were probably filled with onyx, or some similar material, in imitation of the natural eye. The expression of the countenance is pleasing, and not so stern as in the last head. The work, however, is of a late time, though perhaps a copy of a fine original. This head was found, in 1784, in the villa Casali, among ruins said to have been those of the villa of Olympiodorus, and was procured from Mr. Gavin Hamilton.

A head of the same goddess, the size of small life, with a plain unornamented helmet. The neck was anciently inserted into the body of the statue to which it belonged.

No. 16 is a colossal bust of Athene, with a close-fitting helmet, ornamented on each side by a small owl. The sockets of the eyes are, like those of the last but one we have described, hollow, and have once been filled by some other material, to represent the natural appearance of the eye. The face, with the exception of the tip of the nose which has been restored, is in the highest preservation, and retains some of its original polish. The helmet may be distinguished from that on the preceding bust as representing the close Attic helmet, while the others are of the high Corinthian type: its crest is modern. In the general type and treatment there is a largeness of manner which makes it probable that this bust is copied from some work in the school of Pheidias.

No. 16.

We now mention several heads to which no numbers are as yet attached: of these, we take first, three heads of Artemis or Diana, one of them originally in the collection of Sir William Hamilton, the second procured at Rome by Mr. Gavin Hamilton, and the third bequeathed by Mr. Payne Knight. In the two former the hair is represented drawn up from the sides and fastened in a knot upon the crown of the head. These heads have little about them characteristic, and no symbols by which they can be determinately assigned to Artemis;

they express simply serenity and sweetness. Generally, the character of the countenance of Artemis, in ancient works of art, is that of her brother Apollo, only with less prominent forms, more tender and more rounded, the hair bound up over the forehead in a corymbos, but still more frequently gathered together into a bow at the back or on the crown of the head. The bow and the torch, the symbol of light and life, were her usual attributes.-A head of Hera or Juno, wearing a metallic tiara or sphendone, brought from Rome in 1774, and expressive of considerable majesty, agreeably with what we find was the established mode of representing the countenance of this Goddess subsequent to the era of Polycletus. Her countenance presents forms of unfading bloom and ripened beauty, softly round, but not fat; awe-inspiring, but free from ruggedness or roughness. The forehead, encompassed by hair, which flows down obliquely, forms a gently-arched triangle; the rounded and open eyes look straight forward; the neck is generally bare and uncovered.-A head of Zeus or Jupiter, in Pentelic marble, the neck and nose modern, but the rest in excellent preservation. The workmanship is excellent, and the flesh and play of the muscles, especially about the mouth, are beautifully represented. This head, from the softness of the outline and general expression of the features, has been considered a copy of the Zeus Meilichios of Polycletus: it was purchased by Mr. Towneley at the Duke of St. Alban's sale; but it is not known whence it came originally.

Another head, sometimes called Jupiter and sometimes Jupiter Serapis, discovered among the ruins of Hadrian's villa, and presented by Mr. Barber Beaumont. This bust is colossal, and exhibits well the peculiarities of the type of Zeus. It may be noticed, that in the representations of Zeus Serapis, the hair is generally made to fall over the face.—A head of Zeus Serapis, of fine workmanship, surmounted by a modius, adorned with olive branches in low relief. The body is clothed in a tunic, and part of the peplos falls over the shoulders. Serapis, as one of the Deities of the nether world, is always represented of a dark, gloomy, severe countenance. He was essentially an Egyptian deity, and was not probably known to the Greeks before the time of Alexander the Great. Serapis was to the Egyptians what Pluto or Dis (known to the Greeks by the name of Hades) was to the Greeks themselves. When first discovered, the face was tinted with a deep-red colour; but one Cavaceppi, a sculptor, into whose hands it fell, considering this an accidental blemish, removed it as far as he was able.-Another head of Serapis, procured by the Museum from the Earl of Belmore, which still retains marks of a red tint. Two other heads of Serapis. The first, T. 52, in dark green

basalt, was brought from Constantinople by Sir Robert Ainslie, formerly Ambassador to the Ottoman Court; the second, in dark marble, was once in the possession of Sir William Hamilton. Both these heads carry modii, and exhibit the normal type of Serapis. T. 60, a head of Apollo, brought

from Rome by the first Lord Cawdor, and supposed to be an ancient copy from an early Greek sculpture in brass; ringlets hang over the forehead and down the neck, and a narrow vitta surrounds the top of the head. This head is probably a copy of the period of Hadrian.

-A head of the Didymæan or Androgynous Apollo, with the hair gathered in a knot at the top of the head, and the countenance remarkably feminine.-A head of Apollo surrounded by a broad fillet, from under which the hair flows down in long feminine tresses. The expression of the countenance is calm and majestic. No. 47, another head of Apollo, with the hair rising to a peak over the forehead, and a brow remarkably clear and beautiful. This head was originally in the Grimani palace, at Rome. No. 48, another head of Apollo, probably from a statue. The general character of the ideal representations of

T. 60.