Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects, and Curiosities of Art (Vol. 2 of 3)Spooner, Shearjashub
History
Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects, and Curiosities of Art (Vol. 2 of 3)
Spooner, Shearjashub
Art -- Anecdotes; Artists -- Anecdotes
"Not far distant from the amphitheatre are two semicircular theatres,
one of which is supposed to have been appropriated to tragedy and the
other to comedy. The first mentioned is large, and built of stone, or a
substance called _tufo_, covered with marble. It had no roof. The
Proscenium and Orchestra remain. The stage, or rather the place where it
was, is of considerable width, but so very shallow that stage effect, as
regards scenery, could not have been much studied, nor indeed did the
dramas of the ancients require it. The comic theatre is small, and
nearly perfect. It appears to have had a roof or covering. These two
theatres are close together. Of the public edifices discovered, the
Temple of Isis is one of the most interesting. It is of brick, but
coated with a hard and polished stucco. The altars for sacrifice remain
unmolested. A hollow pedestal or altar yet exists, from which oracles
were once delivered to the credulous multitude, and we behold the
secret stairs by which the priests descended to perform the office. In
the chamber of this Temple, which may have been a refectory, were found
some of the remains of eatables, which are now in the museum. I
recollect noticing egg-shells, bread, with the maker's name or initials
stamped thereon, bones, corn, and other articles, all burnt black, but
perfect in form. The Temple of Hercules, as it is denominated, is a
ruin, not one of its massive fragments being left upon another. It was
of the Doric order of architecture, and is known to have suffered
severely by an earthquake some years before the fatal eruption. Not far
from this temple is an extensive court or forum, where the soldiers
appear to have had their quarters. In what has evidently been a prison,
is an iron frame, like the modern implements of punishment, the stocks,
and in this frame the skeletons of some unfortunate culprits were found.
On the walls of what are called the soldiers' quarters, from the
helmets, shields, and pieces of armor which have been found there, are
scrawled names and rude devices, just as we find on the walls of the
buildings appropriated to the same purpose in the present day. At this
point of the city, travelers who have entered at the other, usually make
their exit. The scene possessed far too great an interest, however, in
my eyes, to be hastily passed over, and on more than one visit, I
lingered among the deserted thresholds, until the moon had thrown her
chaste light upon this city of the dead. The feelings excited by a
perambulation of Pompeii, especially at such an hour, are beyond the
power of my pen to describe. To behold her streets once thronged with
the busy crowd, to tread the forum where sages met and discoursed, to
enter the theatres once filled with delighted thousands, and the temples
whence incense arose, to visit the mansions of the opulent which had
resounded with the shouts of revelry, and the humbler dwellings of the
artisan, where he had plied his noisy trade, in the language of an
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account