The _Stanze_ were occupied after the assault of Rome by Bourbon’s soldiers, and they treated the walls as they would have treated those of the commonest barracks. On them may now be seen holes in which they placed hooks to suspend their kettles, and the trace of smoke is even visible. In the garden of the Vatican the Pope takes the only exercise he can with decency; he rides early in the morning on a little ambling mule. The extent of the building is prodigious; I have heard the number of rooms called 7000, if not more. _Borghese Palace._--The best collection of Old Masters in Rome. ‘Virgin in the clouds’: the best _Tintoret_ in Rome. Leonardo da Vinci, known generally by his swarthy hue, sharp chins, high cheek bones, and drawn-up mouths. ‘Adoration of the Shepherds,’ _James Bassano_, good picture; he understood both perspective and colouring. Titian sent his son to study under him; his green drapery remarkably fine. There is always something homely and disgusting in his compositions. A ‘Last Supper’ by him offends from unpardonable anachronisms, as it generally consists of pickled herrings or Dutch cheese.... _Titian_, ‘Holy Family’: fine, sober light. Modern artists are too fond of contrasting their lights. The light of the sun being yellow, all objects illuminated by it ought to partake of its hue. A fine _Andrea del Sarto_, a very favourite painter of mine; his outline is so soft and his expression exquisite.... The _good_ pictures are so numerous that it would require pages to enumerate them all. The _Doria Palace_, very fine mansion, and very full of fine pictures. [Sidenote: ROMAN COLLECTIONS] _4th June, 1793._--_Villa Ludovici_, on the Pincian Hill. The collection consists chiefly of marbles.... _Mars reposing_, I admired extremely, though it is not in the purest manner. The figure represents the action (if it is not an Irishism) so well of being perfectly _at rest_. A group called _Papyrius and his mother_. The expression of inquisitiveness in the mother is admirable; curiosity with a tender sort of maternal authority is happily united. The expression of Papyrius is deficient. _Pætus and Arria_, so called: a beautiful, expiring, languid figure: the action of the man turning his head is well conceived. A fine ceiling by Guercino. _Farnesina._--The ceiling of the hall is painted by Raphael, but having suffered very much the ground or sky was painted by Carlo Marat in order to give greater effect to the figures, in which it is supposed that he has succeeded, but the contours of many of the figures have suffered in the attempt. It represents the story of Cupid and Psyche. Nothing can exceed the composition and variety of expression in most of the groups. This ceiling and that at the Farnese would warrant a decision that Raphael and A. Carracci are the first masters at Rome.