Notwithstanding the comparatively small employment afforded to Italian architects in the present day, yet there can be no question as to the skill displayed in erecting their designs. The masonry is excellent, and the ancient Roman brick-work is rivalled by that of the present generation; houses are built of brick, in which all the exterior decorations are moulded in that material as perfectly as if executed in stone. The skill with which the Italian workmen build in brick, may be exemplified by the Florentine practice of arching over rooms without centering of any description. Two thin moulds of board, the shape of the intended arch, alone are used: these are placed at each end of the apartment which it is intended to cover in, and pieces of string are stretched from the one to the other, guiding the workman as he advances in the formation of his arch, which he builds, uniting the bricks by their thin edges (greatly thinner than those we use), and trusting entirely to the tenacity and quick-setting of the cement. Plastering is also carried to a perfection in Italy, of which we have very little idea in this country; rooms are so exquisitely finished, that no additional work in the shape of house-painting is required; but the polish of the plaster, and its evenness of tint, are such as to rival those of the finest porcelain. Sometimes the plaster is fluted, or various designs are executed in _intaglio_ upon it, in the most beautiful manner. Scagliola, a very fine preparation from gypsum, is the material chiefly used. An instance of the cheap rate at which this work is done, is afforded in the new ball-room in the Palazzo Pitti grand-ducal residence at Florence, which, including mouldings, figures, bas-reliefs, and ornaments, was executed at a cost of two crowns for every four square feet.