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The beauty of this group is sublime, and yet it is of a different cast, from either that of the Apollo of Belvedere, or that of the Mercury, called Antinoues, of which we shall presently have occasion to speak.
To judge from the great number of figures of Antinoues, sculptured by order of Adrian to perpetuate the memory of that favourite, the emperor's gratitude for him must have been unbounded. Under the form of different divinities, or at different periods of life, there are at present in the GALLERY OF ANTIQUES no less than five portraits of him, besides three statues and two busts.
In this statue, Antinoues is represented as a divinity of Egypt. He is standing in the usual attitude of the Egyptian gods, and is naked, with the exception of his head and wrist, which are covered with a species of drapery in imitation of the sacred garments. This beautiful figure is wrought with superior excellence.
"Sed frons laeta parum, et dejecto lumina vultu" This beautiful figure, of Carrara marble, is sculptured in a masterly manner. It comes from the Museum of the Capitol, and previously belonged to the collection of Cardinal Alessandro Albani. The fore-arm and left leg are modern. ANTINOUeS.
Though the execution of them is highly finished, it is no detriment to the grandeur of the style. The one is of Pentelic marble; and the other, of Parian. Having been purchased of Count Fede by Pius VI, they were placed in the Museum of the Vatican. ANTINOUeS.
In short, the harmony which reigns between its parts is such, that the celebrated POUSSIN, in preference to every other, always took from it the proportions of the human figure. It was found at Rome, on Mount Esquiline, under the pontificate of Paul III, who placed it in the Belvedere of the Vatican, near the Apollo and the Laocoon. The Egyptian ANTINOUeS.
Farther on, though on the same side, an Antinoues. In the niche, under the steps in the middle of the terrace towards the river, a Cleopatra. In the alley of orange-trees, near the Place de la Concorde, Meleager; and on the terrace, next to the riding-house, Hercules Farnese. In the niche to the right, in front of the octagonal basin, a Faun carrying a kid. In the one to the left, Mercury Farnese.
Three other statues of Antinoues, together with a bust, and an excellent bass-relief, in which he is represented, yet remain to be placed. The god of wine is here represented standing, and entirely naked. He is leaning carelessly with his left arm on the trunk of an elm, round which winds a grape-vine.
"Whilst those earth-born creatures do not surpass a degree of perfection which, by beauty of form, has been attained by Antinoues and by Madame de Parabere, and at which they alone have arrived by the faculty known to Democritus and myself; the beings formed by fire enjoy a wisdom and an intelligence of which we cannot possibly conceive the limit.
Benedict XIV having purchased it of the Stati family, placed it in the Capitol. MERCURY, commonly called the ANTINOUeS OF BELVEDERE. This statue, also of the finest Parian marble, is one of the most beautiful that can be imagined. More robust in form than either that of the Apollo or of the Meleager, it loses nothing by being contemplated after the former.
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