recitations, she walked several times up and down the stage; then mentioned a certain number to the musicians, upon which they played an air; after several repetitions of which she at length burst forth into an apparently inspired strain on the subject of Ugolino's woes-at one time singing, at another declaiming-a style which, to the Italians, who are accustomed to a parlando and a recitativo secco in their operas, might appear harmonious enough. At every new subject she called for different music; and sometimes requested bouts-rimés from the audience, or asked them to propose to her the measure and form of her compositions. At the termination of each piece, she sank exhausted upon a seat, a state of exaltation and inspiration being succeeded by a kind of swoon, from which, however, the applause of her hearers, and a glass of iced water, never failed to recover her. Sgricci made his first appearance at Florence; he afterwards recited at Venice and Milan; and, in 1818, gave four Academie at the Venetian Palace in Rome. He delivers his compositions without any musical accompaniment, and possesses such copiousness and fluency of expression, combined with so much selfpossession, and is moreover such a master of dramatic imitation, that he not only produces single pieces, or ballads, in which both the subject and measure are given to him, but he frequently asks for tragic scenes which he immediately executes impromptu. On one occasion the subjects given were, Le Nozze di Amore e Psiche in terza rima; La Morte di Saffo in versi sciolti; and La Morte di Socrate, a Tragedy in three acts, with chorusses. The Academia Tiberina gave an entertainment in honour of this Poet, at which he was presented with a gold medal. It was on this occasion that he recited Coriolano, a composition in blank-verse, and La Morte di Lucretia, a tragedy in three acts, with chorusses, in which he surpassed all his former productions: and if, when transferred to paper, his poetry appear somewhat cold, such is the animation of his gesture and delivery, that he is universally esteemed in Italy as the greatest master in his art. After all, however, improvisa toreship cannot be esteemed as tending to advance poetry; but rather to conduct it in a retrograde direction: it partakes too much of the nature of music, where the sentiment is never delineated with precision, but merely in a vague and general manner. We should never be able to conceive how the Improvisatori can enter upon a subject with such promptitude, did we not consider that it is generally some common-place from classical mythology and history, with a stock of which they are well provided: it is the same with their dramatic scenes, and we may to-day hear a dying Socrates express himself with the same sentiments and in the manner, which yesterday were given to a dying Seneca. It must, however, be acknowledged that Signor Sgricci distinguishes himself beyond all his competitors for real talent and solid acquirements. Thorvaldsen the Danish Sculptor.Little is known in this country respecting the Literature and Arts of Denmark, yet we presume that the name of the illustrious rival of Canova is sufficiently well known among us to render a brief sketch of his life interesting to our readers. Bertel (Albert) Thorvaldsen was born at Copenhagen, in the year 1771 or 1772, of parents in very moderate circumstances; his father, who was by birth an Icelander, being a working stone-mason. Even when a child, Albert used to amuse himself by attempting to assist his father, and, in a short time, imitated with surprizing cleverness the ornaments which the latter used to carve in wood. This induced his father, who already foresaw that his son would never be satisfied with the trade of a commonmason, to send him for instruction in drawing to the Academy of the Arts. Here he soon attracted the notice of his tutors, although he was not distinguished by his industry in the drawing-school; but he soon displayed his genius for modelling, and, in a short time, obtained several of the lesser prizes at the Academy. The young artist was more indebted to his own genius and exertions than to the lessons he had received. his seventeenth year he modelled a bas-relief as a competitor for one of the lesser prizes, in the struggle for In which it is customary to shut the pupils in an apartment by themselves. On this occasion, which laid the foundation of his future reputation, Thorvaldsen experienced all the horrors endured by a condemned malefactor; and even now it is not without signs of a somewhat comic alarm that he recalls the sensations of that moment, and how he was obliged to seek inspiration for the dreaded task in copious draughts of an hippocrene that flowed with brandy. Its potency, however, was such, that he successfully accomplished his work in the space of four hours. The subject given him was Heliodorus pillaging the Temple, and so masterly was its execution, that it completely astonished those who were appointed to judge of the merits of the different performances. They not only awarded to him the prize, but likewise bestowed upon him the great gold medal, to which is appended the more solid advantage of a pension to enable the student to travel. Of this, however, he was not allowed to avail himself immediately, as the professors judged it would be imprudent to send abroad one so young and inexperienced; he therefore received at that time only the premiums. The rapid progress which he now made delighted his patrons, and obtained for him the friendship of Abilgaerd the celebrated historical painter; likewise of his Excellency Resventlow, who generously encouraged the rising talents of the youthful artist. After having produced many successful works at home, Thorvaldsen quitted his native land in 1797, and embarked for Italy, on board a royal frigate that was bound for Naples. His voyage was not unattended by perils, for the vessel was driven upon the coast of Barbary, and hardly had they escaped the dangers that threatened them there, than fresh disasters obliged them to put into port at Malta; at length, however, they reached Naples. The young artist, who was quite a novice in the world, and unacquainted with any language but his own, found himself uneasy in that fairy land, where he was surrounded by the enchantments of both nature and art. That maladie de pays, which hardly ever fails to attack a young Dane at a distance from his home, rendered him insensible to all the magic that here presented itself; nay, so wretched did he feel that shame alone prevented him from immediately returning in the very vessel that had brought him, without even seeing Rome, the Apollo, or the Laocoon. At length, however, he visited that seat of art, and there, for some time, wandered amidst the gods and heroes of antiquity like one in a stupor, too much confounded by the sight of such glorious monuments, to be able to attempt any thing himself. Yet after a while the cloud that had enveloped both his corporeal and mental eye, gradually dispersed. The Roman ladies began to distinguish the handsome and blooming Dane; their attentions expelled his melancholy, and, towards the end of the second year of his residence at Rome, he began to model. He now attracted the notice of his learned and celebrated countryman Zoega, who saw the genius with which he was gifted, and who, although he was his most confidential friend, was at the same time his severest critic. In him the young Phidias of the North found a most inexorable judge, who was any thing but indulgent, whenever he conceived that he had just reasons for blame. The Ancient Sculptors, he would say, would never do so: no respectable woman, much less a goddess, ever arrayed herself thus, said he once, on examining a Pallas, whose drapery was disposed in not the most decent manner; and upon such occasions the artist did not scruple to deface and destroy statues that would have conferred upon him reputation. Still he was so little known, even when he produced his Jason, that he was asked, in a society of artists, whether he was acquainted with the young Dane who had executed that noble statue?-For such was the retirement in which Thorvaldsen worked, that no one suspected him of having created such a wonderful work. Hope, the wealthy Dutchman, being then at Rome, visited Thorvaldsen, and commissioned him to execute in marble the Jason, of which he had seen the cast. Immediately after this work, the artist modelled a large bas-relief, the subject of which was taken from the first book of the Iliad, representing Agamemnon, causing the Heralds to fetch Briseis from the tent of Achilles-a composition that did not fail to attract the notice of connoisseurs. He now continued to make farther and rapid advances in his art, while his fame extended itself more and more. In 1808 he executed two works that must immortalize his reputation; namely his colossal figure of Mars, and his Adonis, both which form an epoch in the history of modern art. The connoisseurs were actually enraptured with his Adonis, of which they said, 66 Questo è da vero un uomo divino ;" and among those who were thus lavish of their commendations, was the illustrious Canova, who declared it to be one of the most successful of Thorvaldsen's productions—one executed in a noble and beautiful style, and replete with sentiment. In 1809, Thorvaldsen received fresh commissions from Denmark: his sovereign wished for four bas-reliefs to decorate the entrance to the newly erected palace of Christianborg; which the artist executed so as completely to satisfy every person of taste. Such is the brief sketch of his career as an artist-but Thorvaldsen is equally interesting as a man. He possesses a genuine talent for music, and plays upon the guitar with exquisite spirit and expression. Nor is his judgment on subjects of music or poetry less correct than his feeling. The polish and delicacy of his manners render him a welcome companion in the most refined circles; his wit is pungent and keen, and his judgment in matters of taste is such as might be expected from one who has attained to the summit of art. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. Some Account of the Travels of the Count Enegildo Frediano in Egypt, and the adjacent countries, under the assumed name of Anciro. This traveller arrived in Egypt in the year 1817, through which country he proceeded to the utmost extent of its longitudinal direction. In Nubia, he accompanied Lord Belmore, went with Belzoni into the second pyramid of Cephrem, and is the only person who was present at that discovery. Thence he directed his course towards Asia, where he visited Idumæa, the land of the Philistines, that of the tribes of Israel, Phoenicia, Lebanon, Syria, the Euphrates, and Palmyra. At the beginning of 1819, he returned to the Nile, journeyed towards Arabia Petræa, crossed the Red Sea, followed the course which had formerly been pursued by the people of God; crossed through the country of the Midianites, and the provinces Amelen and Elim, returning to Cairo by Mount Sinai. During the autumn of the same year, he made another excursion from Alexandria, visited the Lakes Mareotis, Madia, Burlos and Mongaleh, the islands Jannis and Thuna, Mount Cassius, the ruins of Tanis, Cabria, Pelusium, Mendes, Beibeth, Facuso, Sebennytus and Atridis; and examined whatever was most remarkable in the provinces of Delta, Dakelia, Garbia, Sorkia and Celabia. On his return Frediano made a collection of natural curiosities; analyzed the waters of the warm springs at Tor-der-el-Hamman and Mansura, met likewise with a vein of gypsum, a very abundant bed of natron, and with immense tracts of land entirely filled with vegetable potass of all the three species. He purchased a number of antiquities, both in Asia and Africa, a considerable part of which he has already sent off to Italy; among these are a bronze figure of Harpocrates, a copy of the Pentateuch, written in the ancient Jewish, or, as it is at present called, the Samaritan character; also some thousand very rare Athenian, Syrian, and Phoenician coins, among which is one not hitherto known; it is of an oval shape, and alludes to the Ogygian deluge. It is his intention to visit Abyssinia, Senaar, Cordefan, Darfur, and other kingdoms in the interior of Africa. In a letter to Professor Branchi at Pisa, his former instructor in chemistry, Anciro has declared his design of not confining his attention merely to antiquities, but to study all the more striking natural objects and phenomena that may present themselves to his observation, in which pursuit he has been already very successful, having obtained some important results. There has recently appeared in an Italian journal, a very interesting letter addressed from this traveller to Canova, and dated from Palmyra. "Having passed Conna and Apollinopolis," says he, "I beheld Karnac, with its avenues of sphinxes, its halls of granite, its courts, and temple, with its numerous columns, which are covered with hieroglyphics, and so thick that seven men are scarcely able to encircle them. I afterwards visited Luxor, with its stupendous obelisks and colonnades; then Medinet Abu, that is remarkable for the multiplicity of ruins and fragments with which it is covered, likewise for the im who had required of him some description of these countries. Imagine to yourself, O Prince of the Faithful,' says he, immense dry and sterile plain, divided by a mighty river. Along the course of this stream run two chains of hills, fertilized by the current, to which heaven seems to have imparted a peculiarly beneficent virtue. In the city of Tiberias, whose waters I analysed, resides the worthy Raphael Picciotto, Austrian Consul General in Syria, and I cannot forbear remarking to you, my illustrious friend, that among the Jews residing in all quarters of the globe, particularly those of Asia and Africa, there prevails a feeling which leads them to choose to terminate their days in the territory which their forefathers once cultivated with the sweat of their brow. They are early initiated into this attachment towards what they consider to be their home, and it is affecting to behold the aged Israelite land on the coasts of Palestine, and, supported by the arm of his equally venerable consort, commence with the sighs of hope the last pilgrimage which is to conduct his wearied frame to repose in the tombs where his fathers sleep. *Continuing my jour ney along the coast of Phoenicia, I could with difficulty restrain my impatience as I approached a wretched cliff, where in the midst of sand and waves was situated the once mighty Mistress of the Ocean. The Greek Archbishop Melchita Don Cirillo Debbas received me very cordially at his house, and setting before me on the floor a frugal meal, said, I receive you with all the simplicity with which the apostles were wont to entertain their guests, and bid you heartily welcome to this scanty repast, which I daily partake with the stranger. Had I more I would freely bestow it, but my entire revenue, namely, that arising from the archbishopric of Tyrus, does not amount to more than two hundred scudi, and the half of this income is expended in relieving the poor of my diocese. Besides being their spiritual, I am also their temporal physician, and supply them with medicines gratuitously. The other prelates who live among the mountains, are more secure than myself, yet I esteem myself happier, since I participate with my flock in every event of sorrow or of joy.' Lady Esther Stanhope, whose singular manner of life has attracted the notice both of Europe and Asia, lives in the vicinity of Sidon, at a little place called Arabà, and still persists in her determination not to receive any European visitors. travelled quite over Mount Libanon, which contains so many hills within itself, that it might well be termed a kingdom, and upon Mount Carmel I collected an innumerable quantity of petrified shell fish and fruit. **** At Balbec I seemed again to behold Thebes transported to Syria; an en tire volume would hardly suffice to describe adequately the Temple of the Sun: among other objects one meets with, still standing, six columns 71 feet high, and 21 feet eight inches in diameter; while among the blocks of granite are three extending 175 feet. Another is 69 feet two inches long, by 12 10" broad, and 13′ 3′′ thick. You alone, my friend, are worthy to decide whether these stupendous fragments are the workmanship of human hands. What shall I say to you of Palmyra, the view of which kindles the mind even to enthusiasm. There are even still remaining about thirty towers, the Temple of the Sun, and 300 columns, which stand on the sandy plain, the monuments of that great city. I purpose giving an ample account of this in the journal of my travels. I here again engraved the word Ilia in the marble, and recollecting your illustrious name, which has continually animated me during my labours and researches, I added, Frediani stima degne le rovine di Palmyra del genio del divino Canova. ** Thus within the space of fifteen months, and during a journey of 7000 miles, I had crossed the Mediterranean, travelled through Misraim, Nubia, Kedar, Idumæa, the country of the Philistines, Judæa, Samaria, Galilee, Phoenicia, Cælosyria, Syria, and Mesopotamia; had viewed the Sea of Pentapolis; had drank of the waters of the Sea of Tiberias, likewise of those of the Nile, the Jordan, the Orontes, and the Euphrates; had ascended the Pyramids, and the Mounts Sion, Garazim, Tabor, Libanon, and Carmel; had reposed among the tombs of Thebes, at the cataracts of Nubia, and trodden on the dust of Memphis, Heliopolis, Ascalon, Tyre, Sidon, Balbec, Palmyra, Samaria, and Jerusalem! It would be indeed a glorious thing should posterity read the name of Canova in Egypt, in Syria, and in Palmyra; yet the best wish that an Italian can express, is, that the generations to come may read Canova in Italy, Canova at Rome, Canova on the shores of the Tiber. There has recently been published, by Messrs. Longman and Co. (8vo. pp. 547.) An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa, by El Hage Abdsalam Shabeeng, to which is added an account of various travels through South and West Barbary, and across the Atlas Mountains, &c. &c. by James Grey Jackson. Among the various books of travels that have lately issued from the Press, there appears not to be any more generally interesting at this period of commercial apathy than this. The author tells us he resided upwards of sixteen years in Africa as a merchant, and as a diplomatic agent to several nations of Europe, he is familiar with the African languages, and has corresponded with the principal men in several territories of Africa in their own language. Mr. Jackson persists in his opinion, given twenty years ago, that the only way to obtain a knowledge of this interesting Continent is through the medium of commercial intercourse, and he very properly urges the indispensable necessity of an union of interests between the African association, African institution, and the African company. His letters, fragments, &c. contain a variety of very interesting information on African matters in general; and his suggestions for the advancement of our knowledge of Africa are well deserving investigation. He urges the expediency of attempting the civilization of the African Continent through the medium of an extensive commerce. Modern Italian Sculpture.-Giovanni Ceccarini, alyoung Roman sculptor, and a protegé of Canova, has displayed his gratitude and his talent in a statue which he has just executed of that great artist. This work, which is conceived in a style of superior grandeur, represents a colossal figure of Canova, sitting, and about to take hold of a Cippus of Jupiter, at the same time that he is admiring its exquisite workmanship. This groupe has been extolled for the dignity of its expression, for its originality, and for the admirable truth and variety conspicuous in the arrangement of the drapery. It seems too as if nature had been willing to second the noble intentions of the artist, having furnished him with an immense block of marble, equally remarkable for its vast size and for its pre-eminent beauty. Gothic Architecture.-In our preceding number we directed the attention of such of our readers as have a taste for this interesting study, to a Lithographical work by Domenicus Quaglio. We will therefore for their gratification here give a list of the subjects contained in the succeeding numbers. One of the most important in the entire collection is the Minster at Ulm, of which the artist has given two plates; the first represents the entrance into the church, as seen from the open square before it; the other a view in one of the side aisles. It is to be hoped that the artist will, before the termination of his work, give a prospect of the whole interior of the building, as we should then by means of these plates and the elevation of the spire given in Moller's Work, and likewise with some additions in Wiebeking's History of Architecture, possess sufficient data to enable us to form an adequate idea of the extent and magnificence of this noble edifice. Yet even these would not satisfy the professional student or the exact antiquary, who would require an entire publication on the subject, illustrated as tastefully and as amply both historically and graphically as Britton's Cathedrals, or Neale's Westmin |