A rough sketch of modern Paris

by J. G. Lemaistre

TRANSLATION.

“THE PYTHIAN APOLLO.

CALLED
“THE APOLLO BELVIDERE.

“This statue, the most sublime of those which time has preserved, was found, towards the conclusion of the fifteenth century, at Capo d’Anzo, twelve leagues from Rome, on the sea shore, near the ruins of the ancient Antium, a city no less celebrated for its temple of Fortune, than for the elegant seats, which the different emperors, emulous of each other, had built there, and ornamented with all the rarest works of art. Julius II, while yet but a cardinal, bought this statue, and placed it first in the palace where he resided, near the church of the Holy Apostles. When he became sovereign pontiff, he ordered it to be conveyed to the Belvidere of the Vatican, where for three centuries it excited the admiration of the universe. A hero, guided by victory, drew it from the Vatican; and, transporting it to the banks of the Seine, has fixed it there for ever....

“The name of the artist, who made this inimitable chef-d’œuvre, is unknown. The right arm, and the left hand, which were wanting, were restored by the sculptor, Giovanni Angelo da Montorsoli, pupil of Michael Angelo.”

I hope, my friend, you admire the modesty with which it is declared, that the Apollo is for ever fixed on the banks of the Seine!—After the singular fate which this statue has experienced, it required all that happy confidence, with which the french determine the most difficult questions in their own favour, to make so bold an assertion. The Apollo lay two thousand years under the ruins of Antium, and yet preserved its beauty. It was drawn thence, placed in the Vatican, and after receiving there, for three centuries, the applauses of mankind, is carried over the Alps, and seen at Paris in all its original symmetry. If it be the destiny of this matchless figure to follow the tide of fortune, and to change its residence with the changes of empire, and the casualties of human affairs, who shall decide where it may next be found? If Julius II, when he placed the Apollo in the Vatican, had been told, that, three hundred years afterward, a french warrior would attach it to his car of victory, in entering the city of Paris, would even the pope himself have had faith enough to believe such a prophecy? After this, no conjecture becomes improbable. Who knows, that this celebrated statue may not, some centuries hence, be discovered on the frozen plains of Siberia, or in the burning sands of Egypt?

The subject of the Laocoon is so pathetic, and the execution so admirable, that the group which it presents, is, as the catalogue well observes, a specimen, at once, of composition, art, and feeling. The following is the historical account of this statue:

“Il a été trouvé en 1506, sous le pontificat de Julius II, à Rome sur le mont Esquilin, dans les ruines du palais de Titus, contigu à ses thermes. Pline qui en a parlé avec admiration, l’avait vu dans ce même endroit. C’est à cet écrivain que nous devons la connoissance des trois habiles sculpteurs Rhodiens qui l’ont exécuté, ils s’appellaient Agésandre, Polydore, et Athenodore. Agésandre étoit probablement le père des deux autres, ils florissaient au premier siècle de l’ere vulgaire. La groupe est composé de cinq blocs si artistement réunis, que Pline l’a cru d’un seul. Le bras droit du père et deux bras des enfans manquent. Sans doute un jour on les exécutera en marbre. Mais provisionnellement on les a suppliés par des bras moulés sur la groupe en plâtre, restauré par Gerardon, qui se voit dans la salle de l’école de peinture.”

TRANSLATION.

“It was found in 1506, under the pontificate of Julius II, at Rome, on the Esquiline mount, in the ruins of the palace of Titus, near his thermæ, or hot baths. Pliny, who speaks of this statue with admiration, had seen it in the same place. It is to this writer we are indebted for the knowledge of the three able sculptors of Rhodes, who executed this masterpiece. Their names were, Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus. It is probable, that the first of these was the father of the other two. They flourished during the first century of the common era. The group consists of five pieces of marble, joined in so workmanlike a manner, that Pliny thought the whole was of one. The right arm of the father, and two of the arms of the children, are wanting. They will, no doubt, be executed hereafter in marble; in the mean time, the deficiency is supplied by arms moulded on the group in plaister of Paris, the work of Gerardon, which is to be seen in the hall of the school of painting.”