Corresponding in position on the side next the Nave, is another example of those embodiments of towns and nations, which are so frequently to be found on the Continent. The present colossal statue allegorises Franconia, a province of Germany; it is characterised by much nobility of conception, and worthily sustains the reputation of the modern German sculptors. The original, by Professor Halbig, is erected at Kilheim, in Bavaria.
The south wall of the Court, and the passage from it through which we pass to the front of the Reading Room, will be found to be decorated by some beautiful bas-reliefs, amongst which may be particularised, Westmacott’s Paolo and Francesca (72); Lough’s Apotheosis of Shakspeare; some very interesting bas-reliefs by Rauch, from the tomb of Marshal Bulow; they will be found on the base of the colossal head of Bavaria; and the Triumph of Alexander (226), executed by Thorwaldsen to decorate the Pope’s palace for the reception of Napoleon I. in 1812,—one of the most celebrated works of the great sculptor. Chantrey’s beautiful group of Sleeping Children stands in the passage, and claims special attention.
THE LIBRARY READING ROOM.
Within the quadrangular area between the Canadian Court and the Central Transept, is to be found the Reading Room of the Library, which contains works of reference for those studies and Fine Arts which are exemplified in the Crystal Palace, as well as works of high class and general literature. The books are obtained for use in the Reading Room, by means of a small slip to be filled up from the catalogue. Round the room fit space is allotted to publishers, on which are exhibited the title-pages and announcements of new books, the new volumes themselves being exhibited during the season for immediate reference in an open book-case in the room. The publishers’ catalogues lie upon the table. The operation of the plan also extends to Continental literature, and the announcements of new books by Foreign publishers, as well as their catalogues, with the books themselves, will be noticed as an interesting feature not to be found elsewhere. A valuable Library has been already formed by the purchases of the Company, the free gifts of individuals, and by the addition of the new works which, having been exhibited by the publishers in the Room during the season, are then added to the catalogue. Amongst several very splendid works, the magnificent gifts of both Continental and British publishers, which enrich the Library, one deserves special notice on account of its very great rarity and value, as well as of its beauty. This is a copy of “Das Neue Testament” which was printed in 1851 for His Majesty the King of Prussia. As a specimen of Gothic typography the work is perhaps without a peer, while as a work of art, and a record of what can be achieved by the printing press in these days, it is to be highly valued. Five exquisite designs from the rich and original pencil of Kaulbach illustrate the volume; they represent the Deity, and the four Evangelists, severally, being single allegorical figures. There is also one illustration to the Revelations, by Peter Cornelius. These are printed from wood blocks. Twenty-five copies only of the book were printed when the type was broken up. Of these, five exist in England. One in the possession of Her Majesty the Queen, to whom the work is dedicated, one in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, one in the Syndicate Library at Cambridge, one presented to the Bishop of London, by Prince Frederick William, on the occasion of the recent Royal Marriage, and the present copy. This magnificent volume is the production of Herr Rudolf Decker of Berlin, Printer to the King of Prussia, by whom it was presented to the Company’s Library. In that portion of the room devoted to news, more than 100 newspapers can be found, upwards of fifty of which are London papers; the British country press is very completely represented, constituting a feature of the Room, and several leading Foreign Journals are supplied; there are 18 Magazines, and 7 Reviews (as well Foreign as English), besides Periodicals and Pamphlets, Directories, Gazetteers, Maps, &c. &c. The very latest news, by special telegraph, is exhibited immediately on its receipt, and a regular Daily Telegram is received from Paris, with the state of the French Funds, and Money Market. A Register for Appointments and Messages is kept, and a glass case in which unclaimed letters, and letters for visitors, are exhibited. There is a postage-box upon the reading-table, and one outside, from which letters are collected several times in the course of the day; and paper, envelopes, and postage-stamps can always be obtained from the attendants at a moderate charge.
THE GREAT CENTRAL TRANSEPT.
Passing along in front of the Reading Room, we return to the Nave, and enter the Transept, the arch of which rises nearly 175 feet high in a light and graceful span. From the first terrace, however, to the summit of the Transept is 197 feet 10 inches. There are five galleries here, one above the other, the topmost of which runs entirely round the Transept, and the third of which extends round the whole length of the building on each side. In the second of these galleries, on the garden side, is the Industrial Museum and Technological Collection, of which we shall treat presently.
Not far from the angle of the Transept and Nave, towards the Stationery Court, stands a cast from the colossal statue of Rubens, by Geefs, of Brussels, erected in the cathedral square at Antwerp, of which city Rubens was a native: the original is in bronze, and a fine example of the modern Romantic school of sculpture. Opposite the statue of Rubens, on the other side of the Nave, is placed a cast of the fine bronze statue, by Dantan, which has been erected at Dieppe, in honour of the great French Admiral Duquesne. It is remarkable for its noble expression, and the spirited romance of its treatment. The celebrated Farnese Hercules and the Farnese Flora, both colossal antique statues from the Museum at Naples, occupy the corresponding positions across the Transept. The Hercules is a fine and artistic example, characterised by a massive and somewhat exaggerated muscular development, not, however, altogether inappropriate to the hero of physical force. The whole of this the western end of the Great Transept is occupied by the great orchestra, capable of accommodating 4,000 performers, which has been erected for the Great Handel Festival. In the centre of the orchestra is the great organ which has been built by Messrs. Gray and Davison expressly for the position.[26] The eastern end of the Transept is occupied by a handsome orchestra for musical and choral performances. On the northern side of this end of the Great Transept are ranged some choice statues of the modern schools; the graceful Amalthæa by Julien (113); Psyche (103*); Veritas (150), a veiled figure by Monti; and Endymion (129), the Graces (125), and Paris (129), by the late famous sculptor Canova.
[26] The organ contains 66 stops, viz., 20 on the great organ, 12 on the choir, 5 on the solo, 17 on the swell, and 12 on the pedals. It has four separate rows of keys, with couplers, combination pedals, and complete pedal board. The instrument contains 4568 sounding-pipes.
We must now cross over the Nave and enter the open court, which is close to the colossal Farnese Hercules, and which corresponds in position to the Canadian Court, which we examined before entering the Transept. This Court is filled with specimens of antique sculpture of the Greek and Roman schools. Among these we would draw attention to the colossal Velletri Pallas (351), so called from having been discovered at Velletri, near Rome, and now preserved in the Louvre, at Paris; the Dying Gladiator (309); a Boy with a Dolphin; a colossal head of Pallas (328). A Boy extracting a Thorn from his Foot, from the Capitoline Museum at Rome; and the fine head of Antoninus Pius (381).
A collection of Greek ideal and portrait-busts will also be noticed in this Court; amongst which the colossal heads of Vespasian (332), Trajan (354), Pertinax (379), Lucius Verus (361), and Titus (333), are particularly deserving of notice. The visitor should not quit this compartment without noticing the collection of antique vases which it contains, amongst which the Medicean Vase (343) is a peculiarly elegant example of antique art. The elegant tripod (211), and the antique fountain (357), are also worthy of attention. Here also we find the celebrated group known as the Toro Farnese, or Farnese Bull. The original of this beautiful group, which is now preserved in the Museum at Naples, was discovered in the Baths of Caracalla at Rome, and derives its name from having been placed in the Farnese Palace in that city. The subject is the revenge of Queen Antiope and her two sons, Zethus and Amphion, on Dirce, for seducing the affections of her husband, Syeres, King of Thebes. The sons, enraged at the insult offered to their mother, are represented as about to revenge themselves by tying the unfortunate Dirce to the horns of a bull, when their mother, moved with womanly pity, intercedes for her rival, and induces them to forego the intended punishment. According to Pliny, the Toro Farnese was the work of the Rhodian artists, Apollonius and Tauriseus.