Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/213

 modern statuary, consisting of three figures, by Foggini, Samson slaying two Philistines. It is of white marble, and approaches to life not only in size but in strength of expression: the accuracy of the anatomy, the grandness of the heads, and the force of the limbs, are not to be excelled.

Ascending to the hall, we found ourselves in a room superlatively fine, from the grandeur of its dimensions, the justness of its proportions, the taste of its decorations, and the beauty of its contents. The architect has chosen the square figure, sixty feet everyway, relieved by an height of thirty-eight feet; and a gallery, which runs round the whole, and projects ten feet. Eighteen fluted pillars, of the Ionic order, support this member, of the beautiful composition called Scaleogni, crowned with capitals of white marble, and standing upon bases of the same, with squares of the verd antique. Eighteen Corinthian pilasters run from the gallery to the ceiling, which is laid out in compartments of stucco. Within the lower columns are eight niches, containing the following precious productions of the arts, in white marble:—A Flora, by Philip Valle.—Antinous, a naked figure, most beautiful, particularly the hair, by Cavacippi.—Germanicus, a naked figure, represented as declaiming, by Philip Valle; great expression in the face and