Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 11.djvu/106

88 press. When the author of this beautiful volume first invited the encouragement of English Archæologists, and sought to engage their interest in those works of a higher class of Artistic development than the ancient reliques which mostly attract their attention, it may have been supposed that the voluminous and splendid productions of continental authors, and the elaborate treatise by Sir William Gell, had amply supplied the requirements of Antiquarian study, as regards the varied and instructive vestiges of the cities of Campania. The latter work, however, the "Pompeiana," best known probably to English antiquaries, is almost exclusively devoted to the illustration of the architectural examples and accessory features, which are of high value, even for practical purposes in the structures of our own times. The magnificent publications by the Neapolitan government must be regarded, Mr. Trollope truly observes in his preface, as beyond the ordinary reach of the students of antiquity in this country.

In the volume now commended to the notice of our readers, Mr. Trollope has satisfactorily supplied what had been a desideratum in archæological literature, and his labours will be gratefully appreciated by many who have devoted their attention to a most interesting branch of research, the development of Greek and Roman Art in its application to the accessories of daily life in ancient times. The universal display of taste and beauty in form, not less amongst ordinary objects of domestic use, than in the more luxurious furniture or enrichments of the saloon and the triclinium in the gorgeous times of Imperial Rome, or as exemplified by the delicately-wrought ornaments of personal use, is a striking characteristic of the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum. We find, indeed, as Mr. Trollope's work admirably demonstrates, that the grace of high art derived from the Greeks was applied indiscriminately to the sacrificial vessels of the temple, to the weapons of war, the vases of every description, whether those for ordinary use or the sumptuous candelabra and appliances of the banquet. The tasteful skill by which the hand of the artificer was guided appears even in the culinary vessels, the furniture of houses, the armour and arms, the various musical instruments, and especially in the exquisite jewellery and personal ornaments of the fairer sex.

How often have we wished in younger days, or before foreign travel had enabled us to view the inexhaustible treasures of the "Museo Borbonico," that some Manual such as that now presented by Mr. Trollope had been at hand, to assist our studies, enabling us to realise the allusions of Horace or Juvenal, and comprehend the force of their keen satire in passages of which the point can only be appreciated through an intimate acquaintance with the refinements of the classical age and the usages of domestic life or manners.

The truthful illustrations of this volume, selected evidently with great taste and judgment, comprise all that could be desired within the compass of such an undertaking as has been contemplated by Mr. Trollope. His accurate pencil has been successfully employed in the delineation of examples of every description, chosen amongst the innumerable objects, which, whilst they delight, perplex the visitor of those treasuries of Art. In these examples the eye of the student may trace the type of many a form of beauty admired in the more tasteful adaptations of mediæval or modern times, whether in works in metal, in fictile manufactures, or in glass; and he may mark, possibly, with a feeling of humiliation, how infinitely superior are the productions of the classical age to those designs which have been