all that he found there, he has not permitted the least innovation. He caused all the frescos to be restored to their pristine beauty and character. The idea was great and wise, but the task was difficult. The work was entrusted, at the close of 1833, to M. Alaux, but was not commenced until the year following.

Now that it is completely finished, and that the effect may be judged of, it must be acknowledged, to the credit of the artist, that he has admirably fulfilled his commission, and that, without enjoying the honour of being inventor of the design, his name may honourably be inscribed beside that of the eminent man, whose talents were so well appreciated by Francis I. and Henry II. Numberless difficulties were to be overcome; those parts which had disappeared were to be painted anew; and, in many places, the stucco, where the mortar had fallen away, exposed to view the brown freestone of which the walls are built. In other parts, the fresco had the appearance of old tapestry, worm-eaten, and completely discoloured by time. All these difficulties have been conquered by M. Alaux. By the aid of old prints, and descriptions well studied, the paintings in Henry II.'s saloon have been restored to their original character to the same shades, the same colouring, which they formerly had; and, if Primatice could return again, he would not assuredly disown them.

Fresco painting is done upon fresh plaster, composed of chalk and sand. The colours are put on immediately, and acquire, by drying simultaneously with the plaster, a solidity which renders the painting unalterable. At Fontainbleau, the fresco paintings have not endured as they are known to do in Italy. What can be the reason of this failure, the scientific may perhaps discover. But it is quite certain, and does not admit of doubt, that even during the reign of Henri Quatre, a great part of the paintings in Henry II.'s gallery were obliged to be restored. This restoration, badly designed and badly executed, has not succeeded.

Instructed by this first experiment, M. Alaux resolved to adopt a plan of restoration which does not take from the fresco that light and transparent character which belongs to it. This plan of proceeding is termed encaustic painting; it was known amongst the ancients, used much by them, and exhumed from the ashes of Pompeï and Herculaneum by a friend of the fine arts, M. Paillot de Montabert, who has bequeathed the fruit of his labours to posterity, in a work full of researches, as ingenious as clever.

From the documents furnished by this learned observer, and from experiments. made with success by M. Vivet, Alaux was enabled to employ this method, and has succeeded triumphantly. A coat of wax, laid upon the surface of the paintings, (which includes the new plaster,) was warmed rapidly, by means of chafing-dishes, made expressly for the purpose. This succeeded in bringing out the discoloured parts; and the wax, mixing with the colours, contributed at the same time to give a perfect uniformity to the ensemble, and leave to the old and new paintings the character and style of true fresco painting.

The painting on the right of the chimney-piece represents Francis I. killing a wild-boar which made great havoc in the country around the forest. Underneath

SALOON OF HENRY II., FONTAINBLEAU.

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this is a Diana. The painting to the left represents a knight condemned to death, and who, hoping either to save his life or terminate it more honourably, has obtained permission to fight with a wild beast, which had chosen the forest of Fontainbleau for its retreat, and traversed in day-light the neighbouring country, committing dreadful ravages amongst the flocks. The gallant knight was victorious, and obtained his pardon. Underneath this painting is a Diana reposing, said to be the portrait of Diana, of Poitier. At the extremity of the room, above the rostrum, which is of carved wood with inlaid flowers, ornamented with the same arms as are upon the ceiling, is a large basso-relievo, representing a concert, composed of all the musical instruments known at that period; and near the orchestra are nymphs dancing round a Cupid.

The

The chimney piece is quite in harmony with the other decorations. centre, which is in the Ionic order, is ornamented with a large shield filled with the arms of France, surrounded by festoons, and garlands of flowers surmounted by a crescent enclosing the cipher of Henry II., its founder. In the Doric order there are crescents, palms, laurel-branches, and other attributes, covered with gilding and rich colouring. Satyrs in bronze, eight feet in height, laden with baskets of fruit of the same metal, formerly supported the vast design; but, in 1793 they were carried away, to be converted into implements of war, or brass money; during the Imperial government, they were replaced by two fluted columns in stucco, which still remain. This chimney-piece was the work of the sculptor William Rondelet, who, under the direction of the celebrated Philibert Delorme, superintended the public buildings in the reigns of Francis I. and Henry II., and acquired a well-deserved reputation.

The ceiling is composed of twenty-seven concave octagon caissons; they contain in bas-relief, upon a ground of gold and silver, in some, the arms of Henry II., in others, roses and crescents intermixed, and two great shields are inscribed with the words, donec totum impleat orbem. An inlaid floor of mosaic work, composed of native woods of divers shades, contributes to make Henry II.'s saloon one of the handsomest that can be found in Europe; and it is yet more interesting from having preserved all the characters of the epoch in which it was constructed, and the impress of the artistes who have laboured to decorate and embellish it.

U

AMPHITHEATRE AT NISMES.

Years have grown into centuries grey,
Emperor and people--where are they?
Where are the buildings of carved stone?
Look in the dust-to dust they are gone.

NISMES was one of those colonies particularly favoured by Augustus Cæsar, and it received its earliest embellishments from the hand of Marcus Agrippa, his son-in-law. It was still further beautified by Hadrian and the Antonines, of whom it was the birthplace. Under which of its imperial masters the noble Amphitheatre arose is uncertain; some antiquaries ascribe its origin to the generosity and genius of Marcus Antoninus. Charles Martel, who detested the name of Roman, prostrated everything that perpetuated the memory of that great nation; the Amphitheatre became one of the earliest objects of his stupid enmity, and, in order to efface what he could not utterly obliterate, he caused all the corridors to be filled with wood, which was set on fire in various places simultaneously. But the solidity of the structure, like the enduring character of Roman superiority, resisted the most violent attempts to annihilate it; and the ruins of this stately structure add, to the other facts they attest, proof of the ignobleness of Martel's mind.

Notwithstanding the injuries purposely inflicted upon it, the Amphitheatre of Nismes is still the most perfect example of its kind surviving. Its greater diameter, or major axis, is 440 feet, its minor 320; its circumference 1,100 feet, and height 70. The longer internal diameter, or length of the arena where the shows and games and combats were exhibited, was 260 feet, and the transverse diameter of the same 140. The interior is not so perfect as curiosity would desire; remains of thirty tiers of seats, however, are still discernible; and those ambulatories where the Roman citizens and soldiers were lounging while the shows were impatiently expected, are entire in many places. Less capacious than the Colosseum at Rome, which afforded accommodation to eighty-five thousand persons, this building is of equal extent with the amphitheatre of Verona, which was calculated to hold twenty thousand.

The exterior design consists of two arcades, of sixty openings each, between which are three-quarter columns, with ornamented capitals, supporting a continuous entablature. For many years this inestimable record of civilization was profaned by the intro