Camillus in his triumphal Chariot drawn bj four Horses, with Fame above, placing a chaplet on his head; before the chariot walk priests richly clothed, some of these bear the Statue of the Goddess Juno, others carry vases in their hands, with certain trophies and spoils of infinite beauty. Around the chariot are prisoners in vast numbers, and finely varied attitudes, while behind all, come the soldiers of the army bearing their weapons: among these men is one presenting the portrait of Francesco himself, so admirably painted that it seems to be alive. In the distance to which the triumphal procession extends itself, is seen a very beautiful representation of Rome. Over the door between these two Stories is a picture in chiaro-scuro, the figure of Peace namely, with prisoners engaged in the destruction by fire of a pile of arms; the whole executed by Francesco with so much thought and care, that a more beautiful work could scarcely be seen.[1]
On the wall towards the east, and in the two larger spaces, our artist depicted two niches; in one of which he painted the figure of Mars fully armed, and with a nude figure, intended to represent a Gaul, lying beneath him: on the liead of this last is a crest formed of the bird of Gaul, a cock namely, in its natural shape. In the second niche is Diana, wearing a short tunic of furs, she is in the act of drawing an arrow from her quiver, and at her feet is a hound. In the two angles which connect the wall in question with the neighbouring walls, are two figures, both representing Time; one of these is adjusting the weights of a balance, the other is tempering a liquid by pouring it from one vase into another.
In the last portion now to be described, that namely which is opposite to the chapel and looks towards the North, is on one side, the Sun figured in that manner which is customary
- ↑ In the first of these two stories is a Soldier, fallen to the earth, and transfixed with a lance, but the admirably drawn and beautifully coloured torso of this figure had been destroyed by the swelling and scaling away of the intonaco, which had fallen to the ground; it was, however, gathered up carefully, and every morsel was so nicely conjoined, and so successfully replaced by Baldassare Franceschini, called the Volterrano, by whom every, the most minute of all those innumerable morsels into which the intonaca had separated, was gathered and restored to its due position, with such extraordinary care and patience, that there is scarcely a trace of the misfortune now to be seen.—Bottari.
