the vicinage of Baiae is the Lake Avernus, the fabled entrance to Hades, whither Aeneas went, led by the sibyl, and whose descent we know, proverbially, to be easy. You approach, expecting a gloomy and repulsive sight, but, in pleasant surprise, look upon peaceful waters most regularly encased, reflecting the blue sky above, and indicating nothing of the terrors of Tartarus. And, even now, as in the sweet Arcadian days, the vine is cultivated on the hills, and the goatherds are happy in their simple life.

"O, Pluto! if this be hell I look upon

Close shamed Elysium's gates, my shade shall seek for
none."

HERE is something appealing in the glamour of greatness, the traditional halo, which, coming down from the ages, illumines the dim past and makes it glorious. Of all the old cities, I am disposed to believe that Rome is the most interesting. One rarely thinks of it as the capital of United Italy, but as the capital of the Roman Empire, which once comprised the known world. All that we learned at school is visualized. Still on the Capitol is the bronze representation of Romulus and Remus; the she-wolf snarls at the intruder, giving warning, just as the geese had apprised the Romans of the approaching foe. They say that an American schoolgirl, when asked what object she most admired in the "Eternal City" said, "The big dog at the Capitol." "But, there is no big dog at the Capitol," she was told. "Yes," she insisted, "there is a big dog there giving nourishment to Romeo and Juliet." Perhaps, later, she identified the lovers more correctly in the City of Verona, where the sentimental still lay wreaths upon the graves of the unhappy scions of Capulet and Montague.

But, after its historical associations, Rome seems to be the abiding place of art, because, apart from the fact of its own monuments, its museums contain the greatest works of the ancients extant. On the Pincian Hill, the Villa Medici houses the French Academy, where young Frenchmen find residence, having won, in competition, the famous "Prix de Rome." The most promising men in painting, sculpture, music and architecture, enjoy a three years' residence, with studio, traveling expenses and a goodly sum in addition, and, in this environment, free from the cares of the morrow, they have time to think and to develop without any compulsion.

McKim and Burnham, the great American architects, associated with others, duplicated the French Academy on the Janiculum Hill, and called it the "American Academy," where, under the direction of Mr. Stevens, prize pupils from the United States (of which there are thirtysix at present), enjoy the same conditions of tranquility, and are only required to show their principal work at the Annual Exhibition. A two million dollar fund has been raised, land purchased, buildings erected, and a beautiful villa, the "Aurelia" has been added to the group of buildings, the gift of an American lady. Its support has come from the states of the Union voluntarily contributed.

It is a delight to wander among the studios located in Rome. In the hospitable home of Sculptor Hendrick Christian Andersen, who has wrought colossal works, for sheer love of Art, and to gratify his exuberant imagination, I found four framed photographs, bound together, in different attitudes, of the Cyrene Venus, which he, eminent critic, one among many, declared to be the most beautiful

sculpture in the world. This rare creation of an unknown sculptor was found in the American excavations at Cyrene, near Tripoli, an ancient Greek settlement, as late as December, 1917. It is without head or arms, but it is believed that the head has recently been found in the vicinity. It dates perhaps back to the Fifth Century before Christ, and is now exhibited in the Museo Della Terme in Rome. One critic has said of it-which is the secret of its fascinating quality, “There is so much life in the Cyrene Venus, and the marble is so much like real flesh, that one can almost see the muscles under the epidermis. It is this miracle of form which makes it possible that this is an original Greek work, despite the large and rather ugly feet." Most critics put it above the Venus of Medici and her ladyship of Milo.

In many respects, the greatest known group was discovered in 1506 in the reign of Pope Julius the II., and, so great was the rejoicing, that it was borne to the Belvedere in the Vatican amidst the clanging of bells and holiday demonstrations by the people.

Pliny had seen it in Rome in the First Century, and described it as "A marvelous work of art," and then it was lost for nearly fifteen hundred years.

At this period the Vatican was enriched by a succession of wonderful antique discoveries, and Raphael and Michalangelo were deeply influenced by them. In fact, the commentator, André Maurel, said that these men of genius would not have borne fruit, had they not received "the kiss of the Belvedere."

The Laocoon represents the death of the Priest of Apollo and his two sons, who had in vain warned the Trojans,1184 B.C., against accepting the gift of a wooden horse,

within which the Greeks had secreted soldiers, who, after they had entered the city, at a given signal, opened the gates and allowed to pass the Grecian host, whereupon a terrible slaughter ensued, and the city was taken.

It is the work of three masters of the Island of Rhodes, Agesander, Athenodorus and Polydorus. The Laocoon, himself, is the center of the group, and seeks to repel the serpents, who have sprung from the shore to devour him and his sons. His hitherto energetic resistance has begun. to fail, and "his noble head is raised in mournful resignation to Heaven, as though to ask the Gods why they had condemned hin to so terrible a fate." The younger son, on his right, is already in the last agonies of death, the other bravely fighting.

Gotthold Ephriam Lessing, the great German critic, has written a volume on this subject. He says of the group, "It must have been made when art was at its perfection, because it is worthy of that period."

Pliny said of it:

"A work which may be considered superior to all others in painting and statuary."-Lib. xxxvi., C. 4.

And Shelley:

"The subject of the Laocoon is a disagreeable one, but, whether we consider the grouping or the execution, nothing that remains to us of antiquity can surpass it."

After gazing upon it in the Vatican, and studying its significance, I sought and purchased a full-sized copythe only one in Rome-which I had shipped to California, because, apart from its beauty as a work of art, it carried the lesson of the Trojan horse. The Laocoön may well