The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-15

truce the dlne OF the ancient Via Sacra,
which ran alongside OF the Basilica EN-
ma he brought to light some remarkable
architectural remains, several of which
are richly sculptured-cornices, friezes
ana anchitraVes of fine white marble
rom the style in which these are wrought
there Is reason to believe that they be-
lohged 60 the golden age of ancient Ro-
man art-the period of the Emperor Au-
sustus or that Immediately following il.
The Torso of Juno.
Among the finds was one of remarka-
pie beauty. 1t is the headless and arm
less torso of a statue of Juno. and. though
mueh smaller, has a resemblance in the
mode of treatment TO the celebrated Bar
Derlnl Juno in the round room (Sala Ro-
tonda) of the Vatican.
IL Is eXquisitely sculptured in Greek mar
pie and, as the report issued by the d.
rectors of excavations describes it, most
beautiful in the powerful and delicate
modelling of the shoulders and bosom. half
hldden beneath the fine folds of the drap-
cry, which the sculptor, evidently a
creek, has made as transparent as veil
at the same time keeping it in relief and
almost floating.
This recent discovery, found in a corner
OF the ruins known as the BasiHca Emilia,
which have just been Brought TO light.
SHOWS the high point reached by ancient
art, and is, in this line, a finer example of
that art than what most of the Roman
museums present 10 view.
One might Well say" adds the report
already referred to- that the unknown
sculptor of the jewel just brought to light
had wrought the hard marble with the
breath of his own life and caresses rather
than with the chiselm
Thus the newly discovered headless and
armless trunk of Juno may be regarded as
a new Galatea wrought by a forgotten
Pysmalion. This admirable work of art.
with earth-stains still fresh upon it and
some fragments of the clay amid which it
was buried during long centuries still
clnging to it,now stands in a corner of one
of the rooms behind the great portico of
the Basilica Emilia-a beautiful ruin in
the midst of ruins.
Interesting Marble Slabs.
A few yards off from this two most or
nate slabs of marble are placed upright
against two boards These. like the gold
coins mentioned above, satisfy the popu-
lar taste for something concrete and pal
pable in the way of discovery. They are
evidently panels which were inserted in a
wall, and the carving on them is most
elaborate and tasteful.
Their borders form frames to the high
reliefs on their surface. These reliefs con-
sist of scrolls of acanthus leaves carved
into circles and having in the center two
from these acanthus circles.
Il set the workmen digging there" said
Signor Boni to me, as he pointed to deep
trench in front of us; land they found
these"
They have resemblance to the great
slabs so richly decorated which are placed
under the porticO of the Pantheon, and it
is thought that from these they may have
been initiated. However that may be, it
is Veritable delight to the eyes to look
upon them.
A third slab of greater dimension, cary
ed in exceeding low relief-than which if
teenth century artists described as STAG
ciato works. equally beautiful. The ivy
leaves which are rendered on it's surface
scarcely rise above the marble ground
And these three blocks, thus carved were
used in the Middle Ages to cover a drain
which the eXcavators have now come upon
at about six feet beneath the level of the
Forum.
Two Pauline Basilicas.
Their interest, apart from their intrinsic
value, consists in the suggestion they pre-
sent of the beauty and richness of the
buildings they adorned, which went to
constitute the grandeur that was Rome"
such rich adornmentS were we'll in place
in the Baslica Emilia, a building which
Cicero described as most magnificent"
and which Pliny places among the marvel
GUS DullNlDSS OF Rome. Am L NOT 10
cfude, he writes, lin the number Of our
magnificent constructions the Basillca of
Paulus emil u.s., with its admirable Phry-
gian colunmS?" Part of the remains of this
grand building has recently been brought
to light, but some doubt hangs upon the
identity until further excavati tons are made
in the hope of finding the great hal of
the Basilica, which will enlighten us re-
garding its construction.
The columns of Phrygian marble men
toned by Pliny, with the dark-brownish
purple ground with hue of clotted blood,
were transferred to the Basilica of another
Paul, of him who was the Apostle of the
Gentles.
In the year 1856 Vaentinian II and Theo
dosius decreed the erection of St. PauPs
Church on the Ostian Way, in a splendid
manner
These columns of Phryglan marble and
their capitals of the Augustan era were
then brought to adorn the great Basilica
of st. Paul. and remained there until their
destruction by fire in 1923.
In the apse behind the high altar the
traveer to-day may see four of these col
umns, apd this sight, in union with the
marble relefs discovered in the Forum the
other Cay, may enable him to picture in his
imagination the splendor of the Basilica
Emilia that stood by the side of the Via
Sacra in the Roman Forum.
Ancient Carving.
From what remains to us to-day Of an
cient carving, such as that of the panels
mentioned already and of the many other
works besides, 1t is plainly evident that the
men of the Middle Ages, who turned to
account the marbles they found strewed
on the ground or falling from the sides of
a lettering building, did not wantony de-
stroy them That they turned them to
commonplace, and even to base, uses every
one sees in Rome, but they did not go 20
the trouble of erasing an inscription from
a block of marble or a slab suitable for
their purpose; neither did they rub smooth
the sarvings on a marble panel.
An excellent example of letting such
things alone is furnished by an immense
block of marble which was taken from an
ancient building and was used as the
threshold of fifth century house or shop
in the front of the Basilca Emilia. 1t re-
veals its provenance at first glance.
on the exposed or upper surface of this
block there are the remains of an inscrip-
tion in letters that are comparatively