PALAZZO ROSPIGLIOSI.

THE Palazzo Rospigliosi, one of the most prominent buildings on the Quirinal, is seen from various spots of the Calian Hill. Standing on the terrace in front of the Church of Santa Francesca di Paola, the Palace rises up boldly before you; and though without much pretension to architectural beauty (for the spectator looks on the rear of the building), still it presents a peculiarly picturesque combination of form.

## IN THE VILLA BORGHESE.

THIS arch, surmounted by an eagle, the armorial bearings of the family, is merely an object terminating the vista of a road from the entrance to the Gardens on the side of the Porta del Popolo.

It is placed behind a fine fountain, and backed by artificial rockwork. Why the God Esculapius, with the symbol of health, is placed here, it would be difficult to assign a fair reason for, since the spot is by no means in good repute at certain seasons for the salubrity of the air.

The site and form of the construction are very happily chosen, so as to afford a remarkable view of the distant cupola of St Peter's; and the eye having it almost alone before it, the view presents a picturesque and certain theatrical effect.

The grounds and park of this celebrated villa are studded with fountains, arches, porticos, and other garden decorative and tonsile work, after the taste of the ancient Romans. Some of these designs are of very pretty invention, others whimsical and capricious; and one or two, such as the Portico or Propylea (as the new entrance from the Porta del Popolo is called), built by the architect Canina, have architectural merits of a high order.

This property under the Pincian Hill has been in the hands of the Borghese family since the Pontificate of Paul V; whose nephew, Cardinal Scipio Borghese, acquired it from the Duke Altemps. The late and present Princes have greatly extended the drives through these pleasant grounds, which are one of the chief recreations of the people of Rome. They have also added not a few treasures of sculpture and mosaic, and other works of ancient art, to their already large collection; and have done much to compensate for the loss sustained to this famous gallery by the removal of many of its masterpieces to the Louvre, under Napoleon.

LARICCIA.

THIS view of the Stella Convent at Aricia, and of the Viaduct over which passes the road to Naples, is taken from the plain below the modern town in the Valle Aricia.

LARICCIA (ARICIA).

THE vast pile of the Chigi Palace, and the graceful cupola and belfries of the neighbouring church, domineering over the modern town of Lariccia, are features familiar to every traveller on the road from Naples to Rome; and with the woods which clothe the sides of the steep ascent to the town, have long been favourite subjects for the artist's pencil.

Situated sixteen miles from Rome on the Via Appia, close to Albano, the modern village occupies and is restricted to the site of the Arx Ariciae, the Roman Citadel of the antient town. We read that in the ninth century, and after repeated devastations from the Goths, Vandals, and Saracens, the lower town was entirely abandoned, and the population, greatly reduced in numbers, took shelter in the Citadel, and henceforward the annals of the middle ages mention Aricia merely as a Castle. It became the property of the Church, and for a long time belonged to the powerful Baronial family of the Savelli. In the seventeenth century it passed by purchase into the hands of the Chigi family, who still remain lords of Lariccia.

The Palace and Church were built towards the middle of the seventeenth century, by the Pope of that family, Alexander VII, from the designs of the celebrated architect Bernini: the small town, which is almost an appendage to the residence of the prince, contains about 1,000 inhabitants, and is still enclosed within the circuit of the crumbling walls raised in the middle ages. The woods of the Park extend towards the Lake of Albano, and offer peculiarly picturesque groups of ilex, common oak, and pine in great variety.

Antient Aricia lay in the plain beneath, and was traversed by the Via Appia. Few and unimportant remains of the town are to be seen, but the road itself, carried over this short valley on substructions of huge blocks of peperino (Lapis Albanus) to the height in some places of 50 Roman palms, strikes the traveller as one of the most colossal and substantial works raised by the genius and perseverance of that extraordinary people.