We do not know how many private collections there were in Rome when the collectomania finally took the city by storm. A list of Roman collectors in the fashion of the modern work (Ritz-Pacot) would be most interesting and enlightening. However, judging from the statues and the public buildings we know to have been replete6 with objects of art, we gather that as an emporium of art Rome must have attained7 a magnitude unequalled in past or present times. Why this great collection of art did not transform the Romans into the most artistic8 people the world has ever seen, is a mystery only to be solved by hypothesis. Either the Romans were innately9 refractory10 to the refinements11 of true art, or, like to all nouveaux riches, the field of art merely afforded room for faddists, hobbyists and fashion seekers, and, only as sporadic12 cases, a few real lovers of good art. However this may be, without discussing the causes, the effect was certainly gigantic: art from every land found its way to Rome, which by force of circumstances thus became a monumental synthesis of art. Even at the time of Constantine, Rome counted 10 basilicas, 11 forums13, 11 thermes, 18 aqueducts, 8 bridges, 37 city gates, 29 military roads leading to all parts of the45 known world, 2 arenas14, 8 theatres, 2 circuses, 37 triumphal arches, 5 obelisks15, 2 colossal16 statues, 22 equestrian17 statues, 423 temples with statues of the gods—eighty of these being in solid gold and seventy-seven in ivory.
It is easy to understand that the above statistics only give a faint idea of the magnificence of Rome, for the 423 streets and 1790 private palaces noted18 in the same statistics as existing in Rome at the time of Constantine were in a measure respectively open-air museums and repositories of private collections of art, as no patrician1 mansion19, according to Vitruvius, was complete without a place where paintings and objects of art could be exhibited with advantage.
Cicero allows us a peep at the collections and gorgeous palaces owned by notable Romans as well as their style of living. In his oratio (Pro Roscio Amerino) he speaks of Chrysogon in these words:
“Look at Chrysogon when he comes down from his fine mansion on the Palatine! He owns a charming villa20, where he goes to rest, just at the gates of Rome. He also owns extensive domains21, all magnificent and all near the city. His palace overflows22 with vases of Delos and Corinthian bronze. He keeps there the famous authepsa bought by him some time ago at such a price that on hearing the auctioneer’s voice repeat the bid, the passers-by imagined a farm was being offered for sale. What shall we say of his chiselled23 silver? his precious stuffs? his paintings? statues? marbles? How many of such things do you think he owns? Just imagine what has been pillaged24 from so many opulent families in times of trouble and rapine; and all for the repletion25 of one single palace.”
When one thinks that this Chrysogon, Sulla’s freedman, had the chance to amass26 such an accumulation of art, it is not difficult to imagine the artistic wealth that must have been acquired by Scaurus, the terrible Sulla’s unscrupulous son-in-law, the embezzler27, the deplored28 and deplorable Roman Ædile whom Cicero defended before the tribunal with the inconsistency of his easy eloquence29.
46 According to Pliny (XXXVI), Scaurus not only owned one of the most magnificent palaces on the Palatine, but had his mansion crowded with rare things in true Roman fashion. With a Sulla for father-in-law, a Metella, the purchaser of proscribed30 citizens’ goods, for mother, a Scaurus, the magna pars31 of the Senate and Marius’ former friend and helper in the spoliation of provinces, for father, he can have had no difficulty, as Pliny informs us, in gathering3 the unequalled treasures that were stored in his palace. The wonders of the treasures of his art emporium are all the more easily explained, too, when we consider that he not only inherited a large fortune, but more than doubled it by speculations32.
To give some idea of his fatuous33 munificence34, we may state that this Roman multi-millionaire built, for one month’s performance, a theatre in the city, to hold eighty thousand spectators, and adorned35 the edifice36 with three thousand statues and three hundred and sixty columns. Among the precious things of Scaurus’ collection were a great number of paintings by Pausias, works intended by the artist for his native town of Sycione, if the Romans had had milder methods of collecting art.
Even those Romans, and they were many, who were not considered collectors in the proper sense, owned fine works of art. The Servilius, who had large gardens on the Palatine near the present Porta San Paolo, had what a modern connoisseur37 might call a few extra pieces. There was a Triptolemus, a Flora38 and a Ceres by Praxiteles, a fine Vesta with two Vestals by Scopas and an Apollo by Calamis. It may be mentioned, by the way, that it was to this famous garden Nero retired39 on the day preceding his death, it was here in the Servilian mansion that he was abandoned by his servants, parasites41 and courtiers, here that he wandered desolate42 and despondent43 before resorting to flight. On the spot formerly44 occupied by the Servilian gardens a mosaic45 was discovered, now in San Giovanni in Laterano, representing an unswept floor with the remains46 of a luxurious47 dinner. One might fancy this mosaic to have belonged to one of those47 Roman Triclinia and their noted orgies, or, having the imagination of Ampere48, the historian, to the place where Servilia had supped with her lover, Julius Cæsar. History tells us that this matron, the mother of Brutus, was of the pure blood—one might use the modern expression, blue blood—of the gens Servilia.
For the sake of the colour, we cannot refrain from giving the description of a true collector of art as related in all its suggestive reality in the Satyricon, the only known fiction of Roman times, a work which, though fiction, seems close to nature and a most faithful interpretation49 of the artistic merits and oddities of Roman life.
“I entered the Pinacotheca, where marvels50 of all kinds were gathered. There were works by Zeuxis which seemed to have triumphed over all the affronts51 of age, sketches52 by Prothogenes that appeared to dispute merits with nature herself, works that I did not dare to touch but with a sort of religious fear. There were some monochromes by Apelles which moved me to holy reverence53. What delicacy54 of touch and what precision of drawing in the figures! Ah! the painter of the very soul of things. Here on the wings of an eagle a god raising himself higher than the air; there innocent Hylas repulsing55 a lascivious56 Naiad; further on Apollo cursing his murderous hand....”
At a certain moment the owner of the collection, apparently57, arrives. He is of a type not yet extinct: the man who lives for his collection, the man so engrossed58 in his cherished objects as to forget and neglect other pleasures in life, social obligations, etc.
“A white-haired old man arrived,” the author of the Satyricon goes on to relate, “his tormented59 expression seemed to herald60 grandeur61. His garments were of that neglected character which is often distinctive62 of literary people who have not been spoilt by wealth....
“I thought of questioning him. He was more of a connoisseur than myself in the epochs of the paintings and their subjects; some of the latter incomprehensible to me. ‘What48 is the reason,’ I asked him while we were speaking of painting, ‘for the weakening, the great decadence63 of the fine arts nowadays; more especially of painting which seems to have disappeared and to have left no trace of past glory?’ He answered, ‘The passion for money, that is the cause of the great change. Years ago when merit, though left to starve, was glorified64 and appreciated, art flourished.... Then, only to mention sculpture, Lysippus was perishing of hunger at the feet of the very statue he was intent upon perfecting; Myron, that marvellous artist who could cast in bronze the life of men and animals, Myron was so poor that at his death no one was to be found to accept his inheritance. We of our time, given over to orgies, wine and women, have no energy left to study the fine art pieces under our very eyes. We prefer to abuse and slander65 antiquity66. Only vice67 nowadays finds great masters and pupils!... Do you believe that in our day any go to the temple to pray for the health of their body? Before all else, even before reaching the threshold of the temple, the one will promise an offering to the gods if his rich relation dies and makes him his heir, the other, if he discovers a treasure, and another if he shall achieve the dispersal of his third million in health and safety.... And are you surprised that painting languishes68, when in the eyes of every man an ingot of gold is a masterpiece that cannot be equalled by anything that Apelles, Phidias and all the crack-brained Greeks have been able to produce.’”
Photo]
[Alinari
Marcus Aurelius.
A XVIth Century copy by L. Del Duca of the equestrian statue in Rome (Campidoglio).
With the growth of fashion, a collection of art became the necessary complement69 of a wealthy mansion. The need then arose to give this collection the noblest place in the palace, a room apart to enhance its importance. This new view brought about a new architectural distribution of the Roman patrician mansion, not only on account of the family life and obligations of a wealthy class of citizens, but because the well-to-do Roman had obligations towards art and antiquity. In the Roman mansion we thus find first the atrium, a large hall open to friends, clients and visitors at large. The peristyle is the second courtyard, and is reserved for the49 family. In the atrium the domestic gods were generally placed and records concerning the family, including genealogical trees (stemmata).
With time these atria became regular museums, as they were excellent places for decoration and the display of art, being the open central part of the house girded by a colonnade70.
An idea of the importance of these atria may be gathered from that of Scaurus’ palace, which had thirty-eight columns 12½ yards high, made of the same kinds of rare marble that faced the walls—Egyptian green, old yellow or Oriental alabaster71, African marble and other rare kinds brought from Syria and Numidia. Scaurus’ atrium appears to have been hung round with tapestries72, embroidered73 with gold, illustrating74 mythological75 scenes. Alternating with these rare tapestries were panopliæ and family portraits.
Though perhaps the favourite spot, the atrium was not the only place for the artistic display of the Romans. Their palaces also contained Oeci, magnificent galleries used for receptions, and the Exhedræ, which were rooms for conversation, generally of a more sober decoration. In the Triclinia there were kept works in precious metals and the finest pieces of furniture. There was also the Sacrarium, a private shrine76 where precious pieces of art were often hidden. Verres found his famous canephoros (basket-bearers) by Polycletus, the Cupid of Praxiteles and the Hercules of Myron in the sacrarium of Heius of Messina.
There was also a room in Roman mansions77 set apart for the library, and some had special nooks for such collections as gems79 and cameos. The place where the best paintings were shown was called the Pinacotheca, and was always built towards the north so that the light from the windows should be without much variation, and above all because a northern exposure left no chance for the sun’s rays to enter and spoil the effect of the painting.
The Roman collector of books very often went in for elegant bindings and all the showy and decorative80 side of a50 library. Seneca deplores81 the fact that while every elegant house in Rome contained a library, many of these collections of books were simply for show. Too many collectors, not dissimilar in this from our bibliomaniacs of to-day, had quantities of works they did not care to read. “What is the use of having so many thousand volumes,” cries Seneca, “the lifetime of their owners would hardly suffice to read the titles of the works.... There is a man with scarcely the literary knowledge of a serf, and he is buying volumes, not to read them, but as an ornament82 for his dining-room! There is another who is proud of his library only because it is in cedar83 and ivory; he has the mania5 of buying books that no one looks for. He is always gaping84 among his volumes, which he has bought solely85 for their titles. Lazy people, who never read, are likely to be found with complete collections of the works of orators86 or historians, books upon books. One could really forgive this mania if it had originated in a real passion for reading, but all these fine works, the great creations of divine genius, works ornamented87 with the portraits of their authors, do but serve to decorate the walls” (Tranq., IX).
A large library was the desire of Horace. He wrote to Lellius:
“Do you know my daily prayer?—Great Gods! let me keep the little I own, less if it is your pleasure; let me live according to my choice the days your indulgence has granted me; let me have plenty of books, one year’s income in advance that I may not be obliged to live day by day from hand to mouth.... As regards the peace of my heart and my happiness, that is my affair” (Sat., II, 6).
Such contrarieties have a genuine echo in our society where the bibliomaniac is rarely a literary man or even slightly interested in literature. Bibliomaniacs collected volumes for the most part either because some of them were considered rare, and therefore advertised the high price paid for them, or because they might serve as a decorative show, but the collecting of general art and curios, with a few exceptions,51 appears to have been vacuous88 and freakish. Even specialization, which is held to be progress in modern times, but as a matter of fact more often merely represents the triumph of erudition over art and taste, exercised in Rome the momentary89 tyranny of fashion.
An example of this specialization is given us by the craze in Rome for Corinthian bronze. Without entering into a discussion about the legend of its origin, and simply hinting that there are strong proofs that the alloy90 existed long before the siege of Corinth, we are safe in saying that the craze in Rome for Corinthian bronze was one of those freaks of fashion that has had, perhaps, no echo in all the after-history of “collectomania.” Every amateur was at that time bound to have at least one vase of the coveted91 metal. According to Pliny (XXXIV, 1, 2, 3) in his time this metal was equal to gold in value. In order to obtain two vases of this precious metal Mark Antony ordered the assassination92 of the owner, and it must be borne in mind that Mark Antony was accused of using golden vessels93 for the lowest services of his household. Octavianus, supposed to be a collector of mild passions and a man who certainly did give up all such hobbies on becoming emperor, was also very fond of the fashionable metal—corinthiorum præcupidus—and did not scruple94 to adopt the methods of Sulla and Mark Antony to gratify his ultra-fashionable taste.
Times were then ripe for all forms of degeneration. Connoisseurs95, like those of to-day, began to discuss patina96. As it required years for Corinthian bronze to assume the proper patina—Nobilis ærugo, Horace calls it—it was natural that this alloy should have the preference over all other kinds of bronze. But there were gradations of colour even in this metal and value was discriminated97 according to the quality of the patina. Of these patinæ the Roman collector recognized five different kinds. Apart from these varying degrees of merit, the connoisseur, Pliny tells us, could tell the quality of the alloy from its weight and determine the excellency of the patina by its smell.
52 Another craze in Rome that greatly fostered imitation and forgery98 was that of murrhines, cups of a mysterious material which was more valued than any other rare stone or rock crystal, though a cup of the latter, according to Pliny (XXXVII), easily fetched 150,000 sesterces, an amount equivalent to £1200. As a rule, always according to Pliny, for one of these cups a bigger price was paid than for a slave.
If the Romans, unlike the Americans, had no detectives at festivals and banquets, they certainly took precautions to guarantee the safety of the treasures displayed and to guard against the possible greed of some guest.
“Whereas Virro drinks from pateras of beryl,” remarks Juvenal, speaking to a parasite40, “no one would trust you with even a simple golden cup, or, if perchance they do let you use one, be sure a guardian99 near you has previously100 counted the precious stones studding it and follows with his eye the movements of your fingers and your sharp nails.”
One can really not refrain from giving this gorgeous patch of Roman colour as Juvenal himself puts it:—
... Ipse capaces Heliadum crustas et inæquales beryllo Virro tenet phialas: tibi non committitur aurum; Vel, si quando datur, custos affixus ibidem, Qui numeret gemmas unguesque observet acutos (V. 38).
One may be sure that the man charged with watching was likely to do his duty with the utmost solicitude101. Carelessness in handling these precious pieces that were used to decorate Roman tables was not easily overlooked. An anecdote102 will illustrate103 this. Vedius Pollio, a Roman nobleman, possessed104 one of the most esteemed105 collections of these crystals. One day when Augustus was dining at this favourite’s house, a slave broke one of the precious crystal cups. Vedius immediately ordered the slave to be thrown alive into the pond of lampreys. Disgusted at such an order, Augustus not only made a freedman of the slave but ordered that Vedius’ whole53 collection of crystals should be broken before his eyes and thrown into the pond of lampreys.
But as we have said above, the craze for murrhines surpassed the craze for the precious crystal, though comparing the two, we are bound to add, with no artistic justification106.
What these murrhines were made of is not exactly known. Some of the scholars of our day believe they were artificial, a mixture of clay with myrrh, hence, perhaps, the name. Winkelmann is inclined to think they were made of a kind of agate107, and Mariette and de Caylus respectively believe them to have been mother-of-pearl, or fluor-spar, or porcelain108.
In further illustration of the peculiar109 substance of the murrhines we quote from Pliny:
“The material of the murrhines is in blocks no larger than an ordinary glass, and a stratum110 no thicker than the marble of a small console. There is no real splendour in this material, but instead of splendour what one might call brilliancy. What gives the murrhines their price is the variety of their tints111, the colour of the veining112, either purple or pure white, sometimes shading off into nuances, reaching in some species the hue113 of blazing purple. The white samples shade into roseate or milky114 tones. Some amateurs are fond of freakish accidentalities or reflex iridescent115 changes like the rainbow, others prefer opaque116 effects. Transparency and pale hues117 are considered defects, as also opaque grains inside even if they do not alter the surface, like tumours118, spreading in the human body. The quality of the odour helps to set the price on the stuff” (XXXVII, 8).
It is to be noted that while this rather vague description of Pliny’s would seem on the one hand to point to the agate or any fluor-spar, the addition of the odour tends to destroy this hypothesis.
In any case murrhines became the rage of the Roman collector, and the fashion being, as usual, imperative119, no one was considered elegant or correct who did not own at least one sample of the precious cups. One of these cups which, according to Pliny’s estimate, could not contain more54 than a measure of liquid, less than half a gallon, had cost the large sum of 70 talents (£15,400). Adding that the cup had belonged to a consul120, and that the edge of it was nibbled121, Pliny remarks that “such damage is the reason of the increased price, there is not in all Rome a murrhine which can boast of a more illustrious origin” (XXXVII, 7).
This consul, who loved his cup so much as to nibble122 it on putting it to his lips, this collector, whose name is unknown to us, used up all his patrimony123 on his hobby of collecting murrhines. He possessed so many of them, Pliny adds, that “one might have filled with them the private theatre that Nero had constructed in his gardens on the other bank of the Tiber.”
Perhaps one of the most esteemed murrhines was that which was considered the gem78 of Petronius’ collection. He had paid 300 talents (£66,000) for it. Knowing how much Nero coveted this precious cup and wishing to baffle his plans, before destroying himself Petronius ordered his slaves to break it to pieces, so that it should not fall into the hands of the man he detested124.
A rival craze in Rome to that of murrhines was the passion for tables of citrus. Here too there is uncertainty125 as to the nature of this rare wood called citrus. Apparently it grew at the foot of Mount Atlas126 in Africa, and was in all probability a thuja. To obtain the proper grain it was felled at the root and cut into planks127 of a length to furnish the board of the table.
Pliny seems to think that Cicero—the snob128 collector—set the example of extravagance in these tables. The one he bought at the fancy price of 4000 English sovereigns was still in existence in Pliny’s time and went under the name of the Ciceroniana. Cicero’s price, however, was surpassed by Asinius Gallus and Cethegus, the former paying 1,100,000 sesterces for his citrus table and the latter 1,400,000 sesterces. Yet according to Cicero, the citrus table that Verres had placed in his triclinium was the finest and most valuable Rome had ever seen.
55 Needless to add that in this article, too, collectors had their preferences, that there was citrus and citrus, that the precious tables were valued according to the grain of the wood and the patina. There were four qualities among the most appreciated. The tigrines, the pantherines and the pavonines were those tables of which the grain and knots of the wood resembled the coats of the two animals in the case of the two first, whereas the wood of the last showed knots like the eyes of a peacock’s tail. The fourth quality was called apiates, for in these tables the wood looked like a mass of dark seeds, or more accurately129 a swarm130 of bees—hence the name.
The collectomania and thirst for display must have not only favoured the trade in spurious pieces of cheap imitation but, have caused in the chaos131 of tastes at times an equal confusion in general reasoning. Thus wise men and philosophers appear to have indulged in—what shall we say?—rather amateurish132 considerations, indicating the reasoning powers of a dilettante133. Cicero at one time gibes134 at collectors and at another boasts of being a collector himself. Seneca, the wise Seneca, the cool-headed philosopher, was no better. Forgetting that his triclinium was adorned with five hundred fine, tripod-like tables with ivory feet, he writes as a comment:
“I like a simple table with nothing remarkable135 about its grain, one that is not celebrated136 in the city for having belonged to a succession of lovers of fashion.” And then “... material considerations to which a pure soul mindful of its origin should give no weight.”
At one time fashion demanded that citrus should be used in veneering, an art in which the Romans were extremely skilful137, using all kinds of rare woods, ivory and tortoise-shell. Furniture veneered with tortoise-shell, especially, fetched an extremely high price and was in considerable vogue138 for a time. The fact was sufficient to prompt Seneca to this odd comment: “Is it possible that people are so ready to pay most extravagant prices for the shell of such an unclean and lazy animal!”
56 The prices paid for art were only too often created by fashion, as shown by the artistic milieu139 of Rome we have been trying to outline, and yet the characters we have passed in review in our reconstruction140 of the past do not seem altogether dissimilar from some of our present-day lovers of art.
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patrician
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| adj.贵族的，显贵的；n.贵族；有教养的人；罗马帝国的地方官 | |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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replete
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| adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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innately
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| adv.天赋地；内在地，固有地 | |
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refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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refinements
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| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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sporadic
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| adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的 | |
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forums
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| 讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭 | |
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arenas
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| 表演场地( arena的名词复数 )； 竞技场； 活动或斗争的场所或场面； 圆形运动场 | |
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obelisks
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| n.方尖石塔，短剑号，疑问记号( obelisk的名词复数 ) | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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equestrian
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| adj.骑马的；n.马术 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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overflows
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| v.溢出，淹没( overflow的第三人称单数 )；充满；挤满了人；扩展出界，过度延伸 | |
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chiselled
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| adj.凿过的，凿光的； （文章等）精心雕琢的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 ) | |
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pillaged
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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repletion
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| n.充满，吃饱 | |
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amass
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| vt.积累，积聚 | |
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embezzler
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| n.盗用公款者，侵占公款犯 | |
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deplored
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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proscribed
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| v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pars
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| n.部，部分；平均( par的名词复数 )；平价；同等；（高尔夫球中的）标准杆数 | |
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speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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fatuous
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| adj.愚昧的；昏庸的 | |
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munificence
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| n.宽宏大量，慷慨给与 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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connoisseur
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| n.鉴赏家，行家，内行 | |
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38
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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39
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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40
parasite
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| n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客 | |
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41
parasites
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| 寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫 | |
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42
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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43
despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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44
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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45
mosaic
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| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
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46
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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47
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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48
ampere
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| n.(电)安培 | |
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49
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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50
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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51
affronts
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| n.（当众）侮辱，（故意）冒犯( affront的名词复数 )v.勇敢地面对( affront的第三人称单数 )；相遇 | |
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52
sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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53
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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54
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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55
repulsing
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| v.击退( repulse的现在分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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56
lascivious
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| adj.淫荡的，好色的 | |
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57
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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58
engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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59
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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60
herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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61
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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62
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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63
decadence
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| n.衰落，颓废 | |
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64
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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65
slander
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| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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66
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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67
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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68
languishes
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| 长期受苦( languish的第三人称单数 )； 受折磨； 变得（越来越）衰弱； 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐 | |
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69
complement
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| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
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70
colonnade
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| n.柱廊 | |
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71
alabaster
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| adj.雪白的；n.雪花石膏；条纹大理石 | |
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72
tapestries
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| n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 ) | |
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73
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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74
illustrating
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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75
mythological
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| adj.神话的 | |
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76
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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77
mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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78
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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79
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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80
decorative
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| adj.装饰的，可作装饰的 | |
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81
deplores
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的第三人称单数 ) | |
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82
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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83
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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84
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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85
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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86
orators
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| n.演说者，演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
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87
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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88
vacuous
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| adj.空的，漫散的，无聊的，愚蠢的 | |
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89
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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90
alloy
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| n.合金，(金属的)成色 | |
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91
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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92
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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93
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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94
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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95
connoisseurs
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| n.鉴赏家，鉴定家，行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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96
patina
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| n.铜器上的绿锈，年久而产生的光泽 | |
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97
discriminated
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| 分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待 | |
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98
forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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99
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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100
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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101
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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102
anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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103
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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104
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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105
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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106
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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107
agate
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| n.玛瑙 | |
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108
porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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109
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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110
stratum
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| n.地层，社会阶层 | |
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111
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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112
veining
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| n.脉络分布；矿脉 | |
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113
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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114
milky
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| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
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115
iridescent
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| adj.彩虹色的，闪色的 | |
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116
opaque
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| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
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117
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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118
tumours
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| 肿瘤( tumour的名词复数 ) | |
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119
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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120
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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121
nibbled
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| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
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122
nibble
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| n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵 | |
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123
patrimony
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| n.世袭财产，继承物 | |
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124
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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126
atlas
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| n.地图册，图表集 | |
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127
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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128
snob
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| n.势利小人，自以为高雅、有学问的人 | |
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129
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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130
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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131
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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132
amateurish
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| n.业余爱好的，不熟练的 | |
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133
dilettante
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| n.半瓶醋，业余爱好者 | |
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134
gibes
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| vi.嘲笑，嘲弄（gibe的第三人称单数形式） | |
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135
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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136
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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137
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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138
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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139
milieu
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| n.环境；出身背景；(个人所处的)社会环境 | |
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140
reconstruction
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| n.重建，再现，复原 | |
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