In another hall and just at its entrance are the statues of Menander and Posidippus in a sitting posture, one on either side.  In this hall are innumerable fine statues, but the further end of it, fronting you as you enter, is a statue which at once engages and rivets your undivided attention; it at once induces you to approach and to take no notice of the statues on the right and left of the hall.  And how should it be otherwise, since it is the identical statue of the father of the Gods and men, the famous Jupiter Capitolinus which adorned the Capitol in ancient Rome.  He is sitting on a throne with a sceptre in one hand and the thunderbolts in the other, at his feet an eagle.  It is a glorious statue and in every respect characteristic; such grandeur, such majesty in the countenance!  It is impossible not to feel awe and reverence on beholding it.  It was on contemplating this venerable statue that an Englishman who was at Rome some sixty years ago, stood wrapt for a time in silent veneration; then suddenly breaking silence he made a profound obeisance before the statue and exclaimed:  “Recollect, O father of the Gods and men, that I have paid my hommage to you in your adversity and do not forget me, should you ever raise your head above water again!”

In the hall of the Muses are the statues of the tuneful Nine which were found underground among the ruins of Hadrian’s villa at Tivoli.

In the centre of a circular chamber of vast dimensions, is an enormous circular basin of porphyry, of forty-one feet in diameter.  A superb mosaic adorns the floor of the centre of this chamber, and is inclosed.  Appropriate ornaments to this immense chamber are the colossal statues of the Dii majorum Gentium.  Here are Juno, Minerva, Cybele, Jupiter, Serapis, Mars, Ceres, and others.

In another hall are two enormous Egyptian Gods in yellow granite; two superb sarcophagi in red marble and two immense Sphinxes in granite.  In another chamber is an antique car drawn by two horses:  the near one is modern, the off one ancient.  The wheels of this car are modern; both car and horses are of exquisite workmanship.  Several fine statues adorn this chamber, among which the most remarkable are a Phocion, a Paris, an Antinous, and a Triton carrying off a Nereid.

I must not omit to mention that in one of the halls is the famous group of the Nile, represented by an enormous colossal River God, surrounded by fourteen children playing with young crocodiles.  Opposite to this group is another equally celebrated, viz., the colossal statue of the Tiber, with the she-wolf giving suck to Romulus and Remus by his side.  The mosaic pavements in this Museum surpass in richness any in the world.  In one of the halls, among the works of modern times, are two beautiful marble tables richly inlaid with all sorts of stones of value, with bas-reliefs on them; the one representing the visit of the Emperor Joseph II, and the other that of Gustavus III of Sweden to Rome, and their reception by the Pope.