no. vii.
Hermaphrodite.

In the person of Pandora were
united all the perfections of her
sex, but these were eclipsed by the
superior excellencies of Herma-
phrodite, the son of Venus and
Hermes, (as his Greek name
imports) who, to the unrivalled
beauty of his mother, united the
genius, wit, and elegance of his
father. Such is the interesting pour-
trait that poetry has given us of
Hermaphrodite, and sculpture has
ventured to materialize and exhibit
this refined idea in the animated
form which here claims our admi-
ration; this noble competition of
the poets and artists of antiquity,
shews us the elevation to which the
arts had then attained. Poetry had
exhausted the richness of her ima-
gination in creating Hermaphrodite
....in blending the characteristics of
masculine grace and beauty, with
the soft and swelling contour of the
female form. This ideal union
warmed the genius of the sculptor,
and the stubborn marble, under his
animating chissel, started almost
into existence.

The masters of antiquity have
left us several statues of Herma-
phrodite, this, whose original forms
the great ornament of the Borghese
palace at Rome, is considered of
the most perfect beauty, although
that of the Florence gallery has
the advantage of having the Antique
Bed, with the Lion's Skin, on which
the figure reposes. The matrass
in this figure is a ridiculous conceit

of the sculptor Bernini, who re-
stored it. It is unnecessary to
remark that this figure can have
no analogy with those misshapen
objects of the human race, who
have passed under the name of
Hermaphrodites, they are particu-
larly remarked for an unnatural
and heterogeneous mixture of hard
and unharmonious parts.