38 THE LITERARY GAZETTE, AND called Kamtschatka, as the Kamtschat- | three Numbers of the Literary Gazette | duced them. In fact it was not long before of the public. kadales do, Kurumyschi, and use many not have procured for it the suffrages he perceived that scarcely any of the most of the native words of that people. One of the persons from whom the prisoners received the greatest attention, was an officer, who in his youth had experienced a misfortune similar to their own: Look through the world, you'll always find A fellow feeling makes us kind; and whose adventure shews the state of affairs between China and Japan. We know not where the prophet of the weather was, but we are told of this officer, that "As he was sailing through the Straits of Sangar, a storm arose; the ship lost her masts and rudder, and was driven on the coast of China, where the crew were all made prisoners by the Chinese, and kept in confinement for six years." The Dutch indeed seem to be, or "On our remarking (says Captain Go- As it is our wish rather to recommend, than to exhaust, these volumes with our readers, we shall now take our leave of Captain Golownin's Narrative, from which we have received very considerable entertainment and information. The globe presents no nation more curious than that at which he has given us a peep; and overlooking, as well as some carelessness in style, the very strange defect of having the best parts of the work thrown into notes instead of being interwoven in the main story, we can honestly bear testimony to the merits of this publication, should our following it through Ancient Sculpture considered in a new THE OLYMPIAN JUPITER, or the Art of point of view; comprising an Essay on the taste of the Polychromous Sculpture, an explanatory Analysis of the Toreutic, and the History of Statuary in Gold and Ivory among the Greeks and Romans, with the Restitution of the principal Monuments of that Art, and the practical demonstration, or renewal of the mechanical proceedings. Dedicated to the King, by M. Quatremere de Quincy, Member of the Institute. 1 vol. in folio, with 32 plates, mostly coloured. Reviewed by M. Letronne, in the Journal des Savans for Novem ber 1817. The alliance of several colours, and the It was at the time that the munificence famous originals had come down to us; that among the great number of works exfind three or four which had escaped destruction, under the form of copies, more or tolled by the ancients, one could scarcely less resembling them; lastly, that, with very few exceptions, those to which we give the title of masterpieces, are but copies of some works in bronze but little famed, or the production of an inferior artist. This observation was the first which led him to consider ancient sculpture under a new point of view. statue. This was In reading the ancient authors he saw that almost all the most celebrated works were composed of metal or of ivory, of both these substances at once, of several metals colours in the same together, or, lastly, of marbles of different enough to explain to him the cause which had deprived us of them, and at the same time to make him suspect that the mixture till then been believed. of colours had been more general than had A great number of monuments supported the written testimonies. Hermes were found was of alabaster; statues of marble, of the composed of two marbles of different colours; marble busts, the drapery of which highest merit, which had accessory parts in a buckler of bronze; the crown of Laobronze: thus the gladiator retains the marks of the iron cramps which served to fasten coon has among its leaves holes in which were incrusted laurel berries of metal. It is certain that the Minerva in the frontispiece of the Parthenon, had a helmet, a there are observed in several pieces, variebuckler, and an egis of bronze. Besides this combination of various substances, the hair and the draperies; it was proved ties, owing to a layer of colour applied to that the bas-relief of the Parthenon had been coloured in different manners; that the same was the case with the Temple of Thus Theseus at Athens, and with some other monuments of the finest period of the art; lastly, that this practice had been even extended to works of architecture. testimonies of every kind shewed that a taste for works of polychromous sculpture had been general among the Greeks. But the taste, so constantly charged with barbarism ; point was to follow all the traces of this to note the successive modifications of it; to shew it at once in practice and in honour, soundest and purest ideas of the principles among that people who had formed the Such is the principal object aimed at by that constitute the beautiful of every kind the author of the Olympian Jupiter, and which we have judged it necessary to point out clearly, that our readers might be the better able to comprehend beforehand, the We refer our readers to No. 48 of the Li terary Gazette, for the remarkable coincidence of Canova's opinion with that of M. Quatremere de Quincy. point of view which he has followed in his | Cases of Mummies. These wooden statues, beautiful and important researches. This work, which embraces the entire history of polychromous sculpture among the ancients, comprises six parts; each divided into a certain number of paragraphs, or chapters: the first contains general reflections on polychromous sculpture; the object of the second is to explain the nature of the Toreutic, and to unfold the different methods of that branch of the art; the third, fourth, and fifth contain the complete history of the Chryselephantine sculpture, or that in gold and ivory, from its origin, to the reign of Constantine; the sixth and last part is employed in explaining the mechanical proceedings in the making of statues and Colossuses in gold and ivory. The researches, the profound discussions in this work, which is entirely new, both in the whole and in the parts, the new ideas which the author naturally deduces from them are SO numerous and so various, that it would be difficult to follow him in all the details; we shall therefore confine ourselves, in our analysis, as short as is consistent with the duty of giving a just idea of his work, with pointing out to our readers the principal features which characterise it, and with directing their attention to the new facts with which he enriches the history of this art. The taste for polychromous works among the Greeks having been once well proved, it was natural to seek its origin in the primitive destination of sculpture among them. The Greeks, like all savage people, had originally the custom to colour the shapeless images of their idols; a rather higher degree of civilization produced a taste for statues draped with real stuffs. Religion consecrated these usages; art, in its successive progress, was forced to respect them. If, when it reproduced the ancient statues, it was permitted by degrees to give the contours and the features a little more delicacy and correctness, it was always obliged to approach, at least in the general appearance, the models which for so many ages had been the object of the veneration of the people. This kind of struggle between religion, which preserves customs, and the mind of man, which, as it becomes improved, always tends to modify them, manifests itself in all the epochs of the history of art among the Greeks, and explains how the taste of dressing and colouring the statues of the gods, shews itself in the most flourishing periods, in competition with statuary in bronze, in gold, in ivory, and in marble, which is only a happy modification, and which successive improvements had almost every where substituted for it. It is almost certain, that the first statues of the Greeks were of wood, and of wood coloured. The Egyptian colonies had powerfully contributed to give more strength to the taste prevailing among the Greeks, by bringing painted images and statues of the gods coloured in the manner of the these sublimest feelings of our nature, a churchyard presents a scene of a most attractive kind. Its motley group of inhabitants-the unlettered effusions of the lowly survivors the rude efforts of the rustic Muse-and the transient sparks of lingering vanity, all combine to excite the blended sensations of regret and chastened mirth "strangled in life's porch ;” and the blooming maiden, either simply coloured, or draped like puppets, became extremely common; and according to a very ingenious idea of the author's, founded on the principle of the servile imitation commanded by religion, they gave birth to a particular taste in sculpture, which characterised the school of Aegina. The works in this taste, which are distinguished by the peculiar stiffness We can indeed scarcely refrain from of the attitudes, by a prettiness of style, by shedding the tear of mortality at the recolthe artful and studied disposition of the lection of the undistinguished and undisdraperies, and by the most finished executinguishing group before our eyes. The tion in the details, had hitherto been attri- aged veteran in the contests of life, now buted to the Etruscans. M. Quatremère gathered to his fathers, like a shock of de Quincy shews that they have all the corn in its full ripeness, and smiling, as it characteristics ascribed by the ancients to were, in the tranquillity of the tomb;-the the works in the Aeginetic style; he attri- | little infant, butes the dryness and infinite minuteness of the draperies which cover them, to the custom of imitating the ancient wooden statues, which were originally draped in stuffs, the folds of which were fixed by means of a gun water. This conjecture is equally ingenious and probable. As for his idea on the Aeginetic style, which he developed in 1806, it has since received (in 1811) complete confirmation by the discovery, made in the island of Aegina, of fifteen marble statues, which formed part of the ornaments of two frontispieces of a temple, and which are precisely in the style which, with rare sagacity, he had shewn to But these melancholy yet mildly-pleasbe that of the Aeginetic school. A most re-ing feelings, will give place to smiles upon markable coincidence is, that one of those reading the various mementos of mortality. figures has been found to be in the attitude The little family details of sickness,-the used in the draperies, and precisely identi- good man's lengthened suffering,-the cal with a bronze statue described by Buo- fruitless draughts of physic,*-his friendly narotti, and which M. Quatremère had and consoling advice to every passer-by, of placed in the number of the works which might give an idea of the style of that school,* (To be concluded in our next.) "Whose lovely unappropriated sweets Smiled like yon knot of cowslips on the cliff, Not to be come at by the willing land," here sleep side by side, and commingle with their kindred dust. The sigh of Sorrow has ceased to swell, and the pulse of Hope to beat ;-the tear of Misery has become a gem in Heaven's diadem of glory; and the strain of Innocence here still hymns its carols to the harps of Mercy and of Peace. Weep not for me, I am pot dead, I'm but undress'd, and gone to bed;"† the fantastic figures of little cherubs pointing to their holy tents,-the grim representation of a Death's head reposing in sullen scowl on two cross-bones,-or the flight to heaven in the shape of a plumpgrotesque sculpture of the honest man's checked-puffing angel,-present an assemAblage of relievos and ideas so irresistibly * We beg leave to refer our readers to our 22d Number for an interesting account of the light on the researches of M. Quatremère de statues found at Aegina, which throw great Quincy.-EDITOR. ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. EPITAPHS. To the Editor of the Literary Gazette. MR. EDITOR, Having seen in two of your preceding Numbers some remarks on Epitaphs, I am induced to send you the following observations on a similar subject. dearest pleasure is to stray through its Into whatever place I go, my first and churchyard. The solemn and hallowing reflections which such a spot cannot fail to excite; the high truths that spring from every stone;-the communion one holds, as it were, with the grave;-and the approximation our soul more especially feels to its God, when, spurning the shackles of its tenement of clay, it seems to mingle with its own eternity,-are enjoyments of no common stamp. But, independent of ludicrous, that we half forget the place where they are, and are tempted to deem them the offspring and invention of some comic satire. Let them, however, have their merit; they come "warm from the heart," and are at the same time totally free from those indelicate and disgusting figures which, in "older time," and, to the disgrace of our good forefathers, used to contaminate the walls and every corner of our cular clergy to the friars of former days. churches, and which took their rise from the malevolent spirit of opposition of the se We are enabled to trace the antiquity of Epitaphs to an early date. Many instances "Physic did me no good,"--part of an Epitaph in Minchin-Hampton Churchyard, Gloucestershire. + I have read the above lines in some church yard in Cumberland, though I forget the name of the village. Vide Walpoliana, p. 5. of Epitaphs, in prose and verse, may be | collected from the old Greek poets and historians, who yet were but children to the Chaldeans and Egyptians. But the oldest precedent of Epitaphs must be that recorded in the oldest history, viz. the Old Testament, 1 Sam. vi. 16, where it is recorded, that the great stone erected as a memorial unto Abel, by his father Adam, remained unto that day in being, and its name was called the "Stone of Abel ;" and its elegy was, "Here was shed the blood of righteous Abel," as it is also called 4000 years after, Matt. xxiii. 35;-and this is the original of monumental memorials and elegies. But my present limits will not allow me to pursue this seductive inquiry further. There is scarcely any species of composition so difficult as the Epitaph, and yet so beautiful when attained. It ought to unite the terse brevity of the Epigram with the pathos of the Elegy;-dignified, yet at the same time familiar; sublime, yet striking the chords of every bosom; an union so high and so difficult, that it is no wonder many have failed in its execution. Dr. Johnson has censured the motley mixture of Latin and English in inscriptions of this nature, and with justice, for it presents too harlequin an appearance for so solemn a subject as a last tribute to the dead. The nerve and conciseness of the Latin is perhaps better calculated for the Epitaph than our own more paraphrastic language; though, as it is a subject which ought to speak aloud to all, it is in most cases better to clothe it in the garb of our own "honest kersey" language, than enrobe it in the ornaments of a foreign style. Still, to the man of taste and the scholar, the inexpressible beauty of many a Latin Epitaph must plead hard for a more extensive use; and indeed who can read the beautiful lines of that eminent scholar Bishop Lowth on his daughter, who fell dead into his arms, without readily yielding the palm to that language which contains so much sweetness and pathos? Cara, vale, ingenio præstans, pietate, pudore, At plusquam natæ nomine cara, vale! Cara Maria vale! at veniet felicius ævum, Quando iterum tecum (sim modo dignus) ero. Cara redi," lætâ tum dicam voce," paternos Eja age in amplexus, cara Maria, redi!" I have frequently, though in vain, attempted an English poetical version of this inimitable effusion. One of its principal beauties is the repetition of that term of endearment, “Cara," which would be altogether lost in an English dress; and the last couplet is one of those delicate touches of simplicity and pathos, and affecting allusion, which all perhaps can feel, but so few are able to express.* Of a different description altogether, yet equally simple and grand, is the one on Sir Christopher Wren, in St. Paul's Church : "Si monamentum quæras, circumspice"Seek'st thou his monument ?-behold the dome! 66 Having given two such beautiful specihard for the insertion of an English one, mens of Latin Epitaphs, I would now plead which in every point of view, whether as poetry in general, or that more particular species, the Epitaph, seems to me to merit tion of poetry to render description as equal a high degree of praise. It is the perfecas possible to life, and to place the particular object immediately before our eyes. With respect to inscriptions in general, Boileau gives this rule, tions doivent etre simples, courtes et faQue les inscripmiliares," and in all do I 'contend for the preeminence of my Epitaph. Behold it then. "Here lies the body of Elizabeth Dent, Who kick'd up her heels, and away she went!" Can any thing be more simple, more brief, or more familiar? yet what a picture is presented to our minds! "Away she went." We almost fancy we see the good woman skimming through the fields of air," Like Mary Lee of Castelha. The clouds her steeds, the winds her charioteer." It is also no small beauty that the poet has contrived that the principal emphasis in the last line should be laid upon " away,”it almost gives life to the picture. There is also great ingenuity in bringing something to our imagination; we are not told "whither she went," and our interest is thus kept alive by hopes and fears respecting her ultimate destination. Should you not, Mr. Editor, be alarmed at the prolixity of my epistolary mania, I may perhaps shortly send you another specimen of my sepulchral taste. Till then, I am, Sir, &c. ENTAPHIOS. He was born, bred, and hang'd in this parish! J.J. A SPECIMEN OF THE SUBLIME. An Epitaph on a Tomb-Stone in St. Edmund's Churchyard, Salisbury. Innocence embellishes divinely compleat To prescience coegent, now sublimely great Go heav'nly Guardian occupy the skies In the benignant, perfecting, vivifying state The pre-existent God, omnipotent, allwise He can surpassingly immortalize the theme And permanent thy soul, celestial, supreme When gracious refulgence bid the Grave resign The Creator's nursing protection be thine So each perspiring Ather will joyfully rise Transcendently good, supereminently wise. JOURNEY TO MOUNT ETNA.* We rode towards Etna. The day was fine, but the sun burned hotly, and our mules carried us very slowly up the mountain, on the difficult, slippery, and sandy way. We at last saw beneath us the pleasant town of Catania, where we had lived so happily, and the broad expanse of the sea, though the edge of it seemed to rise gradually towards the horizon. Our Catanian landlord, and a sumpter-horse to carry the provisions, followed us. These lava fields are known to be prodigiously fertile, and from their black bosom rises without interruption the richest luxuriance of the southern vegetation. Hence it is that we find on this dangerous crust of lava the most flourishing, nay the only villages in Sicily, and for the twelve miles from Catania to the last village called Nicolosi, pass through nothing but blooming gardens and prosperous towns; but on the other hand this first part of the road, in the cultivated region of Etna,† is rendered disagreeable from being entirely confined between the walls of vineyards. About half a mile below Nicolosi, the black grey lava sand begins to cover the earth Undertaken from Catania, by three Germans and one Englishman, on the 30th and 31st of May, and 1st and 2d of June 1815. Specimen of a Tour through Italy and Sicily, which was made in the years 1813 and 1814, by Professor Kephalides, in Breslaw, provided with all the previous knowledge, and all the qualifications of an observant traveller. This tour, illustrated with maps, is expected to appear at the Leipzig fair at Easter 1818. + The inhabitants of Etna divide their mountain into three regions: regione colta, regione nemorosa, regione nevosa, or discoperta. with mourning up to the summit of the volcano, a distance of about twenty miles, and presents an infinitely gloomy, and almost terrifying sight. Not far from the village, there lies a very deep extinguished crater, which threw out fire about three centuries ago. light displayed at an immeasurable depth THE FINE ARTS. THE FINE ARTS IN ITALY. "I have many reproaches to make myself, that, in speaking of Naples, the fine statue of Aristides, at the Studj, was passed over; but, in gratifying our curiosity, we are exhausted by the sensations excited, and we return home half dead. We now arrived in the snowy region, (regione nerosa) when suddenly the sky was covered with black tempestuous clouds, In our No. 49 we reviewed a work inand the bleak air benumbed us. We could titled, "ROME, FLORENCE, and NAPLES," not now hope to see the sun rise, for the by Count de Stendhal; and in the Literary Towards evening we arrived at Nicolosi, sake of which we had pushed so briskly Intelligence, in the preceding Number, and found a most kind and hospitable re- forward; for this reason, and from having mentioned a publication well-spoken of by ception in the house of Don Mario Gem-suffered much from the inclemency of the the Parisian critics-the History of Paintmellaro, the Intendant and Physician of weather, we resolved to rest ourselves in ing in Italy, by M. B. A. A. We have now the place. This very amiable man, equally the lava cavern, called Grotta del Castel- reason to believe that the Count de Stendestimable for his modesty and his know- luccio. After we had taken a cheerful hal is a fictitious name, and that both these ledge, is so interesting to every traveller breakfast, though with chattering teeth, productions are by the same hand. Should to Etna, that we hope some account of him we continued to wade through the immense this be the case, a few extracts from the may be acceptable. field of volcanic ashes,-the Grotta del Cas- former may afford some criterion of the telluccio lying two hours below the crater.author's qualifications to treat the subject At length, the sun rising from the sea, of the Arts in a manner so as to merit the amidst the stormy clouds, illumined the commendation bestowed by the French frightful wilderness, which we had not yet connoisseurs upon the latter, which we perfectly seen. All vegetation, except have not yet had an opportunity of seeing. green tufts of moss, had long been passed: They are besides interesting notices of the surrounded with clouds and smoke, we state of the Arts in Italy at the present era. proceeded, sometimes over white fields of snow, sometimes through a black sea of ashes, towards the summit, unable to see above fifty steps before us. In this way we had advanced about a thousand paces from Gemmellaro's house, when suddenly our English companion began to groan "This Aristides is truly admirable; it is terribly, and fell from his mule into the arms in the style non-ideal, like the bust of Viof the guide. This unlucky event, in the tellius, at Genoa ;-it has a drapery over gloomly solitude, and amidst the clouds of it, and is upon a plinth; but it has been so smoke, embarrassed us not a little, and of much calcined by the lava of Herculaneum, course put an end to our Etna journey for that it is become almost lime. The English the present; for what were we to do with our going there after dinner, had taken to sick companion? Our little stock of wine, amusing themselves with giving a spring, which might, perhaps, have refreshed and leaping upon the plinth; the least false him, we had left in the cavern Del Cas- motion, they must come upon the statue, telluccio; and as the chief cause of his and it is then reduced to powder. This illness was the rarified air, and the extra- little circumstance occasioned much emordinary change of temperature from 270 barrassment to Messieurs the exhibitors of of heat to freezing, it would have been the Museum; but how provide, by any refolly to proceed further up to Gemmel-gulations, against such a subject of dislaro's empty house. After he had recovered quietude? At length they hit upon an himself a little, therefore, we covered him expedient; they found that these gentlewith mantles, and carried him, as he was men did not begin their potations before not able to ride on his mule, down to the two o'clock, so they determined that, for Grotta del Castelluccio. Here he was again the future, the Studj should be shut at two taken so ill, and fainted so often, that we instead of four. This fact I have thoroughly thought him dying. However, an hour's verified; several of the people belonging sleep, and the warm and denser air braced to the Museum shewed me the impressions him so much, that he was able to proceed of the boots upon the plinth. with us to Nicolosi. Whoever ascends Etna on the side of Catania, must either stop at the convent of San Nicolosi d'Arena, near Nicolosi, or apply in the village itself, to the hospitality of Mr. Gemmellaro, who has always the goodness to lend a room to travellers. We should advise every body to adopt the latter course, because the advice of this gentleman, who for these fifteen years has observed the volcano with remarkable interest and zeal, will be of the greatest service to every sensible person. Before the year 1804, he had built a small house near the Philosopher's Tower (about three quarters of a league below the high crater) to protect travellers from snow, hail, and storms, when an English officer, Lord Forbes, having experienced the advantage of such a shelter, induced Don Mario, by promising to open a subscription among his countrymen on the island, to build a convenient house for travellers, as well as a stable for sumpter-horses and mules. This little building, which was finished the same year, will be appreciated at its full value by every one, who, after suffering from the wind, ice, and cold, arrives at the cone of the volcano. The English call this little asylum "The house of the English;" but the inhabitants of Etna give it the name of "The house of Gemmellaro," (Casadi Gemmellaro) as he was at the chief expense and trouble in erecting it. Every traveller receives the keys gratis. Gemmellaro's house lies close to the lava eruption of the year 1787, and at the mouth of the crater of the year 1669, which swallowed up the cone of the volcano. Gemmellaro and his faithful companion, Antonio Barbagallo, have traversed this remarkable mountain with indefatigable labour; and the former would, without doubt, be able to give a better account of this volcano than Ferraro, who never went up Etna. After a short repose, we set out at near ten o'clock at night, accompanied by one guide, riding on a mule, and a second on foot. We stumbled over the very fatiguing way through the woody region, (regione nemorosu) in a dark night, upon our mules, without meeting any accident; thanks to our sagacious animals that we did not break our necks in these intricate narrow paths among the lava rocks. At length the moon emerged from the clouds, and her pale (To be continued.) Memoria dell' Etna 'nell 1809, di M. Gem mellaro di Catania. Messina presso del Nobolo é naturale dell' Etna. Tom. I. fol. Catania 1815. LEARNED SOCIETIES. OXFORD, JAN. 10.-Congregations will "At the villa Mattei, I saw the Seneca in the possession of the Prince of Peace. This celebrated philosopher appears with a very different countenance from the horrible one we are accustomed to see given him. He has the physiognomy of a true gentleman, and is even handsome, with the mien and air of one of our old courtiers. "I have seen Thirwalsen: he is a Dane, whom people would fain erect into a rival of Canova; but he is about the level of the late Chaudet. At the Quirinal palace there is a frise by him, which even there does not appear amiss; and at his house he has some very passable bas-reliefs; among others, one of Somnus. The Marquis Canova has executed a hundred and thirty statues, and he has invented a new species of beauty. He sacrifices the upper lip, which he makes very short, to the beauty of the nose. What is thus lost in physiognomy, he atones by the grandeur of the forehead. "But Canova is too great not to have a party against him. He has, for example, the misfortune not to please the young French artists. He was so good as to shew me the engraving of a picture which he has painted for the church of the village in which he was born, Passagno. He has not only invented a new beau-ideal, to represent the Supreme Being, who is no longer an old man, but he has found a singular, though very just means of expressing his immensity. This means is too long to describe;-but I am going to bed. I recommend every body to buy the engraving. fections. He was excellent in design, in doubted but they would answer No; and I hope, if the opportunity were afforded them, Next to him and Raphael, stands they would gladly embrace it, for the purPoussin in point of expression. pose of regaining their reputation, and plac"Guido was even celestial in the beautying it upon a fairer footing. of his females. His shades not strong, his mild expression, his light draperies, his delicate contours, form a striking contrast with the style of Michael Angelo. "Guercini was endowed with a singular tact for the chiara-oscura. He copied from the peasants of the hamlet of Cento, where he worked by the toise. His figures seem absolutely detached from the canvass; and he must ever be particularly admired by those who consider the illusion as the chief excellence of painting. "In the Farnése gallery at Rome, Annibal Carracci is ranked among the greatest painters. Many people there class him next after Raphael, Correggio, and Titian. At Bologna, Lodovico Carracci is preferred to him. 666 Albano, a cold artist, paints children well, and is fine in the female form; but his women have no souls. He had none himself; he suffered himself to be too much a prey to envy.”” THE ROYAL ACADEMY AND "Bologna, May 4.-There are seven or eight charming Polish ladies here; to me they are the beau-ideal of women. They visit the pictures every day, for the purpose of going through a course of the study of the art. This they engaged in under the auspices of a young Dane, who has unfortunately made himself too agreeable to the handsomest of them. The place where the lessons are delivered, is the gallery of that amiable Count Marescalchi who gave so many delightful entertainments while he resided at Paris, in a house in the Champs Elysees. I went to-day to this gallery, not for the sake of the lecture the professor was giving, though, in order to get upon good terms with him, when it was over, I asked for a copy of it. After having read five or six pages, he began to explain to. I shall premise what I have to observe by us the pictures which compose M. Marescalchi's collection. They occupy several apartments, which are fitted up with furniture from Paris. The pictures, in one of these apartments, are all chef d'œuvres. Mr. Editor, Permit me through the medium of your excellent Journal, connected as it is with whatever relates to the Fine Arts, to offer a few hints in regard to our Royal Academy, or rather to some of its Members. What I would ask is: Do the laws or rules of the Academy prevent this? If they do not, it is a sort of suicide on their talents not to give their best or more mature performances to a place which they affect to honour. But if the tree must lie where it falls, then it behoves the future members to weigh well the worth of what they send there. Why should artists complain of the public neglect, when they thus neglect themselves in so material a point? And does it not give room to the scandalous to say they have made their admission to the honour of an Academician, the mere steppingstone to the profit and employment that may reasonably be expected to follow such an elevation? not to mention the exclusive and permanent advantages derived from the funds of the Academy, in the event of age or other infirmities preventing the full exercise of their talents. Upon every ground, I think the establishment of our beloved Monarch entitled to the best exertions of the Royal Academicians, as well within as without doors. To use the phrase of the connoisseur, as Raphael in his first or dry manner," and the same artist in his "best manner, when his judgment was matured, by observing the works of Michael Angelo." Can Mr. Turner or Sir T. Lawrence be content to appear in the eyes of the public and of foreigners, in any but their best manner? a story excellently well told in Mr. D'Is-I repeat it, there is something due to the raeli's Curiosities of Literature; the sum public, to the Academy, and to themselves, of which is, that an author rushed through which should make them, as well as others, the flames to preserve his manuscript desirous of improving upon their earlier works from destruction: a few years after-works, and of being seen to the best ad"You know,' he said, that the Floren-wards he committed the same works to the vantage among their competitors, especially tine school is distinguished by a boldness in a place of council, and of public obserof design, which, after the manner of Michael Angelo, carries the projection of the muscles somewhat to excess. Raphael, in expression and design, imitated the antique. The perfection of his countenances is to be found in his Apostles and Madonnas. At the commencement of his career he was somewhat cold and dry, like Perrugino, his master. The chiara-oscura, in which he was always feeble, he learnt from Frate. He was a very great man. 666 Correggio is remarkable for the most seductive grace,-for the chiara-oscura,for fore-shortening. His soul was made to renew the antique, without imitating it. The chef d'œuvres of his pencil are to be seen at Dresden and Parma. fames with his own hands. The paintings which hang in the Council-vation. Now it may happen that some are elected If, therefore, there are no regulations to prevent this desideratum, let us hope that an emulous display of talent may appear, where it is to remain a monument of genius, and a credit to the taste of that council which sanctioned the choice of those who are permitted the honour of embellishing their walls. After this peep at the interior, I beg leave to cast a glance on the outside of the building, and throw out a hint in regard to several of its ornaments. On some of I was led into these remarks by seeing, them the hand of Time has already made at our annual Exhibition, the almost total an impression, which is the more to be laeclipse under which some of these produc-mented, as being immediately within view tions in the Council-room appear. Making of the spectator. I mean those which are every allowance for the splendour and no- placed at the entrance of the three offices, velty of the Exhibition-rooms, I have no the Duchy of Cornwall, Navy, and Vicscruple in saying, that in the scale of com- tualling. These are in a most excellent parison with the latter works of some of style, both of design and sculpture; and it the members, these earlier productions are is to be wished that casts of them were truly disgraceful; and I put the question to procured, and also of the heads of the these Artists, Whether they would like to River Gods, with that of the Ocean, which be judged by the merits of their presented serve as key-stones to the entrance and Council-room pictures? It is not to be lower windows in the front of the building. |