' 
 
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A 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE 
 
 OF A 
 
 COLLECTION OF PAINTINGS 
 
 BY 
 
 ^rtttsi) artists, 
 
 IN THE POSSESSION OF 
 
 SIR JOHN FLEMING LEICESTER, Bart. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM CAREY, Esq.; 
 
 WITH OCCASIONAL REMARKS, &.C. 
 BY 
 
 SIR RICHARD COLT HOARE, Bart. 
 
 " The level of the Arts is not to be looked for ill the fellings, nor to be determined 
 by the wants and caprices of the million : it is to be found only on the summits 
 of civilization— in the affection and admiration of miuds elfv.Hed to a due sense of 
 their value, and satisfied that not to distinguish is to degrade them." 
 
 SHEE's Rhymes on Art. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY J. NICHOLS AND SON, 
 
 Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street; 
 
 AND SOLD BY W. CAREY, 37, MARY-LE-BONE-STREET, 
 
 PICCADILLY ; PAYNE AND FOSS, PALL MALL; AND 
 
 HENRY COLBURN, CONDUIT-STREET. 
 
 l8l9. 
 
• 
 
TO 
 
 Sir JOHN FLEMING LEICESTER, Bart. 
 
 IT is truly gratifying to me, as a lover and 
 admirer of British Art, to be informed, that 
 you have commissioned Mr. W. Carey to write 
 a description of your Collection of Paintings, 
 confined wholly to British Artists ; and as you 
 have determined not even to look at it until it 
 .appears before the public, I shall most willingly 
 render my assistance in superintending the press, 
 and in suggesting a few additional remarks. 
 
 You have fixed upon an advocate most zea- 
 lous for the advancement and prosperity of 
 Modern Art, and on one who, I am sure, will 
 make his greatest exertions in behalf of so good 
 a cause — a cause which, if properly considered, 
 will do credit to the liberality of your pa- 
 tronage, to your excellent judgment in selection, 
 and to the abilities of many a British Artist. 
 
IV 
 
 Not self-contented with the satisfaction which 
 you and your immediate friends must materially 
 experience from the daily sight and contem- 
 plation of this delightful series of paintings, you 
 have generously extended that gratification to 
 the Public : one part of which cannot but ad- 
 mire, whilst another profits, and all must ap- 
 prove. — With Artists there can be but one sen- 
 timent, " torn vox, una sententia." The more 
 experienced Academicians will find much to 
 admire: the younger students much to improve 
 their taste. 
 
 You are already well acquainted with my 
 sentiments respecting modern Art ; and al- 
 though I cannot lay aside my partiality for 
 ancient Art, yet I trust I am sufficiently liberal, 
 and even just, in attributing due merit to the 
 Artists of the present day. I still continue firm 
 in my former persuasion, that very essential 
 benefit has accrued, and a very important turn 
 been given to the general taste and knowledge of 
 the Country, by the extensive introduction of 
 ancient paintings, which taste is still continued 
 and improved by the generous conduct of the 
 Directors of our British Institution, in allowing 
 the choicest specimens of ancient Art to be 
 copied by our young Students : though even 
 
some of trm most experienced class have not 
 considered these bright examples as beneath 
 the notice of their pencils. No one who has 
 witnessed the state of the British Institution, at 
 a time when left open for the admission of Stu- 
 dents only, will be bold enough to exclaim : 
 " I disapprove." 
 
 It is highly gratifying to behold the glorious 
 sun begin to dawn, and shed its cheering rays 
 over British art. From that distinguished Pa- 
 tron, our Prince, to individuals in private life, 
 taste spreads its genial influence, and the merit 
 of British Art becomes annually better known, 
 not only within these Islands, but over every 
 part of the more distant regions of Europe and 
 America. 
 
 With such increase of ability, patronage, 
 and encouragement, what may not the British 
 Nation ultimately expect ? 
 
 With reference to merit alone your conduct 
 has been guided, in the noble selection of Bri- 
 tish Paintings, which, during the course of 
 many years, you have been enabled to collect, 
 and to which, during this last season, you have 
 added most essentially. 
 
 Hje tibi erint artes ! 
 
vi 
 
 May such continue to be your rational pur- 
 suits ; and that such may be those of many an 
 English individual, is the sincere wish of, 
 
 o 
 
 Truly your's, 
 
 R. C. Hoare. 
 
 Stourhead, March 1819. 
 
TO THE 
 
 NOBLEMEN AND GENTLEMEN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BRITISH INSTITUTION. 
 
 MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, 
 
 WlTH sentiments of profound respect, I beg leave to de- 
 dicate this humble performance to you, as a sincere tribute 
 j ustly due to your high character, and great national object. 
 I will not yield to any person in devotion to the interests of 
 your patriotic institution ; but I am conscious that this duty 
 might have been placed in abler hands. Its difficulties were 
 not unknown to me ; yet when the task was confided to my 
 pen. by so distinguished an amateur as Sir John Fleming 
 
vm 
 
 Leicester, I received it as a call of honour, which placed me 
 on a proud and enviable elevation. To be selected for an 
 employment so grateful to my feelings, by the English gen- 
 tleman of rank and fortune, who first had the patriotism and 
 independent mind to confer an undivided patronage on 
 native genius, and whose name has so long been justly 
 pronounced with enthusiasm by the British Artists, was 
 alone a public distinction. It will be for ever recorded in 
 the history of the arts of this country, that the baronet, whose 
 taste and liberality had so nobly set the first example in fa- 
 vor of the British school, in the worst period of its discou- 
 ragement, was also the first to throw open his splendid Gal- 
 lery for the display of English art, and the first, on public 
 grounds, to call in the aid of literature to advance its perma- 
 nent interests, by a critical publication. 1 have, however, 
 been subjected to much discouragement, and deprived of the 
 lights of his better judgment, as a practical amateur, by the 
 resolution of the scrupulous proprietor. His delicacy imposed 
 upon me the primary condition of proceeding on my own 
 estimate of the pictures, and of delivering my own unbiassed 
 opinions. He persevered in his determination not to view the 
 Descriptive Catalogue until after it had issued from the 
 hands of the printer, and been submitted to the public in- 
 spection. But although I have a strong sense of its 
 deficiencies, I may be allowed to hope that, as a first 
 attempt of the press in this country, in a distinct form, to 
 extend the sphere of patronage, by fixing the attention 
 of the public on a collection of British Paintings, whose 
 intrinsic excellence may rouse the emulation of the conti- 
 nental ArtistSj it may be deemed to possess some claims on 
 your indulgent notice. 
 
 Publications of this class have hitherto, in England, been 
 confined to the works of the old Masters of the foreign schools, 
 
IX 
 
 and the prepossession in favour of illustrious names, anil of 
 paintings, on which the testimony of Europe had set the 
 stamp of celebrity, ensured a favourable reception to the 
 writer, even where his superlative praises might have 
 justly excited a suspicion of his judgment or impartiality. 
 In doing justice to the works of the antients, he was not 
 exposed to the jealousy of their competitors, and he might 
 be said to walk in safety over a field of battle, from which 
 Death had withdrawn the combatants. But the anti-con- 
 temporarian, and anti-British prejudices, the strife of con- 
 tending claims, and rival interests, are opposed to a Writer, 
 who endeavours to do justice to living genius. The praises 
 which he bestows are too often received with coldness or 
 suspicion, and the defects which he notices recorded as 
 offences. But, my Lords and Gentlemen, the honest 
 hope, by which I am animated, has not permitted me to 
 shrink under a sense of my own inadequacy, or to weigh im- 
 pediments. I will not wrong your generous efforts, by an 
 attempt to estimate the incalculable advantages which you 
 have already produced, and are annually producing ; but I 
 may be allowed to acknowledge my pride in this opportunity 
 of expressing my high respect for your character, and my ex- 
 ultation in the promise of your ultimate success. 
 
 The collection of pictures, of which I venture to dedicate 
 the description to you, was formed on the same high and 
 protective principle upon which your association was 
 founded. Influenced by the laudable desire of fostering the 
 genius of his country, Sir John Fleming Leicester, with 
 a persevering liberality and independent judgment, set 
 a noble example of public spirit in the first circles many 
 years before your munificent Institution was established. 
 Although his natural taste was matured by practice as an 
 amateur, and was refined by an inspection of the most cele- 
 
 b 
 
brated examples of art upon the Continent, he never forgot 
 the land of his birth. At Paris, Rome, Florence, and Ve- 
 nice, in the midst of the most admired collections, lie still 
 cherished the hope of England taking the lead in the Fine 
 Arts. On his return, the superb apartments of his mansion 
 at Tabley House, and his gallery in Hill Street, were exclu- 
 sively devoted to the fancy and historical productions of the 
 British pencil ; and in that season of false taste, when a 
 British picture, in the higher classes, was not to be found 
 upon the walls of the first residences in England, he led 
 the way to the brilliant prospects of the present era. 
 
 The day, when this distinguished amateur first opened 
 his gallery for the display of British pictures, formed a me- 
 morable epoch in the British school. Who that witnessed 
 it can ever forget the feelings which it excited ? The 
 crowd of beauty and fashion, the chief nobility and 
 gentry, the distinguished members of the legislature and 
 of the learned professions, the taste and educated mind 
 of England, assembled to share in the triumph of their 
 countrymen. The enthusiasm of the artists, the deep and 
 general sensation of the public, increased on every sub- 
 sequent day of exhibition, and foreigners, who came to 
 censure, united to praise. They carried with them a con- 
 viction, that when a people so gifted by nature have begun 
 to treasure the fame of their artists, as a portion of the pub- 
 lic glory, they must, by perseverance, and affording a liberal 
 patronage, like Greece and Italy, attain to the highest ex- 
 cellence in the Fine Arts. 
 
 My Lords and Gentlemen, while I rejoice that England 
 is so rich in the works of the Old Masters, I trust that the 
 animating and commendable example of Sir John Leicester, 
 in favour of modern ait, may be speedily followed ; and that 
 your public-spirited exertions in support of the British 
 
XI 
 
 school may be as nobly supported by other amateurs of rank 
 and fortune. 
 
 The British Artists were raised in the estimation of their 
 Country, when the Prince Regent was graciously pleased to 
 extend his presiding care to your noble Institution. Sen- 
 sible that his paternal solicitude for the attainment of your 
 patriotic object, cannot fail to excite a general love of the 
 Arts, they beheld, with the liveliest emotions of gratitude, 
 his patronage recently bestowed on native genius, in the 
 works of Collins and Hilton. The spontaneous favour of 
 that illustrious Personage to these two Artists, is an honor 
 to the British School. His Royal Highness's selection dis- 
 played that brilliant taste and refined discrimination, which 
 have so pre-eminently distinguished his judgment in the 
 Belles Lettres, the most admirable productions of the pencil 
 and chisel, and in all the embellishments which constitute 
 the splendor of a Royal Court. A pure expression of Na- 
 ture, a truth of local colouring and sentiment, the clear light 
 of the hour, the interesting features of the scene, and the 
 aspect of the season, confer upon Collins's sea-shore the 
 power of awakening all the illusions of reality in the breast. 
 The triumphal entrance of the Duke of Wellington into 
 Madrid, was also the triumphal advance of Hilton to a proud 
 height of reputation. It was more. The representation of 
 a brave people, freed by British valour from the tyranny of 
 a military Usurper, was a triumph to the august Prince of 
 the House of Brunswick, under whose auspices their libera- 
 tion was achieved. The richness and grandeur of the de- 
 sign, the martial spirit of the procession, the grace and 
 beauty of the females, who welcomed their beloved Deliverer, 
 and the noble mien and living resemblance of THE HERO, 
 who, through so many arduous campaigns, had made Vic- 
 tory the Bearer of the British Standard, render this Picture 
 
XII 
 
 worth}' of a cliicf place in the principal apartment of the 
 Palace. The spectacle calls forth a train of memorable re- 
 collections ; and by the skill of the Painter, and the force of 
 relative associations, the numerous battles in which the Bri- 
 tish thunders, on the plains of India, in the fields of Por- 
 tugal and Spain, of France and Flanders, under the direc- 
 tion of this consummate General, overturned and scattered 
 so many hostile confederacies, are again fought over in the 
 mind. It is thus, as excitements to emulation and means of 
 reward, that the Arts become instruments of moral virtue, 
 political wisdom, and public happiness. It is thus that the 
 most powerful and enlightened Princes, by a liberal pa- 
 tronage of Genius, have spread the fame of their greatness 
 beyond the bounds of their own empire, and perpetuated 
 their glory. Under his Royal Highness's fostering protection 
 and encouragement, and your zealous co-operation, if the 
 Public do justice, all will be duly accomplished, and we 
 .-hall soon see the United Kingdom as renowned in arts as 
 she is in arms, at a period when the wisdom of her States- 
 men, the undaunted bravery of her fleets and armies, and 
 the unparalleled career of the greatest Commander of the 
 age, have enabled her to preside in the Councils of Europe, 
 and fix the destinies of the Universe. 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 
 Your very respectful 
 and devoted humble servant, 
 
 Wm. Carey. 
 
 37, Mary-le-bone Street, Piccadilly, 
 March 15, 1819. 
 
DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 
 
 GALLERY. 
 
 1. W.OWEN, R.A. 
 
 A FORTUNE TELLER. 
 
 " Whilst black-ey'd Susan ply'd her murmuring task, 
 
 A rural prophetess by chance pass'd by, 
 Now, now 's my time : — my future fate I'll ask : 
 
 Be seated, dame, and tell my fortune — try : 
 Her wheel within thy brain she twirls — that's known, 
 Then with an idle elbow stopp'd her own ; 
 Her fingers, too, full willingly resign 
 Their open'd palm — perus'd is every line. 
 We say no more : but if her ears deceiv'd, 
 Observe her eyes ! the flattering tale's believ'd : 
 For tho' she tells of gibbets to the rabble rout 
 Of noisy laughing rogues who dare to doubt, 
 'Mongst anxious girls, for ever in employ, 
 She tells a sweeter tale, and all their dreams are 
 dreams of future joy." 
 
 If this subject does not strongly excite the 
 imagination, or touch the sensibility, it affords a 
 scope for grave and playful humour, simple 
 nature, spirited contrast, and technical cxcel- 
 
 JJ 
 
GALLERY. 
 
 lence. The rustic Oracle, a decent and plau- 
 sible old woman, is seated on a chair in the left 
 corner. We may presume that her celebrity 
 rests upon good grounds, and that her prognos- 
 tications have proved unerring as to the fate of 
 spoons, knives, forks, china, linen, and such 
 other portable articles as chance or the Fates 
 have laid in her way. The ample dimensions of 
 her long cloak afford a pledge for her foresight 
 on these occasions. This covering hides every 
 part of her dress excepting her cap, and the 
 handkerchief tied under her chin. It is also 
 quite roomy enough for the speedy and unseen 
 conveyance of any vendible acquisitions to her 
 retreat ; there to abide the destiny which the stars 
 have allotted them, and be converted, by a sum- 
 mary transmutation, into the current coin of his 
 Majesty's realm. 
 
 The fair object of her skill is a smart lass of 
 about seventeen, an age when young girls, 
 whether pretty or homely, are not a little solici- 
 tous to learn their fortune. Her countenance and 
 person afford a good contrast to that of the care- 
 worn and aged figure of the Sybil. A face more 
 oval than round ; agreeable features ; the fresh 
 colour, the light elastic form, the full bosom of 
 youth and health ; the lively spirit sparkling in 
 her dark eye, and the demure archness and sim- 
 plicity on her smiling mouth, render this cottage 
 maid an object of no common interest at wake 
 or fair among the rustic gallants. Her natural 
 
GALLERY 
 
 charms are not spoiled by finery- Her dark hair, 
 without any other ornament, is tied up in a knot 
 of riband on the top of her head ; and her vil- 
 lage dress, a white body and dark red skirt, well 
 becomes her years and condition. Curiosity has 
 already produced a pause in her industry. Her 
 well-replenisbed spinning-wheel stands idle, her 
 elbow resting upon it, while the raised hand sup- 
 ports her chin ; and, in a posture of pleased 
 attention, she anticipates her lucky change of 
 condition. The other arm is extended, and the 
 open palm is in the possession of the prophetess, 
 who, with pointed finger, voice, and gesture, is 
 foretelling that speedy good fortune to her, which 
 every village maiden looks up to, as the highest 
 prize in the lottery of life ; plenty of sweethearts, 
 the husband of her choice, and a wedding day, 
 before the wane of the revolving moon. 
 
 The head of this pretty maid is painted with 
 force, the features are touched with spirit, and a 
 strong expression of nature. The grey half-tints 
 on the face, bosom, and arms, although not 
 supported by any bright blue drapery, and op- 
 posed to her red dress, have a pleasing effect. 
 The light is spread on those parts, and on the 
 hands and head of the old dame, and wheel. 
 The figures are well grouped, and the accessories 
 cleverly introduced. The draperies are simply 
 folded. The curling branches, and broad leaves 
 of the vine upon the cottage, the strong shadows 
 of the back-ground, and cool tints of the sky, arc 
 b 2 
 
GALLERY. 
 
 in excellent union, and contribute to enrich the 
 warm hue of the figures. The general effect is 
 vigorous and agreeable. The production of this 
 interesting picture makes one regret that an 
 artist so equal in ability to historical and fancy 
 painting, should have devoted his pencil entirely 
 to portraits. 
 
 2. JOHN HOPPNEK, Senior. 
 
 A SLEEPING NYMPH. 
 
 This arduous effort of an artist whose pencil 
 was employed in a different department of paint- 
 ing, has been long considered as one of his most 
 finished and successful performances. He, him- 
 self, looked upon it as his best. This painter 
 possessed boldness of pencil, fashionable ele- 
 gance of disposition in his portraits, vivacity of 
 colouring, and an agreeable fancy. Profiting 
 by the tasteful lessons of Reynolds, he ranked as 
 the most popular painter in the courtly circles, 
 after the first President, and Romney. When, 
 through the magical influence of Sir Joshua's 
 grace, and fine feeling of character, incorrect 
 and negligent forms were not only overlooked, 
 but commended as proofs of freedom and genius ; 
 to have partaken in some degree of that indefi- 
 nite drawing which was admired in the master, 
 was neither an obstacle to lucrative practice, 
 
GALLERY. S 
 
 nor deemed a diminution of celebrity, in an}' of 
 his eminent pupils. 
 
 But, with a high and grateful sense of the 
 genius and well-merited reputation of those 
 British Artists, who, in the middle and at the 
 close of the last century, first drew the eye of 
 foreign nations towards England as a school of 
 art, we perceive their successors advancing with 
 generous impatience in the road of fame. We 
 no longer hear it denied, that drawing is the only 
 sure basis of truth, and cannot be too closely 
 studied, or too highly estimated, as a power 
 without which even a fine taste- and rich inven- 
 tion appear to less advantage. Certainly mere 
 correctness, unless accompanied by other merits, 
 is no more than a capacity to write or speak the 
 language of art, like any other language, gram- 
 matically ; a capacity essential to excellence in 
 poetry, oratory, and painting. But the acqui- 
 sition of this correctness alone, lies within the 
 reach of laborious dullness. A painter who pos- 
 sesses only an accurate eye and hand, may be 
 compared to an ape, mimicking human actions 
 without purpose or understanding. It is some- 
 thing more than this cold fidelity which is here 
 noticed. To delineate the undressed figure 
 with purity and elegance, to endow it with 
 passion and intellect, to clothe it with beauty 
 and majesty, constitute the true power of imita- 
 tion ; not a mere imitation of outward matter and 
 form, but a living image of the body and soul. 
 
GALLERY. 
 
 The whole of this invention and its acces- 
 sories are poetical, and essentially founded in 
 abstract conceptions of beauty, and primitive 
 simplicity of manners. They as naturally 
 awaken the imagination, and inspire the ideas 
 and language of poetr\ r in describing them, as the 
 Sea-Shore of Gainsborough, and the Smugglers 
 by Morland, or Little Hampton Pier by Calcot, 
 lead to a plainer style of description. A young 
 nymph, who has retired from the noon-tide heat, 
 and sunk into repose within the recesses of a 
 shady grove, forms the subject of this admired 
 picture, if we cannot mistake her for the mother 
 of Cupid, we at least see, by the rosy archer's 
 hovering above, that she is the object of his tender 
 attention. Her hair is in graceful disorder ; her 
 face, seen in profile, is gently inclined from the 
 spectator, and pillowed against her arm with a 
 very delicate foreshortening, which renders the 
 roundness .of her cheek, and form of her neck 
 more conspicuous, and heightens their beauty. 
 The right arm is raised, and the hand thrown 
 behind her head, almost wholly out of view. 
 The left is also raised, foreshortened, and the 
 hand thrown behind, unseen. Her person is seen 
 nearly in front, as she reclines in a horizontal 
 position. The kit limb is stretched out, the 
 knee of the other somewhat drawn up, and rest- 
 ing upon it, while the leg falls close behind, 
 and the foot is concealed by a part of the white 
 drapery on which she reposes. She is young 
 
GALLERY. 
 
 and lovely, having only a thin fold of drapery 
 disposed negligently over her person. A crim- 
 son curtain is suspended from the trees above 
 her head to those at her feet, as if to veil her 
 beauties from the profane eye of sylvan intru- 
 sion. The high bank beside her is fringed with 
 coppice wood, and embellished with the luxu- 
 riance of the seasons. The hour of day, the 
 rosy attendant on the wing, the youth and 
 unguarded slumber of the Nymph, remind 
 the fancy of the ages of fiction, and imply an 
 Arcadian prospect ; wherein, according to the 
 fables of the poets, Innocence slept in security 
 at noon, and Spring, Summer, and Autumn, 
 decked the scene. Amidst beds of herbage she 
 reposes, where the crocus, the violet, the daffodil, 
 and other wild flowers, shed their fragrance. 
 These, and the whole of the landscape, are not 
 elaborate accessories, but slight and rapid indi- 
 cations, painted for a distant effect, and left for 
 the mind to finish. Beyond this bank, the dark 
 blue waters, gleaming with touches of light, are 
 seen flowing through fields of shadowy verdure, 
 and groves darkly tinged with autumnal gold. 
 The view is, in part, intercepted by the lofty 
 elms which grow near the fair sleeper's feet. 
 But through the picturesque opening between 
 their trunks, the distant hills are seen ; a warm 
 light streams on the horizon; and above the 
 crimson curtain, a gffm'pse of tB£~ bright blue 
 sky, with silvery clouds, glitters through the 
 
GALLERY. 
 
 dark foliage which canopies this verdant re- 
 treat. 
 
 Within the precincts of this mystic grove, no 
 footstep wanders. Beyond, all is loneliness. 
 Near the banks of a flowing stream, in those 
 verdant meads, on the borders of the wood, 
 or on the ascent of those hills, no human being 
 is seen. Love alone, the most powerful, the 
 most dangerous of all intruders, has entered 
 this tranquil retreat, as if to show that it is in 
 solitude and silence, when the heart has most 
 leisure to concentre all its feelings on a single 
 object, that the tenderest of all passions takes 
 the most entire possession of the soul. The 
 Conqueror of Conquerors — the Subduer of 
 Thrones and Sceptres, appears to have changed 
 his mischievous nature, and become harm- 
 less. His bow and well-stored quiver are care- 
 lessly thrown upon the bank beside her feet, and 
 the fair object, who detains him from the bowers 
 of Paphos, is resigned in airy dreams to the 
 movements of her own sensibility, and the gentle 
 illusions of fancy. He is on the wing, bearing 
 an odoriferous offering, and the basket of roses, 
 which presses his shoulders, conceals his counte- 
 nance from the eye. 
 
 The technical merits, also, of this pleasing 
 and classical subject claim a brief notice. 
 Iloppner's success in the feeling and general 
 design MHMMMMMft, is placed in a more im- 
 posing view, by the noble breadth of light and 
 
GALLERY. 9 
 
 shadow which this painting presents. The- 
 artist was less anxious for the minute definition 
 of details, than for a brilliant and tasteful ex- 
 pression of the whole. This attention to general 
 forms only, is visible in the graceful flow of his 
 outline, and commanding power of his masses. 
 He has introduced a vivid red as an accessory 
 in the curtain; but not as Titian did, to paint 
 his carnations with a correspondent glow and 
 power. The great Venetian Master did not 
 introduce any linen absolutely white with his 
 undraped female figures: a pure white placed 
 near his flesh, would have rendered his golden 
 lone too strong and brown for the colouring of a 
 very young and lovely woman. His drapery, 
 although always of a good relative character, is 
 white onby in name. Hoppner, by introducing 
 the white linen on which the nymph reposes, 
 has acquired a high degree of delicacy and 
 lustre, united with a general power and splendour 
 of effect. Placed near this auxiliary his fleshy 
 tints appear sufficiently warm, without being 
 too deep for the fairness of feminine beauty in 
 our English climate; and the warmth of the 
 crimson curtain being so much in shade, so 
 carried off by the ruddy hues of the boy, and so 
 checked by the interposing shadows of the land- 
 scape, enriches the general effect without inter- 
 fering too much with the colours of the flesh. 
 The first impression withdraws our attention 
 from the details. The spectator's admiration 
 
10 GALLERY. 
 
 is at first attracted by the flowing outline, ele- 
 gant disposition, and lustre of the whole figure. 
 The head is one of the most clear and mellow 
 pieces of colouring that ever was produced by 
 this Artist's pencil; and the enchanting grace, 
 with the freshness of youth added to that of 
 beauty, under the influence of a gentle slumber, 
 are at once presented to the eye with all their 
 force of illusion. 
 
 3. GAINSBOROUGH. 
 
 A SEA-SHORE, WITH BOATS AND FIGURES. 
 
 This wild inlet of the sea is probably some 
 view on the English coast, which the Artist 
 visited in his rambles after nature, and com- 
 mitted to his sketch-book. Two fisher-boys, 
 preparing to cast their nets, are standing toge- 
 ther on the fore-ground : a tub is beside them, 
 and some fish scattered on the sands. The 
 sea rolls into this sheltered bay, close to the 
 fore-ground. To the left, near a high over- 
 hanging rock, a fisher-boy, on a dry point of the 
 beach, is pushing off a boat, in which two others 
 are seated, pulling at the oars, and another 
 standing close to the off-side of the boat, in the 
 water, assisting in the launch. Two lug-sail 
 boats are scudding before the wind. A moun- 
 tainous shore terminates the distance in the 
 
GALLERY. If 
 
 centre, and a line of the ocean forms the hori- 
 zon to the right. 
 
 The sky is open and airy, with silvery 
 clouds in motion, and in harmony with the 
 waves. Their tender tints are delicately op- 
 posed to the sunny light on the rocks in the 
 middle ground. The sea forms a mass of half- 
 shadow next the fore-ground, from which the 
 two fisher-boys are relieved with much spirit. 
 The whole fore-ground appears like one dark 
 sweep of the brush ; and this shadow spreads 
 up the beach, and is connected with that on the 
 rock above. 
 
 The warm and bright day-light is abroad. The 
 refreshing summer-breeze ripples the waves. The 
 sails swell and the surges curl, and the white 
 foam breaks about the boats, as they cut the 
 water, on their coasting destination. 
 
 A few objects, bold in their forms, large in 
 their masses, simple in their character, and 
 touched with a graceful negligence, which seems 
 to disdain the entering into particulars, consti- 
 tute the enchantment of this picture. 
 
 In the penciling of these boys, both colour, 
 character, form, and truth, on a first view, ap- 
 pear to have been forgotten ; but, at a due 
 distance, these careless strokes, and seemingly 
 unmeaning dashes, like the landscape to Hopp- 
 ner's Sleeping Female, assume a general effect, 
 and look of nature. 
 
 Gainsborough's style varied considerably at 
 
12 GALLERY. 
 
 different periods. After he bad emboldened 
 his hand by a due practice from the scenery 
 of bis native county, he formed a manner upon 
 the works of the best Flemish landscape painters. 
 He then entered into the details of local colour, 
 surface, and character, with studied attention, 
 in whatever he represented, and painted with a 
 firm and decided touch, sharp, but tender. His 
 pictures, in the style of Hobbima, Ruysdael, and 
 Everdingen, are full of attraction; but Wynants 
 was his favourite. 
 
 I lately saw, in the possession of the Hon. 
 Mr. Bouverie, near Northampton, a small land- 
 scape of his in that master's manner, with as 
 sprightly a pencil, as delicate a choice, and as 
 much variety and vivacity of colour, as any ca- 
 binet gem which I have seen by Wynants. At a 
 later period, the works of Rubens, who was, in 
 general, more studious of extraordinary effect in 
 his landscapes, than truth of local colour, led 
 him into a more open and careless style, of which 
 breadth of toucb, boldness of form, and large- 
 ness of masses, with much omission of detail, 
 constituted the principle. His inexhaustible 
 taste, fine feeling of Nature, and eye to har- 
 mony, enabled him to do what others ought not 
 to attempt, in point of facility. The two pictures 
 in this Collection are in Gainsborough's latter 
 style. Of his diffused day-light, this Sea-shoie is 
 an unrivalled specimen ; of his dark manner, the 
 Cottage-door as perfect an example ; and of his 
 
GALLERY. 13 
 
 quickness of thought and facility of hand, the 
 former furnishes a striking instance. He had 
 painted two fisher-boys in the right corner ; but, 
 perceiving that his fore-ground, in this case, 
 would be defective in form, and too scanty as a 
 balance of shadow against the breadth of light 
 on the sea and sky, he with a stroke or two 
 of his brush, swept over the boys, and made 
 a rock rise in their place. I was the first who 
 discovered the boys, through the transparent 
 shadow. 
 
 4. JAMES WARD, R.A. 
 
 THE FALL OF PHAETON. 
 
 This bold sketch, , 6f an upright form, is 
 more favourable to the subject than a square 
 would have been. At the top of the painting, 
 the vollied thunder and lightning descend in a 
 sheet of flame from above. But the Power which 
 launches the vengeance is invisible ; and if this 
 picture had been painted in the time of Ovid, a 
 Roman might have imaged in his own mind the 
 awful throne of an offended Jupiter, and the 
 frowning Omnipotent, girt in his celestial pano- 
 ply, surrounded by the puissance of all the other 
 Deities. But we cannot embody the King and 
 Father of Gods and Men, in the inmost recesses, 
 and from the loftiest arch of Heaven, hurling his 
 
14 GALLERY. 
 
 fiery bolts at the fabled object of divine wrath. 
 Pagan story has lost its sublime power of illu- 
 sion; and in viewing this striking picture, our 
 impressions are produced by its technical excel- 
 lence alone. The wheels anil axle of the chariot 
 of the sun are shattered and strewed about the 
 highest tracts of the firmament. Immediately 
 below, struck lifeless from his seat, the rash cha- 
 rioteer tumbles headlong down the flaming steeps 
 of air. Amidst a mass of agitated clouds, 
 glowing with unusual light, and glittering with 
 bright glimpses of blue aether, he is seen falling; 
 his face blackened by the lightning, and marked 
 by the convulsions of terror and death ; his 
 arms wildly tossed about, as in his last moments, 
 vainly seeking to ward off the fatal stroke ; his 
 hair singed and dishevelled ; and his only dra- 
 pery, a light crimson scarf, flying loose around 
 him. Close to the victim of an insensate am- 
 bition, from whose imaginary fate we may still 
 derive a moral, the four horses of the Sun, 
 Vyrois, Eons, JEthon, and Phlegon, form a grand 
 group, whirling with tremendous velocity down 
 the skies. Three of these horses are falling, 
 with their feet uppermost, and their heads raised 
 above : the fourth is precipitated, with his feet 
 downwards and drawn in, the neck bent and 
 stretched forward, the head cowering down, the 
 jaws distended in terror, and the eyes recoiling 
 in the sockets, as if struck with a sense of horror 
 at the illimitable depths below. The nearly 
 
GALLERY, 15 
 
 rectilinear forms on the sky under the falling 
 group, although somewhat formal, produce an 
 idea of stillness in that part contrasted with the 
 rolling disorder of the clouds and horses, and 
 give a greater effect of activity to their motion. 
 As an opposition of colour they have a rich 
 effect. Their deep-toned shades are mellowed 
 by being spread into other parts of the sky, and 
 by the silvery hues of aether on which they ap- 
 pear. They add a splendor to the light diffused 
 from above, and receive, even in their subdued 
 tone, a glittering brightness from their contrast 
 to these warm tints. Beneath all, this world lies 
 wholly out of view ; but the top of the mass of 
 clouds formed by the smoke of the consuming 
 cities, and of Athos, Taurus, Tmolus, CEta, 
 and other burning mountains, ascends in dark 
 volumes intermingled with sullen flame. These 
 clouds of smoke ascend on each side to the invi- 
 sible throne of Jupiter; and Phaeton, struck by 
 the thunder, and lifeless, together with the horses 
 and shattered chariot of the Sun, are seen, in the 
 centre, falling down from the immeasurable skies. 
 The execution is suited to the size of the 
 picture; and the penciling, with some few excep- 
 tions, is full and mellow. The principal strokes 
 of the pencil as they approach the light, have 
 all the sparkling clearness which results from 
 their being touched in, as it were, at once, with 
 very little of that hardness into which this artist 
 is sometimes apt to fall, probably in some degree, 
 
16 GALLERY. 
 
 through a dislike to the vague and flimsy manner 
 which prevails in the practice of others. The 
 brilliancy of the tints is well worthy the atten- 
 tion of artists, because this fine quality is here 
 produced without any of those nostrums, which, 
 during the last fifty years, have produced 
 so many dingy productions of the pencil. The 
 figure of Phaeton is cleverly designed, but some 
 of the extremities are slightly drawn, owing to 
 this having been intended as the sketch for a 
 larger picture. The horses are painted with great 
 spirit, and the whole group is strikingly effective. 
 The subject has not been often painted. Michael 
 Angelo, in his design, followed Ovid's fable 
 pretty closely. He chose the same moment that 
 Ward has represented ; but included in his com- 
 position, Jupiter, sitting upon the eagle, in the 
 highest heavens, and launching his thunders ; 
 Phaeton, the chariot and horses of the Sun 
 tumbling headlong, in the centre of the sky ; 
 and below, on the earth, his three sisters, the 
 Heliades, looking up and rending their hair with 
 gestures of frantic lamentation and despair. 
 The tower-crowned hills on the banks of the 
 Eridanus, the modern Po, are seen in the dis- 
 tance, and the river-god, pouring his capacious 
 stream from three urns, on the foreground. The 
 origin of the Po in the cloud-capped regions of 
 the Alps, is probably signified by another river 
 Deity, who is represented as a young man pouring 
 a stream from an urn elevated on his shoulders. 
 
GALLERY. 17 
 
 The transformation of Phaeton's friend and 
 relation into a swan, is signified by one of those 
 birds among the Heliades. But as this is stated 
 by Ovid to have taken place after the funeral of 
 Phaeton, the unity of time is violated, in this 
 instance, without any accession of strength to 
 the composition. 
 
 5- JOHN OPIE. 
 
 MIRANDA. 
 
 This head is thus spoken of by Mrs. Opie, 
 
 " But the picture (a kit-cat, I believe,) taken 
 from the Miranda, was literally the last which 
 Mr. Opie finished ; and it is, perhaps, the most 
 spirited as well as the most beautiful female 
 head that he ever painted. This picture was 
 originally bespoken by Mr. Lyster Parker, who 
 is, you know, a liberal patron of artists of the 
 present day; but he gave it up to his relation, 
 Sir John Leicester, on his expressing his admi- 
 ration of it, and his wish to possess it; and as it 
 was the last picture, which he lived to complete, 
 I should regret that it was the property of any 
 one but myself, did I not know that Mr. Opie 
 rejoiced in its destination, and were I not assured 
 of its being placed in that rarest of situations, a 
 gallery consisting chiefly of modem art, doing 
 honor to the genius who painted, and to the 
 c 
 
18 (iALLERY. 
 
 Amateur who admired it." (P. 37-38, Memoirs 
 of Opie prefixed to his Lectures.) 
 
 The pride which Opie felt in the placing of 
 this picture in " a gallery consisting chiefly of 
 modern art," was honorable to his feelings, but 
 he would have rejoiced still more if he had known 
 the fact, that Sir John Leicester's Gallery was not 
 chiefly, but wholly composed of modern art, and 
 altogether of pictures by British artists. The 
 public spirit, which has actuated the possessor of 
 this splendid collection, is thus spoken of by 
 Mr. Shee, the eloquent author of Rhymes on 
 Art, in a letter to a friend — " Sir John Leicester, 
 indeed, appears to be actuated by the noblest 
 impulse of public spirit. His intercourse with 
 the arts is of the most liberal and disinterested 
 character. To him, the pleasures of taste must 
 be heightened by the honors of patronage, and 
 dignified by the feelings of patriotism. He has 
 done all that the arts can expect from an indi- 
 vidual, and more than any other individual has 
 attempted to do. By purchasing extensively 
 and liberally the works of living artists, he has 
 encouraged their exertions, and contributed to 
 their fortune; by forming a public exhibition of 
 their productions, in circumstances so well cal- 
 culated to display their merits to advantage, he 
 has endeavoured to sanction their pretensions, and 
 contribute to their fame. That his motives may 
 be mistaken or misrepresented, and that his merits 
 may be depreciated or denied, he must be prepared 
 
GALLERY. ]Q 
 
 to expect. It is the lot of all who obtain any dis- 
 tinction in society for talent or for worth. They 
 who have not the generosity to follow the ex- 
 ample he has set, may decry it as injudicious, or 
 calumniate it as vain. The disappointed artist 
 may possibly dispute his liberality; the heartless 
 connoisseur may disparage his taste; all the 
 hornets of the time, in short, may buzz and fret 
 around him ; but they will dart their little stings 
 in vain towards a man whose merits can be dis- 
 puted only in the libel of his motives ; and who, if 
 he be ambitious of distinction, seeks it only in an 
 honorable effort to raise the drooping genius, 
 and encourage the neglected arts of his country." 
 (Extract from a Reply to a Letter on the subject of 
 Sir John Leicester's Gallery.) 
 
 6. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 A STUDIOUS BOV, (FROM THE COLLECTION OF JUDGE 
 HARDINGE.) 
 
 This student is leaning back in a chair. The 
 face and body are seen in profile ; only one of 
 the hands, that next the spectator, is introduced, 
 and a page is turned up of the book which lies 
 on his lap. The coat, of deep scarlet, is 
 buttoned close to the chin, and no linen is seen 
 at the neck or wrists ; nor is there any touch 
 of white in the whole picture. The sleeve is 
 c <2 
 
20 GALLERY. 
 
 large and long, and the form of the arm 
 rather concealed than showed. The flesh is 
 in a low mellow tone, and the half-tints on 
 the cheek and forehead are more quiet than 
 might have been expected from the reflections of 
 the scarlet. The hair and drapery are vigorously 
 penciled. The features are touched with great 
 boldness and force, in the very finest taste, and 
 the character of nature is admirably expressed. 
 A good deal of Sir Joshua's method of working 
 is here discernible, and much of the cold purple 
 of his dead-colouring and second process is 
 discernible through the finishing. The brownish 
 yellow chair, deep hues of the scarlet, and olive 
 tints on the wall, are in excellent union with the 
 head. Through the open window a dark bit of 
 woody landscape is seen, with a glimpse of a 
 warm evening sky. Sir Joshua, at one period 
 of his practice, by the introduction of a small 
 portion of linen, with a few bright touches of 
 white, and some deep-toned blue shadows in 
 the clouds, would have added a sparkling lustre 
 to the rich effect of this picture. It is, however, 
 better in its present state. He was sometimes, 
 perhaps, too fond of brilliancy. But the beau- 
 tiful simplicity and fitness of this effect, prove 
 that the painter evidently considered a youth in 
 meditation ought to be surrounded by silence 
 and repose. 
 
GALLERY. 21 
 
 7. J. M. W. TURNER, R.A. 
 
 SUN-RISE, THROUGH A MIST. 
 
 This scene is supposed to represent a harbour 
 on the coast of Holland ; although the artist has 
 not confined himself to the particulars of a local 
 view. The shipping are built like those which 
 were used by the Dutch towards the close of the 
 sixteenth century. In the right corner, is a 
 high pier-head, in shadow, upon which three 
 market people are engaged in conversation. On 
 the strand below, a fishing-lugger, foreshortened 
 and in shade, lies dry on the beach. Her rich 
 brown sail is up, and her crew are busily em- 
 ployed unstowing her cargo for the market. A 
 fish-cart is alongside, the owner of which is seated 
 upon it, in boorish apathy, apparently indifferent 
 to every thing around. In front of these, a fish- 
 dealer on the beach is emptying a basket, which 
 contains his recent purchase, and a Dutch 
 sailor, in his red cap, white shirt, and dark 
 trowsers, is standing by, with his hands behind 
 his back. Somewhat in the same line, and near 
 to these two, the market-place begins, and a 
 woman is seated on a bench with her fish dis- 
 played on a stand. She has an upturned basket, 
 and a glass of liquor before her. A quantity 
 of turbot, whiting, and other fish, is strewed 
 on the sand behind her. In this corner, and in 
 front of the pier-head, a group of the lugger's 
 
CiALLKRt . 
 
 crew and other dealers are seated ; the fish is set 
 out for sale on stands, upturned tubs, and bas- 
 kets ; and the good folks are taking their early 
 regale of bread and cheese, with beer and brandy. 
 The disposition of these homely figures and 
 their accessories is spirited but simple, and their 
 ordinary character, dress, manners, and gestures 
 are represented with suitable fidelity. The tide 
 has retreated from the strand in the centre of 
 the foreground, but towards the left corner the 
 shallow water flows ; and here an anchor, some 
 loose spars, and a buoy, diversify the level. In 
 the middle distance, on this side, there are two 
 fishing- vessels, with brown sails, and their crews 
 employed on deck. Some boats are alongside 
 with dealers making purchases. The grouping, 
 light, shadow, and colouring of these vessels, 
 boats, and figures, are in so very fine a taste, 
 that objects, which are in themselves inferior and 
 even unpicturesque, are rendered agreeable by 
 the elegance of their combination, and impor- 
 tant by the breadth of their masses. Their 
 reflections in the water are painted with exquisite 
 delicacy and truth. In the distance, beyond 
 these, two large vessels are seen apart from each 
 other ; in the centre, a ship of war lies at anchor 
 with her sails unbent, and another vessel of force 
 still more remote in the offing. The four last 
 are in shadow, • seen dimly through the haze. 
 Somewhat towards the left, the sun appears 
 above the heavy mist which loads the air along 
 
GALLERY. 23 
 
 the whole horizon, and the dense vapour already 
 begins to recede and disappear on either side 
 before his rays. But still the golden disk and 
 glowing diffusion of light above, although 
 much cleared, are seen through an atmosphere 
 which veils their brilliancy. The reflections of 
 this warm and gentle lustre are painted in the 
 water with a breadth, chastity, and beauty, which 
 exhibit this artist, in this class of subjects, not 
 as tb\e imitator, but the successful competitor of 
 the most celebrated masters in the Dutch and 
 Flemish Schools. 
 
 From Fuseli's Frier Puck, West's Bacchante, 
 Hilton's Europa, Howard's Pleiades, the Titania 
 of Romney, or Reynolds's study for Cupid un- 
 loosing the zone of Beauty, we turn to this 
 subject, by Turner, with undiminished pleasure, 
 although its merits lie in so opposite a style. 
 The former, like all other fine works of imagina- 
 tion, exercise a power over the feelings by filling 
 the mind with images arising out of those upon 
 the canvas. They elevate and delight us by 
 abstract conceptions of form and character; or 
 enable us to soar with Shakespeare and Milton 
 beyond "the visible, diurnal sphere." But in 
 a distinct department, the painters, who bring 
 before us the representations of men and things 
 within the probable circle of observation, touch 
 our daily social affections and domestic feelings, 
 and please us by truth of nature. The dif- 
 ferences of subject and class in the imitative 
 
'24 GALLERY. 
 
 arts, by calling forth new trains of thought and 
 sympathy, constitute, in themselves, a new source 
 of pleasure. 
 
 The eye passes in any varied collection, with 
 a keener zest, from the epic fire of Giulio Ro- 
 mano, or the warlike energies of Borgognone, 
 Salvator, or llubens, to the tranquil movements 
 and unaspiring fidelity of Dutch and Flemish 
 imitation. Every style and manner is entitled to 
 its due share of distinction, according to its rela- 
 tive excellence. If every painter had painted like 
 Raffaelle, and every poet sung like Homer, there 
 would have been an end to the supreme delight 
 and glory of these two divine arts long ago. 
 Nature is ever diversified in her works, and this 
 variety is in itself a beauty, and the source of 
 endless beauties. He who can derive pleasure 
 from only one school of art, or one master, is as 
 little to be envied as he who can derive gratifica- 
 tion only from one writer, and one musical instru- 
 ment. The pleasures of true taste are " broad 
 and liberal as the air." The hero, whose heart 
 swelled with exultation amidst the thunders of 
 Trafalgar, was not insensible to the Graces in 
 the dance, or the voice of Beauty in her twilight 
 bower. 
 
 The gratification which an enthusiast receives 
 from the Transfiguration by Raffaelle, from 
 the Laocoon, the Apollo, the Niobe, or the Elgin 
 Marbles, does not prevent his enjoying the rustic 
 humour, and line truth of nature, in the works 
 
GALLERY. 25 
 
 of Mulready, Wilkie, or Bird. After all, 
 there is much reason to suspect that none but 
 persons of a puny fancy, who seek to rise into 
 superior notice, upon the stilts of affectation, 
 would erect a tribunal of false taste to counteract 
 the general system of creation in the pursuits of 
 genius, and reduce art to the monotony of one 
 school, confine excellence to one style, and con- 
 fer the palm of glory upon one or two favourite 
 masters only. 
 
 8. H. THOMSON, R. A. 
 
 A GIRL CROSSING THE BROOK. 
 
 We now come to a painting, which both for 
 simplicity of subject and pleasing disposition 
 has, for many years, been deservedly a great 
 favourite with the public. It is one of the earliest 
 performances of this highly esteemed Acade- 
 mician, and represents a peasant girl assisting 
 her child, a fine chubby boy, across a brook. 
 
 " But one step more — be not in haste ; 
 This stone's as slipp'ry as the last. 
 Step cautiously — the danger's past. 
 
 Now we'll trudge homeward cheerily — 
 You'll tell your brothers where you've been, 
 And what you've done, and what you've seen; 
 How gay the fair was on the green, 
 
 And how the day passed merrily." 
 
26 GALLERY. 
 
 They are seen in a front view, each without 
 hat or ornament. The girl holds her little 
 charge's hand, leading him, while he is in the 
 act of passing the last stepping stone, on which 
 one foot rests, while the other has just reached 
 dry ground. Her head is stooped, in the act of 
 speaking to him ; and her face is much in sha- 
 dow. Her left hand is raised, as if to mark the 
 emphasis of her words. The action of the boy, 
 looking down to pick his steps, and the hand 
 upraised, in joy, at having got safe over, are 
 simple expressions of nature. The brook forms 
 the fore-ground to the left, the road to the right. 
 The middle-grounds are composed of a woody 
 prospect, and the scarlet tints in the girl's drapery 
 are well supported by the autumnal foliage of 
 the back-ground. The colouring is not osten- 
 tatious nor florid, but pleasing and mellow. The 
 dark masses on the sky and landscape, and the 
 sober shadows on the flesh produce a stillness, 
 which harmonizes the powerful effect of this 
 agreeable picture. 
 
(1AI.LERY. 27 
 
 9. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 A BOY WITH A BUNCH OF GRAPES, (FROM THE 
 COLLECTION OF MR. SHELLEY.) 
 
 This figure is seen in a front view ; a great 
 part of the forehead shaded by rough and thick 
 locks of hair, and the whole right side of the 
 face, also, is thrown into shadow, relieved by a rich 
 and warm reflection. This mass is spread by 
 shades over the neck and shoulder. One hand 
 in front is holding up a loose piece of his gar- 
 ment; the other is extended, holding the grapes. 
 A portion of the white vest, next to the mass of 
 light formed by the carnations of the breast, adds 
 much to their breadth and value. A dark rock 
 behind, and a bushy bit of landscape to the left, 
 with a small portion of sky enriched by silvery 
 gleams of light, form the back-ground. 
 
 The white and yellow draperies come in direct 
 contact with the blue of the sky, and give a great 
 fleshiness to the head. The features are broadly 
 penciled, the eyes almost sunk in shade, the dark 
 touches under the lip and chin have a wonderful 
 effect, and the head is relieved with an admirable 
 truth of nature, without any intention of mark- 
 ing a particular or incidental expression beyond 
 a bold and tasteful identity. The folds of 
 the dress are broad, and in a good taste. 
 The right arm is negligently drawn, and the 
 
28 GALLERY. 
 
 hand, which holds the grapes still more so. Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds's deficiency lay in his draw- 
 ing. He was conscious of this, and, with the 
 candor of a truly great mind, acknowledged his 
 faults. " Not having the advantage of an 
 early academical education, I never had the 
 facility of drawing the naked figure, which an 
 artist ought to have. It appeared to me too late, 
 when I went to Italy and began to feel my own 
 deficiencies, to endeavour to acquire that readi- 
 ness of invention which I observed others to 
 possess." (See page xlix. vol. I. of the works of 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds.) His want of power in 
 drawing, was, however, one cause of his rich 
 and powerful effect in colouring and chiaro- 
 scuro. It obliged him to hide the feebleness 
 and uncertainty of his outline in strong masses 
 of shadow, which required a correspondent depth 
 in every part of his picture. 
 
 He has been inconsiderately charged with 
 having injured the British School. But the fact 
 is, when Reynolds began his career, there was no 
 British School in existence. He introduced sim- 
 plicity, grace, expression, and character in the 
 department of portrait painting. In these qua- 
 lities a student may always safely take lessons 
 from his best pictures, and avoid his undefined 
 forms and incorrect drawing, which did not arise 
 from any defect in his eye, but, according to his 
 own manly acknowledgment, from the want of an 
 academy in his youth, in which he might have 
 
GALLERY. 29 
 
 acquired the powers of a draughtsman. That 
 want has been since happily supplied to the 
 nation, by the gracious patronage of his present 
 Majesty. 
 
 10. M. A. SHEE, R.A. 
 
 A COTTAGE GIRL. 
 
 This pretty villager is seated under a cluster 
 of tall trees. From her musing attitude, we 
 may infer that her mind is occupied by some 
 very serious disaster. Either she has missed an 
 expected valentine, or her cherry-cheeked rival 
 has sported a new bonnet and ribands ; the cat 
 has got at her cream-pan, or she has met 
 with some one or other of the thousand and 
 nine inquietudes which torment the bosom of a 
 rural maiden of sixteen. She is gently inclined 
 forward, her arms are rested on her lap, and one 
 is cleverly foreshortened, lying across ; the other 
 raised, of a beautiful form, and the open hand 
 seen. Her dark hair is loose, and her face in a 
 three-quarter view, with the eyes looking up, 
 and a pensive expression of unsophisticated 
 nature. The back-ground is an open country, 
 enriched with trees and a mountainous distance. 
 The light and shadow are broad ; the colouring 
 is clear without direct oppositions, and sober in 
 the secondary masses. The effect is pleasing, 
 
30 GALLERY. 
 
 and free from every meretricious artifice. 
 The penciling is firm, without any ostentatious 
 bravura ; the outline pure ; and the raised arm 
 and hand an example to many of those who are 
 too apt to sacrifice correctness, and every other 
 essential, to florid seduction, or to mere harmony 
 of general effect. The whole wealth of some is 
 spread over the surface of their works, but the 
 surface of Shee's pictures is never tricked out to 
 catch the ignorant. In the late exhibitions at 
 Somerset House, his heads of Shaaron Turner, 
 of Mr. Ellis, and Moore, the Poet, are specimens 
 of his power, as a portrait-painter, which do 
 honor to his pencil. His whole-length of the 
 Earl of Albemarle, in manly dignity, expression, 
 character, and likeness, in sound colouring and 
 a noble style of drawing, may justly rank among 
 the first male portraits of his time. 
 
 11. W. HILTON, A. R.A. 
 
 JUPITER AND EUROPA. 
 
 The daughter of Agenor, arrayed as becomes 
 the dignity of her royal father, is seated on a 
 bull in the centre of the composition, and her 
 crimson mantle floats in the wind. One of her 
 hands is placed on the garland of flowers, with 
 which she herself had decorated the head of the 
 
GALLERY. 31 
 
 animal, and the other arm is extended, while 
 her eyes are directed back to the Tyrian shore, 
 and those paternal fields, from which her impru- 
 dent thoughtlessness had so unexpectedly sepa- 
 rated her. Upon the rocky coast, she still 
 discerns the figures of some of her attendants, 
 who pursue her with their looks, and, by their 
 gestures, appear to proclaim her danger with 
 their cries. Her beautiful profile expresses her 
 apprehensions, and the bull turns back his head, 
 as if proud of the lovely prize, which he bears. 
 So far the painter has followed the description of 
 Ovid with spirited fidelity. But, in all the other 
 parts of this splendid composition, he has suc- 
 cessfully applied the resources of his own fine 
 imagination, and called forth, from the coral 
 grottoes and oozy beds of the ocean, the atten- 
 dants of Neptune, to honor with their presence 
 this amorous exploit of Jove. 
 
 Three muscular tritons, designed with great 
 vigor of invention, triumphantly ride upon the 
 billows as heralds of the expedition. One, in 
 the right corner of the picture, is in a back-view, 
 sounding his shell. Two others lead the way 
 before the bull ; one is blowing his sonorous 
 conch, and looking out towards the yet undis- 
 covered shores of Crete, which are their destina- 
 tion. The other looks up, with wild and savage 
 exultation, at an enchanting cluster of Cupids 
 hovering above. Upon the back of the thunder- 
 bearing eagle one of those sportive little deities 
 
34 GALLERY. 
 
 waves his bow aloft, in token that Love is tri- 
 umphant over gods and men. 
 
 A charming group of Nereids do homage to 
 the Tyrian Princess. They support her drapery 
 and limbs, soothe her fears, and accelerate her 
 swift passage through the waves. These nymphs 
 are composed with much elegance of fancy. 
 The two, who float on the main beside her, are 
 half-draped, and seen in a back-view. The head 
 of the first is foreshortened, looking up at Europa, 
 while her arms are joyfully employed in bearing 
 her forward. The face of the other is in profile, 
 looking back to her companions, and assisting 
 with equal alacrity. Three other marine sisters 
 follow, and form a rich addition to this fanciful 
 group. The} - are wholly undraped, but com- 
 posed with an agreeable and unaffected delicacy, 
 and partially concealed by the waves. The 
 display of delicate form and colour in these 
 figures, is rendered more fascinating by the gay 
 and bewitching grace, with which they glide 
 upon the waters. Their arms are entwined in 
 gentle co-operation, supporting the feet of the 
 royal virgin, or offering her strings of pearl, the 
 treasures of the deep, in token of her dominion 
 over the Ruler of the Earth and Skies. 
 
 The features of the landscape are bold ; the 
 masses of light and shadow broad, and well dis- 
 posed to give a relative force to the groups. The 
 colouring is glowing and harmonious. The 
 execution manifests the painter's commanding 
 
GALLERY. S3 
 
 power over the materials of his art. The ana- 
 tomical science displayed in the Tritons, parti- 
 cularly in the back of the nearest, shows the 
 incalculable advantage of that due course of 
 academical study which Reynolds, Gainsbo- 
 rough, and Opie, wanted. These ideal beings 
 not only exhibit a great muscular force in motion, 
 but the parts which correspond with the human 
 form, are finely drawn, and painted with asto- 
 nishing energy. The man and the marine mon- 
 ster, or deity, are admirably compounded in their 
 wild and supernatural visages. Their uncouth 
 figures, their dark colouring, and abrupt action, 
 form a striking contrast to the flowing con- 
 tours and lovely faces of the Nereids. A joyous 
 grace and gentle eagerness characterize the 
 gliding movements of those enchanting nymphs; 
 and the charms of light, colour, and beauty, are 
 united in this fascinating group. The majestic 
 bull in the centre, and the ardent eye, bold 
 aspect, and expanded wings of the eagle in 
 the clouds, diversify the composition. In per- 
 sonifying the Cupids, the artist's fancy ascended 
 with his subject; and the sister muses, Poetry 
 and l'ainting, presided at their birth. The skill, 
 with which they are foreshortened and kept in 
 shadowy subordination, is the least part of their 
 merits. They are full of airy and infantine vi- 
 vacity ; and I do not remember to have seen such 
 a group of lovely little flutterers from the pencil 
 of any living artist. 
 
 i) 
 
34 GALLERY. 
 
 It required no common powers to overcome 
 the peculiarities of this story ; but its difficul- 
 ties are forgotten in the rich embellishments of 
 the Painter's invention. Every subject, within 
 the class of incredible fable, is addressed more 
 to the imagination than to the passions; and 
 deprived of our sympathy in proportion to our 
 assurance of its impossibility. But the genius of 
 Hilton has clothed this fiction with circum- 
 stances of splendor, and combinations so striking 
 and diversified, that the fancy is engaged by the 
 lively progress of the action, and the eye fasci- 
 nated by the characteristic variety, spirit, and 
 beauty of the agents. The admiration excited 
 by the vigor of his pencil, is only inferior to the 
 applause bestowed on the purity of his taste, and 
 the depth of his science. There is a happy dis- 
 tribution in the several parts of the composition, 
 which gives a striking novelty and grandeur to 
 the whole. The three classes of imaginary be- 
 ings, which constitute the machinery of the piece, 
 preserve an unity of object, that hurries forward 
 the classical mind to the accomplishment of 
 the voyage; and, although Jupiter and Europa 
 are yet in sight of the Phoenician shore, in the 
 eye of fancy they have already reached the 
 Cretan harbour. 
 
 I view this noble picture with some degree 
 of personal* pride and pleasure, and consider 
 
 * I never saw Mr. Hilton until I had the pleasure of meeting 
 hinj in the Gallery of Sir John Leicester, last May. I mention 
 
GALLERY. 3."> 
 
 it as an object of public exultation. I con- 
 gratulate Mr. Hilton on this fresh display of 
 his genius ; I congratulate Sir John Fleming 
 
 this, because, as a literary volunteer, for the nine preceding years, I 
 had gladly borne testimony to his genius, in my critical notices, 
 through the medium of the Press. 
 
 The first picture, which I saw of his was the Judgment of Solo- 
 mon, at the British Gallery, in 1809; and after remarking that it 
 •' excited great hopes of h\s future progress," I added, "practical 
 skill, feeling, and mind, he possesses, but the Graces will not be won 
 without being wooed," (p. 10, Letter to an Amateur.) That this 
 Artist has been a thriving wooer, this picture is one of many delight- 
 ful instances. The conclusion of my notices of his pictures, in 18l6, 
 contained the following remark: "Theirs; stage in the young 
 Artist's career is the Royal Academy ; and the second, the British 
 Institution. That body, after having by prizes and purchases set 
 the seal of its approbation upon his performances, confides him to 
 the liberal guardianship of his Country. He is then a candidate for 
 Public Employment, and for that public favour, which, when 
 judiciously conferred, is an honour to the Artist and the Nation. 
 Trace Hilton's history, it exemplifies our view. Nature gave him 
 genius; the Royal Academy science; the British Institution honour, 
 reward, and a dignified introduction to the Nation. The Institu- 
 tion, collectively and individually, paid him eleven hundred and 
 ten guineas within five years. Querc, how many pictures have 
 been purchased from that eminent Arti t, by gentlemen who are 
 not members of the British Institution? Where the Academy, the 
 Institution, and the Artist, have done their duty, if there be still a 
 neutrality abroad, unless the Legislature wisely, and in time, step 
 in to the support and encouragement of Historical Painting, the 
 danger to that noble art will be great indeed." (Champion, 
 April 21st, 1816.) The first commission which this Artist ever 
 received was for the Europa, from Sir John Leicester ; and the 
 production of this noble picture has been promptly followed by his 
 election to the rank of a Roi/ul Academician. 
 
 d2 
 
36 GALLERY. 
 
 Leicester, the early and munificent patron of 
 modern art, on this triumph of his public spirit; 
 I congratulate the Royal Academy, on having 
 added a fresh wreath to the glory of the British 
 School ; and I congratulate England, on an his- 
 torical composition, by a British Academician, 
 which may challenge the admiration and compe- 
 tition of all Europe. 
 
 12. JAMES NORTHCOTE, R.A. 
 
 A VULTURE AND SERPENT. 
 
 The famished bird is stooping and grasping his 
 prey in his talons, on the barren ridge of a stony 
 mountain. His extended wings are napping de- 
 fiance, his plumage is disordered, his neck bent 
 down, his head somewhat raised, cowering and 
 drawn back in terror, from the deadly sting of the 
 serpent. His wild and hollow eye is glaring and 
 averted, and his crooked beak open, hoarsely 
 screaming, in anger, fear, and fury over his dan- 
 gerous captive. The terrible reptile is writhing 
 in folds of anguish beneath his gripe, but coiled 
 up in desperate preparation for self-defence. His 
 neck is erected, his throat swollen with rage, and 
 his projected tongue brandished, threatening his 
 powerful assailant. The light ou his speckled 
 folds is low and gloomy, and diffused from thence 
 
GALLERY. 37 
 
 upon the bead, neck, and fore-part of the vul- 
 ture, whose ample wings rise boldly in pictu- 
 resque grandeur. A tempestuous blackness 
 shades the sky, and this dreary effect is height- 
 ened by a light on the edges of the agitated 
 clouds, and on the barren rock in front. The 
 mass of shadow, which extends over so large 
 a space, gives a powerful character to the inci- 
 dent ; and the savage combatants are painted 
 with a correspondent truth and energy of ex- 
 pression. 
 
 13. HENRY FUSEL1, R. A. 
 
 FRIAR PUCK. 
 
 The painter has embodied this whimsical phan- 
 tasm in a human form, as a cunning urchin, a 
 sportive elfin boy, working his spiteful freaks, not 
 in revenge nor anger, but in drollery. He has 
 created a sprite, playing his mischievous pranks 
 for the pleasure of the pastime. This ideal being, 
 with all his seeming inconsistencies, is more 
 easily marked by the pen than the pencil ; and 
 Shakespeare, in his Midsummer Night's Dream, 
 has left no trait untouched, which could give a 
 finish to his Friar Puck, or Robin Goodfellow. 
 
 The artist has selected the particular incident 
 which forms the subject of this picture, from 
 Milton, although, in the delineation of the elf 
 
38 I.ALLERY. 
 
 he has followed the dramatic poet, and success- 
 fully combined his heterogeneous propensities to 
 pleasantry and mischief. 
 
 " As when a wandering fire. 
 Which oft, they say, some evil spirit attends, 
 Hovering and blazing with delusive light, 
 Misleads th' amazed night-wanderer from his way, 
 Through bogs and mires, and oft through pond and 
 
 pool, 
 There swallowed up, and lost from succour far." 
 
 Par. Lost, Book ix. 634. 
 
 The Puck of Fuseli is hovering in the dense 
 air of night, over a fenny pool, to lure benighted 
 wayfarers into danger. He is apparelled in a 
 dark loose coat, tied under his chin, and flying 
 open in the storm, leaving his chubby body and 
 limbs naked, lie wears a dark high cap, with a 
 long pointed top, flapping, after an odd fashion. 
 Without wings he rides the air, with a vigorous 
 and buoyant activity ; his right leg and thigh 
 advanced, his left thrown back, and both boldly 
 foreshortened. His left hand is extended, tink- 
 ling a bell, enticing the strayed traveller to fol- 
 low him through brake and brier; his right is 
 raised, bearing on high an ignis fatnus, or night- 
 fire, which maintains its dim flame in spite of the 
 rough blast, and appears more startling to the 
 alarmed fancy from the darkness of night, which 
 extinguishes the sense of form, and mingles 
 the forest and sky in one impervious mass. The 
 
GALLERY. 39 
 
 conjunction of this blackness with the portent- 
 ous nigfat-fire, and a visionary break of moon- 
 shine, immediately above the hand of the elf, 
 increase the appalling impression already made 
 upon the terror-stricken senses of the be-lated 
 clown. The hue of these moon-beams is undefin- 
 able, but cold, shadowy, and well calculated to 
 palsy and mislead the foot of Ignorance and Su- 
 perstition. Puck and his bell being Supposed by 
 the poet and painter to be invisible to the luck- 
 less objects of his mischievous merriment, these 
 ominous lights only serve to render darkness 
 more fearful, and to people the dun expanse with 
 hideous shapes to a perturbed imagination. 
 
 The wild disparted locks which are not covered 
 by the cap of Puck, are of a whitish gray,although 
 his form resembles that of a strange boy, not 
 more than four or five years old ; and, excepting 
 a wan unwarming gleam on the top of his fore- 
 head, and a purple tinge on his lips and the pro- 
 minence of his cheeks, all the half tints of his 
 face are blueish and unworldly, as of an imagi- 
 nary visitant from the cold regions of the moon. 
 The gleams of light and reflections upon his 
 coat are also cold and negative ; and on his body 
 and limbs the broad lights are partially laid upon 
 half tints of a neutral tendency, although the 
 general hue and shadows resemble more the co- 
 louring of a human being. 
 
 A vapour rises over the depths, and sheds 
 a deceitful reflection below. It dissipates the 
 
40 GALLERY. 
 
 darkness of night, but only to confound the 
 distinction of earth and water, and make the un- 
 known pond appear a solid level. A woody 
 bank, in one dark mass, forms the foreground 
 to the left. To the right the fenny pool itself is 
 discoverable by the glimmering exhalation; and, 
 at a short distance, the affrighted Clodpole, whom 
 the merry sprite has lured from the opposite 
 bank into the quagmire, is crouched back on his 
 haunches. His bare arms are extended down 
 before him, and his forked fingers spread out, 
 trying to grope for firmer footing. In this awk- 
 ward position, with his body drawn back and 
 bent, one of his knees appears between his arms, 
 the leg projected, and half-way in the water; the 
 other leg is knee-deep in the fen, but drawn 
 back as if unwilling to stir from the spot, at the 
 hazard of sinking down at once, and being irre- 
 coverably lost. The dim reflections upon his face, 
 shoulders, and breast, arc deeper than the shadows 
 in front, so that the upper part of his figure is a 
 dark object surrounded by darkness, an obscurity 
 which heightens the dreary effect. But the black 
 mass formed by his hat, thick hair, coat, and the 
 strong shadows on his person, render his figure 
 and features discernible. His loutish dress and 
 visage mark him to be of that class, whose minds 
 are scared by night and loneliness, not only with 
 the dread of robbers and murderers, but with the 
 more harrowing apprehension of evil spirits. 
 This honest rustic is one of those simpletons, to 
 
GALLERY. 41 
 
 whom the terror of witches, ghosts, and goblin 
 fiends, blue flames, and flashes of infernal fire 
 in the dark, cause more horror than the dread of 
 death itself. A tinge of dark red on the hand- 
 kerchief, which he has tied under his chin to 
 secure his hat from the wind, and a reflection on 
 his under lip, which indicates its livid paleness, 
 deepen the panic-stricken expression of his fea- 
 tures. His mouth is gaping, his chin dropped, 
 his black brows indented, and his eyes as if ready 
 to start from their sockets, intently fixed with a 
 bewildered gaze, on the pale light of the ignis 
 fatuus, and all its dismal varieties of night and 
 moonshine. While thus stupified with a dread of 
 unreal danger, the dusky reflections on his ex- 
 tended arms and groping hands, and the glim- 
 mering on the miry pool in which he is stuck 
 fast, betray how near he is to being drowned ; 
 and his crouching action and gestures are those 
 of a hen-hearted, harmless, poor fellow, whose 
 blood runs cold, and heart knocks against his 
 ribs, as if Beelzebub and all his fiery imps were 
 about to gripe him in their talons, and fly away 
 with him, soul and body, for ever. 
 
 The painter has here delineated one of Shakes- 
 peare's most whimsical personifications with 
 great vigor of imagination. He has contrived 
 to render the real danger of the clown less im- 
 pressive than his imaginary perils ; and has so 
 contrasted his ludicrous horrors with the merry 
 malignity and mischievous glee of the laughter- 
 
42 GALLERY. 
 
 loving elf, that each renders the other more en- 
 tertaining and effective. This admirable picture, 
 however, is not without an incongruity. The 
 coat and hair of Puck are agitated as if by a 
 storm, while the branches of the willow tree 
 on the bank remain unmoved as if in a per- 
 fect calm. 
 
 14. OPIE. 
 
 DAMON AND MUSIDORA. 
 
 Thompson has united in his Seasons an ex- 
 quisite refinement and elegance of language, with 
 an unaffected purity of sentiment, comprehen- 
 sive resources, and glowing powers of descrip- 
 tion. But his poem, without a place for the af- 
 fections, would have been deprived of its highest 
 interest, his sun without light and heat, his cre- 
 ation without joy and happiness, his nations a 
 savage and tumultuary intercourse, without 
 bond, decorum, or rule. His conceptions of 
 female loveliness are of the purest order. He 
 introduces Woman as an object of esteem and 
 gratitude, or admiration and love. Her smile 
 awakens a higher social sense, aud gives a finer 
 tone to humanity. We look up to her as a fair 
 planet, moving in her beauteous orbit, shedding 
 sweet influence on Man, regulating the moral 
 seasons, and calling forth into bud, bloom, and 
 
GALLERY- 43 
 
 ripe perfection, eacli lovelier Hower, and ge- 
 nerous fruit of the intellectual soil. The delicacy 
 of his episodes renders it an arduous task for any 
 painter to embody his charming ideas. His Mu- 
 sidora, as a rural maiden, has not the elevation 
 of Milton's Eve, the high claims of the first wife 
 and mother ; but she has all her chastened feel- 
 ings, with virgin sensibilities, gentler aspirations 
 of tenderness, and blushing graces, which play 
 within the daily circle, and find as warm a dwell- 
 ing in the heart. This admirable poet employed 
 the powers of his fertile imagination to delight 
 the mind with the most agreeable images, and 
 spread allurements in the path of duty. At the 
 instant when he appears to address the sensa- 
 tions, and remove every restriction, he teaches 
 the fancy to behold youth, beauty, and inno- 
 cence, modesty and love unveiled, and to impose 
 a willing limitation on itself. His sphere is sub- 
 lunary, but his shell breathes of Heaven, and 
 his song steals upon the soul with the wild en- 
 chantment of sylvan melody, or is swelled into a 
 divine enthusiasm, by his sublime sense of the 
 Deity. He touches all the soothing impulses 
 and kindred harmonies, rouses every nobler sym- 
 pathy and emulation, and delights to open a 
 paradise upon earth, by shewing us the Passions 
 in the fair order of Nature, united to Happiness 
 in the bands of Virtue. 
 
 Opie has chosen that moment which tells this 
 story to the eye, with the same gentle purity of 
 
44 GALLERY. 
 
 spirit. Musidora retired from the sultry sun, is 
 sitting in an embowered recess by a flowing ri- 
 vulet. Her face and person are in a front view, 
 her limbs somewhat turned aside. She is in a 
 loose summer dress, preparing to bathe in 
 the cool refreshing waters, and has, already, in 
 part, unrobed. Her bosom, left breast, and arm 
 are bare. She rests her right elbow on her lap, 
 while the arm passes beneath her bosom, and 
 the hand is employed in untying the bright blue 
 ribband which binds her left sleeve. Her figure 
 forms the principal light, and the darkest touches 
 on her garment are only half shadows between 
 this mass and the background, which is entirely 
 dark, excepting the further corner above. There, 
 behind the bower, Damon's face is seen, stealing 
 an averted glance, in half shadow. The artist 
 was solicitous to obtain a commanding breadth 
 of light, and there is little difference in depth 
 between the drapery and the carnations on the 
 bosom and arms. The latter is of a mellow white, 
 which approaches to an equality of tone, and as 
 we look up from a distance, at first view, takes 
 away from the value of the fleshy tints ; but the 
 general result is advantageous. That admirable 
 artist, Bartolozzi, in his engraving, lost some of 
 the clearness and beauty of the principal mass of 
 light, by toning the bosom lower than it is in 
 the picture ; but the print was probably executed 
 almost wholly by his pupils. The left arm hangs 
 down in that inert position which the intention 
 
GALLERY. 45 
 
 requires, and the carnations are judiciously 
 lowered to the fingers, which sink in the shade 
 of the back ground. The shadows of the shoes, 
 upper part of the hair, and principal folds of the 
 drapery, retire into the ground, in like manner, 
 and the central light thus generally loses itself in 
 surrounding darkness. The delicacy of the sub- 
 ject, the silence and privacy of the scene, are in 
 accord with the breadth, mellowness, and repose 
 of the general effect. 
 
 The traits of individuality in this figure prove 
 it to have been a study from a living model, in 
 which the artist found the tender colouring and 
 gracility of extreme youth, without a rigid purity 
 in the particular forms. The outline of the naked 
 arm, from the shoulder downwards, is an implicit 
 following of nature, and not of the most select 
 order. There is in every other part a correspond- 
 ing character. The painter probabty deemed 
 it safer to rely upon the resemblance of reality, 
 than to attempt an ideal elevation of the subject, 
 with his, perhaps then, limited practice from the 
 naked figure. Bartolozzi, in his print, has altered 
 the drawing, with some advantage to particular 
 forms, but he has certainly lost the interesting 
 identity of the whole figure, without having sub- 
 stituted the purity of the ideal in its place. This 
 picture was painted for a distant effect, with a 
 strong and full body of colour, and a broad bold 
 brush, unlike some of this artist's pictures, which 
 were whitish in the carnations, and of a cold 
 
46 GALLERY. 
 
 gray in the linen. The head is somewhat fore- 
 shortened, and the hair bound by a broad fillet 
 of tender white, from beneath which the loose 
 ringlets shade her forehead. The shadows on 
 the neck and left shoulder are rich and vigorous, 
 of a good shape and tone, and the reflections are 
 finely managed. The face is an agreeable oval, 
 and of a delicate contour; here, too, in the print, 
 there is an alteration, and more roundness in the 
 outline, but the change is injurious to the unity 
 of character, which marks the entire figure in 
 the picture. The whole face is toned much 
 lower than the broad light on her bosom, and 
 relieves in one fine breadth. Her dark eye- 
 lashes conceal her downcast eyes, and the rosy 
 pudicity which blushes through the light on her 
 cheeks, is the pure expression of maiden mo- 
 desty shrinking from the breeze, and fearful of 
 unveiling her beauties to the eye of day. In the 
 graceful bend of the head, the timid look, and 
 delicious tone of sensibility suffusing her com- 
 plexion, Opie has painted a charming picture of 
 ingenuous innocence. Beside the bravura of 
 execution, and taste in the disposition, he has 
 been eminently successful in the gentle feeling 
 and conception of the character. As his early 
 circumstances led him rather to paint what he 
 saw with force, than to seek for improvement in 
 the selection of models, and as he began to paint 
 before he could draze, the most prominent feature 
 of his style is energy of effect. This picture is a 
 
GALLERY. 47 
 
 proof that he possessed a sense of beauty, al- 
 though from those early disadvantages, his fe- 
 males are often deficient in grace and elegance. 
 He has left a sufficient number of specimens to 
 manifest the extent of his genius, and warrant 
 an impartial conclusion, that if he had not been 
 cut oft' prematurely from the career of his 
 honourable ambition, he would have added to 
 his well-earned fame by a commanding display 
 of power in those refined qualities of his art, 
 which he had not a due opportunity of studying 
 early in life, and in which he latterly made so 
 rapid an improvement. Besides his other good 
 qualities as a man, it was one of the fine traits 
 of this eminent artist's character, that he felt a 
 noble pride in doing justice to the merits of his 
 rivals, while contending with them for the palm 
 of glory. 
 
 15. W. COLLIiNS, A. R. A. 
 
 SEA SHORE, SUN RISE. 
 
 Two Fisher-boys are here, on the shore, at low- 
 water. One is kneeling in a front view, with a 
 turbot in his hand, and his fish-basket beside 
 him. He is looking up, in conversation with 
 his companion, who stands beside him, with 
 his back towards the spectator. The latter 
 
48 GALLERY. 
 
 has his prawn-nets suspended upon an imple- 
 ment, like a short boat-hook, over his shoulder ; 
 and has also a small basket slung at his back. 
 The reflections of the rising sun are expressed 
 with great richness on the face of the kneeling 
 boy, and the warm light, wilh a vigorous glow, 
 on the other. These figures are transcripts from 
 nature, painted with that admirable truth which 
 stamps a superior value on the works of this 
 artist. They occupy the right side of the rocky 
 beach, and a large dog, of the Newfoundland 
 breed stands behind the prawn-fisher, in the 
 centre of the fore-ground. A buoy and chain 
 left aground by the tide, are the only objects in 
 the left corner. A thin flow of water is visible 
 on some parts of the strand, and in the middle- 
 ground a pier extends into the sea. A boat-build- 
 er's yard, with vessels lying dry ; a horse and 
 figures are seen near them, and a small house 
 stands on the side of a high and sheltering hill 
 above. From the termination of this hill the 
 sea forms the extreme distance, and extends the 
 whole length across the view. The Sun has just 
 risen a little above the horizon ; and its brightness 
 is reflected on the waves, immediately behind 
 the kneeling fisher-boy with wonderful truth, 
 brilliancy, and force of local colouring. The 
 golden light is opposed to the deep blue of the 
 ocean, with a lustre and vivacity, to which no 
 language can do justice. 
 
 On the extreme sea, some dark sails arc dis- 
 
GALLERY. 49 
 
 cernible against the bright light. On the same 
 line the white sails of some fishing smacks, 
 diminished by remote distance, glitter in the sun, 
 and help to soften the effect by spreading the 
 light in these parts upon the water. The dark 
 sails of a fishing vessel, which is much nearer 
 the shore, rise above the horizon, take away from 
 the formality of its line, give a picturesque ef- 
 fect to the angle formed by the boy, and contri- 
 bute to unite the shadows of the sea and sky. 
 The ruddy light is diffused upon the flickering 
 clouds, upon the water, upon the distant hill, the 
 sands, and the figures, with a variety and grada- 
 tion of tint, a living glow and lustre, which place 
 this admirable transcript of nature, as a standard 
 of excellence, among the very finest productions 
 of its class. As the spectator views this fasci- 
 nating picture, tbe cool serenity of a clear 
 summer morning, in all its aerial loveliness, 
 sheds a sweet and tranquil influence on his 
 mind. 
 
JO . GALLERY. 
 
 16. OPLE. 
 
 COTTAGE GIRLS. 
 
 These two villagers are grouped beside the 
 cottage. One is seated on a bank, habited in a 
 dark-coloured dress, with white boddice and, 
 sleeves. Her face is turned to the left side of 
 the picture, her left arm resting on her lap, and 
 from her figure being seen nearly in a side view, 
 a part only of the right arm, with her hand sup- 
 ported on a staff, is visible. Her head is in a three- 
 quarter view, with dark chesnut hair, the draw- 
 ing of the features correct, and of an agreeable 
 form ; the face that of a rustic beauty, of a clear 
 complexion, with a fresh tinge of health, and an 
 interesting expression of innocence. Her com- 
 panion is seen in a similar dress, in front, seated 
 close beside her, stooping forward with her hands 
 extended, warming them by the scanty flame 
 of a few broken twigs and brambles. Her hair 
 hangs loose upon her neck and shoulders, her 
 countenance is comely but more rustic, and in 
 strong shadow, excepting the lower part, which 
 is illuminated by the burning embers. The 
 glowing reflections on her face and person are 
 painted with great truth and richness. They 
 have the effect of fire-light, without that 
 strong red glare which we find in many of 
 
UALLERY. 51 
 
 Schalken's works, although his best fire and 
 candle-light pictures arc so deservedly admired. 
 Rubens himself, that great master of colour and 
 effect, sometimes adopted those deep red lights, 
 in subjects of this class. The fire-light here is 
 kept subordinate to the morning light, which is 
 spread over the face and upper part of the 
 first girl, and the two masses of light are gently 
 united. 
 
 The small portion of landscape behind the 
 second girl is in deep shadow, above which a 
 robin is perched, equally black, discernible only 
 by a dusky red on the breast, and a dun speck 
 for the eye. The sky and cottage are dark, 
 excepting a faint blink of morning glimmer- 
 ing through the shades of the horizon. A 
 bold licence is exercised in the management of 
 the light, but the effect is strong and agreeable, 
 and the choice of nature more pleasing than we 
 sometimes find in Murillio's rustic subjects. That 
 admirable artist's Beggar Boys are frequently of 
 a homely cast and expression, although painted 
 with so much vigorous truth and mellowness of 
 effect. 
 
 e 2 
 
GALLERY. 
 
 17. J. M. W. TURNER, R.A. 
 
 POPE'S VILLA AT TWICKENHAM. 
 
 This scene, so long consecrated to the musing 
 hours of Genius, will be ever dear to the lovers 
 of poetry and the fine arts, although, like all 
 that was mortal of the celebrated bard its former 
 possessor, the building itself is now, unhappily, 
 no more. 
 
 Yet on the Muse has Heaven a power bestow'd, 
 More lasting far than feeble brass or stone, 
 To hang her harp in Honour's bright abode, 
 And win the glory of a deathless throne : 
 Where'er the shadowy wings of Night have flown, 
 Where'er the golden sun directs a ray, 
 To flourish fair, to distant nations known, 
 To Earth's extremest verge and Time's remotest 
 day. 
 
 This immortality is the proudest consolation 
 of Genius, in a low estate. Wealth, Power, and 
 Grandeur, unless dignified by public and private 
 virtue, and the patronage of Genius, pass away, 
 with all that appertains to them, and are for- 
 gotten. But not so the Poet or Painter. The 
 place of his birth, his residence, his favourite 
 furniture, whatever he prized, or belonged to 
 him, acquire a value in the eye of posterity. 
 
GALLERY. 53 
 
 The house in which Shakespeare dwelled, the 
 mulberry tree which he planted ; the cottage, or 
 the humble drinking cup of Burns, are objects 
 which touch the sensibilities of a whole people, 
 while splendid palaces moulder unnoticed, and 
 vessels of gold and silver are melted down, and 
 only valued for their precious metals. 
 
 The work of dilapidation had just begun at 
 Twickenham, when Turner commenced this in- 
 teresting picture, and the pencil of this celebrated 
 artist has so far perpetuated the view of an abode, 
 which would have been preserved for ever from 
 violence and overthrow, by the reverence of the 
 country ; but the public will has no power over 
 the rights of private property. The painter has 
 displayed his usual taste in the choice of the 
 view. The classical groves and dwelling of the 
 poet are seen on the distant bank of the Thames, 
 with a continuance of woods and villas in the 
 same line. The river flows irregularly in front of 
 the dilapidated dwelling, through the middle 
 ground. Two fishermen in their boat are close 
 to the near bank, which forms the foreground. 
 To the right, in these pastures, a flock of sheep 
 is feeding ; to the left, a young woman of a 
 pleasing figure is leaning on a rustic's shoulder, 
 remarking on the discourse of three old men of 
 the same class. The latter are in the left corner, 
 close to the fallen trunk of a tree. One of them 
 rests his hand on the fragment of an architectural 
 ornament belonging to the villa, and is pointing 
 
54 GALLERY. 
 
 to that building. This action and the gestures 
 of his companions, indicate that these homely 
 moralists are reasoning on its progressive de- 
 struction. Tall clusters of trees, agreeably di- 
 versified, and of a good shape, arise on each side, 
 and the foreground is tastefully enriched with 
 herbage. The charming serenity of evening is 
 expressed with a mild glow. The penciling is 
 loose. The figures are designed with feeling, and 
 the general effect is harmonious ; but the artist's 
 taste for Italian scenery has prevailed in his 
 local colouring, which would admit of a little 
 more freshness for the climate and aspect of an 
 English landscape. 
 
 18. G. ROMNEY. 
 
 TITANIA, PUCK, AND THE CHANGELING. 
 
 The same beautiful original from which this 
 artist painted his comic Muse, in his picture of 
 the infant Shakespeare, and Reynolds his Bac- 
 chante, supplied the model for this Queen of 
 Spells. The dark, blue deep rolls in the dis- 
 tance behind ; the sea-shells are scattered before 
 her, and she is playfully crouched on 
 
 " Neptune's yellow sands," 
 
 leaning on her elbows, her hands under her chin, 
 
GALLERY. 5.5 
 
 her bosom and shoulders bare, and habited in a 
 close red drapery. Her countenance is in 
 clear halt-shadow, and her dark hair, except- 
 ing one or two loose tresses, bound in a light 
 fillet. There is a nameless witchery in the ac- 
 tion, which at once addresses itself to the lively 
 sensations. The turn of her head possesses the 
 same arch animation, half averted, and half with 
 sportive grace, gaily presented to the spectator. 
 Her eyes look ten thousand tempting mischiefs, 
 and her lips, 
 
 Humid as roses steep'd in morning dew, 
 
 are clothed in smiling peril. The whole concep- 
 tion breathes the wild and frolic imagination of 
 Shakespeare. Beside her, playing his laughing 
 antics on the sands, lies on his back, her little 
 favourite, 
 
 " A lovely boy — stolen from an Indian king, 
 She never had so sweet a changeling." 
 
 His sprightly companion, Puck, is seated at his 
 heels, in wanton merriment, seeking to bind his 
 feet in flowery fetters. Above, in the distance, 
 the fairy elves ride on the clouds, flutter in the 
 breeze, or dip their wings in the colours of the 
 rainbow. In this aerial group, the female bear- 
 ing off the child is an allusion to the theft of the 
 changeling, the incident on which the poet has 
 founded the difference of Oberon and Titania. 
 This picture is only a sketch, but how superior 
 
56 GALLERY. 
 
 to very many finished pictures! Grace, expres- 
 sion, female loveliness, and a fine disposition of 
 the objects, render it a charming specimen of 
 Romney's invention. 
 
 19. J. M. W. TURNER, R.A. 
 
 A blacksmith's shop. 
 
 In the fore-ground of this subject a large 
 hamper, or market-basket, some vegetables, and a 
 butcher's tray, are placed on the earthen floor. 
 Two horses, a white and a brown, stand near to 
 them. The manger and interior beyond are par- 
 tially illuminated, by a low half-light from a 
 window or aperture above. 
 
 The journeyman blacksmith is seen in a front 
 view, holding up the white horse's leg, and pick- 
 ing a nail from a box of tools. The master is in 
 profile, immediately beyond him, leaning on the 
 side of the forge, with his back to the spectator, 
 and the newspaper in his hand. The butcher, 
 who wears a red cap, stands beside him, disput- 
 ing the charge for shoeing his horse. These 
 figures are grouped near the centre of the shop. 
 A man is plying the bellows on the opposite side 
 of the forge, and a smith, dipping a piece of red- 
 hot iron in the water-trough, and resting his 
 hammer on the anvil, is placed opposite the fire. 
 
GALLERY. 57 
 
 The tools and apparatus are introduced with due 
 fidelity. Beyond these two figures, an old man 
 with S reddish bonnet, a gray coat, and dull 
 plaid, is seen at a back door, coming into an 
 inner apartment. 
 
 A small spot is boarded off to the left, near 
 the front corner, where the spade and broom, 
 some wooden vessels, household utensils, and im- 
 plements are placed. Some poultry occupy the 
 near fore-ground on this side of the floor. 
 
 This subject is of a class not usual with this 
 master, and one in which the detail of particu- 
 lars is an essential. He has displayed much 
 taste and science in the selection and disposition 
 of the objects. The figures have a spirited look 
 of nature, and are painted in a style which unites 
 much of the licence that is the charm of a sketch, 
 with a clever general effect. The masses are 
 warm, and of a noble breadth. The quantity of 
 cool colours is small. The gradations of tone, 
 from the light on the white horse and front 
 group to the figures seen by the fire-light at the 
 forge, and from thence to the gray hues on the 
 old man and inner apartment, are conducted 
 with consummate skill. These cool tints, and 
 the silvery sky, seen through the hatch door, 
 have a wonderful power in giving value to all 
 the other objects in the picture. 
 
58 GALLERY. 
 
 20. OWEN, R. A. 
 
 EXPECTATION. 
 
 A young lady seated at a table is represented 
 holding her watch to her ear, as if to count the 
 minutes, and reprove the slow pace of time. A 
 mind looking forward to an escape from some 
 impending danger, or the accomplishment of 
 some good, forms an interesting subject for a 
 study. The face is pleasing; the expression of 
 listening anxiety well depicted in her features, 
 and the turn of her head, inclined forward, her 
 dark hair in disorder, and her eyes directed back- 
 wards is graceful. She wears a crimson feather 
 in her hat, and a purple pelisse, trimmed with 
 dark brown fur. The back-ground also is dark. 
 The predominance of opaque shades, with the 
 want of reflections, and of any second mass in 
 harmonious gradation from the principal light, 
 give a chalkiness to the flesh, and detract from 
 the effect of this otherwise agreeable picture. 
 The green table covering is too far removed from 
 the face and bosom, to act as an accessary, and 
 of too unfriendly a hue to be productive of 
 union. A prim engraved from it would have all 
 the pleasing taste of the design without those 
 peculiarities in the colouring and effect. 
 
GALLERY. 59 
 
 21. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 GIRL AND KITTEN. 
 
 The late President has here represented a vil- 
 lager, an arch-looking little girl, in a torn gipsy- 
 hat, black kerchief, white loose frock, and scar- 
 let belt, seated in a front view, and holding up a 
 kitten in her hands. A crimson curtain in strong 
 shadow, a dark woody landscape, and a small 
 portion of a deep-toned sky furnish a rich back- 
 ground. The artist laid on a great body of co- 
 lour, and produced a wonderful force and har- 
 mony. Compared with this, the Boy reading 
 is thinly painted. There is more fine Venetian 
 surface, penciling and system, adapted to 
 his own delightful taste, in this picture, than in 
 any modern painting, which I have seen. The 
 hands are well drawn, and marked with a deci- 
 sion unusual to sir Joshua. The upper part of the 
 face is in shadow, and the head is painted with 
 great vigour and force of character. The ex- 
 pression of laughing glee revels in every feature, 
 while sheexultingly holds up her purring favour- 
 ite, and seems to sing out from the old ballad, 
 
 " Hey my kitten, my kitten, and ho my kitten, my 
 deary !" 
 
 It would be perhaps, impossible, in this class 
 of his works, to procure a more brilliant specimen 
 
(JO GALLERY. 
 
 of village nature. Reynolds excelled in paint- 
 ing children ; but a finer expression of juvenile 
 triumph, than this joyful little urchin, was never 
 produced by his pencil. 
 
 22. WILSON. 
 
 A LANDSCAPE AND FIGURES. 
 
 This scene is in Italy, and the river which runs 
 through the middle ground is supposed to be the 
 Arno. The fore-ground, on the right side, is 
 covered with large leaves of herbage and grass, 
 whose dark and dewy verdure is painted with 
 great freshness and brilliancy : these, with a 
 broken branch fallen against a small knoll of 
 earth, and two trees rising close to the edge of 
 the picture, compose this part of the front bank 
 of the river. The vivacity and transparency of 
 the local colours, on these objects, are rendered 
 more brilliant by touches of sunny light and 
 glowing reflections. The slender tree reminds 
 the spectator of the sparkling lustre in Pynaker's 
 best pictures, but with a largeness of manner, 
 and freedom of penciling rarely found in the 
 works of that admired Artist. In the centre, a 
 road leads forward from the river, of a clear 
 brownish hue, which further sets off the verdure 
 of the luxuriant herbage already noticed. A 
 fisherman is seen, on the brink of the stream. 
 
GALLERY. 6l 
 
 angling. His wife, with a child at her breast 
 and basket on the ground, is seated on a bank 
 behind him. The man is well designed, but the 
 woman and child are very slight, although the 
 lights on the drapery of those figures have a pre- 
 vailing power in bringing forward the fore- 
 ground, marking the comparative depth of the 
 warm sunny tone on the centre of the river in 
 front, and throwing off" the distances. To the left 
 the fore-ground is level, and only diversified by 
 some broad-leaved herbage, a heavy mass of de- 
 tached rock and earth, and some lesser fragments, 
 apparently rolled there by accident. The earthy 
 hues are here broken by the dark dewy verdure 
 of the wild plants, and all is kept transparent 
 and shadowy, excepting a sunny gleam on the 
 fragments of earth, which leads the eye to a sub- 
 dued light on the back of a fisherman engaged 
 in his boat, close to this bank. So far, the com- 
 position of the fore-ground is of the very sim- 
 plest materials ; the objects are few, the lines 
 unstudied, the shadows not forcible, excepting 
 to the right, and the Artist evidently placed his 
 chief reliance on the truth and relative power of his 
 local colouring. 
 
 The embrowned hues of the left fore-ground 
 are here well sustained. The steep and woody 
 elevation, which composes the opposite bank, as 
 far as it extends, casts the whole breadth of the river 
 into shade. This steep runs horizontally nearly 
 as far as half the width of the prospect, and divides 
 
62 GALLERY. 
 
 the river into two branches, one of which it in- 
 tercepts from the eye. On this ascent there are 
 large and dark excavations, and huge masses of 
 rock and earth at its base, but elsewhere it is 
 partially wooded. Some of the trees retain their 
 verdure, others are tinged with the rich hues of 
 autumn, and all are painted in a warm shadowy 
 tone, in tender gradation, as it ascends and re- 
 cedes from the eye, to the highest trees, near the 
 left edge of the picture, which crown the top of 
 this romantic eminence. It is not possible for 
 any form of words to do justice to the light- 
 ness and freedom with which all this steep 
 is painted, or to give any adequate idea of the 
 richness and sobriety of the tints, and the 
 noble breadth by which the whole of this 
 bank, the contiguous river in front, and part of 
 the left fore-ground, are made to contribute as 
 one mass to the lustre of the light on the centre 
 of the river, and the brilliant illumination of the 
 sky. Upon the brow of this elevation a turreted 
 mansion is seen: a part of its front is white; and 
 the relative purity of this tint gives value and 
 force to the gentle, but vivid oppositions of 
 colour, with which it is surrounded. Every object 
 here is light and bright, and the lovely serenity of 
 day is on the hill, the sky, and the turret. 
 Yet the highest charm of all this brightness is its 
 retiring tenderness. The glowing sun-shine on this 
 building, on the tops of those trees, and on the 
 edge of the steep, with the airy tints in the cool 
 
GA&SB&Y. 63 
 
 azure of the surrounding sky, may vie in lustre, 
 and in the truth of day-light, with any specimen 
 of ancient or modern landscape, which has fallen 
 under my examination. 
 
 From the middle distance, formed by the ex- 
 cavated steep, which divides the current into two 
 branches, near the centre of the view, the eye 
 passes to the second distance, composed of the 
 farther shore or bank, where the stream flows in 
 its undivided width. This remote bank is steep, 
 rising from the river, with low wood, in clear and 
 mellow shade; and the effect of the sunny at- 
 mosphere upon these verdurous and autum- 
 nal hues, is painted with exquisite transpa- 
 rency and beauty. Although every object is 
 in general subordination, the freshness of the 
 local colour is indicated even in the sha- 
 dows, and the lonely ruin of a building, which 
 moulders on the top of this bank, is richly illu- 
 minated by the sun, but softened, by the inter- 
 posing vapour, into quiet harmony with the re- 
 lative shades. The reflections of this building, 
 of the bank on which it stands, and all its in- 
 distinct objects, are represented in the river, 
 with equal truth and breadth. They form, with 
 the shadows of the bank itself, a commanding 
 mass, in admirable union with the warm and still 
 tone of light on the centre of the stream, ex- 
 tending across to the bank in the foreground. 
 Here the sun-beams gild the water, and not a 
 breath of wind is stirring to ruffle its surface. The 
 
64 GALLERY. 
 
 boats introduced, in different parts, are painted 
 with such skill, as to recede from the eye with 
 the finest illusion of perspective. The moun- 
 tains, which form the extreme distance, the sun- 
 light, which shines along the level eminence at 
 the foot of the highest, and the tender aerial 
 effect of these distances, manifest the same 
 glowing truth, and conduct the eye, with gentle 
 transitions of airy tint and sunny splendor, 
 into thejireadiation of the sky. The brightest and 
 broadest glow is here above the horizon ; it is 
 thence diffused, by insensible gradations and the 
 most undivided breadth, across the entire pro- 
 spect, into the tender azure tone, which glitters 
 against the sun-light on the turreted mansion, at 
 the left side of the picture. The principal parts 
 of this composition are excellent ; but their rela- 
 tion to each other, as an whole, is superior ; and 
 as a striking effect of sun-light and local co- 
 lour, in harmony and tone, this capital perform- 
 ance has probably never been surpassed by the 
 magic pencil of this great Master. 
 
GALLERY. 
 
 65 
 
 23. SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE, R.A. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF LADY LEICESTER IN THE CHARACTER 
 OF HOPE. 
 
 The injudicious practice of introducing a 
 portrait, in the principal personage of an histo- 
 rical composition, has been often justly censured, 
 as an injury to the dignity of the whole. The 
 union of an allegorical character with a portrait, 
 in a single figure, which is itself the subject of 
 the picture, is a still greater difficulty in art, and 
 would not perhaps be so frequently attended 
 with ill success, were it not so often attempted 
 without reflection. In this class of representa- 
 tion, the ideal attributes are generally at variance 
 with the character, countenance, or person of 
 the living protot3 r pe. The artist has to express 
 some virtue or passion, with its relative emo- 
 tions, under a visible personification, of which 
 the abstract image has been long embodied in 
 the human mind by poetical and mythological 
 delineation. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that where there are not 
 immediate analogies between the individual, 
 whose resemblance is to be attained, and the 
 imaginary form which is to be identified with it, 
 these considerations ought to deter artists and 
 their patrons, from allegorical portraiture, in which 
 much, if not all that is familiar in the costume, 
 
 F 
 
66 GALLERY. 
 
 scene, and accessaries, is to be laid aside, and 
 its place supplied by materials either altogether 
 strange, or novel in their immediate application 
 to the person. The task of making these changes 
 devolves upon the painter. He has to impress 
 the eye with an object at once, like and unlike 
 a known and living original ; which, at the same 
 moment is industriously estranged from familiar 
 recollection by changes and disguises, and is ex- 
 pected to be recognised by its resemblance. A 
 want of attention to the fitness or unfitness of 
 the materials, has produced so many absurd pic- 
 tures in this class, and so much incongruity and 
 affectation in the Fine Arts, that the wisdom of 
 the general practice, notwithstanding successful 
 exceptions, may be fairly questioned. A female 
 of a bad figure and vulgar mind, who chooses 
 to appear at a masquerade as 'a Minerva, a 
 Venus, or one of the Muses or Graces ; or a 
 gentleman of awkward person and slender wit, 
 who will display himself in the same gay round 
 as an Apollo or Mercury, is punished for the 
 folly of a few hours, by the short-lived ridicule 
 of the surrounding circle. The grotesque figure 
 and the laugh are forgotten with the evening. 
 But a false assumption of character on canvas 
 or copper, lives, and, like all other living follies, 
 begets many imitators. Germany, France, and 
 England, have, each in their turn, suffered by this 
 mania. An artist, therefore, who values his 
 lame, ought never to propose the attempt, unless 
 
GALLEUY. 67 
 
 the requisite combinations obviously afford him 
 the means of successfully uniting, without an}' 
 violation of truth, the poetical image and the 
 lively resemblance of the individual. This rare 
 fitness, a pervading grandeur of form, counte- 
 nance, and expression, a majesty of mind and 
 person, Sir Joshua Reynolds found in Mrs. Sid- 
 dons, when he painted his portrait of that great 
 Actress, in the character of the Tragic Muse. 
 But in the number of portraits, which he painted, 
 in the course of forty years close practice, 
 what other afforded him equal materials? The 
 difficulty of the task, no doubt, adds to the ce- 
 lebrity of a signal success; but, for one such in- 
 stance, how easy would it be to point out a 
 number of failures. 
 
 Sir Thomas Lawrence has not often painted 
 portraits of this class ; and this picture of Lady 
 Leicester, when exhibited at Somerset House, 
 was noticed with very general admiration by the 
 critics, as a beautiful combination of identity 
 and ideal conception, which reflected honor on 
 the correctness of his eye and the purity of 
 his fancy. As Sir Joshua Reynolds found 
 all the grand materials for his Tragic Muse 
 in the mind and person of Mrs. Siddons; 
 so, in the mind and person of Lady Leicester, 
 the Painter found all the graces of youth, 
 beauty, and innocence, for the character of 
 Hope, as drawn by Spenser. S lt far the facl i 
 1 -J 
 
68 GALLERY. 
 
 no encouragement to imitators, and where the 
 assertion of this truth may contribute to prevent 
 the growth of a bad taste, to suppress it| through 
 any apprehension, would be still more reprehen- 
 sible, than to pay a false compliment through a 
 different motive. A public duty must supersede 
 all personal considerations. It is acknowledged 
 that, in each of the two pictures adverted to, 
 the resemblance to the living original is as strong 
 as the pencil of genius could make it, although the 
 allegorical character is so admirably sustained. 
 Barry terms the Tragic Muse by Reynolds, "both 
 for the ideal and the executive, the finest pic- 
 ture of the kind, perhaps, in the world." Those 
 artists, therefore, who are seized with a passion 
 for allegorical portraiture, will do well to remem- 
 ber that, if the living fitness had not existed, 
 the two great portrait-painters, Reynolds and 
 Lawrence, would not have risked their fame by- 
 attempting an union of incongruities. 
 
 The poet Collins, in his personification of 
 Hope, has excluded every gloomy idea from the 
 accompaniments. He has not introduced an 
 unpleasant object in the landscape round her, 
 either as shadow to set off the radiant light of 
 her beauty, or as a relative association, holding 
 its natural place near her, in the category of the 
 passions. He has made use of Hope and her ac- 
 cessaries, in his machinery, as an assemblage of 
 lively and pleasurable images, opposed to the 
 dark and terrific character of Despair, which 
 
GALLERY. (jlj 
 
 he has introduced immediately* before, and Re- 
 venge, which he has placed after her. But the 
 person of Hope, as a single figure, independently 
 of technical necessity, requires some contrast on 
 the canvas. Her calm fortitude, which is more 
 conspicuous amidst the greatest tempests of ad- 
 versity, is typified by the anchor, in modern 
 works of art. But Spenser, from whose fine ima- 
 gination this conception was designed, omitted 
 all the ancient emblems, and left an artist room 
 for the employment of his own fancy. 
 
 ■• With him came Hope in rank, a handsome maid, 
 Of cheerful look, and lovely to behold. 
 
 * The Poet, by this wild irregular disposition, adds to the graces 
 of an enchanting fiction. " Madness ruled the hour," and the 
 mind is roused and heated into enthusiasm by the divine " fury," 
 with which the thronging passions hurry forward, 
 
 " Exulting, trembling, raging, fainting, 
 " Possest beyond the Muse's painting.'' 
 
 The impressions are rendered more powerful by the tumultuary 
 introduction of Despair before Hope, and of Revenge after her, 
 contrary to the poetical order founded in the connection of the 
 passions as cause and effect. In Nature, Despair follows the extinc- 
 tion of Hope, and Hope does not immediately precede or produce 
 Revenge, without the intervention of Anger. But Collins sought 
 to heighten, the spirit and beauty of the action, without throwing 
 all into disorder. In the subsequent part of the Ode he has attended 
 to the connection. Pity supplicates Revenge. Jealousy is followed 
 by Melancholy. The inspiring horn of cheerfulness rouses Exer- 
 cise and Sport. Joy then springs forth in ecstasy, and Love and 
 Mirth dance to the music of his brisk-awakening viol. 
 
70 GALlBItY. 
 
 ******* 
 
 ***** * * 
 
 She always smil'd : and in her hand did hold 
 An holy-water sprinkle, dipp'd in dew, 
 
 With which she sprinkled favours manifold 
 Qn whom she list, and did great liking shew — 
 Great liking unto many, but true love to few." 
 Spenser's Fairy Queen. 
 
 Improving upon the idea of a beam of light 
 issuing from darkness, Lawrence has represented 
 Hope stepping forward in the clouds, a living 
 brightness emerging from a stormy sky : the 
 gloomy shadows are dissipated by her smile, and 
 rolling off to a distance behind. He has painted 
 a fair inhabitant of earth as a messenger from 
 above, courted by the young Expectations, whom 
 her presence has called into life. -As mortals are 
 figuratively transported into the higher regions 
 by their hopes, these aerial beings are repre- 
 sented as angelic boys, who tread or ride the 
 lucid clouds beside her, and with their rosy hands 
 and gestures gently woo her favor. 
 
 Her movement is on lively tip-toe, bearing on 
 her right foot, and the waving of the dark ring- 
 lets over her fair forehead conveys an idea of 
 graceful motion, corresponding with the gentle 
 inclination of the neck, the varied turn of the 
 head, and agreeable spirit of the whole advancing 
 action. With the change of the word " golden," 
 it is delineated in Collins's charming thought, 
 
GALLERY. 71 
 
 " And Hope enchanted smil'd, and wav'd her 
 golden hair." 
 
 In delicate gracility, proportion, and airiness 
 of step, the figure bears a similitude to the ad- 
 mirable Hebe, by Canova, which arrived in 
 England, some time after the execution of this 
 picture. In her right hand she holds the branch 
 of holy water flower, sprinkling dew-drops on her 
 blooming little suitors. Her left arm descends, 
 extended only just beyond the outline of her 
 person, and her hand is clasped to his bosom by 
 one of those beautiful cherubs, who is seated 
 in the clouds. Her robe is of an orange 
 brown, tastefully designed to suit a lovely form; 
 and falling down, without any flutter or redun- 
 dancy, in a few folds, without reaching the feet. 
 The upper part of her left arm is covered by a 
 short sleeve of the same colour; the right by a 
 portion of the white thin drapery, which encir- 
 cles her as a zone, and spreads the light beside 
 her, by its negligent termination. This airy 
 dress, without any of the clinging folds, which 
 are essential to the forms in sculpture, possesses 
 much of the elegance, that distinguishes the 
 lightest drapery of the Ancients, in the best 
 ut their few discovered paintings. It combines 
 with this-, so near an approach to the refinement 
 of modern fashion, that it assisted the painter 
 to sustain the lively personal resemblance in the 
 courtly spirit of the present day, without losing 
 any of the brilliant fancy of the poet. The same 
 
GALLERY. 
 
 simple taste is visible in the choice of colours, 
 in the uncovered feet, and the tresses without 
 ornament. In the purest images of nature and 
 art, the absence of studied elegance is the most 
 enchanting of all embellishments. The Artist 
 has not impaired the loveliness or charming sen- 
 timent of the character by the glittering of gems 
 or gold, or the gay parade of bustling and gor- 
 geous auxiliaries. He has represented the ab- 
 stract beauty and enchanting inspiration of the 
 character, in her lively and graceful action, and 
 the exhilarating vivacity of her features. He 
 has preserved a speaking likeness of the lovely 
 original, and painted the sunshine of the soul 
 in the lustre of her eye, the chearful smile of 
 the mind in the brilliant animation of her coun- 
 tenance. 
 
 The boy sitting on the clouds, clasping the 
 hand of Hope, is designed with simple elegance. 
 This rosy little favorite, proud of his good for- 
 tune, is turned towards her, looking down at 
 two boys, who, like celestial genii, are upborne 
 on air, in the opposite corner, close to the base 
 line of the picture. An expression of the purest 
 joy, a tear of sensibility, trembles in his eye. 
 One of his little competitors is in a trans- 
 verse position, fallen on his back in the clouds, 
 as if he had sprung upwards and thissed 
 his aim. His head looking up, forms the ex- 
 treme termination receding from the eye ; the 
 body comes directly forward, wholly fore-short- 
 
i . \ i . l E R y ■ 
 
 73 
 
 tened ; the limbs are in the air. The knee seen 
 nearly as high as the neck, and the raised sole 
 of the loot next the spectator. His hands arc 
 spread out, the left leg, arm, and hand, are 
 partially concealed or blended in the shadows 
 of the clouds. His whole figure is a continua- 
 tion of bold tore-shortenings, from the forehead 
 to the feet, executed with so much taste and 
 consummate science, as to give these difficulties 
 of art an appearance of a negligent and agree- 
 able sport of fancy, conceived and dismissed 
 with a few light and rapid touches of the pencil. 
 This masterly freedom is not only seen in the 
 hair and clouds, but in the features and all the 
 fleshy forms, in which the vivacity of hand is 
 sweetened by a delicate judgment, and an elc- 
 eant saietv of invention, a union of colouring, 
 and gentle transitions of chiaro-scuro. Close 
 beside this boy another is bounding forward. 
 The former is in cooler hues and more in sha- 
 dow, united with the mellow shades in an imme- 
 diate portion of the clouds. But this is re- 
 lieved from the warm clouds by a delicate half- 
 tint of shade, and, like his companion, is pre- 
 vented from becoming too principal by the assi- 
 milation of his hues to those of the light clouds, 
 which are near. His arms are playfully raised, 
 catching at the bounties of the fair hand, which 
 holds the holy-water flower. His hands and head 
 arc foreshortened, but only so far as to combine 
 with the charming outline and lively graces of the 
 
74 GALLERY. 
 
 action, in heightening the beauty of his form and 
 expression. These boys breathe the genuine 
 spirit of poetry. It has been already remarked, 
 that in the pure mind, youth, beauty, and 
 graces of the living original, the artist found 
 all the fine vein of materials for his lovely 
 figure of Hope. But in these cherubic boys, he 
 has successfully displayed the glowing resources 
 of his own classical imagination. They are painted 
 with a sufficient degree of lustre and relative 
 force to hold their rank, as agents in a brilliant 
 spectacle, without interfering with the principal 
 figure. Below all, on one side, the glimpse of a 
 mountain top lies dark and loue, and shows the 
 elevation of those young ambitions and aspiring 
 thoughts and wishes above this grosser world. 
 The Tragic Muse of Reynolds required midnight 
 masses both in the principal and accessaries. But 
 not so here. The two subjects are as opposite 
 as night and day. The aerial character of these 
 young attendants would have been injured by 
 higher colouring and a greater depth of shadow. 
 Their character dictated an accord and sweetness, 
 in all their combinations. 'By tenderness of tone, 
 amicable contrasts, and shadowy assimilations; by 
 harmonies of form and expression, Lawrence has 
 given them an etherial being. He has fitted them 
 for their sphere, as children of no mortal birth, 
 embodied things of air, who revel in the day- 
 dreams of Hope, and catch the glittering visions 
 of Night as they ascend upon the wings of 
 
GALLERY. 75 
 
 Morning, erect thrones and palaces in the noon- 
 tide radiance, and dwell in pavilions of bright- 
 ness between earth and skies. 
 
 24. . W. OWEN, R.A. 
 
 GIRL AT THE SPRING. 
 
 This is an action in humble life so fre- 
 quently seen as in some measure to describe it- 
 self. The girl is stooping on one knee at a foun- 
 tain, with her left hand above resting on the 
 wall, the right filling an earthen vessel with water. 
 The head is foreshortened, looking down, and 
 much in shadow, and there is a spirited effect of 
 light on the figure, wall, and a bit of sky, with a 
 simplicity of nature in the subject, which is 
 always pleasing. The whole is painted with force, 
 and a lively feeling of truth ; but the rich co- 
 louring of the crimson dress makes the shadows 
 of the flesh on the near arm appear somewhat 
 cold and less united. 
 
76 GALLERY. 
 
 25. GEORGE ROMNEY. 
 
 A BACCHANTE. 
 
 This head was painted from the late Lady Ha- 
 milton, when very young, and the figure is 
 nearly halt-length, without the introduction of 
 hands. The face is almost a front view ; the 
 dark chesnut hair flows in loose tresses, and the 
 head is decorated with vine leaves. There is a 
 character of beauty in the features ; the light is 
 kept upon the face and white drapery of the 
 bosom and shoulder, and the flesh is of a clear 
 sanguine tint, harmonized by assimilating hues 
 in the sky. The penciling is free, and the gene- 
 ral effect broad and mellow. 
 
 Romney, himself, was greatly pleased with this 
 picture, and it is much admired as a likeness of 
 a once celebrated beauty ; but the expression is 
 too grave for the character, and the concealment 
 of the bosom in drapery, is very unlike the loose 
 dress of a votary of Bacchus at the celebration of 
 his orgies. The vine-leaves alone constitute the 
 claim to its title. The fact is, that when the pic- 
 ture was nearly finished, its present possessor 
 purchased it, and the painter sent it home with 
 a few hours more work bestowed upon it, and 
 the addition of the vine-leaves. 
 
UALLERY. 77 
 
 26. B. WEST, P. R. A. 
 
 THE ANGELS CONDUCTING LOT AND HIS FAMILY 
 FROM SODOM. 
 
 In this grand scriptural subject, the venerable 
 President has comprehended the deep interest of 
 an awful crisis in a few of its important features; 
 and although the story has been so often re- 
 peated, he has told it with a novelty and force of 
 expression, which reflect high honor on his 
 genius. He has represented the moment when 
 the Angels said to Lot — " But save thyself in the 
 mountain lest thou be also consumed. And 
 Lot said to them : I beseech thee, my Lord, be- 
 cause thy servant hath found grace before thee, 
 and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou 
 hast shewed to me in saving my life, and I can- 
 not escape to the mountain lest some evil seize 
 me and I die." — (Genesis, chap. xix. ver. 17, 
 18, 19.) 
 
 This passage proclaims that the horrible catas- 
 trophe has taken place. A lurid cloud over- 
 shadows one half of the sun, just above the hori- 
 zon, and the heavens appear in commotion. The 
 fires of Divine Wrath are pouring down upon 
 the guilty, and their dwellings and lofty edifices 
 are seen in flames. The horrors of this tremen- 
 dous visitation are confined to the left side of the 
 distance, and the destruction of the city, with its 
 whole population, is impressed upon the mind" by 
 
78 GALLERY. 
 
 the grandeur of a single circumstance. The still- 
 ness of the grave has succeeded to the riotous 
 carousals of intemperance, and the abominable 
 wickedness of those who mocked their Creator, 
 and gloried in their evil ways. Neither on the 
 high places, nor within, nor immediately without 
 the walls, neither dying nor dead, is there any 
 human form to be seen. Every living creature has 
 disappeared, and the will of Omnipotence has 
 consumed the whole of the guilty inhabitants 
 by one burning blast. 
 
 From this tremendous conflagration in the 
 distance, the eye passes to the bright and lovely 
 landscape, in the centre of which is seen the 
 family of Lot, the only individuals of Sodom, 
 who found mercy in the sight of God. They 
 are fljing from the scene of destruction, and oc- 
 cupy a conspicuous place between the rich ver- 
 dure of the left fore-ground, and the lofty groves 
 on an elevation to the right. One of the Angels 
 moves first, descanting on the enormous guilt 
 which had drawn down the Divine justice. His 
 hand is extended, marking the way to the moun- 
 tain, and his countenance is expressive of admo- 
 nition. Lot, a venerable and majestic figure, 
 is seen next. His eyes are cast on the ground, 
 and one hand is under the arm of his heavenly 
 Conductor, with its palm extended in awe. One 
 of his daughters has her arm entwined in his, 
 and her sister walks close at her side, with a 
 •bundle on her head, and a goblet in her hand. 
 
GALLERY. 79 
 
 The other Angel, as they hasten forward, is con- 
 versing with her on the signal destruction from 
 which they have just escaped. The heads are 
 agreeably contrasted ; the females are beautiful, 
 and of a graceful height and mien. The group 
 is pleasingly composed ; and the trembling family 
 speed forward to the sanctuary of Segor, which 
 owed its safety to the humble supplications of 
 Lot. 
 
 These figures are designed with an elegant sim- 
 plicity. The venerable features of age, in the 
 pious husband and father, arc contrasted with 
 the delicate beauty of youth in the daughters ; 
 and in these three, human nature is contrasted 
 with the celestial character in the Angels. The 
 filial and paternal distress under which this little 
 family fled from their dwelling, the calamity in 
 which they are involved by the sudden punish- 
 ment of the wife and mother; and the peculiar 
 protection of Divine Providence, under which 
 they are snatched from death by Messengers of 
 Heaven, render them objects of deep domestic 
 and religious interest. There is an easv felicity 
 in the arrangement of the group, which adds to 
 its affecting impression. The story is told with 
 perspicuity and pathos. The figure of Lot's wife- 
 forms a striking incident, which leads the eye 
 from the gentle features of sorrow in the front 
 group, to the awful manifestation of Divine 
 Wrath in the distance: and in a religious view, 
 by enforcing the necessity of persevering to the 
 
80 <;allery. 
 
 last in the path of obedience, affords an exem- 
 plary moral. The colouring of the landscape is 
 warm and vigorous ; its features are few and 
 ample, sufficiently rich to render it an important 
 accessary, which contributes to the grandeur of 
 the whole, without drawing off the attention from 
 the story, or lessening the importance of the 
 agents. The date of 1810 upon this picture 
 shews that time had not impaired the powers of 
 the venerable founder of the British school of 
 historical painting, in his seventy-second year. 
 
 26*. WILLIAM COLLINS, A.R.A. 
 
 A LANDSCAPE AND FIGURES. 
 
 Owing to this painting not being finished 
 when the Catalogue went to the press, I am un- 
 der the necessity of deferring my remarks till a 
 future opportunity. 
 
GALLERY. 81 
 
 27. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS. 
 
 This admired study for one of the late Pre- 
 sident's works of fancy, is a delightful spe- 
 cimen of his fine taste. In very few of his 
 performances has he so completely rivaled the 
 joyous airs of Correggio, or so nearly ap- 
 proached the brilliant tone of Titian. The 
 gay and delicate allegory of Love slily untying 
 the zone of Beauty, furnished him with this 
 idea; and in the finished picture, which he 
 painted from this fascinating performance, he 
 introduced Cupid, the butterfly, and the snake 
 in the grass. Here, the zone is not unbound, 
 but gently loosened, without the presence of the 
 deceitful boy. The subject affords room for 
 much playful imagination and glowing feeling, 
 and is treated with great felicity. Reynolds has 
 represented a young and beautiful girl in that 
 stage of life, when Nature, having perfected her 
 work, first resigns her to a consciousness of the end 
 and aim of her social being, and unites, in her 
 person and countenance, the enchanting vivacity 
 of innocence with the awakened impulses of hap- 
 piness and pleasure. There is an absence of all 
 artificial restraint in her appearance, and this 
 yielding simplicity gives an alluring negligence 
 to her attitude. It is thus that poets have pour- 
 trayed Ariadne, decked by the Loves and Graces, 
 and inspired by the young Desires, in the bowers 
 
82 GALLERY. 
 
 of Crete, after the warlike form of Theseus had 
 excited a tender tumult in her bosom. The 
 nymph is seated in a grove, beside a bank. Her 
 hair is bound with a fillet, but the tresses flow- 
 luxuriantly down her neck and bosom, and her 
 dress is equally unguarded. She is gently re- 
 clined, giving way to the agreeable disorder of 
 her own feelings, and resting on her right arm ; 
 while, with blushing archness, she raises her 
 left, to veil her sensations, and hide, as it were 
 from herself, her new-born hopes and wishes. 
 The action is full of sportive grace ; the elbow 
 is raised above her head, and the descending 
 hand crosses her forehead, and playfully con- 
 ceals almost half her face. But that insidious 
 concealment, by revealing the secret of her 
 extreme sensibility, gives a more delicious and 
 dangerous charm to those features, which arc 
 seen. Her eye at once sparkles with the laughing 
 spirits of youth, and dissolves in languor. Her 
 mouth is loveliness itself, and rendered more 
 lovely by a smile, for which an Alexander might 
 have bartered a conquered world. 
 
 The penciling and treatment of the accessa- 
 ries are in the fre'est and happiest taste of this 
 admired master. The accidental shadow on the 
 left arm was introduced to veil an uncertainty in 
 the outline, but does not fully answer that end, 
 although it enriches the effect. With all his 
 exquisite taste and feeling, the painter was in 
 general undefined in his undraped forms. The 
 sky, the distant landscape and mountains, are 
 
GALLERY. s! 
 
 low in tone, but rich in oppositions of colour. 
 The general effect is splendid beyond descrip- 
 tion ; but lustre, harmony, and a seducing 
 facility of execution, are not its chief merits. 
 The classic elegance of the conception, the easy 
 graces of the disposition, the warm and playful 
 gaiety of the expression, entitle it, as far as a 
 single figure can possess a claim, to rank as one 
 ot the most brilliant inspirations of the late 
 President's pencil. 
 
 No artist studied the old schools more than 
 Reynolds; but this charming design is one proof 
 that whatever hints he took, he was no copier. 
 Like the bee, he extracted sweets from every style 
 and great master, whose works afforded him a 
 means of improvement, and made thcmall hisown. 
 He looked beyond likeness, as it is constituted 
 by mere correctness of form and surface, to the 
 tone of mind, which alone can give value and 
 lift to resemblance. His countenances are a 
 school of expression, in which childhood and 
 age, youth and beauty, the soldier and the 
 scholar, the wit and the divine, the man of the 
 world and the statesman, are faithfully exhibited. 
 IK- understood thoroughly whatever belonged 
 to his art; but, owing to his deficiency as a 
 draughtsman, in historical practice, he might be 
 likened to a man of eloquence and genius, speak- 
 ing or writing in a foreign language, with the 
 idioms and grammar of which he is not per- 
 fectly familiar. in portrait, he was what 
 Raphael was in history, tin painter of grace, 
 
84 GALLERY. 
 
 dignity, and character. Richness and harmony 
 flowed from his pencil. The vigor and breadth 
 of reality embodied his effect. His best works 
 remind us of the portraits painted by Titian, 
 Rubens, Vandyke, and Rembrandt; but in no 
 other way than as the works of those great 
 masters remind us of each other. Like rays of 
 light diverging from one sun, they appear to 
 emanate from Nature, yet are ever distinct. 
 
 28. HENRY THOMSON, R.A. 
 
 THE DEAD ROBIN. 
 
 This subject does not apparently embrace 
 much, and the circumstance has been often 
 painted, although the artist has treated it in a 
 novel manner. It is not, however, an unproduc- 
 tive lesson. The sympathies and interests of 
 children have been consulted by the most emi- 
 nent moralists and legislators. Two little play- 
 mates, united by one of those early sorrows of 
 which infantine innocence is so acutely sensible, 
 are here lamenting the death of their favourite 
 bird. It is the duty of parents to cherish those 
 sensibilities as a fund from whence the social 
 and kindred affections of the adult derive an im- 
 mediate and warm impulse. They may be termed 
 an instinctive religion or light of nature, which 
 renders the fulfilment of the written precept 
 both sweet and pleasant. Indeed, without sym- 
 pathy for the sufferings of others, the mere formal 
 
GALLliRY. 85 
 
 observance of ceremonies alone, becomes a dead 
 letter, a tree abounding in leaves, but barren of 
 fruit. The child who is cruel to insects and ani- 
 mals, rarely grows up with tenderness for his fel- 
 low creatures; and the man who is a tyrant to 
 the dumb creation, would domineer over so- 
 ciety if he had the power. Domitian, to acquire 
 a keener appetite for the sacrifice of human 
 victims, amused himself in his closet with killing 
 flies! 
 
 These young mourners are pleasingly grouped. 
 One is seen in profile, on the left side of the pic- 
 ture, sitting, with her hands raised to her eyes, 
 and shedding tears. The action is well con- 
 ceived and expressed. The light is broad and 
 bright on the face, flaxen hair, near shoulder, 
 arm, and hand ; and the freshness of the fiVsh- 
 tints is heightened by the white sleeve and neck- 
 linen. The shadows are sanguine, and well sus- 
 tained by the strong red draperies. Her com- 
 panion is seen in front, witli the face in shadow, 
 close beside her, sitting crouched, with her 
 hands on her lap, looking down with a lamenting 
 aspect, at the dead bird before its cage. The 
 drawing is good, the colouring clear, the reflec- 
 tions on the front face are skilfully managed, 
 and the effect is broad, mellow, and vigorous. 
 The design is in a good taste, and the tale of in- 
 fantine grief is told with a pleasing and unaffected 
 simplicity. 
 
8G GALLERY. 
 
 29. B. WEST, P. R.A. 
 
 A BACCHANTE. 
 
 The venerable President pf the Royal Aca- 
 demy has chosen the season of the vintage, the 
 festival of the Brumalia among the Romans, for 
 the introduction of this votaress of Bacchus. 
 Crowned with garlands of wreathed ivy, and the 
 broad leaves of the sacred oak entwined with 
 the narcissus, the madding priests and priestesses 
 of the god of mirth and wine, were then accus- 
 tomed to offer sacrifice in the groves of the 
 Tiber, beyond the walls of the eternal city. 
 This mystic worship is depicted in the distance, 
 and the figures are of a small size, introduced ra- 
 ther to convey a general idea of the ceremony as an 
 illustration of the Bacchante's immediate object, 
 than a full representation of the particular order 
 or characters. The young men and women are 
 dancing before the altar; the boys and the aged 
 are spectators. The baskets of grapes, the 
 goblets, and vessels of wine, are placed on the 
 ground. The incense ascends the lofty grove, 
 and the rough satyrs are dragging in a goat as 
 a votive offering, amidst shouts of " Evoe," and 
 the sound of cymbals and other musical instru- 
 ments. These animated and tasteful groups are 
 painted in the free and spirited style of a sketch, 
 in retiring colours, while, in front, the Bacchante 
 advances in triumph to join in the sacrifice at 
 the altar. She is not stepping on coldly, but 
 
GALLERY. 87 
 
 dancing exultingly forward, bearing testimony 
 by her ecstatic action to the fervor of her devo- 
 tion. Her head is thrown back, her flushed 
 cheek turned round to the spectator, her eyes 
 filled with the divine inspiration, her mouth 
 opening in transport to chant a hymn to Bac- 
 chus, and her arms raised, striking the cym- 
 bals in his 'honor. Her dark chesnut hair waves 
 over her forehead, and flows in long descend- 
 ing tresses behind her uncovered shoulders. The 
 glow of youth and beauty, and the animated 
 graces of her action and attitude, are heightened 
 by the brilliant fire of enthusiasm. The super- 
 natural influence, which hurries on her soul; that 
 distant grove ; those crowds ; that sacrifice to 
 which she hastens; all proclaim her a votaress of 
 the joy-inspiring God. 
 
 Her attendant, a ruddy boy, bears a basket of 
 grapes. A column rises behind her, decorated 
 with a red curtain, and enriched by stems of the 
 climbing vine, whose branches, bending with 
 clusters of grapes, spread luxuriantly across the 
 mellow tints of an autumnal sky. 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to advert to a pretty 
 general supposition, that the original idea for this 
 inspired figure was furnished by the celebrated pic- 
 ture of Titian's Daughter. Every amateur traces 
 in the attitude of West's Bacchante^ an admi- 
 rable hint taken from that charming Venetian 
 portrait. But the idea existed long before 
 the time of Titian, and the principle of adapta- 
 tion has been practised so generally, by the 
 
88 GALLERY. 
 
 greatest masters, that it requires no comment. He 
 who possesses a lofty power of' imagination 'and 
 intense sensibility, whether he be a poet, a 
 painter, or an orator, ma}' incorporate with 
 his own ideas, the sublime and impassioned 
 thoughts of others. This is the prerogative of 
 genius; for in the imitative arts, when the rich 
 borrow, they repay with interest. But men of 
 cold and mechanical minds, who would intermix 
 the glowing fancies of the ancients with their own 
 flat and lifeless productions, only more glaringly 
 expose their poverty. Raffaelle, the painter, 
 who possessed the highest power of invention 
 with the purest vein and the greatest facility, 
 borrowed openly. His Paul preaching at 
 Athens, and the listening figure with his eyes 
 shut, and head sunk on his breast, in the same 
 cartoon, were taken, with some alterations, from 
 one of Masaccio's public works in Florence, 
 known to all the painters of his time. His figure 
 of Paul chastising Ely mas the Sorcerer was 
 also borrowed from the same master. Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds, who notices these adaptations with 
 due praise, remarks of the same divine painter, — 
 " For the sacrifice at Lystra he took the whole 
 ceremony, much as it stands in the antient basso 
 relievo, since published in the Admiranda." Tin- 
 toret converted Michael Angelo's Sampson into 
 a Jupiter; and Titian, the figure of God dividing 
 Light from Darkness in the Capella Sistina, into 
 a General falling from his Horse, in the famous 
 battle of Cadora. He also borrowed the idea 
 
GALLERY. H[) 
 
 for the charming picture of his Daughter, from 
 an antient design, which had been frequently 
 repeated in basso relievos, cameos, and intaglios. 
 The late President, who described this figure, 
 observed, that it also furnished Baccio Bandi- 
 nelli with the idea for the frantic agony of one 
 of the Mary's, in a design for the Descent from 
 the Cross. 
 
 30. JAMES NORTHCOTE, R.A. 
 
 LA FAYETTE IN THE DUNGEONS AT OLMUTZ. 
 
 The mezzotinto print, published from this pic- 
 ture by Reynolds, was very popular, and its cir- 
 culation so great, that the plate was retouched 
 several times. It was printed in colours, to 
 imitate the effect of the picture, and, from these 
 circumstances, the disposition of the subject, 
 and even the colouring, are so well known, that 
 a particular description is unnecessary. It is 
 painted with much vigor, and generally' viewed 
 with strong interest, although, with all its me- 
 rits, unecpial in some parts. The Painter has 
 represented the very interesting moment, when 
 his Lady and her two daughters were admitted 
 to pay him a visit in his confinement. The 
 meeting of a virtuous family, under such 
 calamitous circumstances, is here delineated 
 with an impassioned expression of genuine feel- 
 ing. The prisoner is seated upon his bed ; and 
 
90 GALLERY. 
 
 one of his arms, heavily ironed, is raised, pressing 
 the clasped hands of his consort, who is upon her 
 knees beside him. His other hand is affection- 
 ately laid upon the shoulders of his eldest daugh- 
 ter, who has also cast herself upon her knees be- 
 fore him, and bent her head, in tears, upon his lap. 
 The younger daughter, in an attitude of grief, is 
 seen behind. In the head of La Fayette a manly 
 firmness and domestic concern are well depicted. 
 The profile of his lady, looking up to heaven 
 with affectionate sorrow, thanksgiving, and re- 
 signation, is one of Northcote's finest studies. 
 This specimen exhibits the merits and peculia- 
 rities of his style. There are some angles and 
 linear difficulties, chiefly arising from the modern 
 dresses, in the composition, and some neglects 
 of form, but the chiar' oscuro is vigorous, and 
 the story told with simple pathos: the colouring 
 in this artist's best manner, and the general effect 
 broad and impressive. 
 
 31. HENRY FUSELI, R.A. 
 
 THEODORE AND HONORIA. 
 
 ■ " a knight of swarthy face, 
 
 High on a coal-black steed, pursued the chace ; 
 With flashing flames his ardent eyes were fill'd, 
 And in his hand a naked sword lie held : 
 He cheer'd the dogs to follow her who fled, 
 And vow'd revenge on her devoted head. 
 
(. M.I.LKV. <Jl 
 
 " As Theodore was born of noble kind. 
 The brutal action roused his manly mind; 
 Mov'd with th' unworthy usage of the maid, 
 He, though unarmed, Tt solved to give her aid. 
 A saplin pine he wrenched from out the ground. 
 The readiest weapon that his fury found." 
 
 Shakespeare owes no mean portion of his re- 
 putation to his messengers from the grave ; and 
 the supernatural agency anil cast of horror in 
 this subject are peculiarly suited to the genius 
 of Fust Ii, whose Mil tonic Gallery drew from 
 me the following observations many years ago: — 
 "Like the una: Poet, whose characters he dared 
 to personify, his imagination soared on the wings 
 of sublimity to Heaven, in search of angelic 
 grace and beauty ; or plunged in the depths of 
 Hell For the machinery of horror, the glare of 
 fiends, the sightless balls of shadowy spectres, 
 the baleful hues of darkness visible, and the 
 burning gleams of fiery desolation." — (Cursory 
 Thoughts, p. 21.) 
 
 The Painter has followed Dryden's fine de- 
 scription with great spirit. The young and 
 i I gant Theodore, in the Italian costume of the 
 time, is seen in a thick and gloomy wood, start- 
 ing in astonishment and horror. His head is 
 thrown back, his countenance raised and fore- 
 shortened, nearly in profile, and his eye riveted 
 on the dark and tremendous object, whose ap- 
 proach shakes the earth and intercepts the sky. 
 His left arm is raised, and the hand bent above 
 his forehead, as if to shield himself and rouse 
 
92 GALLERY. 
 
 his collected energies to withstand the shock. 
 His right is extended by his side, grasping the 
 " saplin pine," while the voice from another 
 world pours into his ear the dreadful tale, which 
 arrests his purposed interference, and freezes the 
 blood in his veins. In the centre, the spectre 
 knight is seen. His head reaches nearly to the 
 top of the picture, and he comes thundering for- 
 ward, on his coal-black steed, from the dreariest 
 recesses of the wood. The darkness of death 
 shades his sepulchral visage, and the fires of 
 Hell flash in his avenging eyes. The bleeding 
 wound is seen. His grim look is directed to 
 Theodore, and the sword, with which he slew 
 himself, is extended, pointing at him, while he 
 pronounces the menacing warning : 
 
 " Cease, Theodore, to proffer vain relief, 
 Nor stop the vengeance of so just a grief; 
 But give me leave to seize my destined prey, 
 And let eternal justice take the way : 
 I but revenge my fate, disdained, betrayed, 
 And suffering death for this ungrateful maid." 
 
 The size, terrific character, fearful eye-balls, 
 and wild galloping of his steed, are not of 
 this earth : the}' are suited to the gigantic form 
 and supernatural expression of the rider. The 
 two objects form one portentous shadow ; and, 
 like the cloud of night and the blackness of 
 the storm, spread darkness, threatening, and 
 alarm, around. The louring light on the sky, 
 behind the head of the spectre, only renders 
 
•1.L1-RY. 93 
 
 the baleful obscurity of his countenance more 
 horrible. 
 
 The dismembered trunk of a tree lies across 
 the fore-ground, over which the naked female 
 phantom has sprang, just within the teeth of the 
 infernal hunter's clogs. Her arms are outstretched 
 and raised before her; her countenance turned 
 back, in mournful affright and horror : lacerated 
 by thorns, and dropping blood, she is flying 
 with the rapidity of the wind. Her left foot 
 scarcely touches the earth ; and her right is ex- 
 tended at full length behind, in a long de- 
 scending line with her arms. The icy and spectral 
 colouring of her person exhibits a shuddering 
 contrast to the youth and beauty of her features 
 and form. No living pencil could tell this hor- 
 rible legend, with so deep and appalling an in- 
 terest, as that of Fuseli. The subject required a 
 powerful imagination, filled with tragic enthu- 
 siasm, and enamoured with darkness and terror. It 
 called for an artist too rapt and daring to confine 
 his invention, at all times, within the sphere of 
 human action. No painter could do it justice, 
 but one capable of introducing supernatural 
 beings in composition, with energy and dignity, 
 and of successfully employing angels and mi- 
 nisters of grace, or fiends and spirits from the 
 damned, as means of technical impression, ex- 
 citements to passion, and instruments of moral 
 effect. 
 
94 
 ANTE-ROOM. 
 
 32. A. W. CALLCOTT, R. A. 
 
 LITTLE HAMPTON PIER. 
 
 A sandy shore, rising gradually from the wa- 
 ter's edge, forms two-thirds of the fore-ground 
 of this view. A Fisherman, with his shrimp- 
 net across his shoulders, stands near the hase 
 line of the picture, directing a traveller on a 
 white horse. Some loose staves and a keg are 
 scattered behind them, and still further from 
 the eye, two Fishermen are seen in shadow. 
 The pier extends horizontally across a great part 
 of the middle-ground, where its head terminates 
 abruptly, near the left side of the prospect, form- 
 ing a clear, though dark mass, united with the 
 receding shadows of the shore and waves. Three 
 men are at the corner of the pier. One of them 
 is standing, with his face towards the spectator, 
 pointing to the sky, as if prognosticating a 
 change of weather. A high crane near them, 
 assists the form by carrying up the eye consider- 
 ably above the angle of the pier head. Beyond 
 the termination of this, another jetty is seen ; still 
 farther, a high bank projecting into the sea, and 
 the extreme distance is a hilly coast, partaking 
 of the gray hue of the horizon. 
 
 To the right, the sand-bank in the middle- 
 ground rises so high as to conceal this part of 
 
WTE-ROOM. 9J 
 
 the pier; and near this, two peasants arc seen 
 near a cart. A fisherman is standing alone 
 on the bank, with his hand behind his back, 
 looking out to sea. Beyond the cart-road, a 
 sandy height presents a bold light against a 
 bleak sky. Some cattle and other objects are 
 here remotely indicated, with a brisk effect of 
 light and shade. Towards the centre, a distant, 
 unsheltered eminence is seen, diversified only by 
 a solitary windmill. The left corner of the view 
 is composed of the sea, which extends to the ex- 
 treme distance. A dark piece of timber driven 
 into the strand for the purpose of making fast 
 the boats, and marking the tide, rises above the 
 waves ; and, as all things in creation have their 
 uses, so every particular in a good picture lias 
 its weight in the balance. This apparently in- 
 significant object, the mooring post, is of value 
 here. It acts as an auxiliary in breaking the 
 unsightliness of the perpendicular formed by the 
 termination of the pier; and its dark mass being 
 immediately connected with them, brings forward 
 the- billows, throws back the distance, and marks 
 the wild swell of the ocean. The bright lights 
 on the wings of the sea-fowl, which hover over 
 the surge so close in shore, assist in toning the 
 aerial tints on the horizon. The motion and 
 transparency of the billows, the depth and body 
 of the water, are painted with a bold pencil, and a 
 strong truth of nature. The sky is cold and over- 
 cast to the right, and the principal mass of light 
 is in the centre. To the left the aspect of the 
 
96 
 
 ANTE-ROOM. 
 
 day is clear, but without glow or brightness. The 
 scene is wild and barren, destitute of tree or her- 
 bage, of culture, or of neighbouring habitations. 
 The figures, of a suitable class, consist of a few 
 loitering fishermen and labouring rustics. But all 
 these parts have an accord, or local relation ; and 
 it is this Unity of character in the zvhole that con- 
 stitutes the interesting impression of this other- 
 wise desolate and uninviting prospect. 
 
 33. B. BARKER, Bath. 
 
 BANDITTI. 
 
 The robbers have chosen the scene of attack- 
 on the skirts of a wood, in a wild hollow. A 
 stream runs in front, at the foot of a lofty ridge 
 of mountains ; and a wounded horse, tossing his 
 head aloft, and neighing in agony, has fallen 
 on the foreground. His rider lies, with his face 
 upwards, dead, and bleeding. Somewhat beyond 
 these, on the other side, a wounded man, fallen 
 forward, is endeavouring to raise himself up, 
 to escape from being trampled on by the horses 
 of two combatants, who are at mortal issue 
 nearly over him. The one is discharging his 
 pistol, the other striking with his sword. Behind 
 these, another horseman is aiming a desperate 
 blow at an assailant, who has seized his horse's 
 bridle, and is attacking the rider sword in hand. 
 These are the principal figures, and they occupy a 
 conspicuous part of the foreground ; but a num- 
 ber of men, some mounted, and others on foot, are 
 
ANTE-ROOM. ()7 
 
 scattered in different directions, attacking, de- 
 fending, or flying in terror and disorder. The 
 ruins of an antient castle gleam on the dark de- 
 clivity of the lonely mountains, which overlook 
 the fray ; and a gray shadowy sky, whose louring 
 aspect is only diversified by a bluish atmo- 
 sphere in the centre, completes the scene of spo- 
 liation. 
 
 There is unquestionably much fire of inven- 
 tion in this picture, much spirit and variety in the 
 action and attitudes, and a good taste in the dispo- 
 sition. Even the landscape, although so loosely 
 brushed in, is marked by a forcible power of 
 imagination, and one sees immediately, that it 
 is the first thought of a man of genius. The 
 deserved reputation, which this artist has obtained 
 by his finished works, may, with perfect safety, 
 admit of some candid remarks on the present oc- 
 casion. They are offered by one, who has received 
 great pleasure from his performances, and has 
 often borne a public testimony to his merits 
 through the medium of the press. The painter 
 has been solicitous to combine his masses of 
 light and shadow, and to produce, what is tech- 
 nically termed, a breadth of effect ; but be has 
 paid less attention to the drawing of his men and 
 horses. The artist, who studies to delineate the 
 principal parts of his figures in his first sketch, 
 and to produce a correct expression of form and 
 design, adopts a more safe and profitable course, 
 although he may pay lun little attention to his 
 
 ii 
 
98 ANTE-ROOM. 
 
 chiar'oscuro and colouring in the outset. This 
 was the practice of Huchtenberg, Wouvermans, 
 Vandermeulen, Wyck, Parrocel, and all the es- 
 teemed Dutch, Flemish, German, and French 
 battle painters. The correctness of the first 
 sketches for their pictures, proves this. But with 
 all this negligence and indefinition in the draw- 
 ing, this composition does honor to Mr. Bar- 
 ker's taste and invention. It is full of "vigor, and 
 so admirable in the parts and design of the 
 whole, that it would be difficult to make any im- 
 portant alteration in the disposition of the 
 groups, which would not take away a portion of 
 its general spirit. 
 
 34. DEVIS. 
 
 MADEMOISELLE PARISOT, AS HEBE. 
 
 This whole-length was painted for another 
 gentleman, and afterwards purchased by the pre- 
 sent possessor. The attitude is graceful, and the 
 figure is well drawn ; the action of the arms, and 
 the movement of stepping forward, are very ele- 
 gant. The eagle is well introduced, and boldly 
 painted ; the penciling free and firm, and the co- 
 louring harmonious. The light and shadow are 
 broad, and the draperies and accessaries in an 
 excellent taste. There is a fine character of na- 
 ture in the countenance, the likeness is strong, 
 and the expression full of animation, though, 
 perhaps, somewhat more suitable for L'Allegro 
 of Milton, than a Hebe. 
 
ANTE-BOOM. 99 
 
 !.-.. LOUTHERBOURG. 
 
 AVALANCHE, OR FALL OF SNOW.* 
 
 In this striking picture we behold with astonish- 
 ment, and a certain degree of terror, one of those 
 great convulsions of nature, which the Alpine 
 regions of Switzerland continually present on the 
 melting of the snow, and of which no painter, 
 but a native, could- have given an adequate idea. 
 
 The general composition of this landscape is 
 grand, and well colored, with tints truly appro, 
 priate to the majestic scenery, which it is intended 
 to represent. All around us is dreary, but at the 
 same time awful and impressive : the mountains 
 are in a state of convulsion, and the Avalanche is 
 so sudden, that it overwhelms every object that 
 opposes its destructive progress. The surround- 
 ing scenery is somewhat enlivened by appropri- 
 ate figures. In the immediate foreground is a 
 traveller starting back in amazement at the scene 
 which meets his eyes : beyond him, at a short dis- 
 tance, are a male and female peasant, purposing to 
 reach their humble cottage over a rustic bridge, 
 which is just carried away by the force of the 
 
 * Having been favoured by Sir Richard Colt Hoare with this 
 classical description of the Avalanche, which he has so often and so 
 deservedly admired, as being one of the chef-d'eeuvres of Louther- 
 bourg, I am proud to insert it in my Catalogue. 
 
 II 2 
 
100 ANTE-KOOM. 
 
 Avalanche ; even their dog howls, and runs away 
 in affright. One peasant has just crossed the 
 river, and barely escaped destruction ; whilst his 
 less fortunate companion is seen plunged in 
 the torrent, and carried away by the united force 
 of snow and water. Such is the terrific scene 
 here represented ! a scene, which both on account 
 of the affecting grandeur of its subject, as well 
 as of the superior merit of its execution, must 
 ever arrest the attention both of the connoisseur 
 and the artist. 
 
 The powerful effect of light and shadow is well 
 managed ; the chief light being kept upon the 
 descending snow in the centre of the picture ; and 
 all the grand and local accompaniments harmo- 
 nize in their shadows and half tints. 
 
 This dire phenomenon of nature was well 
 known to the antient writers ; amongst whom the 
 poet Claudian has transmitted the following 
 energetic description to posterity : 
 
 Multos hausere profunda? 
 
 Vasta mole nives ; cumque ipsis saepe juvencis 
 Naufraga candenti mcrguntur plaustra barathro. 
 Interdum subitam, glacie labente, ruinam 
 Mons dedit. 
 
 This natural description has been thus imitated 
 by our English bard, Thomson : 
 
 " Oft rushing sudden from the loaded cliffs, 
 Mountains of snow their gathering terrors roll ; 
 From steep to steep, loud thundering down they come, 
 
ANTE-ROOM. 101 
 
 A winterv waste, in dire commotion all ; 
 
 And herds and flocks, and travellers, and swains, 
 
 And sometimes whole brigades of marching troops, 
 
 Or hamlets sleeping in the dead of night, 
 
 Are deep beneath the smothering ruin whelm'd." 
 
 36. SIR FRANCIS BOURGEOIS. 
 
 LANDSCAPE AND FIGURES. 
 
 Tlits sketch is produced without much force, 
 but with a light and pleasing pencil. A herds- 
 man is attending his cattle on a heath. Four 
 cows, two lying down, and two standing, with 
 three sheep on one side and one on the other 
 are grouped near him. These are cleverly de- 
 signed, mar the middle distance: two sheep 
 are at a plash of water on the front-ground ; and 
 two more, with a lamb, are a little removed from 
 them, on the same line. To the left, on the 
 fore-ground, a dog is running before a woman 
 riding on an ass; and a rustic, with a pick-axe 
 on his shoulder, walking close beside, in conver- 
 sation with her. His black dog follows him, and 
 a fallen tree enriches this corner. The extreme 
 distance is level, and much in shade on this side, 
 with spirited gleams of light. The middle dis- 
 tance, to the right, is a steep crowned w ith trees. 
 The sky is of a gray half-tint, somewhat like that 
 which we see in the pictures of V an Goyen, and 
 the effect is simple and agreeable. 
 
]0'2 ANTE-ROOM. 
 
 37. JAMES NORTHCOTE, R.A. 
 
 THE HEAD OF A TIGER. 
 
 A clever study, painted with much force of 
 effect and spirited character; but not so fine as 
 that of the horse, No. 39, p. 106, its companion 
 picture. 
 
 S8. H. HOWARD, R.A. 
 
 THE PLEIADES. 
 
 " First in his east the glorious lamp was seen, 
 Regent of day, and all the horizon round 
 Invested with bright rays, jocund to run 
 His longitude through Heaven's high road ; the gray 
 Dawn, and the Pleiades before him danced, 
 Shedding sweet influence." 
 
 Paradise Lost, B. VII, line 370, &c. 
 
 The selection of this beautiful passage, as a 
 subject for his pencil, does credit to the classical 
 taste of this Artist ; and the elegance, which he 
 has displayed in the invention and composition 
 does honor to his fancy. He has personified 
 " the gray dawn" as a young female, in airy 
 draper)', ascending above the ocean. Her face 
 and whole figure are in tender shade, re- 
 lieved from the gentle rays of the rising sun 
 
ANTE-ROOM. 103 
 
 upon the cloudy sky behind, by partial touches 
 of light, and reflections on the outline of 
 her person. These lights alone would not have 
 been sufficient; but the clear shadows are fur- 
 ther relieved by a thin white drapery, up-borne 
 on the air. She holds a portion of this in ei- 
 ther hand, having just thrown it open, and 
 unveiled her countenance. With an exception 
 to some excess in the detailed length of her 
 figure, the lines of this veil contribute to the 
 light and floating elegance of her attitude. Her 
 fi el move close above the glowing line where 
 
 " The sun just risen, 
 
 With wheels yet hovering o'er the ocean's brim, 
 
 Shot parallel to the earth a dewy ray 
 
 and all the horizon round 
 
 Invested with bright rays." 
 
 There is much beauty and grandeur of effect 
 produced by the glowing light upon the swell of 
 the dark green waves ; by the bright effulgence, 
 like streaks of fire, dissipating the shadows of 
 night upon the horizon, and the gradual diffu- 
 sion of the warm rays from thence to the clouds 
 in the lofty firmament, whose edges are so richly 
 illuminated. The force is here heightened by 
 the darkness, which still overshadows the sky and 
 ocean in the opposite quarter, and gives the liill 
 splendor of sun-rise to the east. 
 
 To the lett of the figure, which represents 
 "the gray dawn,'' the seven sisters, the star- 
 
104 ANTE-ROOM. 
 
 crown'd Pleiades, are linked, hand in hand, as 
 radiant heralds of the new-born day. In a 
 purple scarf, and reddish drapery below the waist, 
 the sister, next to the young female already de- 
 scribed, is floating down the wind. Her right 
 hand is held by one of her fair partners ; the left 
 arm extended, and the hand seen below the line 
 of the horizon, while her limbs and drapery are 
 raised in waving motion above. In this mo- 
 mentary action, she is seen with her head re- 
 verted, looking towards the east, and the undu- 
 lating lines of her figure are in graceful harmony 
 with those of the first. The two are at whole 
 length, and sufficiently detached to contrast with 
 the closely united movement of the other six, and 
 give a light and agreeable form to the whole 
 group. There is much delicate beauty in the 
 undraped forms of this figure, and the floating 
 motion is graceful ; but the Artist, in obtaining 
 the latter quality, has been tempted to some 
 excess in the length of the descending arm. 
 This temptation, and its prevailing influence, 
 are visible in the works of Parmigiano, the 
 painter of grace. An extreme in the length of his 
 figures, is a prominent feature of his style; so 
 difficult is it for a master to cherish a preference 
 for any one beauty of form or expression, with- 
 out a danger of indulging it, in some degree, at 
 the expence of other requisites. The particular 
 licence here adverted to is trivial ; and it is re- 
 markable, that those who are most ready to extol 
 
ANTE-ROOM. 105 
 
 this defect in the works of the dead, are the most 
 strenuous in condemning any such tendency in 
 the performances of the living. 
 
 The sister who holds the hand of the preceding 
 figure, and leads her in the round, is in profile, and 
 somewhat lower in the group ; the outline of her 
 knee being beneath the horizon, and her drapery 
 upborne by the wind : her eye is also directed to 
 tlu east. The third and fourth sisters are some- 
 what beyond her, and higher in the scene, 
 linked hand-in-hand. Their heads are varied ; 
 thi one being in a trout view, leaning back, with 
 lur eyes raised; the other, a very lovely face, in 
 a three-quarter view, looking down in the direc- 
 tion of her arm, which is extended to'join with 
 her second sister. Just above these appears the 
 fifth, in the act of wheeling with the circle: her 
 bosom and one of her arms are seen ; her counte- 
 tenance is directed back, and Iter movement fol- 
 lowed by her two enchanting sisters, who com- 
 plete the upper part of this delightful circle. 
 
 The colouring of this fine poetical composition 
 is ideal. The seven Sisters are tinged by the 
 purple light of morning, and their fair foreheads 
 invested with celestial radiance. Their counte- 
 nances are impressed with the character of youth 
 and the smile of beauty. The hair and draperies, 
 with some few tendencies to formality excepted, 
 are airy and tasteful, and the transitions of tone 
 from the sparkling fires on the horizon to the still 
 light in the centre, and the darkness in the re- 
 
106 ANTE-ROOM. 
 
 motest quarter, exhibit a beauty and grandeur 
 approaching to the sublime. 
 
 The Marquis of Stafford admired and pur- 
 chased the Artist's first picture of this subject. 
 This duplicate was painted on a commission 
 given by Sir John Fleming Leicester ; and that 
 munificent Nobleman most kindly lent Mr. How- 
 ard his picture, when painting the second. 
 There are some slight variations introduced in 
 this duplicate, as refinements on the treatment 
 of certain particulars, which may be seen by a 
 comparison of the two compositions. 
 
 39. JAMES NORTH COTE, U.A. 
 
 STUDY OF A HORSE'S HEAD. 
 
 This fine specimen breathes the true spirit of a 
 war-horse. It is painted with great force of 
 effect, has a strong character of nature, and does 
 honor to the pencil of this veteran artist. 
 
107 
 
 TENT-ROOM. 
 
 40. GAINSBOROUGH. 
 
 A COTTAGE DOOR. 
 
 This humble dwelling is surrounded by dark 
 sequestered woods. The wife of its owner, a 
 comely rustic female, is attending to the com- 
 forts of her children during the absence of her 
 husband at his daily labour. The family seems 
 excluded from all social visitation. There is 
 neither a road, nor any other habitation in view; 
 neither a bird upon the wing, nor a wild or 
 tame animal within the prospect. It is a spot 
 which we may suppose has never resounded to 
 any other echo but the axe of the woodman. 
 Yet this rude and solitary abode recalls to our 
 minds those ideas of innocent delight, and hap- 
 piness, which we have been taught, in our 
 early days, to associate with the lowliest con- 
 dition, in the retirement of the country. Why 
 is it that moralists and preceptors have, in all 
 ages, formed this delusive opinion ? Is it that 
 in rustic poverty, far from the vices of great 
 cities, men having little or nothing to hope for 
 
108 TENT-ROOM. 
 
 from fortune, learn more contentedly to limit 
 their wants and wishes to their narrow means ; 
 and that, in the possession of overflowing wealth, 
 having once passed the limits which Nature has 
 prescribed for human happiness, so many reap 
 disappointment and misery from the unbounded 
 extravagance of their projects and desires ? 
 
 Gainsborough, like the charming poet Gold- 
 smith, had a feeling for unsophisticated life, 
 and whatever he designed or painted, bears evi- 
 dence of his taste and sensibility. This domestic 
 group, which appears of a class that cannot fall 
 much lower in the world, is assembled before the 
 cottage-door. The mother is standing, with an 
 infant in her arms, and her other little ones im- 
 mediately around her, partaking of their frugal 
 meal. The little fellows are all without shoes 
 and stockings, and their clothing and looks 
 show that the children of poverty and toil, if 
 they have no other boast, have at least the inhe- 
 ritance of health. They are disposed with much 
 simplicity, and taste. The mother, the infant on 
 her breast, and two boys before her, form the 
 centre : three more are separated, two on one side, 
 and one on the other; and these seven figures 
 form a pleasing and well composed group. 
 
 There is a sort of disdainful carelessness in 
 the execution, and a reliance on generalities, 
 which it would be dangerous to copy ; but the 
 actions, the gestures of the children, and the 
 domestic sentiment, are expressed with genuine 
 
TENT-ROOM. 109 
 
 vivacity. Notwithstanding the rusticity of the 
 mother, there is a pleasing something in her 
 look, which is often missed by studied refine- 
 ment. The heads are all painted in a low, em- 
 browned hue ; the features touched in a broad and 
 bold style, strong and dark, with much vigour 
 of effect, and a general truth of feature. The 
 cottage, notwithstanding its lowliness, acquires, 
 from the lofty and venerable trees by which it is 
 sheltered, that power of impression, which is 
 always obtained by large masses. The sky is 
 not bright, and the landscape is in Gainsbo- 
 rough's latter manner, with strong shadows. The 
 subject is treated in the best taste of his pictures 
 in this class ; and the general effect is mellow 
 and powerful, w ithout any attempt at opposition 
 of colour or sparkling illumination. 
 
110 
 
 DRAWING-ROOM, 
 41. HARLOW. 
 
 THE PROPOSAL. 
 
 This subject represents three Belles deciding 
 upon a question of very delicate interest. One is re- 
 posing, in a cum bent posture ; her head leans back, 
 and her face is seen in nearly a front view, look- 
 ing archly, and listening. Another, who stands 
 behind, leans over her, in a front view ; and 
 a third, in the right corner, in something more 
 of a profile, holds an open letter, which contains 
 the important matter in debate, being nothing 
 less than the offer of a hand and fortune in ma- 
 trimony. The latter, as the bearer of the propo- 
 sal, is urging the prospect of happiness ; and the 
 reposing fair one shows, by her smiles and her 
 deep blushes, the agreeable flutter of sensation 
 into which the offer has thrown her. There is a 
 certain fashionable elegance in the dress and 
 style of these ladies. The heads are well drawn, 
 and painted with spirited freedom. The colour- 
 ing of the fair ambassadress of love is clear and 
 pearly in the half-tints ; that of the two others 
 is much more fresh and sanguine, and even, after 
 
DRAWING-ROOM. Ill 
 
 having made a due allowance for the crimson 
 suffusion on the cheek of the bride elect, the red 
 is perhaps a little too liberal for perfect harmony. 
 There is some difficulty in offering an objection 
 where there is so much attraction. Here ruby 
 lips, dark eyes, long eye-lashes, smiles and 
 dimples that speak to the senses, and shining 
 ringlets, in which Cupid himself might sigh to 
 lie in ambush, with a numerous list of other 
 nameless charms, that constitute the dominion of 
 beauty, combine against criticism. The picture 
 is a gay sport of tasteful fancy ; it will always 
 give pleasure to a lively circle, and form an 
 agreeable variety in a collection. 
 
 42. .1. M. W. TURNER, R.A. 
 
 TABLET PARK, LAKE, AND TOWER, MORNING. 
 
 This noble lake extends across the whole 
 front and middle ground. At some distance 
 on the right side is a bank, agreeably wooded, 
 on which a few cows, somewhat too slightly 
 indicated, are grazing. Near, to this, but lur- 
 ther from the eye, the tower rises, about 
 midway from the off-shore, with boats moored 
 close under its walls ; and in one more to the 
 left, the boatman rests on his oar, while his 
 comrade is loading his gun to shoot the wild 
 ducks. These figures are touched with great 
 
112 DKAW1NG-ROOM. 
 
 truth and spirit. Amongst other vessels, which 
 are grouped and disposed in good taste, the 
 pleasure-boat immediately behind, in a fore- 
 shortened view, with her sails down, and her 
 companion in a side view, particularly attract 
 our notice. The brilliant gradations and oppo- 
 sitions of light, shadow, and colour, which glit- 
 ter on these objects with great vivacity and lustre, 
 are toned into union, and their reflections on 
 the water expressed with wonderful delicacy and 
 beauty. The further bank, with Tabley house 
 in the distance, terminates the prospect. The 
 view of the park from this particular point, af- 
 fords no linear variety, and not much subject ; 
 but the artist has given a charm to the represen- 
 tation by calling forth his own resources. The 
 diffusion of warm light, and transitions of tint 
 from the calm and sunny brightness on the water, 
 the splendor of the morning sun on the tower 
 and sky, and thence to the cool gray light on 
 the remote horizon, are equal in glowing truth 
 and harmony to any effect which has ever been 
 produced by this artist's pencil. 
 
DBAWING-ROOM. 
 
 HENRY BUM; H.A. 
 
 A PEASANT GIRL, PAINTED IN ENAMEL. 
 
 PRESENTED TO SIR JOHN FLEMING LEICESTER, BART. 
 
 AS A TESTIMONY OF HIGH RESPECT 
 
 FOR HIS EARLY, ZEALOUS, AND CONTINUED PATRONAOF 
 
 OF BRITISH ART, 
 
 BY HENRY BONE, R. A. ENAMEL PAINTER 
 
 TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT, 
 
 march ly, L819. 
 
 This fine performance is nine inches high, and 
 
 -even inches wide, and is a highly finished and 
 beautiful copy from the well-known picture, by 
 Gainsborough, in the possession ot Lord De 
 Dunstanville. The original figure is as large as 
 life. A rustic girl is represented, carrying a red 
 pitcher in one hand, and a favorite" little dog 
 under the other arm. She is seen in a front view, 
 as if stopping for a moment on her errand ; her 
 dark hair is without curls, and she has neither 
 cap, riband, nor bonnet. Her dress is of the 
 lowest order of rustics; — a dark pin-afore and 
 green frock, and her feet are bare. But truth 
 and simplicity have conferred a charm on this 
 representation of humble nature, which will be 
 lelt by the possessor of a palace, as stronglv as 
 by an inhabitant of a village. Upon a high 
 ground on the left side, a small cottage is seen 
 amidst sheltering trees, and to the right a woody 
 landscape with -lu< p. The foreground and sky 
 are broad, and the shadowy blue of the receding 
 prospect and atmosphere gives much force to the 
 warm tints of the figure. The taste, spirit, and 
 feeling with which this admirable transcript is 
 executed, reflect high credit on Mr. Bone's skill 
 and talents. 
 
114* DRAWING-ROOM. 
 
 The circumstances, under which this gentle- 
 man presented this valuable gift to sir John Fle- 
 ming Leicester, render it equally honorable to 
 the giver and receiver. Sir John is not a collec- 
 tor of enamels, and he has never patronized Mr. 
 Bone, so that this picture is a tribute from the 
 heart, on public grounds, alone. On the first day 
 of opening the gallery this season, this artist was 
 among the crowd of artists and amateurs, assem- 
 bled in the gallery. The beauty and brilliancy 
 of the paintings, the honest pride, which they ex- 
 cited as productions of native genius, and the 
 enthusiasm, which animated every countenance 
 at the salutary change in public opiniou and 
 the advancing rank and estimation of the British 
 school, filled his breast with emotion. With an 
 impulse, which does credit to his head and heart, 
 he begged of Sir John Leicester to accept this pro- 
 duction of his art, as a token of his high respect 
 for the gentleman, whose early, zealous, and con- 
 tinued efforts have led the way to so happy a 
 prospect. The moment, the occasion, the noble 
 motive, which induced the offer, the rank of the 
 artist, and the worth* of the painting, all com- 
 bined to stamp a public value on the gift. This 
 picture may be said to be an offering from Genius 
 and Gratitude, at the shrine of Public Spirit. The 
 act was good in itself, and will be an occasion 
 of further good in a wider circle. It gives new 
 force to the ties between the Patronized and their 
 Patrons, encourages the encouragers of the Bri- 
 tish school, and infuses, as it were, a fresh life- 
 blood, and a livelier play of spirit, into British 
 Art, and all its dignified relations. 
 
 * The picture is worth, at the lowest valuation, 200 guineas. 
 
DRAWING-ROOM. 113 
 
 43. J. WARD, R.A. 
 
 LANDSCAPE AND FIGURES. 
 
 The high and broken banks of an estuary 
 form the fore-ground of this romantic Landscape. 
 In the left corner, near the base line of the pic- 
 tun-, it rix s in abrupt lines, composed of large 
 jutting masses of stone and earth; and to the 
 right, is enriched with a cluster of tall trees and 
 thick underwood, somewhat beyond them. This 
 part of the high bank recedes towards the middle 
 distance ; and here a peasant, on a rough cart- 
 horse, followed by a boy and dog, are intro- 
 duced. The near part of the fore-ground is di- 
 versified by the irregular remains of a wooden 
 fence, which skirts a ravine between it and the 
 receding part of the bank. An ass, with a ham- 
 per, is made fast to one of the pales, and two 
 with saddles are standing loose beside him. 
 Nearer to the eye, some haddock, eel, ray, 
 and lobsters, with the fishermen's baskets and 
 other articles, are scattered on the ground. A 
 black dog stands more to the left, looking off to 
 sea at the water-fowl on the wing for their prey. 
 A bold ledge of rocks runs out in the middle 
 distance; and beyond this, the eye passes over a 
 wild and dark extent of waters and rockv projec- 
 tions, to the hilly shores, which form the ex- 
 treme- distance. A picturesque mass of clouds 
 i 
 
I 14 I>KAWING-KOOM. 
 
 rolls across the firmament, and throws an impres- 
 sive shadow over a long extent of mountains 
 and waters, from the remote distances to the 
 foreground. 
 
 The asses are painted with a force and truth 
 of nature, not inferior to any master, and the fish 
 are equally excellent. In light, sweet penciling, 
 in transparent colouring and lively imitation, 
 they would do credit to the hand of Van Kessel 
 or Teniers. The dog, in spirited fidelity, ranks 
 with them. The figures, in the middle ground, 
 are less attended to, but cleverly painted. In 
 parts of the landscape we find some of Ward's 
 peculiarities, in a little hardness of touch, and 
 dryness in the forms. These tendencies to manner 
 are not duly atoned for by the fine imagination of 
 the whole conception. Although the local co- 
 louring is secondary to the design, and not suf- 
 ficiently studied, there is a grandeur in the wild 
 extent of darkness, which stretches over so vast 
 a space of sea and land ; and this effect is 
 heightened by the blaze of light breaking from 
 behind the clouds, and shedding so rich an illu- 
 mination over a part of the sky and scenery. 
 
IIRAWINC.-ROOM. 115 
 
 44. JAMES NORTHCOTE, R.A. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF HIMSELF. 
 
 This is a well drawn head, seen nearly in 
 profile, of a grave, acute character, and a 
 strong likeness, painted some years ago, with 
 much vigor, and sobriety of effect. It de- 
 servedly holds a distinguished place in the 
 liberal possessor's regard, both from its merits, 
 its resemblance to a man of genius, and its hav- 
 ing been presented by the venerable painter, in 
 token of esteem and respect, to sir John Leices- 
 ter, as his friend and patron, and a zealous en- 
 courager of the British school. 
 
 45. B. HOPPNER. 
 
 A SEA VIEW WITH SHIPPING. 
 
 This artist, who is now British consul at Ve- 
 nice, went out with the expedition to Copen- 
 hagen ; and about that time made the sketch 
 for this picture on the coast of Holland. Au 
 English frigate, and a number of Butch vessels 
 of different descriptions, some at anchor, others 
 under sail, are seen upon the waters. The waves' 
 in agitation, assume a cool and gray tint; the 
 skv is clear and silvery, and the penciling deli- 
 cate; the shipping is accurately delineated, and 
 the general effect mellow and harmonious. 
 
1 16 DRAWING-ROOM. 
 
 46. GEORGE ROMNEY. 
 
 A NUN. 
 
 This head is well painted, with a clear and 
 fresh tint of colour, and an easy fluency of pencil. 
 Its look of nature warrants a supposition that 
 it is the likeness of an individual. The habit of 
 her order is cleverly disposed. 
 
 47. ATKINSON. 
 
 A BAGGAGE WAGGON AND GUARD. 
 
 The figures are designed and grouped with 
 spirit, the characters well delineated, and the team 
 of horses and waggoner excellent ; the bustle, 
 fatigue, and anxieties of a inarch, are expressed 
 with an interest, which indicates a correct eye to 
 nature. But the colouring wants somewhat more 
 variety; and, from the paint having been laid on 
 in too full a body for the size and subject, there 
 is an appearance of coarseness in the effect, 
 which lessens the pleasure of the spectator, with- 
 out adding to the merit of the execution. It is, 
 however, a masterly sketch, and there is a vigor in 
 the handling, and a reality in the circumstances, 
 which do credit to the skill and taste of this ver- 
 satile and able artist. 
 
HKAW IMG-ROOM. 
 
 117 
 
 48. . J. WARD, R.A. 
 
 VIEW IN TABLEY PARK. 
 
 The tower in the lake is placed here in the front 
 of the middle distance, with some of the pleasure 
 vessels under its walls, and others in the further 
 waters. The whole of these objects, with the 
 rich woods in the park and on the distant hills, 
 are in shade, excepting some gleaming lights, 
 which are touched with spirit. The sky is cleverly 
 massed, of a sober and still tone; the woods of 
 Tabley Park on the further bank, form a boun- 
 dary to the view on this side ; and a shepherd is 
 seen with his Hock feeding in one of the glades. 
 
 Herds of cattle are dispersed along the edges 
 of the lake. Some stand ruminating in various 
 groups in the shallow waters; some are feeding 
 in the green pastures, whilst others are lying 
 down and chewing the cud in a variety of atti- 
 tudes. Much variety and spirit have also been 
 displayed by this able painter, in the forms and 
 colouring of the groups of cattle in the lett cor- 
 ner of the fore-ground, particularly in the white 
 bull on the border of the lake. On this 
 beautiful animal, which is of a distinct breed, 
 the principal mass of light is thrown with 
 much brilliancy of effect. The whole of this 
 bank, enlivened by different groups in their 
 
118 DRAWING-ROOM. 
 
 various gradations of light and colour, comes 
 full upon the eye, as one broad and rich assem- 
 blage of warm and sparkling objects, contrasted 
 with the cool and dark shadows, which over- 
 spread the entire extent of this magnificent piece 
 of water, and its well-wooded back-ground. 
 
 A small boat, of a gray white, with bright red 
 oars, serves as a link to diffuse the light and co- 
 lour, and connect the objects in the fore-ground 
 already* noticed, with the groups of cattle in the 
 centre, and to the right, where two small aquatic 
 birds hover near the shore, and a pair of stately 
 swans float on the shadowy surface of the 
 waters. 
 
 The cattle, in this view, have not the slightest 
 resemblance in their style to those of Berghem, 
 Adrian Vandevelde, Potter, Du Jardin, Cuyp, or 
 any of their celebrated countrymen, and yet they 
 possess an intrinsic character of nature, which 
 will entitle them to rank among the best perform- 
 ances of those admirable artists. They are de- 
 signed with as close an eve to truth as the works 
 of any of those masters ; and to all that is excel- 
 lent in Flemish detail, add a richness and 
 strength of penciling, and a power of painting, 
 which few of that celebrated school, except Ru- 
 bens, ever attained. But with all this excellence it 
 is necessary to remark that the freshness and truth 
 of the local colouring in the middle grounds and 
 distances are, in too great a degree, sacrificed to 
 these principal objects. 
 
11Q 
 
 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 \<) SIR WILLIAM RELCIIY, R.A. 
 
 A WHOLE LENGTH PORTRAIT OF HIS ROYAL 
 HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER. 
 
 This is a military portrait, and the duke is 
 represented in an easy yet dignified attitude, 
 his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword, and 
 his head turned to the same side, his right holds 
 down his hat, and his person is tamed in that 
 direction, and seen in front. The countenance 
 is manly, and extremely like ; the expression 
 open, intelligent, and interesting. The carna- 
 tions are well sustained hy the scarlet, gold 
 lace, epaulets, and warm tints of the other parts 
 of the uniform. 
 
 As the portrait of a gentleman, a military 
 commander, and a prince, this may certainly 
 rank among the best productions of Sir \\ illiatn's 
 pencil. The head is finely painted, the figure in 
 a bold and masterly style, and the breadth, rich- 
 ness, sobriety, and subordination of the landscape 
 back-ground, are every way worthy of such a 
 principal. 
 
120 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 50. A. W. CALLCOTT, R. A. 
 
 A RETURN FROM MARKET. 
 
 The Artist has here delineated a woody scene, 
 interspersed with the cottages of a hamlet; a sub- 
 ject which must be always interesting. A wood- 
 man's house stands among trees, in the left cor- 
 ner, with a ladder reared against it. The cocks 
 and hens before the dwelling, the pigeons on the 
 roof, the homely cap and kerchief of the wo- 
 man, who is seen in a back view entering the 
 hatch-door, and the water-butt to catch the 
 rain from the eaves, are all transcripts of rea- 
 lity, which bring the fancy of the spectator 
 home to this quiet retreat of rustic labor. The 
 wood-cutter and his companion are stretched on 
 the sward, reposing from their toil. The axe 
 laid against the stump of a tree, the baskets of 
 tools, the keg, the faithful dog, and the little 
 boy standing beside them with a bow in his hand, 
 are appropriate accompaniments. Felled stumps 
 and rude stones, intermingled with hroad-leafed 
 herbage and low bushes, complete the enrich- 
 ment of this fore-ground. 
 
 A path, or irregular road, enclosed, and nearly 
 concealed from view, by a succession of lofty 
 trees, extends, horizontally, from the woodman's 
 house, across the whole middle-ground. Their 
 thick and dark foliage intermingles and spreads 
 
TAJU.F.V GALLERY. |<_>1 
 
 into ;i commanding mass of verdant shade. Th< 
 forms are simple and picturesque ; the touches of 
 the pencil are light and firm, wholly devoid of 
 manner, and full of character. 
 
 The figures have been evidently less attended 
 to. They are well conceived, but hastily brushed 
 in, and in some instances are onlv masterly indi- 
 cations. An old man, leading a child, who car- 
 ries a basket, and an old woman on a white 
 horse, are ooming forward from the middle- 
 ground, and some other villagers behind arc 
 treading the same course. Near the centre a 
 woman is stooping, and a little girl with a bas- 
 ket standing beside her. A dog is further to the 
 right, near the commencement of an open road. 
 Broken mounds of earth lead to a river in the 
 right corner, with an embankment secured by 
 planking, like a ferry. The objects in the mid- 
 dle ground are composed of a tall cluster of 
 trees, interspersed with cottages and paling, ex- 
 tending nearly across the picture, and receding 
 gradually to the extreme distance, which is a 
 naked line of elevation. The diffusion of light, 
 the penciling and aerial perspective here, are ex- 
 cellent. A warm sun-shine gleams along the 
 objects on the distant road, and has a pleasing 
 and spirited effect, breaking between the trees 
 below, in coutrast with their dark trunks and 
 foliage. At a remote cottage a bricklayer is 
 seen on a ladder, repairing the roof; and, some- 
 what nearer, a man, woman, and dog, arc cross- 
 
122 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 ing the distant path, coming forward towards 
 the river. The sky is partially overcast. 
 
 A woody village, or cottages among trees, 
 like these, was a favourite subject with Hobbima; 
 but the English Artist's selection and treatment 
 of his view, are equally original. In the 
 forms and handling of the trees, the intro- 
 duction of the objects, the management of the 
 sunny gleams in the middle grounds, and the 
 conception of the whole, he has displayed a high 
 degree of practical excellence and a fine feeling 
 of nature. The people, the spot, the country, 
 the features of English rustic nature, are before 
 us. In the sentiment of the scene he has been 
 so successful, that the heart immediately recog- 
 nizes its force; and the illusion is so strong 
 that we fancy we recollect each cottage, and tree 
 and pathway, as an old acquaintance. The pro- 
 spect comes upon us as the haunt of some sport 
 in our boyhood, the scene of some pleasurable 
 excursion from the capital, or a place of halt 
 upon a journey, which although seen, as it were, 
 but for a moment, had the power to mingle its 
 simple and tranquil attractions among the inde- 
 lible recollections of the breast. If there be any 
 thing with which the eye is not equally satisfied, 
 it is a tendency to grayness in the middle tints of 
 the nearer grounds, which produces some cold- 
 ness in the local colouring, on the first view. 
 But in every thing else this Artist has evinced so 
 pure a feeling, and ideas so full of interesting 
 
t'ABLEI GAULBBY. I - 
 
 simplicity, so lively a sense of the entire, and a 
 capacity of giving their utmost force to the essen- 
 tial details, that his high reputation can sutler 
 nothing by a notice of this single circumstance. 
 
 51. JAMES NORTH COTE, H.A. 
 
 I K\\ KI.I.KKS. 
 
 This versatile and able Artist has frequently 
 shewn bis partiality for the strong expressions, 
 which were adopted by Caravaggio, and has suc- 
 ceeded in those of a fierce and savage nature; but 
 he has here been successful in a different subject. 
 The wildness and grandeur of this mountainous 
 scene, do credit to his invention. A lady, 
 mounted on a caparisoned mule, is journeying 
 with her guide, in an elevated region, amongst 
 the precipices, snows, and torrents of the Alps. 
 Her face and person are seen in nearly a front 
 view, and her hair is blown abroad in tasteful 
 disorder. Her left hand rests lightly on the sad- 
 dle, and her right is raised to secure her silken 
 hat from being blown away by the sudden 
 gusts in those high and windy regions. This 
 little incident gives a spirited movement to her 
 whole figure, and her attitude is well imagined 
 and firmly painted ; the expression is lively, and 
 the colouring, though not rich in tone, is clear 
 and mellow. 
 
12 1 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 She has just surmounted a snowy steep; and 
 the muleteer, her attendant over this alpine 
 tract, is well pourtrayed in a rough hairy cap and 
 russet clothing. He is pressing his mule up the 
 steep, and the action of his bearing up the beast's 
 head, to assist him forward, is vigorously de- 
 signed and painted. These two figures form a 
 broad and picturesque mass of shadow, which re- 
 lieves with a good effect, from the tone of half 
 light on the sky, and is harmonized with it, by 
 the blue trappings of the mule. The muleteer's 
 rough dog is gamboling on before the lady, bark- 
 ing joyfully, as if proud to conduct her in safety 
 through these dangerous ways. This action is 
 not only well conceived, but the whole animal is 
 cleverly drawn, and the expression of the fore- 
 shortened head is worthy of Snyders. The sha- 
 dows of the dark rocks above the fair Traveller's 
 head, are lost in clouds, but the lower part of the 
 sky is more open and airy. The whole back- 
 ground is broad and romantic, the general effect 
 vigorous, and the subject happily treated. The 
 animals are painted in a masterly style, and 
 the principal character is an interesting study 
 from Nature. 
 
I A i: 1. 1 \ QALLBBY. 125 
 
 52. WILLIAMSON, Junior. 
 
 A LANDSCAPE, WITH CATTLE AND FIGURES. 
 
 Peasants arc seen here in the act of driving 
 cows, sheep, and laden asses, down an irregular 
 descent, in a mountainous country- The fore- 
 ground, to the left, is hroken with plashes of 
 reedy water, irregular hanks, tufted herbage, 
 and low bushes, over which a stunted and leaf- 
 less tree rises, in solitary nakedness : to the 
 right, it is composed of earthy masses and frag- 
 ments of rock, covered with moss, luxuriant 
 plants, and grasses. The glimpse of a river is seen 
 in the middle ground. Beyond this, on each 
 >ide, hills in shade, tinged with faint light on 
 their edges, shut out a part of the remote pro- 
 spect. The opening between shows the distant 
 elevations, fading into the aerial tints of the sky, 
 which is agreeably diversified with light clouds. 
 There is a pleasing freshness in the shadowy 
 verdure of this picture, a breadth in the effect, 
 and a harmony in the tone, which are suited to 
 the hour and scenery. The figures and cattle are 
 iu a good taste, the composition is romantic, 
 and the whole painted with freedom. 
 
120 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 53. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF SIR JOHN FLEMING LEICESTER, BART. 
 
 The Baronet is here represented as colonel of 
 the Cheshire cavalry, and this picture was 
 among the last works of the late President. It 
 was left unfinished at his death, and was obtained 
 from his executors. Sir John is represented in 
 a landscape beside his horse. The disposition 
 possesses that easy dignity which is the ge- 
 neral character of Sir Joshua's portraits, and 
 the head and figure are painted in his best style. 
 All the accessaries have been added since. 
 The horse, which is in the mezzotinto print 
 from this picture, was designed and painted by 
 Northcote, with a vigour of pencil and boldness 
 of conception well worthy the hand of Reynolds 
 himself. The general effect is very powerful ; and 
 independent of its technical excellence, this por- 
 trait of the early and munificent patron of mo- 
 dern art and native genius will be held sacred, so 
 long as the fine arts are cultivated in the empire, 
 and whilst a sentiment of public spirit and grati- 
 tude exists in the human breast. 
 
IAI1I I V '. \ l.l.l.HY. 127 
 
 54. JAMES NORTHCOTE, R. A. 
 
 PROSPERO AND MIRANDA. 
 
 This subject has baffled many artists, but in 
 the present picture it has been evidently studied 
 with much attention, and no inconsiderable ef- 
 fect. The colouring is sobered by the strength 
 of the chiar'oscuro, and the attitudes are well 
 imagined. The figure of Miranda appears to 
 be a portrait ; but when I was taking a note of 
 the paintings at Tabley, the apartment, in which 
 this important picture hung, was occupied by 
 a person who was indisposed, and who withdrew 
 to the staircase whilst I took a glance at the 
 picture. Under these circumstances, I could not 
 trespass on so painful an indulgence more than a 
 few minutes ; and it would be an injustice to 
 thi^ veteran artist, to the painting, and to 
 myself, were 1 to enter into a particular notice of 
 its merits. 1 have been disappointed of a de- 
 scription of it from another person. But I have 
 the less regret on this occasion, because the three 
 portraits by Mr. Northcote, his Vulture and 
 Snake, his Heads of the Horse, and of the 
 Tiger, his capital picture of the Alpine Travel- 
 lers ''""I bia family of La Fayette, exhibit his 
 versatile powers, in a high point of view, in this 
 splendid display of Hriti>h genius. 
 
198 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 55. HENRY THOMSON, R. A. 
 
 TABLEY LAKE AND TOWER, THE SEAT OF SIR 
 JOHN FLEMING LEICESTER, BART. 
 
 The foreground of this landscape is composed 
 of the shore, on which a fisherman examining his 
 net, a pretty county girl with a basket waiting for 
 a supply, and a boy stooping to touch an eel, are 
 grouped. Some newly-caught fish lie upon the 
 ground, and a boat is hauled up close to the land. 
 On a part of the shore, in the middle-ground, an- 
 other boat is lying dry. A bright line of light 
 gleams along the opposite shore to the left, and 
 extends in diminished gradation as far as Tabley 
 tower, near the centre of the prospect. The dark 
 verdure of the distant woods, enlivened by some 
 warm touches, on the clumps of trees nearest the 
 water, terminates the view. The upper part of 
 the tower is thrown into shade, the lower in 
 quiet light. The whole sky is overcast, except a 
 subordinate light along the middle of the hori- 
 zon, and an opening on the right. The execu- 
 tion is free, the general effect sober, the figures 
 designed with taste, and touched with lightness 
 and spirit. This landscape is the only one I re- 
 member to have seen from this artist's pencil, and 
 its rarity enhances its value. 
 
TABLEY GALLERY. 129 
 
 GEORGE ROMNEY. 
 bacchante'. 
 
 This was painted from Lady Hamilton, who 
 was a favourite subject of this painter. She is 
 represented under the shade of a tree. The dis- 
 position is tasteful, and the execution spirited ; 
 but the picture is unfinished. 
 
 57. J. M- W. TURNER, R.A. 
 
 FALL OF THE RHINE AT SCHAFFHAUSEN. 
 
 The view of this celebrated cataract is worthy 
 the selection of this eminent artist. The right 
 side of the fore-ground is formed by huge over- 
 hanging cliffs and steeps, whose rugged promi- 
 nences are in some parts diversified by pendulous 
 trunks, naked branches, and straggling bushes. 
 These steeps rise in romantic grandeur to the top 
 of the picture, and occupy nearly one-fourth of 
 the prospect. On their brow, in remote per- 
 spective, a white building is seen above the trees, 
 looking down upon the roaring waters of the 
 Rhine. Considerably lower, amidst the shade, a 
 chamber is constructed in an opening of the 
 rocks, to which travellers ascend to obtain a full 
 view of the scene below. In the angle formed 
 
 K 
 
130 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 bv the foot of these cliff's, and the line of the 
 fore-ground, at the edge of the river, a scaffold- 
 ing or wooden stage, to afford a near view of the 
 fall, is erected. The whole of the cliff's form a 
 commanding breadth of embrowned shade in va- 
 rious gradations ; but this detached projection is 
 altogether painted in cool retiring shadow, and 
 loosely brushed in, with the impatient dispatch 
 of a rapid pencil, to indicate an object which the 
 mind is left to determine. These immense cliffs 
 are a part of the near bank of the Rhine; and 
 here the painter has exercised an allowable 
 licence for the general advantage of his picture. 
 A ferry is established at a considerable distance 
 from the cataract; but the artist has supposed it 
 almost immediately next to the fall, and enriched 
 his foreground by converting it into a sort of 
 quay for the loading and transmission of mer- 
 chandise. Wheelbarrows, baskets, cattle, and 
 figures, sacks of grain, bales and packages of 
 different forms, are irregularly introduced on the 
 bank. An old peasant in a broad waggon has 
 just set down a load of goods, and the horses 
 have become restive. His assistant, a well-designed 
 figure, is endeavouring to curb them. At some 
 little distance there are two women and a child, 
 and further on, three boatmen are loitering on 
 the rocks near the brink of the river. In 
 the corner of the right side, at the base of the 
 cliff's, a young shepherd is driving a flock of sheep. 
 
TABI.EY GALLERY. 131 
 
 and an old man is stopping some goats, to turn 
 them in the same direction. 
 
 The broad and solid planks of the ferry are in 
 the left corner; two men are driving a cow; a 
 man and woman with baskets are waiting close 
 to the planks, and some bales and packages lie 
 on the ground. The huge overhanging cliffs 
 of the near bank to the right, intercept the 
 upper bed or course of the Rhine from the eye; 
 but at a great height the whole river is seen to 
 rush forward from behind those shadowy cliff's, 
 with a prodigious force to a certain depth below. 
 There, meeting with rocky projections across the 
 channel, which are hidden by the foam, it in- 
 stantly rolls forward again, with a second furious 
 descent, to another stoppage, and thence to a 
 third, foaming and thundering down to the dark 
 profound below. About halfway across from the 
 near bank, two enormous rocks rear their heads 
 high in air, like the towers of a rugged and un- 
 liable fortress, built by nature to withstand 
 for ages, and to eternity itself, the raging assault 
 of the waves. These gigantic forms, whose 
 brows are thinly covered with shrubs and 
 brambles, break the force of the river, and divide 
 this magnificent cataract into three branches. 
 One flows precipitously over a shelving bed of 
 rocks as it approaches the bottom. Here the 
 • \. i> struck with a spectacle of grandeur and 
 beauty. These gloomy depths impress the mind 
 k 2 
 
132 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 with an idea of a tremendous gulph, above whose 
 dark and raging waters, the spra}' ascending in 
 clouds acquires a prismatic brilliancy from the 
 rays of the sun. The artist in those passages 
 fills the fancy with a crowd of impressive images, 
 and displays the powers of a poet and painter. 
 To the left, beyond two enormous rocks, the 
 remote bank of the Rhine is seen, covered with 
 dwellings, tufted trees, and rocky declivities. It 
 is painted in a low shadowy tone, enlivened by 
 the ruddy reflection of a smith's forge, and the 
 evanescent lustre of a rainbow, contrasted to the 
 still haze of a clouded sky. In the centre the 
 spray rises to a great height in the air, and is 
 borne by the wind, like a gray smoke, along the 
 horizon, so as to render the objects uncertain and 
 indistinct in this part of the distance. 
 
 The colouring is arid, and presents few oppo- 
 sitions. It is perhaps more suited to a grand 
 composition than to a local view. It derives less 
 of its influence from the introduction of cool and 
 fresh tints, than might have been expected from 
 the quantity of water. But the light and shadow 
 are massed with a noble breadth, and admirably 
 calculated to display the grandeur of this master's 
 conceptions. This Painter's command over the 
 mind in the highest class of landscape, is the pro- 
 minent feature of his art. In this cataract of the 
 Rhine, his imagination, strongly impressed by 
 the sublime in local nature, is every where seen 
 pressing forward before his band to produce the 
 
TABI.EY GALLERY. 1 S3 
 
 general effect ; and in some few of the cattle, 
 figures, and details, the force and velocity of his 
 ideas left the pencil scarcely sufficient time to 
 do more than slightly touch in the forms, and 
 scatter prolific indications. It is true that artists 
 are accustomed to paint their landscape figures 
 with much carelessness; but. the instances ad- 
 verted to in this noble picture are not many. The 
 just observation, tbat the oversights or neglects 
 in a work of genius are atoned for by its beau- 
 ties, is here verified, and we forget a few indi- 
 gested particulars in this splendid specimen, 
 while we are borne away by its impressive 
 grandeur. 
 
 58. OPIE, R.A. 
 
 THE CALLING OF SAMUEL. 
 
 The boy is here represented on his knees, 
 newly risen from sleep, holding the curtains of 
 his bed with one hand, while the other is placed, 
 in token of awe and submission, on his breast. 
 He looks up, as if answering to the voice from 
 above — " Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth!" — 
 but there is no elevation or fore-shortening of the 
 face. The attitude is simple and m II ch 
 and the expression of humility and devout al t< a- 
 tion are successfully painted. The head is a close 
 studv from comely nature, and the figure relieves 
 
134 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 as a mass of light from the dark recess formed 
 by the opening of the bed. But although this 
 is reported to be a later picture, it is by no 
 means so boldly penciled, of so strong a body 
 of colour, or so rich in tone as the Musidora. 
 There is some excess in the drawing of one of 
 the arms ; and, owing to the quantity of white 
 in the fleshy tints, they want their full value. The 
 garment is of a dead white in the lights, and a 
 cold gray in the shadows. This whiteness about 
 the figure is heightened by the dull red of the 
 curtains-, and strikes the eye at a great distance ; 
 but the general effect is forcible, and the picture 
 is a fair specimen of this artist's manner, at a 
 certain period of his practice. 
 
 59. WILSON. 
 
 TABLEY HOUSE. 
 
 The mansion and part of the domains are seen in 
 the distance to the left. The lake occupies the mid- 
 dle and near grounds. The bank of this fine piece 
 of water composes the fore-ground to the right ; 
 and here the artist has introduced a tree, whose 
 form is to be met with in many of his pictures. 
 This particular point of view was not the most 
 fortunately selected for showing this admired 
 scenery. It afforded little beyond a level sub- 
 ject, and in the hands of an ordinary painter 
 
TABLEY GALLERY. 1 3 J 
 
 would have been uninteresting. But Wilson 
 endeavoured to find resources in his art. The 
 clear effect of water, of air, sun, and vapour, and 
 the soft verdure of English scenery, are painted 
 with all the dewy freshness and delicious har- 
 ' niony of his enchanting pencil. As a lesson 
 of freedom, local colouring and tone, this pic- 
 ture is invaluable. 
 
 60. GARRARD. 
 
 SHEEP. 
 
 These animals are cleverly painted, and do 
 credit to the artist's pencil. 
 
 61. J M. W.TURNER, R. A. 
 
 LANDSCAPE, WITH A VIEW OF TABLEY LAKE, AND 
 A BRISK GALE. 
 
 • This view of the lake and tower in Tabley Park 
 is enlivened by various pleasure -vessels and 
 tUhing-boats, sailing over a fine expanse ot 
 water in different directions. Two boats, with 
 nets, baskets, and fishermen, are introduced near 
 the front of the picture, and are painted with 
 ureal breadth and spirit. 
 
136 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 The round tower on a small island, with two 
 vessels anchored close to it, accompanied by 
 boatmen and others, adds much to the variety of 
 this prospect. 
 
 Tabley house forms a mass of light in the ex- 
 treme distance, and is well contrasted with the 
 cool scenery, which composes the principal part 
 of this subject. The whole executioa of this 
 painting is firm and free, as well as rich in its 
 colouring. Although perfectly original in its 
 style, as far as the subject goes, it rivals the best 
 productions of Vandeveld and Backhuysen in 
 taste and fine feeling, with a broader manner, 
 and greater power and facility. By an union of 
 vigor and harmony, of fidelity and depth of co- 
 louring, it combines the best qualities of the 
 Flemish and Venetian schools, exhibits this 
 eminent British artist in the class of local repre- 
 sentation to great advantage, and would confer 
 honor on the best landscape-painter of any age 
 or country. 
 
TABLKY GALLERY. 137 
 
 62. J. WARD, R.A. 
 
 DOGS OF THE DALMATIAN BREED. 
 
 Two puppies are sucking the bitch, upon the 
 ground, and the dog is standing as a guard, 
 close beside her. They are all beautifully mot- 
 tled ; the bitch with dark brown, grey, and white 
 spots, upon a silvery hue: the dog has a 
 similar coat, enriched with transparent brown 
 tints. One of the puppies is white, with fawn- 
 coloured patches; the other black, white, and 
 silvery grey. The uniformity of the ground is 
 broken by some few thin tufts of grass, large 
 dock-leaves, and weeds, growing behind. In 
 the front, a red earthen water-vessel and some 
 loose straw are valuable materials of colour and 
 haruionv. The wooden paling of a shed forms 
 a dark back-ground on the left side, and some 
 of its frame-work extends across to the upper 
 corner on the right. A picturesque extent of 
 country is seen in the distance. The whole of 
 this picture is in this Artist's very best style. 
 \a far as the subject goes, for a quiet group of 
 animals, it would be difficult to produce a finer 
 specimen in its class. Ward sometimes is hard 
 in his touch, and enfeebles the spirit of his objects 
 by laying too great a stress upon his penciling ; 
 but in this subject the touch is full, and sparkling 
 
138 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 with gaiety, decision, and character. The light 
 is broad, the colouring clear and harmonious, 
 and the animals are painted with a powerful 
 truth and simplicity of nature. 
 
 63. GEORGE BARRET. 
 
 VIEW OF BEESTON CASTLE, CHESHIRE. 
 
 The foreground to the right and left is com- 
 posed of broken banks, herbage, stones, and 
 slender trees. On a road in the centre, two hinds 
 on foot, a man on horseback, and a dog, are 
 driving a flock of sheep into the interior. Above 
 the groves which crown the elevations in the 
 middle ground, the mountain rises, from whose 
 brow the ruins of Beeston Castle look down 
 upon a great extent of prospect. The green tints 
 are here mellowed by aerial hues ; and, in the 
 opening formed by its precipitous outline, a range 
 of mountains forms the distance. Further to the 
 right, the level country diversifies the view ; a 
 remote village church and cottages glitter in the 
 light, and the last hues fade into the cool tints of 
 the atmosphere. 
 
 Barret obtained the first public prizes in his 
 time. The opinion of amateurs ranked him 
 as high in landscape-painting as Reynolds in 
 portrait. Fashion thronged his door, and he 
 enjoyed the patronage of the Duke of Portland, 
 
i \ hi I I i. \LI.ERY. 139 
 
 the Duke of Buccleugh, Mr. Locke, of Norbury 
 Park, and Other of the most eminent patrons of 
 tin tine arts. Burke, in a letter to Barry, says : — 
 " He is a wonderful observer of the accidents of 
 Nature, anil produces every day something new 
 from that source; and indeed is, on the whole, a 
 delightful painter, and possessed of great re- 
 sources." (P. 89, v. I. Works of Barry.)— 
 Barry himself particularly describes the airiness 
 of Barret's skies, in the same volume (p. 16); 
 and, in his Dictionary of Painters, dwells on the 
 lightness, taste, and vivacity of his execution. 
 His colouring he also praises with great justice. 
 " His attention was chiefly directed to the true 
 colour of' English scenery, in which, in his best 
 works, he was very happy, as he got all that 
 richness and deny freshness, that so particular/i/ cha- 
 racterizes the verdure of this climate, especially in 
 the vernal months, and which is so totally different 
 from the colouring if those masters, who htm formed 
 themtehm on Italian scenery or Italian pictures." 
 Those who have never seen any other picture by 
 Barret will feel the praises of Burke and Barry, 
 and the patronage of those eminent judges the 
 Dukes of Portland and Buccleugh, and of Mr. 
 Locke, of Norbury Park, justified by an exami- 
 nation of this fine specimen of his powers. But 
 Barry, in adverting to Barret's experimental 
 colours, makes an observation ofgreat importance 
 to artists who are ambitious of perpetuating their 
 fame. "This strong desire sometimes tempted 
 
140 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 tempted him to use colours rich and beautiful, 
 when first applied, but which no art could ren- 
 der permanent; and which, in some of his 
 slighter works, prevailed to such a degree as to 
 leave scarcely any traces of the original colour- 
 ing." The fact is, that this admired Painter, 
 at a particular season of his life, was tempted to 
 trifle with his deserved popularity, and abuse his 
 own powers, by painting a number of slight, 
 raw pictures, very inferior to those by which he 
 had so deservedly obtained and perpetuated his 
 fame. In the zenith of his reputation, these 
 vapid and feeble productions found purchasers 
 among the ignorant ; but were soon discarded, 
 to undergo the usual round of auction-rooms, as 
 a depreciated article of commercial speculation. 
 Their number and flimsy quality cast a shade 
 upon his reputation, and unjustly lowered the 
 value and estimation of his superior perform- 
 ances in the opinion of the multitude, who 
 judge of works of art, not by their intrinsic ex- 
 cellence, but by report and collateral evidences. 
 The neglects of this excellent Artist have not been 
 adverted to in this place, to reflect on the memory 
 of a man of genius in the grave, but with an 
 earnest hope of giving a salutary warning to 
 some painters now living. jN either high patro- 
 nage nor popularity, nor great power, can with- 
 stand habits of neglect and perverted practice. 
 There can be but one safe course for every artist; 
 and that is, as Sir Joshua Reynolds did, to de- 
 
TABLEY GALLERY. 141 
 
 vote himself wholly to his profession, paint no 
 slight off-hand pictures, and always, at least, to 
 make the utmost effort to paint his best. 
 
 64. • COATES. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF THE LATE LADY LEICESTER. 
 
 This is stated to be a good likeness of the 
 present Baronet's mother. The eolouring is rather 
 cold ; bat it has a pleasing degree of union and 
 character of nature. 
 
 65. J. NORTHCOTE, R.A. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF THOMAS LYSTER PARKER, ESft. OF 
 liKOWESHOLME, LANCASHIRE. 
 
 The Artist has here produced a strong resem- 
 blance of a gentleman, who has been for many 
 vears his friend, and a most zealous patron of 
 modern art. The head is painted with much 
 vigor of light and shadow, with a fine breadth 
 of middle tint, and mellowness of tone. 
 
142 TABLEY GALLERY. 
 
 66. GARRARD. 
 
 FOUR ROAN HORSES. 
 
 These are portraits of favourite horses, and 
 are creditable to the pencil of this Painter. 
 
 67. J. IBBETSON. 
 
 A BULL-BAIT. 
 
 This spirited picture comprehends a vast num- 
 ber of figures, and they are almost all stated to be 
 portraits of well-known characters in London. 
 The dogs are also said to be portraits. The 
 figure of Morland, the artist, is spoken of as a 
 strong likeness. The crowd are pressing forward 
 to catch the dogs in their fall, when tossed by 
 the bull, and the savage animal is considered as 
 a successful effort by the painter, who is sup- 
 posed to have valued this as one of his chief 
 efforts.* 
 
 * I have not seen this picture, and give the above from a descri|>- 
 tion by a gentleman who is well acquainted with it. 
 
TAB1.I-* c \LLEItY. 14S 
 
 68. J. NORTHCOTE, R.A. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF R. LEYCESTER, ESft. OF TOFT. 
 
 This, like the other two portraits by this vete- 
 ran artist, already noticed, exhibits a strong ex- 
 pression of nature, painted with much vigor of 
 light and shadow, and simplicity of colouring. 
 
 <>!). HOPPNER. 
 
 A LADY DAN! ING. 
 
 Although the attitude is one of extreme ditli- 
 cultv, this subject is treated with taste, and the 
 usual freedom of this artist's pencil; but, altoge- 
 ther, it is not equal to the generality of his 
 pictures. 
 
 70. GARRARD. 
 
 ROAD HORSES. 
 
 Portraits of valuable coach-horses, painted 
 with much fidelity and skill. The whole materials 
 of the picture do credit to the skill of this artist. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Sir JOHN FLEMING LEICESTER, Bart. 
 
 Newman Street, Aug. 26, 1818. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 It was by a judicious and liberal patronage that 
 the Greeks attained that pre-eminence in the Fine Arts over 
 every other people, which has rendered their name so famous 
 in the civilized world. By the same encouragement in mo- 
 dern Italy, that country acquired her glory in the fifteenth 
 and sixteenth centuries, and by a similar protection of the 
 Fine Arts must England obtain, and maintain to subsequent 
 ages, her claim to the possession of them. 
 
 The liberality of bis Majesty, in establishing the Royal 
 Academy, for the instruction of juvenile talents in the Fine 
 Arts, and the means which are afforded to that effect by the 
 British Institution, for studying what is excellent in Paint- 
 ing, have created considerable advantages for the cultiva- 
 tion of native genius. United to these, the opportunity 
 which is afforded by several Noblemen and Gentlemen, 
 distinguished for their taste and love of the Fine Arts, in 
 opening their collections for the Artist's improvement, has 
 given a taste to them and the Public for the excellence of 
 Art, and enabled them to appreciate its merits. The public- 
 spirited example which you. Sir John, have set, in forming 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 a Gallery, expressly devoted to modern Art, and opening it 
 to the Public, has proved a stimulus to living merit, and a 
 source of patronage to the Fine Arts, which, united to your 
 liberality in rewarding men of talent, cannot fail to transmit 
 your name to posterity. It will be remembered, that at the 
 period you lived, the United Kingdom had attained that re- 
 nown in the Fine Arts, which it had also acquired in arms : 
 and I think that the prints which have been produced from 
 works done in this Country, and circulated throughout the 
 civilized world, will warrant the above opinion. Mr. Shee, 
 in his excellent Rhymes on Art, has made the following quo- 
 tation from a discourse, which I addressed, as President, to 
 the Students of the Royal Academy. — " That patronage, 
 which gives the means of producing though but one work of 
 Art that is excellent, confers more lasting honour on the 
 country which produced it, than all the works of Art im- 
 ported from other countries, and all the wealth it took to 
 possess them ; for the honour attached to them in all places 
 where they are, belongs to the Country, and the Artists who 
 produced them." 
 
 Thus, by your patriotic example and love for the Fine 
 and liberal Arts of your Country, which you have brought 
 into public notice, may others be stimulated to enrich their 
 Country with splendid works of Art, the lasting insignia of a 
 civilized People. 
 
 With every sentiment of respect, 
 
 I have the honour to be, my dear Sir John, 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 Benjamin West. 
 
147 
 
 TO 
 
 WILLIAM CAREY, Eso. 
 
 By the express desire of my friend, Sir John 
 Fleming Leicester, Bart. 1 have inspected the Descriptive 
 Catalogue of his Paintings, which he has commissioned 
 you to describe and illustrate. 
 
 You have ever proved yourself so zealous an advocate in 
 favor of the British School of Painting, and have so con- 
 stantly endeavored by your writings to promote its progress, 
 that I warmly congratulate you on the late fortunate oppor- 
 tunity, which Sir John Leicester has afforded you of arrang- 
 ing a Catalogue of his Pictui 
 
 The respective merits of the Royal Academy and British 
 Institution are deservedly objects of much interest and ap- 
 probation ; and I rejoice with you, that amongst those who 
 are endeavouring to promote the same laudable end, there 
 jo little difference of opinion, as to the best means of 
 obtaining their public-spirited object. I trust, therefore, after 
 their example, that the true friends of the British School 
 » ill redouble their efforts to remove everv obstacle to the 
 
148 
 
 improvement of the arts, and to the patronage of nathe 
 genius. Where party resides, critics will also have their 
 residence. But your cause is good, and will be respected 
 by every impartial lover of British art. 
 
 The letter you have lately received from the Royal 
 Institute of France reflects so much credit on your zeal in 
 the cause of Modern Art, as also on the French Academy, 
 in wishing to promote a mutual co-operation for the advance- 
 ment of the Fine Arts, that injustice to both parties I could 
 wish you to insert it at the end of this work. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 R. C. Hoare. 
 Stourhead, March \3th, 1819. 
 
149 
 
 Institut de France, Academie Royale des 
 Beaux-Arts. 
 
 Le Secretaire perpetuel de l'Academie. 
 
 Paris, le 14 Septembre, 1818. 
 MOMSIEl K. 
 
 J'ai pre'sente' a l'Academie Royale des Beaux 
 Art< lea deux ouvrages que vous avez en la bontd de 
 m'addresser, pour lui en faire hommage ; et commc votre 
 langue n'est pas familiere a la plupart de ses Membres, j'ai 
 pris la liberte de lui en donner l'idte par un extrait en Fran- 
 cais, qui pent (aire connoitre et la nature des sujets et la 
 maniere dont vous Its avez traites. .le ne me flatte point, 
 Monsieur, d'avoir pu communiquer. dans ces extraits, unc 
 image mime approximative du talent de description et des 
 couleurs dont votre brillante imagination sait revetir les 
 objets qu'elle peint : il faut fitre Peintre pour traduire, 
 comme vous, par ecrU les beaut^s de la peinture, et mal- 
 heureusement il n'a guere 6t6 possible de donner de cette 
 sorte de nn'rite un equivalent dans le conipte qui en a iti 
 rendu a rAcadomie. 
 
 L'Academie s'est bien souvenue d'avoir vu, a une assez 
 ancienne exhibition, l'esquisse c£le"bree du grand Tableau 
 de M. West, dont vous lui avez rappelle I'idi'e. Elk- n'a 
 pu entendre aussi, sans unc extreme satisfaction, l'expression 
 des sentimens contenus dans votre lettre ; elle y a reconnu 
 ceux quelle professe elle-mCme, et qui, en liant les artistes 
 de tous Its pax-., doivent en faire les tous Citoyens d'une 
 meme Rcpublique. 
 
 Elle me charge de vous exprimer sa reconnaissance et le 
 qu'elle a d'entretenir d'honorables rapports avec vous. 
 
 

 150 
 
 Monsieur, et avec tous ceux qu'anime dan6 votre illustre 
 Nation le gout ^claire" pour les Beaux Arts, et pour tout ce 
 qui peut en e"tendre la gloire et le succes. 
 
 Je vous prie d'agreer les sentimens de la haute considera- 
 tion avec lesquels j'ai l'honneur d'etre. 
 Monsieur, 
 Votre tres humble et tres obeissant Servitcur, 
 
 QUATREMERE DE QulNCY. 
 
 A Monsieur, 
 Monsieur William Carey, 
 
 37, Marie-la-bonne Street, London. 
 

 

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IM 
 
 INDEX TO THE PAINTERS. 
 
 Atkinson No. 4~. 
 
 Beechy, Sir William, R.A. 49. 
 
 Bourgeois, Sir F 36.— Died Feb. 1811. 
 
 Barrett 63. Died April 1784. 
 
 Barker B 33. 
 
 Callcott, A. W. R. A 32. 50. 
 
 Collins, William, A. R.A. 15 — 26*. 
 
 Coates 64. Dead. 
 
 Devis 34. 
 
 Fuseli, H. R. A 13—31. 
 
 Gainsborough 3 — 40. Died Nov. 1788. 
 
 Garrard 60 — 66 — "0. 
 
 Howard, H. R. A 38. 
 
 Hilton, William, R.A. ..11. 
 
 Hoppner 2—69. Died Jan. 23, 1810. 
 
 Hoppner, B 45. 
 
 Harlow 41. Died Feb. 4, 1819. 
 
 Ibbetson 6". Dead. 
 
 Lawrence, Sir T. R.A 23. 
 
 Loutherbour<; 35. Died March 11, 1S12. 
 
 Nortiicote, James, R. A. . . 12—30 — 37 — 39 — 44 — 51 — 
 
 .,4—65—68. 
 
 Owin. R.A 1—20—24. 
 
 OriF r — 14 — 16—56. Died April 
 
 ?>, IK17 
 
152 
 
 INDEX TO THE PAINTERS. 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua .... 6 — 9 — 21 — 27 — 53. Died 
 
 Feb. 23, 1792. 
 
 Romney 18—25 — 46 — 56. Died Nov. 
 
 1802. 
 
 Shee, M.A. R.A 10. 
 
 Thomson, R. A. . . 
 Turner, R. A. . . . 
 West, B. P.R.A. 
 Ward, J. R. A. . . 
 Wilson, R. R. A. 
 Williamson . . . . 
 
 8—28—55. 
 
 7—17—19 — 12—57—61. 
 
 26—29. 
 
 4—43—48—62. 
 
 22—59. Died May 11, 1782. 
 
 . ... 52. 
 
 ERRATUM. 
 
 P. 13,/or sketch of an upright form, read sketch, being of an upright 
 form. 
 
 Printed by Nichols and Son, Red Lion Passage, 
 Fleet Street, Londoo. 
 
* 
 
 /^-v