LETTER XII.

TO M. F

YOUR kind letter procured me a very agreeable introduction to Lady F

Her brother, Sir

William, has shewn me great attention, and I readily accepted his offer to accompany me to see the painting and sculpture at Somerset House. I had already paid a visit to the exhibition, but I nevertheless gladly availed myself of the oppor. tunity of hearing the criticisms of a gentleman who is intimate with the principal litterati and artists of Edinburgh and London, and who I suspect is a contributor to one of the principal

reviews.

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Having paid our shilling at the door, and purchased the catalogue, which contains a list of the pictures and statues exhibited, together with the names of the artists, we first entered the sculpture. room, which is on the ground floor. Sir William pointed out to me a groupe representing the archangel Michael overcoming Satan. This," said he, "is the production of Flaxman, our professor of sculpture." I could not help remarking, "that I hoped for the honour of Flaxman, both as an artist and professor, that he was capable of presenting something better to the students of the Academy, for I could perceive no traces of a

master's hand in this production, which appeared to me almost wholly devoid of grace and beauty."

After a hasty glance at some other works of indifferent merit, we stopped to examine a subject, borrowed from Milton, Eve at the brink of the lake.

I laid me down
On the green bank to look into the clear
Smooth lake, that to me seem'd another sky.
As I bent down to look, just opposite, a shape
Within the watery gleam appeared

Bending to look at me; I started back, &c.

This subject has been treated by two different artists. The first, Mr. Rossi, who is a Royal Academician, seems to have translated Milton after the manner of the Abbé Delille, that is to say, by substituting dazzling style and insipid ornament for the dignified and nervous simplicity of the English bard. To represent the smooth clear lake, he has placed a mirror at the feet of Eve. This whimsical conception fortunately does

* I have since seen some of Flaxman's works, which induce me to form a higher opinion of his talent.

+ The following is Delille's translation of the passage above quoted, which seems calculated to refute the opinion I have just expressed. That opinion is, however, founded on the consideration of the work a a whole :

De ces bords enchanteurs, sur cette plaine humide
Je hazarde un regard ignorant et timide.

O prodige! mon œil y retrouve les cieux,
Une image flottante y vient frapper mes yeux;
Pour mieux l'examiner sur elle je m'meline,
Et l'image à son tour s'avance et m'examine,
Je tressaile et recule. A l'instant je la voi
S'effrayer, tressaillir, reculer comme moi.

not destroy the effect of Bayley's Eve. There is a charming air of natural grace in the attitude, and the smile of the countenance well expresses the innocent joys of Eden.

It cost me an effort to avert my eyes from this poetic creation; but there is another statue in the same room which disputes the palm of superiority. This latter is the production of Westmacott, and represents Psyche opening the fatal box given her by Venus.* For delicacy and elegance this statue will bear a comparison with classic models. Grace is, indeed, the peculiar characteristic of Westmacott. But the box is no less fatal to the artist than it was to Psyche. Following the bad taste, which was introduced by a great master of the present day, Westmacott has placed in the hands of his Psyche a box of gilt ivory, and this destroys all the harmony and correctness of a production which otherwise would, perhaps, deserve to be pronounced faultless. "That box," said Sir William, "degrades Psyche to a level with those images which are placed on chimney-pieces to serve as candelabra."

"Let us examine some of Chantry's works," said I: "Where are they placed? I see nothing here but busts and indifferent statues. Some of the busts are doubtless exceedingly beautiful; but these are in sculpture like portraits in comparison

* As the mention of the box may lead some to question my classic knowledge, I beg leave to state that the statue here alluded to is really intended for Psyche, and not for Pandora.

with grand historical pictures. Every bust should have a name inscribed on its pedestal."

"Alas!" replied Sir William, "you see in this room our whole collection of sculpture, and you will here find the only production which Chantry has thought fit to exhibit this year."

"There is one of his works," said I, pointing to the bust of his present majesty. I guessed right. Chantry has ably imparted to the marble the air of dignity which characterizes the head of George IV.; and the bust presents an accurate likeness of the sovereign, who is still the first gentleman, and was once the handsomest man in his dominions! But such is the irresistible influence of a first impression, that I did not feel all the respect which the contemplation of this fine head, and the talent of Chantry, were naturally calculated to inspire. Sir Astley Cooper had that very morning been conversing with me about a wen, which he has recently extracted from the king's head; and to me this idea destroyed all the poetic effect of Chantry's admirable production.

I could not help confessing that I should have very much preferred seeing the bust of Sir Walter Scott, a cast from which I had already seen and admired. Charles Nodier saw this bust last year, and I repeated to Sir William the passage in which it is described in the Journey from Dieppe to the Highlands of Scotland.*

• The bust of Sir Walter Scott, says M. Nodier, is particularly remarkable. It represents the countenance of that celebrated man as Į pictured it from his works, full of penetration, shrewdness and energy.

"Never was a more just eulogium pronounced on the sculptor and the poet," said Sir William. "M. Nodier should have seen our exhibition of 1815, in which Chantry's two sleeping children were placed between the Terpsychore and Hebe of Canova. You will see them at Lichfield, and you will then understand how the two goddesses obtained so few admirers, when stationed beside that master piece of Chantry's skill. I saw a mother bending over the lovely groupe, with her eyes bathed in tears. The two children are represented slumbering in each other's arms, and some flowers which the younger one is supposed to have been gathering, are falling from her hand. Never was the repose of infant beauty and innocence so happily expressed."

The native land of Canova has so long been united with the destiny of France, and the modern Phidias has so often exercised his chisel on the trophies of our glory, and the ornaments of our palaces and museums, that we have in some mea sure adopted him, forgetting, in our admiration of his genius, that at the period of our reverses he was one of the servile instruments of the conquerors, who stripped us of our treasures of art. This was the first time I had heard the name of Chantry pronounced in connection with that of

It expresses all the vigour necessary for rising to the highest conceptions of human character; and all the wit, taste and philosophic spirit, requisite for sportively and lavishly dispensing the resources of genius: it is, in short, a mixture of Corneille and Moliére, Swift and Milton. Chantry's Sir Walter Scott has the forehead of Homer and the mouth of Rabelais. The likeness must be striking.