H CENT^^ £VC 'Tu (Tin^ /^%c { ERRATA, Page It, line 1, for “ delution” read “ dilution.” 19, — 9, for “ accidently” read “ accidentally.” 22, — 4, for “ dry” read “ weak.” 31, — 11, for “ naivette” read “ naivete.” 31, — 12, for “ manage” read “ management.” ADVICE TO PROPRIETORS, ON THE CARE OF VALUABLE PICTURES PAINTED IN OIL, WITI-I INSTRUCTIONS FOR PRESERVING, CLEANING, AND RESTORING THEM, WHEN DAMAGED OR DECAYED. BY AN ARTIST. INDOCTI DISCANT, ET AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI. LONDON: SHERWOOD, GILBERT, AND PIPER. WYCOMBE, E. KING. 1835. Co/Vi yuo / 6iT£> ■A 73 PRINTED BY E. KING, HIGH WYCOMBE- THE GETTY CENTER UBRARY ADVICE, &c. “ Or he may turn Picture cleaner, and help time to destroy excellences which he cannot rival.” Opie’s Lectures. The uniform progress of civilized life is from things that are indispensably neces- sary ; to those which may be considered as mere accommodations, from accommo- dations, to embellishments and ornaments ; but as these embellishments are often of a perishable nature, and in the course of time require renovating, the following brief in- structions are submitted to those who un- dertake the delicate and sometimes difficult operation of cleaning, preserving, and re- storing Oil Paintings. The ingenious author of the work enti- tled Chromatography, or a treatise on 4 ON PICTURE CLEANING Colours used in Painting, &c. remarks, “ that the diseases and disorders of Pic- tures are almost as numerous as those of animal nature, and dependent on innume- rable accidental circumstances; hence Pic- ture cleaning has become a mystery, in which all the quackery of art has been long and profitably employed, and in which every practitioner has his favorite nostrum for doctoring, which too often denotes destroy- ing, under the pretence of restoring and preserving. The restoration of disfigured and decayed works of art is nevertheless next in importance to their production ; and though it chiefly relates to the colour- ing of Pictures, it requires on the part of the doctor, if we may so say, a knowledge of their entire anatomy and constitution. This medication of Pictures is then no mean subject of art, but is, when divested of quackery and fraud, as honourable in its AND RESTORING. 5 bearing as any other form of healing art, and to be well qualified for its practice, requires a thorough education and know- ledge in everything that relates to the practice of Painting, or the production of a Picture, but more particularly to its che- mical constitution and colouring. As how- ever a Picture has no natural and little of a regular constitution, it will be difficult to give general rules, and utterly impossible to prescribe universal remedies for clean- ing and restoring Pictures, injured by time and ill-usage ; we will therefore briefly re- cord such methods and means, as have been successfully employed in cleaning and restoring in particular cases, with such cautions as seem necessary to prevent their misapplication, confining our remarks to Oil Paintings in particular. These are subject to deterioration and disfigurement simply by dirt,— by the fai- 6 ON PICTURE CLEANING lure of their grounds, — by the obscuration and discolourment of vehicles and var- nishes, — by the fading and changing of colours, — by the cracking of the body, ground, and surface, — by damp, mildew, foul air,— and by mechanical violence, — by injudicious cleaning* and painting on , — among a variety of other natural and acci- dental causes of injury and decay. The first thing necessary to be done in cleaning and restoring is, to bring the Pic- ture to its original plane and even surface, by stretching, or if sufficiently injured to require it, by lining, which with the trans- ferring of Pictures to new canvasses, is an * There are many instances of fine Pictures ha- ving been spoilt by inexperienced Picture clean- ers , we subjoin the following, noticed by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in the course of his journey to Flanders and Holland, with Mr. Metcalfe. — Reynolds’s Works , vol. ii. p. 2 55. AND RESTORING. 7 operation admirably well performed in Lon- don by experienced hands. In cases of simple dirt, washing with a sponge or soft leather and water is sufficient, with subse- quent rubbing of a silk handk erchief ; which latter occasionally used is eminent- ly preservative of a Painting. After restoring the surface to its level, and washing, the next essential in cleaning is to remove the varnish, or covering by which the Picture is obscured ; and this in the case of simple varnishes is usually done either by friction or solution, or by chemical St. Michael’s Church , Ghent. In this Church is, or rather was , the famous Crucifixion of Vandyck ; for it is almost destroyed by cleaning. It is well known by the fine print of Bolswert, and it appears by what remains, to have been one of his most capital works. Alost St. Martin, Ghent. St. Rock interceding with Christ for the dis- eased of the plague, by Rubens. 8 ON PICTURE CLEANING and mechanical means united, when the varnish is combined, as commonly happens, with oils and a variety of foulness. In removing varnish by friction, if it be a soft varnish, such as that of mastic, the simple rubbing of the finger ends, with or without water may be found sufficient : a portion of the resin attaches itself to the fingers, and by continual rubbing removes the varnish. If it be a hard varnish, such as that of copal, which is to be removed, friction with sea or river sand, the parti- cles of which have a rotundity that pre- The composition is upon the same plan as that of St. Bavon, at Ghent. The Picture is divided into two parts ; the Saint and Christ are repre- sented in the upper part, and the effects of the plague in the lower part of the Picture. In this piece the gray is rather predominant, and the figures have not that union with their ground, which is generally so admirable in the works of Rubens* I suspect it has been in some Picture AND RESTORING. 9 vents their scratching will accomplish the purpose. More violent means are sometimes re- sorted to, but never without danger or injury. The solvents commonly employed for this purpose are the several alkalies, alco- hol, and essential oils, used simply or combined. Of the alkalies, the volatile in its mildest state, or carbonate of ammonia, is the only one which can be safely used in removing dirt, oil and varnish from a Pic- ture, which it does powerfully ; it must cleaner’s hands, whom I have known to darken every part of the ground about the figure, in order to make the flesh look brighter and clearer ; by which the general effect is destroyed. Capuchins, Brussels. The high altar by Rubens ; Christ dead, lying on the lap of the Virgin ; two angels holding the 10 ON PICTURE CLEANING therefore be much diluted with water ac- cording to the power required, and em- ployed with judgment and caution, stopping its action on the Painting at the proper time, by the use of pure water and a sponge. These cautions are doubly necessary with the fixed alkalies, potash and soda, which ought to be employed only as extraordinary means of removing spots that will not yield to safer agents. Spirits of wine or alcohol, and ether, act in a similar manner, and their power may be in like manner tempered or destroyed lance ; near is a St. Francis, and St. Elizabeth with a handkerchief to her eyes. This was probably one of Rubens’s best Pic- tures, but it appears to have suffered much from denning; the mezzotints of the flesh of Christ are quite blue, as is the linen ; upon the whole, it has the appearance of the coloured prints of Le Blond. The drapery of the Magdalen at the feet AND RESTORING. 11 by delution with water. The uniform dis- advantage of all these agents is, that they obscure the work, so that the operator can- not see the good he is doing, or the mischief he may have done, in the progress of his work, except by revarnishing or oiling out. This inconvenience is however avoided by the safer and better mode of cleaning * and removing the varnish at once by spirit of wine, tempered more or less with oil of turpentine ; the practice in this case is, to apply the spirituous mixture to the surface of the Picture with a brush, or with carded of Christ is execrable ; the angels have been to- tally repainted. There are prints of this Picture both by Pontius and Bolswert. The Chapel belonging to the Company of Arquebuse, The famous Descent from the Cross : this Pic- ture of all the works of Rubens is that which has the most reputation, I had consequently conceived 12 ON PICTURE CLEANING cotton ; and when by the motion of either, the liquid has performed its office, its far- ther or injurious action on the design is to be stopped by another brush or cotton em- bued with linseed oil, and held in the other hand ; thus alternately proceeding with these tools, till the cleaning and removing the varnish is accomplished. The brushes act rather better of the two, but the cot- tons imbibe the dirt and foul liquid, and are then easily exchanged for new ones. The great advantage of this method is, that the design and colouring bear out, and the the highest idea of its excellence, knowing the print, I had formed in my imagination what such a composition would produce in the hands of such a painter. I confess I was disappointed. How- ever this disappointment did not proceed from any deficiency in the Picture itself ; had it been in the original state in which Rubens left it, it must have appeared very different : hut it is mortifying to see AND RESTORING. 13 progress of the cleaning is apparent. If more action is requisite than the spirituous mixture affords, the more active essential oils may be employed, or the pure alcohol, with the addition of sulphuric ether in ex- treme cases; and if their action be too strong, the turpentine alone may be em- ployed, or the linseed oil added to the mixttrre. Many other methods of cleaning have been recommended and employed, and in particular instances, for sufficient chemical reasons, with success ; some of which we to what degree it has suffered by cleaning and mending ; that brilliant effect, which it undoubt- edly once had, is lost in a mist of varnish, which appears to be chilled or mildewed. The Christ is in many places retouched so as to be visible at a distance ; the St. J ohn’s head repainted, and other parts on a close inspection, appear to be chipping off, and ready to fall from the canvass. However 14 ON PICTURE CLEANING will recount, because in an art so uncer- tain, it is good to be rich in resources, although the legitimate doctor may deem them empirical. In an instance of difficulty, where much care was required, we succeeded upon a Picture entirely obscured by various foul- ness, by varnishing over the whole, and when thoroughly dried, removing the var- nish by the above means, bringing off with it the entire foulness and original varnish of the Picture, with which in this instance, the new varnish had combined. Strong solution of gum or glue will sometimes there is enough to he seen to satisfy any connoiseur, that in its perfect state it well deserved all its reputation. The Church of the Jacobins. The altar of the choir is painted by Rubens ; the subject the same as one mentioned before, in the Church of the Recollets, at Ghent. Christ launch- AND RESTORING. 15 effect the removing a foul surface mecha- nically, but requires care. A thick coat of wet fuller’s-earth may be employed with safety, and after remain- ing on the Picture a sufficient time to soften the extraneous surface, may be re- moved by washing, and leave the Picture pure, — and an architect of the authors acquaintance has succeeded in a similar way in restoring both paintings and gild- ing to their original beauty, by coating them with wet clay. An eminent artist and friend of the au- ing thunder on the world, the Virgin interceding ; below are many Saints, male and female, bishops and cardinals. This Picture has been much damaged, and St. Sebastian in particular has been repainted by some ignorant person : the sky has likewise been badly repaired. Whenever one sees a Picture of Rubens that 16 ON PICTURE CLEANING thor, passed ox-gall over a very dirty old Picture, which resisted washing with soap, repeating the application of the ox-gall during several days, but without washing it off, till the last day, when a sponge and water easily removed the ox-gall and dirt together, leaving the Picture beautifully fresh and clean ; the efficacy of this very safe method is due to the animal alkali contained in the gall. Another friend, known to the public as an eminent engraver, was equally felicitous in restoring the purity of an excellent Pic- wants union, it may be justly suspected that it has been in the hand of some picture cleaner, by whom it has been retouched. “ Among other large Pictures at the Hague, is one of Adam and Eve, said to be of Andrea Sacchi, which has been so much repaired that no judgment can be formed who is the author.” The next large Picture by Rubens at Dusseldorp, AND RESTORING. 17 iure, by carefully washing it gradually, and in parts with some of the aqua fortis used in engraving, and cautiously sponging with water as he proceeded. He found the acid equally efficacious in cleaning the gilding of frames. The principle of safety in this case is, that acids when not excessively powerful, do not act on the resinous varnishes and oils used in painting ; and that nitrous acid does not act upon gold ; but there is dan- ger if the Picture is cracked or abraded, both for the coloring and the canvas, and is Michael combating the Fallen Angels. — Michael is but an ungraceful figure, his red mantle has but a heavy appearance ; it seems as if it were only laid in flat, to be afterwards finished. The Picture has certainly suffered by cleaning, there wants upon the whole a solidity of effect.” c 18 ON PICTURE CLEANING it can be employed with safety on oil gild- ing only. This method is the opposite of the alka- line process^ and they may be employed together alternately in some cases to re- move spots, in doing which all manner of agency must occasionally be resorted to. Among other ingenious means of clean- ing, we have it on the authority of a talented and experienced friend, that by damping the face of a Picture, and expo- sing it to the action of a frosty night, all foulness will be effectually loosened and removed by the subsequent use of a sponge. In every method of cleaning there is great danger of removing the glazings,* and otherwise injuring the colouring of a Glazing is the use of the colours as a trans- parent medium. In Oil Painting it is the last finishing. Over the opaque colours it is made to produce a warm or a cool tint; it gives richness to AND RESTORING. 19 Picture, which requires great skill and judgment to restore. In filling cracks and replacing portions of the ground, putty formed of whitening, varnish and drying oil, tinted somewhat lighter than the local colours require, should be employed; as plaster of Paris may also in some cases ; and in restoring colours accidently removed, it should be done with a vehicle of simple varnish, be- cause of the change of tint which takes place after drying in oil : so much is neces- sary, but in no case is gratuitous painting on an original Picture of merit to be justi- fied. There is a state of declining health which occurs to every Picture in the course of the light, and deepens and mellows the shades. Few Pictures can he cleaned without injury to the glazing, and of course to their beauty.” — Dagley’s Compendium. 20 ON PICTURE CLEANING time, arising from the natural oil that clothes its colours and forms a semi-opaque skin, or thin surface, which being removed, and the Picture lined if requisite, and var- nished, conduces greatly to its perfect state and preservation. This operation, which gives freshness without the crudeness that belongs to Pictures which have not been ameliorated by time, is necessary to every work deserving reputation. In addition to the before mentioned re- marks and instructions, some of which we have tried, and have found to answer the purpose, we subjoin the following mode of preserving and restoring very old Pictures, communicated by a talented and distin- guished artist. He recommends the Picture, if very harsh and dry, to be well saturated with linseed oil, and after allowing it to remain on a day or two, to be cleaned off with oil AND RESTORING. 21 of turpentine, with carded cotton or wad- ding, any of the simple means before enumerated, may then be tried previously to the varnishing in case the Picture is not perfectly clean, the varnishing to be re l peated till it bears well out. 44 The question proposed by able Mas- ters respecting the kind of varnish proper to be employed for Paintings, has never yet been determined.* Every artist has his prejudices, strengthened by example or usage. The varnish designed for this use ought to be colourless, if possible, that it may communicate no foreign tone to the Paint- ing, it ought to unite pliability and smooth- ness, to the most perfect transparency. It must not however have too much gloss, * Proper varnish for Oil Paintings may be pro- cured at all the respectable Colour Shops. 22 ON PICTURE CLEANING as the reflection of the light is injurious to the effect. Spirit of wine renders weak varnishe s too dry for Paintings, as they split and crack. Varnishes composed with essential oils, which have too much body, give too great thickness to the coating, so that they cover or diminish the effect of the colours. But in choosing varnishes of this sort, one of the most requisite qualities is, that they should possess such a nature as not to re- sist the means employed, when it is neces- sary to substitute a new coating in the room of the old varnish.”* We have thus recounted various occa- sions, and described a variety of methods for the cleaning and preserving of Pictures ; nevertheless, we earnestly recommend that no inexperienced person should attempt to *Tingry’s Varnishers Guide. AND RESTORING. 23 clean a valuable Picture by any more pow- erful means than is afforded by soft water and a sponge. The compiler of this tract has in his pos- session many other recipes for cleaning Pictures acquired from different sources, but it would be superfluous to mention them, as the means he has pointed out will apply to most cases in which cleaning, re- pairing, or varnishing may be requisite, neither of which can be delayed without increasing the difficulty, and the manifest injury of the works which have become much out of condition in these respects. An early attention occasionally renewed, may defer indefinitely to a distant period, the necessity of these operations, and in large collections, but few Pictures probably will require immediate aid, the most simple means may be adopted in respect to others, which perhaps may not require more than 24 THE DESCENT OF THE CROSS, a coat or two of varnish for their immediate and long preservation. — To impress more forcibly the importance of this attention^ we might, to the instances of decay in the Pictures of Rubens which we have already quoted, add a fearful list of destruction among the most celebrated productions of the pencil, and instance others which though apparently ruined, were by judicious means afterwards restored to their pristine beauty. — We particularize the following: THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS, by Daniel de Volterra, in the chapel of the church of the Trinita del Monti, at Rome, which was pronounced by a no less compe- tent judge than Nicholas Poussin, to equal the Transfiguration by Raffaele, and the communion of St. Jerome by Bomenichino, which three he declared to be the most capital Pictures in the world. This fine work of Volterra’s was de- BY DANIEL DE VOLTERRA. 25 stroyed by the French in an attempt to purloin it from the wall on which it was painted,* and its best memorials now are only the copies of the engraver, and its fame. Since writing the above, we have learnt from a Gentleman who lately visited Rome, that a singular fate, remarkably illustrative of our subject, has attended this noble per- formance. After the apparent demolition of the work by the French, and it had been long shut up in the Chapel, an Italian artificer restored the Picture to its wall, and by way of finish, bestowed several coats of strong varnish upon it that it might bear out with becoming lustre. But lo ! being painted in Fresco, all the lights and whites of the Picture bore in , and once again this famed *Pilldngton, Art. Volterra, 26 THE LAST SUPPER, work was to appearance destroyed. In this state it remained, the spectre of its original, till lately that an ingenious resto- rer extracted the varnish by the proper application of spirits, and once more resus- citated this admirable performance to the wonted admiration of mankind. The no less celebrated performance of the Last Supper, by Leonardo da Yinci, in the church of the Dominicans, at Milan, now obliterated through neglect and igno- rance, and of which the fme copy in oil, painted by order of his patron and friend Francis the First, under his own eye, if not principally also by his own hand, as- sisted by his pupil Oggioni, which Picture, now in the possession of our Royal Aca- demy, is the principal memorial ; and but for such copies, these immortal works had already been lost to all other purpose than report, notwithstanding there was nothing BY LEONARDO DA VINCI. 27 in the nature of their original constitution that might not, with honest and easy care, have been transmitted unimpaired to the latest posterity. Frederick II, Duke of Mantua, being de- sirous of presenting the Emperor Charles V. with two excellent Pictures, selected Correggio to paint them. The subjects according to Vasari, were Leda and Ve- nus ; but according to Mengs and Ratti, with more probability Leda and Danae. They were said to be so well executed, that Julio Romano, who was at the court of Mantua, declared he never saw such ex- cellent colouring. A curious anecdote is recorded of their subsequent fate. Being sent by the Em- peror to Prague, they were afterwards taken by the Swedes, at the sacking of the city, and conveyed to Stockholm, by the order of Gustavus Adolphus. On his 28 OF PICTURES INJURED death, being neglected, they were disco- vered in the reign of Christina, degraded to the purpose of window shutters in the stable, by Bourdon a French painter, whom she patronized. They were repaired by her order, conveyed to Rome, and after her decease came into the possession of Don Livio Odescalchi, Duke of Bracciano, by whose heirs they were sold to the Regent, Duke of Orleans, but by the order of his son, who was shocked at the nudity of the figures, the Pictures were cut to pieces, A similar fate, according to Mengs, happened to the Io, ascribed also to Cor<- reggio, which was in the same collection, and probably obtained in the same manner from the heirs of the Duke of Bracciano ; for the Duke of Orleans himself cut out the head, and burnt it. Coypel, a French painter, afterwards collected the remnants of the piece which were not destroyed, AND RESTORED. 29 and to which a new head was added by ano- ther artist; and the Picture sold to the King of Prussia for a great price, and placed in the gallery of Sans Souci. A Danae, sup- posed to he painted by Correggio, was preserved in the Orleans collection, as ac- quired from the heirs of Christina. It was purchased by Mr. Hope, and is said to be now at Paris. tC Jupiter and Antiope by Titian.” The figures are drawn in a grand style, and the Antiope appears to be taken from a most beautiful model, and is very fine in point of colour. This magnificent Picture mea- sures 12 feet 3 inches, bv 6 feet 1 inch, and is full of subject ; for besides the principal group, several others are introduced as ac- cessories to embellish the landscape; an attendant of Antiope carrying flowers, is in conversation with a Satyr., and hunts- men are encouraging their dogs just start- 30 OF PICTURES INJURED, ing from a wood, and nymphs appear to be coming out of the bath : in the distance some hounds are pulling down a stag. M. Crozat says it is one of the finest Pictures existing of the Master. Philip IY. made a present of it to Charles the First, and after his death it came into the French King’s cabinet. This Picture narrowly escaped the flames when the palace of the Prado was burnt in 1608;* and again when the old Louvre was on fire in 1661, though not without suffering some injury, which was increased by falling into ignorant hands, but it was afterwards restored by Coypel, first painter to the King. Engra- ved by Baron. ”t *The fire at the Prado Palace was destructive to several of Titian’s fine works, one of which was his own Portrait, holding in his hands that of Charles Y. fSir Abraham Hume’s Life of Titian. AND RESTORED. 31 Vandyck, the pupil and sometimes the rival of Rubens, deservedly maintains the second rank among the painters of the Flemish school. Rubens undoubtedly pos- sessed a more ardent genius, and a more fertile imagination ; he designed with more classical skill, and displayed greater vigour of expression and command of pencil. Y an- dyck, gifted with milder qualities, attracts numerous admirers by the softness of his colouring, the naivette of his characters, the delicacy of his touch, and his manage- of the chiaro-scuro. His celebrity arises chiefly from the excellence of his Portraits, which branch of the art he has carried to such perfection, that there is no other painter, if we except Titian, that will bear a comparison with him. Antwerp has the honour of giving birth to this eminent painter, on the 22nd of March, 1599. His. father possessed some 32 OF PICTURES CLEANED, skill in painting on glass, and his mother excelled in embroidery. His inclination for painting was easily perceived, and he was placed under the tuition of Henry Van Balen, who had spent some time in Italy, and had studied under the greatest Mas- ters. But the young pupil soon surpassed his companions, and rivalled Van Balen. This early discovery of his own powers, and the high celebrity of Rubens, made him earnestly desire to place himself under the guidance of that illustrious man. Rubens readily received him, and foresaw his fu- ture excellence. He frequently gave him sketches of his own, which Vandyck finished in so masterly a style, and with so happy an imitation of Rubens’ manner, that many of them have been considered as the pro- ductions of that great painter, As a proof of his quickness in adopting the style of others, the following anecdote may be re- AND RESTORED. 33 lated. Rubens after the labours of the day, was accustomed towards the evening, to take the air. His pupils then sometimes ob- tained permission from his old servant Valviken, to enter his cabinet, and exa- mine his different sketches and his method of finishing his pieces. As they one day were too eagerly pressing forward to ob- serve a Picture, in which Rubens had been employed in the morning; Diepen- beke tumbled against the object of their curiosity, and effaced the arm of a Magda- len, and the cheek and chin of a Madona. The accident excited general alarm, and the whole school appeared lost in confusion and dismay, when John Van Hock exclaim- ed, “ we have no time to lose, — I must find some expedient to screen us from disco- very; let the most skilful among us sit down to the task, and endeavour to repair the mischief we have occasioned. I for D 34 ON PICTURE CLEANING one give my voice for Vandyck, the only one capable of succeeding.” This was unanimously approved of, Van- dyck alone hesitated ; but moved by their entreaties, and dreading himself the anger of Rubens, he complied, and performed his task so well, that the next day Rubens, on examining the Picture said to his pupils, “ that arm and head are among the best things I ever did.” Many have asserted, that when Rubens was at length apprized of the circumstance, he effaced the whole while others maintain that he suffered it to remain as Vandyck had finished it. The Picture was the celebrated Descent from the Cross, which we have before noticed. “ Vandyck* went to Rome and lived splendidly, avoiding the low conversation *Horace Walpole’s Anecdotes of Painters in the Reign of Charles the First. AND RESTORING. 35 ofhis countrymen, and distinguished by the appellation of the Pittore Cavalieresco. It was at Rome he drew that capital portrait of Cardinal Bentivoglio, who having been Nuncio in Flanders, had a partiality for their artists, and as he celebrated their history with his pen, was in return almost immortalized by one of their best pencils. Vandyck, while at Rome, received an invitation to Palermo, and went thither. There he painted Prince Philibert of Sa- voy, the Vice Roy, and a paintress of some name,* Sophonisba Anguisciola, then at the age of ninety-one. But the plague soon drove him from Sicily ; he returned *At the Lord Spencer’s at Wimbledon, is a good portrait of Sophonisba Anguisciola, playing on a harpsichord, painted by herself, and an old woman attending her; on the Picture is written, Jussu Patris. Lord Ashburnham has a small head of her in a round. 36 SIR ANTHONY VANBYCK. to Genoa, where he had gained the highest reputation, and where he has left many considerable works. He went back to Ant- werp, and practiced both history and por- trait. Of the former kind, were many applauded altar pieces ; in the latter, were particularly the heads of his c ©temporary artists. He drew them in chiaro-scuro on small pannels, thirty-five of which were in the collection of the Countess of Cardigan, at Whitehall. Admirable is the variety of attitudes and airs of heads ; but in those pieces he meant to surpass as well as re- cord. The whole collection has been thrice published ; the first edition by Y anden En- den, contains fourscore plates; the second by Giles Hendrix, one hundred ; the last by Yerdussen, who effaced the names and letters of the original engravers. Some of the plates were etched by Yandyck him- self. I say nothing of the numbers of prints from his other works. SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. 37 Hearing of the favour King Charles showed to the arts, Vandyck came to En- gland, and lodged with his friend Geldorp, a painter, hoping to be introduced to the King ; it is extraordinary he was not. He went away chagrined, but his Majesty soon learning what a treasure had been within his reach, ordered Sir Kenelm Digby, who had sat to Vandyck, to invite him over. He came, and was lodged among the King’s artists at Black Fryars, which Felibien, according to the dignity of ignorance which the French alfect, calls l’Hotel de Blai- sore.* Thither the King went often by water, and viewed his performances with singular delight, frequently sitting to him himself, and bespeaking Pictures of the Queen, his children and his courtiers, and * Vol. iii. page 445. 38 SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. conferring the honour of knighthood* on him at St. James’s, July 5th, 1632. This was soon attended by the grant of an annu- ity of <£200. a year for life. The patent is preserved in the Rolls, and dated 1633, in which he is styled painter to his Majesty. My tens was very jealous on this occasion. Of the various portraits by Vandyck of King Charles, the principal are, a whole length in the coronation robes, f at Ilamp- * The French author of the lives of the Painters, says he was created Knight of the Bath ; a mis- take. Abrege, vol. iii. p. 170. Another mistake is, his supposing that Vandyck was only to give designs for tapestries in the banquetting house, p. 171. f In the same palace are whole lengths of James the First, his Queen, the Queen of Bohemia, and Prince Henry, copied by Vandyck, from painters of the preceding reign. Prince Henry’s is in ar- mour, in which Vandyck excelled, has an amiable countenance, and is a fine Picture. SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. 39 ton Court ; the head has been engraved by V ertue among the Kings of England, and the whole figure by Strange. Another in ar- mour on a dun horse, at Blenheim.* A whole length in armour at Houghton. Another, a large piece at the Duke of Grafton’s, in which the King (a most graceful figure) in white satin, with his hat on, is just descended from his horse ; at a distance, a view of the Isle of Wight, f The King in armour on a white horse, Mons. de St. Antoine, J his equerry holding his helmet. The head of the latter is fine ; the King’s is probably * This was in the royal collection, and was sold in the civil war, and was brought by the Duke of Marlborough from Munich. f This is the Picture that was recovered from Remee, J He had been a chief equerry to Prince Henry, and led a mourning horse at his funeral. See Birch’s Life of that Prince. Appendix, 527. 40 SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. not an original. This and the following are at each end of the gallery at Kensing- ton.* The King and Queen sitting, Prince Charles, very young, standing at his knee ; the Duke of York, an infant, on hers.f At Turin is another whole length of the King, in a large piece of architecture. At Somer- set House, the King and Queen, half lengths, holding a crown of laurel between them. At Windsor is a beautiful half length of the Queen in white. Many portraits of her pretend to be by Vandyck, but none are so lovely as this. He two or three times drew Prince Charles in armour stand- ing. At Kensington, in one piece, are Prince Charles, Prince James, aud the * Since removed to Windsor Castle, with many others. f This Picture has been heightened to make it match its opposite. SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. 41 Princess Mary ; lately engraved by Strange. In the same palace is one of his finest works ; George Villiers, the second Duke of Buckingham, and Lord Francis his bro- ther, when children. Nothing can exceed the nature, lustre, and delicacy of this sweet picture. At Houghton, are two young daughters of the Lord Wharton, admirable too, but rather inferior to the foregoing. In Lord Orford’s collection, are several principal works* of this master. The Holy Family, with a Dance of An- gels; it belonged to King Charles, is a capital Picture, but has its faults. Inigo Jones, a head ; Rubens's wife, in black sa- tin ; Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby, whole length, in the robes of the garter ; and a half length of Sir Thomas Chaloner, gover- * See a particular description of these Pictures in the Aedes Walpolianae. 42 SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. nor of Prince Henry. Besides these, my father bought of the last Duke the whole collection of the Wharton family: there were twelve whole lengths, the two girls, six half lengths, and two more by Sir Pe- ter Lely ; he paid an hundred pounds each for the whole lengths, and fifty pounds each for the half lengths. Most of them were carried to Houghton, but some not suiting the places, were brought back, and sold for a trifle after the death of my father. Those that remain, are. King Charles, the Queen, very indifferent, Sir Thomas Wharton : of the half lengths, Laud, a celebrated, but not very fine Picture; Sir Christopher Wandesford, Lady Wharton, Mrs* Whar- ton, Mrs Wenman, and the Lely’s. At Cornbury, the seat of the Earl of Clarendon, in Oxfordshire, was a noble collection of portraits of the principal per- sons in the reign of King Charles, many of SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. 43 which were drawn by Vandyck. The col- lection has since been divided between the Duchess of Queensbury, Lady Hyde, and Lady Mary Forbes, the heiresses of the family. Several others of his works are at the Earl of Denbigh’s, and at Lord Spen- cer’s, at Althorp. Among the latter, a celebrated double whole length of the first Duke of Bedford, and the famous Lord Digby, afterwards Earl of Bristol. The whole figure of the latter is good, and both the heads fine ; the body of Bedford is flat, nor is this one of his capital works. Here too is a good Picture of Daedalus and Ica- rus, half lengths ; a fine surly impatience in the young man, and his body well co- loured. The Duke of Devonshire has some good Pictures by him ; at Chiswick, is the well known Belisarius, though very doubt- ful, if by the hand of Vandyck. The ex- pressive figure of the young soldier redeems 44 SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. this Picture,* from the condemnation it would deserve by the principal figure being so mean and inconsiderable. The Duke has Vandyck’s travelling pocket book, in which are several sketches, particularly from Titian, and of Sophonisba Anguisciola mentioned above. At Holkham, is a large equestrian Pic- ture of a Count D’ Aremberg ; both the rider and horse are in his best manner ; and at Earl Cowper's, a large piece of John, Count of Nassau, and his family * lately engraved by Baron. Mr, Skinner, with the collection of the late Mr. Thomas Walker, has a fine little Picture of the Lady Yenetia Digby, wife of Sir Kenelm, though only a model for the *Lord Burlington gave £ 1000. for this picture at Paris, and had another of Luca Jordano, into the bargain. SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. 45 large one at Windsor ; it is exquisitely fi- nished, She is represented as treading on Envy and Malice, and is unhurt by a ser- pent that twines round her arm. This gal- lant compliment is a little explained in the new life of Lord Clarendon, who men- tions Sir Kenelm’s marriage with a lady though u of an extraordinary beauty, of as extraordinary fame.”* Mr. Walker’s col- * There is an elegy and epitaph on this Lady in Randolph’s poems, page 28, in which her beauty is exceedingly commended. She was daughter and co-heiress of Sir Edward Stanley, grandson of Ed- ward Earl of Derby, by the Lady Lucy Percy, daughter of Thomas, Earl of Northumberland. Lady Venetia was found dead in her bed. Sir Ke- nelm erected for her a monument of black marble, with her bust in copper gilt, and a lofty epitaph, in Christ Church without Newgate ; but it was des- troyed in the fire of London. Lodge’s peerage of Ireland, Vol. iv. p. 89. There are two copper busts of the Lady Venetia 46 SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. lection was chiefly chosen for him by a set of Virtuosi called Vandyck’s, or the club of St. Luke, and it is plain from the pictures they recommended, that they understood what they professed. There was another large piece of Sir Ke- nelm, his Lady, and two children, in the col- lection of the Earl of Oxford ; and a fine half length of Sir Kenelm alone is at Kensing- ton. Vandyck painted too for the King a Twelfth Roman Emperor, to complete the set of Titian, in the room of one which was spoiled and left at Mantua. They cost the King £100. each, and after his death were bought by the Spanish Em- bassador, the first purchaser of those effects. extant at Mr. Wright’s at Gothurst, (now called Gayhurst, the seat of the Hon. R. J. Smith) in Buckinghamshire, with several portraits of the fa- mily of Digby. The house belonged to Sir Kenelm and was purchased by Sir Nathan Wright. SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. 47 As the King’s collection was embezzled or taken by his servants for their arrears, that Minister laid out <£500. in those pur- chases with Harrison the King’s embroider- er by Somerset House, and of Murray, his tailor he bought a half figure of Y erius. The Flemings gave any price for the works of Vandyck from that collection. Sir Peter Lely had several capital ones. But it is at the Earl of Pembroke’s at Wilton, that Vandyck is on his throne. The great saloon is entirely furnished by his hand. There, is that principal picture of Earl Philip and his family, which though damaged, would serve alone as a school of this Master. It is said that the Earl of Pembroke had obtained leave to have a piece of the whole Royal Family by the same hand, as a com- panion to his own. At Windsor is a double portrait, it re- 48 SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. presents two of the wits of that time, T. Carew, of the privy-chamber to Charles I* and a poet, and Henry Killigrew. I have reserved to the last, the mention of the finest picture in my opinion of this Master. It is of the Earl of Strafford and his Secretary, at the Marquis of Rocking- ham’s, at Wentworth House, in Yorkshire. I can forgive him any insipid portraits of perhaps insipid people, when he showed himself capable of conceiving and transmit- ting the idea of the greatest man of the age. There is another of these pictures at Blen- heim, but infinitely inferior. In the Cathedral of Gloucester are two cumber.t figures of an alderman and his wife, evidently wrought from a design of Yandyck. It is a great pity the sculptor is not known, so successfully has he exe- cuted the manner of the painter. The fi- gures even in that tasteless attitude are SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. 49 easy and graceful, and the draperies have a peculiar freedom.* At the Duke of Grafton’s is a fine half length of Vandyck by himself, when young, holding up his arm, the hand declined. There is a print of it, and of two others of him older; one looking over his shoulder the other with a sun-flower.” In the National Gallery are three of his pictures, one a portrait of Rubens, another of Govartius, and an historical piece of the expulsion of Theodosius from the church of • Milan by St. Ambrose. In the Orleans Gallery was a whole length of Mary de Medicis, finished as highly as the art could reach, and showing * Sanderson, a quaint writer, uses a phrase, which though affected, is expressive ; he says, “ Vandyck was the first painter who e’er put ladies dress into a careless romance.” Graphice, p. 39. E 50 SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. at once the strength of Rubens, with al- most the colouring of Titian. At Tythrop House,*' near Thame, is a splendid portrait of Philip, Earl of Pem- broke and Montgomery, Lord Chamberlain to Charles the First, the key of office sus- pended by a blue ribbon ; it is in excellent preservation. In the saloon there is a very curious picture, representing an in- side view of Theobald’s, with small figures of King Charles, Queen Henrietta, and the two Earls of Pembroke, William and Phi- lip. An interior appears hung with pic- tures, one of the most prominent, a copy in * The seat of Herbert Wykeham, Esq., part of whose large collection the compiler of this tract has lately had under his care. Among others, are several fine portraits of the Pembroke and Wen- man families, and a remarkably fine double portrait by Sir Peter Lely, of himself and his wife, in his very best manner. SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. 51 miniature of “The Entombment of Christ,” by Titian. H. Walpole gives an account of the same picture as being at Earl Pou- let’s, at Hinton St. George. He says, “this piece is probably of Steenwyck, and the fi- gures, which are copied from Yandyck, are either of Cornelius Poelemburg, or Van Bassen.” The following notes of some of Y andyck's prices are from an office-book that belong- ed to the Lord Chamberlain, Philip, Earl of Pembroke ; — “ July 15th, 1632. A warrant for a privy seale of £280, to be payed unto Sir Antho- ny Vandyck, for diverse pictures by him made for his Majesty e, viz : — for the pic- ture of his Majesty e, another of Monsieur the French King's brother, and another of the Ambassadress, at full length, at £25. a piece, — one of the Queen's Majesty e, ano- ther of the Prince of Orange, another of 52 SIR ANTHONY VANDYCKe the Princess of Orange, another of their son, at half length, £20. a piece. For one great piece of his Majestie, the Queen and their children, £100.* One of the Empe- ror Yitellius, £20. And for mending the picture of the Emperor Gaiba, £5. ; amount- ing in all to £280. From the same book. 44 Forty pounds paid to Sir Anthony Vandyck for the pic- ture of the Queen, presented to Lord Strafford, October 12th, 1633. ” From the number of his works he must have been indefatigable ; for though he was not above forty-two when he died, they are not exceeded by those of Rubens. He li- ved sumptuously, kept a good table, and often detained the persons who sat to him * Which considering the change in the value of money and the modes of life, may be estimated as equal to £300. at this day. SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. 53 to dinner, for an opportunity of studying their countenances, and of retouching their pictures again in the afternoon. In sum- mer he lived at Eltham, in Kent. He was not only luxurious in his living, but in his pleasures ; and this, with a sedentary life, brought on the gout, and injured his for- tune, which he sought to repair by the silly pursuit of the philosopher’s stone ; induced no doubt by the example, if not by the advice of his friend, Sir Ken elm Digby, who was a complete visionary. Towards the end of his life, the King bestowed on him for a wife, Mary, the daughter of the unfortunate Lord Gowry, a Scotch Noble- man, and soon after his marriage he set out for Paris, in hopes of being employed in the Louvre ; but being disappointed in this he returned to England, and proposed to the King, by Sir Kenelm Digby, to paint the walls of the banqueting-house at White- 54 SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. hall, of which the ceiling was already adorned by Ruben’s; and Yandyck’s sub- ject was to have been the history and pro- cession of the order of the garter. The proposal struck the King’s taste, and in Walpole’s opinion, was accepted; though he adds, that “ some say it was rejected on account of the extravagant price demanded by Yandyck : I would not specify the sum, it is so improbable, if I did not find it re- peated in Fenton’s notes on Waller : it was fourscore thousand pounds.” But the sum being expressed in figures, this was be- yond all question, a typographical error of £80,000, for £8000. The rebellion, how- ever, prevented further thoughts of the scheme, and if it had not, the death of Yan- dyck would have interrupted the execution, or at least the completion of it. He died in Black Friars, December 9th, 1641, and was buried in St. Paul’s cathedral, near the tomb SIR ANTHONY VANDYCK. 55 of John of Gaunt. By his wife Maria Ruthven, Lord Gowry’s daughter, he left one daughter Justina, married to Mr. Step- ney, a gentleman who rode in the horse- guards, on their first establishment by Charles the Second. Their grandson Mr. Stepney was envoy to several courts, and is known by his poems published in the collection of the works of our minor poets. Sir John Stepney, another descendant, died on the road from Bath to Wales, in 1748. Lady Vandyck, the widow, was married again to Richard Pryce, son of Sir John Pryce, of Newton Averbecham, in Montgo- meryshire, knight, by whom she had no issue. Vandyck died rich, and was gene- rous in his legacies ; but owing to the confusion of the times, some of them were with difficulty recovered, and others were wholly lost. Lord Orford has enumerated the best of his pictures, but the entire 56 CHARLES THE FIRST. number is too great for our limits.”* CHARLES THE FIRST. The accession of this Prince was the first era of real taste in England. As his temper was not profuse, the expense he made in collections, and the rewards he bestowed on men of true genius and merit, are proofs of his judgment. He knew how and when to bestow. Queen Eliza- beth w as avaricious with pomp ; James the First lavish with meanness. A prince who patronizes the arts, and can distinguish abilities, enriches his country, and is at once crenerous and an economist. Charles o had virtues to make a nation happy ; fortu- nate, if he had not thought, that he alone knew how to make them happy, and that he alone ought to have the power of ma- king them so. * Pilkington. CHARLES THE FIRST. 57 His character, as far as it relates to my subject, is thus given by Lilly: “ he had many excellent parts in nature, was an excellent horseman, would shoot well at a mark, had singular skill in limning, was a good judge of pictures, a good mathema- tician, not unskilful in music, well read in divinity, excellently in history and law, he spoke several languages, and writ well, good language and style.” With regard to his knowledge of pic- tures, I find the following anecdote from a book called the original and growth of printing, by Richard Atkyns, Esq. ; 44 this excellent Prince,” says that author, “ who was not only aliquis in omnibus, but singu- lars in omnibus, hearing of rare heads (painted) amongst several other pictures brought me from Rome, sent Sir James Palmer to bring them to Whitehall to him, where there were divers picture-drawers 58 CHARLES THE FIRST. and painters. He asked them all of whose hand that was ? some guessed at it ; others were of another opinion, bnt none was po- sitive. At last said the King, this is of such a man’s hand, I know it as well as if I had seen him draw it; but said he, is there but one man’s hand in this picture ? None did discern whether there was or not ; but most concluded there was but one hand. Said the King, 46 1 am sure there are two hands have work in it, for I know the hand that drew the heads, but the hand that did the rest I never saw before.” Upon this a gentleman that had been at Rome about ten years before, affirmed that he saw this very picture, with the two heads unfinished at that time, and that he heard his brother (who staid there some years after him) say that the widow of the painter that drew it wanting money, got the best Master she could find to finish it, and make it saleable. CHARLES THE FIRST. 59 This story seems calculated to prove his Majesty’s knowledge of hands. The gen- tleman who stood by, and was so long be- fore he recollected so circumstantial a his- tory of the picture, was I dare say a very good courtier.” The King is said, not only to have loved painting, but to have practised it; it is affirmed that Rubens corrected some of his Majesty’s drawings. It was immediately after his accession, that Charles began to form his collection. The crown was already in possession of some good pictures ; Henry the Eighth had several. What painters had been here had added others. Prince Henry, as I have said, had begun a separate collection, both of paintings and statues. All these Charles assembled, and sent commissions into France and Italy to purchase more. Cross was dispatched into Spain to copy 60 CHARLES THE FIRST. the works of Titian there :* and no doubt as soon as the royal taste was known, many were brought over, and offered for sale at court. The Ministers and Nobility were not backward with presents of the same nature. In the catalogue of King Charles’s collection, are recorded the names of several of the court, who ingratiated themselves by offerings of pictures and curiosities. But the noblest addition was made by the King himself. He purchased at a great * Vincentio Carducci in his Dialogo della Pittu- ra, printed at Madrid in 1633, calls him Michael de la Crux ; others say it was Henry Stone, Jun. who was sent to Spain. When Charles was at that court, the King of Spain gave him a celebrated Picture by Titian, called the Venus del Pardo, see catalogue, p. 103 ; and the Cain and Abel, by John of Bologna, which King Charles afterwards bestowed on the Duke of Buckingham, who placed it in the garden of York House. CHARLES THE FIRST, 61 price* the entire cabinet of the Duke of Mantua, then reckoned the most valuable in Europe. But several of those pictures were spoiled by the quicksilver on the frames, owing I suppose to carelessness in packing them up. Yanderdort, from whom we have this account, does not specify all that suffered, though in general he is mi- nute even in describing the frames. * The lowest I have heard was £20,000 From Whitelocke, p. 24, we have the following information. “ In December the Queen was brought to bed of a second daughter, named Elizabeth. To congratulate her Majesty’s safe delivery, the Hol- landers sent hither a solemn embassy, and a noble present, a large piece of ambergris, two fair china basons, almost transparent, a curious clock, and four rare pieces of Tintoret’s and Titian’s painting. Some supposed that they did it to ingratiate the more with our King, in regard his fleet was so powerful at sea, and they saw him resolved to main- tain his right and dominion there.” 62 CHARLES THE FIRST. It will naturally be supposed that as Charles the First was so favorably disposed to the arts, the artists and their perform- ances, he would be equally solicitous in regard to their safety and preservation. That he was so, the following curious do- cument will sufficiently prove ; its insertion may be not unacceptable to the reader. DE CONCESSIONE AD VITAM, ABRAHAMO VANDERDCORT.* Charles, by the grace of God, &c. To all whome, &c. greeting. Whereas wee have appointed our ser- vant Abraham Yanderdoort, esquire, to * Abraham Vanderdoort, a Dutchman, was re- tained in the service of the King with a salary of £40. a year, and appointed keeper of the cabinet. This room was erected about the middle of White- hall, running across from the Thames towards the banquetting-house, and fronting westward to the privy gardens. CHARLES THE FIRST. 63 oversee and take care of all our pictures, which are at Whitehall and other our hou- ses of resort, to prevent and keepe them ( so much as in him lieth) from being spoiled or defaced, to order, marke, and number them, and to keepe a register of them, to receive and deliver them, and likewise to take order for the makeing and coppying of pictures, as wee or the Lord Chamber- lain of our household shall directe. And to this end are pleased that hee shall have accesse at convenient times into our galle- ries, chambers, and other rooms where our pictures are ; — Knowe yee that wee, in consideration of the good and acceptable service done, and to be done unto us by our said servaunt Abraham Yanderdoort, in manner as afore- said, of our especiall grace, certeyne know- ledge and meere motion, have given and graunted, and by theis presents for us, our 64 CHARLES THE FIRST. heirs and successors, doe give and grant unto the said Abraham Vanderdoot, the office or place of overseer of all the pic- tures of us, our heirs, and successors. And him the said Abraham Yanderdoort wee doe by these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, constitute, ordayne, and appointe to be the overseer of all the pictures of us, our heirs, and successors, to have, hold, occupy, and enjoy, the said office or place, unto the said Abraham Yanderdoort and his assigns, for and du- ring the naturall life of him the said Abra- ham Yanderdoort. And further ; of our especiall grace, cer- tayne knowledge, and meere motion, We have given and granted, and by these pre- sents, for us, our heirs, and successors, doe give and grant unto the said Abraham Yanderdoort, for the exercising of the said office or place, the yearlie fee or allowance CHARLES THE FIRST. 65 of fortie pounds of lawfull money of En- gland, by the yeere, to have, hold, re- ceive, and enjoy the said fee and allowance of fortie pounds, by the yeere, unto the said Abraham Yanderdoort and his as- signs, for and dureing the naturall life of the said Abraham Vanderdoort, out of the treasure of us, our heirs, and suc- cessors, out of the receipte of the ex- chequer of us, our heires, and successors, by the hands of the treasorer and cham- berlaynes of us, our heires, and successors, there for the tyme being, at the fower usuall feastes of the yeare, that is to saye, at the feastes of the Nativity e of Sainte John the Baptiste, Sainte Michaell the Archangell, the Byrth of our Lord God, and the An- nunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary, by even portions to be payde ; the firste pay- mente to begin at the feast of the Nativitye F 66 CHARLES THE FIRST. of St. John Baptiste, nexte comeing after the date hereof. Wherefore our will and pleasure is, and wee doe by theis presents for us our heires and successors, commaunde and authorize the said treasorer, chancellor, under-trea- sorer, and barons of the said exchequer for the tyme being, that they, and everie of them, to whome it doeth or shall apper- tayne, doe not only uppon sight of theis our lettres patents, or the inrollment of them from tyme to tyme, paye and deliver, or cause to be payde and delivered unto the said Abraham Vanderdoorte and his assigns, the said yerely fee and allowance of fortie poundes, as the same shall growe due, but doe alsoe give full allowance there- of, according to the true intent and mean- ing of these presents, and theis our letters patents or the inrollments thereof, shall be yerely and from tyme to tyme, as well to CHARLES THE FIRST. 67 the said treasorer and chamberlaines of our said exchequer, as to all other the officers and ministers of us, our heirs and succes- sors, to whome it shall or may apperteyne, a sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalf; although expresse mention, &c. In witness, &c. Witness our self at Westmynster, the thirtith of May, PER BREVE DE PRIVATO SIGILLO. In the year 1648, Eustache Le Sueur at the age of thirty-one, began by the desire of the Queen, the mother of Louis the Fourteenth, to paint the history of Saint Bruno, founder of the order of the Char- treux, for the purpose of decorating the cloister of the Monastery at Paris. This he executed in 22 pictures, in the space of three years: and although he has the modesty to call his pictures mere 68 OF PICTURES INJURED sketches* the series has been reckoned among the best collections of paintings. It passed in the year 1776 into the cabinet of Louis the Sixteenth. The pictures of the Chartreux u observes Mr* Fuseli,” lately consigned to the profane clutch of restoration,* in the attic of the Luxembourg, are now little more than the faint traces of what they were when issuing from the hand of their master. They have suffered martyrdom more than once. It is well that the nature of the subject per- mitted little more than fresco in the co- louring at first, and that the great merit of their execution consisted in the breadth of vehicle, which monastic drapery demands, else we should have lost even the fragments that remain. The old man in the fore- * They have since, by an order of the Senate, been again restored with the utmost precision. AND RESTORED. 69 ground ; the head of Saint Bruno, and some of the disputants in the back-ground of the Prediction ; the Bishops and the condemned defunct in the Funeral ; the apparition of Saint Bruno himself in the Camp ; the fe- male figure in the Eleemosynary Scene ; and what has suffered least of all, the Death of Saint Bruno, contain the least disputable marks of the master’s primitive touch.” After the death of Le Sueur, (who died young, and left behind him many works that might rival those of the greatest painters for eloquence of design, beauty of form, and truth of expression,) some per- sons jealous of the fame of this great mas- ter, having had the meanness to damage these chef d ’oeuvres, much care was be- stowed to restore them to their former state. They were originally painted upon wood, then placed upon canvas, and afterwards re- 70 THE NOLI ME TANGERE touched, but this latter task was committed to unskilful hands. We conclude our notification of pictures which have been deteriorated either by the corrosive tooth of time, by violence, or by neglect, and which have been subsequently restored to their former state, with insert- ing the following account of an estimable picture ; a u Noli me Tangere,”* by Mengs , in the chapel of All Souls College, Oxford.*)* “ It was painted at Rome, and purchased by the college for 300 guineas. The co- louring is extremely fine, particularly that * So called in allusion to the first words of Christ to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection, “ Touch me not !” f The interior of the chapel, as it now stands, was arranged by the combined talents of Sir Chris- topher Wren, Sir James Thornhill, and Dr. Clarke. An eminent simplicity and sedateness pervade the whole. 13 reiver’s Beauties of England and Wales. BY MENGS. 71 of the Saviour. — Mingled amazement, joy, and grief, are happily contrasted in the lace of Mary, to the dignity and super- human composure of Jesus. ” “ The windows of the chapel were painted in chiaro-scuro, by Lovegrove,* of Marlow, (the author’s father, whose instructions in the art of glass painting, were derived from Mr. W. Price, Jun.f to whom £5000. was awarded by Parliament for his discov ery * He was the intimate friend of Mr. W. Parr, who went to Greece with Dr. Chandler, and of James Moore, Esquire, the patron of J. Girtin. f He painted some windows at New College, Queen’s, and Maudlin. H. Walpole thus speaks of him ; “ whose colours are fine, whose drawing good, and whose taste in ornaments and mosaic is far superior to any of his predecessors, is equal to the antique, to the good Italian masters, and only surpassed by his own sin- gular modesty. He was the only painter in that style for many years in England.” 72 THE NOLI ME TANGERE, of the antient mode of painting on glass ; but he did not live to receive it ;) all, ex- cept that on the west, which was performed by Eggington. Each compartment of this latter window, merely assumes the imitation of an unoccupied Gothic niche, a uniform- ity which perhaps will be deemed fatiguing to the eye, notwithstanding the utmost ef- forts of the artist to please through the medium of simplicity.” The picture by Mengs is however in good preservation, but the windows having been broken, some of the panes have been re- placed by others very different in colour ; this interrupts the harmony, and detracts from the beauty of the chapel which is ge- nerally considered next to that of New College, one of the finest in Oxford. Four hundred pounds were paid to the artist for painting the 8 windows, but this was not commensurate with the loss sus- BY MENGS. 73 tained, by his being obliged to destroy many of the panes of glass which were discoloured in the furnace during the pro- gress of burning in.* Unwearied patience, and an enthusiastic love of the art, ena- bled him at last to surmount every diffi- culty, and although he was a considerable loser in a pecuniary point of view, he was more than compensated by having his name associated with those of Sir Christopher W ren, Sir James Thornhill, and Mr. Mengs. For the sake of casting on this fine per- formance a subdued light, and of adding to the solemnity of the subject, a brown colour was chosen for the windows. 44 Brown is a 44 sober and sedate colour, grave and so- u lemn, and contributes to the serious, the 4 ‘ sombre, and the sad ; not with the painter * The art of glass painting is in every respect now much improved, and is reduced to a greater certainty. 74 SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 4C only, but also with the rhetorician and “ poet.”f To return to our subject; in many other views it is of greater importance, and more deserving of attention than is generally imagined. It is rareness principally that renders precious whatever is intrinsically, or through esteem, beautiful or valuable ; and the ordinary casualties of life and time, by rapine, fire and flood, and still more the corrosion of neglect, are daily reducing the number of the works of the Great Masters. How many for instance of the best pictures of our illustrious Reynolds, who so lately lamented over those of Rubens, might be enumerated, which have since his demise perished by fire alone, at Cliefden, Carlton f Vide Mr. Fields’ work on Pigments used in painting. — A book which every artist who wishes to excel in that most essential department of art, colouring, ought to study. IMMENSE PRICES GIVEN FOR PICTURES. 75 Palace, Bel voir Castle, and other places, so that according to the current of things, a few generations will hardly have elapsed, ere all the authentic works of the great modern schools, including our own, will without preserving art, have passed to mere history or to tradition, as those of the Grecian Schools have done before them. Of the esteem in which the works of this primeval school were held by its con- temporaries, men of the most refined in- telligence in art, we may learn by the enor- mous prices they obtained. Thus a single work of Aristides the Theban after his de- cease, was purchased by Attains, King of Pergamus, for no less a sum than 100 ta- lents, or nearly £20,000. of our money ; the same price was paid for a single figure of a youth, painted by Polycletus; and the pictures of Apelles were in such esti- 76 IMMENSE PRICES GIVEN mation, that no price was considered ade- quate to their value, but they were pur- chased by heaps of gold, without attention to number or quantity. Candaulus, King of Lydia, for a picture painted by Bularchus, one of the most an- tient Greek painters, paid the weight of the work itself in gold. Had one of these works been preserved to our time, its possession might have pur- chased an empire, yet was there nothing in their nature that might not have sus- tained them to all posterity ! Nor are instances wanting in our own times of this high valuation and esteem for the labour and genius of the painter : wit- ness Yandyck’s picture of the Pembroke Family, at Wilton House, which Louis the Fourteenth offered to cover with louis d’ors placed on edge, as the price of its purchase, but which to the honor of its AND OFFERED FOR PICTURES. 77 noble proprietor* was refused.— As in like manner was a sum of <£14,000. sterling for a small Correggio, in the gallery of Dres- den : and but recently £11,000. was appro- priated by Parliament for the purchase of two pictures by the same Master, from the collection of the Marquis of Londonderry, and which arejiow in the National Gallery. Vast sums have been also given for the works of our Reynolds and Wilson, and other eminent artists of their school, — a school of rising reputation, — profitable in- vestment and increasing value, as has already been manifested by several col- lections, and in particular that of the late Lord de Tabley, collected at great cost, but the sale of which produced consider- able increase to the estate of its spirited and intelligent proprietor. Of the importance of this minor art of painting, — the Picture Cleaner and Resto- 78 UNLIMITED DURATION rer’s art, in modem times, we may form a just estimate by taking into the account, that there is no limit to the time an Oil Painting may be preserved, with all the merits of its original production, by ordi- nary care and attention,* that a picture OF MERIT AND REPUTATION SO PRESERVED, IS OF EVER INCREASING VALUE AND INTE- * Guido was accustomed to paint upon silk, which arose from the following circumstance : the Dominicans of Bologna removing an old coffin in order to deposit it in another place, opened it, and found the body entire ; but on offering to touch it, the corse crumbled into dust, as well as the linen that covered it;— a silken garment solely was preserved. Guido who witnessed this event, in- ferred from thence that silk was less subject to corruption than linen, and resolved in future to paint his pictures on a species of taffety, which he pre- pared for that purpose. He is perhaps the only painter who would have thought of such an expe- dient. OF PICTURES. 79 rest, and that but for the spirit of negli- gence and destruction, modern art might still have been instructed, the heart and affections might still have been warmed, — possessors enriched and honored, — and no- bility still more ennobled by the famed works of a Zeuxis, a Protogenes, or an Apelles. And to bring the subject nearer to our sympathies and feelings, how many endear- ing reminiscences of honored and revered parents, or of much loved relations and friends are now doubtless, following the fate of many of the works of art we have previously noticed. And presuming this to be the case, may we not be accused of a want of filial regard, of spurning the me- mories of our anc estors, and of transmitting our unfeeling conduct to those who may succeed us, if we do not by timely care pre- vent their absolute destruction. 80 THE DUTY AND IMPORTANCE OF Did our limits permit, we would trans- cribe the Poem written by Cowper, on the receipt of his Mother's Picture out of Nor- folk. We will however give the first and concluding stanzas, as most expressive of our sentiments on this subject. “ O that those lips had language ! Life has passed With me but roughly since I heard thee last. Those lips are thine — thy own sweet smile I see. The same, that oft in childhood solaced me ; Voice only fails, else how distinct they say, “ Grieve not, my child, chace all thy fears away The meek intelligence of those dear eyes (Blessed be the art that can immortalize, The art that baffles time’s tyrannic claim To quench it) here shines on me still the same. Faithful remembrancer of one so dear, 0 welcome guest, though unexpected here ! Who bidd’st me honour with an artless song. Affectionate, a mother lost so long. 1 will obey, not willingly alone. But gladly, as the precept were her own : And, while that face renews my filial grief. Fancy shall weave a charm for my relief. PRESERVING WORKS OF ART. 81 Shall steep me in Elysian reverie, A momentary dream, that thou art she. #*##*# And, while the wings of fancy still are free. And I can view this mimic show of thee. Time has but half succeeded in his theft — Thyself removed, thy power to sooth me left. It well behoves therefore the proprie- tors of eminent pictures, and fine works of art to execute a trust, no less gratifying to a liberal and enlightened mind, than satis- factory of — we had almost said a moral, obligation to our heirs and posterity. The Author of the present Tract having- attempted to show the importance and the necessity of this office, and afforded his advice , and as far as might be done by words, his instruction also, to the Proprie- tors of fine paintings, which they may be desirous of preserving and restoring — he finally in concluding, begs to tender his G 82 CONCLUSION. services , which he truly offers in the spirit and feeling of an Amateur, with greater regard for the Art, and for occupation, than desire of profit. FINIS, PRINTED BY E. KING, I1IGH WYCOMBE. ADVERTISEMENT. The Author having during his whole life made the cultivation of the line arts his peculiar study, and particularly directed his attention to the cleaning, restoring, and preserving from further decay, works of art, by the old and modern Masters, offers his services to those Noblemen and Gentlemen who may have ancestral por- traits, or other pictures, in their posses* sion, which require restoration. With a due regard to the exigencies of the times, his charges will be extremely moderate, for having other resources, em- ployment in a pursuit congenial with his taste, is more his object than emolument; and in all cases the strictest honour may be depended on. To those who may favor him with a com- mission, testimonials as to his qualifications will be shewn, if required, from several dis- tinguished Artists and Collectors. Brook Lodge , High Wycombe , Bucks.