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ILLUSTRATED. « 9 Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., LONDON, PARTS &- NEW YORK. 4 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/magazineofartgifOOunse -JOS' PAGE American's Talks about Art, An . ■ ... 202 Architectural Drawings at the Eoyal Academy Exhibition ^^^^ Art as Applied to Manufactures, National Policy in Eelation to 173 Art in Metal . • • • • • • Artists' Haunts : — I.— Cornwall: The Cliffs; The Land's End ^ II.— Prague III. —Raglan Castle and the Wye . . 85 IV. — Sark 120 v.— Cornwall : The Cliffs (continued) ; The Lizard VI.— PORLOCK VII.— Off the Track in Scotland . . 209 VIII. — Lynton and Lynmouth .... 225 Art Treasures, Vicissitudes of . . • -19, 77 Cartoon by F. Leighton, R.A. : " The Industrial Arts of Peace" '^^ China, Exhibition of Paintings on . . .176 Colours of Precious Stones .... 33 Cox, David, A Study from the Life of . . 62 Dudley Gallery, The, Exhibition of Paintings at 1 1 English Pottery, Remarkable Kinds of: Salt- glazed White Ware 107 English Secular Architecture . . . .158 Etching in England 146, 217 Exhibitions of Paintings : — Dudley Gallery H Eoyal Academy . . . . 40, 69, 101, 135 Grosvenor Gallery . . . . 50, 81, 110 Society of Painters in Water-Colours . 82 Paris Exhibition, 1878 : The British School 126 On China . " . - ■ • • .176 Florence, Modern Art in 192 PAGE French Art of the Present Day : " Recruiting Sergeants '' 83 Furniture Exhibition at Bethnal Green Museum 245 Glass, Painting on 162 Grosvenor Gallery, The . . . .50, 81, 110 Growing Plants, Suggestions from, for Art Decoration 74 Half-hours in the Studios 23 Higher Life in Art, The . . . . .117 Horses in Relation to Art . . . .124, 206 Industrial Art at Midland Counties Museum, Nottingham ...... 154, 237 Introduction 1 Italian Sculpture, Modern : " The African." (E. Caroni.) Ill Lace 179 Living Artists : — E. M. Ward, R.A 14 Sir Francis Grant, P.E.A. ... 46 • F. Leighton, E.A. 57 T. Faed, E.A 92 Sir J. Gilbert, E.A 131 Yicat Cole, A.E.A 149 W. C. T. DoBsoN, E.A 183 P. H. Calderon, E.A 197 G. F. Watts, E.A 241 Metal, Art in ^1 Modern Art in Florence 192 National Policy in Eelation to Art as Applied TO Manufactures 173 Nottingham Midland Counties Museum, Indus- trial Art at 1'54, 237 Oxford, The University Galleries at . . 214 Painters, Painting, and Portraits . . • 230 Painter's Ebward, The : A Study from the Life OF David Cox 62 Paintings on China, Exhibition of . • . 176 IV CONTENTS. Painting on Glass 162 Pauis Univeksal Exhibition, 1878 :— The Buildings and General Arrangement 5, 29 Ceramic "Wares . . . .66, 97, 113, 233 Encaustic Tiles 68, 97 Pictures or the British School . . 126 Furniture. — Bronzes and other Art Metal- work .... 113, 165, 187, 220 Wall-Paper . . . . . .187 Carpets ....... 190 Stained Glass 190 Indian Section 191 British Colonies 191 "Works of Art in the Precious Metals . 232 Marble Busts in the Italian Court . 236 Phillip, John, The Late 251 Pictorial Elements in English Secular Archi- tecture . . . . . . ' . .158 Pictures, Notices of : — " Two Fair Maidens " 50 Cartoon : " Industrial Arts of Peace " . 76 " Recruiting Sergeants "... .83 "Newgate: Committed for Trial" . . 100 "At the Masquerade" .... 130 Two Academy Pictures .... 224 "Congratulations" 251 PARE Precious Stones, Colours of .... 33 EoYAL Academy Exhibition of 1878 . 40, 69, 101, 13-5 Architectural Drawings at the Royal Academy Exhibition ....... 249 Salt-glazed White Ware ..... 107 Sculptors' Studios 27 Sculpture, Notices of: — " From Stone to Life " .... 28 " Charity " 55 " The African" Ill "Dr. Jenner Inoculating his Son" . . 195 Sincerity veusus Fashion ..... 90 Society of Painters in Water-Colours, Exhiisi- tion of ........ 82 Studios, Half-hours in the 23 Suggestions from Growing Plants for Art Decoration 74 Talks about Art by an American . . . 202 Vicissitudes of Art Treasures . . . . 19, 77 Art Notes ... i. — iii., v.— vii., ix. — xi., xiii. — xv., xvii. — xix., xxi. — xxiii., xxv. — xxvii., xxix. — xxxi., xxxiii. — XXXV. Art Books, Notices of ... iv., viii., xii., xvi., xx., xxiv., xxviii., xxxii., xxx^i. PAGE Bas-reliefs from the Temple of Apollo Epicurius, at Bassse, ia Arcadia ...... 1 Venus of Milo, in the Louvre 2 Raphael's " Madonna di San Sisto," in the Dresden Gallery 3 Cupid— Statue by Michael Angelo. (From the Original in the South Kensington Museum.) . 4 Paris Exhibition, 1878 :— Trocadero Building 5 Prince of Wales' Pavilion .... 5 Cornwall (I.) :— Land's End and Longships Light ... 8 Pradanack Point 9 Cave at Mullyon 10 Lion Eock, with Mullyon in the distance . 1 1 "Last Sleep of Argyle." (From the Fresco by E. M. Ward, E.A., in the Corridor of the House of Commons.) . . . ■ • • • 15 E. M. Ward, E.A., Portrait of .... 16 Vicissitudes of Art Treasures (I.) : — Eock Crystal Cup, and Spoon and Fork . . 20 Statue of Shaf-Ea, Founder of the Second Pyramid ....... 21 " From Stone to Life." (Statue by W. C. Marshall, E.A.) 28 " Aurora with the Hours.'' (Fresco by Guide, from the Eospiglioso Palace, Eome.) .... 29 Paris Exhibition, 1878 :— Buildings of the Champ de Mars . . . 30 Sketch-Plan, showing position of Exhibition in Paris ....... 31 Indian Pavilion, The 32 Portion of Interior of Dining Eoom in Prince of Wales' Pavilion . . . . 33 Prague : — Carlsbridge and Tower 37 Hradschin, and Cathedral of St. Vitus . . 38 View from the Castle Stairs .... 39 Emperor's Oratory — Cathedral of St. Vitus . 39 Portal of the Palace Court .... 40 Eoyal Academy (I.) : — ■ " The Princes in the Tower" . . . . 42 " Dutch Galhot Aground on a Sandbank " . 43 PAGE Eoyal Academy [continued) : — " The 'Premiere Communion,' Dieppe" . 44 " To our next Merrie Meetynge " ... 44 "Evening" 45 " One of the Last Lays of Eobert Burns " . 45 Sir Francis Grant, P.E.A., Portrait of ... 47 Lord Gough. (From the Portrait by Sir Francis Grant, P.E.A.) 49 Art in Metal : — Seated Mercury — Bronze Statuette. (From the Naples Museum.) . . . . 52 Discobolus — Bronze Statuette. (From Pompeii.) 53 Narcissus — Bronze Statuette. (From Pompeii.) 63 The Nereids. (Bas-relief from an Antique Sarco- phagus in the Louvre Museum.) ... 57 " An Athlete Struggling with a Python." (Bronze Group bjr F. Leighton, E.A.) .... 58 F. Leighton, E.A., Portrait of .... 60 "Industrial Arts of Peace." (From the Original Cartoon in the South Kensington Museum, by F. Leighton, E.A.) 61 Ceramics at the Paris Exhibition : — Minton's " Henri Deux" Ware ... 66 Minton Vase 66 Amorini Vase. (Minton.) .... 67 Vases in Doulton Ware .... 68 Wall Tiles. (Maw and Co.) ... 68 Eoyal Academy (II.) : — " Eemoval of Nuns from Loughborough Convent" ...... 69 " The Gods and their Makers " . . . 70 " The Timber Wagon " . . . . 71 " School Treat" 72 Suggestions from Growing Plants for Art Decora- tion : Studies (1 to 9) from " Mountain Parsley " and other Ferns ...... 75, 76 Vicissitudes of Art Treasures (II.) : — " Triumph of Scipio." (From the Painting by Pierino del Vaga, in the Doria Palace, Genoa.) ....... 77 Arch of Titus at Eome 78 Bas-relief on the Side Pier of the Arch of Titus 78 vi ILLUSTRATIONS. Vicissitudes of Art Treasures [continued) : — Portion of Bas-relief on the Side Pier of the Arch of Titus, showing the Seven- hranched Candlestick . . . . 79 Tazza — Antique Greek Pottery, Sixth Cen- tury B.C. ...... 80 Gold Ornament: Head of Diana — Anti(iuo Greek, Fourth Century n.c. ... 80 "The Molo, Venice" 83 On the Wye :— Chepstow Castle, from the river . . . 85 Gateway, Chepstow Castle .... 85 A Bend of the River "Wye .... 86 West Window, Tintern Abbey . . . 87 Tintern Abbey, from the Churchyard . . 88 Eaglan Castle 89 Thomas Faed, R.A., Portrait of .... 93 Ceramics at the Paris Exhibition : — Vase in Minton's Majolica . . . . 97 Wall Tiles. (Maw and Co.) . . 97, 99, 100 Jardiniere in " Doulton Ware " ... 98 Wall Decoration. (Maw and Co.) . . 99 Plaque. (Doulton and Co.) . . .100 Royal Academy (III.) : — " Hercules and Lichas " .... 101 " Road to Ruin : " Last of the Series . .101 " Dirty Weather on the East Coast " . .102 "Psyche" 103 " All among the Barley " .... 103 " Eventide : A Scene in Westminster Union " 104 "Loot" 105 " Store for the Cabin " . . . . ' . 106 " Cupboard Love " 106 Group in Salt-glazed Ware. (Early Eighteenth Century.) 107 Specimens of Salt-glazed White Ware. (Eighteenth Century.) 108 Ceramics at the. Paris Exhibition ; — Vases (Brownhills Pottery Company) . 113, 114 Pilgrim Bottle „ „ . . 113 Two-handled Vase „ ,, . . 114 Vase, " Cupid's Lecture on Love." Decorated by M.Solon. (Minton.) . . .116 Panel in Doulton Ware 116 Genera] View of the Indian Coui-t, Paris Exhibition 115 Views in Sark : — From the West Coast 120 Le Creux Harbour, from the Old Tunnel . 120 Le Creux Harbour, from the Jetty . . 121 Natural Arch, DTcart Bay . . . .122 Les Autelets 123 Group of Horses, from the Parthenon . . .124 British Pictures at the Paris Exhibition: — " Captain Burton " 126 "Dawn" 127 " The Q,ueen of Swords " .... 127 " After the Dance " . . . . .127 " The Apothecary " .128 "The Mowers" 128 " Snow in Spring " ..... 129 British Pictures at the Paris Exhibition {continued) : — " Daniel in the Den of Lions " . . . 129 " Toilers of the Field " 130 Sir John Gilbert, R.A., Portrait of . . . .131 " The First Prince of Wales." (From the Painting by Sir John Gilbert, R.A.) . . . .132 "The Return of the Victors." (Sir John Gilbert, R.A.) 133 Royal Academy (IV.) : — " Time of Roses " 135 " Social Eddy— Left by the Tide " . .135 "Sympathy" 136 "Fallen" 136 "Folk-Lore" 137 " Cornish Lions " 138 "The Flaw in the Title" . . . .138 " An Ambuscade, Edge Hill." . . • 139 " Retaliation." (From the Statue by C. B. Birch.) . . . . . . .140 Cornwall (II.) :— Shaking the Logan Rock . . . .141 "The Horse" 141 Ky nance, from Caerthilian . . . .142 Polpeer • .143 Penolver, from Honsel Cove . . . .144 Devil's Frying-Pan, Cadgwith . . .145 Vicat Cole, A.R.A., Portrait of .... 149 "Arundel." (From a Painting by Vicat Cole, A. R.A.) 151 Industrial Art at Midland Counties Museum, Not- tingham: — Pair of Fire Irons (Sixteenth Century) . . 156 Hand Mirror (Carved Ivory), French, 1555 . 157 English Secular Architecture : — Turrets, Hj'lton Castle 159 Crypt, Durham Castle 160 Durham Castle 161 Painting on Glass : — "Faith." (From Window in Chapel of St. Ferdinand.) 162 The Glass Painter Copying, from the Cartoon, the half-tints, &c., in " Enamel Brown," on the pieces of coloured " Pot-Metal " . 103 Centre Window in Stained Glass in the Crypt of St. Paul's, London . . . .164 Paris Exhibition : — Furniture and Wall Decoration. (J. Hall, Edinburgh.) 165 Early English Mantelpiece. (Brown Brothers, Edinburgh.) 166 Grate and Brass Fu-e-dogs. (Barnard, Bishop, and Bamards.) .... 167 " In the West Country :"— Road to Porlock Weir 169 Road out of Porlock 169 In the Wood, Porlock Weir . . . .170 Old Cottage, Porlock Weir . . . .171 Vegetable Monster 172 Paintings on China : — "BabeUe" 176 " Blackberrying " 176 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Paintings on China {continued): — Vase in Terra-cotta 177 " Lady Eva GreviUe." (Gold Medal Work.) 177 " The Angler Caught " 178 Lace : — Venetian Point Lace . . . . . 180 Eeticella, or Greek Lace . . . . 181 Passement au Fuseau 181 Point Coupe 182 W. C. T. Dohson, E.A., Portrait of . . . .183 Paris Exhibition : — Decorative Corners of Ornamental Pavilion in Cast Iron. (Barnard, Bishop, and Barnards.) 187 Mirror. (Elkington and Co.) . . .187 Wall Paper. (Jeffrey and Co.) . . 188, 190 Wrought-iron Entrance Gates to the Pavilion of the Prince of Wales. (Barnard, Bishop, and Barnards.) 189 Florence, from San Miniato . . . . . 192 Summit of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence . . . 192 "The Amazon." (Statue by Professor Consani.) . 193 P. H. Calderon, E.A., Portrait of . . . . 197 "Constance" . . 199 Scotland : The Western Highlands : — Waterfall in Inverarnan .... 209 Cottage on Loch Lomond .... 209 Loch Katrine from the Slopes of Ben A'an . 211 Ben Venue and Ben A' an . . . . 212 Shores of Loch Katrine 213 University Galleries at Oxford: — " Study of Hands," &c. (Michael Angelo.) . 215 " Man Dropping from a Wall." (Raphael.), 216 Paris Exhibition : — Group of Furniture 220 Bedstead. (Schmit and Piollet) . . . 221 PAGE Paris Exhibition [continued) : — Furniture. (H. Fourdinois.) . . . 221 Garniture de Cheminee. (Susse Freres.) . 222 Eechaud, or Dish-warmer. (E. Philippe.) . 222 Lustre. (Fontaine.) 223 Elephant Clock. (Susse Freres.) . . 223 ' Hanging Lamp. (Buffet and Co.) . . 224 " In the West Country :"— Tower on the Beach, Lynmouth . . . 225 Castle Eock, Lynton 226 View on the East Lynn 227 Devil's Cheesewring, Valley of Eocks . . 228 Bagworthy Water 229 Goldsmiths' and Silversmiths' Work at Paris Exhibition : — Necklet. (Eouvenat and Lourdel.) . . 232 Carrying off a Sabine Woman. (L. Gregoire.) 233 Statuette in Gold, Silver, and Precious Stones. (Eouvenat and Lourdel.) . . 233 Jardiniere. (Fontaine.) .... 234 Euby Goblet, set in Silver. (A. Boulenger.) 234 Silver Race Cup. (Odiot.) .... 235 Marble Busts in the Italian Court. (A. Cencetti.) 236 Midland Counties Museum, Nottingham:— Portion of Eose-point Coverlet, the property of the Duke of Devonshire . . . 238 Japanese Cylinder 239 G. F. Watts, R.A., Portrait of 241 "Paolo and Francesca." (From the Painting by G. F. Watts, E.A.) 242 Bethnal Green Furniture Exhibition : — Bellows — Italian, Sixteenth Century . . 245 Ebony Cabinet — Dutch, Seventeenth Century 246 Mirror — Italian, Sixteenth Century . . 247 Chair — Italian, Sixteenth Century . . . 248 PAGE " It Might Have Been" After Louise Jopling To face 12 The Queen of Prussia and Napoleon Bonapakte . ,, E. M. Ward, E.A ,, 16 Convocation ,, H. S. Marks, A.R.A. .... ,,40 The General's Head-quarters , J- Pettie, R.A ,,45 Two Fair Maidens By J. E. Millais, R.A. . . . . . ,, 50 Charity Statue by Paul Dubois ,,57 OxHEY Place, Herts After F. Goodall, R.A. ,,72 Group from "The Industrial Arts of Peace" . ,, F. Leighton, R.A. ..... ,,76 Recruiting Sergeants . . . . . . ,, Le Blant ....... ,, 85 " Oh ! WHA wad buy a silken gown, i „ , , Thomas Faed, R.A „ 97 Wi a puir broken heart ) Newgate : Committed for Trial ... • Frank Holl, A.R.A ,, 100 Childhood in Eastern Life ,, J. B. Burgess, A.R.A ,, 102 The African Statue by Emanuele Caroni . . . . ,, 112 At the Masquerade After "W. C. T. Dobson, R.A ,, 130 Pompeii, a.d. 79 ,, A. Elmore, R.A. ,, 135 Summer Rain ,, Yicat Cole, A.E.A ,, 152 Ligeia ■ ,, W. C. T. Dobson, R.A ,,184 Dr. Jenner Inoculating his Son .... Group by Professore Monteverde . . . ' ,, 196 "Sighing his Soul into his Lady's Face" . . After P. H. Calderon, R.A. .... ,, 200 The Old Cover Hack ,, the late Sir E. Landseer, E.A. . . ,, 204 "And when did you last see your Father?" . ,, W. F. Yeames, A.R.A. .... ,, 224 Time and Death ,, G. F. Watts, R.A ,,245 Sue Stuart ,, the late John Phillip, R.A. ... ,, 251 Congratulations ,, Haynes Williams ,, 252 PAGE A Biographical Sketch: Mrs. Jameson . . 123 Academy Schools, Eoyal 59 Alma-Tadema, Laurens, E.A., Life of. . . 193 American Artists and American Art; — I. — A History of Beginnings ... 21 II.— Benjamin "West, Second President op the Royal Academy . . . ■ 43 III —John Singleton Copley, R.A. . . 94 IV. — Charles Eobert Leslie, R.A. . . 152 V. — "William "Wetmore Story . . . 272 An Artist's Indian Travels 120 An Artist's Trip to the Bahamas . . . 201 Art in Florence, Modern. — II 234 Art, Treastjre-hol'ses of ... . 140, 206 Art Treasures, Vicissitudes of . . . 109, 168 Before the Council 62 Bolton Abbey and the Bolton "Woods . . 112 British Artists, Society of 155 Britomart and her Nurse 60 Butler, Elizabeth (nee Thompson), Life of . 257 Caricature, History of. — 1 136 Copley, John Singleton, R.A., Life of . . 94 Costumes and Characteristics of South Brittany 89 Dado, Story of a 133 Drawings, "Water-Colour, at the Grosvenor Gallery SO Dualism in Art 77, 165 Dudley Gallery, 1878 18 English Secular Architecture, On Some Pic- torial Elements in ... • 65, 225 Eppie Grant 211 Faience, Lambeth 39 Fife-Player, The 159 Florence, Modern Art in 234 Forms of Panegyric 213 Fortunes Lost and "Won over "Works of Art . 197 Fourth Annual Exhibition of Paintings on China, The 269 French Fine Art at the Paris International Drawings Exhibition of 1878 Frith, "William Powell, E.A., Life of Glasgow Institute Exhibition Gold and Ivory, Sculpture in Graham, Peter, A.E.A., Life of . Grant, Eppie Grosvenor Gallery, "Water-Colour AT . . . • • • Haden, Seymour, on Etching History of Caricature. — I. . Hook, James Clarke, E.A., Life of Idyll, An Indian Travels, An Artist's Italian Peasant, Belliazzi's Bust of Jameson, Mrs. : A Biographical Sketch " Joseph Making himself Known to his Brethren Kauffmann's Street Sketches Lace Lambeth Faience "La Peche" Leslie, Charles Eobert, E.A., Life of Living Artists : — James Clarke Hook, E.A. . John Everett Millais, E.A. "William Powell Frith, E.A. . Henry Stacy Marks, E.A. . Peter Graham, A. E.A. Erskine Nicol, A.E.A. Laurens Alma-Tadema, E.A. Briton Eiviere, A.E.A. Elizabeth Butler (nee Thompson) . Marks, Henry Stacy, Life of . . • Memories 15 80 84, 265 116 30 188, 221, 262 CONTENTS. IV PAGE Midland Counties Fine Art Exhibition, Not- tingham, Pictures at the .... 56 MiLLAis, John Everett, E.A., Life of . . 33 Modern Art in Florence 234 Motherhood. (Statue by Ambrogio Borghi.) . 191 New and Old Verse, Recent Illustrators op . 101 New Forms of Panegyric 213 Nicol, Errkine, A.E.A., Life op . . . .180 Nooks and Corners op the Devonshire Coast : Dartmouth and the Dart .... 50 North-West Passage : "It Might be Done, and England Ought to Do It" . . . . 55 Old Keys. — I. 75 On Some Pictorial Elements in English Secular Architecture 65, 225 Paintings on China, The Fourth Annual Exhi- bition of . . 269 Panegyric, New Forms op 213 Paris International Exhibition, Fine Art at . 15 Pictorial Elements in English Secular Archi- tecture . 65, 225 Pictures at the Midland Counties Fine Art Exhibition, Nottingham 55 Pictures op the Year . 125, 148, 161, 216, 242, 285 pont-aven and douarnenez : sketches in lower Brittany 6 President of the Royal Academy, The . . 1 Raeburn's Portrait op Mr. Allan . . . 268 Recent Illustrators op New and Old Verse . 101 Riviere, Briton, A.R.A., Life op. . . . 252 Royal Academy Schools, The .... 59 Royal Academy, The President op . . . 1 Royal Scottish Academy and Gtlasgow Institute Exhibitions 184, 265 PAOE Sculpture in Gold and Ivory . . . .116 Seymour Haden on Etching . . 188, 221, 262 Sketching Grounds : — PoNT-AvEN AND DoUARNENEZ : SKETCHES IN Lower Brittany 6 Nooks and Corners of the Devonshire Coast : Dartmouth and the Dart . 50 Costumes and Characteristics of South Brittany 89 Bolton Abbey and the Bolton Woods . 112 The Peak 173, 277 Umbrian Valleys 236 Society op British Artists, Exhibition of . . 155 Story op a Dado 133 Story, William Wetmore, Life of . . . 272 Street Sketches 240 The Dudley Gallery, 1878 : Exhibition of Paintings 18 The President of the Royal Academy . . 1 Three English Portrait Painters : — I. — Gainsborough ..... 2 II. ROMNEY . 70 III. — Lawrence 129, 230 "Touched," Etching by Herkomer . . . 264 Treasure-Houses OF Art .... 140, 206 Trip to the Bahamas, An Artist's . . . 201 Tussore. The Wild Silks and Native Dyes op India 47 Umbrian Valleys 230 Vicissitudes op Art Treasures . . . 109, 168 Water-Colour Drawings at the Grosvenor Gallery 30 West, Benjamin, P.R.A., Life of ... 43 Wood Engraving . . . .26, 85, 105, 177, 284 Three English Portrait Painters (I.) : — Princess Elizabeth, Daughter of George III. (By Gainshoroiigh.) .... Pont-Aven and Douarnenez : — Peasants of Einistere . . . ■ ' • Harvest in Einistere Artists' Leisure Hour, Pont-Aven . Watching the Eeturn of Sardine Boats at Douarnenez ...... J. C. Hook, E.A., Portrait of " Jolly as a Sand-Boy." (Erom the Painting by J . C. Hook, R.A.) Erench Eine Art at the Paris Exhibition of 1878 :— " line Execution sans Jugement " "BainTurc" 15 "Flore et Zephire" 16 "En 1795" 16 " Un Coup de Canon " 16 "Le Christ" 17 "LaEontaine" 17 " Moorish Interior " 18 The Dudley Gallery, 1878 :— " Here's a Health to the King" ... 19 " Home Through the Woods " . . . 19 " A Lady of Cairo Visiting " . ... 20 Wood Engraving (I.) : — Eive examples showing difference of engraving on vt^ood and copper . . . 26—28 Bewick's Egret 29 John Everett Millais, R.A., Portrait of . . . 33 "Awake." (Erom the Painting by J. E. Millais, R.A.) 37 Lambeth Faience : — Cylinders, with Japanese Designs of grasses and purple flowers on a ground the natural colour of the ware ... 39 Plaque, with painting of Mountain Scenery of a deep purple tone . . . . 40 Vase, with Persian Design, blue-green leaves and purple flowers on light yellow ground ....... 40 Vase, Persian Design, with traces of the influence of Indian ornament ... 40 Vase, with Indian Design in reddish-brown and purple on a ground the natural colour of the ware ...... 41 Pilgrim Bottle, with painting of bird and flowers on each side, Japanese in character 4 1 American Artists and American Art (II.) : — BenjamLa West, P.R.A., Portrait of . . 44 Nooks and Corners of the Devonshire Coast : — On the Dart— Evening 51 Berry Pomeroy Castle . . . . • 52 A Lane below Berry Pomeroy Castle . . 63 Totnes, from the River 54 The Midland Counties Museum, Nottingham : — " Reading the Bible " 55 " The Rainbow " 56 " Wheat Harvest in the Mountains " . . 57 " Charles I. Leaving Westminster Hall" . 58 The Royal Academy Schools : — "Ilyssus" 59 The Armitage Competition .... 60 On Some Pictorial Elements in English Secular Architecture : — Rochester Castle 65 Richmond Castle 68 Hengrave Hall ...... 69 Three English Portrait Painters (II.) : — "Emma Harte (Lady Hamilton) as a Bac- chante." (By George Romney.) . . 72 Old Keys :— Roman Bronze Latch-key .... 75 Roman Bronze Key Ring .... 75 Roman Bronze Key ..... 75 Mediaeval Bronze Key ..... 76 Iron Key 76 Medieeval Bronze Key 76 WiUiam Powell Erith, R.A., Portrait of . . . 80' "Group in the ' Salon d'Or.' " (Erom the Painting by W. P. Frith, R.A.) 81 Costumes and Characteristics of South Brittany ; — A Farmer (Einistere) ..... 89 A Peasant (Riec) 90 A Beggar 90 A Bonne (Pont-Aven) 91 Marie : A Bonne 92 A Bazvalan, or Tailor 93 American Artists and American Art (III.) : — John Singleton Copley, R.A., Portrait of . 94 "Death of Major Peirson." (From the Picture by J. S. Copley, R.A.) . . 96 Our Living Artists :— Henry Stacy Marks, R.A., Portrait of . . 97 vi ILLUSTRATIONS. Our Living Artists (continued) : — " St. Francis Preaching to the Birds." (From the Painting by H. Stacy Marks, E.A.) . 100 Eecent Illustrators of New and Old Verse : — " Old Edinburgh by Moonlight " . . .101 " A Mountain Lake " 102 " A Mountain Glen " 103 "Wood Engraving (III.) : — "St. Christopher" 105 Engraving from the " Biblia Pauperum" . 106 From the Canticles 107 Fac-simile of a Portion of an Engraving from the Apocalypse 108 Vicissitudes of Art Treasures (III.) : — Model in Gold of an Ancient Egyptian Twelve-oared War Galley . . .109 Ancient Egyptian Diadem of Gold, Lapis- Lazuli, etc 109 Bolton Abbey and the Bolton Woods : — Gateway in the Priory . . . . .112 The Churchyard 112 View on the Wharf e from the Priory . . 113 TheStrid 115 An Artist's Indian Travels : — " Sir Salar Jung" 120 " His Highness Mangol Sing, Eajah of Ulwar" 121 " Daughter of the Maharanee Jumna Bao " . 122 Pictures of the Year (I.) : — " The Eemnants of an Army " . . .125 "In the Shade" 128 " Evangeline " 128 Three English Portrait Painters (III.) :— Sir Thomas Lawrence, Portrait of . . . 129 A History of Caricature (I.) : — " A Banjo-Player." (Japanese.) . . . 136 "A Cripple." (After Callot.) ... 136 " The Demon Tilter." (After Callot.) . . 137 "A Cripple." (Japanese.) .... 137 " A Mendicant." (Japanese.) . . .138 "A Juggler." (Japanese.) .... 138 " A Balancer." (Japanese.) .... 139 Treasure-Houses of Art (I.) : — Portion of Enamelled Alabaster Chimney- piece ....... 140 Portion of Marquetry Chimney-piece . . 141 Satin-wood and Embroidered Chair . . 143 Our Living Artists : — Peter Graham, A.E.A., Portrait of . . 145 "A Eainy Day." (From the Painting by Peter Graham, A.E.A.) .... 147 Pictures of the Year (II.) : — " Venetian Water-Carrier " .... 148 "A Dole" 149 " No Surrender " 150 " Science is Measurement " . . . .151 The Exhibition of the Society of British Artists : — ' ' Interior of the Church of St. Eemy, Eheims " 156 " A Summons to Surrender " . . .156 " My Uncle Toby and Corporal Trim " . . 157 " Monsieur Coulon's Dancing Class " . . 157 Pictures of the Year (III.) : — " The Gifts of the Fairies " . . . .161 " No Suirender " 161 " Euth and Boaz " 162 " A Little Woman " 163 "Shopping" ....... 164 "May Morning" 164 "After the Duel" 165 Vicissitudes of Art Treasures (IV.) : — Ewer in Sardonyx, Mounted in Gold, Ena- melled and Jewelled . . . . 169 Fac-simile Copy of Early Engraving Repre- senting an Artist in Gold and Enamel at his Furnace 172 Sketching Grounds : the Peak (I.) : — Banks of the Dove 173 Dovedale : the Straits . . . . .173 Pickering Tor, Dovedale .... 175 High Tor, Matlock 176 Tissington Spires 177 Wood Engraving (IV.) : — "The Nun" 178 " The Abbot " 179 Our Living Artists : — Erslrine Nicol, A.E.A., Portrait of . .180 " Among the Old Masters." (From the Painting by Erskine Nicol, A.E.A.) . 183 Eoyal Scottish Academy and Glasgow Institute Exhibitions (I.) : — " Charles Edward Seeking Shelter in the House of an Adherent " .... 185 "The Shower" 186 " Lochiel's Warning " 186 "Leo" 187 Our Living Artists : — Laurens Alma-Tadema, E.A., Portrait of . 193 " The Pomona Festival." (From the Painting by L. Alma-Tadema, E.A.) . 196 An Artist's Trip to the Bahamas : — Fort Fincastle, Nassau 201 Nassau Harbour 201 Hopetown Harbour, Abaco, from the Light- house 203 Silk-Cotton-tree, Nassau .... 204 The " Glass Window," as seen from Harbour Island 205 Treasure-Houses of Art (II.) : — Steel Tripod, inlaid with Silver, by Zuloaga . 207 CofEer of Steel, by Zuloaga .... 208 Damascened and Chased Salver, by Zuloaga . 209 Pictures of the Year (IV.) : — " News from the Cape " 216 " Toil and Pleasure " 216 " A Water Frolic " 217 "Until Death us do Part" . . . .218 "Due d'Anjou Contemplating the Portrait of Queen Elizabeth " 218 " Gil Bias and the Ai-chbishop of Granada " . 219 " Salvator Eosa " 220 Seymour Haden on Etching : — SejTnour Haden, Portrait of . . . . 221 Drawings illustrating the manner of Etching 223, 224 ILLUSTRATIONS. vn left bank On Some Pictorial Elements in English Secular Architecture (HI.) : — Hardwioke Hall Staircase, Elizabethan Period "The Gallery of the Presence," Aston Hall Garden Front of Aston Hall Sketching Grounds : Umhrian Valleys :— Approach to Narni, Umhria Convent of San Casciano, from the of the River . Mediaeval Bridge on the Nar . The Bridge of Augustus, Narni Street Sketches : — " A Bit of Mischief " . " Does it Rain ? " . " A Street Corner " " Welcome Arrivals " Pictures of the Year (V.) :— " A Narrow Way, Cairo " " Freedom and Imprisonment " "Football" . . . • " The Empty Saddle " . " Adding Insult to Injury " . "Fear" .... " The Gordon Riots " . Sculpture:— "lone" . "The Last Call" . Lace : — Rose-point, Needle-point Lace Macrame or Punt a Groppo Twis Lace .... Tape Lace, with Fillings-in of Needle- Work . Flemish Pillow Lace Our Living Artists :— "A Stern Chase is always a Long Chase." (From the Painting by Briton Riviere, A.R.A.) Briton Riviere, A.R.A., Portrait of sted Thread point 225 228 228 229 236 237 238 239 240 241 241 242 243 244 244 245 246 246 247 248 248 249 249 250 251 252 253 Our Living Artists [continued) : — Mrs. Elizabeth Butler, Portrait of . Figure of a Grenadier from " The RoU-Call." (By Mrs. Elizabeth Butler.) . Royal Scottish Academy and Glasgow Institute Exhibitions (II.) : — " The Adversary " . "The End of the '45" . "The Wreck" " The Evening of Life " Raeburn's Portrait of Mr. Allan The Fourth Annual Exhibition of Paintings on China : — "Chrysanthemums" " The Hon. Neville Hood" . " Tiger's Head " . . " Gathering Spring Flowers " American Artists and American Art (V.) "The Sibyl". "Cleopatra" .... Sketching Grounds : the Peak (II.) :— The " Peacock," from the Road Haddon Hall, from the Wye . The Terrace, Haddon Hall . Peveril Castle, Castleton Pictures of the Year (VI.) :— " A Spinning Wheel in Cyprus " "Nicosia" . . . • " The Marina, Larnaca " " The Port of Kyrenia " Wood Engraving (V.) :— Three small specimens of Foliage Tail-piece from Bewick's " Birds" The "Yellow-hammer," after Bewick Wood-cut from Pamell's "Hermit," after Bewick . The " Owl," after Bewick Tail-piece from the " Birds' PACK 257 261 265 266 267 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 276 277 277 278 279 280 282 282 283 284 285 285 286 287 288 Fac-simile Reduction of a Study of Dkapery Mrs. Siddons . . . _ Crabbees .... Joseph Making himself Known to' his Brethren JLa Peche . The Nohth-West Passage: "It BIight be Done, and England Ought to Do It." The Death of Wolfe An Idyll . . . _ Beitomart and her Nurse Claude Duval . . . _ Lady Warwick and her Children An Italian Peasant . The Apothecary Memories .... Statue of the Olympian Jupiter in Gold and Ivory Wind .... Lady Blessington The Eivals The Fife-Player .... The Swineherd : Gurth, the Son of Beowulf Unwillingly to School . Motherhood .... Tarouinius Superbus . Eppie Grant .... The Return of the Penitent Master Lambton. Daniel .... Missing A Justice in 1500 After Sir Frederick Leighton, P.R.A. Gainsborough. „ J. C. Hook „ D. W. Wynfleld After J. E. Milkis, R.A. „ Benjamin West, P.R.A. „ Oscar MatMeu . „ G. F. Watts, R.A. . „ W. P. Frith, R.A. . „ George Eomney . Bust by Belliazzi . After H. Stacy Marks, R.A. By J. D. Linton . After Peter Graham, A.R.A. ,, Sir Thomas Lawrence . „ Charles Robert Leslie, R. Statue by Giovanni Emanueli After C. E. Johnson . ,, Erskine Nicol, A.R.A. Group by Ambrogio Borghi After Alma-Tadema, R.A. „ John Phillip, R.A. . C. Amyot . ,, Sir Thomas Lawrence ,, Briton Riviere, A.R.A. ,, Elizabeth Butler ,, Chester Loomis . PACE To face 1 5 12 24 33 55 44 48 GO 82 72 85 99 105 116 147 133 152 159 163 180 193 196 213 246 233 257 261 281 ]be Ubrtfjr of the Unlvertlty of llttMll. To locheA. MoicriTfidly twart^s tficyoict/i the low-toned strings of the ZilAer- Surely 'Us- nought 7j7i.t Zoy-e can, ffcv& such sTciZi to hisji^njiers . GREEK ART OF THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C. (Groups from WarhU Bas-reliefs of the Temple oj Apollo Epicurius, at Bassw, in Arcadia.) The Magazine of Art. INTRODHCTION. ^HE meaning of the word Art is said by etymologists to be "a preconception of anything which lays down certain ways and rules for doing or making it ; " an idea formed in the mind, from which definite laws can be deduced for carrying it into execution. To conceive the shape and quality of many things that must be made, and to provide for making them, is necessary to the life and well-being of man. Other creatures have their summer and winter clothing ready made, and food fit for them at hand. They make their nests, their holes, their water-side huts, and lay up their winter »- } 4^ WL'IV'J I stores, knowing food from poison, and forecasting the changes of the year. ^ (|^7^»N) / \ / ( Their knowledge of these things comes to them without effort, and they use it without consciousness : for these reasons we call it instinct. This knowledge suffices to supply their wants, but it begins and ends 4y^^^Oll50^>Nr wi*^ ^^is sufficiency. Man, on the other hand, has to provide his clothing, to find out what is good for his food, and to make his house out of his own resources. All that he does for himself he must do secundum artem. All nature is at his command, yet he has to change and prepare even his natural materials; nothing lies ready to his hand. Corn must be sown and ground, wool spun and woven, trees felled and rent, stones quarried and squared, before he can make even a beginning of his proposed work. All these labours, though preliminary, are done according to known principles and special rules. As societies grow and wants increase, they have to devise machines and engines, which they set going by air, water, or steam— powers of movement which they can use according as they have one or other of them at hand. With these they multiply the productions of human labour, men's hands being too few for the quantity of the thmgs required. We call these various operations industrial or mechanical arts ; even though the machinery necessary for them is often only produced by astonishing ingenuity, calculation, 1 THE MAGA.ZINE OF ART. and dexterity. As societies or nations make greater use of these arts, we say they become more and more artificial. But in the pages of this magazine, when we enlarge on the theme of Art, we shall mean conceptions of a higher order, and carried out by more subtle skill : art which provides not what is agreeable to eat, soft to wear, or convenient for daily uses; but recreation and enjoyment for the mind. And as we reach the mind through the doors of the eye and the ear, so these works of art must be good to look at or sweet to hear. They are produced by painting, sculp- ture, and music. Putting aside the last, we may affirm that the mind takes pleasure when the two former arts are shown on buildings, furniture, or dress. These arts we properly call fine or beautiful arts. The knowledge of history, of the laws of nature, of the many subjects which are reduced to sciences, enlarge the mind, give it method, and store it with treasures new and old. Art gives it play and recreation. Nature itself, besides its provision for the life and well-being of living animals, is clothed through its wide extent with attractions that smile everywhere to the eye. This attractiveness, which we call its beauty, is to be taken in and tasted by man alone. Birds eat the fruits, and beasts the herbs, but they care nothing for the landscape, and the dog or the ass clings to his own master, though he be debased and repulsive to his fellow-men. As we find the materials for oiir useful arts in or on the earth, so, for our fine arts, models and motives of conception are found in the outward beauty of created things. Nature, so seen, is the great book of imageiy fi-om which the artist gathers his materials. As his knowledge of it is wide and deep, his grasp sure, and his hand skilful, so he will be powerful in his art. He will know what he intends to represent, and will be complete and perfect in his execution. Nothing what- ever that he has learned by observation, comparison, or training of hand, is without its place in his mind ; all will be brought to bear on his work in due season. The great text-book remains always open, by which he measures, proves, and corrects himself. If art, then, has this close relation to nature, what, it may be asked, is the utmost excellence in the portrait, if we compare it to the original ? Can it seize the splen- dour, or follow out the fulness of that which it imitates ? If nature is the original, and art a transcript or a portrait, do not natural agencies, such, for instance, as light in photography, answer better than human fingers? Further- more, may we not in all cases, by a simple comparison with nature, decide on the merits of art, each one for himself ? In answer to this, it must be said, first, that to see outward nature — men, landscapes, and so on — and to observe and studi/ them, not broadly only, but in detail, are widely different actions. Even the persons and faces we live with, and see oftenest, have sometimes beauties or defects, unknown or never seen till a strange eye notices them. Seeing, we do not always see ; and knowing, there is much that we do not understand. But even the most exact observation of the surface of nature is not enough to make a judge of GKEEK ART : THE VENUS OF MILO, IN THE LOUVKE. (Discovered, in 1820.) INTRODUCTION. 3 art. Art is not a mere transcript of nature. It is something more it is the embodiment of a conception of the mind. Its operations are as subtle as the power from which it has its first ""''^'over and above the faculty of remembering, reasoning, and deducing, the mind has that of producing. It receives impressions, and quickens them with life. Its highest faculty is that of RAPHAEL ; FROM THE MADONNA DI SAN SISTO, IN THE DRESDEN GALLERY. seizinc. the centre and core of difficult questions, the very form and fashion of things or of persons of which reason leads us only to the qualities, signs, and attributes. We call this imagination. With imagination the man of science cuts Gordian knots. He seizes hold of a cause, or finds a key to marvels round which a learned generation has wandered wondermg. Its conclusions are so simple, so unmistakable, that the wonder is they have not been found out before. Well, this o-ift of imagination is the quickening power of art. It sees visions, it dreams dreams it briugs forth images. The artist who has this gift schools himself by reference to material nature. He tests his works by comparison with it, but he figures Ue impressions that nature gives /mn. He represents by his signs what natural appearances signify to him. The outward lovehness ot creation is a mystery. It discloses much; it seems to hide still more. TfTan complete; yet, closely as we look at it, it is, seen but dimly and m part. And the artist can 4 THE MAGAZINE OP ART. but use his slender means as fully as their limited nature will enable bim. What had Phidias, or the sculptor of the Venus of Milo, or Raphael, or Michael Angelo, beyond chisels and brushes, coloured dust and blocks of marble ? What had they for models ? Common men, daily actions ; a graceful walk, a tender look of devotion or compassion, caught in passing through the crowd; sudden sights, momentary impressions, giving wings to their imagination as sparks to fire ready to be kindled ! How immense has been the result — what majesty, what tenderness, what a touching irresistible grace, never to be lost till time or violence destroy their works ! To understand art we must take account of this royal faculty. The great works of great masters, though simple, are not easy to understand. Their language must be studied as carefully as the language of Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare. Many men of great attainments in other respects, not giving themselves this necessary trouble, judge of art with the minds of children ; often drawn by what is homely, soft, or sweet, and oifended by the refinement and severity of proved excellence. There are, doubtless, many kinds of art, as there have been many artists, each endowed with gifts distinct, and his own. But all have their proper excellence, and about this excellence there is a unity of law in no way affected by the manifold instances of its application. To this excellence, in many forms, we shall revert from time to time. It is enough for the present to have set forth the great cause we shall have to plead in future' pages, and, with all diffidence for our own shortcomings, in describing works of art and venturing to form our judgment upon them, to beg for the patience, and claim the sympathy of our readers. The criticism of art, indeed, has grown into a special province of literature, with technical terms, almost a language of its own. And if we are right that great masters express themselves in characters only to be understood by study and experience, we cannot wonder if descriptions and decisions are often unsound and clothed in words borrowed but not mastered. We claim the sympathy then of our readers, not because we shall be doubtful of the conclusions we may have to express, but because we desire to share with them all the knowledge we have when we are forced to stop short of conclusions. CUPID : FLOUENTIXE SCULPTUHE, END OF FIFTEENTH CENTURr J WOEK OF MICHAEL ANGELO. {From the Original in Marhle in the South Kensington Museum.) THE TUOCADERO BUILDING. THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION.— I. A FTER the Exhibition o£ 1851— which Consort, and the darling wish of the promoters A attracted more than six millions of of the first great international gathering was visitors from every quarter of the globe to that such friendly competitions should brmg Hyde Park-had established the success of about universal peace, the Crimean War was these great "world's fairs/' France was the first raging throughout the whole period of the first THE PRINCE OF WALES S PAVILION. country to emulate our example upon a similar scale, and in a strange group of buildings clustered around the Palais de Tlndustrie, and stretching far away along the Seine, Paris welcomed the world in 1855. It will not be forgotten by croakers and the believers in ill- omens that, although the idea of the Prince Paris Exhibition, while now on the eve of another Exhibition at Paris the war-clouds again hang heavy over the East. The Paris Exhibition of 1867, held upon the same site as the present one, was the first of these great displays to pass away leaving no lasting record of its existence, and no permanent building to remind 6 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. us of its successes or its failures. The glass palace of 1851 still flourishes at Sydenham; one of the domes of Captain Fowke long crowned the summit of Muswell Hill ; the Palais de l^Industrie will for many a year use- fully maintain the reputation of the first Paris Exhibition ; but after all was over in 1867 the Champ de Mars was again converted into a sandy plain, and the huge gasometer-like structure wholly vanished. The Exhibition of 1878, if it serves no other purpose and achieves no greater success, will ever be held in grateful remembrance by Parisians as having given them the stately and enduring monument which now crowns the Trocadero, and which will doubtless rank as one of the grandest public edifices in the world. The architect, more than any of his brother artists, owes everything to position, and surely never was there a finer opportunity afforded for a noble building than is presented by the site which the first Napoleon selected for a palace for his son, the Place du Roi de Rome, on the topmost slope of the Trocadero. The Palais du Trocadero, designed by MM. Davioud and Bourdais, is in its main features, as will be seen by our illustration, a central hall flanked by two lofty towers, with a semi- circular colonnade sweeping up to it in well- rounded curves on either side. The style of architecture is Byzantine, with a dash of Lom- bardic Gothic in the enrichments ; the material is the beautiful cream-coloured Parisian stone, with belts of red sandstone judiciously in- troduced so as to give an air of richness, while avoiding the streaky appearance of those buildings where colour is thus used in Italy. Polychromatic decoration has further been attempted by the insertion of coloured mosaic- work in the frieze and over some of the arches. In the towers to the right and left of the great hall, vast lifts have been designed capable of ascending with sixty passengers at a time, and as the summits of these buildings soar far away above every other elevation in Paris, the view thus afforded is indeed mag- nificent. From an arched opening beneath the centre of the great hall upon the summit of the hill issues one of the largest artificial waterfalls ever constructed ; a constant stream of water pumped from the Seine dashes over a series of rock-cut ste23s, each of which has a fall of from six to eight feet, and thus finds its way back to the river, to be again lifted by steam-power to the level from which it originally started. The slopes of the Trocadero are quite alive with buildings. As we stand on the Jena bridge, which has been cleverly widened to accommodate the vast increase of traffic, we see a strange medley of structures crowding in on every side. To the extreme right a curious castellated enclosure, with a boldly-designed square tower, has been erected by the Algerian Government for its collections, while a smaller building on the far left has been fitted up by Persian decorators sent over expressly by the Shah. The Persian house, all the fittings in which have been forwarded from Teheran, contains in one of its upper rooms a most marvellous and elaborate work, whose equal it would be difficult to find in Europe. It consists of a ceiling formed of an almost infinite number of pendeutives, each of which is composed of innumerable small facets of looking-glass. The interior of such an apartment when lighted up at night must be dazzling beyond description, and recalls some of the stories of the caverns into which Aladdin descended with the wondrous lamp. Among the most noticeable of the buildings before us is the pavilion erected by the French Department of Forests, which contains speci- mens of nearly every variety of native building- woods. The design, which is from the hand of M. Etienne, is extremely graceful, and the building is most characteristic. It is impos- sible, much as we may admire these various buildings, not to be struck with the fact that their presence before us is unquestionably a sad mistake, for they shut out, from the best place from which to view it, one of the finest edifices in the world. The great central hall of the Trocadero is about thirty feet smaller in each direction than the Royal Albert Hall, though it greatly exceeds the latter in height. An organ has been constructed for it similar in every respect to the one recently sent to Manchester for the New Town Hall, and manufactured by the same THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION. 7 firm/ Messrs. Cavaile Coll. The hall can seat in comfort 5;,000 persons, and a truly inter- national series of concerts is promised us during the exhibition time. The choice of Mr. Arthur Sullivan to represent English music will ensure the due share of notice for the works of our own countrymen, and it is hoped that each Commission taking part in the Exhibition will give the Parisians a chance of judging of the skill of its native performers. In the galleries forming the wings to the main building is now S-athered, under the suTierintendence of M. de Longperrier, the most valuable collection ot archseology and art-history which could be obtained, by bringing together to one spot the choicest specimens of nearly every great museum and private cabinet in France. This so- called " retrospective exhibition alone affords a sufficient inducement for a visit to Paris, and will be generally appreciated ; but in all we have said hitherto we have not touched upon the Exhibition proper, which occupies a far humbler site, stretching away as she does at the feet of her proud sister-palace on the opposite bank of the river. Between the Seine and the main building of the Champ de Mars, a wide space has been retained which has been marvellously converted into flower-beds, greensward, and quiet wood- lands, in the manner so well known to French landscape gardeners. Where six months back we stumbled over a huge gravel-heap, we now find a charming wooded glen, whose sloping banks are shaded by trees, the growth, surely, of half a century. Where only last autumn we saw them spreading layer after layer of rubbish, there is now quite a poetical little pool, issuing from a rocky cavern grown over with ivy and climbing plants, and promising to be graceful with ferns. It is sad to think that in a few more months this charming landscape will all be swept away for the dull, tame level of the review-ground. Want of space has, however, caused this much-needed garden to be terribly built over, and quite a little town of chalets, kiosks, and pavilions has risen up between the river and the Exhibition building; a repetition of the same fault we have had to censure across the Seine. The iron and glass palace of M. Hardy has small claims to architectural merit. It has many very excellent features, and it is most conveniently placed and arranged for exhibition purposes. Externally, its tame and commonplace character is emphasised rather than otherwise by the trumpery plaster and zinc enrichments with which the facade has been bedizened : the glaring tile-decorations and the carton-pierre shields are worse than failures. It is much to be regretted that an attempt should have been made to convert honest iron construction into a semblance of solidity by such shams, and with the really fine permanent building oppo- site to them, the sheds on the Champ de Mars should have been left to tell their own tale. Every precaution should, in fact, have been taken to avoid most scrupulously all ap- pearance of rivalry with the Trocadero Palace, which cannot fail to be regarded by all the visitors to Paris in 1878 as the chief feature of the Exhibition. [To be continued.) THE land's end AND L0NOSHIP8 LIGHT. ARTISTS' HAUNTS. I.— Cornwall. The Cliffs. The Land's End. ^MONGST the artist's many desiderata is a good sketching-ground — good not only in esse but also in posse — scenes which are not only beautiful or terrible in themselves, but which, from some peculiarity of position, or some historic or legen- dary associations, will yield artistic results comparable to those which the hand of a master musician educes — under all most favouring conditions — from a well-tuned instrument. For though there be no "rift within the lute," and though it be ever so rightly tuned, yet time, circumstances, and perhaps, above all, associations, are as important elements in the development of music, as they are in the production of the poem, or the picture. And we are bold to say that, for the latter, all the required conditions may be found in that land of old romance, Cornwall, — the " land of the giants." It is proposed to deal with the attractions of Cornish landscape under three different divi- sions — the Cliffs, the Moors, and the Woods. And it may be at once admitted that in Corn- wall the first of these is pre-eminent for the purposes of the artist. Let us avail ourselves of the luxurious Great Western rail, and in about twelve hours we shall reach Penzance, the starting-point for the Land's End district. In this charming sub-tropical climate, tall helio- tropes, scarlet geraniums, fuchsias and camellias grow in the open air all the year round ; some filling the air with their rare perfumes, and others almost dazzling the eye mth the pro- fusion of their brilliant blooms. But Penzance itself, though in view of Milton's guarded mount," need not detain the artist. He should endeavour to find quarters either at one of the little inns at Sennen, St. Just, or Treryn, or at humble lodgings, which are sometimes to be obtained near Whitesand Bay. A glance at the map will show the relative positions and advantages of these places as head-quarters. Sennen and St. Just command the district between the Land's End and Cape Cornwall (said to be the only " cape " in England) ; whilst Treryn is a good base of operations for the coast scenery which hes between the stern granite headland of Tol Pedn Penwith and once beau- tiful Lamorna Cove. Whichever point he selects will afford subjects innumerable for that " Soul-soothing art which morning, noontide, even, Do serve with all their cliangeM pageantry." Miles of grey and purple cliffs, cushioned with sea-pinks, and bordered with golden furze and crimson heath, — stretches of yellow sands lining the " emerald crescent bays," — the silver sheen of the Atlantic, — and a changeful sky, — every- where await his pencil. Should the day prove very calm (as indicated in this slight sketch of the Land's End and Longships Light) he can hardly fail to recall Wordsworth's exquisite lines, familiar, but ever welcome to all true artists : — " How perfect was the calm ! It seemed no sleep, No mood which reason takes away, or brings; : I could have fancied that the mighty deep Was even the gentlest of all gentle things. ARTISTS^ HAUNTS.— CORNWALL. 9 Ah ! then if mine had been the painter's hand, To express what then I saw ; and add the gleam, The light that never was on sea or land, The consecration, and the poet's dream." At such a time the tempest-scarred cliffs of columnar granite smile in the sunshine^ decked in that subtle harmony of tints which grey moss and golden lichen afford^ relieved by shadows of a purer purple than was ever spread on palette; whilst^ as Charles .Kingsley says, at their base rolls in "the smooth Atlantic Fortunate is he who has an opportunity of enjoying a storm at the Land's End, when " The lightning, the fierce wind, and trampling waves " are at work, seeming maliciously bent on destroying the great breakwater which the God of Nature has placed here to guard the southern Cornish coast. At such a time, when the storm continues, the tenants of the Long- ships Light cannot be relieved for weeks ; and even in calms it is sometimes dangerous for PRADANACK POINT. swell, as if curling itself up to sleep at last within that sheltered nook — tired with its weary wanderings. Here is ample field for any " Prince of Chlorists V How a breeze changes the scene ! Red- sailed fishing-boats put out from the little cove on a whiffing " expedition for mackerel, and dance light-heartedly over apple-green waves, whose tints and forms compel an ex- clamation in praise of the fresh and cheerful truthfulness with which Hook has depicted many such a scene : the breeze has hardly arrived before a ground swell rises, telling of an Atlantic storm, which may have taken place days ago and hundreds of miles awayj and the waves — though there is still but slight motion in the air — break upon the van- guard of England in "measured cadences of thimder.^'' them to go outside the lighthouse door, lest the "cruel, crawling foam" lick them off the slippery rocks on which the men seek to exercise their cramped limbs. Now the artist perceives how no trees grow on the wind- whipped moorlands in the rear of the cliffs ; or, if some stunted thorn has dared to assert its existence amid such furious blasts as here some- times prevail, see how it piteously flings its arms towards the east, as if appealing for deliverance from its tyrant ! The Land-'s End is a wonderful place for studying what our greatest of word-painters finely calls " the disorder of the surges." Here, says Ruskin, "every one of them, divided and entangled among promontories as it rolls, and beaten back post by post from walls of rock on this side and that side, recoils like the defeated division of a great army, throwing all 10 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. behind it into disorder, breaking up the suc- ceeding waves into vertical ridges, which, in their turn, yet more totally shattered upon the shore, retire in more hopeless confusion, until the whole surface of the sea becomes one dizzy whirl of rushing, writhing, tortured undirected rage, bounding and crashing, and coiling in an anarchy of enormous power, sub- divided into myriads of waves, of which every one is not, be it remembered, a separate surge, but part and portion of a vast one, actuated by eternal power, and giving in every direction the mighty undulation of impetuous line, which glides over the rocks and writhes in the wind, overwhelming the one and piercing the other with the form, fury, and swiftness of a sheet of lambent fire." One feature of especial interest on this part of the English coast should not be overlooked : CAVE AT MULLYON. — it has been seized and turned to good account by the late Samuel Cook and by J. G. Philp, who have perhaps rendered more truthfully than any other artists the cliff scenery of Corn- wall. That feature consists of the numerous islets, often bearing fantastic forms, (and names as grotesque and suggestive as their forms,) which fringe the coast and tell of days that are no more, when they themselves were parts of the mainland, portions of that legendary, sub- merged " sweet land of Lyonesse " where, in Arthur's last fight — " All day long the noise of battle roU'd Among the mountains by the western seas." This is now a great tract of water, still bearing the name of " Lyonesse " or " Lethowstow,'" and lying between the Land's End and the Scilly Isles, which — though twenty-five miles off — are to be seen from the mainland in clear weather. The Scilly Isles do not afford good sketching-ground, though very interesting in many other respects. Descend into Whitesand Bay and a fresh set of subjects invite the sketcher's skill ; some of the best points are near Vellan Dreath, "The Mill on the Sands," where a gallant old miller and his boys once beat off the crew of a Spanish privateer. But it would be well to commence this expedition at Sennen Cove, about a mile from the " Church Town," passing the little " town place " of Mayon ; then there are nearly two miles of beach before you, and the only difficulty as to subjects will be to know on which of the many to begin. A different variety of rock comes in at this part of the coast — viz., slate — a ridge of which runs out from the cove to the Longships, and the junction of this rock with the granite will afford an interesting study to both artist and geologist. Nor can the unusually fine examples of raised beaches along Whitesand Bay fail to attract the attention of the latter. On no account should any one who is in search of the beautiful omit to delight his eyes with the glimpses of Fairyland to be found in some of the rock-pools at low water. There are some capital lines of Southey's, in his " Curse of Kehama," which give a faint notion of these dainty sea-gardens : — " And here were coral bowers, And grots of madrepores, And banks of sponge as soft and fair to eye As e'er was mossy bed Whereon the wood-nymphs he With languid limbs in summer's sultry hours. Here, too, were living flowers Which, like a bud compacted, Their purple cups contracted. And now in open blossom spread." No attempt seems ever to have been made to depict on canvas these marvellous lovelinesses; yet there can be little doubt that, if adequately treated, the innovation would soon find a per- manent place amongst the representations of THE DUDLEY GALLERY. 11 fruits^ flowers, birds^ nests, and fung-i, with which we are so familiar. The finest cliff scenery proper, however, re- mains to be seen. It lies southward and east- ward of the Land's End, and the finest part may be said to commence at Pradanack Point, whose basalt-like granite rocks so enraptured Turner. This is barely a mile from Sennen village. Clambering along slippery sheepwalks, whilst the startled sea- birds scream as if trying to frighten you into a false step and a plunge into the abyss, Nanjizal Bay is soon near at hand, with beauties all its own — a falling stream, and a rent in the clifEs of Pendour Point which is sometimes called " The Song of the Sea." Next in order, surmounted by its " peculiar diadem," is " Tol Pedn,'-" the holed headland of Pen- with (as this division of Cornwall is called); best seen from its base, which can be easily reached by a moderately good climber at any time of the tide. Having reached the bottom of the cliff the eye is surprised by the stupendous masses of rock, crowned with granite pinnacles that pierce the sky; or, to use another comparison, like gigantic organ-pipes whose music is the whistling of the wild west wind and the diapason of the waves. Picture after picture is seen, each more beautiful than the last. Round the headland lies the picturesque little " Cove of Shelter," Porthgwarrah ; and then comes Porth- curnow, with its magnificent rocks and fine view of the famous Logan Rock on Treryn (pr. Treen) Dinas, " the fortified site," four miles from Sennen. Here the unusually bright colour of the rhomboidal blocks of granite which build up the great headland — " tempest- buffeted, citadel-crowned" — covered in parts with byssus, afford fine studies; whilst the waves, viewed under favourable circumstances from above, seem composed of huge moving sapphires and emeralds. Between this point and Penzance LION ROCK, WITH MULLYON IN THE DISTANCE. the coast-line diminishes in interest, although the views across Mount's Bay eastward are varied and extensive. But, attractive as the Land's End un- doubtedly is, we must not forget the serpentine cliffs and the splendid scenery about MuUyon, in the Lizard district (which we have some- what anticipated in this paper) ; the tremendous precipices of Bedruthan ; and the iron-bound coast which stretches northward from Tre- barwith Strand and Tintagel. These must, however, be reserved for another article. Walter H. Teegellas. THE DUDLEY GALLERY. ¥E cannot call to mind a more uniformly excellent gathering on these walls than the present fourteenth general exhibition of water-colour drawings. In landscapes the col- lection is unusually strong. Starting with the two works of Mr. Tom Lloyd, it will, we think, be found that the true principle of landscape is always aimed at, if not always attained. The poetic side of a scene has been taken and pre- sented to us, filtered through the mind of the artist, neither idealised out of all knowledge, nor reproduced with a crudeness Dame Nature herself never manifests. "-Fast Falls the Even- tide" is an idyl of home. In an English cottage THE MAGAZINE OF ART. garden sits a grandam with a little child. The sun has westered, but there still lingers in the sky the pale primrose twilight known only to these islands;, and by its light we see two lovers looking over a landscape as wide as their hopes, as pleasant as their thoughts. There is no sound in the air save the prattle of the child, the murmur of the lovers^ voices, or the whirr of the swallows as they wing their flight home- wards through the clear sky, or twitter round the cottaore eaves. There seems to us a rare charm in this landscape as English as the word of words — Home. " Up the River " is a transcript of many a bit on the Thames, with -the towing-path and the pollards. A boat is moored to the bank as two dainty girls, in coquettishly cool muslins, stand waiting for the rapidly approaching figure in flannels, which comes on to carry into pi'actice the pleasant line, " Youth at the prow and Pleasure at the helm." Mr. Ernest Waterlow contributes five works, the most prominent of which are " A River- side House," red-tiled and picturesque, reflected in the cool river, on which a punt lazily floats ; haffffard and house throw their shadows on the waters, and the time is the gloaming ; and " Henley-on-Thames," a charming version of a charming scene. " The Moon is up, and yet it is not Night," with its two figures strolling homewards through the meadow path, is a very tender little gem, by Miss Alice Havers (Mrs. Morgan). Mrs. Helen Allingham in "The Robin," gives a cottage scene, Meissonier-like in its microscopic minuteness, with yet some touches that recall Birket Foster. In the fore- ground are the cottage, an old woman and child, a blackbird in a cage, and the red-breasted hero of the painting. In the distant fields are seen sheep browsing, and a man and dog coming along the path that leads both to home. All Mrs. AUingham^s verve is preserved, writ small. " Saving the Turf, Co. Mayo," by Mr. Albert Hartland, is a study in browns. Tl\e melan- choly dreary bog for once in the year is instinct with life, as the farmers and peasants who have the " privilege are cutting and " stacking " the peat for themselves and " the agent." It must have been from such a scene as this that the Premier drew his ideal of " The Island by the Melancholy Ocean ; " bleaker than a high- land moor, more weird than a Devonshire tor, it is the very dreariness of desolation. Widely varying from this is " Under the Bridge of the Baretiri, at Venice," by Vicenzo Cabianca, with the dull green sluggish waters, the greenish weather-worn bridge, the black gondola, and the light green boat-posts, re- lieved by the patch of sunshine that falls on the water door-way of the house by the canal. Another contrast is "The Back Gate of the Puerta de Justicia, Granada," by Gustave Gillman, with its strong sunlight beating on the worn and fissured brick-work, executed with marvellous detail, on which only a frag- ment of the blue arabesque tiles remains to tell of its ancient splendour. " Gathering Clouds, January, 1878," by Mr. Walter Severn, is a seascape with a moral — grey sky, grey sea, and the Channel fleet ready, if need be, to show that though our ships are iron- clads, our sailors are still hearts of oak. Mr. Arthur Severn furnishes three works : — " Boulogne Boat entering Folkestone Har- bour in a Storm," fighting its way through the grey driving sea, with still greyer clouds overhead, is a painting that grows on one from its very truth. " Cromer after Sunset,'" with its blending of ruddy light and grey shadows, and its wet sands, recalls the scene in " Enoch Arden." Space will permit but a few words for Mr. Poynter's exquisitely finished " Moonlight in Funchal Bay, Madeira," and Mr. G. A. Storey's sketch, "On the River near Guildford," which we trust to see re- produced on a larger scale. We can but note amongst the landscapes " Blooming Gorse on a Surrey Common,'''' by Mr. F. Slocombe ; " Bury, near Arundel," by Mr. W. F. Stocks ; " An Ancient Cinque Port," by Mr. J. L. Henry ; " 'Tween Strath and Moor," and "Autumn Mist," by Mr. Henry Moore ; " The Lions of the Capitol," by Mr. John Fulleylove ; " Lawn Market, Edinburgh," by Miss Louise Rayner ; " A Breezy Day on the Maas," by Mr. G. S. Walters ; " A Moor- land," by Mr. W. P. Burton ; and a work with a similar title, by Mr. Joseph Knight j two scenes in Lincoln, by Mr. J ohn O'Connor ; "The River Blyth, Suffolk," by Mr. G. F. "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN." (Drawn on Wood Louise JopUng, fvom Tier Picture in the Dudley Gallery, 1878.) 14 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. Glennie ; and a little sketch, " Near Cranleigh, Surrey/'' by Mr. Charles Rowbotham. Foremost amongst the figure pieces we must place the subject of our illustration, " It might have been/-* by Mrs. Louise Jopling. The colour is charming in the strong black, white, red, and greens, that tell against the golden background. There is tenderness and thought in every touch of this exquisite work, from the pale, pretty face, with half -parted lips, that leans wearily against the Japanese cabinet, the gift, perhaps, of him whose letters remain as the sole relics of "what might have been." Has he gone down to the sea in ships ? The accessories of quaint Eastern jars and screen would say, " Yes." Will he return, will the sea give up its dead ? The mourning-dress would say, " No." Another tale of the sea is " Will ony Man gi^e me ony More," by Mr. Hamilton Macallum. A brawny fisherman kneels on the beach beside his basket, the fish are spread daintily out to catch the pm-chasers, and behind, the boat rocks easily on the dancing waters. In "A Seaweed Boat," you see it held down astern by the rope that is towing the dead weight of " vraick " for the seaside farm. " Making it Hot," with the melan- choly clown, his friend the property man, and the little fairy queen, by Mr. J. A. Fitzgerald, is a well-told story of the birth of a pantomime-poker, of poor Paillasse, and the business of pleasure. Mr. John Tenniel furnishes the finished sketch of his " Light- ing the Beacon;" and Mr. Stacy Marks the quaint " The King was in his Count- ing House." Mr. Dollman in " The Canine Esculapius," and Mr. Poncy in " The Queen of the Den," give the humorous, as Mr. Percy Macquoid, in " Faithful unto Death," gives the tragic side of poor doggie's story. Wonderfrd in the colouring and texture of the groups of vegetables, and wooden in the figures, is " Gardner's Shop," which many will recognise as by Mr. W. Hough. Mr. John Parker presents a forcible likeness of Mr. E. J. Gregory, and Mr. Walter Crane in his portrait of the Hon. Mrs. Lyulph Stanley, in her amber dress and statuesque pose, recalls to mind Alfred de Musset's lines on the Marchesa d'Amegui : — " Au sein bruni, Pale comme une belle nuit d'automne." Mr. Frank Dillon is an Orientalist to the end of his nails, and his " J apanese Arrangement," with the storks on screen, the flowers, the cloisonne, and the blue Kago ware is of the East, Eastern ; whilst the work of a young lady, daughter of a great sculptor. Miss Constance Philip, " Yellow Chrysanthemums," boldly pitted against a golden background, is as strong in colour as marvellous in relief. With this brief summary we must conclude our re- marks upon a gathering over which we would willingly have lingered longer. H. W. S. OUR LIVING ARTISTS, EDWAED MATTHEW WAED, E.A. 0 T was Macaulay who realised the great fact that his- tory is not made up of the prominent events of sieges and treaties, of coronations and royal marriages, but of the rehearsals of all these behind-the-scenes of the tragic-comedy of La Vie Humaine. From broad-sheets and ballads, from little known books by less known authors. who were honest enough to speak their mind because they had nothing to hope from dis- honesty, he wove the magic cloth of England's history. And as we learn more of a country from the narrow byways than from the broad highways, so do we gain from the great men and women of other days, unwigged and slip- pered, the picturesque prospects of a sometimes prosaic past. The subject of our little monograph, when he had ranged himself, for, like all artists, OUR LIVING ARTISTS— E. M. WARD, R.A. 15 he had made tentative efforts in various direc- tions before he found his groove, read history by a similar light, and from the boudoir, the ante-room, and the poet's attic gleaned ma- terials for the series of historico-genre pictures which are identified with his name. Like Joseph William Mallord Turner, Mr. Ward is a His father, too, early recognised the art proclivities of the lad, and fostered his incli- nations by procuring for him lessons in oil painting. The natural result of this playing pieces when he should have been practising scales, was that young Ward spoiled many canvases THE LAST SLEEP OF ARGYLE. (One of the Frescoes in the House 0/ Commons Corridor.) native of the Bailiwick of the city of West- minster. Born at Pimlico in the lull that came after the great storm, the year 1816, little Ward early developed a taste for drawing, which taste his parents, with rare sense, encouraged. " Mother," says Thackeray, " stands in the place of God with the little child," and in a letter written many years since to the veteran editor of the Art Journal, Mr. Ward feelingly alluded to the dawn of his art life. It may be here said, " natural good taste " was what might only have been expected from the sister of Horace and James Smith, of the " Rejected Addresses and " Brambletye House." and wasted much colour. At this time, for- tunately, Chantrey stepped in to the rescue, and by his advice the young student was set down to the alphabet of art, the study of the antique, and the dry labour of anatomical drawings. In 1834, young Ward, then in his eighteenth year, was received into the Royal Academy as a student, Wilkie standing as his art sponsor. In the same year his first exhibited work was hung on academic walls, the portrait of Adelphi O. Smith in the character of Don Quixote. In 1836, he betook himself to Rome, the Mecca of all young artists, where for three years he devoted himself to the 16 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. drudgery of art. Returning' to England, and taking Munich on his way, he studied under Cornelius, a fortunate omen for his future success in frescoes. In 1838, he received the distinguished honour of The Silver Medal " in the class of historical composition, from the Academy of St. Luke, and in the same year he painted his Cimabue and Giotto " and " La Flcur^s Departure from Montreuil.^'' In 1845, he exhibited his very fine " Dr. Johnson in the Ante-room of Lord Chesterfield,'''' which conveys to the full the insults that prompted the indignant refusal of a dedication to the courtly Chesterfield, which now forms a prominent feature of the Vernon Gallery, and which we think it is not breaking confidence (From tlic Portrait by G. Richmond, E. A.) exhibited at the Royal Academy on the return to England of the 'artist in the following year. For two or three years it was a question of reculer pour mieux saider, little being produced but the "Napoleon in the Prison of Nice,-'-' purchased by the Iron Duke for the gallery at Apsley House. Five years later came the first of a long series of artistic successes in the " Dr. Johnson Reading the MS. of the 'Vicar of Wake- field.^ •'•' From this time Mr. Ward has rarely been an absentee on Academy walls. 1844< saw his " Goldsmith as a Wandering Musician " — " E emote, unfriended, melancholy, sIoav, Now by the lazy Scheldt, or wandering Po " — to mention will be reproduced fi'om the burin of Mr. Lumb Stocks, as the Art Union Engraving of 1879. In 1816, Mr. Ward was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Academy, and in this year was exhibited " The Fall of Clarendon," a reduced copy having been made for Mr. Vernon. The next year saw the " South Sea Bubble," a marvellous photographic version of one of the most prominent instances of human credulity, vivid as a page of Dr. Charles Mackay. From this time it is but necessary to catalogue the more pronounced works of the artist : " Highgate Fields during the Great Fire of 1666;" the THE QUEEN OP PRUSSIA AND NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. (Mr. Ward's Academj; Picture, 1877.) 18 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. " Interview . between Charles II. and Nell Gwynne " — - " Pretty and witty, And with much that was good in her, Poor Nell Gwynne " — " De Foe and the MS. of Robinson Crusoe/' written in the old house in Church Street, Stoke Newington, improved off the face of the earth by the enterprise of modern builders; and " Young Benjamin West Drawing the Baby in the Cradle," an event, we may here say, which took place in a house still standing in the pretty county of Chester, Pennsylvania. 1850 saw the " James II. Receiving the In- telligence of the Landing of the Prince of Orange;" and in 1851 were produced "The Royal Family of France in the Prison of the Temple," and " Charlotte Corday led to Execu- tion." This has not been the only incident in the life of the fair young Normande, Marie Anne Charlotte Corday d'Armans, Mr. Ward has illustrated, for his " Last Toilette of Char- lotte Corday " stands among the most tender of his works. The scene is the prison cell of the Conciergerie. Monsieur de Paris, with his fatal shears, hacks away at those bright tresses, lest they might dull the edge of " the people's razor," and with the cold steel foreshadowing its sharper presence, Charlotte Corday sits as M. Hauer gives a last look at the fair young face he has limned. The descendant of Cor- neille furnished in her own person an ending far sadder than any of his histrionic heroines, and Charlotte Corday shares with Beatrice de' Cenci, as M. Hauer with Guido Reni, tlie sad honour of a prison portrait. In fact, in most of Mr. Ward's works there is a tone of sadness, and, in evidence, we would but note two of his well-known frescoes in the Palace of West- minster, " The Execution of Montrose," in which the last scene is portrayed with all the verve that distinguished the pen of the last of the Cavaliers, Professor Aytoun, and " The Last Sleep of Argyle," his deadly enemy. The March of 1855 saw Mr. Ward's eleva- tion to full Academic honours, in succession to Mr. J. J. Chalon, and from that period to last year were produced the two water-glass frescoes we have named, as well as " Alice Lisle," " Landing of Charles II.," and the Acquittal of the Seven Bishops," as well as the oil " Marie Antoinette Parting with the Dauphin in Prison." " The Visit to the Tomb of Napoleon," and the Nephew of his Uncle Receiving the Order of the Garter, were painted for Her Majesty in 1859, as well as " Marie Antoinette Listening to the Reading of the Act of her Accusation." " The Ante- chamber at Whitehall while the Second Charles lay Dying," a fine satire, with something of Swift's mordancy in the brush, was given in 1861; and in the year 1803 "Foundling Orphans in Hogarth's Studio," looking at the likeness of their benefactor, brave, single- souled, warm-hearted Captain Coram. " The Night of Rizzio's Murder," and " Jeanie Deans and the Duke of Argyle and Greenwich," saw light in 1865 ; " The Earl of Leicester and Amy Robsart," in 1866;" " Grinling Gibbons' First Introduction at Court," in 1869; " Baxter and Jeffreys," and " The Daughter of a King," in 1870 ; and " Doctor Goldsmith," in the immortal plum velvet, in 1871. 1873 witnessed renewed energy in " The Eve of St. Bartholomew," and " Charles IX. and Admiral Coligny." " Charles II. and Lady Rachel Russell," and the powerful " Last Sleep of Marie Antoinette," belong to 1874. In the latter the daughter of the Habsburgh and the wife of the Bourbon lying pale, worn, and wearied on her poor pallet in her poorer robes, with prison fare untasted by her side, is the realisation of brave Raleigh's lines : — " Sceptre and crown may tumble down, And in the grave be equal made With the poor crooked scythe and spade." " The window that looks into eternity " will be indeed a release for the Widow Capet. This year Mr. Ward does not exhibit, his three large cartoons for the Royal Tapestry Manufactory at Windsor occupying his entire attention. In conclusion, it is but necessary to note that the two last frescoes in the House are from Mr. Ward's hands, " Monk declaring for a Free Parliament," and "William and ]\Iary receivinp- the Houses of the Lords and Com- mons." We have engraved two representative VICISSITUDES pF ART TREASURES. 19 works of Mr. Ward's earlier and latest manner, " The Last Sleep of Argyle/' and the " Qneen Louisa and Napoleon/' in last year's Academy. At all banquets the toast of "The Ladies" is held over till nigh the end, possibly as a lunne louche, for which reason the writer has refrained till now from any allusion to Mr. Ward's marriage with a lady whose canvases divide honours with those of her husband, and who can boast of being the granddaughter of our English Paul Potter — James Ward. Hugh Willoughby Sweny. VICISSITUDES OP ART TREASURES. By E. H. SoDEN-SiiiTH, M.A., T.S.A., &c. HE interest of vicissitude ! Who is there insensible to the spell which vicissitude, with its almost inevitable yoke-fellow mystery, exercises on the ima- gination ? — whether it be some restless career of human destiny ; " the battles, sieges, fortunes ' that 1 have pass'd the " most disas- trous chances, the moving accidents, by flood and field;" and all that won fair Desdemona. Or the still more potent vicissitudes of ancient families ; as of that race represented by Sir Thomas Holte, who lorded it in the seventeenth century at Astoij Hall, near Birmingham, and entertained King Charles in stately fashion. So high did the old baronet hold himself that he could scarcely, even by royal intercession, be persuaded to admit the daughter of John King, Bishop of London — James the First's "King of Preachers "—as fit mate for a son of his house. Yet, hut a little time since, the heir to that ancient name and title wrought as a common blacksmith. Those men of Birmingham, whom his haughty ancestor hated and despised as turbulent Round- heads, had literally entered into his inheritance —Aston Hall and Park are the property of the town of Birmingham. The'pathos or the moral of such vicissitudes needs no enforcement; and thus, perhaps, enlarging the boundary of this sympathy we extend it to inanimate things, and view with interest such as bear upon them the memorial of many generations — "steps worn by the feet that now are silent;" treasures once of priceless worth, next spurned and forgotten, ^ffain recovered and enshrined with reverent care. The great diamond, which was cast aside as a common stone by an ignorant soldier after the fatal Battle of Morat, in which Charles the Bold of Burgundy was overthrown, found its way again to a princely treasury, after havmg helped the fortune of more than one keeper, and caused the death of at least one faithful guardian. The gold ring which belonged to the Princess, sister of King Alfred the Great, turned up not long since in a field near York; was hung by the farmer round his hound's neck ; and, having survived the rough adventures of a farm dog, fortunately fell into the hands of a skilful antiquary, who has deposited for the present this curious memorial in the secure resting-place of the British Museum. But it is not alone on battle-fields or remote farmlands that chance has abandoned such relics; still greater treasures of art have from time to time been disentombed from the for- gotten hiding-places of ancient country homes. Circumstances strange enough, moreover, have occasionally attended the finding of such things. Take the following as an example : — In one famous historic house, Hatfield, in Hertfordshire, still the home of a family that had already risen to greatness in the time when Elizabeth "fut roi," some rooms, at least, must long have escaped search; for in a disused chamber, beneath the bed, there was discovered, not many years ago, a chest, old and worn and of mean appearance. When it was opened, a case or large casket was found within, elabo- rately ornamented, bound with silver, and of old Spanish workmanship. On lifting the lid of this second case, it revealed what proved indeed a treasure-trove : vessels of engraved rock-crystal, mounted in gold and enamel; spoons and forks of the same, jewelled with 20 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. pearls and rubies and sapphires — all of exquisite Italian work^ of the ag-e of Benvenuto Cellini - — unharmed, beautiful as ever, safe in their quiet resting-place, while centuries had passed, and not only the skilful hand that had fashioned them, but those for whom they were wrought with such luxury of cost and refinement of art. long familiar with the antiquities of Italy, was surprised to observe the effect produced on an accomplished and learned American by the first sight of a fragment of Roman ruin. The travelled Englishman had seen such fragments in his own countiy and Gaul; in Spain, in Africa, on the Rhine, in Dacia, KOCIv CRYSTAL CUP, MOUNTED IN GOLD AND ENAMEL ; SPOON AND FORK, GOLD MOUNTED AND JEWELLED, ITALIAN, SIXTEENTH CENTURY ; PRESERVED IN HATFIELD HOUSE. and those also who had laid them in this for- gotten security, were remembered no more. Were they s^^oils from the Spanish main ? Were they some royal gift : for their value and splendour are princely ? Did the owner say, "I will take them out to-morrow,''^ and had no to-morrow ? What was his secret ? and did it die with him ? No doubt, other interests, and those of various kinds, cling round works of art ; and most of us are ready, in theory at least, if not in fact, to acknowledge some of them. A friend of the writer who had himself been in Greece, and throughout Italy; but the stranger from a new country was now for the first time brought face to face with a tangible record of the dominion of that stern race whose power exceeded all that was ever known by the name of power npon earth, and suddenly and deeply he realised the full meaning of such a record. That power of vivid realisation is not granted to all, but for the most part some degree of interest is acknowledged. The sculpture that we are assured is ancient Greek ; the carving which is proved to be early Florentine ; the VICISSITUDES OF ART-TREASURES. 21 painting that belongs to the Venetian, the Roman, the Bolognese, or any other famous school : these works boldly lay claim to our admiration, and are expected to command our interest. Not less do we grant the claim that antiquity alone confers ; a brick from Egypt or Babylon, a potsherd from a Phoenician tomb, a clay vessel thought to be as old as Troy, seem entitled to respect. Once more, the claim of intense interest is advanced for objects not necessarily either artistic or very ancient — :Charlemagne^s sword Nelson's coat, and, could it be found, the pen with which Shakespeare wrote Hamlet ! All relic- worship hangs on this interest, and those who trade on it will continue to furnish, to the end of time, food for the credu- lous and point to the satirist. The notable American showman had his jest about it, and got his answer, when his countryman asked to see, in Barnum's Museum, " the spear that killed Captain Cook." " Oh ! you will find it in the next room." " Guessed as much," retorted the shrewd Yankee ; " never knew a respectable collection that didn't own it." However, putting aside these imagina- tions, we confine ourselves, in the history of art-treasures, to that which is perhaps the most varied, certainly the most full of human sympathy — the interest of vicissitude. It may well be imagined that, just in propor- tion to the antiquity of an object of art, so the likelihood of its having to endure much vicissi- tude is increased — unless, indeed, it be as im- movable as a pyramid of Egypt. Unfortunately, the long history too often fails to unfold itself, and we find we have to deal with a literally himeiiiorlal antiquity. Nevertheless, striking examples do occasionally occur ; and in their presence we cannot but acknowledge how im- pressive to the imagination is the moment when we vividly realise all that is implied by " the lapse of many generations." It is to Egypt we seem to turn instinctively in order to find such examples — to Egypt, whose antiquity had run its course before that of other famous nations had begun ; and one of her most ancient works — and that truly a work of noble art — was seen but a few years ago under circumstances of strange vicissitude. In the Great Exhibi- tion at Paris, in 1867, ■e STATUE Ol- SHAE-KA, FOUNDER OF THE SECOND PYRAMID : ANCIENT EGYPTIAN. was shown a seated figur of heroic size, repre- senting the monarch Shaf-ra — the Kephren of Diodorus Siculus — ■ founder of the second pyramid. It is sculp- tured out of a block of very hard dark stone, of somewhat crystalline tex- ture, known as diorite, is in almost perfect pre- servation, and of contem- porary workmanship : that is to say, it is one of the oldest statues known to exist in the world, for Kephren was the most important of the monarchs of the fifth dynasty, and reigned 4,000 years ago. It was found at the bottom of a sacred well in the ruined temple of Horem-Khou, near the group of great pyramids, opposite the Sphynx ; and it was lent by the Khedive from his museum at Cairo — the most striking among many extra- ordinary illustrations of the arts of Egypt as they flourished in remotest antiquity. As a piece of sculpture, it is an amazing performance; the artist seems to have played with the difficulties of his stubborn material, so entirely are they subdued to his purpose. 22 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. The modelling of the squared chest and shoul- ders, the steady poise of the erect head, the vigorous face — a portrait with a soul vivifying it — the kingly enthroned attitude, the admirable detail of the limbs and feet, truthful and ner- vous, yet magnificently idealised : all this, and more that needed to be seen in order to know and feel its power, stamped this almost primeval work as a triumph of the art of its nameless and forgotten sculptor. It represents the monarch seated in majestic and living repose, in the attitude even then established as a tradition of art ; his form rigid, his hand resting on his knee, his gaze fixed and intent — a truly marvellous ideal of human majesty. In presence of this proof of the genius of a perished race one felt humbled ; its sway was undisputed, its impressiveness was almost terrible. Before this stately and im- passive image one seemed to see the kings of the earth rise up from their thrones and bow doAvn to do homage to one greater than they. His toils were ended, and he had been trium- phant ; his battle of life was fought, and his was the victory ; judgment was past, immortality won, and he had entered on " everlasting passionless repose." But in strange contrast to all that his living eye had looked upon was that scene to which this, his imperishable monument, had been transported. At the feet of the stern colossal image surged the feverish life of Paris in the nineteenth century — haste and unrest, intense realisation of the present ; the stirring of the turbulent tide of eager existence ; but where is the heed of futurity and immortality, and of that just judgment to which even the kings of remote Egypt were trained to bow ? One might fitly quote here the story of that last Egyptian art monument which has at length found its way to our shores ; but it is perhaps needless to do more than sketch the wonderful history of " Cleopatra^s Needle,''^ when 30,000 copies of the well-told narrative are already in circulation. Nearly a thousand miles up the Nile, at Syene or Assouan, are the great quarries where the obelisk was, so to speak, born ; hence its stone is called Syonite : a splendidly compact, hard, and durable variety of granite. The vast rocks in which these quarries were worked, extending in rugged ledges beneath the broad stream of the Nile, form what is known as the first cataract, after which the abounding river flows placidly on for its thousand miles till it enters the sea at Alexandria. From Syene, about 3,500 years ago, the monolith was borne to the Greek " Heliopolis," the City of the Sun, called by its name " On " in the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, and was placed, with three others, in front of the great temple of that sacred city. The life of many ancient nations began and ended while the massive column set up by the Pharaoh Thothmes III. bore witness to his glory and that of his race. For 1,600 years it stood, till the all -conquering Roman bore it with its fellows to Alexandria, and re- erected two of the splendid monoliths in front of the " Caesarium," or temple in honour of the Caesars ; every vestige of which seems now to have disappeared. This was under the reign of Augustus, twenty-three years before the birth of Christ; and Cleopatrar's memory^ being fresh in the land which she so fiercely strove to rule, men called them " Cleopatra^'s Needles.-*^ One still stands, and its bronze supports bear the inscription which has revealed the date of their erection. For centuries the other lay prostrate on the sands, but its vicissi- tudes were not over; another 3,000 miles of journey has transported it to our shores, after a terribly narrow escape of finding a grave in the stormy Bay of Biscay. What may await it in the future in these restless days, when decades of years seem to produce more changes than ancient centuries, who shall say ? But not alone have these great works of Egyptian art, their statues, and their vast obelisks, been subjected to vicissitude ; the minuter treasures of their goldsmiths and their gem-engravers afford scarcely less curious ex- amples. An ardent and successful exjjlorer was carrying on his researches some years ago in the great necropolis near Thebes. He found in a tomb the remains of a very ancient mummy, in a state of unusual decay and dilapidation ; the wooden outer case was almost wholly fallen to decay, the inner " carton " cover Avas also greatly injured, but still on both were traceable HALF-HOURS IN THE STUDIOS. 23 the skilfully drawn and carefully-finished hiero- glyphics of one of the best periods of ancient Egyptian art. The mummy belonged to the period of the eighteenth or nineteenth dynasty^ and as work- men proceeded to remove the coverings^ almost crumbling to dust, they summoned him to note a discovery. Round the neck, down to the breast, hung a necklace of beads, carved in stone and covered with symbols, and from it depended the sacred scarabseus resting on the breast, the emblem of immortality; the neck- lace had forty-nine beads, and as he tried to lift them the thread on which they were strung gave way and the whole fell asunder. All were carefully gathered and treasured, with many another curious and valuable relic. Ultimately his collection was conveyed to France, and thence to London; and not long since, while minutely scrutinising these in- teresting beads, he discovered engraved on one of them the "cartouche"^ of Thothmes III. — that is, the seal-shaped or oval figure within which are enclosed the hieroglyphic characters indicating the title of that Pharaoh. Thus, after a lapse of some 3,500 years, this elaborately wrought decoration of one who, it may be, was among the officers of a royal palace, has revealed in a strange country the name and title of the monarch whom he served. Among the many arts in which the ancient Egyptians were proficient must be reckoned that of the goldsmith. They were among the most skilful artists in gold that the world has seen at any period : in some special processes they were unsurpassed either by Greeks, Etruscans, or by the Celtic workmen ; notably in their soldering and chasing of the precious metals. It will, there- fore, be readily understood that any memorials of their gold- work are eagerly sought and keenly appreciated by experts. Some forty years ago, when the exploration of Egypt was not quite so common, nor access to the country so easy as at present, an English traveller, endowed with an intuitive perception of excellence in art, had the good fortune to acquire a splendid gold signet ring. It had then but recently been discovered, and it proved to be the signet of one of the early Pharaohs. Unwilling to expose so precious an object to the risk of being carried about with him while pursuing his journey through Syria, he packed it in his heavy baggage, and shipped it to the port which was his ultimate destination. The vessel fell into the hands of pirates, and all that he had collected, including the ring, disappeared. As it was a signet of pure and massive gold, the chance of its escaping the melting-pot seemed so small that he naturally gave up all hope of ever again seeing it. It had, however, happened that while in Egypt he had taken the opportunity of show- ing it to another traveller, an English artist, learned, moreover, in the antiquities of the country, who thoroughly understood its interest and value. Some years passed ; the artist was then resident in London, and known as an Egyptologist. One day a foreign dealer in curiosities called upon him, and, to his astonish- ment, ofiEered for sale the identical ring that had been shown to him in Egypt, and that he, of all men, was perhaps most competent to iden- tify. He secured it, and it became once more the prized possession of its original purchaser, in whose hands it still remains. {To be continued.) HALF-HOURS II "VTOW that Nature, discarding the sober hues 1-M of winter, fills her palette with primrose yellows, and shades of violet, decorating the squares of our grey city with marvellous dainty pink of almond blossoms, so that they look for all the world like Japanese fans of huge design. Now that London is struggling hard THE STUDIOS. to be beautiful, our thoughts naturally turn to art, and we long for a sight of the studios from whence emanate the productions that genius and labour have succeeded in creating. So we wend our way to artistic quarters, where the artists, a kindly race, permit us to spend a pleasant half -hour in their society. 24 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. Mr. F. Leighton, R.A., whose studio in its arrangement is a picture in itself, has completed a large work, the subject of which is taken from Holy Writ. It represents Elijah in the wilderness, ministered to by an angel. The prophet, half sitting, half lying, with arms stretched wearily above his head, is sleeping, dreaming strange dreams perhaps, whilst at his side, stranger than any dream, is the fact of the heaven-born messenger l)ringing to him food and wine. The fair form, whose strong pinions, opened wide, seem eager to bear her away from the earth and its miseries, stands gazing with pitying eye upon the sleeping figure of the man of God. In her raiment and her wings she has brought colours from her celestial home. Clad in roseate hue, bathed in a sunshine of light, she is in delightful contrast to the half -nude grey figure of the man beside her. The composition is beauti- ful, and the drawing by the hand of a master. On a neighbouring easel, two graceful figures of girls charm our eyes. Upon a terrace over- looking the blue Mediterranean, and the deeper blue of the hills beyond, sits a girl with white arms stretched to hold the skein of wool that a child is gravely Avinding into a ball. On the ground near the tender pink of the younger girl's feet, are completed balls of various colours. The whole design and colouring of this fasci- nating picture is of a most decorative character. It is to be finished for the forthcoming Paris Universal Exhibition. A third picture represents Nausicaa, standing in pensive beauty on some steps, down which she is slowly descending. There are also two little pictures of beautiful female heads. To the Grosvenor is going a picture, small in size, but replete with the peculiar charm of the artist's manner, a young girl seen in profile, clad in a harmony of red. Me. Vat. Prinsep has arrived from the East, where he has been for nearly twelve months, gathering material for the large picture which is to be presented to Her Majesty the Queen, by her faithful subjects of the Civil Service in India. The subject to be painted is the Durbar, which met to proclaim the Imperial dynasty that India was on the eve of entering. No better painter could have been chosen than Mr. Prinsep, whose peculiarly original and harmonious colouring felicitously lends itself to depicting scenes of Eastern splendour. Mr. Prinsep, whose sketches we have been privileged to see, is thoroughly at home in the land where he was born. His sure eye and strong hand seem to revel in depicting the marked characteristics of those proud natives, who trace their origin back to the sun itself ; whilst the gorgeousness of their dresses, the tints of which may be matched in no Euro- pean dye-vat, with the brilliancy of the price- less jewels strung in glittering rows around their necks, give every scope for indulgence in rich and beautiful colouring. Across the shoulders of those favoured with it, and amongst ornaments that are strikingly Oriental, ripples with telling effect the Ijroad light blue ribbon of the Star of India. Less enhancing, however, is the medal presented by the Prince of Wales. Amidst so much that is beautiful of native design, the bald- looking medal shows like a blot, attracting the eye by its ugliness. Alas ! that what we call civilisation so wilfully dispenses with beauty. Mr. Prinsep has enlarged his studio, for the new picture is to be 30 feet long by 10 feet in height. It will be the work of a couple of years. In the meantime we hope that the walls of the Academy will not remain unornamented by specimens of Mr. Prinsep's vigorous style. Mr. Millais seems bent upon having placed around his brows an even yet heavier ^^Teath of laurels than he has already won. His autumnal visits to Scotland have imbued him not only with the spirit of its scenery, but with the romance of its literature. Again, as m the hapless and beautiful " Effie Deans,'' exhibited at Mr. Marsden's, King Street, he has recom-se to the magical pen of Sir Walter Scott. Now we have embodied for us the luckless " Lucy Ashton, the bride of Lammermoor." She has met with Edgar Ravenswood for the first time, and these two scions of contending fami- lies, like a second Romeo and Juliet, reck but little of the tragic ending of their mutual love. Yet the painter with true art makes the spec- tator feel, in gazing at the picture, a presenti- ment of the coming doom of the youthful pair. HALF-HOURS IN THE STUDIOS. 25 If the story had never been written, you would know that these two were fated to love not " wisely but too well." On another canvas in Mr. Millais' studio we see a beautiful repre- sentation of the two ill-fated brothers, sur- named through all time, "The Princes m the Tower." Dressed in black velvet, with fair hair falling upon their shoulders, the boys stand at the foot of a winding stairway. The younger, whose childish spirit must have been quelled by the gruesome dulness of the gloomy Tower, looks around him with a startled air, laying his hand, as if for protection, on his bolder brother's arm, who, every inch a king, rears his head proudly and defiantly at the imknown dangers the poor child dimly feels are gathering for them in the future. Mr. Millais cannot be too highly congratulated upon his return to what is designated the "Romantic School," and in which he first won his laurels. One of his charming child-pictures represents a little girl amusing herself with putting her doll's boots upon a long-suffering kitten. It is called " Puss in Boots." This artist will exhibit also a landscape, a study of strong colour. In the foreground is a still pool, beyond a splashing Highland spate. Mr. Millais has also painted a fine portrait of Thomas Carlyle. We regret that the large picture upon which Mr. Luke Fildes is working cannot be finished in time for exhibition this year. This clever artist, whose works are so deservedly popular, will therefore be unrepresented at the Academy. In Mu. Pekugini's studio we are glad to notice that he has again given us this year the half-length life-sized figures of girls, whom he has the secret of making so beautiful. He has two pictures. In one, a girl is seated in a garden watching with amused interest two butterflies of golden hue, that seem undeter- mined upon which beautiful rose they shall choose to settle, in the basket full of them the young girl holds in her hands. The other has a simpler motive. A girl, with a book upon her knees, is reading with indolent grace, no doubt a love poem, for she is of the age when " maidens' thoughts do run on love." Her arms are bare, and beautiful in their graceful pose. Mes. PERuaiNi, the youngest daughter of Charles Dickens, inherits from her father the subtle and delicate humour which characterised him. A picture near completion, charming m colour and feeling, represents a dainty little lady seated on a bench in a garden, with finger uplifted, reading to, or cross-examining, a o-rown-up peasant girl, with hands held m orthodox fashion behind her back. On the seat at the child's side are an attentive group of dolls, amongst them a quaint Japanese. The picture is humorously entitled, " A Com- ' petitive Examination." Me. Elmore this year sends three con- tributions. One is a graceful love scene, taken from " The Courtship of Miles Standish." The girl is bashfully advising her lover's delegate to " speak for himself." Mr. E. Croft has a military subject, entitled, " On the March from Quatre-Bras to Waterloo." The sky is rainy, but one gleam of sunshine falls upon the Scots Greys, who are drawn up in a body on the left, saluting with upraised sword their gallant commander-in- chief, Wellington. To the right are the French prisoners of war trudging wearily along under the escort of the 79th Highlanders. The picture is well composed, and grouped with considerable artistic feeling. In the studio of the late Birnie Philip Mr. Cecil G. Lawson has pitched his art- camp. His pictures this year are intended for the Grosvenor Gallery, where he will divide the ^j/aee d'Jionneur with Mr. Burne- Jones. His two principal canvases are " The Minister's Garden " and " In the Valleys— a Pastoral." In the first we have the wild, sweet-flowered plot of the good man " passing rich on forty pounds a year." This work will, we predict, be one of the principal landscapes of the year. " A Pastoral " is a charming harmony in blue, in which the eye takes in the billowy hills of the Principality, growing fainter and fainter till sky and land are one. Mrs. Louise Jopling has painted some ex- cellent portraits for the Exhibition of the Royal Academy. Those who remember her charming picture of a child in last year's collection will be gratified now with another little girl equally fresh and radiant. The accompanying flowers repeat the rich colours of a young and healthy complexion. The portrait of the Hon. 26 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. Mrs. Eliot Yorke {i/ee de Rothschild) is an excellent likeness, which will be recognised by the many who know and respect the amiable and talented original. The picture of Mrs. Tomkinson will attract many admirers, not only for the beauty of the face and gracefulness of the figure, but also for the natural pose of much elegance of a lady receiving her visitors. A portrait of Sir Nathaniel de Rothschild is another work by this lady, who does not disdain to portray the sterner sex. This, however, is not intended to appear on the walls of the Academy, but is to find a home in the collection of Lord Beaconsfield. Be- sides these portraits, Mrs. Jopling has painted a peasant girl, with a sweet pathetic face, seated beside a trickling rill of water, her water-pot, more than full, standing neglected, whilst she is lost in memory of past days : " The village girl, who sets her pitcher underneath the spring. Musing on him who used to fill it for her, Hears and not hears, and lets it overflow." In the background and drapery there is an exceedingly pleasant harmonising of blues and greens, which satisfy the eye without any trickery of violent contrasts. This artist also contributes to the Grosvenor the portrait of a little child. Miss Evelina de Rothschild, and a picture entitled " Pity is akin to Love.'''' Mr. Edwin Hayes, R.H.A., has several marine pieces for this yearns Exhibition. One represents Gravesend, with some of the mul- titudinous shijjping one sees on the Thames, a river, which we are inclined to think, has a character of its own in the play of the water, and this character Mr. Hayes seems to have caught very happily. Another view is called " The Lively Polly entering Harbom-,'''' and lively the East-coast fishing-boat certainly is likely to be in such a sea as is here depicted. The swell of the waves is truly refreshing in its breezy freshness. Mr. Leonard Leavis (who must not be eon- founded with his cousin the late J. F. Lewis, R.A.) has a view of the Cathedral of Chartres, and another at Dinan. These water-colours show much delicacy of colour and tender treatment of architectural detail. Mr. Watts, R.A., sends two important works to the Grosvenor Gallery, one of them an allegorical subject of great beauty. Mr. Marcus Stone, A.R.A., contributes three pictures to the Royal Academy. Two of them tell a story of which w^e never tire. " The Time of Roses " is poetically conceived. A young girl lets her hand lie in her lover^s, whilst he places upon her finger the ring, which is a symbol of their love, which " knows no ending." In point of colour, the smallest of the three pictures, a young girl seated behind an orange stall, is most to be admired. The face has a wistful pathetic beauty, which is very touching. The third, and most am- bitious one, is called " The Post-bag," the contents of which give Mr. Marcus Stone an opportunitjr of portraying the different emotions awakened by their perusal. Among Mr. Charles Lutyens'' productions of the year mention should specially be made of the dogs in his picture of Major Brown and the Northumbrian Hunt." They are painted with admirable skill, worthy of the friend and pupil of Sir Edwin Landseer. Mr. T. F. Dicksee sends to the Academy a picture of the " Lady Madeline," from Keats^ Uce of St. Afjnes : — ■ " Out went the taper as she hurried in ; Its little smoke, in pallid moonshine, died : She closed the door, she panted, all akin To spirits of the air, and visions wide." The lady stands in a stream of moonlight, with her outer dress just falling from her. The timid figure is very graceful, as " pensive awhile she dreams awake.'''' Mr. R. Beavis has a scene near the field of Cul- loden, immediately after the battle. The Prince, In retreat, has just crossed a little stream, and is listening to the anxious report of a grey-haired adherent, whilst an attendant on horseback, probably O' Sullivan, is consulting a map, and referring to a mounted companion. Wounded men are coming up and are getting relief, whilst solitary riders are making the best of their way across the country. The cold, raw sky, in accordance with the feeling of the scene, indicates weather in w^hich a night sm-prise was well-nigh sure to fail. HALF-HOURS IN THE STUDIOS. 27 Thueb pictures are in the studio o£ Mr. A. C. Gow. The two finished ones are well suited to the times, for they speak of rumours of war. A well bespattered estafette arrives at an hotel-de- ville with despatches. His appearance in the streets has collected a crowd, who demand of the select body within the purport of the news. One of the number mounts on a chair, and from the window makes the best account he can of intelligence not altogether favourable. The other budget of war-news— " News from the Front — is being read out by an invalided soldier to two of his companions as they sit on a bench outside a military hospital. SCULPTORS' STUDIOS, 1878. Mr. J. E. BoEHM, the new Associate, will probably this year contribute no very important work to the Exhibition, his time having been principally employed upon colossal statues of the Prince of Wales and Lord Northbrook, both intended for India. The model of the former of these will be exhibited in Paris, a much smaller model of the same figure appearing at the Royal Academy. We may hope besides to see here marble busts of Colonel Arthur Ellis, and Sir John Cowell. A model for a large statue of Sir William Gregory, to be sent here- after to Ceylon, is also intended for Burlington House. The finest piece, however, of Mr. Boehm's work is a bust of a beautiful American lady. The fair, pure marble seems to blossom forth with the delicate anatomy of a beau- teous head and neck; and we hope that the Grosvenor Gallery, for which it is intended, will afford facilities for a proper appreciation of such delicate chiselling. In all that this artist executes there is an absence of conventionality and a strength of purpose that is decidedly exhilarating after the feebleness of the majority of our national sculpture. This strength is especially visible in a portrait- statue which, we fear, will not appear in public. Whilst using the most every-day materials and the unpicturesque drapery of modern fashion, he has succeeded in causing the lines to fall in a natural manner into very pleasing and graceful variety. We have, in this statue, carefully and conscientiously portrayed — but yet not so as to interfere with or to attract attention from the main sub- ject of the work, all the accessories of drapery. The texture of silk, and felt, and lace, are there, if we choose to look for them, but they do not obtrude themselves. The difference of the problems that modern artists set before themselves is well indicated by the work to be found in the studios of Messrs. Boehm and Marshall. Whilst the new Associate has taken the people of the present generation, dressed in the clothing in which we are accustomed to see them, and has succeeded out of these uncongenial materials in making pleasing and artistic works, the Academician has chosen his subjects from periods in the dim past, and has endeavoured to set before a generation tightly confined in hig;hly artificial dress, what a race free from these trammels might have been. In a piece which may be called ''Early Troubles, " Mr. Marshall represents Eve restraining the impetuous temper of Cain, whilst Abel clings to his mother's knees for protection. The stm-dy figure of the rebellious child contrasts both with the timidity of his brother, and with the gentle firmness of the mother. A rising serpent, and a broken lily about to be crushed by the foot of the struggling boy, elaborate the main idea. In a smaller work we have a nymph- like shepherdess of Grecian times, bending in lissom gracefulness and whispering vows of love into the cold and stony ear of the head of a sneering Pan. Offerings of fruit sus- pended in a fold of goat-skin, show that some shepherd is a devout worshipper at the same shrine. Nausicaa, about to step into the water after the lost ball, has a place in the same studio : — " The nymph stood fix'd alone, By Pallas arm'd with boldness not her own." On visiting the studio of Mr. Thomas Wool- NER, R.A., a short time since, we found some excellent specimens of this artisfs work. A head of Mr. John Simon is intended to be exhibited in the Academy, and then to be placed in the College of Surgeons. The easily recognised features of Professor Huxley compete with this in intellectual activity and acuteness. Mr. Woolner has also completed, for the 28 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. " FROM STONE TO LIFE. (From the Statue ly W. Calder Marshall, R.A.) in 1562-63. A bust of Ophelia, enlarged from a statuette not yet completed, is also intended for Burlington House. The con- eej)tion is that of a mind dis- traught, gazing with happy smile back into the past, rational beauty still lingering in a charming face, as though reason were not yet wholly dethroned. A statuette of Lady Godiva shows the generous impulse of a noble heart to do a daring action, checked at the moment of its execution by the natural modesty that shrinks from nakedness, even when no eye is near. The momentary pause between conflicting feel- ings gives the rest that allows the representation in sculpture. "FROM STONE TO LIFE." By W. Calder Marshall, E.A. Pygmalion has cast aside mallet and chisel as the marble on which he has wrought so long, the child of his brain, wakes to life in answer to his prayer. The eyes have all the dreamy, far-looking forecast of the babe ; the limbs, formed and shapely, seem in their motion to feel as yet all childhood''s dread of peril j but under all one can see the dawn of self-conscious- ness in the woman. Mr. Calder Marshall recalls in this admirable statue, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1877, the lines of Wordsworth : — • " Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting ; The soul that rises with us, our hfe's star. Hath had elsewhere its setting, And Cometh from afar." In such guise, a goddess in her Merchant Taylors' Company, a colossal statue gait, steps forth the creation of the old and of Sir Thomas White, Lord Mayor of London the ideal of the modern sculptor. FRESCO BY GUIDO, KEPRESENTING AURORA WITH THE HOl'RS. {From the Rospigliosi Palace, at Rome.) THE PARIS UNIVEHSAL EXHIBITION.— II. E may briefly describe the buildings of the Champ de Mars as fol- lows : — A vast parallelogram, composed of -/ — *!* 7>* four spacious ./"^a) (^^F^/^ I galleries, en- j yP/]^ '^Arv'^^) closes a series of smaller / Pl/^^^'^^^ galleries running side !ltii»XSV 3/ i the Exhibition, extend- ing from the river-front to the Ecole Militaire. At each of the four towers surmounted by depressed domes, and in the centre of the main fa9ade, nearest the Seine, is an entrance vestibule, crowned by one of the most singular compound domes ever attempted since architecture became a science. This central entrance defies descrip- tion, and must surely have been a species of nightmare of some overworked designer of iron construction. Along the centre of the building, and separated from the covered areas to the angles are right and left of them by open spaces fifty feet in width, are fire-proof stone ljuildings, destined for the Fine Art Galleries. By entirely isolating these structures from the remainder of the Exhibition', the utmost immunity from danger in case of fire is secured, and the pre- mium for the insurance is proportionately reduced. The outer enclosing galleries are in every case wider and more lofty than those to which they give access, and the important architectural principle that we should ever pass from the minor into the chief apartments on entering a building has been completely ignored. This departure from a well-established prece- dent is certainly to be regretted, for the visitor cannot fail to be impressed with the fact that the whole of the Industrial Section of the Exhibition is wanting in height, and out of scale with the more spacious galleries from which it is approached. One half of the building is devoted to France and her colonies, and the remaining half has been allotted, in narrow zones crossing the Exhibition parallel with the Seine, to each of the various foreign countries which are represented at Paris. By this method of division the visitor passing down the central open avenue 30 THE MAGAZINE OP ART. traverses in succession the spaces set apart for each nation. I£ he begins at the Grand Vesti- bule and walks towards the Military School^ he will find that Great Britain occupies the first section he encounters, and that she has the lion's share of the foreign side. Next to us come the United States of America; then Norway and Sweden, Italy, Japan and China, cause a typical and distinctive frontage to be erected before its own section of the Exhibition^ and, as the idea has been cordially received and acted upon by each of the countries, this strange rue internationale has become an accomplished fact. England, owing to the great length of her space, has no less than five houses in her share THE BUILDINGS OF THE CHAMP DE MARS. Spain, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, and Bel- gium. The last block is occupied by a number of smaller countries, prominent among which are Portugal and Holland, which latter is the whipper-in of the foreign side. Doubtless the most novel and attractive feature of the display on the Champ de Mars is the In- ternational Fagade, extending the entire length of the open avenue along the centre of the building, and presenting us in succession with characteristic examples of the architecture of each country. This curious collection of build- ings has arisen from a request on the part of the French Commission that each Government would of the frontage, and of these we have engraved an illustration of the principal one — a pavilion for the Prince of Wales, in the Elizabethan style of architecture. The remaining houses consist of one with a red brick fagade of the Queen Anne period, designed by Mr. R. Norman Shaw, R.A. ; a terra-cotta house, exhibited by Messrs. Doulton, of Lambeth ; an old English half-timber house, sent by Messrs. William Cubitt and Co. ; and a country-house of the period of William III., contributed by Messrs. CoUinson and Lock. Each of these houses is separated by gardens, but beyond the English space the street-front is continuous throughout THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION. 31 its whole length. The erection of such a frontage as the one we are describing presents many difficulties, where the work has to be executed in the cheapest possible way, and to remain only for a few months. Such an in- ternational faqade affords grand opportunities to the jerry-builder, and many of the solid- looking structures now receiving their final touches on the Champ de Mars are more wholly rotten at the core than the "attractive" and " substantiaUy-'huWt villas'' springing up by wholesale round our London suburbs. A good scene-painter could, perhaps, have produced, with canvas and boarding, a better European street-front than has been obtained in the manner we have described; but some of the buildings are genuine constructions, produced at very great cost, and built as if to last for a thousand years. Foremost among the latter class is the Belgian facade, a most imposing elevation, which has been selected by public competition among her architects, and for which the materials are contributed by many of the chief quarry-owners and marble-merchants of Belgium. The mere erection of the building has cost over £6,000, and the materials must be worth many times this sum. Holland, again, is represented by an old red-brick house, all the materials for which have been brought here at great cost to prove the supe- riority of Dutch brickwork. The French Commission, when they issued invitations to the various foreign countries to take part in the grand fagade we have been describing, intended, on their own side of the avenue, to represent a complete history of the evolution of their national domestic architecture, from the 10th to the 17th century, exemplified by a series of models to scale of some of the most notable and interesting buildings in France. The estimated cost of this undertaking millions of francs — so much alarmed the Com- missioners that the idea was promptly aban- doned, and thus the different foreign governments have alone perfected the original intention. The Exhibition building is symmetrical on either side of the fine art galleries, and the three tiers of industrial courts, the machinery hall, and the food galleries are repeated to the right and left of the open avenue. All the buildings to the left of the avenue being reserved for France and her colonies, and all the buildings to the right being, as pre- viously stated, divided among the different foreign nations represented on the Champ de Mars. The industrial galleries are very plain iron and glass structures, with no attempt at a decorative treatment ; the avowed intention of their designer being to make a covered space of large area, which could be broken up by means of partitions and false ceilings into a series of courts, suitable for the display of every kind of industrial produce. On the French side this treatment of the space has been rigidly adhered to, but foreign countries have, in most cases, followed the lead of the British Commissioners. It was felt by our own people that the roof was already low, and that the sub-division of our space into an infinite number of small courts would en- tirely do away with the impression of size, and render our display undistinguishable from that of the smallest country taking part in the Exhibition. The British section is there- fore treated as a whole, the bare unfinished England ^''Note—The doffed lines denote the Omnibus and Trarmcay routes A. English Section. 1. Nord Eailway. 2. New Opera. 3. Place de la Madeleine. 4. St. Lazare. 6. Bourse. SKETCH-PLAN SHOWING POSITION OF EXHIBITION IN PARIS. -three roofs have been concealed by an ornamental calico covering, which is continued over the skylights to prevent the glare of the sun's rays, and the result has been that our English space has been converted into a vast tent, wherein the light is diffused in an agreeable manner, the utmost height has been retained. 32 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. the ventilation provided by the architect has in no way been tampered with^ and the large area which we occupy can be fully realised. This mode of dealing- with the space has l^een productive of the happiest results^ and our example has been approved^ as above stated, by many of our neighbours. Beyond the industrial section are the vast of annexes, erected by the different countries, to provide additional exhiijiting room for their manufactures. In the very centre of the building, on the Champ de Mars, it was at first intended to have an open garden profusely ornamented with statuary, and filled with a succession of flowers and bedding -out plants. Want of machinery galleries, nearly a thousand }-ards in length, with a span of 115 feet. The design of these roofs is, perhaps, one of the happiest features of the whole work, the system of wide intervals between the principals, with trussed purlins, while it is economical in the use of material, gives an air of lightness, and has a grace which is quite peculiar to it, and in the French agricultural annexe, where a similar roof has been adopted, the effect produced is in .every way pleasing. Beyond the machinery section there is a range of small galleries, 35 feet in width, for the food and raw products, and outside the food galleries, surrounding the entire building, is a broad awning, or verandah, which will afford a very pleasant walk in the heat of summer. In the spaces between the covered walk and the Aveniie de La Bourdonnaye on the French side, and the Avenue de Suffren on the foreign side, are the boiler-houses for the supply of steam to the machinery, and a formidable array space, however, again in this case has prevented the realisation of what would have been a most charming feature of the Exhibition, for there was* nothing pleasanter in the old 1867 Exhibition than to emerge from time to time from the heated and crowded passages into the brilliant central garden. In place of the garden we now have the Grand Pavilion erected by the authorities of the city of Paris, ■ as a glorification of their activity and enterprise in all those different departments in which they hold sway. The waterworks, the drainage, the lighting, the cleansing of the streets, the gardening and the care of public squares, the restoration of ancient buildings, and the forma- tion of new streets and public improvements: an exhibition, in short, of the municipal govern- ment of the most perfectly governed city in the world. This building is undoubtedly full of interest, and we shall return to it more in detail hereafter. We can only now mention the entrance vestibule, one half of which is THE COLOURS OF PRECIOUS STONES. 33 devoted to the Indian collections of the Prince The central feature of the Indian Conn of Wales, specially lent by His Royal Highness the graceful and elegant pavilion, erected f: POKTION or THE INTERIOR OF THE DINING ROOM IN THE PRINCE OF WALES' PAVILION. (Designed by Mr. H. Henry, and manufactured iy Messrs. Gillow and Co.) to the Exhibition, and to the characteristic the designs of Mr. C. Purdon Clarke, a good trophies of our colonies ; while the treasures idea of which may he gained from the ac- of Sevres and the Gobelins occupy the French companying illustration, side of this grand hall. {To bo eoittinucd.) t<=>--.-H3SS»€-«-«»> THE COLOURS OF By Professor A. THE analysis of beauty is seldom perfect in method or useful in result. The artist, be he painter, sculptor, poet, or musician, is inclined to resent the intrusion of science into his domain. Science, he thinks, with her cold, unsympathetic touch, can neither explain nor enhance the beauties of art — can, indeed, if active at all, act only so as to dissipate the poetic elements. Though this is not the place PRECIOUS STONES. H. Church, M.A. to discuss and defend the general position that reason and imagination, that science and art, rightly working together, must be mutually helpful, yet the subject we have selected for study in the present paper may afford a special case, illustrating and confirming such a view. We proceed, then, to inquire what special elements of beauty are combined in the colours of those minerals to which the name of gems or 34 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. precious stones is usually applied. But we must not lose sight of the fact that these materials are endowed for the most part with those physical properties of hardness and permanence which render them pre-eminent amongst suhstanees possessing beautiful colour. Other coloured materials may be characterised by transparency, or by brilliant lustre, but are usually deficient in durability. Soft, or amenable to ordinary injurious influences, or lacking in stability of constitution, many a substance of lovely hue, perhaps a pigment or glass or tissue, perishes with all its charms. But with gems such a fate is in most cases impossible. Gems are prized, and rightly prized, not only because of their rarity, but also by reason of their concentrated and durable beauty. This being granted, we may now investigate the peculiari- ties which their colours present. It will be convenient to group precious stones, for our present purpose, after the following manner : — - Group I. — Transparent stones, homogeneous in colour and structure, and belonging to what is called the cubical ormonometric system of crystal- lisation. Examples of this group are furnished by the garnet, the spinel, and the diamond. Group II. — Transparent stones, belonging to any crystalline system other than the cubical. This group includes the ruby and sapphire, the emerald, the tourmaline, the topaz, and other well-known gems. Group III. — Translucent and opaque stones, some crystalline and some amorphous. The cat^s-eye, the opal, and the turquoise are included in this group. In Group I. the colours of the various stones are not marked by many distinctive characters — they closely approach in quality of colour the imitation gems made of glass, or paste, as it is often called. There is a great range in the hues which these stones exhibit; but an indi- vidual specimen seldom shows any irregularity in the tint or distribution of the colour. Why are the stones of this group more beautiful or more covetable than the most successful imita- tions of them which have ever been made ? Because of their surface-lustre, or polish, which, especially in the case of the diamond, is more intense or perfect than that of the imitation materials; because, too, of their superior hard- ness and consequent durability ; and, again, because of certain optical qualities which are possessed by some at least of the members of this group. The red garnets, for example, present a curious collocation of red and blackish red, due in part to a peculiar absorption of light in a transparent medium, and not to the pre- sence of an opaque substance. Then, again, the diamond shows not only an intense reflection of light from its external surfaces, whether natural or artificial, but also the phenomenon of total internal reflection ; while much of the light thus reflected -within the stone is also at the same time refracted and dispersed, thus causing the appearance of those brilliant prismatic hues known to jewellers as fire. Such optical effects as these are, it is true, imitable in some degree, but they cannot be combined in false gems with the essential quality of hardness. And, moreover, the exact hues presented by some garnets, spinels, and diamonds, have not been reproduced with exactness, and perhaps could not be secured with certainty. Some of the hues of the spinel are rare : we have a deep amber yellow, an aurora red, a puce, a lilac, a lavender, and an indigo blue. Usually these stones are valued only when their colours are such that they can be used to replace or simu- late the pink or red of the true ruby. The range of colour in the different kinds of garnet is less extensive, but it has been recently enlarged through the introduction of a green variety of this stone from the Ural. These green garnets occasionally assume the hue of the emerald, but their usual colour contains more yellow; sometimes, indeed, verging upon olive-green and brownish-yellow. This gem is not in reality a true garnet, but a different, though allied, species of mineral. Unfortu- nately it is but little harder than glass, other- wise it would prove a very welcome addition to the series of precious stones, its " fire " being very conspicuous, and the quality of its greenish - yellow hue very lovely. That variety of the true garnet, called correctly essonite, or cinnamon stone, and incorrectly jacinth, has a fine watery or wavy texture, combined with a rich and deep amber colour, verging upon the red of glowing THE COLOURS OF PRECIOUS STONES. 35 charcoal. The red of those garnets which are used, under the deceptive name of " Cape rubies/' as substitutes for the true ruby, is very nearly pure, while the almandine garnet sometimes has so much blue or violet in it as to approach the amethyst in hue. As to the diamond, the most precious of all the stones in this Group I., the colour is rarely pronounced, very often being a straw-yellow or faint brown ; blue, red, or green hues of any depth being of rare occurrence. But the surface-lustre, almost metallic in intensity, of the diamond, combined with its extraordinary //-e, makes up for any deficiency in richness of colour. To Group II. all stones possessing the more interesting qualities of colour belong. We cannot do more than indicate the direction in which the chief peculiarities in the colours of those stones must be sought. Undoubtedly their most notable property is that to which the name of pleochroism has been given. Without entering into a scientific disquisition as to the causes and exact nature of this phenomenon, we may present in a few sentences an epitome of its main characteristics. In order to make our explanation as clear as possible, we will take the case of a particular precious stone — ^the emerald. Now the emerald, which crystallises in the form of a six-sided prism, is distinctly dichroic — that is, it shows two colours. These colour originate thus : — When a beam of white light falls upon an emerald at right angles with any of the faces of the prism and traverses the stone, that hght is in part resolved into two pencils polarised in different planes. These two pencils of light are also differently coloured, the elements of the original beam of white light being in part distributed or divided between them. In colourless crystals belonging to this group of precious stones, the white beam of light is, indeed, divided, by double refraction, into two beams, but both of these are colourless; in coloured stones, however, such as the emerald, which we are now considering, the beam of white light is not only divided into two beams of different colours, but these colours are so distinct and definite that there can be no question but that their presence in the cut specimens of the emerald imparts a richness and rareness to the hue of this gem which no imitations exhibit. If a small parcel of cut emeralds be examined, it will be noticed that their colour varies between two hues of green, one with more blue in it than the other. An emerald may be so cut as to show a prepon- derance of one or other of these two greens— the pure green or the bluish green ; or it may show, by the internal reflections from some of its lower facets, one hue, and from other facets the other. But although this dichroism as seen in cut emeralds widely separates this stone from its imitations, yet there is a little instru- ment, known as the dichroiscope, which enables us to discern this characteristic property of the stone with greater distinctness, even in the palest beryls and aquamarines. The dichroiscope separates the two oppositely-polarised and differently coloured beams of light perfectly from each other, and presents them to the eye in two small contiguous squares. Thus examined, a bit of green glass or paste shows two squares of green absolutely identical in colour. All coloured precious stones of this group show some difference between the two images of the square opening in the dichroiscope; the sapphire, for instance, giving a pale yellowish green, or straw colour, with a deep velvet blue ; the ruby shows two reds, one verging upon red-purple or violet, and the other nearly pure ; the topaz, when of the usual sherry colour or warm amber hue, exhibits a pale ochreous tint and a delicate rose-pink, the latter colour almost alone sur- viving the treatment known as " pinking," in which the stone is strongly heated. The chryso- beryl is another gem which is strongly dichroic, so also is the amethyst. But the most charac- teristic species of the whole group is certainly the tourmaline. This stone occurs in a great variety of colours, though brown and green are the most usual ; a lovely pink is also found, though rarely of perfect transparency. A good notion of the twin colours shown by individual specimens of this mineral may be gathered from the following list : — Pbevailing Colour. Coloub 1. Coloitr 2. Leaf-green. Pistachio-green. Bluish-green. Sienna-brown. Greenish-yellow. Reddish-brown. Pale red. Eose-pink. Salmon. Dull violet. Pale umber. Almandine red. 36 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. It may be imagined what a play and variety of hue is shown by properly cut specimens of tourmaline when the same stone, as it is turned about^ sends out from the same facet first a greenish-yellow, then a brown, and, lastly, a brownish-red beam of colour. From other facets come simultaneously all these hues, which are the more widely different from one another in the case of the tourmaline, because this stone enjoys beyond all others the polaris- ing power. Indeed, a green tourmaline, when viewed from end to end of the crystal, along and not across the principal axis, is often ab- solutely black and opaque to light. In order, however, to develop its diehroic effect to the full, it is a good plan to give the cut stone somewhat the form of a brilliant, that there may be a greater fluctuation in its hues. And here it may be proper to remark how great a mistake is made by a clique of writers on art who deprecate the cutting or rather faceting of precious stones, and would have them all, without distinction of species, made tallow- topped or en cabocJion. The inherent charac- teristic qualities of the stones of the second group can be developed only by a plan of cutting in which small planes suitably disposed as to angle, shape, &c., form surfaces for the reception and emission of the incident light. Thus alone can the refraction, pleochroism, and surface lustre of these gems be shown to per- fection. We must not give an exhaustive account of the other gems of this group, but we cannot refrain from mentioning the zircon or jargoon, a somewhat neglected precious stone, though it is interesting from many points of view, and is, moreover, often very beautiful. It is hard ; its surface -lustre and refi'aetive power give it a brilliancy and fire second only to that of the diamond, and it is singular on account of its composition, for it contains the rare element zirconium, present in no other gem. Moreover, its weight or specific gravity, between 4| and 5 times that of water, is greater than that of all other precious stones. Its range of colour is extensive, while some of the hues it presents are peculiar to this stone. A pale sepia hue lighted up by prismatic fire is very beautiful, so also is a clear yellow like transparent gold, with the faintest suspicion of opalescence within it. Many of the colours shown by the jargoon or true jacinth may be lightened or discharged Ijy heat, the aurora-red variety from Espaly, in France, and from Mudgee, in New South Wales, being specially susceptible of such change, becoming straw-yellow and gaining in brilliancy. Other kinds, as the greenish stones from Ceylon, become paler when strongly heated, shrinking at the same time so as to acqxiire an increased specific gravity. This constitutes another in- teresting feature in the history of this stone, and so also does the singular series of black absorption bands which many of the Cinghalese and other zircons exhibit. These black bands interrupt the continuous spectrum of a beam of light transmitted through the stone, and indi- cate that it is opaque to rays of certain degrees of refrangibility. We must not dwell on the colour characteris- tics of the stones which belong to our third group. The chatoyant effect seen in the true or chrysoberyl cat^s-eye, a floating line like a silver wire, is due to an internal reflection of light arising from the minute structure of the sub- stance of the gem itself. So also is the white beam of the moonstone, or adularia, a variety of felspar. In the softer cat^s-eye we have threads of asbestos or other minerals, and sometimes even the spaces they have left, regularly arranged in transparent quartz and reflecting the light fi'om minute parallel striae. In star-sapphires and rubies a combination of minute strise mth a structure formed of six triangular prisms forming the hexagonal crystal gives rise to a six-rayed star, the centre of which lies in the intersection of the three secondary axes with the primary axis of the prism. Of the opal Avith its internal fissures too minute to reflect the complete ray of white light, and so break- ing it up into the hues of the rainbow ; of the soft sub-translucent blue of the turquoise, and of the hues and textures of the chalcedonj'^, the onyx, and a multitude of other beautiful or curious stones we must refrain from speaking now. We trust that enough has been already said as to the colour of gems to justify to some extent the estimation in wliich they are held, and perhaps to render that estimation more intelligent. 37 Moldau. Standing Briicken- thurm, the Old Town Bridge To- wer, and looking over to the Hradschin, centuries of German story pass in array before one — again " The lonely hills re-echo with the tramp of armed men." You seem to hear the rush across the bridge, the hurried call to arms, the boom of cannon, and the beat of drum, and as a phantom host sways in wild conflict, the shade of the Jesuit novice again bolts and bars the gate, and saves the honour of his well-beloved Prague. Looking from this standpoint across the Moldau, taking in the palaces of the Klein- seite, as the sun sets in his regal shroud of purple and gold behind the Hradschin, and the spire of Saint Vitus stands clear RAGUE, the picturesque. "Places enough are in re- mote Bohemia,'' and yet in poetical charm none can com- ' pare with the many-spired in the pleasant valley of the by the Altstiidter ARTISTS' HAUNTS.— II. PEAGUE. against the celadon sky, one realises the words of Longfellow : — " ' Hold your tongues, hoth Suabian and Saxon,' A bold Bohemian cries, ' If there's a heaven upon this earth. In Bohemia it lies.' " Again, when you look down from the castle- stairs as the moon silvers the river flood, as liffhts stream from myriad casements, and the sixty spires of the city stand like sentries, as if to tell of by- gone wars, of Hussite, of Jesuit, of Gustavus Adolphus, of John George of Saxony, of Frederick the Great, and of Charles of Lorraine, you feel the full charm of the scene, and say with poor J eff Prowse, speaking of another and equally real Bohemia : — The person I pity, who knows not the city — The beautiful city of Prague ! " CARLSBRinr.E AXn TOWER. 6 88 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. To speak commercially, Prague, en gros ct en detail, is a very elysium of sketching grounds — do you admire " looped and windowed ragged- ness,''^ the beggars on the steps leading to the Hradschin will furnish you with as many pic- turesque subjects as even the Nix Mangiare stairs of Malta. In the cathedral of Saint Vitus, to say nothing of its glorious exterior, battered by shell and siege, its Sclavonic dome, spiralets, and spires, there are " bits without HRADSCHIN, AND CATHEDRAL OF ST. VITUS. number ; the oratory of the successor to the blind old king who charged our ranks and "foremost fighting,fell — Francis Joseph, King of Bohemia — with its lattices, its richly carved gallery with strange stalactite pendent coves, the kneeling figure of John Nepomuc, which seems in its humility to incessantly repeat the old motto of the kingdom, " Ich Dien " (I serve) . Francis Joseph may be Emperor elsewhere. Apostolic King, or Archduke, here he is but King of Bohemia. And to carry out still further the simile to that other realm of Bohemia which has so many subjects, the land of so many painters, and poets, and musicians, of which Henri Murger wrote so charmingly in his " Scenes de la Vie de Boheme,^^ and which exercises so strange a fascination over so many brilliant spirits ; the reigning king of the land of Bohemia is an uncrowned monarch. Near is the royal mausoleum with its recumbent effigies, its figures grouped around, some the captives of their bows and spears, whilst, in advance of all, Christ the King, banner in hand, meekly bows, as if saying humbly, " I, too, serve.^' The artist who designed all this was a true poet. The chapel of Saint Wenzel, with its door to which the ring is still hanging whereon the martyr- king clung, as he fell the victim to fratri- cidal blows, with its walls inlaid with jas- per, onyx, and ame- thyst, is a glorious bit of colour. In this same cathedral of Saint Vitus you have the tomb of Saint J ohn Nepomucene, with its silver sar- cophagus and figures of guardian angels floating over the shrine of the guar- dian saint of Prague. There is the Karls- briicke, flanked by its twin towers, with its twenty-eight statues, prominent amongst which is that of the Saint John Nepomuc, with its altar and the five stars on the parapet that recall the legend of the lights that hovered over the spot where the A Becket of Bohemia lay at rest beneath the waters of the Moldau. There is the Tynsky Chram, the Teynkirche, with its two steeples topped by spires, with spiralets grouped around them, unique amongst the churches of Christendom. Without is the quaint porch, a very gem for the sketcher ; within, the red stone tomb of Tycho Brahe, "the Dane who read the stars. What can make up such a picture as the Prasna Brana, the Pulverthurm, so similar in main features to the heathen towers of Niirnberg and of Aix-la-Chapelle ? ARTISTS' HAUNTS.— PRAGUE. 39 VIEW FROM THE CASTLE STAIKS. Then, again, where, save in the valley of Jeho- shaphat, will one find a sanctuary of the chosen people as venerable as that of the old Judenfriedhof, the House of Peace of that wandering race, some of the tombs of which date back even to the days of King Stephen of Hungary ? Beeches centuries old start out from the fissures of tombs, and as you walk beneath the shadows of living trees, the shades of dead and gone Hebrews, whose very names are forgotten, repeat in mute elo- quence in the inscriptions on their tombs the old story of the Mount of Hermon, "Vanity of vanities." For " bits " of light and shade the Jews" Burial-ground of Prague is, indeed, a mine to sketchers too little worked. Good Master Hanuscht in his astronomical clock, the crowning glory of the Rathhaus, for nearly four centuries, at sundown, has marched his procession of the Twelve Apostles before the windows that open but for them. Apart from this transient interest, the old " As- tronomische Uhr," and the old Town Hall itself, are in their many-sided towers and turrets, their nooks and corners, their bits of light and shadow, very incentives to pencil and palette. Amongst interiors are the strong contrasts of the old Crown Chamber, with its floors of polished oak, its minstrels' gallery, its many-coved ceiling, and the low-browed room of the senators with its red brick floor and diminutive closet, and its windows that look far over city and plain. It is a very quiet old-world scene this, peaceful and slumbering, but there was a time when mobs su.rged and fought within its precincts, and from the very window in the centre of the room the Imperial Councillors Martinitz and Slawata, with their secretary Fabricius, took an involuntary "header"' of some eighty feet. It is a dizzy height to look on, and yet they escaped unscathed, save for a shaking. Their eminences alighted on an unsavoury midden, kindly breaking the fall of Fybricius in their distinguished persons. For EMPEKOr's oratory — cathedral of ST. VITUS. 40 THE MAGAZINE OP ART. this the Emperor, who had a pleasant humour, created the secretarial martyr Graf von Hohen- fall, in plain English, Count of Somersault. Great events from trifling causes spring, and this veiy scene led to the Thirty Years' War, the siege of the Elec- tor of Saxony, and the subsequent capture and plunder of the old city by the Swedes, which closed the long chroni- cle of war. In the court of this same palace is a superb remnant of the art of the Renaissance, the great portal with its Cyclopean caryatid figures that bear on their brawny shoulders the weight of the over- hanging porch. In the Kleinseite is the palace of Albrecht von Wal- len stein, hero of the Thirty Years' War and of Schiller's drama, and in his garden is a quaint rock - work grotto that seems designed for no other earthly purpose than to be sketched. The Judengasse cannot compare in picturesqueness with even what remains of the old Judengasse of Frank- fort, and yet there are many " bits " in it which would have charmed Prout, taking in as they do the spired tower of the old Jewish Rathhaus. The statues are in keeping with the traditions POKTAL OF THE PALACE COURT. of the city — there are no classical monstrosities to jar with their mediaeval surroundings. Saint Wenzel on horseback with lance at rest, has carried himself proudly for centuries in the place that still bears his name, whilst the Karl's monument down by the river, though but a thing of yester- day — it was erected in 1848 to mark the quin -centenary of the University — is one of the most perfect Gothic statues in all Europe. These are but a few of the many beauties of old Prague, to ex- haust them one would require a volume, not an article. In the broad noontide, in the pale moonlight, in the sum- mer's heat, or when the ice dams up the cur- rent of the Moldau, Prague is equally en- chanting. A land- scape artist from the Hradschin will find an unequalled panorama for his canvas, the sketcher will discover gems at the corner of every street of the only city that can compare in picturesque interest with the " Quaint old town of toil and traffic, Quaint old town of art and song," Imperial Niirnberg ! Hugh Willoughby Sweny. THE ROYAL FIRST A S far back as memory reaches, the yearly show at the Academy has been pronounced by a majority of critics to be " on the whole below the average," though, if the depreciation be just, what this mysterious average must long ago have sunk to, it would be hard to say. The truth is that, apart from the master- ACADEMY. OTICE. pieces which every May discovers in about equal numbers, the general character of the works exhibited has slightly, but steadily, improved of late years, and we are not inclined to believe that the canvases now covering the walls of Burlington House are any exception to the rule. Without attempting, however. '43 • « THE MAGAZ in the space at our disposal this months to institute comparisons with the past, or to estimate the general scope of the present Academy exhibition, we proceed to speak of a few, of the most important pictures of the y^ar. ■ Mr. ^ Millais has painted very few subject pictures^ of late ; he has shown us how even a high inventive and romantic faculty finds in time its best satisfaction — if we may be pardoned the seeming paradox — in the state of abeyance, in the production of literal natural transcripts. Portrait and landscape, of all arts the most humbly reproductive of nature, of the characteristics — nay, the accidents — of an individual scene or an individual face, give him more to feed upon, as art and years reveal their riches, than he can altogether assimilate. Mr. Millais finds that his highest invention cannot produce anything better worth labour and love than the mixed colours on a woman^s or a chikFs cheek, or the broken depths of tint and tone in foliage, and the bark of trees. Even the charming human interest, which a painter^s characteristic way of looking at nature and of rendering it gives to a landscape, is unnecessary to this painter^s enjoyment ; he is, to our mind, too prosaically literal to convey that full enjoy- ment to liis critic, who seeks in art some- thing even more precious than nature — human thought. His return to historical painting will probably be welcomed more warmly by the general public than by the dilettanti ; and we remember many a picture in which he has exhibited more mastery and knowledge in paint- ing than his work contains this year. In the landscape, " St. Martinis Summei',^'' the grey weather which he has so often chosen gives place to an effect of light and colour. A pool in the foreground has about it some delicate transparent browns and greys, beyond are some rich purplish rocks, and considerably further back is the waterfall. The foliage on either side is most dexterous in execution ; its colours are warm greens, yellows, and greys, somewhat hot in certain passages. The sky has not that undeniable poverty which has been so often noticeable, and its tint is rather warm and broken. The composition does not strike us as f^E OF ART. happy; it is too equally balanced, and too directly divided by the cascade. The artistes " Bride of Lammermoor is not on the Academy walls, and so does not call for notice here. His important contribution, " The Princes in the Tower (which has been placed by its fortunate possessors, the Fine Art Society, in the hands of the eminent engraver, Samuel Cousins, R.A.), has great merits, with some weak points. The black in the costumes is treated with a fine reticence of tone, the artist has kept well within the force at his command ; more black paint, however, and THE PKINCES IN THE TOWER. (J. Millois, R.A.) less red and blue in the composition of the black, would, it appears to us, produce a more satisfactory result. The boys'" legs are excellently well drawn, and the faces full of good painting. The treatment of the gold chain is an example of Mr. Millais^ mastery of the brush. Of the portraits, that of Lord Shaftesbury will be found the most easily intelligible in manner; the face is strongly modelled and painted; the hands seem somewhat careless. In the portrait of Mrs. Langtry (the " J ersey Lily ''•') , the simple grey tone of the background is happy; but the light side of the face has a violet tinge, and in the whole technical manner of THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 43 treatment, we find tentative touches which can- not be pronounced masterly; the effect which the painter aims at is obtained, but not with directness. Mr. Leighton paints trivial subjects for his admirers, and great ones for the love of art. The public accepts him purely as a decorative painter, yet we detect far loftier aims than the ends of decoration in some dozen works of noble interest which he has given to the world, among which the diploma picture of "St. Jerome," a most pathetic " King David," exhibited some thirteen years ago at the Academy, the " Clytemnestra," of four years ago, and the "Elijah" of the present season occur to us as examples. We think that this slight misunderstanding arises from the artist's quasi-decorative manner, and his persistent improvements on the human subject. "Elijah and the Angel," a picture originally destined for the Academy, was at the last moment dispatched to Paris, and the purely ornamental composition, en- titled "Winding the Skein," reserved for Burlington House. The landscape of this classical subject was studied in the island of Rhodes, and is only slightly idealised; the colour plays on rose and violet without any marked accents, and is somewhat insipid. The tints of the white draperies are without charm, and chilly, though the artist escapes the positive coldness of a bad colourist. The studied triviality of the motive is rather out of harmony with the somewhat heroic treatment of the prin- cipal figure, which has colossal shoulders. Mr. Leighton's single figure of "Nausicaa" is full of unconscious and maidenly charm; the green of the upper drapery is excellent, but the under garment is disagreeably abrupt and opaque. Of the three canvases by one of our best- known marine painters (E. W. Cooke, R.A.), we have chosen for the subject of a sketch a Dutch galliot aground, which has great facility and movement. Of Mr. Long's work, whether in composition or portrait, only one opinion will be held this year, probably, and this will pronounce that the artist, after the slight weakness of last year's work, has put out all his pojver of drawing and modelling, and has gained greatiy in suren.ess. The extreme refinement of colour in ".The Gods and their Makers" is very pleasing; different tones of flesh are relieved only^ by darker or lighter blue-greens, except in the case of the negress, who wears a red necklace, the only bit of primary colour in the picture. This group of Egyptian girls is full of fun and charm; the background tones are delicately varied. "Mr. Irving, as the Duke of Gloucester," is altogether a noble portrait. Mr. Calderon's subject picture — though its story is clearly told and without sentimentality — is artistically the least interesting of his canvases this season, the happiest being a female . portrait, which is admirably painted, lighted, and composed. The colour is unusually good, comprising the rich plum-colour of the dress, a yellowish hat, and some fine tones of white, against a tapestry background, which retires well. The chemisette makes a happy mass of light near the face, and the high light strikes down the figure, bringing out the gold design on the dress, and helping the modelling; the hat, which is held in the hands, has been boldly DUTCH GALLIOT AGROUND ON A SANDBANK.. (E. W. Cooke, B.A.) painted, somewhat more strongly than the head, from which, however, it in no degree detracts. The whole picture is broad and masterly. Another portrait, that of ^n elf -like little girl sitting on the grass near a camp-kettle, pre- paring for gipsy tea, has also excellent points; by means of the copious steam of the kettle the artist has filled up the background so as to 44 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. produce a felicitous tone; there is plenty o£ white drapery, a red sash, and some turquoise blue in the tea-cups — the whole being- pleasingly ^ THE i' PREMIERE COMMUXIOX, DIE •f , . .' (P. S. Morris, A.R.A.) « combined. A third canvas — a girl selling flowers —is brilliant^ and striking ; the figure is light against g,^ light sky, the head with its black hair alone telling dark ; the arms are powerfully foreshortened. A portrait of the Marquis of Waterford, 'in his robes as a Knight of St. Patrick, is strongly painted. Amongst outsiders, Miss Clara Montalba has made the finest success of the year by her Venetian scene, The Last Journey." The manner of her work is full of indivi- duality and character ; she paints with that parti^pris which makes the hvunan interest of art, but she is as true to nature as to herself. Her brushwork is altogether as un-English as is her interpretative reading - of nature. The danger of such a character as that of her art is manifestly mannerism,-" and in a few of her water-coloui- drawings a certain insisten'ce on the charm and effective-^ of black — that ppecious colour which eiltire^ neglects — had almost become a beautiful trick in her composition of colour. Her black was sometimes too positive to hold , ifs "right* '"'value," considering the m-odifigations of atmosphere and light. But in her Academy picture this one temptation is resisted ; the funeral gondola is luminous by the effect of air and distance. The drawing — architectural and other- wise — is executed with a peculiar elegance of hand ; the composition of form, of colour, and of comparisons, is entirely masterly. " The ' Premiere Com- munion,^ Dieppe," by Mr. Phil Morris, of which we give a sketch, shows a far better study of out-door light than of feeling for colour. As in his Grosvenor picture, where geese in full sun- shine have the colour, though not the value, of white plumage in an evening effect, the white dresses of his young French girls are too cold; the lightness of texture is, however, good. Mr. Alma Tadema is the most enthusiastic of antiquarians, and his principal subject this year is characteristically realistic of the past. Struck by the beauty of form and action of the statue known as the Esquiline Venus, he has imagined the group of the unknown sculptor and his unknown model, whose arms he props ness English art OUK NEXT MEREIE MEETYXGE. (J. TTatson JVicoI.) in the pose of the marble. The figure is mar- vellously painted in a subdued and diffused light, which leaves only the gentlest contrasts. I be Library of the THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 45 or rather differences, of light and dark at the painter^s command ; yet it is on the exquisite EVENING, (it. Ansdell, R.A.) justice of these delicate comparisons that the modelling, solidity, and finish of the flesh depend. In this art — the im- portant art of values and rela- tions — too much neglected in England, Mr. Tadema is a true master. In the matter of beauty, we may venture to criticise this fiffure as too narrow across the pelvis and inelegantly heavy to- wards the ankles. A small sub- ject — a Roman girl preparing to throw through an opened window the love-letter which she has weighted with a bunch of pink and crimson roses — is still more original and learned in its realisation of the past. The window consists of a heavy slab of marble which, swung open on a pivot, lets the Roman sun- shine into the cool room; the ffirl is robed in a dull and subtle warm green, her hair is flame- coloured, and her face is an ex- treme example of the coarse type so prevalent in this artistes pictures. The painting through- out, and especially in the bunch of roses, is a 7 triumph of learned technical skill ; it has the appearance of minute finish, although the work is large and the touch full. Mrs. E. M. Ward is represented this year by a single picture, " One of the Last Lays of Robert Burns," in which the simple, cottage home-life of one of the most tender song- writers that ever lived is very charmingly suggested ; and Mr. Ansdell by animal pietiires, of one of which we give here a slight illustration. Mr. Marks has done full justice to the odd humour of nature in his " Convocation," the subject of our large engraving; the drawing of the birds is excellent, and the tone pleasing, though somewhat smooth and level. In our next notice we propose to refer, among other works, to the brilliant picture by Mr. Watson Nicol, of which we now give a sketch ; to the canvases of Mr. Pettie, whose " GeneraFs Head-quarters," represented in our last number as the fi'ontispieee, was not finished in time for the exhibition. We would only add that the small sketches we have given in this, and propose to give in ONE OF THE LAST LAYS OF ROBERT BURNS. (Mrs. E. M. Ward.) following papers, are intended merely as indica- tions of the composition of certain pictures, and in no sense as artistic reproductions. 46 OUR LIVIN SIR FRANCIS I HE office of President of the Royal Academy is a post of high honour^ but of small profit. It has been successively held by nine eminent painters since the memorable day in 1768, when King George III. nominated the first thirty-six Academicians, with Sir Joshua Reynolds at their head. At no suc- ceeding epoch of the Academy^s history has its body included more noted names than those which, in the order of time, stand at the head of its roll. Some of the number are now, no doubt, forgotten ; but indelibly stamped on the annals of English art is the work of Thomas Gainsborough, Paul Sandby, Richard Wilson, Nathaniel Hone, Francesco Bartolozzi — great among engravers — and Benjamin West, not forgetting Sir Joshua himself, by whom, far more than by the royal founder, these inaugural nominations were made, as is possibly evidenced by the fact that this first list contains the name of Angelica Kauffman, whose gentle beauty was not without its influence on the heart of the greatest of English masters. Greatest of English teachers also, in some ways, he was ; and we may be pardoned the suspicion that to his helping hand this lady, who, in con- junction with Mary Moser, monopolises the Academy honours accorded to women, owes the masterly touch that is found on some of her canvases and is missing in others. Sir J oshua's presidentship was a long one, lasting from 1768 to 1792, and his successor Benjamin West^s, was even longer, closing in 1820, when Sir Thomas Lawrence entered on a rule of ten years, to be succeeded by Sir Martin Archer Shee, after whom came Sir Charles L. Eastlake, whose death in. 1866 brings us down to the date of Sir Francis Grant^s accession to the honours he still holds. The position of a President is peculiar, and requires a combination of talents not fre- quently to be found together, for it demands an established standing as a painter combined with general urbanity and social rank. There is certainly no necessary connection between G ARTISTS. GRANT, P.R.A. the study of art and Bohemianism; never- theless, a large proportion of young artists have at all times delighted in defying popular prejudice and revolting against convention; and beyond this there has been, from time to time, considerable difficulty in an artist taking much of a position in what is called society. Nor was it until very lately that the immense patronage flowing from the increased wealth of the country has enabled any number of our painters to build for themselves miniature palaces, attached to which are studios, adorned with curiosities from all parts of the world, with miscellaneous works of various and quaint kinds of beauty, with carved furniture, luxu- rious, or simply useful, and above all, with rich and precious gems of genius in various stages of perfection. Now, at last, society reckons artists among some of its richest and most useful members, because they can minister in many ways to its gratification ; the man with taste in colour and in ornament can suggest decoration and variety of adornment, and can assist in choice of artistic embellish- ment in days when taste is a necessary element of refinement. When, therefore, the time comes, which we trust is far distant, for a new election, there will be no lack of candidates fully qualified as to the two main requirements for the office of President. There are many men now who possess well-marked and recognised ability as painters, and also a knowledge of, and acquaint- ance with, the round of fashionable society; but when Sir Francis Grant was elected, the choice was not so extensive. It is no dis- paragement to the President to say that we think that he obtained his post as much by his social as by his artistic qualities. He is a gentleman as well by birth as by education, and his tact and manliness have assisted him greatly in an arduous and rather thankless task of representing a great and influential body in its dealings with the State and with the outside world. Sir Francis Grant is the younger son of a Scottish laird, the late Francis Grant, of Kilgraston, in Perthshire, and the elder brother OUR LIVING ARTISTS— SIR FRANCIS GRANT, P.R.A. 47 of General Sir Hope Grant, G.C.B. He was born in 1803, and married early Miss Farquhar- son, sister of James Farquharson, of Invercauld. Being left a widower he married Isabella, the third daughter of Mr. and Lady Ehzabeth came here. Frank will, I beUeve, if he attends to his profession, be one of the celebrated men of the age. He has long been known to me as the com- panion of my sons, and the partner of my daughters. In youth, that is in extreme youth, he was passion- ately fond of fox-hunting and other sports. He had Norman, thus allying himself to the noble house of Manners, the portraits of not a few of whose members he has since painted. The tale of his early life may be best told in the words of Sir Walter Scott, as recorded in his diary, given in Lockhart's " Life (vol. vii., 1st Ed.) :— ''March 26th, 1831.— Frank Grant and his lady also a strong passion for painting, and made a little collection. As he had sense enough to feel that a younger brother's fortune would not last long under the expenses of a good stud and a rare collection of chefs-d'oeuvre, he used to avow his intention to spend his patrimony— about £10,000— and then to begin to make his fortune by the law. The first he soon accomplished. But the law is not a profession so easily acquired, nor did Frank's talents lie in that 48 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. direction ; bis passion for painting turned out better. Connoisseurs approved of his sketches, both in pencil and oil, but not without the sort of criticisms made on these occasions : that they were admirable for an amateur, but it could not be expected that he should submit to the drudgery absolutely necessary for a profession, and all that species of criticism which gives way before natural genius and energy of character. In the meantime Frank saw the necessity of doing something better to keep himself independent, having, I think, too much spirit to become a Jock the laird's brither, drinking out the last glass of the bottle, riding the horses which the laird wishes to sell, and drawing sketches to amuse the lady and children. He was above all this, and honourably resolved to cultivate his taste for painting and become a professional artist. I am no judge of painting, but I am conscious that Francis Grant possesses, with much cleverness, a sense of beauty derived from the best source, that is, the observation of really good society, while in many modern artists the want in that species of feeling is so great as to be revolting. His former acquaintances render his immediate entrance into business completely secure, and it will rest with him- self to carry on his success. He has, I think, that degree of force of character which will make him keep and enlarge any reputation which he may ac- quire. He has confidence, too, in his own powers, always requisite for a young gentleman trying things of this sort whose aristocratic pretensions must be envied. " 2Iarch 29.— Frank Grant is still with me and is well pleased, I think very advisedly so, with a cabinet picture of myself, armour, and so forth, together with my two noble stag-hounds. The dogs sat charmingly, but the picture took up some time." In these early days, Mr. Grant received much encouragement and assistance from the Earl of Elgin, who probably had a clearer perception of pictorial talent than Sir Walter Seott,and wholent him pictm-es from his valuable collection. To a Velasquez, a portrait of the Due d'Olivarez, which he thus had an oppor- tunity of studying, the young artist acknow- ledged that he owed much of his after success. This is one of the instances, not rmcommon we beHeve, of a single picture, thoroughly mastered, having a great influence in the training and development of artistic excellence. As the reading and re-reading of a single hook will sometimes reveal powers of thought in a literary student, so the really great work of art of a master will some day, perhaps, after having been gazed at, admired and passed by amateurs of the more thoughtless crowd, awaken a latent fire in an enthusiastic breast, and encourage some late unknown after- comer to cry out, " I, too, am a painter." In Edinburgh, Mr. Grant made many friends, amongst whom one of the most distinguished was Sir Watson Gordon, afterwards President of the Royal Scottish Academy. It was one of his friends in this capital — the President told the story when addressing the students of the Academy on the necessity of studying everything from nature as it really is — who once induced his brother (who must have had a very toarm admiration of his art) to stand for two hours with a wet garment about him, which, when the painter perceived the linen to be getting dry, had a fresh sprinkling from a watering- pot ! Mr. Grant began to exhibit in the Royal Academy in 1834, and at various intervals he produced some large works, principally pictm-es of various hunts. Amongst these are "The Meet of Her INIajesty's Stag- hounds" (1837), "The Melton Hunt," "The Cottesmere Hunt," "A Shooting Party at Ranton Abbey," "The Melton Breakfast," "The Belvoir Hunt" (exhibited in 1869, but painted between 1845 and 1855), "A picture of the Queen on horseback in Windsor Park, attended by her suite," and " Viscount Hardinge with his staff, after the battle of Ferozeshah." It was not long before Mr. Grant was recognised by the Academy : in 1842 he was chosen an Associate, and in 1851 he became an Academician. On the death of Sir Charles L. Eastlake, in 1866, he was elected to the vacant presidential chair, and he has filled that high office with dignity and grace. In accordance with the usual custom, he was knighted; and he has since received the degree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford. The annual dinners previous to the opening of the exhibition have always been some of the most select and interesting gatherings of the kind during the year, and certainly under Sir Francis Grant they have lost none of their rich and special character. ^^^len some of the greatest speakers in church and state, in politics and in literature, are vying with one another in gi'aceful and OUR LIVING ARTISTS— SIR FRANCIS GRANT, P.R.A. 49 good-humoured eloqueneej the voice of Sir Francis is always listened to with interest and attentioUj and he never fails to look the President. But though he is thus alive hung on the walls. A very large proportion of these works are life-size, and many of them equestrian portraits, very often presenta- tion testimonials to members of Parliament, LORD GOUGH. (From the Portrait by Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A.) to the social demands . of the Academy, and is no less active in attending to the interests of art in its schools, and in its contact with other bodies, he has not neglected the pursuit of his own profession. Since his election to the presidentship, he has sent six works to the public exhibition every year, with but two exceptions, and then he had five popular landlords, and successful directors. Sir Francis has kept up his early taste for sport, and paints horses and dogs as one who knows their points. It is impossible to give anything like a com- plete list of the President's exhibited works, of which there are five, of very equal merit, in the current Academy. 50 ''TWO FAIR SINCE the days when Mr. Millais worked so constantly as a draughtsman on wood, the world has not had any opportunity o£ seeing his power in black and white. His influence on the art of drawing on wood has been, perhaps, greater than is generally supposed. Unconventionality of composition, with little fear of unfilled spaces and still less of repetitions of attitude or action, is one of the main characteristics of his drawing's, and of those of his followers. Among the young artists who formed them- selves on Mr. Millais was Frederick Walker, MAIDENS." in the early days of his work in black and white, when he appeared as a fresh and grace- ful draughtsman in the magazines; his first illustrations were somewhat tentative in style, though he subsequently carried the art further than Mr. Millais himself has had leisure or inclination to do. Our frontispiece, "Two Fair Maidens," has, among its other beauties, the fresh feeling of work done from life, and it gives pleasant evidence that the hand of the artist has not, in this or any other range of his art, forgotten its old cunning. THE GROSVENOR GALLERY. j» FIRST NOTICE. ^.RTISTS who, from their emi- nence, are free to choose, hesitate between the advan- tages offered to them by the rival exhibitions of the Aca- demy and the Grosvenor. Nothing can take from the Academy its historical prestige ; it is our national gallery in its own sense; in it is written the history of the national school of the last century, the only truly national school we have had or are likely to have; it has honours at its disposal which, however lightly given or unworthily worn in the ebb- tide time of English art, have never lost their distinction or, at least, are certain to recover such measure of it as they have lost; it has a hold on the conserva- tive opinion of the English public which no rival can divide; and lastly it cannot be denied that pictures which have passed the ordeal of judgment by the Royal Academy have gained a more worthy victory than those which have pleased the taste of one connoisseur and his personal friends. The disadvantages are of the most practical kind, comprising the neces- sary tyranny of discipline in the matter of punctuality, and the loss of effect caused by over-crowding, by inharmonious neighbours. bad hanging, and very often indifferent light. The Grosvenor Gallery gives the artist the unparalleled privilege of hanging his own pic- tures on the space of wall accorded to him, so that the light shall suit his effects ; his pictures are together, and the proximity of no other painter's discordant manner exaggerates or kills his own; the absence of a crowd, though it may not give the proprietor complete satisfac- tion, affords the artist and the critic a certain calm of contemplation ; the disadvantages con- sist in a personal instead of a national interest, in the atmosphere of clique, and in public indifference. Both exhibitions share, in ahnost equal degrees — ^though it might have been hoped that the less general collection would be free from it — the reproach of admitting mediocrities and bad pictures. Mr. Watts gained the principal honours of the Grosvenor last year by his noble allegory, "Love and Death," in spite of the want of beauty in its colour, and some rather amateurish passages of drawing. Never had his genius appeared more lofty and more human. This year we are again bound to declare a reverential ad- miration for the genius of thought and feeling which has produced in the large allegory of " Time and Death," a work so simple and great. It cannot be said to be original any more than originality can be predicated of many of the The Library of the 2 TWO FAIR MAIDENS. Original Drawing by J. E. Millais, R.A. {Drawn on Wood ly the Artist.) ART IN METAL. 51 most living works in all arts ; the picture merely gives the simple imagery of ages, but it is instinct with present feeling. Mr. Watts^'s " Death is pitiful and pensive ; his " Juclffment has a touch of emotion in the swift turn of the figure as she blinds her eyes J "Time," with his vivacity of look and action, would seem rather to personify Life. A portrait— that of " W. Strickland Cookson, Esq.^'' — is executed with a far different hand; here the colour, though sufficiently broken, falls into the necessary mass and unity, and the surface is pleasant ; there are fine greys in the forehead, with a general solidity of modelling. The " Ophelia is more mannered, and the drawing of her arm and wrist is questionable. Mr. Millais, in "A Good Resolution," shows the single figure of a Scotch girl, who stands turning down a corner of her Bible. The reds and yellows are treated patchily in the flesh, without harmony of effect or purpose. There is fairly nice colour in the blue and white dress, and the grey background is good and well varied. The same artistes portrait group, called " Twins," however, is in his best and happiest manner. The flesh painting is quietly good in handling, the character of the heads well marked, and there is a fine rough mastery in the treatment of a lace Jabot. The painting of the dresses is invisible owing to the glass, which converts into a mirror all the dark passages in almost all the pictures. The glass may flatter the artist with a fictitious depth and richness, but its use is altogether illegitimate in the ease of oil paintings. It is more than five years, if we mistake not, since Mr. Whistler ceased to exhibit at the Academy, but he has been visible in the meanwhile at the Dudley and at M. Dechamps" Gallery in Bond Street, now closed, where he was in company with one or two members of the Impressionist school. Three of the small can- vases are clever renderings of various effects of London fog, works full of intelligence, and quite subtly adroit in some passages, as in the value of the floating bank of smoke in one of the " Nocturnes," and in the comparison of the lights in the " Harmony in Grey and Gold,''^ a clever street snow scene. We emphatically protest, however, against the truly vulgar delu- sion that there is beauty in the smoke effects of London ; " tone," indeed, is precious in nature, and all but indispensable in art, but the rich darkness of age and weather is in no way akin to the poor and grimy darkness of soot. Mr. Whistler^s " Harmony in Blue and Yellow" is as much more beautiful than the others as the sky of nature is lovelier than the sky of commerce; this little sea piece is well combined as to its colour and light, but the foreground and figure contribute the inevitable element of grotesqueness. Two life-size full-lengths are called respectively, " An Arrangement in White and Black," and " An Arrangement in Blue and Green." The o first is a monochrome sketch, fidl of clever- ness in the indication of form and action, but vulgar in subject ; the second has some really fine and finished texture-painting in the blue velvet dress, which is imitatively treated, while the face is purely impressionary — a queer combination. Mr. Cecil Lawson's landscapes, " In the Minister's Garden," " In the Valley — a Pastoral," and " Strayed — a Moonlight Pas- toral " (these idyllic names savour too much of literature to suggest very painter-like work), are, in spite of evidences of much separate study of details, distinctly studio landscapes; the compositions lack a leading purpose, and the colour is somewhat heavy and unintelligible. «!^-^S<3SS=€- — £o> ART IN METAL. — I. By J. HUNGEKFOED PoLLBN, M.A. METALLURGY means the art of smelting as the father of metal-workers. Pliny, the and preparing metals, and working them natural historian, calls Lindus of Scythia the into objects for use or ornament. The art, earliest known smelter of metals. Many archseo- m one form or another, is as old as human logical collections contain tools and weapons, society. The Scripture speaks of Tubal-Cain some considered to be of pre-historic antiquity. 52 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. All authorities agree that it is the earliest art on record. The most primitive examples of metal-work we know are of alloyed metal, generally copper, tin, and other metals variously mixed. One of the countries from which these materials were first obtained, in bars or ingots, and SEATED MERCURY — A BRONZE STATUETTE (GK^CO-ROMAN (From the Naples Museum.) probably also made up into various utensils, was our own. The Phoenician merchants, the earliest navigators of whom we have any record, sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar, coasted round Spain and Gaul, and traded with the British tribes of Cornwall, Devon, and the Seilly islands. They brought tin— perhaps also copper, and alloys of both metals — from those coasts to the cities and states that bordered the Mediterranean basin. Copper is a metal of very wide geological distribution — the island of Cyprus has its name from the Greek word knpros, copper, which abounded there — but tin was more difficult to get. The two metals, when alloyed or mixed together, make the Greek cAalckos, liatin which is sometimes translated^ brass; l)ut is more properly, bronze — the metal in general use by the ancient nations. What we call brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, a beautiful metal, but not so hard as bronze. The colour of bronze is a rich golden brown, varying according to the proportions of the metals composing it, usually from eight to twelve per cent, of tin. Other metals, in small quantities, were used in some kinds of bronze ; sometimes, no doubt, because found in one or other of the two com- ponent materials, from which they were not removed in smelting; sometimes added purposely, in order to improve the colour or the quality and fusibility of the alloy. The earlier smiths and artists made most of their bronze-work mth the hammer. They had admirable methods of tempering the alloy. The furnaces of the ancients were heated by wood or charcoal, and the metal was slowly smelted, so that it was tough and dense. If allowed to cool slowly it became very hard, if more quickly it would be softer ; and, as some bronzes would have small quantities of other metals in them as well as tin, the workman could keep some for tools, knives, daggers and swords, and other kinds for armour or ornaments. All sorts of tools for working wood or metal, as well as arms of every description, were made of bronze by the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Hebrews, and the Greeks. The British Museum, the Louvre in Paris, the armoury of the Tower of London, and many other collections contain good examples. Sword-blades were hammered to the sharpest cutting edge, the metal being lami- nated and tempered so as to be equal to good blades of iron and steel. Two beautiful shoulder- pieces, representing Amazons and Greek war- riors, part of a suit of armour, may be seen in the British Museum. They were found in Italy in 1820. The metal is as thin as paper, but exquisitely modelled and tempered. It has, perhaps, lost much of its thickiiess by time. According to Sir G. Wilkinson, Eg}T3tian arms and tools of admirable hammering have been found of the date of 1800 to 2000 years B.C. ART IN METAL. 53 A xe-heads and various other weapons have been excavated at Troy, by Dr. Schliemann, at a great depth below the present surface of the ground, and may be of the date usually given to the Trojan War — eleven to twelve centuries B.C. Mr. Layard discovered various utensils in DISCOBOLUS BRONZE STATUETTE. (Excavated at Pompeii. ) Nineveh in which the bronze had an inner core of iron, and were slighter and stronger than if they had beemnade of the former only. We believe these are rare examples. Besides tools, arms, and armour, these ancient nations made much of their furniture, thrones, beds, and other things not often moved about, of bronze. An infinite variety of small objects, such as buckles, clasps, ornaments for the harness of horses and carriages — for shields and dress and accoutrements, not themselves made of metal, were of bronze-gilt — and wooden chairs, couches, and other furniture had pins, knobs, and ornamental pieces, not to speak of hinges and locks, of bronze. According to Mr. Layard, much ornamen- tation, called generally gilding, was done at Nineveh by thin plates, or by washes of the dust of this metal. Hitherto we have treated of metal-work exe- cuted on the anvil by hammering. There seems no evidence that casting bronze was practised till long after the Greeks had become great and powerful. The means for treating large masses of molten metal were wanting. Even in smelting it, probably only small quantities were produced at a time. A curious female bust of hammered work, with sphinxes on the base that supports it, is preserved in the British Museum. A hammered statue of Jupiter, by Clearchus of Rhegium (in Italy), is said to have stood near the temple of Minerva, in Sparta. Glaucus of Chios, in the seventh century B.C., is said to have invented soldering — uniting bronze by means of softer metal which is easily fused, and fastens two pieces as by glue or cement. The early Tuscan metal-work, of which there are examples in the British Museum, shows no use of this method. Plates of ham- mered bronze could, by means of soldering, be made into statues of the size of life, or larger. And the practice of casting came into use (invented, it is said, by Theodores and Rhoecos) about the same time. It is to be observed, however, that the great sculptors made statues great portions of which were of hammered gold, also in plates, riveted to each other over a core of wood. We shall speak of some of these works later. All the bronze-workers of antiquity seem to have been accustomed to orna- ment their productions with gold and silver. They did this in several ways. The simplest was to gild it all over or on parts. Gilding was exe- cuted during these ages as it is now. Mercury, or quicksilver, has an affinity with gold, with bronze statuette, named which it forms what is "narcissus." called an amalgam. In this state it is laid over the metal to be gilt, and the whole is baked in an oven or heated chamber in which the gr^co-roman work. (Excavated at Pompeii, 1865.) 54 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. mercury is evaporated, leaving the gold firmly united to the bronze. Another method of decoration was that to which we give the name of damascening, or inlaying in patterns with small quantities of solid gold and silver. This process has continued common in India and the East generally, and is practised with extraordinary skill and much beauty by the Japanese. In damascening, a design or pattern is traced on the surface of the hard metal, and dug out carefully with a tool, leaving the bottom of the channels rough. Into these hollows a wire of pure gold or silver is hammered, so that it fills the space and takes firm hold of its rough sides. The gold or silver is often left of some thickness above the bronze surface, and it is then modelled by the hammer and graver as the artist chooses. Another method of damascening on softer metal is to dig out slightly the lines of a given design, to lay thin gold or silver leaves in them, and to hammer down the rough edges of the metal again over the edges of the plates, and so fasten them firmly to the ground. Or, again, p-old and silver are sometimes let into holes of such thickness as to require to be fastened firmly into the solid metal by pins or plugs of STold or of silver. All these methods seem to have been in use amongst ancient nations. In treating of casting, we should remember that small ornaments, and, perhaps, some tools and instruments, were probably at all times made by casting ; but casting on a large scale was not in use till the age of the great Greek sculptors. The earlier cast statues were of solid metal; but when sculpture in bronze came to be more widely practised they were cast hollow, and in the following manner : — A model is first prepared round a core made of clay, pounded brick, and plaster of Paris, or other such sub- stances, strengthened with bars of metal. Over this the artist works his model in tempered wax, an inch in thickness. Round the wax model a mould is made up of plastic clay-sand, such as will stand the heat of melted metal, and which is fine enough in texture to take the impression of the most delicate lines and sur- faces of the wax. As soon as the mould is hard it is baked in a furnace, and the melted wax allowed to escape through holes prepared for it. In this way the mould remains entire, and an absolute counterpart of the artistes work. The molten metal is then poured into the mould, and allowed to cool gradually. Lastly, the sculptor finishes his work with the graver. In this process there has, probably, been no variation from the time of the ancient Greeks to the Renaissance. The treatment of bronze in this simple manner put into the hands of sculptors a means of working up their conceptions with a common wooden tool in a material so soft, and yet so tenacious, as wax, and afterwards of producing the same figure in a metal that can be finished to the utmost delicacy of surface, and that does not corrode with time. A great period of art was at hand. The reign of the famous sculptors of Greece began. The master or trainer of the greatest of these sculptors was Ageladas of Argos. From his school came Pheidias, Myron, and Polycleitus. His date is the latter part of the sixth and the first year ■ of the fifth century B.C., and his great pupil Pheidias lived through most of the fifth. All these artists worked in bronze as well as in o-old and silver. In the British Museum the reader may see the frieze, metopes (or sculp- tures of the entablature), and the figures that filled the two pediments of the Parthenon, the temple of Minerva, in Athens. These are the work of Pheidias and his pupils in marble. Nothing in metal-work by his hand has sur- vived the sacks and plunderings of the capital cities of antiquity. The Romans carried away his bronze statues for the sake of their beauty, and the Huns and tribes of northern Europe broke them up for the value of the metal. We can, however, form a judgment of what these works must have been from what we see in marble. The marble statues and groups, which have been unburied in Rome and various parts of Italy, and which form the glory of modem museums of sculpture, are generally considered to be models or copies of some of these famous works. The quantity of statues alone made by the Greeks was enormous. Three thousand statues, most of them in bronze, are said to have been preserved in Delphi, and as many in Athens and in Rhodes. The temples of Greece of the date of Pheidias " CHARITY." 55 had many ornaments^ such as the crests or finish of the pediments^ ornamental gratings, doors with decoration on them in relief, of bronze and gilt. The treasm-ies of great shrines, or places of special religious resort, contained (besides other precious objects of which we do not treat at present) chariots, candelabra, and offerings in a hundred shapes, of bronze — cast, tooled, and chased. In Athens a street was known as the " street of tripods," from the range of altars of bronze gilt kept in it. Pheidias, besides his skill in statuary, used to make bees, flies, and small animals, and other objects in gold, silver, bronze, inlaid and damascened, which he finished with the utmost delicacy. Perhaps we can trace the sort of small work in which these great artists took such pleasure in some of the delicate inlaid bronze-work of the Japanese. These objects were finished with chasing and, very probably, with many metals and bronze of various alloys and tones of colour. It is probable that many of the bronze statues of antiquity, perhaps most of them, were gilt, and the gilding would preserve the bronze from the green " patina or rust which forms on it when buried for a very long time. Comparatively few ancient Greek bronzes remain. Antique bronze statues of the Etrus- cans, a people of Eastern origin, who held the centre of Italy till late in the history of Rome, are to be found in the galleries of Rome, Florence, Paris, and other capitals. In the British Museum, for instance, the reader will see several small figures, vases, chests, and other vessels with sculpture and chasing upon them of old Etruscan or Greek workmanship. Of small objects by which we may judge of the skill and grace of Greek and Etruscan metal-work we have none so numerous, so well preserved, and of such excellence, as the mirror eases or covers. These have been found in large numbers in many parts of Italy, and can be seen in most large public collections of classic antiquities. The period of this great excellence of sculp- ture, as well as of other art, did not last long. The immediate successors of the artists named maintained an astonishing skill in metal-work, especially in jewellery, gold and silver vessels, drinking cups, and other utensils ; of these artists and their productions we must treat at a future time. The genius and power for con- ceiving vast groups and compositions, and colossal statuis, cannot outlive the great men with whom such gifts are found under certain happy conditions of time and opportunity. The schools founded by them, however, last long, and produce scholars and workmen who have a wonderful skill, great copyists and imitators, and often admirable designers of sculpture or other kinds of art on a small scale. Such was the case with the schools founded by the sculptors in metal and marble of what we have spoken of as the great age of the Greeks. Many names belonging to it have come down to us. Only the very greatest are here named, but there must have been thousands of whom there is no record whatever. The great age may be said to have passed away with the death of Alexander. -?=SES=€- — :=.>■ "CHARITY. IN the Salon of 1876 was the subject of our engraving, " Charity,^'' together with a com- panion work, " Military Courage." These, with "Faith" and "Meditation," are intended to stand as sentries at the four angles of the tomb of General Lamoriciere. The sculptor, M. Paul Dubois, will see his completed work at the Paris International Exhibition. His " Charity " is no sentimental nymph. She is strong and brave, and the mother of men; her broad breasts feed not only her own sturdy child, but also the poor puling waif which depends on her for life. In all these figures M. Dubois has well symbolised the character of the brave soldier whose memory they are destined to symbolise. SCULPTURE FEOM THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 1878. I.—" CHARITY." By Paul Dubois. (A G-roup Jor the Tomb oj General Lamoviciife.) 1 nuMiuiu SCULPTURE OP THE GRvECO-KOMAN PEIIIOD. THE NEREIDS. (From an Antique Sarcophagus in the Louvre MuKeiim.) OUR LIVING AETISTS FEEDEEICK LEIGHTON, E.A. REDERICK LEIGHTON, member of onr English Royal Academy, and one of the great painters of En- rope, was born on the 3rd De- eembei', 1830, at Scarborough, in Yorkshire. His father was a physician of eminence, and his grand- father. Sir James Leighton, who was long resident at the Court of St. Petersburg, was also a member of the medical profession. It would have been only natural if the subject of our memoir had followed in the steps of two generations of ancestors; but Mr. Leighton was a born painter, and succeeded ultimately, in spite of all obstacles, in adopt- ing the career for which he is so eminently gifted. The record of his life is the story of a painter's studies, struggles, successes. We find him, at the age of eleven, already studying art under Francesco Meli, in Rome ; and we trace him next to the Academy at Berlin. The lad was ardent in his aspirations, 9 and devoted to the study of the art that he loved so well. The turning-point in the choice of his profession occurred at Florence. His father was willing to allow the young student to become a painter, if it should appear that he was likely to attain to real eminence ; but the sensible parent would not sanction the adoption of a profession in which his son might only be second-rate. Mediocrity has, indeed, but little business in art. The decision upon this important question was referred to Mr. Hiram Powers, the American sculptor. On one memorable day, father and son, the latter accompanied by a bundle of his sketches, went to the sculptor to ask his opinion and advice. The boy, who knew how much depended upon the answer, was anxious and tremulous. The sketches were exhibited. The father stated his views, and said that, if his son had powers that would lead to eminence in art, he might pursue it as a career; but that he (the father) could not approve the choice of such a profession if his son could only remain a mere mediocrity. The oracle, after due examination of the speci- mens produced, answered decisively, Your son may become as eminent as he pleases.^' I can fancy the delight of the aspiring youth, dimly conscious of his own rare powers, at this wise answer, which, indeed, decided his career. With the full consent and ready help of his intelli- gent and kindly father, the young Leighton entered at once upon the severe and serious 58 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. studies whicli are necessary to ripen earnest longing into practical power. We next find Mr. Leighton hard at work at Erank±'urt-on-the-Maine, under Professors Becker and Steinli. The latter belonged to the school of Overbeck, and the young painter, youth of seventeen. In the winters of 1852-53, 1854-55, Mr. Leighton, with powers then highly trained and finely developed, painted that well- known and most successful picture, now the property of Her Majesty the Queen, which de- picts for us the carrying in procession, through AN ATHLETE STUUGGLING- 'WITH A PTTHON (bKONZE). with his strong individualism compressed into a special groove, became rampant in the man- nerisms of the particular school of his teachers. After brief visits to Brussels and to Paris, om' student returned to Frankfurt-on-the-Maine, and to Steinli. In Frankfurt-on-the-Maine he painted his first oil-painting — " Giotto found by Cimabue among the Sheep.'''' This was, I am assured, a work of rare promise from a the streets of Florence, of Cimabue''s Madonna. " In front of the Madonna, and crowned with laurels, walks Cimabue himself, with his pupil Giotto; behind it, Arnolfo di Lapo, Gaddo Gaddi, Andrea Tafi, Niccola Pisano, Buffial- macco, and Simone Memmi; in the corner, Dante.'' This picture was sent, vrith some fear and trembling, to the Royal Academy, where it OUR LIVING ARTISTS— FREDERICK LEIGHTON, R.A. 59 was exhibited in 1855. Its success was signal. All London flocked to see and to admire it, and it was generally recognised that the world had gained another great painter. At this point of his career, Mr. Leighton settled for a time in Paris; and he always speaks with gratitude of the art sympathy and advice that he received from Ary Scheffer and from Robert Flemy. In the year 1866 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, a recognition which was specially won by his " Syracusan Brides." In 1869 he was elected a full Academician, and henceforth the history of his life, for any public purpose, is the history of his art progress and of his art works. Of these works I here subjoin a list :— 1855.— (No. 569) " Cimabue's celebrated Madonna is carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence." 1856— (508) " The Triumph of Music— Orpheus, by the power of his art, redeems his Wife from Hades." 1857. — Nothing. 1858. — (501) " Goethe's Angler;" (598) "Count Paris" (see Romeo and Juliet, act ii., sc. 5). 1859. — (32) "Pavonia;" (118) "Sunny Hours;" (281) "LaNanna." 1860. — (322) " Capri : Sunrise." 1861. — (128) "Mrs. S. O."— portrait ; (276) "Paolo and Francesca;" (399) "A Dream;" (550) "Lieder ohne Worte ;" (587) " J. A."— a study; (645) " Capri" (Pagani's). 1862. — (120) "Odahsque;" (217) "Star of Beth- lehem;" (237) "Sisters;" (292) "Michael Angelo Nursing Ms Dying Servant;" (308) "Duet;" (494) " Sea Echoes." 1863. — (382) "Jezebel and Ahab met by Elijah the Tishbite;" (406) " Giri with Basket of Fruit;" (429) "Giri Feeding Peacocks;" (528) "An Itahan Crossbow-man." 1864. — (194) "Dante in Exile;" (217) "Orpheus and Eurydice ; " (293) " Golden Hours." 1865. — (5) "David;" (120) "Mother and Child;" (305) "Widow's Prayer;" (309) "Helen of Troy" {Iliad, bk. hi., 1. 166—173) ; (316) " In St. Mark's." 1866. — AswciaU. — (4) " Painter's Honeymoon ; " (7) "Mrs. James Guthrie ;" (292) " Syracusan Brides leading Wild Beasts in Procession to the Temple of Diana." 1867. — (34) "Pastoral;" (405) "Spanish Dancing Giri : Cadiz in the Old Times ;" (500) " Knuckle-bone Player;" (574) "Roman Mother;" (589) "Venus disrobing for the Bath." 1868. — (227) " Jonathan's Token to David ; " (234) "Mrs. Fred. P. Cockerell;" (328) "Ariadne abandoned by Theseus ; " (449) " Acme and Sep- timius ; " (522) " Actsea, the Nymph of the Shore." \%%^.— Royal Academician.— {Zll) "St. Jerome" ' {Diploma work); (469) "Daedalus and Icarus;" (705) "Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon; (864) " Helios and Rhodos." 1870. — (163) "A Nile Woman." 1871. — (215) " Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis ;" (567) "Greek Girls picking up Pebbles by the Sea;" (1118) " Cleoboulos in- structing his Daughter Cleobotdine." 1872. — (171) "After Vespers;" (202) "Summer Moon ;" (381) " Right Honourable Sir Edward Ryan, Secretary of the Dilettante Society ;" (518) "A Con- dottiere." 1873. — (261) " Weaving the Wreath ; " (1270) " The Industrial Arts of Peace " ( South Kensington Museum). 1874. — (131) " Moorish Garden : a Dream of Granada;" (303) "Old Damascus: Jews' Quarter;" (348) "Antique Juggling Giri;" (981) " Clytemnestra watching for the Beacon-fires which wiU announce the Return of Agamemnon." 1875. — (215) " Portion of the Interior of the Grand Mosque at Damascus ;" (307) " Mrs. W. E. Gordon ;" (345) "Little Fatima;" (354) "Venetian Giri;" (398) " Eastern Slinger scaring Birds : Moonrise." 1876. — (128) "Portrait of Captain Burton;" (241) "The Daphnephoria ; " (926) " Teresina ; " (970) " Paolo." 1877. — (209) " Music Lesson;" (268) " Study ; " (612) "Miss Mabel Mills;" (1466) "An Athlete struggling with a Python " (bronze). What a long and sumptuous list of high and noble art endeavour ! As we read it, many a delight, awakened in the past by a sight of these paintings, is recalled to the memory. The list must, I should think, stir some pride in the artist himself. Mr. Leighton^s pictures of 1878 comprise " Nausicaa," and " Elijah Sleeping in the Wilderness,'" with the ministering angel stand- ing by. The angel brings for the weary pro- phet "a cake baken on the coals and a cruse of water.''^ This work is the greatest and the grandest of this painter^s contributions to the year; but the third picture, of "Two Greek Girls winding a Skein by the Sea-shore," is, both for form and for colour, of quite ineffable loveliness. Two pure young virginal figures, utterly delightful in their tender grace, stand beside the purple Rhodian sea. Behind them, long ranges of low mountains, with a sky-line of wavy beauty, stand out against a serene and sunny heaven. The " Elijah," as also the well- known " Portrait of Captain Burton," goes to Paris; the others, to which has been added 60 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. "Serafina/-' and a study head^ may be seen in was carefully mastered. The skeleton was the Royal Academy. I have had the pleasure drawn from models until it could be correctly of seeing Mr. Leighton's early studies and drawn from memory ; the muscles of the {From a Portrait hy G. F. Watts, R.A.) sketches, including the very earliest, or those human figure were depicted again and again, made at the age of eleven years. It is in- until they, too, could be correctly reproduced teresting to note how thorough and conscien- by a mere effort of the memory, tious his youthful studies were. Anatomy The natural gift for drawing is slowly OUR LIVING ARTISTS— FREDERICK LEIGHTON, R.A. 61 ^1 trained towards mastery and power. The study of the figure reveals an ever-growing purity and firmness of outline. The artist evidently neglected no labour that could contri- bute to realise Mr. Hiram Powers'' prophecy. To art- students a sight of these early sketches is a study of singular interest. Mr. Leighton is, it may be added, a gentleman of many- sided culture, of great accom- plishments, and of a distinctive charm of courteous manner. Earnest in his love for his noble art, he is always gene- rously and gladly helpful to young painters. He speaks several languages fluently and well; and, even apart from the easel, he is one of the highest ornaments of his pro- fession. A striking instance of this painter^s manifold gifts and usefulness may fitly be recorded here. The committee of the Artists' Benevolent Institution, wisely ignoring for such a purpose mere rank, or even the attraction of royalty itself, selected Mr. Leighton as their chairman at the dinner at Willis's Rooms, on Saturday, 11th May, 1878. He pleaded, with noble and with moving eloquence, the claims of those who mistake a desire for a power ; of those who, disabled by sickness, or crippled by misfor- tune, need from their happier brethren the help of delicate and high-toned charity. I am happy to be able to state that Mr. Leighton's most generous advocacy was as successful as it deserved to be. It may be well to add a very 62 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. few critical words upon the subject of Mr. Leighton^s characteristics as a painter. His work is always of a fastidious but faultless elegance. He exhibits a profound sentiment of loveliness in colour, and an ideal grace of classic purity of form. His sense of beauty leans rather to the graceful and the soft than to abstract strength or dramatic intensity. Pathos is not included amongst his aims ; nor — though Dante^s " Paolo and Francesca " here rise to my thought — is passion his forte. His pictures are often poems ; and remind us, in their finish and sweetness, of an Italian sonnet. He has never painted for popularity; but remains always centred upon his own ideals. Scenes of domestic life, or homely pathos, lie wholly outside the range of a painter of such abstract ideality. He has wi-ung from the best Italian schools their secrets of colour; and has won from classic sculpturesque art the calm ideal of its matchless grace : but this painter-'s subtle art conceals successfully the appearance of art. His "Athlete and Python"" proves conclusively that as a sculptor he might have been, and yet might he, " as eminent as he pleases." His work contains always for the student and the critic the charm enfolded in the mystery of mastery ; and it possesses that rare quality which is given by a sense, awakened in the beholder^ that the painter has been sustained through his labour by an emotion of art de- light. His severe and earnest study has been continuous ; and his seeming facility has been gained by work. He competes with the great artists of Europe, and is, incontestably, one of the brightest ornaments of the English School of Painting. H. ScHUTZ Wilson. THE PAINTER'S REWARD. A STUDY FEOM THE LIFE OF DAVID COX. By Wyke Bayliss, F.S.A. TO one who had never seen a rose, the most learned definition would not give so ex- quisite a sense of the loveliness of the flower as woiild the simple act of presenting one fresh gathered from the tree. And yet defini- tions are not without value, but they should follow, rather than precede, some general knowledge of the subject under consideration. True definition is like the perfect focussing of a glass when the star to be examined has been discovered ; but the star must first be brought within the field of the instrument. When the rose has been gathered, it is time enough to tear it petal from petal to see the tender calyx and delicate stamen. I propose, therefore, to define only as I go on : to look at a star here, and a flower there, striving to learn from each what it can tell me of the Higher Life in Art. The grievous thing is that the rose has so often to be torn petal from petal before we realise its full beauty, and that the star so often wanes to its setting before we have learned to rejoice in its light. The painter or the poet spends his whole life in mastering his art, and when he has mastered it — it is time for him to die. And we meanwhile look on, wondering at his strange doings — his seeming failures — questioning much what he is striving after — ^^vhere he can be leading us. . I am not going to tell over again the old story of Milton and his critics — who could see nothing re- markable in " Paradise Lost " except its great length — or of Keats and the others who have been avenged. But I wish to make a careful study of one or two incidents in the life of a great painter — incidents that are still fresh in the memories of many of us, and the consideration of which may be very helpful to some who are at this time sorely discouraged. In the year 1841 David Cox may be considered to have attained his full strength as a landscape painter. It is certain that within a few years of this date he pro- duced many of his finest works, both in oil and water colours. If he ever knew anything of the Higher Life in Art he knew it then; if his works are manifestations of it at all, they were full of it then. In that year he sent two of his paintings to the Society of THE PAINTER'S REWARD. 63 Britirih Artists — "A Heath Scene" and "A Watermill/'' There is no reason to suppose that these pictures were not well placed ; though the painter himself appears to have been a little doubtful as to his mastery of the material, which was comparatively new to him; for, after seeing them in the exhibition, he wrote to a friend that they " looked chalky for want of glazing, which could not be done, as the day appointed for touching, &c., was during my short visit to Birmingham." Next year, however, he was again a contributor ; but his works were either rejected or hung less favourably. Whether they were again sent in an unfinished state, and the Committee hesitated a second time to incur the risk of their remaining so throughout the season, there is no evidence to show; but the loss to the Society was irretrievable ; under the urgent advice of a friend, David Cox resolved to send there no more. He then painted for the British Institution, another well-known London exhibition; but the treatment he re- ceived there appears to have been still more unfavourable. His pictures were again and again rejected. Thus he wrote, " I suppose David knows that my picture is rejected at the Institution," and again, " I am sure there must be worse there.''' His friend, who resented so deeply his disappointment at Suffolk Street, was equally indignant with the Hanging Committee of Pall Mall. But the advice "to send no more" was not so easy of applica- tion ; it would simply have had the effect, as we shall see presently, of shutting out from every exhibition in London the paintings of one of the greatest of England's landscapists. As for the painter himself — generous, courageous, large-hearted — he was content to say, in the sweet humour so characteristic of him, " I begin to feel quite furious, and therefore hope to succeed much better." Nevertheless, we do not wonder when we read a little further on that he did not send much more to the British Institution. Of course there remained the Academy — a society greater than them all — and to the Academy David Cox turned. In 1844 he sent two pictures. In 1845 he wrote to his son, I am finishing one (kit-cat size) , which you saw (mountain, rather dark), which I in- tend for the Royal Academy." In 1846, "I have begun a large oil-picture, 4| feet by 3. I hope to get it finished for the Royal Academy." Yes, David Cox knew the Royal Academy. Elect from the flower of the land, it could make no mistake — it could at least discern where honour was due in Art. And so we read, year after year, the record of his plans and hopes over the paintings he sent there. But the Royal Academy did not know David Cox. We search his life in vain for a single instance in which a picture of his found a place upon its walls. What does this mean ? These men — who could not find a place upon their walls for the works of David Cox— were they simply incompetent to judge of the merits of a landscape ? To name them only is sufficient answer to such a suggestion. Holland and Pyne, Linnell, Stanfield and Turner — these are the men against whom the charge of incompetency would have to lie, since they were the leading landscapists in these Societies. Did they, then, knowing what was right, deliberately choose the wrong, abusing their trust by uniting in the worst spirit of trades- unionism to punish, as a professional rival, one who was a member of a Society in which they had no interest ? I cannot believe it. No one can believe it who knows anything of the inner working of Societies like these — the care that is needed to secure a good exhibition season after season, or the strength of generous sentiment that tramples down the frailty of individual jealousies. There is no vice more rare in the studio than that of envious detraction. The painter, busy with his own dreams, may fail to see the splendours after which other men are striving ; but, seeing them, he never fails to give them the tribute of his honour. No one can be so wide of the mark as the man who fancies that his pictures are rejected lest they should outshine inferior work. But let us look a little closer into this matter. David Cox was a member of the Society of Painters in Water-Colours. For more than a quarter of a century he had been a constant exhibitor. The Society had no choice but to hang his drawings whether 64 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. they liked them or not; but still we can judge a little of the estimation in which his works were held by the position given to them in the exhibitions. In 1845 he wrote, "'The Garden Terrace^ Haddon/ is on the row above the line ; ' Kenilworth ' up quite at the top, consequently only a bold sketch, and I have put prices accordingly ; ' Knares- borough ' is in the next place ; ' Brough ' next. My ' Haddoii ' is my best work. If it could have been hung upon the floor it would have had the light falling upon it, and would have looked — I was going to say — ^beau- •tiful.-'-' It seems strange now to think of this man mildly suggesting that his best work might be placed upon the floor ! In 1853 he wrote again, " The Committee forget they are the work of the mind. I certainly said I would remain with them as long as I am able to paint for them ; but perhaps I may not live to paint any more, and if I r.hould be spared, I think I shall not be able to contribute much." Thus it seems that only a promise, which to him was sacred, restrained him from with- holding his drawings from the Water-Colour Society, as he had withheld his paintings from the Society of British Artists. And yet, in this case at least, there arises no question of professional rivalry; while De Wint and Cattermole, and the others who were leading men in the Society, and of whose works David Cox himself speaks with generous warmth, were surely men of some judgment and know- ledge of Art. What, then, does it mean ? Does it mean that the artists are a " bad lot " altogether? Then let us turn to the critics. Thei/ know everything, and are they not agreed that David Cox was a great painter? They are agreed— but since how long ? In 1847 — a few years only, that is, before he laid down his pencil for the last time — ^lie wrote to a friend describing what he had done to his drawings during the few days usually allowed to a member of a society while the catalogue is being prepared : — " The members were very anxious I should do but little — do nothing indeed to my ' Bolton Abbey ' — which they all seem to agree is the very best drawing I have ever made ; and they have used the most expres- sive words of praise I have ever received, I do not expect the newspapers will have the same feeling." So that, however slow his brother painters may have been in learning the lesson he was teaching them, they did learn it, from the master himself, without waiting for the intervention of the critics. It would be an endless as well as a graceless task to cite from the reams of newspaper articles in which he was assailed. It is sufficiently known that the Avriters of the Press were all too late in their discovery of his transcendent genius to do more than crown his head with laurels a little while before it was time for him to lay it down for his last sleep beneath the turf of the village churchyard, steeped in the sunshine or shadowed by the clouds that he had loved to paint. Let us pass to the grand, the final, the monetary test. It is notorious that the British public did not understand his pictures, and would not buy them. A few, indeed, of his friends bought them for a few shillings or a few pounds — and hastily sold them again the moment their market value increased, not guessing that the increase was the incoming of a tide that should sweep away all the old landmarks of the Societies' catalogues, or the pictm-e-dealers' price-lists. Many of his choicest works hung through the season without finding a pm-chaser, or were taken reluctantly as Art Union prizes. The sale of a pietm-e for twenty pounds was to him an event. In 1846 he wrote : — " You must know that with the sales of my drawings, my July dividends, and the sale of my ' Green Lane ' altogether make me able to buy £200 stock." Did he write this in irony ? Read a little fm'ther : — " The parting wdth the ' Green Lane ■* was the most unpleasant part of the transaction, but I hope to do better things some day." Thus we come at last to his own judgment upon his own works. He had sold them by the score for a few shillmgs each. He had given them as presents to children, and had been troubled to find they were not deemed gay enough in colour. He had exchanged them with a brother artist for a tube of colour worth six- pence ; with a colourman for half-a-dozen canvases ; with a frame-maker in payment for the trouble of mounting a drawing. And yet THE PAINTER^S REWARD. 65 lie knew, as no one else knew, that what he had done was right, was right as no one else^s work Avas right. But this knowledge was mixed Avith such tender humility. Standing before one of his own works, he had been heard to say, softly, " Not so bad, David, not so bad.''-' And in the letter I have last quoted, after summing up the mighty product of £200, he adds : " The parting with the ' Green Lane •' was the most unpleasant part of the transaction.''^ He did not like parting with the "Green Lane."^ He hoped to do better things some day. That is to say, he had eyes to see and a heart to love. His pictures are, indeed, after the pattern of his life, a singular blending of truth, modesty, courage, tenderness, and depth of feeling. He did not like parting with the " Green Lane," not through conceit in his own work, but because it was a reflex of the light upon a face which he had seen, an echo of a voice which he had heard. He hoped to do better things some day. And so he parted with the " Green Lane,''^ as one is content to turn from the likeness of a friend when one hears his footstep at the door. My purpose is not to write a panegyric on David Cox. I am dealing with a few incidents in his life only as they bear directly upon the subject before me. The position is substantially this. The Royal Academy, within a period commensurate with the life of this man, had given us a roll-call of names that shall never die. Its catalogue had begun with a " Land- scape in Human Hair,''^ it ended with Turner's painting of " The Old Temeraire Tugged to her Last Berth.'''' It began with " Two Birds in Shell-work on a Rock decorated with Sea Coral,'" it had passed to Landseer''s " Sleeping Bloodhound. Half-a-dozen years before the birth of David Cox it was content to exhibit "A Frame of Various Devices, cut in Vellum with Scissors, containing the Lord's Prayer in the Com- pass of a Silver Threepence/'' half-a-dozen years before his death so great a company of artists were knocking at its 10 doors that even David Cox could find no standing-room amongst the crowd. And the lesser Societies, the British Artists and the Society of Painters in Water- Colours, they also had done true and loyal service to Art. The one giving hope to the young painters, against whom the doors of the Academy were too fast shut ; the other building lip a school of water-colour painting tliat has become an honour to our country. The one graced by its Holland, its Pyne, its Hurlstone ; the other by its Cattermole, its Fielding, its De Wint. And the Press was doing good service, too ; for Ruskin, the greatest writer on Art that has ever lived, was beginning to make his voice heard. And the people were willing to be taught — -Vernon, and Ellis, and Sheepshanks, were filling their galleries with the prudence of merchants and the liberality of princes. And yet with all this comes out another truth, as clear as it is strange, that of all these con- temporaries of David Cox none knew until the close of his long life how great a genius they had amonffst them. Let no man therefore be discouraged because the patient labour of his life finds no immediate recognition. What more shall the Painter ask than to spend his life in mastering his Art, except only that he may have time to master it before he dies. This is the Painter's true reward. And David Cox received it to the full, — he had time, and he did master it. That his companions should have watched him doubtfully, as the Philistines watched the departing of the Ark "following it even to the border of their land, not knowing whither it would go," matters but very little. What does concern us greatly is, that "the kine which bore it took the straight way, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not to the right hand nor to the left. And we reaping in the valleys, have lifted up our eyes and have seen it, and have rejoiced to see it.'" As for the kine, they were offered as burnt olfer- insrs unto the Lord. 66 THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION.— III. 1. — MINTON's "HENRI DEUX WAKE. ■'T^HE chief interest of 1^^^ the Industrial Sec- tion, without doubt, centres in the furniture, the china, and the glass. At no previous Exhibition have our great manu- facturers made such efforts, and in these classes the display, as far as England is concerned, is all but perfect. Referring here in the first in- stance to the ceramic wares, we find even more than ever to interest us in the splendid collections of Messrs. Minton, Doulton, Wedg- wood, Copeland, and a host of other well- known names. We cannot say that in this section of our manufactures the Exhibition of 1878 has evoked many startling novelties. Messrs. Minton's case, or court, is, perhaps, the most novel feature in the display. This elaborate court has been designed by Mr. R. Norman Shaw, R.A., with especial reference to the objects it has to contain. The colouring is in two shades of green, whereof the lighter, an apple-green, is predominant. It abounds with little niches and bay-windows, with quaint recesses and angle -pediments, and though it is at first sight rather startling, we are bound to confess that the china it enshrines looks well in it, and this is the chief test of merit in a ease for an Exhibition. In manipulative excellence in our china modelling and painting we have long been behind the more skilful French potters. Indeed, Messrs. Minton were formerly compelled to recruit their best hands from Sevres, but a careful examination of the collection they have here brought together, will show that Messrs. Minton^s china painters have now little to learn from their quondam teachers. We remember, as long ago as 1871, to have been greatly delighted with the pate siir pate work produced by this firm, and some of the vases here decorated in this style are of the highest excellence. We believe Mr. Solon is the artist to whom is due the decoration of a magnificent vase of Etruscan form, which was modelled for Messrs. Minton from the Museum at Naples. The subject chosen for illustration is " Cupid Lecturing," and it is certainly in every way worthy to rank as a chef-(Ta;uvrc. We saw this vase before it was fired at the China Works, at Stoke, and were much impressed with the great technical skill evinced in its production. It must be remem- bered that in this pate sur pate decoration the artist works in a thin semi-fluid porcelain paste, which he applies to the dark body of the ground on which he is producing his design with more or less relief, or impasto, as a painter would say. He models this clay-slip with a 2. MINTON VASE, DECORATED BY MR. PILSBURY. series of dainty little tools, leaving the clay thick for his high lights, and scraping it almost down to the dark ground for his shadows. His work is completed by giving to THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION. 67 the whole a coating of rich glaze which im- parts a most delicious transparency^ and a most delicate tone to the design. The ground of this vase is olive-green — Cupid is represented stand- ing on a tribune, while grouped around him is a series of fair maidens modelled in the most masterly way; the entire subject being specially remarkable for the skill shown in obtaining an appearance of depth due to the excellence of the perspective. Among other noticeable objects in the display of Messrs. Minton we may mention a pair of fine celadon green vases, having decorations in jodfe sur pate on a wide blue belt, which encircles the upper part of them. These vases, which we illustrate (3), are richly gilt, and are each supported by four Amorini in oxydised silver. From among smaller works of pate sur pate, we may single out for especial praise a small tray on which a girl is seen jumping over ropes held by cupids ; in this case the pates have been slightly tinted. Messrs. Minton have some fine examples of underglaze painting ; their leading artist for this kind of decoration is Mr. Mussill. To his hand we owe the large central vase nearly five feet in height, richly painted with birds, orchids, and other tropical plants on a red body. Mr. Pilsbury has decorated for the same firm a pair of large turquoise vases ('2), and we again find our old friends, the Prometheus vases, which are among the noblest pieces ever produced in porcelain.* * Messrs. Minton have been eminently successful in the reproduction of some of the scarcest examples of ancient manufactures, and their revival of the rare Oiron faience known as "Henri Deux" ware is, perhaps, their greatest triumph. We have engraved (1), as an example, a vase in this style. Messrs. Minton's case at Paris, with all its precious contents, has been purchased by Mr. Goode, of South Audley Street. 3. AMOUINI VASE, MINTON. In their efforts to uphold the fame of our English potters, Messrs. Minton, though they are pre-eminent, are ably supported by other firms, and in the point of absolute novelty we are bound to give a foremost place to Messrs. Doulton, for in the quaint and clever pottery which they have introduced they are without rivals. The so-called ''Doulton ware" (4 and 5) is a stoneware body with a salt glaze, and its manu- facture represents an art which had so nearly fallen into abeyance, that it was relegated to the produc- tion of the coarsest kinds of pottery, and Messrs. Doulton deserve all praise for its revival, and for having trained up a special band of clever decorators and designers, who have contributed so ably to their success. A considerable share of the praise for what has been effected by this firm appears to be due also to the students of the Lambeth School of Art, who, under their Jate head master, Mr. Sparkes, have ably seconded Messrs. Doulton's efforts. In ad- dition to the terra-cotta facade in the central avenue, which contains numerous specimens of the new ware used for structural decoration, we find in the Prince of Wales's garden one of Mr. Tinworth's masterpieces in the shape of a fountain of very quaint design. The subject, or rather subjects, illustrated are scriptural, and the spiral watercourse down which flows the rill of water is bordered by a series of panels illustrating all the instances where water is mentioned in Holy Writ. Perhaps Mr. Tinworth's best production is the terra- cotta group entitled "The Football Players,'' but his alto-relievo of "The Descent from the Cross" is a work of great merit. The vase bearing a series of panels representing the doors and windows of the Bible, is a 68 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. marvellous specimen of the new ware, and of the style in which Mr. Tinworth has executed some of his best work. Another kind of pot- tery in which Messrs. Doulton excel, is the " Doulton faience,''' which is an earthen- ware with a frit glaze. They generally choose for the decoration of plaques and vases in this material very somTn'e and quiet tones of colour, in which blue and brown pre- dominate, but latterly they have achieved great brilliancy and admirable colouring, of which we find several instances among the objects in the present exhibition. There are two magnificent circular dishes painted with birds and foliage, and a pair of vases, perhaps the largest specimens of VASE IN DOULTON WARE. VASE IN DOULTON WAKE. think, has never been attempted before in salt-glazed ware, viz., a true pate sur pate. Something very similar was found in some of the old Flemish stoneware, and the stamped applique ornament of earthenware ever produced. The most recent improvement made in " Doulton ware " is the introduction of a mode of enrichment which, we the early English salt- glazed ware may have suggested this mode of treatment. There are two cases of specimens of this new pottery in Messrs. Doul ton's court, in which the lighter coloured pate has been skilfully employed on a dark background. The chimney-piece in which " Doulton ware'' is judi- ciously used for decora- tion, though a trifle heavy, has many points of merit, and the balus- trade which surrounds Messrs. Doulton's court is a good example of the architectural use of the material. Perhaps in no other branch of the ceramic arts are English manu- facturers more entirely successful than in tile- making. The art of making encaustic tiles is one especially our own. On the exterior walls of the Prince's Pavilion, on the side to- wards thelndustrial Gal- leries, Messrs. Minton, of Stoke, and Messrs. Maw, of Brosely, make a splendid show of wall- decorations. The majolica-ware of the latter firm is particularly good. The fireplace of Messrs. Minton, which is the central feature of their display, is a little weak in art-power, more espe- cially in the execution of the figure-subjects for the painted panels. We illustrate (6) one of the decorative panels by ISIessrs. Maw and Son. 6. WALL TILES. (Bij Maw <£ Co.) 69 THE ROYAL ACADEMY. SECOND NOTICE. OLLOWING the order of the numbers^ the first picture that calls for special commendation is Mr. Sant's " Portrait of Mrs. Surtees/^ where the work in the accessories^ the lace and flowers, is finely executed, and most refined in colour. Mr. Aumonier has less than his usual I'epose in his mi- nutely elaborated "Waste Land," where the detail is pre-Raphaelite, and executed with some effort. Mr. Pettie's work is unequal ; he has never painted more powerfully than in his two striking- canvases, "A Member of the Long Parliament, " and the " Portrait of S. Taylor Whitehead, Esq.," which is strongly influenced by Rubens. In the former, everything is masterly except the hand- ling, which has more than manner — manner- ism. The latter shows a greater mastery of painthifj than any portrait we have seen of recent years ; the moist life of the flesh and eyes, the life, also, which is in the hair and the moustache and beard, the knowledge which is shown in the treat- ment of the greys of the flesh, and in the lost and recovered outlines against the back- ground, and the quiet and subtle differences of colour and tone in the rich draperies, place this work among the masterpieces of art schools. Mr. Edgar Barclay has caught a habit of painting in a coppery colour, which almost emulates that of Mr. Poole ; we are disap- pointed at the turn he has taken ; in his A REMOVAL OF NUNS PKOM LOUGHBOROUGH CONTENT. (By P. H. CaMei-oti, n.A.) " Women moulding Water-jars, Algeria," he has also repetitions of an action which does not explain itself. " A Summer Flood," by H. R. Robertson, is a bold and ambitious but con- scientious landscape, in which the large piled horizon clouds are facing the west and in the full flush of sunset. The artist has not feared colour, but his harmony and repose are preserved. We have only to find fault with the painting of the hay; we do not ask for details, but we do desire correct indica- tions. Mr. Ouless^s several portraits are not so strik- ing in their realisation of character this year as they were last ; but his painting is always work- manlike, and his drawing occasionally surpasses that of any other Englishman in a quality which is more than the indispensable correctness of forms and of perspective — a sureness and solidity of which the Italians say gira, " it turns round." The " Portrait of J. D. Dent, Esq.," is quite magnificent in drawing, though it has not the rich painting of Mr. Pettie's work. Mr. Ouless insists upon outlines, while Mr. Pettie draws by means of colour and values. Both portraits are invaluable to students. Mr. Marcus Stone has lately adopted a general leaden greyness, which he combines chillily with cool pink. There is pretty work in the accessories of all his pictures this year, and everything he does is careful in the extreme ; he shows more care, indeed, than dexterity or definite manner, beautifully fine as is his painting of foliage. We find the hand of Mr. W. B. Morris, which has hitherto worked so intelligently and exquisitely on Spanish subjects, in an Evening by the Old Mill," which has a sky of great sweetness, and 70 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. much beauty of touch throughout, though in the matter of touch he seems to us more literal and less clever in this English picture than in former work. Of Mr. Davis^s canvases, we select for special notice his " Evening Light," one of the first pictures in the large room. He has here achieved a brilliant success in the painting, lighting, and colour of the cattle. His anatomy and his knowledge of motion are also admirable. This is in every way excellent work of a literal kind ; perfect, yet, if we may be permitted the paradox, scarcely masterly. A most suggestive com- parison of this with Van Marcke^'s cattle (a specimen of which may be seen at the French Gallery, in Pall Mall) may be made, as of the best English with the best (Continental method. Mr. Davis^'s manner in the landscape is not so good. Of Mr. Watts's portraits, the finest is that of "H. H. Gibbs, Esq.," in the tenth room; it is assuredly one of the artistes masterpieces ; the character is fine, and the quality of paint- ing admirable. " Carrying Hay," by Mr. J. W. B. Knight, has a fine, free, out-of-door light and atmosphere ; it is broad and large THE GODS AND THEIR MAKEliS. (By E. Long, A.E.A.) in colour and manner ; with plenty of variety, the sky is an atmospheric sky, and keeps its relation well with the colour of the landscape. Mr. Briton Riviere exhibits four canvases. His larger composition of the " Courts of Jamshyd " is excellent in the characteristic movement of the lions. In "An Anxious Moment," the versatile artist takes a humorous subject, and treats it with a great sense of fun. A flock of geese waddling through a narrow gateway are astonished by a battered black hat lying in their path ; the action of the birds as they crowd against the wall to avoid the portentous hat is exceedingly good ; but there is some- thing a little too human, perhaps, in the farcical character of individual geese. In the same artist's " Sympathy," the painting and anatomy of the dog are excellent, and his expression most touching. Mr. Farquharson's twilight cattle- piece is a strong work, and shows a fine feeling for colour, even in its almost monochrome, as was also the case in his snow-piece last year. In Mr. Armitage's " Cities of the Plain," the unfortunate effect of toy towns is not prevented by the perspective of the foreground hills ; the colour is, we think, too violent. " One Step More," by Mr. Adrian Stokes, is hung too high for the merits of a brilliantly painted and well-drawn picture, fresh and true in the flesh, and artistically delicate in the accessories. A new marine painter, Mr. W. Shaw, has done strong and faithful work in his " Stepper Point, Padstow, Corn- wall;" also in his storm scene in the fifth gallery. The former has an exceedingly luminous sky, and spirited wave drawing, the latter a truly living sea. "After Sunset, Brittany," by Mr. Leslie Thomson, has the artist/s characteristic repose and breadth, with a sweet, brilliant, and broken sky. Perhaps the most beautiful of his canvases is " Hennant, Brittany," hung in the lecture-room ; here he has lovely greys and lights, and quiet yet strong darks ; but two trees of the same size and shape are too naif for artistic composition. The principal work contributed by Mr. Peter Graham is " Wandering Shadows," a beautiful painting in a literal manner; the floating lights and darks are certainly extraordinarily real. Of the three canvases which Mr. F. THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 71 Goodall exhibits this year, we have chosen one which is in every way a characteristic representative of his work for the subject of our large illustration (p. 73). Good character and life are to be observed in Mr. Poingdestre^s Buffalo Carts/' and ' The Timber m Wagon," by Mr. C. E. Johnson, of which we here give a sketch. After a passing glance at the series of the " Road to Ruin," there is nothing but Mr. Orchardson's " Social Eddy''' remaining to notice in the large room. This artist has facility in a certain combination of pearl tints which is a very charming one, and he gives himself plenty of wall-space in this picture for its display; of feature as they are, and attired in the quaint bonnets and tippets of the First Em- pire, have a charm ; this composition has little of the beautiful colour of the artist's Grosvenor picture, but the tone is good. Mr. but he does not hesitate to leave out a shadow entirely where he thinks it would break his light masses. In the fourth room is one of Mr. Thornely's monotonous but pleasant little grey pictures, " A Dutch River Scene ; " he has too often a heaviness in his clouds, which does not keep a riffht relation with his delicate land. Mr. Joseph Knight's "Conway Marsh" is very broad and powerful, but the manner is some- what hard. Mr. W. F. Yeames has found an interesting incident for the subject of his pic- ture, " Where did you last see your Father ? " Puritan soldiers are cross-examining an un- daunted little boy, while his sister, in tears, awaits her turn. " Chalk Cliffs, coast of Sussex," by Mr. J. Cassie, is very good, especially in the painting of the water, but for some heavy colours and tones in the sky. Many a canvas is from the hand of Mr. Elmore, and in each perceive his accustomed characteristics. we In "Green Leaves among the Sere," by Mr. Boughton — a group of young girls and chil- dren under autumn trees — the figures, refined THE TIMBER WAGON (By C. E. Jolitison.) Hamilton Macallum, having found out his own special way of painting water — and a very good way it is — is determined that we shall see a great deal of it. "Shrimping" and " Waiting for the Ebb " are marked by his usual success ; they are luminous, and full of air and distance. Quite supreme among flower painters is M. Fantin, who paints with a certain severity of colour, but with an assurance, a mastery of touch, which we seldom see applied to this subject ; his " Roses " are full, large, and brilliant in execution. We have already, in a past number, expressed our admiration for the fine qualities to be found in "The Gods and their Makers," by Mr. Long; and also for the character and absence of sentimentality with which Mr. Calderon has portrayed " A Removal from Loughborough Convent of Two Nuns," whose friends Crom- well had forewarned that his soldiers were to sack it. Of each of these we now give a sketch (pages 69, 70), as well as of Mr. E}Te Crowe's "School Treat," a work which must have proved very suggestive during this summer 7-1 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. weather to the hundreds of clerical and thousands of juvenile visitors to the Academy. To our mind, Mr. GoodalFs portrait group, which he calls " Palm Sunday/^ is quite the best of his works this year ; the motive is charming, and the drawing excellent. We are sorry to see that Mr. Walter Horsley's picture in this Academy in no way bears out the excellent promise of his debut last year ; his " Shopping in Constantinople," although an attractive subject as usual. If this artist has ever painted a man, we do not remember it ; l>ut the pictures he paints find general favour in these elaborately idyllic days of ours. The best thing in his picture this year, which gives a group of school-girls singing to a spinet accompaniment, is the composition of tones, which is uncommonly happy ; the lighting is also good. A girl to the left is in every way the strongest fig'ure in the group ; indeed picture, has faults which can well be excused in the work of so young an artist. Another of Mr. Ouless^s portraits — that of Sir William Wright — has his usual masterly power of draw- ing; yet, fine portrait-painter as he is, he has something to learn from the great masters. M. J osef Israels has but one picture, " Re- turning from the Field," thoroughly artistic in grouping and movement, and, as usual, solemn in feeling. "A Highland Harvest Home," by Mr. Small, which presents to us a Scotchman dancing in a kilt, is a somewhat disappointing one, after the strong work Avhich this artist has done at times ; his figures here are one and all motionless in the attitudes of dancing. The yellow lamplight may, or may not, be true, but its effect in bringing out all the faces as patches of orange-colour is very imfortunate. Mr. G. D. Leslie chooses a jiurely feminine the painting here overpowers the treatment of the rest. "To our next Merrye Meetynge," by Mr. Watson Nicol, of which we gave a thumb-nail sketch on page 44 (Part II.), is unusually full of impulse and nature ; the actions are excellent, and the accessories brightly painted. There are few ladies who have won so many Academy honours as Mrs. Jojiling. Last year she had four canvases at Bm-lington House, and this year she is represented by the same number. Of these, three are excellent portraits, and the fourth is " A Village Maid " — " Who sets her pitcKer underneatli the spring, Musing on him -who used to fill it for her, Hears and not hears, and lets it overflow." In all these works — which have hardly, by the way, had justice done them in the hanging — the artist gives us her bold, free, masculine, and even masterly painting. 11 74 SUGGESTIONS FROM GROWING PLANTS By G. McKenzie. FOR ART DECORATION. (MONG the sources from which the various races of mankind have ga- thered materials for the ornamentation of their buildings, their utensils, and their persons, none has been more drawn upon or yielded more copious results than the vegetable kingdom. From the gigantic pillars of the ancient Egyptian palace temples, modelled after the fair forms of lotus and of papyrus plants, down to the little tre- foil emblemx of our sister island, so elegant when applied to the decoration of a lady's gown, we find a long succession of floral and of leafy forms that have been appropriated by different peoples as materials for making beautiful and attractive the things they have most highly valued. Sometimes the originals have been followed with as much fidelity as the nature of the material wrought upon or the skill of the work- man would admit of, at others they have been so altered and conventionalised that the original type from which the resultant form was first suo-o'ested is a matter of insoluble doubt. From the marked differences of manner among the nations whose works are looked upon as exem- plars for the people of the present day, there has arisen much controversy as to the true principles by which we should be guided in our works; some advocate the conventionalising of all forms whatever before using them as decorations, while others hold that no greater change should be made, than is necessary to fit them into their appointed places. But there is one common ground on which all can meet and agree, that it is necessary to study form fi-om the living organisms before we can hope to find new materials fit to be applied to the purposes of the ornamentist. Eloquent and distinguished writers have in our day given much time and study to clearing away the difficulties that beset us in our efforts to arrive at sound principles for our guidance in the application of decoration to building and manufacturing-. Our literature has been en- riched with works which are as remarkable for beauty of expression as for soundness of teach- ing, and the careful perusal of those must result to the student of nature in a sharpening of the mental vision by which we perceive the real bearings of objects presented to our eye- sight. If any one will look through a good collection of standard ornamental forms, whether in books or in museums, and then betake him- self to a collection of plants, native and foreign, such as may be met with in most, and probably in all large toAvns, he will find new forms, analogous to, yet different from, the old exam- ples, and quite as well fitted to suggest ncAv and beautiful combinations of form and colour as anything the world has yet seen. Our wood- lands, heaths, and hedges are now, as heretofore, sources from which each new generation will gather the old familiar favourites that are endeared to us by associations which no new im- portations can ever supplant ; but there will be found among the strangers from warmer climates a rich suggestiveness, so many of those before unthought of freaks and turns of nature which, when we first see translated into stone or metal- work, we are apt to regard as having proceeded from the inventive imagination of the designer, but yet are only the outcome of intelligent and careful observation. Some years ago the writer, after studpng the invaluable treatises of Mr. Ruskin on curves, and on the growi;h of plants, in the " Modern Painters,'" determined to set aside as much time as he possibly could for the study, in the living plants, of the principles so elaborately and so carefully worked out by the learned and eloquent professor. At the end of two years of study in the admirably- kept botanical gardens of Sheffield, and through the great facilities accorded by Mr. Ewing the curator, there had been accumulated several hundred separate studies of gro-\ving plants, the subjects selected solely from an orna- mentist's point of view, the draughtsman being SUGGESTIONS FROM GEOWING PLANTS FOR ART DECORATION. 75 himself a handicraftsman in an ornamental trade. It is proposed^ under the valuable advice of Mr. Georg-e Wallis, the curator of South Kensing- ton Museum, to publish a short series of papers, illustrated from those studies with a special view to their suggestiveness for actual application, and especially as showing in what direction rich stores of material are awaiting the careful student. To carvers of wood and of stone, to workers in iron, in brass, and in the precious metals, to illuminators and designers in general, it is believed these studies will prove useful, not only in themselves, but as evidences that the men of former days had no sources of informa- tion from which we are shut out, but on the contrary, that the labours and researches of the botanist have enriched our collections with thousands of beautiful and suggestive forms, of which our predecessors had no knowledge. It was soon found that one class of plants far transcended all others in furnishing peculiarly varied and well-defined forms of leafage. In the ferns, Nature would appear to have compen- sated for the absence of diversity in colour, by concentrating in the tribe almost every beau- tiful form of foliage that may be found through- out the vegetable world ; and as the Sheffield collection then included about three hundred varieties, there was ample opportunity for the writer to observe and study the peculiar mode of growth in these plants. Mr. Smith, formerly the curator of Kew Gardens, in his standard work on ferns says : — " When young, the fronds (leaves) are involutely coiled in the manner of a watch-spring, and gradually uncurl during the period of growth ; " but this is only a very imperfect and unsatisfac- tory description of a process in which lies a great part of the beauty and usefulness of fern growth to the ornamentist. A better idea of the changes the fronds go through may be got by comparing the newly-sprung frond to a closed fist, and the developed leaf to an open hand. It is clear that while the member changes, from one form to the other many views may be made of it, all differing in appearance, as you bring the various divisions into different perspective. We have here four studies of Allosurus crispus, or mountain parsley, in different stages of development; it is a fern native to these islands, and presents forms of Figs. 1-4. -STUDIES FROM ALLOSVBUS CRISPUS OR MOUNTAIN PAKSLEY. leafage which would be of much use to the carver. In studying from this plant much care and perseverance are needed; the practice fol- lowed was to detach the frond to be copied from its neighbours by means of a piece of black silk, which formed a perfect background for the bright green leaf; and then, as in the case of the object Fig. 1, which was really no larger than a moderate-sized pea, the detail was made out by means of a good magnifying glass, an instru- ment which must be used by every one who would profit by the study of small plants^ as in these are often to be found the most valuable lessons. Fig. 2 is a more advanced frond of the same. Fig. 3 is yet Ji^t^^ more expanded ; the whole of the '^(w'}lmu detail of this drawing was found 'sJ^^ffi' in an object no larger than one's 'SS'i^^^ thumb-nail. Fig. 4 is the fully- \^ opened leaf. Figs. 5 and 6 belong \ \ to a species kindred to the first, Yig. 5. and illustrate in a very marked manner the wide difference between the two extreme stages in the growth of these plants. In Figs. 7 and 8 we have two studies of Cystopteris fragilis, also a British fern ; in these we may see the utmost freedom in growth co-existing with the most perfect subjection to law. To the carver these are noteworthy lessons 76 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. Fiff. 6. in tlie distribution of leafage on stall-lieads and similar architectural features. In Fig. 9 we have a strik- ing instance of the beautythat may lurk in minute things — it is the opening frond of a very small and delicate tropical fern ; in the lateral leaflets the mid - rib is waved in a manner peculiar to this among all tlie examples studied; in instances like this there must be no hesitation in copying, it must be done without delay ; a few hours of absence and the forms will have changed, as their growth is rapid during the proper season ; it was only after repeated trials that the detail was made out in this instance, and after all the result gives a very inadequate idea of the beautiful original ; yet how suggestive to the carver in stone, who needs do little more than increase rig- 7. the size, in order to find a design well fitted for his purpose. One word on the importance of nature studies. In looking through a num- ber of standard works, in- cluding among others those of Mr. A. W. Pugin, Sir M. Digby Wyatt, M. VioUet le Due, Mr. Waring, and Mr. Ruskin, it is instructive to note the difPerence of the spirit with which foliated subjects are copied by the different masters; in some there is no evidence of acquaintance with natural forms, except as seen through the works of their predecessors ; in others it is easy to discover that the draughtsman has looked through and beyond his model to the natural type that first suggested it ; in the second division are found those who by precept and example have taught with iteration and earnestness, that it is not by using the eyes of others, but by employing our own, we can make any mark in life by which the world will set store. {To be continued.) Fig. 9. MR. LEIGHTON'S CARTOON, "THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS OF PEACE." OUR frontispiece represents the central group from Mr. Leighton^s admirable design for a lunette, illustrating " The Industrial Arts of Peace." The work is intended to form the principal decoration of one of the courts of the South Kensington Museum, and our illustra- tion of it is taken from the artiste's cartoon at present sho-\vn in the gallery of the coiu't. The composition, which has an architectural setting, is arranged with the formality befitting a typical and allegorical, rather than realistic, subject; but the figures themselves are draAvn with a fine freedom and originality, and, while their grace has a monumental repose, it is entirely free from conventionality. Nowhere, perhaps, has Mr. Leighton's feeling for beauty been more charmingly exemplified, nor has his di-awing ever show a sm-er hand ; the draperies are par- ticularly well studied. The grace of the central group is balanced on either side by masculine figures in vigorous action. In the background is seen a classical landscape, which fitly aids the sense of artistic repose which belongs to the whole work. The companion lunette, dealing with "The Industrial Arts of War," contains some of the finest groups as well as single figures which the accomplished artist has ever conceived. Ihe Librarir of th« Ufiivenity of (NiiMfc. 3 THE TlilUMPH OF SCIPIO. (Prom the Fainting by Pierino del Vaga, in the Doria Palace, Genoa. Italian, Sixteenth Century.) VICISSITUDES OP ART TREASURES.— II. By E. H. Soden-Smith, M.A., F.S.A., &c. HERE is a moulder- ing arch spanning a still-used track that leads to the centre of ancient Rome — to what was the Capitol. No one of any pretence to culture who passes for the first time beneath that arch, can fail to be arrested by the records, worn and half-obliterated though they are, which still are visible on its side piers. They have a pathetic interest. Eighteen hundred years have passed, and the tooth of time has gnawed them little by little, and the fiercer stroke of the hand of barbarism has shattered them; yet these worn sculptures on the Arch of Titus still bear their wit- ness, once triumphant, now sorrowful, to that terrible catastrophe when the doom of fallen Jerusalem was accomplished, "they shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee." Eighteen hundred years have passed. Along that track, then an imperial highway, there went up the pomp of a Roman triumph. Has the world seen pomp to compare with the lavish splendour of those tremendousjdisplays ? when all that was then known of wealth, when the resources of the universe were taxed that fitting homage might be paid to the victor,— " Along the Sacred Way- Hither the Triumph came, and winding round With acclamation and the martial clang Of instruments, and cars laden with spoil, Stopt at the sacred stair." Thither he that was mightiest among the mighty of men, Julius Caesar, went up ; and to enhance the barbaric pomp of his triumph, the steps of the Capitol were lighted by forty elephants bearing torches on the right hand and on the left, while the spoils of conquered nations were borne aloft on ivory cars. When Aurelian triumphed after the fall of Palmyra, 78 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. the procession was opened in such fashion as might please a populace sated with sights of AKCH OF TITUS AT ROMK. (Erected after the Triumph, in A.D. 71. of Fe-iiasiTii and his son Titus, for their victories in the East.) gorgeous extravagance. Twenty elephants^ foiir royal tigers, above two hundred of the most curious animals of all climates were there, be- sides sixteen hundred gladiators ; while, before her conqueror, fettered with gold, and almost fainting under the intolerable weight of jewels, the beautiful Queen of the East, Zenobia, "pre- ceded on foot the magnificent chariot in which she once hoped to enter the gates of Rome." Splendid, but pitiful and sad, were those sights ; long ranks of chained captives, heart- broken, desolate, doomed to death or slavery; spared for a moment to grace the conqueror's chariot-wheels, but where the road divides they parted, the victor and the vanquished, "he to the festal board and they to die." Chief among those on whom the doom of hopeless exile fell, was that strange race scarcely subdued by famine or pestilence, by fire or the sword — the Jews had been crushed rather than conquered, they had seen their Temple in fiamcs, the Holy of Holies entered by the Gentiles, and the ancient and most sacred vessels in the hated hands of the spoiler. Then it was they felt that Jehovah had abandoned His people, and fiercely cast themselves dowm to die ; yet were thousands made captive, so that no purchasers were found for them — outcast, despised and spurned. These, fettered and goaded, passed painfully along that triumphal path, " while each street, each peopled wall, and each insulting window, pealed forth a brawling triumph o'er their heads;" and this Arch of Titus still stands, with its sculptured bas-reliefs, an unanswerable witness to the truth of the record which tells of those golden treasures of the Temple. What vicissitudes can surpass theirs ? that seven-branched candle- stick plainly delineated among the spoils, was in accordance with the type of the original candlestick fashioned by the instruction of Moses, preserved with the ark, probably deposited in Solomon's Temple; lost sight of with the treasures carried to Babylon, replaced after the original design, and again reverently used in the BAS-RELIEF ON THE SIDE PIER OF THE ARCH OF TITTTS. (Showing the Seven-Branched Candlestick.) Temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel, after the capti\dty; still secure in the Temple as restored by Herod, VICISSITUDES OF ART TREASURES. 79 till the fatal ruin came, when the Jewish nation, as a nation, perished, and their glorious and sacred vessels, and this ancient symbol of God''s presence fell into the hands of those who had no pity, and were paraded to make a Roman holiday. The subsequent story, as far as it is known, may be briefly told. After the triumph which had been decreed by the Senate to the Emperor and his son Titus, for that success which had left the remnant of the Jews outcasts on the face of the earth, Vespasian built a temple to Peace, which aimed at being the largest and most beautiful structure in Rome, and also the most richly endowed. There he deposited, among other trophies of his conquests, the sacred vessels that had been taken from the Temple. The Book of the Law and the vails or curtains of the Sanctuary he placed in the imperial palace. This great temple of Peace was burnt to the ground about a century later, in the reign of Commodus, but it was believed that the Jewish spoils were saved. There was a story long current, and still repeated, that the golden candlestick was lost in the Tiber. It was said that Maxentius, the Roman emperor, possessed himself of these treasures, and when, after his overthrow by Constantine in a.d. 312, at Saxa Rubra, he perished in attempting to cross the Tiber by the Milvian bridge, the candlestick and other objects were lost in the river. There is no certain authority for this story. On the other hand it is stated by Theophanes, that Genseric the Vandal, when he entered Rome, on the death of Maximus, in a.d. 45.5, carried off "the Hebrew vessels which Titus, the son of Vespasian, had brought to Rome after the taking of Jerusalem,''^ and sailed with them to Africa. Some fifty years afterwards, Belisarius having conquered the Vandals in Africa, carried the spoils to Byzantium, and pre- sented them to the Emperor Justinian. Finally, it is related by Procopius that a Jew, seeing these sacred objects, warned one near the emperor that destruction would over- take the palace if they were carried thither, as it had done all those who had hitherto possessed them, and that the emperor, being alarmed, thereupon " sent them away in aU haste to the holy places of the Christians in Jerusalem.'" Beyond this, nothing is known ; their chequered history is untold further ; whether they reached Jerusalem is not certain, nor can it be shown to what Christian holy place they were sent. PORTION OF THE BAS-RELIEE ON THE SIDE PIER OF THE ARCH OF TITrS. (Sliowing the Jewish Silver Trumpets,) Turning- then from these treasures sur- rounded by Saeredness and Mystery, whose material, itself imperishable, perhaps prompted ignorant or fanatic avarice to their destruction, we take our next example from the most lowly substance which art has lifted into beauty — • potter's clay. The durability of treasures in crystal, or monuments of granite, such as we have dwelt upon in our former paper, will be readily understood if they escape the zeal of some fierce iconoclast, but it may surprise not a few readers to be told that the works of the potter are among the most durable of all things : not always, alas ! in their original sym- metry, but as regards their material almost imperishable. Thus it is that they guide the archaeologist in so many of his investigations, — whether pre-historie remains occupy him, or explorations at Troy, Mycenae, or Cyprus ; whether he traces the wanderings of the Phoenicians, the graves of the Etruscans, the colonies of Greece, or seeks to define the limits of Roman dominion. They have, therefore, their vicissitudes. Take the following as an example. There is an old Greek tazza, a cylix in thin red earthen- ware, of the exquisite form which those ancient potters knew how to conceive, made some 500 80 THE MAGAZINE OP ART. years before the Christian era; it is boldly painted, bearing beneath the spreading bowl two quaint eyes, designed in Egyptian fashion : thus carrying one's thoughts back, on the one hand, to an emblem of the most ancient of nations used in the remotest antiquity, and on the other to a superstition of the present day; for a Chinese junk even now needs two huge eyes on its prow to see its way over the ocean. These eyes on the Greek bowl should have seen strange changes. Treasured it must a hungry Italian artist — one of that tribe who by the strange revolution of fate, now represents in modern London the " Graeculus esuriens " whom Juvenal sneered at amidst the luxury of ancient Rome. The precious spoils of the artistic world of Greece have passed even farther ; to lands that would have seemed to that fastidious race unfit for human habitation. We have seen an exquisite specimen of antique goldsmith's work exhibited at Edinburgh : a Greek work finding have been, and long preserved. At length it reached Roman hands, and some household slave, perhaps as careless as a nineteenth century housemaid, " had a misfortune " with it ; no doubt, in the phrase re- served for such accidents, it merely '^came to pieces as he held it." We hope he was only scourged — not " in cruce sufRxus " — for the crime. At all events, the vessel was deemed important enough to have its injury skilfully repaired : it has been riveted with a bronze rivet, and thus secured has come down to our time, passing from its native country to that far-off barbarous isle of Britain — " in ultimos orbis Britannos." Connoisseurs and collectors, once rife in imperial Rome, are now well repre- sented in the city that spreads where lay a half-desolate swamp in the days of the Augustan poet, and so the bronze-riveted tazza found a London home with one of these. It was in the well-known Hertz collection; and pass TAZZA. Untiqm Greek Pottery, Sixth Century B.C.) "'Wei' its way to the modern Athens ! It represents the head of a goddess — the Tauric Diana; a little fi-agment, indeed : per- haps the pendant of an ear- ring, but instinct with the subtle life of ancient Hellenic art. It was found at Kertch, in the Tauric Chersonese, where so much wealth of clas- sical art has been disinterred. It is in- jured and partly crashed, but not deprived of all its beauty : the lines of the head admirably conceived, the hair delicately wrought and wreathed with skilfiil ornament, contrasting by its antique grace and dignity with the often grotesque head-dress of our nineteenth century fashions. Here, surely, has been a strange vicissi- tude : the gold perhaps of Philippi, the skilful labour that came, it may be, from Corinth, preserved in this tiny jewel for more than 2,000 years, to be gazed at in a land that its original wearer would have shuddered at as though shut out from the limits of ing the usual ordeal of sak at Chris- ' ^^'^ "^^^ ""l ^'T'K (Antique Greek, Fourth Century B.C.) and wealth such as no Greek colonist ever knew ! Yet who is there now vicissitudes it rested with its present pos- among us to rival this triumph of art work- sessor ; not without some skilful reparation of manship ? (To be continued.) tie's, came into the hands of another lover of ancient art. After a few more 81 THE GROSVE^ SECOND MR. BURNE JONES retired a few years ago like Achilles to his tent. His finest work, in this his second season of reappear- ance, is undoubtedly " Le Chant d' Amour," in which his beauty of colour, of dreamy suggestiveness, and of heart-piercing pathos are carried to their utmost point. The indescribable sadness in the small light eyes of the principal figure is, however, precisely the same look as that which appeared in the foreboding " Angels of the Creation" last year, and which can be seen close by in the maidens of the " Laus Veneris;" such a meaningless repetition is suggestive of manufacture ; and, indeed, spiritual as is Mr. Burne Jones^'s poetical art in the first conceptions, it has a tendency to become little more than a trick produced by the point of the brush. As to the value, in a larger sense, of this art, and of the poetry which is its companion, we most seriously protest against it (with a reverence for its genius and a tender- ness for its beauty) as unmasculine, and — what is worse from a purely artistic standpoint — self-consciously imitative ; nay, unintelligently imitative, for this is not classical, this is not mediaeval, feeling and thought; it is fresh strenuous paganism, emasculated by false modern emotionalism. These archaic affec- tations are more modern, more entirely of the nineteenth century, than is a factory or a Positivist. The disciples of this master of the emotions — Walter Crane, Spencer Stanhope, Evelyn Pickering, and Melhuish Strudwick, may be dismissed in fewer words. Mr. Walter Crane is, perhaps, the most self-conscious and the most inexpressive; Mr. Spencer Stanhope the best, while Mr. Strudwick and Miss Pickering are the weakest, in draughtsmanship. Mr. Stanhope, indeed, in his " Morning," has a certain touch of inspiration, and a feeling of fresh air, which is reviving after a series of love-sicknesses. His " Shulamite," however, is altogether beyond grave criticism. To a more purely decorative school — for OR GALLERY. NOTICE. he banishes emotion altogether — belongs an exquisite artist, Mr. Albert Moore, who has studied the treatment of draperies in the Greek rather than the Italian school, and who works in a key of colour, or rather of tinting, all his own. He has a way of throwing his flesh into half-shadow, whilst the accessories are brilliant, and the colour of this half-shadow is objectionable — heavily grey with a tinge of violet ; this is his one flaw as a colourist, and we have long remarked it. He draws very sufficiently well, but no more than that ; and he has an intelligent energy of action which does not mar decorative repose ; of this his Birds" is an example. His play on yellows is exquisitely fanciful and inventive, and in these fine variations he uses, as his strongest accent, orange-colour — the one hue all but universally avoided in art — with happy effect. Mr. Boughton has a habit of exercising so much self-denial in the matter of colour, that we were hardly prepared to find him so true and fine a colourist as he shows himself to be in "The Rivals." The sky, with the distant foliage in sunshine, and the dark mass to the right, forms a passage of exquisite tints, and the execution is charming, especially in the small sun-lighted trees. There is surely too much of the foregroiind of quarry, as the stone in flat-shadow is necessarily monotonous, and we heartily wish for a little more sky instead of it. Near this exceedingly pleasing picture hangs Mr. Phil Morrises " Michaelmas," in which the light is good, but the sunshine cold in passages ; the whole canvas is un- pleasantly spotty, but it has a grateful freshness, and some expressive motion. Mr. Edgar Barclay belonged some years ago to a knot of dexterous young artists, who made open-air lighting their special study, and who were dignified by their admirers by the name of the Capri school, after the chief scene of their charming labours. A fine quietness of colom* and manner charac- terised his work at that time, but this has 82 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. given place of late to something like extra- vagance. In his "Bay of Algiers" (hung in the Vestibule), "Peach Blossoms," and " Moorish Villa," the colour shows fine feeling and rich suggestiveness, with some oddities of composition — as in the absence of skies ; but in his larger canvas, "The Ohve Harvest," the combinations are out of harmony and out of truth; passages of cold green foliage jar with a general hot brassy tone, which reminds us of Mr. Poole. A few mediocre works of the most "philistine" quality are curiously sprinkled among the artistic " develop- ments " of the Grosvenor Gallery. The more leg-itimate art of the collection occuiiies a part of the west room. M. Heilbuth is also a faithful open-air painter. He fails in the matter of colour, for which he has no fine feehng, his skies especially showing his incapacity for understanding blue, but his manner is eminently delightful ; he has also a capacity for expression, that high and difficult quality of art, which the purely "idyllic" artists, who paint for the eye only, conveniently forget. The faces of his boys in "Roman Orphans" are consummately clever in this respect, and in this little composition the figures far and near are put in with an exquisite adroitness. Each of this painter's canvases is well handled everywhere, but nowhere is his charm of hand finer than in the wild field-growth of his foregrounds. His skies are lightly vaporous, and admirably free in the cloud-painting. M. Tissot has carried the study of light so far that he aims at nothing less than the abolition of the studio with its artificial chiaro- scnro. He panits either in the diffused and general open-air light, or in the gentle and natural shadows of a room ; in the former case, a certain sacrifice of colour in flesh is inevitable, and he makes it cheerfully in deference to truth. Warm flesh tints, more especially in a fair complexion, are impossible out of doors, except in an evening effect. One noticeable result of M. Tissot's mastery of " values "—i.e., of the inter-comparison of the degrees of lights or shadows on objects, which is quite a distinct study from that of tone, or the relative depth or lightness of their local colour — is the per- fection of his rendering of surfaces, without laborious imitative effort; the fan of the lady in " Spring," and the window-seat cushion in " July," are excellent specimens of this quality. This artist's types have invariably a certain inferiority, mixed with a trick of pose and a sort of mastery of millinery, so that in spite of their immense conscien- tiousness and great technical perfection, his canvases can never be attractive. With regard to manner, his handling is clever, never blunt or inelegant, but not so full of charm as that of his most distinguished countrymen. THE SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER-COLOURS. THE members of this society are for the most part such old friends and old favourites with the constant public, that the manner of working, and the special class of subject of each, are known by heart. One Richardson, one Davidson, one Paul Naftel, is so much like another, that criticism or de- scription is rather a work of supererogation. It is, therefore, to the drawings by younger members that we shall chiefly confine the brief remarks for which we have space. We may, however, observe that the repeated exhibitions of years have made it evident that in no other London gallery do the distinctively English faults of colour appear to be so systematically reduced to a rule and principle of art. We allude particularly to that habit of \aolence and excitement which some aquarellists seem to consider the true artistic temper ; grey, above all, is never left to its natural purity and repose, but adulterated with a kind of violet which, being a vicious colour in itself, sets the whole scheme wrong. We have much to learn from the modern French and Dutch schools of land- scape in this respect. The first drawing on the walls is by Mr. " RECRUITING SERGEANTS. 83 Thorne Waite, an artist who possesses the rare quaHty of luminosity, a quality which depends not on hriUianey of colour, but on learned and fine relations : his manner in this work — " The Fen Country in Harvest Time'' — is rather opaque and dry, but the composition is plea- santly broad. He has pure true evening light -in "The Old Swan, Uffington, Bucks;'' in " Dale Park, Sussex," he has chosen an unfor- tunate subject, a composition of round sponge- like trees, but here also the light is excellent. Neither inthese, how- ever, nor in his other drawings does he surpass, or perhaps equal, the consum- mate judgment and delicacy which de- lighted us in his work last year. Several landscape studies by Mr. Stacy Marks, A.R.A., are admir- ably powerful, and in manner curiously un- like the clean paint ing of his oil pictures. Mr. Alfred Hunt is a disciple of Turner, but it seems to us that his sky in "Whitby Harbour" is dis- tinctly not Turneresque, inasmuch as it misses that truth and fine reahsation of the smaller cloud-forms, which is one of the character- istics of the great master's work. Mr. Branwhite is very unequal; among some specimens of a discord of colour, too common with him, we come now and then upon a very solid and brilHant drawing in the literal manner. There is a certain stamp of talent upon all Mr. Albert Goodwin's works : " The Fisher- man's Chapel" is original, and has an exquisite passage of colour in the sea, with which, by the way, the cold blue sky is out of all harmony. Mr. Tom Lloyd's labourers returning from the field at night are excellent. Notwithstand- ing a certain amount of studio work in his intensely elaborated landscapes, he has caught a habit of very charming evening colour, and his handhng in the treatment of wild field-grasses and foreground growth of all kinds is far in advance of that of any other contempo- rary English landscape-painter. Mr. Arthur Glennie's "View in Rome," ingeniously fails to be, in any particular, Roman ; an appreciation of the character of inani- mate objects is a most necessary quality for a painter who chooses Italy with her strong individuality of tree, of road, and of stone. Among Miss Clara Montaiba's drawings the most beautiful, as well as the largest, is her Venetian view before sunrise in summer, entitled " The Molo, Venice," of which we give a slight thumb-nail sketch by the artist. For exquisite truth, learning, and charm of manner and colour, this picture is unsurpassed among her works, though it has less of that premeditated effectiveness of which she is fond. We have only space for a word of praise for Mr. Walter Duncan's graceful and truly idylhc " Jardin d' Amour," and for Mrs. Allingham's works, equally refined in colour and in manner, the most beautiful, to our mind, being the " Old Bridge in Wales," which has quite a charming tone and attractiveness. THE MOLO, VENICE. (Bn Clara Montalba.) "RECRUITING SERGEANTS." WE propose to give in these pages, month and which represents that military and historical by month, some engravings in illustra- genre school in which the French so emmently tion of contemporary French art. For the first excel. It will be followed in due course by en- of the series we have chosen M. Le Blant's gravings of some of the most important works— " Recruiting Sergeants "—a work which many of which there are the startling number of 5,000 of our readers may remember in a recent Salon, — on exhibition at the Salon of the present season. CHEPSTOW CASTLE, FROM THE KIYER. ARTISTS^ HAUNTS.— III. RAGLAN CASTLE AND THE WYE. RAGLAN Castle is always asso- ciated with the Wye^ but for what rea- son I am somewhat at a loss to ima- gine. It is eight miles from the near- est point of the river at Monmouth. But the Wye tourist will certainlyhave no cause for regret if he decide on visiting this magnificent relic of by- gone days^ for Raglan is deservedly considered the finest ruin in the kingdom. Guide-books^ as a rule, are singularly deficient in the little scraps of information so necessary to a tourist with regard to locomotion. The renowned Baedeker is the only man who is thoroughly satisfying in this respect. In spite of the " Descriptive Sketch of the Picturesque River Wye," which I had secured at Chepstow, 13 GATEWAY, CHEPSTOW CASTLE. I was quite at a loss to know, until I reached Monmouth, how I was to proceed to Raglan. The results of the information I obtained in the birthplace of Henry V. are here recorded. The best plan is to leave Monmouth by the early morning train at about a quarter to eight. You then have time to see Raglan and get back sufiiciently early to pursue your journey down the river, either to Tintern or Chepstow, the same day. There is a station at Raglan, and from near the station a pleasant footpath across the fields leads you straight to the castle. This was the route I adopted. I could hardly say with Scott, that " The gay 'beains of lightsome day Gild but to flout the ruins grey ; " for as I approached the venerable pile the black north-easter, which had been blowing keenly all the morning, brought with it some lowering rain-clouds, and presently the rain itself came on with a steady downpour which seemed likely to interfere very materially with the day^s enjoyment. The cold, grey sky, however, was perhaps more in keeping with the sadness which one associates with these relics of bygone splendour. At any rate it could not detract from the impressive grandeur of the ivy-clad gateway, the flanking bastions, and the unrivalled " yellow tower," which stiU 8*6 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. uprears its solid walls apart from the rest of the building, surrounded by its picturesque moat. The vandalism of Fairfax has deprived it of two of its six sides, but perhaps the artist will feel rather under an obligation to the Parliamentarian general than otherwise, for nothing can exceed the beauty of the shattered fragments, surmounted by the solid structure of the uninjured sides. To those who love to employ their pencils on " Battled tower and donjon keep," Raglan offers the rarest advantages. A dozen efEective sketches could be made from the moat alone, and the castle is surrounded by elm trees of unusual beauty of form. Great care has been displayed in preserving the ruins from further decay. The judicious erection of wooden platforms and staircases here and there, which in no way detract from the beauty of the ruins, enables you to traverse the circuit of half the battlements, and it is said — though this in my case was a matter of faith — that the xiew of the mountains of South Wales from the summit is quite unrivalled. In spite of the weather, I lingered long among these grand old ruins. Tliey are so vast, so massive, so beautiful in their decay, so full of stirring associations with the long, dim past, that they cannot fail to move even the minds of the most unimpassioned. The one association of the old Marquis of Worcester sustaining the siege against the Parliamentarians at the age of eighty-five is in itself sufRcient to invest the ruins with interest. My " Descrip- tive Sketch " informs me that the marquis was taken prisoner to London, where he lingered for a few months. When told that Parlia- ment would permit him to be buried in the family vault at Windsor, he cried, ^-ith great sprightliness of manner, " ^'^Tiy, God bless us all ! I shall have a better castle when I am dead than they took from me when I was alive." But if I would reach Chepstow by the end of my article, I must quit Raglan at once, though I do so with great reluctance. To my infinite joy I found on reaching !Monmouth by the twelve o^clock train that there were signs of a break in the weather. An actual gleam of suidight was seen on the slope of the " Kymin," the high hill which overlooks the town, and from which a magnificent panorama may be enjoyed. Hastening to the Wye Bridge, I secured the ser^nces of a boatman named INIonnington, who had been strongly recom- mended to me by a young Welsh gentleman with an unpronoimceable name whom I had met at the hotel. I may here mention that there are plenty of boats to be had at Wye Bridge for the trip down the river, the fare being about ten shillings to Tintern and fifteen to Chepstow. We got away at two o^clock, the weather by this time hai-ing much improved. Broad patches of blue were visible in the EAGLAN CASTLE AND THE WYE. 87 sky, and the cold wind of the morning- had died away. There is a strong- current in the Wye, here and there breaking into actual rapids, where the river flows over the remains of old weirs, which for some reason or other have been long since demolished. There is a small excitement in shooting these rapids which gives a piquancy to the trip. At some of the weirs below Tintern, when the tide is out, considerable care is required, otherwise there is a chance of being stranded on the one hand, or swamped on the other. I should almost recommend the early spring time for a trip down the Wye. I am writing of the end of April, and I can hardly imagine any- thing more beautiful than the aspect nature then presented. From ^ the railway bridge just below Mon- mouth, where we shot the first rapid, a succession of lovely scenes opened to the view at every bend of the river. The trees were clothed in that delicate green verdure which gives sufficient colouring to the woods, but which is not yet dense enough to hide the exquisite tracery of the branches. It was the interval between " the time that goes before the leaf, When all the wood stands in a mist of green," and the luxuriant summer prime. There is nothing in nature so pure and refreshing as this early spring green. It harmonises so perfectly with the grey undergrowth s of the woods and hill-sides. It even tells well against the blue of the sky, and it gives a tint to the middle distance like the blue of the hedge- sparrow^s egg. Wild cherry-trees here and there varied the spring foliage with their pure white blossom, which broke like spray through the ocean of greenery around. On the nearer banks the primrose and cuckoo-flower gave a new charm to the scene, while, in some nooks of the hills, beds of wild hyacinth seemed to reflect the blue of the far-off sky. Space does not per- mit me to dwell on the many charming subjects for the pencil which this portion of the Wye presents, but some points must be noted in passing. At Eedbrook, some three miles from Monmouth, there is a charming bend of the river, where the hills are clothed in verdure. Some white cottages here border the shore, whose chimneys, tipped with red, stand out char- mingly against the green leafage behind. The water takes the colour of the wooded heights near the shore, and in mid- stream the warm grey of the middle dis- tance. The white foam-bubbles from the rapid above give a surface to the otherwise transparent stream, and the eddies break in long, sweeping curves from the velvet softness of the grassy banks. A few miles lower the dark, precipitous slope of Wye Wood seems to present an impassable barrier to the stream. It rises to the height of several hundred feet, and presents a fine study of brown and grey distance. By-and-by, we come to Bigges Weir. A dark cluster of pines slopes to the river on the right, beneath which we shoot another rapid. And now the "WEST ■WINDOW, TINTERN" ABBEY. 88 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. curiously situated village o£ Llandogo comes in sights with its white cottages perched on the side of a hill so steep that it reminds one of the slope of a Swiss mountain, with its chalets perched in almost impossible nooks. This spot has a melancholy interest from the fact that the lamented Lord Amberley here drew his last breath, and closed abruptly a life of singular promise. This steep hill-side upon which Llandogo stands, sweeps round in an amphitheatre of wood and rock, with the river close at its foot. High up near the summit is a curious cascade just visible from the river. A closer acquaintance with it may be made by means of a circuitous path leading from the village. A short distance below Llandogo we come to the Moravian settlement of Brockweir, a village with quaint old houses and shipping of a laro-er character than we have hitherto en- countered. This village presents another charming picture. There is a green meadow beyond, rising steeply to a hill crowned with dark foliage. This slope of grass forms a pretty background to more white cottages and red chimneys ; the boats lie moored to the TINTERN ABBEY, PROM THE CHURCHYARD. banks with their masts dark against the grey hill-top, and a solitary poplar with its yellow spring foliage stands out well against the blue distance. Children in picturesque groups play upon the strand, and there, at the door of the old house with the carved front, is a woman with a child in her arms, and a kerchief of vivid crimson round her head, giving a keynote of colour to the scene. The relentless current, however, is still sweeping us onward, and now, as we approach Tintern, a new interest is awakened, for Tintern is undoubtedly the point of interest ^;«r excel- lence of the whole river. We shoot another weir, however, before we reach it, sweep round a sudden turn of the river with a grand pre- cipice of intermingled wood and rock to the left, pass the village of Tintern Parva, and then the grey walls of the abbey break upon the view, rising in the midst of a valley as lovely as any in all the fair realm of England. Tintern stands -within a few yards of the river. Between it and the shore are several cottages which somewhat detract from the effect on the river side. Cottage gardens, in- deed, steal up to the veiy walls, and there is a pear-tree full of snow-white blossom within the walls themselves. The most effective view of the ruins is from the little churchyard on the hill-side above. From this point the precipi- tous slope of Shorneeliff, almost mountainous in its proportions, forms a mag- nificent background to the old grey walls of the abbey. These walls possess an ad- ditional charm to the artist from a peculiar warm tone in the grey stones of w^hich they are composed, and also from the fact that the ruins are not kept in such a painful state of neatness as some niins are. The magnificent pile of Fountains Abbey is utterly spoiled fi'om a picturesque point of view by this ex- cessive neatness. A whole tribe of women is kept perpetually at work sweep- ing the lawns and pathways to the primness of a drawing-room carpet. Not a dead leaf is allowed to remain on the ground for a moment. RAGLAN CASTLE AND THE WYE. 89 not a blade of grass is out of place, and the surrounding woods and gardens are of such an artificial character, that all sense of the picturesque is lost. The surroundings of Tintern, I am happy to say, are somewhat of the tumble-down character. The building is, however, carefully preserved. Both interior and exterior are very beautiful, and in the pure Gothic style. There is an exquisite symmetry in the arches and fluted columns, and the west window is still almost perfect. A winding staircase leads to the summit, whence a lovely view is obtained of the river and surrounding hills. Below Tintern the scenery of the "Wye changes to a character of almost savage grandeur. The rapids become wilder, the banks rise abruptly, and by-and-by we come to the perpen- dicular precipices of Walweir Slades, soaring to the height of several hundred feet straight up from the luxuriant woods that fringe the eastern shore. Beneath this magni- ficent amphitheatre the river sweeps round in a horseshoe curve, and from this point all the way to Chepstow the scenery gains a peculiar character of gloomy grandeur from the presence of innumerable yew-trees among the lighter growths of the hill-sides. This is especially the case at the foot of the Wynd Cliff, which now rises in majestic beauty on the right to the height of nearly a thousand feet above the river^s bed. From the summit of the Wynd ClifE there is a view quite unsurpassed in this district ; indeed, it is one of such startling grandeur and beauty that it could hardly be exceeded any- where. The climb would be long and steep from the river, and it is better to make it the object of a separate excursion from Chepstow, as the beautiful grounds of Piercefield can then be taken in conjunction with it. We were at the foot of the Wynd Cliff before six o'clock, thanks to the exertions of Monnington and his active little son, who, with the exception of short intervals when I had taken an oar myself, had pulled the whole way from Monmouth, and would have to pull and punt back with the next tide. Below the Wynd Cliff our course lay beneath a curious succession of verdure-crowned rocks called the Twelve Apostles, which rise perpendicularly from the KAGLAN CASTLE. water's edge to the luxuriant woods of Pierce- field, before mentioned. But our voyage is coming to an end. The grand cliffs and quarries of Llancaut rise on our left; another bend of the river is passed, and then Old Chepstow Castle breaks upon the view, perched upon a precipice of white limestone which almost overhangs the river. It was a lovely scene. The castle cannot boast of the magni- ficence of Raglan, but for picturesque effect it 90 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. is in no way inferior. A softened beauty was given to the rugged cliifs and old grey walls by the evening light which glowed beyond the castle woods. Festoons of the richest ivy hung in folds like drapery down to the water's edge. Amber-tinted wallflowers grew in profusion in the crevices of the old ruin, and even low down on the cliff itself. A flight of jackdaws went wheeling into the still evening air as we sped swiftly beneath the walls. The ebbing tide bore us onward towards the tubular bridge where the railway crosses the river. In five minutes more I stepped upon the landing-place at Chepstow, and my voyage was at an end. After a quiet meal at the hotel, I strolled down to the bridge and crossed to the side opposite the castle. The sunlight was dying behind the castle woods, which lay in dark purple masses beyond the ruined towers. The golden light danced upon the waters below, where the eddies of the returning tide curled through the piers of the bridge. A small boat with a man and a boy was speeding swiftly up with the tide into the shadow of the woods. A wave of the hand, a shout, and a " Good-bye " were answered cheerily by Monnington and the boy. As they swept round the bend of the river that hid them from view, I turned back to the hotel alone, well satisfied with the ser- vice they had rendered, and with my afternoon trip down the Wye. Sydney Hodges. SINCERITY VERSUS FASHION. ERXES is said to have offered a reward to any one who would supply him with a new plea- sure. Many persons have suggested that he who invents a new topic for conversation is no less entitled to the gratitude of man- kind, and especially to that portion of mankind which goes to dinner-parties. There mankind is thrust upon womankind — that is, a gentleman is required to entertain a lady for a period of at least an hour by his comments or conversation. "What is the opening gun to be ? " Hot weather " leads to little ; " Cold weather " to little more. In May the opening gun was, till last year, always the same — " Have you seen the pictures yet?" Pictures, of course, meant the Royal Academy Exhibition. A very good start, but one became tired of it after years of use. Last year, as we said, a new topic was provided. Instead of the Academy, or, rather, in addition to the Academy, there was the Grosvenor Gallery to inquire about, a very convenient approach to a subject of real interest to the talkers. How much they, or those whom they typify, really cared about the pictures exhibited may be gathered from a remark which one of the artists used to declare had been several times made to him — " How beautifully your pictures set off the red walls!" This shows quite clearly that we cannot say that art is popular because thousands of persons flock to the two great galleries, which are at present, to most of those thousands, duties to be " done," like leaving cards after dining out. It is rather curious, after being at the Royal Academy, or at the Grosvenor, to go to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. No carriages are waiting in long file outside; you have not to wait before your umbrella is duly ticketed and put away; no crowd of bonnets and lorgnettes is before the Gains- borough which you want to see. The dis- tinguished foreigner is in some force, and the undistinguished foreigner in still greater, a few lively American damsels, and a few English people of the middle and lower classes — these, plus a few country cousins, make up the congregation. That society which spells its name with a capital " S," is, in fact, con- spicuous by its absence. Why? "Well, you see,"' says Audley Drawler, " the National Gallery is SINCERITY VERSUS FASHION. 91 always there.-" But, my dear Audley, does not the same remark apply to Rotten Row, where your manly figure may be seen always six days in the week, and often seven ? The real object of picture galleries is not to furnish a topic for conversation, nor even to supply people with new things to look at. Their object for the artist world is to set before them, as far as possible, great and noble work — to unfold the ideals to which other works are to tend. Their object in relation to the great outside world — that is, the non-artists — is to provide them with that repose and pleasure which ought to come, when, after seeing for weeks nothing but the uglinesses of the streets, one is shown again fair visions of brighter scenes. There are some few people who can use picture galleries in this way. Hard working men may be seen at Trafalgar Square, sometimes just able to come in to look for a few minutes at the work of him who has been called so happily "our own gentle Reynolds," or at those clouds that seem to be ever moving and ever glowing in the immortal landscapes of Turner. He who can carry away from a picture gallery the vivid memory of what he has seen, and can conjure up before his eyes fair images, when the realities around him are bleak or hideous, he has truly learnt how to make art a practical part of his daily life. But our subject has a wider scope than that which relates to galleries alone. Let us consider the art which people use for their own homes. Let us fortify ourselves, and prepare for a grim and horrible sight ; let us enter the drawing-room of a fashionable lady. We need not enumerate the whole catalogue of abominations, the appalling white walls with the thin gold line, the fearful red silk curtains, the jingling chandelier, the ceiling either bare with ghastly bareness, or uglified by grinning cupids, the cornice resembling precisely the top of a birthday cake; these are but a few of those things most of us know so well and hate so much. Why are they there ? The owners themselves do not think them pretty j some of the things — the highly-elaborated cornice, for instance — they have hardly ever noticed. They have under- stood that decoration was necessary — was required by society, so they bade a man decorate for them. But the real purpose of decorating one's room is not to make it like other rooms, it is to make it as much as possible express one's own self, and to make it for oneself as habitable as possible. Go into the box of a pointsman at a railway station, you will find it covered inside with bits of pictures from the Illustrated London News, the Graphic, or any other illustrated journal that comes to hand. The pointsman has decorated his little den because he feels it will be the more comfortable for him to live in when the walls are not bare and black. No^ one has advised him to put this scrap there, or the other elsewhere ; he has done it as he thought best — as it best pleased him. That pointsman is nearer a knowledge of what art is than the lord to whom, as has been most happily said, the silk curtains in his drawing-room are no more art than is the powder in his footman's hair. If you are wise you will imitate , the pointsman, and make your room habitable for yourself. As to glitter, if you are as the Orientals, and like glitter, cover your room with mirrors and bits of gleaming metal, but if you have no real love for bright things by all means avoid them. Don't put a large silver waiter on your sideboard simply to show that you had some perfectly tasteless rich relation, who was stupid enough to give you such a hideous present when you took unto yourself a wife. If you like white walls have white walls, although your neighbours prefer blue walls, and if you like dark walls don't be afraid of having them, because you hear that a drawing-room should be furnished in the French style. Be selfish, be thoroughly selfish in the matter of decoration — be as selfish in your choice of pictures. See as many as you can of what you are told are the best, and that will possibly train you to like some- thing which is good. Perhaps it will be of the Botticelli type ; much more probably of the Greuze order — no matter. When you buy pictures, big or little, engravings or photo- graphs, or even, if you like such strange things. 92 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. oleographs^ or what not, buy only what you like. Choose your picture, not because you hear it is a good thing of its kind, not because it is cheap, and not because it is dear — and this is the reason for which pictures are bought by the thousand at the present day — but because it gives you real pleasure, because you think it is the sort of face, group, or landscape, you would like to see continually, that would give you always a sense of relief from the necessary uglinesses everyone has to see, a sense of repose, a sense of hope. The selfishness we have advocated may sur- prise some of our readers. But what is it really? It is really a selfishness that means sincerity. In art, be sincere. The great artist himself is the sincere artist. He must not paint as he is told it is right to paint — he must paint as he feels things are. " Look at nature,^'' says the greatest art teacher of our time, " and see how she affects your mind." So he who visits picture-galleries must certainly seek at first to educate his eyes by the sight of what has been pronounced to be good and right, just as the painter must begin by studying and copying the works of masters in his art; but after a time artist must paint from nature, and paint as he feels, and looker must look at what gives him joy, and not at what other people tell him is fine. And the buyer must buy with equal honesty, buy for his intellectual health, and regard in no way the dictum of the critic, but only the desire of his own eyes, and that which his soul feels to be good. Nor can art ever find strong hold in the national history, nor attain to high excellence, until people come to it honestly to seek not fashion, but happiness. There is no reason why all people should not in time attain to this uprightness in saying and choosing what they really care for. And then the dream of artists will be fulfilled. " I do not want art for a few," says a great artist and poet * of our own time, " any more than educa- tion for a few, or freedom for a few." He has a hope, he tells us, that art may be in time the happy heritage of all mankind : — " I hope that we shall have leisure from war, war commercial, as well as war of the bullet and bayonet, leisure from the knowledge that darkens counsel ; leisure, above all, from the greed of money, and from the overwhelming distinction that money now brings. I believe that as we have even now partly achieved liberty, we shall achieve equality, and best of all, fraternity, and so have leisure from poverty and all its grasping sordid cares Men will then assuredly be happy in their work, and that happiness will assuredly bring forth decorative, noble, popular art. That art will make our streets as beautiful as the woods, as elevating as the mountain sides ; it will be a pleasure and a rest, not a weight upon the spirits to come from the open country into a tomi. Every man^s house will be fair and decent, soothing to his mind, and helpful to his work ; all the works of man that we live amongst and handle will be in harmony with nature, will be reasonable and beautiful. Yet all will be simple and inspiriting, not childish or enervating; for as nothing of beauty and splendour that man's mind and hand may compass shall be wanting from our public buildings, so, in no private dwelling will there be any signs of waste, pomp, or insolence, and every man will have his share of the best." This is indeed a happy dream; each of us can by his honesty alone do something towards its fulfilment. Philostrate. * William Morris, in his Lecture on " The Decorative Arts." OUR LIVING ARTISTS THOMAS FAED, E.A. SCOTLAND has produced not only an extra- ordinary number of painters, as compared with Ireland, and — taking the difference of population into account — even with England, but also a school of painting most distinctively national, with characteristics exclusively its own. The roll of her great names in the realm of art reaches far back into the past. Jameson was a pupil of Rubens at Antwerp in 1616, and is commonly known as the Scotch OUR LIVING ARTISTS— THOMAS FAED, R.A. 93 Vandyke. At a later period we have in Sir Henry up almost simultaneously, winning- Academic Raeburn a painter who magnificently illustrates honours and taking the art-loving public fairly that force and largeness of treatment distinctive by surprise. John Pettie, W. Q. Orehardson, of Scotch portraiture. The beginning of the Sir Noel Paton^ Peter Graham, J. MacWhirter, present century introduces us to Sir William and Hamilton Maccallum are only some of (From a Photograph by Done and Co., Baker Street.) Allan, whose paintings of The Battle of Waterloo" from two points of view — the Eng- lish and the French — were criticised for that fault of cleanness, so common to canvases of the kind, by the Duke of Wellington, who, never- theless, bought them ; and to David Wilkie, of living memory. But it was not until our own day that a whole company of Scotchmen rose 14 these, even after we have added the name of Thomas Faed, the subject of the present sketch. This sudden torrent of artistic power is, perhaps, capable of an easy explanation ; the tide of a great national talent, which had long been pent up in obedience to an icy creed, at length, under the liberating rays of an en- lightened culture, expanded, and burst forth 94 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. in majesty and splendour. The divines of the Covenant, as Allan Cunningham tells us, regarded both painting and poetry as matters idolatrous and vain ; they not only dismissed from their public worship all external pomp, but adopted a dress and manner of life almost ostentatiously plain and homely. Succeeding pastors, how- ever, softened these asperities ; the sense of the beautiful grew by slow degrees less and less darkened, until at length nature asserted her own dignity, and from the very bosom of the kirk there came forth a painter no less eminent than Wilkie. Born in a manse, whose domestic arrangements, both of necessity and on principle, made it "an example of thrift to the parish," the little David, when scarce escaped from his mother's bosom, loved to draw such figures as struck his fancy on the sand beside the stream, on the smooth stones of the field, and on the household floors ; and when his fame was high he often declared that " he could draw before he could read, and paint before he could spell." From this healthy, though rough. Academy of the way-side and the fields, where, like Giotto, he lovingly made his first studies, he passed to a grammar-school, where he worked at more finished sketches; and as he grew up — though he lived in a land where, beyond a stray portrait by Sir Joshua, there were no fine examples of painting, and no friendly interpreters of the young enthusiasm which made him feel restless unless he had a pencil in his hand — his art grew with him. The relations between a young man of genius and his family are rarely satisfactory; his elders cannot see that the light which leads him comes from heaven, and they naturally shirk the responsibility of allowing him to turn from the beaten path that leads to a respectable competence, in order that he may venture on the untrodden ways of fame. This was David Wilkie's case; but at last, with fear and trembling, his father resolved to allow him to follow his bent; therefore, at the age of four- teen, he set off for the Edinburgh Academy in November, 1799. How he inhabited a little room in Nicholson Street, and there set up his easel ; how he was punctual as time itself to the hours — some ten or twelve — allowed for study in the Academy every day; how he made almost unexampled progress ; how he painted and sold pictures for a tithe of their value, and, finally, how he made a reputation that will never die — all this has been told over and over again, and we are only led to refer to it here because, in the hero of it all, we have a thoroughly typical Scotch artist, in the history of whose early struggles we read that of many others who have followed, with more or less distinction, in his steps. One of this number, John Faed — our Acade- demician's elder brother — must certainly be counted. Born in the parish of Girthon, Kirk- cudbrightshire, when the century was some twenty years old, he came from a family which had lived about the Borders for three hundred years, and which has, we believe, an exclusive monopoly of its probably Celtic, but possibly Danish, name. Like David Wilkie, he had given promise of artistic excellence at the age of twelve, and proceeding to Edinburgh in 1841, there began to win a public reputa- tion which he continues to extend at the yearly exhibitions of our own Academy. Following in his brother's footsteps, on what had consequently become a comparatively easy path, Mr. Thomas Faed also went to Edinburgh, and while a pupil of Sir William Allan's at the School of Design carried off many prizes which, though they may perhaps be smiled at now, were doubtless of paramount importance then. His earliest exhibited work was a water-colour drawing of " The Old English Baron," and from water-colours to oils was a step which he was quick to take, and with so much success that he was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy at the age of twenty-three. These early canvases were almost all representations of some phase of Scottish life. Beginning with draught- players and shepherd boys, the artist went on to more ambitious subjects, such as " Scott and his Friends at Abbotsford," until his reputation was so far established that in 1852 he settled in London, and began to exhibit regularly at the Royal Academy, of which he became an Associate in 1859, and a Member in 1864. He is also a member of the Royal Scottish Aca- demy, and of the Imperial Academy of Vienna. It is commonly said that an age may be OUR LIVING ARTISTS— THOMAS FAED, R.A. 95 judged by its literature ; and painting is almost equally expressive of the mental and physical conditions under which it is produced. The religious fervour of the Middle Ages made itself felt in such works as those of Fra Angelico, Perugino, and Franciaj the prosaic character of the Dutch is written on Dutch art, just as the elegance of Italy is evident in Italian art, even in its days of deca- dence ; the artificial courtliness of France in the last century stamped a contemporary school of painting, even infecting the religious canvases of the time; and future historians who write of the present century as a dis- tinctively military one for France, will be able to confirm their words by pointing to the fact that her contemporary military art was the greatest in the world. Coming to the Great Britain of to-day, we find her to be before all things domestic. The people live, not in churches, nor courts, nor camps, but in their homes, which they have filled with household gods, and made, in the language of Wordsworth, " kindred points with heaven.'' We are told that those poets are the greatest who best embody in verse the spirit of their age, and if the same rule applies to the work of the artist, assuredly Mr. Faed holds a foremost place among painters. No other has told domestic stories upon canvas so often and so well, and his popularity proves how thoroughly he is in harmony with the temper of his time. As early as 1855 his "Mitherless Bairn'' was the Academy ''pic- ture of the season," and has been followed up, as all the world knows, by a succession of canvases of an equally pathetic interest, and an even greater technical excellence. In 1856 came the "Home of the Homeless," now in the possession of the Baroness Burdett Coutts. A few years later — each year being marked by the appearance of characteristic works which it is unnecessary to name— a sensation was made by the " Sunday in the Backwoods," a large representation of Scotch emigrants who break the silence of the forest by reading the Bible aloud, while a dying lassie leans against her old mother and plays with a pet bird — a reminiscence of the far-away land she loves, but will see no more for ever. Another sensation was made by "From Dawn till Sunset," a picture which shows the interior of a cottage containing the various stages of life, from the unconscious baby at its mother's breast to the old grand- mother whose hand, worn by the touch of death, falls on the coverlid. Of attractiveness equal to either of these was the beautiful "Evangeline," which has already been made familiar by many engravings and lithographs, and is especially a favourite in Evangeline's own land and with the poet whose genius gave her birth. In " Worn Out " we have perhaps the best picture for colour and for feeling that Mr. Faed has painted ; it represents a middle-aged workman — a widower — watching his sick boy through the night ; the weather is cold and the father has taken off his coat and covered the lad with it ; an old bit of rug is placed to keep away the draught ; the lamp is set where the light will not get into the child's eyes; his hands clasp his father's shirt-sleeve, lest he should leave him ; and so they have fallen asleep, " worn out " as light is just slanting in at the garret window. "Only Herself" is another of the artist's best works, and when it was sold, along with " A Wee Bit Fractious," at a public sale, nearly £4,000 was reahsed by the two. The picture we have selected for an engraving represents Mr. Faed in the character he has made peculiarly his own — that of the delineator of homely Scottish life; nor has he ever, even when in this favourite mood, chosen a happier subject than that afEorded by the pathetic incident to be found in one of the most popular of national ballads. In this year's Academy our readers will note that Mr. Faed has put some of his best work into his solitary representative there, " Maggie and her Friends," and for next year's exhibition it is said that he has now in pro- gress a picture larger than any he has hitherto painted, and which will probably be called " Hard Cash." " Oh ! wha wad buy a silken gown Wi' a puir broken heart. Or what's to me a siller crown Gin frae my love I part." 97 THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION.— IV. 0^ ^N revisiting' the pottery- court and the glasSj after an absence of some weeks, we find every space filled, and are able to sup- ply many gaps in our previous brief notices which we based mainly on notes taken imme- diately after the opening, which has There pro- VASE IN MINTON S MAJOLICA. is no English manufacture gressed during the past thirty years so much as our glass making, and when we look back upon what were considered the master- pieces of 1851, there is much to be proud of in the present display. In the art of glass- making we had many treasures of past ages, and many beautiful antique specimens, the processes employed in the production of which were lost to us, and as these choice examples of the labours of the glass-blowers in bygone times became more widely known and appreciated, the desire to emulate the skill of their producers has enabled our manufacturers to present us with works which rival the best specimens of the artists of Venice, of Flanders, and of Germany. Another great stimulus to exertion was, doubt- less, the revival of the Venice works at Murano, by Salviati, and the establishment of an English company, mainly owing to the exertions of Mr. (now Sir Austen) Layard, for the introduction of decorative works in glass mosaics. The taste for collecting Venetian glass ten years ago was a very fashionable one, and as the supply of such glass was small, and the value thereof very large, there was a great inducement to try and copy success- fully some of the ancient examples, and there can be but little doubt that at this time some of the forgotten processes of decorating glass were seriously studied. At the present time, at the Murano works, there are few kinds of the fine old glass which cannot be most faithfully reproduced, and English manufac- turers are rapidly learning the secrets of the glass-workers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Then the art of toughening glass, said to have been known to the Romans, has been re-learned, and by this means the whole nature of glass appears to be at once changed, while by a still more recent in- vention, we are able to produce at will, upon the bright surface of the glass, all the tints of the rainbow. The finest display of English glass is that made by Messrs. Thomas Webb and Sons, of Stourbridge, who, by the aid of the clever workers and the skilled artists they have edu- cated for the manufacture, are in a position to challenge a competition with any of the best known works on the Continent. In high artistic merit also, an important place must be assigned to Messrs. James Powell and Sons of Whitefriars, who have manufactured the glass dessert service for WALL TILES. {By Maw and Co.) 98 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. the Prince of Wales's Pavilion. For the delicacy and beauty of his blown glass, and for the excellence of the engraving, we are able to speak most favourably of the works of Mr. A. Jenkinson, of Edinburgh, whose speciality of " muslin glass " is a most astonishing instance of the glass-blower's skill. We regret to see, from the many examples of cut glass to be found among the English works, that this kind of glass threatens to drive out of fashion the more delicate blown glass which was pre- ferred until recently in this country. It is impossible to deny the beauty of good cut glass, or to forget the excel- lence of some of the old Dutch specimens of the art ; but the light- ness and elegance of the thin blown glass, the manner in which it lends itself to a suitable style of deco- ration by means of en- graving, and the use of app lique enrichments in coloured glass, all combined to make the employment of this kind of glass preferable to that in which the material had to undergo, as it were, additional stages in its manu- facture. The beautiful process of producing an iridescent surface, which has for some time been carried out with white glass, has recently been applied most successfully to dark green, or almost black, glass, by Messrs. Webb in the production of their so- called " phosphorescent bronze glass." Among new inventions, we have also the beautiful opal glass of Messrs. Powell, in which material some most delicate and refined specimens of JAKDINIERE IN " DOULTON ■n'AB.E. glass-blowing have been produced, and last, but not at all the least interesting, we have the reproductions of ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Venetian glass by the Aurora Glass Company, of Litchfield Street, Soho. This company has obtained the most delightful effects by melting thin gold, silver, and pla- tinum leaf in the glass which, when it is expan- ded by the blow-pipe, produces the appearance of fine metallic dust in- corporated throughout the entire substance of it. The forms chosen are good, and the speci- mens will be much sought after by con- noisseurs, as they rival the work of the best periods of glass-making. ]\Iessrs. Hodgetts, Richardson, and Son have a large collection of "sculptured glass," being basso-relievo sub- jects carved in white glass raised over a dark background. A pair of small vases, decorated with cameos of cupids and panthers, are good examples of this process. This firm also shows a correct copy of the famous Portland Vase, in which the entire de- sign has been wrought in fflass after the same manner as that by which, according to the most approved authorities, the vase was at first produced. The original in the British Museum is formed of dark-blue semi-transparent glass, on which a layer of opaque white glass has been applied, and cut as a cameo with the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. In the same case are some specimens of the " patent threaded glass," which is a revival of an art of which the early workers were very fond ; THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION. 99 rings of various coloured glasses being applied to vessels made of clear glass. Not only are the more artistic kinds of glass shown at Paris — - the Aire and Calder Bottle Company and Messrs. Kilner Bro- thers have a great dis- play of bottles of every conceivable form, and adapted for all manner of uses. The stained glass windows, by the French system of clas- sification, are included with the rest of the glass, but as they are exhibited in another part of the building, we shall return to them later. Messrs. James Green and Nephew have an important collection of glass here; notably a magnificent chandelier over the centre of their court, and a fine show of cut glass, very good in colour and design. On the whole, however, the most ambitious works in crystal glass are to be found in the specimens which are exhibited by Messrs. P. and C. Osier. They have a glass sideboard, wherein glass not only takes its usual important place in the mirrors, but is used also for the constructive forms, and with an effect which we regret to be unable to speak well of. Their glass chair of state appears to us also to be an instance of a wrono- I NOX I WALL TILE. (By Maw and Co.) "WALL TILES. {By Mail) and Co.' use of glass, which, when employed in cases where strength and solidity are necessary, seems ill-adapted for the purpose and out of ,1 place. The cut glass of this firm niaintains its well-known excellence, though Messrs. Osier appear to have made less progress than some of their younger rivals in the trade. The description of the English pottery in our last number lacked all reference to many important exhibi- tors. We had alluded briefly to the wall tiles of Messrs. Maw, and are now able to add several illustrations of their clever enamelled and encaustic wall tiles. When speaking of the collection of tiles on the exterior of the Prince of Wales^s Pavilion in our last article, we should have attributed them to Messrs. Minton, Hollins and Co., while the vase in our illustration was painted by Mr. Green and not Mr. Pilsbury. The Campbell Brick and Tile Company have some excellent examples of works in this class displayed on the exterior of Messrs. Minton-'s court. Their glazed earthenware and ma- jolica tiles are greatly used at the present time for mantel-pieces and fireplaces. Messrs. Cra- ven, Dunnill, and Co., of J aekfield, exhibit also largely in this class. They have two fire- places made by the Coalbrookdale Company for the display of their tiles. Some good painted panels for wall de- coration, of which, perhaps, the best are the large subjects of musicians, and some smaller slabs painted with birds. They show also some capital reproductions of medieval fourteenth century floor-tiles, in which the colour has been 53 "WALL DECORATION. (JJy Maw and Co.) 100 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. WALL TILE. {Bij Maw and Co.) well copied, and which are among the most successful efforts to imitate ancient tiles that we have seen. The earthenware o£ Messrs. Pinder, Bourne, and Company is substan- tial and good, notably their toilet sets and sanitary ware. Messrs. A. B. Daniell and Son, though not, we believe, manufacturers, have an important show of china and glass. We cannot compliment them upon the design of their case, or rather court. They show some admirably-painted plates, com- prising a dessert service, decorated in the Sevres taste by Mr. Seiffert, and some hand- some specimens of majolica. Messrs. Thomas Goode and Co., who are likewise not pro- ducers, have some fine specimens of china, mostly, we believe, manufactured by Messrs. Minton. Mr. William Goode has some clever etchings on china, and there are also some first-rate copies of children's heads on earthen- ware plaques. The splendid red Watcombe clay is seen to great advantage in the terra- cotta and fine art pottery manufactured by the Company, who have established their works there to avail themselves of this naturally-prepared potter's material. We have selected three additional specimens of Messrs. Doulton's pottery for illustration. The collec- tion contains so many interesting examples that it is difficult with our limited space to do justice to their exhibits. Messrs. Stiff' and Sons are following in the footsteps of Messrs. Doulton, and show some good "Lambeth ware," decorated after the manner of the old ffres de Flandres. After all the brightly-painted china and pottery, it is quite a relief to encounter a case full of pure white " granite " ware. This kind of earthenware has a great sale in America, and for that market the unprinted earthenware is preferred. The Brownhills Pottery Company, of Tunstall, have some excellent dinner and dessert sets, and some good vases and plaques. We hardly expect such artistic workmanship from this pai-t of the Potteries, which is chiefly famous for its PLAQUE. (Doiilfon and Co.) blue bricks and tiles. We propose to illustrate some specimens of this company's manufactures. [To he continued.) "NEWGATE: COMMITTED FOR TRIAL." THE subject about which Sir Edwin Landseer long dreamed, and which he was accus- tomed to commend to yoimg artists as one that was full of living tragedy, has at last been treated l)y a master's hand. Mr. Frank Holl, in his New- gate scene (see frontispiece) , has given us a work equalling in pathos and surpassing in dramatic power any past performance of his brush. He has caught with great fidelity the characteristics of the place and people he delineates; the attitude of the seated listening woman is especially a truthful study of English lock-up life; yet, on the other hand, he has avoided anything like an inartistic squalor — even to the absence of a ragged flounce, such as that which distressed some of the more fastidious critics of his " Gone." Of the technical merits of the work we need not speak; they have already won, not only popular applause, but official recognition, for the Academy Associateship of Mr. Holl will always be connected with his Newgate picture of 1878. Tk« Ubftry of Ihe 101 THE ROYAL ACADEMY. THIRD NOTICE. HERCULES AND LICHAS. (By W. Tyler.) aALLERIES No. 6 and No. 7 are not often very attractive by the im- portance of their contents. This year several works in each call^ however, for mention besides those we have already noticed in our more general review of the pictures of some of the pro- minent painters. Mr. Cooker's " Fishing Lugger Coming Ashore in a Gale/' has all his usual marine and ar- tistic knowledge; and one of Mr. Sant's por- trait groups, " Theresa, Evelyn, and Mabel, daughters of the late Col. John Towneley," has the life and the brilliant manner which are never absent from his canvases. Mr. E. M. Busk gives us in " Psyche" a work which we should have more readily expected to meet with on the walls of the Grosvenor Gallery. We give a slight sketch of this on page 103. "The Quest: from Shelley's 'Alastor,'" by Mr. G. Wilson is a painting of the poetical order, which insists upon the spectral ap- pearance of the unearthly hero in the manner of what is known as the " loathly school," but it shows a knowledge of anatomy and a cor- rectness of drawing for which Ave might seek in vain among that school's more celebrated examples. In our opinion, by opening its space more freely to pictures of this thoughtful class, when, as in the present case, they merit admission by honest technical merits, the Aca- demy would do much towards drawing to itself case of the " Roll Call," four or five years ago the young talent which at present finds readier There can hardly, we suppose, be appreciation in the haunts of eccentricity. " The Moon is up, and yet it is not Night," by Miss Alice Havers, is pleasantly remarkable for the conscientious care with which a double effect of light has been studied and rendered. This lady's work has the valuable qualities of thoroughness and research into nature, with an agreeable tone and repose of treatment. "June" is another picture by the same hand. Sir John Gilbert, in " May-dew," returns to the graceful subjects of fairy, or at least feminine, interest, which he has lately abandoned for military mediaeval compositions. In the sixth room, also, one of Mr. J. W. B. Knight's truthful and breezy landscapes, " A Village on the Cliff," must not be overlooked. The subject of our second thumb-nail sketch takes us back to the Salle d'Honneur, containing the most popular pictures of this year's Academy. To Mr. Frith's "Road to Ruin" series has been accorded the distinction of a guardian policeman, in accordance with the precedent long ago established in favour of one of the canvases of Wilkie, and confirmed in the THE LAST OF THE " ROAD TO RUIN ' (By W. Frith, B.A.) single 102 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. country cousin who is not by this time famihar with the fact that these celebrated canvases are five in number, and that they tell the tragic, and perhaps occasionally true, story of a young man who, beginning by playing cards at college, goes on to gaming at Ascot, until his fortune comes to an end, and who, after an arrest, and various unsuccessful struggles to earn a livehhood for himself and his young wife and children, is finally shown in the closing scene (of which we give a sketch) in the act of locking himself into his garret to commit suicide. DIRTY WEATHEK ON THE EAST COAST. {By J. W. Oakes, A.S..A.) Mr. Brett's " Cornish Lions " hangs in the second room; it is a canvas of large propor- tions, and renders with characteristic boldness one of those prismatic effects of light and colour which this artist has made peculiarly his own. As was the case in the famous "Boulders'' of some four years ago, the imi- tative painting of surfaces is wonderfully exact. In no detail has labour been spared, and this picture may be taken as perfectly typical of the modern development of English landscape painting — of a school, that is, which is as freely independent of the art of Gainsborough, Constable, and the Norwich painters, as it is of contemporary Continental work. Our third sketch, Mr. J. W. Oakes' " Dirty Weather on the East Coast," illustrates the fine landscape of one of our most legitimately established painters in this branch of art. This artist combines breadth of conception with attention to detail, and his freshness of colour never reaches the point of coldness. Mr. Horsley devotes his veteran pencil to those subjects of domestic, and generally also of playful interest, which have so long occupied him. We do not remember that this genial artist has ever at- tempted the tragic or the melodramatic, and in keeping to the light comedy of painting, he has no doubt wisely appreciated the character of his powers, and has achieved a more general popularity than might otherwise have fallen to his share. In "Cupboard Love" (page 106), we have chosen for illustration the most spirited among the compositions which he exhibits this year, and the one which shows most pleasantly his turn for the production of pretty and smiling faces. To return to the order of numbers. We must give strong praise to Mr. Henry Moore's " Highland Pastures," a picture which unites with the artist's invariable mastery of hand and knowledge, a repose and reserve of colour which are less usual in his works. This must be pronounced quite one of the finest landscapes of its class in the Academy. Edouard Frere's " La Lecture " is a charming example of beautiful composition, and it has that unconsciousness and naturalness in the expressions which is the great attraction of domestic subjects when treated by French artists of talent; somewhat austere in colour, M. Frere's work has always a true harmony of tint and tone. Mr. Cyrus Johnson shows thoroughly clever painting in his "Portrait of Mr. George Fownes Luttrell." The only picture exhibited by Mr. Burgess is one of pathetic interest— " Childhood in Eastern Life." Without any straining for effect, the artist has drawn the painful contrast between a pampered little lord of the creation, beaming with smiles under the caresses The Library of the THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 103 PSYCHE. {By E. M. Busk.) o£ his father and his father's friends^ loaded with fruits and presents, and served by salaaming servants, and two melancholy little daughters of the house, who stand wist- fully and wearily by, utterly disregarded. All the actions and expressions of this group are delicately true to nature. The Tomb," by Mr. P. R. Morris, contains a fine study of young fawns, most gracefully drawn. Mr. Clarence Whaite exhibits a view of " Thirlmere, Cumber- land," which, showing as it does the gentle yet wild beauty of this little lake, ought to bear its part in the discus- sion, not yet at an end, of the proposed plan for turning Thirlmere into a reservoir to supply Manchester with water. "Autumn," by Mr. Orchardson, is painted with an exquisite delicacy of tint in the pearly passages. This colour, of which Mr. Orchardson is particularly fond, is combined with a somewhat excessive yellow, not unpleasant as a colour, but, perhaps, rather doubtful as regards its truth — at least, in the present open air scene. Nothing, however, could be more charmingly tender than the painting of the girl's muslin dress. In " Wellington's March from Quatre Bras to Waterloo," Mr. E. Crofts, the newly-elected Associate, renews that military interest which so few English artists attempt. In this able picture the Scots Greys, drawn up in line, are saluting the Iron Duke. French prisoners of war, under escort of the 79th Highlanders, go wearily by. The sky is lowering, and charged with rain clouds, but with great effect the artist has lighted up his picture with a few rays of sunlight. The grouping is very excellent throughout. Certainly no better antidote to the too effeminate and idyllic art of the day could be desired than a healthy and vigorous school of military painting. The " Prince's Choice," by Mr. T. R. Lamont, is a very elaborate composi- tion of vaporous manner and excessive delicacy of colour, which seems to have beauties, but they are hardly discernible at the height at which it is placed. Mr. E. H. Fahey has seldom done more charming work than in "All among the Bar- ley," of which we publish a sketch ; the sweet and mellow luminosity of this picture is in pleasant contrast to the strong peculiarities of colouring which have hitherto distinguished his always clever and well-painted landscapes. It is a sincere pleasure to welcome one of Mr. W. Bright Morris's Spanish subjects in " The Fair at Seville ; " these exquisitely exe- cuted little pictures are always peculiarly instinct with the genius of the place, and we hope they will never be entirely abandoned for the English farm scenes, which, being within the experience of all, require less subtle appreciation and study. Another work of Mr. Henry Moore's, which may take rank as one of the finest he has ever produced, is a magnificent " Moonlight," a sea piece, in which we do not know whether to admire most the evanescence of the distant sea, or the variety of tone in the admirably studied sky ; the artist has also preserved in his colour " ALL AMONG THE BARLEY.'' (By E. H. Fahey.) that circle of tender red which is to be observed in the clouds nearest to a full moon ; in com- position, colour, and execution, this is a masterly 104 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. sea-piece. Mr. Hodgson's " Loot/' of which we give an iUustration on the opposite page^ has the artist's usual extreme richness of colour, with that suggestion of humour which first delighted us all in his memorable " Rusty Gun." In the Lecture Room are several works of considerable note, and foremost among these must be ranked Mr. Hubert Herkomer's " Eventide : a Scene in Westminster Union," which gives a group of aged pauper women at afternoon tea in the bare long room of a in his " Chelsea Pensioners." Among those painters who have distinguished themselves particularly this year, must be placed Mr. Keeley Halswelle, who has never done more truly dramatic work than in his large " Play Scene in Hamlet." Unfortunately a slight garishness or conventionality of colour com- bines to prevent this powerful and inteUigent composition from receiving full attention and justice. The artist has been particularly happy in his indication of the barbaric splendour of Elsinore, and the actions are throughout EYEMTIDE : A SCENE IN WESTMINSTER UNION. (By Huhert Rerhomer.) workhouse. Every figure has been studied from the life, with a rare truthfulness and appreciation, the general type and the indi- vidual character being equally well represented ; and if in one instance the character is horribly disagreeable, the conscientious skill of the artist is no less evident there than in the old faces that are perfectly sympathetic. They are all drawn with that real power which shows itself in the treatment of the soft, feeble, and un- knit forms of extreme old age more trium- phantly than in the firm lines of young and masculine features. Though less ambitious in size and subject, this picture is a worthy companion of the other realistic, yet more heroic study of old age which the artist made energetic. INIr. Tristram Ellis, whose broad, harmonious, and artistic sea-piece, " The Sun- rise Gun, Castle Cornet, Guernsey," is hung in the large room, has another clever canvas, " The Haunted House," in the Lecture Room. "Au Revoir," by Mr. Fred. G. Cotman, though a figure subject, has a most elabo- rately studied and painted landscape, full of peculiarly charming execution and feeling, more especially in the passage to the right. " The Silent Highway," by Mr. W. L. Wyllie, has something of Mr. Whistler's flat and opaque masses of tone, notwithstanding that closer scrutiny discovers a certain subdued variety ; its touch of talent and power is marred by obscurity of executive expression. Also a THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 105 clever landscape is Mr. G. C. Kerr's " Corney we fear^ in the fact that the poet had not Reach ; " and near this hangs Mr. Armitage's studied from nature his beautiful description of " Pygmalion and Galatea/' in which the novel the transmission of the colour of stained glass device of showing the actual transition from by means of moonlight ; Mr. Dicksee, it is LOOT. (By J. E. Hodjson, R.A.) marble to flesh is resorted to. Mr. Georg-e Cook's " Afternoon Tea " is exceedingly clever in tone, and very broad. Mr. T. P. Dicksee has made one more attempt at the difficult subject of Keats's '^Eve of St. Agnes/' in his " Madeline ; " the difficulty really consists, true, has been more faithful to facts than to his text, for he has preserved very little of the gules and vert. Mr. R. W. Macbeth paints the pic- turesque, but sad and unhealthy, life of rural England, with something apparently of a philan- thropic intention. His "Lincolnshire Gangs" 106 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. of two years ag-o, and more cheerful " Potato Harvest " of last year, are followed by " Sedge STOKE FOR THE CABIN. (B\j Colin Hunter.) Cutting in Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire/' in which he shows the labourers wan and weak with the fever and ague generated in that country of bog and water ; his colour, as usual, is rich and harmonious. " Our Poor," by Mr. J. Charles, comes unfortunately near to Mr. Herkomer's picture in its subject, consisting as it does of a group of old women in an almshouse ; but it is a thoroughly clever canvas, notwithstanding a general blue tint which is not quite intelligible. In the tenth gallery we are first attracted by Mr. Henry Hume's exceedingly sunny little landscape, " Harvest Weather," which is strong and brilliant. Two excellent works, by Mr. Eobert Collinson, have scarcely won the places they deserved; his "Butter Burs" especially contains some admirable painting of large leaves in the foreground; both as painter and teacher this artist has long held a position which might well ensure him readier recog- nition from the Academy. The single piece contributed by Mr. Albert Moore, whose larger works are at the Grosvenor, is a small study entitled " Garnets," which has the artist's usual scheme of colour, or rather of tinting, in its perfection. No more exquisite combi- nation of yellows and pearl-colours could be imagined, bat the painter's habit of keeping his flesh brilliantly surrounded in a purplish half-shadow is persevered in. We are glad to note the long study from nature which must have produced the " Salmon Leap, Cenartli Falls, Cardiganshire," of Mr. Frank Miles, an artist whose aptitude for drawing pretty faces won him a sudden popularity which he seems determined to confirm by worthier work. " Store for the Cabin," by Colin Hunter, is painted with a bold and skilful hand, and is a good specimen of the work of this artist. "The Fruit Seller," by Charles Gussow, belongs to a school of painting little known in this country. The hardness of manner in the flesh- painting of this figure is almost startling at the first glance, but the masses are fine, and the modelling is quite a triumph of solidity. The water-colours at the Academy, and the architectural black-and-white drawings must be left for mention until a future notice. The sculpture, though it contains the usual examples of well-known artists, cannot boast any such special attraction as, for instance, Mr. Leighton's " Athlete " of last year. We have chosen for a sketch at the commencement of this article CUPBOARD LO^E. (By J. C. Eorsley, E.i.) the spirited group in bronze of "Hercules and Lichas," by Mr. WiUiam Tyler, a young sculptor of great promise. (To be continued.) 107 NOTES ON REMAEKABLE KINDS OF ENGLISH POTTERY. SALT-GLAZED WHITE WARE. By E. H. Soden-Smith, M.A., F.S.A., &c. -GROUP IN SALT-GLAZED WARE. {Early EigUeenth Cent. WiUeti Coll.) THERE are few kinds of pot- tery more attractive to the Eng-Ksh col- lector than that known as salt-glazed white or cream- coloured ware. This is partly due to its excellence, as re- gards material or body, the skill of its manufacture, and the frequent quaintness or even beauty of its forms and decoration ; and partly because, in addition to these real merits, it has been accredited with other qualities apt to be over-estimated by collectors. It has been prized from a somewhat exaggerated idea of its early date, being incorrectly described as " Eliza- bethan " ware, one piece, at least, having been associated with the name of Shakespeare ; and it has been also sought in consequence of the comparative scarcity of the finer specimens. Thus the two attractions which most of all mislead unwary collectors — namely, supposed antiquity and rarity — have combined to enhance its value in the eyes of those by whom its real interest and merit were perhaps little heeded. Definition. — This ware may be defined as of hard, compact white body, so tenacious that it can be worked very thin, sometimes approaching porcelain in fineness of grain and semi-trans- parency, capable of very delicate modelling or moulding, and showing great sharpness of out- line. It is composed of pipe-clay and flints, the latter being heated in a kiln, thrown into water, and then crushed to an impalpable powder. Its glaze is a colourless, transparent, tenacious, and extremely hard soda-glass, formed, as Professor Church describes it, by the action of the vapour of common salt" (chloride of sodium) "at a high temperature on the silica of the paste.-"^ Thus the white body of the ware shows through the glaze, as is the case in Wedg- wood^s cream-ware, in Leeds, and several other white varieties of pottery, as well as in the celebrated Oiron faience, or " Henri Deux ware of the sixteenth century. 8alt-glazing. — The method of salt-glazing is to throw common salt into the kiln towards the end of the firing, when the temperature is very high. This is immediately volatilised, and its thick white vapour surrounds the vessels which are being baked. The result is that " a sodium silicate is formed of great tenacity and hardness, and the ware is thus most effectually protected from absorption of liquids or mechanical injuries by an impenetrable and unattackable coating. (A small proportion of red lead seems to have been occasionally used with the salt.) This glaze or coating is often harder than felspar, and is only just scratched by quartz (rock crystal), though the body itself is abraded by felspar." * Manufacture. — The ware was fired in saggers, the sides of which were, perforated with holes through which the vapour of the salt could find its way. One of these saggers is shown in the Geological Museum, Jermyn Street, and a large number of them were employed to build a fence round a cottage garden near the spot where the ware was originally made. In the manufacture of the ware, moulds were much used, and these, for the finer pieces at least, were formed of metal ; one such mould, a rare object now, is shown in the collection at Jermyn Street. Besides these, from which a complete object could be turned out with its surface enriched by various embossed designs, small portions of ornament were separately applied from special moulds and caused to adhere to the surface by the glaze. Thus flower and leaf decoration, portions of scroll- work, &e., previously moulded, are added to vessels thrown on the wheel, and often with excellent decorative result. A small teapot given to the writer by Mr. G. R. Redgrave, * Churcli, "Catal. of Pottery," 1870. 108 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. is a good example of this method, having miniature figures of Bacchus holding a wine- cup, with grapes and various ornaments applied in the manner deseriljed ; tliis piece is enriched with vivid colours which must have been fixed by a second firing, as some of them would not have stood the great heat necessary for the salt-glazing. Historij. — The history of this ware com- suited to the manufacture of red pottery, they established themselves there, and erected a pot- work for the production of their ware." They sold their pieces at Dimsdale, near Burslem, and also "in the Poultry in Cheapside."* Besides the red pottery known by their name, as ''Elers^ ware," and a black body similar to Wedgwood-'s Egyptian basalt, they seem to have originated the salt-o-lazed white ware. 2. SPECIMENS OF SALT-GLAZED WHITE WARE, EIGHTEEXTH CENTURY. (From Oie Co\lec%\on of Rennj Willeti, Esq.) mences in England at the works carried on by two brothers of German family, John Philip and David Elers, who are stated to have accom- panied the Prince of Orange to England in 1688. They were men possessing knowledge, taste, and great skill in the manufacture of pottery, and the fine red ware made by them has not since been surpassed in its kind by European potters. This red ware was obviously made to rival the Japanese red pottery, with which the Dutch trade had doubtless made them familiar, and "finding at Bradwell Wood, about two miles from Burslem, an ochreous clay, well In its manufacture they appear not unfi-e- quently to have used the actual moulds employed by them for the red ware, and in consequence the details of ornament are brought out vath the same precision and delicacy so notable on the other material, and which caused Dr. Martin Lister to commend their work as surpassing that of the Chinese. Two triangular pickle-trays, part of a set of six formerly in possession of Professor Church, illustrate in their minute scroll and spray * See " Catal. of British Pottery and Porcelain in Museum of Practical Geology," second edition, ]). 95. ENGLISH POTTERY— SALT-GLAZED WHITE WARE. 109 ornament this excellent quality of early Elers^ work ; they bear each the profile head of Queen Anne^ and belong to the period just antecedent to the breaking up of the Elers"" whole estab- lishment in 1710. A curious and beautifully moulded toy or child's service of tea-things, of the finest quality of white salt-glaze, belonging to Mr. A. W. Franks, should also be referred to this early period. The moulding is as clean as possible, and the body is so fine as to possess somewhat the character of porcelain, and in some of the pieces to become even semi-trans- parent. It may generally be observed that the sharp- moulded and very highly-finished specimens of this ware belong to the period when it was turned out by the Elers themselves — the repeti- tions and imitations that followed from Astbury and others are for the most part poor in com- parison, both as to body and execution, though often veiy ingenious in design. In tracing the history of white salt-glaze it is necessary to bear in mind that the pottery known as Crouch ware had been manufactured in Staffordshire in the latter half of the seven- teenth century, and that it is also salt-glazed; moreover, that Dr. Dwight, of Fulham, who in 1671 possessed a receipt for making porcelain, produced a very fine stone ware, thinly glazed with salt. This, however, is a grey, and some- times brown, very hard ware, and there is no evidence to show that its existence was known to the Elers, or, if it were, that it could have aided them in their experiments. In itself it was, however, one of the most remarkable efforts in pottery made in this country some of the pieces, as the portrait statuette of Lydia Dwight, a daughter of the inventor, who died in child- hood, are works of considerable artistic merit ; this, with other specimens, is now in the South Kensington Museum. The Brothers Elers seem to have been little popular in the neighbourhood where they had so secretly and perseveringly wrought. Thus it happened that their secrets are said to have been dishonourably acquired by a clever potter named Astbury, who, feigning idiotcy, obtained employ- ment in their works as a labourer. This occur- rence led to competition that interfered with 16 their business, and seems to have caused the abandonment of their works. Whatever the cause, they left Staffordshire in 1710, and withdrew to the neighbourhood of Lambeth or Chelsea. Astbury, who lived to 1743, and others con- tinued the manufacture of various wares on the lines indicated to them by those whose secrets they had acquired, and thus both the red ware and the white and cream-coloured were pro- duced, but not with the excellence of the original inventors. As late as 1781 — 87 the Elers tradition seems to have lasted, for during that period Wilson and Astbury, Burslem, are stated to have supplied red china ware.* In the meantime, however, the production of white salt- glaze pottery had probably been taken up by others, and in other localities ; it was certainly produced at Liverpool, fragments of the ware having been found on the site of pot- works there, and the bird known as the " Liver," the cogni- zance of Liverpool, aj)pears on specimens of early salt-glaze. Several dated pieces serve more or less to mark the history of the ware. Two sjDcei- mens mentioned below (see illustration on oppo- site page) show the manufacture existing in the time of George I. ; and that it was popular in the reign of his successor is proved by the occurrence of specimens made to commemorate the success at Portobello, by which Admiral Vernon suddenly became a popular hero. A drinking mug and two teapots are in the Willett collection bearing the name of Vernon, and the former giving the date, Nov. 2, 1739. In the Wisbeach Museum another tea- pot, of similar character, is preserved. In the collection of Mr. and Lady Charlotte Sehreiber are several pieces, which also aid by their dates in carrying on the history. Among these may be mentioned a large jug, with portrait of Prince Charles Edward enamelled in colours, and lettered "P. C. the date of his rebellion being 1745 ; plates with portrait of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, of the same model as some mentioned below— these give the date 1757 ; also a quart mug enamelled with flowers and a portrait of the same * Owen, " History of Bristol Porcelain and Pottery," 1873, p. 344, 110 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. also a large cider mug, bearing the inscription — " This is Tom Cox'es oup Come my Freind and Drink it up Good News is come'n the Bells do Ring : & here's a Health to Prusia's King" February 16',1 1758. In tlie same collection is a bottle of this ware, rather cream-colom-ed, with applied ornaments of festoons of flowers and birds in sharp relief, stamped underneath "D. K., 1759." A good punch-pot, with a group of figures in colour, belonging to Mr. Willett, is of nearly the same period; a jug with pattern of incised lines coloured blue, in the writer's possession, is dated 1767. Aaron Wood, about 1750, was engaged in the manufacture, and his son, Enoch Wood, who was a skilled modeller, appears to have employed the ware successfully. He lived to the year 1840, and his work carries up the history as far as is requisite for my present purpose. It may, however, be added that a whitish salt-glaze ware was made at Lambeth by Stephen Green, and a statuette representing Queen Victoria at the date of her Majesty's accession, 1837, is in possession of Mr. Willett. At the present day the well-known works of Messrs. Doulton have brought the manufacture of variously-coloured salt-glazed wares to great perfection, and they also produce excellent and highly-finished white pieces. {To he continued.) THE GROSVENOR GALLERY. CONCLUDING NOTICE. ART of the in- equality of Mr. Herkomer's always clever work is to be attributed to the water-colour painter's mannei*, which clings to him more noticeably in some of his works than in others. The method of one art is never pleasing when imported into another, and we cannot too strongly insist on the importance of execution. His " Richard Wagner " is fine in its masses, and the expressions in his study of peasant life, " Who Comes Here T' are admirably life-like. Mr. R. C. Costa's four Italian studies, although they un- doubtedly have the charm of sun, and intense local feeling and expression, may be charac- terised as unequal. His figure subject, "A Portrait, Capri," has a somewhat strange look, because the artist, painting a face in the open air in the evening, has realistically given the cold and warm — eastern and western — lights on the flesh. Mr. Mark Fisher exhibits two sweetly treated cattle pieces, both of which are inevitably, after the taste of the day, called ^' Pastorals." Mr. E. J. Gregory's "Portrait of Mr. W. T. Eley," is freely painted, and one of the most living of modern English portraits, in spite of his having contrived to give his subject the air of a very rough day-labourer. Velasquez's " Grandee of Spain," exhibited at Burlington House last year, would compare curiously with this English " Esquire." Mr. Alma Tadema shows all his invariable skill and knowledge in his six subjects. His management of light is consunxmately learned, and as a colourist he is, if not always delightful, always subtle, inventive, and characteristic ; his originality, indeed, in this respect has enriched the art of colour with a dozen new and delicate surprises. In texture-painting, the marvellous imitative power which he gains by a close study of the relations of light and dark, is kept in check by a reserve of effort. The subjects chosen by this finished master are intended to interest by their antiquarian knowledge and realisation, so that he does not trust to technical and artistic attractions only in making his appeal to the public. " Hide and Seek " is a masterly out-door study, in which we only regret a tinge of coldness in the blue of the sky, and in the foreground sunshine ; but the distance is exqiiisitely brilliant, and charmingly "THE AFRICAN. Ill handled, while the long column, with its terminal bust against the light of the sky — brightness against brightness— is one of the artistes tours de force. " Architecture," " Sculpture," and " Painting," are three typical though not allegorical antique groups of unequal merit in the matter of drawing. Mr. W. Maclaren shows a feeling for sun- shine in " Coming Home with the Goats," and Mr. Boughton gives us his usual fine execution in the rather too dismal "March Weather." In spite of an excessive coolness of tone, and a certain poverty in the actions of the figures, M. Carl Schloesser's "Carriage Accident, Bordighera, Italy," is made attractive by the admirable execution, of the distance especially. Mrs. Louise Jopling's "Evelina, daughter of Sir Nathaniel de Rothschild," is a well-painted and thoroughly life-like portrait ; and we must particularly call attention to the masterly and massive treatment of the flesh in Mr. John Collier's " Study" — a piece of work which it is a pleasure to praise warmly. There is not much in the vestibule to arrest attention, besides Mr. Burne Jones's monochrome drawing of "Perseus and the Grraias," in which the draperies and armour are put on in solid silver and gold. The combination of the positive metal with the conventional and interpretative method of linear art or of colour is a barbarism which shocks the eyes — which interests, indeed, historically, when we come upon it in the early Japanese art, but which can have no interest when deliberately assumed by modern knowledge. Not the least mischief of such affectations is that they destroy history, and the charm and meaning of its ages of development. A series of clever dry points by M. Tissot are full of character, and brilliant in execution. In the Water-Colour Gallery Mr. Richard Doyle's fairy subjects are_, as last year, of leading importance. The manner of execution is not always attractive, but there is not one of these most original and fancifully humorous compositions which does not repay examination. "Manners and Customs of Monkeys," which shows these animals being captured in various stages of intoxication by the negroes, whom they are not able to distinguish from their own kind, is irresistibly grotesque; and almost equally funny is the " Witch Driving her Flock of Young Dragons to Market." Mr. Poynter exhibits a number of powerful and carefully truthful drawings of the " Bay of Funchal, Madeira." Mr. Prescott Hewett is, as usual, quietly artistic; and Mrs. Angell vigorously delicate in her flower-drawinar. On the whole, the Grosvenor Gallery sustains the interest of the previous year. All will allow that it is full of character, though of a character which all will not equally appreciate. "THE AFRICAN." STATUE BY EMANUELE CARONI. pONTEMPORARY Italian works of sculp- ture have attracted considerable attention at the Paris International Exhibition, and, indeed, they are specimens of a school which IS yearly gaining in power. The striking and masterly statue of which we ffive an enaravinff IS the work of Emanuele Caroni, a sculptor of singularly versatile talent, Ticinese by birth, but long settled and well known at Florence, where The African " was exhibited and greatly appreciated last year. He has been peculiarly successful in modelling the difficult and un- developed forms of childhood with poetry of sentiment and truth of execution, but the well-accentuated limbs of his present subject show him to be equal to bolder labours. In this figure, whose posture — seated as she IS on the bare earth — is suggestive of her barbarism, the artist has so well studied the type and its' characteristics that, in spite of the whiteness of the marble, the eye of the spectator instinctively supplies the dusky flesh-tones of the race. As a piece of model- ling, the work is excellent; the parts are well studied, the flesh is living, and the face expressive. Signer Caroni is not classed among the more distinctively realistic of present Italian sculptors, though his produc- tions have never been charged with lack of truthfulness. SCTJLPTUEE FEOM THE PAEIS EXHIBITION n.— " THE AFRICAN." By Emanuele Caroxi. 113 THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION.— V. VASE. {Browiihills Pottery Company.) IN our previous notices we have confined our observations to English manufactures^ and we propose to continue our survey of the Exhibi- tion in the same way, passing through each country in suc- cession, in lieu of contrasting the same class of objects as ex- hibited by each of the foreign sections. Fui-ni- ture is extremely well represented at Paris, and is shown in a way which is admirably calculated to display it to the best advantage, namely, in rooms completely fitted up, having, as it were, one side re- moved to enable the spectator to view the combined effect of carpets, hangings, and fur- niture, each in their proper places, and having their proper relations the one to the other. One enterprising firm, Messrs. Collinson and Lock, of Fleet Street, have, as already stated, con- structed an entire house for their furniture in the central avenue. The Indian Vestibule (a general view of which we have engraved on page 115) is sej)arated from the Industrial Galleries by a series of lofty square openings, and opposite to these openings we find the leading manufacturers of furniture have been placed. Among the more conspi- cuous objects in this section we may name the cedar dining-room of Messrs. Gr. Trollope and Sons, a most beautifully executed piece of wood- work in the style of Queen Anne, the decorations in painted tapestry being illustrations of the " Rape of the Lock," while the carved chimney- piece enshrines the bust of Pope. The next bay to Messrs. Trollope's is occupied by Messrs. Collinson and Lock. They have covered their whole area with a panelled ceiling, the small 17 square spaces in which are each filled by con- ventional roses. Their exhibition is divided up into a series of rooms by means of dwarf par- titions, which are covered with russet-green cloth, and form an excellent background for the furniture, which is nearly all of dark woods with little gilding, and extremely neat and simple in its design. Furniture of this kind is admirably adapted for the display of china, and many choice specimens of the favourite old blue and white ware are dotted about the rooms. Messrs. Holland and Sons contribute a most sumptuously furnished bed-room in the style of the Adams' period. They have so arranged it that the exterior towards the two principal passages presents a handsome arcade, through the arches of which the spec- tator looks into the room. The walls are huno- with blue and gold, and the slanting cove has white stars on a blue ground. The furniture is of satinwood, richly mounted with ormolu, and painted with arabesques. The hangings of the bed are of blue satin, and the coverlet is a rich maroon red. Opposite the bed is a wing-ward- robe, with a centre mirror, and this and the toilet-table are beautiful specimens of cabinet work. There is a delicacy and refinement about the exhibits of this firm with which it is impos- sible to avoid being im- pressed. The next space is occupied by Messrs. Jackson and Graham, and this they divide, by the means of a partition, into two rooms which, if anything, are a trifle too lofty. The light here is hardly sufficient to do justice to the furniture, which is ex- tremely elegant. The inlaid cabinets are PILGRIM BOTTLE. {Brownhills Pottery Company.) THE MAGAZINE OF ART. VASE. (BroioiiJitlls Pottery Company.) among the most elaborate works in the Exhi- bition, and the work of this firm approaches nearer to that of the best French manufac- turers than anything else of this class in the English section. In the same compart- ment with Messrs. Jackson and Graham we find Messrs. Gregory and Son, who exhibit an old English drawing-room with some well-made furniture, and Messrs. Howard and Sons, who have also adopted a threefold division of their allotment. The centre room is an old English dining-room, with a deeply recessed fireplace in unpolished oak. The style is Jacobean, and the very effective brass fireplace is by Messrs. Verity. The mantelpiece of this room was made by machinery in solid wood, and inlaid by a patent process. One of the smaller rooms is a bed-room and the other a sitting-room, with some effectively made furniture, and many specimens of the Patent Parquet carpet, which is a speciality of this firm. Messrs. Henry Ogden and Son, of Man- chester, have sent a cabinet in rosewood, designed by Mr. Batley, which shows that the provinces are in no way behind the metropolis in excellence of style and work- manship. Mr. Batley's designs are a trifle mannered, and he has a tendency to break up his surfaces into an infinity of minute parts, but it is impossible to do otherwise than praise both the design and execution of this work. Messrs. Ogden send also a pianoforte case of inlaid satinwood, which is an admirable bit of workmanship. Mr. Harry Hems has also two specimens : a statue of Our Saviour in English alabaster, and a magnificent coffer of carved oak, made from some of the old beams of Salisbury Cathedral, a.d. 1216. The chest contains some excellent and characteristic foliage and details of the Perpendicular period. The artistic decorations of Messrs. Young and Whitburn may be said in their present stage to be merely tentative. This firm TWO-HANDLED VASE. (Brownhills Pottery Company.) shows two small rooms with panelling, doors, and mantelpieces decorated by means of their THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION. 115 new process of Xylography. The process is really a species of printing upon soft wood, whereby an impressed pattern can be produced executed. We fear that for the cabinet-maker and the decorator, the invention will scarcely realise the anticipations of the patentees. GlSNERAL VIEW OF THE INDIAN COUUT. in any desired colour from prepared metal blocks. For repetition of simple border-patterns, and for covering great lengths of narrow bands, the process has much to recommend it. It can, of course, only be applied to flat surfaces, though it can be very cheaply and expeditiously The furniture of Mr. W. H. Lascelles has a character all its own. Some of it, notably the bed and the wardrobe, remind us of the de- signs of the elder Pugin. The canopy of the oak bedstead is substantial, and is supported in a very firm manner ; the owls at the foot are 116 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. emblematical of sleep. The doors in wood, stained of a deep green colour, with raised enrichments in gold and colours, are designed by Mr. J. Aldam Heaton. The flooring of this space is re- markable as illustra- ting an entirely new mode of dowelling, by which the process of nailing down is avoided. We think that, on the whole, the furni- ture of Mr. William Watt, of Grafton Street, is the quaint- est we have hitherto described. It is de- signed by Mr. E. W. Godwin, and the paint- ing is due to Mr. Whistler. The en- deavour has been to attract attention by the use of various of yellow, the accom- artist con- sulted by Mr. Watt would hardly venture to call this group a " symphony in yellow." The background is primrose yellow, and the carpet is a shade of yellow ochre. The furniture is of bright mahogany of light grain, and the seats and couch are covered with a pale citron yellow. The background is the side of a room with a panelled dado, against which is a fireplace and mantel- piece, the fire- place being of polished brass, and a consider- able amount of shades though plished VASE CUPID's LECTrKE ON LOVE (Decorated by M. Solon.) l)rasswork is introduced into the furniture, which is of the Japanese type affected by Mr. Godwin. Mr. Whistler has painted a kind of scale ornament, intended possibly for clouds, on the wall and the mantelpiece. For its startling mode of attracting the at- tention of the visitor, the work of Mr. Watt is unrivalled. We can- not say that we should care to be surrounded in our homes by this " agony " in yellow. The form of the couch is novel and good, though some of this furniture seems rather slight for everyday use. Messrs. H. and J. Cooper are near neighbours of Mr. AVatt, and their chief work is a rosewood cabinet rather hotly painted by Mr. Lewis Day. The subject is from Tennyson^s Princess." We can- not commend the highly illustrated furniture of this descrip- tion, as we conceive that the decorations for furniture should be specially treated in simple colours, and that works of art should be We have given in this paper some further illustra- tions of excel- lent pottery by Minton and the BroT\TihillsPot- tery Company — and in our next propose to refer further to the furniture in the Exhibi- tion. (minton) very sparingly introduced. PANEL IN DOULTON WARE. (By C. Tinworfh.) 117 THE HIGHEU LIFE IN ART. By Wyke Bayliss, F.S.A. 'F any justifica- tion is needed for the use of the simile with which I closed my last paper, it will be found in the title of this, " The Higher Life in Art.^"" Such a jxistification is perhaps necessary. He who ventures to compare the advent of a new school of painting with the bringing back of the Ark of the Lord, must think either very highly of Art, or very lightly of the sacred narrative. But then, he who believes, and dares to express his belief, in anything in Art worthy to be named the Higher Life, is already vindicated from the alternative charge of irreverence. The simile was not indeed lightly chosen, nor has its full significance been exhausted. Before laying it aside I would even suggest one more analogy. The measure of the value of that which was brought back was not the four rings, nor the crown of gold, nor the thickness of the pure gold with which it was overlaid. Apart from the occult presence which went with it, these things were as no- thing. And in like manner, the measure of the value of Art is not to be found in the pre- ciousness of the artist's work as merchandise, nor in its beauty for purposes of decoration, but rather in an occult presence which goes Avith it — a communication of mind with mind through which we gain a wider range of vision, a deeper penetration into the mysteries of life, a truer perception of our relationship with each other and with the world which is our home. It is this occult presence which I have called " The Higher Life in Art.'' And it is my pui-pose to show that this Higher Life is not limited to certain schools of art, or choice of subject, or style of treatment. There is indeed a tenia which is thus limited in its use, a term which has become so familiar to us in its narrow application, that it is possible for a reader coming upon the words " The Higher Life in Art" to assume that they are only changes rung upon a theme which has already been debated in every artist's studio since the days of Phidias. And if it were my desire simply to entertain the reader with a disserta- tion upon Art, I should be content for such an assumption to remain unchallenged. It is so easy to go on in a well-beaten track. It is so much more formidable to strike out a new path. And, moreover, in keeping to a subject already familiar and of known interest, I should at least have been sure of some sympathy, what- ever views I might have expressed. But my purpose is much more than this. It is to break clean through all the old distinctions between " High Art " and " Low." It is to substitute, or rather to place side by side with the old, a new formula of expression, that shall direct our thoughts into a broader channel, and yield us at last a better standpoint from which to judge what are the noblest conditions and highest purposes of Art, and where we may look for their fulfilment. Let me say at once, then, that High Art and the Higher Life in Art are subjects entirely distinct from each other. The one divides the schools, the other binds them together in a common purpose. The one deals with the choice of subject, the other with the spirit in which the subject is handled. The one is eclectic, the other is catholic. The one is the casting out of all things that are common or unclean, the other is the finding that all things have been cleansed by God. The Higher Life in Art is that element in aesthetics which brings us into direct and sympathetic relationship with Nature. Are we not, then, always in contact with Nature without the intervention of Art ? Yes, as a ship is in contact with the sea, out on the Atlantic ; and with the air, as the fresh breeze fills the sails; and with the rocks, too, as it 118 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. lies dashed in pieces in siglit o£ the haven where it would he. There is no mistake as to our contact with Nature, or the close grip with which she holds us to her. But, close as is this grip, it is all on one side. She seems to under- stand us— that however is another question- but what do we, o£ our own individual experience, each for himself, know of her— as represented for instance by the world in which we live, or the great family of which we form a part ? A few voices speak to us out of the throng— but the many are dumb. A few eyes kindle as they look into ours — " Stars, stars. And all eyes else dead coals." A brother, a sister, a wife, two or three friends ; this is, to most of us, the sum of our know- ledge of mankind. It is as though we laid our finger on the keyboard of an organ, touch- ing a note here and there. A flute voice answers us, or a vox-humana, perhaps even a vox-angelica; but we do not know the instru- ment until the master musician sits down before it and we hear the thunder of the diapason, the rush of mighty harmonies, the tender strains of melody. And Art is our master musician. Erase from our lives all that we have received only through books or pictures, leave us each to our own personal experience of life and manners, of the surroundings of om- homes, of the countries we have visited, of the vicissitudes and mysteries of the natural world, and very little will be left to tell us what man is, or whether God has been mindful of him at all. The books we have read and the pictures we have seen have, indeed, become part of our lives. They have become so iden- tified in our imaginations with the things they represent to us, that we forget sometimes that we see with the collective ^^sion of many eyes, and think the thoughts of many minds, that in Art we live and move and have our being. This is what Art is to us, because it is the greater, and we are the less. It is one of the environments that is daily shaping oiu- lives to fair or foul issues. We cannot escape from it even if we would, any more than we can escape from Nature. It also has its grip upon us, and we— hke Erankenstein— are at the mercy of an image made by our own hands. The sky- line of our streets that crushes our eyes as with a weight, forbidding us to lift them from the mud upon the ground ; — the blank walls and ungainly furniture of our dwellings that make mud in our minds; — it is we who have made them, and cursed them with ugliness ; they only return to us the curse, in mental depres- sion, with its inevitable tale of physical suffer- ing. A French critic of English manners states that in London a row of houses has been built along the river-side of the Strand, with the view of guarding the inhabitants from the danger, annually recurring, of joining hands and rushing down together to drown them- selves in the Thames. And he assigns as the cause of this terrible temptation to self-destruc- tion the dulness of the weather that prevails here in November. Of his facts I mil say nothing, but I hesitate to accept his reasoning. If the temptation does really exist, it is the effect — not of the much maligned month of fogs — but of the despondency deepening into terror arising from the thought that turn which way you will there is no escape — to the east. Temple Bar*— to the west, the cupola of the National Gallery. It may be difficult to measure the amount of evil, but it is not difficult to see that only evil can come of such environment. But then there is environment of another kind, the effects of which are still more difficult to measure, because good is stronger than evil, as much stronger as God is stronger than the de\41. Charles Kingsley, writing to his wife, says of Salisbury Cathedral, "That wondei-ful grey Alp amongst the trees. It is like a great mountain with its strata, and secondary ridges, and spm-s, and lower peaks, all leading up to that great central aiguille which rushes up into the highest blue, till you expect to see the clouds hanging round its top, and fancy the jackdaws are condors round the peak of Chimborazo. It awes you, too, without crushing you, you can be cheerful under its shadow, but you could not do a base thing." Charles Kingsley could not have done a base thing anpvhere, whether under the shadow of Salisbury Cathedral or in Fleet Street; but that does not lessen the force of the inference * Since this article -vvas written, the stones of Temple Bar have heen carted away. THE HIGHER LIFE IN ART. 119 that the environment o£ " sweetness and light " was good for him. The erection o£ a fine edifice on the north side of Trafalgar Square^ and the transfer of the Arch of Titus to the east end of the Strand^ might not efface the calendar of crimes to be tried at the next assizes ; but because Art cannot do everything it is unreasonable to conclude that it can do nothing. This, at least, it can do. It can so transfigure a little colour that lies inert upon the palette — a little grey, and brown, and white — into a living presence, that our hearts shall beat faster only to look upon it. It can so link thought with thought, and put them into grave or sweet words, that we may look through Shakespeare^'s eyes upon an English garden of three hundred years ago — or hear the storm-shaken pines which make music in the Volkslied — or see the shadow that lay dark on Banter's life as lies the shadow of the cypresses upon his grave at Ravenna. It can so build stone upon stone, and shape them into beauty, that Richard of Salisbury of the thirteenth century, shall speak to Charles Kingsley of the nineteenth, making him stronger for his duty, and happier in performing it. And the force which can do these things is surely one of which it is well for us to take account. Nor is this all ; for, whatever Art can or cannot do, it is quite certain that we cannot so much as live our lives without it, any more than the bees can build their cells without the fine instinct which controls their labour, — only we sometimes go wrong, while they always go right. It is a question of degree. Whether we build well or ill — we build. Every picture that the artist paints or the merchant hangs upon his walls, every statue we set up in our midst, every book we read, every song we sing, as surely as every roof-tree that shelters a hearthstone, is a chamber in the great palace of Art in which some soul shall for a time dwell. Let us see to it that the chambers are at least clean and full of light. Such chambers have been built by those who came before us. Sahsbury Cathedral is one of them. And there has been one also, for centuries, in every village in England where an ivied tower or a simple chancel arch has touched the hearts of priest and squire and people with a sense of beauty even when they least knew it. And we are the better as a people for these things ; better for the peals of bells that have clashed out their chimes from the church towers, rain- ing music on thatched roofs — like Danae^s gold, only that it does not corrupt — and on the labourers at their toil, and on those who are at rest, making the heart soft as the furrows are made soft by the drops of rain. Better, as really — though not in the same measure — as we are for the faithful service that has been ministered within the churches^ walls. For whatever else is true about Art, this is true. Art is always and everywhere " filling our eyes and fulfilling our ears " vdth. the knowledge of good and evil. Desdemona, accused of treachery which her soul abhors, says in her innoceney — "Are there such women?'-" "What does she know ? What do any of us know of a thou- sand things which exist around us ? I do not say the knowledge is good for us. I say only that it comes to us through Art. The simplest form of words cannot be put together without Art, any more than can the stones of the chancel arch. Whether it be "a woeful ballad made to our mistresses' eyebrows,'' or a cry of battle, or a hymn for our Sunday-school — it is the poet who measures out for us what we shall say. In the theatre, in the drawing-room, and in the choir alike — it is the musician who makes us dream, following his spells. In the senate, on the platform, in the pulpit— it is the rheto- rician who stirs us to action. So that bad Art means much more than bad artists. It means dreary surroundings in our dwellings, ignoble buildings in our streets, evil questionings in the exercise of our religion. It means everything between the idle stagnation and the ultimate coiTuption of faculties which should be clear and fertilising as the waters of a running brook. Against forces like these the old distinctions between " High Art " and " Low " are charms that will not conjure. The question is not what is elegant to paint, or pleasant to write about. It is rather — how shall we, as artists, get a little closer to Nature ? This closeness to Nature is "The Higher Life in Art." Through it only can Art be the means of raising us ever so little towards a more perfect manhood. SAKK: view FKOM the west COAbT, ARTISTS' HAUNTS.— TV. S A R K . IT was on a Lriglit which is surrounded by a lofty amphitheatre morninc,^ in the of precipice and rock. On a nearer approach, spring of. the pre- however, a small inlet becomes visible on the sent Vai- ^l^^t I left, through which the vessel passes to the stood on the deck inner harbour. Yet even then a stranger to of Captain Guillens the island might still wonder how he was luo-o-er as it entered expected to proceed to the interior from the LrCreux harbour, cliff-encircled shore. The momentary problem on the western coast —which the reader will better understand by of Sark Favoured referring to our two illustrations of Le Creux by a breeze from the north-east, Ave had Harbour-is easily solved by the sight of a come from Guernsey in an hour and three- large tunnel at the pier-head, and^^a smaller quarters — a distance of nine miles from harbour to harbour, though only six separate, island from island, as the gull or cor- morant flies. The process of landing is always an im- pressive and often a diffi- cult one. At first sight the vessel seems to be running LE CUEUX HARBOl'R, FROM THE OLD TUNNEL. one to the left, both of which lead to the valley be- yond, whence a road wdnds up to the top of the island — a table- land about three miles long and one mile broad, over Avhich are scattered the cottages of the tillers of the soil and the " toilers of the sea'' sta »M Sinst the vertical wall ot a jetty, who, with their wrves and famihes some sr. wSh rise?at low tide to a height of some hundred sods in all, form rts prmntrve popu fflty ferand stretches across the little bay, lation. The tyi,e ,s a hardy ratte- than ARTISTS^ HAUNTS— SARK. 121 a handsome one ; but tlie men, who are mostly fair, and always wear the blue jacket which takes its name from the neighbouring island, make picturesque models ; there is^ however, a difficulty in getting them to sit, except when bad weather interferes with their ordinary work. Descent from the table-land to the sea by any path but that which passes through the tunnel is dangerous and difficult where it is not impossible. This inaccessibility gives the board, besought permission to bury him in the consecrated ground attached to the chapel on the island. This was granted, on condition of the Fleming's making certain presents to the French, and promising to land entirely unarmed. Whereupon — says Sir Walter Raleigh, who was governor of Jersey about fifty years later, and who made a record o£ the popular memories — a coffin, not containing a dead body, but swords, targets, and arque- busses, was put into the boat. The French LE CREUX HARBOUR, FROM THE JETTY. island a certain wildness and isolation all its own, of which the artist is not the last to feel the charm ; and renders it, besides, a natu- rally impregnable position. As an appanage of Duke William of Normandy, it became a portion of the British dominions in 1066, and was principally inhabited by monks until, in 1549 — when it was almost deserted — it was captured and garrisoned by the French. Its recovery to England, effected by our allies the Flemings, is recorded in one of the most romantic passages of modem history. A gen- tleman of the Netherlands anchored in the roads with one ship, and, pretending that the merchant who had freighted it had died on 18 received the mourners on their landing, and searched every one of them so narrowly that they could not have concealed a pen-knife. Some of the French, meanwhile, took the boat of the Flemings and rowed to their ship to receive the promised presents ; but as soon as they got on board they were seized and bound. The Flemings on land, after they had carried the coffin into the chapel, shut the door, and, taking out their weapons, fell upon the French, who ran down to the beach, calling on their companions on board the vessel to return to their assistance ; but when the boat landed it was filled with Flemings, who, uniting with their countrymen, effected the complete 123 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. capture of the island. Ever since this achieve- ment, rivalling that o£ the conquerors o£ Troy, Sark has been an English possession, and under the conditions now attached to its government by a Seigneur, an English possession it is likely to remain until the end of the chapter. The island is unequally divided into two parts. Great and Little Sark, which are con- nected together by a narrow isthmus, known as " The Coupee," a side view of which is given in the accompanying sketch. Artists in search friends in the larger division of the island. The sittings were usually long, and his legs in consequence becoming shaky (cramped, per- haps, by the sitting posture) he deemed it prudent, before crossing so narrow a bridge, to test his capacity for walking straight. An old cannon lying on the near side answered his purpose ; and if his legs would satisfactorily keep his body perpendicular while walking backwards and forwards on this, he ventured across; if not, he lay down and slept, and NATURAL ARCH, POKTE DE MOVLIS. of the terribly grand will find few things better suited to their purpose than this natural bridge, which is 600 feet long, never more than eight feet wide, and nearly 300 feet above the sea even when tides are high. It is an Alpine pass with the added glory of the waves beneath ; and on each side the rock leads almost per- pendicularly down to the abyss of blue, with its breakers of white. To this unique passage belongs, not only an old legend that need not be related here, and a record of accidental death, but also an anecdote which the local worthies love to tell. Once upon a time there lived in Little Sark an individual who -w-as fond of passing convivial evenings with his on w^aking always before crossing tried the same experiment successfully. Thus the posses- sion in such an eminent degree of one cardinal virtue, prudence, counteracted the evils w^hich might naturally have attended the absence of another — temperance ; and our not very heroic hero lived, it is said, to a good, or rather a bad, old age. There are two hotels, of course of a primitive kind, on the island; and, besides these, there are spare rooms to be had in the cottages of fishermen and others, who will gladly board visitors in simple but pleasant fashion. They fare in Sark to-day very much as they fared there two hundred years ago. ARTISTS^ HAUNTS— SARK. 123 when a g-entleman wrote "to his friend and kinsman in London " a letter qiiaintly de- scriptive of some of the habits and products of the island. " Onr soil/-" he saySj " is excel- lent for bearing all kinds of roots^ as parsnipsj carrots, turnips, &c., and very well stored with fruit trees, furnishing us with cyder. Our pasture is short, yet exceeding sweet, and therefore we have rare mutton. . . Our firing is for the most part furzes, and some- times turf, for we have no timber at all growing. For belly timber, our three staple com- modities are fish, fowl, and rabbits ; of the first a little industry will fur- nish us a hundred sorts, particularly a large shell-fish, taken plentifully at low tide, called an ormer; it is much bigger than an oys- ter, and infinitely more pleasant to the gusto, so that an epicure would think his palate in Paradise if he might but always gormandise on such delicious ambrosia. For fowl, your city cannot be better furnished with woodcocks or widgeons, besides the abundance of duck, mallard, teal, and other wild fowl, with clift pigeons, with which at some seasons almost the whole island is covered. Of conies we have everywhere exceeding plenty, and yet, lest we should want, nature has placed at a small distance an island which is inhabited by nothing else, whither we commonly go a ferreting. If all this rich fare will not content you, we have a most excellent pottage made of milk, bacon, coleworts, mackerel, and goose- berries, boiled together all to pieces, which our mode is to eat, not with the ceremony of a spoon, but by the more courtly way of a great piece of bread furiously plying between mouth and kettle." The visitor to Sark in 1878 will hardly complain if he nowhere discover the dish described with such characteristic relish in 1673. The birds, however, are as numerous as ever. Sea-gulls, cormorants, and curlews literally cover some of the rocks, and fill the air all day with their calls and cries. As an artiste's sketching ground, Sark has this great advantage — it has not yet been overdone. It is true that pictures of Les Autelets — the three grand outlying rocks seen in our illustration below, and of the Natural Arch which we also engrave — are tolerably familiar. LES AUTELETS. but the island still affords many a telling and unhackneyed subject. Its caves, even if Les Boutiques were left out of the question, are the finest to be found in the Channel Islands ; and it presents a general variety of scene seldom to be met with in so small, and therefore so convenient, a space. Especially does the western shore offer to the sea-painter the advantage of a beautifully-indented coast, with island rocks rising in the midst of the many miniature bays to give completion to the scene, and — thanks to the enormous fluctuations of tide — a splendid expanse and variety of sea-weed, extremely useful for studies. We have only to add that it is a view from this western coast with which the skilful pencil of Mr. Tristram Ellis fitly introduces this paper to the reader. GROUP OP HORSES, FROM THE PARTHENON, HORSES IN RELATION TO ART. W HEN we con- sider that the horse has always been so faithful a servant and friend of man, and that in E n g'l a nd especially he is so generally appreciated that there are few men who would not feel aggrieved if ignorance of horseflesh were imputed to them, it is curious what very scanty justice has been rendered to him by our artists ; for while Englishmen are especially a horse-loving nation, English artists, as a rule, fail more completely in representing him than those of most Continental schools. It is possible that this partly arises from this country being more given to sport than any other, so that the horse is apt to be regarded principally from a sportsman's point of view, rather than from that of the naturalist or the artist; and hence, perhaps, his por- traiture has been relegated in great measure to a quasi-technical category. So that while there are many painters who have done justice to him in an exclusively sporting aspect, these pictures belong to the class of specialities, and are analogous to the representation of buildings made by an architectural draughtsman, the studies of flowers made for a work on botany, and the portraits of ships made by exclusively naval, in contradistinction to marine, painters, where every detail is technically and somewhat obtrusively accurate, but by the sacrifice of largeness of pictorial treatment, and of all the poetical, and much of the artistic, element, so that these works respectively appeal to a limited and, as it were, a professional circle, and from the narrowness of their treatment take but a very humble place in the wider ranks of art. But while artists like J. M. W. Turner, Clarkson Stanfield, Samuel Prout, William Hunt, and others have, among their larger aims, done technical justice to marine, archi- tectural, and botanical subjects; and, at the same time, have produced the best pictiu-es of the time in a wider sense, comparatively few English painters of eminence have made the horse, in his nobler aspects, their special study, and raised him from the category of the sporting picture; and many who, without so HORSES IN RELATION TO ART. 125 doings have introduced him into their pictures, have shown such entire want of sympathy with this part of their subject, that any one who duly appreciates the animal is apt to wish the attempt had not been made. Before we notice the treatment he has thus received, let us consider what are the salient characteristics of his nature and structure. His nature is eminently courageous, without ferocity, generous, docile, intelligent, and, if allowed to be so, almost as affectionate as the dog. In his structure, the ruling characteristic may be said in one word to consist in obliquity, ■ — all the leading bones in his frame are set obliquely, or nearly so, and not at right angles. His head is set on with a subtle curve of the last few vertebrae of the neck, which, at the shoulders, take another subtle curve before they become the dorsal vertebrae, or backbone ; which end, in their turn, with another curve, forming the tail. His shoulders slope back more than those of other quadru2:)eds, the scapula, or shoulder-blade, being oblique to the humerus, which, in its turn, is oblique to the radius, or upper part of the fore-leg. So, again, in the hind-quarters, the haunch is set obliquely to the true thigh, the thigh, at the stifle joint, to the upper bone of the hind-leg, which at the hock makes another auffle. The fore and hind quarters form so large a portion of the entire length that a horse, though a lengthy animal from the front of the chest to the back of the haunch, is, comparatively, very short in the actual back or " saddle-place.''-' Then his hocks are much bent, and his pastern joints are rather long, and again are set at an angle, succeeded by a slightly different angle in the firm but expanding hoof, thus completing the beautiful mechanism, which preserves the limbs from jar, and ensures elasticity in every part of an animal destined to carry weight and to undergo rapid and continued exertion — a combination not existing in any other quadruped to anything like the same degree, and fitting him precisely for the purposes for which he was given to man. At present we have said nothing about his head, every part of which is equally characteristic. His well-shaped, delicate ears are capable of being moved separately in every direction, and every movement is full of meaning and in sympathy with the eye. The eye is prominent, full, and large, and placed laterally, so that he can see behind him without turning his head, his heels being his principal weapon of defence ; his nosti-ils are large, open and flexible, and his lips fleshy, though thin, and exquisitely mobile and sensitive. The large, open nostril is essential to him, as a horse breathes solely and entirely through it, being physically incapable of breathing through his mouth, as a valve in the throat actually precludes him from so doing ; hence the mouth of a horse, without a bridle in it, is opened only for purposes of eating or biting, but never from excitement or from exhaustion, like that of most other quadrupeds, except the deer species. The lips are, perhaps, even more charac- teristic ; they are his hands as well as part of his mouth, and the horse and others of his family alone use them in this way. The ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the giraffe above all, and, in fact, we believe all graminivorous animals except the horse, either bite their food directly with the teeth, or grasp and gather it with the tongue, which is prehensile, and gifted with more or less power of prolongation ; but the horse^s tongue has no such function, and, therefore, no such powers, as these services are all performed in his case by the lips; and no horseman, who has let a favourite horse pick up small articles of food from the palm of his hand, can have failed to be struck with the extreme mobility, and also the sensibility and delicacy of touch, with which the lips are endowed. Now, all these physical characteristics are patent, without any knowledge of anatomy, to any one who api^lies inteUigent observation to an animal which he sees daily ; but in pictures both by mediseyal and modern painters what wonderful libels on horse nature do we per- petually see. He is commonly represented as an animal either with human, or else with small, piggy eyes, with a blunt, solid nose, with two small round holes for nostrils, with an open, foolish mouth, with a long body hke a bolster, straight shoulders, and round, shapeless legs, and this not only in the case of the old Italian masters, who seem to have lost, with the loss of Greek tradition, all sympathy with. 126 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. and appreciation of, the horse, but also in the case of English painters of eminence of the present day in this horse-loving country. Let the reader, for instance, turn to the large illustrated edition of Tennyson's poems, and to other books illustrated by leading artists, whom it would be invidious to mention, and then let him say whether the above description is an exaggeration of what he generally finds. when a horse is introduced into the pictures of those otherwise entitled to rank among the first artists of the day. In our next paper we propose to glance very hastily over ancient art, to see how the horse has been treated there, and also to notice among modern artists the exceptional few who have done justice to him. [To be continued.) PICTURES AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION. THE BRITISH SCHOOL. THE collection of English pictures which In the large room, nearly the whole of the has attracted so much attention in Paris, east wall is occupied by Millais' paintings, though scarcely an adequate representation of " A Yeoman of the Guard " (better known British Art— many well-known painters, such as the " Beefeater " in the exhibition of as Hook, Faed, Poole, Horsley, Ansdell, Nicol, the Royal Academy in 1877) occupying the Long, and others being absent— must be pro- central position. This powerful picture, being nounced a OTeat success. In the five galleries devoted to oil paintings, there are 283 works by contemporary artists. The most prominent exhibitors are J. E. Millais, G. F. Watts, W. P. Frith, the late Sir Edwin Landseer, Sir John Gilbert, L. Alma-Tadema, P. H. Calde- ron, G. D. Leslie, John Pettie, and F. Leighton, the latter exhibiting his latest picture, " Elijah," which was described in the Magazine of Art for July. The great personal exertions of the Prince of Wales in endeavouring to render this collection worthy of the nation, and the libe CAl'TAIM KUKTON. (By F. Leighton, R.A.) placed under glass for pro- tection, is looked upon, and criticised in France, as a painting in water-colours. On either side are the two large and admirable land- scapes, "Chill October," and " O'er the hills and far away ; " near them "The North-west Passage," and some of Millais' well-known portraits ; and, a little removed, in another part of the room, an earnest and pathetic work, "The Gam- bler's Wife," which many will consider his c/ief-d'oeuvre in this exhibition. The technique and master- ful skill of L. Alma-Tadema, rality of the owners in lending their works, who exhibits in all ten pictures, next command have a great reward in the interest which most attention in France. Here are two attaches to the Ecole Anglaise," in 1878; large works, remarkable for the dexterous em- an interest far exceeding that of former ex- ployment of low tones, for the pamtmg ot hibitions on the Continent, not excepting that textures of robes and marble surfaces-the of Paris in 1855, when the list of exhibitors "Picture Gallery" and the "Sculpture Gal- included Herbert, Dyce, Poole, Maclise, Mul- ready, the elder Leslie, Roberts, &e., and, amongst the younger men, the names of Holman Hunt, and F. Maddox Browne. lerj," — exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1874-75 j "The Audience at Agrippa's ; " "xAfter the Dance" (of which we give a thumb-nail sketch on page 127); and "A BRITISH PICTURES AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION. 127 Roman Garden/-" one of Alma-Tadema''s latest works J lent by Sir Henry Thompson. In the same gal- lery are Mr. Leighton^s " Portrait of Capt. Bur- ton " ( see page 126), "The Music Lesson (ex- hibited in 1876), and the " Eli- jah/^ the last and most important of the works sent by this painter to the Exhibition. The crowd that thrones this gallery throughout the day is only ex- ceeded in the adjoining gallery, where Mr. Orchardson^s pictures (especially his "Queen of Swords/^ of which we g-ive an illustration below), and Mr. Her- komer's " Last Muster " (which has won for the artist a medaille d'honneur), attract great attention. The latter, which was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1875, represents a group of old soldiers in the chapel of Chelsea Hospital — the last act of the drama of war, a quiet Sunday service under the tattered flags — one of the pensioners evidently at his "last muster.'' In the absence of many large works of high DAWN. (By E. J. Gregory.) aim or marked dramatic interest in the Ens:- lish collection, this picture has created unusual attention. Mr. Herkomer has been more fortunate than some of his brother artists, in being able to send to Paris the work that represents him best. It is satisfactory to be able to record that the expression " JEcole Anglaise" (so often repeated in former years with satiric emphasis) is heard in this gallery, coupled with remarks of admiration and delight. The qualities of work of Orchardson, Pettie, Boughton, Gregory (of whose " Dawn we give a thumb-nail sketch), Armstrong, T. Graham, and Chalmers, in genre, and Aumonier (see illustration, "Toilers of the Field,'' on page 130) and J. Macbeth, in landscape, are especially noticed. Returning to the gallery in which are THE QUEEN OP SWORDS. (By W. Q. Orchardson, B.A.) AFTER THE DANCE. (By L. Alma-Tadema, A.R.A.) the paintings of Millais, we find two walls almost entirely devoted to Frith and the late Sir Edwin Landseer, both of whom were prominent contributors in previous Paris Ex- hibitions. Mr. Frith sends five pictures, the first four being well kno\vn, "Charles II.'s last Sunday at Whitehall," "The Salon d'Or, Hombourg," "The Derby Day" (a replica of the picture in the National Gallery), "The Railway Sta- tion," and a later work exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1876, "Under the Doge's Palace, Venice," a fair girl appealing through prison bars to a priest holding a crucifix. Of the examples of the late Sir Edwin Landseer, the most esteemed is " The Sick Monkey ; " great interest is also taken in the 128 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. THE APOTHECARY. (By n. S. Marlzs, A.M.A artist's own portrait with his two dogs, called "The Connoisseurs." The other paintings, by Sir Edwin Landseer, are "The Indian Tent/' lent by the Prince o£ Wales, "Man proposes and God disposes " (Polar bears) ; " The Ptarmi- gan Hill " and the " Swannery Invaded by Eagles.'' Three brilliant and elaborate Eastern scenes, by the late J. F. Lewis, and fom" Spanish subjects, by the late John Phillip, fairly exhibit the opposite styles of these painters. Sir John Gilbert is represented by " Richard II. Resigning his Crown to Bo- lingbroke," " The Arrest of Hastings," "Doge and Sena- tors of Venice in Council," and " Cardinal Wolsey at Leicester Abbey J " and H. S. Marks, by " St. Francis and the Birds," "What is it?" and " The Apothecary " (see thumb-nail sketch above), all of which may be remembered in late exhibitions of the Royal Academy. On the opposite side of the adjoining gallery are crowded together the works of painters of a different school, of whom Messrs. Watts and Burne-Jones may be said to be the head. , Here are " Israel in Egypt," and " The Cata- pult," by E. J. Poynter; "Medea," by F. Sandys ; " The Renaissance of Venus," by Walter Crane ; " Love and Death," by G. F. Watts, and "The Beguiling of Merlin," by E. Burne-Jones; the two last of which will be well remembered as being very con- spicuous features of the Grosvenor Gallery Exhibition, in 1877. In the same company are two very small works, delicate harmonies in blue and gold, by Albert Moore ; also seven pictures by the late G. H. Mason, and one example only of the late Frederick Walker. The strength and originality of our younger school of painters is further asserted by R. W. JNIacbeth's " Potato Harvest in the Fens," and by a power- fully passionate picture of the "Wreck," by W. Small, a painting (exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1876) which, by some strange mis- chance, has always been hung aloft and out of sight, both in England and France. JNIr. Armitage's " Serf Emancipation," a large his- torical painting, showing an Anglo-Saxon noble on his death-bed, surrounded by his family and friends, perform- ing his last act, that of giving freedom to his slaves, is much admired. This picture was in the place of honour in the large room of the Royal Academy, in 1877. In the same gallery are two important battle-pieces, by Miss Thompson (Mrs. Butler), and Ernest Crofts, the new Associate of the Academy. Mrs. Butler sends "The Return from Inkerman," which was lately exhibited by the Fine Art Society in London, and Mr. Crofts, "The Morning of the Battle of Water- loo." In the latter the day is break- ing on a weary, wounded, mud- stained company ; some lying on the bare ground with knapsacks for pillows, some up and preparing to march. The artillery are on the move, and the note of preparation is sounding. The tone and treatment of this picture are in the manner of the French school; some of the individual THE MOWERS. (By P. B. Morris, A.R.A.) ERITISH PICTURES AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION. SNOW IN SPRING. {By G. JS. Boughton.) Studies of the men of the Old Guard are excellent. _ We must not fail to mention a portrait- picture, which attracts attention from all classes of visitors, " Selecting- Pictures for the Royal Academy,- by C. W. Cope, R.A. Here also are the works of Calderon and Leslie, the former represented best by his picture of a great lady On her way to the Throne," receiving the last touches to her powdered curls and silken train; a work full of humour and vivacity, exhibitino^ qualities in this painter^s work, which it i^^s pleasant to be reminded of after a lapse of years. Mr. G. D. Leslie sends four of his best paintings, including "School Revisited," a London belle (say a century ago) sitting by a sunny wall, talking over old times with her former playmates. Mr. John Pettie occupies an im- portant place with seven pictures; in the centre, his "Terms to the Be- sieged," a small work of extraordinary power and emphasis, which may be said to have made a mark in Paris. The faces of the five besieged seated m conclave, and the grim figure in armour raising his defiant hand, form a group of dramatic interest, which will sur- prise those who only know this artist by his later works. Mr. Pettie^s portraits, as' well 19 129 as those of Millais, G. F. Watts, W. W. Ouless, and E. J. Gregory, are the strongest in the English section. Mr. Hodgson sends three Oriental scenes, "A Modern Actjeon," "The Armourer^s Shop," and "The Needy Knife- Grinder," the two latter especially noticeable. Amongst the English painters who are prominent, but whose works we have not space to refer to in detail, are Sir Francis Grant P.R.A., E. M. Ward, R.A., T. S. Cooper, R.A.,' Alfred Elmore, R.A., F. Goodall, R.A., J Sant, R.A., H. W. B. Davis, R.A., W. F Yeames, R.A., Marcus Stone, A.R.A., G. A Storey, A.R.A., Briton Riviere, A.R.A. (of whose artistic " Daniel in the Den of Lions," we are enabled, by the courtesy of Messrs. Agnew and Sons, the owners of the picture, to give a thumb-nail sketch), P. R. Morris' A.R.A., Vicat Cole, A.R.A., Eyre Crowe,' A.R.A., F. Holl, A.R.A., F. Morgan, G. H Boughton (we give here an illustration of a characteristic work of this artist, " Snow in Spring"), Heywood Hardy, J. MaeWhirter, John Brett, E. H. Fahey, Colin Hunter, C. N. Hemy, Val Prinsep, C. E. Perugini, &,.. We should not omit to notice some works scattered through the galleries, which have been singled out for notice by our French neighbours, such as F. Sandys^ "Medea" Morrises "Mowers" (see page 128), HolFs "Leaving Home," Albert Moore^s "Beads," DANIEL IN THE DEN OP LIONS. [By Briton Riviere, A.R.A.) F. Walker's "Old Gate," and Mrs. Louise Joplmg's "Modern Cinderella;" also the paintings of Luke Fildes, C. Calthrop, W. B. 130 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. Richmond, C. Green, Mark Fisher, Henry Moore, Joseph Knight, C. E. Hollo way, and A. W. Hunt. No part o£ the British Fine Art section is more interesting than a small side room con- taining the Water-Coloue Drawings. This very complete collection, representing the peculiarly Eng- lish art o£ water- colour painting, will assuredly not be quickly passed over by visitors, who have a rare opportunity (as in 1855 and in 1867) of seeing examples o£ the of the staff of PuncJi ; also W. Small, H. Herkomer, E. J. Gregory, R. Caldecott, and others, whose works are exhibited by the pro- prietors of the Graphic newspaper. In sculpture, J. H. Foley, R.A., W. Calder Marshall, R.A., E. B. Stephens, A.R.A., J. E. Boehm, A.R.A., F. Leighton, R.A., G. F. Watts, R.A., George Simonds, A. Bruce Joy, and Lord Ronald Gower are amongst the contribu- tors, the last sending his striking figure in bronze, " La Garde meurt et ne se rend pas.^^ Altogetber it may be said of TOILERS OF THE FIELD. (By 3. Aiimoniei-.) best English painters in water-colours, side by side— a list which includes not only the veterans of the art, such as Sir John Gilbert, Duncan, Dobson, S. Evans, Carl Haag, Birket Foster, &c., but the best of our younger men, including the beautiful drawings of J. F. Lewis, G. F. Pinwell, and F. Walker, lately deceased. The many American readers of the Magazi?^ or Art may be glad to be reminded of this unique collection. In black and white, the prominent ex- hibitors are John Tenniel, G. Du Maurier, Charles Keene, and Linley Samboui-ne, members the British Fine Art section of the Paris Exhibition of 1878, that, notwithstanding the regretted absence of many well-known names, English art is better represented and better appreciated on the Continent than in any previous international exhibition. In spite of considerable difficulties in regard to space and arrangement, the pictures are, for the most part, well hung and well seen; the Fates pursuing a few young artists here, as in the Royal Academy in London, bearing their works aloft, out of sight and out of mind. Henry Blackburn. -AT THE MASQUERADE." BY W. C. T. DOBSON, R.A. MR. DOBSON has always dehghted in the softest, gentlest, and most innocent types of feminine beauty in childhood; he has made a specialite of those rounded forms which demand the greatest power as well as delicacy of drawing. Impartially an oil and a water- colour painter, he was represented by both branches of his art in this year's Royal Academy. The original of our illustration is an oil painting of a little girl whose type is more English than her dress, though the large eyes, set far apart, might suggest some affinity with the charming Eastern costume, which is becoming in form, rich in colour, and un- equalled, among Western fabrics, in texture. Peacocks' feathers, whether on the bird or on a fan, have, from time immemorial, been a sort of godsend to the painter, and Mr. Dobson presses them into service very happily m the work which we have engraved for our frontispiece. The Librwy of the (iRfveraity of Illinois AT THE MASQUERADE. (From the Picture in the Royal Acaiemy, hy W. C. T. Bolson, 131 OUR LIVING ARTISTS. SIR JOHN GILBEET, E.A. THERE is not a single frequenter o£ picture- happily exempt from that decrepitude which has galleries who is unfamiliar with that of fallen on several exhibiting associations of a the old Water-Colour Society, in Pall Mall. Its similar kind. It need not refer to the past to exhibitions do for lovers of the aquarellist's art prove its right to exist, nor go back to its early (From a PJioiograp?i by Done and Co., Balcer Street.) what the Academy's do more especially for the admirers of paintings in oil — they bring together the very best collection of the year. A long- established institution — as the " old," which common consent prefixes to the original title, denotes — the Water-Colour Society is, however. archives in search of names eminent in art; in claiming our highest consideration, it has nothing to do but point to the works whicli every season brings together on its walls, or to the list of those whom it now claims as its members and associates. First of all, in THE MAGAZINE OF ART. THE FIKST PKINCE OF WALES. By Sir John Gilbert, R.A.) honorary membership, is John Raskin, the less learned, than his oils ; William Dobson, the greatest living artist in words ; then, among Academician ; Birket Foster, with a reputation those regularly of the craft, are Alma-Tadema, difficult, from its very greatness, to sustain; whose water-colours are often more charming, if Carl Haag, Alfred and Holman Hunt, Frederick OUR LIVING ARTISTS— SIR JOHN GILBERT, R.A. 133 Tayler, Arthur Hopkins, R. W. Macbeth, and Stacy Marks. Nor is there here in Pall Mall, as at Burling- ton House, a sort of mas- culine mono- poly, for the Water - Colour Society has Clara Mont- a 1 b a and Helen Alling- ham, among other ladies, on its list. And over all this brilliant company Sir J ohn Gilbert most fittingly and most wor- thily presides. Born at Blaekheath, in 1817, he was destined for a mercantile career. But he found no resting - place nor scope for his healthy ambition in a city counting- house, where he was con- stantly caught sketching on the "business- paper," just as Giotto long before him had neglected his sheep to draw on the ground. 134 THE MAGAZINE OF ART. and Wilkie his lessons to decorate his slate. Forsaking, therefore, the pursuits for which no amount of training could give the qualifications which nature had denied, he began a sedulous study of art. Failing to obtain admission into the Academy schools, he became his own tescher ; and, with the exception of a few lessons from George Lance — famous in his day as a fruit painter- he may be said to have learned his art by quite unaided labour. Book and newspaper illustra- tion opened in those days a splendid field for the exercise of talent and industry such as Gilbert possessed. He soon obtained so much facility in that branch of his art, that he was able to draw direct on the wood, without any previous study. Besides being a regular contributor to the Illustrated London News, he drew for another pictorial paper, and illustrated, as all the world knows, hundreds of our English classics, from " Pickwick " up to " Hamlet " and " King Lear." He has told, pictorially, a large proportion of the stories that our greatest bards have made familiar by their song ; and, as if inspired by his text, he has, with happy fittingness, put his very best work between those pages that, of secular writings, are perhaps the most immortal of all. We doubt whether even the artist himself could tell the number of the illustrations to which, all the world over, his initials are attached. Of oil paintings, he has not been nearly so prolific in proportion. In 1836 he had his first canvas in the Academy — then quartered at Somerset House; and he began to exhibit regularly at the British Institution, to which he continued to contribute until its close. But, altogether, his oil-paintings, both at the British Institution and at the Academy, where they still make yearly appearance, must, in number, fall short of a hundred. Those among them which have either deserved or attracted most attention are a " Convocation of the Clergy,'' a group of mitred and coped prelates, very rich and deep in colour — exhibited in 1871, and now the artist's representative work in the Diploma Gallery of the Royal Academy; "The First Prince of Wales," which shows the king presenting his child to the Welsh princes — exhibited in 1873, and reproduced in one of our engravings (page 132) ; " The Field of the Cloth of Gold," a gorgeous historical piece, exhibited in 1874; and " Wolsey at Leicester Abbey," a large and crowded composition, where, amid con- tending moonlight and torchlight, the life- weary cardinal says, " Father Abbot, I have come to lay my bones among ye" — exhibited in 1877. Sir John Gilbert was elected an Associate of the Academy in 1872, and a Member in 1876. We are happy to be able to engrave, on page 133, that fine painting, in water-colour, " The Return of the Victors." Sir John had abandoned wood-drawing for painting in oil, because he found the former a profession altogether too exacting ; and now, at what may be called the third stage of his artistic life, whether with any special motive we do not know, he turned his attention very particularly to water-colour drawing. In 1852 he was elected an Associate, and in the following year a Member, of the Water-Colour Society, to whose exhibitions he has ever since annually contributed. A mere perusal of the titles of Sir John's works, whether in oil or in water- colour, gives a clue to the artist's characteristics and manner. His fancifulness, his festive imagi- nation, his fertile grace, free handling, and charm of colour, are too familiar to be dwelt on here. " John Gilbert," wrote an eminent art critic, some years ago, " is not an imitator — scarcely a revivalist; and yet there can be little doubt whence he borrowed many of his ideas ; some- times he is indebted to Rubens, often to Rembrandt, occasionally to Velasquez. In some sense his method is eclectic; and he is identified with styles the most diverse, mainly because he understands the principles that underlie all styles." Sir John Gilbert is represented at the Paris International Exhibition by an oil-painting of " A Doge and Senators of Venice in Council," and by a water-colour drawing of " Othello and Desdemona before the Doge;" nor wiU the medal there awarded to his work be deemed an insignificant recognition, even by one whose art has already made him a Royal Academician, the head of the old Water-Colour Society, and a knight. No man ever worked harder for his honours, and few men have so many qualifica- tions to enjoy them. John Oldcastle. The Ubtnrj of the ««<«r»