ON THE FINE ARTS. xlvii art, in portraying the common occurrences of vulgar life, made their essay in the historic walk, and, as might be expected, failed. Others, since them, have done the same, and like them have been disappointed. As well might a man, always accustomed to vulgar company, attempt to move in the highest sphere of life with the ease and grace which distinguish it. An epic painter, like an epic poet, will dignify the meanest subject; a painter of familiar life will degrade the highest. Raffaelle would make a beggar a king. Teniers, in his endeavour to produce a king, would not raise him above individuality. This is, perhaps, one of the greatest difficulties of the art, to stamp the character of superiority on the person represented; to have it in your power to say, the moment you cast your eye on a picture, "That is a lady, a nobleman, a king, a hero, or a god." Among the moderns, Reynolds evinced this power in his portraits: all his men and women have an air of superiority. If I were inclined to assimilate the English school to any other, it would be to that of Correggio. But the present French and Italian schools are unlike any that have preceded them, and, I hope, any that may follow. They can only be compared with themselves. They have xlviii PRELIMINARY REMARKS this merit, that their style and taste are completely their own, and as far removed from nature as it is possible to be. Instead of painting man in the abstract, their characters are of a particular kind, and what is commonly termed French; and their expression is usually exaggerated. With the good composition which some of their pictures possess, much might be allowed; but that their colouring is vile, and their execution in general miserable. When we look at their portraits, whether in the Salle des Marechals or at their own houses-either at Paris or at Rome, they remind one of the lines of Peter Pindar : Or, : In portrait they're as much alone As was in landscape the unrivall❜d Claude. Most vile, most execrable stuff! But none so bad as theirs, I vow to God. When it shall so please the Lord To make his people out of board, The best picture that has appeared in the modern French school, is the battle of Austerlitz, by Gerard. To be sure, in the hero of that event was a subject to inspire any one. It was finely composed, and had a proper atten ON THE FINE ARTS. xlix tion to character and detail; but its greatest fault was a want of the breadth of nature, which distinguishes the productions of the English school. This picture, that semi-barbarian Blucher wished to destroy. It is however, no longer seen, having been removed from the place which it occupied, in the room adjoining the chapel in the Thuilleries. I have before observed, that the improved state of the arts in England is owing to the exertions of the artists themselves; and when contrasted with their state in France and Italy, where immense sums have been expended to forward and support them, it only shows the futility of all particular patronage. It is out of the power of any individual, or set of individuals, to create genius, or to give full effect to its exertions when discovered. The public at large are the only real patrons. As it is the improved state of public feeling which will guide our politics into the right path, so we must look forward to the improvement of the public mind, to protect, encourage, advance, and support the Fine Arts. By depending on the public alone, every man will rise and fall according to his own merit, and at any rate will escape the degradation of having his more correct notions of things opposed, and his exertions almost paralysed, by d 1 PRELIMINARY REMARKS the opinions of the half informed*. How many of elevated genius have suffered this affliction ! The friendship of a distinguished individual to a young man may not only be necessary, but of infinite importance to his future exertions; but it is on the judgment of the public that he must build his hopes; and we may now congratulate ourselves, that England can no longer be reproached by foreigners for frigidity of temper, as far as regards the arts; for its school has become the first of the present day. To assist to give the Fine Arts that elevavation in Britain which they are destined to fill, and which they have occupied in the most refined ages of the world; to disseminate opinions arising from true feeling, thus engrafting on the public a knowledge of their importance, should be the aim, not only of the professors, but of every enlightened mind; and posterity will only regard us as so many degrees from barbarism, according to the rank the imitative arts take. The introduction of the Elgin marbles in England, has given new life to the admirers of * The difference between the judgment of an artist and an amateur, will be seen in the examination before the committee of the House of Commons. Vide report on the Elgin marbles. OF THE FINE ARTS. arts and lovers of excellence. li In them is seen the essence of a style, simple, natural, and grand. As revolution is the order of the day, they have already produced a revolution in art, and will produce another in the national taste. They are models for our imitation, superior to any that Italy or France possesses. Not only are they proper for the contemplation of the artist, but they cannot be too much visited by the public at large, as they are such examples as no one can look upon with attention, without retiring from the examination with improved ideas of what is truly beautiful. The British Museum, where they are deposited, should be the constant resort of the British fair. Although our countrywomen are superior to the women on the continent, and I may perhaps say, to any in the world, yet we should to the last moment of our lives keep up a settled intercourse with what is excellent. Let them therefore but regard, with an attentive eye, the Frieze which once adorned the temple of Minerva at Athens, and they will receive a better lesson in simplicity and elegance of demeanour, than they ever learned from those attitudinarians, the dancing masters. Let them there study grace in the disposition of their drapery, and reject the capricious freaks of their milliners. Fashion is the daughter of elegance and modesty, while caprice is the |