beyond the affectation of despising every production of the British school; the funds, therefore, which should have fostered the rising talents of our own country, were expended, too often, upon trash old or new imported from Italy or Holland.

That certain great artists of rare endowments, and, perhaps, in more favorable circumstances, did excite a large measure of public attention, cannot be denied; but the patronage they received was much below their merits, and the estimation in which their works were held by their contemporaries was nothing compared with their present fame.

But a good era for the arts commenced with sir Joshua Reynolds and Hogarth. The discovery was quickly made, that all that was old was not good, but that in the paintings of these great men, with those of Gainsborough and Wilson, both grace and character, with fine coloring and beautiful chiaro-sairo were to be found. Yet, the admirers of even these men were few in number, and many able artists of the same day, who, with more enlightened patronage, would have distinguished themselves, sunk to the grave unregarded. If our living painters have still to lament that there are comparatively few purchasers of their pictures, they have now little cause for complaint, that they have no means of studying the fine works of the Italian and Flemish schools; and they will study them, we hope, to good purpose. But the advancement of a school of art will, necessarily, be slow. We have found ourselves each year anticipating the rapid improvement of our younger artists, but the first

view of the exhibitions has generally dissipated the delusion.

The splendid annual collection of the works of old masters at the British gallery, and the ready access which the liberality of lord Grosvenor, the marquis of Stafford and other enlightened noblemen and gentlemen now grant to the view of finest ancient pictures in the kingdom, must, ere long, produce a good effect upon our young artists, and it will produce also an effect upon the taste of their patrons. To the very limited knowledge of the principles of the art which, even at the present day, the majority of our nobility and gentry possess, may, in a great measure, be referred to the rare instance of an artist of the British school devoting himself wholly to the highest style of painting. A glance at the catalogue of the modern pictures of the British institution, or of the exhibition at Somerset House, will shew the paucity of historical or poetical subjects. Even if such subjects are painted, too much favour is generally shewn to public opinion, to the popular idea of the term, nature.

The uninstructed eye, therefore, is solely addressed; gaudy coloring and coarse sentiment are too common; our artists seldom succeed, and, perhaps, do not always attempt, to carry the mind back to the age of the story of their picture; or, when their subject is poetical, to the fabulous periods in the history of Greece or Egypt. They appear, also, to be less fertile in invention than our modern bards.

But, though we say this, we believe that there is no school of painting in Europe, equal to the English, and we have neither seen not heard of a collection of modern

pictures,

pictures on the continent equal to that of sir John Leicester..

The

In the exhibition at the British gallery we found much to admire, notwithstanding the foregoing prefatory remarks: Mr. Wilkie's pictures are always attractive, his "Finished Study of the Reading of a Will," we prefer to his large picture of the same subject. Mr. Newton's " Importunate Author," and Mr. Collins's "Bird Trap" is a clever picture. The artists of the Norwich school are improving; the late Mr. Crome, the founder, had a dark but well coloured picture, which reminded us of Gains borough's early manner. "Dutch Fair," by G. Vincent, and the "Grove Scene," and "Landscape," by Starke, bear the marks of a careful study of nature.— J. B. Crome, too, is rapidly advancing. The animal paintings of E. Landseer, are very fine, especially his "Rival Candidates;" indeed, this young artist gives promise of great excellence in the style of art he has chosen. He may gain in time the spirited execution of Sugden or Rubens; he has already more sentiment in his pictures of this class.

We shall, probably, differ from the public in our opinion of Mr. Martin's "Belshazzar's Feast." No one can deny to him the rare praise of genius; but, while we admit that his picture is forcible and splendid, we do not hesitate to say, that, in many respects, and those too very important, we consider it defective. The story is badly told: Belshazzar is not readily discovered, and when found he is not in the attitude of terror listening to the awful denunciation of Divine wrath from the mouth of the prophet but has apparently just seen "the

finger of a man's hand writing upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace." We do not know why he illuminated the unmeaning forms which we are to take for "mene, mene, &c." But setting aside the departure from historical truth, for which, indeed, he has great authorities on his side, he should have made it obvious that this deviation was necessary to the picturesque effect, and nothing short of this necessity would justify his choice. of an attitude so undignified. The sacred historian has described a man whose conscience was smitten, for though, at the first sight of the miraculous handwriting, he might have let fall his cup, that expression of womanish fear, which the painter has given, ill accords with Belshazzar's awarding to Daniel the recompense he had promised. But the effect of the picture is not true to nature-it is too red, and the aerial prospective is bad. If it were night when the circumstances happened, and this the painter has clearly intended by the effect he has given to that part of his picture where the temple of Belus is seen above the palace, (which by the bye is very beautiful, though not at all in harmony with the rest) so much of the color of the various objects could not have been seen. Such liberties may justly be taken by painters in the highest style of art, when the subject has been treated poetically, but it is not treated poetically by Mr. Martin. Annibale Corracci's remarks respecting the number of figures allowable in an historical picture, would fetter the arts too much.

Processions and feasts were not suited to the quiet dignity of the Bolognese school; but who, that has seen the splendid marriage

marriage of Cana of Paul Veronese, would have controlled that artist by such a rule!

Coronations and Lord Mayor's shews, where splendid finery are required, would suit Mr. Martin's talents, and would equal the reality at least; but, we hope, that he will in future attend less to the plaudits of the "great, vulgar, and small," and be influenced rather by that same good taste which produced the less seducing picture of "Joshua commanding the Sun and Moon to stand still;" and "The taking of Babylon by Cyrus." We are happy by referring to these two fine pictures, to prove that we greatly admire Mr. Martin's talents, and we think that they, but especially the former, received much less attention than they deserved. If Mr. M. must make architecture his subjects, and give historical titles to his pictures, let him avoid all those in which the passions are required to be depicted, and, we believe, that he can produce more splendour than any of his contemporaries.

We observed several good pictures by Mr. G. Jones, particularly his Notre Dame, Poictiers.

Cupid and Psyche, by Mr. Etty, is a picture of great merit; the improvement of this artist is very apparent.

The Society of Painters in water colors having removed to a smaller room reverted this year to their original plan, and confined their exhibition to works executed in water colors only.

This arrangement is, we think, likely to promote the advantage of its members, as drawings lose somewhat of their effect in the same room with oil paintings.

We found, as usual, many beau

tiful cuts of Christall, Barrett, Varley, Fielding, Robson, and others, who, though deserted by Mr. Glover (he having a gallery of his own) will, we do not doubt, make their annual exhibitions worthy of the public attention.

Our panoramas have become of late too good to be passed over without remark: we can speak confidently of the correctness of outline and effect of those of Berne and Lausanne; the latter is particularly beautiful, and both exhibit very much of the character of the country and the costume of its inhabitants. We can almost fancy ourselves again in scenes, which no one, with a spark of feeling for, and beauty of nature, can forget, who has ever had the privilege of seeing. The distant glaciers in the panorama of Berne are, indeed, much less brilliant than in nature; but who can paint such effects? The dissolving ice reflecting the sun's rays!

The view of the bay of Naples is said, by those who know the scene, to be as accurate as it is beautiful, and we cannot but admire the art which, in the centre of a great city, can place before us a representation so true, that one is tempted to fancy ourselves transported in an instant to a spot we have seen in a distant country.

In the exhibition at Somerset House the public taste is always more regarded than in the comparatively select assemblage at the British Gallery. Portraits occupy, as usual, a large proportion of the few good places in which pictures can be seen to advantage; but we think rather more of this space than usual has been allotted to fancy or historical subjects.

Instead of comparing the exhi

bition in the mass with those of former years, we prefer the comparison of the productions of each artist (where they have given us an opportunity of making it) with their former works, and we must begin with regretting that Mr. Turner has not given us this opportunity. Sir Thomas Lawrence, as usual, takes the lead in that department, in which England is decidedly superior to the rest of Europe.His portraits of Mrs. Henry Baring and family, of Lady Louisa Lambton, and of Lady Pollington, are beautiful specimens of his tasteful pencil. We think Mr. Wests his best male portrait; but even that does not surpass Mr. D. Ricardo's, by Phillips; Rackburn, Owen, and Jackson, have several very fine.

Mr. Stothard never fails to charm in spite of some inaccuracy of drawing. His "Vintage" has the glow of autumn, and his "Characters from Shakspeare" is a beautiful picture. We are pleased to discover that Mr. Stothard is rising in public estimation; we are persuaded that his taste would have been appreciated had he lived in the best days of the arts.

We are not amongst the admirers of Mr. Mulready's "Careless Messenger Detected;" neither the tone of color, nor the execution pleases us. When a subject is vulgar, we expect at least clear and spirited pencilling, and harmony of color; yet Mr. Mulready is an artist of good abilities, and we regret that to please the corrupt taste of the public he is content to waste his months and years on subjects, to which, unless we are greatly mistaken, his own inclination would not lead him.

Mr. Howard has not, we think, in this year's exhibition equalled

such of his former pictures with which his "Sabrina,” and “ House of Morpheus," may be compared. His Pleiades in sir John Leicester's gallery, is more ideal both in form and color. The common place landscape, in which Sabrina is seated, upon a formal bank, ill accords with the females floating in the air, and they are, indeed, of too earthly a form to "dance nightly upon the stream," as described by Milton. All his other pictures are subject to the same censure, and we are surprised at it, because we have seen, and we refer particularly to his Pleiades, pictures of this artist, which are every thing that can be desired.

When on the subject of poetical landscapes, to make our meaning more intelligible, it may be well to direct our readers to the exquisite taste of Nicolo Poussin, and for their convenience we beg them to recollect those beautiful pictures sold this season at Mr. Knight's sale, of the Education of Bacchus, and Cephalus, and Aurora, now in the possession of MrCholmondeley.

Mr. Chalon, we are persuaded, must have been vexed that his picture of "Le Billet," was in a situation where its defects could so readily be seen.

"Dartmouth," by Mr. Collins, is, we think, too crowded with objects, and no inhabitant of that town will, we are persuaded, accept it as a favorable representation of its beautiful and highly picturesque environs. His "Morning on the coast of Kent," is a very charming repetition of an effect of light, which no one has given so well nor so often as himself.

Mr. Calcott's "Dover from the Sea," is, perhaps, as fine a sea piece as we have ever seen by any

British

British artist, and will not suffer much by comparison with Vandervelde or Buckheysem. The distant land and sea are beautifully represented, and the shipping is painted with great force and spirit; but the near vessels are too distinctly reflected in the water; and though, at a proper distance, the effect of the whole is good, the artist has, we think, rather exceeded nature in the minute breaking of the waves, to the injury, in some degree of the breadth of his

masses.

If Mr. Wilkie had never done better than in the present exhibition, he would not have deserved the great fame he has gained. In his "Village Politicians," the girl sitting upon a style is a very clever figure, and the meat upon the tray of the listening baker smokes to admiration. The sunny effect of the picture, also, is skilfully managed. In "Guess my Name," the tottering gait of the old man entering the room, is well represented, and the general effect is very good; but we do not think that the story of either picture is told with Mr. Wilkie's usual felicity. Briggs is a very ingenious artist, his pictures from the Merry Wives of Windsor, and from Romeo and Juliet, are truly comic.

Mr. Leslie's" May Day" is a very clever picture and very amusing.

Etty's "Cleopatra on her voyage to Cilicia," is very creditable to this rising artist. These three artists are young and promise well, and we like the line of art they have chosen, though very dissimilar to each other.

Mr. Martin's picture of "Revenge" has been much admired; but to us it appears that the enlargement of his figures is but the

This

magnifying of his faults. picture also, like his Belshazzar's feast, is too red and gay.

Mr. Hilton is a very able artist, "Nature Blowing Bubbles," is a very clever picture; but we have not seen any thing of the artist that we like so well as his splendid sketch of the entry of the Duke of Wellington into Madrid, an allegorical picture, combining many of the excellencies of Rubens and Paul Veronese.

There were several busts by Mr. Chantry in his best style.

We had written thus far, when we recollected that we had not remarked upon any landscapes in this exhibition, and very little upon any in the British gallery of English artists. It is not a little extraordinary that so few landscapes have been exhibited at the Royal Academy for several years past. It may be that the landscape painters have not been well treated, they cannot be well pleased to see their pictures in bad situations, and the best places, we have observed, are rarely given to them. This is unlucky, because they suffer more (those, at least, that are tenderly colored and highly finished) than either portraits or historical pictures. They suffer, also, from their proximity to scarlet and yellow drapery. It is unfortunate too, because England is the country where a taste for scenery is more cultivated than in any other in Europe, and where numerous descriptive poets, even down to our own days, have flourished; it is a country, too, that possesses the first landscape pain. ters in the world.

Pictures of the Italian, Spanish, Flemish, and Dutch schools, at the gallery of the British Institution.