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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Tiorcelain works of Sevre . This gentleman , proceeds thither to " study the ceramic arts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica I" ^ ut'more particularly ^ supennttod the manufacture of bricks . ¦/¦ Whether . , the gentleman hopes to promote the manufacture of hard or soft wares in those countries is not . stated . The first bricks he makes are to build the new town nf -Felicia to be so christened after the Christian name of M . Felix Belly . What portion of the enterwise is to bear the gentleman ' s surname is afc present undecided ; but there is stated to haye ^ been creat hesitation before the name of Bellyyille or finall ed in favour bt the more
Belly town was y reject elegant Felicia . But the drollest part of the whole tiling is that an Englishman aiid an Irishman have been enlisted into the concern , and are shortly to leave for N icaragua , if they have not done so already . The first is Colonel Morse Cooper , a retired heut .-colonel of the Indian Army ; and the other is that famous Milesian legislator , the O'Gorman Mahon . These gentlemen , are to present themselves to the JNicaraguans and Costa llicans as the representatives of the military power and parliamentary government of Great Britain . As the innocent natives of Central America have great confidence in the
British uniform , the lieutenant-colonel is to go out in fnll regimentals . I am not sure that it is not iriade an express condition with him to sleep in them , spurs' ; epaulettes , cocked hat , feathers , and all . Great disappointment is felt that members of Parliament wear no uniform , and how that difficulty is to be got over —? unless the second gentleman should happen to be a deputy lieutenant or a captain of Ballyraggari Dragoons—I don ' t know . Meanwhile , youmust expect a new edition of " British outrages , " in consequence of the landing of two English generals in central America . ,
JPostscr /' ptttm . —l open my letter to say that I have just received information , from what I conceive to be indisputable authority , that M . Emile de Girardin has resigned hrs . seat at . " the Commission of . Algiers . The retirement of this gentltmen ^ -who has for many j-ears advocated a Eraneq-Ivussian alliance as a means of diminishing the prestige an d political standing of England , and who on a more recent occasion preached the necessity of avenging the defeat of Waterloo—cannot fail to be regarded as further evidence of the sincere desire , oh the part of
the French Government , to recede ; , from its late aggressive attitude , and to maintain intact the alliance with England— -its strongest defence and surest foundation . As a sign—more promising than any that have yet transpired—that the peace of Europe will not be disturbed , I may mention that a company—headed by M . I ' aulin Talabot , Mires , and including . Baron Gustave de Rothschild and the leading financiers of France—has just made its appearance for constructing docks at Marseilles , with a capital of 800 , 000 / . to be subsequently increased to a million sterling . It is not probable that , were there the . ' slightest chance of war , capitalists so cautious as the lfcothschilds would sink their inonoy iia an undertaking which must for years make no return .
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On Friday * the 4 th instant , the old renowned and artist-born Lord kyndhurst revived , not pacified , fromliis place in Parliament , tlxe public indignation against the continued monopoly of State protection enjoyed by the Acadenvy . That body , in virtue of their long and beneficial tenancy of one-half the National Gallery , now claim , we understand , a space just five times as large' —to wit , one-half the superficial area of Burlington House . Her Majesty ' s present advisorfl pi'ofbs 3 to consider this demand unreasonable and excessive , and the rest of l , ier . Majesty ' s lieges will be apt to coincide with thein ; but our old friend , asking , with innocent pertinacity , for more and yet more , seem hardly conscious that they do not compose or compri se the National School of Art ; that the public is well nigh sick , of them niul their misdoings ; and that there are other worthy candidates for the honour of boing public instructors and the pleasure of being public pensioners .
The memorial of one - competing body—the Society of Painters in Water Colours—to tlio Lordti of tho Treasury , is now before us . ltd prayer is , that the vuluo nnd usefulness of the nrt of painting in water colours may bo nationally recognised by the assignment to tho society , either gratuitously or on lease , of a limited spneo on the Burlington House estate 1 , whereon they may build m \ exhibition room at their own eowt . Now , i \ request so humbly convoyed , must surely dumnml consideration , bolbro the allotment of space to prior applicants , nnd especially of tho enormous nor ?
tion demanded by the Academy obstructives as the price of' moving on . ' The popularity of water colour has a deeper foundation than the beauty of its hues or the skill of the limner . Our first , and often our . only ,, instructors in . art , are drawn , Avith few exceptions , from its ranks . With specimens of our own and our friends' performances , we are wont to decorate our rooms before we aspire to understand , or to pretend to be purchasers of oil paintings . With water colors the child begins to educate his hand and eye , and to their worship the sated veteran returns at last . The particular society in ( juestion is one of many that have come to maturity and prosperity independently , and in spite of the Academy , its money , and its backstairs influences .
We would , had we our way , incorporate , fuse , and confound it with all its rivals and fellow competitors— -Academy , associates , andiill—into one national fine-art school or institution , in .. which petty differences ¦ should be smoothed or ground away , all unfair distinctions abolished , ; patient merit honoured , truth and sincerity prevail . That this should , to some , appear an ab surd crotchet we are not surprised .- That it may be a visionary hopewe are not ' prepared to deny . But it follows not tiiereii-Qin , ' that every ray of royal , parliamentary and national sunsliinc , fah-ly due . to otir proposed concretion , should be concentrated iippn .
only one of tlie uhamalgable atoms . Both the Premier andthe Chancellor of the Exchequer have , on several occasions , listened to reason on art matters during their present , tenrire of of lice , and we shall not , we believe , look in vain to them for justice iii this matter . The suggested misappropriation of the Burlington House estate to the purposes of a single corporation , should'be nipped 'ere it bud ; aiid , . whether , b y ' separate grants to the various ¦ artistic . ' bodies ' , ¦ or by the construction of one exhibition gallery for theeoinmonu . se of all , the very proper desire of the memorialists , and other societies of their order , to assert their
position abreast of tlie Academy , ought to be gratified , But however this be done , we hope the day of onesided reciprocities is over ; and that the distribu-r tors 6 f' iavours wi . 11 impose certain duties towards tlie public upon the recipient s , and Avill take proper security , before parting with the control of the national property , for the payment of-the implied as well as of the nominated consideration . The educational value , and so forth , of these institutions , are excellent war-cries to rally the assault upon the Academy and the desirable quarters of Burlington House ; but when the victory is won ,-we hope they will not be forgotten .
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At last week ' s meeting of tho Society of Arts an interesting' and learned lecture was delivered by Professor Westmacott , K . A .. F . U . S ., on " Polyc ] ironiy in Sculpture , or Colouring Statues . " It is needless to premise that a lively controversy has for some time been carried on as to whether statues should or should not be coloured . The Professorleaving it , of course , an open question-bet ween buyer and seller whetUor any particular work of nrt should combine sculpture and painting— -laid down for discussion the proposition whether " the practice was conformable with the principles upon which pure sculpture should' be exercised . " Ho himself hold that it was not so . The affirmative , he held , could
only bo maintained on the ground that painting could improve sculpture . His adversaries could not maintain-this position . The legitimate province of pure sculpturo was form ; and painted sculpture involved the adoption of another art * which touched upon tho domain of imitation or- illusion . This would be to degriide the sculptor ' s art to tho-level of the wuTx-workor ' s . l ' olyohromy might be admitted to have been practised by tho nnoionts . but might be traceable to tlio Greek application of barbaric practice , obsorved by the travelling artists of the time in Egypt and Assyriu . The Belvedere Apollo and . the Miicdiun Venus could not have been improved by colour , and showed no truce of it . To have coloured those works would have beon as false aa to have
carried imitation to tho length of giving , them eyes of paste or metal . . ' Examples of this latter vagary could bo cited j but , upon investigation , it appeared that , like l ' olychroiny , it was but exceptional , and characteristic of tho lower periods of the arts . The lecturer finally contended that tho ilocny of art was marked by tho vise of a passion (" or elaborate ornament ' , and ho ' urged that the objections already opposed , to tho representation of tho nude figure would bo mntoriully strengthened were it to bo shown with tintod flesh , and eyes , and hair . Ho was supported by Ni \ J . Well , who discredited tho pi ' tgn cited , customary ueo of colour by tho Greeks »
and by I ) ean Milman , who suggested that the fragments now discovered had generally formed portions of buildings , and that their colour might have been applied for decorative purposes . . The Romans had rifled Asia Minor . and Greece of their beautiful single figures , upon which no trace of paint was perceivable . Professor Donaldson , tt . A ., and Mr . Crace dissented from the lecturer ' s views , and considered that colouring was intended to intensify the expres-. sipn of sculpture , and to give it softness and flexibility . Alluding to the statues of British worthies in St . Stephen ' s Hall , the former characterised them as hard , ghostly , and inanimate , and would saner tion the application of even a little dust by way of softening them .
Messrs . Bradbury and Evans have published an excellent and very well-printed translation of M . Theophile Silvestre ' s paper on English Art , read in French before the Society of Arts , on the 19 th of January last , and noticed in our paper of the 22 nd of that month . * We were no strangers to the fact that the works of English artists were much admired at the French Universal Exhibition , but avo confess we were unprepared for the flood of eloquent eulogium passed upon our school by the chosen emissary of our neighbours . We have thought , more than once , of condensing the criticism on Hogarth , whom the author terms the constant and subtle observer of the least perceptible of our emotions-r-the terrible logician of hunian inisery-r-ia whose physiognomy he sees the " iron-nerved , surgeon , Whose heart never blenched , whose hand never trembled , before
tlie suffering of a patient . " But this masterly passage sliall escape mutilation at oiir hands , and we will content ourselves with recommen . ling it to those who have either regarded the father of English art as a mere caricaturist , or , if they admire him otherwise , may not always be * able to trace their admiration to its legitimate source . Hichard Wilson , again , —the English Uobbema . "• and Gainsborough- — " rich and gentle nature , soft and refined soiil- —choice spirit , born to enjoy ami to suffer everything with a profound and exquisite sensibility , " are fervidly handled by M . Silvestre . -Turner—? " proud and adventurous soul , wrapt dreamer "—he leaves to Mr . Ituskin . Constable—" the simple of heart , the reasonable man , the fanatical adherent to the natural "—he dares not n > ore than hint at , lest he should " be carried too far . lie winds up his remarks on the landscai : > e-painters . of England as follows- — ;
" Yes , English painters have drawn from nature all her forms , all her characters ,. and all her harmonies . By their endeavours to repx'oduce with strict fidelity the aspect of creation , they have made us fed , in a manner sometimes simple or pathetic , sometimes startling or sublime , the tie which links the thoughts of man , the instinct of the brute , the sensation of plants , and the life , of the elements , with the mysterious and solemn power of the Almighty . " : The sympathetic Frenchman has dealt another
shrewd blow to the Old Master mania , which was mightily shaken , among the masses at least , by the publication of " Modern Painters , " and the subservient sense that native art might be safely admired . It was a great day for English painters when the chosen expert of imaginative France rose to argue the beauty of 'English art in an English assembly . We shall joyfully-welcome M . Silvestre ' a coining work , " The History of English Artists , Living and Dead , " with a view to which he Is , he tells us , now pursuing his studios in England—lot us hope under loyal guidance .
In consequenceof an invitation sent to us , wq have inspected ( at 52 , Itegent-street ) a picture of "Christ at Golgotha , " considered to be an early work of Kaphaol d ' LJrbino , and valued at 1 , 5001 . It is a small panel painting , 'not more than fifteen inches high by eleven wide , with a single figure representing tlie Saviour seated , his head leaning on his right hand . The figure is nude except a white cloth , and is principally distinguished by softne&s and absence of muscular development ; there is no nimbus on the Ivoad , and tho expression is that of dejection j tho end
of a coil of rope falls over tho left khoe , tho cross lies beneath him . Behind , on cither side , arc uprights representing tho crosses of the two malefuctors , the transverse bars boing apparently pmitted for the sake of the composition ; a tree ana some bushes make up tho distance , with u dark blue sky ovorhotul . Tlio conventional skull ia , wanting , biit thero are some bones on tho ground , and fcliroo nails . The picture Is fairly attributable to tlio period when Kaplmol , after leaving his master Porugino , was assisting Pinturlcchlo in the lVcscoos of tho Cathedral at Siena ; but It has none of tho peculiar characteristics of Raphael ' s stylo . It
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? Ai't :. 'lrtMn , and fmliintru In linpluntl . A -ontiiro do , lhvi'ud lit thtJ Hui'li-ty oj' ArtH . lly TlHiuplUU ) HIJviiHtru i i » n « kiIi t « tl by hlrt Kinliiwiico tho Mlnlutur « i' Htuto , iiimI ol tftu TCoi Huliolfl of hlH' MiUwty tho Hunwrur of thu Vrunoh , t « liiH ] f "« Hw Fluv Arts 1 » jEuroiw , UrnUbury mul Mvuiw .
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nn ¦ ;*» M . ^ f ' .. t- a . 1 S 5 Q . 1 ¦ THE REAPER . 341
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Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1859, page 341, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2285/page/21/
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