On this page

• Text (1)

  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.

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • 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.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    se $ m _ a perverse prejudice that the Academy here should send ^ fti ^|» to study at Rome , when they have so glorious a collection ai « home ? Any one can go in with a ticket , which is easily obtained . There is also no difficulty in getting permission to copy , and artists or amateurs are treated with the greatest civility . If the woxk you wish to copy is in oil , you will observe the Emperor ' s seal is set upon it , which is done in order to distinguish

    it- This extraordinary , equivocal , and in general ridiculous compliment to the copyist , originated in the circumstance , that many ye&rs ago * , and some other English artist , contrived to substitute their copies for originals of immense value . This , however , does not prove their ability half so much as their shameful roguery , because , no suspicion being entertained , no comparison y \ ca& instituted , or the treacherous abuse of confidence as of

    genius would have been instantly apparent . There are many old pictures of great merit to be met with cheap in Russia . English picture-dealers frequently come over for the express purpose . Woodburn lias been here all the summer , and has just returned with , I believe , a tolerably large collection . Notwithstanding the magnificent gallery I have described- * - no . not described , but merely mentioned—the arts are not much

    beyond their infancy in Petersburg . There are a number of artists in the Russian Academy , but , generally speaking , they are below mediocrity ; nor does the patronage afforded foreigners appear sufficient to attract any one of eminence . It is doubtful if

    a fine painter would find it at all a profitable speculation to go to Russia , unless recommended by Royalty . The Academy is , however , much larger and more beautiful than Somerset House the models are very good , many of tliein from Italy ; there is also "The Life . " Heath has sent out Vickers , wlio has been

    making views , probably for the " Picturesque Annual . " He lias been to Moscow . ; , Xhe greater number of foreigners here , by far , are Germans : tl ^ re are few English , but plenty of Scotch , as usual . The Iinglifch are generally very popular , and many of our customs cj *) $ ely followed . The Emperor has English coachmen , grooms , lior ^ ep , &c . ; many of the maids of honour are English , and

    learning our language seems " quite the rage" among tlie upper dU $$ cs » It is excessively difficult to retain any English servant whom you may take out with you , as the nobility decoy them € Wfry from you . One of the first questions asked me , was WlietJjer " I had an English servant ? " I answered " Yes ; a ropr relation , much attached to us . " It is a fact that the veriest mip $ ue& who are brought out at the hasty selection of some xnerto

    < & 0 ft ^ attend upon his family , are presently " off , " a > nd re-€£ W $ 4 into noblemen ' s families as nursery in aids , at 4-Oi . per annum for which they have little else to do than ride about in

    Untitled Article

    604 Notes of a Trip to St Petersburg .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1836, page 504, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2660/page/44/