1827.] The Carlton- House Pictures. 45 



The other original piece of the historical class, by Sir Joshua, is greatly 

 inferior to the above. The subject is the Death of Dido ; but all is forced, 

 exaggerated, and theatrical, when compared with the unaffected repose and 

 simplicity of the one just described. The third historical work is a fine and 

 vigorous copy from Guido's Saint Michael. 



The portrait* by Reynolds are the well-known ones of Count La Lippe, 

 the Marquis of Gran by, the Marquis of Rockingham, and the Duke of 

 York. They are all admirable productions, full of life, spirit, and indivi- 

 duality ; and, like all this artist's portraits, and w^-like nearly all his other 

 works, totally free from any thing extravagant, affected, or theatrical. 



This collection includes four exceedingly curious, amusing, and, in. 

 many respects, valuable works, by Zoffarri. Those two of them which are, 

 no doubt, most interesting and valuable in the eyes of their royal possessor 

 and his family, are, one, representing the Interior of a Room at Kew. 

 Palace, with portraits of the late Queen Charlotte, and his present 

 Majesty and the Duke of York painted about 1768 ; and another, repre- 

 senting a room in Buckingham House, with portraits of the Duke of 

 Clarence and the Queen of Wirtemberg, painted shortly after. But the 

 tw T o which are most intrinsically valuable and interesting are pieces of a 

 very elaborate and singular kind, the style of which has been successfully 

 adopted in several instances since, representing the Interiors of the Florence 

 Gallery and the Royal Academy, with a multiplicity of portraits intro- 

 duced into each, depicting all the most conspicuous artists and patrons of 

 art who lived at the time the pictures wore painted. In the Royal Aca- 

 demy picture, the time chosen is during the delivery of an anatomical 

 lecture ; so that a sort of dramatic interest and expression are given to al 

 the characters introduced. The Florence Gallery is still more curiously 

 and elaborately enriched by imitative miniatures of many of the well- 

 known chef-d'azuvres of the old masters, the peculiar style of each being 

 very cleverly preserved. Zoffani cannot properly be looked upon as an 

 artist, in the highest and best sense of that term ; since he was entirely 

 without the faculty of invention or original conception, of any kind what^ 

 ever. He was, in fact, not capable of imitating the productions either of 

 nature or of high art ; but these two amusing works prove that he could 

 copy them with great cleverness and effect. He was, to a real artist, what 

 a clever mimic is to a fine original actor. 



It only remains for us to notice the two works in this collection, which, 

 meeting with them in the company we do, come upon us a species of grand 

 and beautiful anomaly. We allude to a landscape by Titian, and a 

 pretty little gem, on the subject of the Taking down from the Cross, 

 said to be painted by M. Angelo and Venusti. The last-named of these, 

 though very beautiful, is so small as to prevent it from including anything 

 characteristic, even if ar.y portion of it be from the hand of Michael Angelo. 

 But the Titian landscape is a fine production full of force, grandeur, and, 

 truth. It is a dark, sombre scene seeming to depict the shades of even- 

 ing, closing over an irregular landscape, through which, towards the front, 

 a shepherd-boy is driving his flock home to fold. Finding this work in 

 the company we do admitting, at the same time, that company to be the 

 very best of its class we must not trust ourselves to dwell upon it further, 

 lest we should be tempted into observations w 7 hich might be neither pro- 

 fitable nor in place, as to the judiciousness (or otherwise) of admitting any 

 work by Titian into a collection, the characteristic merit of which may be 

 almost said to be opposed to every thing Titian ever did, and even to the 

 very principle on which he worked. 



