ROYAL ACADEMY. 687 



many gilt twopences ! " Every other Chapter may fall into oblivion, 

 but the Order of " The Sweet Blade-bone/' an order constituted 

 solely to distinguish those who are quickened with the high spirit of 

 him from whom it has emanated, must remain as long as earth has 

 any thing to brag of. 



_ 



ROYAL ACADEMY. 







AMIDST a crowd of insipid portraits and tasteless subjects of all kinds, 

 several sterling works are to be found in this year's collection at Somerset 

 House. WILKIE has two large whole-length portraits, viz. His Majesty, 

 and H.R.H. The Duke of Sussex. Notwithstanding that these are finely 

 painted pictures, of bold relief and mellow colouring, we regret that so great 

 a painter as WILKIE undoubtedly is, should not leave such unimaginative 

 subjects to those who can do nothing beyond them. But we will think of 

 these no more ; an extraordinary work by the same artist demands attention. 

 It is 134. Spanish Monks, a Scene witnessed in a Capuchin Convent at Toledo. 

 In a silent recess of the convent a young monk is confessing on his knees to 

 a venerable superior. The expression and character of his head are so 

 powerfully depicted, that no aid from language is required to excite the most 

 intense interest : a dreadful story is passing from his lips, which seem 

 quivering with emotion ; his remorse of conscience is unequivocal the re- 

 collection of past frailty suffuses his whole countenance he is a martyr to 

 a vow. All this perturbed expression is brought into close contrast with the 

 elder monk's placid and listening features. Independent of its strong appeal 

 to the imagination, this picture is calculated to astonish and delight the 

 most scrupulous taste, as an example of masterly execution, drawing, and 

 colour. 



We are glad to revive our recollection of CALLCOTT. His pictures this year, 

 of which there are six, are equally pure in atmospheric colour, and classic in 

 composition, with his best works. The Port of Savona, in the Gulf of 

 Genoa, and Entrance to Pisa from Leghorn, are of a most Claude-like sweet- 

 ness. The Harvest in the Highlands, wherein the figures are by LANDSEER, 

 and the landscape by CALLCOTT, is capital. The animated part of the subject 

 is so wedded to the scenery, that the whole seems the result of one mind a 

 total absence of all tricks of art, and the infusion of an elegant taste 

 throughout, render it as delightful to the eye as a ballad of Burns to 

 the ear. 



A Jack in Office represents a vulgar, sleek, particularly well-fed dog, 

 appurtenant to the proprietor of a dog's meat barrow, keeping at bay, by his 

 authoritative growl, a troop of hungry lovers of horseflesh ; one of whom, a 

 small terrier, is solacing himself by chewing a skewer which has been, at 

 some time or other, inserted among the fibres of a nice piece of meat : the 

 expression of a liver-coloured spaniel is the perfection of a mingled deference 

 and envy. Deer and Hounds in a Mountain Torrent. Sir Walter Scott, seated 

 at the bottom of the Rhymer's Glen. These three subjects are by EDWIN 

 LANDSEEII, and are by no means deficient in the usual graces of his pencil : 

 they are highly finished, and the truth of life is illustrated by an elegance of 

 execution, and tasteful composition. The likeness of Scott is the most cha- 

 racteristic and expressive that we have seen. 



Britomart redeems Fair Amoret. W. ETTY, R.A.. A peculiar composition, 

 rather crowded, but possessing a great deal of redeeming cleverness. The 

 face of the virgin knight is virtuous and handsome^^JI ^rfj fo s 



