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FINE ARTS. 



THE LOUVRE IN 1836. PAINTINGS. 



IN visiting the Salon this year we were agreeably surprised by find- 

 ing that it contained a much larger proportion of historical and na- 

 tional paintings than we had noticed on any previous occasion. Far 

 be it from us to contest the well-earned meed of praise accorded to 

 those smaller pictures entitled Tableaux de Genre. Nevertheless 

 we cannot but consider that the principal advantage derived by the 

 public from anirual exhibitions is in having imaged to their view 

 speaking sages of our own history, together with that of the world at 

 large, both in past and present ages. 



In France such exhibitions are national, and admittance conse- 

 quently is gratuitous, all classes of people indiscriminately visiting 

 them ; and in truth it is a field whereon to contemplate, not works of 

 art alone, but likewise the peculiar characteristics which stamp those 

 numerous and smiling groups of bourgeois and artisans whom it de- 

 lights us to behold expressing with such artless naivete their various 

 emotions whether of pleasure or disapprobation. Fine historic 

 pieces, depicting victories, calamities, or deeds of patriotic virtue in 

 all its varied hues, are surely calculated in the highest degree to en- 

 noble and instruct the multitude, or to stimulate ardent minds to 

 deeds of like renown : let them then rank high as a medium for the 

 conveyance of some of the first moral lessons that a nation can re- 

 ceive lessons which frequently impart a far deeper impression than 

 the perusal of volumes, whilst amongst the uneducated poor they con- 

 stitute almost their sole study, and would undoubtedly, if ably di- 

 rected, be of immense influence in forming the national character. 



As you emerge from the splendid stair-case of this splendid suite 

 of galleries, the picture that soonest gains your attention is the last 

 production of a great painter, snatched, alas ! but too early from his 

 noble career. The " Fishermen" of Leopold Robert is a painting of 

 the highest order ; it attracts and captivates the spectator, and would 

 alone form an exhibition, for it is a chef d'ceuvre ! Above it is " The 

 Battle of the Pyramids," by Baron Gros, who stands forth as the 

 head of a particular school, that has produced many of the first artists 

 of the present day. Baron Gros, after a long life crowned with suc- 

 cess and renown, at length, like Leopold Robert, his young enuile 

 has terminated his career, and himself put an end to his existence, 

 without even a parting farewell to his numerous friends and pupils. 

 We follow the crowd till we are opposite to a picture executed by M. 

 Hesse, " Leonardo di Vinci restoring Freedom to Birds." The sub- 

 ject is happily chosen, executed in a masterly style, and brings us 

 back to the time when this prince of artists flourished. H. Vernet 

 has not done himself justice in the four battle scenes that he has given 

 us this year. Mr. Condet, in his " Battle of Lawfeldt," has been 

 more successful. All the poetry of the composition rests in that no- 

 ble sentiment of Louis XV. who, in pointing out to his principal 

 prisoner the villages in flames, exclaims, "M. Le Comte il r/y a pas 

 M.M.No. 4. 2 F 



