30 Mr Wilson on the Propriety of Forming 



Although patronage thus led to the full development of ge- 

 nius, yet the paths followed by the various schools were widely 

 different, and it is to this Jact our attention must be turned. 

 We perceive that patronage will effect a certain object; but 

 that it will create a school of art distinguished for qualities of 

 the highest description is another question. By a glanc*^ a 

 the history of the four schools we have chosen, this question 

 may be settled. 



Does a school of art exist, distinguished for qualities with 

 regard to the merit of which all competent judges agree ? — un- 

 questionably. The Italian, the German, the Frenchman, and 

 Englishman, each differing materially in opinion with regard 

 to which is the true path in art to be followed, have no diffe- 

 rence of opinion with regard to the superior excellence of the 

 Roman and Florentine schools. If all agree as to the merits 

 of the great masters of these, we find considerable diversity of 

 opinion as to those of the Venetian and Flemish, especially the 

 latter ; these last, however, are placed by common consent in 

 a lower grade than those of Rome and Florence. 



It is quite unnecessary on the present occasion to inquire in- 

 to the nature of the qualities which give the Roman and Flo- 

 rentine schools so pre-eminent a place in our estimation. When 

 we consider that the masters of these schools were surrounded 

 by some of the finest works of antiquity, many of which were 

 discovered in their time ; when we reflect that they studied them 

 diligently, and when we read in contemporary historians of the 

 effect which such studies had upon their works, we feel that 

 they owe the sublime excellence for which they alone are dis- 

 tinguished amongst modern schools, to the inspiration which 

 the genius of their authors derived from the study of the im- 

 mortal productions of the Greek chisel. Much as we may ad- 

 mire the exquisite powers of painting exhibited in the works of 

 the Venetian masters, we cannot claim for them the same 

 greatness of design, and poetry of conception, which so much 

 overpower us with admiration when regarding those of the mas- 

 ters of the Roman and Florentine schools. The possession of 

 dexterous manipulation in painting, for which the Venetians 

 were remarkable, is too often apt to mislead the judgment, and 

 consequently, we find that it contributed to the degradation of 



