Art ofPaiftting in Enamel, 453 



"from 24- to 22 inches high by 16 to 18 wide." He, however, 

 failed to produce the picture, after having received an ad- 

 vance of 1700/., and having expended upwards of 800/. in 

 fruitless attempts to accomplish his object*. It appears, there- 

 fore, that the largest works which have been executed in 

 enamel are, the Bacchus and Ariadne, after Titian, by Bone ; 

 and the Holy Family, after Parmegiano, by Muss. 



Mr. Bone's picture measures 18 inches by 1 6^, and was paint- 

 ed after the original by Titian, now in the National Gallery. 

 It was purchased of the artist by the late George Bowles, Esq., 

 for 2200 guineas, and was subsequently in the possession of 

 the Hon. Miss Rushout. 



Mr. Muss's picture measures 20^ inches by IS^t, and was 

 painted after the original by Parmegiano, in the possession of 

 Sir Thomas Baring, Bart. Upon the decease of the artist it 

 was purchased by His late Majesty George IV., for the sum 

 of 1 500 guineas, and now forms part of the Royal Collection 

 at Buckingham Palace. This great work then, it would ap- 

 pear, is the largest painting in enamel that has hitherto been 

 executed. 



It may be assumed that in general painting in enamel is 

 best adapted for pictures of smaller size, yet in some cases cir- 

 cumstances may exist which render it desirable that a painting 

 should be perpetuated in an enamel of even larger dimensions 

 than those just noticed, and in the present state of the art no 

 insuperable difficulty exists to the accomplishment of such an 

 object. 



Whether, participating in the general fate of the produc- 

 tions of man, paintings in enamel will, in the lapse of ages, alter, 

 fade, and resolve into their original elements, is a problem the 

 solution of which must be left to future generations. Never- 

 theless their power of extreme duration is established by the 

 fact that some rude specimens of vitrified colours have been 

 found in Egypt, which have existed between two and three 

 thousand years, but which still appear as fresh as if they were 

 but the productions of yesterdayj. This power of resisting 

 decay renders enamel a valuable medium for conveying down 

 the stream of time the likenesses of celebrated individuals. 

 Portraits, whether executed in oil or in water colours, change 

 in a comparatively short period, the rosy tints becoming pale, 



* Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting. 



f The plate was made for Mr. Muss by the writer of this paper. 



X It does not appear that the Egyptians practised enamelling on metal. 

 Specimens of gold inlaid with enamel exist in the collection of Egyptian 

 antiquities at the British Museum, but none in which the enamel has been 

 vitrified on the metal. 



