450 



Monthly RetfcffeSl of the Fine Arti. 



[Oct. f, 



compelled to fay, this is not worthy of his 

 ptnci] J nor is it at all in bis ufual Ityle of 

 pointing, nrr fiich a rei'emhlance of the 

 Oiigir.ai as ^^e Should expeft lo fee on his 

 canvas. The engraving i? in line, but by 

 no means good. 



fanoratra Vie'iu\ of St. Pucjburgh ; dedicated 

 b\ jieinujpin , to his Imfcial Highnejs Alex- 

 ender I, Emferor of ad the RiiJ/ias ; iy y. 

 K. jitkirjfon. Drwzvn on the jfot, from the 

 Ohjc'-vatoyy cf Sciences. 



This aquatint print gives a good idea 

 of the fplcndour of this great ciiy. No- 

 thing that has the feinbiance of a poor 

 private liwtlling is to be ften ; but from 

 the abundance of churches, public build- 

 ings, magnificent manfions, and fummer 

 »nd winter palaces, one is half inclined to 

 think, that all the princes of the earth 

 have fnid, ' Ci ine, let us go and live at 

 Pete fburgh.' Jt is, however, without 

 queiiion, a crr^iS reprei'entation of the 

 place, and as a print has very ccnfiderable 

 merit. 



ROYAL ACADEMY. 



Mr. Fufeli having accepied the (itna- 

 tion of keeper, has bttn uiuier the neccl- 

 fity of relinquifliing t)ie prottfiorfliip of 

 painting, which he formerly held with fo 

 much honcur to hiir.felf; as the law* of 

 the academy do ni.t prrmit one member to 

 Jicid two oflfices. The elefiion for a pro- 

 letTor took place en the a6th of .^ugiift, 

 *t a gener<il niceting of Academicians, 

 vhen Mr. Op.e was unanimoufly chofen. 

 V/e congratulate the youns; lludents on 

 this aj>pointment, (rem which they are 

 Jikely to derive great advantage. It has 

 been fa id that it is not Mr. Opie's inten- 

 tion to avail himl'clf of ibe three years 

 which are ufually allowed lo a new profef- 

 for to prtrpaie his leftures, but tiiat he 

 means, if polfibie, to comixence a courfe 

 the enfuing wnarcr. 



Loutherl/ourg ha« nearly finished a 

 large pifiure of Banditti, in which he has 

 been very lon^ engaged, for his Royal 

 Highiiefs the Frinrt oJ Wales, it is near- 

 ly 17 fett long, and the fulie(fi is treated 

 in tre belt manner of the mafter, with 

 great clcarr.efs, bnlliancy and llrcnp;h of 

 char*£lcr; aid we arc told is iiiierided to 

 firm a part of t".e decorations of the grand 

 tJrawin.o-rooni, wnich u ft ud up in the 

 JE»yp:ian taileat C.<r!e'on hoiiiV. 



His Royal Hiolinefi hai- alfo engaged 

 iWr. Bone to paint two large miniatviies, 

 me of them, ir.:m the admiraole piiKire of 

 Cymnn and Iphigcnia, by t):r Jolh'ja 

 Reynolds; the o:her, from the whole 

 length of .Mr. F.x, exhbiied by Mr. 

 Q^k-j of whicji we i:«iii«<)iiier liiiuking» 

 4 



that though, like all Opie's portraits, It 

 bore a ftrong refemblance to the original, 

 yet it was more like Mr. Fox at the mo- 

 ment he was mtditsting a reply to fome 

 bi;ter philippic which had been uttered 

 againft him in the Hou!"e of Commons, 

 than in the houfe of feftive mirth, where 

 his good-humoured hilarity and cheerful- 

 ne!s iiifpire the focial board, and he en- 

 joys and communicates 



♦' The feaft of reafonand the flow of foul." 

 yi large Hiforical FiBure, by Rubent. 



It hfis been laid of Rubens, that he at- 

 temp'ed to give a new chara51er to the 

 Fltmifh fchool, and he fucceeded in Sis 

 a'tempt, though the female figures, efpe- 

 cially in his early piflurcs, are frequently 

 fat, and bordering upon vulgar nature; 

 but, even in thefe fubjefls, the exuberance 

 of his fancy, tiit vigour of his pt;ncil, and 

 above all the unrivalled brilliancy and har- 

 mony of his colouiing, fo pre-eminently 

 predominated over all his errors, that we 

 were compelled to admire that which in 

 an inferior artift we fhould have barely 

 tolerated. Admitting this, what may we 

 not expert from a large hiftorical piilure, 

 evidently painted when his genius was ia 

 its mtiidian, in which no female is intro- 

 duced ? Such a pi^ure, Mr. Elwin of 

 S'osnc ftreet h-?i jull had configned to 

 him trom the Continent ; and the wri'er 

 of this article, who has feen many fine 

 pifluret during a fliort refidence on the 

 Continent, and mort of the large colleflions 

 in this country, does not hefitate to affirm, 

 that when confidered in all its points, he 

 thinks it fuperior to any piilure he ever 

 (aw 5 and Tie is told that Mr. Elwin has 

 given a larger lum for it than ever was 

 paid for aj y one piflute tliat haj been 

 ptevioufly brought into England. The 

 fubjcft is the Cotrverfion of St. Paul; and 

 the management of the whole i.i the very 

 fiift ftyle of art. The compofitioa is 

 claffically grand ; the charafttrs have an 

 elevated dignity appropriate to their fitua- 

 tion ; and the extremitie« are marked with 

 a Itrei'gth and tatte ihat has been raiely 

 equalled. Through the whole, there is a 

 lightiiels of touch, and freedom of pencil, 

 which could only be attained by tiiC en- 

 thuGaftic energies of a great mind in a 

 happy moment, without any o; thar Gtr- 

 ma,'nc mniii'xwe finif.'iirg, by touch upon 

 touch, which we frcquciitlv fee in the <1iy 

 ani noliflied prvyductions of thofe perfe- 

 'verhig labowen n i*'ne art and wy^:e:j 

 o: linir.inJ. Wit'i rrfpeft to the colour- 

 ine, it is perhaps better t lan wnen it came 

 off th? taifcl, tor it might then have a 

 biighlnds, that-^Yuuid ia a degree dazzle 



the 



