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ne eee yh ae: ge 
MONTHLY RETROSPECT OF THE FINE ARTS. , 
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The Useof all New Prints, and Communications of Articles of Intelligence, are requested, 
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Statue of Mr. Pitt, at Cambridge. 
HE statue of the late minister of 
this country (of which so much 
hhas been said, in regard to the person 
to be employed in the execution of it*), 
aiter being first imprudently offered by 
the University to a celebrated foreign 
artist, who declined it, and next proposed 
to I'l n, who, in the warm paroxysm 
of honest feelings at the preference of a 
foreigner, waved the commission, has 
been at length consigned to Nollekens. 
To no hands could it have been more 
safely intrusted ; and that it isactually in 
his hands, is matter of the greater satis- 
faction, as that able and veteran sculptor 
has, from the year 1798, declined all par- 
ticipation in the public monuments erect- 
ed in our cathedrals of St. Paul’s and 
Westminster. From what motive he has 
chosen to withdraw himself from those 
great opportunities ‘of emolument and 
fame, it is perplexing to guess. Does 
is contempt of money start from the in- 
ordinate sums issued by vote of Parlia- 
ment for the ‘* marble tombs” of our 
heroes? Or does he shrink from a com- 
petition with those renowned works late- 
ly deposited’ in our churches, some of 
which, though they may fail to surpass, 
at least bid fair to exclude, all future ri- 
vals from the buildings which they fill? 
Whatever be the cause, in that respect, 
the public will rejoice that the same ob- 
jections have not withheld him from the 
‘present undertaking. “The name of Nol- 
Jekens, distinguished as it justly stands 
among the English sculptors, 1s fit to ac- 
company the public memorial of the 
greatest statesman of latter days. The 
statue is to be placed in the Senate- 
house of Cambridge. 
* Among other of the latest works of the 
same sculptor, are the busts of Lords 
Mulgrave and. Grenville, the Marquis 
Wellesley, Duke and Duchess of Rutland, 
and Mrs. Pelham. All| of these possess 
his usual merit. If they do not pierce 
the souls, they amply and fairly furnish 
out the surface of the persons represent- 
ed. The. portraits of this sculptor give 
at all times more than enough to satisfy 
ordinary enquiry or affection, and in 
some the casual grace of the model is so 
happily caught, or the palliative skill of 
the artist 60 successfully applied, as to 
——— OO OO OO 
* % See the Hon, Mr. Gicville’s Py-fup, &e, 
vindicate all the partialities of love and 
friendship. 
Lord Nelson. 
The great work of Heath, the engraver, 
from the picture of the Death of Nelson, 
painted by West, is carrying forward 
with the strictest diligence and attention. 
It will be gratifying to the expectation of 
subscribers to the plate, to learn that it 
is computed that less than the labour of 
another year will bring it to its comple- 
tion. That eminent engraver is, 10 
doubt, sensible, and it is to be hoped he 
will bear constantly in mind, that how- 
ever impatiently anxious each individual 
subscriber may be to possess so honours 
able a memorial of his country’s triumph, 
the public, as a body, look forward to this 
undertaking as one calculated’in. part to 
restore the lost credit of English engrav~ 
ing,—lost, in other countries, since the 
days of Strange and Woollet, not by de 
ficiency, let us fairly trust, of talents in 
the engravers—indced sufiicient instances 
evince the contrary—but by the merce, 
nary rapacity of ephemeral speculators, 
who have induced, or rather compelled 
the artist (for he has unfortunately no to-= 
lerable alternative), to sacrifice reputa- 
tion to daily bread. The present en- 
graving will necessarily find its way to 
the Continent: whatever may be the 
momentary obstacles, opportunities will 
not long be wanting of transmitting thi- 
ther a work of such universal interest ; 
and there the lover of the arts must be 
allowed to hope it will ably demonstrate 
that we are no more degenerate’ in art 
than in valour. The painter is the sarhe 
who inspired and guided the graver of 
Woollett; ‘the fame of Heath should 
rouse him to- exert his whole energy in 
the contest. ~ 
It is pitiable to reflect that far the 
larger portion of so industrious and inge= 
nious a class of men as the engravers of 
our country should, even at this moment, 
have cause to complain of the want of—~ 
not encouragement,—for that is a splene 
did word,—but of employment adequate 
to the ordinary pressures of life. A few 
only find resources in the purses of tlfe 
commercial booksellers, who are still their 
best, and indeed: their only patrons; and 
by those their labour is again turned 
back to the hackneyed task of engraving 
the works of the Italian and Flemish 
schools frum the cabinets of eur virtuosi, 
chiefly 
