1808. ] 
Portrait of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, from a Head 
drawn by T. Lazwrence, R. d. Engraved 
by Careline Watson. 
‘This is an admirably just resemblance 
of a truly admirable woman, alike emi- 
nent for her piety and her learning. It 
is. a familiar representation, giving the 
idea of heras she appeared in the getic- 
ral company of her friends, 
| The engraving is in the stippling me- 
* thod, and has great ierit. 
Monument of General Sir Ralph Abercrombie, 
The monument yoted by parliament 
to the memory of this illustrious and la- 
Gnented commander, is newly erected 
in its destined situation, viz. under the 
large window in the south-west transept 
of St, Paul’s cathedral. It is composed 
of a group‘of figures larger than com- 
mon life, and consisting of The General, 
fainting iv battle from loss of blood, and 
falling trom his horse, but his fall arrested 
or caught by a Highland soldier, who is 
represented in the action of running by 
the side of the horse, to keep pace with 
his speed, and receiving his dying gene- 
ral in his arms. Beneath the elevated 
feet of the horse is also a dying soldier, 
grasping a French standard. 
‘Yhe reader will perceive from the 
above description, that the composition 
of this monument is simply historical 
without introduction of allegory. ~The 
ouly emblematic ornament is a pair of 
sphinxes, placed at the base of the pe- 
destal, one on each side of the monu- 
ment, and indicative of the country in 
which the hero conquered and fell. 
, The principal group in this composi- 
ion is certainly one of the happiest 
h has yet occupied a place in the 
cathedral of our city. Every part bears 
© the air of nature, and every part excites 
, ane The faithful Highlander is a 
well studied figure, the dress is judici- 
ously arranged for the display of the ac- 
tion, and the energy of the attitude is 
without any disagreeable distortion of the- 
limps. The posture and countenance of 
the fainting hero are sufficiently expla- 
natory of his actaal condition, without 
attempting any romantic grandeur of ex- 
pression, and equally without grumace or 
caricature. | 
The pedestal of the monument design- 
ed to contain the inscription is placed 
on a basement, which clevates the whole 
roup somewhat above the eye of the 
‘spectator, and by this clevation the upper 
‘part of General Abercrombie’s figure, 
‘and the head of the Highlander receive 
~ Moxauty Mac., No. 178, 
: 
Monthly Retrospect of the Fine Arts. 
459 
a strong light from the window ; a cir- 
cumstance which produces an excellent 
effect, by shewing more particularly the 
principal points of expression. This 
happiness of effect was, however, in dan- 
ger of being taken’ away by the disap- 
probation of the Commitlee of Taste, 
who, it seems, were indignant at Mr. 
M e, the surveyor of the building, 
for having raised the base on which the 
monument stands above the height at 
first projected by the sculptor. Itis to 
be hoped the committee have by this 
time daste evough to perceive that the 
mistake was a fortunate one, especially as 
the basement is now connected with the 
corresponding lines in the sides of the 
transept. Westmuacoté is the sculptor. 
The horse being a subordinate feature 
of this monument, needs not to be no 
ticed. The sphinves are somewhat defi- 
cient in sterling Fyyptian character. 
The paltry addition of a flimsy leather, 
or paper bridle, and a shabby bit in the 
mouth of the horse, it is to be hoped, is 
merely designed to be temporary. Ifthe 
horse may not be poetically left without 
a bridle, the workmanship should be in 
the same materials with the rest of the 
monument, 
Wilkie, whose talents have been so 
much more liberally praised than re- 
warded by his first employers, and whose 
persevering study promises to render 
him an eminent feature of the English 
school, is at present engaged on a subject 
peculiarly adapted to the natural bent 
of his genius. ‘Ihe picture represents a 
boy who has cut his finger, holding his 
hand up to an old woman, who care- 
fully binds up the wounded part, disre= 
gardful of the cries of the tortured infant. 
The expressions of the various charac- 
terS are truly corresponding with the 
painter’s great prototype, Nature. The 
boy is particularly exceilent; he ap- 
pears, by the accompaniments of the 
picture, to have been exercising an early 
genius for carving, and a servant is 
taking from him the unlucky knife. 
The world of artists and connoissetrs 
is at present busily engaged in the dis 
cussion of some wonderful pictures, lately 
discovered in a house at Farnham in 
Surrey, which have lately passed through 
tlie hands of more than one owner ata 
very low-price, but aré now found, in 
the judgment of the last purchaser, who 
is a broker, to be the works of no less a 
painter than Tifian, and, of course, of 
incalculable value. There are ten pic- 
tures, each’ representing one of the 
3N Cesies 
