248 Present State of the 



One third of his designs belongs to Roland, the printsellei", 

 who has ah-eady got several of them extremely well engraved; 

 particularly fourteen, by Debucours, in the soft manner in 

 which he excels. Five other large designs are not equally 

 Avell engraved. There is one of them in China ink, an- 

 other in bistre, and some coloured ones of great beauty j 

 among others, a Departure for the Chase. Vernet is at pre- 

 sent occupied with his grand piece, the Battle of Marengo. 



Robert is merely named : the author^ therefore, does not 

 know the extent of his talents : France, however, never had 

 such a painter as Robert for the interior of pieces of archi- 

 tecture. He was as well acquainted with perspective as 

 Panini, and delineates it in a manner highly agreeable to 

 the eye. At one time, one could not inhabit a dwelling- 

 house without having a bed-room or a saloon decorated 

 with Robert's pictures. His works are of different quali- 

 ties ; he sometimes went Wo fast, by wishing to do too 

 jnuch. We have sometimes wished him to finish a littl^ 

 more ; but perhaps, by being more finished, he would not 

 know how to preserve the spirit which always reigns in his 

 rural scenery and in his architecture : his talents would be of 

 great use in theatrical decorations. His figures are not cor- 

 rect, but they never want spirit. The best pictures of this 

 master are a part of his studies in Italy. He engraved at 

 Rome a small architectural work which he called his Soirees^ 

 and which has given us cause to regret that he has not done 

 more. Robert treated his own style of painting with so 

 much superiority that he never h^d any rivals ; and France 

 will wait long ere she finds another Robert ; particularly in 

 an age where all the men of genius aim at historical paint- 

 ing. Robert has perhaps made too many designs ; but not 

 for those who love taste and agreeable effect. He has done 

 a great many pieces with red and black crayons. 



The French themselves pay more justice than M. Fiorillo 

 does to Greuzc, although his method of designing has no- 

 thing in common with the present school. He thinks it 

 extraordinary that he should be called a painter of a parti- 

 cular school J he would rather have him called '' the painter 

 lof the people or the nation, because his pictures very ofteri 



represent 



