t&i Present State of the 



sation oh locking at this picture; and I never heard this re* 

 proach made by any French artist. This picture at present 

 belongs to the senator Lucien Bonaparte. 



He praises much the design of the Horatii ; but according 

 io him the composition is defective; he thinks the posture 

 of the oldest son confined. " The father (he says), who ift 

 in the niidille of the picture, resembles an old serjeant, who 

 is drilling three recruits according to strict military tactics." 

 The father of the Horatii never inspired this sentiment. Fio- 

 rillo thus continues :— " In, the head of the father no trait of 

 his visage characterizes a man who is exposing his children 

 to the greatest danger, and who sees them perhaps for the 

 last time." This judgment would not be at all surprising if 

 it did not come from a painter, who ought to know the dif- 

 ferent sentiments of mankind as well as he ought to know 

 the effect produced by the mixture of the different colours. 

 Was it ever possible to express better, in the same head, the 

 joy of saving his country, and the fear of exposing his chil- 

 dren to danger? The most powerful passion ought natu- 

 rally to carry away the victory in the mind of the most sen- 

 sible father. 



The author savs, at the end of his article upon Brutus, th^t 

 many people prefer this picture to that of the Horatii, In 

 France, great beauties are discovered in both ; but we gene- 

 rally trive the preference to the Horatii. 



We read in a note that Morel has engraved the Horatii, 

 Brutus, and the Sabines : all this is false; none of the three 

 (engravings have yet appeared. It is certain that he is oc- 

 cupied with the Horatii ; but he has a full year's labour yet 

 before him. The graving tool of an artist does not move so 

 quicklv as the pen of an author. 



The portrait of mademoiselle Brognard is mentioned with- 

 out any distinction among the other portraits of Gerard : 

 ihis portrait, however, deserves great praise, and it ought to 

 be placed by the side of the Joconde of Leonardo da Vinci. 



Every thing which comes from the pencil of Gerard is 

 beautiful ; every thing is wisely conceived : he paints with- 

 out having the air of painting : his full length portrait of 

 niadame Recamier has done him much honour. He has 



painted 



