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FINE ARTS. 



mirable example by Oanaletti, 163; "Por- 

 trait of A. del Sarto," by himself, 67 ; " The 

 Marchioness of Pescara," by Michael Angelo, 

 uniting the grandeur of Michael Angelo with 

 the sweetness of Eaphael, 290; "The Al- 

 mighty appearing to Isaac," by Eaphael, 35 ; 

 " Portrait of Raphael's Sister," executed by 

 Eaphael in black chalk, 240 ; another por- 

 trait, of the same quality, 300 ; another, ex- 

 ecuted with the metal point on a prepared 

 ground, 470 ; "Virgin, Child, and an Angel," 

 by the same, a mere outline, but possessing 

 great beauty, 380 ; " Virgin and Child," by 

 the same, full of grace, loveliness, and refine- 

 ment, 600, which was purchased for the 

 British Museum. The number of works dis- 

 posed of at auction during the season numbered 

 between 2,000 and 3,000, and the aggregate 

 sum obtained for them was in the neighborhood 

 of 150,000, which was considerably less than 

 during the previous year. 



Of the numerous exhibitions of pictures and 

 works of art held annually in London, that of 

 the Eoyal Academy naturally occupies the first 

 place. It was opened in the middle of April, 

 and proved so attractive, that at the close of 

 May the money receipts exceeded the total 

 payments of any former year. But if the criti- 

 cisms of the press are entitled to weight, the 

 pictorial labors of the year were less remarkable 

 than might have been expected. The promi- 

 nent pictures were Leighton's " Procession of 

 Syracusan Virgins," a replica of Maclise's 

 "Death of Nelson," in the palace at West- 

 minster, and Goodall's " Hagar and Ishmael ; " 

 besides which, were works by Armitage, Watts, 

 Frost, Poole, Faed, Phillip, Ward, Frith, Stan- 

 field, Marcus Stone, O'Neill, Landseer, Lee, and 

 Linnell. These artists, however, do not repre- 

 sent the whole intellectual strength of the Brit- 

 ish school, and some of them failed to send then- 

 best works to the exhibition. The contribu- 

 tions of others were so badly hung as to appear 

 to signal disadvantage. The exhibition con- 

 tained nothing at all from Holman Hunt, Mil- 

 lais, Elmore, Eossetti, or Maddox Brown, the 

 greater part of whom evince thought, original- 

 ity, and power, but because they are opposed 

 in practice to the prevalent notions, are not 

 encouraged to contribute. Hence the com- 

 plaint is annually preferred against the Acad- 

 emy, that it fails to make its exhibitions a neu- 

 tral ground, where ability may prove itself and 

 incompetence find its level, and refuses to recog- 

 nize ideas of art it does not understand, and 

 power which is not its own. Important re- 

 forms, however, are about to be made in this 

 institution, now almost a century old, which 

 promise to add to its usefulness as a fosterer of 

 art. It is proposed to limit the number of 

 academicians to forty-two, the present number, 

 to increase the body of associates indefinitely, 

 and from their ranks to fi 1 ! the vacancies in the 

 academic body on the ground of merit alone, 

 irrespective of any considerations arising from 

 the length of time during which men have been 



Associates. At all elections, whether of Acad- 

 emicians or Associates, the latter are to be en- 

 titled to vote. These, with a few other pro- 

 posed changes, though not so many or important 

 as the public demand, will do something to 

 relieve the Academy of the imputation of nar- 

 rowness and selfishness which has so long been 

 associated with its career, and to make it less 

 of a close corporation than heretofore. They 

 seem to have been rather reluctantly conceded 

 by the members in return for the grant by Gov- 

 ernment of a site in the grounds of Burlington 

 House, Piccadilly, on which to erect a perma- 

 nent building for the uses of the institution. 

 The Academy, long located in a wing of the 

 National Gallery, in Trafalgar Square, will soon 

 occupy a new building of a rich classic type on 

 the site granted to it, to be constructed from 

 the designs of Sydney Smirke. The President's 

 chair, left vacant by the death of Sir Charles 

 Eastlake, has been filled by the election of Sir 

 Francis Grant, principally known as a painter 

 of portraits and sporting scenes, but of no repu- 

 tation in the higher walks of his art. 



Outside of the Eoyal Academy there are 

 many annual exhibitions in London, during the 

 spring and summer, to which we can refer only 

 very briefly. That of the British Institution, 

 established sixty years ago, was noticeable 

 chiefly for many excellent examples of Eeynolds. 

 The directors have announced that, in con- 

 sequence of the expiration of the lease of their 

 present premises, and of their inability to renew 

 it, they will be unable to open an exhibition in 

 1867, which is considered equivalent to declar- 

 ing that the Institution is on the verge of dis- 

 solution. In view of the many opportunities 

 it has annually afforded of seeing choice ex- 

 amples of the old masters and of contemporary 

 art, this is regarded as a public misfortune. 

 The exhibitions of the Society of Painters in 

 Water Colors and the Institute of Painters in 

 Water Colors were creditable to those asso- 

 ciations, while that of the Society of British 

 Artists was very generally condemned for the 

 ambitious, slovenly, or positively meretricious 

 works, generally by inferior painters, which it 

 contained. Besides these, there were held 

 during the season an exhibition of French, 

 Dutch, and Flemish pictures, under the aus- 

 pices of the International Society of Fine Arts, 

 one of a series of careful copies of early Italian 

 paintings, made by M. J. H. Wheelwright, and 

 one of a remarkable collection of sketches of 

 scenery in China and Japan, by Edward Hilde- 

 brandt. Not the least interesting exhibition of 

 the year was that of a collection of many hun- 

 dred portraits of conspicuous public characters, 

 illustrating the national history from the era 

 of the Plantagenets to the close of the reign of 

 James II. Of Henry VIII. there were sixteen 

 portraits, with portraits of each of his six wives ; 

 of his son, Edward VI., eleven portraits; of 

 Queen Mary, ten portraits ; of her sister Eliza- 

 beth, twenty-seven; and of Mary Queen of 

 Scots, sixteen. Besides these were portraits of 



