1M 



R00NDH! 



IMYAT. .VAHKMY OF ARTS IN LONDON. 



pt* 



ore-lowers, where the mani fire* of Bel or Baal, who was undoubtedly 

 wonnippd in Ireland and Scotland, were kept alive, tbo tuwer iUuff 

 an emblem u( the sun-beam or ray of heavenly lire, or finally 

 UutUhic in their origin, and sepulchral in their 

 >licition, they havine been erected over the bones or 

 rabos of saint*. It now seems to be the opinion of the best autho- 

 ritM> that they are the work of Christian architect!, and were built 

 tor umlssinlinsl purposes. They appear to have always stood in prox- 

 imily to a church or monastery, and in fact to have been employed 

 both for Ml tuwer* and an keeps, or strongholiLi, into which the cccle- 

 ArHra might retreat with the church plate anil record*, m case of an 

 attack. Their origin, or Uu> ty[.- fr.nn which they were in the first 

 instance ImiW-Hj is however still matter of conjecture. 



Before fk^tng this article, it should be mentioned that though 

 these towers are almost peculiar to Ireland, there are two in Scotland, 

 bat in that district which, in the very early ages, wu In cloee and 

 ^tflftt connection with Ireland. 



IB other parts of the world, as Andalusia, the Caucasus, Persia, and 

 part of India, towers of all sixes and shapes, and in various situations, 

 bare been discovered. As in all these there are some points of resom- 

 Uanoe, they may all perhaps prove to be successive links of that long 

 chain of evidence by which these remarkable buildings mar even yet 

 be traced downwards from their origin to the pagan rites of the Scoti 

 ur Irish. 



ROUNDHEADS, a name given to the republicans in England, at 

 the end of the reign of Charles I. and during the Commonwealth. 

 The """ seems to have been first applied to the Puritans because 

 they wore their hair cut cloee, but to have been afterwards extended 

 to the whole republican party. The Cavaliers, or royal party, wore 

 their hair in long ringlets. [CAVALIER.] 

 ROUT. [RiOT.| 



ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS IN LONDON. At the accession 

 of George III., painting, sculpture, and architecture, notwithstanding 

 there were eminent artists in all these branches, were in a lower state 

 in Oreat Britain than in most parts of Europe. Foreign critics did 

 not hesitate to assert, that the ungenial climate or the physical defects 

 of the English presented insuperable obstacles to the attainment of 

 excellence in the arts. Whether these opinions induced the young 

 king to turn his attention to the subject, and endeavour to remove 

 this national stigma, cannot now be known, but it is certain that he 

 soon began to show a strong disposition to encourage the arts. 



This avowed disposition of the king encouraged the artists of the 

 metropolis to endeavour to establish an academy of art somewhat 

 similar to that which had long been in successful operation in France. A 

 private academy or association of painters hod been formed as early as 

 1711, under the presidency of Sir Godfrey Kneller ; but differences arose 

 between the foreign artists (then an important and comparatively nume- 

 rous body in London) and the English members, when the latter, with Sir 

 James Thornhill at their head, seceded and opened in 1 724 a new academy. 

 On the death of Thornhill, ten years later, his son-in-law proposed to 

 the old society to reunite, and the two bodies formed the well-known 

 " Academy in St. Martin's Lane." All these were, however, rather 

 schools for drawing from the living model and the antique, and pro- 

 moting mutual intercourse among the artists, than academies on the 

 c .ntinenul model : that is, in which instruction should be given in 

 painting, sculpture, and architecture, and certain marks of distinction 

 be conferred on the most successful professors of those arts. Several 

 projects had, however, been put forward for the foundation of a royal 

 academy: among others one by Sir James Thornhill, prior to the 

 establishment of the private one above mentioned ; one by Gwynn, the 

 architect, in 1749; one in 1753 by the members of the St. Martin's 

 Lane Academy, which probably fell to the ground through the oppo- 

 sition of Hogarth ; and another, of which the proposals were issued in 

 1755. The next effort wan more successful. An institution which 

 had been formed in 1754, called "A Society for the Encouragement 

 of Arts, Manufacture*, and Commerce in Great Britain," was the 

 finrt which included among its objects the offering of rewards to the 

 fine art* In 1760, with the assistance of the above-mentioned Society, 

 who liberally allowed the use of their great room for the purpose, the 

 artist* were enabled to open the first public exhibition, which though 

 not entirely satisfactory to the promoters, attracted great attention, 

 and was for several seasons successfully followed by a similar display 

 of their talents at a Urge room of their own in Spring Gardens. The 

 associated artisU were in consequence induced to apply to the king 

 for a charter, which they readily obtained, and in 1765 they were con- 

 stituted a body corporate under the title of " The Incorporated Society 

 of Artist*." The way was thus paved for the institution of the Royal 

 Academy ; but it* immediate cause was a schism which took place in 

 the " Society " soon after their incor]>oration. It arose from the claim 

 set tip by the directors to fill up all vacancies in their own body ; this 

 the members refused to allow, and the directors seceded. They were 

 all mm of position and influence, and they at once determined to 

 MtaWh a new and more restricted institution on the model of the 

 French Academy, if they could obtain the protection and patronage of 

 the king. W. Chambers, F. Cotes, O. M. Moer, and B. West pre- 

 sented to him a memorial signed by twenty-two artist*, the purport of 

 which was to show the probability that with his royal sanction and 

 mean* of an annual exhibition of their works, 



they would noon be' able to raise sufficient funds for the support of a 

 gratuitous national school of art. The memorial stated, " The two 

 principal objects which we have in view are the establishing a well- 

 regulated school or academy of design, and an annual exhibition open 

 to all artists of distinguished merit ; we apprehending that the profits 

 arising from the List of these institutions will fully answer all tin- 

 expenses of tho first ; we even flatter ourselves that they will be more 

 than necessary for that purpose, and that we shall be enabled annually 

 to distribute somewhat in useful cliarities." The proposal w.-m 

 graciously received. The plan of a constitution was drawn up by 

 Mr. Chambers, and laid before the king, which he approved, an<l 

 signed on the 10th of December, 1768. Thus was founded "The 

 Royal Academy of Arts in London, for the purpose of cultivating and 

 improving the arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture." 



The artists who signed this memorial were : Benjamin West, 

 Francesco Zuccarelli, Nathaniel Dance, Richard Wilson, George Michael 

 Moser, Samuel Wale, J. Baptist Cipriani, Jeremiah Meyer, Angelica 

 Kauffman, Charles Cotton, Francesco Bortolozzi, Francis Cotes, Edward 

 Penny, George Barrett, Paul Sandby, Richard Yeo, Mary Moser," 

 Agostino Carliui, William Chambers, Joseph Wilton, Francis Milner 

 Newton, Francis Hayman. These, with John Baker, Mason Chambcrlin, 

 John Gwynn, Thomas Gainsborough, Dominick Serres, Peter Toms, 

 Nathaniel Hone, Joshua Reynolds, John Richards, Thomas San.ll>}-, 

 George Dance, Francis Hayman, William Hoare of Bath, and Johan 

 Zoffani, composed the original thirty-six academicians. The number 

 forty was not completed till 1780 by the addition of Edward Burch, 

 Richard Cosway, Joseph Nollekens, and James Barry. Their tir>t 

 meeting was held on the 1 4th of December, when the following officers 

 were elected, namely : J. Reynolds, President ; G. M. Moser, Keeper ; 

 F. M. Newton, Secretary ; E. Penny, Professor of Paint in;/ ; T. S.mdby, 

 Profeaur of Architecture ; 3. Wall, Professor of Perspectire : Dr. William 

 Hunter, Profetmr of A natomy. The king appointed William Chambers 

 Treasurer, and R. Wilson l.ihrurijin. 



The other academies of Europe which have been established for the 

 advancement of the fine arts and the promotion of public taste, are 

 supported entirely at the expense of their respective governments as 

 national objects, and are usually under the control of some person of 

 distinction. Such is the Royal Academy of Paris, founded just a 

 century before. The Royal Academy of London is essentially different 

 from these, inasmuch as it originated in the private munificence of the 

 reigning king, and, since the first years of its existence, has been 

 entirely maintained by the proceeds of the annual exhibition. 



The king's adoption of the artists was immediately followed by tin- 

 most liberal and effective support. He caused apartments for the 

 schools to be fitted up in his own palace of Somerset House, supplied 

 the Society with rooms in Pall Mall for their exhibitions, and for 

 several years made up every deficiency in their expenditure from 

 his privy purse ; at the same time he allowed them to reserve 100/. 

 a-year to form a fund for necessitous members or their widows, and 

 twice that sum to administer occasional relief to artists in distress, 

 whether they were members of the Society or not. When Old Somerset 

 House was purchased by the nation as a site for a number of public 

 offices, the king took care to reserve a portion of the new building for 

 the Academy. In 1766 the plans of a new site were submitted to the 

 approval of the president and council, and the apartments devoted to 

 this purpose were fitted up with a degree of magnificence worthy of. a 

 royal palace, the talents of many of the principal members having been 

 employed in their decoration. In July, 1780, the preparations being 

 completed, the Royal Academy obtained possession of their new 

 residence, by an order from the Treasury to the surveyor-general of 

 the works, and their first exhibition in Somerset House took place in 

 the following year. This friendly superintendence of its affairs and 

 anxious desire to promote the welfare and utility of the Society con- 

 tinued till the unfortunate illness of the king ; and a liko patronage 

 has been vouchsafed by his successors. 



In 1834, a proposal having been made by Lord Grey and the existing 

 ministry to transfer the establishment from Somerset House to 

 Trafalgar Square, where an edifice was proposed to be raised which 

 would be also large enough for a national gallery of paintings, the 

 sanction of the king( William IV.) was obtained, and the necessary arrange- 

 ments were made with the president and council of the Academy. The 

 apartments, which comprise the whole of the east wing of the National 

 Gallery, were put into their possession in 183t! ; and they are still 

 occupied by the Academy, though formal notice has been more than OHM 

 given by the government of their intention to resume possession of 

 them, in order to appropriate them to the use of the National Gallery. 

 The Royal Academy consists of forty academicians, painters, sculptors, 

 and architects. There is a second order of members, styled associates, 

 twenty in number, from whom alone the vacancies that occur among 

 the academicians are supplied. The body of academicians elect, but 

 the approbation and signature of Her Majesty are necessary to make 

 this election valid. 



There are also six associate engravers, who are classed two as 

 "academician engravers," two as "associate engravers of the new 

 class," and two as " associate engravers." Associates arc elected by the 

 body of academicians, from a list of exhibitors who declare themselves 

 candidates for this honour. . 



There are a treasurer, a librarian, a keeper, and a secretary. A bye- 



