nxrui 



KIM- AND PROGRESS OF THE FINE ARTS. 



of hi* pretension*. The works of Barry are 

 equally deficient in propriety and imagina- 

 tion; they are prodigious mysteries, historical 

 rii!ill-s; ancient times shake hands with latter, 

 and Greek robes and English wigs jostle for 

 precedence. He was afflicted with the desire of 

 reading a grand historic lesson to mankind and 

 failed because no one understood his mysterious 

 language. 



Lawrence and Raeburn may be regarded as 

 the true successors of Reynolds in portraiture, 

 though who will venture to say that they have 

 equalled him. The former was eminent for 

 elegance and grace ; his gentlemen are patterns 

 of courtesy, and the looks of his ladies are 

 radiant with beauty and love. The merits of the 

 latti-r were of a sterner kind ; he excelled in 

 breadth and vigour, and expressed the character 

 in mass, without descending to detail. To both 

 we owe many noble portraits of inspired men ; 

 they bestowed their colours on the genius as 

 well as wealth of the land, and genius will take 

 pleasure in remembering them. 



Northcote and Stothard may be named toge- 

 ther death and life are neighbours. The former 

 teaches us what to shun, the latter is a model for 

 imitation ; both were of the academy, but one 

 was made by the force of labour and Reynolds, 

 the other by the force of study and nature. The 

 figures of Northcote are shapeless and bloodless ; 



" There is no speculation in their eyes." 



He is continually striving to reach the heights of 

 history or the depths of poetry ; but he wants 

 dignity for the one, and feeling for the other. 

 The works of Stothard, on the other hand, are 

 all natural elegance and unconstrained beauty. 

 The daughters of England may be said to have 

 inspired him with a true sense of beauty and 

 modesty ; for on whose canvass shall we find 

 such unaffected loveliness, and such variety of 

 female attraction ? He is indeed very unequal, 

 and a great mannerist, but he is original, and 

 can never cease to be regarded as one of the 

 greatest of British painters. 



Historical painting seems at a stand in Britain ; 

 portrait painting is not on the advance, and no 

 one will say that the landscapes of Wilson have 

 been excelled, though the flights of Turner fairly 

 rival him. In vivid pictures of social life, 

 Wilkie has 110 superior; he has all the lively 

 humour, tipsy jollity, and vivid presentment of 

 character visible in the best Dutch artists, with a 

 sentiment wholly his own. He has lately taken 

 a step from the domestic into the historic, and 

 painted two pictures, " Knox Preaching the 

 Reformation," and " Columbus in Spain," which 

 rival, in dignity of conception, force of character, 

 and lucid depth and vigour of colouring, the 

 noblest pictures of these our latter days. The 

 Scripture landscapes of Martin are of a class by 

 themselves ; they realize the most terrible of the 

 Old Testament scenes. The supernatural splen- 

 dour of the " Handwriting on the Wall," and 

 "Joshua commanding the Sun to stand still," 

 can never pass from the mind of any one with 

 either imagination or feeling. Two such distin- 

 guished painters fairly entitle us to claim a 

 present pre-eminence over all other schools 

 and long may we retain it. 



It cannot with truth be said" that a true feeling 

 and admiration of art is yet diffused over 

 Britain. Works of high genius are rare matters. 

 Like Milton's Paradise Lost, they are long in 

 attaining all their fame, and require, with other 

 mental efforts, serenity of mind, and something 

 like public encouragement. To be the great 

 merchants of the earth, and the rulers of the sea, 

 seems the aim of the nation ; yet this might be 

 accomplished without discouraging either poetry 

 or painting. At present, the angry parleys be- 

 tween political parties, and the feuds which in- 

 quiry, and love of change, and desire of reform 

 have awakened in village and town, are injurious 

 to literature and art. Perhaps, when the church 

 is placed on a scriptural footing, and the balance 

 of the constitution restored, the sun of public 

 affection will shine as it ought on those studies 

 which lead to true glory and permanent fame. 



