128 Fine Arts. [Chap. X 



SECTION I. 



PAINTING. 



In this noble art the century under considera- 

 tion is lionourably distinguished. From the mid- 

 dle of the seventeenth century^ till toward the 

 middle of the eighteenth, scarcely any painters 

 of first-rate excellence had appeared. The man- 

 tles of those great masters, Rubens, Vandyke, 

 Guido, and other contemporary artists, seem not 

 to have fallen upon any of their immediate suc- 

 cessors. At the commencement of the century 

 Kneller, Dahl, Richardson, Jervas, and Thornhill, 

 of Great Britain, were conspicuous in their re- 

 spective departments of painting; as were also 

 Cignani, Giordano, Maratti, Jauvenet, and many- 

 others on the continent of Europe. But these 

 artists, though unquestionably of the first class then 

 known, were inferior, particularly the former 

 group, to many who had gone before them, and 

 by no means equal to some of their successors. 



Though the eighteenth century produced fewer 

 painters of great and original genius than several 

 preceding ages, yet it is remarkable for having given 

 birth to an unprecedented number, who^ v/ith a mo- 

 derate portion of genius, and with great industry, 

 have risen to high respectability in this art. There 

 was, no doubt, more painting performed by artists 

 of this period, than during any former one of si- 

 milar extent since the art was cultivated. The 



tkgree of intelligence and accuracy of observation by no means 

 common among travellers. 



