280 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



LSeptembeb, 



height and wiiltli of tho !j;illory. The pictures are arransi^d sys- 

 tematically, accoriliiiff to the several scIkioIs of paintiiif;; the col- 

 lection of sciil|itiires is contained in three nohle apartments heloiv 

 the picture ^rallcry. 



The (Jlyptothek, or Snili)tiire Gallery of Munich, exhihits the 

 adaptation of classic architecture, with nearly the same construc- 

 tive projiriety as the edifice ahove descrihed. The characteristic 

 feature of the Glyptotliek is its pediment, which however is not 

 fixed ai.Miiist a hlank wall for iinmenninf; ornament, hut is the real 

 gahle-end of a real roof. The tympanum is richly adorned with 

 sculpture, an<l the entahlature is supported hy a doulde ran^re of 

 Ionic unHuted cidumiis. On either side of the central jjilc are 

 winjjs, havincf distinct an<l lower roofs. The preat defect of the 

 buildiuff is the surface of hlank wall which is displayed hy these 

 winps, and which is only imperfectly relieved hy pilasters and 

 niches, surmounted, uidiappily, hy minature pediments. Exactly 

 opposite the (ilyptothek is the School of xVrt and Industry, resem- 

 hling it in the main features of a central portico and side wings, 

 but far superior in its general effect. For in the latter huilding 

 the pediment is loftier, and supported hy magnificent lluted Corin- 

 thian columns. The wings are without the ohjectionahle pedi- 

 ments, and the blankiiess of the walls is far more perfectly relieved 

 than in the G y|)tothek, by regular ranges of b(dd pilasters. 



The I'inacotiiek, or Pictuie Gallery of Munich, is chiefly ad- 

 miralile for its interior arrangement and decorations. The front 

 somewhat resendjles in form, though it greatly exceeds in size, 

 the river front of Trinity College, Cambridge; and botii buildings 

 have the common defect, that the space occupied by windows bears 

 too large a proportion to the rest of the exterior surface. Here, as 

 at Berlin, the pictures ai'e systematically arranged according to 

 their schools, but the classification is even more perfectly effected. 

 The gallery consists of a continued range of nine halls, communi- 

 cating by central doorways, through which a vista extends the 

 entire length of the building. There is a parallel range of cabinets, 

 or smaller apartments, each of which communicates directly with 

 its adjacent hall, and contains the smaller <u- cabinet pictures of 

 the same scho(d and epoch as the larger works in the hall adjoining. 

 The spectator who visits each hall and its appendant cabinets in 

 due succession, progresses gradually from the earliest German school 

 of Alliert Durer and Van Eyck to the perfect development of 

 Italian art, in the works of Carlo Dolce, Titian, and Correggio. 



The Dresden Gallery as far exceeds in extent the galleries of 

 Munich and IJerlin as do tliese that of London. And yet this most 

 wonderful collection is housed in a building nearly as ugly as our 

 own National Gallery. The ari-angement of it for the purpose of 

 exhibiting its treasures is however innueasurably sui)erior. The 

 g'allery is contained in a square building, with an inner court; and 

 is there of the form of a hollow square, which is divided into two 

 others by a (|uadrilateral partition, nearly midway between the 

 inter walls and the sides of the inner court; so that there are two 

 quadrilateral ranges of apartments, one within the otiier. 



Here are none of the gorgeous architectural decorations of 

 Berlin, or the elaborately tesselated floois and richly gilded ceil- 

 ings of Munich ; but the plainness of the casket is amply compen- 

 sated for by the richness of its jewels. A lover of art unaccustomed 

 to that profusion of pictorial wealth which Italy alone possesses, 

 views with amazement the enormous niuuber of masterpieces which 

 the capital of the little kingdom of Saxony possesses. The Ma- 

 donna and Cliild of Ka|ihael attract homage, which is not the mere 

 hypocrisy of dilettanti-ism: there is a secret magic in the picture, 

 which rivets the attentionof the humble artisan and simjile country- 

 woman. It is before that picture that the greatest throng is seen, 

 when on Sundays the gallery is most accessible to tlie poor and 

 illiterate; (or in Dresden picture-seeing is C(uisidered a nwjre suit- 

 able occupation for the populace (ui Sunday than dram-drinking. 



Whole rooms-full of nuister-pieces of Titian, Correggio, Rem- 

 brandt, ami Rubens; ])erfect si)ecimens of every variety of art, 

 from the minute Flemish pictures of low life to the loftiest of 

 Italian rej)resentations of history; from the sweet simplicity of 

 Murillo's peasants to the proud dignity of Rendirandt and the 

 luxury of Titian; the tranquil sunset of Claude and the wild 

 storm scene of Salvator Rosa — all are there. The eye becomes at 

 last sated, not wearied, with the beautiful; and yet even when his 

 powers of attention have been exhausted, the stranger feels re- 

 luctant to turn away, for the mere consciousness of being among 

 the nol)lest efforts of genius and art is a fascination to him. 



It is with a feeling of hunnliation and painful regret that we 

 turn to the degradation of art in the largest capital in the world. 

 What insufferable sordidness anil perversion of taste are C(mcen- 

 trated — quintessenced — in our Trafalgar Square! Not to speak of 



the "hideous absurdities" dotted about it — the contemptible foun- 

 tains and monstrous column! what but inevitable necessity or 

 a long education in the rules of bad taste could recom-ile us to the 

 pile in which our scanty store of pictures is huddled .'' t)ne half 

 the building, w retched as it is, is not our own, but given away to a 

 company whose traffic in an annual raree-show debars the nation 

 from enlarging its collection by purchase or private munificence 

 and compels the crowding what pictures we have, without system 

 or method, half out of view, into ill-ventilated, ill-planned rooms 

 or dark underground cellars. 



It has been objected to the extension of the national collection, 

 that a general taste for art would render the people effeminate 

 and ultimately licentious; and we are referred to those ages and 

 nations which have been most devoted to art, as examples of ex- 

 treme profligacy. Let us concede that licentiousness and pro- 

 fessed love of art held sway in the court of Louis XIV.; the art 

 was as licentious as the morals of the court, the offspring not the 

 parent of luxury. An idle, self-imlulgent people like the Italians, 

 will encourage painting among other sources of enjoyment; a plea- 

 sure-taking Bavarian monarch recreate himself in adorning his 

 capital. What then? does it follow that because vice encourages 

 art, art encourages vice? By no means; for in all instances which 

 can be referred to on the subject, the element of self-indulgence 

 already exists precedent to the encouragement of art. But to show 

 that such encouragement has itself a vicious tendency, it would be 

 necessary to cite instances of its producing corruption where none 

 ]u-eviously existed. Such instances are wanting. On the con- 

 trary, we see the honest, true-hearted Germans devoting them- 

 selves to music without losing their simplicity of manners (except- 

 ing in those capitals where independent causes of contamination 

 exist); the hardworking Flemings retaining their industry amidst 

 the uni)aralleled fertility of their scluud of painting. 



The English are eminently a hard-working people. The pea- 

 sant works hard a-field, the country gentleman at sessions; the 

 mechanic toils at the loom, tlie duke at public business, and our 

 very sports are severer labour than the daily toil of other nations. 

 We rise up early, and late take rest, and eat the bread of careful- 

 ness. Is there the slightest chance that the occasional inspection 

 of a picture gallery will destroy this element of the national cha- 

 racter, and render the people inert? On the contrary, the neces- 

 sity for industry is goading them the other way. 



The fact is, that all work and no play is making John Bull 

 rather a dull boy. He has not holidays enough, and he does not 

 know how to enjoy those he has. He requires more indulgence 

 than a lecture on carbon at the mechanics' institute, or the even- 

 ing class for improving his mind after work-houis. If extra indul- 

 gence be not granted him of a rational kind, he will find it for 

 himself of an irrational kind in the follies of the casino and horse 

 race. 



The British Museum is a growing institution — why should not 

 the National Gallery grow also ? The British collection of mar- 

 bles is not so very far inferior to those of other nations, because it 

 receives constant accessions. Even within the last year or two, its 

 additions have been extensive and valuable, and the expense of 

 them is reimbursed by the nation ungrudgingly. But the collec- 

 tion of ancient masters of painting makes no progress, simply 

 because there is not room provided for more pictures. To allege 

 that no more chi'fs tl'wnvres are obtainable because they are all 

 secured for other collections, is to ignore the fact that within a 

 comparatively recent period a large and invaluable collection was 

 disgracefully lost to this country and deposited in the Louvre. 

 Such opportunities, once neglected, seldom recur; but others of a 

 minor nature still occasionally offer themselves, and a vigilant 

 administration of the National Gallery, together with increase of 

 room, might still render a resiiectable collection possible. On the 

 l)rinfiple that any building is better than none at all, an incessant 

 din ought to be kept up alxiut the ears of government, until the 

 half of tlie present Gallery of which the iiublic has been so long 

 defrauded, has been restored, or the whole enlarged by an upper 

 story. Such a superstructure, if designed with taste, would remove 

 scM-ral elements of the hideousness of the present building. The 

 dispnquirtiiui of the length to the height wcuild be mitigated, and 

 we miglit even dare to hope that the sham dome would disappear. 

 The i)ile mii;ht be made to look better — we know that there is no 

 fear of its b.-ing made worse; and even if all its worst features 

 weve retained — wliy the English are so disciplined in the school of 

 deformity, that they would submit to the infliction with exemplary 

 resignation. 



