1850.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



367 



ART IN MUNICH. 



A GREAT festival of the artists and artisans had been for some 

 time in active preparation, but the unpropitious state of the wea- 

 ther on the 3rd instant, prevented its full external development. 

 Still the many persons present on this occasion were fully recom- 

 pensed by the view of one of the chief art-undertakinj^s of the 

 modern German school — we mean the Niebelungen frescoes of 

 Schnorr, on the ground-floor of the New Palace at Munich. It is 

 much to be regretted, however, that the artist has been prevented 

 of late, by a complaint in his eyes, from attending to his work witli 

 his usual vigour; still he has been most efficiently assisted by 

 Director Jager of Leipsie, whom he had already employed in a 

 similar way in the Emperor's Halls of the same palace. Tlie ])ic- 

 tures offered to view on the above occasion, were the so-called 

 Saloon of Vengeance, and represent the strife of the Niebelungen 

 with the Huns. The colours of the walls on which they are 

 painted, is scarlet decorated with gold. In the midst of the ceiling 

 are to be seen the prophetic Nereides, in the act of foretelling the 

 events to the hero, whose coats of arms surround the picture. 

 On the minor compartments of the ceiling, Queen Clirinihild is 

 represented calling the warrior Huns to her aid, &c. The Lunettes 

 contain four other pictures of similar subjects. We see Hagen, 

 the monk, thrown overboard, as he was to be the only one saved, 

 according to prophetic foresight. The four great pictures on tlie 

 walls are said to be the best Schnorr ever executed, as for instance 

 the contest on the burning staircase of the palace, a work full of 

 poetical composition and grandeur. 



On the 7th instant, died Charles Schnorr, Professor at the Royal 

 Academy of Arts, thus following soon his friend Rottmann. It is 

 to be regretted, that he has not been able to tinisli the great pic- 

 ture of the Flood, made by order of King Louis of Bavaria. 



The number of fires has been so great last year, that according 

 to a notice of the Minister of Public Works, the income of the 

 Insurance Office, amounting to 94'4',OOOfl., is not sufficient to pay 

 the premiums; and an additional per centage is to be levied on the 

 contributories. 



ART ON THE RHINE. 



The Gothic church of the Minoresses, at Cologne, erected about 

 the year 12*20, and consequently coeval with the superb Cathedral, 

 has hitherto been allowed to fall into a state of great decay, as all 

 the care was absorbed by the larger building. It had long been 

 used as an oratory by the Administration of the Poor, but lately 

 surrendered to the Society for tlie Improvement of Churches. It 

 is one of the finest specimens of pure Gothic architecture, and the 

 restoration has begun by the rebuilding of the lower gallery of the 

 choir, which almost threatened destruction. On the 1st of Octo- 

 ber an appropriate public festival took place, when the foundation 

 stone for the thorough restoration was laid, which, when completed, 

 will add to the many architectural curiosities of this ancient city 

 on the Rhine. 



The south portal of the Cathedral of Cologne has received some 

 additional ornaments in the five statues representing the Saviour 

 and four apostles, which have been placed in the perforated gable. 

 They are from the atelier of the sculptor Mohr, who has also made 

 the ornaments to the cenotaph of Conrad von Hochstitten in the 

 cathedral. The painter, M. Levy Elken, is preparing a new work 

 — the laying of the foundation stone of that edifice, a.d. 1220. 



The annual Art Exhibition at Dusseldorf has just concluded, 

 and is considered to have been a very good one. M. Oer's picture, 

 the death of Tasso in the Convent of St. Orafico at Rome, and 

 M. Valkhart's Knox before Mary Queen of Scots, are most praised. 

 In sculpture, nothing worthy of notice has been produced. 



Some idea may be formed of the throng of articles which Lon- 

 don will experience during the Exhibition of 1851, by the fact that 

 at the Committee-rooms of Dusseldorf on the Rhine, from that 

 single district of Rhenish Prussia, two hundred and fifty persons 

 have already inscribed their names as exhibitors. 



Berlin. — It is stated that the collection of portraits of cele- 

 brated contemporary men of that capital formed by the king in 

 his palace there has been transferred to the Marble Palace at 

 Potsdam. This collection, to be increased from time to time, now 

 contains the portraits of Baron Alexander de Humboldt, MM. de 

 Schelling, Godfrey Schadow and Ranch, Baron Cornelius, Meyer- 

 beer, Louis Tieck, Ritter the geographer, Leopold de Buch the 

 geologist, and Ideler and Bessel the astronomers, — Athenoeum. 



PARIS NOTES. 



Road Statistics of Paris and London. — The report of M. 

 Darcy, divisional inspector of the Pouts et Chausse'es, who has 

 been to England to obtain information relative to the macadamised 

 roads, has just been published. In this work we find the following 

 particulars relative to the population, extent of the streets, &c. 

 in Paris and London: — The total surface of London is 210 millions 

 of square metres; its population, 1,924,000; number of houses, 

 260,000; extent of the streets, 1,126,000 metres; extent of the 

 streets, not including the foot pavement, 6 millions of metres; 

 extent of the sewers, 639,000 metres. The total surface of Paris 

 is 34',379,016 square metres; population, 1,053,879; number of 

 houses, 20,526; extent of the streets, 425,000 metres; surface of the 

 streets, exclusive of the foot pavement, 3,600,000 square metres; 

 length of the sewers, 135,900 metres; surface of the foot pave- 

 ment, 888,000 metres. Thus, in London every inhabitant corre- 

 sponds to a surface of 100 metres, at Paris to 34 metres. In 

 London, the average of inhabitants for each house is 7^; at Paris 

 34. At London the average of length for each house coi responds 

 to 40m. 40c.; at Paris to a length of street of 15 metres, i hese 

 details established tlie ditference which exists between the two cities, 

 from which it appears that there is in London a great extent of 

 surface not built over; that the houses are not very high, and that 

 almost every family has its own. The Boulevards of Paris is the 

 part where the greatest circulation takes place, and the following 

 are the results of the observations of M. Darcy on this subject. 

 On the Boulevard des Capucines there pass every twenty-four 

 hours 9,070 horses drawing carriages; Boulevard des Italiens, 

 10,750; Boulevard Poissonniere, 7,720; Boulevard St. Denis, 9,609; 

 Boulevard des FiUes du Calvaire, 5,856; general average of the 

 above, 8,600. Rue de Faubourg St. Antoine, 4,300; Avenue des 

 Champs-Elysees, 8,959. At London, in Pall Mall, opposite the 

 Queen's Theatre, there pass at least 800 carriages every hour; on 

 London Bridge not less 13,000 every hour. On Westminster 

 Bridge the annual circulation amounts to not less than 8 millions 

 of horses. )iy this it will be seen that the circulation in Paris 

 does not come up to one-half of what it is in the macadamised 

 streets of London. 



Sewerage of Paris. — From the report of M. Darcy, quoted 

 above, it also appears that there are 135,900 yards of sewers in 

 Palis and witliout the walls, without including 4500 metres of 

 private sewers ; most of these sewers are cleaned twice a-week, 

 some only once, and scmie few require to be visited every day. 

 The number of workmen employed per day is 90, and the expense 

 of the whole service is 122,51 If. a-year. The sewers are in a 

 good state, and may be passed through without danger to the 

 health at any time. In the removal of mud, &c., from the streets 

 there are employed every day on an average 345 carts, 523 horses, 

 and 95 asses ; the quantity of matter amounts to about 700 cubic 

 yards, and it is conveyed to at least 2000 yards from the Barriers. 

 There are at present 1784 water-plugs, from which water flows 

 three hours a-day to wash the gutters; they give altogether 1784 

 quarts of water per second, and othei's are to be established. The 

 streets watered in Paris, including the promenades in the Bois de 

 Boulogne, are 860,000 yards in extent ; if all the paved streets 

 were watered the extent would be 3,600,000 yards. The number 

 of water-carts employed is 106 ; and the expense is 15l,876f. 

 a-year. The total cost of the sanitary operations in Paris is 

 2,663,000f., or 2f. 66c. for each inhabitant. 



Security of Bridges in Paris. — A commission of engineers 

 connected with the Board of Roads and Bridges, have examined 

 the suspension bridges of the Invalides, de la Cite, de la Reforme, 

 and de Constantine, by special order. The report speaks of their 

 generally good state of repair, but recommends the making of 

 experiments at the Reforme and Constantine bridges, for testing 

 the solidity of the chains and platforms. An expedient has been 

 recommended, which, if put in practice, will prevent many serious 

 accidents. It consists in the construction of strong gates of iron 

 or timber at the entrance of suspension bridges, and the appoint- 

 ment of special officers w hose duty it would be to close these gates, 

 as often as the thronging of too great numbers of people might 

 threaten the rupture of the suspensory chains. It is also projected 

 to erect, in lieu of the present Pont de la Reforme suspension 

 bridge, one of stone; and plans have already been sent in. As the 

 clearing of the space before the Hotel de Ville and the Rue de 

 Chalons are soon to be effected, the providing for the crossing of a 

 greater number of foot passengers and carriages, at this part of 

 the Seine, will have become absolutely necessary. 



