100 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[March, 



the size of nature, painted in 1822, about the time that the German artists, 

 commenced fresco painting. 



Fresco painting, ancient stained glass, objects in terra cotta, bronzes, 

 tessallated pavements, with painted and gilt monumental efligies, armour, and 

 old tapestries, seem to partake of the same quaUties, that of a sober, power- 

 ful, rich, and if I may so use the expression,' a ponderous character, which 

 accords not only with' each of these, but with every style of architecture. 



In opposition to this painting in distemper, turpentine and oil require to 

 be modified or humoured to suit the exact tone of the apartment ; the Vene- 

 tian artists well knew this, and their oil pictures were frequently painted 

 very rich and dark, to harmonize with coloured marbles, velvets, brocades, 

 embroidery, and carved ebony, with which they were surrounded, but as 

 form and outline were absorbed in those powerful eftects the higher style of 

 art became disregarded. 



Enough was done by Rubens to show the value of painting as an architec- 

 tural decoration ; and although the possession of the cartoons produced no 

 commissions for our native artists, yet the nobles engaged Verrio, Rizzi, Pele- 

 grini, Rousseau, Delafosse, and others, to cover the walls and ceilings with 

 their preposterous deities in silks and satins, powder and perriwigs. 



ThornhiU, an Englishman, endeavoured single handed to form a school for 

 his countrv, which was encouraged while he hved. It is however stated by 

 his son-in-law Hogarth, " that the upper end of the hall at Greenwich, where 

 the royal family is painted, was left chiefly to the pencil of M. Andrea, a 

 foreigner, after the payment originally agreed upon for the work was so 

 much reduced as made it not worth Sir James' while to finish the whole 

 with his masterly hand." 



It is curious to note the scale of charges for architectural decoration for 

 the last 200 years. That is from the arrival of Rubens in 1630 to 1730, 

 when Thornhill was in his zenith ; and from 1730 to its almost total extinc- 

 tion in 1842. 



1630 Rubens, for AVhitehaU ceiling .f 7 10 per yard 



1670 De la Fosse, British Museum 7 „ 



1690 VeiTio, exclusive of gilding (with 200/. per annum 



when blind) -^ ^2 „ 



1725 Thornhill for Greenwich 3 " « 



1730 Do. pilasters 10 » 



1775 Cipriani for cleaning the Rubens ceiUng, £2000. 

 1777 Barry for the paintings in the rooms of the Society 

 of arts, after being furnished with colours received 

 by the exhibition, £503. 2s. 

 The practice of fresco painting will be found to produce strong sensations 

 both in the artist and the public, and they will discover hidden beauties at 

 present scarcely known to exist ; it will draw the attention of the painter to 

 works of art hitherto glanced at as being out of his style— the Elgin mar- 

 bles will become properly appreciated, he will disseminate the admiration to 

 his pupUs, and through them the public wiU have their eyes opened to the 

 riches they possess in those inestimable treasures of art. 



It is objected that fresco painting caunot be removed like oil. I beg to 

 refer to those painted by Paul Veronese, and brought to this country a few 

 years since. It may be done on slate. I do not insist that fresco is either better 

 than oil or encaustic, or that it is more effective, except fo r particular pur- 

 poses, hut it has advantages over every other style ; it can be done in less 

 time for less cost, and produce a larger income to the artist ; is certain of 

 raising the arts as well as the taste of the manufactures, consequently must 

 increase the revenue of the country. 



lu fresco painting, the artist requhes numerous assistants, and some | of 

 his own creating; they must he his pupils, with them he receives premiums 

 for instruction ; he has also the benefit of their aid, and is therefore not 

 obli'i-ed to devote so much of his own manual labour to express his thoughts ; 

 and when he commences his work upon the wall it is soon dispatched, while 

 the scatTold is up and the wall damp, without waiting for its drying, and 

 then four coats of oil, and a flat before he begins. 



The al)ility of our artists in drawing is part of the great question; it will 

 be seen and more fairly decided when the sketches of foreign artists are placed 

 beside them, if tliey will come forward by the general invitation to artists of 

 every nation ; if they do not, they are not entitled to be employed. Models 

 for sculpture should be limited in size, and decided upon after three months 

 public exhiljition. 



After the first selection is made, the artist and architect would be " work- 

 ing in conjunction and in aid of each other," as desired by the select com- 

 mittee ; each would appreciate the talents of the other as they became 

 developed, and the architect would be saved the mortification of having his 



edifice encumbered by a mixture of German saints, Greek and Roman heroes, 

 and paintings of Turkish battles, all perhaps good in tl.emselves, but destruc- 

 tive to his design from their wrong application. 



It would be necessary for the architect to have proper scaffolding, and 

 other conveniences as the decorations would then really form part of his 

 undertakings and estimate. 



I must now leave this and all other remarks to your consideration, and sin- 

 cerely trust that what I have stated will be understood as not intended to 

 draw' forth opinions, but experiments. I have endeavoured to explain the 

 results of mine, and if I have made erroneous conclusions, I am sure that no 

 one will more gladly be undeceived when proofs are given to the contrary, 

 and I trust we shall be able of ourselves, not only to embellish the Houses 

 of Parliament, but all other public edifices, without foreign aid, both in oil, 

 encaustic, and fresco. 



REVIEWS. 



Papers on subjects conmckd mith the Duties of the Corps of Royal 

 Engineers. London ; John Weale, 1S42. 



We have before us the fifth volume of papers by the Royal Engineers, 

 one of increased size ; and we have not yet seen the third volume of 

 the Transactions of the Institution of Civil Engineers, although 

 upwards of two years have expired since the second volume appeared. 

 It was, in fact, in Nov. 1838, when that volume was produced; and as 

 the fir«t volume of papers bv each body was commenced at the same 

 time, there must, in our opinion, have been great remissness on the 

 part of the Institution, in allowing their military brethren to get so 

 much ahead. Want of papers can be no plea in excuse for this delav, 

 for there are plenty of them read at the meetings, many of which, well 

 worthy of publication, are doomed to seclusion in the portfolios ol the 

 society We shall not, therefore, witness the continuance of this state 

 of affairs, without feeling it our duty to comment upon it more 



strongly. „ , ■ \ a 



When it is considered that the interest of the papers is enhanced 

 by their speedy publication, we cannot but regard this delay as most 

 injurious both to the progress of science and the interests of the pro- 

 fession. The civil engineer and the royal engineer will both be judged by 

 their deeds ; and if the latter succeed in bringing forth three volumes 

 to one, they will naturally become more familiar to the public, and in the 

 end perhaps supplant the civil engineers in all government works.an en- 

 terprise which will but too well meet the encouragement of the ruling 

 powers. When it is further considered that the royal engineers are 

 united on this occasion merely by a private compact, and that the 

 civil engineers form an incorporated body, we think it becomes the 

 bounden duty of the Institution to be more zealous in their exertions, 

 and more liberal in their measures. It is their duty to promote science, 

 and to diffuse information; for the more the public beconies enlight- 

 ened as to the powers of the engineers, the more will they be disposed 

 to encourage public works. . ^, , , 



Havino- said thus much, we shall proceed to examine the contents 

 of the vdume before us, of which the first two papers are purely 

 military. The third paper is on the removal of a wreck ; and the 

 next paper on the Madras Lighthouse, and the mode of its illumination. 

 The fifth paper, by Lieut. Nelson, R.E., treats of the varieties of tim- 

 ber, and has tables of their degrees of strength. Many of the speci- 

 mens are of woods upon which hitherto no report has been made. 

 We regret to observe, as we have on previous occasions of this kind, tliat 

 the experiments were not made on larger scantlings; nevertheless tlie 

 paper appears to be got up with care, and to be more copious than 

 any we have yet seen. The next paper is on the canal navigation ot 

 the Canadas, by Lt. Col. Philpotts, illustrated with maps and a plan, 

 sections, and details of one of the locks. The seventh is a description 

 of a traversing crane of considerable strength, used by the Butterley 

 company, well adapted for raising great weights, communicated by 

 Mr. Joseph Glynn. The eighth is an interesting paper by Major 

 Jones, R.E., on'the method of building in Malta. The next paper, on 

 drawbridges, is a valuable communication from Lieut. Douglas Ciatton, 

 R.E., chiefly derived from the French of M. Poncelet. It isiUus- 

 trated with three plates, containing several varieties of this kind 

 of bridge. The tenth jiaper illustrates, in much detail, Mr. Napier s 

 machinery for the manufacture of leaden bullets by compression, by 

 which 25,000 bullets can be produced in a day. In the next paper 

 the editor describes the new dock constructed at Woolwich under his 



