A DAY IN LONDON 291 



will tell you what struck us most as we wandered 

 through the rooms there, in the way we used to do at the 

 old Academy in Trafalgar Square, when we were young 

 and enthusiastic. First, I took my friend to the work that I 

 admired most, which, I beUeve, will no more die in the gene- 

 rations to come than that of either Eaphael or Benvenuto 

 Cellini has died, though it wiU be more or less admired ac- 

 cording to the fashion of the day. Mr. Gilbert, the sculp- 

 tor, is in my opinion one of the greatest geniuses we have 

 amongst us just now, and his exhibited work in 1896 shows 

 with pecuUar force the comprehensiveness of his talent. 

 Is not the stretch between the massive, splendid portrait- 

 bust of Professor Owen, and the exquisitely finished, subtle, 

 little full-length figure of St. George, all that the Colossus 

 of Ehodes could boast — a foot on either shore ? With the 

 assertiveness of the true artist he must have insisted on the 

 hiding of the hideous colour on the waUs, and hung a piece 

 of yellow-brown drapery, which harmonises splendidly 

 with his plaster cast. We crossed the room to look at the 

 least remarkable work of the three, perhaps, artistically 

 speaking ; and yet how the bust of Sir George Grove 

 stands out and lives, and almost breathes, compared vrith 

 the cold dead heads that surround it ! It has not the 

 colour of life nor the vulgar realism of waxwork, but the 

 plain chalk cast is a man of flesh and blood, rugged and 

 strong. Then we went back to the St. George, and 

 enjoyed it for ten minutes. Perhaps we shaU never see 

 again its exquisite beauty — the little hands that express 

 so much feeltag ; the sad, gentle face, almost mourning 

 over the worthlessness of human greatness, though the 

 dead dragon lies coiled about his feet, and the princess is 

 to be his bride ! Look at the cross-handled sword, and 

 the helmet, and the armour, and think of all it means, in 

 these days of cheap work, to put all that is here into one 

 smaU figure, which is, after all, only a portion of a railing 



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