SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A. 



Of a third picture of this year (1842), "A Pair of Brazilian Monkeys," I shall speak 

 hereafter. Another was " Ziva," a badger-dog, belonging to the Hereditary Prince 

 of Saxe Coburg-Gotha, not a beauty in itself, though of a glossy black colour : he 

 has for a companion a monkey holding in his paw an apple, which he rapidly devours 

 with unmistakeable relish ; the dog fixes his eye with intense meaning on the monkey, 

 as if he felt half-disposed to " draw " him, after the manner of a badger. The fourth 

 work that merits special note was " The Sanctuary," suggested by the following 

 passage in a poem entitled " Loch Maree," but by whom written is not stated : — 



" See where the startled wild-fowl screaming rise, 

 And seek in marshalled flight those golden skies. 

 Yon weary swimmer scarce can win the land, 

 His limbs yet falter on the watery strand. 

 Poor hunted hart ! The painful struggle o'er. 

 How blest the shelter of that island shore ! 

 There, whilst he sobs his panting heart to rest. 

 Nor hound nor hunter shall his lair molest." 



The picture, as a critic truly remarked at the time when it was exhibited, "illustrates 

 the power of a great mind over the simplest materials in composition." The immediate 

 objects are a stag, and a flock of wild ducks scared by the former from their retreat ; 

 but the poetry of the whole is such as never can be excelled in art of this kind. The 

 scene is in the Highlands, and the eye of the spectator is carried across a broad 

 expanse of lake, on the opposite shore of which the rising backs of hills come out in 

 deep shadow against the subdued light, for the sun has set behind the ridge. To 

 escape his pursuers the hunted stag has taken to the water, and has just gained footing, 

 after a lengthened swim, on an islet in the lake — " The Sanctuary." The waters of the 

 lake are smooth as glass, so that the course of the wearied animal is marked by the 

 track he has left on its surface ; while the solitude and security of the spot are shown 

 by the alarm of the stranger's appearance among the fowls, which have risen from 



■ their sheltered home, and are winging their flight to the nearest point of the mainland. 

 Their departure it is which alone breaks the perfect serenity and repose pervading the 

 entire composition. The picture was painted for the late Prince Consort. 



In the Sheepshanks collection is a work that was exhibited at the British 

 Institution in 1834, and is here engraved under the title of "The Friend in Suspense." 

 One can scarcely examine it without feeling commiseration for the noble animal 



■ waiting the re-appearance of his master, who has been carried wounded, perhaps dead, 

 into an apartment of some old baronial hall. How piercingly his eyes are fixed upon 

 the closed door, as if they would penetrate the stout oaken panels : there is something 

 quite painful in the earnest, anxious look of the dog, that indicates a feeling deeper 

 than that of " suspense ; " it is one of extreme distress ; and a clue to it may be offered 



