Nature and Art, July 1, I860.] 
ON MUMMIES. 
45 
THE FRENCH AND FLEMISH EXHIBITION. 
A N exhibition of pictures of the French and Flemish 
schools is now, for the thirteenth time, open, under the 
direction of Mr. E. Gambart, at his Gallery, No. 120, Pall 
Mall, and is not one of the least pleasant resorts in town. 
The connections of Mr. Gambart with the Art world of the 
Continent are so wide and have been so long established, 
and his taste is so unquestioned, that the almost universal 
merit of the collection is no matter of surprise. Comprising 
but 218 works, by about half that number of artists, it 
neither fatigues nor dazzles the visitor, who may, neverthe- 
less, in a couple of hours, derive a variety of very delightful 
impressions. 
There are minor examples of Bosa Bonheur and Gallait — 
the latter not altogether satisfactory. Baron Leys is repre- 
sented by three extraordinary revivals of mediseval Dutch 
life and characters, and is to our thinking surpassed in his 
own peculiarities by his pupil, V. Lagye, whose “ Sunday 
Afternoon” is, in parts, simply wondrous. By Madame E. 
Jerichau, of the Eoyal Danish Academy, six small and 
highly-finished paintings of domestic subjects are deservedly 
popular. “The Lesson,” “The Morning Toilet,” and “Tired 
out,” all by Max Michael, works of the same character, 
must by this time have found new owners. It was a satis- 
faction to find that an old and daring friend, Biard, who is 
well remembered as the painter of “ The Pirate’s Deck,” 
some years ago, has not fallen a victim to his passion for 
Northern adventure. His “Souvenir of Central America” 
and “ Lapland Lovers off Cape North” show us that a hand 
we feared was cold has not lost its cunning. The great 
Meissonnier — whose minutely-finished morceaux are striven 
for by all who can buy, and sighed for by many who cannot 
— has two exquisite subjects of military character, to praise 
which would be impertinent ; and he too, it would seem, 
has pupils, Buiperez and Zamacois, who will not be un- 
ambitious of the mantle, should it, regrettably, be at liberty. 
An extremely fine work is “The Bashi-Bazouks” of Adolphe 
Schreyer. The magnificent steed who leaps the stream is 
as effective in colour as in drawing. We cannot open our- 
selves to the reproach of blindness by not naming the two 
other Bonheurs, Auguste and Juliette. The “ Meadow 
Scene” of the former and “The Twins” of the latter are 
both admirable in their way. Among the most notable 
dexterities here are “ The Nun” of Madame Henriette 
Browne (whose face is seen through a crape veil), and the 
satin gown — the one attraction — in Joseph Cormans’ “Lucy 
Ashton ;” and Eugene Verboeckhoven’s delighful “ Flemish 
Meadows — Morning” and “ ditto — Evening” will arrest all 
who share our love of nature and truth. We must, how- 
ever, take en passant a playful exception to the suggestion 
of the catalogue that the range of hills represented in the 
latter work bounds any Flemish horizon. No scholar, no 
artist, no admirer of hard study and uncompromising truth, 
may pass the very remarkable productions of Alma-Tadema, 
a pupil of the Baron Leys and a Paris first-class medallist. 
The first, serially, is “The Portico of a Boman Theatre 
and the artist has shown the descent of a Boman grande 
dame from a cleverly-studied, but of course somewhat 
apocryphal, car of the period, at the portal of the Boman 
amphitheatre. A gentleman hands her politely from her 
one-horse “ pilentum,” and another lady seems to have her 
husband waiting for herself and her boy. Here we have 
pallaj, toga, stole, tunic, and all the minutiae and accessories 
of Boman costume, even to the chignon and frizzled curls of 
the time, reproduced with a most commendable fidelity 
and, at the same time, with satisfactory breadth. The 
supernumerary characters in the foreground, and even a 
portion of the public, of whom we have a glimpse, seated in 
the auditorium, are as carefully and intelligently studied as 
the principal figures. There is a degree of hardness in 
Tadema’s treatment of drapery which is apt to strike some 
observers unpleasantly, but as to its admirable lines there 
can be no controversy. 
The gem of the collection we have yet to refer to — the 
“ Phryne” of Jean Leon Gerome, a work with which the 
artistic public are already familiar through a published 
photograph. The story runs that an advocate, defending 
Phryne before the tribunal of the Areopagus on a charge of 
impiety, enforced his peroration by disclosing to the court a 
portion of his client’s charms, thus appealing to the highly- 
cultivated sense of Beauty that so strongly influenced the 
Greek mind. This startling episode the great pupil of the 
great Delaroche has depicted in a startling manner ; in fact, 
he has permitted his pleader to disclose Phryne in absolute 
nudity. The drawing and colour, both of the principal 
figure and of the partly scandalized, partly charmed, and 
wholly amazed tribunal — the latter, as may be imagined, 
offering a great variety of expressions — have attracted so 
much observation, and have been so lauded by the most 
recognised authorities, that we will not weary our readers 
with a rdcha/uffe of criticisms which have left little of 
eulogy unsaid. 
Before closing our notes we have only to recommend to 
the visitor the “Arabs in Ambush,” No. 180, and D’Aubigny’s 
very large, gloomy, and grand landscape, No. 50, — hinting 
at the same time, that the effect of this canvass cannot 
be appreciated at a less distance than from fifteen or twenty 
feet. Happily, the space at Mr. Gambart’s disposal allows 
every work in his interesting collection to be seen from a 
suitable point of view. 
0 NT MUMMIES. 
By S. Birch, LL.D. 
B EFORE describing the ceremony of embalming, 
and the decorations of the dead, it will not 
be unintereating to trace, as far as monumental and 
literary evidence admits, the sketch of the life of 
one of the mummies that lay in the tombs of 
Gourneh. The children of the upper class were 
first committed to the care of a nurse. After their 
first infancy, they passed under the direction of a 
tutor. By him they were taught to read ; the 
works they read were the so-called Hermetic books, 
supposed to have been written by Thoth himself. 
These books treated of religion, ethics, grammar, 
and the narrow circle of the sciences known to 
an Egyptian. If destined for the priesthood, or to 
exercise the profession of a scribe, the youth passed 
into one of the colleges attached to the temples of 
the principal cities, and there perfected his education. 
According to the works which have escaped the 
ravages of time and the destruction of the Arabs, 
there was “nothing like learning.” It elevated its 
follower to the highest ranks, and proffered to him 
the noblest rewards. Every other walk or pro- 
