1800.) fs 
MONTHLY RETROSPECT OF THE FINE ARTS. 
The Loan of all new Prints and Communications of Articles of Intelligence are requefted. 
cd 
eT EE > 
Oriental Scenery. Taventy-four Views in Hindof- 
tan; taken in the Years 178g and 1790; 
drawn and engraved by Thomas Daniell, and 
with Permiffion dedicated to the Hon. Court of 
Dire&ors of the Eaft India Company. 
Twenty-four Views in Hindoflan, taken in the 
Year 17923 drawn by Thomas Daniell, and 
engraved by himfelf and William Daniell, and 
with Permiffion refpettfully dedicated to the 
Right Hon. Henry Dundas 
<intiguities of India. Twelve Views from the 
Drawings of Thomas Daniell, R. A. and 
F, S. A. Engraved by bimfelf and William 
Daniell. Taken in the Years 1790 and 17935 
Dedicated to the Society of Antiquaries of Lon- 
don, 
BE third No. of thismoft original and 
picturefque work (containing twelve 
views), was publifhed fome months fince, 
and, included with the two that preceded 
it, makes up the number of prints in imi- 
tation of drawings to fifty-four. The ar- 
tilt, with his nephew, was feveral years in 
India, and, in his zeal to enrich his port- 
folio with original and additional variety, 
appears to have travelled fome weeks 
journey farther into the country than any 
other European. His choice of the {cene- 
ry that he has explored appears to have 
been made with tafte, and the delineations 
are marked with an attention to perfpec- 
tive and proportion that can only be ex- 
celled by the fpirit and pi€turefque effect 
by which moft of the views are peculiarly 
diftinguithed. 
It was faid, and truly faid, of Piranef, 
that he imagined and delineated fcenes 
which would ftarile geometry, and eahautt 
the Indies to realize: he piled palaces on 
bridges, and temples on palaces, and {caled 
heaven with mountains of edifices: what 
tafte in his boldnefs : what grandeur inhis 
wildnefs !}—-what labour and thought both 
in his rafhnefs and detail! How muft it 
confound the bigotied admirer of Grecian 
architeéture, to perceive, as he will in this 
work, that thefe excurfive flights of an ex- 
uberant imagination, thefe gorgeous pa- 
laces, and folemn temples—this world of 
wonders, have been in a degree realized, by 
a people who were wholly unacquainted 
with the five orders of archite&ure, 
Monraty Mac. Na, 65. 
The wonderful difplay of Eaftern mag- 
nificence exhibited in the frit and fecond 
numbers, can only be conceived by in- 
{pecting the prints. It is made up of 
Hindoo and Mahomedan temples, palaces, 
forts, gates, remains of cities, and mau- 
foleums ; ‘requently upona f{cale that finks 
the tiny efforts of modern times into mere 
miniatures. 
In No. XV. we have a view of the /a- 
cred tree at Gyhpa, which affords a {trong 
proof of the univerfal prevalence of fuper- 
{tition, which feems to fourifh with nearly 
equal vigour in every foil. This tree, the 
Bramins affure the people, proceeds from 
another tree ftill more facred, which is 
growing within a very ancient temple 
under ground in the fort of Allahabad ; 
and, notwithftanding the diftance is not 
lefs than two hundred miles, the ftory ob- 
tains an eafy belief from credulous devo- 
tees, who cheerfully pay the facred fee that 
admits them to a ceremonious adoration 
of it! 
The third number principally confifts of 
the excavated antiquities of India; and 
fome of thefe are in an eminent degree cu- 
rious. No. I. is a view of the fculptured 
rocks at Mauvelaporam on the coatt of 
Coromandel, feveral of which have been 
wrought by the Hindocs into curious ar- 
chitectural forms on the outfide, and in the 
lower paft excavated for the purpofe of 
religious worfhip. Thefe rocks are of very 
hard ccarfe granite ; neverthelefs the or- 
namental parts appear to have been exe- 
cuted with a confiderable degree of {kill, 
which is very evident on the weftern fide, 
being there fheltered from the corroding 
effects of the fea-air. The centre is de-= 
corated with the figures of a lion and an 
elephant much larger than nature,—the 
character of the lion is ftrongly expreffed. 
The Hindoo temple, No. II. 1s an ex- 
cavation confifting of one large apartment 
of an oblong form, leaving a fmall temple 
attached to that fide oppofite the entrance. 
The roof is fupported on the fides and 
front by a double range of columns, all 
curioufly, and not inelegantly, formed of 
the natural rock. Thole on the outfide 
Zz | are 
