1801.] 
to fay that it defcribes, in detail, all that 
concerns the forms and the habits of that 
{pecies. 
The hiftory of minerals by Buffon is 
one of thofe works which the difcoveries 
of late years rendered antique, in f{pite of 
the immortal charms of his ftyle. Citizen 
Parrin, charged with this part for one 
of the editions now publifhing of the Na- 
tural hiftory, has been obliged to make 
an entire new book of it; he there exa- 
mines minerals principally with relation 
Retrofpec? of the Fine Arts. 
139 
to the place which they occupy in the 
great edifice of the globe, to their order, 
in refpect of antiquity, to the materials 
which compofe them, and to thofe which 
accompany them: he gives the analyfis and 
the defcription of each {pecies, and indi< 
cate its ules in the arts and me icine.— 
What give a merit quite particular to 
this work, are the new and interefting 
faéts, with which the extenfive travels of 
the author have enabled him to enrich 
it. 
MONTHLY RETROSPECT OF THE FINE ARTS.. 
(Communications and the Loan of all new Prints are requefted.) 
E ina former Retrofpeé noticed 
that Bromley’s engraving, from 
Loutherbourg’s very fine piéture of the 
Siege of Valenciennes, was in a forward 
ftate. It is now finifhed, and every fub- 
{criber who is a judge of the arts, will 
think the time he has waited for the com- 
pletion of the work, amply compenfated 
in the uncommonly mafterly and fpirited 
ftyle in which it is executed ; for, with- 
out at all derogating from the merit of 
ether works, it is indifputably fuperior to 
any engraving, on a fimilar fubject, that 
has hitherto appeared in this country. To 
take off the neceflary number of impref- 
fions will be a work of fome ‘months ; 
that done, it will be publifhed for Cribb, 
Holborn, Gc. Price to fubfcribers, com- 
mon impreffions, 31. 3s. proofs, sl. 5s. 
Mr. Loutherbourg went toValenciennes 
a fhort time after it was in the poffeffion of 
the combined forces, to take a view of the - 
ruins, the entrenchments, &c. fo that this 
may be confidered as a very faithful re- 
prefentation of the place. Mr. Gillray 
accompanied him in his tour, and took the 
portraits of the moft diftinguifhed officers, 
Auftrian, &c. that were engaged in the 
fiege, and thus there is every probability 
of the portraits being refemblances. 
In fubjeéts where force and fpirit are 
requifite, where action and energy are the 
leading features in the merit of a picture, 
and where the fcenery is diverfified by a 
number of figures combined in one great 
action, and bufily aiming at one great 
end, Mr. Loutherbourg is unrivalled.~ 
In the picture from which this is engrav- 
ed he has exerted all his pewers ; and it 
is highly to the honour of Mr. Bromley, 
that he has transferred the fpirit of the 
matter from the canvas to his copper. 
The group on the dexter-fide of the 
pisture, compofed of his Royal Highnels 
_— 
cers, is well balanced by a party of Gere 
man officers on the oppofite fide ; among 
the latter, feveral Hungarians, and three © 
or four Pandours, with fierce and favage 
vifages, and bearded like the pard, forma 
ftriking contraft to the reft of the troops. 
One of thefe ferocious perfonages has a 
pair of piftols and a dagger ftuck in his 
girdle. This, we are informed, is the 
portrait of an officer whofe converfation 
was wholly made up of a narrative of the 
bloody battles in which he had been ens 
gaged, and of the multitudes whom he 
had flain with his red right-hand. 
Two or three bearded foldiers reclining 
on the foreground in the front, have an 
admirable effect: one of them has a fhort 
pipe in his mouth, and, it feems, belongs 
to an Auftrian regiment, who never goto 
battle without this appendage ; and who, 
except when eating, drinking, or fleeping, 
are always {moking. 
The horfes are admirably drawn and 
properly difcriminated ; from the fpirited 
chargers of the Duke of York and his 
Royal Brother, and the German general 
officers, tothe ftrong-built animals that 
draw the artillery. The foreground is 
extremely rich, and admirably broken, 
and the view of the blazing ruins of the 
city has a more awful and impreffive ef- 
fest than we-have often witneffed in a 
print. As far as we recollect, a large 
portion of the merit of the original pic- 
ture was comprifed in the colouring; and 
though that feems a branch of excellence 
which cannot be transferred to the copper, 
yet the brilhancy and fpirit with which 
this is engraved, gives an idea, and a very 
ftrong idea, of Mr. Loutherbourg’s pecu 
liarly {plendid tints. In this, and other 
particulars, Mr, Bromley has evinced un- 
common skill and knowledge of his pro- 
Ta feffion 3 
the Duke of York, and the Enelith offic ~ 
es 
