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620 Account of the Marquis of Stafford's Gallery of Pictures. 
scale, in their landscape scenery. 
the propriety of such a mixture it is not 
withm our critical rules to decide; the 
matter must be left a good deal to the 
fancy and imagination of the spectator, 
which being often capricious and inven- 
tive, prefers the pomp of ornamental 
fioures to those of simple nature. It is 
much to be belheved, however, that the 
placid emotions raised in the mind by 
the contemplation of the charming scenes 
of Berghem, with his cattle and rural 
figures, or of Ruysdael, being appropriate 
to the impressions, which the scene ex- 
cites, are more consonant to our judg- 
ment than the representations of ancient 
mythology. It was formerly a doubt 
whether the antient painters of Rome 
and Greece were acquainted with the 
art of landscape-painting, or whether it 
might not be considered as being entirely 
a modern invention, although one'should 
suppose that the art of gardening would 
naturally lead them to the delineation of 
landscapes. This doubt has, however, 
been completely removed by the disco- 
veries lately made at Herculaneum and 
Pompeii; several of the walls of the an- 
cient houses there, as well asthe ceilings, 
are found to be embellished with beauti- 
ful landscapes. In these the diminution 
of distant objects is carefully marked, the 
foliage of the trees and the clouds are 
excellent in their way, the contrast of the 
forms, and, abeve all, the perspective of 
the buildings, 1s accurately observed. 
From these instances it must be fairly al- 
lowed that the ancients had arrived at a 
very considerable degree of taste in land- 
seape painting; but amongst the mo- 
derns, Paul Brill, an artist of the Italian 
school, was the first who brought it into 
any degree of repute; soon afterwards 
the Flemish school, under Breughel and 
his followers, rose to a considerable de- 
gree of elegance and truth. The chief 
fault of these early painters is generally 
iound in their distances being much too 
blue, and their objects too hard and dis- 
tinct. Immediately after their period 
2rose Salvator, Po ussin, and Claude, three 
eminent contemporaries, who carried 
‘the art to its utmost perfection, and who 
have never since been excelled by any 
succeeding painters. In the very difficult 
adjustin ee of his morning and ev ing 
tints, Claude Lorrain stands Fane ffs 
to say the truth, he seems to have pos- 
sessed a secret in respect to the aérial 
colouring, ‘to which only Cuvp and Wil- 
son have been able since to attain. In 
Of the bold and romantic choice pr dhyccts . 
Salvator Rosa is unequalled. Poussin’s 
subjects have a fine force of effect, whichis 
partly owing to his large masses of shade, 
but this samefifees degenerates ito hea- 
viness, and like Salvator, he is often too 
brown and dusky in his colouring. 
Amongst the Flemish painters who sue- 
ceeded to the excellencies of the Italian 
schoo], may be reckoned Swaneveldt, 
Milé, "Ruysdacl, and Wynants. Brice 
this, our English school has produced one 
illustrious painter, who, upon a fair esti- 
mation, may be said to combine the va- 
rious becellencies of them all, in his 
skies equal to Claude le Lorrain; in force 
and richness similar to Poussin; in poe- 
tical fancy and native wildness of ima- 
gery, as powerful as Salvator; in taste 
and finish, resembling Gwanerelide Need 
the ae, to be told Sof Richard Wilson, 
‘the author of Niobe and Procris, so se 
rally engraved by Woolctt? Since this 
period, a gaudy s ile of colouring, totally 
inconsistent with nature or taste, has 
usurped the canvas, and to the great ho- 
nour of the present age, has me with 
the disregard which it so wel: me- 
rited. It was reserved for Mr. Glover to 
embody in bis water-colour drawings all 
the lucid and beautiful effects which 
this method of painting was-hitherto - 
thought incapable of producing. 
- Lwo Landscapes, by Frangois Milé. 
Francuis Milé, or Milois, adopted the 
style of Gasper Poussin, which he very 
much improved by travelling out of his 
native country, Flanders. Therei is a plea- 
sant variety in the form of his trees and 
buildings; his lights however are not kept 
sufficiently into one mass ; which circum-_ 
stance gives the objects a divided appear- 
ance, and his brown tints sometimes pre- 
dominate too much. ‘These two pictures 
however do ample credit to the genius of 
the artist, who was unfortunately cut off 
by poison, before he had attained to a full 
perfection in his art. 
Two Landscapes, by Domenichino. 
It is well for Domenichino’s fame that 
his chief credit lies rather in his historical 
productions than his landscapes: there is 
a wildness and a character of sequestered 
gloom in these two pictures, which is 
very striking; the trees are richly dis- 
posed, on the blue distances and skies 
do not harmonize very well with the 
other hae . The masses of light and sha- 
dow are broad and well’ wah 
He 
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