1810.] 
arts; but their respective kinds of en- 
thusiasm were very different, and it was 
not easy for them to understand each 
ether. 
At length Carstens arrived at Lubec, 
where he resolved to fix nis abode, His 
journey, unfortunate as it had proved, 
had notwithstanding supplied hin with 
a multitude.of newideas ; and no painter 
ean visit Switzerland, and contemplate 
the pictures of Julio Romano and Leonar- 
do da Vinci, in vain. Carstens remained 
nearly five years at Lubec. While he staid 
here,* portrait-painting was his only re- 
source; but this business was incapable 
of slackening his application to works of 
a more elevated character. Ile conti- 
nued to pursue his historical career, ta- 
King his subjects principally from ILomer, 
the ancient Greek tragedians, Shakes- 
peare, Pindar, Ossian, and from the 
odes of Klopstock. He endeavoured. to 
form his style by studying engravings 
from the works of Raphael, Michael 
Angelo, Julio Romano, Polydore, Cara- 
vaggio, Annibal Caracci, and Pietro 
Testa; but how could he hope ever to 
see the orizinals? 
Among the productions of his cotem- 
poraries, Carstens admired those only 
wlich joined to beauty of execution, 
grandeur of subject and justness of com- 
position,. Whatever was mercly band- 
some, without having a decided charac- 
ter, made no impression on him. Next 
to the works of the ancients, those of 
Michael Angelo had the first rank in the 
models of style which he had adopted ; 
yet he had no knowledge of them but 
through the medium of engravings. At 
a Jater per:od, when he was able to ad- 
mire the master-pieces of Raphael at 
Rome, le gave tlie pre-eminence to this 
master; but without any diminution of 
the admiration with which he regarded 
Michael Angelo. 
From this time Carstens had conceived 
a particular taste for allegorical repre- 
sentations, and he continued long at- 
tached tothem, The engravings of Pie- 
tro Testa, and Winckelimann’s Essay on 
Allegory, had inspired hin with this taste. 
He was also inclined to this kind of com- 
position by the natural tendency of his 
genius, which preferred subjects charac. 
terised by depth of thought, and espe- 
cially symbolical representations. What- 
ever critical opinions may be formed as 
to the choice of the subjects which he 
has treated allegorically, it is certain 
that his compositions have the peculiar 
t 
merit of a perfect anralogy with the 
« 
Memoirs of the Life and Works of Carstens. 455 
r 
thoughts which they are intended to ex-= 
press. One may sec that the imaginas 
tion of Carstens transported itself at aa 
early age to the heroic times of ancient 
mythology; and # comparison of his 
different works proves that these subjects 
were the most suitable to his talents, 
From his study of the master-pieces of 
antiquity, Carstens necessarily became 
attached to the principle of ideal compo- 
sitions, and not to the servile imitation 
of individual objects: this is incontesta- 
bly proved by his first productions. In- 
these may be discovered a tendency to 
that purity of forms and of outlines, to 
those graceful positions, and to that cha- 
racter of grandeur and strength, which 
so eminently distingaish the ancients: 
but we remark also a certain harshness 
arising from too scrupulous an observance 
of this principle; a defect which can 
only be corrected by a mixture of indi- 
vidual beauties copied from nature, and 
which, united with ideal subjects, con- 
stitute the perfection of style and of 
art. 
Carstens had a tolerable knowledge of 
the human body, and he neglected no 
opportunity of grounding this study on 
nature itself. When, for instance, he 
was bathing with his friends, he caused 
them to take different positions, of which 
he caught all the varieties with an astoe 
nishing sagacity. He felt however that 
he was not sufiiciently familiar with the 
true principles of anatomy; and. unfor- 
tunately his situation did not always 
offer him means of supplying this defect, 
As to perspective, and the just distribr- 
tion of light and shade, he knew ao- 
thing of these subjects but what he had 
learnt from mature. Butit was particu- 
larly in colouring that he was the most 
deficient, The narrowness of his cir- 
cumstances did not allow him_to under- 
take oil-paintings’ which he had no pro- 
spect of disposing of, and hence he was 
compelled to execute his compositions 
without giving them the perfection of 
which they were susceptible. 
When Carstens had been five years 
at Lubec, a fortunate incident procured 
him an acquaintance withthe poet Over- 
beck, who was very much surprised at 
discovering, in the little snoky apartmenc 
of our artist, designs worthy of adorning 
‘the most splendid saloons. He introe 
duced him to the counsellor Matthew 
Rodde, who possessed a fine collection 
of pictures; and this amateur frequently 
visited Carstens, and acquired his canfi- 
dence. Yo this gentleinan the unfor- 
tunate 
i 
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