624. 
it was the practice to approach the vetti- 
bule of the Academy by means of two 
works, both of which were to be-approv- 
ed, before the candidate could enter. I+ 
Is to this cultom that the public ftands 
indebted for the picture of Icarus by M. 
Vien, the Rape of Orytnia by M. Vin 
cent, the Widow of Heétcr by David, 
and the Education of Achilles, by M. 
Regnault. In works of fculpture, have 
alfo been preduced, on fimilar occafions, 
the Young Faun by Salis, the Narciffa of 
Alegrain, the Abel of Stouf, and the 
Achilles of Giraud. 
Julien now entered the lifts; and al- 
‘though he received but little encourage- 
ment from his mafter, he neverthelefs 
prefented the figure of Ganymede pour- 
ing the neétar.. The fuffrages, however, 
were unfavourable to him ; and the artift 
was fo difcouraged by fuch an unexpeéted 
decifion, that, thinking himfelf for ever 
devoted to mediocrity, he determined to 
defcend from. the dignified fituation in 
which he imagined himfelf to have been 
placed, and actually folicited to be em- 
ployed as carver to the fhips of war at 
Rochefort. But his friends interpofed, 
and prevailed on him to conceive a higher 
notion of hts own talents. Thefe were the 
Prefident Hocquart and the Baron de 
Juyt, of Lyons, each of whom ordered 
a marble copy of the figure which had 
been refufed by the Academy. 
‘© Julien was moreover prevailed on to 
become a candidate a fecond time; and 
the academy was impatient, on their part, 
to repair the wrongs which he had futfer- 
ed. He was accordingly received a mem- 
ber by the unanimous confent of the whcle 
body, in 1779, at the age of 48. The 
ftatue which he prefented was that of a 
dying warrior. This, which is a figure 
of about three feet, reprefents a gladiator 
mortally wounded: his legs bend under 
him ;. he is unable to fupport himfelf ; he 
breathes, indeed, but,it is his laft breath! : 
In addition to all the fcience of the art, 
it united the natural graccs, which«t the 
fame time proved to what a degree of per- 
feCiion the chifiel might be made to at- 
tain. From this moment he affumed the 
firft place among our iftatuarics, and 
every thing achieved by him fince has 
confirmed this pre-eminence. 
‘© The government, during the two 
preceding years, had begun to realize the 
idea of ere&ting fiatucs to our great men, 
and the firft {pecimens appeared at the ex- 
‘hibition of 1779. M.d°Angivillier had 
the glory to propofe, the king the giory 
to adopt, the icea; France enjoys the . 
, Many more charms for the eyes. 
Retrofped of French Literature.—Mifeellaniés. 
glory of perpetuating it, for it is how am 
inftitution which appears fixed for ever. 
It was amid? the forms of the revolution 
that the ftatue of Duguefclin was caived- 
Buta great number of figures were fill 
wanting to complete the colleétion ; fuch 
as Defcartes, Montaigne, Corneille, .Ra- 
cine, Moliere, La Fontaine, Le Pouffin, 
Boffuet, Fenelon, Pafcal, Roilin, and 
Monte{quieu. 
‘¢ Julien had the honour of executing 
two of thefe ftatues, thofe of La Fon. 
taine and Pouffin: of the former of thefe, 
whom he in many refpects refembled, he | 
has imitated the character, the manner, 
and the very thoughts. The charming 
ftatue of the Baigneufe de Rambouillet, 
placed at. prefent in the mufeum of the 
Confervative Senate, is calculated to ex- 
cite a {till more lively intereft than that of 
La Fontaine. It makes us think léfs, on 
one hand, while, on the othery it poffeffes. 
What. 
ever cai be imagined of grace and beauty 
in a young fhepherdefs nearly naked, the 
ftatuary has conferred on the marble ; and 
it isin general allowed to bethe moft ele- 
gant female ftatue that the moderns have 
produced. It was originally deflined for the 
dairy of the Chateau royal de Rambouiltet, 
wherice it derives its name. This was a 
little circular edifice, at the extremity of 
which the igure in queftion was placed. 
~The health of this artift appears to 
have fuffered greatly from chagrin and 
difappointment. 1t was fo much affected 
at length, that he was obliged to leave 
Paris at the commencement of the fum- 
mer, in erder to breathe a purer air in the 
fouthern provinces. His moft intimate 
friends, Meflrs. Dejoux and Beauvais, 
were diftinguifhed, like himfelf, in the 
art of fculpture., He was naturally be- 
neficent, but referved; and his two laft 
years were the happielt of his life. The 
ablett ftatuartes of tne agereadily acknow- 
ledged him to be their fuperior. He died 
on the 26th of Frumaire, 1go05, in the 
74th year of bis age, regretted alike as an 
artift anda moft excellent friend. 
MISCELLANIES. 
«© Le Nouveau Age, &c.”—A New 
“Age of Louis XIV. ; or, Poetical Anec- 
dotes of the Reign and the Court of that 
Prince, with hittorical Notés and Expla- 
nations, 
A celebrated French poet has remarked 
of. his countrymen, that they are natu- 
rally fond of epigrammatic wit and fati-. 
rical ballads: : 
ville,” : EBolLEAu. 
*¢ Le Francais, né malin, forma la Vaude~ © 
The | 
rae 
