1904.) ( | 
495) 
MONTHLY RETROSPECT OF THE FINE ARTS. 
The Loan of all new Prints and Communications of Articles of Intelligence are requefleds 
oo 
Portrait of Erafmas Darwia, M.D. F.R. 8. 
Painted by F. Rawlinfon: engraved by F. 
Heath: and publifbed for Norman, in the 
Strand, 
HE fame of the late Dr. Darwin was 
built upon a very peculiar founda- 
tion, and feems to have originated in a 
tafte, fomewhat fimilar to that which has 
marked feveral of our eminent engravers 5 
tnat of polrfhing every particle of their 
works, with the utmoft attention to high- 
finithing: forgetting, that, without con- 
traf and varigty, the greateft intellectual 
efforts fail of their effect, An intermin- 
able plain, fmoothed by the fcythe, and le-~ 
veiled by the roller, tives the eye ; and we 
Janguifh for the hill and dale.-—This prin- 
ciple pervades the whole circle of the 
_ arts; and wherever it is violated, will 
produce difguit inftead of admiration; 
and though thefe glittering ornaments may 
dazzle the eyes of the vulgar, they 
will invariably outrage the feelings of men 
of true tafte. The print is in chalks, 
and, we are told, is a gcod likenefs. It has 
confiderable merit; but, perhaps from 
fome of the caules above {pecified, rather 
deficient in force. 
La Mort de Marie Antoine. Peint par Pitz 3 
gravé par Leybold. Dedicated 19 the Duke 
of Bavaria: (he is alfo called Elséor.) 
This is rather a cumbrous and heavy 
defign, and in the print there are many 
exemplifications of the principles laid down 
in the preceding article. ‘The attention 
of the {pe&tator is diverted from the fub- 
ject by the wonderful {kill te painter has 
difplayed in the legs of the bedead and 
table, which prefent a very edifying and 
uleful ftudy to the cabinet-maker or up- 
holfterer.—Should this mode of thus 
high-finifhing the fubordinate parts of an 
hittorical piéture become general, it will 
be eflential to the excellence of an artift 
that he ftudies various manual cccupa- 
tions not now deemed neceffary. We re- 
member, a great many yeal's ago, an at- 
tempt to introduce this ftyle was made 
by a painter of fome celebrity, in a pic- 
ture exhibited at the Royal Academy, re- 
prefenting an* American family feated at 
‘their table after dinner.—The portraits 
were well painted; but the carpet, maho- 
gany book-cafe, chairs, and table, fo ex- 
quifitely finifhed, as to excite the aftonifh- 
ment of every beholder, and draw a fhil- 
ling from the pocket of every journeyman 
MONTHLY Mac, No, 122. 
degree of political importance. 
cabinet-maker in London, each of whom 
gave his twelve-pence to the Royal Exhi- 
bition, for the pure purpofes of ftudying 
what his mafter fo highly praifed. - The 
cut-glafs decanters of lifbon, mountain, 
port, cyder, and perry, were fo nicely dif- 
criminated, that (as it was faid at the 
time) they excited the envy of a Mynheer 
Van fomething (an eminent Dutch 
painter, then on a vifit to London), to fuch 
a degree, that his friends found it very 
dificult to prevent his hanging himfelf, 
from mere defpair, and confcioufnefs of 
not being able to equal this chef d’auvre. 
But this by the way: to return to the 
print—it is of a large fize, engraved in 
the line manver, and would have had. 
more merit if it had been lefs laboured. 
Wilbelmus FPrinceps Naffovie. Painted by 
Mierveld 5 engraved by R. Morghen. __ 
A piece of high-finifhing, of fuch ex- - 
quifite merit, as compels us to admire if. 
The immenfe Jabour beftowed upon it, 
cannot be corceived, except by thofe who 
know the practical part of the art: itis a 
work to which the engraver muft have 
brought a large portion of perfevering at- 
tention; and is executed with great fide- 
lity. The Prince is painted with a broad 
point-lace collar to his fhirt, in the fafhion 
of Charles I. of England, which has a 
good effeét in the print. 
Sir Theophilus Metcalfe, Bart. M. P. 7. Hopp- 
nery R. A. pinxit. W. Ward, feulpt. and 
for bim it is publifhed, OG. 31, 1804. 
This is dedicated to his Royal Highnefs 
the Duke of York. It is extremely well 
engraved in mezzotinto; and, we havebeen 
told, avery good likenefs: though, toa 
firanger, not a very interefting portrait. 
Sir Francis Burdett, Bart. Painted by R. Cof< 
way, R.A. and engraved by A. Cardane 
Publifhed for Richardfon, York Houfe, Strand. 
From his fortune, family, connections, — 
and character, Sir Francis Burdett’s por- 
trait commands a certain degree of popu- 
larity, which does not belong to the crowd 
of uninterefting individuals that flutter 
for their little heur in the numerous 
print-fhops of the metropolis: added to 
all this, the important part he bore in the 
late conteit for Middlefex, and the very 
general fenf{ation excited by his not being 
retuined as member for the county, at- 
taches to his refemblance an additional 
From all 
3K thefe 
