190

PAINTING.

raine, from the place of his birth,) are eminent examples of ex-cellence in landscape. The latter appears to stand without arival, or at least stood unrivalled in his time. Both these paintersderived their professional knowledge, as well as their choice ofsubjects, from the fascinating and classic objects of imitation whichthey found in Italy , where they studied and nourished. Thearts which had been raised in France by the masters before-men-tioned to very considerable dignity, sunk in the second school ofBencher and Vaulor to a state of imbecillity and affectation. Thereputation of a colourist was sought by exaggerated tints, andthe hand of a master was conceived to consist in ostentatious pen-ciling. In a more recent period, and particularly since the revo-lution, a new style has been introduced into tiie arts. Vien wasthe first reformer of this class, and his example has been vigorouslyfollowed by David and his contemporaries. They have endea-voured to substitute a simple and rigid taste in the place of falseand glittering manners. The comparative merits of those modernschools which have been hitherto mentioned, are thus given byRichardson : “ The painters of the Roman school weie the bestdesigners, and had a kind of greatness, but it was not antique.The Venetian and Lombard school, had excellent colourists anda certain grace, but entirely modern, especially those of Venice ;but their drawing was generally incorrect, and their knowledge inhistory and the antique very little : and the Bolognese school is asort of composition of the others. Even Annibale himself pos-sessed not any part of painting in the perfection that is to be seenin those from whom his mariner is composed ; though, to makeamends, lie possessed more parts than perhaps any other master,and in a very high degree. The works of those of the German schools have a dryness and ungraceful stiffness not like what is seenamongst the old Florentines, that has something in it pleasinghowever; but this is odious, and as remote from the antique asGothicism could carry it. The Flemings have been good co-lourists, and imitated nature as they conceived it; that is, insteadof raising nature, they fell below ii; though not so much as theGermans , nor in the same manner. Rubens himsdlf lived and dieda Fleming, though he would fain have been an Italian ; but hisimitators have caricatured his manner; that is, they have beenmore Rubens in his defects than he himself was, but without hisexcellences. The French, excepting some few of them (N. Pous-sin, Le Sueur, Sebastien Bourdon , &c.) as they have not theGerman stiffness, nor the Flemish ungracefulness, neither havethey the Italian solidity ; and in their airs of heads and manners,they are easily distinguished from the antique, how much soeverthey may have endeavoured to imitate it.” The art of paintingbegan to flourish in Spain during the reigns of Charles the Fifthand Philip the Second. The style of painting, however, was notdistinguished by great excellence until the works of Velasquezappeared. From the maslerly imitation of nature displayed in hispictures, the school of the nation has been formed. Zarbaranand Herrera are among the best painters before Velasquez; andMurillo for the most distinguished alter him. The softness oftints and harmony of colour in the paintings of Murillo seem toenchant the eye. In Russia the arts are at present cultivated withgreat energy, and with unremitting attention on the part of thegovernment. In America also, great establishments are formingat New' York and Philadelphia , with the same view to the pro-motion of the arts. It now only remains to speak of the art ofpainting in England, where it is at present making great advancestowards excellence. Painting has been cultivated in England atseveral periods with various success, and lias been noticed andpatronized by many sovereigns of this country. But to torn) thegreat epocha of patronage conferred by a British king on British subjects, in painting, sculpture, and architecture, was reserved for, the reign of his present majesty, George 111. In the year 1768, hismajesty'gave his royal sanction to a plan tormed for the establish-ment of an academy of painting, sculpture, and architecture, otI which he was graciously pleased to be: ome the protector and pa-tron. In the three branches of art w hich con,litute that academy,he found many artists already formed : among others of consider-able celebrity in painting, Reynolds , Wilson, lias man, Gain .bo-rough, Hoare, Danti, Mortimer, Barret, Saiidby, W right. Cotes,and West; in sculpture, Bacon , Noilekens and Wilson; inarchitecture, Chamber':, G. Dance, hi nai l, T» Sarniby, Gwyn,and the two Adams. At the same time, Strange, Wooilett, Hal),

Green, and Mac Ardell , shone with marked eminence among theengravers. The merits of our engravers, blended with the la-bours of the painter, opened a new avenue to fame. The harmo-nious softness of Strange; the united skill of Wilson and Woollettin landscape, as seen in the prints of Niobe , Phtcton, Ceyx, Ce-ladon and Amelia, &c. the portraits in mezzotinto from SirJoshua Reynolds , by M'Ardell, Fisher, &c.; the successful com-bination oi West with Earloin, Green, Woollett, Hall, &d. inhistorical wmrks, as seen in the prints of Agrippina , Regains,Hannibal, Wolfe, La Hogue, the Boyne, Penn , Cromwell, antithe Restoration, See. spread the celebrity of English works of artthrough the medium of engraving ; and the circumstance of theseprints rising to a Higher price in every market throughout the con-tinent than had ever been known in the annals of the art, inspiredthose commercial views which afterwards produced the galleriesof Shakspeare, under Boydell ; the poets, under Macklin ; his-torical, under Rowyer, &c. &c. giving to this country a newsource of commerce, highly beneficial to its interests, and unex-ampled in any other. England has produced a multitude of artistsbesides those who experienced the royal patronage. Of these weshall mention Hogarth, whose unrivalled excellence in works ofhumour is principally known to us by the numerous engravingsfrom his pictures. Of the modern English school, Sir JoshuaReynolds wras the founder, and his works still remain its greatestglory. They not only give him the most distinguished rank amongthe artists of the present age, but the effects produced by themon the rising artists, as well as by the elevated principles inculcatedin his discourses delivered at the Royal Academy , will secure hisreputation as long as England shall pay respect to superior talents.The English taste appears to he formed on the great masters ofthe Italian and Flemish schools. Reynolds professed an admira-tion and preference of Michael Angelo , but his own works are inno point similar to that great master of design. The names ofGainsborough and Wilson stand the highest in landscape-painting.The painters of this school have been distinguished as less rigidwith regard to the forms and correctness of their drawing, thanambitious, of striking and poignant effect. “ Beauty,” says theFrench Encyclopedia, “ ought to be the characteristic of theEnglish school, because the artists have it so frequently displayedbefore their eyes. If this beauty is not precisely similar to theantique, it is not inferior to it. The English school should alsobe distinguished for the truth of expression, because the libertyenjoyed in that country gives to every passion its natural and un-biassed operation.” The best accounts of painting and paintersare to be found in the works of Lionardo da Vinci , Alberti, Lo-mazzo, and Bellori; and in the Lives of (he Painters, by Vasari and Du Piles; Eelibien’s Entretiens stir les Vies des Peintres, andbis other writings; the Discourses delivered by Reynolds in theRoyal Academy of London; the various Tioatises by Mongs ;Richardson on Painting; and De Arte Graphics, by Du Fresnoy .'I'he late publications of Barry, Slice in his Rhymes on Art, t ndHowe in his Inquiry into the present State of the Arts in England,convey the most accurate information concerning the progress ofpainting in this country.

Principles of the Art, and the Order of theArtist’s Studies.

Anatomy.

It is almost unnecessary to observe that a painter should he ac-quainted with anatomy, ‘his not indeed requisite for him to enterinto the different systems of the nerves, blood-vessels, bowels, andthe like; parts which are removed from the sight, and the studyof w hich therefore may be left to the surgeon and the physician,as a guide in the operations of the termer and in the prescriptionsof the latter. It is enough for the painter, to he acquainted withthe skeleton ; with the figure and connection of the bones, whichare in a manner, the pillars and pn ps of the human body ; theorigin, progress, and shape, of the muscles, which cover thesehones; the different degrees in which nature lias el. died the mus-cles with fat, for this substance lies thicker upon them in someplaces than m others. Above ah, he should know in what man-ner the muscles ailed the various motions and gestures of thebody. This knowledge is to be acquired from the treatises ofMore, Cesia, Tortebat, Bouelierdou, and others ; from ana-tomical