THE LANDSCAPE ANNUAL.
THE happy idea which suggested this annual is rendered in the highest degree effective by the talent engaged in the work. The present volume gives us Pao ur at Rome and in Venice. Where all is so excellent we know not- which to praise. The name of PTIOUT is a guarantee for what- ever is splendid and picturesque in art ; and the engravers, Messrs. Waaers, Wfaamoaa, and J. B. ALLEN in particular, are entitled to great praise for the execution of their share of the plates. Mr. Pnouz possesses too much skill to need any sacrifice of fidelity to effect : his drawings are not only bold and spirited, but accurate—rich in the re. sources of art, but true to nature. His Views of Venice are in the highest degree beautiful and striking. St. Mark's Place—the Rialto—. the Grand Canal—the Palaces, Churches, Piazzas, and Canals of Venice, are placed so vividly before our eyes, that we seem
" To see from out the wave her structures rise As from the stroke of an enchanter's wand."
Then we have the Cascade of Terni, and the Sybil's Temple at Tivoli, beautifully engraved by j. T. WILL MORE ; Rome ; the Bridge and Castle of St. Angelo ; the Forum, a strikingly beautiful picture, very effectively engraved by BRANDARD ; Monte A ventino ; the Temples of Pallas, of Peace, of Mars, of Vesta and Fortuna Virilis ; Views of Rimini, Lugo, Civita Castellana, and the Bridge at Narni. Though we have seen all these views before, we look at them with fresh delight as they are pictured to us by the vigorous pencil of PROUT. His Views of scenery are not so prodigal of foliage as others ; he gives the barren mountain and the bare foreground. if need be ; and the integrity and ap- parent simplicity of his style .charm us in his landscapes, as its richness and breadth make us admire his ruins and architecture. We could have wished a little more inaking.out in the architectural forms, particularly the capitals ; those in the Temple of Mars Into') of Vesta, and Fortuna Virilis, at Rome, are of a very .nondescript character. Mr. PROUT'S broad .pencil does not so well accommodate itself to the details of form in classical architecture, as to the crumbling ruins of barbarous edifices. He is more at home in Venice- than in Rome ; his genius delights to dwell in the picturesque old towns in Germany more than in the en- chanting beauties of Italian scenery. Mr. HARDING is gone to get in a golden harvest from the sunny clime of Italy, of which the subscribers to the net year's Landscape Annual will reap the advantage in a pic- torial point of view. We have only one exception to make to the ge- neral beauty of the plates, and it is to the engraving of the " Barberigo Palace" at Venice, which is unworthy of the rest of the work.
TXIE REMEMBRANCE.
WE regret that we cannot say much in praise of the embellishments of this new annual. Another year may enable the proprietors to have better justice done to the plates, which bear the appearance of having been hastily got up. The portrait of the Queen is the best and most interesting, and of itself a recommendation. Apropos of portraits—the Annuals are singularly deficient in these most attractive illustrations ; for though we have had a few portraits passed off as fancy heads, there is scarcely one, if we remember rightly, that gives a boniijide likeness of a public individual. This is an omission. But to return to the Remem- brance. 'We have" The Roman Forum," by TURNER, and "The Coliseum," by PROUT ; neither of which are very well engraved. There are two pretty designs by WESTALL, and two rather feeble views of Windsor and Warwick Caltles, by BARTLETT, also indifferently en- graved. STOTHARD'S " Yohn Gilpin" seems within the grasp of his pursuers, though only "now at the Bell in Edmonton." " The Or- phans"—thm little Draught-plavers, it should be—by W. Gina, is a clever design, and well engraved by C. Roans :* this formed the specis Men plate, and is the hest engraving in the volume. A pretty vignette ,Of "Mont Blanc," by BnocxEbose, adorns the titlepage.
• The name of "C. ItoLcs" is put to this plate, but the credit of engraving it is 'Claimed by Mr. DUNCAN, ill a letter in the SPECTATOR of last week. The above notice was written before the receipt of Mr. DUNCAN'S letter, which remains um. montrameted. a Fiat justitia."
TELE JUVENILE FORGET ME NOT.
The embellishments of this annual are of a superior description, and 'claim approbation as works of art. Among the most striking are "The Nut-crackers," by H. HOWARD; two Cottage Girls at play with aSquirrel, dad"The Twin Sisters," by BOXALL ; both of them pleasing picture's and sweetly natural designs, extremely well engraved by GREATBATCH. "The Travelling Tinman" is a beautiful bit of effect by LESLIE. "Me and my Dog," by MossEs, has surely been caricatured in the engraving: the composition is pretty, but the child seems an infant fury about to strangle the dog, and grinning with ferocious delight at the idea. " The Roman Beggar," by P. WILLIAMS, has not had justice done to it by the engraver. Mr. Wassatar'S " Hebe" looks a well-grown Gany- mede in a tunic. "The Foundling," by STEPHANOFF, makes a pretty Picture. The expression of the mouth in the portrait of a girl by A. ROBERTSON, does not answer to the cognomen of "Docility :" it it nevertheless an intelligent face, cleverly drawn, and very nicely en. gmved in the chalk znanner.,...by...L..Thaamax.__
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