TIIORWALDSEN'S STATUE OF BYRON.
BYRON'S statue by Tiloawat.oseN, the greatest sculptor of the age!_ little did the people of England dream that a work of art possessing so much interest, and, we may fairly presume, so much beauty, was ac. tually in this country, shrouded in sawdust, and shut up, like a mummy, in its case in the Customhouse vaults ! Yet such is the fact. The fame of THORWALDSEN'S genius has filled all Europe; yet we doubt if one in a thousand of our countrymen ever saw a work of his—speaking for ourselves, this pleasure is yet to come. There is a piece of sculpture by the Danish artist among the marbles at Chatsworth; but we are not aware that the sculpture-gallery at Petworth or the roller. ; tion at Woburn contains one. Apart from the value of the likeness of t BYRON, by a sculptor who knew the noble poet well, as a production of THORWALEISEN it is a treasure of art. And such a work is per. mitted to remain for years among the lumber of the Customhouse, for want of a place to put it in ! The rationale of its refusal of admittance into Westminster Abbey— the case of Chapter against Verse—of Poet versus Prebends—we have discussed elsewhere : but we may here remark how edifying is the struggle between pelf and principle in the Churchman's breast! "I really wish to have a figure by Thorwaldsen in the Abbey," says the dilettante Dean : I covet the sculpture, but abhor the sceptic; I revere Ttioitwataisnw, but repudiate BYRON. The reverend show. man has in his eye the attractiveness of his exhibition. Madame TIISSAUD has quite cut out the wax-work in the Abbey, so that the monuments are now the sole attraction of the show : and a statue by TBORWALOSEN would cause showers of shillings to flow into the priestly coffers. The addition of THORWALBSEN'S name to those of ROUBILLIAC, FLAXMAN, CHANTREY, and WESTMACOTT, would give great eclat to the Abbey sculpture-gallery. Yet the pious Dean refuses ! Let those who have accused the hierarchy of a craving for filthy lucre, retract their slander. This is the victory of duty over taste and profit. Such noble disinterestedness deserves to be re- warded ; and we have hit upon a suggestion that may reconcile the conscience of the Dean and Chapter, apart from the false pretence of BYRON being orthodox in his belief. Their rival, Madame TUSSAUD, when she admits a criminal of the lower grade into her saloon of Fame among the illustrious bad assembled there, adopts an ingenious mode of excusing their introduction into such splendid company, by thrust- ing the vulgar rascals into a cornier—a sort of condemned cell, and coupling the announcement of their names with an opprobrious epithet —" the monster Fieschi," " the miscreant Greenacre," " the madman Courtenay," and so on. Now, why may not the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, following this example, set apart a Sceptic's Corner as well as a Poet's Corner—a purgatorial limbo for great men of hete- rodox opinions? Then we might read in the papers such an advertise- ment as the following. " Westminster Abbey. The Dean and Chapter beg to apprize their patrons, that a statue by Tliouw.suases: of the Infidel Poet BYRON has been added to the display of sculpture by the most eminent artists, for which their collection has long been distin- guished. Notwithstanding the popular interest, the price of admission will not be increased. Admittance, inside the door, 2d. ; to see the monuments and sculpture, Is. No money returned."
Previous page
