1 JULY 1837, Page 20

ROYAL PORTRAITS.

We should be paying the loyalty of our readers a poor compliment, to suppose them so indifferent to WILLIAM the Reformer as tee to desire to revive their personal recollections of him, by a look at his portrait ; and having volunteered an opinion of the several likenesses of the young Princess, now Queen Vicronta, we cannot do less than give a similar notice of those of the Kieg whom she succeeds. Passing over the portraits of the late King when Duke of Clarence, WI, come at once to those taken since his accession to the throne. Kings and Queens ought to be the best portriqed persons in their domi- nions: but they are gencrully the worst, for the limnel s rarely venture, and are not always able, to rcpt.( sent them as they really are. William the Fourth has endured his fall share of persecution and flattery at the hands of the painters: his " sittings" must have been as fiequent as those of the :Judges.

Sir THOMAS LAWRENCE, Sir MARTIN SIIEE, Sir DAVID WILKIE, and Mr. ANDRIAV MURTON, have each painted the late King at lull. length. WILKIE'S picture, however, has not been engraved. The courtly LAWRENCE, who represents him in plain clothes, has trans- muted the little, homely-looking, good-natured, eldeily gentlemen, bent with age and infirmity, into a tall, handsome, noble-looking, and grace- ful person, of middle age, with an air of conscious dignity. Snee represents the Sovereign in his robes, in an erect position, with a look of assumption, and an air of pompous insignificance, more characte- ristic of the painter than the sitter. MottroN has dressed the Sailor King in an Admiral's uniform, and has drawn him up stiffly, cane in hand, like a monarch of the quarterdeck ; giving truly the bluff cha. meter of the naval commander in his face, but adding somewhat to his stature. These three pictures are engraved in mezzotint. Of the heads, the one by SHEE is copied from the whole-length figure ; that by Lawnr.ece is a fac-simile of a crayon drawing made as a study for the peinting—and a very elegant work of art it is, but sophisticated in eitarStivr. MORTON'S is a lithographic drawing by LANE, from a sketch ; and is at once a trite, charactei istic, and agreeable likeness of William the Fourth : indeed, it is the best we have seen in print. Wmm.aies lutist poi trait in the Royal Academy is, however, the most complete mut faithful resemblance : of course it will be engraved. NEwrox's miniature, also in the exhibition, is not satisfactory. One painted by tissue. twee, that was no:iced in the Somatic a year or two back, is an adndiable likeness and a powerful painting. Mr. NEWTON ha., not been more successful in his miniature of Queen

Adelaide than Sir Jim cni:v or Sir M Alerts: Simi: in their

life. size port ruts. 0(1111 e has been engraved in mezzotint : limit by far the hest, indeed the oniy pleasing mid charac- teristic likeness of the Qiieell I /meager, is a lithoelaph by SbxTba, not published, but circulated amoug her Maje,ty's private friends. It is a good specimen of the smtvity and delicacy of SLATER'S Milli:mire

sketches. This grace iii limner is lately dead ; following, at 'a few months, his brother Isaac, who lithographed his drawings with such nice fidelity. No artist was more succes,ful than JosEen 81.Ama in delineating character truly and in a pleasing minim r : his women and children, in particular, are delightful for a frank sweetness of expression and an unaffected air of gentleness.

A much improved version of LANE'S profile of Queen Victoria, showing the other side of her Majesty's countenance, has been engraved by F. C. LEWIS ill imitation of the original sketch, with the CIViiVer'S usual delicacy. The resemblance is much more agreeable and charac- teristic of the youthful Queen, though the fixed look and formal air of a profile cannot wholly be got rid of. This view of the face is com- monly chosen by amateurs and tyros for its easiness, though it is seldom seen in nature, and conveys an imperfect idea of the countenance. It is, however, only suited to bas.relief or medalling : this profile of the Queen, in fact, looks like a design for a coin—which purpose, by the way, it would serve admirably well.

We apprehend the whiskered phie of the King of Hanover is not much in request ; the two or three portraits of the royal Orangeman extant are at a discount. Doubtless be will figure handsomely among the " Conservative Statesmen ;" at any rate he may be found in 1111, by those who would recall his darling image.