3rto.
BRITTS1T INSTITUTION.
Tale exhibition, is fulls of interest.. Not only. does it contain admirable specimens of Dutch and Italian art,, it affords also a capital oppor- tunity of studying the works of. Sir Joshua Reynolds, more than forty of which are here displayed, many of them of: the greatest ex- cellence, and all bearing the impress of: intellect and. refinement. " Noli me tangere" (1), by Baroecio,, in the North Room, is a large floridly coloured picture;one of the best examples of this master that I have seen, but very deficient in elevated conception. On each side of this hang" a full-length Vandyke. 2, " James Stuart, Doke of Richmond," is-apparently an early picture ; the flesh is low and black in tone, and the execution heavy. "Marquess of Newcastle" (14), is an average example of the manner of this courtly painter. " Por- trait of a Gentleman" (23), a half-length of a knight in a furred robe and dark dress, with. an embroidered cross on the left breast, though hard in colour, and rather flat in treatment, has much quiet dignity. In force and brilliancy of effect it is surpassed by 49, a powerfully painted head of a young soldier in black armour. But the two portraits which bear the palm for individuality and the power of arresting the spectator and stamping them indelibly on the memory, are those by Giovanni Moroni, of Bergamo, a:painter of the school of Titian. 28 is a half-length of a soldier-like man, habited in black and crimson, leaning against a column, with one one hand on the pedestaL " Bartholomew Borg)" (55), a Bergamese canon, is re- presented. seated in an arm-chair. He also wears a black and crimson dress, with a square black cap. In his left hand he. holds- a book, bound in parchment. An opening in the wall behind reveals a glimpse of landscape. Keen astuteness is forcibly marked in the features. The eyes appear even to be reading the character of the be- holder. Both these portraits are finished very highly, and painted with a. firm decided. hand. In. colour they are pure and good. "A Spanish Nobleman!" (36), is a good, though not first-rate example of Velasquez--a half-length of a burly rubicund Cavalier. 51, a full-length of a debonnaire gentleman, is by Murillo, in. which that master shows to greater advantage than in his scriptural pictures. There is a manliness and simple breadth and individuality of treat- ment in both these examples of the Spanish school of portraiture. "The Death of St, Francis" (5), by Fra Angelica, is remarkable for the artless simplicity of its composition. The dead saint lies on a trier surrounded by monks of his order, some examining the vulva dinina in his hands, feet, and side ; others in different attitudes of grief.. Priests, attended by acolytes with asperge and holy water, are chanting prayers for the dead. The scene takes place in a court of the monastery; long low buildings form the background; above these the soul of the saint. appears borne to heaven by two angels. There is great variety of expression in the faces, and, as is usual with this painter, the whole is wrought with loving care and delicate colour-tones. A predella, in three compartments, attributed to Masaccio (7), deserves careful inspection for its harmonious colour and its. expressional qualities, though, to the ordinary observer, it may appear harsh, stiff, and ungainly. The first compartment, com- mencing from the right, represents the funeral procession of a dead woman. Inthe centre, she is miraculously resuscitated. by. a saint. In the third compartment, the woman, her friends,,the.saint, and priests; are returning from the cemetery inspired with holy gratitude. 'A small "Crucifixion" (9), by Memlinn., is very delicately finished, the draperies beautifully arranged, and the colour, with the excep- tion of the flesh tint; which are rather pale, very rich and deeply glowing. Three large pictures illustrative of incidents in the life of St. Bonaventura (25, 26, 27), by Francesco Herrera, interest more as being the work of the master of Velasquez than from any intrinsic merit they possess, Herrera was a man of bad temper and indomitable roughness: of behaviour, and formed for himself a style of painting in harmony with his character. A contemporary of Caravaggio, he possessed that artist's sombre humour, as well as his savage boldness and energetic touch. The coarse naturalism which we see here was refined by Velasquez into dignity, and nobleness, without loss of truth. Almost brutal in execution as these pictures are, they demand attention from the truth of character displayed in the heads. It is interesting to compare these types of the. Spanish ecclesiastic with those of the Italian, as shown in the FraAngelico and Masaccio already mentioned. "Flight into Egypt" (56), by Zurbaran, is hard and cutting, awing to the ligits and shadows being too forcibly contrasted. "An. Old 'Woman plucking a Fowl," Rembrandt (17), is powerful in, effect, and shows how, in the hands of genius, the commonest. subject and the meanest materials may be invested with a cl►arm. A. far finer ,work, however, is "An Old. Lady " (123), inthe Middle ROOM. This is anoble example of Rembrandt's manipulative skill. It is a portrait probably of some burgher's wife. She is seated in ar arm-chair, looking out of the picture, dressed in black and wearing-an enormous circular ruff of innumerable plaits, on which and the head the light strikes with greatest force, descending with subdued.brilliancy to the hands, which, by the way, are brilliantly painted, and.glancing on the metal clasps of the book. she holds. Force• and richness of effect, marvellous luminousness of colour, can no further go. When to this is added great individuality of character,.it can be easily understood that this picture is one of the chief ornaments of the gallery. "The Wife of Rubens" (53), by Rubens, is a wondrous instance of what Constable used to call the " sword-play of the brush." The tall, fair,. and full- blown Helena Forman stands on a terrace, about to descend to the court below, where the family coach of Sir Peter Paul may be seen driving at full speed up to the door. The felicitous execution of this work is indescribable. There is a wild rollicking sense of power about it that enforces both admiration and astonishment. " View of Bentheim Castle " (50) is one of Ruysdael's finest works, painted with great truth and force. The castle is perched on a high rock, thickly covered with foliage and straggling cottages. A good specimen of Hobbima will be found in "The Watermill" (84'). Canaletti's Vene- tian scenes, one of them " The Doge of Venice marrying-the Adriatic" '(130), of unusually large dimensions, are favourable examples of his precise but somewhat mechanical style. "Portrait of a Lady," by Teniers, is clear, bright, and silvery. The sitter in black velvet and blue satin is drawing_ on her gloves. Her hat lies on a table. This little picture is far preferable to the other works by this painter in -the gallery. " Landscape with Château and Gipsies " (24) is weak and colourless, and looks as if washed out. Two or three "Village Festivals " show in perfection the coarse and disgusting incidents in which Teniers revelled. De Hooghe is a Dutch painter, not so much in' fashion as Teniers, but to me he is infinitely. mare pleasing. He depicts a more refined life, and does not insist on our associating with frouzy undersized boors, or continually inhaling an atmosphere redolent of beer and tobacco-smoke. " A Garden Scene with.Figures (71) is a charming insight into Netherlandish life of two hundred years ago. Gentlemen and ladies are engaged in the game of nine- pins. A loutish serving man, capital in character, stands by to set up the pins. The quaint costumes, the curiously clipt yew-trees and box hedges of this formal Dutch garden, and above all the admirably painted evening sunlight which plays over the whole scene, contribute to render this the most agreeable genre subject of the collection. Equally happy in its representation of effects of light, though a little harsh and foxy in colour here and there, is " Children at Play" (108). In the foreground a large-headed and plain little girl has her handon the latch of a door. An inner door opens into a garden, where an odddooking boy; holding a ball and shell, awaits his playmate. Both pictures are in excellent preservation. In the Middle Room there are also an interesting and characteristic family group of " The Stadtholder Henry ; his secretary, De Witt ; his daughter-in-law, the Princess Royal of England, wife of William Prince of Orange, &c." (90), by Gonzales Coques ; a questionable "Portrait of a Divine" (95), by Albert Durer; the "Family of Sir Peter Lely" (98), by himself, which, if faithful, proves by the remarkably scant clothing of some of the figures, that the proprieties were little studied by that family ; a capital Cuyp, very sunny in effect (86); two Marinas (63, 126); and a "Head, of a Boy" (128), by Frank Hals, which was evidently painted at one sitting. A review of the South Room, so rich in fine examples of British Irk must be deferred until next
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