26 FEBRUARY 1859, Page 19

The Prince Consort has become the patron of the Architectural

Exhibi- tion, which is expected to show a marked advance this year ; both in va- riety and character of the designs already promised.

A portrait of Duncan Forbes, of Culloden, haa been presented to the Na- tional Gallery of Portraits, by Sir John Forbes.—Critic.

The vaults at the crypt of St. Denis near Paris, are under the architectu- ral superintendence of M. Violet Leduc, who ifi to reconstruct the steeple of the Northern tower as well.

The Bourse at Antwerp is about to be raised from the ashes of the former edifice destroyed by an incendiary last year. The new structure will worthily occupy the site of its celebrated predecessor, as the authorities are resolved to spare no fitting expense.

The gallery of ancient masters belonging to the Comte d'Espagna has been opened to the Parisian public on Thursdays and Saturdays, at one franc entrance fee, for the benefit of the Institution of Notre Dame des Arts. The Italian schools are the most prominent : and amongst them are interest- ing and early drawings for pictures of Tintoretto, Paul Veronese, Titian, Caravaggio, and Michael Angelo. The first sketches for the Marriage in Cana, for the Moses by Michael Angelo, and for the Last Judgment by Tin- toretto, attract much attention. Au excellent portrait of Oliver Cromwell by A. Cuyp, and another of the Cardinal Richelieu by Philip de Chain- paigne, as well as several likenesses of Napoleon, are highly commended. Hobbema, Both, and Ruysdael are reported to be nobly represented.

Photographic pictures of all the most notorious scenes and localities con- nected with the Indian war are being taken by Mr. Robertson ; some of whose views are at the Photographic exhibition amongst the interesting Indian landscapes which, with the panorama of Lucknow, have lately been added to the Gallery.

The third livraison of the Gazette des Beaux Arts issued for the present month, sustains the character of the previous numbers. Accompanying a letter by Louis Viardot of brief but well illustrated biography of Ary fichef- fer, whose chief works will be presently exhibited in Paris, is an engraving of the portrait of the great painter, after H. Lehmann, faithful and of the style of art in Laurence's sketch s. Theatrical costume is depicted in a full length of M. Kome in the Five de Famille at the Odeon, and repeats the very excellent suggestion for preserving the taste and accuracy of the best and most picturesque fashions of the stage. To the artist and to the art- student the collection of marks and monograms of celebrated amateurs and collectors is interesting and useful ; its worth would be enhanced by an enu- meration of the principal objects of the collections where they are remark- able, and where the data are easy to be obtained.