THE RAFFAELLE TAPESTRIES.
THE set of Tapestries, wrought from the Cartoons of RAFFA.ELLE under the superintendence of two of his pupils, which LEO the Tenth pre- sented to HENRY the Eighth, have found their way into this country again ; and seven of the nine are now exhibited at No. 213 Piccadilly, near the Regent's Circus. Among them are tapestries from the two missing cartoons, the Stoning of Stephen and the Conversion of St. Paul: that from the Murder of the Innocents, a portion of which cartoon is now in the National Gallery, is wanting. The antiquity of these tapestries is unquestionable: their faded condition is one evidence of that, and the vigorous character of some of the heads is another. That they form a portion of one of the two sets wrought at Brussels for LEO the Tenth, there is little room to doubt ; though their identity in this particular is of small importance, if their execution according to the instructions of RA.FFA.ELLE and under the direction of his pupils can be otherwise proved. In the tapestries the designs of the cartoons are reversed ; and thus we see them as RAFFAELLE intended they should be viewed : moreover, the two missing designs are supplied by the tapestries ; and the changes made in the cartoons by mutilation and retouching are also shown. Apart from the cartoons, the tapestries convey a very inadequate idea of the designs of RAFFAELLE ; and the two of which there are no car- toons existing, are therefore the least impressive, though the most in. teresting from there being no other traces of the designs. But if placed in a gallery, each tapestry against its corresponding cartoon, the value of both would be enhanced : a more complete idea of what the great artist intended would be gained by consulting the two sets together, than can possibly be acquired otherwise. The intrinsic worth of these tapestries of themselves is small: the late proprietor had an exaggerated notion of their value, which stood in the way of his disposing of them. His death, however, has transferred them to persons who appear sensible of his mistake, and willing to accept a reasonable offer : and as they would be more valuable to this country than to any other—for they are not things that a private individual would be likely to covet—we hope that they may be secured for Hampton Court. Meanwhile, they are deserving of the attention of the curious, and of artists especially.
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