FINE ARTS.
BEITISH INSTTFUTION.
Tam Directors of the British Institution boast that they have this year made "en exhibition of pictures not inferior in merit to any of the pre- ceding years." On first entering the room one is disappointed: there are few Italian pictures, and of those the most remarkable are merely portraits. But in many respects the collection is interesting,. One room is filled with pictures from the Marquis of Bute's gallery; which has been closed to the public since the fire at Luton. There is an extraordinary display of land- scapes from the Flemish and Dutch schools. The assemblage of Cuyps is temarkable for number and beauty—including some large pictures both of cattle and landscapes; the same of the Ruysdaels—of which the most beau- tiful is a small picture, "The Corn-field," which is magical in the effect of distance-and sunlight; the Paul Potters are fine specimens; Hobbimas, &c. dm. Ofpaintings by Teniers there are, the Leopold gallery; the very curious and interesting picture of" The Rich Man and Lazarus," remarkable for its. anachronisms of accessories, its extreme finish, and its luminous colour- ing; besides several rustic scenes. There are many ()stades, De Hooges, (tome-admirable interiors,) and a host of the minuter Dutchmen. The specimens of Rubens are not striking: one is interesting as a copy from Titian; another as comprising a beautiful study of fruit. Of Titians the most notable are portraits, of the C,ornitro family, and of Igna- tius Loyola. Other celebrated portraits are, Lorenzo de' Medici, by Ghir- landajo; and the Doge Antonio Grim/ail, by Tiutoretto. Among interest- ing pictures from the South may be mentioned, Velasquez's "Water-car- rier"; "The Assumption," by l3iato Angelico da Fiesole; and an unfinished Virgin, with other figures, by Ghirlandajo. There are specimens of de- ceased English artists; whereof the most remarkable are Reynolds, Ho- giuth, (the scene from The Beggar's Opera,) and Wilkie (" The Rat- catchers"). Reynolds's "St. Cecilia" is a portrait; but its pretensions as a composition provoke awkward comparisons with the majestic and brilliant Si. Cecilia of Domenichino, hung in the same room.
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