MONUMENT TO BLAKE,
We have visited the studio of Mr. Papworth, in Milton Street, Dorset Square, to see a bust of Blake, executed as a memorial of the naval hero. The task was not one of ease. Three hundred years have been suffered to elapse before the nation has been summoned to do its duty to one of the first leaders in its path of naval glory. Mr. Papworth, however, was guided by Mr. Hepworth Dixon to a portrait of Blake ; a design was made for a monument by Mr. Baily, Mr. Papworth's father-in-law ; and, although the work consists simply of a bust upon a sort of terminal base, there is a striking felicity in the conception ; the countenance of the hero is firm and roundly moulded, with an aquiline nose and a prominent chin-not altogether unlike the type of Napoleon, but far more masculine and Saxon, more manifestly energetic and mobile. The expression of the countenance is steadfast, and the position of the head is one of complete repose. Yet there is a life in every outline, especially of the brows and eyes, which have a look of breath in them. A certain sharp- ness in the turn of the hair, and a sideward curve in the place of a cravat round the neck, imparts to the head and hair a motion, as though the hero were standing at the helm of his ship as it moved through the wind. This description, we fear, may convey an exaggerated idea ; for nothing could be more simple or less disturbed than the design, which is ad- mirably rendered by Mr. Papworth with great simplicity, dignity, and grace.
- The bust will be an ornament to the building in which it is to be placed; it is a debt of honour which Blake's native land has owed too long, and we owe a further debt to Mr. Kinglake for having suggested this tribute at last. We understand, indeed, that the subscription is still open; Blake's countrymen not having yet sufficiently shared that earnest sense of honour due to a departed leader which Mr. Kinglake has evinced, and which is really one of the guarantees of a nation's strength.
Previous page
