FIN E ARTS.
LESLIE'S PICTURE OF THE CORONATION SACRAMENT.
LESLIE'S picture of the Coronation, representing the Queen receiving the sacrament, is exhibited for a short time at Mr. MooN's, the pub- lisher, in Threildneedle Street, previous to engraving ; and we strongly recommend every one who can appreciate a 'tine work of art, or who would see what really good painting is, to obtain a sieht of it—a 1:t your that Mr. MooN readily grunts. This must not be conlbun ded with the ephemeral producthais of operative painters, who, wusIsiag to order against time, engage to cover a given space of canvas wi:11 a certain number of figures for a specified sum : it is as superior to the flashy commodities got up for the market, that are hawked about the country and puffed into notice as baits for subscribers, as gold to tinsel, or a precious stone to a paste imitation. Unlike the generality of represen- tations of passing occurrences, moreover, it posses es a value beyond the moment the art is not only worthy of the subject, but above it ; .and the picture will be admired when the temporary- interest of the occasion is forgotten. The empty lifeless formalities and the solemn mockery of devotion in the gorgeous pa-cant it ennimemorates, are lost sight of in tine exquisite skill of -the paieter. Ins made his view of the regal ceremonial a portrait. picture, The scene is bounded by the enclosure of the royal box, awl includes only that space on the floor of St. Edward's Chapel between the altar and the coronation-chair. By limiting his range to the persons and objects immediately before the eye, the painter has eve:lied a reality that, despite the small scale of the figures, (one-third the life size,) has almost the effect of illusion. The principal group is that round the altar, before which kneels tirc Queen, wearing the Delwatie robe of gold tissue embroidered in colours. but (divested of all other ornament : the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his purple velvet cope, is about to administer the sacred elements— handing the paten with the bread, while the Sub-Dean of Westinineter holds the cup. On the side nearest the spectator, stand the Hereditary Grand Chamberlain Lord Willoughby D'Eresby, holding the crown, and the Duke of Norfolk as Earl Marshal, with his baton of office: and on the opposite side, are the Marquis of Conyngham (Lord ('hamt.er- lain), the Bishop of' London, Lord Melbourne bearing the sword of state, the Duke of Wellington, and the Duke of Sutherland. The few- ness of the persons, and their gravity of demeanour as the officia tin e parties in the ceremonial rite, give impressive distibctness to this
lrric 1- pal feature of the scene : and the repose of this part is aided by the
predominance of blue in the draperies, contrasted with the gayety and animation of' the throng of royal personages and attendants that liU up the rest of the picture, where red is the prevailing lore, and :di
glitter and movement. The Maids of Ilouour, grottoed round the throne, lovely in their simple white dresses scattered whir flowess,
stand like a graceful cluster of lilies amidst the pomp of crimson and gold, forming a spot for the eye to rest upon as a relief' to the fatiguing splendour of the pageant. In the royal box, which occupies the background, the Princess Augusta, Princess Augusta of Cambridge, Princess llohenlohe, the Dutchess of Kent, and Prince George of Cambridge, are the principal personages; poor Lady Flora Hastings and Lord Morpeth being conspicuous among the attendants ; the Dukes of Sussex and Cambrisige, as the advanced guard of the great body of Peers, closing the view. A sunbeam falling aslant the royal box gives a luminous dimness to the crowd of figures, diffusing the light and massing the forms so as to throw out the bevy of young beauties iu front ; this secondary group being connected with the principal by the Dutchess of Sutherland, who stands in advance of the Maids of Honour, near the skirts of the Queen's robe.
The likenesses, so far as we could recognize individual resemblances, are admirable ; being characteristic without that literalness and set look that give to a picture the appearance of a mere collection of portraits. Indeed, the highest merit of the painting is the air of nature, life, ease, and erai.semblance that pervades the scene : none of the persons seem conscious of being objects of attention, but all are absorbed in what is passing before them, save where an idle page or a lovely damsel turns to look at the scene beyond. Nor is any one-part of the picture fiacri- fleet! to another; all is equally well finished ; and the execution, while , it has the delicacy of miniature, is marked by an elegant freedom of handling that never degenerates into minuteness. The dresses and accessories are indicated with just the due degree of generalization requisite to give them substantiality and keep them subordinate to the life of the scene. The faces will bear examination with a lens : the Duke of IVellington, (an excellent likeness,) though in the background, is as distinctly present to the eye as the nearest person, yet keeping his place in the composition. It is difficult to do justice to the trauscendant skill and refined taste shown in the treatment of' the subject and the execution of the paint- ing: to say that there is nothing gaudy or meretricious in the. effect, nothing slighted or overlaboured in the details, no mannerism or affectation in the style, no defective drawing or false principles of art in the design, is negative praise, that falls short of the painter's deserts. Not only is it the best picture of' the Coronation that has been painted, but a better is hardly possible, and its equal we are. not likely to see: the painter has depicted the act ttaleeene with minute accuracy- and lively truth, and with the constumeate tact of a master-hand. As a work of art, it is an honour to the English school; manifesting qualities as high as any painting not taxing the inventive powers can possibly do. It is it fine example of historical portraiture. The picture is exhibited by ertificial light, very ingenicmsly contrived so that the glare does not effect the eye--the dense atiu;,spliere of London in November not allowing of a picture being exhibited to advantage iii an ordinary room : we should have preferred seeing it by daylight, however. It is the property of the Queen, having been painted for her Majesty, and all the persons introduced in the canvas sat to Mr. I.1•:SLIF. by the Queen's command. Its size is six feet by three, and the engraving Is to be two-thirds the size of the pluming. teAstuet l'ousigs leas itiV,ertelzen this imps:ant work ; and, as if to efferd a pledge of his unsivalbel talent in mezzotint engraving, his newly-linished plate fieen LAN t>sains's picture, the 1( (nor Ii Machine, is exhibited in UZI itiljidni:ig niAte—oretory Nye v:ere going to say., for, be ides being fitted up altar-thshion, ties d.svotees of' art flock hither like worshippets to the shrine of some favottri•.e saint, In this last 'tvork COUSINS has surpassed himself: the depth, richness, and delicacy of his mezzotint, strengthened and varied hi quality and texture by etching. and heighteued by some strokes of the burin, leave nothing to be desired. ------------------ - ---e-------- . ..
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