FINE ARTS.
1.01:1S HAGHE'S SKETCHES.
THIS volume of Sketches in Belgium and Germany, by Loris Mc:FIE, is one of the lima interesting. of the series of folios for which we are indebted to the recent improvements in lithography. Ale long eminent as a lithograiller, has lately distinguished himself as a ',ulster also; and in this %%auk his talent as a designer is combined with
his skill as a dranglasniam The town-halls, churches, and convents of
his native country', itel tinun, have principally furnished hint with sub- jects—ail of them architectural, and mostly interiors : they appear to
have been selected chiefly with a view to display the rich details of florid Gothic which decorate the cif is and ecclesiastical edifices of the Low Countries ; the local interest and picturesque beauty of the scenes
being heightened by groups of figures in the old -Flemish and other characteristic costumes. In point of design, indeed, each one is a pie- ttlrO ; they are "sketches" only in execution. Some few, however, are highly-finished drawings ; the rest are not so mach sketches us partially-finished pictures, at lucre one prominent object is brought out in strong relict' and the rest is left in natagre outline. The titlepage—a quaint Gothic doorway, incrusted with rich tracery, opciiiug into a room correspondingly ornamented, where a monk is seat- d co!n-Ling his breviary, while a p.i,;a with a dog Jounces at the entrance--indicates the nature of the contents, and the style of execu- tion of the more finished slates. Among these the most perfect is the Conned-room in the Town-hall, Conant/1: its Fnperb Gothic chimney- piece, adorned with statutes and bus-relief's, is the principal feature ; but the flat timber roof and tapestried walls hung with maps and pic- tures, arc shown in part : the magistrate seated before the fire, the attendant waiting, and the books and papers scattered about, give living reality to the scene : the drawing is carefully finished throughout, and the tint blends with the pencilling so as to pro- duce a complete and agreeable ensemble. The illarriage-Room ire the 116ta de 1711e, Antwerp, though the wedding.party gives it life, is less carefully finished. Another entirely wrought picture is the Hall of ustice, Bruges, which was putt forth as a specimen plate : this, moreover, is one of the two or three successful attempts to convey local colour by means of the lithographic tint ; another being a curiously- enriched door in one corner of the Council-roma in the Town-hall, Ondenitrile, in which the oaken punching is well represented; and a third is the fringe's Room, liokensalzbury, where the effect of evening sunlight illuminating a quaintly-carved oaken chamber is imitated: the tinnily group assembled to hear the Scriptures read by the chaplain lends an impressive air of stillness to this scene, and redeems the harsh and crude drawing of the decorations. A group of female penitents kneeling round the CoVessional in SI. Guditle's, .11russLls, waiting their tarn to unburden their consciences, is very striking ; and the Pulpit in the Cathedeal 7'rri, s, having a stately arched entrance to the stair, with part of the coasvegation introduced, is another. The most pow- erful in point of of is the Shribe r;/' Ore Three Kings in the Cathedral qf cologne, With pilgrims worshiping ; the star at the top shining out from a background of deep shade. And the most characteristic is the .litgi shays of the Capuchin Monastery, Bruge.s., with the brotherhood assembled at thch. meal—the servitors bringing in the dishes and flagons, one reading the " grace" : tile coldness of the artist's style is here in accordance with the subject. The stony chillness and cheerless gloom of the C'Pe'sass at Thngres—a capital piece of perspective—and of the Chapel (g• the Xnu,hcry Conetut, Salzbarg, are also admirably well ex- pressed : the stillness of the place is sensibly felt, and the solid substance of the stone is represented with almost palpable force. In others, espe- cially where the carving is extremely florid, as in the screens and taber- nacle, HAGUE'S rigid style of delineation gives to stone-work the appear- ance of metal : this is particularly the case in the Sehoubrunnen (It Nuremberg; not only the sumptuous Gothic cross, but the church in the distance, have this luny metallic look. Iu others, as in the Porch of St. Laurent, ...V«resibery, the stone-work wants solidity ; and thus the effect of the lighted interior seen through a shadowed doorway is much les- sened: this want of substance, too, gives to the view of the quadran- gular court of the Bourse at Antwerp an appearance of vacuity. The Tomb of the Emperor Ludovic, at Munich, guarded by two rows of " kings and keysers," in colossal bronze, is an imposing array of sepal' chral pomp : the statues and columns are solid, though the figures do not appear colossal. The Private Chapel of' the Dukes of Burgundy, at Antwerp, representing the performance of the marriage ceremony, is harsh in its effect almost to coarseness. We have endeavoured to give a general idea of the character and merits of this work, by instancing the most remarkable plates, both good and bad, as far as the art is concerned: in some cases the subject owes all its charm to the artist's skill, in others it loses by his peculiar manner; the defects of which consist in the predominance of a wiry outline and harsh lights, leaving too much to be supplied by the middle tint: the strength of the light makes the insubstantiality of the forms more evident. The marked contrast between the completeness of one half of the subjects and the want of finish in the other, affords ground for the supposition that the work has been hurried on to completion. Mr. Ittattn is always best when he finishes most highly : indeed, his talent lies in definition, not in indication ; and if all the plates had been as highly wrought as the few we have mentioned, the work would have done much more honour to his reputation.
Having drawn a distinction between a sketch and an unfinished pie- tare—between definition and indication, it may he as well to explain more fully the difference. A sketch we conceive to be an indication of the forms and effects of a picture by slight and rapid touches, convey- ing a general idea of the scene as a whole ; and the charm of the sketcher's art consists in indicating by the fewest possible graceful and meaning lines and tints the characteristics of an object or a scene : in an unfinished picture, on the contrary, a part is completely elaborated, both in outline and light and shade, while the rest is left in an imperfect state, the mere forms being defined by a cold mechanical outline, but with no indication of substance, or light and shade ; so that, instead of the whole being equally suggestive, as in a sketch, one part is com- plete and the rest is indistinct, wanting something to realize the idea. In a fine sketch, such as Bora:it:TON used to make, no touch seems wanting; yet it is far from being a finished picture. Mr. llAonn does not appear to possess the sketcher's art : he can define with the force of relief and illusion that characterizes the diorama pictures ; but to do this requires eleborate finish in all the details, and these, we suspect, want of time has prevented him from giving.
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