MR. BEHNES'S STATUETTE OF PEEL.
Mr. Behnes has just completed a statuette of the late Sir Robert Peel, which is not merely the best but the only likeness of the great statesman that we have seen in sculpture. A glance at once recalls the face and figure of Peel, as we have latterly seen him on the floor of the House of Commons when rising to speak; and on a more attentive scrutiny of the features, any one familiar with the original may trace the lineaments which gave life and individual character. Mr. Behnes has been very happy in giving the peculiar expression of the mouth ; always a difficult feature for the sculptor to model, and upon which, especially in the head of Sir Robert Peel, so much of the resemblance depends. Mr. Behnes has treated the modern costume with simplicity and skill ; judiciously in- dicating the loose frock-coat, thrown back by the action of one hand, which is as characteristic of Peel as the "redingote" was of Napoleon. The significance of these incidental peculiarities in the living men attests their value in a statue. We are glad to see statuettes of public men modelled by English sculp- tors; who have at last followed the example set them by the French and Germans. A cast of this statuette of Peel, whether in plaster or bronze, would occupy but a small space in a room of moderate dimensions,' and be well lighted from an ordinary window : on tho other hand, Aria model, enlarged to the life size, and cast in bronze or wrought in marble, would be an appropriate contribution towards one of the "Peel testi- monials."
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