NEW PRINTS.
EDWIN LANDSEER'S masterpiece, A Scene at Bolton Abbey in the Olden Time—the most perfect picture that the British school has pro.. duced—is engraved in mezzotint by SAMUEL COUSINS, ill a style as perfect as the painting itself. The picture, it will be remembered, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1834, where it won universal admiration. The Abbot of Bolton has come out into the porch to receive a present of a buck and a quantity of game, brought by an old forester and a young falconer—a peasant-girl holding a dish of trout—. and IS reading the letter accompanying the gift, a monk attending him with cordials for the bearers. The picture is not merely a display cf
Elwin LANDSEEn's surpassing skill as u painter of animals—the natural way in which the incident is depicted, and the character of the persoLs, are no less admirable ; and these make it interesting as an illustration of the bond of union between monkery and feudality.
It is as difficult to do full justice to the rare merits of the engraving as to find a fault in it. The translation embodies the life and senti- ment of the original. Mezzotint is only the medium on which the engraver has worked with the point, blending the sharpness and bril- liancy of line engraving with the softness and delicate gradations of mezzotint, without the hardness of the one or the blackness of the other. By this union of styles, every variety of colour and texture has been obtained that is requisite in imitating the tone of the flesh, the modelling of the limbs and features, the fur of the hounds and the stag, the plumage of the heron and duck, and the downy whiteness of the swan : and this has been accomplished with painter-like delicacy and freedom of execution. The way in which the light and atmosphere are represented, so as to relieve the figures from the background and give space to the interior, preserving at the same time the keeping and tone of the picture, is surprising. Exquisite as are the details, these do not interfere to lessen the harmony and brilliancy of the broad general effect. No one but COUSINS could have achieved such a plate; and it is his masterpiece. The engraving is not yet in the shops, but a proof may be seen at the publisher's, air. BOYS, of Golden Square. Mezzotint, though on sterl, does not yield very many prints: those who are anxious to secure a fine impression should be early in their application. CousiNs has also just finished a mezzotint of WILKIE'S first Sparrish picture, The Maid qf Saragossa. Mr. Mow, is the publisher; for whom also WILKIE'S John Klit).1- is being engraved in line. Fighting for the Standard is One of ABRAHAM Coml.:Ws clever and highly-finished battle. pieces, engraved in mezzotint by GILLER, with viper and accuracy. The horses are better than the men.
The Widow's Llope—a mother, in black and in tears, comparing the lineaments of her sleeping infant with Hie miniature of her dead hus- band (had she otherwise forgotten him already but for this remem- brancer ? ) is a commonplace but taking picture, by JOY, in mezzotint by E c s:.
CHALON'S last sketch from the Opera, is (nisi as Norma, where she takes her stand as the priestess. It is the best drawn or any, and has quite u classic air; though the likeness is not very striking.
" The Birth-day" is a mezzotint from a pretty design,by Miss F. ConnAux, of a mother wreathing her child with flowers in honour of its bianday. The look of infantine pride and pleasure in the child's face is charming for its simplicity and innocence.
"Hide and Seek "—an urchin hiding from her companions—is a pleasing subject, after HERBERT, mezzotinted by Mrs. SIMMONS.
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