ART.
THE GROSVENOR GALLERY.
[THIRD NOTICE.]
IN reviewing any collection of works by what are generally known as the Old Masters, there is one difficulty which stands prominently forward, and makes criticism hesitating, if not silent. Paintings or drawings which have stood the test of public opinion for hundreds of years do seem to acquire with time a sanctity and worth such as age bestows upon all other records, and as-Ve tread reverently beneath the shadow of any temple where people have worshipped, however mistakenly, so do we stand beside-the works of many of these old masters. They may have, as far as- we can see, sometimes wasted gigantic intellect and industry, in the pursuit of an unworthy scheme of art, but at least they did so in all sincerity, and even their mistakes were worthy ones. Coming from the large west gallery, filled with the works of modern artists, into this east gallery, where there are only chalk, pen-and-ink, and pencil drawings by the old masters, the first- thing which strikes us is the difference in the mental atmosphere. We seem to have got into another world altogether. It is -a difficult, if not a perilous matter to attempt to account for an impression like this, but it seems to us that its reason lies in one- very simple fact,—the English art represented in the west gallery, beautiful in many respects as it is, is practically an art without any coherent faith and life. It is an art which proposes the making- of pictures as its raison d'être, and looks upon nature with eyes trained only to see in her a certain number of pictorial effects, and in man only pleasant arrangements of colour and form. Here every artist seems to cater for the public as a dramatic- agent caters for the theatre,—to say in his heart, "Here is a nice pretty thing I've made for you. Don't you like it? Then PIP make something else." But in this east gallery, however faulty may be the spirit of the work, however it may err in perspective or through ignorance of natural fact, there is one quality which is always evident, which may be traced in the least of these ex- amples, and that is that the artist was not the public's servant, but its master. He did not direct his art into given channel, dictated solely by public opinion, nor did he regard it simply as a means of getting a livelihood. It is customary to think of the- Old Masters as only producing gigantic oil pictures, and to imagine from the number of works ascribed to each that they used to dash them off with a lordly ease, but a visit to this gallery will teach all who hold such an opinion a very different state-of things. It will show them that the greatest of these great men. made study after study of arm, or foot, or head, before they began their picture, and that their studies extend to all .the minutite of dress or ornament, landscape or flower, and are worked with a delicacy and patient industry which could hardly have been surpassed by a monk illuminating his psalter. And it will also show this very significant. fact,—that the vrork was a labour of love. Not for fame, nor wealth, but for real love of their art, did most of these men work and live. It seems tow that this exhibition may help the public, to •a comprehension, of this- difference between ancient and modern work more than anrano which we have yet had .in England, and we,have therefore dwelt
somewhat on what appeared to us to lie at the root of the matter. But as a matter of fact, little is to be hoped for from a British public in appreciation of good art. Cheap effects of chiaroscuro and cheaper sentiment have so vitiated the public taste, and been -exalted to such high seats amongst our artis tic fraternity, that there is little hope at present of any real corn prehension of such work as these old drawings. "What is there beautiful in that?" 'we heard a fashionable lady ask her daughter, pointing to Raphael's cartoon of the Holy Family ; and the daughter, in the gracious slang of the present day, could not "see much in it." It is one of the greatest trials at the Grosvenor Gallery, that swing to the rooms being comparatively small and well attended, and the visitors being, as a rule, that dreadful class of persons who talk loudly through the best music or most interesting play- -owing to these causes, it is necessary to have all sorts of stupidi- ties and ignorant vulgarity crammed into your ears whilst you are looking at the pictures.
We cannot attempt here any worthy notice of the drawings, but
we will ask our readers to close their ears and saunter round this gallery with us, pausing a moment at a few "unconsidered trifles." The first eighteen drawings in the gallery are by Titian, and the -first of these is, or is not, the sketch for the picture of "The Battle of Padua ;" for the reasons for and against this being the design it professes to be, we must refer our readers to the Catalogue. Nos. 535 and 536 are interesting, as being unusually good examples of Titian's landscape drawing. They are both done with a pen, in brown ink on light-brown paper, and both seem to show a struggle between looking at nature simply and treating her conventionally. 'The first of these, the study of a large beech-tree, is exceptionally fine, the curves of the stem and insertion of the branches being ab- solutely free from the conventionality shown in the treatment of the foliage. Close to these is a beautiful little sketch in red chalk by 'Giorgione of a boar hunt, which should not be overlooked. Whether it be the effect of time or other causes, there is a beautiful tone -about these old red-chalk drawings which seems unobtainable at the present day. Passing on round the gallery, we come upon two fine heads by Paul Veronese, in red and black chalk (Nos. 528 and 546), of which the latter, a study for the picture of the marriage of St. Katharine, is the finer. No. 549 is a curious 'coloured drawing, by- Paris Bordone, of a -woman kneeling in an open landscape, and it is curious to see how all trace of the quiet ,earnestneas with which Titian treated landscape has quite vanished from the work of his i,mitator. Next to this are a number of Correggio studies for various pictures, all done in red chalk, and all possessed of the delicious roundness and softness which are the leading characteristics of this artist. If you contrast his studies with those of either Titian or Leonardo, you discover at once the secret of the charm which his pictures exercise over all weak -natures. The truth is that Correggio modified everything he painted into a curve, whether it was a limb, or a tree, or a bit of drapery. It is no exaggeration to say that you can look through all his studies, and not find a single straight line or sharp angle. 'Compare any of these studies of drapery with those of Leonardo sn the opposite wall, and you will at once discover the difference. Drapery, according to Correggio, is treated according to the principles of high art, broad-sweeping curves, showing the out- lines of the figure beneath. According to Leonardo and Veronese, it is treated simply as drapery. We leave our readers to decide for themselves whether they prefer the thing as it is, or the thing as it is not. There are some magnificent specimens of Canaletti's pen-and-ink drawing here, and in our opinion they are far more satisfactory than his finished pictures.
To pass on to Raphael, just noting, on the way, a beautiful
drawing of Perugino's of the "Marriage of the Virgin," No. 597. Of the Raphasls we cannot speak at any length, but we think that those who are familiar with and fond of Raphael's work will find in these drawings (there are about twenty of them), especially in the two cartoons Nos. 608 and 629, all the beauty -and serious sweetness, which form the great attraction in his larger pictures. It is hardly possible for grace of form or tenderness of -feeling, to reach a higher pitch of perfection than in these two cartoons, and it is to be noticed that the softness is of a totally different quality from that of Correggio, and has in it none of that -enervating sensuousness with which that master's works abound. If fault is to be found with Raphael's women, it is that they are, perhaps,— " Too bright and good For human nature's daily food,"
and have their place more fittingly by the altar than the hearth. From Raphael we go to the opposite extreme of thought and feeling,—from gracefully-draped women, with faces full of peace, to studies of nude, herculean men, engaged in every sort of struggle. The beauty of perfect development and strength, as opposed to the beauty of expression, is the point of contact be- tween Michael Angelo and Raphael, and it is curious to notice how the gigantic genius of the former can produce, in a small chalk drawing not a foot square, figures as instinct with turbulent life as in his grandest pictures. Compare No. 663, "Adam," a study for one of the figures on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Next we come to some specimens of Albrecht Diirer's work in water-colours, noticeable for the marvellous fidelity of detail. No. 709 should especially be looked at, as in that little landscape every separate stone has been drawn, and the small figure seated in the middle of the picture, certainly not more than an inch high, has the muscle in his bare legs shown clearly. Next to these Albert Diirers are the Leonardo studies lent by the Queen, and which form the great attraction of this part of the collection. It would be hopeless if we were to attempt to give our readers any idea of the beauty and wonderful variety of these studies,—like the great giant at the fair, they must be seen to be appreciated. Not the least beautiful ones certainly are the studies of leaves and flowers in red chalk. Perhaps the most interesting of these Leonardos, are the sheets containing the studies for the heads of the Apostles, for the great Last Supper picture, now rotting away in Milan, and for actual beauty we think that No. 696, seven studies of drapery for the picture of the Virgin and St. Anne, in the Louvre, is the finest.
We have left ourselves no space to mention the many other interesting drawings, including the splendid series of Holbein portraits, and the drawings of the more modern Flemish schooL
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