FINE ARTS.
TII F. DRAWINGS OF RA 'TAME.
A HUNDRED of the Designs and Studies of RAFFAELLE, forming part
of the LawrtmxcE collection, are now exhibiting at :Messrs. Woon- snares Gallery, 112, St. Martin's Lane. We have seen them only once as yet, but we shall go and look again and again. Words cannot convey an idea of their ineffable beauty and grandeur : they beggar description. The soul of the divine master breathes in every design. The forms are the perfection of humanity ; the compositions display poetic invention according to nature ; the faces are radiant with sensi- bility and earnestness ; and the story of every subject is told with in- -tense feeling and dramatic force. The negotiation for the purchase of these precious relics for the National Gallery is broken off, we regret to hear, on account of the price. Doubtless 15,0001. is a large sum for 180 sketches, even by RAFFAELLE—though their worth is inestimable: but if an individual, he a painter, could expend more in collecting them together, surely -.Jat sum might be afforded by a nation. We Lope they may yet re- main to US: their loss to art in this country would amount to a calamity. •
We shall return to the admiration of these pure and refined emana- tions of genius. In the mean time, we tell every one who has a spark of feeling for truth and beauty in art, to go and behold them while they are visible : the time is short—only a month !
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