Part 31 (1/2)

”The Academy possesses a fine collection of casts and models, from antique statues, &c. a School of colouring, from pictures of the best masters. Lectures are delivered by the stated Professors in their various branches, to the Students during the winter season; prize medals are given annually for the best academy figures and drawings of buildings; and gold medals for historical composition in painting, sculpture, and designs in Architecture, once in two years; which latter are presented to the successful Artists in full a.s.sembly, accompanied with a discourse from the President, calculated to stimulate perseverance and exertion. Students have at all times, (except during the regular vacations,) an opportunity of studying nature from well chosen models, and of drawing from the antique casts.

”This Exhibition is generally opened on the first of May. The number of works of art, consisting of paintings, sculptures, models, proof engravings and drawings, generally exhibited, are upwards of one thousand; and are usually visited by all the gaiety and fas.h.i.+on of the Metropolis, between the hours of two and five o'clock in ~240~~the day.

The rooms are elegant and s.p.a.cious; and I consider it at all times a place where a s.h.i.+lling may be well spent, and an hour or two well enjoyed.

”Some spend a life in cla.s.sing grubs, and try, New methods to impale a b.u.t.terfly; Or, bottled up in spirits, keep with care A crowd of reptiles--hideously rare; While others search the mouldering wrecks of time, And drag their stores from dust and rust and slime; Coins eat with canker, medals half defac'd, And broken tablets, never to be trac'd; Worm-eaten trinkets worn away of old, And broken pipkins form'd in antique mould; Huge limbless statues, busts of heads forgot, And paintings representing none knows what; Strange legends that to monstrous fables lead, And ma.n.u.scripts that n.o.body can read; The shapeless forms from savage hands that sprung, And fragments of rude art, when Art was young.

This precious lumber, labell'd, shelv'd, and cas'd, And with a t.i.tle of Museum grac'd, Shews how a man may time and fortune waste, And die a mummy'd connoisseur of taste.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: page240 Somerset House]

On entering the rooms, Bob was bewildered with delight; the elegance of the company, the number and excellence of the paintings, were attractions so numerous and splendid, as to leave him no opportunity of decidedly fixing his attention. He was surrounded by all that could enchant the eye and enrapture the imagination. Moving groups of interesting females were parading the rooms with das.h.i.+ng partners at their elbows, pointing out the most beautiful paintings from the catalogues, giving the names of the artists, or describing the subjects.

Seated on one of the benches was to be seen the tired Dandy, whose princ.i.p.al inducement to be present at this display of the Arts, was to exhibit his own pretty person, and attract a little of the public gaze by his preposterous habiliments and unmeaning countenance; to fasten upon the first person who came within the sound of his scarcely articulate voice with observing, ”It is d----d hot, 'pon honour--can't stand it--very fatiguing--I wonder so many persons are let in at once--there's no such thing as seeing, I declare, where there is such a crowd: I must come again, that's the end of it.” On another, was the full-dressed Elegante, with her bonnet in one hand, and her catalogue in the other, apparently intent upon examining the pictures before ~241~~her, while, in fact, her grand aim was to discover whether she herself was observed. The lounging Blood, who had left his horses at the door, was bustling among the company with his quizzing-gla.s.s in his hand, determined, if possible, to have a peep at every female he met, caring as much for the Exhibition itself, as the generality of the visitors cared for him. The Connoisseur was placing his eye occasionally close to the paintings, or removing to short distances, right and left, to catch them in the most judicious lights, and making remarks on his catalogue with a pencil; and Mrs. Roundabout, from Leadenhall, who had brought her son d.i.c.ky to see the show, as she called it, declared it was the '_most finest_ sight she ever seed, lifting up her hand and eyes at the same time as d.i.c.ky read over the list, and charmed her by reciting the various sc.r.a.ps of poetry inserted in the catalogue to elucidate the subjects. It was altogether a source of inexpressible delight and amus.e.m.e.nt. Tom, whose taste for the arts qualified him well for the office of guide upon such an occasion, directed the eye of his Cousin to the best and most masterly productions in the collection, and whose attention was more particularly drawn to the pictures (though occasionally devoted to the inspection of a set of well-formed features, or a delicately turned ancle,) was much pleased to find Bob so busy in enquiry and observation.

”We have here,” said Tom, ”a combination of the finest specimens in the art of painting laid open annually for public inspection. Music, Poetry, and Painting, have always been held in high estimation by those who make any pretensions to an improved mind and a refined taste. In this Exhibition the talents of the Artists in their various lines may be fairly estimated, and the two former may almost be said to give life to the latter, in which the three are combined. The Historian, the Poet, and the Philosopher, have their thoughts embodied by the Painter; and the tale so glowingly described in language by the one, is brought full before the eye by the other; while the Portrait-painter hands down, by the vivid touches of his pencil, the features and character of those who by their talents have deservedly signalized themselves in society.

The face of nature is displayed in the landscape, and the force of imagination by the judicious selector of scenes from actual life. Hence painting is the fascinating region of enchantment. The pencil is a magic wand; it calls up ~242~~to view the most extensive and variegated scenery calculated to wake the slumbering mind to thought.

”----To mark the mighty hand That, ever busy, wheels the silent spheres, Works in the secret deep; shoots steaming thence The fair profusion that o'erspreads the Spring; Flings from the sun direct the naming day; Feeds every creature; hurls the tempest forth; And as on earth this grateful change revolves.

With transport touches all the springs of life.”

”Upon my life!” cried Bob, ”we seem to have no need of Sparkle now, for you are endeavouring to imitate him.”

”Your observations maybe just, in part,” replied Tom; ”but I can a.s.sure you I have no inclination to continue in the same strain. At the same time, grave subjects, or subjects of the pencil and graver, are deserving of serious consideration, except where the latter are engaged in caricature.”

”And that has its utility,” said Bob.

”To be sure it has,” continued Tom--”over the human mind, wit, humour and ridicule maintain authoritative influence. The ludicrous images which flit before the fancy, aided by eccentric combinations, awaken the risible powers, and throw the soul into irresistible tumults of laughter. Who can refrain from experiencing risible emotions when he beholds a lively representation of Don Quixote and Sancho Panca--Hudibras and his Ralpho--merry old Falstaff shaking his fat sides, gabbling with Mrs. Quickly, and other grotesque figures to be found in the vast variety of human character? To lash the vices and expose the follies of mankind, is the professed end of this species of painting.

”Satire has always shone among the rest; And is the boldest way, if not the best, To tell men freely of their foulest faults.”

Objects well worthy of attention--like comedy--may degenerate, and become subservient to licentiousness and profligacy; yet the shafts of ridicule judiciously aimed, like a well-directed artillery, do much execution. With what becoming severity does the bold Caricature lay open to public censure the intrigues of subtle Politicians, the ~243~~chicanery of corrupted Courts, and the flattery of cringing Parasites! Hence satirical books and prints, under temperate regulations, check the dissoluteness of the great. Hogarth's Harlot's and Rake's Progress have contributed to reform the different cla.s.ses of society--nay, it has even been doubted by some, whether the Sermons of a Tillotson ever dissuaded so efficaciously from l.u.s.t, cruelty, and intemperance, as the Prints of an Hogarth. Indeed it may with truth be observed, that the art of Painting is one of those innocent and delightful means of pleasure which Providence has kindly offered to brighten the prospects of life: under due restriction, and with proper direction, it may be rendered something more than an elegant mode of pleasing the eye and the imagination; it may become a very powerful auxiliary to virtue.”

”I like your remarks very well,” said Bob; ”but there is no such thing as paying proper attention to them at present; besides, you are moralizing again.”

”True,” said Tom, ”the subjects involuntarily lead me to moral conclusions--there is a fine picture--Nature blowing Bubbles for her Children, from the pencil of Hilton; in which is united the simplicity of art with allegory, the seriousness of moral instruction and satire with the charms of female and infantine beauty; the graces of form, action, colour and beauty of parts, with those of collective groups; and the propriety and beauty of----”

He was proceeding in this strain, when, turning suddenly as he supposed to Tallyho, he was not a little surprised and confused to find, instead of his Cousin, the beautiful and interesting Miss Mortimer, at his elbow, listening with close attention to his description.

”Miss Mortimer,” continued he--which following immediately in connection with his last sentence, created a buz of laughter from Sparkle, Merrywell, and Mortimer, who were in conversation at a short distance, and considerably increased his confusion.

”Very gallant, indeed,” said Miss Mortimer, ”and truly edifying. These studies from nature appear to have peculiar charms for you, but I apprehend your observations were not meant for my ear.”

”I was certainly not aware,” continued he, ”how much I was honoured; but perceiving the company you are in, I am not much astonished at the trick, and undoubtedly ~244~~have a right to feel proud of the attentions that have been paid to my observations.”

By this time the party was increased by the arrival of Col. B----, his daughter Maria, and Lady Lovelace, who, with Sparkle's opera gla.s.s in her hand, was alternately looking at the paintings, and gazing at the company. Sparkle, in the mean time, was a.s.siduous in his attentions to Miss Mortimer, whose lively remarks and elegant person excited general admiration.

The first greetings of such an unexpected meeting were followed by an invitation on the part of the Colonel to Tom and Bob to dine with them at half past six.

Tallyho excused himself upon the score of a previous engagement; and a wink conveyed to Tom was instantly understood; he politely declined the honour upon the same ground, evidently perceiving there was more meant than said; and after a few more turns among the company, and a survey of the Pictures, during which they lost the company of young Mortimer and his friend Merry well, (at which the Ladies expressed themselves disappointed) they, with Sparkle, a.s.sisted the females into the Colonel's carriage, wished them a good morning, and took their way towards Temple Bar.

”I am at a loss,” said Dashall, ”to guess what you meant by a prior engagement; for my part, I confess I had engaged myself with you, and never felt a greater inclination for a ramble in my life.”