The Press.
London, England, 1855-03-03 00:00:00

14

It was while he was at Florence, engaged in
the study of the art treasures of that city, that
Strange seems to have conceived the idea that
his knowledge of pictures,might be turned to
good account, by buying the best ho could
procure and selling them in London. He
noticed that by this traffic Mr. Jenkyns was
making " a fortune without loss of time, fur I
" am told that he has of late disposed to the
" amount of at least 3,0001., only to three
" different people." Memoirs of the time are
full of the tricks played on unsuspicious con-
noisseurs. Choice works of great masters
were manufactured by the gross, and, as
paintings were at this time really supposed to
be the productions of the artists to whom they
were aseribed,the imposture proved profitable,
until the market got overstocked, and con-
noisseurs became, if not more keen-sighted, at
least more wary. Strange imported largely,
and had an exhibition of his purchases. It is
absurd to suppose that ho could have had the
means of purchasing eighty-seven really
genuine works, including a Raffaelle, a Cor-
reggio, a Leonardo, &c. The exhibition, how-
ever, seems to have been profitable, and with
the sale he was so well pleased that he im-
ported more largely, and had a sale of 119
" capital and elegant pictures, selected from
" the Roman, Florentine, Lombard, Venetian,
" and other schools." As these works were
stated to be collected by Mr. Robert Strange,
they probably sold well. "He entirely sub-
" wits to the curious " the assertion that one
picture sold to him as a Domenichino was really
such ; but we fear the author of this memoir is
too sanguine in concluding from this instance
of frankness that we are entitled " to augur
" somewhat favorably of the nomenclature
" generally adopted." These sales, it is pro-
bable, laid the foundation of that large fortune
which Strange was enabled to amass. His
shrewd wife, who managed sales for him while
he was abroad, wrote to him on one occasion,
" I can sell nothing but what is really tine ;
" bad and middling things in the way of virto
"I am for burning." The original orthogra-
phy is preserved in the letters of this energetic
dame, much to the advantage of their pi-

quanoy.
Strange turned his residence abroad to
better account, at least in an artistic
sense, than by this traffic. He studied the
great Italian masters, took drawings from
their finest works, and thoroughly acquainted
himself with their spirit. He providently,
too, gained all the foreign distinctions which
were to be had for a moderate expenditure of
money. In 1765 he produced his two plates
of " Justice " and " Meekness," from Raffaelle's
figures in the Hall of Constantine. He was
in 1765 admitted a member of the Royal
Academy of Paris, and on the occasion of
publishing two of his greatest works, Charles I.
and Henrietta, was presented at the French
Court. These engravings met with a large
sale in France. The distinctions he received
abroad made him think that he was shame-
fully neglected at home. Though ordinarily a
peaceful man, intent on making his way in the
world, he was sensitive when his position as
an artist was called in question, and he took
an active part iu the disputes which arose
on the foundation of our Royal Academy,
conceiving himself insulted by the exclusion
of engravers.
At length, when his reputation had become
European, the sunshine of royal favour, for
which he ardently longed, beamed on him.
The deaths of the two young princes Octavius
and Alfred produced the " Apotheosis " of
West, and this picture Strange was commis-
sioned to engrave. Mrs. Strange, as we have
said, was an ardent Jacobite, but the King
found a way to convert her into one of the
mst loyal of his subjects. We quote from one
ofo her letters to her son, dated London, Jan.
13, 1787 :
Your dear father has been employed in engraving a most
beautiful picture painted by Mr. West, which he liked so
much that he was desirous of making a print from it. The
picture was painted for his Majesty : it represented two of
the royal children who died. The composition is an angel
in the clouds ; the first child sitting by the angel, and the
other, a most sweet youth, looking up; there are two
cherubs in -he top, and a view of Windsor at the bottom.
This print was lately finished, and Friday the loth
proof current
of
was appointed for your father's pnting some s ,
it to his Majesty. lie went with them the Queen s
house and had a most gracious receptiomto Majesty