The Press.
London, England, 1854-05-06 00:00:00

MAY 6, 1854.

ittraturt.

Treasures of Art in Great Britain. By Dr.
Waagen. 3 vols. London : Murray.
DR. WAAGEN does not pretend in these volumes
to completely enumerate our art collections.
Many galleries were unvisited by and perhaps
unknown to him. Yet some idea may be
formed of his industry and of our treasures
by a mere glance at his useful index, detailing
the works he inspected and has described.
He considers generally that our collections are
weakest in Italian masters : he doubts whether
we have any considerable specimens of the Flo-
rentine school, though it is worthily repre
seated in our National Gallery by the great work
of Sebastian del Piombo, the " Raising of La-
zarus," and by the fine picture of " Christ and
the Doctors," reputed to be by Leonardo da
Vinci. In the " Lazarus " the genius of
Michael Angelo is unquestionably evident: the
cartoon for the picture was probably designed
by him, though, for reasons which Dr. Waagen
alleges, it is unlikely he took any part in the
actual painting. Sebastian had studied in the
great school of colour, Venice, and it occurred
to the Florentine that, with his drawing and
the Venetian's execution, the works of Raffaelle
might be surpassed. In the paintings for the
Cathedral of Narbonne, Raffaelle and Sebastian
both put forth their whole genuis. The works
produced are still unrivalled, though, with all
Michael Angelo's assistance, the " Lazarus "
cannot afford competition with its rival. It is
said that for this work Mr. Beckford, in his
day of pride, offered Mr. Angerstein 15,0001.,
the largest sum at that time ever named for
a single picture. It is seen to little advantage
in our gallery. Another noble specimen of Se-
bastian's highest style is in the collection of
Mr. Baring.
The reputed Da Vinci is asserted by Dr.
Waagen to be really the work of the Milanese
Bernardino Luini. The flesh tints, he urges,
are too warm, the local colours in the draperies
too full, the expression too soft, and the draw-
ing too weak for Da Vinci. Though the
features of Christ are attractive from their ex-
pression of tender melancholy, yet they have
not the deep seriousness and intense meaning
which Da Vinci gave to his countenances.
Judgments thus formed are often erroneous,—
as every connoisseur well knows,—yet on the
whole we are inclined to think that in
this instance the doctor is right. On the
other hand, a picture at Wootton-hall ascribed
to Luini is by the doctor referred to Da Vinci.
Some half-dozen other works bearing Da
Vinci's name are noticed in different collec-
tions ; but " La Vierge aux rochers," at Lord
Suffolk's seat, Charlton Park, is classed as
about our best specimen. The heads alone,
however, show his masterly modelling and
noble expression ; the other parts are by an
inferior hand. We may console ourselves for
the absence of any undoubted and capital
work by Da Vinci if it be true, as here stated,
that in all Europe we might seek in vain for
a large picture entirely finished by his hand.
Another Florentine master, Andrea del
Sarto, is not well represented in our gallery,
but there are noble pictures by him in some of
our private collections. Twenty-eight of his
works are noticed here, one of the finest being
" The Carita," in Mr. Ashburnham's gallery.
An admirable portrait of himself is to be seen
at Earl Cowper's seat, Panshanger.
In the Roman school we sigh for a master-
piece by Raffaelle; but the cartoons at Hamp-
ton Court so grandly exhibit the qualities for
which he was most famous—invention, com-
position, drawing, expression—that we may
well be satisfied with the bright reflection
which they afford of his genius. Including
them, there are noticed twenty-eight works by
Raffaelle. A delicate and charming cabinet
picture by him of "Virgin and Child " is
in
the possession of Lady Garvagh. Of Giulio
Romano there are noticed but fourteen works,
and scarcely one of a high class.
In the Lombard school we fare better. In
the National Gallery we possess unquestionably
some of Correggio's finest works. The worth
of the " Ecce Homo " is not to be measured
in money: as a specimen of the great master's

THE PRESS.

powers it has no superior. The picture being
well known, we are tempted to extract Dr.
Waagen's remarks on it :

The noble features of the countenance of Christ ex-
press the utmost pain, without being in the least dis-
figured by it. Correggio alone could so paint this dark,
tearful expression of the eyes. How striking is the hold-
ing out of the fettered hands, which are of the finest form !
as if to say, " Behold, these are bound for you The
Virgin Mary, who, in order to see her Son, has held by the
balustrade which separates him from her, is so overcome
by excessive grief at the sight that she sinks fainting.
Her lips still seem to tremble with weeping, but the cor-
ners of the mouth are already fixed; it is involuntarily open:
the arched eyelids are on the point of covering the closing
eyes ; the hands with which she has held fast let go the
balustrade. She is supported by Mary Magdalen, whose
countenance expresses the tenderest compassion. In the
foreground to the left, the fine profile of a soldier indicates
a feeling of pity. On the right, Pilate looking out of a
window in the middle distance, and pointing to the Christ,
is necessarily of least importance in the scene. In all
other respects, too, this picture is one of Correggio's best ;
all the forms are far more severe and noble than usual ;
the execution admirable. The whole is painted with a
full brush, and the colouring is of extraordinary power and
depth. The effect of the pale countenance of the Virgin
is enhanced by the contrast of the dark blue cloak which
is drawn over her head ' like a veil. If it be one of the
highest objects of art so to purify and elevate, by the
beauty of the representation, the most painful suffering,
that the sight of it produces only a soothing and conso•
latory effect, Correggio has here attained that object in an
astonishing degree. • * a * • lilengs attributed
this picture to the earlier time of Correggio, and I am
further inclined to agree with Pungileoni, who fixes the
date at 1520. Correggio, it is true, was then only twenty-
six years old, but, nevertheless, in the zenith of his art.
The other's Correggios in the gallery are ad-
mirable, and /there are several of his good
pictures in our private collections. Of the
Carucci our specimens are numerous—forty-
eight by Annibale, twenty-four by Lodovico,
and half a dozen by Agostino. Of Guido Reni
fifty-eight works are enumerated, and of Do-
menichino forty-six.
Thirty-two works by Giorgione, eighty-seven
by Titian, forty by Paul Veronese, and fifty-
three by Tintoretto, show that we are not
wanting in specimens of the Venetian school ;
but unfortunately not many of these works
are readily accessible to the public.
Landscapes have always been a favoured
department of art in England. No country,
we suppose, is richer in the works of Claude.
We possess upwards of one hundred of his
pictures, and many of them of the choicest
character. His " Liber Veritatis " at Devon
shire-house is a treasure which the author
had the privilege of inspecting, and of which
he speaks with becoming gusto. With him
Gaspar Poussin and Salvator Rosa constitute
a glorious triumvirate. Of the first Dr. Waagen
notices eighty-eight works, and of the second
sixty-four.
Of Spanish masters we can boast some ad-
mirable works, though scarcely of the highest
kind. Velasquez can be worthily studied in
Spain alone, his chief pictures being the pro-
perty of the Spanish Crown ; but forty-six of
his works are noticed here, and of Murillo's
• . .

eighty-eight, several of them of a choice cha-
racter.

It is, however, in pictures of the Fleming and
Dutch schools that we are by far the richest.
We have 148 pictures by the magnificent
Rubens, and those but a small part of the
number he sent from his easel. We have
heard, and can well believe, that in the Louvre,
before the spoils taken from so many nations
were restored, the works of this great painter,
by their number and splendour, overpowered
all others. What prodigality of genius is dis-
played by his invention, and what wealth of
resource by his unrivalled facility ! We are
richer still in the productions of his contem-
porary Vandyck, Dr. Waagen enumerating no
less than 230 of his pieces. Our cabinet pic-
tures of these schools would, if collected, be
the best in the world. By Rembrandt we
have one hundred pictures, though not one
superior to the masterpiece in the National
Gallery, " The Woman taken in Adultery."
Of genre pieces by Terburg, Gerard Dow,
Nicholas Maas, David Teniers, Jan Steen, and
De Hooge ; of landscapes by Cuyp, Van der
Neer, and, before all others, by Jacob Ruysdaol
and Hobbema ; of cattle-pieces by Paul Pot-
ter, Van Ostade (Adrian), and Wouvermans;
of marine pictures by Van de Velde ;—our col
lections aro rich in specimens of the very
highest class. The Pcel gallery alone is a
noble one. It seemed probable, from the late

423

Sir Robert's well-known desire to promote a
public taste for art, that he might have be-
queathed some of his masterpieces to the
National Gallery, as so many genuine lovers
of art have done ; but the instinct of family,
it is to be supposed, was too strong for his
public spirit.
Sad to say, we have to lament even now the
dispersion of those treasures which Charles I.
collected with so much diligence and taste.
He may be regarded as the founder of art in
England, and in this one respect—perhaps as
the result of his early travel—was greatly in
advance of the English mind. Such pictures
as the " Ecce Homo " of Titian, and " The
Holy Family" of Raffaolle, which Philip IV.
hailed as his " pearl" when he received it at
Madrid, are little likely ever to reach England
again. The Crowns of Europe rejoiced in
that fanaticism of our Parliament which be-
lieved it was enriching the country by the sale
of those priceless works; and too often is the
modern traveller, when surveying some chef-
d'oeuvre of continental galleries, pained to re-
member how much they have gained by our
folly. In turn, however, we have profited by
revolutionary troubles. The purchase of the
Orleans collection was but the prelude to that
general importation from the Continent which
has so greatly enriched us. Industry and
order reaped their reward in the progress of
those sciences which improve, and those arts
which grace, national life. The coarser kinds
of social occupation may be little injured by
civil tumult, but, for the time, art perishes
in the convulsion.

In criticising many of our masterpieces the
author notices how much they have been in-
jured by injudicious cleaning. The " Ecce
Homo " of Correggio " has suffered not a little
" by painting and repairs ;" and of the "Christ
and the Doctors" it is said :

According to the fashion of many Italian restorers, the
flesh parts have been stippled over with glazing colours,
and thus unmeaning smoothness and inanity have been
produced, which indeed deceive the multitude, but excite
the most painful feelings, and the most lively indignation
in the true friend of art, who seeks in vain the original
touches of the brush.

Dr. Waagen cautiously avoids all allusion to
the recent scrubbings which have excited so
much discussion, yet it is impossible that ho
could have approved of such a flaying as the
fine Cuyp—to take but one instance—has
undergone. As ho says, it is the touches of
the brush which are truly precious to the
amateur. Let us see the master's hand in his
work, and not be cheated with a mere resem-
blance of the original, from which every trace
of free and masterly execution has been rubbed
away. The pretence for this scouring is of
course to give the work a showier look, and
make it more acceptable to holiday-gazers. It
is questionable whether any gallery can ever
be made at once agreeable to the multitude,
and satisfactory to artists and amateurs. The
kind of' works required for the two classes are
essentially distinct ; and perhaps, as our col-
lections become more extensive, an artists'
gallery kept free from " cleanings " and
" restorations " might advantageously be
formed quite distinct from that which is in-
tended to Ideas° the public at large. In our
National liallery there are many works which,
though prized by the student, had much
better be kept from tho general eye, us they
can but disgust it.
The portions of this book which will be read
with most pleasure are the impartial notices
of our modern artists. Dr. Waagen thinks we
are advancing. Since 1.895 he can mark a
decided progress in the school of English
painting, and he surely. predicts " a brilliant
" future to English art." This is encouraging ;
yet to our eye recent losses have formed a gap,
even in our annual exhibitions, which at pro
sent does not seem likely to be filled up. The
critique on the Marlborough-house collection
principally concerns masters now numbered
with the past. Landseer is with us, and,
though no longer young, still vigorous ; but
we do not yet discern the promise of a rising
Wilkie or Turner. The latter master is cha-
racterised by our author at some length. Wo
like the appreciative better than the dispa-
raging portion of his remarks, and confine our
extract to them:—

In point of fact, no hmdscape•painter has yet appeare
with such versatility of talent. His historical landscape