The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-30 00:00:00

[PRICE (DOUBLE SHEET) FOURPENCE

CONTENTS OF TILE GLASS PALACE.

THE MEDLEVAL COURT AT THE GREAT
EXHIBITION.

It has been said of Mr. Pugin, perhaps not with-
out truth, that though he cannot design the majestic
proportions of an ecclesiastical edifice, he is neverthe-
less unapproachable in his manner of constructing a
finial, or a crocket, and all other minor members
of church ornament. If there ever was a chance
of coming at the truth, most assuredly now is
the time. There manufacturers of repute, each in
their several way, Messrs. Hardman, Minton,
and Crace, have united their efforts in further-
ing the Pugiuistic designs. Though the present sys-
tematic arrangement of the stone cuttings, wood carv-
ing, of the tiles, mosaic, and stuff-embroidery in the
mediaeval court is far more satisfactory to the eye than
that adopted at St. George's Cathedral ; a close
inspection tends considerably to qualify admi-
ration. The stiff rigid forms of an exploded
art arc doubtless to be found accurately enough
copied; but the secret charm of the handiwork, the
pleasant strokes of the chisel, all trace of hammer-
mark are gone ; every detail though striking is but an
unintelligent approximation to the venerable furni-
ture it strives to mimic. The medireval court seems
to have been fairly enough divided in its ministry to
the temporal and spiritual wants of all good catho-
lics. If at one side industrial neophytes are invited
to kneel at the shrine of the venerable Dom. I'.
'Walsh, or at the altar of some saint as yet mica-
nonised, at the next they are invited to a buffet
carved with devices emblematic of the very best
cheer. If in ono easement are to be found
pyxes, thuriblcs, and staves, crosses; and cha-
Ikea, in the next may be found an inseu-
ventory of salvers, cups, and platters, lee.
The ecclesiastical furniture shows a manifest supe-
riority over that which is merely of a quasi-religious
nature. It shows that though a priesthood may
inflict paintully hard and uncomfortable seats on its
parishioners, they in their turn are not less alive to
the necessity of our modern improvements. Fancy
being compelled to live in a chamber fitted up as it
has been temporarily for us by the complaisant
l'ugin. One wonders first whether any heat could
come out of that hearth, and, if it did, whether the
unfortunate doves forming the procession on each side
would not in due time hi consmned by a slow !tame.
And, as if with some misgiving as to their ultimate
chance of escape, they have not only been further se-
cured in slabs behind the grate, but are also seen com-
placently strutting on the andirons. Nor arc the
Lion and the Unicorn treated less scarcity: seldom
have they had to perform a more ignominious office
as supporters of a fire-screen, with their heads coin•
pletcly twisted round on their backs with ultra-
heraldic anatomy. Then, again, look at that " Prie-
Dieu ;" we have seen on the continent many a monk
or cardinal kneel at his orisons, but never on such a
rieketty uncomtbrtable concern as this. One shudders
to think of an " Eminence" trusting his burly per-
son to such feeble support, and the consequent igno-
minious capsize. How could he be expected too to
collect his thoughts with such a glarin. abomination
as the triptych which surmounts this prayer-stool;
with its tawdry -middle-pattern, and maudlin Santa
Catherina and Maria, seemingly extracted from
Hamilton's dresses; the only remedy would be to
close those fly-leaves,even though at the imminent risk
of upsetting the candlesticks adorned with
ltrummnagem fleurs-de-lis. These noble emblems
of chastity are lavished with a reckless pro-
digality which sets alike time, taste, and
circumstance at defiance. litre it may be
found stuck into the brass ornamentations of a cup-
board ; there inserted in the an te-pendium, sculptured
in stone, or chased in silver. One soon becomes
satiated with the perpetual recurrence of vine-leaves
o and pine-tops, interspersed more or less with emble-
matic devices and seutchcons. By frequent re-
iteration of the same motives, one becomes alive to
the necessity of introducing the human figure, or
even animal nature. But clearly Mr. Pugin pins his
faith to napkin-work, to scroll-ornaments, to slender
shafts, and assiduous imitation of scales. Of the
" Gothic pianoforte," on the " patent repeater cheek-
action principle," it is needless to dilate : it is a small
monstrosity of its kind. Gold, it is well known, lets
hitherto mainly served the purpose of annihi-
lating limn, and here being spread over the whole
instrument, in its unburnished state, it effec-
tually conceals any beauty of form, it might
originally have possessed. The large sideboard claims
o the merit of reminding one of one of Froissart's illu-
minations, particularly the dazzling carved roof which
projects over it. The very pleasantness of the shale
however would call for bolder relief and leas timid
under-cutting. The salvers, and the credit with which
they are charged, are among nut the best specimens
of embossed metal to be seen in the Crystal-palace.
Clumsy in design, glossed in execution, and spurious
in colour, they are no more calculated for real service
than the tin helmets of stage heroes.
Of the ecclesiastical portion of the display, it is hard
to know what to say. Taken separately, the wood-
carving, the silver-work, and the stone-cutting are
admirable specimens of workmanship. But no
sooner are these brought together in close com-
panionship than their inaptness to harmonise is at
once made painfully clear. To the end of time it
will evidently assume the form of patchwork. 'f he
variegated tiles of Minton will have nothing in com-
mon with the stone carvings of Crace. The red dra-
peries, powdered with ducal coronets and lilies, will
never blend with their brazen supports. Mr. l'ugin
himself avowsthat in church decoration colours should
be contrasted, hut not subdued, and here, indeed, we
we can only point to most unsatisfactory results. With
such a chromatic scale of harmony as is afforded by
brown,green,red, and blue in immediateauccess:on ,as
adopted in the arrangement of paper patterns exhi-
bited, we have only a further illustration of a disas-
trous principle which has been carried out to the
letter in the new houses of parliament. If one
looks at such specimens of art-manufacture as
the lofty oak rood, or the wrought brass
lettern beside it, nothing can be more admirable
than their fashioning ; nothing can equal the artful
concealment of manual labour, unless it be a conse-
quent insipidity of execution. Perfect in its way is
also the stone altar, on which is figured the "Saluta-
tion of the Virgin." The emblematic lily in the
flower-pot seems suddenly to have sprung up. The
incised brasses have also a good deal of quaint cha-
racter about them. Mr. Pugin is clearly a better
hand at sepulchral than baptismal monuments.
There is a poor little font, which is sorely tasked
with a huge excrescence of wooden pinnacles. The
small figures ensconced beneath a massive groining,
and forming the base, seem to be lost in thew
sense of inferiority. Immediately above, four angels,
in still worse plight, seem to be supplicating
to be relieved from their untenable position. On
the whole those things give least satisfaction which
evince a desire to remain content with the forms
sanctioned by former times, without a straining after
injudicious improvements, and ill-sorted adaptations.
This is conspicuous as well in the embroidered
vestments to be donned by the bishops as in the in-
laid utensils with which they minister to Roman
faith. In the make and measurement of cope and
chasuble, stole and maniple, Mr. Pugin is as
superior to the continental artist us silk is to buck-
ram. The latter, still extensively used in catholic
countries, is utterly repudiated by Nlr. Pugin, as well
as their monster patterns. Though neither a Man-
tegna nor a Holbein, our architect can erect a cre-
ditable candlestick; he is a dab at spiral knops, and
inlaid crystal ; and if he is a trifle too fund of sprink-
ling about indiscriminately doves and ball flowers,
still the neat way in which their time-honoured forms
are compassed go far to redeem the effects of bald
composition.

THE FINE ARTS COURT.
Every one, more or less deeply versed in the cheer-
ful subject of criminal statistics, has seen those
strange foreign maps, in which the different degrees
of moral culpability of a whole nation are rendered
visible at a glance. Thus aWM some departments