The Express.
London, England, 1851-04-26 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 26, 1851.

PCPLICATIONS RECEIVED.

A Litt!, Earnest Book on a Gecaf Old Subject. Rte W.
Wii.ssiN. Horton and Co. The subject of Mr. Wilson's
work is poetry, and he is anxious to present his concep-
tions of the poetic life, in its relations to society, nature,
art, and religion. His motto, perhaps. gives u fair idea
of the sentiment under which his task ha.. IblIcolletilJr111Cd:
If thought and feeling be but true,
lie earnest and sincere,
Good only can be Wrist to view,
Good fruits alone appear.
This little volume will be read with pleasure for itscheer-
ful and often beautiful scutiulevt, expressed wit! t
ntfeetation or effort. It is dedicated, by permission. to
Edward Bulwer Lytton, is illustrated by Alfred Crow-
quill, and contains, besides the titan text, a dozen original
poems.
To-Morrow: the Results and Tendeneies of National Exhi-
bitiosts ; declared front strict historic parallels, dereloriag
unitinon hoe qf peculiar inkiest at the present time.
Ry llistoria. Saunders and Otley. This is a clumsy
attempt to pervert the testimony of history against the
character of the Great Exhibitiun. Nu weight of learn-
ing could give dignity to coneeptions essentially moan
and paltry; but this writer's history is as false as his
arguments are weak. Ills pages may, nevertheless. give
a pretext to those who wrongly allege the tendency of a
study of the past to narrow the unjust and unlit it for the
reception of generous ideas. The writer has selected the
very weakest of the objections made to the Exhibition,
and streeeeded in bringing together more pedantry, per-
venseness, and pretensions than we have ever own
crammed into one pamphlet.
.4 Nom! and Beliyiums Gaith to the Great Exhibition. A.
pamphlet which by no means fangs its title.

FINE A R TS.

FLAX:VAN GALLERY IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE.

Yesterday was opened to private view the new
Flaxman dallery of Sculpture, at the dower-street
University. On the death of "'taxman, the works in
his studio heroine the property of his executrix, sister
in-law, and adoptisl daughter, Miss M. liennuin. who
generously bequeathed them to their present posses-
stirs; and to those who have witnesses' their fusser
grimy appearance and degi.aded position, their pre-
sent metamorphose is sufficient guarantee that the
confidence was not misfit:weal or ill-timed.
With the exception of a few monuments of pad
fame scattered here and there in remote nooks,
whether of St. Paul's or Wt. stininster Abbey, there
has been little wherewithal may be formed even a
partied idea of his sculptural merits. While his re-
putation ILI a draughtsman and ar originator of out-
line imagery is European, few even at home have had
a fair quince of estimating his genius in the higher
grades of his art.
The first specimen of his abilities which meets the
eye at the entrance of the hall is a group reprsunt-
lug Ilerculrs and I lehe ;" in elsiecang this subject,
Flaxman merely aimed at solving a sculptural pursle,
which has defied the ill VeStiglit 110118 of .1 toille's most
subtle antiquarians. On the fitmous " Torso " of
the Belvidere. which is generally known to be a
men; trunk, ',taxman has with laudable ingenuity,
hut little tact, stuck the head and limbs of (he Far-
nese Hercules, whose rounded and bulky forms have
not the remotest etinnexion with the beautiful undu-
lations of the original Torso. The French have, We
believe, lately attempted to re-moth-I in the same
fashion the Venus of Milo, with no greater success.
We like to think of Flaxmaa as the intelligent in-
terpreter of the old poets, of the life which his
genius infused into the placid forms of the Etruscan
vases, as the fanciful ornamentist of Wedgwood's
pottery ; we had vet to make acquaintance with him
in the higher walks of his art. .

An inspection of the works now for the first time
collected together will make it clear that, despite of
his great imaginative power, and with all his masterly
command of the chisel, he never thoroughly CIIHUIVI-•
pated himself from fiat-surfuee work; his bas-reliefs
leek us if they with difficulty consented to emerge
from their grounds, in the attitudes even one meets
it, constant recurter.fn the . forms and simple combi-
nation of lines consecrated ancient vases. Latterly,
however, he evidently. strove to Z'Ulatleiptte himself
from the rule of antique designers. fhe lifc-sixe
group of " St. Michael overcoming Satan " Chows
that lie would have achieved great things had he
begun earlier; yet even here we find admirable mo-
delling skill struggling with conventional decorum.
• The angel, whose hair assumes the shape of a radiant
coronet, whose limbs display perfect symmetry, and
an anatomical knowledge worthy of Ituonarnoti, toccata
rather struggling with bashinlness than with the
demon crouching at his feet. The unfinished parts,
such as the shaggy head and scaly tail of the demon,
reveal those last strokes of the chisel, which prove
that the arm which wielded it was powerless before
its time; the same interest is attached to the works
of Michael Angelo in the Lorenzo chapel in Florence.
But this mark may be further traced in the minor
productions centered round this figure. Thev are as
it were beautiful sculptural sketches ; either the hand
scummed ocaively able to keep pace with the fancy, or
Haman reserved the higher finish for the ultimate
rendering in marble. It is too evident, however, that in
clay Flaxman seldom if ever gave his mind full
scope. bound by the nature of his subjects to
immortalise the virtues of the departed, or his
NOl7oWiug relations; and a lengthened funeral ora-
tion, however admirable; in composition, becomes,
tedious by frequent reitcmtion ; in this respett alone
MI we demur to the general classification adopted by
Mr. Cockerell; even the introduction of the celebrated
Shield of Achilles" would be a welcome diversion
in the scene by its picture of that epoch of fabulous
cheerfulness and mirth. The Golden Age as well
being, perhaps, the work in which Flaxman's pe-
culiar ereallenees are made prominent. However, it:
refiects.ou the university.to be able to collect sobirge-t.
a nniabereui 140 speeimena together..
Mr. Cave Thomas has, it Is said, offered his ser-
vices, in order to fill up some compartments in fresco,
after the Flan= designs.