The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-02 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL GALLERY.

The copy of a Treasury minute, issued on the 27th of
March last, and referred to in the House of Commons
on Monday night, was issued yesterday. My Lords,
having before them the report of the select committee
of the House of Comm/is on the National Gallery, and
having duly considered its recommendations, lay down
certain rules and regulations for the future manage-
ment of the Gallery, with the object not only to
meet the existing requirements of the Gallery, but
to promote the development of the institution and
to make it more worthy of the country and
the advanced position of art. My Lords are not pre-
pared to abolish entirely the system of trustees ; they
propose to continue the present Board of Trustees (ex-
cepting the ex officio members), if the members thereof
will continue to act, and to limit the number to six. My
Lords then propose to appoint a " director" of the Na-
tional Gallery, with a salary of 1,0001. per annum for
five years, re-eligible, but liable at any time to be dis-
missed by the Treasury. Sir C. Eastlake has been ap-
pointed the first director. The conjoint duties of the
trustees and the director are then precisely defined. The
chief duties of the director will be the purchase, or re-
commendation for purchase, of pictures for the National
Gallery, and the arrangement, description, and conser-
vation of the collection. One of his most important
duties will be to compile a correct history of every
picture in the collection, including its repa:Te, and de-
scribing its present condition. As a general rule, my
lords opine that pictures should be selected at sales
abroad, and that preference should be awarded to " good
specimens of the Italian schools," including the works
of the earlier masters. In the estimate for the Gallery,
my lords will annually insert a sum expressly for the
purchase of pictures, to be expended or to accumulate,
as may be thought proper. For the present, no loan or
temporary deposit of pictures in the gallery will be per-
mitted ; and the sanction of my lords must be obtained be-
fore any picture can be lent or removed. A "travelling
agent" will be appointed, with 3001. a-year salary, to
visit private collections abraad and report sales. The
officer next in rank to the director will be the " keeper
and secretary" (the recommendation of the com-
mittee for the abolition of the former office having
been rejected), with a salary of 7501. a-year. This
officer will reside in the building, and will be
required, to discharge most important and onerous
duties, including, above all, theconapilation of a catalogue
raisonne of the masters (as recommended in the appendix
to the report of the committee), under the supervision
of the director, to whom he will be in all things sub-
ordinate. His other duties will he to attend meetings
of the board, draw up the minutes, and conduct the
correspondence. No special accountant is to be
appointed, but an experienced Treasury officer will
do the duty. As regards the "attendants," my
lords are pleased to name ten in Trafalgar-square (in-
cluding three curator;), and six at Marlborough-
house (including two curators). My lords have re-
quested the following noblemen and gentl, men to
continue to act as trustees under the new system, viz. :
—the Earls of Ripon and Aberdeen, the Marquis of
Lansdowne, Mr. Samuel Rogers, the Duke of Suther-
land, the E irl of Ellesmere, Lord Monteagle, Sir Jas.
Graham, Lord Overstone, Lord Ashburton, Me. Wm.
Russell, and Mr. Thos. Baring-. Sir Charles Eastlake
has accepted the post of director. Mr. Wornum has
been appointed keeper and secretary, end Mr, Otto
Diundler, travelling agent.