The National Register.
London, England, 1814-07-03 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

JULY 3•

THE FINE Alit S.

MR. WEST'S PICTURE OF " REOCTED.'

Though accident has deprived es d the assistance we
proudly looked to this week, we shall not defer the obser-
vations we have to offer on Mr. 'West's picture; notwithstand-
ing our strictures may be deemed deficient in the essential
knowledge of the art. To be gratified with the con-
templation of such noble productions is one thingi to be ca-
pable of critical detail, another; and the school of painting
has a language of its own, a certain technitallity of ex
pression, that though it frequently leaves nature behind,
seems to have obtained more approbation than the ordinary
phraseology of the passions, with a more copious vernacular
t'qually novel and precise and singularly descriptive of the
pecu!iar character and habits of the profession.
In entering the exhibition room, it is impossible to look
round without mingled sensations of respect and admit Aion,
for the noble sketches which adorn its walls. Here we have
zlways deemed Mr. West pre-eminently great. The mijesty
of the conception flows with an easy and graceful variety,
unincumbered with the harsher labours of the easel, and
nothing occurs to repress the sublimity of the design. if,
however, we find It impossible to convey these higher sen-
sations to the lower cahvas before us, it may perhars he
rather attributable to our deficiency in what the catalogue falsely
calls the Epic, than to the unity of the design or the com-
prehensive grap of the subject. To us the character of true
Sublimity is not sustained. There is more magnificence in
the execution than in the mental corrOduation ; many puerl-
lities and more furtivity of other masters, than belongs to ge-
,
'thine and native invention.

The figure of Christ is the focus from which it is in-
tended all other points shall diverge, and here, where the
rowers of the mind should appear to concentrate, we are
diverted by a number of inferior objects that break in upon
the light, and draw our attention from what is denominated
the main interest of the epic—Nor is the divine character of
the Redeemer kept up with that overpowering grandeur thlt
naturally belongs to it, and which, even in sorrow, triumphs
over the virulence and hatred of bigotry and scepticism, and
leaves the awful emotions of the faithful to the reverential
eulogiums of hallowed criticism.

There is a singular vulgarism in this picture from which
we should have thought Mr. West's accomplished mind
would have Wined with disgust. What we allude to is the
detestable figure and countenance of Barabbas, which if in-
tended as a contrast to the subdued feeling and contem-
plative graces of the Saviour, glares too powerfully for the re-
pose of the subject, and 'has more the appearance of " moon-
struck madness" than del;berate guilt, and criminal indif-
ference. We have only seen its representative once be-
foie in Sir Joshua Reynold's death of Cardinal Beaufort,
Nvbese main grandeur and sublimity arc diminished by
similar defects. This is, however, not the chief
error in the conception—we 'know it is • the practice
of the drama to give villainy one undistinguish;ng
reaturt of coarsenm art'. 'brutality—though the greatttt

4,9

moral turpitude is frequently hid beneath the " smil-
ing exterior" and the graceful deportment of consummate
deception is perhaps much nearer nature than the other.
We are of opinion that Mr. Vest had better have exhibited
this picture without the commentary contained in the catalogue
and which figs led to enquiries that invalidate its otherwise
strong pretensions to public favour ; for ourselves we quitted
it with emotions of concern and veneration, as the last great
attempt perhaps of one of the greatest ornaments of the
British school, as rather the jubilee of the man than the art%
not enhancing, but still preserving, the greenness of that fame
imperishable as mind, and durable as the universe.

ON RELIGION.

C***

Where Can the soul Lind rtlnge bat in the bosom of tTl:gion ?
(jitp:GoitY.

How awful is the Majesty of nob ! When we contem-
plate the numerous b!essing,s conferred on man, we are
ready to exelarn, LORD we are unwottiry thy, diffu,e bene-
dictions ! Our conceptions of man's beatitude; emanating
f‘orn above, are exceedingly limited. Without a compre-
hensive knowledge of the Christian religion, how can we
expect to celebrate the Lb lib's DAY, with that fervency
and teal which ought ever to accompany our petitions to
the Throne of Grace. In what can we repose tonfidence?
In earthly pursuits? No; for they nre all transient and
uncertain, glittering for a moment, then eluding our grasp.
Religion, therefore, is our only sure resource and refuge of
happiness. whence are deliver! all Our comforts, temporal
and spiritual— all oor joys, present and to critic. If the
,neients considered religion as the sure and cep tamp hope of
bliss, fire progressive link which unites mankind to the re-
deemer, how much more does it become us, who breathe
the vital air cif this Christian atmosphere, who live in an age
wherein the mind of man is illuminated with the rays of
knowledge and under Standing, and in a generation when the
liberal arts and sciences are so effectually cultivated, through
the means afforded by erudition----the fountain whence spring
our knowledge of the At MIGHTY—how much more, I as-
sert, does it become us, denominated Christians, to lean upon
the bosom of religion, upon the dispensation advanced by
Christ, and sealed with his precious blood?
In the writings of Horace are the following reflections
concerning the nature of the SUPREML MANG, the princi-
ples of revealed religion ;
44 Qui mare et terras, Yar &Tie mundum
Temperat Innis?
llnde nil majuz. generator
Piec viget. fpridritiath :aide, ant seeturdmn.
Hor. B. 1. Ode 12, Lille 15.
Hence we may infer that the heathens had some perception
of a SUPREME Powtn, and sole Governor of the universe,
and as such they worshipped lit at ; but not Possessed of
Chr'stian precept,, their ideas of a futurity were very con-
fined.

If such were the doctrincs proinulizated by the Pagans, it
is the duty of us, who profess Christianity, enjoy the light
of reason and the advantages resullint; from knowledge, ac,
quire 4 by the labor:ous'researehes of nien of tiiidelstanding,
to trace the mean!: %.vlierebv this knotcletio.r Iris been Attained.
• the foundation whereon we erect otir 1 .iypotlicsis
ins the only true GOD, is evidently Nature, assisted
E INSPIRATION, granted to the Prophets of old
basis, strengthCned by educatiuU, futuisliez us with

concern-
id by Tit-
d ; which
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