The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-21 00:00:00

ART IN THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

Information up to the 9th instant has been received
from Mr. Owen Jones and Mr. Wyatt, who have been
appointed by the directors of the new Crystal Palace to
collect illustrations of the art of the continent. The
travellers had reached Rome. The results of their jour-
ney appear hitherto to be highly successful. At Paris
permission had been obtained to mould several of the
finest works in the Louvre, amongst others, the Great
Nimrood, from Egypt, several of the best Venuses, and
colossal statues by Jean Goujon, in all about 400 pieces,
80 of which will be above life size. Casts of the Ghi-
berti Gates have also been secured, as well as of the
Principal of Michael Angelo's ISgures in the Medici
Chapel, at Florence, an important series of cinque cento
ornamentals, and fine works of Lucca della Robbia,
Donatello, &c.
From the museums of Naples a most valuable collection
has been obtained, and arrangements have been made to
enable the Pompeian court to be so carried out as to pre-
sent a faithful transcript of that peculiar mode of con-
struction. To this end the services of the first painter
officially attached to the excavations have been secured,
who will bring to this country at the close of this year
the result of his studies made on the spot daring the last
twenty years; every ornament will thus be painted from
tracings made on the walls of Pompeii. From Luccu
and Piss several fine works of the Pisan,-4 have been
secur„d, and some interesting works of the Cinque Cento
period.
The letters furnished by the Foreign-office have natu-
rally been of great assistance in smoothing the way for
tli acquisition of these treasures. As, however, they
did not reach Mr. Jones and Mr. Wyatt till after they
had left Perim, the
following paragraphefLoting
etrheeaSt Siècle
_
loses none of its unwelcome force:—,,
rent being taken, not only of the great Sphynx,
eeti
nb
endt
also of a certain number of the finest statues, Egyptian,
Greek, Roman, and French, the whole being destined
to form part of a great exhibition, to be _ formed In, the
new Crystal Palace, near Lond9n. Last year the
French Government made an application to the admi-
nistration of the British Museum, for leave to have caste
taken of some Greek monuments there, which would
have been useful to French artists. The board_ at once
refused. This year the Administration accords the
made to it by the founders of the Crystal_
Fa-
lace.ir The English will now soon be enabled to adm e
the casts of the finest pieces of sculpture in the Frenoh
museums."

SURVEY OF PALESTINE.
However vast the accessions to our geographical
knowledge of the Holy Land have been of late years,
much remained to be done before it could be said
that we possessed a tolerably complete account of
that country. A considerable number of eminent
men are continually devoting their time and their
energies to the cause of an extended knowledge of that
region—some as residents on the spot or as travellers,
others as labourers at home ; and not a year
Passes without some new works of travel or research
being publisheel. But the nature of the country is so
difficult for exploration—the dangers and impedi-
ments in travelling among its population, consisting
of tribes of the ~ greatest possible rogues," are so
manifold, and the climate is 90 trying to Europeans,
that it is not to be wondered at if there are large
districts still unknown and unexplored, in spite of
their unceasing efforts, Even when travellers have
been successful enough to explore such unknown dis-
tricts, they have frequently been unable, from cir-
cumstances,to make their observations sufficiently
tos lay down their discoveries on the
precise--3o as.
map with a satktactoiy. degree of correctness.
lastde Velde, late of
departed
When, therefore, Lieutenant Vio,
the Royal Dutch
Nagy, to explore a year for the
Holy Land with a vieb-,blanks
those
hither to remained
portions of it which
onjecturally_
maps, or which
Sunda_el:l:nds,
and as
i
his undertaking was looked on with great interest •
have been delineated c in our
known from his surveys*
the projector being well
the(an
and researches in the
author of the " Gezigten nit IN e tl. ndo‘ Indie":
in large folio, of
illustrated and descriptive account,
the Dutch East India Archipelago), and of the larg©
and splendid map of Java, published in 1845. Very
hitherto
few experienced and practical surveyors had
visited Palestine. Lieutenant Van
-ri 9 Velde has just , c his l returned to this country with the results 0/
.a;
boors, having successfullyaccomplished a portion a,,
least of his task.
.... 4,. M. Van de Velde commenced his operations at
>f-,:r
ii , . ' r.; Beirout,surveying the westernslope of Mount Lebanon
ak far as the Leontes; which river he crossed, and
• il4nce proceeded to Hasbeiya, situated at the foot of
- *punt Hermon, with the intention of making that
/Ace one of his principal stations for taking observa-
, , ns. A misfortune befel him here, which had well-
?A .n+' fth put an end to his 7,-..
iik adartal-io e, He was robbed
,x. V ~,• - ,
...:....--.-

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