The Sun.
London, England, 1839-08-23 00:00:00

THE SKI

IMPAN Y.

Some curious instances are given in an article on
works of art and artists in England, in the British and
Foreign Review, No. 17, of the ravages comm;tted on
the works of great masters in England, by picture
cleaners, termed by the writer members of the Skinners'

Company.
" His Grace of Northumberland has in his collec-
tion the celebrated picture by Titian of the Cornaro
family. That work was in very fine condition, but
smothered with household dirt ; it was entrusted to an
ignorant coxcomb named Roma to clean. This barba-
rian set to work, and by using all sorts of solvents, suc-
ceeded in completely skinning the picture. In the
plenitude of his conceit, he sent circular notes to
the principal nobility and gentry to come to his house
and see the picture restored to its " pristine purity,"
On a table, ranged in rows, were numerous gallipots ;
Roma, dressed in the very height of the fashion, was
expatiating on his achievement, pointing out the beau-
ties of the picture, and with a clouded cane directing
attention to the gallipots as containing the layers of dirt
and repaint which he had removed. West, who had
been watching him in his usual patient way, at last
broke out with this exclamation :--‘ Wretch, you have
ruined one of the noblest of Titian's works, and the
gallipots contain all his tones, all his glazing, which no
one but Titian can restore.' He then indignantly
quitted the room, leaving Roma and his admirers to di-
gest the bitter truth as they pleased. Time has done
something towards concealing the horrible excoriation,
but the Cornaro family is only the shadow of the noble
picture painted by the hand of the greatest master of
the Venetian School.

" All picture-cleaners are members of the Skinners
Company ; some of them are more distinguished for
their destructive skill than others, but none are wholly
innocent. A considerable number of the pictures in the
Royal collection have been flayed ; we only remember one,
and that a Claude, of all those exhibited in the British
Institution, which could be considered pure. Who the
distinguished member of the Skinners' Company was to
whom our Sovereigns are indebted for such wanton bar-
barity is not known ; probably there have been several
equally guilty. Great skill has often been exhibited in
the reparation, obliteration of parts, and repainting of
pictures. The landscape by Claude, purchased by Mr.
Perkins at a sale of Mr. Zacchary's pictures, was ge-
nerally repaired, and the whole of the middle distance
altered aid repainted, by Mr. Ramsay Reinagle, for
which he received one hundred pounds. The picture
has been subsequently exhibited in the British Institu-
tion. Though the touch has been tolerably well mi-
micked and the tones well blended, it is beginning to
become opaque, as all reparation does after the lapse of
a few years.
" A Hobbema, purchased for a large sum by Sir
Robert Peel, representing a strait road and avenue of
lofty trees with stems from which the lower limbs have
been lopped, had much of the background and sky obli-
terated, and repainted also by Reinagle, so that the
picture may be said to be painted by Hobbema and Ram-
say Reinagle. A manuscript detailing the whole of the
transaction is among our curiosities of art ;' it even re-
counts the details of the purchase : Mr. Reinagle was
merely employed by the proprietors at a stipulated
price to make the alterations. Such deceptions have a
tendency to deter the wealthy from collecting. Mr.
Waagen, by his careless criticism on this picture, shows
that he is by no means infallible ; after describing the
composition, he continues, From these simple, and
by no means fine materials, a picture is formed, which,
by the purity of the taste for nature, and by the
power of art makes a striking impression on the intelli-
gent spectator. Such an universal brightness, such day-
light, I had never seen before in any picture. To a strict
observance of the perspective, there is added such a de-
licate and true gradation, from the fullest bright green
in the foreground, that it may be considered in this re-
spect as ane plus ultra, and is on the whole one of the
most original works of art with which I am acquainted.'
Mr. Waagen probably had no suspicion of the tricks
which had been played with the picture, and spoke of the
effect produced, which is as complimentary to Reinagle
as to Hobbema. In the same exhibition at the British
Institution was a little picture entitled Ruysdael, which
had been painted about three years before by Reinagle !
" Among the most atrocious destructions of late years
was the flaying and dissection of the two celebrated
Claudes now in the possession of Mr. Miles, of Bristol,
who had them from Mr. Hart Davis, who purchased
them of Mr. Beckford, of Fonthill. West and Sir
Thomas Lawrence called together at the house of the
distinguished flayer to whom they had been entrusted
to clean ; the servant inadvertently showed them into
the room where those exquisite pictures were—actually
excoriated, the ground apparent in several places,
the foliage in many parts totally obliterated, and all
the surfaces for ever destroyed ! The cleaner
entered the room ; the mild courtier-like Law-
rence was for once enraged, and excltinned,
I see, sir, we have been where we were not wanted ;
and I am sorry, for this destruction (pointing to the
Claudes) will deprive me of my rest.' West, who was
a man of great command of temper, stood, as he was
wont when angry, working his closed lips ; then looked
at the destroyer as he said, Sir, you deserve to hl
flayed as you have flayed those pictures.' The con-
ceited varlet, with a simpering grin, replied, Oh gen-
tlemen, it is nothing—all very easily put to rights.'
Yes,' rejoined West, When you can get Claude to
come from his grave and do it, but not before.' The
wo mortified artists immediately left the house."

PRINCIPLES OF A CURRENCY
(Recommended to Mr. RICE for his especial study.)

If gold and silver could be dug out of the mines, be
separated from the ore, be smelted and refined at one-
half the actual cost, or if they were as abundant as iron
and lead, it is manifest that their exchangeable value
would be greatly diminished—that is, they would ex-
change for a much less quantity of other commodities
than they can now be exchanged for. Each one of there
metals, however, is subject to its own particular laws,
and each one stands in relation to all other commodities,
in regard to exchangeable value, precisely as any other
commodity stands in reference to all the rest.
Between gold and silver, therefore, there is not any
fixed proportion, as to value, established by nature, an'y
more than there is a fixed proportion established by
nature between lead and iron, or between wheat and
tobacco. Nature does not say that one ounce of gold
shall always be worth so many ounces of silver, any more
than she says that a certain number of pounds of iron
shall always be worth so many pounds of lead, or that a
bushel of wheat shall always be worth a fixed quantity
of tobacco. The truth of this proposition must be self-
evident to every intelligent mind, and we shall not
therefore enlarge upon it.
Taking it, therefore, for granted that the reader ad-
mits these premises, the next position to be laid down
is, that it is not in the power of human legislation to es-
tablish any fixed unalterable proportions between the
value of any two commodities in existence. It is not in
the power of human laws to establish that one ounce of
gold shall permanently be worth a certain number of
ounces of silver, any more than they can fix the propor-
tions at which iron and lead, or wheat and tobacco, shall
be permanently exchangeable for one another. Laws may,
indeed, undertake to prescribe what they shall be, but
such laws are founded in absurdity, and had their origin
in days of ignorance, when the lights of political science
had scarcely begun to shine.
It is true, however, that the relative value of gold
and silver in the market of the trading world is not so
liable to fluctuation within short periods as that of most
or all other commodities. It sometimes remains for
years without alteration ; but this is no evidence that
there are not alterations, and the mere fact of a change
within the last twenty years of 6 per cent. affords an
unanswerable argument against the expediency of
adjurtment. For how do we know, that in the next
twenty years the proportions may not
_fall back to
the old ratio, or advance 6 per cent. still further ?
It is also true, that the regulations of Government
have an influence upon the relative market value
of the two metals. They may drive either metal
out of circulation, by rating it too low, in reference
to the Mint, price of the other, and thus diminish the
demand for it in their respective countries, which effect
cannot take place without disturbing the market pro-
portions in all other countries. But this is rather a
reason why Governments should not interfere than
that they should interfere, inasmuch as greater fluc-
tuations might take place than would take place from
the operation of natural causes alone. Thus with the
silver mania, as ours has been with the gold mania, and
establish their mint proportions at such a ratio as would
drive gold out of circulation, and substitute silver in
its place, is it not evident that such a measure would
enhance the value of silver in Europe as exchangeable
for gold, and thus materially influence their relative
value ? The precise effect of the various mint regu-
lations of the different countries in the world upon the
relative value of gold and silver in the general market
could not be easily ascertained, nor is it essential to our
inquiry that it should be.—Philadelphia Examiner.

THE HARVEST.—The reports from the coun-
try, received to-day, state that there has been heavy and
continuous rain, and that the crops have in consequence
suffered. The weather in London to-day is delightful.
THE MOORS.—The 12th was a most auspicious
day for shooting, in so far as the weather was concerned,
and, with few exceptions, we learn that grouse were abun-
dant. Several gentlemen, both in Carrick and in Kyle,
bagged upwards of twenty brace, which is above the ave-
rage sport afforded by the Ayrshire moors. The 13th was
a dry day, but the remainder of the week was too wet for
shooting.—Ayr Observer.
THE TOURNAMENT.—We understand about
SOU applications for tickets to the stands at the approach-
ing tournament have already been made to Mr. Blair,
clerk to Lord Eglinton's factor, and every succeeding
post is bringing increasing demands. A thousand tickets,
we believe, will be issued by the Noble Earl ; but if the
solicitations continue in the same proportion for a day or
two longer, it will require more than five thousand to meet
the exigency. Although Mr. Blair is kept exceedingly
busy, yet, from his activity and zeal, we have little doubt
that he will be able to answer all requests that are made to
ha for admifsion.--Ayr Observer.