The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-01 00:00:00

THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER,

The following is the thirteenth report of the
Commissioners on the Fine Arts;—
"We the Commissioners appointed by your Majesty
under aCommission bearing date the 22d day of November,
1841, for the purpose of inquiring whether advantage might
not be taken of the rebuilding of your Majesty's Palace at
Westminster—wherein your Majesty's Parliament is wont
to assemble—for the purpose of promoting and encouraging
the fine arts in your Majesty's United Kingdom, and in
what manner an object of so much importance might be
most effectually promoted, beg leave to submit to your Ma-
jesty a report respecting the progress of the works recom-
mended by us to be undertaken, and, at the same time, to
bring under your Majesty's notice the position in which the
commission is at present placed.
" Bearing in mind the warm interest which our late
cbaira]an, his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, at all
times took in the labours of the commission and in the pro-
gress of works undertaken under its direction, we should
have deemed it our duty to proceed to the election of
another chairman, difficult, nay impossible, as we should
feel it to be to supply in any adequate degree that combina-
tion of knowledge in art, of tried experience in business, and
of high personal authority, by which his Royal Highness

was distinguished. But we feel ourselves relieved from the
necessity of this most difficult selection, since in our opinion
the term of our prescribed duties has now arrived. The
whole scheme of decoration for the Palace of Westminster
has been considered and decided ; and, trusting that the
series of works now in progress can be carried on to their
completion, it does not appear to us that the cnnmiission
need be continued to superintend the execution.

" In our 12th report, dated the 25th of February, 1861,

we entered so fully into the history of the labours of the
commission from the first that it will be sufficient or the
present occasion to specify the works that have been com-
pleted since the date of that report, and to submit our view
as to the extent to which various series of works, both in
painting and sculpture, now begun should be continued.

" We have the pleasure to report that Daniel Maclise,
R.A , has brought to a successful and kughly satisfactory
termination the large wall-painting, executed in the water-
glass method, representing the meeting of Wellington and
Blucher after the battle of Waterloo; and that he has al-
ready begun the corresponding painting representing the
Death of Nelson. Those works measuring each 45tt. in
length, occupy the principal compartments in the Royal
Gallery.
" Referring in our la-t report to the vast scheme of deco-
ration proposed for the Royal Gallery, we observed that,
while so extensive a plan cannot be completed in the life-

time of one artist, it would be desirable that the necessarily
partial execution should be so conducted as that the works,
when interrupted, should, as far as possible, present ^s sym.
metrical arrangement. On this principle we recommended
that the two large compartments facing each other in. the
Royal Gallery should be completed first,

" Anticipating the same industry on the part of Mr. Ma-
clise as he has hitherto manifested, we by no means recom-
mend the limitation of his labours even to the two vast sur-
faces referred to. On the contrary, believing that a painter
combin'ng so much skill with so much energy is especially
qualified for such undertakings, we recommend that, as
suming willingness on his part, such other portions of the
Royal Gallery be subsequently intrusted to him as may,
according to the principle above explained, still produce a
satisfactory arrangement and a relative completeness.
" In the apartment called the Queen's Robing Room,
William Dyce, R.A.. has, since the date of our last report,
been occasionally employe& on the largest of the f escoes
belonging to the series of subjects he has undertaken to
treat in that place from the legend of King Arthur. The
stipulated remuneration for the entire series having been
long since received by him, we have only to express our
earnest hope that he will see the importance of prosecuting
the work with greater assiduity; more especially since his
exclusive occupation of the apartment must, as we have
observed in our last report, occasion great inconvenience to
your Majesty.
"We next come to the decoration of another apartment

—The Peers' Robing Room—which is also required for the
meeting of one of the standing committees of the House
of Lords. Here the general subject is Justice on Earth
and its Development in Law and Judgment,' John Rogers
Herbert, R.A., who has undertaken the series, and who has
prepared sketches for several of the subjects, h's nearly
completed a large wall-painting, representing Moses bring-
ing down the Table of the Law to the Israelites,' The delay
that has taken place in the execution of this, the first of the
set ies, has been chiefly in consequence of frequent experi-
ments by the artist ita:the water-glass method of painting
We are informed, however, that the Committee of the Lords
finds its business at present most seriously obstructed, and

we think that, as Mr. Herbert now appears to be satisfied
as to the technical process to be adopted, there is no reason
wby in future ho should not procc ei much more rapioly.
" The subjects pi opos•-d for the Peers' and Commons'
,Jorridora are illustrative of that great contest whic'i corn'
menced with the meeting of the Long Parliament and ter•
minated in 1689.' Charles West Cope, R.A , who has un;
dertaken the Peers' Corridor, has prosecuted his work with
equal ability and industry. Five out of the eight paintings
of which the series is to consist have been alr, ady fini-hed,
and the designs for the remaining three have been approved
by us. The work last completed—' Basing .house defended
by the Cavaliers against the Parliamentary army'—hat
baen satisfactorily executed in the water -glass method.
" The Commons' Corridor, consisting of the same number
of compartments, has been allotted to Edward Matthew
Ward, R.A., whose name is so highly distinguished bY
hig
able treatment of subjects from modern history. Four of
the paintings, executed in fresco, have been completed, and
a sketch for a fifth has been approved.
er In sculpture, the works now in progress consist of
statues of British ....overeigns in chronological order. 12 of
those statues (to be executed in white marble), from Jame°,
I to William IV., are proposed to be placed in the Bier"
Gallery; commissions have been given for six, and the
completion of the remaining six may be regarded as indie
pensable.
se In our last report we stated that the whole series of
statues of British Sovereigns proposed to be placed in the
Royal Gallery and its immediate precincts admits of being
subdivided into four distinct classes, occupying respectively
the Royal Gallery, the Queen's Robing Room, the Vesti-
bule, and the Lower Landing-place.
er Should the series be continued beyond the Royal Gal-
lery, we recommend that the five statues intended for the
Queen's Robing Room should be undertaken next. The
remaining statues in the Vestibule and Lower Landing:
place, to be executed in metal, would be of much less ene:'
" The above may be said to comprehend all the wts.7l
that are in progress. In some instances—for example, in
the series of statues and in the series of paintings in the
Royal Gallery and Peers' Robing Room—we have not Fe'
Burned to define now far any of the works should or should
not be deferred. In the other cases—the Queen's Robing
Room and the two Corridors—it is obviously desirable the".
they should be completed without interruption.
" Among future undertakings, re quiring less time. Wel
possibly be included the re-painting of some of the earlier
experimental frescoes in the Upper Waiting Hall. Thet
partial decay of some of those works induced us to aploinf
a committee in the last year to inquire into the causes
the deterioration. The members of that committee, assisted
i
by an able chemist, after careful and repeated inspet.tions ot
the paintings, not only in the Upper Waiting Hall
throughout the building, have examined various artists an
other competent witnesses, but up to this time they hafe
not been able to arrive at any satisfactory result.
" With regard to the amount that may for a time be I:
quired to meet the cost of works in progress, although the::
Las been for some years an understanding that a vote
£4,000 would be annually proposed to Parliament Wea l?
ing on the objects of the commission, it does not appeal' Pre;
bable that so much will be required hereafter. The estitett;
which we have this year sobiaitted to the Lords of the
Treasury, to be proposed, with their approval, to re,rlie.'
ment, amounts to £3,700. We have included in the aPr-„
&a. a detailed statement of the works now in progress for
which further payments will be required.
re We cannot conclude this our final report without de
siring to offer our testimony to the professional skill,.‘ea,
well as the activity, the zeal, and the uprightness Wl 0
which our secretary, Sir Charles Eastlake, has, during.,
period of 21 years, fulfilled an important and sometime''-
invidious task. We know that Sir Charles Eastlake's %et;
vices were fully appreciated by his Royal Highness the
Prince Consort, and we venture to hope that some ree'"
may be shown to those long and meritorious services.
" STANHOPE (in the chair). "LYNDItunsT.
"NEWCASTLE. "JOHN EVELYN DENS"
" PALMERSTON sox (Speaker).
"RUSSELL. "JOHN MANNERS'
" WILLOUGHBY DE ERESICY. "LLANOVER
" EvERSLEY. " WILLIAM CONVWI4.
"Palace of Westminster, March 11, 1861."