The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-29 00:00:00

THE FESTIVAL OF RUBENS.

ANTWERP, Au G. 26.—The great holiday bisseculaire
in honour of Rubens, terminated last night, and the
city is becoming quiet and industrious.

The cathedral ot Notre Dame is one of the most
beautisul ecclesiastical buildings in Europe. It was
commenced in 1422, and finished in 1518. From the
top of the tower, which is unrivalled for elegance and
lightness, Brussels, Ghent, Malines, Louvain, and
Flushing, may be seen with ease by the naked
eye ; and on clear days the smoke from the steamers
is easi:y discernible at the entrance of the
Scheldt. In the clock tower there is a bell which
requires the united strength of sixteen men to ring
it ; and its repeated preservation from the fire of the
incendiary has been mainly owing to the leaden cis-
terns with which it is provided, and which are always
kept full of water. In 1825 a general repair of
the church was commenced, which is still in progress.
At the foot of the tower is engraved the epitaph
of the celebrated Quent;:i Matsys, who died at Antwerp
in 1529, at the age of sevezity-nine years. Up to the
age of twenty he exercised the calling of a black.
smith ; but, in order to obtain the hand of a lady
to whom he was devotedly attached, he changed his
trade for the profession of a painter. The re are three
of his pictures in the Museum, which :re valu-
' able as monuments of the infancy of the art of painting,
of which, unquestionably, they are chef teceuvres. They
were painted in 1508 for the sum of 300 florins, anJ
were subsequently bought by the authorities of Antwerp
for 1,500 florins, after having escaped the fury of the
Iconoclastes, or image-breakers. There is great deli-
cacy and expression in his drawing, and the colours at
this day are AS brilliant as when first laid on ; but he
knew absolutely nothing whatever of perspective.
This church possesses Ruben's celebrated painting,
" be Descent from the Cross," which has been the
object of universal homage. It may be said to occupy
the th one of the arts ; for every country and every
school has recognised it as the perfection of ima-
gination and grandeur. Pierre Paul Rubens is desig-
nated the prince of Flemish painters. He was born at
Cologne, of Antwerp parents, on the 29th of June,
1577, and studied in the schools of Adam Van Ort and
Otto Venius ; but, becoming superior to both masters,
he made the tour of Italy, and was subsequently em-
ployed by the Crowns of Spain and England in several
important diplomatic missions. He received honours
from every Court in Europe ; and the rapidity with
which he produced his works may be gathered from
the fact that there were engravings from thir-
teen hundred and ten of his pictures. He was
twice married, and died on the 20th of May,
1640. In his " Descent from the Cross" there is
vast sublimity of conception. The dead body of our
Saviour is inimitably painted, and the eye is irresistibly
drawn to it as the absorbing point of the composition.
The expression of the surroundiug personages is ma-
naged with extreme nicety of observation. The grief
of Mary is that of a mother—the affliction of St. John
that of a disciple and a friend—and the countenances
of the others betoken each a separate and admirably-
contrasted sentiment of sorrow.

Corresponding with this picture there is also his " Ele-
vation of the Cross," as magnificent and sublime a com-
position as the other. These two paintings were
taken to France and placed in the Louvre, but on the
return of the Bourbons Louis XVIII. ordered them to
be restored. During the siege of Antwerp, in 1831,
the most extraordinary precautions were resorted to in
order to protect them from injury by the bombardment.
A third picture, and probably that which excites the
greatest admiration, is his " Assumption of the Virgin,"
which is placed over the grand altar. For this paint-
ing Rubens received sixteen hundred florins, or at the
rate of one hundred florins per day, his usual price,
the time occupied in its execution having been only
sixteen du) s. This, too, was taken away by the French,
but replaced i❑ its present situation in 1816.
Next in importance to the Cathedral is the Church
of St. James, the interior of which is imposing and
grand beyond description. Behind the principal altar
the tomb of Rubens is placed, situated in a small
chapel, the whole of which is consecrated to his memory
and that of his family. The most attractive ornament
in this chapel is a picture of the Holy Family by the
great master himself, in which he has introduced
the portraits of himself and kindred. His own
is represented in the figure of St. George ; those of his
father and two wives as St. Jerome, Martha, and Mary
Magdalen ; his grandfather under the figure of Time,
and his son under that of gm angel.
The Church of St. Paul,originally a Dominican con-
vent, is an exquisite structure. This church contains
the painting of " The Flagellation," a most masterly
composition, by Rubens. Although a frightful subject,
is is one of his very best efforts. The blood abso-
lutely appears trickling from the lacerated back of the
Saviour, as he patiently submits to the blo►vs of his tor-
mentors. Rubens's extraordinary power of combination
and truth of colouring are particularly manifested in
this picture, which is composed of only three standing
figures. The organ in this church is one of the finest
in the world.

Saint Charles Borromeo, the last church I had
time to inspect, is remarkable for the singular beauty
of its proportions, and proves beyond doubt
that Rubens, like Michael Angelo, was a universal
artist, for it was commenced under his direc-
tion, and according to his designs. Previously to
its being burnt it was built entirey of marble, and its
walls and altars were loaded with a great number
of Rubens's paintings, gold vases, and columns of
Jasper and porphyry, the whole of which, with the
exception of two pictures (now in Vienna), fell a
prey to the flames. Over the entrance door are
Janssens' celebrated pictures of the twelve apostles.
It is impossible to give any adequate description of
the marvellous carvings in oak which enrich and adorn
these churches. Every pulpit and every confessional is
a work of art meriting a separate and distinct examina-
tion. In fact, the churches are so burdened with the
costliest efforts of the human mind and the skill of man
that the eye becomes almost wearied in contemplating
the masses of beauty which every where present them-
selvcs in the shapes of pictures, altars, shrines, pulpits,
gilding, and sculpture
I had intended to have given you some account of
the Museum, in which there are more than two hun-
dred and twenty pictures. including eighteen by Rubens,
and nearly a dozen by Van Dyck, but as a thick vo-
lume would he necessary for this purpose, I confine
myself to the ekpresaion of an opinion that Rubens's

- -
Saviour Crucified between Two Thieves" is, upon th
whole, the best of his works 1 have yet seen ; and th
Vandy(ei " Le Christ Mort:" is the ncble3t piG.tura upon
which 1 have ever set my eves. ,

Tile conclusion of thcsefetes naturally suggests some,
rcfl'otions on fl,e diff,,renr ways in which art and its.,
prof(siors are regarded here and abroad. With us
knowledge of the works of our hest maiters, both ns..
sculpture and painting, is confined to the well-educated;
the common people know hate of then, and care less'
But in Antwerp and elsewhere they beer-me part and par
eel of the public property, regarded by all alike, from the
prince to the peasant, as objects of pride apd veneration.
Amidst all the mummery and buffoonery which in pars"
occupied the Antwerpians for a fortnight, their self-aban-
donment to the generous impulses of an enthusiastic re-.-;
gard for art was perceptible from first to last. No fact'
is more palpable than that an habitual acquaintance with,
works of high art tempers down the passions and softens:.
the feelings, refin'ng the imaginatfon in its passage",,,
the senses. We have none of this in England. Why
The answer is plain. We have an ugly incubus squat-
ted upon the bosom of art, continually flapping 5118/
with its vampire wings the wholesome air absolutely ac-
cessary to its vitality. The name of this withering mow
ster is the Royal Academy.—Morning Post. •

COWES-ISLE OF WIGHT.
(FROM OUR OWN COKREF.PONDENT.)
ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON INTELLIGENCE

SAILINGS. tot
Auo. 22d.—Phantom cutter, Sir William Curtis, --
Ramsgate. Light breeze W. S. W., and fine.
23d.—Kestrel yawl, Commodore Earl of Yarborough'
for Guernsey and Plymouth.
24th.— Nymph cutter, John Bayley, Esq., on a cruise'
25th.—Brilliant schooner, G. H. Ackers, Esq" for
Plymouth ; Arundel yawl, William Hanham, ESq"
Plymouth and Falmouth ; Osprey cutter, Captain 0,1,
Keane, to the westward, on a cruise : Fanny cutter, I • I •
Delme Radcliffe, Esq., for Plymouth. bt •
26th.—Ariel schooner, Almon Hill, Esq., for Piro°
Light breeze W. N. W.
for
27th.—Merlin schooner, William Lyon, Esq" di%
Cadiz ; Antelope cutter, Viscount Powerscourt, for Ca
and Mediterranean. Light breeze W. S. W., and Anc;„
YACHTS AT AND ABOUT THE STATION.
Schooners—Norna, Hawk, Janette, Hussar.
Cutters—Ariel, Nautilus, Ann, Alarm, Lord of the
Hebe, Emerald, Earl St. Vincent, Breeze, Lufra,
Forest Fly, Phebe, Sapphire, Dream, Sparrowns-
C-anymedc, Matilda, Medina ; Waterlily yawl.
p:vmouth Regatta has attracted a number of the yacb
of the _Royal Yacht Squadron to that port.

AUG. M
—The Marquis of Normanby and Lord ?al.
merston are an. ongst our visitors this week.
Lord Sydney ,:nd family leave the Castle on -no,t orr
next, and the Earl ,of Errol is expected to occupy "
the remainder of the season.
Lord Clonbrock leaves to-morrow. •
Lord A. Fitzclarence, viti:o has been on a visit toy fel
Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, at Harriet Lodge,
yesterday.
Departures—Lord Powerscourt and family; Lady -Jos
and family ; Mr. Hussey and family ; Captain Jones' gral
A. W. Corbet, Esq., Captain James Lyons, and se/ of
other families are on the move, our arrivals hardly keep
pace with the departures. Hammel
Sir L. Sbadwell arrived yesterday, as did Lady "II
Mitchell, and Lady Hayse, this day. lO rem
The Duke of Beaufort and family are expected
main her until thiddle of October.
Wight THE HA EVES T.e mThe farmers of the Isle of
been blessed with most splendid weather to house I ,z
170
bountiful crop • the oats are particularly good, they gad
also most excellent crops of turnips, mange' wurxela
potatoes.