The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-15 00:00:00

BRITISH INSTITUTION.

The second division of the exhibition at the British
Institution for 1816 opens to-day. We were admitted
to the private view on Saturday, and it certainly is the
most interesting exhibition, both in historical and in
. .

artistical points of view that has perhaps ever been pre-
sented to the public. The nature of it will be best
described in the words of the directors themselves in

their short prefatory notice to the catalogue :
"The liberality of her Majesty and other patrons of art,
have enabled the directors this year to exhibit a collection
of portraits of eminent persons, which they think cannot
fail to prove highly interesting to the public, from their
relation to the history, literature and arts of this and
other countries."

The pictures exhibited are 213 in number, and there
are specimens of almost every master, and portraits of
almost every illustrious person who has flourished from
the days of Holbien to those of Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Among the Holbiens is the celebrated picture of Henry
VIII. granting the charter to the barber surgeons,
which has been lent by that Company ; the portraits of
Edward VI. and of Queen Mary—the first the property
of the Earl of Hard% ickethe second that of the Hon.
C. C. Cavendish, M.P. ; a portrait of Erasmus, and a
portrait of Catherine de Bose, the wife of Martin Luther,
both the property of the Duke of Sutherland. There is
a portrait of Luther himself, which is full of character—
by S. Perdioni—the property of Viscount Alford, M.P.
There is the celebrated portrait of Queen Elizabeth,
by Zucchero, which has been lent by the Marquis
of Salisbury; and a portrait of the unfortunate Earl of
Essex, by the same artist, the property of the Duke of
Bedford. There is a portrait of Shakspere, by R. Bur-
bage, the property of W. Nichol], Esq.; and Sir Antonio
Moses' celebrated portrait of Sir Philip Sidney,
which has been lent by the Duke of Bedford.
Selvator Rosa's celebrated portrait of himself (an exqui-
site picture) has been lent to that Institution by the
Nfarquis of Westminster ; and in the same room we find
ritian's magnificent picture, the Cornaro Family, the
property of the Duke of Northumberland ; Tintoreto's
portrait of Cosmo 1., the property of Earl
Amherst ; Rubens's portrait of Old Parr ; Van-
dyke's portrait of Lord Falkland, the property
of the Earl of Clarendon, and Rembrandt's por-
trait of Van Hooft, (a remarkably fine picture), the pro-
perty of Viscount Alford. There are also fine specimens
of Lely, Kneller, and the portrait painters of the first half
of the eighteenth century. Her Majesty has been gra-
ciously pleased to lend the directors the portraits of Lord
Rodney, of William Duke of Cumberland, of Admiral
Barrington, of the Marquis of Rockingham, and of
Earl Moira, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and those of Earl
St. Vincent and Lord Nelson, by Hoppner. The col-
lection is very rich in Sir Joshua's, having, in addition
to many of his best portraits two celebrated groups, the
property of the Society of Dilettanti. The Trinity
House have lent their portrait of Lord Howe,
by Gainsborough; and among the works of the artists
succeeding the age of Reynolds, we have a portrait of
William the Fourth, when young, by Sir T. Lawrence,
the property of Lord de Lisle. Owen's portraits of
Lords Eldon and Stowell, the property of the Earl of
Eldon ; and Phillips's portraits of Chantry, Scott, Byron,
and Crabbe, the first lent to the institution by Lady
Chantry, the last three by J. Murray, Esq. This exhi-
bition of the British Institution, constituting as it does a
gallery of worthies of all ages and countries, is perfectly
unique. Would it be impossible to have engravings
taken of all these portraits ? " The British Institution
Gallery of Portraits for 1846," would be an excellent
title for such a series of engravings. Its publication
would forward the progress of art, and, from the inter-
esting nature of the portraits, it would be a safe specula-
tion for a publisher.