The Sun.
London, England, 1805-09-07 00:00:00

THE ARTS.

ActcouNT or THE ESTAIILISI4NIF.IIT OF THE ROYAL
ACADEMY OF ST. FERDINAND.
(Col;cludeti !rho; our Paper of Tigirsrlo.)

• After this view of" the order established in the va-
rious studies, let us contemplate the etiorts made by
the Sovereign, and the Academy,te give encourage-
ment to each-of these professions. Charles More
than once ordered pi&ure of the highest .estitnation
to be brought from his palace, apd' placed in the
apartments of. the Acadetny, for,the' improvement
of the students iii.eolouring : in 177 a. he was pleased
to permit a part of those which had belonged to the
Jesuits to he,depesited in/ the Academy, with the
addition of some paintings, ,found on:board a prize
during the lastaearwith England, and a Magdalen,
by 114,ri110, intereePted in the moment of carrying it
away from one of our custom-houses. With a re-
ferenee to this last circumstance, the King' coal-
Manded his order to be circulated to all the Intend-
an ts, prohi biting the exportation of Original pi&ures of
'the deceased Spanish Masters which order was is-
sued accordingly, 06,thber s, 1779, Our present
Sovereign also sent 'to the Academy thirteen. original
.piatires, by Titian, Carucci, Guido,' and Ilubens.
The Academy carefully preserves the works con,
trilitited by the various Dire tors, those transmitted
by the students .pensioned at Rome, those which
have obtained •the general premiums, those painted
by such students as'have aspired to the title of Aca-
demician .of Merit, and' lastly, those presented on
particular occasions, by the Menibers of the Council
and Honoraty.Academicians, from their own cabi-
`nets ; the whole forming a celle6tion sufficient' .to
dire& the students in the pathS,pnrsited-hy the great
itiv-ntOrs end exemplars in palming. • -! -
Charles I,ll.as.soon as he arrived in 'Spain, seems
to have formed the design ofetieouviging sculpture.
He immediately appointed a satin; for six- Students
of the Academy,. of the greatest proticiepey in that
branch of art, whom, he ordered t.-6 fie paced in the
ManufaCtory of Porcelain Which he had established
at Buen,Retiro. These places .were'asSigiAd by corn-
petition, a meeting for which ryas held lit thelionse
of the Marquis De Villafranca, aMember of the
Council in the Academy. • •
The President', also, in the ninne of His*Majesty,
addressed the following Note to the Asseniblys.dated
17th Sept. 1778 •
The King, desirous of encouraging sculpture,
in' undertakings the most worthy of NS Itoyal name,
as well as of the' national gratitude and ,honour;
Wishes the Academy of St. Ferdinand to propose to
• the DireCtors and Deputy-dircaorS hi that profession
to inalr,e a 'mo'del, four 'feet in height, representing
His Majesty's augtist father, Dorn on horse-
back t:at...the tame time leasing entirely, at the op-
tion' of the said professors to accept orAccline the
Undertaking." .
' Models' having been presented by five ,ofthe pro-
' fetigors,. the King.deigned„to examine them at 13W11.
Retite;andfounditliem deserving hfs approbation
The ,Acaderny. of .st. Ferdinand'inay be '.said to
,htuseilven big-11.W the art Of copper-Pktte engraving
in Spain, the first professors in that art having beep
• Dire6torsjef therAcaderny..,, rrhere were!;4idOidA rn
the Kingdom, befoke that .period, Enge#ers who
'had tiecitti red, Al title Of'. gra r,Ordinary to'
His Majesty ; bet they-; 4}^4 Merely from fancy,
on tinsr settled pr}ue ut their art, the
elenienty of which wile: First taught by :D. islf.nmel
Salvador Caralona,f. „pupil in
.the Preparatory AS-
'itniiblyi wise had- been... sent to, Park en-his studiti.-
h 4 'pension frotirthe Preeisely in the same
,situatlon., at. that time, were
.I),..ftian. De la Cruz ;14
Lopez;.:fr, a orchiteAtaral...-pg,,raving,
Well, its that. of .geographicalmapS, and ermine t
The Academy, in..thet mean truer,. sought to reap
every possible advantage from the Pireaor D. Juan
Bernabe Palomino, who, though!he had never beeti
out of Spain; engraved.with neatness and accuracy ;
and therefore three young stralerits. wore placed un-
der his tuition. in Madrid,: with an annual pension
of 'l5O ducats each (likewise assigned by conipetk
tic* and in 17(30 a triennial premium was added
for this profession, in the same manner as before
. granted-for painting, sculpture, and architeatire.
Lastly, that the result of these arrangements, and
of the improvement of the students, might be
brought before the. Public, with' proper advantage,
two pupils of the Academy were
.sent to 'Paris in
.1'763, with a pension from the Kiugs,to learn the art
of copper-plate printing, preparing and making the
inks, and other articles necessary for this important
subject, hitherto little known, •
The satrie earnestness was shewn in encouraging
the art of engraving on steel, or *die-sinking,* M.
which (With the exception of I). Alonzo Crnsades,
wlnywent to Parisi :to learn the art Of engraving on
precious stones) it'iwas thought tinnCeCtOiary to send
the pupils out of the kingdom for instration, D.
'3 homas #rieta.being in this art n least equal, if not
superior, to foreigners ; three other 09nsioners were
therefore placed under his tuition, and !he same. ge-
nth! premium was assigned for 'Otis branch in the
triennial distributions. of the Academy as for co r
.o.)
plate engraving., , • •
Architedure, howeVer, - obtained the predilealere
of the Government and of the. !-A,,,itif.!ny, doubtless
on account of. the importance of its wOrks. Altho'
tare esuiblishtnent of the tWo Professorships of Ma-
therwtticT way intended for' the (.2c:bend. assiStinee,of
the fine arts, itihad.a more inunediate re'ferenee to
arehitcdum;,,an art'to which the Ittiowiedo of that
science - is, absolutely necessary,. The eider given,
With the approbation of the Academy, to two of the
StUdents on.the 17th Sept. •tq make designs of the
Arabic, monuments in the palace of the Alhambra,
hi Granada-, amid talc cathedral of COrdova, *as e‘lual-
tiv'direeted -to the enaourageMent i4ltl elucidation of
thiS profthisirin. •
Great. cairn once was eMPlrlitd q-Ow Aeademy. in
re'scui n g arctitOetrtre from, ille; .0° of
Utp..
Cullipanies,whicksubslst 11,1,,t)le.provitteu;' and
6,1,6 -Uuyat were cfrculated
thrOughout tree ki6gdpw, firt4dititie Vie execution
cif any public work, with Out first 'tieltrig, the plans
and desigtts -to-the
approv'ed ; and ortiering.that'no:.eetie'Ofereal body
of city -or ttjts, Apold in 'fat& confer
the title' of Mel:lnca; or Maste-r.Wii4-tron, or.ap_
.
point to the dire6tiOn of any vy.oti 4rtisti,who had

* The Spanish term Crahado en D. /ski, Bo_
save calls it, in his Letter, Engraving of Ni;dati.