The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-22 00:00:00

tion of pictures is not in -afe keeping. We have not come to
tha oonclusiou hastily, and we speak advisedly. Nor do we
use the words in any figurative or hyperbolical sense, but
wish them to be understood in as literal and strong a sense as
possible. As the national property at stake is of a kind that
cannot be replaced, we wish to draw the attention of all who
have influence to afford a rescue. A destruction of pictures
is carried on under the name of cleaning. We will confine
.our statement to two flagrant cases. Ono of the most impor-
tant pictures in tho collection has been irreparably dam wed ;
another great work has been so injured that all its beauties are
destroyed. Titian's "Bacchus and Ariadno," although for-
merly injured in parts by tampering and "darkened by time,
still vas a fine specimen of the painter'S smaller pictures—
small in size, great in design and execution. With the " dirt"
he cleaners have now removed much or all of the transparent
colouring ; and the most obvious results of the damage are
these. In nature, the several colours of all objects take a
special tone from the quality of the light that shines upon
them at any given moment of time; all tints under the same
light, therefore, display a certain unity with each other : in
this picture one tint of golden light glowed over all the vary-
ing local colours ; that quality of light was partly worked
out in the solid painting, partly conveyed in the transparent
colouring which formed the last stage of painting : that trans-
parent colouring is removed, cud the unity is gone. Thus a
summer sun warms the colours of the figures, but the sky is
tbat.of January. Ihe perspective even is altered, in the fol-
lowing manner : —ln the group of figures is a satyr, whose
brown flesh is'opposed to the fair skin of two women behind
him—that is, they are further from the foreground; without
destroying the brightness of the fairer flesh, the transparent
colouring subdued it, making it less pr.minent ; at the same
time, as varnish does to a mahogany table, it brought out the
colour of the dark satyr's flesh, making it brighter and more
prominent. The transparent. colours are gone ; the fair flesh
now comes more forward than Titian meant it to do ; and
the satyr, who is before the woman in position,actually seems
further off, through the change in the colour. These results
of the damaging process will easily be perceived on examining
the picture. The destruction of Rabaul's " Peace Driving
away the Horrors of War" is glaring. Over the whole of this
picture also there was ono flood of glowing light, giving unity
and that richness of tint for which Rubeus is famous. With
the " dirt" the whole of the transparent colouring ou the sur-
face has been removed ; the unity is broken into parts, and
the warmth has turned to bleakness. The tieber'S hide, that
was a lustrous tawny, has now turned to a dead brown and
grey the differerce between what was and what is, is that
between silk and cotton. The flesh of the principal female
figure wa 4 brilliant and transparent: it is now harsh and
opaque dead white as if painte l with chalk and pink
tolth-powder. The damaging process is exhibited with pain-
ful distinctness in the shoulder of the msau crouching In front.
It is a compost of rude, harsh, .unblended, stains,-whitieh
reddish, (-131 d ,u
Mercury in
nth ej brown-blackishdgn eu
olff.
pYaOruilt c”rtu,otititios
right
oouu
can
detect, underneath the outer painting,' a very similar assem-
blage , of. tints ,• ,hut they, are •. covered with. tiatnsparent
colouri,and combined into the most brilliant and harmonious
hue these colours••are • removed from the shoulder of the
mart in the " Peace and War," and yon see the consequence.
In fact the last stage of Rubens's work has been undone-.---the
picture has, been disfinished; , Rig not °veil as Riabens -would
haVe left it an unfinished sketch ; for it has on it the debris
of his' litter painting, and its surface has been injured. It is
pot an uniniehed,work; but a ,wreck. In the case of this
'piCture, the spectator has the advantage of comparing it
with other works by the samo painter, on. on each wall of the
same room.. And, -by the, way, if it was necessary. to
"try"' this process of cleaning, why not have tried it on
the picture, less precious in execution, of " Moses and the
Serpents I" Four thousand pounds was given for ".The
v.TGI
Is
tdlelhregaiims.
Gallery
interfere.
e et owfaenl" -Paris,"
fne;ira
ehpaarfnotede
process
fear
hifssge
bbse teci
unlessal lu continuedfisseot rreip.
.miscEiitt:uarutgtsr,hhter.
throughout
lejai :kb course
uddeegigehessiioe.noteusinuhmetisynostagewhtdd:ode..
bheagvrnittpiiiireara; promise.andvre tphiatsuara. geretaht,iteltehains

[The foregoing statement is from the Spectator of
Nov. 29, 1846. We <Examiner) adopt itoutd give
to it what publicity we can, because it describes no
imaginary danger. In 'some minor and non-vssen-
tial particulars it may be questioned and cavilled
at, but substantially it is correct, and not over-
stated. We wait to see.what notice the authorities
will take of it. The past is irremediable, but an
instant assurance and guarantee should be given
against future tamperings.] 1,3 j,‘,. vd3 ALTIEIe.s

I am, Sir, yours obediently,
April 19th. N. T. WALTER.

SADLEA'S- WBLLS THEATRE:

,3;j:

fi

Last night Mr. and Mrs. Charles. Dillon made their
first appearance in London at this theatre. The drama'
chosen for the occasion, ",Beipherr the Mountebank,
or the Pride of Birth," affords ample scope for the de-
veliipment Of the powers of an actor anxious to elicit
the opinion of a London audience as 0' his abilities ;.
and the fame that Mr. C. Dillon has acquired in the
previncesi prepared us', in ,a great measure; to. expect
something
,worthy of beirg called acting, in . which
expectation we were not disa;poirted. The cha-
racter of Belpbegor; as most of our ' readers
are aware, requires more than ,ordinary -talent,-)
order to fully develop e the part drawn by_ the
great French 'dramatist, and fevi English actors Who
have essayed the part,have produced inore,thaea toleir-
able perferniance. The Belphegoy of Mr. C. Dillon is
really a masterly piece of-acting, and' thetreinendmis
applause bestowed (alit last,night• was well' and richly
deserved. Nothing could po,sibly be finer than . the
acting of this gentleman,, in' the second act, where the
poor mountebank, heartbroken by'the desertidn' of htst;
wife, is invited to amuse, the lordling at the al fresco-
fete, given by the son of theDuc de Montbrisoo, at bis
chateau nrar-Bordeaux. It,was, in -00-e word, the effort
of a consummate artiste. .In the earlierportions..of tbe.
drama Mr. Dilfon was evidently suffering from nervons7
nese, but as the applause inereased,•so he seemed' to"re,
cover himself, and the result was k.deoided: and trium
phant success-atieh suacess; indeed, as he may well
be proud. of. Me WWI not attempt niinntety to desoribe
the whole performance, suffice it Gnsay, Wars taken a& a
whole, it wai perfect. The part of Madeline VVE,o3_Yery
beautifully played by Mts. Dillon ';'Mr. 'lloges acquitted
himself very meditably as,Fanfaronade, and little Miss
EfOuin sustained the part of the juggler's son, Henii,
with very: great-'abiity.: The test 'of the actors were
scarcely .up to the en-ir. At' the conclusion of the
play. Mr. and Mr. C, Dillon were loudly called for, and
on theliappear•anee they were most enthusiastically re-
ceived by
_a very crowded Leilise.

Letters from Riga the 1411 inst. mention that the
ice in the river had broken op two days previously, and
that the arrival of vessels at the port and the grneral
mom:1104m of navigation might be expected in a fort-
night, if not sooner.