The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-27 00:00:00

REDECORATION OF THE ROYAL

EXCHANGE.

A large staff of artists is at present at work
under the direction of Mr. Sang, in re-embellishing
the ambulatories of the Royal Exchange, one half
of which has been already completed. The whole
of the designs are perfectly new, and are executed
in real fresco, the colours being applied to the
mortar while wet, and absorbed, in it as it dries.
Crystallisation takes place, and the work becomes
part and parcel of the structure, permitting of the
application of almost the rudest means in case it
should be required to cleanse it from time to time.
Thus it will be seen that the most enduring picto-
rial mode of embellishment has been decided upon
by the Gresham Committee, who were induced to
adopt this style on being convinced of its adaptabi-
lity to a London climate. This process ofpaint;.ng,
as is pretty generally understood, requires great
experience and the utmost care in its management,
as the labours of the artist undergo a great change
by the time the colours dry into the mortar, and the
artist has therefore to anticipate the effects of his
work. The impression upon entering the building
is strikingly cheerful, producing, as it were, the
effect of a rich and harmoniously decorated skylight,
through which a perpetual sunshine is being tran-
smitted, and as the eye glances down the long ar-
cades and up to the ceiling, with its varied, ingeni-
ous, and elegant designs, the most Puritan prejudice
is compelled to.acknowledge the power of form and
colour in giving additional grace and dignity to
even some of the best of our architectural structures.
The different walks of the merchants and their pecu-
liar trades are in these new decorations much more
readily recognisable by the coats of arms of the
respective countries, and each particular trade is
represented according to the ancient custom re-
sorted to by the frequenters of the Royal Exchange.
The late temporary decorations had little or no re-
ference to this important question, but now the
coats of arms form the chief ornaments of the largo
arched panels of the walls, the borders of which
are filled with a rich Raffaelsque margin upon a
purple ground, intersected with emblematic medal-
lions, the main or central leading colour being an
aerial and sunny yellow of the most cheerful hue.
Suspended clusters of fruit, with their architectural
and ornamental accompaniments, call up recollec-
tions of similar works at the Vatican and other
Italian buildings. It may be hoped that these suc-
cessful experiments in the heart of the city of Lon-
don will tend to give to this interesting art a wel-
come and enduring reception. While adverting to
- the redecoration of the Royal Exchange, mention
may be made of the statue of the Queen in the
- centre of the quadrangle. The right hand, holding
the iron sceptre, is corroded by contact with the
metal, and two of the fingers are gone. The dirt
collected in parts, more particularly about the neck,
has all the honey-combed character observable upon
a well-used printer's balustrade. The marble in
parts yields even to the finger-nails, showing that
the whole is from an inferior quarry. If the same
corrosion is going on inside, where the iron stays
support the figure, the city.may wake up one morn-
ing and find it prostrate. It has been, suggested
that a creditable statue might be erected out of
some of the Crimean gun metal, and probably this
hint will be acted upon.

DISCOVERIES IN NEWFOUNDLAND.—Extraordi-
nary mineral discoveries have lately been made in New-
foundland, which will become the Cornwall of North Ame-
rica. We have been shown specimens of copper pyrites
containing from 8 to 12 per cent. of metal, taken from a
lode 50 feet in breadth; the ore being as valuable for sul-
phur as for copper. It crops out upon the surface, and
thousands of tons can be obtilned at a very trifling outlay.
Several very rich lodes of lead have also been discovered ;
and the telegraph announces that a valuable vein of silver
I ore has been found.—Quebec CAronicle.