The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-11 00:00:00

THIS NATIONAL GALLERY.

The National Gallery, after an interval of eight
months, will be opened to the public this day. The
changes it has undergone are great both as regards
the building and the arrangement of the pictures.
Sir C. Eastlake has added three new purchases to
the collection, all valuable, though of an antiquarian
character. They are in tempera—viz., a predella in
five compartments, by Fra Angelico, which was for-
merly in the Church of San Domenico at Fiesole ; an
" Entombment," by Roger Vander Weyden the
elder ; and the " Baptism of Christ," by Pietro della
Francesca, recently purchased at the Uzielli sale.
The five beautiful and perfectly-preserved Fra An-
gelicos bought at Rome, and for which- the Papal
Government exacted an exportation- fine of £7OO,
being 20 per cent. of the purchase money, are among
the most valuable acquisitions made during Sir
Charles Eastlake's administration. The subject ap-
pears to be " Christ Assembling the Blessed, after
the
the Last Judgment."
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the Royal Academy, for the annual exhibition of
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west, corresponding to the entrance to the Academy
on the other side. The new hall is small compared
trance
with the old, hut is light and neat ; on the right
hand in going in is the well of the dome, Which, by
means of a partition wall, has been converted into
a stick and umbrella depository for both institutions,
immediately in front is a handsome flight of steps,
which lead at once into what was formerly the
small South Room, now papered crimson, and con-
taining some early Italian pictures and the Kruger
collection, the place of hoiour being given to Paolo
Uccello's " Battle of St. Egidio." From this room,
by two spacious doorways, you pass either straight
on into the old rooms, or by turning to the right,
into a new square room, painted green, formed by
combining the old passage and the small North Room
into one. In thic roozu a grand display of early
Italian pictures, dazzling in their rich gilt Gothic
frames ; they are chiefly from the Lombardi
collection, and here on the east wall are the new
Fra Angelicos. From this room you pass through
a small vestibule, which contains Gibson's group of
" Hylas and the Nymphs," into the new gallery,
the great gain by the alteration, and now the great
feature of the National Gallery as regards its archi-
tectural arrangement and its contents; the dimen-
sions are noble, the room being 75 feet long, 30
wide, and 33 high. Instead of a lantern, as in the
other rooms, the architect has uniformly coved the
ceiling, three great bays being opened in the centre
for light, and glazed with groand glass, while the
sides are perforated for ventilation, and the whole
is delicately tinted. The wall is surmounted by a
handsome cornice, enriched by a broad gold mould-
ing, which separates it from the paper, here maroon
The pictures in this room give a display of Italian
painting of the Cinque-cento period which it would
be difficult to parallel in the whole of Europe; half
of the 60 works or lo which it contains are chefs-
d'eeuvre of the greatest masters of the 16th century:
On the south wall are represented Masaccio, Bor-
gognone, Mantegna, Moretto, Perugino, Correggio,
Paul Veronese, Bronzino, Francia, Titian, Tin-
toretto, Giulio Romano, and some others ; on the
opposite wall Giorgione, Basaiti Mazzolini, Leon-
ardo da Vinci, Raphael, Correggio, Sebastian del
Piombo, Titian, Paris Bordone, Bassano, Pontormo,
John Bellini, Cima da Conegliano, &c.; on the end
walls Paul Veronese again, Parmegiano, Romaninoc
Girolamo da Treviso, Pordenone, &c. When we
consider that nearly all these pictures were painted
within the space of about 60 years in the same
country, the room conveys an overwhelming im-
pression of the unqualified and varied excellence of
the Cinque-cento schools of Italy. Our own im-
mense wealth also in the art of this period is now
thoroughly seen for the first time, and we cannot
help feeling that our national collection, though
still comparatively small, is yet quite worthy of
the nation, The addition of this single room shows
what might be accomplished by adequate space for
a proper classification of all the schools, whether
ancient or modern.

The three remaining rooms of the gallery have
undergone no material change beyond painting
and papering. In what was formerly the first
large room, now crimson, and approached by two
two side doors, instead of one in the centre, and
which contained the Claudes and Turners, are
hung the Bolognese and other later Italian pie-
turer, with some few of the earlier for which there
is no space in the new room. In the middle room
are the French and Spanish pictures, with the two
Turners between the Claudes, better placed now
than they have ever been. Finally, in the large
Wrest Room, formerly containing the choice
Italian pictures, now papered crimson, are dis-
posed all the Dutch and Flemish pictures; and
the improved arrangement here also tells upon the
impression made by the collection. The more
suitable hanging shows that the country is far
richer in pictures of these schools than we have
hitherto been disposed to admit or imagine. On
the whole, the new arrangement and judicious
hanging of the pictures reflects the greatest credit
on Mr. Warnum, to whose taste and judgment
this difficult task has been confided.