The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-02 00:00:00

from a drawing by Mr. David Roberts, is the revival
of an old picture—of one calculated to win the patron-
age of many to whom the subject has an interest irre-
spective of other considerations. Judged upon these
grounds its resuscitation was advisable, notwithstand-
ing its comparative inferiority to other similar pro-
ductions at the same establishment.

WORKS of ANCIENT and 211ED.LEVAL ART.
One of the most unique and remarkable exhibitions
of the present year is that now occupying the upper
rooms of the Society of Arts in the Adelphi, elaborate
notices of which have already been published in the
leading journals. The interest, therefore, of an exhi-
bition of this historio• artistic nature speaks for itself ;
and the scrutiny to which it has already been sub-
jected betokens the intelligent relish that has been
awakened on the part of the public.

THE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.
This attractive haunt enjoyed its usual extensive
patronage yesterday, and visitors flocked in by
hundreds during the whole day. The programme
evinced the customary varieties of incidents, the
lectures by Dr. Bachhoffner and J. H. Pepper, Esq.,
mingling pleasantly with the experiments with
the diving-bell and the dissolving views, the
latter (a new set) containing a series of
views of the island of Ceylon, the Arctic regions,
&c. But it is impossible to enter into any detail of
the " doings" at the magnificent gallery of popular
science. The entertainments are sufficient in 'lum-
bar to occupy the spectator from morning till night,
a imprising not only several specific discourses on
some definite branch of science, copiously illustrated
by experiment, but a museum of mechanical, philoso-
phical, and artistic objects of an extent unparalleled
in a popular institution. The energy of the directors
is rewarded by the unceasing countenance of " the
people," for we never remember to have visited the
place without finding a numerical audience that no
other exhibition ever enjoyed with such undeviating
permanence. But the nature of the establishment
commands this manifestation of sympathy and interest.
Amusement and instruction are here so happily
blended as to give it a character per se; and while it
is conducted upon the liberal and judicious principles
which at present prevail, its public interest is not
likely to fail.

MADAME TUSSAUD'S.
This popular exhibition still continues a centre of
unabated attraction ; and yesterday, from an early
hour in the forenoon to an advanced one at night, an
unintermitted stream of eager spectators was kept up,
crowding, at times, the grand hall, the Chamber of
Horrors, and the Napoleon-room, to an inconvenient
degree. The building was brilliantly lit up in the
evening, and presented altogether a very gay and
animated scene.

MISCELLANEOUS EXHIBITIONS.
The success which attended the American exhibition
of Mr. Banvard has had the usual effect, and various
others, upon similar or analogous principles, have
been constructed. In most cases, however, the ordi-
nary condition of rivalry has not been observable, for
the imitations have been better than the original,
talent of a very superior kind having been expended
in working out certain pictorial spectacles, with re-
sults more or less artistic. The works which this
new class of voluminous painting has generated are
several, and we believe that others are in progress to
swell the list.
The NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY has furnished
Mr. J. W. Allen with subjects for a series of
sketches illustrative of certain localities between
Primrose-hill and the Britannia Tubular Bridge,
comprising Wolverton, Coventry, Birmingham,
Chester, Conway-bridge, Snowdon, &c. The execu-
tion of these scenes is skilful and effective, as we have
already declared, while the oral discourse delivered
by Mr. Clarke is an informing and well-digested ac-
companiment. The building in which this panorama
is shown adjoins the Polytechnic Institution, to
which it may be considered an appendage.
Mr. Phillips's DIORAMA OF IRELAND, in the old
Chinese exhibition room, is likewise a clever work.
The entrance to .the theatre fitted up for the reception
and display of the picture, is prettily decorated with
a representation of the Mardyke at Cork, and the
inner room is liberally decorated as a reception
chamber. The diorama passes before the eye without
detention, and the spectator is regaled with views of
the Queen's progress through the Emerald Isle in the
autumn of 1849, beginning with Queenstown, and
pursuing the royal route as far as Belfast, that is, de-
picting those points of the journey the most remark-
able in themselves, and the most suitable for transcript.
Among them we have the Lakes of Killarney, Clon-
tarf, Drogheda, Armagh, Bangor, and other places of
notoriety.
The views in NEW ZEALAND, by Mr.G.C. Brees, the
late surveyor of the New Company, are still to be
found in Leicester-square. The circumstances under
which they have been produced establish their claim
to authenticity, and the scenery of these regions has
never before been so carefully and imposingly demon-
strated.

The AUSTRALIAN DIORAMA, by Mr. Prout, at
the 'Western Literary Institution, a set of re-
flected views, illustrates the same rising and important
country.

The GALLERY Or ILLUSTRATION, depicting the
route of the Overland Mail, painted by Messrs.
D. Roberts, Herring, Telbin, Grieve, and Absalon,
promises to take a very important rank as a fashion-
able haunt, for everything that can conduce to the
comfort as well as the gratification of the Visitor, has
tlhac woi,ngaroef sup
en-
trance hall and the ante-room being richly , the the Parthenon
been supplied in an unsparing spirit. The fittings
superb, Clubup of
It-lhoeu edifices
e, n Wa(ttheo er
south
orna-
mented and furnished, while the theatre in which the
spectator finally finds himself is as commodious as it
is architecturally tasteful. The diorama moves be-
hind a large opening, delineating the vicissitudes of
scenery which the traveller experiences when jour-
neying from England to India, commencing with
the Isle of Wight, the Bay of Biscay, the Me•
diterranean, and the Desert—with the incidents
appertaining thereto. The breaks in the rolling
canvas disclose several magnificent set scenes depict-
ing Gibraltar, Malta, the island of Ceylon, and Cal-
cutta. The finished style in which the paintings are
executed gives the diorama distinguished credit as an
exhibition, as well as a species of pre-eminence as to
scale and elaboration which merits the highest encou-
ragement. The fame of the artists who have been
associated in the prosecution of the work is a strong
credential of practical excellence, and the expectations
realised suggested by their names are more
thaDnesert The details of the journey across the
mono_
give
great variety to a subject in itself necessarily
and theanim tonous ; the figures by Mr. Ab
5 with the usual as
by Mr. Herring, being drawnlife-like
wiof these gentlemen, sentiment peculiar to the pencilsbe adduced «h ere But special instances need not ere abi-
lity is so generally displayed throughout. The dio
a development of rasa is largely instructive a
public
locali-
ties respecting which the p has of late years
both heard and talked much , and the "lecture" by
Mr. Stoqueler has the advantage of emanating from
an indvidual who is intimately acquainted with the
subject, and who has gone observantly over the ground
he professes to describe.
:Mr. Banvard's new
AORATIA OF THE Onto dis-
plays
the same kind of crude art which was the
characteristic of the " three mile" painting ; but as
portraitures of the several places on the " great wes-
tern waters, the interest involved is far from in-
considerable.
TnE COSMORAMA having been closed for a few days,
re-opened yesterday with a slight infusion of new
subjects, executed by the same artists as those who
have hitherto been employed by the proprietor. They
consist of the Valley of Tombs at Palrnvra and the
Rope Bridge of Penope, in South America, in addi-
tion to the former views of Interlacken, Venice,
Dome, St. Peter'v, the Kamschatcan Volcano, and
the Memnon statues. Half an hour may be
agreeably spent in sauntering through the room
which contains these pictures. Seen through
strong magnifying glasses, and fenestrated aper-
tures, the effect is pn eisdy that. of surveying either
a landscape or an architectural locality from a lofty
building, and certain dioramic effects, ingeniouslyl). in-
troduced here and there, contribute much to the illu-
sion. The new paintings are worthy the' attention
of the Amusement seekers,

BURFORD'S PANORAMAS.
The anxiety at present as to the " whereabouts" of
Sir John Franklin gives a peculiar interest to the
new panorama of Mr. Burford, representing the
Arctic regions. Nothing that this gentleman
has produced has been more felicitous than this,
either as a work of art or as an instance of scenic
effect. The drawing has been made from sketches
by Lieutenant Browne, who accompanied the recent
expedition in the Enterprise, and therefore the stamp
o.f. truth is impressed upon it. The panorama con-
sists of two semi-circular views, portraying the frozen
seas under the different aspects of summer and winter.
Altogether, these two views are extremely interesting,
and well deserve the praise that has been bestowed
upon them.
The Panoramas of Cashmere and Pompeii occupy
the other circles. The former is a remarkably fine
Oaiental landscaye, presenting Nature under a very
opposite condition to that of the Arctic regions.
Warmth and luxuriance are the characteristics. The
richest hues predominate, and the foliage is of that
la, ge and exuberant growth
. which is only found in
The these tropics' latitudes. ho waters which meander
through the valley give relief to the ensemble, and
the general effect is enchanting. The view of Pom-
peii possesses an interest of a totally different kind.
There is the exhumed city just as it appears after at)
recent excavations—a melancholy picture of a huge
and overwhelming catastrophe, and at the same timr,
historically instructive as a disclosure of domestic life
two thousand years ago.