The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-19 00:00:00

,

BURFORD'S PANORAMA.
(THIS DAY.)
THE LAKE OF LUCERNE.

Every one acquainted with the pictorial exhibitions
of London must bear in recollection the magnificent
panorama, painted by Mr. Robert Burford, from
drawings taken by him on the summit of Mount
.Righi, and embracing, in one comprehensive view,
most of the celebrated localities of Switzerland.
From the very magnitude of that undertaking it was
impossible fsr the artist to indulge himself in those
detailed delineations which, generally speaking, ren-
der his productions remarkable for their vraisent-
idunce, and invest them with all the sparkle and in-
terest of reality. In the present work, a work of
smaller dimensions, but in its way of equal excel-
lence, Mr. Burford has, with the assistance of Mr.
H. U. S-lons, contrived to compensate his admirers
for whatever disappointments were inseparable from
the very grandeur of his former enterprise. He has
portrayed again, it is true, though under a different
aspect, the glorious scenery of the alpine countries,
bat this time he has adroitly blended with the geo-
graphical attractions of Switzerland the domestic in-
terest, as it were, of its population. Instead of viewing
the subject of his artistic labours this time from the
crown of Mount Righi, he has done so at its foot,
taking his place on the bosom of Lake Lucerne, and
there, with an ever faithful pencil, sketching in the
almost numberless beauties of the panorama. Brought
into immediate proximity with the vegetation and the
habitations of S witzerlend, Mr. Burford has transferred
to canvass in glowing colours those adjuncts of moun-
tain scenery which lend to it such a peculiar and re-
sistless fascination. The spectator is supposed to be
in a vessel floating on the water close to the town of
Lucerne, among the principal edifices of which are
conspicuously visible the cathedral and the Hotel des
Suisse, besides which the eye wanders over the town
walls, the quay, the pier, the Swan Hotel, the church
of the Jesuits, the Lapel Briicke, the Stradthuie, an
old watch tower, and another venerable fortification.
Prominent, of course, among all the surrounding ac-
clivities, as you look down the lake with your back to
the town of Lucerne, are, on the right the heights of
Mount Pilate, and on the left the pinnacle of Mount
Righi, that wonderful elevation called by the ancients
the dons Rigidus, and by enthusiasts the RegiZum
Montem. As the descriptive guide to the Panorama
very truthfully expresses it—" The most powerful and
striking contrasts are here presented in every variety
of scenery, from softness and fertility, to abruptness
and barrenness, of all that is most imposing and ma-
jectic, with all that is most beautiful and pleasing.
On all sides the rugged sublimity of towering rocks,
and the harmonous beauties of smiling valleys, alter-
nately claim attention, and together with the ancient
and picturesque town at the western extremity of the
lake, form the finest coup d'.eil that can well be
imagined." This coup d'ceil has, moreover, been
here wonderfully represented by the brush of
Mr. Robert Burford. " Here, as the guide
again remarks, "the spectator at one glance
embraces the whole expanse of the noble lake, the
Berk blue crystal waters of which are enlivened by
many of the clumsy but picturesque boats of the
country. The immediate margins of the water, if
not so profusely ornamented with towns, villages and
orchards, as many others are, yet exhibit a vast va-
riety of irresistible attractions and pleasing beauties ;
'rich spots of fertile cultivation, with flocks of sheep
and goats grazing on the abundant pasturage, emerald
green ravines, and valleys, sunny warm and rich. In
the eecond distance are charming eminences, and
gracefully undulating hills, whose sloping sides are
clothed with luxuriant foliage, and dotted with villas
and chalets, nobly backed by a magnificent amphi-
theatre of majestic and finely grouped mountains,
ridge above ridge, as romantic in form as fancy could
portray, each with its own particular colour, present-
ing rich varieties of light and shade ; others more lofty
arid rise behind, clothed in the deep purple shade that
dietince gives, and the snowy alps of Uri and
Schwyz crown the whole." Considered merely as a
landscape, the panoramic view revealed to us in this
very admirable production, is sufficiently attractive,
but, regarded in addition to this with an
eye to its historical and political associations, it ap-
pears before us with an air of matchless and arresting
attraction. It must be remembered, for example,
that the town of Lucerne, besides being the capital of
the canton, is one of the Vorort, or otherwise every
third year the metropolis of the Diet of Switzrland.
Founded originally in 695 by the building of a Bene-
dictine convent, it gradually rose into a place of no
inconsiderable importance. Its local abbot, some-
where about the middle of the fourteenth century,
resigned his authority over it, and the canton, in
1332, abandoned the sway of Austria, sending
forth a contingent of its citizens to aid the
troops of the forest cantons in the memorable battle
of S.-Impsch. It can scarcely be forgotten that Lu.
cerne was conspicuous among the seven cantons who
fought for the interests of the Jesuits, being, in fact,
the chief of the armed league of the Sonderbund. As
recently as the November of 1847, the town was
stormed and captured by the antagonists of the Son-
derbund. So that the artist has selected in Lucerne a
spot for representation,not only invested with the charm
of antiquity, but also with the fascination of political
and historical recollections. Added to all which the
aspect of the town itself; the lake and the surround-
ing scenery are of a beauty altogether commensurate
with its reputation. Besides the mountains already
particularized as observable in this very interesting
panorama, should be mentioned also Rossberg, re-
nowned as the scene of the, terrific landslip in 1806,
whim " a mess of the mountain, three miles in length,
and 1,000 feet in width, came down with an awful
crash, completely burying three villages, two churches,
and 111 houses, together with 450 human beings, and
325 head of cattle. There are likewise Achsenberge
rising above the rock where Tell leaped on shor
from Gessler's boat and escaped ; Hapsburg, for-
merly the hunting seat of the famous Count Rudolph,
the founder of the Austrian dynasty; Meggenborn,
where once stood a monument to Tell, ultimately
destroyed by lightning ; Seclisberg, near the
field of Grutli, where the first confederates held
their secret meetings ; Rosstock, Oberbauen, Burgen-
stock, Urner-Bothstock, Bouchserhorn, Titles, Esel,
Obernaupt, and Widderfeld. A little group in a
boat to the left of Lhe foreground (or rather we should
say of the forewater), will be observed with interest
by all the frequenters of Burford's Exhibition, repre-
senting, as it does, the veteran artist sketching one of
the eight drawings which, assisted by Mr. Selous, he
afterwards elaborates into a panorama.