The Sun.
London, England, 1827-05-21 00:00:00

EXnIBITION of his MAJESTY'S PICTURES,

PALL MALL.

We were much gratified with aprivate view of these
celebrated pictures, which have been munificently lent
by his Majesty to the British Institution. Most of
them are of the Flemish school—a school that, if
it do no not exhibit nature or character in their very
highest attributes, yet is ever attractive, from the
versatility and social vivacity of its subjects. Our
glance was necessarily a hurried one; but neverthe-
less we have seen sufficient to justify us in bearing
testimony to the exquisite beauty of many of the
leading pictures ; and what, though of minor im-
portance, is still material to the effect of the whole
—the skilful manner in which they are arranged.
No. 5.—A Hay Cart, by Wouvermans, will bear the
most rigid scrutiny. The subject is Hay-making : in the
foreground, a laden waggon, with two countrymen on the
top,, is slowly advancing, into which a man is throwing hay
with his pitchfork. The idea is simple, and it is really
astonishing how much is made of it. The damp, dull
look of the hay; the groupes enjoying themselves in the
midst of it, together with the sultry and leaden appear-
ance of the atmosphere, flash on the eye with the force of
realities. The colouring is in character with the subject
—chaste, natural, and unassuming.

13.—" The Wise Men's offering to the Infant Saviour."
This is truly a magnificent production. It is by Rem-
brandt, and is well worthy that master of light and shade.
The kneeling sages in the foreground,especially deserve notice ;
an intense awful and breathless devotion, as if the spirit
of prayer had descended in all its impressiveness upon them,
characterizes each individual figure, contrasting delight-
fully with the sleeping Deity before them. To increase
the effect, a sort of " dim religious light" is thrown over
the picture, through which its beauties are seen, softened,
like the music of village bells, by distance. As a whole
it is, we think, the finest picture in the Exhibition.
17.—" Lot and his Daughters," by Vander-werf, is very
richly and voluptuously coloured. The subject, however, is
objectionable and appeals too grossly to the senses. Such inci-
dents, no matter how historically correct, are better left in
obscurity.
29. A Landscape, by Rubens, is remarkable for the
arrangement of its cattle. In the distance are seen some
bin's hovering over a cottage ; these deserve particular
notice; they are not painted heavily in a substantial at-
mosphere of muddy yellow, but appear light-winged and
joyous, the spirit of the summer is on them, and the sky
in which they float is rich, transparent, and varied.
42.—Landscape, by Paul Potter. This, though not
equal, we think, to the last, is yet not far behind it. It
has a quiet arch humour, too, in which the other is defi-
cient. The cock slinking off, is Nature itself, as we have
witnessed it a hundred times. It may not
.be generally
known, but there is nothing in creation so richly or hu-
mourously foolish as the look of a cock when in the act of
self-transportation. He is naturally a' proud animal ; and
his flight gives always the appearance of a desperate
struggle between his dignity and his apprehensions. The
drooping outstretched head ; the long thin legs, the sunken
suspicious eye—all tell a tale in this picture that Hogarth
would have envied (we wonder, by the bye, that he has
never attempted it), and which prove how accurate an ob-
server P. Potter was of Nature.

55.---,, A Horse Fair," by Wovermans, is chiefly to
be admired on the score of its exquisite propriety of
grouping. The colouring of the flesh, too, is rich but not
exaggerated, particularly the muscles of the horses, which
are brought out with striking effect.
66.—" A sleeping Venus." A very rich and voluptuous
piece of colouring, impregnated with all Sir Joshua's
warmth of imagination. The flesh of the Venus is exqui-
sitely beautiful ; the symmetry of her limbs graceful and
harmonious ; while a certain indescribable glow, half
passion, half purity, pervades her countenance, giving it a
seductive, but not an immodest character. We recommend
this portrait as a study to susceptible young artists.
69.—A Landscape and Cattle, by Vandervelde.
Very correct and simple, as a whole ; but more especially
remarkable for the exquisite softness of the down on the
heads of the young heifers. This last will bear the Strict-
est examination ; it has a silky richness about it, truly asto-
nithing ; but, indeed, the whole picture is wrought up
with the most elaborate care.

82.—The Ale House Door, by Teniers,•is in that mas-
ter's very best and most social style. A knot of peasants
are represented as clustered outside the door at dinner : in
the fore-ground, is a drunkard, whose look• is the very
spirit of arch jollity; and near him stands it woman, who
half by entreaty and half by threats, is leading away her
reluctant husband. The natural simplicity of these two
figures is preserved to the life ; and the painting itself,
though crowded with subjects, is yet so skilfully covered
that it wears an appearance of lightness ; whereas a mo-
dern artist (with the exception, perhaps, of. Wilkie) would
have lumbered his canvas with only half the number of cha-
racters. But Teniers---whose comedy, by the bye, is not
unlike Shakspeare's--improves upon acquaintance, even in
the humblest trait of his genius.
86. A Fair in a Village, by the same Master, is cha-
racterized by equal bustle, vivacity, and graceful simplicity
of grouping.
93. Cattle, by Paul Potter, is a striking and spirited
specimen of animal anatomy; a bull stands boldly out in
the foreground, with a cow lying down beside him. The
colouring of both is perfect.