Star.
London, England, 1820-01-14 00:00:00

GOLDEN LOTTERY.

ON the Eve of King Charles's Martyrdom, the
Lottery will FINALLY CLOSE, with, for the few
Tickets that remain, the

RICHEST WHEEL EVER KNOWN,

HAVING

TWO PRIZES OF £20,000 1
With an Excess of 41,122 ! . •
ALL in MONEY, ai:cl will ALLbe PA IL) in GOLD BARS,
or NEW BANK NOTES, at the option of Purchasers, on
Saturday, the '29th inxtant,
_ WHEN THE WHOLE WILL roam_ _

The Contractors regret the supply of 'rickets and higher
Shares was so inadequate to thu public demand on Wednesday,
the 12th instant ; anti to prevent a recurrence of such disappoint-
ment, they earnestly request an immediate. application for the
above, as the time is su very Abort.
J. and J. SIVEWRIGHT,
Sole Contractors,
No. 37, Cornhill ; I 11, Holborn;
36, Haymarket ; 141, Oxford-street;
• -

Who Sold, last Lottery, N0.'1,65;i, a Prize_of_Xio,ooo.

A large Picture of the Battle of Hastings, is now
on exhibition, at the Great-room, Spring-gardens.
It is painted by a Mr. F. WILKINS, whose name has
been, hitherto, known to us only as the painter of
some exquisite copies, in water-colours,. kom the
works of the old masters; and we arc happy to be
able' to congratulate him' on this, we presume, his
fist attempt, in a very different, and much move
elevated, style of Art. Enemies as we ate to copying,
in general, we think Mr. Wilkins has proved, that
the time he has occupied in that way has not been
mis-spent, or at least that he is one of those few who
have known bow to draw considerable advantage
from it. His beautiful copies from Rubens, are
scarcely more perfect as copies, than the present pic-
ture, as a free imitation of one of the chief charac-
teristics of that great master's style. We allude to
the extraordinary brilliance of effect which the Artist
has produced, and in which, while he rivals the most
splendid productions of the Flemish master, he has
surpassed all other painters of sthom we have any
knowledge. We are not certain, however, that this
brilliancy is not carried to too great an excess, and
we fear that it borders on gaudiness, which the pic-
tures of Rubens never did. Still, however, it is dif-
ficult to draw the line, and perhaps, after all, our
doubts are unfounded.

The greatest defect of the picture appears to.be in
the drawing, which is not only every where tame and
feeble, but is in many Faits very defective. For in-
stance, the upper and lower extremities are, almost
invariably, too small ; and the hands, though well-
conceived with regard to action, are ipcorrectjy
drawn and more incorrectly painted.. The nine's-
sion of the heads is in general good, and in some in-
stances extremely happy.. We would refer, for .ex-
annple, to the head of the Bishop Odo, who, point-
ing to the crown which is presented. to his half-
, brother, the Conqueror, eagerly watches the exprci-
sion of his countenance, and participates in his
-The head of William is not so fortunate : the cha-
racter is destroyed by the mouth, which is harsh and
coarse, and harmonizes ill with the active, penetrating
expression of the eye. 'Perhaps, too, its effect, toge-
ther with that of the other countenances, is somewhat
injured by. the unnatural human-like expression which
is given to the eyes of the horses on which he and
the figure just mentioned are seated. It is the mis-
taken idea of many painters, that the form and cha-
racter of the inferior •:ninnils become more perfect in
proportion as they are made to partake of 'those Of
man on the contrary, we find that the most beauti-
ful of these animals are those which bear the least
similitude to the human form; and the most perfeCt
specimens of each species are those which are the
most completely distinguished by the characteristiCs
of that particular class to which they belong, and
least partake of those of any other. Thus the ape,
instead of being considered the most beautiful of ani-
mals, on account of the strong likeness it bears to
man, becomes ridiculous from that very resemblanCe
—and the horse, which is perhaps as unlike as any, is
one of the most beautiful. We wish to be the mote
particular in pointing out this inaccuracy, as it is
one into which a multitude of painters, either from
bad principle or want of attention to nature, have
fallen, and from which even the ancients were not
entirely free. But to return• to the picture. The
dead body of Harold, exposed ..by two Normans to
the view of their. chief, is one.of.the worst parts of
the picture. The figure is altogether &drawn; the
neck is too short, and the legsincalculably too Small,
for the immense and uneatural expansiOn. of the .
chest. The neck is also deticisett in anatomic it eepris-
sion, in this and -several other instances. The figures
of Count Eustace and 'f'ostain are two additional in-
stances of feeble drawing and tame execution; the .
former, in particular, is disagreeably insipid. r •
With all these faults, however, the picture is not
destitute of coriderable merit. The story is well con-
ceived and described ; the expressions are for the most
part appropriate ; and the colmu ing is every white
good, with the exception of the flesh, which, however,
forms btit a very inconsiderable part cf the compoii-
tion. .The dresses, the polished 'Arms, the floatittg
standards,. the•daatling helmets, are painted with :t
truth and brilliancy we have seldom seen etitialled ;
and the judicious sobriety of tone in which the back-
ground is kept, heightens the effect anti produces
alnaost. the brightness of reality in the fore-gl ound.2—
On the whole, we consider this pietUre asun exietld-
iagly promising specimen of the abilities 61'4 young
Artist, and we do not doubt, that if Mr. Wilkins will
continue to prosecute his studies with- viOokht
finally attain that excellence, which all A'
pretensions to genius mast aspire to. -
• • • itiat.