Star.
London, England, 1817-10-13 00:00:00

MUSEUM OF FRENCH MONUMENTS.

The Royal tombs which had been collected in the
Museum of the Petitis Augustins have already been
in part restored to the church of Saint Denis. The
remainder will soon be replaced there. The religious
monuments ate going to be restored, under the su-
perintendence of the Prefect of the Seine, to the
churches whence tbei were taken. The statues, busts,
and other objects of art which cannot recover their
former destination will be empinyed to form a hall of
sculpture at the Louvre. Nothing at once more be-
coming or mute wise could have been done than to'
!olio v such an arrangement. At the same time, owing
.0 the interest which is attached to this collection, the
dispersion is viewed with some regret. Those who
decide on the feeling of the moment. and without era
animation, appear to discover in such a measuse no.
thins but exens,ve displacements without object,
and injurious to the arts; bat ealightened men and
true artists think differently. It is well knows what.
they have always thought of this collection, called
the Museum of French Monuments, formed in the
most melancholy circumstances, and necessarily im.
pressed with the taste and spirit of the times. to its
modern accept.t.on, a Museum is as assemblage of
chefs d'oeuvre fi ted to be models foe artists, or of
esteemed productions tiering same attraction to into.
rest and curiosity. Such are the museums of thit Vati.
Can and Capitol at Rome, that of Egli at Naples, that
of Medicis at Florence, the Grand Museum at Paris,
and some galleries in England end Germany. The
Museum of French Monuments cannot rank among
such establishments. A collection formed of fug.
meats rescued from the fury of Vandalism, a medley
of sacred and profane objects, it resembled a little
that bizarre composition which the sportive maw of
Horace presents to the Picas, as as example of
monstrous combination, and as a proof of a des.
ordered fancy. A wise foresight has always viewed
this collection as a transitory establishment, and
to this way it has done very important service.—.
As a permanent establishment, it would have been
too defective to be useful. It presented, indeed, some
pieces of the first order, but these morceaux went°o
limited in number to form a collection. It was thew
fore necessary to kitroduce many works of mediocrity
'unworthy of being collected or offered to the admire•
tion of artists or enlightened amateurs.. Monuments
have a marked destination, from which they are never
diverted without prejudice to an. They lose by their
removal that harmonic virtue, that charm which, die,
derive both from the situation for which they' were,
made, and from the objects by which they are sur-
rounded. Who doubts but that the Apollo awakened
more lively sentiments, and excited greater enthusiasm
in the tonple consecrated ter his reception than in the
most honourable place in our museums ? The Gla.
di ator in theGymnasiuncwhert he stood as an veering
to bravery ; the Rotator in the portico, where the gra.
titude of his country had raised him, must have seized
the imagination more powerfully in their original si-
tu:l6ms than when exhibited in our galleries, whet*
study and reflection itdmir e nothiog in them but the
labour of the statuary. The restoing of the mono.
meets t 5 the places what. they lin itierly were situate
is, %beret ore, as impet iou sly requif J by taste as by ter-
giuus respect for the memory of the Pritices or Moral.
out men in *hose bey el t:ley ere raised.