The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-05-19 00:00:00

FINE ARTS,

There is at present a collection of very fine pictures exhi
biting at Mr. Lacey's, Bold-street, to which we beg to draw
the attention of amateurs, not only from the excellence but
the rarity of many of the specimens. There are two or
three to which special notice ought to be given. There is a
Raffaelle of extraordinary beauty and brilliance, representing
the Virgin, Child, and St. John. This is a picture well known
as Il sonno di Gesu. The Virgin is exquisitely painted. This
is a work of high class. There is also a Titian possessing
great merit. There is also " The Laura," of Raffnelle, a
brilliant and beautiful picture. A Carlo Dolci will also give
great delight. There is a drawing by Raffaelle of the Battle
between Constantine the Great and hlaxentius, that will be
greatly admired for its vigour, boldness, spirit, and execu-
tion.
Besides these, there are works from the Dutch and Flemish
schools. Two magnificent landscapes by Ruysdael. A cu-
rious and elaborate Watteau, representing a Pal Masque, in
which hundreds of figures are introduced. " A Breeze," by
Backhuysen, is a charming picture. "A Vandyke" will
greatly please the admirers of this artist, as also a powerful
Rembrandt. From the Spanish school there are several works
of great merit, in which an Alonzo Cano and a Murillo are
greatly distinguished. One by the latter ought to be
looked at by every painter in this town with the most
minute attention, as showing the mode adopted by Mu-
rillo in the working and handling of his subjects. This
picture represents the Assumption of the Virgin, and
is half finished. The Spanish school has a gravity and
majesty about it that cannot fail to be admired by the man of
taste. Its masters may not be so correct as the Roman
school, but their knowledge of effect quite compensates for
what they otherwise want. Amongst the mighty ones of the
Spanish school may be reckoned Murillo, the painter of the
work above alluded to. A word or two respecting him will
not be out of place. The history of the Spanish school is as
full of picturesque situations and animated recitals as the
best romances, which we owe to the authors of our own
country. Every master has a character proper to him, and
every event in the life of the painter reveals one of the quali-
ties of his talents.
Bartolomeo Esteban 3furillo was born of a wealthy fa-
mily at Silas, a little village in Andalusia, in 1613. To his
uncle he was indebted for the first notions of his art. In a
journey he made to Madrid, Velasquez showed him the
Escurial and the Royal Palaces, and obtained for him per-
mission to copy the works of Titian, Rubens, and Van Dyck;
he combined in his work the study of the beautiful and the
antique; and on returning to Seville, obedient to the good
counsel of Velasquez, lie copied nature. His first works are
his chefs d'alivre, and in the rest of his career the first traces
of his early educations may be found. The labours of Murillo
are immense ; he has decorated nearly all the edifices at Se-
ville and we find evidences of his genius at Cadiz, Cordova,
Grenada, and Madrid. A little more correctness and noble-
ness in his style would have elevated Murillo to the very
summit of that art, which lie has, amongst others, rendered
so celebrated. The picture of the " Death of Saint Clair,"
which he painted for the cloister of St. Francis, of Seville,
is, without question,
the masterpiece of Murillo : it was
also
his best production in the Gallery Aguado. at Paris,
which possessed fifty-two pictures attributed to him. This
gallery has lately been sold—several works from it are in this
collection, which, taken altogether, has many more than
common claims to the notice and attention of the connois-
seurs and collectors.

RECONSTRUCTION OP THE CONSTELLATIONS.--NOHe
bat those that have bad experience of it have the least idea
of the confusion which prevails in astronomical catalogues.
A common globe will show that the boundaries of the constel-
lations are zig-zagged in all directions, and that sometimes a
long strip from one constellation passes direct into the region
occupied by another. This confusion is necessary to recon-
cile the irregular manner in which observers have registered
their results, and the occasional misplacement of stars by er-
ror of calculation or by confounding one star with another.
Mr. P. Bailey, President of the Royal Astronomical Society,
we hear, meditates an extensive attack upon this confused
system ; and Sir J. llerschel has already given notice that,
as far as the southern hemisphere isconcerned, he willattempt
'
the utter eradication of the existing constellations. Even
supposing that
it would be hardly possible to remodel the
northern hemisphere entirely, we should hope it might he
practicable to introduce something like plain and easy boun-
daries; and, surely, no one has so good a right to make the
attempt, or so fair a prospect of uniting all suffrages, as the.
reformer (Mr. Bailey) who has broken ground by revising,
comparing, and reprinting nearly all the catalogues which
have tren given 14y 4 rsa evil q 9r40(1 co4qcl4oo4s,
.4,00,0,,i,

MEETING OF THE DOCK COMMITTEE.

memberssenTtheetftoilileowweinekgly...loenas
meeting oyfe st thee'. dpa s? -
man,) Barclay, Holt, Holmes, Smito, Molyillux,.k°, and
Bold, Bramley-Moore, Chilton,
Evans. their mended re.
The Sub-committee of Works presented : e
_..,.
•which they r cu...
mittee.smn were t,..,
ce_bdporeienr:,
port on the subject of the warehouses, in , _ the by
that all the floors should be constructed ii
C ed by the
ciple of the brick arch, according to a model propriety
of irn..
Surveyor. Some discussion ensued on the prop tY
tending' tbst
RiPleY, Tobin, Ai in,
mediately adopting the report, Mr. EVallS con
lard bell'''.
an estimate of the entire expense should first bees...,,,,ted
the committee. The Chairman said the Surveoyor,36'ls7.'per
the cost, according to the plan now submitted, 11' , ~,
the repor. es
square yard. On the motion of Mr. Rivr.,BY
confirmed.
On the motion of Mr. RIPLEY the Surveyor was co_ 2
struc i g
to inquire and report upon the best mode of con
fire-proof roof to the new warehouses. he sub-eaul.
In compliance with a recommendation of
t d statements
mittee, it was directed that all the reports an
r__„rded
made upon the subject of the new warehouses be et'
in the books of the committee. departmentent
The Sub-committee for the Marine Surveyor's,
submitted a letter received from the Elder Brethren ot.
___
he co
Trinity House, in reply to an application from t ,
orth'est
instructed
n stable
to place a floating beacon upon the end of the
corner of Hoyle Bank, and another at the end of Ce
be useful
of s
Bank. The Elder Brethren concurred in the proPe,le_ J.,,eful
buoy with regard to Constable's Bank, as it would Da ;cod
to the trade and navigation of the river Dee, and threYferepce
direct one to be put down in that position. With ve, it sp.
to the buoy on the north-west corner of Hoyle Bar.le.„.„ited
peared to the Elder Brethren that its utility would I? 40 ~I
to the trade of the port of Liverpool, and it would. tut-icier
appendage to it ; under these circumstances, the .Ack,
Brethren had no objection to the Trustees of th.
._1),
sod
putting down and maintaining a buoy in that House
os
the sanction of the Corporation of the Trinity 1-I°'
consequently given to the Dock Trustees so doing.. at our
The CHAIRMAN.—That is, they allow us to dd it
own expense.
Mr. EVANS.—And they also get a precedent for us to oiled
our money within their distances.
Mr. Tonto thought the Trinity House Tell. ghabbl:datiou
Mr.
RIPLEY observed, that as this was a recoaltde"22l to
from their own Marine Surveyor, it was hardly necessary
refer the subject ack aain.
LEYb-g Moo nE thought that as the si
ptuakticoooo3a
Mr. BumA,
the proposed buoy was out of the limits of the lc
mittee, they had no power to place it there. laced 56
- . RIPLEY considered that the buoy should be P Ile.
recommended. The expense would be a mealgst! ass'
tion : it was thEe a la q
Mr. BRAM'. 111
Mr. TOB I N . --I:pr-rhi 'II en
enycOiOmpltliegEhi
ti
saidas
owl theel
dl.as
k expense
us
to
Eo a i n
to 1
their buoys. e it, Trie6,itit
house
AIKIN said this refusal on the part oi •,-e,,cl that
enormous
was doubly vexatious, when it was reeditee,d from
theorsurs• surplus funds they had accumulated, dente House
shipping interest. The masters of the Tried bey bed
gave splendid dinners to dukes and noblemen, add ;,terelt
soafiling excursions, all at the expense of the Shipp I went
this and other ports, and now that a little irnr° their
was suggested they told the Dock Committee tad° 4 at
Mr. BRAMLEY-MOORIC again
own expense. pot
one of
0 expense, but one in which the committee hau",,totbl'
..mra. miiioleLlfuiErtshinere.
tgo beyond the bounds of the port. If they accede! to gs
half now,
they
might, at some future time, be called oP°'
said the questioin.:po,r,
ntioned that the North-west Light4bil
wa! out of theundaries of te ort. tof sr°.
p
Mr. AIKIN rebolied that thath waps under an Ow P
ment.
Mr
Communication After
ursthhneurlddishcue openedssion, it was
withdecidedrtrhiantitay otobler
communication
i
the
upon the subject. that to
The Harbour Masters' Sub-committee reported ~ 4,
could not recommend the use of wood instead cf_„llb.ear.
signalise the condition of the docks. The Or° u'lPon ;
mittee recommended, and it was adopted, tb,_at„ Msst,ed;
stonesh over the house-doors of the South Haroo—he 0,
,i
11ndot e Masters of King's and Queen's Docks, the
„ §Tausth Harbour Master," " Master of King's 9°c li
TheA tr of Queen's Dock," should be written. wlii4f
North Harbour Master reported a triflidg
itter"obio°
took place on the evening of the 14th instant, in tu
„er
the flat S I
ara I. MP
The CHAI tete I' i tbs
RMAN wished the committee to $ d 0 . ,
stairs to
lend the model of the frigate at the hell Ins
tion (Criesyes.")
. i ,to the intended exhibition at the Collegiate
( L
Ta uh ge er it.
pilot
fa
Mr. BARCLAY.—They must send down aPI it
CHAIRMAN said, this model WAS wan-e tics:
t d beet lbi
was one of the articles which had been saved at tbe
Exchange was burnt down.
Tohnetahpplication was then granted.
of the ereosrefirnrge 4
ssetnntatthioensoefveMrarl. BdnaeAkuhLrEidvg-ervisfowoorrrie. ftebrerestitlij
the Surveyor; after which the committee scpaote".