Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1852-03-19

any other of equal Importance. 1t is admitted
on all sides, that the Light House system is
miserably defective. The Committee will con-
slider eXpedlency of establishing IA Board of
Commissioners to manage the Light House and
Buoy department, and will probably agree to
propose it.
The next sub cct which the Committee will
take up IS that OF commercial intercourse with
the North American British Provinces. The
views OF majority Of the Committee are en-
trely favorable to the adoption of a system of
reciprocity. They may not agree to the pre-
else terms Of the offer made by the Canadian
authorities, but they will present Il bill found
ed upon liberal and fair principles of recipro
city, and bill that they can carry. This much
you may safely say to your Canadian friends,
who have become indignant at the delay -four
Government in acting upon their proposition.
GJ7From the latest Of the admirable letters
Of Mr.. Wrrn to the Albany Evening Journal,
under date OF " Florence, Feb. !, 1882 w.
copy the following interesting memoranda d,
Artists and Art
| PowrRs, the American Sculptor, whose
genius has conferred honor upon his country,
and whose fame Is to endure, with his works,
! through all time, has resided IN Italy seventeen
years, fourteen in Florence and three in Rome.
! No American comes to Florence, Of course,
without paying homage to this shrine. But as
! there are no Saints in our National Calendar,
we only iiud plain IlIRAM PowERs, whose
'.hinrlc," as We express it, hangs ont to indl-
cate his Studio, in lingering about which three
hours past very delightfully."-. Among the OBJ
ects which first attract attention Is 1t groupe
of familiar heads which the Artist modelled IN
America, viz: Chief Justice MARSHALL, Gen
JACKSON, Judge BuRNEr, GEO. MCDrFriE,
Mr.. VAS buren,, Mr.. GRANGEB, tol. Pas
rON aud joins ). PREsTON. OF the two lai
ter gcntlcnen and Of Mr.. LoNGwoRrm, OF
Cincinnatl, Powers speaks with great alice
ton and gratitude, as his early and best friends,
without whose encouragement he says he could
not have been where and what he is.
Besides large building where his huge
marble blocks arc first reduced to form by or
binary worhmen, PowERs has three Apart
ments connected with his own Sanctum, where
his assistants are engaged in executing his de-
signs. Most people know, | suppose, what |
did not, that eminent Artists have little or moth
nr to do with the marble. The Greek Slave"
the "Fisher Bov," upon which we have looked
with wonder and admiration, came in all their
beauty and perfection from the hands Of sub
ordinates all the thought, genius and taste hay
Powers IS engaged with two works, one or
both Of which Will, | trust, ultimately adorn
the Capitol. One of them is to represent
AMERICA and the other CAIIroRNIN. They
are happy conceptions Their emblcms ana
ai!cgoncs are appropriate and poctcal. 1t will,
as he Is OILY ab,9 to rive intervals OF time to
them, take two or tArcc years to compete these
Statues.
II this great Sculptor had not devoted him
self to his present Att liz would have been a
most useful and accomplished Machlnist, for
his genius could not have been repreased
though he is apparently unconscious OF being
anything more than plain Vermont scion en-
grated upon Cincinnati stalk. Though dcs
tined to labor here for long time, ms atlec-
tons are with and for America, where, as he
; hopes, the Sun of Freedom that lights him tC
his rest, will shine upon his Children. PowERs
works as skllltuly Ill iron, steel and brass as
he does in marble In his Studio is Smlthey,
,ifthat word may be used,l where he makes all
; his own tools--tools by means OF which hi.
Artistic labors are much slmplitied and flcilI-
tated.
The absorbing objects Of interest here arc
= the Picture Galleries. In this respect tho
wealth Of Florence cannot be estimated, for hel
/ Paintings have no money valuation. The gold
Of California could not purchase them.
The UFFIRI and PrrrI Galleries are situated
) on opposite sides Of the Arno, but connected
by continuous wall and covered walk Tor the
convenience OF the Grand Duke, whose Ancient
and Modern Palaces are adjacent to either
Gallery. The collection in the Uifiri Gallery
Is sad to be the most various, It not the most
5 valuable, i'll the world. 10 speak understand
ingly OF these works of Art, taste, cultivation
= and reading are indispensable. Deficient IL
all these qualities, | shall OF course be careful
. not to expose my ignorance. But even an I'M
? instructed eve observes with interest the lnian-
: cy, youth, manhood and maturity Of Art as dis,
played on these walls, in the origin, progress
and perfection Of Painting TINS peculiarly
!, is observable in the works of the great Mas
5 tiers, whose early e.lo.tS stand here IN contrast
: with their finished productions. You see tn,
genius Of RAPHAEL. first IN the bud, then hall
blown, and finally all It's glory. And you
: see colectedy, Art rising, step by step, age
al or are, from It's drawing dlmness, It's par,
| development, Its growing beauties, to It's tuIi-
r orbed cti'ugcnce, through the tenth, eleventh
? twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and
t sixteenth centuries. And then, when several
Masters bad, by long struggling, attained the
summit Of their Art when half dozen Schools
I of Painting had been perfected when none
were bold enough to think OF rlvalIms KAPH'
AEL, TITAN, CoKREGGlo, LEoNARpI pA NINcL
MICHAEL ANGELO, &c, Sc, their Pupils and
Successors became copylsts, and then OF courat
= the Art began to decline.
You are struck, also, i'll these Galleries by
the fact that most Of the old Masters, nearly al
indeed, drew their subjects from the Scriptures
The Saviour, the Martyrs, the Virgin, tt Holy
= Family and other powerfully wrought Scnptu
raj incidents, seemed to call forth their hlgneS
efforts. Each Of the great Masters painted
Portraits Of themselves. Those Of RAPHAEL
l TITAN, REMBRA Npr, Nc, are to be seen II
thcsc Galleries. OF Landscapes you see bu
few, and those, if | may hazard an opinion
, inferior to many Of the pro luctIons Of ioder'
| Artists.
That ilustrious Flemish Artist, RuRENS
whose Pictures adom the Galleries OF Europe
appears to advantage here though his very high
est efforts are to be seen at Antwerp his brit
place. And this is true, believe, with mos
OF the old Masters. The Galleries OF France
5 Germany, Prussia, Italy, Nc, as well as TIA,
: collections of England. boast OF their MuHIL
" Los, but the finest Pictures of that immorta
" Artist are only found in Spain.