Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1857-1858, 1857-11-17
From the Baltimore Patriot.
Death of tue Artist West the American
Painter Of I.nrd ERHrnn.

the % inst MT. West eDjoyed a wide reputation.
Most Of bis artist life was spent in Europe, where
he stood at the head Of bis profession. He painted
portrait Of Lord yron from fife, which is univer-
sally conceded to be the b~st one in existence and
which the artist sold for g. 600. He was engage6
up to within three DAYS of his death. in pailtin
portraits OF some of the citizens of Nashville
had under way two or three historical pieces
Henry T. Tuckerman in his Artist Life, q
Sketches of Ameresn Psnter.." published by tb
Appletons gives the following interesting remini.
eences Of Mr.. Wesc
/" 1t was his custom while engaged upon the por
trat Of Lord Byron, to leave Leghorn dailv. 500
after mid day for the poets villa at MONTENEGRO,
apply himself to the picture for two or three hour
| On one occasion while thus occupied, the serVar
announced Shelly. who was Immediately invited -
! enter. At that time he almost unknown I.
fame, and the painter observed i'm in q perfectly
unexqggerated mood. We therefore listened with
avidity 10 his frat IMPRESSIONS. The Gay was sui
| try, and Shellev clad in loose dress OF ging-
/ ham, veTv simple and appropriate. His open coli
lar heardless and long hair, well as his thin
! and slight figure, gave him the appearance Of
strippHog. H. advanced grac fully, raised the
! hand of Madame Guicciol after the custom of the
country, to his lps, and assuming easy posture,
| Immediately entered into a lively conversation with
| the party. Never said the artist, have seen
face so expressive of ineff bic goodness Its an
gelic bpuignitv and intelligence were only sh dow
! ed by a certain sadness as OF one upon whom life
pressed kpenIv. at toucing varanc' with thu youth
| indicated by his contour and movements. ERthu-
| siasm, however, soon wonderfully kndl"d hiscoun
nance and uuickened hisspePch, as he described,
| in the most vivid and glowing terms. cave that
| he had discovered wfile coasting along the Medi
! tprranean the day previous. The description was
so eloquent that his auditors could not but share
the delight of Shell V, as H. dwet upon the azure
light the mysterious entranc", the staactites and
Transparent water amid which his boat had sudden
" glided as if by magic Those acqulinted with
his poetry will cognze a favorite subject in this
cavern talk.
What struck Mr.. W est most forciby in Shelley.
conversation WAS its complete self fOrgetfulness.
His consciousness was lost in his theme. In this
respect he presented entire contract to Byron.
They were suddenly interrupted by wild cry from
the adjoining hall The illustrOus sitter FASTENED
towards tn door at the same moment with Shelley,
the countess, pal and terrified vainlV eDtrealng
and holding him back. 1t will be remembered that
Byron this period regarded with suspicion
by the Tuscan government, and his residence had
been thre tened with violence by sOme OF the 10
cal authorities to whom he had given offence. I'm
dr. idea that the disturbance grew out OF these
circumstances the whole party entered the saloon.
The instant they appeared man rushed past, fol-
lowed by another with uplitted dag or; the
weapon grazhd Byron's cheek, and at the sight OF
blood, his companion, still more slIrmed, strOVe
to drag him towards the great staircase. Before
reaching it, Count GAMBIA who had heard the tu~
mutt in his chamber, seen running down with
half a score of pistols, which be distributed among
the party They all assembled and locked tn M
selves ia a room over the front entrance of the
villa where a council of held Mean
time the house had resumed its wOnted stIllne s,
and Byron expressed his determination to explore
the premises The countess protested with tears
against the design, and Mr. West-who as an Am
crican had nothing to fear from the police, and bad
lived too secluded 10 be Obj-ct of animOsty-
in order to calm the ladys fears and enable his
friends TO solve the mystery, volunteered to
hotter. Accordingly, he left the excited group
and descended to the primo piano. 1t appeared
entirely deserted. He looked into various rooms,
and threaded several corridora but the echoes of
closing door or his own footsteps alone gave 81 ma
Of life. At length he ventured to remove the fas-
Jennings of the ponderOus door, which at the first
alarm had been carefully barricaded. In the midst
OF the weed grown was knepling vlinOus
looking but evidently frightened Italian, with the
moustaches and eve of a hrigand, but the air of
penitent yOciferating, grsticulttlng, tearing his
hair shedding torrents of tears, and invoking eth
er Heaven or some intermediate saint. Our paint
er stepped forth upon the gravel walk and look ID
I'D to the window. At a more tranquil moment il
would have charmed his artistic perception. By
rons pale brow, Count Gamba's ardent gaZe his
sisters golden locks, and Shelleys spiritual form,
were there ali clustered together, and each looked
and listened with bewdered attention TO the sup
plant wretch below, whom Mr. West now approach
ed in the hope of obtaining some key to the enig-
NAUTICAL scene. 1t was long, however, before his
impassioned volubility could be soOthed, his
tai terror Quoted. 1t then appeared that he
servant-the man who had rushed by them with
dogger-and he vowed never to rise from his knees
until his declaration believed that ne in
pursuit of one of his fellows who had grossly in
jured him. and that he had wounded his master
quite accidentally, to whom he swore eternal 10y
atv and devoted attachment When Mr. West
made all this plain to the group at the window, tn
tragedy immedi ttey became the richest of comic
adventures over which to laugh at dinner. But it
was not destined 20 end without the entrance of
another famous persOnag on the stage. The noise
Of horses tread by caused the artist to turn
his eyes down the avenue, where he saw a gentle
/ man with an olive complexion and dark, lustrOus
| -ye seated in a carriage, an glancing from the
window to the still gesticulating servant, and then
| to himself With an expression of amusing wonder
ment. It was L-igh Hunt, who had just arrived
| from England thinking at the moment tnat he had
only come find his long exp Giant pOr tic friend
! in lunatic asylum. We may imagine, with such
a series of dramatic incidents, how the breezy
ming of that summer day was spent at the Villa
/ Dupoy.
! Al the period when West pairted Byron and the
| Countess Guccioli, (the engraved copies of which
pictures in this country positive pels upon the
originals the poets thoughts directed toward
| America. lie had not then resolved upon his Gre
clan expedition, his sojourn in Italy had become
] auuoyiug from various causes, and he was more
than ever disaffected towards his native land. One
| Of our vessels Of war was lying in the harbor Of
-LeghOrn and among her gallant officers some
admirers of 'Chiie Harold They sought his ac-
| ouaintance and invited him to visit the irigate
/ When he went on board he received salute, and
| few compliments ever grntIhed him so nue.. he
had read in some periodical a review OF Writes Life
o. Patrick Henry and begged Mr. West To procure
a copy of the BOOK, which he declared one OF the
ost interesting biographies he read. One
trait OF his intercourse With the artist is tho
| roughly characteristic that il deserves mention
| AS usual, he Was very curious TO know what the
painter thought of him, and fiuary induced the
latter to coufrss that he did not think him happy
man. Byron was eager TO ascertain wherein the
! contrary was evident 4 asked him said West,
paro1ysms of grief that they had at intervals IA
| convulsve or tremuous manner of drawing in a
long breath Whenever had observed this, 10 per.
sons Of whatever age, had always found that il
came from sorrow. II p said the thought was new
to him aud that he would make OF it,
"Another interesting association Of Gr. w SITS
foreign residence, is his visit to Rhyllon where he
had been invited to paint Mrs. Hemrns. There
never was counteuance,' says her sister, more
difficult to tr meier to canvass varying its
expressions aud impossible is it 70 be satisfied
with the one which can alone be Tpetuated by the
artist. The great charm OF Mr. Vests picture is
It. perfect freedom from anything set constrained
in the air, and the sweet rious expression ac-
corJant with her mat rnal character. la her oan
lines to this portrait, the pOetess e1claims--
''Such power Is thinel-they come, the dead,
From the graves bond set free,
Ard smiling back, the changed are led
To look 10 ! We on thee
"An unfortunate speculation With one of his iu-