Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-10-18
,,vpurss AND EXPRESSION.

LIKENESS AND EXPRESSION.
In the history Of the pictorial art in
ENGLAND, the name Of Sir Joshua Reynolds
stands GU, in strong relief, both for his
distinguished merits as an artist and his
intellectual and moral worth. Never the
slave of political prejudices, he was found,
n day, at the table Of Wilkes, and the
mex, day he dined with Johnson; and
during the grand "Impeachment' we find
him one day sharing the hospitality Of
Warren Hastings, and the next with his
feet under the table Of Burke. His re-
markable career has been recorded by
Malone. Northcote and Allen Cunning.
ham. but for q full andsuficient biography
we must look in the "Life and Times Of
Sir Joshua Reynolds" by c. Leslie and
Tom Taylor-artiss and amateur. Two
consecutive numbers of the Quarterly Re-
risto had articles on the book. and there
was one in the London Quarterly. Room
is not allowed US tor tracing the line Of
Reynolds from the period Of youth, when
his father thought Of making him a physi-
clan, to that Of old age, when he stood
confsssedly the leader Of the British school
Of painting. A notice Of the most dis
tinctivs merits Of the great artist must
suffice for our present purpose. 1t will
not, we are sure, be lost on the professional
artist intent on fame. or on the connoisseur
who would be guided by the canons OF
taste.
or the force and dignity and life and
naturslness Of the portraits Of Reynolds
there was, as his most peculiar distinc-
ton, the crown Of grace. He was, as
Ruskin happily calls him, "lilly sceptred."
Likeness Of feature was his least achieve
ment. His master faculty was the power
of painting the qua!isis, Of the subject
the power which, along with the Inca
ments of Thurlow, could depict his sapi-
ence and temper. "Sir Joshua" to use
the words Of Malone. dived into the
minds and habits and manners OF those
who sat to him, and accordingly the ma
jori,y Of his portraits are and SO appro-
pirate and characteristic that the many il
lustrious persons whom he has dslineated.
will be almos, as we'll known to posterity
as if they had seen and conversed with
them" His range was unlimited. He
was grea, in rendering the traits Of all
ages, temperaments and callings-men and
women, boys and girls, soldiers and men
Of letters, the gay and the thoughtful, the
vicious and the good. Whatever may be
the look, it has the air Of being native and
spontaneous. Reynolds never appears
more in his glory than in his representa-
tons of children. The fondest parent
could not observe them more closely or
take q keener delight in their dawning
trait, and engaging simplicity. He said
tina. all their gestures were graceful. He
ha, recorded, on canvas, the whole round
of boyish and girlish existence. He pre-
sents them to US in their games, their pur-
suits, their glee and their gravity. Their
archness and their srtlessness, their spirit
and their shyness, the seriousness in which
they engage in their little occupations, and
the sweet and lively innocence which is so
common to the majority Of the young, are
all embodied with ~unrivalled felicity.
In the female portraits Of Reynolds the
element Of grace was never wanting. It
reached to the disposition Of a curl and
the flow OF a fold. Amid the vast variety
Of expression in his female heads, the most
frequent i, some form Of pensive tender
mess, which was doubtless the quality
that usually preponderassd in the origi-
mails. His finest works Of this kind are
an absolute i~mpersonation Of all that il
s~snsless and puress in ~womankind. They
are stepped in exquisite poetry, and pos
,ess the same enchanting union Of truth
and loneliness which charm in the crea-
tons Of the poets Of literature. OF his
accuracy in producing a likeness nearly
every portrait painted by him might be
taken as 4 proof. The portrait Of Gibbon
was as like the original as it is possible to
be-. The portraits Of Wyndham and sher-
idan are so like the originals that they
seem almost ready to speak to you.
Every reader may claim q knowledge Of
the faces Of johnson and Goldsmith, the
e~ngravilgs Of which are made from por-
traits painted by Reynolds. An equal
privilege 10 allowed to the medical man,
when he looks at the engraved copy OF
the portrait Of John Hunter. III know
several OF his pictures Of children" says
Mr.. Leslie, "the originals Of whom I have
seen in middle and old age, and in every
instance I could discover much likeness"
The resemblance was sometimes strong in
descendants. Constable, who was ac-
ouain.ed with the grandson Of Lord Rod
ney, states that "he wal enough like the
picture Of his grandfather to have sat
for it,"