New-York tribune., 1902-02-17
NEW GALLERY EXHIBITION
COMPREHENSIVE TRIBUTE To MON.
ARCHS-OLD MASTERS AT BUR-
LINGTON HOUSE.
London, January 81.

honors the coronation year with comprehensve
tribute to the monarchs Of Great Britain and
Ireland The main entrance hall is filled with
knights in steel. and the Kings challenger 4,
mounted in the centre. The South Gallery con-
tains the portraits of early kings before the tim,
| OF Edward VI. with Richard II. Henry ~. Henry
Y. Edward ", Richard III. Henry VII and
Henry VIII and his Queen among them. and
with the departure and return Of Harold por.
| trayed above them in reproduction OF the
Bayeux tapestry. In the long West Gallery Ed
| ward VI stands gracefully. as Hans Holhein
painted him. in cloth of gold, doublet slashed
with white a white feather waving over his
black cap; Queen Mary. with jewelled girdle and
red carnation in her hand, is rigid with self
consciousness as she is enthroned on gold EN-
broidered chair; Queen Elizabeth reigns again
in full panopIy Of wide lace ruff jewelled stonn-
scher and lightly ballasted farthingale; Lady
Jane Grey sighs and Mary Queen OF Scots fas-
cinates with a smile, herself a greater mystery
than the inscrutable intrigue enveloping her
career: James I rrowns Charles / srnirks and
Charles II is luxurfously habited for Van Dyek
and Sir Peter Lely; and gloomy. bigoted James
H. Mary H. with blue bodice and yellow skirt.
and Queen Anne. with unpowdered hair, COM
plete the circuit of royal figures In the North
Gallery are the plethoric Georges and William
". with Sir George Hayter's portrait OF Queen
Victoria in youth, Mr. Orchardsons -Four Gen
erations" and NJ. Bastien Lepage's stately Ed
ward VII The three galleries and balcony
filled with royal seals. manuscripts miniatures
coronation plate and relics from private colec-
tions The King himself is the special patron
of the exhibition which is thoroughly we'll
| dered and comprehensive in range.
The catalogue itself is a manual Of British
royalty for it opens with introductory essay
on the origin and descent OF the reigning family.
and the evolution o monarchical institutions IN
the United Kingdom by conquest. inheritancs
and absorption; and half dozen experts have
supplied biographical notes and descriptions Of
the portraits, and have assisted in arranging
and indexing the armor and memorials OF kings.
queens and princes. The collection itself Is an
object lesson OF the fortunes OF royalty from
the earliest time tour around the three gal
Ieries is a long excursion down ''the corridors Of
time" and the spectator is brought face to face
with the illustrious figures Of the stored past.
transhgured as many Of them are by the genius
OF Shakespeare. In an artistic sense IL may be
a beggarly exhibit. for the panels. diptyches in
distenper and portraits OF the south room are
crude and coarse; and. with the exception OF a
few Holbeins. Sir --ntonio Mores. Titians. Zuc-
cheros. Van Dycks. Sir Peter Lelys. Gainsbor-
oughs Hoppners Beechys and Lawrences. the
portraits in the west and north rooms are by
unknown or mediocre painters II is none the
less varied and deeply interesting exhibition
1t is a whispering gallery where TIE echoes OF a
remote and splendid past. with all the romanees.
byplay comedies and tragedies OF monarchs.
are heard by visitors endowed with refinement
OF senSibility.
This exhibition at the New Gallery Is a prae-
ticaI demonstration OF the inexhaustibe re-
sources OF the English and Scotch country
houses as treasures OF historical and antigua
rIan relics. The collections OF the National PoT'
trait Gallery have not been disturbed. yet the
roll OF rnonarchs is called. and there are few
absentees. The King has allowed the palaces TO
be rifed. and the Society or Antiquartes the
colleges and other learned bodies have lent many
OF their choicest relics; but most OF the eontri-
buttons have come from private collections IN
town and country houses The Duke OF Devon
shire Lord Ancaster. Lord Denbigh. the Duke
OF Norfolk Lord waldegrave. the Duke OF Rut
land the Duke OF Sutherland, Sir Charles Dixie
Lady Henry Somerset Mr.. Charles Butler, Mr..
H observation-disclosures. Mfr. Guy Francis Lakns'
Mr. Seymour Lucas and Mrs. Alfred Morrison
are among the prominent contributors; and from
a hundred or more great houses have come
memorials OF every period OF English history.
The galleries are not only lined with portraits.
but are also curiosity shops. filed with royal
relics In the course OF a ramble through the
Princess Elizabeth for her sister Mary. shirt
of Henry VII. a hat OF Henry VIII. Anne Bo-
leyn's tippet and shoes. and miniatures rosarfes
and necklaces OF Mary Queen OF Scots: the RIB
bon of the Garter worn by Charles on the
scaffold. and locket with his hair; Tudor.
Stuart and Guelph relics without end; corona
tion plate and royal seals OF every period; armor
and arms in fairly complete display; and manu-
script letters written by several scores OF mon
archs. The country houses have responded well
to Mr.. Comyns Cars request for tribute IN
honor OF the coronation year. and dozen other
galleries might have been stocked with add
tional treasure trove
At Burlington House there Is less varied
but more artistic collection from the privats
galleries of the United Kingdom One room Is
decorated with wonderful series OF Claudes
owned in England: and five other galleries are
filed with representative works OF the old mas.
ters of every great national school-Italian'
Spanish. French. Flemish. Dutch. German and
British About three hundred works have CONS
from eighty town country houses. royalty
leading the way. and some OF the largest and
best known collections in the kingdom are rep
resented merely by one or two pictures Indeed,
the most generous patrons of art. whose treas
ures have been frequently exhibited have beer
let of rather easily. as a systematic effort has
been made to procure masterpieces which are
seldom seen except by visitors at country
houses. In this way the exhibition imprssses
one with sense of novelty and freshness al
though II is exclusively devoted TO old masters
At the same time IL is marvellous in range and
resource and the Colonna Raphael owned BY
Mr.. Pierpont Morgan has an environment be-
fitting it in distinction and briIliance. Four OF
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