Chapter 19

"On the night of Friday, the order of proceeding was entirely changed. It had been found proper to call out a strong guard of Austrians, horse and foot. The mob had been charged by the cavalry, and it was said that several had their limbs broken. I expected to find the place on Saturday morning quiet and open as usual; but when I reached its entrance, what an impressive scene presented itself! The delicate plan--for such in truth it was--of working by night, was now over. The Austrians had wished to spare the feelings of the king the pain of seeing his capital dismantled before his palace windows, where he passed in his carriage when he went out for his daily exercise. But the acute feelings of the people rendered severer measures necessary. My companion and myself were stopped from entering the place by Austrian dragoons: a large mob of Frenchmen were collected here, standing on tip-toe to catch the arch in the distance, on the top of which the ominous sight of numbers of workmen, busy about the horses, was plainly to be distinguished. We advanced again to the soldiers: some of the French, by whom we were surrounded, said, 'Whoever you are, you will not be allowed to pass.' I confess I was for retiring--for the whole assemblage, citizens and soldiers, seemed to wear an angry and alarming aspect. But my companion was eager for admittance. He was put back again by an Austrian hussar:--'_What, not the English!_' he exclaimed in his own language. The mob laughed loudly, when they heard the foreign soldier so addressed; but the triumph was ours; way was instantly made for us--and an officer on duty, close by, touched his helmet as we passed.

"The king and princes had left the Tuilleries, to be out of the view of so mortifying a business The court of the palace, which used to be gay with young _gardes du corps_ and equipages, was now silent, deserted, and shut up. Not a soul moved in it. The top of the arch was filled with people, and the horses, though as yet all there, might be seen to begin to move. The carriages that were to take them away were in waiting below, and a tackle of ropes was already affixed to one. The small door leading to the top was protected by a strong guard: every one was striving to obtain permission to gratify his curiosity, by visiting the horses for the last time that they could be visited in this situation. Permission, however, could necessarily be granted but to few. I was of the fortunate number. In a minute I had climbed the narrow dark stair, ascended a small ladder, and was out on the top, with the most picturesque view before me that can be imagined. An English lady asked me to assist her into Napoleon's car of victory: his own statue was to have been placed in it, _when he came back a conqueror from his Russian expedition!_ I followed the lady and her husband into the car, and we found a Prussian officer there before us. He looked at us, and, with a good humored smile, said, 'The emperor kept the English out of France, but the English have now got where he could not! '_Ah, pauvre, Napoleon!_'

"The cry of the French now was, that it was abominable, execrable, to insult the king in his palace--to insult him in the face of his own subjects by removing the horses in the face of day! I adjourned with a friend to dine at a _restaurateur's_, near the garden of the Tuilleries, after witnessing what I have described. Between seven and eight in the evening we heard the rolling of wheels, the clatter of cavalry, and the tramp of infantry. A number of British were in the room; they all rose and rushed to the door without hats, and carrying in their haste their white table napkins in their hands. The horses were going past in military procession, lying on their sides, in separate cars. First came cavalry, then infantry, then a car; then more cavalry, more infantry, then another car; and so on till all four passed. The drums were beating, and the standards went waving by. This was the only appearance of parade that attended any of the removals. Three Frenchmen, seeing the group of English, came up to us, and began a conversation. They appealed to us if this was not shameful. A gentleman observed, that the horses were only going back to the place from whence the French had taken them: if there was a right in power for France, there must also be one for other states but the better way to consider these events was as terminating the times of robbery and discord. Two of them seemed much inclined to come instantly round to our opinion: but one was much more consistent. He appeared an officer, and was advanced beyond the middle age of life. He kept silence for a moment; and then, with strong emphasis, said--'You have left me nothing for my children but hatred against England; this shall be my legacy to them.'"--_Scott._

REMOVAL OF THE STATUE OF NAPOLEON FROM THE PLACE VENDOME.

"What will posterity think of the madness of the French government and the exasperation of public feeling in a nation like the French, so uniformly proud of military glory, when very shortly after the first arrival of their new monarch, Louis XVIII., an order was issued for leveling with the dust that proud monument of their victories, the famous column and statue of Napoleon in the Place Vendôme cast from those cannon which their frequent victories over the Austrians had placed at their disposal? The ropes attached to the neck of the colossal brazen figure of the Emperor, wherewith the pillar was crowned, extended to the very iron gratings of the Tuillerie gardens; thousands essayed to move it, but all attempts were vain--the statue singly defied their malice; upon which a second expedient was resorted to, and the carriage horses, etc., from the royal stables were impressed into this service, and affixed to the ropes, thus uniting their powerful force to that of the _bipeds_: but even this proved abortive; the statue and column braved the united shocks of man and beast, and both remained immoveable." The statue was afterwards quietly dislodged from its station by the regular labors of the experienced artisan. It was not replaced till after the Revolution in 1830.--_Ireland._

THE MUSEE FRANCAIS AND THE MUSEE ROYAL.

When the Allies entered Paris in 1815, they found in the gallery of the Louvre about two thousand works of art--the gems of the world in painting and antique sculpture--mostly the spoils of war, deposited there by the Emperor Napoleon. The selection of these works was entrusted to a commission, at the head of whom was the Baron Denon, who accompanied the Emperor in all his expeditions for this purpose. The Louvre, at this time, was the acknowledged emporium of the fine arts. The grand determination of Napoleon to place France highest in art among the nations, did not rest here. The design of combining in one single series, five hundred and twenty-two line engravings from the finest paintings and antique statues in the world, was a conception worthy of his genius and foresight, and by its execution he conferred a lasting favor not only on the artistic, but the civilized world, for the originals were subsequently restored by the Allies to their rightful owners and only about three hundred and fifty pieces remained of that splendid collection. "These works" (the Musée Français, and the Musée Royal), says a distinguished connoisseur, "are unquestionably the greatest production of modern times. They exhibit a series of exquisite engravings by the most distinguished artists, of such a magnificent collection of painting and of sculpture as can never be again united." These works were intended as a great treasury of art, from which not only artists, but the whole world might derive instruction and profit. To secure the utmost perfection in every department, no expense was spared. The drawings for the engravers to engrave from, were executed by the most distinguished artists, in order to ensure that every peculiarity, perfection, and _imperfection_ in the originals should be exactly copied, and these are pointed out in the accompanying criticisms. These drawings alone cost the French government 400,000 francs.

The engravings were executed by the most distinguished engravers of Europe, without regard to country, among whom it is sufficient to mention Raffaelle Morghen, the Chevalier von Müller, and his son C. F. von Müller, Bervic, Richomme, Rosaspina, Bartolozzi, Gandolfi, Schiavonetti, the elder and younger Laurent, Massard, Girardet, Lignon, Chatillon, Audouin, Forster, Claessens, etc. Stanley says that proof impressions of Bervic's masterpiece, the Laocoön, have been sold in London for thirty guineas each. There are many prints in these works not less celebrated, and which are regarded by connoisseurs as masterpieces of the art.

Nor was this all. Napoleon summoned Visconti, the famous antiquary, archæologist, and connoisseur, from Rome to Paris, to assist in getting up the admirable descriptions and criticisms, particularly of the ancient statues. This department was confided to Visconti, Guizot, Clarac, and the elder Duchesne. The supervision of the engraving and publishing department was entrusted to the Messrs. Robilliard, Peronville, and Laurent. These works were published in numbers of four plates, atlas folio, at the price of 96 francs each for the proofs before the letter, and 48 francs for the prints. The first number of the Musée Français was issued in 1803, and the last in 1811; but the Musée Royal, which was intended to supply the deficiencies of the Musée Français, was not completed till 1819; nevertheless, it was Napoleon's work, though consummated in the reign of Louis XVIII.

The Musée Français was originally published in five volumes, and contains, besides the descriptions and criticisms on the plates, admirable essays--1st. on the History of Painting, from its origin in ancient times down to the time of Cimabue; 2d. on the History of Painting in the German, Dutch, Flemish, and French schools; 3d. on the History of Engraving; 4th. on the History of Ancient Sculpture. The Musée Royal was published in two volumes. A second edition of the Musée Français was published by the Messrs. Galignani, in four volumes, with an English and French letter-press, but both greatly abridged. The letter-press of the Musée Royal has never been rendered into English. The plates were sold by the French government in 1836, since which time a small edition has been printed from both works.

BOYDELL'S SHAKSPEARE GALLERY.

About the year 1785, Alderman J. Boydell, of London, conceived the project of establishing a 'Shakspeare Gallery,' upon a scale of grandeur and magnificence which should be in accordance with the fame of the poet, and, at the same time, reflect honor upon the state of the arts in Great Britain and throughout the world. Mr. Boydell was at this time a man of great wealth and influence, and a patron of the fine arts, being an engraver himself, and having accumulated his fortune mostly by dealings in works of that character.

He advertised for designs from artists throughout Great Britain, and paid a guinea for every one submitted, whether accepted or not; and for every one accepted by the committee, a prize of one hundred guineas. The committee for selecting these designs was composed of five eminent artists, Boydell himself being the president. The first painters of the age were then employed to paint these pictures, among whom were Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Benjamin West, Fusell, Romney, Northcote, Smirke, Sir William Beechy, and Opie.

Allan Cunningham, in his 'Lives of Eminent British Artists,' mentions that Sir Joshua Reynolds was at first opposed to Boydell's project, as impracticable on such an immense scale, and Boydell, to gain his approbation and assistance, privately sent him a letter enclosing a £1000 Bank of England note, and requesting him to paint two pictures at his own price. What sum was paid by Boydell for these pictures was never known. A magnificent building was erected in Pall Mall to exhibit this immense collection, called the Shakspeare Gallery, which was for a long time the pride of London.

The first engravers of England were employed to transfer these gems to copper, and such artists as Sharp, Bartolozzi, Earlom, Thew, Simon, Middiman, Watson, Fyttler, Wilson, and many others, exerted their talents for years in this great work. In some instances, the labor of more than five years was expended on a single plate, and proof impressions were taken for subscribers at almost every stage of the work. At length in 1803, after nearly twenty years, the work was completed. The price fixed (which was never reduced) was two guineas each for the first three hundred impressions, and the subscription list was then filled up at one guinea each, or one hundred guineas a set of one hundred plates.

Besides these subscriptions, large donations were made by many of the noblemen of England, to encourage the undertaking, and to enable Boydell to meet his enormous outlay. The cost of the whole work, from the commencement, is said to have been about one million pounds sterling; and although the projector was a wealthy man when he commenced it, he died soon after its completion, a bankrupt to the amount, it is said, of £250,000.

After these plates were issued, Boydell petitioned Parliament to allow him to dispose of his gallery of paintings by a lottery. The petition was granted, and the whole collection was thus disposed of. One of the finest of these pictures, King Lear, by Sir Benjamin West, is now in the Boston Athenæum.

One fact in relation to these plates gives great value to them. "All the principal historical characters are genuine portraits of the persons represented in the play; every picture gallery and old castle in England was ransacked to furnish these portraits."

BRIEF SKETCH OF A PLAN FOR AN AMERICAN NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART.

Public Galleries of Art are now regarded by the most enlightened men, and the wisest legislators, as of incalculable benefit to every civilized country. (See vol. i., page 6, of this work.) They communicate to the mind, through the eye, "the accumulated wisdom of ages," relative to every form of beauty, in the most rapid and captivating manner. If such institutions are important in Europe, abounding in works of art, how much more so in our country, separated as it is by the broad Atlantic from the artistic world, which few comparatively can ever visit: many of our young artists, for the want of such an institution, are obliged to grope their way in the dark, and to spend months and years to find out a few simple principles of art.

A distinguished professor, high in public estimation, has declared that the formation of such an institution in this country, however important and desirable it may be, is almost hopeless. He founds his opinion on the difficulty of obtaining the authenticated works of the great masters, and the enormous prices they now command in Europe. The writer ventures to declare it as his long cherished opinion that a United States National Gallery is entirely practicable, as far as all useful purposes are concerned; and at a tithe of the cost of such institutions in Europe. In the present state of the Fine Arts in our country, we should not attempt to emulate European magnificence, but utility. The "course of empire is westward," and in the course of time, as wealth and taste increases, sale will be sought here, as now in England, for many works of the highest art. It is also to be hoped that some public benefactors will rise to our assistance. After the foundation of the institution, it may be extended according to the taste and wants of the country; professorships may be added, and the rarest works purchased. When the country can and will afford it, no price should be regarded too great for a perfect masterpiece of art, as a model in a national collection. To begin, the Gallery should contain,

1st. A complete library of all standard works on Art, historical and illustrative, in every language.

2d. A collection of the masterpieces of engraving; these should be mounted on linen, numbered, bound, described and criticised.

3d. A complete collection of casts of medals and antique gems, where the originals cannot be obtained. There are about 70,000 antique medals of high importance to art. (See Numismatics, vol. iii., p. 269, of this work.) These casts could easily be obtained through our diplomatic agents; they should be taken in Plaster of Paris or Sulphur, double--i.e., the reverse and obverse,--classified, catalogued, described, and arranged in cases covered with plate glass, for their preservation.

4th. A collection of plaster casts of all the best works of sculpture, particularly of the antique. Correct casts of the Elgin marbles are sold by the British Museum at a very reasonable price, and in this case would doubtless be presented to the institution.

5th. A collection of Paintings. This is the most difficult part of the project, yet practicable. Masterpieces of the art only should be admitted, but historical authenticity disregarded. The works of the great masters have been so closely imitated, that there are no certain marks of authenticity, where the history of the picture cannot be traced. (See Spooner's Dictionary of Painters, etc., Introduction, and Table of Imitators.) Half the pictures in foreign collections cannot be authenticated, and many of those which are, are not the best productions of the master, nor worthy of the places they occupy. (See Mrs. Jameson's Hand-Book to the Public Galleries in and near London; also the Catalogues of the various Public Galleries of Europe.) Therefore, instead of paying 5,000 or 10,000 guineas for an authenticated piece by a certain master, as is sometimes done in Europe, competent and _true_ men should be appointed to select capital works, executed in the style of the great masters. Many such can be had in this country as well as in Europe, at moderate prices.

6th. The Institution should be located in New York, as the most convenient place, and as the great centre of commerce, where artists could most readily dispose of their works. For this favor, the city would doubtless donate the ground, and her citizens make liberal contributions. The edifice should be built fire-proof, and three stories high--the upper with a skylight, for the gallery of paintings. Such an institution need not be very expensive; yet it would afford the elements for the instruction and accomplishment of the painter, the engraver, the sculptor, the architect, the connoisseur, the archæologist, and the public at large; it would be the means of awakening and developing the sleeping genius of many men, to the honor, glory, and advantage of their country, which, without it, must sleep on forever. See vol. ii., pp. 149 and 155, and vol. iii., p. 265 of this work.

INDEX.

Advantages of the Cultivation of the Fine Arts to a Country, i, 6; Sir M. A. Shoe's Opinion, i, 6; Sir George Beaumont's, i, 7; West's, i, 8; Taylor's, i, 9; see also, i, 69; Reynolds' Opinion, i, 204; Napoleon's, iii, 274.

Ætion, his picture of the Nuptials of Alexander and Roxana, ii, 184.

Agaptos, Porticos of, ii, 185.

Ageladus, his works, ii, 185.

Aldobrandini Wedding, Fresco of, ii, 55.

Allston, Washington, i, 60; his Prayer answered, i, 61; his success in London, i, 62; his Death, i, 62; Vanderlyn's letter--his Reflections on his Death, i, 63.

American Patronage at Home and Abroad, i, 66; Weir, Greenough, and Cooper's testimony, i, 67; Cooper's Letter, i, 68.

Amiconi, Jacopo, iii, 249.

Angelo, Michael, his Early Passion for Art, i, 47; his Mask of a Satyr, i, 48; his Sleeping Cupid, i, 48; Angela and Julius II, i, 50; St. Peter's Church, i, 50; Angelo and Lorenzo the Magnificent, i, 52; his Cartoon of Pisa, i, 53; his Last Judgment, i, 54; his Coloring, i, 56; his Grace, i, 57; his Oil Paintings, i, 58; his Prophets and Julius II, i, 58; his Bon-Mots, i, 59; Angelo and Raffaelle, i, 70-72.

Anguisciola, Sofonisba, iii, 129; her Early Distinction, iii, 129; her Invitation to Spain iii, 130; her Marriages, iii, 131; her Residence at Genoa, her Honors, and her Intercourse with Vandyck, iii, 132.

Antique Sculptures in Rome, ii, 159.

Antiquities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, ii, 43.

Antiquity of the Fine Arts, i, 12.

Aparicio, Canova, and Thorwaldsen, i, 236.

Apelles, i, 18; his Works, i, 18; his Industry, i, 19; his Portraits of Philip and Alexander, i, 19; his Venus Anadyomene, i, 20;

Apelles and the Cobbler, i, 23; his Foaming Charger, i, 24; his Freedom with Alexander, i, 25; Apelles and Protogenes, i, 25; the celebrated Contest of Lines, i, 26; his Generosity to Protogenes, i, 28.

Apelles of Ephesus, i, 93; his Treatment by Ptolomy Philopator, i, 94; his Revenge in his famous Picture of Calumny, i, 94; Lucian's description of it, i, 94; Raffaelle's Drawing of it, i, 95; Proof that there were two Painters named Apelles, i, 95.

Apollo Belvidere--West's Criticism, i, 41.

Apollo, Colossal Etruscan, i, 90.

Apollo Sauroctonos, i, 155.

Apollodorus the Painter, i, 162; his Works and Style, i, 163.

Apollodorus the Architect, i, 163; his Worke, i, 164; Trajan's Column, i, 164; Apollodorus and Adrian, i, 165; his Wicked Death, i, 165.

Aqueducts of Ancient Rome, ii 152.

Arch, Origin and Antiquity of the, ii. 41.

Arches, Triumphal, ii, 157.

Archimedes, iii, 77; his Genius, Discoveries, and Inventions, iii, 77; his Wonderful Machines, iii, 78; his Death and Monument, iii, 79; Story of his Burning Glasses proved true, iii, 79.

Ardemans and Bocanegra--a Trial of Skill, iii, 201.

Art, Egyptian, iii, 1-42, and iii, 263.

Art, Grecian, derived from the Egyptian--Champollion's Opinion, iii, 1; Origin of, iii, 265.

Athenians, Ingratitude of, to Artists, i, 159.

Backhuysen, Ludolph, Sketch of his Life and Works, iii, 235.

Banks, Thomas--his Ambition, i, 2; his Character, i, 295; his Genius, i, 297; his Kindness to Young Sculptors, i, 298; his Personal Appearance and Habits, i, 299; Flaxman's Tribute, i, 300.

Barry, James--his Enthusiasm, i, 2; his Poverty, Death, and Monument, i, 3; Johnson's Opinion of his Genius, i, 3.

Bassano, Jacopo--singular instance of his Skill, ii, 139.

Beaumont, Sir George--his Opinion of the Importance of the Fine Arts, i, 7; his Enthusiasm and munificent gift to the English National Gallery, i, 7.

Beauty, Ideal, as Conceived and Practiced by the Greatest Masters, ii, 247.

Belzoni--his Travels in Egypt, iii, 25.

The Belzoni Sarcophagus, ii, 194.

Bernazzano, the Zeuxis of Italy, ii, 140.

Bernini, the Cav., i, 101; his Precocity, i, 101; his Bust of Charles I. and his Prediction, i, 101;

Bernini and Louis XIV., i, 102; his Triumphal Visit to Paris, i, 102; the Medal struck in his Honor, i, 103; his Works, i, 103; his Restoration of the Verospi Hercules, i, 104; Lanzi's Critique, i, 103; his Love of Splendor and his Riches, i, 104; Bernini and Urban VIII., iii, 256.

Blake, William--his Enthusiasm, Eccentricity, and Poverty, i, 3; his melancholy yet triumphant Death, 1, 4.

Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, iii, 305.

Bridge, Trajan's, across the Danube, i, 164.

Bridge, Mandrocles', across the Bosphorus, ii, 162.

Bridge, the Britannia Railway Tubular, iii 46; the Tubes, iii, 47; the Piers, iii, 48; Construction of the Tubes, iii, 49; Floating the Tubes, iii, 50; Raising the Tubes, iii, 52; the prodigious Hydraulic Presses used, iii, 53; Bursting of one, iii, 55; Sir Francis Head's Description, iii, 56; Cost of the Structure, iii, 57.