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Paris As It Was and As It Is

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In the inside of this gallery are disposed the _chefs d'oeuvre_ of
all the great masters of the Italian, Flemish, and French schools.
The pictures, particularly the historical ones, are hung according to
the chronological order of the painters' birth, in different
compartments, the number of which, at the present period, amounts to
fifty-seven; and the productions of each school and of each master
are as much as possible assembled; a method which affords the
advantage of easily comparing one school to another, one master to
another, and a master to himself. If the chronology of past ages be
considered as a book from which instruction is to be imbibed, the
propriety of such a classification requires no eulogium. From the
pictures being arranged chronologically, the GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE
becomes a sort of dictionary, in which may be traced every degree of
improvement or decline that the art of painting has successively
experienced.

The entrance to the great GALLERY OF PAINTINGS is precisely the same
as that to the GALLERY OF ANTIQUES. After ascending a noble stone
stair-case, and turning to the left, you reach the

SALOON OF THE LOUVRE.

This apartment, which serves as a sort of antichamber to the great
Gallery, is, at the present moment, appropriated to the annual
monthly exhibition of the productions of living painters, sculptors,
architects, engravers, and draughtsmen. Of these modern works, I
shall, perhaps, speak on a future occasion. But, in the course of a
few days, they will give place to several master-pieces of the
Italian School, some of which were under indispensable repair, when
the others were arranged in the great Gallery.

It would be no easy task to express the various sentiments which take
possession of the mind of the lover of the arts, when, for the first
time, he enters this splendid repository. By frequent visits,
however, the imagination becomes somewhat less distracted, and the
judgment, by degrees, begins to collect itself. Although I am not,
like you, conversant in the Fine Arts, would you tax me with
arrogance, were I to presume to pass an opinion on some of the
pictures comprised in this matchless collection?

Painting being a representation of nature, every spectator, according
to the justness of his ideas, may form an opinion how far the
representation is happily pourtrayed, and in beholding it, experience
a proportionate degree of pleasure: but how different the sensations
of him who, combining all the requisites of a connoisseur,
contemplates the composition of a masterly genius! In tracing the
merits of such a production, his admiration gradually becomes
inflamed, as his eye strays from beauty to beauty.

In painting or sculpture, beauty, as you well know, is either
natural, or generally admitted: the latter depends on the perfection
of the performance, on certain rules established, and principles
settled. This is what is termed _ideal_ beauty, which is frequently
not within the reach of the vulgar; and the merit of which may be
lost on him who has not learned to know and appreciate it. Thus, one
of the finest pictures, ever conceived and executed by man, might
not, perhaps, make an impression on many spectators. Natural beauty,
on the contrary, is a true imitation of nature: its effect is
striking and general, so that it stands not in need of being pointed
out, but is felt and admired by all.

Notwithstanding this truth, be assured that I should never, of my own
accord, have ventured to pronounce on the various degrees of merit of
so many _chefs d'oeuvre_, which all at once solicit attention. This
would require a depth of knowledge, a superiority of judgment, a
nicety of discrimination, a fund of taste, a maturity of experience,
to none of which have I any pretension. The greatest masters, who
have excelled in a particular branch, have sometimes given to the
world indifferent productions; while artists of moderate abilities
have sometimes produced master-pieces far above their general
standard. In a picture, which may, on the whole, merit the
appellation of a _chef d'oeuvre_, are sometimes to be found beauties
which render it superior, negligences which border on the
indifferent, and defects which constitute the bad. Genius has its
flights and deviations; talent, its successes, attempts, and faults;
and mediocrity even, its flashes and chances.

Whatever some persons may affect, a true knowledge of the art of
painting is by no means an easy acquirement; it is not a natural
gift, but demands much reading and study. Many there are, no doubt,
who may be able to descant speciously enough, perhaps, on the
perfections and defects of a picture; but, on that account alone,
they are not to be regarded as real judges of its intrinsic merit.

Know then, that, in selecting the most remarkable productions among
the vast number exhibited in the CENTRAL MUSEUM, I have had the good
fortune to be directed by the same first-rate connoisseur who was so
obliging as to fix my choice in the GALLERY OF ANTIQUES. I mean M.
VISCONTI.

Not confining myself either to alphabetical or chronological order, I
shall proceed to point out to you such pictures of each school as
claim particular notice.


ITALIAN SCHOOL.

N. B. _Those pictures to which no number is prefixed, are not yet
publicly exhibited_.


RAFFAELLO.

N° 55. (Saloon.) _The Virgin and Child, &c._ commonly known by the
name of the _Madonna di Foligno_.

This is one of the master-pieces of RAPHAEL for vigour of colouring,
and for the beauty of the heads and of the child. It is in his second
manner; although his third is more perfect, seldom are the pictures
of this last period entirely executed by himself. This picture was
originally painted on pannel, and was in such a lamentable state of
decay, that doubts arose whether it could safely be conveyed from
Italy. It has been recently transferred to canvass, and now appears
as fresh and as vivid, as if, instead of a lapse of three centuries,
three years only had passed since it was painted. Never was an
operation of the like nature performed in so masterly a manner. The
process was attended by a Committee of the National Institute,
appointed at the particular request of the Administration of the
Museum. The _Madonna di Foligno_ is to be engraved from a drawing
taken by that able draughtsman DU TERTRE.

N° ( ) _The Holy Family_.

This valuable picture of RAPHAEL'S third manner is one of the most
perfect that ever came from his pencil. It belonged to the old
collection of the crown, and is engraved by EDELINCK. Although
superior to the _Madonna di Foligno_ as to style and composition, it
is inferior in the representation of the child, and in vigour of
colouring.

N° ( ) _The Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor._

This is the last production of RAPHAEL, and his most admirable _chef
d'oeuvre_ as to composition and grace of the contours in all its
figures. It is not yet exhibited, but will be shortly. This picture
is in perfect preservation, and requires only to be cleaned from a
coat of dust and smoke which has been accumulating on it for three
centuries, during which it graced the great altar of St. Peter's
church at Rome.

Among the portraits by RAPHAEL, the most surprising are:

N° 58. (Saloon.) _Baltazzare Castiglione_, a celebrated writer in
Italian and Latin.

N° ( ) _Leo X._

Every thing that RAPHAEL'S pencil has produced is in the first order.
That master has something greatly superior in his manner: he really
appears as a god among painters. Addison seems to have been impressed
with the truth of this sentiment, when he thus expresses himself:

"Fain would I RAPHAEL'S godlike art rehearse,
And shew th' immortal labours in my verse,
When from the mingled strength of shade and light,
A new creation rises, to my sight:
Such heav'nly figures from his pencil flow,
So warm with life his blended colours glow,
From theme to theme with secret pleasure lost,
Amidst the soft variety I'm lost."


LEONARDO DA VINCI.

There are several pictures by this master in the present exhibition;
but you may look here in vain for the portrait of _La Gioconda_,
which he employed four years in painting, and in which he has
imitated nature so closely, that, as a well-known author has
observed, "the eyes have all the lustre of life, the hairs of the eye
brows and lids seem real, and even the pores of the skin are
perceptible."

This celebrated picture is now removed to the palace of the
_Tuileries_; but the following one, which remains, is an admirable
performance.

N° ( ) _Portrait of Charles VIII._


FRA BARTOLOMEO.

N° 28. (Saloon.) _St. Mark the Evangelist_.

N° 29. (Saloon.) _The Saviour of the world_.

These two pictures, which were in the _Pitti_ palace at Florence,
give the idea of the most noble simplicity, and of no common taste in
the distribution of the lights and shades.


GIULIO ROMANO.

N° 35. (Saloon.) _The Circumcision_.

This picture belonged to the old collection of the crown. The figures
in it are about a foot and a half in height. It is a real _chef
d'oeuvre_, and has all the grace of the antique bas-reliefs.


TIZIANO.

N° 69. (Saloon.) _The Martyrdom of St. Peter_.

This large picture, which presents a grand composition in colossal
figures, with a country of extraordinary beauty in the back-ground,
is considered as the _chef d'oeuvre_ of TITIAN. It was painted on
pannel; but, having undergone the same operation as the _Madonna di
Foligno_, is now placed on canvass, and is in such a state as to
claim the admiration of succeeding ages.

N° 74. (Saloon.) _The Portraits of Titian and his mistress._

70. (Saloon.) _Portrait of the Marquis del Guasto with some
ladies_.

Both these pictures belonged to the old collection of the crown, and
are to be admired for grace and beauty.

N° 940. (Gallery.) _Christ crowned with thorns_.

941. (Gallery.) _Christ carried to the grave_.

There is a wonderful vigour of colouring in these two capital
pictures.

The preceding are the most admirable of the productions which are at
present exhibited of this inimitable master, the first of painters
for truth of colouring.


CORREGGIO.

N° 753. (Gallery.) _The Virgin, the infant Jesus, Mary Magdalen,
and St. Jerome._

This picture, commonly distinguished by the appellation of the _St.
Jerome_ of CORREGGIO, is undoubtedly his _chef d'oeuvre_. In the year
1749, the king of Portugal is said to have offered for it a sum equal
in value to £18,000 sterling.

N° 756. (Gallery.) _The Marriage of St. Catherine_.

757. (Gallery.) _Christ taken down from the cross_.

This last-mentioned picture has just been engraved in an excellent
manner by an Italian artist, M. ROSA-SPINA.

The grace of his pencil and his _chiaro oscuro_ place CORREGGIO in
the first class of painters, where he ranks the third after RAPHAEL
and TITIAN. He is inferior to them in design and composition; however
the scarceness of his pictures frequently gives them a superior
value. Poor CORREGGIO! It grieves one to recollect that he lost his
life, in consequence of the fatigue of staggering home under a load
of _copper_ coin, which avaricious monks had given him for pictures
now become so valuable that they are not to be purchased for their
weight, even in _gold_.

No collection is so rich in pictures of CORREGGIO as that of the
CENTRAL MUSEUM.


PAOLO VERONESE.

N° 44. (Saloon.) _The Wedding at Cana_.

45. (Saloon.) _The Repast at the house of Levi_.

51. (Saloon.) _The Pilgrims of Emmaüs_.

These are astonishing compositions for their vast extent, the number
and beauty of the figures and portraits, and the variety and truth of
the colouring. Nothing in painting can be richer.


ANDREA DEL SARTO.

N° 4. (Saloon.) _Christ taken down from the cross_.


ANDREA SQUAZZELLI (his pupil.)

N° ( ) _Christ laid in the tomb_.

This capital picture is not in the catalogue.


GIORGIONE DEL CASTEL-FRANCO.

N° 32. (Saloon.) _A Concert containing three portraits_.

This master-piece is worthy of TITIAN.


GUERCINO.

N° 33 (Saloon.) _St. Petronilla_.

This large picture was executed for St. Peter's church in the
Vatican, where it was replaced by a copy in Mosaic, on being removed
to the pontificate palace of Monte Cavallo, at Rome.

In the great Gallery are exhibited no less than twenty-three pictures
by GUERCINO: but to speak the truth, though, in looking at some of
his productions, he appears an extremely agreeable painter, as soon
as you see a number of them, you can no longer bear him. This is what
happens to _mannerists_. The dark shades at first astonish you,
afterwards they disgust you.


ANDREA SACCHI.

N° 65. (Saloon.) _St. Remuald_.

This picture was always one of the most esteemed of those in the
churches at Rome. It was the altar-piece of the church of St. Remuald
in that city.


ALBANO.

N° 676. (Gallery.) _Fire._

677. _Air._

678. _Water._

679. _Earth._

In the Gallery are twenty-nine pictures of this master, and all of
them graceful; but the preceding four, representing the elements,
which were taken from the royal Cabinet of Turin, are the most
remarkable.


BAROCCIO.

N° 686. (Gallery.) _The Virgin, St Anthony, and St. Lucia._

688. _St. Michaelina._

These are the best pictures of BAROCCIO already exhibited. His
colouring is enchanting. It is entirely transparent and seems as if
impregnated with light: however, his forms, and every thing else,
bespeak the _mannerist_.


ANNIBALE CARRACCI.

N° 721. (Gallery.) _Christ dead on the knees of the Virgin._

723. _The Resurrection of Christ._

728. _The Nativity of Christ._

730. _Christ laid in the tomb._

Of the CARRACCI, ANNIBALE is the most perfect. He is also remarkable
for the different manners which he has displayed in his works. They
appear to be by two or three different painters. Of more than twenty
in the Gallery, the above are the best of his productions.


MICHAEL ANGELO DA CARAVAGGIO.

N° 744. (Gallery.) _Christ laid in the tomb._

This wonderful picture, which was brought from Rome, is, for vigour
of execution and truth of colouring, superior to all the others by
the same master. Every one of his works bears the stamp of a great
genius.


DOMENICHINO.

N° 763. (Gallery.) _The Communion of St. Jerome._

This picture, the master-piece of DOMENICHICO, comes from the great
altar of the church of _San Geronimo della Carità_, at Rome. It will
appear incredible that for a work of such importance, which cost him
so much time, study, and labour, he received no more than the sum of
about £10 sterling.

N° 769. (Gallery.) _St. Cecilia_.

This capital performance is now removed to the drawing-room of the
First Consul, in the palace of the _Tuileries_.

After RAPHAEL, DOMENICHINO is one of the most perfect masters; and
his _St. Jerome_, together with RAPHAEL'S Transfiguration, are
reckoned among the most famous _chefs d'oeuvre_ of the art of
painting.


GUIDO.

N° 797. (Gallery.) _The Crucifixion of St. Peter_.

800. _Fortune_.

These are the finest of the twenty pictures by that master, now
exhibited in the CENTRAL MUSEUM. They both came from Rome; the
former, from the Vatican; the latter, from the Capitol.

GUIDO is a noble and graceful painter; but, in general, he betrays a
certain negligence in the execution of several parts.


LUINI.

N° 860. (Gallery.) _The Holy Family_.


In this picture, LUINI has fallen little short of his master,
LEONARDO DA VINCI.


ANDREA SOLARIO.

N° 896. (Gallery.) _The Daughter of Herodias receiving the head of
St. John_.

SOLARIO is another worthy pupil of LEONARDO. This very capital
picture belonged to the collection of the crown, and was purchased by
Lewis XIV.


PIERUNO DEL VAGA.

N° 928. (Gallery.) _The Muses challenged by the Piërides_.

An excellent picture from Versailles.


BALTASSARE PERUZZI.

N° 929. (Gallery.) _The Virgin discovering the infant Jesus
asleep_.

A remarkably fine production.


SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO.

N° ( ) _Portrait of the young sculptor, Baccio Bomdinelli_.

This picture is worthy of the pencil of RAPHAEL. It is not yet
exhibited.


PIETRO DA CORTONA.

N° 52. (Saloon.) _The Birth of the Virgin_.

53. _Remus and Romulus_.

These are the finest pictures in the collection by this master.

We have now noticed the best productions of the Italian School: in
our next visit to the CENTRAL MUSEUM, I shall point out the most
distinguished pictures of the French and Flemish Schools.

P. S. Lord Cornwallis is sumptuously entertained here, all the
ministers giving him a grand dinner, each in rotation. After having
viewed the curiosities of Paris, he will, in about a fortnight,
proceed to the congress at Amiens. On his Lordship's arrival, I
thought it my duty to leave my name at his hotel, and was most
agreeably surprised to meet with a very old acquaintance in his
military Secretary, Lieut. Col. L--------s. For any of the
ambassador's further proceedings, I refer you to the English
newspapers, which seem to anticipate all his movements.



LETTER XVII.

_Paris, November 15, 1801._

The more frequently I visit the CENTRAL MUSEUM OF THE ARTS, the more
am I inclined to think that such a vast number of pictures, suspended
together, lessen each other's effect. This is the first idea which
now presents itself to me, whenever I enter the

GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE.

Were this collection rendered apparently less numerous by being
subdivided into different apartments, the eye would certainly be less
dazzled than it is, at present, by an assemblage of so many various
objects, which, though arranged as judiciously as possible, somehow
convey to the mind an image of confusion. The consequence is that
attention flags, and no single picture is seen to advantage, because
so many are seen together.

In proportion as the lover of the arts becomes more familiarized with
the choicest productions of the pencil, he perceives that there are
few pictures, if any, really faultless. In some, he finds beauties,
which are general, or forming, as it were, a whole, and producing a
general effect; in others, he meets with particular or detached
beauties, whose effect is partial: assembled, they constitute the
beautiful: insulated, they have a merit which the amateur
appreciates, and the artist ought to study. General or congregated
beauties always arise from genius and talent: particular or detached
beauties belong to study, to labour, that is, to the _nulla die sine
lineâ_ and sometimes solely to chance, as is exemplified in the old
story of Protogenes, the celebrated Rhodian painter.


To discover some of these beauties, requires no extraordinary
discernment; a person of common observation might decide whether the
froth at the mouth of an animal, panting for breath, was naturally
represented: but a spectator, possessing a cultivated and refined
taste, minutely surveys every part of a picture, examines the
grandeur of the composition, the elevation of the ideas, the
nobleness of the expression, the truth and correctness of the design,
the grace scattered over the different objects, the imitation of
nature in the colouring, and the masterly strokes of the pencil.

Our last visit to the CENTRAL MUSEUM terminated with the Italian
School; let us now continue our examination, beginning with the

FRENCH SCHOOL.


LE BRUN.

N° 17. _(Gallery) The Defeat of Porus._

18. _The Family of Darius at the feet of Alexander._

19. _The Entrance of Alexander into Babylon.
The Passage of the Granicus._

14. _Jesus asleep, or Silence._

16. _The Crucifix surrounded by angels._

The compositions of LE BRUN are grand and rich; his costume
well-chosen, and tolerably scientific; the tone of his pictures
well-suited to the subject. But, in this master, we must not look
for purity and correctness of drawing, in an eminent degree. He much
resembles PIETRO DA CORTONA. LE BRUN, however, has a taste more in
the style of RAPHAEL and the antique, though it is a distant
imitation. The colouring of PIETRO DA CORTONA is far more agreeable
and more captivating.

Among the small pictures by LE BRUN, N°s. 14 and 16 deserve to be
distinguished; but his _chefs d'oeuvre_ are the achievements of
Alexander. When the plates from these historical paintings, engraved
by AUDRAN, reached Rome, it is related that the Italians, astonished,
exclaimed: "_Povero Raffaello! non sei più il primo_." But, when they
afterwards saw the originals, they restored, to RAPHAEL his former
pre-eminence.


CLAUDE LORRAIN.

N° 43. (Gallery.) _View of a sea-port at sun-set_.

45. _A Sea-piece on a fine morning_.

46. _A Landscape enlivened by the setting sun_.

The superior merit of CLAUDE in landscape-painting is too well known
to need any eulogium, The three preceding are the finest of his
pictures in this collection. However, at Rome, and in England, there
are some more perfect than those in the CENTRAL MUSEUM. One of his
_chefs d'oeuvre_, formerly at Rome, is now at Naples, in the Gallery
of Prince Colonna.


JOUVENET.

N° 54. (Gallery.) _Christ taken down from the cross._

The above is the most remarkable picture here by this master.


MIGNARD.

N° 57. (Gallery.) _The Virgin_, called _La Vièrge à
la grappe_, because she is taking from a basket of
fruit a bunch of grapes to present to her son.


NICOLAS POUSSIN.

N° 70. (Gallery.) _The Fall of the manna in the desert._

75. _Rebecca and Eleazar._

77. _The Judgment of Solomon._

78. _The blind Men of Jericho._

82. _Winter or the Deluge._

In this collection, the above are the finest historical paintings of
POUSSIN; and of his landscapes, the following deserve to be admired.

N° 76. (Gallery.) _Diogenes throwing away his porringer._

83. _The Death of Eurydice._

POUSSIN is the greatest painter of the French school. His
compositions bear much resemblance to those of RAPHAEL, and to the
antique: though they have not the same _naïveté_ and truth. His
back-grounds are incomparable; his landscapes, in point of
composition, superior even to those of CLAUDE. His large altar-pieces
are the least beautiful of his productions. His feeble colouring
cannot support proportions of the natural size: in these pictures,
the charms of the background are also wanting.


LE SUEUR.

N° 98. (Gallery.) _St. Paul preaching at Ephesus._

This is the _chef d'oeuvre_ of LE SUEUR, who is to be admired for the
simplicity of his pencil, as well as for the beauty of his
compositions.


VALENTINO.

N° 111. (Gallery.) _The Martyrdom of St. Processa and St.
Martinian._

112. _Cæsar's Tribute._

These are the finest productions of this master, who was a worthy
rival of CARAVAGGIO.


VERNET.

N° 121. (Gallery.) _A Sea-port at sun-set_.

This painter's style is generally correct and agreeable. In the above
picture he rivals CLAUDE.

* * * * *

We now come to the school which, of all others, is best known in
England. This exempts me from making any observations on the
comparative merits of the masters who compose it. I shall therefore
confine myself to a bare mention of the best of their performances,
at present exhibited in the CENTRAL MUSEUM.


FLEMISH SCHOOL.


RUBENS.

N° 485. (Gallery.) _St. Francis, dying, receives the sacrament._

503. _Christ taken down from the cross_, a celebrated picture
from the cathedral of Antwerp.

507. _Nicholas Rochox, a burgomaster of the city of Antwerp, and
a friend of_ RUBENS.

509. _The Crucifixion of St. Peter_.

513. _St. Roch interceding for the people attacked by the
plague._

526. _The Village-Festival_.

In this repository, the above are the most remarkable productions of
RUBENS.


VANDYCK.

N° 255. (Gallery.) _The Mother of pity._

264. _The portraits of Charles I, elector palatine, and his
brother, prince Robert._

265. _A full-length portrait of a man holding his daughter by
the hand._

266. _A full-length portrait of a lady with her son._

These are superior to the other pictures by VANDYCK in this
collection.


CHAMPAGNE.

N° 216. (Gallery.) _The Nuns._

The history of this piece is interesting. The eldest daughter of
CHAMPAGNE was a nun in the convent of _Port-Royal_ at Paris. Being
reduced to extremity by a fever of fourteen months' duration, and
given over by her physicians, she falls to prayers with another nun,
and recovers her health.


CRAYER.

N° 227. (Gallery.) _The Triumph of St. Catherine._


GERHARD DOUW.

N° 234. (Gallery.) _The dropsical Woman._


HANS HOLBEIN.

N° 319. (Gallery.) _A young woman, dressed in a yellow veil, and
with her hands crossed on her knees._


JORDAENS.

N° 351. (Gallery.) _Twelfth-Day_.

352. _The Family-Concert_.


ADRIAN VAN OSTADE.

N° 428. (Gallery.) _The family of Ostade, painted by himself._

430. _A smoking Club_.

431. _The Schoolmaster, with the ferula in his hand, surrounded
by his scholars_.


PAUL POTTER.

N° 446. (Gallery.) _An extensive pasture, with cattle._

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