of Westminster, in Grosvenor-street. We refer for this to what M. Waagen
has said, vol. ii., p. 113-130. The Flemish and Dutch schools
preponderate in this gallery. One sees there in all their glory the
three great masters of that school, Rubens, Van Dyck, and Rembrandt,
accompanied by a numerous suite of inferior masters, at present much in
vogue, Hobbema, Cuyp, Both, Potter, and others, who, to our idea, fade
completely before some half-dozen by Claude of all sizes, of every
variety of subject, and nearly all of the best time of the great
landscape-painter, between 1651 and 1661. Of these paintings, the
greatest and most important is perhaps the _Sermon on the Mount_.
Poussin appears worthily by the side of Lorrain in the gallery at
Grosvenor-street. M. Waagen admires particularly _Calisto changed into a
Bear, and placed by Jupiter among the Constellations_, and still more a
_Virgin with the infant Jesus surrounded by Angels_. He extols in this
_morceau_ the surpassing clearness of coloring, the noble and melancholy
sentiment of nature, together with a warm and powerful tone. M. Waagen
places this painting amongst the masterpieces of the French painter
(_gehoert zu dem vortrefflichsten was ich von ihm kenne_). Whilst fully
concurring in this judgment, we beg leave to point out in the same
gallery two other canvases of Poussin, two delicious pieces from the
easel, first a touching episode in _Moses striking the Rock_, in the
gallery of Lord Ellesmere, of a mother who, heedless of herself, hastens
to give her children drink, whilst their father bends in thanksgiving to
God; the other, _Children at play_. Never did a more delightful scene
come from the pencil of Albano. Two children look, laughing, at each
other; another to the right holds a butterfly on his finger; a fourth
endeavors to catch a butterfly which is flying from him; a fifth,
stooping, takes fruit from a basket.
But we must quit the London galleries to betake ourselves to that which
forms the ornament of the college situated in the charming village of
Dulwich.
Stanislas, king of Poland, charged a London amateur, M. Noel Desenfans,
to form him a collection of pictures. The misfortunes of Stanislas, and
the dismemberment of Poland left on M. Desenfans' hands all he had
collected; these he made a present of to a friend of his, M. Bourgeois,
a painter, who still further enriched this fine collection, and
bequeathed it, at his death, to Dulwich College, where it now is in a
very commodious and well-lighted building. It consists of nearly 350
paintings. M. Waagen, who visited it, pronounces judgment with some
severity. The catalogue is ill-compiled, it is true, but in this it does
not differ from numerous other catalogues. Mediocrity is frequently
placed side by side with excellence, and copies given as originals; this
is the case with more than one gallery. This one, however, has to us the
merit of containing a considerable number of French paintings, to some
of which even M. Waagen cannot refuse his admiration.
We will, first of all, mention without describing them, a Lenain, two
Bourguignons, three portraits by Rigaud, or after Rigaud, a Louis XIV.,
a Boileau, and another personage unknown to us, two Lebruns, the
_Massacre of the Innocents_, and _Horatius Cocles defending the Bridge_,
in which M. Waagen discovers happy imitations of Poussin, three or four
Gaspars and seven Claude Lorrains, the beauty of most of which is a
sufficient guarantee of their authenticity; together with a very fine
_Fete champetre_ by Watteau, and a _View near Rome_, by Joseph Vernet.
Of Poussin, the catalogue points out eighteen, of which the following is
a list:
No. 115. _The Education of Bacchus_; 142, _a Landscape_; 249, _a Holy
Family_; 253, _the Apparition of the Angels to Abraham_; 260, _a
Landscape_; 269, _the Destruction of Niobe_; 279, _a Landscape_; 291,
_the Adoration of the Magi_; 292, _a Landscape_; 295, _the Inspiration
of the Poet_; 300, _the Education of Jupiter_; 305, _the Triumph of
David_; 310, _the Flight into Egypt_; 315, _Renald and Armida_; 316,
_Venus and Mercury_; 325, _Jupiter and Antiope_; 336, _the Assumption of
the Virgin_; 352, _Children_.
Of these eighteen pictures, M. Waagen singles out five, which he thus
characterizes:
_The Assumption of the Virgin_, No. 336. In a landscape of powerful
poesy, the Virgin is carried off to heaven in clouds of gold: a small
picture, of which the sentiment is noble and pure, the coloring strong
and transparent (_in der Farbe kraftiges und klaares Bild_). _Children_,
No. 352. Replete with loveliness and charm. _The Triumph of David_, No.
305. A rich picture, but theatrical.
_Jupiter suckled by the goat Amalthea_, No. 300. A charming composition,
transparent tone. _A Landscape_, No. 260. A well-drawn landscape,
breathing a profound sentiment of nature; but which has become rather
blackened.
We are unable to recognize in the _Triumph of David_ the theatrical
character which shocked M. Waagen. On the contrary, we perceive a bold
and almost wild expression, a great deal of passion finely subdued.
A triumph must always contain some formality; here, however, there is
the least possible, and that with which we are struck is its vigor and
truth to nature. The giant's head stuck on the pike has the grandest
effect: and we believe that the able German critic has, in this
instance, likewise yielded to the prejudices of his country, which, in
its passion for what it styles reality, fancies it perceives the
theatrical in whatever is noble. We admit that at the close of the
seventeenth century, under Louis XIV. and Lebrun, the noble was merged
in the theatrical and academic; but under Louis XIII. and the Regency,
in the time of Corneille and Poussin, the academic and theatrical style
was wholly unknown. We entreat the sagacious critic not to forget this
distinction between the divisions of the seventeenth century, nor to
confound the master with his disciples, who, although they were still
great, had slightly degenerated, and who were oppressed by the taste of
the age of Louis XIV.
But our gravest reproach against M. Waagen is, that he did not notice at
Dulwich numerous _morceaux_ of Poussin, which well merited his
attention; amongst others, the _Adoration of the Magi_, far superior,
for its coloring, to that in the Museum at Paris; and, above all, a
picture which seems to us a masterpiece in the difficult art of
conveying a philosophic idea under the living form of a myth and an
allegory.
In this art, Poussin excelled: he is pre-eminently a philosophical
artist, a thinker assisted by all the resources of the science of
design. He has ever an idea which guides his hand, and which is his main
object. Let us not tire to reiterate this: it is moral beauty which he
everywhere seeks, both in nature and humanity. As we have stated in
relation to the sacrament of _Ordination_, the landscapes of Poussin are
almost always designed to set off and heighten human life, whilst Claude
is essentially a landscape painter, with whom both history and humanity
are made subservient to nature. Subjects derived from Christianity were
exactly suited to Poussin, inasmuch as they afforded the sublimest types
of that moral grandeur in which he delighted, although we do not see in
him the exquisite piety of Lesueur and Champagne; and if Christian
greatness speaks to his soul, it appears to do so with no authority
beyond that of Phocion, of Scipio, or of Germanicus. Sometimes neither
sacred nor profane history suffices him: he invents, he imagines, he has
recourse to moral and philosophic allegory. It is here, perhaps, that he
is most original, and that his imagination displays itself in its
greatest freedom and elevation. _Arcadia_ is a lesson of high philosophy
under the form of an idyll. _The Testament of Eudamidas_ portrays the
sublime confidence of friendship. _Time Rescuing Truth from the assaults
of Envy and Discord_, _the Ballet of Human Life_, are celebrated models
of this style. We have had the good fortune to meet at Dulwich with a
work of Poussin's almost unknown, and of whose existence we had not even
an idea, sparkling at the same time with the style we have been
describing, and with the most eminent qualities of the chief of the
French school.
This work, entirely new to us, is a picture of very small size, marked
No. 295, and described in the catalogue as _The Inspiration of the
Poet_, a delightful subject, and treated in the most delightful manner.
Fancy the freshest landscape, in the foreground a harmonious group of
three personages. The poet, on bended knee, carries to his lips the
sacred cup which Apollo, the god of poesy, has presented to him. Whilst
he quaffs, inspiration seizes him, his face is transfigured, and the
sacred intoxication becomes apparent in the motion of his hands and his
whole body. Beside Apollo, the Muse prepares to collect the songs of the
poet. Above this group, a genius, frolicking in air, weaves a chaplet,
whilst other genii scatter flowers. In the background, the clearest
horizon. Grace, spirit, depth--this enchanting composition unites the
whole. Added to this, the color is well-grounded and of great
brilliancy.
It is very singular that neither Bellori nor Felibien, who both lived on
terms of intimacy with Poussin, and are still his best historians, say
not a word of this work. It is not referred to in the catalogues of
Florent Lecomte, of Gault de St. Germain, or of Castellan; nor does M.
Waagen himself, who, having been at Dulwich, must have seen it there,
make the least mention of it. We are, therefore, ignorant in what year,
on what occasion, and for whom this delicious little painting was
executed: but the hand of Poussin is seen throughout, in the drawing, in
the composition, in the expression. Nothing theatrical or vulgar: truth
combined with beauty. The whole scene conveys unmixed delight, and its
impression is at once serene and profound. In our idea, _The Inspiration
of the Poet_ may be ranked as almost equal with _The Arcadia_.
Notwithstanding this, _The Inspiration_ has never been engraved, at
least we have not met with it in any of the rich collections of
engravings from Poussin we have been enabled to consult, those of M. de
Baudicour, of M. Gatteaux, member of the Academy of Fine Arts, and
lastly, the cabinet of prints in the _Bibliotheque Nationale_. We hope
that these few words may suggest to some French engraver the idea of
undertaking the very easy pilgrimage to Dulwich, and making known to the
lovers of national art an ingenious and touching production of Poussin,
strayed and lost, as it, were, in a foreign collection.
FINIS.
FOOTNOTES:
[284] This is the sketch which Felibien so justly praises, part v., p.
37, of the 1st edition, in 4to.
[285] This great work has been long in England, as remarked by Mariette,
see the _Abecedario_, just published, article S. Bourdon, vol. i., p.
171. It appears to have been a favorite work of Bourdon, he having
himself engraved it, see de Piles, _Abrege de la Vie des Peintres_, 2d
edition, p. 494, and the _Peintre graveur francais_, of M. Robert
Dumesnil, vol. i., p. 131, etc. The copperplates of the _Seven Works of
Mercy_ are at the Louvre.
[286] The _Libro di Verita_ is now the property of the Duke of
Devonshire. M. Leon de Laborde has given a detailed account of it in the
_Archives de l'Art francais_, tom. i., p. 435, et seq.
[287] The first composition of _Arcadia_, truly precious could it have
been placed in the Louvre beside the second and better production, is in
England, the property of the Duke of Devonshire.
[288] In the first set of the _Seven Sacraments_, executed for the
Chevalier del Pozzo, now in England, the property of the Duke of
Rutland, and with which we are acquainted only through engravings,
Christ is placed on the left hand; it is less masterly and imposing, and
the centre has a vacant appearance. In the second set, painted five or
six years after the former for M. de Chanteloup, Christ is placed in the
centre: this new disposition changes the entire effect of the piece.
Poussin never repeated himself in treating the same subject a second
time, but improved on it, aiming ever at perfection. And the memorable
answer which he once made to one who inquired of him by what means he
had attained to so great perfection, "I never neglected any thing,"
should be always present to the mind of every artist, painter, sculptor,
poet, or composer.
[289] Poussin writes to M. de Chanteloup, April 25, 1644 (Lettres de
Poussin, Paris, 1824), "I am working briskly at the _Extreme Unction_,
which is indeed a subject worthy of Apelles, who was very fond of
representing the dying." He adds, with a vivacity which seems to
indicate that he took a particular fancy to this painting, "I do not
intend to quit it whilst I feel thus well-disposed, until I have put it
in fair train for a sketch. It is to contain seventeen figures of men,
women, and children, young and old, one part of whom are drowned in
tears, whilst the others pray for the dying. I will not describe it to
you more in detail. In this, my clumsy pen is quite unfit, it requires a
gilded and well-set pencil. The principal figures are two feet high; the
painting will be about the size of your _Manne_, but of better
proportion." Felibien, a friend and confidant of Poussin, likewise
remarks (_Entretiens_, etc., part iv., p. 293), that the _Extreme
Unction_ was one of the paintings which pleased him most. We learn at
length, from Poussin's letters, that he finished it and sent it into
France in this same year, 1644. Fenoien informs us that in 1646 he
completed the _Confirmation_, in 1647 the _Baptism_, the _Penance_, the
_Ordination_ and the _Eucharist_, and that he sent the last sacrament,
that of _Marriage_, at the commencement of the year 1648. Bellori (_le
Vite de Pittori_, etc., Rome, 1672) gives a full and detailed
description of the _Extreme Unction_; and, as he lived with Poussin, it
seems credible that his explanations are for the most part those he had
himself received from the great artist.
[290] The drawing of the _Extreme Unction_ is at the Louvre; the
drawings of the five other sacraments are in the rich cabinet of M. de
la Salle, that of the seventh is the property of the well-known print
seller, M. Deter.
[291] There is here likewise a charming Francis II., wholly from the
hand of Clouet, and the portrait of Fenelon by Rigaud, which may be the
original or at all events is not inferior to the painting in the gallery
at Versailles.
* * * * *
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