_David.--Place de la Concorde.--L'Église de
Madeleine.--Print-shops.--Notre Dame.--Museum or Palace of
Arts.--Hall of Statues.--Laocoon.--Belvidere Apollo.--Socrates._
During my stay in Paris I visited the gallery of David. This celebrated
artist has amassed a fortune of upwards of two hundred thousand pounds,
and is permitted by his great patron, and friend Bonaparte, to occupy
the corner wing of the old palace, from which every other man of genius
and science, who was entitled to reside there, has been removed to other
places, in order to make room for the reception of the grand National
Library, which the first consul intends to have deposited there. His
apartments are very magnificent, and furnished in that taste, which he
has, by the influence of his fame, and his elegance of design, so
widely, and successfully diffused. Whilst I was seated in his rooms, I
could not help fancying myself a contemporary of the most tasteful times
of Greece. Tunics and robes were carelessly but gracefully thrown over
the antique chairs, which were surrounded by elegant statues, and
ancient libraries, so disposed, as to perfect the classical illusion. I
found David in his garden, putting in the back ground of a painting. He
wore a dirty robe, and an old hat. His eyes are dark and penetrating,
and beam with the lustre of genius. His collection of paintings and
statues, and many of his own studies, afforded a perfect banquet. He
was then occupied in drawing a fine portrait of Bonaparte. The presence
of David covered the gratification with gloom. Before me, in the bosom
of that art, which is said, with her divine associates, to soften the
souls of men, I beheld the remorseless judge of his sovereign, the
destroyer of his brethren in art, and the enthusiast and confidential
friend of Robespierre. David's political life is too well known. During
the late scenes of horror, he was asked by an acquaintance, how many
heads had fallen upon the scaffold that day, to which he is said coolly
to have replied, "_only one hundred and twenty!!_ The heads of twenty
thousand more must fall before the great work of philosophy can be
accomplished."
It is related of him, that during the reign of the Mountain, he carried
his portfolio to the front of the scaffold, to catch the last emotions
of expiring nature, from the victims of his revolutionary rage.
He directed and presided at the splendid funeral solemnities of
Lepelletier, who was assassinated by Paris, in which his taste and
intimate knowledge of the ceremonies of the ancients, on similar
occasions, were eminently displayed.
Farewell, David! when years have rolled away, and time has mellowed the
works of thy sublime pencil, mayst thou be remembered only as _their_
creator; may thy fame repose herself upon the tableau of the dying
Socrates, and the miraculous passage of the Alpine hero, may the
ensanguined records of thy political frenzy, moulder away, and may
science, who knew not blood till thou wert known, whose pure, and
hallowed inspirations have made men happier, and better, till thou wert
born, implore for thee forgiveness, and whilst, with rapture she points
to the immortal images of thy divine genius, may she cover with an
impenetrable pall, the pale, and shuddering, and bleeding victims of thy
sanguinary soul!
The great abilities of this man, have alone enabled him to survive the
revolution, which, strange to relate, has, throughout its ravages,
preserved a veneration for science, and, in general, protected her
distinguished followers. Bonaparte, who possesses great taste "that
instinct superior to study, surer than reasoning, and more rapid than
reflection," entertains the greatest admiration for the genius of David,
and always consults him in the arrangement of his paintings and statues.
All the costumes of government have been designed by this artist.
David is not without his adherents. He has many pupils, the sons of
respectable, and some of them, of noble families residing in different
parts of Europe. They are said to be much attached to him, and have
formed themselves into a military corps, for the purpose of occasionally
doing honour to him, and were lately on the point of revenging an insult
which had been offered to his person, in a manner, which, if
perpetrated, would have required the interest of their master to have
saved them from the scaffold.
But neither the gracious protection of consular favour, nor the
splendour of unrivalled abilities, can restore their polluted possessor,
to the affections and endearments of social intercourse. Humanity has
drawn a _sable circle_ round him. He leads the life of a proscribed
exile, in the very centre of the gayest city in Europe. In the gloomy
shade of unchosen seclusion, he passes his ungladdened hours, in the
hope of covering his guilt with his glory, and of presenting to
posterity, by the energies of his unequalled genius, some atonement for
the havoc, and ruin of that political hurricane, of which he directed
the fury, and befriended the desolations, against every contemporary
object that nature had endeared, and virtue consecrated.
After leaving the gallery of David, I visited la Place de la Concorde.
This ill fated spot, from its spaciousness, and beauty of situation, has
always been the theatre of the great fêtes of the nation, as well as the
scene of its greatest calamities. When the nuptials of the late king and
queen were celebrated, the magnificent fireworks, shows, and
illuminations which followed, were here displayed. During the
exhibition, a numerous banditti, from Normandy, broke in upon the vast
assemblage of spectators: owing to the confusion which followed, and the
fall of some of the scaffolding, the supporters of which were sawed
through by these wretches, the disorder became dreadful, and universal;
many were crushed to death, and some hundreds of the people, whilst
endeavouring to make their escape, were stabbed, and robbed. The king
and queen, as a mark of their deep regret, ordered the dead to be
entombed in the new burial ground of l'Église de Madeleine, then
erecting at the entrance of the Boulevard des Italiens, in the
neighbourhood of the palace, under the immediate inspection and
patronage of the sovereign. This building was never finished, and still
presents to the eye, a naked pile of lofty walls and columns. Alas! the
gloomy auguries which followed this fatal spectacle, were too truly
realized. On _that_ spot perished the monarch and his queen, and the
flower of the french nobility, and many of the virtuous and enlightened
men of France, and in _this_ cemetery, their unhonoured remains were
thrown, amidst heaps of headless victims, into promiscuous graves of
unslacked lime!
How inscrutable are the ways of destiny!
This spot, which, from its enchanting scenery, is calculated only to
recall, or to inspire the most tender, and generous, and elegant
sentiments, which has been the favoured resort of so many kings, and the
scene of every gorgeous spectacle, was doomed to become the human
shambles of the brave and good, and the Golgotha of the guillotine! In
the centre, is an oblong square railing, which encloses the exact spot
where formerly stood that instrument of death, which was voted permanent
by its remorseless employers.
A temporary model in wood, of a lofty superb monument, two hundred feet
high, intended to be erected in honour of Bonaparte and the battle of
Marengo, was raised in this place, for his approval, but from policy or
modesty, he declined this distinguished mark of public approbation. I
was a little surprised to observe, in the windows of the principal print
shops, prints exposed to sale, representing the late king, in his full
robes of state, under which was written, Le Restaurateur de la liberté,
(an equivoque, no doubt) and the parting interview between that unhappy
sovereign and his queen and family in the temple, upon the morning of
his execution.
This little circumstance will show the confidence which the present
rulers feel in the strength and security of the present government; for
such representations are certainly calculated to excite feelings, and to
restore impressions which might prove a little hazardous to both, were
they less powerfully supported.
I was also one morning a little surprised, by hearing from my window,
the exhilarating song of "Rule Britannia" played upon a hand organ; upon
looking down into the street, I beheld a Savoyard very composedly
turning the handle of his musical machine, as he moved along, and a
french officer humming the tune after him. Both were, no doubt, ignorant
of the nationality of the song, though not of the truth of its
sentiment.
In the course of one of my morning walks, I went to the metropolitan
abbey of Notre Dame, which is situated at the end of a large island in
the Seine, which forms a part of Paris, and is filled with long narrow
streets. It is a fine gothic pile, but in my humble opinion, much
inferior to our Westminster abbey, and to the great churches of Rouen.
From this building I visited, with a large party, the celebrated museum,
or palace of the arts, which I afterwards generally frequented every
other day.
This inestimable collection contains one thousand and thirty paintings,
which are considered to be the chefs d'oeuvre of the great ancient
masters, and is a treasury of human art and genius, unknown to the most
renowned of former ages, and far surpassing every other institution of
the same nature, in the present times.
The first apartment is about the size of the exhibition room of
Somerset house, and lighted as that is, from above. It contains several
exquisite paintings, which have been presented to Bonaparte by the
princes, and rulers of those states which have been either subdued by
his arms, or have cultivated his alliance. The parisians call this
apartment Bonaparte's nosegay. The most costly pictures in the room, are
from the gallery of the grand duke of Tuscany. Amongst so many works,
all exquisite and beautiful, it is almost temerity to attempt to select,
but if I might be permitted to name those which pleased me most, I
should particularize the Ecce Homo, by Cigoli Ludovico Cardi.
The breast of the mild and benevolent Saviour, striped with the bruises
of recent punishment, and his heavenly countenance, benignly looking
forgiveness upon his executioners, are beautifully delineated.
L'Annonciation, by Gentileschi, in which the divine look of the angel,
the graceful plumage of his wings, and the drapery of the virgin, are
incomparable. La Sagesse chassant les Vices, which is a very ancient and
curious painting, by Andrea Mantegna, in which the figure of Idleness,
without arms, is wonderfully conceived. Les Noces de Cana, by Paul
Veronese, which is considered to be the best of his works. It is the
largest painting I ever beheld. The figures which are seated at the
banquet, are chiefly the portraits of contemporary royal personages of
different nations. From this room we passed into the gallery of the
Louvre.
I cannot adequately describe the first impressions which were awakened,
upon my first entering it, and contemplating such a galaxy of art and
genius. This room is one thousand two hundred feet long, and is lined
with the finest paintings of the french, flemish, and italian schools,
and is divided by a curious double painting upon slate, placed upon a
pedestal in the middle of the room, which represents the front and back
view of the same figures.
The first division of this hall contains the finest works of le Brun,
many of which are upon an immense scale. L'Hyver ou le Deluge, by
Poussin, is truly sublime, but is unfortunately placed in a bad light.
There are also some beautiful marine paintings, by Verney. Les
Religieuses, by Philipe de Champagne, is justly celebrated for the
principal figure of the dying nun. Vue de Chevet d'une eglise, by
Emanuel de Witte, is an exquisite little cabinet picture, in which the
effect of a ray of light shining through a painted window, upon a
column, is inimitable, and the perspective is very fine. There are here
also some of the finest works of Wouvermans, and a charming picture by
Teniers. La Vierge, l'enfant Jesus, la Madeleine, et St. Jerome, by
Antoine Allegri Correge, is considered to be a picture of great beauty
and value. There are also some glorious paintings by Reubens. I have
thus briefly selected these pictures from the rest, hoping, at the same
time, that it will not be inferred that those which I have not named, of
which it would be impossible to offer a description without filling a
bulky volume, are inferior to the works which I have presumed to
mention. The recording pen must rival that matchless pencil, which has
thus adorned the walls of the Museum, before it can do justice to such a
magnificent collection.
This exhibition is public three days in the week, and at other times is
open to students and to strangers, upon their producing their passports.
On public days, all descriptions of persons are here to be seen. The
contemplation of such a mixture is not altogether uninteresting.
The sun-browned rugged plebeian, whose mind, by the influence of an
unexampled political change, has been long alienated from all the noble
feelings which religion and humanity inspire, is here seen, with his
arms rudely folded over his breast, softening into pity, before the
struggling and sinking sufferers of a deluged world, or silently
imbibing from the divine resigned countenance of the crucified Saviour,
a hope of unperishable bliss, beyond the grave. Who will condemn a
policy by which ignorance becomes enlightened, profligacy penitent, and
which, as by stealth, imparts to the relenting bosom of ferocity the
subdued, and social dispositions of _true_ fraternity?
To amuse, may be necessary to the present government of France, but
surely to supplant the wild abandoned principles of a barbarous
revolution, with _new_ impressions, created by an unreserved display of
the finest and most persuasive images of resigned suffering, heroic
virtue, or elegant beauty, cannot be deemed unworthy of the ruler of a
great people.
At this place, as well as at all the other national exhibitions, no
money for admission is required or expected. No person is admitted with
a stick, and guards attend to preserve the pictures from injury, and the
exhibition from riot. The gallery of the Louvre is at present,
unfortunately, badly lighted throughout, owing to the light issuing
chiefly on one side, from long windows. This inconvenience, however, is
soon to be remedied; by observing the same manner of lighting, as in the
adjoining apartment.
From the museum, we descended into la Salle des Antiques, which contains
all the treasury of grecian and roman statuary. The first object to
which we hastened, was the statue of Laocoon, for so many ages, and by
so many writers admired and celebrated. This superb specimen of grecian
sculpture, is supposed to be the united production of Polydorus,
Athenodorus, and Agesander, but its great antiquity renders its history
somewhat dubious. In the beginning of the sixteenth century it was
discovered at Rome amongst the ruins of the palace of Titus, and
deposited in the Farnese palace, whence it has been removed to Paris, by
the orders of Bonaparte, after the conquest of Italy. It represents
Laocoon, the priest of Apollo and Neptune, and his two sons writhing in
the folds of two hideous serpents. The reader will remember the
beautiful lines of Virgil upon the subject,
"----------------et primum parva duorum
Corpora natorum serpens amplexus uterque
Implicat, et miseros morsu depascitur artus.
Post, ipsum auxilio subeuntem ac tela ferentem
Corripiunt, spirisque ligant ingentibus: et jam
Bis medium amplexi, bis collo squamea circum
Terga dati, superant capite et cervicibus altis.
Ille simul manibus tendit divellere nodos--"
Or, in the english habit which Dryden has given them,
"And first around the tender boys they wind,
Then with their sharpen'd fangs, their limbs and bodies grind.
The wretched father, running to their aid,
With pious haste, but vain, they next invade:
Twice round his waist the winding volumes roll'd,
And twice about his gasping throat they fold.
The priest, thus doubly chok'd, their crests divide,
And tow'ring o'er his head in triumphs ride.
With both his hands he labours at the knots--"
Pliny mentions this statue as the admiration of the age in which he
flourished.
I fear that I shall be guilty of a sort of profanation when I remark,
that the figures of the two sons of Laocoon appear to exhibit rather
more marks of maturity, and strength of muscle than are natural to their
size, and to the supposed tenderness of their age. It is, however, a
glorious work of art.
We next beheld the Belvidere Apollo. This statue, in my humble opinion,
surpasses every other in the collection. All the divinity of a god beams
through this unrivalled perfection of form. It is impossible to impart
the impressions which it inspires. The rivetted beholder is ready to
exclaim, with Adam, when he first discerns the approach of Raphael,
"--------------behold what glorious shape
Comes this way moving: seems another morn,
Risen on mid-noon; some great behest from Heav'n."
The imagination cannot form such an union of grace and strength. During
my stay in Paris, I frequently visited this distinguished statue, and
discovered fresh subjects of amazement, and admiration as often as I
gazed upon it. One of its remarkable beauties, is its exquisite
expression of motion. Its aerial appearance perpetually excites the idea
of its being unstationary, and unsupported. As it would be a rash, and
vain attempt to give a complete description of this matchless image, I
must, reluctantly, leave it, to inform my reader, that on the other side
of the Hall are the original Diana (which is wonderfully fine) and
several very beautiful Venuses. The Venus de Medicis is not here. There
are also some fine whole length statues of roman magistrates, in their
curule chairs.
In the Temple of the Muses, are exquisite busts of Homer and Socrates.
Pliny informs us that the ancient world possessed no original bust of
the former. That of the latter seems to have been chisseled to represent
the celebrated athenian before he had obtained his philosophical triumph
over those vices, which a distinguished physiognomist of his time once
imputed to him from the character of his features.