"Here no state chambers in long line unfold,
Bright with broad mirrors, rough with fretted gold:
Yet modest ornament, with use combined,
Attracts the eye to exercise the mind.
Small change of scene, small space his home requires,
Who leads a life of satisfied desires.
What though no marble breathes, no canvas glows,
From every point a ray of genius flows!
Be mine to bless the more mechanic skill,
That stamps, renews, and multiplies at will;
And cheaply circulates through distant climes
The fairest relics of the purest times.
Here from the mold to conscious being start
Those finer forms, the miracles of art;
Here chosen gems, impressed on sulphur shine,
That slept for ages in the secret mine;
And here the faithful graver dares to trace
A Michael's grandeur and a Raphael's grace!
Thy gallery, Florence, gilds my humble walls,
And my low roof the Vatican recalls."
But Mr. Rogers had the power to procure the originals; and therefore
the same taste put him in possession of them. He was destined to spend
his life in London, and only premising that the front of his house
overlooks the Green-park, and possesses a gateway into it, I shall
present the account of its interior, or rather of its treasures of
art, from the pen of the well known Professor Waagen of Berlin,
knowing from the poet himself that it is accurate.
"By the kindness of Mr. Solly, who continues to embrace every
opportunity of doing me service, I have been introduced to Mr. Rogers
the poet, a very distinguished and amiable man. He is one of the few
happy mortals to whom it has been granted to be able to gratify, in a
worthy manner, the most lively sensibility to every thing noble and
beautiful. He has accordingly found means, in the course of his long
life, to impress this sentiment on every thing about him. In his house
you are everywhere surrounded and excited with the higher productions
of art. In truth one knows not whether more to admire the diversity or
the purity of his taste. Pictures of the most different schools,
ancient and modern sculptures, Greek vases, alternately attract the
eye, and are so arranged, with a judicious regard to their size, in
proportion to the place assigned them, that every room is richly and
picturesquely ornamented, without having the appearance of a magazine
from being overfilled, as we frequently find. Among all these objects
none is insignificant; several cabinets and portfolios contain, beside
the choicest collections of antique ornaments in gold that I have
hitherto seen, valuable miniatures of the middle ages, fine drawings
by the old masters, and the most agreeable prints of the greatest of
the old engravers, Marcantonio, Durer, etc., in the finest
impressions. The enjoyment of all these treasures was heightened to
the owner by the confidential intercourse with the most eminent, now
deceased, English artists, Flaxman and Stothard; both have left him a
memorial of their friendship. In two little marble statues of Cupid
and Psyche, and a mantle-piece, with a bas-relief representing a muse
with a lyre and Mnemosyne by Flaxman, there is the same noble and
graceful feeling which has so greatly attracted me from my childhood
in his celebrated compositions after Homer and Æschylus. The hair and
draperies are treated with great, almost too picturesque softness.
Among all the English painters, none, perhaps, has so much power of
invention as Stothard. His versatile talent has successfully made
essays in the domains of history, or fancy and poetry, of humor, and
lastly, even in domestic scenes, in the style of Watteau. To this may
be added much feeling for graceful movements, and cheerful, bright
coloring. In his pictures, which adorn a chimney-piece, principal
characters from Shakspeare's plays are represented with great spirit
and humor; among them Falstaff makes a very distinguished and comical
figure. There is also a merry company, in the style of Watteau; the
least attractive is an allegorical representation of Peace returning
to the earth, for the brilliant coloring approaching to Rubens can not
make up for the poorness of the heads and the weakness of the drawing.
"As there are among the pictures some of the best works of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, fine specimens of the works of three of the most eminent
British artists of an earlier date are here united.
"Beside portraits, properly so called, Sir Joshua Reynolds was the
happiest in the representation of children, where he was able, in the
main, to remain faithful to nature, and in general an indifferent but
naïve action or occupation alone was necessary. In such pictures, he
admirably succeeded in representing the youthful bloom and artless
manners of the fine English children. This it is which makes his
celebrated strawberry girl, which is in this collection, so
attractive. With her hands simply folded, a basket under her arm, she
stands in her white frock, and looks full at the spectator, with her
fine, large eyes. The admirable impasto, the bright, golden tone,
clear as Rembrandt, and the dark landscape background, have a striking
effect. Sir Joshua himself looked upon this as one of his best
pictures. A sleeping girl is also uncommonly charming, the coloring
very glowing; many cracks in the painting, both in the background and
the drapery, show the uncertainty of the artist in the mechanical
processes of the art. Another girl with a bird does not give me so
much pleasure. The rather affected laugh is, in this instance, not
stolen from nature, but from the not happy invention of the painter;
in the glowing color there is something specky and false. Puck, the
merry elf in Shakspeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, called by the
English Robin Goodfellow, represented as a child, with an arch look,
sitting on a mushroom, and full of wantonness, stretching out arms and
legs, is another much admired work of Sir Joshua. But though this
picture is painted with much warmth and clearness, the conception does
not at all please me. I find it too childish, and not fantastic
enough. In the background, Titania is seen with the ass-headed weaver.
Psyche with the lamp, looking at Cupid, figures as large as life, is
of the most brilliant effect, and, in the tender, greenish half-tints,
also of great delicacy. In the regard for beautiful leading lines,
there is an affinity to the rather exaggerated grace of Parmeggiano.
In such pictures by Sir Joshua, the incorrect drawing always injures
the effect. I was much interested at meeting with a landscape by this
master. It is in the style of Rembrandt, and of very strong effect.
"Of older English painters, there are here two pretty pictures by
Gainsborough, one by Wilson; of the more recent, I found only one by
the rare and spirited Bonington, of a Turk fallen asleep over his
pipe, admirably executed in a deep, harmonious chiaro-oscuro. Mr.
Rogers's taste and knowledge of the art are too general for him not to
feel the profound intellectual value of works of art in which the
management of the materials was in some degree restricted. He has
therefore not disdained to place in his collection the half-figures of
St. Paul and St. John, and fragments of a fresco painting from the
Carmelite Church at Florence, by Giotto; Salome dancing before Herod,
and the beheading of St. John, by Fiesole; a coronation of the Virgin,
by Lorenzo de Condi, the fellow-scholar and friend of Leonardo da
Vinci, whose productions and personal character were so estimable.
Next to these pictures is a Christ on the Mount of Olives, by Raphael,
at the time when he had not abandoned the manner of Perugio. This
little picture was once a part of the predella to the altar-piece
which Raphael painted in the year 1505 for the nuns of St. Anthony, at
Perugio. It came with the Orleans gallery to England, and was last in
the possession of Lord Eldin, in Edinburgh. Unhappily it has been much
injured by cleaning and repairing, but in many parts, particularly in
the arms of the angel, there are defects in the drawing, such as we do
not find in Raphael even at this period. So that, most probably, the
composition alone should be ascribed to him, and the execution to one
of the assistants, who painted the two saints belonging to the same
predella now in Dulwich College.
"From the Orleans gallery, Mr. Rogers has Raphael's Madonna, well
known by Flipart's engraving, with the eyes rather cast down, on whom
the child standing by her fondly leans. The expression of joyousness
in the child is very pleasing. The gray color of the under-dress of
the virgin, with red sleeves, forms an agreeable harmony with the blue
mantle. To judge by the character and drawing, the composition may be
of the early period of Raphael's residence at Rome. In other respects,
this picture admits of no judgment, because many parts have become
quite flat by cleaning, and others are painted over. The landscape is
in a blue-greenish tone, differing from Raphael's manner.
"Of the Roman school I will mention only one more. Christ bearing his
cross, by Andrea Sacchi, a moderate-sized picture from the Orleans
gallery, is one of the capital pictures of this master, in
composition, depth of coloring, and harmony.
"The crown, however, of the whole collection, is Christ appearing to
Mary Magdalene, by Titian. It was formerly in the possession of the
family of Muselli at Verona, and afterward adorned the Orleans
gallery. In the clear, bright, golden tone of the flesh, the careful
execution, the refined feeling, in the impassioned desire of the
kneeling Magdalene to touch the Lord, and the calm, dignified refusal
of the Savior, we recognize the earlier time of this master. The
beautiful landscape, with the reflection of the glowing horizon upon
the blue sea, which is of great importance here, in proportion to the
figures, proves how early Titian obtained extraordinary mastery in
this point, and confirms that he was the first who carried this branch
to a higher degree of perfection. This poetic picture is, on the
whole, in very good preservation; the crimson drapery of the Magdalene
is of unusual depth and fullness. The lower part of the legs of Christ
have, however, suffered a little. The figures are about a third the
size of life.
"The finished sketch for the celebrated picture, known by the name of
La Gloria di Tiziano, which he afterward, by the command of Philip
II., King of Spain, painted for the church of the convent where the
Emperor Charles V. died, is also very remarkable. It is a rich, but
not very pleasing composition. The idea of having the coffin of the
emperor carried up to heaven, where God the Father and Son are
enthroned, is certainly not a happy one. The painting is throughout
excellent, and of a rich, deep tone in the flesh. Unfortunately, it is
not wanting in re-touches. The large picture is now in the Escurial.
"As the genuine pictures of Giorgione are so very rare, I will briefly
mention a young knight, small, full-length, noble and powerful in face
and figure; the head is masterly, treated in his glowing tone; the
armor with great force and clearness in the chiaro-oscuro.
"The original sketch of Tintoretto, for his celebrated picture of St.
Mark coming to the assistance of a martyr, is as spirited as it is
full and deep in the tone.
"The rich man and Lazarus, by Giacomo Bassano, is, in execution and
glow of coloring, approaching to Rembrandt, one of the best pictures
of the master.
"There are some fine cabinet pictures of the school of Carracci: a
Virgin and Child, worshiped by six saints, by Lodovico Carracci, is
one of his most pleasing pictures in imitation of Corregio. Among four
pictures by Domenichino, two landscapes, with the punishment of
Marsyas, and Tobit with the fish, are very attractive, from the poetry
of the composition and the delicacy of the finish. Another likewise
very fine one of Bird-catching, from the Borghese Palace, has
unfortunately turned quite dark. A Christ, by Guido, is broadly and
spiritedly touched in his finest silver tone.
"There is an exquisite little gem by Claude Lorraine. In a soft
evening light, a lonely shepherd, with his peaceful flocks, is playing
the pipe. Of the master's earlier time; admirable in the impasto,
careful and delicate, decided and soft, all in a warm golden tone. In
the Liber Veritatis, marked No. 11. Few pictures inspire like this a
feeling for the delicious stillness of a summer's evening.
"A landscape by Nicolas Poussin, rather large, of a very poetic
composition and careful execution, inspires, on the other hand, in the
brownish silver tone, the sensation of the freshness of morning. There
is quite a reviving coolness in the dark water and under the trees of
the foreground.
"Two smaller historical pictures by Poussin, of his earlier time,
class among his careful and good works.
"Of the Flemish school there are a few, but very good, specimens.
"There is a highly interesting picture by Rubens. During his residence
in Mantua, he was so pleased with the triumph of Julius Cæsar, by
Mantegna, that he made a fine copy of one of the nine pictures. His
love for the fantastic and pompous led him to choose that with the
elephants carrying the candelabra; but his ardent imagination, ever
directed to the dramatic, could not be content with this. Instead of a
harmless sheep, which in Mantegna is walking by the side of the
foremost elephant, Rubens made a lion and a lioness, which growl
angrily at the elephant. The latter, on his part, is not idle, but,
looking furiously round, is on the point of striking the lion a blow
with his trunk. The severe pattern which he had before him in Mantegna
has moderated Rubens in his usually very full forms, so that they are
more noble and slender than they generally are. The coloring, as in
all his earlier pictures, is more subdued than in the later, and yet
powerful. Rubens himself seems to have set much value on this study;
for it was among the effects at his death. During the revolution, Mr.
Champernowne brought it from the Balbi Palace, at Genoa. It is three
feet high, and five feet five inches wide.
"The study for the celebrated picture, the Terrors of War, in the
Pitti Palace at Florence, and respecting which we have a letter in
Rubens's own hand, is likewise well worth notice. Rubens painted this
picture for the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Venus endeavors, in vain, to
keep Mars, the insatiable warrior, as Homer calls him, from war; he
hurries away to prepare indescribable destruction. This picture, one
foot eight inches high, and two feet six and a half inches wide, which
I have seen in the exhibition of the British Institution, is, by the
warmth and power of the coloring, and the spirited and careful
execution, one of the most eminent of Rubens's small pictures of this
period.
"Lastly, there is a Moonlight by him. The clear reflection of the moon
in the water, its effect in the low distance, the contrast of the dark
mass of trees in the foreground, are a proof of the deep feeling for
striking incidents in nature, which was peculiar to Rubens. As in
another picture the flakes of snow were represented, he has here
marked the stars.
"I have now become acquainted with Rembrandt in a new department; he
has painted in brown and white a rather obscure allegory on the
deliverance of the United Provinces from the union of such great
powers as Spain and Austria. It is a rich composition, with many
horsemen. One of the most prominent figures is a lion chained at the
foot of a rock, on which the tree of liberty is growing. Over the rock
are the words, '_Solo Deo gloria_.' The whole is executed with
consummate skill, and the principal effect striking.
"His own portrait, at an advanced age, with very dark ground and
shadows, and, for him, a cool tone of the lights, is to be classed,
among the great number of them, with that in the Bridgewater Gallery;
only it is treated in his broadest manner, which borders on looseness.
"A landscape, with a few trees upon a hill, in the foreground, with a
horseman and a pedestrian in the background, a plain with a bright
horizon, is clearer in the shadows than other landscapes by Rembrandt,
and therefore, with the most powerful effect, the more harmonious.
"Among the drawings I must at least mention some of the finest.
"RAPHAEL. The celebrated Entombment, drawn with the utmost spirit with
the pen. From the Crozat collection. Mr. Rogers gave £120 for it.
"ANDREA DEL SARTO. Some studies in black chalks, for his fresco
paintings in the Chapel del Scalzo. That for the young man who carries
the baggage in the visitation of the Virgin is remarkably animated.
"LUCAS VAN LEYDEN. A pen drawing, executed in the most perfect and
masterly manner, for his celebrated and excessively rare engraving of
the portrait of the Emperor Maximilian I. This wonderful drawing has
hitherto been erroneously ascribed to Albert Durer.
"ALBERT DURER. A child weeping. In chalk, on colored paper, brightened
with white; almost unpleasantly true to reality.
"Among the admirable engravings, I mention only a single female
figure, very delicately treated, which is so entirely pervaded with
the spirit of Francisco Francia, that I do not hesitate to ascribe it
to him. Francia, originally a goldsmith, is well known to have been
peculiarly skilled in executing larger compositions in niello. How
easily, therefore, might it have occurred to him, instead of working
as hitherto in silver, to work with his graver in copper, especially
as in his time the engraving on copper had been brought into more
general use in Italy, by A. Mantegna and others; and Francia had such
energy and diversity of talents that, in his mature age, he
successfully made himself master of the art of painting, which was so
much more remote from his own original profession. Beside this, the
fine delicate lines in which the engraving is executed indicate an
artist who had been previously accustomed to work for niello-plates,
in which this manner is usually practiced. The circumstance, too, that
Marcantonio was educated in the workshop of Francia, is favorable to
the presumption that he himself had practiced engraving.
"Among the old miniatures, that which is framed and glazed and hung
up, representing, in a landscape, a knight in golden armor, kneeling
down, to whom God the Father, surrounded by cherubim and seraphim,
appears in the air, while the damned are tormented by devils in the
abyss, is by far the most important. As has been already observed by
Passavant, it belongs to a series of forty miniatures, in the
possession of Mr. George Brentano, at Frankfort-on-Maine, which were
executed for Maître Etienne Chevalier, treasurer of France under King
Charles VII., and may probably have adorned his prayer-book. They are
by the greatest French miniature painter of the fifteenth century,
Johan Fouquet de Tours, painter to King Louis XI. In regard to the
admirable, spirited invention, which betrays a great master, as well
as the finished execution, they rank uncommonly high.
"An antique bust of a youth, in Carrara marble, which, in form and
expression, resembles the eldest son of Laocoon, is in a very noble
style, uncommonly animated, and of admirable workmanship. In
particular, the antique piece of the neck and the treatment of the
hair are very delicate. The nose and ears are new; a small part of the
chin, too, and the upper lip, are completed in a masterly manner in
wax.
"A candelabrum in bronze, about ten inches high, is of the most
beautiful kind. The lower part is formed by a sitting female figure
holding a wreath. This fine and graceful design belongs to the period
when art was in its perfection. This exquisite relic, which was
purchased for Mr. Rogers, in Italy, by the able connoisseur, Mr.
Millingen, is, unfortunately, much damaged in the epidermis.
"Among the elegant articles of antique ornament in gold, the earrings
and clasps, by which so many descriptions of the ancient poets are
called to mind, there are likewise whole figures beat out in thin gold
leaves. The principal article is a golden circlet, about two and a
half inches in diameter, the workmanship of which is as rich and
skillful as could be made in our times.
"Of the many Greek vases in terra cotta, there are five, some of them
large, in the antique taste, with black figures on a yellow ground,
which are of considerable importance. A flat dish, on the outer side
of which five young men are rubbing themselves with the strigil, and
five washing themselves, yellow on a black ground, is to be classed
with vases of the first rank, for the gracefulness of the invention,
and the beauty and elegance of the execution. In this collection, it
is excelled only by a vase, rounded below, so that it must be placed
in a peculiar stand. The combat of Achilles with Penthesilia is
represented upon it, likewise, in red figures. This composition,
consisting of thirteen figures, is by far the most distinguished, not
only of all representations of the subject, but, in general, of all
representations of combats which I have hitherto seen on vases, in the
beauty and variety of the attitudes, in masterly drawing, as well as
in the spirit and delicacy of the execution. It is in the happy medium
between the severe and the quite free style, so that in the faces
there are some traces of the antique manner."
It remains only to add, that Mr. Rogers has embellished his works with
the same exquisite taste as his house. They are splendid specimens of
typography, and are rich in the most beautiful designs by Stothard and
Turner, from the most celebrated burins of the day. I believe more
than fifty thousand copies of them have been circulated.
[Illustration: Cottage at Sloperton]