On Saturday, the 11th, there was a private view of four new pictures, by
Stanfield and Roberts, at this very interesting lounge. They consist of
1. _The City of York, with the Minster on fire_--a picturesque view of
the cathedral, with a mimic display of the conflagration, the accuracy of
which will make the property-man of the Opera tremble.
2. _The Temple of Apollinopolis, in Egypt_, a magnificent picture of
Egyptian architecture--"noble in decay." The splendid leaved capitals of
the pillars reminded us of the following, which we had that morning read
in the _Journal of a Naturalist_:--"No portion of creation," says the
author, "has been resorted to by mankind with more success for the
ornament and decoration of their labours, than the vegetable world. The
rites, emblems, and mysteries of religion; national achievements,
eccentric marks, and the capricious visions of fancy, have all been
wrought by the hand of the sculptor, on the temple, the altar, or the
tomb; but plants, their foliage, flowers, or fruits, as the most
graceful, varied, and pleasing objects that meet our view, have been more
universally the object of design, and have supplied the most beautiful,
and perhaps the earliest, embellishments of art. The pomegranate, the
almond, and flowers, were selected even in the wilderness, and by divine
appointment, to give form to the sacred utensils; the rewards of merit,
the wreath of the victor, were arboraceous; in later periods, the
acanthus, the ivy, the lotus, the vine, the palm, and the oak, flourished
under the chisel, or beneath the loom of the artist; and in modern days,
the vegetable world affords the almost exclusive decorations of ingenuity
and art."
3. _Entrance to the Village of Virex, in Italy_--a pleasing picture of
what may be termed _an architectural village_; for some of the dwellings
almost approach to palaces, and others have a conventual character, which
harmonizes with the sublime beauties of nature which rise around them.
4. _Interior of St. Saveur, in Normandy._ As an architectural picture we
are not disposed to rate this so highly as the two preceding.
The alternations of light and shade are admirably managed in all of them,
among which a flood of light streaming through one of the cathedral
windows will be much admired. The size of each picture is 70 feet by
50--and the four may be seen for _one shilling!_
Below stairs, the fine group from Reubens's Descent from the Cross, and
Albert Durer's Carvings of the Life of the Virgin Mary, still continue
open.
Another exhibition, _Trepado, or Cut-Paper Work_, to use a vulgar phrase,
"cut out" all the work of the kind we have ever seen. We have a sister
very ingenious in these matters; but her productions, compared with the
cuttings of the Oxford-street Bazaar, are as John Nash with Michael
Angelo. These cuttings are in imitation of Line Engraving, comprising
sixteen pictures, cut with scissars, among which are the Lord's
Supper--Conversion of St. Paul--The Battle of Alexander--A Portrait of
his Majesty George IV., &c. They are almost the counterfeit presentment
of pencil-drawings, such as Varley and Brookman and Langdon could not
excel. Yet these are cut with scissars! A greater exercise of patience,
to say the least of it, we scarcely know. Every one who wishes to cut a
figure in the world ought to learn this art; and certain fair cutters may
by this means spread even stronger meshes than these paper nets. We mean
to see them again, although we have too many _cuttings_ to make for the
gratification of our readers to allow us to enter into the _Trepado_
study _con amore_--and so with this recommendation, we _cut_ the subject.
We, however, expect to meet scores of our Easter friends in the Bazaar;
and there is no similar establishment in London where so much may be seen
for so little money.
The Bazaar has lately been extended for a suite of rooms for the
exhibition of Household Furniture, for sale. There are already several
handsome specimens--many of them fit for the splendid palaces building in
the Regent's Park. If the reader be one of those who "meditate on
muffineers and plan pokers," he will enjoy this part of the Bazaar. In
all the Parisian bazaars, there is an abundance of _meubles_ and you get
accommodated with a newspaper and a chair, as the Street-publishers say,
"for the small charge of one penny:" might it not be so here, or is an
Englishman obliged to read and drink (not think) at the same time?
The counters of the Bazaar are abundantly stocked with _bijouterie_ and
nic-nacs, the _Nouveautes de Paris_ and Spitalfields--Canton in China,
and Leatherlane in Holborn--toy-carts for children, and fleecy hosiery
for old folks--puffs and pastry, and the last new song--inkstands,
taper-lights, pen-wipers, perfumed sealing-wax, French hair-paper,
curling-wheels--and all the fair ammunition of love and madness. If you
leave your purse at home, or, what is worse, if you have left your money,
you know not where, remember Bishop Berkley, and console yourself with
the reflection that all these things were made for your enjoyment, and
that all around are striving to please you. This will be no trifling
source of pleasure--it will fill your head and fill your heart with
joy--leave the _pockets_ to grosser minds.
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