Dentatus. This vigorous effort, painted by commission for Lord Mulgrave, evinced the great capabilities of the artist; the story is admirably represented, and the figure of Dentatus is a fine personification of valour, strength, and rage. Treacherously attacked by his own soldiers in a narrow defile, the Roman veteran rushes on his assailants with irresistible fury, determined to sell his life dearly. A villain is seen in the act of hurling from above a huge piece of rock, to crush the hero beneath its ponderous mass. This picture shewed the great improvement which the painter had derived from his assiduous study of the works of Titian at the Marquess of Stafford's, particularly the Diana and Acteon, and the Four Ages. His method was to examine a piece of colour ing, then paint it from recollection at home, and afterwards compare his own performance with that of the master. It was also during the progress of this picture that he first had an opportunity of studying the Elgin marbles, then at Lord Elgin's house in Piccadilly. On the first view of these treasures of art, he declared to Mr. Hamilton that they would overturn the authority of the antique statues, which had till then been regarded as the perfection of art. Canova afterwards confirmed this opinion. From these works, Haydon persevered, indefatigably, in drawing ten, twelve, and even fifteen hours at a time. The Dentatus was designed upon principles derived from these assiduous labours, and obtained the first prize at the British Institution.

Encouraged by this success, Mr. Haydon offered himself as an associate of the Royal Academy; but his reception by some of the academicians was so far from satisfactory, that he relinquished his intention. The impression which this treatment made on his ardent mind, has been often declared to the public most unequivocally in his numerous writings. An additional offence was unfortunately given to him the following year, by the refusal of a place in the great room for his picture of Romeo and Juliet. Upon this new affront, he withdrew his pictures, and commenced a system of open warfare against the academicians, which has ever since been carried on by him and his friends, particularly in the periodical work entitled "Annals of the Fine Arts." We have no doubt that his censures have been too severe and indiscriminate; nevertheless, they have been of that sort

of service, which the vigilance of opposition produces in a free government.

Thus opposed to one of the great national institutions for promoting the fine arts, it might have been expected that he would have courted the favour of the other with obsequious attention. But Haydon was much more an artist than a man of the world. Observing in the Edinburgh Review of August 1810, an article by Mr. Payne Knight, on the works of Barry, which he conceived to be of a pernicious tendency, and calculated both to mislead and discourage young artists, Haydon forgot. that Mr. Payne Knight was a distinguished connoisseur, and director of the British Institution; and came forward in defence of the art, and the memory of a neglected, but great artist, with overwhelming energy and truth, in a series of letters published in the Examiner Sunday newspaper, under the signature of An English Student." Mr. Knight's criticism was certainly a fair object of censure; it appeared to have no other object tnan that of depreciating the greatest efforts of art, and confining the ambition of the painter to a successful imitation of visible objects; and this on a small scale. These absurd dogmas were most successfully controverted by Haydon ; but it is to be feared, that the freedom and poignancy of his style gave offence in a quarter where it was his interest to conciliate. In 1812 he finished the picture of Macbeth for Sir George Beaumont, and sent it to the British Gallery to compete for the prize.

66

But the directors unanimously voted, that no picture worthy of their prizes of 300 or 200 guineas had been exhibited; and adding those premiums together, purchased with the amount the picture of Christ healing the Blind, by Mr. Richter. This disappointment was by no means alleviated by the considerate offer made by the Institution to allow Mr. Haydon thirty guineas for his frame, which proposal was indignantly refused.

At this time Mr. Haydon was nearly destitute. The purchaser of his picture had not taken it, in consequence of some misunderstanding about the size. He no longer received any assistance from his family; and was engaged on his great picture of the Judgment of Solomon, without any prospect of support during its progress. Few artists would have resisted such an accumulation of motives for employing their talents in the lucrative business of portrait

painting. Haydon hesitated for some time, but nobly determined to adhere to the more elevated pursuit, and strenuously persevered, under the pressure of great privations, in finishing his picture. His efforts proved injurious to his health, which has never since been completely re-established.

Whatever might have been Mr. Haydon's errors, every member of the directory of the British Institution must have felt, on witnessing the exhibition of the Judgment of Solomon, how completely that establishment had abandoned the objects of its institution, in abandoning an artist capable of producing such a work. As some reparation, they now voted him a present of 100 guineas. It is unnecessary for us to describe the picture, which is almost as well known in this country as the subject it represents, and will be regarded centuries hence with a degree of admiration which twenty years ago it was scarcely hoped that a British picture would ever elicit. Its depth, harmony, and richness, as a picture, can scarcely be excelled; it is designed in a style of simple grandeur; it contains nothing like bombast on the one hand, or meanness on the other; the variety of expression which the subject so liberally affords is faithfully and nobly rendered; the easy dignity, and prompt unerring sagacity of the youthful monarch are admirably conceived; the contrasted countenances and attitudes of the mothers, the living and dead child, the figure of the executioner, and even the subordinate personages, are all admirable. The figures are neither crowded nor scattered; they are contrasted, but not ostentatiously or affectedly. We are not to learn that unqualified praise is often indicative only of the critic's ignorance; but the faults of this work are so trifling in comparison with its merits that they have faded from our memory, while the beauties remain indelibly impressed. The Mayor and Commonalty of the Borough of Plymouth, Haydon's native town, voted him the freedom of their corporation as a testimony of their admiration of his talents, and particularly of "The Judgment of Solomon."

The appearance of this work at the Exhibition of the Society of Painters in Water-colours at Spring Gardens, was an era in the history of the fine arts of this country. It was hailed with general admiration and delight, as a national success. The Royal Academy would now have received the painter with pleasure; but he determined to remain

unconnected with public bodies. His picture being advantageously sold, he visited Paris for the restoration of his health at that favourable period, in 1814, when the choicest works of art, the spoils of all the Continental nations, enriched the Louvre, while the city itself abounded in objects of study and interest for a painter, in the concourse of military from all parts of Europe, and some of Asia, which filled its streets.

On his return to England he commenced his grand historical work, lately exhibited in Piccadilly, from the scriptural subject of "Christ's Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem." But a general debility and extreme weakness of sight with which he was afflicted during almost the whole of 1815, retarded the progress of this work. About this time Canova visited England, and became acquainted with Haydon, who afterwards sent him a cast of the Ilyssus. In the following year, when the purchase of the Elgin marbles became a subject of parliamentary discussion, Lord Elgin requested that Mr. Haydon, whom he knew to be well acquainted with those works, should be examined. But Mr. Haydon was not called; and this neglect has always been ascribed by his friends to the influence of Mr. Payne Knight. This gentleman had long previously declared his unfavourable opinion of these marbles in his "Specimens of Ancient Sculpture, published by the Dilettanti Society," pronouncing them to be "merely architectural sculptures, executed from the designs of Phidias, under his directions probably, by workmen scarcely ranked among artists." As he gave a similar opinion in his examination before the select committee of the House of Commons, Haydon came forward eagerly in their defence, nothing loth, we suspect, to have another round with his old antagonist. He accordingly published a letter, entitled "The Judgment of Connoisseurs upon Works of Art compared with that of Professional Men; in reference more particularly to the Elgin Marbles." With more justice than prudence this enthusiastic artist declared, that the patrons of art laboured under the disadvantage of a defective education, since painting formed no part of their studies; and that when they have occasion to appreciate works of art, being too proud to consult the artist of genius, they resign their judgment to the gentlemen of pretension." He reminds them that in no other professions but those of the fine arts, is the opinion of amateurs pre

ferred to that of professors; and concludes by declaring, that while he lives, or has an intellect to detect a difference, or a hand to write, he will never suffer a leading man to put forth pernicious sophisms on art without doing his best to refute them, or unjustly to censure fine works by opinions, without doing his best to expose them; that is, if they be of sufficient consequence to endanger the public taste. This pamphlet caused a very strong sensation among the patrons and professors of the fine arts, and probably influenced the decision to which this country is indebted for the possession of the noblest works of antiquity. The President of the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburgh wrote to Haydon in 1818, on the subject of the Elgin marbles; at the same time sending him two beautiful casts. In return, the English artist presented the Russian with two casts from the Elgin marbles. In a former part of this volume* we have fully expressed our opinion of Mr. Haydon's picture of Christ's Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem. It has received from other writers approbation still more unqualified than ours. We are happy to record Mrs. Siddons's entire approbation of the expression of the principal figure, the only point on which we felt it difficult to enter into the conceptions of the painter; such an authority would greatly overbalance that of all us periodical critics together. We are not, how ever, in possession of the reasons on which that lady's opinion is founded, while our own have been candidly stated to our readers. The subscription raising by the Marquess of Stafford, Sir C. Long, Sir G. Beaumont, Lord Mulgrave, Lord Ashburnham, the Bishop of London, and other distinguished patrons of the arts, for the public purchase of this grand picture, is a touchstone which will try the real state of British knowledge and feeling on the subject of the fine arts. If it should not be completely successful, the absurdities of the Edin

burgh Review †, which has revived (for the sake of contradiction) the old exploded doctrine of the influence of climate, will actually gain some attention; and the writer who has amused himself with calling the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem salem" the ground-work and scaffolding of a noble picture, but no more," and tells us that our artists want only "to have their pictures exhibited and sold," will no longer appear so pre-eminently dull as at present. But we hope for better things. Leaving the worthy reviewer out of the question, the taste of the British public, as well as the British artists, has increased, is increasing, and will increase.

The multitudes who crowded Haydon's exhibition-room during the whole of last summer, afford the best refutation of those who would persuade us that the fine arts are not the natural growth of our country. We learn, with much satisfaction, that another proof in our favour will shortly be forthcoming, in a picture of Christ's agony in the garden, which Haydon is now painting for Mr. Phillips, M.P., and will be exhibited in the spring. He is also employed on a picture of the Raising of Lazarus, of 19 feet by 144, also to be exhibited when finished.

The private character of this artist has not been spared in the acrimonious contests which have been alluded to in the preceding pages. Unable to resist the proofs of his talents as a painter, some adversaries have called him a radical reformer, and others a deist. We believe that, when he has found associates of talent and worth, he has seldom inquired into their opinions on politics and religion. As to his own, we have reason to know that he is sincerely attached to the British constitution, and considers the principal reform of which it is capable to be an extension of national encouragement to historical painting. So much for his politics. His religion may be discovered in his pictures.

SIR,-We live in the age of alembicated systems, and the plainest matters become the subjects of far-fetched researches; so that, while by poring over our books we have, physically, become

* P. 72.

myopic, and can with difficulty preserve our heads from a post, we are, metaphorically, increasing every day in longsightedness, and are as telescopic in our notions as the inhabitants of Laputa.

Edin. Rev. No. 67. Art. IV.

comes grave or gay, morose or goodhumoured, in the combined ratio of their quantity and quality. Follow this same gentleman to the theatre when his favourite actress is on the stage, you will find his soul concentrated in his eyes. At a concert it shifts to his ears; and though I do not think with Horace that it can actually take a hop, step, and jump, from Thebes to Athens, while the body remains tranquilly sitting in the front row of the pit; yet am I perfectly convinced that it can extend itself from the hand into a dice-box, or a pack of cards, and suffer the most extraordinary sympathetic perturbations from their shufflings and revolutions.

It is however not less true that there

are certain parts in each individual which the soul habitually prefers (whether by the force of habit, or by innate peculiarity, this deponent saith not), removing occasionally from part to part, but returning speedily to its favourite spot; just as the master of the house visits his stables and offices, but lives in his drawing-room or library. No one will, I presume, deny that the soul of a dandy, though generally expanded over the surface of his body, resides more especially in the neck; passing from the skin to the innermost folds of the cravat, and animating it with a living grace of stiffness that starch alone could never effect. Neither will it be disputed that the soul of the warm men, of the other end of the town, lurks about the upper part of the thigh; since the fact is proved by the great air of satisfaction with which their hand ever and anon buries itself in the breeches pocket, and this idea is confirmed by the habit of such persons, when at a loss for an argument, of seeking their wits in the same quarter, and trusting the victory to the argumentum ad crumenam, a large wager. Thus the soul of a pickpocket resides chiefly in his finger's ends, the soul of a lover in his lips, the soul of a gourmand in his palate, and the soul of a critic in his eye-brows. So strongly indeed was St. Augustin convinced of this truth, that he makes it an argument to refute a prevalent opinion among the ancients that the human soul was in substance a portion of the divinity. "Ita non eos movet tanta mutabilitas animæ, quam Dei naturæ tribuere nefas est." After such an authority it is hardly necessary to cite the case of acephalous monsters, which being born alive must have souls, but which having no brains for them to inhabit, would embrace

incompatibilities if this faculty of locomotion be obstinately denied to their animating principle.

Taking the species however in the general, and passing over the peculiarities of individuals, I am inclined to trace the finer and more subtle of the soul's faculties to the stomach; an opinion, indeed, of which I cannot claim the merit, since it is to be traced in the authors of the greatest acumen in all ages.

Magister artis ingenique largitor
Venter.

The stomach, says Aretæus, takes the lead in our pleasures and pains; and we know this organ to be the centre of so many sympathies, that we are irresistibly compelled to make it the headquarters of animation. So also Virgil uses hunger for desire, Auri sacra FAMES; and the Roman satirist, in endeavouring to exalt the intellectual subtlety of the Greeks to the highest pitch, takes care to indicate the state of the gastric

organs

Græculus esuriens, in cœlum jusseris, ibit.

The analogies between the intellectual and gastric functions are very many. A man is said to be at his wits end, when he wants a dinner; and it is upon this occasion that Plautus energizes the intellects of his parasite, making him say, unum ridiculum dictum de dictis melioribus. As a little learning is a dangerous thing, and too much drives a man mad, so the stomach is equally embarrassed with too small or too large a supply of nutriment. If this analogy did not subsist, why, it may be asked, are we so cross the last half-hour before dinner, when that dinner is protracted by a lingerer? and why so pleasant after a full meal?

Farther proof of this verity lies in that judicious practice of students at law and of fellow-commoners, who eat their way to university and legal honours; a practice totally inexplicable without this close and necessary connexion between the intellect and the stomach. The common language of mankind points to the same truth in the frequent recurrence of metaphors founded upon the hypothesis: Digests of law, constipated imaginations, undigested ideas, feasts of reason, hunger and thirst after righteousness, are phrases which pass current alike among the learned and the vulgar. So likewise we are told not to stomach an insult; and we are sick of an argument, when it does not meet our