edly at the head of this department of art, and is distinguished by his poetical invention, and the elegance of his taste. Messrs Bacon, Banks, Rossi, and Westmacott, are also artists of great eminence; and to this enumeration may be added several junior professors, such as Messrs Bailey, Bubb, Martin, Joseph, &c. whose taste and genius promise to maintain the reputation of their school.

As sculpture has never been much employed as an auxiliary to architecture in our public and private buildings, its sources of encouragement, and consequently the number of its professors, are very limited. The best, and indeed almost only specimens of English sculpture, must be looked for among the monumental works, sometimes erected to the memory of opulent individuals, or sometimes at the public expense, in honour of statesmen, or naval and military leaders who have distinguished them selves by their eminent services or brilliant exploits. Mr Nollekins has long been celebrated for the taste and elegance of his busts of individuals, and Mr Chantry, by the strength of character and expression which he gives to his heads, has brought this part of his art to the greatest perfection. We cannot conclude our observations on sculpture without noticing the models of Mr Garrard. They consist principally of animals, cattle, deer, &c. and are remarkable for their correctness of form, strength of character, and spirited action.

SECTION VIII.

Progress of Engraving from the middle of the 18th Century to the present Time.

The art of engraving, which, till the middle of the last century, was

chiefly practised by foreigners, and limited to portraits and book cuts, began about this time to be cultivated successfully by natives, and even to aspire at higher objects. Chatelain, Wood, Major, Granville, and others, engraved landscape in a style of great spirit and character, of which the collection published by Knapton_and Pond, after S. Poussin, Claude Lor raine, &c. afford admirable specimens. Vivares, a native of Montpelier, recei ved his instructions as an artist from Chatelain, in London, and his works form an era in landscape engraving; to great truth of nature, and delicacy and depth of effect, they unite spirited execution and variety of character. They are taken from the landscapes of the great Italian masters, particu larly Claude Lorraine, whose depth and brilliancy of effect, and graceful style of foliage, he most successfully imitated. Although Vivares has been excelled by Woollett, and several of the French school, in polished execu tion and high finishing, he has never been surpassed in the painter-like feeling, and sound taste, which distinguish his works. They are brought up to great effect with the aquafortis, and deepened and harmonized by the graver and dry point.

Contemporary with Vivares, was Woollett, a native of Kent. His style is an admirable union of the bold, spirited, and picturesque manner of Vivares, with the high finishing and regular execution of Balechou, without his hardness and wireyness of line; by the scientific union of the aquafortis, graver, and dry point, he gave vigour, firmness, and variety of surface and texture to his fore-grounds, and delicacy to his skies and distances. Besides landscapes, from R. Wilson, Claude Lorraine, &c. he engraved several historical subjects and portraits which shew the versatility of his genius, and the variety of his attain

ments. Landscape engraving had been long cultivated by the various schools of art, and in its progress each added something to its improvement, but this is the true era of its perfection. The works of Cornelius Cort, after Muziano da Brescia, of Bols. wert after Rubens, of Baudet after Poussin, and of Balechou after Vernet, exhibit various degrees of excellence, as attained solely by the graver. The works of Cort are executed with a firm vigorous stroke, but as at that time the tinting of the lights was not known, the effect of the chiar 'oscuro and local colour are not attempted. In the landscapes of Bolswert we see the same imperfections, but in a smaller degree, as he was necessarily led to convey as much of the brilliant effect of the originals as the unmanageable nature of the instrument, and the imperfect knowledge he had of what the art was capable of, would permit. The landscapes of Baudet are a great step towards perfection, there is considerable power of local colour and chiar' oscuro, and much fine detail and minute character; there is, however, all the heaviness peculiar to works of this description, executed entirely with the graver; and a want of that spirit, and variety of texture, which the point only can give. The three landscapes of Balechou display the highest excellence of execution, clearness of cutting, and smoothness of surface, but the heaviness and uniformity of character is not obviated. By carrying on his works with the aquafortis and point, and leaving no thing to the graver but to deepen his tints and harmonize his effect, Vivares accomplished a great and important revolution in the art, and laid the foundation of the great superiority which we conceive the English school of landscape possesses over every other. Vivares evidently aimed only at giving a spirited and faithful transcript of the

picture he copied, without being solicitous to add the attractions of smoothness of workmanship, and accordingly his works have more the feeling of the painter than the laborious mechanism of the engraver.

John Brown, a native of Oxford, is one of the greatest artists, in the department of landscape, who have appeared in England; his plates are executed in a bold and spirited style, with the aquafortis, and finished with the graver. His plates are of a large size, and have great firmness and vigour, but they want the delicacy of Woollett. He was occasionally employed by Woollett in etching his plates, an office for which the boldness and spirit of his manner peculiarly qualified him.

Sir Robert Strange is the first British artist that excelled in historical engraving: he was a native of Orkney, but received his first instructions from Cooper, of Edinburgh; he afterwards studied some time in London, and finally became a pupil of Le Bas, at Paris. He is distinguished for his bold, vigorous, and at the same time delicate style of execution, for the depth and variety of his local colour, and the harmony of his effect. By the judicious union of the point and the graver, he produced an effect of softness and delicacy in his female flesh which no other engraver has ever attained, and which forms one of the greatest excellencies of his works; his drawing, however, is feeble and incorrect, and the extremities of his figures, particularly of his females, are very defective in point of precision of form, and firmness of marking. The engravings of Sir R. Strange are about fifty in number, and consist of subjects taken from pictures of Raffaile, Coreggio, and other distinguished masters of the Italian schools, and a very beautiful and spirited print after Wovermans, called "Retour du Marché,”

executed, if we may judge from the style, while under the tuition of Le Bas. Ravenet, Ryland, Basire, Hall, Earlom, Legat, and V. Green, were contemporary artists of great merit in the historical line.

Ravenet was a native of France, but as he settled in England, and as his style is bold, firm, and manly, and purely English, he must be considered as belonging to this school.

Ryland was a pupil of Ravenet, and afterwards resided sometime at Paris for his improvement. At that time he executed several plates after Boucher, then president of the French Academy, the most celebrated of which is his Jupiter and Leda, a work of large size, and usually considered the best of all his plates; it displays great power in the management of his tool, and has a fine transparent tone, with much of Ravenet's solidity, united to the delicacy and lightness of style of the French school. The soft firmness of the flesh is ably characterized in the figure of Leda, and the delicacy of the swan, and the various textures of the surrounding objects, are most judiciously rendered. With such talents and attainments, it is to be regretted that Ryland, on his return to England, gave himself up entirely to stippling, or the dotted manner, which he had learned in France, and which from its novelty met too great a share of the public encouragement, and long maintained it to the great prejudice of legitimate engraving.

J. Hall is best known by his three great plates of the Battle of the Boyne, Penn's Treaty with the Indians, and Cromwell Dissolving the Long Parliament, all after Mr West, which are highly esteemed.

Richard Earlom has contributed largely to the advancement of the art in England, and during a long life practised it with unremitting industry and great success. His works afford

specimens of almost every variety of style, and in every department of art, historical subjects and portraits in the line manner, in mezzotinto, etchings, landscapes, &c. in which he has united the practical skill of the engraver to the taste and feeling of the painter.

Legat had been a pupil of A. Bell of Edinburgh, but he seems to have adopted the style of Strange as his model, and became one of the most eminent artists of his time. As he died early in life, his works are not numerous, but they are generally of a considerable size; they are executed in a fine finished style. His principal plates are, Continence of Scipio, after Poussin; a scene from Hamlet, after West; one from King Lear, after Barry,-the two latter engraved for the Shakespeare gallery; Mary Queen of Scots resigning her Crown, after Hamilton.

Valentine Green was the first British artist who executed historical works in mezzotinto, to which he chiefly directed his attention; his plates are in general of a large size, and are finely executed.

Captain Baillie devoted himself to the study of the Dutch school, and executed about a hundred plates after Rembrandt, Ostade, &c. Without the strong expression and firm rich style of execution of Rembrandt, who was his model, the plates of Captain Baillie command our admiration by the fidelity with which they render the character of their originals, by the harmony and breadth of their chiar' oscuro, and the beauty of their execution.

T. Worlidge, a miniature and portrait painter, also executed a number of heads, etched in imitation of Rembrandt, and a set of antique gems, which are now become valuable.

Paul Sandby, the landscape painter, is entitled to most respectful notice in this place, for his etchings, which he

executed in a light spirited manner; and also as being the first who introduced aquatinta engraving into England. His plates in this manner are spirited, and have a fine effect. Aquatinta from this time was much practised in landscape, and particularly in book decorations. Jukes was the next artist in this style, but his works are more numerous than beautiful. It has been brought to great perfection by several artists of the present day, namely, W. Daniel, Alken, F. C. and P. R. Lewis, Bluck, Stadler, Fielding, &c.

The chalk or dotted manner which was introduced by Ryland, as above noticed, soon acquired the public favour, and for a length of time maintained its estimation, to the great detriment of the art; and it is much to be regretted, that the fashion carried away many artists whose talents were worthy of being devoted to much higher objects. Even Bartolozzi, so admirable a draftsman, and whose ce. lebrated plate of Clytie, after A. Caracci, ranks him among the greatest of engravers in the line manner, sacrificed his great talents in executing in the stipple manner the common-place subjects of Angelica Kauffmann, and other works, which, after enjoying an ephemeral reputation, are now forgotten. L. Schiavonetti also, so learned in design and so fine a genius, also sacrificed his fame in the same manner; his last plate was the etching of Chaucer's Pilgrims, which if he had lived to finish, would have been a lasting monument of his taste and science in the most difficult department of the art. Nicolas Schiavonetti also fol. lowed his brother's footsteps, both in his great attention to the study of design, and the unfortunate misapplication of his talents to the chalk manner. His portrait of Sir Joseph Banks after Phillips, engraved in the line manner, will be sufficient to redeem

his reputation, and be a memorial of the greatness of his talents as an artist, and of his skill in the mechanism of his art.

The chalk manner, though comparatively fallen into desuetude, is still much employed in small portraits, and occasionally in historical works. Amongst the artists who devoted themselves to this manner, are Scriven, Collyer, Tomkins, Holl, Vendramini, Agar, Woolnoth, &c. ; to which enumeration we may add the name of the late Caroline Watson, whose small portraits in this manner are distinguished by extraordinary power of effect and richness of style.

The reputation of the English school of engraving is still ably maintained by the number and abilities of the present race of artists, and is fully attested by the works of Sharp, Holloway, Bromley, Heath, Fittler, Raimbach, Burnett, and many others; but the taste for historical works and heroic landscape now no longer exists, and the talents of our engravers have for a long time been directed to topographical subjects, architectural antiquities, vignettes, and other book decorations, which, although they have tended little to improve the taste or extend the boundaries of art, have at least displayed much beautiful execution. It is to be hoped, however, that the revolutions of public taste, aided by the patriotic influence of the British Institution, will again revive a taste for higher objects of art.

The taste for illustrating and decorating books has afforded by far the most extensive employment to the engravers of the English school; and the small plates of Warren, Fittler, A. Smith, Landseer, and others, in the historical line; and of Byrne, Middiman, Le Keux, Milton, &c. in landscape, are specimens of art which cannot be equalled by any works of a similar kind in Europe.

Mezzotinto engraving is much practised for portraits, and is well adapted for imitating the bold broad effect of the English school, and sometimes for historical subjects, and even landscapes. Among those who have excelled in historical subjects, are W. Ward, Walker, and Earlom; in portrait, are Say, Hodgetts, C. Turner, Meyer, and many others.-Earlom's Liber Veritatis after Claude Lorraine, and the Liber Studiorum after Turner, are admirable specimens of the application of mezzotinto engraving to landscape.

We have already noticed the advantages which the arts of Britain derived from the enterprizing spirit of the late Messrs Boydells, who, for more than half a century, carried on the business of print-publishers to an extent that has no parallel, and which, as affording the chief employment to almost all the greatest engravers who have flourished during that period, has been more beneficial to the arts than perhaps all the patronage of the country besides. The works which they have published are, in general, from the great Italian masters, as well as from the most distinguished of our own countrymen, and have roused the genius and extended the reputation of Vivares, Woollet, Hall, Sharp, Brown, Legat, Heath, Earlom, and the other eminent artists of the time.

The art of engraving on wood, which is the most ancient mode of the art, has been brought to great perfection in our own time, as far as relates to neatness of execution, and is now solely applied to book decorations. The art of crossing the lines, which was practised with so much freedom and apparent facility by the early masters of the German and Italian schools, Albert Durer, Wolgemuth, Andrea Andreani, Antonio da Trenta, Ugo da Carpi, &c. is now entirely lost. We shall presently take notice of Mr Li

SECTION IX.

Present State of Architecture.

The grand and simple style of the Grecian architecture, which has in our time been very much cultivated in England, has produced a most decided and beneficial change in the taste of our artists, which is characterized by a purity and elegance that it had never till now attained, and from which we may reasonably hope to derive the most satisfactory results. A few magnificent buildings now begin to rise in the metropolis, and various parts of the country, which exemplify the finest principles of Grecian art, and are distinguished for their breadth of effect, and the massive grandeur of their parts. But while we congratu late ourselves on this happy triumph of legitimate art, we have to regret the intrusion of a rival pretender, who, with no other recommendation than novelty and the gaudy meretricious finery on which she is tricked out, has exerted a most pernicious influence over the public mind; we allude to the Gothic or castellated style, which has been applied to the mansions of the nobility, as well as cottages, cow. houses, dog-kennels, lodges, &c.

The first principle in architecture is, that the style, disposition, and or