LETTER XIV. TO MR. TAYLOR. I MUST not omit mentioning to you the powerful impression produced on me by Flaxman's groupe of Michael subduing the rebellious archangel. Of all the English sculptors, Flaxman has best fulfilled the true vocation of the artist, by labouring for the glory of art, rather than for the celebrity of individuals. When very young he produced some excellent bas-reliefs in Italy, and he early distinguished himself for correctness of design, a point which had been much neglected by his predeces sors. Flaxman's figures possess more ideal beauty than those of Bacon, though the females of the latter are truly angelic. Bacon has acquired great reputation by his mausoleum of Sterne's Eliza and Whitbread's monument: the latter, however, is evidently copied from the monument of Richelieu, by Girardon. With regard to Bacon's works it may be observed, that there is in general a certain degree of confusion in his groupes, and obscurity in his allegories, and that some of his statues present an awkward imitation of modern costume. Flaxman has a more exquisite percep. tion of the beautiful. His mausoleum of Collins, and his monuments of Lords Mansfield, Home and Abercrombie, bear evidence of pure and decided talent. I have heard high praise bestowed on his statue of Washington; and it cannot be doubted that the English sculptor, who has formed the most correct conceptions of the antique, was well qualified to produce an accurate representation of the modern Epaminondas, who bears so many traits of resemblance to the great men whose exalted virtues and simple manners are described by Plutarch. His continual study and imitation of the monuments of antiquity, have procured for Flaxman the surname of the Racine of sculpture; a compliment which is probably greater than those by whom it has been conferred intend it to bero Nothing can be more false than parallels between such opposite kinds of talent and style. The poet creates a whole drama; the sculptor, who is still more restricted than the painter, can at most represent only a single scene. However, Flaxman's profound knowledge of his art, his devoted admiration of the master-pieces of Greece, and his chaste, correct, and dignified style, prove that the complimentary comparison is in some measure just. Flaxman has published a series of drawings, which may be truly called studies of Homer and Æschylus. He is, in short, à classic artist must we therefore infer that he is deficient in imagination and originality ? If so, he would* present only one point of resemblance to Racine, who studied nature; while Flaxman has studied the ancients more than nature. The works of Racine present an exquisite grace, sensibility, and His drawings from Dante are no less excellent. finish, which do not exist in an equal degree in Flaxman's sculpture. I readily admit that his statues and groupes are characterized by the taste of the author of Phædra, but the genius of Racine is wanting. The important monuments of London seem to be chiefly consigned to Mr. Westmacott. This artist excels in grace and harmony of contour. He ought perhaps to devote himself wholly to the representation of nymphs. His Achilles, which has been erected as a monument to the Duke of Wellington, is merely a colossal Adonis. Westmacott would have succeeded better in representing the youthful hero grouped with the daughters of King Lycomedes. Who would believe that this gladiator Achilles could ever have deceived Doedamia and her companions, under the disguise of a female ?* Perhaps Westmacott's master-piece is his monu. ment of Fox expiring in the arms of Liberty. The dying statesman is represented with upraised eyes, as if taking his last sad farewell of the goddess. At his feet is Peace lamenting the loss of him who so constantly pleaded her cause, and an African on his knees, expresses his gratitude to the independent minister, whose brief administration * This colossal statue, which is erected in Hyde Park, as a monument to the Duke of Wellington, represents Achilles raising his shield. The illusion is somewhat forced. The ladies who subscribed for the monument, affirm that the artist did not consult them respecting this allegorical statue; and that it was completed before the subscription was set on foot. A great outcry has been raised against the undraped figure of Achilles. was distinguished by the abolition of the slave trade. In the kneeling figure the artist has preserved the characteristics of the African form and features, while he has imparted to them an air of dignity and mildness, which powerfully illustrate the truth of Mr. Wilberforce's remark, that the negro, as well as the white man, was created after God's own image. To close my observations on the English sculptors, I may repeat with my interlocutor Sir William, that Chantry is the only one among them who is distinguished for true originality; since, even in his most trivial productions, he so ably blends truth with poetry, adorning the figures of his children with the captivating graces of inge. nuousness, delicacy, and innocence, and fixing on his busts the smile, the fleeting thought, the glance of enthusiasm, or the grave expression of meditation. Is it not to be regretted that a man of such exquisite talent should lose sight of his real destination, and content himself with being merely a sculptor of busts? Is it not also a subject of regret that England does not open her eyes to her own glory, and employ Chantry's immortal chisel on some great national subject ? Instances of misapplied talent are, unfortunately, but too frequent: thus we find that Sir Thomas Lawrence, the president of the Royal Academy, confines his ambition to being a portrait painter. I may add, that of all the English sculptors, Chantry possesses the most matured powers of genius, while he is, at the same time, the youngest in reputation. MORE civil, though no less partial than the rest of his countrymen, the traveller Paul, who you know is no other than the Great Unknown himself, has applied certain contemptuous epithets to our national school of painting, while at the same time he admits that it has produced artists' of the very first class. By a just retaliation ́it would be easy to prove to England that she has hitherto possessed neither a school of painting, nor first-rate artists. On examining the collections of some of the English nobility, which contain more master-pieces than the villas and galleries of Italy, and which would probably suffice to supply ten establishments such as our Louvre, one is almost tempted to believe that national pride has whispered to England the advice which the muse of Virgil addressed to the Romans: Excudent alii spirantia molliùs æra, &c. Eneid VI. The history of the early progress of English painting, up to the reign of Henry VIII., can only be interesting to the antiquary. Actuated by a kind of Egyptian vanity, Henry VII. secured the glory of his mausoleum by the encouragement |