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culture that are regarded by many as true essentials。  He writes

about La Gioconda; and early French poets and the Italian

Renaissance。  He loves Greek gems; and Persian carpets; and

Elizabethan translations of CUPID AND PSYCHE; and the

HYPNEROTOMACHIA; and book…binding and early editions; and wide…

margined proofs。  He is keenly sensitive to the value of beautiful

surroundings; and never wearies of describing to us the rooms in

which he lived; or would have liked to live。  He had that curious

love of green; which in individuals is always the sign of a subtle

artistic temperament; and in nations is said to denote a laxity; if

not a decadence of morals。  Like Baudelaire he was extremely fond

of cats; and with Gautier; he was fascinated by that 'sweet marble

monster' of both sexes that we can still see at Florence and in the

Louvre。



There is of course much in his descriptions; and his suggestions

for decoration; that shows that he did not entirely free himself

from the false taste of his time。  But it is clear that he was one

of the first to recognise what is; indeed; the very keynote of

aesthetic eclecticism; I mean the true harmony of all really

beautiful things irrespective of age or place; of school or manner。

He saw that in decorating a room; which is to be; not a room for

show; but a room to live in; we should never aim at any

archaeological reconstruction of the past; nor burden ourselves

with any fanciful necessity for historical accuracy。  In this

artistic perception he was perfectly right。  All beautiful things

belong to the same age。



And so; in his own library; as he describes it; we find the

delicate fictile vase of the Greek; with its exquisitely painted

figures and the faint 'Greek text which cannot be reproduced'

finely traced upon its side; and behind it hangs an engraving of

the 'Delphic Sibyl' of Michael Angelo; or of the 'Pastoral' of

Giorgione。  Here is a bit of Florentine majolica; and here a rude

lamp from some old Roman tomb。 On the table lies a book of Hours;

'cased in a cover of solid silver gilt; wrought with quaint devices

and studded with small brilliants and rubies;' and close by it

'squats a little ugly monster; a Lar; perhaps; dug up in the sunny

fields of corn…bearing Sicily。'  Some dark antique bronzes contrast

with the pale gleam of two noble CHRISTI CRUCIFIXI; one carved in

ivory; the other moulded in wax。'  He has his trays of Tassie's

gems; his tiny Louis…Quatorze BONBONNIERE with a miniature by

Petitot; his highly prized 'brown…biscuit teapots; filagree…

worked;' his citron morocco letter…case; and his 'pomona…green'

chair。



One can fancy him lying there in the midst of his books and casts

and engravings; a true virtuoso; a subtle connoisseur; turning over

his fine collection of Mare Antonios; and his Turner's 'Liber

Studiorum;' of which he was a warm admirer; or examining with a

magnifier some of his antique gems and cameos; 'the head of

Alexander on an onyx of two strata;' or 'that superb ALTISSIMO

RELIEVO on cornelian; Jupiter AEgiochus。'  He was always a great

amateur of engravings; and gives some very useful suggestions as to

the best means of forming a collection。  Indeed; while fully

appreciating modern art; he never lost sight of the importance of

reproductions of the great masterpieces of the past; and all that

he says about the value of plaster casts is quite admirable。



As an art…critic he concerned himself primarily with the complex

impressions produced by a work of art; and certainly the first step

in aesthetic criticism is to realise one's own impressions。  He

cared nothing for abstract discussions on the nature of the

Beautiful; and the historical method; which has since yielded such

rich fruit; did not belong to his day; but he never lost sight of

the great truth that Art's first appeal is neither to the intellect

nor to the emotions; but purely to the artistic temperament; and he

more than once points out that this temperament; this 'taste;' as

he calls it; being unconsciously guided and made perfect by

frequent contact with the best work; becomes in the end a form of

right judgment。  Of course there are fashions in art just as there

are fashions in dress; and perhaps none of us can ever quite free

ourselves from the influence of custom and the influence of

novelty。  He certainly could not; and he frankly acknowledges how

difficult it is to form any fair estimate of contemporary work。

But; on the whole; his taste was good and sound。  He admired Turner

and Constable at a time when they were not so much thought of as

they are now; and saw that for the highest landscape art we require

more than 'mere industry and accurate transcription。'  Of Crome's

'Heath Scene near Norwich' he remarks that it shows 'how much a

subtle observation of the elements; in their wild moods; does for a

most uninteresting flat;' and of the popular type of landscape of

his day he says that it is 'simply an enumeration of hill and dale;

stumps of trees; shrubs; water; meadows; cottages and houses;

little more than topography; a kind of pictorial map…work; in which

rainbows; showers; mists; haloes; large beams shooting through

rifted clouds; storms; starlight; all the most valued materials of

the real painter; are not。'  He had a thorough dislike of what is

obvious or commonplace in art; and while he was charmed to

entertain Wilkie at dinner; he cared as little for Sir David's

pictures as he did for Mr。 Crabbe's poems。  With the imitative and

realistic tendencies of his day he had no sympathy and he tells us

frankly that his great admiration for Fuseli was largely due to the

fact that the little Swiss did not consider it necessary that an

artist should paint only what he sees。  The qualities that he

sought for in a picture were composition; beauty and dignity of

line; richness of colour; and imaginative power。  Upon the other

hand; he was not a doctrinaire。  'I hold that no work of art can be

tried otherwise than by laws deduced from itself:  whether or not

it be consistent with itself is the question。'  This is one of his

excellent aphorisms。  And in criticising painters so different as

Landseer and Martin; Stothard and Etty; he shows that; to use a

phrase now classical; he is trying 'to see the object as in itself

it really is。'



However; as I pointed out before; he never feels quite at his ease

in his criticisms of contemporary work。  'The present;' he says;

'is about as agreeable a confusion to me as Ariosto on the first

perusal。 。 。 。 Modern things dazzle me。  I must look at them

through Time's telescope。  Elia complains that to him the merit of

a MS。 poem is uncertain; 〃print;〃 as he excellently says; 〃settles

it。〃  Fifty years' toning does the same thing to a picture。'  He is

happier when he is writing about Watteau and Lancret; about Rubens

and Giorgione; about Rembrandt; Corregio; and Michael Angelo;

happiest of all when he is writing about Greek things。  What is

Gothic touched him very little; but classical art and the art of

the Renaissance were always dear to him。  He saw what our English

school could gain from a study of Greek models; and never wearies

of pointing out to the young student the artistic possibilities

that lie dormant in Hellenic marbles and Hellenic methods of work。

In his judgments on the great Italian Masters; says De Quincey;

'there seemed a tone of sincerity and of native sensibility; as in

one who spoke for himself; and was not merely a copier from books。'

The highest praise that we can give to him is that he tried to

revive style as a conscious tradition。  But he saw that no amount

of art lectures or art congresses; or 'plans for advancing the fine

arts;' will ever produce this result。  The people; he says very

wisely; and in the true spirit of Toynbee Hall; must always have

'the best models constantly before their eyes。'



As is to be expected from one who was a painter; he is often

extremely technical in his art criticisms。  Of Tintoret's 'St。

George delivering the Egyptian Princess from the Dragon;' he

remarks:…





The robe of Sabra; warmly glazed with Prussian blue; is relieved

from the pale greenish background by a vermilion scarf; and the

full hues of both are beautifully echoed; as it were; in a lower

key by the purple…lake coloured stuffs and bluish iron armour of

the saint; besides an ample balance to the vivid azure drapery on

the foreground in the indigo shades of the wild wood surrounding

the castle。





And elsewhere he talks learnedly of 'a delicate Schiavone; various

as a tulip…bed; with rich broken tints;' of 'a glowing portrait;

remarkable for MORBIDEZZA; by the scarce Moroni;' and of another

picture being 'pulpy in the carnations。'



But; as a rule; he deals with his impressions of the work as an

artistic whole; and tries to translate those impressions into

words; to give; as it were; the literary equivalent for the


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