DESCRIPTION OF PAINTINGS IN PARIS AND THE NETHERLANDS IN THE YEARS 1802-1804

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DESCRIPTION OF PAINTINGS

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PARIS AND THE NETHERLANDS

THE YEARS 18071804,

.
LETTER I
The Gallery of the Louvre, and the Collection of Pictures there exhi- ,
bited. —Observations on some Works of the old Jtalidn School. and
the peculiar Genius and allegorical Style of Corree?zio’s Compositions.
— On the Resemblance between Conegeio and Leonardo, and their
Style and School. — On thg various Styles*of Portrait Painting
adopted by the old Masters, Holbein, Leonardo, Titian, and Raphael.
— Preliminary Observations cr? the general Character of Raphael.
Conelusion, and Description of a few old Dutch Pictures.eby Join
Van #yck, Hemmelink, and Diirey.

’

ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND AT DRESt
September, 1602.
“Fou entering into an examination of the pictures not
<hibited in the Louvre, I shall attempt to give you some
idea of the gallery itseli, as this will, I think, contribute to
render ny description of the pictures moresintelligible.

‘The palace of the Louvre, thongh an ancient building,
can boast but little architectural beanty; certainly nog in
that part of it adjoining the entrance to the Musée: it is,
in faet, a gloomy, irregular edifice, such as in past years
must have formed a fitting residence for the powerful and
arbitrary sovereigns of those turbulent and unciviliscd times.
Under this character, the page of history has made its nahe
2 7 PAINTINGS IN Panis, 1802-1804. [LETTER L.

familiar to us, and it seems thus, from the associations con-
nected with it, but little fitted to form a temple, for the
noblest of the imitrtive arts. A small side door affords ad-
‘mission to a colléction of eplendid pictures, which have -
recently been transplanted hither from their native Italian
soil, Ascending one step, you enter a circular, well-lighted
saloon, devoted to the works of Italian art alone. On the
right, a long, narrow gallery atretches the whole length of
one wing, which, extending along the bank of the Scine,
connects the Louvre with the Tuileries. Here you encounter,
first, the paintings of the French school, followed by the
German and Flemish masters, comprising, however, but a
very small proportion of the chefs-d’ceuvre of the old German
school. Lastly «come the Italian paintings. Amoug them
we find the works of Raphael and his followers, together
with the schoel of the Carracci; nor would there be any
reason to complain of the hanging and general arrangement,
except that the light is fecble, and badly distributed. ‘This
long gallery opens into a smaller one, runging in the same
‘ directioh, cqntaining works not intended for immediate ex-
hibition, or whi¢p require restoration: as, for example, the
“Transfiguration” of Raphael, and the “Madonna di Foligno,”
also by that mastcé. ere, unyrranged, and resting care-
Igssly one upon another against, the wall, we sec the master-
pieces of Perugino, and of the delightful Giulio Romano,
seen by few, and by fewer still admired and appreciated !
*We now return to the Grand Salon: the only onc, in fact,
in whiche the pictures are seen to advantage, and the light
judicjously distributed. On the right is the Long Gallery,
apd the smaller one running parallel with it; on the left, an
apartment of moderate dimensions, in which are deposited
the designs of the old masters, the cartoons of Raphacl,
Giulio Romano, &c. &c. : it contains aiso a few paintings in
water-colours, anf in the centre, oi costly mosaic tables of
lapis-lazuli and marble, stand a few of the most valuable of
the«Etrisean vases.

T have here described the Grand Salon as I saw it in 1802.
But amid the continual mutations occurring in this city, not
even works of art can claim exemption from the general
influence ; consequently the gallery of tl: Louvre no longer
presents the same appearance as when I first visited it. “The
?

LETTER 1] LOUVRE—GRAND SALON. 3

Grand Salon, and that appropriated to the gesigns of the
old masters, have been despoijed of their ancient treasures,
in order to make room for the productiors of modern artists,
and they are now occupied by what we should term f Au Ex-
hibition.” A few months must elapsd before the pieturcs
‘we love and reverence, or any others comparable to them in
merit, again adorn the wails. The fpllowing description
relates only to those which were to be seen at the time of
my first inspection. 1 shall, with the assistance of a cuta>
logue* of that period, go through the whole ; but since then
many alterations have been mado even in the Long Gallery.
A large number of the best and most famous paintings have
been removed, in order, it is said, to adorn the pglaces of
St. Cloud and the Tuileries. I shall name only a few of
the most valuable of the Italian school, which are now ini
sing: the ‘‘ Fortuna” of Guido; ** Rinaldo wnd Armida ;”
© Asueas and Anchises,” by Domenichino ; the “ Mayriage of
St. Catherine,” and the “ Antiope” of Correggio: their places
have been supplved by a few other valuable picturcs formerly

in the Grand Salon, and also by some, which,.thuiigh pre--

viously enumerated in the catalogue of the Long Gallery, are
not to be found in the prescnt. 1 mention this eireumstance
at the commencement, in,order to avold, the necessity of
recurring to it hereafter : it will. ] hope, be suflicient to con-
vince every one of the impossibility of giving a full and
complete description of all the pictures here. To this we
may add, that many have bech gent into the departments’?
and I am assured by Visconti, that many highly: esteemed
works of Perugino are exiled thither, not having been con-
sidered worthy a place in the national Musée. This wil
appear incredible, and I heartily wish it were in my power

* The three catalogues by whose numbers 1 have been guided in this
descripuon of the paintings in the Lousrc, are thé following. — 1. .For
the Grand Salon, —“ Notice de plusieurs Tableaux recueillis A Venne,
Florence, ‘Turin, et Foligno, &e., exposés dans le Grands Salon du
Musée, ouvert le 18, Ventose, an 10." 2. For the Long Galid@y, —
“ Notice des Tableaux des Ecoles Frangaise et Vlammande, dont Tou-
verture a cu Sicu le 18. Germinal, an 7, ct des Tableaux des Ecoles de
Lombardie et de Bologne, dont l'exposition a eu lieu le Mepsidor, an
9." 3, For the Salon of Designs, —“ Notive des Dessins Originaux,
Esquisses Peintes, Cartons, Gouaches, &c., exposts en Messidor de an 10.”