LECTURES AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY.
Mn. WEsT.stAcoTT's fifth lecture on Sculpture was devoted to the consi- deration of Composition. The principles of composition, the Professor re- marked, were the mune in MI the arts of design. ; end it was divisible into • the simple, the columnar, and the pyramidal. These be severally illustrated, by exemplifying the Belvidere Apollo as a specimen of the first, the group of Cupid and Psyche of the second, and the Laocoon of the third. The learned lecturer paid a glowing tribute to the intellectual character of the Apollo ; which he designated " the most sublime ideal statue in existence," -observing that "the head conveys more instruction than that of any other statue." This grand piece of sculpture the Professor considered to belong to the age of Lys EPPUS, but it was not mentioned by PLINY. He dwelt upon the merits of the Laocoon, especially the head of the father, which denoted not only extreme anguish, but greatness of soul expressed by the tranquil grandeur of the features. The sons, he observed, were not in accordance with the father, either as regarded conception or execution. An account of basso and alto relievos concluded this learned and valuable discourse.
It would be impossible to convey an adequate idea of Mr. PHILLIPS'S lecture on the theory and practice of colouring, without a detailed report, which our very limited space at present renders impossible. Indeed it could then be appreciated only by the artist. The Professor vindicated colouring from the unjust depreciation of its value, and inculcated its primary import- ance in the representations of natural objects and in heightening beauty and expression. The principles of the art of colouring were derived partly from those of optics, and partly from the practice and experience of eminent paint- ers; and not the least difficult part of the art was the production and management of half-tints. The learned lecturer proceeded technically to describe the primitive colours and their combinations, and illustrated his remarks by an ingenious diagram. He dwelt upon various guiding princi- ples in the adaptation of the theory of colour, as shown in the science requi- site to produce and employ unity of tone, contrast and harmony of colour and reflections, which depended greatly on the taste and judgment of the painter. He inculcated the difficulty and necessity of purity of colour, and the importance of a due arrangement of warm and cold colours, which latter were never to be employed in principal figures. The Professor took occasion to remark upon the importance of arrangement of pictures in a gallery. He gave an eloquent description of the Venetian school of colouring, and con- trasted it with that of Lombardy ; concluding a judicious and scientific dis- course by eulogizing Sir JOSHUA REYNOLDS as the fonnderof a new school of painting, uniting the excellencies of the best ancient masters. He de- nounced as a vulgar error the supposition that the colours of Sir JOSHUA'S best works had faded ; explaining, that the failure of the colours in two or three of his pictures, painted at one period of his career, had been occasioned by some experiments in colouring, and that he afterwards returned to his first principles.
Previous page
