FINE ARTS.
The Princess Victoria. Drawn from the Life by JOHN HATTER, and on Stone by WILLIAM SHARP.
This is a splendid and captivating picture, and as a sketch it is one of the most finished and ornamental that we have seen. It is also the largest specimen of its kind in lithography, and one of the most success. ful. The young Princess is represented sitting on an ottoman, app. rently busy with the arrangement of a wreath of flowers, one end of which she holds in her left hand, while her right is raised to a superb vase containing the remainder of the wreath ; at the moment of time when the artist has caught the expression of her countenance, she has turned her head round to regard a favourite parrot, so that nearly her full face is shown to the spectator. She is simply dressed in a white frock, her hair falling on her shoulders in a profusion of natural ringlets. The likeness is the most successful that we have seen of the Princess ; and it bears a resemblance to the characteristic marks of the faces of the Royal Family. There is a lively intelligence and sweeinesS in her countenance, which, apart from the portrait, is very pleas. ing and interesting. Her air and attitude are simple, graceful, and natural ; and her figure is beautifully drawn, especially the arms, which have all the roundness and fleshiness of nature; the hands, we think, are not sufficiently made out, and we do not like the drawing of the right hand. The composition is elaborate, and extremely effective ; the arrangement is worthy of the elegant taste of Mr. HATTER; and though somewhat too artificial and sumptuous to please our own, we must do justice to the skill with which he has ma. naged the rich profusion of ornament in such a way as to adorn by con. trast the graceful simplicity of the young Princess. Indeed, the acces- sories of the design seem but to serve the purpose of a splendid frame of art, in which to enclose the figure, to which the eye is instantly directed, so well are all the adventitious aids to effect subdued to their purpose. As a picture of youthful royalty, we are well pleased to see the person plainly attired, and "the foreign aid of ornament" lavished on the Bur. rounding scene. The lithography of Mr. SHARP deserves particular notice. The gra. dation of his tints is admirable; and the skill with which he has given a variety of tone and an effect of colour to a drawing composed almost wholly of half-tint, will be appreciated by every artist. His flesh tones are pure, soft, and clear; and he merits great praise for his share of the drawing. In sketches, Mr. SHARP eminently excels; for he renders the touch with characteristic fidelity. The style and manner of working exhibited in the sketches of LAWRENCE and HATTER are faithfully reflected in his imitations. On looking at the portraits of Mrs. Dottin and Mrs. Cumberbatch, from LAWRENCE, the originals of which are finished with extreme softn.ss and delicacy in pencil, we see a style of handling different from that beautifully drawn head of Master Wynne, the original of which was drawn with the crayon on canvass for the pur. pose of being coloured. In the sketches of Mr. HATTER again, we have another variety of style,—white, black, and red chalk, pencil and stump, mixed together in rapid touches; producing a pictorial effect which is ably imitated in the lithography. Having spoken of this print as a portrait of the young Princess, and as a drawing, we have only to observe, that as a specimen of lithographic printing, it is all that can be wished ; and we do not think that any press but that of Mr. HULLNANDEL can produce such delicate tints with that richness and purity which we admire in these impressions.
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