THE COMMISSIONERS ON THE FINE ARTS.
WE may say that for just twenty years a royal commission, com- posed of our statesmen most distinguished for their taste and knowledge of the fine arts, of our historians and of our poets, with a distinguished painter as professional adviser, has been entrusted with the direction of the fine arts in the most important practical ap- plication of them ever attempted. The building of the magnificent new- palace of royalty and the Parliament was very wisely seen at the first to be a grand opportunity for promoting and encouraging the fine arts in the United Kingdom, and perhaps no better step could have been taken than in empowering, by the very highest authority, such a committee of taste as we have described. From time to time the public have been informed by official reports as to the plans adopted and the progress made; we have now the twelfth report of the Fine Arts Commissioners.
It must be understood that the Fine Arts Commissioners have had nothing to do with the general design of the new palace, and, there- fore, they are relieved from any charges of incongruity between the pictures and statues, and the architecture. Indeed, the report is careful to throw the responsibility of the whole fine art work which may be distinguished as "decorative" upon the architect, even to the metal work and the wood carvings, some of the more important Painted glass only being under their direction. It is too late now to complain of the inaptitude of the building for pictures, but we must not allow ourselves to conceal the fact made evident by this last report--that oil paintings have had to be entirely abandoned because it was found impossible to place them in any position where they could be seen. Nothing but fresco painting is in future to be ad- mitted. Now, this is most unfortunate, for while we are adepts in oil painting, the beauties of which are in many respects superior to fresco, our ablest men are but ,mere experimenters in the severer style. Inceed, the most important part of this report is a long ap- pendix detailing Mr. Maclise's many trials and failures, and his journey to the German schools of modern fresco at Berlin and Munich where, under Cornelius, Kaulbach, and other eminent
painters, the new method of water-glass painting, invented by Dr. Fuchs, is being practised. In the end, however, we are led to con- clude that Mr. M.aclise has succeeded in learning the new art of stereochromy, and that in future this plan df painting in colours mixed with a solution of silica and afterwards varnished as it were by a coat of liquid glass, will be adopted. Still the whole subject is involved in great doubt; the artists are not quite agreed as to the best method, and the chemists speak with considerable diffidence both as to the changes which occur in the setting of the work and the pro- spect there is of its durability. The fresco paintings already executed upon the old method are known to be in a state of unmistakable decay from one cause and another; some from fading of colours, others from efflorescence of the plaster, and others from actual pealing off the walls, while all are suffering from the damp air and the thou- sand noxious elements inseparable from a London atmosphere. It is a very grave omission in this report, that no reference whatever is made to these notorious failures, and that nothing is-said as to the condition of the costly paintings, for the preservation of which we must certainly look to the Commissioners of the Fine Arts. The chances of life for these frescoes are, we fear, u t small, as Mr Maclise expressly states that the paintings by Kaulbach on the Pinacothek at Munich, and those on the Isa Thor at Vienna, painted in 1833, are very much decayed. However, it must in fairness be stated that Mr. Maclise also points to the deterioration of even the old Italian frescoes from the lodging of dust and its incorporation with the coloured surfaces. As to the new method of stereochrome, he reports, fiom his recent inspection of the pictures at Berlin, that "their indelibility was accomplished and their flatted non-reflecting surface secured." These are points indispensable for the paintings in the new Houses of Parliament, which have not as yet been attained ; the oil paintings have not the dull surface suitable for the side light of the halls and corridors, and the frescoes hitherto painted either cannot stand the climate, or they contain the elements of de- composition in themselves. Mr. Maclise deserves every possible commendation and encouragement for his researches, the pertinacity and intelligence of which remind one of the great Da Vinci's uncom- promising search after the truths of his art and everything connected with it.
He suggests, and we only wish we could confirm the view, that the new process is one similar to the glazing of painting on pottery by the action of fire; that in each case, silica being the substance which becomes incorporated with the colouring pigment, the fusion by fire and subsequent cooling is analogous to the solution of silica in alkali, and the crystalline condition it assumes upon lime plaster. If this could be relied upon, we might have our frescoes lasting like the painted Greek vases, perfect for thousands of years. But this vital point we must leave to the chemists, and perhaps also the micro- scopists, for we believe something might be learned of the precise con- dition of the fresco surface by this minute kind of examination. It is, at any rate most important that some definite knowledge should be come to before the paintings at Westminster are further proceeded with. The commissioners have undoubtedly fulfilled their office in promoting the fine arts ; we may date a revival in art from the time of the Cartoon Exhibition in Westminster Hall, and several painters have risen to eminence and academic honours who were then un- known, and would have been till now. It would be to render an invaluable service if they were to institute such an inquiry into the technical process of fresco painting as would remove it from the domain of empiricism in art. We are glad to see the straightforward manner in which the report speaks of the delay on the part of the artists engaged on the pictures. Four thousand pounds are granted every year for the purpose, but the payments are admitted to be ahead of the work; on this account the grant for pictures is to be suspended, but that for the statues of the kings is to cover the cost of four in place of two statues—i. e. 3200/. in place of 16001.; Mr. Dyce, It.A., still bars out her Majesty from her robing-room, though his work, being paid for, should have been finished in 1855. Mr. Herbert, R.A., keeps possession of the Peers' robing room, as the report says, "for con- scientious study and repeated experiments," and not from "in- difference or other occupation." The cartoons and the painting, however, have been unnecessarily delayed. Mr. Cope, R.A., and Mr. Ward, RA., find at last that they cannot get on with their work is ails, and therefore it is proposed to provide temporary painting sheds, where the pictures can be painted on movable blocks of plas- ter. For this delay we are disposed to distribute some of the blame upon the Commissioners. It is not to be expected that the first men of the day will sacrifice everything to this work, honourable as it is, when ten times the remuneration is to be gained in other fields— when they see pictures of "Derby Days" and "Railroad Stations" bringing a fortune to both painter and purchaser. The Commissioners are not unmindful of this, they urge it as a kind of apology for the delay; at the same time we imagine a more practical way of meeting the difficulty would be to raise the payment to the fair value of the present day, and do their utmost to make the eminent painters leave, off dabbling with their experiments and begin to finish in earnest. Life is short, and art in this case is uncommonly long ; should the pencil fall from the hand of any one of the R.A.s, so long labouring at Westminster, who would be ready to take it up P
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