FINE ARTS.
ROSS'S MINIATURE OF THE QUEEN.
44 Astovunu portrait of the Queen ! " exclaims the impatient reader ; "when will there be a likeness?" Here is one, at last, we are glad to say ; and to Mr. W. C. Ross belongs the credit of being the first artist who has made a true and characteristic limning of the physiognomy of Queen VICTORIA. The resemblance is identical in feature and expres- sion: it is not merely a look of similitude that reminds one who is meant, but an exact and real representation of the original, full of animation and sweetness. We may say, indeed, that it is not only the Wet, or rather the only actual likeness of the Queen, but that it is the best possible to be made. Other portraits are distinguished by "official costume," " Dalmatie robes," " Coronation robes," but this is without any dress at all. Start not, gentle reader!—only the head is finished at present : what costume may be added, will matter little if the face remain as it is—and we are sure that it cannot be improved. This is not the miniature we spoke of as having been begun by Mr. Ross some months since, but another and entirely different view of the countenance : it is nearly a front face, the large mild blue eyes beaming with intelligence, and the lips parted with a smile. It is painted on ivory, the usual size of miniatures, with that purity and clearness of tone and simplicity of style for which the artist is celebrated : the flesh colour is an imitation of nature that no other painter on ivory can equal. , The miniature is at present in the possession of Messrs. COLNAGIII and PUCKLE, Cockspur Street, who are to publish an engraving of it. And, by the way, it is worth visiting their shop to see the tasteful deco- ration, in the Elizabethan style, of their print-room, with its ornamented ceiling and stained glass sky-light.
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