The Fourth of the series of the Cartoons of RAFFAELLE,
engraved by BURNET for popular circulation, is The Miraculous Draught of Fishes. This is the most picturesque of the set, and depends more on its
general effect than the dramatic expression. The story is told in the
simplest way possible, and therefore plainly and impressively: the adoration of Peter, who kneels to his divine master—the awe and astonish ment expressed in the action of the other disciple standing in the boat, and the serene dignity of Christ—convey the sentiment of the subject ; while the two fishermen of the other party pulling up the laden
net, and the attention of the steersman to steady the boat, together with the people assembled on the shore, and the storks exulting at the sight of such abundance of prey, represent with legible distinctness the extraordinary nature of the occurrence.
An objection has been very fairly taken to the small size of the boats ; and the obvious error has been justified by some wholesale ad mirers of RAFFAELLE, who are prepared to see nothing but perfection in his works. We are quite willing to allow these and other objections of a technical kind, and es-en defects in the drawing of the figures :
these are blemishes that the great painter himself would have been the first to acknowledge ; and neither the merits of his design nor his fame will be lessened by the admission. These who cannot appreciate the sentiment of the design for thinking of these faults, arc sufficiently punished for their pedantic blindness in the loss of one of the most elevated enjoyments that the sight of pictures can afford. So with the execution of the plates, which is rough and slight, and not to be compared in glossy smoothness to the stippled affectations of
the Annuals : the drawing, too, is more deficient than perhaps need be ; but the pervading character of the original is given with a feeling that makes these free and negligent sketches more acceptable to the real lover of art, than the most painstaken copy from which the spirit has evaporated. We are rejoiced to hear that Mr. BURNET intends to engrave the Last Stepper, by LEONARDO DA VINCI; one of the grandest pictures in the world, but which has never been adequately copied. We hope he has availed himself of the opportunity of correcting the errors of RAPHAEL MORCHEN'S plate, from the studies for sonic of the heads in the LAWRENCE Collection of Drawings—now, to our shame be it spoken, dispersed abroad.
We are sorry to perceive symptoms of a tendency to undervalue this praiseworthy enterprise among some artists ; who depreciate the prints and deride Mr. Bun NEVS desire to adorn the wall of the winking man's dwelling with cheap engravings of noble works of art. Such conduct is pitiful and unworthy; but it makes us more earnest in our wish to see his noble intention realized. We therefore call the atten tion of individuals and public bodies, whose object is to improve the moral feelings as well as the taste of the poorer chases, to this pro ject ; as one calculated materially to aid their efforts to enlighten and refine the character of the masses. These prints ought to be in every Mechanics' Institution and every school-room in the kingdom they are graphic comments on the New Testament—vital "illustrations" of Christianity.
Mr. LANE, the lithographic draughtsman, has put forth two Parts of a series of Dramatic Sketches—or, more properly speaking, Theatrical Sketches, for there is nothing dramatic "iii them. They consist of portraits of popular performers of the day, drawn from the stage-life by himself, and copied on stone in his usual finished style. If instead of a head, or whole.length figure of an individual, the artist had given us a complete group, embody ing some exciting situation, the interest would have been much greater and more general ; these would have been "dramatic sketches :" but mere likenesses of actors and actresses have a very limited interest beyond the atmosphere of the green-room. In fact, a portrait of the greatest actor in an assumed character has little worth : the costume and attitude and general resemblance please for the moment, but the picture possesses no permanent value. Even LAWRENCE'S portraits of KEMBLE in Macbeth and Rolla are only a better sort of theatrical print. The reason is obvious—in aiming to preserve the features of the actor, something of the spirit and expression of the character is lost ; and these, after all, are only simulated. A painter has enough to do to depict the expression of actual emotion, and then he falls far short of the reality : in representing the feigned look, be is still further removed from the truth. Mr. LANE'S series of Portraits of Charles Kemble in his various Characters, one of which ( Cassio) is introduced in the Second Part of his woik, is a striking proof of this : it was the actor making up a stage. face to suit the character ; and Mr. LANE has preserved this precise look but too faithfully. The likeness of Macready as Werner is a failure. Mr. Anderson as Ulric, a full-length, is done to the life; and it is in fact the best of the set. The two groups of heads, representing Meadows, Bennett, and Payne, as the Witches in Macbeth, and Misses Sherrill; Horton, and Taylor, as " Singing Witches," are recognizable, but not satisfactory resemblances. The more than fulllength of Miss Taylor as Rosalind has no trace of the lady's features. Bartley as Sir Toby Belch, and Farren as Sir Andrew Ague. Cheek, are exemplifications of that singular compromise between the likeness of the individual and the stage-face of the assumed character, before alluded to.
The drawings are neat and precise, to an excess of coldness and formality that is almost painful : every line seems carefully laboured, and each particular hair is defined. Mr. LANE draws with a sculptor's eye for form ; and these seem like sketches from models, not from life-in truth, he has the genius of a sculptor, not of a painter. A miniature statue of Grisi as Norma, in the shop-window of the publisher of these sketches-MITCHELL, of Bond Street-attracted our attention as a masterpiece of sculpture in its way; and we were no less astonished than gratified to learn that it was modelled by Mr. LANE. We think he has mistaken his vocation all this while ; and we should be glad to see him in his private box at Covent Garden, working with modelling-tools instead of the pencil.
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