,,romney ,,uniform ,,with ,,this ,,volume ,,reynolds ,containing sixteen examples of the master's work ,,velasquez ,containing sixteen illustrations in colour ,a4 ,,and ,c4 ,,black1 ,,soho ,,square1 ,,london1 ,w4 ,illustration3 ,,lady ,,hamilton ,,with ,a ,,goat ,tankerville ,chamberlayne1 ,esq4 ,,romney ,,by ,,randall ,,davies ,,containing ,,sixteen ,,examples ,,in ,,colour ,,of ,,the ,,master',s ,,work ,,london ,,adam ,,and ,,charles ,,black #aiad ,,printed ,,at ,,the ,,ballantyne ,,press ,,london ,,preface ,the most obvious gap in the ranks of the portraits by ,british painters in our ,national ,collections is caused by the absence of any work of really first-rate importance by ,george ,romney4 ,the ,parsons ,daughter1 in the ,national ,gallery1 and the ,mrs4 ,robinson1 at ,hertford ,house1 are of the finest quality2 but they are only heads4 ,the large portrait of ,mrs4 ,mark ,currie is charming1 but by no means so fine4 ,in the ,louisa1 ,countess of ,mansfield1 we are nearer to the very best2 but that is only a temporary loan1 and until the public are in possession of one or two of his superb whole-length portraits1 such as ,earl ,crewe's ,lady ,milnes1 the ,marquis of ,lansdowne's ,lord ,henry ,petty1 or the ,lady ,bell ,hamilton1 they will hardly be able to judge the work of ,romney as fairly as that of his more fortunate contemporaries4 ,in placing him in the first rank of ,english painters1 however1 the present generation are only doing him as much honour as he deserves1 after a century of neglect2 and there seems to be no fear of his fame diminishing again or his popularity abating4 ,r4 ,d4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations #a4 ,lady ,hamilton with a ,goat ,tankerville ,chamberlayne1 ,esq4 ,frontispiece ,facing p4 #b4 ,the ,parson's ,daughter ,national ,gallery #d #c4 ,thomas ,john ,clavering1 afterwards eighth ,baronet1 and his sister1 ,catherine ,mary ,col4 ,c4 ,w4 ,napier ,clavering #h #d4 ,maria ,margaret ,clavering1 afterwards ,lady ,napier 0 0 0 #ab #e4 ,colonel ,thomas ,thornton 0 0 0 #af #f4 ,miss ,ramus ,viscount ,hambleden #bj #g4 ,mrs4 ,robinson as 8,perdita0 ,wallace ,collection #bb #h4 ,william ,pitt1 the ,younger ,national ,gallery #bf #i4 ,portraits of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,william ,lindow 7#aggj7 0 0 #bh #aj4 ,lady ,craven 7#aggh7 0 0 #cb #aa4 ,mrs4 ,mark ,currie 7#aghi7 0 0 #cf #ab4 ,portrait of a ,lady and ,child 7#aghb7 0 0 #dj #ac4 ,lady ,hamilton as a ,bacchante 7#aghf7 0 0 #dd #ad4 ,emma1 ,lady ,hamilton ,national ,portrait ,gallery #df #ae4 ,miss ,benedetta ,ramus ,viscount ,hambleden #dh #af4 ,portrait of ,romney by ,himself 7unfinished7 7#aghb7 ,national ,portrait ,gallery #eb ,,george ,,romney ,that ,reynolds and ,gainsborough were the two greatest portrait painters in ,england during the latter half of the eighteenth century is a proposition which no one is likely to question4 ,both had qualities which raised them far above the general1 and considerably higher than even the foremost of their competitors2 and though preference for the work of the one or the other of them is often as much a matter of taste as of opinion1 the pre-eminence of the two is beyond dispute4 ,when we come to fill the third place1 however1 the question is not so readily settled4 ,there are many candidates who are1 or ought to be1 in the running2 and although the fashion of the present time may send up the prices of now one now another beyond all that is reasonable and sensible1 it would be rash to say that the most popular has the best right to the position4 ,only last year1 for example1 a new planet swam into the dealers' ken1 a portrait of ,benjamin ,franklin1 painted in #agfb by ,mason ,chamberlin1 one of the original members of the ,royal ,academy1 realising the extraordinary figure of two thousand eight hundred guineas2 a figure which1 as the ,times felicitously observes1 8places the artist on an auction level with ,reynolds and ,gainsborough40 ,judged by the fickle standard of the auction room1 ,raeburn1 at the present moment1 would have precedence over ,hoppner1 and ,hoppner1 unless ,i am mistaken1 over ,romney4 ,but who can say whether before another season is over1 the merits of ,lawrence or ,beechey1 ,west or ,copley1 may not come up in the market1 and impress an uncritical public with ideas of beauty and genius which have hitherto escaped their notice8 ,in my own opinion1 ,george ,romney has better claim than any of the others to be considered next to ,reynolds and ,gainsborough as a portrait painter1 inasmuch as he seems to me to have exhibited more consistently the variety of qualities necessary for excellence in that particular branch of his art4 ,in its outward manipulation of charm and beauty1 the work of ,romney is all that an amateur need ask of it1 and considerations of mere elegance have probably advanced his popularity in the sale room as much as others more really important4 ,but charm and beauty of this sort are delusive guides and1 unless backed by some more enduring test of excellence1 will lead us downwards only1 through the scale of ,hoppner1 ,lawrence1 ,harlow1 and ,shee1 till we find ourselves in the company of the simpering beauties of the early and mid-,victorian age1 with their sloping shoulders and curling ringlets4 ,with ,romney we are perfectly safe4 ,no twinge of conscience warns us to withstand the allurements of ,lady ,hamilton1 or the fascination of the ,parson's ,daughter4 ,we may flirt as long and as desperately as we please--in an artistic sense--with ,mrs4 ,mark ,currie1 without the slightest stain on our sthetic morals4 ,there is nothing technically meretricious about any of these beauties1 and the virtue of our taste is only strengthened by the pleasurable enjoyment of their society4 ,and why8 ,one of the first reasons that occur to me is one that may possibly be challenged as being merely paradoxical2 namely1 that ,romney1 like ,reynolds and ,gainsborough1 was not primarily a portrait painter4 ,that all three of them became painters of portraits1 and will go down to posterity as such1 was not because they wished to1 but by the accident of circumstance4 ,reynolds was an humble and assiduous disciple of ,michel ,angelo1 an earnest seeker after conquests in 8the grand style40 ,of ,gainsborough1 it was said that music was his pleasure and painting his profession2 while in that profession1 as we know1 it was landscape which chiefly occupied his mind and most delighted him4 ,and ,romney actually writes to his friend ,hayley1 8,this cursed portrait-painting4 ,how ,i am shackled with it60 ,to explain the paradox we must look back a little into the history of painting in ,england1 with a glance ,illustration3 ,,the ,,parson',s ,,daughter ,national ,gallery at that of portrait-painting in other countries besides4 ,taking the latter view first1 we find that the only name1 which readily occurs to us1 of an artist who painted nothing but portraits1 is that of ,holbein4 ,in all the greatest schools of painting1 since the days of ,cimabue1 portraiture was1 as it were1 a 8bye-product10 and with a few exceptions like ,holbein1 ,velasquez1 or ,vandyck1 there is no great painter who is as well known for his portraits as for his other works4 ,in ,england1 until the arrival of ,reynolds1 there was no school of painting at all1 and the only reason for any painter coming to ,england was the business1 rather than the art1 of making likenesses of its vigorous inhabitants4 ,in ,england1 consequently1 when a school of painting was at last established1 it is hardly surprising to find that the painting of portraits was the most considerable branch of it1 not only in the early days of its commencement1 but throughout almost the whole of its development2 and it was not until comparatively late in its history that landscape assumed considerable proportions and finally outgrew the other branch4 ,had ,reynolds and ,romney1 like ,gainsborough1 been landscape painters at heart1 it is probable that such a combination of great talent would have resulted in a much earlier triumph for the landscapist1 and that we should not have had to wait for ,turner and ,constable to restore the balance4 ,for ,richard ,wilson1 the actual founder of the ,english ,school of landscape1 only failed to establish it from want of recognition1 and there were many others who were fit to achieve great works in landscape if it had not been that they were compelled to comply with the popular demand for portraiture without regard to their artistic inclinations4 ,but there was a third branch of the art on which1 though unheeded alike by the patron and the public1 the minds of ,romney and of many more of the most accomplished artists of the time were bent1 namely1 the historical2 and so long as the market was closed to their achievements in this direction1 it was impossible for even the greatest among them to exist without making portraiture their regular business4 ,reynolds was wise1 or fortunate1 enough to satisfy his historical or classical aspirations by working them in1 so to speak1 with his portraits2 and while his purely allegorical or poetical compositions have added little to his reputation1 he is never so great1 or so attractive1 as when painting portraits in terms of romance4 ,nor is he less deservedly popular when realising some idyllic fancy like ,the ,age of ,innocence1 or ,the ,strawberry ,girl1 ,the ,infant ,samuel or ,robinetta--all of which are1 in fact1 portraits of a single model4 ,benjamin ,west1 on the other hand1 though fortunate in obtaining ,royal approval1 and truly royal payment1 for his historical compositions1 found little encouragement from the public in taking to this branch of the profession4 8,as any attempt in history was at that period an almost unexampled effort10 wrote ,james ,northcote1 ,r4,a41 on the exhibition of ,west's ,pylades and ,orestes at the ,exhibition of #agff1 8this picture became a matter of much surprise4 ,west's house was soon filled with visitors from all quarters to see it2 and those amongst the highest rank who were not able to come to his house to satisfy their curiosity1 desired to have his permission to have it sent to them2 nor did they fail1 every time it was returned to him1 to accompany it with compliments of the highest commendation on its great merits4 ,but the most wonderful part of the story is that notwithstanding all this bustle and commendation bestowed upon this justly admired picture1 by which ,mr4 ,west's servant gained upwards of thirty pounds by showing it1 yet no one mortal ever asked the price of the work1 or so much as offered to give him a commission to paint any other subject4 ,indeed there was one gentleman who spoke of it with such praise to his father1 that he immediately asked him the reason he did not purchase1 as he so much admired it1 when he answered1 #8,what could ,i do if ,i had it8 ,you surely would not have me hang up a modern ,english picture in my house unless it was a portrait8'0 ,it was in this year that ,john ,singleton ,copley exhibited his first picture1 a boy with a squirrel1 in ,england4 ,he1 too1 was obsessed with the ,illustration3 ,,thomas ,,john ,,clavering1 ,,afterwards ,,eighth ,,baronet1 ,,and ,,his ,,sister1 ,,catherine ,,mary ,col4 ,c4 ,w4 ,napier ,clavering historical idea1 and carried it so far that he is better known for his grand compositions1 like the ,death of ,chatham1 than for the many very excellent portraits he painted4 ,angelica ,kauffmann is remembered only by her well-intentioned but rather boneless classical compositions2 and ,fuseli1 so far as he is remembered at all1 by his weird nightmare effects in historical pieces4 ,broadly speaking1 history was a thankless mistress to the painters1 and had it not been that ,romney chose to paint portraits for the sake of accumulating enough money for the pursuit of his own artistic ambitions1 his reputation as an artist would now be as totally forgotten as are those of many whose names it is almost unfair to them to mention in the present unappreciative days4 ,but there is fortunately another aspect of the question4 ,a great deal is being said at the present time about the merits and demerits of a classical education for boys4 ,on the one hand we hear that it is perfectly useless for the ordinary youth to spend the greater part of his time at school in the generally hopeless effort of acquiring some familiarity with the classical languages4 ,on the other we are told that a boy must learn something1 and that the training to the mind afforded by the study of ,latin and ,greek is more valuable in after life than the acquisition of any practically useful knowledge4 ,whichever side we may incline to in the case of the ordinary everyday boy who is to be sent out into the world to make his living in one of a dozen or more different walks of life1 there can be no question that the whole-hearted pursuit of a beloved study1 whether of ,greek or ,latin or ,chinese1 by a man of purpose and character1 never fails to improve him in any other study which he may wish to undertake4 ,for the higher walks of life1 such as statesmanship1 or the control of large interests1 or the influence of considerable bodies of opinion1 it is generally admitted that the school and university training is advantageous4 ,an archbishop is not in these days required to address ,convocation in ,latin1 nor is a ,prime ,minister expected to quote ,horace in debate4 ,but either can delegate the useful duties of life to others1 while they themselves are better fitted by breadth of view to deal in the largest possible manner with public questions4 ,it is for this reason1 to return to our paradox1 that ,i consider ,romney's excellence in portraiture was due1 in a large measure1 to the fact that he was not willingly a portrait painter4 ,when we see that ,reynolds came back from ,italy filled with the ardour inspired by ,michel ,angelo and ,raphael for great painting2 when we see ,gainsborough1 torn from his beloved woods and fields to the painting room1 both of them establishing their reputation with practically nothing but portraiture1 ,i hope that the paradox will seem less paradoxical1 and that it will be agreed that ,romney1 too1 struggling to the last with the relentless ,muse of his historical fancy1 was in reality indebted to her for most of his excellence in the department of portraiture where we are ready to accord him so high a place4 ,it is only another version of the old fable of the treasure which the father induced his boys to dig for in the vineyard4 ,how many a fashionable painter would do well for himself and for his art by exchanging his brush for a spade6 ,anybody can paint a portrait4 ,it is really easier than taking a photograph4 ,one has only to look at contemporary representations of the younger members of one's friends' families in oil or pastel to realise that the ordinary person prefers a bad picture to a good photograph4 ,there is something gratifying to the latent vanity of the sitter in the mere fact of sitting to a painter4 ,in the old days1 when there were no such things as photographs1 the inducement to sit must have been still greater1 and the demand for portraits enormous4 ,horace ,walpole declares that there were no less than two thousand portrait painters in ,london in the middle of the eighteenth century3 modern investigation has accounted for over seven hundred6 ,to be a portrait painter1 clearly1 then was not to be an artist2 and when we come to sift the artists from the mere likeness-mongers1 we shall almost invariably find that the only great portraits were the work of men who excelled in other directions1 as we have found in the cases of ,reynolds and ,gainsborough4 ,applying this test to ,romney1 it is quite surprising to discover how little is said of his portraiture ,illustration3 ,,maria ,,margaret ,,clavering1 ,,afterwards ,,lady ,,napier ,col4 ,c4 ,w4 ,napier ,clavering by his two earliest biographers1 ,william ,hayley1 his life-long friend and admirer1 and the ,reverend ,john ,romney1 his son4 ,nor is there very much more1 and certainly no indication of his present pre-eminence among the ,british portrait painters1 in ,allan ,cunningham's lengthy ,memoir of him published in #ahcb4 ,it is true that his popularity1 amounting to serious rivalry of ,reynolds at one period1 is mentioned incidentally2 as is also the devotion of his art to ,lady ,hamilton4 ,but these are only considered as diversions1 as it were1 of his main purpose into a side channel4 ,the dream of his life1 we are to understand1 was the achievement of historical compositions4 ,certainly he has been unfortunate in his biographers4 ,a more tedious and pretentious compilation than the quarto of over four hundred pages published by ,william ,hayley in #ahji as 8,the ,life of ,george ,romney1 ,esq410 ,i hope it may never be anybody's fate to peruse4 ,hayley was a second-rate poet--his most considerable work being 8,the ,triumphs of ,temper0--with a third-rate intellect4 8,the influence which the friendship of ,hayley exercised over the life of ,romney10 the son of the artist writes1 8was in many respects injurious4 ,his friendship was grounded on selfishness1 and the means by which he obtained it was flattery4 ,he was able also by a canting kind of hypocrisy to confound the distinctions between vice and virtue1 and to give a colouring to conduct that might and probably did mislead ,romney on some occasions4 ,he drew him too much from general society1 and almost monopolised him to himself1 and thus narrowed the circle of his acquaintance and friends4 ,by having intimated an intention of writing ,romney's ,life he made him extremely afraid of doing anything that might give offence4 ,he was always interfering in his affairs--volunteering his advice2 and ,i have much reason to believe that whatever errors the latter may have committed1 they were simply owing to the counsel or instigation of ,hayley40 ,from ,hayley1 then1 we need not expect very much that is likely to be of value in the way of criticism4 ,but for one thing he is to be thanked1 namely the inclusion in his volume of a short sketch of ,romney's professional career by ,john ,flaxman1 ,r4,a4 ,from this ,i shall have occasion to borrow more than a few illuminating passages1 a couple of which ,i now adduce as evidence of how little ,romney's portraiture was considered in an estimate of his art specially written at the time of his death by one whom ,hayley calls 8an approved artist03 8,as ,romney was gifted with peculiar powers for historical and ideal painting1 so his heart and soul were engaged in the pursuit of it1 whenever he could extricate himself from the importunate business of portrait painting4 ,it was his delight by day and study by night1 and for this his food and rest were often neglected40 ,and again1 by way of summing up1 8,a peculiar shyness of disposition kept him from all association with public bodies1 and led to the pursuit of his studies in retirement and solitude which 444 allowed him more leisure for observation1 reflection1 and trying his skill in other arts connected with his own4 ,and indeed few artists1 since the fifteenth century1 have been able to do so much in so many different branches2 for besides his beautiful compositions and pictures1 which have added to the knowledge and celebrity of the ,english school1 he modelled like a sculptor1 carved ornaments in wood with great delicacy1 and could make an architectural design in a fine taste1 as well as construct every part of the building40 ,the word 8portraits0 it will be observed occurs but once in these passages2 nor does it appear elsewhere in the sketch4 ,if then it be admitted that neither ,reynolds nor ,gainsborough nor ,romney were primarily portrait painters1 and that their pre-eminence arises in a high degree from this cause1 we shall have arrived at a standpoint from which to observe how each of the three was influenced by that cause in a different manner1 and so obtain a better idea of their several excellences than we are likely to obtain from their 8auction values40 ,in the first place1 it is to be remembered that neither ,reynolds nor ,gainsborough was actually averse to painting portraits1 whereas we have ,illustration3 ,,colonel ,,thomas ,,thornton ,col4 ,c4 ,w4 ,napier ,clavering ,romney's written word that he hated it4 ,sir ,joshua1 to be sure1 speaks of his charming little ,strawberry ,girl as 8,one of the half-dozen original things that no man ever exceeds in his lifetime40 ,but he was quite content to receive as many as a hundred-and-fifty sitters in the course of a single year4 ,gainsborough1 too1 could go off into raptures at the beauties of the young princes and princesses when he was painting them at ,winsdor1 and write a flaming letter to the ,royal ,academy when the royal portraits were not hung as he desired4 ,both found their highest expression in portraiture1 as did ,romney2 but whereas they were not slow to realise that their respective gifts1 widely different as they were1 fitted them pre-eminently for this sort of work1 it would seem that ,romney never realised it at all2 and while the other two brought all their forces1 consciously1 to the beautification of this particular branch of their art1 ,romney appears to have done no more than acquiesce coldly but1 be it observed1 conscientiously1 in the necessity for it4 ,i would therefore submit that the chief characteristics which distinguish ,romney's portraits from those of his two greater contemporaries are coldness--or rather simplicity--and conscientiousness4 ,these are conscious qualities1 to which ,i would add a third1 which ,i believe to be unconscious1 that is to say1 the influence of the classical art of the ,greeks1 which for the sake of brevity ,i will call classicism4 ,the distinction it seems to me is this4 ,that whereas ,reynolds was aiming at the grand style1 and spared no occasion for employing it in practice and expatiating on it in precept1 it is impossible to say that he did not consciously apply its principles--,i say consciously--to every portrait he ever undertook4 ,in ,gainsborough's portraits again we recognise the hand and the heart of the landscape painter consciously employing the terms of his favourite craft1 when we find in them the same charm1 the same natural and easy grace which is the great characteristic of his landscape drawings and sketches4 ,while ,reynolds was painting men and women in terms of art1 ,gainsborough was painting them in terms of nature4 ,both were applying all the principles which they had imbibed from their earliest youth to the particular object on which they were engaged4 ,with ,romney1 on the other hand1 this was clearly not the case4 ,he detested having to paint portraits4 ,his mind was wholly attracted to allegorical and poetical subjects4 ,allan ,cunningham1 writing in #ahcb1 almost apologises for mentioning his portraits at all4 8,a list of all the works which ,romney executed in those busy days10 he writes1 8would occupy several pages2 it would1 however1 be absurd to specify many of them1 since they can possess little interest except for particular families40 ,he then gives a list of eighteen portraits which are 8remarkable for containing more than one figure1 or for their superior merit1 or on account of the character and station of the individual represented10 adding that 8in one of these lucky and prosperous years he earned by portraiture alone some three thousand six hundred pounds40 ,now if ,romney had called upon his ,muse to assist him in his portraiture1 as did ,reynolds and ,gainsborough1 there can be little doubt that his popularity would have extended enormously1 and that his reputation would have been increased in hardly a less degree4 ,but whether it was the influence of ,hayley1 or whether1 as is more probable1 it was the effect of his character and his deep feeling for his art1 ,romney rarely1 if ever1 permitted his ,muse to descend into his painting-room when he was executing a commission for a portrait4 ,an honest presentment of his sitters was apparently his only concern2 he took their money1 and he conscientiously painted their portraits1 in their habits as they lived1 without any conscious attempt at achieving more4 ,but in keeping his ,muse thus apart1 it must not be supposed that he succeeded in banishing her from his inmost self4 ,her influence is to be seen and felt in almost every portrait he painted4 ,rarely as she was allowed on the stage--as in the famous group of ,lady ,gower and her ,children--she was ever present1 though behind the scenes2 how else can one account for the almost classical severity of tone that keeps every portrait of ,romney's1 however simple1 from being merely trivial1 pretty1 or banal8 ,illustration3 ,,miss ,,ramus ,viscount ,hambleden ,an alternative explanation of the reticence and simplicity of ,romney's portraits1 his seeming unwillingness to expand into allegorical portraiture1 is his supposed sensitiveness of temperament4 ,hayley expatiates on this quality to such an extent as to shake our belief in its existence2 but that it did exist in some degree is unfortunately too evident to deny4 ,how much or how little it had to do with the limitation of his fancy in portraiture must only be a matter of opinion1 but since as good evidence of it as any is to be found in the story of three of his earliest pictures1 we may as well consider it before proceeding further4 ,almost the first of ,romney's 8popular successes0 was a family piece containing portraits of ,sir ,george ,warren1 his lady1 and their little daughter1 which was exhibited in #agfi4 8,this picture was highly extolled by the public10 says ,john ,romney1 8and brought him still more into notice4 ,according to a design in one of his sketch-books1 ,lady ,warren is represented as seated in a graceful and easy posture1 with a fronting attitude1 but with her face slightly turned to her right1 having her left elbow leaning upon a pedestal1 and the hand extended over her daughter's shoulder1 a girl about six or seven years old1 who is standing by her4 ,the young lady has her hands gently crossed over her bosom1 and is caressing a little bird which she holds in one hand4 ,sir ,george1 habited in a picturesque style1 is standing rather to the left1 and somewhat more backward in the picture than his lady4 ,he has his right arm moderately extended and is directing her attention to a distant object4 ,the composition is beautiful1 correct1 and natural1 and the simplicity1 grace1 and feeling expressed in the figure and character of ,miss ,warren are admirable40 ,this description1 it is to be observed1 is not from the picture itself1 which the writer had never seen1 but from the artist's drawing for it2 and it is evident that the drawing must have been executed with much greater care and particularity than is to be found in most of ,romney's sketches4 ,the picture itself is now in the possession of ,lord ,vernon1 at ,sudbury ,hall1 ,derbyshire1 the little daughter having married the ,illustration3 ,,mrs4 ,,robinson ,,as 8,,perdita0 ,wallace ,collection first ,lord ,vernon4 ,its present owner informed ,mr4 ,humphry ,ward that it was always supposed to be by ,reynolds1 and that a professional valuer valued it as such for probate in #ahhc4 ,that so successful an attempt should be repeated was only natural4 ,hogarth and ,highmore had painted some of these 8conversation pieces10 as they were called1 but with indifferent1 or at any rate no great amount of popular1 success1 and one might have supposed that a young artist would have been ready enough to respond to the encouragement accorded to him in this particular class of picture4 ,but no others of the sort are known to have been attempted1 with one exception4 ,at about the same time ,romney was engaged in a portrait group of ,mr4 ,leigh and his family4 ,unfortunately1 his well-wishing friend ,cumberland1 the dramatist1 in his efforts to push ,romney to the front1 was ill-advised enough to drag ,garrick to see his pictures4 ,now ,garrick hated ,cumberland1 and had a very poor opinion of him--which is all there is to excuse him for an unpardonable exhibition of bad taste4 8,i brought him to see ,romney's pictures10 writes ,cumberland1 8hoping to interest him in his favour4 ,a large family piece unluckily arrested his attention2 a gentleman in a close-buckled bob-wig1 and a scarlet waistcoat laced with gold1 with his wife and children 7some sitting1 some standing71 had taken possession of some yards of canvas1 very much1 as it appeared1 to their own satisfaction--for they were perfectly amused in a contented abstinence from all thought or action4 ,upon this unfortunate group1 when ,garrick had fixed his lynx's eyes1 he began to put himself into the attitude of the gentleman1 and turning to ,mr4 ,romney1 #8,upon my word1 ,sir1' he said1 #8this is a very regular well-ordered family2 and that is a very bright-rubbed mahogany table at which that motherly good lady is sitting2 and this worthy gentleman in the scarlet-waistcoat is doubtless a very excellent subject 7to the ,state1 ,i mean1 if these are all his children71 but not for your art1 ,mr4 ,romney1 if you mean to pursue it with that success which ,i hope will attend you4' ,the modest artist took the hint1 as it was meant1 in good part1 and turned his family with their faces to the wall40 ,if ,romney had been only moderately sensitive we can easily understand that an impertinence of this sort 7for ,cumberland was as dense as he was well-meaning in thinking it was intended in good part7 would have been intolerable from anybody2 but when we remember that ,garrick was an intimate friend of ,reynolds1 we may readily admit that it had in fact a certain influence on ,romney's choice of subject and treatment4 ,we have seen that in the other group his success was the result of careful and prepared study2 but ,i know of no other sketches of his for family groups--except those for the ,gower picture--though there are plenty of studies of single figures4 ,a couple of years later1 again1 he painted the actress ,mrs4 ,yates in the character of the ,tragic ,muse1 at whole length4 ,this was twelve years or more before ,sir ,joshua painted his famous picture of ,mrs4 ,siddons1 so that it is hardly possible to compare the two4 ,but ,romney's picture cannot have proved more than a succs d'estime4 8,i have often wished10 says ,hayley1 8that it had been the lot of ,romney to paint this great actress1 one of the most gracefully majestic of our tragic queens1 at a maturer season of her life1 and in the full meridian of his power2 for in that case ,i am persuaded the ,tragic ,muse of ,romney would not have appeared what at present ,i must allow her to be1 very far inferior1 as a work of the pencil1 to the ,tragic ,muse of ,sir ,joshua40 ,for once we may take ,hayley's opinion as more or less correct1 for although ,i am unable to pronounce on the merits of the picture1 not having seen it1 its history records what was the popular estimate of it4 ,it was purchased by ,alderman ,boydell1 and put up to auction at ,christie's after his death in #ahaj1 when it was bought in for nine and a half guineas4 ,in #ahab it was put up again and there was no bid1 and the same in #ahag and #ahbb4 ,in #ahbd it at last found a purchaser at #aj4 ,as this was1 according to ,john ,romney1 his first whole length portrait of a lady1 it would seem probable that he did not receive sufficient encouragement to pursue the allegorical treatment of portrait subjects4 ,but whether we incline to the one view or the other1 or perhaps accept a commixture of the two in ,illustration3 ,,william ,,pitt1 ,,the ,,younger ,national ,gallery such proportions as may seem to each of us most suitable to the facts1 we find it to be true that from henceforth ,romney's sitters were treated as ordinary everyday human beings1 and not as gods1 goddesses1 heroes1 nymphs1 muses1 or what not4 ,what he gave them was of his best1 so far as it went1 and1 as ,i have suggested1 his best went farther than he was conscious of in giving it4 ,let us now see how his portraiture responds to the three tests ,i ventured to suggest1 namely1 simplicity1 conscientiousness1 and classicism4 ,first1 then1 as to simplicity1 by which ,i mean in this connection simplicity of presentment--the plain prosaic record on canvas of the likeness of the sitter4 ,when we come to consider the third point1 classicism1 we shall see that this simplicity extends to every particular2 but for the moment ,i am only considering the first question that arises when a commission for a portrait is given--8,how would you like to be painted80 ,in ,romney's studio there seems to have been but one answer1 namely1 8,exactly as ,i am40 ,of accessories there were practically none4 ,the portrait was painted and that was all4 ,a portrait by ,romney is first and foremost a portrait4 ,secondly1 his conscientiousness4 ,who would believe1 on a view of any of ,romney's portraits1 that he looked upon portraiture as a cursed occupation by which he was shackled8 ,is there any trace of unwillingness1 of haste1 of slovenliness8 ,is there any hint that he was out of temper with his sitters1 or careless in the way he posed them1 or indifferent to the perfection of his painting8 ,we may miss the animation of ,gainsborough1 or the triumphant glitter of ,reynolds in many of his sober contemplative faces1 but of the perfunctory conventionalisms of his contemporaries or the slipshod hurry and make-believe of the modern exhibitors we find no suggestion4 ,whatever he did was done with all his strength1 if not with all his heart1 and no one could complain that his portrait suffered from want of painstaking devotion to the subject4 ,his care and conscientiousness are as easily seen1 too1 in his most busy and prosperous days as they are in his earliest ,illustration3 ,,portraits ,,of ,,mr4 ,,and ,,mrs4 ,,william ,,lindow 7#aggj7 ,national ,gallery portraits1 like that of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,lindow1 which was painted in #agfj before he left ,lancaster4 ,john ,romney records an amusing instance of his father's efforts in this respect4 8,i remember his telling me once10 he writes1 8what difficulty he had with a sitter in order to accomplish a little expression4 ,the gentleman was from the country1 and an attorney2 and though his profession required intelligence1 yet his countenance gave no indication of it4 ,to remove a settled dulness that pervaded his features1 ,mr4 ,romney made many attempts1 starting every popular topic of conversation1 but all in vain2 at length by some uncommon chance1 he happened to mention hunting2 at the sound of which word a ray of animation immediately sparkled in the eyes of the sitter1 and imparted a certain degree of vivacity to his countenance4 ,mr4 ,romney took his measure accordingly1 and led him into the subject2 after which he was relieved from any further attempts at conversation as the worthy gentleman expatiated upon it with spirit until the picture was finished40 8,even upon persons to whom nature was less parsimonious of her favours10 he adds1 8he knew that dulness would sometimes intrude1 and1 therefore1 always wished that some friends should accompany his sitters1 both for the purpose already mentioned1 and also to relieve himself of the double task of painting and of keeping up a forced conversation at the same time40 ,lastly1 for his classicism1 which is the really distinguishing characteristic of ,romney's portraits and includes in it all the others4 8,on his arrival in ,italy10 ,flaxman tells us1 8he was witness to new scenes of art1 and sources of study 444 he there contemplated the purity and perfection of ancient sculpture1 the sublimity of ,michel ,angelo's ,sistine chapel1 and the simplicity of ,cimabue's and ,giotto's schools4 ,he perceived these qualities namely1 be it observed1 sublimity and simplicity distinctly1 and judiciously used them in viewing and imitating nature2 and thus his quick perception and unwearied application enabled him by a two years' residence abroad to acquire as great a proficiency in art as is usually attained by foreign studies of much longer duration40 ,and again1 8,his cartoons 444 were examples of the sublime and terrible at that time perfectly new in ,english art4 ,the ,dream of ,atossa1 from the ,persians of schylus1 contrasted the death-like sleep of the ,queen with the ,bacchanalian ,fury of the ,genius of ,greece4 ,the composition was conducted with the fire and severity of a ,greek bas-relief40 ,how many of the thousands of visitors to the ,national ,gallery would ever imagine that this last paragraph was written of the painter of ,the ,parson's ,daughter1 or ,mrs4 ,mark ,currie8 ,and yet here1 ,i cannot help feeling1 is the real strength which underlies the structure of even the airiest of ,romney's paintings4 ,the roots of genius must grow deep if its branches are to grow high4 ,the foundations of a great building must be firm4 ,the faintest breeze of enlightened judgment is enough to blow away the ornamental bungalows of the ,victorian portrait-painters1 while castle ,romney stands as firm as the rock on which it was built4 8,in trying to attain excellence in his art10 ,flaxman continues1 8his diligence was unceasing as his gratification in the employment4 ,he endeavoured to combine all the possible advantages of the subject immediately before him1 and to exclude whatever had a tendency to weaken it4 ,his compositions1 like those of the ancient pictures and basso-relievos1 told their story by a single group of figures in the front1 whilst the background is made the simplest possible1 rejecting all unnecessary episode and trivial ornament1 either of secondary groups or architectural subdivision4 ,in his compositions the beholder was forcibly struck by the sentiment at the first glance1 the gradations and varieties of which he traced through several characters all conceived in an elevated spirit of dignity and beauty1 with a lively expression of nature in all the parts40 ,although written of his classical compositions1 this criticism of ,flaxman1 who was himself more severely classical in his art than the ,greeks1 applies with almost equal truth to his portraits4 ,it throws into light the hidden force that gives them their strength1 that keeps them before us as live men and women instead of painted puppets and dolls4 ,illustration3 ,,lady ,,craven 7#aggh7 ,national ,gallery 8,his heads were various10 says ,flaxman1 still on the classical compositions1 but holding the light even more closely to the portraits1 8the male were decided and grand1 the female lovely4 ,his figures resembled the antique2 the limbs were elegant1 and finely formed4 ,his drapery was well understood1 either forming the figure into a mass with one or two deep folds only1 or by its adhesion and transparency discovering the form of the figure1 the lines of which were finely varied with the union or expansion of spiral or cascade folds1 composing with or contrasting the outline and chiaroscuro4 ,he was so passionately fond of ,greek sculpture that he had filled his study and galleries with fine casts from the most perfect statues1 groups1 basso-relievos and busts of antiquity4 ,he would sit and consider these in profound silence by the hour2 and besides the studies in drawing and painting he made from them1 he would examine them under all the changes of sunlight and daylight2 and with lamps prepared on purpose at night he would try their effects lighted from above1 beneath1 in all directions1 with rapturous admiration40 ,before considering the particulars in which these observations may be said to be applicable to ,romney's portraits1 it is perhaps worth pointing out that the essential difference between the work of ,reynolds and ,romney is to be traced back to the influence exerted on each of them by his studies in ,italy4 ,reynolds1 perhaps fortunately for ,british art at the time1 seems to have taken ,michel ,angelo and ,raphael as the founders of painting1 and to have confined his study of art1 accordingly1 to them and their successors4 ,romney1 on the other hand1 while also regarding them as the chiefs1 went back from them to the antique1 taking ,cimabue and ,giotto on the way4 ,that he particularly admired ,correggio is stated by ,hayley1 but that ,correggio's 8tenderness and grace he often emulated very happily in his figures of women and children0 is a piece of criticism which ,i must confess to be beyond me4 ,certainly it cannot be applied to his portraits4 8,his drapery was well understood10 says ,flaxman2 ,i need not quote the rest of the sentence1 because it applies in particular to the drapery of ladies in the classic period2 but in principle1 the drapery of ,romney's sitters is as simple1 because well understood1 as that of ,atossa4 ,of all painters of women surely there never was one who required such extreme simplicity of raiment4 ,the plainest of white or black robes seem to have been the rule1 and the most common exception to absolute simplicity was not in the garment at all1 but in the addition of a somewhat elaborate and umbrageous hat4 ,of any pattern on the drapery1 ,i can only recall one instance1 namely1 that of ,miss ,hannah ,milnes1 a three-quarter length portrait1 now in the possession of ,earl ,crewe4 ,here there seems to be something of the manner of ,sir ,joshua in several particulars1 which is possibly a conscious imitation4 ,but in portrait after portrait1 and certainly in every piece which is most characteristic of ,romney1 whether it is ,mrs4 ,jordan or ,lady ,hamilton or ,mrs4 ,currie1 the plain robe is the rule4 ,the magnificent picture of ,louisa ,countess of ,mansfield 7in profile1 seated under a tree7 is now on loan from ,lord ,cathcart at the ,national ,gallery1 and is hanging close beside ,mrs4 ,mark ,currie's2 and while both depart from the letter of this rule1 they depend for their magical effect upon the spirit of it4 ,lady ,mansfield's flowing robe is of a pale yellowish tinge1 and a voluminous scarf of grey1 almost as pale1 mingles with the folds of drapery4 ,but as contrasted with the deep shadows of the foliage against which the brightly coloured profile is set1 the general impression is of an exquisitely posed figure in the simplest of flowing creamy white robes4 ,no ornament fixes the eye1 no violent contrast of colour interrupts the rhythm of the whole figure4 8,the design10 says ,mr4 ,roberts in his ,catalogue ,raisonn1 8appears to have been adopted from a ,greek gem40 ,mrs4 ,currie's dress1 which ,i hope ,i am correct in describing as a frock1 is of pure white2 but it is faintly striped1 not ,i think in colour1 but in texture2 and there are some bows on the elbows1 and a sash of pale lake4 ,anything less reminiscent of a ,greek statue than this radiant young ,english beauty in a muslin frock1 ,i am quite willing to admit1 it would be difficult to think of4 ,at first sight a severely classical taste would be more likely to condemn her for the ,illustration3 ,,mrs4 ,,mark ,,currie 7#aghi7 ,national ,gallery unmitigated prettiness that is usually associated with the cheapest kind of pictorial imbecility4 ,but let her not be condemned unheard4 ,that she was an exceedingly pretty woman need hardly be doubted1 and that she wished to be made as pretty as possible in her portrait may fairly be taken for granted4 ,if she had any other qualities it is probable that her name would be remembered for them4 ,as it is1 ,romney has conscientiously painted a portrait of her which probably pleased her almost as much as it pleases all of us to-day4 8,in his composition10 we remember1 8the beholder was forcibly struck by the sentiment at the first glance40 ,how true this is of ,mrs4 ,currie and her prettiness6 ,the painter's whole effort is concentrated on that one quality1 and instead of dissipating the beholder's attention with accessories1 he soothes it with a seeming artlessness which no one but a great painter could nearly accomplish4 ,mrs4 ,currie's drapery is of course strictly ,english--in substance at any rate and form4 ,but here again we feel the guiding or restraining hand of the ,classic ,muse1 just as we should have seen it had ,romney been painting ,mrs4 ,currie in the character of ,antigone4 ,as it was1 ,romney was speaking ,english and not ,greek2 only it is the ,english1 as it were1 of a finely educated man4 ,but in placing ,romney so high above the crowd of ordinary portrait painters1 and a little higher than any except ,reynolds and ,gainsborough1 it is only fair to consider how far short he fell of equalling those two4 ,and it must not be forgotten that the limitations which he imposed upon himself were quite as likely to affect his popularity among his patrons and their friends as with posterity4 ,classic simplicity is an invaluable quality in the portraiture of everyday men and women1 especially when the latter are young and pretty2 but a gallery of portraits by ,romney would afford a much narrower view of the capabilities of the ,english ,school than a similar exhibition of the work of ,reynolds or ,gainsborough4 ,the oft-repeated assertion of ,lord ,chancellor ,thurlow that 8,reynolds and ,romney divide the town1 and ,i am of the ,romney faction10 must be taken with a considerably larger pinch of salt than is popularly accepted with it4 ,in the first place1 ,romney was not at all in fashion until after his return from ,rome in #aghe1 by which time ,reynolds had been painting portraits for at least twenty years4 ,gainsborough1 too1 who was by seven years the senior of ,romney1 was quite as many years ahead of him in practice1 though he had only recently come to ,london from ,bath4 ,in the year #aghe we know that ,romney earned #cfce from portraits4 ,at this time1 so his pupil ,robinson records1 his prices were #bj for a head1 #cj for a kit-cat1 #dj for a half-length1 and #hj for a whole length4 ,taking the average at as low a figure as #ce1 this means about a hundred commissions in his busiest year4 ,this is certainly a large number1 and ,sir ,joshua never had more than a hundred-and-fifty in a year2 but it must not be taken as an average for any great length of years4 ,again1 when we look at the names of his most distinguished patrons1 the list is not as long or as imposing as those of ,reynolds and ,gainsborough4 ,the latter had the patronage of ,royalty1 besides a good number of the aristocracy1 while ,reynolds had1 if ,i may be allowed the expression1 8mopped up0 all that was most brilliant in beauty1 birth1 and genius1 leaving very little for anybody else4 ,the ,catalogue of the ,exhibition of ,national ,portraits held at ,south ,kensington in #ahfg1 enumerates but twenty pictures by ,romney1 and as many as a hundred and fifty by ,reynolds4 ,that ,romney's sensitive disposition and retiring habit of life may in some degree account for his not being more widely popular in his own time is no doubt true4 ,but apart from any other consideration there is no question that a fine portrait by ,reynolds is a more satisfying possession than any but the very finest by ,romney1 and a characteristic one by ,gainsborough more exhilarating4 ,though there is at least one instance in which he 8wiped ,reynolds's eye10 namely1 with his magnificent head of ,john ,wesley1 which was painted in #aghi1 when ,wesley was eighty-six years old4 8,at the earnest desire of ,mrs ,t410 the old man wrote1 8,i once more sat for my picture4 ,mr4 ,romney is a painter ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,a ,,lady ,,and ,,child 7#aghb7 ,national ,gallery indeed6 ,he struck off an exact likeness at once1 and did more in an hour than ,sir ,joshua did in ten40 ,still1 there is a variety of qualities in ,reynolds's and ,gainsborough's pictures that we do not find1 or expect to find1 in those of ,romney--a fact which must be taken into account in comparing the number of their respective portraits exhibited in #ahfg4 ,the stream of popular taste steadily ebbed during the century following ,sir ,joshua's death1 and it is only of late years that ,romney has been 8discovered0 and restored to public favour4 ,a great deal of ,romney's present-day popularity ,i cannot help thinking is attributable as much to the delectable quality of his ladies' faces as to the classic simplicity of treatment which makes them what they are4 ,then1 of course1 there is ,lady ,hamilton1 to whom1 as we find ,allan ,cunningham asserting1 many have imputed the chief charm of ,romney's best pictures4 ,in these days it is certainly true that her name is inseparably associated with ,romney's art in the popular mind1 and the latest addition to the bibliography of ,romney is concerned with nothing but ,lady ,hamilton4 ,unfortunately for ,romney's reputation both inside and outside his painting-room1 this lady's fame has so filled the public ear with matters which are altogether distinct from the art of painting1 that it is almost impossible to appreciate her influence upon ,romney's art in anything like its proper proportions4 ,we are as it were between two fires--the glamour which she threw over the painter and the glamour which he threw over her2 and our view of the matter1 unless we are careful to screen our eyes1 is likely to be too highly coloured for the ordinary purposes of criticism4 ,the broad fact seems to be that for nearly a decade the inspiration of ,emma ,lyon poured like sunlight into ,romney's studio1 and although before it came he had for several years established his reputation and done some of his best work in portraiture1 its withdrawal1 in #agia1 was the end of all that was happy or successful in his career4 8,his imagination was gone10 says ,mr4 ,humphry ,ward2 8his health1 for many years frail1 became less robust than ever1 and of his portraits and pictures painted after #agia1 many exhibit signs of decaying powers40 ,that he was exceedingly fond of her need not1 of course1 be doubted4 ,how could it be otherwise8 ,but is it any more necessary to dwell upon his purely personal relations with her than on those of ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds with ,kitty ,fisher or ,nelly ,o',brien8 ,for ,reynolds1 those two 8professional beauties0 were sitters1 of whom the painter succeeded in painting several beautiful and accomplished portraits4 ,for ,romney1 ,emma ,lyon was to some extent the embodiment of the ,muse whom ,i have ventured to postulate as his guardian angel1 when engaged in the perilous commerce of painting pretty and fashionable ladies4 ,that she was also the veritable embodiment of all that was pleasing to the mortal eye in the shape of woman is at least equally certain2 but unlike so many of her frail sisters1 she was a remarkably accomplished and intelligent woman4 8,she performed both in the serious and comic to admiration10 writes ,romney1 in a letter describing an evening at ,sir ,william ,hamilton's1 8both in singing and acting4 ,her ,nina surpasses everything ,i ever saw1 and ,i believe as a piece of acting nothing ever surpassed it4 ,the whole company were in an agony of sorrow4 ,her acting is simple1 grand1 terrible1 and pathetic40 ,in another letter1 to ,hayley in ,june #agia1 he writes1 8,at present1 and the greatest part of the summer1 ,i shall be engaged in painting pictures from the divine lady4 ,i cannot give her any other epithet1 for ,i think her superior to all womankind4 ,i have two pictures to paint of her for the ,prince of ,wales4 ,she says she must see you4444 ,she asked me if you would not write my life4 ,i told her you had begun it4 ,then she said she hoped you would have much to say of her in the life1 as she prided herself in being my model40 ,and again in the following month 8,i dedicate my time to this charming lady2 there is a prospect of her leaving town with ,sir ,william for two or three weeks4 ,they are very much hurried at present1 as everything is going on for their speedy marriage1 and all the world following and talking of her1 so that if she had not more good sense than vanity her brain must be turned4 8,the pictures ,i have begun are ,joan of ,arc1 a ,magdalen1 and a ,bacchante1 for the ,prince of ,wales1 ,illustration3 ,,lady ,,hamilton ,,as ,a ,,bacchante 7#aghf7 ,national ,gallery and another ,i am to begin as a companion to the ,bacchante4 ,i am also to paint a picture of ,constance for the ,shakespeare ,gallery40 ,the extent of ,romney's obligations to her1 simply as a model1 may be gathered from a glance at ,mr4 ,roberts's ,catalogue ,raisonn of his work4 ,here we find forty-five different pictures of the fair ,emma1 a figure which is about doubled if we count the various versions painted of one and another--as a ,bacchante1 for example1 no less than twelve separate canvases are enumerated4 ,nor does this catalogue probably include a good many sketches and studies which were left unfinished4 ,of the various characters in which he painted her1 apart from pictures which were simply portraits1 the list includes those of ,alope1 ,ariadne1 a ,bacchante1 ,cassandra1 ,circe1 ,comedy1 the ,comic ,muse1 ,contemplation1 ,euphrosyne1 a ,gipsy1 ,iphigenia1 ,joan of ,arc1 a ,magdalen1 ,meditation1 ,miranda1 ,nature1 a ,nun1 a ,pythian ,priestess1 ,s4 ,cecilia1 ,sensibility1 a ,shepherdess1 ,sigismunda1 the ,spinstress4 ,the ,sempstress1 it may be mentioned1 was not painted from her1 but from ,miss ,vernon4 ,such a catalogue as this is1 ,i suppose1 unique in the annals of painting4 ,oddly enough it is paralleled in those of literature--if it be not thought too fanciful to quote the example of ,william ,shakespeare4 ,for fanciful as at first thought it may seem1 it is1 nevertheless1 helpful to an understanding of the relations of the private life of each to his particular art4 ,george ,romney1 like ,shakespeare1 was born of humble parents in a remote country town4 ,dalton1 in ,lancashire1 is further from ,london than ,stratford1 but as ,i do not pretend to draw the parallel too closely1 ,i will confine myself to a short account of ,romney's circumstances only4 ,he was born on ,december #ae1 #agcd4 ,his ancestors1 yeomen of good repute1 lived near ,appleby1 in ,westmorland1 but took refuge during the ,civil ,wars in the neighbouring county4 ,his father was a joiner1 which in those days included the trade of carpenter and cabinet-maker1 and ,george was apprenticed to him4 ,how and at what period the love of painting came upon him has not been clearly shown4 ,cumberland asserts that it was inspired by the cuts in the ,illustration3 ,,emma1 ,,lady ,,hamilton ,national ,portrait ,gallery ,universal ,magazine4 ,hayley says that he consumed the time of his fellow-workmen in sketching them in various attitudes1 while ,john ,romney states that ,lionardo's treatise on painting1 illustrated by many fine engravings1 was early in his hands4 ,cumberland describes him as 8a child of nature who had never seen or heard of anything that could elicit his genius or urge him to emulation1 and who became a painter without a prototype40 ,at nineteen1 however1 he was apprenticed for four years to a painter called ,count ,steele1 who was practising in the neighbouring town of ,kendal4 ,during this time he fell in love with a young lady of some little fortune1 ,mary ,abbot1 and on ,october #ad1 #agef1 he carried her across the border to ,gretna ,green and married her4 ,his precipitate marriage drew upon him the rebuke of his parents1 but he vindicated himself with some firmness and skill4 8,if you consider everything deliberately10 he wrote1 8you will find it to be the best affair that ever happened to me2 because if ,i have fortune ,i shall make a better painter than ,i should otherwise have done1 as it will be a spur to my application2 and my thoughts being now still1 and not obstructed by youthful follies1 ,i can practise with more diligence and success than ever40 ,according to ,hayley1 he soon perceived that his marriage was an obstacle to his studies2 that he was ruined as an artist1 and that he might bid farewell to all hopes of fame and glory1 although he was devoting himself with all his might to his work4 8,the terror of precluding himself from those distant honours10 says ,hayley--to whom1 by-the-by1 we are under no obligation to believe more than we wish--8by appearing in the world as a young married man1 agitated the ambitious artist almost to distraction1 and made him resolve very soon after his marriage1 as he had no means of breaking the fetters which he wildly regarded as inimical to the improvement and exertion of his genius1 to hide them as much as possible from his troubled fancy40 ,this exordium of ,hayley's is1 as it were1 in the nature of a 8preliminary announcement0 of the separation between ,romney and his wife1 when five years later he resolved to try his fortune in ,london4 ,illustration3 ,,miss ,,benedetta ,,ramus ,viscount ,hambleden 8,in working rapidly and patiently at different places in the north1 for a few years10 ,hayley continues1 8by painting heads as large as life at the price of two guineas or figures at whole length on a small scale for six guineas1 he contrived to raise a sum amounting almost to a hundred pounds2 taking thirty for his own travelling expenses1 and leaving the residue to support an unoffending partner and two children1 he set forth alone1 without even a letter of recommendation1 to try the chances of life in the metropolis40 ,that was in #agfb2 and for a much longer period than ,shakespeare1 and with no occasional visits to his family1 ,romney worked in ,london and became more and more famous1 until1 as we have seen1 his decline set in4 8,the summer of #agii came10 writes ,allan ,cunningham1 8but ,romney could neither enjoy the face of nature1 nor feel pleasure in his studio and gallery4 ,a visible mental languor sat upon his brow--not diminishing but increasing2 he had laid aside his pencils2 his swarm of titled sitters1 whose smile in other days rendered passing time so agreeable1 were moved off to a ,lawrence1 a ,shee1 or a ,beechey2 and thus left lonely and disconsolate among whole cartloads of paintings1 which he had not the power to complete1 his gloom and his weakness gathered and grew upon him4444 ,in these moments his heart and his eye turned towards the north--where his son1 a man affectionate and kind1 resided2 and where his wife1 surviving the cold neglect and long estrangement of her husband1 lived yet to prove the depth of a woman's love1 and show to the world that she would have been more worthy of appearing at his side1 even when earls sat for their pictures1 and ,lady ,hamilton was enabling him to fascinate princes with his ,calypsos and ,cassandras4 ,romney departed from ,hampstead1 and taking the northern coach arrived among his friends at ,kendal in the summer of #agii4 ,the exertion of travelling and the presence of her whom he once had warmly loved overpowered him2 he grew more languid and more weak1 and finding fireside happiness he resolved to remain where he was2 he purchased a house and authorised the sale of that on ,hampstead ,hill40 ,so much for the parallel as concerned the private life of either4 ,but what about his art8 ,where in ,shakespeare's literary career are we to find anything comparable with the influence of ,emma ,lyon on ,romney's painting during the crowning decade of his accomplishment8 ,i suggest as the answer1 that during a similar period1 of about the same duration1 namely from about #aeic to #afjc1 we may trace a similar influence on the poet1 which is embodied in a series of masterpieces numbering over a hundred1 namely1 most if not all1 of the first hundred and twenty-five of 8,shakespeare's ,sonnets40 ,they were all written to one person1 and in such terms of art as have led others besides ,alexander ,dyce to suppose that they were really addressed to the poet's muse rather than to any corporeal being4 ,as in the case of ,romney1 the author has been maligned by the undiscerning vulgar for supposed deviations from the strict path of virtue in his relations with his friend4 ,but for any one who has an understanding of the spirit of art there is nothing in either case to support the allegation4 ,had ,shakespeare and ,romney looked no farther than their own hearths for artistic inspiration1 the world would have been the poorer3 that is all4 99 99 99 99 99 ,of ,romney's classical or historical pictures the world knows almost as little as it cares about them4 8,i have made many grand designs10 he himself wrote in #agid1 8,i have formed a system of original subjects1 moral and my own1 and ,i think one of the grandest that has been thought of--but nobody knows it40 ,cunningham1 after disposing shortly of his portraits1 proceeds to state that the historical and domestic pictures1 finished and unfinished1 deserve a more minute examination2 that they embrace a wide range of reading and observation and are numerous beyond all modern example4 ,but with the exception of ,titania and her ,indian ,votaries and ,milton ,dictating to his ,daughters1 which were mentioned by ,flaxman1 and various fancy portraits of ,lady ,hamilton1 he does not specify a single finished example4 ,his explanation is that 8for one finely finished there are five half done1 and for five half done there are at least a dozen merely commenced on the canvas40 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,romney ,,by ,,himself 7,,unfinished7 7#aghb7 ,national ,portrait ,gallery ,so far as these canvases are concerned1 there is no doubt that the majority of them have been destroyed2 but there are still in existence a large quantity of drawings and sketches on paper1 both in pencil and in ,india ink1 for classical compositions4 ,as many of these are probably rough ideas for his lost pictures1 it is perhaps worth mentioning a few of the subjects enumerated by ,cunningham among the unfinished productions1 which may help to identify the sketches1 besides1 as ,cunningham says1 8showing the range of his mind1 and also his want of patience to render his works worthy of admission to public galleries40 ,the principal are as follows3 ,king ,lear ,asleep1 ,king ,lear ,awake1 ,ceyx and ,alcyone1 ,the ,death of ,niobe's ,children1 ,the ,cumean ,sibyl ,foretelling the ,destiny of ,aeneas1 ,electra and ,orestes at the ,tomb of ,agammemnon1 ,thetis ,supplicating ,jupiter1 ,thetis ,comforting ,achilles1 ,damon and ,musidora1 ,homer ,reciting his ,verses1 ,david and ,saul1 ,macbeth and ,banquo1 ,the ,descent of ,odin1 ,the ,ghost of ,clytemnestra1 ,eurydice vanishing from ,orpheus1 ,harpalice1 ,a ,thracian ,princess defending her wounded ,father1 ,antigone with the ,corpse of ,polynices1 ,a ,witch displaying her ,magical ,powers1 ,resuscitation by ,force of ,magic1 ,doll ,tearsheet1 ,cupid and ,psyche4 ,besides these there are a number of portrait sketches1 which though not so numerous1 are much more charming1 in spite of their being exceedingly rough and slight4 ,they must have been simply notes1 and can seldom have been intended for more than fixing an idea in the painter's mind4 ,i have as many as a dozen in my own possession which ,i have picked up here and there in the dealers' portfolios1 and there are probably a good number of them in existence4 ,rough as they are1 they are certainly deserving of more attention than is usually accorded to them2 for though ,romney never seems to have enjoyed the process of committing a portrait to paper as ,gainsborough did1 these business-like notes of pose and chiaroscuro give us a good insight into his methods of setting to work4 ,perhaps the taste of a future generation will prefer the rough-hewn idea of a great portrait painter to the finished achievement of ,benwell or ,buck in little4 ,,index ,boydell1 ,alderman1 #bf ,cathcart1 ,lord1 #ce ,chamberlin1 ,mason1 #b ,cimabue1 #e1 #cj1 #cd ,copley1 ,john ,singleton1 #h ,copley's ,death of ,chatham1 #i ,correggio1 #cd ,cumberland1 #bc1 #df ,cunningham1 ,allan1 #ac1 #ai1 #da ,currie1 ,mrs4 ,mark1 #c1 #ca1 #ce1 #cf ,dalton1 #df ,exhibition of ,national ,portraits1 #dj ,flaxman1 ,john1 ,r4,a41 #ae1 #cj1 #ca1 #cb1 #cd ,fuseli1 ,henry1 ,r4,a41 #i ,gainsborough1 ,thomas1 #aa1 #af1 #ag1 #bh1 #dj ,garrick1 ,david1 #bc1 #bd ,giotto1 #cj1 #cd ,hamilton1 ,lady1 #ac1 #da-dc influence on ,romney's painting1 #ea ,romney's portraits of1 #de ,hayley1 ,william1 #ac1 #be1 #dg influence over ,romney1 #ad1 #bj ,highmore1 #bc ,hogarth1 ,william1 #bc ,holbein1 ,hans1 #e ,kauffmann1 ,angelica1 #i ,michelangelo1 #cj1 #cd ,northcote1 ,james1 ,r4,a41 #g ,pictures by ,george ,romney ,bacchante1 #dd ,constance1 #de ,joan of ,arc1 #dd ,john ,wesley1 #dj ,lady ,gower and her ,children1 #bj ,lady ,hamilton1 #c1 #ce ,louisa1 ,countess of ,mansfield1 #ce1 #cf ,magdalen1 #dd ,milton dictating to his ,daughters1 #eb ,miss ,hannah ,milnes1 #ce ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,lindow1 #bi ,mr4 ,leigh and his ,family1 #bc ,mrs4 ,jordan1 #ce ,mrs4 ,yates as ,the ,tragic ,muse1 #be ,the ,dream of ,atossa1 #ca ,the ,parson's ,daughter1 #c1 #ca 8,the ,triumphs of ,temper10 #ac ,the ,warren ,family1 #ba ,titania and her ,indian ,votaries1 #eb 8,tragic ,muse10 #bf ,raphael1 #cd ,reynolds1 ,sir ,joshua1 #d1 #e1 #g1 #aa1 #af1 #bh1 #cd1 #dj ,roberts1 ,mr41 ,catalogue ,raisonn1 #cf1 #de ,romney1 ,george1 birth of1 #df apprenticed to joinery1 #df apprenticeship to ,count ,steele1 #dg classicism1 #cj conscientiousness1 #bh distaste for portrait painting1 #d first full-length portrait of a lady1 #bf influence of ,hayley upon1 #ad in ,london1 #di letters to ,hayley1 #dd life of1 by ,william ,hayley1 #ac marriage to ,mary ,abbot at ,gretna ,green1 #dg place among portrait painters1 #ch portraits compared with those of ,reynolds and ,gainsborough1 #ah prices obtained for pictures1 #ci principal pictures1 list of1 #ec1 #ed return to ,kendal1 #ej separation from his wife1 #dh simplicity of treatment1 #bg ,romney1 ,rev4 ,john1 #ac1 #ba1 #bi1 #dg ,shakespeare ,gallery1 #de ,shakespeare1 ,william1 #df ,thurlow1 ,lord ,chancellor1 #ch ,vandyck1 #e ,velasquez1 #e ,vernon1 ,lord1 #bb ,walpole1 ,horace1 #ab ,ward1 ,mr4 ,humphry1 #bc1 #db ,west1 ,benjamin1 #g ,west's 8,pylades and ,orestes10 #g ,wilson1 ,richard1 ,founder of the ,english ,school of ,landscape1 #f ,,printed ,,at ,,the ,,ballantyne ,,press ,,london ,typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber3 trival1 pretty1 or banal trivial1 pretty1 or banal pg #bj scarlet waistcoast scarlet waistcoat pg #bd