A Book for a Rainy Day; or, Recollections of the Events of the Years 1766-1833Smith, John Thomas
History
A Book for a Rainy Day; or, Recollections of the Events of the Years 1766-1833
Smith, John Thomas
Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 18th century; Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
[443] Smith could not have seen the whole of Sir Peter Lely’s
collection of prints and drawings. These were sold by auction in
1687, the sale lasting more than a month.--Thomas Hudson (1701-79)
painted the portraits of members of the Dilettanti Society, and,
being wealthy, collected many fine prints and drawings.--Archibald
Campbell, third Duke, formed a very fine library.
[444] This name is given as Serre in the three old editions of the
_Rainy Day_--a very misleading erratum. William Score was born in
Devonshire about 1778. He became a pupil of Joshua Reynolds, and
regularly exhibited portraits at the Royal Academy.
[445] “Sir Joshua Reynolds commenced two of his finest historical
pictures without settling in what way the compositions were to be
completed, or, indeed, without even thinking of their subjects.
The head of Count Ugolino at Knowle, and the Infant Christ in
Macklin’s picture, were painted on the canvases long before the
artist considered subjects or combinations” (S.).--This historical
painting, says Northcote, existed simply as a head of the Count
until Burke and Goldsmith praised it, whereupon Sir Joshua had his
canvas enlarged in order that he might add the other figures. When
finished, the picture was bought by the Duke of Dorset for 400
guineas. It is not Reynolds at his best, and Charles Lamb, who saw
it at the Reynolds exhibition held in 1813 in Pall Mall, criticised
it rather severely.
[446] Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral at
the defeat of the Armada, best known to history as Lord Howard
of Effingham. The portrait Smith missed was painted by Frederigo
Zucchero, whose (attributed) portraits of Queen Elizabeth,
Leicester, Raleigh, and James I. are in the National Portrait
Gallery. His Howard is now in the Painted Hall at Greenwich. The
portraits of the Admirals were presented to Greenwich Hospital
by George IV. (not William IV.) in 1823. William IV. added five
naval pictures in 1835. As will be seen on a later page, Smith’s
curiosity about the hanging of these pictures led him to visit
Greenwich next day.
[447] Francis Legat, a Scotch engraver, came to London about 1780,
and lived at 22 Charles Street, Westminster. Here he engraved “Mary
Queen of Scots resigning her Crown” after Hamilton in 1786, and
later Northcote’s painting. He died in 1809.
[448] Chantrey’s group, “The Sleeping Children,” in Lichfield
Cathedral.
[449] This statue is now in the British Museum.
[450] The Chelsea porcelain manufacture was founded about 1745,
and was at the height of its fame from 1750 to 1764 under Mr.
Sprimont. The works finally closed in 1784. The Chelsea potters
went forthwith to Derby, where they founded the Chelsea-Derby
pottery. Remains of the old Chelsea furnaces, in which Dr. Johnson
was allowed to test his compositions, are still to be seen in the
cellars of the Prince of Wales Tavern, at the corner of Justice
Walk and Lawrence Street, Chelsea.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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