Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 19 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 19 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
Among portraits of this school deserving especial mention is that of
King Jerome of Westphalia, brother of Napoleon, by the two Müllers
above named, where the genius of the artists is most conspicuous,
although the subject contributes little. As in the case of the Palace
of the Sun, described by Ovid, “_materiam superabat opus_.”[165] This
work is a beautiful example of skill in representation of fur and lace,
not yielding even to Drevet.
Longhi was a universal master, and his portraits are only part of
his work. That of Washington, which is rare, is evidently founded on
Stuart’s painting, but after a design of his own, which is now in the
possession of the Swiss Consul at Venice. The artist particularizes
the hair, as being modelled after the French master Masson.[166] The
portraits of Michel Angelo and Dandolo, the venerable Doge of Venice,
are admired; so also is the _Napoleon_ as King of Italy, with the
iron crown and finest lace. But his chief portrait is that of Eugène
Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy, full length, remarkable for the plume in
the cap, which is finished with surpassing skill.
* * * * *
Contemporary with Longhi was another Italian engraver of
widely extended fame, who was not the product of the French
school,--Raffaello Morghen, born at Portici in 1761. His works have
enjoyed a popularity beyond those of other masters, partly from the
interest of their subjects, and partly from their soft and captivating
style, although they do not possess the graceful power of Nanteuil and
Edelinck, and are without variety. He was scholar and son-in-law of
Volpato, of Rome, himself scholar of Wagner, of Venice, whose homely
round faces were not high models in Art. The _Aurora_ of Guido and the
_Last Supper_ of Leonardo da Vinci stand high in engraving, especially
the latter, which occupied Morghen three years. Of his two hundred
and fifty-four works no less than eighty-five are portraits, among
which are the Italian poets,--Dante, Petrarc, Ariosto, Tasso, also
Boccaccio,--and a head called Raphael, but supposed to be that of Bindo
Altoviti, the great painter’s friend,[167] and especially the Duke of
Moncada on horseback, after Van Dyck, which has received warm praise.
But none of his portraits is calculated to give greater pleasure than
that of Leonardo da Vinci, which may vie in beauty even with the famous
Pomponne. Here is the beauty of years and of serene intelligence.
Looking at that tranquil countenance, it is easy to imagine the large
and various capacities which made him not only painter, but sculptor,
architect, musician, poet, discoverer, philosopher, even predecessor of
Galileo and Bacon. Such a character deserves the immortality of Art.
Happily, an old Venetian engraving, reproduced in our day,[168] enables
us to see this same countenance at an earlier period of life with
sparkle in the eye.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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