The Adventures of Peregrine PickleSmollett, T. (Tobias)
General
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle
Smollett, T. (Tobias)
Adventure stories; Fiction; Picaresque literature
When they came to consider the Murder of the Innocents by Le Brun,
the Swiss observed, that it was un beau morceau, and Mr. Pallet
replied,--“Yes, yes, one may see with half an eye, that it can be
the production of no other; for Bomorso's style both in colouring
and drapery, is altogether peculiar: then his design is tame, and his
expression antic and unnatural. Doctor, you have seen my judgment of
Solomon; I think I may, without presumption--but, I don't choose to make
comparisons; I leave that odious task to other people, and let my works
speak for themselves. France, to be sure, is rich in the arts; but
what is the reason? The king encourages men of genius with honour and
rewards; whereas, in England, we are obliged to stand on our own feet,
and combat the envy and malice of our brethren. Egad! I have a good mind
to come and settle here in Paris. I should like to have an apartment in
the Louvre, with a snug pension of so many thousand livres.”
In this manner did Pallet proceed with an eternal rotation of tongue,
floundering from one mistake to another, until it was the turn of
Poussin's Seven Sacraments to be examined. Here again, the Swiss, out
of the abundance of his zeal, expressed his admiration, by saying these
pieces were impayable; when the painter, turning to him, with an air of
exultation, “Pardon me, friend, there you happen to be mistaken: these
are none of Impayable's; but done by Nicholas Pouseen. I have seen
prints of them in England, so that none of your tricks upon travellers,
Mr. Swiss or Swash, or what's your name.” He was much elated by this
imaginary triumph of his understanding, which animated him to persevere
in his curious observations upon all the other pieces of that celebrated
collection; but perceiving that the doctor manifested no signs of
pleasure and satisfaction, but rather beheld them with a silent air of
disdain, he could not digest his indifference, and asked, with a waggish
sneer, if ever he had seen such a number of masterpieces before? The
physician, eyeing him with a look of compassion, mingled with contempt,
observed that there was nothing there which deserved the attention
of any person acquainted with the ideas of the ancients; and that
the author of the finest piece now in being was unworthy to clean the
brushes of one of those great masters who are celebrated by the Greek
and Roman writers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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