Shortly after the first exhibition of the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, at the British Institution, he wrote the following criticisms,[66] among others, upon his pictures of Ugolino, of Dido, and the Infant Hercules, which may probably be perused with interest, as they have not appeared in print. UGOLINO. "Δαιμόνι' οὔτ' ἄρ τι μεγαλίζομαι οὐδ' ἀθεριζω Οὐδὲ λίην ἄγαμαι μάλα δ' ἐῦ οἰδ' οἷος ἔησθα."[67] Od. p. [23.] 174. "From whatever cause this face became that of Ugolino,--whether its original were that of a noble or a pauper, it is a standard of grief;--but, more habitual than sudden, the grief of one whom "sharp misery had long worn to the bones,"--not of him whom fortune's quick reverse dashed headlong on to despair. The manner in which he is grouped with his infant son, as it increases the contrast, adds to our sympathy,--which is however obtained not only at the expense of the story, but of nature. The whole family were shut up together in the cage; and when the vigorous partners of the father in arms writhe in the agonies of hunger, or, unable to support themselves, droop in languor, is it natural to see a blooming stripling, unaffected by either, at his ease console the petrified father?" THE DIDO. "This is one of the few historic compositions any where, and perhaps a solitary one in this collection, of which the principal figure is the best and occupies the most conspicuous place. Riveted to supreme beauty in the jaws of death, we pay little attention to the subordinate parts, and scorn, when recovered from sympathy and anguish, to expatiate in cold criticisms on their unfitness or impotence. He who could conceive this Dido, could not be at a loss for a better Anna, had he had a wish, or given himself time to consult his own heart, rather than to adopt a precedent of clamorous grief from Daniel di Volterra. That Iris was admitted at all, without adequate room to display her, as the arbitress of the moment, may be regretted; for if she could not be contrived to add sublimity to pathos, she could be no more than what she actually became, a tool of mean conception. "The writer of these observations has seen the progress of this work,--if not daily, weekly,--and knows the throes which it cost its author before it emerged into the beauty, assumed the shape, or was divided into the powerful masses of chiar' oscuro which strike us now; of colour it never had, nor wants, more than what it possesses now,--a negative share. ----'Non rem Colori Sed colorem Rei submittere ausus.' "The painter has proved the success of a great principle, less understood than pertinaciously opposed." THE INFANT HERCULES.