The Life, Studies, and Works of Benjamin West, Esq.: Composed from Materials Furnished by HimselfGalt, John
General
The Life, Studies, and Works of Benjamin West, Esq.: Composed from Materials Furnished by Himself
Galt, John
West, Benjamin, 1738-1820
been done for Art in the collections there. Then proceed to Bologna, and
study the works of the Caracci; afterwards visit Parma, and examine,
attentively, the pictures of Corregio; and then go to Venice and view the
productions of Tintoretti, Titian, and Paul Veronese. When you have made
this tour, come back to Rome, and paint an historical composition to be
exhibited to the Roman public; and the opinion which will then be formed
of your talents should determine the line of our profession which you
ought to follow." This judicious advice, so different from those absurd
academical dogmas which would confine genius to the looking only to the
works of art, for that perfection which they but dimly reflect from
nature, West found accord so well with his own reflections and principles,
that he resolved to follow it with care and attention. But the thought of
being in Rome, and the constant excitement arising from extraordinary and
interesting objects, so affected his mind, accustomed to the sober and
uniform habits of the Quakers, that sleep deserted his pillow, and he
became ill and constantly feverish. The public took an interest in his
situation. A consultation of the best Physicians in Rome was held on his
case, the result of which was a formal communication to Mr. Robinson, that
his friend must immediately quit the capital, and seek relief from the
irritated state of his sensibility in quiet and retirement. Accordingly,
on the 20th of August he returned to Leghorn.
Messrs. Jackson and Rutherford, by whose most friendly recommendation he
had obtained so much flattering distinction at Rome, received him into
their own house, and treated him with a degree of hospitality that
merits for them the honour of being considered among the number of his
early patrons. Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Dick, then the British Consul
at Leghorn, and his lady, also treated him with great partiality, and
procured for him the use of the Imperial baths. His mind being thus
relieved from the restless ecstasy which he had suffered in Rome, and
the intensity of interest being diminished by the circumscribed nature
of the society of Leghorn, together with the bracing effects of
sea-bathing, he was soon again in a condition to resume his study in the
capital. But the same overpowering attacks on his feelings and
imagination soon produced a relapse of his former indisposition, and
compelled him to return to Leghorn, where he was again speedily cured of
his fever, but it left in its dregs a painful affection in the ancle,
that threatened the loss of the limb. The well-known Nanoni, an eminent
surgeon, who had introduced many improvements in the treatment of
diseased joints, was at this period resident in Florence, and Messrs.
Jackson and Rutherford wrote to Sir Horace Mann, then the British
Minister at the Ducal Court, to consult him relative to the case of Mr.
West: his answer induced them to advise the Artist to go to Florence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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