DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0075
52 THE GREAT EXHIBITION
types they would form of the two forms of society, the memory of which they would
severally perpetuate ! In.the one a people of slaves build an enormous mausoleum for
one man, who is, as it were, a representative of the whole; in the other, a nation of free-
men construct an eternal monument for themselves, simply by each man lying down in
his place as he is called. *• * * * * Spirit as he was, our visitor at length began
to find himself exhausted by the multitude of objects which solicited his attention.
He had seen enough, he thought, for one visit. But in quitting the Crystal Palace,
the model lodging-houses erected by Prince Albert caught his eye. "This Prince Albert !"
thought he; "I hear a great deal of this prince, and from all I hear there has not
been on or near a throne, for many an age, so intelligent and accomplished a man. One
must go very far back in the annals of England to find his parallel. This prince has
equal intelligence and far more knowledge than my Frederick of Prussia, and Frederick
could be a------But I have forgiven him. Moreover, I had my revenge; after which one
very sincerely forgives. Into these lodging-houses that bear the prince's name I must
make some inquiries." He did so, and that with a rapidity and acuteness which soon put
him on a level, in point of information, with the rest of the spectators. A prospectus
of the society for building a better order of houses for the workman and the peasant was
put into his hand. It did not fail to meet with his most cordial approbation: it was a
scheme of judicious philanthropy worthy of its royal and enlightened patron. As he
was withdrawing his foot from the step of the model cottage, he met, for the third
and last time, the professor of mechanics, who here also was indefatigable in explaining
and developing. Observing Voltaire, whom he now regarded in the light of an old
acquaintance and antagonist, he determined to push the advantage which their present
subject of examination gave him, and he enlarged triumphantly on that philanthropic
desire which had lately sprung up in the higher and middle classes of the community,
to improve the condition of those who occupy a lower place in the social scale. * * *
A hot dispute follows, in the course of which the professor becomes extremely irritable,
and at length was about to overwhelm his ghostly antagonist with a burst of honest
indignation, when he discovered, to his surprise, that his opponent had vanished from
the scene. Voltaire went back quite contented that he had lived in Paris a century ago.
CHAPTER VIII.
modest* poetbait painting---its deficiencies—pb-s-baphaedttes—pobteait painttn& in
- queen Elizabeth's time—winteehalteb's portraits op the queen and peince albeet
copied on china—bbiei? memoib op the qheen and peince adbebt.
Portrait Painting in modern times has undergone a considerable change; rigid truth
has been laid aside for flattery, individuality has been generalised, age concealed, and all
prominent peculiarities softened down and almost obliterated; plainness of features,
though stamped with intellect, is abhorred by modern art as a crime, and must not be
represented, so fastidious has the age become. Perhaps it will be one of the best results
of the Prse-Raphaelite school to bring back the style of our leading portrait painters to
the sobriety of truth. We want the express image, the alter idem, of such personages
as are eminent in rank or talent, with all the sharpness of nature's coinage impressed
upon the visage. If we have lost in one respect, however, we have gained in another—
we have improved in elegance and simplicity; we no longer bedeck our female portraits
types they would form of the two forms of society, the memory of which they would
severally perpetuate ! In.the one a people of slaves build an enormous mausoleum for
one man, who is, as it were, a representative of the whole; in the other, a nation of free-
men construct an eternal monument for themselves, simply by each man lying down in
his place as he is called. *• * * * * Spirit as he was, our visitor at length began
to find himself exhausted by the multitude of objects which solicited his attention.
He had seen enough, he thought, for one visit. But in quitting the Crystal Palace,
the model lodging-houses erected by Prince Albert caught his eye. "This Prince Albert !"
thought he; "I hear a great deal of this prince, and from all I hear there has not
been on or near a throne, for many an age, so intelligent and accomplished a man. One
must go very far back in the annals of England to find his parallel. This prince has
equal intelligence and far more knowledge than my Frederick of Prussia, and Frederick
could be a------But I have forgiven him. Moreover, I had my revenge; after which one
very sincerely forgives. Into these lodging-houses that bear the prince's name I must
make some inquiries." He did so, and that with a rapidity and acuteness which soon put
him on a level, in point of information, with the rest of the spectators. A prospectus
of the society for building a better order of houses for the workman and the peasant was
put into his hand. It did not fail to meet with his most cordial approbation: it was a
scheme of judicious philanthropy worthy of its royal and enlightened patron. As he
was withdrawing his foot from the step of the model cottage, he met, for the third
and last time, the professor of mechanics, who here also was indefatigable in explaining
and developing. Observing Voltaire, whom he now regarded in the light of an old
acquaintance and antagonist, he determined to push the advantage which their present
subject of examination gave him, and he enlarged triumphantly on that philanthropic
desire which had lately sprung up in the higher and middle classes of the community,
to improve the condition of those who occupy a lower place in the social scale. * * *
A hot dispute follows, in the course of which the professor becomes extremely irritable,
and at length was about to overwhelm his ghostly antagonist with a burst of honest
indignation, when he discovered, to his surprise, that his opponent had vanished from
the scene. Voltaire went back quite contented that he had lived in Paris a century ago.
CHAPTER VIII.
modest* poetbait painting---its deficiencies—pb-s-baphaedttes—pobteait painttn& in
- queen Elizabeth's time—winteehalteb's portraits op the queen and peince albeet
copied on china—bbiei? memoib op the qheen and peince adbebt.
Portrait Painting in modern times has undergone a considerable change; rigid truth
has been laid aside for flattery, individuality has been generalised, age concealed, and all
prominent peculiarities softened down and almost obliterated; plainness of features,
though stamped with intellect, is abhorred by modern art as a crime, and must not be
represented, so fastidious has the age become. Perhaps it will be one of the best results
of the Prse-Raphaelite school to bring back the style of our leading portrait painters to
the sobriety of truth. We want the express image, the alter idem, of such personages
as are eminent in rank or talent, with all the sharpness of nature's coinage impressed
upon the visage. If we have lost in one respect, however, we have gained in another—
we have improved in elegance and simplicity; we no longer bedeck our female portraits