International studio (20.1903)

7%? ^C<%f^777y

in chalks and water-coiours by Delacroix, for the
of the Louvre. The Claudes and
Watteaus are all most desirable acquisitions; one
of the Watteaus, a sheet of studies of heads, has
that wonderful draughtsman's qualities of delicate
firmness, vivacity of line, and exquisite apprecia-
tion of his materials, in an almost unapproached
degree. The .1M372, by Nicolas
Laigneau, is also a welcome addition to the Museum
collection of the work of this artist, best known by
his portrait studies of old age ; and if the landscape
bearing Gaspar Poussin's name may be thought,
in spite of its charm and of certain Gaspar-like
mannerisms, to betray rather a later and, perhaps,
an Italian hand, there can be no doubt about the
strange, incisive portrait of himself by Nicolas
Poussin, made during recovery from an illness, as
one might well divine from the haggard features
without the aid of the attesting inscription below.
^TT^HE " INSTRUMENT" OF IN-
[ STITUTION OF THE ROYAL
ACADEMY OF ARTS.
[IN response to a large number of inquiries for
information on the subject of the foundation of
the Royal Academy of Arts, we reprint herewith
the original " Instrument," which defines the
Society's constitution and government. A few
days after the completion of this document, twenty-
eight of the thirty-four Academicians nominated
by the King drew up and signed an obligation by
which each one undertook to observe all the laws
and regulations contained in the " Instrument,"
and also all other laws, bye-laws, or regulations
which might be subsequently made for the better
government of the Society.—Editor, THE STUDIO.]
"WHEREAS sundry persons, resident in this
metropolis, eminent professors of painting, sculp-
ture, and architecture, have most humbly repre-
sented by memorial unto the King that they are
desirous of establishing a Society for promoting the
Arts of Design, and earnestly soliciting his Majesty's
patronage and assistance in carrying this their plan
into execution; and, whereas, its great utility hath
been fully and clearly demonstrated, his Majesty,
therefore, desirous of encouraging every useful
undertaking, doth hereby institute and establish
the said Society, under the name and title of the
Royal Academy of Arts in London, graciously
declaring himself the patron, protector, and sup-
porter thereof; and commanding that it be estab-
lished under the forms and regulations hereinafter

mentioned, which have been most humbly laid
before his Majesty, and received his royal appro-
bation and assent.
" 1. The said Society shall consist of forty
members only, who shall be called Academicians
of the Royal Academy; they shall all of them be
artists by profession at the time of their admission
—that is to say, painters, sculptors, or architects,
men of fair moral characters, of high reputation in
their several professions; at least five-and-twenty
years of age; resident in Great Britain; and not
members of any other society of artists established
in London.

" II. It is his Majesty's pleasure that the follow-
ing forty* persons be the original members of the
said Society, viz.:—

JOSHUA REYNOLDS
BENJAMIN WEST
THOMAS SANDBY
FRANCIS COTES
JOHN BAKER
MASON CHAMBERLIN
JOHN GWYNN
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH
J. BAPTIST CIPRIANI
JEREMIAH MEYER
FRANCIS MILNER NEWTON
PAUL SANDBY
FRANCESCO BARTOLOZZI
CHARLES CATTON
NATHANIEL HONE
WILLIAM TYLER
NATHANIEL DANCE

RICHARD WILSON
G. MICHAEL MOSER
SAMUEL WALE
PETER TOMS
ANGELICA K.AUFFMANN
RICHARD YEO
MARY MOSER
WILLIAM CHAMBERS
JOSEPH WlLTOX
GEORGE BARRET
EDWARD PENNY
AGOSTINO CARUNI
FRANCIS HAYMAN
DOMINIC SERRES
JOHN RICHARDS
FRANCESCO ZUCCARELLI
GEORGE DANCE

" III. After the first institution, all vacancies of
Academicians shall be filled by election from
amongst the exhibitors in the Royal Academy; the
names of the candidates for admission shall be put
up in the Academy three months before the day of
election, of which day timely notice shall be given
in writing to all the Academicians ; each candidate
shall, on the day of election, have at least thirty
suffrages in his favour, to be duly elected; and he
shall not receive his letter of admission till he hath

deposited in the Royal Academy, to remain there,
a picture, bas-relief, or other specimen of his
abilities approved of by the then sitting Council of
the Academy.
" IV. For the government of the Society there
shall be annually elected a President and eight
other persons, who shall form a Council, which
shall have the entire direction and management of
all the business of the Society ; and all the officers
and servants thereof shall be subservient to the
said council, which shall have power to reform all
abuses, to censure such as are deficient in their
* The number of members was not actually brought up to forty until
Ave years later. The names of Johan Zoffany and William Hoare were
added in 1769 to the thirty-four artists Arst nominated by the King.

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