DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61252#0036
XXXii GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
charming painters. They were little valued in their own
country, and not at all in others, till towards the end of the
last century.
Then—as if all this were not enough—the war broke out
in Spain. Pictures which the national pride and bigotry
had guarded with jealous and zealous care—which royal
edicts and stringent laws had forbidden to be removed or
exported, suddenly became booty—became merchandise.
Sanctuaries and palaces gave up their hidden treasures.
The law was then that “ those should rob who had the
power;” that those who had not, should buy. Thus the
Murillos travelled somewhat circuitously through Marshal
Soult’s gallery into that of the Duke of Sutherland; and
thus the great Rubenses of the convent of Loeches find
themselves dwelling in the halls of Grosvenor House. But,
if we except some works of Velasquez and Murillo—no
Spanish pictures came from Spain, and our acquaintance
with the Spanish schools is still very limited.*
Since the sale of the Orleans Gallery, some other foreign
collections have been sent over to England to be disposed
of—that of M. de Calonne, in 1795; that of Lucien Buona-
parte, in 1816; of Talleyrand, in 1817; that of the Duchesse
de Berri, in 1837; and, in 1840, the gallery of the Duke
of Lucca; which last turned out rather an unfortunate spe-
culation; the pictures did not realize half the sum expected
for them.f
Of the collections and galleries formed during this
period, from 1795 to 1840, we may find the enumera-
* The first instance of a Spanish picture sold in England, was in 1693, when
Lord Godolphin bought, at the sale of Lord Mellefont’s pictures, a group of
Beggar Boys, by Murillo, for eighty guineas, a purchase which caused much
astonishment at the time. Lord Mellefont, ruined by his adherence to the
Stuart cause, had brought some valuable pictures from Rome and Madrid,
where he had represented James II. as envoy.
+ The two Francias were sold to the National Gallery, for 45001.; the “ Ma-
donna delle Candelabre,” to Mr. Munroe, for 15001. The Luke of Sutherland,
Lord Lansdowne, and Mr. Hope, were also purchasers.
charming painters. They were little valued in their own
country, and not at all in others, till towards the end of the
last century.
Then—as if all this were not enough—the war broke out
in Spain. Pictures which the national pride and bigotry
had guarded with jealous and zealous care—which royal
edicts and stringent laws had forbidden to be removed or
exported, suddenly became booty—became merchandise.
Sanctuaries and palaces gave up their hidden treasures.
The law was then that “ those should rob who had the
power;” that those who had not, should buy. Thus the
Murillos travelled somewhat circuitously through Marshal
Soult’s gallery into that of the Duke of Sutherland; and
thus the great Rubenses of the convent of Loeches find
themselves dwelling in the halls of Grosvenor House. But,
if we except some works of Velasquez and Murillo—no
Spanish pictures came from Spain, and our acquaintance
with the Spanish schools is still very limited.*
Since the sale of the Orleans Gallery, some other foreign
collections have been sent over to England to be disposed
of—that of M. de Calonne, in 1795; that of Lucien Buona-
parte, in 1816; of Talleyrand, in 1817; that of the Duchesse
de Berri, in 1837; and, in 1840, the gallery of the Duke
of Lucca; which last turned out rather an unfortunate spe-
culation; the pictures did not realize half the sum expected
for them.f
Of the collections and galleries formed during this
period, from 1795 to 1840, we may find the enumera-
* The first instance of a Spanish picture sold in England, was in 1693, when
Lord Godolphin bought, at the sale of Lord Mellefont’s pictures, a group of
Beggar Boys, by Murillo, for eighty guineas, a purchase which caused much
astonishment at the time. Lord Mellefont, ruined by his adherence to the
Stuart cause, had brought some valuable pictures from Rome and Madrid,
where he had represented James II. as envoy.
+ The two Francias were sold to the National Gallery, for 45001.; the “ Ma-
donna delle Candelabre,” to Mr. Munroe, for 15001. The Luke of Sutherland,
Lord Lansdowne, and Mr. Hope, were also purchasers.