Studio: international art (82.1921)

MINIATURES IN PIERPONT MORGAN COLLECTION

by that marvellously supple, delicate and
thoughtful line of his. He seems to think
and feel in line, and in line, moreover,
which is drawn upon and bitten into the
copper. For some years now he has used
the stark naked line with ever-growing
mastery and felicity. In plates like Palace
Farm and St. Botolph's Bridge he has
used it with such felicity that even when
you are too tired to exert your mind or
imagination its visible melody, the lovely
pattern it makes, will charm and delight
your senses. In the whole range of
present-day etching I know of no more
thoroughly individual works than these,
nor of any more beautiful in thought and
feeling, or more perfect in their work-
manship. 0 0 0 0 0

MINIATURES IN THE PIERPONT
MORGAN COLLECTION.—VIII.:
PORTRAIT OF AN OLD PHYSICIAN,
BY HENRY EDRIDGE, A.R.A. 0

MESSINGER MONSEY, whose por-
trait by Henry Edridge is here
presented, was an eccentric old physician,
who contradicted his patients, laughed to
scorn their little ailments, quarrelled with
them and with all his companions, boasted
of his irreligion and free thought, aroused
the fierce animosity of Dr. Johnson by
his ribald language, and yet was the
most popular physician of his day and
found his waiting room crowded with all
the elite of eighteenth-century society.
Born in 1693, he practised in Bury St.
Edmunds with great success for some
years, and then, having the good fortune
to be called in to attend the Earl of
Godolphin, so pleased his noble patron by
his candour and uncompromising hostility
that he transported him to London, made
him Physician to Chelsea Hospital, and
sounded his praises all over London.
His powerful and drastic remedies were
as much hated as he was himself, but he
performed some notable cures, and he
amused by his gruff manner all who came
to see him. Hence his high popularity.
Garrick was one of his patients ; Johnson
refused to be and would not even see him.
He held his position at Chelsea all his
18

life and, apart from his profession, lived
the life of a hermit and recluse. His
papers are now in the College of Surgeons,
and very curious some of them are,
seasoned by a shrewd wit, considerable
skill, and a far-reaching diagnosis, very
remarkable in his time. His portrait
hangs in the College of Physicians, so
both branches of the profession honour
his memory. He died in 1788 in his 95th
year, and the record of the post-mortem
examination of his body still remains for
students to peruse. A very odd document
it certainly is. <* 0 0 0

His epitaph was composed by himself,
and marked by ferocious cynicism and
vulgar infidelity. His will, too, was as
remarkable as any other feature of his
career. To a young lady, with the most
lavish encomiums on her wit, taste, and
elegance, he left an old snuff box worth
sixpence, while to another he first be-
queathed a considerable sum of money
and then cancelled the gift with the state-
ment, that finding her to be " a pert con-
ceited minx " he had changed his mind.

Edridge painted the portrait before us,
and a very fine miniature it is, signed and
dated in full. He painted very few
miniatures—not more than a dozen all
told are known to the writer, and of these
none are really fine, save only this tour-
de-force. He is better known by his
pencil drawings, especially his dainty
portraits with the heads and hands often
slightly touched with colour. He was a
Londoner, born at Paddington in 1769,
and in London he died in 1821, and was
buried at Bushey. His master was Pether,
the mezzotinter, and his constant friend
and admirer was the great first President
of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua
Reynolds. His home was at Hanwell,
but in 1817 he went to France and there
executed many charming drawings and
some water-colours, all of which go to
enhance his fame. Some of these were
exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1820,
and it was in the following November
that he was elected an Associate of the
Academy, less than six months before
his death in April, 1821. The same year
witnessed the death of Richard Cosway,
R.A., famous as a painter of portrait
miniatures. Geo. C. Williamson.