The Crystal Palace and its contents.: An illustrated cyclopaedia of the great exhibition of 1851 (London, Nr. 1.1851(4.Okt.)-26/27.1852(27.März))

THE CRYSTAL PALACE AND ITS CONTEXTS;





root

r upon tlio couii

bn.be

s as they are, and

poet

c interest can at

bnfo

o it is formed, eve

the intelligence and i

i\ pr,

mialhm of a

i, what of high or and i

veil. In reality, portions of it only s

SUbj<

c direction, and the effect so produced is not
' night to the 11 "

and tlie same tim<,

gencrallvrealis

A by the d

and bysl&nders,

ill which i

tlie question.



"TheVintag

," by Gacto

of carving, repi

smiting a

branches of a c

umpofvin

ivlvood, and as yet uugiftcd with
■> of our nature? In painting we have abun-
,ion of tho Infant Saviour, as part of what is
■nt, except in some few cases where tbo child
il with the prescience of his divine mission,
ihe spectator, the sanctity of tlie subject is
itional and reverential regards of tlie mother
,hc single marble subject is necessarily out of

i Jlotolli, of Milan, is a very elaborate piece
lole family of cupids disporting amongst the
making free with bundle's of grapes as big as

squc

udt!

n (pi esti enable berii
1 carving, or, bette

ics, that tho
still, to silv.

c-m

submit, with all its
better adapted to wo
decoration.

A group, byDemocrito rdaudolii, entitled " Grief and Faith.'" \
a prominent position at the entrance of the inner room, prove
as much by the incongruities involved in its conception, as by i
harmony of outline am1, proportion iu ihe arrangement. In th
—fancy a foreground in a piece of soul mure !—in tlie foreground

i h-------,> , ■' |.],t. l„lt g trick played off upon the tor,

f:niur o-;;r./.-.'d in this work '>y the introduction of a
ilciut white roses in the hands of the figure, instead of a
in marble. The drapery generally is artificial, and the
the piece unearthly and disagreeable.
'i'Jiere were two other examples of the same sort

subject for i'!ui;_'ratH
cil'ect bv ilic^.tiimu
veiled figure is sma
sufficient to point out bv n:
Market," bv Rillaeie ll.-mi. the artificer of
in No i of the Crystal Palace,) who seen
a spt'riullt,'. Indeed, it appears he has i
Vestal" being announced

that the party a

n on

tho

v



the

ground state

her

sad









cos™

!" \

'1



liai

am

v! All the

lillt

che
nfe

tirt

>w

is

■hick pure a

■t VI

uhl

d

Rfl

in

either of tho

oth<



u



all!

e: it pretend

to I

■pr,





Devoi

3 the ii

!'o!V;.

r the

the judicious.
1 'of the Prince

her !■;,■;.'.., a female figure; this is '■ Grief" according to the commonplace
tjpa exhibited on the walls of every parish church in England, only that
there the artist has generally contented himself with representing it in has-
relief, whilst here it obtrude- upon the door in the fullest dimensions of
reality. For the rest, " Faith " is represented upon a circular pedestal in
the rear, in the person of a youngfemnle kneeling. This figure, we should
observe, was the only tolerable bit in the whole performance, and would be
pleasing enough if separated from the rest, with which, even artistically, it
has no connexion. The gi ei or : linst common sense of representing
a real object (tho weeping femalei. and an ideal existence (tho spirit of
Faith), in tho same material, and that, hard unyielding marble, must be too
obvious to call tor much remark. ICvcu Ueynoldsy.-a-ua'ificised for introducing
in ins " Death-bed of Cardinal Beaufort" the ideal presentment of the evil
spirit waiting for his soul iu the background; though by many lie has been
held to be justified, as only realising the picture presented by Shakspoare's
linos descriptive of the scene. But if this was a license hardly oxeusubio
in painting, where, by means of tlie well-known appliances of art, the sepa-
ration of the actual from the imaginative part of a subject may be clearly
defined, it is one totally unjustifiable in sculpture, where tho material is
capable of no such modification, either by the application of colour or the
interposition of aerial media.

One of the principal show-pieces iu the room, and which excited' the
wonder of ga/.ing thousands, is "The Veiled Yeslal," by Kafiaclle Monti.
The ambition of the artist in ibis production is to represent the effect of
a face seen through a veil; and so ingeniously has he managed it, that at
a distance of the breadth of the room, the face—tlie marble, face—actually
looks as if it wore covered I'.itli a real piece of lace. This is a triumph-of
mechanical dexterity certainly, but upon (ho value and merit of which wff
may have some tnis'-nii.' . . "h-- -. ..'. it achieves a greater verisimilitude1-
of tlie worthless rag of a v-il—being to the eye reality-than of tho poor
face, which remains still, pale, cold st<nv\ The ancients would never'have
been guilty of such profanation of their subject. 'Tis true they took pride'
in representing the soft'outline of the liin'os as rounding enfand supporting
tho crisp light folds of the draperies of their figures, (which, by the way,
they seldom liked to exhibit entirely nude, except when the ease rendered
it necessary); but they would certainly have torn the vestal's veil from her
face before they took Iut portrait, or would have abandoned her altogether
subject. So much for the ancients, who

f Siirnor Monti's pcrlorma

ifect

rity of seeing a ligure covered with a- veil, \
shapo of the bodv and the features, which ui
aie." Wo may add, that wo remark cohcurre

lailcrdi:.

ions),.

ins (

ay by vice:
led- from I

The net i

selves. Proceeding to i

nearer e:;am;nal ion of Nntr.or -Monti's perfort

we found as we susuect

1.indeed knew :,iu,t. both- r-as,., that hisvei

was a mere trick of art.



beauty of his vestal s 1:

,. v.:,.tl,-r seen from afar or near. Artful

posing tlie folds of tho



outer parts, and very i

irrow, nav; almost vanishim'. on tlie inner



lie lurther roughed the surface of the intern-

spaces, as if the flesh w
seen at a distance, take

re actually covered with a veil ; and these si

the lights m such a manner, that, blondin



faces ol the veil, fhev produce the general

intended, the form of tl

c face being dimly and indistinctly seen as tl

itatn'o aTi'd
difficulties in the o:

appearance of this coarse envelope contrast
flesh parts. The difficulty overcome is th

almost said, the onlv merit of the group."

\Ve turn with pleasure from iiu-, ■ gji
sterling quality, which the room eonta:
Vestal " is another" work of importance by tl
Fall." The attitude and character of the
limbs tjraeeful, well-rounded, and realising
of llesh, Tlie artist, has represented the Imi
tresses hanging over tho face' on each s:
displayed in accomplishing this difficult pc...-
retention, though it: must he added, that the soft and flexible charo'
the human hair—iis great beautv—is somewhat sacrificed to attfl
end in-view. Tlie introduction ^( a. little Cupid peering up from an
clustor of roses behind, k to say ffto" least, a conceit rather apocryi
itself, and. noon tho whole, had better lu vo be-u di-i.eu.-. d with.

Antonio Galli, a Milanese artist, litis three works iu uwrl
•■'Jephthn's Daughter;" verv idvasim; in ■ meter, simple vet gracefr
ihe head .■mined with considerable- expression: another, elltith'

iiich must have produced en-'-

; ,,. ,. ■ .. - ;,, „i.:- I'-

istswith the high finish oftM
the principal, and, it might w ,

massive'and dishevel^;;
ud tho cxeev^'- -^;

.and*

:; li-hier ii

Iso a meri
ng elfori. ii
,vd." by En

i lit

lMto

ofPn

mgli I handling. The t

f dignity and truth; tho band,
pplication, vests upon the bosom of the dyi
1 imploring look she directs to heaven revi
■oints are finished with j;reat, delicacy and p
irtist lias ft very clovor bas-roliof of au ji

'^.■::

0 muss.*?

i::1niin;iT»n,iV''