Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 4.djvu/626

612 mediocre; but his busts, of which he executed a great number, are far superior. Rysbrach had not imagination for a large design, but truth and skill of hand for a bust, which gave him great distinction in that department.

Scheemakers, a native of Antwerp, like Rysbrach, was employed by Kent, and, till superseded by Roubiliac, executed a considerable number of indifferent monuments; amongst these were monuments of Shakespeare, from a design by Kent, in Westminster Abbey; of Dr. Chamberlain; Sheffield, duke of Buckingham, Sir Charles Watson, Sir Charles Wager, and lord-chancellor Hardwicke—the last at Wimpole. much of such merit as these possess has been attributed to Laurent Delvaux, who worked in conjunction with him.

But Louis Franfois Roubiliac was the great sculptor of this period. He was a Frenchman, and thoroughly French in his spirit and manner. He was soon brought out of the statue-manufactory of Henry Cheere, and introduced to public notice by Sir Edward Walpole, who recommended him to execute several busts for Trinity College, Dublin. This led to his engagement for the execution of the monuments of John, duke of Argyll, in Westminster Abbey, his very best work, which, indeed, made him popular at once, and introduced him to the most fashionable practice till his death in 1762. His chief works, besides the Argyll monument, are those of Sir Peter Warren, and of the Nightingale family, in Westminster Abbey; those of the duke and duchess of Montagu, in Northamptonshire; and one of bishop Hough, in Worcester Cathedral. His chief statues are those of George I., at Cambridge; of George II., in Golden Square, London; of Handel, in Westminster Abbey; of the duke of Somerset and Sir Isaac Newton, both at Cambridge. His busts are numerous.

Roubiliac is, perhaps, the finest sculptor which France has produced, though all his works of any account were done in this country. He is especially remarkable for the perfection of his finish, and the wonderful execution of his drapery, though the design of it is generally heavy, tasteless, and often ungraceful. The statue of "Eloquence," in the Argyll monument, is one of the most successful of his productions, and displays much power of invention as well as of execution; but the great fault of his monuments is that which has prevailed ever since the decline of art, the use of allegory in stone to express the simple sentiments of grief, of national admiration, or of personal greatness—not by the expression of these qualities in the sculptured figure, or group of figures, or real personages, but by endeavouring to embody these sentiments in visible forms. With these defects, however, Roubiliac stands at the head of the sculptors of his time.

ENGRAVING.

The condition of engraving during this period was very similar to that of the other arts, and, like them, it was chiefly practised by foreigner, French and Dutch. Mezzo-tint was much cultivated during the early part of the period, and in this the artists were principally Englishmen. Henry Luttrel and Isaac Becket, who were connected, were much engaged in it, but William Smith, a pupil of Becket's, carried it to its greatest perfection. Smith was taken by Kneller into his house to mezzotint his works, and he executed them with remarkable brilliancy and effect. Kneller afterwards employed Simons, a Norman, and besides these, the two Fabors, Williams, and Le Blon, the latter of whom introduced mezzotinting in colour, were the best practisers of the art. Edward Kirkall attempted still further to imitate coloured drawings, for the illustration of books, by a combination of etching, mezzotinting, and wood-engraving, but it did not succeed.

In engraving, much was done during the reigns of queen Anne and George I. by Frenchmen. Gribelin engraved the Cartoons with much ability, but without giving any idea of the greatness of the originals; Nicholas Dorigny also engraved them in 1719, but with still less success. Dubosc, Du Guernier, Bauvais, Baron, and others, were employed on a series of engravings of the victories of Marlborough. Gravelot and Sootin assisted Dubosc in producing an edition of "Picart's Religious Ceremonies." Gravelot also, as a draughtsman, drew many of the designs for the monuments engraved by Vertue. Baron ably engraved many pictures, and, with Ravenet and Sullivan, assisted Hogarth.

In the early part of the era Leonard Knyff designed a series of the palaces and mansions of England, which were engraved by another Dutchman, John Kip. Houbraken copied the principal works of Vandyck for Van Gunst to engrave in Holland, and the two Van der Gutches executed the plates for the engravings of Sir James Thornhill's paintings, in the cupola of St. Paul's. Besides these, they did a great deal of work in this country, the younger one being employed a good deal on anatomical plates. Hulsberg and Foudriniere distinguished themselves as engravers of architectural subjects; John Pine engraved the ceremonies of the Order of the Bath, and the tapestry of the house of lords, the originals of which are now destroyed. Pine's illustrations of books are of great merit. Arthur Poud is known for having had a share in engraving the "Illustrious Heads," by Houbraken, one of the great works of the time, and Thomas Worlidge for the engraving of "Worlidge's Gems," a perfect chef-d'œuvre. On the whole, engraving at this period was respectable, in particular instances superb, but produced no name which stands as a possession of the nation, rather than of the time. By far the most meritorious name of the whole class is that of George Vertue, who combined with great talent as an engraver the labours of the antiquary. He did not content himself with executing engravings from works of his own time, but sought to perpetuate in this form the best paintings of the country of all ages, and to preserve the accompanying facts fast failing into oblivion. For this purpose he made numerous journeys about the country, frequently accompanied by Hubert Harley, the second earl of Oxford, Heneage Finch, earl of Winchelsea, and lord Coleraine, who paid the expenses. In these journeys he collected all kinds of information for a "History of the Arts in England," and took measures for engraving the pictures and portraits necessary for the work. He commenced this collection in 1713, and it amounted at his death to nearly forty volumes, large and small. He visited and made catalogues of every collection of paintings, attended sales, copied all papers relative to the arts, searched registers, examined all English authors, and translated much from foreign languages relative to his subject. On this rich mass of materials, which he purchased from Vertue's widow,