Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/303

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much success portraits of favourite horses, dogs, &c. He died February 17, 1872. history painter. Born at Cork, January 25, 1811, he was the son of an officer of the Elgin Fencibles, a Scotchman of an old race. His mother was the daughter of a Cork merchant, whom his father first met while serving in Ireland. This statement has been generally received; the date is that given by the artist himself, and the whole has been adopted by his biographer and friend. But, on the contrary, it is stated, and supported by public documents, that ' Alexander McLish, a soldier in the Elgin Fencibles. was married in the Pres- byterian Church, at Cork, to Rebecca, daughter of Mrs. Buchanan. Almshouse, December 24, 1797,' and the birth of their son, Daniel McLish, is recorded February 2, 1806 ; and this child, who afterwards spelt his name McClise, is identified with the artist. On an inquiry, the Secretary of State for War says, and so far verifies the latter statement, 'that no officer of the name of Maclise or McLish can be traced as having served in the Elgin Fencibles about the period referred to.' Brought up in his native city, he received a plain edu- cation. He haa an early desire to be an artist, but his father thought him better placed as a clerk to a banker in Cork. At the age of 16 he managed to leave this employment, and gained admission to the Cork School of Art ; he att he same time made a practical study of anatomy, and had the character of an intelligent and industrious student. The 14th Dragoons were then stationed in the city, and making some friends among the officers, he first found profitable employment in sketching their portraits. In 1826 he made a sketch- ing tour in Wicklow, and then resuming his portrait practice in Cork, he saved a purse of his own, and was enabled in July 1827 to make his way to London, where in 1828 he entered the schools of the Royal Academy, and rapidly improving in his power of drawing, he gained successively the silver medals in the life school and in the painting school, and in 1831 the gold medal for his * Choice of Hercules.'
 * MACLISE, Daniel, R.A., subject and

He had brought to London some friendly introductions, and made the acquaintance of influential men engaged in literature. On his first arrival he produced a happy sketch in the theatre of Charles Kean, which was published, and brought him a handsome sum. Ana his talents, aided by his friends, opened to him a career in that branch of art. But he was not anxious to devote himself to portraiture. In 1829 he first appears on the walls of the Academy with his 'Malvolio affecting the Count.' In the following year he exhibited several portraits, among them one of his friend 282

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Miss L. E. Landon ; and at the same time he visited Paris, with the intention of reaching Madrid, but when near the Pyre- nees he was attacked by illness, and obliged to return. In 1831 his exhibited works were portrait drawings, and the same in the next year, with his 'Puck disenchanting Bottom.' In the autumn he visited Ire- land, and enjoyed All Hallow Eve at the house of the parish priest, where he sketched the scene for the picture he exhibited in 1833, so well known by the popular engraving.

Arising out of a dispute with Sir John Soane, R. A., who was annoyed by Maclise's portrait of him — afterwards destroyed by a friend — there appeared an etched full- length sketch of Sir John in * Eraser's Magazine,' by ' Alfred Croquis' (a name assumed by Maclise), which was so popular that it was followed by a series extending to 72 numbers of the magazine, of which it became a feature, representing the emi- nent literary and scientific men of the day. From his connection with the magazine he was led to contribute a clever poem, which occupies nine pages, • Christmas Revels,' an epic rhapsody. Continuing to find em- ployment in portraiture, he exhibited, in 1834 ; his ' Installation of Captain Rock ; ' and in 1835, his great work,* The chivalric Vow of the Ladies and the Peacock,' which fully established his power as an artist, and gained him his well-deserved election as an associate of the Academy in the same year. From this time his exhibited works were confined to subject pictures, his por- traits to an occasional oil picture of a literary friend, with some scenes from ' Gil Bias ' and the ' Vicar of Wakefield.' He exhibited, in 1838, 'Merrie Christmas in the Baron's Hall ; ' in 1840, when he was elected a member of the Academy, the ' Banquet Scene in " Macbeth ; " ' in 1841, Scene in "Hamlet,' now in the South Kensington Museum; in 1844, * A Scene from " Comus " ' and * A Scene from " Un- dine ; " ' in 1846, ' An Ordeal by Touch ; ' a succession of works by which his art will be best known.
 * The Sleeping Beauty ; ' in 1842, the * Play

At this time he entered the lists as a competitor for the great works offered in the decoration of the palace at Westminster, for which his art and his powers of execu- tion eminently fitted him. He was, with others, selected by her Majesty's Commis- sioners, and after many wearying delays received a commission for two frescoes — the * Spirit of Justice ' and the * Spirit of Chivalry.' His chief thoughts from this time must have been occupied with these engagements; his contributions to the Academy fell off; but in 1850, while en- gaged on the above two works, he exhibited there the ' Gross of Green Spectacles ; ' in