Page:Nollekens and His Times, Volume 2.djvu/434

 422 FUSELI.

considered the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds unequal. He said that a great many of them were indifferent, though some were so wonderfully fine, that nothing could surpass them; but he observed, that even the most inferior picture from the pencil of Sir Thomas Lawrence was excellent.

Fuseli, speaking of Nollekens to me, said, "He think himself a very cunning little fellow in his plagiarisms, but he can be detected as well as other artists. Why, the principle of the position of the Mercury he modelled from you, he took from Stella's print after Poussin's picture of the 'Accusation of Peter.'" This accusation reached the ear of Nollekens, who observed to me, that Fuseli had no occasion to make such a remark; "for I know," said he, "he fluently steals things himself. Why, do you know, he stole the idea of one of the figures for Seward's Anecdotes, from a female in the background of Pesne's print after Poussin's Woman at the Well. He sketched it in my parlour, one evening, from my print, and showed it to