Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/255

 ii s. v. MAR. 16, Mia] NOTES AND QUERIES.

207

ETON PORTRAITS BY LIVESAY. Mr. Lionel Gust's ' Eton College Portraits,' 1910, Is an admirable volume. But in spite of the author's painstaking and exhaustive re- searches, there are still many portraits at Eton of which the artist's name has been lost. Should, as it is to be hoped, a second -edition of this work be called for, probably some of the uncertainties will be cleared up. The custom of presenting " leaving por- traits " to the head master, instead of a sum of money, was one which prevailed for many years. In many instances duplicates of these " leaving portraits " were done one for the scholars' parents, and the other for Eton College. If all the duplicates could be traced, probably the names of many artists would be recovered.

In turning over the Royal Academy Catalogue of 1791 I have come across a batch of Etonian portraits by Richard Livesay, who was living at Windsor from 1790 to 1793. In 1791 he exhibited the extraordinary number of fifty portraits under nineteen entries. In two instances each exhibit consisted of " eleven portraits." These were probably small heads and shoulders, and each of the two exhibits was, also probably, contained in one frame. It will, I think, serve a useful purpose if I give a complete transcript of these exhibits with their catalogue numbers. Three be- longing to this year are omitted, as they may have had nothing to do with Etonians. The list is as follows :

28 Portrait of an Etonian as servitor at the

Montem.

88 Eleven portraits of Etonians. 02 Eleven portraits of Etonians. 120 Portraits of two Etonians. 124 Portraits of two Etonians. 138 Two portraits of Etonians. 166 Portraits of two Etonians. 182 Two portraits of Etonians. 186 Two portraits of Etonians. 195 Portrait of a nobleman's son in his dress as a

salt-bearer at the late Montern at Eton

College.

"216 Portrait of an Etonian. 219 Portrait of an Etonian. 224 Two portraits of Etonians. 233 Two portraits of Etonians. 248 Portrait of an Etonian. 250 Portrait of an Etonian.

I think it is certain that by " Etonian," Livesay meant collegians. The entries unfortunately do not help very much in the way of identification, but I think Xo. 28 and No. 195 ea?h includes a clue. There was a Montem in 1790, and this narrows down the scope of inquiry to that year and 1791. It is probable that some of these portraits are still at Eton, and the

discovery of one would reveal the artist of the whole.

Mr. Cust tells us ('Eton College,' 1899, p. 193) that the Duke of Newcastle pre- sented to the boys' library in 1893 " a pre- cession of boys in ' Montem ' dress, painted about 1793." I think this procession must be of the 1790 Montem. Possibly the pic- ture of a Montem procession, which the Duke presented to the College, is either No. 88 or No. 92 of the above list of B.A. exhibits. I think that each of these pictures must have been a group of small whole- length figures. The extraordinary thing is that Livesay should have exhibited such a great number of Eton portraits in 1791, and not a single Eton portrait before or after that year. As is well known? he was patronized by George III., and taught drawing to some members of the royal family, and it may be that powerful influ- ence was brought to bear in getting this fine " batch " of Eton portraits into the Royal Academy of 1791. W. ROBERTS.

18, King's Avenue, Clapham Park, S.W.

WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct.

CASANOVA AND THE ENGLISH RESIDENT AT VENICE. In chaps, vi. and vii. of the third volume of his ' Memoires ' (Gamier edition) Casanova has much to say about " M. Murray, ministre resident d'Angleterre." He gives the following particulars :

" Cet aimable epicurien parti t deux ans apres pour Constantinople, et il a et6 pendant vingt ans ministre du cabinet de Saint-James a la Sublime Porte." Gamier, iii. 116. According to Haydn's 'Book of Dignities,' these facts are not quite accurate. John Murray was the British Resident at Venice till November, 1765, when he became ambassador at Constantinople (cf. Gent. Mag., xxxv. 540). His term of office lasted till 1775, when he returned to Venice, where he died on 9 August of the same year. Casanova says :

" II retourna a Venise en 1778 dans 1'intention d'y finir ses jours loin des affaires ; mais il mourut au lazaret huit jours avant d'avoir achev<5 la quarantaine de rigueur." III. 11 6.

Writing to Mann in January, 1762, Horace Walpole says : " Mr. Murray was a good deal an acquaintance of mine in England, and I should think would oblige me...."