Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/612

 606 LONDON ted in 1838 from the designs of "Wilkins, at a cost of nearly 100,000; and the erection of new rooms on the site of the old workhouse, at the rear of the present gallery, is in pro- gress. It originated with the Angerstein col- lection of 38 pictures, and contains now over 800, part of which are exhibited in South Kensington for want of room here. It con- tains 11 rooms for the various schools of art, the 9th and 10th rooms being devoted to Tur- ner's works, and the llth to the select pro- ductions of the most renowned British mas- ters. The national portrait gallery, provision- ally established by Lord Stanhope in Great George street in 1858, exhibited between 1866 and 1868 about 3,000 portraits. In 1870 a new gallery was opened for it in connection with the national gallery, Trafalgar square. The total number of portraits owned by the gallery ; including paintings, medallions, and sculptures, is over 300. The royal academy of arts was removed in 186.8-' 9 from Trafalgar square to Burlington house, in which are the schools of art, and in the rear of which are 13 halls for the annual exhibition of works of modern artists in painting and sculpture* This academy was instituted in 1768, with Sir Joshua Eeynolds as first president. Each member on his election presents one of his pictures or sta- tues to the collection, which is consequently always increasing ; and it includes masterpieces of Keynolds and Wilkie, and fine originals and copies of some of the great Italian masters. The attic floor added to the royal academy has unfavorably changed the aspect of old Burling- ton house, which Sir William Chambers regard- ed as one of the finest pieces of architecture in England, and of which the poet Gay wrote : " Beauty within, without proportion reigns." Other exhibitions are those of the societies of British artists, Suffolk street, Charing Cross, and of painters in water colors, Pall Mall East ; the institute of painters in water colors, Pall Mall ; the exhibition of French works, Pall Mall and New Bond street ; the Dulwich gal- lery and the collections at Hampton court, Windsor ; the crystal palace at Sydenham, &c. The most celebrated private galleries are the duke of Wellington's, Apsley house ; the Bath gallery (Lord Ashburton's), Piccadilly; the Bridgewater (earl of Ellesmere's), St. James's ; the duke of Bedford's, Belgrave square; Ba- ring's, Upper Grosvenor street; the Devon- shire, Piccadilly; the Dorchester (Mr. E. S. Holf ord's), Park lane ; the Grosvenor (duke of Westminster's), Upper Grosvenor street ; Hol- land house ; the Lansdowne, Berkeley square ; the Montague (duke of Buccleuch's), near Whitehall ; Norfolk house, St. James's square ; Sir Eobert Peel's, Privy Gardens ; Lord Over- stone's, Carlton Gardens; and Stafford house (duke of Sutherland's), St. James's park. Among the most splendid collections is that of the late marquis of Hertford (who resided in Paris), in Manchester house,- Manchester square. This and Holderness house, Park lane (Earl Vane's), are among the most sumptuous mansions of the West End, with fine works of art and vertu. Chesterfield house, the town house of the earl of Chesterfield, who had let it to the duke of Abercorn, was sold in 1869 to Mr. Maguire for conversion into various build- ings. It was remarkable for its libraries, vases, bronzes, and other works of art, few but very select. Northumberland house was likewise celebrated for its masterpieces of art. Among other collections are those of the late Mr. Mun- ro, Hamilton place, Piccadilly, and Barry's gal- lery at the society of arts, Adelphi, near the Strand. The monuments of London include, besides the Albert memorial in Hyde park, the finest of them all, the celebrated column on Fish street hill, finished in 1677, after the de- signs of Wren, in commemoration of the great fire of 1666. It stands near the spot in Pudding lane where it originated, and is known as "the Monument." It consists of a fluted hollow Doric column, 200 ft. high. The top is reach- ed by a staircase of 345 steps, and the urn on the top is 40 ft. high. The bass-relief on the pedestal was carved by the father of Colley Gibber, and the four dragons at the four an- gles by Edward Pierce. The original Latin in- scriptions were prepared by Dr. Gale, dean of York, but those subsequently inserted, de- nouncing Papists as the authors of the confla- gration, were finally removed in 1831 by the City authorities. There are statues of Charles I., by Lesueur, at Charing Cross; James II., by Grinling Gibbons, behind Whitehall ; Fox, by Westmacott, Bloomsbury square; Canning, by the same sculptor, near Westminster hall ; George III., Cockspur street, and Wellington, Hyde park corner, by Wyatt; Pitt, Hanover square, George IV., Trafalgar square, and Wel- lington, royal exchange, by Chantrey. Among new statues are those of the queen, Mr. Cob- den, and Mr. Peabody (the last by Story), in the royal exchange ; Foley's statues of Sidney Herbert, in front of the war office, Pall Mall, and of Hampden and Sir Charles Barry, in Westminster palace ; the late earl of Derby and Lord Palmerston, placed in 1874 in Parliament square ; Foley's model for the colossal seated statue for the Albert memorial, Hyde park; the equestrian statue of the same prince on the W. approach to the Holborn viaduct ; a statue of the queen by Noble in the new St. Thomas's hospital (1874), and various other works in honor of her, of Prince Albert, and many dis- tinguished Englishmen. A rival to the royal academy of music is springing up in an exten- sive national training school, near the Albert hall, in connection with the South Kensing- ton institution, and with the training colleges, where the music teachers of primary schools are instructed. Among the principal musi- cal entertainments are the orchestral concerts and Handel celebrations at the crystal pal- ace in Sydenham ; the performances of the philharmonic, new philharmonic, and British orchestral societies, and the Exeter hall sacred