Mignard painted history ; Parocel rencounters of ca valry; and Coypel, a family of which there were several good artists, that have left works of genius, chiefly sacred subjects. To whom may be added Watteau, Le Moine, Tremoilliere, and Vernet, the painter of sea-ports.
As to the actual state of the arts in France at present, we must be allowed to withhold our assent from the feeling so generally prevalent in that country, of the superior ex cellence of her existing artists. We cannot du such vio lence to the dignity of painting, as to join in eulogising the fantastic performances of M. David, who stands at the head of the list. There is, in the generality of his works, a sort of prancing affectation of grandeur, where, as in a phan tasmagoria, the figures seem struck by enchantment into various alarming attitudes and expressions, in which na ture has no share, and sympathy, of course, no place. That David copies the antique, lie leaves no room to doubt; but it is, with him, the antique in masquerade, the beau ideal of Greece turned Frenchman—every thing is thea trical and overstrained. He generally paints in a chilly metallic sort of moon-light colouring, that gives a super natural effect to his pictures, and distinguishes his works from the generality of his brother artists ; for the Luxem bourg exhibition of modern pictures of the French school is more disposed to sin in flaring brilliancy of colours. We observed lately in this collection, two pictures of por tentous magnitude, that seemed particularly to attract the interest of spectators ; the one representing the apparition of a single soldier of the Invincible Legion driving a host of English, Russian, and Foreign warriors in terror before him, seemingly quite unable to withstand such an alarm ing assailant. The other picture is the capture of a British line of battle ship by a small French corvette. It is not quite ascertained at what particular period of the late war either of these events took place. There are many of the landscape painters of France that display very considerable genius, among whom Granet may be noticed for his very successful accomplishment of striking effects of light. In the branch of history a French artist labours under very great disadvantages: He either draws his ideas from the gaudy flutter and theatrical affectation in which he has been brought up, which it would be difficult to elaborate into any thing like unsophisticated nature; or, if at all sensible of the extravagance and grimacing physiognomy of his countrymen, he must be aware how totally unfit such a caricature of nature 'Oust be as a model for paint ing history. He has no alternative, but either to copy the
great masters of Italy, and submit to follow as a humble imitator ; or try to form his taste by study of tile antique. D tyid chose the latter, but, unfortunately for his success, not so much in spirit as in fact, trimming tip the ancient statues, with a tame and lifeless servility, into the various personages to be represented in his subject.
German School.
There is no country in which the elements of drawing ale more generally diffused among all ranks than in Ger many ; and none which contributes so largely to that shoal of obscure individuals who yearly pass the Alps with empty pockets, and heads filled with w dcl and enthusiastic bodings of future fame, in order to apply themselves to the study of the fine arts. A few veara wasted in fruitless struggles with poverty and neglect, and health impaired by unwearied toil, generally serves to remove the spell; when they find the dull world insensible to their merits, and return to their native towns in order to resume the humbler trades which youthful visions of fame had in duced them to abandon. The few who do chance to prove successful in this delusive game, and find their interest in prosecuting the labours of the pencil, generally connect their style more with their Italian associates, and join the prevailing manners of the clay, than adopt any national character of painting; of which, in Germany, there can scarce he said, for some centuries back, to have existed any one common feature.
Consisting of so many detached and separate states, but slightly connected in manners, and not at all in govern ment, in all of which the practice of the arts has for seve ral ages been very generally cultivated without producing any one remarkable genius; we fear that the detailed his tory of its progress would be both uninteresting and diffuse. It is far otherwise at a more early age, when we find traces of a very marked character in the German taste and prac tice of the fine arts, and that, as far back into the obscurity of the dark ages, as we are able to trace the appearance of its revival in Italy.