In our estimate of the comparative progress of the arts in different countries, it is of importance, with regard to England, that we should bear in mind, that, while her ef forts struggled under the blighting influence above allud ed to, her neighbours enjoyed the full sunshine of public favour and ecclesiastical munificence. Foreigners very generally entertain an opinion of the inaptitude of our countrymen towards the acquisition of the arts ; and we must confess, that general appearances are not much in our favour, if we may judge, as they do, without re gard to the very different circumstances under which a knowledge of the arts was introduced, and opportunity af forded for their cultivation. But with these important facts in view, we have no occasion to search for any cause, either in the disposition or circumstances of the British nation, adverse to as successful a prosecution of the fine arts as that of any of the continental countries of Europe. Nothing can be supposed more futile and silly than the grave and laborious reasonings of many French authors, in which they try to demonstrate the absurdities of their theory about the influence of climate in matters of genius; it is only to be equalled by the complacency with which the foreign public embrace this notion, that they are actu ally gifted with at least one superior quality, against the acquisition of which, by this aspiring nati.in, nature has interposed the insurmountable barrier of physical causes. It may be simpler, and, perhaps, is more consolotary to their authors, to say at once, that we are utterly incapable of excellence in any thing that requires taste and genius, than to investigate candidly what causes may actually have retarded the progress of the arts in Britain.
The state of the arts in Britain, at an early period, seems to have been very much the same as in the neigh bouring kingdoms of the Continent, judging from the most authentic record, the coinage ; as the effigies of British monarchs represented upon them are not more bar barous than those of France. Nor do the British appear to have been later in cultivating the art of stained glass, which necessarily implies the knowledge of design. That finely illuminated eastern window of York Cathedral. was the work of a native artist, John Thornton of Coventry, so early as the year 1333, according to Lord Orford, though the common account makes it sixty years later. There are various records which refer to paintings, even at an earlier date than this ; and there are some historical pieces which are desired to be renewed in the reign of Henry IL It is upon the authority of some of these an cient scraps, that an argument is raised against the authen ticity of Van Eyck's discovery of oil painting ; as allu sions are distinctly made in some of them to oil painting being practised in England so early as the reign of Edward II. in the year 1239, two hundred years before the age of Van Eyck.
The more ancient specimens of painting in England seem generally to have been heraldic, except the decora tions on illuminated manuscripts, which were carried to a high degree of perfection, at as early a period as that art appears to have been practised any where else. Many of these works were rendered particularly valuable from the portraits of remarkable personages and from the histori cal pictures which they contain. Dallaway, in his Anec dotes, gives a detailed account of the most ancient and valuable relics of this beautiful art now existing in Bri tain, which are chiefly the workmanship of British artists.
There are some fresco designs of a very early date still existing in some of our more ancient churches, the work manship of the monks themselves ; but, as many of these ecclesiastics were translated from foreign convents, we cannot with certainty ascribe the merit to our native art ists. The specimens are no doubt rare, but when we re
collect with what indiscriminating zeal the reformers ob literated every species of painting or ornament on the walls of churches, it is surprising that any were spared. The portraits that were stained on glass had a better chance of preservation, from the indestructible nature of the colour, so that even fragments retained their value ; accordingly, enough of that description still remains to enable us to assert the claim of Britain to an equal share with her contemporaries, in the knowledge of art at that early period.
With the exception of these scriptural pictures on church windows, (the most remarkable of which will be found described in Dallaway's and Lord Orford's Anec dotes,) the early practice of painting in England seems to have been almost exclusively confined to portrait. These were disposed either in single heads, or family groups crowded together, and most unfancifully arranged ; they were chiefly the workmanship of foreign artists, attracted to England by the prospect of gain. There appear among these, many names celebrated in the history of painting, as, Mabuse, Hans Holbein, Zucchero, Polemburg, Ru bens. and Vandyk.
There was little exertion of patronage on the part of the British sovereigns, till the accession of Henry VIII. who, more from a spirit of magnificence than any know ledge or taste for the fine arts, invited various foreign art ists to come to England. His pride was roused by the more successful efforts of Francis I of France, and the Emperor Charles V. not to be behind then, in encourag ing the elegant and learned acquit ements, as he coped with them in riches and power of arms. But Henry nei ther possessed sufficient skill to know how to set about the establishment of a better taste in his country, beyond the mere invitation given to celebrated artists to settle in his dominions; nor did his proffered bounty appear to have been such as to produce the wished for effect, as neither Raphael nor Titian, who were solicited, could be induced to listen to his proposals. These great painters probably judged, that in a country where portrait painting alone had hitherto met with any encouragement, the higher branches of the art, on which they, with reason, built their fame, had little chance to be duly appreciated. However, the example of a sovereign is certain, at least, to have a powerful influence with his own court; the countenance Henry gave to the arts was the means of di recting the attention of the nobility to their encourage ment; and there is no reason to doubt, that, if the foster ing power of the Roman Catholic religion had remained undisturbed in its protection of the arts, this country would have kept pace with its neighbours in that branch of genius, as well as in every other. But the seeds which, at the same time, began to take root both in France and England. found, in the one case, every circumstance fa vourable to their growth, while, in the other, they were exposed in the bud to the storm of reformation; by which, had the arts been in the very vigour of maturity, they must have been torn up and destroyed, without the ne cessity of any malign influence of climate, or natural dis position, to account for the effect. A tendency was given, which it required ages, as well as the rare occurrence of powerful genius, to counteract.