Next in importance to Rafraelle's cartoons arc those by Montagne of the ' Triumph? of Julie, Ciesar,'—a series of nine large grandly executed coloured drawings, but unfortunately in a sadly dilapidated condaion. The collection of oil-paintings is of the most miscellaneous character possible. It includes specimens of every variety of merit and demerit attributed to painters of almost every age, school, and grade, from Franeas and Ratfaelle Sebastian and Michel Angelo, 31abuse and Ilulhein, Titian and Tintoretto, Vantlyek and Vandevelde, 1.ely and Kneller. Gainsboroush and West, down to l'arcelles and Huggins. It Is ueediess to repeat what has been a thousand times said. that the correct attribution of great nauses is the exception here. But as the gallery is opened for publio instruction, it Is much to be regretted that a thorough re-examination of the entire collection, with the aid of such documentary evidence as m.ty be In existence, is not made, and what is then believed fo be the true name of the pa.nter affixed to every picture which It is deemed advisable to retain for public exhibition. A large amount of rubbish—worthless alike in an artistic and an historical point of view—might well be consigned to oblivion. Such a re-examination would permit of two thiuge—eaoh important in its way. First, the formation of a comparatively small collection of paintings rah:Able as works of art; and next, of a collection of portraits and contemporaneous delineations of historical occurrences of singular value and interest. The really authentic portraits here 'Probably number some hundreds ; and they include many by Holbein of Henry VIII. and inembera of his family and court ; others of almost all our monarchs down to George Ill., including several remarkable ones of Mary, Elizabeth, and the first James, one of the duplicates of Vandyck's grand equestrian portrait of Charles L, and a large and most ambitious equestrian portrait of William III., by Kneller. Then there is Sir Peter Lely'a famous series of the • Beauties of the Court of King Charles IL' and Kneller's of those of the Court of Anne ; besides a vast number of eminent Englishmen down almost to the preterit clay, and many eminent foreigners con nected more or less closely with English history or literature, BS Francis I., Frederick the Great, Erasmus, tte. In looking over those portraits it is impossible not to wish that some of them—such, for instance, as the fine portrait of Newton—could be transferred to the National Portrait Gallery and the removal of the Admirals to Green wich is an excellent precedent); but whether that be possible or not, it would ho comparatively easy to sweep out anything that is irre levant from the spacious Queen's Gallery, and by adding to the many old portraits it already contains such as were suitable from the other apartments, and arranging them all in strict chronological sequenee, to make it what it would then at once become, the finest English historical portrait gallery in existence, and one which in its way would not be likely to be superseded.
Nara! Gallery, Greenwich if not wholly, through the exertions of the late Mr. Edward Hawke Locker, the son of a distinguishel admiral— himself a man of high taste and of singular energy in every good work—this gallery of portraits of distinguished naval commanders, and pictures of naval actions, was founded in 1823, in the most suitable of all localities, the Painted Ilan, Greenwich Hospital, of which noble institution Mr. Locker was a commissioner.
George IV., to whom the scheme was submitted, gave it " Ins cordial approval," and what was still better, transferred to Greenwich Hospital the extensive collection of portraits of the principal admirals of the reigns of Charles 11. and NVilliam III. at NVindsor Castle and Hampton Court. He subsequently added several pictures from his private col lections, Including Turner's grand ' Battle of Trafalgar.' The royal example found liberal imitators; and the collection is now a large and very interesting one. In looking at the pictures, it should be borne In mind that every picture has been presented to the Institution, the Commissioners regarding the funds of the Hospital as "exclusively devoted to maintenance of the establishment." Beginning with portraits of Willoughby, Nottingham, Raleigh, Hawkins, Drake, and Cavendish, and with a representation of the ` Defeat of the Spanish Armada,' we have in chronological order almost all our bravest admirals, and many of our most famous sea-fights. A small ante room is called the Nelson room from its containing portraits of Nelson, and several of his brother admirals, and a series of repre sentations of leading events in his career. In such a gallery it is not artistic excellence we look for, and, while there are many excellent pictures here, some of the paintings are very far indeed from claiming to rank as works of fine art. But the visitor must have a strangely. constituted mind who can stand in this noble Hall and gaze around without receiving impressions deeper and more vivid than any pro duced by tho most beautiful pictures when merely regarded as works of art.
The Dulwich Gallery, or Bourgeois collection of Paintings, is not a national gallery ; but being open to the public on the same footing as the South Kensington galleries, and having a special character as a gallery of pictures, it seems fairly entitled to mention here. The col lection was formed by Noel Desenfa.ne, an eminent picture-dealer, by whom it was bequeathed to his friend Sir Francis Bourgeois, a painter of sonic note in his day, though of hut slender ability as an artist. [rBounaeolo, Stn FRANCIS, in Broa. Div.] Sir Francis dying in 1811, bequeathed the collection to Dulwich College ; together with the sum of 2000/. and the reversion of other property for the purpose of erecting a gallery to contain the pictures, and a mausoleum for himself and Mr. and Mrs. Desenfane. The gallery in which the pictures are con tained, and the adjoining mausoleum, were built accordingly from the designs of Sir John Soane. The gallery is a suite of five long but narrow moms, sufficiently spacious perhaps for the pictures, which are for the most part of small size, but very insufficiently lighted. The collection itself comprises 355 pictures ; some few of the paintings are by Italian, Spanish, and English artists, but the special interest of the collection arises from its consisting chiefly of Dutch and Flemish pictures uf cabinet size—a class of works in which the National Ualltry is very deficient. Most uf the more eminent painters of the Netherlands are represented hero, and of many there are very fine examples; but many of the pictures have small claim to the names they bear, and altogether the collection cannot be ranked among those of the highest order.