DESIGN, SCHOOLS OF. In France and in several of the German States, schools in which drawing and the principles of design are taught have been long established. In Prussia there are many elementary schools at Berlin and several provincial towns, in which drawing and modelling from the antique, and geometrical and architectural drawing are taught at an average fee of 12s. per year. From these schools the more promising of the pupils are removed to the Gewerb Institut ' (Manufacturing Institute), and the Batt Akademie ' (Architectural Academy.) In the former of these two, the studies have refer ence to all the branches of science or art bearing upon manufactures : in the second, all matters which bear in any way on building, civil engineering, or surveying : in these schools the instruction is gratuitous. The highest class, in which the fine arts are em braced in their widest range, is the Royal Academy at Berlin.
In Bavaria, education in art is mixed up with general education, but it is made to occupy a prominent place. The earliest stages are taught at the elementary schools ; the next stage at the gymnasia, of which there is one in each large town; and the last stage at the lycea, of which there are three in the kingdom, at Munich, Niirnberg, and Augs burg ; that at Munich being chiefly for arehi tectunt and the application of the line arts to manufactures, that at Niirnberg to metal cast ingand wood carving, and that at Augsburg to textile manufactures.
In France there are, intermediate between the elementary schools and the royal acade mies, several others which treat of art in its relation either to manufactures or to science, and which are either supported partly by the state and partly by municipalities, or are pri vate establishments assisted by municipali ties ; and in most of them a very extensive system of studies is pursued, bearing in vari ous ways on the science and the fine arts of manufactures. The school of art at Lyon, in particular, is an important one in connection with the silk manufacture carried on in that city; and every endeavour is there made to foster taste in manufactures.
The advantages which resulted to the manu factures of the countries in every department requiring the display of taste was so obvious, particularly as displayed in the silk manufac tures of France, that a strong desire was felt by the manufacturers and merchants of Eng land to secure similar advantages for this country. Accordingly, in 1836, a school of design was established at Somerset House in connection with the Board of Trade, but under the control of a council and director, with masters in several departments. The school
continued to make progress ; but the manage ment was not on the whole satisfactory, and early in 1848 the Board of Trade resumed the direct control, and the director and the coun cil were dispensed with. The schools are now under the management of a committee, con sisting of the principal officials of the Board of Trade, assisted by three eminent artists in the departments of painting, sculpture, and ar chitecture. The general business arrangements and management of details are assigned to the resident secretary. Admission to students is granted on the recommendation of two re spectable persons, for a probationary period of three months, but no instance of rejection has occurred since the alteration in the manage ment of the schools. The terms and hours of attendance have varied more than once since the opening of the school. There are two classes ; one in the morning from ten till two, the other in the evening from half past six till nine, on every week day except Satur day. The payment is two shillings per month for morning or evening attendance. Lectures are occasionally delivered by the teachers. There is also a morning school for females, established in 1842, to which the payment is of the same amount. The instruction given is of a character to enable the student to apply the principles of high art to the pur poses of the manufacturer and the decorator. The primary classes at the school are three— form, colour, and ornament; and it is said to be purposed to blend colour and ornament into one class. Choice specimens have been obtained from Italy of arabesques, mosaic pavements, terra-cottas, &c. M. Guizot has presented to the school casts from the cele brated gates of the Baptistery at Florence, and there is also a large collection of other casts from the antique, and of Gothic, and other styles of ornament. Specimens of paper hanging, silk, glass, porcelain, bronze, wax ornaments, and other objects have been pro vided by government for the use of the schools. Books, many of them expensively illustrated, have been purchased, forming a library of reference in matters relating to art and decoration; and some of these books are, under certain regulations, lent out to the students. Books, casts, and other examples of art are supplied by the committee to all the branch schools.