English Painters Part 7

RICHARD PARKES BONINGTON (1801--1828) pa.s.sed most of his life abroad. He studied in the Louvre when a child, and gained his knowledge of art exclusively in Paris and Italy. His influence on the French school of _genre_ and dramatic art was very great indeed, almost equal to that which Constable produced on the French artists in landscape. He died, aged twenty-seven, from the effects of a sunstroke received while sketching in Paris. Bonington excelled in landscape, marine, and figure subjects. He exhibited in the British Inst.i.tution, among other pictures, two _Views of the French Coast_, which attracted much notice, and _The Column of St. Mark's_, _Venice_ (National Gallery). Sir Richard Wallace possesses several of his best works, notably _Henri IV. and the Spanish Amba.s.sador_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRANCIS I. AND HIS SISTER. _By_ BONINGTON.

_In the possession of Sir Richard Wallace, Bart._]

WILLIAM JOHN MuLLER (1812--1845) was another landscape painter whose career was brief, and who chiefly painted foreign scenery. He travelled in Germany, Italy and Switzerland, and for a time practised as a landscape painter at Bath, though with little success. In 1838 Muller visited Greece and Egypt, and in 1841 he was in Lycia. He had previously settled in London. His pictures were chiefly of Oriental scenes, and his fame was rapidly growing when he died. His works now command high prices. In the National Gallery we have a _Landscape, with two Lycian Peasants_, and a _River Scene_.

JOHN MARTIN (1789--1854) held a distinguished place as a painter of poetic or imaginative landscapes and architectural subjects. He was born near Hexham, and began the study of art in the humble field of coach painting at Newcastle. Coming to London, Martin worked at enamel painting, and in 1812 exhibited his first picture at the Academy, _Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion_, which is one of his best works.

This was followed by _Joshua commanding the Sun to stand still_ (1816), _The Death of Moses_ (1838), _The Last Man_ (from Campbell's poem), _The Eve of the Deluge_, _Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah_, &c. Martin's most famous works were not exhibited at the Academy, _e.g._ _Belshazzar's Feast_, _The Fall of Babylon_, and _The Fall of Nineveh_.

Many of his compositions were engraved, securing for them a wide circulation. Mr. Redgrave said: "We can hardly agree with Bulwer, that Martin was 'more original, more self-dependent than Raphael or Michael Angelo.'" But if in his lifetime Martin was over-praised, he was unjustly depreciated afterwards. Many of his brother artists and the public, when the first astonishment his pictures created had pa.s.sed away, called his art a trick and an illusion, his execution mechanical, his colouring bad, his figures vilely drawn, their actions and expressions bombastic and ridiculous. But, granting this, wholly or partially, it must be remembered that his art, or manner, was original; that it opened new views, which yielded glimpses of the sublime, and dreams and visions that art had not hitherto displayed; and that others, better prepared by previous study, working after him, have delighted, and are still delighting, the world with their works.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST. _By_ JOHN MARTIN. _Exhibited at the British Inst.i.tution in_ A.D. 1821.]

THE NORWICH SCHOOL.

We must now speak of a provincial school of landscape painters which was founded by JOHN CROME (1769--1821). The father of the Norwich Society of Artists is generally known as "Old Crome," to distinguish him from his son, who was likewise a painter. Crome, the son of a journey-man weaver, born in a small tavern at Norwich, was in due course apprenticed to a house and sign-painter. The young house-painter spent his spare time in painting something more attractive than the walls of houses, and chose the scenery round Norwich for his subjects. The flat, sunny landscapes, dotted with farms and cottages, through which the sleeping river glided slowly, and the Norfolk broads, with their flocks of wild fowl, remained to the last the frequent subjects of Crome's pencil. Determining to be a painter in good earnest, Crome, when his apprentices.h.i.+p was over, eked out his scanty resources by giving lessons in drawing and painting. At the Royal Academy he exhibited only fourteen pictures, but in his native town one hundred and ninety-six. With the exception of _The Blacksmith's Shop_, all the works shown at the Academy were landscapes. "He wanted but little subject: an aged oak, a pollard willow by the side of the slow Norfolk streams, or a patch of broken ground, in his hands became pictures charming us by their sweet colour and rustic nature." "Crome seems to have founded his art on Hobbema, Ruysdael, and the Dutch school, rather than on the French and Italian painters; except so far as these were represented by our countryman, Wilson, whose works he copied, and whose influence is seen mingled with the more realistic treatment derived from the Dutch masters." (_Redgrave._) In the National Gallery are his _Mousehold Heath_, _View of Chapel Field_, and _Windmill on a Heath_: all views near Norwich. _A Clump of Trees, Hautbois Common_ (Fitzwilliam Gallery, Cambridge), is another favourable specimen of his art.

JAMES STARK (1794--1859) was a pupil of Crome, and takes rank next to him in the Norwich school. In 1812, he was elected a member of the Norwich Society of Artists. In 1817, he came to London, and became a student in the Royal Academy. There appeared some of his best works: _Boys Bathing_, _Flounder Fis.h.i.+ng_, and _Lambeth, looking towards Westminster Bridge_. Illness obliged Stark to return to Norwich, where he produced his "Scenery of the Rivers Yare and Waveney, Norfolk;" a series of ill.u.s.trations engraved by Goodall and others. Stark lacked the vigour of Crome in colour and drawing.

GEORGE VINCENT (1796--about 1831) is best known for his _View of Greenwich Hospital_, shown from the river. It was painted for Mr.

Carpenter, of the British Museum, and was in the International Exhibition of 1862. Vincent was specially fond of sunlight effects or clouds in his pictures.

JOHN SELL COTMAN (1782--1842) having escaped the life of a linen-draper's shopman, devoted himself to art, and coming to London found a friend and patron in Dr. Monro. From 1800 to 1806 Cotman exhibited pictures at the Academy, and, returning to Norwich, was made a member and secretary of the Society of Artists there. In the year 1808 he contributed to the Norwich exhibition sixty-seven works. Cotman paid many visits to Normandy, and after 1834 was Professor of Drawing in King's College School, London. He was more successful as a water-colour artist than a painter in oils. He painted chiefly landscapes, marine pieces, and executed many engravings of architecture.

The Norwich school no longer exists as a distinct body.

FRANCIS DANBY (1793--1861) excelled Martin in the poetry of landscape art. He was born near Wexford, and gained his first knowledge of art in Dublin, where, in 1812, he exhibited his first picture, _Evening_. In 1813, he was established at Bristol as a teacher of drawing in water colour. He became known to the artistic world of London by his _Upas Tree of Java_, which was at the British Inst.i.tution of 1820, an intensely poetic work, now in the National Gallery. His _Sunset at Sea after a Storm_, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1824, was purchased by Sir Thomas Lawrence. A year later Danby exhibited _The Delivery of Israel out of Egypt_, for which he was elected an A.R.A. He is most famous, however, for quiet scenes, calm evenings at sea, sunset effects, combined with some poetic incident, and always remarkable for great brilliancy of colour, among which are _The Artist's Holiday_ and _The Evening Gun_. In the National Gallery is _The Fisherman's Home, Sunrise_. He never became a R.A.

WILLIAM CLARKSON STANFIELD (1793--1867) holds one of the highest places among English landscape and marine painters. Beginning life as a sailor in the Royal Navy, he sketched vessels as they pa.s.sed his own. A severe fall compelled retirement from the navy. He began his art career as a scene-painter in the Old Royalty Theatre, Wellclose Square, and later became scene-painter to Drury Lane Theatre. His first exhibited picture was _A River Scene_ in the Academy, 1820. In the same year _A Study from Nature_ was at the British Inst.i.tution. He exhibited _Ben Venu_, and _A Coast Scene_, at the Inst.i.tution in 1822. In 1824, he was a foundation-member of the Society of British Artists, and sent five pictures to their first exhibition in that year. Stanfield's large _Wreckers off Fort Rouge_, was exhibited at the British Inst.i.tution in 1828. In 1827 appeared _A Calm_, in the Royal Academy. From that time Stanfield's success was a.s.sured. His truthfulness in reading nature, whether in naval battle scenes, views of foreign sea-ports, or mountain and river scenery, has seldom if ever been surpa.s.sed. He became a full member of the Academy in 1835. An unwearied worker, he exhibited one hundred and thirty-two pictures at the Royal Academy. We may mention _The Battle of Trafalgar_; _The Victory, with Nelson's Body on board, towed into Gibraltar_; _Entrance to the Zuyder Zee_; _Lake of Como_, and _The Ca.n.a.l of the Giudecca, Venice_ (all in the National Gallery). Among his earlier works are _Mount St. Michael, Cornwall_; _A Storm_; _A Fisherman off Honfleur_, and _The Opening of New London Bridge_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TERMINATI MARINA. _By_ STANFIELD. A.D. 1840. _In the possession of the Marquis of Lansdowne._]

JAMES BAKER PYNE (1800--1870), born in Bristol, began life in a solicitor's office, which he quitted to make a precarious subsistence by painting, teaching, or restoring pictures. He went to London in 1835, where a picture exhibited a year after at the Academy attracted notice, and opened the way of success. He became famous as a delineator of lake scenery, and for _pseudo_-Turner-like treatment of sunlight effects.

THOMAS CRESWICK (1811--1869), one of the most pleasing modern English landscape painters, was born at Sheffield. He came to London when only seventeen, and his pictures were exhibited by the British Inst.i.tution and the Royal Academy in that year, 1828. Having settled in London, he delighted lovers of landscape with views in Ireland and Wales, and, later, turned his attention to the North of England, the rocky dales and rivers of which furnished subjects for his finest works. In 1842, he was elected an a.s.sociate of the Academy, and received a premium of fifty guineas from the British Inst.i.tution for the general excellence of his productions. In 1851, Creswick became a full member of the Academy, and somewhat later executed pictures into which Frith and Ansdell introduced figures and cattle. There is a charm in his paintings, the character of which may be gathered from _The Old Foot Road_, _The Hall Garden_, _The Pleasant Way Home_, _The Valley Mill_, _The Blithe Brook_, _Across the Beck_. In the National Gallery is _The Pathway to the Village Church_.

"He painted the homely scenery of his country, especially its streams, in all its native beauty and freshness; natural, pure, and simple in his treatment and colour, careful and complete in his finish, good taste prevailing in all his works, and conspicuously so in his charming contributions to the works of the Etching Club, of which he was a valued member, and also in his many designs on wood." (_Redgrave._)

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PLEASANT WAY HOME. _By_ CRESWICK. _Exhibited in 1846._]

JOHN LINNELL (1792--1882) the son of a carver and gilder in Bloomsbury, was at first brought up to his father's trade, and had many opportunities of studying pictures. At eight years of age he copied Morland so well that his versions were often taken for originals. Soon afterwards he became a pupil of John Varley, and in his studio met Mulready and W. H. Hunt, with whom he frequently went on sketching tours. In 1807, when only fifteen years of age, Linnell sent his first pictures, _A Study from Nature_, and _A View near Reading_, to the Royal Academy Exhibition, to which for more than seventy years he was a regular contributor. He frequently painted portraits, and was particularly successful in landscapes with many trees. Mr. Ruskin says, "The forest studies of John Linnell are particularly elaborate, and in many points most skilful." For many years towards the close of his life he lived at Redhill, with his two sons and his son-in-law, Samuel Palmer, all landscape painters, near him.

During his long life he painted many hundred pictures, which are now for the most part scattered in private galleries in England. Two of his works are in the National Gallery, _Wood Cutters_, and _The Windmill_; and three at South Kensington, _Wild Flower Gatherers_, _Milking Time_, and _Driving Cattle_.

EDWARD WILLIAM COOKE (1811--1880), the son of an engraver, was intended for his father's profession; but he preferred the brush to the graver.

In 1851 he was made an a.s.sociate and in 1864 a full member of the Royal Academy, to whose exhibitions he was a most constant contributor: he also exhibited at the British Inst.i.tution. His works are, for the most part, coast and river scenes, generally in England, and frequently on the Thames or Medway. Paintings by him are in the National Gallery and the South Kensington Museum.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER X.

HISTORIC PAINTERS.

Many of our painters who aspired to high art in the field of history were forced to abandon these ambitious designs, and confine themselves to the more lucrative branches of their calling. It was not so with

WILLIAM HILTON (1786--1839), who, although chilled and saddened by neglect, and generally unable to sell his pictures, maintained his position as a history painter, and suffered neither poverty nor the coldness of the public to turn him aside. Few details are known of his life; he was a gentle, silent, and retiring man, who knew much sorrow and shunned publicity. Rescued from a trade to which he was destined, Hilton was allowed to learn drawing, and became a pupil of J. Raphael Smith, the mezzotint engraver. He entered the Academy schools, and paid special attention to the anatomy of the figure. His earliest known productions were a series of designs in oil to ill.u.s.trate "The Mirror,"

and "The Citizen of the World." Hilton's early exhibited works had cla.s.sic subjects, such as _Cephalus and Procris_, _Venus carrying the wounded Achilles_, and _Ulysses and Calypso_. In 1810, he produced a large historic painting, called _Citizens of Calais delivering the Keys to Edward III._, for which the British Inst.i.tution awarded him a premium of fifty guineas. For the _Entombment of Christ_ he received a second premium, and for _Edith discovering the Dead Body of Harold_ a third of one hundred guineas. Nevertheless, the public did not appreciate his works, and they were unsold. The Directors of the British Inst.i.tution, who had already marked their sense of this painter's ability, purchased two of his sacred pieces, _Mary anointing the Feet of Jesus_, which was presented to the Church of St. Michael, in the City, and _Christ crowned with Thorns_, which was given to that of St. Peter's, Eaton Square, but which has since been sold. In 1819 Hilton became a full member of the Academy, and was appointed Keeper in 1827, a position for which he was specially fitted, and where he gained the affection of the students. In the next year he married. The death of his wife, in 1835, crushed his energy and hope. He saw himself painting for a public which did not value his art.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RAPE OF EUROPA. _By_ HILTON. A.D. 1818. _In the possession of the Earl of Egremont._]

In addition to the above examples, we may mention Hilton's _Serena rescued by the Red Cross Knight, Sir Calepine_, and _The Meeting of Abraham's Servant with Rebekah_ (National Gallery), and a triptych of _The Crucifixion_, which is at Liverpool. Most of Hilton's works are falling to decay through the use of asphaltum.

BENJAMIN ROBERT HAYDON (1786--1846) was the son of a bookseller at Plymouth, and his "fitful life"--marked by "restless and importunate vanity"--was ended by his own act. Haydon refused to follow his father's business, and insisted on becoming a painter. Of his thoughts, hopes, and dreams, we have been well informed. He was in the habit of writing in an elaborate diary all that concerned himself. He came to London in 1804 with 20 in his pocket, entered the Academy schools, and worked there with vigour and self-reliance. Northcote did not encourage his enthusiastic countryman when he told him that as an historic painter "he would starve with a bundle of straw under his head." We admire the courage of Haydon in holding fast to the branch of art he had embraced, but his egotism fulfilled the prophecy of Northcote. When twenty-one, Haydon ordered a canvas for _Joseph and Mary resting on the Road to Egypt_, and he prayed over the blank canvas that G.o.d would bless his career, and enable him to create a new era in art. Lord Mulgrave became his patron, and this may have added to the painter's hopes. He painted _Dentatus_, and, intoxicated by flattery, believed the production of this his second work would mark "an epoch in English art." _Dentatus_, however, was hung in the ante-room of the Royal Academy, and coldly received. In 1810, he began _Lady Macbeth_ for Sir George Beaumont; quarrelling with his patron, he lost the commission, but worked on at the picture. Although deeply in debt, he quarrelled with those who would have been his friends. His _Judgment of Solomon_, a very fine picture, was painted under great difficulties and privations. West, the President, whom the painter accused of hostility to him, is said to have shed tears of admiration at the sight of this work, and sent Haydon a gift of 15. _Solomon_ was sold for 600 guineas, and the British Inst.i.tution awarded another hundred guineas as a premium to its author.

In 1820 Haydon produced _Christ's Entry into Jerusalem_, and during its progress he, as he recorded, "held intercourse only with his art and his Creator." This picture was exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, and brought a large sum of money to the painter. Unsold in England, the work of which Haydon had expected much was purchased for 240, and sent to America. He established an Art school, where several able painters were trained, but the master was constantly in great pecuniary difficulties. In 1823, he exhibited the _The Raising of Lazarus_, containing twenty figures, each nine feet high, which is now in the National Gallery. Of this work Mr. Redgrave says: "The first impression of the picture is imposing; the general effect powerful, and well suited to the subject; the incidents and grouping well conceived; the colouring good, and in parts brilliant. The Christ is weak, probably the weakest, though the chief figure in the picture." Misfortune still dogged the painter. He was thrown into prison for debt; released, he worked in poverty, afraid of his "wicked-eyed, wrinkled, waddling, gin-drinking, dirty-ruffled landlady." The closing scenes of his life grew darker and darker. In 1826, he painted _Venus and Anchises_, on commission, began _Alexander taming Bucephalus_, and _Euclus_, and was once more in prison. An appeal in the newspapers produced money enough to set him again at liberty. Then appeared the _Mock Election_, and _Chairing the Member_, the former being purchased by the King. No success, however, seemed to stem the tide of Haydon's misfortunes. He lectured on Art with great ability in 1840, continued painting for bread, and finally, disgusted by the cold reception of _Aristides_, and _Nero watching the Burning of Rome_, the over-wrought mind of the unfortunate man gave way, and he committed suicide, leaving this brief entry in his journal--"G.o.d forgive me! Amen. Finis. B. R. Haydon.

'Stretch me no longer on the rack of this sad world.'--_Lear_." A sad finish to his ambitious hopes! Of Haydon's art generally Mr. Redgrave says: "He was a good anatomist and draughtsman, his colour was effective, the treatment of his subject and conception were original and powerful; but his works have a hurried and incomplete look, his finish is coa.r.s.e, sometimes woolly, and not free from vulgarity."

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE DANGEROUS PLAYMATE. _By_ ETTY. A.D. 1833. _In the National Gallery._]

WILLIAM ETTY (1787--1849), the son of a miller at York, had few advantages to help him on the road to fame. His education was slight, and his early years were spent as a printer's apprentice in Hull. But he had determined to be a painter; and his motto was, as he tells us, "_Perseverance_." In 1806, he visited an uncle, in Lombard Street, and became a student at the Academy, though his earliest art-school was a plaster-cast shop in c.o.c.k Lane. Through his uncle's generosity, he became a pupil of Lawrence, who had little time to attend to him. Though overwhelmed with difficulties Etty persevered bravely. He laboured diligently in the "Life School," tried in vain for all the medals, sent his pictures to the Academy only to see them rejected; unlike Haydon, he never lost heart. In 1820 _The Coral Finders_ was exhibited at the Academy, and in the following year _Cleopatra_. His patience and diligence were rewarded; henceforth his career was one of success. In 1822, he visited Italy, and in 1828 became a full member of the Academy.

His art was very unequal. He chiefly devoted himself, however, to painting women, as being the embodiments of beauty. As a colourist few English painters have rivalled him, and as a painter of flesh he stands high. As showing the different forms of his many-sided art, we may mention _Judith and Holofernes_, _Benaiah_, _The Eve of the Deluge_, _Youth on the prow and Pleasure at the Helm_, _The Imprudence of Candaules_, _The dangerous Playmate_, and _The Magdalen_ (all in the National Gallery). Etty died unmarried, and the possessor of a considerable fortune.

HENRY PERRONET BRIGGS (1792--1844), distinguished as an historic and portrait painter, began his art studies at the Academy in 1811, and was made a full member of that body in 1832. His best-known works are _Oth.e.l.lo relating his Adventures_, _The first Conference between the Spaniards and Peruvians_, and _Juliet and her Nurse_; the two latter are in the National Gallery. This master in his later years forsook historical painting for portraiture.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GREEK FUGITIVES. _By_ EASTLAKE. _Painted for Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bart._ _Exhibited at the Royal Academy in_ A.D. 1833.]

CHARLES LOCK EASTLAKE (1793--1865), son of the Solicitor to the Admiralty in that town, was born at Plymouth, and educated first in Plympton Grammar School, where Reynolds had studied, and afterwards at the Charterhouse, London. Choosing the profession of a painter, he was encouraged, doubtless, by his fellow-townsman, Haydon, who had just exhibited _Dentatus_. Eastlake became the pupil of that erratic master, and attended the Academy schools. In 1813, he exhibited at the British Inst.i.tution a large and ambitious picture, _Christ raising the Daughter of the Ruler_. In the following year the young painter was sent by Mr.

Harman to Paris, to copy some of the famous works collected by Napoleon in the Louvre. The Emperor's escape from Elba, and the consequent excitement in Europe, caused Eastlake to quit Paris, and he returned to Plymouth, where he practised successfully as a portrait painter. A portrait of Napoleon, which Eastlake enlarged from his sketch of the Emperor on board the _Bellerophon_ when bound for St. Helena, appeared in 1815. This picture now belongs to Lord Clinton. In the same year he exhibited _Brutus exhorting the Romans to avenge the Death of Lucretia_.

In 1819 Eastlake visited Greece and Italy, and spent fourteen years abroad, chiefly at Ferrara and Rome. The picturesque dress of the Italian and Greek peasantry so fascinated him that for a long period he forsook history for small _genre_ works, of which brigands and peasants were the chief subjects. A large historical painting, _Mercury bringing the Golden Apple to Paris_, appeared in 1820. Seven years later, _The Spartan Isidas_, now in the possession of the Duke of Devons.h.i.+re, was exhibited at the Academy, and procured for the painter the a.s.sociates.h.i.+p. It ill.u.s.trates the story told by Plutarch, in his "Life of Agesilaus," of the young warrior called suddenly in his bath to oppose the Thebans. Rus.h.i.+ng forth naked with his sword and spear, he drove back the Thebans and escaped unhurt. In 1828, Eastlake produced _Italian Scene in the Anno Santo, Pilgrims arriving in sight of St.

Peter's_, which he twice repeated. In 1829 _Lord Byron's Dream_, a poetic landscape (National Gallery), was exhibited, and Eastlake becoming an Academician, returned to England. Then followed _Greek Fugitives_, _Escape of the Carrara Family from the Duke of Milan_ (a repet.i.tion is in the National Gallery), _Haidee_ (National Gallery), _Gaston de Foix before the Battle of Ravenna_, _Christ blessing Little Children_, _Christ weeping over Jerusalem_ (a repet.i.tion is in the National Gallery), and _Hagar and Ishmael_. To his labours as a painter Eastlake added the duties of several important offices, and much valuable literary work. He was Secretary to the Royal Commission for Decorating the New Palace of Westminster, Librarian of the Royal Academy, and Keeper, and afterwards Director of the National Gallery. In 1850, he succeeded Sir Martin Shee as President of the Royal Academy, and was knighted. From that time till his death, at Pisa, in 1865, he was chiefly engaged in selecting pictures to be purchased by the British Government. He was editor of Kugler's "Handbook of the Italian Schools of Painting," and author of "Materials for a History of Oil Painting."

[Ill.u.s.tration: JOASH SHOOTING THE ARROWS OF DELIVERANCE. _By_ DYCE. A.D.

1844. _In the possession of Mr. Bicknell._]

WILLIAM DYCE (1806--1864), a native of Aberdeen, commenced his art studies at the Royal Scottish Academy. Visiting Italy he studied the old masters, and their influence had a lasting effect upon his style. In 1827 Dyce exhibited at the Royal Academy _Bacchus nursed by the Nymphs_.

In 1830, he settled in Edinburgh, and achieved marked success. _The Descent of Venus_ appeared at the Academy in 1836. Having removed to London, Dyce exhibited, in 1844, _Joash shooting the Arrows of Deliverance_, and was elected an a.s.sociate. In 1847, he produced the sketch of a fresco executed at Osborne House, _Neptune a.s.signing to Britannia the Empire of the Sea_. Dyce was chosen, in 1848, to decorate the Queen's Robing-Room in the Houses of Parliament, and commenced, but did not quite finish, a large series of frescoes ill.u.s.trating _The Legend of King Arthur_. He produced other historic works, chiefly of Biblical subjects, and of great merit.

GEORGE HARVEY (1805--1876) was born at St. Ninian's, Fifes.h.i.+re, and apprenticed to a bookseller at Stirling. He quitted this craft at the age of eighteen, and commenced his art career at Edinburgh. In Scotland he gained a wide popularity. He took an active part in the establishment of the Royal Scottish Academy, and was knighted in 1867. His favourite subjects were Puritan episodes, such as _Covenanters' Communion_, _Bunyan imagining his Pilgrim's Progress in Bedford Gaol_, and _The Battle of Drumclog_.

THOMAS DUNCAN (1807--1845), a native of Perths.h.i.+re, first attracted notice by his pictures of a _Milkmaid_, and _Sir John Falstaff_. In 1840, he exhibited at the Royal Academy his historical painting, _Entrance of Prince Charlie into Edinburgh after Preston Pans_, and next year produced _Waefu' Heart_, from the ballad of "Auld Robin Gray,"

which is now at South Kensington.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAROLD, RETURNED FROM NORMANDY, PRESENTS HIMSELF TO EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. _By_ MACLISE. A.D. 1866.