"that if it were possible to give them an idea of what was to be seen there, the remains of antiquity, the sculpture, paintings, and architecture, &c. they would think it worth while, nay, they would break through all obstacles, and set off immediately for Rome."

Greatly, however, as he was affected by the splendid monuments which in every direction caught his eye; in his own immediate line of art he experienced a very remarkable disappointment. Accustomed to regard the name of Raffaelle with veneration, as the head of the art, he naturally enough expected to behold works transcending all the ideas he had formed of the sublime and beautiful in painting. But, instead of being enraptured, on entering the Vatican, by the productions of that mighty genius, he viewed them with an insensibility for which he could not then account, and of the cause of which he had not the least suspicion. The circumstance, though sufficiently mortifying, would have been exceedingly disheartening had he not found that his case was far from being singular. His account of the humiliation which he felt, and of the use which he made of it, is too interesting. and instructive to be given in any other language than his own: "It has frequently happened," says he, "as I was informed by the keeper of the Vatican, that many of those, whom he had conducted through the various apartments of that edifice, when about to be dismissed, have asked

for the works of Raffaelle, and would not believe that they had already passed through the rooms where they are preserved; so little impression had those performances made on them. One of the first painters now in France, once told me that this circumstance happened to himself; though he now looks on Raffaelle with that veneration which he deserves from all painters and lovers of the art. 1 remember very well my own disappointment when I first visited the Vatican; but on confessing my feelings to a brother student, of whose ingenuousness I had a high opinion, he acknowledged that the works of Raffaelle had the same effect on him, or rather that they did not produce the effect which he expected. This was a great relief to my mind, and on enquiring further of other students, I found that those persons only, who from natural imbecility appeared to be incapable of ever relishing those divine performances, made pretensions to instantaneous raptures on first beholding them. In justice to myself, however, I must add, that though disappointed and mortified at not finding myself enraptured with the works of this great master, I did not for a moment conceive or suppose that the name of Raffaelle, and those admirable paintings in particular, owed their reputation to the ignorance and prejudice of mankind; on the contrary, my not relishing them, as I was conscious I ought to have done, was one of the most humiliating circumstances that ever happened to

me: I found myself in the midst of works executed upon principles with which I was unacquainted; I felt my ignorance, and stood abashed. All the indigested notions of painting which I had brought with me from England, where the art was in the lowest state it had ever been in, (it could not indeed be lower) were to be totally done away, and eradicated from my mind. It was necessary, as it is expressed on a very solemn occasion, that I should become as a little child. Notwithstanding my disappointment, I proceeded to copy some of those excellent works. I viewed them again and again; I even affected to feel their merit, and to admire them more than I really did. In a short time, a new taste and new perceptions began to dawn upon me; and I was convinced that I had originally formed a false opinion of the perfection of art, and that this great painter was well entitled to the high rank which he holds in the estimation of the world. The truth is, that if these works had really been what I expected, they would have contained beauties superficial and alluring, but by no means such as would have entitled them to the great reputation which they have so long and so justly obtained. Having since that period frequently revolved this in my mind, I am now clearly of opinion, that a relish for the higher excellencies of the art is an acquired taste, which no man ever possessed without long cultivation, and great labour and attention. On such occasions as that

which I have mentioned, we are often ashamed of our apparent dullness; as if it were to be expected that our minds, like tinder, should instantly catch fire from the divine spark of Raffaelle's genius. I flatter myself that now it would be so, and that I have a just and lively perception of his great powers; but let it be always remembered, that the excellence of his style is not on the surface, but lies deep, and at first view is seen but mistily. It is the florid style which strikes at once, and captivates the eye for a time without ever satisfying the judgment. Nor does painting in this respect differ from other arts: a just poetical taste, and the acquisition of a nice discriminative musical ear, are equally the work of time. Even the eye, however perfect in itself, is ofte unable to distinguish between the brilliancy of two diamonds, though the experienced jeweller will be amazed at its blindness, not considering that there was a time when he himself could not have been able to pronounce which of the two was the most perfect, and that his own power of discrimination was acquired by slow and imperceptible degrees."

Thus happily persuaded that the fault was in himself, and not in Raffaelle, that he did not perIceive the beauties which for above two centuries had been the theme of admiration, Mr. Reynolds resolved to devote his time at Rome to the study of these works, till he should have acquired a

knowledge of the true principles on which their merit was founded. In following up this judicious resolution, and by a diligent application, in the Vatican, to the works of Michel Angelo, Raffaelle, and Andrea Del Sarto, he caught a severe cold, which affected his head to such a degree, as occasioned a deafness that obliged him through life to use an acoustic instrument.

The state of the arts in Rome at this time may be estimated from the fact, that the students of painting, from every part of Europe, instead of applying to the works of the illustrious dead, crowded the academy of Pompeo Battoni, who appears to have been considered, even by his countrymen, as equal to Raffaelle. Such, indeed, was the popularity of this artist, that when Mr. Reynolds was about to leave England for the Mediterranean, his noble patron, Lord Mount Edgecumbe, particularly requested him to become a pupil of Battoni. Though the advice was friendly, yet, as soon as our traveller had an opportunity of judging for himself, he neglected to follow it, wisely preferring the silent instructions of the great masters of former days, to the jejune and gaudy manner which prevailed in the modern and degenerate school of art. Reynolds, however, while he carefully studied the paintings which abounded at Rome, never attempted to make entire copies of any of them, "conceiving," as he afterwards said, "that such a practice was but a delusive kind of