xt7qjq0stw34_5244 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qjq0stw34/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qjq0stw34/data/1997ms474.dao.xml unknown archival material 1997ms474 English University of Kentucky The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. W. Hugh Peal manuscript collection Richard Parkes Bonington letter to dear bishop, with a clipping text 43.94 Cubic Feet 86 boxes, 4 oversize boxes, 22 items Poor-Good Peal accession no. 11453. Richard Parkes Bonington letter to dear bishop, with a clipping 2017 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qjq0stw34/data/1997ms474/Box_61/Folder_4/Multipage27963.pdf 1822 July 15, undated 1822 1822 July 15, undated section false xt7qjq0stw34_5244 xt7qjq0stw34 //” #274

V‘N‘Ci.‘ N -.

,
{
3
'7'
I
1
z
I
7
i
I
a
» 3
i
b

' ﬁrmed his father’s desire to take every oppor-

P / . BIOGRAPHY. .
.L ext/f n. r. BONING-TON.A/’Ztﬂ

, I '1‘ is with great sorrow we have to record the
death of this young but eminent artist, whose
pictures have of late years attracted so much
admiration, and who bid so fair to be one of
the most distinguished ornaments which the
native school of England ever-produced. Richard
Parkes Bonington was born on the 25th of
October, 1801, at the village of Arnold, near
Nottingham; where his father was engaged,
we believe, in some of the manufacturing or
, mercantile pursuits general in that part of the
country. At the..- irly age of three years he
discovered a very extraordinary attachment to
l the ﬁne arts, which was principally evinced by

his sketching almost every object that presented
itself to his observation. But he went even
farther, and not unfrequently ventured upon
designs; some specimens of which precocious
efforts are still in the possession of his parents.
They were chieﬂy drawn in pen-and-ink, with
surprising accuracy, and illustrative of history,
which, from the moment our infant artist was
capable of thought, became his favourite study
and research. IV? ought also to notice that

Iis sketches of marine subjects (in which he
afterwards shone so conspicuously) were, beyond
description, wonderful both for correctness and
neatness. These productions completely con-

tunity of leading him to the arts as a profes-
sion; and he accordingly continued to direct
his attention to the works of the best masters,-
but, above all, to Nature, the mother, nurse,
and guide of true genius. Thus cherished,
when Richard was not more than seven or
eight years of age, he made some drawings
from old buildings situated at Nottingham,
which surpassed every thing he had before
done; and about the same time he took a
more decided turn for marine subjects, which
bent of mind appears never afterwards to have
forsaken him. .‘
At the age of ﬁfteen his parents journeyed
to Paris, feeling assured that the facilities for
study afforded by that capital were much more
important than any which could elsewhere be
attained. Upon his arrival there, application
was made for permission to draw in the
Louvre; and the gentlemen who conducted
that department, astonished blsyond measure
at the examples of the young English painter’s .

, , in he most ,
manner, granted the boon required. Here,‘
again, we cannot render too much praise to
his anxious father for the assiduity and judg. l
lent with which he cultivated his son’s talents. .
He took inﬁnite pains to point his attentionl
to the best specimens of the Italian and Fle-
mish schools; and it must be added, that his
docile and enthusiastic pupil proﬁted nobly by
his invaluable advice. And while thus en.
gaged he met with many encouraging circum—
stances 'to cheer him in his labours :——strangers,
for instance, who, on visiting the Louvre, and
being struck with his performances, purchased 3
them at the prices demanded. - z ‘ ‘
He very soon after became a student of the ,
Institute, and'also drew at M. Le Baron Gros’s ‘
atelier. It was about this period, when not
Occupied at the Institute or at the baron’s
gallery, that he made many extraordinary
drawings of coast scenery; particularly some
representing ﬁsh-markets, with groups of
ﬁgures, and for which he at all times found a
ready sale. We should not omit to mention,
that his study from the ﬁgure was exceedingly
,n. 0 hc_uh were it reuisite to deﬁne his

‘J
illustration of the character and habit,

which he admirably displayed his knowledge of
colour and composition, and his great attention
to costume. This picture, whether owing to
its being unseen, for it was upon the ﬂoor, or
to want of taste in the patrons and lovers of
painting, is yet, we learn, in the possession of
the artist’s parents. we trust that his Majesty
will be its immediate purchaser: it would be
ill bestowed in any other hands. As a con-
trast to the foregoing, we may remark, that
the ﬁrst time he exhibited in Paris, his draw.
ing was sold the moment the exhibition
opened; and for the next (a marine subject)
he received the gold medal, at the same time
that Sir Thomas Lawrence was decorated with
the order of the legion of honour, and Mr.
Constable and Mr. Fielding were also liberally
awarded medals of gold.

Subsequently to the period alluded to, Mr.
Bonington undertook a tour to Italy, from
which country he brought back some splendid
specimens of his abilities ;-—his studies from
nature literally breathing the atmosphere of
the scenes so faithfully and beautifully repre-
sented. It was his intention, had his life
been spared, to have painted a series of pictures I
similar to the Ducal Palace, exhibited this‘
year at the British Gallery, Pall Mall 5

It affords us a melancholy satisfaction to
reﬂect, that from the ﬁrst small work which
Mr. Bonington exhibited in his native coun-
try to the very last, we have invariably felt
and expressed the same admiration of his

lovers of the ﬁne arts will join in this commo-
grief; for except, perhaps, in Harlowe, there
has been no such ornament of our native school
out off in early prime, and in the full eﬂ'ul-
gence of spreading fame. Overwhelmed with
the number of commissions which poured in
upon him in consequence of his rising reputa-
tion, he seems to have viewed the accumula.
tion of employment with dismay: success was
the proximate cause of his fatal malady. His
nerves became deeply affected, and a rapid
decline ensuedf“ which in four months pro-
strated his strength to the tomb. His latest of.
fort was to travel from Paris to London, where
he arrived last week, to consult Mr. St. John
Long ; but that gentleman declared him to be
beyond all human aid; and he died at ten
o’clock, on the 23d of September, Tuesday last.
His closing hours were perfectly calm; and
he was in full possession of his reason almost to
the end. On Monday his remains are to be
interred; and, as we have mentioned, the
president and other members of the Royal
Academy have proposed to pay a tribute of
respect to his memory, by following his body
to the grave.

genius which is here embodied in a memoir .

over his premature grave. He was, indeed, a
child of nature; and his acute and sensitive
temperament too soon wore out the mortal
mansion in which its exhausting operations were
performed—as in the alembic of the chemist,
which throws oil‘ the inestimable produce, but
perishes itself in the devouring ﬂame. His
mode of preparing for a picture was, after
making an elaborate sketch for the outline and
detail, to study the local colour most accu-
rately; and here he never forgot to catch the
peculiarities of the various groups of ﬁgures
that frequented the spot selected for his pencil.
It is unnecessary to particular-ise his works,
which have been from time to time seen in
London exhibitions, and which are now in the
possession of the Duke of Bedford, the Mar.
quess of Lansdowne, Countess de Grey, Mr.
Vernon, and Mr. Carpenterf" the latter of
whom has two of his greatest works of the
Canaletti school. His disposition (we are as-
sured by every one who knew him) was noble,
generous, and benevolent in the extreme; and
his ﬁlial aﬂ’ection was a remarkable trait in
his character. His parents have, indeed, lost
in him a son of sons: he was their only
child, their pride in life, and their irreparable
bereavement in death. His friends, too, have
to lament one whom they warmly loved : and,
in short, we never heard more sincere and
heart-felt regrets expressed for any individual,
than we have heard from all who claimed his
intimacy or regard. The public and the
I" ich would be honourable to rdiy sch l of art, the su
t is treated in a most masterly manner. As a graphic
' of the French
' monarch, it may be ranked with some of the well-de-
scribed sccnes by Sir Walte ott in Quentin Durward,
| or any other of his historical 'cls.” If you are to hav
fame, said Dr. Wolcot, speaking of Opie, “ you must
stay till you’ve been dead a hundred years.“ The Royal
Academy are not quite so dilatory with regard to poo
Boniuglon; for though they pushed his admirable wor
I into an obscure corm , three months ago, they are no“
‘ iuagnanimously pressing forward to give him, as far a»
they are concerned, a public funeral! l-—-0ut upon suc
l conduct! '
*- iriis last sketch, we believe, was done for Mr. Sharpe,
and is to be engraved in the Anniversary: it consists 0
two female ﬁgures m a picturesque landscape.

re the following extract. But Mr. War-
....‘s work would have pleased us better if he
had had the candour to acknowledge how much
he was indebted to Mr. Kempe’s notice of
the antiquities of the War Bank, and we
must remark, that he seems implicitly to fol-
low the conjecture of that gentleman, that the
Roman Noviomagus, or new city, was built
upon the site of a British town.

“ Gibson, Somner, and Stillingﬂeet, have
placed the Noviomagus of Antoninus here (at
Keston). This has been opposed principally
because it is not on the line of the “Tatling-
street way: but on reference to the Itinerary
of Antoninus, we shall ﬁnd that, to take in
Noviomagus, it was necessary that the tra-
veller should go considerably out of that direct
road to the sea ports; for in ‘ than. 11. a
Vallo ad Portum Ritupas,’ we ﬁnd this ar-
rangement:

‘ Londinium.
Noviomagum, m. p s
Vagniarim, m. p. un-
Durobrivim, m. p. ix.’
Making the distance from London to Roches-
7 the ancient Durobrivis, thirty-seven miles<
reas, in ‘ I'J‘EII. III. a Londinio ad For.

an ausitei judge, we have, the king of jolly
topers before us, as when "

The grave lord keeper led the brawls,
And seals and maccs danced before him.

diary, Dowager Empress of Russia,- Nicholas ,

1st, Emperor of all the Russias ,- Alma/2117a,
Empress ofall the Russias ,- and Grand Dulce
Alexander, Heir to the Russian Throne.
Engraved by T. VVrig it, from Pictures by
G. Dawe, RA. Colnaghi and Co.
THESE engravings, although of a miniature
01' medallion size, are very ably executed; and
we have no doubt that they possess a strong
resemblance to the various 0 ' 'nals. There
is an exceedingly pleasing e.\ ssion in the
countenance of the Empr ' and the Empress
Mary’s features have a st king resemblance to
those of our own King. View his Majesty
pleased to masquerade it in the wig of Charles
the Second, the resemblance would be very
curious.

Forget-memo _..Mr. Ackermann undoubt-
. lly possesses a great advantage over his com-
lpctitors, and one of which he will not easily be
ldeprived, in having been the ﬁrst to introduce
into thi. country the elegant d. ’iption of
publications generally entitled “ Annuals.”
But he is.a man of too much good sense and
experience to trust to that circumstance alone
for a continuance of his success; and, accord-
ingly, we ﬁnd him making great exertions to
render his little volume deserving of the public
patronage, for its intrinsic merits. We have
lying before us proofs of the plates which are
to embellish the next “ Forget-me-not;” and
they are so beautiful that we must notice a
few of the most striking.—“ The Proposl.”
engraved by W. Humphrys, from a drawiu
by J. Stephanoﬂ', which must be rccollecteu
with pleasure by all who visited the last ex—
hibition of the Society of Painters in \Vater.
colours. Mr. Humphrys has been highly suc-
cessful in retaining the expression of the ori-
ginal the delight of the fair enslaver, the
affect nate congratulations of her mother and
her friend, and the jealous agony ol'hcr rival...—
“ The Idle School-boy,” engraved by ‘V. Fin-

n1, from a drawing by H. Thomson, R.A.
nIr. Finden has done great justice to the feel-
ing and taste which Mr. Thomson infuses into
every subject that he touches. It is an amus—
ing exhibition of youthful listlessness; and the
snail on the wall happily recalls the Shake-
sperian passage of which it is an illustration...
“ Eddystone Lighthouse,” engraved by R.
\Vallis, from a drawing by S. Owen. The
powers of Mr. Owen, in the representation of
marine views, are well known; and thi is one
of the most spirited efforts of histhat we have
seen. It is admirably engraved.—.“ Marcus
Curtius,” engraved by H. Le Keux, from a
drawing by J. Martin. The minuteness and
the multiplicity of the details in this exquisite
little print are absolutely miraculous. It is
necessary to use a glass of a strong magnifying
power in order fully to appreciate them. They
are, however, not allowed to interfere with the
general effect, which is exceedingly grand.—
“ Cottage Kitchen,” engraved by J. Romney,
from a drawing by W. F. \Vitherington. A
scene of rustic comfort and content, which,
though very pleasingly depicted, is, we fear,
not very common.-“ Vicenza,” engraved by
Freebairn, from a drawing by S. Prout. The

parkling clearness of Mr. Prout’s pencil has '

here been very happily imitated by Mr. Free-
bairn’s gravcr. Besides the prints we have
mentioned, there are “ Ellen Strathallan,”
engraved by J. Agar, from a. picture by Miss

. v, . . . ‘
the diversity of his unbounded talents, marine
pieces were at once his favourites and chef-
d‘wuvws. Yet we are almost unwilling to
adhere tothis opinion, when we recollect that
one picture, of quite another class, which he
exhibited this year at Somerset House ;2—we
allude to his Henry the Third of France,* in

4% Respecting this picture, in our Exhibition criticism,
Literary Gazette, No. 591, May l7, we thus expressed
ourselves, complaining of the scandalously bad light in
which it was hung:-—“ Why is the pain of stooping till
one’s back is nearly broken, to be inﬂicted as the price of
the pleasure of looking at this able performance ?——a per-
formance whichdt would have done credit to the judg-
ment of the Academy, had they placed it in the best
situation the rooms afford. [1n a'note—” The mantel of
the Great Room would have been the proper place for
this picture.”] Besides possessing a harmony of colouring '

L. Sharpe; “ The Blind Piper,” engraved by
H. C. Shenton, from a drawing by L. Olen-
nell; “ View on the Ganges,” engraved (ex-
quisitely) .by E. Finden, from a drawing by
W. Daniel], R.A.; “ Alice,” engraved by
Joseph Goodyear, from a picture by C. R.
Leslie, R.A. ; “ Constancy,” engraved by F. J.
Portbury, from a picture by P. Stephanoﬂ‘;
“ Fathime and Euphrosyne,’ engraved by
S. Davcnort from a icture bv . Cornculd -

“ Frolic in a Palace,” engraved (very ﬁnely)
by F. Engleheart, from a drawing by A. E.
Chalon, ILA. ; and “ The Faithful Guardian,”
engraved by‘ H_. C. Shenton, from a picture by
A. Cooper, R.A.; all of which possess consi-
derable merit.

Friemls/zip’s O‘fiioringp—It is really surpris-
ing to see the efforts that are making by the
various proprietors and publishers of the little
annual works, which have become so much the
fashion during the last three or four years, to
rival (me another in excellence. The embel-
lishments which are to decorate the next vo-
lume of “ Friendship’s Offering” are most of
them admirable. “ La Frescura,” painted by
T. Bone, engraved by “7. Le Petit, is a rich
and elegant composition. “ Campbell Castle,”
painted by G. Arnald, A.R.A., engraved by
E. Goodall, reminds us of one of the ﬁnest pro—
ductions of ‘Vilson and VVoollett, seen through
a diminishing glass. “ Hours of Innocence,”
painted by E. Landseer, A.R.A., engraved by
J. A. Wright. Full of animation and cha.
racter. “ The Rival Suitcrs,” painted by
J. Stephanoif, engraved by J. Romney. Fe-
male coquetry exquisitely displayed. In sub-

, I . .. I . ...... .

‘ to luxuriate. “ L Fiancee de Marques,”
painted by A. E. Chalon, R.A., engraved by
”William Humphrys. Graceful and attractive
“ Glen,—Lynden," designed and engraved b
J. Martin. A solemn and magniﬁcent eﬂ'ec
: of Chiaroscuro. “ Cupid and Psyche,” pamte
by J. Wood, engraved by E. Finden. '
fully composed. The repose of the god of love
and the surprise and delight of the enamoureu
Psyche, as she gazes on his youthful form, ar.
perfect. “ The Cove of Muscat,” painted b
XV. F. VVitherington, from a sketch by Lieut-
col. Johnson, C.B., engraved by T. Jeavons.
“ ’ vhly picturesque representation of this
Cele.) ated Arabian port._.l5esides the plates
which we have thus briefly noticed, the volume
contains an elegant “ Presentation Plate,” en-
graved by J. ‘V. Cook, from a design by H.
Corbould. “ The “NH,” painted by \V. Kidd,
engraved by J. Mitchell; “ The “ﬁlming,”
painted by A. Cooper, R.A., engraved by
A. W. \Varren; “ The Parting,” painted by
B. R. Haydon, engraved by J. Romney; and
“ The Minstrel Boy,” engraved by A. Dun-
can, from a painting by C. R. Leslie, R.A.