Thomas Lawrence, manuscript discourse

RA Collection: Archive

Reference code

LAW/6/4

Title

Thomas Lawrence, manuscript discourse

Date

10 Dec 1828

Level

Item

Extent & medium

20pp

Content Description

Refers to the "candour" with which he expects the students to respond to the decisions of the membership in awarding premiums; there is only one entrant in the Life School class; Lord Grosvenor leant Rubens [Juno and Ixion] to the painting school, leading to wonderful entrants in that category.

He reasons that the British School is now the first in Europe, particularly in terms of chiaro-scuro and colouring, but warns that good colouring is not enough; embarks on a critique of Rubens's Ixion; he compares Rubens's treatment with that of an engraving by Caraglia[?], and uses, as a cautionary tale, The Life of Joseph by Andrea del Sarto, owned by Lord Cowper, before bowing down to the genius of Raphael in his treatment of David and Bathsheba and other subjects in the Loggia.

He concludes with a rousing illustration of how Rubens is the sacred heir of Raphael.