E'en public Taste, by no determin'd rule,
Has clafs'd the merit of each nobler school:
TO ROME and FLORENCE, in Expreffion ftrong,
The highest honours of Design belong;
On her pure Style fee mild BOLOGNA claim
Her fairest right to fecondary fame;
Tho' prouder VENICE would ufurp that praise,
Upon the fplendid force of TITIAN's golden rays. † 345
But ill they know the value of their art,
Who, flattering the eye, neglect the heart.
Tho' matchless tints a lasting name secure,
Tho' ftrong the magic of the clear-obscure,
These must submit, as a dependant part,
* Ver. 342. See NOTE XXVII.
+ Ver. 345. See NOTE XXVIII.
Ver. 353. See NOTE XXIX.
To pure Defign, the very foul of Art;
Or Fame, mifguided, muft invert her course,
And RAPHAEL'S Grace muft yield to REMBRANDT's Force;t Fancy's bold thought to Labour's patient touch,
And Rome's exalted genius to the Dutch.
Yet, HOLLAND, thy unwearied labours raise *
A perfect title to peculiar praise :
Thy hum'rous pencil fhuns the epic field,
The blazing falchion, and the fanguine shield;
But hap❜ly marks the group of rural Mirth,
In focial circle round the chearful hearth,
And ruftic Joy, from bufy cares releas'd,
To the gay gambols of the village feast :
While Nature smiles her very faults to view,
Trac'd with a skill fo exquifitely true.
365
These faults, O REMBRANDT, 'twas thy praise to hide !
New pow'rs of ART thy fertile mind supplied;
With dazzling force thy gorgeous colouring glows,
And o'er each scene an air of grandeur throws:
The meanest Figures dignity affume,
From thy contrafted light, and magic gloom.
Thefe ftrong illufions are fupremely thine,
And laugh at Imitation's vague defign:
So near to blemishes thy beauties run,
Those who affect thy fplendor are undone :
• Ver. 356. See NOTE XXX.
While thy rash rivals, loofe and incorrect,
Mifcall their fhadowy want of truth Effect,
And into paths of affectation start:
Neglect of Nature is the bane of Art.
Proud of the praife by RUBENS' pencil won,
Let FLANDERS boaft her bold inventive fon!
Whose glowing hues magnificently shine
With warmth congenial to his rich design :
And him, her second pride, whose milder care,
From living Beauty caught its lovelieft air!
Who truth of character with grace combin'd,
And in the speaking feature mark'd the mind,
Her soft VANDYKE, while graceful portraits please, †
Shall reign the model of unrivall'd ease.
Painting shall tell, with many a grateful thought,
From FLANDERS firft the fecret pow'r fhe caught, ‡
To grace and guard the offspring of her toil,
With all the virtues of enduring oil;
* Ver. 380. See NOTE XXXI.
Ver. 388. See NOTE XXXII.
Ver. 391. See NOTE XXXIII.
Tho' charm'd by ITALY's alluring views,
(Where sumptuous LEO courted every Mufe, *
And lovely. Science grew the public care)
She fixt the glories of her empire there ;
There in her zenith foon fhe ceas'd to fhine,
And dated, paffing her meridian line,
From the CARACCI's death her period of decline.
Yet in her gloomy and disgraceful hour
Of faded beauty, and enfeebled power,
With talents flowing in free Nature's course,
With juft exertion of unborrow'd force,
Untrodden paths of art SALVATOR tried, †
And daring Fancy was his favourite guide.
O'er his wild rocks, at her command, he throws
A favage grandeur, and fublime repofe ;
Or gives th' hiftoric scene a charm as strong
As the terrific gloom of DANTE's fong.
His bold ideas, unrefin'd by taste,
Exprefs'd with vigour, tho' conceiv'd in hafte,
Ver. 395. See NOTE XXXIV. + Ver. 405. See NOTE XXXV.
Before flow judgment their defects can find,
With awful pleasure fill the paffive mind.
Nor could one art, with various beauty fraught,
Engross the ardor of his active thought:
His pencil paufing, with fatiric fire
He ftruck the chords of the congenial lyre;
By generous verfe attempting to reclaim
The meaner artist from each abject aim.
But vain his fatire! his example vain!
Degraded Painting finks, with many a stain :
Her clouded beams, from ITALY withdrawn,
On colder FRANCE with tranfient luftre dawn.
There, in the arms of ROMAN Science nurs'd,
In every work of ancient genius vers'd,
The fage POUSSIN, with pureft fancy fraught,*
Portray'd the claffic fcene, as Learning taught:
But Nature, jealous of her facred right,
And piqu'd that his idolatry should flight
Her glowing graces, and her living air,
To worship marble with a fonder care,
• Ver. 427. See NOTE XXXVI.
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