Paris. Mr. Williamos
1 went with us to see the Gallery of Pictures belonging to the Duke de Chartres in
the Palais Royal. It is one of the finest Collections in Europe. There are a great
number of Pictures by the first Masters of the Art. More of Raphael, than in any Collection
I ever saw. The cieling is painted in Fresco by Antony Coypel.
2 The paintings are very fine, and it is a pity they will be destroyed as the building
will soon be demolished in order to continue those, they are now erecting.
3 Among the numerous admirable paintings in this gallery I distinguished particularly
the few following.
Our Saviour dead, with four women round him by
Raphael.
4 The Swiss said to us, “c'est le tableau le plus precieux qu'il y ait dans l'univers.”
The virgin Mary is represented in a swoon. The expression of grief in the other faces
is such as one cannot conceive without seeing the painting. Inexpressible distress
is seen in all. Yet the character of each is different; it is impossible to see it
without being deeply affected. The colouring is still extremely fresh, though the
picture is two hundred years old.
A Saint John5 placed above the other. It is only St. John with his Gospel before him; but it is
a Master Piece.
A child Jesus receiving cherries from St. Joseph, by Raphael also which is admirable.
The history of Constantine in a course of painting by
Jules Romano and Raphaël. A Christ appearing to Mary Magdalen, by Raphael.
A judgment of Paris by
Rubens. This is the only remarkable painting of that Master in the Collection. Among the
Portraits, a burgermaster of Amsterdam by Rembrandt is admirable. As indeed are almost
all the pictures there. There are however some so bad, that I was astonished to find
them there, and some that are absurd and ridiculous. There is one where St. Joseph
is at work as a Carpenter; our saviour as a child is holding a line, and the virgin
Mary, devoutly sewing a shirt. In another she is washing linen, Christ is taking it
as she washes it, gives it to Joseph, who hands it up to a parcel of angels: and they
hang it upon the branches of a tree to dry. I am not a sufficient connoisseur in Pictures
to decide whether they were good, but I know that the Ideas are groveling, despicable,
and impious. There are several allegories, such as Mars and Venus tied together by
Cupid. Mars is Henry the fourth, and Venus Gabrielle d'Estrées; but allegories are
not the thing in Painting. Upon the whole I don't know of any Collection of Pictures
I have ever seen that gave me so much Pleasure. There are
{ 232 } in this gallery a number of models of the different trades. The Shops of the artists
in each trade are compleat, and all are made at the rate of an inch per foot. The
Duke de Chartres intended to have the whole Encyclopedia, thus in miniature, but his
buildings in the Palais Royal have been so amazingly expensive, and he pays so high
an interest for the money he borrows, that he wanted money I suppose to continue the
models, he has already the
joiner, Carpenter, Apothecary, Chimist, Anatomist and a number of others. It were to be wished he had completed the Collection.
We afterwards went to see Mademoiselle Bertin's magazin de modes. She is the Queens
milliner, and the first millener in Europe. Mademoiselle Bertin is the most celebrated
person in the Kingdom: the heroes that have acquired so much naval glory must all
strike their flaggs before Mlle. Bertin. Their reputation lasted perhaps a month in
Paris. Hers has lasted years and will last years still if she lives. She keeps her
Equipage, and makes I suppose 100,000 livres a year. She has at least twenty women
working in her magazine at a time. She is at this time occupied in making dresses
for an Infanta of Spain aged 10 years who is to be married in a short time to a Prince
of Portugal aged 12. Three hundred thousand livres have already been advanced to Mlle.
Bertin. But as this sum, which is only 12000 guineas is so small a trifle, she is
left at her own Discretion: and that discretion is such that she will probably go
to four times the sum that has been advanced. We saw a petticoat there, which at a
moderate evaluation, I suppose amounts to about a thousand guineas, and all the rest
is in Proportion. All this is very pretty; but some morose, surly fellow might say,
where does all this money come from. “Ay, there's the rub.” We must be contented with admiring the magnificence of the Robes and go no further.
I dined at Dr. Franklin's. M: de St. Olympe was there; and M: Dusaulx a Member of
the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres; who has published a translation of
Juvenal, of which he spoke with sufficient complaisance.