Notes and Queries, Number 74, March 29, 1851

Notes and Queries, Number 74, March 29, 1851
Various

Various

Notes and Queries, Number 74, March 29, 1851 / A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc

Notes

ON PORTRAITS OF DISTINGUISHED ENGLISHMEN

In submitting to you the following brief observations, it is neither my wish nor intention to undervalue or disparage the labours of Horace Walpole, and Granger, and Pennant, and Lodge, and the numerous writers who have followed in their train, and to whom we are so much indebted for their notices of a great variety of original portraits of distinguished Englishmen, which still adorn the mansions of our aristocracy, and are found in the smaller collections throughout the realm. But I may be permitted to express my surprise and regret that in this age of inquiry no general catalogue of these national treasures should ever have been published. It is true that the portraits, as well as the other objects of attraction in our royal palaces, have been described in print with tolerable accuracy, and some good accounts are to be met with of the pictures at Woburn, and Blenheim, and Althorpe, and many of the residences of the nobility which can boast their local historian. We are, however, in most cases obliged to content ourselves with the meagre information afforded by county topography, or such works as the Beauties of England, Neale's Country Seats, and unsatisfactory guide-books.

No one, then, can doubt that such a compilation as I am advocating would prove a most welcome addition to our increasing stock of historical lore, and greatly assist the biographer in those researches upon which, from no sufficient materials being at hand, too much time is frequently expended without any adequate result. A catalogue would also tend to the preservation of ancient portraits, which, by being brought into notice, would acquire more importance in the estimation of the possessors; and in the event of any old houses falling into decay, the recorded fact of certain pictures having existed there, would cause them to be inquired after, and rescue them from destruction. Opportunities would likewise be afforded of correcting misnomers, and testing the authenticity of reputed likenesses of the same individual; further, the printed lists would survive after all the family traditions had been forgotten, and passed away with the antiquated housekeeper, and her worn-out inventory. The practice, too, of inscribing the names of the artist and person represented on the backs of the frames, would probably be better observed; and I may mention as a proof of this precaution being necessary, the instance of a baronet in our day having inherited an old house full of pictures, which were one and all described, in laconic and most unsatisfactory terms, as "Portraits of Ladies and Gentlemen Unknown." The losses of works of art and interest by the lamentable fires that have occurred so frequently within the memory of man, may furnish a further motive for using every endeavour to preserve those pictures that remain to us; but probably a far greater number have perished from damp or neglect, and a strange combination of mischief and ignorance. Let us hope that in this respect the times are improving. For one, I cannot consent to the wanton destruction of a single portrait, though Horace Walpole assures us—

"That it is almost as necessary that the representations of men should perish and quit the scene to their successors, as it is that the human race should give place to rising generations; and, indeed, the mortality is almost as rapid. Portraits that cost twenty, thirty, sixty guineas, and that proudly take possession of the drawing-room, give way in the next generation to the new married couple, descending into the parlour, where they are slightly mentioned as my father and mother's pictures. When they become my grandfather and grandmother, they mount to the two pair of stairs, and then, unless dispatched to the mansion-house in the country, or crowded into the housekeeper's room, they perish among the lumber of garrets, or flutter into rags before a broker's shop at the Seven Dials."—Lives of the Painters, vol. iv. pp. 14, 15.

I am tempted to add, that many years ago I saw a large roll of canvass produced from under a bed at a furniture shop in "Hockley in the Hole," which, when unfolded, displayed a variety of old portraits, that had been torn out of their frames, and stowed away like worn-out sail-cloth; the place was so filthy that I was glad to make my escape without further investigation, but I noticed a whole-length of a judge in scarlet robes, and I could not help reflecting how much surprised the painter and the son of the law whom he delineated would have been, could they have anticipated the fate of the picture.

Having made these remarks, I am not unaware how much easier it is to point out a grievance than to provide a remedy; but perhaps some of your readers more conversant with such matters, may form an opinion whether it would answer to any one to undertake to compile such a catalogue as I have described. Though much would remain to be done, a great deal of information is to be gleaned from printed works, and doubtless lists of portraits might be in many instances procured from the persons who are fortunate enough to possess them. It should also be remembered that amongst the MSS. of Sir William Musgrave in the British Museum, there are many inventories of English portraits, affording a strong presumption that he may once have meditated such a publication as I have pointed out.

But, whether we are ever to have a catalogue or not, some advantage may arise from the discussion of the subject in "Notes and Queries;" and if it should lead to the rescue of a single portrait from destruction, we shall have advanced one step in the right direction.

    Braybrooke.

Audley End, March 18.

STORY OF A RELIC

P. C. S. S. found, some days ago, the following curious story in a rare little Portuguese book in his possession, and he now ventures to send a translation of it to the "Notes and Queries." The work was printed at Vienna in 1717, and is an account of the embassy of Fernando Telles da Sylva, Conde de Villa Mayor, from the court of Lisbon to that of Vienna, to demand in marriage, for the eldest son of King Pedro II. of Portugal, the hand of the Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. It was written by Father Francisco da Fonseca, a Jesuit priest, who accompanied the ambassador in quality of almoner and confessor, and is full of amusing matter, particularly in reference to the strange opinions concerning our laws, government, and religion, which the worthy padre appears to have picked up during his short stay in England.

The original of the annexed translation is to be found at pp. 318, 319, 320. § 268. of Fonseca's Narrative.

"As we are now upon the subject of miracles wrought by Relics in Vienna, I shall proceed to relate another prodigy which happened in the said city, and which will greatly serve to confirm in us those feelings of piety with which we are wont to venerate such sacred objects. The Count Harrach, who was greatly favoured by the Duke of Saxony, begged of him, as a present, a few of the many relics which the duke preserved in his treasury, assuredly less out of devotion than for the sake of their rarity and value. The duke, with his usual benignity, acceded to this request, and gave orders that sundry vials should be dispatched to the count, filled with most indubitable relics of Our Lord, of the Blessed Virgin, of the Apostles, of the Innocents, and of other holy persons. He directed two Lutheran ministers to pack these vials securely in a precious casket, which the duke himself sealed up with his own signet, and sent off to Vienna. On its arrival there, it was deposited in the chapel of the count, which is situated in the street called Preiner. The count immediately informed the bishop of the arrival of this treasure, and invited him to witness the opening of the casket, and to attend for the purpose of verifying its contents. Accordingly the bishop came, and on opening the casket, there proceeded from it such an abominable stench, that no man could endure it, infecting, as it did, the whole of the chapel. The bishop thereupon ordered all the vials to be taken out, and carefully examined one by one, hoping to ascertain the cause of this strange incident, which did not long remain a mystery, for they soon found the very vial from which this pestilent odour was issuing. It contained a small fragment of cloth, which was thus labelled, 'Ex caligis Divi Martini Lutheri,' that is to say, 'A bit of the Breeches of Saint Martin Luther,' which the aforesaid two Lutheran ministers, by way of mockery of our piety, had slily packed up with the holy relics in the casket. The bishop instantly gave orders to burn this abominable rag of the great heresiarch, and forthwith, not only the stench ceased, but there proceeded from the true relics such a delicious and heavenly odour as perfumed the entire building."

ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHAUCER, NO. II

Complaint of Mars and Venus

I am not aware that the obvious astronomical allegory, which lurks in Chaucer's "Complaint of Mars and Venus," has been pointed out, or that any attempt has been made to explain it. In Tyrwhitt's slight notice of that poem, prefixed to his glossary, there is not the most remote hint that he perceived its astronomical significance, or that he looked upon it in any other light than "that it was intended to describe the situation of some two lovers under a veil of mystical allegory."

But, as I understand it, it plainly describes an astronomical conjunction of the planets Mars and Venus, in the last degree of Taurus, and on the 12th of April.

These three conditions are not likely to concur except at very rare intervals—it is possible they may have been only theoretical—but it is also possible that they may have really occurred under Chaucer's observation; it might therefore well repay the labour bestowed upon it if some person, possessed of time, patience, and the requisite tables, would calculate whether any conjunction, conforming in such particulars, did really take place within the latter half of the fourteenth century: if it was considered worth while to search out a described conjunction 2500 years before Christ, in order to test the credibility of Chinese records, it would surely be not less interesting to confirm the accuracy of Chaucer's astronomy, of his fondness for which, and of his desire to bring it forward on all possible occasions, he has given so many proofs in his writings.

The data to be gathered from the little poem in question are unfortunately neither very numerous nor very definite; but I think the following points are sufficiently plain.

1st. The entrance of Mars into the sign Taurus (domus Veneris), wherein an assignation has been made between him and Venus:

"That Mars shall enter as fast as he may glide,
In to her next palais to abide,
Walking his course 'till she had him ytake,
And he prayed her to hast her for his sake."

2nd. The nearly double velocity in apparent ecliptic motion of Venus as compared with Mars:

"Wherefore she spedded as fast in her way
Almost in one day as he did in tway."

3d. The conjunction:

"The great joy that was betwix hem two,
When they be mette, there may no long tell.
There is no more—but into bed they go."

4th. The entrance of the Sun into Taurus, as indicated in the unceremonious intrusion of Phebus into Venus' chamber; which, as though to confirm its identity with Taurus,

"Depainted was with white boles grete;"

whereupon Mars complains:

"This twelve dayes of April I endure
Through jelous Phebus this misaventure."

(It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader of Chaucer, that in the poet's time the Sun would enter Taurus on the 12th of April.)

"Now flieth Venus in to Ciclinius tour,
With void corse, for fear of Phebus light."

These two lines, so obscure at first sight, afford, when properly understood, the strongest confirmation of the astronomical meaning of the whole; while, by indicating the conjunction on the last degree of Taurus, they furnish a most essential element for its identification.

I confess that this "Ciclinius" gave me a good deal of trouble; but, taking as a guide the astronomical myth so evident throughout, I came to the conviction that "Ciclinius" is a corruption, and that Chaucer wrote, or intended to write, Cyllenius—a well-known epithet of Mercury, and used too in an astronomical sense by Virgil, "ignis cœli Cyllenius."

Now the sign Gemini is also "domus Mercurii;" so that when Venus fled into the tour of Cyllenius, she simply slipped into the next door to her own house of Taurus—leaving poor Mars behind to halt after her as he best might.

6th. Mars is almost stationary:

"He passeth but a sterre in daies two."

There still remain one or two baffling points in the description, one of which is the line—

"Fro Venus Valanus might this palais see,"

which I am convinced is corrupt: I have formed a guess as to its true meaning, but it is not as yet fully confirmed.

The other doubtful points are comprised in the following lines, which have every appearance of significance; and which, I have not the least doubt, bear as close application as those already explained: but, as yet, I must acknowledge an inability to understand the allusions. After Venus has entered Gemini—

"Within the gate she fled into a cave:
Dark was this cave and smoking as the hell;
Nat but two paas within the gate it stood,