WE should prefix to this Memoir of the celebrated Artist, whose portrait we present to our readers in the present number, some brief prefatory observations on the art of Sculpture, and its rise and progress in this country, if we had not, so lately as last month, given a short yet comprehensive view of the subjeet under the head of the Fine Arts. It is, moreover, not necessary for us to endeavour further to stimulate public attention to an Art, already made familiar by the annual exhibition at Somerset-house, which has greatly improved the national taste in Sculpture as well as Painting.In the Statuary art, this country may be said to enjoy a greater degree of celebrity than it has possessed at any period since the Reformation. We have several Sculptors now living, whose reputation, as first-rate artists, extends throughout the civilized world, and whose fame will exist long after all-devouring time shall have mouldered into dust their exquisite productions. On the roll of fame that will immortalize these illustrious individuals who have gained an imperishable reputation, and who reflect the highest honour on their country, we fearlessly in

scribe the name of the well-known subject of our present Memoir.

Mr. Westmacott was born in London, in 1775.-Having early expressed a desire to follow the profession of Sculpture, his father placed him under the instruction of an able master, a native of Carrara; under whom he improved himself in the principles of the Art, in which he has since acquired a most distinguished reputation. At the age of seventeen, he was sent abroad to prosecute his professional studies in Italy, intending, in his way thither, to pass a few months in France, but owing to the political convulsions which then agitated that country, particularly the Capital, he was compelled, after only a few weeks' residence in Paris, to pursue his journey, and he arrived at Rome in January, 1793.-To the late Earl of Warwick, the Consigliere Revenstein, and other friends, Mr. Westmacott was indebted for introductions to the most eminent professors, then resident in that city. celebrated Canova, whose portrait adorned our last number, and whose recent death the lovers and the professors of the Fine Arts throughout all Europe unfeignedly lament, and

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who had at that period increased his great reputation by the production of his group of Cupid and Psyche, received our young artist in the . West

in the Capitol, being the first premium in the first class of Sculpture. It may not be improper to observe here, that Mr. Gandy received a si,

ship and attentions, which macott received from this truly great man, must have made on his mind a deep impression, which, together with the plan of study Canova kindly pointed out to him, must have increased his emulation, and excited him to aspire to that eminence in Historical Sculpture, which he has since attained.

We are happy in being able to state, that the death of Canova can by no persons be more lamented than by the most eminent Sculptors of England, whose sentiments we have had an opportunity of collecting, previously and subsequently to the publication of the Portrait and Memoir of that distinguished Artist, contained in our last number, And no one, even among these ornaments of our country, can lament the loss of such a man, more than Mr. Westmacott. Canova must be considered by every one to have been the bar rier that protected legitimate Art from that system of individuality, which the Members of the French school, notwithstanding the admirable examples with which they are surrounded, have adopted in the statues of their heroes, and which is making such extensive progress in this country.

During his stay in Italy, Mr. Westmacott passed the Summer months at Florence, being compelled, as most foreigners are, to leave Rome during the unhealthy season. While he was at Florence, in the year 1794, he received the first premium from that Academy, for the class of Sculpture from the life. This was not the only honour which Mr. Westmacott received in Italy, for in the following year, at Rome, he became a competitor in composition for the Pope's medal at St. Luke's, and which he had the honour to receive from the Cardinals in the presence of His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex

in the first class of artchitecture.

On his return to Florence, in 1795, Mr. Westmacott was elected a member of the academy in that city; and being desirous of seeing the interior and unfrequented parts of Italy, he, during this year, visited the celebrated Emissary of Claudius, on the Lago di Fucini, the antiquities. of Abruzzo and Calabria, Naples, and the discoveries of Herculaneum and Pompeii, so replete with interest to both the artist and the antiquary.

Mr. Westmacott left Italy in 1797, at a period when that country was in a state of great alarm, not only on account of the advance of the French army towards Rome, but on account of the numerous hordes of banditti, which infested the Papal dominions. Into the hands of a party of these banditti Mr. Westmacott unfortunately fell, near La Storta, close to the tomb vulgarly, called "Nero's," on the Flaminian Way. He was rifled of every thing, and in the conflict received a severe contusion on the shoulder, His companion, who was less fortunate, had both his arms broken with the butt end of a musket, which one of the ruffians had discharged. Some peasants, who luckily arrived at the time, probably saved both their lives. In his route, Mr. Westmacott spent a short time at Bologna and Venice, and, being desirous of visiting the galleries of art in Germany, he crossed the Adriatic to Trieste. He then pursued his journey through Vienna, Dresden, and Berlin, and arrived in England at the close of the year 1797.

Mr. Westmacott, in 1815, again visited France, being desirous to refresh his memory of the treasures / of art, which the French had possessed themselves of during the brilliant career of Buonaparte. At Paris he met his friend Canova, to\/ whom he had formerly been

much indebted at Rome. The Italian artist was exerting himself to obtain, through the medium of Great Britain, the restoration of all the works of art, which had for so many centuries spread a lustre on the Vatican his hopes were realized, Canova, in the same year, visited England, led by an ardent desire to behold the Elgin marbles. During his stay in this country, Mr. Westmacott accompanied him on a visit to the Duke of Bedford, at Woburn Abbey, To a foreigner, nothing perhaps is more striking than the establishment of an English nobleman, and there is no one in the country more capable of imparting a just and favourable impression than the princely seat of the illustrious house of Russell, Here Canova beheld his own chef d'œuvre, THE GRACES, a personifi. cation of those virtues, which have adorned the possessors of Woburn through a long line of ancestry.

On their return to London, Mr, Westmacott and Canova visited Ashridge, the magnificent seat of the Earl of Bridgewater, which being planned, built, and inhabited, within the short space of seven years, could not fail to impress the mind of the illustrious stranger with an exalted sense of the wealth, spirit, and importance of this country. This inansion was the first instance Canova had seen of the application of Gothic Architecture to domestic purposes.

Mr. Westmacott was elected an associate of the royal academy in 1805, and a royal academician in 1816. He is also a fellow of the Antiquarian society and a member of the Dilettanti, He is likewise a member of several foreign societies.

The works of art executed by Mr. Westmacott are numerous, and have extended his fame, not only through Europe, but to our various possessions in the East and West Indies. Most of those which re main in England, as monuments of his skill, and as excitements to the rising genius of the young artists

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of his native country, we have seen and admired. We are therefore enabled to give our readers a short account of them, rather with a view to direct their attention to the places that contain them than to describe their excellencies, which must be seen to be properly appreciated.

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The Statue of Addison, now in the poet's corner, Westminster Ab bey, was the first work of importance, in which Mr. Westmacott was engaged after his return from Italy. This monument, being the only one in that part of the Abbey entirely detached from the wall, has a very striking effect, although it be merely a single statue, representing that admirable writer and excellent man with all the placid dignity belonging to his character. The basement is circular, and is ornamented by small figures of the muses in alto relievo. 1 3

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In 1809, Mr. Westmacott completed the monument to Sir Ralph Abercrombie, erected in the south transept of St. Paul's Cathedral; The Veteran is in his ordinary military dress, and is represented, after having received his mortal wound, as falling from his horse, but as being caught and supported by a Highland soldier. Underneath the feet of the horse is a figure, denoting the defeated enemy, who, although in the agonies of death, is endeavouring to grasp and retain the no longer invincible standard. On each side of the group, which is of heroic size, is a sphinx, to indicate the country in which was atchieved the glorious victory which thus cost Britain one of her bravest sons, This monument is an eminent example, as far as it is possible, of the successful treatment of modern costume in sculpture.

Lord Collingwood's monument, also in St. Paul's Cathedral and in the same transept with the preceding, is his work. The hero is seen reposing in death, on the deck of a galley, shrouded in the colours, which his skill and gallantry had wrested from the foe. His corse is received on the British shore by old father Thames, attended by tributary streams; while Fame, at the prow of the vessel, is proclaiming the glorious atchievements of the illustrious admiral. On the

bends of the galley the rise and progress of the art of navigation, from the first discovery of the Nautilus to the perfection of that art by the invention of the mariner's compass, and its application to national warfare, are beautifully illustrated by figures of children in alto relievo, in various distinct compartments.

In the South West ambulatory of St. Paul's is a tabular monument, by Mr. Westmacott, erected to the memory of Sir Isaac Brock, who fell while nobly resisting an attack on Queenstown, in Upper Canada. It is a military monument, on which are placed the sword and helmit of the gallant officer. His corse reclines in the arms of a British soldier, while an Indian chief is contemplating it with an expression of that profound regret, which the death of a man, who united in his character the most undaunted bravery with the utmost kindness and humanity, was calculated to inspire.

In the nave of the same cathedral is a monument in alto relievo, to the memory of Captain John Cooke, of the Bellerophon, killed in the battle of Trafalgar. The figure of Britannia appears overwhelmed with grief: she is consoled by one of her children, who brings her the trident of the seas. Another child is playfully bearing her helmit. In the back ground is the prow of a vessel.

In the year 1809 Mr. Westmacott produced his first essay in bronze, the statue of the late Duke of Bedford; and in 1816 he erected the bronze statue to Mr. Fox. These two monuments are of heroic size, and are situated in two semicircular areas in Bloomsbury and Russell Squares, railed off for the purpose and fronting each other (being divided by the length of Bedford place). The Duke of Bedford's statue is in Russell square, and is in an erect posture. His Grace is attired in his ducal habiliments, with his hand on a plough, indicative of his ardent and patriotic encouragement of agriculture. At the corners of the pedestal the sea

sons

are personified by children, and on its sides there are two alti relievi, illustrative of the peaceful pursuits of tillage and pasturage. Mr. Fox's monument is in Bloom's

bury square.

He is seated bareheaded, and dressed in consular robes. The massiveness of the parts and the manly simplicity of the whole of this fine statue are singu larly impressive.

To Mr. Westmacott's practice in these bronze statues, and in those of Lord Nelson, erected at Bir mingham and in the island of Barbadoes, he most probably is indebted for the eminent success that attended the execution of the colossal bronze statue, in Hyde Park, called the "Achilles," cast from the antique. For a detailed description of this monument of British art, we must refer our readers to our Magazine for August last, contenting ourselves on the present occasion with a single observation. This undertaking was unparalleled in magnitude and difficulty in this or any country, for upwards of fourteen centuries; and long after time shall have worn away the prejudices, so industriously raised against it, it will remain an honour to the Artist, and an ornament to his country.

In 1814, Mr. Westmacott completed the monument to Mr. Pitt, erected in Westminster Abbey; and in 1819 the bronze statue, in honour of the same distinguished statesman, placed in the national debt office in the Old Jury. The former is placed over the great west door, or principal entrance into the Abbey, in a very elevated arch, constructed for the purpose. It consists of a group of three figures, of heroic dimensions, each being in the proportion of nine feet high. Mr. Pitt is represented in the costume of his official situation of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and is in an erect posture, with his right arm enerjetically raised, as addressing the House of Commons. By his side, and with her back to the spectator, reclines the Muse of History, anxiously listening to his eloquence, which she seems preparing to record on her tablet. At his feet, Anarchy, loaded with chains, is writhing in anguish at the discomforture of his revolutionary designs. The bronze statue of Mr. Pitt, in the national debt office, is seated, and in its general arrangement is similar to that of Mr. Fox,