admired. Much complaint having been made in preceding years of the disadvantage (arising from defective light) to works hung in the Octagon Room, the Academicians in this year discontinued the practice of hanging paintings in that room, and adopted the plan of using it as an office, where the price of the works in the exhibition might be ascertained by those who wished to make purchases, from the clerk placed there. This arrangement, however, of course added to the number of works excluded for lack of space, and reduced the number of those exhibited to 1,376. The conversazione at the termination of the season was held as usual, and was attended by a large number of exhibitors and others who always seem to enjoy these gatherings of artists and lovers of their work; and certainly the assembly, surrounded by such a display of beautiful objects, is an attractive and gratifying one to every beholder.

A meeting of the Council was held early in the year, specially to consider the question of copyright in art, in order to determine what course should be taken to endeavour to obtain some law on the subject. The result of these proceedings was a petition from the Royal Academicians, to be laid before Parliament, soliciting the extension of the law of copyright to the fine arts. Subsequently a Select Committee was appointed by the House of Commons "To enquire into the present state of the law of artistic copyright; the operation of the Engraving and Sculpture Copyright, and International Copyright Acts; together with the conventions entered into by Her Majesty with various foreign states, and the Orders in Council founded thereon, so far as the same relate to artistic copyright, with a view to the amendment and consolidation of the Engraving and Sculpture Copyright Acts." In Parliament, also, the first vote of £2,000 was made, for the purchase of portraits for the National Portrait Gallery, which is annually increasing in interest, and will, it is hoped, soon have a more permanent home

among us. A committee was specially appointed by the Academy in this year, to enquire into the extent and arrangement of the schools, and into various details connected with instruction in art; but as the question of the removal of the Academy from its present locality has ever since been in abeyance, the arrangements which the committee proposed in their report have not been fully carried out, since they would in all probability require modification in any other building.

The newly-formed Institute of British Sculptors-which included Baily, McDowell, Marshall, Foley, and Weekes, from the Academy, among its members-addressed a memorial to the Council of the Royal Academy, soliciting that some arrangement should be made by which sculptured works might be more advantageously placed in the exhibition, and suggesting that some of the lighter and more poetic works might be placed in the larger rooms devoted to the pictures. Such a plan was not thought safe or practicable, considering the number of persons by whom the rooms are crowded; but the recent alterations have at least removed the chief objections to the room formerly appropriated to sculpture at the Academy. Subsequently, the same Institute addressed a communication to the Minister for Public Works-Sir B. Hall, now Lord Llanover-appealing against the practice, so prevalent, of ignoring the ability of British sculptors, by giving Government commissions for public monuments to foreign artists; which, although unsuccessful, at least indicates the value of the association in watching the interests and upholding the legitimate rights of the profession.

The year 1857 was not notable in the history of the Academy for any remarkable events-its continuous labours having been carried on without interruption or hindrance. The annual dinner did not take place, the decease of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester having taken place just before the time when it is usually held; but the conversazione to exhibitors followed on the

close of the exhibition. There were 1,372 works displayed, and at least an equal number excluded; while the employment of several of the best artists in painting for the Houses of Parliament, diminished the attractions of the collection-although a large majority of the works exhibited indicated the growing excellence of the English school.

With the view of adding to the instruction of the students in the schools of the Academy, the Council passed a resolution, granting permission for lectures to be given by the members, irrespective of the professorships, on the subjects of painting, sculpture, architecture, engraving, or any others which, when submitted to the Council, might be deemed by them to be desirable; and "that such instruction may consist of short courses, or even of single lectures, to suit the convenience of members. That members, including Associates of the Royal Academy, and honorary members, on testifying their wish to the Council, may, with the sanction of the Council, be authorized to give lectures accordingly." The first effects of this resolution were, the addresses on architecture which were delivered to the students by Mr. Sydney Smirke and Mr. G. G. Scott, in the spring of this year, and the lecture on "Art and Utterance," by R. J. Lane, A.R.A. This arrangement, affording facilities for such instruction being given by competent lecturers, cannot fail to have a beneficial influence on the students. The schools seem to have been carried on with energy during the year, if we may judge by the successes of the competitors for prizes. At the distribution of medals, on the 10th of December, fourteen silver medals were awarded to students in the various schools, besides the three gold medals for painting, sculpture, and architecture, and The Turner Medal, now for the first time distributed, in commemoration of the artist. It was awarded to Mr. N. O. Lupton, for the best English landscape. The medal was charmingly modelled by Leonard Wyon, from designs made by Daniel

Maclise, R.A. The portrait of Turner occupies the obverse, while on the reverse is a student of nature amidst

the symbols and characteristics of landscape-three figures personifying the primitive colours surmounting the whole. It was in this year also that the "Turner Gift" was first distributed, consisting of annual grants of £50 each to six deserving artists.

After the distribution of the medals, the President delivered an address, relating "to some of the distinguishing characteristics on which the theory and practice of art, and especially of painting, are formed." Defining the term "character" as denoting those essential qualities which are proper to subjects of which the mind alone takes cognizance-he proceeded to show that while relative distinctness would thus be obtained, it is not necessary to select only the most normal appearances, for every figure would thus be a type of its class; neither, on the other hand, is habitual exaggeration necessary, for "experience shows that an exclusive love of the extraordinary may end in the very defect of triteness and sameness which it was first intended to avoid." In his remarks on varieties in practice, he observed-"Even assuming that it is desirable to return to the pure feeling and simple earnestness

of the Italian tempera painters, there can be no reason for imitating in any method their often timid and painful execution; but least of all in a method not requiring it, and in first practising which the Italians themselves instinctively threw off the dryer manner to which they were accustomed. I take occasion here to remark, that while it is desirable that a museum of pictures should in its completeness contain examples of every school and period, it by no means follows that all such examples are fit objects of study for young artists. A museum of sculpture, if worthy of the name, comprehends specimens of every school and age of antiquity; but it is not expected that students in sculpture should imitate archaic Greek bas-reliefs, Etruscan drapery, or Egyptian compositions." On the general question of the picturesque, he remarked that "the most effectual, and at the same time the worthiest mode of rendering unpromising or ordinary appearances picturesque, is to take advantage of Nature's fortunate moments;" but that "it seems unaccountable that there should ever have been a disposition to exaggerate the opposite quality-yet such has been the case." "Whatever may be recommended for beginners, the occasional treatment of apparently unpromising materials is highly useful to more advanced painters, since it must lead them to study the picturesque in arrangement, the modes of suppressing intractable details, the refinements of colour, and the uses of light and shade in creating and varying them."

The Manchester "Exhibition of Art-Treasures" took place in the same year (1857), and was the first attempt made to display, in their chronological order, and properly classified, the vast assemblage of works of art which are possessed by private owners in this country, and which do not, therefore, ordinarily meet the public eye. The English school was illustrated by numerous specimens in oil painting, commencing with the works of Aikman, Kent, and Jervas, who flourished in the beginning