Lady Morgan’s Memoirs
William Ponsonby to Lady Morgan, [May 1823]
Dear Madam,
My sister sends me
this letter to forward to you, and apologizes for not having done your
commission earlier, because she was in the country. I must do the same, because
I am in town, and really have had my time completely taken up by business;
besides, as you must know, the great houses from which our information is to be
obtained, are not always the most easy of access. Not to lose more time than
necessary, I thought it better to write direct to you and recall to your
recollection our old Dublin and Priory acquaintance, than send any little
information I might be able to glean round by Brocket. As for Phryne, I cannot say I ever was
much struck with the modesty and decency of her attire and countenance. She and
![]()
| 168 | LADY MORGAN'S MEMOIR. | |
![]()
the philosopher appear to be engaged in a very warm
argument, but she does not exhibit herself as she did to the Grecian painter on
the sea shore, nor has she recourse to the expedient she made use of to melt
the stern hearts of her judges. There is nothing eloquent in the picture,
however, and it is not one which I ever thought very pleasing; this is still in
Lord Bessborough’s possession at
Roehampton. The Jason was
sold, and was a most beautiful picture, full of all the bold and wild
character of Salvator’s landscapes,
and the grace which I think he usually shows in his figures, though Sir Joshua Reynolds says no. The Russian
prince’s name is Ramoffski. The
Duke of Beaufort has a curious picture
by Salvator Rosa, at Badminton, but I do not recollect
seeing it, though I have often been there. I will enquire more particularly as
to the subject the first time I see him, but the story is that it was painted
to ridicule the pope and cardinals, and that he was banished from Rome in
consequence. I think Phryne’s hair is
light. The Belisarius is still in Lord Townshend’s collection at Raynham, and
was given to the Secretary of State of that family, by the King of Prussia. The Belisarius my sister mentions at Chiswick, is of doubtful origin,
but never claimed Salvator Rosa as brother, and could not
be listened to in any court if sworn to him. It has been sometimes said to be
by Vandyke (and is stated so in the
engraving I think) sometimes by Murillo,
and is a very fine picture. I do not know where the Giants are, nor the Child Exposed, whom I
believe to be Œdipus. I will make
enquiry concerning Lord Lansdowne’s,
Lord ![]()
| WRITING THE WORK ON SALVATOR ROSA. | 169 |
![]()
Ashburnham’s, and Lord Morpeth’s pictures. Those at
Devonshire House are the Jacob’s
Vision, with the angels ascending and descending by the
ladder to and from heaven, one of Jacob
and the Angel wrestling; and another, landscape, with huge
trees and rocks, with soldiers reposing on them. There is a large landscape at
Chiswick. His letters are curious, and I believe rather difficult to be met
with now. Would not a new edition, with some observations on them, form a good
second volume of his life. I fear I have but very inefficiently executed your
commission, but beg leave to assure you that it is not from want of
inebriation.
Yours, most truly,
Frederick II of Prussia (1712-1786)
King of Prussia (1740-86) and military commander in the War of the Austrian Succession
and Seven Years War.
George Howard, sixth earl of Carlisle (1773-1848)
Son of the fifth earl (d. 1825); he was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, wrote
for the
Anti-Jacobin, and was MP for Morpeth (1795-1806) and
Cumberland (1806-28).
Lady Caroline Lamb [née Ponsonby] (1785-1828)
Daughter of the third earl of Bessborough; she married the Hon. William Lamb (1779-1848)
and fictionalized her infatuation with Lord Byron in her first novel,
Glenarvon (1816).
Bartolomé Estéban Murillo (1617-1682)
Spanish painter admired for the naturalism displayed in his portraits of street
urchins.
Prince Andrey Razumovsky (1752-1836)
Russian ambassador to the court at Vienna; he commissioned quartets from
Beethoven.
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)
English portrait-painter and writer on art; he was the first president of the Royal
Academy (1768).
Salvator Rosa (1615-1673)
Italian painter whose wild landscapes were much admired by connoisseurs of the
picturesque.
Henry Charles Somerset, sixth duke of Beaufort (1766-1835)
The son of the fifth duke (d. 1803); he was educated at Westminster and Trinity College,
Oxford and was Tory MP for Monmouth (1788-90), Bristol (1790-96), Gloucestershire
(1796-1803) and was lord-lieutenant of Gloucestershire (1810-26).
George Townshend, second Marquess Townshend (1753-1811)
The son of the first marquess (d. 1807), he was educated at Eton and St John's College,
Cambridge; he held political offices and was president of the Society of Antiquaries. He
disinherited his son George, afterwards third marquess.
Sir Anthony Van Dyke (1599-1641)
Flemish painter who studied under Rubens and spent the last decade of his life as a court
painter to Charles I.
