Memoirs of William Hazlitt
Ch. VI 1792-1803
William Hazlitt to William Hazlitt sen.; 29 November 1802
“Friday, November 29th, 1802.
“My dear Father,
“I received your letter on Sunday. I wrote to you that
day fortnight; I am, therefore, sorry that you did not receive my letter
sooner. I there gave you an account of what pictures I had been doing, and of
what I intended to do. The copy of the Death of
Clorinda is as good as finished, though I shall have to go over the
most of it again when it is quite dry. The copy of Titian is also brought forward as much as it could be till it
is dry; for, as the room is not kept very warm, the pictures do not dry fast
enough to be done out and out. I have been working upon the portrait of
Titian’s Mistress, as it is called, these two
last days. I intend to complete this the beginning of next week, if possible;
the rest of that week and the two following I shall devote to going over and
completing the other two. If I succeed in this, which I am pretty confident of
doing, ![]()
| 92 | LETTERS FROM THE LOUVRE. | |
![]()
I shall have done eight
of my pictures in eight weeks, from the time I came here. But as one of them
contains two whole figures, it may be reckoned equal to two; so that I shall
have gone on at the rate of a portrait in a fortnight. I shall, therefore, have
a month left to do the other two heads, which will make up the whole number. I
intend to give an hour a day to copying a Holy Family, by Raphael, one of the most beautiful things in
the world. Of this, and the Death of Clorinda, I
shall probably be able to get prints taken in London, as this is frequently
done; as my copies certainly contain all that is wanted for a print, which has
nothing to do with colouring. I intend to write to Robinson about it. I was introduced this morning to Mr. Cosway, who is here, doing sketches of the
pictures in the Louvre by a Mr.
Pellegrini, whose pictures John knows very well, and whom I have seen with Mr. Merrimee. If Railton chooses, I will do a copy of a most divine landscape,
by Rubens, for him; but it will take at
least a fortnight to do it, most probably three weeks. I have heard from
Loftus.* This is all I can recollect
at present, except my love, &c.
“Your affectionate son,
“W. Hazlitt.
“I would have written a longer letter if I had had
time.”
Richard Cosway (1742-1821)
English portrait painter and member of the Royal Academy; in 1781 he married the
miniature painter Maria Hadfield. He was patronized by the Prince Regent.
John Hazlitt (1767-1837)
Miniaturist and portrait painter who studied under Joshua Reynolds, the elder brother of
the essayist. A radical and alcoholic, the
Gentleman's Magazine
reported that he “was, like his brother, of an irritable temperament.”
Thomas Loftus (1806 fl.)
The son of Thomas Loftus of Wisbech, ironmonger; he was William Hazlitt's maternal
cousin.
Jean François Léonor Mérimée (1757-1836)
French painter and secretary of l'Ecole royale des beaux-arts; he was the father of
Prosper Mérimée.
Mr. Railton (1803 fl.)
William Hazlitt's Liverpool patron. If Hazlitt's editor Sikes is correct about the names,
this would be Joseph Benn Railton (b. 1773)—brother, not father, of Frances-Ann (1769-1840)
who Hazlitt admired and who married William Wentworth Deschamps in 1796. Their father,
Joseph Railton, was a London attorney who died a suicide in 1797.
Raphael (1483-1520)
Of Urbino; Italian painter patronized by Leo X.
Anthony Robinson (1762-1827)
Educated at Bristol Baptist College, he was a sugar refiner and a Baptist minister before
becoming a Unitarian; a friend of Henry Crabb Robinson and William Hazlitt, he contributed
to the
Analytical Review and the
Monthly
Repository. His wife and daughter suffered from mental illness.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Flemish baroque painter and diplomat notable for his allegorical depictions of the life
of Marie de Medici.
Titian (1487 c.-1576)
Venetian painter celebrated for his portraits.
