torted, was first put under the patronage of a painter by the name of Dennis Calvert. He here found a congenial genius in the person of Guido, and which soon after ripened into confidence and friendship. These two artists soon discovered, that their genius demanded a more extended range for exercise than the narrow precepts of Calvert was capable of affording. They accordingly quitted this master at the same time, and entered on the same day the academy of the Caracci. Here they found what they wanted before, precepts large and comprehensive enough for the exercise of their ambition; but this discovery, flattering as it was to their prospects, proved the death of their private friendship. While in the school of Calvert, they were united by a common bond, the conviction of his incompetence to do them justice. A change of masters, while it opened new prospects, introduced a spirit of rivalry between the two artists, whence the descent to hatred was easy and unbroken. Albano at length having quitted the academy of the Caracci, visited Rome and became enamoured with the study of antique. He now enjoyed a brilliant and dazzling reputation which soon obtained him fortune and independence. He married a lady celebrated alike for her beauty and her fortune. During this scene of prosperity, he did not forget his friend Domininichino, whom he left at Bologna in poverty and distress. This artist he invited to Rome, and for two years together afforded him a shelter under his own roof. Not satisfied with this, Albano shared his fortune with his friend and defended him from the persecution of his rivals. But the brilliancy, the united beams of fortune, fame, and benevolence threw around this artist, were suddenly darkened. He was called upon to deplore the death of a wife whom he tenderly loved. Rome, the theatre of his glory, had now no charms for a mind like Albano's. Every object served only to resusci tate the memory of his sorrows; and influenced by such motives, he thankfully accepted the invitation of his relations by marriage, to spend the remainder of his existence at Bologna. Fortune, however, was not always unkind: time soothed the memory of his afflictions, and he became at last enamoured with another lady, surpassing his former wife in beauty. He was blessed with twelve lovely children, and so sensible was he of domestic endearments, that he often retired from his own popularity and sought shelter from the envy of his rivals, in his delightful villa, where, surrounded by his little family, and in the bosom of private confidence, he enjoyed, not so splendid, but a more soothing and durable felicity. His house was the resort of friendship, and liberal hospitality presided at his table. In short his character was marked with kindness and disinterested benevolence. With pain we are compelled to reverse this exhilerating spectacle, and to record the melancholy fact, that the brother of this artist to whom was consigned the custody and management of his fortune, abused his generous confidence, dissipated his property, and reduced him to beggary at last. Under the accumulated pressure of poverty, mortification, and sorrow, he died in the year 1660, in the 82nd year of his age. It has been beautifully remarked of this artist, that his character might be read in his works. He had a delicate taste for the lovely, the tender, and the graceful, which was delightfully manifested in his boys, and female forms. He was not an adept in masculine beauty. These figures were lean, sapless and meagre. One author seems guilty of a paradox when he asserts that Albano did not understand the principles of chiaro obscuro, but was always by lucky chance successful in their application. What other evidence would this critic demand of the knowledge of an art than the uniform success with which its principles were applied? Is it not more safe and more just, to impute this to a cause that may always be successful, than to one which may never be? He has further been accused of too great sameness in his figures, and this accusation points directly to the private character of Albano. His wife and children possessed exquisite beauty, and they were almost invariably the models of this artist. Incapable as he was of conceiving of a felicity superior to what himself enjoyed, his conjugal and parental affection were blended and incorporated with all his forms of visionary beauty. Amidst all the smiling Cupids, and blushing virgins, which he so much delighted to draw the features of, his happy family maintained their preeminence. The censure on the artist involves therefore the most distinguished compliment to the father and to the husband. His landscapes were likewise much admired. They were mostly drawn from individual nature, and his own hospitable villa furnished the prototype. His native delicacy imposed a law upon his pencil, for in his most voluptuous scenes there is nothing to offend the eye of the most fastidious modesty. The annexed engraving represents St. Francis at prayer, a drawing from the hand of this master. The saint is represented at half length, at the entrance of his cave, placing one hand upon his breast and the other upon a human skull. A ray of light detached from the vault illuminates the head of the saint, the distant hills, and the sky obscured by clouds. The drawing is remarkable for its correctness, the colouring exquisite, and the countenance seems to breathe all the fervor of devotion. That wide o'er Europe Erin's fame effused. THE race of bulls is so nearly extinct in Ireland, that sir John Carr complains, that during his stay in that country, he did not meet one of the true Hibernian breed. A brief account of these creatures must, under such circumstances, be a desideratum in the natural history of this island. The celebrated Itinerant; whom, in allusion to his travels, the Irish (a nicknaming race,) denominated Jaunting Car. It is said to have been partly with a view to shuffle off this title that sir John solicited the dignity of knighthood. But scarcely had our hero obtained the seeming protection |