existence of the emotion of taste, but which the confusion of
incident is so apt to destroy.

A few landscapes by _Ruysdael_ are to be here met with, which are
distinguished by that boldness of conception, fidelity of execution, and
coldness of colouring, which have often been remarked as the
characteristics of this powerful master.

It is in the Italian school, however, that the collection in the Louvre
is most unrivalled, and it is from its character that the general
tendency of the modern school of historical painting is principally to
be determined.

The general object of the Italian school appears to be the expression of
_passion_. The peculiar subjects which its painters were called on to
represent, the sufferings and death of our Saviour, the varied
misfortunes to which his disciples were exposed, or the multiplied
persecutions which the early fathers of the church had to sustain,
inevitably prescribed the object to which their genius was to be
directed, and the peculiar character which their works, were to assume.
They have all, accordingly, aimed at the expression of passion, and
endeavoured to excite the pity, or awaken the sympathy of the spectator;
though the particular species of passion which they have severally
selected, has varied with the turn of mind which the artist possessed.

The works of _Dominichino_ and of the _Caraccis_, of which there are a
very great number, incline, in general, to the representation of what is
dark or gloomy in character, or what is terrific and appalling in
suffering. The subjects which the first of these masters has in general
selected, are the cells of monks, the energy of martyrs, or the
sufferings of the crucifixion; and the dark-blue coldness of his
colouring, combined with the depth of his shadows, accord well with the
gloomy character which his compositions possess. The _Caraccis_, amidst
the variety of objects which their genius has embraced, have dwelt, in
general, upon the expression of sorrow--of that deep and profound sorrow
which the subjects of Sacred History were so fitted to afford, and which
was so well adapted to that religious emotion which it was their object
to excite.

Guido Reni, Carlo Maratti, and Murillo, are distinguished by a gentler
character; by the expression of tenderness and sweetness of
disposition: and the subjects which they have chosen are, for the most
part, those which were fitted for the display of this predominant
expression--the