ore become rivetted by some particular objects, for every
Londoner can name a score of sites which are endeared to him by some
grateful recollections and associations of his life; whilst our country
friends will be lost in admiration at the immense knot of dwellings,
till they contrive to pick their road back to their inn or temporary
abode in this queen of cities. In order to court the rigorous inspection
of the most critical visiters, engraved sections of the various parts of
the picture, numbered and described, will be placed in the compartments
to which the panorama corresponds; and for still further gratification,
glasses will he placed in the gallery, by which houses at the distance
of ten or twelve miles from the city may easily be discerned. All this
amounts to microscopic painting, or the most elaborate mosaic-work of
art.
The effect of the near houses, or those in the immediate vicinity of St.
Paul's, is very striking; and the perspective and effect of light and
shade of the campanile towers in front of the cathedral are admirably
managed. In short, nothing can exceed the fine contrast of the bold and
broad buildings in the fore-ground with the work of the middle, and the
minuteness of the back-ground:--
Now to the sister hills that skirt her plain,
To lofty Harrow now, and now to where
Majestic Windsor lifts his princely brow,
In lovely contrast to this glorious view,
Calmly magnificent.
Heavens! what a goodly prospect spreads around,
Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires,
---------------------------------till all
The stretching landscape into mist decays.
It seems scarcely possible for painting to achieve anything nearer to
reality than has been effected in the union of the projecting portions
and the flat surface of the picture--an effect which will be hailed with
enthusiasm by the spectator. This part is the work of Mr. Paris, "of
whose talents and valuable assistance in the execution of the painting,"
says a writer in the _Times_, "the proprietor speaks in terms of
generous enthusiasm, which are well deserved, and equally honourable to
both parties." Another critical writer, in the _Weekly Review_,
likewise, pays a deserved tribute to the genius of Mr. Paris, in his
share of the painting. He says, "The spectator who shall view this
magnificent Panorama, without being previously informed of the
difficulties with which the able and indefatigable artist, Mr. E.T.
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