"The prince replied to this letter, October 28, of the fame year. LETTER III. PRINCE PIO, OF SAVOY, TO METASTASIO. 'Ir was not poffible to answer your fatisfactory letter fooner, as I was abfent from Vienna, on a hunting party, with the emperor; but upon communicating your fentiments to his majesty, I have the pleasure to affure you, that he was well pleafed with the propriety, prudence, and good fenfe, manifefted in your letter, concern'ing your future establishment. It is true fignor Apoft. Zeno had a penfion of four thousand florins per annum; but this high falary was granted to him in confequence of his being imperial hif'toriographer, as well as poet. But I have no doubt that in process of ' time, you will arrive at the fanre appointment. I affure you that the Abate Pariati had but two *thoufand florins per annum. However, in confequence of your fuperior merit, his majefty has 'granted you three thoufand florins annually, and one hundred ungheri to defray the expences of your journey; for which an order is fent to the imperial banker at Rome. 1 truft, therefore, that you will not difappoint the hopes I have conceived of feeing you 'foon at Vienna, and of affuring you in perfon, how much my heart inclines me to ferve you with zeal and affection. · LUIGI, PRINCE OF SAVOY.' "Metaftafio, his family, and friends, thought it right implicitly to fubmit to the terms propofed in this letter, of which the only part that occasioned them any uneafinels, was the folicitude expreffed by prince Pio, for his fpeedy arrival in Vienna; which could not take place without leaving his affairs in great confusion, and failing in his engagement to furnish the Roman theatre with two new dramas for the enfuing carnival. He faw ne better means of folving those difficulties, than by fpeaking the truth, and explaining to his illuftrious correfpondent the real ftate of his circumftances." "This had all the effect he wifled, and obtained him permiffion to remain at Rome, till he had completed his two dramas of Artaferfe & Alessandro nell' Indie, for the carnival of 1720, which were both fet by Leonardo Vinci, and performed at Rome before the poet's departure, with univerfal applause." "Upon quitting Rome, Metaftafio configned into the hands of his zealous and affectionate friend, the Romanina, all his effects, interefts, and concerns; together with the management of his family affairs. She moft willingly fubmitting to these several tafks, as well as to the care of the produce of the little places, and fums of money, which he left behind him. "At length, he departed with a heavy heart, and a moft fovereign contempt for the friendship and flattering promifes of the great, by whofe delufions he had fo long entertained hopes of preferment in his native city; whence, at laft, he was driven into a kind of fplendid banifhment, for the rest of his life. Thefe early difappointments, from being extremely credulous, rendered him incurably fceptical, as to all future prefages of good fortune; and the effects of hoping too much in early life, and too little after, produced, perhaps, the principal defects in his character. Metaftafio arrived at Vienna, in July 1730." SKETCH [From the First Volume of the Works of that Painter, tranflated from the Italian publifhed by the Chevalier DoN JOSEPH NICHOLAS D'AZARA, Spanish Minifter at Rome.] "THE HE forefathers of Mengs were of Lufatia. His grandfather was established at Hamburgh, and from thence went to Copenhagen, where the father of Mengs was born. This being his twentieth child, according to the account of his brothers, he knew not what name to give him, and on opening the Bible, the first name which prefented itself was Ifmael, which he made choice of. He had for godfather a painter of no fuperior abilities, but this was a fufficient motive for applying the boy's talents to painting. From this inferior fchool Ifmael was foon removed to that of Mr. Cofre, a Frenchman, and the best painter at that court, and procuring fome productions of Vandyke from a friend, he acquired by copying him the art of colouring; for which perfection he was remarkable during his life. His mafter had a niece, of whom Ifinael become enamoured; but this affected lady, not being able to fuffer the smell of oil, the good Ifmael, in obedience to her will, dedicated himself alone to miniature painting; and with fuch application and fuccefs, that in a fhort time he arrived to great perfection in the art, and then was united to this beautiful, though capricious lady. On account of a contagious diftemper, he foon after abandoned that country, and travelled to various courts of Germany, where he acquired the difficult art of painting in enamel, for which he was ever after very famous. "From this alliance our Mengs was born, in the city of Aufig, in Bohemia, the 12th of March 1728, and to whom were given the names of Anthony and Raphael, in memory of the two great painters, Raphael d'Urbino, and Anthony Allegri da Correggio, of whom his father was a paflionate admirer. Thus deftined for a painter, even from his cradle, nothing was ever given to him for his amufement, but implements of this nature, fuch as pencils, paper, &c. and before he had attained his fixth year, he was placed to the ftudy of drawing. The firft rudiments which his father taught him, were the most fimple ftraight lines, as the vertical, the horizontal; and the oblique, which he practifed till he was quite perfect, and from this he proceeded, with the fame care, to the most fimple geometrical figures, but always without rule and compafs, in order to accuftom his eye to exactnefs. After that, he proceeded to delineate the contours of the different parts of the human body, and was obliged to reduce them, as well as he was able, to geometrical rule; from thence he arrived to join and arrange thofe parts, and at laft to give them their neceffary grace and perfection. Then he proceeded to take sketches; and, according to the manufcripts left by Ifmael, mentioning this particular, it was very difficult to constrain the vivacity of his fon, who was not willing to fubject himself to a certain neatnefs and cleanlinefs, for which reafon he obliged him to draw with Indian ink, which took from him every poffibility of continuing the fame error. B 3 In this study he continued for two years, after which he began to paint in oil. His father then feeing the great talent which he difplayed, fought every means ftrongly to imprefs in him the first principles of the art, and made him return again with the greatest attention and prolixity to the ftudy of drawing. "At the fame time he taught him chemistry, in which he was the moft intelligent in Europe; and to paint in enamel and miniature. This, however, did not interrupt his ftudy of drawing, fince not a day paffed in which he did not delineate two entire figures of Raphael, or of Caracci; and not to lofe a moment of time, he ftudied likewife perfpective, and the most neceffary parts of anatomy. Although at Drefden, where he was at that time, yet he did not think it neceffary to study this fcience upon dead bodies, but contented himself to learn it from books, and from the dry bones of skeletons. "After this study he began to draw antique figures by parts, the fame fize of the originals, which his father had brought from Rome; and by night copied by artificial light, models in miniature of the fame ftatues. By this method he put in practice that which he had learnt from perfpective and anatomy, fuch as the degradation and diminution of the members, and the variation of form of the mufcles when in action. He ftill improved himfelf in ftudying the effect of light, of its degradation, upon fhade, and of reflection, the which things he diftinguished better by artificial light, than by that of the fun, and thus repeating the fame operation in different places, he comprehended better the force of the light and hade. In this manner he employ ed his time to the age of twelve years. "His father then feeing that he ftudied with reflection, and that it was time to form in him a just taste, which was not to be obtained out of Italy, he refolved to conduct him to Rome, which he did in the year 1741. The young Mengs remained aftonished at fight of fuch beauful objects which that capital afforded of the arts, and wished to embrace the whole, but was restrained by his father, who made him ftudy the most perfect although the moft difficult, fuch as the Laocoon, the Torfo of Belvidere, and the works of Michael Angelo in the chapel Siftina. After having made him ftudy thefe in the different modes, he removed him to the chambers of Raphael to practice the most beautiful heads, and dreffed figures, in order to learn the tafte of drapery, for which Raphael is fo excellent, Ifmael was at that time painter to Auguftus III. king of Poland; and being very defirous to fend him fome effay of the abilities of his fon, he made him copy in miniature, two pieces of Raphael, which were in the Novitiate, and in the Profeffion Houfe, then belonging to the Jefuits; and withing, at the fame time, to send to his majesty a painting in enamel, fufficiently large of the fame kind, he ordered his fon to begin a draw ing of his own invention, which the father executed to a certain point, and then left it to his fon to give it the finishing hand. Never did a work of that kind receive more admiration, as Ifmael was the best painter in enamel ever known, even to this day, and his works have been ever confidered as invaluable for his beautiful colouring, and practice in the art. His only misfortune was, not having had in his youth a better a better school for painting, which he was fenfible of, and for that reafon he urged his fon fo much to the study of the firft principles. Till now we behold Ifmael directing the ftudies of his fon, and give ing him that education which has contributed fo much to his progrefs in the arts, and conduct through life; we shall then proceed to treat likewife of his character. A man more fevere and rigid to his children never was known. He exacted from them the most indefatigable labour, without ever allowing the leaft moment of recreation. They were at this time grown up, and had never had any intercourfe with the world, or fcarcely spoken with familiarity to any perfons except their family; fo much fo, that many people with whom Ifmael was in the habits of intimacy, were quite ignorant of his having a family. His paffion for mufic only could foften him fo as to admit to his houfe a certain gentleman of the name of Annibale, well known and justly esteemed at the court, and who by a fingular contrivance (as we fhall fee) made known to the king of Poland the merits of the young Mengs, When, he went from home, he always left his children fhut up in the house, and on his return ftrictly examined if they had performed the task impofed on them to execute during his absence. His chaftifement was more like a fevere master than a father. He was a perfect tyrant in his house. In Rome he continued the fame conduct. Having conducted our young Anthony to the Vatican, he would there order him what he was to accomplish in that day, and with a flask of water, and a little bread, would leave him embroiled with the fatiguing tafk he had to study. After which Ifmael would return to reconduct him to the houfe, where he made him render account of what he had done, and one might well fuppofe the examination was fufficiently rigid. This fort of study rendered him fo reflective, that he could form a hiftory of all the thoughts of Raphael. To hear him defcribe the beauties of the different paintings in the aforefaid chamber, one would fuppofe it was Raphael himself who was giving the defcription. From the ftyle in which one part was painted, he demonftrated that from which the author had founded his original idea; and from thence he difcovered his first defign. Then following that which was executed in another ftyle, he pointed out the motives the painter neceffarily must have had in making those changes. "Hemarked the changes and corrections from which he drew thofe reflections, and finishing to review the picture, one had the perfect history of what ideas occupied the mind of Raphael in the execution of that work. Mengs explained the whole with reafons and obfervations, fo clear and evident, that the understanding was compelled to render him the credit of geometrical demonftration. "This education, fo favourable for the arts, was fo disadvantageous to the perfon of our young ftudent, that it implanted in him fuch an habitual careleffnefs for his appearance, that those who knew him not would have taken him for a clown.' A perfect ignorance of the world rendered him almoft deftitute of common civility in his behaviour; a certain confined manner, which appeared a kind of diffidence, and lastly, a negligence of his own interefts, were the caufe of his own infelicity, and that of his family, whilft he lived. "After three years thus fpent in B4 study study at Rome, he returned to Drefden, where he applied himfelf to painting in crayons, and there painted his own portrait in two different ftyles of painting, and that of the aforefaid fignor Annibale, by whofe means he was made known to that fovereign. His majcfty being in doubt that a boy of his age could have arrived to fuch perfection in the arts, ordered that in prefence of an Italian paintress, a difciple of the celebrated Rofalba Cariera, he fhould take the likeness of her husband, which being done, the king remained furprised at fuch ability, and immediately wifhed him to paint his portrait, in which Mengs expreffed the moft perfect refemblance of that noblenefs which was the characteristic of this prince, and for which he merited the greatest esteem. "In the year 1745, the king retired to Poland, on account of the war, and after the peace, returning again to Drefden, he defired to have the portraits of all the family of Mengs, and wifhed for Anthony to take that of his father; and that his eldeft fifter, who likewife painted very eminently, fhould take his. All were therefore placed in the cabinet of Crayons. Anthony was then chofen cabinet painter, with a penfion of fix hundred talleri, and a place of habitation, without any other reftraint or obligation, than to give the king the preference of thofe works he might make choice of, for which he would pay fuch price as Anthony himself thould fix upon them. Anthony did not accept this good fortune without the permiflion to return again to Rome, a pretenfion which afforded fome fcandal to the count de Bruhl, the most powerful minifter that king ever had. He, however, in place of being offended, approved the idea of the painter, and granted him licence with the greatest good will. "He returned therefore to Rome with his father, and his two fifters, and took a houfe near the Vatican, in order to have the greatest ac. commodation for pursuing his ancient ftudies. He drew from paintings and ftatues; frequented the academies and lectures on anatomy in the hofpital of the holy ghoft. He drew at the fame time fome miniatures at the request of his father. "In this exercife he continued four years, after which time he dedicated himfelf to compofition. From one piece of the Holy Family, he met with very great applaufe.. The first perfonages of the city came to admire it, which rendered our Anthony very famous in Rome, and fo much efteemed, that he was requested by the first people to fettle there, offering to obtain permiffion of his fovereign, by affigning him a certain number of his works. This offer was gratefully received by Mengs, being thus able to purfue his ftudies in prefence of fuch narvellous productions of the arts as are to be found at Rome; but his father prized greater the advantåge of eftablishing him in Saxony, which he accordingly did. However, before parting, Anthony married a young lady fufficiently beautiful and refpectable, called Margarita Guazzi, which he happened to meet when feeking a model for the head of the Madonna, referred to in the aforefaid picture. "The family, thus augmented, left Rome at the end of the year 1749, and arrived at Drefden at Chriftmas. The fevere cold of that climate in winter, and various domeftic disturbances, occafioned a great melancholy in our Mengs. His father, in continuation of his cruel |