his twenty-sixth year, he was, to the delight of all real lovers of art, elected a Royal Academician.

In 1826 he left England for Italy, and passed some time in studying the old masters. In Spain he caught the idea of his "Defense of Saragossa," the style of which was strikingly different from his former productions, but it was, nevertheless, one of his finest efforts. The surprise and doubt which it at first raised changed into well-merited admiration as the great fact became evident, that in attempting a new style the mighty painter had achieved great and signal success.

Having been limner to the King for Scotland, he was, on the death of Sir Thomas Lawrence in 1830, selected by George the Fourth as Painter in Ordinary to His Majesty; an office of whose dignity he had a high opinion, and in which he was continued by William the Fourth. The latter, in 1836, was graciously pleased to confer upon him the honor of knighthood a distinction with which he was gratified, but by no means unduly elated.

Wilkie had for a long time been threatened with bad health, and in the end became its victim. In vain had he betaken himself to foreign lands and sunny climes. In vain did he go forth to look upon the old ruined glories of the splendid East. In returning home he expired at sea, without a struggle, on the 1st of June, 1841, in the fifty-sixth year of

his life.

On the evening of that day the engines of the "Oriental" steam-ship were stopped, and the huge vessel stayed upon her course. The sky was clear and the ocean calm: the sublime service enjoined by the Church was read; and, in the midst of it, his mortal remains were committed to the waters of the deep.

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When the sad news of his death reached England, that grief fell upon the public which might well be caused by the loss of one to whom it had owed so much and such real gratification; whom an quisite feeling of nature" had enabled to touch the hearts of all ranks; whom early training and a fine perception of character had fitted, above all others, to be the painter of the people; and who, when he was in possession of well-earned fame and honors, when some of his most cherished dreams were splendidly realized, continued the same modest, unassuming individual, as he had been when his pencil traced grotesque figures on the walls of some Fifeshire manse, or his Scotch accent and eyes bright with intelligence amused and charmed the students at the Royal Academy.

CHAPTER XV.

Sculptors.

BOYHOOD OF CANOVA.

THE little village of Possagno, within the territories of the once wealthy, powerful, and high-flying Republic of Venice, enjoys the distinguished honor of having been the birth-place of this immortal sculptor, who rivaled the illustrious artists of Greece, and inspired fresh life into the expiring arts of Rome. It is situated in a remote but pleasant district of Italy, amid the recesses of the Venetian hills; and in the middle of last century consisted of a number of strag gling, mud-built cottages. In one of these humble

cabins at that period dwelt Pisano, the grandfather of Canova, stone-cutter of the locality, as his fathers had been for generations. The latter circumstance, with his well-known character for pleasantry and good-humor, enabled him to exercise a degree of ascendency over the villagers, while his skill and diligence recommended him to the employment, favor, and even friendly regard, of his superiors in wealth

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and station. He possessed some knowledge of architecture, and displayed considerable taste and skill in executing ornamental works in stucco and marble, some specimens of which are still to be seen in the neighboring churches.

Antonio Canova was born on the 1st of November, 1757. His father Pietro, also a stone-cutter, died when the future sculptor was three years old, and his mother marrying again a few months after, left her son to be brought up by the sagacious Pisano. The boy being, like many destined to eminence, of feeble health and delicate constitution, became the object of the most affectionate care to his grandmother, who watched over him with the most tender solicitude, and told him the charming tales, and sang to him the rich ballads, of his native hills. These inspired him with a love of poetry, of which he afterward felt and acknowledged the value; and no doubt the images and forms they raised in his imagination contributed materially to the excellence which characterizes this class of his works, embodying Italian life and beauty,the best and most lasting memorials of the genius that was applauded, while he was but twenty-five, for having produced "one of the most perfect works which Rome had beheld for ages." The venerable matron lived to see the object of her vigilance prove himself worthy of it, and he showed his grateful sense of her more than maternal kindness by sculpturing a bust of her in the costume of her native province, and keep

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