Memoirs of William Hazlitt
Ch. VI 1792-1803
William Hazlitt to William Hazlitt sen.; 16 October 1802
“Paris, à l’Hôtel Coq Heron,
“Rue Coq Heron,
pres la Palais Royal,
“16th October, 1802.
“My dear Father,
“I arrived here yesterday. . . . Calais is a miserable
place in itself, but the remains of the fortifi-![]()
| 86 | LETTERS FROM THE LOUVRE. | |
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cations about it are very beautiful. There
are several ranges of ramparts, and ditches one within another, ‘wall
within wall, mural protection intricate.’ The hand of time is
very evident upon both; the ditches are filled with reeds and long grass, and
the walls are very much decayed, and grown very dark coloured. (I am so
perplexed with French that I can hardly recollect a word of English.) The
country till within a few miles of Paris was barren and miserable. There were
great numbers of beggars at all the towns we passed through. The vineyards near
this have a most delightful appearance; they look richer than any kind of
agricultural production that we have in England, particularly the red vines,
with which many of the vineyards are covered. Paris is very dirty and
disagreeable, except along the river side. Here it is much more splendid than
any part of London. The Louvre is one of the buildings which overlook it. I
went there this morning as soon as I had got my card of
security from the police-office. I had some difficulty in getting
admission to the Italian pictures, as the fellows who kept the doors make a
trade of it, and I was condemned to the purgatory of the modern French gallery
for some time. At last some one gave me a hint of what was expected, and I
passed through. The pictures are admirable, particularly the historical pieces
by Rubens. They are superior to anything
I saw, except one picture by Raphael.
The portraits are not so good as I expected. Titian’s best portraits I did not see, as they were put
by to be copied. The landscapes are for the most part exquisite. I in-![]()
| | LETTERS FROM THE LOUVRE. | 87 |
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tend to copy two out of the
five I am to do for Railton.* I promised
Northcote to copy
Titian’s portrait of
Hippolito de Medici for him. He had a print of it lying on the floor
one morning when I called on him, and was saying that it was one of the finest
pictures in the whole world; on which I told him that it was now at the Louvre,
and that if he would give me leave, I would copy it for him as well as I could.
He said I should delight him if I would, and was evidently excessively pleased.
Holcroft is in London. He gave me a
letter to Mr. Merrimee, the same painter
to whom Freebairn’s letter was. I
called on him this afternoon, and he is to go with me in the morning to obtain
permission for me to copy any pictures which I like, and to assist me in
procuring paints, canvas, &c. . . . . . . . I hope my mother is quite easy,
as I hope to do very well. My love to her and Peggy.
“I am your affectionate,
“W. Hazlitt.”
Robert Freebairn (1764-1808)
English landscape painter trained at the Royal Academy Schools; he made a specialty of
Italian scenes.
Margaret Hazlitt [Peggy] (1770-1841)
The daughter of William Hazlitt (1737–1820) and elder sister of the critic; her journal
was published in 1967.
Thomas Holcroft (1745-1809)
English playwright and novelist; a friend of William Godwin indicted for treason in 1794;
author of
The Road to Ruin (1792). His
Memoirs (1816) were completed by William Hazlitt.
Jean François Léonor Mérimée (1757-1836)
French painter and secretary of l'Ecole royale des beaux-arts; he was the father of
Prosper Mérimée.
James Northcote (1746-1831)
English portrait-painter and writer who exhibited at the Royal Academy; he wrote a
Life of Titian (1830).
Mr. Railton (1803 fl.)
William Hazlitt's Liverpool patron. If Hazlitt's editor Sikes is correct about the names,
this would be Joseph Benn Railton (b. 1773)—brother, not father, of Frances-Ann (1769-1840)
who Hazlitt admired and who married William Wentworth Deschamps in 1796. Their father,
Joseph Railton, was a London attorney who died a suicide in 1797.
Raphael (1483-1520)
Of Urbino; Italian painter patronized by Leo X.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Flemish baroque painter and diplomat notable for his allegorical depictions of the life
of Marie de Medici.
Titian (1487 c.-1576)
Venetian painter celebrated for his portraits.
