Art in England | Page 8

superintend the decorations of Blenheim. But death intervened. The
over-rated, overpaid, and most meretricious painter died at Hampton
Court in 1707. There is evident error in Dominici's statement that the
old man met his death from drowning on a visit to Languedoc. Walpole,
summing up his merits and demerits, says, rather curiously, 'He was an

excellent painter for the sort of subjects on which he was employed,
without much invention and with less taste!'
The father of LOUIS LAGUERRE was by birth a Catalan, and held the
appointment of Keeper of the Royal Menagerie at Versailles. To his
son, born at Paris in 1663, Louis XIV. stood godfather, bestowing on
the child his distinguished Christian name. The young Laguerre
received his education at a Jesuit College, with the view of entering the
priesthood, but a confirmed impediment in his speech demonstrated his
unfitness for such a calling. He began to evince considerable art-ability,
and, on the recommendation of the fathers of the college, he eventually
embraced the profession of painting. He then entered the Royal
Academy of France, and studied for a short time under Charles Le Brun.
In 1683 he came to England with one Picard, a painter of architecture.
At this time Verrio was in the acme of his prosperity. He was
producing allegorical ceilings and staircases by wholesale. He had a
troop of workmen under him, obedient to his instructions, dabbing in
superficial yards of pink flesh, and furlongs of blue clouds. Verrio was
happy to secure forthwith so efficient an assistant as Laguerre, and
soon found him plenty to do. In nearly every work of Verrio's after this
date, it is probable that Laguerre had a hand. He seems to have been an
amiable, kindly, simple-minded man, without much self-assertion or
any strong opinions of his own. He was quite content to do as Verrio
bid him, even imitating him and following him through his figurative
mysteries, and floundering with him in the mire of graceless drawing
and gaudy colour and ridiculous fable. He had at least as much talent as
his master--probably even more. But he never sought to outshine or
displace him.
'A modest, unintriguing man,' as Vertue calls him, he was quite
satisfied with being second in command, no matter how ignorant and
inefficient might be his captain.
John Tijon, his father-in-law, a founder of iron balustrades, said of him,
'God has made him a painter, and there left him.'
He worked under Verrio in St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and at Burleigh;
he executed staircases at old Devonshire House, in Piccadilly, at

Buckingham House, and at Petworth; assisted in the paintings at
Marlborough House, St. James's Park; decorated the saloon at
Blenheim; and in many of the apartments at Burleigh on the Hill 'the
walls are covered with his Cæsars.'
William of Orange gave the painter lodgings at Hampton Court, where
it seems he painted the Labours of Hercules in chiaro-oscuro, and
repaired Andrea Mantegna's pictures of the Triumphs of Julius Cæsar.
The commissioners for rebuilding St. Paul's Cathedral unanimously
chose Laguerre to decorate the cupola with frescoes. Subsequently this
decision was abandoned in favour of Thornhill; but, as Walpole says,
'the preference was not ravished from Laguerre by superior merit.'
Sir James Thornhill received payment for his paintings in the dome of
St. Paul's at the rate of forty shillings the square yard. The world has
still the opportunity of deciding upon the merits or demerits of those
works. Vertue thinks that Sir James was indebted to Laguerre for his
knowledge of historical painting on ceilings, etc. For decorating the
staircase of the South Sea Company's House, Sir James received only
twenty-five shillings per square yard. By speculating in the shares of
the same Company, it may be stated that another artist, Sir Godfrey
Kneller, lost £20,000. But prosperous Sir Godfrey could afford to lose;
his fortune could sustain even such a shock as that; at his death he left
an estate of £2000 per annum. He had intended that Thornhill should
decorate the staircase of his seat at Wilton, but learning that Newton
was sitting to Sir James, he grew angry. 'No portrait painter shall paint
my house,' cried Sir Godfrey, and he gave the commission to Laguerre,
who did his very best for his brother artist.
On the union of England and Scotland, Laguerre received an order
from Queen Anne to design a set of tapestries commemorative of the
event, introducing portraits of her Majesty and her Ministers. He
executed the requisite drawings; but it does not appear that the work
was ever carried out.
In 1711 he was a director of an academy of drawing instituted in
London, under the presidency of Kneller. On the resignation of Kneller,

there was a probability of Laguerre being elected in his place; but he
was again