The house is entered by an octangular apartment, usually termed the Dome-saloon. The ceiling of this room is richly stuccoed in compartments, which are now uniformly white, but were originally interspersed with gilding. In different recesses are valuable antique busts. Among the pictures* will be noticed Charles I. his Queen and two children, with the crown and sceptre on a contiguous table; by Vandyck. The West-saloon adjoins the preceding apartment, and has been much enlarged, together with the saloon on the east, by the late additions to the building. The ceiling is painted in compartments. The following pictures, among others, embellish this part of the mansion: Acis and Galatea, by Luca Giordano; the colouring rich and attractive. The celebrated picture of Belisarius, from which several engravings have been made. This was long thought to be the production of Vandyck, but from the manner it is probably not the work of that painter. The chief figure is said by Lord Orford to be mean and inconsiderable; and, perhaps, it is of too suppliant a character; but it may be supposed that the artist wished to represent an extreme stage of degradation, in order to excite the sensation of pity more forcibly. The soldier, in the vi gour of early manhood and expectation, who regards the broken warrior with clasped hands and sympathetic condolence, is pourtrayed with touches beyond the reach of criticism. Clement IX. by Carlo Maratti. Lord Clifford and his family, painted in 1444, by John Van Eyck, who, in the year 1410, had the honour of introducing the use of oil in painting. An extremely fine landscape, with figures, by Salvator Rosa. In " the • Our limits permit us to notice only a few of those paintings which appear of prominent interest. A catalogue of this collection is printed in Dodsley's Account of London and its Environs ;" and a written catalogue is preserved at Chiswick-house; but the situation of many of the pictures is altered since these accounts were drawn up. In the Catalogue preserved at Chiswick-house this piece is said to be by Murillo, and it is probably with justice attributed to that artist. the western part of the Saloon, or that contiguous to the Drawing-room, is a truly valuable assemblage of cabinet pictures, among which the following masters have pieces: Tintoretto; Carlo; Maratti; Annibal Caracci ; P. Veronese; Poussin ; Bas san; Lionardo da Vinci; Borgognone. The Drawing Room occupies a portion of the western wing, and is a spacious apartment, of fine proportions, and furnished in an elegant taste. Among the numerous pictures the following require notice :-A Magdalen's Head, by Guido. Mary Queen of Scots, by Zucchero (engraved by Vertue). The unfortunate Mary is here represented in a rich dress, with a ring on the first and third fingers of each hand. The face very handsome. A holy family, by Parmigiano. Madonna della Rosa, by Domenichino. The Earl of Burlington procured this fine picture from a convent at Rome, giving in exchange for it a set of marble columns for the conventual church. Two beautiful Landscapes, by Both. A Chemist's Laboratory, strongly characteristic and highly-finished, by Teniers. first Earl of Burlington, by Vandyck. A venetian Nobleman, by Rembrandt. The In the Dining Room are the following among other pictures: The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche, by Andrew Schiavone. Susanna and the Elders, by P. Veronese. Women at the cross, by Bassan, in his best style. Rembrandt in his painting room an interesting and highly-finished picture, by Gerhard Douw. The Gallery occupies the whole northern side of the original edifice. This is an elegant specimen of the Italian style of arrangement, and is formed of a centre, with two recesses, and an octangular division at each extremity. The ceiling and sides of the whole are very richly ornamented in stucco, the mouldings, pateræ, and principal embellishments being gilt on a white ground. In the central compartment of the ceiling is inserted an oval battle-piece, painted by P. Veronese. The architectural character of this gallery, and the plenitude of ornaments in each division, admit of space for only a few pictures, pictures, but there are some fine statues, vases, and other works of art. The East Saloon adjoins the apartment which is surmounted by the dome, and is chiefly formed by a portion of the original structure. The stucco-work of the ceiling is gilt on a white, ground, and the sides are enriched by the following among numerous valuable paintings :-Christ in the Garden, by Guercino. Interior of the Jesuits' church at Antwerp, by Steenwick; a fine specimen of this artist's unequalled skill in archi tectural perspective. Procession of the Dogesse, a large and curious picture, by P. Veronese. Portrait of the Duchess of Somerset, by Vandyck. Two fine three-quarter portraits (persons unknown) by Rubens. Virgin and Child, a small but attractive picture, by Parmigiano. In this saloon are preserved many specimens of minerals and marbles, chiefly collected in Italy by the late Duchess of Devonshire. A small apartment contiguous to the east saloon is hung with well-executed tapestry. Over the doors and chimney are four portraits in circular frame-work, the most conspicuous of which are those of Lady Burlington and Alexander Pope, the latter painted by Kent. Among the pictures dispersed in the Dressing-rooms and other small apartments may be noticed, The good Samaritan, by Bassan. Christ and two apostles, by Caravagio; and a Beggar-boy eating a snail-pie; by Murillo. The Gardens attached to Chiswick House were laid out by the Earl of Burlington, in the Italian style, with a redundancy of statues, vases, and other sculptural embellishments. It is unnecessary to expatiate on the superiority of the modern system of gardening, which seeks to decorate the face of nature only with her own productions; but it may be asserted, on the authority of Lord Orford, that these grounds were disposed" in a manner far preferable to every style that reigned until our late improvements."* Judicious alterations have been • Anecdotes of Painting, p. 487. been effected since the time of Lord Burlington. The straight line, which uniformly prevailed in the original design, has been, in many instances, supplanted by the serpentine walk, or devious bend, so much more consonant to the freedom of nature. The pleasure-grounds comprise about thirty-two acres, and are amply adorned by wood and water, but are of too flat a character to allow a successful display of skill in landscape-gardening. Every alteration has been so temperately conducted, that the same imposing air of classic interest. which was studiously cultivated by the noble designer, still pervades the prominent features, while nature is allowed due freedom in the more retired paths. The ornamental buildings are not of too frequent occurrence, and are placed with much judgment. Among these must be noticed a gate, erected at Chelsea by Inigo Jones, on the premises which had formerly belonged to Sir Thomas More, and which were then occupied by the Lord Treasurer Middlesex. This valuable piece of masonry was presented to Lord Burlington by Sir Hans Sloane, in the year 1738. Many of the statues placed in different parts of the garden are antique ;* and three, which were dug up in Adrian's Garden at Rome, are of such excellent workmanship that the examiner will scarcely avoid regret at seeing them exposed, in the open air, to the vicissitudes of an island-climate. In a retired part of the grounds is introduced, with striking effect, the representation of a Roman temple. Among the improvements recently effected is a flower-garden of considerable extent, in which is an elegant conservatory, Several of these, which are in a mutilated condition, formed a part of the collection of the Earl of Arundel, and were long buried under the rubbish in Cuper's Gardens, Lambeth. The spot so termed had been occupied by that celebrated Earl, as garden-ground, and was afterwards rented by one Cuper, his Lordship's Gardener. The relics now at Chiswick were given to the Earl of Burlington by Mr. Theobald. See "Beauties of England" for Surrey, p. 87, and Gent. Mag. for July 1779. tory, and a range of forcing houses, not less than 300 feet in length. Attached to the pleasure-grounds is a small park, stocked with deer. His Grace the Duke of Devonshire has lately procured an act of Parliament, enabling him to form a new road at a farther remove from the house than the ancient thoroughfare;-a circumstance of alteration which will not cause any inconvenience to the passenger, while it will bestow a desirable air of retirement on the mansion. We cannot quit Chiswick-house without observing that the late eminent statesman, the Rt. Hon. Charles James Fox, here breathed his last, in September 1806. The notice of a splendid visit succeeds with an ill-grace so melancholy a sentence; but, in the records of this house, it should not be forgotten that the Emperor Alexander of Russia, the King of Prussia, and many illustrious persons in attendance on those monarchs, were entertained by the Duke of Devonshire at his Chiswick residence, in the year 1814. CORNEY HOUSE, the seat of the Countess dowager of Macartney, is situated on the bank of the Thames, to the west of the village of Chiswick. In this mansion the late accom plished Earl of Macartney breathed his last. The Russel family had a house on this site in the 16th and 17th centuries; and here occasionally resided Lord Russel of Thornhag, whose exploits at the battle of Zutphen, according to Stowe, caused the enemy" to report him a devil, and not a man." This warlike noble was honoured by a visit of Queen Elizabeth to his mansion at Chiswick, in the year 1602. GROVE HOUSE, the handsome villa of the Rev Robert Lowth, is finely seated on the bank of the river Thames, at a short distance from Chiswick. This estate was purchased about the year 1745, by the Earl of Grantham, and was afterwards the property of the Right Hon. Humphry Morrice, who made considerable additions to the buildings. The at tached |