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Wine. The Peaches are Very good in this Country and very plenty. We are now in very Clean Lodgings in this place, which we reached the 1st of Sepr. I beleive you will think we made Dispatch to go from London to Paris in 4 Days and 3 Nights which we did, allowing for 3 Days detention by bad Weither. This Day my first in this place, I have seen the Church of St. Sulpice. it is rather grand from its quantity than the Eliganc of proportion, and the Pallais Royalle, in which I saw a very fine Collection of Paintings. and this Evening went to the Opera. the Subject was Orpheus serching for his Wife in the Infernal Regions. I was much entertained; tho a strainger to the Language, the Musick Charmed me. but it now grows late, so wish you a good repose and an earley attention to business in the morng., and a Care to Cultivate your knowledge of the Languages. this will make your future Life happyer than any thing in this World. do let me from my own feelings intreat of you not to Idle, or misapply, one moment, for they are Innestimiable. I feel what I Now write and Injoy the effects of my application in such a manner as no words can express; and this you will feel yourself if you will purchase it with Industry, as I know you may and you have a pleasure above me in having such a foundation for the Languages which will be of great use to you when you come abroad. my wishes for your happiness carrys me beyond my intention at this time, but it is so momentious a thing to you that I could not excuse myself, if I should let any time pass before I pressed it on you; lest by my delay some of those precious moments might be lost that this earley advice might have saved. let me just recommend to you to keep the faces of your portraits, perticularly your Weomens, as Clear of Shade as possable, and make broad Masses of Lights and shade. practice continually. Draw Landscapes, Dogs,

Cats, Cows, horses, in short I would have you keep in your Pocket a book and Porto Crayon as I now do- and where ever you see a butifull form Sketch it in your Book. by this you will habituate your Self to fine formes. I have got through the Dificultys of the Art, I trust, and shall reap a continual Source of pleasure from my past Industry as long as it pleases God to give me health and life, but yet I lament I had not saved more of my time than I have done. you have it now before you and if you are determined you will accomplish it.

Study those Works of Raphael which you can procure, the Raphas

Cartoons in perticular. Draw them not in a finished manner, but to habituate yourself to the manner of combineing your figures. I trust you will take this in a manly manner and feel its force. I write under a Kind of impu[l]se, and would perswade you from inactivity as I would a near friend from plunging into certain destruction. Adieu, good night. I again take up the Subject (this morning) of my Observations on what I see in this place and hope you will excuse my long digression, as I think it is so important to your happiness. I shall return to the Pallais Royalle, which We saw yester Day or 2d Sepr. In this Pallais there is a very great Collection of Pictures by various Masters, some very fine, some indifferant, some bad. In the Chamber of Poussins are his seven Scacraments. the prints Poussin you have seen in Mr. Palmer's Vollumn of Italian Masters. they are very Dark, much more so than his Scipeo at Smibert's, and about the same size of that. these are however esteemed his best Works, but I should have liked them better if they had been coloured in a more brilliant manner. (he has been somtimes very beautifull in his colours, light and warm in his Shawdows somthing resembling the Light of the Sun, his Shadows broad sharp and transparent. you possess an Accad

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emy figure or two much stumpt. I think there is two on one paper, one on each side, much in his manner of treating his figures. you cannot mistake them, as you have none like them. one of them I think is puling a rope or in such an action; add to this kind of musseling the colour of Shade you see in the Camera which are in some parts very blew, in some a kind of readish or sandy tint. The out lines of his figures are not blended with the ground, but Sharp and determined, his expression is charming. his Men, Weomen, and Children, laugh, Cry, Grieve, and indeed express all the passion of the Soul surpriseingly well. I would have you draw some of his heads, that you may Tern of what forms and Lines they are composed. I wish I could convey to you a more perfect Idea of what I see, but study the Camera for human figures and in short every Peice of Nature if Peice of Nature if possable, and you will go on in the way you are in and Diligence will make you an Artist. as you proceed invent Historical Subjects. possess Sr. Josa. Renolds lectures as soon as you can, some of the Book Deallers will send for them for you - and they will tell you how to proceed in the management of those great Subjects. I dont mean to alter your pursuit in portraits, but you aught to be capable of treating every Subject. you have some Draw[ings] of Albonius's in bister which show how much is to be done from Imagination. only when you have got thus far, the Life is to be made use of for hands, feet, heads and for each figure Drapery sett on the Layman, broad and eligant. in this Way you make your finishd Drawing, which when done the Difficulty is over. There is several Titians in this collection, but shall forbear remarking on them till I see others that I am sure will give me a just Idea of his merrit in all respects. I am your Affecte. Brother,

J. S. COPLEY.

Robert Hooper to [P. Thomas?]

Call on Mr. Copeleys Brother up above the Orange tree, and desire him to put my son Stephens Picture into this Case and bring it without fail.

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I was obliged to break off my last Letter somwhat abruptly as I found the Post was to go sooner than I expected, and I was loath you should miss of the most earley inteligence of my safe arrival in this place and of my health. I have given you the best Idea in my power of the Works of Poussin which I saw on the 2d Sepr. the same Day and in the same collection I saw many of the Works of Raphael, Corregio, Titian, Paul Veroneise, Guido, etc., but as I do not think I have yet seen their most perfect Works I shall suspend my remarks upon them till I have that pleasure. I do not think it is important to send you catalogues of the Pictures I see, but such an account of the Masters as will give you the best Idea of their Works in General and their merrit. as I write to one who has not seen any Works of Art I shall indeavour to adapt my Language to answer that end in the most effectual manner. In my way to the Palace Royalle I stoped at the Church of Notre Dame where I saw many Paintings, and much Sculpter. the Church is a very 1 Of Marblehead, and known as "King Hooper."

beautifull Pile of Gothick Architecture, and perticularly menshoned by Mr. Addisson. it was founded by Robert one of the Kings of France in A.D. IOIO, but a perticular disscription of every peice of Art would take up too much time. I shall only mention one peice of Sculpter which I think very fine. It is the Alter behind the High Alter. it is in form of a Niche and composed of four Figures; in the middle sits the blessed Virgin Looking towards Heaven with an Air of Holy Grief, if you will allow me the expression, her Arms extended, her Drapery flowing, and supporting on her Lap the head and part of the Body of a dead Christ. the Christ lays partly on the Ground and is very fine, behind is the Cross from which the Christ has been taken down, with a flowing peace of Linen hanging over it which makes the whole more pleasing in its form than it would have been without this continuation of the Mass of Art. it plays off from the Group and as a flame loses it self insensably first into a readish soft colour than tapers into many serpentine streaming points and gently steals unperceived into reaths of Smoke, so in this manner the mass is melted away. And observe, all lights in Pictures aught so to be mannaged. the first great ligh[t] ought to be followed by some suxceeding ones less powerful than the first that let the eye off by gentle degrees. this is effected by Colours as well as lights and shades. for instance read Will lead the eye from bright yellow, and black from Read, Green from White, etc., etc. but to return to the Alter. on one side is a figur of an Angel Kneeling, his Wings partly extended, holding the Crown of thorns in his hand. another Angel on the other side supports the hand of Christ. there is a great sublimity of expression in the whole Group. the heads perticularly that of Christ is very lovely and of a divine carractor perhaps not to be surpassed by any thing in Art.

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