Notwithstanding his natural genius, Murillo might never have arrived at the celebrity he ultimately acquired, had it not been for the accidental circumstance of Pedro de Moya returning from England, where he had studied under Vandyke. The softness and sweetness of his manner made so forcible an impression on Murillo, that he wished to imitate it: but Moya remained only a short time, and left him confused and doubtful what track to pursue; he at last determined to proceed to England, and study under Vandyke, and was on the point of his departure when he received intelligence of the death of that great painter. He wished to go to Italy, but his poverty prevented him from undertaking that journey, or even the less expensive one to Madrid, till he had painted some pictures, by the sale of which, to the captains of ships going to America, he raised a sum sufficient to defray his expences to the capital. He arrived at Madrid in 1643, and being assisted by Velasquez, he passed two years in copying the works of Titian, Rubens, and Vandyke, as well as those of his contemporaries.

He returned to Seville in 1645, and astonished all the artists of that city by his paintings in the smaller cloister of the Franciscan convent. His labours in this convent gave him reputation, and raised him from indigence to a state of affluence. In 1670 he began to paint the celebrated pictures in the Caridad, which I have described, for each of which he was paid about one hundred and fifty pounds, a prodigious sum in that country at so early a period. He afterwards painted the Conception, in the church of the Venerables, and the Virgin and Child dividing a loaf with a pilgrim. The Conception is the best proof left of the exquisite skill of Murillo

in the disposition of the light and shadow, and in the management of the general effect. His industry during the latter part of his life was surprising, and he has left more pictures behind him than any other Spanish artist. His last work is that which I noticed in the church of the Capuchins at Cadiz, which he was prevented by ill health from finishing, and the same cause induced him to remove to his native city, where he died in April 1682. The life of such an artist can have but few incidents; he never was absent from Cadiz and Seville more than two years in the early part of his life. The perfection, therefore, to which he attained, must be attributed more to his own natural powers and accurate observation, than to those advantages from which other artists have acquired their celebrity. He was the founder of the Academy for Painting in this city, which was established in 1660: he continued the president, or director, during his life, and took great pains to have the students well instructed in the anatomy of the human figure, by encouraging them to study from the living model.

He left a daughter, who became a nun, and two sons, the elder of whom went to Mexico, where he died: the younger, whose portrait I have purchased, studied painting under his father, and made considerable proficiency; he was ordained a priest, and became a canon of the Church of Carmona, but died in early life.

LETTERS FROM SPAIN.

LETTER XVIII.

PAINTINGS OF PEDRO DE CAMPANA IN THE CHURCH OF SANTA CRUZARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL-ZARAGOZINA

OF HIS LIFE

DINAND'S DAY-ALCALA' DE LOS PANADEROS—GONDUL.

SEVILLE, OCT.

FEW pictures have been more praised than those church of Santa Cruz, by Pedro de Campaña, especially the from the Cross. It is said of this picture, by the learne Francisco Pacheo, that the remaining in this church alone f with terror, as he could not divest himself of the idea that of Christ was a real object. Two men above are lowering to St. John, who receives it with the strongest expression and sensibility. Mary Magdalen kissing the feet, and t Virgin, are admirable figures. The whole piece is an composition; and, in the judgment of the Spanish conn equal to the best productions of Michael Angelo, under who paña studied. The picture is about eighteen feet in height in breadth. There are several others in this church by t master, but this one engrossed my attention too much to a to examine the others..

R

Campaña was born at Brussels in 1503, where he learnt to paint after the manner of Albert Durer. He went to Italy in 1530, and, on his way to Rome, was detained some time at Bologna to paint a triumphal arch for the coronation of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, in which he displayed powers that astonished the Italian artists. In Rome he studied the works of Raphael and Michael Angelo with diligence and success. How long he remained there is uncertain; but he was in Seville, and painted the pictures in this city between 1548 and 1552, as appears by the dates on several of them. He continued in this city many years, and was universally respected; and when advanced in life he returned to his native place, where he died in 1580. He may properly be classed among the Spanish painters, as the greater part of his life was spent, and the best of his pictures were executed, in this country. I am afraid I shall fatigue you with too long an account of pictures and painters; nevertheless, the subjects interest me so much that I doubt I shall frequently have occasion to return to them again.

The architecture of Seville deserves particular notice, as it is the work of different ages, and possesses very distinct characters, The Arabian, the Gothic, and the Greco-Roman styles, all enter into the structure of the cathedral. Its tower, constructed in the year 1000, is of the Arabian architecture, as well as one of the courts, called the Patio de laş Narangas. The Gothic style was not introduced into Spain till the twelfth century; and it still retains the more appropriate epithet of Tudesco or German. The greater part of the cathedral, which was begun in 1482 and finished in 1519, is of this species of archiThe Greco-Roman, used in Spain, is miserable in the

tecture.

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