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    se $ m _ a perverse prejudice that the Academy here should send ^ fti ^|» to study at Rome , when they have so glorious a collection ai « home ? Any one can go in with a ticket , which is easily obtained . There is also no difficulty in getting permission to copy , and artists or amateurs are treated with the greatest civility . If the woxk you wish to copy is in oil , you will observe the Emperor ' s seal is set upon it , which is done in order to distinguish

    it- This extraordinary , equivocal , and in general ridiculous compliment to the copyist , originated in the circumstance , that many ye&rs ago * , and some other English artist , contrived to substitute their copies for originals of immense value . This , however , does not prove their ability half so much as their shameful roguery , because , no suspicion being entertained , no comparison y \ ca& instituted , or the treacherous abuse of confidence as of

    genius would have been instantly apparent . There are many old pictures of great merit to be met with cheap in Russia . English picture-dealers frequently come over for the express purpose . Woodburn lias been here all the summer , and has just returned with , I believe , a tolerably large collection . Notwithstanding the magnificent gallery I have described- * - no . not described , but merely mentioned—the arts are not much

    beyond their infancy in Petersburg . There are a number of artists in the Russian Academy , but , generally speaking , they are below mediocrity ; nor does the patronage afforded foreigners appear sufficient to attract any one of eminence . It is doubtful if

    a fine painter would find it at all a profitable speculation to go to Russia , unless recommended by Royalty . The Academy is , however , much larger and more beautiful than Somerset House the models are very good , many of tliein from Italy ; there is also "The Life . " Heath has sent out Vickers , wlio has been

    making views , probably for the " Picturesque Annual . " He lias been to Moscow . ; , Xhe greater number of foreigners here , by far , are Germans : tl ^ re are few English , but plenty of Scotch , as usual . The Iinglifch are generally very popular , and many of our customs cj *) $ ely followed . The Emperor has English coachmen , grooms , lior ^ ep , &c . ; many of the maids of honour are English , and

    learning our language seems " quite the rage" among tlie upper dU $$ cs » It is excessively difficult to retain any English servant whom you may take out with you , as the nobility decoy them € Wfry from you . One of the first questions asked me , was WlietJjer " I had an English servant ? " I answered " Yes ; a ropr relation , much attached to us . " It is a fact that the veriest mip $ ue& who are brought out at the hasty selection of some xnerto

    < & 0 ft ^ attend upon his family , are presently " off , " a > nd re-€£ W $ 4 into noblemen ' s families as nursery in aids , at 4-Oi . per annum for which they have little else to do than ride about in

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    604 Notes of a Trip to St Petersburg .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1836, page 504, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2660/page/44/