Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/143

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perspective, was a good colourist, and much esteemed as a landscape painter.

DELANY, Mrs., amateur. See Gbait- ville, Mary.

DELARAM, Francis, engraver. Practised in London in the reigns of Eliza- beth and James I. He was contemporary with William and Simon de Passe and Elstracke, and engraved in the stiff, neat manner of that day. His works are chiefly portraits, among them Henry VIII., Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, James I., Henry, Prince of Wales, and many of the notables of that day. His works are rare, and command high prices. At Sir Mark Sykes's sale, in 1824, a print by him of Charles, when Prince of Wales, with Rich- mond Palace in the background, fetched 461. 4s., and a portrait of James I., with a view of London, 34J. 13*.

DELATTRE, or DELATRE, Jean Marie, engraver. Was born at Abbeville in 1745. He worked some time in Paris, and then, in 1770, came to London, where he practised in the chalk manner, and was employed under Bartolozzi. He engraved many historical subjects and portraits— ' Penelope.' * Dido/ and ' Beauty led by Prudence, after Angelica Kaufiman ; and also after Wheatley, Stothard, and Hamil- ton, and for Bell's * British Poets.' A ' St. Cecilia,' after Guercino, is esteemed one of his best works. He brought an action against Copley, R.A., in 1801, for a plate which he had executed for him, and gained the full amount of his claim, 600 guineas. He was one of the governors of the Society of Engravers, founded in 1803, to assist in- firm members of the profession. He was, in 1836, a pensioner on Peter Herv6's Society. He died at North End, Fulham, in his 95th year, and was buried at Fulham, June 30, 1840.

DE LOUTHERBOURG, Philip James, R.A., landscape painter. Was born at Strasburg on October 31, 1740. His father, who was of a noble Polish family, practised as a miniature painter. He was educated at the college at Stras- burg for the Lutheran Church, but his genius made him a painter. Following his own strong inclinations, after some previous study, he went to Paris and became the pupil of Carl Vanloo. His works, exhibited at the Louvre, gained him a reputation, and in 1762 he was, at the age of 22 — thirty being the prescribed age — elected a member of the French Academy. He then visited Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. and painted portraits, landscapes, ana battle-pieces. About 1771 he came to England. His fame had preceded him, and he was engaged by Garnck, at a salary of 500/. a year, to superintend the scenery and machinery of Drury Lane Theatre. Here he was employed many years, and 122

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showed surprising powers and invention. He painted with nis own hand the whole of the scenery of ' The Christmas Tale,' and introduced so much novelty and effect as formed a new era in scene painting. At the same time he painted easel pictures, and on canvases of a large size commemo- rated some of the naval and military victories of Britain — ' Lord Howe's Victory of the 1st of June,' s The Siege of Valen- ciennes,' and 'The Review of Warley Camp.'

He first exhibited at the Academy in 1772, and from that year till his death was a constant and large contributor. His subjects were always of a stirring character. His landscapes ana marines chiefly treated of the storms and violence of nature ; his figure subjects, of battles and the attacks of banditti He was never tame. There are also some theatrical grouns by his hand. He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1780, and a full member in the following year. At this time Sheri- dan who had succeeded to the management of the theatre, attempted to reduce his pay, and he quitted the scene-loft. He now planned his 'Eidqphnsicon,' which all the world went to see, and were astonished by the illusion — his effects of calm and storm, sunset and moonlight, the accurate imita- tion of nature's sounds, the approaching thunder, the dash of the waves on the pebbly beach, and the distant minute-gun. His charges for admission were 5s. and 2s. 6cL He had used music to entertain during the shifting and preparation of his scenes, and he was proceeded against before the justices, who, refusing to con- vict, granted him a licence.

Soon after his arrival in London he took a house at 45, Titchfield Street, where he lived 12 years, and then removed to Ham- mersmith Terrace. Here his eccentricities broke out. He was the dupe of a German charletan in the search for the philoso- pher's stone ; but a female relative broke m upon their nocturnal studies and de- stroyed their crucible. He was a disciple of the prophet Brothers, and; like him. fancied himself inspired by faith to heal the lame and the bund ; but his patients, who received no relief, mobbed his house and broke his windows. In 1789 some zealous friend published ' A List of a few Cures performed by Mr. and Mrs. De Loutherbourg without medicine ; by a lover of the Lamb of God.' The writer says ' that Mr. De L. has received a most glorious power from the Lord Jehovah, viz. the gift of healing all manner of diseases— deaf- ness, lameness, cancer,' with many others, of which he gives some very miraculous details; and m the same year a popular clergyman advertised a meeting to debate the question, ' Is it consistent with reason