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Art of Limning/ in his own hand writing, is dated July 8, 1654.
NORRIS, — engraver. Was living in 1750. Engraved from his own drawings, architectural monumsnts and ruins.
NORMS, John, architect. He prac- tised early in the 18th century. Rebuilt Lord Stamford and Warrington's seat in Cheshire, 1730.
i NORTHGOTE, James, R. ^..historical ani portrait painter. Descended from a respectable Devonshire family, claiming an ancient pedigree, he was the son of a watch- maker at Plymouth, where he was born, October 22, 1746. Though he showed an early attachment to art, his prudent father bound him his own apprentice, and he served his full time to the trade. During these long seven years his spare hours were spent in drawing, and on their termination he devoted himself to art, and commencing portrait painting, gained some notice in his own town ; and then, at the age of 25, in May 1771, he came to London furnished with an introduction to Sir J oshua Reynolds. The kind president not only admitted his young townsman to his studio, but to his house, and he continued with nim for five years, picking up such knowledge as he could. He also became a student at the Academy, and between the two must have
fained the technical power he most needed ; ut his progress was laborious and slow. In 1775 he left Reynolds with mutual regret, and returning to Devonshire, soon made a little purse by portrait painting.
In March 1777 he set out alone for Italy, not knowing any language but his own, and travelled by Lyons and Genoa to Rome, where he spent the greater part of his time in copying, occasionally on commission, and in the study of the old masters, espe- cially Titian. He returned home by way of Flanders at the end of three years, arriving in London in May 1780, and again had recourse to portraiture, which he tried for a time in his native county, and then set- tled in London. From the first his desire had been to paint subject pictures, and in 1783 he exhibited some works of a domestic class, one of which was engraved for Boy- dell and had much success. This induced him to continue, meeting at the same time, however, good encouragement as a portrait painter. But his impulses led him to a nigher aim, and for this the opportunity was afforded, which he earnestly seized, when the great scheme of the Shakespeare Gallery was started.
He produced, in 1786, his first truly his- toric work — ' The Young Princes murdered in the Tower,' and was in the same year elected an associate of the Royal Academy ; in the spring of the next year a full member. His success was followed by the ' Burial of the Princes in the Tower/ and his great
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work, the ' Death of Wat Tyler/ for the Corporation of London. In the succeeding years he continued to work for BoydelTs gallery, but did not abandon portraits, and he commenced another series, the career of two servant girls, a moral composition in ten pictures — ' The Diligent Servant and the Dissipated/ a female version of Hogarth's ' Idle and Industrious Prentice.' The work was published in 1796, and though success- ful, yet, from the absence of character and humour, the plainness of the coarsely told incidents, and the omission of all the minor graces, it did not approach the work of his great prototype. He was successful as a painter of animals. He introduced them well into his pictures, and painted some subjects of animals— * The Dog and Heron/ ' The Tiger and Crocodile/ * The Lion Hunt/ with others, and his fondness for animals seems to have been an inducement to com- mence his ' Fables/ published in 1828, in which they are conspicuous. In 1825 the directors of the British Institution pur- chased for 150 guineas his ' Entombment of our Saviour/ and presented the picture to Chelsea new church ; and in 1827, his
- Christ's Agony in the Garden/ which they
presented to Hanover Chapel, Regent Street.
He was a man of marked natural abilities. Entering art late in life, unprepared by his general education, he showed great energy and industry in conquering the difficulties of his position. He was observant in all that related to his art, reflective by habit, and able to express clearly his ideas both orally and with his pen. His first literary attempts were printed in ' The Artist,' a periodical commenced in 1807. In 1813 he published his * Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds/ to which his intimacy with Reynolds and his knowledge of art gave a peculiar cha- racter and value. He had great convers- ational powers, and in 1866 his convers- ations, written by Hazlitt, who was his constant visitor, appeared in the 'New Monthly Magazine. They were followed by his * Fables/ many of which were written as well as illustrated by himself. His last work was his ' Life of Titian/ published in 1830. He lived for nearly 50 years at 39 Argyll Street, where his sister kept his house, and there he died on July 13. 1831, in his 86th year, having amassed a fortune by his profession.
His compositions were faulty and un- studied. His light and shade conventional, and frequently untrue. His processes of
Eainting careless. Yet his groups are often appily conceived, bold and vigorous, free from affectation, and, largely circulated by engraving, became popular. He fairly takes rank with the eminent men of his day, who were following the same art. In manner he was eccentric, and is charged with an
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