Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/156

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Wales and the adjacent counties, painting the ancient rains and picturesque features of the scenery. In 1727 he distinguished himself as a poet by his beautifully descriptive poem of 'Grongar Hill,' and about that time went to Italy, and again his studies of nature were described with his pen, instead of his pencil, in his poem of 'The Ruins of Rome,' 1740. Yet he spent much time in sketching in the environs of Rome and Florence. On his return to England he entered the Church, and held the living of Calthorpe, in Leicestershire, which he exchanged for Belchford, in Lincolnshire, and was afterwards presented to Coningsby, where, in 1757, he published 'The Fleece,' his last work. He died of consumption, July 24, 1758. Several of his landscapes exist.

DYER, Charles, architect. Was born 1794, the son of a surgeon at Bristol. His principal works are at Clifton, where he built the Victoria Rooms, the Bishop's College, and the Female Orphan Asylum. He was also the architect of several churches in the West of England, and in London of the hall of the Dyers' Company. He died January 13, 1848.




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EAGLES, The Rev. John, amateur. He was a clever painter of water-colour landscapes, who resided in Bristol, and was in 1809 an unsuccessful candidate for admission in the Water-Colour Society. He had the reputation of being a good etcher, and was the author of a paper, 'The Sketcher,' published in 'Blackwood's Magazine.' He also wrote 'Felix Farley's Rhymes,' a macaronic satire on the inhabitants of Bristol, and 'The Bristol Riots: their Causes, Progress, and Consequences.'

EARLE, A., marine and landscape painter. He practised in London, and first exhibited at the Academy, in 1806, 'The Judgment of Midas;' in the following year, 'The Battle of Poictiers;' in 1811 and 1812, 'Banditti;' in 1814. 'Man-of-war's Boats cutting out a French Barque.' In 1815 he exhibited for the last time, his subject 'The Harbour and Town of Calais.' Two views by him have been engraved—'Malta, with the Harbour,' and the 'City and Harbour of Valetta.'

EARLE, Thomas, sculptor. Was born at Hull in 1810, and gained the Royal Academy gold medal and books for the best historical group of sculpture in 1839. He was between twelve and fourteen years with Sir F. Chantrey, as designer or lead modeller, and it is well known that the equestrian statue of George IV. in Trafalgar Square was Earle's work in Chantrey's studio. He exhibited from time to time in the Royal Academy Exhibitions very artistic works such as 'Sin Triumphant,' 'L'Allegro,' 'Hyacinthus,' 'Ophelia,' 'Miranda,' and 'Flower Girl of Capsi,' in 1873. A portrait of Her Majesty in his studio at his death proves him to have been great in his portrait busts. He died of valvular disease of heart, brought on by professional disappointment in London, 28 April, 1876.

EARLOM, Richard, engraver. He was son of the vestry clerk of St. Sepulchre, London, and born there 1743. In 1757 he was awarded a premium by the Society of Arts. He showed an early taste for art, and made copies of Cipriani's allegorical designs on the panels of the lord mayor's State carriage. This led to his becoming the pupil of Cipriani. He soon acquired a power of drawing, and mastered the technicalities of engraving. Alderman Boydell employed him to make drawings from the Houghton collection, and afterwards to engrave the chief of them in mezzo-tint. In this branch of his art he was self-taught, and introduced many improvements in the mode of execution.

He produced some etchings and some plates in the chalk manner, but his chief excellence is as a mezzo-tint engraver. His works show great technical skill, and are marked by brilliancy, spirit, and truth; powerful, yet delicate in a high degree, the drawing good, and the imitation of the master accurate; yet, possessing these high qualities, they want keeping, the lights being too much scattered; and they fail in the textures, which are not in all cases natural. He engraved subjects, landscapes and portraits, both after the old masters and after his contemporaries, and was noted for his groups of flowers after Van Huysum and Van Os. His 'Liber Veritatis,' comprising mezzo-tint engravings after 200 drawings by Claude, published in 1777, is well known.

He possessed a moderate property, yet he quietly pursued his profession, retiring only from practice towards the end of his long life. He died in Exmouth Street, Clerkenwell, on October 9, 1822, in his 80th year, and was buried in the lower burial-ground of St. Mary, Islington. His son, William

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