Mr. Flaxman told me that Mr. Romney was three years in Italy; that he returned twenty-eight years since. Mr. Humphrey,[1] the painter, was in Italy the same time with Mr. Romney. Mr. Romney lodged at Mr. Richter's, Great Newport Street, before he went; took the house in Cavendish Square immediately on his return; but as Flaxman has promised to put pen to paper, you may expect a full account of all he can collect. Mr. Sanders does not know the time when Mr. R. took or left Cavendish Square house.
39.
To William Hayley.
South Molton Street,
22nd June 1804.Dear Sir,—I have got the three sublime designs of Romney now in my lodgings, and find them all too grand as well as too undefined for mere outlines; and indeed it is not only my opinion but that of Mr. Flaxman and Mr. Parker,[2] both of whom I have consulted, that to give a true idea of Romney s genius, nothing less than some finished
