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when in his 17th year he entered the schools of the Royal Scottish Academy ; afterwards he came to London and became a proba- tionary student at the Royal Academy, but did not like the course of study, and before the age of 20 went to Italy and studied the works of the great masters at Rome and Florence. In 1826 he returned to Scotland, and in 1827 exhibited his first picture at the Royal Academy, 'Bacchus nursed by the Nymphs/ He soon after revisited the Continent to mature his earlier studies. He sent home for exhibition a ( Madonna and Child,' which gained much notice, and after about two years returned and settled in Edinburgh. Here he continued about eight years, devoted in spirit to historic art, in which he did not find encourage- ment, and practising chiefly as a portrait painter. In 1835 he was elected an as- sociate of the Royal Scottish Academy.
He had paid much attention to orna- mental design, which he had studied in the palaces and churches of Italy ; and in 1837 published a pamphlet on ( Schools of Design as a part of State Education.' The considera- tion of the president of the Board of Trade was at the time directed to the subject, and he was offered and accepted the superin- tendence of the schools established by the Government; and was in the first place commissioned to investigate and report upon the Continental systems of art educa- tion. He made a satisfactory report, which was printed as a parliamentary paper. In 1842 his office was changed to that of in- spector of Provincial Art Schools, which he resigned in 1844, and was then made a member of the Council of the Government Schools, and gave his useful aid till 1848. when he finally resigned. He had failed to carry out his views for the establishment of schools of design, and the successful completion of his work was left to others.
While engaged in such matters he had continued to exhibit, chiefly portraits, at the Academy ; but in 1836 his ' Descent of Venus ' attracted much notice, and in 1844 he was elected an associate of the Academy. He had also been one of the successful competitors in the Fresco Exhibition in Westminster Hall, and employed by the Royal Commission he completed in 1846 the first fresco, * The Baptism of St. Ethelbery on the walls of the palace of the Legislature. For this style of decoration he was pecu- liarly fitted by his previous studies and the character of his art, and was deemed very successful. In 1848 he received the im- portant commission to decorate the Queen's Robing-room with designs from the legend of King Arthur. Of these he only Uvea to complete five, one principal and four lesser subjects, of unequal dimensions. The first, ' The Admission of Sir Tristram to the Fellowship of the Round Table/ typifies 134
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Hospitality; the second, 'The Vision of Sir Galahad and his Company, 1 Religion or Faith; the third, 'Sir Gawain swear- ing to be merciful, and never to be against the Ladies,' Mercy; the fourth, 'King Arthur unhorsed, spared by Sir Launcelot/ Generosity ; the fifth, ' Sir Tristram harp- ing to La Reine Isonde,' Courtesy. He was elected an associate of the Royal Aca- demy in 1844, and a full member m 1848.
During the whole of his career he had continued to exhibit easel pictures at the Royal Academy. Of these, nis peculiar art will be best remembered by his ' King Joash shooting the Arrow of Deliverance/ 1844 ; and his sketch for the fresco, ' Neptune as- signing to Britannia the Empire of the Sea,' 1847, painted for the Queen at Osborne House ; and of his later works, by his 'Jacob and Rachael,' 1853 ; 'St. John leading Home the Virgin,' 1860 ; and 'George Herbert, of Bemerton, 1 1861. He also painted a series of frescoes in the church of All Saints, Mar- garet Street, Cavendish Square, completed m 1859, in which he has strictly followed out the theories of his art . It is greatly to be lamented that he did not live to complete his great epic legend of King Arthur, the delay upon whicn, and the controversy to which it save rise, no doubt accelerated, his death, which happened on February 15. 1864. He had passed the latter part of his life at Streatham, and was buried at theparish church.
He drew the figure correctly and with grace, but without much originality of style, founding himself rather on the old masters he had made his study. His colour was positive, not graced by the refinements of tint, but was well suited to the character of his art. His works were more learned than original, marked rather by refinement of taste than an appeal to the feelings. To his great attainments in art he added the accomplishments of a scholar and of a musician well skilled in the science of music. He published, in 1842-43, ' The Book of Common Prayer, with the Ancient Music set to it at the Reformation,' for which the King of Prussia sent him a gold medal ; ' An Essay on Magnetism/ which gained him the Blackall prize at Aberdeen ; m 1844. ' The Theory of the Fine Arts;' in 1851, ' Notes on Shepherds and Sheep : a Letter to J. Ruskin ;'in 1853, 'The National Gallery, its formation and management ; ' in 1858, ' On the Connection of the Arts with General Education ' and ' On the Position of Art in the proposed Oxford Examinations/
DYER, John, amateur. Was born at Aberglasney, in Carmarthenshire, in 1700. He was the son of a lawyer, and was edu- cated at Westminster School, and intended for the law; but his inclinations led him to the arts, for which he was professionally instructed, and wandered through South
