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Cooper's fine head of Cromwell, at Sidney Sussex College. He was also a designer; and * Kate of Aberdeen,' by him, is en- graved by Tomkins. He died young, of decline, in July 1783.
BRETT, Joseph William, history painter. Son of a clergyman of the Church of England. He was an unsuc- cessful competitor for the premiums offered for cartoons for the decoration of the Houses of Parliament. The subject he submitted was ' King Richard forgiving the Soldier who shot him.' He was found dead at Chelsea, with his throat cut, sup- posed his own act, January 12, 1848. He was asred 34
BRETTINGHAM, Matthew, archi- tect He built, in 1742, North House, St. James's Square (now No. 21), in which George III. was born ; the north and east f ronte of Charlton House, Wilts ; the Duke of York's house in Pall Mall (now part of the War Office), a well-proportioned eleva- tion, but with little attempt at design; and some other mansions in London. In 1748 and 1750 he travelled in Italy. He published, in 1761 and 1773, plans drawn by himself of Lord Leicester's house at Holkham, but omitted to state that it was designed by Kent. He died August 19, 1769, aged 70, and was buried at St. Au- gustine's, Norwich. His son, Matthew Brettinoham, was also an architect. He died March 18, 1803, aged 78.
BRETTINGHAM, Robert Furze, architect. Nephew of the foregoing, and grandson of Matthew Brettingtiam, senr. ; was born about 1750, and early in life travelled in Italy, returning about 1781. He had a large practice, and built and altered several fine mansions. He was from 1783 to 1799 an exhibitor of his de- signs at the Royal Academy. In 1790 he exhibited the design for a bridge he had erected at Benham Place, Berks, in the
Erevious year ; and he is supposed to have een the architect of Maidenhead Bridge, in the same county. He held an office in the Board of Works, from which he re- tired in 1805.
BRIDELL, Frederick Lee, landscape painter. Was bora of respectable parents at Southampton, in November 1831. He was very early attached to art, and when very voting tried to maintain himself by portrait painting. Then falling in the way of a picture dealer, he made an engagement to copy for him, and he passed some time in Munich and other art cities ; and after- wards, following his own impulses, resided several years on the Italian nills, studying the grand poetry of the scenery by which he was surrounded. In 1851 he was living at Maidenhead, and in that year was first an exhibitor at the Royal Academy of ' A bit of Berkshire.' In 1856 he sent 'Moun-
tains in the Tyrol/ which at once made him known. He afterwards travelled in Italy, and was married at Rome in 1858 to a lady of much ability in art. In 1860 he passed the winter in Rome. He was of delicate and declining health, but laboured with unabated energy. Consumption en- sued, and he died in August 1863. ' The Coliseum by Moonlight, his last and best work, was exhibited at the International Exhibition, 1862. His art was poetic and of much promise, his colour and composi- tion good and vigorous ; but he had not met with much encouragement, and after his death about 40 of his works were sold at Christie's.
BRIDGES, Charles, portrait painter. He practised in the first naif of the 18th century. There is a portrait by him in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries.
BRIDGMAN, Charles, ornamental gardener. He practised towards the middle of the 18th century, and about 1735 was the fashionable designer of gardens. He first used the sunk fence, or * ha-ha/ He banished the formal Dutch style, and what Walpole called ' the verdant sculp- ture ' that had prevailed, and introduced the more natural and picturesque manner, and was so far the predecessor of Kent. He held the appointment of gardener to the King, and was a member of the St. Luke's Artists' Club.
BRIGGS, Henry Perronet, R.A., subject and portrait painter. Born at Walworth in 1791, of a very old Norwich family. He was a cousin of Amelia Opie. his father held a lucrative situation in the Post-office, and intended him for a commer- cial life ; but he showed an early love for art, and in 1806, while at school at Epping, sent to the * Gentleman's Magazine * two small, well-executed engravings of Epping Church. He entered as student of the Royal Academy in 1811, and in 1813 went to Cambridge, where he painted the por- traits of several members of the colleges, and the following year exhibited a portrait at the Royal Academy. In 1818 he produced an historical composition, 'Lord Wake of Cattingham setting fire to his Castle to prevent a Visit from Henry VIII., who was enamoured of his Wife;' and next year a subject from Boccaccio, followed by ' Othello relating his Adventures to Desdemona.' He next exhibited his 'First Interview between the Spaniards and Peruvians,' a picture which gained him much notice, and is now in the National Gallery. In 1823 he exhibited at the British Institution 'Scenes from Shakspeare,' and the directors awarded him a premium of 100l. In the following year he exhibited there 'Colonel Blood's Attempt to Steal the Regalia;' and in 1827 a large painting of 'George III. presenting the Sword to Earl
