41. INTERIOR OF DUOMO, MILAN. (David Roberts, R.A.)

The Royal Academy Exhibition 1857 

It must be, I think, nearly ten years, if not more, since Mr. Roberts painted so careful a picture. It is entirely true to the scene, and unusually forcible and solemn in the effect of the painted window. But why does Mr. Roberts always draw painted windows lighter at the top than the bottom? I have often seen them lighter at the bottom than the top; certainly I never saw them, as in No. 418, (1)darker at the bottom than the stone of their jambs ; the whole breadth of casement telling as a gloom instead of a light. The tapestry about the pillars in this Milan is thoroughly painted, and the whole picture very enjoyable, as an expression of cathedral splendour, though not of cathedral solemnity.

(1)[" Interior of the Churcli of St. Gommaire, at Lierre, in Brabant."]

Works (14, 95)