It is Tieck's desire that the artist should catch the individual note in these figures and raise it to an ideal, that he should choose the expression with care and never sacrifice it to coloring or drapery and that he should avoid all necessity of using symbols to designate his characters. But when Tieck actually examins the pictures, he stresses theatrical pose or mien and pays no attention to those obvious tricks whereby expression is obtainable: the skilful use of light and shade on the face, the treatment of the lines of the mouth, and the placing of the eyes. Occasionally, as in the ball scene in "Romeo and Juliet," it seems as if the treatment of the eyes of a figure—in this case that of Tybalt—attracted his attention, but there are so many other plates in which the eyes are quite as good and are nevertheless past over, that the instance of Tybalt seems fortuitous.
Tieck uses the expressions "ohne Ausdruck," "wenig Ausdruck" and "ohne Charakter," "wenig Charakter" almost exclusively in his negativ criticism of the plates and his positiv criticism substitutes "viel" for "wenig." Such frases are not very definit and Tieck misapplies them constantly. In four out of the five cases of Tieck's largest caption, "ohne Ausdruck," he is certainly incorrect and the postulation of "wenig Ausdruck" is wrong in at least two out of the three cases. It is not a matter of personal opinion nor can it be a difference in point of view between the twentieth century and the end of the eighteenth. It is largely bad judgment on Tieck's part. In the three cases where Tieck sees "vielen Ausdruck" not one is in reality especially distinguisht for vividness. Two even vie with the most expressionless in feature and hav no special pretentions to significance of posture. In the five plates where Tieck uses "ohne Charakter" or "wenig Charakter," the epithets are in general tru.
Tieck got the hint for an advers criticism of the faces of Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page from the Anzeigen. He exclaims, expanding his model, "Welch' widrige Gesichter! welch' uninteresante Figuren!" There is in the pose of Mrs. Page a most awkward droop of the neck, but in Mrs. Ford's face there is a rollicking Irish drollery, a freshness of complexion and a witchery of the eyes that are quite charming. The painting was by Peters, whose "sprightly humor" was so much admired by his contemporaries.
One of the two pictures of Leontes in the "Winter's Tale" shows his giving the oath to Antigonous to destroy the child. In Leontes' frowning face Tieck sees no expression, altho it is unquestionably one of the most lively of the series. The stiffness of pose that Tieck objects to in the picture may well be accounted for by the full suit of armor that Leontes wears. The face is far more expressiv than that of the other Leontes picture and yet Tieck's judgment on them is the same.
One of the most striking failures on Tieck's part to see character interpretation of real subtlety is in Northcote's portrayal of "Richard III." There can be no dout that Tieck's general dislike of the artist, which was based on the adverse criticisms of the Anzeigen, led his judgment astray. The face of Richard is all in all the most characteristic of the series in so far as Tieck saw the series. Richard's "subtle, false and trecherous" look with the smile of his grim humor is well caught; the eyes and mouth are excellent and giv a very adequate idea of the deviltry of the man, of his lewd cunning and his scheming. What Tieck might well hav objected to is the sentimentalizing of the two princes whom the artist has transmogrified into fat little babies, just as in the next picture the two hav become well-fed little beef-eaters.
As Tieck fails to see sentimentality in this picture, so he misses extravagance in the church scene from "Much Ado." Tieck borrowd much in this discussion from the Anzeigen but his remarks on expression are his own. He says that Leonato has too little expression. There can be no dout as to the figure intended for Leonato. Claudio is identified by a very theatrical gesture and by a Mefistofelian Don Juan behind him. The fainting Hero, over whom Beatrice is bending, falls into Benedix' arms. The only other figure, that of an older man, and who therefore cannot be Benedix, is standing in a most theatrical posture with clencht fists, eyes upturnd, rigid and ridiculous. If Tieck ment that this figure should represent Leonato, he has shot wide of the mark in his criticism and displays a most unrefined love of the melodramatic. Figures like this are not often found in the "Gallery." Ordinarily excess of sentiment and a cheap display of emotion giv way to stiffness and awkwardness.
Tieck was dissatisfied with all the reproductions of Lear. They hav all too much of the gigantic, too little of the childish old man. He points out that the face as drawn by Füessli expresses nothing but rage; the same exaggeration is found in the drawing of West who sacrifices truth, nature and emotion to a striking first impression. Barry's Lear only excites laughter and the lack of expression in the face is made up by the storm-wind in the hair. Again, however, issu must be taken with Tieck's attitude, for it is impossible to regard these faces as expressionless. It is not that they hav too little, but too much, and of a wrong kind. Tieck nowhere draws the clear distinction and nowhere makes it evident that he regards "Ausdruck" as a term to be interpreted in any but a common sense way.
It seems apparent that those plates which had a certain sentimentality, a certain saccharin quality appeald to Tieck. He likes the prettiness of Anne Page and cleverly notes the touch of scorn in her face. If he had recalled Reynolds' Mrs. Siddons he would hav recognized the same trait of hardness around the mouth, a line that is often found in the pictures of English women. Perhaps Tieck's interest went hand in hand with his enthusiasm for Rafael, and lack of discrimination lets him take all as of equal value. The face of young Lucius in "Titus Adronicus" and the face of Juliet in the tomb are examples of this. Tieck argues that the boy has a good deal of expression, but a cool observer can see only melodrama in the pose and blankness in the face. The most interesting thing about the plate has escaped Tieck's attention, namely that both of Titus' hands are represented. It seems an especially noteworthy omission in a picture which Tieck praises for not showing the stumps of Lavinia.[32]
Tieck several times criticizes a picture for making a good first impression and then not being able to stand the test of close observation. An example of this is Northcote's portrayal of Mortimer and York (1 "Henry VI.," II, 5) which is really spoild according to Tieck by the strong light masses which at first sight seem very striking. These light masses throw the main figure into relief, but Tieck objects to the unnatural posture of the dying man. Close examination of the figure reveals the fact that Mortimer is really well drawn; the lines of the drapery distort the general impression, but that part of the drawing comprising the actual sitting figure is that of a broken old man, fallen in a heap and dying. Any one who has seen Irving's masterly representation of the dying Louis cannot but be imprest by the verisimilitude of Northcote's presentation. What Tieck says of the minor characters on the plate is true; they are expressionless in the extreme.
Tieck is fully justified in calling Reynolds' scene from "Henry VI." "dieses abscheuliche Blatt," where the word "abscheulich" is reminiscent of the Anzeigen. He asks further, "Ist dies der Künstler der Familie des Ugolino?"[33] With much better right he might hav askt, "Is this the painter of the 'Age of Innocence' and the man who loved to paint children?" Both the Shakspere plate and the stiff Ugolino picture attempt to portray the horrible, and the only other plate that Sir Joshua did for the "Gallery," namely, the Hecate plate from "Macbeth," the same selection of a grewsome subject is made. Neither of these pictures can be sed to conform with Reynolds' well-known doctrin that the function of art is to arouse the imagination, for in these pictures there is nothing left for the imagination but exhaustion. They show a vein of the bizarre without the great fancy of Füessli and are realistic to a degree that stopt at nothing. It is not to be wonderd at that Tieck exhausts himself in condemnation of the plate that he saw.