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means of perpetuating all public fame, all 
private honour, and all valuable instruction.- 
The professors of them were considered as 
public characters who watched over the events 
that were passing, and who had in their hands 
the power of embodying them for ever. And 
is not this still the case with the artists of every 
country, how varied soever may be its maxims, 
or its system of action, [from those of Greece? 
Is the artist indeed not that watchman who 
observes the great incidents of his time," and 
oblivion ? 
rescues them from 
" When he turns from these views to 
contemplate the patronage which has been 
given to the fine arts, will he have less reason 
to esteem hisiprofession,-a profession so richly 
cherished by all the greatest characters of the 
earth? and which in return has immortalised 
its patrons. Posterity has never ceased to 
venerate the names of the Cosmos and Lorenzos 
who sought art, and fostered to their full 
maturity the various talents of their countrymen. 
The palace of the Medici, still existing in 
Florence, exhibits not only in its treasures the