Page 24 - An account of the Lodge of Nine Muses No. 235. 1777 to 2012UGLE

24 An Account of the

shows Venus leading a reluctant Cupid, with his jaw bandaged, to the temple of
Aesculapius, before which the god of healing sits; in his hand is a scroll inscribed
CHEVALIER RUSPINI PALL MALL. The design is in the manner of Bartolozzi
and may even be his work, or that of one of his pupils, for he was not above
taking small commissions of this kind; though he made a substantial income he
could not manage to live within it, and was perennially short of cash. Indeed it
was the certainty of a regular income that tempted him, after the death of his
friend Cipriani, to accept the charge of the National Academy at Lisbon, where
he died in 1815. The Observer for 7 November 1802, announcing his departure
for Portugal, had this caustic comment: “We understand that the pecuniary
circumstances of this artist are somewhat equivocal, though no man had a better
opportunity of realising a splendid fortune. His generosity was always unbounded,
and frequently rendered him the dupe of impostors.” (Quoted in W. T. Witley’s
Art in England, 1928.) Bartolozzi found the change to his liking. Andrew W. Tuer’s
Bartolozzi and his Works tells how a Captain Owen met Bartolozzi after his arrival
in Lisbon and expressed astonishment that a man who could earn £1000 a year
in London should be content with a small pension in Lisbon.
To which Bartolozzi replied, “Ha! ha! In England I was always in debt for the
honours showered on my talents, and I was tired of work. Here I go to Court,
see the King, have my friends, and on my salary can keep my horse and drink my
wine: in London it would not allow me a jackass and a pot of porter.”
Beside the box and mirror may be seen an advertisement cut from the Courier,
for 16 January 1817, which reads thus:

A CARD. – The Chevalier Ruspini, Surgeon-Dentist to His Royal
Highness the Prince Regent, begs to inform the Nobility and his Patients
in general, that he has established his future residence at No 20, Pall-mall,
opposite Carlton House, where he and his Assistants may be consulted in
all the Branches of his Profession. His artificial Teeth, which combine the
ease of beauty and durability of nature, which desirable object he can now
accomplish on the most reasonable terms; likewise all his Medicines, may be
had as above, Wholesale and Retail.