The little boy stood at the door with some drawings in his
hand. "What do you want with me?" asked the sculptor. "I want,
sir, if you please, to be admitted to draw at the Academy." Banks
explained that he himself could not procure his admission, but he
asked to look at the boy's drawings. Examining them, he said,
"Time enough for the Academy, my little man! go home--mind your
schooling--try to make a better drawing of the Apollo--and in a
month come again and let me see it." The boy went home--sketched
and worked with redoubled diligence--and, at the end of the month,
called again on the sculptor. The drawing was better; but again
Banks sent him back, with good advice, to work and study. In a
week the boy was again at his door, his drawing much improved; and
Banks bid him be of good cheer, for if spared he would distinguish
himself. The boy was Mulready; and the sculptor's augury was amply
fulfilled.
The fame of Claude Lorraine is partly explained by his
indefatigable industry. Born at Champagne, in Lorraine, of poor
parents, he was first apprenticed to a pastrycook. His brother,
who was a wood-carver, afterwards took him into his shop to learn
that trade. Having there shown indications of artistic skill, a
travelling dealer persuaded the brother to allow Claude to
accompany him to Italy.
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