A Very few years ago the idea of an exhibition, iu London, of the works of living foreign painters would have been considered such an invasion of the privileges and rights of our own artists, as to justify, I or at least to call forth, an expression of public dis'approbation, on the ground that the craft of our countrymen was in danger. Yet during the last four or five seasons wc have regularly had in the metropolis an exhibition of French Art; wc have also seen two of German pictures, and two of Belgian, and all favourably received: still the demaud for the ; productions of the English school has not diminished, nor, as it seems to us, has the influenoe of the foreign schools in the least degree affected our own style aud character. There cau scarcely be a doubt that some advantage would be gained by our own artists were they to imitate the careful drawing and refinement of manner which generally distinguish the works of the French painters in particular; yet we should regret to see the bold, vigorous, and natural style characteristic of the former, exchanged, absolutely, for w hatever excellences are possessed by the latter. In these exhibitions of French paintings, the highest departments of Art have invariably been but feebly represented: true, examples were seen of the works of Delaroche, Ingres, Ary Scheffer, Yernet, and other magnates of the Paris Academy; but, with a few exceptions only, these examples were not of an order to show the power of the respective artists, who appear to have lent their names to the exhibition rather than their genius: historical Art has been loth to cross the Channel which divides the two countries, aud would not expose herself to the chilling influences of our English atmosphere. The pictures which, as a rule, have constituted the attraction and the strength of the gallery in Pall Mall, arc small figure subjects, elegant in conception aud exquisite in execution—boudoir pictures, fit only to hang in apartments whose owners "live delicately." The artists who excel in these productions "arc the Molicrcs and the Corncilles of their school; there is a grace in their conception which renders them always agreeable objects of contemplation; we mix with pleasure in their causeries and coteries, because their reunions are in the best taste of the dramatic masters whom they follow." This class of painters has appeared again within the last few years; they may be considered as disciples or followers—though at a long interval of time—of that to which belonged the old Dutch artists, Terburg, Metzu, Mieris, and Gerard Douw; but the taste and refinement of the French artists far eclipse these qualities in the works of their foreign predecessors, an advantage gained by the superior grace and elegance of the models from which they work, and from the condition of society that characterises the two countries respectively, and the periods in which the painters lived: Art of this kind is but the reflected image of the customs and manners of the people among whom it has its existence. Autoinc Emile Plassan, the painter of "The Footbath," holds a conspicuous position among these French artists: he is a native of Bordeaux, and, in 1852, gained a medal from the AcadSmie des Beaux Arts for genre painting. Since the establishment in London of the "French Exhibition," as it is popidarly called, he has been a regular contiibutor to the gallery, usually sending three or four little "boudoir pictures," such as that here engraved; the titles of a few of these will show the class of subjects to which he devotes his pencil:—" The Concert;" "Lady and Ijip-dog j" "A Young Girl purchasing Fruit;" "The F'irst Whisper of i/ove;" "The Message," &c. kc. "The Foot-bath" was exhibited in 1854: like the other works of this artist, it is almost a marvel of delicate manipulation and high finish; the composition is very elegant, though the lady shows some small degree of affectcdness in her attitude and action; this, however, cau scarcely be considered a venial offence under the circumstances iu which she is placed. Her Jille-dechambre is as graceful a representation as the mistress. The drawing of the figures is perfect. It is in the collection at Buckingham Palace.

AN EXTREMELY RARE PRINT ! VERY HARD TO FIND! .