The Press.
London, England, 1853-08-13 00:00:00

1:1:ENC1I FItESCO PAINTINGS.

AFTER the construction of buildings, their pictorial
adornment in fresco is the most important tines-
tion,—one bearing largely on the education and
reereation of the people. In France art has been
largely encouraged by almost every succeeding (4)-
I.m-foment, and our Parrs contemporaries justly ob-
serve that the average price paid now for a pletare to
the lending artists of the day is far higher than that
obtained formerly ley the rarest talent. Nicolas
Ponssin, the first painter of France, obtained for his
Penitence" only WM yens Itomains, viz., Ltltrif.,
while the present price for a good pieture in Furls is
10,11(/Of. This general liberality on the part of tin.
vernment not private individuals has mightily re•
llected on public works and their decoration. Thum,
the e• Ilomi•rn" of M. Ingres. in the Music Charles
X., is one of the finest phsfundst ever painted in
molten) times. The three chapels of Notre I►ame de
Lorette, painted by Messrs. (lased, linger, and l'enin,
bear also is very high character. To the same class
belong the mural paintings of the IlAtel de Ville by
Messrs. Lehmann, Leon Bentonville, Calomel, Lendel,
and Chopin. In a similar way the Kglise de la
Villete has been orna►nented by M. Itain►ond, and the
Chapel de Saint Severin by M. Selinete—works which
outstrip all that has been attempted in other capitals
of Europe. These works have now received a
worthy accession in the fresco paintings of M. Signal
in the Eglise St. Eustuche, as well as that remark-
able decoration of the interior of the Church
of St. Vincent de Dane by Messrs. Picot and
Fharlain. In the latter edifice the architect, M.
llittdorf; has followed the plan of the Latin Bud
liens, and it was required that the pictorial ornamen-
tation should he adapted thereto. In placing our-
se•lves in the tuition° of the great nave, and directing
our steps toward: the entrance, we see on the frieze
the apo,tles St. l'etet• and I'aul, who from the height
of aplatform pruelanu their faith, and command those

who profess and cherish it already to spread it over
the whole world. Groups of men and women are
depicted on that part of the frieze which extends to
the altar. On the hemispheric surface of the abside
appears the figure of Jesus Christ, in a sitting pos-
ture, with en angel at each side, iu the act of bless-
ing the world. The size of the principal figure is
about twenty-five and that of the angels is ten to
twelve feet. Notwithstanding the multiplicity of de •
tails, the pictures of Picot and Flandain in St. Yin-
cent de Paul breathe a great repose and unity of com-
position. For the sake of avoiding the uniformity of
a prooession of persons marching one after the '
other, the artist has availed himself of some an- '
cient models—for instance, the pieture of St.
Apollinarius at Ravenna. The works (if M. Signal
in the Eglise St- Eustache next call for notice.
This gentleman, far from following or abiding
by the trivial taste of the rulguire, endeavours
constantly to satisfy his conscience I IS an artist,
and the taste of the most refined. The fres-
coes alluded to are placed at the entrance of the
Chapelle des Catechistnes. To the left is the infant
Jesus teaching the Doctors, and above this panel the
personification of Theology. In the middle of the
vault is a circular opening, whieh lights the peristyle,
and in the four divisions of this vault are the four
Apostles, and the emblems of the first Communion and
the Confirmation. It is with respectful awe that one
looks at these paintings ornamenting places of wor-
ship, where the holiness of the place admonishes the
U•ne artist of his great scope and vocation. But the
more tangible qualities of the pictures of M. Signal in
St. Enstache are also of a high order, as the infant
.Jesus atnidst the learned exhibits a happy mixture
of sublimity, and mild, innocent nature. Thus,
whatever distaste and frivolity may rule at the French
Exhibition, there is yet in reserve a sacred battalion
of artists, as it were, who, in the silence of their
ateliers, or on the walls of holy shrines, or other
places devoted to serious thought., or even to recrea-
tion, do not forget the high vacation of the painter.
—[ Abridged from an article by M. Delecluze in the
Journal des Libats.]