The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-09 00:00:00

CBIMENTI'S PICTURES,

The old adage that there is nothing new under L9O;
sun would seem to have received another and unloolied'faie
confirmation. We all know that the effect of relief prode hi
by the stereoscope is owing to binocular vision, wherevio
two copies of the same object planed side by side melt I°4
one. Those who are familiar with the history of the
arts i
are also aware that there lived at Florence in the
ginning of the 17th century an artist, Jacopo Chimer es,
Empoli, who died in 1640, and who, though not so unite I
sally known as the great masters, has left a few veil
pictures in some of the churches of the Tuscan °spitted
dispute has arisen between Processor Emerson, of A'
University, 'U.S., ;and Sir David Brewster, about
tail, drawings of that old master, executed in dello
like stereoscopic photograhs, and which, vi' rt 4
through the stereoscope, appear in relief, Profel:e
Emerson attributes this effect to accident, and roe,'
" Let any one execute a pen-and. in.k sketch, 'nty
then let him make as perfect a copy of it as he can with >a
careful measurements ; now place these two drawing° 14
the stereoscope, and you get the same kind of effect 06112,
the Chimenti drawings." Sir D. Brewster, on the 0014;0
considers these drawings to be a proof that sterouscopi td#
been attempted as far back as the 17th century, and seler
ingly replies in this month's Philosophical Magazineb_Al
ing Professor Emerson whether he himself has execute"; lie
such sketch and obtained the required relief, or who o'oo
over made a correct copy of one or other of the Ch'' 0040
drawings, and if he did, why he did not advise any one tee
the same, and thus obtain the only satisfactory proof °' 000
relief's being accidental? Sir D. Brewster had been tA6 re'
of the masters of the School of Art at Edinburgh, o°7 Op
quested him to obtain from his pupils copies of each °,`
Chimenti drawings. Of the six copies thus obtaineofroe
one could produce in the stereoscope the effect of the
menti drawings. This at once did away with the oPi:110
that one of the drawings might be Chimenti's, and tht",
its side a copy of one of his pupils. Sir D. BreOie
now defies Professor Emerson to produce one resols
ib
a hundred sketches by different individuel: ys
which the stereoscopic relief exists at all ;
to Chimenti, it may be asked what led so e°l. t,lO
an artist to make so uninteresting a sketch t 5
oe
of a man sitting upon a stool with a pair of come)°,
one hand and a string in the other; what led hiut t° do(
a copy of it the very same size, and without any chef:it:l
improvement whatever; what led him to preserve elle-eleca,
interesting pictures; and, above all, what led him t° 'tev
those two figures side by side, and in such a insulter, PC'
the instant they were seen by an intelligent trove t°
Crum Brown, he conceived they were intended ectie
brought into relief by binocular vision, tol
,d re(
ally brought them into stereoscopic relief
y ofe'
tiring and combining the two separate pictures. ef
over these drawings were executed about 1620, at tl/ see
when Baptista Porta had called the attention of phil°°'is
to the subject of binocular vision, and had sh°gllterf,
diagram so far resembling a stereoscopic slide that ealrif 1);
objects, that is, objects in relief, were seen binocular
the combination of a right-and-left-eye picture Oh, doff
Dr. Brewster states, in conclusion, that Professor f*. je
Director of the Industrial Museum of Scotland, s°'W.,; to
turn-out of the Museum at Liverpool, what ApPOred to r
a stereoscope, bearing the date of 1670, and eupPoOe
of Italian origin I
/3
lee►ra 0!
ACCIDENT TO SIR JAMES WILDS.--We re.
Sir James Wilde, the judge of the Divorce Court, hslos
with an accident of a somewhe t serious nature. W. WO
week thrown (Jut of an open caeriage, and received I°.' fell!
so severe that he is still unable to leave his bed, th°:010
will, we are assured, shortly be able to discharge ILls
duties. „e teP
PROBATE AND DIVORCE.—W /3 are rcq--°A-viliA
°
state that, owing to an accident, Sir Jail pee
will be prevented sitting in Chambers or in Court °.31013
day, Jan. 12. The summonses and motions vil2"„
a eit
wo
fixed for that day will, should the judge be at le
vipe ci,l
taken on Saturday the 16th. The probate causeset
juries will be taken on Friday, the 22d. Wo refer e ore
that the learned judge was last week thrown out ofet; tee:,
carriage and received injuries so severe that :6eiteet'
unable to leave his bed, though he will, we area
,
portly be able to discharge his public duties. 0011
Whoso bathes his hand in blood, 11101
with tears, says a German, Proverb.