Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-02-22

live Of the religion Of the Church OF kome, anu
of The scarce,v less elevated system OF the Hea'
then Mythology, upon which the ior"'e' n
NV INSTANCES seems 70 have been engrat'ed-
The gallery contains not less than twenty COPIES
Of the Madonna and her child, IN all Possioie
attitudes, with saints, martyrs, ana m"ae'
workers without number. If the artists haa
confined themselves TO illustrations OF ap.ro'
pirate passages OF the Holy Scriptures, Inc "esu.
tiful productions of their pencils migh' nav
tended 10 instruct as well as delight mah"i'u'
But their lmagina,ions have wantonea ~ un'e
stricted Nervousness; and instead oil e'e'a
the feelings and affections oil mor'aia ~ III.
skies. they have too often dragged re"s'o"
down 10 earth, and, like the tables OF tue a","".
poets, mingled gods with men NOT oh'y nav
they attempted to portray the virgin s"ls
her perhaps the features OF some ia!oo,''e "''
tress, with angels lowering around IN 'ne suise
Of Cupids no, only have they ventuiea 10 rep
resent the HOLY Ghost in material form, ana
the Saviour in all his divine m;nlstrations, rom
the cradle to tho cross, efforts sufficiently ooid
for the delineatons Of the pencil; but they na'p
dared to approach the throne of the Eternai I d
ther himself, and to clo,he him with human at
tributes One Of the descriptions OF the 8a any
~ has the following familiar designation: nc
Pere Eieynsl avec J Enfan Jesus, du G"src'no an
Ceato;" aud you attempted INA sc OIL 'ne
Def,y and the Son Of God, in The shape OF
bearded old man dandling and earessihg MS
child, while some Aippant cicerone speaks VIII"
the same lightness Of the costume, EXPRESSION
or cplouring, as in cr,icisng neighoourinS
Venus or Bacchus. However high may be the
conception Of the artist, his pencil must heces-
sarily degrade such a subject; and the speet a!or
turns away with horror and disgust. III The hne
avis are ever destined TO flourish in our own
country, I hope they may never assume this Ia
miliari,y with sacred subjects, hut leave reli-
con, as it now is, all intellectual and spiritual,
incapable OF being represented by sensible OBJ
| iects, without at the same time being denased
In examining this * other collections OF PIC
lures, another violation oil correct taste, In the
choice of subjects, struck me as equally oovl-
Gus Descriptive poetry, painting, anu scenic
| repl RESERVATIONS are kindred arts; anc 10 eac"
the same great principles Of criticism VIII APP
ply. In reading an epic, IN listening 10 ira :
gedy, or in contemplating picture, state o,
the mind called ideal presence is supposed, and
no scene or object can with propriety be INTRO
duced. which would shock or disgust real
spectator This rule is almost as old as the
arts themselves, aud as fixed as i, can be rem
oered by the hieest classical authorities. Vul-
gar curiosity alone car be delighted with afro
cious sDcctaces and scenes Of brutal violence,
however tragical they may be.
Let US for moment apply these principles
to numerous pictures found in this and every
other gallery al Genoa, as we'll as in all the
churches. In one group, are ST. Sebastian with
the arrows piercing his naked body: by Guido
st Thomas ,hrusting his hand into the bleed
ing wounds Of The Saviour: by Cappucino-
Cato running sword through his own body:
by Guercino AS if one copyo this last were
not sufficient, duplicate is found in another
w ID p Ipd i'll
SeIang head OF Holofornes, which ',aSe 'ne
discovered, and which she grasps by In. w.,
| ted hair: from the pencil of Paul VeroneseN
man holding serpents in his hands: by Manrre-
di-Cleopatra with the asp fastened on her
naked bosom, and her features distorted with
the agonies OF death: by Guerciho-The scourp-
! ing of the Saviour with the blood streaming
from his back: by Castillo. In short, these
images oil unnatural crimes and savage cruel
| ties, meet you at every turn. Now TO bring
| these works 20 the test-would any Of the above
| spectaclcs be tolerated upon the stage before a
refined audience? How has Mr.. Addison dis
posed Of this same Cato? Ha makes him per-
petrate the bloody deed in the ssclusion of his
| own closet, and when the news Of The shoe king
catastrophe is brought to Lucius, he very pro-
perry eXclaImS-
ooh Portlus,
H1s cNhshorrors Of Thy mournful tale,
find let US guess the rest"
But 10 bring the subject still more directly
home to the feelings, would any person of ordi.
nary taste be willingly an actual spectator Of
the scenes portrayed in any one of the above
mentioned pictures? aud if not, how can he
contemplate the delineation Of it with complai-
sancy? So far as the representation falls short
Of the reality, the painting is defective and fails
in its object.
With regard to my own feelings, the forego.
ing objections are well grounded; and almost
the only pleasure dcrlLkd from an examination
oil these splendid collections Of pictures con.
sisted in an admiration Of the initiative powers
and wonderful skill Of the artists-a pleasure
subordinate and mean in comparison with the
ennobling sentiments inspired by the subject.
Mr.. Eustace in his Classical Tour remarks,
that the history OF Genoa abounds in poe,ical
incidents, and he expressed his surprise that no
na'ive bards have arisen to weave them into |
song. With how much more propriety may |
this remark be applied to the kindred depart
ment oil painting, lin which Genoese artists both
in number and reputation, hold a respectable
rank: But by fault too common with men of