New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-05-20

.,o,,ra which cluster vague and awful and majes-
80 ..soc;ations-which is true Of all the striking
events of Scripture history--he should well con-
alder the shadowy critics for whom he pants
no sbould be anxious and fearful lest he de stroy
the grandeur of the impression by stripping away
its Illuminated clouds. Nothing less than Mac
beth would have suficed for the wild Scottish le-
rcnd; nothing less than Romeo and Juliet for the
airy Italian story. Therein the Masters showed
themselves Masters that they seized these weird
and winning traditions, for which the mind IN
stinctivey demands twilight and an INFINITE hori-
zon. and so magnifcently moulded them into ne"
and imperial forms, that the stores themselves
w;tbered away and were forgotten. This. Is the
.cone If the task, and this the test of every WORK
which seeks to treat subjects Of certain charac-
40, and magnitude. l. the fierce vision of the
Hebrew Prophet made more palplble-is the
wrath of Jehovah impressed more deeply-is the
lesson Of the event more sternly urged by TINS
n;cture than it has been before! If not, it fills no
Mace. However skillful, it is then only story
told BY talent, not poem glowing with lnsplra-
ton. 49,
There is one other point in which this picture
seems to us to fall in view of the highest require
ments of Art The choice Of subject in picture
should always be such that the sympathy oil
the spectator must coincide with the intent OF the
work. If it is impossible, in the nature OF the
case, to secure that sympathy, then the SUBJECT
should be passed by the artist, not the subject
for his talent. This must be obviously so, or there
is mental conflict in the spectator which is de-
structiye to tine unity OF effect in the work. To
..f,r 60. l. m IN
Destruction Of Jerusalem. In that picture sym
patby is nee essarily excited for the Jews who
have been overtakcn by tragical fate, which VIII
scatter them foreyer--for the despair and misery
Of the inoflensive victims and for the shattered
pride of the leaders. Moreover, that sympathy Is
deepcned by the reflection that there was no inst
reason for the Roman inyasOn-that 1t was the
fight Of men upon their own ground for their own
institutions and homes-indeed the whole weight
Of sympathy would seem to have been cast IN favor
of the Victims Now had this been the whole,
were there nothing to balance the instructive sym
patty for the sufferers, the picture would be fail
IRE, because its aim is to represent the Destruc-
ton of Jerusalem event developing the pro-
gress of human destiny, and il the spectator was
mainly grioved for the fall of the old order his feel
ing would not be enlisted for the new But 50 mas
terry is the management of this picture that It
avoids that effect, and thereby magnlhes Its tn
umph. The holy peace that leads away the Chris
tan family ON the right, leads Hope also, INTO
a happy Future, and leaves the mind content. -,
too, above the Christian group-as if the spirit
underuy the substance and materiameans-Titus
and his lctors enter upon the scene, stern and
Ham
Civilization aud :" the long result of Time fol-
low. Thus the unity Of the work is maintained,
and its triumph made more triumphant.
This unity is wanting in the picture under consid
Grafton. The sympathy ofthe spectator is ON the
wrong side. IL is not wi h the Prophet who com
mands all the brute force upon the earth and the
sharp ightnings in the air to accomplish a ven
yeance but il is with the miserable host cornered
in the mountain defle by supernatural foes. The
feeling is this If power at war with another
power, and having at its command all the forces
and furcs OF nature, consents to use those forces
against that other power, then human instinct
directly sides with the weaker party. This il
does constantly in the old Jewish history. The
Jehovah, as he appears in the records, and as he
always appears TO the mind of fierce people, is
an omnipotent autocrat, human ruler with all
his pride and passions magnifcd into divine King.
Consequently, and owing to this mistaken idea, the
rebels against his authority, being mere men,
fighting with swords and slaves, instantly appeal to
our compassion when this ruler wakes wroth and
opens the terrible arsenlls of nature to CRAFTY his
vengeance. The whole matter is reduced to the
lion aud the mouse. The greater has no
rghf IN no aouoyob NV tho laScar and &c ha - not
to meet him in fair fight but with every odds against
him, is to lose all dignity and sympathy. This
is the fatal defect of these misconceptions. They
outrage the human heart. The mind reooils from
acknowledging felow-humanity with that figure
upon the rock imprecating this terrific curse OF
nature upon the miserable Cog and his host. A
man who would use such power as an instrument
OF achieving wrethflll vengeance is monster. In
paroxysms of insane rage men do sometimes n-
woke an awful fate upon the object of their hate,
but if they knew that such fate could by any pos
sbil&y overtake that foe, would not the words
fail upon the lips and those lips whitcn lfthis
is true OF an ordinary man in moments when lac
is less than man, what shall be said ola Prophet
Of God in the full solemnty of selfpossession not
only invoking that fate but experimenting its ac-
complshment
The reader must remember that the historical
facts have nothing to ito with the point. 4 work
OF Art is something more than presentation of
facts Ii is the treatment of facts with their sig
ni6cance made manifest. The Artist must not
conclude because his subject is mentioned in the
Bible, that it therefore implies true artistic ma
terial; he should consider what is there m this
circumstance, of universal signGcanco-,,hat is
there which, properly treated will be sure to com
mand universal sympathy. 1.-The does not do this
he may paint picture which may be technically
true, but which viii not he great WORK Ii, for
example, an Indians idea OF the Great Spin, is
true, and the Great Spirit requires victims to De