New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-04-17
The Rossiter Pictures.

Has New Orleans taste for art? In the
department of Music our city is without rival
in America. There is a strong similitude and
affinity between all the arts Music, Poetry,
oratory, Statuary, Painting, equally appeal to
the taste and the imagination of votaries; and
the same sensibilities which are gratifed by the
masterpieces Of the one will be moved by those
Of the others Why, then, do we not see those
crowds who hastened to listen to the sweet tones
of Sontag and of Rose Devries, or the bril-
liant compositions of Julien, likewise throng
the Armory Hall, where GALL judges of art will
say) are to be seen three masterpieces of the
exalted art of Painting 1t must be that their
great merits are not known; for all who have
looked at them confess their superiority to any
paintings ever exhibited in this city, except,
perhaps, the two of Debeuf.
Let US enter the room; the eye is at once
attracted by the gorgeous coloring of the grand
picture of the Captive Israelites by the Waters
of Baby lon.'' What living picture of Oriental
life! One would suppose that the artist must
have been born and brought up under the brill
liant sky of the East, and had his Imagination
imbued, from childhood, with its rich coloring--
so redolent is it of Eastern life, and SO true to ma
ture. How noble is that figure of Habakuk
He seems now to be meditating some of those
sublime prophecies, whose language Webster
pronounced the most sublime of compositions
at his feet, whose auburn hair one can scarcely
believe to be unreal, so soft and silky is it, And
how boldly does the head come out from the
canvas How perfect the perspective of the dist
ant city, rising in monumental grandeur beyond
the river, while, at the entrance of the arch
stands the stalwart figure of the soldier Of Neb-
uchadnezzar. How natural the attitude of the
mother of Mordicai, who points her son to the
new moon just seen in the evening sky, as the
emblem of hope to her nation cannot tress-
pass upon your columns in describing even one
of these magnificent creations of art, much less
enlarge on that other master piece, ssThe
Dove returning to the Ark two figures Of
/ which, alone, would suffice to immortalize tht
name of Rossiter Observe Noah, the type o
/ the prophet, whose noble countenance and atti
tude embody the idea of faith, while that of th,
wife of Japhet does that of beauty and depotion
The sole motive of this article is to call tn,
attention of our art loving citizens to these
beautiful pictures; for while beholding them
their minds will be ennobled to something like
a true conception of the great events and holy
characters there depicted All hail to thee
| American Genius! An unknown lover of art
| halls thee from the Crescent City, as one des.
tined to reflect honor on his country, and per.
haps in another age be crowned the Titan Of
America! owe thee this feeble testimonial
for thy noble pictures have awakened the sen
sibilities of my soul, and have revealed to it il
| colors that will never die, three of the grea
facts Of Christian story; and my memory is en-
riched with the ideas of beauty and grandeur
which it shall possess forever. Citizens of Neg
! Orleans! honor American art and improve
yourselves in studying these emenatons 0
talent AMATEUR