Wabash express. [volume] (Terre-Haute, Vigo Co[unty], Ind.) 1841-186?, 1860-04-04

MERCANTILE LIBRARY AND Its OBJECTS OF ART
The most interesting place in the city
Of ST. Louis, is the Mercantile Library As.
sociation. and the most interesting objects
Of study in the Lecture room, are the spec
linens Of Art. Those specimens are some
Of them mastery. some Of them good, and
some of them Indifferent Some of them
are ancient, going back to the very earliest
history Of mankind ,--some are slightly an.
tique, but the most very modern.
The first specimen OF art which strikes
your attention as you enter the ante. room
Of the Library, is sculptured slab Of mar
bic. Hear eight feet square 1t was taken
some several years ago from one Of the ex-
cavated chambers of the palace Of MIN.
rod, a supposed suburb Of Nineveh, the
original seat Of the earliest empires, that Of
NimrOd, or the Assyrian. This city was
so ancient. that it did not exist ut the time
of Alexander the Great, and this specimen
Of the sculptOr's art, must have been fresh
from the chiscl 30 or perhaps 40 centuries
ago. II was sent 10 the Library Assoeia-
tion by the Rev ID. W. Marsh, mlssiopary
at Mosul, near Ninsveh was sawed into
small blocks and carried across the desert.
by the way Of Aleppo. TO Beyrout. aud
from thence shipped to this country II is
delightfully."- interesting to look upon this
rude specimen Of art Ii represents large
man who is surrounded on all sides bv
hieroglyphics. giving We have no doubt
his eventful history. The carving is rude.
evidencing the first steps 10 civilization.
1t is about equal TO the awkward specimens
Of the chisel found among the North Amer
Ican Indians, and its only interest a.
specimen Of art. is its great antiquity
Perhaps no specimen OF the chisel dates
back so far into the past as this enc. Its
history is written all over it. but the hier.
ologist does not live who can decypher IT,
Its letters and words and periods are the
mute language Of the past-the silent for
gotten words ofthe days of old. The mar
bic retains the symbol, but the minds TO
read it, had disappeared from the earth,
long before Moses led the children Of Is
rael from The land OF bondage, and centuries
and centuries before our Savior died for the
sins of a world
The next object Of interest ia the hall is
Miss Harriet Hosmer's Beatrice Cenci.-
This is glorious conception of this cele
brated American lady artist. 1t is full
size statue, Of sleeping woman, in mar
BILE. She is sleeping upon a couch, seeming
in an unhappy slumber. The very pillow
Of marble upon which her head rests, ap-
pears soft beneath the gentle pressure
Her face reposes upon her beautifully
moulded arm, and il seems to sink quietly
into the very marble which composes the
pillow. In her left hand she carelessly
holds a string of jewels and a cross. The
whole form is covered with light drapery,
81 gauzy IN its texture, that the "line Of
beauty" Of the whole form is plainly visi.
BILE. II is the perfection Of woman's beau
ty. as we'll as the sculptor's art. There is
world of genius in this beautiful creation
--nature's great masterpiece, peefect fe-
male form, is almost eclipsed by the master
touches of the chisel.
/ The reader of Italian history or OF Shell
ley will recollect the melancholy history of
Beatrice Cinci. She was young and beau
tiful woman who loved not wisely but too
well, "and was condemned to an ignomin-
ious death, aud when the priest went TO
announce to her that she was 70 die In the
morniny, he found her peacefully and
calmly asleep 10 her miserable cell."--
This is the moment seized upon by the ar
tist, aud nobly has she embodied in the
cold aud pulseless marble. that which al
most seems 10 pulsate with warm life
There is but one criticism TO this work
of art. The form is faultless. the face is
almost divine, but the head is the round
head Of a man, and not the long head Of a
toOmaR. The face is beautifully that OF a
woman, while the head is classically that
of man.
The next piece is by the same artist. her
"Gnone." This is an earlier piece Of Miss
Hosmer's. aud while there is not as much
to be admired as ia her Beatrice" still IL
is most beautiful. The history Of this
piece is woven in The mythology of the
Greeks. "GnOne was a nymph Of Mount
Ida. was married to Paris, the son Of Phi.
am, KING OF Troy. Being possessed oi
the gift of prophecy, she warned her hus.
band against his contemplated visit to
Greece-that visit which resulted in the
Trojan war and the ruin OF Troy by tn,
Greeks--but at the same time told him Il
, come to her, il wounded. ss she alont
could cure him" Paris, a. the reader O
, Homer aud Virgil well knows. fell in low
! with the BEAUTIFUL Helen was wounded b-
the arrows of Philoctetes and fled imme
! diately TO Gnone, but ehe, jralous of hi
/. /. love for Helen, refused to care him, al n
t died Too late she repented, aud ever al
terwards hung over his body, bathed il
) tears. This is the moment chosen by tn
/ artist. Gnoue l. in deep aud speeches
E grief at the death Of Paris She sits upoi
the ground, partly draped. her hands rest
: ing upon the turf to support her, while he
= sad melancholy face. is the very personifi
cation If silent heart felt anguish Tb
/, head is purely classic aud the hair whicl
is full. is supported by brilliant ban
|, encircling the head. Similar TO her Bes
! trice, the female form in this statue seem
e TO be almost iaultlcss. IL is of the pure.
e white marble. aud while not so maslerly a
4 the other. is equally as beautiful
n There is also life size statue Of Wet
o ster, in American marble, aud in civic CO:
: tune by yerhegen. The face d head is goo
i but not easy aud the attitude is unpleas
= antly tiresomo. IL is stiff, ungracefu
awkward, aud does not do half justice :
!" the great original.
y There are many other specimens OF bot
! the chisel aud the brush, but We have sp'
r. ken Of the most interesting.