The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-11-14
SUGGESTIVE PICTURES.
Written for the Democrat

| BY the aid Of the potent enchanter Imagin
alton, produces from one picture series o.
others.
have stood before Madonna of Ra
phael, and let the throng Of sweet and
solemn fancies evoked by its celestial beauty
pass on unchecked have studied the look
Of ineHable love and awe with which the
human mother watches the Divine Child
the mingliDg Of maternal tenderness and
religious adorstion expressed IN every Inca
ment Of her chastely beautiful face, and the
sweet spiritual gravity Of the babes holy
countenance, until picture after picture o.
Heaven and its far bright gloTes, each
brighter end mere glorious than the prece
ding, have risen up and been daguerotyped
upon my heart by the sun-like power ofthe
artists genius and methought had the
gift to reproduce on canvass the fair visions
floating before my "mind's eye" I could
excel even Raphael's self by pictures Of this
that heavenly region to which Raphaels
genius had exalted me.
Then, turning from the mightiest Of the
masters-he, whom even Michael Angelo
acknowledged as his superior-the savage
grandeur Of some scene,by Salvador Rosa
arrests the eye and in moment the ex.
ahed soul sinks from the heaven it's upward
fight had reached, and all its imaginings
are of the earth earthly. In those stupen-
dous mountains-in those towering forests
lin that laundering cataract, we recognize
the vastness, the sublimity, the supremacy
Of matter! and in those pigmy forms Of
bandits lurking on those mountain heights,
we see Man dwarfed before the giant power
Of Nature. What stories those picturesque
dark forms, and their savage and grand
surroundings call upl Imagination waves
her magic wand, aud scenes Of wild adven-
ture, Of hair-breath scapes, and perils dire,
arise. We see company Of travellers
slowly ascending the rugged road leading
to yon mountain top. One is q gentle
girlish fern, and at her bridle-rein moves a
handsome gallant cavalier whose tender
| glances, and hand ever ready to guide, to
warn, to protect from even the semblauce
Of danger, proclaim the devoted lover or
husband. How perfect, how profound
seems the solitude around! The water
falls distant dash--the scream Of the eagle
rising from his lonely eyry-the low Of
Scattered herds ascending from the wales
below to seek the scanty heritage these
are the sole sounds that disturb the solemn
stiffness. When bark! shrill whoop
breaks on the startled ear--the crack Of q
carbine proclaims near, deadly foe-the
guides and muleteers have fallen or fed
the dark robbers Of the Apennines have
surrounded and captured the travellers
Then we see the interior Of the robbers
cave-the freight flashing on cleaning
arms, fierce forms, and swarthy faces the
fair bride and her husband stand bound
before the dark-eyed chief, whose sombre
brow is shaded by q wide sombrero and
black dropping plumes. The demand for
enormous ransom is made-instant death
the penalty Of refusal. The brave gentle
man de6es the lawless wretches to do their
worst, and the ready pistol rises to his
breast. With cry for mercy his bride
throws herself on his bosom to protect him
land the scene vanishes! That wild
shrek broke the spell, and of the so-lately
busy scene nothing remains but the canvass
on which our eye has all this time been
abstractedly fixed. Then some calm bright
landscape Of Claude Lorraine chains our
attention; and sweet visions rise Of happy
home-life in those smiling villages, beneath
those golden skies-the blue sheen Of that
placid lake-the sunny ripeness Of those
yine.clad hills-tbe happy calm content
ment Of existence in such scene.
a.Oh," we sigh, "could We but pass our
lives in such spot as this how sweet how
peaceful would they glide along till the
broad river bears US to the ocean of eter-
nifty"
But among all the paintings Of great
masters | have never seen more suggest
i've picture than simple vignette affixed to
q copy Of cur national lyric-The Conquer
ed Banner.
In the foreground is the Conquered Ban
ner-that glorious flag which Aoated wide
over so many victorious felds--now with
its torn and tattered folds dropping
dreary" from its bent aud broken staff
On the ground, near by, lies sword snap
ped in twain--a dismounted cannon-a
heap Of rusty cannon-balls--a dilapidated
caisson, and over all these signs Of a noble,
though unfortunate, struggle for freedom,
the long dank grass waves mournfully in
the wind. Dark boding clouds gather
above the picture, and in the background
the setting sun sinks redly to his rest, even
as the sun Of hope went down upon our
strife his bright beams quenched in blood.
The sun of Austerlitz that refused to shine
on Waterloo, was not more typical Of the
broken hopes and failing fortune Of the
Child of Destiny, than that sinking orb,
whose last rays oflight illumined Peters
burg, seemed to my eyes expressive Of the
deep night of sorrow and disaster over.