The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-11-18
THE FINE ARTS.

TIrIAN.-W. Holman Hunt, in a second
letter to the London AuenBuJn, indicates the
damage which is done to the works of Titan
and other old masters by restorers and CO.
pyists:-
FLoRKNcE. October, 1S6S.-In my last letter
concerning the state OF the Titan Venus had
to express hope that something would be
done TO arrest what is simply the premature
,Dedring out of the picture. l now feel com
PEELED TO complain, not only of mere want of
attention, but Of carelessness of what, indeed,
without full recognition of the religious deter
mination in the Florentine to take life easy
himself, and then to make IL so for his friends
at any unprotesting cost, might be called abso-
Lutte Indifference to the value Of many of the
great works of whose authorship and pos
session the Italians have to boast. l should
1 be most uDgrateful here, speaking for my
compatriots, if allowed my remarks to sug-
gest that the Tuscan urbanity was not for
foreigners as well as for natives, for we GER
tainly are obliged in nc niggsrdly spirit but
in the interest of the great dead we are equally
called upon to spare such wasteful indulgence,
under dread of the scornful sentence of "the
living yet to live" The evil is one which,
with the new order of things in Italy, is, per-
haps, fast disappearing; but with all the speed
Of the reformation the pictures are suffering
not slowly; and feeling this, believe many an
Italian would rejoice if the power of this letter
could be increased thousandfold to arrest the
| existing abuses.
In the Grand Duke days it was no uncom-
mon thing for a precious heirloom of art in
perfectly good and brilliant condition to be re-
moved for three or four months to undergo
process OF restoration. When the custodian
and the restorer were satisfied with the
amount of reparations bestowed upon the
work, and upon tbs claims they had esta-
blished on the public purse, the Titan or Tin
toretto was brought back Respondent with
varnish, with the background IN some cases
considerably changed in tone, and even in
extent, insomuch that loose curls and objects
that f1oated away from the figure were alto
gether cut away; and l am assured by no
doubtful authority that this process was not
alone applied to the background, but even to
the most important parts of the picture. Ger
| tainly no personal authority is needed for
these tacts but it is well to know of them
from an eyewitness, to excuse oneself for
being disappointed with works which
once enjoyed, and which still with the
| traditiOnally prejudiced enjoy, the great
. est reputation. The higher order of
honor in public men of this day makes this
! in part a matter of the past; but l mention
it because the remarkable fact in the case is
mot the dishonesty, it is the apathy to the sacred
i worth of work which for three, four, or five
Zcenturies has won the tribute Of admiration
from succeeding generations; and of this |
have to maintain, still see many painful ex
amples in the practices in vogue IN the gale
ries in this city. In no English or French
/ galleries that know are the pictures ever
taken off the wall for the convenience of COPY
fists. Until the nation provide better galleries
than the mserably dark Utizi and Pitt for
the paintings, it may certainly be desirable to
take them down for the convenience of artists
competent to repeat their beauties for the en-
joyment of people of other countries aud
times. The German gentleman mentioned in
| l.. 1zkA a..
| also the native copyist who has succeeded him,
and Gallait, who some years since made some
duplicates of Titians here, or perhaps any
serious, properly prepared student might bs
INDUCED Che first of all, I should say, if
believed, as some do, that extensive copying
| is desirable as exercise for young rtists) but
| now in the majority of instances, the oppor-
! tunity is altogether thrown away. What
could it matter to the gentlemen and ladies
who paint their flesh of one uniform pink
color, with brushes held down by the hair,
that the pictures shoud be not level with the
eye in brilliaat light? To place Raphael
or Titan on three-legged easel in the
middle of a room, with idle men and women
with long skirts moving about as in fashion
able lounge, for such copyists, is, to say the
least, to run a risk altogether out of proper
tion to the advantage gained. know Of valu-
able pictures which, within the last few years,
have in this way had holes made in them
holes now repaired, but not without lrrepar-
Able loss to the paintings. When even the
privilege is properly accorded, why cannot the
I pictures always be placed as the Titan
T.Venus" now is, corded off in the corner Of
the room With this abuse remedied, l
should still have one more favor to beg, .. G.
that the best pictures be covered with glass;
for the attendants exercise their own provin-
cial amiability so unrestrainedly, that they
sit by, conversing the while an old palsied
painter holds up a trembling palette-knife
charged with Shiny color within half an inch
of the original he is copying. Again l am
limiting at NO merely imaginary but very
possible evil. l have seen bits of paint on ar
picture deposited in this manner; and am
sorry to have to add, it is no unfrequen
thing for the copyists to take theil
own busters and wipe the pictures whenever il
pleases them, and that in this manner five
curved scratches, still perfectly distinct
which traverse nearly the whole picture
crossing the face were made en- the varnisE
Of Titisn's "Flora" nearly two year:
ago-a piece of dry bread being in the hand
kerehiei used by copyist.
w. HOLMAN HUNT.