Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-03-21
AN ARTIST ABROAD.
In the first place cigars are cent and

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! continent, and have not caught up witt
{ il yet. We are domieiled on the thirt
L 9piano of house in the Via del Ba
! buino, enjoying, as one -four party says
= our " dolce far niente polenta." w,
3 have our meals sent in from Nazzari's 's
! and so get rid of the bother of house
keeping. [ have a studio near the Piaz
? q "a del Popolo; but do not do much
and do not intend to, for | came to play
and only work when impelled to. Yor
4 viii laugh when / tell you that 1 an
painting picture of American woods
| was home-sick until / got at it, and
since that time have been all right.
| have not seen much, as yet, excep,
the landscape around Rome, which in.
terests me. L am going to !" do" the
churches and the galleries, and learn
how to rattle away on Titan and Paul
Veronese, Raphael, Michael Angelo, and
the rest. l know but little of those old
! fellows, and it will never do to go home
f without being well loaded with good say
ings of them and their works. r
insists on it that we must see the anti
quities that we must visit the Via
Efiuyia Notwithstanding all the Was
here are efiuYious enough, the fountain
of Diptheria, the tombs of the Vermi-
eelli, the temple of Materia Medica, and
the column Of Suspicious Spurious. The
injunction is that we must get ourselves
up in antiquities, in order to know who
passed the Rubicon, and whether it
caused the battle of Pharsalia, and why
Hannibal was shying around Rome,
camping out on fat places on the noun
tains in short, to clear up all the fOggy
/ points relating to the doings Of antiquity
| shall not, therefore, have much time
to paint, and may lose the benefit of the
sensation of large picture 1 intended
for the spring exhibition of the acade-
my.
We find ourselves, one way and anoth-
er, considerably taken down in Rome.
Twas out riding the other day, and,
as sculptor, he was much struck
with the picturesque way in which the
peasants wear their cloaca- -maximas.
My studio is not in palace. | thought,
before l came here, that it was impossi-
bic to live in any other tenement. l
fully expected to see crowd of princes
to greet me at the railway station on the
arrival of the train, and no end of pal
aces to be had at ruinous prices-to their
owners. | expected to have my wife
hang over a marble balustrade, and gaze
down the Torso for ten dollars a month,
including cheap and lively time during
the carnival Ny dreams are dissipated
Wood costs four dollars an armfull, and
a good deal of it has to be consumed if
you don't want TO freeze. Rent is regu-
lated on a similar scale, according to
freedom from damp rooms and the num-
Der of steps one has to climb to get at
sunshine. Suppose that oranges do grow
down in the back yard, and roses
bloom on the Pincio-I care not; l am
cold /; let 'em bloom if they choose; it
would be more sensible to take winter
nap, as they do in America. Besides, /
want something else. / want broiled
salt mackerel for breakfast, and sigh for
one of the studio building beefsteaks |
just think Of it, that in this classic and
artistic land they know not the juicy |
beefsteak Ef1ss
T. met western man at hotel |
in Paris, who asked him, with a growl, |
" How do you like your potatoes with
out butter p must confess that have !
fellOw-feeling with that chap. l met
the same man here in Rome in a state Of |
deep disgust. He could not speak a
word Of Italian, and had courier who |
was deVouring him. He was eager to
get back to America. He informed me
one day on the Pincio, in low whisper
and looking carefully around him, that
"he'd like to put keg of powder under
it and blow the whole thing to II need
not say where. He left me in a fearful
state Of speculation as to whether he
meant Rome in particular or Europe in
general. But, as l stated above, | want
something simple to eat. used to be
fond of French cookery, when it was in
troduced as a pleasant episode, among
American dishes; but now I shudder at
truffies and shake at mushrooms, and |
would crawl willingly up and down the
Scala Santa for half-dozen Shrewsbury |
oysters As for the Lucrine oysters,
did | not prrtake of peck of them at
Baie with the satisfaction of experience
ing only a slight briny taste in my
mouth ? They might have answered old
Horace and Lucullus well enough, but
they, poor souls, never heard Of Shrews-
bury.
Once in while there comes a waif
of genial air of friendship from my ma
tive land in the shape of a valued letter.
l cannot we'll get on without it. Itoc-
ours to me that what want for a Apll,
constant Leart-heaviness il a piece of
rickety old New York dock plank un-
der the soles of nay boots. 1t is so very
drawing G-'s brother tells of a
fellow in his regiment, down South dur
ing the war, blubbering one day and
wishing that he was in his fathers |
barn |" 'SWhy?" said one of his com
panions to him. Well, I'd go into the
house darned quickP' Sometimes l |
would like to be in my friends barn
when | think of my friend on the other
side, of the good times we have had to-
gether, the fresh, free life we led, and
the absence of mold, damp, decay and |
stagnation that seem to surround every
thing here.
am having a good time, but it is en-
haneed by the happy thoughtofa speedy |
return. | am an intense American, and !
more so than ever before. 1t is well to |
come and see these storied lands, but it |
is no place for me to live in. People
write and describe them Colour de rose
Photographs are clean and sweet, but
they give no idea Of that which cannot |
be photographed. One comes here with
a false idea Of home, which at first sub /
jects you to a bitter disappointment
you have to live here some time in or
der to get accustomed to the filth, aud
vile habits of the people, the dirty halls
and stairs, and the knavery, thievery,
and extortion. After this you take
Rome as it is, stripped of all its imagin-
airy beauties, and then yoa begin 70 en-
JOY it.