The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-03-13
Communicated. J
Art and Artists.
PoRTRAITPAINTISG

Portrait painting Is vulgarly stigmatlzc d
as branch Of the art devoted to the gratih-
cation of vanity. | can say most conscien
tiously that the fur greater number of ap.
plicants for portraits are those who submit
to the ceremony Of sitting for the gratiiica-
ton Of others, and the portrait painter has
generally the satisfaction Of knowing that
he cxerts his skill In behalf of the best feel
ings Of our nature. The painter Of minia-
lures has, perhaps even more than the
painter in large, this satisfaction; and al
though the painter In oil and on q large
scale not unfrequently feels as If he stood
higher than his brother, whose delicate and
exquisitely touched work is dependent on
more seemingly fragile materials, yet we
know that the works of Trott and Malone,
Brown and Rogers, shumway, Inman,
Ingham, and Cumming, and the delicate
productions of Miss Hall on ivory have, and
will for years to come, raise sensations In the
besoms of those who gaze on them, which
may rival any excited by the works Of their
brethren that are displayed In gallery and
hall. The contemptuous expression of ga
faded miniature" will often meet the eye;
but l know that n miniature painted by an
artist like Mr.. Cummings, aud treated as
miniatures ought to be-that is, kept as We
keep jewels, only for occasional gratinca-
tion-wlll lose neither force nor freshness
for centuries. The best portrait we have Of
one of England's greatest men, once n Re-
publican and always q friend to the most
precious Of lberty-''liberty Of nscence"-
Oliver Cromwell, is the miniature by Cooper.
Dunlap.
INFLUENCE OF ART on RELIGION.
Much attention has lately been directed to
the subject of religious art, and we are now
In possession Of all kinds Of interpretations
and classiGcations Of 1t, and Of the leading
facts Of Its history. But the greatest ques-
ton of all connected with II remains entirely
unanswered What good did 1t do to real
rellgionl There is no subject into which
should so much rejoice to see serious and
conscientious inquiry lnstltu ed rs this; an
inquiry, neither undertaken In artstlcal en-.
thusasm nor in monklsh sympathy, but
logged, merciess and fearless. love the
religious art of Italy as we'll as most men
but there is q wide difference between loving
1t as a manifestation Of individual feeling
and looking to ii as an instrument of popu
lar benefit. | have not knowledge enough
to form even the shadow of an opinion OF
this latter point, and | should be most CRATE
full to any one who would put It in my power
to do so. There are, as 1t seems to me, three
distinct questions to be considered. The first
What has been the effect Of external splen
dor on the genuneness and earnestness o
Christian worship The second: What is the
use of pictorial or sculptural representation
In the Communication Of Christian historical
knowledge, or excitement of atfcctionatt
imaginatonl The third: Whatthe influence
of the practice of religious art on the life o
the artist
In answering these inquiries, we shoult
have to consider separately every collatera
influence and circumstance; and by mos
subtle analysis, to eliminate the real effect o
art from the effects Of the abuses with which
1t was associated. This could be done onl.
by Christiani not man who would fall Ii
love with sweet color or sweet expression, blu
who would look for true faith and consisten
life as the object of all. 1t never has beel
done yet, and the question remains subjcc
of vain and endless contention between par
ties of opposite prcjudiccs and tempera
ments.-RUSkin.