, 1870-05-28

I y
fotet1ste Of their administration to e1Alt the
church At the expense Of the HtAte, aud
maize ptoselytes 1t all hazards Thus. mau
n the United States must watch with intesei
the progress Of our efforts to establish real
beheticlal system Of nstionh education in En-
land, and it ia probable that their good wishe
sill be with the Liberals who arc now resotutt
y striving to found system in which th
teaching shall be purely sccu11r, because p.i
for by the State, and impaired to all the chi
dfen Of the people.
PICTORIAL INSANITY. :.
A Crazy Gcnfus-Picturcs by wiert;
| IN Rrusse1s = Insanity ON Canvas :
Fascinating BorroFs.
0'S'fSS e'''s'p""oFass sssa!1 e the Boston c'mo"
~ have at last seen gallery Of paintings tha
| thoroughly interested me. Wiertz, WHO va,
\ the painter Of all these pictures and the found
er OF the gallery, bad side to his character
greatly resembling the poet Edgar l. Poe, ani
when the fantastic or the ho1fible mood wa;
| upon Mna hs did not staua at tri6es. The pic,
! tufes Which compose this gallery lack tht
sameness which always experience il 1ook
ing at collection Of paintings. Usually one
yeln or feeling runs through the entire co1lec.
t4on. Like certain speeiea Of literary yare,
| they are all alike, excepting some minor cir
| cn1nstances OF names and dates. With snch
| pictures, when I have had good look at one
or two Of them, short time safices for ali the
! rest Not 60 with the Wieztz pictures Each
| one is separate from the others. and il the
! embodiment Of . distinct idea. nsTer real.
| !zea before the oneness Of poet and painter.
EFe7T picture is poem. Bis terrible subjects
served to make mo wide-awake as looked at
| them.
The "le1tz gallery occupies . large brick
building where the artist formerly lived, situ-
hted at the edge Of the ctr, near the Lu1em-
bourg depot When tirst entered the gallery,
I vas not content to look at any one picture,
but must stand in the centre and etauce from
one to another, there Vas 80 much noYelty. I
soon observed that the pictures possessing
great power and action Eere thi1lF painted &
few eolotg and rough strokes on the canvasbe-
ing his only utterance, as though they wero the
etantly expressed. lis beautiful subjects
#eEe Of wonderful finish and fidelity to nature.
and seemed to indicate that the wild and pas.
sio1ate nature Of the artist found rest and ill.,
gered long With his beautiful dreams- driving
his terrible thoughts away by instant express
vss before him. painting nearly thirty feet
in height, reaching from floor to ceiling, pre-
sents the adventure of Ulysses in the cave OF
polyphemrs, the Cyclop. The giant, cTen with
this Stretch OF cauTas: is represented ns bend
Ing forward to seize the Creeks, who are run
terror. The artist took pleasure in creating
strange snd ludicrous effects, His pow
ers OF projection and foreshortep-
ing were marvellous. With tue pic
ture Just mentioned, AZ with nearly all
others II the gallery, instead Of frame, the
corner the am Of pEoatrate Greek projects
beyond and clings to the frame. On the other
eide large black spider is escaping from the
trmu1t, and runs over the frame, out Of the
Picture. There is . port,a ait OF the artist.
showing man with closely-trimmed beard,
and great control. He wears a black hat with
broad brira, not very unlike those sometimes
worn br QuAketB.
On the wall there Is painted female figure,
reaching out from, 3 window and Offering
rose to the behoIder. Back Of her, in the win
dow, another female face looks out over her
shoulder. The hand holding the 1ose, and the
arm, seem to stand direct from the picture
cannot expect to describe al the pictu1es;
only the strongest ones Some we're more than
Before Christ represents the religious sects,
Lutheran, Popieh, and CalEinistic, in fierce
struggle; the Pope striking with the CROSS, :
the others using such weapona as they can,
While Christ stands with one hand over his
eyes, and with the other motions asif he would
q The Civilization Of the Nineteenth Century
Is mother with babe in her arms, in the act
Of throwing herself from window to escape
some soldiers who are hayAge1F a1nusing them
selves by trying to shoot the babe without lill-
ing the mother. - Scene in Hell, repre-
eenting Napoleon l. in the flames Of hell. His
form Is indistinctly seen in the blaze, but hia
bead stands ouf bold and impe1tutbable- "a face
Of stone. Around him swAlm wires. mothers,
and orPhans, who bring the amp.1tated limbs
Of husbands and Sons, and some are bearing
forward their dead bodies. ALL are cursins him
SC &1,o~ 4t.tH - N.n;- M.
limbs are thrust in bis face yon see hate flash
from the eyes Of the madtened women, you
henrgroans and screams Of agony hut yet un-
yielding remains that fnce, still controlled by
the giant will in the midst Of the scorching
flames and the air filled With horror. 1t is
tographs Of it, the keeper said, IS It is forbid
den 10 be photographea. Napoleon III ia now
Emperor Of France I" ttJbe Things OF the
Present before tho Nan Of the Future"-hero
are three great faces, the embodiment of
good nature, which look with amused and
and muakets, which one holds in his hand and
cnriousIy examines as If be would know what
they we're used for.
Three companion paintings represent the
fzst, second and third instants Of victim af
ter death By the guillotine. The first shows tho
act of beheading and The disseyered head full
ing into the basket. The second picture ia
cloud Of heads which, With savage interest,"
swarm to gaze With psotr0ding eyes upon the
e;ckening spectacle. The third shows the
body partly consumed by fire. There Is clond
and mist, which is not 1t h1at eompsehenaed,
the departing spirit welcomed by two angels
who bear ii upwards, Was I wrong when I
said that some OF these pictures are aer1pons:
There are two lArge Paintings Of subjeete from
the HiAd. The "Strugga for the Body Of
PatroeluA' is The strongest, and exhibits the
peculiar powers Of the Artist.
At the end Of the bal! partitions resembling
screens are erected, and hero are exhibited
some Of the most fantastic conceptions that
ever originated in the brnin OF an artist. The
main idea is that great appearance Of reality is
given to picture when vle~ed through
small aperture which gradually wideus 80 as to
allow the eye to take IN Just the CANVAS Of
picture standing few feet of, I approached
the partition md looked through small hole,
and vas startled As though gazed On real
scene. saw before me dark, humid vault,
where several e9fins were piled What star
has been partly removed; hand projects
from the inside, where you see nan, with
ghaBtlg fsce hnd protI1dins eyes. struggling
10 rele2se himself from living grave,
but unable to remove the top Of bis coffin
for the reason that another had been placed
Med to IN Ire terror. On tie side OF the
partly-opeued coffin il the do:tors certificate
Of death by cholera. By its side toad
eits 1,erchad npou human aku1l J. spider is
s1armed and runs down the aids from tho open
ing. The upper coffin ia marked, Countess
-; died from cholera and with chalk A.
tenasnta have inscribed, s'What u repast for
rats!" and Other rude jesta. Another coffin,
with its end toward the beholder, has been
roughly handled, and one Of the thin boards
looeened, from which aperture the STRAW pro-
unheet and It Affords ingreBB to a tat. On the
opposite side Of the ball there is laTEer
oFal-shaped npening, opposite which, IN
mi1Iot, one sees his oWn face looking ont from
body. oo'
! We next see the "maniac mother" She
s1onehee Wath her baby partly covered in her
triumph, even though the teA1B course from
her eyes, as she ho1rishes Inlfo viii which
abe severn the linba OF her otfsptinr. Ona
little leg is seen over the edge OF Kettle. and
babes Ahoe is on the fire beneath to fcln
make it burn. Next to this Is = paintior
representing nude female figure, reclinine
upon couch and reading novel, Ehile scye-
ral other books are by ner side. The form il
very beautiful, while the position the attist
has chosen is the most difficult, inssmuch AZ
the head is in the picture and The feet come
out atmoet towArd the spectator. Yet the whole
| Ii graceful and natural, and the perspective
gained by looking At it through smAl aper.
ture gives ife-iEe effect. It is in this co1uer
thet you sre deceived BY partly open door.
painted upon the wsll, where stands womzn
9lsh acanty drApery, partially cupce21ed in
tho doorway. At tha drst glance you are not