Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-12-12
ssEUsEuMs OF ART.--MUsEE DU
LOEJVRE
by RoBERT NEWMAN


devoured histories, biographies, essays, ro-
mances, poems, recounting the glory and
splendor of Titan, Paul Veronese, Leonar-
do da Vinci, Raphael, Correggio, Guido,
Rembrandt, Rubens, Holbein, Vandyck and
their host OF followers; the imagination
heightened and inflamed wrought
visions which nothing short of the
magic hues of an spparition
would have appeased, and well remember
the relief with which turned from them
to some of the meretricious and hashy
works Of the modern French school; works
gorgeous in the bues of the toy book; upon
reflection this brought TO mind the express
sion of Sir Joshua Reynolds who in his dis
courses remarks his chagrin on first inspect
ing the collection of the Vatican. Study
in the Life school and calm careful obserVa-
ton and comparison dispened these dream
ing visions, the scales fell from the eyes
aud by diligent investigation healthy taste
for works of merit gradually formed; feel
ings of disappointment wore off and hum
BILE admiration led me to approach them
with awe and respect, genuine tribute due
| their wonderful qualities: occasionally l
wandered off after strange gods, presidents
sufficiently numerous existed to console me
for these lapses from the true faith; at last
spell bound l stood gazlng,on what SEEM
ed the unattainable!
"The desire of the moth for the star
Of the night for the morrow;
| The devotion to something afar
From the sphere of our sorrow."
How the thing was done, that was the
question. Could it be the hand of man
that had fashioned these? Were these men
! in league with the Evil one? as has been
said of Faustus and Paganini. Possessed
| they q. means and ways beyond recall?
| Had they methods unknown to any but
themselves? Was their genius communal
| cable? Did people wish these works done
| over again? Where duplicate Titians,
| HomerS, Shakespeare, jobs, Michael Ange-
| los, Phidias's necessary to the comfort and
well-beiDg of the human race, however
glor Gus their works. TOujours perdrx. Was
| it good thing? Had Martin Farquhar
Upper ioppled the preacher from the
Throne of Wisdom? Very slim probabili-
ties of these things were apparent, yet the
solemn tones of the Entombment, deep,
rich, glowing as jewels rubies, garnets sap
phres, emeralds, ameihysts, all we're there
in the enhancing hues oftwilight, gorgeous
in gloom; a strain that seemed waited
from the sweet South; delicate sense of |
the perfumes of Araby the best Tbs
wonderful figure in the Peace and War in |
glittering blue steel armor, the jewels and !
laces that hung upon this Venetian woman |
holding globe; the flesh seemed heaVing |
with pulsing wine, hands tinted with roses, |
hair of woman, with sheen that appeared |
beyond the power Of man to render; does |
any one who has studied the Entombment |
forget the blue mantle and sorrowing looks !
90 10 g n. rtho
the STOPPING man in dark lustrous green, /
the crimson splendor and solemn purple |
robes ofthe figure, holding the corpse-lke |
body of the dead Christ, the wofUl stiffness
in the air, the clouds lighted with bars of |
gold, and the blue sky deep as the i'm
mensty of space, the brown trees that seem
to sigh and rustic in the evening breeza, the
som6re earth humbly bearing upon its |
bosom The dead God. Truly ga observant,
intelligence and cunning hand conceived
and executed this phantssm.
Titzano Vecelli del Galore dipped his
pencils in tones Of splendor, visible to him
self alone; he saw, where others
were blind, a giant among the pig
mics; his extraordinary power IS q drsught,
man is lost sight of in this sOrcery Of color,
one Titan suffices-we shall never see his
peer. Can any one forget that wierd facs
Of L'homme Au Cant, a simple portrait,
hanging high up TO the light in the grand
saIo0, with the history Of a life IN it?
Francis the First, gorgeous il crimson
sleeves, and cap and feather; the boE-Tivant,
gay cavalier, ambitious and scdeming.
Turn we now and behold the vast page of
the miracle at Cana, by Paul Veronese;
Christ, the central figure, seated at table,
nimbus OF glory around his head; to the;
right and the left Venetian mobiles and Ia
dies, with the yellow hair lighted with
gold and Jewels then so fashionable;
OetTixt porphyry columns In cap aud bells,
and motley, attentive to the business in
hand, the astonished court fool; Titan, in
crimson robes, gran6ly drawing sweet
sounds from bass viol; CAgliari, in pure
white, leading on a violin some air, we'd
ding hymn; servants turning the wine from
vases; dogs wander about at will on the bal
ustrade above, the guests promenade; some
lean over, regarding the miraculous change
Of water to wine; the table strewn with
delicate Venetian glass and gold and silver
plate. Between the pillars of the Court !
we see the mild, blue sky of Venice with
white bands of clouds idly moving; the pig
cons of Venice flying through the arcades
Of the Campanile-a Venetian banquet I
truly. {
Walking across the polished floor, We t
stand before the Mona Lisa or Joconde of {
DaVinci. There is a tradition extant that '
his savon, painter, engineer, and some say i
,he father of the inductive system OF philo- r
,ophy generally attributed to Lord Bacon,
was engaged upon this wonderful portrait
Tor four years. The intense black eyes have [
sweetness aud depth, a melan- {
,holy yearning for green pastures and still I
waters, a love unfulflled, lost opportunity {
of the picture OF Diana given
1y Heinrich Heine in his Reisbider: trav
9ler wandering amidst the crags of the il
P ranees, reaches the hut of mountain r
oeas ant, asking hospitality, wearied and ex- h
lausted with the fatigues ofthe day, throws Il
himself on a pallet of straw, and in a {
7ision sees the great Of earth defile through n
he gorge of Roncssvalas; all the grand b
igures Of antiquity move past-Moses, Job
saul, David the sweet Singer, the PhsraOhs, Y
Homer, Caesar, Dante, Charlemagne, 4
3arbarossa the last German Emperor, n
Shakespeare, Sweet William, the gods of N
4reeca, with Diana, chastits p u, cali
ourchon, sur un cheVat blanc, Ses cuisses a
,auches brillantes au clair de la lune, ses O
0bes blanches vOlantes, cheVellur5 dome T
u vent, regrettaut lie temps perdu, lOrsque G.
es hommes etaient p us beaux, furieuses ct K
ellie remplac5nt Ia qualite an h
ious par la quantite moderne. Vague, v
lopeless desire, with no relief save in the 5,
rave, hand holding a scarf painted with b
delicacy and truth of finish showing the ii
Intensity of passion with this genius over f
urned by the herculean grip of Buonarotti. CT
Near this the portraits of Rembrandt and a.
is wife, painted with an unspproachabie d.
igor; turning we front the Venus and Cupid il
nd SatYr of Correggio sweet as the syrens OF
hat lull US to dreamy death. o.
Near the marriage at Cana, Vandyke's
;harles |, standing by white horse Won II,
rince, gay cavalier. Titian's Christ Of
rowned with thorns, hangs high up near II
le left angle. The st. Michael of Raphael re
yer the entrance door, wonderful work IL
{ Leonardo below Titian's Christ, fete,
hampetre of Giorgione, the rival Of Titan, OF
ear this the marriage of st. Catharine by OF
orreggio. on the opposite wall the small p
cture of Christ in the carpenters shop by @
embrandt, truly msgician's work, com th
etc the remarkable objects Of the grand &c
ZION. OF
In the long gallery the Immaculate Con- ne
,rt;o,, bv MuTillo for which the aStOund- Or