The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-07-20
ToL ARE TIE FEET THEN
harmonizes with existenoes Of the pretern atu :


! harmonizes with existences Of the pretern atu
| raj order. e.. - .a~'r s-- EI.
| And last, but not least, is &he picture Of est.
Louis announcing the Fourth Crusade va
happy effort in the heroic style. The central
| figure of this fine grouping is St. Louis adorn.
cd with every mark of royalty. And such q
! king The artist must have had in his mind
man among mon. We have no doubt he
drew hisinspiration from the pen-picture OF
| the elder Hamlet-the typo of kings-for he
has given Louis TX
=" A combination and form inaeea
To give the world assurance Of q man"
Kneeling at the feet of Louis is his brother.
count d'Artois, receiving the cross of tho
Crusader. To the right are the clergy of
France. Awaiting himself of the latitude al
lowed in such instances, the artist has substi-
tuted the features of our own Archbishop for
those Of the Archbishop of Paris. Several of
the other clergy bear some resemblance to q
few in this city. To the left are the nobility
and people Of France asking for the distinct
i've mark of the Crusader. We think there i.
sIght inaecuracy in painting certain on the
knights in the group with the garments of the
Crusader, fuasmuch as We have read some
where that the Count d,Artois was the frst to
Feceive them from the hands of Louis--and
d'Arsois 10 represented as just receiving them.
Hence, none other could have gotten them
previously. Beside, we do not like the shape
of d'Artois' head. It is too fat. More round.
ness wonld conceal that oblong appearance
which it now possesses. Bat, an We have al
ready stated, such imperfection is only percep-
tible after very long and scrutinizing search
and, when discovered, it does not detract from
the grandeur of the picture as o unit.
Having spoken of the work, it is but right
we should say something of the artist, Mr.. E.
Humbrecht.:
He is an Alsatian, and came to our city two
years ago. Few of the community have heard
of hin, for he is uppretehtious, and courts not
But We venture to write he will
shortly have the friendship and influence of
every lover OF art in this city. Those W no will
see the work We have noticed, shall speak of
him in the most favorable TERMS Thew shall
acknowledge him to have few peers in his sps-
cialty of religious subjects. We have often
seen artists who excel in portraiture and land
scape fail most iguobly when painting images
pertaining to religion. They may have the
necessary abstraction of the mind, hut they do
not bring to bear upon that fund of. tradi-
tionary lore or q familiar knowledge Of eccls-
siastical history. They must have a liriaq
faith and a love of the subject which nonsrcan
possess In the same degree as Catholic Mr..
Humbrecht is one. Hence his superiority. He
gives propriety, beauty and majesty to his
characters he avoids variety of tint in color
ing, ignores all trifing, and contents himself
with simplicity, quietness and uniformity
which gives unqualified pleasure. His CON-
position is judiciously contrived, his drawing I
correct, his taste pure, and his manner harmo- |
NOUS, full, sweet and flowing, yet bold, learned
and sustained.
We are pleased to learn that his services |
have already been engaged to fresco the walls |
Of Holy Trinity church, and that several of
our Rev. Clergy of the, city and country are
considering the practicability of employing
him to beautify their churches.