Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-09-28
on. David is singing before the

London. David is singing before the
ark from scroll that is conveniently
held in front of him by a winged but
legless cherub; and Sapphira dies in
the street. In picture representing
the death of the lying prophet, the
dead man wears a coat and trousers
and in another, depicting Elijah and
the priests of Baal, there is an altar,
but no surrounding trench. Perhaps
the most fragrant engraving in the col
lection is one of Daniel Dream, which
introduces four great beasts that do
not in the least answer the description
Of them given in the text. Forum
ately for the credit Of the artists in
volved, all the pictures are anonymous; ;
but some are known to have been exc
cuted by very eminent men.
a much cherished idea with the
painters of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries was that guitars and violins
were in vogue at the time of our Say
iOr. Illustrations may be found in the
works Of DOmenichinO, Jean Belin,
COSima Tura and others, but are far
too numerous to be specified. Cheli0
della Puera gives us a picture of a
Madonna pouring some liquid from a
richly chased vessel like q cOffee-pot;
Luigi Cigoli paints the aged Simeon at
the Circumcision in spectacles; and
Brughel, in an Alteration of the
Magi," introduces the Ethiopian in a
surplice, booted and spurred, who is
presenting model Of a comparatively
modern nnan-of-War to the infant
Jesus. All these instances are so alb
Surd and innocent that they require no
comment; but one discovered in a
prayer-book published in the reign Of
William and Mary is SO very ludicrous
that it suggests a doubt as to whether
it was not the work of a Wag. The
parable Of the mote and the beam is
the subject of the picture; and from
the eye Of one man huge log of wood
is protruding, while in that of the
other is a very fine cascade. Probably
the artist was afraid to risk his repu-
tation upon still water, and therefore
felt justified in turning the mote into
a torrent, III order to let the people
know what he meant. Another pic
ture, of about the same date, repre-
sents pair Of copper scales falling
from St. PauPs eyes on his recovery
from blindness; and it is not unlikely
that the two curiosities owe their ex-
istence to the same inventive brain
and cunning pencil.
In one of the churches at Bruges is
q picture of The legendary marriage of
Christ with st. Catherine, of Siena.
Saint Dominic, in full canonicals, is
performing the ceremony, and King
David is complacently looking on and
playing the harp. Pietri di Cortone,
in a painting which is now in Paris,
depicts with great success the meeting
and reconciliation of Jacob and Laban
in the mountains of Mesopotamia; but
the truth of the idea is rather hurt by
the distant apparition of a church
steeple. M. Foussin's "Deluge" with
boats, and ''Saint Jerome" with an
eight-day clock before him, are matters
of history; and the picture of the
boiled Holsters in the sea listening to
Saint Anthony of Padua, is scarcely
less celebrated. The catalogue of
anachronisms in painting and drawing
is, in fact, almost endless. Nearly ev-
cry old book contains instances, and
every picture-gallery is stocked with
amusing specimens provided the spec
tator will only take the trouble to look
for them. Chambers Journal.