New-York tribune., 1876-12-18
TIE JOHNSTON COLLECTION
noLMAN HUNTs pICTURE.


,.ss the Slave Ship THAT is worth naming is Holman
-, Isabella and the Pot OF Basil" 1iiis is, We be
80 oony on smaller scale of the original picture
t,b as Iuade tor the engraver. The artist taken
s snhect from Keats's P0em Isabella or the Potoi
T.su" which was everybody kneWs, variation on
ue Of Boecaceo But, the dorc vase OF pure white
s,be which the Italian placed over the tomb OF isa
lila and wrote her stary 81 in words OF Scriptnra
Dljeit, the English poet has hung wcaths Of flowers
ii ssa fupercal ribbons aud antique embleTns, mask
"a torc and near f. I'm the gise OF the genius OF Love
"a IIeaih be pipes such wall OF despair and anguish
- never leaves the heart that once has heard without
.nmc echo Of It's grief We may chance TO please some
aers who do knew the story by giving Its outline
memDered from Boccaeco II tmay be noted that Keats
~, the scene Of his poem in Florence, but the Italian
NO., tells us the incident took place in Nessfna
uessna there we're two brothers who, by the death
~ their father, left heirs 20 great estate winch
,hov made greater by traffic, that there were Few
her men than they in that city. And they had sister
acoeS Ifsabetra who exceedingly fair and gentie
"a tey had great pride in her beauty and thought TO
marry her to prince count and so make OF her
,no eWeled clap that should join together two lordy
horses And IL 90 ehaneed that IN their service
tsr was youth named Lorenzo of no great condition.
hut elIavored and OF gentle manners. Aud Lsabetta
to often seeing him, for they dwelt in the same house.
came 70 cast friendly eye upon him; and her look first
bred desire in him. and aferward hope and from silent
sqpso of mutual liking they passed to wors ana nom
words 10 deeds, until Love had them fast III ms
net And all this passed not unGbserved by the brothers
Of Lsabetta For the eldest first saw what game was
playng and acted tho spy, and when he had made sure
what all these cOaings and gonGs meant he shOwea Ms
secret TO the younger brother, and these two cruel ones
agreed upon a way to rid them OF Lorenzo. And they
said on a day that their affairs called them to go jour
ney and Lorenzo was bid TO join them, so al tee Eo'
them to horse and rode away And little out o Ihe
eitv there was q wood INTO the which when tEef came
and fif a
In the forest and buried h in it, and soon after returned
home When Iisabetta asked whore was Lorenzo they
told her a cumming tale how sudden need arising for
pesseueSr to far country he had taken snip ana sleu
20 Ouremer and would return by-and-oy so Lisiloee'a
watched and waited, but Lorenzo came not ana the
lady pned with sorrow, and chpnged hue, ana wasea
away for want of sleep and food. And she had urean
pon her bed and in vision came to her, ana ne
siood at her beds foot all wan and beeding' ara ms
garments torn his face aud hands stained Wit ie
And as well as he could for aud fanting ne oia hs
isdy sl the dark tale her brothers Oehse ana Ills mshS
and at the end he showed her ny sure t0keas "hee e
might ind his body hid and then he made vanishing
and Tssabett awoke out OF her sleep and she renlem-
bercd her dream and she aghast and began 10 cry
But when the day she bethOugt her. So she caod
her old nurse and they two went 10 the wood ana they
found the place by sure tokens, and they aug N tne
earth with knives and their hands and az last they came
upou Lorenzo's body Then with sharp knfe thcy cut
o his head and wrapped It in a fair cloth OF SILK all over
hrtdered with flowers, and sweet with perfumes. Ana
tbep they got them home and 1t Glanced uBespl'o'
Then Jabetta fetched great pot aud IN IL she put
the head OF her love and covered 1t up WIN eaf"'
and set therein plant OF the sort caiea bSsllse@
fUhicb Is also called Sweet-BasiD, because 1t has
the no,ver 70 he'd the bite Of the SCORPION And
this papt she watered only with rosewaer ana orange
flower water aud own tears, and II lea on the eu
Of Lorenzo aud grew to be the fairest BastPiaht N
Messina But when the brothers saw now Lisaoe'IA
ever hung over the plant by day and by night ana now
with vecpjpg she was become like to one who dies, they
watched for an hour when she should leave her treas
ure and carrying OF the Baspot, they searched and
found The head of Lorenzo And knowing they were
known they took horse and Ged 10 Naples, and were
heard Of no more. Bat Lsabeta, when she came back
and found hcr treasure gone. was sore amazed ana
erieyed and soon after refusing all comfort she died
Eat ever sne sanguat she died the song that sls, on
cruelty to steal away my Dasil-pOt from Ble!"
The lovers of Keats will think they have found an oOd
intarprecr their poet IN Mr. Holman Hunt The ioV-
ers of BOecacciO will not bo so much tfoubedi ney VIII
never think the artist has been reading ltaian su'
though Keats says little OF Isabcas beauty, aud Boo
a even less we caauot think Of either poet without
fancviug he has said great deal about it. II naturally
gives US shock to find that painter can be so niue OF
apoet as to disbclieve in Isabcllas beauty; nay 10
paint her uubeaufu that we rather look ut the fur
uiture OF her rooms than at herself She Is not wasted
nor worn with geving either but stands before us ke
brown buxom Jane, with hair such as the ladies' in
Carthage must have had" She has her basilpian pan
hlly studied no doubt from real Onc), IN rich malo
ca not ouainented with little skis dressed n cooked
hats Ga South Kensngton design, probably, and the Ia
laid praying-desS il stands on with the embroidered
silk cover OF the desk and the mosaic pavement and the
Yenee-gass wacrugPot and the Vcnioeglass hanging
lamall these bits OF brc-abrse are elaborated with
the artists utmost mechanic Skill and the better licy
are the more marked is the failure 10 deal adequately
with the human beng whO should have been all IN al N
the picture.
Proably no artist Of our time, certainly no artist OF
England is pOpularly rated far beyond h worth as
Holman Hunt There are several good reasons to be
oven why he stands go high In the first place MT.
Rukin made special pet OF him. and went into more
Spasms over him than he has gono INTO over any other
painter, Turner only excepted. Then Hjinan HUM
appealed to English petism "a very dlhercl lhpg fo
pey) and TO many phases OF that curious product oil
our timets evangelical phase, its mystic phase, and Its
geographical and Typographical phases Ii rs no wonder
that With all these sriRgs to their bows Hunt should
have slain his thousands aud Ruskn his tens Of thon-
sands The Lielt OF the World" on which Mr. huskn
preached long sermon with world OF cohiheht Tue
aFinding Of tic Savior IN the Temple" on which Dir.
Hunt himself wrote An ample Rabbnical treatise with
complete archaeological dictionary; the "scapeGoat IL
which tie landscape WAS swallowed up by an Immense
goat that even Mr.. Ruskin found too tough
dish. and Acknowledged that Mr.. Hunt IN
his earnest desire 20 paint the scapegoat had
forgotten 10 ask himself whether he conld pant
goat al these pictures in their day created au en-.
thnsssm that nowadays when 1t has completely died
Oa we esu anslyze with and fnd 10 our astop'sh
meat that there was In II first atom OF love OF art
Bot only curiosity and morbid Interest in the iop-
peries AMI bretbrae OF ceremonial religion MT Rms
kin Gays that While no one could sympatize more than
he with the general feeling displayed in the Ligit Of
tie World" yet unlcss Il had been accompanied with
perfectly good nettle-painting and ivypaintug ana