The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-07-13
OUR CENTENNIAL LETTER.
The WONDERS OF THE ART GALLERY
-Irs STATUES, PAINTINGS, BRoNzEs,
AND WORKS OF ART.

The WONDERS OF THE Art GALLERY
-ITs STATUES, PAINTINGS, BRoNzEs,
AND WORKS OF ART.
Special Correspondence Of the Anderson Iateaigeneer.
PHILADELPHIA, July 8, 1876.
confess approach the description Of
the Art Gallery with something like
feeling of reverence. Very often in my
past letters I have treated grave subjects
in light and triAing manner, and it is
hard to repress the spirit of fun which
seems to meet you everywhere. Fat
women in rolling chairs, and lean women
on foot. Fat men waddling along like
ducks, and rolling, as sailor would say,
scuppers under. Big heads in little hats,
and little heads with no hats at all; in
fact, all sorts of sights and sounds calcu-
lated to disturb the gravity Of much
sadder man than I am. In this Memorial
Hall you escape the eternal, and internal
rolling chairs, which are constantly bump
ing against you in every other building,
rolling over your favorite corns, knocking
the bark off Of your elbows, and disturb
ing your peace of mind generally.
Memorial Hall, commonly known as
the Art Gallery, is a noble building to
-
look at; majesty and grace are in every
line Of it, from turret to foundation stone.
It is just such a building as might have
crowned the summit of the Capitolian
Hill when Rome was the mistress of the
world. Memorial Hall was built by the
State Of Pennsylvania, at cost of one
million and FIVE hundred thousand dol
lars, and was loaned by the State to the
Centennial Commission, to be used as the
repository Of its art treasures during the
Exhibition. The building is of white
granite, being in the style known as
modern renaissance. The area covered
is an acre and half; it is S65 feet long
by 21O feet wide. A magnificent dome,
$50 feet high, springs from the centre,
capped by colossal ball on which stands
Columbia holding laural wreath. On
each corner is our national emblem, the
eagle, with wings outstretched and talons
clenched, as if defending this sacred
temple of art from foreign or domestic
foes. In front of the main entrance
stands the colossal figure of soldier
resting on his musket and looking stern
ly down upon the pigmy multitude that
surge and crowd around his mighty pc
destal. The approach is up noble
fight of steps, and passing through q
beautiful archway you find yourself in
the yestibule of the hall. It is grand
sight. I do not wish to speak now to the
travelled few who haye wandered through
the wonders of the Borghese Palace, who
have reveled in the art miracles Of the
Vatican and the Tuilleries, but rather
let me speak to the millions who have
been denied the opportunity Of a conti--
mental travel, and for them I say the
sight is grand. I care not for your APP
polio Belvidere, or your Venus de Medi-
els. Here is art enough for me-art,
noble and true, bearing the divine stamp
of godlike inspiration and breathing in
every ineament and line-the same
heavenly genius that made the marbles
of Phidias and Praxeteles immortal. 1t
is true that there is much that is crude,
and much that is unworthy of such a
hallowed association, but there were
many interests to conserve, many con-
hicting views to reconcile, and ], accept
the gracious offering as a whole with
thanks, blessed in the privilege of being
permitted to see SO noble a temple filled
with magnificent collection Of art.
Where shall begin? Ahtthere is
my trouble. In one hall, among the
Spanish collection, hangs dead Christ,
by Murillo; in another, among the Brit
ish collection, the guilty Macbeth looks
down from the canvas Of Maclise. He
is surrounded by his court; he starts, af-
frighted at the shadow of the ghostly
Banquo, and you can almost hear him
shrek, in his terror, "Ayaunt! and quit
my sightl earth hide Stheel thy bones
are marrowless, thy blood is coldp The
wife of Cawdors Thane is as noble a
figure as was ever embodied upon the
painters canvas, as she waves the guests
away while she looks upon her guilty
husband. You can read in her sad face
the heart agony which a few months
later laid that mighty mind in utter and
hopeless ruin. Daniel Maclise was a
noble painter. Scotland may well be
proud of her distinguished son. In an:
other nook hangs a little gem that filed
me with inexpressible sadness; the mil
lions passed it by unuoticed, and yet it
was from the pencil of one whose name
is immortal wherever art has worship
per. It was a sick monkey, from the
easel of Sir Edward Lendseer. There
were many pictures more pretentious,
but not one in the vast collection more
truthful than this humble offering from
one of England's greatest painters. Cold
and silent now, beyond the reach Of the
plaudits of the whole world, I would
remember the great artist only as he
stood in the pride Of his manhood and
the zenith of his fame. 1t filled me
with grief unutterable to think that the
cunning finger that guided his magic
-