New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-10-22
The Curicus Anachronisms Of Famoai
Pictures.

The Curicus Anachronisn,s of Famous
Pictures.
| In the works of some of the Rpeoeees
! painters curious and startling anachreoMme
| occur, In their represen tstlOns We NJ
/ ouently find objects introduced long before
| the period Dt their existence, and. to orlng
GU, an effect, historical truth has been IN
! many cases iguored. la this respect Raphael
v az q great transgressor. he introduces q
| hewn stone step into The Expulsion from
| Paradise" and book bound ia the neatest
| possible manner into the we'll known pic
| ture of "Elymas. the Sorcerer. Struck
| Bind" A host Of other artists appear to
| have believed that the Virgin Mary was in
| the habit of studying q mass book, and that
| the Hebrew kings wore rObes similar TO
| Henry VIII.
| That there is nothing new under the sun
| is a maxim the broad truth of which will
| hs conceded by most men; but when Albert
Eurer goes So far as to- Introduce tent
beGstead cOmm0dious cooking range.
| and an array OF china csndlestlcks, sur
| mounted by modern shaped candles, into
| his Birth vi the Virgin, the spectator is not
unna.uraliy inclined TO dOubs whether the
| painter was altogether justified in his crea-
| tiOns. When buttons were invented Ia
| question that very probably can not now
DO solved; but it Is q question whether they
were used in the days of Isaac. Silvio
| Manage, however, thought such TO be the
| case, for in his picture OF the sale of Joseph
| to the Ishnae.ites the coat OF one Of the
| brothers is not only fastened, but even
decorated by their means. Lucas van
LeydeD, too, WAS bold enough to put a
chignon ON the head of Jael, the wife OF
Heber the kenite; aid, not content with
this, be surmounted the edifce with beau
tiful coai-scuttle bonnet. Salvador Rosa is
another trespasser 10 the matter OF head
dress An exquisite work by this master
represents the Baptist preaching in the
viiderness but the whole effect Is spoiled
by the presence in the background OF some
jaunty spectators in siouch mats and faunt-
ing feathers.
Van Dyck represents one of the apostles
in sea boots, in his picture of "Tne Mirae-
ulous Draught Of Fishes" which is now in
the National Gallery; and Paul Veronese
paints some Italian peasants in felt hats
and plumes cool!y contemplating the ador.
alton OF the Magi. Agostipo CaIacci. in a
picture OF Tobias Amounting His Fathers
Eyes puts the two meD in shoes; and n.
Pous.in, in his celebrated Passage OF the
Red Sea, introduces the Roman armor OF
the Enperors. regardless of the well-ascsr-
tanned fact that the Egyptians, about the
days OF the Hykscs, cid not indulge in
metal armOr AZ ell. In one Of Raphaefs
best works, the siigucstion monopo-
liZss the upper part OF the canvas. while
in the lower portion the man possessed of
m ev! spirit ia bang simultaneously
healed, and IN Flemish painting Of some
note several corpuleHt Doors, with clay
pipes in their mouths, are gazing 10 wonder
al David. who is carrying the head of c.
Ian. Indeed the history OF the poet king
Is made frequent medium for anachron-
ism; tor IN another picture of the death OF
Goilath the giant wears 10 armor except a
plumsd helmet. ard in a third David is
hurting at his adversary rough stone in
stead OF pebble. AT his subsequent tri.
unfh. according to vet another picture
David is received By Greek inaidens in
front OF an Italian building surnounted hy
flags, while two pyramids IL the background |
vainly do their best 20 lend harmony to the |
scene.
Abraham has been shamefuly treated BIZ !
HE Illustrators. A Spanish artist represents
him as about TO shoot Isaac with pistol;
and the patriarch is almost always repre-
sented as man of no. more than sixty
years OF age, at the most. A very common
alachronism is the introduction OF I.allsn
architecture into Eastern scenes. Ciaude, =
for instance, in his Standardization OF sne z
Queen of Sheba,r and BOuo OF te!ara IA | =
bis jerome in the Desert" do so; aau eA
ampes might be multiplied ad lnnn rum. y
Claude, in the "Embarkation oi o
Ursula" also introduces SHIPS =. LIZ .ae ~ a
in use at the middle OF the seson:o .sa = ,
century: and Boccaccio Boccsccino, ia .Io D
''Procsssion TO Calvary" fills up MS oacA, o
crouod With a fine broad river co'eIea d
with SHINING. in spite of the ~eil-kno"h
fact that nothing of the sort exists Zee, =,
salem. How the dlsclptes' ~ -
J. MiracuIous Draught OF Fishes ~ anage' n
10 nr.serye their equilibrium 10 the very o.
,;nnte boats to which the artist has treated n
'ha,n ia a mystery: and why Claude should ty
80 celebrated the marriage OF isaac and tt
p.hscca in front of waterfall that might
,l,nost vie with Niagara is riddle that n
viii urobabIy never be solved. t.
Tba illustrations to Newtons Bible, di
,h;n,, was nublished in III, contain some III
,r;o,s errors and anachronisms that are B
III Known. Solomon is being appointed Ia
nder the shadow of pyramid, anu the de- to
trnctioprc Dagon takes place In build k
20 very similar to ST. Pauls cathedral IN b.
.ondon. David is singing before the ark to
-om a scroll that is conveniently held in | ia
ont of him by winged, but legless, cher n,
h. and Sapphire dies in the streets In a al
lcture representing the death of the lying CO
rophet. the dead man wears a coat and OF
ousers: and il another, in depicting Eli Y,
h and the priests of Baal, there is an altar, g,
1T no surrounding trench. Perhaps the ia
ost Migrant engraving in the collection Is pl
le OF Daniels dreams, which introduces al
ur great beasts that do not in the least hi
'swer the description given of them in the | Ii
xt. Fortunately for the credit of the
fist involved, all the pictures are anony. to
oEs, but some are known to have been fir
ecuted by very eminent men. til
CigOli paints the aged Simeon at the cir es
mcision in spectacles; and Brughel, in an as
Alteration Of the Magi,' introduces the b,
.hioplan in a surplica, booted and spurred, dt
ho Is presenting model of the compare. ga
Vely modern man Of.war to the infant ty
sus. All these instances are SO absurd
I'd innocent that they require TO COM &c
emf; hut one discovered in a prayerbook til
lbilshed IN the reign Of William and Mary "
SO very ludlcroUs that it suggests doubt til
to whether it was not the work OF a al
az. The parable of the mote and the ia
am Is the subject of the picture, and from re
Q eyeot one man huge log of wood ia h,
while in that of the other ia a .si
~ tine cascade. Probably the artist was q
raid to risk his reputation upon still | ri
alter, and therefore felt justified in turn nj
9 the mote into Q torrent in order to let n,
ople know what he meant. Another pic
re OF about the same date represents a | X
II OF copper scales falling from st. Peters r
es on his recovery from blindness: and II W
not unlikely that the two curiosities owe r
err existence to the same inventive brain
q cunning pencil
In one OF the churches at Bruges ia a pic
re OF the legendary marriage of Christ
tn st. Catherine OF Siena. St. Dominic. h,
1uil canomcals is performing the cere- n1
my, and Aing David is complacentlv III
KING on and playing the harp. Carlo h,
arattl, IN an "Annunciation," introduces ta
pair Of scissors, and an unknown art;st &c &c
presenting the impotent man at the nooi ~
B0th0eda. DAinfS an N uol init a