Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-09-28
Some Queer Errors and An
achrOniSmS.


achronisms occur. In their represen-
tations we frequently find objects in
troduced long before the period of
their existence, and, to bring out an
effect, historical truth has been in
many cases ignored. In this respect
Raphael D'Urbino was a great trans
gressor; he introduces a heWn-stone
step into "The Expulsion from Para
disc and book bound III the neatest
possible modern manner into the we'll
known picture of "ElymaS the SOrcerer
Struck Blind A host of other artists
appear to have believed that the Viz
Gin Mary was in the habit of studying
q mass-book, and that the Hebrew
Kings wore robes similar to those of
Henry VIII.
That there is nothing new under the
sun is a maxim the broad truth of
which will be conceded by most men;
but when Albert Durer goes so far as
to introduce tent-bedstead, q COM
modious cooking-range and an array of
china candlestickS, surmOunted by
modern-shaped candles, into his
!" Birth of the Virgin" the spectator
is not unnaturally inclined to doubt
whether the painter was altogether
justified in his creations.
When buttons were invented is a
problem that very probably cannot
now be solved; but it is a question
whether they were used in the days of
Isaac. Silyio Manaigo, however, evil
IDENTIFY thought such to be the case, for
in his picture of the sale of Joseph to
the Ishmaelites, the coat of one Of the
brothers is not only fastened, but even
decorated by their means. Lucas Van
Leyden, too, was bold enough to put q
chignOn on the head of Soel, The wife
Of IIeber, the Kenite; and, not con-
tent with this, he surmOunted the edi-
flee with beautiful cOal-scut-
tie bonnet of straw. Sal,vator
Rosa is another tr6SSpasSer in the mat
ter Of head-dresSeS. An exquisite
work by this master represents the
Baptist preaching in the wilderness:
but the whole effect is spoiled by the
presence in the background of some
iaunty spectators in SLOUGH hats and
Haunting feathers. Van Dyck him
self represents one of the apostles in
sea boots in his picture Of "The
Miraculous Draught of Fishes, which
is now in the National Gallery. And
Paul Veronese paints some italian
peasants in felt hats and plumes, calm
ly contemplating the Alteration of the
Magi. Agostino Caracci, in a picture
of "Tobias Amounting His Fathers
Eyes, puts the two men in shoes: and
n. POuiSsin, in his celebrated ''PaSs-
age of the Red Sea-" introduces Ro-
man armor of the time Of the Emper-
Ors, regardless of the we'll ascertained
fact that the Egyptians about the days
of the HycSOs did not indulge in metal
armOr at all. In one of Raphaels
best works the TRANSPORTATION mOnOp-
OliZeS the upper part of the canvas,
while in the lower portion the man
possessed with an evil spirit is being
simultaneously healed; and i'll Elem
ish painting of some note several cor
pulent Doors, with clay pipes III their
mouths, are gazing in wonder at
David, who is carrying the head of
Goliah. Indeed, the history of the
poor King is made & frequent medium
for anachronism; for III another pic
ture of the death of GOliah, the giant
wears no armOr except a plumed he'll
met, and in third David is hurting at
his adversary rough stone instead of
a pebble. At his subsequent triumph,
according to yet another painting, Da-
yid is received by Greek maidens in
front of an Italian building surmount-
eel by flags, while two pyramids in the
background vainly do their best to
lend harmony to the scene.
Abraham has been shamefully treat
ed by his illustrators. A Spanish
artist represents him as about to shoot
Isaac with pistol; and the patriarch
is almost always represented as man
of not more than sixty years of age at
most. A very common anachronism
is the introduction of Italian archi-
lecture into Eastern scenes. Claude,
for instance, in his Embarkation of
the Queen of Sheba," and Beno, of
Fernara, in his ''Jerome in the Des-
ert," do so; and examples might be
multiplied Gd j7?5initltm. Claude, in
the Embarkation of Saint Ursula, !"
also introduces ships Of the type in
use at the middle of the seventeenth
century; and Boccaccio Boccaccino,
in the " Procession to Calvary" fills
up his background with a fine broad
river covered with shipping, in spite
of the well-knoWn fact that nothing
Of the sort exists near Jerusalem.
How the disciples, in Raphael S
miraculous Draught of Fishes, .
managed to preserve their equilibrium
in the very minute boats to which the
artist has treated them is a mystery
and why Claude should have celebrat-