The New York herald., 1877-12-07
CORNING ON ART.
IT'S PROGRESS AND ITS MASTERS IN THE SEVEN

IT'S PROGRESS AND ITS MASTERS IN THE SEVEN
TEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES. ga
The subject Of Mr. Corning's lecture yesterday
nornng at Association Hall, "Art IN the Sevcri-
teonth and Eighteenth Centuries." For more than
one thousand oars SAID tho lecturer occiesissti-
cism dominated tho civilization OF Europe, compel-
ing every form of intellect to ACT In its service This
tendency manifested itself more in art than In any
other department o culture. The Seventeenth century
brings us u in which the power OF ecclesl-
asticism was broken. In tracing the course Of art
history during tho seventeenth and eighteenth cen
tur,es contn ualy encounter the conflict between
Catholicism and Professionalism. Both in architecture
and sculpture The only spirit OF this ago Bernn,,
tho builder oil the bronze tabernacle IN tho high altar
OF ST. Peters Church and tho circular coonnadc
remarkable building North oil ltaly tho great
architect OF the time Christopher Wren, tho
builder OF ST. Paul's Cathedral, IN London. But
neither architecture sculpture properly represent
the artistic hfc OF the century, paint
manifested itself The Two great schools 0i painting
IN Italy during the seventeenth century were tho
Ecclesiastlc, founded by tho, Carfaccis, ana tho
naturalistic, whose great master was CaravaRPio
Then followed Domonichino. Guercino aud Carlo
Dolci The works oil the latter are known to all
European travellers by certain eneminnte
senlimontaliiy which characterizes them. We now
come 10 the history Of painting IN Spain. Tho great
masters oil Spanish painting were Cano Vaicsquez
aud Murio, the latter one OF the foremost religious
painters OF the world, whose "lmmaculate Concep-
tIon OF the VrgiDO IN tho Louvre is one oi tho mar
veis OF artistic creation. The next in order to the
sequence ot art h tory In this Is France whose
enIirs art Mt this timc was dictated by Louis XIV.
Tho two great painters OF the age oi Louis XIV.
wore Nicholas Poussin and Claude Lorraine, neither
OF whom resided IN France, but painted almost all
thcr works IN Italy, and both of whom became the
greatest painters Of their time, not by conformity
With but In defiance OF The dictaLion oil the great
French monarch. he true representative pnih tor
OF the pompous reign OF Louis XIV was Charles Lc
Bfun, whose great painting IN The Louvre, illustrative
o Alexander the Great, viii represent the art ten
dcncy oi the time. We now pass to the Netherlands
whose art dvidcs itse INTO tho two schools Of Far-
ucrs anu Holland The great painter oil Flanders in
tho seventeenth Century was kuDeDs, whose "De-
scent IRON the Cross, IN the Cathedral at Antwerp,
tue greatest masterpieces OF modern painting. In
was DAVID Ieniers, the younger, found
IN most OF the principal galleries OF Europe. Tho
foremost master OF the Dutch school was Rembrandt l.
The srcates master OF gh aud modern art
has produced Inc eigLtcc,,n century perIod oil
cearth IN art all over D. Nerth of Europe, England
alone excepted ~ Eu- artists, wuo prepared tho
way Tor the glorious dispensaon OF the nineteenth
century, We must mention William Hogartb, Sir
Joshua Rcynoids, Gainsbor0ugh and BenJuniD West,
the latter an American by birth but IN Englishmu an
by adoption The ART OF the nineteenth century may
be said begin Win the life iabors OF this Illus
uious painter
Seventy pictures, auioty pes, copperpiates, &c,
were exhibited Illustrative oil the lecture. Art IN
tEo Ninceenth Century, viii be tue subject OF the
next lecture. ftNl