The Portland daily press., 1879-09-11

fugitive lines, all the shades of expression like
people one meets day by day. men it seems
YOU must have spoken with and OF whom you
think long after as acquaintance though
we know not when-nen VINO are iull
of fun, who awaken smile and excite admlra-
ton, who make you almost forget you can
share their Joy with your eyes alone, that you
cannot mingle with them ana take Part IN m
their overfowing life. 1t is not the erect OF
favorable criticism which has given the great
artist his renown; there is no need TO De q con-
noisseur of art; women and children stop De,
fore these pictures clapping their hands and
laughing; Nature is produced there WIN IL
deity superior to all imagination. we forget
the painter, we think only OF art. we 1orgei,
art and exclaim, "That is true. 1T is SO!
SIT is just my idea of itr' We should say that
VelasGuez had placed there nothing of his own
that he left his hands free, and his hand has
only made and placed lines and colors upon
the canvas of a dark room, which reproduces
the living people he painted. The paintings Oh
Velasouez are like the romances of Mansoni,
though read a dozen times over, mingle and
mix so with our own memories that 1T seems a
reality to us; and it is the same with the people
Velasquez has painted; they mingle in the
crowd of the friends and acquaintance OF our
lives, come back to our minds and talk with
us, and we do not remember that we have only
seen them in painting.
And now let us speak of Murillo in
the sweetest tone possible Velasquez
is an eagle. Murillo is an angel We
admire Velasquez. We adore Murillo;
His pictures make us know him as II we had
lived with him. He was handsome, good,
pious. Envy could not bite him, and around
his crown of glory he wears a halo OF love;
He was born to paint the heavens. lie had
received peaceful and serene. spirit which
went upward towards God on the wings OF a
calm inspiration, and the most admirable OF
his pictures breathe an inspiration of modest
sweetness which awakenS our sympathy ana
tenderness before our admiration. a simple
and noble elegance of lines, an expression full
of vivacity and grace, and an inetfabie har-
mony of colors, are the qualities which strike
us at first sight; but the more we study the
more we discover, and admiration gradually is
changed to q Joyous tenderness. His saints
have a friendly air which reassures and con-
soles us. His angels, which he groups with
such marvellous talent, make the lips
tremble with desire to kiss them; his
virgins clothed in white and enveloped
in great blue mantle, large black eyes and
hands clasped delicate, graceful, airy, make
the heart beat with tenderness, and tears start
to our eyes. He -unites the truth OF Velas-
transparent harmony of Titan with the BRILL
ancy of Rubens. Spain surnamed him the
painter of the Conception, because he is with
out rival in the art of representing this dl-
vine idea. There are four great Conceptlons
in the Museum of Madrid. Before these four
sN@<OSN
in ecstasy. / was most fascinated by the un-
finished picture, it has the arms crossed on the
breast, and the crescent across the body. Many
people rank it below the others. II trembled
to hear some one say it. l felt an inexpressi-
BILE tenderness for that face. More than once
when admiring it felt the tears coursng down
my cheeks. Before this picture my heart and
spirit rise to height of thought and feeling
which l never reached before. 1t was not en-.
thusiasm for the faith 1t was desire, a
strong aspiration towards faith, a hope which
made me to catch a glimpse of life more no
BILE, more fruitful more beautiful than any
have ever led new sentiment of prayer, need
of loving, of doing good, of suffering for Others
to expiate and ennoble my own intelligence and
my heart The Virgin of Sorrows, Saint An
ma teaching the Virgin to read, Christ Cruel
fed, The Annunciation, The Adulation OF the
Shepherds, The Holy Family, The Virgin with
the Rosary and The Infant Jesus, are all adj
mirable pictures, beautiful with a tender light
which penetrates the soul.
One should see he children, young girls and
women on Sunday before these pictures, how
their faces light up and hear the tender words
which spring from their lips. For them Mu-
rillo is saint, they pronounce his name Will
a SMILE as if to say, he belongs to us.