The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-08-25
TWO GREAT WORKS OF ART.
The Venus of Milo and Murillo's Annuncia-
ton.
To the Editor OF the Indianapolis Journal

To the Editor OF the Indianapolis JournaL
The Louvre has miles of statuary and but
one statue-the Venus of Milo lido not mean
to undervalue this statuary-much of it is
worth crossing the Atlantic to see-but only
to express the idea that this exquisite work of
art easily diminishes them all. Critics pro-
nouuce this the first statue of the world.
Prints and photographs of it everywhere
abound, but none can do it justice because
they miss, as every picture of great man or
good woman misses, the personal
element which, for want of a
better word, we call presence.
which is one of the accompaniments of good
ness or greatness. There is a marble life that
pervades this statue that bushes all specta-
tors into silence. 1t is the only undraped
figure ever saw, whether in marble or on
canvas, that completely disarmed all shock
to modesty. Unlike all other statues of
Venus there is no suggestion whatever of
consciousness in this serene form. The di-
vinely intellectual head and face Danish
all thoughts except of intellect and beauty.
Pride in conscious dignity is the ruling pas
sion, it, indeed, passions dwell in celestial
bosoms. If the head and bust of Persephone
in Corcoran's art gallery were set
upon one of w. w. Storeys Igures
it might, perhaps, rival this work
the authorship of which is unknown and
which, for over two thousand years, as I'M
derstand it, has been underground The
left arm is torn off at the shoulder and the
right cut off just above the elbow. The
marble is badly worn and decayed. Yet all
this does not seriously impair the statue.
T,,o mil Ill, 7 e
hours upon this divine woman, and return
to her again and again. Itstrikes a chord in
the human soul deeper than language can
express. OF an entirely different type is
Murillo's painting of the Annunciation. 1t
is rendition in color OF these words: And
the angel said Hail, highly favored the
Lord is with thee, blessed art thou
among women. And Mary
said Behold the handmade of the Lord
And the angel departed from her."
A girlish woman, modestly and thoroughly
draped, is looking up into the sky and at the
shining pathway of the departed messenger
Wonder, submission, purity and humility
are the prevailing features: wonder, that she
is chosen to be the blessed of womanhood
the mother of the Most High; submission to
the will of God in the coming agony that
shall pierce her soul as sword, but of which
she as yet has no comprehension, and hui
mility, that last and best jewel of woman =
hood. In the cloud of cherubs that sur
round her there is no nudity, yet all are un-
clothed. 1t seems almost like sacri-
lege to say that the French government paid
Marshall Ney $125,000 for this canvas.
These two works are the highest and best
products of the art of two different civiliza-
tions and systems of thought-the intel
lectual and the spiritual. There is no trace
whatever of the latter in the Venus, yet her
face is divine, and but little of the former
in the virgin, yet her face is none the less,
but even more divine. Both, however, are
perfect; neither excludes a conflict with the
other. Those who see the statue hasten to
the picture, and thousands turn from the
canvas to the marble. For what after all
are these two systems but the paths
to approach God? If the spiritual waters are
stiller than the intellectual it is because they
run deeper The humility and trust of the
Virgin are no less divine than the stately
intellectual serenity of the Venus. Is there
not a profound suggestion in these facts?
Our Savior chose to approach humanity
through the heart rather than the head.
Shall we, therefore, say to Him nay2 Art has
never been so great as in those lands and
days when and where His divinity has been
the most profoundly believed and entered
the most universally into the thoughts
and practices of the people Hence, France
has not for hundreds of years produced
great master. Every thoughtful man has felt
and sorrowed over the fact that the scientific
netnouS Oh Lne uay are apparently unuermln-
ing the old faiths But in our deeper mo-
ments, when the hollowness of our wisdom
comes upon us; when we see that the bril-
liant Investigations are, after ALL investi-
cations that do not investigate, and that the
old mystery still remains Jehovah, Jove
or Lord" we at last come back to the grand
simplicity of the evangelists.
The Roman Catholic church here in Eu-
rope has method of expressing this idea
that is extremely suggestive. Without en-
tering into the intellectual controversies of
the day, she nevertheless keeps places sacred
to the memory of the Man of Nazareth wide
open at all hours of the day and all days of
the week There is in all these Catholic
countries everywhere chapel or a shrine
where the busy man or woman may at any
time withdraw and find himself or herself
face to face with picture statue of the
Light of the World. She trusts to the silent
influence of the heart, aided by the eye and
the ear, and all that art and wealth can do
to make vivid and real the story of the
Nazarine, to check and correct the vain
heart
The Venus of Milo and the Virgin of
Murillo are, after all, two sisters. The head
and the heart cannot be separated except by
death. ID. Z. BALDWIN.
PARIS, Sunday, Aug. A, 1883.