The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-02-02
The Greatest Picture in the World.

In small room, situated in the corner
Of the building, hung with rich, warm.
red drapery and lighted by one large
window, before which hangs a curtain OF
some light stuff, the light falls upon one
of the greatest pictures ever painted,
picture that always has been and always
will be one of the most celebrated in all
the realms of art, that wonderful crea-
ton of Raphael, the ''Sistine Madonna"
There are copies of it everywhere, it has
been reproduced in every conceivable
manner by all grades of artists, from the
best to the worst, but in all the copies
there is nothing that can compare with
the wonderful original. There is some.
thing in it that cannot be reproduced.
There is soul in it, the influence OF
which no one but its creator could have
felt, and without that soul there is moth
ing to the picture. The copies of it may
please the eye by correct drawing, per-
feet coloring, and faithful copying, but
until there is in them the soulfulness
that beams from the eyes of the original
they can never exact homage from the
beholder.
The face of the Madonna is a simple
study. 1t seems TO be the idealization oil
all that is pure and holy. The simple
face of the Virgin is of one who knew
and appreciated the greatness of the re.
sponsibility that had come upon her, but
who also felt the strength that would
enable her to bear it. She stands there
with the child Jesus in her arms, with an
expression of the most absolute faith in,
and the most boundless reverence for,
the All-Powerful who ordained her to
be the mother of the Savior of mankind.
Her gaze goes out and beyond the pres
ent and sees the wondrous glories that
are to come.
In this face of simple girl there is
Humanity and Divinity struggling for
mystery. There is the exaltation of her
wondrous position as the mother of the
Redeemer, that gives it the expression
of Divinity, but over the face of the
moth er lies the shadow of the cross and
the crown of thorns, the agony of the
fearful death. There is sublime exal-
tation at being the mother of the Re-
deemer, but that is subdued by the GER
tainty of the terrible suffering that the
man Jesus must undergo to accomplish
his heavenly-ordained mission. 1t is
this almost miraculous blending of the
Human and Divine. that makes the
wonder of this great work. 1t has
never been equaled. 1t cannot be copied.
But one mind was capable of conceiving
the great idea, and but one hand capable
Of executing it. No copyist was ever
subtle enough to combine the two in
spirations in the face, the Human and
Divine. No matter how good the copy,
it gives no idea of the great original.
A curtain, before which, on the left,
kneels St. Sixtus and on the right St.
Barbara, is drawn back. revealing the
Virgin bearing the child. Beneath and
around her are filmy clouds that seem
to stretch away to Heaven, while about
her head are the shadowy shapes of
countless cherubim, and below, at the
very bottom of the picture, are two
cherubs, the very personification of naive
innocence. The execution is as great as
the conception. In fact the one adds to
to the effect of the other. The drawing,
foloring, attitudes and expressions,
show the great power of the great man.
1t is the work of genius such as the
world never possesses but once.-D. r.
Locke, in Toledo Blade.