The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1884-08-09

Washington had refused by an overwhelm
ing vote and in direct opposition to ths
wishes OF American artists, both at home
and abroad, to even reduce the duty OF
works of art; thus successfully protect
ing" American painters against one of tht
best means of improvement and rendering
probable and just the immediate enforce
ment Of retaliatory measures by the authori.
ties in these great centres of art study.
Vienna, or Vein" as the German hath
it, was our next stopping point, and this
also necessitated long wearisome journey
of nearly four hundred miles from Dresden,
with but little to break the montony of the
trip. This city, which has population
only trifie smaller than the Prussian cap
ital, is not located on the Danube river as
is usually supposed, but upon the Danube
canal, small branch of the main stream.
The old Notifications, which entirely sur
rounded the ancient city, were all leveled
in 1867 and broad avenue, known as the
Ring Strasse," constructed in their place.
This street, which is one of the finest we
have yet seen in Europe, separates the an
cient and modern portions of the city, the
former with crooked streets and medi-
feval aspect being within and the latter, one
of the most inviting on the continent,
without its broders. The principal public
buildings, governmental Offices, etc., are
oil @hn
too was the famous Ring theatre, the burn
ing of which few years ago and the terri
BILE loss of life in the flames, sent such a
thrill of horror throughout christendom.
Extensive buildings are also being erected
on the "Ring" into which, when COM
pleted, the art collections, etc., will be
gathered. The Belvedere gallery is the
principal collection of paintings and is a
large and valuable one. It is divided into
two sections, the italian and NetherlandisI
schools, and each contains a large number
of the works Of the most famous masters.
The Liechtenstein gallery, private collec-
ton, also includes some excellent speci-
mems, together with many inferior works,
the total number being abont 1900.
Numerous statues adorn the parks and
squares of the city, the most interesting
being that of Prince Schwartzenburg, who
commanded at the three days battle of
Leipsic, which was the first step in the
final overthrow of the great Napoleon. The
unfavorabIe condition of Austrian finances
is evident, even to stranger, from the Cir
culation of deprecated fractional paper
currency, somewhat similar to the shin
plasters' current in America during the
late unpleasantness. The German language
is almost universally spoken and Roman
Catholic is the prevailing religion, about
twenty y-eight of the thirty-seyen millions
population belonging to that faith. the
balance being divided among Protestants,
Jews, the Greek Church, etc.
The scenery of the Danube at some To-
calities above Vienna is said to compare
favorably with that of the Rhine; but is not
of sufficient interest to justify spending the
time required for the trip, consequently we
take train and are whirled on to Munich,
the ancient capital of the kingdom of
Bavaria, avoiding Salzburg as one of the
hurnbugs of Europe. In its public build
ings and its collections of art, Munich is
cne of the richest cities of Europe. It is
located upon the "Isar, flowing rapidly"
and is very irregular in its streets and
general plan. Like Vienna, it has broad
boulevard occupying the place of its old
Notifications and separating the ancient
from the modern city. The Royal Palace,
certain portions of which are open to the
public each day, contains large number
of articles of interest, but the greatest at
traction is series of halls, on the walls of
which are some of the finest frescoes of
modern times; illustrating events in the
lives of Charlemagne, and Frederick Bar
barossa and also giving scenes from the
Nibelungen-lied. The old Pinacothek, OF
picture gallary, contains 1900 paintings,
80 by Rubens and large re-
presentation of the other famous masters.
OF course in these vast collections it is inn
possible to give even passing glance at a
large portion of the pictures, and in many
cases more would not be desirable; as even
in the best galleries there are many which,
to the uncultivated eye at least, are of but
little interest, while those which have be-
come world famous are sufficient to OCCUPY
all the time which an ordinary tourist can
The frequent recurrence of the
Virgin and Child as subject for painting
also becomes somewhat monotonous, we
having counted no less than thirty-two re-
presentations of the virgin in saloon con-
tanning only fifty eight pictures. The new
Pinacothek is devoted to modern art and
it's 500 paintings include some of the best
works of Piloty, Hess, Rottman, Zimmer-
man and others, while the Glyptothek, or
gallery of ancient sculptures, presents
well classified collection, to-
gether with several magnificent specimens
from Canova, Thorwalsden and others of
our own day.
In the northwestern portion of the city is
the famous bronze foundry, formerly the
property of the Royal family, butnow owned
BY private parties. Here many of the
bronze statues which have been erected in
The Uuited States within the past few years
we're cast. We notice in the museum at
bached full sized models of the colossal
equestrian statue of Washington, erected
in Richmond, and of the statues of Patrick
Henry, Webster, jefferson, Marshall, Ev-
erett, Lincoln and many others erected in
different cities of our land, together with
the models of the great bronze doors of the
capital at Washington, representing scenes