The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-04-28
SPRING IN THE SOUTH
Atlanta Constitutions
OUR FOREIGN LETTER.
Especial correspondence of the PREss.l

Especial correspondence OF the PREss.l
ANTWERP.
Arriving late at night at Antwerp, we
found at Hotel d Antoine no place to lay our
heads, as all kilograms for rooms had been
utterly disregarded, owing to the rush OF
guests during the closing week of the Inter-
national Exposition. We were, ,rebuffed by
the clerk, and had not a kindly old gentle
man offered his services for our relief we
might have been literal pilgrims upon the
| earth. After a while our friend of the
| friendless returned with the glad news that
| he had secured comfortable lodgings. We
followed his lead in and out of dark streets
! to a high wire grating like the entrance to
| some insane asylum; this opened at his
| touch, when he guided us cautiously through
! a narrow court yard to a narrower passage,
/ and up the narrowest flight of stairs, which
| made the little ones cling tightly to our gar
ments, as the darkness and queer surround
ings reminded them of the story of the bar
Der of Antwerp, into whose shop so
| many people entered and were never seen to
return. When it was determined to know
what became of his customers, it was ascer-
| tanned that the barber had dear friend,
baker, for his next door neighbor, who had
the reputation of making most savoury meat
pies. Following this clue, a spring was
found attached to the chair in which the
BARRIERS patrons sat to have their wigs fitted
and powdered, and by it the unhappy vic
tins were lowered into the cellar and con-
veyed to the bakers shop. We reached at
last some little rooms in the top of quaint
rambling old house; and after much per-
suasion and encouragement the children
were disabused of the notion that this might
be the yeritable home of the baker or barber,
and when they had locked under the beds
and felt about the floor for cracks to trap
| doors, they went to bed and slept soundly
until the cathedral chimes for morning mass
| broke our slumbers.
Antwerp is full of beautiful things. The
cathedrals differ very widely from those in
| other places They are very ornate In style,
and full of massive groups of statuary in
white and tinted marbles, and elaborate
wood carvings. We visited st. Andrews
church. Here the pulpit is upheld by
wonderful group of life-sized figures cut in
oak and representing the miraculous draught
Of fishes. The canopy overhead is group
of cherubs In this church hangs Rubens'
martyrdom of its patron saint. We CHANGED
to be there during mass for the dead held
over the body of some rich man. The church
centre was filed with ragged children, who
had knocked off their wooden shoes at the
threshold and stood barefooted on the mar
BILE floor. pinched and shiyering with the
cold. A group of fat priests in black and
orange colored garments mumbled off a
II ~ .-.1I.-
that the old saints themselves, were they to
return to earth, would never have mistrusted
they were listening to their familiar prayers
st. Jacques church is the richest we have
yet seen. Here Rubens was baptized, and
in his family chapel he and all his family are
buried. This chapel was built after his own
designs about thirty years before his death.
A picture which well might be called 'Ru-
bens's Triumphant Life, /" fills the wall in the
rear, and was the work of his later life. 1t
is not masterpiece of his skill, but makes
striking family monument. His father and
grandfather are in the center; ON one side
he stands as knight in armor, his favorite
character in which he painted HIMSELF on
the other are his two wives, one a blonde,
whose face one recognizes so often in Ru-
bens's angels, and the other of darker
complexion. Some of the faces of the cher
ubs lowering over the group are the por-
traits of his children. We went next to Ru-
bens's seat. Although there is no lineal de-
scendant the coat of arms is still kept on the
high-backed pew. We sat in his chair and
gazed upon the marble statues of saints and
angels and the inspiring pictures, which look /
much the same as when Rubens knelt there 4
I We could easily separate ourselves from our
present sphere and falling into the peculiar
atmosphere Of his time, imagine Rubens en-
tering the portals with his wife and little
ones to seek the blessing of his father con-
lessor. In the cathedral is a trio of Rubens's
paintings, which have had an eventful his
tory. This picture, with hosts of other
treasures was taken by the French in the
days of Bonapartgs conquests and carried
to the Louvre. After the revolution Bel
GUM, Germany and Holland, never. having
forgotten the old grudge, demanded restora-
ton of their ancestral heritages. The Ger
mans chuckle not a little that the French
have given back part of their military plum
der-for one item, six hundred thousand vol
umes taken from Heidelberg Castle, and say
yet send home The two outside pictures of
this triplet are half the size of the middle
and arranged on hinges to close over the
centre like the covers of book. The mid
die is the Crucifxion, ON one side the Saluta-
ton of Elizabeth, and the other the Presen-
tation of the Infant Jesus to Simeon in the
Temple. 1t was like meeting an old friend
to see in this group the identical head and
shoulders of Simeon, wrapped in rich East
ern mantle, like an old India shawl, which
the people of Brunswick call one of their
gems of art in the Bowdoin gallery. AT this
distance it is recalled as most admirable
copy. Among the choice works of art at
Antwerp is a small head of Christ painted
on white marble by Leonardo da Vinci. We i
see many copies of this painted ON veil,
and sometimes hung like an apron around
Mary's figure. One could write book full
about the museum. As we entered we no.
ticed man without arms copying exquis-
itely the works of the masters. He wore on
both feet stockings cut off at the toes; the |
pallet was hung on the great toe of his left |
foot, while his brush was balanced between
the two largest toes of his right foot, which
he moved with as much freedom as skill
full right hand. AS we babe him good bye |
he picked up pen and paper with his toes |
and wrote his address in fine legible hand. |
This museum is rich in works of Vandyck, /
Otto Vennius, Rubens's master, and his |
pupil Jordaens. Here is the Descent from |
the Cross, the chef d'euvre of Quentin Mat |
sys, the blacksmith artist At the foot of |
the cathedral tower is beautiful iron cano-
Ply designed and forged by his own hand.
1t is said he aspired to marry the daughter
of an artist. The fathers name has escaped
our memory, but the picture will be remenl-
bered as miserable piece of coloring, and to
say that the son-in-law only excelled the
father would not rank him very high among
the old masters. Quentin, not daunted by |
this refusal, determined to win at any cost,
and forsook his anvil to 90 to Rome, where
ne worked induStriously for three years,
then came back to lay his trophies at the
fathers feet and claim the hand of his
laughter, the heart already being pledged.
Entering the house he saw picture upon
The fathers easel of Satan and his angels
against Heaven. The young lover