The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-30
MISSIONER THE GREAT.
a.ories of the Most Illustrious Painter
Of This Age.
From the Chfcaqo Tribune.

hos inst died, was not prominent in Paris
;an society. Her iilustrlous husband has
Ioro affected the life of a half recluse, and
sba has more than shared his retirement
Nature made her capable of being a brill
;ort woman of fashion, but inclination led
har in another direction. She will not be
-roatlv missed by the fashionable world
FIT there are many poor families who will
Inc mourn the departure of their good
ongel To NJ Meissonier himself her death
Inst be a great blow. He has not many
friends. Tie multitude admires him, but
only the few love him, Whys
pacause he is SO apt to show the thorny side
Of his nature. For some years he has been
Crow,ing almost misanthropic. He is auto
eeratic and arrogant in bearing, intolerant
~ the opinions of others, harsh and bitter in
his speech, and really fond, think, of pick
inc duarrels. There is apparently no good
SIGHTED like poor j. F. Milet was there
would be cause for bitterness. But wealth,
,onnlaritv and fame are his in abundant
measure The world has smiled upon him
and he ought to smile on it in return in
stead of snarling at it. l am told,
however, that there are two reasons for
his bad disposition-purely physical rea-
sons. One is that he is martyr to dyspep.
sia No man with bad stomach is fully
accountable for his disposition. A twinge
of{ndigestion will curdle the milk of human
kindness IN an instant, Inc opher reason is
that his style OF Work mas 0Vertaxed his
nerves He has for years been painting
microscopic subjects. On bit of canvas
six inches square he will put a panoramic
landscape. OF course he uses only the tiuiest
| of brushes, some of them, with which he puts
| on the mlhuIest CoucheS consisting Oh only
| single hrlstle eacn: he Dehds over ms
| work with magnitylng glass IN ~ MS eye,
like an engraVer or Iapldary' Ihls sort
OF Work Is Uerrlply wearing on Uhe nerves
It's effect has been TO make nm irritable
III the extreme ana uIe Hnal result OF al
this mas been 10 allehate nearly al MS
friends ana drive away many OF his pu-
plis. Ihey coulh hoU IoleraUe ms queru!-
GUS disposition and the acerpity Oh MS
tongue.
This and other causes have made M.
MelssonlerS private lie a sealed DOCK to
the world. Ills houses are ranked among
the wonders OF Paris. He has two, and
they cost MN about haIf million dollars
apiece. he himself designed and planned
them, down TO the mlnuteSt DETAIL ana per-
sonaHy superintendent their construction
from foundation to coping He made sure
that every stick and stone used was or the
best quality, and he insisted that every
stroke OF work should be performed with
the same palnsuaklpg thoroughnesS Whlch
he gives to his pictures. AS result the
Neither of them has settled an Inch on It's
foundation since 1t was built. All the FUR
nlture, likewise, ana even the glass, emma,
and silver ware, were specially made &C
cordlng to his own designs. Then the molds
and patterns were destroyed, so that the
articles could not be duplicated. All this
was done simply to satisfy NJ. Melssonler's
msatlable craving for exactness and per
lection, aud not with any wish TO make
display OF wealth, Tor the great artist has
always been slngulariy modest, retlrlng
and unostentatlous
One OF n. Messoner's houses is IN the
heart OF the art quarter or Paris. The
otngl ~ III Cne aIIoui - d. Cile ailcle1 ooMl
ol'S anu unIo I'C ~ 10 rs ~ INo esi-
HTICe' 81 GcouPle9 Cilo siUo VI ~, !lio stot'
~ f ~ Uio T.,
oa4IIo6 u U.p ~
81 ~. Ing ~ I nc t
a. paroly Httu ol my Cli " .io
LtoHeS, "inG ~ "e.o laiI amay oacA III Uli9
oet ~ g. 10 al ~ anu
NJ "i9T toI NTl VI I,io aif
u.s. soil' si C'l'ii ite
al, a. oiSG VI ialo .oNiU9' LUZ f
IT. ~ $500, ~ iio ie 800 49,
ne son -, however, no ulscIlle ol MS ldUher
li'lo U.'I
o.'slS neiI''5 oVeL ms itci Woi n, we
So9uSei Pilil.S lIu6o can ase9 WIN pioiu
i,l1 i ~ t ''G' " ~ 60 u,''
LII l'uU Cnousn ne uoeS npU OaUo liS
at,ria =; ~ 'al.a III ''i ms
.Aaiiii,lo ~ 'l'o oIu's niTos ah9 c1Lscloil-
liouaiI95 y! ms ms woIA. ne ID HIIlly per
spi I IlIdv s laDner Is Ille gIeateSG painter
oG p ~ mas eF9i Nno"I, QUIZ aIhiS oG
9iliy oussiIi an Ttlu.e, puC Anseio anu
n1'5'.Iaei i. as Weil' nc IaUher, 100, Is l9llu
anu 9i out VI ne i son, any more Onln luo,
n Oho 9oli IIiiu eh' iioeeu' CHiiih "
IaelssoilIel IL as accoflllished
as ever NlcUor hugo was. lis grahacnll-
uIoh are Iie ohly privileged VlSlOofs III ms
Stuuio' anu "Aeh they INVADE lts PreclnctS
ne IS easily persuaded 10 lay ASIDE ms
DruS .es ana spehd an hour III roinphg WIN
tneh'
remember seeing at a distance at POissy
scene which ought to be immOrtaliZed on
canvas by NJ. MeiSsonier himself; but will
not, more's the pity. The great artist was
on his lawn, playing with two of his grand
children He was prancing about on the
grass on all tours, while one of the little
ones sat astride of his back with a mahl-
stick for a lance and the other sought to &C
celerate his movements by pelting him with
flowers There is told, also, a story of how
his 6-year-old granddaughter received a
white satin fan for a birthday present,
whereupon NJ. Meissonier offered to adorn
1t with painting. But this offer, which an
empress would have accented gladly was