The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1888-03-01
GENIUS AID ART.
TIE WORKSHOP OF A GREAT
ARTIST.
! Pleasant Hour il Valentine $ studio.

! Pleasant Hour ia Valentine S Studio.
Hamie L. HaScllett in TIE Battinorean. /
During a recent lnieT STAY m Viz
| ,ini2's beautiful capital ! pro5,ed BY
the opportunity 70 vist what has long
been to ali lovers oIsrt the. most in
teresting place III RFchmoud. a few
minutes walk from q korC!s'' brought
me 10 No. 9o9 East Leigh street, where /
paused, and in answer to my tap for
admittance, was met at the door bv
The distinguished sculptor himself. Il,
was q cold, damp day, and the GLOW
ing fire in Il large stove near the en-
trance throwing its cheering light over
the apartment, made a pleasing con-
trast with the hill air without. To
this iirst addressed myself, and VIXEN
its genial heat had restored TO their
normal condition my benGmbcd mem
5ers, | explained the object OF my visit,
requesting 4 nearer inspection OF some
Of those rare creations that have made
nous in our own and foreign lands.
A glance around the apartment
| showed L tier Of shelves upon which
were ranged rows Of busts and small
statuary-ciassic subjects, inierspersed
with modern beautics-ilcrocs and
statesmen, the artist having dedicated
his best talent to immortallzing the
face and form of Those gallant spirits
who figured most conspicuously in the
civil strife icr Z: his own and native:
land. "
=! Chief among these is the celebrated
rccunlbent statue OF Lee, which occu-
yied one corner Of the studio, and
which brings ont in cold white marble
thc noble features and splendid figure
OF the dead hero in such vivid proper
tons that you almost look to see linn
move.
From 4 si1el! in another corner, tic
Wild, d distorted face Of " pcnthesi!ea, .
modelled from the original of his great
master, gazes with outstrctched neck
and cleaning eyes at her companions
opposite, and Sc clearly dclIncatcd and
! iife-iike Is he herce countenance oi
this Amazon queen, that YOU readily
recognize in her the daughter OF the
War god, and can imagine how even
the great Achilles should have been
put to confusion and held for 4 mo-
n1ent spell-bo,lnd before the concen-
tratcf force Of this terrific face.
In the fourth and last corner stand:
an ample work table, where mind and
matter are holding 4 stoat struggle fol
supremacy. Books, papers, drapcrie:
and artists tools are strewn over 1t:
surface with characteristic disorder
and a suspicion of dust completes tht
ideal of Z students desk, and bear:
unquestionablc evidence to the fact
/ that the spirit OF this grotto is indispu
tably masculine.
But all other ojccts pale before tht
! beauty of the central group, which
stands upon pedestal near the mid
die OF the apartment, and towart
which my attention is particlarly dl
rectcd. For this lotticst fight OF HI
/ creative genius, Mr.. Valentine has Sc
iectcd classic theme, and in ':Fiector'
t Andormache" and her beautiful boy
5 Scamandritis, tells the tragic t3lc o
domestic love swept from The peaceful
hearth 10y the relentless hand OF war
1t is d characteristic Of Homer, tha
; he assumes rather than describes til
/; beauty Of his hcroines. Unlike tn
poets and romancers, of later days, h
he docs not dilate, upon their person
: al attractions bat from simple out
lines of character and action, leaves
to the Imagination OF the reader t
pictare the beings Of whom nc writes
It is only in the natural, unassnmin:
role Of wife and mother, that he Ill
PRODUCES the Trojan princess, yet IN
: translators have, without exception
attributed to her all OF those fcminin
2raccs which make woman beautiiu
i an.l loveable, and our artist has proret
5 no exception in the general interpre
0 tation.
: It is after that last parting seen
8 over picture Of which Drutus' wift
Portia, not withsiandins the wome
Of that generation were 50 little give
5 to sentiment, IS said to shed tear:
q that the Southern sculptor presents h
. subject. II IS after Hector, returnsn
& from the field 0. battle, and fndin
:, that And.omache has left the palac
and gone TO the tower ot the citadt
to watch with her own eyes the prog
ress OF the fight, seeks her thers an
meets her az the Soean gates, scco1
panied By the nurse and child. The
: follows that tender scene in which th
parents look with joyous pride mingie
with gloomy forebodings upon thc
lovely boy; and the wife clingin
. teariully 10 her husband entreats HI
. not 10 be TOO reckless o. ! life whic
10 she SO dearly values. She EeElin,
< him OF her father and seven brother
already slain, and Of her mother al
dead. adding that loving assuranc,
= But while my Hector sill survives $
Ny father. Eiofi:eE. p.etlrcr all In .h9e