, 1889-01-23

popular interest that has been felt in the
pictures that treat with such imaginative
realism certain passages in the life of our
Saviour, and certain episodes i'll the hiStO-
~ OF our time. We engrave two of these
subjects, but before speaking of them We
feel it necessary to assure the reader that
Mr.. Verestchagin's great merit as a painter
has been too much lost sight of in the hub
bub that has been made over the pictures
that deal with sacred and historico.S social
questions. In the war of words over the pur-
pose of his art, and its probable influence
for good or evil, we have seldom heard any
opinion expressed as to his skill in his pro-.
fession. Indeed we remember to have
heard it intimated that he was not a pain.
ter at all, and that it was only the literary
or historic interest in his works that made
1t worth while to consider them.
. This opinion is. now perceived, in the
presence OF the pictures themselves, to be
wholly mistaken. We do not, indeed,
think the painting Of any OF the large his
toric pieces especially commemorate. Mr..
Verestchagin is nowhere more remarkable
than in his fine sense of aerial perspective,
his power TO represent air, light and dis
lance IN his smaller pictures the skill
displayed in the painting of the figure is
most delightful i'll the large picture The
Private Mosque of the Great Mogul," no
master that ever lived, we care not who
may be named, ever drew his people truer
or more instinct with life. when NOu.
reddin prayed in the temple" says the
Alab historian, "his subjects believed that
they saw a sanctuary" This sentence
comes into our mind when we ascend the
stairs leading into the upper gallery, and
see before Us the great mosque OF white
maTLle. pure as Il cave followed ont OF the
a.,Nv, - ill.,. NN, .- IL Al To- .-I
his attendants are praying. We shall re-
lurn to this noble picture again, but we
speak Of il here only to mark an exception
TO the inferiority, SIS we feel it, OF the fl
CURE painting in the large works here
. shown.
The two pictures we engrave belong to
a trilOgy, as it were, representing or sym.
bOliZiug certain historic mars yrdomS: a
CrncitixOn among the Romans, the shoot
-. ing OF Stpoys from guns by the English,
and hanging Of Nlhilists by the Russians.
Mr. VcreStchagin does not particularize
THESE events he doe, NOT speak of the cru
c%lixiOm, nor does he mean the shooting Of
tne SepUyS here represented was done at
any particular time. Indeed, to hear him
describe the former picture, one would
think-SO imperSOnal is his manner-that
some one else had painted it aud not he,
dHU certainty HG IOl pSdIS W HdmC any
of the persona ges. All is, that the
t.. CrucifxiOn of Jesus. WAS. only one
of many such incidents, and that the
: scene present ell must have resembled this
:" IN lis general character. Thus hc said to
the writer, in the course.of a most inter
esting and instructive commentary in de-
tail on his pictures ."t think. the two
priests are. explaining to the Roman sol
dier that these three were all bad men who
deserved to die | think that is what they
are saying. These people in front are
part of "a caravan going home from the
market, and this woman in the corner,
there ~ the left think she must be the
mother of one of the victims you see she
is crying! Look at that Jew boy in frOnt.
He stops and turns, and points with his
finger: L think he is saying, See! that
is the mans mamma. 1t must be so.
How badly she is crying; Those men on
- thel CRUISES shed n great deal of blood.
The doctors tell me that men wounded
that way in the hand bleed very much it
{. is hard to stauuch SO | have made much
blood" This impersonal way of look
ing ut the matter enables us also to as
sumo for the nonce a similar attitude, and
to look at the event in a broader, more
humanitarian way. ''These are our con-
conscripts'-tkis is the way the world
always yesterday today and forever
treats those who give their lives to its