The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-11-24
It's Development from the
Earliest Times to the
Present.
THROUGH ALL THE NATURAL SCHOOL.
The Entertainment Orig mated by
Mrs. Il. A. Westall-Niss
Jacobs Read the Lee
ture.
ture.

401 was kAS 40oe
night at an ENTERTAINMENT which Tor in>
terest and educational value deserves
especial praise. It's foundation was a
lecture. rapidly tracing the history and
development OF art from the earliest
times through the natural schools of the
world. 1t was prepared by Mrs. H. A.
Westali, wife OF the pastor of the First
Universalist Chu rch, for whose bensfi t
the utertaintnent was given. The fea-
ture especially worthy of note was that
as the principal pictures were men TONED
hey wers shown In tGbleGuT UtUGnts.
To Mrs. Westall. the originator aud
perfecter Of the entertainment. Is due
great credit. The stage was set for a
| parlor scene. at the back we're heavy cur
rains, which parted 10 disclose the pic
lures, and on the right sat Miss Jacobs.
who read the lecture.
It said In part:-"Herbert Spencer. In
| applying the theory Of evolution TO the
| historical development of art. attempts
to show that in its r~udimentary state.
architecture. sculpture and painting
were bound together. The temple,
palaces of Egypt furnish to the art
student his first glimpse Of the inherent
arr. Instinct. Upon their wallis the early
artists painted in brilliant hues the ex-
ploits CT their kings and generals. In
their art work. color was u dominant
note. Their pictures were first carved In
the stone, in a kind of bias relief peculiar
to Egyptian monuments. This surface
was then covered with a thin coat OF
stuceo and upo this the painting was
done. All objects were drawn in
profile, and as they knew MOTH
ing of the lows of perspective,
many objects were represented in
what architects call elevation. 1t was In
Greece hat painting first attained to a
degree of development which entities 1t
to rank rs a fine art. Pliny relates the
story of its origin in the effort OF the
daughter Of a potter of Sicyon, to trace
the outlines of her lovers shadow UPON
the wall. But art does not spring thus
suddenly into being-it grows with the
| growth of civilization. The earliest form
of Greek painting was the silhouette,
which, when colored, was called the
monochrome. On the Greek vases of
Archaic type the figures are painted in
black, on a red ground. with the faces
aud limbs OF female figures in white.
| The next step, the monogram, had the
| interior lines Of the figure marked, with
cut local color. Light aud shade was In
troducsd into the monochrome by paints
Ing in upon each other different tints of
the same color.
The first TO put painting on a par with
architecture and sculpture was PolyGno-
tus 1853 B. c.. followed by Apollodorus,
the first master of ~chidroscuro, Zeuxis,
Parrhastus and Apellss. After them
came q school corresponding to the
Dutch ieuTe painters, in whose hands
Greek art fell from its high estate.
Il ITALIAN sGHOO
Passing Rome and going to media val
lFaly of the Thirteenth Century, Christi~
anity's potent influence begins to be felt.
Now comes that long line of Madonnas,
saints n m rtyrs with which medieval
Europe WAS flooded. The names of Greg
CRY. Palestrina aud Bach are not more
closely linked with the church of that
period than are those OF Giotto, Fra An
geltco a Michael Angelo. Their great
est work was In mural decoration of
cathedrals. The Fourteenth Century
gave BelIina, Perugino and Da Vtnci.
"The name of Leonardo da Vincl of
the FiorentIne school is one of the great
est in art. Besides being a painter ana
sculptor. he was an architect, engineer
aud mechanician, versed in mathemat-
les and the physical sciences; q poet aud
musician. After his greatest work. the
~fresco, The Last Supper his most
popular work is the portrait of Mona
Lisa, Of which the most noticeable fea-
ture~ is the peculiar fascinating half
smile that gives it the name of La
G~iaconda.'"
Here the curtains noislessly parted md
showed within a frame Mrs. Banfi cid
posed as Mona Lisa. The lights aud the
dropnets of gauze stretched across the
frame heightened tne Illusion,
The reader resumed:-"The greatest
anne in tho history of classic art is
that of Michael Angelo. His lifsworK
was colossal, on a scale with his genius,
for he was not only q painter but a
sculptor. architect and writer. AS we
louk at these three weird sisters, who
clip the thread of human life. we are
reminded OF the three uncanny witches
of Macbeth" The curtains parted Oh a
representation of .'The Three Fates" by
MRS. Conkiin. Mrs. Woo ward aud Miss
Kate Gregory.
H VENETIAN SCHOOL.
1t was during the s!xtseutn century
that art reached its glorious consumma>
tioB. In the technique OF art, the Vene-
tian school. headed by Titan. wa su-
preme, especially as colorists. ''The Sleep.
ing Venus" of Titan was p%srsonated
In a modified form by Miss Piaget.
In speaking of Raphael. tue speaker told
how the Sistins Madonia occupies a
room by itself in the Dresden Gallery, a
10 m in seml~darkness, the picture alone
in full light. The only examples OF the
master within the scope OF the perform
ers were the Portrait of Himself' by
Miss Sadie Packer. aud 1.-THE Fornarinap
by Miss Addie Packer.
Among the early Italian schools of art
was that known as the Lom bard School,
at its head Corregio, who did his great
work during the early part Of the 10TH
century. Miss Terhune posed for
'DiAna." one of his minor works, but
serving 60 give an idea of the grace
and beauty of his conceptions. Hnother
painter of the Venetian school Was Paul
Veronese (born 1929, who was essentially
a decorative painter. Miss Ida Hilton
appeared as His Girl In Black" The
familiar face Of Beatrice Ceuci, as
painted by Guido. next looked from the
frame in the guise of Miss Snedeck er.
GERMAN ART.
There is no trace of painting in Ger
many or the Netherlands before the in
trod uction of Christianity, and it was not
until the advent of Albrecht Duerer that
art in Germany was worthy OF The name.
This WIS in the age OF Columbus aud
Cabot. OF Luther aud Melanchton, of the
printing press, of RaLhaei In Italy, of
Sir Thomas Moore in England. For his
"Praying Hands" Mr.. Louis Ames posed.
The glory OF early Flemish art was the
school Of Bruges, of which the greatest
names are Hulbrecht and Jan Van Eyck.
To them we W the substitution of the
canvas for the mural painting. Portrait
painting now begins 10 rise in import
ance. The greatest Flemish painter IL
Peter Paul Rubens. who lived In the
latter part OF the sixteenth and the early
seventeenth centuries. Miss Virginia
Duggett posed for The Straw Hat" one
of four great pictures of beautiful
women. To illustrate tine great court
painters LeIy and Van Dyck, Miss Sued.
eksr posed for the Duchess of Rich
mond" OF the former, and Miss Lortie
Fountain apd two other young people