Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-08-10
TISSOT'S PICTURES.
@ESULT OF HIS VISIT TO PALESTINE
TO STUDY THE A-E OF CHRIST.

Interesting story of the Conversion of a IA
NOUS French Painter-The Picture Which
Was "the Father of the Brood"-"From
the Top of the Cross"
Theodore Stanton in The Century tells
the strange story Of the conversion of NJ.
James Tissot, the French painter whose
300 or 400 pictures illustrating the life of
Jesus formed one of the most interesting
features of the 1894 Champ dc Mars salon.
Seven or eight years ago artistic Paris
talked for a day of the departure of Tissot
for the Holy Land in order to seek new in
SEPARATIONS. Tissot was then fresh in the
public mind as the author of series of
etchngs depicting the passions charms
and scductions of feminine life at the
French capital, and many an artist smiled
,',cptically at this apparent contradiction
: ct Tissot had already shown more than
once that his talent had bent in the di-
rcction of religious subjects
Then, too, at the very moment when he
was engaged in packing his trunk for
Palestine he had in his studio a carefully
hidden canvas, scarcely dry, which was SO
penetrated with a subtle spiritual and
Christian spirit that its timid author
dared not exhibit it in public 1t now
forms the center of the Tissot collection at
the Champ de Mars, where it is exposed
for the first time / refer to a large oil
painting called The Voices Within"
wherein are represented a poor man and
his wife, who, fallen into deep despair in
the midst of poverty and ruin, finally take
new heart and courage through the con
ISOLATION of Jesus, who appears to them,
comforts them and shows them his
pierced hands. THAT was the starting
point Of my new dispcnsation, said NJ.
Tissot, pointing to this picture the first
time / saw it, but | had "a long and hard
struggle before could bring myself to be-
gin it. More than one night did l lie
awake for hours, till my head was burn
ing through the mental strain, struggling
against the admission into my heart of
the new light that was dawnng upon me
But when finally felt myself conquered
and was penetrated through and through
by the grand mystery of "a God turned
man in order to save humanity l could
no longer escape from it. so, Of COURSE
this large painting must go to the Champ
de Mars for it is really the father of all
this big brood Of little ones"
With such thoughts in his mind and
such awakennrs in his heart, in the au-
tumn of 1856 TissOt started for the holy
sepulchcr with all the enthusiasm of the
crusaders of old He saw, questioned and
mcditatcd. He made scores of vivid
sketches and wrote reams Of thoughtful
notes. The first visit was repeated. Dur
ing this second soiourn he utilized instan-
taneous photography, which was then first
becoming known in France, and was thus
able to bring back with him quantities of
characteristic types, scenes and landscapes.
The farther he wandered in Palestine
the more he saw there, and the deeper he
studied his object the stronger grew lis
sot's conviction that his precursors in the
field of Biblical illustration had not caught
the true spirit of their scheme, had not
struck the right note. He returned to
France determined to catch the true spirit
and to strike the right note Once within
the walls of Paris again he buried himself
in his handsome, secluded home, situated
at the head of quiet lane within stone :
throw of the Bots de Boulogne, and gave
himself up entirely to his thoughts, hi:
books, his collections and his art. He
pored over musty old commentaries on the
Bible, studied archaeology, mastered the
Talmud, devoured books of eastern travel
read the history of the Jews and Arab,
and went over the Scriptures again and
again in the Nulgate and in the French
and English tran,lations. Nor dld hC
neglect the Apocrypha. In word, before
taking up his brush Iissot saturated Ms
mind with his subject and gave full rem
to an Imagination now thirsting for the
occult and mysterious. society lost Its
charms for him. He who had been mon
dain now became almost recluse
Emphasis must be laid on the fact that
Tissot, in the enthusiasm OF neophyte
has not simply gone back to the anti uat
ed treatments of religious subjects Here
in lies perhaps the chief merit Of his col
lection. His originality may often border
on profanity, but never CROSSES the line
His innovations in the handling OF OLD
familiar themes frequently take the breath
away when the heholder is of the cloth
An ecclosiastic who has carefully studied
the collection declares that in his render
ing of the passion TisSot has introduced
numerous details that had never before oc
CURED to the clerical mind, and yet that
none Of these new departures Is contrary
to orthodoxy nd in no respect mars the
emotion produced by the scene
Tissot's series of ''portrai of thc
apostles is mixture of archaeological