The morning call., 1894-07-08
TiSSOT'S PICTURES.

i
pearaDce at the salon of the Champ de
Mars in Paris Of a collection OF "lllustra-
tions Of the Gospels by the artist Iissot
This painter is a devout believer who
devoted himself, many years ago. to Illus
trating the life of Christ. He visited the
Holy Land. and photographed his back
grounds. He studied the Oriental lang
uages and saturated himself with their
literature. He placed his knowledge In
the crucib bic of faith, and revived and I'M
proved upon the methods of the early
masters. The enterprise was so novel that
it created an excitement, and became the
talk of the day.
1t was not altogether because they were
religious that the old masters devoted
their bru sh to themes drawn from the
Bible; it was partly because there was no
market for their work outside OF the
churches. The cathedrals, monasterles,
converts and parish churches were the
only places in which a painter could ex-
change his canvases for coin. Hence
from the days of Cinabue and G otto.
down to the Napoleonic era, great painters
did their best work on Biblical subjects
But their historical knowledge and their
sense of realism were often limited.
They disdained considerations of costume
and background. Some of them painted
the saints in the dress worn in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries; showed the
disciples on a BACKGROUND Of Florentine
mosaic; depicted the apostles with miters
on their heads and crOZiers in their hands.
These incongruities provoked ridicule
when Lessing and Winckelman laid down
the true canOns Of art, and with the up
heaval OF the close of the eighteenth
century religious pictures went out OF
fashion.
Within the past thirty years the fashion
has been revived, with this difference, that
artists were required to treat Biblical
scenes with strict adherence to realism.
IlgTes was perhaps the founder of the
school, but ii was not carried TO its full
development until Dore and Vereschagin
appeared. The former had enjoyed use
full apprenticeship for the task in the illus
tratlons to the Bible which he painted to
order and which were conlormable to tradl-
tion. Freed from restraint. ne painted his
famous Christ at the Pretorium," in
which the accessories defy historical critl-
cism. Fereschagn followed with his
h6SuTIccllUU, anu huUhdCZg SUI
Dore in his "Christ before Pilot" Tne
realism of these pictures suggested to
French artists the Idea of REPRESENT ting
Biblical scenes in juxtapOsition with mod
ern life; thus Lazarus shaking off his
grave clothes is examined by French doc
tors in immaculate evening dress, with the
ribbon of the Legion of Honor in their
buttOnholes. A similar party in the same
modern garb are depicted as cross-examin-
ing Mary MagdaleE.
OF this queer fad in art the tendency
was of course to expose the Bible stories
to ridicule, and while it was appreciated
by the fuu-Ovlng agnostics of Paris it was
bitterly resented by believers. A clamor
arose among the latter for return to an
cient traditions in religious art, and NJ.
| Tissot appeared to supply the demand.
He declared at the outset that he would
not initiate the old masters, but would
paint the scenes of the life of Christ
as he conceived them. This led at first
to sharp criticism of his work by cleri-
cal authorities, but Tissot defended him.
self with a vigor begotten of exhaustive
knowledge, and Of as ardent faith as his
critics; and now ne has silenced his as
new features into bis representation Of
the passion, and that for each of them he
can give good reasons. His great paint
| ing, What Christ Saw From the Top of
| the Cross" reminds the spectator Of Ge.
rome's treatment Of the same subject. In
neither picture is there any cross, or
| any Christ crucifed. Gerome is content
to show the long shadows cast by the
! three crosses in the setting sun. Tissot,
! faithful to his title, shows Mary Magdalen
| weeping, the mother of Christ with look
| of tenderness ineffable, holy women sur
! rounding them, a few timorous disciples,
and further back the haters, the bias
! phemers and the awed crowd. In the
| foreground is the sepulcher yawning to
receive the body. Photographs can con-
vey but an imperfect idea Of the merits of
| these works
To those who look upon the French as
given over to irreligion this reaction from
| skepticism may seem anomalous. But
| the church has never lost its hold on
France. Belief is sturdy plant In
! France, as elsewhere, there ale thousands
of people who believe what their fathers
believed. These people support churches
and are able to pay for fine pictures of
Biblical scenes to hang over their altars.
Nj. Tissot will not lack clientele. and it
would not be surprising IL his reward and
the splendid sum which was realized for
the "Communicants" led to a pretty gen.
eral study of religious themes by the
| -, Ftb nj