The record-union., 1897-12-07


for it was most gorgeous back, bear
ing besides large cross, various de-
signs in gold and colors that looked like
armorial bearings. The altar was fair
ly ablaze with candles. I do not know
what the service was, but looking upon
it merely as a spectacle, it was very
handsome. And the evident sincerity
of the worshipers added to the inter-
est. The boys did not look up very
much to see that ''Englishman'' who
was watching them, and older people
Were constantly coming in and drop
ping upon their knees and saying their
prayers. Their preference for wor-
Shipping their Maker with candles and
incense is their own affair: only in that
case I like to see them have plenty of
candles and plenty of incense to do the
thing up handsomely. And that was
what they were doing when I first saw
the interior of the Antwerp Cathedral
There are 125 large pillars in this
church supporting the vaulted roof, and
they give an appearance Of grandeur to
what would otherwise be a very plain
interior. l leaned against one of them
for half an hour watching the proceed
ings, and had from there distant view
of most of the pictures. For it is the
pictures that one wants to see here
AS far as cathedrals go, two or three
taken before dinner are a sufficient
dose. By the time a man has escaped
from London he is tired of hearing of
naves and transepts, choirs, sacristies
AND chapels. But he does not soon
tire of Rubens. Take Rubens out of
the Antwerp Cathedral and the building
can be done" in ten minutes
SOME OF RUBENS' PICTURES.
If you have no knowledge Of art, or no
more knowledge of it than is acquired
by seeing good pictures and comparing
them sometimes with poor ones, you
need have no fear that the great pic
lures VIII diSaDpoint you-that you
cannot appreciate them. Any one, /
think, can appreciate them who can
appreciate the scenes they represent.
When you see one of Rubens' pictures
you see the thing itself They are not
written in dead language that must
be mastered before you can understand
them. And they are not faded and dim
and half illegible, as we are often told
most of the works of the old masters
are.
A description of a lot of paintings,
even of grand paintings, must be almost
as vivid as an account of a baseball
match; so I will spare you that infiIc-
ton. But ] can say something about
their great number and the man VINO
made them. Naturally, Rubens make a
grander showing in this cathedral than
any other artist. Here is his Descent
From the Cross" the most celebrated
,f
Painted in 1912, this was taken to
Paris in 1874, and did not find its way
back to the cathedral till 1862 1t is
winged" picture; that it, it's frame is
sort of closet with folding doors, with
separate pictures on the inside and out
side of each door. The doors of winged
pictures are usually kept closed, and
celebrated pictures not winged are COW
cred With curtains; ostensibly to pre-
serve them, but really to make an ex-
cuse to charge a fee for showing them.
In the Descent From the Cross" the
Virgin Mary in a blue robe and the
young woman with basket are por-
traits of Rubens' first wife and his
daughter Then in the opposite transept
IS his Elevation of the Gross" The
high altarpiece is an Assumption" by
Rubens, which he is said to have
painted in sixteen days. In one of the
chapels is the Resurrection" which he
painted for the tomb of his friend the
printer Aforetus. Plantin's tomb is in
another chapel, with many portraits Of
the family, and an inscription on the
stone by Justus Lipsus.
The other works of art in the cathe-
dral would make a better showing if
they We're not dwarfed by Rubens.
There is a 'St. Francis that is at
tributed to MuriIlo, though some doubt
is cast upon its authenticity. There
are also works by the elder Francken,
and by de Vos, Vaenius, Vinck, Hend-
ricks, Ichut. Heneyns and Verbruggen,
and a number of others whose names
show their Dutch ancestry.
RUBENS' BUSY LIFE
Rubens was so intimately associated
with PIantin, the printer. and his SON.
in-law, Moretus, that in going from the
cathedral to the Plantin printing office
he makes a natural connecting link. The
Antwerpers are sorry now the elder
Reubens was prosecuted in his native
town, for through that persecution their
idol came to be born in Siegen instead of
a i
Of a leaning toward Protestanism, so
the Spanish Inquisition made life un-
happy for him, and he took refuge in
Slegen. There p. p. Rubens was born,
in 1877. After the fathers death the
widow returned TO Antwerp, and to
show how thoroughly she embraced
Romanism she sent the boy to a Jesuit
school. Young Rubens studied art with
Adam Van MORT and Otto Van Veen,
and at twenty three he went to italy 10
complete his studies.
His must have been one of the busiest
lives ever lived. More than a thousand
paintings and drawings are attributed
TO him. though he never was able to give
his whole time to art The Duke Vim
cent of Gonzague sent him 10 the Court
of Philip Ill Of Spain, and from that
time he was more or less involved in po-
itical affairs. He lived for a time in
/ Mantua. then in Rome, then in Genoa,
and according to his own accounts was
always with one foot in the stirrup" in
the service Of the regents, Albert and
Isabella. He made several journeys to
London, Paris and Madrid (and there
was no Continental Express" in those
QJS -, ana MiNIltAl ANd'AA lAAAG W AittAAf =
and. on the death of his first wife, to
marry again. Some Of his paintings are
very large. and must have taken consid-
erable time He had always a number
of students of whom Antonio Van Dyck
achieved the greatest fame; and they, it
/ is said. are partly responsible for some
Of his pictures.
They are all one-Rubens and Plan
| tin ard the Cathedral-al wound up
| together inextricably. 1t must have