Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-11-20
VALENTINE MUSEUM READY.
CONTINUED FROM EIGHTH PAGE)

your study will give you strength ior az.
your life. There are few pieces OF art
which are SO well known as these In quiet
homes far away.
The object of statuary should ever be
the same TO which II was always con-
fined by the ancients-namely, the repre-
sentation of character. The very mate
rails on which the sculptor has TO ope-
rate render his art unfit for the express
sion either OF emotion or passion, and the
figure, when finished, can bear rome or
the marks by which they are 10 re DIS
tinguished. IL IS figure Of cold ard pale
and lifeless marble, without the varied
color which emotion produces, or the
living eye which passion animates. The
eve is the feature which Is expressive or
present emotion; 1t is II which varies
with all the changes which the mind I'M
dergoes; ii is 1t which marks the diner-
ence between Joy and sorrow, between
love and hatred, between pleasure
and pain, between life and death.
But the eye with all the endless express
slons is lost to the sculptor; its gaze
must ever be cold and llfeless to him; its
fire is quenched in the stiffness Of the
tomb. A statue, therefore, can never be
expressive of living emotion; it can never
express those transient feelings which
mark the play of the living mind. 1t Is
an abstraction Of character which has no
relation to presen. existence; shadow
in which all the permanent features OF
the mind are expressed, but none OF the
passions of the mind are shown, like the
figures Of snow which the magic Of Okba
formed to charm the solitude OF Leila's
dwelling. 1t bears the character of the
human form, but melts at the warmth or
human feeling.
PERFECT WORKS OF GENIUS.
The statues in the Valentine Museum
may be considered as the representations
of the most perfect works OF human
genius, and every one must feel those
higher conceptions Of human form, and
of human nature, which the taste or
ancient statuary had formed. 1t is not
in the moment Of action that II has
represented man. but in the moment
after action, when the tumult Of passion
has ceased and all that is great or digni-
fed in human nature remains. 1t is not
Hercules in the movement Of earthly COM
bat, when every muscle was swollen
with the strength he was exerting, but
Hercules in the moment Of transforms
ton into a nober being, when the eXer-
ton of mortality has passed, and his
powers seem to repose in the tranquility
of heaven; not Apollo when straintng his
but Apollo when the weapon was dis
charged. watching with unexulting eye
its resistless course, and serene in the
enjoyment of immortal power. And in
spired by these mighty examples, II Is not
ST. Michael when struggling with the
demon and wearing the beauty OF an
gelic form by the violence of earthly pas
sion, that Raphael represents; but 81.
Michael in the moment Of unrufiied
triumph, restraining the might of al
mighty power, and radiant with the
beams of eternal mercy.
THE SCULPTORS REPRESENTED.
The Valentine collection contains copies
Of the works Of Agasias, Agesander,
Michael Angelo, AthenodOrus. Barge,
Canova, Carpeaux. Cleomenes, Danneck-
err. Donatello, Fiammingo, Mino Da
Fiesoli, Houdon, Benedetto Da Maiano,
Myron, Phidlas. Polycretus, Polydorus
Praxiteles. Anrea Della Rabbia, Lucca
Del Rabbia, Antonio Rossellino, Scopas
Desiderio Da Settgnano Thorwaldsen,
and Veroccbio. 1t is arranged in five
rooms. as follows First, Egyptian and
Greek Hall; second, Greek; third, Greek;
fourth. Roman and Assyrian; fifth, Re-
Nuisance.
TO attempt to convey any adequate con-
ception of this collection in limited space
would be utterly futile.
llluSITdIGQ
been compiled by Mr. Granville G. Valen-
tine, the donor Of the collection, covers |
1874 pages. In the preface the author says:
stimulated by the hope that this collec-
ton and the catalogue accompanying II |
will give our people higher appreciation !
of the beauties Of plastic art, and perhaps |
encourage the development of talent in |
that direction. It is with great pleasure |
that / have gotten the collection to-
gether, and present it to the Valentine |
Museum"
Noble and Generous Effort.
Thus ends the pilgrimage. Visitors win |
find in this museum haven or 1tfuge |
from the incessant plattude and trivial |
fly of ordinary experience and the strife |
and din Of the world.
1t is a noble and a generous effort on |
the part Of the Valentine family to inter-
est and educate the public in the preser-
walton Of those links which bind rs to /
the past, and this effort ought 10 succeed. |