Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1899-06-24
THE MISSION OF ART.
A Potent Factor in Uplifting the
Human Race.
Or. TstmsGe Prezcb~. ON the Innu-
esee OF pheasant Pictures- In
ths Development OF Chris
tias Charsctsr.
Icopyrisht. 1893. by Louis Kiopsch.i


nightiest agencies for the elevation
and salvation OF the human race. The
text is Isaiah 2:l2-I6: The day Of the
Lord OF Hosts shall DC upon
all pleasant pictures"
Pictures are by some rclcgatcd 10 the
realm OF the trivial. accidental. senti-
mental or worldly. but my text shows
that God scrutinizcS pictures. and
whether they are good or bad. whether
used for right or wrong purposes. is .
matter OF Divine observation and ar
rsignment. The divine mission of pic
lures = my subject. That the artists
pencil and the engraver'S knife have
sometimes been made Subscrvient 70
the kingdom Of the bad is frankly ad-
nnittsd. After the ashes and scoria
were removed from Hercuiancum and
Pompcii, the walls of those cities dis
covered 20 the cXr rlorcrs a degradation
In art which cannot be exaggerated.
Satan and all his imps have always
wanted the lingering OF the easel. They
would rather have possession OF that
than the art Of printing. for types are
not so potent and quick for evil as pic
lures. The powers of darkness think
they have gained a triumph. and they
have when IN some respectable parlOr
or public art gallery they can hang
canvas embarrassing 10 the good. but
fascinating 10 the evil.
1t is not in a spirit OF prudery. but
backed up by Gods eternal truth. when
say that you have no right TO hang ia
your art rooms or your dwelling houses
that which would be offensive TO good
people IL the figures pictured were alive
IN your parlor and the guests OF your
houSehOld- 4 picture that YOU have 10
hang In a somewhat secluded place. OF
that in public hall you cannot with =
group Of friends deliberately stand be-
fore and discuss, ought 70 have q knife
stabbed into N at the top and cut clear
/ through 20 the bottom and stout tn
ser thrust In on The sisht side. ipping
clear through % the left. lliny the
elder lost his lie by going near enough
20 see the inside OF Nesuvius. and thc
farther YOU can stand OF from the
F burning crater OF sin the better Never
tili the books of the last day are opened
. shall We know what has been the dire
harvest of evil pictorisls and unbecom-
ing art galleries. Despoil a mans inn
j
cssS. The show windows OF English
and American cities. in which the low
theaters have sometimes hung long
lines OF brazen actors and actresses ia
style insulting 10 all propriety. have
made a broad path 10 death for mufti-
tudes OF people. But 50 have all the
other arts been AZ times suborned Of
/ evil. How has music been bedraggled? d?
Is there any place so low down i'm dis
soluteness that into II has not been car
ried David's harp. and Handels organ,
and Gottschalk's piano. and Ole Bulls
violin, and the flute, which. though
named after 50 Insignificant thing as
the Sicilian eel. which has seven spots
I on the side, like hute holes, yet for
thousands OF years has had an exalted
mission? Architecture. born in the
heart Of Him who made the worlds. un-
der its arches and across its floors, what
bacchanalian revelrieS have been en-
acted. IL is not against any of these
arts that they have been so led into
captivity!
What = poor world this would be II is
were not for what my text calls pleas
ant pictures." refer 70 your memory
and mine when 1 ask if your knowledge
of the Holy Scriptures has not been
nightly augmented by the wood cuts
or engravings in the old family Bible
which father and mother read out of
and laid on the table in the old home
stead when you were boys and girls.
The Bible scenes which We all carry in
our minds were not got from the Bible
typology, but from the Bible pictures.
To prove the truth of il in my own case,
the other day took up the old family
lhble which i inherited. Sure enough,
what l have carried in my mind of Ja-
cobs ladder was exactly the Bible en-
cravings OF Jacobs ladder, and so with
samson carrying of the gates of GAIA,
Elisha restoring the Shunammite's
the massacre of the innocents. Christ
blessing little children. the crucifxion
and the last Judgment. My idea of all
these is that of the old Bible engrav-
ings, which 1 scanned before ! could
read a word. That is true with nine
tenths of YOU IL l could swing open
the door of your foreheads. would find
that you are walking picture galleries.
The great intelligence abroad about the
Bible did not come from the general
reading of the book, for the majority
of the people read il but little. if they
read il at all. but all the sacred scenes
have been put before the great masses.
and not printers ink. bat the pictorial
art, must have the credit Of the achieve
ment. First. painters pencil for the
favored few and then enOraverfs Mate