The record-union., 1899-03-19

part to the repair OF the old walls and
gates of Cairo. to the mosque of Ez-
Zahir Beybars, the aqueducts, and the
dome called the Kubba el-Fida- -Wiya.
Out of this same 100000 restorations
are in progress on the "Tombs of the
Mamluks,' the once splendid palace Of
Beshtak, and the tomb of Khawand
Tulbiya, while the Coptic, monuments
are also being cared for with the con-
currence of the Patriarch. Much of the
success of the commission seems to be
due to the energy of one of it's members.
Sir William Garstin, who is also Direct
or of the Department of Public Works.
Herr Bey, the chief architect of the
commission, has prepared an elaborate
description of the famous mosque Of
Sultan Hasan.i The plans. elevations,
photographs, and historical memoirs Of
this superb building are soon to be pub
lished as an appeal to the art-lovers of
Europe to assist in its restoration, for
without additional funds from outside
the commission seems to be unable to
undertake such a costly work The
sum needed is estimated at f2O,OO0
Sir Seymour Haden. - at the Win
chester Art Exhibition in a recent
speech on art, said of etching
that he had been requested to
say something" about it. He had had,
he declared, no such intention. He con-
slderec it dangerous to say much about
etching. The worst of etching was that,
having made a bad one-and nothing
was more likely-you could print it
Qaughter), and thus flood the world
with work that, sooner or later, you
yourself would be ashamed of; and,
Eworse than all, work that would go to
the account, not of it's perpetrator, but
the art Renewed laughter) He
would however, describe, in the fewest
possible words, not so much the pro-
cess as the principle which governed
the different forms of etching. Etching,
though really only one branch. of the en-
grayer's art, had come to be, used not
as specific. but a. generic, term, to
express all those forms of it which were
original and the work of the painter
himself-the old master of painting
being his own engraver and the etch-'
ing process the one he chiefly affected.
OF this process there We're two kinds
etching proper and "drypoint"
Thus" said the speaker ''if I take,
say, a plate of copper, and-having pro-
tected it back and front with varnish-
draw upon it with steel point such a
line as, While it divides the varnish will
lay bare the metal underneath-and
then submit the portion of metal so laid
bare to the action of any chemical
agent having a stronger affinity for it
than the oxygen of the air, and SO cor
rode and bite into it a groove which
will hold the printers ink, and yield
under the press an impression on paper,
I shall have done, in principle, all that
is necessary to the production of an
etching.
IF again." he continued. instead of
g. vanished I take a bare copper plate,
and, with the same point, delve into
its substance by main force a line
which, in the act of making it, throws
out portion Of the metal equal to its
own depth i'll the same way, that is, as
the piow throws earth out of the furrow
II shall have done two things: I shall
not only have produced a line which,
filled with ink, will print, but have
raised a metallic fringe on its outer
edge which, by entangling still more
of the ink, will also print; the effect Of
the two being to bring about the mixed
result which is known as 'drypoint.'
'.Ycu will see examples on the walls
of both these processes. But what is
Cfl1ellS lEleItolluS dUOul liSlll lo tiice
Rembrandt, who, in the course of his
thirty years practice, produced more.
than 200 etched plates, used for the first
of those ten years the etching process
pure and simple; in the second ten
years etching heightened by drypoint,
and in the third ten years the more diff
fcult, but far more painter-like pro-
cess Of drypoint alone And there is yet
another process which falls by common
consent into the repertoire of the or
iginal etcher, and that is mezzotint.
/ If,' said the speaker, 81 now take
bright copper plate, and, with a tool
| invented for the purpose, roughen its.
surface in all directions till it becomes
| covered with a nappe not unlike the
nappe Of velvet, I shall have prepared
surface which, charged with the
| printers ink, will print black. The
work of the artist then begins. With
| an instrument such as I hold in my
hand he first lays in broadly his sub
ject by scraping away portions of that
nappe. If he scraped away half the
nappe it would only print half as black
n.ezzot;nt If more, still lighter, and
so en-, till he got to the bare copper,
which would then print white. In this
way. you see, he would have it in his
power to produce every variety of tone,
and to represent every difference of
plane A more painter-like process it
| is difficult to conceive. But said the
speaker, in conclusion, this pursuit
after scientific truth represents some
| thing more than the production of
pleasing picture-the habit, namely, of
never being satisfied with less than the
truth-and of making that habit not
only rule of life, but sure stepping
stone and guide to the attainment OF
| every form of great endeavor.'