The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1899-06-23
THE MISSION OF ART.
A Potent Factor in Uplifting the
Human Race.
Or. TaImage breaches o. the ihhd-
cnce of "PIeasant PicGFres" IN
the Development of ChFis-
tiaR Character
copyright, 1899, by Louis Kiopsch.J
Washington,


Washington.
DR.. TaImage shows in this discourse
how art may become ore OF the
mightiest agencies for the elevation
and salvation of the human 67ce. he
text is Isaiah 2:l2-16: The lay OF the
Lord Of Hosts shall be = upon
all pleasant pictures" ~-
Pictures are by some relegated to the
realm of the trivial, accidental, senti-
mental or worldly, but my text shows
that God scrutinizes pictures, and
whether they are good or bad, whether
used for right or wrong purposes, is
matter of Divine observation and ar
raignment. The divine mission of pic
lures is my subject That the artists
pencil and the engraver's knife have
sometimes been made subservient to
the kingdom of the bad is frankly ad-
mitted. After the ashes and scoria
were removed from Herculaneum and
Pompeii, the walls of those cities dis
covered to the explorers 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 to the good, but
fascinating to the evil.
1t is not in spirit of prudery, but
backed up by Gods eternal truth, when
l say that you have no right to hang in
your art rooms or your dwelling houses
that which would be offensive to good
people if the figures pictured were alive
in your parIor and the guests of your
household. A picture that you have to
hang in a somewhat secluded place, or
that in a public hall you cannot with
group of friends deliberately stand be-
fore and discuss, ought to have knife
stabbed into it at the top and cut clear
through to the bottom and a stout fin
ger thrust in on the right side, ripping
clear through to the left. Pliny the
elder lost his life by going near enough
to see the inside of Vesuyius, and -
farther you can stand off froI
hJ,rriiif iiifi crater of sigii he better. Ne,,4
till the books of the last day are opened
shall we know what has been the dire
harvest of evil pictorials and unbecom-
ing art galleries. Despoil mans i'm
agination, and he becomes a mere car
cass. The show windows of English
and American cities, in which the low
theateTs have sometimes hung long
lines of l,,.ozen actors md ac+racCeS in
style insulting to all propriety, have
made broad path to death for multi
tudes of people. But so have all the
other arts been at times suborned of
evil. How has music been bedraggled
Is there any place SO low down in dis
soluteness that into it has not been car
ried David's harp, and Handel's organ,
and Gottschalk's piano, and Ole Bulls
violin, and the flute, which, though
named after so insignificant thing as
the Sicilian eel, which has seven spots
on the side, like flute 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-
actedi 1t is not against any of these
arts that they have been so led into
captivity!
What a poor world this would be if it
were not for what my text calls ''pleas-
ant pictures!" l refer to your memory
and mine when 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 it in my own case,
the other day took up the old family
Bible which I inherited. Sure enough,
what l have carried in my mind of ia
cob's ladder was exactly the Bible en-
cravings of Jacobs ladder, and so with
Samson carrying off 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 l scanned before l could
read a word. That is true with nine
tenths of you. If 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 it but little, if they
read it at all, but all the sacred scenes
have been put before the great masses,
and not printers ink, but the pictorial
art, must have the credit of the achieve
ment. First, painters pencil for the
favored few and then engraver's plate
or wood cut for millions on millionsI
What overwhelming commentary on
the Bible, what reinforcement for pa
triarchs, prophets, apostles and Christ,
what distribution of Scriptural knowl-
edge of all nations in the paintings and
epgravings therefrom of Holman
Hunts Christ in the Temple" Paul
Veronese's 'Magdalen Washing the
Feet of Christ" Raphael's Michael the |
Archangel," Albert Durer's Dragon of
the Apocalypse" Michael Angeles |
plague of the Fiery Serpents." Tin
toretto's Flight Into Egypt" Rubens'
Descent from the Cross" Leonardo Da
Vinci's Last Supper" Claude's Queen |
of Sheba," Bellini's Madonna" at Mi
Ian: Orcagna's Last Judgment" and
hundreds of miles of pictures, if they