The Iola register., 1900-03-30

modern and lite best development be-
longs to the present, yet early records
and examples give ample evidence
that the nation was never devoid of
genuine artistic elements. The first
centuries of history were too closely
occupied with the struggle for exist
ence for any signal expression of
beauty, but the religious life of the
country began the work of illuinina-
rtion almost as coon as the Germans
and French. A monk called Code
man produced in sos folio entitled
the "Benedictional of st. Ethelnold"
which contained thirty drawings of
distinctive power. aud other artists
painted and gilded images of wood
and made considerable advance in
glass painting. Many craftsmen com
bined the work of the painter, glszier,
sculptor, architect and goldsmith and
gave much attention to heraldic de-
vices which passed by degrees to a
progressive phase of delineationf
known as "portraits on board"
The initial forces ofthe Renaissance
produced English cotemporaries of
G otto and Risano whose work com.
pared isvorably with the Italian art
of the Thirteenth century. But all
the early work has been 80 neglected
and forgotten, indifference and bigot-
ry have been s1 destructive that the
beginning of English art is commonly
credited to the portrait painters
the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CEN
turtles. Earlier kings had given some
encouragement to portrait painting
as well as the decoration OF churches
and the making of Missals and fine
Iomances'' but Henry VII was the
first to invite to his court the foreign
artists Who were the product of the
italian Renaissance. Among these
it is interesting to note one Susannah
Horebout, miniature painter, of
whom Durer said: at is a great won
der that a woman should do so we'll"
And when Henry VIII came to the
throne he emulated the example of
Francis and Charles V and aiming
at the highest, invited Raphael,
Primaticcio and Titan to visit his
kingdom.
These invitations were declined,
but minor masters received the Kings
favor and three OF them filled the Of
flee of sergeant painter before the
coming OF Holbein. Holbeln's work
III England WAS chiefly the painting
of portraits, though as painter OF the
King 1t was his business to render
very superficial and varied service In
many kinds OF decoration and design.
strong influence which is especially
tracea BILE In such later artists as Hill
lard and Oliver. The "good Queen
Bess" loved pictures of herself, but
gave no special attention to tie artis-
tic effort of her time, but Charles
was not only a patron of the arts put
something of an artist himself. He
gathered together the pictures he
udu lnutTll0u IL
Henry VIII, and purchased many
others from the leading European
masters. The nobility followed the
royal example. Rubens and Van
Dyck were loaded with English
honors and the native artists were in
directly benefited in various ways
by the foreign vogue.
This wave of interest resulted in u
flood of alegorical painting that was
carried to the most absurd and eX-
travagant limits. English art had
shown as yet nothing especially
characteristic, the Anglo-Saxon ma
ture had expressed itself in other
methods, but now the pictorial art of
the country depicted "a mob of
shepherds and shepherdesses in flow
ing wigs and dressed curls, ruflied
Endymions, humble Junos, withered
Hebes, surly Allegras, and smirkiDg
Pensierasas, usurping the place of
propri ETY. and character" Art could
make no progress in such delineation,
but the time of change finally ar
rived, and with it the plain, simple
man who could give it proper di.
rection William Hogarth, the first
really distinctive English master.
The son of a Cumberland school
master who had become Lond on
literary hack, he was early appren-
ticed to Ellis Gamble, a silver-plate
engraver, and at the age of 20 he was
doing independent work on copper.
His draughtmSnship being defective
he began the close observation that
was based upon theory that an
artist should have the some command
over all sorts of corpoleal figures as