Evening star., 1902-03-08
ART NOTES.

posing pictures SHOWN at the Royai Acau-
emy Of 1900. has lately passed into the
possession Of Senator Clark Of Montana,
and has been placed by him. temporarily, In
the loan collection of the Corcoran Gallery
OF Art, where 1t is now on exhibition. 1t
Is large canvas, seven by twelve feet In
dimensions, and illustrates scene w. act
IL Of the Shakespearean drama of Henry
EI1I'-that pathetic picture drawn
graphically In words when. before the court
the dgnitaries Of the church and the king
her husband, assembled in the great hall
Of Blackfriars, Queen Katherine the
proud daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella
of Spain. pleads her cause as a true and
humble wife"
The composition is necessarily a compli
Gated one. and 1t first creates in the OBJ
servers mind confusion such as the real
scene might have produced The many
colored banners, the cardinals red robes,
the rows Of halberdiers, with their upright
poles, red tasseis and giinting blades. first
attract the eye. From there 1t wanders
to the griffiths, ushers, acolytes, knights.
archbishops and officers of the court, In
their splendid robes and yeStmentS, observ-
ing almost unconsciously the massive gothic
fashioning Of the interior, the carved tre-
foil screen, which forms the back wall.
behind which lights are dinly burning. and
| the side walls pierced by rose windows of
| rich stained glass Then. as though drawn
| at last by the wrapt attention Of the other
| onlookers. ones gaze becomes fixed upon
the two all-important groups To the left
on dafs. seated beneath a high canopy. is
| the king, with Campeius, the cardinal le-
| gate. and Wolsey beside him. On the
right. near the foot of the throne steps.
| half sitting, half kneeling. is the pitt
ful queen. behind whom stand four ladies'
| in-waiting. Wolsey, in his flowing robe of
| cardinal silk, is the most conspicuous fig
| ure in the composition, and emphasizes the
| fact that the trial is an ecclesiastical one.
/ "a nP Par 10 hp1I ole ,y,1
| Professionalism are at stake, well as a
| nations policy, and a woman's honor. His
expression Is thoughtful, non-committal
| but rather unconcerned. Campeius evinces
! a little more interest. and leans little
| forward though listening intently to the
| words OF the plaintiff. Henry, clad in his
| royal robe, lounges In his chair of state.
and rests his chin on his hands in an at
| titude of bored compliance to a form, there
| being no doubt as to the result. and no
| sympathy for the victim. Had Mr.. Abbey
chosen the latter part OF the scene. where
the wife returns to her role as queen and
| boldly accuses Wolsey as the originator of
| the plot, he would have produced a more
| dramatic picture but not one that would
| have 50 universally appealed to the public
| or have SO truly presented the historic
| fact The pale. shrinking woman. kneel-
| ing to her judges. seems. indeed to be ut
| tering her appeal to the chivalry of all
ages. L am a most poor woman and a
| stranger, born out Of your dominion. I de-
sire you do me right and justice"
| In his management OF color Mr. Abbey
| has risen or, more properly, maintained
1 great height. The way he has run the
gamut Of red. the manner in which he has
| brought the great variety of colors into
| harmony and given each in itself an Illus
trative attribute, for instance. the cardi-
| naPs robe and the queens gown are. in
! deed, the manifestation OF genius. The
| whole Is wonderfully designed. splendidly
| staged. but in the painter qualities 1t lacks.
| The drawing In places Is faulty, the paint
/ ircr fc har thnra iS ot M md
| the composition does not hold together as
| 1t should. It would seem that great an
| artist could not have committed these er
| rors through ignorance, but rather by over
sight. That the tremendous study the
| painting of such a picture must have en-
| tailed, the compleXity OF the composition
| itself. must have blinded him to some OF
| the minor details. As an Illustration Of an
| historic scene 1t Is mastery: as a painting
| measured by the artists best work, by the
| worlds greatest works Of art. 1t falls
| short.
Many will be glad to learn that the
drawings. models, etc, illustrating the re-
port of the park commission. which were
| shown lately In the Corcoran Gallery, have
been placed permanently on exhibition In
the Library Of Congress. where they can be
seen TO great advantage.
X
| The exhibition Of etchings and engrav-
ings in the print department Of the IL
b-ary is now complete. the collections of
| Rembrandt etchings and engravings Of the
early school having been annexed to the
Durer, Cameron, Whistler and Haden col
lections. previously reviewed in this column.
The Rembrandt etchings, which come ex-
clusvely from the T. Harrison Garrett col
lection. number 1872 originals and q copies,
~ hat x1hav cSfh NIL po1
side by side with the originals. Among the
most interesting prints is a very good sec
ond state of the "One Hundred Florn." or
''Guilder Piece" or Christ Healing the
Sick" an unusual state. dated 1741; copy
by Wooledge in 1853. and two prints. one on
satin the other on Japan paper, from the
| plate after having been retouched by Capt.
Baillie, who purchased it from Greenwood
| who in turn found it in Holland. The large
"Crucifxion," ".oppenol," and the Death
Of the Virgin are all in the second state.
and are in splendid condition. fine and
clear. The Raising of Lazarus" Is shown
In various states. and 1t is interesting to
note the changes that were wrought In It..
| That of the second state shows the wo-
| man to the right 'crouching," whereas in
the seventh she Is seen leaning forward.
and in the fourth the man in the back
ground appears without his cap.
| The landscapes are extremely interesting,
| and very fine as are all the copies by Ball
ne Reynolds and Bretherton, which are
| placed In the same panel. Besides these the
| collection embraces 122 engravings after
Rembrandt, among which mezzotint of
his painting Of the Centurion Cornelius"
which is considered one OF the gems Of the
great Wallace collection, 80 recently given
to the English people, is most notable. The
section given up to the early engravers COW
ers the period beginning with Schongauer
! n42O- 1880 and continuing to Suavius, who
| worked from 1920 to 1859. They belong to
the German, Dutch and Flemish schools.
and have been selected to show what was
done in engraving before Durer, as well as
his influence on the art both during his life
time and after his death; but the works Of
the school of the Little Masters" are so
| numerous it has also been possible to give q
few examples of each. OF Schongauer there
| are shown Jesus on the Mount of Olives"
| and the curious est. Anthony Tormented
by Devils" Of Altdorfer. THE Virgin Hold
inx the Infant Jesus and 1.-The Crucifixion;"
| of Van Leyden, Christ Crowned with
Thorns,'' Adam and Eve After having
been driven from the Garden of Eden"
| grotesque conception; THE Baptism Of
Christ" a "Magdalen Standing upon the
Clouds" and the series of the Passion Of
Jesus Christ" HOPPER. whose work is cu-
| rious but strong, is represented among 9TH
ers by ''The Madonna with the Infant Je-
sus and Saint" OF Behams work there