Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1902-08-21

with seats on top and OmnlbuSeS without
such extra accommodation, horse cars and
trolleys, steam roads above ground and
under ground, and last, but not least i'm
portant, automobiles. Some of the cars On
the surface lines are great double-deck
automobiles, which go putting along the
avenues. very often drawing trailer,
double-decked too. Indeed, so far as | have
seen, Paris is the city of the automobile.
Its broad, level avenues afford excellent
speedways, and the high rate of speed
allowed, greatly encourages the use of the
horseless carriage; but even Paris skill has
failed to devise a costume for those who
ride which is less than hideous. Here is a
real field for the modiste. The contrast is
all the greater when one sees the art dis
played on any of the fashionable drives. |
would like to go on and describe such a
scene, as / am sure it would be of interest
to many, but 1 am deeply convinced that |
do not know how to write such descrip-
ton. In the limited sphere of ecclesiasti-
cal vesiture and finery | might make some
mistake in nomenclature which would lead
only to confusion, and much more confus-
ing would be any mistake in pen picture
of Vanity Fair, whose vocabulary | have
hOuCiupUC1 W AllctooCls
Of what l saw in the city l can speak
with greater confidence, and, may add,
with greater interest. Its wide avenues,
shaded with noble trees, leads to broad
boulevards or to circuses, as the breathing
spaces at the junction of the streets are
called. Whenever an open space occurs
you will find nature and art have been
called upon to make it beautiful. Trees,
shrubbery and flowers, fountain, per-
haps, or statue, delight the eyes. Look
ing from the Place de la Concorde, along
the Rue ROyale, the great Madeleine forms
noble background to the vista. Turning
to the left, the beautiful Avenue des
Cham ps-Elysees seems to end in the inn
posing Arch of Triumph. More to the left
one can look across the Seine and see the
facade of the Madeleine repeated in less
noble way in the Chamber of Deputies.
Turn another qudrant of circle and the
loveliness of the Jardin des Tuilleries
stretches away to the Louvre.
The Place de la Concorde, in which |
have imagined the observer to be standing,
is the most beautiful place in Paris, and is
said to have no equal in the world. The
obelisk of Luxor rises in the CENTRE while
to the north and south of it are the foun-
tain of the Rivers and the fountain of the
Seas, as they are named. Around the
whole place are figures in stone, represent
ing the cities of France, among which is
Strasburg, now lost to the Republic.
The Madeleine or Church of st. Mary
Magdalen is built in the form of Greek
temple, surrounded with Corinthian col
umns. The interior is one great hall, I'M
Nv civ ond linbtnI
only from above. OF the Chamber of
Deputies, which seems to reflect the Made
leine, l need say nothing, as there is so
much of greater interest.
The Are de Triumph de I'Etoile owes its
existence to Napoleon, commemorating his
victories, and is one of the noblest monu-
ments in existence. Between the mosaic
pillars rises majestic arch almost hun
bred feet high, the pillars and frieze being
decorated with bas-reliefs representing
scenes connected with the career of Napo-
leon. Standing at the end of the long
avenue entirely isolated from other struc-
lures, it is one of the sights Of Paris which
will not soon fade away
The palace of the Louvre has a long his
tory, involving such names as Charles ",
Catherine de Medicis, Louis XIV, and Ma
poleon l.; but | need not speak of that
now as its past is SO overshadowed by its
present use, and builders and inhabitants
are alike forgotten in the glory OF its price
less treasures of art. One is at a loss t.
know where to begin to tell of these, the
mere list of the best things covering many
printed pages. | was greatly interested in
three collections which have direct rela-
ton to my life work, namely the Assyrian,
Egyptian and jewish. In all these L saw
much to give reality and correctness to my
conceptions of the life and thought of those
peoples whose influence has been so power
fully felt in the religious nature of man,
and l am hoping to supplement my OBJ
servations in the Louvre with what | can
see in the British Museum. OF greater
popular interest are the ancient sculptures
including the famous Venus de Milo, but
after what we have seen in Naples, Rome
and Florence, the collection did not i'm
press us as much as we had anticipated.
Perhaps it was the sameness of subject
inevitable in each collections which pro
duced this effect. Even Apollo oft repeated
grows somewhat commonplace. 1t might
be said that so there is sameness in pic
lures, but that is not as marked as in the
case of statuary. A different color scheme
will make marked difference, enough, al
least, to remove the sense of monOtony
even where the subject and treatment arr
the same. Then, too, there is more. of the
personality of the painter in his work. HI
is someone of whom you know, whose life
is familiar, whereas many of the old sculp
lures have long since been forgotten, 81
their works must stand without the charm
which comes from friendship. l know
hunted out the "Fettered Slaves" becaus,
Michael Angelo was their creator So il
the picture gallery we reviewed the friend
ships of Italy, as it were, and were happy
in picking out the work of Fra Angelica o.
Botticelli, or some other painter, Otter
comparing this Madonna with others BY
the same artist, seen before. Murillo il
we'll represented, and now one gallery con
tains his large paintings ordered by Marie
de Medicis or her Gutenberg Palace
They form pictorial biography of her, ant
so have an historic as we'll as an artist,
interest. / was glad to see so many work.
by Rambrant. Naturally there is an excel
lent collection of the works of French art
lists. Here are Millet's "Gleaners" ant
Troyon's 'sOxen Going to their Work )
we were uellSHttu W see OhS ny AIRY Cuel
fer; copy of which we have long enjoyed
''St. Augustine and his mother Monica }
The light of evening falls upon the faces o
mother and son, and the artist has caugh
the spirit of that last evening of the noble
woman's life and the peace which has beer
won through patient prayer.
In the Luxembourg are the works of con
temporary artists and consequently one
finds in this collection that which best rep
resents the present conceptions, religious
and secular Again it would be difficult tt
make selection. Many of them are very
familiar through copies, as Rosa Bonheur'.
'Husbandry in Nivernais," Bougereau'.
'sThe Virgin as CONSIDER" and Breton;
ssGleaners Among the art works is glass
by Tiffany, which will compare mosi
favorably with anything Europe can pro
duce. We also went to the Salon and
was surprised to see such large exhibit Of
statuary and of such a high order of excel
lence. / did not care as much for the ex-
hibit of paintings, because there was so
much of the work Of the impressionists. ]
must confess, however, that some of the re-
suits attained were beautiful. Judging
from this exhibit, we are living in an age
Of portraiture, and here the collection had
some very fine work to show.