Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-21
THE "MADONNA AND CHILD"
BY SICHEL.

ters in the middle ages. Among the mod
ems who have painted Mary and her
Child are Sichel, Gabriel Max, BouGe-
reau, Ballheim. Feuerstein, Holman, Della
roche, and many others equally as gooo.
But these latter, as has been said be-
fore, cannot compare with the old mas
ters in their work For, considering the
obstacles which the painters Of the me-
diaeval times had to overcome, the re-
suits which they accomplished are little
short of miraculous, and can be account
ed for in other way than as the pro
duct of direct inspiration. These men mad
to invent q ne style OF painting even
new colors often: make their work suit
the ideas of exacting critics; and often
were laborinG, along with their painting,
at other branches of art-at sculpture,
architecture and molding.
Those WERE indeed, strenuous times
and incidents in lives Of the most famous
Of the greatest artists who lived then
will bear out this statement. For instance,
once the Pope ordered Michael angelo
to decorate the walls of ST. Peters, The
artist answered that that was impossible.
because he was q sculptor and knew
nothing of painting. But the Pope SAID
he must learn to paint at once, anu go
ahead with the order. The artist dld
learn, and the result was that he pro-
duced pictures that rank before any tlIdt
nave ever DecN pdlHteu, eASepI IhoSC "
Raphael At that time Michael Angelo
was well on in life, and. in order to OBJ
tain the necessary Skill in handling col
ors, he had to become dead to everything
in the world except his work. Sometimes
ne would labor for six months at time,
without any social recreation, and scarcely
stopping TO eat his meals and sleep.
But Raphael, the painter of Niadonnas,
par excellence, was even more strenuous
in his mode Of life. Once, when he was
a mere boy, he had been painting mar
ket scene and for q whole day had Deen
trying to portray a string of fish, but had
not succeeded in doing SO to his own salts
faction. &c. after the days labor. he
went to the fish market and with his
Scanty allowance of money, persuaded
fish seller to light up his torch so that
the fish could be studied. Raphael looked
at them earnestly for some time, and then
went home and 20 bed, still puzzling over
how to produce the effect of scales. On
the next day he found that his perSeVer-
ance had conquered. for in his picture ne
then rapidly painted, with startling fdel-
ity to life, the blush ana SliEery Slller
Of fish scales
Like Michael Angelo, he would often
keep to himself for months, and would
look on eating and sleeping IS nulSanceS
to delay him in his work. He kept up his
violent eNertions TO the last And after
one Of those mental strains which actors,
artists writer's and other men who live
by their ina ginations, must suffer, he
sought relief as is SO often the case, in
sensual excuses. and he carried these to
such an extreme that slight fever, which
he contracted, found him in SO weak a
condition that it put very speedy end to
him. Of course, this reflects in no way
tpon his work, nor upon the church for
which he worked, for she had to find in
spired instruments to do her bidding; and
the inspiration which comes over the vast
unknown from the Everlasting to the
mind of man, settles indiscriminately upon
men Of regular and men OF irregular
life.
OF course, no one looks upon these mar
velous paintings as idols. They served
their purpose of portraying the idea of
the utter purity of the Immaculate Con-
ception to minds which then were not
capable of comprehending any abstract
idea with the aid of physical images.
They are like the unexpressed ideas or
pictures which we have in our magma
tons to illustrate the second chapter OF
st. Luke And they utd not come anything
ike as near to being worshipped as are
hose conceptions or pictures of truth and
GOODNESS which exist. unseen TO the world
M the imagination of every man, and are
rho objects of his worship.