The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-07-23
PICTURES IN CATHOLIC HOMES.

American Catholics, for the most
part, have been woefully Indifferent to
their glorious heritage of sacred art.
1t is almost a proVerb in New England
that you can tell a Unitarian home by
the number of Madonnas in it, says
| the Pilot But in the Catholic home
too often the sacred pictures are few
and unbeautiful, and relegated TO
! those portions of the house not seen
! by the transient guest,
! We may, however, be near the turn
! ing of tie tide in this matter When
we grasp the significance of the sac
red art studies of nOn-Catholics for
| cultures sake, and of the distribution
of prints of RaphaePs Madonna of the
! Chair at Christmastide, in the Boston
! public schools, perhaps we shall take
| thought of our long neglected inherit
| ance.
Fine photographs of the great pic
| lures OF Raphael, Murillo, Leonardo,
da Vinci, Guido REM, CoTregio, Ru-
| bens, Titan and the rest, can be OBJ
! tanned at any art store worthy of the
name, and at moderate prices: so that
| there is no excuse on the score of eX-
| pense, or homes bare of them, nor for
holding to the gaudy and inartistic
Autographs that have done so much
to discredit pious pictures.
But some Catholic house mothers
have extraordinary ideas as to the fit
Yonder Protestant matron hangs the
Sistine Madonna over the mantel in
her front drawing room. But her
Catholic neighbor sends the like pic
ture up to a bed room, and puts THE
Puritan Maid" ora Japanese land
scape in the place of honor down
stairs. 1t may be said that for the
Protestant, the Madonna las only an
artistic value; it is a mere ornament.
And the action of the Catholic may be
defended on the ground of reverence;
and extreme and scrupulous realiza-
ton of the sacredness of the subjects.
1t was once said to. a Catholic who
had large and splendid engraving of
Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper"
several other notable pictures in her
drawing room.
II should think they would be
constraint upon you; that you would
not laugh and enjoy yourself before
them
Tie objector was also Catholic,
and her point of view was strange to
the stronger faith of her friend
Il never had that thought about
them" she answered. I'VE can't get
out of the sight of God, and we laugh
and amuse ourselves, nevertheless.
Perhaps, with something to remind US
of Him and His claims, there may
be-not constraint-but a restraint
that we will be glad to remember
AFTER
But there are Catholics so full of
human respect, and so narrow and I'M
cultured, withal, that they exclude
sacred pictures from prominence in
their houses, lest they be reckoned
among the devout, or annoy the non
Catholic or infidel guest. They do not
fear to offend pure eyes with danger
ously suggestive pagan pictures; nor
refined tastes with the banalities of
some fleeing fashion in art They
have not sufficient common sense nor
fineness of feeling to understand what
they are shutting out of their lives and
those of their children in banishing
the Blessed Mother and the Divine
Child.
Wherever the pictures of the Divine
Redeemer and His Blessed Mother
and the saints abound. in the house
hold, faith is strong and the sinful
mortal, though as the poet says he
trip and fall, yet he shall not bind his
soul with clay.
The veneration of the Russians,
schismatics though they are, for tier
icons or holy pictures, is SO great that
among lofty and lowly alike. they
have the place of honor in the most
frequented part of the house. It is
said that If a Russian is bent on an
evil act, he first covers his icons, as If
ti;us to shut out the idea of the Di-
vine presence of which they too
forcibly remind him.
An eminent nonCatholic once said |
IN the writer's hearing before a large
gathering of women, also non-Cath- |