Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-23
ART NOTES..

Though some mention was mace iaS.
month by the press of this and other citieso i
Judge and Mrs. nj. P. O'Connor's gl1t OF
building and art collection to Irihty vi
lege, Brookland, in connection Win 'ho
dedicatory exercises. there are few who are
aware Of the magnitude OF the GIT OF 'no
value of the collection
Skirting the grounds of Soldiers home OH
a suburban car one will observe to the rear
Of Trinity College a large, blank, brick
wall three stories in height and prooaoiy
seventy feet in breadth which portends
work still under construction. This IS the
west side of the new building, but passing
in through the main entrance Of the lnsti-
tute and I'D an easy flight of stairs the
visitor will lose the impression OF lncom-
pIeteness and find himself almost lmme-
diately in an Imposing. well-appolnteo gal.
lery hung with admirable reproductions Oh
some of the finest paintings Oh tne .en ~ az
sance period. The first of this series OF gal
Ieries is a large room about 60 feet In length
by rs in breadth. The ceiling IS hlsh'
the floor, inlaid with hard WOODS, is par
TALLY covered. by rugs, and the walls are
unobtrusively tinted. A series OF large
windows pierce of the long walls, and
at the extremites of the other are door
ways leading into the first and last Of the
the arched entrance to the main gallery Is
a semi-circular alcove room, hung with Old
rose draperies and provided with sky
light for the exhibition of statuary. Herein
are shown a number of photographs OF
world famous sculpture and half dozen
or more original marbles of average merit
Chief among the latter, occupying the CEN
trail position of honor, is Randolph Rogers
Lost Pleiad,' of the most popular
early American sculptures. MIR. Rogers, II
will be remembered, modelled the great
bronze doors depicting the life of Columbus
which are to be seen either side of the en-
trance of the rotunda of the Capitol, and
finished for his friend Thomas Crawford
the Washington monument in Richmond
Most of his work was done in Rome and 1t
was there, it is understood, that Mrs. OCon-
nor obtained this replica of the Lost
Pleiad.' In line and suggestion 1t Is very
graceful and attractive and definite in
interest will undoubtedly always be attach-
ed to 1t account of the epoch for winch
1t stands but in comparison with the strong
er works of the present day and the might
Ter ones of the past 1t dwindies somewhat
into insignificance and appears splrltless
and uninSpired
Turning from these distinctly modern
sculptures which witnesses the infancy OF
art in a new nation. to the paintings with
which the spacious gallery Is hung. the Vlsl-
tor finds himself stepping back several cen
turtles and across to the old world. Here Is
an old friend of the Pitt Palace, there one
from the Munich Gallery; for moment the
eye rests upon familiar Raphael, then
Murillo, then a Van Dyke. Here are the
wonderful Sistine Madonna Of the Dresden
Gallery, the TRANSPORTATION Of the Vatican.
da Vincrs Last Supper and Botticells
Magnificent" All copies. to be sure, but
some so admirable that they in large meas
ure reproduce the tone and feeling OF the
originals "A Concert" supposed by many
to have been Giorgiones finest painting;
Van Dykes convincing picture OF the stuart
children and Andrea del Sarto's mastery
composition. The Dispute on the Trinity.
are all specially well rendered, and In CHR
landaJos Alteration OF the Shepherd s.
and Peruginos Madonna of the Throne
the copyists have wrought their lnterpreta.
tions with sympathy and skill. Some, OF
course. are less pleasing and good, out 1or
the most part they are considerably apove
the average, and a whole they nave peen
exceedingly we'll selected. individually tney
stand for the best which the Renaissance
period produced and collectively they intro
duce to the student the great lights OF the
Italian Flemish and Spanish schools.
Passing gradually from canvas to canvas
the copyist and even the copy Is lost sight
of and the familiar characteristics OF the
painters whom they represent come from
the past and become the object or interest
There. for instance, Is Fillipo Lippi, the
monk who was one of the first to take the
faces of those around him as modes ana
who died in 1869, twenty-three years Defore
America was discovered; beyond Is his pupil,
nick-named Ghirlandajo the garland max
er) who Is said to have combined In MS
work all the art of learning OF MS tlme, ana
still further along Is Botticeli, his feiiow
student whose compositions are esteemed
the world over for their purity and classic
beauty. Then comes PerugiQo. who has
been said by Tame to have created type
of being with q body belonging to the rem
Nuisance and a soul which belonged to the
middle ages, meaning that in his works was
preserved that religious feeling OF the hrst
centuries, which it Is averred was lost 10
the world in the paintings Of his most ia
&LA tv-tn
Raphael. From Raphael, who, by the way, Is
of all the most inadequately represented in
this collection, it is natural to turn to ms
equally celebrated contemporary, Leonardo
da Vinci, inventor, scientist and painter.
and then to Titan, the third Of this
trinity of great men, who by some Is
believed to have been the GROWING genius
of the Renaissance period. and lastly to
Gorgone, his almost equally talented friend
and fellow workman
Turning to the Flemish school a century
later. there is Rubens, the fortunate, whose
whole career, like Raphaels, was march
OF triumph, and Van Dyke, the tickle, his
favorite pupil, whose lack of personal re-
sponsibility and instability of character are
almost as well known as his pictures
OF the three smaller galleries one is given
over to oil paintings which for the most
part are copies of later and less import
ant works; one contains collection OF
paintings on ivory and porcelain; series
of Fra Angelico's angels. several water
of the exterior and environment of the
Vatican, while the third is devoted exclu-
sively to the exhibition of engravings and
etchings. This last is peculiarly interesting
and contains some rare prints. Among
these there are, for example. six or eight
of Dores pictures engraved by Louis God
frey. There Is an admirable reproduction
of Mona Lisa" and a well-executed series
showing RaphaePs celebrated mural paint
ings. Here, set in the top of a table and
thus reversing for the benefit of the stu
dent its original position. is a fine photo
graph of the ceiling Of the Sistine Chapel
decorated by Michael Angelo at the COM
mand of julius.
There are in all about two hundred and
thirty engravings and one hundred and
twenty-five paintings, and while the col
lection consists almost exclusively of re-
productions which are commercially OF
comparatively small value, it brings to the
student the standard of the best art and
from the educational standpoint is of great
worth 1t is a collection which any insti-
tuition might be glad to own, and it has
been housed and arranged in such man
ner that 1t Is shown to the best advan-
tage. 1t was given exclusively to Trinity
College, but there is reason to believe that
1t will at times be opened to the general
public.
/