The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-11

ruler lie TO those that have ears 10 hear'
and as the establishment Of law opens up
wide regions previously unordered and
anarchic, where selfish greed had yet to be
tutored into wise rule.
1t is, Of course, not only inevitable but
also desirable that in this chronicle Of Pre-
Raphaelltism a personal element should
be conspicuous. For tho thread Of auto
biography, however, which runs through
these volumes, interesting and even de-
lightful as it is to trace it, we must refer
the reader to the narrative itself. Wha
We desire to do here is not to recount the
conditions under which Mr.. Hunts famous
pictures were produced, but to indicate the
judgments pronounced by a very high
authority on some important and contro-
verted questions relating to art.
/.
In the sixth chapter OF his first volume
Mr.. Hunt declares that the name adopted
by him and his friends to describe their
aims and methods should, rightly inter-
preted, have dispelled the suspicion OF any
servile antiquarianism. Pre-Raphaelitism
is not Pre-Raphaelism. our author goes
on to explain that Raphael In his prime was
an artist of the most independent and dar-
ing course as to conventions. He was no
moro an imitator than was Leonardo da
Vinci, who said, Never initiate the manner
Of another; for thereby you become the
grandson, instead Of the son, Of nature
1t Is not denied, OF COURSE, that Raphael
adopted bis principles from the store Of wis
dom gained by long years Of toll, expert
ment, denunciation Of used up thought and
repeated efforts Of artists, his immediate
predecessors and contemporaries. What
had cost Perugino, Fra Bartolomeo, Leo
nardo da Vinci and Michel Angelo more
years to develop than Raphael lived he
seized in a day-nay, in n single inspection
Of his precursors achievements. His ra-
pacity was atoned for by his never stinted
acknowledgment OF his Indebtedness and
by the reverent and philosophical use in
his own work Of the conquests he had made.
He inherited the booty like a prince, and,
like Prince Hal, he retained his prize
against all disputants-his plagiarism was
the welding of power in order to be royalty
free. Secrets and tricks were not
what he stole; he accepted the les
sons it had been the pride Of his masters
to teach, and they suffered no hardship
at his hands" Mr.. Hunt would admit
it to be questionable whether Raphael
did not stumble occasionally ever before
the twelve glorious years had come to an
end which followed his sight Of the Sistine
chapel ceiling. He has no inclination,
however, to dwell upon any ultimate short
comings in Raphael's career, but he recalls
the fact that the prodigality Of his pro-
ductiveness and his training Of many as
sistants compelled him to lay down rules
and tanners of work, and his followers,
even before they were left alone, accentu-
ated his chance poses into habitual post
ures. They caricatured the turns OF his
heads and the lines Of his limbs, so that
figures we're drawn in patterns. Nor can
it be disputed that the master himself
toward the end Of his life was not exempt
from furnishing examples OF such con-
v~entionalities. whoever were the trans
pressors, the artists who thus servilely
travestied this prince OF painters at his
prime were Raphaelites. And, although
certain rare geniuses since then have dared
to burst the letters forged in Raphaels
decline, / here venture to repeat, what
we said in the days Of our youth, that the
traditions that went on through the
Bolognese Academy, which were intro
duced as the foundation OF all later schools,
and which we're enforced by LIE Brun. Du
Fresnoy, Raphael Mengs and Sir Joshua
REYNOLDS, down to our own time, were
lethal in their influence, tending to stife
the breath Of design" The name Pre-
Raphaelite was intended to exclude the
influence Of such corrupters Of perfection,
even though Raphael, by reason Of some
OF his later works, be himself in the list,
while, on the other hand, 1t accepts the
influence of his more sincere ~forerunners.
1t seems that soon after our author in
| conjunction with Millais and Gabriel Ros-
setti decided to found a brotherhood, the
last named was disposed to describe the
new principles OF art ~propounded and prac-
tised by the fraternity as early Christian. .
Mr.. Hunt objected to the term, he says,
as attached to a school as far from vitality
as was modern classicalism, and he insisted
upon the designation "Pre-Raphaelite" as
more radically exact, and as expressing
what had boon agreed upon. AS to the
second question, what the corporation
should be called, it was Rossetti who i'm
proved upon previous suggestions with the
word Brotherhood, overruling the OBJ
lection that 1t savored OF clericalism. When
the comrades had agreed to use the letters
P. R, b. as their corporate insignia, they
made each member promise solemnly to
keep its meaning strictly secret, foreseeing
the danger Of offending the reigning powers
Of the time In their profession. 'The mann
Of our body orlr author tells us, was
meant to keep in our minds our determi-
nation ever to do battle against the frivo-
lous art Of the day, which had for it's am
bition Monkeyana' ideas, Books Of Beauty
and Chorister Boys, whose forms were
those OF melted wax, with drapery Of no
tangible texture. The illustrations to Holy
Writ we're feeble enough to incline a sensi-
BILE public to revulsion Of sentiment. Equally
shallow were the approved limitations Of
the Greeks and paintings that would ape
Michel Angelo and Titan. with. as the
l., st innovation. through the Germans.
designs that affected without sincerity the
nasrete OF Perugino and the early Flem-
ings.'
some Of the Pre-Rar haelite brothers drew
up a declaration that there was no i'm