The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-02-11

3Asss & 1s sS III
! MINNEAPO OILS JOURN
almost equal beauty by, Murillo are be-
side It. his sacred subject of the viz /
gin is represented as young and lovely,
with the crescent Of the new moon at
her feet, the brilliancy Of the sun about
her, twelve stars GROWING her head,
while floating in the clouds are innu-
merable worshipers Of angelic, heav-
emily innocents. The snowy robe is
partly concealed by flowing mantle
of blue. The picture was one of eleven
originally painted for a church in
Seville, Spain, connected with q hospi-
tai for aged priests. #
rs During the invasion Of Spain by the
French, early in the nineteenth CEN
fury, by direction Of Napoleon, his gen.
eral, Sault, at the point of the bayonet
confiscated many Of these Spanish pic
lures. Scattered by the rapacity Of
Sault some were returned to Spain when
peace was declared in 1914, but this
ope, taken in the name Of the govern
1nent, was retained to enrich his own
collection, until it was purchased for
the Louvre in 1852 at an enormous
price. The religious fervor of. Spain in
the seventeenth century, and the decree
/ OF Pope Paul V resulted in, the paint
ing OF many madonnas and other sacred
pictures, these or portraiture being
largely the artists I subjects.
I Y King of Sacred Painters.
"A most devout membersof TIE Romish
church, Murillo reflected in his pic.
lures the religious feeling 3 which
| formed so large a part Of his own life
and times and has given him the name
rof the king Of sacred painters.''
Living entirely in Spain, in the south
ern Andalusian atmosphere, spending
only few years of his life outside Of
! Seville, he represents entirely Spanish
people, country, life, and times.
An outline for the study Of Muril-
los life and works may be. helpful.
While the seventeenth century was
still young, in 1917, into the home Of
a poor workman, Bartolome was born.
/ The lad learned self.reliance, while
his parents were absorbed in earning
their scanty livelihood, and fortunate
! ~, too, for when only il he was left
almost wholly to his own resources.
With an inherent desire to sketch and
! paint, he used the walls and stones Of
his native Seville, for lack Of other
] material, and thru a distant relative,
learned the first rudiments Of his art.
| a boyish companion had joined the
army, and wandering to. Flanders, been
inspired by the genius of Van Dyck.
Returning to Spain, this de Moya had
. fred the enthusiasm Of Murillo by his
accounts. Determination has always
helped genius over the seemingly i'm
possible.
I. While his environment was Seville,
the "pearl of cities,'a with its mag
! nifcent cathedral, the Moorish Giralda
I tower, with unrivaled beauty Of lace
like stonework, the, churches and pal
aces Of the nobility, filed with treas
ures, alone and penniless, he resolved
to see Madrid and the great artist We
lasquez. Imagine this lad, two and a
half centuries ago, standing on hill
overlooking Madrid, tired, travel
stained, with his long walk of several
hundred miles, unfriended save by a
few muleteers, who had shared their
simple gypsy meals with him, his tan
gled black hair shading the piercing
dark eyes, which gaZed toward the
Mecca of his ambition.
/ Pupil Of velasquez. sse
! Received most st. kindly md 81 eYs1asequez
instructed, aided, in three years he re-
turned to his native city to paint the
scenes which have made him immor-
tai. ~ Z szs,I <s@4S1-sf. -
Influences on his art-the religious
fervor of the period, which found ex
preston in the structural sculpture OF
buildings, and the great paintings, or,
dered for mural decorations Of church
, es, converts and hospitals. While
studying with his master at Madrid
Murillo had an opportunity Of seeing
, the works Of Titan, Rubens and Var
Dyck. Racial influence Of the Moors
their love for warm, rich color, and
physical beauty, added to this was the
ardent emotional temperament Of this
southern race. ID
Methods and Characteristics
, His methods are frequently divided
by critics, by the work Of his early
middle and later life, as cold, warn
and misty. His drawing was well-bal
, anced and vigorous, and his expression
of the national life most truthful.
. Whether in sacred, groups or the
, genre, those pictures Of everyday life
J which were uncommon then, the per
( sons are Spanish and the scene ane
/ color Of his own country. He was, by
) nature, realist, but by faith, an ideal
1 list In treatment Of his subjects. Hi:
s genius Is never better expressed thar
s in painting the boys Of the street, il
l the freedom and abandon Of their
8 daily life, with which he was SO ia
> miliar. In his numerous pictures o.
Q the holy family he has idealized thu
3 type Of those around him-he spirit
ualized his subject. His conception