Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-02
RARE PAINTINGS IN MEXICO
CHURCHES HAVE WORKS OF
SPANISH MASTERS.
A Murillo in City of Mexico Cathe-
dral Which Has Been Highly
Praised-A Titan Dispute.
From Modern Mexico.

| From Modern Mexico.
| It is impossible for art lovers in the
! United States if they have never visited
Mexico to believe that this new old neigh
| Dor is a treasure house of art. The exist
ence of old masters in Mexico has been
more tabled than real in our minds, and
many have smiled at the credulity of the
unlearned masses of this embryonic re-
| public. 1t is true that the unquestioning
| majority know nothing and think moth
| ing of a picture except what Dhe padre
| tells them. but it must be remembered
| that the men who rule the deStinieS of
| Mexico are educated. travelled, cultured
| in the schools and universities of the old
world and eminently capable of ap-
| preciating the fine arts. Furthermore,
| they are all Catholics, and hence are
| imbued with the traditional reverence
for religious art that we cannot wholly
| comprehend. 1t might be said that this
very reverence would incapacitate them
| as impartial critics of this art, but be
| this as it may. it has served a purpose
invaluable to the student of today.
Could Pay the Price.
The church was very rich in the seven
| teenth century and amply able to send
works of art of great value to Mexico
| and other colonies. II was also the pc
| Rod when art fourished at its best in
| Spain-when Murillo lived and Seville
was great art center.
The missionary priests in Mexico soon
discovered that the Indians were not
able to comprehend the spirit of the
Christian religion and that they must
substitute pictures and images of the
Christ for the heather gods and idols
they were trying to supplant. Churches.
converts and chapels We're multiplied
11,y Oft hn h.
came a piouS duty, often emphasized by
an order of Cortez. to bring paintings
and statues of saints to the new world.
From about the year 1900 there lived in
Mexico for forty years two artists who
were skilled copyists and imitators.
These were Baltasar Echave and his
| wife. known as La Sumaya. They paint
ed in both the Italian ard Dutch styles
and Echave often initiated Titan fairly
| we'll. Other Spanish artists who emil
grated to this country and lived and
! painted here throughout the seventeenth
century established what Is known as
| the old Mexican school and left many
| good works-many so good that 1t is not
| easy to establish their identity and dis
| tinguish them from the old-world work.
Examples of Old Masters.
| The Mexican school Of art. now called
| the San Carlos Academy. was established
| by the royal order of Charles III of
SPAIN III las ana mas survived through
| out many vicissitudes. 1t contains a hne
| collection of paintings of the old Mexican
school and number of originals from
| European painters. Among the latter
there is st. Sebastian" by Van Dyke:
| THE Seven Virtues by Da Ninci; 1.-THE
| Fall of Man. by Michelangelo: st
| Catherine" by Guido: portrait of Murillo,
| by Velasquez; Burial of Christ by hui
| bens (unfinished): st John the Baptist"
by Ingres: John of the Lord by Muril-
| 10: Olympic Plays" by Vernet. and
| there are many meritorious Mexican
| painters illustrative of important histori-
| cal scenes.
| In the Cathedral of Mexico City there is
| a Holy Family by Murillo hung in the
| choir concerning whose authenticity there
| seems to be no question. The mother and
| child are about three-quarter size and the
| prevailing color is luminous cream, with
| touches of gold and brown.
| In the dark sacristy the visitor is shown
| three Raphaels under glass and on the
| walls two immense but atrociously mutt
| lated pictures attributed to Velasquez.
| One of the most interesting stories al
ways current in Mexico art circles con-
| Germs the famous Titan at the village Of
| Tzintzuntzan. Many attempts have been
have been unsuccessful. The Cathedral
1 of Mexico would give a large sum for it,
| and SO, of course, would the San Carlos
| Academy, but the priests of the dilapi-
4 dated church where IL hangs in poorly
/ lighted room guard IL jealousy. More
| over 1t is supposed that their lives would
not be safe from the wrath of the Indian