The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-01-18
PAINTERS BLUNDERS
Reckless Franks Played With
Heavenly Bodies.
IMPOSS!BILITIES IN NATURE.
A Rainbow Depicted Wrong Side Out
and Moons In Positions and Forms
That Could Not Occur - Amusing
Anaehronisms by Old Time Artists.

That artists, like authors, should
commit many errors of fact is hardly
a cause for wonder. Rather, it is as
tonishing that they are not found Of.
tener at fault in view Of the great
variety Of knowledge required In their
work. Despite this. however, there is
no manner of excuse for certain alb
surdities.
For example, there is the case Of an
English painter who depicted an elab-
crate rainbow. Unfortunately he
painted 1t wrong side out. But we
forget amazemeut at such stupidity In
admiration for the artists magnificent
audacity when We learn that he
charged ECO additional for repaintins
the rainbow colored In accordance
with natures arrangement.
Painters are very prone to distress
the astronomers by their g reckless
pranlss with the hea venly bodies, par
ticularly with the moon. One artist
presented scene in which was q
crescent moon low in the eastern sky
directly opposite setting sun. More
over, this genius disdained the criti-
cisms OF the learned. He insisted that
this arrangement was. necessary for
the composition. inasmuch as the rest
of the picture would be destroyed by
full moon-the only one possible In
such Il situation. e.. ..
Other artists have trifled With the
moon by turning. its convexity away
rom the sun, which is. Of course, i'm
possible In nature. In one picture the
moon was placed near the constella-
tlon OF the Great Bear. though as
matter of fact the satellite never ven
lures into this part OF the heavens.
There are. too. oft recurring errors
made In the bulk of the orb. An
American astronomer amused himself
by measuring the moons in number
of paintings. He established the fact
that by reckoning from the satellites
size the average height Of the hills in
these landscapes was forty-three
miles. One Of the mountains. indeed.
had the stupendous altitude of a hun
dred miles.
Artists Of old time were often out
rageously wrong. sometimes necessari-
ly by reason of the limitations imposed
by the ignorance of the period. A
Dutch artist painted the garden of
Eden. with well clipped borders and
yew trees trimmed into fantastic
shapes. He wrought in oil innocence.
for of such SORT were the only gardens
OF his experience. Eut the excuse
does not apply to a Dutch painting of
1874 This showed Abraham about to
slaughter Isaac by means Of blunder.
4 hvYSS-fhn nPCfynct ~ mn
i years after the time Of the patriarchs.
| Yct this mistake occurs again and
| again. There have been elaborate
| paintings Of the children Of Israel
crossing the Red sea with nluskets on
/ their shoulders. A beautiful ivory
! tantard. an Augsburg carving Of the
early seventeenth century. was sold
for a high price In London not long
| ago The design, which is exquisite
| in workmanship. shows the good Sa
marian. with his attendants. In the
Jericho road One Of the servants
carries gun!
Many q child as well rs some Older
persons has puzzled over that beam
in the eye of which the New Tesla
ment speaks. 1t Is not always under
stood that this means a beam Of light
But it was left to Solomon Bernard
In his woodcuts illustrating the Bible
published ut Lyons in 1853, to picture
this beam as one Of wood. rectangular
In section and several feet in length,
The matter Of costumes offers vast
opportunity for flaws. which the paint
ers have not failed TO seize. In thu
national gallery at Edinburgh Pha
i raoh's daughter and her accompanying
women are exhibited CARRIED In thu
long wasted bodices and honpei
!. skirts OF Europe in the sixteenth cen
tury- The national collection in Lon
don has a picture OF Joseph and hi:
kindred in Egypt. where the build ::
shown are..~. !. 81 e. Dtiau IN ltet