Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15
The FIRST MAD ONNA
.ARED ON ATONE
In The CATACOM6S

Most noted OF these is the Holy Night.
the scene at the Manager In this picture
the light all comes from the babe. IL IL
Eliminates the faces of the different fig
ures Of the picture until these shield their
eyes from its brilliance. II Is one OF the
very greatest Of the Manager pictures. The
Holy Day, In which the figure St Jerome
appears shows q similar scene with a diff
ferent light effect. the light coming from
without.
Then came Carlo Dolce, who refined his
painting to such an extent that his Ma
donnas are like miniatures that appear
perfect on the closest inspection. Guido
REM also labored IN these times and his
face OF the Madonna, Mater Dolcroso. Is
one Of the art treasures Of the ages.
x
Later appeared Murillo. in Spain. and
the Madonnas he painted are without end.
Murillo was the first OF the artists whose
designs reached out for American dollars
He worked as late as 1882 and in those
days Spanish Adventures were returning
from the west laden with the gold of the
new land. To these he sold his Madon-
mas at good round prices. These Macon
mas found their way to the churches OF
Mexico. Cuba, California, South Amer
lea. They. were broadcasted throughout
the world. At the time the greatness OF
Murillo was not appreciated. but the
worth of his pictures later came 10 b.
realized For hundred years past SOM
individual has been occasionally conlin-
into possession of pain from SOM
odd corner of the world, IL having been
despoiled from some ancient church
Then this individual finds that he pos
sesses one Of the original Murllo Madon-
mas. a survival of the time when art was
greatest and a painting such as has not
been put on canvas in two hundred years.
Among the moderns there appears an
WI rlrlrc
Madonna that is almost worth while.
Bougoereau, the Frenchman, is Well liked
in America and one of his best Madonna
pictures Is owned by John Wanamaker
and used to hang I'm his salon in wash
ington when he was Postmaster General.
The modern, however. fails to get the
spirituality, the soulfulness of the earlier
pictures. This is probably due to an alb
sence Of religious feeling that existed at
the time when the best Madonnas were
being produced. The artists painting
must first be in his heart and I'm the
hearts of moderns there is no such fer
tees tortured themselves for their sins
and offered up their lives for their re-
ligion.
While the Madonna and Child may be
said to be the most widespread picture
that the world has ever known, there is
another modern viewpoint from which
they are interesting. The collecting OF
Madonnas has become one Of the most In
teresting of hobbies. u the Congress
sional Library there are to be seen copies
of many Of the best known Madonnas
There is at least one or two copies OF as
many paintings of the great artists. Car
negie library likewise has a good collec.
ton Of Madonnas.
To the fancier, however, there can be
no end to such a collection. Artists like
Raph..el. for instance. who painted as
many as 100 Madonnas. inspire watchful-
ness for those that may be coming to
life from time to time. The Madonnas
of Murillo are constantly coming to light
from Latin American churches and are
being added to the collection of hobby
lists. Among collectors of Madonnas in
Washington Mrs. George Combs proba-
bly, ranks first. In her collection are more
than 500 pictures, beginning with copies
of the first ever made and following their
development through the development Of
art. Mrs. Combs holds that a study of
Madonnas must necessarily lead to an
understanding Of the whole field of paint
ing, and its development, for, of them all.
the picture that runs through all paint
ing is the Madonna So many Madonna
collecting unlock the art of the ages to
the lobbyist.
Copyright, 1872 by W. A. Du Puy)