Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-05-13
The Carnival City's Important and
Forgotten Past.

we nave thought OF Nice as city
of pleasure and gayety, of sunshine and
flowers; never TIN now as city of art
The old town of Nice. hidden away be-
hind that sumptuous screen of hotels.
casinos, and palaces, is rarely visited
bg tourists Those white faeades hide
the ancient buildings of gray stone; a
now soul comes between us and the
soul of those cramped. sunless streets.
Nice IS so alive in the present that we
forget her life of the past No one
thinks to look back of her charming
artificial beauty and discover the his
tory ii masks.
And yet Nice was long ago the capt
tai of a little province that had it's dis
tinctive traits, its own character and
customs, its local aspirations. its PEE
culiar dress. it's taste. and its art. For
centuries. Nice knew pious emotion. u
religious ardor, faith as simple ii
was ideai. In those days. the city was
enclosed. like convent, between the
cemetery and the scroix de marbre =
Shut off from he rest of the world by
the eneircling mountains and looking
out only upon the sea, where Genoa
and Marseilles. its rivals, found pros
perity, Nice fought for its very life at
home Pirates assailed it. Even ma
.ure seemed hostile. There was only
the niggardIy Paillon to water the
olives ana orange trees. A poor. suf-
fering. out-of- the-way town, disputed
by two civilizations. the French and
the Italian. what could Nice do? Nice
prayed. Nice put on the cagoule of the
Black Penitents and celebrated in adj
vance the "Mea cupa" of its joys and
its frivelities Before the carnival,
God regned.
to the matter: a few years ago they
undertook search. M. Bres studied
the local archives. and did for Nice
what the Able Requim did for Avig-
non. M. Bensa. who is less precise but
more enthusiastic, published a book
called "Primitifs Nicois, which at
traeted attention in Europe. AT Turin,
we had first exposition, extremely
| successful Today. all these efforts
combine their results. The cercle Ar
| tistique and the city government have
| taken the necessary steps. The gal
| iery is open. foreigners visit it, emf
nent critics are arriving. Yes. there is
| an .Eeole Nieoise,' or. il you prefer. a
| Provencale and Liguiran school. 1t
reached its highest development in the
| second half of the fifteenth century,
| and Nice was incontestably its centre
This discovery is triumph for the
| Cote d. Azur and for France. With the
| possible exception of Burgundy and the
| comtat Venaissin, not one of our pro-
| vinces could assemble collection as
| curious or, one must hasten to add, as
/ puzziing. Nor could anything prove
more conyincingly that French art was
at once Indigenous and diverse.
| Understand me ! am not saying that
| Nice has suddenly become a Florence.
a Venice, or even Siena or an Assist.
l am not saying that a hitherto I'M
known splendor has abruptly biazed
forth. Not at all. / am merely saying
that department new in it's antiquity
has just been added to French art. 1t
is not for that reason any the less
beautiful or any the less surprising or
any the less fruitful.
The art of Nice during the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries. as revealed in
this rather heterogeneous and rather
hasty collection, is religious art. It's
ideal is local and limited. Its cramped
technique is somewhat poor, rarely ris-
ing above the simple artisans skill. FITS
types show little variety Its creations
are timid, it's progress far from nota-
bic. But 1T has grace and delicacy and
feeling and fnesse and sincerity Its
best productions possess distinction of
drawing and vivacity of color. Cer-
tainly. this is enough to make it inter-
eating and captivating.
Perhaps works still more admirable
will come to light when mountain-sides
and unfrequented valleys have been
searched all the way from Six-Fours,
near Toulon twhere a famous altar
screen exists to Taggia. Pigna, Briga
and Genoa A collection of photo
graphs and copies added to the collec-
ton gives hints concerning mountain
art akin to that of the shore itself
and much more dramatic and effective.
But even as revealed by what speci-
mems we now have before us, the art of
the Nicois Primitives has pronounced
character and an unforgettable charm.
The subject that the piety of the
faithful most often required of local
painters was the altar-screen, which