The Washington herald., 1914-02-15
LE0NI'S PANELS
|. ON EXHIBITION
Valuable Historical Scenes on
View at Library of
Congress.
LOANED BY G. D. SPROUL
Thirteen Tablets Covering Periods
from Columbus to Roosevelt,
Are Worth 100000.
LOANED BY G. D. SPROUL

N-store Leoni's illuminated parchments
OF the Declaration OF Independence and
the Constitution Of the United States. de-
picting also famous SCENES and person.
| ages in the history of the United States.
are ON exhibition in the Library OF CON-
gress. They are loaned by George ID.
Sproul, of New York. and are attracting
the notice Of art lovers in Congress. III
though the display is not made. it is
understood, for the purpose of effecting
a sale 10 the government.
These tablets are thirteen in number,
of size convenient to place III the ex-
hibition frames OF the Library. They
cover a range of American history ex-
tending from christopher Columbus and
John Smith TO Theodore Roosevelt. De-
scription of so complicated n set of COM
position. with their brilliant colorings
and intricate scroll work. is out of the
question. but IL may be said that their
structural scheme is such as to make
each panel an effective decoration,
viewed as n whole. In detail the pam
els offer an almost inexhaustible field
for study. The miniatures alone are
numbered by scores and the historical
scenes by dozens. All are superim-
posed upon an almost invisible design
in delicate brown, unique in each panel
and each Is enriched with the most ex-
quisite scroll work in red. blue and gold
and their related shadings.
shown in Boston Years Ago.
These paintings were exhibited in
the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
for short time about twelve years
ago. Prof Charles Eliot Norton had
heard OF them and was inclined to be
skeptical OF their merit. but later in
letter to Gen. Charles G. Loring. Prof
Norton spoke of them as "rivalling in
technical qualities. and I'm exquisite
workmanship the art of the most ac-
complished Examinations of the Italian
Renaissance" He praised also the
surprising variety of design and mo-
tive, the fancy in arrangement the
beauty of composition and rendering in
the scenes depicted in many of its deli
cate and highly finished miniature por-
traits"
This last touch of Prof. Norton, 1t will
be noted, is discriminating and is readily
understandable after study Of the por-
traits and scenes. These are SO nu-
merous that they are fairly confusing.
For example, the first panel presents nine
scenes, including the Landing of the Pil-
grims, the First Buildings on Manhattan
Church in Colonial Times and the Battle
of Quebec. Without a flaw is the scene
on this panel OF Thomas Jefferson in his
study writing the Declaration of indie
pendencc
The portraits include John Smith. Co
lumbus. William Penn and Lord Balti-
more. On the second panel the most i'm
portant scene Is the Signing of the Decla-
ration of Independence and on the third
the surrender OF CORVALLIS. The pa
thetic early career of the artist may be
taken into consideration, perhaps. in
connection with the criticism OF some
authorities that the earlier work is of
more exquisite texture than the later.
for Leoni lived long in poverty and he
gave ten years to the painting of this
series. II the painting of the Jefferson
scene is so perfect as to defy criticism,
his Roosevelt is atrocious-
Faithful tn His Originals.
But this strange discrepancy, while
possessing the elements of a fault, is also
a striking tribute 10 the almost uncanny
genius of the artist for imitation. That is
to say. IL would appear from what must
frankly be confessed to have been a cur
sorry examination of the pictures that
Leoni Is almost helpiessly faithful to his
originals. rather than that his art fails
him. The MISREPRESENTATION miniature
Of Jefferson could hardly be exeelled, but
neither. on the other hand. could his bust
Of William Cullen Bryant. of much
later period. Farragut and some of his
other military heroes are bad likenesses,
but they are exact reproductions of pic
lures with which every American school
boy il familiar. The Bryant, ever to the
hair Of the eyebrows. will stand up under
the microscope. and the Roosevelt. which