Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-04-19
THE CRUC|F|XI0N AS
seen IN GREAT ART
GALLERIES OF GERMANY
Interesting Conceptions of Ar.
fists Who Have Sought to
Portray the Crucifixion.

oSUy VAC vi uClllAlOu.
AT Easter time the Christian thought
turns to the crucitiXion and the events
surrounding it. 1t is interesting. in
Structlng and devotional to study the
conceptions of the many famous art
lists who have sought to portray ON
canvas their idea of the crucifixion.
The facial expression Of Christ varies
from n denoting intense agony to
one apparently devoid of feeling and
expression. His mother is represented
IN n painting as young, in another
as old, and still another ugly, and in
some of them as showing little real
SORROW and suffering. The galleries
OF Germany. especially those of Ber-
I'm and Dresden. show many unusual
paintings of scenes of the crucifixion
the ~onception of artists Of different
periods and different nationalities-
and days might be spent in studying
these rare old pictures.
one OF the most unusual of these is
the large canvas of Sir Anthony Van
Dyck. In this Mary, the mother. and
the Masdalene are both youthful. but
there is an exquisite sweetness about
the face of the Virgin which has never
been eXcelled. The Magdalene's clean
cut profile shows sorrow at His death
and the deepest sympathy for His
mother. while the gentle face of Christ
portrays the agony of His death on
the cross. The whole makeup of the
picture both az 20 coloring and draw
Ing is exceedingly beautiful. Van
pyck's critics have dwelt at length on
his scriptural subjects and express re-
greet that he devoted so much time to
portrait painting and did not follow
his master. Rubens. in large s%criptural
pictures.
Van Dyck was born at Antwerp in
1893. and in 1915 he became a pupil of
n great Rubens. who was not slow
to appreciate the young mans talents.
The Van Dyck portraits are famous
for the excellent drawing as we'll as
coloring. which %h1obably for
the lifelike expressions of the figures
in his famous after the Crucifixion."
Some OF the paintings OF the Berlin
galleries are merely marked with the
name OF the different schools. For in
stance. there is d picture Of the Meth
erlands chool of the Fifteenth CEN
body OF Christ while the Virgin. painted
with a halo about her head, is kissing
the cheek of Christ. The figure of the
dead Savior is lank and honey and
the lines Of the face a trifle hard. but
the expression Of grief on the face of
the Virgin stamps the picture as a
masterpiece.
In another part Of the same gallery is
a rather curious painting of the old
Flemish school showing Christ on the
cross surrounded by angels. The fig
ures at ;.e foot of the cross are
strangely CARRIED, and the Mother
claspiny the base has an affected pose.
definition of each person represented
has given it q conspicuous place among
rare paintings.
A. canvas by David-one Of the great
artists of the French schcol-portray-
ing the crucifixion is unique on ac-
count OF the remarkable perspective
showing Jerusalem in the background
and the numerous figures Of horselnen
in the distance. The face If Christ
would scarcely attract attention, bu.
those of the women grouped about the
cross are excellent, as they show that
extreme sorrow and hclplessness which
one would expect to find in such a
scene. Even the DOS gnawing a bone
in the foreground is clearly defined.
This canvas is regarded as n of the
very best examples of ecclesiastical
paintings OF the French school of the
Eighteenth century,.
Another of the Italian chool by Sa-
voldo shows q youthful mother with a
sweet face and an equally beautiful
~EIagdalene who seems to be looking
away from the desd Christ. The two
figures in tire background, one hold
ing the crown of tllorns, are regarded
as fine examples of action" painting.
Another picture of the Italian school by
Dcn2enci0 Panetti shows a beautiful
background Of trees with the three
crosses ON Cavalry in the distance. Tho
figure OF Christ is in a half reclining
position, with His forehead badly
SCARED by the crown Of therns. Curl
ouS white rings are anout the heads
of the figures, Intended as halos. The
forh nf tl,n ynnthoy chnuS ovfrop,o cnr-
row.
Panette was a painter Of church fres-
cos and his work is found in many of
the Italian churches. He was born
about 14sC and his death occurred in
1913. He was a contemporary Of Loren
after the Crucif;xlon." hangs nearby.
In this picture the trees and crosses
in the distance form an excellent back
ground. The face of Christ shows little
suffering. while the wrinkled brow and
sharp nose CT the Virgin is not pleas
Ing. The white line halos IRE again
seen in this picture. The canvas is a
numerous figures in the background
and their positions maize the picture
unusual. Costa died at Mantua, che
city of his birth. in 1885.
The German school is represented by
a painting by Hans Baldung, who was
Dorm dI SauDla III 1870 duU uleu III
Strasburs in 1915. His best works are
historical pictures. portraits and altar
wings. His picture of Christ after the
crucifixicn in the Berlin gallery is per-
haps the oldest conception of the Nir-
gin seen anywhere. for he represents
her as particularly homely. The other
women of the group are e-xpressionless
and the figure Of Christ u~nattractive
1t is the colorins Of the painting and
not the drawing which gives it prom
inence. Ba,dlng was so fond Of green
colorine thai he was Green
Baldung. ewing to the peculiar green