Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-24
THE NORTH WINDOW
BY Leila Mechlin.

Is the reflection that Sucn aEe ahoh6
the great pictures Of the world! Look
Ing back over the record. passing IN
review not merely the history of art
but great galleries visited, one cannot
but be struck by the fact that the
greatest painters the world has known
have chosen the Christ Child as their
theme. What was that picture,
painted by Cimabue and carried In
regal procession In Florence to the
church where II was permanently
placed, but a picture of the CHRIST
Child and His Mother. And with the
painting of this picture begins, as II
were, the history Of painting as a
great art. All which went before was
but feeble effort, that which followed
closely thereafter represents highest
achievement. Painting In that DAY
was the handmade of the church and
its purpose primarily was illustrative,
to set before the people great rell-
gious truth, a glorious fact; conse-
quently every painter attempted this
theme, the central truth on which
Christianity Is built.
X r
Who that has been to Florence Will
ever forget those quaint and interest
ing and fascinating paintings setting
forth the Christmas story by CHR
landajo, who lived, 1t will be remem'
bered. from 1449 to 1892 and was the
teacher of Michelangelo? The wor-
ship Of the shepherds and the visit of
the Wise Men were favorite themes
with him. AS one well known writer
has said: He painted large, easily
understood pictures. filled with the
men and women Of every ones &C
quaintance. richly dressed. charmingly
posed, much at ease with themselves
and the public. There was never the
least difficulty in finding out what the
pictures were intended to represent
and there was no inconvenient amount
Of allegory or depth Of hidden signifi-
canoe in them. They could be quite
amply appreciated by the man in the
street"
His canyases are crowded with
figures, but in orderly manner. They
picture the Christ Child in q stable
with the animals close at hand, and
they show in the background q pic
ture of Italy in that day, introducing
delightful bits of Italian landscape.
Perhaps none other, save Correggio
among the italian painters, attempted
| to so completely illustrate or reptc-
ture the scene which transpired in the
stable In Bethlehem. All are familiar
picture in which mystery is yelled in
shadow, and holiness rendered through
subtle implication.
OF all the painters Of the Christ
Child and the Madonna, Raphael is
perhaps the most famous. 1t was
Phillips Brooks who said that to see
the "Sistine Madonna" was alone
| worth a trip TO Europe. 1t was he
| 1t will be remembered. who wrote that
Christmas hymn, familiar now TO all
"Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" To
every one Raphael's Madonna of the
Chair Is familiar, and by most be-
| loved. Scarcely less charming are
the Bellinis. the Peruginos. And
| what was true of Italy was true Of
| Germany. of the Lowland. of Spain.
SO long as art was still religion"
Il r y
Furthermore. this theme was not
| rendered by the painters solely, but
| by the sculptors as well--for instance,
| the Della Robbias. that remarkable
| family of sculptors and workers in
glazed terra Gotta, who for fully CEN
| fury and a half produced works of art
of great loveliness in this common me-
dunn. Who has visited Florence and
not paid homage TO the Della Robbia
madonnas. and representations of the
Christ Child to be found not only in
| the National Museum, the Bargello,
| but also on the facade of the old
Orphanage and in other places?
How remarkable 1t is that whereas
| the painters of that time-the fifteenth
| century-often painted the Christ
Child crudely even Ill formed. with
| countenance unchildlike and unat-
| tractive, these workers in clay. these
modelers, rendered Him supremely
| beautiful perfectly formed infinitely
| human, yet in beauty divine. Their
works were meant not merely for the
aristocracy but the common people.
and for three generations father,
nephew and sons never tired Of telling
again the Christmas story of the
birth of the Christ, the coming of the
Son of God to earth as a babe-each
| time striving to make it more real,
more significant.
This, too, was the favorite theme Of
| the early engravers. In the Print Di-
vision of the Library Of Congress one
| will find a large and interesting col
| lection Of Duer wood-cuts, and of en-
cravings by the little masters, many
of which, in simplest manner, picture
| the birth of Christ, the vision of the
! shepherds. the coming of the Magi.
| The aim Of these was to visualize the
| Gospel to the people. and admirably
| did they serve their purpose. There
| is tendency today to return to things
| primitive, but even the most skillful
| technicians cannot recapture the
naive spirit of these early artists, who
| in utmost reverence rendered this su-
preme theme.
| X x x
Where are our religious painters
and sculptors today? How strikingly
the company seems to have dwindled.
| In Germany during the last century
| there were two painters who were
| primarily illustrators, but who pro-
| duced a series of superb illustrations,
pictorial representations of the life OF
| Chrtst-Hoffmann and Plockhorst.
whose works are we'll known through
| popular reproduction.
| In this country the name of John
| La Fargo stands out as a painter of
religious subjects. His greatest paint
| ing, however, is of THE Ascension of
Christ" in the Church of the Ascen.
| sion. New York. Less we'll known
| is his picture of the wise Men Cross.
| ing the Desert" The Brooklyn In
| stitute owns the great collection of
| drawings by Tissot, illustrating bibli.
| cal scenes, but these set forth the
| story Of Christianity in the terms of
the Holy Lands today; they are
strange and remote to us of this hem
| isphere.
| X !;
| A simple woodcarver, John Kirch-
mayer by name, in New England,
has done and is doing today. through
his own medium, what the painters
of the Italian Renaissance did four
centuries ago. He retells. in elaborate
carvings for American churches, the
story of the Christ Child's birth and
in a manner as simple and sincere,
| as reverent as theirs. Makers of
stained glass have done and are doing
| likewise. There is beautiful window
1 raproaontfpp 1.-THE Naftv{t1yb IN bo