The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-06-08

~ 1870 Iile great RuDSIlS came
4 down from the north as ambas-
sador extraordinary Extraordinary
enough; Velasquez bowed to him
gracefully as the greatest painter
of the age, and learned from him
modestly what Ruens bcould teach
him.
Go to ITALY," said Rubens, and
Velasquez went. while Philip dis
played his poses to the Flemish
master When Diego returned,
Philip, with characteristic STU
pidity, rewarded him for his genius
as a painter by appointing him
marshal of the palace, director and
designer of court ceremonies and
feastS. The kings second marriage
presently increased the frequency
of these orgies of silk and lingerie,
and VeIasquez was soon worn out.
inevitably he had to paint the
children Of the court; and now these
empty and taSteless faces, too read
lily purchased by docile millionaires,
litter the galleries of the world.
Wearying Of such painting, We
lasquez took refuge in such sub
jects as THE Water Carrier of
Seville, here was a fine, honest
face, and a head that functioned
usefully; no lace and ruffles, but in
nate character, the natural nobil-
ity and beauty Of a man at work.
Again, Velasquez painted peasant
life in Lies Eilanderas-the High
landers, Scotch weavers; and better
yet in Los Borrachos,7 or the To-
pers, where gay villagers crown a
half-naked youth with the vine
leaves of Bacchus, and abandon
themselves to play.
Akin to these are the artists
splendid conceptions of "Aesop" and
"Menippus"- f1gures, one would say.
taken out of the pages of Dickens.
Add a portrait of Innocent X"
pronounced by Reynolds the finest
portrait in Rome; and 1.-THE Forge
Of Vulcan,S where the perfect rep
resentation of suddenly arrested
action atones for the figure OF
Apollo, absurdly pictured as a.
halced saint.
in June, 1850 Philips daughter
Maria Theresa, married Louis XIV
of France. The burden of a-rang-
ing the endless ceremonies fell upon
Velaquez, the last man in the world
who should have borne it; when it
was over he broke down completely
and in few weeks he was dead
rs wife, who had been his de-
voted all and lover throughout his
life, was so broken hearted at his
comparatively early death that
within eight days she followed him
to the grave. His name and fame
were lost in the disappearance OF
Spain from the pages of history;
only when Goya, Manet and Whist.
Ter rediscovered him did Europe
class him again with the masters.
"Velasquez, said Whistler, was
the painters painter; the rest oil
us are only painters.
He should have lived longer like
Titan; and with genius, not kings;
perhaps then he would have beer
little happier, and given us more
of his perfect art.
Il
"A FTER him Murillo is a descent.
IA 1t is significant that this last
ray of the Spanish Renaissance was
a religious soul, and yet came after
the worldly and secular Velasquez;
it is an inversion of the wonted
sequence, and reveals the reconquest
of Spain by the church as the power
of the monarchy waned
Bartolome Esteban Murillo was
born at Seville in 1913, of the lowest
rank; if we wonder at his rise con-
slider that the Negro slaves of both
Murillo and Velasquez were among
the honored painters of the age.
Art has no class prejudice, and may
be born in any rank, though it
starves most rapidly in the lowest.
Murillo matured so quickly that
legend told how his teacher, Juan
de Castillo, committed suicide on
being so easily surpassed. The
young artist earned bread and but
ter by painting, pictures of fruit
and selling them in the street on
market days.
Having saved little money, he
walked from Seville to Madrid and
presented himself to Velasquez. The
older artist received him kindly, and
found him many commissions.
Velasquez counseled him, as
Rubens had Velasquez, to go to
Rome; instead Murillo returned to
| his native city, preferring to be
first in Seville rather than second
at Madrid. There was in him a