The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-06-07

a a
w to Ell Greco is his expression
ism; the face he paints expresses
not merely its own character, but
things far beyond; so the portrait of
st. Jerome, with its narrow head,
and slender, eager fingers, is the pic
ture of a narrow mind, and almost
resume of the inquisition.
Long before the reaction against
Photographic realism produced con-
temporary fashions of art, FL Greco
hsd seen the truth that lies amid
a. or confusion of method and the
ies that art must describe not
the external reality but the soul;
and that its subtlest achievement Is
the reproduction Of atmosphere, the
spirit" of a time or place.
So Debussey rebels against the
programmatic realism Of Berlioz
and Litz; Strayinsky and Scriabine
against the realism of Moussorgsky;
Maeterlinck and .RoS, and against
lola and Brieux, Hauptmann grown
against Hauptmann young. And
by some freak of relatively, Ell Greco
seems to belong to these mystic reb-
els, rather than to the Renaissance
Let us say nothing more Of
Domenico Teatocopuli; weak
winged are words" where living
color speaks; one must look at
these pictures, and be silent. See
the pietistic fervor in FRAY Feliz
Hortensio;" it is not the city that
you behold, but the city's soul, proud
and dark, exalted and passionate;
once this was among the richest and
most famous cities in the world,
now none so poor to do it rever-
ence.
Best of all, sit in the Church Of
San Tome at Toledo and see THE
Entombment of Count Orgaz," Ell
Greco's greatest painting; which one
of these figures is less than marvel
Gus?
ION the 7th of April, 1914" says
an old record, died Domenico
Greco. He left no will. He re-
ceived sacramentS, was buried in
Santo Domingo ell Antigua, and
gave candles"
livery one knows the reply of
II Whistler to the lady who pro-
nounced him and valesquez the
greatest Of all modern artists, why
drag in Velasquez?"
In those days, when London was
i've, Velasquez was the uncrowned
king of Spain. Later the modernS
discovered Ell Greco, and lowered
little the level of Velasquez' fame;
but now that the storm of impress
sionism is over it becomes safe to
admire the great Spaniard once
more. We must not be frightened
out Of our admirations.
Not the least thing about a Span
lard is his name; here it was Don
Diego Roderiquez de Silvay Velas-
quez. He was born in Seville in
1859, the son Of a lawyer. The
father wanted the boy to study phi
losophy, but Diego chose art; the,
surest way of determining lads
vocation is to command the oppo-
site.
Diego was a troublesome lad,
something of a volcano, and did not
need to be told that he was the
handsomest youth in the city. He
fought so frequently with his art
teacher, Herrera, that he had to be
transferred to the studio Of Pa
checo, who discovered at once that
Velasquez would outshine them all,
and immortalize himself (and, still
better, made his fortune) by mar
rying his daughter, Juana, to the
artist.
In those days Of his tutelage We
lasquez painted many religious pic
lures, for the church was yet the
chief patron of art in Spain. The
Prado "Crucifixion" is one Of the
finest existing representations of
that crucif1ed subject. The dark
head and face of Christ contrast.
with the white body, beautiful in
its emaciation.
Still more powerful is Christ and
the Pilgrims at Emmaus," one Of
the treasures of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art at New York; no
one would imagine, looking at this
profound representation, that the
artist was man of the world, with
no real interest in religion.
Soon the youth felt capable of
shifting for himself at the capital.
Arrived at Madrid he spent his
time modestly copying Titians in
the galleries there; now the copies