Evening star., 1939-01-22

time. His works we're engraved, and
as engravings widely distributed,
thus adding to Englands glory. Be-
cause of present conditions in Eu-
rope this series of the Defense of
Gibraltar" has particular interest
and implication.
Among the engravers represented
in this collection, probably the most
famous are Woollet, Lerpeniere,
Canot and Bartolozzi. Woollet, who
engraved THE Death of Wolfe"
is said to have carried landscape
engraving to perfection unknown
before his time. He was also, as
seen in this print, an excellent en-
graver of figures. At one time he
was engraver to the King-and of
all his historic plates the most
famous is the one in the Mount
Vernon collection.
Canot was French engraver who
went to England in 1740 and re-
manned there until his death in 1777;
Bartolozzl was the son of Flor
entlne goldsmith, who, learning en-
craving in Venice, went to Eng
land, was appointed engraver to the
King and elected to membership
in the Royal Academy. Of the pro
dlglous number of plates" he did,
the most famous was the Death
of Chatham"
OF one engraving Washington had
two copies, both of which were, it is
understood, presented to him. This
was THE Dead Soldier" engraved
by John Heath after painting by
Joseph Wright, the son of Patience
Wright, one of our earliest American
sculptorS. 1t is tragic picture,
beautifully engraved, of a young
mother with a little child in her
arms, STOPPING over the body of her
dead husband. The faces of the
mother and child are very lovely,
but just why so grim a scene should
have been selected by two of Wash
lngtons friends for him is little
difficult to understand.
Not included in the catalogue of
the forthcoming exhibition, but
hanging at Mount Vernon, is an
engraving of Louis XVI by Charles
Clement Bervic, after the painting
by A. F. Callet This portrait was
engraved shortly before the execu-
ton of the unhappy monarch, and
after he was guillotined Bervic was
seized by the mob and charged with
favoring him. To save his life he
was obliged to take the precious
plate, upon which he had spent
years of work, double it over and
throw it into the Seine Here it lay
for long time, but eventually it was
rescued, flattened out and subsequent
impressions made of it. All of these,
however, show a mark across the
mlddle-aS some one has saba
memento of the French Revolution"
The print at Mount Vernon is in an
elaborate frame of the period. 1t is
a beautiful impression.
We hear much of Washington as
general and statesman and even
farmer, but up to the present time
little as art lover and print collector.
1t is in this character that attention
will be directed to him by the exhibi-
ton about to open. Visitors hours
for this exhibition, as for the man
sion, will be from o'clock in the
morning to in the afternoon.
Miniature Painters, Sculptors
And GraDers Make
An Engaging Shouting.
The Washington Society of Minia-
ture Painters, Sculptors and Gravers
is holding a most attractive exhibi-
ton in the Corcoran Gallery of Art
opening last Tuesday and scheduled
to continue through February Z.
This consists not only of miniatures
on ivory, but little works in sculp-
ture, painting, Illuminating and the
graphic arts. After all, in art size
does not signify, and as it is in itself
a precious thing, the smaller the
work the more evident is the quality.
The tiniest of all the exhibits in
cluded in this charming showing is
little volume about two inches long
by an inch wide of The Tempest" :"
by Shakespeare, beautifully bound
Ill 1cdGllcl NY MdIldll ". M. bdllc-d
masterpiece in bindery and crafts
manship. Miss Lane also shows four
very fine pieces of hand-printing
and illuminating-short quotations
of universal significance and appli-
cation, such as "Goe not halfe-way,"
Give me Wall against the Wind"
Sixteenth Century House Bless
ing" and an extract from Chester
Cathedral. These manifest, first,
the beauty of type, and second, the
correct use of decoration, to say
nothing of the possibility of bring
ing beauty into the commonplace.
In the same case in which these
Illuminated sheets are shown are to
be seen several small sculptures in
porcelain, the work of Fausta Men,
garini Corte, among which is the
exquisite Madonna and Child
shown earlier in the season at the
Arts Club, and two fascinating little
heads of cherubs which might well
have descended to us not merely
from heaven. but from the days OF
the Della Robbias.
Here also are three miniatures ir