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diff --git a/29352.txt b/29352.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..00dcb53 --- /dev/null +++ b/29352.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10162 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 8 (of 8), by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 8 (of 8) + A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more + than 200 of the most prominent personages in History + +Author: Various + +Editor: Charles F. Horne + +Release Date: July 8, 2009 [EBook #29352] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN *** + + + + +Produced by Sigal Alon, Christine P. Travers and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, +all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's +spelling has been maintained.] + + + + +[Illustration: Sarah Bernhardt as Cleopatra.] + + + + +GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN + + +_A Series of Pen and Pencil Sketches of_ + +THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 200 OF THE MOST PROMINENT PERSONAGES IN HISTORY + + +VOL. VIII. + + + + +Copyright, 1894, BY SELMAR HESS + +edited by Charles F. Horne + +[Illustration: Publisher's arm.] + +New-York: Selmar Hess Publisher + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME VIII. + + + SUBJECT AUTHOR PAGE + + MICHAEL ANGELO, _Anna Jameson_, 214 + BEETHOVEN, _C. E. Bourne_, 319 + SARAH BERNHARDT, _H. S. Edwards_, 382 + ROSA BONHEUR, _Clarence Cook_, 276 + EDWIN BOOTH, _Clarence Cook_, 370 + CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN, _Dutton Cook_, 355 + _Letter from Miss Cushman to a young friend on the subject + of "Self-conquest,"_ 362 + LEONARDO DA VINCI, _Anna Jameson_, 209 + GUSTAVE DORE, _Kenyon Cox_, 298 + ALBERT DUeRER, _W. J. Holland_, 231 + EDWIN FORREST, _Lawrence Barrett_, 349 + DAVID GARRICK, _Samuel Archer_, 343 + GEROME, _Clarence Cook_, 281 + HANDEL, _C. E. Bourne_, 302 + HAYDN, _C. E. Bourne_, 315 + WILLIAM HOGARTH, 247 + JOSEPH JEFFERSON, _Clarence Cook_, 374 + FRANZ LISZT, _Rev. Hugh R. Haweis, M.A._, 332 + MEISSONIER, _Clarence Cook_, 272 + MENDELSSOHN, _C. F. Bourne_, 326 + JEAN FRANCOIS MILLET, _Clarence Cook_, 265 + MOZART, _C. E. Bourne_, 308 + PAGANINI, 325 + ADELINA PATTI, _Frederick F. Buffen_, 378 + PHIDIAS, _Clarence Cook_, 203 + RACHEL, _Dutton Cook_, 363 + RAPHAEL, _Mrs. Lee_, 221 + REMBRANDT, _Elizabeth Robins Pennell_, 240 + SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, _Samuel Archer_, 250 + DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI, _Edmund Gosse_, 287 + RUBENS, _Mrs. Lee_, 236 + THORWALDSEN, _Hans Christian Andersen_, 258 + TITIAN, _Giorgio Vasari_, 226 + GIUSEPPE VERDI, 342 + RICHARD WAGNER, _Franklin Peterson, Mus. Bac._, 338 + BENJAMIN WEST, _Martha J. Lamb_, 254 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +VOLUME VIII. + +PHOTOGRAVURES + + ILLUSTRATION ARTIST TO FACE + PAGE + + SARAH BERNHARDT AS CLEOPATRA, _Georges Clairin_ _Frontispiece_ + MICHAEL ANGELO AND VITTORIA COLONNA, _Hermann Schneider_ 220 + ALBERT DUeRER VISITS HANS SACHS, _Richard Gross_ 234 + MARIE DE MEDICI AT THE HOUSE OF + RUBENS, _Florent Willems_ 240 + CONNOISSEURS AT REMBRANDT'S STUDIO, _Adolphe-Alexandre Lesrel_ 244 + MEISSONIER'S ATELIER, _Georges Bretegnier_ 272 + MOZART SINGING HIS REQUIEM, _Thomas W. Shields_ 314 + AN ANECDOTE ABOUT BEETHOVEN, _Paul Leyendecker_ 322 + FRANZ LISZT, _Fortune-Joseph-Seraphin + Layraud_ 334 + WAGNER AND HIS FRIENDS, _Wilhelm Beckmann_ 340 + RACHEL AS THE MUSE OF GREEK TRAGEDY, _Jean Leon Gerome_ 368 + JOE JEFFERSON AS BOB ACRES, _From life_ 376 + + + WOOD-ENGRAVINGS AND TYPOGRAVURES + + RAPHAEL INTRODUCED TO DA VINCI, _Brune Pages_ 212 + LEO X. AT RAPHAEL'S BIER, _Pietro Michis_ 224 + A FETE AT THE HOUSE OF TITIAN, _F. Kraus_ 228 + ALBERT DUeRER'S WEDDING, _A. Bodenmueller_ 232 + HOGARTH SKETCHING THE HIGHWAY OF + QUEENBOROUGH, 248 + BENJAMIN WEST, PRESIDENT OF THE + ROYAL ACADEMY, _Sir Thomas Lawrence_ 258 + ROSA BONHEUR, _E. Dubufe_ 278 + HANDEL'S RIVER-CONCERT FOR GEORGE I., _A. Hamman_ 304 + HAYDN COMPOSING HIS "CREATION," _A. Hamman_ 318 + PAGANINI IN PRISON, _Louis Boulanger_ 326 + GARRICK AS RICHARD III., _William Hogarth_ 346 + FORREST AS METAMORA, _From Photograph_ 352 + CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN AS MRS. HALLER, _Watkins_ 360 + + + + +PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS + + + + +PHIDIAS[1] + + [Footnote 1: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CLARENCE COOK + +(ABOUT 500-432 B.C.) + + +Phidias, one of the greatest sculptors the world has seen, and whose +name has become, as it were, the synonym of his art, was born at +Athens about 500 B.C. He belonged to a family of artists, none of whom +indeed were distinguished in their profession, but their varied +occupations furnished the atmosphere in which such a talent as that of +Phidias could best be fostered and brought to maturity. His father was +Charmides, who is believed to have been an artist, because the Greeks, +in their inscriptions, did not associate the name of the father with +that of the son unless both were of the same calling. A brother of +Phidias, Panoenos, was a painter, and is mentioned among those +artists, twenty or more in number, who in conjunction with Polygnotus, +one of the chief painters of his day, were employed in the decoration +of the Poecile or Painted Portico, one of the many beautiful buildings +erected by Cimon. The Poecile was simply a long platform, with a roof +supported by a row of columns on one side and by a wall on the other. +It was called "the painted," because the wall at the back was covered +with a series of large historical pictures containing many figures, +and recording some of the chief events of the time, together with +others relating to an earlier and more shadowy epoch. The subject of +the painting, executed, at least in part, by the brother of Phidias, +was the Battle of Marathon, in which great event it is thought he may +himself have taken part. + +The boyhood of Phidias fell in a time of national revival, when under +the influence of an ennobling political excitement, all the arts were +quickened to a fresh, original, and splendid growth. The contest +between the Greeks and Persians, which had begun with the Ionian +revolt, was in full activity at the time of his birth. He was ten +years old when the battle of Marathon was fought, and when he was +twenty, four of the most striking events in the history of Greece were +crowded into a single year; the battle of Thermopylae, the victory at +Salamis, and the twin glories of Plataea and Mycale. His early youth, +therefore, was nourished by the inspiring influences that come from +the victorious struggle of a people to maintain their national life. +He was by no means the only sculptor of his time whom fame remembers, +but he alone, rejecting trivial themes, consecrated his talent to the +nobler subjects of his country's religious life and the ideal +conception of her protecting gods. No doubt, Phidias, like all who are +born with the artistic temperament, would be interested from childhood +in the progress of the splendid works with which Athens was enriching +herself under the rule of Cimon. But his interest must have been +greatly increased by the fact that his brother Panoenos was actively +engaged in the decoration of one of those buildings. It would be +natural that he should be often drawn to the place where his brother +was at work, and that the sight of so many artists, most of them young +men, filled with the generous ardor of youth, and inspired by the +nature of their task, should have stirred in him an answering +enthusiasm. It gives us a thrill of pleasure to read in the list of +these youths the name of the great tragic poet, Euripides, who began +life as a painter, and in whose plays we find more than one reference +to the art. It cannot be thought unreasonable to suppose that two such +intelligences as these must have had an attraction for one another, +and that, as in the case of Dante and Giotto, the great poet and the +great artist would be drawn together by a likeness in their taste and +aims. + +Phidias studied his art first at Athens, with a native sculptor, +Hegias, of whom we know nothing except from books. Later, he went to +Argos, and there put himself under the instruction of Ageladas, a +worker chiefly in bronze, and very famous in his time, of whom, +however, nothing remains but the memory of a few of his more notable +works. For us, his own works forgotten, he remains in honor as the +teacher of Myron, of Polycletus, and of Phidias, the three chief +sculptors of the next generation to his own. On leaving the workshop +of Ageladas, Phidias executed several statues that brought him +prominently before the public. For Delphi, he made a group of thirteen +figures in bronze, to celebrate the battle of Marathon and apotheosize +the heroes of Attica. In this group, Miltiades was placed in the +centre, between Athena, the tutelary goddess of Athens, and Apollo, +the guardian of Delphi; while on each side were five Athenian heroes, +Theseus and Codrus with others, arranged in a semicircle. This +important work was paid for by Athens out of her share in the spoils +of Marathon. Another important commission executed by Phidias was a +statue of Athena made for her temple at Plataea, and paid for with the +eighty talents raised by the contributions of the other Grecian states +as a reward for the splendid services of the Plataeans at Marathon, +where they played somewhat the same part as the Prussians at the +battle of Waterloo. The head, hands, and feet of this statue were of +marble, but the drapery was of gold; so arranged, probably, as in the +case of the great statue of Athena designed later by Phidias for the +Parthenon, as to be removable from the marble core at pleasure. +Phidias made so many statues of the virgin goddess Athena, that his +name became associated with hers, as at a later day that of Raphael +was with the Virgin Mary. In the first period of his artistic career, +moved perhaps by his patriotic gratitude for her intervention in +behalf of his native state, he had represented the goddess as a +warlike divinity, as here at Plataea; but in his later conceptions, as +in a statue made for the Athenians of Lemnos, Athena appeared invested +with milder attributes, and with a graceful and winning type of +beauty. + +In their invasion of Attica the Persians had destroyed the city of +Athens, and the people, who had fled to all quarters of the peninsula +to seek refuge from the enemy, returned after the victory at Salamis +and the flight of the Persians, to find their homes a heap of ruins. +The dwelling-houses of the Greeks were everywhere, even in their +largest cities, built of mean materials: walls of stubble overlaid +with stucco and gayly painted. It was not long, therefore, before +Athens resumed something of her old appearance, with such improvements +as always follow the rebuilding of a city. The most important change +effected was that brought about in the character of the great plateau, +the fortified rock of the Acropolis. Here, as in many Greek cities, +the temples of the gods had been erected, and about them, as about the +cathedrals of the Middle Ages, there had grown up a swarm of houses +and other buildings built by generations of people who sought there at +once the protection of the stockade which enclosed the almost +inaccessible site, and the still further safeguard of the presence of +the divinities in their temples. The destructive hand of the Persian +invaders had swept this platform clear of all these multiplied +incumbrances, and in the rebuilding of the city it was determined to +reserve the Acropolis for military and religious uses alone. + +The work of improvement was begun by Cimon, who, however, confined his +attention chiefly to the lower city that clustered about the base of +the Acropolis. Here, among other structures, he built the temple of +Theseus and the Painted Portico, and he also erected, near the summit +of the Acropolis, on the western side, the little gem-like temple of +the Wingless Victory, Nike Apteros, in commemoration of the success of +the Athenian arms at the battle of the Eurymedon. It was from Cimon +that Phidias received his first commission for work upon the +Acropolis, where later he was to build such a lasting monument to his +own fame and to the fame of his native land. The commission given him +by Cimon was to erect a bronze statue of Athena which was to stand on +the citadel, at once a symbol of the power of Athens and a tribute to +the protecting goddess of the city. The work upon the statue was +probably begun under Cimon, but according to Ottfried Mueller it was +not completed at the death of Phidias. It stood in the open air, and +nearly opposite the Colonnade at the entrance of the great flight of +marble steps that led from the plain to the summit of the Acropolis, +and was the first object to meet the eye on passing through the +gateway. It represented the goddess, armed, and in a warlike attitude, +from which it derived its name, Athena Promachos: Athena, the leader +of the battle. With its pedestal it stood about seventy feet high, +towering above the roof of the Parthenon, the gilded point of the +brazen spear held by the goddess flashing back the sun to the ships as +in approaching Athens they rounded the promontory of Sunium. We read +that the statue was still standing so late as 395 A.D., and it is said +that its towering height and threatening aspect caused a panic terror +in Alaric and his horde of barbarians when they climbed the Acropolis +to plunder its temple of its treasure. + +But it was under the rule of Pericles that Phidias was to find at +Athens his richest employment. Pericles had determined, probably by +the advice of Phidias, to make the Acropolis the seat and centre of +the new and splendid city that was to arise under his administration. +The first great undertaking was the building of a temple to Athena +Parthenos, Athena the Virgin, a design believed to have been suggested +to Pericles by Phidias. The plans were intrusted to Ictinus, an +Athenian, one of the best architects of the day; but the general +control and superintendence of the work were given to Phidias. As the +building rose to completion, workmen in all branches of the arts +flocked to Athens from every part of Greece and were given full +employment by Phidias in the decoration and furnishing of the temple. + +The taste of Phidias controlled the whole scheme of decoration applied +to the building, into which color entered, no doubt, to a much greater +extent than was formerly believed. Even after time and the destructive +hand of man have done their worst, there still remain sufficient +traces of color to prove that the sculpture, and the whole upper part +of the temple, were painted in bright but harmonious colors, and that +metal ornaments and accessories accented the whole scheme with +glittering points of light reflected from their shining surfaces. + +The sculptures with which the Parthenon was adorned by Phidias, and +which were executed under his immediate superintendence, consisted of +two great groups that filled the eastern and western pediments; of +groups of two figures each in the ninety-two metopes or panels above +the outer row of columns; and, finally, the famous frieze that ran +completely round the temple itself, just below the ceiling of the +colonnade, and at a height of about thirty-nine feet from the floor. + +The subject of the group that filled the eastern pediment, the one +above the entrance door of the temple, was the birth of Athena. Just +how the event was represented we do not know because quite half the +group, including the principal figures, disappeared very early in our +era, and no description of them remains in any ancient or modern +writer. The group in the western pediment represented the contest +between Athena and Poseidon for the dominion over Attica. According to +the legend, the strife between the two divinities took place in an +assembly of the gods on the Acropolis, who were to determine which of +the two contestants should be the protector of the city. To prove his +power, Poseidon struck the rock with his trident, and a salt spring +leaped forth, as if the sea itself had obeyed the call of its lord. +Athena struck the ground, and an olive-tree sprang up, the emblem of +peace and of the victories of commerce, and the assembly awarded the +prize to her. The goddess having thus received the sovereignty of +Athens, it was but natural that a day should be set apart for her +special honor, and a festival instituted to commemorate the great +event. This was the greater Panathenaia, or All Athenians Day, which +was celebrated every fourth year in honor of the goddess, and which, +as its name implies, was taken part in by all the people of the city. +It occurred in the early summer and lasted five days. On the fifth +day, it closed with a procession which went through all the chief +streets of the city and wound its way up the Great Stairway to the +Acropolis, bearing the _peplos_ or embroidered robe woven by young +virgin ladies of Athens, chosen from the highest families, and known +for their skill in this kind of work. After the _peplos_ had been +consecrated in the temple it was placed with due solemnities upon the +ancient and venerable figure of the goddess, made of olive-wood, and +said to have descended from heaven. From its subject, which thus +celebrates the Panathenaic procession, the frieze is often called the +Panathenaic frieze. + +It is carved from Pentelic marble, of which material the marble +building is constructed. Its original length, running as it did around +the entire building, was 522.80 feet, of which about 410 feet remain. +Of this portion, 249 feet are in the British Museum in slabs and +fragments; the remainder is chiefly in the Louvre, with scattered +fragments in other places. As a connected subject this was the most +extensive piece of sculpture ever made in Greece. From all that can be +gathered from the study of the fragments that remain, the design of +the frieze was of the utmost simplicity and characterized by the union +of perfect taste and clear purpose that marks all the work of the +great sculptor. The subject begins in the frieze at the western end of +the temple, where we watch the assembling of the procession. It then +proceeds along the northern and southern sides of the building, in +what we are to suppose one continuous line, moving toward the east, +since all the faces are turned that way; and at the eastern end, +directly over the main entrance to the building, the two parts of the +procession meet, in the presence of the magistrates and of the +divinities who had places of worship in Athens. + +Of the grace, the skill in arrangement, the variety of invention, the +happy union of movement and repose shown in this work, not only +artists--men best fitted to judge its merits from a technical point of +view--but the cultivated portion of the public, and a large and +ever-increasing circle of every-day people, have by common consent +agreed in praise. By the multiplication of casts, to be found now in +all our principal museums, we are enabled to study and to enjoy the +long procession even better than it could have been enjoyed in its +original place, where it must have been seen at a great disadvantage +in spite of the skill shown by Phidias in adapting it to its site; +for, as the frieze stood thirty-nine feet from the floor, and as the +width of the portico between the wall and the columns was only nine +feet, it was seen at a very sharp angle, and owing to the projection +of the roof beyond the wall of the temple the frieze received only +reflected light from the marble pavement below. + +Apart from the marble sculptures on the exterior of the Parthenon, the +two most famous works of Phidias were the statues of Athena, made for +the interior of the Parthenon, and of Zeus for the temple of the god +at Olympia in Elis. Both these statues were of the sort called +_Chryselephantine_, from the Greek _chrousous_, golden, and +_elephantinos_, of ivory; that is, they were constructed of plates of +gold and ivory, laid upon a core of wood or stone. The style was not +new, though its invention was at one time ascribed to Phidias. It came +from the East, but it was now employed for the first time in Greece in +a work of national importance. + +In the Athena, the face, neck, arms, hands, and feet were made of +ivory, and the drapery and ornaments, the helmet, the shield, and the +sandals of gold, which as in the case of the statue made for Plataea, +was removable at pleasure. The height of the statue, including the +pedestal, was nearly forty feet. The goddess stood erect, clothed with +a tunic reaching to the ankles, and showing her richly sandalled feet. +She had the aegis on her breast, her head was covered with a helmet, +and her shield, richly embossed with the Battle of the Amazons, rested +on the ground at her side. In one hand she held a spear, and in the +other, an image of Victory six feet high. + +A still more splendid work, and one which raised the fame of Phidias +to the highest point, was the statue of the Olympian Zeus, made for +the Eleans. In this statue, Phidias essayed to embody the Homeric +ideal of the supreme divinity of the people of Greece sitting on his +throne as a monarch, and in an attitude of majestic repose. The +throne, made of cedar-wood, was covered with plates of gold, and +enriched with ivory, ebony, and precious stones. It rested on a +platform twelve feet high, made of costly marble and carved with the +images of the gods who formed the council of Zeus on Olympus. The feet +of the god rested on a footstool supported by lions, and with the +combat of Theseus and the Amazons in a bas-relief on the front and +sides. In one hand Zeus held the sceptre, and in the other a winged +Victory. His head was crowned with a laurel wreath; his mantle, +falling from one shoulder, left his breast bare and covered the lower +part of his person with its ample folds of pure gold enamelled with +flowers. The whole height of the statue with the pedestal was about +fifty feet; by its very disproportion to the size of the temple it was +made to appear still larger than it really was. This statue was +reckoned one of the wonders of the world. In it the Greeks seemed to +behold Zeus face to face. To see it was a cure for all earthly woes, +and to die without having seen it was reckoned a great calamity. + +The downfall of Pericles, due to the jealousies of his rivals, carried +with it the ruin of Phidias, his close friend, to whom he had +entrusted such great undertakings. An indictment was brought against +the sculptor, charging him with appropriating to himself a portion of +the gold given him for the adornment of the statue of Athena; and +according to some authorities Pericles himself was included in the +charge. The gold had, however, been attached to the statue in such a +manner that it could be taken off and weighed, and in the proof, the +charge had to be abandoned. But Phidias did not escape so easily. He +was accused of sacrilege in having introduced portraits of himself and +Pericles on the shield of the goddess, where, says Plutarch, in the +bas-relief of the Battle of the Amazons, he carved his own portrait as +a bald old man lifting a stone with both hands, and also introduced an +excellent likeness of Pericles fighting with an Amazon. + +Phidias died in prison before the trial came off, and his name must be +added to the long list of those whom an ungrateful world has rewarded +for their services with ignominy and death. + +[Signature of the author.] + + + + +LEONARDO DA VINCI + +By ANNA JAMESON + +(1452-1519) + + +[Illustration: Leonardo Da Vinci.] + +Leonardo da Vinci seems to present in his own person a _resume_ of all +the characteristics of the age in which he lived. He was _the_ miracle +of that age of miracles. Ardent and versatile as youth; patient and +persevering as age; a most profound and original thinker; the greatest +mathematician and most ingenious mechanic of his time; architect, +chemist, engineer, musician, poet, painter--we are not only astounded +by the variety of his natural gifts and acquired knowledge, but by the +practical direction of his amazing powers. The extracts which have +been published from MSS. now existing in his own handwriting show him +to have anticipated by the force of his own intellect some of the +greatest discoveries made since his time. "These fragments," says Mr. +Hallam, "are, according to our common estimate of the age in which he +lived, more like revelations of physical truths vouchsafed to a single +mind than the superstructure of its reasoning upon any established +basis. The discoveries which made Galileo, Kepler, Castelli, and other +names illustrious; the system of Copernicus, the very theories of +recent geologists, are anticipated by Da Vinci within the compass of a +few pages, not perhaps in the most precise language, or on the most +conclusive reasoning, but so as to strike us with something like the +awe of preternatural knowledge. In an age of so much dogmatism he +first laid down the grand principle of Bacon, that experiment and +observation must be the guides to just theory in the investigation of +nature. If any doubt could be harbored, not as to the right of +Leonardo da Vinci to stand as the first name of the fifteenth century, +which is beyond all doubt, but as to his originality in so many +discoveries, which probably no one man, especially in such +circumstances, has ever made, it must be by an hypothesis not very +untenable, that some parts of physical science had already attained a +height which mere books do not record." + +It seems at first sight almost incomprehensible that, thus endowed as +a philosopher, mechanic, inventor, discoverer, the fame of Leonardo +should now rest on the works he has left as a painter. We cannot, +within these limits, attempt to explain why and how it is that as the +man of science he has been naturally and necessarily left behind by +the onward march of intellectual progress, while as the poet-painter +he still survives as a presence and a power. We must proceed at once +to give some account of him in the character in which he exists to us +and for us--that of the great artist. + +Leonardo was born at Vinci, near Florence, in the Lower Val d'Arno, on +the borders of the territory of Pistoia. His father, Piero da Vinci, +was an advocate of Florence--not rich, but in independent +circumstances, and possessed of estates in land. The singular talents +of his son induced Piero to give him, from an early age, the advantage +of the best instructors. As a child he distinguished himself by his +proficiency in arithmetic and mathematics. Music he studied early, as +a science as well as an art. He invented a species of lyre for +himself, and sung his own poetical compositions to his own music, both +being frequently extemporaneous. But his favorite pursuit was the art +of design in all its branches; he modelled in clay or wax, or +attempted to draw every object which struck his fancy. His father sent +him to study under Andrea Verrocchio, famous as a sculptor, chaser in +metal, and painter. Andrea, who was an excellent and correct designer, +but a bad and hard colorist, was soon after engaged to paint a picture +of the baptism of our Saviour. He employed Leonardo, then a youth, to +execute one of the angels; this he did with so much softness and +richness of color, that it far surpassed the rest of the picture; and +Verrocchio from that time threw away his palette, and confined himself +wholly to his works in sculpture and design, "enraged," says Vessari, +"that a child should thus excel him." + +The youth of Leonardo thus passed away in the pursuit of science and +of art; sometimes he was deeply engaged in astronomical calculations +and investigations; sometimes ardent in the study of natural history, +botany, and anatomy; sometimes intent on new effects of color, light, +shadow, or expression in representing objects animate or inanimate. +Versatile, yet persevering, he varied his pursuits, but he never +abandoned any. He was quite a young man when he conceived and +demonstrated the practicability of two magnificent projects: one was +to lift the whole of the church of San Giovanni, by means of immense +levers, some feet higher than it now stands, and thus supply the +deficient elevation; the other project was to form the Arno into a +navigable canal as far as Pisa, which would have added greatly to the +commercial advantages of Florence. + +It happened about this time that a peasant on the estate of Piero da +Vinci brought him a circular piece of wood, cut horizontally from the +trunk of a very large old fig-tree, which had been lately felled, and +begged to have something painted on it as an ornament for his cottage. +The man being an especial favorite, Piero desired his son Leonardo to +gratify his request; and Leonardo, inspired by that wildness of fancy +which was one of his characteristics, took the panel into his own +room, and resolved to astonish his father by a most unlooked-for proof +of his art. He determined to compose something which should have an +effect similar to that of the Medusa on the shield of Perseus, and +almost petrify beholders. Aided by his recent studies in natural +history, he collected together from the neighboring swamps and the +river-mud all kinds of hideous reptiles, as adders, lizards, toads, +serpents: insects, as moths, locusts, and other crawling and flying +obscene and obnoxious things; and out of these he composed a sort of +monster or chimera, which he represented as about to issue from the +shield, with eyes flashing fire, and of an aspect so fearful and +abominable that it seemed to infect the very air around. When +finished, he led his father into the room in which it was placed, and +the terror and horror of Piero proved the success of his attempt. This +production, afterward known as the "Rotello del Fico," from the +material on which it was painted, was sold by Piero secretly for one +hundred ducats to a merchant, who carried it to Milan, and sold it to +the duke for three hundred. To the poor peasant, thus cheated of his +"Rotello," Piero gave a wooden shield, on which was painted a heart +transfixed by a dart, a device better suited to his taste and +comprehension. In the subsequent troubles of Milan, Leonardo's picture +disappeared, and was probably destroyed as an object of horror by +those who did not understand its value as a work of art. + +During this first period of his life, which was wholly passed in +Florence and its neighborhood, Leonardo painted several other pictures +of a very different character, and designed some beautiful cartoons of +sacred and mythological subjects, which showed that his sense of the +beautiful, the elevated, and the graceful was not less a part of his +mind than that eccentricity and almost perversion of fancy which made +him delight in sketching ugly, exaggerated caricatures, and +representing the deformed and the terrible. + +Leonardo da Vinci was now about thirty years old, in the prime of his +life and talents. His taste for pleasure and expense was, however, +equal to his genius and indefatigable industry; and anxious to secure +a certain provision for the future, as well as a wider field for the +exercise of his various talents, he accepted the invitation of +Ludovico Sforza il Moro, then regent, afterward Duke of Milan, to +reside in his court, and to execute a colossal equestrian statue of +his ancestor, Francesco Sforza. Here begins the second period of his +artistic career, which includes his sojourn at Milan, that is from +1483 to 1499. + +Vasari says that Leonardo was invited to the court of Milan for the +Duke Ludovico's amusement, "as a musician and performer on the lyre, +and as the greatest singer and _improvisatore_ of his time;" but this +is improbable. Leonardo, in his long letter to that prince, in which +he recites his own qualifications for employment, dwells chiefly on +his skill in engineering and fortification; and sums up his +pretensions as an artist in these few brief words: "I understand the +different modes of sculpture in marble, bronze, and terra-cotta. In +painting, also, I may esteem myself equal to anyone, let him be who he +may." Of his musical talents he makes no mention whatever, though +undoubtedly these, as well as his other social accomplishments, his +handsome person, his winning address, his wit and eloquence, +recommended him to the notice of the prince, by whom he was greatly +beloved, and in whose service he remained for about seventeen years. +It is not necessary, nor would it be possible here, to give a +particular account of all the works in which Leonardo was engaged for +his patron, nor of the great political events in which he was +involved, more by his position than by his inclination; for instance, +the invasion of Italy by Charles VIII. of France, and the subsequent +invasion of Milan by Louis XII., which ended in the destruction of the +Duke Ludovico. The greatest work of all, and by far the grandest +picture which, up to that time, had been executed in Italy, was the +"Last Supper," painted on the wall of the refectory, or dining-room, +of the Dominican convent of the Madonna delle Grazie. It occupied +Leonardo about two years, from 1496 to 1498. + +The moment selected by the painter is described in the 26th chapter of +St. Matthew, 21st and 22d verses: "And as they did eat, he said, +Verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me: and they were +exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, +Lord, is it I?" The knowledge of character displayed in the heads of +the different apostles is even more wonderful than the skilful +arrangement of the figures and the amazing beauty of the workmanship. +The space occupied by the picture is a wall twenty-eight feet in +length and the figures are larger than life. + +Of this magnificent creation of art, only the mouldering remains are +now visible. It has been so often repaired that almost every vestige +of the original painting is annihilated; but from the multiplicity of +descriptions, engravings, and copies that exist, no picture is more +universally known and celebrated. Perhaps the best judgment we can now +form of its merits is from the fine copy executed by one of Leonardo's +best pupils, Marco Uggione, for the Certosa at Pavia, and now in +London, in the collection of the Royal Academy. Eleven other copies, +by various pupils of Leonardo, painted either during his lifetime or +within a few years after his death, while the picture was in perfect +preservation, exist in different churches and collections. + +While engaged on the Cenacolo, Leonardo painted the portrait of +Lucrezia Crivelli, now in the Louvre (No. 483). It has been engraved +under the title of _La Belle Ferronniere_, but later researches leave +us no doubt that it represents Lucrezia Crivelli, a beautiful favorite +of Ludovico Sforza, and was painted at Milan in 1497. It is, as a work +of art, of such extraordinary perfection that all critical admiration +is lost in wonder. + +Of the grand equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza, Leonardo never +finished more than the model in clay, which was considered a +masterpiece. Some years afterward (in 1499), when Milan was invaded by +the French, it was used as a target by the Gascon bowmen, and +completely destroyed. The profound anatomical studies which Leonardo +made for this work still exist. + +[Illustration: Raphael Introduced to Da Vinci.] + +In the year 1500, the French being in possession of Milan, his patron +Ludovico in captivity, and the affairs of the state in utter +confusion, Leonardo returned to his native Florence, where he hoped to +re-establish his broken fortunes, and to find employment. Here begins +the third period of his artistic life, from 1500 to 1513, that is, +from his forty-eighth to his sixtieth year. He found the Medici family +in exile, but was received by Pietro Soderini (who governed the city +as "_Gonfaloniere perpetuo_") with great distinction, and a pension +was assigned to him as painter in the service of the republic. One of +his first works after his return to Florence was the famous portrait +of Madonna Lisa del Giocondo, called in French _La Joconde_, and now +in the Louvre (484), which after the death of Leonardo was purchased +by Francis I. for 4,000 gold crowns, equal to 45,000 francs or L1,800, +an enormous sum in those days; yet who ever thought it too much? + +Then began the rivalry between Leonardo and Michael Angelo, which +lasted during the remainder of Leonardo's life. The difference of age +(for Michael Angelo was twenty-two years younger) ought to have +prevented all unseemly jealousy; but Michael Angelo was haughty and +impatient of all superiority, or even equality; Leonardo, sensitive, +capricious, and naturally disinclined to admit the pretensions of a +rival, to whom he could say, and _did_ say, "I was famous before you +were born!" With all their admiration of each other's genius, their +mutual frailties prevented any real good-will on either side. + +Leonardo, during his stay at Florence, painted the portrait of Ginevra +Benci, the reigning beauty of her time. We find that in 1502 he was +engaged by Caesar Borgia to visit and report on the fortifications of +his territories, and in this office he was employed for two years. In +1503 he formed a plan for turning the course of the Arno, and in the +following year he lost his father. In 1505 he modelled the group which +we now see over the northern door of the San Giovanni, at Florence. In +1514 he was invited to Rome by Leo X., but more in his character of +philosopher, mechanic, and alchemist, than as a painter. Here Raphael +was at the height of his fame, and engaged in his greatest works, the +frescos of the Vatican. The younger artist was introduced to the +elder; and two pictures which Leonardo painted while at Rome--the +"Madonna of St. Onofrio," and the "Holy Family," painted for Filiberta +of Savoy, the pope's sister-in-law (which is now at St. +Petersburg)--show that even this veteran in art felt the irresistible +influence of the genius of his young rival. They are both +_Raffaelesque_ in the subject and treatment. + +It appears that Leonardo was ill-satisfied with his sojourn at Rome. +He had long been accustomed to hold the first rank as an artist +wherever he resided; whereas at Rome he found himself only one among +many who, if they acknowledged his greatness, affected to consider his +day as past. He was conscious that many of the improvements in the +arts which were now brought into use, and which enabled the painters +of the day to produce such extraordinary effects, were invented or +introduced by himself. If he could no longer assert that measureless +superiority over all others which he had done in his younger days, it +was because he himself had opened to them new paths to excellence. The +arrival of his old competitor, Michael Angelo, and some slight on the +part of Leo X., who was annoyed by his speculative and dilatory habits +in executing the works intrusted to him, all added to his irritation +and disgust. He left Rome, and set out for Pavia, where the French +king, Francis I., then held his court. He was received by the young +monarch with every mark of respect, loaded with favors, and a pension +of 700 gold crowns settled on him for life. At the famous conference +between Francis I. and Leo X., at Bologna, Leonardo attended his new +patron, and was of essential service to him on that occasion. In the +following year, 1516, he returned with Francis I. to France, and was +attached to the French court as principal painter. It appears, +however, that during his residence in France he did not paint a single +picture. His health had begun to decline from the time he left Italy; +and feeling his end approach, he prepared himself for it by religious +meditation, by acts of charity, and by a most conscientious +distribution by will of all his worldly possessions to his relatives +and friends. At length, after protracted suffering, this great and +most extraordinary man died at Cloux, near Amboise, May 2, 1519, being +then in his sixty-seventh year. It is to be regretted that we cannot +wholly credit the beautiful story of his dying in the arms of Francis +I., who, as it is said, had come to visit him on his death-bed. It +would indeed have been, as Fuseli expressed it, "an honor to the king, +by which destiny would have atoned to that monarch for his future +disaster at Pavia." + + + + +MICHAEL ANGELO + +By ANNA JAMESON + +(1474-1564) + + +[Illustration: Michael Angelo.] + +We have spoken of Leonardo da Vinci. Michael Angelo, the other great +luminary of art, was twenty-two years younger, but the more severe and +reflective cast of his mind rendered their difference of age far less +in effect than in reality. It is usual to compare Michael Angelo with +Raphael, but he is more aptly compared with Leonardo da Vinci. All the +great artists of that time, even Raphael himself, were influenced more +or less by these two extraordinary men, but they exercised no +influence on each other. They started from opposite points; they +pursued throughout their whole existence, and in all they planned and +achieved, a course as different as their respective characters. + +Michael Angelo Buonarroti was born at Setignano, near Florence, in the +year 1474. He was descended from a family once noble--even among the +noblest of the feudal lords of Northern Italy--the Counts of Canossa; +but that branch of it represented by his father, Luigi Leonardo +Buonarroti Simoni, had for some generations become poorer and poorer, +until the last descendant was thankful to accept an office in the law, +and had been nominated magistrate or mayor (_Podesta_) of Chiusi. In +this situation he had limited his ambition to the prospect of seeing +his eldest son a notary or advocate in his native city. The young +Michael Angelo showed the utmost distaste for the studies allotted to +him, and was continually escaping from his home and from his desk to +haunt the ateliers of the painters, particularly that of Ghirlandajo +who was then at the height of his reputation. + +The father of Michael Angelo, who found his family increase too +rapidly for his means, had destined some of his sons for commerce (it +will be recollected that in Genoa and Florence the most powerful +nobles were merchants or manufacturers), and others for civil or +diplomatic employments; but the fine arts, as being at that time +productive of little honor or emolument, he held in no esteem, and +treated these tastes of his eldest son sometimes with contempt and +sometimes even with harshness. Michael Angelo, however, had formed +some friendships among the young painters, and particularly with +Francesco Granacci, one of the best pupils of Ghirlandajo; he +contrived to borrow models and drawings, and studied them in secret +with such persevering assiduity and consequent improvement, that +Ghirlandajo, captivated by his genius, undertook to plead his cause to +his father, and at length prevailed over the old man's family pride +and prejudices. At the age of fourteen Michael Angelo was received +into the studio of Ghirlandajo as a regular pupil, and bound to him +for three years; and such was the precocious talent of the boy, that, +instead of being paid for his instruction, Ghirlandajo undertook to +pay the father, Leonardo Buonarroti, for the first, second, and third +years, six, eight, and twelve golden florins, as payment for the +advantage he expected to derive from the labor of the son. Thus was +the vocation of the young artist decided for life. + +At that time Lorenzo the Magnificent reigned over Florence. He had +formed in his palace and gardens a collection of antique marbles, +busts, statues, fragments, which he had converted into an academy for +the use of young artists, placing at the head of it as director a +sculptor of some eminence, named Bertoldo. Michael Angelo was one of +the first who, through the recommendation of Ghirlandajo, was received +into this new academy, afterward so famous and so memorable in the +history of art. The young man, then not quite sixteen, had hitherto +occupied himself chiefly in drawing; but now, fired by the beauties he +beheld around him, and by the example and success of a fellow-pupil, +Torregiano, he set himself to model in clay, and at length to copy in +marble what was before him; but, as was natural in a character and +genius so steeped in individuality, his copies became not so much +imitations of form as original embodyings of the leading idea. For +example: his first attempt in marble, when he was about fifteen, was a +copy of an antique mask of an old laughing Faun; he treated this in a +manner so different from the original, and so spirited as to excite +the astonishment of Lorenzo de Medici, who criticised it, however, +saying, "Thou shouldst have remembered that old folks do not retain +all their teeth; some of them are always wanting." The boy struck the +teeth out, giving it at once the most grotesque expression; and +Lorenzo, infinitely amused, sent for his father and offered to attach +his son to his own particular service, and to undertake the entire +care of his education. The father consented, on condition of +receiving for himself an office under the government, and thenceforth +Michael Angelo was lodged in the palace of the Medici and treated by +Lorenzo as his son. + +Michael Angelo continued his studies under the auspices of Lorenzo; +but just as he had reached his eighteenth year he lost his generous +patron, his second father, and was thenceforth thrown on his own +resources. It is true that the son of Lorenzo, Piero de Medici, +continued to extend his favor to the young artist, but with so little +comprehension of his genius and character, that on one occasion, +during the severe winter of 1494, he set him to form a statue of snow +for the amusement of his guests. + +Michael Angelo, while he yielded, perforce, to the caprices of his +protector, turned the energies of his mind to a new study--that of +anatomy--and pursued it with all that fervor which belonged to his +character. His attention was at the same time directed to literature, +by the counsels and conversations of a very celebrated scholar and +poet then residing in the court of Piero--Angelo Poliziano; and he +pursued at the same time the cultivation of his mind and the practice +of his art. Engrossed by his own studies, he was scarcely aware of +what was passing around him, nor of the popular intrigues which were +preparing the ruin of the Medici; suddenly this powerful family were +flung from sovereignty to temporary disgrace and exile; and Michael +Angelo, as one of their retainers, was obliged to fly from Florence, +and took refuge in the city of Bologna. During the year he spent there +he found a friend, who employed him on some works of sculpture; and on +his return to Florence he executed a Cupid in marble, of such beauty +that it found its way into the cabinet of the Duchess of Mantua as a +real antique. On the discovery that the author of this beautiful +statue was a young man of two-and-twenty, the Cardinal San Giorgio +invited him to Rome, and for some time lodged him in his palace. Here +Michael Angelo, surrounded and inspired by the grand remains of +antiquity, pursued his studies with unceasing energy; he produced a +statue of Bacchus, which added to his reputation; and in 1500, at the +age of five-and-twenty, he produced the famous group of the dead +Christ on the knees of his Virgin Mother (called the "Pieta"), which +is now in the church of St. Peter's, at Rome; this last being +frequently copied and imitated, obtained him so much applause and +reputation, that he was recalled to Florence, to undertake several +public works, and we find him once more established in his native city +in the year 1502. + +In 1506 Michael Angelo was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II., who, +while living, had conceived the idea of erecting a most splendid +monument to perpetuate his memory. For this work, which was never +completed, Michael Angelo executed the famous statue of Moses, seated, +grasping his flowing beard with one hand, and with the other +sustaining the tables of the Law. While employed on this tomb, the +pope commanded him to undertake also the decoration of the ceiling of +the Sistine Chapel. Pope Sixtus IV. had, in the year 1473, erected +this famous chapel, and summoned the best painters of that time, +Signorelli, Cosimo Roselli, Perugino, and Ghirlandajo, to decorate the +interior; but down to the year 1508 the ceiling remained without any +ornament; and Michael Angelo was called upon to cover this enormous +vault, a space of one hundred and fifty feet in length by fifty in +breadth, with a series of subjects representing the most important +events connected, either literally or typically, with the fall and +redemption of mankind. + +No part of Michael Angelo's long life is so interesting, so full of +characteristic incident, as the history of his intercourse with Pope +Julius II., which began in 1505, and ended only with the death of the +pope in 1513. + +Michael Angelo had at all times a lofty idea of his own dignity as an +artist, and never would stoop either to flatter a patron or to +conciliate a rival. Julius II., though now seventy-four, was as +impatient of contradiction as fiery in temper, as full of magnificent +and ambitious projects as if he had been in the prime of life; in his +service was the famous architect, Bramante, who beheld with jealousy +and alarm the increasing fame of Michael Angelo, and his influence +with the pontiff, and set himself by indirect means to lessen both. He +insinuated to Julius that it was ominous to erect his own mausoleum +during his lifetime, and the pope gradually fell off in his attentions +to Michael Angelo, and neglected to supply him with the necessary +funds for carrying on the work. On one occasion, Michael Angelo, +finding it difficult to obtain access to the pope, sent a message to +him to this effect, "that henceforth, if his Holiness desired to see +him, he should send to seek him elsewhere;" and the same night, +leaving orders with his servants to dispose of his property, he +departed for Florence. The pope despatched five couriers after him +with threats, persuasions, promises--but in vain. He wrote to the +Gonfaloniere Soderini, then at the head of the government of Florence, +commanding him, on pain of his extreme displeasure, to send Michael +Angelo back to him; but the inflexible artist absolutely refused; +three months were spent in vain negotiations. Soderini, at length, +fearing the pope's anger, prevailed on Michael Angelo to return, and +sent with him his relation, Cardinal Soderini, to make up the quarrel +between the high contending powers. + +On his return to Rome, Michael Angelo wished to have resumed his work +on the mausoleum; but the pope had resolved on the completion of the +Sistine Chapel; he commanded Michael Angelo to undertake the +decoration of the vaulted ceiling; and the artist was obliged, though +reluctantly, to obey. At this time the frescos which Raphael and his +pupils were painting in the chambers of the Vatican had excited the +admiration of all Rome. Michael Angelo, who had never exercised +himself in the mechanical part of the art of fresco, invited from +Florence several painters of eminence, to execute his designs under +his own superintendence; but they could not reach the grandeur of his +conceptions, which became enfeebled under their hands, and one +morning, in a mood of impatience, he destroyed all that they had done, +closed the doors of the chapel against them, and would not thenceforth +admit them to his presence. He then shut himself up, and proceeded +with incredible perseverance and energy to accomplish his task alone; +he even prepared his colors with his own hands. He began with the end +toward the door, and in the two compartments first painted (though +not first in the series), the "Deluge," and the "Vineyard of Noah;" he +made the figures too numerous and too small to produce their full +effect from below, a fault which he corrected in those executed +subsequently. When almost half the work was completed, the pope +insisted on viewing what was done, and the astonishment and admiration +it excited rendered him more and more eager to have the whole +completed at once. The progress, however, was not rapid enough to suit +the impatient temper of the pontiff. On one occasion he demanded of +the artist _when_ he meant to finish it; to which Michael Angelo +replied calmly, "When I can." "When thou canst!" exclaimed the fiery +old pope, "thou hast a mind that I should have thee thrown from the +scaffold!" At length, on the day of All Saints, 1512, the ceiling was +uncovered to public view. Michael Angelo had employed on the painting +only, without reckoning the time spent in preparing the cartoons, +twenty-two months, and he received in payment three thousand crowns. + +The collection of engravings after Michael Angelo in the British +Museum is very imperfect, but it contains some fine old prints from +the Prophets which should be studied by those who wish to understand +the true merit of this great master, of whom Sir Joshua Reynolds said +that, "to kiss the hem of his garment, to catch the slightest of his +perfections, would be glory and distinction enough for an ambitious +man!" + +When the Sistine Chapel was completed Michael Angelo was in his +thirty-ninth year; fifty years of a glorious though troubled career +were still before him. + +Pope Julius II. died in 1513, and was succeeded by Leo X., the son of +Lorenzo the Magnificent. As a Florentine and his father's son, we +might naturally have expected that he would have gloried in +patronizing and employing Michael Angelo; but such was not the case. +There was something in the stern, unbending character, and retired and +abstemious habits of Michael Angelo, repulsive to the temper of Leo, +who preferred the graceful and amiable Raphael, then in the prime of +his life and genius; hence arose the memorable rivalry between Michael +Angelo and Raphael, which on the part of the latter was merely +generous emulation, while it must be confessed that something like +scorn mingled with the feelings of Michael Angelo. The pontificate of +Leo X., an interval of ten years, was the least productive period of +his life. In the year 1519, when the Signoria of Florence was +negotiating with Ravenna for the restoration of the remains of Dante, +he petitioned the pope that he might be allowed to execute, at his own +labor and expense, a monument to the "Divine Poet." He was sent to +Florence to superintend the building of the church of San Lorenzo and +the completion of Santa Croce; but he differed with the pope on the +choice of the marble, quarrelled with the officials, and scarcely +anything was accomplished. Clement VII., another Medici, was elected +pope in 1523. He had conceived the idea of consecrating a chapel in +the church of San Lorenzo, to receive the tombs of his ancestors and +relations, and which should be adorned with all the splendor of art. +Michael Angelo planned and built the chapel, and for its interior +decoration designed and executed six of his greatest works in +sculpture. + +While Michael Angelo was engaged in these works his progress was +interrupted by events which threw all Italy into commotion. Rome was +taken and sacked by the Constable de Bourbon in 1527. The Medici were +once more expelled from Florence; and Michael Angelo, in the midst of +these strange vicissitudes, was employed by the republic to fortify +his native city against his former patrons. Great as an engineer, as +in every other department of art and science, he defended Florence for +nine months. At length the city was given up by treachery, and, +fearing the vengeance of the conquerors, Michael Angelo fled and +concealed himself; but Clement VII. was too sensible of his merit to +allow him to remain long in disgrace and exile. He was pardoned, and +continued ever afterward in high favor with the pope, who employed him +on the sculptures in the chapel of San Lorenzo during the remainder of +his pontificate. + +In the year 1531 he had completed the statues of "Night and Morning," +and Clement, who heard of his incessant labors, sent him a brief +commanding him, _on pain of excommunication_, to take care of his +health, and not to accept of any other work but that which his +Holiness had assigned him. + +Clement VII. was succeeded by Pope Paul III., of the Farnese family, +in 1534. This pope, though nearly seventy when he was elected, was as +anxious to immortalize his name by great undertakings as any of his +predecessors had been. His first wish was to complete the decoration +of the interior of the Sistine Chapel, left unfinished by Julius II. +and Leo X. He summoned Michael Angelo, who endeavored to excuse +himself, pleading other engagements; but the pope would listen to no +excuses which interfered with his sovereign power to dissolve all +other obligations; and thus the artist found himself, after an +interval of twenty years, most reluctantly forced to abandon sculpture +for painting; and, as Vasari expresses it, he consented to serve Pope +Paul only because he _could_ not do otherwise. + +The same Pope Paul III. had in the meantime constructed a beautiful +chapel, which was called after his name the chapel _Paolina_, and +dedicated to St. Peter and St Paul. Michael Angelo was called upon to +design the decorations. He painted on one side the "Conversion of St. +Paul," and on the other the "Crucifixion of St. Peter," which were +completed in 1549. But these fine paintings--of which existing old +engravings give a better idea than the blackened and faded remains of +the original frescos--were from the first ill-disposed as to the +locality, and badly lighted, and at present they excite little +interest compared with the more famous works in the Sistine. + +With the frescos in the Pauline Chapel ends Michael Angelo's career as +a painter. He had been appointed chief architect of St. Peter's, in +1547, by Paul III. He was then in his seventy-second year, and during +the remainder of his life, a period of sixteen years, we find him +wholly devoted to architecture. His vast and daring genius finding +ample scope in the completion of St. Peter's, he has left behind him +in his capacity of architect yet greater marvels than he has achieved +as painter and sculptor. Who that has seen the cupola of St. Peter's +soaring into the skies, but will think almost with awe of the +universal and majestic intellect of the man who reared it? + +It appears, from the evidence of contemporary writers, that in the +last years of his life the acknowledged worth and genius of Michael +Angelo, his widespread fame, and his unblemished integrity, combined +with his venerable age and the haughtiness and reserve of his +deportment to invest him with a sort of princely dignity. It is +recorded that, when he waited on Pope Julius III., to receive his +commands, the pontiff rose on his approach, seated him, in spite of +his excuses, on his right hand, and while a crowd of cardinals, +prelates, and ambassadors, were standing round at humble distance, +carried on the conference as equal with equal. When the Grand Duke +Cosmo was in Rome, in 1560, he visited Michael Angelo, uncovered in +his presence, and stood with his hat in his hand while speaking to +him; but from the time when he made himself the tyrant of Florence he +never could persuade Michael Angelo to visit, even for a day, his +native city. + +The arrogance imputed to Michael Angelo seems rather to have arisen +from a contempt for others than from any overweening opinion of +himself. He was too proud to be vain. He had placed his standard of +perfection so high, that to the latest hour of his life he considered +himself as striving after that ideal excellence which had been +revealed to him, but to which he conceived that others were blind or +indifferent. In allusion to his own imperfections, he made a drawing, +since become famous, which represents an aged man in a go-cart, and +underneath the words "_Ancora impara_" (still learning). + +He continued to labor unremittingly, and with the same resolute energy +of mind and purpose, till the gradual decay of his strength warned him +of his approaching end. He did not suffer from any particular malady, +and his mind was strong and clear to the last. He died at Rome, on +February 18, 1564, in the ninetieth year of his age. A few days before +his death he dictated his will in these few simple words: "I bequeath +my soul to God, my body to the earth, and my possessions to my nearest +relations." His nephew, Leonardo Buonarroti, who was his principal +heir, by the orders of the Grand Duke Cosmo had his remains secretly +conveyed out of Rome and brought to Florence; they were with due +honors deposited in the church of Santa Croce, under a costly +monument, on which we may see his noble bust surrounded by three very +commonplace and ill-executed statues, representing the arts in which +he excelled--Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. They might have +added _Poetry_, for Michael Angelo was so fine a poet that his +productions would have given him fame, though he had never peopled the +Sistine with his giant creations, nor "suspended the Pantheon in the +air." The object to whom his poems are chiefly addressed, Vittoria +Colonna, Marchioness of Pescara, was the widow of the celebrated +commander who overcame Francis I. at the battle of Pavia; herself a +poetess, and one of the most celebrated women of her time for beauty, +talents, virtue, and piety. She died in 1547. + +[Illustration: Michael Angelo and Vittoria Colonna.] + + + + +RAPHAEL + +By Mrs. LEE + +(1483-1520) + + +[Illustration: Raphael.] + +The solemn and silent season of Lent had passed away; and, on the +second evening of the joyful Easter, a house was seen brightly +illuminated in one of the streets of Urbino. It was evident that a +festival was held there on some happy occasion. The sound of music was +heard, and guest after guest entered the mansion. No one, however, was +more cordially welcomed than Pietro Perugino, the fellow-student of +Leonardo da Vinci, at the school of the good old Andrea Verocchio. + +For a moment, general gayety was suspended in honor of the guest. He +was considered at that time one of the greatest painters of the age; +and the host, Giovanni di Sanzio, though himself only ranking in the +second or third order of limners, knew well how to prize the rare +talents of his visitor. + +The wife of Giovanni came forward, leading her son Raphael. Perugino +had the eye of an artist: he gazed upon the mother and son with +enthusiastic feeling; the striking resemblance they bore to each +other, so exquisitely modulated by years and sex, was indeed a study +for this minute copyist of nature. + +"Benvenuto, Messer Perugino," said the hostess, with her soft musical +voice and graceful Italian accent, and she placed the hand of her boy +in that of the artist. Gently he laid the other on the head of the +youthful Raphael, and in a solemn and tender manner pronounced a +benediction. + +"Your blessing is well timed, my honored friend," said Giovanni, "our +festival is given to celebrate the birthday of our son." + +"Is this his birthday?" inquired Perugino. + +"Not so," replied the father, "he was born on April 7th, the evening +of _Good Friday_, and it well befits us to be gay on the joyful Easter +that succeeds it." + +"My friend," said Perugino, "if thou wilt entrust thy boy to my care, +I will take him as my pupil." + +The father acceded with delight to this proposal. When the mother +became acquainted with the arrangement, and found that her son was to +quit his paternal dwelling at the early age of twelve, and reside +wholly with Perugino, she could not restrain her tears. With hers the +young Raphael's mingled, though ever and anon a bright smile darted +like a sunbeam across his face. + +He remained with Perugino several years. Raphael was made for +affection, and fondly did his heart cling to his instructor. For a +time he was content to follow his manner; but at length he began to +dwell upon his own beau ideal; he grew impatient of imitation, and +felt that his style was deficient in freshness and originality. He +longed to pass the narrow bounds to which his invention had been +confined. + +With the approbation of Perugino and the consent of his parents, he +repaired to Siena; here he was solicited to adorn the public library +with fresco, and painted there with great success. But while he was +busily engaged, his friend, Pinturrichio, one day entered. After +looking at his friend's work very attentively, "Bravo!" he exclaimed, +"thou hast done well, my Raphael--but I have just returned from +Florence--oh, would that thou couldst behold the works of Leonardo da +Vinci! Such horses! they paw the ground and shake the foam from their +manes. Oh, my poor Raphael! thou hast never seen nature; thou art +wasting time on these cartoons. Perugino is a good man and a good +painter, I will not deny that--but Leonardo's horses!" + +Raphael threw aside his pencil and hastily rose. + +"Where now?" asked his friend; "whither art thou going so hastily?" + +"To Florence," exclaimed Raphael. + +"And what carries you so suddenly?" + +"The horses of Leonardo," replied the young artist, sportively; +"seriously, however, the desire of excellence implanted in my soul." + +When he arrived at Florence he was charmed with the appearance of the +city; but his whole mind was absorbed in the works of Leonardo da +Vinci and of Michael Angelo, the rival artists of the age. As his stay +was to be short, he did not enter upon laborious occupation. His +mornings were passed in the reveries of his art; his evenings in the +gay and fascinating society of Florence, where the fame of Perugino's +beloved pupil had already reached. The frescos at Siena were spoken +of; and the beautiful countenance and graceful deportment of Raphael +won him the friendship of distinguished men. Taddeo Taddei, the +learned friend of Cardinal Bembo, solicited him to reside in his +house; he consented, and in return for the courtesy painted for him +two pictures, in what is called his first style, that of Perugino. + +One evening he retired to his couch at a late hour. He had been the +hero of a _fete_, and love and beauty had heedlessly scattered their +flowers in the path of the living Adonis. In vain he sought a few +hours of slumber. He had quaffed the juice of the grape, emptying +goblet after goblet, till his beating pulse and throbbing temples +refused to be quieted. He started from his couch and approached the +lattice; the heavens had changed their aspect, the still serenity of +the evening had passed away, and the clouds were hurrying over the +pale and watery moon. Nothing was heard but the low sighing of the +wind, and now and then a sudden gust swept through the lattice, and +threatened to extinguish the taper which was burning dimly on the +table. A slight noise made him turn his eyes, and he perceived a note +that the wind had displaced. He hastily took it up. It was Perugino's +handwriting. He cut the silken cord that fastened it, and read: + +"On me, my beloved Raffaello, devolves the task of informing you of +the events which have taken place at Urbino. May this letter find you +prepared for all the changes of life; a wise man will never suffer +himself to be taken by surprise; this is true philosophy, and the +_only philosophy_ that can serve us! An epidemic has prevailed at +Urbino, and has entered your paternal dwelling. Need I say more? Come +to me, my son, at Perugia, for I am the only parent that remains to +you. Pietro Perugino." + +As he hastily arose, a crucifix which his mother had suspended to his +neck at parting, fell from his bosom. Even the symbols of religion are +sacred where the living principle has been early implanted in the +heart. He pressed it to his lips: "Ah!" thought he, "what is the +_philosophy_ of Perugino, compared to the _faith_ of which this is the +emblem?" His thoughts went back to infancy and childhood, and his +grief and remorse grew less intense. He dwelt on the deep and enduring +love of his parents till he felt assured death could not extinguish +it, and that he should see them again in a brighter sphere. + +When morning came it found Raphael calm and composed; the lines of +grief and thought were deeply marked on his youthful face; but the +whirlwind and the storm had passed. He took leave of his friends, and +hastened to Perugino, who received him with the fondness of a parent. + +Here he remained some time, and at length collected sufficient +resolution to return to Urbino, and once more enter the mansion of his +desolated home. + +It was necessary for him to reside at his native place for a number of +months. During that time he painted several fine pictures. His heart, +however, yearned for Florence, and he returned to it once more with +the determination of making it his home. With far different sensations +did he a second time enter the city of beauty. The freshness of his +gayety was blighted; lessons of earthly disappointment were ever +present to his mind, and he returned to it with the resolute purpose +of devoting himself to serious occupation. + +How well he fulfilled this resolution all Italy can bear witness. From +this time he adopted what has been called his _second manner_. He +painted for the Duke of Urbino the beautiful picture of the Saviour at +sunrise, with the morning light cast over a face resplendent with +divinity; the flowers glittering with dew, the two disciples beyond, +still buried in slumber, at the time when the Saviour turns his eyes +upon them with that tender and sorrowful exclamation, "Could ye not +watch one hour?" + +Raphael enriched the city of Florence with his works. When asked what +had suggested some of the beautiful combinations of his paintings, he +said, "They came to me in my sleep." At other times he called them +"visions;" and then again said they were the result of "una certa idea +che mi viene alla mente." It was this power of drawing from the deep +wells of his own mind that gave such character, originality, and +freshness to his works. He found that power _within_ which so many +seek, and seek in vain, _without_. + +At the age of twenty-five Raphael was summoned by the pope to paint +the chambers of the Vatican. The famous frescos of the Vatican need +neither enumeration nor description; the world is their judge and +their eulogist. + +No artist ever consecrated his works more by his affections than +Raphael. The same hallowed influence of the heart gave inexpressible +charm to Correggio's, afterward. One of Raphael's friends said to him, +in looking upon particular figures in his groups, "You have +transmitted to posterity your own likeness." + +"See you nothing beyond that?" replied the artist. + +"I see," said the critic, "the deep-blue eye, and the long, fair hair +parted on the forehead." + +"Observe," said Raphael, "the feminine softness of expression, the +beautiful harmony of thought and feeling. When I take my pencil for +high and noble purposes, the spirit of my mother hovers over me. It is +her countenance, not my own, of which you trace the resemblance." + +This expression is always observable in his Madonnas. His portraits of +the _Fornarina_ are widely different. Raphael, in his last and most +excellent style, united what was graceful and exquisite in Leonardo +with the sublime and noble manner of Michael Angelo. It is the +privilege and glory of genius to appropriate to itself whatever is +noble and true. The region of thought is thus made a common ground for +all, and one master mind becomes a reservoir for the present and +future times. + +When Raphael was invited to Rome by Pope Julius II., Michael Angelo +was at the height of his glory; his character tended to inspire awe +rather than affection; he delighted in the majestic and the terrible. +In boldness of conception and grandeur of design, he surpassed +Leonardo, but never could reach the sweetness and gentleness of his +figures. Even his children lose something of their infantine beauty, +and look mature; his women are commanding and lofty; his men of +gigantic proportions. His painting, like his sculpture, is remarkable +for anatomical exactness, and perfect expression of the muscles. For +this union of magnificence and sublimity, it was necessary to prepare +the mind; the first view was almost harsh, and it was by degrees that +his mighty works produced their designed effect. Raphael, while he +felt all the greatness of the Florentine, conceived that there might +be something more like nature--something that should be harmonious, +sweet, and flowing--that should convey the idea of intellectual rather +than of external majesty. Without yielding any of the correctness of +science, he avoided harshness, and imitated antiquity in uniting grace +and elegance with a strict observation of science and of the rules of +art. + +It was with surprise that Michael Angelo beheld in the youthful +Raphael a rival artist; nor did he receive this truth meekly; he +treated him with coldness and distance. In the meantime Raphael went +on with his works; he completed the frescos of the Vatican, and +designed the cartoons. He also produced those exquisite paintings in +oil which seem the perfection of human art. + +[Illustration: Leo X. at Raphael's Bier.] + +Human affection is necessary to awaken the sympathy of human beings; +and Raphael, in learning how to portray it, had found the way to the +heart. In mere grandeur of invention he was surpassed by Michael +Angelo. Titian excelled him in coloring, and Correggio in the +beautiful gradation of tone; but Raphael knew how to paint the soul; +in this he stood alone. This was the great secret of a power which +seemed to operate like magic. In his paintings there is something +which makes music on the chords of every heart; for they are the +expression of a mind attuned to nature, and find answering sympathies +in the universal soul. + +While Michael Angelo was exalted with the Epic grandeur of his own +Dante, Raphael presented the most finished scenes of dramatic life, +and might be compared to the immortal Shakespeare--scenes of spiritual +beauty, of devotion, and of pastoral simplicity, yet uniting a classic +elegance which the poet does not possess. Buonarroti was the wonder of +Italy, and Raphael became its idol. + +Julius was so much enchanted with his paintings in the halls of the +Vatican, that he ordered the frescos of former artists to be +destroyed. Among them were some of Perugino's, but Raphael would not +suffer these to be removed for his own; he viewed them as the relics +of a beloved and honored friend, and they were consecrated by tender +and grateful feelings. + +Raphael collected from every part of the world medallions of intaglios +and antiques to assist him in his designs. He loved splendor and +conviviality, and gave offence thereby to the rigid and austere. It +was said that he had a prospect of changing the graceful beretta for a +cardinal's hat; but this idea might have arisen from the delay which +existed in his marriage with Cardinal Bibiano's niece, whose hand her +uncle had offered to him. Peremptorily to reject this proposal of the +cardinal without giving offence would have been impossible, and +Raphael was too gentle in his own feelings voluntarily to injure +another's; but he was not one to sacrifice his affections to ambition. + +Whatever were the struggles of his heart, they were early terminated. +Amid the caresses of the great, the fond and devoted friendship of his +equals, the enthusiastic love of his pupils, the adulation of his +inferiors, while crowned with wealth, fame, and honor, and regarded as +the equal of the hitherto greatest artist in the world, he was +suddenly called away. He died on Good Friday, the day of his birth, at +the age of thirty-seven, 1520. + +We are sometimes impressed with veneration when those who have even +drunk the cup of life almost to its dregs resign it with resignation +and Christian faith. But Raphael calmly and firmly resigned it when it +was full to the brim. + +Leo X. and Cardinal Bibiano were by his bedside. The sublime picture +of the "Transfiguration," the last and greatest which he painted, was +placed opposite to him, by his own desire. How impressive must have +been the scene! His dying eye turned from the crucifix he held in his +hand to the glory of the beatified Saviour. + +His contemporaries speak of him as affectionate, disinterested, +modest, and sincere; encouraging humble merit, and freely giving his +advice and assistance where it was needed and deserved. + + + + +TITIAN + +By GIORGIO VASARI[2] + + [Footnote 2: Giorgio Vasari, a contemporary of Titian, and + himself a painter of no mean rank, wrote a series of lives of + the Italian artists, from which the following is extracted. + There are several slight inaccuracies in his work Titian was + born, not in 1480, but in 1477, and died in 1576. He was in + coloring the greatest artist who ever lived.] + +1477-1576 + + +[Illustration: Titian.] + +Titian was born in the year 1480, at Cadore, a small place distant +about five miles from the foot of the Alps; he belonged to the family +of the Vecelli, which is among the most noble of those parts. Giving +early proof of much intelligence, he was sent at the age of ten to an +uncle in Venice, an honorable citizen, who, seeing the boy to be much +inclined to painting, placed him with the excellent painter, Gian +Bellino, then very famous. Under his care, the youth soon proved +himself to be endowed by nature with all the gifts of judgment and +genius required for the art of painting. Now, Gian Bellino and the +other masters of that country, not having the habit of studying the +antique, were accustomed to copy only what they saw before them, and +that in a dry, hard, labored manner, which Titian also acquired; but +about the year 1507, Giorgione da Castel Franco, not being satisfied +with that mode of proceeding, began to give to his works an unwonted +softness and relief, painting them in a very beautiful manner; yet he +by no means neglected to draw from the life, or to copy nature with +his colors as closely as he could; and in doing the latter he shaded +with colder or warmer tints as the living object might demand, but +without first making a drawing; since he held that, to paint with the +colors only, without any drawing on paper, was the best mode of +proceeding, and most perfectly in accord with the true principles of +design. + +Having seen the manner of Giorgione, Titian early resolved to abandon +that of Gian Bellino, although well grounded therein. He now, +therefore, devoted himself to this purpose, and in a short time so +closely imitated Giorgione that his pictures were sometimes taken for +those of that master, as will be related below. Increasing in age, +judgment, and facility of hand, our young artist executed numerous +works in fresco which cannot here be named individually, having been +dispersed in various places; let it suffice to say, that they were +such as to cause experienced men to anticipate the excellence to which +he afterward attained. At the time when Titian began to adopt the +manner of Giorgione, being then not more than eighteen, he took the +portrait of a gentleman of the Barberigo family, who was his friend, +and this was considered very beautiful, the coloring being true and +natural, and the hair so distinctly painted that each one could be +counted as might also the stitches in a satin doublet, painted in the +same work; it was so well and carefully done, that it would have been +taken for a picture by Giorgione, if Titian had not written his name +on the dark ground. + +Giorgione meanwhile had executed the facade of the German Exchange, +when, by the intervention of Barberigo, Titian was appointed to paint +certain stories in the same building and over the Merceria. After +which he executed a picture with figures the size of life, which is +now in the Hall of Messer Andrea Loredano, who dwells near San +Marcuola; this work represents "Our Lady" in her flight into Egypt. +She is in the midst of a great wood, and the landscape of this picture +is well done; Titian having practised that branch of art, and keeping +certain Germans, who were excellent masters therein, for several +months together in his own house. Within the wood he depicted various +animals, all painted from the life, and so natural as to seem almost +alive. In the house of Messer Giovanni Danna, a Flemish gentleman and +merchant, who was his gossip, he painted a portrait which appears to +breathe, with an "Ecce Homo," comprising numerous figures which, by +Titian himself, as well as others, is considered to be a very good +work. The same artist executed a picture of "Our Lady," with other +figures the size of life, men and children being all taken from +nature, and portraits of persons belonging to the Danna family. + +In the year 1507, when the Emperor Maximilian was making war on the +Venetians, Titian, as he relates himself, painted the "Angel Raphael, +with Tobit and a Dog," in the Church of San Marziliano. There is a +distant landscape in this picture, wherein San Giovanni Battista is +seen at prayer in a wood; he is looking up to heaven, and his face is +illumined by a light descending thence; some believe this picture to +have been done before that on the "Exchange of the Germans," mentioned +above, was commenced. Now, it chanced that certain gentlemen, not +knowing that Giorgione no longer worked at this facade, and that +Titian was doing it (nay, had already given that part over the +Merceria to public view), met the former, and began as friends to +rejoice with him, declaring that he was acquitting himself better on +the side of the Merceria than he had done on that of the "Grand +Canal;" which remark caused Giorgione so much vexation, that he would +scarcely permit himself to be seen until the whole work was completed, +and Titian had become generally known as the painter; nor did he +thenceforward hold any intercourse with the latter and they were no +longer friends. + +In the year 1508, Titian published a wood-engraving of the "Triumph of +Faith;" it comprised a vast number of figures: our first Parents, the +Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Sybils, the Innocents, the Martyrs, the +Apostles, and Our Saviour Christ borne in triumph by the four +Evangelists, and the four Doctors, followed by the holy Confessors; +here Titian displayed much boldness, a fine manner, and improving +facility. I remember that Fra Bastiano del Piombo, speaking on this +subject, told me that if Titian had then gone to Rome, and seen the +works of Michael Angelo, with those of Raphael and the ancients, he +was convinced, the admirable facility of his coloring considered, that +he would have produced works of the most astonishing perfection; +seeing that, as he well deserved to be called the most perfect +imitator of Nature of our times, as regards coloring, he might thus +have rendered himself equal to the Urbinese or Buonarroto, as regarded +the great foundation of all, design. At a later period Titian repaired +to Vicenza, where he painted "The Judgment of Solomon," on the +Loggetta wherein the courts of justice are held; a very beautiful +work. Returning to Venice, he then depicted the facade of the Germain; +at Padua he painted certain frescos in the Church of Sant' Antonio, +the subjects taken from the life of that saint; and in the Church of +Santo Spirito he executed a small picture of San Marco seated in the +midst of other saints, whose faces are portraits painted in oil with +the utmost care; this picture has been taken for a work of Giorgione. + +Now, the death of Giovan Bellino had caused a story in the hall of the +Great Council to remain unfinished; it was that which represents +Federigo Barbarossa kneeling before Pope Alessandro III., who plants +his foot on the emperor's neck. This was now finished by Titian, who +altered many parts of it, introducing portraits of his friends and +others. For this he received from the senate an office in the Exchange +of the Germans called the Senseria, which brought him in three hundred +crowns yearly, and which those Signori usually give to the most +eminent painter of their city, on condition that from time to time he +shall take the portrait of their doge, or prince when such shall be +created, at the price of eight crowns, which the doge himself pays, +the portrait being then preserved in the Palace of San Marco, as a +memorial of that doge. + +After the completion of these works, our artist painted, for the +Church of San Rocco, a figure of Christ bearing his cross; the Saviour +has a rope round his neck, and is dragged forward by a Jew; many have +thought this a work of Giorgione. It has become an object of the +utmost devotion in Venice, and has received more crowns as offerings +than have been earned by Titian and Giorgione both, through the whole +course of their lives. Now, Titian had taken the portrait of Bembo, +then secretary to Pope Leo X., and was by him invited to Rome, that he +might see the city, with Raffaello da Urbino and other distinguished +persons; but the artist having delayed his journey until 1520, when +the pope and Raffaello were both dead, put it off for that time +altogether. For the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore he painted a +picture of "St. John the Baptist in the wilderness;" there is an angel +beside him that appears to be living; and a distant landscape, with +trees on the bank of a river, which are very graceful. He took +portraits of the Prince Grimani and Loredano, which were considered +admirable; and not long afterward he painted the portrait of King +Francis, who was then leaving Italy to return to France. + +[Illustration: A Fete at the House of Titian.] + +In 1530, when the Emperor Charles V. was in Bologna, Titian, by the +intervention of Pietro Aretino, was invited to that city by the +Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, and there he made a magnificent portrait +of his majesty in full armor. This gave so much satisfaction that the +artist received a present of a thousand crowns for the same. Out of +these he had subsequently to give the half to Alfonso Lombardi, the +sculptor, who had made a model of that monarch to be executed in +marble. + +Having returned to Venice, Titian there found that many gentlemen had +begun to favor Pordenone, commending exceedingly the works executed by +that artist in the ceiling of the Hall of the Pregai, and elsewhere. +They had also procured him the commission for a small picture in the +Church of San Giovanni Elemosynario, which they intended him to paint +in competition with one representing that saint in his episcopal +habits, which had previously been executed there by Titian. But +whatever care and pains Pordenone took, he could not equal nor even +approach the work of the former. Titian was then appointed to paint a +picture of the Annunciation for the Church of Santa Maria degli +Angeli, at Murano; but those who gave the commission for the work, not +wishing to pay so much as five hundred crowns, which Titian required +as its price, he sent it, by the advice of Pietro Aretino, as a gift +to Charles V., who being greatly delighted with the work, made him a +present of two thousand crowns. The place which the picture was to +have occupied at Murano was then filled by one from the hand of +Pordenone. + +When the emperor, some time after this, returned with his army from +Hungary, and was again at Bologna, holding a conference with Clement +VII., he desired to have another portrait taken of him by Titian, who, +before he departed from the city, also painted that of the Cardinal +Ippolito de Medici in the Hungarian dress, with another of the same +prelate fully armed, which is somewhat smaller than the first; these +are both now in the Guardaroba of Duke Cosimo. He painted the +portraits of Alfonso, Marquis of Davalos, and of Pietro Aretino, at +the same period, and these things having made him known to Federigo +Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, he entered the service of the latter, and +accompanied him to his states. At Mantua our artist made a portrait of +the duke, which appears to breathe, and afterward executed that of his +brother, the cardinal. These being finished, he painted twelve +beautiful "Heads of the Twelve Caesars," to decorate one of the rooms +erected by Giulio Romano, and when they were done, Giulio painted a +"Story from the Lives of the Emperors" beneath each head. + +The productions, but more especially the portraits, of Titian are so +numerous that it would be almost impossible to make the record of them +all. I will, therefore, speak of the principal only, and that without +order of time, seeing that it does not much signify to tell which was +painted earlier and which later. He took the portrait of Charles V. +several times, as we have said, and was finally invited by that +monarch to his court; there he painted him as he was in those last +years; and so much was that most invincible emperor pleased with the +manner of Titian, that once he had been portrayed by him, he would +never permit himself to be taken by any other person. Each time that +Titian painted the emperor he received a present of a thousand crowns +of gold, and the artist was made a cavalier, or knight, by his +majesty, with a revenue of two hundred crowns yearly, secured on the +treasury of Naples, and attached to his title. + +When Titian painted Filippo, King of Spain, the son of Charles, he +received another annuity of two hundred crowns; so that these four +hundred, added to the three hundred from the German Exchange, make him +a fixed income of seven hundred crowns, which he possesses without the +necessity of exerting himself in any manner. Titian presented the +portraits of Charles V. and his son Filippo to the Duke Cosimo, who +has them now in his Guardaroba. He also took the portrait of +Ferdinand, King of the Romans, who was afterward emperor, with those +of his children, Maximilian, that is to say, now emperor, and his +brother; he likewise painted the Queen Maria; and at the command of +the Emperor Charles, he portrayed the Duke of Saxony, when the latter +was in prison. But what a waste of time is this! when there has +scarcely been a noble of high rank, scarcely a prince or lady of great +name, whose portrait has not been taken by Titian, who in that branch +of art is indeed an excellent painter. + +All these works, with many others which I omit to avoid prolixity, +have been executed up to the present age of our artist, which is above +seventy-six years. Titian has been always healthy and happy; he has +been favored beyond the lot of most men, and has received from Heaven +only favors and blessings. In his house he has entertained whatever +princes, literati, or men of distinction have gone to or dwelt in +Venice; for, to say nothing of his excellence in art, he has always +distinguished himself by courtesy, hospitality, and rectitude. + +Titian has had some rivals in Venice, but not of any great ability, +wherefore he has easily overcome them by the superiority of his art; +while he has also rendered himself acceptable to the gentlemen of the +city. He has gained a fair amount of wealth, his labors having always +been well paid; and it would have been well if he had worked for his +amusement alone during these latter years, that he might not have +diminished the reputation gained in his best days by works of inferior +merit, performed at a period of life when nature tends inevitably to +decline, and consequent imperfection. + +In the year 1566, when Vasari, the writer of the present history, was +at Venice, he went to visit Titian, as one who was his friend, and +found him, although then very old, still with the pencils in his hand +and painting busily. Great pleasure had Vasari in beholding his works +and in conversing with the master. + +It may be affirmed, then, that Titian, having adorned Venice, or +rather all Italy, and other parts of the world, with excellent +paintings, well merits to be loved and respected by artists, and in +many things to be admired and imitated also, as one who has produced, +and is producing, work of infinite merit; nay, such as must endure +while the memory of illustrious men shall remain. + + + + +ALBERT DUeRER[3] + + [Footnote 3: Copyright, 1894, by Helmar Hess.] + +By W. J. HOLLAND, Chancellor of the Western University of Pennsylvania + +(1471-1528) + + +[Illustration: Albert Duerer.] + +It has been given to some men to be not only great in the domain of +art by reason of that which they have themselves succeeded in +producing, but by reason of that which they have inspired other men to +produce. They have been not merely artists, but teachers, who by +precept and example have moulded the whole current and drift of +artistic thought in the ages and lands to which they have belonged. +Among these lofty spirits, who live through the centuries not only in +what their hands once fashioned, but still more in what they have +inspired others to do, undoubtedly one of the greatest is Albert +Duerer. Justly reckoned as the representative artist of Germany, he has +the peculiar honor of having raised the craft of the engraver to its +true position, as one of the fine arts. As a painter not unworthy to +be classified with Titian and Raphael, his contemporaries upon Italian +soil, he poured the wealth of his genius into woodcuts and +copperplates, and taught men the practically measureless capacity of +what before his day had been a rudimentary art. + +Duerer was born in Nuremberg on May 21, 1471. The family was of +Hungarian origin, though the name is German, and is derived from +Thuerer, meaning a maker of doors. The ancestral calling of the family +probably was that of the carpenter. Albert Duerer, the father of the +great artist, was a goldsmith, and settled about 1460 in Nuremberg, +where he served as an assistant to Hieronymus Holper, a master +goldsmith, whose daughter, Barbara, he married in 1468. He was at the +time forty years of age, and she fifteen. As the result of the union +eighteen children were born into the world, of whom Albrecht was the +second. The lad, as he grew up, became a great favorite with his +father, who appeared to discern in him the promise of future ability. +The feeling of attachment was reciprocated in the most filial manner, +and there are extant two well-authenticated portraits of the father +from the facile brush of the son, one in the Uffizi at Florence, the +other in the possession of the Duke of Northumberland. It was the +original intention of the father of the artist that he should follow +the craft of the goldsmith, but after serving a period as an +apprentice in his father's shop, his strong predilection for the +calling of the painter manifested itself to such a degree that the +father reluctantly consented to allow the boy to follow his natural +bent, and placed him under the tutelage of Michael Wohlgemuth, the +principal painter of Nuremberg. Wohlgemuth was a representative artist +of his time, who followed his calling after a mechanical fashion, +having a large shop filled with apprentices who, under his direction +and with his assistance, busied themselves in turning out for a small +consideration altar-pieces and pictures of martyrdoms, which were in +vogue as necessary parts of decoration in churches. Numerous examples +of the work of Wohlgemuth and his contemporaries survive, attesting, +by the wealth of crudities and unintended caricatures with which they +abound, the comparatively low stage of development attained by the art +of the painter in Germany at that day. According to Duerer, the period +of his apprenticeship to Wohlgemuth was spent profitably, and resulted +in large acquisitions of technical skill. The period of his +preliminary training being ended, he set forth upon his "Wanderjahre," +and travelled extensively. Just what points he visited cannot with +certainty be determined. It is ascertained beyond doubt that he +visited Colmar, where he was hospitably entertained by the family of +Martin Schongauer, the greatest painter of his time on German soil, +but who had died shortly before the visit of Duerer. He also visited +Strasburg, and it is thought by many that he extended his journeyings +as far as Venice. In 1494 he returned to Nuremberg, and in the month +of July was married to Agnes Frey, the daughter of a prosperous +merchant of the city. He was twenty-three years of age, and she +somewhat younger. They lived together happily, though no children were +born to them, and it has been proved that the reputation which has +been given her, of being little better than a common scold, who +imbittered his life by her termagancy, is the creation of the ill +temper of one of the testy friends of Duerer, Willibald Pirkheimer, +who, in the spirit of spitefulness, besmirched her character in a +letter which unfortunately survives to this day, and in which he +accuses her of having led her husband a mad and weary dance by her +temper. The reason for this ebullition on the part of Pirkheimer +appears to have been that, after Duerer's death, she refused to give +him a pair of antlers which had belonged to her husband, and which +Pirkheimer had set his heart upon having. + +[Illustration: Albert Duerer's Wedding.] + +The first eleven years of the married life of Duerer were spent in +Nuremberg, where he devoted himself with unremitting assiduity to the +prosecution of his art. During these years his powers unfolded +rapidly, and there are extant two notable pictures, which were +undoubtedly produced at this time, the triptych in the Dresden +Gallery, and an altar-piece which is in the palace of the Archbishop +of Vienna, at Ober St. Veit. These compositions, while remarkable in +many respects, still reveal the influence of his master, Wohlgemuth, +and give evidence of having been in part executed with the assistance +of apprentices. In fact, the peak-gabled house at the foot of the +castle-mound in Nuremberg was a picture factory like that of +Wohlgemuth, in which, however, work of a higher order than any +hitherto produced in Germany was being turned out. We know the names +of four or five of those who served as apprentices under Duerer at +this time and they are stars of lesser magnitude in the +constellation of German art. But Duerer was not contented simply to +employ his talents in the production of painted altar-pieces, and we +find him turning out a number of engravings, the most noticeable among +which are his sixteen great wood-cuts illustrating the Apocalypse, +which were published in 1498. The theme was one which had peculiar +fascinations for all classes at the time. The breaking up of all +pre-existing systems, the wonderful stirrings of a new life which were +beginning to be felt everywhere with the close of the Middle Age and +the dawning of the Renaissance, had filled the minds of men with +wonder, and caused them to turn to the writings of the Apocalyptic +Seer with keenest interest. A recent critic, commenting upon his work +as represented in these engravings, says: "The energy and undismayed +simplicity of his imagination enable him, in this order of creations, +to touch the highest point of human achievement. The four angels +keeping back the winds that they blow not, the four riders, the +loosing of the angels of the Euphrates to slay the third part of +men--these and others are conceptions of such force, such grave or +tempestuous grandeur, in the midst of grotesqueness, as the art of no +other age or hand has produced." + +At this period Duerer was also engaged in experimenting upon the art of +copper-plate engraving, in which he restricted himself mainly to +reproducing copies of the works of other artists, among them those of +Jacopo de Barbari, a painter of the Italian school, who was residing +in Nuremberg, and who among other things gave the great artist +instruction in plastic anatomy. The influence of his instructor is +plain, when we compare engravings executed about 1504 with those +published at a previous date, and especially when we examine his +design of the Passion of our Lord painted in white upon a green +ground, commonly known as "The Green Passion," which is treasured in +the Albertina at Prague. He also during these twelve years finished +seven of the twelve great wood-cuts illustrating the passion, and +sixteen of the twenty cuts which compose the series known as "The Life +of the Virgin." The activities of Duerer in Nuremberg were temporarily +interrupted by a journey to Italy, which he undertook in the fall of +the year 1505. What the immediate occasion for undertaking this +journey may have been is not plain, though it seems most likely that +one of his objects was to enable him to recuperate from the effects of +a protracted illness, from which he had suffered during the summer of +this year, and also incidentally to secure a market for his wares in +Venice, the commercial relationships of which with Nuremberg were very +close at this period. A German colony, composed largely of Nuremberg +factors and merchants, was located at this time in Venice, and they +had secured the privilege of dedicating a great painting in the church +of St. Bartholomew. The commission for the execution of this painting +was secured by Duerer. It represents the adoration of the Virgin, but +has been commonly known under the name of "The Feast of the Rose +Garlands." After having undergone many vicissitudes, it is preserved +to-day in a highly mutilated condition in the monastery of Strachow, +near Prague. Duerer's stay in Venice was signalized not only by the +production of this painting, but of three or four other notable works +which still exist, and which reflect the great influence upon him of +the Italian school of painting, with which he had attained +familiarity. His stay in Venice lasted about a year. In the fall of +1506, he returned to Nuremberg, and there remained for the next +fourteen years, engaged in the practice of his art. These years were +years of success and prosperity. His name and fame had spread over the +whole of Europe, and the greatest artists of the day were glad to do +him homage. Raphael said of him, when contemplating some of his +designs, "Truly this man would have surpassed us all, if he had the +masterpieces of ancient art constantly before his eyes as we have." A +friendly correspondence was maintained between the immortal Italian +and his German contemporary, and in his own country, all men, from the +emperor to the peasant, delighted to do honor to his genius, the +products of which were found alike in church and palace, and through +his printed designs in the homes of the humble poor. + +The proud old imperial city of Nuremberg had gathered within its +battlemented walls a multitude of men who were distinguished not only +for their commercial enterprise and wealth, but many of whom were the +exponents of the literary and artistic culture of the time. Among the +men with whom Duerer found congenial companionship were Adam Krafft, +the sculptor; Veit Stoss, whose exquisite carvings in wood may reflect +in some measure in the wild luxuriance of the imagination which they +display, the restless, "dare-devil" spirit with which his biographers +invest him; Peter Vischer, the bronze founder; and last but not least. +Hans Sachs, the cobbler poet, whose quaint rhymes are a source of +delight to this day, and were a mighty force in the great work of the +Reformation, by which the fetters of mediaeval traditions and +ecclesiastical abuse were thrown off by the German people. + +Of the personal appearance of Duerer at this time, we are not left in +ignorance. A portrait of himself from his own hands has been preserved +and is well known. His features reveal refinement and great +intellectuality, united with grace, and his attire shows that he was +not oblivious to matters of personal adornment. After the fashion of +the time, his hair was worn in long and graceful ringlets, which fell +in heavy masses about his shoulders. + +The first six years which followed his return from Venice were almost +wholly given to painting, and his productions give evidence of the +fact that he had dismissed from his employment the retinue of +assistants and apprentices, whom he had employed in his earlier years. +From this period date most of his great masterpieces, which are still +preserved, among them the "Adam and Eve," in the Pitti Palace; the +"Ten Thousand Martyrs of Nicomedia," in the Imperial Gallery, at +Vienna; the "Adoration of the Trinity," at the Belvedere, in Vienna; +and "The Assumption of the Virgin," the original of which was +destroyed by fire more than three hundred years ago, but of which a +good copy is preserved at Frankfort. To this period belong the +portraits of Charlemagne and of the Emperor Sigismund, which are +preserved in the National German Museum at Nuremberg. + +[Illustration: Albert Duerer Visits Hans Sachs.] + +But while prosecuting the work of the painter, he did not neglect the +art of the engraver, and in 1511, brought out in complete form his +great book of woodcuts in folio, and began to develop that marvellous +art of etching which is indissolubly connected with his name. Among +the products of the etcher's needle which attest his activity in this +direction are those masterpieces which have for centuries been at once +the delight and the puzzle of artistic minds: the "Melancholia," "The +Knight and the Devil," and "St. Jerome in his Cell." The most +reasonable explanation of these weird fancies is that they were +intended to represent in allegorical style the three temperaments--the +melancholic, the sanguine, and the phlegmatic. The Diet of Augsburg, +which was convened in 1518, gave Duerer a passing opportunity to depict +the lineaments of the Emperor Maximilian, who gave him several +sittings, and who manifested great interest in the painter. The death +of the emperor in the following year, the outbreak of an epidemic in +Nuremberg, together with the coronation of Charles V. at +Aix-la-Chapelle, led Duerer to undertake a journey to the Low +Countries, in which he was accompanied by his faithful wife. He was +present at the coronation and was one of the distinguished civilians +whose appearance added dignity to the occasion. His diary, in which he +recounts his experiences upon this journey, and which is accompanied +by a multitude of wayside sketches, is still preserved, and contains, +besides the dry entries of his current expenditures, most entertaining +allusions to the distinguished people whom he met, and who received +him with the utmost cordiality. Intermingled with these narrative +details are outbursts of feeling, which are provoked by passing +political and ecclesiastical events, in which he took a profound +interest, though he never appears to have committed himself with +positive openness to the party of reform. His sympathies are, however, +clearly shown by his writings, as well as by his works of art, to have +been with the Reformers, and he lived on terms of intimacy with +Erasmus and Melancthon, of both of whom we have portraits from his +hand. + +Duerer returned from the Netherlands in 1521, about the middle of July, +and the remaining years of his life were spent in the prosecution of +the art of the engraver, in painting, and in the effort to elucidate +the sciences of perspective, geometry, and fortification, upon all of +which he has left treatises. + +His labors, though they had not brought with them great wealth, had +secured for him a competency, and the latter years of his life were +devoted more and more to labors which, while dignified, did not tend +to add greatly to his already magnificent reputation. These labors +were prosecuted in spite of ever-failing health. While in the +Netherlands he had contracted a malarial fever, the effects of which +clung to him, in spite of the best treatment which could be secured, +and left him the wreck of his former self. On April 6, 1528, death +suddenly overtook him. There was not even time to summon his friends +to his side before his spirit had fled. The city which had been his +home from childhood was filled with mourning. They took up his remains +and gently laid them to rest in the burial vault of his wife's family +in the graveyard of the Church of St. John, where the setting sun +pours its last glowing beams at evening over the low Franconian +hill-tops. The vault has since been changed and the last +resting-place of the remains of the Raphael of the North is a lowly +mound, reverently approached by all who visit the quaint imperial +city, upon which is a slab, covered with a bronze tablet upon which +are the words: + + Quicquid Alberti Dureri Mortale + Fuit Sub Hoc Conditum Tumulo. + Emigravit VIII Idus Aprilis, MDXXVIIL + + + "_Emigravit_ is the inscription on the tombstone where he lies; + Dead he is not, but departed--for the artist never dies. + Fairer seems the ancient city, and the sunshine seems more fair, + That he once has trod its pavement, that he once has breathed its air!" + +[Signature of the author.] + + + + +RUBENS + +By Mrs. LEE + +(1577-1640) + + +[Illustration: Rubens.] + +"It is just one hundred and twenty years to-day," said a young artist +to his friend, as he stood in the hall of St. Mark, at Venice, +contemplating the noble works of Titian. "Time, the destroyer, has +here stayed his hand; the colors are as vivid and as fresh as if they +were laid on but yesterday. Would that my old friend and master, Otho +Venius, was here! At least I will carry back to Antwerp that in my +coloring which shall prove to him that I have not played truant to the +art." + +"Just one hundred and twenty years," repeated he, "since Titian was +born. Venice was then in its glory, but now it is all falling; its +churches and palaces are crumbling to dust, its commerce interrupted. +The republic continually harassed by the Porte, and obliged to call on +foreign aid; depressed by her internal despotism, her council of ten, +and state inquisitors; her decline, though gradual, is sure; yet the +splendor of her arts remains, and the genius of Titian, her favorite +son, is yet in the bloom and brilliancy of youth!" + +Such was the enthusiastic exclamation of Rubens, as he contemplated +those paintings which had brought him from Antwerp. How many gifted +minds spoke to him from the noble works which were before him! The +three Bellinis, the founders of the Venetian school; Giorgione, +Titian, and Tintoretto. Then Paolo Veronese, who, though born at +Verona, in 1537, adopted Venice as his home, and became the +fellow-artist of Tintoretto, and the disciple of Titian. Pordenone, +too, who viewed Titian as a rival and an enemy. Palma the young, and +Palma the old, born in 1548, and the Bassanos, who died near 1627. + +All these were present to the eye of Rubens, their genius embodied on +the canvas in the halls of St. Mark. "These," he exclaimed, "have +formed the Venetian school, and these shall be my study!" + +From this time, the young artist might daily be seen with his sheets +of white paper, and his pencil in his hand. A few strokes preserved +the outline which his memory filled up; and by an intuitive glance, +his genius understood and appropriated every signal beauty. + +In Venice he became acquainted with the Archduke Albert, who +introduced him to the Duke of Mantua, whither he went for the purpose +of studying the works of Julio Romano. From thence he proceeded to +Rome; here Raphael was his model, and Michael Angelo his wonder. He +devoted himself to painting with a fervor that belongs only to genius; +and he soon proved that, whatever he gained by ancient study, the +originality of his own conceptions would still remain and appear. To +the vivid and splendid coloring of the Venetian school, he was perhaps +more indebted than to any other model. The affectionate and constant +intercourse, by letters, that subsisted between Rubens and his mother, +made his long residence in Italy one of pleasure. At Rome he was +employed to adorn, by his paintings, the Church of Santa Croce, and +also the "Chiesa Nova." + +Rubens had been originally destined by his mother for one of the +learned professions. His father was born at Antwerp, and held the +honorable office of councillor of state. When the civil war broke out +he repaired to Cologne, where his son, Peter Paul Rubens, was born. He +died soon after his return to Antwerp, and left his property much +diminished from losses occasioned by the civil war. The mother of +Rubens put him early to the best schools, where he was initiated in +learning and discovered a taste for belles-lettres; but all the +intervals of necessary study were devoted to drawing. His mother +perceiving it, determined to indulge his inclination, and placed him +in the studio of Van Noort. + +The correct taste of the scholar soon led him to perceive that he +could not adopt this artist's style, and he became the pupil of Otho +Venius. Similarity of thought and feeling united them closely, and it +was with true disinterestedness that the master urged his pupil to +quit his confined circle and repair to Italy, the great school of art. + +Time flew rapidly with Rubens, while engaged in his beloved and +honorable pursuit; he looked forward to the period when he might +return to Antwerp and place his mother in her former affluence. Nearly +seven years had passed since he took leave of her. Of late he thought +her letters had been less cheerful; she spoke of her declining +health, of her earnest hope that she might live to embrace him once +more. This hint was enough for his affectionate heart. He immediately +broke off all his engagements and prepared to return. Everyone knows +what impatience is created when one first begins to contemplate home, +after a long absence, and the heart is turned toward it. "Seven years +absent?" wrote Rubens to his mother, "how is it possible I have lived +so long away from you? It is too long; henceforth I will devote myself +to your happiness. Antwerp shall be my future residence. I have +acquired a taste for horticulture; our little garden shall be enlarged +and cultivated, and our home will be a paradise." + +What are human anticipations and projects! the day before he was to +quit Rome he received a letter informing him that his mother was very +ill, and begging him to return with all speed. With breathless haste +he hurried back, without sleep or rest. When he reached the city he +dared not make any inquiries. At length he stood before the paternal +mansion; he saw the gloomy tiles and half-closed window-shutters. It +was the fall of the trees. He observed people going in and out at the +door; to speak was impossible. At length he rushed in and heard the +appalling sentence, "Too late," a sentence that often strikes +desolation to the human heart. His mother had expired that morning. + +While he was struggling with the bitterness of sorrow, he met with +Elizabeth Brants. There was something in the tone of her voice which +infused tranquillity into his mind, and affection came in a new form +to assuage his loss. She was the "ladye of his love," and afterward +his wife. He built a magnificent house at Antwerp, with a saloon in +form of a rotunda, which he ornamented and enriched with antique +statues, busts, vases, and pictures by the most celebrated painters. +Thus surrounded by the gems of art, he devoted himself to the +execution of works which were the pride of his native country, and +caused honors and wealth to be heaped upon him. + +There were those found who could not endure the splendor of his +success; these calumniated. There were others who tried to draw him +into visionary speculations. A chemist offered him a share of his +laboratory, to join in his search for the philosopher's stone. He +carried the visionary to his painting-room, and said, "The offer comes +too late. You see I have found out the art of making gold by my +palette and pencils." + +Rubens was now at the height of prosperity and happiness, a dangerous +eminence, and one on which few are permitted to rest. A second time +his heart was pierced with sorrow: he lost his young wife, Elizabeth, +a few years after their union. Deep as was his sorrow, he had yet +resolution enough to feel the necessity of exertion. He left the place +which constantly reminded him of domestic enjoyment, the memory of +which contrasted so sadly with the present silence and solitude, and +travelled for some time in Holland. After his return, he received a +commission from Mary de Medici, of France, to adorn the palace of the +Luxembourg. He executed for this purpose a number of paintings at +Antwerp, and instructed several pupils in his art. + +At this time Rubens devoted himself wholly to painting, and scarcely +allowed himself time for recreation. He considered it one of the most +effectual means of instruction, to allow his pupils to observe his +method of using his paints. He therefore had them with him while he +worked on his large pictures. Teniers, Snyders, Jordaens, and Vandyke +were among his pupils--all names well known. + +When Rubens had executed the commission given him by Mary de Medici, +wife of Henry IV., he repaired to Paris to arrange his pictures at the +Luxembourg palace, and there painted two more, and likewise the +galleries, representing passages of her life. + +Here he became acquainted with the Duke of Buckingham, as that +nobleman was on his way to Madrid with Prince Charles. On his return +to Antwerp, he was summoned to the presence of the Infanta Isabella, +who had, through Buckingham, become interested in his character. She +thought him worthy of a political mission to the court of Madrid, +where he was most graciously received by Philip. While at Madrid he +painted four pictures for the convent of the Carmelites, and a fine +portrait of the king on horseback, with many other pictures; for these +extraordinary productions he was richly rewarded, received the honor +of knighthood, and was presented with the golden key. + +While in Spain, Don John, Duke of Braganza, who was afterward king of +Portugal, sent and invited him to visit him at Villa Vitiosa, the +place of his residence. Rubens, perhaps, might at this time have been +a little dazzled with his uncommon elevation. He was now _Sir Paul_ +and celebrated all over Europe. It was proper he should make the visit +as one person of high rank visits another. His preparations were great +to appear in a becoming style, and not to shame his noble host. At +length the morning arrived, and, attended by a numerous train of +courteous friends and hired attendants, the long cavalcade began the +journey. When not far distant from Villa Vitiosa, Rubens learned that +Don John had sent an embassy to meet him. Such an honor had seldom +been accorded to a private gentleman, and Rubens schooled himself to +receive it with suitable humility and becoming dignity. + +He put up at a little distance from Villa Vitiosa, awaiting the +arrival of the embassy; finally it came, in the form of a single +gentleman, who civilly told him that the duke, his master, had been +obliged to leave home on business that could not be dispensed with, +and therefore must deny himself the pleasure of the visit; but as he +had probably been at some extra expense in coming so far, he begged +him to accept of fifty pistoles as a remuneration. + +Rubens refused the pistoles, and could not forbear adding that he had +"brought two thousand along with him, which he had meant to spend at +his court during the fifteen days he was to spend there." + +The truth was, that when Don John was informed that Rubens was coming +in the style of a prince to see him, it was wholly foreign to his +plan; he was a great lover of painting, and had wished to see him as +an artist. He therefore determined to prevent the visit. + +The second marriage of Rubens, with Helena Forman, was, no less than +the first, one of affection; she had great beauty, and became a model +for his pencil. His favor with the great continued. Mary de Medici +visited him at his own home more than once; and the Infanta Isabella +was so much satisfied with his mission in Spain, that she sent him to +England, to sound the disposition of the government on the subject of +a peace. + +Rubens disclosed in this embassy his diplomatic talents; he first +appeared there in his character of artist, and insensibly won upon the +confidence of Charles. The king requested him to paint the ceiling of +the banqueting-house at Whitehall. While he was employed upon it, +Charles frequently visited him and criticised the work. Rubens, very +naturally introducing the subject, and finding, from the tenor of his +conversation, that he was by no means averse to a peace with Spain, at +length produced his credentials. The king received his mission most +graciously, and Rubens returned to the Netherlands crowned with honors +and success. + +He had passed his fiftieth year when his health began to fail, and he +was attacked with a severe fit of the gout. Those who have witnessed +the irritation attendant upon that disorder will appreciate the +perfect harmony and gentleness that existed between Rubens and his +wife. With untiring tenderness she devoted herself to him, and was +ingenious in devising alleviations and comforts. + +The severe attacks of Rubens' disorder debilitated his frame, yet he +continued painting at his easel almost to the last; and, amid +suffering and sickness, never failed in giving the energy of intellect +to his pictures. He died at the age of sixty-three, in the year 1640, +leaving great wealth. The pomp and circumstance of funeral rite can +only be of consequence as showing the estimation in which a departed +citizen is held. Public funeral honors were awarded, and men of every +rank were eager to manifest their respect to his memory. He was buried +in the Church of St. James, at Antwerp, under the altar of his private +chapel, which was decorated with one of his own noble pictures. + + + + +REMBRANDT[4] + + [Footnote 4: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By ELIZABETH ROBINS PENNELL + +(1606-1669) + + +[Illustration: Rembrandt.] + +A heretic in art Rembrandt was to many of his Dutch contemporaries; to +us, he is the master, supreme alike in genius and accomplishment. +Because, as time went on, he broke completely from tradition and in +his work gave full play to his originality, his pictures were looked +at askance; because he chose to live his own life, indifferent to +accepted conventions, he himself was misunderstood. It was his cruel +fate to enjoy prosperity and popularity in his earlier years, only to +meet with neglect in his old age. But this he felt probably less than +other men; he was not a courtier, with Velasquez, nor vowed to +worldly success, with Rubens. His pleasure and his reward, he found +in his work. So long as easel and canvas, brushes and paints were left +to him, he demanded no greater happiness. + +[Illustration: Marie De Medici at the House of Rubens.] + +In Leyden, a town already made famous by another master, Lucas van +Leyden, Rembrandt was born in 1606; though this date has been +disputed, some authorities suggesting 1607, others, 1608. His family +were respectable, if not distinguished, burghers, his father, Harmen +Gerritszoon, being a miller by trade, his mother, Neeltjen Willems of +Zuitbroeck, the daughter of a baker. Not until early in the +seventeenth century did permanent surnames become common among +Dutchmen; hitherto children had been given their father's, in addition +to their own Christian name; Rembrandt for many years was known as +Rembrandt Harmenzoon, or the son of Harmen. But the miller, to be in +the growing fashion, had called himself Van Ryn--of the Rhine--and +thus, later on, Rembrandt also signed himself. Harmen was well-to-do; +he owned houses in Leyden, and beyond the walls, gardens, and fields, +and the mill where Rembrandt, because he once drew a mill, was +supposed to have been born. But there was no reason for Neeltjen to +move from a comfortable house in town into such rustic quarters, and +it is more likely that Rembrandt's birthplace was the house pointed +out in the Nordeinde Street. A commercial career had been chosen for +his four older brothers. But Harmen, his means allowing the luxury, +decided to make of his fifth son a man of letters and learning, and +Rembrandt was sent to the University of Leyden. That letters, however, +had small charm for him, was clear from the first. Better than his +books he loved the engravings of Swanenburch, better still, the +pictures of Lucas van Leyden, which he could look at to his heart's +content on gala days, when the Town Hall, where they hung, was thrown +open to the public. His hours of study were less profitable than his +hours of recreation when he rambled in the country, through his +father's estate, and, sometimes as far as the sea, a sketch-book, the +chances are, for sole companion. Certainly, by the time he was +fifteen, so strong were the proofs of his indifference to the classics +and his love for art, that his father, sacrificing his own ambitions, +allowed Rembrandt to leave the university for the studio of Van +Swanenburch. From this day forth, his life's history is told in the +single word--work; his indeed was the genius of industry. + +Van Swanenburch had studied in Italy; but his own painting, to judge +by the few examples still in existence, was entirely commonplace. +Three years were more than enough to be passed under his tuition. At +the end of the third, Rembrandt went to Amsterdam, and there entered +the studio of Lastman. His second master also had studied in Italy, +and also was a painter of mediocre talent, popular in his own +times--the Apelles of the day, he was called--but remembered now +chiefly because of his relations to his pupil. From the first, +Rembrandt, even if obliged to paint the stock subjects of the day, was +determined to treat them in his own way, and not to follow set forms +that happened to be adopted in the schools. He used real men and women +for models, and painted them as he saw them, not as he was bidden to +look at them through his teacher's spectacles. In six months he had +learned at least one thing, that Lastman had nothing more to teach +him. The man of genius must ever be his own master, though he remain +the hard-working student all his days. Back to Leyden and to his +father's house, Rembrandt had not returned to lead a life of idleness. +He worked tremendously in these early years. Even needed models he +found in the members of his family; he has made the face of his mother +as familiar as that of a friend; his own, with the heavy features, the +thick, bushy hair, the small intelligent eyes, between them the +vertical line, fast deepening on the fine forehead, he drew and etched +and painted, again and again. More elaborate compositions he also +undertook. As in his maturity, it was to the Bible he turned for +suggestions: Saint Paul in prison, Samson and Delilah, the +Presentation in the Temple--these were the themes then in vogue which +he preferred, rendering them with the realism which distinguished his +later, more famous Samsons and Abrahams and Christs, making them the +motive for a fine arrangement of color, for a striking study of light +and shadow. A pleasant picture one can fancy of his life at this +period; he was with his own people, for whom his love was tender; busy +with brush, pencil, and etching-needle; he was strengthening his +powers of observation, developing and perfecting his style, +occasionally producing work that won for him renown in Leyden; and, +gradually, he gathered round him a small group of earnest +fellow-workers, chief among them Lievens, Gerard Dou, and Van Vliet, +the last two, though but slightly his juniors, looking up to him as +master. These were the years of his true apprenticeship. + +Leyden, however, was not the best place for a young painter who had +his fortunes to make. It was essentially a university town; interest +was concentrated upon letters; art was but of secondary consideration. +It was different in Amsterdam, the great commercial centre of Holland. +There, all was life and activity and progress; there, was money to be +spent, and the liberal patron willing to lavish it upon the artist. +Holland just then was in the first flush of prosperity and patriotism, +following upon her virtual independence from Spain. Not a citizen but +glowed with self-respect at the thought of the victory he had, in one +way or another, helped to win; the state, as represented by the good +burghers, was supreme in every man's mind. It was natural that +individuals and corporations alike should seek to immortalize their +greatness by means of the painter's art, which, in Holland, had long +since ceased to be a monopoly of the church. Hence the age became +essentially one of portrait-painting. Many were the painters whose +portraits had already achieved distinction. De Keyser was busy in +Amsterdam; a far greater genius, Franz Hals, but fifteen years +Rembrandt's senior, was creating his masterpieces in The Hague and +Harlem. It was as inevitable that Rembrandt should turn to +portraiture, as that he should find commissions less numerous in +Leyden than in Amsterdam. Often in the latter town his services were +required; so often, indeed, that at last, about 1631, when he was just +twenty-five, he settled there permanently and set up a studio of his +own. + +Success was his from the start. Sitter after sitter sought him out in +his house on the Bloemgracht; the most distinguished men in the town +hastened to patronize him. His work was liked by the burghers whom he +painted, its strength was felt by artists, whose canvases soon showed +its influence. Admirers crowded to his studio. He had not been in +Amsterdam a twelvemonth when, before he was yet twenty-six, he was +entrusted with an order of more than usual importance. This was the +portrait of Dr. Tulp and his class of surgeons: the famous "Lesson in +Anatomy" now in the Gallery at The Hague. The subject at the time was +very popular. Many artists, De Keyser among others, had already, in +painting prominent surgeons, placed them around the subject they were +dissecting; indeed, this was the arrangement insisted upon by the +surgeons themselves, and, as there seems to have been no limit to +their vanity, "Lessons in Anatomy" were almost as plentiful in Holland +as "Madonnas" in Umbria. Rembrandt in his composition was simply +adhering to accepted tradition. It is true that he instilled life into +a group hitherto, on other painters' canvases, stiff and perfunctory; +but, though the picture was a wonderful production for a man of his +years, it is not to be ranked with his greatest work. + +Commissions now poured in still faster. It was at this time he painted +several of his best known portraits: the "Master Shipbuilder and his +Wife," at present in Buckingham Palace; that simply marvellous old +woman at the National Gallery in London, made familiar to everyone by +countless photographs and other reproductions; the man in ruff and +woman in coif at the Brunswick Museum; and a score of others scarce +less important. With increasing popularity, he was able to command his +own prices, so that only a part of his time was it necessary for him +to devote to the portraits which were his chief source of income. +During the leisure he reserved, he painted biblical subjects, ever his +delight, and made etchings and drawings, today the most prized +treasures in the world's great galleries. As in Leyden, he drew about +him students; a few, notably Ferdinand Bol and Christophe Paudiss, +destined, in their turn, to gain name and fame. Indifferent to social +claims and honors--an indifference the burghers, his patrons, found it +hard to forgive, his one amusement was in collecting pictures and +engravings, old stuffs and jewels, and every kind of _bric-a-brac_, +until his house in Amsterdam was a veritable museum. This amusement +later was to cost him dear. + +Four years after the "Lesson in Anatomy" was painted, when he was at +the height of prosperity, in 1634, he married Saskia van Uylenborch, +the Saskia of so many an etching and picture. She was of a good +Frisian family, and brought with her a dowry of no mean proportions. +Rembrandt's marriage made small changes in his way of living. Into the +society, so ready to receive him, he never went, not even now that he +had a wife to introduce. It bored him, and he was no toady to waste +his time fawning upon possible patrons. "When I desire to rest my +spirit, I do not seek honors, but liberty," was his explanation. The +companionship of artists he always welcomed; sometimes he visited the +humbler burghers, whose ways were as simple as his own; sometimes he +sought the humblest classes of all, because of their picturesqueness, +and his contemporaries took him to task for his perverted taste for +low company. The truth is that always he devoted himself solely and +wholly to his art; the only difference, once he was married, was that, +when he sat at his easel all day or over his copperplate, and +sketchbook all evening, Saskia was with him. She shared all his +interests, all his ambitions; she had no will but his. During his +working hours, she was his model, obedient to his call. She never +tired of posing for him, nor he of painting her now simply as Saskia, +now as Delilah feasting with Samson, as Susanna surprised by the +Elders, as the Jewish Betrothed at her toilet. Sometimes he +represented her alone, sometimes with himself at her side; once, in +the famous Dresden portrait, on his knee, as if to proclaim the love +they bore for one another. And he, who could render faithfully the +ways of the beggar, the austere black of the burgher, for himself and +Saskia found no masquerading too gay or extravagant. In inventing +costumes for their own portraits, he gave his exuberant fancy free +play: in gorgeous embroidered robes, waving plumes, and priceless gems +they arrayed themselves, until even the resources of his collection +were exhausted: the same rich mantle, the same jewels appear, and +reappear in picture after picture. + +Rembrandt's short married years were happy, though not without their +sorrows. Of Saskia's five children, four died in infancy; the fifth, +Titus, was not a year old when, in 1642, the end came for Saskia, and +Rembrandt, who had just reached his thirty-seventh year, was left in +his great house alone with an infant son and his pupils. Her +confidence in him is shown by her will, in which the inheritance of +Titus is left in the father's charge, though already Rembrandt's +affairs must have given signs of coming complications. + +[Illustration: Connoisseurs at Rembrandt's Studio.] + +Much of his best work remained to be done, but after Saskia's death +his worldly fortunes and his popularity never again touched such +high-water mark. The reason for this is not far to seek. During all +these years, Rembrandt's powers had matured, his methods broadened, +and his individuality strengthened. With each new canvas, his +originality became more conspicuous. It was not only that the world of +nature, and not imagination, supplied his models. Many of the Dutch +painters now were no less realists than he. It was not only that he +solved certain problems of _chiaro oscuro_, there were men, like +Lievens, who were as eager as he in the study of light and shadow. But +Rembrandt brought to his every experiment an independence that +startled the average man. He painted well because he saw well. If no +one else saw things as he did, the loss was theirs. But he paid for +his keener vision; because he did not paint like other artists, his +methods were mistrusted. To be misunderstood is the penalty of genius. +The picture which, of all his work, is now the most famous, marks the +turn in the tide of his affairs. Shortly before Saskia's death, he had +been commissioned to paint a portrait group of Banning Cock and the +military company which he commanded. These portrait groups of the +military corporations rivalled in popularity the "Lessons in Anatomy." +Each member, or officer, paid to be included in the composition, and, +as a rule, a stiff, formal picture, with each individual posed as for +a photograph, was the result. Rembrandt, apparently, was in nowise +restricted when he undertook the work for Banning Cock, and so, +instead of the stupid, hackneyed arrangement, he made of the portrait +of the company a picture of armed men marching forth to beating of +drums and waving of banners, "The Night Watch," as it must ever be +known--more accurately, "The Sortie of the Company of Banning +Cock"--now in the Ryks Museum of Amsterdam. With the men for whom it +was painted, it proved a failure. The grouping, the arrangement +displeased them. Many of the company were left in deep shadow, which +was not the privilege for which they had agreed to pay good money. +Rembrandt was not the man to compromise. After this many burghers, who +cared much for themselves and their own faces, and not in the least +for art, were afraid to entrust their portraits to him lest their +importance might be sacrificed to the painter's effects. Certain it is +that six years later, in 1648, when the independence of Holland was +formally recognized at the Congress of Westphalia, though Terburg and +Van der Heist celebrated the event on canvas, Rembrandt's services +were not secured. Good friends were left to him--men of intelligence +who appreciated his strong individuality and the great originality of +his work. Banning Cock himself was not among the discontented. A few +leading citizens, like Dr. Tulp and the Burgomeister Six, were ever +his devoted patrons. Artists still gathered about him; pupils still +crowded to his studio; Nicolas Maes, De Gelder, Kneller among them. +Many of his finest portraits--those of Hendrickje Stoffels, of his +son, of himself in his old age, of the Burgomeister Six, above all, +his masterpiece, "The Syndics of the Guild of Clothmakers," now in +Amsterdam; many of his finest etchings, the little landscapes, the +famous "Hundred Guilder Print," "Christ Healing the Sick," belong to +this later period. There was no falling off, but rather an increase, +in his powers, despite the clouds that darkened his years of middle +age. + +Of these clouds, the darkest was due to his financial troubles. +Rembrandt had made large sums of money; Saskia's dowry had been by no +means small. But he also spent lavishly. He had absolutely no business +capacity. Once he was accused of miserliness; that he would at times +lunch on dry bread and a herring served as reproach against him; there +was a story current that his pupils would drop bits of paper painted +to look like money in order to see him stoop to pick them up. Both +charges are too foolish to answer seriously. When he was at work, it +mattered little to him what he ate, so that he was not disturbed; who +would not stoop to pick up coins apparently scattered on the floor? +The money he devoted to his collection is sufficient to show how small +a fancy he had for hoarding; upon it a princely fortune had been +squandered. To his own people in Leyden, when times were hard, he had +not been slow to hold out a generous hand. It was because he was not +enough of a miser, because he gave too little heed to business +matters, that difficulties at length overwhelmed him. It is too sad a +story to tell in detail. Perhaps the beginning was when he bought a +house for which he had not the ready money to pay, and borrowed a +large sum for the purpose. More and more involved became his affairs. +In time his creditors grew clamorous, and at length the blow fell +when, in 1657, he was declared bankrupt. The collection of years, the +embroidered mantles and draperies, the jewels with which Saskia had +been so gayly decked, the plumes and furs and gorgeous robes in which +he himself had masqueraded, the armor and plate, the engravings and +pictures which had filled his house--all were sold. He, the master, +had, at the age of fifty-one, to begin life anew as if he were still +but the apprentice. + +In the midst of his troubles and losses, Hendrickje Stoffels, whose +portrait hangs in the Louvre, was the friend who cheered and comforted +him. She had been his servant; afterward she lived with him as his +wife, though legally they were not married. To Titus, as to her own +children, she was ever a tender mother, and Titus, in return, seems to +have loved her no less well. In the end, they together took +Rembrandt's business interests into their own hands, the son, +probably, using his inheritance in the enterprise. Renting a house in +their own name, they became his print and picture dealers. + +But as time went on, Rembrandt's work brought lower and lower prices, +and he, himself, the last two years of his life, was almost forgotten. +Though he still lived in Amsterdam, the town from which he had so +seldom journeyed, and then never far, he had fallen into such +obscurity, that report now established him in Stockholm as painter to +the King of Sweden, now in Hull, or Yarmouth. In his own family +nothing but sorrow was in store for him. Hendrickje died, probably +about 1664, and he was once more alone; and next he lost Titus, who +then had been married but a few short months. + +Fortunately for Rembrandt, he did not long survive them. In 1669, at +the age of sixty-two, his release came. He was buried in the West +Church, quietly and simply. Thirteen florins his funeral cost, and +even this small expense had to be met by his daughter-in-law. When an +inventory of his possessions was taken, these were found to consist of +nothing but his own wardrobe and his painter's tools. + +But better than a mere fortune, his work he left as an heirloom for +all time; his drawings, not the least among them without the stamp of +his genius; his prints, still unsurpassed, though it was he who first +developed the possibilities of etching; his pictures, "painted with +light," as Fromentin has said. His subjects he may have borrowed from +the fashions and traditions of the time; certain mannerisms of +technique and arrangement his pupils may have copied. But for all +that, his work belongs to no special school or group; like all the +world's great masterpieces, whether produced in Spain by a Velasquez, +in Venice by a Titian, in England by a Whistler, it stands alone and +supreme. + +[Signature of the author.] + + + + +WILLIAM HOGARTH + +(1697-1764) + + +[Illustration: William Hogarth.] + +"I was born," says Hogarth, in his Memoirs of himself, "in the city of +London, November 10, 1697. My father's pen, like that of many authors, +did not enable him to do more than put me in a way of shifting for +myself. As I had naturally a good eye and a fondness for drawing, +shows of all sorts gave me uncommon pleasure when an infant; and +mimicry, common to all children, was remarkable in me. An early access +to a neighboring painter drew my attention from play, and I was, at +every possible opportunity, employed in making drawings. I picked up +an acquaintance of the same turn, and soon learned to draw the +alphabet with great correctness. My exercises when at school were more +remarkable for the ornaments which adorned them than for the exercise +itself. In the former I soon found that blockheads with better +memories could much surpass me, but for the latter I was particularly +distinguished." + +To this account of Hogarth's childhood we have only to add that his +father, an enthusiastic and laborious scholar, who, like many of his +craft, owed little to the favor of fortune, consulted these +indications of talent as well as his means would allow, and bound his +son apprentice to a silver-plate engraver. But Hogarth aspired after +something higher than drawing ciphers and coats-of-arms; and before +the expiration of his indentures he had made himself a good +draughtsman, and obtained considerable knowledge of coloring. It was +his ambition to become distinguished as an artist; and not content +with being the mere copier of other men's productions, he sought to +combine the functions of the painter with those of the engraver, and +to gain the power of delineating his own ideas and the fruits of his +acute observation. He has himself explained the nature of his views in +a passage which is worth attention: + +"Many reasons led me to wish that I could find the shorter path--fix +forms and characters in my mind--and instead of copying the lines, try +to read the language, and, if possible, find the grammar of the art by +bringing into one focus the various observations I have made, and then +trying by my power on the canvas how far my plan enabled me to combine +and apply them to practice. For this purpose I considered what +various ways, and to what different purposes, the memory might be +applied, and fell upon one most suitable to my situation and idle +disposition; laying it down first as an axiom, that he who could by +any means acquire and retain in his memory perfect ideas of the +subjects he meant to draw, would have as clear a knowledge of the +figure as a man who can write freely hath of the twenty-five letters +of the alphabet and their infinite combinations." Acting on these +principles, he improved, by constant exercise, his natural powers of +observation and recollection. We find him roaming through the country, +now at Yarmouth and again at Queenborough, sketching everywhere. In +his rambles among the motley scenes of London he was ever on the watch +for striking features or incidents; and not trusting entirely to +memory, he was accustomed, when any face struck him as being +peculiarly grotesque or expressive, to sketch it on his thumb-nail, to +be treasured up on paper at his return home. + +For some time after the expiration of his apprenticeship, Hogarth +continued to practise the trade to which he was bred; and his +shop-bills, coats-of-arms, engravings upon tankards, etc., have been +collected with an eagerness quite disproportionate to their value. +Soon he procured employment in furnishing frontispieces and designs +for the booksellers. The most remarkable of these are the plates to an +edition of "Hudibras," published in 1726; but even these are of no +distinguished merit. About 1728 he began to seek employment as a +portrait-painter. Most of his performances were small family pictures, +containing several figures, which he calls "Conversation Pieces," from +twelve to fifteen inches high. These for a time were very popular, and +his practice was considerable, as his price was low. His life-size +portraits are few; the most remarkable are that of Captain Coram, in +the "Foundling Hospital," and that of Garrick as King Richard III., +which is reproduced in the present volume. But his practice as a +portrait-painter was not lucrative, nor his popularity lasting. +Although many of his likenesses were strong and characteristic, in the +representation of beauty, elegance, and high-breeding he was little +skilled. The nature of the artist was as uncourtly as his pencil. When +Hogarth obtained employment and eminence of another sort through his +wonderful prints, he abandoned portrait-painting, with a growl at the +jealousy of his professional brethren; and the vanity and blindness of +the public. + +March 25, 1729, Hogarth contracted a stolen marriage with the only +daughter of the once fashionable painter, Sir James Thornhill. The +father, for some time implacable, relented at last; and the +reconciliation, it is said, was much forwarded by his admiration of +the "Harlot's Progress," a series of six prints, commenced in 1731 and +published in 1734. The novelty as well as merit of this series of +prints won for them extraordinary popularity; and their success +encouraged Hogarth to undertake a similar history of the "Rake's +Progress," in eight prints, which appeared in 1735. The third, and +perhaps the most popular, as it is the least objectionable of these +pictorial novels, "Marriage a la Mode," was not engraved till 1745. + +[Illustration: Hogarth Sketching the Highway of Queenborough.] + +The merits of these prints were sufficiently intelligible to the +public: their originality and boldness of design, the force and +freedom of their execution, rough as it is, won for them an +extensive popularity and a rapid and continued sale. The "Harlot's +Progress" was the most eminently successful, from its novelty rather +than from its superior excellence. Twelve hundred subscribers' names +were entered for it; it was dramatized in several forms; and we may +note, in illustration of the difference of past and present manners, +that fan-mounts were engraved containing miniature copies of the six +plates. The merits of the pictures were less obvious to the few who +could afford to spend large sums on works of art, and Hogarth, too +proud to let them go for prices much below the value which he put upon +them, waited for a long time, and waited in vain, for a purchaser. At +last he determined to commit them to public sale; but instead of the +common method of auction, he devised a new and complex plan with the +intention of excluding picture-dealers, and obliging men of rank and +wealth who wished to purchase to judge and bid for themselves. The +scheme failed, as might have been expected. Nineteen of Hogarth's best +pictures, the "Harlot's Progress," the "Rake's Progress," the "Four +Times of the Day," and "Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn" +produced only L427 7s., not averaging L22 10s. each. The "Harlot's +Progress" was purchased by Mr. Beckford at the rate of fourteen +guineas a picture; five of the series perished in the fire at +Fonthill. The "Rake's Progress" averaged twenty-two guineas a picture; +it has passed into the possession of Sir John Soane, at the advanced +price of five hundred and seventy guineas. The same eminent architect +became the proprietor of the four pictures of an "Election" for the +sum of L1,732. "Marriage a la Mode" was disposed of in a similar way +in 1750; and on the day of the sale one bidder appeared, who became +master of the six pictures, together with their frames, for L115 10s. +Mr. Angerstein purchased them, in 1797, for L1,381, and they now form +a striking feature in the National Gallery. + +The satire of Hogarth was not often of a personal nature; but he knew +his own power, and he sometimes exercised it. Two of his prints, "The +Times," produced a memorable quarrel between himself, on one side, and +Wilkes and Churchhill, on the other. The satire of the prints of "The +Times," which were published in 1762, was directed, not against Wilkes +himself, but his political friends, Pitt and Temple; nor is it so +biting as to have required Wilkes, in defence of his party, to +retaliate upon one with whom he had lived in familiar and friendly +intercourse. He did so, however, in a number of the _North Briton_, +containing not only abuse of the artist, but unjust and injurious +mention of his wife. Hogarth was deeply wounded by this attack; he +retorted by the well-known portrait of Wilkes with the cap of liberty, +and he afterward represented Churchill as a bear. The quarrel was +unworthy the talents either of the painter or poet. It is more to be +regretted because its effects, as he himself intimates, were injurious +to Hogarth's declining health. The summer of 1764 he spent at +Chiswick, and the free air and exercise worked a partial renovation of +his strength. The amendment, however, was but temporary, and he died +suddenly, October 26th, the day after his return to his London +residence in Leicester Square. + + + + +SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS + +By SAMUEL ARCHER + +(1723-1792) + + +[Illustration: Sir Joshua Reynolds.] + +Sir Joshua Reynolds, the celebrated painter, was, on July 16, 1723, +born at Plympton, a small town in Devonshire, England. His father was +a minister of the parish, and also master of the grammar school; and +being a man of learning and philanthropy, he was beloved and respected +by all to whom he was known. Such a man, it will naturally be +supposed, was assiduous in the cultivation of the minds of his +children, among whom his son Joshua shone conspicuous, by displaying +at a very early period a superiority of genius and the rudiments of a +correct taste. Unlike other boys, who generally content themselves +with giving a literal explanation of their author, regardless of his +beauties or his faults, young Reynolds attended to both these, +displaying a happy knowledge of what he read, and entering with ardor +into the spirit of his author. He discovered likewise talents for +composition, and a natural propensity to drawing, in which his friends +and intimates thought him qualified to excel. Emulation was a +distinguishing characteristic of his mind, which his father perceived +with the delight natural to a parent; and designing him for the +church, in which he hoped that his talents might raise him to +eminence, he sent him to one of the universities. + +Soon after this period he grew passionately fond of painting; and by +the perusal of Richardson's theory of that art was determined to make +it his profession through life. At his own earnest request, therefore, +he was removed to London; and about the year 1742 became a pupil to +Mr. Hudson, who, though not himself an eminent painter, was preceptor +to many who afterward excelled in the art. One of the first advices +which he gave to Mr. Reynolds was to copy carefully Guercino's +drawings. This was done with such skill, that many of the copies are +said to be now preserved in the cabinets of the curious as the +originals of that very great master. + +About the year 1749, Mr. Reynolds went to Italy under the auspices, +and in the company, of the late Lord (then Commodore) Keppel, who was +appointed to the command of the British squadron in the Mediterranean. +In this garden of the world, this magic seat of arts, he failed not to +visit the schools of the great masters, to study the productions of +different ages, and to contemplate with unwearied attention the +various beauties which are characteristic of each. His labor here, as +has been observed of another painter, was "the labor of love, not the +task of the hireling;" and how much he profited by it is known to all +Europe. + +Having remained about two years in Italy, and studied the language as +well as the arts of the country with great success, he returned to +England, improved by travel and refined by education. On the road to +London from the port where he landed, he accidentally found in the inn +where he lodged Johnson's life of Savage, and was so taken with the +charms of composition, and the masterly delineation of character +displayed in that work, that, having begun to read it while leaning +his arm on the chimney-piece, he continued in that attitude, +insensible of pain till he was hardly able to raise his hand to his +head. The admiration of the work naturally led him to seek the +acquaintance of its author, who continued one of his sincerest +admirers and warmest friends till 1784, when they were separated by +the stroke of death. + +The first thing that distinguished him after his return to his native +country was a full-length portrait of Commodore Keppel; which in +polite circles was spoken of in terms of the highest encomium, and +testified to what a degree of eminence he had arrived in his +profession. This was followed by a portrait of Lord Edgecombe, and a +few others, which at once introduced him to the first business in +portrait-painting; and that branch of the art he cultivated with such +success as will forever establish his fame with all descriptions of +refined society. Having painted some of the first-rate beauties of the +age, the polite world flocked to see the graces and the charms of his +pencil; and he soon became the most fashionable painter not only in +England, but in all Europe. He has indeed preserved the resemblance of +so many illustrious characters, that we feel the less regret at his +having left behind him so few historical paintings; though what he has +done in that way shows him to have been qualified to excel in both +departments. The only landscape, perhaps, which he ever painted, +except those beautiful and chaste ones which compose the backgrounds +of many of his portraits, is "A View on the Thames from Richmond," +which in 1784 was exhibited by the Society for Promoting Painting and +Design in Liverpool. + +In 1764 Mr. Reynolds had the merit of being the first promoter of that +club, which, having long existed without a name, became at last +distinguished by the appellation of the _Literary Club_. Upon the +foundation of the Royal Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and +Architecture, he was appointed president; and his acknowledged +excellence in his profession made the appointment acceptable to all +the lovers of art. To add to the dignity of this new institution, his +majesty conferred on the president the honor of knighthood; and Sir +Joshua delivered his first discourse at the opening of the Academy, on +January 2, 1769. The merit of that discourse has been universally +admitted among painters; but it contains some directions, respecting +the proper mode of prosecuting their studies, to which every student +of every art would do well to pay attention. "I would chiefly +recommend (says he) that an implicit obedience to the _rules of art_, +as established by the practice of the great masters, should be exacted +from the young students. That those models, which have passed through +the approbation of ages, should be considered by them as perfect and +infallible guides, as subjects for their imitation, not their +criticism. I am confident that this is the only efficacious method of +making a progress in the arts; and that he who sets out with doubting +will find life finished before he becomes master of the rudiments. For +it may be laid down as a maxim, that he who begins by presuming on his +own sense, has ended his studies as soon as he has commenced them. +Every opportunity, therefore, should be taken to discountenance that +false and vulgar opinion, that rules are the fetters of genius. They +are fetters only to men of no genius; as that armor, which upon the +strong becomes an ornament and a defence, upon the weak and misshapen +turns into a load, and cripples the body which it was made to +protect." + +Each succeeding year, on the distribution of the prizes, Sir Joshua +delivered to the students a discourse of equal merit with this; and +perhaps we do not hazard too much when we say, that from the whole +collected, the lovers of belles-lettres and the fine arts will acquire +juster notions of what is meant by taste in general, and better rules +for acquiring a correct taste, than from the multitude of those +volumes which have been professedly written on the subject. + +In the autumn of 1785 he went to Brussels, where he expended about +L1,000 on the purchase of paintings which, having been taken from the +different monasteries and religious houses in Flanders and Germany, +were then exposed to sale by the command of the Emperor Joseph. +Gainsborough and he had engaged to paint each other's portrait; and +the canvas for both being actually stretched, Sir Joshua gave one +sitting to his distinguished rival; but to the regret of every admirer +of the art, the unexpected death of the latter prevented all further +progress. + +In 1790 he was anxiously desirous to procure the vacant professorship +of perspective in the academy for Mr. Bonomi, an Italian architect; +but that artist not having been yet elected an associate, was, of +course, no academician, and it became necessary to raise him to those +positions, in order to qualify him for being a professor. Mr. Gilpin +being his competitor for the associateship, the numbers on the ballot +proved equal, when the president, on his casting vote, decided the +election in favor of his friend, who was thereby advanced so far +toward the professorship. Soon after this, an academic seat being +vacant, Sir Joshua exerted all his influence to obtain it for Mr. +Bonomi; but finding himself out-voted by a majority of two to one, he +quitted the chair with great dissatisfaction, and next day sent to the +secretary of the academy a formal resignation of the office, which for +twenty-one years he had filled with honor to himself and to his +country. His indignation, however, subsiding, he suffered himself to +be prevailed upon to return to the chair, which, within a year and a +half, he was again desirous to quit for a better reason. + +Finding a disease of languor, occasioned by an enlargement of the +liver, to which he had for some time been subject, increase, and daily +expecting a total loss of sight, he wrote a letter to the academy, +intimating his intention to resign the office of president on account +of bodily infirmities, which disabled him from executing the duties +of it to his own satisfaction. The academy received this intelligence +with the respectful concern due to the talents and virtues of their +president, and either then did enter, or designed to enter, into a +resolution honorable to all parties, namely, that a deputation from +the whole body of the academy should wait upon him, and inform him of +their wish, that the authority and privileges of the office of +president might be his during his life, declaring their willingness to +permit the performance of any of its duties which might be irksome to +him by a deputy. + +From this period Sir Joshua never painted more. The last effort of his +pencil was the portrait of the honorable Charles James Fox, which was +executed in his best style, and shows that his fancy, his imagination, +and his other great powers in the art which he professed, remained +unabated to the end of his life. When the last touches were given to +this picture, + + "The hand of Reynolds fell, to rise no more." + +On Thursday, February 23, 1792, the world was deprived of this amiable +man and excellent artist, at the age of sixty-eight years; a man than +whom no one, according to Johnson, had passed through life with more +observations of men and manners. The following character of him is +said to be the production of Mr. Burke: + +"His illness was long, but borne with a mild and cheerful fortitude, +without the least mixture of anything irritable or querulous, +agreeably to the placid and even tenor of his whole life. He had, from +the beginning of his malady, a distinct view of his dissolution, which +he contemplated with that entire composure which nothing but the +innocence, integrity, and usefulness of his life, and an unaffected +submission to the will of Providence, could bestow. In this situation +he had every consolation from family tenderness, which his tenderness +to his family had always merited. + +"Sir Joshua Reynolds was, on very many accounts, one of the most +memorable men of his time; he was the first Englishman who added the +praise of the elegant arts to the other glories of his country. In +taste, in grace, in facility, in happy invention, and in richness and +harmony of coloring, he was equal to the great masters of the renowned +ages. In portrait he went beyond them; for he communicated to that +branch of the art in which English artists are the most engaged, a +variety, a fancy, and a dignity derived from the higher branches, +which even those who professed them in a superior manner did not +always preserve when they delineated individual nature. His portraits +reminded the spectator of the invention of history and the amenity of +landscape. In painting portraits he appears not to be raised upon that +platform, but to descend to it from a higher sphere. His paintings +illustrate his lessons, and his lessons seem to be derived from his +paintings. + +"He possessed the theory as perfectly as the practice of his art. To +be such a painter, he was a profound and penetrating philosopher. + +"In full happiness of foreign and domestic fame, admired by the expert +in art, and by the learned in science, courted by the great, caressed +by sovereign powers, and celebrated by distinguished poets, his native +humility, modesty, and candor never forsook him, even on surprise or +provocation; nor was the least degree of arrogance or assumption +visible to the most scrutinizing eye in any part of his conduct or +discourse. + +"His talents of every kind--powerful from nature, and not meanly +cultivated in letters--his social virtues in all the relations and all +the habitudes of life, rendered him the centre of a very great and +unparalleled variety of agreeable societies, which will be dissipated +by his death. He had too much merit not to excite some jealousy, too +much innocence to provoke any enmity. The loss of no man of his time +can be felt with more sincere, general, and unmixed sorrow." + + + + +BENJAMIN WEST + +By MARTHA J. LAMB[5] + + [Footnote 5: Reprinted by permission, from the Magazine of + American History.] + +(1738-1820) + + +[Illustration: Benjamin West.] + +In the wilds of the new world, a century and a half ago, there was, +apparently, no spot less likely to produce a famous painter than the +Quaker province of Pennsylvania. And yet, when George Washington was +only six years old there was born, in the little town of Springfield, +Chester County, a boy whose interesting and remarkable career from +infancy to old age has provided one of the most instructive lessons +for students in art that America affords. + +Perhaps Benjamin West's aptitude for picture-making in his infancy, +while he was learning to walk and to talk, did not exceed that of +hosts of other children, in like circumstances, in every generation +since his time. But many curious things were remembered and told of +this baby's performances after he had developed a decided talent for +reproducing the beautiful objects that captivated his eye. It was in +the summer of 1745, a few months before he was seven years old that +his married sister came home for a visit, bringing with her an infant +daughter. The next morning after her arrival, little Benjamin was left +to keep the flies off the sleeping baby, while his mother and sister +went to the garden for flowers. The baby smiled in its sleep, and the +boy was captivated. He must catch that smile and keep it. He found +some paper on the table, scrambled for a pen, and with red and black +ink made a hasty but striking picture of the little beauty. He heard +his mother returning, and conscious of having been in mischief, tried +to conceal his production; but she detected and captured it, and +regarded it long and lovingly, exclaiming as her daughter entered, "He +has really made a likeness of little Sally!" She then caught up the +boy in her arms, and kissed instead of chiding him, and he--looking up +encouraged--told her he could make the flowers, too, if she would +permit. The awakening of genius in Benjamin West has been distinctly +traced to this incident, as the time when he first discovered that he +could imitate the forms of such objects as pleased his sense of sight. +And the incident itself has been aptly styled "the birth of fine arts +in the New World." + +The Quaker boy, in course of years, left the wilderness of America to +become the president of the Royal Academy in London. His +irreproachable character not less than his excellence as an artist, +gave him commanding position among his contemporaries. From first to +last he was distinguished for his indefatigable industry. The number +of his pictures has been estimated, by a writer in _Blackwood's +Magazine_, at three thousand; and Dunlap says that a gallery capable +of holding them would be four hundred feet long, fifty feet wide, and +forty feet high--or a wall a quarter of a mile long. + +The parents of Benjamin West were sincere and self-respecting, and in +the language of the times, well-to-do. His mother's grandfather was +the intimate and confidential friend of William Penn. The family of +his father claimed direct descent from the Black Prince and Lord +Delaware, of the time of King Edward III. Colonel James West was the +friend and companion in arms of John Hampden. When Benjamin West was at +work upon his great picture of the "Institution of the Garter," the +King of England was delighted when the Duke of Buckingham assured him +that West had an ancestral right to a place among the warriors and +knights of his own painting. The Quaker associates of the parents of +the artist, the patriarchs of Pennsylvania, regarded their asylum in +America as the place for affectionate intercourse--free from all the +military predilections and political jealousies of Europe. The result +was a state of society more contented, peaceful, and pleasing than the +world had ever before exhibited. At the time of the birth of Benjamin +West the interior settlements in Pennsylvania had attained +considerable wealth, and unlimited hospitality formed a part of the +regular economy of the principal families. Those who resided near the +highways were in the habit, after supper and the religious exercises +of the evening, of making a large fire in the hallway, and spreading a +table with refreshments for such travellers as might pass in the +night, who were expected to step in and help themselves. This was +conspicuously the case in Springfield. Other acts of liberality were +performed by this community, to an extent that would have beggared the +munificence of the old world. Poverty was not known in this region. +But whether families traced their lineage to ancient and noble +sources, or otherwise, their pride was so tempered with the meekness +of their faith, that it lent a singular dignity to their benevolence. + +The Indians mingled freely with the people, and when they paid their +annual visits to the plantations, raised their wigwams in the fields +and orchards without asking permission, and were never molested. +Shortly after Benjamin West's first efforts with pen and ink, a party +of red men reached and encamped in Springfield. The boy-artist showed +them his sketches of birds and flowers, which seemed to amuse them +greatly. They at once proceeded to teach him how to prepare the red +and yellow colors with which they decorated their ornaments. To these +Mrs. West added blue, by contributing a piece of indigo. Thus the boy +had three prismatic colors for his use. What could be more picturesque +than the scene where the untutored Indian gave the future artist his +first lesson in mixing paints! These wild men also taught him archery, +that he might shoot birds for models if he wanted their bright plumage +to copy. + +The neighbors were attracted by the boy's drawings, and finally a +relative, Mr. Pennington, a prominent merchant of Philadelphia, came +to pay the family a visit. He thought the boy's crude pictures were +wonderful, as he was then only entering his eighth year. When he went +home he immediately sent the little fellow a box of paints, with six +engravings by Grevling. John Gait, who wrote from the artist's own +statements, describes the effect of this gift upon the boy. In going +to bed he placed the box so near his couch, that he could hug and +caress it every time he wakened. Next morning he rose early, and +taking his paints and canvas to the garret, began to work. He went to +breakfast, and then stole back to his post under the roof, forgetting +all about school. When dinnertime came he presented himself at table, +as usual, but said nothing of his occupation. He had been absent from +school some days before the master called on his parents to inquire +what had become of him. This led to the discovery of his secret +painting, for his mother proceeded to the garret and found the truant. +She was, however, so astonished with the creation upon his canvas, +that she took him in her arms and kissed him with transports of +affection. He had made a composition of his own out of two of the +engravings--which he had colored from his ideas of the proper tints to +be used--and so perfect did the picture appear to Mrs. West that, +although half the canvas remained to be covered, she would not suffer +the child to add another touch with his brush. Sixty-seven years +afterward, Mr. Gait saw this production in the exact state in which it +was left, and Mr. West himself acknowledged that in subsequent efforts +he had never been able to excel some of the touches of invention in +this first picture. + +The first instruction in art which the artist received was from Mr. +William Williams, a painter in Philadelphia. Young West's first +attempt at portraiture was at Lancaster, where he painted "The Death +of Socrates" for William Henry, a gunsmith. He was not yet sixteen, +but other paintings followed which possessed so much genuine merit, +that they have been preserved as treasures. One of these is in +possession of General Meredith Reed, of Paris, France, a descendant of +the signer. West returned to his home in Springfield, in 1754, to +discuss the question of his future vocation. He had an inclination for +military life, and volunteered as a recruit in the old French war; +but military attractions vanished among the hardships involved, and in +1756, when eighteen years old, he established himself in Philadelphia +as a portrait-painter, his price being "five guineas a head." Two +years later he went to New York, where he passed eleven months, and +was liberally employed by the merchants and others. He painted the +portrait of Bishop Provoost, those of Gerardus Duyekinck and his +wife--full length--one of Mrs. Samuel Breese, and many others, which +are in the families of descendants, and characteristic examples of his +early work. + +In 1760 an opportunity offered for him to visit Rome, Italy. He +carried letters to Cardinal Albani and other celebrities, and as he +was very handsome and intelligent, and came from a far-away land about +which hung the perpetual charm of tradition and romance, he soon +became the lion of the day among the imaginative Italians. It was a +novelty then for an American to appear in the Eternal City, and the +very morning after his arrival a curious party followed his steps to +observe his pursuit of art. He remained in Italy until 1763, and while +there he painted, among others, his pictures of "Cimon and Iphigenia," +and "Angelica and Medora." His portrait of Lord Grantham excited much +interest, and that nobleman's introduction facilitated his visit to +London, which proved so prolific in results. There was no great living +historical painter in England just then; and at first there was no +sale for West's pictures, as it was unfashionable to buy any but "old +masters." But the young artist was undaunted, and presently attracted +attention in high places. His picture of "Agrippina Landing with the +Ashes of Germanicus," painted for Dr. Drummond, Archbishop of York, +secured him the favor of George III., and the commission from his +majesty to paint the "Departure of Regulus from Rome." His untiring +industry and gentlemanly habits were conspicuous, and may be regarded +as among the great secrets of his continual advance and public +recognition. His "Parting of Hector and Andromache," and "Return of +the Prodigal Son," were among his notable productions of this period. +His "Death of General Wolfe" has been, says Tuckerman, "truly declared +to have created an era in English art, by the successful example it +initiated of the abandonment of classic costume--a reform advocated by +Reynolds, who glories in the popular innovation." His characters were +clad in the dress of their time. Reynolds said to the Archbishop of +York: "I foresee that this picture will not only become one of the +most popular, but will occasion a revolution in art." It was purchased +by Lord Grosvenor. Among the long list of paintings executed by order +of the king were "The Death of Chevalier Bayard;" "Edward III. +Embracing his Son on the Field of Battle at Cressy;" "The Installation +of the Order of the Garter;" "The Black Prince Receiving the King of +France and his Son Prisoners at Poictiers," and "Queen Philippa +Interceding with Edward for the Burgesses of Calais." West was one of +the founders, in 1768, of the Royal Academy, and succeeded Sir Joshua +Reynolds as president of the institution in 1792, which post he held +almost uninterruptedly until 1815. + +In the year 1780 he proposed a series of pictures on the progress of +revealed religion, of which there were thirty-six subjects in all, +but he never executed but twenty-eight of these, owing to the mental +trouble which befell the king. He then commenced a new series of +important works, of which "Christ Healing the Sick" was purchased by +an institution in Great Britain for L3,000, and was subsequently +copied for the Pennsylvania Hospital. "Penn's Treaty with the Indians" +was painted for Granville Penn, the scene representing the founding of +Pennsylvania. West wrote to one of his family that he had taken the +liberty of introducing in this painting the likeness of his father and +his brother Thomas. "That is the likeness of our brother," he says, +"standing immediately behind Penn, leaning on his cane. I need not +point out the picture of our father, as I believe you will find it in +the print from memory." Tuckerman says that the work which, in the +opinion of many critics, best illustrates the skill of West in +composition, drawing, expression, and dramatic effect, is his "Death +on the Pale Horse." His "Cupid," owned in Philadelphia, is one of his +most effective pictures as to color. + +The full-length portrait of West, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A., +represents the great artist in his character as president of the Royal +Academy, delivering a lecture on "coloring" to the students. Under his +right hand may be noticed, standing on an easel, a copy of Raphael's +cartoon of the "Death of Ananias." The picture of West's face has been +considered a perfect likeness, but the figure somewhat too large and +too tall in its effects. A copy of this portrait was made by Charles +R. Leslie; and Washington Allston also painted a portrait of the +artist. There exists, it is said, a portrait of West from his own +hand, taken apparently at about the age of forty, three-quarter +length, in Quaker costume. + +[Illustration: Benjamin West, President of the Royal Academy.] + + + + +THORWALDSEN + +By HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN + +(1770-1844) + + +It was in Copenhagen, on November 19, 1770, that a carver of figures +for ships' heads, by name Gottskalk Thorwaldsen, was presented by his +wife, Karen Groenlund, the daughter of a clergyman in Jutland, with a +son, who at his baptism received the name of Bertel, or Albert. + +The father had come from Iceland, and lived in poor circumstances. +They dwelt in _Lille Groennegade_ (Little Green Street), not far from +the Academy of Arts. The moon has often peeped into their poor room; +she has told us about it in "A Picture-book without Pictures": + +[Illustration: Thorwaldsen.] + +"The father and mother slept, but their little son did not sleep; +where the flowered cotton bed-curtains moved I saw the child peep out. +I thought at first that he looked at the Bornholm clock, for it was +finely painted with red and green, and there was a cuckoo on the top; +it had heavy leaden weights, and the pendulum with its shining brass +plate went to and fro with a 'tick! tick!' But it was not that he +looked at; no, it was his mother's spinning-wheel, which stood +directly under the clock; this was the dearest piece of furniture in +the whole house for the boy; but he dared not touch it, for if he did, +he got a rap over the fingers. While his mother spun, he would sit for +hours together looking at the buzzing spindle and the revolving wheel, +and then he had his own thoughts. Oh! if he only durst spin that +wheel! His father and mother slept; he looked at them, he looked at +the wheel, and then by degrees a little naked foot was stuck out of +bed, and then another naked foot, then there came two small legs, and, +with a jump, he stood on the floor. He turned round once more, to see +if his parents slept; yes, they did, and so he went softly, quite +softly, only in his little shirt, up to the wheel, and began to spin. +The cord flew off, and the wheel then ran much quicker. His mother +awoke at the same moment; the curtains moved; she looked out and +thought of the brownie, or another little spectral being. 'Have mercy +on us!' said she, and in her fear she struck her husband in the side; +he opened his eyes, rubbed them with his hands, and looked at the busy +little fellow. 'It is Bertel, woman,' said he." + +What the moon relates we see here as the first picture in +Thorwaldsen's life's gallery; for it is a reflection of the reality. +Thorwaldsen has himself, when in familiar conversation at Nysoee, told +the author almost word for word what he, in his "Picture-book," lets +the moon say. It was one of his earliest remembrances, how he, in his +little short shirt, sat in the moonlight and spun his mother's wheel, +while she, dear soul, took him for a little spectre. + +A few years ago there still lived an old ship-carpenter, who +remembered the little, light-haired, blue-eyed boy, that came to his +father in the carving-house at the dock-yard; he was to learn his +father's trade; and as the latter felt how bad it was not to be able +to draw, the boy, then eleven years of age, was sent to the +drawing-school at the Academy of Arts, where he made rapid progress. +Two years afterward, Bertel, or Albert, as we shall in future call +him, was of great assistance to his father; nay, he even improved his +work. + +See the hovering ships on the wharves! The Dannebrog waves, the +workmen sit in circle under the shade at their frugal breakfasts; but +foremost stands the principal figure in this picture: it is a boy who +cuts with a bold hand the lifelike features in the wooden image for +the beak-head of the vessel. It is the ship's guardian spirit, and, as +the first image from the hand of Albert Thorwaldsen, it shall wander +out into the wide world. The eternally swelling sea should baptize it +with its waters, and hang its wreaths of wet plants around it. + +Our next picture advances a step forward. Unobserved among the other +boys, he has now frequented the Academy's school for six years +already, where, always taciturn and silent, he stood by his +drawing-board. His answer was "yes" or "no," a nod or a shake of the +head; but mildness shone from his features, and good-nature was in +every expression. The picture shows us Albert as a candidate for +confirmation. He is now seventeen years of age--not a very young age +to ratify his baptismal compact; his place at the dean's house is the +last among the poor boys, for his knowledge is not sufficient to place +him higher. There had just at that time been an account in the +newspapers, that the pupil Thorwaldsen had gained the Academy's +smaller medal for a bas-relief representing a "Cupid Reposing." "Is it +your brother that has gained the medal?" inquired the dean. "It is +myself," said Albert, and the clergyman looked kindly on him, placed +him first among all the boys, and from that time always called him +Monsieur Thorwaldsen. Oh! how deeply did that "Monsieur" then sound in +his mind! As he has often said since, it sounded far more powerfully +than any title that kings could give him; he never afterward forgot +it. + +In a small house in Aabeuraa--the street where Holberg lets his poor +poets dwell--lived Albert Thorwaldsen with his parents, and divided +his time between the study of art and assisting his father. The +Academy's lesser gold was then the prize to be obtained for sculpture. +Our artist was now twenty years of age; his friends knew his abilities +better than himself, and they compelled him to enter on the task. The +subject proposed was, "Heliodorus Driven out of the Temple." + +We are now in Charlottenburg; but the little chamber in which +Thorwaldsen lately sat to make his sketch is empty, and he, chased by +the demons of fear and distrust, hastens down the narrow back-stairs +with the intention not to return. Nothing is accidental in the life of +a great genius; an apparent insignificance is a God's guiding finger. +Thorwaldsen was to complete his task. Who is it that stops him on the +dark stairs? One of the professors just comes that way, speaks to him, +questions, admonishes him. He returns, and in four hours the sketch is +finished, and the gold medal won. This was on August 15, 1791. + +Count Ditlew de Reventlow, minister of state, saw the young artist's +work, and became his protector; he placed his own name at the head of +a subscription that enabled Thorwaldsen to devote his time to the +study of his art. Two years afterward the large gold medal was to be +contended for at the Academy, the successful candidate thereby gaining +the right to a travelling _stipendium_. Thorwaldsen was again the +first; but before he entered on his travels, it was deemed necessary +to extend that knowledge which an indifferent education at school had +left him in want of. He read, studied, and the Academy gave him its +support; acknowledgment smiled on him, a greater and more spiritual +sphere lay open to him. + +A portrait figure stands now before us; it is that of a Dane, the +learned and severe Zoega, to whom the young artist is specially +recommended, but who only sees in him a common talent; whose words are +only those of censure, and whose eye sees only a servile imitation of +the antique in his works. Strictly honest in his judgment, according +to his own ideas, is this man, who should be Thorwaldsen's guide. + +We let three years glide away after the arrival of Thorwaldsen, and +ask Zoega what he now says of Albert, or, as the Italians call him, +Alberto, and the severe man shakes his head and says: "There is much +to blame, little to be satisfied with, and diligent he is not!" Yet he +was diligent in a high degree; but genius is foreign to a foreign +mind. "The snow had just then thawed from my eyes," he has himself +often repeated. The drawings of the Danish painter Carstens formed one +of those spiritual books that shed its holy baptism over that growing +genius. The little _atelier_ looked like a battle-field, for +roundabout were broken statues. Genius formed them often in the +midnight hours; despondency over their faults broke them in the day. + +The three years, for which he had received a _stipendium_, were as if +they had flown away, and as yet he had produced nothing. The time for +his return drew nigh. One work, however, he must complete, that it +might not with justice be said in Denmark, "Thorwaldsen has quite +wasted his time in Rome." Doubting his genius just when it embraced +him most affectionately; not expecting a victory, while he already +stood on its open road, he modelled "Jason who has Gained the Golden +Fleece." It was this that Thorwaldsen would have gained in the kingdom +of arts, and which he now thought he must resign. The figure stood +there in clay, many eyes looked carelessly on it, and--he broke it to +pieces! + +It was in April, 1801, that his return home was fixed, in company with +Zoega. It was put off until the autumn. During this time "Jason" +occupied all his thoughts. A new, a larger figure of the hero was +formed, an immortal work; but it had not then been announced to the +world, nor understood by it. "Here is something more than common!" was +said by many. Even the man to whom all paid homage, the illustrious +Canova, started, and exclaimed: "Quest' opera di quel giovane Danese e +fatta in uno stilo nuovo, e grandioso!" Zoega smiled. "It is bravely +done!" said he. The Danish songstress, Frederikke Brunn, was then in +Rome and sang enthusiastically about Thorwaldsen's "Jason." She +assisted the artist, so that he was enabled to get this figure cast in +plaster; for he himself had no more money than was just sufficient for +his expenses home. + +The last glass of wine had been already drunk as a farewell, the boxes +packed, and the _vetturino's_ carriage was before the door at daybreak; +the boxes were fastened behind. Then came a fellow-traveller--the +sculptor, Hagemann, who was returning to his native city, Berlin. His +passport was not ready. Their departure must be put off until the next +day; and Thorwaldsen promised, although the _vetturino_ complained and +abused him, to remain so long. He stayed--stayed to win an immortal name +on earth, and cast a lustre over Denmark. + +Though forty years resident in Rome, rich and independent, he lived +and worked with the thought of once returning home to Denmark, there +to rest himself; unaccustomed to the great comforts of other rich +artists in Rome, he lived a bachelor's life. Was his heart, then, no +longer open to love since his first departure from Copenhagen? A +thousand beautiful Cupids in marble will tell us how warmly that heart +beat. Love belongs to life's mysteries. + +We know that Thorwaldsen left a daughter in Rome, whose birth he +acknowledged; we also know that more than one female of quality would +willingly have given her hand to the great artist. The year before his +first return to Denmark he lay ill at Naples, and was nursed by an +English lady who felt the most ardent affection for him; and, from +that feeling of gratitude which was awakened in him, he immediately +consented to their union. When he had recovered and afterward returned +to Rome, this promise preyed on his mind, he felt that he was not now +formed to be a husband, acknowledged that gratitude was not love, and +that they were not suited for each other; after a long combat with +himself, he wrote and informed her of his determination. Thorwaldsen +was never married. + +The following trait is as characteristic of his heart as of his whole +personality. One day, while in Rome, there came a poor countryman to +him, an artisan, who had long been ill. He came to say farewell, and +to thank him for the money that he and others of his countrymen had +subscribed together, with which he was to reach home. + +"But you will not walk the whole way?" said Thorwaldsen. + +"I am obliged to do so," replied the man. + +"But you are still too weak to walk--you cannot bear the fatigue, nor +must you do it!" said he. + +The man assured him of the necessity of doing so. + +Thorwaldsen went and opened a drawer, took out a handful of _scudi_ +and gave them to him, saying, "See, now you will ride the whole way!" + +The man thanked him, but assured him that his gift would not be more +than sufficient to carry him to Florence. + +"Well!" said Thorwaldsen, clapping him on the shoulder, as he went a +second time to the drawer and took out another handful. The man was +grateful in the highest degree, and was going. "Now you can ride the +whole way home and be comfortable on the way," said he, as he followed +the man to the door. + +"I am very glad," said the man. "God bless you for it! but to ride the +whole way requires a little capital." + +"Well, then, tell me how great that must be," he asked, and looked +earnestly at him. The man in a modest manner named the requisite sum, +and Thorwaldsen went a third time to the drawer, counted out the sum, +accompanied him to the door, pressed his hand, and repeated, "But now +you will ride, for you have not strength to walk!" + +Our artist did not belong to the class of great talkers; it was only +in a small circle that he could be brought to say anything, but then +it was always with humor and gayety. A few energetic exclamations of +his are preserved. A well-known sculptor, expressing himself one day +with much self-feeling, entered into a dispute with Thorwaldsen, and +set his own works over the latter's. "You may bind my hands behind +me," said Thorwaldsen, "and I will bite the marble out with my teeth +better than you can carve it." + +Thorwaldsen possessed specimens in plaster of all his works; these, +together with the rich marble statues and bas-reliefs which he had +collected of his own accord, without orders, and the number of +paintings that he every year bought of young artists, formed a +treasure that he wished to have in his proper home, Copenhagen. +Therefore, when the Danish government sent vessels of war to the +Mediterranean, in order to fetch the works that were ready for the +palace or the churches, he always sent a number of his own things with +them. Denmark was to inherit these treasures of art; and, in order to +see them collected in a place worthy of them, a zeal was awakened in +the nation to build a museum for their reception. A committee of his +Danish admirers and friends sent out a requisition to the people, that +everyone might give their mite; many a poor servant-girl and many a +peasant gave theirs, so that a good sum was soon collected. Frederick +VI. gave ground for the building, and the erection thereof was +committed to the architect, Bindesbol. + +Thorwaldsen, in 1838, had attained universal fame. The frigate Rota +was dispatched to bring a cargo of his works to Copenhagen, and he was +to arrive at the same time, perhaps to remain in Denmark. Close to +Presto Bay, surrounded by wood-grown banks, lies Nysoee, the principal +seat of the barony of Stampenborg, a place which, through Thorwaldsen, +has become remarkable in Denmark. The open strand, the beautiful beech +woods, even the little town seen through the orchards, at some few +hundred paces from the mansion, make the place worthy of a visit on +account of its truly Danish scenery. Here Thorwaldsen found his best +home in Denmark; here he seemed to increase his fame, and here a +series of his last beautiful bas-reliefs were produced. + +Baron Stampe was one of nature's noblest-minded men; his hospitality +and his lady's daughterly affection for Thorwaldsen opened a home for +him here, a comfortable and good one. A great energetic power in the +baroness incited his activity; she attended him with a daughter's +care, elicited from him every little wish, and executed it. Directly +after his first visit to Nysoee, a short tour to Moen's chalk cliffs +was arranged, and during the few days that were passed there, a little +_atelier_ was erected in the garden at Nysoee, close to the canal which +half encircles the principal building; here, and in a corner room of +the mansion, on the first floor facing the sea, most of Thorwaldsen's +works, during the last years of his life, were executed: "Christ +Bearing the Cross," "The Entry into Jerusalem," "Rebecca at the Well," +his own portrait-statue, Oehlenschlaeger's and Holberg's busts, etc. +Baroness Stampe was in faithful attendance on him, lent him a helping +hand, and read aloud for him from Holberg. Driving abroad, weekly +concerts, and in the evenings his fondest play, "The Lottery," were +what most easily excited him, and on these occasions he would say many +amusing things. He has represented the Stampe family in two +bas-reliefs: in the one, representing the mother, the two daughters, +and the youngest son, is the artist himself; the other exhibits the +father and the two eldest sons. + +All circles sought to attract Thorwaldsen; he was at every great +festival, in every great society, and every evening in the theatre by +the side of Oehlenschlaeger. His greatness was allied to a mildness, a +straightforwardness, that in the highest degree fascinated the +stranger who approached him for the first time. His _atelier_ in +Copenhagen was visited daily; he therefore felt himself more +comfortable and undisturbed at Nysoee. Baron Stampe and his family +accompanied him to Italy in 1841, when he again visited that country. +The whole journey, which was by way of Berlin, Dresden, Frankfort, the +Rhine towns, and Munich, was a continued triumphal procession. The +winter was passed in Rome, and the Danes there had a home in which +they found a welcome. + +The following year Thorwaldsen was again in Denmark, and at his +favorite place, Nysoee. On Christmas eve he here formed his beautiful +bas-relief, "Christmas Joys in Heaven," which Oehlenschlaeger +consecrated with a poem. The last birthday of his life was celebrated +here; the performance of one of Holberg's vaudevilles was arranged, +and strangers invited; yet the morning of that day was the homeliest, +when only the family and the author of this memoir, who had written a +merry song for the occasion, which was still wet on the paper, placed +themselves outside the artist's door, each with a pair of tongs, a +gong, or a bottle on which they rubbed a cork, as an accompaniment, +and sung the song as a morning greeting. Thorwaldsen, in his morning +gown, opened the door, laughing; he twirled his black Raphael's cap, +took a pair of tongs himself, and accompanied us, while he danced +round and joined the others in the loud "hurra!" + +A charming bas-relief, "The Genius of Poetry," was just completed; it +was the same that Thorwaldsen, on the last day of his life, bequeathed +to Oehlenschlaeger, and said, "It may serve as a medal for you." + +On Sunday, March 24, 1844, a small party of friends were assembled at +the residence of Baron Stampe, in Copenhagen. Thorwaldsen was there +and was unusually lively, told stories, and spoke of a journey that he +intended to make to Italy in the course of the summer. Cahn's tragedy +of "Griseldis" was to be performed for the first time that evening at +the theatre. Tragedy was not his favorite subject, but comedy, and +particularly the comedies of Holberg; but it was something new that he +was to see, and it had become a sort of habit with him to pass the +evening in the theatre. About six o'clock, therefore, he went to the +theatre alone. The overture had begun; on entering he shook hands with +a few of his friends, took his usual seat, stood up again to allow one +to pass him, sat down again, bent his head, and was no more! The music +continued. Those nearest to him thought he was only in a swoon, and he +was borne out; but he was numbered with the dead. + +The mournful intelligence of his death soon spread through the country +and through all lands; funeral dirges were sung and funeral festivals +were arranged in Berlin and Rome; in the Danish theatre, whence his +soul took its flight to God there was a festival; the place where he +sat was decorated with crape and laurel wreaths, and a poem by Heiberg +was recited, in which his greatness and his death were alluded to. + +The day before Thorwaldsen's death the interior of his tomb was +finished, for it was his wish that his remains might rest in the +centre of the court-yard of the museum; it was then walled round, and +he begged that there might be a marble edge around it, and a few +rose-trees and flowers planted on it as his monument. The whole +building, with the rich treasures which he presented to his +fatherland, will be his monument; his works are to be placed in the +rooms of the square building that surrounds the open court-yard, and +which, both internally and externally, are painted in the Pompeian +style. His arrival in the roads of Copenhagen and landing at the +custom-house form the subjects depicted in the compartments under the +windows of one side of the museum. Through centuries to come will +nations wander to Denmark; not allured by our charming green islands, +with their fresh beech-woods alone--no, but to see these works and +this tomb. + +There is, however, one place more that the stranger will visit, the +little spot at Nysoee where his _atelier_ stands, and where the tree +bends its branches over the canal to the solitary swan which he fed. +The name of Thorwaldsen will be remembered in England by his statues +of Jason and Byron; in Switzerland, by his "recumbent lion;" in +Roeskilde, by his figure of Christian the Fourth. It will live in +every breast in which a love of art is enkindled. + + + + +JEAN-FRANCOIS MILLET[6] + + [Footnote 6: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CLARENCE COOK + +(1814-1875) + + +[Illustration: Jean-Francois Millet.] + +We read that on one occasion, when a picture by some Dutch artist, +representing peasants at their sports, was shown to Louis XIV., he +angrily exclaimed, "Take away those vermin!" Such subjects had never +been chosen by French artists, nor indeed had they been seen anywhere +in Europe before the Dutch artists began to paint them in the +seventeenth century. The Italian painters of the early and the later +Renaissance, working almost exclusively for the churches, or for the +palaces of pleasure-loving princes, did not consider the peasant or +the laboring man, by himself, a proper subject for his art. If he were +introduced at any time into picture or bas-relief, it was only as a +necessary actor in some religious story, such as "The Adoration of the +Shepherds," or in the representations of the months or the seasons, as +in the Fountain of the Public Square at Perugia, where we see the +peasant engaged in the labors of the farm or vineyard: cutting the +wheat, gathering in the grapes, and treading out the wine, and, in +the later season, dressing the hog he has been killing; for in those +less sophisticated times, Art, no more than Poetry, despised the ruder +side of rustic life. + +The German artists of the sixteenth century introduced peasants and +peasant-life into their designs whenever the subject admitted. Albert +Duerer was especially given to this, and it often gives a particular +savor, sometimes a half-humorous expression, to his treatment of even +religious subjects; as where, in his design, "The Repose in Egypt," he +shows Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, making a water-trough out of +a huge log, and a bevy of cherub-urchins about him gathering up the +chips. Mary, meanwhile, as the peasant mother, sits by, spinning and +rocking the cradle of the Holy Child with her foot. + +But these examples only serve to make clearer the fact that in the +earlier times there was no place found in art for the representation +of the laboring man, whether in the field or in the shop, except as an +illustration of some allegorical or religious theme. Nor in the Dutch +pictures that Louis XIV. despised, and that our own time finds so +valuable for their artistic qualities, was there anything outside of +their beauty or richness of tone or color to redeem their coarseness +and vulgarity. There was no poetry in the treatment, nor any sympathy +with anything higher than the grossest guzzling, fighting, and +horseplay. The great monarch, who, according to his lights, was a man +of delicacy and refinement, was certainly right in contemning such +subjects, and it is perhaps to his credit that he did not care enough +for "Art for Art's sake" to excuse the brutality of the theme for the +sake of the beauty of the painting. + +The next appearance of the peasant in art was of a very different +sort, and represented a very different state of social feeling from +the "peasants" of the Dutch painters. In the Salon of 1850 there +appeared a picture called "The Sower" and representing a young peasant +sowing grain. There was nothing in the subject to connect it +particularly with any religious symbolism--not even with the Parable +of the Sower who went forth to sow; nor with any series of +personifications of the months. This was a simple peasant of the +Norman coast, in his red blouse and blue trousers, his legs wrapped in +straw, and his weather-beaten hat, full of holes. He marches with the +rhythmic step made necessary by his task, over the downs that top the +high cliffs, followed by a cloud of crows that pounce upon the grain +as he sows it. At first sight there would seem to be nothing in this +picture to call for particular notice; but the public, the artists, +the critics, were with one accord strongly drawn to it. Something in +the picture appealed to feelings deeper than mere curiosity, and an +interest was excited such as did not naturally belong to a picture of +a man sowing a field of grain. The secret was this: that a man born +and bred in the midst of laboring people, struggling with the hard +necessities of life--himself a laborer, and one who knew by experience +all the lights and shades of the laborer's life--had painted this +picture out of his own deep sympathy with his fellows, and to please +himself by reproducing the most significant and poetical act in the +life of the farmer. + +The painter of this picture, the first man of our time to give the +laborer in the fields and on the farm a place in art, and to set +people to thinking about him, as a man, not merely as an illustration +of some sacred text, or an image in a book of allegories, was +Jean-Francois Millet, known as the peasant painter of peasants. + +He was born at Gruchy, a small hamlet on the coast of Normandy, where +his family, well known in the region for several generations, lived by +the labor of their hands, cultivating their fields and exercising the +simple virtues of that pastoral life, without ambition and without +desire for change. This content was a part of the religion of the +country and must not be looked upon as arguing a low state of +intelligence or of manners. Of their neighbors we have no account, but +the Millet household contained many of the elements that go to sustain +the intellectual no less than the spiritual life. If there was plain +living, there was high thinking; there were books and of the best, and +more than one member of the circle valued learning for its own sake. +Millet owed much to his grandmother, a woman of great strength of +character and of a deeply religious nature. As his godmother she gave +him his name, calling him Jean, after his father, and Francois, after +Saint Francis of Assisi. As is usual in Catholic countries, the boy +was called after the name of his patron saint, and in the case of +Millet, Saint Francis, the ardent lover of nature, the friend of the +birds and of all the animate creation, was well chosen as the guardian +of one who was to prove himself, all his life, the passionate lover of +nature. + +The boyhood of Millet was passed at home. He had no schooling except +some small instruction in Latin from the village priest and from a +neighboring curate, but he made good use of what he learned. He worked +on the farm with his father and his men, ploughing, harrowing, sowing, +reaping, mowing, winnowing--in a word, sharing actively and +contentedly in all the work that belongs to the farmer's life. And in +the long winter evenings or in the few hours of rest that the day +afforded, he would hungrily devour the books that were at hand--the +"Lives of the Saints," the "Confessions of Saint Augustine," the "Life +of Saint Jerome," and especially his letters, which he read and +re-read all his life. These and the philosophers of Port Royal, with +Bossuet, and Fenelon, with the Bible and Virgil, were his mental food. +Virgil and the Bible he read always in the Latin; he was so familiar +with them both that, when a man, his biographer, Sensier, says he +never met a more eloquent translator of these two books. When the time +came, therefore, for Millet to go up to Paris, he was not, as has been +said by some writer, an ignorant peasant, but a well-taught man who +had read much and digested what he had read, and knew good books from +bad. The needs of his narrow life absorbed him so seriously that the +seeds of art that lay hid in his nature found a way to the light with +difficulty. But his master-passion was soon to assert itself, and, as +in all such cases, in an unexpected manner. + +Millet's attempts at drawing had hitherto been confined to studies +made in hours stolen from rest. He had copied the engravings found in +an old family Bible, and he had drawn, from his window, the garden, +the stable, the field running down to the edge of the high cliff, and +with the sea in the horizon, and he had sometimes tried his hand at +sketching the cows and sheep in the pasture. But he was now to take a +step in advance. Coming home one day from church, he walked behind an +old man bent with age and feebleness, painfully making his way. The +foreshortening and the movement of the man's figure struck the boy +forcibly, and in a flash he discovered the secret of perspective and +the mystery of planes. He ran quickly home, got a pencil and drew from +memory a picture of the old man, so lively in its resemblance that as +soon as his parents saw it, they recognized it and fell a-laughing. +Talk with his boy revealed to the father his son's strong desire to be +an artist; but before such a serious step could be taken, it was +necessary to consult with some person better able to judge than any +one in the Millet household. Cherbourg, the nearest large town, was +the natural place where to seek advice; thither Millet and his father +repaired, the boy with two drawings under his arm that he had made for +the occasion, and these were submitted to the critical eye of Mouchel, +an old pupil of David, who eked out the scanty living he got by +painting by giving lessons in drawing. When the two drawings made by +young Millet were shown him he refused to believe they were the work +of the lad of fifteen. The very subjects chosen by the boy showed +something out of the common. One was a sort of home idyl: two +shepherds were in a little orchard close, one playing on the flute, +the other listening; some sheep were browsing near. The men wore the +blouse and wooden shoes of Millet's country; the orchard was one that +belonged to his father. The other drawing showed a starry night. A man +was coming from the house with loaves of bread in his hand which he +gave to another man who eagerly received them. Underneath, in Latin, +were the words from St. Luke: "Though he will not rise and give him +because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise +and give him as many as he needeth." A friend of Millet's, who saw +these drawings thirty years after, said they were the work of a man +who already knew the great significance of art, the effects it was +capable of, and what were its resources. + +Mouchel consented to receive Millet as a pupil, but, as it proved, he +could do little for him in the way of direct teaching. He left the boy +free to follow his own devices. He said to him: "Do whatever you wish; +choose whatever model you find in my studio that pleases you, and +study in the Museum." This might not be the course to follow with +every boy, but Mouchel had the artist's penetration and knew with whom +he had to deal. + +The death of Millet's father interrupted his studies and he returned +home for awhile to help his mother on the farm. But it was thought +best that he should keep on with the work he had begun. The +grandmother urged his return: "My Francois," she said, "we must accept +the will of God. Thy father, my son, Jean-Louis, said that you were to +be a painter; obey him, and go back to Cherbourg." + +Millet did not need persuasion from his family. Friends in Cherbourg +urged him to come back, promised him commissions, and assured him a +place in the studio of Langlois, a painter of a higher grade than +Mouchel, who had recently set up his easel in the town. Once more +established at Cherbourg Millet continued his studies after the same +easy fashion with Langlois as with his former master. Langlois, who +was as much impressed by his pupil's talent as Mouchel had been and +willing to serve him, made a personal appeal to the mayor and council, +asking that Millet, as a promising young artist and one likely to do +credit to the town, might be assisted in going to Paris to study under +better advantages than he could enjoy at home. + +On the strength of this appeal, the council of Cherbourg agreed to +allow Millet an annuity of four hundred francs, equal to eighty +dollars. With this small sum, and the addition of two hundred francs +given him at parting by his mother and grandmother, making one hundred +and twenty dollars in all, Millet left his quiet life in Normandy +behind him and set out for Paris, where, as his biographer, Sensier, +says, he was to pass as a captive the richest years of his life. + +Millet was twenty-two years old when he went first to Paris and he +remained there, with occasional visits to Gruchy and Cherbourg, for +the next thirteen years. Paris was, from the first, more than +distasteful to him. He was thoroughly unhappy there. Outside the +Louvre and the studios of a few artist-friends, he found nothing that +appealed to what was deepest in him. His first experiences were +unusually bitter. The struggle with poverty was hard to bear, but +perhaps a more serious drawback was his want of an aim in art, of a +substantial reason, so to speak, for the profession he had chosen, +leading him to one false move after another in search of a subject. +Unformed and unrecognized in his mind lay the desire to express in art +the life he had left behind him in Normandy; but it was long before he +arrived at the knowledge of himself and of his true vocation. He seems +to have had no one in Paris to guide or direct him, and he rather +stumbled into the studio of Delaroche, than entered it deliberately. +He made but a brief stay there, and although he won the respect of his +master, who would willingly have retained him as pupil and assistant, +he was conscious that he learned nothing from Delaroche; and +accordingly, in company with another pupil, Marolles, who had taken a +great liking to him, he left the studio without much ceremony; and the +two friends improvised a studio and a lodging for themselves in a +garret in a poor quarter of the city, and began their search for a +means of pleasing the public. But the way was not opened to either of +them; they could not sell what they painted, and they were reduced to +serious straits. It was not the fault of the public. Marolles was but +an indifferent painter at any time, and Millet would not have blamed +the public for its indifference to subjects in which he himself took +no real interest. + +Millet was at a loss what to do for bread. His mind ran back +continually to his rural life at Gruchy. "What if I should paint men +mowing or winnowing?" he said to Marolles; "their movements are +picturesque!" "You could not sell them," replied his friend. "Well, +then, what do you say to fauns and dryads?" "Who in Paris cares for +fauns and dryads?" "What shall I do, then?" said Millet in despair. +"What does the public like?" "It likes Boucher's Cupids, Watteau's +Pastorals, nudities, anecdotes, and copies of the past." It was hard +for Millet, but hunger drove him. He would not appeal to his family, +life was as difficult for them as for him. But before yielding he +would make one more trial, painting something from his own fancy. He +made a small picture representing "Charity"--a sad-faced woman +cherishing three children in her arms. He carried it to the dealers: +not one of them would buy it. He came back to Marolles. "Give me a +subject," he said, "and I will paint it." + +To this time belong the pictures for which Millet has been much +criticised by people who did not appreciate his position. Some of them +recall Watteau, others Boucher, but they have a charm, a grace of +their own; they are far from being copies of these men. Others were +fanciful subjects to which Marolles gave names likely to attract the +notice of picture-buyers in search of a subject. But all was in vain. +The dealers were obstinate: the public unsympathetic. The highest +price that was offered was never above twenty francs, or five dollars. +Yet with this in his pocket, Millet deemed himself already on the high +road to fortune, and saw the day not distant when he could paint at +his pleasure the rustic subjects, memories of his home, that had +always been in his mind. + +Several times in the course of this hard novitiate, Millet had escaped +from Paris for a visit to his own country. At one time he had remained +for a year at Cherbourg, where he painted portraits for such small +sums as he could get, and here he and one of his sitters, a young girl +of Cherbourg, falling in love with one another, were married. The +marriage only added, as might have been foreseen, to Millet's +troubles: his wife's health was always delicate; after her marriage it +became worse, and she died four years after in Paris. Not long after +her death Millet married again, and this proved a fortunate venture. +His wife came with him to Paris, and the struggle with life began +anew. The turning-point in the long period of Millet's uncertainties +and disappointments with himself came in 1849, when the political +troubles of the time, and the visit of the cholera, combined to drive +him and his family from Paris. They took refuge at Barbizon, a small +hamlet on the outskirts of the Forest of Fontainebleau, and here, in +the place that was to be forever associated with his name and work, +Millet passed, with few interruptions, the remaining years of his +life. + +The phrase so often heard to-day, "The Barbizon School," is rather +wider than a strict interpretation would warrant, since Millet and +Rousseau were the only ones of the group who lived in the village. +Corot was not acquainted with Millet. Decamps was never in Millet's +house except as a rare visitor to his studio. Diaz lived in Paris. +Jacque, the painter of sheep, was a friend of Millet, and for a time +at least lived at Barbizon in the house where he lodged before he +procured a home of his own. The artistic relationship between these +artists is slight, except in the case of Rousseau and Diaz, and even +there it is only occasionally to be detected. All these men, with +Dupre, Courbet and Delacroix, were counted heretics in art by the +Academy and the official critics, and as Millet was the most marked +figure in the group and was greatly admired and respected by all who +composed it, it was perhaps natural that they should be considered by +the public as disciples of the peasant painter of Barbizon. + +Here, then, at Barbizon, Millet lived for the remaining twenty-seven +years of his life, dividing his day between the labors of his farm in +the morning hours, painting in his studio in the afternoon--he always +preferred the half-light for painting--and in the evening enjoying the +society of his wife and children and of such friends as might join the +circle. Occasional visits to Paris, to the galleries, and to the +studios of his artist-circle, kept him in touch with the world to +which he belonged. His books, too, were his unfailing companions, +though he never cared to stray far beyond the circle of his youthful +friendships, Homer, and Virgil, and especially the Bible, which he +looked upon as the book of painters, the inexhaustible source of the +noblest and most touching subjects, capable of expression in the +grandest forms. + +But it was in the rural life about him, the life in which he actively +shared, that he found the world wherein he could pour all his +thoughts, feelings, and experiences with the certainty of seeing them +emerge in forms answering to his conception. It was not until he came +to Barbizon that he began truly to live the artist-life as he +understood it, where the work is a faithful reflection of the only +things a man really cares for--the things he knows by heart. In the +pictures painted at Barbizon, and in the multitude of slight sketches +for subjects never painted, with finished drawings and pastels, Millet +has composed a series of moral eclogues well worthy of a place with +those of Virgil and Theocritus. All the world knows them; all the +world loves them: the "Mother Feeding Her Children," "The Peasant +Grafting," "The First Step," "Going to Work," "The Sower," "The +Gleaners," "The Sheep-Shearing," "The Angelus"--even to name them +would carry us far beyond our limits. They made the fame of Millet +while he still lived, although the pecuniary reward of his labors was +not what they deserved nor what it would have been had he earlier +found his true way or had his life been prolonged to the normal limit. +He died in 1875 at the age of sixty-one. Since his death more than one +of his pictures has been sold at a price exceeding all that he earned +during his whole lifetime. Seen from the world's side, there was much +in his life that was sad and discouraging, but from the spiritual side +there was far more to cheer and uplift. His private life was honorable +and happy, his friends were many and among the chosen ones of the +time, and he had the happiness of seeing his work accepted and rated +at something like its true worth before he left it. + +[Signature of the author.] + + + + +MEISSONIER[7] + + [Footnote 7: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CLARENCE COOK + +(1813-1891) + + +[Illustration: Meissonier.] + +Among the many beautiful paintings collected in the Metropolitan +Museum of Art of New York, there is one that always attracts a crowd, +on the free-days and holidays when the general public finds admission. +This is the picture called simply, "Friedland: 1807," and representing +the soldiers of Napoleon saluting the emperor at the battle of +Friedland. It was painted by Jean Louis Meissonier for the late A. T. +Stewart, of New York, who paid for it what seemed a very large sum, +$60,000; but when Mr. Stewart died, and his pictures were sold at +auction, this painting brought the still larger sum of $66,000, +showing that a great many people admired the work, and were willing to +pay a good price for it. The picture was bought by Judge Hilton, of +New York, and was presented by him to the Metropolitan Museum as a +memorial of the long friendship that had existed between himself and +Mr. Stewart. No doubt the facts of the high price paid for the +picture, and that a gift of such value should be made to the Museum, +have caused a great many people to look at the painting with more +interest than they would, had the circumstances been less uncommon. +But a great many more people find this picture interesting for its own +sake; they are moved rather by the spirited way in which it tells its +story, and find their curiosity excited by the studious accuracy shown +by the artist in the painting of every detail. + +The scene of the action is a field that has been planted with grain +which now lies trampled under the feet of men and horses. The +turning-point in the battle has been reached, and in the joy of coming +victory, the body-guard of the emperor, spurring their jaded horses to +the hillock where he sits on his white charger surrounded by his +mounted staff, salute him with loud cries as they rush madly by him. +Napoleon, calm and self-possessed, returns the salute, but it is plain +his thoughts are busier with the battle that is raging in the distance +than with these demonstrations of his body-guard's loyalty. This +picture was the favorite work of the artist; he calls it, "the life +and joy of my studio," and he is said to have worked on it at +intervals during fifteen years. + +[Illustration: Meissonier's Atelier.] + +Somebody has said that "genius" means nothing but "taking pains." In +that case, Meissonier must have been a man of genius, for, with +whatever he painted, were it small or great, he took infinite pains, +never content until he had done everything in his power to show things +exactly as they were. Thus, in the picture we have just been +describing, we may be sure that we know, from looking at it, exactly +how Napoleon was dressed on the day of Friedland, and also how each +member of his military staff was dressed; not a button, nor a strap, +nor any smallest detail but has been faithfully copied from the thing +itself, while every head in the group is a trustworthy portrait. When +it was not possible to get the actual dress worn by the person he was +painting, Meissonier spared no pains nor money to obtain an exact +copy. How it was in the case of the "Friedland," we do not know, but +when he painted the "March to Paris," Meissonier borrowed from the +Museum, in Paris, where relics of all the kings of France are kept +(the _Musee des Souverains_), the famous "little gray riding-coat" +worn by Napoleon at the battle of the Pyramids and in other +engagements. This coat, Meissonier had copied by a tailor, with the +minutest accuracy, and it was then worn by the model while he was +painting the picture. The same pains were taken with the cuirassiers +who are dashing across the front of the picture in the "Friedland." As +will be seen on looking closely, one model served for all the men in +the front rank, but as the uniform was the same it was only necessary +to vary the attitude. The uniform and all the accoutrements were +carefully reproduced by workmen from originals of the time, borrowed +by Meissonier for the purpose, and the model was then mounted on a +jointed wooden horse and made to take the attitude required: the +action of the horse was as carefully studied from that of the living +animal. By the time that Meissonier came to paint this picture, he was +so famous an artist, and had gained such a place in the world, that he +could have almost anything he asked for to aid him in his work. So, +when, with the same desire for accuracy that he had shown in painting +other parts of the picture, he came to paint the trampled grain, the +Government, or so we are told, bought the use of a field of ripe grain +and lent Meissonier the services of a company of cuirassiers who were +set to dashing about in it until they had got it into proper +condition. We can see that the cost of all this accuracy would, in the +end, amount to a considerable sum, and when we reckon the time of an +artist so distinguished as Meissonier, it is not so surprising as it +may have appeared at first, that his picture should have brought so +much money. + +Of course, Meissonier did not come all at once to fame and prosperity. +The rewards he gained were such as are earned only by hard and +constant labor. When he came to Paris about the year 1832, from Lyons, +where he was born, he was about nineteen years old. His parents were +in humble circumstances, and would seem to have been able to do +nothing to advance the lad, who arrived in Paris with little money in +his pocket, and with no friends at hand. He had, however, the +materials out of which friends and money are made: health, a generous +spirit, energy, and a clear purpose, and with these he went to work. +We do not hear much about his early life in Paris. When he first +appears in sight, he is working in the same studio with Daubigny, the +landscape-painter, the two painting pictures for a dollar the square +yard, religious pictures probably, and probably also copies, to be +sent into the country and hung up in the parish churches. Although +this may have seemed like hardship at the time, yet there is no doubt +it was good practice, for among artists we are told it is an accepted +doctrine that in order to paint on a small scale really well, you must +be able to paint on a larger. And it is said that Meissonier was in +the habit all his life of making life-size studies in order to keep +his style from falling into pettiness. So, after all, the painting of +these big pictures may have been a useful ordeal for the artist who +for the next sixty years was to reap fame by painting small ones. + +While he was earning a scanty living by this hack-work, Meissonier +found time to paint two pictures which he sent to the Salon of 1836. +One of these attracted the attention of a clever artist, Tony +Johannot, who introduced him to Leon Cogniet, with whom he studied for +a time, but from whom he learned but little. The mechanism of his art +he had pretty well mastered already, as was shown by the Salon +accepting his early pictures, and the chief advantage he gained from +his stay in Cogniet's studio was a wider acquaintance with the world +of artists; for Cogniet was a favorite teacher, and had a great many +pupils, not a few of whom became distinguished painters. But his style +of painting was not one to attract Meissonier, who was ambitious to +paint like the old Dutch artists, Terburg, Metzu, Mieris, and others, +who have the charm that their pictures are finished with the most +exquisite minuteness, and yet treated in such a large way that, after +awhile, we forget the microscopic wonder of the performance and think +only of the skill the artist has shown in painting character. +Meissonier was the first artist to bring back into favor the Dutch +school of painting of the seventeenth century. Louis XIV., who set the +fashion in everything in his day, had set the fashion of despising the +Dutch painters, and the French people had never unlearned the lesson. +It was Meissonier who brought back the taste, and taught the public to +admire these small panels where interest in the subject is for the +most part lost in the exquisite beauty of the painting and where the +Dutch painters of similar subjects are successfully met on their own +ground and equalled in every respect except in the charm of color. + +There is an old saying: "Imitation is the sincerest mode of flattery;" +and Meissonier's immediate success with the public was the signal for +a bevy of imitators to try to win a like success by like methods. Some +of these artists were very clever, but an imitator is but an imitator +after all, and is more apt to call attention to his model than to +himself. It must be admitted that Meissonier himself has suffered +somewhat in the same way: the evident fact that his methods of +painting were inspired by the study of the Dutch masters has led to +his being called an imitator, and his pictures are often compared, and +not to their advantage, with those of his models. Meissonier is, +however, very much more than an imitator; he was inspired by the Dutch +painters, but he soon found a way of his own, and he has put so much +of himself into his work, that the charge of imitation long since +ceased to be brought against him. + +While he was still not much known to the public, the Duke of Orleans +bought of him, for six hundred francs, a picture that to-day is worth +thirty thousand francs. As is usual in such affairs, the purchase was +made, not by the duke in person, but by an agent: in this case, it was +his secretary, M. Adaline, who bought the picture from Meissonier, who +as an acknowledgment of the service gave the secretary a water-color +drawing which, to-day, like everything coming from the hand of +Meissonier, would bring the owner a good round sum if offered for +sale. + +In 1865, Meissonier's son Charles, himself a very good painter, went +to a costume-ball dressed like a Fleming of the seventeenth century +and looking as if he had stepped out of a picture by Terburg. The +costume had been made with the greatest accuracy, and Meissonier was +so pleased with his son's appearance that he made a study and sold it +for two thousand francs. Twenty years after, in 1884, hearing that it +was to be sold at auction, and desiring, out of affection for his son, +to have the study back again, he asked his friend, M. Petit, to buy it +for him, at whatever cost. A rich Parisian, M. Secretan, who had a +collection of pictures since become famous--it was to him that +Millet's "L'Angelus" belonged--and who had such an admiration for +Meissonier and his work that he had paid no less than four hundred +thousand francs for his picture "Les Cuirassiers," hearing from M. +Petit of Meissonier's desire for the portrait of his son, bought the +picture for twenty-five thousand francs and presented it to the +artist. These stories are told only as illustrations of the growth of +Meissonier's reputation and of the increased number of people who +desire to have an example of his work. The rise in value of a small +sketch of a single figure, from $500 to $5,000, in fifteen years, is +no greater in proportion than has happened in the case of every one of +Meissonier's pictures, drawings, studies, and even his slight +sketches, on some of which originally he would have placed no value at +all. Yet everything he left behind him, even unconsidered trifles, are +found to be of value, and the sale of the contents of his studio just +ended in Paris brought nearly five hundred thousand francs, although +the collection contained not a single finished picture of importance, +but was made up almost entirely of unfinished studies and of sketches. + +Meissonier's industry was constant and untiring. It is told of him +that he rarely had the pencil or the brush out of his hand when in the +house, and that when he called at a friend's house and was kept +waiting he used the spare minutes in sketching upon the first piece of +paper that he found at hand. One of his friends, who knew of this +habit, collected in the course of many visits he received from the +artist enough of these scraps to fill a small album; while it is told +of another of his friends that he instructed his servant to put beside +Meissonier's coffee-cup after dinner a number of bits of paper of the +size of cigarette-papers but of better quality on which Meissonier in +his absent way would fall to drawing as he chatted with his +companions. After dinner these jottings remained as a valuable +memorial of his visit. Perhaps if they were all collected, these +slight affairs might bring enough at auction to pay for all the +dinners to which the prudent host had invited the artist. + +The world of subjects included in Meissonier's art was a very narrow +one, and was not calculated to interest men and women in general. The +nearest that he came to striking the popular note was in his Napoleon +subjects, and beside the excellence of the painting, these pictures +really make a valuable series of historical documents by reason of +their accuracy. But the greater number of the pictures which he left +behind him are chiefly interesting from the beautiful way in which +they are painted: we accept the subject for the sake of the art. The +world rewarded him for all this patient labor, this exquisite +workmanship, by an immense fortune that enabled him to live in +splendor, and to be generous without stint. From the humble lodgings +of his youth in the Rue des Ecouffes, he passed, in time, to the +palace in the Place Malsherbes where he spent the latter half of his +long life in luxurious surroundings: pictures and statues, rich +furniture, tapestries and armor and curiosities of art from every +land. But the visitor, after passing through all this splendor, came +upon the artist in a studio, ample and well lighted indeed, but +furnished only for work, where, to the end of his life, he pursued his +industrious calling with all the energy and ardor of youth. He died in +1891, and was buried by the government with all the honors that +befitted one of her most illustrious citizens. + +[Signature of the author.] + + + + +ROSA BONHEUR[8] + + [Footnote 8: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CLARENCE COOK + +(BORN 1822) + + +A girl of something over ten, of sturdy build, with a dark complexion, +deep blue eyes, and strong features crowned by a head of clustering +curls, is sitting in the window of a plainly furnished room, high up +in an apartment-house in Paris. In a cage at her side is a parrot, +which, with its head on one side, is gravely calling out the letters +of the alphabet, while the child as gravely repeats them, interrupting +the lesson every now and then by a visit to the other side of the +room, where a pet lamb greets its young mistress with a friendly +bleat. + +This is our first glimpse of Rosalie, known now to all the world as +Rosa Bonheur, the painter of "The Horse Fair" and of many another +picture, which have earned for her the distinction of the best +animal-painter of her time. + +Her father's family belonged to Bordeaux. Raymond Bonheur had gone up +as a youth to Paris to study art. After the usual apprenticeship to +privation which art exacts from her servants, he had become moderately +successful, when the condition of his parents, now old and +poorly-off, moved him to return to Bordeaux and do what he could to +make their life easier. As the chances for a professional artist were +small, he adopted the modest employment of drawing-teacher. His skill +soon brought him pupils; among them a young lady from Altona, between +whom and her teacher a mutual interest sprang up which led to their +marriage. Raymond Bonheur brought his wife home to his father's house, +where she was welcomed as a daughter, and for the brief term of her +life all went well. What the husband earned by his drawing-lessons, +the wife supplemented by her lessons in music; but this happiness was +not to last. The parents of Raymond Bonheur died, and then, after not +more than twelve years of marriage, the wife died, leaving behind her +four children, Rosalie, Francois-Auguste, Jules-Isidore, and Juliette. + +[Illustration: Rosa Bonheur.] + +Rosalie is the best known of these four children of Raymond Bonheur; +but each of them has honorably connected his name with the art of +modern France. Francois-Auguste has a reputation as an animal-painter +almost equal to that of his sister Rosa. A fine picture painted by +him, "Cattle in the Forest of Fontainebleau," was once the property of +the late A. T. Stewart. His merit secured him the Cross of the Legion +of Honor in 1867. He died in 1880. The other brother, Jules-Isidore, +has gained distinction as a sculptor of animals; most of his work is +on a small scale, but he has designed some large pieces that decorate +his sister's chateau near Fontainebleau. Juliette Bonheur married a M. +Peyrol, and joining her family-name to his, is known in the art-world +as Mme. Peyrol Bonheur. It is thus she signs her pictures, mostly +still-life and animal subjects, which have gained for her a good +position among the minor artists of France. + +Rosa, the eldest of the family, born in 1822, was ten years old when +her mother died. Not long after, Raymond Bonheur decided to leave +Bordeaux and to return to Paris, where the chances for professional +success were better than in a provincial town, and where there were +greater opportunities for the education of his young children. The +change proved very distasteful, however, to the little ones. +Accustomed to the comparative freedom of the town in which they had +been brought up, and where their family had been so long rooted that +their circle of friends and relatives gave them playmates and +companions in plenty, they found themselves very lonely in Paris, +where they were reduced for a good part of the time to such amusement +as they could find in the narrow quarters of their rooms on the sixth +floor of an apartment-house. It is not the custom in Paris for the +children, even of the poor, to make a playground of the street, and +our little ones had nobody to walk out with them but an old servant +who had come with them from Bordeaux, and who was ill-fitted, for all +her virtues, to take a mother's place to the children. She was honest +and faithful, but like all of her class, she liked routine and order, +and she could make no allowances for the restlessness of her +bright-minded charge. Rosa was her especial torment; the black sheep +of the brood. Household tasks she despised, and study, as it was +pursued in the successive schools to which her despairing father sent +her, had no charms for her. Her best playmates were animals; the +horses and dogs she saw in the streets and which she fearlessly +accosted; the sheep that found itself queerly lodged on the top floor +of a city house; and the parrot which, as we have seen, was not only +her playmate but her schoolmaster. + +There came a time when the charge of such a child, so averse to rules +and so given to strange ways of passing her time, became too much for +the old servant with her orthodox views of life, and she persuaded +Rosa's father to put her as a day-scholar with the nuns at Chaillot, a +small suburb of Paris. How it happened that she was allowed to go back +and forth alone, between home and school, we do not know; but it is +not to be wondered at if she were irregular in her hours; if, one day, +she set the nuns wondering why she did not appear at school-opening, +and another day put the old servant into a twitter because she did not +come home in season. The truth was, she had found that there was +something better in Paris than streets and shops and tall houses; she +had discovered a wood there, a veritable forest, with trees, and pools +of water, and birds, and wild flowers, and though this enchanted spot +which citizens called the Bois de Boulogne--not then a formal park as +it is to-day--was off the road to Chaillot, yet it was not so far that +she need fear getting lost in going there or in coming back. No +wonder, then, if, once this way discovered of escape from tiresome +school duties, it was travelled so often by Rosalie, and that her +school-work became in consequence so unsatisfactory that at length the +patient nuns remonstrated. They advised Rosa's father, since she +neither would nor could learn anything from books, that it would be +better to put her to some useful trade by which she might earn her +living; and the good sisters suggested--dressmaking! The wisdom of +these ladies, who could not see that they were dealing with the last +woman in the world to whom dressmaking could be interesting, was +matched by that of the father, who showed himself so blind to the +character of his daughter that he resolved to act at once upon the +advice of the nuns; and without consulting the wishes of poor Rosalie +he apprenticed her straightway to a Parisian dressmaker. The docile +girl allowed the yoke to be slipped over her head without complaint, +but the confinement wore upon her health and spirits, and after a +short trial the experiment had to be abandoned. Her father yielded to +her entreaties and took her home. + +[Illustration: Rosa Bonheur.] + +The girl was long in coming to a knowledge of herself. Although she +was to be, in time, a famous artist, the familiar legend of the +biographers is wanting in her case; we read nothing about scribbled +books or walls defaced by childish sketches, nor does she appear to +have handled a pencil or a brush until she was a girl well grown. +Her father's means were not sufficient to give Rosa or his other +children an education such as he could wish; but an expedient +suggested itself in his perplexity over this latest experiment in +providing for his eldest daughter: he proposed to the principal of a +young ladies' school where he taught drawing, that his services should +be accepted in payment of Rosa's education. The offer was accepted, +and in the regular course of study Rosa became a member of her +father's drawing-class. It was not long before she surpassed all her +school-fellows in that department, and found herself for the first +time in her life in possession of the key to that happiness which +consists in knowing what we can do, and feeling the strength within us +to do it. Some of the biographers of Rosa's life speak of unhappy days +at this school: the richer girls made sport of the dress of the +drawing-master's daughter, and of her independent, awkward ways. Her +progress in drawing, too, was counterbalanced by her slowness in her +other studies; in fact her new accomplishment was such a delight to +her, that in her devotion to it she became less and less interested in +her books; and as for dress--that it should be clean and suited both +to her means and to the work she was doing, was all that concerned +her, then or since! + +At the end of her first year in school, Rosa obtained her father's +permission to give up her other studies and to enter his studio as +pupil and assistant. From that time, though as yet she had not found +the reason of her vocation, yet her true life had begun. She worked +diligently under the direction of a master she loved, and her father, +in his turn, delighted at the discovery of a talent so long hid, +redoubled his efforts to advance his pupil and to make up for lost +time. + +Rosa worked for some months at copying in the Louvre, but though she +worked with such diligence and skill as to win the praise of the +director, she came, after a time, to feel that the mere copying of the +works of other men, however great, was not the goal she was striving +after; so one day she took a sudden determination, left the Louvre, +packed up her painting materials, and started off for one of the rural +suburbs of Paris, where she sat herself down to sketch from nature. +Her love of animals, hitherto an aimless pleasure, now took on a new +phase as she saw her beloved cows and sheep in their place in nature +giving life and animation to the landscape. + +In the winter season, when work out-of-doors was no longer pleasant or +profitable, Rosa made what use she could of the few opportunities +Paris had to offer for the study of animals. She spent what time she +could spare from work at the horse-market; she visited the +slaughter-houses, and the suburban fairs where cattle and horses, +sheep and pigs compete for prizes, and in these places she filled her +portfolios with sketches. + +In 1840 she sent her first picture to the Salon, and as it was +accepted and well received, she continued to send her work every year; +but, up to 1849, her pictures were small, and had little more interest +than belongs to simple studies from nature; 1849 was a memorable year +to her, as it was to France. In this year her father died of cholera, +just as he had been appointed director of the School of Design for +Young Girls. Rosa was appointed to succeed him with the title of +Honorary Directress, and her sister Juliette was made a teacher in the +school. In the same year she exhibited the picture that may be said to +have made her reputation with the artists and amateurs, as well as +with the general public. This was her "Oxen of Cantal," a picture that +combined with no little feeling for landscape the most admirable +painting of cattle in repose. Its high qualities were immediately +recognized. Horace Vernet, in the name of the Provisional Government, +presented her with a handsome vase of Sevres porcelain, and the gold +medal for painting. In 1851, the jury selected for exhibition at the +World's Fair in London another picture by Rosa, "Ploughing in the +Nivernais," which made the artist's name known to England, where the +national love of animals secured for her no end of praise and of +substantial reward. In 1856 Rosa painted her most popular picture, +"The Horse Fair," now in the Metropolitan Museum. This painting went +from Paris to London, where it was bought for rising L1,500, and +created such an interest in the artist's personality as would have +turned the head of any ordinary woman; but Rosa Bonheur's whole life +proves her no ordinary woman. + +For many years Mlle. Bonheur lived in Paris in a house surrounded by a +large garden where she kept a number of animals, partly for the +pleasure of their companionship, partly for the opportunity it gave +her of studying their habits, and using them as models. She now +resides in the Chateau By, near Fontainebleau, where she leads the +same industrious life in her advancing years that she did in the +beginning of her career. She rises early, and works at her painting +all day, and often spends the evening in drawing: for she takes but +little interest in what is called society, and cares only for the +companionship of her intimate friends, which she can enjoy without +disarranging her life, or neglecting the studies she loves. She +dresses with great simplicity at all times, and even when she accepts +invitations, makes no concessions to the caprices of fashion. In her +student-days, when visiting the abattoirs, markets, and fairs, she +accustomed herself to wear such a modification of man's dress as would +permit her to move about among rough men without compromising her sex. +But, beside that her dignity was always safe in her own keeping, she +bears testimony to the good manners and the good dispositions of the +men she came in contact with. Rosa Bonheur has always been an honor to +art and an honor to her sex. At seventy-two she finds herself in the +enjoyment of many things that go to make a happy life. She has a +well-earned fame as an artist; an abundant fortune gained by her own +industry and used as honorably as it has been gained; and she has +troops of friends drawn to her by her solid worth of character. + +Of the great number of pictures Rosa Bonheur has painted, by far the +most are of subjects found in France, but a few of the best were +painted in Scotland. She has received many public honors in medals and +decorations. In 1856, after painting the "Horse Fair," the Empress +Eugenie visited her at her studio and bestowed upon her the Cross of +the Legion of Honor, fastening the decoration to the artist's dress +with her own hands. When the invading army of Prussia reached Paris, +the Crown Prince gave orders that the studio of Rosa Bonheur should be +respected. But though she, no doubt, holds all these honors at their +worth, yet she holds still more dear the art to which she owes, not +only these, but all that has made her life a treasury of happy +remembrances. + +[Signature of the author.] + + + + +GEROME[9] + + [Footnote 9: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CLARENCE COOK + +(BORN 1824) + + +[Illustration: Gerome.] + +In the Paris Salon of 1847, a small picture appeared, representing a +Greek boy and girl stirring up two game-cocks to fight. Although it +was the work of an unknown painter, and had to contend with an +unusually brilliant display of pictures, many of them by men already +famous, yet it strongly attracted the general public, partly by the +novelty of the subject, and partly by the careful and finished manner +of the painting. It delighted the critics as well, and one of the most +distinguished of them, Theophile Gautier, wrote: "A new Greek is born +to us, and his name is Gerome!" + +This picture, which was to prove the first leaf in a laurel-crown to +be awarded the painter in his lifetime, and not, as is so often the +case, by the tardy hand of Death, was the work of Jean-Leon Gerome, a +young man of twenty-three. He had been for six years under the +teaching of Paul Delaroche, part of the time in Italy, but most of it +in Paris. He was born at Vesoul, a small, dull town in the Department +of Haute-Saone, in 1824. His father was a goldsmith, who, like most +French fathers in his rank of life, had hoped to bring up his son to +succeed him in his business. The boy did for a time, we believe, work +in his father's shop, but he had a stronger natural bent for painting; +something perhaps in the occupation fostered, or even created, this +taste--for not a few distinguished painters have been apprenticed to +the goldsmith's trade--and his father, like a wise man, instead of +opposing his son's wishes, did what he could to further them. He +bought him painting-materials; and instead of sending him to a "school +of design," or putting him under the tutelage of some third-rate +drawing-master, such as is commonly found in country towns, he bought +him a picture by Decamps, an artist since become famous, but then just +in the dawn of his fame, and put it before his son as a model. Young +Gerome made a copy of this picture, and an artist from Paris, who +happened to be passing through Vesoul, saw it, and discerning the +boy's talent, gave him a letter to Paul Delaroche, encouraging him to +go to Paris and there to take up the study of art as a profession. At +seventeen years of age, with his father's consent and $250 in his +pocket, Gerome went up to Paris, and presenting his letter to +Delaroche, was well received by him, and entered the School of Fine +Arts (Ecole des Beaux-Arts) as his pupil. + +He had been with Delaroche three years and had proved himself one of +the most loyal and diligent of his pupils, when an event occurred, +insignificant in itself, but which was to have an important influence +upon his life and give a new direction to his talent. + +French studios are not as a rule very orderly places. The young men +who frequent them are left pretty much to themselves, with no one to +govern them or to oversee them. The artist they are studying under +makes, at the most, a brief daily visit, going the round of the +easels, saying a word or two to each pupil, although it often happens +that he says nothing, and then departs for his proper work, leaving +his pupils to their own devices. The students are for the most part +like young men everywhere, a turbulent set, full of animal spirits, +which sometimes carry them beyond reasonable bounds. It was a +boisterous outbreak of this sort, but far wilder than common, that +occurred in the studio of Delaroche, and which brought about the +crisis in Gerome's life to which we have alluded. Fortunately for him, +the incident took place while Gerome was on a visit to his parents at +Vesoul, so that he was in no way implicated in the affair. He came +back to find the studio closed; Delaroche, deeply disturbed, had +dismissed all his pupils and announced his intention to visit Italy. +His studio was to be taken during his absence, by Gleyre, and he +advised those of his pupils in whom he took a personal interest, to +continue their studies under his successor. Gerome was one of those to +whom he gave this advice, but Gerome was too much attached to his +master to leave him for another, and bluntly announced his purpose of +following him to Rome. A few of the other pupils of Delaroche were of +the same mind, and they all set out for Italy together. Arrived in +Rome, Gerome, always a hard worker, threw himself energetically into +his studies; drawing the ancient buildings, the Capitol, the +Colosseum; sketching in the Forum and on the Campagna; copying the +pictures and the statues, saturating his mind in the spirit of antique +art, and schooling his hand in its forms, until he had laid up a rich +store of material for use in future pictures. On his return to Paris +he worked for a while in Gleyre's studio, but when Delaroche came back +from Italy, Gerome again joined him and renewed his old relation as +pupil and assistant--working, among other tasks, on the painting of +"Charlemagne Crossing the Alps," a commission given to Delaroche by +the Government, for the _Grande Galerie des Batailles_ at Versailles: +a vast apartment lined with pictures of all the victories of the +French from Soissons to Solferino. + +Such work as this, however, had little interest for Gerome. His mind +at this time was full of the Greeks and Romans; his enthusiasm for +Napoleon, which later was to give birth to so many pictures, had not +yet awakened; nor did he care for the subjects from the histories of +France and England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, that +had provided his master, Delaroche, with so many tragic themes for his +pencil: "The Death of the Duke of Guise," "The Children of Edward," +the "Death of Queen Elizabeth," "The Execution of Lady Jane Grey," +"Cromwell at the Coffin of Charles I.," and others of the same strain. + +Gerome's visit to Italy had awakened in him a strong interest in the +life of the antique world, and this would naturally be strengthened by +all that he would hear and see of the growing interest of the public +in the same subject: an interest kindled by the discoveries of +archaeologists in classic soil: in Greece and Italy, in Assyria and +Egypt. These discoveries had filled the museums and the cabinets of +private collectors with beautiful and interesting fragments +illustrating the external life of the past, and illuminating its +poetry; and it is no wonder that some of the younger artists rejoiced +in the new world of anecdote and story that opened so richly before +them. + +However it came about--whether his own interest in the antique life +communicated itself to his fellows, or whether they, all together, +simply shared in the interest taken in the subject by the world about +them--Gerome and some of his companions in Delaroche's studio showed +such a predilection for classic themes, that they were nicknamed by +the critics "The New Greeks." Among Gerome's fellow-pupils were two +young men, Hamon and Aubert, who later gained no small applause by +their playful and familiar way of treating classic themes. They are +well known to us by engravings from their pictures, which are in all +our shops. Hamon's "My Sister is not at home," and Aubert's various +pretty fancies of nymphs and cupids, while they are not great works of +art, are reasonably sure of a long life, due to their innocent +freshness and simplicity. + +Delaroche's pupils were working all together in friendly competition +for the grand Roman prize which was to give the fortunate one the +right to four years' study in Rome at the expense of the state. +Gerome's studio was shared by his friends Picou and Hamon. Hamon, +writing in later years about his youthful days, says: "Companions and +rivals at the same time, we were all working together for the Grand +Prix de Rome. Gerome inspired us all with the love of hard work, and +of hard work to the accompaniment of singing and laughing." + +But in the intervals of his hard work for the prize, Gerome was also +working on a picture which he hoped to have accepted for the Salon. +This was the picture we spoke of in the beginning of this notice: "Two +Young Greeks stirring-up Game-cocks to fight." When it was finished +Gerome showed it to his master with many misgivings; but Delaroche +encouraged him to send it to the Salon. It was accepted, and as we +have seen, won for Gerome a great success with the public. The next +year, 1848, he again exhibited, but the impression he made was less +marked than on the first occasion. His former picture had a subject +such as it was, of his own devising. The "Cock-fight" was not an +illustration of any passage in Greek poetry, and in spite of its +antique setting, it had a modern air, and to this, no doubt, its +popularity was largely due. But in 1848 he essayed an illustration of +the Greek poet, Anacreon, translating into picture the poem that tells +how, one winter evening, sitting by his fire, the old poet was +surprised by a sound of weeping outside his door, and opening it, +found Cupid wet and shivering and begging for a shelter from the cold. +The man takes the pretty, dimpled mischief to his bosom, warms his +feet and hands at the fire, dries his bow and arrows, and lets him sip +wine from his cup. Then, when Cupid is refreshed and warmed, he tries +his arrows, now here, now there, and at last aims one straight at his +benefactor's heart, and laughing at the jest, flies out at the open +door. Gerome's picture was in three panels. The first showed the poet +opening the door to the sobbing Cupid, with his bedraggled wings and +dripping curls; in the next, the rosy ingrate wounds his benefactor; +in the third, the poet sits disconsolate by his hearth, musing over +the days when Love was his guest, if but for an hour. As the story was +an old one, so many an artist before Gerome had played with it as a +subject for a picture. Jean-Francois Millet himself, another pupil of +Delaroche, though earlier than Gerome, had tried his hand at +illustrating Anacreon's fable before he found his proper field of work +in portraying the occupations of the men and women about him, the +peasants among whom he was born and bred. + +Gerome's picture did nothing to advance his fortunes with the public. +1848 was a stormy time in France and in all Europe, and people were +not in the mood to be amused with such trifles as Anacreon and his +Cupid. The pictures in that year's Salon that drew the public in +crowds about them were Couture's "The Romans of the Decline of the +Empire," in which all Paris saw, or thought it saw, the +handwriting-on-the-wall for the government of Louis-Philippe; and the +"Shipwrecked Sailors in a Bark," of Delacroix, a wild and stormy scene +of terror that seemed to echo the prophecies of evil days at hand for +France with which the time was rife. + +Gerome's next picture, however, was to bring him once more before the +public, and to carry his name beyond his native France even as far as +America. Leaving for the nonce his chosen field of antiquity, where +yet he was to distinguish himself, he looked for a subject in the +Paris of his own day. "The Duel after the Masquerade" opens for us a +corner of the Bois de Boulogne--the fashionable park on the outskirts +of Paris--where in the still dawn of a winter's day, a group of men +are met to witness a duel between two of their companions who have +quarrelled at a masked ball. The ground is covered with a light fall +of snow; the bare branches of the trees weave their network across the +gray sky, and in the distance we see the carriages that have brought +the disputants to the field. The duel is over. One of the men, dressed +in the costume of Pierrot, the loose white trousers and slippers, the +baggy white shirt, and white skull-cap, falls, mortally wounded, into +the arms of his second: the pallor of coming death masked by the +white-painted face. The other combatant, a Mohawk Indian (once a +staple character at every masked-ball in Paris: curious survival of +the popularity of Cooper's novels), is led wounded off the field by a +friend dressed as Harlequin. Gerome in this striking picture showed +for the first time that talent as a story-teller to which he is so +largely indebted for his reputation. Whatever his subject may be, it +is always set forth in the clearest manner, so that everyone may +understand the story without the need of an interpreter. + +Leaving out of view the few pictures he painted illustrating passages +in Napoleon's career, it may be said that Gerome's taste led him away +from scenes of modern life; for even his many oriental subjects so +relate to forms of life belonging in reality to the past, that they +make no exception to the statement. He did not therefore follow up +"The Duel" with other comments on the follies of modern society--for +in the temper of that time this picture, like Couture's "Roman Orgie" +and Millet's "Man with the Hoe," was looked upon as a satire and a +warning, and owed its popularity as much to this conviction on the +part of the public as to its pictorial merits--but returned to antique +times, and showed in his treatment of themes from that source an +equal, if not a greater power to interest the public. + +Gerome's two pictures, the "Ave Caesar! Morituri te Salutant," "Hail, +Caesar! Those about to die, salute Thee," and "The Gladiators," are so +universally known as to need no description. Whatever criticism may be +made upon them, they will always remain interesting to the world at +large; from their subject, from the way in which the discoveries of +archaeology are made familiar, and, not least, from the impression they +make of the artist's own strong interest in what he had to say. In +both pictures he succeeded in showing the Colosseum as no longer a +ruin, but as, so to speak, a living place peopled by the swarm of the +Roman populace, with the emperor and his court, and the College of the +Vestal Virgins, and, for chief actors, the hapless wretches who are +"butchered to make a Roman holiday." Another picture that greatly +increased Gerome's reputation, was his "Death of Julius Caesar," though +it must be confessed there was a touch of the stage in the arrangement +of the scene, and in the action of the body of senators and +conspirators leaving the hall with brandished swords and as if singing +in chorus, that was absent from the pictures of the amphitheatre. +There was also less material for the curiosity of the lovers of +archaeology; no such striking point, for instance, as the reproduction +of the gladiators' helmets and armor recently discovered in +Herculaneum; but the body of the dead Caesar lying "even at the base of +Pompey's statue" with his face muffled in his toga, was a masterly +performance; some critic, moved by the grandeur of the lines, said it +was not a mere piece of foreshortening, it was "a perspective." Gerome +made a life-size painting of the Caesar in this picture. It is in the +Corcoran Gallery at Washington. + +Gerome painted several other pictures from classic subjects, but none +of them had the interest for the general public of those we have +described. In 1854 he exhibited a huge canvas, called "The Age of +Augustus," a picture suggested, perhaps, by the "Hemicycle" of his +master Delaroche, on which he himself had painted. It represented +heroes, poets, sages, of the Augustan age, grouped about the cradle of +the infant Christ; it procured for Gerome the red ribbon of the Legion +of Honor, and is now, as the artist himself jestingly says, "the +'greatest' picture in the Museum of Amiens." In the same year Gerome +went to Egypt for the first time; since then he has more than once +visited it, but it is doubtful if he could renew the pleasure of his +youthful experience. "I set out," he says, "with my friends, I the +fifth, all of us lightly furnished with money, but full of youthful +enthusiasm. Life was then easy in Egypt; we lived at a very moderate +rate; we hired a boat and lived four months upon the Nile, hunting, +painting, fishing by turns, from Damietta to Philae. We returned to +Cairo and remained there four months longer in a house in the older +part of the town, belonging to Soleman Pasha. As Frenchmen, he treated +us with cordial hospitality. Happy period of youth, of freedom from +care! Hope and the future opened bright before us; the sky was blue!" + +Gerome's pictures of Eastern life make a gallery by themselves. A few +of them are historic, such as his "Cleopatra visiting Caesar," but the +most of them are simply scenes and incidents drawn from the daily life +of the modern inhabitants of Cairo and the desert, illustrating their +manners and customs. The mere titles would fill up a large part of our +space. Many of the best of them are owned in this country, and all +have been reproduced by engraving or by photography. + +In another field Gerome won great distinction, painting scenes from +the history of France in the reign of Louis XIV.; subjects drawn from +what may be called the high comedy of court-life, and treated by +Gerome with remarkable refinement and distinction. Among these +pictures the best known are: "Moliere Breakfasting with Louis XIV.," +illustrating the story of the king's rebuke to his courtiers who +affected to despise the man of genius; "Pere Joseph," the priest who +under the guise of humility and self-abnegation reduces the greatest +nobles to the state of lackeys; "Louis XIV. Receiving the Great +Conde," and "Collaboration," two poets of Louis XIV.'s time working +together over a play. Among his accomplishments as an artist we must +not forget the talent that Gerome has shown as a sculptor. He has +modelled several figures from his own pictures, with such admirable +skill as to prove that he might easily have made sculpture a +profession had he not chosen to devote himself to painting. + +[Signature of the author.] + + + + +DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI[10] + + [Footnote 10: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By EDMUND GOSSE + +(1828-1882) + + +[Illustration: Dante Gabriel Rossetti.] + +Those whose privilege it was to meet the late Mr. Gabriel Rossetti, at +once in the plenitude of his powers and in the freshness of their own +impressions, will not expect to be moved again through life by so +magnetic a presence. In his dealings with those much younger than +himself, his tact and influence were unequalled; he received a shy but +ardent youth with such a noble courtesy, with so much sympathy yet +with no condescension, with so grand an air and yet so warm a welcome, +that his new acquaintance was enslaved at the first sentence. This +seems to me to have been in a certain sense the key-note of the man. +He was essentially a point of fire; not a peripatetic in any sense, +not a person of wide circumference, but a nucleus of pure imagination +that never stirred or shifted, but scintillated in all directions. The +function of Gabriel Rossetti, or at least his most obvious function, +was to sit in isolation, and to have vaguely glimmering spirits +presented to him for complete illumination. He was the most prompt in +suggestion, the most regal in giving, the most sympathetic in +response, of the men I have known or seen; and this without a single +touch of the prophetic manner, the air of such professional seers as +Coleridge or Carlyle. What he had to give was not mystical or +abstract; it was purely concrete. His mind was full of practical +artistic schemes, only a few of which were suited to his own practice +in painting or poetry; the rest were at the service of whoever would +come in a friendly spirit and take them. I find among his letters to +me, which I have just been reading once again, a paper of delightful +suggestions about the cover of a book of verse; the next youth who +waited upon him would perhaps be a painter, and would find that the +great genius and master did not disdain the discussion of +picture-frames. This was but the undercurrent of his influence; as we +shall see more and more every year as the central decades of this +century become history, its main stream directed the two great arts of +painting and poetry into new channels, and set a score of diverse +talents in motion. + +But, as far as anything can be seen plainly about Rossetti at present, +to me the fact of his immovability, his self-support, his curious +reserve, seems to be the most interesting. He held in all things to +the essential and not to the accidental; he preferred the dry grain of +musk to a diluted flood of perfume. An Italian by birth and deeply +moved by all things Italian, he never visited Italy; a lover of ritual +and a sympathizer with all the mysteries of the Roman creed, he never +joined the Catholic Church; a poet whose form and substance alike +influenced almost all the men of his generation, he was more than +forty years of age before he gave his verse to the public; a painter +who considered the attitude of the past with more ardor and faith than +almost any artist of his time, he never chose to visit the churches or +galleries of Europe. It has been said, among the many absurd things +which his death has provoked, that he shrank from publicity from +timidity, or spurned it from ill-temper. One brilliant journalist has +described him as sulking like Hector in his tent. It used to be +Achilles who sulked when I was at school; but it certainly never was +Gabriel Rossetti. Those who only knew him, after his constitution had +passed under the yoke of the drug which killed him, cannot judge of +his natural reserve from that artificial and morbid reserve which +embittered the last years of his life. The former was not connected +with any objection to new faces or dislike of cordial society, but +with the indomitable characteristic of the man, which made him give +out the treasures of the spirit, and never need to receive them. So +far from disliking society, it is my impression that he craved it as a +necessity, although he chose to select its constituents and narrow its +range. + +He was born in 1828. The story of his parentage is well known, and has +been told in full detail since his death. He was born in London and +christened Gabriel Charles Rossetti; it was not, I am told, until he +was of age to appreciate the value of the name that he took upon +himself the cognomen which his father had borne, the Dante by which +the world, though not his friends, have known him. Living with his +father in Charlotte street, with two sisters and a brother no less +ardently trained in letters than himself, he seems to have been turned +to poetry, as he was afterward sustained in it, by the interior flame. +The household has been described to me by one who saw it in 1847: the +father, titular professor of Italian literature, but with no +professional duties, seated the livelong day, with a shade over his +eyes, writing devotional or patriotic poetry in his native tongue; the +girls reading Dante aloud with their rich maiden voices; Gabriel +buried here in his writing, or darting round the corner of the street +to the studio where he painted. From this seclusion he wrote to the +friend who has kindly helped me in preparing these notes, and whose +memories of the poet extend over a longer period than those of any +survivor not related to him. + +Mr. W. B. Scott, now so well known in more arts than one, had then +but just published his first book, his mystical and transcendental +poem of "The Year of the World." This seems to have fallen under +Rossetti's notice, for on November 25, 1847, he wrote to the author, a +perfect stranger to himself, a letter of warm sympathy and +acknowledgment. Mr. Scott was living in Newcastle, and, instead of +meeting, the young poets at first made acquaintance with each other by +correspondence. Rossetti soon mentioned, of course, his own schemes +and ambitions, and he sent, as a sample of his powers, his poems of +"The Blessed Damozel," and "My Sister's Sleep," which he had written +about eighteen months before. + +Mr. Scott tells me that his first feeling on receiving these poems, +written in English by an Italian boy of eighteen, was one of +amazement. I cannot wonder at it. If the "Blessed Damozel," when it +was published a quarter of a century later, seemed a masterpiece to +those who had, in the meanwhile, read so much that was vaguely +inspired by it, what must it have been in 1846? Certain pieces in +Tennyson's "Poems," of 1842, and a few fragments of Browning's "Bells +and Pomegranates" were the only English poems which can be supposed to +have given it birth, even indirectly. In its interpretation of +mystical thoughts by concrete images, in its mediaeval fervor and +consistence of fancy, in its peculiar metrical facility, it was +distinctly new--original as few poems except those by the acknowledged +masters of the craft can ever be. + + "The sun was gone now; the curled moon + Was like a little feather + Fluttering far down the gulf; and now + She spoke through the clear weather. + Her voice was like the voice the stars + Had when they sang together." + +This was a strange accent in 1846. Miss Barrett and Mr. Tennyson were +then the most accepted poets. Mr. Browning spoke fluently and +persistently, but only to a very little circle; Mr. Horne's "Orion" +and Mr. Bailey's "Festus" were the recent outcomes of Keats and +Goethe; the Spasmodic School, to be presently born of much unwise +study of "Festus," was still unknown; Mr. Clough, Mr. Matthew Arnold, +and Mr. Patmore were quite unapparent, taking form and voice in +solitude; and here was a new singer, utterly unlike them all, pouring +out his first notes with the precision and independence of the +new-fledged thrush in the woodland chorus. + +In painting, the process was somewhat different. In this art, no less +than in poetry, Rossetti understood at once what it was that he wished +to do himself, and what he desired to see others doing; but the +difficulties of technique were in his way. He had begun to write in +childhood, but he had taken up design late in his youth, and he had +undergone no discipline in it. At the present day, when every student +has to pass a somewhat stringent examination in design, Rossetti, at +eighteen, could not have entered the schools of the Royal Academy. He +did so, however, yet without ever advancing to the Life School. The +soul of art, at this early period, interested him far more than the +body, especially such a substance as he found under the presidency of +Sir Martin Shee and the keepership of George Jones. Let us not forget, +meanwhile, that it is easy to sneer at the incompetence of mannered +old artists, and yet hard to over-estimate the value of discipline in +a school, however conventional. Rossetti was too impatient to learn to +draw, and this he lived to regret. His immediate associates, the young +men whom he began to lead and impress, were better draughtsmen than +he. His first oil picture, I believe, was a portrait of his father, +now in possession of the family. But, as far as can be now made out, +he did not begin to paint seriously till about January, 1848, when he +persuaded another Royal Academy student, W. Holman Hunt, to take a +large room close to the paternal house in Charlotte street, and make +it their studio. Here Mr. Scott visited them in the early spring of +that year; he describes to me the large pictures they were struggling +upon, Hunt, on his "Oath of Rienzi," and Rossetti, on his "Girlhood of +Mary Virgin." The latter was evidently at present but poorly equipped; +the painting was timid and boyish, pale in tone, and with no hint or +promise of that radiant color which afterward became Rossetti's main +characteristic. But the feeling was identical with that in his far +more accomplished early poems. The very pulse and throb of mediaeval +adoration pervaded the whole conception of the picture, and Mr. +Scott's first impression was that, in this marvellous poet and +possible painter, the new Tractarian movement had found its expositor +in art. Yet this surely was no such feeble or sentimental echo as had +inspired the declared Tractarian poets of eight or nine years earlier; +there was nothing here that recalled such a book as the "Cherwell +Water Lily" of Father Faber. This contained the genuine fleshly +mysticism, bodily presentment of a spiritual idea, and intimate +knowledge of mediaeval sentiment without which the new religious fervor +had no intellectual basis. This strong instinct for the forms of the +Catholic religion, combined with no attendance on the rites of that +church, fostered by no study of ecclesiastical literature or +association with teachers or proselytes, but original to himself and +self-supported, was at that time without doubt the feature in +Rossetti's intellectual character which demands our closest attention. +Nor do I believe that this passion for the physical presentation of a +mystical idea was ever entirely supplanted by those other views of +life and art which came to occupy his maturer mind. In his latest +poems--in "Rose Mary," for instance--I see this first impulse +returning upon him with more than its early fascination. In his youth, +however, the mysticism was very naive and straightforward. It was +fostered by one of the very few excursions which Rossetti ever took--a +tour in Belgium in October, 1849. I am told that he and the +painter-friend who accompanied him were so purely devoted to the +mediaeval aspect of all they saw, that, in walking through the +galleries, they turned away their heads in approaching modern +pictures, and carefully closed their eyes while they were passing +Rubens's "Descent from the Cross." In Belgium, or as the result of his +tour there, Rossetti wrote several curious poems, which were so harsh +and forced that he omitted them from his collection when he first +published his "Poems," in 1870. + +The effort in these early pieces is too marked. I remember once +hearing Rossetti say that he did not mind what people called him, if +only they would not call him "quaint." But the fact was that, if +quaintness be defined as the inability to conceal the labor of an art, +there is no doubt that both his poems and his designs occasionally +deserved this epithet. He was so excessively sincere an artist, so +determined not to permit anything like trickiness of effect or +meaningless smoothness to conceal the direct statement of an idea, +that his lack of initial discipline sometimes made itself felt in a +curious angular hardness. + +And now it would be necessary, if I were attempting a complete study +of Gabriel Rossetti's intellectual career, to diverge into a +description of what has so much exercised popular curiosity, the +pre-Raphaelite movement of 1848. But there is no reason why, in a few +notes on character, I should repeat from hearsay what several of the +seven brothers have reported from authoritative memory. It is +admitted, by them and by all who have understood the movement, that +Gabriel Rossetti was the founder and, in the Shakespearian sense, +"begetter" of all that was done by this earnest band of young artists. +One of them, Mr. Millais, was already distinguished; two others, Mr. +Holman Hunt and Mr. Woolner, had at that time more training and +technical power than he; but he was, nevertheless, the brain and soul +of the enterprise. What these young men proposed was excellently +propounded in the sonnet by "W. M. R.," which they prefixed to their +little literary venture, the "Germ," in 1850. Plainly to think even a +little thought, to express it in natural words which are native to the +speaker, to paint even an insignificant object as it is, and not as +the old masters or the new masters have said it should be painted, to +persevere in looking at truth and at nature without the smallest +prejudice for tradition, this was the whole mystery and cabal of the +P. R. B. They called themselves "preraphaelite," because they found in +the wings of Lippi's angels, and the columbines of Perugino's gardens +that loving and exact study of minute things which gave to them a +sense of sincerity, and which they missed in the breadth and ease of +later work. They had no ambition to "splash as no one splashed before +since great Caldasi Polidore;" but they did wish to draw a flower or a +cloud so that it should be a portrait of that cloud or flower. In this +ambition it would be curious to know, and I do not think that I have +ever heard it stated, how far they were influenced by Mr. Ruskin and +his "Modern Painters." I should not expect to find Rossetti influenced +by any outside force in this any more than in other instances, but at +all events Mr. Ruskin eagerly accepted the brotherhood as practical +exponents of the theories he had pronounced. None of them, I think, +knew him personally when he wrote the famous letter to the _Times_ in +1851, defending Mr. Millais and Mr. Holman Hunt from the abuse of +ignorant critics, who, he said, had failed to perceive the very +principles on which these "two young men" were proceeding. Somebody +wrote to him to explain that there were "three young men," and Mr. +Ruskin wrote a note to Gabriel Rossetti, desiring to see his work, and +thus the acquaintance of these two remarkable men commenced. + +Meanwhile, although the more vigorous members of the brotherhood had +shown no special sympathy for Rossetti's religious mysticism, a +feebler artist, himself one of the original seven, had taken it up +with embarrassing effusion. This was the late James Collinson, whose +principal picture, "St. Elizabeth of Hungary," finished in 1851, +produced a sort of crisis in Rossetti's career. This painting +out-mystified the mystic himself; it was simply maudlin and +hysterical, though drawn with some feeling for grace, and in a very +earnest spirit. Rossetti, with his strong good sense, recognized that +it would be impossible ever to reach the public with art of this +unmanly character, and from this time forth he began to abandon the +practice of directly sacred art. + +For some little time after abandoning the directly sacred field in +painting, Rossetti seems to have passed through a disconsolate and +dubious period. I am told that he worked for many months over a large +picture called "Kate the Queen," from some well-known words by +Browning. He made no progress with this, seemed dissatisfied with his +own media, felt the weight of his lack of training, and passed, in +short, through one of those downcast moods, which Shakespeare has so +marvellously described in "Tired with all these," and which are +incident, sooner or later, to every man of genius. While his touch in +poetry grew constantly more sure and masterly, his power as a +draughtsman threatened to leave him altogether. He was to have drawn +one of the frontispieces in the "Germ," but, although he toiled with a +design, he could not make it "come right." At last a happy accident +put him on the true track, and revealed his proper genius to himself. +He began to make small drawings of poetical subjects in +water-colors--most of those which I have seen are not more than twenty +inches by twelve--over which he labored, and into which he poured his +exquisite sense of color, inspired without doubt by the glass of +mediaeval church windows. He travelled so very little, that I do not +know whether he ever saw the treasures of radiant jewel-work which +fret the gloom of Chartres or of Bourges; but if he never saw them, he +divined them, and these are the only pieces of color which in the +least degree suggest the drawings of this, Rossetti's second period. +As far as one can gather, his method was, first, to become +interpenetrated with the sentiment of some ballad or passage of +emotional poetry, then to meditate on the scene till he saw it clearly +before him; then--and this seems to have always been the difficult and +tedious part--to draw in the design, and then with triumphant ease to +fill in the outlines with radiant color. He had an almost insuperable +difficulty in keeping his composition within the confines of the paper +upon which he worked, and at last was content to have a purely +accidental limit to the design, no matter what limbs of the _dramatis +personae_ were sheered away by the frame. It would not be the act of a +true friend to Rossetti's memory to pretend that these drawings, of +which for the next ten or fifteen years he continued to produce a +great number, were without faults of a nature which any coxcomb could +perceive, or without eccentricities which an untrained eye might +easily mistake for faults; but this does not in the least militate +against the fact that in two great departments of the painter's +faculty, in imaginative sentiment and in wealth of color, they have +never been surpassed. They have rarely, indeed, been equalled in the +history of painting. A Rossetti drawing of this class hung with +specimens of other art, ancient or modern, simply destroys them. I do +not mean that it is better or worse than they are, but that it kills +them as the electric light puts out a glow-worm. No other man's color +will bear these points of ruby-crimson, these expanses of deep +turquoise-blue, these flagrant scarlets and thunderous purples. He +paints the sleeve of a trumpeter; it is such an orange as the eye can +scarce endure to look at. He paints the tiles of a chimney-corner; +they are as green as the peacock's eyes in the sunshine. + +The world is seldom ready to receive any new thing. These drawings of +Rossetti's were scarcely noticed even by those who are habitually on +the watch for fresh developments in art. But when the painter next +emerges into something like publicity we find him attended by a +brilliant company of younger men, all more or less influenced by his +teaching and attracted by his gifts. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood +had been a very ephemeral institution; in three years, or four at the +most, it had ceased to exist; but its principles and the energy of its +founder had left their mark on the whole world of art. In 1849 +Rossetti had exhibited his picture, "The Girlhood of Mary Virgin," at +the Portland Gallery, an exhibition in rivalry of the Royal Academy, +which existed but a very short time. As far as I can discover, he did +not exhibit again in London until 1856, when he and his friends opened +a collection of their pictures at 4 Russell Place, Fitzroy Square. We +would rather have seen that little gallery than see most of the +show-exhibitions of Europe. In it the fine art of the Anglo-Saxon race +was seen dawning again after its long and dark night. Rossetti himself +was the principal exhibitor, but his two earliest colleagues, now +famous painters, Mr. Millais and Mr. Holman Hunt, also contributed. +And here were all the new talents whom Rossetti had attracted around +him during the last seven years: Mr. Madox Brown, with his fine genius +for history; Mr. J. D. Watson, with his strong mediaeval affinities; +Mr. Boyce, with his delicate portraiture of rustic scenes; Mr. Brett, +the finest of our students of the sea; Mr. W. B. Scott himself; +besides one or two others, Mr. Charles Collins, Mr. Campbell, Mr. +Halliday, Mr. Martineau, whom death or adverse fortune removed before +they had quite fulfilled their promise. Gabriel Rossetti contributed +to this interesting and historic exhibition five or six of those +marvellous drawings of which mention has just been made. "Dante's +Dream," the famous vision of June 9, 1290, with its counterpart, "The +Anniversary of the Dream," in 1291, were the most prominent of these. +A "Mary Magdalene" was perhaps the most moving and exciting. This +extremely original design showed the Magdalene pursued by her lovers, +but turning away from them all to seek Jesus in the house of Simon the +Pharisee. The architecture in this drawing was almost childish; the +wall of Simon's house is not three inches thick, and there is not room +for a grown-up person on the stairs that lead to it; but the tender +imagination of the whole, the sweet persuasiveness of Christ, who +looks out of a window, the passion of the awakened sinner, who tears +the roses out of her hair, the curious novelty of treatment in the +heads and draperies, all these combine to make it one of those works, +the moral force and directness of which appeal to the heart at once. +Perhaps the most brilliant piece of color at the Russell Place Gallery +may have been Rossetti's "Blue Closet," a picture which either +illustrated or, as I should rather suppose, suggested Mr. Morris's +wonderful poem published two years later. + +The same year that displayed him to the public already surrounded by a +brilliant phalanx of painter-friends, discovered him also, to the +judicious, as a centre of poetic light and heat. The circumstances +connected with Rossetti's visit to Oxford a little earlier than this +are too recent, are fresh in the memories of too many living persons +of distinction, to be discussed with propriety by one who was not +present. But certain facts are public, and may be mentioned. The +Oxford Union still shows around the interior of its cupola strange, +shadowy frescoes, melting into nothingness, which are the work of six +men, of whom Rossetti was the leader. These youths had enjoyed no +practical training in that particularly artificial branch of art, +mural painting, and yet it seems strange that Rossetti himself, at +least, should not have understood that a vehicle, such as yolk of egg +mixed with vinegar, was absolutely necessary to tempera, or that it +was proper, in fresco-painting, to prepare the walls, and paint in the +fresh wet mortar. They used no vehicle, they fixed their colors in no +coat of plaster, but they threw their ineffectual dry paint on the +naked brick. The result has been that their interesting boyish efforts +are now decayed beyond any chance of restoration. It is impossible, +however, to ascend the gallery of the Oxford Union and examine the +ghostly frescoes that are fading there, without great interest and +even emotion. Of the young men who painted there under Gabriel +Rossetti's eye, all have become greatly distinguished. Mr. Edward +Burne-Jones, Mr. William Morris, and Mr. Spencer Stanhope were +undergraduates at Oxford. Mr. Valentine Prinsep and Mr. Arthur Hughes, +I believe, were Royal Academy students who were invited down by +Rossetti. Their work was naive and queer to the last degree. It is +perhaps not fair to say which one of them found so much difficulty in +painting the legs of his figures that he drew an impenetrable covert +of sunflowers right across his picture, and only showed the faces of +his heroes and heroines between the golden disks. + +The _Oxford and Cambridge Magazine_, which also dates from the year +1856, is a still more notable expression of budding genius than the +dome of the Oxford Union. It was edited by Mr. Godfrey Lushington, all +its articles were anonymous, and it contrived to exist through twelve +consecutive monthly numbers. A complete set is now rare, and the +periodical itself is much less known than befits such a receptacle of +pure literature. It contains three or four of Rossetti's finest poems; +a great many of those extraordinary pieces, steeped in mediaeval +coloring, which Mr. William Morris was to collect in 1858 into his +bewitching volume, called "The Defence of Guenevere;" several +delightful prose stories of life in the Middle Ages, also by Mr. +Morris, which, like certain prose romances by Mr. Burne-Jones, have +never been publicly claimed or reprinted by their author; and not a +little else that was as new as it was notable. A little later Mr. +William Morris's first book was dedicated "To my Friend Dante Gabriel +Rossetti, Painter," and in 1860 Mr. Swinburne followed with a like +inscription of his first-fruits, his tragic drama of "The +Queen-Mother." Thus in the course of a little more than ten years, +Rossetti had become the centre and sun of a galaxy of talent in poetry +and painting, more brilliant perhaps than any which has ever +acknowledged the beneficent sway of any one Englishman of genius. + +But all this while the world outside knew nothing of the matter. One +by one the younger men stepped forward on the public stage and secured +the plaudits of the discerning, and ascended the slow incline of +general reputation. But Rossetti remained obstinately recluse, far +preferring to be the priest and confessor of genius to acting himself +a public part. To this determination several outward things engaged +him still further. He married quite early in life; and his wife, who +was herself an artist of rare, if somewhat wild and untrained talent, +bore him a son who died at birth, and then shortly after died herself. +During his brief married months Rossetti had collected the MSS. of his +poems, and thought to publish them; but when he lost his wife, in a +paroxysm of grief he placed the sheets of his poems in her coffin, and +would hear no more a suggestion of publication. In 1861 he presented +the world with a very learned and beautiful anthology of early Italian +poetry, and proposed as early as that year to print his original +poems. It was his scheme to name the little volume "Dante in Verona, +and other Poems;" but it came to nothing. About 1867 the scheme of +publication again took possession of him. I have been told that a +sudden sentiment of middle age, the fact that he found himself in his +fortieth year, led him to conquer his scruples, and finally arrange +his pieces. But he was singularly fastidious; the arrangement would +never please him; the cover must be cut in brass, the paper at the +sides must bear a special design. These niceties were rarer twelve +years ago than they are now, and the printers fatigued him with their +persistent obstinacy. It was not till early in 1870 that the "Poems" +in stately form first appeared, and were hailed with a shout of +admiration which was practically universal. + +It was about Christmas in that same year, 1870, that he who writes +these lines was first presented to Gabriel Rossetti. The impression on +my mental eye is as fresh as if it had been made yesterday, instead of +twelve years ago. He was a man of average height, commonly loosely +clad in black, so as to give one something of the notion of an abbe; +the head very full, and domed like that of Shakespeare, as it was then +usual to say--to my thinking more like that of Chaucer--in any case a +head surcharged with imagination and power, strongly Italian in color +and cast. The eyes were exceedingly deep set, in cavernous sockets; +they were large, and black, and full of a restless brilliance, a +piercing quality which consoled the shy novice by not being +stationary. Lastly, a voice of bell-like tone and sonority, a voice +capable of expressing without effort every shade of emotion from rage +and terror to the most sublime tenderness. I have never heard a voice +so fitted for poetical effect, so purely imaginative, and yet, in its +absence of rhetoric, so clear and various, as that of Gabriel +Rossetti. I retain one special memory of his reading in his own +studio the unfinished MS. of "Rose Mary," in 1873, which surpassed in +this direction any pleasure which it has been my lot to enjoy; and on +various occasions I have listened to his reading of sonnets, his own +and those of others, with a sense that his intonation revealed a +beauty in the form of that species of verse which it had never been +seen to possess before. I have already spoken of his wonderful +courtliness to a new acquaintance, his bewitching air of sympathy; on +a closer intimacy this stately manner would break up into wild fits of +mirth, and any sketch of Rossetti would be incomplete that did not +describe his loud and infectious laughter. He lived very much apart +from the every-day life of mankind, not ostentatiously, but from a +genuine lack of interest in passing events. An old friend tells me +that during the French Revolution he burst into Rossetti's studio with +the incredible news, "Louis-Philippe has landed in England!" "Has he?" +said Rossetti, calmly. "What has he come for?" That certain political +events, in which he saw a great symbolic significance, could move him +deeply, is easily proved by such sonnets as the noble "On the Refusal +of Aid between Nations," and "Czar Alexander II." But such glances out +of window into the living street were rare, and formed no +characteristic part of his scheme of life. + +As a poet in these great years he possessed rare gifts of passionate +utterance, and harmony of vision and expression. Mr. Swinburne has +characterized these qualities in words which leave no later +commentator the chance of distinguishing himself. But it would be +totally unjust, even in so cursory and personal a sketch as this, to +allow the impression to go undisputed that Rossetti preferred the +external form to the inward substance of poetry. This charge was +brought against him, as it has always been brought against earnest +students of poetic art. I will rather quote a few words from a letter +of Rossetti to me, written in 1873, when he was composing his own +_magnum opus_ of "Rose Mary." I have always felt them to be very +salutary, none the less because it is obvious that the writer did not +at all times contrive, or perhaps desire, to make them true in his own +work: + +"It seems to me that all poetry, to be really enduring, is bound to be +as _amusing_ (however trivial the word may sound) as any other class +of literature; and I do not think that enough amusement to keep it +alive can ever be got out of incidents not amounting to events, or out +of travelling experiences of an ordinary kind however agreeably, +observantly, or even thoughtfully treated. I would eschew in writing +all themes that are not so trenchantly individualized as to leave no +margin for discursiveness." + +During the last eight years of his life, Rossetti's whole being was +clouded by the terrible curse of an excitable temperament--sleeplessness. +To overcome this enemy, which interfered with his powers of work and +concentration of thought, he accepted the treacherous aid of the new +drug, chloral, which was then vaunted as perfectly harmless in its +effect upon the health. The doses of chloral became more and more +necessary to him, and I am told that at last they became so frequent and +excessive that no case has been recorded in the annals of medicine in +which one patient has taken so much, or even half so much, chloral as +Rossetti took. Under this unwholesome drug his constitution, originally +a magnificent one, slipped unconsciously into decay, the more stealthily +that the poison seemed to have no effect whatever on the powers of the +victim's intellect. He painted until physical force failed him; he wrote +brilliantly to the very last, and two sonnets dictated by him on his +death-bed are described to me as being entirely worthy of his mature +powers. There is something almost melancholy in such a proof of the +superior vitality of the brain. If the mind had shared the weakness of +the body, the insidious enemy might perhaps have been routed in time to +secure the elastic rebound of both. But when the chloral was stoutly met +at last, it was too late. + +So at the age of fifty-four we have lost a man whom we should have +retained, in the nature of things, for twenty years longer in the +plentitude of his powers, but for a mistake in hygiene--a medical +experiment. His work of inspiring the young, of projecting his fiery +originality along the veins of others, was perhaps completed; it is +doubtful whether this can ever be continued with advantage through +more than two generations. The prophet is apt at last to become a +tyrant, and from this ill apotheosis Rossetti was spared. But there +was no reason why he should not, for at least a score of years, have +produced noble pictures and have written gorgeous poems, emphasizing a +personal success which he would have extended, though he hardly could +have raised it. Yet he was always a melancholy man; of late years he +had become almost a solitary man. Like Charles of Austria, he had +disbanded his body-guard, and had retired to the cloister. Perhaps a +longer life would not have brought much enjoyment with it. But these +are idle speculations, and we have rather to call to our remembrance +the fact that one of the brightest and most distinguished of our race, +a man whose very existence was a protest against narrowness of aim and +feebleness of purpose, one of the great torch-bearers in the +procession of English art, has been called from us in the prime of +life, before the full significance of his genius had been properly +felt. He was the contemporary of some mighty names older than his, yet +there scarcely was to be found among them all a spirit more thoroughly +original; and surely, when the paltry conflicts of passing taste are +laid to rest forever, it will be found that this man has written his +signature indelibly on one of the principal pages of the register of +our intellectual history. + +[Signature of the author.] + + + + +GUSTAVE DORE[11] + + [Footnote 11: Reprinted by permission, from the "Nation."] + +By KENYON COX + +(1832-1883) + + +[Illustration: Gustave Dore.] + +It is now eleven years since Gustave Dore died. He was an officer of +the Legion of Honor, had attained considerable wealth, and was +probably more widely known than any other artist of his day. His name +was a household word in two continents. Yet he died a disappointed and +embittered man, and is proclaimed by his friends as a neglected and +misunderstood genius. He was known the world over as the most +astonishingly prolific illustrator of books that has ever lived; he +wished to be known in France as a great painter and a great sculptor, +and because the artists and critics of France never seriously +recognized his claims to this glory, he seems to have become a victim +of the mania of persecution, and his naturally sunny nature was +over-clouded with moroseness and suspicion. Hailed by some as the +emulator and equal of the great names of the Italian Renaissance, and +considered a great moral force--a "preacher painter"--by others he has +been denounced as "designer in chief to the devil," and described as a +man wallowing in all foulness and horror, a sort of demon of frightful +power. Both these extreme judgments are English. The late Blanchard +Jerrold, an intimate friend and collaborator of the artist, takes the +first view. Mr. Ruskin and Mr. Hamerton have taken the second. Dore's +own countrymen have never accepted either. Just where, between them, +the truth lies, as we see it, we shall endeavor to show in this +article. + +The main facts of Dore's life may be dismissed very briefly. He was +born with a caul on January 6, 1832, in the Rue Bleue at Strasbourg, +near the Cathedral. About 1841 his father removed to Bourg, in the +Department of Ain, where he was chief government engineer of the +department. These two residences of the young artist are supposed to +account for the mastery of Gothic architecture and of mountain scenery +which his admirers find in his mature work. He showed very early in +life a passion for drawing, and, as a small child, had always a pencil +in his hand, which he begged to have "sharpened at both ends," that he +might work longer without interruption. His father intended him for an +engineer, but he was determined from the first to be an artist. He was +of a gay and jovial disposition, given to pranks and practical jokes, +and of an athletic temperament. Theophile Gautier afterward called him +a "gamin de genie." In 1847, when he was fifteen years old, being in +Paris with his parents, he called upon Phillippon, the publisher, and +showed him some of his sketches. M. Phillippon looked at them, and +sent a letter to Dore's parents, persuading them to allow the boy to +remain in Paris, and promising them to begin using his work at once +and to pay for it. Thus, without any study of art whatever, he began +his career, and in a few years had produced a prodigious quantity of +work, and was a celebrated man before he was twenty. No one knows how +many drawings he made. He "lived like an Arab," worked early and late, +and with astonishing rapidity made thousands of drawings for the comic +papers, besides early beginning the publication of independent books. +One estimate, which Mr. Jerrold thinks excessive, credits him with +having published forty thousand drawings before he was forty! Mr. +Jerrold himself reckons two hundred and sixty-six drawings done in one +year. His "Labors of Hercules" was brought out in 1848, when he was +sixteen, and before he was twenty-seven he had published his "Holy +Russia," his "Wandering Jew," his illustrations to Balzac's "Contes +Drolatiques," to Rabelais, and many other authors. His best work was +done at an age when most artists are painfully acquiring the rudiments +of their art. We all know the books that followed. + +Meanwhile he was determined to be known as a great painter, and, while +flooding the market with his countless illustrations, was working at +great canvases of Biblical subjects, which, though the French would +not accept them, were hugely admired in the Dore Gallery of London. +Later he tried sculpture also, and his last work was a monument to +Alexandre Dumas, which he made at his own expense, and presented to +the city of Paris. He died in the beginning of the year 1883, worn out +with excessive production--a great name, but an unsatisfied man. + +Mr. Jerrold has divided his book into two parts, dealing first with +Dore the illustrator, and then with Dore the painter and sculptor. It +is an eminently natural arrangement, and, in our effort to arrive at +Dore's true position in art, we cannot do better than to follow it. + +Dore's earliest work was frankly that of a caricaturist. He had a +quick eye, no training, and a certain extravagant imagination, and +caricature was his inevitable field. He was, however, as Mr. Jerrold +himself remarks, "a caricaturist who seldom raises a laugh." Not +hearty fun, still less delicate humor, was his. In the higher +qualities of caricature his contemporaries, Daumier and Gavarni, were +vastly his superiors. An exuberance of grotesque fancy and a +recklessness of exaggeration were his dominant notes. His earlier +work, up to and including the Rabelais, is not really funny--to many +minds it is even painful--but it is unmistakably caricature of a +dashing, savage sort. To our mind it remains his best work, and that +by which he is most likely to live. At least it is the work that +formed him and fixed his characteristics, and an understanding of it +is essential to any judgment of him. The qualities and the defects of +his later work--that which is most praised and most blamed in his +production--are inherent in the work of this period, and are best +explained by a reference to the latter. + +Take, for instance, what has been denounced as his love of horrors and +of foulness, his delight in blood and massacre. He is scored for this +as if he were one of that modern French school, beginning, perhaps, +with Regnault, who have revelled in the realistic presentation of +executions and battles, and have sought to effect by sheer +sensationalism what they could not by gentler means. It is surprising +that his critics have not seen that Dore's battles are always, even to +the end, the battles of a caricaturist. His decapitated trunks, cloven +heads, smoking hearts, arms still fighting though severed from their +bodies, are simply a debauch of grim humor. There is never the +slightest attempt to realize carnage--only to convey, by the +caricaturist's exaggeration, an idea of colossally impossible +bloodthirstiness. One may not enjoy this kind of fun, but to take it +seriously, as the emanation of a gloomy and diabolic genius, is +absurd. + +The same test is equally destructive of much of the praise Dore has +received. He is constantly spoken of, even by severe critics of his +painting, as a great illustrator who identified himself with the minds +of one great writer after another. But Dore identified himself with no +one; he was always Dore. Even in these early drawings he cannot keep +to the spirit of the text, though the subjects suited him much better +than many he tried later. There is a great deal of broad gayety and +"Gallic wit" in the "Contes Drolatiques," but it was not broad enough +for Dore, and he has converted its most human characters into +impossible grotesques. + +Another thing for which Dore is praised is his wonderful memory. Mr. +Jerrold repeats more than once Dore's phrase, "I have lots of +collodion in my head," and recounts how he could scarcely be induced +to make sketches from nature, but relied upon his memory. He also +speaks of Dore's system of dividing and subdividing a subject, and +noting the details in their places, so that he could reproduce the +whole afterward. This question of work from memory is one of the most +vital for an understanding of Dore, and one of general interest in all +matters of art, and is worth attention. Of course, a man who made +hundreds of drawings every year could not work much from nature, and +came to rely upon his memory. But what is the nature of artistic +memory, and how does it perform its task? We think the truth is, that +the artist who habitually works from memory, fills in his details, not +from memory of the object, but from memory of the way he has formerly +drawn similar objects. He reverts to a series of formulae that he has +gradually accumulated. This man must have a cloak. This is the way a +cloak is done. A hand? Nothing can be easier; the hand formula is +ready. The stock in trade of the professional illustrator and +caricaturist is made up of a thousand such formulae--methods of +expression that convey the idea readily enough to the spectator, but +have little relation to fact. So it is that Dore never learned, in the +true sense, to draw. He had made for himself a sort of artistic +shorthand, which enabled him to convey his superabundant ideas quickly +and certainly to his public, but his drawing is what is called +mannered in the extreme. It is not representation of nature at all, +but pure formula and chic. He is said to be a master of drapery, but +he never drew a single fold correctly. He is said to show great +knowledge of Gothic architecture, but he never drew well a single +column or finial. In his later years he studied anatomy with great +perseverance, and advocated the necessity of dissection, saying, "Il +faut fourrer la main dedans" (You must stick your hand in it); but the +manner was formed, and he never drew a leg with a bone in it. + +With this equipment he illustrated Don Quixote, Dante, the Bible. Is +it strange that he shows no sympathy with the grand simplicity of +Dante, or the subtle humor of Cervantes, and that we can only be +thankful that he never completed his projected illustrations to +Shakespeare? Dore, the illustrator, was fecund beyond precedent, +possessed a certain strange drollery, had a wonderful flow of ideas, +but was superficial, theatrical, and mannered, and as far from +expressing real horror as from expressing real fun. What shall we say +of Dore the painter and sculptor? + +Mr. Jerrold reports a discussion between Dore and Theophile Gautier, +in which the roles of artist and man of letters are strangely +reversed. "Gautier and Dore," he says, "disagreed fundamentally on the +aims and methods of art. Gautier loved correctness, perfect form--the +technique, in short, of art; whereas Dore contended that art which +said nothing, which conveyed no idea, albeit perfect in form and +color, missed the highest quality and raison d'etre of art." What is +plain from this is, that Gautier was an artist and cared first of all +for art, while Dore was never an artist, properly speaking, at all, +and never understood the artist's passion for perfection. To Dore, +what was necessary was to express himself anyhow--who cared if the +style was defective, the drawing bad, the color crude? The idea was +the thing. His admirers can defend him only on this ground, and they +adopt of necessity the Philistine point of view. The artists of Dore's +time and country were very clear in their opinion. "The painters," +says Mr. Jerrold, "said he could not paint." + +The sculptors admitted that he had ideas in his groups, but he was not +sculpturesque. His friends protest against this judgment, and +attribute it, _ad nauseam_, to "malevolence" and "envy." What if his +technique was less brilliant than that of Hals, they say; what if his +shadows are less transparent than those of Rembrandt (and they will +make no meaner comparison)? He is "teeming with noble thoughts," and +these will put his work "on a level with the masterpieces of the +Italian masters of the sixteenth century." It is the conception, the +creation--not the perfect painting of legs and arms and heads, the +harmonious grouping, the happy and delicate combination of color--by +which the observer is held spell bound. All these qualities, which +his admirers grudgingly admit that Dore had not, are classed as "mere +dexterity," and are not considered worth a second thought. + +This is the true literary gospel of art, but it is one that no artist, +and no critic who has any true feeling of art, has ever accepted or +will ever accept. Thoughts, ideas, conceptions, may enhance the value +of a work of art, provided it is first of all a piece of beautiful art +in itself, but they have never preserved, and never will preserve from +oblivion bad painting or bad sculpture. The style is the artist, if +not the man; and of the two, beautiful painting with no idea at all +(granting, for the sake of argument, that it exists), will ever be +infinitely more valuable to the world than the lame expression of the +noblest thoughts. What may be the real value of Dore's thoughts is +therefore a question with which we have no concern. As painter and +sculptor, his lack of education and his great technical +imperfections--his bad drawing, false light and shade, and crude +color--relegate him forever to a rank far below mediocrity. Such +reputation as he has is the result of the admiration of those +altogether ignorant of art, but possessed of enough literary ability +to trumpet abroad their praises of "great conceptions," and will as +surely fade away to nothing as the reputation of such simple painters +as Van Der Meer or Chardin will continue to grow, while painting as an +art is loved and understood. + + + + +COMPOSERS + + + + +HANDEL + +By C. E. BOURNE + +(1685-1759) + + +George Frederick Handel, of whom Haydn once reverently said, "He is +the master of us all," was born at Halle, in Lower Saxony, on February +23, 1685. His father was a surgeon, and sixty-three years of age at +the time of his birth--a terribly severe old man, who, almost before +his son was born, had determined that he should be a lawyer. The +little child knew nothing of the fate before him, he only found that +he was never allowed to go near a musical instrument, much as he +wanted to hear its sweet sounds, and the obstinate father even took +him away from the public day-school for the simple reason that the +musical gamut was taught there in addition to ordinary reading, +writing, and arithmetic. + +But love always "finds out the way," and his mother or nurse managed +to procure for him the forbidden delights; a small clavichord, or dumb +spinet, with the strings covered with strips of cloth to deaden the +sound, was found for the child, and this he used to keep hidden in the +garret, creeping away to play it in the night-time, when everyone was +asleep, or whenever his father was away from home doctoring his +patients. + +[Illustration: Handel.] + +But, at last, when George Frederick was seven years of age, the old +man was compelled to change his views. It happened in this way. He set +out one day on a visit to the court of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, +where another son by a former marriage was a page. George Frederick +had been teasing his father to let him go with him to see his elder +brother, whom he had not yet met, but this was refused. When old +Handel started by the stagecoach the next morning, the persistent +little fellow was on the watch; he began running after it, and at +length the father was constrained to stop the coach and take the boy +in. So, though at the expense of a severe scolding, the child had his +way and was allowed to go on to Saxe-Weissenfels. When there, the +chapel, with the beautiful organ, was the great attraction, and George +Frederick, as indomitable then as he was in after-life, found his way +into the organ loft, and when the regular service was over, contrived +to take the organist's place, and began a performance of his own; and +strange to say, though he had not had the slightest training, a melody +with chords and the correct harmonies was heard. The duke had not left +the chapel, and noticing the difference in style from that of the +ordinary organist, inquired as to the player, and when the little boy +was brought to him he soon discovered, by the questions he put, the +great passion for music which possessed the child. The duke, a +sensible man, told the father it would be wrong to oppose the +inclination of a boy who already displayed such extraordinary genius; +and old Handel, either convinced, or at any rate submitting to the +duke's advice, promised to procure for his son regular musical +instruments. Handel never afterward forgot the debt of gratitude he +owed to the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels for this intercession. + +On his return to Halle he became the pupil of Zachau, the organist of +the cathedral there. This man was an excellent teacher and a sound +musician. Before the pupil was nine years old his instructor used to +set him to write fugues and motets as exercises, and before long the +boy was allowed to play the organ at the cathedral services on Sunday, +whenever the elder musician was inclined to linger over his breakfast +or to take a holiday. At last, when young Handel was nine years old, +the master honestly confessed that his pupil knew more music than he +himself did, and advised that he should be sent to Berlin for a course +of further study there. Thither he accordingly went in the year 1696. + +In Berlin the boy of eleven years was soon recognized as a prodigy. +There he met two Italian composers of established reputation, +Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti, both of whom he was to encounter in +after-life, though under very different circumstances, in London. +Bononcini, who was of a sour and jealous disposition, soon conceived +a dislike for the gifted little fellow, and attempted to injure him by +composing a piece for the harpsichord full of the most extraordinary +difficulties, and then asking him to play it at sight. The boy, +however, at once executed it without a mistake, and thus the malicious +schemer was foiled by his own device. Attilio was of a different +disposition; he praised the young musician to the skies, and was never +weary of sitting by his side at the organ or harpsichord, and hearing +him improvise for hours. The Elector of Brandenburg also conceived a +great admiration for the boy's talents, and offered to send him to +Italy. On old Handel being consulted, however, he pleaded that he was +now an old man, and wished his son to remain near him. In consequence +of this, probably much to the boy's disappointment, he was brought +back to Halle, and there set to work again under his old master, +Zachau. + +Soon after this return his father died, in 1697, leaving hardly +anything for his family, and young Handel had now to seriously bestir +himself to make a living. With this object he went to Hamburg, where +he obtained a place as second violin in the Opera-house. Soon after +arriving there, the post of organist at Luebeck became vacant, and +Handel was a candidate for it. But a peculiar condition was attached +to the acceptance of the office; the new organist must marry the +daughter of the old one! And, as Handel either did not approve of the +lady, or of matrimony generally (and in fact he never was married), he +promptly retired from the competition. At first, no one suspected the +youth's talents, for he amused himself by pretending to be an +ignoramus, until one day the accompanyist on the harpsichord (then the +most important instrument in an orchestra) was absent, and young +Handel took his place, astonishing everybody by his masterly touch. +Probably this discovery aroused the jealousy of some of his +brother-artists, for soon afterward a duel took place between him and +Matheson, a clever composer and singer, who one night, in the midst of +a quarrel on leaving the theatre, gave him a box on the ear; swords +were drawn, and the duel took place there and then under the portico +of the theatre. Fortunately Matheson's weapon was shivered by coming +in contact with a metal button on his opponent's coat. Explanations +were then offered, and the two adversaries became friends--indeed, +close friends--afterward. "Almira, Queen of Castile," Handel's first +opera, was brought out in Hamburg in 1705, and was followed by two +others, "Nero," and "Daphne," all received with great favor, and +frequently performed. + +[Illustration: Handel's River-Concert for George I.] + +But the young musician determined to visit Italy as soon as possible, +and after staying in Hamburg three years, and having, besides the +money he sent his mother, saved two hundred ducats for travelling +expenses, he was able to set off on the journey, then one of the great +events in a musician's lifetime. He visited Florence, Venice, Rome, +and Naples, in almost every city writing operas, which we are told +were produced with the most brilliant success. At Venice an opera was +sought for from him, and in three weeks he had written "Agrippina." +When produced, the people received it with frantic enthusiasm, the +theatre resounding with shouts of "Viva il caro Sassone!" (Long live +the dear Saxon!) The following story illustrates the extraordinary +fame he so quickly acquired in Italy. He arrived at Venice during +the middle of the carnival, and was taken to a masked ball, and there +played the harpsichord, still keeping on his mask. Domenico Scarlatti, +the most famous harpsichord player of his age, on hearing him, +exclaimed, "Why, it's the devil, or else the Saxon whom everyone is +talking about!" In 1709 he returned to Hanover, and was appointed by +the Elector George of Brunswick, afterward King George I., of England, +his Court Capellmeister. + +Handel's wanderings next led him to England, where he was treated with +so much honor that he showed no great hurry to return to Hanover, and, +in fact, he remained in England and coolly ignored his engagement as +Capellmeister. But an awkward piece of retribution was at hand. The +Elector of Hanover, on the death of Queen Anne, came to England as the +new king, and Handel, his delinquent Capellmeister, could hardly +expect to receive any share of the royal favor in future. With the +help of a friend of his, Baron Kilmanseck, he determined, however, to +make an attempt to conciliate the king, and accordingly he wrote +twenty-five short concerted pieces of music, and made arrangements for +these to be performed by musicians in a boat following the royal barge +on the Thames, one day when the king went on an excursion up the river +for a picnic. The king recognized the composer at once by his style, +and spoke in terms of approbation of the music, and the news was +quickly conveyed by his friend to the anxious musician. This is the +story of the origin of the famous "Water Music." Soon afterward the +king allowed Handel to appear before him to play the harpsichord +accompaniments to some sonatas executed by Geminiani, a celebrated +Italian violinist, and finally peace was made between them, Handel +being appointed music-master to the royal children, and receiving an +additional pension of L200. In 1726 a private Act of Parliament was +passed, making George Frederick Handel a naturalized Englishman. + +In the year 1720 a number of noblemen formed themselves into a company +for the purpose of reviving Italian opera in London, at the Haymarket +Theatre, and subscribed a capital of L50,000. The king himself +subscribed L1,000, and allowed the society to take the name of the +Royal Academy of Music, and at first everything seemed to promise the +most brilliant success. Handel was appointed director of the music. +Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti, his old acquaintances in Berlin, were +also attracted by this new operatic venture to London, and their +arrival was followed by a competition of a very novel character. The +libretto of a new opera, "Muzio Scaevola," was divided between the +three composers. Attilio was to put the first act to music, Bononcini +the second, and Handel the third. We need hardly wonder that the +victory is said to have rested with the last and youngest of the trio, +although at this time the cabals against him, which afterward were to +do him such grievous harm, had already commenced. + +Handel still clung to the operatic speculation; and when he had to +leave the Haymarket Theatre, which was given up to another Italian +company with the famous Farinelli, from Lincoln's Inn Fields, +undauntedly he changed to the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, and there +commenced again. More operas were produced, with the one unvarying +tale of fiasco, and at last, in 1737, having lost the whole of his +hardly earned money, Handel was compelled to close the theatre, and, +worse than all, to suspend payment for a time. Happily he now turned +his thoughts to oratorio. "Saul" and "Israel in Egypt" were composed +in quick succession; the last gigantic work being written in the +almost incredibly short space of twenty-seven days. How great it is +everyone now knows, but, at the time the colossal choruses were +actually considered a great deal too heavy and monotonous; and Handel, +always quick in resource, at the second performance introduced a +number of operatic songs to make them go down better, and after the +third performance the piece was withdrawn altogether. Fortunately, +opinions have changed since then. These works were followed by his +fine setting of Dryden's "Ode on St. Cecilia's Day," and Milton's +"L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso;" but it cannot be said that his +pecuniary affairs were materially improved by their production. + +The first performance of his greatest oratorio, the "Messiah," took +place at Neale's Music Hall, in Dublin, on April 18, 1742, at mid-day, +and, apropos of the absurdities of fashion, it may be noticed that the +announcements contained the following request: "That ladies who honor +this performance with their presence, will be pleased to come without +hoops, as it will greatly increase the charity by making room for more +company." The work was gloriously successful, and L400 were obtained +the first day for the Dublin charities. Handel seems always to have +had a special feeling with regard to this masterpiece of his--as if it +were too sacred to be merely used for making money by, like his other +works. He very frequently assisted at its performance for the benefit +of the Foundling Hospital, and he left the score as a precious gift to +the governor of that institution. This work alone brought no less a +sum than L10,299 to the funds of the hospital. In this connection a +fine saying of his may be repeated. Lord Kinnoul had complimented him +on the noble "entertainment" which by the "Messiah" he had lately +given the town. "My Lord," said Handel, "I should be sorry if I only +entertained them--I wish to make them better." And when someone +questioned him on his feelings when composing the "Hallelujah Chorus," +he replied in his peculiar English, "I did think I did see all heaven +before me, and the great God himself." What a fine saying that was of +poor old George III., in describing the "pastoral symphony" in this +oratorio--"I could see the stars shining through it!" + +The now constant custom of the audience to rise and remain standing +during the performance of this chorus, is said to have originated in +the following manner: On the first production of the work in London, +"the audience were exceedingly struck and affected by the music in +general; but when that chorus struck up, 'For the Lord God Omnipotent' +in the 'Hallelujah,' they were so transported that they all together, +with the king (who happened to be present), started up and remained +standing till the chorus ended." "This anecdote I had from Lord +Kinnoul." So says Dr. Beattie, the once famous poet, in one of his +letters. + +The "Messiah" was commenced on August 22, 1741, finished on September +12th, and the orchestration filled up two days afterward--the whole +work thus being completed in twenty-three days. Handel was fifty-six +years old at the time. + +The next ten years of the life of the "Goliath of Music," as he has +been called, are marked by some of the most splendid achievements of +his genius. "Samson," the "Dettingen Te Deum," "Joseph," "Belshazzar," +"The Occasional Oratorio," "Judas Maccabeus," "Joshua," "Solomon," +and, "Theodora," being composed by him during this time, when, already +an old man, it might have been thought that he would have taken some +repose after the labors of so toilsome and troubled a life. But, +oak-like, he was one of those who mature late; like Milton, his +greatest works were those of his old age. + +But a terrible misfortune was approaching--his eyesight was failing. +The "drop serene," of which Milton speaks so pathetically, had fallen +on his eyes, and at the time when, in February, 1752, he was composing +his last work, "Jephtha" (the one containing "Deeper and Deeper +Still," and "Waft her, Angels"), the effort in tracing the lines is, +in the original MS., very painfully apparent. Soon afterward he +submitted to three operations, but they were in vain, and henceforth +all was to be dark to him. His sole remaining work was now to +improvise on the organ, and to play at performances of his oratorios. +There is a pathetic story told of an incident that occurred on one +occasion, when "Samson" was given. While the magnificent air, + + Total eclipse! no sun, no moon! + All dark, amidst the blaze of noon. + O glorious light! no cheering ray + To glad my eyes with welcome day. + Why thus deprived thy prime decree? + Sun, moon, and stars are dark to me-- + +was being sung by Beard, the tenor, the blind old man, seated at the +organ, was seen to tremble and grow pale, and then, when he was led +forward to the audience to receive their applause, tears were in the +eyes of nearly everyone present at the sight. It was like the scene +that is described in Beethoven's life on the occasion of that +composer's appearance, when almost totally deaf, to conduct his great +Choral Symphony at Vienna. + +One night, on returning home from a performance of the "Messiah" at +Covent Garden, Handel was seized with sudden weakness and retired +hurriedly to bed, from which he was never to rise again. He prayed +that he might breathe his last on Good Friday, "in hope of meeting his +God, his sweet Lord and Saviour on the day of his resurrection." And +strangely enough his wish was granted, for on Good Friday, April 13, +1759, he quietly passed away from this life, being then seventy-four +years of age. His remains were laid in Poets' Corner in Westminster +Abbey, and the place is marked by a statue by Roubilliac, representing +him leaning over a table covered with musical instruments, his hand +holding a pen, and before him is laid the "Messiah," open at the +words, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." + + + + +MOZART + +By C. E. BOURNE + +(1756-1791) + + +[Illustration: Mozart.] + +Leopold Mozart was a violinist in the band of Archbishop Sigismund, +the reigning Prince of Salzburg, and it was probably in compliment to +his master that he bestowed on the youngest of his seven children the +name of Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Sigismundus. Born +on January 27, 1756, this child was destined to make the name of +Mozart famous wherever music is known; and surely no more beautiful +life--beautiful in itself and in the works of immortal beauty which in +its short course were produced--has ever been lived by anyone of those +to whom the crown of inspired singers and an enduring monument in the +temple of art has been given. "Look around," was the epitaph on a +great architect. "Listen," is the most fitting tribute to the +wonderful genius of a Mozart. + +Infant prodigies very often turn out to be nobodies in after-life. But +Mozart was an exception; and though he might well have been called +"the marvellous boy," his latest works--and he died at the early age +of thirty-five--were undoubtedly his grandest and most perfect. He +began very early to compose. One of these first attempts was a +concerto so difficult that no one could play it; but the child +undauntedly said, "Why, that's the very reason why it is called a +concerto; people must practise it before they can play it perfectly." + +Wolfgang and his sister, Nannerl, as he used to call her, had been +taken by their father, in 1762, to Vienna, where the children played +the piano before the Empress Maria Theresa and her husband. Little +Wolfgang was here, as everywhere, perfectly at his ease, with a +simplicity and childish grace that won every heart. When he had been +playing for some time, he jumped without ceremony on the lap of the +empress, and kissed her heartily for being so good to him. Little +Marie Antoinette, her daughter, afterward the ill-fated wife of Louis +XVI., and then about the same age as Wolfgang, he treated in almost +the same way. He had slipped on the polished floor, to which he was +unaccustomed, and the little princess had hurried forward to raise him +up, on which he promptly said, "You are good; I will marry you." The +empress asked why he wished this, to which he answered, "Out of +gratitude; she was kind, while her sister took no notice of me" (she +had not come forward to help him). After returning to Salzburg, +Leopold Mozart, in the spring of 1763, took his children on a more +lengthy tour to Munich, Paris, London, and The Hague, and everywhere +their playing, especially Wolfgang's performances on the organ, which +he had now learned, were listened to with delight and astonishment. At +Heidelberg the priest of the Church of the Holy Ghost engraved on the +organ the boy's name and the date of his visit, in remembrance of +"this wonder of God," as he called the child. At London, old Mozart +says, they were received, on April 27th, by King George III. and Queen +Caroline, at the palace, and remained from six to nine o'clock. The +king placed before the boy compositions of Bach and Handel, all of +which he played at sight perfectly; he had also the honor of +accompanying the queen in a song. "On leaving the palace," the careful +father says, "we received a present of 24 guineas." + +A great delight was now before him, for his father had resolved on a +journey to Italy, then far more than now the land of music. How much +this visit did for the young maestro it is impossible to say; he has +not, like Mendelssohn, left us an "Italian Symphony," recording the +impressions which that sunny spot of classic beauty had made upon him, +but there can be little doubt of the great influence it had on the +whole of his after-life. There are some significant words which he +wrote eight years later to his father from Paris: "You must faithfully +promise to let me see Italy again in order to refresh my life. I do +entreat of you to confer this happiness upon me." In Mantua, Milan, +Bologna (where he had the good fortune to meet the learned Padre +Martini, one of the soundest musicians of his age, and for whom he +ever afterward maintained a warm attachment), Florence, Rome, and +Naples, the young genius was received everywhere with enthusiasm by +the crowds who came to hear him. In Naples the superstitious people +believed that there was magic in his playing, and pointed to a ring on +his left hand as the cause of his wonderful dexterity; and it was only +when he had taken this off, and gone on playing just the same, that +they had to acknowledge it was simply the perfection of art. + +There is something sad in contrasting these brilliant early days with +the anxious times that came later on, when the great Mozart was +compelled to wait in the ante-chambers of the great, dine with their +lacqueys, give lessons to stupid young countesses, and write begging +letters to his friends; yet, in reality, those later days, when "Don +Giovanni," "Die Zauberfloete," and the "Requiem," were composed, were +the truly brilliant ones. And it may be that the very greatness came, +in some measure, from the sorrow and pain; that Mozart, like so many +others of the world's great singers, "learnt in suffering what he +taught in song." + +On his return to Munich, after composing a comic opera in the Italian +style, "La Finta Giardiniera," which had a great success, young +Mozart, who had been very shabbily treated by Archbishop +Hieronymus--of whose spiteful conduct we shall hear more +hereafter--the successor of Sigismund, determined to resign his +situation in the court band, and to set out on his travels again, +giving concerts from place to place, and everywhere looking out for +some suitable appointment that might afford him a permanent income. +This time his father was refused permission to travel, and, as on his +exertions depended the support of the whole family, he remained +behind, while Frau Mozart, the mother, accompanied young Wolfgang. In +1777, now a young man of twenty-one, he set out upon his second great +artistic tour, buoyant with hope, and with all the beautiful audacity +of young genius determined to conquer the world. This time it was not +the infant prodigy whom men listened to, but the matured musician and +the composer of melodies sweeter than men had ever listened to before. +But the tale is changed now. True, there are triumphs to be spoken of, +flattery from the great, and presents sent in recompense for his +marvellous playing (he tells one day of his chagrin in receiving from +a certain prince a gold watch, instead of money that he sorely +wanted--and, besides, he had five watches already!); but rebuffs, +intrigues, and all sorts of petty machinations against him, make the +tale a sadder one; and so it continued to be to the end. + +From Munich--where it had been hoped that the elector would have given +him an appointment at court, but he was only told to go to Italy and +become famous, "it was too early yet to think about becoming a +Capellmeister"--he went to Augsburg, spending some pleasant days there +in the society of a cousin, Marianne, nicknamed by him Baesle, a merry, +open-hearted girl of nineteen. + +Thence, he went on to Mannheim, a town that is memorable as the place +where he first met the Webers, and made the acquaintance of Herr +Cannabich, the director of the music at the elector's court, and one +who proved a stanch friend through everything to the young composer. +Cannabich had a daughter named Rosa, a girl of thirteen, exceedingly +pretty and clever, and Wolfgang appears to have admired her very much, +and perhaps for a time to have flirted and been in love with her. He +wrote her a sonata, and was delighted with the way in which she played +it; the andante, he said, he had composed to represent her, and when +it was finished he vowed she was just what the andante was. But this +little love affair, if it existed, soon was forgotten in a more +serious one with Aloysia Weber. Her father was a theatre copyist in +poor circumstances. There were a number of children, and she was a +beautiful girl of fifteen, with a magnificent voice. She was cousin, +by the way, to Weber, afterward composer of the "Freischuetz." Mozart +was so charmed with her voice that he undertook to give her lessons, +and we soon hear of him composing airs for her and meditating a +concert tour in Italy in company with her, and her father and sister. +In writing of it to his own father he sets out the advantages to be +gained by co-partnership, and very prosaically says: "Should we stay +long anywhere, the eldest daughter [Josepha, afterward Frau Hofer, for +whom Mozart wrote the part of Astrafiammente in the "Zauberfloete"] +would be of the greatest use to us; for we could have our own menage, +as she understands cooking." But papa Mozart decidedly objected. "Your +proposal to travel about with Herr Weber--N. B., two daughters--has +driven me nearly wild," and he straightway orders his son off to +Paris, whither, with a parting present of a pair of mittens knitted +for him by Mlle. Weber, he reluctantly sets out in company with his +mother. + +His stay in Paris during the next year was not very eventful, and a +symphony produced at the Concerts Spirituels seems to have been his +most successful work at this time. It was clever and lively, full of +striking effects, and was most warmly applauded. He says: "The moment +the symphony was over I went off in my joy to the Palais Royal, where +I took a good ice, told my beads, as I had vowed, and went home, where +I am happiest and always shall be happiest." A great sorrow came to +him here in the death of his mother. Owing to the great expense of +living in Paris, they had been compelled to live together in a small, +dark room, so cramped for space that there was not even room for the +indispensable piano. Here she was taken ill, and though for fourteen +days Wolfgang most devotedly attended to her wants, she died in his +arms. The letters in which he breaks the news to his father and sister +are full of the most beautiful tenderness and forgetfulness of his own +grief in solicitude for theirs. Things did not indeed prosper with him +in Paris; he tried to give lessons, but the ladies whom he taught paid +him very shabbily, and the labor of getting from one part of the city +to another to teach was so great that he found it difficult to give +the time he wished to composition. + +Music in Paris, just then, was at a low ebb. Vapidly pretty Italian +operas were in fashion, and Piccinni was the favorite composer. It was +some years afterward that the great contest between the Piccinnists +and Gluckists culminated in the victory of the latter, though +"Alceste," had already been produced, and "Iphigenia" was soon to +follow. Mozart was a fervent admirer of Gluck, and the music of the +older master had evidently an important influence on that of the +younger and more gifted composer. + +Once more his thoughts were turned to Salzburg, for two of the leading +musicians there having died, the Archbishop Hieronymus offered their +posts to the Mozarts, father and son, at a salary of a thousand +florins for the two. The father anxiously entreated his son to return +and accept this offer, mentioning as a further bait, that Aloysia +Weber would probably be engaged to sing in Salzburg. Much as Wolfgang +hated Salzburg, or rather the people living there, his love for his +father and sister prevailed over his aversion; and though with no +pleasure at all in the prospect of seeing the hateful archbishop +again, he set out from Paris, travelling to Salzburg in very leisurely +fashion via Strasbourg, Mannheim, and Munich. At Strasbourg he was +induced to give several concerts, but they were not pecuniary +successes, and he did not make by any one more than three louis d'or. +But how the artist peeps out in every line of the letters in which he +describes these! After saying how few were present, and how cold it +was, he proceeds: "But I soon warmed myself, to show the Strasbourg +gentlemen how little I cared, and played to them a long time for my +own amusement, giving a concerto more than I had promised, and at the +close extemporizing. It is now over, but at all events I gained honor +and fame." + +At Munich a great shock awaited him. He visited the Webers, and being +in mourning for his mother, wore, after the French fashion, a red coat +with black buttons. When he appeared, Aloysia hardly seemed to +recognize him, and her coldness was so marked, that Mozart quietly +seated himself at the piano, and sang in a loud voice, "Ich lass das +Maedchen gern das mich nicht will" (I gladly give up the girl who +slights me). It was all over, and he had to bear the loss of the +fickle girl as best he might. There is a significant line in one of +his letters at this time to his father: "In my whole life I never +wrote worse than I do to-day, but I really am unfit for anything; my +heart is so full of tears." After two years' absence he returned home +to Salzburg, where he was warmly welcomed back. Here he remained for a +little while, and wrote his first serious opera, "Idomeneo," to the +text of an Abbe Varesco, a Salzburger. This opera Beethoven thought +the finest of all that Mozart wrote. It was brought out at Munich in +January, 1781, and was brilliantly successful. In the March following, +an order was received from the archbishop to follow him to Vienna, +where he wished to appear with all the full pomp and brilliant retinue +of a prince of the church; and as one of this retinue Mozart had to +follow him, little thinking at the time that he should never return to +Salzburg, but that Vienna henceforth was to be his home. + +In Vienna he found that he had to live in the archbishop's house, and +was looked upon there as one of the ordinary servants. He says, "We +dine at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, unluckily rather too early an +hour for me. Our party consists of the two valets, the comptroller, +Herr Zetti, the confectioner, the two cooks, Cecarilli, Brunetti (two +singers), and my insignificant self. N. B.--The two valets sit at the +head of the table. I have, at all events, the honor to be placed above +the cooks; I almost believe I am back to Salzburg." + +Mozart was a true gentleman, with no foolish false pride, but with the +honorable self-respect that every gentleman must possess, and it was +very galling to him to have to suffer such odious treatment from the +mean-spirited archbishop. Indeed, it was only for his father's sake +that he submitted to the continued contumely and petty slights to +which the archbishop delighted in subjecting him. At last the open +rupture came. The archbishop called him a knave and dissolute fellow, +and told him to be off; and when Mozart waited upon Count Arco, the +principal official, to obtain the regular dismissal that was +necessary, the fellow poured abuse upon him, and actually kicked him +out of the room. Poor Mozart was in a state of violent excitement +after this outrage, and for some days was so ill that he could not +continue his ordinary work. But now at least he was free, and though +his father, like a timid, prudent old man, bewailed the loss of the +stipend which his son had been receiving, Mozart himself knew that the +release was entirely for the best. + +In 1782 appeared "Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail," his first really +important opera, full of beautiful airs, which at once became +enormously popular with the Viennese. The Emperor Joseph II. knew very +little about music, but, as frequently happens in such cases, +considered that he possessed prodigious taste. On hearing it he said, +"Much too fine for our ears, dear Mozart; and what a quantity of +notes!" + +The bold reply to this was, "Just as many notes as are necessary, +your Majesty." + +Much of the delight which Mozart felt in the success of the opera +arose from the fact that it enabled him seriously to contemplate +marriage. Aloysia Weber had been faithless to him, but there was +another sister--with no special beauty save that of bright eyes, a +comely figure, and a cheerful, amiable disposition--Constanze, whom he +now hoped to make his wife. His father objected to all of the Weber +family, and there was some difficulty in obtaining the paternal +consent; but at last the marriage took place, on August 4, 1782. How +truly he loved his wife from first to last, his letters abundantly +show; her frequent illnesses were afterward a great and almost +constant source of expense to him, but he never ceased to write to her +with the passionate ardor of a young lover. He says: "I found that I +never prayed so fervently, or confessed so piously, as by her side; +she felt the same." And now for some time everything went smoothly in +the modest little menage in Vienna. Mozart had plenty of lessons to +give, but none of the commissions for operas which he would have +wished. + +Passing over a visit to Leipsic--where he studied with the keenest +delight a number of the unpublished works of the great Sebastian +Bach--and to Berlin, he returned to Vienna, and at once set to work +upon some quartets which the King of Prussia had ordered from him. +"Cosi fan tutte," a comic opera, with the beautifully flowing music +that only Mozart could write, but with a stupid plot that has +prevented its frequent repetition in later times; and the glorious +"Zauberfloete," written to assist a theatrical manager, Schikaneder, +were his next works. At this time a strange melancholy began to show +itself in his letters--it may be that already his overwrought brain +was conscious that the end was not far distant. Such lines as these, +pathetic and sad in their simple and almost childlike expression, +occur in a letter he wrote during a short absence from his wife, at +Frankfort, in 1790: "I am as happy as a child at the thought of +returning to you. If people could see into my heart I should almost +feel ashamed--all there is cold, cold as ice. Were you with me, I +should possibly take more pleasure in the kindness of those I meet +here, but all seems to me so empty." On his return to Vienna pecuniary +want was rather pressingly felt; his silver plate had to be pawned, +and a perfidious friend, Stadler, made away with the tickets, and the +silver was never redeemed. On one occasion Joseph Deiner, the landlord +of the "Silberne Schlange," chanced to call upon him, and was +surprised to find Mozart and his wife Constanze dancing round the +room. The laughing explanation was that they had no firewood in the +house, and so were trying to warm themselves with dancing. Deiner at +once offered to send in firewood, Mozart promising to pay as soon as +he could. + +That grand work, the "Zauberfloete," had just been completed when a +strange commission was given him. One day a tall, haggard-looking man, +dressed in gray, with a very sombre expression of countenance, called +upon Mozart, bringing with him an anonymous letter. This letter +contained an inquiry as to the sum for which he would write a mass for +the dead, and in how short a time this could be completed. Mozart +consulted his wife, and the sum of fifty ducats was mentioned. The +stranger departed, and soon returned with the money, promising Mozart +a further sum on completion, and also mentioned that he might as well +spare the trouble of finding out who had given this commission, for it +would be entirely useless. We now know that the commission had really +been given by Count Walsegg, a foolish nobleman, whose wife had died, +and who wanted, by transcribing Mozart's score, to pass it off as his +own composition--and this he actually did after the composer's death. +Poor Mozart, in the weak state of health in which he now was, with +nerves unstrung and over-excited brain, was strangely impressed by +this visit, and soon the fancy took firm possession of him that the +messenger had arrived with a mandate from the unseen world, and that +the "Requiem" he was to write was for himself. Not the less did he +ardently set to work on it. Hardly, however, was it commenced than he +was compelled to write another opera, "La Clemenza di Tito," for which +a commission had been given him by the Bohemian Estates, for +production on the occasion of the Emperor Leopold's coronation in +their capital. This was accomplished in the short space of eighteen +days, and though it does not contain the best music, yet the overture +and several of the numbers are full of a piquant beauty and liveliness +well suiting the festival of a people's rejoicing. But a far greater +work, the "Zauberfloete," was produced in Vienna shortly afterward. It +did not take very well at first, but subsequent performances went +better. + +[Illustration: Mozart Singing his Requiem.] + +His labors in bringing out the "Zauberfloete" over, Mozart returned to +the "Requiem" he had already commenced, but while writing he often had +to sink back in his chair, being seized with short swoons. Too plainly +was his strength exhausted, but he persisted in his solemn work. One +bright November morning he was walking with Constanze in the Prater, +and sadly pointing out to her the falling leaves, and speaking of +death, with tears in his eyes, he added; "I well know I am writing +this 'Requiem' for myself. My own feelings tell me that I shall not +last long. No doubt some one has given me poison--I cannot get rid of +this thought." With these gloomy fancies haunting his mind, he rapidly +grew worse, and soon could not leave his room. The performances of the +"Zauberfloete" were still going on, and extraordinarily successful. He +took the greatest interest in hearing of them, and at night would take +out his watch and note the time--"Now the first act is over, now is +the time for the great Queen of Night." The day before his death he +said to his wife, "Oh, that I could only once more hear my 'Flauto +Magico!'" humming, in scarcely audible voice, the lively bird-catcher +song. The same day, at two o'clock in the afternoon, he called his +friends together, and asked for the score of his nearly completed +"Requiem" to be laid on his bed. Benedict Schack sang the soprano; his +brother-in-law, Hofer, the tenor; Gerl, the bass; and Mozart himself +took the alto in a weak but delicately clear voice. They had got +through the various parts till they came to the "Lacrymosa," when +Mozart burst into tears, and laid the score aside. The next day +(Sunday), he was worse, and said to Sophie, his sister-in-law, "I have +the taste of death on my tongue, I smell the grave, and who can +comfort my Constanze, if you don't stay here?" In her account of his +last moments, she says: "I found Suessmayer sitting by Mozart's bed. +The well-known 'Requiem' was lying on the coverlet, and Mozart was +explaining to Suessmayer the mode in which he wished him to complete +it after his death. He further requested his wife to keep his death +secret until she had informed Albrechtsberger of it, 'for the +situation of assistant organist at the Stephen Church ought to be his +before God and the world.' The doctor came and ordered cold +applications on Mozart's burning head.... The last movement of his +lips was an endeavor to indicate where the kettledrums should be used +in the 'Requiem.' I think I still hear the sound." + + + + +HAYDN + +By C. E. BOURNE + +(1732-1809) + + +[Illustration: Haydn.] + +No composer has ever given greater or purer pleasure by his +compositions than is given by "papa" Haydn; there is an unceasing flow +of cheerfulness and lively tone in his music, even in the most solemn +pieces, as in his Masses, the predominant feeling is that of gladness; +as he once said to Carpani: "At the thought of God my heart leaps for +joy, and I cannot help my music doing the same." But it is not alone +as the writer of graceful and beautiful music that Haydn has a claim +on our remembrance; he has been truly called the "father of the +symphony." Mozart once said: "It was from Haydn that I first learned +the true way to compose quartettes;" and "The Creation," which must +ever be counted one of the masterpieces of oratorio music, was his +work. + +His family were of the people, his father being a master wheelwright +at Rohrau, a small Austrian village on the borders of Lower Austria +and Hungary and his mother having been employed as a cook in the +castle of Count Harrach, the principal lord of the district. Joseph +Haydn was born on March 31, 1732 the second child of his parents; and +as ten brothers and sisters afterward came into the world, it can +easily be understood that his lot was not a very luxurious one. His +parents were simple, honest people of the laboring class, very +ignorant, but, like most German peasants, with a certain love for and +facility in music, not quite so common in this country. Haydn's father +had a good voice, and could sing well, accompanying himself on the +harp, though he did not know a single note of written music. Then +there was the village schoolmaster, who could actually play the +violin, and whom little Joseph watched with wondering eyes, extracting +those marvellously sweet sounds from his wooden instrument, until, +with the child's spirit of imitation, as his parents sang their +"Volkslieder," the little fellow, perched on a stone bench, gravely +handled two pieces of wood of his own as if they were bow and fiddle, +keeping exact time, and flourishing the bow in the approved fashion of +the schoolmaster. From this very little incident came an important +change in his life; for a relation, Johann Mathias Frankh, of +Hainburg, happened to be present on one occasion, and, thinking he saw +an aptitude for music in the boy, offered to take him into his own +school at Hainburg, where accordingly young Haydn went at the age of +six years. + +There he remained for two years, making rapid progress in singing and +in playing all sorts of instruments, among others the clavier, violin, +organ, and drum. He said afterward, with the unaffected piety, far +removed from cant, that was characteristic of him: "Almighty God, to +whom I render thanks for all his unnumbered mercies, gave me such +facility in music that, by the time I was six years old, I stood up +like a man and sang masses in the church choir, and could play a +little on the clavier and violin." Of Frankh, a very strict, but +thorough and most painstaking teacher, he also said afterward: "I +shall be grateful to that man as long as I live for keeping me so hard +at work, though I used to get more flogging than food;" and in Haydn's +will he remembered Frankh's family, leaving his daughter a sum of +money and a portrait of Frankh himself, "my first instructor in +music." + +For some years he seems to have lived a miserable, struggling life, +giving lessons, playing the organ in churches, and studying when and +where he could. He had a few pupils at the moderate remuneration of +two florins a month, and he had contrived to obtain possession of an +old worm-eaten clavier, on which he used diligently to practise in the +garret in the Kohlmarkt, where he lived. A pitiable description is +given of the lodging he then occupied. It was on the sixth story, in a +room without stove or window. In winter his breath froze on his thin +coverlet, and the water, that in the morning he had to fetch himself +from the spring for washing, was frequently changed into a lump of ice +before his arrival in that elevated region. Life was indeed hard; but +he was constantly at work, and, having made a precious "find" on an +old bookstall one day of Fux's "Gradus ad Parnassum," in a very +dilapidated condition, but very cheap, he was ardently preparing +himself for the life--he now vowed should be his--of a composer. + +About this time Haydn received a commission from Felix Kurz, a comic +actor of the Stadt-Theatre, to put a farce of his, "Der neue krumme +Teufel," to music. This farce, of which the words still remain, though +the music has been lost, was very successful, and was played in +Vienna, Prague, Berlin, and a number of other towns. The well-known +story of Haydn's "Tempest Music" is connected with this. In one part +of this piece a terrible storm was supposed to be raging, and the +accompanying music must of course be suitably descriptive; but the +difficulty was that Haydn had never seen the sea: therefore had not +the slightest notion of what a storm at sea was like. Kurz tries to +describe the waves running mountains high, the pitching and tossing, +the roll of thunder, and the howling of the wind; and Haydn produces +all sorts of ugly, jerky, and noisy music, but none of it is in the +remotest degree like a storm at sea, or anywhere else. At last, after +Kurz had become hoarse with his nautical disquisitions, and Haydn's +fingers were tired of scrambling all over the piano, the little +musician in a rage crashed his hands down on the two extremes of the +instrument, exclaiming: "Let's have done with this tempest!" + +"Why, that's it; that's the very thing!" shouted the clown, jumping up +and embracing him; and with this crash and a run of semitones to the +centre of the piano this troublesome tempest was most satisfactorily +represented. + +When, many years afterward, Haydn was crossing the Straits of Dover to +England, amid his sufferings he could not help laughing at the +ludicrous recollections of this early experience of his. + +Things still went on improving, and Haydn, who was always lucky in the +patrons he secured (at least according to the notion about patrons +that then prevailed), was invited to the country-house of Herr von +Fuernberg, a wealthy amateur, to stay there and compose quartettes for +him--a style of music for which von Fuernberg had an especial liking. +To his prompting it is that we owe the lovely series of quartettes +which Haydn wrote--still as fresh and full of serene beauty as when +first tried over by the virtuosi of Weinzirl. The next piece of good +fortune was Haydn's appointment as director of the band and composer +to Count Ferdinand Morzin at Lukaver near Pilsen; and here, in 1759, +his first symphony was written. His salary was very small, only 200 +florins a year (or L20), with board and lodgings; but on the strength +of it he unfortunately determined on the serious step of embarking in +matrimony. A barber, named Keller, is said to have been very kind to +him in the days of his poverty, and out of gratitude Haydn gave +music-lessons to his daughters. One of them, the youngest, was very +pretty, and Haydn fell in love with her. But she became a nun; and the +father then prevailed upon Haydn to marry the elder one, who was three +years older than he--a sour-tempered, bigoted, and abominably selfish +woman, who contributed little to the happiness of his life, and was +always bringing priests and friars to the house and worrying her +good-tempered husband to compose masses and other church music for +these men. + +Count Morzin was compelled to give up his band in 1761; but Haydn did +not remain long without employment, as Prince Esterhazy, who had heard +his symphonies at Morzin's house, engaged him to assist Werner, his +Capellmeister. As director of Prince Esterhazy's band, Haydn was fated +to remain for many years living at Esterhaz, the prince's +country-seat, composing there nearly all his operas and songs, and +many of his symphonies. + +In 1785 Haydn received a commission which showed the wide reputation +he had then gained. The Chapter of Cadiz Cathedral requested him to +write some instrumental music for performance on Good Friday. "The +Seven Words of our Saviour on the Cross" was in consequence written by +him. + +Several invitations had been sent from England for Haydn to pay a +visit there; but it was only after Prince Esterhazy was dead that he +was prevailed on by Salomon to cross the sea. A characteristic +conversation between him and Mozart--which took place before he +undertook this, in those days, really formidable journey--is recorded. + +"Papa," said Mozart, "you have no training for the great world, and +you speak too few languages." + +Haydn replied: "My language is understood by all the world." + +He set out on December 15, 1790, and did not return to Vienna till +July, 1792. In London, where he wrote and conducted a number of +symphonies for Salomon, he was the "lion" of the season, being in +constant request for conducting concerts and paying visits to the +nobility. Of these symphonies Salomon once said to him: "I am strongly +of opinion that you never will surpass this music." + +"I never mean to try," was the answer. + +But this must not be taken to mean that Haydn had given up striving +after the truest perfection in his art, and it probably meant no more +than that for the time he was satisfied with his work. Far more like +the genuine expression of the feeling of the great artist was his +utterance, just before he died, to Kalkbrenner: "I have only just +learned in my old age how to use the wind-instruments; and now that I +do understand them, I must leave the world." + +[Illustration: Haydn Composing his "Creation."] + +Great as the work accomplished in his youth and early manhood +unquestionably was, it remained for his old age to accomplish his +greatest work, and that by which he is best known--the oratorio of +"The Creation." It is said that the first ideas for this came to him +when, in crossing the English Channel, he encountered a terrific +storm. Soon after his leaving London, where the words had been given +him by Salomon, Haydn set about composing the music. "Never," he says, +"was I so pious as when composing 'The Creation.' I knelt down every +day and prayed God to strengthen me for my work." It was first +produced on March 31, 1799, his 67th birthday, at the National +Theatre, Vienna, and was at once accorded an extraordinary share of +popular favor. There is a pathetic story of the last performance of +the work, at which Haydn, in extreme old age, in 1808, was present, +when Salieri conducted. He was carried in an arm-chair into the hall, +and received there with the warmest greeting by the audience. At the +sublime passage, "And there was light!" Haydn, quite overcome, raised +his hand, pointing upward and saying, "It came from thence." Soon +after this his agitation increased so much that it was thought better +to take him home at the end of the first part. The people crowded +round him to take leave, and Beethoven is said to have reverently +kissed his hand and forehead. After composing "The Creation," Haydn +was prevailed upon to write another work, of somewhat similar +character, to words adapted from Thomson's poem, and entitled "The +Seasons." This, though containing some fine descriptive music and +several choruses of great beauty, is not at all equal to the earlier +work, though at the time its success was quite as complete. But the +exertion of writing two such great works, almost without rest between +them, was too great, and he himself said: "'The Seasons' gave me the +finishing stroke." The bombardment of Vienna by the French in 1809 +greatly disturbed the poor old man. He still retained some of his old +humor, and during the thunder of the cannons called out to his +servants: "Children, don't be frightened; no harm can happen to you +while Haydn is by!" He was now no longer able to compose, and to his +last unfinished quartette he added a few bars of "Der Greis," as a +conclusion: + + "Hin ist alle meine Kraft: + Alt und schwach bin ich. + --JOSEPH HAYDN." + +"Gone is all my strength: old and weak am I." And these lines he +caused to be engraved, and sent on a card to the friends who visited +him. The end was indeed now near. On May 26, 1809, he had his servants +gathered round him for the last adieus; then, by his desire, he was +carried to the piano, where he played three times over the "Emperor's +Hymn," composed by him. Then he was taken to his bed, where five days +afterward he died. + + + + +BEETHOVEN + +By C. E. BOURNE + +(1770-1827) + + +[Illustration: Beethoven.] + +In one of his letters to Frau von Streicher, at Baden, Beethoven +writes: "When you visit the ancient ruins, do not forget that +Beethoven has often lingered there; when you stray through the silent +pine-forests, do not forget that Beethoven often wrote poetry there, +or, as it is termed, composed." He was always fond of claiming the +title "Ton-dichter, poet in music;" and surely of all the great +geniuses who have walked the earth, to none can the glorious name of +"poet" more truly be given than to Ludwig von Beethoven. + +He was born at Bonn, on December 17, 1770. His father, Johann von +Beethoven, was a tenor singer in the Electoral Chapel of the +Archbishop of Cologne, at Bonn, and his mother, Maria Magdalena, was a +daughter of the head cook at the castle of Ehrenbreitstein. The +Beethoven family originally came from Louvain, in Belgium; but the +composer's grandfather had settled in Bonn, first as a singer, and +afterward as Capellmeister to the court. Musicians were not held of +much account in those days, and the marriage of a singer with the +daughter of a cook was not at all considered a mesalliance. Johann was +a sad drunken scapegrace, and his poor wife, in bringing up her family +upon the small portion of his earnings which she could save from being +squandered at the tavern, had a pitiably hard and long struggling life +of it. + +Johann soon discovered the extraordinary musical endowments of his +child and at once set to work to make a "prodigy" of him, as Handel, +Bach, and Mozart had been before; for in this way the father hoped to +secure a mine of wealth and lazy competence for himself. So the boy, +when only a few years old, was kept for long weary hours practising +the piano, and one of the earliest stories of his life is of the +five-year-old little child made to stand on a bench before the piano +laboring over the notes, while the tears flowed fast down his cheeks +at the cold and aching pain, from which his hard taskmaster would not +release him. Besides his father, a clever musician who lodged in the +house, Pfeiffer, an oboist at the theatre, gave him lessons. Beethoven +used afterward to say that he had learnt more from this Pfeiffer than +from any one else; but he was too ready to abet the father in his +tyranny, and many a time, when the two came reeling home late at night +from drinking bouts at the tavern, they would arouse the little fellow +from his sleep and set him to work at the piano till daybreak. + +His next instructor was Neefe, the organist of the Archbishop's +private chapel, a really skilful and learned musician, who predicted +that the boy would become a second Mozart. Under him Beethoven studied +for several years, and in 1782, when he was hardly twelve years old, +we find him acting as organist in Neefe's place during the absence of +the latter on a journey. The next year three sonatas composed by young +Beethoven, and dedicated to the Elector in fulsome language, which was +probably his father's production, were printed. Soon afterward the boy +obtained the appointment of assistant-organist to the Elector, with a +salary of a hundred thalers, no inconsiderable addition to the +resources of his poor mother, who, with her family of three children, +Ludwig, Carl, and Johann, and the more and more frequent visits of her +ne'er-do-well of a husband to the tavern, was often grievously hard +put to it for money. Young Ludwig had little play time in his life, +and little opportunity for education; but amid his hard work some +indications of a mischievous boyish spirit are to be found. + +In the year 1791, the Elector, as head of the Teutonic Order, had to +be present at a grand conclave at Mergentheim, and thither he resolved +to take his musical and theatrical staff. Two ships were chartered to +convey these gentlemen down the Rhine and Maine, and a very pleasant +excursion, with all sorts of frolics and high revellings, they had of +it. Lux, a celebrated actor, was chosen king of the expedition, and we +find Beethoven figuring among the scullions. + +In the autumn of the year following, a visit was paid by Haydn to Bonn +on his return from his second journey to London. The musicians of the +town gave a breakfast at Godesberg in his honor, and here Beethoven +summoned up courage to show the veteran musician a cantata which he +had recently composed. This was warmly praised by Haydn, and probably +about this time arrangements were made for Beethoven to be received +as a pupil by the older master. It is in this period that we must +place a well-known anecdote. The young musician, already famous in his +own neighborhood, was composing, as his custom was, in the wood +outside the city, when a funeral cortege passed him. The priest, +seeing him, instantly checked the dirge which was being chanted, and +the procession passed in solemn silence, "for fear of disturbing him." +In the beginning of November, 1792, the young musician left Bonn for +Vienna, and, as it happened, he never afterward returned to the +familiar scenes of his birthplace. + +Beethoven was never a very easy man to get on with, and his +intercourse with Haydn, who used to call him the "Great Mogul," does +not seem to have been the most friendly. He was dissatisfied with the +instruction given him, and suspicions were awakened in his mind that +the elder musician was jealous of him, and did not wish him to +improve. These thoughts were strengthened by the result of a chance +meeting one day, as he was walking home with his portfolio under his +arm, with Johann Schenk, a scientific and thoroughly accomplished +musician. Beethoven complained to him of the little advance he was +making in counterpoint, and that Haydn never corrected his exercises +or taught him anything. Schenk asked to look through the portfolio, +and see the last work that Haydn had revised, and on examining it he +was astonished to find a number of mistakes that had not been pointed +out. It is difficult to understand Haydn's conduct in this matter, for +the perfidious treatment suspected by Beethoven is quite at variance +with the ordinarily accepted character of the old man, and I cannot +help fancying that the only foundation for Beethoven's suspicion was +that Haydn did not quite understand the erratic genius of the youth +till some time afterward. Beethoven dedicated his three pianoforte +sonatas, Op. II., to Haydn, and when the latter suggested that he +should add on the title page "Pupil of Haydn," the "Great Mogul" +refused, bluntly saying "that he had never learnt anything from him." +After Haydn, Albrechtsberger and Salieri were for a time his teachers, +but Beethoven got on no better with them, and Albrechtsberger said, +"Have nothing to do with him; he has learnt nothing, and will never do +anything in decent style." Perhaps not in your pedant's style, O great +contrapuntist! + +Beethoven cannot be said to have been unfortunate in his friends. He +had many true and faithful ones throughout his life, and though he +suffered from pecuniary troubles, caused by the conduct of his +brothers, he was never in such a state of grinding poverty as some +other artists, such as Schubert, have been--never compelled to waste +precious years of his life in producing "pot-boilers"--working not for +art so much as for mere food and shelter. In 1794 Prince Karl +Lichnowski, who had been a pupil of Mozart, and who, as well as his +wife Christiane, was _fanatico per la musica_, proposed that Beethoven +should come and live at his palace. They had no children; a suite of +rooms was placed at the musician's disposal; no terms were proposed; +the offer was the most delicate and friendly imaginable, and was +accepted by Beethoven in the spirit in which it was made. For ten +years he resided with the Lichnowskis, and these were probably the +years of purest happiness in the great composer's life, although early +in their course the terrible affliction of deafness began to be felt +by him. He at this time freely frequented the salons of the Viennese +nobility, many of whom were accomplished virtuosi themselves, and were +able to appreciate the great genius of the new-comer, rough and +bearish as oftentimes he must have appeared to them--a great contrast +to the courtly Haydn and Salieri, who might be seen sitting side by +side on the sofa in some grandee's music-room, with their swords, +wigs, ruffles, silk stockings, and snuff-boxes, while the +insignificant-looking and meanly dressed Beethoven used to stand +unnoticed in a corner. Here is a description of his appearance given +by a Frau von Bernhard: "When he visited us, he generally put his head +in at the door before entering, to see if there were any one present +he did not like. He was short and insignificant-looking, with a red +face covered with pock-marks. His hair was quite dark. His dress was +very common, quite a contrast to the elegant attire customary in those +days, especially in our circles.... He was very proud, and I have +known him refuse to play, even when Countess Thun, the mother of +Princess Lichnowski, had fallen on her knees before him as he lay on +the sofa to beg him to. The Countess was a very eccentric person.... +At the Lichnowskis' I saw Haydn and Salieri, who were then very +famous, while Beethoven excited no interest." + +It was in the year 1800 that Beethoven at last was compelled to +acknowledge to himself the terrible calamity of almost total deafness +that had befallen him. He writes to his friend Wegeler, "If I had not +read somewhere that man must not of his own free will depart this +life, I should long ere this have been no more and that through my own +act.... What is to be the result of this the good God alone knows. I +beg of you not to mention my state to any one, not even to Lorchen +[Wegeler's wife]. But," he continues, "I live only in my music, and no +sooner is one thing completed than another is begun. In fact, as at +present, I am often engaged on three or four compositions at one +time." + +[Illustration: An Anecdote about Beethoven.] + +But at first all was not gloom; for Beethoven was in love--not the +love of fleeting fancy that, like other poets, he may have experienced +before, but deeply, tragically, in love; and it seems that, for a time +at least, this love was returned. The lady was the Countess Julia +Guicciardi; but his dream did not last long, for in the year 1801 she +married a Count Gallenberg. Hardly anything is known of this love +affair of Beethoven's. A few letters full of passionate tenderness, +and with a certain very pathetic simple trustfulness in her love +running through them all--on which her marriage shortly afterward is a +strange comment; the "Moonlight Sonata," vibrating, as it is +throughout, with a lover's supremest ecstasy of devotion, these are +the only records of that one blissful epoch in the poor composer's +life; but how much it affected his after life, how it mingled in the +dreams from which his loveliest creations of later years arose, it is +impossible now to say. In a letter to Wegeler, dated November 16, +1801, he says, "You can hardly realize what a miserable, desolate life +mine has been for the last two years; my defective hearing everywhere +pursuing me like a spectre, making me fly from every one, and appear a +misanthrope; and yet no one in reality is less so! This change [to a +happier life] has been brought about by a lovely and fascinating +girl who loves me and whom I love. After the lapse of two years I +have again enjoyed some blissful moments, and now for the first time I +feel that marriage can bestow happiness; but alas! she is not in the +same rank of life as myself.... You shall see me as happy as I am +destined to be here below, but not unhappy. No, that I could not bear. +I will grasp Fate by the throat; it shall not utterly crush me. Oh, it +is so glorious to live one's life a thousand times!" No misanthropy +this, surely; he could not always speak the speech of common men, or +care for the tawdry bravery of titles or fine clothes in which they +strutted, but what a heart there was in the man, what a wondrous +insight into all the beauty of the world, visible and invisible, +around him! The most glorious lovesong ever composed, "Adelaide," was +written by him; but Julia Guicciardi preferred a Count Gallenberg, +keeper of the royal archives in Vienna, and Beethoven, to the end of +his days, went on his way alone. + +It was at this time that he composed his oratorio, "The Mount of +Olives," which can hardly be reckoned among his finest works; and his +one opera--but such an opera--"Fidelio." The greater part of these +works was composed during his stay, in the summer months, at +Hetzendorf, a pretty, secluded little village near Schoenbrunn. He +spent his days wandering alone through the quiet, shady alleys of the +imperial park there, and his favorite seat was between two boughs of a +venerable oak, at a height of about two feet from the ground. For some +time he had apartments at a residence of Baron Pronay's, near this +village; but he suddenly left, "because the baron would persist in +making him profound bows every time that he met him." Like a true +poet, he delighted in the country. "No man on earth," he writes, +"loves the country more. Woods, trees, and rock give the response +which man requires. Every tree seems to say, 'Holy, holy.'" + +In 1804 the magnificent "Eroica" symphony was completed. This had +originally been commenced in honor of Napoleon Bonaparte, then First +Consul, who, Beethoven--throughout his life an ardent Republican--then +believed was about to bring liberty to all the nations of Europe. When +the news of the empire came the dream departed, and Beethoven, in a +passionate rage, tore the title page of the symphony in two, and, with +a torrent of imprecations against the tyrant, stamped on the torn +fragments. + +"My hero--a tyrant!" he shrieked, as he trampled on the poor page. On +this page the inscription had been simply, "Bonaparte--Luigi v. +Beethoven". For some years he refused to publish the work, and, when +at last this was done, the inscription read as follows: "Sinfonia +Eroica per festigiari il sovvenire d'un grand' uomo" (Heroic symphony, +to celebrate the memory of a great man). When Napoleon died, in 1821, +Beethoven said, "Seventeen years before I composed the music for this +occasion;" and surely no grander music than that of the "Funeral +March" was ever composed for the obsequies of a fallen hero. This is +not the place to enter into a description of the marvellous succession +of colossal works--symphonies, concertos, sonatas, trios, quartets, +etc., culminating in the "Choral Symphony," his ninth, and +last--which, through those long years of a silent life, imprisoned +within himself, the great master put forth. His deafness prevented his +appearing in public to conduct, although, with the natural desire of a +composer to be present at the production of his own work, he long +struggled to take his part in the first performances of symphonies and +concertos. + +When the great choral symphony was first performed he attempted to +conduct, but in reality another conductor was stationed near him to +give the right time to the band. After the majestic instrumental +movements had been played came the final one, concluding with +Schiller's "Hymn to Joy." The chorus breaks forth, thundering out in +concert with all the instruments. At the words "Seid umschlunger, +Millionen," the audience could no longer restrain their excited +delight, and burst into tremendous applause, drowning the voices of +singers and the sounds of strings and brass. The last notes are heard, +but still Beethoven stands there absorbed in thought--he does not know +that the music is ended. This was the first time that the people +realized the full deprivation of hearing from which he suffered. +Fraulein Unger, the soprano, gently takes his arm and turns him round +to front the acclaiming multitude. There are few in that crowd who, +while they cheer, do not feel the tears stealing down their cheeks at +the sight of the poor lonely man who, from the prison-house of his +affliction, has brought to them the gladness of thought so divine. +Unmoved, he bowed his acknowledgment, and quietly left the building. + +His later years were embittered with troubles about his nephew Carl, a +youth to whom he was fondly attached, but who shamefully repaid the +love of the desolate old man. Letters like the following, to the +teacher in whose house the boy lived, show the constant thought and +affection given to this boy: "Your estimable lady is politely +requested to let the undersigned know as soon as possible (that I may +not be obliged to keep it all in my head) how many pairs of stockings, +trousers, shoes, and drawers are required, and how many yards of +kerseymere to make a pair of black trousers for my tall nephew." + +His death was the result of a cold which produced inflammation of the +lungs. On the morning of March 24, 1827, he took the sacrament and +when the clergyman was gone and his friends stood round his bed, he +muttered. "_Plaudite amici, comedia finita est._" He then fell into an +agony so intense that he could no longer articulate, and thus +continued until the evening of the 26th. A violent thunder-storm +arose; one of his friends, watching by his bedside when the thunder +was rolling and a vivid flash of lightning lit up the room, saw him +suddenly open his eyes, lift his right hand upward for some +seconds--as if in defiance of the powers of evil--with clenched fist +and a stern, solemn expression on his face; and then he sank back and +died. + + + + +PAGANINI + +(1784-1840) + + +[Illustration: Paganini.] + +Nicolo Paganini, whose European fame as a violinist entitles him to a +notice here, was born at Genoa in 1784. His father, a commission-broker, +played on the mandolin; but fully aware of the inferiority of an +instrument so limited in power, he put a violin into his son's hands, +and initiated him in the principles of music. The child succeeded so +well under parental tuition, that at eight years of age he played three +times a week in the church, as well as in the public saloons. At the +same period he composed a sonata. In his ninth year he was placed under +the instruction of Costa, first violoncellist of Genoa; then had lessons +of Rolla, a famous performer and composer; and finally studied +counterpoint at Parma under Ghiretti and the celebrated maestro Paer. He +now took an engagement at Lucca, where he chiefly associated with +persons who at the gaming-table stripped him of his gains as quickly as +he acquired them. He there received the appointment of director of +orchestra to the court, at which the Princess Elisa Bacciochi, sister of +Napoleon I., presided, and thither invited, to the full extent of her +means, superior talent of every kind. In 1813 he performed at Milan; +five years after, at Turin; and subsequently at Florence and Naples. In +1828 he visited Vienna, where a very popular violinist and composer, +Mayseder, asked him how he produced such new effects. His reply was +characteristic of a selfish mind: "_Chacun a ses secrets_" In that +capital, it is affirmed, he was imprisoned, being accused of having +murdered his wife. He challenged proofs of his ever having been married, +which could not be produced. Then he was charged with having poignarded +his mistress. This he also publicly refuted. The fact is that he knew +better how to make money than friends, and he raised up enemies wherever +his thirst for gold led him. Avarice was his master-passion; and, second +to this, gross sensuality. + +The year 1831 found Paganini in Paris, in which excitable capital he +produced a sensation not inferior to that created by the visit of +Rossini. Even this renowned composer was so carried away, either by +the actual genius of the violinist or by the current of popular +enthusiasm, that he is said to have wept on hearing Paganini for the +first time. He arrived in England in 1831, and immediately announced a +concert at the Italian Opera House, at a price which, if acceded to, +would have yielded L3,391 per night; but the attempt was too +audacious, and he was compelled to abate his demands, though he +succeeded in drawing audiences fifteen nights in that season at the +ordinary high prices of the King's Theatre. He also gave concerts in +other parts of London, and performed at benefits, always taking at +these a large proportion of the proceeds. He visited most of the great +towns, where his good fortune still attended him. He was asked to play +at the Commemoration Festival at Oxford, in 1834, and demanded 1,000 +guineas for his assistance at three concerts. His terms were of course +rejected. + +Paganini died at Nice, in 1840, of a diseased larynx ("phthisie +laryngee"). By his will, dated 1837, he gave his two sisters legacies +of 60,000 and 70,000 francs; his mother a pension of 1,200; the mother +of his son Achillino (a Jewess of Milan) a similar pension; and the +rest of his fortune, amounting to 4,000,000 francs, devolved on his +son. These and other facts before related, we give on the authority of +the "Biographie Universelle." + +Paganini certainly was a man of genius and a great performer, but +sacrificed his art to his avarice. His mastery over the violin was +almost marvellous, though he made an ignoble use of his power by +employing it to captivate the mob of pretended amateurs by feats +little better than sleight-of-hand. His performance on a single +string, and the perfection of his harmonics, were very extraordinary; +but why, as was asked at the time, be confined to one string when +there are four at command that would answer every musical purpose so +much better? His tone was pure, though not strong, his strings having +been of smaller diameter than usual, to enable him to strain them at +pleasure; for he tuned his instrument most capriciously. He could be a +very expressive player; we have heard him produce effects deeply +pathetic. His arpeggios evinced his knowledge of harmony, and some of +his compositions exhibit many original and beautiful traits. + +[Illustration: Paganini in Prison.] + + + + +MENDELSSOHN + +By C. E. BOURNE + +(1809-1847) + + +Mendelssohn's lot in life was strikingly different from that of all +the musicians of whom I have hitherto written; he never knew, like +Schubert, what grinding poverty was, or suffered the long worries that +Mozart had to endure for lack of money. His father was a Jewish banker +in Berlin, the son of Moses Mendelssohn, a philosopher whose writings +had already made the name celebrated throughout Europe. The composer's +father used to say, with a very natural pride, after his own son had +grown up, "Formerly I was the son of my father, and now I am the +father of my son!" + +Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born on February 3, 1809. His +parents were neither of them trained musicians, though both +appreciated and loved music, and it was from his mother that young +Felix received his first music-lessons. When he had made some advance, +Ludwig Berger became his tutor for the piano, and Zelter, a very +learned and severe theorist, for counterpoint. At the age of nine +years Felix had attained such proficiency that we find him taking the +pianoforte part in a trio at a public concert of a Herr Gugel's, and +when twelve years old he began to compose, and actually wrote a trio, +some sonatas, a cantata, and several organ pieces. His home life was +in the highest degree favorable to his musical development. On +alternate Sundays musical performances were regularly given with a +small orchestra in the large dining-room, Felix or his sister Fanny, +who also possessed remarkable musical gifts, taking the pianoforte +part, and new compositions by Felix were always included in the +programme. Many friends, musicians and others, used to be present, +Zelter regularly among their number, and the pieces were always freely +commented on, Felix receiving then, as indeed he did all his life, the +criticisms expressed, with the utmost good-natured readiness. + +[Illustration: Mendelssohn.] + +In 1824 Moscheles, at that time a celebrated pianist, and residing in +London, visited Berlin, and was asked to give Felix music-lessons. +This is the testimony of Moscheles, an excellent and kind-hearted man, +and a thoroughly skilled musician, after spending nearly every day for +six weeks with the family: "It is a family such as I have never known +before; Felix, a mature artist, and yet but fifteen; Fanny, +extraordinarily gifted, playing Bach's fugues by heart and with +astonishing correctness--in fact, a thorough musician. The parents +give me the impression of people of the highest cultivation;" and on +the subject of lessons he says: "Felix has no need of lessons; if he +wishes to take a hint from me as to anything new, he can easily do +so." But it is very pleasant to find Mendelssohn afterward referring +to these lessons as having urged him on to enthusiasm, and, in the +days in London when his own fame had far outstripped that of the older +musician, acknowledging himself as "Moscheles's pupil." The elder +Mendelssohn was by no means carried away by the applause which the +boy's playing and compositions had gained, and in 1825 he took his son +to Paris to obtain Cherubini's opinion as to his musical abilities, +with a view to the choice of a profession; for he had by no means made +up his mind that Felix should spend his whole life as a musician. +However, the surly old Florentine, who was not always civil or +appreciative of budding genius (_teste_ Berlioz), gave a decidedly +favorable judgment on the compositions submitted to him, and urged +the father to devote his son to a musical career. And, indeed, on +listening to the pieces which were dated this year, especially a +beautiful quartet in B minor, an octet for strings, the music to an +opera in two acts, "Camacho's Wedding," and numerous pianoforte +pieces, it is difficult to realize that the composer was then only +sixteen years of age, or that anyone could question the artistic +vocation that claimed him. But the next year a work was written, the +score of which is marked "Berlin, August 6, 1826," when it must be +remembered that he was seventeen years of age, which of itself was +sufficient to rank him among the immortals--the overture to the +"Midsummer Night's Dream." Full of lovely imaginings, with a wonderful +fairy grace all its own, and a bewitching beauty, revealing not only +the soul of the true poet, but also the musician profoundly skilled in +all the art of orchestral effect, it is hard to believe that it is the +work of a boy under twenty, written in the bright summer days of 1826, +in his father's garden at Berlin. + +Passing over the intermediate years with a simple reference to the +"Meeresstille," "Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage," which was then +composed, and a fine performance of Bach's "Passion Music," for which +he had been long drilling the members of the Berlin Singakademie, the +next event is a visit to England in 1829, where he was received with +extraordinary warmth, playing at the Philharmonic Concerts, conducting +his C minor Symphony, which he dedicated to the Philharmonic Society, +they in their turn electing him one of their honorary members; going +to dinners, balls, and the House of Commons, and enjoying himself most +hugely. His letters from England at this time are brimming over with +fun and graphic description; there is one especially amusing, in which +he describes himself with two friends going home from a late dinner at +the German Ambassador's, and on the way buying three German sausages, +going down a quiet street to devour them, with all the while joyous +laughter and snatches of part songs. There is also a little incident +of this time showing the wonderful memory he possessed. After a +concert on "Midsummer Night," when the "Midsummer Night's Dream" had +very appropriately been played, it was found that the score had been +lost in a hackney-coach as the party were returning to Mr. Attwood's. +"Never mind," said Mendelssohn, "I will make another," which he did, +and on comparison with the separate parts not a single difference was +found in it. + +At the beginning of December he was at home again, and that winter he +wrote the "Reformation Symphony," intended to be produced at the +tercentenary festival of the "Augsburg Confession" in the following +June. This symphony, with which Mendelssohn was not entirely +satisfied, was only once performed during his lifetime, but since his +death it has frequently been performed, and though not one of his most +perfect works, is recognized as a noble monument in honor of a great +event. The next spring he again set out on his travels, this time +southward to Italy. + +In 1833 Mendelssohn accepted an official post offered him by the +authorities of Duesseldorf, by which the entire musical arrangements of +the town, church, theatre, and singing societies were put under his +care. Immermann, the celebrated poet, being associated with him in the +direction of the theatre. Things, however, did not go on very smoothly +there. Mendelssohn found all the many worries of theatrical +management--the engagement of singers and musicians, the dissensions +to be arranged, the many tastes to be conciliated--too irksome, and he +did not long retain this appointment; but the life among his friends +at Duesseldorf was most delightful, and the letters written at this +time are exceedingly lively and gay. It was here that he received the +commission from the Caecilia-Verein of Frankfort for, and commenced, +his grand oratorio "St. Paul." The words for this, as also for the +"Elijah" and "Hymn of Praise" afterward, he selected himself with the +help of his friend Schubung, and they are entirely from the Bible--as +he said, "The Bible is always the best of all." Circumstances +prevented the oratorio being then produced at Frankfort, and the first +public performance took place at the Lower Rhine Festival at +Duesseldorf, in May, 1836. + +But his visits to Frankfort had a very important result in another +way. Mendelssohn there met Mademoiselle Cecile Jeanrenaud, the +daughter of a pastor of the French Reformed Church, and, though he had +frequently indulged in the admiration of beautiful and clever +women--which is allowable, and indeed an absolute necessity for a +poet!--now for the first time he fell furiously in plain unmistakable +and downright love. But it is more characteristic of the staid Teuton +than the impulsive musician, that before plighting his troth to her he +went away for a month's bathing at Scheveningen, in Holland, for the +purpose of testing the strength of his affection by this absence. On +his return, finding his amatory pulse still beating satisfactorily, he +proposed to the young lady, and, as it must be presumed that she had +already made up her own mind without any testing, he was accepted. On +March 28, 1837, they were married, and the wedded life that then began +was one of pure, unclouded happiness to the very end. Cecile +Mendelssohn was a beautiful, gentle-hearted, and loving wife, just the +one to give a weary and nervous artist in the home-life, with herself +and the children near him, the blessed solace of rest and calm that he +so needed. It is thus that Edward Devrient, the great German actor, +and one of Mendelssohn's most intimate friends, describes her: "Cecile +was one of those sweet womanly natures whose gentle simplicity, whose +mere presence, soothed and pleased. She was slight, with features of +striking beauty and delicacy; her hair was between brown and gold, but +the transcendent lustre of her great blue eyes, and the brilliant +roses of her cheeks, were sad harbingers of early death. She spoke +little, and never with animation, in a low, soft voice. Shakespeare's +words, "My gracious silence," applied to her no less than to the wife +of Coriolanus." + +After giving up his official position at Duesseldorf, in 1835, +Mendelssohn was invited to become the conductor of the now famous +Gewandhaus concerts at Leipsic, a post which he gladly accepted, and +which, retained by him for many years, was to be one of the greatest +delights of his artistic life. Not only was he loved and appreciated +in Leipsic--far more than in Berlin, his own city--but he had here an +opportunity of assisting many composers and _virtuosi_, who otherwise +would have sought in vain for a hearing. Thus, after Liszt, when +visiting the town, had been first of all received with great coldness, +owing to the usual prices of admission to the concerts having been +raised, Mendelssohn set everything straight by having a soiree in his +honor at the Gewandhaus, where there were three hundred and fifty +people, orchestra, chorus, punch, pastry, Meeresstille Psalm, Bach's +Triple Concerto, choruses from St. Paul, Fantasia on Lucia, the Erl +King, the Devil and his Grandmother, the latter probably a mild +satirical reference to Liszt's stormy and often incoherent playing. It +is also pleasant to find how cordially Mendelssohn received Berlioz +there, as told in the "Memoirs" of the latter, spending ungrudgingly +long days in aiding in rehearsals for his "Romeo et Juliette," though +Mendelssohn never sympathized much with Berlioz's eccentric muse. + +The "Lobgesang," or "Hymn of Praise," a "symphonie-cantata," as he +called it, was his next great work, composed in 1840, together with +other music, at the request of the Leipsic Town-Council, for a +festival held in that town in commemoration of the invention of +printing, on June 25th. None who have heard this work can forget the +first impression produced when the grand instrumental movements with +which it commences are merged in the majestic chorus, "All men, all +things, praise ye the Lord," or the intensely dramatic effect of the +repeated tenor cry, "Watchman, will the night soon pass?" answered at +last by the clear soprano message of glad tidings, "The night is +departing, the day is at hand!" This "watchman" episode was added some +time afterward, and, as he told a friend, was suggested to the +composer during the weary hours of a long sleepless night, when the +words, "Will the night soon pass?" again and again seemed to be +repeated to him. But a greater work even than this was now in +progress; the "Elijah" had been begun. + +In 1841 began a troublesome and harassing connection with Berlin, a +city where, except in his home life, Mendelssohn never seems to have +been very fortunate. At the urgent entreaty of the king, he went to +reside there as head of the new Musical Academy. But disagreements +arose, and he did not long take an active part in the management. The +king, however, was very anxious to retain his services, and a sort of +general office seems to have been created for him, the duties of which +were to supply music for any dramatic works which the king took it +into his head to have so embellished. And, though it is to this that +we owe the noble "Antigone," "Oedipus," "Athalie," "Midsummer Night's +Dream," and other music, this work to dictation was very worrying, and +one cannot think without impatience of the annoyances to which he was +subjected. The king could not understand why he shrank from writing +music to the choruses of AEschylus's "Eumenides." Other composers would +do it by the yard, why not he? + +Passing rapidly over the intervening years filled with busy work, both +in composition and as one of the principals of a newly started +Conservatorium in Leipsic, we come to 1846, when his great work +"Elijah" was at last completed and performed. On August 26th, at the +Birmingham Festival, the performance went splendidly. Staudigl took +the part of the prophet, and a young tenor, Lockey, sang the air, +"Then shall the righteous," in the last part, as Mendelssohn says, "so +very beautifully, that I was obliged to collect myself to prevent my +being overcome, and to enable me to beat time steadily." Rarely, +indeed, has a composer so truly realized his own conception as +Mendelssohn did in the great tone-picture which he drew of the Prophet +of Carmel and the wilderness. + +"I figured to myself," he says, "Elijah as a grand, mighty prophet, +such as might again reappear in our own day, energetic and zealous, +stern, wrathful, and gloomy, a striking contrast to the court +myrmidons and popular rabble--in fact, in opposition to the whole +world, and yet borne on angel's wings!" Nothing can be finer than +this, with that exquisite touch in the last words, "_in opposition to +the whole world, and yet borne on angel's wings_." + +After returning to Germany he was soon busily employed in recasting +some portions of "Elijah" with which he was not satisfied; he had also +another oratorio on even a grander scale, "Christus," already +commenced; and at last, after all his life-long seeking in vain for a +good libretto for an opera, he had begun to set one written by Geibel, +the German poet, "Loreley," to music. But his friends now noticed how +worn and weary he used oftentimes to look, and how strangely irritable +he frequently was, and there can hardly be a doubt that some form of +the cerebral disease from which his father and several of his +relations had died, was already, deep-seated and obscure, disquieting +him. The sudden announcement of the death of his sister, Fanny Hensel, +herself a musical genius, to whom he was very fondly attached, on his +return to Frankfort from his last visit to England in May, 1847, +terribly affected him. He fell to the ground with a loud shriek, and +it was long before he recovered consciousness. + +Indeed, it may be said that he never really recovered from this shock. +In the summer he went with his wife and children, and in company with +his brother Paul and his family, on a tour in Switzerland, where he +hoped that complete idleness as regards music, life in the open air, +sketching, and intercourse with chosen friends, might once more give +strength to his enfeebled nerves. And for a time the beauty of the +mountains and the lakes seemed to bring him rest, and again he began +to work at his oratorio "Christus;" but still his friends continued +anxious about him. He looked broken down and aged, a constant +agitation seemed to possess him, and the least thing would often +strangely affect and upset him. + +In September he returned to Leipsic; he was then more cheerful, and +able to talk about music and to write, although he could not resume +the conductorship of the Gewandhaus concerts. He again had projects in +view. Jenny Lind was to sing in his "Elijah," at Vienna, whither he +would go and conduct, and he was about to publish some new songs. One +day in October he went to call upon his friend, Madame Frege, a gifted +lady who, he said, sang his songs better than anyone else, to consult +her about some new songs. She sang them over to him several times, and +then, as it was getting dark, she went out of the room for a few +minutes to order lights. When she returned he was lying on the sofa, +shivering with cold, and in agonizing pain. Leeches were applied, and +he partially recovered; but another attack followed, and this was the +last. + + + + +FRANZ LISZT + +By Rev. HUGH R. HAWEIS, M.A. + +(1811-1886) + + +[Illustration: Liszt.] + +Franz Liszt was born in 1811. He had the hot Hungarian blood of his +father, the fervid German spirit of his mother, and he inherited the +lofty independence, with none of the class prejudices, of the old +Hungarian nobility from which he sprang. Liszt's father, Adam, earned +a modest livelihood as agent and accountant in the house of Count +Esterhazy. In that great musical family, inseparably associated with +the names of Haydn and Schubert, Adam Liszt had frequent opportunities +of meeting distinguished musicians. The prince's private band had +risen to public fame under the instruction of the venerable Haydn +himself. The Liszts, father and son, often went to Eisenstadt, where +the count lived; there they rubbed elbows with Cherubini and Hummel, a +pupil of Mozart. + +Franz took to music from his earliest childhood. When about five years +old he was asked what he would like to do. "Learn the piano," said the +little fellow. Soon afterward his father asked him what he would like +to be; the child pointed to a print of Beethoven hanging on the wall, +and said, "Like him." Long before his feet could reach the pedals or +his fingers stretch an octave, the boy spent all his spare time +strumming, making what he called "clangs," chords and modulations. He +mastered scales and exercises without difficulty. + +Czerny at once took to Liszt, but refused to take anything for his +instruction. Salieri was also fascinated, and instructed him in +harmony; and fortunate it was that Liszt began his course under two +strict mentors. He soon began to resent Czerny's method--thought he +knew better and needed not those dry studies of Clementi and that +irksome fingering by rule--he could finger anything in a half-a-dozen +different ways. There was a moment when it seemed that master and +pupil would have to part, but timely concessions to genius paved the +way to dutiful submission, and years afterward the great master +dedicated to the rigid disciplinarian of his boyhood his "Vingt-quatre +Grandes Etudes" in affectionate remembrance. + +Such a light as Liszt's could not be long hid; all Vienna, in 1822, +was talking of the wonderful boy. "_Est deus in nobis_," wrote the +papers, profanely. The "little Hercules," the "young giant," the boy +"virtuoso from the clouds," were among the epithets coined to +celebrate his marvellous renderings of Hummel's "Concerto in A," and a +free "Fantasia" of his own. The Vienna Concert Hall was crowded to +hear him, and the other illustrious artists--then, as indeed they have +been ever since forced to do wherever Liszt appeared--effaced +themselves with as good a grace as they could. + +It is a remarkable tribute to the generous nature as well as to the +consummate ability of Liszt, that, while opposing partisans have +fought bitterly over him--Thalbergites, Herzites, Mendelssohnites +_versus_ Lisztites--yet few of the great artists who have, one after +another, had to yield to him in popularity have denied to him their +admiration, while most of them have given him their friendship. + +Liszt early wooed, and early won Vienna. He spoke ever of his dear +Viennese, and their resounding city. A concert tour on his way to +Paris brought him before the critical public of Stuttgart and Munich. +Hummel, an old man, and Moscheles, then in his prime, heard him and +declared that his playing was equal to theirs. But Liszt was bent upon +completing his studies in the celebrated school of the French capital, +and at the feet of the old musical dictator, Cherubini. The Erards, +who were destined to owe so much to Liszt, and to whom Liszt +throughout his career owed so much, at once provided him with a +magnificent piano; but Cherubini put in force a certain by-law of the +Conservatoire excluding foreigners, and excluded Franz Liszt. + +This was a bitter pill to the eager student. He hardly knew how little +he required such patronage. In a very short time "_le petit Liszt_" +was the great Paris sensation. The old _noblesse_ tried to spoil him +with flattery, the Duchesse de Berri drugged him with bonbons, the +Duke of Orleans called him the "little Mozart." He gave private +concerts, at which Herz, Moscheles, Lafont, and De Beriot, assisted. +Rossini would sit by his side at the piano, and applaud. He was a +"miracle." The company never tired of extolling his "nerve, fougue et +originalite," while the ladies who petted and caressed him after each +performance, were delighted at his simple and graceful carriage, the +elegance of his language, and the perfect breeding and propriety of +his demeanor. + +He was only twelve when he played for the first time at the Italian +Opera, and one of those singular incidents which remind one of +Paganini's triumphs occurred. At the close of a _bravura cadenza_, the +band forgot to come in, so absorbed were the musicians in watching the +young prodigy. Their failure was worth a dozen successes to Liszt. The +ball of the marvellous was fairly set rolling. Gall, the inventor of +phrenology, took a cast of the little Liszt's skull; Talma, the +tragedian, embraced him openly with effusion; and the misanthropic +Marquis de Noailles became his mentor, and initiated him into the art +of painting. + +In 1824 Liszt, then thirteen years old, came with his father to +England; his mother returned to Austria. He went down to Windsor to +see George IV., who was delighted with him, and Liszt, speaking of him +to me, said: "I was very young at the time, but I remember the king +very well--a fine, pompous-looking gentleman." George IV. went to +Drury Lane on purpose to hear the boy, and commanded an encore. Liszt +was also heard in the theatre at Manchester, and in several private +houses. + +On his return to France, people noticed a change in him. He was now +fourteen, grave, serious, often pre-occupied, already a little tired +of praise, and excessively tired of being called "le petit Liszt." His +vision began to take a wider sweep. The relation between art and +religion exercised him. His mind was naturally devout. Thomas a Kempis +was his constant companion. "Rejoice in nothing but a good deed;" +"Through labor to rest, through combat to victory;" "The glory which +men give and take is transitory," these and like phrases were already +deeply engraven on the fleshly tablets of his heart. Amid all his +glowing triumphs he was developing a curious disinclination to appear +in public; he seemed to yearn for solitude and meditation. + +In 1827 he again hurried to England for a short time, but his father's +sudden illness drove them to Boulogne, where, in his forty-seventh +year, died Adam Liszt, leaving the young Franz for the first time in +his life, at the early age of sixteen, unprotected and alone. Rousing +himself from the bodily prostration and torpor of grief into which he +had been thrown by the death of his father, Franz, with admirable +energy and that high sense of honor which always distinguished him, +began to set his house in order. He called in all his debts, sold his +magnificent grand "Erard," and left Boulogne for Paris with a heavy +heart and a light pocket, but not owing a sou. + +He sent for his mother, and for the next twelve years, 1828-1840, the +two lived together, chiefly in Paris. There, as a child, he had been a +nine days' wonder, but the solidity of his reputation was now destined +to go hand in hand with his stormy and interrupted mental and moral +development. Such a plant could not come to maturity all at once. No +drawing-room or concert-room success satisfied a heart for which the +world of human emotion seemed too small, and an intellect piercing +with intuitive intelligence into the "clear-obscure" depths of +religion and philosophy. + +But Franz was young, and Franz was poor, and his mother had to be +supported. She was his first care. Systematically, he labored to put +by a sum which would assure her of a competency, and often with his +tender genial smile he would remind her of his own childish words, +"God will help me to repay you for all that you have done for me." +Still he labored, often woefully against the grain. "Poverty," he +writes, "that old mediator between man and evil, tore me from my +solitude devoted to meditation, and placed me before a public on whom +not only my own but my own mother's existence depended. Young and +over-strained, I suffered painfully under the contact with external +things which my vocation as a musician brought with it, and which +wounded me all the more intensely that my heart at this time was +filled entirely with the mystical feelings of love and religion." + +[Illustration: Franz Liszt.] + +Of course the gifted young pianist's connection grew rapidly. He got +his twenty francs a lesson at the best houses; he was naturally a +welcome guest, and from the first seemed to have the run of high +Parisian society. His life was feverish, his activity irregular, his +health far from strong; but the vulgar temptations of the gay capital +seemed to have little attraction for his noble nature. His heart +remained unspoiled. He was most generous to those who could not +afford to pay for his lessons, most pitiful to the poor, most +dutiful and affectionate to his mother. Coming home late from some +grand entertainment, he would sit outside on the staircase till +morning, sooner than awaken, or perhaps alarm, her by letting himself +in. But in losing his father he seemed to have lost a certain method +and order. His meals were irregular, so were his lessons; more so were +the hours devoted to sleep. + +At this time he was hardly twenty; we are not surprised anon to hear +in his own words, of "a female form chaste, and pure as the alabaster +of holy vessel," but he adds: "Such was the sacrifice which I offered +with tears to the God of Christians!" + +I will explain. Mlle. Caroline St. Cricq was just seventeen, lithe, +slender, and of "angelic" beauty, with a complexion like a lily +flushed with roses, open, "impressionable to beauty, to the world, to +religion, to God." The countess, her mother, appears to have been a +charming woman, very partial to Liszt, whom she engaged to instruct +Mademoiselle in music. The lessons went not by time, but by +inclination. The young man's eloquence, varied knowledge, ardent love +of literature, and flashing genius won both the mother and daughter. +Not one of them seemed to suspect the whirlpool of grief and death to +which they were hurrying. The countess fell ill and died, but not +before she had recommended Liszt to the Count St. Cricq as a possible +suitor for the hand of Mademoiselle. + +The haughty diplomat, St. Cricq, at once put his foot down. The +funeral over, Liszt's movements were watched. They were innocent +enough. He was already an _enfant de la maison_, but one night he +lingered reading aloud some favorite author to Mademoiselle a little +too late. He was reported by the servants, and received his polite +dismissal as music master. In an interview with the count his own +pride was deeply wounded. "Difference of rank!" said the count. That +was quite enough for Liszt. He rose, pale as death, with quivering +lip, but uttered not a word. As a man of honor he had but one course. +He and Caroline parted forever. She contracted later an uncongenial +marriage; he seems to have turned with intense ardor to religion. His +good mother used to complain to those who came to inquire for him that +he was all day long in church, and had ceased to occupy himself, as he +should, with music. + +It was toward the close of 1831 that Liszt met Chopin in Paris. From +the first, these two men, so different, became fast friends. Chopin's +delicate, retiring soul found a singular delight in Liszt's strong and +imposing personality. Liszt's exquisite perception enabled him +perfectly to live in the strange dreamland of Chopin's fancies, while +his own vigor inspired Chopin with nerve to conceive those mighty +Polonaises that he could never properly play himself, and which he so +gladly committed to the keeping of his prodigious friend. Liszt +undertook the task of interpreting Chopin to the mixed crowds which he +revelled in subduing, but from which his fastidious and delicately +strung friend shrank with something like aversion. + +From Chopin, Liszt and all the world after him got that _tempo +rubato_, that playing with the duration of notes without breaking the +time, and those arabesque ornaments which are woven like fine +embroidery all about the pages of Chopin's nocturnes, and lift what in +others are mere casual flourishes into the dignity of interpretative +phrases and poetic commentaries on the text. + +People were fond of comparing the two young men who so often appeared +in the same salons together--Liszt with his finely shaped, long, oval +head and _profil d'ivoire_, set proudly on his shoulders, his stiff +hair of dark blonde thrown back from the forehead without a parting, +and cut in a straight line, his _aplomb_, his magnificent and courtly +bearing, his ready tongue, his flashing wit and fine irony, his genial +_bonhomie_ and irresistibly winning smile; and Chopin, also, with dark +blonde hair, but soft as silk, parted on one side, to use Liszt's own +words, "An angel of fair countenance, with brown eyes from which +intellect beamed rather than burned; a gentle, refined smile, slightly +aquiline nose; a delicious, clear, almost diaphanous complexion, all +bearing witness to the harmony of a soul which required no commentary +beyond itself." + +Nothing can be more generous or more true than Liszt's recognition of +Chopin's independent support. "To our endeavors," he says, "to our +struggles, just then so much needing certainty, he lent us the support +of a calm, unshakable conviction, equally armed against apathy and +cajolery." There was only one picture on the walls of Chopin's room; +it hung just above his piano. It was a head of Liszt. + +It is no part of my present scheme to describe the battle which +romanticism in music waged against the prevalent conventionalities. We +know the general outcome of the struggle culminating, after the most +prodigious artistic convulsions, in the musical supremacy of Richard +Wagner, who certainly marks firmly and broadly enough the greatest +stride in musical development made since Beethoven. + +In 1842 Liszt visited Weimar, Berlin, and then went to Paris; he was +meditating a tour in Russia. Pressing invitations reached him from St. +Petersburg and Moscow. The most fabulous accounts of his virtuosity +had raised expectation to its highest pitch. He was as legendary even +among the common people as Paganini. His first concert at St. +Petersburg realized the then unheard-of sum of L2,000. The roads were +crowded to see him pass, and the corridors and approaches to the Grand +Opera blocked to catch a glimpse of him. The same scenes were repeated +at Moscow, where he gave six concerts without exhausting the popular +excitement. + +On his return to Weimar he accepted the post of Capellmeister to the +Grand Duke. It provided him with that settled abode, and above all +with an orchestra, which he now felt so indispensable to meet his +growing passion for orchestral composition. But the time of rest had +not yet come. + +In 1844 and 1845 he was received in Spain and Portugal with incredible +enthusiasm, after which he returned to Bonn to assist at the +inauguration of Beethoven's statue. With boundless liberality, he had +subscribed more money than all the princes and people of Germany put +together, to make the statue worthy of the occasion and the occasion +worthy of the statue. + +The golden river which poured into him from all the capitals of +Europe now freely found a new vent in boundless generosity. Hospitals, +poor and needy, patriotic celebrations, the dignity and interests of +art, were all subsidized from his private purse. His transcendent +virtuosity was only equalled by his splendid munificence; but he +found--what others have so often experienced--that great personal +gifts and prodigious _eclat_ cannot possibly escape the poison of envy +and detraction. He was attacked by calumny; his gifts denied and +ridiculed; his munificence ascribed to vainglory, and his charity to +pride and ostentation; yet none will ever know the extent of his +private charities, and no one who knows anything of Liszt can be +ignorant of the simple, unaffected goodness of heart which prompted +them. + +Still he was wounded by ingratitude and abuse. It seemed to check and +paralyze for the moment his generous nature. Fetis saw him at Coblenz +soon after the Bonn festival, at which he had expended such vast sums. +He was sitting alone, dejected and out of health. He said he was sick +of everything, tired of life, and nearly ruined. But that mood never +lasted long with Liszt; he soon arose and shook himself like a lion. +His detractors slunk away into their holes, and he walked forth +victorious to refill his empty purse and reap new laurels. + +His career was interrupted by the stormy events of 1848. He settled +down for a time at Weimar, and it was then that he began to take that +warm interest in Richard Wagner which ended in the closest and most +enduring of friendships. + +He labored incessantly to get a hearing for the "Lohengrin" and +"Tannhaeuser." He forced Wagner's compositions on the band, on the +grand-duke; he breasted public opposition and fought nobly for the +eccentric and obscure person who was chiefly known as a political +outlaw and an inventor of extravagant compositions which it was +impossible to play or sing, and odiously unpleasant to listen to. But +years of faithful service, mainly the service and immense _prestige_ +and authority of Liszt, procured Wagner a hearing, and paved the way +for his glorious triumphs at Bayreuth in 1876, 1882, and 1883. + +I have preferred to confine myself in this article to the personality of +Liszt, and have made no allusion to his orchestral works and oratorio +compositions. The "Symphonic Poems" speak for themselves--magnificent +renderings of the inner life of spontaneous emotion--but subject-matter +which calls for a special article can find no place at the fag-end of +this, and at all times it is better to hear music than to describe it. +As it would be impossible to describe Liszt's orchestration intelligibly +to those who have not heard it, and unnecessary to those who have, I +will simply leave it alone. + +I saw Liszt but six times, and then only between the years 1876 and +1881. I heard him play upon two occasions only, and then he played +certain pieces of Chopin at my request and a new composition by +himself. I have heard Mme Schumann, Buelow, Rubenstein, Menter, and +Esipoff, but I can understand that saying of Tausig, himself one of +the greatest masters of _technique_ whom Germany has ever produced: +"No mortal can measure himself with Liszt. He dwells alone upon a +solitary height." + + + + +RICHARD WAGNER + +By FRANKLIN PETERSON, Mus. Bac. + +(1813-1883) + + +[Illustration: Wagner.] + +Richard Wagner's personality has been so overshadowed by and almost +merged in the great controversy which his schemes of reform in opera +raised, that his life and character are often now sorely +misjudged--just as his music long was--by those who have not the time, +the inclination, or the ability to understand the facts and the +issues. Before briefly stating then the theories he propounded and +their development, as shown in successive music dramas, it will be +well to summarize the story of a life (1813-83) during which he was +called to endure so much vicissitude, trial and temptation, suffering +and defeat. + +Born in Leipsic, on May 22, 1813, the youngest of nine children, +Wilhelm Richard was only five months old when his father died. His +mother's second marriage entailed a removal to Dresden, where, at the +Kreuzschule, young Wagner received an excellent liberal education. At +the age of thirteen the bent of his taste, as well as his diligence, +was shown by his translation (out of school hours) of the first twelve +books of the "Odyssey." In the following year his passion for poetry +found expression in a grand tragedy. "It was a mixture," he says, "of +Hamlet and Lear. Forty-two persons died in the course of the play, +and, for want of more characters, I had to make some of them reappear +as ghosts in the last act." Weber, who was then conductor of the +Dresden opera, seems to have attracted the boy both by his personality +and by his music; but it was Beethoven's music which gave him his real +inspiration. From 1830 to 1833 many compositions after standard models +are evidence of hard and systematic work and in 1833 he began his long +career as an operatic composer with "Die Feen" which, however, never +reached the dignity of performance till 1888--five years after +Wagner's death. After some time spent in very unremunerative routine +work in Heidelberg, Koenigsberg, and Riga (where in 1836 he married), +he resolved, in 1839, to try his fortune in Paris with "Rienzi," a new +opera, written on the lines of the Paris Grand Opera and with all its +great resources in view. From the month's terrific storm in the North +Sea, through which the vessel struggled to its haven, till the spring +of 1842, when Wagner left Paris with "Rienzi" unperformed, heartsick +with hope deferred, his lot was a hard and bitter one. Berlioz, in +similar straits, supported himself by singing in the chorus of a +second-rate theatre. Wagner was refused even that humble post. In 1842 +"Rienzi" was accepted at Dresden, and its signal success led to his +appointment as Capellmeister there (January, 1843). In the following +year the "Flying Dutchman" was not so enthusiastically received, but +it has since easily distanced the earlier work in popular favor. The +story was suggested to his mind during the stormy voyage from Riga; +and it is a remarkable fact that the wonderful tone-picture of +Norway's storm-beaten shore was painted by one who, till that voyage, +had never set eyes on the sea. In 1845 his new opera, "Tannhaeuser," +proved at first a comparative failure. The subject, one which had been +proposed to Weber in 1814, attracted Wagner while he was in Paris, and +during his studies for the libretto he found also the first +suggestions of "Lohengrin" and "Parsifal." The temporary failure of +the opera led him to the consideration and self-examination which +resulted in the elaborate exposition of his ideal (in "Opera and +Drama," and many other essays). "I saw a single possibility before +me," he writes, "to induce the public to understand and participate in +my aims as an artist." "Lohengrin" was finished early in 1848, and +also the poem of "Siegfried's Tod," the result of Wagner's studies in +the old Nibelungen Lied; but a too warm sympathy with some of the aims +of the revolutionary party (which reigned for two short days behind +the street barricades in Dresden, May, 1849) rendered his absence from +Saxony advisable, and a few days later news reached him in Weimar that +a warrant was issued for his arrest. With a passport procured by Liszt +he fled across the frontier, and for nearly twelve years the +bitterness of exile was added to the hardships of poverty. It is this +period which is mainly responsible for Wagner's polemical writings, so +biting in their sarcasm, and often unfair in their attacks. He was a +good hater; one of the most fiendish pamphlets in existence is the +"Capitulation" (1871), in which Wagner, safe from poverty (thanks to +the kindness of Liszt and the munificence of Ludwig II., of Bavaria), +and nearing the summit of his ambition, but remembering only his +misfortunes and his slights, gloated in public over the horrors which +were making a hell of the fairest city on earth. There is excuse at +least, if not justification, to be found for his attacks on Meyerbeer +and others; there are considerations to be taken into account while +one reads with humiliation and pity the correspondence between Wagner +and his benefactor, Liszt; but it is sad that an affectionate, humane, +intensely human, to say nothing of an artistic, nature, could so +blaspheme against the first principles of humanity. + +In 1852 the poem of the "Nibelungen Ring Trilogy" was finished. In +1854 "Rheingold" (the introduction of "Vorabend") was ready, and "Die +Walkuere" (Part I.) in 1856. But "tired," as he said, "of heaping one +silent score upon another," he left "Siegfried" unfinished, and turned +to the story of "Tristan." The poem was completed in 1857, and the +music two years later. At last, in 1861, he received permission to +return to Germany, and in Vienna he had the first opportunity of +hearing his own "Lohengrin." For three years the struggle with fortune +seems to have been harder than ever before, and Wagner, in broken +health, had practically determined to give up the unequal contest, +when an invitation was sent him by Ludwig II., the young King of +Bavaria--"Come here and finish your work." Here at last was salvation +for Wagner, and the rest of his life was comparatively smooth. In 1865 +"Tristan und Isolde" was performed at Munich, and was followed three +years later by a comic opera, "Die Meistersinger," the first sketches +of which date from 1845. "Siegfried" ("Nibelungen Ring," Part II.) was +completed in 1869, and in the following year Wagner married Cosima, +the daughter of Liszt, and formerly the wife of Von Buelow. His first +wife, from whom he had been separated in 1861, died at Dresden in +1866. + +A theatre built somewhere off the main lines of traffic, and specially +constructed for the performance of Wagner's later works, must have +seemed the most impracticable and visionary of proposals in 1870; and +yet, chiefly through the unwearying exertions of Carl Tausig (and, after +his death, of the various Wagner societies), the foundation-stone of the +Baireuth Theatre was laid in 1872, and in 1876, two years after the +completion of the "Goetterdaemmerung" ("Nibelungen Ring," Part III.), it +became an accomplished fact. The first work given was the entire +"Trilogy;" and in July, 1882, Wagner's long and stormy career was +magnificently crowned there by the first performance of "Parsifal." A +few weeks later his health showed signs of giving way, and he resolved +to spend the winter at Venice. There he died suddenly, February 13, +1883, and was buried in the garden of his own house, Wahnfried, at +Baireuth.[12] + + [Footnote 12: Our illustration represents him at Wahnfried in + company with his wife Cosima, her father Franz Liszt, who was + his lifelong friend, and Herr von Wolzogen.] + +Wagner's life and his individuality are of unusual importance in +rightly estimating his work, because, unlike the other great masters, +he not only devoted all his genius to one branch of music--the +opera--but he gradually evolved a theory and an ideal which he +consciously formulated and adopted, and perseveringly followed. It may +be asked whether Wagner's premises were sound and his conclusions +right; and also whether his genius was great enough to be the worthy +champion of a cause involving such revolutions. Unless Wagner's +operas, considered solely as music, are not only more advanced in +style, but worthy in themselves to stand at least on a level with the +greatest efforts of his predecessors, no amount of proof that these +were wrong and he right will give his name the place his admirers +claim for it. It is now universally acknowledged that Wagner can only +be compared with the greatest names in music. His instrumentation has +the advantage in being the inheritor of the enormous development of +the orchestra from Haydn to Berlioz, his harmony is as daring and +original as Bach's, and his melody is as beautiful as it is different +from Beethoven's or Mozart's. (These names are used not in order to +institute profitless comparisons, but as convenient standards; +therefore even a qualification of the statement will not invalidate +the case.) + +[Illustration: Wagner and his Friends.] + +His aim (stated very generally) was to reform the whole structure of +opera, using the last or "Beethoven" development of instrumental music +as a basis, and freeing it from the fetters which conventionality had +imposed, in the shape of set forms, accepted arrangements, and +traditional concessions to a style of singing now happily almost +extinct. The one canon was to be dramatic fitness. In this "Art Work +of the Future," as he called it, the interest of the drama is to +depend not entirely on the music, but also on the poem and on the +acting and staging as well. It will be seen that Wagner's theory is +not new. All or most of it is contained in the theories of Gluck and +others, who at various periods in the development of opera consciously +strove after an ideal music drama. But the times were not ripe, and +therefore such music could not exert its proper influence. The twin +arts of music and poetry, dissociated by the rapid advance of +literature and the slow development of music, pursued their several +paths alone. The attempt to reunite them in the end of the sixteenth +century was futile, and only led to opera which never needed, and +therefore did not employ, great poetry. In Germany music was developed +along instrumental lines until the school arrived at its culmination +in Beethoven; and when an opera composer stopped to think on the +eternal verities, the result must always have been such a prophecy of +Wagner's work as we find in Mozart's letters: + +"_October, 1781._--Verse indeed is indispensable for music, but rhyme +is bad in its very nature.... It would be by far the best if a good +composer, understanding the theatre and knowing how to produce a +piece, and a clever poet, could be united in one...." + +Other but comparatively unimportant features in the Wagner music drama +are, _e.g._, the use of the _Leitmotiv_, or leading motive--found +occasionally in Gluck, Mozart, Weber, etc., but here first adopted +with a definite purpose, and the contention for mythological rather +than historical subjects--now largely admitted. But all Wagner's +principles would have been useless without the energy and perseverance +which directed his work, the loving study which stored his memory with +all the great works of his predecessors, and, above all, the genius +which commands the admiration of the musical world. + +Wagner's works show a remarkable and progressive development. "Rienzi" +is quite in the grand opera style of Meyerbeer, Spontini, etc. The +"Flying Dutchman" is a deliberate departure from that style, and in +romantic opera strikes out for itself a new line, which, followed +still further in "Tannhaeuser," reaches its stage of perfection in +"Lohengrin." From this time dates the music drama, of which "Tristan" +is the most uncompromising type, and by virtue of wonderful +orchestration, and the intense pathos of the beautifully written poem, +the most fascinating of all. The "Trilogy" ("Walkuere," "Siegfried," +"Goetterdaemmerung," with the "Rheingold" as introduction) is a very +unequal work. It is full of Wagner's most inspired writing and most +marvellous orchestration; but it is too long and too diffuse. The plot +also is strangely confused and uninteresting, and fails alike as a +story and as a vehicle of theories, morals, or religion. "Parsifal," +with its sacred allegory, its lofty nobility of tone, and its pure +mysticism, stands on a platform by itself, and is almost above +criticism, or praise, or blame. The libretto alone might have won +Wagner immortality, so original is it and perfect in intention; and +the music seems to be no longer a mere accessory to the effect, but +the very essence and fragrance of the great conception. + + + + +GIUSEPPE VERDI + +(BORN 1813) + + +[Illustration: Verdi.] + +Giuseppe Verdi, the last and most widely successful of the school of +Italian opera proper, was born at Roncole, near Busseto, October 9, +1813. At ten years he was organist of the small church in his native +village, the salary being raised after a year from L1 8_s._ 10_d._ to +L1 12_s._ per annum. At the age of sixteen he was provided with funds +to prosecute his studies at the Conservatorium at Milan; but at the +entrance examination he showed so little evidence of musical talent +that the authorities declined to enroll him. Nothing daunted, he +pursued his studies with ardor under Lavigna, from 1831 to 1833, when, +according to agreement, he returned to Busseto to take the place of +his old teacher Provesi, now deceased. + +After five unhappy years in a town where he was little appreciated, +Verdi returned to Milan. His first opera, "Oberto," is chiefly +indebted to Bellini, and the next, "Un Giorno di Regno" (which +fulfilled its own title, as it was only once performed), has been +styled "Un Bazar de Reminiscences." Poor Verdi had just lost his wife +and two children within a few days of each other, so it is hardly to +be wondered at that a comic opera was not a very congenial work, nor +successfully accomplished. + +"Nabucodonosor" (1842) was his first hit, and in the next year "I +Lombardi" was even more successful--partly owing to the revolutionary +feeling which in no small degree was to help him to his future high +position. Indeed, his name was a useful acrostic to the revolutionary +party, who shouted "Viva Verdi," when they meant "Viva Vittorio +Emanuele Re D' Italia." "Ernani," produced at Venice in 1844, also +scored a success, owing to the republican sentiment in the libretto, +which was adapted from Victor Hugo's "Hernani." Many works followed in +quick succession, each arousing the enthusiasm of the audiences, +chiefly when an opportunity was afforded them of expressing their +feelings against the Austrian rule. Only with his sixteenth opera did +Verdi win the supremacy when there were no longer any living +competitors; and "Rigoletto" (1851), "Il Trovatore," and "La +Traviata" (1853) must be called the best, as they are the last of the +Italian opera school. "I Vespri Siciliani" (1855) and "Simon +Boccanegra" (1857) were not so successful as "Un Ballo in Maschera" +(1859); and none of them, any more than "La Forza del Destino" (1862) +or "Don Carlos" (1867), added anything to the fame of the composer of +"Il Trovatore." + +Only now begins the interest which the student of musical history +finds in Verdi's life. Hitherto he had proved a good man, struggling +with adversity and poverty, a successful composer ambitious to succeed +to the vacant throne of Italian opera. But the keen insight into +dramatic necessity which had gradually developed and had given such +force to otherwise unimportant scenes in earlier operas, also showed +him the insufficiency of the means hitherto at the disposal of Italian +composers, and from time to time he had tried to learn the lessons +taught in the French Grand Opera School, but with poor success. Now a +longer interval seemed to promise a more careful, a more ambitious +work, and when "Aida" was produced at Cairo (1871), it was at once +acknowledged that a revolution had taken place in Verdi's mind and +method, which might produce still greater results. The influence of +Wagner and the music-drama is distinctly to be felt. + +But Verdi was apparently not yet satisfied. For sixteen years the +successful composer maintained absolute silence in opera, when +whispers of a great music-drama roused the expectation of musical +Europe to an extraordinary pitch; nor were the highest expectations +disappointed when "Otello" was produced at Milan in 1887. The +surrender of Italian opera was complete, and Verdi took his right +place at the head of the vigorous new school which has arisen in +Italy, and which promises to regain for the "Land of Song" some of her +ancient preeminence in music. A comic opera by Verdi, "Falstaff," was +announced in 1892: it has well sustained his previous reputation. + + + + +DRAMATIC AND LYRIC ARTISTS + + + + +DAVID GARRICK + +By SAMUEL ARCHER + +(1716-1779) + + +This celebrated actor was the son of Peter Garrick, who had a +captain's commission in the army, but who generally resided at +Lichfield. He was born at Hereford, when his father was on a +recruiting party there, and was baptized in the Church of All-Saints, +in that city, on February 20, 1716. Young Garrick received part of +his education at the grammar school there, but he did not apply +himself to his books with much assiduity. He had conceived a very +early passion for theatrical representation, from which nothing could +turn him aside. When he was a little more than eleven years of age, he +formed the project of getting a play acted by young gentlemen and +ladies. After he had made some trial of his own and his companions' +abilities, and prevailed upon the parents to give their consent, he +pitched upon the "Recruiting Officer," for the play. He assembled his +little company in a large room, the destined place of representation. +There we may suppose our young boy distributed the several characters +according to the merits of the performer. He prevailed on one of his +sisters to play the part of the chambermaid. Sergeant Kite, a +character of busy intrigue and bold humor, he chose for himself. + +[Illustration: Garrick.] + +The play was acted in a manner so far above the expectation of the +audience, that it gave general satisfaction, and was much applauded. +The ease, vivacity, and humor of Kite are still remembered with +pleasure at Lichfield. The first stage attempt of our English Roscius +was in 1727. + +Not long after, he was invited to Lisbon by an uncle, who was a +considerable wine merchant in that city, but his stay there was very +short, for he returned to Lichfield the year following. It is imagined +that the gay disposition of the young gentleman was not very suitable +to the old man's temper, which was, perhaps, too grave and austere to +relish the vivacities of his nephew. + +However, during his short stay at Lisbon, young Garrick made himself +agreeable to all who knew him, particularly to the English merchants +who resided there, with whom he often dined. After dinner they usually +diverted themselves by placing him upon the table, and calling upon +him to repeat verses and speeches from plays, which he did with great +readiness, and much to the satisfaction of the hearers. Some +Portuguese young gentlemen of the highest rank, who were of his own +age, were also much delighted with his conversation. + +He afterward returned to Lichfield, and in 1737 came up to town in +company with Samuel Johnson, who was to make so conspicuous a figure +in the literary world, and of whose life we have already given an +account. + +Soon after his arrival in London, Garrick entered himself at Lincoln's +Inn, and he also put himself under the tuition of Mr. Colson, an +eminent mathematician at Rochester. But as he applied himself little +to the study of the law, his proficiency in mathematics and philosophy +was not extensive. His mind was theatrically led, and nothing could +divert his thoughts from the study of that to which his genius so +powerfully prompted him. He had L1,000 left him by his uncle at +Lisbon, and he engaged for a short time in the wine trade, in +partnership with his brother, Mr. Peter Garrick; they hired vaults in +Durham Yard, for the purpose of carrying on the business. The union +between the brothers was of no long date. Peter was calm, sedate, and +methodical; David was gay, volatile, impetuous, and perhaps not so +confined to regularity as his partner could have wished. To prevent +the continuance of fruitless and daily altercation, by the +interposition of friends the partnership was amicably dissolved. And +now Garrick prepared himself in earnest for that employment which he +so ardently loved, and in which nature designed he should eminently +excel. + +He was frequently in the company of the most eminent actors; he got +himself introduced to the managers of the theatres, and tried his +talent in the recitation of some particular and favorite portions of +plays. Now and then he indulged himself in the practice of mimicry, a +talent which, however inferior, is never willingly resigned by him who +excels in it. Sometimes he wrote criticisms upon the action and +elocution of the players, and published them in the prints. These +sudden effusions of his mind generally comprehended judicious +observations and shrewd remarks, unmixed with that illiberality which +often disgraces the instructions of stage critics. + +Garrick's diffidence withheld him from trying his strength at first +upon a London theatre. He thought the hazard was too great, and +embraced the advantage of commencing his noviciate in acting with a +company of players then ready to set out for Ipswich, under the +direction of Mr. William Gifford and Mr. Dunstall, in the summer of +1741. + +The first effort of his theatrical talents was exerted as Aboan, in +the play of "Oroonoko," a part in which his features could not be +easily discerned. Under the disguise of a black countenance, he hoped +to escape being known, should it be his misfortune not to please. +Though Aboan is not a first-rate character, yet the scenes of pathetic +persuasion and affecting distress in which that character is involved, +will always command the attention of the audience when represented by +a judicious actor. Our young player's applause was equal to his most +sanguine desires. Under the assumed name of Lyddal, he not only acted +a variety of characters in plays, particularly Chamont, in the +"Orphan;" Captain Brazen, in the "Recruiting Officer;" and Sir Harry +Wildair; but he likewise gave such delight to the audience, that they +gratified him with constant and loud proofs of their approbation. The +town of Ipswich will long boast of having first seen and encouraged so +great a genius as Garrick. + +His first appearance as an actor in London, was on October 19, 1741, +when he performed the part of Richard III., at the playhouse in +Goodman's Fields. His easy and familiar, yet forcible, style in +speaking and acting, at first threw the critics into some hesitation +concerning the novelty, as well as propriety, of his manner. They had +been long accustomed to an elevation of the voice, with a sudden +mechanical depression of its tones, calculated to excite admiration, +and to intrap applause. To the just modulation of the words, and +concurring expression of the features from the genuine works of +nature, they had been strangers, at least for some time. But after he +had gone through a variety of scenes, in which he gave evident proofs +of consummate art and perfect knowledge of character, their doubts +were turned into surprise and astonishment, from which they relieved +themselves by loud and reiterated applause. They were more especially +charmed when the actor, after having thrown aside the hypocrite and +politician, assumed the warrior and the hero. When news was brought to +Richard that the Duke of Buckingham was taken, Garrick's look and +action, when he pronounced the words + + "----Off with his head! + So much for Buckingham!" + +were so magnificent and important, from his visible enjoyment of the +incident, that several loud shouts of approbation proclaimed the +triumph of the actor and satisfaction of the audience. Richard's dream +before the battle, and his death, were accompanied with the loudest +gratulations of applause. + +Such was the universal approbation which followed our young actor, +that the more established theatres of Drury Lane and Covent Garden +were deserted. Garrick drew after him the inhabitants of the most +polite parts of the town: Goodman's Fields were full of the splendor +of St. James' and Grosvenor Square; the coaches of the nobility filled +up the space from Temple Bar to Whitechapel. He had so perfectly +convinced the public of his superior accomplishments in acting, that +not to admire him would not only have argued an absence of taste, but +the grossest stupidity. Those who had seen and been delighted with the +most admired of the old actors, confessed that he had excelled the +ablest of them in the variety of the exhibitions, and equalled them +all in their must applauded characters. + +Alexander Pope was persuaded by Lord Orrery to see him in the first +dawn of his fame. That great man, who had often seen and admired +Betterton, was struck with the propriety and beauty of Mr. Garrick's +action; and as a convincing proof that he had a good opinion of his +merit, he told Lord Orrery that he was afraid the young man would be +spoiled, for he would have no competitor. + +Mr. Garrick shone forth like a theatrical Newton; he threw new light +on elocution and action; he banished ranting, bombast, and grimace; +and restored nature, ease, simplicity, and genuine humor. + +In 1742 he entered into stated agreements with Fleetwood, patentee of +Drury Lane, for the annual income of L500. His fame continued to +increase at the royal theatre, and soon became so extended that a +deputation was sent from Ireland, to invite him to act in Dublin +during the months of June, July, and August, upon very profitable +conditions. These he embraced, and crossed the seas to the metropolis +of Ireland in June, 1742, accompanied by Mrs. Woffington. + +[Illustration: Garrick as Richard III.] + +His success at Dublin exceeded all imagination, though much was +expected from him; he was caressed by all ranks of people as a prodigy +of theatrical accomplishment. During the hottest days in the year the +play-house was crowded with persons of fashion and rank, who were +never tired with seeing and applauding the various essays of his +skill. + +The excessive heat became prejudicial to the frequenters of the +theatre; and the epidemical distemper, which seized and carried off +great numbers, was nicknamed the _Garrick fever_. Satisfied with the +emoluments arising from the summer campaign, and delighted with the +generous encouragement and kind countenance which the nobility and +gentry of Ireland had given him, and of which he always spoke in the +strongest terms of acknowledgment and gratitude, he set out for +London, to renew his labors and to receive the applause of the most +critical, as well as most candid, audience in Europe. + +Such an actor as Garrick, whose name when announced in the play-bill +operated like a charm and drew multitudes to the theatre, of +consequence considerably augmented the profits of the patentee. But at +the time when all without doors was apparently gay and splendid, and +the theatre of Drury Lane seemed to be in the most flourishing +condition, by the strange and absurd conduct of the manager the whole +fabric was absolutely running into certain destruction. + +His behavior brought on a revolt of the principal actors, with Mr. +Garrick and Mr. Macklin at their head, and for some time they seceded +from the theatre. They endeavored to procure a patent for a new +theatre, but without success; and Garrick at length accommodated his +dispute with the manager, Mr. Fleetwood, by engaging to play again for +a salary of six or seven hundred pounds. + +In 1744, Garrick made a second voyage to Dublin, and became +joint-manager of the theatre there with Mr. Sheridan. They met with +great success; and Garrick returned again to London, in May, 1746, +having considerably added to his stock of money. In 1747 he became +joint-patentee of Drury Lane Theatre with Mr. Lacy. Mr. Garrick and +Mr. Lacy divided the business of the theatre in such a manner as not +to encroach upon each other's province. Mr. Lacy took upon himself the +care of the wardrobe, the scenes, and the economy of the household; +while Garrick regulated the more important business of treating with +authors, hiring actors, distributing parts in plays, superintending of +rehearsals, etc. Besides the profits accruing from his half-share, he +was allowed an income of L500 for his acting, and some particular +emoluments for altering plays, farces, etc. + +In 1749, Mr. Garrick was married to Mademoiselle Violetti, a young +lady who (as Mr. Davies says), to great elegance of form and many +polite accomplishments, joined the more amiable virtues of the mind. +In 1763, 1764, and 1765, he made a journey to France and Italy, +accompanied by Mrs. Garrick, who, from the day of her marriage till +the death of her husband, was never separated from him for twenty-four +hours. During his stay abroad his company was desired by many +foreigners of high birth and great merit. He was sometimes invited to +give the company a taste of that art in which he was known so greatly +to excel. Such a request he very readily consented to, for indeed his +compliance cost him nothing. He could, without the least preparation, +transform himself into any character tragic or comic, and seize +instantaneously upon any passion of the human mind. He could make a +sudden transition from violent rage, and even madness, to the extremes +of levity and humor, and go through the whole circle of theatric +evolution with the most surprising velocity. + +On the death of Mr. Lacy, joint patentee of Drury Lane with Mr. +Garrick, in 1773, the whole management of that theatre devolved on Mr. +Garrick. But in 1776, being about sixty years of age, he sold his +share of the patent, and formed a resolution of quitting the stage. He +was, however, determined, before he left the theatre, to give the +public proofs of his abilities to delight them as highly as he had +ever done in the flower and vigor of his life. To this end he +presented them with some of the most capital and trying characters of +Shakespeare; with Hamlet, Richard, and Lear, besides other parts which +were less fatiguing. Hamlet and Lear were repeated; Richard he acted +once only, and by the king's command. His Majesty was much surprised +to see him, at an age so advanced, run about the field of battle with +so much fire, force, and agility. + +He finished his dramatic race with one of his favorite parts, with +Felix, in "The Wonder a Woman Keeps a Secret." When the play was +ended, Mr. Garrick advanced toward the audience, with much palpitation +of mind, and visible emotion in his countenance. No premeditation +whatever could prepare him for this affecting scene. He bowed--he +paused--the spectators were all attention. After a short struggle of +nature, he recovered from the shock he had felt, and addressed his +auditors in the following words: + +"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: It has been customary with persons under my +circumstances to address you in a farewell epilogue. I had the same +intention, and turned my thoughts that way; but indeed, I found myself +then as incapable of writing such an epilogue, as I should be now of +speaking it. + +"The jingle of rhyme and the language of fiction would but ill suit my +present feelings. This is to me a very awful moment; it is no less +than parting forever with those from whom I have received the greatest +kindness and favors, and upon the spot where that kindness and those +favors were enjoyed." [Here he was unable to proceed till he was +relieved by a shower of tears.] + +"Whatever may be the changes of my future life, the deepest impression +of your kindness will always remain here" (putting his hand on his +breast) "fixed and unalterable. I will very readily agree to my +successors having more skill and ability for their station than I +have; but I defy them all to take more sincere, and more uninterrupted +pains for your favor, or to be more truly sensible of it, than is your +humble servant." + +After a profound obeisance, he retired, amid the tears and +acclamations of a most crowded and brilliant audience. + +He died on Wednesday morning, January 20, 1779, at eight o'clock, +without a groan. The disease was pronounced to be a palsy in the +kidneys. On Monday, February 1st, the body of David Garrick was +conveyed from his own house in the Adelphi, and most magnificently +interred in Westminster Abbey, under the monument of his beloved +Shakespeare. He was attended to the grave by persons of the first +rank; by men illustrious for genius, and famous for science; by those +who loved him living, and lamented his death. + + + + +EDWIN FORREST[13] + + [Footnote 13: Reprinted by permission of The Cassell + Publishing Company, from "Actors and Actresses of Great + Britain and the United States."] + +By LAWRENCE BARRETT + +(1806-1872) + + +[Illustration: Edwin Forrest.] + +Edwin Forrest was born in the city of Philadelphia, March 9, 1806, his +father, a Scotchman, having emigrated to America during the last year +of the preceding century. The boy, like many others of his profession, +was designed for the ministry, and before the age of eleven the future +Channing had attracted admiring listeners by the music of his voice +and the aptness of his mimicry. His memory was remarkable, and he +would recite whole passages of his preceptor's sermons. Perched upon a +chair or stool, and crowned with the proud approval of family and +friends, the young mimic filled the hearts of his listeners with +fervent hopes of his coming success in the fold of their beloved +church. These hopes were destined to be met with disappointment. The +bias of the future leader of the American stage was only faintly +outlined as yet; his hour of development was still to come. + +He must have learned early the road to the theatre, permitted to go by +the family, or going, perhaps, without the knowledge or consent of his +seniors in the overworked household; for, before he had passed his +tenth year, our young sermonizer was a member of a Thespian club, and +before he was eleven he had made his appearance at one of the regular +theatres in a female character, but with most disastrous results. He +soon outgrew the ignominy of his first failure, however, and again and +again sought to overcome its disgrace by a fresh appearance. To his +appeals the irate manager lent a deaf ear. The sacred portal that +leads to the enchanted ground of the stage was closed against young +Forrest, the warden being instructed not to let the importunate boy +pass the door. At last, in desperation, he resolved to storm the +citadel, to beat down the faithful guard and to carry war into the +enemy's camp. One night he dashed past the astonished guardian of the +stage entrance just as the curtain fell upon one of the acts of a +play. He emerged before the footlights, eluding all pursuit, dressed +as a harlequin, and, before the audience had recovered from its +astonishment at this scene not set down in the bills, the baffled, but +not subdued, aspirant had delivered the lines of an epilogue in rhyme +with so much effect that, before he could be seized by the astounded +stage-manager and hurled from the theatre, he had attracted public +notice, successfully won his surprised audience, and not only secured +immunity from punishment for his temerity, but actually gained that +respect in the manager's estimation which he had so long and so vainly +striven to acquire. + +At last Forrest was promised an appearance at the Walnut Street house, +then one of the leading theatres of the country. He selected Young +Norval in Home's tragedy of "Douglas," and on November 27, 1820, the +future master of the American stage, then fourteen years of age--a boy +in years, a man in character--announced as "A Young Gentleman of this +City," surrounded by a group of veteran actors who had for many years +shared the favor of the public, began a career which was as auspicious +at its opening as it was splendid in its maturity. At his entrance he +won the vast audience at once by the grace of his figure and the +modest bearing that was natural to him. Something of that magnetism +which he exercised so effectively in late years now attracted all who +heard him, and made friends even before he spoke. + +He was allowed to reappear as Frederick in "Lovers' Vows," repeating +his first success; and on January 8, 1821, he benefited as Octavian in +the "Mountaineers," a play associated with the early glories of Edmund +Kean. In this year, also, he made his first and only venture as a +manager, boldly taking the Prune Street Theatre, Philadelphia, and +giving a successful performance of "Richard III.," which not only +pleased the audience, but brought him a few dollars of profit. He made +many attempts to secure a regular engagement in one of the Western +circuits, where experience could be gained; and at last, after many +denials, he was employed by Collins and Jones to play leading juvenile +parts in their theatres in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Lexington. +Thus, at the age of sixteen or eighteen, Edwin Forrest enrolled +himself as a regular member of a theatrical company, and broke loose +from trade forever. + +Of his professional progress here we have but poor accounts. He seems +to have been very popular, and to have had an experience larger than +he had heretofore enjoyed. He played with the elder Conway, and was +affected by the grandeur of that actor's Othello, a study which served +Forrest well when in late years he inherited the character. + +Jane Placide, who inspired the first love of Edwin Forrest, was an +actress who combined talent, beauty, and goodness. Her character would +have softened the asperities of his, and led him by a calmer path to +those grand elevations toward which Providence had directed his +footsteps. Baffled in love, however, and believing Caldwell to be his +rival and enemy, he challenged him; but was rebuked by the silent +contempt of his manager, whom the impulsive and disappointed lover +"posted." + +The hard novitiate of Edwin Forrest was now drawing near its close. +Securing a stock engagement with Charles Gilfert, manager of the +Albany Theatre, he opened there in the early fall, and played for the +first time with Edmund Kean, then on his second visit to America. The +meeting with this extraordinary man and the attention he received from +him were foremost among the directing influences of Forrest's life. To +his last hour he never wearied of singing the praises of Kean, whose +genius filled the English-speaking world with admiration. Two men more +unlike in mind and body can scarcely be imagined. Until now Forrest +had seen no actor who represented in perfection the impassioned school +of which Kean was the master. He could not have known Cooke, even in +the decline of that great tragedian's power, and the little giant was +indeed a revelation. He played Iago to Kean's Othello, Titus to his +Brutus, and Richmond to his Richard III. + +In the interval which preceded the opening of the Bowery Theatre, New +York, Forrest appeared at the Park for the benefit of Woodhull, +playing Othello. He made a pronounced success, his old manager sitting +in front, profanely exclaiming, "By God, the boy has made a hit!" This +was a great event, as the Park was then the leading theatre of +America, and its actors were the most famous and exclusive. + +He opened at the Bowery Theatre in November, 1826, as Othello, and +made a brilliant impression. His salary was raised from $28 to $40 per +week. From this success may be traced the first absolute hold made by +Edwin Forrest upon the attention of cultivated auditors and +intelligent critics. The Bowery was then a very different theatre from +what it afterward became, when the newsboys took forcible possession +of its pit and the fire-laddies were the arbiters of public taste in +its neighborhood. + +An instance of Forrest's moral integrity may be told here. He had been +approached by a rival manager, after his first success, and urged to +secede from the Bowery and join the other house at a much larger +salary. He scornfully refused to break his word, although his own +interests he knew must suffer. His popularity at this time was so +great that, when his contract for the season had expired, he was +instantly engaged for eight nights, at a salary of two hundred dollars +a night. + +The success which had greeted Forrest on his first appearance in New +York, was renewed in every city in the land. Fortune attended fame, +and filled his pockets, as the breath of adulation filled his heart. +He had paid the last penny of debt left by his father, and had seen a +firm shelter raised over the head of his living family. With a +patriotic feeling for all things American, Forrest, about this time, +formed a plan for the encouragement or development of an American +drama, which resulted in heavy money losses to himself, but produced +such contributions to our stage literature as the "Gladiator," "Jack +Cade," and "Metamora."[14] After five years of constant labor he felt +that he had earned the right to a holiday, and he formed his plans +for a two years' absence in Europe. A farewell banquet was tendered +him by the citizens of New York, and a medal was struck in honor of +the occasion. Bryant, Halleck, Leggett, Ingraham and other +distinguished men were present. This was an honor which had never +before been paid to an American actor. + + [Footnote 14: Of Forrest's performance of Metamora, in the + play of that name, W. R. Alger says, "Never did an actor more + thoroughly identify and merge himself with his part than + Forrest did in 'Metamora.' He was completely transformed from + what he appeared in other characters, and seemed Indian in + every particular, all through and all over, from the crown of + his head to the sole of his foot."] + +He had been absent about two years when he landed in New York in +September, 1836. On his appearance at the Walnut Street Theatre, +Philadelphia, he was received with unprecedented enthusiasm. He gave +six performances only, on this occasion, and each saw a repetition of +the scene at the beginning of the engagement. The receipts were the +largest ever known in that house. + +On September 19, 1836, Forrest embarked once more for the mother +country, this time with serious purpose. After a speedy and uneventful +passage he reached England, and at once set about the preliminary +business of his British engagement, which began October 17, 1836. He +was the first really great American actor who had appeared in London +as a rival of the English tragedians; for Cooper was born in England, +though always regarded as belonging to the younger country. His +opening part was Spartacus in the "Gladiator." The play was condemned, +the actor applauded. In Othello, in Lear, and in Macbeth, he achieved +instant success. He began his engagement October 17th and closed +December 19th, having acted Macbeth seven times, Othello nine, and +King Lear eight. A dinner at the Garrick Club was offered and +accepted. Here he sat down with Charles Kemble and Macready; Sergeant +Talfourd was in the chair. + +It was during this engagement he met his future wife, Miss Catherine +Sinclair. In the latter part of June, 1837, the marriage took place in +St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden. Mr. and Mrs. Forrest soon after +embarked for America. The tragedian resumed his American engagements +November 15, 1837, at the old Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia. +Presented to his friends, his wife at once made a deep and lasting +impression. Her native delicacy of mind and refinement of manners +enchanted those who hoped for some such influence to be exerted in +softening the rough vigor and democratic downrightness of the man. +Domestic discord came too soon, however, and in an evil hour for +himself, in an evil hour for his art and for the struggling drama in +America, Edwin Forrest threw open the doors of his home to the +scrutiny of the world, and appealed to the courts to remove the +skeleton which was hidden in his closet. With the proceedings of that +trial, which resulted in divorce, alimony, and separation, this memoir +has nothing to do. + +[Illustration: Forrest as Metamora.] + +Edwin Forrest, leaving the court-room a defeated man, was instantly +raised to a popularity with the masses beyond anything even he had +before experienced. He began an engagement soon after at the Broadway +Theatre, opening as Damon. The house was crowded to suffocation. The +engagement of sixty nights was unparalleled in the history of the +American drama for length and profit. But despite the flattering +applause of the multitude, life never again had for him the smiling +aspect it had so often worn before. The applause which filled his +ears, the wealth which flowed in upon him could not improve that +temper which had never been amiable, and all the hard stories of his +life belong to this period. + +On September 20, 1852, he reappeared at the Broadway Theatre, New +York. In February, 1853, "Macbeth" was produced in grand style, with +new scenery and appointments. The tragedy was played on twenty +consecutive nights, then by far the longest run of any Shakespearean +play in America. The cast was very strong. It included Conway, Duff, +Davenport, Pope, Davidge, Barry, and Madame Ponisi. + +On September 17, 1860, after an absence of nearly four years, Edwin +Forrest appeared again on the stage. He was engaged by James Nixon, +and began his contract of one hundred nights at Niblo's Garden, New +York, in the character of Hamlet. The long retirement only increased +the curious interest which centred round his historic name. Upon his +opening night the seats were sold at auction. His success in +Philadelphia rivalled that of New York. In Boston the vast auditorium +of the grandest theatre in America was found too small to contain the +crowds he drew. + +Severe attacks of gout were beginning to tell upon that herculean +form, sapping and undermining it; and in 1865, while playing Damon at +the Holiday Street Theatre, in Baltimore, the weather being very cold +and the theatre open to draughts, he was seized with a sudden illness, +which was followed by very serious results. Suffering the most intense +agony, he was able to get to the end of the part; but when his robes +were laid aside and physicians summoned, it was found to his horror +that he had suffered a partial paralysis of the sciatic nerve. In an +instant the sturdy gait, the proud tread of the herculean actor was +forever gone; for he never regained complete control of his limb, a +perceptible hobble being the legacy of the dreadful visitation. His +right hand was almost powerless, and he could not hold his sword. + +In 1866 he went to California, urged by the manager in San Francisco. +His last engagement in New York took place in February, 1871. He +played Lear and Richelieu, his two greatest parts. On the night of +March 25, 1872, Forrest opened in "Lear" at the Globe Theatre, Boston. +"Lear" was played six nights. During the second week he was announced +for Richelieu and Virginius; but he caught a violent cold on Sunday, +and labored sorely on Monday evening through the part of Richelieu. On +Tuesday he repeated the performance, against the advice of friends and +physicians. Rare bursts of his old power lighted up the play, but he +labored piteously on against his illness and threatened pneumonia. +When stimulants were offered he rejected them, declaring "that if he +died to-night, he should still be his old royal self." + +Announced for Virginius the following evening, he was unable to +appear. A severe attack of pneumonia developed itself. He was carried +to his hotel, and his last engagement was brought to an abrupt and +melancholy end. As soon as he was able to move, he left Boston for his +home in Philadelphia, resting on his way only a day in New York. As +the summer passed away, the desire for work grew stronger and +stronger, and he decided to re-enter public life, but simply as a +reader of the great plays in which he had as an actor been so +successful. The result was a disappointment. On December 11, 1872, he +wrote to Oakes his last letter, saying sadly, but fondly: "God bless +you ever, my dear and much-beloved friend." + +When the morning of December 12th came, his servant, hearing no sound +in his chamber at his general hour of rising, became alarmed, opened +his master's door, and found there, cold in death upon his bed, the +form of the great tragedian. His arms were crossed upon his bosom, and +he seemed to be at rest. The stroke had come suddenly. With little +warning, and without pain, he had passed away. + +The dead man's will was found to contain several bequests to old +friends and servants, and an elaborate scheme by which his fortune, in +the hands of trustees, was to be applied to the erection and support +of a retreat for aged actors, to be called "The Edwin Forrest Home." +The idea had been long in his mind, and careful directions were drawn +up for its practical working; but the trustees found themselves +powerless to realize fully the hopes and wishes of the testator. A +settlement had to be made to the divorced wife, who acted liberally +toward the estate; but the amount withdrawn seriously crippled it, as +it was deprived at once of a large sum of ready money. Other legal +difficulties arose. And thus the great ambition of the tragedian to be +a benefactor to his profession was destined to come almost to naught. +Of this happily little he recks now. He has parted with all the cares +of life, and has at last found rest. + +Forrest's greatest Shakespearean parts were Lear, Othello, and +Coriolanus. The first grew mellow and rich as the actor grew in years, +while it still retained much of its earlier force. His Othello +suffered with the decline of his faculties, although his clear +conception of all he did was apparent to the end in the acting of +every one of his parts. Coriolanus died with him, the last of all the +Romans. He was greatest, however, in such parts as Virginius, William +Tell, and Spartacus. Here his mannerisms of gait and utterance were +less noticeable than in his Shakespearean characters, or were +overlooked in the rugged massiveness of the creation. Hamlet, Richard, +and Macbeth were out of his temperament, and added nothing to his +fame; but Richelieu is said to have been one of his noblest and most +impressive performances. He was in all things marked and distinctive. +His obtrusive personality often destroyed the harmony of the portrait +he was painting; but in his inspired moments, which were many, his +touches were sublime. He passed over quiet scenes with little +elaboration, and dwelt strongly upon the grand features of the +characters he represented. His Lear, in the great scenes, rose to a +majestic height, but fell in places almost to mediocrity. His art was +unequal to his natural gifts. He was totally unlike his great +contemporary and rival, Macready, whose attention to detail gave to +every performance the harmony of perfect work. + +This memoir may fitly close with an illustrative anecdote of the great +actor. Toward the end of his professional career he was playing an +engagement at St. Louis. He was very feeble in health, and his +lameness was a source of great anxiety to him. Sitting at a late +supper in his hotel one evening, after a performance of "King Lear," +with his friend J. B. McCullough, of the _Globe-Democrat_, that +gentleman remarked to him: "Mr. Forrest, I never in my life saw you +play Lear so well as you did to-night." Whereupon the veteran almost +indignantly replied, rising slowly and laboriously from his chair to +his full height: "Play Lear! What do you mean, sir? I do not play +Lear! I play Hamlet, Richard, Shylock, Virginius, if you please, but +by God, sir, I _am_ Lear!" + +Nor was this wholly imaginative. Ingratitude of the basest kind had +rent his soul. Old friends were gone from him; new friends were but +half-hearted. His hearthstone was desolate. The public, to whom he had +given his best years, was becoming impatient of his infirmities. The +royalty of his powers he saw by degrees torn from his decaying form. +Other kings had arisen on the stage, to whom his old subjects now +showed a reverence once all his own. The mockery of his diadem only +remained. A wreck of the once proud man who had despised all weakness, +and had ruled his kingdom with imperial sway, he now stood alone. +Broken in health and in spirit, deserted, forgotten, unkinged, he +might well exclaim, "_I am Lear!_" + + + + +CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN + +By DUTTON COOK + +(1816-1876) + + +[Illustration: Charlotte Cushman.] + +The Pilgrim Fathers figure in American pedigrees almost as frequently +and persistently as Norman William and his followers appear at the +trunk of our family-trees. Certainly, the Mayflower must have carried +very many heads of houses across the Atlantic. It was not in the +Mayflower, however, but in the Fortune, a smaller vessel, of +fifty-five tons, that Robert Cushman, Nonconformist, the founder of +the Cushman family in America, sailed from England, for the better +enjoyment of liberty of conscience and freedom of religion. In the +seventh generation from Robert Cushman appeared Elkanah Cushman, who +took to wife Mary Eliza, daughter of Erasmus Babbit, Jr., lawyer, +musician, and captain in the army. Of this marriage was born Charlotte +Saunders Cushman, in Richmond Street, Boston, July 23, 1816, and other +children. + +Charlotte Cushman says of herself: "I was born a tom-boy." She had a +passion for climbing trees and for breaking open dolls' heads. She +could not make dolls' clothes, but she could manufacture their +furniture--could do anything with tools. "I was very destructive to +toys and clothes, tyrannical to brothers and sister, but very social, +and a great favorite with other children. Imitation was a prevailing +trait." The first play she ever saw was "Coriolanus," with Macready in +the leading part; her second play was "The Gamester." She became noted +in her school for her skill in reading aloud. Her competitors +grumbled: "No wonder she can read; she goes to the theatre!" Until +then she had been shy and reserved, not to say stupid, about reading +aloud in school, afraid of the sound of her own voice, and unwilling +to trust it; but acquaintance with the theatre loosened her tongue, as +she describes it, and gave opportunity and expression to a faculty +which became the ruling passion of her life. At home, as a child, she +took part in an operetta founded upon the story of "Bluebeard," and +played Selim, the lover, with great applause, in a large attic chamber +of her father's house before an enthusiastic audience of young people. + +Elkanah Cushman had been for some years a successful merchant, a +member of the firm of Topliffe & Cushman, Long Wharf, Boston. But +failure befell him, "attributable," writes Charlotte Cushman's +biographer, Miss Stebbins, "to the infidelity of those whom he trusted +as supercargoes." The family removed from Boston to Charlestown. +Charlotte was placed at a public school, remaining there until she was +thirteen only. Elkanah Cushman died, leaving his widow and five +children with very slender means. Mrs. Cushman opened a boarding-house +in Boston, and struggled hard to ward off further misfortune. It was +discovered that Charlotte possessed a noble voice of almost two +registers, "a full contralto and almost a full soprano; but the low +voice was the natural one." The fortunes of the family seemed to rest +upon the due cultivation of Charlotte's voice and upon her future as a +singer. "My mother," she writes, "at great self-sacrifice gave me what +opportunities for instruction she could obtain for me; and then my +father's friend, Mr. R. D. Shepherd, of Shepherdstown, Va., gave me +two years of the best culture that could be obtained in Boston at that +time, under John Paddon, an English organist and teacher of singing." +When the English singer, Mrs. Wood--better known, perhaps, as Miss +Paton--visited Boston in 1835 or 1836, she needed the support of a +contralto voice. Charlotte Cushman was sent for, and rehearsed duets +with Mrs. Wood. The young beginner was advised to prepare herself for +the operatic stage; she was assured that such a voice would "lead her +to any height of fortune she coveted." She became the articled pupil +of Mr. Maeder, the husband of Clara Fisher, actress and vocalist, and +the musical director of Mr. and Mrs. Wood. Instructed by Maeder, Miss +Cushman undertook the parts of the Countess in "The Marriage of +Figaro" and Lucy Bertram in the opera of "Guy Mannering." These were +her first appearances upon the stage. + +Mrs. Maeder's voice was a contralto; it became necessary, therefore, +to assign soprano parts to Miss Cushman. Undue stress was thus laid +upon her upper notes. She was very young, and she felt the change of +climate when she went on with the Maeders to New Orleans. It is +likely that her powers as a singer had been tried too soon and too +severely; her operatic career was brought to a sudden close. Her voice +failed her; her upper notes departed, never to return; she was left +with a weakened and limited contralto register. Alarmed and wretched, +she sought counsel of Mr. Caldwell, the manager of the chief New +Orleans theatre. "You ought to be an actress, and not a singer," he +said, and advised her to take lessons of Mr. Barton, his leading +tragedian. Her articles of apprenticeship to Maeder were cancelled. +Soon she was ready to appear as Lady Macbeth on the occasion of +Barton's benefit. + +The season ended, she sailed for Philadelphia on her way to New York. +Presently she had entered into a three years' engagement with Mr. +Hamblin, the manager of the Bowery Theatre, at a salary of twenty-five +dollars a week for the first year, thirty-five for the second year, +and forty-five for the third. Mr. Hamblin had received excellent +accounts of the actress from his friend, Mr. Barton, of New Orleans, +and had heard her rehearse scenes from "Macbeth," "Jane Shore," +"Venice Preserved," "The Stranger," etc. To enable her to obtain a +suitable wardrobe, he became security for her with his tradespeople, +deducting five dollars a week from her salary until the debt was +satisfied. All promised well; independence seemed secure at last. Mrs. +Cushman was sent for from Boston; she gave up her boarding-house and +hastened to her daughter. Miss Cushman writes: "I got a situation for +my eldest brother in a store in New York. I left my only sister in +charge of a half-sister in Boston, and I took my youngest brother with +me." But rheumatic fever seized the actress; she was able to act for a +few nights only, and her dream of good fortune came to a disastrous +close. "The Bowery Theatre was burned to the ground, with all my +wardrobe, all my debt upon it, and my three years' contract ending in +smoke." Grievously distressed, but not disheartened, with her family +dependent upon her exertions, she accepted an engagement at the +principal theatre in Albany, where she remained five months, acting +all the leading characters. In September, 1837, she entered into an +engagement, which endured for three years, with the manager of the +Park Theatre, New York. She was required to fulfil the duties of +"walking lady" and "general utility" at a salary of twenty dollars a +week. + +During this period of her career she performed very many characters, +and toiled assiduously at her profession. It was then the custom to +afford the public a great variety of performances, to change the plays +nightly, and to present two and sometimes three plays upon the same +evening. The actors were forever busy studying new parts, and, when +they were not performing, they were rehearsing. "It was a time of hard +work," writes Miss Stebbins, "of ceaseless activity, and of hard-won +and scantily accorded appreciation." Miss Cushman had no choice of +parts; she was not the chief actress of the company; she sustained +without question all the characters the management assigned to her. +Her appearance as Meg Merrilies (she acquired subsequently great favor +by her performance of this character) was due to an incident--the +illness of Mrs. Chippendale, the actress who usually supported the +part. It was in the year 1840; the veteran Braham was to appear as +Henry Bertram. A Meg Merrilies had to be improvised. The obscure +"utility" actress was called upon to take Mrs. Chippendale's place. +She might read the part if she could not commit it to memory but +personate Meg Merrilies after some sort she must. She had never +especially noticed the part; but as she stood at the side scene, book +in hand, awaiting her moment of entrance, her ear caught the dialogue +going on upon the stage between two of the gypsies, "conveying the +impression that Meg was no longer to be feared or respected--that she +was no longer in her right mind." This furnished her with a clew to +the character, and led her to present it upon the stage as the weird +and startling figure which afterward became so famous. Of course, the +first performance was but a sketch of her later portrayals of Meg +Merrilies, yet she made a profound impression. "I had not thought that +I had done anything remarkable," she wrote, "and when a knock came at +my dressing-room door, and I heard Braham's voice, my first thought +was, 'Now what have I done? He is surely displeased with me about +something.' Imagine my gratification, when Mr. Braham said, 'Miss +Cushman, I have come to thank you for the most veritable sensation I +have experienced for a long time. I give you my word, when I saw you +in that first scene I felt a cold chill run all over me. Where have +you learned to do anything like that?'" + +During her visits to England, Miss Cushman personated Meg Merrilies +more often than any other character. In America she was also famous +for her performance of Nancy, in a melodrama founded upon "Oliver +Twist;" but this part she did not bring with her across the Atlantic. +She had first played Nancy during her "general utility" days at the +Park Theatre, when the energy and pathos of her acting powerfully +affected her audience, and the tradition of her success in the part +long "lingered in the memory of managers, and caused them, ever and +anon, as their business interests prompted, to bring great pressure to +bear upon her for a reproduction of it." Mr. George Vandenhoff +describes Nancy as Miss Cushman's "greatest part; fearfully natural, +dreadfully intense, horribly real." + +In the winter of 1842 Miss Cushman undertook the management of the +Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, which was then in rather a fallen +state. Under her energetic rule, however, the establishment recovered +its popularity. "She displayed at that day," writes Mr. George +Vandenhoff--who "starred at the Walnut Street Theatre for six nights +to small audiences"--"a rude, strong, uncultivated talent. It was not +till after she had seen and acted with Mr. Macready--which she did the +next season--that she really brought artistic study and finish to her +performances." Macready arrived in New York in the autumn of 1843. He +notes: "The Miss Cushman, who acted Lady Macbeth, interested me much. +She has to learn her art, but she showed mind and sympathy with me--a +novelty so refreshing to me on the stage." She discerned the +opportunity for study and improvement presented by Macready's visit, +and underwent the fatigue of acting on alternate nights in +Philadelphia and New York during the term of his engagement at the +Park Theatre. Her own success was very great. She wrote to her mother +of her great reception: of her being called out after the play; of the +"hats and handkerchiefs waved to me; flowers sent to me," etc. In +October, 1844, she sailed for England in the packet-ship Garrick. She +had little money with her. A farewell benefit taken in Boston, her +native city, had not proved very productive, and she had been obliged +"to make arrangements for the maintenance of her family during her +absence." And with characteristic prudence she left behind her a +certain sum, to be in readiness for her, in case failure in England +should drive her promptly back to America. + +No engagement in London had been offered her; but she received, upon +her arrival, a letter from Macready, proposing that she should join a +company then being formed to give representations in Paris. She +thought it prudent to decline this proposal, however, so as to avoid +entering into anything like rivalry with Miss Helen Faucit, the +leading actress of the troupe. She visited Paris for a few days, but +only to sit with the audience of the best French theatres. She +returned to her dull lodgings in Covent Garden, "awaiting her +destiny." She was fond, in after years, of referring to the struggles +and poverty, the hopes and the despair, of her first sojourn in +London. Her means were nearly exhausted. Sally, the dresser, used to +relate: "Miss Cushman lived on a mutton-chop a day, and I always +bought the baker's dozen of muffins for the sake of the extra one, and +we ate them all, no matter how stale they were, and we never suffered +from want of appetite in those days." She found herself reduced to her +last sovereign, when Mr. Maddox, the manager of the Princess's +Theatre, came to her with a proposal. The watchful Sally reported that +he had been walking up and down the street for some time early in the +morning, too early for a visit. "He is anxious," said Miss Cushman. "I +can make my own terms." He wished her to appear with Forrest, the +American tragedian, then visiting the London stage for the second and +last time. She stipulated that she should have her opportunity first, +and "alone." If successful, she was willing to appear in support of +Forrest. So it was agreed. + +Her first appearance upon the English stage was made on February 14, +1845; she assumed the character of Bianca, in Dean Milman's rather +dull tragedy of "Fazio." Her triumph was indisputable. Her intensity +and vehemence completely carried away the house. As the pit rose at +Kean's Shylock, so it rose at Charlotte Cushman's Bianca. She wrote to +her mother in America: "All my success put together, since I have been +upon the stage, would not come near my success in London." The critics +described, as the crowning effort of her performance, the energy and +pathos and abandonment of her appeal to Aldabella, when the wife +sacrifices her pride, and sinks, "huddled into a heap," at the feet of +her rival, imploring her to save the life of Fazio. Miss Cushman, +speaking of her first performance in London, was wont to relate how +she was so completely overcome, not only by the excitement of the +scene, but by the nervous agitation of the occasion, that she lost for +the moment her self-command, and was especially grateful for the +long-continued applause which gave her time to recover herself. When +she slowly rose at last and faced the house again, the spectacle of +its enthusiasm thrilled and impressed her in a manner she could never +forget. The audience were standing; some had mounted on the benches; +there was wild waving of hats and handkerchiefs, a storm of cheering, +great showering of bouquets. + +Her second character in London was Lady Macbeth, to the Macbeth of +Edwin Forrest; but the American actor failed to please, and the +audience gave free expression to their discontent. Greatly disgusted, +Forrest withdrew, deluding himself with the belief that he was the +victim of a conspiracy. Miss Cushman's success knew no abatement. She +played a round of parts, assisted by James Wallack, Leigh Murray, and +Mrs. Stirling, appearing now as Rosalind, now as Juliana in "The +Honeymoon," as Mrs. Haller, as Beatrice, as Julia in "The Hunchback." +Her second season was even more successful than her first. After a +long provincial tour she appeared in December, 1845, as Romeo at the +Haymarket Theatre, then under the management of Mr. Webster, her +sister Susan assuming the character of Juliet. She had sent for her +family to share her prosperity, and had established them in a +furnished house at Bayswater. + +Her success as Romeo was very great. The tragedy was played for eighty +nights. Her performance won applause even from those most opposed to +the representation of Shakespeare's hero by a woman. For a time her +intense earnestness of speech and manner, the passion of her +interviews with Juliet, the fury of her combat with Tybalt, the +despair of her closing scenes, bore down all opposition, silenced +criticism, and excited her audience to an extraordinary degree. She +appeared afterward, but not in London, as Hamlet, following an +unfortunate example set by Mrs. Siddons; and as Ion in Talfourd's +tragedy of that name. + +In America, toward the close of her career, she even ventured to +appear as Cardinal Wolsey, obtaining great applause by her exertions +in the character, and the skill and force of her impersonation. But +histrionic feats of this kind trespass against good taste, do violence +to the intentions of the dramatists, and are, in truth, departures +from the purpose of playing. Miss Cushman had for excuse--in the first +instance, at any rate--her anxiety to forward the professional +interests of her sister, who, in truth, had little qualification for +the stage, apart from her good looks and her graces of manner. The +sisters had played together in Philadelphia in "The Genoese"--a drama +written by a young American--when, to give support and encouragement +to Susan in her personation of the heroine, Charlotte undertook the +part of her lover. Their success prompted them to appear in "Romeo and +Juliet." Other plays, in which both could appear, were afterward +selected--such, for instance, as "Twelfth Night," in which Charlotte +played Viola to the Olivia of Susan--so that the engagement of one +might compel the engagement of the other. Susan, however, quitted the +stage in 1847, to become the wife of Dr. Sheridan Muspratt, of +Liverpool. + +[Illustration: Charlotte Cushman as Mrs. Haller.] + +Charlotte Cushman called few new plays into being. Dramas, entitled +"Infatuation," by James Kenny, in 1845, and "Duchess Elinour," by the +late H. F. Chorley, in 1854, were produced for her, but were summarily +condemned by the audience, being scarcely permitted indeed a second +performance in either case. Otherwise, she did not add to her +repertory. For many years she led the life of a "star," fulfilling +brief engagements here and there, appearing now for a term in London, +and now travelling through the provinces, playing some half a dozen +characters over and over again. Of these Lady Macbeth, Queen Katherine +and Meg Merrilies were perhaps the most frequently demanded. Her fame +and fortune she always dated from the immediate recognition she +obtained upon her first performance in London. But she made frequent +visits to America; indeed, she crossed the Atlantic "upward of sixteen +times," says her biographer. In 1854 she took a house in Bolton Row, +Mayfair, "where for some years she dispensed the most charming and +genial hospitality," and, notably, entertained Ristori on her first +visit to England in 1856. Several winters she passed in Rome, +occupying apartments in the Via Gregoriana, where she cordially +received a host of friends and visitors of all nations. In 1859 she +was called to England by her sister's fatal illness; in 1866 she was +again summoned to England to attend the death-bed of her mother. In +1860 she was playing in all the chief cities of America. Three years +later she again visited America, her chief object being to act for the +benefit of the Sanitary Commission, and aid the sick and wounded +victims of the civil war. During the late years of her life she +appeared before the public more as a dramatic reader than as an +actress. There were long intervals between her theatrical engagements; +she seemed to quit her profession only to return to it after an +interval with renewed appetite, and she incurred reproaches because of +the frequency of her farewells, and the doubt that prevailed as to +whether her "last appearances" were really to be the "very last." It +was not until 1874, however, that she took final leave of the New York +stage, amid extraordinary enthusiasm, with many poetic and other +ceremonies. She was the subject of addresses in prose and verse. Mr. +Bryant, after an eloquent speech, tendered her a laurel wreath bound +with white ribbon resting upon a purple velvet cushion, with a +suitable inscription embroidered in golden letters; a torchbearers' +procession escorted her from the theatre to her hotel; she was +serenaded at midnight, and in her honor Fifth Avenue blazed with +fireworks. After this came farewells to Philadelphia, Boston and other +cities, and to these succeeded readings all over the country. It is to +be said, however, that incessant work had become a necessity with her, +not because of its pecuniary results, but as a means of obtaining +mental relief or comparative forgetfulness for a season. During the +last five or six years of her life she was afflicted with an incurable +and agonizing malady. Under most painful conditions she toiled +unceasingly, moving rapidly from place to place, and passing days and +nights in railway journeys. In a letter to a friend, she writes: "I do +get so dreadfully depressed about myself, and all things seem so +hopeless to me at those times, that I pray God to take me quickly at +any moment, so that I may not torture those I love by letting them see +my pain. But when the dark hour passes, and I try to forget by +constant occupation that I have such a load near my heart, then it is +not so bad." She died almost painlessly at last on February 18, 1876. + +Charlotte Cushman may assuredly be accounted an actress of genius in +right of her originality, her vivid power of depicting emotion, the +vehemence and intensity of her histrionic manner. Her best successes +were obtained in tragedy, although she possessed a keen sense of +humor, and could deliver the witty speeches of Rosalind or of Beatrice +with excellent point and effect. Her Meg Merrilies will probably be +remembered as her most impressive achievement. It was really, as she +played it, a character of her own invention; but, in truth, it taxed +her intellectual resources far less than her Bianca, her Queen +Katherine, or her Lady Macbeth. Her physical peculiarities no doubt +limited the range of her efforts, hindered her advance as an actress, +or urged her toward exceptional impersonations. Her performances +lacked femininity, to use Coleridge's word; but in power to stir an +audience, to touch their sympathies, to kindle their enthusiasm, and +to compel their applause, she takes rank among the finest players. It +only remains to add that Miss Stebbins' fervid and affecting biography +of her friend admirably demonstrates that the woman was not less +estimable than the actress; that Charlotte Cushman was of noble +character, intellectual, large and tenderhearted, of exemplary conduct +in every respect. The simple, direct earnestness of her manner upon +the mimic scene, characterized her proceedings in real life. She was +at once the slave and the benefactress of her family; she was +devotedly fond of children; she was of liberal and generous nature; +she was happiest when conferring kindness upon others; her career +abounded in self-sacrifice. She pretended to few accomplishments, to +little cultivation of a literary sort; but she could write, as Miss +Stebbins proves, excellent letters, now grave, now gay, now +reflective, now descriptive, always interesting, and altogether +remarkable for sound sense and for force and skill of expression. Her +death was regarded in America almost as a national catastrophe. As +Miss Stebbins writes, "The press of the entire country bore witness to +her greatness, and laid their tributes upon her tomb." + + * * * * * + +The following letter of good counsel from Miss Cushman to young Mr. +Barton is reprinted, by permission of Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., +from the "Life and Letters of Charlotte Cushman." + +"I think if you have to wait for a while it will do you no harm. You +seem to me quite frantic for immediate work; but teach yourself quiet +and repose in the time you are waiting. With half your strength I +could bear to wait and labor with myself to conquer _fretting_. The +greatest power in the world is shown in conquest over self. More life +will be worked out of you by fretting than all the stage-playing in +the world. God bless you, my poor child. You have indeed trouble +enough; but you have a strong and earnest spirit, and you have the +true religion of labor in your heart. Therefore I have no fears for +you let what will come. Let me hear from you at your leisure, and be +sure you have no warmer friend than I am and wish to be." + + + + +RACHEL + +By DUTTON COOK + +(1821-1858) + + +[Illustration: Rachel.] + +It is told that Rachel Felix was born on March 24, 1821, at Munf, near +the town of Aarau, in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland; the +burgomaster of the district simply noting in his books that upon the +day stated, at the little village inn, the wife of a poor pedler had +given birth to a female child. The entry included no mention of +family, name, or religion, and otherwise the event was not registered +in any civil or religious record. The father and mother were Abraham +Felix, a Jew, born in Metz, but of German origin, and Esther Haya, his +wife. They had wandered about the continent during many years, seeking +a living and scarcely finding it. Several children were born to them +by the wayside, as it were, on their journeyings hither and thither: +Sarah in Germany, Rebecca in Lyons, Dinah in Paris, Rachel in +Switzerland; and there were other infants who did not long survive +their birth, succumbing to the austerities of the state of life to +which they had been called. For a time, perhaps because of their +numerous progeny, M. and Madame Felix settled in Lyons. Madame Felix +opened a small shop and dealt in second-hand clothes; M. Felix gave +lessons in German to the very few pupils he could obtain. About 1830 +the family moved to Paris. They were still miserably poor. The +children Sarah and Rachel, usually carrying a smaller child in their +arms or wheeling it with them in a wooden cart, were sent into the +streets to earn money by singing at the doors of cafes and estaminets. +A musical amateur, one M. Morin, noticed the girls, questioned them, +interested himself about them, and finally obtained their admission +into the Government School of Sacred Music in the Rue Vaugirard. +Rachel's voice did not promise much, however; as she confessed, she +could not sing--she could only recite. She had received but the +scantiest and meanest education; she read with difficulty; she was +teaching herself writing by copying the manuscript of others. +Presently she was studying elocution under M. St. Aulaire, an old +actor retired from the Francais, who took pains with the child, +instructing her gratuitously and calling her "ma petite diablesse." +The performances of M. St. Aulaire's pupil were occasionally witnessed +by the established players, among them Monval of the Gymnase and +Samson of the Comedie. Monval approved and encouraged the young +actress, and upon the recommendation of Samson she entered the classes +of the Conservatoire, over which he presided, with Michelot and +Provost as his co-professors. + +At the Conservatoire Rachel made little progress. All her efforts +failed to win the good opinion of her preceptors. In despair she +resolved to abandon altogether the institution, its classes and +performances. She felt herself neglected, aggrieved, insulted. +"Tartuffe" had been announced for representation by the pupils; she +had been assigned the mute part of Flipote, the serving-maid, who +simply appears upon the scene in the first act that her ears may be +soundly boxed by Madame Pernelle. To this humiliation she would not +submit. She hurried to her old friend, St. Aulaire, who consulted +Monval, who commended her to his manager, M. Poirson. She entered into +an engagement to serve the Gymnase for a term of three years upon a +salary of 3,000 francs. M. Poirson was quick to perceive that she was +not as so many other beginners were; that there was something new and +startling about the young actress. He obtained for her first +appearance, from M. Paul Duport, a little melodrama in two acts. It +was called "La Vendeenne," and owed its more striking scenes to "The +Heart of Midlothian." After the manner of Jeanie Deans, Genevieve, the +heroine of the play, footsore and travel-stained, seeks the presence +of the Empress Josephine to implore the pardon of a Vendean peasant +condemned to death for following George Cadoudal. "La Vendeenne," +produced on April 24, 1837, and received with great applause, was +played on sixty successive nights, but not to very crowded audiences. +The press scarcely noticed the new actress. The critic of the _Journal +des Debats_, however, while rashly affirming that Rachel was not a +phenomenon and would never be extolled as a wonder, carefully noted +certain of the merits and characteristics of her performance. "She was +an unskilled child, but she possessed heart, soul, intellect. There +was something bold, abrupt, uncouth about her aspect, gait, and +manner. She was dressed simply and truthfully in the coarse woollen +gown of a peasant-girl; her hands were red; her voice was harsh and +untrained, but powerful; she acted without effort or exaggeration; she +did not scream or gesticulate unduly; she seemed to perceive +intuitively the feeling she was required to express, and could +interest the audience greatly, moving them to tears. She was not +pretty, but she pleased," etc. Bouffe, who witnessed this +representation, observed: "What an odd little girl! Assuredly there is +something in her. But her place is not here." So judged Samson also, +becoming more and more aware of the merits of his former pupil. She +was transferred to the Francais to play the leading characters in +tragedy, at a salary of 4,000 francs a year. M. Poirson did not +hesitate to cancel her agreement with him. Indeed, he had been +troubled with thinking how he could employ his new actress. She was +not an _ingenue_ of the ordinary type; she could not be classed among +soubrettes. There were no parts suited to her in the light comedies of +Scribe and his compeers, which constituted the chief repertory of the +Gymnase. + +It was on June 12, 1838, that Rachel, as Camille, in "Horace," made +her first appearance upon the stage of the Theatre Francais. The +receipts were but seven hundred and fifty francs; it was an +unfashionable period of the year; Paris was out of town; the weather +was most sultry. There were many Jews in the house, it was said, +resolute to support the daughter of Israel, and her success was +unequivocal; nevertheless, a large share of the applause of the night +was confessedly carried off by the veteran Joanny, who played Horace. +On June 16th Rachel made her second appearance, personating Emilie in +the "Cinna," of Corneille. The receipts fell to five hundred and fifty +francs. She repeated her performance of Camille on the 23d; the +receipts were only three hundred francs! the poorest house, perhaps, +she ever played to in Paris. She afterward appeared as Hermione in +"Andromaque," Amenaide in "Tancrede," Eriphile in "Iphigenie," Monime +in "Mithridate," and Roxane in "Bajazet," the receipts now gradually +rising, until, in October, when she played Hermione for the tenth +time, six thousand francs were taken at the doors, an equal amount +being received in November, when, for the sixth time, she appeared as +Camille. Paris was now at her feet. In 1839, called upon to play two +or three times per week, she essayed but one new part, Esther, in +Racine's tragedy of that name. The public was quite content that she +should assume again and again the characters in which she had already +triumphed. In 1840 she added to her list of impersonations Laodie and +Pauline in Corneille's "Nicomede" and "Polyeucte," and Marie Stuart in +Lebrun's tragedy. In 1841 she played no new parts. In 1842 she first +appeared as Chimene in "Le Cid," as Ariane, and as Fredegonde in a +wretched tragedy by Le Mercier. + +Rachel had saved the Theatre Francais, had given back to the stage the +masterpieces of the French classical drama. It was very well for +Thackeray to write from Paris in 1839 that the actress had "only +galvanized the corpse, not revivified.... Racine will never come to +life again and cause audiences to weep as of yore." He predicted: +"Ancient French tragedy, red-heeled, patched, and beperiwigged, lies +in the grave, and it is only the ghost of it that the fair Jewess has +raised." But it was something more than a galvanized animation that +Rachel had imparted to the old drama of France. During her career of +twenty years, her performances of Racine and Corneille filled the +coffers of the Francais, and it may be traced to her influence and +example that the classic plays still keep their place upon the stage +and stir the ambition of the players. But now the committee of the +Francais had to reckon with their leading actress, and pay the price +of the prosperity she had brought them. They cancelled her engagement +and offered her terms such as seemed to them liberal beyond all +precedent. But the more they offered, so much the more was demanded. +In the first instance, the actress being a minor, negotiations were +carried on with her father, the committee denouncing in the bitterest +terms the avarice and rapacity of M. Felix. But when Rachel became +competent to deal on her own behalf, she proved herself every whit as +exacting as her sire. She became a _societaire_ in 1843, entitled to +one of the twenty-four shares into which the profits of the +institution were divided. She was rewarded, moreover, with a salary of +forty-two thousand francs per annum; and it was estimated that by her +performances during her _conge_ of three or four months every year she +earned a further annual income of thirty thousand francs. She met with +extraordinary success upon her provincial tours; enormous profits +resulted from her repeated visits to Holland and Belgium, Germany, +Russia, and England. But, from first to last, Rachel's connection with +the Francais was an incessant quarrel. She was capricious, ungrateful, +unscrupulous, extortionate. She struggled to evade her duties, to do +as little as she possibly could in return for the large sums she +received from the committee. She pretended to be too ill to play in +Paris, the while she was always well enough to hurry away and obtain +great rewards by her performances in the provinces. She wore herself +out by her endless wanderings hither and thither, her continuous +efforts upon the scene. She denied herself all rest, or slept in a +travelling carriage to save time in her passage from one country +theatre to another. Her company complained that they fell asleep as +they acted, her engagements denying them proper opportunities of +repose. The newspapers at one time set forth the acrimonious letters +she had interchanged with the committee of the Francais. Finally she +tended her resignation of the position she occupied as _societaire_; +the committee took legal proceedings to compel her to return to her +duties; some concessions were made on either side, however, and a +reconciliation was patched up. + +The new tragedies, "Judith" and "Cleopatre," written for the actress +by Madame de Girardin, failed to please, nor did success attend the +production of M. Romand's "Catherine II.," M. Soumet's "Jeanne d'Arc," +in which, to the indignation of the critics, the heroine was seen at +last surrounded by real flames! or "Le Vieux de la Montagne" of M. +Latour de St. Ybars. With better fortune Rachel appeared in the same +author's "Virginie," and in the "Lucrece" of Ponsard. Voltaire's +"Oreste" was revived for her in 1845 that she might play Electre. She +personated Racine's "Athalie" in 1847, assuming long white locks, +painting furrows on her face, and disguising herself beyond +recognition, in her determination to seem completely the character she +had undertaken. In 1848 she played Agrippine in the "Britannicus" of +Racine, and dressed in plain white muslin, and clasping the +tri-colored flag to her heart, she delivered the "Marseillaise" to +please the Revolutionists, lending the air strange meaning and passion +by the intensity of her manner, as she half chanted, half recited the +words, her voice now shrill and harsh, now deep, hollow, and +reverberating--her enraptured auditors likening it in effect to +distant thunder. + +To the dramatists who sought to supply her with new parts, Rachel was +the occasion of much chagrin and perplexity. After accepting Scribe's +"Adrienne Lecouvreur" she rejected it absolutely only to resume it +eagerly, however, when she learned that the leading character was to +be undertaken by Mademoiselle Rose Cheri. His "Chandelier" having met +with success, Rachel applied to De Musset for a play. She was offered, +it seems, "Les Caprices de Marianne," but meantime the poet's +"Bettine" failed, and the actress distrustfully turned away from him. +An undertaking to appear in the "Medea" of Legouve landed her in a +protracted lawsuit. The courts condemned her in damages to the amount +of two hundred francs for every day she delayed playing the part of +Medea after the date fixed upon by the management for the commencement +of the rehearsals of the tragedy. She paid nothing, however, for the +management failed to fix any such date. M. Legouve was only avenged in +the success his play obtained, in a translated form, at the hands of +Madame Ristori. In lieu of "Medea" Rachel produced "Rosemonde," a +tragedy by M. Latour de St. Ybars, which failed completely. Other +plays written for her were the "Valeria" of MM. Lacroix and Maquet, in +which she personated two characters--the Empress Messalina and her +half sister, Lysisca, a courtesan; the "Diane," of M. Augier, an +imitation of Victor Hugo's "Marion Delorme;" "Lady Tartuffe," a comedy +by Madame de Girardin; and "La Czarine," by M. Scribe. She appeared +also in certain of the characters originally contrived for +Mademoiselle Mais, such as La Tisbe in Victor Hugo's "Angelo," and the +heroines of Dumas's "Mademoiselle de Belle Isle" and of "Louise de +Lignerolles" by MM. Legouve and Dinaux. + +The classical drama of France has not found much favor in England and +America. We are all, perhaps, apt to think with Thackeray +disrespectfully of the "old tragedies--well-nigh dead, and full time +too--in which half a dozen characters appear and shout sonorous +Alexandrines for half a dozen hours;" or we are disposed to agree with +Mr. Matthew Arnold, that their drama, being fundamentally insufficient +both in substance and in form, the French, with all their gifts, have +not, as we have, an adequate form for poetry of the highest class. +Those who remember Rachel, however, can testify that she breathed the +most ardent life into the frigid remains of Racine and Corneille, +relumed them with Promethean heat, and showed them to be instinct with +the truest and intensest passion--When she occupied the scene, there +could be no thought of the old artificial times of hair powder and +rouge, periwigs and patches, in connection with the characters she +represented. Phedre and Hermione, Pauline and Camille, interpreted by +her genius, became as real and natural, warm and palpitating, as +Constance or Lady Macbeth could have been when played by Mrs. Siddons, +or as Juliet when impersonated by Miss O'Neill. Before Rachel came, it +had been thought that the new romantic drama of MM. Hugo and Dumas, +because of its greater truth to nature, had given the _coup de grace_ +to the old classic plays; but the public, at her bidding, turned +gladly from the spasms and the rant of "Angelo" and "Angele," "Antony" +and "Hernani," to the old-world stories, the formal tragedies of the +seventeenth century poet-dramatists of France. The actress fairly +witched her public. There was something of magic in her very presence +upon the scene. + +None could fail to be impressed by the aspect of the slight, pallid +woman who seemed to gain height by reason of her slenderness, who +moved toward her audience with such simple natural majesty, who wore +and conducted her fluent classical draperies with such admirable and +perfect grace. It was as though she had lived always so attired in +tunic, peplum, and pallium--had known no other dress--not that she was +of modern times playing at antiquity, she was the muse of Greek +tragedy in person. The physical traditions of her race found +expression or incarnation in her. Her face was of refined Judaical +character--the thin nose slightly curved, the lower lip a trifle full, +but the mouth exquisitely shaped, and the teeth small, white, and +even. The profuse black-brown hair was smoothed and braided from the +broad, low, white, somewhat over-hanging brow, beneath which in shadow +the keen black eyes flashed out their lightnings, or glowed luridly +like coals at a red heat. Her gestures were remarkable for their +dignity and appropriateness; the long, slight arms lent themselves +surprisingly to gracefulness; the beautifully formed hands, with the +thin tapering fingers and the pink filbert nails, seemed always +tremblingly on the alert to add significance or accent to her +speeches. But there was eloquence in her very silence and complete +repose. She could relate a whole history by her changes of facial +expression. She possessed special powers of self-control; she was +under subjection to both art and nature when she seemed to abandon +herself the most absolutely to the whirlwind of her passion. There +were no undue excesses of posture, movement, or tone. Her attitudes, +it was once said, were those of "a Pythoness cast in bronze." Her +voice thrilled and awed at its first note: it was so strangely deep, +so solemnly melodious, until, stirred by passion as it were, it became +thick and husky in certain of its tones; but it was always audible, +articulate, and telling, whether sunk to a whisper or raised +clamorously. Her declamation was superb, if, as critics reported, +there had been decline in this matter during those later years of her +life, to which my own acquaintance with Rachel's acting is confined. I +saw her first at the Francais in 1849, and I was present at her last +performance at the St. James' Theatre in 1853, having in the interval +witnessed her assumption of certain of her most admired characters. +And it may be true, too, that, like Kean, she was more and more +disposed, as the years passed, to make "points," to slur over the less +important scenes, and reserve herself for a grand outburst or a +vehement climax, sacrificing thus many of the subtler graces, +refinements, and graduations of elocution, for which she had once been +famous. To English ears, it was hardly an offence that she broke up +the sing-song of the rhymed tirades of the old plays and gave them a +more natural sound, regardless of the traditional methods of speech of +Clairon, Le Kain, and others of the great French players of the past. + +[Illustration: Rachel as the Muse of Greek Tragedy.] + +Less success than had been looked for attended Rachel's invasion of +the repertory of Mlle. Mars, an actress so idolized by the Parisians +that her sixty years and great portliness of form were not thought +hindrances to her personation of the youthful heroines of modern +comedy and drama. But Rachel's fittest occupation and her greatest +triumphs were found in the classical poetic plays. She, perhaps, +intellectualized too much the creations of Hugo, Dumas, and Scribe; +gave them excess of majesty. Her histrionic style was too exalted an +ideal for the conventional characters of the drama of her own time; it +was even said of her that she could not speak its prose properly or +tolerably. She disliked the hair-powder necessary to Adrienne +Lecouvreur and Gabrielle de Belle Isle, although her beauty, for all +its severity, did not lose picturesqueness in the costumes of the time +of Louis XV. As Gabrielle she was more girlish and gentle, pathetic, +and tender, than was her wont, while the signal fervor of her speech +addressed to Richelieu, beginning, "Vous mentez, Monsieur le Duc," +stirred the audience to the most excited applause. + +Rachel was seen upon the stage for the last time at Charleston on +December 17, 1856. She played Adrienne Lecouvreur. She had been +tempted to America by the prospect of extravagant profits. It had been +dinned into her ears that Jenny Lind, by thirty-eight performances in +America, had realized seventeen hundred thousand francs. Why might not +she, Rachel, receive as much? And then, she was eager to quit Paris. +There had been strange worship there of Madame Ristori, even in the +rejected part of Medea. But already Rachel's health was in a +deplorable state. Her constitution, never very strong, had suffered +severely from the cruel fatigues, the incessant exertions, she had +undergone. It may be, too, that the deprivations and sufferings of her +childhood now made themselves felt as over-due claims that could be no +longer denied or deferred. She forced herself to play, in fulfilment +of her engagement, but she was languid, weak, emaciated; she coughed +incessantly, her strength was gone; she was dying slowly but certainly +of phthisis. And she appeared before an audience that applauded her, +it is true, but cared nothing for Racine and Corneille, knew little of +the French language, and were urgent that she should sing the +"Marseillaise" as she had sung it in 1848! It was forgotten, or it was +not known in America, that the actress had long since renounced +revolutionary sentiments to espouse the cause of the Second Empire. +She performed all her more important characters, however, at New York, +Philadelphia, and Boston. Nor was the undertaking commercially +disappointing, if it did not wholly satisfy expectation. She returned +to France possessed of nearly three hundred thousand francs as her +share of the profits of her forty-two performances in the United +States; but she returned to die. The winter of 1856 she passed at +Cairo. She returned to France in the spring of 1857, but her +physicians forbade her to remain long in Paris. In September she moved +again to the South, finding her last retreat in the villa Sardou, at +Cannet, a little village in the environs of Cannes. She lingered to +January 3, 1858. The Theatre Francais closed its doors when news +arrived of her death, and again on the day of her funeral. The body +was embalmed and brought to Paris for interment in the cemetery of +Pere la Chaise, the obsequies being performed in accordance with the +Jewish rites. The most eminent of the authors and actors of France +were present, and funeral orations were delivered by MM. Jules Janin, +Bataille, and Auguste Maquet. Victor Hugo was in exile; or, as Janin +announced, the author of "Angelo" would not have withheld the tribute +of his eulogy upon the sad occasion. + + + + +EDWIN BOOTH[15] + + [Footnote 15: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CLARENCE COOK + +(1833-1893) + + +[Illustration: Edwin Booth.] + +The great actor who has lately left the world furnished, in his own +remarkable character and shining career, a striking exception to the +popular tradition that men of genius are the fathers of ordinary sons. +The father of Edwin Booth was in his time one of the glories of the +English and American stage; but, even in his case the strict rule +wavered, for his father, though not a genius, was yet a man of +exceptional character; one who marked out a clear path for himself in +the world, and walked in it to the end. + +How far back the line of the family can be traced, or what was its +origin, we do not know; but it has lately been said that the family +was of Hebrew extraction, and came into England from Spain, where it +had been known by the Spanish name, Cabana. The branch of the family +that left Spain to live in England translated the name into the +language of their new home, and from "Cabana," a shepherd's cabin, +made the English equivalent, Booth. + +However it may have been in this case, it was quite in the order of +things that this change of name should be made. It has been done +everywhere in Europe since very early times, and is doing to-day in +this country by new comers from all parts of the old world. + +The first of the Booths we read of in England was a silversmith, +living in Bloomsbury, London, in the latter half of the last century. +He had a son, Richard, who was bred to the law, but who was so imbued +with the republican ideas rife at the time that he actually came to +America to fight in the cause of Independence! He was taken prisoner, +and carried back to England, where, not without some struggles, he +again applied himself to the practice of the law, and in time made a +fortune. He did not, however, forget America, and we are told that he +had, hanging in his house, a portrait of Washington, which he expected +all his visitors to salute. + +One of the ways in which the republicans of that time showed where +their sympathies lay, was in naming their children after the heroes of +Greece and Rome; and accordingly we find Richard Booth calling his +eldest son, Junius Brutus Booth, after the Roman patriot. This son was +born in London, in 1796. His father was a man of scholarly tastes, and +gave the boy a classical education, but it was long before he showed a +marked inclination for any particular walk in life. He tried his hand +at painting, sculpture, and poetry; and for a while studied law with +his father. But, when the time came to choose, he gave his voice for +the navy, and would have joined the brig Boxer, then fitting out for +Nova Scotia. But, as war threatened between England and America, he +was induced, by the strong persuasions of his father, not to run the +risk of being forced to fight against America. He then decided to go +upon the stage, and, in spite of his father's remonstrances, carried +out his purpose. After some unimportant essays he at last succeeded in +attracting public attention, and before long showed such unmistakable +ability in dealing with difficult parts, that the public, till that +time undivided in its enthusiasm for Kean, awoke to the fact that a +dangerous rival threatened the security of their idol's throne. In the +midst of his successes, however, Booth married and left England with +his wife for a honeymoon trip to the West Indies. He had intended to +return at once to England, but he was persuaded to prolong his journey +and to visit New York. After playing a successful engagement there he +went to Richmond, where he was no less prosperous. He next visited New +Orleans and acquired such facility in speaking French that he played +parts in French plays more than acceptably, and distinguished himself +by acting Orestes in Racine's "Andromaque," to the delight of the +French-speaking population. His accent is said to have been remarkable +for its purity. Returning to New York, he acted Othello to Forrest's +Iago; but, in the midst of his successes, the death of two of his +children produced a temporary insanity, and this was made worse by the +news of the death of his favorite son, Henry Byron, in London, of +small-pox. This grievous loss was, however, to be made up to him by +his son, Edwin, in whom he was to find the counterpart of himself, +softened, refined, ennobled, while between father and son was to grow +a strong attachment, a bond of mutual affection to last as long as +life should endure. + +Edwin Thomas Booth was born at Bel Air, Maryland, November 12, 1833. +He was named Edwin, after his father's friend, Edwin Forrest, and +Thomas, after Thomas Flynn, the actor, whom the elder Booth had known +intimately in London. His son dropped the name of Thomas, later in +life, and was only known to the public by the name of Edwin Booth. +Owing to his father's wandering life Edwin had few advantages of +education, but he made the most of his opportunities, and indeed was a +student of good letters all his life, turning the light of all he +learned from books and experience upon his art. His youth is described +as reticent, and marked by a strong individuality, with a deep +sympathy for his father, early manifested; his father, a much +enduring, suffering man, strongly in need of sympathy, knowing to +repay it, too, in kind. + +Edwin Booth made his first appearance on the stage in 1849 at the +Boston Museum in the youthful part of Tressil, in Colley Cibber's +version of Shakespeare's "Richard III." It had been against his +father's wishes that he had adopted the stage as a profession; but, +as his father had done in a like case before him he persevered, and +soon had the satisfaction of convincing his parent that he had decided +wisely. He did not at once come to New York after his success in +Boston, but went to Providence and to Philadelphia, acting Cassio in +"Othello," and Wilford in the "Iron Chest," a part he soon made his +own and in which he made his first appearance in New York, playing at +the National Theatre in Chatham Street, in 1850. The next year he +played Richard III. for the first time, taking the part unexpectedly +to fill the place of his father, who was suddenly ill. In 1852 he went +out with his father to San Francisco, where his brother, Junius Brutus +Booth, Jr., was the manager of a theatre; and the father and his two +sons acted together. At Sacramento, we are told that the incident +occurred which led Edwin Booth to think of acting Hamlet, a part which +was to become as closely associated with his name as that of Richard +III. was with his father. He was dressed for the part of Jaffier in +Otway's play, "Venice Preserved," when some one said to him "You look +like Hamlet, why not play it?" It was, however, some time before he +ventured to assume the part. In October, 1852, the father and son +parted, not to meet again. The elder Booth went to New Orleans, and +after playing for a week took passage in a steamboat on the +Mississippi, and catching a severe cold succumbed after a few days' +illness and died. For a while after his father's death Edwin suffered +greatly from poverty and from the hardships of his precarious life, +unsustained as he now was by the affection and encouragement of a +father who, with all his faults, and in all the misfortunes brought on +by serious ill-health and some aberrations that were the effect of +ill-health had always been an affectionate and true friend. But a +talent such as Edwin Booth possessed, united to a high character, and +to a dauntless spirit, could not long be hid, and in a short time his +name began to be heard of as that of one destined to great ends. In +1854 he went to Australia as a member of Laura Keene's company. He had +made a deep impression in California, acting such parts as Richard +III., Shylock, Macbeth, and Hamlet, and on returning there from +Australia that first impression was greatly strengthened. On leaving +San Francisco he received various testimonials showing the high esteem +in which his acting was held by the educated part of the community; +but throughout Edwin Booth's career, the interest he excited in the +vast audiences that followed him was by no means confined to the +self-styled "best people." Though he never "played to the gallery," +the heart of the gallery was as much with him as the heart of the +boxes, and he knew the value of its rapt silence as well as of its +stormy voices. + +In Boston, in 1857, he played Sir Giles Overreach, in Massinger's "A +New Way to Pay Old Debts," and the profound impression he made in it +confirmed him in his purpose to devote himself to tragic acting. The +story of an actor's life is seldom eventful, and Mr. Booth's history, +after his first assured success, is the record of a long line of +triumphs without a failure. The most remarkable of these triumphs was +at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York, where he acted Hamlet to +large and ever-increasing audiences for over one hundred successive +nights, that is, from November 21, 1864, to March 24, 1865. On this +occasion a gold medal was presented to the actor by friends and +admirers in New York; the list of subscribers including the names of +many well-known citizens. The Winter Garden Theatre was managed by +Booth and his brother-in-law, the clever actor, J. S. Clarke, until +Booth bought out Clarke and assumed the entire management himself. In +1865 the terrible tragedy occurred which blighted Booth's whole +after-life, and for a time drove him from the stage. He did not act +again until 1866; in 1867 the theatre was destroyed by fire, and in +1868 the corner-stone of a new building, to be known as Booth's +Theatre, was laid, and in a short time New York was in possession, for +the first time, of a thoroughly appointed, comfortable, and handsome +theatre. This building was made famous by a number of Shakespearian +revivals that for beauty, magnificence, and scenic poetry have, we +believe, never been equalled. We doubt if "Hamlet," "Julius Caesar," or +"Romeo and Juliet," have ever been presented with more satisfying +completeness to the eye and to the imagination than in this theatre by +Mr. Booth and his company. Although the theatre was in existence for +thirteen years, from 1868 to 1882, when it was finally closed, Mr. +Booth's management lasted only about half that time. The speculation +was not a fortunate one for the actor; the expenses ate up all the +profits, and Mr. Booth was bankrupted by his venture. He paid all his +debts, however, and went bravely to work to build up a new fortune. He +made a tour of the South, which was one long ovation, and in a season +of eight weeks in San Francisco he took in $96,000. + +In 1880 he went to England and remained there two years. In 1882 he +visited Germany, acting in both countries with great success, and in +1883 he returned home and made a tour of America, repeating everywhere +his old triumphs, and winning golden opinions from all classes of his +countrymen. + +Edwin Booth died in New York, June 7, 1893, at the Players' Club, +where he had lived for the last few years of his life. This was a +building erected by his own munificence, fitted up with luxurious +completeness, and presented to a society of his professional brethren +for the use and behoof of his fellow-artists, reserving for himself +only the modest apartment where he chose to live, in sympathetic touch +with those who still pursued the noble art he had relinquished. + +Mr. Booth was twice married. By his first wife, Miss Mary Devlin, who +died in 1863, he had one child, a daughter; by the second, Miss +McVicker, he had no children. She died in 1881. + +[Signature of the author.] + + + + +JOSEPH JEFFERSON[16] + + [Footnote 16: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CLARENCE COOK + +(BORN 1829) + + +[Illustration: Joseph Jefferson.] + +Joseph Jefferson, distinguished, among his other brilliant successes +as an actor, as the creator for this generation of the character of +Rip Van Winkle in the play dramatized from the story in Washington +Irving's "Sketch Book," was the third of his name in a family of +actors. The first of the three was born at Plymouth, England, in 1774. +He was the son of Thomas Jefferson, a comedian of merit, the +contemporary and friend of Garrick, and came to this country in 1795, +making his first appearance in New York on February 10, 1796, in the +part of Squire Richard in "The Provoked Husband." Dunlap says that, +young as he was, he was already an artist, and that among the men of +the company he held the first place. He lived in this country for +thirty-six years, admired as an actor and respected as a man. He died +at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1832. + +Joseph Jefferson, the second, was born in Philadelphia in 1804. He +inherited the laughing blue eyes and sunny disposition of his father, +but he had not his talent as an actor; he is said to have been best in +old men's parts. His taste, however, led him to scene-painting rather +than to acting; yet his skill in either direction was not enough to +win success, and, in spite of well-meant efforts, he lived and died a +poor man: ill luck pursuing him to the end of his days, when he was +carried off by yellow fever at Mobile in 1842, just as his +unprosperous skies were brightening a little. His son bears +affectionate witness to the upright character of the man and to his +indomitable cheerfulness in the most adverse circumstances. He spared +no pains in bringing up his children in good ways, and he was +earnestly seconded by his wife, a heroic figure in her humble sphere, +whose tact and courage not seldom saved the family bark when it was +drifting in shoal water. Mrs. Jefferson came of French parents, and +was a Mrs. Burke, a widow with one child, a son, when she married Mr. +Jefferson. Her son tells us that she had been one of the most +attractive stars in America, the leading prima donna of the country; +but she bore her changed fortune, as the wife of an unsuccessful actor +and manager, with no less dignity on the stage of real life, where no +applause was to be had but what came from those who loved her as +mother, wife, and friend. + +This, then, was the family circle in which our Joseph Jefferson +passed his earliest years, the formative period of his life. There +were the kind-hearted, easy-going father, the practical, energetic +mother, a sister, and the half-brother, Charles Burke, whose +after-reputation as an actor lives in the pages of Jefferson's +autobiography enshrined in words of warm but judicious appreciation. +"Although only a half-brother," says Jefferson, "he seemed like a +father to me, and there was a deep and strange affection between us." +Nor must mention be forgotten of one other member of the family: Mary, +his foster-mother, as Jefferson affectionately calls her, "a faithful, +loving, truthful friend, rather than a servant, with no ambition or +thought for herself, living only for us, and totally unconscious of +her own existence." + +Joseph Jefferson, the third of the name, and in whom the talent of his +grandfather was to reappear enriched with added graces of his own, was +born in Philadelphia in 1829. He tells us that his earliest +recollections are connected with a theatre in Washington. This was a +rickety, old, frame-building adjoining the house in which his father +lived as manager, the door at the end of the hall-way opening directly +upon the stage; and as a toddling little chap in a short frock he was +allowed full run of the place. Thus "behind the scenes" was his first +playground; and here, "in this huge and dusty toy-shop made for +children of a larger growth," he got his first experience. He was +early accustomed to face an audience; for, being the son of the +manager and almost living in the theatre, he was always pressed into +the service whenever a small child was wanted, and "often went on the +stage in long clothes as a property infant in groups of happy +peasantry." His first dim recollection of such a public appearance is +as the "child," in Kotzebue's play, "Pizarro," who is carried across +the bridge by Rolla. His next appearance was in a new entertainment, +called "Living Statues," where he struck attitudes as "Ajax Defying +the Lightning," or "The Dying Gladiator." At four years of age he made +a hit by accompanying T. D. Rice, the original "Jim Crow," as a +miniature copy of that once famous character, and the first money he +earned was the sum of $24 thrown upon the stage in silver from pit and +gallery, to reward his childish dancing and singing on that occasion. + +Thus early wedded to the stage, Jefferson followed the fortunes of his +family, and led with them a wandering life for many years, growing, by +slow degrees and constant, varied practice, to the perfection of his +prime. In 1838 his father led the flock to Chicago, just then grown +from an Indian village to a thriving place of two thousand +inhabitants, where he was to join his brother in the management of a +new theatre, then building. Jefferson's account of the journey is a +striking picture, at once amusing and pathetic, of the changes that +have been wrought by fifty years. The real privations and hardships of +the trip are veiled in the actor's story by his quiet humor and his +disposition to see everything in a cheerful light. Always quizzing his +own youthful follies, he cannot conceal from us by any mischievous +anecdotes his essential goodness of nature, his merry helpfulness, his +unselfish devotion to the welfare of the others, or the pluck with +which he met the accidents of this itinerant life. From Chicago, where +their success was not brilliant, the family went by stage to +Springfield, where, by a singular chance, they were rescued from the +danger that threatened them in the closing of the theatre by a +municipal law trumped up in the interest of religious revivalists, by +the adroitness of a young lawyer, who proved to be none other than +Abraham Lincoln. In Memphis, when bad business had closed the theatre, +young Jefferson's pluck and ready wit saved the family purse from +absolute collapse. A city ordinance had been passed, requiring that +all carts, drays, and public vehicles should be numbered; and the boy, +hearing of this, called at the mayor's office, and, explaining the +situation that had obliged his father to exchange acting for +sign-painting, applied in his name for the contract for painting the +numbers--and obtained it! The new industry furnished father and son +with a month's work, and some jobs at sign-painting helped still +further to make life easier. + +From Memphis the family went to Mobile, where they hoped to rest after +their long wanderings, and where it was also hoped the children, +Joseph and his sister, might be put to school. But the yellow fever +was raging in Mobile, and they had been in the city only a fortnight +when Mr. Jefferson was attacked by the disease and died. In Mobile, +too, the good Mary died, and Mrs. Jefferson was left alone to care for +herself and her children as she could. She had no longer a heart for +acting, and she decided to open a boarding-house for actors, while +Joseph and his sister earned a small stipend by variety work in the +theatre. + +More years of hardship followed--the trio of mother and children +wandering over the country, south and west: in Mississippi and Mexico, +seeing life in all its phases of ill luck and disappointment, with +faint gleams of success here and there, but meeting all with a spirit +of such cheerful bravery as makes the darkest experience yield a +pleasure in the telling. Surely, it might soften the heart of the +sourest enemy of the stage to read the spirit in which this family met +the long-continued crosses of their professional life. + +[Illustration: Joe Jefferson as Bob Acres.] + +Joseph Jefferson tells the story of his career so modestly, that it is +hard to discover just when it was that success first began to turn a +smiling face upon his efforts. Yet it would seem as if, for himself, +the day broke when he created the part of Asa Trenchard in "Our +American Cousin." He says that up to 1858, when he acted that part, he +had been always more or less a "legitimate" actor, that is, one who +has his place with others in a stock company, and never thinks of +himself as an individual and single attraction--a star, as it is +called. While engaged with this part, it suddenly occurred to him that +in acting Asa Trenchard he had, for the first time in his life on the +stage, spoken a pathetic speech; up to that time all with him had been +pure comedy. Now he had found a part in which he could move his +audience to tears as well as smiles. This was to him a delightful +discovery, and he looked about for a new part in which he could repeat +the experiment. One day in summer, as he lay in the loft of a barn +reading in a book he well calls delightful, Pierre Irving's "Life and +Letters of Washington Irving," he learned that the great writer had +seen him act the part of Goldfinch, in Holcroft's "Road to Ruin," and +that he reminded him of his grandfather, Joseph Jefferson, "in look, +gesture, size, and make." Naturally pleased to find himself +remembered and written of by such a man, he lay musing on the +compliment, when the "Sketch Book" and the story of Rip van Winkle +came suddenly into his mind. "There was to me," he writes, "magic in +the sound of the name as I repeated it. Why was not this the very +character I wanted? An American story by an American author was surely +just the thing suited to an American actor." + +There had been three or four plays founded on this story, but +Jefferson says that none of them were good. His father and his +half-brother had acted the part before him, but nothing that he +remembered gave him any hope that he could make a good play out of +existing material. He therefore went to work to construct a play for +himself, and his story of how he did it, told in two pages of his +book, and with the most unconscious air in the world, reveals the +whole secret of Jefferson's acting: its humor and pathos subtly +mingled, its deep humanity, its pure poetry--the assemblage of +qualities, in fine, that make it the most perfect as well as the most +original product of the American stage. + +Yet the play, even in the form he gave it, did not satisfy him, nor +did it make the impression in America that he desired. It was not +until five years later that Dion Boucicault, in London, remade it for +Jefferson; and it was in that city it first saw the light in its new +form, September 5, 1865. It was at once successful, and had a run of +one hundred and seventy-five nights. + +With his Asa Trenchard and his Rip van Winkle will ever be associated +in the loving memory of play-goers his Bob Acres in Sheridan's +"Rivals," thought by many to be his capital part--a personification +where all the foibles of the would-be man-of-the-world: his +self-conceit, his brag, his cowardice, are transformed into virtues +and captivate our hearts, dissolved in the brimming humor which yet +never overflows the just measure, so degenerating into farce. + +Between the two productions of Rip van Winkle in New York and in +London, Jefferson had had many strange experiences. His wife died in +1861, and he broke up his household in New York, and leaving three of +his children at school in that city, he left home with his eldest son +and went to California. After acting in San Francisco, he sailed for +Australia, where he was warmly received; thence went to the other +British colonies in that region, touched on his return at Lima and +Callao and Panama, at which place he took a sailing-packet for London, +and after his great success in that city returned to America in 1866. +In 1867 he married, in Chicago, Miss Sarah Warren, and since that time +his life has flowed on in an even stream, happy in all its relations, +private and public, crowned with honors, not of a gaudy or brilliant +kind, but solid and enduring. His art is henceforth part and parcel of +the rich treasure of the American stage. + +[Signature of the author.] + + + + +ADELINA PATTI + +By FREDERICK F. BUFFEN + +(BORN 1843) + + +[Illustration: Adelina Patti.] + +A consensus of opinion places this distinguished artiste at the head +of all her compeers, for it may be truly said that she is the +brightest star which has dazzled the musical firmament during the past +half century, and, is still in the very zenith of her noonday +splendor. + +Regardful of the transcendent beauty of her voice, enhanced as this is +by her other natural and attractive attributes, one might almost +believe that nightingales have surrounded the cradle presided over by +Euterpe, for never has bird sung so sweetly as the gifted subject of +my memoir, and while the Fates smiled on the birth of their favorite, +destined to become the unrivalled Queen of Song throughout the +civilized world, fanciful natures might conceive a poetical vision, +and behold Melpomene with her sad, grave eyes breathing into her the +spirit of tragedy, and Thalia, with her laughing smile, welcoming a +gifted disciple by whose genius her fire was to be rekindled in the +far future. + +In the year 1861 there arrived in England a young singer who, +accompanied by her brother-in-law, took apartments in Norfolk Street, +Strand. The young lady, then only seventeen, sought Mr. Frederick Gye, +who was the lessee of the Royal Italian Opera, for his permission to +sing at his theatre, volunteering to do so _for nothing_. The offer +was at first absolutely declined, but subsequently the young artiste +succeeded, and made her first appearance on May 14, 1861, as Amina in +Bellini's opera of "La Sonnambula." Unheralded by any previous notice, +she was then totally unknown to the English public. Not a syllable had +reached that country of her antecedents or fame. I remember being +present on the occasion when this youthful cantatrice tripped lightly +on to the centre of the stage. Not a single hand was raised to greet +her, nor a sound of welcome extended to encourage the young artiste. +The audience of Covent Garden, usually reserved, except to +old-established favorites, seemed wrapped in more than their +conventional coldness on that particular evening. Ere long, however, +indeed before she had finished the opening aria, a change manifested +itself in the feelings of all present. The _habitues_ looked round in +astonishment, and people near me almost held their breath in +amazement. The second act followed, and to surprise quickly succeeded +delight, for when in the third act she threw all her vocal and +dramatic power into the melodious wailing of "_Ah non credea_," with +its brilliant sequel, "_Ah non giunge_," the enthusiasm of the +audience forgot all restriction, and burst into a spontaneous shout +of applause, the pent-up fervor of the assembly exploding in a ringing +cheer of acclamation rarely heard within the walls of the Royal +Italian Opera House. The heroine of the evening was Adelina Patti, who +thenceforward became the idol of the musical world. When I left the +theatre that evening, I became conscious that a course of fascination +had commenced of a most unwonted nature; one that neither time nor +change has modified, but which three decades have served only to +enhance and intensify. + +At the conclusion of the performance, Mr. Gye went on to the stage +full of the excitement which prevailed in the theatre, and he +immediately concluded an engagement with Mlle. Patti on the terms +which had been previously agreed between them; these being that Mlle. +Patti was to receive at the rate of _L_150 a month for three years, +appearing twice each week during the season, or at the rate of about +_L_17 for each performance. Mr. Gye also offered her the sum of _L_200 +if she would consent to sing exclusively at Covent Garden. + +Patti repeated her performance of Amina eight times during the season, +and subsequently confirmed her success by her assumption of Lucia, +Violetta, Zerlina, Martha, and Rosina. + +Having met with such unprecedented success throughout the London +season, Mlle. Patti was offered an engagement to sing at the Italian +Opera in Paris, where unusual curiosity was awakened concerning her. +Everyone is aware that the Parisians do not admit an artist to be a +celebrity until they have themselves acknowledged it. At Paris, after +the first act, the sensation was indescribable, musicians, ministers, +poets, and fashionable beauties all concurring in the general chorus +of acclamation; while the genial Auber, the composer of so many +delightful operas, and one of the greatest authorities, by his +experience and judgment, on all musical matters, was so enchanted that +he declared she had made him young again, and for several days he +could scarcely talk on any other subject but Adelina Patti and opera. +The conquest she had achieved with the English public was thus +triumphantly ratified by the exacting and critical members of musical +society in Paris. + +Adele Juan Maria Patti, according to her own statement, which she +related to the Queen Isabella of Spain, was born at Madrid, on +February 19, 1843, and is the youngest daughter of two famous Italian +singers, Signor Salvatore Patti and Signora Patti-Barili. The signor +having placed her two sisters--Amalia, who subsequently married +Maurice Strakosch, the well-known impresario, and Carlotta, also a +vocalist of remarkable powers--in a boarding-school at Milan, went to +New York with his wife and daughter, where they remained until Adelina +reached sixteen. + +Adelina Patti had barely reached the age of three years when she was +heard humming and singing the airs her mother sang. + +The child's voice was naturally so flexible that executive +difficulties were always easy to her, and, before she had attained her +ninth year she could execute a prolonged shake with fluency. Her +father not being prosperous at the time, it became a necessity for +him to look for support to his little Adelina, who had shown such +remarkable promise; and, accordingly, she began to take singing +lessons--not, as is stated in Grove's "Dictionary of Musicians," from +Maurice Strakosch, but from a French lady, subsequently studying with +her step-brother, Ettore Barili, who was a famous baritone singer; but +nature had been so prodigal of her gifts to the child that she never +undertook a serious course of study, but, as she herself says, her +real master was "le bon Dieu." At a very early age she would sing and +play the part of Norma, and knew the whole of the words and music of +Rosina, the heroine of Rossini's immortal "Il Barbiere di Seviglia." +She sang at various concerts in different cities, until she reached +the age of twelve and a half, when her career was temporarily +interrupted, for Maurice Strakosch, observing the ruinous effect the +continuous strain upon her delicate voice was working, insisted upon +her discontinuing singing altogether, which advice she happily +followed. After this interval of two years' silence, and having +emerged from the wonder-child to the young artiste, she recommenced +her studies under M. Strakosch, and very soon afterward was engaged to +sing on a regular stage. Strakosch travelled with her and Gottschalk, +the pianist, through the United States, during the tour giving a +number of concerts with varying financial results; ultimately +returning to New York in 1859, where she appeared at a concert of +which _The New York Herald_ of November 28th gives the following +notice: "One of the most remarkable events in the operatic history of +the metropolis, or even of the world, has taken place during the last +week at the Academy of Music. Mlle. Patti sang the mad scene from +Lucia in such a superb manner as to stir up the audience to the +heartiest demonstrations of delight. The success of this artiste, +educated and reared among us, has made everybody talk of her." In the +following year, Strakosch considered the time had arrived for her to +appear in Europe. He accordingly brought his young protegee to +England, with the result I have already attempted to describe. + +After singing in London and Paris, Patti was engaged to appear at +Berlin, Brussels, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, at which latter city +enthusiasm reached its climax, when on one occasion she was called +before the curtain no fewer than forty times. One who was with her +there during her last visit, writes: "Having been witness of Adelina's +many triumphs and of outbursts of enthusiasm bordering upon madness, I +did not think that greater demonstrations were possible. I was +profoundly mistaken, however, for the St. Petersburg public far +surpassed anything I have seen before. On Adelina's nights +extraordinary profits were made. Places for the gallery were sold for +ten roubles each, while stalls were quickly disposed of for a hundred +roubles each. The emperor and empress, with the whole court, took part +in the brilliant reception accorded to Patti, and flowers to the +amount of six thousand roubles were thrown at her." + +That she has been literally worshipped from infancy upward is only a +natural consequence of her unsurpassable gifts, and nowhere has this +feeling manifested itself to such an extent as in Paris, and by none +more so than by the four famous composers, Auber, Meyerbeer, Rossini, +and Gounod. Auber, after hearing her sing Norina, in Donizetti's "Don +Pasquale," offered her a bouquet of roses from Normandy, and in answer +to her questions about her diamonds, said, "The diamonds you wear are +beautiful indeed, but those you place in our ears are a thousand times +better." Patti was the pet of the gifted composer of "Guillaume Tell," +and no one was ever more welcome at Rossini's beautiful villa at +Passy, well known as the centre of a great musical and artistic +circle. The genial Italian died in November, 1868, and Patti paid her +last tribute of respect to his memory by taking part in the +performance of his immortal "Stabat Mater," which was given on the +occasion of Rossini's burial service. + +Gounod, always enthusiastic in his remarks upon her, said, "that until +he heard Patti, all the Marguerites were Northern maidens, but Patti +was the only Southern Gretchen, and that from her all future singers +could learn what to do and avoid." + +Although it is not the custom to bestow titles or honorific +distinctions upon artists of the fair sex, yet, in lieu of these, to +such an extent have presents been showered upon Adelina Patti, that +the jewels which she has been presented with from time to time are +said to be of the enormous value of _L_100,000. In the year 1885, when +she appeared in New York as Violetta, the diamonds she wore on that +occasion were estimated to be worth _L_60,000. One of the handsomest +lockets in her possession is a present from Her Majesty, Queen +Victoria, and a splendid solitaire ring which she is in the habit of +wearing was given to her by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. Of no less +than twenty-three valuable bracelets, one of the most costly is that +presented by the committee of the Birmingham festival. A magnificent +comb, set with twenty-three large diamonds, is the gift of the Empress +Eugenie. The emperors of Germany, Austria, and Russia have vied with +each other in sending her jewels of the rarest value. + +When singing in Italy, King Victor Emmanuel each night visited the +opera for the purpose of hearing her; and at Florence, where the +enthusiastic Italians applauded to the very echo, Mario, prince of +Italian tenors, leaned from his box to crown her with a laurel wreath. +A similar honor was bestowed upon her by the Duke of Alba at Madrid, +who presented her with a laurel crown. At the opera house in that city +numbers of bouquets and poems were to be seen whirling through the air +attached to the necks of birds. Queen Isabella of Spain, gave a large +amethyst brooch surrounded by forty enormous pearls, and the Jockey +Club of Paris presented her with twelve laurel crowns. The citizens of +San Francisco, upon the occasion of her last visit, presented her with +a five-pointed star formed of thirty large brilliants, and from the +Queen of Portugal she received a massive locket containing Her +Majesty's portrait, enriched by an enormous oriental pearl encrusted +in brilliants; and even at the present time scarcely a day passes +without the "Diva" receiving some acknowledgment in recognition of her +transcendent powers. + +Adelina Patti's first husband was Henri, Marquis de Caux, an equerry +to the Empress Eugenie, from whom she was separated and subsequently +divorced; and, on June 10, 1886, she married Ernesto Nicolini, the +famous tenor singer. + +In appearance, Patti is still youthful, and really seems destined to +rival the celebrated French beauty, Ninon de l'Enclos, who was so +beautiful at sixty that the grandsons of the men who loved her in her +youth adored her with equal ardor. Patti's figure is still slim and +rounded, and not a wrinkle as yet is to be seen on her cheeks, or a +line about her eyes, which are as clear and bright as ever, and which, +when she speaks to you, look you straight in the face with her old +winning smile. + +During her career Patti has earned upward of half a million sterling, +and the enormous sums paid to her at the present time more than double +the amounts which Jenny Lind received, and which in that day were +regarded as fabulous. + +On a natural plateau, surrounded by picturesque vales, and situated in +the heart of the very wildest and most romantic part of South Wales, +between Brecon and Swansea, and at the base of the Rock of the Night, +stands the Castle of Craig-y-nos. This is the nightingale's nest. The +princely fortune which Patti has accumulated has enabled her so to +beautify and enlarge her home, that it now contains all the luxuries +which Science and Art have enabled Fortune's favorites to enjoy; and +so crowded is it with curios and valuables that it may best be +described as "the home of all Art yields or Nature can decree." + +Here, in picturesque seclusion, surrounded by a unique splendor +created by her own exertions, lives this gifted and beautiful +songstress. She is the "Lady Bountiful" of the entire district, +extending many miles around the castle, over which she presides with +such hospitable grace. The number of grateful hearts she has won in +the Welsh country by her active benevolence is almost as great as is +the legion of enthusiastic admirers she has enlisted by the wonderful +beauty of her voice and the series of artistic triumphs, which have +been absolutely without parallel during the present century. + + + + +SARAH BERNHARDT + +By H. S. EDWARDS + +(BORN 1844) + + +A little girl, as Sarcey relates, once presented herself at the Paris +Conservatoire in order to pass the examination for admission. All she +knew was the fable of the "Two Pigeons," but she had no sooner recited +the lines-- + + "Deux pigeons s'aimaient d'amour tendre, + L'un d'eux, s'ennuyant au logis"-- + +than Auber stopped her with a gesture. "Enough," he said. "Come here, +my child." The little girl, who was pale and thin, but whose eyes +gleamed with intelligence, approached him with an air of assurance. +"Your name is Sarah?" he said. + +"Yes, sir." was the reply. + +"You are a Jewess?" + +"Yes, sir, by birth; but I have been baptized." + +"She has been baptized," said Auber, turning to his colleagues. "It +would have been a pity if such a pretty child had not. She said her +fable of the 'Two Pigeons' very well. She must be admitted." + +[Illustration: Sarah Bernhardt.] + +Thus Sarah Bernhardt, for it was she, entered the Conservatoire. She +was a Jewess of French and Dutch parentage, and was born at Paris in +1844. Her father, after having her baptized, had placed her in a +convent; but she had already secretly determined to become an actress. +In her course of study at the Conservatoire she so distinguished +herself that she received a prize which entitled her to a _debut_ at +the Theatre Francais. She selected the part of Iphigenie, in which she +appeared on August 11, 1862; and at least one newspaper drew special +attention to her performance, describing her as "pretty and elegant," +and particularly praising her perfect enunciation. She afterward +played other parts at the Theatre Francais, but soon transferred +herself from that house to the Gymnase, though not until she had made +herself notorious by having, as was alleged, slapped the face of a +sister-actress in a fit of temper. + +The director of the Gymnase did not take too serious a view of his new +actress, who turned up late at rehearsals, and sometimes did not turn +up at all. Nor did her acting make any great impression at the +Gymnase, where, it is true, she was only permitted to appear on +Sundays. At this theatre she lost no time in exhibiting that +independence and caprice to which, as much as to her talent, she owes +her celebrity. The day after the first representation of a piece by +Labiche, "Un Mari qui Lance sa Femme," in which she had undertaken an +important part, she stealthily quitted Paris, addressing to the author +a letter in which she begged him to forgive her. + +After a tour in Spain, Sarah returned to Paris, and appeared at the +Odeon. Here she created a certain number of characters, in such plays +as "Les Arrets," "Le Drame de la Rue de la Paix," and "Le Batard," but +chiefly distinguished herself in "Ruy Blas," and in a translation of +"King Lear." Already she had riveted the attention of the public and +the press, who saw that a brilliant future lay before her. + +At the end of 1872 she appeared at the Comedie Francaise, and with +such distinction that she was retained, first as a pensionnaire, at a +salary of six thousand francs, and afterward as a _societaire_. Her +successes were rapid and dazzling, and whether she appeared in modern +comedy, in classic tragedy, or as the creator of characters in +entirely new plays, the theatre was always crowded. Her melodious +voice and pure enunciation, her singularly varied accents, her +pathos, her ardent bursts of passion, were such that her audience, as +they hung upon her lips, forgot the caprices and eccentricities by +which she was already characterized in private life. It seemed, +however, that Sarah's ambition was to gain personal notoriety even +more than theatrical fame; and by her performances of one kind or +another outside the theatre make herself the talk of society. She +affected to paint, to chisel, and to write; sent pictures to the +Salon, published eccentric books, and exhibited busts. She would +receive her friends palette in hand, and in the dress of a male +artist. She had a luxurious coffin made for her, covered with velvet, +in which she loved to recline; and she more than once went up in a +balloon. + +Her caprice, whether in private or public, was altogether unrestrained. +In 1880 Emile Augier's admirable comedy, "L'Aventuriere," was revived at +the Comedie Francaise, and the author confided the part of Clorinde to +Sarah Bernhardt. After the first representation, however, she was so +enraged by an uncomplimentary newspaper criticism that she sent in her +resignation to M. Emile Perrin, director of the theatre, quitted Paris, +and went to England, where she gave a series of representations, and, +appearing there for the first time, caused a veritable sensation in +London society. Meanwhile, M. Perrin instituted against her, in the name +of the Comedie Francaise, a lawsuit for breach of contract, with damages +laid at three hundred thousand francs. It was at this juncture that +Sarah accepted the offers of an enterprising manager for a tour in +America, where she achieved no less phenomenal successes than in Europe. + +A sensational account of this American tour was afterward published by +one of her associates, Mlle. Marie Colombier, under the title of +"Sarah Bernhardt en Amerique." This was followed by a second volume +from the same pen, entitled "Sarah Barnum." The latter book, as its +title suggests, was not intended as a compliment; and Sarah Bernhardt +brought an action against the writer, by which she was compelled to +expunge from her scandalous volume all that was offensive. + +The rest of Sarah's career is too recent to be traced in detail. Nor +can the life of an actress of our own time be dealt with so freely as +that of a Sophie Arnould or an Adrienne Lecouvreur. + +From America Sarah returned to Paris, where she revived all her old +successes, and where, in 1888, at the Odeon, she produced a one-act +comedy from her own pen, entitled "L'Aveu," which met with a somewhat +frigid reception. She has appeared in several of Shakespeare's plays +with great success, but her most ambitious and perhaps most admirable +productions of late years have been her Cleopatra, first produced in +Paris in 1890, and her Joan of Arc. + +Among her numerous eccentricities, Mlle. Bernhardt once got married; +London, by reason of the facilities it affords for this species of +recreation, being chosen as the scene of the espousals. The hero of +the matrimonial comedy, which was soon followed by a separation, to +which, after many adventures on the part of both husband and wife, a +reconciliation succeeded, was M. Damala, a Greek gentleman, possessed +of considerable histrionic talent, who died in 1880. + + + + +AMONG THE SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS WORK ARE: + +[Illustration: Signatures of the authors.] + + +TERMS OF PUBLICATION. + +The work, "Great Men and Famous Women," will be published in +sixty-eight parts, at twenty-five cents each; it will be printed on +paper made expressly for it: each part will contain three full-page +engravings, making a total of more than two hundred in the entire +work, of which sixty-eight will be photogravures by Messrs. Goupil & +Co., of Paris, and other eminent makers. There will be twenty-four +pages of letterpress in each part. + +No subscriber's name is received for less than the entire set. And no +order can be cancelled after acceptance. 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