XLII

PLATE--EQUESTRIAN PORTRAIT OF DON BALTHASAR CARLOS.

Philip of Spain had long prayed for a son and when at last one was granted him his pride in his young heir was unbounded. The little Don Carlos was not unworthy, for he was a cheerful, hearty boy, trained to horsemanship, from his fourth year, for his father was a noted rider and had the best instructors for his son. The prince was a brave hunter too and we are told that he shot a wild boar when he was but nine years of age. In this portrait which is in the Museo del Prado he is six years old, and it was neither the first nor the last that Velasquez made of him. It was one of the court painter's chief duties to see that the heir to the throne was placed upon canvas at every stage of his career, and he painted him from two years of age till his lamented death at sixteen.

The young prince wears in this picture a green velvet jacket with white sleeves and his scarf is crimson embroidered with gold. The lively pony is a light chestnut and the foreshorteningof its body must be noticed. The steady grave eyes of the lad are gazing far ahead as they would naturally be if he were riding rapidly, but his princely dignity is shown in his firm seat in the saddle and his manner of holding his marshal's batôn.

The great art of the painter is also shown in the way he subordinates the landscape to the figure. He will not allow even a tree to come near the young horseman, but brings his young activity into vivid contrast with the calm peacefulness of the distant view.

With the death of Don Carlos the downfall of his father's dynasty was assured, though for a time his little sister, the Infanta Maria Theresa, was upheld as the heiress. She married Louis XIV. and had a weary time of it in France. Velasquez painted her picture too, in the grown up dress of the children of that day. It is in the Vienna Gallery. Among his best known pictures are "The Surrender of Breda," "Alessandro del Borro," and "Philip IV."

(Pronounced Vay-ro-nay'zay and pah'o-lah cal-ee-ah'ree)Venetian School1528-1588Pupil of Titian

"One has never done well enough, when one can do better; one never knows enough when he can learn more!"

This was the motto of Paul Veronese. This artist was born in Verona--whence he took his name--and spent much of his life with the monks in the monastery of St. Sebastian.

His father was a sculptor, and taught his son. Veronese himself was a lovable fellow, had a kind feeling for all, and in return received the good will of most people. When he first went to Venice to study he took letters of introduction to the monks of St. Sebastian, and finally went to live with them, for his uncle was prior of the monastery, and it was upon its walls that he did his first work in Venice. His subject was the story of Esther, which he illustrated completely.

He became known in time as "the most magnificent of magnificent painters." He loved the gaieties of Venice; the lords and ladies; the exquisite colouring; the feastingand laughter, and everything he painted, showed this taste. When he chose great religious subjects he dressed all his figures in elegant Venetian costumes, in the midst of elegant Venetian scenes. His Virgins, or other Biblical people, were not Jews of Palestine, but Venetians of Venice, but so beautiful were they and so inspiring, that nobody cared to criticise them on that score. He loved to paint festival scenes such as, "The Marriage at Cana," "Banquet in Levi's House," or "Feast in the House of Simon." He painted nothing as it could possibly have been, but everything as he would have liked it to be.

Into the "Wedding Feast at Cana," where Jesus was said to have turned the water into wine, he introduced a great host of his friends, people then living. Titian is there, and several reigning kings and queens, including Francis I. of France and his bride, for whom the picture was made. This treatment of the Bible story startles the mind, but delights the eye.

It was said that his "red recurred like a joyful trumpet blast among the silver gray harmonies of his paintings."

Muther, one who has written brilliantly about him, tells us that "Veronese seems to have come into the world to prove that the painter need have neither head nor heart, but only a hand, a brush, and a pot of paint in order to clothe all the walls of the world with oil paintings" and that "if he paints Mary,she is not the handmaid of the Lord or even the Queen of Heaven, but a woman of the world, listening with approving smile to the homage of a cavalier. In light red silk morning dress, she receives the Angel of the Annunciation and hears without surprise--for she has already heard it--what he has to say; and at the Entombment she only weeps in order to keep up appearances."

Such criticism raises a smile, but it is quite just, and what is more, the Veronese pictures are so beautiful that one is not likely to quarrel with the painter for having more good feeling than understanding. His joyous temperament came near to doing him harm, for he was summoned before the Inquisition for the manner in which he had painted "The Last Supper."

After the Esther pictures in St. Sebastian, the artist painted there the "Martyrdom of St. Sebastian," and there is a tradition that he did his work while hiding in the monastery because of some mischief of which he had been guilty.

At that time he was not much more than twenty-six or eight, while the great painter Tintoretto was forty-five, yet his work in St. Sebastian made him as famous as the older artist.

There is very little known of the private affairs of Veronese. He signed a contract for painting the "Marriage at Cana," for the refectory of the monastery of St. GiorgioMaggiore, in June 1562, and that picture, stupendous as it is, was finished eighteen months later. He received $777.60 for it, as well as his living while he was at work upon it, and a tun of wine. One picture he is supposed to have left behind him at a house where he had been entertained, as an acknowledgment of the courtesy shown him.

Paul had a brother, Benedetto, ten years younger than himself, and it is said that he greatly helped Paul in his work, by designing the architectural backgrounds of his pictures. If that is so, Benedetto must have been an artist of much genius, for those backgrounds in the paintings are very fine.

Veronese married, and had two sons; the younger being named Carletto. He was also the favourite, and an excellent artist, who did some fine painting, but he died while he was still young. Gabriele the elder son, also painted, but he was mainly a man of affairs, and attended to business rather than to art.

Veronese was a loving father and brother, and beyond doubt a happy man. After his death both his sons and his brother worked upon his unfinished paintings, completing them for him. He was buried in the Church of St. Sebastian.

PLATE--THE MARRIAGE AT CANA

This painting is most characteristic of Veronese's methods. He has no regard forthe truth in presenting the picture story. At the marriage at Cana everybody must have been very simply dressed, and there could have been no beautiful architecture, such as we see in the picture. In the painting we find courtier-like men and women dressed in beautiful silks. Some of the costumes appear to be a little Russian in character, the others Venetian; and Jesus Himself wears the loose every-day robe of the pastoral people to whom he belonged. We think of luxury and rich food and a splendid house when we look at this painting, when as a matter of fact nothing of this sort could have belonged to the scene which Veronese chose to represent. Perhaps no painter was more lacking in imagination than was Veronese in painting this particular picture. He chose to place historical or legendary characters, in the midst of a scene which could not have existed co-incidently with the event.

Among his other pictures are "Europa and the Bull," "Venice Enthroned," and the "Presentation of the Family of Darius to Alexander."

(Pronounced Lay-o-nar'do dah Veen'chee)Florentine School1451-1519Pupil of Verrocchio

Leonardo da Vinci was the natural son of a notary, Ser Pier, and he was born at the Castello of Vinci, near Empoli. From the very hour that he was apprenticed to his master, Verrocchio, he proved that he was the superior of his master in art. Da Vinci was one of the most remarkable men who ever lived, because he not only did an extraordinary number of things, but he did all of them well.

He was an engineer, made bridges, fortifications, and plans which to this day are brilliant achievements.

He was a sculptor, and as such did beautiful work.

He was a naturalist, and as such was of use to the world.

He was an author and left behind him books written backward, of which he said that only he who was willing to devote enough study to them to read them in that form, was able to profit by what he had written.

Finally, and most wonderfully, he was a painter.

He had absolute faith in himself. Before he constructed his bridge he said that he could build the best one in the world, and a king took him at his word and was not disappointed by the result.

He stated that he could paint the finest picture in the world--but let us read what he himself said of it, in so sure and superbly confident a way that it robbed his statement of anything like foolish vanity. Such as he could afford to speak frankly of his greatness, without appearing absurd. He wrote:

"In time of peace, I believe I can equal anyone in architecture, in constructing public and private buildings, and in conducting water from one place to another. I can execute sculpture, whether in marble, bronze, or terra cotta, and in painting I can do as much as any other man, be he who he may. Further, I could engage to execute the bronze horse in eternal memory of your father and the illustrious house of Sforza." He was writing to Ludovico Sforza whose house then ruled at Milan. "If any of the above-mentioned things should appear to you impossible or impracticable, I am ready to make trial of them in your park, or in any other place that may please your excellency, to whom I commend myself in proud humility."

Leonardo's experiments with oils and themixing of his pigments has nearly lost to us his most remarkable pictures. His first fourteen years of work as an artist were spent in Milan, where he was employed to paint by the Duke of Milan, and never again was his life so peaceful; it was ever afterward full of change. He went from Milan to Venice, to Rome, to Florence, and back to Milan where his greatest work was done.

While Leonardo was a baby he lived in the Castle of Vinci. He was beautiful as a child and very handsome as a man. When a child he wore long curls reaching below his waist. He was richly clothed, and greatly beloved. His body seemed no less wonderful than his mind. He wished to learn everything, and his memory was so wonderful that he remembered all that he undertook to learn. His muscles were so powerful that he could bend iron, and all animals seemed to love him. It is said he could tame the wildest horses. Indeed his life and accomplishments read as if he were one enchanted. One writer tells us that "he never could bear to see any creature cruelly treated, and sometimes he would buy little caged birds that he might just have the pleasure of opening the doors of their cages, and setting them at liberty."

The story told of his first known work is that his master, being hurried in finishing a picture, permitted Leonardo to paint in an angel's head, and that it was so much betterthan the rest of the picture, that Verrocchio burned his brushes and broke his palette, determined never to paint again, but probably this is a good deal of a fairy tale and one that is not needed to impress us with the artist's greatness, since there is so much to prove it without adding fable to fact.

Leonardo was also a very far seeing inventor and most ingenious. He made mechanical toys that "worked" when they were wound up. He even devised a miniature flying machine; however, history does not tell us whether it flew or not. He thought out the uses of steam as a motive power long before Fulton's time.

Leonardo haunted the public streets, sketchbook in hand, and when attracted by a face, would follow till he was able to transfer it to paper. Ida Prentice Whitcomb, who has compiled many anecdotes of da Vinci, says that it was also his habit to invite peasants to his house, and there amuse them with funny stories till he caught some fleeting expression of mirth which he was pleased to reproduce.

As a courtier Leonardo was elegant and full of amusing devices. He sang, accompanying himself on a silver lute, which he had had fashioned in imitation of a horse's skull. After he attached himself to the court of the Duke of Milan, his gift of invention was constantly called into use, and one of the surprises he had in store for the Duke's guestswas a great mechanical lion, which being wound up, would walk into the presence of the court, open its mouth and disclose a bunch of flowers inside.

Leonardo worked very slowly upon his paintings, because he was never satisfied with a work, and would retouch it day after day. Then, too, he was a man of moods, like most geniuses, and could not work with regularity. The picture of the "Last Supper" was painted in Milan, by order of his patron, the Duke, and there are many picturesque stories written of its production. It was painted upon the refectory wall of a Dominican convent, the Santa Maria delle Grazie; and at first the work went off well, and the artist would remain upon his scaffolding from morning till night, absorbed in his painting. It is said that at such times he neither ate nor drank, forgetting all but his great work. He kept postponing the painting of two heads--Christ and Judas.

He had worked painstakingly and with enthusiasm till that point, but deferred what he was hardly willing to trust himself to perform. He had certain conceptions of these features which he almost feared to execute, so tremendous was his purpose. He let that part of the work go, month after month, and having already spent two years upon the picture, the monks began to urge him to a finish. He was not the man to endure much pressure, and the more they urged themore resentful he became. Finally, he began to feel a bitter dislike for the prior, the man who annoyed him most. One day, when the prior was nagging him about the picture, wanting to know why he didn't get to work upon it again, and when would it be finished, Leonardo said suavely: "If you will sit for the head of Judas, I'll be able to finish the picture at once." The prior was enraged, as Leonardo meant he should be; but Leonardo is said actually to have painted him in as Judas. Afterward he painted in the face of Christ with haste and little care, simply because he despaired of ever doing the wonderful face that his art soul demanded Christ should wear.

The one bitter moment in Leonardo's life, in all probability, was when he came in dire competition with Michael Angelo. When he removed to Florence he was required to submit sketches for the Town Hall--the Palazzo Vecchio--and Michael Angelo was his rival. The choice fell to Angelo, and after a life of supremacy Leonardo could not endure the humiliation with grace. Added to disappointment, someone declared that Leonardo's powers were waning because he was growing old. This was more than he could bear, and he left Italy for France, where the king had invited him to come and spend the remainder of his life. Francis I. had wished to have the picture in the Milan monastery taken to France, but that was not to be done.

Doubtless the king expected Leonardo to do some equally great work after he became the nation's guest.

Before leaving Italy, Leonardo had painted his one other "greatest" picture--"La Gioconda" (Mona Lisa)-and he took that wonderful work with him to France, where the King purchased it for $9,000, and to this day it hangs in the Louvre.

But Leonardo was to do no great work in France, for in truth he was growing old. His health had failed, and although he was still a dandy and court favourite, setting the fashion in clothing and in the cut of hair and beard, he was no longer the brilliant, active Leonardo.

Bernard Berensen, has written of him: "Painting ... was to Leonardo so little of a preoccupation that we must regard it as merely a mode of expression used at moments by a man of universal genius." By which Berensen means us to understand that Leonardo was so brilliant a student and inventor, so versatile, that art was a mere pastime. "No, let us not join in the reproaches made to Leonardo for having painted so little; because he had so much more to do than to paint, he has left all of us heirs to one or two of the supremest works of art ever created."

Another author writes that "in Leonardo da Vinci every talent was combined in one man."

Leonardo was the third person of the wonderful trinity of Florentine painters, Raphael and Michael Angelo being the other two.

He knew so much that he never doubted his own powers, but when he died, after three years in France, he left little behind him, and that little he had ever declared to be unfinished--the "Mona Lisa" and the "Last Supper." He died in the Château de Cloux, at Amboise, and it is said that "sore wept the king when he heard that Leonardo was dead."

In Milan, near the Cathedral, there stands a monument to his memory, and about it are placed the statues of his pupils. To this day he is wonderful among the great men of the world.

PLATE--THE LAST SUPPER

This, as we have said, is in the former convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Milan. It was the first painted story of this legendary event in which natural and spontaneous action on the part of all the company was presented.

To-day the picture is nearly ruined by smoke, time, and alterations in the place, for a great door lintel has been cut into the picture. Leonardo used the words of the Christ: "Verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray me," as the starting point for this painting. It is after the utterance of these words that we see each of the disciples questioninghorrified, frightened, anxious, listening, angered--all these emotions being expressed by the face or gestures of the hands or pose of the figures. It is a most wonderful picture and it seems as if the limit of genius was to be found in it.

The company is gathered in a half-dark hall, the heads outlined against the evening light that comes through the windows at the back. We look into a room and seem to behold the greatest tragedy of legendary history: treachery and sorrow and consternation brought to Jesus of Nazareth and his comrades.

This great picture was painted in oil instead of in "distemper," the proper kind of mixture for fresco, and therefore it was bound to be lost in the course of time. Besides, it has known more than ordinary disaster. The troops of Napoleon used this room, the convent refectory, for a stable, and that did not do the painting any good. The reason we have so complete a knowledge of it, however, is that Leonardo's pupils made an endless number of copies of it, and thus it has found its way into thousands of homes. The following is the order in which Leonardo placed the disciples at the table: Jesus of Nazareth in the centre, Bartholomew the last on the left, after him is James, Andrew, Peter, Judas--who holds the money bag--and John. On the right, next to Jesus, comes Thomas, the doubting one; James the Greater, Philip,Matthew, Thaddeus, and Simon. Jesus has just declared that one of them shall betray him, and each in his own way seems to be asking "Lord, is it I?" In the South Kensington Museum in London will be found carefully preserved a description, written out fairly in Leonardo's own hand, to guide him in painting the Last Supper. It is most interesting and we shall quote it: "One, in the act of drinking puts down his glass and turns his head to the speaker. Another twisting his fingers together, turns to his companion, knitting his eyebrows. Another, opening his hands and turning the palm toward the spectator, shrugs his shoulders, his mouth expressing the liveliest surprise. Another whispers in the ear of a companion, who turns to listen, holding in one hand a knife, and in the other a loaf, which he has cut in two. Another, turning around with a knife in his hand, upsets a glass upon the table and looks; another gasps in amazement; another leans forward to look at the speaker, shading his eyes with his hand; another, drawing back behind the one who leans forward, looks into the space between the wall and the stooping disciple."

Other paintings of Leonardo's are: "Mona Lisa," "Head of Medusa," "Adoration of the Magi," and the "Madonna della Caraffa."

(Pronounced in French, Vaht-toh; English, Wot-toh)French (Genre) School1684-1721Pupil of Gillot and Audran

Watteau's father was a tiler in a Flemish town--Valenciennes. He meant that his son should be a carpenter, but that son tramped from Valenciennes to Paris with the purpose of becoming a great painter. He did more, he became a "school" of painting, all by himself.

There is no sadder story among artists than that of this lowly born genius. He was not good to look upon, being the very opposite of all that he loved, having no grace or charm in appearance. He had a drooping mouth, red and bony hands, and a narrow chest with stooping shoulders. Because of a strange sensitiveness he lived all his life apart from those he would have been happy with, for he mistrusted his own ugliness, and thought he might be a burden to others.

Such a man has painted the gayest, gladdest, most delicate and exquisite pictures imaginable.

He entered Paris as a young man, withoutfriends, without money or connections of any kind, and after wandering forlornly, about the great city, he found employment with a dealer who made hundreds of saints for out-of-town churches.

It is said that for this first employer Watteau made dozens and dozens of pictures of St. Nicholas; and when we think of the beautiful figures he was going to make, pictures that should delight all the world, there seems something tragic in the monotony and common-placeness of that first work he was forced by poverty to do. Certainly St. Nicholas brought one man bread and butter, even if he forgot him at Christmas time.

After that hard apprenticeship, Watteau's condition became slightly better. He had been employed near the Pont Notre Dame, at three francs a week, but now in the studio of a scene painter, Gillot, he did work of coarse effect, very different from that exquisite school of art which he was to bring into being. After Gillot's came the studio of Claude Audran, the conservator of the Luxembourg, and with him Watteau did decorative work. In reality he had no master, learned from nobody, grovelled in poverty, and at first, forced a living from the meanest sources. With this in mind, it remains a wonder that he should paint as no other ever could, scenes of exquisite beauty and grace; scenes of high life, courtiers and great ladies assembled in lovelylandscapes, doing elegant and charming things, dressed in unrivalled gowns and costumes. Until Watteau went to the Luxembourg he had seen absolutely nothing of refined or gracious living. He had come from country scenes, and in Paris had lived among workmen and bird-fanciers, flower sellers, hucksters and the like. This is very likely the secret of his peculiar art.

Watteau would have been a wonderful artist under any circumstances, no matter what sort of pictures he had painted; but circumstances gave his imagination a turn toward the exquisite in colourand composition. Doubtless when he first looked down from the palace windows of the Luxembourg and saw gorgeous women and handsome men languishing and coquetting and revelling in a life of ease and beauty, he was transported. He must have thought himself in fairyland, and the impulse to paint, to idealise the loveliness that he saw, must have been greater in him than it would have been in one who had lived so long among such scenes that they had become familiar with them.

After Watteau there were artists who tried to do the kind of work he had done, but no one ever succeeded. Watteau clothed all his shepherdesses in fine silken gowns, with a plait in the back, falling from the shoulders, and to-day we have a fashion known as the "Watteau back"--gowns made with thisshoulder-plait. He put filmy laces or softest silks upon his dairy maids, as upon his court ladies, dressing his figures exquisitely, and in the loveliest colours. He had suffered from poverty and from miserable sights, so when he came to paint pictures, he determined to reproduce only the loveliest objects.

At that time French fashions were very unusual, and it was quite the thing for ladies to hold a sort of reception while at their toilet. A description of one of these affairs was written by Madame de Grignon to her daughter: "Nothing can be more delightful than to assist at the toilet of Madame la Duchesse (de Bourgoyne), and to watch her arrange her hair. I was present the other day. She rose at half past twelve, put on her dressing gown, and set to work to eat améringue. She ate the powder and greased her hair. The whole formed an excellent breakfast and charmingcoiffure." Watteau has caught the spirit of this strange airy, artificial, incongruous existence. His ladies seem to be eatingmeringuesand powdering their hair and living on a diet of the combination. One hardly knows which is toilet and which is real life in looking at his paintings.

He quarreled with Audran at the Luxembourg, and having sold his first picture, he went back to his Valenciennes home, to see his former acquaintances, no doubt being a little vain of his performance.

After that he painted another picture which sold well enough to keep him from poverty for a time, and on his return to Paris he was warmly greeted by a celebrated and influential artist, Crozat. Watteau tried for a prize, and though his picture came second it had been seen by the Academy committee.

His greatness was acknowledged, and he was immediately admitted to the Academy and granted a pension by the crown, with which he was able to go to Italy, the Mecca of all artists the world over.

From Italy he went to London, but there the fogs and unsuitable climate made his disease much worse and he hurried back to France, where he went to live with a friend who was a picture dealer. It was then that he painted a sign for this friend, Gersaint, a sign so wonderful that it is reckoned in the history of Watteau's paintings.

Soon he grew so sensitive over his illness, that he did not wish to remain near his dearest friends, but one of them, the Abbé Haranger, insisted upon looking after his welfare, and got lodgings for him at Nogent, where he could have country air and peace.

Watteau died very soon after going to Nogent in July, 1721, and he left nine thousand livres to his parents, and his paintings to his best friends, the Abbé, Gersaint, Monsieur Henin, and Monsieur Julienne. He is called the "firstFrench painter" and so he was--though he was Flemish, by birth.

PLATE--FÊTE CHAMPÊTRE

This exquisite picture displays nearly all the characteristics of Watteau's painting. He was said to paint with "honey and gold," and his method was certainly remarkable. His clear, delicate colours were put upon a canvas first daubed with oil, and he never cleaned his palette. His "oil-pot was full of dust and dirt and mixed with the washings of his brush." One would think that only the most slovenly results could come from such habits of work, but the artist made a colour which no one could copy, and that was a sort of creamy, opalescent white. This was original with Watteau, and most beautiful.

In this "Fête Champêtre," which is now in the National Gallery at Edinburgh, he paints an elegant group of ladies and gentlemen indulging in an open air dance of some sort. One couple are doing steps facing one another, to the music of a set of pipes, while the rest flirt and talk, decorously, round about. There is no boisterous rusticity here; all is dainty and refined.

The same characteristics are to be found in Watteau's other pictures such as, "Embarkation for the Island of Cythera," "The Judgment of Paris," and "Gay Company in a Park."

American1738-1820Pupil of the Italian School

The beautiful smile of his little niece helped to make this man an artist. This is the story:

Benjamin West was born down in Pennsylvania, at Westdale, a small village in the township of Springfield, of Quaker parentage. The family was poor perhaps, but in America at a time when everybody was struggling with a new civilisation it did not seem to be such binding poverty as the same condition in Europe would have been. Benjamin had a married sister whose baby he greatly loved, and he gave it devoted attention. One day while it was sleeping and the undiscovered artist was sitting beside it he saw it smile, and the beauty of the smile inspired him to keep it forever if he could. He got paper and pencil and forthwith transferred that "angel's whisper."

No child of to-day can imagine the difficulties a boy must have had in those days in America, to get an art education, and having learned his art, how impossible it was to live by it.Men were busy making a new country and pictures do not take part in such pioneer work; they come later. Still, there were bound to be born artistic geniuses then, just as there were men for the plough and men for politics and for war. He who happened to be the artist was the Quaker boy, West.

He took his first inspiration from the Cherokees, for it was the Indian in all the splendour of his strength and straightness that formed West's ideal of beautiful physique.

When he first saw the Apollo Belvedere, he exclaimed: "A young Mohawk warrior!" to the disgust of every one who heard him, but he meant to compliment the noblest of forms. Europeans did not know how magnificent a figure the "young Mohawk warrior" could be; but West knew.

After his Indian impetus toward art he went to Philadelphia, and settled himself in a studio, where he painted portraits. His sitters went to him out of curiosity as much as anything else, but at last a Philadelphia gentleman, who knew what art meant, recognised Benjamin West's talent, and made some arrangement by which the young man went to Italy.

Life began to look beautiful and promising to the Pennsylvanian. He was in Italy for three years, and in that home of art the young man who had made the smile of his sister's sleeping baby immortal was given highest honours. He was elected a member of all thegreat art societies in Italy, and studied with the best artists of the time. He began to earn his living, we may be sure, and then he went to England, where, in spite of the prejudice there must have been against the colonists, he became at once a favourite of George III., a friend of Reynolds and of all the English artists of repute--unless perhaps of Gainsborough, who made friends with none.

West was appointed "historical painter" to his Majesty, George III., and he was chosen to be one of four who should draw plans for a Royal Academy. He was one of the first members of that great organisation, and when Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first president, died, West became president, remaining in office for twenty-eight years.

About that time came the Peace of Amiens, and West was able to go to Paris, where he could see the greatest art treasures of Europe, which had been brought to France from every quarter as a consequence of the war. At that time, before Paris began to return these, and when she had just pillaged every great capital of Europe, artists need take but a single trip to see all the art worth seeing in the whole world.

After a long service in the Academy, West quarreled with some of the Academicians and sent in his resignation; but his fellow artists had too much sense and good feeling to accept it, and begged him to reconsider his action.He did so, and returned to his place as president. When West was sixty-five years old he made a picture, "Christ Healing the Sick," which he meant to give to the Quakers in Philadelphia, who were trying to get funds with which to build a hospital. This picture was to be sold for the fund; but it was no sooner finished and exhibited in London before being sent to America, than it was bought for 3,000 guineas for Great Britain. West did not contribute this money to the hospital fund, but he made a replica for the Quakers, and sent that instead of the original.

West was eighty-two years old when he died and he was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral after a distinguished and honoured life. Since Europe gave him his education and also supported him most of his life, we must consider him more English than American, his birth on American soil being a mere accident.

PLATE--THE DEATH OF WOLFE

This death scene upon the Plains of Abraham, without the walls of Quebec in 1759, must not be taken as a realistic picture of an historic event. West drew upon his imagination and upon portraits of the prominent men supposed to have been grouped around the dying general, and he has produced a dramatic effect. One can imagine it is the two with fingers pointing backward who have justbrought the memorable tidings, "They run! They run!"

"Who run?" asks Wolfe, for when he had fallen the issues of the fight were still undecided. "The French, sir. They give way everywhere." "Thank God! I die in peace," replied the English hero. At a time when the momentous results of this battle had set the whole of Great Britain afire with enthusiasm it is easy to understand the popularity of a picture such as this. It was sold in 1791 for £28, and now belongs to the Duke of Westminster. There is a replica of it in the Queen's drawing-room at Hampton Court.

Another famous historical picture by West is "The Battle of La Hogue."

About, EdmundAcademia, FlorenceAcademy, FrenchRome,Royal, London,Venice"Acis and Galatea"Adoration of the Magi"Adoration of the Shepherds""After a Summer Shower""Afternoon"Albert, King"Alessandro del Borro"Alexander VI.Alice, PrincessAllegri, Antonio.SeeCorreggiAllegri, Pompino"Ambassadors, The""American Mustangs""Anatomy Lesson, The"Andrea del SartoAngelo, Michael"Angels' Heads""Angelas, The"Anguisciola, SofonisbaAnne of ClevesAnne of SaxonyAnnunciata, cloister of the"Annunciation, The""Ansidei Madonna, The""Antiope"ApocalypseApollo BelvedereApostles, the FourApostles' HeadsAppelles"Archipelago"Arena ChapelArrivabene Chapel"Artist's Two Sons, The""Arundel Castle and Mill""Assumption of the Virgin""At the Well"AudranAugusta, Princess"Avenue, Middelharnis, Holland""Awakened Conscience, The"

"Bacchanal""Bacchus and Ariadne"Balzac"Banquet in Levi's House""Baptism of Christ, The"BarbizonBarileBarry, JamesBartoli d'AngioliniBartolommeo, FraBassano"Bathers""Battle of La Hogue"Beaumont, Sir GeorgeBeaux-Arts, l'Ecole desBegarelliBellini, GentileBellini, GiovanniBembo, CardinalBeneguette"Bent Tree"Bentivoglio, CardinalBerck, DerichBerensen, BernardBergholt, East"Berkshire Hills""Bianca"Bicknell, MariaBigio, FranciaBigordi.SeeGhirlandajoBird"Birth of the Virgin"(Andrea del Sarto)(Murillo)"Birth of Venus"Blanc, Charles"Blessed Herman Joseph, The""Bligh Shore""Blue Boy, The"Böcklin, Arnold"Boat-Building"Boleyn, AnneBolton, Mrs. Sarah K.Bonheur, Marie-RoseaBonheur, Raymond B.BordeauxBordone.SeeGiottoBorghese PalaceBorgia familyBorgia, LucretiaBotticelliBoudinBouguereau, William Adolphe"Boy at the Stile, The"Brancacci ChapelBrant, IsabellaBreton, JulesBrice, J. B.BrouwerBrowningBrunellesco"Brutus"Buckingham, Duke ofBuonarroti.SeeAngelo MichaelBurgundy, Duchess ofBurke, EdmundBurne-Jones, Sir EdwardBurr, Margaret

CaffinCagliari, BenedettoCagliari, CarlettoCagliari, GabrieleCagliari, Paolo.SeeVeroneseCambridge, University of"Camels at Rest"CampagnaCampana, PedroCampanile, FlorenceCanovaCaprese"Capture of Samson"Capuchin ChurchCapuchin ConventCarlos, Don"Carmencita"Carmine, Church of the"Carthage"Castillo, Juan delCecelia, wife of TitianCelliniCentennial ExhibitionChamberlain, Arthur"Chant d'Amour"Chantry, Sir Francis"Charity"Charles, I.Charles V.Charles X.Cherokees"Chess Players, The""Children of Charles I.""Christ Healing the Sick""Christ in the Temple""Christina of Denmark"ChurchCibber, TheophilusCimabueClaude"Cleopatra Landing at Tarsus""Cock Fight"Cogniet, LéonColnaghi"Cologne"Constable, JohnCopley, John SingletonCopper Plate MagazineCornelia, Rembrandt's daughterCornelissen, Cornelis"Cornfield""Coronation of Marie de Medicis""Coronation of the Virgin"(Ghirlandajo)(Raphael)Corot, Jean Baptiste CamilleCorreggioCosimo, Piero di"Cottage, The""Countess Folkstone""Countess of Spencer"Coventry, Countess of"Creation of Man, The""Creation of the World, The"Crozat"Crucifixion, The"(Raphael)(Tintoretto)

"Danaë"Dandie Dinmont"Daniel"Dante"Daphnis and Chloe"Daubigny"David""Dead Christ, The""Dead Mallard""Death of Ananias, The""Death of Wolfe, The""Dedham Mill""Dedham Vale"Delaroche"Deluge, The""Descent from the Cross, The"(Campana)(Rembrandt)(Rubens)De WittDiaz"Dice Players, The"Dickens, CharlesDigby, Kenelm"Dignity and Impudence""Divine Comedy"Dolce, LudovicoDonatello"Don Quixote"Doré, Paul GustaveD'Orsay"Duchess of Devonshire and Her Daughter, The""Duel After the Masked Ball"Dunthorne, JohnDupréDurand, CarolusDürer, AlbrechtDyce

"Ecce Homo""Education of Mary, The"Edward, KingEgyptian artElizabeth, Cousin of the VirginElizabeth, Princess"Embarkation for the Island of Cythera""Emperor at Solferino, The"Engravers and engraving"Entombment, The"(Titian)(Veronese)Eos"Equestrian Portrait of Don Balthasar Carlos"Errard, CharlesEscorial, theEstéban, Bartolomé. See MurilloEstéban, GasparEstéban, ThereseEtchers and etching"Europa and the Bull""Eve of St. Agnes, The"

Fallen, Ambrose"Fall of Man, The""Fantasy of Morocco"Fawkes, Hawksworth"Feast in the House of Simon""Feast of Ahasuerus""Ferdinand of Austria"Ferdinand III., Grand DukeFerrara, Duke of"Fête Champêtre""Fighting Téméraire, The"Filipepi, Mariano"Finding of Christ in the Temple, The""Flamborough, Miss""Flatford Mill on the River Stour""Flora"(Böcklin)(Titian)"Foal of an Ass, The"Fondato de' TedeschiFontainebleau"Fool, The""Fornarina, The"Fortuny, MarianoFourment familyFourment, Helena"Four Saints"Francis I.Frari, monks of theFrey, Agnes"Friedland"

Gainsborough, MaryGainsborough, ThomasGallery, BerlinDresdenGrosvenorHague, TheHermitage, TheLichtenstein, ViennaLouvreLuxembourgMadridNaplesNational, EdinburghNational, LondonOld Pinakothek, MunichParmaPitti PalaceUffiziViennaGarrick"Gay Company in a Park"Gellée. See Claude LorrainGeorge III."Georgia Pines"GerbierGerm, TheGérôme, Jean LéonGersaintGhibertioGhirlandajo"Gibeon Farm"Gignoux, Regis"Gillingham Mill"GillotGiorgioneGiotto"Giovanna degli Albizi"Girten, ThomasGisze, GorgGladstone, Mr. and Mrs."Gleaners, The""Glebe Farm"Goethe"Golden Calf, The""Golden Stairs, The"Goldsmith, craft of theGoldsmith, OliverGonzaga, Vincenzo"Good Samaritan, The"Graham, JudgeGranacciGravelotGrignon, Madame deGualfonda"Guardian Angel, The"Guidi, GiovanniGuidi, SimoneGuidi. Tommaso.SeeMasaccioGuidoGuidobaldo of UrbinoGuilds"Gust of Wind"

Haarlem Town Hall"Haarlem's Little Forest""Hadleigh Castle"Hals, FranzHamertonHamilton, Duchess of"Hampstead Heath"Hancock, John"Hans of Antwerp"Haranger, Abbé"Hark!""Harvest Waggon, The"Hassam, ChildeHastings, Warren"Haunt of the Gazelle, The"Hayman"Haystack in Sunshine""Hay Wain, The""Head of Christ""Head of Medusa"Hearn, George A.HeninHenrietta, QueenHenry III.Henry VIII."Henschel""Hercules"Herrera"Highland Sheep""Hille Bobbe, the Witch of Haarlem"Hill, Jack"Hireling Shepherd, The"Hobbema, MeindertHogarth, WilliamHolbein, AmbrosiusHolbein, Hans, the YoungerHolbein, MichaelHolbein, PhilipHolbein, SigismundHolbein, the Elder"Holofernes"Holper, Barbara"Holy Family and St. Bridget"Holy Family in art, The"Holy Family under a Palm Tree, The""Holy Night, The""Homer St. Gaudens""Hon. Ann Bingham, The"Hood, Admiral"Horse Fair, The"Howard, CatherineHudson, ThomasHunt, William Holman

"II Giorno""II Medico del Correggio""Immaculate Conception, The"Indian potteryInfanta"Infant Jesus and St. John, The"InmanInness"Innocence""In Paradise"Inquisition, Spanish"Interior of the Mosque of Omar"Isabella, QueenIslay"Isle of the Dead, The""Ivybridge"

Jacopo da EmpoliJacque"Jane Seymour""Jerusalem by Moonlight""Jesus and the Lamb"Jesus in artJohnson, Dr.Jones, GeorgeJoseph in art"Joseph in Egypt""Joseph's Dream""Judgment of Paris, The""Judith"JulienneJulius II.Justiniana

Kann, Rudolf"King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid""King of Hearts""Kirmesse, The"Knackfuss"Knight, Death and the Devil, The"

"La Belle Jardinière""La Disputa""Lady Elcho, Mrs. Arden, Mrs. Tennant""La Gioconda""Landscape with Cattle."Landseer, JohnLandseer, Sir Edwin HenryLandseer, Thomas"La Primavera""Last Judgment, The"(Angelo)(Tintoretto)(Titian)"Last Supper, The"(Andrea del Sarto)(Ghirlandajo)(Veronese)(Leonardo da Vinci)"Laughing Cavalier, The"LauraLavinia, daughter of Titian"Lavinia, the Artist's Daughter"Lawrence, Sir Thomas"Leda"(Correggio)(Gérome)Lee, JeremiahLegion of HonourLemon, MargaretLeonardo. See da VinciLeo X.Lewis, J. F.Liber Studiorium"Liber Veritas"Library, Boston Public"Light of the World, The"Linley, ThomasLinley, Samuel"Lion Disturbed at His Repast""Lion Enjoying His Repast""Lioness, The Study off a""Lion Hunt, A"Lippi, Fra Filippo"Lock on the Stour"Lombardi"Lords Digby and Russell""Lord Wharton"Lorenzalez, ClaudioLorrain, ClaudeLott, WillyLouis XIV.Louise, Princess"Love Among the Ruins""Low Life and High Life"Lowther, Sir WilliamLucas van LeydenLucia, mother of TitianLucretia, wife of Andrea del SartoLuther, MartinMadonna and Child"Madonna and Child with St. Anne""Madonna and Child with Saints""Madonna del'Arpie""Madonna della Caraffa""Madonna della Casa d'Alba""Madonna della Sedia""Madonna del Granduca""Madonna del Pesce""Madonna del Sacco""Madonna of the Palms""Madonna of the Rosary."Madrazo"Magdalene, The"Manet"Manoah's Sacrifice"MantegnaMantua, Duke ofMantua, Duke Frederick II. of"Man with the Hoe, The""Man with the Sword, The"MargheritaMaria Theresa"Marriage à la Mode""Marriage at Cana, The""Marriage Contract, The""Marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne, The""Marriage of Mary and Joseph, The""Marriage of St. Catherine, The""Marriage of Samson, The"Martineau"Martyrdom of St. Agnes, The""Martyrdom of St. Peter, The""Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, The"Mary, the Virgin, in artMasaccio (Tommasco Guidi)MasolineMastersingers, NurembergMaximillian, EmperorMedici familyMedici, Giovanni di Bicci de'Medici, Lorenzi de'Medici, Ottaviano de'Medici, Pietro de'"Meeting of St. John and St. Anna at Jerusalem"Meissonier, Jean Louis Ernest"Melancholy"Merlini, Girolama"Meyer Madonna, The"Michallon"Midsummer Noon"MillaisMillet, Jean FrançoisMillet, Mère"Mill Stream""Miracle of St. Mark, The"Missions, SpanishMissirini"Mr. Marquand""Mr. Penrose""Mrs. Meyer and Children""Mrs. Peel"MohawkMona LisaMonet, Claude"Money Changers, The""Moonlight at Salerno"Morales"Moreau and His Staff before Hohenlinden"More, Sir Thomas"Morning Prayer, The""Moses""Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law"Mudge, Dr.MuratMurillo (Bartolomé Estéban)Murillo, Dona AnnaMuseum of Art, BaselBerlinCourt, ViennaMadridMetropolitan, New YorkPradoRijks, AmsterdamSouth KensingtonMuther"Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, The"

"Naiads at Play"Napoleon"Nativity, The"(Botticelli)(Dürer)Navarrette"Nieces of Sir Horace Walpole""Night Watch, The""Noli me Tangere"Norham CastleNuremberg"Nurse and the Child, The""'Oh, Pearl' Quoth I""Old Bachelor, The""Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner, The"Olivares

Pacheco"Pallas""Pan and Psyche"PantheonPareja"Parish Clerk, The"'Past and Present"Passignano"Pathless Water, The"Paul III."Paysage"Pazzi family"Penzance"Percy, BishopPerez familyPerez, MariaPeruginoPhilip II.Philip III.Philip IV.Picot"Pilate Washing His Hands"PinasPirkneimerPissaro"Ploughing"Pope, Alexander"Portrait of Old Man and Boy"Portraits of artists by themselves"Praying Arab""Praying Hands"Pre-Raphaelites"Presentation of Christ in the Temple""Presentation of the Family of Darius to Alexander"Prim, General"Procession of the Magi""Prowling Lion, The""Psyche and Cupid"Pypelincx, Maria

Quakers"Quin, Portrait of"

Rabelais"Rake's Progress, The""Rape of Ganymede, The""Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus, The"Raphael (Sanzio)Reade, Charles"Reading at Diderot's, A""Reaper, The""Regions of Joy"Rembrandt (van Rijn)"Retreat from Russia"Reynolds, SamuelReynolds, Sir JoshuaRiberaRinaldo and Armida"Road over the Downs, The""Robert Cheseman with his Falcon"Robusto, Jacopo.SeeTintorettoRomano, GuilioRood, Professor"Rosary, Story of the"Rossetti, Dante GabrielRossetti, W. M.Rothschild, LordRousseauRoyal PrincessRubens, AlbertRubens, JohnRubens, NicholasRubens, Peter PaulRuisdael, Jacob vanRuskin, JohnRuthven, Lady MarySachs, Hans"Sacred and Profane Love""St. Anthony of Padua""St. Augustine""St. Barbara"St. Bernard dogSt. Bernardino"Saint Cecelia"St. ChristopherSt. ClementeSt. DominicSt. George"St. George and the Dragon""St. George Slaying the Dragon"St. Giorgio Maggiore"St. Jerome"St, John the BaptistSt. Jovis Shooting CompanySt. Leger, ColonelSt. Lucas, Guild ofSt. Luke, Guild ofSt. MarkSt. Martin's Church"St. Michael Attacking Satan.""St. Nobody"St. Paul's CathedralSt. Peter"St. Peter Baptising"St. Peter's Church"St. Rocco Healing the Sick""St. Sebastian."(Botticelli)(Correggio)(Titian)St. Sebastian, Church ofSt. Sebastian, Monastery ofSt. SixtusSt. Trinita, Church of"Salisbury Cathedral"SalonSalvator Rosa"Samson""Samson Threatening His Stepfather""Samson's Wedding"San FranciscoSanta CroceSanta Maria della PaceSanta Maria delle GrazteSanta Maria del OrtoSanta Maria NovellaSanti, BartolommeoSanti GiovanniSanto Cruz, Church ofSanto Spirito, Convent ofSanzio.SeeRaphaelSarcinelli, CornelioSargent, John SingerSarto, Andrea del.SeeAndreaSaskiaSavonarola"Scapegoat, The""Scene from Woodstock"SchiavoneSchmidt, ElizabethSchongauerSchool Girl's Hymn"School of Anatomy, The"School of Art, Academy, LondonAmericanAndalusianCastilianDusseldorfDutchEnglishFlemishFlorentine is, xti.Fontainebleau-BarbizonForeignFrench inGermanHudson RiverImpressionistItalianNurembergParmaRomanSpanishUmbrianVenetian"School, of Athens, The""School, of Cupid, The""Scotch Deer"Scott, Sir WalterScrovegno, EnricoScuola di San Rocco"Seaport at Sunset"Sebastian"Serpent Charmer, The"Servi, convent of theSesto, Cesare deSeuratSforza, Ludovico"Shadow of Death, The"ShakespeareSheepshanks Collection"Shepherd Guarding Sheep"Sheppey, Isle ofSheridan, Mrs. Richard BrinsleySheridan, Richard BrinsleySiddons, Mrs.Silva, Rodriguez deSistine Chapel"Sistine Madonna, The"Six, JanSixtus IV.Skynner, Sir John"Slaughter of the Innocents, The""Slave Ship, The""Sleeping Bloodhound, The""Sleeping Venus, The"Smith, John"Snake Charmers, The""Snow-storm at Sea, A"Society of ArtsSoderiniSolus Lodge"Sortie, The"See alsoNight WatchSotomayer, Doña Beatriz deCabrera y"Sower, The"Spaniel, King Charles"Spanish Marriage, The"Spinola, Marquis of"Sport of the Waves""Spring"Sterne, Lawrence"Storm, The"Stour, River"Straw Hat, The"SudburySullySultan of Turkey"Sunset on the Passaic""Sunset on the Sea""Surrender of Breda""Susanna and the Elders""Susanna's Bath""Sussex Downs"Swanenburch, Jacob van"Sword-Dance, The""Syndics of the Cloth Hall"

Taddei, TaddeoTassi, AgostineThackerayThornhill, Sir James"Three Ages, The""Three Saints and God the Father"Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)Titian (Tiziano Vecelli)Tornabuoni, GiovanniTorregianoTrafalgar Square"Transfiguration, The""Tribute Money, The""Trinity"TroyonTrumbull, American painterTrumbull, English diplomatTulp, NicholausTurner, CharlesTurner, Joseph Mallord William"Two Beggar Boys"Tybis, Geryck

Ulenberg, Saskia vanUrban VIII.Urbino, Duke of

"Valley Farm, The"Van Dyck, Sir AnthonyVan Mander, KarelVan MarckeVan Noort, AdamVan Rijn.SeeRembrandtVan VeenVarangevilleVasariVaticanVecchio, PalazzoVecchio, PalmaVecelli familyVecelli, OrsaVecelli, OrzioVecelli, PompinoVecelli, Tiziano.SeeTitianVelasquez (Diego Rodriguez de Silva)"Venice Enthroned""Venus Dispatching Cupid""Venus Worship"Verhaecht, TobiasVernonVeronese, Paul (Paolo Cagliari)Verrocchio"Vestal Virgin, The"Victoria, Queen"Villa by the Sea""Village Festival, The""Ville d'Avray"Vinci, Leonardo daViolante"Virgin as Consoler, The""Virgin's Rest Near Bethlehem""Vision of St. Anthony, The""Visitation, The""Visitor, The""Visit to the Burgomaster"

Warren, General Joseph"Water Carrier, The""Watermill, The"Watteau, Jean Antoine"Wedding Feast at Cana, The"Wells, FrederickWest, Sir Benjamin"Weymouth Bay"Whitcomb, Ida Prentice"William, Prince of Orange"William the Silent"Will-o'-the-Wisp""Willows near Arras"Wilson"Winnower, The""Winter"Wolgemuth"Woodcutters, The""Wooded Landscape""Wood Gatherers, The"

Yarmouth"Young People's Story of Art""Youth Surprised by Death"

"Zingarella"Zuccato, Sebastian

Back to Index Next