|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 13
"But only a little, yet," said Mr. Sumner, with a pleased look. "You are
just on the threshold of the knowledge of this fair city. Not what she
outwardly is, but what she contains, and what her children have
wrought, constitute her wealth of art. Do you remember, Margery, what
name the poet Shelley gives Florence in that beautiful poem you were
reading yesterday?"
"O _Foster-nurse_ of man's abandoned glory,
Since Athens, its great mother, sunk in splendor,
Thou shadowest forth that mighty shape in story,
As ocean its wrecked fanes, severe yet tender,"
dreamily recited Margery, her sweet face flushing as all eyes looked at
her.
"Yes," smiled her uncle. "Florence, as _foster-nurse_, has cherished for
the world the art-treasures of early centuries in Italy, so that there
is no other city on earth in which we can learn so much of the 'revival
of art,' as it is called, which took place after the barrenness of the
Dark Ages, as in this. But here we are at the Academy. I shall not allow
you to look at much here this morning. We will go and sit in the farther
corner of this first corridor, for I wish to talk a little, and just
here we shall find all that I need for illustration."
"You need not put on such a martyr-look, Malcom," continued he, as they
walked on. "I prophesy that not one here present will feel more solid
interest in the work we are beginning than you will, my boy."
When Mr. Sumner had gathered the little group about him, he began to
talk of the beauties of Greek art--how it had flourished for centuries
before Christ.
"But I thought Greek art consisted of sculptures," said Barbara.
"Much of it was sculptured,--all of it which remains,--but we have
evidence that the Greeks also produced beautiful paintings, which, could
they have been preserved, might be not unworthy rivals of modern
masterpieces," replied Mr. Sumner. "After the Roman invasion of Greece,
these ancient works of art were mostly destroyed. Rome possessed no fine
art of her own, but imported Greek artists to produce for her. These,
taken away from their native land, and having no noble works around them
for inspiration, began simply to copy each other, and so the art
degenerated from century to century. The growing Christian religion,
which forbade the picturing of any living beauty, gave the death-blow to
such excellence as remained. A style of painting followed which received
the name of Greek Byzantine. In it was no study of life; all was most
strikingly conventional, and it grew steadily worse and worse. A
comparison of the paintings and mosaics of the sixth, seventh, eighth,
and ninth centuries shows the rapid decline of all art qualities.
Finally every figure produced was a most arrant libel on nature. It was
always painted against a flat gold background; the limbs were wholly
devoid of action; the feet and hands hung helplessly; and the eyes were
round and staring. The flesh tints were a dull brick red, and all else a
dreary brown."
"Come here," said he, rising, "and see an example of this Greek
Byzantine art,--this _Magdalen_. Study it well."
"Oh, oh, how dreadful!" chorussed the voices of all.
"Uncle Rob, do you mean to say there was no painting in the world better
than this in the ninth--or thereabouts--century?" asked Malcom, with
wondering eyes.
"I mean to say just that, Malcom. But I must tell you something more
about this same Greek Byzantine painting, for there is a school of it
to-day. Should you go to Southern Italy or to Russia, you would find
many booths for trading, in the back of which you would see a Madonna,
or some saint, painted in just this style. These pictures have gained a
superstitious value among the lower classes of the people, and are
believed to possess a miraculous power. In Mt. Athos, Greece, is a
school that still produces them. Doubtless this has grown out of the
fact that several of these old paintings, notably Madonnas, are
treasured in the churches, and the people are taught that miracles have
been wrought by them. In the Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, is an example
(the people are told that it was painted by St. Luke), and during the
plague in Rome, and also during a great fire which was most disastrous,
this painting was borne through the city by priests in holy procession,
and the tradition is that both plague and fire were stayed."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|