(In a Private Collection, United States)
From his numerous journeys to the East, Gérôme brought back many
curious memoranda of picturesque scenes, which he subsequently
converted into brilliant canvases. He excelled in reproducing the
caressing beauty of shimmering carpets and the rippling sheen of silken
textures.]
In the company of this experienced and reliable guide, we wander from
_Jerusalem_ (1868) to the _Great Bath at Broussa_ (1885), from a
_Corner of Cairo_ to _Medinet_ and _Fayoum_. Here we have the severed
heads in the _Mosque of El Hecanin_, the nude woman in the _Moorish
Bath_, all the barbarity and all the grace of the Orient,--and
invariably the anecdote, whether agreeable or sinister, blends with the
matchless splendour of the landscape.
To this list must be added _Recreation in Camp, a Souvenir of Moldavia_
(Salon of 1854), in which a soldier is dancing before his assembled
comrades, to the sound of drums, fifes, and violins. A sentinel keeps
watch. It is a picture taken in the act, and intensely real.
It is easy to detect the historian, or, to adopt the expression of
M. Jules Claretie, the "Memoir Maker," possessed of the true gift,
agreeable and individual, lurking behind every one of the works of
this authoritative orientalist. He dedicated himself quite naturally
and with great success to the interpretation of history and of the
historic and literary anecdote.
His love of contrasts, his gift for depicting locality and somehow
conveying the very atmosphere belonging to the varied scenes that
are to be brought before the spectator's eye, give amplitude to such
attractive little compositions as _Louis XIV. and Molière_ (1863),
and _A Collaboration_ (1874); evoke the whole sombre tragedy of the
death of Maréchal Ney, _December 7, 1815, Nine o'clock in the Morning_
(1868); and appeal successively to our curiosity, our sympathy, or our
admiration, with a Frederick II., conqueror of Silesia, playing on
his flute, the _King Flutist_ (1874, purchased by M. H. Oppenheim),
_His Gray Eminence_ (1874), in which the austere and dominant Father
Joseph is making his way alone, down the stairway, in the presence
of the obsequious courtiers; a Bonaparte day-dreaming before the
Sphinx, _Oedipus_ (1886), a _Bonaparte at Cairo_ gazing at the town
from the back of his Arab horse, a _Bonaparte in Egypt_, mounted on a
white dromedary, dreaming of his omnipotence, of his conquest of the
universe, and surrounded by his overdriven soldiers.
As a matter of fact, Gérôme made a sort of hero-worship of Napoleon
and the Napoleonic epic, resembling in this respect his friend, M.
Frédéric Masson, the celebrated historian of the Emperor, who was
better qualified than any other writer to pay an eloquent tribute to
this _Bonaparte in Egypt_.
"Bonaparte is no longer on the road to Syria, he is on the road to
India; he is hesitating between the two halves of the world that he
holds in his hands; he is weighing the destiny of Alexander against the
destiny of Cæsar; he is asking himself whether Asia, to which he holds
the key, is a fair exchange for Europe which he has just quitted; and
while his dream embraces the universe, he leaves his human rubbish heap
to suffer."
Gérôme is wholly himself when he has an anecdote to give us, whether
it be subtle, humorous, kindly, or dramatic, and even,--why not use the
word?--melodramatic.
Classified thus, _The Duel after the Masquerade_ fully deserves
its brilliant reputation. Reproduced, not only in lithographs and
engravings, but even transferred to the theatre (given at the Gymnase,
in 1881, by Mme. Fould), its subject has become a matter of general
knowledge. It is winter in the Bois de Boulogne. A number of people
in fancy costume are bending over a wounded Pierrot, while one of the
witnesses of this improvised duel is leading away the murderer, the
Harlequin.
One can see at once what a tremendous appeal a subject like this would
have for the general public.
This singular drama, taking place in the snow, all this joyousness
ending in bloodshed and perhaps death, is so fantastic that it leaves a
lasting impression. It was, by the way, as M. Guillaumin has explained,
suggested by an actual duel that took place between Deluns-Montaud,
the Harlequin, and the Prefect of Police Bortelle, the Pierrot.
Undoubtedly there was, and still is, ground for criticism. Alexandre
Dumas thought, not unreasonably, that serious-minded men of that
age would not go out to fight each other in such a costume. Edmond
About criticized the pose of Crispin supporting on his knee an
entire group of spectators, along with the body of poor Pierrot. But
Paul de Saint-Victor praised the "truthfulness of the postures, the
etching-like precision of the heads, the wise planning of the whole
composition."
In order to appreciate better the daring fantasy and the wise and
invariably picturesque inventiveness of Gérôme, we have only to study
further such works as the Frieze destined to be reproduced upon a vase
commemorative of the Exposition of London (1853), _Rembrandt Etching_
(exhibited in 1867, purchased by M. E. Fould), which has been admired
for its golden half-shadows and freely compared to Gerard Dow, the
_Reception of the Siamese Ambassadors_ (1865), _The First Kiss of
the Sun_ (1886), the _Poet_, _Thirst_ (1888), and fantasies, such
as, _The Amateur of Tulips_, _Whoever you are, here is your Master_;
anecdotal portraits throwing side lights on history, such as: _They are
Conspiring_, or _Not Convenient_, _Louis XI. visiting Cardinal Balue_,
_Promenade of the Court in the Gardens of Versailles_ (1896); animals
full of life and prowess, such as: _The Lioness meeting a Jaguar_
and _Ego nominor Leo_, a lion rendered life size; lastly, his studio
interiors, in which he has chosen to depict himself exactly as he was,
that is to say, a sincere, clear-sighted, and indefatigable workman.
In the most recent of these studio pictures, he appears, wearing a
sculptor's blouse and occupied in modelling a statuette of a woman.
He astonished his friends and admirers, during his last years, by his
earnest labours in sculpture. His two groups, _The Gladiators_ and
_Anacreon, Bacchus and Cupid_, claimed the attention of the public at
the Exposition of 1878; and it was the same with his marble statue of
_Omphale_ (1887), his _Tanagra_, his _Dancing Girl_, his bronze _Lion_
(1890, 1891), etc.
His efforts to revive the art of coloured or polychrome sculpture, the
so-called chryselephantine sculpture, which invokes the aid of various
precious elements, constitute one of the most curious and important
artistic experiments of modern times, even though the result did not
always come up to the expectation.
On February 2, 1892, in an unpublished letter addressed to M. Germain
Bapst, who desired information concerning the artist's experiment,
Gérôme wrote: "I have always been struck with a sense of the coldness
of statues if, when the work is once finished, it is left in its
natural state. I have already made some experiments and am continuing
my efforts, for I am anxious to bring before the eyes of the public a
few demonstrations that I hope will be conclusive. I know that there
are a great many protests. The world always protests against anything
which is, I will not merely say new, but even renewed; for it disturbs
a good many people in their tranquillity and their routine." And after
having first shown that ancient architecture was adorned with colours
and that in chryselephantine sculpture the Greeks combined gold, tin,
and ivory, that they painted the marble and united it with various
metals, Gérôme added: "Shall I succeed? At least I shall have the
honour of having made the attempt."
In the interesting study which M. Germain Bapst devoted to this
question, after having, as we have seen, consulted the artist himself,
he recalled the fact that both in chateaux and in churches the Mediæval
statuary was coloured. In Greece, the Minerva Parthenos contained a
weight of gold equivalent to more than 2,200,000 francs in the French
currency of to-day. The statue of Jupiter at Olympus was partly of
ivory and partly of gold.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII.--THE TWO MAJESTIES