"masterpieces" by the contemporaries and friends of Barye, but I do
not think that the visitor will find so large a number which can
rightly be thus classed. To me it appears that something less than
one-half are works of the first order, but among the remainder are
many good things worthy of attention. Here again the treasures of Mr.
Walters's collection are drawn upon and he sends some twenty-five
pictures, prominent among which is the great "Martyrdom of St.
Sebastian," by Corot; the "Evening Star," by the same master; Troyon's
"Cattle Drinking"; Diaz's "Storm" and "Autumn Scene in the Forest of
Fontainebleau"; Rousseau's "Le Givre"; Decamps's "Suicide"; Daubigny's
large "Sunset on the Coast of France"; Delacroix's "Christ on the
Cross"; and Millet's "Breaking Flax." One of the finest Millets I have
ever seen is here, lent by Mr. Walters. This is the "Sheepfold at
Night," which with several others of Mr. Walters's paintings here
shown, was in the exhibition of "One Hundred Masterpieces" held at
Paris in 1883. In its foreground a line of sheep pass by toward the
gate of the fold through which some have already entered under the
guidance of the shepherd and his dog, who stand near. The horizon is
low, and just above it swings a swollen moon, shaped like a cup, from
which floods of pale light fill the scene with color. If this were Mr.
Walters's only contribution it would be sufficient to place us under a
heavy obligation to him. The "St. Sebastian" is a large canvas,
measuring four feet wide by eight feet high, which was first shown at
the _Salon_ of 1853, and afterwards twice received important changes
at the artist's hands. It shows an opening in a great wood, with the
saint reclining on the ground tended by two holy women, while above
appear some angels who bear the martyr's palm and crown. Rousseau's
"Le Givre" is well described by Sensier, who says in his "_Souvenirs
sur Th. Rousseau_," it represents "the hills of Valmondois as seen a
mile away across the Oise, along the des Forgets road. The composition
could not be more simple. Little hillocks heaped in the foreground are
covered with half-melted snow, and the sun, red in the midst of a
leaden sky, is seen dying and threatening through the clouds." The
"Suicide," of Decamps, shows the body of a young artist stretched
lifeless on his pallet in a gloomy room, and is painted with
extraordinary force. The "Sunset," by Daubigny, describes a scene on
the French coast with some cows near a pool separated from the sea
only by a few yards. The foreground is rich in sombre greens and
browns, the ocean a glorious blue and the sky tinged with the roses of
sunset.
A superb specimen of the lately dead veteran, Jules Dupré, "The Old
Oak," is lent by Mr. John G. Johnson, who contributes several other
pictures, among them a fine "Going to the Fair," by Troyon, in which
is seen a drove of cattle and sheep, with a woman on horseback behind
talking to a man. Another still finer Troyon, the "Drove of Cattle and
Sheep," which brought $26,000 at the Spencer sale, is lent by Mr.
Cornelius Vanderbilt. It will be recalled as showing a flock of sheep
coming along a road toward the spectator, while behind are two cows,
one with head uplifted to avoid the threatening stick of the drover--a
dumb but eloquent protest against man's cruelty. Corot's lovely "Lake
Nemi," the property of Mr. Thomas Newcombe, is here, while Mr. Jay
Gould sends his "Evening"; Mr. William F. Slater, of Norwich, Conn.,
the "Fauns and Nymphs," and Mr. Charles A. Dana his beautiful "Dance
of Loves." To the same gentleman the public is indebted for an
opportunity to admire Millet's admirable "Turkey-keeper." Mr. D. C.
Lyall has Delacroix's splendid page of romance, "The Abduction of
Rebecca," and among the numerous paintings which come from Mr. George
I. Seney's gallery, is the same artist's well-known "Convulsionaries,"
a crowd of self-tortured fanatics wildly rushing through the
white-walled streets of Tangiers. There are several other works by
Delacroix, including examples of his vivid renditions of lions and
tigers, and Mr. Slater has here his "Christopher Columbus," Mr. Potter
Palmer, of Chicago, lending the "Giaour and Pacha." Gericault is
represented by but one picture, a noble couchant lion, but in addition
to the "Suicide," there are several other Decamps, notably the
magnificently colored "Turkish Butcher's Shop," which, with a
splendid Rousseau, the "Forest of Fontainebleau," comes from the
collection of Mr. Henry Graves. The gorgeous blues and crimsons of
Diaz's "Coronation of Love," which Mr. Brayton Ives is fortunate
enough to own, glow in a corner of one of the galleries--a bouquet of
living color. It was pleasant to meet again a familiar picture in
Millet's "Waiting," which the writer recalls often seeing at the
Boston Art Museum when it belonged to Mr. Henry Sayles. It is now the
property of Mr. Seney, and will be at once remembered by any who have
ever seen its homely but touching figures of the old mother looking
down the road for the coming of her absent son, and the blind father
stumbling hastily over the steps to the door. I renewed my
acquaintance with the inimitable cat which arches its back, elevates
its tail and miaows on the bench outside, its ginger-colored coat
relieved against the cool blue-grays of the stone wall. It is the
apocryphal story of Tobit and Anna, with the waiting parents made into
peasants of Millet's own country, and when it was exhibited at the
_Salon_ of 1861, the public, of course, passed it by to gaze at the
"Phryne" of Gérôme. Millet has doubtless painted better pictures, but
for direct simple pathos it would be hard to surpass this.
Boston, through Mr. Quincy Shaw and other gentlemen, sends to the
exhibition some of the best paintings shown. Mr. Shaw exhibits his
"Potato-planters," to me the most beautiful in its rosy tones of any
example of the artist here; of the same size, a fine "End of the
Village of Greville," walled with graystone, its little street
monopolized by geese and ducks, and the sea-gulls flying above; and
the "Buckwheat Threshers," with two smaller canvases. Mr. F. L. Ames,
lends two Millets, a beautiful Rousseau, "The Valley of Tiffauge,"
Decamps's splendid picture of an African about to sling a stone at a
vulture sitting on some ruins, and the superbly painted dogs of
Troyon's "Gardechasse." Dr. H. C. Angell's fine Jules Dupré,
"Symphony," is also here.
The Millets number about a third of the paintings and among them is an
interesting variation of the "Sower," narrower in shape than the
others and with a steeper hillside. It would have been a delight to
have seen Mr. Shaw's "Sower" temporarily lifted from its place in the
modest house which conceals so many treasures, and brought here,
especially as it was not possible to borrow the replica belonging to
the estate of the late W. H. Vanderbilt, but such good fortune was not
in store for us. A beautiful little nude by Millet, "After the Bath,"
has been sent by Mr. A. C. Clark. I think it must be the same one
which was at the Bartholdi Pedestal Fund Exhibition some years ago,
when it belonged to Mr. Erwin Davis. Messrs. Boussod, Valadon & Co.,
have lent an important and beautiful "November" by Millet, showing a
sloping field with a harrow lying on the foreground and a man shooting
at a flock of birds from behind a tree at the top of the hill.
The "Angelus," draped with crimson, is given the entire end of the
long upper gallery and, I think, proves a disappointment to most, if
not all. One chief reason for this is its small size,--it is but about
21 x 25 inches--and then it is certainly not to be compared for
painting with half a dozen other Millets which are here. Its sentiment
is lasting, however, but it is not new to us, on the contrary it is a
household word now, and the painting gives but little more than does
Waltner's etching. Mr. Walters loans the crayon sketch for it and one
of "The Sower" and the "Sheepfold by Moonlight," with others, and
there are some very interesting pastels and water-colors by Millet,
Rousseau and Delacroix.
Altogether the exhibition is an extraordinarily good one, unapproached
as to the Baryes and not easily surpassable as to the paintings of the
Fontainebleau school, and any lover of art would find himself amply
repaid by it for a journey to New York.
[Illustration: THE ILLUSTRATIONS]
[_Contributors are requested to send with their drawings full and
adequate descriptions of the buildings, including a statement of
cost._]
"THE LION AND THE SERPENT." M. A. L. BARYE, SCULPTOR.
[Photogravure issued only with the International Edition.]
See article elsewhere in this issue.
AUDITORIUM OF THE PALACE OF THE TROCADERO, PARIS, FRANCE. MM. DAVIOUD
& BORDAIS, ARCHITECTS.
[Gelatine Plate issued only with the International Edition.]
AN INTERIOR IN THE CHATEAU DE JOSSELIN, MORBIHAN, FRANCE.
[Gelatine Plate issued only with the International Edition.]
TORRE DEL VINO, ALHAMBRA, GRANADA, SPAIN.
[Grano-chrome issued only with the International Edition.]
RUINS OF THE CHAPEL OF CHARLES V, YUSTE, SPAIN.
[Grano-chrome issued only with the International Edition.]
COOMBE WARREN, KINGSTON, ENGLAND.--GARDEN FRONT. THE LATE MR. GEORGE
DEVEY, ARCHITECT.
[Issued only with the International Edition.]
COOMBE WARREN, KINGSTON, ENGLAND.--ENTRANCE FRONT. THE LATE MR. GEORGE
DEVEY, ARCHITECT.
[Issued only with the International Edition.]
A GENTLEMAN'S COUNTRY HOUSE. MR. HORACE R. APPELBEE, ARCHITECT.
[Issued only with the International Edition.]
This design is founded upon the Francis I style of architecture,
though it by no means slavishly follows it. It was required to obtain
a house suited in all respects to modern requirements, including such
things as sash-windows, and in places plate-glass. These hardly
harmonize with the ordinary character of English country-houses of the
Elizabethan and Queen Anne types, with their many mullioned windows
and lead-glazed casements, nor is the other extreme of heavy Classic
with ponderous detail and a portico two stories high at all desirable.
The style of Francis I offers a mean between these, giving emphasis to
the principal block by a certain amount of symmetrical planning,
together with picturesqueness, with rich and refined detail, which a
gentleman's country-house certainly requires. The exterior would be of
long and thin red bricks, with stone cornices and other dressings, and
roofed with green slates. The interior has oak-work and enriched
plaster ceilings to the principal rooms, with the exception of the
hall, where the ceiling would be of oak. The hall and the staircase
would have some stained-glass in the windows. The original drawing was
exhibited in this year's Academy.
WROUGHT-IRON GATES, DUKE STREET, CHELMSFORD, ENGLAND.
[Issued only with the International Edition.]
HISTORICAL FIGURES FROM LORD MAYOR'S PROCESSION, 1889. DESIGNED BY MR.
JOHN JELLICOE.
[Issued only with the International Edition.]
These figure sketches embrace five typical examples from the late Lord
Mayor's show, in which Mediæval, Tudor and Stuart costumes were
(thanks to the research and artistic knowledge of Hon. Lewis
Wingfield) so pleasantly associated. We have selected five, both on
account of their diversity and also because of their being
representative costumes of different eras in English history. The
dresses, for magnificence and accuracy of detail, have rarely been
equalled.
HOUSE OF MRS. CHARLES BLAKE, BEACON ST., BOSTON, MASS. MESSRS. STURGIS
& CABOT, ARCHITECTS, BOSTON, MASS.
[Issued only with the Imperial and International Editions.]
COMPETITIVE DESIGN FOR THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE, NEW YORK,
N.Y. MR. GLENN BROWN, ARCHITECT, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Although the selection of material is a matter that can be well
dispensed with until the general design has been determined, the
architect suggests as in harmony with the treatment, Westerly, R.I.
granite for the body of the cathedral, with trimmings of carved
capitals, bases, columns, belts, arches and other ornamental stonework
of a Georgia marble. The granite is cream color, with a suspicion of
red, and the marble is of the same shade but a trifle darker and more
positive. Both from chemical and physical tests they are apparently of
equal strength and durability. The colors suggested would not give the
building the cold appearance of white marble, or the somewhat sombre
appearance produced by gray granite.
The stones are to be laid in square blocks, regular courses and
rock-face in the body of the building, with square and sharp corners.
The columns, lintels, sills, belts, finials and mouldings are to be
close hammered work, with carving where indicated on the drawings.
The different tower roofs are to be fine-hammered or rubbed granite.
The distinction between the tower roofs and the body of the building
is not brought out clearly in the different drawings, as this would
require shading all the granite stonework except the tower roofs, and
shading is prohibited by the instructions.
The interior of the church is designed to be finished in marbles of
harmonious colors, with carved and other decorated work, as shown in
the section. The surface of the floor is to be laid in mosaic tile,
the presumption being that fixed pews will not be used in the
cathedral. Ample storage can be obtained for portable seats in the
cellar.
The floors are laid on terra-cotta arches, built on iron beams, and
the beams are protected by terra-cotta casings.
The roof of the building is to be covered with slate [preferably red],
laid on terra-cotta and supported by iron trusses and beams; the
iron-work to be protected by a fireproof covering. The tower roofs
contemplate granite, lapped and jointed so as to be weatherproof, laid
on iron beams and supported by iron trusses. If a cheaper covering is
desired, slate or tile can be used without affecting the design.
The ceiling is a barrel-vault with large and small arched ribs
pierced in each bay by the small vaults in which the clerestory
windows open. It may be treated in one of three ways: first, finished
in marble; second, marble ribs, the larger surfaces being terra-cotta
blocks covered with mosaic tile; third, the larger surfaces frescoed
on plaster. The ceiling of the lantern in the centre of the cathedral
will be supported by arch trusses, and show metallic ribs on the
interior, glazed with cathedral glass.
The screens between the choir and aisles and between the aisle and
vestries and chapels are intended to be of wrought-iron, bronze or
brass, or a combination. They should be arranged so as to slide down
into the cellar and leave the entire building open and unobstructed
whenever it might be thought desirable.
The outside doors are to be bronze, with figures on them in low
relief.
The size of columns and piers, and the weights imposed upon them, the
thrusts of arches and trusses, their proper abutments and ties and
other constructional problems have been calculated with a sufficient
degree of accuracy to determine the feasibility of the execution of
the design according to the drawings.
In the lantern where the frescoing is contemplated the wall will be
faced with porous brick, on which the proper fresco plaster can be
spread.
The plan is arranged to facilitate the ingress and egress of large
assemblages of people, five doorways being provided in the nave
entrance and two in each of the transepts. The galleries over the nave
and transept vestibules and the triforium have stairways with
entrances on the side porches. Including the clergy entrances, fifteen
outside doors are planned. The vestibules and porches connect with
each other so that worshippers can pass from one to the other under
cover.
The arrangement adopted for the central tower allows a central
auditorium about one hundred feet in diameter, unobstructed by columns
or piers, with the nave transepts and choir opening into it. The
aisles are not decreased by this central enlargement, as they deflect
through the four abutting towers.
The different vestry-rooms, library or sacristy and the treasury are
grouped conveniently to the choir, with separate entrances for the
church officials. The meeting-room for the clergy or chapter and the
chapel have entrances independent of the church, or by lowering the
screen they can be thrown open into the cathedral. Toilet-rooms,
custodian's and a committee-room are located on the transept
vestibules, as these entrances would most probably be constantly open.
Elevators are placed in two of the supplemental towers, and stairways
in the ones adjoining the choir, landing visitors on the triforium
gallery, which encircles the building, and in the two galleries which
encircle the central lantern. From the lantern galleries visitors can
obtain fine interior views of the building, and comprehend the crucial
form of the plan at a glance.
TABULATIONS OF APPROXIMATE DIMENSIONS.
Length. Breadth. Height. Square feet.
Ground-floor including
walls height to the
ridge of roof 400 156 to 230 148 69,000
Lantern or central tower
exterior 106 106 400 11,236
Nave interior 125 50 100 6,250
Transepts interior 30 50 100 3,000 for
the two
Choir interior 95 50 100 4,750
Central tower interior 88 88 200
Aisles interior 16 40
Chapel and Chapter 52 26
Square feet of auditorium exclusive of aisles, columns
and space between columns, triforium and galleries 20,486
Auditorium including everything except choir 48,106
ABBEY OF ABERBROTHWICK: GALLERY OVER ENTRANCE.
ABBEY OF ABERBROTHWICK: THE WESTERN DOORWAY.
The traveller by sea, along the east coast of Scotland, is liable to
be reminded with startling emphasis of the demolition to which the
ecclesiastical architecture of the country has been subjected. Leaving
behind him on his northward course the fragments of the metropolitan
Cathedral of St. Andrews, he crosses a wide arm of the sea, and when
he again approaches the shore, the objects most prominent against the
sky are the still more disastrously shattered remnants of the great
Abbey of Aberbrothwick. One lofty fragment presents in its centre a
circle, doubtless once filled with richly moulded mullions and
stained-glass, but through which the blue sky is now visible. This
vacant circle is the only symmetrical form in these lofty masses that
at a distance strikes the eye--all else is shapeless and fragmentary.
Around these huge unsightly vestiges of ancient magnificence the types
of modern comfort and commercial wealth cluster thickly, in the shape
of a small but busy manufacturing town, with its mills, tall chimneys
and rows of substantial houses.
The ruins, which are interesting only in their details, scarcely
present a more inviting general aspect as they are approached. Nearing
them from the High Street of the burgh, the first prominent object is
a grim, strong, square tower, the sole remaining complete edifice of
the great establishment, now used as a butcher's shop. It was not
perhaps without design that this formidable building was so placed as
to frown over the dwellings of the industrious burghers--it was the
prison of the regality of the abbey--the place of punishment or
detention through which a judicial power, scarcely inferior to that of
the royal courts, was enforced by this potent brotherhood; and thus it
served to remind the world without, that the coercive power of the
abbot and his chapter was scarcely inferior to their spiritual dignity
and their temporal magnificence. Passing onward, the whole scene is
found to be a chaos of ruin. Fragments of the church, with those of
the cloisters and other monastic edifices, rise in apparently
inseparable confusion from the grassy ground; but, with a little
observation, the cruciform outline of the church can be traced, and
then its disjointed masses reduce themselves into connected details.
The dark-red stone of which the building was constructed is friable,
and peculiarly apt to crumble under the moist atmosphere and dreary
winds of the northeast coast. The mouldings and tracery are thus
wofully obliterated, and the facings are so much decayed as to leave
the original surface distinguishable only here and there. At
comparatively late periods large masses of the ruins have fallen down;
and Pennant mentions such an event as having taken place just before
he visited the spot. This palpable progress towards the complete
extinction of the relics of one of the finest Gothic buildings in
Scotland, certainly rendered it not only justifiable but highly
praiseworthy that the Exchequer should make some effort for preserving
so much of the pile as was preservable. Restoration was not to be
expected--the preservation of the existing fragments was all that
could be reasonably looked for. It must be confessed, however, that
the operations, by means of which this service was accomplished, have
given no picturesque aid to the mass of ruins, but have rather
introduced a new element of discordance and confusion, in the contrast
between the cold, flat, new surfaces of masonry and the rugged,
weatherbeaten ruins in which they are embodied.
There are few buildings in which the Norman and the early English are
so closely blended, and the transition so gentle. The great western
door has the Norman arch, with an approach to the later types in some
of its rather peculiar mouldings, while the broad and equally peculiar
gallery above it--the only interior portion of the church remaining in
a state of preservation--shows the pointed arch, with all the
simplicity of the Norman pillar and capital. All the material
fragments of the church now remaining are represented in the four
accompanying plates, from which as full an idea of the shape and
character of the remains may be derived as the visitor could acquire
on the spot. It will be seen that over the gallery, at the western end
of the nave, there widens the lower arc of a circular window, which
must have been of great size. The only portions of the aisle windows
still existing are on the south side of the nave. None of the central
pillars remain, but their bases have been carefully laid bare: and it
is supposed, from the greater size of those at the meeting of the
cross, that here there had been a great central tower.
Among the tombs of more modern date, in the grave-yard near the
church, there are many which bear sculptural marks of a very remote
antiquity; and among the ornaments they present, the primitive form of
the cross is conspicuous. During the operations for cleaning out the
ruins, which were conducted under the authority of the Exchequer in
1815,[3] some pieces of monumental sculpture were discovered, two of
which are curious and remarkable. The one is the mutilated figure of a
dignified churchman--probably an abbot. The head, the hands--which
appear to have been clasped--and the feet, are broken off and lost;
but the fragment thus truncated has much appearance of grace in the
folds of the drapery and the disposition of the limbs, while a series
of rich ceremonial ornaments appear to have been brought out with
great force and minuteness. The other figure, still more mutilated, is
simpler in the ordinary details, but has attached to it some adjuncts
which have perplexed the learned. The feet appear to have rested on
the effigy of a beast, the remains of which indicate it to have
represented a lion. It has, from this circumstance, been inferred that
the statue was that of William the Lion, the founder of the abbey. The
figure has, however, been attired in flowing robes, and a purse hangs
from the girdle. But the portions of this fragment which chiefly
contributed to rouse curiosity, are some incrustations, which had at
first the appearance of the effigies of lizards crawling along the
main figure. It was supposed that these reptiles were intended to
embody the idea of malevolent spirits, and that the piece of sculpture
might have been designed to represent a myth, probably in reference to
the machinations of the infernal world. But, upon a closer inspection,
it was found that these tiny figures represented pigmy knights in
armor, scrambling, as it were, up the massive figure. One appears to
be struggling with the drapery below; another has reached the waist;
and the fracture, which is across the shoulder, leaves dangling the
mailed heels of two others, which must have reached the neck. Is it
possible that there can be here any reference to the slaughter of
Becket, to whom the abbey was dedicated?
FOOTNOTE:
[3] New Stat. Account, Forfar, p. 80.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.