A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, ArchitectureWaters, Clara Erskine Clement
History
A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture
Waters, Clara Erskine Clement
Art -- History
One of his strong characteristics was hatred of the Jews. He would cross
the street, in order not to meet one of them, and would throw away a
garment that had brushed against one of the race. One day he went home,
and found his housekeeper bargaining with a Jew; he chased him away with
great fury, sent the woman off to be purified, repaved the spot where the
Jew had stood, and gave the shoes in which he had chased him to a servant.
When about to die Cano would not receive the sacrament from the priest who
was present, because he had communicated with Jews, and when a rude
crucifix was held before him he pushed it away. When he was reproved for
this he said: "Vex me not with this thing; but give me a simple cross that
I may adore it, both as it is, and as I can figure it in my mind." When
this was done, it is said that he died in a most edifying manner.
Very few of Cano's architectural works remain; a few drawings of this sort
are in the Louvre which are simple and elegant in style. The finest
carving by him is a small figure of the Virgin, now in the Cathedral of
Granada. Eight of his pictures are in the Queen of Spain's gallery at
Madrid, and the Church of Getafe, the Cathedral of Granada and that of
Malaga have his works. A beautiful madonna, which was one of his latest
works, is in the chapel of the Cathedral of Valencia, and is lighted by
votive tapers only. His pictures are rare out of Spain. One of his
portraits is in the Louvre. Other works are in Berlin, Dresden, Munich,
and the Hermitage, St. Petersburg.
The last Spanish painter of whom I shall speak belongs to a much later
period. FRANCISCO GOYA Y LUCIENTES (1746-1828) was a student in Rome, and
after his return to Spain lived in fine style in a villa near Madrid. He
was painter to Charles IV., and was always employed on orders from the
nobility. He painted portraits and religious pictures, but his chief
excellence was in painting caricatures. He was never weary of painting the
priests and monks in all sorts of ridiculous ways. He made them in the
form of apes and asses, and may be called the Hogarth of Spain, so well
did he hold up the people about him to ridicule. He painted with great
boldness and could use a sponge or stick in place of a brush. Sometimes he
made a picture with his palette-knife, and put in the fine touches with
his thumb. He executed engravings also, and published eighty prints which
he called "Caprices." These were very famous; they were satires upon all
Spanish laws and customs. He also made a series of plates about the French
invasion, thirty-three prints of scenes in the bull-ring, and etchings of
some of the works of Velasquez. Portraits of Charles IV. and his queen by
Goya are in the museum at Madrid. Works of his are in the Louvre and in
the National Gallery in London. His pictures sell for large prices. In
1870 his picture of Charlotte Corday sold for five hundred and eighty-four
pounds.
CHAPTER VI.
PAINTING IN FRANCE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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