The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. TitmarshThackeray, William Makepeace
General
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paris (France) -- Description and travel
Passing from thence up the picturesque Rue de Seine, let us walk to the
Luxembourg, where bonnes, students, grisettes, and old gentlemen with
pigtails, love to wander in the melancholy, quaint old gardens; where
the peers have a new and comfortable court of justice, to judge all the
émeutes which are to take place; and where, as everybody knows, is the
picture-gallery of modern French artists, whom government thinks worthy
of patronage.
A very great proportion of the pictures, as we see by the catalogue,
are by the students whose works we have just been to visit at the Beaux
Arts, and who, having performed their pilgrimage to Rome, have taken
rank among the professors of the art. I don’t know a more pleasing
exhibition; for there are not a dozen really bad pictures in the
collection, some very good, and the rest showing great skill and
smartness of execution.
In the same way, however, that it has been supposed that no man could
be a great poet unless he wrote a very big poem, the tradition is kept
up among the painters, and we have here a vast number of large
canvases, with figures of the proper heroical length and nakedness. The
anticlassicists did not arise in France until about 1827; and, in
consequence, up to that period, we have here the old classical faith in
full vigor. There is Brutus, having chopped his son’s head off, with
all the agony of a father, and then, calling for number two; there is
Æneas carrying off old Anchises; there are Paris and Venus, as naked as
two Hottentots, and many more such choice subjects from Lemprière.
But the chief specimens of the sublime are in the way of murders, with
which the catalogue swarms. Here are a few extracts from it:—
7. Beaume, Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. “The Grand Dauphiness
Dying.”
18. Blondel, Chevalier de la, &c. “Zenobia found Dead.”
36. Debay, Chevalier. “The Death of Lucretia.”
38. Dejuinne. “The Death of Hector.”
34. Court, Chevalier de la, &c. “The Death of Cæsar.”
39, 40, 41. Delacroix, Chevalier. “Dante and Virgil in the Infernal
Lake,” “The Massacre of Scio,” and “Medea going to Murder her
Children.”
43. Delaroche, Chevalier. “Joas taken from among the Dead.”
44. “The Death of Queen Elizabeth.”
45. “Edward V. and his Brother” (preparing for death).
50. “Hecuba going to be Sacrificed.” Drolling, Chevalier.
51. Dubois. “Young Clovis found Dead.”
56. Henry, Chevalier. “The Massacre of St. Bartholomew.”
75. Guérin, Chevalier. “Cain, after the Death of Abel.”
83. Jacquand. “Death of Adelaide de Comminges.”
88. “The Death of Eudamidas.”
93. “The Death of Hymetto.”
103. “The Death of Philip of Austria.”—And so on.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account