: The Quiver 2/1900 by Various - Religious newspapers and periodicals

@FreeBooks

Posted in: #FreeBooks #FreeBooksIndia #FreeBooksApp #gg

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

Transcriber's note:

Text enclosed by underscores is in italics .

Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face .

Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.

The carat character indicates that the following letter is superscripted .

THE QUIVER 2/1900

PICTORIAL SERMONS.

With truth and beauty as the objects of his art, the painter, whatever be the subject he is endeavouring to depict, becomes a guide and helpmeet to his fellow-men. His art is "twice blessed," blessing "him that gives and him that takes." The contemplation of a beautiful and pure work of art acts as a charm upon the mind oppressed with care and trouble. A landscape on canvas, reflecting the sunshine of the countryside, suggesting its freedom of atmosphere, its "fair quiet and sweet rest," when seen in the midst of the toil and grime of a great city, is a sedative to the jaded nerves of the busy worker; it reminds him of the glories of nature which lie outside the boundaries of the man-made wilderness of houses, and brings him for the moment into close commune with Nature herself. A glimpse of blue sea, of clear running stream, or some sweet pastoral scene, carries with it a breath of fresh air, invigorating and refreshing, to those who gaze upon its brightness through the murky atmosphere of the city streets.

The painter, indeed, has a power which competes closely with the eloquence of the preacher, or the soothing rhythm of the poet; it raises the man who approaches his work with a receptive heart from his own petty self, enlarges his sympathies and his hopes, calms his troubles, and sends him back refreshed and invigorated to his struggle with the cares and troubles of his daily life.

A great picture is not so much one that displays the technical skill of the painter as his power to appeal to the emotions of those who look at it. Truth is at all times simple, and he who would expound it, either in sermon, poem, or picture, must do so in language which can be readily understood of the people. This does not make his task any the lighter, for any straining after effects of simplicity betrays his own lack of truth; simplicity must be spontaneous--from the heart.

Judging a picture, then, by this standard of simplicity and truth, we look first of all for these qualities; we look to see if the artist is sincere in his representation of the scene he presents to us. If we find this to be so, then we receive the work as a contribution to the truth we are seeking. Some painters force us to recognise their skill as colourists, as draughtsmen, as archaeologists--they have insisted upon their accuracy in these respects, but oftentimes at the sacrifice of all spirituality; their pictures are representations of costume, of architecture--what you will--but the true spirit of art is lacking; they are merely skilfully painted canvases.

An interesting volume has recently been published in which are gathered together pictures, by modern artists of varied nationality, which illustrate the Bible story from Genesis to Revelation, and which affords an excellent opportunity of studying the manner in which Biblical subjects have impressed artists of different countries and temperaments. Each has chosen to illustrate the portion of Scripture which appealed to his own particular inclination, and the result is a collection of pictures which cannot fail to interest all who examine it. There are reproductions of the vast conceptions of John Martin, which so impressed his contemporaries--"Belshazzar's Feast," "The Fall of Babylon," and "The Fall of Nineveh"--with their hundreds of figures struggling, writhing, fighting, and dying amid the gorgeous palaces and the buildings of those wonderful cities of old. The curiously eccentric genius of Turner is shown in his "Deluge" and "Destruction of Sodom"--in the one, the swirling rush of the destroying torrent sweeping away crowds of doomed humanity; in the other, the glare and smoke of the burning City of the Plain, the tottering columns of the buildings, and the wild hurryings of the affrighted citizens. Now the sensuous dancings and frivolities of "The World before the Flood," by William Etty, R.A.: and now the grim pictures of the Biblical tragedies from the brushes of the masters of the French School. Here the calm, peaceful creations of Burne-Jones and Rossetti--decoratively beautiful--and then the prettily human pictures of Dyce and Herbert. The modern German artists who delight in representing Christ living among and appealing to the people of our day--the school in which Herr Fritz von Uhde stands pre-eminent--are represented by "Christ's Call to the Sick and Weary," by Herr A. Dietrich.

Free books android app tbrJar TBR JAR Read Free books online gutenberg

(0)

Login to post a comment!