Chapter 4

One time a little boy in London was to carry a flag in a procession. What do you think he did? He went to Sir Joshua Reynolds, the artist whom no one dared to interrupt, and asked him if he would paint a flag for him. This pleased the great man. When the boy proudly displayed his flag, every one asked:

"Where did you get such a wonderful flag?"

You can guess how proud the boy was to say, "Sir Joshua Reynolds painted it for me!"

This picture of "The Duchess of Devonshire and her Child" is one of the greatest pictures Sir Joshua ever painted. The original painting is now in the magnificent country seat of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, England. Sir Joshua had a way of making his pictures sparkle and glisten that was unknown to other artists. One of our own artists, Gilbert Stuart, when in London, was copying a very valuable portrait by Sir Joshua. He thought he saw one of the eyes move. He was horrified to find that it really was moving down on the cheek. He grabbed the picture and ran into a cold room and then worked the eye back in place. The secret was out! Sir Joshua Reynolds had used wax to make his pictures glitter and, alas, the glitter would not last.

ST. AGNES AND HER LAMB

ANDREA DEL SARTO (1486-1531)

One of the most beautiful pictures of "St. Agnes and her lamb" was painted by Andrea del Sarto,--"Andrea the faultless," as he was called. It is in the cathedral at Pisa.

St. Agnes was a Roman girl who lived three hundred years after the birth of Jesus. Her father and mother were heathens, but their little daughter became a Christian when a mere child. She did not tell her parents that she loved Jesus, but when she refused to worship idols they knew that she had become a disciple of the Master Christ. This made them so angry that they handed her over to the Roman rulers to be punished. These wicked men tried in every way to persuade Agnes to bow down to their gods made of wood and stone. When she would not bow down to them they tried to force her to worship the idols.

They gave her over to the soldiers and ordered them to take her clothes away, but immediately her hair grew and covered her, and angels came and gave her a shining white garment. She even refused to marry the son of the Roman magistrate. The son thought that he could compel her to consent to the marriage after she was persecuted, but he was struck blind when he tried to see her.

When St. Agnes saw what great sorrow came to the home of the young nobleman because he was blind, she prayed for him and his eyesight came again. His father was so thankful that he pleaded for her life, but the people said,

"She is a sorceress: she must die." Then they tried to burn her, but the flames burned her tormentors and did her no harm. At last she was killed with a sword. She is always represented with a lamb.

Michael Angelo wrote to Raphael about Andrea del Sarto: "There is a little fellow in Florence who, if he were employed as you are upon great works, would make it hot for you."

WHISTLER'S MOTHER

JAMES ABBOTT MCNEILL WHISTLER (1834-1903)

The story about Whistler and his mother is rather a sad one. He went to Europe when he was a young painter and told his mother as he started that he would come home to her when he had made a success. But he never made a success in money. He painted this picture of his mother and for twenty years tried to sell it. He offered it to his own country--the United States--for five hundred dollars. We were so stupid that we did not know that the picture was a masterpiece and that no amount of money could buy it later on. But the people of Paris began to feel that Whistler, the American artist, was a great master, and the city bought the picture, "Whistler's Mother." Of course we can never own the picture now, although it is an American mother, unless the French people should give it to us. But we do not deserve it, do we?

After a number of years Whistler's mother went to Europe to make a home for her wonderful son. She died in Chelsea, and to-day the mother and son are side by side in the little churchyard of Chiswick, near London.

ST. CHRISTOPHER

TITIAN, OR TIZIANO VECELLI (1477-1576)

Christopher, or Offero, was born in Palestine in the third century. He was a giant in size but ignorant and poor. He felt that he could not work for any one who was afraid of any one else. He wandered over the country and at last he came to a powerful king and offered to work for him. The king thought it very fine to have a giant for a servant. One day Offero stood by the king's side while a minstrel sang a song about Satan. Every time the name of Satan was spoken the king crossed himself. Offero was puzzled, for he never had heard of Satan, nor of Jesus. When he found that the king was afraid of Satan, Offero went to find the man the king was afraid of.

Offero found Satan and became his servant. But as they went through the land Offero saw that Satan always went away around the little shrines. Offero asked Satan why he did that. Satan said he did not like to come near the cross where was the crucified One. Then Offero knew that he was afraid of Jesus.

He went out to find Jesus. At last an old hermit told Offero to go to a river where people were often drowned and to carry every one across on his back, and that maybe he would find Jesus. Offero built himself a hut and spent years carrying people over the stream and no one was drowned. One stormy night Offero thought he heard a child's voice calling him. He went out two or three times. At last the child appeared and asked Offero to carry him over. Offero started. The storm grew worse and the water rose high and the child grew very, very heavy. When Offero set the child down, he said, "I feel as though I had carried the whole world!" The child answered:

"Offero, you have carried the maker of the world. I am Jesus, whom you have sought. You shall be called Christ-Offero--the Christ-bearer--from now on."

THE BLUE BOY

THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788)

Gainsborough began to draw and paint when he was a child. He often entertained his companions by drawing pictures for them while they read the lessons to him.

One morning Thomas got up with the sun and went out into the garden to sketch. There was in the garden a wonderful pear-tree full of ripe pears, and the pears had been disappearing very mysteriously. While Thomas was making his drawings he saw a man's face appear suddenly above the stone wall. He quickly made a sketch of the face, and frightened the man before he could get away with the fruit. At the breakfast-table the young artist told his father what he had done and showed him the sketch. His father knew the man and sent for him. When the man was accused of stealing the pears he denied it, but when he was shown the picture Thomas had made of him he confessed that he had taken the pears.

Artists, like all of us, want to lay down rules for every one to follow who is doing their same kind of work. Sir Joshua Reynolds said, "The masses of light in a picture ought to be always of a warm, mellow colour--yellow, red, or yellowish white; and the blue, the grey, or green colours should be kept almost entirely out of the masses." Gainsborough did not agree with him. To show Sir Joshua that he was wrong Gainsborough painted pictures in blue and green. The famous "Blue Boy" alone proved that he was right. The boy has on a blue satin suit and he stands out-of-doors in green grass with green foliage and blue sky around him. When Sir Joshua saw Gainsborough's blue-green pictures he said frankly, "I cannot think how he produces his effects."

These two men were never good friends yet when Gainsborough was near death Sir Joshua Reynolds came to his bedside, and when Gainsborough died Reynolds was one of the pall-bearers.

THE SLEEPING GIRL

JAN VAN DER MEER OF DELFT (1632-1675)

I want you to know and love the Dutch pictures. The painters were called "little masters," simply because they painted small pictures for the homes. For the homes! The Dutch wanted pictures to hang on their walls; pictures they could live with. Now what do you think of the "Sleeping Girl"? Do you know I could live with that picture and feel that I always had something to make me happy? It is so homy. See how comfortable the girl is! Of course a good healthy girl has no business to be sleeping in the daytime, but we can forgive her now that van der Meer has caught her asleep and let us see her. Then look at that wonderful rug! Was ever anything so soft and velvety? If we knew about rugs we might tell its name and maybe its age.

Van der Meer had a way of catching people without their knowing it. He seems to have cut a piece out of the wall where he peeped in and painted what he saw. We are glad the girl left the door open into another room so that we can see the table and pictures and part of the window-frame. I think these things are reflected in a looking-glass.

Van der Meer painted only about forty pictures, and eight of those are in the United States. They are among our greatest art treasures.

ST. ANTONY AND THE CHRIST-CHILD

BARTHOLOME ESTEBAN MURILLO (1618-1682)

Many very curious legends are told of St. Antony of Padua, who died in 1231. He was a close friend of St. Francis (see "St. Francis and his Birds," page 76). One story says that one time he was preaching about the Savior when the child Jesus came and sat on his open Bible. It is this story that Murillo painted his picture to illustrate. Again and again Murillo has shown us St. Antony with the Christ-child, but never more beautifully than here. This is one of Murillo's greatest religious pictures.

Another story is told of St. Antony. One day he was preaching the funeral sermon of a rich young man when he exclaimed:

"His heart is buried in his treasure-chest; go seek it there and you will find it."

Sure enough when the friends of the rich young man opened the treasure-chest there was the heart, and no heart was found in the young man's dead body.

KING LEAR

EDWIN AUSTIN ABBEY (1852-1911)

The story of "King Lear" is one of the most pitiful of Shakespeare's play. It is about the thanklessness of children to a father. Old _King Lear_ had three daughters--_Goneril_, _Regan_, and _Cordelia_. He loved these daughters dearly and he believed that they loved him. As he grew old in life he thought he would divide his kingdom and property among them equally; then there would be no trouble about his wealth after he was dead. Of course he expected to make his home with them in turn as long as he lived. Naturally he went to _Goneril_, the eldest daughter, first. Very soon he found that he was not wanted. She had the money--her father's money--but why should she be troubled with her old father? He then went to _Regan_, his second child, but she too refused to make a home for him. The third daughter, _Cordelia_, loved her father dearly and wanted him to live with her that she might care for him in his old age. By a strange mishap the old father thought that _Cordelia_, his beloved child, was false to him. He wandered off on the heath in a fearful storm and at last found shelter in a hut where he thinks even his faithful dogs are against him. He cries out pitifully:

The little dogs and all, Tray, Blanche and Sweetheart, see they bark at me.

Abbey has painted the scene when the old king is leaving heart-broken, for he thinks _Cordelia_, the child he loves best, is deserting him. _Cordelia_, knowing how false her sisters are, is saying:

I know you what you are; And, like a sister, am most loath to call Your faults as they are named. Love well our father.

Abbey's story of "The Holy Grail" in the Boston Library is one of America's great series of paintings for wall decoration.

SUNSET IN THE WOODS

GEORGE INNESS (1825-1894)

Whenever you can, I want you to find out what the painter says about his own pictures. We feel very glad that George Inness told us about "Sunset in the Woods." He said in 1891: "The material for my picture was taken from a sketch made near Hastings, on the Hudson, New York, twenty years ago. This picture was commenced seven years ago, but until last winter I had not obtained any idea equal to the impression received on the spot. The idea is to express an effect of light in the woods at sunset."

What a wonderful glow he has on those trees beyond the big rock away back in the picture. And see the light on the trunk of the big tree near us. I believe the light is gradually disappearing as we look. Somehow we feel the birds are twittering as they go to bed and the flowers are nodding their heads, they are so sleepy. Soon it will be dark and the owl will screech and the night insects will buzz. Come, we must go home or we cannot see our way!

INDEX

Abbey, Edwin Austin, 98, 99

Angelico, Fra Giovanni, 38, 39

Angelo, Michael, 23, 24, 86

Arthur, King, 82, 83

Bastien-Lepage, Jules, 22, 23

Botticelli, Sandro, 46, 47

Breton, Jules Adolphe, 58, 59

Caesar (Tiberius), 70

Carpaccio, Vittore, 54, 55

Chardin, Jean Baptiste Simeon, 78, 79

Charles I, 16, 28, 42

Charles II, 41, 43

Charles V, 32

Charles VI, VII, 22

Corot, Jean Baptiste Camille, 8, 9, 74, 75

Correggio, Antonio, 6, 7, 60, 61

Constable, John, 4, 5

Disciples, The, 80, 81

Dolci, Carlo, 20

Farge, John La, 48, 49

Ferdinand III, 20

Fourment, Helena, 66, 67

Gainsborough, Thomas, 92, 93

Galahad, Sir, 82, 83

Giotto di Bondone, 76, 77

Gods and Goddesses,

Apollo, 10, 11, 36, 37, 68

Aurora, 9, 10

Atropos, (a fate), 24, 25

Calliope, (a muse), 36, 37

Clio (a muse), 36, 37

Clothes, (a fate), 24, 25

Diana, 36

Erato (a muse), 36, 37

Euterpe, (a muse), 36, 37

Fates, The, 24, 25, 48

Horae, 10, 11

Hyperion, 10, 11

Lachesis (a fate), 24, 25

Melpomene (a muse), 36, 37

Memnon, 10

Memory, 36

Mercury, 36, 68

Muses, The, 36, 37, 68

Pegasus, 36

Polyhymnia (a muse), 36, 37

Selene, 10

Thalia (a muse), 36, 37

Urania (a muse), 36, 37

Zeus, 10, 36

Hals, Frans, 12, 13

Homer, Winslow, 18, 19

Hooch, Pieter de, 44, 45

Inness, George, 100, 101

James II, 42

Jesus, 2, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 60, 64, 80, 81, 90, 91

Joan of Arc, 22, 23

Joseph of Arimathea, 82

Lear, King, 98, 99

Maes, Nicolaes, 52, 53

Magnificent, The, 46

Martin, Homer, 68, 69

Medici, Giovanni de' (Pope Leo X), 46

Medici, Giulio de (Pope Clement VII), 46

Medici, Lorenzo de', 46

Millet, Jean Francois, 62, 63

Murillo, Bartolome Esteban, 34, 35, 96, 97

Napoleon, 56

Offero, 90, 91

Philip IV, 72

Pintoricchio, Bernardino, 2, 3

Raphael Sanzio, 20, 21, 26, 27, 64, 65, 86

Rembrandt, van Rijn. 30, 31, 40, 41, 50, 51, 86

Reni, Guido, 10, 11

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 84, 85, 92

Romano, Giulio, 36, 37

Rubens, Peter Paul, 16, 28, 29, 66, 67

Stuart, Gilbert, 84

Sarto, Andrea del, 86

Saints,

Agnes, 86, 87

Anthony, 96, 97

Barbara, 14, 15

Cecilia, 64, 65

Christopher, 90, 91

Elizabeth, 2

Francis, 76, 77, 96

George, 54, 55

Jerome, 6, 7, 8

John the Baptist, 2

Joseph, 2, 60

Mary, (Madonna, virgin), 2, 6, 20, 26, 32, 46, 60

Michael, 22

Paul, 64, 65

Titian Vecelli, 32, 33, 70, 71, 90, 91

Turner, Joseph Mallard William, 56, 57

Van der Meer, Jan, 94, 95

Van Dyck, Anthony, 12, 16, 17, 28, 42, 43

Vecchio, Palma, il Jacopo, 14, 15

Velasquez, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y, 72, 73

Venice, 56, 57

Vinci, Leonardo da, 80, 81

Watts, George Frederick, 82, 83

Whistler, James Abbott McNeill, 88, 89

William III, 42

Wordsworth, 58

Zacharias, 2