The South Kensington School of Art [pp. 396-397]

396 THE SO LTTH-KENSINC TON SCHOOL OF ART. [MARCH 22,
Three weeks later a singular announce ment was made in the London papers.
Two rival singers were to make their ap pearance on the same night at the Grand
Opera-House-the then reigning prima-donna
and Madame Malibran, formerly Sefiorita Marie Garcia, of the Spanish and American theatres. They were to follow each other in the
same rale, and the public were to judge which
was to be the future favorite of the people.
So novel a proposal set all London on fire.
The theatre was crowded from pit to dome on
the trial-night; thousands were unable to obtain an entrance. The streets were packed
before the doors were opened. Immense
sums were paid for standing-room. The nobility of England filled the stately boxes; expectation was on fire; wagers were made of
the most extravagant character. Nobody
doubted for a moment the continued supremacy of their present idol; and, when she came
on, the great building rang with applauseeven the ladies stood up, and her name was
on every lip.
Hark! compete with a voice like that?
It was madness to try. Who was this immature girl who had won the plaudits of crude
Americans? Either insane, or an idiot.
Then there was a great hush.
Malibran was expected-but only to be
extinguished.
In that almost awful silence she entered,
pale as death, for she would not rouge, her
beautiful great eyes turned imploringly toward the strangely-excited audience.
A murmur ran the rounds.
"Exceedingly beautiful! Lovely as a
seraph! But with that physique she will
surely fail." Ah! they had not heard the
liquid wonder of that nightingale's throat.
Then came the crash of the grand orchestra.
UIp rose the full, sweet voice, soft as a
whisper at first, yet clear as a flute. On it
rolled, that marvellous, impassioned melody.
Men held their breath and leaned forward;
not a rustling fan disturbed the sound; not
an eye left her face. Then came that gurgling, bird-like trill, such as no other human
organ ever reached, and the entranced listeners rose en masse. For a time the applause
was almost frightful. Women clutched their
jewels from arms and bosoms and threw them
on the stage at her feet; men were white
with their efforts to cheer and praise. It
was the most wonderful tumult ever witnessed.
A wreath of laurel, composed of brilliants
and emeralds, was sent in by the entrance of
the stage; she was overwhelmed with the
rapture she had herself evoked, and stood
there panting, her glorious eyes shining
through tears, like diamonds, her cheeks
flushed, her hands outspread, as if to push
back the surging tide-stood there triumphant-the divine MaLIBRAN!
That night, as she walked rapidly back
and forth in the silence of her own room,
feeling that henceforth she was to go out as
a conqueror, the one drop of bitterness floated
on the surface of her brimming cup. Her
dream was accomplished. There were the
letters of gold and fire written upon the
heaven of her triumph; but Malibran, he who
had given her the name now made immortal
-the pall of silence, even of disgrace, enveloped him in its heavy folds.
Later, Junita brought her a note, which
she opened with trembling fingers. It read
thus:
"DIVINE MALIBRAN: YOU were right.
Your triumph is complete. All London
rings with your wonderful success. The
world is at your feet. Allow me to subscribe myself the humblest of your admirers,
"DE BERIOT."
And, as all the world knows, a few years
afterward De Beriot married the queen of
song and beauty, Malibran.
M. A. DENISON.
THE SOUTH- KENSINGTON
SCHOOL OF ART.
T O the late prince- consort and to Mr.
Henry Cole, of the English civil service, but mpre especially to the untiring
energy of the former, England is indebted
for the second most valuable, and some persons think by far the most interesting, of her
national collections. The institution known
as the South-Kensington Museum contains
within its walls all the attractiveness of a
splendid modern gallery of fine arts, and
costly exhibition of articles of vertu, with the
more sombre though no less interesting attractions of a museum containing some of the
most valuable historical collections extant,
where the student of art and the lover of science has not only the advantage of studying,
free of expense to himself, but under the direct supervision of competent professors, appointed and paid by the government. You
have there objects of ornamental art in all its
branches; an architectural museum; museum
of patents; courts of Italian and modern
sculpture, and gallery of British arts; the
most valuable collection of ancient armor in
Great Britain; the admiralty museum of naval models; the war-office museum of artillery; a museum of materials used in construction; a museum of animal products, of
food, educational apparatus, school - books,
etc.; the whole designed for the instruction
and profitable study of the working-classes,
as well as for the general recreation of all.
But, besides all this, there are special
treasures in the Museum at South Kensington-the peerless collection of cartoons by
Raphael, for instance, and pictures by Reynolds and Gainsborough; a gallery of two
hundred and thirty-four paintings, chiefly of
British artists, brought together, and bequeathed to the nation by John Sheepshanks; and the wonderful Vernon collection of the English school. In order that
the reader, at the outset, shall be able to appreciate what this means, it will be as well to
mention that, in one or other of the galleries,
you shall see the originals of all Rosa Bonheur's most celebrated paintings-" The Horse
Fair," for instance, and "Highland Cattle,"
and Frith's "Derby Day." Not far off you
shall step into a room hung with all the
most celebrated of Landseer's paintings
"Jack in Office," "Twa Dogs," "The Shepherd's Chief Mourner," "Peace and War,"
etc. Here is the original "Blind Fiddler,"
"Broken Jar," and "Duncan Grey," by Wilkie; there, Mulready's "Choosing the Wedding Gown." A room or two beyond is Hogarth's greatest work-a series of six pictures-" Mariage A la Mode;" and overhead
John Philip Kemble as Hamlet, by Lawrence.
Leslie is here with "Uncle Toby and the
Widow Wadman," and Stanfield, and Creswick, and Maclise, and Eastlake, and- Cooper, and Turner. It is a glorious collection
of modern paintings, unequalled, perhaps, in
any other city in Europe. Would you desire
a gate by Quentin Matsys, it is here; or a
piece of a pulpit by Nic. Pisano, or work in
terra-cotta from the wonderful hand of Lucca
della Robbia, it is here also. Would you
gaze upon the most celebrated private collection of gems in the world-the Townsend collection-you may do so in the South-Kensington Museum. Have you any desire to
become acquainted with sedan - chairs, and
curious carriages once used by the Doges of
Venice, you may see them in one of the museum corridors. All the trophies brought
from Theodore of Abyssinia-his crown and
Bible and robes-are here; so is a vast heap
of wonderful jewelry-the gifts to the queen
from Indian rajahs. You shall see the rarest
of rare violins in this rarest of rare museums,
and curious harps, and Queen Elizabeth's
harpsichord, and the first piano made in
England. There are ancient and not-to-bepurchased-with-gold articles of jewelry without number, and inlaid cabinets and curious
bedsteads; fans costing five hundred pounds,
painted exquisitely by hand; fire-screens in
beautiful wool-work. There is majolica of
all countries; carvings in ivory, stone, and
wood; enamels of Limoges, exquisite glass,
works in metal, locks, keys, and bronzes.
The art collections include casts and specimens of sculpture and architectural ornament
of all ages and countries. There are mural
paintings, encaustic tiles, mosaics, painted
glass, photographic drawings, and engravings. Add to these the educational collections formed by the government- itself a
well-stocked library of reference, where the
most costly works of art, galleries, and illustrations may be consulted for one penny; an
admirably-conducted and grandly-built suite
of refreshment-rooms, lavatories, and waiting-rooms, and the reader has a tolerable
conception of the value of the free Museum
at South Kensington, near London.
But if the English Government, in carrying out the intentions of Prince Albert, has
almost approached lavishness-if we may be
permitted the expression —in its dealings
with the general public, wealthy and otherwise, it has done something more-it has
been profuse in its generosity toward students, and especially to that class of women
recruited from the ranks of poor gentlefolk.
In fact, by the patronage of art the Committee of the Privy Council on Education in England has not only aided the most deserving
among the working-classes of men, but it has
materially contributed also to the solution of
that oft-propounded problem - the employment of women. South Kensington, at this
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TiEe S 0 UTfr-KE-ASI-YG TO7X S CHO O-L OF AR T.
396
[MARCH 22,