Drama [pp. 29-30]

2MIU'SIC A4ND THE DRAIA.
Some of the most important pictures in the
collection are of historical and fancy subjects,
and before one of these, " The State Secret,"
by I. Pettie, a crowd is always gathered. The
painting represents a minister of state, a cardinal, in the act of burning a letter, fragments
of which smoulder at his feet, while the light
blaze that consumes the bit in his hand gives
a clew to the story. At his side is the figure
of a woman who appears like an avenging
Nemesis. Behind these persons, against the
wall, is sketched on the arras the " State Secret," in which the figures appear half in the
air and half painted. The dramatic effect of
this picture is very fine. The figure of the
statesman is brilliantly drawn and colored, and
the combination of action and expression in
the various circumstances that compose it renders it one of the most striking productions of
the exhibition.
We hear so much in America of the English
water-colors, and how much better they are
than our own, that an American can scarcely
avoid a sense of disappointment in looking
through the room devoted to their exhibition.
The same lack of general harmony of color
pervades them that disturbs one's pleasure in
the collection sent to New York last year by
Mr. Blackburn, and which gave the impression
that only inferior works were exhibited in it.
Water- colors in England seem particularly
adapted to " interiors," and in arched galleries and high towers the pictures at the Royal Academy Exhibition show to the best advantage. Dibdin, with whose cathedrals NewYorkers are familiar at Goupil's, has some of
his old towers here, of course in the same style
to which we are accustomed at home, and their
richness of color and beauty of aerial effect
give charm to a collection that is in many respects dull when compared to the rich-toned
pictures of Tiffany, and Gifford's Oriental
scenes, or the delicious sentiment of Wm. T.
Richards's sea-views. No impartial critic, we
fancy, after examining carefully this English
collection of water-colors, so much vaunted, and
whose superiority Americans are so ready to
admit, could, after seeing it, possibly despise
the results achieved by the young society of
water-colorists in the United States. In looking at the two collections of the English and
American water-colors last year at the National Academy of Design, we recollect hearing the constant remark that, after all, the
American pictures were the best in many respects. The conclusion arrived at by visitors
at that time was universal that, while America
exhibited her best paintings, England had
sent only her poorest. From the English
themselves it has always been gathered that
the Royal Exhibition collects the best specimuens of English art: and, therefore, we suppose an American is justified in drawing a
parallel between this exhibition and those in
New York; and it is gratifying if one can really decide, in such a case, that American artists
are doing extremely well at home.
Among the best pictures at the Royal
Academy are works by women, and this fact
is universally conceded by all, and the subjects they treat cover all kinds of pictures.
Mrs. Topling, the wife of an artist of the
same name, has painted quite a number of the
best and largest of the decorative pictures to
which we have alluded, and one or two of the
best historical compositions are by women.
Trained long and thoroughly, they are competent in England to cope with a class of difficulties that their more superficial culture hitherto in America leaves them powerless to deal
with, though the severe and long training they
are now receiving at the Academy of Design
in New York may bring their work up to the
standard of their English sisters.
It would be hardly fair, perhaps, to close
this article on the English Exhibition before
speaking of the beautiful paintings by AlmaTadema - works whose glowing color and
classic historical association of form and accessories make them so charming in America.
Alma-Tadema has two paintings in the Royal
Academy Exhibition, either of which is sufficient to give charm to a whole room. One
of these is quite large, and shows the interior
of the studio of an artist, with himself and a
group of friends examining the pictures, which
may well be those of Alma-Tadema himself.
The other painting, of " Joseph, Overseer of
Pharaoh's Granaries,'" is one of the most beautiful pieces of color, and one of the most characteristic renderings of the calmness and mental
repose of Egypt, that can be conceived. Sculptured walls and brilliant hieroglyphics compose
a large portion of the surroundings of Joseph,
whose long black hair, dressed in the manner
of Egyptian picture-slabs, recalls at once the
portraits of the Pharaohs, at the same time
that his unconstrained posture and the rounded
drawing of his head and figure bring those
formal bass-reliefs of antiquity into the reality
and life of the present time. S. N. C.
"A new salle," according to the Academy, "has
just been opened in the Louvre for ancient American curiosities. In the glass cases that line the
walls is placed a considerable collection of pottery,
idols, vases, and other objects, which gives a good
idea of the artistic knowledge of the races that inhabited America before the discovery by Columbus. Many of the idols are carved in stone and
marble, and resemble in their types the well-known
Egyptian divinities. The most remarkable object
of the collection is an immense zodiac of about
twelve metres in circumference, cut in a kind of
black marble, and absolutely covered with grotesque signs and inscriptions. All these treasures,
it appears, have been for a long time stowed away
in the magazines of the Louvre, but until the recent stir about the management of that museum
no one seems to have thought of exhibiting them.
An admirable fresco, attributed to Titian, has
recently been discovered in a perfect state of preservation in the Chateau of Malpaga, near Bergamo.
It represents the visit made by Christian I., King
of Denmark, in 1454, to Bartolomeo Colleoni, in
the Chateau of Malpaga, where the celebrated condottiere had retired, after having in turn served
Venice against the Visconti, the Visconti against
Venice, Milan against the Duke of Savoy, and Florence against the Duke d'Urbain.
Four masterpieces of the celebrated Paul Veronese, long since given up for lost, have recently
been discovered in the hospital of Aligre, at Josaphat, near Leves, by M. Camille Marcile. These
paintings, representing astronomy, theology, sculpture, and navigation. have been skillfully restored
by M. Marcille, and, although the property of the
hospital of Aligre, are now deposited in the Museum of Chartres.
It is stated that the latest result of the excavations at Rome is the discovery of a magnificent
bust of Matidia, niece of Trajan, and mother of
Sabina, wife of Hadrian, which is in a perfect state
of preservation, and is to be placed in the museum
of the Campidoglio Palace.
gut anrl t~b 9rarnza;
)HE first American audience that witnessed
-Salvini's interpretation of the title role in
Count Alfieri's great tragedy of "Saul," was
by no means worthy of the artistic dignity and
significance of the occasion. The enthusiasm
which welcomed a performance in which profound study had invested great creative power
with its high finish, was indeed lavish and
spontaneous. But fewness in number could
hardly be compensated-to one, anxious for the
reputation of America in its appreciation of
grand art, by the warmth and intelligence of a
house not half filled.
The tragedy of "Saul" was the fruit of
Alfieri's genius when in the full flower of ardent youth, and has long been hailed by Italians as the author's great masterpiece. A1fieri was the most classical of classicists in his
theories of dramatic writing, and trod in the
footsteps of Corneille and Racine with the
most literal ardor of discipleship. To a mind
like his, saturated with the scholarship of the
ancients, and, in spite of a fiery and sublime
imagination, yet rigid and narrow in its conceptions of form, this was but natural. He
was careful in following every canon of the
school which so long held possession of the
European mind, in spite of the English protest, till Lessing, at the head of the romance
school of German criticism, dealt it a deathblow. It would be difficult to discover in all
dramatic literature a work in which unities
of time and place are more preserved than in
"Saul." The action of the play is comprised
within twenty - four hours, and there is no
change of scene. When to this is added that
the dominant motive, which crowns and unifies
the energies of the play, is the awful shadow
of Divine vengeance, that thought in the
Hebrew which usurped the place of Fate or
Nemesis for the Greek, we have a marvelous
imitation of the drama of Sophocles and Euripides. There needed but little more than
the addition of the chorus, with its outbursts
of sympathy or explanation from time to time,
to make the parallel complete.
To a modern audience nothing but the sublimest acting could lift such a play from the
dead level of the dull and uninteresting. A1fieri poured into this work the intense imiagination of one of the greatest of modern dramatic poets, but the monotony of the movement and the simplicity of the scope absolutely
banish all the romantic romance and varied
charm, which commnienced with Shakespeare
and Calderon, and has since been the growing
characteristic of the modern drama. One colossal figure filled the entire horizon of the poet's
thought in this play. The royal warrior, still
erect with an implacable pride under the weight
of years and misfortune; tossed and shaken
like a reed in the wind with the agonies of a
half-conscious madness; recognizing but detfying in his sublime arrogance the terrors of an
outraged Jehovah; yet, with all these flashing
out in the most pathetic bursts of magnanimity
and tenderness —such is the vast conception
which Alfieri outlines in his tragedy, such is
the grand creation which Salvini paints on the
stage backgroun d"With hue like that when some great painter dips
His pencil in the gloom of earthquake and
eclipse."
The physical advantages of Salvini give him
striking adaptation for the part of Saul. The
superb dignity of make and stature, the lion
port, the musical and sonorous voice, perfect
in all the speaking registers, a noble and flexible face, are combined to an exceptional degree.
Mere genius, with an insignificant figure, may
accomplish great results in the impersonation
of youthful and merely romantic parts. Even
with Othello we can fancy a Salvini, with half
his physical gifts, accomplishing effects nearly
if not quite as great. But the case becomes
widely different where the impersonation must
unite the condition or old age to those of royal
state, warrior dignity, and the energy of tremendous passion. All our play-goers have
become painfully conscious of this in the study
1874.]
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