AN ARTIST’S VIEW OF THE FINE ARTS BUILDING.
He mounted the great steps, flanked by lions, and found himself at once surrounded by pictures on all four walls of a square room whose curtained doorways led to similar treasures beyond. Like all the world when in a picture-gallery, he did not see how he could examine the collection systematically. He was too much interested. Perhaps he would make up his mind to begin at the right-hand corner, and would march resolutely in that direction. Upon the way he would catch sight of a thrilling battle-scene or a lovely face, and would pause, become fascinated, and lose all recollection of his plan of campaign.
AN INTERIOR VIEW
OF THE DOME OF THE
FINE ARTS BUILDING.
After standing bewildered for a minute or two, Philip turned to look especially at a large painting showing Christ talking to the woman at the well, a beautiful and dignified piece of work, emphasizing the serenity and solemnity of the scene. Philip felt that this picture had put him in a receptive frame of mind, such as one should have when listening to a sermon; and not long afterward came a series of four well-known pictures, “The Prodigal Son,” by Tissot, to preach the sermon. They represented a modern reading of the parable, showing the father bidding his son farewell; the son in anything but good company while absent; the return—a touching picture, showing the old father leaning to raise the young man kneeling at his feet; and the merrymaking over the fatted calf.
Although Philip had come primarily for Art alone, it was impossible for him to ignore the stories the artists had chosen as foundations for their compositions. In “St. George and the Dragon,” for instance, who could help making up little bits of the story that had brought the bold St. George to the mouth of the rocky den where lay that very stupid and malicious monster with one cruel paw holding a victim at its feet?
Even that brilliant piece of coloring, “The Birth of the Pearl,” required the story-telling faculty to account for the swift bubbling plunge of the diver who opens the iridescent shell beneath which the Pearl Maiden is sleeping. A story nearly as good as the “Sleeping Beauty” was told in those gem-like colors.
A VIEW OF THE FINE ARTS BUILDING FROM NEAR THE NEW YORK STATE BUILDING.