C:A T A L 0 G U E'ii
oF
I PAINTINGS AND ORIGINAL DRAWINGS
BY ARTISTS OF THE
DUSSELDOtRF ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS.
WM. C. BRYAN'T & CO., PRINTERS: 18 NASSAU ST'REET. 
1851.








CATALOGU E
OF
A PRIVATE COLLECTION
OF
PAINTINGS AND ORIGINAL DRAWINGS
BY ARTISTS OF THE
DUSSELDORF ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS.
NEW YORK:
WM. C. BRYANT & CO., PRINTERS, 18 NASSAU STREET.
1851.








EXTRACTS FROM THE PUBLIC PRESS OF NEW  YORK.
These remarks of the Press were made at the time the Gallery was
first opened, since when, many pictures have been added.
THE DUSSELDORF GALLERY. —The arrival of one fine picture, of a new style,
or that can give a new sensation of art, is by no means an inconsiderable event
in a city.
The Dusseldorf Collection, however, is one of unusual magnitude in the
way of Art, for it is a sudden and unheralded revelation of a whole school of
painters, of whose existence, hitherto, we have known little or nothing. In a
remote town of Germany, an Academy of Art, founded by one* liberal sovereign and encouraged by others, has gradually grown to be a home of artists,
and, by isolation and mutual emulation, they have formed a separate school
of style, the peculiarities of which have been heightened to striking excellencies, till they now send out a Gallery for Exhibition which rivals successfully the best exhibitions of modern Art in France and England.
We confess that these Dusseldorf pictures took us quite by surprise, and we
are sure that few novel spectacles will ever have become so fertile a theme of
discussion and interest. It gives great point and individuality to the exhibition, also, that there are two most admirable pictures, with a grouped portraiture of the principal Dusseldorf artists-very fine-looking fellows, and a
brotherhood one would like exceedingly to visit. The life in such an atmosphere of Art and genius must be very delightful, and the old town of Dusseldorf is illuminated by their residence there, like a decayed bush by the golden
breast and clear carol of the bird that chooses it to sit in and sing.
We have not yet had the leisure to make the second and more critical visit
which would enable us to speak safely of the comparative merits of these
beautiful pictures, but we-will do so hereafter, and, meantime we advise no one
to lose this opportunity of adding another whole volume to their viewless
library of thought-learning in Art.-Home Journal.
THE FINE ARTS.-A RARE COLLECTION OF PAINTINGS.-One of the most important items of the week, in matters of Art, is the arrival of a large private
collection of modern German paintings, principally by the most prominent
artists of the Dusseldorf school. Among them was- a beautiful work by Hubner, "Das Jagdrecht," a terrible story of the game laws of Germany. This
is the same artist whose picture of the "Lovers' Quarrel," in the Art Union,
has excited so much attention lately, but which is, howevier, a far inferior work




4           EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS OF NEW  YORK.
to this we speak of. Another, a picture of " Falstaff enlisting his Troop," from
the Dusseldorf school, is painted in the true spirit of Shakspeare.. Falstaff,
however, has a little too much of the German in his composition, and we may
well imagine what a German Falstaff might be; a "Heidelberg Tun" of beer
and heaviness, not a luxurious butt of good " Sherris Sack" and wit.'Tis a
capital picture though, and so is a most fairy like scene of elves and mannikins-" Peas Blossoms and Cobwebs." The original of a fine lithograph, wellknown to our artists, contains portraits of all the painters of the Dusseldorf
school at a shooting match. Think what a commotion a hundred and thirty
such let loose among us would create in our little world of Art. We fancy
that our artists would appreciate the necessity of severe study, and that our
annual exhibitions would be the better for it. We can do as well, and perhaps,
better, in time, but not until we cease this mere "playing at Art."  Whether
the pictures we have spoken of will be exhibited, we know not; we sincerely
hope they may be; we apprehend that the most serious obstacle in the way is
the difficulty in obtaining a proper gallery. A few only have been opened, to
ascertain if they had suffered any damage on the voyage, and having seen
these, and been extremely gratified, we are the more ardently desirous that
all should be exhibited, and that the public and ourselves may enjoy the full
of so rich a treat. —literary World.
PICTUREs.-Art is civilizing and refining, and the Art of painting, especially,
appeals so directly to the sense of beauty, color and proportion, with which all
human beings are more or less endowed, and which sense in all may be educated, and rendered a source of pure and permanent delight, that it becomes
a duty, in some degree, and an obligation to encourage the growth of this Art.
We know not that this can be more effectually done than, in the first instance,
by placing within the reach and examination of minds "finely touched to fine
issues," master-pieces of painting.
The school of Dusseldorf, in one of the Rhenish provinces of Prussia, is worldrenowned, and fiom that school, one of our fellow-citizens, of German birthMr. J. G. Boker, long a resident here, has recently brought over some of the
finest paintings, which, while yet at home, adorned his own residence.
He will, it may be hoped, permit them to be exhibited. Indeed, we call
upon him, in the name of his adopted country, to do so; for thereby he will
confer upon it real benefit. These paintings are as yet unpacked for the most
part. Some three or four, however, we have had an opportunity, through the
kindness of Mr. Boker, of examining —they are of rare excellence.-Cour. & Enq.
PAINTINGS BY THE DUSSELDORF ARTISTS.-We have an opportunity on the
present occasion of saying little else in relation to this exhibition, besides announcing its opening at the Church of the Divine Unify, in Broadway, and desiring. all our readers to visit it, as one of the most gratifying and instructive
collections which have ever been seen in the United States. It is full of evi



EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS OF NEW' YORK,                  5
denuces of that indefatigable and minute study of Form which characterizes the
German Schools, and in regard to which -the Directors are so exacting, that
newly arrived students are almost reduced to despair by the magnitude of the
task before them. But results such as these show the advantage of this severe
discipline, nay, its indispensable importance, if the true objects and aims of
Art are to be fulfilled.' The' decision in handling, the freedom of outline, the
firmness and accuracy of touch, which knowledge in the department abovementioned confers, give a completeness and unity to the expression of thought
on canvass, which a half-educated artist, however great'his genius, can never
obtain by his uncertain and tentative experiments. —Am. Art ULion Bulletin
THE DUSSELDORF GALLERY.-One of the agreeable effects of the state of
revolution on the European continent, is to throw many precious things into
our own country for safe-keeping. One of the very best galleries of pictures
ever seen in America, was sent over here at the time Napoleon was turning
all Europe into a battle-field; and now, again we are honored with the protection of another precious collection of paintings, deemed at home too valuable to be exposed to the vicissitudes of the Germanic struggles for confederacy.
Really, no compliment can exceed that which the jealous anxieties of foreign
virtuosi tflus pay to the stability of our institutions, the good order and good
taste of our people. What  these Western barbarians become the custodians
of European art! This nation with the clearing axe yet on its shoulder, and
the log-house over its head, whose laws are administered by Judge Lynch;
the crow-bar its only burine; Russia-duck for its canvass; its chisel a very cold
one; this rude, coarse, unformed nation-yet an experiment —become the refuge
of the delicacy and refinement, the precious commodities, the priceless' ornaments of foreign cities. Would it be very preposterous to send an American
deputation over to Rome, offering to take charge of the contents of the Vatican
until things were settled in Italy. True, we nmight find it necessary to build
a considerable town to keep it in, but that we are doing for much less important
purposes every few weeks. Perhaps poor Charles Albert's final defeat may
render it unnecessary, as order in Italy seems likely to be restored by the utter
ruin of its hopes of immediate freedom.
But though we are not likely to move the Vatican here, we have got this
charming collection of pictures, the Dusseldorf Gallery, so called because'
painted by artists of that famous modern school. One of the peculiarities of
this collection is the interest and variety of its subjects, and the staring, popular character of its merits. It takes no special cultivation of, taste to enjoy
it-a great thing to say, when it is added that nobody can enjoy the collection
without improvement of taste. Its excellencies are not hidden and profoundnot of the highest-but they are pure, without trick, real, substantial-their
chief merit being that they are thoroughly pleasing. It seems to us that the
drawing is very unusually good. To our taste, the gem is neither the Othello,
nor the Adoration of the Magi-both, perhaps, more valued-but the piece




EXTRACTS FROM  THE PRESS OF NEW  YSaORwK.
illustrating Tieck, the Naiads and Cupids waiting upon the lucky little morta
in the Sea-shell.-Christian Enqsuirer.
THE DUSSELDORF GALLERY, —The re-opening of this interesting collection and
the addition to it of several new pictures, afford us a welcome opportunity to
offer our readers the few remarks upon it, which we were, soon after its opening, obliged to postpone to other matters. I
We have in it about eighty paintings of all descriptions of subjects and all
grades of merit;-for, with all our admiration of the collection as a whole,
and of some nobleoworks in particular, we feel bound to say that some specimens are but little higher in merit than mere furniture pictures. More than
this-they look like a certain description of furniture; those useful articles
called tea-trays, which, to suit the taste of some people, are made ornamental
by the painting upon them of shiny landscapes and gaudy figure-pieces.
This remark, however, must not be considerd at all as a qualification of
our high respect for the abilities of the Dusseldorf men; for it applies in any
great measure to a few of the pictures only, and those the most insignificant
in subject, size and treatment. We should hardly have noticed it, save that
it seems indicative of the besetting sin of the school, and that slight vestiges
of it are discernible in some of even the most beautiful works on the walls.
This effect is not a little increased in some of the pictures by the glass which
has been put over them, which also seems objectionable to us on account of its
reflective power, causing as it does the frames of the opposite paintings and
the persons of the spectators to mingle distractingly with the figures or foliage
upon the canvass. We have yet to be convinced that a good oil painting does
not lose rather than gain by being seen through a glass medium; a lithograph,
colored and gummed, is improved by it, but with everything else the contrv-y
is the case; even with an engraving the glass is a necesssary evil.'
But while we cannot shut our eyes to this general fault, we cannot acquiesce
in the opinion, so generally expressed by artists and critics, that the paintings
are too highly finished in details and accessories. We deny that a picture can
be too highly finished in any part. The idea, upon a moment's reflection; will
be seen to carry absurdity upon the very face of it. It is lIe finding liault
with the poetry of Pope for the polish of its language, the melody of its rhytham
and the exactness of its expression, or with the music of'Mozart for the melodious grace of its inner parts. Accessories can be made too prominent by
being brought forward at the expense of the principal figures, and details may
seem obtrusively finished when they usurp that attention which is due to the
thought to be embodied. But in such cases the fault is not of commission but
of omission. It consists in the neglect of the greater, not in the attention, to
the less. In such a case we should say —we use the words with reverenee-e
"this ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone."  An d; if an
artist who can paint nothing well but stuffs or architecture, chooses an, ambitious subject and executes it in a trivial manner, we should find fault with




EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS OF NEW  YORK.                   7
him for attempting a subject which is beyond his power, not for accomplishing
that which is within it.
We regret to hear so much stress laid upon this so called fault of high
finish, because it is upon this point that our own painters, the best of them
too, are most deficient. They are too apt t~ give us sketches in oils instead
of finished pictures; thus indicating to us what they intend to do, rather than
doing it; —as if a man were to end his journey at the last finger-post which
pointed to his place of destination. We should hope much more for our artists
if they would study and imitate the finish of their brothers of Dusseldorf, instead of carping at it.
But there is another finish and of a higher kind, palpable in these works,
which none can find fault with, and which our artists would do as well to
emulate, and that is, finish of design, of conception. There is a singleness and
clearness of thought in these pictures indicative of a " knowing what they are
about," in the artists, which is evidently the fruit, not of individual genius,
but of discipline; and this discipline is what our artists need, most. We miss
in their works the power to strip a thought of all parasite growth and present
it simply, clearly, and therefore forcibly, to the eye and the mind. This power
the Dusseldorf painters have thoroughly acquired, as is evident to the careful,
student of this collection,-save perhaps in CAMPrAusEN's'" Battle of Ascalon,"
and " Castle invaded by Puritans," which are almost of necessity a collection
of groups of greater or less interest.-The chief reason why this power should
be apparent in so large a number of artists, is the influence which must flow
from the gathering together of so many for the purposes of mutual study and
improvement. Hints and kindly criticism from superiors and fellows must be
of great benefit to artists in this respect; and even the carpings of envy
cannot be without their use. Are not our own painters here too apt to keep
aloof from each other, and to seek injudicious, though honest praise from unlearned friends, rather than encounter the keen eyes and educated taste of their
fellow artists, at the risk of hearing a little wholesome truth? And if they
hear such truth, are they not apt to disregard it as the prompting of envy?
What matter who is the prompter if it be the truth?-Cour. & Enqg.
THE FINE ARTS.-THE DuSSELDORF PIcTURES. —It is somewhat strange that
Dusseldorf, the capital of the inconsiderable Duchy of Berg, in the Rhenish
provinces of Prussia-a town of little note, dignified by no historical associations, situated on the monotonous fiats of the Rhine, far below the region of its
grandeur and enchantment, with nothing to boast in the way of palaces,
churches, theatres, or ruins, the great staples of Continental cities-should,
nevertheless, be the seat of a School of Painting, perhaps the most conspicuous oil the Continent, and which has aided in giving stability and strength to
the most important movements in the history of Modern Art. It is true that
a famous collection of pictures once adorned the walls of the Electoral palace;
but the palace was destroyed in 1794 by the French, and the pictures were
removed to Munich. It was long after their removal that the school began to




8           - EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS OF:NEW  YORK.
flourish and become prominent. It seems to have found some congenial influences which are hidden fiom common observation, and make up for the apparent deficiencies of the place. Perhaps the artists who have congregated in
so unromantic a locality, have been urged to greater efforts after ideal beauty,
by the very presence of the natural barrenness which surrounds them.
Cornelius, to whom, we believe, belongs the honor of the foundation of the
School of Dusseldorf, was a native of the town. Though little known in this
country, his name stands at the head of the Modern German Painters, especially
of those who, in immediate connexion with him, broke through the conventional
mannerisms by which the genius of artists was trammelled, and the spirit of
Art degraded; and in opposition to Academies and Professors, sought a freer
field for the exercise of "the gift and faculty divine," of which they were
the possessors. Of these men, Cornelius, Overbeck, and Schadow, were the
most distinguished. They met at Rome, whither they had gone for a common
purpose, that of seeking amongst the works of the greatest masters for the
truest inspiration. They regarded themselves as the martyrs of the modern
absurdities and insipidities which usurped the places and authority of art.
Overbeck had, in fact, beeen expelled from the Academy of Vienna, for exercising that independence of thought which never fails to excite the horror of
old " foundations."  He had taken refuge from the Academician amongst the
grand memorials of the early painters of Italy. He found kindred spirits in
his countrymen, banished, like himself, by the puerilities and pompous absurdities of the German Schools, and, like himself in quest of a purer standard of
taste, and a more congenial field of labor.
Under such circumstances it was very natural that they should go from one
extreme to the other; from the ultra-modern to the ultra-medieval; from the
overloaded ornaments and artificial redundancies of painting which were
nearest to them in point of time, to the simplicity and sincerity which were
furthest off-even beyond the period of highest excellence, quite back in the
infancy of the Revival of Art. Equally natural was it that they should have
found in their new associations, controling motives of life, higher than the
standards of artistic taste. The old masters led them to the old faith. They
exchanged the cold formalities of German Lutheranism for the more vivid ritual
of that church, over whose altars, and in whose aisles and sacristies, and cloisters
they had studied the works of the masters of their adoption, and found in their
pure and simple creations, not less the inspiration of genius than the fervor of
unaffected faith. Cornelius was born a Roman Catholic. A large number of
his fellow students in Rome, including Overbeck and Schadow, were converted
to Romanism, and, as a matter of course, went far beyond him in devotion to
their new faith. Their fanaticism, however, for with some it reached that point,
gave new ardor to the zeal with which they devoted themselves to their art.
A school of painters formed under such influences, and animated by such
inducements, could not have failed of success. Their extravagance was not of
a kind to interfere with their progress, for it was the extravagance of simpli



EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS OF NEW YORE.                    9
city and adherence to the real forms of nature. It was the imitation of a former style, it is true, but that was better as a foundation than conformity to
any modern standard..;
The King of Bavaria, whose abdication and downfall ought to be lamented
by all the painters and paint brushes in Christendom, visited Rome about 1820,
during the residence there of these new  enthusiasts of the old school. He
adopted their notions of art, and what was more to the purpose, adopted a
great number of the artists themselves, and proved a constant and munificent
patron of their labors. To him, more than to any other man, Germany is indebted for the success of modern art. Munich is full of the pictures of Cornelius and his disciples, painted under the auspices and directions of Louis of
Bavaria.
But to come back to Dusseldorf. Soon after the consummation of the new
movements at Rome, and the accession of King Louis, Cornelius was established
at Munich, and Schadow, his co-worker, was appointed Director of the Dusseldorf Academy, to which' he immediately communicated the spirit and style
which they had both adopted, and by means of which a new impulse had been
given to German Art.
It was thus that the Dusseldorf school derived the distinctive peculiarities,
which characterize its works of sacred art. Schadow, since he has been at its
head, has devoted himself almost exclusively to the painting of purely religious pictures, and the best productions of the Academy have been of this
description. The school, however, has been by no means confined in its labors
or in its reputation to this department of art. Some of its most distinguished
artists are painters of historical pictures, landscapes and still life. Many of
them are Protestants and ultra Protestants, the religious opinions of both sides
of the school being sharpened by contact with each other. At the head of the
latter class stands Lessing, who has acquired a great reputation from his pictures of the scenes and- heroes of the Reformation, and who is looked up to as
the head of the Protestant branch of the Academy.
The " Gallery of paintings by artists of the Dusseldorf Academy," recently
opened in Broadway, and which has suggested the foregoing sketch, is only a
partial representation of the spirit and style of the school. There are no specimens (would there were) of the works of the painters who have given it its
character and prominence. The religious pictures of Cornelius, and Schadow,
and Overbeck, and Deger, are too much prized at home to be easily purchase&
for trans-atlantic exhibition. To be seen'and studied, one must visit ttie
churches and galleries of the old world. Nor are there in this colleciojwany
paintings by Lessing, or Sohn, or Bendemann, the artists who:r;a1 first
amongst those who may be called the secular painters of the schodl..  This, we
say, not to depreciate the collection, but to avoid giving the impression that it
can be regarded as by any means a complete display of Dusseldorf art. Still it is
a very choice exhibition, exceeding apropos to the present increased interest in
the arts which is perceptible with us, and, as far as it goes, a very satisfactory.'                                          _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




10          EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS OF NEW  YORK.
specimen of the school from which it. emanates. It is strong in that pleasing
description of cabinet pictures which many of the modern German artists
delight in, and in which an artistic or romantic subject frequently helps out defects of style and manner which would be the ruin of larger compositions. It
is strong, too, in landscapes by Achenbach and others of reputation in this
difficult department, and fortunately it is not without one picture-The Adoration of the Magi-the first in the catalogue-which exhibits, in its pure and
simple details, something of the mystical beauty and unearthly grace which
fascinated the German pilgrims at Rome in the works of Fra Angelico and
Perugino, and in which they recognised the highest type of Christian art.Literary World.
THE THREE GALLERIES.-The three galleries open in Broadway, the Dusseldorf, the Art-Union, and Goupil and Vibert's, will naturally suggest a comparison of some of the characteristic traits of the three nations to which they
respectively belong. It -is impossible for any intelligent observer to pass from
one to another, without fancying to himself that he can trace in their paintings
the same differences which are acknowledged to exist in the social life of the
three countries, Germany, America and France.
The Dusseldorf, though it may not represent the highest school of German
Art, is as complete a collection as could be desired, if the object were an exposition of the German character. In its domestic scenes, its Harvest Festival,
the career of that hopeful bursch, Mir. Iobs, whose examination at the university has drawn tears from so many eyes, in the fairy scene, the drinking bouts,
the learning of the landscapes and Shakspeare compositions-in all thingsthe collection is thoroughly and umistakeably German-so much so to our
apprehension, as a collection of Volkslieder.
We can distinguish, through all, the intensefeeling which is the marked peculiarity of that nation of musicians, and which underlies and forms the substratum of their grotesque fancy and humor. They have not the emotion of
the Italians; when a German sings he does not throw himself out with open
gesticulation; he looks upward and is lost in rapture. See the fair-haired
girl in the Harvest Festival, for example; had she been Italian, she would have
danced as well as sung; as it is, she might serve almost for a type of German
peasant maidenhood. So might the little girl in the Fairy Scene stand for an'embodiment of German childhood. And in Mr. Iobs, his family-the little
*stqr who is crying, and the wondering brother-in all the minutiva of the trials
bof tAitextraordinary youth-even the professor who is preparing to sneeze
with'We ]L;nd and taking a fresh pinch of snuff with the other, we have only
true Germa n humor, based on German susceptibility of feeling. —Literary
World.




EXTRACT
FROM THE PLAN OF THE ART-UNION
OF
RHENISH PRUSSIA AND WESTPHALIA.
1. THIs ART-UNION is a Corporation which has its seat at Dusseldorf, where the King of Prussia has re-established the Academy of
Fine Arts which existed there formerly, and which was dissolved during the ascendency of Napoleon.
2. It is constituted by a combination of such friends and amateurs
of the Arts, as obligate themselves to a yearly contribution of five
Prussian Thalers (with difference of exchange, say $33). This contribution of five Thalers entitles to one share, each member remaining
at liberty to subscribe for as many shares as he pleases.
3. Each member receives a ticket for every share he subscribes, and
by the number of such tickets, the Paintings which the Art-Union
acquires each year by purchase, will be distributed by lot, generally in
August or September. The Engravings, hereafter mentioned, will be
distributed among all the members.




OBJECT OF THIS ART-UNION.
1. To further and promote the Arts, and consequently to encourage
and support Artists-to create a more general interest for the beautiful-thereby causing the Arts to be: more applied to the ornament of
public life, and thus to obtain opportunities to deliver to posterity
their noblest productions.
2. The Art-Union will endeavor to attain its object by the following means:-It will purchase the principal works of the Dusseldorf
as well as of all other German and foreign Artists, who may send
their works to the yearly exhibition at Dusseldorf, and of which
purchases, such paintings as are adapted to private possession will be
publicly distributed by lot among its members. To paintings which
by their size and subjects will fill a more proper place in public life,
this latter destination will be given.
The means of the Art-Union are further applied to the production
of engravings on copper and steel; also, Lithographies which will
be periodically distributed among all the members. Thus, each member receives at least the value of his yearly subscription, and may
besides win a painting of decided merit, and even of great cost.
A subscription-book is laid open at the exhibition-room, and sharetickets will be given by JOHN G. BO-ER, who is a member of the
Committee of the Art-Union, and their Honorary Secretary in the
United States.
NoTIcE.-The subscription for the Dusseldorf Art-Union has been
raised to $4; in consideration of which, prizes and prints will in
future be delivered at the exhibition rooms, free of all charges.




C   T A L   G U EOF
PAINTINGS AND ORIGINAL DRAWINGS,
BY ARTISTS OF THE
ACADEMY OF ARTS AT DUSSELDORF.
g  The Paintings are numbered to correspond with the numbers in the Catalogue.
1. The Adoration of the Magi,                           Steinbruckc.
This Painting has obtained a great reputation in Europe, and has
been judged to be, in many respects, superior to Correggio's celebrated "Holy Night," in the Dresden Gallery. The diffusion of
light from the Holy Child will be admired by every beholder.
The picture of the highest aim here-" The Adoration of the Magi,"
by Steinbruck-has the merit of being in conception and execution
worthy of its subject, and to say this is to say much. Too often do
we see a sacred subject painfully profaned by the extravagance or
imbecility of the artist, and even in the works of some of the great
ones of the past, the imposing influence of a grand conception is
not unfrequently weakened by the obtrusion of ludicrous anachronisms and degrading triviality. Indeed, with numbers who are not
accustomed, or may not be able to separate the essentials of a picture from its accidents, these faults are fatal to many noble works,
and are the causes, perhaps, of not a few of the sneers levelled at
the admirers of the " old masters."  But from similar errors all
can now be free, though not possessing the genius which made those
errors tolerable.. The composition of Steinbruck's Adoration, its
general purity and solemnity of tone, and its admirable management of light and shadow, raise it to high eminence in the lofty
range of art to which it aspires. The group which, still in the clear
darkness' of the night, points to the star above the stable, the figure
of Joseph half in shadow and half in light, the'girl who, leaning
from the outside on a.beam, bends her face in till it is bathed in
the holy light, the hesitating steps of the blind shepherd and the
heavenly expression of countenance in the attendant angels, are
some of the fine points in the picture.-Cour. and Enq,




14                          CATALOGUE.
THE DUSSELDORF GALLERY OF PAINTINGS.-We would draw public
attention to this beautiful collection of paintings by living German
artists of the Dusseldorf School. We could fill a column with the
beauties of this collection, one of the best that has ever been' exhibited in our country, but must content ourselves with mentioning
a few: the picture of the " Reapers returning from work," is a most
beautiful production, and well-deserving of particular attention.
A small painting of the " Wine Testers in a Cellar," is capital; the
expression of the faces of the testers, shows plainly how far they
had gone. But the gem of the collection, is the " ioly Night;"
the effect of the light in this picture, emanating from the Divine
Infant, is wholly indescribable, and must be seen to be appreciated,
as anything we could say, would be insufficient to convey a correct
idea of its beauties.-.Evening Express.
2. Entrance of Columbus into Barcelona, after his Discovery of America,                             Pluddemann.
3. The Departure of the Student for the University,
4. The Student's Examination at the University,    Hasenclever.
5. His Return Home,
The preceding three paintings are by Hasenclever, for whose fame
they laid the foundation. Their idea is taken from a popular
German Poem, called the "Jobsiad," caricaturing the career of a
German Student and German Universities, sixty years ago. No. 4
is the sketch of No. 105, a larger painting, containing more figures,
and which has obtained a European reputation. It is being engraved on copper, and the plate is now finished. The impression
underneath was taken in 1849, to test the progress of the plate.
Subscriptions will be received at the exhibition room. The prices
have been fixed lower than perhaps was ever before done for a
copper-plate print of the same size with so many figures.
The humorous pieces by Hasenclever, are full of merit, more so than
is usual with German painters, who succeed better in the grotesque
than in the humorous. The three pictures illustrative of the University Student's career, are remarkable for keen satire and nice
discrimination of character. In the " Wine Testers," the different
expressions of tasting are admirably given; and the wise look of
many of the personages will provoke a smile from those who have
been present at such scenes.-Courier.




CATALOGUE.                             15
The following is from the Literary World of Oct. 11th, 1851, and
although the translated letter of Jobs does not directly elucidate
the preceding pictures, it is, nevertheless, here inserted, as it may
have a tendency to make their humor better understood.
THE JOBSIAD.
MEssiR. EDITORS:-You and your readers will, no doubt, be
glad to see, for the first time in English, a specimen of the famous
German drollery, called the Jobsiad; or
"THE LIFE, OPINIONS, ACTIONS, AND FATE OF
HIERONIMUS JOBS:
THE CANDIDATE.
And how he whilome won great renown
And died as night-watch in Schildeburg town.
Adorned throughout with woodcuts numerous,
Finely wrought and very humorous,
A faithful history, neat and terse,
Writ in new-fashion doggerel verse."
I am told that some illustrations of this poem are to be seen in
the Dusseldorf collection now exhibiting in your city.
The following is a translation of the 14th chapter of the work,
being "a letter which the student, Hieronimus, wrote to his
parents:"
Dear and Honored Parents,
I lately
Have suffered for want of money greatly;
Have the goodness, therefore, to send without fail
A trifle or two by return of mail.
I want about 20 or 30 ducats;
For I have not at present a cent inii my pockets;
Things are so tight with us this way,
Send me the money at once, I pray.
And everything is growing higher,
Lodging and washing, and lights and fire,
And incidental expenses every daySend me the ducats without delay.




16                           CATALOGUE.
You can hardly conceive the enormous expenses
The college imposes, on all pretences,
For text-books and lectures so much to payI wish the ducats were on their way i
I devote to my studies unremitting attentionOne thing I must not forget to mention:
The 30 ducats-pray send them straight,
For my purse is in a beggarly state.
Boots and shoes, and stockings and breeches,
Tailoring, washing, and extra stitches,
Pen, ink, and paper are all so dear i
I wish the 30 ducats were here!
The money-T-(I trust you will speedily send it!)
I promise faithfully to spend it;
Yes, dear parents, you need never fear,
I live very strictly and frugally here.
When other students revel and riot,
I steal away into perfect quiet,
And shut myself up with my books and light,
In my study-chamber till late at night.
Beyond the needful supply of my table,
I spare, dear parents, all I am able;
Take tea but rarely, and nothing more,
For spending money afflicts me sore.
Other students, who'd fain be called mellow,
Set me down for a niggardly fellow,
And say: there goes the dig,* just look!
How like a parson he eyes his book- 
With jibes and jokes they daily beset me,
But none of these things do I suffer to fret me;
I smile at all they can do or sayDon't forget the ducats, I pray!
Ten hours each day I spend at the college,
Drinking at the fount of knowledge,
And when the Lectures come to an end,
The rest in private study I spend.
* See " College Words and Customs."




CATALOGUE.                            I7
The Professors express great gratification,
Only they hope I will use moderation,
And not wear out in my studiis,
Pholosophicis and theologicis.
It would savor, dear parents, of self-laudation,
To enter on an enumeration
Of all my studies-in brief, there is none
More exemplary than your dear son.
My head seems ready to burst asunder,
Sometimes, with its learned load, and I wonder
Where so much knowledge is packed away:
(Apropos! don't forget the ducats, I pray!)
Yes, dearest parents, my devotion to study
Consumes the best strength of mind and body,
And generally the night is spent
In meditation deep and intent.
In the pulpit soon I shall take my station,
And try nay hand at the preacher's vocation,
Likewise I dispute in the college-hall
On learned subjects with one and all.
But don't forget to send me the ducats,
For I long so much to replenish my pockets;
The money, one day, shall be returned
In the shape of a son right wise and learn'd.
Then my Priivatissimznu*n-(I've been thinking on it
For a long time-and in fact begun it)
Will cost me 20 Rix dollars more,
Please send with the ducats I mentioned before.
I also, dear parents, inform you sadly,
I have torn my coat of late very badly,
So please enclose with the rest in your note
Twelve dollars to purchase a new coat.
New boots are also necessary,
Likewise my night-gown is ragged, very;
My hat and pantaloons, too, alas!
And the rest of my clothes are going to grass.
* A very private lesson.
2




18                           CATALOGUE.
Now, as all these things are needed greatly
Please enclose me 4 Louis d'ors separately,
Which, joined to the rest, perhaps will be
Enough for the present emergency.
My recent sickness you may not have heard of
In fact, for some time, my life was despaired of,
But I haste to assure you, on my word,
That now my health is nearly restored.
The Medicus, for services rendered,
A bill of 18 guilders has tendered,
And then the Apothecary's will be,
In round riumbers, about 23.
Now that Physician and Apothecary
May get their dues, it is necessary
These 41 guilders be added to the rest;
But, as to my health, don't be distressed.
The nurse would also have some compensation,
Who attended me in my critical situation,
I therefore think it would be best
To enclose seven guilders for her with the rest.
ZFor citrons, jellies, and things of that nature,
To sustain and strengthen the: feeble creature,
The Confectioner, too, has a small account,
Eight guilders is about the amount.
These various items-of which I've made mention,
Demand immediate attention.
For order, to me, is very dear,
And I carefully from debts keep clear.
I also rely on your kind attention,
To forward the ducats of which I made mention,
So soon as it 6an possibly beOne more small item occurs to me -
Two weeks ago I unluckily stumbled,
And down the whole length of the stairway tumbled,
As in dt the college door I went,
Whereby my right arm almost double was bent.




CATALOGUE.                            19
The Chirurgus who attended on the occasion,
For his balsams, plasters, and preparation
Of spiritus, and other things needless to name,
Charges 12 dollars; please forward the same.
But, that your minds may be acquiescent,
I am, thank God, now convalescent;
Both shoulder and skin are in a very good way,
And I go to lecture every day.
My stomach is still in a feeble condition,
A circumstance owing, so thinks the physician,
To sitting so much when I read and write,
And studying so long and so late at night.
He, therefore, earnestly advises
Burgundy w-ine, with nutmeg and spices,
And every morniig, instead of tea,
For the stomach's sake to drink sangaree.
Please send, agreeably to these advices,
Two pistoles for the wine and-spices,
And be sure, dear parents, I only take
Such things as these for the stomach's sake.
Finally, a few small debts, amounting
To 30 or 40. guilders (loose counting).
Be pleased, in your letter, without fail,
Dear parents, to enclose this bagatelle.
And could you, for sundries, send me twenty
Or a dozen Louis d'ors (that would be-plenty),'Twould be a kindness seasonably done,
And very acceptable td'your son.
This letter, dear parents, comes hoping to find yohu'
In usual health-I beg to remind you
How much I am for money perplexed,
Please, therefore, to remit in your next.
Herewith I close my letter, repeating
To you and all my friendly greeting- -
And subscribe myself, without further fuss,
- Your obedientservant, -
-HIERO'NYMUS.




20                          CATALOGUE.
I add, in a Postscript what I neglected
To say, beloved and highly respected
Parents, I beg most flially,
That you'll forward the money as soon as may be.
For I had, dear father (I say it weeping),
Fourteen French crowns laid by in safe keeping
(As I thought) for'a day of need-but the whole
An anonymous person yesterday stole.
I know you'll make good, without my asking, each shilling,
Your innocent son has lost by this villain;
For a man so considerate must be aware
That I such a loss can nowise bear.
Meanwhile I'll take care that, to-day or to-morrow,
Mister Anonymous shall, to his sorrow
And your satisfaction, receive the reward
Of his graceless trick with the hempen cord.
The above translation is by the Reverend 0. T. Brooks, of *x*
6. A Landscape, from original scenery near Dresden,    PPulian.
7. A Landscape representing a ferry-boat on the Rhine,
near Dusseldorf,                              Sonderland.
Has been lithographed, as is seen by an impression underneath.
8 & 9. Two Cattle Pieces,                               Sinzmler.
With Landscapes, by Andreas Achenbach.
10. Still Life,                                          Lehnen.
Lehnen died last summer, after having acquired much fame for these
subjects.
11. Interior of an Italian Church,                      Guerard.
12. Falstaff Mustering his Recruits,                   Schrodter.
Taken from Shakspeare's Henry the IV. Schrodter's talent stands
pre-eminent, and this Falstaff is considered to be his master-piece.




CATALOGUE.                            21
One of the most charming works in the Gallery is'Falstaff Mustering his Recruits," by Schrodter. In color we consider it undoubtedly the best figure-piece here; it has equal merit in chiaroscuro,
and is full of the exquisite humor of the scene. The fat knight's
swaggering attitude, and impudent expression, the character given
to the " woman's tailor," who needs not his scissors to tell his trade,
the management of the light in the recess behind Falstaff,- and the
introduction of the little page with the sword, appear to us the fine
points in the work, which is one of admirable keeping and rare
completeness.-Cour. and Enq.
13. Autumnal Landscape,                                  Scheuren.
14 & 15. Two small Landscapes,                           Scheuren.
16. The Fairies,                                        Steinbruck.
The same artist who painted No. 1. This painting is doubtless one
of the most beautiful productions of modern Art. The subject is
taken from a German Poem called " The Fairies," by L. Tieck.
PAINTINGS BY THE DUSSELDORF ARTISTS.-The city of Dusseldorf, on
the Rhine, boasts a school of design which is renowned all over the
world, and which has been the occasion of assembling at that point
some of the most eminent painters of Germany and the age. A
large collection of pictures, by these artists, has lately been brought
to this city. A few of them, which we have seen, are exceedingly beautiful.
One of these represent the fairies doing homage to a peasant
girl. The expression of innocence and pleased surprise in the face
of the girl is admirably given, as the supernatural beings around
her perform their gambols and offer their gifts. This painting is
by Steinbruck, who has also a picture of the Adoration of the
Magi in the collection.
This is a picture of the modern German school of religious painting, re-producing the devout manner of the early ecclesiastical
painters. It is full of dignity and feeling.
There is also a capital picture by Camphausen, represeriting an
English castle just captured by the Roundheads, who are binding
the hands of the Cavaliers who had defended it. It is full of action, and'every part of it furnishes matter for study.
A selection from these pictures, we understand, will soon be exhibited to the public. They will form a most interesting and attractive collection.-Evening Post.




22.                          CATALOGUE.
" The FaIiries," by the artist of the Magi, is a work of equal excellence in another and a lighter vein, and one which will awaken
quicker and wider admiration. It is a charming piece of fancy,
and as chaste as it is charming. We cannot help mentally contrasting it with what it would have been, under French treatment.
The water through which these elves-they are not children or
child-like, or intended so to be-push the delighted.and bewildered
girl, is beautifully limpid; we have never seen painted drops so
transparent and mobile as those which stream from the lip of the
brimming conch -which one of the little imps heaves up.
The attitude of the one pushing, and the pensive air of the one
sitting abstracted in the bow of the shell, are triumphs each in
their way. So are the broad leaves, on one of which a rollicking
little sprite has cast himself at full length.-Cour. & Enq.
I'.- Scenery on the Rhine, near Dusseldorf,                    John.
18. A Fruit Piece,                                          Preyer.
Preyer ranks as one of the first of modern European artists for Fruit
Pieces and Flowers, and justly so, as is proved by this piece.
Good Fruit Pieces are very rare; but No. 18, by Preyer, is entitled
to high praise. The Fruit is well chosen, well arranged and well
painted. The dish in which it lies is an extremely graceful fancy.
-Albion.
19 and 20. The Artists of Dusseldorf,                           Boser.
Faithful portraits, all taken from life. A lithograph has been taken
from No. 19, of which an impression hangs underneath. The Landscape of No. 19 is by Lessing.
21. Portrait of a Lady,                                Hildebrandt.
Some artist who painted Nos. 25 and 26.
22. Cid and his Sons, from Spanish History,               Grasshoff.
23. The Wine Testers,                                   Hasenclever.
24. A Landscape-Return from the Chase,                     Schulten.
25. Othello and Desdemona,                             Hildebrandt.
3126. The same subject, on a smaller scale,              ilildebrandt.




CATALOGUE.                             23
No- 25 was painted for the King of Prussia, and H. ook it to Berlin
for delivery, when the revolution broke out, which induced him to
return to Dusseldorf without even placing his painting before the
King.  I. painted, some years ago, the " Death of the Sons of
Edward,"' which painting was greatly admired, and for which
~2,000 has. been offered in vain to the possessor, Mr. Von Spiegel,
of Halberstadt.
The scene of Othello rehearsing his adventures and warlike achievements to Desdemona. In the whole compass of painting which it
has been our fortune to see, we remember nothing superior to that
Desdemona. There is. great merit, merit of every sort in the
whole picture-irn composition, color and expression-but the face.
and figure of Desdemona, the soul. looking out at her eyes upon
the being.whose narrative had fascinated, the absolute intentness of.
interest could not, as it seems to be, more happily rendered on
canvass. — our. and Enq.
TiE  FINE AnTs.-THEg DUSSELDORF GALLERY. —W   do not believe
that the great merits of the Dusseldorf gallery of paintings are as
well known to the public as they should be. It is true that we
have the national exhibition now open, principally of portraits, and
the Art Union-a very attractive, gratuitous lounge-is constantly
producing some American works of Art deserving of high praise;.
but in this:gallery we have a choice collection of gems of living
masters, collected at great expense. The eye is not bewildered by
a crowd of pictures-old and new masters blended confusedly-of
great merit and of moderate pretensions. Every picture in the
Dusseldorf gallery is a study, with different shades of merit, but
each possessing some distinct excellence. We certainly do think,
although some differ with us, that " Othello relating his adventures
to Desdemona," is a most exciquisite work of art, and a picture
which, if exhibited by itself, could not- fail to be- attractive. The
earnest zeal of the black general (made black by the artist as he
really was,) the interest and deep attention of Desdemona, the
noble and commanding head and figure of the Senator Brabantio,
the astonishment of the page, the architectural designs of the
saloon, and the exquisite finish of the costumes and properties, constatute this picture a study on which the eye never tires. It is
one of the best of the modern school we have ever seen. There
is a gentleness, sweetness and captivating innocence in the face of
Desdemona; a manly, soldier-like character in the figure, countenance and splendid costume of Othello; a stern dignity in the recumbent posture and strongly-marked face of the father-all of which




24                          CATALOGUE.
unite in stamping the artist with the highest impress of genius.
Visitors greatly admire the Falstaff, so full of point and humor,
and other Shaksperian subjects, which we were somewhat surprised
to see the Germans so familiar with. "The Adoration," is also a
wonderful picture for its extraordinary management of light, and
the landscapes of that rich and varied country are beautifully conceived and ably executed.-Sunday Times.
Iildebrandt's Othello and.Desdemona seems to us one of the most
fascinating of modern pictures, and without exception the most painful. To see such a love as Hildebrandt has painted in Desdemona's
eyes, given to a great grinning negro with rings in his ears, by a
woman not of his own race, and such a woman too, is surely enough
to convert any one to Calhounism. True, a woman might be snpposed to find consolatiotn in the fact that the rings are rubies, but
not such a woman as this Desdemona. We wonder if the painter
had in his mind the famous comparison, " like a rich jewel in an
Ethiop's ear. It would seem so. And this reminds us that Shakspeare nowhere calls Othello an Ethiopian, neither does he apply
the term to Aaron in the horrible Titus Andronicus; but both he
continually speaks of as Moors; and he has used the word'elsewhere, and certainly had use for it as a reproach in the mouth of
Iago, it seems to us that he must have been fully aware of the distinction between the two races. Indeed, we could never see the
least reason for supposing that Shakspeare intended Othello to be
represented as a negro. With the negroes, the Venetians had nor
thing to do that we know of, and could not have, in the natural
course of things, whereas, with their neighbors, the Moors, they
were brought in continual contact. These were a warlike, civilized
and enterprizing race, who could furnish an Othello; whereas the
contrary has -been the condition of the negroes. We are aware
that John Quincy Adams endeavored to prove that Othello was a
negro, and that Retzch has made him so in his outlines: but to us
the Ex-President seems to reason with less than his usual acumen,
and the great draughtsman to fail in embodying Shakspeare's
noble captain. Hildebrandt's Othello, too, has the negro gaudiness
of dress and extravagance of action. He is repulsive, and we
wish to see a solid wall built up between him and the lovely lady
who looks upon him with such overflowing and passionate emotion.
The artist's conception of Desdemona, though not exactly our own,
we admire; and in this we believe that we differ from the majority
by whom she is thought to be too womanly, too earnest and passionful, and too magnificent. Desdemona is a character which can




CATALOGUE.                             25
hardly be embodied with the hope of winning very general approval. Such is the interest she inspires that almost every imaginative mind has formed to itself its own ideal of her, any deviation
from which by an artist will be deemed a blemish. But we must
dissent from the opinion entertained by many on this point, and
defend the painter's conception. We think that her character is
regarded in too partial a light. Because her father speaks of her
"delicate youth;" calls her a "maiden never bold'; of spirit still
and quiet," and says that she was " so opposite to marriage that
she shunned the wealthy, curled dearlings of our nation," some
seem to think her a good little girl, who spoke when spoken to,
said " sir," washed the cups and saucers after breakfast, and had
serious thoughts of entering a convent.' They seem to forget that
she is spoken of as of "high and plenteous wit and invention:"
that on the very night of her marriage, she before the Senate
speaks boldly, though modestly, to her father of the change in her
relation; that she says to the Duke, who asks her if she will go
with Othello,
"That I did love the Moor-to live with him,
My downright violence and storm of fortunes
May trumpet to the world."
They forget that Cassio says she has "an inviting eye," though
"right modest," and that she herself told Othello-not yet her
declared lover-that " she wished thatheaven had made her such
a man," and bade him if he had a friend who loved her, to "teach
him how to tell his story and that would woo her." Is this indicative of a timorous girl? Is there not here calm self-reliance, deep
emotion and strong passion? And are these at all inconsistent
with youth, modesty, a quiet spirit and indifference to all suitors
save one?  It -seems to us that the careful observer would look for
these in the gentlest, most reserved of those who have attained to
early womanhood.  Why, the very fact that Desdemona gave her
love, unasked, to a mature man, a famous captain, one " rude in
speech, and little blessed with the soft phrase of peace," shows
why she shunned " the wealthy, curled dearlings."
Desdemona has always seemed to us a girl of vivid imagination
much self-reliance, strong passions, and unbounded devotion; who
had attained to early womanhood without the influence of a mother's counsel-for we nowhere hear of her mother. Being such a
one, she becomes, as such women ever do, "subdued to the very
quality of her lord." She shows herself, in her conduct to him,
almost the very opposite of what she was to all others, and gives
up for him her station, her father's love, her maiden modesty, her




26                            CATALOGUE.
happiness, and finally her very life itself almost without a question
or a murmur.
But Desdemona is found too magnificent, too stately, in this picture, for her whom the "house affairs" would draw from;the company of her father and Othello.  Surely this objection is founded
on a misconception. Desdemona's house affairs, were not affairs ofpots and pans. In those times, the loftiest ladies, saving queens,
overlooked the -house affairs, and Desdemona was the mistress of
her father's household; for, as we have before remarked, her mother
was dead, and with the household of a man of his degree, she would
find quite enough in its superintendence to occupy her, without
being called upon to soil the tips of her fingers, or hold up the train
of her.robe. Desdemona, too magnificent! She who was the
daughter of a Venetian magnifico, a Senator! who had the wife of
a man of Iago's rank for her waiting woman! a noble lady. of that
queenly city, of whom Byron says,
I Her daughters had their dowers
From spoils of nations, and the exhaustless East
Poured into her lap all gems in sparkling showers,
In purple was she robed, and of her feast
Monarchs partook and deemed their dignity increased!
How could a painter make such a woman other than magnificent?
The drawing-of this picture is excellent, and shows great study
of the model. The light too, is beautifully managed. What can
be finer than its effect upon the shoulder of Desdemona, on the
beard of Brabantio, or the. translucent ruddiness. it lends his ear 8
The head of Brabantio is a noble one, and'finely modelled; the
draperies and jewels are fine, but we hardly notice them  with
two such heads in the picture as.those of Desdemona and her
father; and the gaping wonder of the little page who bears away
the wine,. is a happy stroke of nature.  All is well, save that'great,
grinning blackamoor. —Cour. & Eng.
27. The Reaper's Return Home,                                  Becker.
The beauties of this painting have been much appreciated. Becker
ranks in the first class of German artists.
If it be ever allowable to recommend one's own wares in a catalogue,
it is so with No. 2'7, to which, indeed, attention may well be called.
It is by Becker, and a most charming piece of workmanship it is,
reminding us, in style and subject, of some of Leopold Robert's
best. —Albion.
Who has not been touched by contemplating these Reapers? Becker
has painted here a beautiful idyl, thoroughly German, and yet so




CATALOGUE.                           2 7
full of natural feeling, so expressive of simple happiness and heartfelt content, that it will win sympathy-and that is more than
admiration-in every country and from all healthy minds. The
ease of all the figures here, their motion, their well poised attitudes,
particularly that. of the man snapping his finger at the child, the
warm, sunny light which falls upon the group from behind, gilding
the folds of the. homely drapery, are worthy of all admiration.Cour. & Enq.
28. The Battle of Ascalon, in the year 1099,         Camphausen.
Godfrey of Bouillon, conquers the Saracens under the battle-cry, " God
wills it," (Deus lo volt.) Near him are the banners of the Holy
Cross, and of Jerusalem, and he is followed by the Archbishop,
carrying the Holy Lance. In the foreground, on the left, is seen
old Raymond of Toulouse, and on the right, Tancred of Tarent, in
combat with Ethiopian foot-soldiers.
29. Dutch Sea-shore, Shipping in the Offing,   Andr. Achenbach.
30. Effect of Sunset in the Forest,             Andr. Achenbach.
31. Norwegian Scenery, with Glaciers,           Andr. Achenbach.
In landscape, Achenbach and Gude bear the balm. What a beautiful
representation of Nature in her wildest moods is Gude's." Norwegian Scenery, with Bears."  How palpable the clear atmosphere
beyond the mountain tops.! HIow rich. the color.l How bold and.
broad the general effect, and yet with what nicety the details are
finished, even to the torrent's spray, the rocks and the fern leaves!
Achenbach's "Norwegian Scenery, with, Glaciers," is full of
poetry, and as full of fine painting. The mist, the lonely firs, and
the settling flock of water-fowl, whose screaming one might be excused for listening for, are alike evidences of the painter's imagination and skill. The "'Dutch Sea-shore," by.the same artist, is an
admirable water piece, one of the gustiest things we ever saw on
canvass; but in power it is second to the " Storm on the Coast of
Sicily," in which Achenbach has shown great daring, and that he
has a right to dare, The picture is a mere contest of wind and
water below, and of wind and clouds above; the skurrying vapor
arid driving spray being made prismatic by the ahnost horizontal
rays of the sun. The management of the clouds near the sun, is
botlihtruthful and skilful. " The Effect of Sunset in a Forest," is
an equally successful attack of an almost equally difficult subject.
The yellow glow which pervades the picture may seem unnatural




28                           CATALOGUE.
to some, but those who have much experience in wood life, will
hardly deem it so. The flock of sheep is very skilfully introduced.
— our. & Enq.
32. Storm on the Coast of Sicily,                Andr. Achenbach.
THE DUSSELDORF GALLERY.-In noticing this collection, in the Albion
of the 21st ult., we reserved our opinion of one picture, having
then seen it at a single visit under'a very unfavorable light. It is
numbered 32, and called in the catalogue, "A Storm on the Coast
of Sicily." We have now quietly looked at it several times, and
have no hesitation in pronouncing it a very remarkable work of
Art. It must be seen by the afternoon's light, or no opinion can
fairly be formed of it; for, in addition to its very peculiar treatment, it has a glass plate over it, which interferes materially with
a proper examination of its merits, and almost hides them at other
times of day. Those who are familiar with J. M. W. Turner, the
English painter, may imagine one of his boldest effects, wherein at
first sight the coloring appears exaggerated. The sun is breaking
through a stormy sky, lighting up the crests of the waves, and gilding portions of a rocky foreground. There are no figures, there is
no shipping. Sea, sky and rockmake up the picture. It appears
to us that the storm is past, though the main body of the water
seems driving rapidly from left to right, as though a strong current
were setting in that direction. This is one of the singular and
striking effects that this painter has conceived and embodied.
Another is the character given to his transparent waves in the
foreground. They are neither rolling, nor breaking, but are literally
rising, (jumping we might almost say,) as one may see them in a
vexed and thoroughly troubled ocean, when the fury of the wind
has subsided. These irregular, abrupt, perpendicular jerks must
have been remarked at times by those who keep their eyes open in
a storm, on the coast or at sea. Achenbach has boldly represented
them, and though probably pronounced unnatural by the careless
observer, they may be here and there recognized as true to nature.
To conclude, for it is next to impossible to describe such a subject,
we will only say that this picture has heightened our idea of the
genius, originality, and skill of the Dusseldorf Artists.-Albion.
33. Norwegian Scenery, with a Cataract,                       Leu.
34. Mountain Scenery after Rain,                            WVeber.
35. Norwegian Scenery, with Bears,                           Gude.




CATALOGUE.                            29
There are two Landscapes in this collection, which are as fine as anything of the kind that we can call to mind. Both are by an artist
utterly unknown to us, as we do not profess, in common parlance,
to keep the run of the moderns. His name is Gude. No. 35 is the
first, which we would single out as the gem of the whole galleryIt represents " Norwegian Scenery, with the Bears'painted after
nature." The eye looks up a torrent forming a succession of waterfalls, to a mountain of considerable elevation that rises in the
back ground. Heatherly plants and stunted fir trees show the
soil and climate-nor is the rocky scene one of particularly striking character. But the treatment is masterly. The serial prospective, the vapour from the falling water, the quiet tone of
the foreground, the sense of solitude befitting the scene, despite
Bruin, and a pathway running upwards by the stream-here is a
combination of excellence that makes up a very perfect picture.
As for the Bears; they are in the catalogue, and they are in the
picture; but they figure less conspicuously in the latter than
in the former, not sitting palpably for their portraits, but~regularly
tonedin-one sucking his paws, the other eyeing his shadow on
the path, and both mere sketches —so that without the hint you
might almost stumble over them. This admirable work of art is
of large cabinet size. We trust no one will hurry past it.
No. 36 does not hang next to the foregoing, but opposite the door.
It is also by Gude, and is described as "Morning, and Reindeer
IHunters,"-a picture of almost, nay, of quite equal merit. The
scene forcibly reminds us of a familiar view of the Jungfrau from
the Wengern Alp-one often engraved and painted. The masses
of snow and glacier are yet in the shade, whilst the rising sun has
touched with light the very topmost summit of the mountain. The
hunters lie couching behind a rock, and the herd of deer further off
are, like those real Bruins in No. 35, kept properly in their pictorial
places. Ordinary artists give stationary figures in a landscape the
same importance that they have in the spectator's eye when they
move across it. Yet every one knows how long an animal or a
human figure escapes detection amidst wood and rocks whilst
keeping close. One need not have tracked Indians or hunted deer
to be well aware of this. Will not a mouse in your room be unnoticed until it begins to move?  Attention to this point is no
slight merit in a picture, as the short-sighted artist may fancy that
he sacrifices effect by toning down his figures.
Our last remark applies equally to No. 41, a most able and
truthful landscape by Lange, called " Storm in Autumn, with a
Stag Hunt." How many common-place daubers reverse the order,
and paint " Stag Hunts, with a Storm!"' To the three already




30                          CATALOGUE.
mentioned, we must add, with high commendation, No. 31, by A.
Achenbach, " Norwegian Scenery, with Glaciers," a picture full of
sentiment, clothed in gloomy grandeur, appropriate and picturesque.
These four landscapes are alone sufficient to make the exhibition
one of great attraction to the lover of the Arts and to stamp the
Dusseldorf school with originality and merit. There are two other
pictures by Achenbach, that must not be overlooked. No. 80,
" Effect of Sunset in the Forest," and No. 32, " Storm on the Coast
of Sicily." They are both bold and original, and could scarcely
have come off the easel of a mediocre artist. The former is very
clever.' The eye looks into the woods filled and lighted brilliantly
with the hues of an unclouded sun, nearly level, through which, in
some parts of the picture, objects are scarcely perceptible. The
other is a very ambitious portrait of a Stormy Sea, in which an
attempt is made to pourtray it very faithfully. The morning light,
under which we saw it, was so unfavorable, that though not prepossessed in its favor, we should not like to pronounce a positive
opinion'on its merits.-Albion. See the Albion's Remarks, fol. 28.
36. Morning and Reindeer Hunters,                          Gude.
37. Norwegian Mountain Cottage, with Cattle,               Gude.
38. Italian Scenery, with Fisherman,          Oswald lAchenbach.
(Brother of Andreas Achenbach.)
39. Italian Scenery, Sunset,                  Oswald Achenbach.
40. Norwegian Winter Landscape,                             Sall.
41. Storm in Autumn, with a Stag Hunt,                    Lange.
"A Storm in Autumn, with a Stag Hunt," by Lange, is another very
successful: and pleasing picture. The artist has conveyed the impression of a hot, damp wind; with the happiest effect. The low,
thin clouds, are,well painted, and in good keeping with the subject.
— Cour and Enq.
42. Autumnal Storm,                                    Schirmer.
43. Summer Scenery on the Neers, with Fish-pond,    Schirmer.
44. Winter Scenery in the Netherlands,                   Hilgers.




CATALOGUE.                           31
45. People Shipwrecked, Scenery in Normandy,   Miss Bauman.
46. The First Frost,.De Leuw.
47. The City Hall of Ghent, Inauguration of a Burgormaster in.the time of the Spaniards,             Pulian.
This artist is eminent for architectural paintings, and has probably
no equal in Europe. The figures are by Carl Clasen.
THE DUSSELDORF GALLERY~ has been re-arranged and seventeen-new
pictures added. Some of the works which were hung out of sight
have now been placed within view of'the visitor.' A'mong these,'
we notice, with pleasure, the large architectural piece by Pfilian,
which will well repay the close inspection of it, which is now made.
possible. The additions are chiefly landscapes. Of the- composition's
in figure, we were much pleased with " Henry VIII and Anna
Boleyn," by Leutze, which, although not so remarkable in point of
expression as several of his other works, is extremely, agreeable in
color and the clearness and brilliancy of its effect of'light. The
monarch-sits[ upon a raised platform in an oriel window, the lady
being at his feet. The light streams in a broad mass upon the
figures, throwing the colors of the armorial designs in the stained
glass upon the wainscoting beyond.-American Art- Union Bulletin.
48. Malvolio-a Sketch,                                -Schrodter.
49. The Incantation of a Norwegian Soothsayer upon aSick Child,                                    Tidemand.
50. Henry VIII and Anna Boleyn,                           Leutze.
51. A Father's Farewell Blessing,                      Sch,rader.
52. Children Expecting the Pilot, their Father,        Schrader.
53. The Bride Adorning Herself,'                          Boser.
54. The Police Hour,..asenclever.
55. Life in the Cellar,                              Hasenclever.
The figure on the right, with a cigar, is a portrait of the Artist.
56. The Pious Siging  Virgins,'                         Koehler.




32                         CATALOGkE.
57. The Poacher's Death; a story of the Game Laws of
Germany, and a painting of powerful expression, HTubner.
58. The Lovers' Quarrel,                               Hubner.
59. The settled Lawsuit, or a Wine-growing Peasant and
his Pettifogging Lawyer,                        Hubner.
60. Tyroleans at a W~ell, with Cattle,                  Canton.
61i. Tyroleans Travelling,                              canton.
62. Napoleon's White Horse taken by the Prussians after
the Battle of Waterloo; painted after life,     Meister.
63. The King Tiger, painted after life,             Lachenwitz.
65. Hilas,                                          Steinfurth.
66. The Loving Mother,                                   Eybe.
67. The Lute Player,                             Miss Baumnan
68. Trees after Rain,                                   Hulser.
69. Winter Landscape, with a Dead Horse,                Lange.
70. Mountain Scenery,                                    Klein.
71. A Jackass and Sheep,                              Osterhut.
79. Dutch Chateau on a Swamp,                           iilgers.
80. The Puritan and his Daughter,                       Leutze.
81. The Obstructed Well,                               Hubner.
82. The Wood Stealer,                                  Hubner.
84. Surprise by Cossacks,                          Sonderland.
There are many other pictures of merit which we cannot notice particularly. " The Flower Girl," by Boser, is charming in expression
"A Surprise by Cossacks," by Sonderland, is full of genuine confusion, which is not easily put in a picture. " Henry VIII and
Anna Boleyn," by Leutze, is a beautiful bit of coloring,-which




CATALOGUE.                            33
may always be expected from.this artist. Nor can we pass Hilger's " Winter Scenery in the Netherlands," without a word of
commendation. It deserves more. —Cour. and Enq.
85. Too Late for the Mail Coach,                       Sonderland.
86. Northern Mountain Landscape,                             Dahl.
89. A Serenade in Venice,                                  Wodick.
90. Landscape, with Sheep,                               Scheuren.
91. A Castle Invaded by Puritans in the time of Charles I,
Camphausen.
There was another fine picture, of smaller size, admirable as a composition, and full of life-like and startling contrasts, presenting a
scene in the civil war of Charles I, of England, at the moment of
the capture of a Cavalier's stronghold by the Roundheads. There
is history and character in every personage, in every accessory,
even in the days introduced into this picture. It is a study for a
day.-Coour. and Enq.
92. Mornilg Lan'dscape in the'Tyrolese Mountains,  A. Schulten.
93. Scenery of Wendelstein, in the Bavarian Highlands,
A. Schulten.
94. Scenery of Salzburg, ili Tyrol,                           Pose.
95. Scenery of Obersee, in Tyrol,                            Pose.
96. Landscape, with Architecture,                          Pulian.
97. Landscape,                                                Leu.
98. Rudolph of Habsburgh, while Hunting, doing homage
to a Priest carrying the Sacrament-from  Schiller's
Poem,  "Rudolph of Habsburg,"                    Carml Clasen.
99. The Flower Girl,                                        Boser.
100. Vase, Fruit and Flowers,                              Van Oss.
101. Landscape,                                             Lessing.
See remarks to No. 109.
3 




34                           CATALO GUE.
102. WVounded Prisoners Escorted by Puritans, in the time
of Charles I,.                                   Cacmhausen.
103. The Poor Weavers of Silesia and their employers,  HIubner.
104. Norwegian Alpine Scenery,                                  Leu.
105. The Larger Examination of the Student, referred to
in the remarks to Nos. 3,.4 and 5,                flasenclever.
106. Landscape,                                           Hlengsbach.
107. The Holy Child,                                Andreas M/uller.
108. Magdalena,                                                Deyer.
109. Landscape,                                              Lessing.
This landscape, as also No. 101, deserves to be looked at with attention, for Lessing is celebrated no less for his landscapes than for
historical paintings. See Count Raczynski's remarks, folio 45, and
the Courier's criticism, folio 37.
110: Germania, an Allegorical Pkailting, by                 Jfoe/ler.
The struggle of the German people in the year 1848, gave rise to
this compbsition. Germania, the Goddess of Germany, sleeping
on q bear's skin, is awakened by Justice, accompanied by Liberty,
(the latter represented by a young girl,) when with her right hand
she grasps the sword, and with her left lays hold of the Imperial
crown, chasing away the demons of despotism and discord. Mr.
SchadoW', the Director of the Dusseldorf Academy, 4bnsiders this.
painting to be one of the most masterly productions of this school,
and does not believe that there exists an artist in Europe, capable
of reaching the grand and noble style of painting of the old Venetian masters so thoroughly, as kIoehler has done in this work. It
was only just finislied, when Mr. B. purchased it, and during the
fortnight that it was exhibited at -the Academy of Dusseldorf, it
obtained general admiration.
THE DUSSELDORF GALLEt Y.-This collection of paintings, from a school
which has formed, and is forming, some of the ablest artists of the
age, may, without doubt, be considered the most popular of the
three or four which are open to our public. The pleasing nature
of the subjects of the different works, and the general ability and




CATALOGUE.                              35
extreme fidelity with which they are painted, secure them a favorable attention which might be denied to productions of longer
established reputation, but less interesting in their themes, and
mnore ideal in their treatment Some time since we spoke at length
of the merits of some of the prominent works in the collection,
and have since noticed one or two pleasing additions to it; but
there have been recently added nearly fifty works, many of which
are of such excellence as to challenge, at least, passing remark.
Of these, fifteen are oil paintings, and the others drawings. Among
the latter, some are of admirable excellence, and hardly inferior in
interest or skill to some of, the best of the former. We especially
commend to notice, No. 32, "Children's Bacchanals," by Mintrop,
of which we hope to'speak more particularly hereafter.
First among the new paintings is No. 110, " Germania," by Koehler. It is an allegorical representationof the struggles of Germany
in 1848; but whether from the intrinsic interest of the subject, or
the poetic power and mechanical skill of the artist, it wins far
more favor than painted allegories usually do. At the risk of being charged with want of sympathy for the cause of liberty, we
will say that we think the success of the work is owing entirely to
the ability of the painter. A good cause, or even a bad one, may
be aided by a great and stirring picture; but we do not believe that
a bad picture was ever materially helped by the justness of the
sentiment it embodied, or the excellence of the moral it conveyed.
Art has within itself the only elements of success in Art. The
world is full of the stupendous failures of those who thought they
were painting great pictures or writing great poems, because they
treated great subjects, when, in fact, the vast proportions of their
themes could but pigmy their already dwarfish powers; and, on
the other hand, a large number of the greatest creations of. the
pencil and the pen, works at which the world has for hundreds of
years stood in wondering, loving admiration, have lowly themes
and humble subjects. The inspired artist is the only true MIDAS,
whatever he touches turns to gold; but his imitator, to whom the
god has given no power, turns -even gold to lead.
We are even inclined to pay Koelier the compliment of thinking
that he has succeeded, in spite, rather than by reason of his subjects.
Allegories are too' stiff and formal in their proportions to give
pleasure in themselves to us of this day; we- have put them away
along with the starched ruffs and rectangular pleasure grounds
of two hundred and fifty years ago. But let us look at " Germania," simply as a picture, and we shall find that, as has been said
of the allegory of the Faerie Queene, if we do not trouble it, it
will not trouble us.




36                            CATALOGUE.
Germania is a female figure, of noble proportions, who is just
roused from sleep by Justice and Liberty.  She starts from the
bear's skin on which she lay, and her right hand seizes the Imperial
sword, and her left, the crown. Despotism and Discord flee
affrighted from her face. The composition is simple and easy of
comprehension, and the figures are marked with appropriate and
distinctive character. The principal figure is grand indeed, both in
form and expression. She is in the fulness of womanhood, and
has more of the truly heroic in the mould of her face and figure,
than we remember to have seen in any modern painting. Her head
is particularly fine, the features are exceedingly well modelled and
admirably expressive of the motive of the composition, which is
the embodiment of the sentiments of outraged Justice and waking
Freedom. One of the finest points in this figure, is the hand ~vhich
grasps the sword. There is a world of energy and desperate determination in the clutch of its finely formed fingers. The drapery
is exceedingly simple, and grand in effect; unlike that in too many
of the Dusseldorf pictures, it is a drapery only, and not elaborately painted stuffs; it falls in noble and easy folds about the half
risen figure. In color the work is good, very good, but we cannot
forbear wishing that it had been painted with a little fuller, warmer pencil, and that the tone had been a little lower; the gray shadows and half-tints too, help this cold effect of color.
The secondary figures are finely treated-sufficiently prominent
to have their full force in explaining and arousing sympathy with
the sentiment of the composition, and not so much brought forward,
or so elaborated as to divert attention from the principal idea.
The face of Liberty is a happy conception, beautiful in itself, and
doubly beautiful as the appropriate embodiment of a sentiment.
Its nobility, its frankness, its purity and calm happiness, cannot be
regarded without a thrill of delight in the heart of the beholder.
Justice is almost equally truthful, and therefore not equally winning. The inflexible goddess cannot charm, but must be satisfied
with the cold approval awarded by reason; she is an ungrateful
subject even to a sculptor,-doubly so to a painter. Despotism
and discord bear chains, with a torch, their appropriate emblems,
and have their twisted and combined locks bound with serpents.
They are sufficiently hideous to gratify the hatred of the most enthusiastic republican, of whatever color. We must admit'Germania " to be the best specimen of the highest style of Art in this
admirable collection, perhaps the finest in the country; but still it
is difficult for us to yield even to " high art" our preferences for
such charming works as Hasenclever's "Students' Examination,"




CATALOGUE.                            37
Beicker's "Reapers' Return," and Schrodter's " Falstaff and his
Recruits." Of other fine additions to the collection, we shall speak
hereafter. —Cour. and Enq.
THE DUSSELDORF GALLERY.-The attractions of this collection of excellent modern paintings seem ever fresh to the public; indeed we
have never had a gallery here which for so long a time continued
to command public attention, all others having been forgotten
or neglected in the course of a few months, however successful
they were at first. We have already noticed among the fifty additions which have lately been made here, the Germania of Koehler, a work of the first rank in form and composition, but there are
others which are even more pleasing, although less grand in subject.
Among the landscapes, No. 109, by Lessing, must attract attention and win admiration, both for its intrinsic excellence and as being from the pencil of the acknowledged Prince of Dusseldorf
Painters, whose greatest work will soon be exhibited here. This
landscape is composed very simply. An undulating foreground
is shut in by two huge rocky eminences, through a gap in which a
level distance appears. The disposition of the rocks is so perfectly
that of nature, and their texture is so well expressed, that it seems
as if one could study geology among them. The distance is very
charming, and soothes the eye which has rested long upon the
rough foreground, that strives to shut out its quiet beauty. But the
finest portion of the picture is the sky, which is filled with light
clouds, whose position, form, color, and whose motions almost are
expressed with great truth. In the foreground is an oak finely
drawn and colored, but lacking atmosphere in its foliage. This,
however, may be owing to its position in the composition, as it
stands directly before one of the large masses of rock.
No. 111.' A Stag attacked by TVolves, is an excellent picture; in
form particularly good. The combined eagerness and cowardice
of the wolves, is well' expressed: in the Stag, however, we find
not quite enough spirit, and too great an expression of pain. The
snow storm is good, and enhances the effect of the scene. The picture gives us a higher idea of La'chenwitz's powers than his Tiger
and his Parrot and Dog. We would gladly see more of his work.
No. 113, A Landscape, the Konigs-See, by Schulten, is remarkable for the expansive clearness and fluidity of the water. The
shadows of the mountains are very fine indeed.
No. 120. The Duke of Alba and the Countess Catharine of
BRudolstadt. While the Spanish leader was a guest in the castle of
the Countess, his soldiers plundered her retainers. She, on hear



38                            CATALOGUE.
ing of this violation of hospitality, armed her servants, and appearing before the Duke, said to him, " My poor people must have their
own again, or, by Heaven! I will have princely blood for oxen's
blood."  This scene Volkhart has presented with a great deal of
power. The Duke, in half armor, sits at the table, from which his
attention has been called by the Countess, who, with her attendants around her, and her poor retainers at her feet, stands before
him with her hand raised to heaven and a look of firm defiance in
her face. A servant in full armor brings a dish to the Duke on one
hand, while on the other a legal officer presents to him a pen, and a
document for his signature. The composition is pleasing and tells
the story well, and the. expressions of the different personages are
very appropriate. The costume of the picture is excellent: painted with all the care and exactness of the Dusseldorf school. But
the Countess is too carefully dressed, or rather her robes are kept
in too nice order; their stiff, prim look is obtrusively inconsistent
with the motive of the composition.
No. 121. Charles IIJlying after the Battle of;Worcester. Camphausen's best work here. The prince, accompanied by two attendants, is pushing his horse to the top of his speed. They turn to
look upon the lost field and to see the rebel colors floating on the.
battlements behind them, but his gaze is bent upon the vacant
space before him, into which he peers as if he would read there
something of the future with which he is to cope. The setting
sun casts a lurid light upon the scene, in fine keeping with its sentiment. The horses are admirably drawn-full of spirit, as all
Camphausen's horses are.
The drawings in the collection form no insignificant part of it,
and one of them is inferior to no work upon the wall. This is No.
32, Children's Bacchanals, by Mintrop.  It is about four feet in
length, and must contain twenty-five or thirty miniature figures.
It has no story that we can discover, and is merely a scene of
roystering, bacchanalian jollity. Thoioughly bacchanalian as it is,
in spirit, however, it contains nothing gross or repulsive, but is a
charming expression of the exuberant spirit of youth under the
genial influence of the rosy god. Even one or two of the little
figures who are fairly hors de combat, provoke nothing more than
a smile in the spectator, and some of them  who are carried off
gloriously drunk, by others only one degree less glorious, must
excite the unmitigated merriment of the severest censor. The
pompous march of some of the little fellows to the evidently very
drunken music which they wring from wry-necked fifes, is no less
ludicrous.  This composition, though apparently a series of dis



.'CATALOGUE.                            39
connected groups, is still bound together by a unity of feeling,
and unrites in a charming manner the grotesque spirit of German
art with a truly classical subject.
The drawing of the figures, which of course are naked, seems
absolutely perfect, and their varieq attitudes are as easy, as graceful, and as expressive, as it is possible to imagine.  The history
of the artist is somewhat remarkable.  It is not long since he was
an unknown peasant.  Some of the Dusseldorfers, in their w.anderings, stumbled upon him and the drawings which he had made
with charcoal and such other rude inaterials as were within his
reach. His talent-genius rather-was instantly recognised, and
he was secured the opportunities of study at IDusseldorf;-the
results are, such works as the one before us.
Among the drawings are several from the spirited pencil of the
distinguished landscape painter, Achenbach. A Shipwreck, by Jordan, is very fine. Indeed no'visitor should neglect this department of thie Gallery,; hich is excellent in itself, and a novelty in
our exhibitions.-Courier and Enqzuirer.
FINE ARTS. —TEE DUSSELDORF G-ALLERY.-This most attractive lounge
for all lovers of paintings has, within the last week, put on additional attractions. A small room has been opened, adjoining the
large one, which, besides giving increased accommodation, has increased the ventilation for the spectators' comfort.  Several important works have also been hung upon the walls; and to those
we would direct the attention of our city readers, and the many
who pay us a flying summer visit.  The novelty of most pretension is "Germania, an allegorical painting," by Koehler. It is of
colossal size, and of a very high order of merit, harmonious in
coloring, spirited and  correct in drawing, bold, striking  and
original. The principal female figure, Germania, is awakened by
Justice and Liberty, and is in the act of laying her hand on a
sword, whilst the demons of discord and despotism  hastily beat
their retreat. We happen to have a particular dislike to painted
allegories, but must allow that this is one of rare excellence.
Lachenwitz has a large and vigorous animal painting, representing a jaded stag run down by wolves. It is a snow scene, and
should be studied. No. 119 is an admirable landscape by Leu —a
mountain region and a stormy sky, with clouds that literally seem
to scud-across the canvass. In general effect, No. 115, by Lindlar,
much resembles'it. No.-114, "-Tasso reading his -Jerusalem Delivered, before Alphonso II of Ferrara," is also a work, as the Catalogue truly remarks, that promises well for its very youthful




40                          CATALOGUE.
painter, Bewer. Though there is much stiffness in the principal
figure, we must commend the grouping and the distribution of light
and shade. No. 121, by Camphausen, is a very important addition. It represents the flight of Charles II after the battle of
Worcester, and displays to great advantage the painter's undoubted talents. The figures and horses are few in number, and are
more or less foreshortened. Save the pictorial license of representing horses with all their legs off the giound at once, in which
artists will persist, the picture abounds in good points, and has a
right to rank with historical, rather than with animal paintings.
The gloomy abstraction of the youthful monarch, who seems to be
looking forward rather to an unqertain future than to the road beneath his horse's feet, is well contrasted by the looks of his escort,
whose attention is engrossed by the objects immediately about
them. Even the young king's seat on his horse, whether intentionally or otherwise, is unlike that of the Cavaliers, and gives the
impression that he would make a poor figure in cutting his way
through obstacles. A great artist pays attention to these apparently
minor matters.
The introduction of novelty has caused a shifting of place with
many of our old favorites. Some gain by this, and none more than
No. 94, a view of Salzburg, a golden landscape, deserving study
on the part of those who set down coldness and a grey tone as invariable characteristics of the Dusseldorf School. This picture,
together with "The Reapers " and " The Fairies," may serve to
confute any such notion.-Albion.
111. A Stag attacked by Wolves,                        Lacheqnwitz.
112. Landscape,                                          Scheuren.
113. Landscape representing a view  on the Rhine, with
Stoltzenfels, the Castle of the King of Prussia,   Scheuren.
114. Torquato Tasso Reading his Poem, " Jerusalem Delivered," before the Court of Alphonso II, Duke of
Ferrara,                                               Bewver.
The principal persons in this painting, besides Tasso and the Duke,
are behind the latter, his minister, Antonio; on the Duke's left,
his two sisters, Lucretia and Leonora-the one sitting and the other
standing behind her, leaning on her chair-and Cardinal Este, the
brother of the Duke. The painting is one of the first efforts of
this artist, and promises fairly for his future attempts.




CATALOGUE.                          41
115. Landscape, by                                      Lindlar.
116. Italian Scenery,                             Lorenz Clasen.
117. Portrait of a Lady,                               -Koehler.
The same artist who painted Germania.
118. Landscape,                                        Schulten.
This picture represents the Konigs See (King's Lake), near -Berchtesgaden, in Tyrol, near which, on a peninsula, the Chateau of St.
Bartholomew, the summer residence of the King of Bavaria, is situated.
119. A Grand Northern Landscape,                            Leu.
120. The Duke of Alba ahd the Countess Catharine of
Rudolstadt,                                        Volkhart.
At the conclusion of the war between Charles V, and the Protestants of Germany, the Duke of Alba retreated through the small
territory of the countess of.Rudolstadt, to whom the Duke announced himself for a dejeuner. When the guests were seated,
the Countess was informed that the Spanish soldiers were plundering her subjects and driving their cattle away. She immediately
armed all her servants, and said to the Duke: "My poor people
must have their own again, or, by heaven, I will have princely
blood for oxen's blood!" The Duke of Alba ordered immediate
restoration. This is the scene which Volkhart has painted.
121. Charles the II flying after the Battle of Worcester,
Camphauseh.
This painting was much admired at Dusseldorf, and by almost all
the artists, judged to be superior to any of Camphausen's previous
works.
122. Lessing's Great Historical Picture,  l Hzuss before the
Stake," or "The Martyrdom  of [uss."  For description, see page 44.
In placing Lessing's greatest work, and unquestionably one of the grandest
productions of modern art, before the American public, it may create some
surprise that it should have been permitted to find its way across the Atlantic,




42                           CATALOGUE.
The simple fact is, that Mr. Boker, who, during a residence of twenty years at
Dusseldorf, has been well acquainted with Mr. Lessing, obtained his promise
of a preference in the purchase of this picture already at the time of its commencement; and last spring, when it was nearly finished, they finally agreed
upon the price. Thus Mr. B. became the possessor, whilst the picture was yet
uncompleted in the artist's studio, and had not yet undergone the ordeal
of public judgment, in which latter case, the chance of its becoming private.property would undoubtedly have been lost. It was expressly stipulated
with Mr. Lessing, that it should nowhere be exhibited except at Dusseldorf
and during only five days that it was seen there, an advance of ~1,200 stg'
was already offered on the first price. The Augsburg Gazette writes from
Dusseldorf:
"During the few days of public admission to Lessing's Huss, we have had
one continual procession to the Academy, as well from our own city and environs, as also from other towns and places on the Rhine. Nothing was
spoken of but-this picture, and the manner how it wVas canvassed and how it
was-visited and seen, may with great propriety be called. an artistical event.
Lessing's full maturity must be ascribed to his clear and decided objective
knowledge, and he is truly the painter of individualities; his figures are drawn
and colored with the utmost perfection; the blood circulates-they live in
complete- and undisturbed vigor, and are distinguished by the greatest harmony in composition and representation. Still they are no'portraits, but, on
the contrary, they have been formed in his mind and appear on his canvass.
with an originality appertaining to Lessing alone, whose physiological conception is almost without a parallel in the fine arts. With regard to the composition as a whole, it may perhaps be said, that the catastrophe itself, the
moment when Huss stood upon the stake, and the executioners were throwing
their lighted torches upon it, would have been better adapted to express the
passions in their diversified formps; but, at all events, it must. be admitted
that the persons, who constitute this composition, although. their passions be
not fully developed, have been called forth by a study, manly, deep, powerful and original, and for this very reason, the picture will make upon most
beholders an impression far. nore serious and profound than if the burning
act itself had been chosen for its scene.
" In singular contrast with these reflections, is the idea, that this stupendous work has not been preserved to our country, but is destined'for another
people's enjoyment and Cultivation of the fine arts. The expatriation of such
a monument of German talent and German application, must be sincerely
regretted, and although endeavors to retain it are now no longer wanting,
they all come too late, as the picture has finally passed into the possession of
a private gentleman, in New York. Prosaically speaking, any of our cities,
and more particularly Berlin, the capital, -light have derived material advantage'from its acquisition."




.CATALCGUE.                          43
Short Extract from the Life of JItuss.
Johannes Huss, the pioneer of the Lutheran Reformation, was born in the
year 1373, at Hussinecz, in Bohemia, from.whi6h place he derived his name.
In 1389 he entered the University of Prague, and distinguished himself by
application and a moral course of life. He acquired a thorough Theological
education, for his time. In 1398 he commenced public Theological and Philosophical readings. In 1402 he became a preacher at Prague, and by his sermons obtained great influence upon the people, and also upon the students.
Soon afterwards, Queen Sophia, of Bohemia, nominated him her confessor,
in which capacity he had access to the court. About this time, the writings of
Wickliffe became klnown, and the truth with which this reformer laid open
the abuses of the'Catholic Church, became very obvious to Huss, who was
well versed in the Bible; and he now stood up as the most determined herald
of a Reformation which was to recall the degenerated Catholic faith to the
simplicity and purity of original Christianity.
His daring frankness soon raised a powerful opposition against him, and by
degrees his cause became the cause of nations, particularly of the Bohemians
and Germans. Bohemia no longer acknowledged the authority of the Pope,
and Huss found willing hearers when he called the mass, the confessional,
fasting, &c., &c., inventions of ecclesiastical despotism and superstition. Pope
Alexander V at last ordered Huss to appear at Rome, and as he did not follow, the Archbishop of Prague, Sbynko, undertook his immediate prosecution; Huss was forbidden to preach, but did not obey, and when the new Pope,
John XXIII, again cited him to Rome, he appealed to a General Concilium.
The Pope excommunicated him, and laid his interdict upon the city, as long
as Huss remained therein. His adherents augmented, and as he had nothing
more at heart than the propagation of truth, he joyfully accepted the invitation of the Concilium of Constance, and went to defend his faith before the
Theologicians of the principal' nations of Europe. The Emperor Sigismund,
of Germany, guaranteed his personal safety, by letters patent, and after his
arrival at Constance, on 4th November, 1414,. Pope Johln promised him the
same security. But, already, on 28th November, he was arrested after a
private hearing before some Cardinals, in spite of the repeated earnest protestations of the Bohemian Nobles, who had accompanied him by order of King
Winceslaus. At the public hearings on the 7th and 8th June, which took
place in the presence of the German Emperor, his defence was not noticed,
and an unconditional repeal of his heretical tenets demanded from him. But
as Huss remained firm, he was, although he reminded the Emperor of his
safeguard, condemned to death on 6th July, 1415, and burned alive on the
same day, and his ashes thrown into the Rhine. Huss died uttering the celebrated exclamation: "0 Sancta Simplicitas!"




44                           CATALOGUE.
Description of Lessing's Picture.
Upon a slight eminence in the neighborhood of the City of Constance, the
steeples of which are seen, the stake is erected, and around a tree despoiled of
its branches, large bundles of wood and straw are piled up. One of the executioners adds yet some wood, and three others stand ready to lay hold of the
prisoner. The place of execution is surrounded by armed men, in the midst
of whom the banner of Constance is raised. The executioners carry burning
torches for lighting the stake, and quietly awaiting his time, one of them supports himself upon the long pole of the torch, whilst a third one, holding a
rope for binding the prisoner, places his arms akimbo, and looks impatiently
upon Huss, who, in the middle ground, at some little distance from the stake,
has sunk upon his knees to pray. Full of faith and confidence, he looks
towards heaven, the sun, breaking through light clouds, illuminating his
countenance. In the act of kneeling down, the paper cap, upon which three
devils are painted and inscribed, " Arch Heretic," has fallen off his head.
Armed citizens of Constance, of the lowest class, apparelled in divers costumes of the middle age, and provided partly with partisans and partly with
swords, have followed the prisoner.'The furthermost, dressed in the red and
white colors of the town, has lifted the cap from the ground, and is in the act
of replacing it upon the head of Huss; another, leaning forward, his left
hand on his knee, his right hand on his sword, stares scornfully at him fiom
under his grey hat; and a third, in a coat of mail, threatens the praying Huss
with his clenched fist.
Whilst the prisoner and his escort have ascended the hill, the leaders have
remained on the plain, and in the foreground appears on horseback, the staff
of command in his hand, Duke Ludovic, of Bavaria, charged by the Emperor
to superintend the execution. He turns half around to a Bishop, also on
horseback; and besides these personages, the figure of a Cardinal is seen at
the end of the picture. Immediately behind this group, the banner of the
Duke of Bavaria is carried by a young warrior. Between the horses of the
Duke and Bishlop, an old Franciscan Monk looks through his spectacles, full of
curiosity, at Huss. Thus the whole right side of the picture, divided by the
figure of the Martyr, in two parts, represents his opponents; whereas the left
is composed principally of his adherents; and whilst among the former, rough
vulgarity and hate predominate, sorrow and commiseration are expressed on
the other side. At the head of this left group is a young girl looking compassionately at I-uss. She keeps her rosary behind a rock, too shy to show
her feelings. A Bohemian Noble, one of the knights who accompanied
Huss to Constance, prays openly for him; a Burgher of Constance, seems
touched by some humanity, evinces, however, no special interest; but a young
woman near him, contemplates Huss, full of compassion. In the crowd are




CATALOGUE.                            45
yet observed the countenance of an old woman full of eager curiosity, that of
a youth full of pity, a'young girl, children, &c. A Trinitarian -Monk in the
foreground, does not express the deep sensibility of the Augustinian Monk
behind him, who, bowed down, his hand pressed on his breast, looks before
him. Near the stake stands a young Hungarian, also one of those who
accompanied Huss to Constance. The figure of a Bohemian peasant, keeping
his club with his clenched hand, under his arm, and frowning dark and stern
upon the Duke of Bavaria, gives evidence of the passions which were roused
in Bohemia by the execution of Huss, and by which one of the most bloody
and cruel wars known in European History was kindled.
The splendidly executed landscape in the picture appears in the, half light
of an atmosphere, in part obscured by light clouds.
The following is an extract from the Bulletin of the American Art-Union
of the 1st Sept., 1850:
Art and Artists in Emurope.
LESSING, THE AaTIsT.-We have several times mentioned a new painting by
Lessing-Tlze Martyrdom of Helss-which Mir. Boker has purchased for the
Dusseldorf Gallery, in this city. We observe, by accounts in the newspapers,
that this work is now finished, and has been exhibited for a short time in
Germany, where it was considered by many to be the masterpiece of its
author. Its arrival here will be an event of the highest interest in the world
of Art, and will mark, more distinctly than any other which has yet occurred,
the advance of our countrymen in taste and knowledge on this subject.  We
have thought that some notice of the distinguished genius who has produced
this painting, would be acceptable at the present time, and have accordingly
translated from Count Raczynski's " Histoire de l'Art Moderne en Allemagne,"
a few observations respecting him:"The first work which announced the new era that was opening for
painting at Dusseldorf, was Lessing's 2ourning' King and Queen, (Le Couple
Royal en deuil,) whi.ch was exhibited in Berlin, in 1830. Lessing is distinguished by a fortunate union of romanticism with correctness and severity of style,
by a sensibility which affection purifies without enfeebling, by an ardor which
is always moderated by good sense and good taste, and, in fine, by the most
exact harmony of noble and tender emotions, with profound thought. His
talent is infinitely varied-sometirnes he is the author of sombre balladssometimes you observe inspirations which recall the Stanze of Raphael-in
other subjects, you find some resemblance to Robert. He has successfully
attetnpted fresco painting at the country house of Count Spee-he has composed
landscapes of all dimensions, and with a perfection which none of his contem



46                           CATALOGUE.
poraries have surpassed. His Brigyand, with.Lcandscape Sceenery, is a charming
genre picture. In his CUouple Royal, he rises, by the purity of style and the
severity. of attitudes and drawing, to a lofty height. This picture presents a
fact of historical interest. Schadow served as the model for the head of the
king. I have seen, at the engraver's, Ludritz's, at Berlin, the crayon study for
which Schadow sat. How valuable will this drawing become one of these
days! Whoever goes through Dusseldorf without seeing Lessing's drawings
misses the best opportunity of properly studying this admirable genius, who
bestows the highest honor oil that rising school. These drawings give a better
idea of his merit than the small number of oil pictures he has thus far (1836).painted. Besides, these pictuares are dispersed. Among the crayon drawings
of Lessing, I should place in the first rank, that of Huss defending himzself
before his judges; The Fanatic pseeachling in a swood; the.Death of Frecderick
II, lohensstaqefen, two dl'rawigs representing Walter and Hildegfunde, a subject taken from an old German poem. The Husss and the Frederick II char_
acterize, above all the rest, Lessinog's talents, and indicate the road which he
should follow to gain unrivalled renown. The sphere best suited to his genius
and his predispositions, seems to me to be traced by these two drawings, and by
the picture of the Couple Royal en deuil. I shall pause at the Hfuss as presenting the larger and more important composition.
"Huss,- placed in the centre of the hall, defends his cause before the united
body of Cardinals and Bishops; he seems willing to obtain his pardon by
dexterity rather than to grasp it by convincing his adversaries. His physiogfnomy is not among those Which, by conventional contraction, express some
emotion that the dictionary renders by a single word. Here is an undefinable
strife of the passions-a soul sick and weary-fanaticism and doubt-fear and'
obstinacy. *'*  *  *  You are uncertain whether you should pity or condemn, for it is the tumult of the passions which gives to this countenance a
sinister aspect. *  *  *  *  The Council produces a different impression.
The judges are quite at their ease-equitable considerations seem to occupy
them but little-still, they are attentive-they are good listeners-we predict that, free from apprehension and remorse, they will render a judgment
of blood-sophistry does not offend them-they see its weak or pleasant
side. * -5* X'  Lessing shows no party spirit in this work; his design
exhibits the influence neither of religious zeal nor of the passions. I have
thought that I read in it factious fanaticism broken, and the ufipitying injustice of an omnipotent tribunal.  *  *  *  *  The repose of the attributes
contrasts with the mental action and with the lively emotions that are painted
upon the faces. Every physiognomy is conceived with much skill and depth
of thought. Lessing's works do not haughtily pretend to impose upon us particular judgments or emotions. But, they cause such to spring up, and force
us to give ourselves up to them. They do not engrave, if I may so express
myself, exclamation points upon the foreheads, in the open mouths and glis



CATALOGUE.                              47
tening eyes. Wilth Lessing, emotions take a language different from the
academic manifestations, and their effect is surer. *  *  *  *  After having
seen the productions of this artist, it is impossible not to be interested in the
man. Lessing is a tall, fine-looking person. His blond hair, his subdued look,.
his delicate complexion, give a particular charm to his countenance. He has
atimid air, distrustful, dreamy, melancholic. Sadness seems stamped upon
his features, but his smile. has much sweetness. He is not very communicative, and is even taciturn at times. He hears judgments rendered, opposed
entirely to his own opinions, without taking sides. He remains silent-his
cheeks color-his soul has received a shock,. and the impression will not be:
transitory. -Lessing is calm; only upon the surface. His attitude is not bold,
but boldness in him does not lose its rights. Everything which he undertakes 
he does with ardor, and his animation is not confined to painting-it makes
itself apparent, to the same degree, in all his actions. X + * + Everything in
Lessing's position seems to presage happiness and renown. He is esteemed
and cherished as a "master-he is surrounded by the love and regard of all the
artists of Dusseldorf. Many people see in Art no higher name than his, and
I willingly avow myself of this opinion.
"Lessing was born at WVirtemberg, in Silesia, about the year 1808. IIe is
grand-nephew of the great poet of the same name-the author of "PNathan,
the Sage."  His family are in easy circumstances, and his father fills a distinguished place in the magistracy.  A younger brother has already gained distinction as a botanist. Lessing has a taste for'field sports. Alone, with his
gun upon his shoulder, he spends many a morning in the country. He is not
always disposed for work: however, when he gives himself up to it, he is
diligent and attentive.  He is burdened with orders; and if he did not refuse
many, he would have more thian he could execute in his lifetime.  In his relations to his colleagues, he exhibits the greatest kindness of heart, cheerfully
assisting with his advice those who have recourse to him.
"T'l'he following are the principal works of Lessing:-The Ruined Cemetery,
exhibited. in 1828; a cartoon of the Young Tobias the same year; The Mifourning. Kinq and Queenz (das trallernde Koenigs —Paar); about the same time,
the fresco at the chateau of Count Spee, representing the JBattle of Iconium,
with figures a little smaller than life; in 1832, Leonore, from Burger's poem,
which picture belongs to the Prince Royal of Prussia-the figures one-third of
life size; the same year, The Brigand.  This belongs to the painter Sohn,
and has been lithographed. Lessing made. a duplicate of it for Frenkel, the
banker of Berlin. He is occupied now (1836) in painting for the PrinceRoyal, The Fanatic Preaching in a Wood, a composition of great power in
which the passions are more clearly indicated than in the Huss; but I do not
know that the impression it produces is deeper.
"Lessing's landscapes are full of poetry; but I have no desire to see them
on his canvass. Future ages will have good reason to complain of such an ap



1 48                           CATALOGUE.
plication of his talent. The time of a master like Lessing, should be consecrated to greater things. The exhibition of 1834 was not sufficient to change
my opinion. However, I must confess that while I am soon weary of seeing
the landscapes of artists in general, I discover every day a new charm in
those of Lessing. It must be that it is the secret-the mysterious thoughtwhich forms their principal merit, for we cannot well explain what it is which
so irresistibly attracts us.
" In these observations upon Lessing, I shall always believe that I have
neither well nor fully expressed what I feel; and it seems to me, that what I
omit is the very thing which may best characterize his immense talent —best
make the reader comprehend how noble is the moral organization of this
young Artist."
The above is taken from the first volume of Count Raczynski's work. In a
third volume he mentions his visit to Dusseldorf in 1838, where he saw Lessing's Ezzelino, which, however, did not seem to make a favorable impression.
He speaks in terms of high praise of The Entry of the Crusaders into Jerusalem. Since the last mentioned date, Lessing has painted many pictures of
great merit, which we regret we have not the means to enumerate and describe.
His latest production is the Martyrdom of Iluss, the same reformer whose
trial he designed with so much power, and which called forth the enthusiastic
comments of the accomplished critic, whose language we have above in part
attempted to translate.
The following critical remarks of the Press were made at the time, when
Lessing's picture was opened:From the N. Y. Albion.
LESSING'S MARTYRDOM OF Hess.-The Dusseldorf Gallery offers, at this
moment, a new claim to public notice, in addition to those works of sterling,
merit which we have several times commended, and which we honestly
believe have had a direct effect in stimulating and improving American artists,
whilst forming a permanent source of pleasure for all amateurs in our midst,
it may not be amiss to say a few words, as to the manner in which this, the
greatest work of one of the first of modern artists, comes to be exhibited in
New York.
Mr. Boker, of this city, to whom it belongs, resided for twenty years at
Dusseldorf, and was on friendly terms with Lessing. Soon after the "Martyrdom of Huss " was commenced, it was agreed that he should become its
possessor, and whilst still on the easel, the terms were arranged and the bargain was concluded. Some idea of its value may be formed froim the fact that,
though exhibited only five days at Dusseldorf, before its shipment at Rotter




,CATALOGUE.                            49
dam, it drew crowds of curious admirers from -all parts of Germany, and brought
Mr. Boker the offer of $6,000 advance upon the price which he had paid for
it. Delaroches picture of " Napoleon crossing -the Alps " was not generally
appreciated here; let us hope that more taste - will be shown on the present
occasion.
The event here treated on canvass is historical; and one of profound interest
to Protestants. (By the way, what a'pilgrimage to it would have been made
lately in London, if chance had destined it to that city!) Lessing has, we
think, shown much judgment, in not binding the illustrious Martyr to the
stake, and in not giving us his agonies or ecstacies amid the flames. This
climax is left to the spectator's own imagination; and the mind is probably
more affected by the impending event, unseen, though palpably shadowed out,
than it would have been by any attempt at realising it. But let us briefly
describe what is before us. The centre of the picture, then, represents the
crown of a slight eminence, on which the stake is seen prepared, with its
ghastly appurtenances of faggots and executioners.  Not far from it, but
nearer to the eye, John  Iuss is on-his knees, uttering apparently his last
prayer, with a countenance alike' expressive of the earnestness of his faith and
of his reliance on divine support. Clustered about him are some of the
brutalized citizens of Constance who abetted his execution, one of whom is in
the act of replacing on Huss's head that fatal cap, with its symbolical devils
and devilish inscription, which heretics, when executed, were doomed to wear.
On the right are grouped the Duke of Bavaria, presiding over the execution, a
Cardinal, a Bishop, and other persons of their suites, mostly on horseback.
Opposite to these, and beneath the brow of the eminence which is here abrupt,
is seen a numerous assemblage of figures, differing in age, sex, and condition,
and consisting of those who may be' supposed to have shared the tenets of
Russ, or at least to be either grieved or indignant at bhis approaching fate.
The whole, therefore, may be said to contain four groups, the extremes being
respectively filled by the partisans of the Romish Church and of the Protestants, forming two of these groups, and brought into the extreme foregroundwhilst a little more remote and forming the two centre groups, are the'Martyr
and his persecutors at one side, and on the other the attendants at the stake,
awaiting their prey. Behind all are a-rmed men, and a glimpse at the town of
Constance. For the sake of distant' eaders we thus recapitulate. The dimensions of the canvass are about eighteen feet by thirteen.
We must record in few words our sense of the extraordinary merits of this
picture. Taken as a whole" or in detail, it equally challenges examination,
and conveys an immediate sense of its power, its truth, and its beauty; indeed,
in evenness of excellence; we should be at a loss to find its parallel. The
grouping we have described-the drawing is admirably correct, (as it almost
invariably is amongst these studious, persevering men of Dusseldorf,) —thecoloring is grave, as befits the scene, but harmonious' withal-the attitudes of
4




50                           CATALOGGUE.
the many figures are picturesque,. and varied in an unusual degree-and if
Horace Vernet or Landseer might bave surpassed Lessing in the forehand of
the Duke's horse, which is very prominent, neither of these equestrian artists
could have seated the rider more naturally, or have given us a choicer  t of
their skill than may be noticed in the foreshortened horse of the Bishop and
the attitude of the dignitary himself.
But we cannot devote space to point out the many beauties of this great
work, which: appearst to us to be the very triumph of the modern'school of art.
"The Old Masters"-of the Italian school especially-in their master-pieces,
run fairly away from the moderns, in: sublimity, ideality, and imagination.
They painted for the few congenial spirits who had access to their works, or
who appreciated and rewarded their skill.  The artists of our day paint for a
constantly increasing public, in whose eyes truthfulness- is thei alpha and
omega of art. Perhaps the old school was too ideal-perhaps the modern
school is too material.  At least, Lessing's "Martyrdom  of John EHuss" requires no connoisseurship to appreciate its charms, no high-flown imagination
to comprehend its force. We look at:it, and are at once impressed. In somne
such' manner we fancy that we n ight be impressed by a description of the
same scene' from Macaulay's. pen-if Macaulay were to lay himself out, and
work it up into a written picture.
It is said: that the: Custom: House authorities have practically' abandoned
their claim: for duty on this imported work of art
F:rom the. Literary World.
LERSNG'  MARITYRDJOM orFHuss.-Mr.. Boker's Gallery' of the D'usseldcrf
Academy, has re-opened with the addition of the great Painting by Lessing,
of the Martyrdom of'iuss. When we consider the distinguished European
rank of this artist, his position in Germany, the peculiar election of this subject, which combines the finest studies with long cherished associations: of the
artist, and that, with the exception of a very brief public view at IDusseldorf,
this is the first exhibition of a mozt important production. in: the history of
modern art; we may certainly congratulate New York on the compliment to
its tastes in the present possession of this work. Some time since, our citizens
had the first opportunity of looking. upon an important original painting by
Delaroche, a. duplicate of which is just now engaging the attention of the Londoners. These are novel facts, of less consequence, undoubtedly, than our own
achievements. in art, but they still bear a due proportion to the: latter —the
taste to appreciate implyibg in a certain degree the power to execute. To
Mir. Boker's personal zeal in behalf of art, and to his acquaintance with M. Lessing, we are indebted for this privilege. The opening exhibition was held on
Tuesday evening of last week, to which a select circle of the Press and gerntlemen immediately connected with art were invited.




CATALOGUE.                              51
The painting exhibits that moment of the memorable historic scene of the
city of Constance, when Huss, the pure-minded martyr, approaches the place
of execution. A stake is erected on a hill which Huss has already ascended,
and where he has fallen on his knees praying. Attired in a simple black gown
he is looking heavenward, his countenance withdrawn from  any immediate
impressions of the scene in an expression of angelic trust and repose. The
attitude is natural, the whole look full of simplicity; the purest spirit of Protestantism, calm reliance, the clear outlook of faith.  There seems nothing extraordinary in the conduct of the man; he goes calmly to death as to slumber.
Even so historians tell us Huss yielded up his spirit. This quality of naturalness runs through the whole composition, in the grouping, the detail, the individual character. It is the finished result of a thorough mastery of art, and a
fusion of the historical and individual elements in the one prevailing tone of
the piece. The effect is that of utter harmony. As the spectator looks from
one figure to another, there are no awkward intervals to supply, or forced
contrasts to get over: the gradation is skilful and proportionate. Each figure
has its appropriate place, its relative importance. The immediate action is
represented by one of the throng replacing from above, the paper cap painted
with devils, which has fallen from the head of the martyr, and by the ghastly
presence of the two executioners on either side of the stake, who in the smoke
assume a supernatural impish appearance, the more as they aredwarfed by the
necessities of the picture. We feel that these figures could have been dispensed with, and that they were better away. Theydistract the attention,
and are at variance with the literalness everywhere predominant. The paper
cap seems to us an intrusion-as the longer we look at the picture, the more
we fasten upon its biographical, rather than its historical interest. It is Huss
whom we see, in ineffable purity and pathos, and Huss alone. The rest, like
ourselves, are but spectators-and they stand out as clearly to view. On our
right are the treacherous Catholic party, the politicians of Church and State,
and the abettors of Rome. We see in them, for the most part, curiosity or
indifference,-a cruelty which is a matter of course business of life, for an
heretical occasion of this kind. On the other side of the picture the scene is
softened by a young girl bending towards Huss. A nobleman, a burgher, age
and youth give dignity to the crowd, while a wild revolutionary reformer presages the Bohemian wars to come. The grouping here, as throughout, is
artistic. The foremost of the secondary figures is the Duke Ludovic, of
Bavaria, on horseback, the superintendent of the execution, who turns to a
bishop, also on horseback. The horse and his rider are in bold relief. The
accessories of banners, the spires of the town, and the clouded sky over the
whole, are delicately managed. In the color, which partakes of the prevailing atmosphere of German art, in the separation of strong passion from the
scene, and in the absence of deeply individualized portraits, we note the differences between the modern and the old school of Italy. This stirs feeling,
but those appeal more nearly to the life. The test of the two is the increase




52                           CATALOGUE.
of knowledge and admiration which the study of the Old Masters brings along
with it, as compared with the immediate and entire impression of the whole
in this picture. There is no room left for the imagination beyond. We do
not grow up into it as into the Titians and Raphaels. It tells its story well,
the judgment approves, the taste responds; but it is not the great style of art,
in which not merely a particular phase of character is represented, good for
that occasion, like the groupings on the stage, but humanity itself in the individual, with its story behind andits tale to come, sits for the picture.
From the Home Journal.
LESSING'S MARTYRDO' OF Huss. —In owing to one individual the bringing of
this picture over the water, we owe no trifling debt, as a nation eager to overtake other nations in acquaintance with the Arts. The Dusseldorf Gallery,
which we owe to Mr. Boker, was a long stride in the American chase after
knowledge. Lessing's picture, which is now on exhibition, is a grand and new
field of study for artists and lovers of the Arts, and none who care to know
what painting is, in its highest sense, can lose the opportunity of becoming
possessed with all its spirit and influence, by frequent and studious visits. We
shall take the time to write of this glorious picture with the leisure and care
which it properly demands. At present, we stop with commending it to every
one's admiring frequentation.
From the Evening Post.
LESSING'S MARTYRDOM OF Huss.-Last evening Mr. Boker invited his friends
and many connoisseurs of the city, to a private view of Lessing's Martyrdom
of Huss, which now constitutes one of the collection called the Dusseldorf
Gallery. The general feeling, on the first look at it, was surprise at the masterly treatment of the subject, and the superlative beauty of the execution.
The pile at which the victim is to meet his fate, is judiciously placed in the
obscurity of the back-ground, where the grim guards stand with the lighted
torches, for the roasting of a man, even though he be a martyr, is, notwithstanding Titian's St. Lawrence on a gridiron, and other eminent examples, an
affair in whichhorror overpowers every other emotion. The death which
Huss is to die, appears only in shadowy, though certain prospect..He is
represented in an attitude of religious supplication, with his hands clasped and
his eyes raised to heaven in hope and serene confidence. Behind him is a
group of men bearing halberds and other arms, in which the artist, by the
skilful disposition of the figures and the variety of their garb and personal
appearance, has contrived to give the idea of a vast multitude. One of these




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figures is in the act of placing, on the head of Huss, the cap appointed to be
worn by those who, in those times, were sentenced to the stake. On tlie right
in the foreground, is a group of those who direct the execution, persons bearing civil and ecclesiastical offices —whose countenances express only cold
severity, or ihdifference, or curiosity.'On the left is another group, in which
sympathy with the victim is manifested in various degrees and forms. The
drawing is admirable, the expression unexaggerated, the finish wonderfully
perfect, and the coloring agreeable, but subdued to a grave sobriety, well
suited to the solemnity of the subject. The picture is the work of a man of
genius, who has mastered all the resources of art.
From the New York Independent.
THE MARTYRDOM OF Huss.-A little more than four hundred years have
rolled away since the forerunner of the Reformation in Germany was burnt at
the stake, near the beautiful city of Constance, and his ashes thrown into the
Rhine. Now, at the seat of art endowed by royal patronage,. on the banks of
that same Rhine, the great historical painter of Germany reproduces that
scene of martyrdom, and the citizens of Dusseldorf, and of many a neighboring town and village, in one continual procession, crowd to the academy to
gaze upon the Bohemian hero,' hom the artist has imaged forth in the
majesty of the Christian faith. Dukes, nobles, bishops, knights, monks,
soldiers and executioners, all seem alike insignificant and execrable in presence
of the noble form that kneels in sight of the stake, and calmly looks to heaven
for succor. This great painting-which European critics have pronounced
Lessing's master-piece-is now on exhibition at the Dusseldorf Gallery in
this city. It was procured for this gallery by the personal influence and enterprise of the proprietor, Mr. Boker, a gentleman who is devoting his fortune to
the cultivation of art in his adopted country. This is, perhaps, the greatest
work of art ever exhibited in the United States; The German press lamented
that such a monument of native talent should be expatriated. It is in itself
a history, more powerful in its testimony against Rome than volumes od
learned argument. ~By avoiding the'horror of the final catastrophe, the artist
has heightened the moral effect. Had he represented Huss already in the
flames, the impression might have been revolting; now the picture invites to
study, and the spectator carries out the scene to its sad conclusion.
Upon a hill to the left, the stake is seen piled with wood and straw for the
sacrifice. There stand the executioners, like fiends of darkness in the gleam of
their torches. On the right is the pompous procession of dukes, cardinals and
bishops, who have halted to view the execution from a distance, while the
prisoner and his escort of rough soldiers are ascending the hill. Midway up
the eminence, and directly facing the stake, Huss is kneeling in prayer, his
serene countenance contrasting finely with the contempt and hatred visible




54                            CATALOGUE.
in the princes and ecclesiastics, and the fierce and diabolical expression of the
rabble soldiery. In the foreground, on the left, is a little company of the
followers of Huss, whose countenances are marked with sorrow and commiseration, while here and there one seems ready to revenge the martyr's death.
It is a scene to be studied. The perfection of drawing and coloring, the completeness of outline, and the minuteness of detail, grow upon the vision by
repeated inspection. But it is not till by frequent visits one has mastered the
conception of the painter, and begun to lose the picture in the reality, that the
full moral impression of the scene can be felt. Then the soul will rise on that
martyr's prayer, and feel itself nerved for that martyr's death. Then joy and
gratitude will swell the heart that the martyr-fires of other generations have
made this, ourtime, radiant with the light of the gospel.
We commend this great work alike to the artist and to the Christian.  The
proprietor does not seek'emolument from its exhibition. He has conferred a
favor on the public by procuring such a master-piece for their inspection. His
efforts for the advance of art should find an appreciation which shall at least
compensate for the griping exactions of the custom house. But this painting,
procured at such a cost, is not the only attraction of the Dusseldorf Gallery.
Germania, Desdemona, the Reapers, the Flower Girl, the Fairies, the Magi, the
Weavers of Silesia, and many other pieces of exquisite beauty still adorn its
walls. The refining influence of such a gallery is inestimable. One stints his
soul, who suffers business-cares or social pleasures to debar him from its soft
and hallowed atmosphere.
From the Bulletin of the American Art Union.
LESSING'S MARTYRDOM OF Huss.-The exhibition of this picture is the most
important event that has occurred in our little Art-world, since the publication: of the last regular number of the Bulletin. We have been somewhat amused
to observe the manner in which it has been received by some of the artists,
and those journalists who express their views. The artists admired it at the
opening of the exhibition, and did not hesitate to say so in a more decided
manner than they usually adopt respecting foreign pictures which are brought
to New York. By degrees, however, they seemed to change their minds, and
to think it was not so great a work after all.
A journal, which, in its observations upon such matters, is generally judicious
and intelligent, spoke of this picture at first as "one of the finest of all
contemporary works of art;" while in a second criticism, at no great interval
of time, it characterized it as a genre picture, in which Lessing had " resorted
for success to mere savoir faire, technical knowledge, and manual dexterity,
no doubt from a: consciousness of his inability to depict the morale of the
subject by the representation of human passion and character." The public,
meanwhile, —not the public which believes that the highest object of Art is




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imitation, and its most successful achievement the painting of the counterfeit
hammer on the old Museum staircase,-but the cultivated and enlightened
public which values works of Art for the ideas they embody, is greatly moved
and afected by the calm grandeur of this picture. We confess we are among
those who are thus influenced, and we think we see a great deal more in it
than the representation of mere externalities. We fully believe that the
various characters of;the persons introduced, and the mode in which the scene
that was supposed to be passing before their eyes would influence each one,
occupied Lessing's attention vastly more than the technical parts.
That these different emotions and passions are distinctly shown, while at the:same time, they are not made violent or obtrusive, is to us a striking proof,
both of his genius as an artist, and his wisdom as a student of human nature.
Is it not true that the feelings of the spectators of that sad procession to the
stake, are perfectly well discriminated?  It seems to us that what is passing
in their minds is as clearly revealed as if we had interrogated each one of
them.  We read in unmistakable language, the haughty indifference of the
prelates, the vulgar curiosity of the Franciscan friar, Duke Ludovic's love of
parade, the partisan fury of the burghers, the brutal ferocity of the executioners, the Bohemian noble's affectionate veneration for his master, the detestation
of tyranny that tightens the frowning rustic's grasp of his club, the tremulous
sympathy of the woman who is telling her beads, and the passage of divine
truth into the heart of the monk, who stands with his head bowed upon his
breast, as if it were bent thus by the first breath of. that mighty wind, which
later, in the days of Luther, should shake Europe to its centre. At the same
tine, these various emotions are not represented by violent gestures or contotted features, and this, as we have said, shows Lessing's accurate study of
human nature. We must remember that this martyrdom is but the consummation of a purpose that must have been fully understood some time before.
The treachery and cruelty of luss's enemies were not then for the first time
announced to the people. This burning at the stake was to have been expected
after his arrest some months previously, and the Emperor's violation of his
plighted word. The indignation of the people, therefore, instead of exhibiting
itself in an outburst of fury, would naturally have appeared in the deep stern
silence in which Lessing has represented it, and which to us, is far more
impressive and solemn than the greatest intensity of dramatic action. We
know not how it is with others, but the awful stillness which seems to pervade
this scene, and is only disturbed by the movement of the wretch who places
the cap of mockery on the head of the victim, brings before our minds the
horror of the martyrdom, and the glory of the martyr, more vividly than could
have been done by the most highly wrought display of passion.
It is true that Lessing has treatd all this with wonderful technical skill.
The balance of the groups-the individual forms-the contrast and harmony
of colors-the refleicted lights-the minutest truths of Chiaroscuro united with




5 6                          CATALOGUE.
the greatest breadth of general effect; all these qualities extort praise from
his most exacting critics. But it does not follow that, simply because he is
so successful in technical matters, he must, therefore, have expended upon
them all his thought and study, and neglected the intellectual conception of
the event. His great practice may have given such dexterity to his hand,
and precision to his eye, that the attainment of this particular excellence was
not to him a very difficult matter. We fear that some of those who thus
criticise him, infer his exclusive and laborious attention to these technical
points, from a knowledge of how much toil and thought any approach to his
excellence would cost them. They are so taken up with his skill in the rendering of textures and materials, that they have no eyes for anything beyond
these matters. They bestow all their observation upon these points, and neglect his general conception of the event..On the other hand, to the common
spectator, all this dexterity seems -a matter of course. Everything looks so
simple and natural to such a person, that he never thinks.of inquiring how it
is done, but goes straight forward to the passions and emotions-rthe act and
the actors represented. All these technical excellencies make the canvass look
so much the less like a painting, to his eyes. He forgets the vehicle-the
brushes and the paint-pots, and remembers nothing but Huss, his friends and
his enemies. If this be a merit of a work of art, that it throws into the soul
a direct and powerful realization of the idea sought to be represented, without
reminding it of the means by which this effect is produced, or the personal
peculiarities of its author, then is the Huss a great picture, for such, we believe, is the mode in which it influences a majority of its most intelligent spectators.
A great deal has been written upon the necessity of generalization in the
treatment of historical subjects, and of avoiding minute and careful imitation
ill the rendering of mere externalities. It is certainly true that the ideal conception of the work is the chief point to be regarded. The safe rule seems to
be to shun all such particular and minute imitations as weaken the force of
the dominant idea. But modern artists have greater liberties than those of
ancient times in this respect. In the first place, those symbols and conventionalisms have gone out of use, which, in the earlier ages, greatly assisted
painters in conveying their thoughts. For instance, the portion of a broken
wheel, beside the figure of St. Catherine, conveyed a sufficient notion of the
martyrdom of that saint, and enabled the artist to devote himself entirely to
the expression of the countenance. Such a symbol would be much less significant now. It must be remembered also, that a modern painter has a body
of spectators much more instructed in the details of ancient life and manners
than were the people who criticised Raphael and Michael Angelo.
That exactness in details which would have seemed pedantic and trivial to
spectators in their time, is perfectly familiar to us, and we should be more disturbed by its absence than its introduction into a piece. That ignorance of
historical facts which permitted the Dutch to look with delight and edifica



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tion upon Rembrandt's representation of Scriptural personages ill Turkish costumes, and a display of the actors in the most affecting scenes in the life of
the Saviour, dressed in full breeches, with tobacco pipes twisted in their hatbands, has been succeeded by a most careful and exact knowledge upon these
points. And so it is with the minutiae of life in the middle ages. The multiplication of books and prints has made us almost as familiar with the costume
and equipments of that day as of our own. We see nothing quaint or overworked, therefore, in the details of Lessing's picture; nothing, which, in our
opinion, detracts from the grandeur and pathos of the main idea.
In these observations upon the lVartyrdom of Hiss, we have no intention of
applying to it the extravagant praise'which we understand some persons
have ascribed to it. To speak of it as the best picture in the world is manifestly absurd. Mr. Lessing, we presume, would be himself greatly offended
at such preposterous praise, Without drawing any comparisons between it
and other works, we will be content' to say for the present, that it is a most
admirable production; that we feel deeply grateful to the distinguished artist
for the delight we have, experienced in studying it, and that, if we should
ever attempt to criticise it, it would be with the greatest diffidence on our
own part, and a profound respect for Mr. Lessing's genius and professional
learning.
From the N. Y. Tribune.
LxSSING's MARTYRDOM OF Huss.-This noble picture was exhibited on
Tuesday evening to a party of eminent artists and literary men, preparatory
to the public exhibition which commenced Thursday morning. There was
but one feeling in the minds of all present, and that was of the extremest
delight, not only in the commanding worth of the picture, but in the fact that
we have now in America one of the finest of all contemporary Works of Art;
for Lessing ranks among the first of Modern Artists, as the German School
stands very near the head of Modern Art. He shares the palm with Kaulbach
in Germany-whose most striking difference from Lessing is a more daring
and poetic imagination.
Of the present picture we can scarce do more than indicate the value.
Description we leave aside, for it is something all must see and study. It
represents the martyrdom of John Huss, the famed early German Reformer,
and the artist seizes the moment when the victim kneels for the last time, and
a grim fanatic is just holding the cap over his head, which shall shut the sun
from his eyes forever.
The picture is finely balanced. The group upon the right is composed of
the foes of the Martyr, represented in the figures of a Duke, a Cardinal, a
Friar, and the fanatical crowd.  That on the left is a mass of Bohemian
peasants, including one or two Priests-one of whom, with bent head, clearly




58                          CATALOGUE.
meditates if this sacrifice be altogether of sweet savor to the Lord. In the
depth of the picture is the Stake, surrounded by executioners, in whom human
sympathy is quite extinguished, and who await their turn with the consequential
composure of scene-shifters at the wing.
The composition of this work is most thoroughly digested and artistic. Although the scene is full of tragical suggestions, the eye is constantly drawn to
Huss, its centre, and is there refreshed and consoled. This is in kind the same
artistic success as in Raphael's Transfiguration, in which the serene sweetness
of Christ ceaselessly seduces the eye from the foreground of horror and
disease. It is a success moreover, oftener sought than obtained, and in which
the artist most surely approves himself a master.
The great success of the work is in this, that it produces in the spectator's
mind the just impression of the scene; and we ascertain that from the group
of Bohemian sympathisers, in whose wonderings, profound and perplexed
sorrow, we find mirrored our own emotion, after a long and fascinated look into
the tranquility of the picture. It has so far, too, the character of a classical
work-that it is broad and composed and tender in the unity of its impression.
Neither the eye nor the mind are distracted. The story is told simply and
yet not barely. The emotions that wait upon the tale have their proper place,
and no more than their proper prominence in the telling. But Lessing has
achieved one success in this work greater than those of Delaroche and the
French Artists, who are of a similar school. For, while the Frenchmen are
content with an admirable representation of their incident, and punctiliously
perfect the adjuncts and details, yet have no more in their pictures than existed
in the words of the story, the Germans-thanks to their subtler imaginations
and more catholic intellect-make the picture tell what the story implies, and
so elevate it from being a mere illustration of History or Poetry into the dignity
of a distinct work of Art.
Bnt we must pause in mid career; satisfied if we send our readers with
greater desire to a rare enjoyment, and the more satisfied that we can promise
them at no distant day, a careful and adequate review of the Dusseldorf
Gallery.
The following is the commencement of the careful and accurate review,
promised by the Tribune in.the preceding article:
TiE FINE ARTS.-The JDusseldorf School-Lessing's Martyrdom of Huss —
We owe our readers an apology for the delay in fulfilling our promise of a
critical examination of Lessing's Martyrdom  of Huss, and the Dusseldorf
School of Painting-a delay occasioned by the crowd of more imperative but
not more congenial duties. In the meantime, we do not understand that the
Dusseldorf exhibition or Lessing's picture have fallen off in popularity; and'
perhaps the great familiarity of the public with the subjects we are about to




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discuss, may give to our somewhat tardy remarks a degree of usefulness to
which they could not otherwise attain.
First a word as to the position of the Dusseldorf School in existing Art.
There are three distinct Schools of Painting in Europe-namely, the German,
the French and the English. Each is marked by the social, political, religious
and metaphysical characteristics of its nation.
English Art, after floundering through a period of a hundred years, and producing various kinds of painting, in Reynolds, Gainesborough, Moreland and
Benjamin West, has finally developed a distinct, and, in some respects, an original school. -As examples of originality, Constable, Landseer and Turner
stand foremost, though fine talent has also been busily engaged in other directions than theirs-not, however, with an equal degree of originality, but always
with skill and considerable success. The decided characteristics of this school
are rustic and rural, as in the pictures of genre, from Gainsborough down to
Collins, and in the landscapes of Turner, Constable, Copely, Fielding and
others. At the present time, the English school is full of talent, brought out
and developed mainly by the competition for the Royal commission to decorate
the new House of Parliament. Prior to that commission, and since the death
of West, the most distinguished painters of historic or epic composition, were
Haydon, Mulready, Leslie, Eastlake, Etty and Maclise; but now there are some
dozen young men whose works take rank in the higher walks of Art, and who
are endowed with a sincere love of grand historic representation. We may
confidently look for great things, within the next fifty years, from these artists
and their successors in the English school.
While England has been painting out its rural sentiment, until she has just
now commenced anew career, France has founded and matured a school whose
characteristic traits result in a great measure from her social and political
changes. We have not the space to enter into an exposition of French Art
prior to the revolution of 1793. Suffice it to say, that previous artists, with
few exceptions, had only pandered to the lewdness which was an essential element in the corrupt courts of French monarchs; and not, until, in political
France, the words Virtue and Brotherhood were substituted for God and
Faith, did those artists appear to whom she is now indebted for her great
school. David was the bold and successful pioneer in heroic and classic Art
in France. To him is due the honor of having rescued it Ifrom the degraded
condition in which it had long been sunken. A genuine republican at heart,
inspired by love of the ideal, seeing that gorgeous dream of liberty which for a
moment seemed about to be realized, utterly dispelled, and only an infernal
chaos remaining in its place, he naturally turned for subjects of his pencil to
the classic histories of Greece and Rome. David's works and influence were
the foundation of the school. Then came Gros, Leopold Robert, Gericault,
Vernet, De la Roche, Ingres, Papety, Couture, Diaz, Troyons, Decamps, and
others. At this day, if the French school is not generally recognised as foremost in Europe, it is undeniably the second, the German being first. We must




60                           CATALOGUE.
say, however, that the reasons for giving the palm to Germany, if carefully
explained, might not be found altogether sufficient.
We have thus succinctly referred to the English and French schools, in order not'only to locate them where they respectively belong, but because we
may have occasion to refer to special works belonging to one or the other.
The German school is distinct and peculiar, first, for its metaphysical character, and then because it has no middle term, no medium range of character
and treatment. It either deals in imitation of downright vulgar externality,
or it soars away into the heaven of the ideal until it becomes divine. The
great chiefs of ideal art in this school are Overbeck, Cornelius and Kaulbach.
Overbeck leads the reproduction of the Christian or religious style, and
adopts as his models the works of Pintirichio, Perugino, and Raphael. Cornelius is in another walk; he is one of the most successful followers of Michael
Angelo, proof enough of his genius and claim to renown. Adopting the manner of that great master, he pursues his method of treatment in every essential particular, still preserving the originality of his own powerful mind.
Midway, between these men stands Kaulbach, as it were the pivot and centre
of the art of this age, having burst the trammels of conventional thought,
and, from his own internal fire and force, moulded forms which breathe of
the divinity of God and of the humanity of man, in the Jerusalem, the Huns,
and the Babel,.all monuments of immortal fame. Having accomplished all
that the other two are capable of in their own ways, he has still in reserve
his own idiosyncracy which stamps his works and leaves on the mind of their
beholders the indisputable impression of original genius,
As every comet has its tail, these illustrious men have their host of followers. They are the ideal artists of Germany-the artists in whom the
poetic and reflective elements of character predominate over the sensous and
perceptive. Their works are the results of an incredible amount of artistic
erudition; every symbol necessary to their perfection is fraught with meaning, and every figure towers from the beautiful into the sublime. Simple
anecdote is not enough for them, though rendered with an epigrammatic power
which may move you to laughter, perhaps to tears. It is not their aim to do
either of these things. The apprehension of what is in their works is an intellectual operation. The perception necessary to appreciate mere form or
color, pathos or wit, is baffled, and the unfortunate beholder inquires, perhaps
fruitlessly, what it all means.
The other extreme of the German school is engaged in representing still
life, landscape scenery, domestic and rural life, historical events, and so forth,
but in a totally different spirit -and manner. Here the artist, while employing
such a combination of objects and forms as he judges fittest to convey his
idea to the mind of the beholder, aims at the most exact imitation and the
greatest possible identity with nature in respect of forms, local tints, textures
and qualities,*of every. kind. And this strict and detailed exactness of imitation he deems necessary to the perfection of his composition.




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The technical term used to distinguish this sort of painting is genre, a
French word which literally signifies kind, genus. It is used as an adjective
by artists in reference. both to subjects and their mode of treatment. Any
subject whose interest is local, or simply human, that is to say, not connected
with any great historical event or principle, is genre; any treatment which
attempts the perfectly literal reproduction of form, texture and quality, is
genre.
Now, the school at Dusseldorf is before all others a genre school. Not that
there are no exceptions to this remark. In Dusseldorf we meet with artists
who choose subjects capable only of severe and classic treatment, but they
are comparatively few. The Munich school is foremost in Germany in respect
of ideal historic art. And as Kaulbach is pre-eminently its chief, so Lessing
stands at the head of the genre school, at Dusseldorf. And now we are ready
to examine the large work of the latter artist, whose title we have placed at
the head of our observations; let us see what is the value of Lessing's Martyrdom of Huss.
While from instinctive judgment and common consent, it seems to be well
determined that certain subjects -shall be treated classically and ideally, the
line of demarcation is not so nicely drawn as to designate clearly those which
are capable of genre treatment only. Without presuming, then, to decide
whether Lessing is here felicitous in the choice of his subject, or whether,
having chosen it, he can be justified for treating it in a tame and common-place
manner, we may state, that it has been received with some disappointment by
many persons, artists and connoiseurs, whose judgment has been formed by
long familiarity with Art, and a sincere enthusiasm for Nature. But in the
throng who visit the " Dusseldorf Gallery" such critics are comparatively few,
and there are many who regard this as the greatest picture they ever saw,
notwithstanding they have seen the works of Signorelli, Raphael and Michael
Angelo. Others even believe it to be not only the largest picture, but the
only large picture ever painted; and we were not altogether surprised at
overhearing, as we did some time since, a young lady of high fashion and distinguished name reply to the question, whether she visited the Dusseldorf
collection of pictures, and how she liked them; "0  yes! I go always twice a
week, and often four times. They are the most beautiful paintings I ever
saw; they are so elaborate and done so carefully. And then brother, who has
been in Europe, says they would be very good even there. They are exceedingly well drawn and colored, particularly a fruit piece; and the leaves of
some plants are very fine, and also a Holy Family; and then it's an excellent
idea to have glass over them,.it gives them the appearance of being so highly
finished. I really find'them  exquisite, and the more I think of them, the
more I am puzzled to understand how Mr. Dusseldorf ever found the time
and patience to do them all so well."
Praise or blame on this polished model is alike easy; nor, were we disposed
to find fault, should we err in saying: The left arm of the young nobleman




62                           CATALOGUE.
who leans with clasped hands upon the bank in the foreground, looks to be
some six inches longer than the right one;-the attitude of the Duke is
unmeaning; the horse is mean in character, stiff in position, and appears
incapable of moving or breathing; the right hand of the capuchin monk is ugly
in form and badly expressed; his feet also are not well executed; the executioners about the stake are not upon the proper plane to make them relatively
so small as represented;-there must have been a great number of small fires
or one very large one, to fill the whole picture so with smoke, and so on. But
we leave this class' of errors to those who have a penchant for exposing them.
There are more than enough small good things in the picture to over-balance
a thousand bad ones. For instance, in the group of Bohemian Hussites, the
head and person of the Burgomaster and two or three other heads, are splendid
studies from nature; the head and garb of the capuchin monk are finely
rendered, while the man about to place the cap upon the martyr's head is
cruel and almost grand. And so throughout the work there are portions that
none-but a finely organized imitative faculty could have produced. But these
things are not now to our purpose.  What we wish to inquire into is:
Whether the artist-has treated his subject from the highest point of intellectual
conception compatible with the historic interest of the event.
Recurring to the life of this martyr, and particularly to the last stern scene of
his heroic career, a conception of its various features'naturally rises upon the imagination. The central figure is that of Huss himself. We behold him approaching the dreadful end of his life and labors, nerved and sustained by a faith which
deprives death of every terror —so inspired by what he believes to be the
divinest truth, that the features of his manly face are radiant with godlike
courage, and the fibres of his perishable form defy all tortures that physical
agents can inflict.  He dies, too, not merely for truth, but for mankind:; and
in that hour he feels that his is the sympathy of the future, and the grateful
recognition of coming generations, for whose liberties he is now about to make
a last sacrifice. *And thus he stands the type of all that is noble and vigorous
in manhood, exalted by religious enthusiasm into divine rather than human
proportions. Around him throng forms of hatred and affection, devilish
-eagerness and patient resignation, cruel delight and despairing sorrow, enemies
guarding their enemy and friends attending their friend and teacher to
the stake. As this scene depicts itself in the mind, we think little of mere
external things. What affects us is human passion, human fate, human triumph.
Beholding the peasants who have loved and believed and followed Iuss, we
do not curiously mark the rude quaintness of their costume; we see eyes red
with tears of anguish-lips pale with pity-hands clasped in the agony of
despair, whose pangs are keener than death. The executioner and officials of
Church and State are there, but their velvets, and ermines, and plumed, and
horses and trappings are not observed, so absorbedly does the mind gaze at
the hateful exultation that. glowers in the faces of some, and the thoughtfill,
hardened fanaticism that petrifies the hearts of others. But mainly we behold




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the martyr-his eye glowing, and his step firm and noble. And over all is
cast the hushed dread of almost breathless despair and expectation.
Such, we think, ought to be the scope and spirit of a picture representing
the martyrdom of Huss. If the work is to be at all worthy of the subject,
it must be made so by bringing out its spiritual and ideal characteristics. But
such is not the treatment adopted by' Mr. Lessing. Instead of it he has given
prominence to the common-place in character, while his most careful efforts
have been devoted to the imitation of mere external qualities of nature. This
is apparent on the most cursory observation, if it be intelligent.
Apart from the characters, the grouping is methodically calculated; but
while it betrays no particular want of invention, it discovers the absence of
an earnest purpose in the artist's mind. Indeed, it hardly seems to have a
better aim than to display his knowledge of certain technicalities of art. For
instance, the Duke on horseback, who is: quite as conspicuous as Huss himself, seems to be there mainly to -show his costume; his head is turned over
the left: shoulder, as if he wished to exhibit the action of the muscles of the
neck. The arms: and hands are also arranged as if to prove how many different things their owner could do at once. The hands clasp the baton and
bridle reins immovably, and, for some unknown reason, the horse wants the
capacity of motion. Both the horse and rider appear not as having anything
to do with the fate of the martyr, but as forms that might fill so much space
on the canvass without being an anachronism. The cardinal and capuchin monk
in this grolip are such literal studies from common nature as to seem caricatures of their classes. The figure representing the chief executioner is perhaps the most successful one in the picture, certainly the only one which has
the expression of determined masculine character. There is a coarse ferocity
in his movement-which is finely conceived, and entirely appropriate. The
menacing figure upon his left is too trivial for the dignity of the subject, and
so meanly conceived as really to offend good taste. Mr. Lessing being a Protestant, of course has depicted those who represent the Church and the
bigotry of the times with enough vulgarity and obesity to arouse contempt
and disgust.
The left hand group of the picture has still less spirit in it than the right,
and if that wants appropriateness of character and expression. this is still
more deficient.  The figures, with two or three exceptions, seem poising by
the hour for the artist to paint the draperies. Their faces exhibit'almost an
utter want of emotion or a sombreness of expression that belongs' to their
temperament, and is in no wise increased or diminished by the event. Even
the women have no beauty; nor is emotion, the only thing that could compensate for its absence, to be found. There are, however, occasional intimations
of deep feeling, as if the artist felt vaguely in his own heart, what were its
outward symbol in attitude and gesture. Bnt whether this be so, or whether
he is without the knowledge, is not easily decided. Still, one thing is sure;
just when you hope to be brought into sympathy with the martyr, that which




64                            CATALOGUE.
allured you for an instant is outbalanced by something purely material, and
your feeling and pleasure are dissipated. For example, in the foreground of
the picture, belonging to the group of Hussites, though'not with it, is Jthe
figure of a partially kneeling woman. Her back is towards you, so that the
face is not seen; but there is a degree of intentness in the position which indicates an interest' in the martyr, and you perceive that in the shadow of the
rock before her she counts the beads of her rosary. Just as this act is about
to identify her in your mind with the martyr, your eye is arrested by her high
colored and prominent costume, and the sentiment which as an accessory, is
not only beautiful but relevant, becomes lost in the representation of a red
jacket and bluish green skirt. And so throughout the picture, wherever the
artist essays to depict sentiment or emotion in features, gesture or position, he
fails mainly through the intervention of some purely material object.  More
than anything else in the picture, the martyr himself is a failure in this respect,
because he has the materiality of the whole picture to contend against. The
character and expression of the face is that of an emasculated priest. It is
wanting in both manliness and religious fervor. It wears the pallor of ill
health, and though some may discover a divine enthusiasm in its expression,
we confess our inability to perceive in it anything more or higher than the
fanaticism of imbecility.
Thus much for the artist's conception of the subject. Considered mechanically as regards the composition, the work is' strikingly defective. The law
which decides whether a composition is good or bad, technically speaking, is
that the incident once chosen, and the principal character decided upon, every
accessory object introduced must heighten and in no case lessen the interest
belonging to the chief actor. In the picture before us, the Duke, his horse,
the cardinal, the capuchin With his bared head and sandaled feet, the kneeling
woman, the young nobleman, the burgomaster, the shepherds,:all remain
more, much more vividly in the memory than Huss himself, and for the reason that they are all excellent, but inappropriate imitations of external nature, while the hero, being in the middle plane of the picture, is incapable of
such literal treatment, and has not sufficient ideal force in his presence to outweigh these bald reproductions of mere externality.
We have spoken of the school which Mr. Boker's collection represents as a
genre school. Lessing is at the head of it, and his fMartyrdom of Huss is a
genre picture of remarkable excellenceI It is evident that the subject is not
necessarily of that class, and consequently this is a genre picture, simply because the artist has made it such by his treatment. In it he has resorted for
success to mere savoirfaire, technical knowledge and manual dexterity, no
doubt from a consciousness of his inability to depict the morale of the subjest by the representation of human passion and character. And though
Lessing is at the head of this school, he cannot be considered as first among
living artists, even in his own line. In the bold and actual rendering of outward nature, Paul de la Roche is incomparably his superior, as witness the




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Napoleon Crossing the Alps, while, for fearless execution of light and shadow,
form and texture, Lessing cannot be named with Horace Vernet. And thus
there would be no great difficulty in multiplying instances, from both the
French and English schools, wherein this kind of treatment is found of higher
excellence than in the work before us, but our limits forbid.
The disadvantages of this method of painting are, that the more literally
every object is imitated, the more completely is the sense satisfied, and all
means of appeal to the imagination destroyed. Still, even with this method
a sufficient interest may be excited for the heart if not for the imagination, by
fine and appropriate delineation of human expression. And in a subject
where no particular sympathy is appealed to, accurate imitation of satin,
velvet, cloth, furs and other objects of still life, under varied effect of light
and shade and color, may sometimes produce very pleasing sensations. However, when the subject is fraught with deep interest, not only in the history of
its time, but in succeeding centuries, and the artist, failing to depict the
dominant passions and emotions of the event, essays whether in fulfilment of
his original design; or as a mere disguise for his failure, to satisfy the eye by
literalness of imitation, his work cannot be considered as great or successful
There are in this collection several pictures superior to the Huss, for the
reason that in it the mere execution is everywhere paramount to the nature
and import of the event itself.
It was our intention to discuss in some detail the other works of this exhibition, but our limits are already exhausted, and we must reserve that part of
the subject for another article, in which we shall also consider the good and
bad effects of the Dusseldorf school upon artists and the public in general.
Upon this second article of the Tribune, the Evenilng Post of 15th Feb.,
1851, had the following answer, which is introduced with these remarks:
LESSING'S PICTURE.-On the first page of this paper, will be found an answer
to a criticism which appeared lately in a morning paper, on Lessiug's noble
picture of the "Martyrdom of Huss."  It was written by an intelligent and
highly accomplishled countryman of the painter, and translated for this paper.
Our readers will find it well worthy of perusal. It is full of knowledge of
art, and of ingenious and often profound reflection upon the philosophy of art,
and ably vindicates the school to which Lessing belongs, from the animadversions of those who would have a modern.painting constructed on the essential
principles of the French tragedies of the age of Louis XIV.
LESSING'S PICTURE OF THE MARTYRDOM OF HUSS.
To the Editors of the Evening Post.
In sending you the following for insertion in your paper, I take for granted
that your interest for art is too general, and your regard for an art-loving pub5




66                           CATALOGUE.
lie, which has visited Lessing's "Martyrdom of Huss" with increasing delight,
too great to allow you to refuse the publication of a defence against the negative criticism of this painting, which appeared in the Tribune of January 17lth.
The first hasty glance at this criticism, agreeably surprised' me; it seemed
to enter more deeply into the nature of the thing, than is usually the case
here in artistic reports. I found, however, on a close examination, that this
depth was only an apparent one, and that the artistic knowledge employed,
seems but a machinery, by means of which to disparage this-picture in the
estimation of: the public. Had this criticism convinced me of the worthlessness of the picture, I should have remained silent, and regretted, for myself,
that the thousands who have been edified by this painting, should have been
led by. this criticism, to doubt the truth of the first impression made by a work
of art on an impartial mind, without having gained by this, anything for the
improvement of their taste; and that, through this criticism, other thousands
might be prevented from taking any notice of the work. But'as the criticism,
in my conviction, is a false one, I feel it to be my duty to pronounce my opinion
publicly, and to make it good by the following:
The critic calls Lessing's painting " a genre picture,' and, in conclusion, says:
"that in it he has resorted for success to mere savoir:faire, technical knowledge, and manual dexterity, no doubt from a consciousness of his inability to
depict the morale of the subject by representation of human passion and character,'" etc. This assertion I pronounce false; and the proofs on which it relies are merely doctrinal, are laid down from a one-sided point of view. The
accusation on the ground of doctrinal theory of art, would not be of so much
consequence here, if the doctrine itself were not an obsolete one; a doctrine
which has already been annulled by the modern philosophy of art, and what
is still more important for the practice, by a succession of new developments
of art. When a critic, from an antiquated point of view, draws only that into
the limits of his judgment, which existed up to the tinie when this point of
view was historically authorized, the judgment may still turn out a sensible
one; but as soon as he goes further, and presumes to judge, from his obsolete
point of view, works of the more modern, and even the newest developments,
then chance alone can preserve his judgment from falsehood and injustice.
Such a protecting chance, however, has not come to the aid of the depreciator
of the " Martyrdom of Hussy' He has judged falsely and unjustly.
But I must be more special in my accusation. The depreciator of Lessing's
picture is wanting in thorough acquaintance with "existing art," of which he
lays down some principles with a view to determine the position of the Dusseldorf school. Apart from his defective characterizing of several modern
schools of painting, he says: "there are three distinct schools in Europe, viz:
the German, the French, and the English;" thus naming the English school as
an essential one, while even in what he gays that it has accomplished, it is
hardly worth mentioning. This, however, might be pardoned, if he had named
and characterized as the fourth, the very important modern Belgian school-a




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school in which the works of Wappers, Keyzer, Gallait, Van Roog, Bi~fve, de
Caisne, Geirnaert, etc., leave all the English painters of the modern school, as
it is at present, and, perhaps, as he predicts that it willbe in future, far behind
them, and which are distinguished from the German, and still more from the
French school, by original composition and excellent coloring. Is the critic
not acquainted with this school? or was it difficult to give its works a place in
one of the two doctrinal classes, into which he crowds such a variety? And
even if I refrain from censuring him for not naming, besides the English school,
also the Danish, (Eckersberg, Land, Hoyer, Muller, etc.,) the modern Dutch,
(Krusemann, Eckhout, Braekleer, etc.,) and others, I cannot, as regards this
bold decision, repress my surprise at finding so little thorough knowledge of
the works of modern art.
The critic, in the course of his theoretical introduction, endeavors to bring
to the depreciation of Lessing's picture, all the artistic productions of modern
painting in Germany, under merely the two heads; " genre" and ideal art; and,
in so doing, says of this German art: "It either deals in imitation of downright vulgar externality, or it soars away into the heaven of the ideal, until it
becomes divine." IEere he gives evidence to every one who has seen even a
single one of the many exhibitions of paintings in Germany, that he knows
nothing of the productions of the modern German schools, or has at least not
beheld them with a practised eye, or even' with the impartial eye of the initiated. For there are thousands of paintings of modern German art, -which
divide a one-sided classification of these works of art a thousand fold, as, among
themselves, they form a succession of a thousand intermediate stages between
the two doctrinal divisions of the critic, which he styles'" genre" and " ideal art."
For a better comprehension of the matter, we may look at the apparent
height from which the late attempt to depreciate the picture.of Lessing, and
the painter's rank among the other' artists of Germany, and then, also, that
which he represents as the infinite depth of the grade of art, on which he places
Lessing's execution in.the "Martyrdom of IH!uss," viz;, the "genre."
The grade of art, which he represents as so infinitely high, requires asceticism in artistic representation, as regards the natural forms and colors of the
objects depicted, and the natural accessories of a subject-in reality; abstract
painting, which admits of no faithful imitation of nature, but whose forms and
colors, though they: have their basis in nature, are yet reduced or invented traditionally or conventionally, or'by individual. caprice or fancy. In the history
of art, we find two classes of this abstract painting: the one, which is historically authorized to be what it is; the other, whose existence is entirely unauthorized, because, with the consciousness of wrong,- it still keeps up its
error.
Among the abstract paintings of modern times which are historically
authorized, we find first, those which, in reference to the architectural purpose
they serve, bear an ornamental. character-fresco paintings for example, among
others. But, besides these, this class includes the paintings of Overbeck,




68                           CATALOGUE.
Deeger, Hess, and other artists, who, on the road to the reformation of long
ruined art, have been spell-bound in the gardens of the studies of older, Italian
and German masters, either by their individual tendency to a child-like faith
in the church traditions of former centuries, which they found represented in
the pictures of saints by those older masters, or by the want of genial power
td extricate themselves from the magic circle of those studies.
We must also regard those pictures as historically authorized, which belong
to the period of the studies and development of Cornelius and his contemporary
pupils, not excepting several pictures of Kaulbach. These artists, however,
with more or less success, have passed beyond this grade of art, to the effort,
after a more concrete representation of the ideal in that life-like truth to nature which Kaulbach already commands, in a certain degree, and Lessing
completely. Finally, we may call historically authorized, the abstract paintings of the Frenchman David and his schools. For they developed themselves
in strong contrast to the stiff, formal style in art prevalent at that period, even
though they could only bring out this contrast in exaggerated theatre gestures,
and colored imitation of abstractly treated sculptures of early times. From
this tendency, too, the greater part of the modern French painters have freed
themselves in a high degree, without, however, having equalled, as yet, their
own masters-Delaroche and Vernet, and the modern Belgian masters, who
have hastened on before them, and still less have they been able to overtake
Lessing.
Among the productions in modern abstract painting, not historically authorized, such as the depreciator of Lessing's picture would have, we reckon, all
those modern hypocritical church and convent pictures, and pictures of saints
with all the form-types and abstract symbolical and allegorical elements sanctioned by the traditions of the church, which were either painted for the sake
of earning a living, by painters of no superior genius, as altar-pieces, or procession-banners for the retrogade Romish Church party, or those painted by
Schadow, and such of his inferior pupils of the Dusseldorf Academy, as are
influenced by him  and his ecclesiastical friends-painted fiom inability to
comprehend the efforts made by Lessing, Kaulbach, and Delaroche, to attain
the union of reality and ideality. They put in.the place of nature, warm
with life, obsolete, traditional, reduced and castrated forms, ostensibly to
bring to view, by so doing, higher transcendental ideas, but in reality, to put,
in this disguise, which appears to the uncultivated mass like a spiritual existence, unnatural forms or artificial colors, in the place of theQideas which their
spiritual poverty does not know how to assemble and to shape with any truth
to nature. Moreover, that abstract painting is unauthorized, which has its
origin, with uncreative, yet reflecting painters, in the struggle to satisfy those
makers of theories, who limp on behind the acting time-in the case before
us, the so-called "ideal historical pictures," without truth to nature, which
they leave to the "low artist-soul of the genr:e."




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This is what our critic of Lessing's picture would have. But while these
mannerists, who leave every contemplative beholder unmoved, either scorn,
because they think themselves too enlightened to malie their representations
after the old ecclesiastical type, or while the latter can by no means be
matched to their fantastic subjects, they produce only theatrically-exaggerated
figures, such as the critic desires for the principle subject of the picture-for
Huss —and such as he.praises so lavishly in the theatrical'figure of the executioner, which I should justly blame, if such a representation were not exactly suited to the public performance of an executioner.
As regards the definition of genre-painting, the one given by Lessing's
deprecator is partly vague, partly one-sided, and, therefore, by no means
applicable to all pictures which are called genre pictures, and least so to Lessing's Huss.
All that can be gathered as a definition of the "genre," from the infinite
variety of real geqnre-pictures in existence-including the older Dutch, and
the modern English, French and German-is this: that it represents the conditions of nature, and in it of man. This representation of the conditions has
reached, in modern times, a degree of perfection in which the union of the
real and ideal is the artistic aim. But that which the critic classes as genre
must exhibit a great deal that real art rejects, even in the genre, and a little
of which his fancy detects in Lessing's painting, so as to make it, at any risk,
a genre picture.  A picture which is in reality a genre-painting, need not be
lowered by imaginary faults in drawing, (they have probably been pointed
out to the critic by some individuals entirely ignorant of perspective,) by mistaking the dust for the smoke of the wood around the stake, etc., to prove it
to be a genre-picture.  It is not only from the eye of the Virgin Mary, from
the midst of the saints, from the features of Marcus Curtius, that the divine
beams out; it beams also from the dew-drops on the petals of flowers, it rocks
on the ocean billows; in breathes in the dark depths of the forest, and is present even in the lowliest cottage; it passes through streets and over narrow
paths, and can make a temple of every market-place. But the divine does not
always beam from the distorted features of the exalted fanatic, when "his'
eye is glowing," nor from  the head, conceitedly thrown back, of a so-called
hero, who, does not cease, even in his last hour, to be an egotistical braggart-it
beams nbt from  him, even though "his step is firm  and noble," but it -may
beam from the plain, unassuming features of a great, devout spirit, who is
entirely indifferent at being the subject of an exhibition-as Lessing represents his Russ.'And, altogether, the critic's doctrine of estimating the height
of art according to the degree of abstraction from fidelity to nature in representation, is an antiquated one, and entirely insufficient for the progress of art.
Are not the paintings of Robert, Becker, Mayer, etc., which represent rural,
social, and domestic conditions, classic, that is, ever beautiful works of art,
although they are genre-pictures; and those landscapes and sea pieces by
Achenbach, Calarme, Lessmg, etc., which represent the life of nature in grand




70                            CATALOGUE.
scenes of destruction, or the'warring of the elements-they are dramatic and
epic pictures of nature, and no gendre-pictures, truly as they reflect nature in
every detail. These, as well as the political-social pictures of Hubuer, and
the humorous ones Schrodter, have, although, according. to the critic, they
ought to be genre-pictures, infinitely more artistic worth than the abstract
ideal pictures of Schadow, although in these all the demands are satisfied
which the critic makes in a picture " of the higher kind."  But the critic does
not seem to recognise the great importance of the "genre" for the progressive
development of modern art. Every one acquainted with the history of art
will know that "genre," in its followers, as a peculiar species of painting, is a
fruit of the reformation of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and that
only by being freed from the abstract forms and ecclesiastical types, it was
rendered possible for art to represent life and nature for their own sake. The
Dutch made the beginning at that period; modern times have continued to
build on this foundation, earnestly striving for the union of the ideal and truth
to nature.
Thus the genre has modelled a new species of art, whose subject and essential meaning requires a representation of the union of reality and ideality.
This is historical painting-the youngest independent formation of modern
art. The critic of Lessing's historical picture does not know this; what he
calls " ideal historical art" (as the "pre-eminent chief" of which, he designates
Kaulbach, while in reality it was still Cornelius,) is only the one stage of
transition which is comprehended in the effort to attain the reality of an
already powerfully-developed ideality; on which stage the excellent Cornelius
has already been surpassed by Kaulbach, if not in classicality of drawing, yet
in the characteristic, and in poetical flight, and particularly in a more natural
coloring.
In grandeur of conception, Kaulbach stands, undeniably, above Lessing;
but, on the other hand, the latter is much beforehand in that which Kaulbach
strives zealously to attain in every new picture: depth of expression of character and mind, poetical harmony of coloring, within the limits of the
strictest truth to nature, and, at all times, the ideal breath of a life-like warmth,
which touches us so directly:in all beautiful scenery. Although these last
named merits, after which Kaulbach is striving, are chief features of Lessing's
Huss, the critic not only does not recognise them, but even seeks in them the
elements of his blame in the depreciation of the picture. Of coloring he apparently knows nothing, without seeming to be aware of it, to judge from his
endeavors at finding fault with the coloring of the praying girl's costume in
the foreground of the picture, to the effect of which it is alone owing that Lessing has succeeded in not making the black color of Huss's garment-an historical necessity of the picture, which is so very difficult to balance in just the
position it occupies-disturb the harmony of coloring in the whole. Such
errors make us cease to wonder that the critic does not feel the poetry of coloring in this excellent painting, and in beholding it, has not been drawn into the




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sultry atmosphere, into the total effect of the general coloring, so well adapted
to the action represented, nor is he sensible of this sultriness of nature in the
picture, which seems to have been long thirsting for dew and refreshing rains,
etc.
But the critic does not desire, in a classical picture, such truth to nature.
Very well, he must then dispense with all modern art. For modern art requires, in fact, for its representations, ideas which bear their reality in themselves, and a reality which is penetrated by, and filled with, the spirit of a
higher idea. But these required ideas are to be found in history, particularly
in more modern timnes, partly in the wide contrasts between the political and
social developments of the middle ages and those of later years, partly in
those moments in history, which are of importance to the inner religions, or
the fieer philosophical spiritual life of nations. Lessing's Huss presents to us
the idea of the contrast between the old stationary church, and the young mind
pressing onward, but not yet arrived at outward power. If, then, the clearly
conceived ideas of modern times are already found rising to the surface in
history, this history, again, is just that reality required for modern art. But
at the bottom there lies still the union of reality and ideality, so long sought
after by art; an ideality which can never be realized for an abstract logical,
nor tr'anscendental art —an ideality, for which, art, in its representations, needs
no imaginary typical forms, no reduced nature, no symbolical and allegorical
elements, which leave the beholder cold, because a cold calculation has produced them, and no unnatural psychological coloring dwelling on the overexcited, diseased retina of the eye of an abstract painter.  For modern art,
as nourished by Lessing, Kaulbach, etc., has the capacity of serving as the
expression of the required ideas and great agitations of the times and their
spirit, in spite of all resistance from  decaying churches, rotten monarchies,
and false theoretical school systems.  Lessing's Huss is such an expression.
Not an artificial system, nor an esta'lished doctrine, but the fact of the existence of modern works of art, justifies me in the assertion, that the nature of
the newest form of art, historical painting —and Lessing's Huss is an historical
picture-is the solution of the problem: "to represent the spirit of the timzes
in its full, contcrete, sensual existence;" but not after the manner of ages long gone
by. To solve this newest problem of art, artistic representation cannot and
must not fall back upon the means of an unprogressing and surpassed period;
the artist must grasp important events from the higher standard of the present, comprehend them with its spiritual development, and represent them
with all the technical perfection afforded by the means of our dclay, not
althbou,, but because, it is thus possible to reflect the truth of nature.
This demand of the times has been in a high degree satisfied by Lessing in
his EHuss. It is true, we might imagine a grander picture, if, for its conception, drawing and coloring, we will only let our fancy mould Lessing and
Iaulbach together, into one single individual artist.  But it is not such a
higAlest degree of the union of reality and ideality that the critic demands; he




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calls for an abstract ideality, which has been attempted in thousands of pictures, that leave us unimpressed, and we undervalue the positively excellent
side of the picture, namely, its historical truth in the representation of the
event, and the historical characters concerned in it, and the truth to nature
and the noble conception with which they are depicted in the painting. But
the ideality which the picture has just been proved to contain, the critic is not
able to discover. Instead of this, he sets his view of the figure of Huss
before us, which has such a common-place appearance, that we could show
him hundreds of such heroes in mediocre pictures, on the stage, and in the
circus. With all this, his ideal of luss is so unhistorical, that it is entirely
useless for an historical picture. The critic may convince himself of this by
an attentive study of history. Lessing's Huss is depicted with historical
truth, nobly, but humanly. Huss was no buskined theatre-hero, nor a fanatic,
like the troop of ilussites who were followers of Ziska; and at his dying
day, through his sufferings in prison, his body, which was always delicate, was
very much weakened; not so his spirit. He died calm and resigned, without
enacting, by unnecessary exhibition, a drama before the multitule. A more
accurate study of history will, moreover, convince the critic, that Lessing has
represented the Palatine Ludwig, of Bavaria-this shallow royal fop, and
miserable Jack Ketch of the holy fathers of the Council-in a manner not to
be equalled, as the type of the Emperor Sigismund, and all the royal representatives of the German Empire at that time, without injuring the msthetic
sense of the beholder. What the critic blames in this, is in reality the greatest praise for Lessing.  It is the same with the representatives of the Romisi
church; that they formed such a contrast to the Hussites, those powerfvul
Slavic natures, full of grief and suppressed wrath, is an historical truth, and
an artistic beauty of the picture.
I will enter into no further particulars about the merits of this painting, as
I shall notice it more connectedly, and without the restraint of controversy.
Nor do I care to answer to the trivial, and not even correct fault-finding of
the critic. In reading those passages, I was reminded of a scene which I
once witnessed when Cornelius was still occupied with his " Last Judgment"
at Munich. A  stranger visited the picture three days in succession, and
always looked only at the lower part of the colossal angel with the sword of
justice. When, at length, Cornelius addressed him in a friendly -way, the
stranger askedl him: "If. one of the great toes of the angel were not a little
too small."  Cornelius examined it, and really found it too short by half a
straw's width; he smilingly corrected the fault with one stroke of the brush, 
and then said, still smiling, to the gentleman:  "But now take a look at the   I
picture, if you please?'1"
R.& KoaERNEm




CATALOGUE.'3
In the Express of 12th May, 1851, appeared the following extract from the
preceding article of Dr. K6erner, for the general reader, leaving out the more
profound reflections upon the philosophy of art contained in the original:
"Among the productions in modern abstract painting, which the progress of
art no longer recognises, are the so-called ideal-historical pictures, without
truth to nature, which latter they leave to the " Genre.". Such an ideal-historical picture without truth to nature and history is, what the depreciator of
Lessing would have. But these mannerists, who think themselves enlightened,
leave every contemplative beholder unmoved, because, instead of nature warm
with life, they paint traditional and obsolete forms, ostensibly to bring to view
higher transcendental ideas, appearing in their disguise to the uncultivated
mass like a spiritual existence, but the plain fact is, that they are incapable to
assemble and to shape their unnatural subjects and colors with any truth to
nature, and they consequently produce only fantastic and theatrically exaggerated figures, such as the critic in the Tribune desires for the principal subject
of the picture, for Huss-and such as he praises so lavishly in the figure and
theatrical attitude of one of the executioners, which might justly be blamed,
if they were not exactly suited to the public performance of such a person.
" It is not alone from the eyes of the Virgin Mary, from the midst of the
Saints, from the features of Marcus Curtius, that the divine beams out; it
beams also from the dew-drops on the petals of flowers, it rocks on the ocean
billows, and breathes in the dark depths of the forest. But the divine does not
always beam from the distorted features of the exalted fanatic, when'his eye
is glowing,' nor from the head, conceitedly thrown back, of a so-called hero,
even though his step is'firm and noble,' but it may beam from the plain, unassuming features of a great, devout spirit, who is entirely indifferent at being
the subject of an exhibition, and it does beam from -the countenance of Huss,
such as Lessing has represented it.
"The critic's doctrine of estimating the height of art according to its abstraction from fidelity to nature,' is altogether an antiquated one, and entirely insufficient for the progress of art. He does not seem to recognise the great importance of Genre painting for the progressive development of modern art.
Everybody acquainted with the history of art will know that as a peculiar
species of painting,' Genre' is a fruit of the reformation of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, and that only by being freed from abstract and antiquated forms and trammels, it was rendered possible for art, to paint life and
nature for their own sake. Thus the " Genre" has modelled a new branch of
painting, the subject and essential meaning of which requires the representation of reality and ideality united. This is historical painting-the youngest
independent formation of modern art. The critic of Lessing's picture does not
know this. For grandness of- conception, Kaulbach stands undeniably above
Lessing; but the latter is far ahead in that which Kaulbach strives zealously
to attain in every new picture; depth of expression of character and mind,




'74                          CATALOGUE.
poetical harmony of coloring, within the limits of the strictest truth to nature,
and, at all times, the ideal breath of a life-like warmth, which touches us so
directly in all beautiful scenery. Although these last named merits are chief
features of Lessing's Huss, the critic is not only not aware of them, but even
seeks in them the elements of his blame in the depreciation of the picture. Of
coloring he apparently knows nothing, to judge from his endeavors to find fault
with the coloring of the praying girl's costume in the foreground of the picture, to the very effect of which it is owing, that Lessing has so admirably succeeded in not making the black color of Huss's garment-an historical necessity, and extremely difficult to balance in just the position it occupies-disturb
the harmony of the whole. Such errors make us cease to wonder that the
critic does not feel the poetry of coloring in this noble picture, and in contemplating it, has not been drawn into its total effect, so inimitably adapted to the
action represented, nor is he at all sensible of the sultriness of nature prevailing in the picture, which seems to have been long thirsting for dew and refreshing rain. But the critic does not want, in a classical painting, such truth
to nature. Very well, he must then dispense with allmodern art, for modern
art requires, in fact, for its representation, ideas which bear their reality in
themselves, and are penetrated with a higher spirit. Lessing's Huss presents
the idea of the contrast between the old stationary church, and the young
mind pressing onward, but not yet arrived at outward power. If, then, the
clearly conceived ideas of modern times are found rising to the surface in history, this, history is precisely that reality, required for modern art, which, as
practised and nourished by Lessing, Kaulbach and others, has the capacity of
serving as the expression of the times and their spirit. Lessing's Huss is consequently an historical picture, because it represents the spirit of the time in its
full, concrete, sensual existence, and not after the manner of ages long gone by.
To solve this newest problem of art, the artist cannot and must not fall back
upon a surpassed period, but, on the contrary, he must grasp important events
from the higher standard of the present, comprehend them in their spiritual
development, and paint them with all the technical perfection afforded by the
means of our day, not although, but because the truth of nature is thus reflected.
This requisite of modern art has been in a high degree satisfied in Lessing's
Huss, by its historical truth, and by the simple yet exquisitely harmonious
conception with which this truth has been depicted. But this the critic is not
able to discover, and instead of it he sets his view of the figure of Huss before
us, which has such a common-place appearance, that we could show him numbers of such heroes, in mediocre pictures, on the stage and in the circus. Moreover, his ideal of Huss is so unhistorical, that it is entirely useless for an historical painting. The critic may convince himself of this by an attentive perusal of history.  Lessing's Huss is traced with historical truth, nobly but humanly. Huss was no buskined theatre-hero, nor a fanatic, like the troop of
Hussites who were followers of Ziska, and at his dying day, through his suf



CATALOGUE.                              75
ferings'in. prison, his body, always'delicate, was much emaciated. But his
spirit remained firm, and he died calm and resigned, without enacting by unnecessary exultation, a drama before the multitude.
"A more accurate study of history will further convince the critic, that
Lessing has drawn the Palatine Ludwig, this shallow royal fop anad Jack Ketch
of the Holy fathers of the Council, in a manner not to be surpassed, as the type
of the Emperor Sigismund and the royal representatives of the German Empire at that time, without injuring the Aesthetic sense of the beholder; and what
the critic blames, is in reality the greatest praise for Lessing. It is the same
with the representatives of the Roman Church; that they form such a contrast
to the Hussites, those powerful Slavic natures, full of grief and suppressed
wrath, is an historical truth and an artistic beauty of the picture. I will enter
into no further particulars about its merits, as I shall notice it more connectedly
hereafter without the restraint of controversy,-nor do I care to answer to the
trivial and not even correct fault-finding of the drawing, by which I was reminded of a scene, which I once witnessed, when Cornelius was still occupied
in Munich with his "Last Judgment."  A stranger visited the picture several
days in succession, and always looked at the lower part of the Colossal Angel
with the sword of justice. When at length Cornelius addressed him in a
friendly manner, the stranger asked him, " if one of the great toes of the Angel was not a little too small."  Cornelius examined it, and really found it too
short by half a straw's width; he smilingly corrected the fault with one stroke
of the brush and then said, still smiling, to the gentleman: " but now do me
the favor to take a look at the picture."                           D.
The following critical dissertation has not appeared in the newspapers.  It
was originally written in German, by Mr. Moras, of New York, and has been
translated into English, for insertion into the present series of catalogues:
THE MAaTYRDOM OF Huss.-Lessing had, already previous to this noble work,
selected the Great Bohemian Reformer as the subject of a masterly painting';
in praise of which much has been said and written.  It belongs to the Museum of Frankfort, in Germany. But this last creation of his exalted genius
surpasses all preceding ones, and conclusively proves the steady progress of
the great artist.
We find Huss, in the 15th century, in Bohemia, as the representative of enlightened views against the corruption of the Catholic priesthood, whose labors
were all directed to the spreading of ignorance and superstition among the
people. History reports him the fearless champion of Christianity in its purest
form, and opposing, in bold relief, the immorality and pernicious influence of
Pontifical power. The artist who can grasp the character of so mighty an
epoch in history, and present it to the spectator in such a manner as to arrest
and enchain, the attention of even the most careless observer, merits the highest praise.




6  CATALOGUE.
By his unceasing efforts for the restoration of simple, original Christianity,
Huss, to the consternation and terror of the clergy, won many partisans in Bohemia.  Rome trembled at the stern denunciations of her degradation, which
threatened to inflict an incurable wound upon the whole artificial fabric of the
Papal IHierftrchy. The Pope, confiding in the strength of his spiritual and
temporal power, endeavored to interdict the labors of Huss; who, thereupon,
appealed to a general council, before whom he appeared in November, 1414,
rejoiced to have the opportunity of publicly pleading for and vindicating his
doctrines. The Emperor Sigismund, of Germany, granted him letters patent,
insuring his personal safety; and by order of Winceslaus, King of Bohemia, a
number of the Bohemian nobility became his escort. But notwithstanding the
assurances of the Pope, and the earnest protestations of the nobles who accompaniec him, Huss was arrested, and brought before the council as a prisoner. So great, however, was the fear of his opponents, lest their moral deformity mnight suffer conviction from the purity and truth of his doctrines, that
they forbade all public discussion of them. At the final examination, which
took place July f6th, 1415, thirty-nine sentences, taken from his dissertations,
were read to him, all of which he enthusiastically acknowledged as his own;
but instead of admitting his defence and arguments, based on the scriptures,
an unconditional recantation of his " heretical tenets," was demanded from him.
But as he remained firm, his accusers, who were also his judges, sentenced
him to be burned, together with his writings; and this inhuman edict was put
into execution the same day-the emperor having revoked his protection,
through fear of the ecclesiastical power. After this slight historical reminiscence, we pass to the contemplation of the picture.
In the centre of the.colossal painting, (about 12 by 18 feet) kneels the figure
of Huss, upon a grassy mound. Behind him, the fanatic rabble mockingly
draws near, while in the foreground, on the right, appears the Duke of Bavaria
and the Pope's representatives-the former commissioned by the emperor to
superintend the execution. On the left a large group are gathered to witness
the sufferings of the martyr, and among them are mingled friends and adherents, in striking contrast with thoughtless and indifferent spectators. The
funeral pile is attended by the executioners; further back -we discern the hirelings of power, with banners unfurled.  In the background rise the steeples of
Constance, while far in the distance the mountains of Switzerland raise their
snow-clad peaks through the mellow atmosphere of a summer evening.
The composition is bold and grand, yet simple and truthful. There is no
theatrical pomp, no superfluous additions-; no capricious treatment, either in
general or detail; but still there is an exquisite fulness of scenic effect; and
Lessing has delineated everything with consummate skill and profound knowledge of his subject. The monk in the foreground, near the Duke of Bavaria,
is as much in his place as the executioners, eagerly awaiting their victim.Each figure is individualized, and marked with some peculiar and characteristic emotion, expressive of the person's nature and particular calling; and, in



CATALOGUE.                            77
short, all suits the momentous occasion. Full of hope and courage, HIuss
kneels down to offer up a last prayer. Resignedly he contemplates his approaching fate, as if warmed by a conviction that a fruitful soil, to be nurtured
with his blood, had received the seed of his righteous doctrines. True to his
faith, and purified by the spirit of Christ, he remains firm and unshaken in the
midst of all trials, and kneels before his Creator, to invoke his blessing and
mercy upon his enemies-as his Redeemer had done before him.
Let us now contemplate the manner in which Lessing has portrayed the
various shades of thought, feeling and passion, in this triumph of modern art.
The malicious expression of the scoffing fanatic, who presses forward with the
fatal cap, is finely rendered, and " Down with the arch heretic i" " Vengeance
upon the enemies of the alone saving Church!" are written in every lineament,
and flash from the caverns of his eyes. The figure on his right, grasping a
weapon in his uplifted hand, and whispering to the martyr words of bitter
scorn and hate, is full of power and expression.
On the left, an aged ruffian presses forward with eyes intent upon Huss; he
seems amazed at so much fortitude and resignation in a heretic, and impatiently awaits the moment, when the blazing faggots will be piled around the
suffering martyr, and yet drive him to a recantation of his heresies. Many
others crowd forward —each a distinct and separate being, different in thought
and feeling, but all burning with intense hatred of the intrepid reformer.
The great merit of Lessing's painting lies in the truthful manner in which all
and everything is expressed. At every glance we discover some new beauty,
some surpassing excellence, which had not before revealed itself. Every
figure stands out from the canyass, fraught with a peculiar characteristic.Every thought, feeling and passion is depicted with masterly power, and the
whole are grouped around the noble impersonation of meek heroism in the
centre, with an artistic skill and grace rarely equalled in the annals of art;
and it is impossible to detect the slightest repetition, either in drawing or
colors.
We will pass to the second principal group. The Duke of Bavaria has received orders from the Emperor to be present at the execution. Seated upon
a spirited steed, a true portraiture of the chivalry of the middle ages, he reveals to us, in his exterior, the relation in which the civil power stood to that
of the clergy. One is the pillar of the other, and yet they contest their prerogatives at every step, lest their balance should be destroyed. Without the
co-operation of the Empire, the Papal authority is impotent; and without the
consecration of the Church, the Empire is untenable. Each acts in conjunction
with the other, so far as necessity demands; and no farther. On a black horse,
most admirably drawn for the service of an ecclesiastic of the time, we see a
Bishop. In his eye the expression of cruelty is clearly observed; his mouth
is drawn into a sneer, and his grey head is turned with cool indifference towards
the scene. He is there to represent the dignity of the priesthood-the authority of ecclesiastical power. Revenge, combined with a pharisaical appearance




7 8                           CATALOGUE.
of pious satisfaction, are inimitably expressed in the face of this Bishop, who
is accustomed to see people die, and to whom it matters little who is sacrificed,
so that the authority of the Church be not endangered. The Duke, on the other
hand, represents the Empire; he turns towards the Bishop, as if in doubt of
the righteousness of the judgment. With a happy moderation, the painter has
exhibited in his attire, just sufficient of the outward show of the courtier and
warrior, for the solemnity of the moment. The figure is perfect; the head
sharply marked —a successful mixture of master and bondsman, of thought and
frivolity; a man who, like the victim, fears not death. The KInight, who bears
the Bavarian banner, is a faithful picture of the reckless, wine-loving, and wartrained feudal nobility of the middle ages. Lessing has thrown a slight expression of ennui into his features, indicative of the mortification he feels, at
being compelled to witness, in company with the Duke, an execution in the
service of the clergy. The fourth figure of the group, only partly visible, discloses, by his dark features and red hat, the Italian cardinal. He is the experienced man of the world, who takes no more interest in the scene than his own
importance renders necessary; sufficient to enable him to render, as a witness,
some report of the execution.  He is represented with a sharp, energetic
physiognomy, without the least expression of even momentary excitement, for
he has been trained to conceal every emotion.
Lastly,~ the Franciscan friar, with his antiquated eye-glasses, a zealous servant of the church. His eyes are weak with much study, and he cannot trust
them while viewing the arch-heretic kneeling at his prayers with the calm air
of innocence, unshaken; by his approaching martyrdom. The.expression of
uncertainty and doubt in the appearance of this monk is evident and striking.
As a most necessary connecting link between the party described and the
group on the left, we consider the kneeling girl in the foreground. Though
she turns her back'to us, the attitude convinces us of the fervor of her prayers,
in pious sympathy with a fellow-creature, who is about to die. Next to her
we perceive a Bohemian Knight, bending forward with clasped hands. He'is
a friend and adherent of the martyr,'by whose doctrines he has been converted to a better faith. To God he directs his prayers, and his vigorous form
leads us to suppose that he is one of those who struggled, unsuccessfully,
against the arrest of the martyr.
The two men on the hillock, the first with the fine head, frank and spirited
eyes, and blond moustaches, and the other with the thick, black head of hair,
and the knotty club under his arm, are Bohemians. But they represent more
than that, for by'placing these outwardly-contrasting figures together, the
artist has intimated the consequences of the catastrophe enacted before their
eyes. We are to consider them as the representatives of the Hussites, who,
in after years, waged a terrible civil war in Bohemia. The younger one personifies the peaceful Calixtinles; the other, whose fiery and revengeful eyes
are bent upon the scene, -the wild Tuborites, who, by their ungovernable fana



CATALOGUE.                              79
ticism and horrible outrages disgraced the cause of the Hussites. These two
figures especially belong to history.
Let us turn to the other spectators, and see what feelings may be read in
their various countenances. The Trinitarian monk in the foreground, with his
strong frame enveloped in the white cowl and brown loose garment, seems to
inquire into the feelings of the martyr, and to be familiar with the a-wful
sight of death at the stake; yet a certain interest for Huss, is evident in the
workings of his features. The busy citizen of Constance in front of him, has
come obviously to witness a spectacle, but already there arises in his heart a
feeling of compassion for the noble victim, and, as he clasps his hands, an
inaudible prayer escapes his lips. But his neighbor, the young woman with
the slender figure, wins our admiration by the charm of her sympathy, and
heartfelt compassion for the reformer. IIer eyes betray the feelings of her
soul, and she inwardly exclaims, " O, would that I could save him!"  Behind
her we see an old female, who stares at Huss with an expression of vulgar
admiration.  A prominent figure in this left group is yet the Augustine monk.
His down cast eyes, and dejected attitude, his hands lightly clasped upon his
breast, are all simply, yet clearly and truthfully expressive. In short, thus we
are constantly called upon to admire Lessing's rare pschycological conception and his powerful delineation of characteristics, and it is an ever increasing
pleasure to study and follow him in his imaginative flight. There can be
nothing more pleasing, than the genuine expression of the girl's head with
blonde hair, on the verge of the canvass.
The executioners, considering the difficulty which the painter must have
experienced in their representation, are rendered with an effect so masterly,
that every contemplator will be struck by it, without being hurt in his aesthetic sensibility, and this could not have heen avoided if the burning act itself
had been made the subject of the picture, on the technical merits of which
we will yet add a few words.
First, as regards the perspective, the whole distance, as presented to our
view is so skilfully managed, that we could almost venture to define its area
by feet and inches. Then the drawing is so perfect, that, even without the
magic aid of color, it would appear bold and well-defined, free, yet precise.
In the draperies, and in fact in all the accessories, Lessing has developed the
same excellence as in the groupings of the figures, and what can be more felicitous than the masterly distribution of light and shade over the whole picture?   All is so life-like and so much in accordance with the spirit of the
age, that, notwithstanding the lapse of time, we feel ourselves the actual
witnesses of the scene. It would have been an easy task for Lessing to have
surprised and dazzled us with theatrical effects, but he is too great an historical artist to sacrifice truth and simplicity to mere show.
In the coloring, we are constantly reminded of the difficulties which had to
be overcome in properly representing this important scene from the history of the past, and it requires great talent, immense technical skill and deep




80                             CATALOGUE.
historical study to avoid falling into false glare, by which historical truth can
only be impaired. A single glance at the duke and his banner-bearer is sufficient to assure us that Lessing understood and knew  how  to overcome such
difficulties. In the style and color of the costumes, in the shape of the
weapons, and in all the trappings, the artist has strictly followed the highest
historical authorities, and this is the more to be appreciated, as mistakes and
errors of this description generally find grace in the eyes of even the sharpest critics. But all Lessing's productions are scrupulously truthful in all their
details. The landscape in this great work of art is also painted with exquisite skill,-it reminds us of a sultry July evening, and spreads over the
whole composition a harlmony, which perhaps no other painting, either old or
modern, equals.
So much for Lessing's Martyrdom of Huss. The Dusseldorf Gallery offers
us also, opportunities of contemplating the artist, in his excellence as a landscape painter, which will be done hereafter.
123. King Lear, by                                        Hildeblrandt.
The same artist who painted Othello and Desdemona.
The subject of this painting has been taken from the German translation of Shakspeare's King Lear, by Schlegel and Tieck, Act IV,
Scene 7th, in which the King says to Cordelia:
" You do me wrong to take me out o' the grave;
Thou art a soul in bliss, but I am bound upon a wheel of fire,
That mine'own tears do scald like mnoulten lead."
The artist's aim has been to represent the filial love of Cordelia,
who, although disinherited and disowned by her father, clings to
him-whereas his daughters Generil and Regan, upon -whom he
bestowed his blessing, drove him into despair and madness.  Upon
the King's waking up from one of his fits, Cordelia speaks to him
full of love and humility, and he consequently looks upon her as a
spirit from the other world. King Lear rests in a fauteuil upon
white pillows, and starting up in great trepidation, stretches his
right hand towards Cordelia, as if hesitating to touch her, whilst
his left is pressed convulsively upon his heart. Cordelia bends
down towards him  with compressed hands.  Behind the King's
chair his Physician seems to observe with great care his condition.
These three figures in full light, constitute the chief attraction of




CATALOGUE.                            81
the picture. At some little distance from Cordelia stands the
faithful Earl of Kent, in the habit of a servitor and messenger,
he rests both his hands upon his battle-axe and unconsciously
crumpling his barrett, looks anxiously at the scene before him; at
his side is, a youthful noble doing the same. I Both these figures are
in the shade. On the other side, behind the Physician, are a young
domestic, and a female attendant of Cordelia, also in the shade.
The back-ground is a rich canopy, and the view from the tent
opens upon the French Camp.
124. Madonna and Child, by                              Carl Muller.
This beautiful picture is of the size of life. Muller and Deger are
the Dusseldorf artists who have the greatest reputation for sacred
subjects. At the Exhibition at Dusseldorf it obtained the most unqualified approbation. It will be engraved on copper, at the express request of the Dusseldorf Academy.
Maria descending on Clouds shows to the world' the Holy
Infant, who in his left hand holds the Globe redeemed by the
Cross, and with his right hand blesses it. The face of the Holy
Infant is not only very beautiful and sweet, but divinity is unmistakably expressed upon his forehead.
In painting Maria, the artist has had reference to the Revelation of St. John, Chap. 12, v. 1.
"And there.-appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman
clothed with the sun, and'the moon under her feet and upon her
head a crown of twelve stars."
125. Reconciliation of Cardinal Woolsey with Queen Catharine, shortly before his death, by                Carl Clasen.
WOOLSEvY.-This  much  feared  minister of  Henry  the
VIII, had been banished to Winchester, but his enemies not
satisfied with his humiliation, caused him to be impeached for high
treason, and by commandof the King he was conducted to London,
accompanied only by Cavendish, his master of the horse. The Cardinal succumbed under his misfortunes, and in the neighborhood
of the Abbey of Leicester his strength completely abandoned
him. He entered the Abbey, saying to the Abbot, " I come to be
buried here."
Queen Catharine, travelling to her place of banishment, had
accidentally entered the abbey at about the same time with the
Cardinal, who, in the picture, is shown on his death-bed, the curtains of which are partly drawn up. Woolsey, supported by
6




82                          CATALOGUE.
Cavendish, stretches his arms towards the Queen, who gives him
her hand. Around the bed stand and kneel monks variously
affected. Behind the Queen stands the Abbot looking up  in
thankfulness, that two hearts full of enmity were reconciled in
the last moments of life. Thle Cardinal's last words were, that
he repented most to have served his King better than his God.
126. The Confidential Friends, by                             Boser.
127. The Festival of Song at the Castle of Wartburg, in the
year 1207, by                                         Bewer.
Same artist who painted No. 114.
That this picture may be understood, the following extracts
are quoted from the Encyclopedia Americana:
Vol. 13, page 69. —Wartburg, an ancient mountain castle, half
a league from Eisenach, belonging to the Grand Duke of Saxe
Weimar. It wag built between 1069 and 1072, was the residence
of the Landgraves of Thuringia, and famous for its Tournaments,
especially in the first half of the 13th century. The Elector,
Frederick the Wise, of Saxony, caused Luther, who had been
outlawed by the Diet of Worms, to be carried thither, where he
lived from May.4th, 1521, to March 6th, 1522, engaged in the
translation of the Bible. The room in which he labored is yet seen.
The War of the Wartburg, one of the earliest. dramatic poems
or dialogues in verse, grew out of a poetic contest which took
place about 1207, between six of the most distinguished German
poets, Henry von Rispach, Walter von der Vogelweide, Wolfram
von Eschenbach, Bitterolf, Henry von Ofterdingen, and Reimar
von Zwetern, assembled at the Wartburg, under the protection of
the Landgrave. This poem  exists, in two manuscripts, in the
Manesse collection, and in the Jena manuscript of the.Minnesingers, from.which Zeune printed it in 1808. Opinions differ
respecting the writer.
Volume 8,' Page 517-.finnesingers. —The ancient German
word minne, was used originally to denote love and friendship,
even divine love. At a later period, the German poets of the
middle ages, expressed by it particularly a pure, faithful and
generally happy love between the two sexes. Walter von der
Vogelweide  distinguishes the high from  the low minne, (a
distinction similar to that of the ancients,) and defines the
former to be the happiness of two hearts, which give and receive
equal bliss. Love, the vital element of chivalry, ovas, with
the German poets, something purer, more ideal, more deep,




CATALOGUE.                           83
than with the French, The name Minnesinger is given to the lyric
German poets of the middle ages in general, on account of love
being the chief subject of their poems. At the beginning of the
12th century when the art of poetry came from  the South of
France to Germany, it found a welcome reception at the court
6f the Hohenstaufen, the Swabian Emperors of Germany. The
Minnesingers were Knights, or, at least, men of noble descent, who
lived and sung at the courts of princes, who loved and protected
the arts. After the fashion of the Provencal Troubadours, the
Minnesingers engaged in poetical contests for the gratification of
princes and ladies of the court. Some among them were poor,
and earned their living by reciting their songs from  court to
court; but most of them sang merely for pleasure, when their
swords were unemployed-not a few princes took part in these
songs. This poetry was essentially chivalric, and breathed the
romantic spirit of that extraordinary age. Glowing devotion to
the Virgin Mary and the Catholic religion-ideal love for a chosen
lady-the charms of spring, always so intimately connected with
romantic and lyric poetry-these formed the constant subject of
their verse.  Every poet sung his own compositions, and accompanied them himself, &c.
IDescription of the Picture.-Landgrave Herman, of Thuringia,
and his wife Mathilde, gave in the year 1207, at their residence,
the'castle of Wartburg, a festival called "The contest of love
singers," and in which the most renowned singers of the time took
part. The historical persons in the picture are under the Baldachin:
the Landgrave Herman-before him his wife, who observes, with
interest, the knight who sings, and who is called Henry von Ofterdingen. He sings of love, and obtains the prize through the favor
of the princess and the influence of his Hungarian friend Klingsohr, who, as umpire, occupies the place next the Landgrave. On
the right of Ofterdingen seats old Reimar von Zwetern, who has
sung an heroic song in honor of Richard Coceur de Lion, and whose
neighbor is the passionate Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Swiss,
who has sung the merry songs of his country. Behind Henry von
Ofterdingen seats on the left Henry von Risbach, called the
virtuous, and who has sung pious songs. Above him leans on his
harp Johannes von Bitterolf, renowned as an elegant orator and
singer, and at his side the group of singers closes with Walter
von der Vogelweide, who sings lyric songs full of sensibility. All
these singers listen with attention to the song of Henry von Ofterdingen. At the feet of the Princess Mathilde, seats her page,
holding a laurel wreath'as prize, and at the side'of Landgrave
Herman, his page holds sword and shield. Behind the Baldachin




84                           CATALOGUE.
is the Court Jester, who, in his way, comments upon some of the
courtiers. The rest of the persons in the picture are, ladies,
knights and pages belonging to the castle.
130. Cid and his Sons, fiom Spanish history, by               Grashof.
Same subject, like No. 22, but smaller.
131. The Two Knights, father and son; the former giving to
the latter his Sword, by                              Grashiof.
132. Luther, during his sojourn at Castle Wartburg, throwing his Inkstand at Satan, by                          Grashof.
133. Diana and her Nymphs, by                                    Sohn.
This picture, when the present series of Catalogues were printed,
had not yet been received. The figures are of the size of life, and
for drawing and coloring of such subjects, Sohn not only holds the
first rank among the artists of Dusseldorf, but has a European
reputation.
[The following appeared in the Literary World of 6th December, 1851, and
it is here yet inserte]l with reference to the pictures from the "Jobsiade."(See folio 14.) The translation is again by the Reverend C. T. BRooKS.]
DEAR MIESRS. EDITORS: —I send you another specimen of the "Josiade." In
regard to the m.etre, the author says in a stanza which I take from another
part of the Poem: —
"There are, it is true, some crippled lines, namely,
That have too few feet and crawl lamely;
But then, as a compensation for that, you will meet
Many others that run along on a superabundance of feet."
CHAPTER XV. OF
THE JOBSIADE.
Here follows a copy of the written reply of old Senator Jobs to the foregoing
letter.-Lit. World, Oct. 11.
OLD SENATOR JOBS's answer (verbatim,
Literatim atque punctatim,)
In form and manner as follows would run:Dearly beloved and hopeful son!




CATALOGUE.                           85
I am very happy to see by. thy letter,
That thy health and.prospects are daily better,
Nevertheless it causes me pain,
That thou makest mention of money again.
It is scarce three months, O rarest of scholars!
Since I sent thee a hundred and fifty dollars!
And I wonder, my son, thou considerest not
Where in the world so much cash can be got I
I also learn, with lively satisfaction,
That thou findest in study such great attraction,
But it is with the highest concern I see
That thou askest 30 ducats of me.
Allow met my son, the observation,
That, on the most liberal computation,
A university residence
Cannot be, with frugality, such an expense.
Most truly thou art right in saying
That lectures and books are not had without paying,
But it must take a great many to come
To such an enormous, unheard-of sum.
For lodging and washing and lights and fire,
One cannot possibly require
So much, and for paper and pens and ink,
A very few pence would suffice, I should think.
I also perceive, with gratification,
That thou keepest thyself from the contamination
Of evil companions, especially by night,
That thy books and thy chamber are all thy delight.
Likewise I am greatly pleased with thy drinking
Nothing but tea,-but I can't help thinking
To one who pores over his books and drinks tea,
What use can these 30 ducats be?
That other students for a niggard abuse thee,
May very properly amuse thee,
For he who spends all that thou hast figured,
Deserves to be called anything but a niggard.




86                          CATALOGUE.
Let me advise thee to continue the attention
To thy books and studies of which thou mak'st mention,
That thy precious time and thy money, both,
May be wisely spent, and not wasted in sloth.
But mind, my son, the advice of the physician,
And beware even of a laudable ambition,
For alas! too often we find it a'rule
That the greatest scholar's the greatest fool.
Thy purpose of preaching deserves commendation,
Be diligent, therefore, in thy preparation,
But from much disputation, when all is done,
Precious little wisdom comes out my son.
The use of a Privatissimum I can't cqnjecture,
When one is already ten hours at lecture,
And I comprehend it the less as you say
There are 20 Rix dollars to pay.
But I waive all further commentary,
For the money thou findest necessa'ry
In pursuing thy studies I gladly allow,
And though it were three times as much as now.
According to thy story (and no doubt it's a true one),
Thou hast torn thy coat, and of course must have a new one,
Nevertheless the cloth must be superfine,
To cost 12 dollars or even 9.
But he that will study to be a pastor,
Should not think to dress so much better than his master,
Therefore a somewhat coarser stuff
Would make thee a coat quite good enough.
For other articles of wearing apparel
Thou demandest 4 Louis d'ors, with that I shan't quarrel,
When night-gown, hat, and trowsers wear out,
New ones are necessary without doubt.
But if I must make, for all this raiment,
And so forth, special and separate payment.
What shall become, Hieronymus dear,
Of the 30 ducats, to me is not clear.




CATALOGUE.                             87
I received with much feeling the information
Of thy recent critical situation,
But to tamper with physic to such an extent,
I must say, my son, is money misspent.
For I scarce ever knew of the rule's failing,
Withl young folks especially, that when one is ailing,
Nature does better, when left to herself,
Than the best mixture on the apothecary's shelf.
The expense of the Doctor and his preparation
Seem to me little less than an abomination,
And I very seriously question
Whether an apothecary or a Doctor can be a Christian.
And then the confectioner's bill of eight guildersMy son, my son! it almost bewilders
Thy father's brain — if thou hadst been wise,
A dollar at most would now suffice.
For citrons, comfits, and things of that nature,
Administer no strength to the feeble creature,
But oatmeal gruel and barley-drinks,
Are better, far, for the sick, methinks.
To fall down stairs is highly injurious,
See to it next time thou art not so furious
To get to thy studies, but take more care,
For it costs a great deal such damage to repair.
Thy surgeon has taken thee in completely,
For our town-barber, who works so neatly,
Will, for 12 dollars, I'm told, restore
A broken leg as whole as before.
But I'm happy tohear of thy restoration,
For when the parson is in his peroration,
His arm must be in a flexible state,
That so he may pound and gesticulate.
I must further lament thy stomach's weakness
Occasioned by thy recent sickness;
My stomach, I'm sorry to say is feeble
From sitting so much at the Council-table.




88                          CATALOGUE.
Nevertheless my earnest advice is:
Abstain from Burgundy, wine and spices;
A bit of flag-root now and then
Will help thy stomach as much again.
Thou mentionest "some small debts, amounting
To 30 or 40 guilders (loose counting);"
I've thought and thought and racked my brain
To guess what debts those can be, but in vain.
Thou bast given already in specification,
Item by item (outside calculation),
And 40 guilders, thou knowest full well
Upon my soul are no "bagatelle!"
And finally thou needest (for such thy pretence is),
A dozen Pistoles for thy general expenses:
No doubt it were very agreeable to thee,
But to me inconvenient in the highest degree.
For as to any unexpected urgency
Those 30 ducats will meet the emergency,
These last dozen Louis d'ors seem to me,
In that view, a mere superfluity.
And as to the stolen crowns! thy suggestion,
In point of delicacy admits of a question,
For truly the reparation were sorer to me
Than the alleged robbery is to thee.
But fiom this disagreeable subject to pass on,
Thy proposal to string the thief up sans facon
Is by no means a Christian sentiment,
Mr. Anonymous may one day repent.
Besides,'tis a matter of congratulation
In these our days of illumination,
I say it confidentially in thy ear,
Holy justice has grown less severe.
No one who chances a drawer to rifle,
Need mount the double ladder of such a trifle,
At least in our wise Schildburg, they say,
Far greater rogues go clear every day.




CATALOGUE.                           89
When thou in future hast money in keeping,
I advise thee to guard it with vigilance unsleeping,
For nothing is so universal a subject of speculation
As money deposited for preservation.
I and thy mother understand the thing better,
Learn wisdom therefore, from this present letter,
We always lock our cash up tight
And anxiously watch it by day and night.
But to appease thy present desire,
And supply what immediate wants require,
Be pleased hereby the moneys to find,
In a sealed linen bag, each separate kind.
Nevertheless, I must hint t6 thee, Hieronymus,
That the times we live in are rather ominous,
And it costs me many an anxious thought
Where so much money can ever be got.
There's a very small trifle of business doing,
Folks are so poor —scarce anything brewing
In the honorable Council, and so
*My incomes, you see, are very low.
shall, therefore, look forward with pleased expectation,
To the day of thy final graduation,
Especially as, by this time, without doubt,
Thou hast in every branch learned out.
For if thou should'st longer stay and study
As diligently and dearly as thou hast already,
I shall grow as poor as Job was once,
Utterly unable to raise any more funds.
We all desire to welcome, greatly,
Our learned son in a style right stately,
Especially thy mother with joy
Looks forward to the return of her boy.
I wish I had some news to write you,
But things are mostly in quoqsitU;
I go as usual, early and late,
To the Council-room to deliberate.




90                          CATALOGUE.
There we have had in consideration,
In pleno many an altercation,
Whereby our police affairs may be
Administered judiciously.
Thy mother's teeth have troubled her greatly,
But a distinguished surgeon, lately,
From foreign parts, came along one day,
And took the troublesome teeth away.
A person is paying attention to your sister
Gertrude, his name and title is Mister
Procurator Geier,'tis well under way,
And Trudy grows taller every day,
Our old parson is slways ailing,
They think his health is decidedly failing,
If this excellent man should be taken away,
Thou mightest be our Parson one day.
Our wealthy neighbor's daughter Betty
Sends hearty greetings-the girl is prettyAnd neat and tidy, and would be
A nice little parson's wife for thee.
Thy brothers and sisters all send their greeting
In the joyful hope of a speedy meeting.
They are glad to hear of thy health and success,
And, with wishes for thy happiness,
I remain,
Thy father (in course of natur),
Hans Jobs, pro tempore Senater.
P. S. jWrite again at an early day,
But spare thy allusions to money, I pray.
C. T. B.




CATALOGUE.                         91
ORIGINAL DRAWINGS,
BY ARTISTS OF DUSSELDORF.
1. Fruit Piece,                                        Preyer.
2. The Shipwreck,                                      Jordan.
3. Education of Jupiter,                            Steinfurth.
4. Children's Bacchanals,                             Mintrop.
5. The Plentiful Year,                               MAintrop.
Mintrop, as a designer and draftsman of such scenes, has not his
equal among the artists of Dusseldorf.
6. The Original Drawing of Becker's Picture, "Reapers
overtaken by a Thunder Storm,"                 Dielmann.
The print, which American subscribers to the Dusseldorf Art-Union
obtained for the year 1849, and an impression of which hangs
underneath, was taken from this drawing, which was engraved by
Steifensand, of the Dusseldorf Academy, from whom Mr. Boker
bought it.
7. The Original Drawing, by Schrader himself, of his
Picture, " Frederick the II, Emperor of Germany, and
his Physician, Petrus de Vineis, who attempted to
poison the Emperor, but was detected by him." This
Drawing has also been engraved by Steifensand,
from whom Mr. Boker obtained it. A print hangs
underneath.