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Title: Women artists in all ages and countries
Author: Ellet, E. F. (Elizabeth Fries)
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Women artists in all ages and countries" ***
COUNTRIES ***
WOMEN ARTISTS
IN ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES.
BY MRS. ELLET,
AUTHOR OF “THE WOMEN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,” ETC.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1859.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern District
of New York.
TO
MRS. COVENTRY WADDELL,
WHOSE ELEGANT TASTE AND APPRECIATION OF ART, AND
WHOSE LIBERAL KINDNESS TO ARTISTS, HAVE
FOSTERED AMERICAN GENIUS,
This Volume is Inscribed
BY HER FRIEND
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
I do not know that any work on Female Artists--either grouping them or
giving a general history of their productions--has ever been published,
except the little volume issued in Berlin by Ernst Guhl, entitled “Die
Frauen in die Kunstgeschichte.” In that work the survey is closed with
the eighteenth century, and female poets are included with painters,
sculptors, and engravers in the category of artists. Finding Professor
Guhl’s sketches of the condition of art in successive ages entirely
correct, I have made use of these and the facts he has collected,
adding details omitted by him, especially in the personal history of
prominent women devoted to the brush and the chisel. Authorities, too
numerous to mention, in French, Italian, German, and English, have been
carefully consulted. I am indebted particularly to the works of Vasari,
Descampes, and Fiorillo. The biographies of Mdlles. Bonheur, Fauveau,
and Hosmer are taken, with a little condensing and shaping, from late
numbers of that excellent periodical, “The Englishwoman’s Journal.” The
sketches of many living artists were prepared from materials furnished
by themselves or their friends.
It is manifestly impossible, in a work of this kind, to include even
the names of all the women artists who are worthy of remembrance. Among
those of the present day are many who have not yet had sufficient
experience to do justice to their own powers, and any criticism of
their productions would be premature and unfair.
No attempt has been made in the following pages to give elaborate
critiques or a connected history of art. The aim has been simply
to show what woman has done, with the general conditions favorable
or unfavorable to her efforts, and to give such impressions of the
character of each prominent artist as may be derived from a faithful
record of her personal experiences. More may be learned by a view
of the early struggles and trials, the persevering industry and the
well-earned triumphs of the gifted, than by the most erudite or
fine-spun disquisition. Should the perusal of my book inspire with
courage and resolution any woman who aspires to overcome difficulties
in the achievement of honorable independence, or should it lead to
a higher general respect for the powers of women and their destined
position in the realm of Art, my object will be accomplished.
E. F. E.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE EARLY AGES.
Women in Art.--Kind of Painting most practiced by them.--Feminine
Employments in early Ages.--The fair Egyptians.--Women of Assyria and
Babylon.--Grecian Women.--Sculpture and Painting in Greece.--The
Daughter of Dibutades.--The Lover’s Profile.--The first
Bas-relief.--Timarata.--Helena.--Anaxandra.--Kallo.--Cirene.--Calypso.
--Other Pupils of Grecian Art.--The Roman
Women.--The Paintress Laya.--Lala.--Influence of Christianity
on Art.--Adornment rejected by the early Christians.--Art degraded
for Centuries.--Female Influence among the Nations that
rose on the Ruins of Rome.--Wise and clever Princesses.--Anna
Comnena.--The first Poetess of Germany.--The first Editress of a
Cyclopædia.--The Art of Illuminating.--Nuns employed in copying
and painting Manuscripts.--Agnes, Abbess of Quedlinburg.--Princesses
at work.--Convent Sisters copying and embellishing religious
Works.--The Nuns’ Printing-press.--The first Sculptress, Sabina
von Steinbach.--Her Works in the Cathedral of Strasburg.--Elements
that pervade the Sculpture of the Middle Ages.--Painting
of the Archbishop crowning Sabina. Page 21
CHAPTER II.
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
Commencement of the History of modern Art.--Causes of the Barrenness
of this Century in female Artists.--The Decline of Chivalry
unfavorable to their mental Development.--Passing away of the
Ideal and Supernatural Element in Art.--New Feeling for Nature.--New
Life and Action in Painting.--Portrayal of Feelings
of the Heart.--Release of Painting from her Trammels.--Severer Studies
necessary for Artists.--Woman excluded from the Pursuit.--Patronage
sought.--One female Artist representing each prominent
School.--Margaretta von Eyck.--Her Miniatures.--Extensive Fame.--Her
Decoration of Manuscripts.--Work in Aid of her Brothers.--“The
gifted Minerva.”--Single Blessedness.--Another Margaretta.--Copies
and illuminates MSS. in the Carthusian Convent.--Eight folio Volumes
filled.--Caterina Vigri.--Her Miniature Paintings.--Founds a
Convent.--“The Saint of Bologna.”--Miraculous Painting.--The warrior
Maiden Onorata.--Decorates the Palace at Cremona.--Insult offered
her.--She kills the Insulter.--Flight in male Attire.--Soldier
Life.--Delivers Castelleone.--The mortal Wound. 32
CHAPTER III.
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
This Century rich in great Painters.--Not poor in female
Artists.--Memorable Period both in Poetry and Painting.--Fruits of the
Labor of preceding Century now discernible.--Female Disciples in all
the Schools of Italian Art.--Superiority of the Bolognese
School.--Properzia Rossi.--Her Beauty and finished Education.--Carving
on Peach-stones.--Her Sculptures.--The famous Bas-relief of Potiphar’s
Wife.--Properzia’s unhappy Love.--Slander and Persecution.--Her
Works and Fame.--Visit of the Pope.--Properzia’s
Death.--Traditional Story.--Isabella Mazzoni a Sculptor.--A female
Fresco Painter.--Sister Plautilla.--Her Works for her Convent
Church.--Other Works.--Women Painters of the Roman School.--Teodora
Danti.--Female Engravers.--Diana Ghisi.--Irene di Spilimberg.--Her
Education in Venice.--Titian’s Portrait of her.--Tasso’s
Sonnet in her Praise.--Poetical Tributes on her Death.--Her
Works and Merits.--Vincenza Armani.--Marietta Tintoretto.--Her
Beauty and musical Accomplishments.--Excursions in Boy’s Attire
with her Father.--Her Portraits.--They become “the Rage.”--Invitation
from the Emperor.--From Philip of Spain.--The Father’s
Refusal.--Her Marriage and Death.--Portrait of her.--Women
Artists of Northern Italy.--Barbara Longhi and others.--The
Nuns of Genoa. 38
CHAPTER IV.
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
The six wonderful Sisters.--Sofonisba Anguisciola.--Her early
Sketches.--Painting of three Sisters.--Her Success in
Milan.--Invitation to the Court of Madrid.--Pomp of her Journey and
Reception.--The Diamond.--Paints the Royal Family and the
Flower of the Nobility.--Her Present to Pope Pius.--His Letter.--Her
Style.--Lucia’s Picture.--Sofonisba Governess to the Infanta.
Marriage to the Lord of Sicily.--His Death at Palermo.--The
Widow’s Voyage.--The gallant Captain.--Second Love and Marriage.--Her
Residence at Genoa.--Royal Visitors.--Loss of Sight.--Vandyck
her Guest.--Her Influence on Art in Genoa.--Her
Portrait and Works.--Sofonisba Gentilesca.--Her Miniatures of the
Spanish Royal Family.--Caterina Cantoni.--Ludovica Pellegrini.--Angela
Criscuolo.--Cecilia Brusasorci.--Caterina dei Pazzi.--Her
Style shows the Infusion of a new Element of religious
Enthusiasm into Art.--Tradition of her painting with eyes closed.--Her
Canonization.--Women in France at this period.--Isabella
Quatrepomme.--Women in Spain.--A female Doctor of Theology.--Change
wrought by Protestantism in the Condition of Woman.--Its
Influence on Art.--An English Paintress.--Lavinia Benic.--Catherine
Schwartz in Germany.--Eva von Iberg in Switzerland.--Women
Painters in the Netherlands.--Female Talent in Antwerp.--Albert
Durer’s Mention of Susannah Gerard.--Catherine Hämsen.--Anna
Seghers.--Clara de Keyzer.--Liewina Bennings’ and Susannah
Hurembout’s Visits to England.--The Engraver Barbara.--The Dutch
Engraver.--Constantia, the Flower Painter. 48
CHAPTER V.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
New Ground presented for Progress.--Greater Diversity of
Style.--Naturalism.--The Caracci instrumental in giving to Painting
the Impetus of Reform.--Their Academy.--One opened by a Milanese
Lady.--The learned Poetess and her hundredth Birthday.--Female
Painters and Engravers.--Lavinia Fontana.--The hasty
Judgment.--Lavinia a Pupil of Caracci.--Character of her
Pictures.--Honors paid to her.--Courted by Royalty.--Her Beauty and
Suitors.--A romantic Lover.--Lavinia’s Paintings.--Close of the Period
of the Christian Ideal in Art.--Lavinia’s _Chef-d’Œuvre_.--Her
Children.--Professional Honors.--Her Death.--Female Disciples of
the Caracci School.--Pupils of Domenichino, Lanfranco, and Guido
Reni.--The churlish Guercino a Despiser of Women.--The Cardinal’s
Niece and Heiress.--Her great Paintings.--Founds a
Cloister.--Artemisia Gentileschi, a Pupil of Guido.--Her
Portraits.--Visit to England.--Favor with Charles I.--Luxurious Abode
in Naples.--Her Correspondence.--Judgment of her Pictures.--Elisabetta
Sirani.--Her artistic Character.--Her household Life.--Industry and
Modesty.--Her Virtues and Graces.--Envious Artists.--Defeat of
Calumny.--Her mysterious Fate.--Conjectures respecting it.--Funeral
Obsequies.--Her principal Works.--Her Influence on female
Artists.--Her Pupils.--Other Women Artists of Bologna. 59
CHAPTER VI.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
School of the Academicians after Caravaggio.--Unidealized
Nature.--Rude and violent Passions delineated.--Dark and stormy Side
of Humanity.--Dark Coloring and Shadows.--The gloomy and passionate
expressed in Pictures appeared in the Lives of Artists.--The
Dagger and Poison-cup common.--Aniella di Rosa.--The Pupil of
Stanzioni.--Character of her Painting.--Romantic Love and
Marriage.--The happy Home destroyed.--The hearth-stone
Serpent.--Jealousy.--The pretended Proof.--Phrensy and Murder.--Other
fair Neapolitans.--The Paintress of Messina.--The Schools of Bologna
and Naples embrace the most prominent Italian Paintings.--Commencement
of Crayon-drawing.--Tuscan Ladies of Rank cultivating Art.--The
Rosalba of the Florentine School.--Art in the City of the Cæsars.--The
Roman Flower-painter.--Engravers.--Medallion-cutters.--A female
Architect.--A Roman Sculptress.--Women Artists of the Venetian
School.--At Pavia.--The Painter’s four Daughters.--Chiara
Varotari.--Shares her Brother’s Labors.--A skillful Nurse.--Her
Pupils.--Other female Artists of this time.--The Schools of Northern
Italy.--Their Paintresses.--Giovanna Fratellini. 74
CHAPTER VII.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Contrast between the Academicians and Naturalists, and between the
French and Spanish Schools of Painting.--Peculiarities of
each.--Ladies of Rank in Madrid Pupils of Velasquez.--Instruction of
the royal Children in Art.--The Engraver of Madrid.--Every City in
the South of Spain boasts a female Artist.--Isabella Coello.--Others
in Granada.--In Cordova.--The Sculptress of Seville.--Luisa
Roldan; her Carvings in Wood.--The Canons “sold.”--Invitation
to Madrid.--Sculptress to the King.--Other Women
Artists in Spain.--In France Woman’s Position more prominent
than in preceding Age.--Corruption of court Manners.--Unworthy Women
in Power.--Women in every Department of Literature.--Mademoiselle
de Scudery.--Madame de la Fayette.--Madame Dacier.--Women in
theological Pursuits.--Their Ascendency in Art not so
great.--Miniature and Flower Painters.--Engravers.--Elizabeth
Sophie Chéron.--A Leader in Enamel-painting.--Her
Portraits and History-pieces.--Her Merits and Success.--Her
Translations of the Psalms.--Musical and Poetical Talents.--Honors
lavished on her.--Love and Marriage at three-score.--Her Generosity
to the needy.--Verses in her Praise.--Historical Tableaux.--Madelaine
Masson.--The Marchioness de Pompadour. 85
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Two different Systems of Painting in the North.--The Flemish School
represented by Rubens.--The Dutch by Rembrandt.--Characteristics
of Rubens’ Style.--No female Disciples.--Unsuited to feminine
Study.--Some Women Artists of the first Part of the Century.--Features
of the Dutch School.--A wide Field for female
Energy and Industry.--Painting _de genre_.--Its Peculiarities.--State
of Things favorable to female Enterprise.--Early Efforts in
Genre-painting.--Few Women among Rembrandt’s immediate
Disciples.--Genre-painting becomes adapted to female Talent.--“The
Dutch Muses.”--Another Woman Architect.--Dutch Women
Painters and Engravers.--Maria Schalken and others.--“The
second Schurmann.”--Margaretta Godewyck.--The Painter-poet.--Anna
Maria Schurmann.--Wonderful Genius for Languages.--Early
Acquirements.--Her Scholarship and Position among the
learned.--A Painter, Sculptor, and Engraver.--Called “the Wonder of
Creation.”--Royal and princely Visitors.--Journey to
Germany.--Embraces the religious Tenets of Labadie.--His
Doctrines.--Joins his Band.--Collects his Followers, and leads them
into Friesland.--Poverty and Death.--Visit of William Penn to
her.--Her Portrait.--Her female Contemporaries in
Art.--Flower-painting in the Netherlands.--Its Pioneers.--Maria
Van Oosterwyck.--Her Birth and Education.--Early
Productions.--Celebrated at foreign Courts.--Presents from
imperial Friends.--Enormous Prices for her Pictures.--Royal
Purchasers.--The quiet Artist at work.--The Lover’s Visit.--The
Lover’s Trial and Failure.--Style of her Painting.--Rachel
Ruysch.--The greatest Flower-painter.--Early Instruction.--Spread
of her Fame.--Domestic Cares.--Professional Honors.--Invitations to
Courts.--Her Patron, the Elector.--Her Works in old Age.--Her
Character.--Rarity of her Paintings.--Personal Appearance. 94
CHAPTER IX.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Unfavorable Circumstances for Painting in Germany.--Effects of the
Thirty Years’ War.--The national Love of Art shown by the Signs
of Life manifested.--Influence of the Reformation.--Inferiority of
German Art in this Century.--Ladies of Rank in Literature.--A female
Astronomer.--The Fame of Schurmann awakens Emulation.--Distinguished
Women.--Commencement of poetic Orders.--Zesen, the Patron of the
Sex.--Women who cultivated Art.--Paintresses of Nuremberg.--Barbara
Helena Lange.--Flower-painters and Engravers.--Modeling in Wax.--Women
Artists in Augsburg.--In Munich.--In Hamburg.--The Princess
Hollandina.--Her Paintings.--Maria Sibylla Merian.--Early Fondness for
Insects.--Maternal Opposition.--Her Marriage.--Publication of her
first Work.--Joins the Labadists.--Returns to the
Butterflies.--Curiosity to see American Insects.--Voyage to
Surinam.--Story of the Lantern-flies.--Return to Holland.--Her Works
published.--Republication in Paris afterward.--Her Daughters.--Her
personal Appearance.--The Danish Women Artists.--Anna Crabbe.--King’s
Daughters.--The Taste in Art in Denmark and England governed by that
of foreign Nations.--Female Artists in England.--The Poetesses most
prominent.--Miniaturists.--Portrait-painters.--Etchers.--Lady
Connoisseurs.--The Dwarf’s Daughter.--Anna Carlisle.--Mary
Beale.--Pupil of Sir Peter Lely.--Character of her Works.--Rumor of
Lely’s Attachment to her.--Poems in her Praise.--Mr. Beale’s
Note-books.--Anne Killegrew.--Her Portraits of the Royal
Family.--History and still-life Pieces.--Her Portrait by Lely.--Her
Character.--Dryden’s Ode to her Memory.--Her Poems
published.--Mademoiselle Rosée.--The Artist in Silk.--Wonderful
Effects.--Her Works Curiosities.--The Artist of the Scissors.--Her
singular imitative Powers.--A Copyist of old Paintings.--Her
Cuttings.--Views of all kinds done with the Scissors.--Royal and
imperial Visitors.--Her Trophy for the Emperor Leopold.--Poems in
her Praise.--The Swiss Paintress Anna Wasser.--Her Education and
Works.--Commissions from Courts.--Her Father’s Avarice.--Sojourn at a
Court.--Return home.--Fatal Accident.--Her literary
Accomplishments. 110
CHAPTER X.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
General Expansion and Extension of Art-culture.--More Scope given
to the Tendencies originated in preceding Age.--Reminiscences of
past Glories of Art active during the first half of the Century.--The
Flemish and Italian Schools in vogue.--Eclecticism.--Influences
of the French School mingled with those of the great Masters.--The
Rococo Style.--The Aggregate of Woman’s Labor greater
than ever before.--Not accompanied by greater Depth.--Less
Individuality discernible.--The greatest artistic Activity among
Women in Germany.--In France next.--In Italy next.--In other Countries
less.--Rapid Growth of Art in Berlin.--In Dresden.--Scholarship
and literary Position of Women during the first half
of the Century.--Poets and their Inspirations.--Princesses the Patrons
of Letters.--Nothing new or striking in Art.--A Revolution
in the latter half of the Century.--Instruction in Art a Branch of
Education.--Dilettanti of high Rank.--Female Pupils of Painters
of Note.--Mengs and Carstens.--Carstens the Founder of modern
German Art.--His Style not adapted to female Talent.--A lovely
Form standing between him and Mengs.--A female Stamp-cutter.--An
Artist in Wax-work.--In Stucco-work.--In cutting precious
Stones.--Barbara Preisler.--Other female Artists.--Fashionable
Taste in Painting.--Marianna Hayd.--Miniaturists.--Anna Maria
Mengs.--Her Works.--Miniature and Pastel-painting.--Flowers
and Landscapes a Passion.--Imitators of Rachel Ruysch and Madame
Merian.--Celebrities in Flower-painting.--Copper-engraving. Lady
Artists of high Rank.--Other Devotees to Art. 132
CHAPTER XI.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Angelica Kauffman.--Parentage and Birth.--Beautiful Scenery of
her native Land.--Early Impulse to Painting.--Adopts the Style
of Mengs.--Her Residence in Como.--Instruction.--Music or
Painting?--Beauty of Nature around her.--Angelica’s Letter about
Como.--Escape from Cupid.--Removal to Milan.--Introduction to great
Works of Art.--Studies of the Lombard Masters.--The Duke of Modena
her Patron.--Portrait of the Duchess of Carrara.--Success.--Return to
Schwarzenberg.--Painting in Fresco.--Homely Life of the Artist.--Milan
and Florence.--Rome.--Acquaintance with Winkelmann.--Angelica paints
his Portrait.--Goes to Naples.--Studies in Rome.--In
Venice.--Acquaintance with noble English Families.--In London.--A
brilliant Career.--Fuseli’s Attachment to her.--Appointed Professor in
the Academy of Arts.--Romantic Incident of her Travel in
Switzerland.--The weary Travelers.--The libertine Lord.--The Maiden’s
Indignation.--Unexpected Meeting in the aristocratic Circles of
London.--The Lord’s Suit renewed.--Rejected with Scorn.--His Rank
and Title spurned.--Revenge.--The Impostor in Society.--Angelica
deceived into Marriage.--She informs the Queen.--Her Father’s
Suspicions.--Discovery of the Cheat.--The Wife’s Despair.--The
false Marriage annulled.--The Queen’s Sympathy.--Stories
of Angelica’s Coquetry.--Marriage with Zucchi.--Return to
Italy.--Her Father’s Death.--Residence in Rome.--Circle of literary
Celebrities.--Angelica’s Works.--Criticisms.--Opinions of
Mengs and Fuseli.--The Portraits in the Pitti Gallery.--Death of
Zucchi.--Invasion of Italy.--Angelica’s Melancholy.--Journey
and Return.--Her Death and Funeral. 144
CHAPTER XII.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Female Artists in the Scandinavian Countries.--In Sweden.--Ulrica
Pasch.--Danish Women Artists.--A richer Harvest in the
Netherlands.--The Belgian Sculptress.--Maria Verelst.--Her Paintings
and Attainments in the Languages.--Residence in London.--Curious
Anecdote.--Walpole’s Remark.--Women Artists in
Holland.--Poetry.--Henrietta Wolters.--Her Portraits.--Invitation from
Peter the Great.--Dutch Paintresses.--The young Engraver.--Caroline
Scheffer.--Landscape and Flower Painters.--A Follower
of Rachel Ruysch.--An Engraver.--In England.--Painting
suited to Women.--Literary Ladies.--Effect of the Introduction
of a new Manner in Art.--Numerous Dilettanti.--Female Sculptors.--Mrs.
Samon.--Mrs. Siddons and others.--Mrs. Damer.--Aristocratic
Birth.--Early love of Study and Art.--Horace Walpole
her Adviser.--Conversation with Hume.--First Attempt at
Modeling.--The Marble Bust and Hume’s Criticism.--Surprise
of the gay World.--Miss Conway’s Lessons and Works.--Unfortunate
Marriage.--Widowhood.--Politics.--Walpole’s Opinion of Mrs. Damer’s
Sculptures.--Darwin’s Lines.--Sculptures.--Envy and Detraction.--Going
abroad.--Escape from Danger.--Noble Ambition.--Return to
England.--Politics and Kissing.--Private Theatricals.--The three
Heroes.--Friendship with the Empress.--Walpole’s Bequest.--Parlor
Theatricals, etc.--Removal.--Project for improving India.--Mrs.
Damer’s Works.--Opinions of her. 164
CHAPTER XIII.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Mary Moser.--Nollekens’ House.--Skill in Flower-painting.--The
Fashions.--Queen Charlotte.--Patience Wright.--Birth in New
Jersey.--Quaker Parents.--Childish Taste for
Modeling.--Marriage.--Widowhood.--Wax-modeling.--Rivals
Madame Tussaud.--Residence in England.--Sympathy with America in
Rebellion.--Correspondence with Franklin.--Intelligence
conveyed.--Freedom of Speech to Majesty.--Franklin’s Postscript.--“The
Promethean Modeler.”--Letter to Jefferson.--Patriotism.--Art
the Fashion.--Aristocratic lady Artists.--Princesses Painting.--Lady
Beauclerk.--Walpole’s “Beauclerk Closet.”--Designs and
Portrait.--Lady Lucan.--Her Illustrations of Shakspeare.--Walpole’s
Criticism.--Other Works.--Mary Benwell and others.--Anna
Smyters and others.--Madame Prestel.--Mrs. Grace.--Mrs.
Wright.--Flower-painters.--Catherine Read and others.--Maria
Cosway.--Peril in Infancy.--Lessons.--Resolution to take the
Veil.--Visit to London.--Marriage.--Cosway’s Painting.--Vanity
and Extravagance.--The beautiful Italian Paintress.--Cosway’s
Prudence and Management.--Brilliant evening Receptions.--Aristocratic
Friends.--The Epigram on the Gate.--Splendid new
House and Furniture.--Failing Health.--France and Italy.--Institution
at Lodi.--Singular Occurrence.--Death of Cosway.--Return
to Lodi.--Maria’s Style and Works. 181
CHAPTER XIV.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Close of the golden Age of Art in France.--Corruption of
Manners.--Influence of female Genius.--Reign of Louis XVI.--Female
Energy in the Revolution.--Charlotte Corday.--Greater Number
of female Artists in Germany.--Reasons why.--French Women
devoted to Engraving.--Stamp-cutters.--A Sculptress enamored.--A
few Paintresses.--The Number increasing.--Influence of the
great French Masters.--Sèvres-painting.--Genre-painting.--Disciples of
Greuze.--Portrait-painting in vogue.--Caroline
Sattler.--Flower-painters, etc.--Engravers.--Two eminent
Paintresses.--Adelaide Vincent.--Marriage.--Portraits and other
Works.--The Revolution.--Elizabeth Le Brun.--Talent for Painting.--Her
Father’s Delight.--Instruction.--Friendship with Vernet.--Poverty
and Labor.--Avaricious Step-father.--Her Earnings squandered.--Success
and Temptation.--Acquaintance with Le Brun.--Maternal
Counsels to Marriage.--Secret Marriage.--Warnings too
late.--The Mask falls.--Luxury for the Husband, Labor and Privation
for the Wife.--Success and Scandal.--French Society.--Friendship
with Marie Antoinette.--La Harpe’s Poem.--Evening
Receptions.--Splendid Entertainments.--Scarcity of Seats.--Petits
Soupers.--The Grecian Banquet.--Reports concerning it.--Departure
from France.--Triumphal Progress.--Reception in Bologna.--In
Rome.--In Naples.--In Florence.--Madame Le Brun’s Portrait.--Goethe’s
Remarks.--New Honors.--Reception at Vienna.--An
old Friend in Berlin.--Residence in Russia.--Return to
France.--Loyalty.--Her Pictures.--Death of her Husband and
Daughter.--Advanced Age.--Autobiography.--An emblematic Life. 199
CHAPTER XV.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Women Artists in Spain.--Their Participation a Test of general
Interest.--Female Representatives of the most important
Schools.--That of Seville.--Of Madrid.--The Paintress of Don
Quixote.--Ladies of Rank Members of the Academy.--Maria Tibaldi.--Two
female Artists besides two Poetesses in Portugal.--The Harvest
greater in Italy.--Few attained to Eminence.--Learned Ladies.--Female
Doctors and Professors.--Degrees in Jurisprudence
and Philosophy conferred on them.--Examples.--The Scholar nine Years
old.--A lady Professor of Mathematics.--Women Lecturers.--Comparison
with English Ladies.--Brilliant Devotees of the Lyre.--Female Talent
in the important Schools of Art.--Women Artists in
Florence.--Engravers and Paintresses.--In Naples.--Kitchen-pieces.--In
the Cities of northern Italy.--In Bologna.--Princesses.--In
Venice.--Rosalba Carriera.--Her childish Work.--Her Genius
perceived.--Instruction.--Takes to Pastel-painting.--Merits
of her Works.--Celebrity.--Invitations to
Paris and Vienna.--Visit from the King of Denmark.--Invited
by the Emperor and the King of France.--Portrait for the Grand
Duke of Tuscany.--The King of Poland her Patron.--Unspoiled
by Honors.--Her moral Worth.--Residence in Paris.--Her Pictures.--The
Lady disguised as a Maid-servant.--Want of Beauty.--Anecdote
of the Emperor.--Rosalba’s Journal.--Visit to Vienna.--Presentiment
of Calamity.--The Portrait wreathed with
gloomy Leaves.--Blindness.--Loss of Reason.--Death and Burial.--Her
Portrait.--Other Venetian Women. 221
CHAPTER XVI.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
More vigorous Growth of the Branches selected for female
Enterprise.--Progress accelerated toward the Close of last
Century.--Still more remarkable within the last fifty Years.--Great
Number of Women active in Art.--Better intellectual Cultivation and
growing Taste.--Increased Freedom of Woman.--Present Prospect
fair.--Growing Sense of the Importance of Female Education.--Women
earning an Independence.--The Stream shallows as it widens.--Few
Instances of pre-eminent Ability.--Fuller Scope of the Influence
of the French Masters in the nineteenth Century.--David,
the Republican Painter.--His female Pupils.--Angélique Mongez.--Madame
Davin and others.--Disciples of Greuze.--Female
Scholars of Regnault.--Pupils of the Disciples of David.--Pupils
of Fleury and Cogniet.--Madame Chaudet.--Kinds of Painting in
Vogue.--The Princess Marie d’Orleans.--Her Statue of the Maid
of Orleans.--Her last Work.--Promise of Greatness.--Sculpture
by Madame de Lamartine.--“Paris is France.”--Painting on
Porcelain.--Madame Jacotot and others.--Condition of Art in
Germany.--Carstens.--Women Artists.--Maria Ellenrieder.--Louise
Seidler.--Baroness von Freiberg.--Madame von Schroeter.--Female
Artists of the Düsseldorf School.--The greatest Number in
Berlin.--Rich Bloom of Female Talent in Vienna and Dresden.--Changes
in Italy.--Prospect not fair in Spain and Scandinavia.--In
England, Sculpture and Painting successfully cultivated.--Fanny
Corbeaux.--Superior in Biblical Scholarship.--The Netherlands
in this Century.--Encouragement for Women to persevere.--Dr.
Guhl’s Opinion.--History the Teacher of the Present. 233
CHAPTER XVII.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
Felicie de Fauveau.--Parentage.--Her Mother a Legitimist.--The
Daughter’s Inheritance of Loyalty.--Removals.--Felicie’s
Studies.--Learns to Model.--Resolves to be a Sculptor.--Labor becoming
to a Gentlewoman.--Her first Works.--Early Triumphs.--Social
Circle in Paris.--Evening Employments.--Revival of a peculiar
Taste.--Mediæval Fashions.--The bronze Lamp.--Equestrian
Sketch.--Effect of the Revolution of 1830.--The two Felicies leave
Paris.--A rural Conspiracy.--A domiciliary Visit.--Escape of the
Ladies.--Discovery and Capture.--The Stratagem at the Inn.--Escape
of Madame in Disguise.--Imprisonment of Mademoiselle.--Works
in Prison.--Return to Paris.--Politics again.--Felicie
banished.--Breaks up her Studio.--Poverty and Privation.--Residence
in Florence.--Brighter Days.--Character of Felicie.--Personal
Appearance.--Her Dwelling and Studio.--Her Works.--The
casting of a bronze Statue.--Industry and Retirement.--“A
good Woman and a great Artist.”--ROSA BONHEUR.--Her Birth in
Bordeaux.--Her Father.--Rosa a Dunce in Childhood.--Her
Parrot.--Rambles.--The Spanish Poet.--Removal to Paris.--Revolution
and Misfortune.--Death of Madame Bonheur.--The Children
at School.--Rosa detests Books and loves Roaming.--Remarriage of
Bonheur.--Rosa a Seamstress.--Hates the Occupation.--Prefers turning
the Lathe.--Her Unhappiness.--Placed at a Boarding-school.--Her
Pranks and Caricatures.--Abhorrence of Study.--Mortification
at her Want of fine Clothes.--Resolves to achieve a
Name and a Place in the World.--Discontent and Gloom.--Return
home.--Left to herself.--Works in the Studio.--Her Vocation
apparent.--Studies at the Louvre.--Her Ardor and Application.--The
Englishman’s Prophecy.--Rosa vowed to Art.--Devoted
to the Study of Animals.--Excursions in the Country in search of
Models.--Visits the _Abattoirs_.--Study of various Types.--Visits
the Museums and Stables.--Resorts to the horse and cattle Fairs in
male Attire.--Curious Adventures.--Anatomical Studies.--Advantages
of her Excursions.--Her Father her only Teacher.--The
Family of Artists.--Rosa’s pet Birds and Sheep.--Her first
Appearance.--Rising Reputation.--Takes the gold Medal.--Proclaimed
the new Laureat.--Death of her Father.--Rosa Directress
of the School of Design.--Her Sister a Professor.--“The
Horse-market.”--Rosa’s Paintings.--Bestows her Fortune on others.--Her
Farm.--Drawings presented to Charities.--Demand for her
Paintings.--Her Right to the Cross of the Legion of Honor.--The
Emperor’s Refusal to grant it to a Woman.--Description of her
Residence and her Studio.--Rosa found asleep.--Her personal
Appearance.--Dress.--Her Character.--Her Industry.--Mademoiselle
Micas.--Mountain Rambles.--Rosa’s Visit to Scotland.--Her
Life in the Mountains.--At the Spanish Posada.--Threatened
Starvation.--Cooking Frogs.--The Muleteers.--Rosa’s Scotch
Terrier.--Her Resolution never to marry. 246
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
The Practice of Art in America.--Number of women Artists
increasing.--Prospect flattering.--Imperfection of Sketches of living
Artists.--Rosalba Torrens.--Miss Murray.--Mrs. Lupton.--Miss
Denning.--Miss O’Hara.--Mrs. Darley.--Mrs. Goodrich.--Miss
Foley.--Miss Mackintosh and others.--Mrs. Ball Hughes.--Mrs.
Chapin.--Sketch of Mrs. Duncan.--The Peale Family.--Anecdote
of General Washington.--Mrs. Washington’s Punctuality.--Miss
Peale an Artist in Philadelphia.--Paints Miniatures.--Copies
Pictures from great Artists.--She and her Sister honorary Members
of the Academy.--Her prosperous Career.--Paints with her
Sister in Baltimore and Washington.--Marriage and Widowhood.--Return
to Philadelphia.--Second Marriage.--Happy Home.--Mrs.
Yeates.--Miss Sarah M. Peale.--Success.--Removal to St.
Louis.--Miss Rosalba Peale.--Miss Ann Leslie.--Early Taste in
Painting.--Visits to London.--Copies Pictures.--Miss Sarah Cole.--Mrs.
Wilson.--Intense Love of Art.--Her Sculptures.--Her
impromptu Modeling of Emerson’s Head.--Mrs. Cornelius Dubois.--Her
Taste for the Sculptor’s Art.--Groups by her.--Studies in
Italy.--Her Cameos.--Her Kindness to Artists.--Miss Anne Hall.--Early
Love of Painting.--Lessons.--Copies old Paintings in Miniature.--Her
original Pictures.--Her Merits of the highest Order.--Groups
in Miniature.--Dunlap’s Praise.--Her Productions
numerous.--Mary S. Legaré.--Her Ancestry.--Mrs. Legaré.--Early
Fondness for Art shown by the Daughter.--Her Studies.--Little
Beauty in the Scenery familiar to her.--Colonel Cogdell’s Sympathy
with her.--Success in Copying.--Visit to the Blue Ridge.--Grand
Views.--Paintings of mountain Scenery.--Removal to Iowa.--“Legaré
College.”--Her Erudition and Energy.--Her Marriage.--Herminie
Dassel.--Reverse of Fortune.--Painting for a
Living.--Visit to Vienna and Italy.--Removal to America.--Success and
Marriage.--Her social Virtues and Charity.--Miss Jane Stuart.--Mrs.
Hildreth.--Mrs. Davis.--Mrs. Badger’s Book of Flowers.--Mrs.
Hawthorne.--Mrs. Hill.--Mrs. Greatorex.--Mrs. Woodman.--Miss
Gove.--Miss May.--Miss Granbury.--Miss Oakley. 285
CHAPTER XIX.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
MRS. LILY SPENCER.--Early Display of Talent.--Removal to New York.--To
Ohio.--Out-door Life.--Chase of a Deer.--Encounter with the
Hog.--Lifting a Log.--Sketch on her bedroom
Walls.--Encouragement.--Curiosity to see her Pictures.--Her
Studies.--Removal to Cincinnati.--Jealousy of Artists.--Lord
Morpeth.--Lily’s Marriage.--Return to New York.--Studies.--Her
Paintings.--Kitchen Scenes.--Success and Fame.--Her Home and
Studio.--Louisa Lander.--Inheritance of Talent.--Passion for
Art.--Development of Taste for Sculpture.--Abode in Rome.--Crawford’s
Pupil.--Her Productions.--“Virginia Dare.”--Other
Sculptures.--Late Works.--Mary Weston.--Childish Love of Beauty and
Art.--Devices to supply the Want of Facilities.--Studies.--Departure
from Home.--Is taken back.--Perseverance amid Difficulties.--Journey
to New York.--Sees an Artist work.--Finds Friends.--Visit to
Hartford.--Return to New York for Lessons.--Marriage.--Her
Paintings.--Miss Freeman.--Variously gifted.--Miss
Dupré.--The Misses Withers.--Mrs. Cheves.--Mrs. Hanna. 317
CHAPTER XX.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
EMMA STEBBINS.--Favorable Circumstances of her early Life to the Study
of Art.--Specimens of her Skill shown in private Circles.--Receives
Instruction from Henry Inman.--Correctness of her Portraits.--“A
Book of Prayer.”--Revives Taste for Illuminations.--Her
crayon Portraits.--Copies of Paintings.--Cultivates many
Branches of Art.--Becomes a Sculptor.--Abode in Rome.--Instruction
received from Gibson and Akers.--Late Work from her Chisel.--“The
Miner.”--HARRIET HOSMER.--Dwelling of the Sculptor Gibson in
Rome.--His Studio and Work-room.--“La Signorina.”--The American
Sculptress.--Her Childhood.--Physical
Training.--School-life.--Anecdotes.--Studies at Home.--At St.
Louis.--Her Independence.--Trip on the
Mississippi.--“Hesper.”--Departure for Rome.--Mr. Gibson’s
Decision.--Extract from Miss Hosmer’s Letter.--Original
Designs.--Reverse of Fortune.--Alarm.--Resolution.--Industry,
Economy, and Success.--Late Works.--Visit of the Prince of Wales. 346
WOMEN ARTISTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE EARLY AGES.
Women in Art.--Kind of Painting most practiced by them.--Feminine
Employments in early Ages.--The fair Egyptians.--Women of Assyria and
Babylon.--Grecian Women.--Sculpture and Painting in Greece.--The
Daughter of Dibutades.--The Lover’s Profile.--The first Bas-relief.
--Timarata.--Helena.--Anaxandra.--Kallo.--Cirene.--Calypso.--Other
Pupils of Grecian Art.--The Roman Women.--The Paintress
Laya.--Lala.--Influence of Christianity on Art.--Adornment rejected by
the early Christians.--Art degraded for Centuries.--Female Influence
among the Nations that rose on the Ruins of Rome.--Wise and clever
Princesses.--Anna Comnena.--The first Poetess of Germany.--The
first Editress of a Cyclopædia.--The Art of Illuminating.--Nuns
employed in copying and painting Manuscripts.--Agnes, Abbess of
Quedlinburg.--Princesses at work.--Convent Sisters copying and
embellishing religious Works.--The Nuns’ Printing-press.--The first
Sculptress, Sabina von Steinbach.--Her Works in the Cathedral of
Strasburg.--Elements that pervade the Sculpture of the Middle
Ages.--Painting of the Archbishop crowning Sabina.
“Men have not grudged to women,” says a modern writer, “the wreaths
of literary fame. No history of literature shows a period when their
influence was not apparent, when honors were not rendered to them;” and
the social condition of woman has been generally allowed to measure
the degree of intellectual culture in a nation. Although in the realm
of art her success is more questionable, she may yet claim the credit
of having materially aided its progress. Woman is the type of the
ornamental part of our life, and lends to existence the charm which
inspires the artist, and furnishes him with an object for effort. Her
native unconscious grace and beauty present the models which it is his
highest merit to copy faithfully.
A New England divine says, “Woman, like man, wants to make her thought
a thing.” “All that belongs to the purely natural,” observes Hippel,
“lies within her sphere.” The kind of painting, thus, in which the
_object_ is prominent has been most practiced by female artists.
Portraits, landscapes, flowers, and pictures of animals are in favor
among them. Historical or allegorical subjects they have comparatively
neglected; and, perhaps, a sufficient reason for this has been that
they could not command the years of study necessary for the attainment
of eminence in these. More have been engaged in engraving on copper
than in any other branch of art, and many have been miniature painters.
Such occupations might be pursued in the strict seclusion of home,
to which custom and public sentiment consigned the fair student. Nor
were they inharmonious with the ties of friendship and love to which
her tender nature clung. In most instances women have been led to
the cultivation of art through the choice of parents or brothers.
While nothing has been more common than to see young men embracing
the profession against the wishes of their families and in the face
of difficulties, the example of a woman thus deciding for herself is
extremely rare.
We know little of the practice of the arts by women in ancient times.
The degraded condition of the sex in Eastern countries rendered woman
the mere slave and toy of her master; but this very circumstance gave
her artistic ideas capable of development into independent action.
These first showed themselves in the love of dress and the selection of
ornaments. From the early ages of the world, too, spinning and weaving
were feminine employments, in which undying germs of art were hidden;
for it belongs to human nature never to be satisfied with what merely
ministers to necessity. The ancient sepulchres and buried palaces
disclosed by modern discovery display the love of adornment prevailing
among the nations of antiquity. Women rendered assistance in works upon
wood and metal, as well as, more frequently, in the productions of the
loom. The fair Egyptians covered their webs with the most delicate
patterns; and the draperies of the dead and the ornamented hangings in
their dwellings attested the skill of the women of Assyria and Babylon.
The shawls and carpets of Eastern manufacture, and other articles of
luxury that furnished the palaces of European monarchs, were often the
work of delicate hands, though no tradition has preserved the names of
those who excelled in such labors.
Among the ancient Greeks the position of woman, though still secluded
and slavish, gave her a nobler life. The presiding deities of the
gentle arts were represented to popular apprehension in female form,
and, doubtless, the gracious influence the sex has in all ages
exercised was then in some measure recognized. Poetry had her fair
votaries, and names are still remembered that deserve to live with
Sappho. Schools of philosophy were presided over by the gifted and
cultivated among women.
Sculpture and architecture, the arts carried to greatest perfection,
were then far in advance of painting; at least, we know of no relics
that can support the pretensions of the Greeks to superiority in the
latter. “What is left,” says a writer in the “Westminster Review,”
“of Apelles and Zeuxis? The few relics of ancient painting which have
survived the lapse of ages and the hand of the spoiler all date from
the time of the Roman Empire; and neither the frescoes discovered
beneath the baths of Titus, the decorations of Pompeii and Herculaneum,
nor even the two or three cabinet pictures found beneath the buried
city, can be admitted as fair specimens of Grecian painting in its
zenith.”
THE DAUGHTER OF DIBUTADES.
But, though few Grecian women handled the pencil or the chisel, and
women were systematically held in a degree of ignorance, we find here,
on the threshold of the history of art, a woman’s name--that of Kora,
or, as she has been called, Callirhoe, the daughter of a potter named
Dibutades, a native of Corinth, said to have resided at Sicyonia about
the middle of the seventh century before Christ. Pliny tells us she
assisted her father in modeling clay. The results of his labor were
arranged on shelves before his house, which the purchasers usually
left vacant before evening. It was the office of his daughter, says
a fanciful chronicler, to fill the more elaborate vases with choice
flowers, which the young men came early to look at, hoping to catch a
glimpse of the graceful artist maiden.
As she went draped in her veil to the market-place, she often met a
youth, who afterward became an assistant to her father in his work.
He was skilled in much learning unknown to the secluded girl, and in
playing on the reed; and the daily life of father, daughter, and lover
presented an illustration of Grecian life and beauty. The youth was
constrained at length to depart, but ere he went the vows of betrothal
were exchanged between him and Kora.
Their eve of parting was a sad one. As they sat together by the
lamplight the maiden suddenly rose, and, taking up a piece of pointed
charcoal from the brasier, and bidding the young man remain still,
she traced on the wall the outline of his fine Grecian profile, as a
memorial when he should be far away. Dibutades saw the sketch she had
made, and recognized the likeness. Carefully he filled the outline with
clay, and a complete medallion was formed. It was the first portrait
in relief! Thus a new art was born into the world, the development of
which brought fortune and fame to the inventor! The story is, at least,
as probable as that of Saurias discovering the rules of sketching and
contour from the shadow of his horse. It was neither the first nor the
last time that Love became a teacher. Might not the fable of Memnon
thus find its realization?
It is related that Dibutades, who had followed up his medallions with
busts, became so celebrated, that many Grecian states claimed the
honor of his birth; and that his daughter’s lover, who came back to
espouse her, modeled whole figures in Corinth. A school for modeling
was instituted about this time in Sicyonia, of which Dibutades was the
founder.
At a later period we hear of Timarata, the daughter of a painter, and
herself possessed of considerable skill, as Pliny testifies, he having
seen one of her pictures at Ephesus, representing the goddess Diana.
Several names of female artists have come down from the time of
Alexander the Great and his luxurious successors. Art began to have
a richer and more various development, and women were more free to
follow their inclinations in its pursuit. One belonging to this age
was Helena, who is said to have painted, for one of the Ptolomies,
the scene of a battle in which Alexander vanquished Darius; a picture
thought, with some probability, to have been the original of a famous
mosaic found in Pompeii.
Anaxandra, the daughter and pupil of a Greek painter, appears to have
labored under the same royal patronage, as well as another female
artist named Kallo, one of whose pictures, presented in the Temple of
Venus, was celebrated by the praise of a classic poetess; the fair
painter being declared as beautiful as her own work. Among these pupils
of Grecian art we hear also of Cirene, the daughter of Kratinos, whose
painting of Proserpina was preserved; of Aristarite, the author of a
picture of Esculapius; of Calypso, known as a painter _de genre_. Her
portraits of Theodorus, the juggler, and a dancer named Acisthenes,
were celebrated, and she is said to have executed one that has been
transferred from the ruins of Pompeii to Naples, and is now called “A
Mother superintending her Daughter’s Toilet.” The name of Olympias is
remembered, though we have no mention of her works. Beyond these few
names, we know nothing of the female artists of Greece.
THE ROMAN PAINTRESS.
Among the Romans we find but one female painter, and she was of Greek
origin and education. The life of the Roman matrons was not confined to
a narrower sphere, and the influence conceded to them might have been
eminently favorable to their cultivation of art. But, with the nation
of soldiers who ruled the world, the elegant arts were not at home as
in their Hellenic birth-place. They flourished not so grandly in the
palmiest days of Rome, as in the decay of the Empire. The heroic women
celebrated in the history of the Republic, and in Roman literature,
had no rivals in the domain of sculpture and painting. The one whose
name has descended to modern times is Laya. She exercised her skill
in Rome about a hundred years before Christ. The little knowledge we
have of her paintings is very interesting, inasmuch as she was the
pioneer in a branch afterward cultivated by many of her sex--miniature
painting. Her portraits of women were much admired, and she excelled in
miniatures on ivory. A large picture in Naples is said to be one of her
productions. She surpassed all others in the rapidity of her execution,
and her works were so highly valued that her name was ranked with the
most renowned painters of the time, such as Sopolis, Dionysius, etc.
Pliny, who bears this testimony, adds that her life was devoted to her
art, and that she was never married. Some others mention a Greek girl,
_Lala_, as contemporary with Cleopatra, who was celebrated for her
busts in ivory. The Romans caused a statue to be erected to her honor.
INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
Painting was destined to higher improvements under the mild sway
of the Christian religion than in the severer school of classical
antiquity. Woman gradually rose above the condition of slavery, and
began to preside over the elements that formed the poetry of life. But
changes involving the lapse of centuries were necessary, before Art
could be divested of her Athenian garment, and put on the pure bridal
attire suited to her nuptials with devotion. After the destruction of
the Roman Empire, there is a long interval during which we hear of
no achievement beyond the Byzantine relics, and the mosaics of the
convents and cemeteries.
Even the beauty of early art, associated as it was with the forms of
a pagan mythology, was detested by the votaries of a pure and holy
faith. The early Christians rejected adornment, which they regarded as
inconsistent with their simple tenets, and as an abomination in the
sight of God. Thus, for seven hundred years art was degraded, and only
by degrees did she lift herself from the dust.
In the mean while female influence grew apace among the nations that
rose upon the ruins of Rome. Amalasuntha, the daughter of Theodoric the
Great, was worthy of her sire in wisdom and knowledge of statesmanship,
while she is said to have surpassed him in general cultivation, and
to have rendered him essential service in his building enterprises.
Theudelinda, Queen of the Longobards, adorned her palace at Monza
with paintings celebrating the history of her people; and, from the
time of Charlemagne, each century boasted several women of political
and literary celebrity. There was the famous nun Hroswitha, who, in
her convent at Gandersheim, composed an ode in praise of Otho, and
a religious drama after the manner of Terence; there was the Greek
princess Anna Comnena, the ornament of the Byzantine court; there
was the first poetess of Germany, Ava; with Hildegardis, Abbess of
Bingen; Heloise, the beloved of Abelard; the Abbess of Hohenburg, who
undertook the bold enterprise of a cyclopædia of general knowledge;
and a host of others.[1]
[1] Later, Angela de Foligno was celebrated as a teacher of theology.
Christina Pisani wrote a work, “La Cité des Dames,” which was published
in Paris in 1498. It gives account of the learned and famous Novella,
the daughter of a professor of the law in the University of Bologna.
She devoted herself to the same studies, and was distinguished for her
scholarship. She conducted her father’s cases, and, having as much
beauty as learning, was wont to appear in court veiled.
ILLUMINATIONS.
Noble women became patrons of art, particularly that branch cultivated
with most success in the decline of the rest--miniature painting upon
parchment. From being merely ornamental this became a necessity in
manuscript books of devotion, and the brilliant coloring and delicate
finish of the illuminations were often owing to the touch of feminine
hands. The inmates of convents and monasteries employed much time in
painting and ornamenting books, in copying the best works of ancient
art, and in painting on glass; the nuns especially making a business
of copying and illuminating manuscripts. Agnes, Abbess of Quedlinberg,
was celebrated as a miniature painter in the twelfth century, and some
of her works have survived the desolation of ages. “The cultivators
of this charming art were divided into two classes--miniaturists,
properly so called; and miniature caligraphists. It was the province
of the first to color the histories and arabesques, and to lay on the
gold and silver ornaments. The second wrote the book, and the initial
letters so frequently traced in red, blue, and gold: these were called
‘Pulchri Scriptores,’ or fair writers. Painting of this description was
peculiarly a religious occupation. It was well suited for the peaceful
and secluded life of the convent or the monastery. It required none of
the intimate acquaintance with the passions of the human heart, with
the busy scenes of life, so essential to other and higher forms of art.”
The labors of nuns in ornamental work in the Middle Ages were not
confined to illuminating and miniature painting; but it is not our
province to enumerate the products of their industry, nor to chronicle
the benefits they conferred on the sick and poor. The fairest
princesses did not disdain to work altar-pieces, and to embroider
garments for their friends and lovers.
In the commencement of the fourteenth century a female painter, named
Laodicia, lived in Pavia, and Vasari mentions the Dominican nun,
Plautilla Nelli. “In 1476, Fra Domenico da Pistoya and Fra Pietro da
Pisa, the spiritual directors of a Dominican convent, established a
printing-press within its walls; the nuns served as compositors, and
many works of considerable value issued from this press between 1476
and 1484, when, Bartolomeo da Pistoya dying, the nuns ceased their
labors.”
THE FIRST SCULPTRESS.
Germany had the honor of producing the first female sculptor of whom
any thing is known--Sabina von Steinbach, the daughter of Erwin von
Steinbach, who in that wonderful work, the cathedral of Strasburg, has
reared so glorious a monument to his memory.
The task of ornamenting this noble building was in great part intrusted
to the young girl, whose genius had already exhibited itself in
modeling. Her sculptured groups, and especially those on the portal
of the southern aisle, are of remarkable beauty, and have been admired
by visitors during the lapse of ages. Here are allegorical figures
representing the Christian Church and Judaism; the first of lofty
bearing and winning grace, with crowned heads, bearing the cross in
their right hands, and in their left the consecrated host. The other
figures stand with eyes downcast and drooping head; in the right
hand a broken arrow, in the left the shattered tablets of the Mosaic
Law. Besides many other groups are four bas-reliefs representing the
glorification of the Virgin; her death and burial on one side, and on
the other her entrance into heaven and triumphant coronation.
It may well be said that in these works are embodied the ideal and
supernatural elements that pervade the sculpture of the Middle Ages;
and it seemed most appropriate that the taste and skill of woman should
develop in such elements the purity and depth of feeling which impart a
charm to these sculptures acknowledged by every beholder.
On one of the scrolls, held by the Apostle John, the following lines
are inscribed in Latin:
“The grace of God be with thee, O Sabina,
Whose hands from this hard stone have formed my image.”
An old painting at Strasburg represents this youthful sculptress
kneeling at the feet of the archbishop, to receive his blessing and
a wreath of laurel, which he is placing on her brow. This painting
attests the popular belief in a tradition that Sabina, after seeing her
statues deposited in their niches, was met by a procession of priests
who came, with the prelate at their head, for the purpose of conferring
this honor upon her.
CHAPTER II.
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
Commencement of the History of modern Art.--Causes of the Barrenness
of this Century in female Artists.--The Decline of Chivalry
unfavorable to their mental Development.--Passing away of the Ideal
and Supernatural Element in Art.--New Feeling for Nature.--New Life
and Action in Painting.--Portrayal of Feelings of the Heart.--Release
of Painting from her Trammels.--Severer Studies necessary for
Artists.--Woman excluded from the Pursuit.--Patronage sought.--One
female Artist representing each prominent School.--Margaretta
von Eyck.--Her Miniatures.--Extensive Fame.--Her Decoration
of Manuscripts.--Work in Aid of her Brothers.--“The gifted
Minerva.”--Single Blessedness.--Another Margaretta.--Copies and
illuminates MSS. in the Carthusian Convent.--Eight folio Volumes
filled.--Caterina Vigri.--Her Miniature Paintings.--Founds a
Convent.--“The Saint of Bologna.”--Miraculous Painting.--The warrior
Maiden Onorata.--Decorates the Palace at Cremona.--Insult offered
her.--She kills the Insulter.--Flight in male Attire.--Soldier
Life.--Delivers Castelleone.--The mortal Wound.
The fifteenth century, with which the history of modern art may be
properly commenced, is barren in female artists. This is, doubtless,
owing in part to a change in the social condition of woman, consequent
on the decline of chivalry, that “poetical lie,” as Rahel terms it.
During the two centuries preceding this period, the fair sex had been
regarded with a kind of adoration. Beauty was the minstrel’s theme and
the soldier’s inspiration, and the courts of love, by giving power to
the intellectual among women, stimulated them to the cultivation of
their minds as well as the adornment of their persons. The descent from
their poetic elevation was unfavorable to mental development; and it
was not till the opening of the sixteenth century that there appeared
symptoms of recovery from the reaction.
Moreover, art in the fifteenth century had assumed a character unsuited
to the peculiar gifts of woman. It had parted with the ideal and
supernatural element which formed at once the charm and the weakness
of the Middle Ages, and which, as in the case of Sabina von Steinbach,
had fostered and developed female talent. A new feeling for nature
was born; a new world of life and action was waiting to be added to
the domain of art; while severe study and restless energy were in
requisition for more extended conquests. More correct exhibitions of
human individuality, action, and passion began to take the place of
forms that had before been merely conventional or architectural; and
the portrayal of feeling, in which the human heart could sympathize,
superseded the calm religious creations of an earlier age. Painting
finally threw off the rigid trammels she had worn.
The difficulties in the way of elaborating these new conceptions, and
the studies of anatomy necessary for the attainment of excellence
in delineating the form, excluded women in a great measure from the
pursuit. Gervinus remarks that women are fond of realizing new ideas;
but they are those, for the most part, which are readily brought into
use in common life, and which require no persevering study to reduce
them to practice. Even the triumphs of literary talent in that toilsome
age owed much to the patronage of the great. We find many ladies of
high rank seeking the muses’ favor by the royal road to eminence.
Notwithstanding the paucity of women artists, we discover at least one
representing each prominent school of painting--Flemish, Italian, and
German.
MARGARETTA VON EYCK.
First among these, Margaretta von Eyck deserves mention. She was the
sister of Hubert and John von Eyck, who were distinguished not only for
enlarged apprehensions of art, but for the discovery and introduction
of oil-painting.
While these men were, by their works, preparing the way for an
important revolution in the method of painting, Margaretta occupied
herself chiefly in painting miniatures. She worked under the patronage
of the magnificent and liberal court of Burgundy, and her fame extended
even to the countries of the romantic south. It is an interesting
sight, this modest woman-work beside the more important enterprises
of the gifted brothers, making itself appreciated so as to furnish an
example for all time. Sometimes the sister worked with the brother
in the decoration of costly manuscripts. One of the finest monuments
of their united skill was the breviary--now in the imperial library
at Paris--of that Duke of Bedford who, in 1423, married the sister
of Philip the Good. Margaretta’s miniatures were preserved also in
manuscript romances of the period. One of the earliest historians of
Flemish art, Carl von Mander, calls her a “gifted Minerva,” and informs
us that she spurned the acquaintance of “Hymen and Lucina,” and lived
out her days in single blessedness.
ANOTHER MARGARETTA.
As in Margaretta von Eyck the grand efforts of Flemish art found
expression modified by a feminine nature, so had those of the school
in Nuremberg through the labors of another Margaretta--a nun from 1459
to 1470 in the Carthusian Convent, where she copied and illuminated
religious works. Eight folio volumes were filled by her indefatigable
hands with Gothic letters and pictures in miniature, presenting a
curious specimen of the blending of the art of the scribe with that of
the painter, so common in the Middle Ages.
CATERINA VIGRI.
A third female artist of this period belonged to Italy. Caterina
Vigri, a pupil of the Bolognese school, combined with a high degree
of talent a quiet gentleness and dignified manner that gained her
general esteem. She was born of a noble family in Ferrara in 1413,
and exercised her skill chiefly in miniature painting, though several
large works are recognized as hers. One of St. Ursula, infolding in her
robe her kneeling companions, is exhibited among other fair martyrs
in the Pinacothek of Bologna, and, with the pure, calm expression,
peculiar to the productions of a preceding age, combines a delicacy,
grace, correctness of drawing, and freedom with firmness of touch,
not often found at that time. One of her pictures is preserved in the
Sala Palladiana of the Venetian Academy. Educated in the most exalted
mysticism, she was the founder of the convent of “Corpo di Cristo,”
which is yet in existence, and shelters the grave of Caterina as
well as many of her works. She poured into these all her religious
enthusiasm. Her master was Maestro Vitale. She died in the odor of
sanctity, and was spoken of as “the Saint of Bologna.” In 1712 the
Catholic Church inscribed her name in the second category of saints,
with the title of “Beata,” in virtue of which she is honored to this
day as the patron saint of the fine arts. Tradition relates a story of
one of her paintings on wood--an infant Jesus--having the power to heal
diseases in those who touched the lips of the picture.
THE WARRIOR MAIDEN.
Beside this saintly personage stands one who joined the prowess of
the soldier to the genius of the painter. Onorata Rodiana was born at
Castelleone in Cremona, in the early part of the fifteenth century,
and, while yet young, obtained so high a reputation as a painter, that
the Marquis Gabrino Fondolo, the tyrant of Cremona, appointed her to
the task of decorating his palace.
The maiden, in the prime of her youth and beauty, was engaged in
this work when an accidental occurrence changed the whole course of
her life. A courtier of libertine character, who chanced to see her
occupied in painting the walls of a room in the palace, entered, and
dared to offer an insulting freedom. The young artist repulsed him;
but, unable to escape his violence without a desperate struggle, the
spirited girl at length drew a dagger and stabbed him to the heart. She
then rushed from the palace, disguised herself in man’s clothes, and
quitted the city, declaring that she would rather die in obscure exile
than accept a luxurious home as the price of dishonor.
The Marquis Gabrino was at first furious at her escape, and commanded
a hot pursuit by his soldiers; but soon afterward relenting, he
proclaimed her full pardon, and summoned her to return and complete her
labors, which no one else could finish. Onorata, however, had, in the
mean while, learned the warrior’s business in Oldrado Lampugnano’s band
of Condottieri, and her spirit and courage soon elevated her to a post
of command. She loved the soldier’s life, and continued in it, painting
the while, for thirty years.
When her native town, Castelleone, was besieged by the Venetians, she
hastened with her company to its relief. Victory crowned her in the
contest, but she fell mortally wounded. She died in 1472, perhaps the
only example the world’s history affords of a woman who wielded at the
same time the pencil and the sword.
CHAPTER III.
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
This Century rich in great Painters.--Not poor in female
Artists.--Memorable Period both in Poetry and Painting.--Fruits
of the Labor of preceding Century now discernible.--Female
Disciples in all the Schools of Italian Art.--Superiority of the
Bolognese School.--Properzia Rossi.--Her Beauty and finished
Education.--Carving on Peach-stones.--Her Sculptures.--The famous
Bas-relief of Potiphar’s Wife.--Properzia’s unhappy Love.--Slander and
Persecution.--Her Works and Fame.--Visit of the Pope.--Properzia’s
Death.--Traditional Story.--Isabella Mazzoni a Sculptor.--A female
Fresco Painter.--Sister Plautilla.--Her Works for her Convent
Church.--Other Works.--Women Painters of the Roman School.--Teodora
Danti.--Female Engravers.--Diana Ghisi.--Irene di Spilimberg.--Her
Education in Venice.--Titian’s Portrait of her.--Tasso’s Sonnet
in her Praise.--Poetical Tributes on her Death.--Her Works and
Merits.--Vincenza Armani.--Marietta Tintoretto.--Her Beauty and
musical Accomplishments.--Excursions in Boy’s Attire with her
Father.--Her Portraits.--They become “the Rage.”--Invitation from
the Emperor.--From Philip of Spain.--The Father’s Refusal.--Her
Marriage and Death.--Portrait of her.--Women Artists of Northern
Italy.--Barbara Longhi and others.--The Nuns of Genoa.
The sixteenth century, rich beyond precedent in great men, was not
poor in female artists whose works are worthy of notice. Both in
poetry and painting the period was memorable and glorious. The labors
of the preceding age had promoted civilization and education in moral
and mental acquirements, the fruits of which were discernible even
in Germany, while in Italy the harvest was most abundant. The period
produced Victoria Colonna, Veronica Gambara, Gaspara Stampa, and other
women of literary eminence; while the works in art of Michael Angelo,
Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, etc., became monuments for the
admiration of succeeding generations. Dr. Guhl aptly remarks, “The
fifteenth century was the time of work; the sixteenth the season of
harvest.”
None of the numerous schools of Italian art were without female
disciples. The Bolognese rose above all others, and at this period gave
laws to art. Here we find
PROPERZIA, THE SCULPTRESS.
The first woman who gained reputation as a sculptor in Italy was
Properzia di Rossi. She was born in Bologna in 1490, and possessed
not only remarkable beauty of person, with all the graces a finished
education could graft upon a refined nature, but various feminine
accomplishments, excelling particularly, Vasari tells us, in her
orderly disposal of household matters. She sang and played on several
instruments “better than any woman of her day in Bologna,” while in
many scientific studies she gained a distinction “well calculated,”
says the Italian historian, “to awaken the envy not of women only,
but also of men.” This maiden of rich gifts was endowed with a
peculiar facility in realizing the creations of fancy, and took at
first a strange way of doing so. She undertook the minute carving of
peach-stones, and succeeded so well as to render credible what had
been recorded of two sculptors of antiquity. Mirmecide is said to
have carved a chariot drawn by four horses, with the charioteer, so
small that a fly with his wings spread covered the whole. Callicrate
sculptured ants with the minutest exactness. Properzia carved on a
peach-stone the crucifixion of our Saviour; a work comprising a number
of figures--executioners, disciples, women, and soldiers--wonderful
for the delicate execution of the minutest figures, and the admirable
distribution of all. A series of her intaglios is in the possession of
Count Grassi of Bologna. In a double-headed eagle, in silver filagree
(the Grassi coat of arms), are imbedded eleven peach-stones, and on
each is carved, on one side, one of the eleven apostles, each with an
article of the creed underneath; on the other, eleven holy virgins with
the name of the saint on each, and a motto explanatory of her special
virtue. In the cabinet of gems in the gallery of Florence is preserved
a cherry-stone on which is carved a chorus of saints in which seventy
heads may be counted.
It was not long before Properzia began to think, with those who
witnessed her success, that it was a pity to throw away so much labor
on a nut! At that time the façade of San Petronio, in Bologna, was
being ornamented with sculpture and bas-relief. The young girl had
studied drawing under Antonio Raimondi, and when the three doors of
the principal façade were to be decorated with marble figures she made
application to the superintendents for a share in the works. She was
required to furnish a specimen of her talent. The young sculptress
executed a bust from life, in the finest marble, of Count Alessandro
de’ Pepoli; this pleased the family and the whole city, and procured
immediate orders from the superintendents.
The one of her productions which has become most celebrated is a
bas-relief, in white marble, of Potiphar’s wife seeking to detain
Joseph by holding his garment. The perfection of the drawing, the
grace of the action, and the emotion that breathes from the whole
face and form, obtained high praise for this performance. Vasari
calls it “a lovely picture, sculptured with womanly grace, and more
than admirable.” But envy took occasion to make this monument of
Properzia’s genius a reproach to her memory. It was reported that she
was profoundly in love with a young nobleman, Anton Galeazzo Malvasia,
who cared little for her; and that she depicted her own unhappy passion
in the beautiful creation of her chisel. It was probably true that her
life was imbittered by this unreturned love. One of her countrymen
says the proud patrician disdained to own as his wife one who bore a
less ancient name; and that he failed in his attempt to persuade her
to become his on less honorable terms. Professional jealousy aided in
the attempt to depress the pining artist. Amico Albertini, with several
men artists, commenced a crusade against her, and slandered her to the
superintendents with such effect that the wardens refused to pay the
proper price for her labors on the façade. Even her alto-relief was not
allowed to have its appointed place. Properzia had no heart to contend
against this unmanly persecution; she never attempted any other work
for the building, and the grief to which she was abandoned gradually
sapped the springs of life.
There are two angels in bas-relief, exquisitely sculptured by her, in
the church of San Petronio; and another work by her hand, representing
the Queen of Sheba in the presence of Solomon, is preserved in what
is called “the revered chamber.” Other works of hers have been
pronounced to be in the highest taste. She is said to have furnished
some admirable plans in architecture. In copper-plate engraving she
succeeded to admiration, and many of her pen-and-ink etchings from
Raphael’s works obtained the highest praise. “With this poor loving
girl,” Vasari says, “every thing succeeded save her unhappy passion.”
The fame of her noble genius spread throughout Italy; and Pope Clement
VII., having come to Bologna to officiate at the coronation of the
Emperor Charles V., inquired for the fair sculptress of whom he had
heard such marvelous things. Alas! she had died that very week--on the
14th of February, 1530--and her remains had been buried, according to
her last request, in the Hospital della Morte. She was lamented by
her fellow-citizens, who held her to have been one of the greatest
miracles of nature. But what availed posthumous praises to the victim
of injustice and calumny?
A story has been told of an interview between Properzia and the Pope;
that, declining his offer to settle her in Rome, she knelt to take
leave, when her veil falling disclosed a face of unearthly beauty, sad
enough to move the pontiff’s sympathy. But it is more probable that she
died before his coming.
SISTER PLAUTILLA AND OTHERS.
Isabella Mazzoni was also known at this period as a sculptor. We
hear, too, of Maria Calavrese, who painted in fresco; and Plautilla
Nelli--Suor Plautilla, as she is usually called--deserves more than a
passing mention. Lanzi tells us she was of a noble Florentine family,
and born in 1523. She had no assistance in developing her remarkable
talent but her study of the designs of Fra Bartolomeo, one of the best
masters of the Florentine school. She became a nun of the Dominican
convent of St. Catherine of Sienna in Florence, and having acquired
considerable reputation by her skill in painting, finished for the
church a Descent from the Cross, said to be from a design by Andrea
del Sarto; and a picture of her own composition, the Adoration of the
Magi--a work that won great praise. In the first may be noticed the
same purity of contour, the same harmony of light and shade, grace of
drapery, and confident repose that characterize the works of Andrea.
In the choir of the Convent of Santa Lucia, at Pistoja, was her large
picture of the Madonna holding the child, surrounded by saints; and
in the convent at Florence a large painting of the Last Supper. We
do not attempt to enumerate the works credited to her, including her
copies of the best masters, particularly Fra Bartolomeo, whom it was
not easy to imitate, since he was superior to Raphael in color, and
rivaled Vinci in chiaro-oscuro. Some pictures in Berlin, attributed to
her, are marked by his purity and careful execution, with his depth
and earnestness. She was also a miniature painter. She was prioress of
the convent, and lived to the age of sixty-five. One of her successful
pupils was Agatha Traballesi.
There were no noted women painters of the Roman school, but we may
mention Teodora Danti, who painted several pictures of interiors after
the style of Perugino. The heads of her figures were remarkable for
grace, and she had much ease of action and freshness of coloring, but
there was a certain dryness in the forms and poverty in the drapery.
The wife of the famous engraver, Mare Antonio Raimondi, also engraved
on copper; and Diana Ghisi copied in her engravings works both of
Raphael and Giulio Romano. Vasari says of her: “She engraves so
admirably, the thing is a perfect miracle. For my own part, who have
seen herself--and a very pleasing and graceful maiden she is--as well
as her works, which are most exquisite, I have been utterly astonished
thereby.”
IRENE DI SPILIMBERG.
A bright example, and the pride of the Venetian school in her day, was
Irene di Spilimberg, born at Udina in 1540, of a noble and illustrious
family, originally of German origin. She exercised her art at its most
flourishing period. She was educated in Venice, surrounded by all
the luxury of external and intellectual life, and she had Titian for
her master. Her fame, however, rests rather on the testimony of her
contemporaries than on her own works. Titian, ever alive to female
loveliness and artistic merit, has immortalized her by a beautiful
portrait; and Tasso has celebrated her charms in one of his sonnets.
She died in the opening of her blossom of fame, in the flush of youth
and beauty, having scarcely attained the age of nineteen. Her death was
deplored in poems and orations, a collection of which was published in
Venice twenty years after the event, to set forth the splendid promise
which the destroyer had thus untimely nipped.
Among her works still extant are the Bacchanals in Monte Albedo, and
small pictures from religious subjects said to be in the possession of
the Maniago family. Lanzi remarks: “The drawing is careless, but the
coloring is worthy of the best age of art. We see the reflected rays
of her great master’s glory, the soft yet rapid gradations of tint,
the clear touches, the repeated applications of color, which give a
veiled transparency to the tints; the judicious grouping, the combined
majesty and grace in the figures, which constitute some of the merits
of Titian.” Irene is said to have been a woman of the highest mental
culture. Rudolphi includes her among the few women artists he mentions.
The sixteenth century was not only remarkable for the production of
talent, but for its recognition. Another artist belonging to the
Venetian school was Vincenza Armani, who was accomplished in engraving
and modeling in wax, and was also celebrated as a poet and musician.
MARIETTA TINTORETTO.
Marietta Robusti, the daughter and pupil of the great painter
Tintoretto--him who was called “the thunder of art,” and excelled
in the powerful and terrible--was born in 1560. She had a lively
disposition and great enthusiasm; she was very beautiful in person, had
a fine voice, and was an accomplished performer on the lute and other
instruments. It is no wonder that she was the object of her father’s
pride and affections. She accompanied him every where, dressed as a
boy; and he developed her genius for art less by precept than by the
living example of his own labor. His pictures nourished and fertilized
her imagination, and, step by step, she followed him faithfully.
Whether he labored at his models or studied the antique statues, or
casts from Michael Angelo, the coloring of Titian or the nude figure,
she was by his side. She noted his first sketch in the feverish moment
of creation, and watched the progress of its execution. His marvelous
freedom in handling the brush, his strength and precision in drawing
and richness of coloring became hers. She learned his secret of
giving proportion and unity to many figures, and the difficult art of
foreshortening; then, after copying his pictures, she could say, “I,
too, am an artist.” She chose the kind of painting suited to her sex.
Historical pieces demanded too much study and application, and it was
wearying to design nude figures in imitation of the antique. Portrait
painting was easier, and promised more immediate results.
Her first portrait was that of Marco dei Vescovi. It was greatly
admired, particularly the beard, and some ventured to say she had
equaled her father. Ere long she became famous, and it was all the rage
among the Venetian aristocracy to be painted by Marietta. Her father
was in raptures at her astonishing progress and success.
Jacopo Strada, antiquarian to the Emperor Maximilian, had his portrait
taken by her, and gave it as a curiosity to his imperial master. This,
and one she painted of herself, gained her a great reputation. The
emperor placed them in his chamber, and invited her to be the artist
of his court. The same proposition was made to her by Philip II. of
Spain and the Archduke Ferdinand. She was a dutiful daughter and
obeyed the wishes of Tintoretto, who refused to part with her, even
that she might grace a court. To secure her against the acceptance of
such alluring offers, he bestowed her hand on Mario Augusti, a wealthy
German jeweler, on the condition that she should remain under the
paternal roof. She completed several original designs and painted many
portraits. Her exquisite taste, her soft and gentle touch, and her
skill in coloring were remarkable, both in works of her own invention
and those due to her father’s genius.
Tintoretto was not destined long to rejoice in the progress of his
lovely daughter. In the flower of her age, in 1590, she departed this
life, leaving her husband and father mourners for the rest of their
days. She was buried in the church of Santa Maria dell’ Orto. Another
artist made a picture of Tintoretto transferring to the canvas the
features of his child, still beautiful in death. Several of her works
are in Venice. One, at the Palais Royale, represents a man in black,
sitting, his hand on an open book lying on a table, where is also an
escritoir with papers, a watch, and crucifix.
Decampes has published an engraving of Marietta’s portrait. The
expression is very soft and meek; a braid of hair encircles the top of
her head, and a rouleau is put back from the forehead. A handkerchief
is crossed on the bosom, and around her neck is a string of large beads.
Some fair artists of the schools of northern Italy deserve mention.
Vasari speaks of Barbara, daughter of the painter Lucas Longhi, of
Ravenna, as possessing great talent. In Genoa, Tommasa Fiesca was known
as a painter and engraver, as well as a writer of mystical tracts. She
and her sister Helen were Dominican nuns, and died in 1534.
CHAPTER IV.
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
The six wonderful Sisters.--Sofonisba Anguisciola.--Her
early Sketches.--Painting of three Sisters.--Her Success in
Milan.--Invitation to the Court of Madrid.--Pomp of her Journey and
Reception.--The Diamond.--Paints the Royal Family and the Flower
of the Nobility.--Her Present to Pope Pius.--His Letter.--Her
Style.--Lucia’s Picture.--Sofonisba Governess to the Infanta.
Marriage to the Lord of Sicily.--His Death at Palermo.--The Widow’s
Voyage.--The gallant Captain.--Second Love and Marriage.--Her
Residence at Genoa.--Royal Visitors.--Loss of Sight.--Vandyck
her Guest.--Her Influence on Art in Genoa.--Her Portrait and
Works.--Sofonisba Gentilesca.--Her Miniatures of the Spanish
Royal Family.--Caterina Cantoni.--Ludovica Pellegrini.--Angela
Criscuolo.--Cecilia Brusasorci.--Caterina dei Pazzi.--Her Style
shows the Infusion of a new Element of religious Enthusiasm
into Art.--Tradition of her painting with eyes closed.--Her
Canonization.--Women in France at this period.--Isabella
Quatrepomme.--Women in Spain.--A female Doctor of Theology.--Change
wrought by Protestantism in the Condition of Woman.--Its Influence
on Art.--An English Paintress.--Lavinia Benic.--Catherine Schwartz
in Germany.--Eva von Iberg in Switzerland.--Women Painters in the
Netherlands.--Female Talent in Antwerp.--Albert Durer’s Mention
of Susannah Gerard.--Catherine Hämsen.--Anna Seghers.--Clara de
Keyzer.--Liewina Bennings’ and Susannah Hurembout’s Visits to
England.--The Engraver Barbara.--The Dutch Engraver.--Constantia, the
Flower Painter.
We come now to the six wonderful sisters Anguisciola: Helena,
Sofonisba, Minerva, Europa, Lucia, and Anna Maria, all gifted in music
and painting. Vasari describes his visit “to the house of Amilcare
Anguisciola, the happy father of an honorable and distinguished family;
the very home of painting, as well as of all other accomplishments.”
In Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, we read:
“Le Donne son venute in eccellenza
Di ciascun’ arte, ov’ hanno posto cura.”
The best known of these amiable and distinguished sisters was the
second; though Lucia, who died young, acquired celebrity, and produced
beautiful and valuable works.
SOFONISBA ANGUISCIOLA
was born in Cremona, some time between 1530 and 1540, being descended
from a family of high rank. At ten years of age she knew how to draw,
and she soon became the best pupil of Bernadino Campi, an excellent
Cremonese painter. One of her early sketches, representing a boy with
his hand caught in a lobster’s claw, and a little girl laughing at his
plight, was in the possession of Vasari, and esteemed by him worthy
of a place in a volume which he had filled with drawings by the most
famous masters of that great age. Portraits became her favorite study.
Vasari commends a picture he saw at her father’s, representing three
of the sisters and an ancient housekeeper, chess-playing, as a work
“painted with so much skill and care that the figures wanted only
voice to be alive.” He also praises a portrait of herself, which she
presented to Pope Julius III.
Sofonisba instructed her four younger sisters in painting. While yet in
her girlhood she attracted the notice of princes. She accompanied her
father to Milan, at that time subject to Spanish rule. There she was
received at court with welcome, and painted the portrait of the Duke of
Sessa, the viceroy, who rewarded her with four pieces of brocade, and
other rich gifts. By 1559 her name had become famous throughout Italy.
The haughty monarch of Spain, Philip II., who aspired to the title
of patron of the fine arts, heard the echo of her renown, and sent
instructions to the Duke of Alba, then at Rome, to invite her to the
Court of Madrid. The invitation was accepted. Sofonisba was conducted
to the Spanish court with regal pomp, having a train of two patrician
ladies as maids of honor, two chamberlains, and six livery servants.
Philip and his queen came out to meet her, and she was sumptuously
entertained in the palace. After a time given to repose, she painted
the king’s portrait, which so pleased him that he rewarded her with a
diamond worth fifteen hundred crowns, and a pension of two hundred.
Her next sitters were the young queen, Elizabeth of Valois--known as
Isabel of the Peace--then in the bloom of her bridal loveliness; and
the unhappy boy Don Carlos, who was taken dressed in a lynx-skin and
other costly raiment. One after another she painted the flower of the
Spanish nobility. Meanwhile she received high honors and profitable
appointments from her royal patrons.
Her extended fame induced Pope Pius IV. to ask her for a portrait of
the queen. She executed the commission with alacrity; and, having
bestowed her best care on a second portrait of her majesty, she
dispatched it to Rome, with a letter, to be presented to His Holiness.
“If it were possible,” she says, “to represent to your Holiness the
beauty of this queen’s soul, you could behold nothing more wonderful.”
The Pope responded with precious stones and relics set in gems; gifts
worthy of the great abilities of the artist. His letter may interest
the reader:
“We have received the portrait of the most illustrious Queen of Spain,
our dear daughter, which you have sent us, and which has been most
acceptable, as well on account of the person represented, whom we love
paternally for her piety and the many pure qualities of her mind, to
say nothing of other considerations, as because the work has by your
hand been very well and diligently accomplished.
“We thank you for it, assuring you that we shall hold it among our
most valued possessions, commended through your skill, which, albeit
very wonderful, is nevertheless, as we hear, the very least among the
many gifts with which you are endowed.
“And with this conclusion, we send you again our benediction. May our
Lord have you in His keeping!
“Dat. Romæ: die 15 Ottobris, 1561.”
Sofonisba’s paintings were noted for boldness and freedom; and in
some pieces her figures almost seemed to breathe. Some are comic; and
this branch of art, in painting as in literature, demands boldness of
conception, spontaneity of movement, and delicacy of touch. One of
these works represents a wrinkled old woman learning the alphabet, and
a little child making fun of her behind her back.
During her residence in Spain Sofonisba received from Cremona the
portrait of her mother, Bianca, painted by her sister Europa. It was
highly praised by Castilian critics, and the sister prized it as a
faithful likeness of a beloved one whom she might never again behold.
About this time Lucia may have sent her admirable portrait of Pietro
Maria, a Cremonese physician--a grave and elderly personage in a
furred robe--which now adorns the queen’s gallery in Madrid, the sole
specimen of the powers of the gifted sisters.
Sofonisba had for some time been lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Spain:
she was now appointed by Philip, with other ladies, to undertake the
education of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia. This proves her to
have been in Spain after 1566, the year in which that princess was
born. Her royal patrons wished her to marry a Spanish nobleman and
take up her permanent abode near their court; but her hand was already
pledged to the feudal lord of Sicily, Don Fabrizio de Monçada, and he
bore her away to his island home. The king and queen gave her a dowry
of twelve thousand crowns and a pension of one thousand; which she had
power to bequeath to her son; besides rich presents in tapestry and
jewels, and a dress loaded with pearls.
The newly-wedded pair went to Palermo, where after a few years the
husband died. Sofonisba was immediately invited back to the court of
Madrid, but expressed a desire to see Cremona and her kindred before
her return to Spain. She embarked on board a Genoese galley, commanded
by a patrician called Orazio Lomellini. He entertained the fair widow
with gallant courtesy during the voyage, and she appears to have been
not inconsolable for the loss of her husband. She loved the Genoese,
it is said, out of sheer gratitude; although her biographer, Soprani,
does not hesitate to say that she made him an offer of her hand, which
he--“quel generoso signor”--very promptly accepted. The Lomellini
family still preserve her portrait, painted by herself after the manner
of Raphael.
We now find her living at Genoa, where she pursued her art with
indefatigable zeal. Her house became the resort of all the polished
and intellectual society of the republic. Nor was she forgotten by
her royal friends of the house of Austria. On hearing of her second
nuptials, their Catholic majesties added four hundred crowns to her
pension. The Empress of Germany paid her a visit on her way to Spain,
and accepted a little picture, one of the most finished and beautiful
of Sofonisba’s works. She also received the honor of a visit from
her former charge, the Infanta, now married or about to be married
to the Archduke Albert, and joint sovereign with him over Flanders.
This princess spent several hours talking with her friend of old times
and family affairs; and sat for her portrait, for which, when it was
finished, she gave Sofonisba a gold chain enriched with jewels. This
pretty memorial of friendship was greatly prized by the artist. Thus
caressed by royalty, and courted in Genoese society, she lived to an
extreme old age. A medallion was struck at Bologna in honor of her; the
most distinguished artists listened reverentially to her opinions, and
poets sang the praises of
“La bella e saggia dipintrice,
La nobil Sofonisba da Cremona.”
In the latter years of her life Sofonisba was deprived of her sight;
but retained her intellectual faculties, her love of art, and her
relish for the society of its professors. The conferences she held in
her own palace were attended to the last by distinguished painters from
every quarter. Vandyck was frequently her guest, and was accustomed to
say he had received more enlightenment from this blind old woman than
from all his studies of the greatest masters. This was no mean praise
from the favorite scholar of Rubens; and who shall say it was not
deserved? By precept and by example she helped to raise art in Genoa
from the decay into which it had fallen in the middle of the sixteenth
century. Her pictures have something of the grace and cheerfulness of
Raphael, in whose style her first master painted, and something of the
relief of the followers of Correggio. “More than any other woman of
her time,” writes Vasari, “with more study and greater grace, she has
labored on every thing connected with drawing; not only has she drawn,
colored, and painted from life, and made excellent copies, but she has
also drawn many beautiful original pictures.”
One of Sofonisba’s works, seen at Cremona in 1824, was a beautiful
picture of the Virgin giving suck to the Divine infant. In portraits
her skill is said to have been little inferior to Titian. Her charming
portrait of herself is no mean gem among the treasures of the
galleries and libraries at Althorp. She has drawn herself in what the
Germans term a “knee-piece;” rather under life-size. The small and
finely-formed head is well set on a graceful neck; the dark hair is
smoothly and simply dressed; the features are Italian and regular; the
complexion is a clear olive; and the eyes are large, black, and liquid.
The dark, close-fitting dress is relieved by white frills at the throat
and wrists, and two white tassels hanging over the breast. Her delicate
and exquisitely painted hands are seen over the chords of a spinet.
On the right, in deep shadow, stands an old woman, wearing a kerchief
twisted turbanwise around her head, and resembling a St. Elizabeth or
a St. Anne in a religious composition of the Caracci. The whole is
painted in the clear, firm manner of the best pencils of Florence.
Sofonisba died in 1620.
Palomino mentions Sofonisba Gentilesca among the foreign painters of
the reign of Philip II.: “a lady illustrious in the art,” who came
from France to Spain in the train of Isabel of the Peace. She painted
miniatures with great skill, and had for sitters their majesties, the
Infant Don Carlos, and many ladies of the court. She died at Madrid in
1587.
Another noble lady, Caterina Cantoni, known as an excellent engraver,
was invited into Spain with Sofonisba, to pursue there the calling she
seems to have practiced with success in Italy. Ludovica Pellegrini was
complimented with the title of the “second Minerva” for her excellence
in this branch of art. She also devoted herself to needle-work, and
embroidered sacred furniture, and the great pallium (vestment),
exhibited to strangers as a curious specimen of art and learning.
Boschini mentions “the unrivaled Dorothea Aromatari” as having produced
with her needle those beauties the finest artists executed with the
pencil. Other women were celebrated embroiderers. Naples boasted of
one who surpassed her contemporaries both in painting and music--Maria
Angela Criscuolo. Cecilia Brusasorci, the daughter of the great fresco
painter, became celebrated for her portraits toward the close of this
century.
Passing over a number of minor names, we may close the review of
this period by a notice of Caterina de’ Pazzi. She was born in 1566,
and retired early to a convent, where she assumed the name of Maria
Maddalena. The energy with which she cultivated art, and the peculiar
character of her works and those of others produced at this time,
show the infusion of a new element of religious enthusiasm into art.
Tradition preserves the story of this nun painting sacred pictures with
her eyes closed. In the cloisters of the Carmelites at Parma, and in
the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, at Rome, works of hers may be
found. Dying in 1607, she was canonized by Clement IX. in 1669; and at
this day a picture in one of the richest churches of Florence bears the
name of the saintly artist, whose body reposes in a magnificent chapel
under the same roof.
No other nation, during the sixteenth century, can compete with Italy
in female artists. In France women enjoyed great influence in public
affairs, and several ladies of the highest rank were distinguished for
their literary productions and accomplishments. Isabella Quatrepomme is
mentioned by Papillon as an excellent engraver on wood. She was born in
Rouen, and flourished about 1521. A frontispiece in an old calendar,
executed in neat style, representing a figure of Janus, is supposed to
be by her, as it is marked with an apple on which there is a figure 4.
In Spain the flowers of art began to bloom at a later period; although
in the liberal studies women were not behindhand. Isabella Losa, of
Cordova, was appointed a doctor of theology, and there were ladies in
Valencia, who, familiar with the works of Italian masters of art, made
it their study to imitate them.
In the north the advance of Protestantism wrought a change in
the condition of women, which had its influence on art. Domestic
employments, and the domestic virtues, became more universally the
delight and study of the fair sex. While the light of religious truth
was penetrating their homes with its softened radiance, the growth of
a deep moral feeling was preparing the way for farther triumphs in
the imitative arts. England, where flourished many poetesses, had one
female painter--Lewina Tirlinks--during the reign of Elizabeth. Germany
boasted of Catherine Schwartz, the wife, probably, of that Christopher
Schwartz whom his contemporaries called the German Raphael; while in
Switzerland Eva von Iberg transferred to canvas the beauties of her
country’s scenery.
In the Netherlands, on the other hand, the number of women painters
at this period was large, and many were the diligent successors of
Margaretta von Eyck in her native place. Her brothers, at the head of
the old Flemish school, showed the combination of traditional types
and ancient habits with the results of the struggles of the human mind
for emancipation in this century. Antwerp seems to have been a rich
soil for the production of female talent. Here, in 1521, Albrecht Durer
became acquainted with the fair painter so honorably mentioned in his
journal. “Master Gerard, illuminist,” he says, “has a daughter eighteen
years of age, named Susannah, who illuminated a little book which I
purchased for a few guilders. It is wonderful that a woman can do so
much!” Among noted miniature painters we hear of Catherine Hämsen, who
went into Spain, and entered the service of the Queen of Hungary on a
good salary; also of Anna Seghers; Anna Smyters, and Margaret de Heere.
Clara de Keyzer, or Clara Skeysers, of Ghent, died unmarried at the age
of eighty. She enjoyed a celebrity that extended to Germany, France,
Italy, and Spain, all which countries were visited by her.
Susannah Hurembout and Liewina Bennings, or Benic, should not be passed
over. The latter, the daughter of “Maestro Simon,” was born in Bruges;
was invited to London by Henry VIII., and was treated with great favor
by both queens Mary and Elizabeth. King Henry gave her in marriage to
an English nobleman. It has been thought she is the same person with
Lewina Tirlinks. Susannah also received an invitation from “bluff King
Harry” to visit his court, and lived in England, where she was treated
with great distinction, for the remainder of her life. Both these
women were miniature painters. Barbara Van den Broeck, the daughter
of Crispin, was born in Antwerp, 1560, and engraved from her father’s
designs. She handled the graver with consummate skill. In some pieces,
she imitated successfully the style of Martin Rota.
In Holland, Magdalen de Passe was known as an engraver in copper, and
Constantia von Utrecht as a flower-painter; one who first acquired
distinction in this delicate and feminine branch of study, and directed
to it the attention of her country-women. In later times the city where
she lived and wrought became the capital of the world in this species
of painting.
CHAPTER V.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
New Ground presented for Progress.--Greater Diversity of
Style.--Naturalism.--The Caracci instrumental in giving to
Painting the Impetus of Reform.--Their Academy.--One opened
by a Milanese Lady.--The learned Poetess and her hundredth
Birthday.--Female Painters and Engravers.--Lavinia Fontana.--The
hasty Judgment.--Lavinia a Pupil of Caracci.--Character of her
Pictures.--Honors paid to her.--Courted by Royalty.--Her Beauty and
Suitors.--A romantic Lover.--Lavinia’s Paintings.--Close of the
Period of the Christian Ideal in Art.--Lavinia’s _Chef-d’Œuvre_.--Her
Children.--Professional Honors.--Her Death.--Female Disciples
of the Caracci School.--Pupils of Domenichino, Lanfranco, and
Guido Reni.--The churlish Guercino a Despiser of Women.--The
Cardinal’s Niece and Heiress.--Her great Paintings.--Founds
a Cloister.--Artemisia Gentileschi, a Pupil of Guido.--Her
Portraits.--Visit to England.--Favor with Charles I.--Luxurious Abode
in Naples.--Her Correspondence.--Judgment of her Pictures.--Elisabetta
Sirani.--Her artistic Character.--Her household Life.--Industry
and Modesty.--Her Virtues and Graces.--Envious Artists.--Defeat of
Calumny.--Her mysterious Fate.--Conjectures respecting it.--Funeral
Obsequies.--Her principal Works.--Her Influence on female
Artists.--Her Pupils.--Other Women Artists of Bologna.
In the seventeenth century the elements of disturbance had in part
subsided, and new ground was presented for the progress of human
intellect. A certain uniformity in art, which was the consequence of a
close academical imitation of the old masters, gave place to a greater
diversity of style, and, in some instances, to a vigorous and somewhat
rude naturalism. The Naturalisti were so called on account of their
predilection for the direct imitation of the common forms and aspects
of nature. Passion was their inspiration, and their imitation was too
often carried to excess, presenting what might be termed the poetry of
the repulsive.
A new spirit of inquiry and a feeling of self-reliance had entered
the popular mind that did not fail to influence the progress both of
literature and art. The masters who were most strikingly instrumental
in giving to painting the impetus of reform were Ludovico, Augustin,
and Annibal Caracci. Amid many difficulties they opened an academy in
their native city, Bologna, where art was taught on the principles then
esteemed essential. In its theoretical and practical departments a
goodly number of students were there permitted to profit by the works
of the early masters. The good example was soon followed, and we hear
of a Milanese lady opening her house for an academy.
Arcangela Palladini excelled in painting, poetry, music, and
embroidery. A piece of her needle-work hung in the ducal gallery at
Pisa, where none but great works were preserved. Beatrice Pappafava, a
paintress, was also a learned lady, and is said to have celebrated her
own hundredth birthday in an original sonnet of much merit. Caterina
Rusca obtained some repute as an engraver on copper; and Augusta
Tarabotti, who studied painting under the direction of Clara Varotari,
was also a poet and the author of “An Apology for the Female Sex,”
which was received with considerable attention. Fede Galizia, the
daughter of a celebrated miniaturist, lived in Milan. In figures and
landscapes she evinced taste, accuracy, and finish. She was devoted to
the ideal, and this tendency appeared in her design and coloring.
LAVINIA FONTANA.
One among the female artists who adopted the style of the Caracci and
helped to introduce a change in art was Lavinia Fontana, one of the
most celebrated women of the century. She was the daughter of that
Prospero Fontana who gave lessons in painting to Ludovico Caracci,
and was wont much to disparage him. He once remarked that his scholar
would do better at mixing colors than as a painter! But Caracci had
his revenge in after years, when Fontana was heard to lament that
he was too old to become the pupil of the great artist who had once
been his own despised scholar! The instruction he could not receive
was the privilege of his daughter Lavinia, who was born in Bologna in
1552. She adopted her father’s manner, and gained great celebrity in
portrait painting; but, in later years, became the disciple of Caracci,
after which she succeeded in giving her pictures so much softness,
sweetness, and tenderness, that some of them have even been compared
to those of Guido Reni. To delicacy of touch she united rare skill
in taking likenesses. Her talents met with appreciation and honors
not often accorded to female merit. The first ladies in Rome sought
to become her sitters, and the greatest cardinals deemed themselves
fortunate in having their portraits executed by her skillful hand. Her
portraits were so highly esteemed that they commanded enormous prices,
and were displayed with pride in the galleries of the nobility and
the most cultivated persons in the land. Her services were engaged
by Pope Gregory XIII. as his painter in ordinary; and she worked for
the Buoncompagni family. Other crowned heads sought her society, and
the most wondrous grace of all was that these honors did not create
in her vanity or self-conceit. To her accomplishments she added such
personal attractions that her hand was sought by many distinguished
and titled suitors; but she preferred to them all a young man unknown
to fame, Giovanni Paolo Zappi, of Imola. Some authorities speak of him
as a wealthy nobleman. He had painted in her father’s studio for love
of the charming daughter, and had been accustomed to paint the clothes
in her portraits so well that she had made concerning him the not very
flattering observation, that “he was worth more as a tailor than a
painter.” He was rewarded by marrying her, the condition being exacted
that Lavinia should remain free to follow her professional career.
Besides portraits, she produced several compositions on sacred
subjects; some church pictures now in Bologna, and some on worldly
themes, as the picture of Venus in the Berlin Museum. In her later
works, after her lessons with Caracci, she acquired a softness and
warmth of coloring that remind one of the masters of the Venetian
school. One of her productions--Saint Francis de Paula raising a dead
person--preserved in the Pinacothek of Bologna--has been noticed for
this. Of her pictures besides are the Crucifixion, the Miracle of the
Loaves, and the Annunciation. These were for churches of Bologna.
Lavinia lived at the close of what was peculiarly the period of
Christian art, and it seems just to place her among the artists who
labored while the Christian ideal, in all its splendor, was yet above
the horizon. On this period Raphael and Michael Angelo had set their
seal, and the Christian ideal was exhausted in the Transfiguration,
and the frescoes of the Sistine chapel; they could not be surpassed.
One of Lavinia’s works--the Nativity of the Virgin, at nighttime--is
still exhibited in her native city. The infant Mary is surrounded by
a cloud of angels, and a saint is pointing to two children below. A
figure in magnificent bishop’s robes, on the other side, is in the act
of sprinkling holy water on two beautiful kneeling girls. This picture,
Bolognini asserts, alone justifies the artist’s fame. In the Escurial
at Madrid is a piece by her, representing a Madonna uplifting a veil to
view her sleeping child, who reposes on richly-embroidered cushions;
St. Joseph and St. John stand near. “A picture,” says Mazzolari, “so
vivid, so gay and graceful, and of such glorious coloring, so full
of beauty, that one is never weary of admiring it.” A picture which
has especially contributed to her artistic fame represents the Queen
of Sheba in the presence of Solomon; but it has also an allegorical
reference to the Duke and Duchess of Mantua, and various personages of
their court. Lanzi considers this production worthy of the Venetian
school. Another represents a royal infant, playing on a bed, wrapped
in blankets, and adorned with a splendid necklace. A “Judith, seen by
torch-light,” is in the possession of the Della Casa family. A Virgin
and Child, which she painted for Cardinal Ascoli, and sent to Rome,
has been thought her best production, and brought her so much fame,
that, a large painting being required for a church, the commission was
intrusted to Lavinia, in preference to many first-class artists, who
sought it. She painted a stoning of Stephen, with a number of figures,
and a halo above representing heaven opening. The figures were larger
than life, and the work was not as successful as Lavinia had hoped.
But after she confined herself to portrait painting, she had no reason
to be dissatisfied with her success. Her _chef d’œuvre_ is said to be
her own portrait, taken when she was young and surpassingly beautiful.
It is now in the possession of Count Zappi, at Imola, and has been
engraved by Rossini, for his history of Italian painting. The portrait
is painted in an oval; in the background, ranged on a shelf, are models
in clay of busts, heads, trunks, hands, and feet. The artist is seated
at a table, on which are two casts of Greek statues; she is in the act
of commencing a drawing, and is dressed with elegant simplicity, her
mantle flowing in clear and ample folds. Under the ruff encircling her
neck hangs a pearl necklace, to which is attached a golden crucifix.
She wears a Mary Stuart headdress, and the head is colored with
wonderful delicacy and transparency. The work unites correctness of
drawing with incomparable grace. England possesses three paintings by
Lavinia Fontana.
This famous artist had three children, and was unhappy in them. Her
only daughter lost the sight of one eye, by running a pin into it; and
one of her boys was half-witted, and served to amuse loungers in the
Pope’s antechamber. Malvasia remarks, “The story ran that he inherited
his simplicity from his father; assuredly it came not from his mother,
who was as full of talent and sagacity as she was good and virtuous.”
Lavinia was elected a member of the Roman Academy. Her merits were
celebrated by contemporaries; Marini, among other poets, wrote in her
praise; and in such estimation was she held, that, when she passed near
the seat of the Lord of Sora and Vignola, the proud patrician came out
to meet her at the head of his retainers, according to the fashion then
in vogue for the reception of royal personages.
Among the Lettere Pittoriche is a letter dated 1609, signed Lavinia
Fontana Zappi. This proves her to have been living then. One authority
states that she died at Rome, in 1614, aged sixty-two.
While Lavinia Fontana availed herself of the system of Caracci,
another, who enjoyed in early life the advantage of being Ludovico’s
pupil, emulated his excellences so successfully that she produced a
fine picture, full of figures, from one of his compositions, in 1614,
for the church of the Annunziata, in Bologna. This was Antonia Pinelli.
For skill in drawing and purity of tone she was held in high estimation.
Numerous were the young women who learned painting in the atelier of
the Caracci; while other masters had their share of fair students.
Domenichino is said to have been the teacher of Flavia Durand, Teresa
del Po, and Artemisia Gentileschi; Lanfranco brought to light the
talent of Caterina Ginnassi; Guido Reni gave instruction to Madalena
Natali, and formed the genius of Elisabetta Sirani, the pride of
the Bolognese school. Albano, however, was an exception, and, with
the churlish Guercino, who despised every thing like female talent,
had no pupils of the fair sex. A sister of one of his pupils,
nevertheless--Flaminia Triva, of Reggio--became a painter much esteemed
by the connoisseurs of her time.
Of these artists, only the three most distinguished need be noticed
here. Caterina Ginnassi, of noble family and the niece of a cardinal,
was born in Rome, 1590. She was well instructed from early youth in
all feminine employments, useful as well as brilliant. She often said,
afterward, “The needle and distaff are sad enemies to the brush and the
pencil.” Her first master was Clelio, and after his death she threw
herself into the bold and brilliant manner of Lanfranco. She produced
the great paintings that adorned the church founded by her uncle, of
St. Lucia, in Rome. Becoming the inheritor of the cardinal’s large
possessions, she founded, according to his directions, a cloister, with
a seminary attached for students from Romagna; as abbess of which, she
continued to practice her favorite art, dying in 1680, in the enjoyment
of the fame and popularity her industry and piety had deservedly won.
ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI.
The life of Artemisia Gentileschi was more in the world and more
brilliant. She was the daughter of the painter Orazio Gentileschi, was
married to Pier Antonio Schiattesi, and lived long in Naples. Receiving
her earliest lessons from Guido Reni, at a later period she studied
the works of Domenichino, one of the best masters of expression in
the Bolognese school. Her great reputation was acquired by numerous
portraits, and her skill in this species of painting obtained for
her the honor of a call to the English court, whither her father
accompanied her. There the art-appreciating monarch Charles I. gave her
abundant employment. She was esteemed not inferior to her father in
historical pieces. King Charles placed several of her works among his
treasures. “David with Goliath’s head” was considered her best. Some of
the royal family sat to her for their portraits, as did several of the
nobility. A female figure, representing Fame, of great merit, was in
the royal collection. Her own portrait is in Hampton Court, painted in
the powerful and vivid style of Michael Angelo. Wägen says she excelled
her father in portraits.
Having reaped a rich, reward for her labors in England, she returned to
Naples, where she seems to have established herself in much splendor.
She died in 1642, at the age of fifty-two. Several letters addressed
to the Cavalier del Pozzo were found among her papers. In one, dated
1637, she inquires coolly after her husband. “Sia servita darmi nuova
della vita o morte di mio marito.” Some of her letters contain orders
for gloves; now her request to the Pope was permission for a priestly
friend to bear arms; now she appealed to the Cardinal Barberini,
then, all powerful in Rome, for assistance in disposing of some large
picture, to furnish means to provide for the wedding of a daughter with
suitable magnificence; after the granting of which favor, she would
add, in the Italian fashion, that, “free from this burden,” she would
return contented to her home. A fine specimen of her skill in painting
is a picture of “Judith,” in the Palazzo Pitti, which shows, in its
ground-work, the principles of the school of Bologna; while its finish,
on the other hand, exhibits the startling effects of the Neapolitan
school. Lanzi says, “It is a picture of strong coloring, of a tone and
intensity that inspires awe.” Mrs. Jameson remarks, “This dreadful
picture is a proof of her genius, and, let me add, of its atrocious
misdirection.” But the artist should not be censured for her treatment
of a subject which may not have been her own choice. “Susannah and
the Elders” pleases by the scene and the drapery of the figures. The
“Birth of John the Baptist,” in the Museum of Madrid, painted by this
lady as a family piece, displays the same combination, but has more of
the freedom of nature, and a certain boldness that betokens familiar
acquaintance with life and the best models.
ELISABETTA SIRANI.
A place among the most gifted and the most illustrious women who, in
any country or in any age, have devoted themselves to the fine arts,
must be accorded to Elisabetta Sirani. She has been pronounced a
complete artist; unrivaled by any of her sex in fertility of invention,
in the power of combining parts in a noble whole, in knowledge of
drawing and foreshortening, and in the minute details that contribute
to the perfection of a painting. Had she lived longer, she would have
equaled any painter of her time.
She was born in Bologna, about 1640, and was the daughter of a painter
of no inconsiderable merit. She was enrolled among the pupils of Guido
Reni, and her artistic character was formed after the model of this
most gifted and most versatile master of the Bolognese school. She
imbibed from him an exquisite sense of the beautiful, and a peculiar
gift of reproducing it. To this she added a vigor and energy rare in
a woman. She made herself acquainted early with the works of the most
distinguished painters, and manifested so much talent in youth, that
she became the admiration of her acquaintances, particularly as she
excelled also in music; while, to the gift of genius, she added that
of rare personal loveliness. Lanzi speaks of her with enthusiastic
admiration. It is not often that an artist of celebrity so generally
wins the affections of those who know her. This popularity perhaps
added to her renown; or the tragical fate of the blooming girl may
have contributed to invest her name with a halo of romantic glory.
Malvasia, who tells us she was persuaded by her father to adopt the
profession of a painter, calls her “the heroine among artists”--and
himself “the trumpeter of her fame.” Another eulogist, in the glowing
style of Picinardi, praises her unwearied industry, her moderation in
eating, and simplicity in dress; and the exquisite modesty with which
she was always ready for household employments. She would rise at dawn
to perform those lowly domestic tasks for which her occupations during
the day left her little leisure, and never permitted her passion for
art to interfere with the fulfillment of homely duties. Thus she was
admirable in the circle of daily life, as in her loftiest aspirations.
She obtained time in this manner for her exercises in poetry and music.
All praised her gracious and cheerful spirit, her prompt judgment, and
deep feeling for the art she loved. Besides being a painter, she was an
adept in sculpture and engraving on copper, thus meriting the praise
lavished on her as “a miracle of art.”
Her devoted filial affection, her feminine grace, and the artless
benignity of her manners, completed a character regarded by her friends
as an ideal of perfection. Malvasia mentions the rapidity with which
she worked, often throwing off sketches and executing oil pictures
in the presence of strange spectators. The envious artists of her
time took occasion, from the number of her paintings, to insinuate
that her father gave out his own works for his daughter’s to obtain
a higher price for them; but the stupid calumny soon fell to the
ground, for every one had free access to the studio of Elisabetta, and
one day, in the presence of the Duchess of Brunswick, the Duchess of
Mirandola, Cosimo, Duke of Tuscany, and others, she drew and shaded
subjects chosen by each with such promptitude that the incredulous
were confounded. She had hardly received the commission of her large
picture--“The Baptism of Jesus”--before she had sketched on the canvas
the entire conception of that memorable incident, including many and
various figures; and the work was completed with equal rapidity. She
was then only twenty years of age.
Her method has been compared to that of Guido Reni, whose versatility
she combined with rare force and decision, and peculiar delicacy
and tenderness; the most opposite qualities being harmonized in her
productions.
This fascinating artist, in the height of her fame, in the flush
of early womanhood, was snatched from her friends by a cruel and
mysterious doom. Her fate is involved in a darkness which has not been
penetrated to this day. Some do not hesitate to aver that her sudden
death was a base and cruel murder; that she was poisoned by the same
hands that administered the deadly draught to Domenichino--those of
Ribiera or his disciples, jealous of her rising fame. The general
impression is that she was the victim of professional envy. Some
averred that her death was caused by the revenge of a princely lover,
whose dishonorable advances were repelled, or some great personage
who was incensed at her refusal to engage in his service, or of a
distinguished individual who felt aggrieved by a caricature, and
secretly employed a servant to put poison in her food. Each story was
believed among her contemporaries, and the record of the examination
is yet extant; but it was conducted without regularity, and throws no
light upon the mysterious assassination.
Great was the excitement on the 14th November, 1665, in Bologna, on the
day of her funeral, when the whole population crowded, weeping, to see
the once beautiful features distorted by the hateful poison. The victim
of revenge or jealousy was honored with solemn and splendid funeral
ceremonies in the church of St. Domenico.
Shortly after her death a work was published, in which was included a
number of poetical eulogies and tributes, from the most eminent poets
of the day, to the memory and virtues of the deceased. One line runs
thus:
“I was a woman, yet I knew not love.”
Picinardi adds the information that the pure calm of her soul was
never disturbed by the grand passion. On the other hand, Gualandi
intimates that the highly gifted maiden cherished for a young artist
of her acquaintance an ardent affection, but that her father would not
consent to the marriage. The romantic may please themselves with the
supposition that the seed of genius sown in the nature of this richly
endowed girl was quickened in the glow of an unhappy passion into the
gorgeous bloom that attracted the eye of the world.
Elisabetta lies at rest in the chapel of the Madonna del Rosario in
the church of St. Domenico, which also incloses the dust of her great
master, Guido Reni. The works enumerated as hers by Malvasia, from
her own register, were one hundred and fifty pictures and portraits,
some of them large and carefully finished. Her first public work
was executed in 1655. Her composition was elegant and tasteful; her
designing correct and firm; and the freshness and suavity of her
color, especially in demi-tints, reminded one of Guido. The air of her
heads was graceful and noble, and she was peculiarly successful in the
expressive character of her Madonnas and Magdalens. Among her finest
pictures are mentioned a Francesco di Padoua kneeling before the infant
Christ, a Virgin and St. Anna contemplating the sleeping Saviour,
and others, preserved in several palaces in Bologna. Her portrait of
herself was taken in the act of painting her father. Another portrait
of her is in the person of a saint looking up to heaven. Among her
paintings on copper, which are exquisitely delicate, is a Lot with his
children, now in the possession of a family in Bologna. She produced
etchings of the Beheading of John the Baptist, the Death of Lucretia,
and several master-pieces; all distinguished by delicacy of touch and
by ease and spirit in the execution. Her painting, “Amor Divino,”
represents a lovely child, nude, seated on a red cloth, holding in its
left hand a laurel crown and sceptre, while with the right it points
to a quiver and some books lying at its feet. Bolognini says: “It
is impossible to conceive any thing more beautiful in form or more
exquisite in finish than this lovely child.”
Like Guido’s, the influence of Elisabetta Sirani on the progress of
art in Bologna was exhibited in the number of scholars who sought
instruction from her, or studied her paintings to ground themselves in
her system. So illustrious an example as she presented must naturally
have contributed greatly to the encouragement and development of female
talent, and many were the women whom her success, in a greater or less
degree, stimulated to exertion. One of Elisabetta Sirani’s pupils
was Ginevra Cantofoli of Bologna. She painted history pieces with
some reputation. In a church of Bologna is a picture by her--The Last
Supper. Her best was San Tommaso di Villanuovo.
Sirani’s sisters, Anna Maria and Barbara, are also mentioned among
her scholars, with Lucrezia Scarafaglia, Maria Teresa Coriolani, and
Veronica Fontana, who carved excellently well in wood, and executed
portraits in this manner which were highly praised. Many other names of
women are recorded who derived their impressions of art, directly or
indirectly, from Sirani.
Teresa Muratori was the daughter of an eminent physician, and born at
Bologna in 1662. At an early age she showed a genius for painting and
music. She was instructed in designing by Emilio Taruffi, and afterward
took lessons from Lorenzo Parmello and Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole. She
painted historical pieces, and several religious ones for churches in
Bologna. She died at the age of forty-six.
Orlandi speaks highly of Maria Helena Panzacchi. She was born at
Bologna in 1668, was taught designing by Taruffi, and became a
reputable painter of landscapes, which she embellished with figures.
Her works were correct in design, and the disposition was marked by
elegance and taste. Several of them are in private collections at
Bologna.
Bologna boasted also of Ersilia Creti, a pupil of her father Donato,
and of Maria Viani, of whose workmanship a reclining Venus, in the
Dresden gallery, exquisitely done, remains to her praise.
Among others of the school of Bologna, we may mention Maria Dolce, the
daughter and pupil of Carlo Dolce, so noted and so admired for the
calm dignity of his productions. She copied several of her father’s
pictures. The name of another painter, Agnes Dolce, may be added;
but we must pass over a host, observing only that the Bolognese was
throughout the seventeenth century the richest in female talent of all
the schools of Italy.
CHAPTER VI.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
School of the Academicians after Caravaggio.--Unidealized
Nature.--Rude and violent Passions delineated.--Dark and stormy
Side of Humanity.--Dark Coloring and Shadows.--The gloomy and
passionate expressed in Pictures appeared in the Lives of
Artists.--The Dagger and Poison-cup common.--Aniella di Rosa.--The
Pupil of Stanzioni.--Character of her Painting.--Romantic Love
and Marriage.--The happy Home destroyed.--The hearth-stone
Serpent.--Jealousy.--The pretended Proof.--Phrensy and Murder.--Other
fair Neapolitans.--The Paintress of Messina.--The Schools of Bologna
and Naples embrace the most prominent Italian Paintings.--Commencement
of Crayon-drawing.--Tuscan Ladies of Rank cultivating Art.--The
Rosalba of the Florentine School.--Art in the City of the Cæsars.--The
Roman Flower-painter.--Engravers.--Medallion-cutters.--A female
Architect.--A Roman Sculptress.--Women Artists of the Venetian
School.--At Pavia.--The Painter’s four Daughters.--Chiara
Varotari.--Shares her Brother’s Labors.--A skillful Nurse.--Her
Pupils.--Other female Artists of this time.--The Schools of Northern
Italy.--Their Paintresses.--Giovanna Fratellini.
In contrast to the school established as before mentioned, certain
academicians had set up one grounded on principles promulgated by
Michael Angelo da Caravaggio, wherein the old idealism and conventional
forms of beauty were neglected, and the models furnished by the works
of the early masters were entirely slighted, to make room for a simple
copying of nature, whether beautiful or repulsive, full of grace or
rugged and barren of all charms. This new school had been planted in
Naples by Caravaggio; and beneath that glowing sky arose a number
of masters who devoted themselves not only to the reproduction of
unidealized nature, but the delineation of human passions in their
sternest and most violent demonstrations; preferring, in fact, to
depict the darkest and stormiest side of humanity. For this purpose,
depth of coloring and dark shadows were employed. These masters were
not wanting in talent, nor were their creations without effect and
influence; but they had nothing of the pure and holy element which
seems like a genuine inspiration in art. The gloomy and passionate,
expressed in their pictures, too often appeared also in their
characters and actions.
The relations of these Neapolitan artists with those of the Bolognese
school were by no means friendly, and rivals settled their disputes
as frequently with the dagger and the poison-cup as with the pencil
and the palette. Such a state of things was hardly favorable to the
development of woman’s talent.
ANIELLA DI ROSA.
Yet we find one artist of surpassing merit, who, on account of her
genius and her tragical fate, was called the Sirani of the school of
Naples. This was Aniella di Rosa, niece of the painter Pacecco di Rosa,
and pupil of that Massimo Stanzioni who, in common with Caravaggio,
exercised a species of tyranny over the struggles of Neapolitan art,
and was one of the leaders of the opposition set up against the
artists from Bologna. Aniella painted in his atelier, and he directed
her studies with paternal solicitude. She succeeded in giving to her
pictures the grace, the soft and transparent coloring of Pacecco, and
united in her heads the elegance of her uncle’s style with the correct
drawing and able grouping of Stanzioni. Her master set her to color his
sketches, and she succeeded so well that he often sold their joint
productions as his own. When her education was sufficiently advanced,
she desired that her talents should be put to a public test; and her
master induced the governors of the church of the Pietà dei Turchini to
give her a commission for two paintings which were to adorn the ceiling.
Aniella produced two paintings so excellent that many declared they
were completed by Stanzioni. But Domenici says he has seen several of
her original pictures, and that they are “most beautiful productions.”
“Her master himself,” he continues, “avows in his writings that she
equals the best masters of our time.” One of the pictures represented
the Birth of the Virgin; the other, her Death. The figures are larger
than life; and the boldness of design, the effects of light and shade,
and the management of the drapery, drew praise from two eminent
artists, who said she was an honor to her country, and that many
artists might learn from her. She also did several heads of the Madonna
in red chalk, pronounced equal in drawing to the works of the most
renowned artists.
During the earliest days when Aniella frequented Stanzioni’s studio,
she became acquainted with Agostino Beltramo, a high-spirited
Neapolitan youth. He soon became enamored of the beautiful girl, and
his frank manners and noble bearing, with the promise his early efforts
gave of his becoming a good artist, were a passport to her heart.
His love was accepted, and they were betrothed. Stanzioni exerted
himself in their behalf, and through his good offices the consent of
the parents for the marriage of the young people was obtained. A rare
similarity of tastes, and their mutual labors in art, caused all to
admire and many to envy the happiness of their union. The serenity of
Aniella’s disposition tended to insure the peace of their daily life;
and during sixteen years which they passed together both acquired no
insignificant artistic fame. The husband excelled in frescoes; the lady
in oil-paintings. The superb painting of San Biagio, in the church of
the Sanità, in Naples, is the result of their mutual labors.
But the cloud was brooding over the happy home which was to burst in
a fatal storm. An evil-minded woman, young and beautiful, entered the
house of Aniella as a servant. She was in love with Agostino; and,
finding all her charms and artifices ineffectual to move him from his
fidelity to his noble wife, or even to win his attention, she set
herself to work to accomplish the ruin of this domestic happiness.
She contrived to insinuate herself into the confidence of the man she
could not tempt; and then, drop by drop, with the perfidy and subtle
cunning of Iago, she succeeded in instilling into his heart the poison
of jealousy. By degrees she undermined his faith in the spotless virtue
of Aniella.
The husband grew morose and irritable, and at times manifested the
change that had come over him by sudden outbursts of ill-humor. Vainly
Aniella strove by unremitting patience and redoubled affection to
soothe his wayward moods. She soon perceived that all her happiness
must be derived from her art, and from the approbation of her old
master, who frequently visited her. She painted in her best manner a
Holy Family, and presented it to him. “On seeing,” writes Domenici,
“with what mastery of drawing and perfection of coloring Aniella had
completed the painting, and because she had so toiled for him, he was
overcome with feeling, and, in a transport of affection, clasped her
in his arms, exclaiming that she was his best pupil, and that, had he
been asked to retouch the painting, he should not know where to begin,
for fear of destroying the beautiful coloring.”
The infamous servant was playing the spy throughout this scene, and
had called up a servant-lad to support her testimony. On Stanzioni’s
departure Agostino returned.
“Now,” cried this hearth-stone serpent, “now I have proofs to set all
doubts at rest--proofs I will furnish you with in the presence of
your wife.” Confronted with her mistress, the vile hireling charged
her with guilty embraces, and called the servant-lad to confirm the
charge. Aniella, astounded and indignant, disdained to defend herself,
but stood before her husband mute and motionless, while a flush of pain
and indignation mantled on her brow. Her silence confirmed Agostino’s
suspicions; in his phrensy he drew his sword, and the next moment
Aniella lay dead at his feet. Thus closed the career of this noble
artist, in 1649, in the thirty-sixth year of her age. She was not the
only victim to the taste for the horrible and for wild extremes of
passion then prevailing in the works of artists, and too common in
their personal experience.
Another fair Neapolitan, who also worked in Rome at portrait-painting,
was Angela Beinaschi. The nun, Luisa Copomazza, a landscape-painter and
poetess, and the flower-painter, Clena Ricchi, were of Naples; with the
painter and modeler in wax, Catarina Juliani, called the “_ornamento
della patria_.”
Teresa del Po--daughter of a painter, the disciple of Domenichino,
and distinguished for oil and miniature painting, and copper
engraving--came from a family of Palermo. She etched plates in her
father’s style; some after Caracci.
Messina boasted of Anna Maria Ardoino, the daughter of the Princess
de Polizzi, accomplished in every branch, including music and poetry,
who won great celebrity on account of her splendid attainments in art
and literature, and was admitted a member of the Academy of Arcadia in
Rome. She died in 1700, at Naples, in the bloom of her life and fame,
and it is said her death was occasioned by grief for the loss of a son.
The two schools of Bologna and Naples may be said to embrace the
greater number of the prominent productions of the pencil in Italy
during the period of which we have spoken. Other cities enjoyed their
peculiar distinctions as the seats of different schools of art, but
they exhibited more or less the influence of these chief ones. In
Florence--the ancient home of Italian painting--artists of distinction
exercised their skill; and the superior cultivation and taste diffused
under the auspices of distinguished Tuscan ladies, contributed, in no
small measure, to the encouragement of female enterprise. While Maria
Borghini--elevated, by the judgment of her contemporaries, to a seat
beside Victoria Colonna, and Mary dei Medici, who not only patronized
art, but gave it her own personal efforts--won the meed of admiration,
others were not backward in the race for the golden apple of renown.
Arcangela Paladini, of Pisa, born 1599, already mentioned as a painter,
was also an engraver. Her portrait, by herself, is in the gallery
of artists in Florence. She died at the age of twenty-three. As
flower-painters, we hear of Anna Maria Vajani and Isabella Piccini;
Giovanna Redi was a successful pupil of the skillful Gabbiani; and
Giovanna Marmochini was no less favorably known in art than as a wit
and a learned lady. She has been called, for the excellence of her
miniatures, the Rosalba of the Florentine school. Niccola Grassi, of
Genoa, is also called by Lanzi “the rival of Rosalba.” She painted
original compositions and church pictures.
Rome, meanwhile, maintained her ancient fame. The city of the Cæsars
had often been the arena where the striving masters of the Bolognese
and the opposing schools contended for the establishment of the
supremacy they coveted. Nor was she wanting in women artists of
her own, able to do credit to their birthplace. We may mention the
excellent flower-painter, Laura Bernasconi, and the engravers, Isabella
and Hieronima Parasole, whose name became so celebrated that the
husband of the first adopted it, dropping his own. Isabella executed
several cuts of plants for an herbal published under the direction of
Prince Cesi, of Aquasparta. She also published a book on the methods of
working lace and embroidery, illustrated with cuts engraved from her
own designs. Hieronima engraved on wood, among other pictures, “The
Battle of the Centaurs.”
Beatrice Hamerani worked at medallions, and in 1700 elaborated a
large medallion of Pope Innocent XII., highly praised by Goethe as
“undoubtedly one of the most skillful, expressive, and powerful
productions of art which ever came from the hands of a woman.”
Add to these the name of the only woman who was ever known to have
been a practical architect. This was Plautilla Brizio, who has left
monuments of her excellence in that species of art in a small palace
before Porta San Pancrazio, and in the chapel of St. Benedict, in San
Luigi dei Francesi. In the latter is a picture painted by her hand.
The villa Giraldi, near Rome, is the joint work of this lady and her
brother.
The female sculptor Maria Domenici, who pursued her profession in Rome,
was a native of Naples.
Passing over many of the Italian cities, and attempting no sketch of
the peculiarities of the school of Venice, we find there several not
insignificant women artists. Paolina Grandi, Elisabetta Lazzarini, and
Damina Damini were known as painters, and Domenia Luisa Rialto as an
engraver on copper. The sisters Carlotta and Gabriella Patin enjoyed
celebrity for both learning and artistic skill. They lived at Pavia,
and were members of the Academy dei Ricovrati.
The four daughters of the Venetian painter Niccolo Renieri, who
practiced the same art, should be mentioned. Anna, the eldest, became
the wife of Antoine Vandyck.
Chiara Varotari was so highly esteemed by those who knew her, that a
niche was assigned her by contemporaries equal to that of Maria Robusti
in the sixteenth century. She was daughter and pupil of Dario Varotari,
and the sister of that Alessandro Varotari who became so noted as a
painter, under the name Padovanino. Chiara frequently shared in the
execution of his works. She was not less praised for her beauty,
and her skill as a tender nurse of the sick. Her triumphs over the
discomfort of disease were signal, in that field where female prowess
so often achieves its deeds of heroism. Such conquests are seldom
recorded by the historian’s pen; but it is pleasant for once to rescue
them from oblivion. Honors were conferred on her by the Grand-Duke
of Tuscany, who placed her portrait in his collection. This artist
numbered among her pupils Lucia Scaligeri and Caterina Taraboti.
Boschini thinks she gave public instruction, like Sirani. She died,
full of years, in 1660, ten years after the brother whose labors she
had aided.
Anna Maria Vajani, who engraved in Rome in the middle of this century,
executed a part of the plates for the Justinian Gallery.
Laura Bernasconi imitated the famous flower-painter Mario Mizzi, called
“Mario dai fiori.” With his coloring she had also his defects.
Maria Vittoria Cassana was the sister of two painters, and painted
chiefly devotional pieces, in little. She died 1711. Lucia Casalina, a
disciple of Giuseppe dal Sole, turned her attention to portraits.
Angelica Veronica Airola, a Genoese, studied painting under Domenico
Fiasella. She painted religious pictures for the convents and churches
of Genoa, and became a nun of the order of St. Bartholomew della
Fiavella. Soprani and others mention her.
Giovanna Garzoni painted flowers and miniature portraits about 1630. At
Florence she painted some of the Medici and the nobles. Dying at Rome
in 1673, she bequeathed her property to the academy of St. Luke, in
which there is a marble monument to her memory.
Two daughters of Caccia--called “the Fontane of Monferrato”--painted
altar and cabinet pieces. One, Francesca, adopted for her symbol
a small bird; Ursula, a flower. Ursula founded the convent of the
Ursulines, in Moncalvo. Some of her landscapes are decorated with
flowers.
Lanzi and Tiraboschi mention Margerita Gabassi as admirable in
humorous pieces. She died in 1734, aged seventy-one.
In the Nuova Guida di Torino, Isabella dal Pozzo is mentioned as the
painter of a picture in the church of San Francesco, at Turin, dated
1666, and representing the Virgin and Babe surrounded with saints.
Lanzi bestows high praise on her. In 1676 she became court painter to
the Electress Adelaide of Bavaria.
The schools of Northern Italy recorded the names, too, of Chiara
Salmeggia, the painter of Bergamo, and of Maria la Caffa, of Cremona,
who worked at the Court of Tyrol; of Camilla Triumfi; and Maria
Domenici, a native of Naples, who worked at sculpture in Rome, and died
a nun in 1703.
Lucia Scaligeri, a pupil of Chiara Varotari, had a daughter Agnes,
also a painter, spoken of by Boschini. Caterina Rusca was a native of
Ferrara, and known as an engraver and poetess.
Crayon-drawing seems to have been much in vogue at this time. Giovanna
Fratellini, called by Lanzi “an illustrious female artist, from the
school of Gabbiani,” painted in crayons as well as in oil, miniature
and enamel. So famous did she become that, after executing the
portraits of Cosmo III. and family--a drawing consisting of fourteen
figures in a superb apartment, of the richest architecture, remarkable
for its judicious disposition and lovely coloring--her patron sent her
throughout Italy to paint the other princes. “Her pencil is light,
delicate, and free,” writes Pilkington; “her carnations are natural,
and full of warmth and life, and as she understood perspective and
architecture thoroughly, she made an elegant use of that knowledge,
enriching her pictures with magnificent ornaments. Her draperies are
generally well chosen, full of variety, and remarkable for a noble
simplicity. Her works rendered her famous, not only in Italy, but
in Europe.” Her portrait is in the gallery at Florence; she painted
herself in the act of drawing her son and pupil, Lorenzo, in whom were
centred all her hopes. Under her tuition he made rapid progress in art,
but died suddenly, at an early age. His mother never recovered from
the blow; life and art had alike lost their charms for her, and she
speedily followed him to the grave.
CHAPTER VII.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Contrast between the Academicians and Naturalists, and between
the French and Spanish Schools of Painting.--Peculiarities of
each.--Ladies of Rank in Madrid Pupils of Velasquez.--Instruction
of the royal Children in Art.--The Engraver of Madrid.--Every
City in the South of Spain boasts a female Artist.--Isabella
Coello.--Others in Granada.--In Cordova.--The Sculptress of
Seville.--Luisa Roldan; her Carvings in Wood.--The Canons
“sold.”--Invitation to Madrid.--Sculptress to the King.--Other Women
Artists in Spain.--In France Woman’s Position more prominent than
in preceding Age.--Corruption of court Manners.--Unworthy Women in
Power.--Women in every Department of Literature.--Mademoiselle de
Scudery.--Madame de la Fayette.--Madame Dacier.--Women in theological
Pursuits.--Their Ascendency in Art not so great.--Miniature and
Flower Painters.--Engravers.--Elizabeth Sophie Chéron.--A Leader
in Enamel-painting.--Her Portraits and History-pieces.--Her
Merits and Success.--Her Translations of the Psalms.--Musical and
Poetical Talents.--Honors lavished on her.--Love and Marriage
at three-score.--Her Generosity to the needy.--Verses in her
Praise.--Historical Tableaux.--Madelaine Masson.--The Marchioness de
Pompadour.
Striking contrasts belong to the history of art in the seventeenth
century. A moral, religious, and artistic contrast existed between
the academicians and the naturalists; and one as remarkable may
be noticed between the French and Spanish schools of painting,
corresponding, in fact, to the civil struggle between the two nations
for European supremacy. In Spain the enthusiasm for art harmonized
with the passionate character of the people; in France, discretion and
intellectual taste predominated. The sensuous and rudely natural in
Spanish art was combined with the warmest glow of religious feeling.
Velasquez, a son of Andalusia, had a number of scholars in Madrid among
ladies of high rank. Donna Maria de Abarca and the Countess of Vill’
Ambrosa were celebrated for their skill in taking likenesses, and were
highly praised by the poets. The Duchess of Bejar, Teresa Sarmiento,
and Maria de Guadalupe, Duchess of Aveiro--also an accomplished
linguist and lover of letters--had considerable celebrity as painters.
The admiration of Philip IV. for art rendered the instruction therein
of the royal children and those of the nobility a necessary branch
of education. The Duchess of Alba, celebrated for her beauty and
intrigues, gave one of Raphael’s master-pieces as a fee to the family
physician, who had cured her of a dangerous illness.
Maria Eugenia de Beer was an engraver in Madrid, and we may find in
the choir-books of the cathedral at Tarragona creditable specimens of
the talent of the painter Angelica, who painted the illuminations with
great neatness and skill.
Every city in the south of Spain seemed to be able to boast of a female
artist. In Valencia lived Doña Isabella Sanchez Coello, the daughter
and pupil of “the Spanish Prothogenes”--Alonzo Sanchez Coello--the
first of the great Spanish portrait painters, and the Velasquez of the
court of Philip II. Born in 1564, she was the playmate of Infants and
Infantas, and she acquired distinction both in music and painting. She
married Don Francisco de Herrera, Knight of Santiago. Dying in Madrid
in 1612, she was buried with her husband’s family in the church of San
Juan.
Magdalena Gilarte was a noted painter, and worked in her father’s
style with spirit and skill. Jesualda Sanchez carried on her husband’s
business after his death, and painted small pictures of the saints for
sale.
In Granada we find Doña Maria Cueva Benavides y Barrados an admired
painter, and Anna Heylan an engraver in copper. In Cordova, Doña
Francisca Palomino y Velasco, the sister of the painter and art
historian of the same name. She flourished about the close of the
century.
THE SCULPTRESS OF SEVILLE.
To the school of Seville, in which Spanish art reached its highest
development, belongs a fair artist of repute. Luisa Roldan was known
as an excellent sculptor in wood. She was born in 1656, and profited
by her father’s instructions in art, acquiring great skill. After her
mother’s death, she kept both her household and the studio in orderly
operation, attending with successful management to the affairs of both,
and keeping busy at work both her servants and her father’s pupils.
Roldan was indebted to her for valuable hints. He had carved a statue
of St. Ferdinand for the Cathedral, which the canons rejected. Luisa
suggested certain anatomical operations with the saw, which were
perfectly successful. The canons took the work for a new one, and were
satisfied; and the saint was peacefully installed in his chapel. Her
chief productions were small figures of the Virgin, or groups of the
Adoration of the shepherds, etc., and all were designed and executed
with delicacy and grace. She sculptured a Magdalen supported by an
angel, the statue giving an exquisite idea of an angel’s sweetness and
protecting love. It is placed in the hospital at Cadiz. Her small
pieces are full of expression.
She married Don Luis de los Arcos, and was invited to Madrid in 1692,
through Don Cristobal Ontañon, who had presented several of her works
to Charles II. The king was pleased, and ordered a statue of St.
Michael, life size, for the church of the Escurial. This Luisa executed
with great success, and to the admiration of the connoisseurs. The work
elicited complimentary verses from a distinguished poet, and the artist
was rewarded by the post of sculptress in ordinary to the king, with a
salary of a hundred ducats, paid from the day she arrived at court.
When Charles II. died she had just completed a statue of our Saviour
which he had ordered for a convent; its destination was then changed to
a nunnery at Sisanto. She died at Madrid in 1704, leaving in the palace
treasure a small group, modeled in clay, representing St. Anna teaching
the Virgin to read, and attended by angels. Some of her works were
placed in the Recolete Convent, and some in the Chartreuse of Paulan.
Doña Isabella Carasquilla was a painter, and married a miniaturist,
Juan de Valdes Leal of Cordova. Their daughters Luisa and Maria were
highly educated, and painted miniatures. The latter died in 1730, a nun
in the Sistercian Convent at Seville.
Rosalba Salvioni, a painter of celebrity, was the pupil of Mesquida.
Doña Inez Zarcillo evinced no small taste in drawing and modeling. She
was the sister of a sculptor.
Maria de Loreto Prieto, an artist’s daughter, possessed extraordinary
talent for painting and engraving. Her father was highly esteemed by
Charles III., and had the oversight of all the coins for the purpose
of improving the stamps.
Caterina Querubini, the wife of Preciado, a miniature-painter, enjoyed
a pension from the Spanish court, and an honored place in the Academy
de San Fernando.
Doña Isabella Farnese, the wife of Philip V., and Angela Perez
Caballero, drew exceedingly well, and were members of the Academy in
Madrid.
WOMEN ARTISTS IN FRANCE.
In France women had taken a position more prominent than in the
preceding century. Even the gallantry prevailing in society, and the
corruption of court manners, were promoted by feminine influence.
Unworthy women were raised to power, and the history of court favorites
from the reign of the knightly Henry IV. to that of the great monarch
Louis XIV. forms the most important part of the annals of the empire.
Women took eminent places in every department of literature; in the
drama Catherine Bernard was the disciple of Racine, and Mademoiselle de
Scudery had many imitators in her poetical romances; while Madame de la
Fayette took the lead in a more modern style of fiction. Madame Dacier
became celebrated as “the most learned and eloquent of women,” and her
example helped to spread a love of knowledge and classical attainment
among the French ladies. Even theological pursuits had a Jeanne de la
Mothe-Guyon to represent mysticism in conflict with the orthodoxy of
the court and the state.
In art the ascendency of woman was by no means so great. We may,
however, name, as prominent in portrait and miniature painting,
Antoinette and Madelaine Herault; the latter, in 1660, married Noel
Coypel. She joined noble virtues to her extraordinary talents.
Henriette Stresor and Catherine Perrot may also be mentioned. Catherine
Duchemin, a flower-painter, married the famous sculptor Girardon.
Several women were noted as engravers on copper; among them Claudine
Bonzonnet Stella has been called the first in France, and practiced the
art with her two sisters. Jane Frances and Mary Ann Ozanne, the sisters
of a French engraver, worked chiefly in engraving sea-side scenes.
ELIZABETH SOPHIE CHÉRON.
But she who occupies the highest place among all the artists of this
period is Elizabeth Sophie Chéron. Born in Paris in 1648, she received
instruction from her father in miniature and enamel painting, in which
she attained such perfection that she may be regarded as the leader
of the host of French artists who devoted themselves especially to
this branch. At the age of twenty-six she was admitted a member of the
Academy, at the proposal of Charles Le Brun. She was received with
distinction; his portrait by her being her reception picture.
Her merits were a fine tone, exquisite taste and harmony in design,
and finely-disposed draperies. She often made portraits from memory.
Her portraits were so frequently treated in an allegorical manner they
might be called historical; and her history-pieces were much admired.
She designed much after the antique.
Her father had educated Elizabeth in the strictest principles of
Calvinism; but her mother, Marie Lefevre, a Catholic, persuaded her
to become a member of that church, after a year’s seclusion in the
community of Madame de Miramion. The difference in faith did not impair
her affection to her family. She supported her brother Louis for some
time in Italy, whither he went to study painting.
This accomplished artist passed the maturity of life without any of the
experiences, with which almost every young girl is familiar, of the
tender passion. Her emotions seem to have been altogether spiritual.
She translated many of the Psalms into French verse; and they were
published with illustrations by Louis. She played admirably on the
lute, and was accustomed to practice in the parlor with her nieces and
pupils, who performed on different instruments. Louis XIV. gave her a
pension of five hundred livres.
The most eminent scholars of the day were her friends and visitors;
and in conversation she evinced the highest mental cultivation. Her
portraits were chiefly painted as presents to her friends, or as
ornaments to her own cabinet. “I have the pleasure,” she would say, “of
seeing them in their absence.”
In spiritual lyrics she was the precursor of J. B. Rousseau, with whom
in warmth of feeling she may be compared; and in narrative poetry she
acquired much reputation. The Academy dei Ricovrati, in Padua, received
her as a member in 1699, under the name of Erato. She possessed beauty
and engaging manners, and to all the honors lavished on her she joined
the crowning grace of modesty.
The attractions of this gifted being did not depart with the beauty of
fleeting youth. At the age of sixty she fascinated the affections of
the Sieur Le Hay, a gentleman about her own age, on whom she bestowed
her hand, simply with the generous motive, it was said, of promoting
his good fortune. Tradition reports that, when they came out of the
church after the ceremony had been performed, the bride made a speech
to her husband, implying that esteem, not romantic love, had influenced
her choice. She is said to have alluded to him, under the name of
Damon, in one of her poems.
As of Madame Dacier, it might be said of this artist--the traits of a
great and manly nature might be discerned in her face. Her features
wore an expression of decision and firmness. Her hair, in her portrait,
curls from the top and floats in ringlets. She was remarkable for
the modesty and simplicity of her dress. Her large and sympathizing
heart made her the protector and benefactor of needy artists, while
her social qualities drew around her the brilliant circles that
habitually were found at her house, including many of the most gifted
and illustrious of that day. Her death took place in 1711, at the age
of sixty-three, and she was buried at St. Sulpice. She was lamented
by Fermelhuis in a canto of praise. The Abbé Bosquillon wrote the
following lines to be inscribed under her portrait:
“De deux talens exquis l’assemblage nouveau
Rendra toujours Chéron l’ornement de la France;
Rien ne peut de sa plume égaler l’excellence
Que les graces de son pinceau.”
For different gifts renowned, fair Chéron see,
Ever of France the ornament and pride;
Equaled by none her pen’s great works shall be,
Save when her pencil triumphs at their side.
Mademoiselle Chéron made many studies from Raphael and the Caracci.
Among her historical tableaux are enumerated, “The Flight into
Egypt”--the Virgin represented in a wearied sleep, with angels
guarding the babe; “Cassandra inquiring of a god the doom of Troy;”
“The Annunciation;” “Christ at the Sepulchre”--after Zumbo; with “The
Demoiselles de la Croix”--her nieces and pupils; and a grand portrait
of the Archbishop of Paris, placed in the Jacobin school of the Rue St.
Jacques.
Madelaine Masson was the daughter of Anthony Masson, a celebrated
engraver, and was born in Paris, 1660. She received instruction from
her father, and engraved portraits in his fine style. Among these is
the picture of Maria Teresa, Queen of France, and of the Infanta of
Spain.
The Marchioness de Pompadour engraved and executed small plates after
Boucher and others. She engraved one set of sixty-three prints, after
gems by Gay.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Two different Systems of Painting in the North.--The Flemish School
represented by Rubens.--The Dutch by Rembrandt.--Characteristics
of Rubens’ Style.--No female Disciples.--Unsuited to feminine
Study.--Some Women Artists of the first Part of the Century.--Features
of the Dutch School.--A wide Field for female Energy and
Industry.--Painting _de genre_.--Its Peculiarities.--State of Things
favorable to female Enterprise.--Early Efforts in Genre-painting.--Few
Women among Rembrandt’s immediate Disciples.--Genre-painting
becomes adapted to female Talent.--“The Dutch Muses.”--Another
Woman Architect.--Dutch Women Painters and Engravers.--Maria
Schalken and others.--“The second Schurmann.”--Margaretta
Godewyck.--The Painter-poet.--Anna Maria Schurmann.--Wonderful
Genius for Languages.--Early Acquirements.--Her Scholarship
and Position among the learned.--A Painter, Sculptor, and
Engraver.--Called “the Wonder of Creation.”--Royal and princely
Visitors.--Journey to Germany.--Embraces the religious Tenets of
Labadie.--His Doctrines.--Joins his Band.--Collects his Followers,
and leads them into Friesland.--Poverty and Death.--Visit of
William Penn to her.--Her Portrait.--Her female Contemporaries in
Art.--Flower-painting in the Netherlands.--Its Pioneers.--Maria Van
Oosterwyck.--Her Birth and Education.--Early Productions.--Celebrated
at foreign Courts.--Presents from imperial Friends.--Enormous
Prices for her Pictures.--Royal Purchasers.--The quiet Artist at
work.--The Lover’s Visit.--The Lover’s Trial and Failure.--Style of
her Painting.--Rachel Ruysch.--The greatest Flower-painter.--Early
Instruction.--Spread of her Fame.--Domestic Cares.--Professional
Honors.--Invitations to Courts.--Her Patron, the Elector.--Her Works
in old Age.--Her Character.--Rarity of her Paintings.--Personal
Appearance.
While the academicians and naturalists of the Italian schools contended
through the seventeenth century, and while in France and Spain the
works of art exhibited as great contrasts, modified in each country by
national peculiarities, two different systems in the North came into
notice. These, as in the time of Von Eyck, had great influence upon the
development of art in other lands besides that where they originated.
One was the Flemish school, represented by Rubens; the other the Dutch,
in which Rembrandt was regarded as the mighty master.
The style of Rubens, brilliant, luxuriant, and full of vigorous life,
it may be thought would commend itself peculiarly to the attention of
women. This school, however, in which the healthy and florid naturalism
of Flemish art reached its highest development, seems to have been
without any female disciples of note. The passionate and often
intensely dramatic character of the works of Rubens and his scholars,
and the physical development of his nude figures, were, indeed,
scarcely suited to feminine study, though their fullness of life and
warmth of coloring afterward won to imitation an artist like Madame
O’Connell. We may also mention Micheline Wontiers, a portrait painter
in the first half of the seventeenth century. An engraving was made
from one of her productions by Pontius, who busied himself with the
works of Rubens. The name of Catherine Pepyn, too, is found inscribed
as a portrait painter in the St. Luke’s Society of Artists at Antwerp,
about 1655.
In Holland, on the other hand, the new school of painting owed its
marked features to the political and religious revolution that had
been the fruit of the reformed doctrines. This change offered a wide
field for the exercise of female energy and genius. With the progress
of the new faith kept pace the rapid advance of literature; the great
questions at issue and the more earnest domestic life of the Hollanders
furnishing ample materials for thought and description. Painting came
under the same influence, and this was evident when the depth and power
of feeling in his works marked Rembrandt as one of the greatest masters
of all time.
A novel species of the art was called painting _de genre_. Herein life
was represented in all its rich and varied forms, and the world and
real humanity became objects of attention where hitherto only idealized
representations had been tolerated. A new arena was thus opened, in
which there was promise of noble achievement, and the rudest and
meanest aspects of common life soon appeared capable of being invested
with an ideal fascination. The painter _de genre_, armed with the wand
of humor, often succeeded in such attempts, and success led to the
adoption of that wonderfully poetical chiar’ oscuro in coloring, which,
till this period, had never attained the same degree of favor either in
the North or the South.
This state of things was eminently favorable to female enterprise,
and we find, accordingly, in a number of fair artists, evidences of
the energetic industry and careful minuteness for which the women of
Holland have been particularly noted. However, in the earliest efforts
at painting _de genre_, wherein the Flemish artists stood opposed
to the schools of Italy, women took no share. These trial specimens
usually consisted of some rough piece after nature, such as the drunken
boors and rustic women of the elder Breughel, and for a long time the
prevailing taste ran on the low, coarse, and fantastic in the models
selected. There was more to disgust than to attract cultivated women
in such a fashion, and, notwithstanding their alleged fancy to run into
extremes, this will account for the fact that they did not choose to
be numbered among those who delighted in such a copying of nature. One
we hear of, Anna Breughel, seems to have been a kinswoman of a younger
painter of that name.
The earnestness, depth, and intensity given to this species of art by
Rembrandt seemed to lie as little within the compass of female fancy,
which rather delighted in pleasing delineations of more superficial
emotion, than in the concentration of the deepest feelings of nature.
Thus few women were found among the immediate disciples of Rembrandt.
But as painting _de genre_ accommodated itself more pleasingly to
representations of ordinary life and circumstances, and the delicacy
of detail that formed the peculiar charm of this species of art was
lavished on attractive phases of character, the school became more and
more the nursery of female talent.
Literature, at this period, experienced a similar change; and it is
interesting to see the same persons pursuing both branches of study.
This was the case with the two painters, Tesselschade-Visscher--called
the “Dutch Muses,” on account of their poetry--with Elizabeth Hoffmann,
and the dramatic poet, Catharina Lescaille; also with one of whom we
shall presently speak, whose fame traveled far beyond the boundaries of
her native land.
Among the older artists of the Dutch school we may mention, in passing,
the fruit and flower painter, Angelica Agnes Pakman; Madame Steenwyk,
a designer in architecture; and the portrait-painter, Anna de Bruyn.
Anna Tessala was eminent as a skillful carver in wood. Concerning
Maria Grebber, a pupil of Savary, Van Mander remarks that she was
well skilled both in perspective and in building plans. Maria and
Gezina Terburg were sisters of Gerard, and, like him, skillful in
genre-painting.
Gottfried Schalken, who introduced a simpler method, and surprising
effects of light, was not more celebrated than his sister and pupil,
Maria, for productions remarkable for delicacy of execution and tender
expression. Eglon van der Neer shared his fame with his wife, Adriana
Spilberg. She was born in Amsterdam, in 1646, and was taught by her
father, an eminent painter. She excelled in crayons or pastels, though
she often painted in oil. Her portraits were said to be accurate
likenesses. They were delicately colored, and executed with neatness
and care. She was much patronized at the court of Düsseldorf.
Caspar Netscher, one of the best and most pleasing masters in this
peculiar style, had a disciple in Margaretta Wulfraat, whose historical
paintings--a Cleopatra and a Semiramis--are to be seen in Amsterdam,
and who died at a great age early in the eighteenth century.
A still greater interest attaches to artists who also took an
active part in the elevation of Dutch literature. Anna and Maria
Tesselschade--the daughters of Visscher, already mentioned--belonged to
this class; they were also celebrated for their fine etchings on glass.
Their literary culture brought them into association with the most
eminent scholars of that day.
With them may be ranked Margaretta Godewyck--born at Dort, in 1627,
and a pupil of Maas--who attained celebrity both in painting and in
her knowledge of the ancient and modern languages. She was called “the
second Schurmann,” and many praised her as “the lovely flower of art
and literature of the Merwestrom;” that is, of Dortrecht. She painted
landscapes and flowers, and embroidered them with great skill. She died
at fifty.
Catharina Questier, who resided at Amsterdam, was distinguished for
painting, copper-engraving, and modeling in wax, besides having no
small consideration accorded to her poetry. Two of her comedies, that
appeared in 1655, evince her skill in at least three branches; for the
drawings and engravings that illustrated the dramas were entirely her
own design and execution.
ANNA MARIA SCHURMANN.
A higher and more enduring fame than all these could command must be
accorded to Anna Maria Schurmann, called by the Dutch poets their
Sappho and their Corneille. She was born in November, 1607, in Cologne
(Descampes says, at Utrecht), of Flemish parents. Her family, like that
of Rubens, was Protestant, and her parents fled to Cologne from the
persecutions of Alba, remaining till 1615, when they removed to Utrecht.
Even in early childhood the genius of the young girl displayed its
bent. At three years of age she began to read, and at seven could
speak Latin. Her mother tried to keep her at the needle, but she loved
to amuse herself by cutting out paper pictures; she also painted
flowers and birds--untaught. A few years later, her taste for poetry
and learning languages developed itself. Learning was her passion;
the arts her recreation. Being allowed to be present at her brothers’
Latin lessons, she soon gained surprising proficiency in that tongue.
When she was ten years old, she translated passages from Seneca into
French and Flemish. Her love of study soon led to the acquisition of
the Greek. To the classics she added, before long, a knowledge of the
Oriental languages. She spoke and wrote the Hebrew, Samaritan, Arabic,
Chaldaic, Syriac, Ethiopian, Turkish, and Persian; besides being
perfectly well acquainted with the Italian, Spanish, French, English,
and German, and speaking every European tongue with elegance.
At the age of eleven this Flemish lassie had read the Bible, Seneca,
Virgil, Homer, and Æschylus in the original tongues; at fourteen she
composed a Latin ode to the famous Dutch poet Jacob Cats, who became
afterward an unsuccessful suitor for her hand. She wrote verses,
indeed, in many languages. The knowledge of different tongues greatly
aided her theological studies, in which she took the deepest interest
from early life. It is said that it was by reading the History of the
Martyrs she became imbued with the tendency to religious enthusiasm
that so strongly influenced her through life, and led to so strange a
career in her latter years.
The astonishing learning of this remarkable woman and her mastery in
the languages, caused her opinions to be often consulted by the most
erudite scholars of her time. Her judgment was always received with
respect; an honorable place was reserved for her in the lecture-rooms
of the University at Utrecht; and not unfrequently she took part
openly in the learned discussions there carried on. The professors
of the University of Leyden had a tribune made, where she could hear
without mixing with the audience. With this wonderful erudition Anna
Maria combined a rare degree of cultivation in art. The genius that
had shown itself in paper-cutting still gave evidence of strong and
resolute activity. She was skilled both in drawing and painting, had
a “happy taste in sculpture,” and exercised her talents in carving in
wood and ivory, as well as in modeling in wax. She carved the busts of
her mother and brothers in wood. The painter Honthorst valued a single
portrait executed by her, at a thousand Dutch florins. In addition, she
has left evidence of her no slight accomplishments in copper-engraving;
and she engraved with the diamond on crystal. Taste in music, and skill
in playing on several instruments, fill up the list of the amazing
variety of endowments bestowed on one of the most gifted of her sex.
We can not marvel that she was called by her contemporaries “the wonder
of creation.” Not only was she, on account of such varied gifts,
regarded with admiration, but she was idolized by her acquaintance for
personal qualities. She was in the most intimate literary association
with men of distinguished learning like Salmatius, Heinsius,
Vossius--who is said to have taught her Hebrew--and others. Princes
and princesses came to visit and converse with her, and entered into
correspondence with her.
Gonzagues, Queen of Poland, taking a journey to Utrecht in 1645, went
to visit Anna Maria, having heard such wonderful things of her. After a
long conversation she gave her flattering tokens of her esteem.
The Queen of Bohemia, and the Princess Louise, her daughter, often
wrote to her. With a modesty that was as rare as her singular
endowments, Anna Maria declined all proffered honors, and it was long
before she could be persuaded to publish her literary productions. When
the distinguished physician, Johann van Beverwyk wished to dedicate
to her his treatise on the “Advantages of the Female Sex,” she sought
to withdraw from the intended compliment. In 1636 she was induced to
publish a Latin poem, celebrating the foundation of the University of
Utrecht. Her “Apology for the Female Sex,” and other works followed
this.
Anna Maria Schurmann resided many years in her native city of
Cologne. According to one authority, part of her time was passed in
a country house, where she lived in the utmost simplicity, shunning
the attentions of the persons of celebrity who wished to visit her,
and dividing her time between her art and her pen. In 1664 she made a
journey to Germany in company with her brother; and there first became
acquainted with Labadie, the celebrated French enthusiast and preacher
of new doctrines. He believed that the Supreme Being would deceive
man for the purpose of doing good. He taught that new revelations
were continually made by the Holy Spirit to the human soul; that the
Bible was not a necessary guide; that observance of the Sabbath was
not imperative; that a contemplative life tended to perfection in the
character; and that such a state could be attained by self-denial,
self-mortification, and prayer. This man was possessed of singular
intellectual powers, and fascinating eloquence. He succeeded in
gaining many followers, and the mind of Anna Maria, deep and serious
to melancholy, and now clouded by grief for the loss of her father and
brothers, too readily gave credence to his pretensions.
Abandoning both pen and pencil, she joined the disciples of Labadie,
devoting herself to the studies that favored his theological doctrines.
To promote his success, she published her last work, entitled
“Eucleria,” in 1673, the year before the death of the fanatic. She
attended him, and it is said he died in her arms.
In this book she deplores her early devotion to literature and art.
Other accounts add that she collected the followers of Labadie--called
Labadists--and, continuing to disseminate his tenets, assumed the
leadership of the band, and conducted them to Vivert in Friesland. She
brought over Elizabeth--Princess Palatine--to these doctrines, and
together they opened an asylum for the wandering disciples. True to the
doctrines she professed, Anna Maria bestowed all her goods to feed the
poor, and sank to the grave in poverty, dying in May, 1678, at the age
of seventy-one.
William Penn mentions, in his “Journey in Germany,” a conversation he
had at Vivert with this wonderful woman in 1677, noticing especially
the gravity and solemnity of her tones in discourse.
Anna Maria Schurmann has left behind her not only the renown of her
great learning and artistic culture, truly remarkable in one of either
sex, but also a reputation for purity of heart and fervor of religious
feeling, which can not be disturbed by her mistaken though sincere
belief, and the fanatical enthusiasm with which she clung to absurd
dogmas. In her portrait her hair is combed back from her forehead, with
flowing side locks. The back knot is wreathed with ornaments. A large
pointed collar closely encircles her throat. Her features are marked;
her eyes keen and expressive; her Roman nose is large.
Among the contemporaries of Anna Maria Schurmann were the painters
Clara Peters, Alida Withoos, Susanna von Steen, and Catharine
Oostfries; with the copper-engravers Susanna Verbruggen, Anna de Koher,
and Maria de Wilde, who etched a series of fifty pieces--gems in her
father’s collection--and published them in 1700 at Amsterdam.
It was in the seventeenth century that flower-painting was carried
to such perfection among the women of the Netherlands. Constantia of
Utrecht and Angelica Pakman may be classed with the pioneers of this
beautiful art--this truly feminine accomplishment.
MARIA VAN OOSTERWYCK
was the first eminent artist in this branch, and the precursor of one
superior to her--Rachel Ruysch--who, esteemed in her day as the pride
and honor of the Dutch school, was, indeed, worthy of being reckoned
among those of whom the whole world is proud. Though not so great,
Maria is justly numbered among the illustrious women of Holland. She
was born at Nootdorp, near Delft, about 1630. She received her early
instruction from the distinguished flower-painter, David Heem. Her
father was a preacher of the Reformed religion, and took pains in
cultivating his daughter’s intellectual powers. He did not fail to
notice her remarkable inclination to painting, and her dissatisfaction,
and even disgust, at the trifles that served to amuse other girls of
her age. She always had the crayon in her hand.
Her early productions gained much praise, and it was not long before
she obtained such exceeding skill as to become the rival of her
teacher. Admiring connoisseurs carried her fame abroad, and she became
celebrated at foreign courts. Her works were eagerly sought by the
first princes of the time, after Louis XIV. of France had placed one
of them in his magnificent collection. The Emperor Leopold and the
empress sent for specimens of her powers, for which she received the
portraits of their imperial majesties, set in diamonds, in token of
their esteem. Her pieces commanded enormous prices. William III. of
England paid her nine hundred florins for a picture, and the sovereigns
of Europe seemed to vie with one another in heaping honors and fame on
this gifted woman. The King of Poland purchased three of her pictures
for two thousand four hundred florins. These sums were paid her with
every mark of respect, as presents from her friends rather than
professional remuneration.
In the midst of all these honors Maria led a quiet and peaceful life,
undisturbed by excitement or change. She was surrounded by a pleasant
circle of friends; she worked indefatigably, and was always found in
her cabinet. To obtain more time to herself, she went to pay a visit
to her grandfather at Delft. One day she received a visit from a young
man, who announced himself as William van Aelst, and appeared anxious
to see some of her works. His admiration of them, was blended with an
ardent love for the artist. He at last summoned courage to declare
his passion, but Maria replied that she was firmly resolved against
matrimony. Her lively suitor, she thought, too, was unsuited to her
grave and quiet nature.
Unwilling, however, to crush his hopes too suddenly and treat him
with unkindness, she annexed a condition to her acceptance of her
wooer, which she imagined would effectually deter him from prosecuting
his suit, or at least wear out his constancy. She required that he
should work ten hours of every day for a year. The young man promised
readily; but, as she supposed, he had not perseverance enough to keep
his word. His studio was opposite Maria’s; she watched him from her
window, and failed not to mark on the sash the days he was absent from
his labors.
At the end of the year William came to claim her promise. “You have
yourself absolved me from it,” was her reply; and, going to the window,
she pointed out to him the record of his idle days. The lover was
confounded, and retired disappointed.
Maria painted flowers with an admirable finish and accuracy, and
displayed exquisite taste and art in their selection and grouping;
she had also wonderful skill in copying their fresh tints, and in the
harmonious adjustment of different colors. She took a long while and
bestowed much labor in finishing her works, and they are consequently
rare.
She died at the age of sixty-three, at the house of her nephew, Jacques
von Assendelft, a preacher at Eutdam in Holland.
RACHEL RUYSCH.
Rachel Ruysch (spelled also Ruisch or Reutch) trod in the footsteps
of Maria van Oosterwyck, and carried flower-painting to a perfection
never before attained. Descampes says her flowers and fruit “surpassed
nature herself.” It is certain that she succeeded in producing the
most perfect illusion; and the tasteful selection of her subject and
manner of grouping, disposition, and contrast, rendered the effect more
exquisite.
This illustrious artist was the daughter of a famous anatomist, and
was born in Amsterdam, 1664. She received lessons in painting from
Wilhelm van Aelst, an artist who ranked with De Heem and Huysum among
Dutch flower-painters. He and his rivals were soon equaled by the fair
scholar, and thenceforward she took nature for her teacher.
While her fame went abroad with her pictures, Rachel sat and worked
in her secluded room; but she could not hide herself from the arrows
of the boy-god. She married--Descampes and others say, at the age of
thirty--a portrait-painter named Julian van Pool, who fell in love, and
introduced himself to her.
She became the mother of ten children. In the midst of domestic
cares, and the duties of attending to her offspring, she managed not
to neglect the art she loved so much; yet we are informed that her
children were admirably brought up. The toil and study must have been
immense which, in spite of the interruptions of household employments
and the depression of a narrow income, enabled her to attain such
excellence that her praises were sung by poets and poetesses, and her
fame traveled to every court in Europe. In 1701 the Academical Society
of Haye admitted her into membership; her reception picture was a
beautiful piece of roses and other flowers. Her celebrity became so
great that, in 1708, the Elector John of the Pfalz sent her a diploma,
naming her painter in ordinary to his court, and inviting her to take
up her residence in his capital. This prince wrote her another letter,
accompanying the gift of a complete toilet set in silver, twenty-eight
pieces, to which he added six flambeaux of the same metal. He promised
to stand godfather to one of her children. When she took her son to
Düsseldorf, the elector decorated the babe’s neck with a red ribbon, to
which was attached a magnificent gold medal.
In the elector’s service she produced a number of pictures, most of
them for her Mæcenas, who after paying for them always added honorable
presents. In 1713, on a second visit to Düsseldorf, she was received
with the distinction her great talents merited. The elector sent some
of her pictures to the Grand-Duke of Tuscany, who admired and placed
them among his rich collection of master-pieces. Several of her works
were presented to royal personages; some were treasured in the gallery
of Düsseldorf, and some excellent pictures were preserved in Munich.
After the death of her friend and patron, the elector, she returned to
Holland, and prosecuted her art with unwearied industry. She mourned
his loss as her friend and the generous protector of art; but her works
met with as great success, and Flanders and Holland even murmured at
their being taken to Germany.
The advance of old age could not obscure her rare gifts; the pictures
she executed at eighty were as highly finished as at thirty. To genius
of the highest order she united all the virtues that dignify and adorn
the female character. Respected by the great--beloved even by her
rivals--praised by all who knew her--her path in life was strewn with
flowers, till at its peaceful close she laid her honors down. She died
in 1750, at the age of eighty-six, having been married fifty years and
five years a widow.
Her works are rarely seen, from the difficulty of inducing possessors
in Holland to part with them. At Amsterdam there are four beautiful
pieces. Their chief merits are surprising vigor and a delicate finish,
with coloring true to nature. Flowers, fruits, and insects seem full of
fresh life.
Rachel’s style combined a softness, lightness, and delicacy of touch
with a certain grandeur of disposition and powerful effect, which
caused the universal recognition of a manly spirit and nobility
of feeling in her works. In her portrait her hair is short, with
low-necked dress and beads round the throat. The features of the
artist, large and strongly marked, bear the same brave, open character
that spoke in the grouping and arrangement of her flowers--in the
freedom that marked her compositions and was blended with their
surprising lightness and grace. In the depth of coloring a delicate
poetic fragrance seemed to be infused.
CHAPTER IX.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Unfavorable Circumstances for Painting in Germany.--Effects of the
Thirty Years’ War.--The national Love of Art shown by the Signs of
Life manifested.--Influence of the Reformation.--Inferiority of
German Art in this Century.--Ladies of Rank in Literature.--A female
Astronomer.--The Fame of Schurmann awakens Emulation.--Distinguished
Women.--Commencement of poetic Orders.--Zesen, the Patron of the
Sex.--Women who cultivated Art.--Paintresses of Nuremberg.--Barbara
Helena Lange.--Flower-painters and Engravers.--Modeling in Wax.--Women
Artists in Augsburg.--In Munich.--In Hamburg.--The Princess
Hollandina.--Her Paintings.--Maria Sibylla Merian.--Early Fondness
for Insects.--Maternal Opposition.--Her Marriage.--Publication
of her first Work.--Joins the Labadists.--Returns to the
Butterflies.--Curiosity to see American Insects.--Voyage to
Surinam.--Story of the Lantern-flies.--Return to Holland.--Her Works
published.--Republication in Paris afterward.--Her Daughters.--Her
personal Appearance.--The Danish Women Artists.--Anna Crabbe.--King’s
Daughters.--The Taste in Art in Denmark and England governed by
that of foreign Nations.--Female Artists in England.--The Poetesses
most prominent.--Miniaturists.--Portrait-painters.--Etchers.--Lady
Connoisseurs.--The Dwarf’s Daughter.--Anna Carlisle.--Mary
Beale.--Pupil of Sir Peter Lely.--Character of her Works.--Rumor
of Lely’s Attachment to her.--Poems in her Praise.--Mr.
Beale’s Note-books.--Anne Killegrew.--Her Portraits of the
Royal Family.--History and still-life Pieces.--Her Portrait by
Lely.--Her Character.--Dryden’s Ode to her Memory.--Her Poems
published.--Mademoiselle Rosée.--The Artist in Silk.--Wonderful
Effects.--Her Works Curiosities.--The Artist of the Scissors.--Her
singular imitative Powers.--A Copyist of old Paintings.--Her
Cuttings.--Views of all kinds done with the Scissors.--Royal and
imperial Visitors.--Her Trophy for the Emperor Leopold.--Poems in
her Praise.--The Swiss Paintress Anna Wasser.--Her Education and
Works.--Commissions from Courts.--Her Father’s Avarice.--Sojourn at a
Court.--Return home.--Fatal Accident.--Her literary Accomplishments.
While in the Netherlands, under the influence of the national
elevation, art grew into a school of peculiar nationality, much less
favorable circumstances existed in Germany. It may be said, indeed,
that none less favorable could be found in any country. It was not
merely that the land had been wasted by the Thirty Years’ War, for art
and knowledge have been known to bud and bloom amid a severe national
struggle. This contest, however, was one hostile to every generous
impulse and lofty aspiration, and tended to crush the noble energies
that are called forth in other conflicts. It was an internecine and
sordid strife; Germans were arrayed against Germans, and hordes of
foreign robbers were encouraged to plunder the country desolated by her
own children. In the reign of mean and base passions, there was no soil
where such flowers might bloom as then made beautiful the Netherlands.
There was wanting, also, such a central point as was afforded in France
and Spain by the courts of Versailles and Madrid. All things revolved
in a narrow and sordid sphere of individual interest. That Germany, in
spite of this disastrous and gloomy condition, should have produced
artists, and that even women, with self-sacrificing zeal should have
manifested their predilection for the calling, is a proof of the deep
love for art implanted in the heart of the nation, showing itself in
brilliant flashes during the sixteenth century, and in the midst of
troubles not entirely extinguished. The Reformation, while it had
inspired Germany with the spirit of a new epoch, at first assumed a
position hostile to the arts that had contributed to embellish the old
faith. For three hundred years, by open force, blind fury, and cold
contempt, this misapprehension of the true scope of art threatened
to destroy what preceding ages had left of excellence; nor did the
struggle terminate till the nineteenth century.
Signs of life in art had been first perceived in Germany toward the
beginning of the thirteenth century; and there had been progressive
stages of improvement. The stiffness and seriousness prescribed by
tradition were replaced by softer execution and an easier flow of
outline. Flowing drapery and grace marked the earliest attempts to
express the artist’s own feelings in his works, and a subjective
principle was allowed in paintings.
In the revival of art toward the end of the fifteenth century the
sacred subjects of earlier ages had been much chosen. Afterward, the
artist’s own mind and emotions came forth in self-productive energy;
and, at a later period, rose into favor the accurate delineations of
nature’s forms.
The inferiority of Germany in an artistic view, in the seventeenth
century, is undeniable; but many were found who longed after the
excellence of which other lands could boast. Women there were in
abundance who cultivated ornamental literature; noble ladies and
princesses patronized poets and courted the muses. Henrietta of Orange,
the consort of the great Elector, was one of several royal dames yet
remembered in their sacred songs. The lower orders could boast their
cultivated women; and the name of Maria Cunitz deserves mention as
learned in the science of astronomy.
The fame of Anna Memorata, Fulvia Morata, and Anna Maria Schurmann
meanwhile filled the German women with emulative desire to inscribe
their names beside those accomplished persons. Gertrude Möller was
learned in the languages, and Sibylla Schwarz in poetry. Even Rist, who
excluded women from his literary society, corresponded with the poetess
Maria Commer.
This was the beginning of honorary poetic orders, and women were not
excluded from these, especially from those established by Zesen. He was
the patron and encourager of female genius and enterprise; his pen was
dedicated to the service of the sex, and his praises were reciprocated
by the grateful fair. In his “Lustinne” he sings of the lady poets of
his day.
The female artists of that time seemed, indeed, to lack such generous
appreciation; and it may be that the enthusiastic eulogies lavished by
poets on each other had a selfish aim. Yet the period was not without
a goodly number of women who cultivated art, and it is not improbable
that the success of the poetesses had some effect in stimulating their
zeal. The example of the illustrious Schurmann, who wore the double
wreath of both branches of study, was before their eyes; and the Dutch
school had much influence in forming tastes in Germany.
The love of exercising creative power naturally developed itself in
various ways. Nuremberg, the seat of the Pegnitzschäfer order of
bards; Hamburg, the residence of the chivalrous Zesen; Saxony, where
flourished many fair devotees to literature--were not abandoned by the
spirit of art. In the first-mentioned city we hear of two paintresses
descended from families celebrated for artistic excellence: Susannah
Maria von Sandrart, who also did etching in copper; and Esther Juvenel,
who drew plans for architecture. To these may be added the name of
Barbara Helena Lange, who earned celebrity by engraving on copper, and
carving figures in ivory and alabaster. She was admitted to the Pegnitz
order, on account of her poetical talent, in 1679, her poetical name
being entered as Erone. In 1686 she married one Kopsch, and with him
removed to Berlin, and afterward to Amsterdam.
The names of Maria Clara Eimart and Magdalena Fürst may here be
mentioned as flower-painters; that of Helen Preisler as an engraver on
copper; and Joanna Sabina Preu as both an engraver and modeler in wax.
All these obtained no insignificant reputation.
In Nuremberg also lived, in 1684, Anna Maria Pfründt, born in Lyons.
She modeled portraits in wax, some of which were those of persons of
high rank, and, adorned with costly drapery and precious stones, gained
a wide-spread reputation for the artist.
Augsburgh was also rich in evidences of woman’s artistic taste.
Susannah Fischer and Johanna Sibylla Küsel excelled in painting,
while her younger sisters, Christina and Magdalena Küsel, with Maria
Wieslatin, engraved in copper. Others surpassed the Nurembergers in
fine carving.
In Regensburgh lived Anna Catharina Fischer, a flower and portrait
painter; in Munich, Isabella del Pozzo was appointed court painter
by the Electress Adelaide, and the miniature-painter Maria Rieger
was employed very frequently by princely personages. Placida Lamme
distinguished herself about the same time by painting miniatures and
carving pictures, with which she occupied her time in the Bavarian
cloister of Hohenwart.
In Hamburg, Mariana Van der Stoop and Diana Glauber were painters
by profession, and in Saxony we find a skillful portrait-painter in
Margaretta Rastrum, who pursued her art in Leipzig. The above-mentioned
Anna Catharina Fischer lived a long time in Halle, with her husband, a
painter named Block. Toward the end of this century we hear of Madame
Ravemann, who executed a beautiful medal--an exquisite specimen of
cutting--for Augustus the Second.
THE PRINCESS HOLLANDINA.
Casting a glance over western Germany, we find the artistic poverty
of the land redeemed by a princess who loved the liberal arts--Louise
Hollandina, of the Pfalz. She was the daughter of the unhappy Friedrich
V., and the sister of the Princess Elizabeth, whose chief celebrity
arose from her veneration for the philosopher Descartes; also of
the Prince Ruprecht, noted in art history for his drawings and his
leaves in the black art. Hollandina, with her sister Sophia, received
instruction in painting from the famous Gerard Honthorst, and painted
large historical pictures in the style of that master, of which at the
present time very little is known. Two of Hollandina’s paintings were
added to the collection of her uncle, King Charles--one representing
Tobias and the Angel; the other, a falconer. An altar-piece by her hand
adorns a church in Paris. Lovelace, in his poetry, speaks highly of the
abilities of this princess.
Her family originated from the same place that gave birth to Anna Maria
Schurmann--the city of Cologne--where that famed artist obtained her
early education.
We must not omit to mention Frankfort-on-the-Main, where, in the
middle of the seventeenth century, lived one of the most celebrated
women of whom Germany then could boast. This was
MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN.
She was the daughter of Matthew Merian, the well-known geographer
and engraver, and born at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1647. Her father
published a topographical work in Germany, in thirty-one folio volumes.
Her mother was the daughter of Theodore de Bry, an engraver of repute.
A remarkable circumstance, and one contrary to the usual experience
of extraordinary persons, was, that Sibylla devoted herself to the
vocation of the artist in opposition to her mother’s wishes and in the
face of great difficulties. In this respect she differed from most
other women artists; for they, as a rule, were led to the study by
parental example or domestic training.
From the early childhood of this singular girl she manifested a
persevering spirit of research in natural history, with a fondness for
examining specimens of vegetable and animal life. It is possible that
this natural predilection was owing to one of those accidents that so
often determine the course and bent of human intellect. Her mother,
shortly before her birth, it is said, took a fancy to make a collection
of curious stones, mussels, and different sorts of caterpillars.
However this may be, it is certain that the child, at a very early age,
showed the same taste, and no maternal reproaches or punishment could
keep her from indulging the strange fancy. She would, however, conceal
her treasures. At last her step-father, the painter Jacob Marrel,
having persuaded the mother to consent, arranged it so that the girl
took lessons of the famous flower-painter, Abraham Mignon.
In the year 1665, at eighteen, she married John Andrew Graf, a painter
and designer in architecture. The marriage was not a happy one, but
she lived with Graf nearly twenty years in Nuremberg, in a lonely and
secluded manner, devoted solely to her art, as she herself says in
the preface to one of her published works, giving up intercourse with
society, and beguiling her time by the examination of the various
species of insects, of which she made drawings, and by the study of
their transformations.
She painted her specimens first on parchment, and many of those
pictures were distributed among amateurs. Encouraged by them, she
published, in 1679, a work entitled “The Wonderful Transformations of
Caterpillars,” a quarto volume, with copper engravings, executed by
herself after her own drawings. Another volume appeared in 1684.
The affairs of Graf having become embarrassed, and his conduct being
much censured, he was compelled to leave his family and go out of the
country. After this separation, Sibylla never assumed her husband’s
name in any of her publications, but issued them under her maiden name.
About 1684 she went to Frankfort, and prepared for a journey to West
Friesland with her mother and daughters. There she became possessed
with the religious enthusiasm which had driven so many women into
strange doings, and joined the sect of the Labadists, taking up her
abode at the Castle Bosch.
Sibylla did not yield her energies, however, entirely to the dominion
of this kind of phrensy; her old habits of study and research followed
her. Butterflies and worms again occupied her attention, and she soon
took a deep interest in all the collections of animals from the East
and West Indies which she discovered were within her reach.
Among those persons whose collections were most admired by her was
Fridericus Ruysch, a doctor of medicine and professor of botany, and
the father of the Rachel Ruysch already noticed. It is not difficult
to believe that the example and conversation of a woman so gifted and
so devoted to study as Madame Merian had a decisive influence upon the
character of the youthful Rachel.
Our heroic and industrious heroine was delighted at the opportunity
of examining such interesting collections; for, besides the pleasure
her investigations in natural history afforded her, she was stimulated
by an inextinguishable desire to know all that could be learned about
that department of the animal kingdom. At length, anxious to see the
metamorphoses and food of American insects, she determined to undertake
that laborious and expensive journey to Surinam which she accomplished
in June, 1699. The States of Holland assisted her with the means of
travel. Her journey gave occasion to the following lines by a French
poet:
“Sibylla à Surinam va chercher la nature,
Avec l’esprit d’un Sage, et le cœur d’un Heros.”
The place of her destination was Dutch Guiana, often called Surinam,
from a river of that name, on which the capital, Paramaribo, is
situated. It is said that, one day during her residence there, the
Indians brought Madame Merian a number of living lantern-flies, which
she put into a box; but they made so much noise at night, that she rose
from her bed and opened their prison. The multitude of fiery flames
issuing from the box so terrified her that she immediately dropped it
on the ground. Hence came marvelous stories of the strong light emitted
by that insect.
She remained in America nearly two years, till the summer of 1701,
notwithstanding the unfavorable effect of the climate on her health,
and the difficulties thus encountered in the prosecution of her
studies. Though strong of will, she could not long bear up against
such an enemy, and was obliged to return much sooner than suited her
inclinations.
In September she was again in Holland, where her splendid paintings, on
parchment, of American insects, excited the greatest admiration among
the connoisseurs. They pressed her to publish a work that would open a
world of vegetables and animals hitherto unknown; and, in spite of the
great expense, she resolved at last, without expectation of a return
for her outlay, to engrave her pictures for publication. The reward of
her labors was to be in the sale of successive editions. This work was
entitled “Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, etc. The text drawn
up by Gaspar Commelin, from the MSS. of the author.”
In 1771 a collection of Madame Merian’s works was published in Paris,
translated into French; and to this day are to be seen engravings,
nearly of the size of the original, of the various paintings made by
this enthusiastic woman of objects that struck her fancy--caterpillars,
butterflies, spiders, snakes, and various kinds of animals and
plants--executed with all the luxury of brilliant coloring, and
illustrated by choice poetry.
Her great work was entitled “History of the Insects of Europe, drawn
from Nature, and explained, by Maria Sibylla Merian.” It included a
treatise on the generation and metamorphoses of insects, and the
plants on which they feed. Her pictures were not only executed with
fidelity, but each insect appeared in its first state with the most
pleasing accompaniments. With those metamorphosed from the chrysalis or
nymph to the fly or butterfly, were presented the plants and flowers
they loved, all correctly and tastefully delineated.
Even after the appearance of her work, in 1705, the persevering artist
continued her studies in natural history, in which she was joined by
both her daughters, whom she had educated to pursuits of art. Dorothea,
the youngest, had accompanied her to Surinam, while the eldest, Joanna
Maria Helena, came afterward with her husband, a merchant of Amsterdam,
to assist her mother in collecting and painting specimens. It was the
mother’s intention to publish the pictures made by her daughters in an
appendix to her own collected works; but her death, which occurred in
January, 1717, prevented this, and the daughters afterward published
the results of their labors in a separate volume.
This extraordinary woman, whose labors contributed so much to the
improvement and embellishment of the natural history of insects, was
little favored by gifts of beauty or personal grace. Her portrait shows
hard and heavy-lined features. A curious headdress, made of folds of
black stuff, rises high above the head, and inclines a little to the
left. Short, light curls appear above a cambric ruffle, finishing a
half-low corsage. She is undoubtedly entitled to a place among great
artists.
The history of Madame Merian rounds off that of German female artists
belonging to the seventeenth century with an exhibition of more than
ordinary interest.
THE DANISH WOMEN ARTISTS.
A glimpse may here be had of the artists of Denmark and England.
Anna Crabbe was a painter by profession in Copenhagen before the
year 1618. She painted a series of portraits of Danish princes, to
which she added a poetical description of each. The daughter of King
Christian IV., Eleonora Christina, who married the minister Ulefeld,
was not only celebrated for her beauty and intellectual gifts, but
for skill in various branches of art--engraving, modeling in wax,
and miniature-painting. Her daughter Helena Christina possessed like
talents.
Toward the close of the century, Sophie Hedwig, the daughter of King
Christian V., became noted as an artist, gaining much reputation by her
performances in portrait, landscape, and flower painting.
Neither in Denmark nor in England was any special direction given
to art by the national character; on the contrary, in both these
countries, the prevailing taste was governed by that of foreign
nations--as the Dutch and German.
ENGLISH FEMALE ARTISTS.
In England there were not many women artists, although in literature
the sex was not without its share of laurels, and in dramatic poetry
and prose romance women contended for appreciation with masculine
writers. The poetess Joanna Weston was a great admirer of Anna Maria
Schurmann, and took her for a model; but there were no painters who
could be compared in merit to the women who cultivated poetry.
As miniature-painters, Susannah Penelope Gibson may be mentioned;
also Penelope Cleyn. The latter was the daughter of a German painter,
and her sisters Magdalen and Sarah were also devoted to the art. They
painted the portrait of Richard Cromwell’s daughter.
Mary More obtained some distinction as a portrait-painter. It was in
England that the Princess Hollandina, before mentioned, took lessons in
painting, with her sister Sophie, from Gerard Honthorst.
In the noble art of etching Anna and Susannah Lister were regarded as
having much skill; they illustrated a work on natural history by their
father, in the manner of Madame Merian, by their artistic efforts.
A lady connoisseur and engraver of much taste was the Countess of
Carlisle. She perhaps set the fashion afterward followed by so many
fair dilettanti, who exercised so much influence in England during the
succeeding century.
Susan Penelope Rose, according to Lord Orford, was the daughter of
Richard Gibson the Dwarf. She married a jeweler, and became noted for
painting portraits in water colors with great freedom. Her miniatures
were larger than usual. She died at forty-eight in 1700.
A contemporary of Vandyck was Mrs. Anna Carlisle, who died about 1680.
She was celebrated for her copies of the Italian masters. Charles I.
esteemed her highly. She once shared with Vandyck a present from their
royal patron, of ultramarine; it is said to have cost the king five
hundred pounds. This renders it probable that she painted in oil; for
the quantity was too large for use in miniatures.
One of her works represents herself teaching a lady to paint. This
artist must not be confounded with the Countess of Carlisle, who was
distinguished for her beautiful engravings of the works of Salvator
Rosa, Guido, etc.
MARY BEALE,
the daughter of Mr. Craddock, a clergyman, was born at Suffolk about
1632. She received some instruction from Walker, but was a favorite
pupil of Sir Peter Lely. She painted in oil, water-colors, and crayons.
She acquired much of the Italian style by copying old pictures from
Lely’s and the royal collection. She copied some of the portraits of
Vandyck. Her works were remarkable for vigor of drawing and fresh
coloring, with great purity and sweetness. The artist was an estimable
and amiable woman; was highly respected, and mingled in the society of
the noble and the learned. Her pencil was employed by many personages
of distinction. Her husband was an inferior painter.
It was rumored that Sir Peter Lely was romantically attached to his
fair pupil; but his love could not have met with return, for he is
known to have been reserved in communicating to her the resources of
his pencil. He refused to intrust to her one of the important secrets
of his art.
Several poems in praise of Mrs. Beale were published; one in particular
is remembered, by Dr. Woodfall, in which she is celebrated under the
name of “Belasia.” Her husband, Charles Beale, had the curious practice
of noting in small almanac pocket-books almost daily accounts of
whatever related to his wife, her pictures, or himself. He practiced
chemistry for the preparation of colors. He bequeathed thirty of the
almanacs, filled with his notes, and records of the praises lavished on
his wife’s pictures, to a colorman named Carter.
Walpole says Mrs. Beale’s portraits were numerous. She painted one of
Otway, the poet. The Archbishop Tillotson was her patron, and many of
the clergy sat to her. The archbishop’s portrait is the first of an
ecclesiastic who, quitting the coif of silk, is delineated in a brown
wig.
Some have said that she persuaded her friends to sit to Lely, that she
might learn his method of coloring. There is no doubt that she rose to
the first rank in her profession. One of her sons became a painter. She
died at Pall Mall in 1697, aged sixty-five.
ANNE KILLEGREW--
“A grace for beauty, and a muse for wit,” as writes one of her
admirers--was the daughter of Henry Killegrew, descended of a family
remarkable for loyalty, accomplishments, and talent. She proved one
of its brightest ornaments. She was born in London, and at a very
early age discovered a remarkable genius. She became celebrated both
in painting and poetry. One of her portraits was of the Duke of York,
afterward James II.; others, of Mary of Modena and the Duchess of
York, to whom she was maid of honor. These pieces were highly praised
by Dryden. She produced, also, several history-pieces, and pictures
of still life. Becket did her miniature in mezzotint, after her own
painting; it was prefixed to the published edition of her poems. The
painting was in the style of Sir Peter Lely, which she imitated with
great success. Her portrait, taken by Lely, has a pleasing expression,
though the air is slightly prim. The dress is low-necked, with beads,
and a mantle is fastened at the breast with a brooch. Curls cluster
round the face; the back hair is loose and flowing.
Though called “mistress,” after the fashion of the time, Anne was never
married. She was a woman of unblemished character and exemplary piety.
Death cut short her promising career, by small-pox, in 1685--as Wood
says, “to the unspeakable reluctancy of her relations”--when she was
but twenty-five years of age. She was buried in Savoy Chapel, where
a monument is fixed in the wall, bearing a Latin inscription by her
father, setting forth her accomplishments, virtue, and piety.
Dryden’s ode to her memory was called by Dr. Johnson “the noblest
our language has produced.” Another critic terms it “a harmonious
hyperbole, composed of the fall of Adam, Arethusa, Vestal virgins,
Diana, Cupid, Noah’s ark, the Pleiades, the fall of Jehoshaphat, and
the last assizes.” After lauding her poetic excellence, Dryden says:
“Her pencil drew whate’er her soul designed;
And oft the happy draft surpassed the image of her mind.”
And of her portrait of James II.:
“For, not content to express his outward part,
Her hand called out the image of his heart;
His warlike mind--his soul devoid of fear--
His high-designing thoughts were figured there.”
Notwithstanding such flattery, Anthony Wood says, “There is nothing
spoken of her which she was not equal to, if not superior;” and
adds, “If there had not been more true history in her praises than
compliment, her father never would have suffered them to pass the
press.”
Her poems appeared after her death in a thin quarto volume, prefaced
by the ode and the Latin epitaph. Among her history-pieces were “St.
John in the Wilderness,” “Herodias with the Head of John the Baptist,”
and “Two of Diana’s Nymphs.” The melodious eulogizer of her graces and
gifts remarks of the queen’s portrait:
“Our phœnix queen was portrayed too, so bright,
Beauty alone could beauty take so right;
Before, a train of heroines was seen,
In beauty foremost, as in rank a queen.”
THE ARTIST IN SILK.
Mademoiselle Rosée, born in Leyden in 1632, deserves a place among
eminent artists for the singularity of her talents. Instead of using
colors, with oil or gum, she used silk for the delicate shading. It
can hardly be understood how she managed to apply the fibres, and to
imitate the flesh-tints, blending and mellowing them so admirably.
She thus painted portraits, as well as landscapes and architecture.
Michel Carré, who saw one of her portraits, says, “It can scarcely be
believed it is not done by the pencil.” One of her pieces brought five
hundred florins. It represented the decayed trunk of a tree, covered
with moss and leaves. On the top a bird has made her nest. The shading
and the sky in the distance left nothing to be desired for coloring and
truthful effect. The Grand-Duke of Tuscany purchased one of her finest
pieces, which is yet preserved among the curiosities of his collection.
She was never married, and died at the age of fifty, in 1682.
THE ARTIST OF THE SCISSORS.
Joanna Koerten Block is regarded by the Dutch as one of their most
remarkable female artists. She was born in Amsterdam in 1650, and
manifested a taste for the fine arts in her childhood. She learned
music and embroidery, and how to model fruits and figures; she also
understood coloring, and engraved with a diamond on crystal and glass
with surprising delicacy. She also painted in oil and water colors
in a novel manner. Possessing a rare art in blending colors, she
copied pictures so wonderfully that they could hardly be distinguished
from the originals. This faculty of imitation she carried to such
perfection, that it was believed among her contemporaries that, had
she devoted herself exclusively to this kind of work, she would have
equaled the great masters. She gave up, however, after a while, the
cultivation of this singular talent for the development of another
still more extraordinary, for which she has obtained a place among the
great artists of her country.
All that the engraver accomplishes with the burin, she was able to
do with the scissors. Her cuttings were indeed astonishing. Country
scenes, marine views, animals, flowers, with portraits of perfect
resemblance, she executed in a marvelous manner. This novel style of
making pictures out of white paper created not a little sensation,
and ere long the matter became spread abroad widely, and excited the
curiosity of all the courts of Europe. Even artists could not help
admiring her skill in this strange art, and not one came to Amsterdam
without paying her a visit.
The Czar Peter the Great, princes of royal blood, and nobles of the
highest rank paid their respects to the simple Dutch maiden, and
examined her works with pleased curiosity. The Elector Palatine offered
a thousand florins for three small pieces cut by her, but the offer was
declined as not liberal enough.
The Empress of Germany ordered a piece executed as a trophy of the arms
of the Emperor Leopold I. The design showed the crown and imperial
arms upheld by eagles, and surrounded by laurel wreaths, garlands of
flowers, and appropriate ornaments. This was executed in a wonderful
manner, and for it the fair artist received four thousand florins.
The portrait of the emperor, cut by Joanna, is preserved in his
imperial majesty’s cabinet at Vienna. Queen Mary of England, and other
royal personages, wished to decorate their cabinets with the works
of this artist. She cut many portraits, with which the sitters were
pleased and astonished. The Latin, German, and Dutch verses composed
in her honor would fill a volume. She had in her working-room a volume
in which were registered the names of her illustrious visitors, the
princes and princesses and other great personages writing their
own. It is the same curious register in which Nicholas Verkslie saw
the portraits of illustrious persons, appended each to the proper
signature. This interesting addition is said to have been made by
Adrien Block, the artist’s husband. He published a series of vignettes
from her pieces.
Joanna died in 1715, at the age of sixty-five. Her taste and design
were marked by correctness and delicacy, and she was original and
unique in the style of work to which she devoted herself. When her
pieces were put over black paper, the effect was that of an engraving
or pen-drawing. Neatness, clearness, and decision were her prominent
characteristics.
Her portrait, coarsely engraved, is published by Descampes. She had a
noble style of face, with strongly marked features. The hair is dressed
in a point in front; the neckerchief and dress are worn in antiquated
style.
Among the distinguished artists of the seventeenth century we must not
omit
ANNA WASSER.
She was born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1676, and is esteemed by the
Swiss as one of their most eminent painters. Her father was Rudolph
Wasser, a member of the Grand Council of Zurich, and artist of the
foundation of the Cathedral. She very early evinced a remarkable
faculty for learning languages, and at the age of twelve was familiar
with Latin and French, and acquainted with the general literature of
those tongues. Her rapid progress in belles-lettres astonished every
body, and gave the promise of wonderful attainments; but the bent of
her genius was for art. She took lessons of the painter Joseph Werner,
and had no sooner learned to handle a pencil, than she could think
of nothing else. When thirteen years old she made a copy of Werner’s
“Flora” in Bern, which convinced all her friends that she was destined
by nature for an artist. The painter himself praised her correct design
and perfect imitation of his coloring, and advised her father to send
her to Bern to study. She spent three years in the school; at first
employing herself in oil painting, but finally abandoning that for
miniatures. By the time her education was completed she had reached a
perfection little short of that of her teacher.
Returning to Zurich, she devoted herself to art as a profession. Her
productions were taken to England, Holland, and Germany, where they
were greatly admired, and her contemporaries extolled her as a second
Schurmann. There was scarcely a court in the German empire from which
she had not commissions. Those of Baden-Durlach and Stuttgard disputed
which should possess the greatest number of her works. The Duke of
Wurtemberg, Eberhard Louis, and his sister, the Margravine von Durlach,
sent her large portraits to be painted in miniature.
While Anna’s fame spread throughout Germany, her very success tended
to throw difficulties in the way of her artistic progress. Her
father was pressed with the care of a large family, and thought his
interests would be favored more by multiplying the number of his
daughter’s works, than by allowing her time to finish them. He urged
her continually to new enterprises. Thus depressed and tied to sordid
cares, Anna lost her spirits and fell into a melancholy that threatened
to destroy her health. Happily, at this time, the court of Solms
Braunfels made her favorable proposals of employment. She accepted the
invitation, went there with one of her brothers, and soon found she
would be enabled to indulge her taste for elaborating and perfecting
her paintings. She rapidly regained her cheerfulness, and became the
delight and admiration of the circles in which she moved. Again her
father’s avarice disturbed this agreeable state of things. He sent her
an abrupt summons to return home, where he expected her to do more work
for his benefit. She obeyed the command, but on the journey, made in
such haste, she got a severe fall, the effects of which terminated her
life in 1713, at the age of thirty-four.
Fuseli possessed a painting in oil done by Anna Wasser at the age of
thirteen. He gave her praise for correctness of outline, and for spirit
of coloring. She appears to have excelled most in pastoral and rural
pieces, which it was her delight to paint. Her compositions were
marked by great ingenuity, and were finished with exquisite delicacy.
Her literary accomplishments procured her the friendship of the most
eminent scholars of her day in Germany; such as Werner, Meyer, Hubert,
Steller, etc., and she corresponded with many celebrated persons. Among
her female friends was Clara Eimart, already mentioned among German
artists. Her manners were gentle and dignified, and her character was
pure and blameless. To filial obedience she would at any time sacrifice
her own inclinations; indeed she often carried her devotion to excess.
The portrait given of her shows delicate and sharply defined features.
The hair is worn in Grecian style, with ringlets at the side, and
braids falling on her neck. She appears surrounded with flowers, with
baskets of fruit beside her.
Maria Theresa van Thielen, and her two sisters, the daughters of an
artist of noble family, were instructed by him in flower-painting, the
first excelling also in portraits.
CHAPTER X.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
General Expansion and Extension of Art-culture.--More Scope given to
the Tendencies originated in preceding Age.--Reminiscences of past
Glories of Art active during the first half of the Century.--The
Flemish and Italian Schools in vogue.--Eclecticism.--Influences of
the French School mingled with those of the great Masters.--The
Rococo Style.--The Aggregate of Woman’s Labor greater than ever
before.--Not accompanied by greater Depth.--Less Individuality
discernible.--The greatest artistic Activity among Women in
Germany.--In France next.--In Italy next.--In other Countries
less.--Rapid Growth of Art in Berlin.--In Dresden.--Scholarship
and literary Position of Women during the first half of the
Century.--Poets and their Inspirations.--Princesses the Patrons
of Letters.--Nothing new or striking in Art.--A Revolution in
the latter half of the Century.--Instruction in Art a Branch of
Education.--Dilettanti of high Rank.--Female Pupils of Painters
of Note.--Mengs and Carstens.--Carstens the Founder of modern
German Art.--His Style not adapted to female Talent.--A lovely
Form standing between him and Mengs.--A female Stamp-cutter.--An
Artist in Wax-work.--In Stucco-work.--In cutting precious
Stones.--Barbara Preisler.--Other female Artists.--Fashionable Taste
in Painting.--Marianna Hayd.--Miniaturists.--Anna Maria Mengs.--Her
Works.--Miniature and Pastel-painting.--Flowers and Landscapes a
Passion.--Imitators of Rachel Ruysch and Madame Merian.--Celebrities
in Flower-painting.--Copper-engraving. Lady Artists of high
Rank.--Other Devotees to Art.
During the greater part of the eighteenth century we find rather a
general expansion and extension of taste and cultivation in the arts,
than a concentration of effort or a more rich and earnest development
of talent. The period gave more scope to the tendencies that had been
originated and determined in a preceding age. Connoisseurs fed upon
reminiscences of the past glories of art, and no new ideas were brought
to the world’s notice till the first half of the century had rolled
away.
The Flemish and Italian schools were in vogue, slightly modified,
but, on the whole, scarcely changed in any essential particular; or a
blending of diverse styles produced some artists who hardly deserve
notice for their individual merits. A spirit of eclecticism may,
indeed, be traced in the productions of the best masters of this time.
The sovereigns in the domain of art had then passed away, and with the
influence they still exercised was mingled that of the French school.
The brilliancy and glow of Titian and Paul Veronese, the deep poetic
feeling of Giorgione, the purity and tenderness of Raphael and Leonardo
da Vinci, the rugged grandeur of Michael Angelo, the soft, transparent
loveliness of Correggio, the bright beauty of Guido and Albano, and the
power and passion of the Caravaggio school, disputed the consideration
of amateurs with the light and lively style, the graceful mannerism of
a Watteau and a Bouché, and something of the reflective character of
the German Raphael Mengs, or that of Carstens and of Dietrich.
The finished and ornate manner of France especially became popular
over all the countries of Europe, exercising the same influence, in a
measure, upon art that it had upon literature. Hence originated the
style that has been aptly termed the Rococo--wanting in depth and
warmth, indeed, but having a certain completeness of technical detail
productive of happy effects.
The fresh life and earnest vigor that had marked the earlier schools
were paralyzed in this, and we do not wonder that a better condition
followed the reawakening of artistic feeling.
It is not to be denied that the aggregate amount of woman’s labor in
the domain of art was greater during the eighteenth century than in
any preceding one; indeed, the number of female artists far surpassed
the collected number of those known from earliest history. So vast an
increase was not according to the proportion of other vocations. It
is also true that, in their efforts, as in those of the men of this
period, the extension was not accompanied by greater depth, and less
individuality was discernible in the talent and skill which became more
generally diffused; hence the well-grounded complaint that the time was
deficient in great men. Nevertheless, the sum of ability and knowledge
had not diminished, though, in its manifold branchings and divisions,
such might appear to be the case.
We find, therefore, a certain uniformity and mediocrity among numerous
women artists of the eighteenth century, rather than eminent talent in
special instances. Yet this was not wholly wanting, while the standard
of excellence was elevated, and a more general spirit of emulation
prevailed.
Contrary to the experience of preceding ages, we discover the greatest
evidence of artistic activity among women in Germany; next to that,
in France; then in Italy. The Netherlands and England may be classed
together, while Spain and the Scandinavian countries are at the minimum
in this respect. These proportions are not owing to chance, but
correspond with the general development of art among the nations at
this time.
The aspect of female culture also corresponded with national
characteristics. The decorative was of rapid growth and early bloom in
Prussia; Berlin, hardly mentioned heretofore, became suddenly alive
with energetic talent superior to that which displayed itself in any
other German city. Art sprang into luxuriance, too, at the Electoral
court, and Dresden claimed no insignificant rank in the scale. France
meanwhile sustained her old renown; while Nuremberg and Munich should
not be slighted. But the Austrian and Rhine countries had less reason
to boast; and many cities of northern Germany were in like poverty of
women artists.
During the first half of the eighteenth century, the order of things
differed not essentially from the close of the seventeenth; in fact,
the same influences predominated, both in literature and art. The
Pegnitzschäfer and other poetical orders were still in existence; the
sacred poems composed by noble ladies had their imitations; female
authors wrote after the established fashion, while they entered on
a wider field, and partook of the new spirit breathed into German
poetry. Women then became not only creators in the realm of fancy and
imagination, but exercised a controlling influence, by their relations
of friendship and intimacy with distinguished literary characters. Meta
arose beside her Klopstock; Herder sought inspiration from his bride;
by Wieland stood Sophie Delaroche; Schiller was aided by Caroline
Wolzogen and Madame von Kalb; Goëthe by Madame von Stein. Princesses
and the noble ladies of the land gave their patronage and protection to
letters, and sought to gather round them the choice spirits of their
day. This, in the beginning of the century, did Sophie Charlotte, the
great Queen of Prussia; and Amalia von Weimar thus aided the richest
development of German mind.
Though nothing new or striking can be said to have been accomplished
in art by women during the first half of this century, the latter part
witnessed a revolution in which they greatly aided to spread and deepen
the growth of new ideas. It became necessary to the complete education
of ladies of the higher classes, that they should possess some
knowledge of art. Hagedorn mentions the fact that a teacher who could
give instruction in drawing and painting could much more readily obtain
a situation than one ignorant of those branches. Fashion and custom
enjoined not only a degree of knowledge, but also of skill, on those
who wished to be thought accomplished. There were many aristocratic
dilettanti, and a few royal ladies emulated the fame of the princely
dames of an older time in the pictorial crafts.
Among these may be mentioned, Anna Amalia, of Brunswick; the
Archduchesses Charlotte and Maria Anna, of Austria; Duchess Sophia,
of Coburg-Saalfeld; the Margravine of Baden-Durlach; the Princess
Victoria, of Anhalt-Bernburg, and Elizabeth Ernestine Antonia,
of Saxe-Meiningen; besides the excellent Elizabeth Christina, of
Brunswick, who sought to promote the restoration of art and the advance
of knowledge, for the love of Frederick, her royal husband, and who
will ever be honored as the ornament of a house that henceforward
showed itself ready to foster and appreciate the liberal arts.
We observe here, as before, that many painters of note had female
pupils or assistants, who endeavored to carry out the ideas they
originated. Dietrich, esteemed one of the best masters of the eclectic
school of the eighteenth century, had his enthusiasm shared by his
two sisters; Tischbein, who cultivated the French style, as Dietrich
did the Dutch, found appreciative companions and co-laborers in his
wife and daughter; and there were other women who strove to ennoble the
eclectic system by greater purity of tone and a more ardent study of
the antique. Oeser had several female pupils; and two sisters worked
in modest retirement beside the greatest artist of this style--Antoine
Raphael Mengs--having been taken through the same course of severe
study and exercise by their pedantic father.
Carstens obtained and brought to perfection what Mengs toiled to reach
and realize. The grand and comprehensive ideas of Winkelmann found in
him a harmonious development. Averse to the reflective, which formed
the chief characteristic of Mengs and Oeser, he was steeped in the
inspiration caught from the antique ideal, and, without becoming a
copyist of any style, was able to reproduce the seed from the fruitful
soil of his own endowments. He may be called the founder of modern
German art. His grand, bold, and ingenious style did not particularly
commend itself to female talent; we do not find, therefore, that he had
any disciples of the softer sex.
Between Carstens and Mengs, however, stands a lovely female form,
in age midway betwixt them, as in the peculiar bent of her genius;
less minute and reflective than Mengs, less grand and impressive than
Carstens. It is Angelica Kauffman, the gem of all the women artists of
this period; preserving the forms of the antique in her own delicate,
elegant, and charming style; wielding her power with such gracious
sweetness that all who behold are attracted to render the homage of
heartfelt admiration.
It was now that fresh vitality was infused into German art by a
contemplation of the antique, while the forms of humanity and nature
were observed with greater freedom. Chodowiecki pursued this system,
and was one of the most successful artists _de genre_; while his
daughter, his pupil, Mademoiselle Bohren, and Kobell’s scholar,
Crescentia Schott, were instrumental in preparing the way for the
advance of painting in the style lately introduced.
If we turn now from a general and hasty survey to the notice of
particular branches, it becomes a duty to record the names of some
women who practiced the most difficult and laborious of the plastic
arts. One of these was stamp-cutting. One who first evinced skill in
this kind of work was Rosa Elizabeth Schwindel of Leipzig, who plied
her art in Berlin at the commencement of the eighteenth century.
A beautiful medal of Queen Sophia Charlotte, executed by her, is
preserved. She was accomplished also in the cutting of gems and in
modeling in wax. In wax-work, Elizabeth Ross of Salzburg, Dorothea Menn
of Cologne, and Madame Weis, probably of Strasburg, were noted. As a
stone-cutter, Charlotte Rebecca Schild of Hanau worked in Paris. Rosina
Pflauder, in Salzburg, assisted her husband in stucco-work.
In the same kind of work, as well as in painting, Maria Juliana Wermuth
of Gotha displayed both industry and skill. In cutting precious stones
Susanna Maria Dorsch gained some celebrity. She was born at Nuremberg
in 1701, and married the painter Solomon Graf, taking the noted painter
and engraver, J. J. Preisler, for her second husband. The kind of work
in which she excelled had been practiced by her father and grandfather,
and her application was remarkable. A vast number of gems were cut by
her hand, and her industry was not without its reward in the gaining of
great reputation. Medals were stamped in honor of her.
Her daughters, Anna Felicitas and Maria Anna Preisler, employed
themselves in the same kind of work, without possessing, however, the
variety of talent or achieving the brilliant success of Barbara Julia,
the daughter of Johann Daniel Preisler of Nuremberg. She was skilled
in various branches of art; she could model in wax, and work in ivory
and alabaster, and added painting and copper-engraving to the list
of her accomplishments. She married a painter named Oeding, and died
in Brunswick before 1764. Several women, who were well known at the
time as modelers in wax, and who occupied themselves in engraving and
stone-cutting, might be named. Amid a number of names, necessarily
passed over, may be added those of the beautiful and variously-gifted
Mary Anna Treu of Bamberg, and her relative, Rosalie Treu, the wife of
the painter Dom, who afterward went to take the veil in a convent at
Mentz, giving up her resolution four days before the completion of her
novitiate, to return to the world and her native Bamberg.
Henriette Felicitas Tassaert, the daughter of the famous painter,
painted in pastel, and engraved in copper admirably. Mademoiselle
Nohren, a pupil of Chodowiecki in Berlin, became a member of the
academy.
It was natural that the greater number of artists of this period should
betake themselves to painting. We will glance first at some branches
of this, cultivated especially by women who did not achieve any thing
noteworthy in historical and genre painting. The fashionable taste of
the day ran much upon miniatures and pastel portraits, and many women
made themselves accomplished in this species of work, as well as in
enamel-painting, as far less study and application were required than
in the higher branches of the art.
Marianna Hayd, a somewhat celebrated miniature-painter, was born in
Dantzic in 1688. She pursued her profession in Berlin, and, after
her marriage in 1705 to the painter Werner, in Augsburg, her talents
procured for her the honor of a call to the electoral court of Saxony
in Dresden, where she received an appointment, and died in 1753.
Another fair artist in miniatures was Anna Rosina Liscewska, who also
worked in Berlin, where she was born in 1716. She achieved no mean
success, and in 1769 was admitted a member of the academy in Dresden.
The same city was adorned by the elegant labors of Anna Maria Mengs,
whom Dr. Guhl calls “the most gifted of the three sisters,” and who
is styled by Fiorillo “the daughter of the Raphael of his age.” She
received early instruction from her father; came to Dresden in 1751,
and devoted herself to painting--chiefly portraits. She made her first
journey to Rome in 1777, and there married a copper-engraver, Manuel
Salvador Carmona. She had many children, but continued to exercise
her art while taking care of them. She produced several pastel and
miniature paintings. Her chief works, done for the King of Spain and
the Infant Don Luis, are in Madrid, in the Academy of San Fernando, of
which she was chosen a member. She died in Madrid, 1793.
As miniature and pastel painting are peculiarly adapted to female
hands by the delicate and cleanly handling required, so flowers and
landscapes seem to present objects and scenes of beauty congenial to
the taste of the sex. It can not be wondered at, therefore, that these
branches found several cultivators. Flower and landscape painting
became a passion among the German women who could be classed as
amateurs or connoisseurs. Hagedorn mentions, in his work on painting,
as a distinguished patroness of these, a Countess von Oppendorf. With
her may be named the Countess von Truchsetz-Waldburg, the Princess
Anna Paar, and others of no special note. Maria Dorothea Dietrich,
the sister of the Dresden painter, and Crescentia Schott, already
mentioned, labored professionally in the art.
Many were the fair painters who imitated the famous Rachel Ruysch.
The representation of animals and objects in natural history became a
favorite style, and the celebrity of Madame Merian stirred up many of
her sex to emulate her success. The influence of example wrought as
powerfully here as in every other matter.
In the early part of this century lived at Lubeck Catharina Elizabeth
Heinecke, born in 1685, an enthusiastic patroness of flower-painting,
and the mother of “the famous Lubeck child.” We may mention also, amid
a cloud of artists to be passed unnoticed, a family at Nuremberg, named
Dietsch, that included three sisters of talent and accomplishment.
Catharina Treu, born at Bamberg in 1742, obtained celebrity in the same
line. She studied in Düsseldorf, attracted thither, doubtless, by the
works of Rachel Ruysch, and received the appointment of cabinet-painter
from Karl Theodore at Mannheim. Thence she returned to Düsseldorf to
take the place of professor in the academy of art in that place.
To the same period belongs Caroline Frederika Friedrich, the first
female pensionnaire who exercised her art as member of the academy in
Dresden. Gertrude Metz of Cologne was also a disciple of Rachel Ruysch
in Düsseldorf. Of a remaining host we name only the sisters Anna and
Elizabeth Fuessli (Fuseli), who painted in the style of their father,
and copied from nature the flowers and insects of Switzerland.
Copper-engraving was at this period practiced by a great number
of women, and patronized by many fair and princely dilettanti.
The Princess of Saxe-Meiningen, already named, possessed skill in
this branch. We may now leave all these, to look at the women who
distinguished themselves in the more commanding and elevated styles
of historical and genre painting. Here appears more evidence of
individuality in the treatment of particular subjects.
Place must be accorded first to ladies of the highest rank. Anna Amalia
of Brunswick was a noted painter. Maria Anna, Archduchess of Austria,
and daughter of the Empress Maria Theresa, occupied her leisure hours
in genre-painting and etching, and by her skill obtained considerable
repute. Charlotte, Archduchess of Austria, was a member of the academy
at Vienna, and as Queen of the Two Sicilies received instruction in
Naples from Mura. The Duchess Sophia of Coburg-Saalfeld, besides her
paintings, left some proofs of her skill in engraving toward the close
of the century.
To these illustrious names may be added others who, like those royal
dames, devoted themselves to art, and gained high appreciation from
connoisseurs. Maria Elizabeth Wildorfer of Innspruck was busied in the
same profession a long time in Rome, where she painted portraits and
church pictures under the patronage of a cardinal. Maria Theresa Riedel
of Dresden, made pensionnaire of the academy there in 1764, occupied
herself in copying Dutch genre-paintings. Rosina, another sister of the
painter Dietrich, copied a number of old paintings. She married the
painter Boehme, and lived in Berlin till 1770.
Anna Dorothea, one of the sisters Liszeuska, born in 1722, was elected,
on account of her portraits and historical works, a member of the
Parisian Academy. She died in Berlin as Madame Therbusch, in 1782.
Jacoba Werbronk worked in the latter part of the century, and died in
1801 in the Cloister Iseghen. But none of the women artists of this
time can be compared in point of genius or celebrity to the one of
whom we are now to speak--one of the loveliest, most gifted, and most
estimable of all the women who have secured immortal fame by the labors
of the pencil.
CHAPTER XI.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Angelica Kauffman.--Parentage and Birth.--Beautiful Scenery
of her native Land.--Early Impulse to Painting.--Adopts the
Style of Mengs.--Her Residence in Como.--Instruction.--Music or
Painting?--Beauty of Nature around her.--Angelica’s Letter about
Como.--Escape from Cupid.--Removal to Milan.--Introduction to great
Works of Art.--Studies of the Lombard Masters.--The Duke of Modena
her Patron.--Portrait of the Duchess of Carrara.--Success.--Return to
Schwarzenberg.--Painting in Fresco.--Homely Life of the Artist.--Milan
and Florence.--Rome.--Acquaintance with Winkelmann.--Angelica
paints his Portrait.--Goes to Naples.--Studies in Rome.--In
Venice.--Acquaintance with noble English Families.--In London.--A
brilliant Career.--Fuseli’s Attachment to her.--Appointed Professor
in the Academy of Arts.--Romantic Incident of her Travel in
Switzerland.--The weary Travelers.--The libertine Lord.--The Maiden’s
Indignation.--Unexpected Meeting in the aristocratic Circles of
London.--The Lord’s Suit renewed.--Rejected with Scorn.--His Rank
and Title spurned.--Revenge.--The Impostor in Society.--Angelica
deceived into Marriage.--She informs the Queen.--Her Father’s
Suspicions.--Discovery of the Cheat.--The Wife’s Despair.--The
false Marriage annulled.--The Queen’s Sympathy.--Stories of
Angelica’s Coquetry.--Marriage with Zucchi.--Return to Italy.--Her
Father’s Death.--Residence in Rome.--Circle of literary
Celebrities.--Angelica’s Works.--Criticisms.--Opinions of Mengs
and Fuseli.--The Portraits in the Pitti Gallery.--Death of
Zucchi.--Invasion of Italy.--Angelica’s Melancholy.--Journey and
Return.--Her Death and Funeral.
ANGELICA KAUFFMAN.
Maria Anna Angelica Kauffman was born in Coire, the capital of the
Grisons, in 1741. Her father, the painter Johann Joseph Kauffman, had
been called to that place from Schwartzenberg on the Boden-See, by the
bishop’s appointment, to paint church pictures. He married there, and
remained till 1742, before removing to Morbegno in Lombardy.
An only child, Angelica’s early years were tended by the care of
loving parents; and the grandeur and beauty of nature around her home,
the vine-clad hills and wild forests of her native land, the blue
waters and bright scenery she was accustomed to contemplate in Italy,
impressed her susceptible imagination, and awakened in her youthful
breast a quick and joyous sympathy with nature. Though not specially
intended by her father for the artist’s calling, the early impulse of
genius led her to painting, and she was permitted to follow the bent of
her inclination with such direction only as made the work appointed her
seem like a pleasant recreation. She preferred her lessons, in fact,
to any amusement. Very different was the early training of this gentle
spirit to that of Raphael Mengs, compelled to labor under strict rules;
and though Angelica afterward adopted the style of this celebrated
German master, hers differed in the possession of a light and charming
grace, which could only have been derived from her native endowments
and the free indulgence of her tastes.
At the age of nine this child of genius was much noticed on account of
her wonderful pastel pictures. When her father left Morbegno, in 1752,
to reside in Como, she found greater scope for her ingenious talent,
and better instruction in that city; and, in addition to her practice
with the brush and pencil, she devoted herself to studies in general
literature and in music. Her proficiency in the latter was so rapid,
and the talent evinced so decided, besides the possession of a voice
unusually fine, that her friends, a few years afterward, urged that
her life should be devoted to music. She was herself undecided for some
time to which vocation she should consecrate her powers. In one of her
pictures she represents herself standing, in an attitude of hesitation,
between the allegorical figures of Music and Painting. Her love for the
latter gained the ascendency; and so great was her success, while yet
of tender age, that her portrait of a steward of the Bishop of Como
gained her a number of profitable orders.
The exquisite natural scenery by which Angelica was at this time
surrounded, in a home on the borders of the loveliest lake in the
world, had a genial influence on her feelings, and the time passed
there was the happiest of her life. She is said to have painted the
portrait of the Archbishop of Como, at a very early age. At a later
period she recurs with pleasure to the years passed in this charming
abode.
“You ask, my friend,” she says, in one of her letters, “why Como is
ever in my thoughts? It was at Como that, in my most happy youth,
I tasted the first real enjoyment of life. I saw stately palaces,
beautiful villas, elegant pleasure-boats, a splendid theatre. I thought
myself in the midst of the luxuries of fairyland. I saw the urchin,
too, young Love, in the act of letting fly an arrow pointed at my
breast; but I, a maiden fancy free, avoided the shaft, and it fell
harmless. After the lapse of years,” she proceeds, “the genius that
presides over my destiny led me again into this delicious region,
where I tasted the delights of friendship with the charms of nature,
and listened with deeper joy than ever to the murmur of waves on that
unrivaled shore. One day I was walking with agreeable company around
one of the most beautiful villas near the lake. In the shadow of a
wood I again saw the youthful god slumbering. I approached him. He
awakened, looked at me, and, recognizing her who had contemned his
power, sprang up suddenly, intent on swift revenge. He pursued me, the
arrow sped once more, and but by a hair’s breadth failed to reach my
heart.”
All too quickly, indeed, passed the two years of her first residence in
Como; and it was with poignant regret that she left her beloved home,
when, in 1754, her father went to settle his family in Milan.
Even this dreaded change, however, was a fortunate one; for it seemed
to be appointed that Angelica’s youth should glide away like a stream
in the sunshine of happiness. A new world of wonders opened to her view
in this city, where she saw works of art surpassing in merit those
she had yet beheld. She had copied antique models in her drawing, and
the engravings of pictures by the early masters which were among her
father’s treasures. Here she was first introduced to an acquaintance
with works of great beauty and importance in the history of art. Here
Leonardo da Vinci had labored, and founded a school in which are still
conspicuous the gentle dignity, purity, and elevation that live in
his creations. The impressions received from her contemplation of the
productions of the most famous of the Lombard masters, and the care
with which she studied them till her own style became imbued with their
spirit, decisively influenced the professional career of the young
artist.
The change had a not less favorable effect upon her worldly
circumstances. Her copies of some pictures found in the palace of
Robert d’Este, Duke of Modena and Governor of Milan, induced him to
declare himself her patron, and led to her introduction to the Duchess
of Carrara. After she had painted by command the portrait of that
princess, she received orders for a number of pictures for other ladies
of rank.
The associations to which this success gave rise contributed to give
the youthful painter that self-possession and dignity of manner,
combined with a quiet modesty most becoming her age and sex, which
afterward marked her deportment in elevated circles of society.
Thus the few years of Kauffman’s residence in this favored Italian city
were productive of manifold advantages to his daughter. The death of
his wife determined him to another removal, and he went to undertake
a great work in his native city of Schwarzenberg. In this enterprise
Angelica was of essential service, having for the first time an
opportunity of engaging in an enterprise of magnitude, and of a kind
not often practiced by women. She painted in fresco the figures of the
Twelve Apostles after copper engravings from Piazetta.
It has been said that the time spent in this country at this period
by the young artist was in the home of her father’s brother, an
honest “farmer, in comfortable though narrow circumstances. At first,
Angelica, accustomed to the wonders of art and the splendor of Italian
cities, could scarcely bring herself to endure this homely mode of
existence. The rude manners of those by whom she was surrounded--the
utter want of elegance or taste--displeased and disgusted her.
Gradually, however, as habit softened down these first impressions,
the poetic side of the picture dawned upon her mind. She learned to
love the homely simplicity of that hospitable dwelling, with its gabled
front and narrow windows--the gloom and solitude of those dark pine
forests, through which the sunbeams could scarcely penetrate, and
ceased to long for the marble palaces of Milan and the orange-groves
of Como. Besides, she had little time for idle regrets, the interior
decoration of a church in the neighborhood being intrusted to her
father and herself. Her success in an undertaking so difficult excited
considerable attention.”
After the completion of this work, which won the enthusiastic
appreciation of the Bishop of Constance, a season of disquiet followed,
with frequent changes of residence and a crowding of commissions,
while the artist in vain longed for an opportunity to revisit the
depository of art treasures--Italy. To fulfill this wish, and complete
her artistic education, Angelica first returned with her father to
Milan, and thence went to Florence, where she threw herself with
restless zeal into the study of the great master-pieces in which that
city is so rich. Her performances already met with the appreciation
that was afterward testified by the admission of her portraits into the
collection there made of original paintings by artists of celebrity.
Cardinal de Roth called her to Constance for his portrait.
Yet even Florence was regarded by her only as a place of preparatory
study; the great goal of her ambition was Rome. Thither she went in
1763, and her usual good fortune followed her. She went through a
course of perspective the following year. The immortal Winkelmann was
then in the midst of his great work of breathing new life into ancient
art, and it was his delight to interpret the inspiration for others,
and to promote social intercourse and a good understanding among
artists.
It was not long ere the youthful votary became acquainted with this
great man. It was beautiful to see the friendship that subsisted
between this girl of eighteen, in the fresh bloom of life, and the
experienced man of sixty, who had spent so many years of labor in his
profession: she brilliant and ardent, full of hope and enthusiasm--his
brow furrowed with study and reflection; both inspired by the same
spirit; both having felt the same ardent desire to visit the Eternal
City.
Angelica found both pleasure and profit in Winkelmann’s society, always
in the company of her friend, the wife of Raphael Mengs. A portrait of
him, painted by her at this time, and afterward engraved by her, amply
proved, by its excellent likeness, vivid coloring, and vigorous touch,
and, above all, by its spiritual expression, how thoroughly she had
comprehended the spirit of the greatest disciples of art. Winkelmann
announced to his friends, not without evident satisfaction, that his
portrait had been painted “by a young and beautiful woman.”
Ere long, a command to copy some paintings in the royal gallery at
Naples called her to that city, so favored by the beauty of its
situation and the charm of its climate. Here she gained new ideas in
the contemplation of numerous master-pieces of old time, as well as a
rich reward for her labors in executing orders from many persons of
rank. Her abode in that soft, luxurious clime, surrounded by nature’s
loveliness, did not, however, enervate her character, nor impair the
freshness and naiveté of her style.
In 1764 we find her again in Rome. Here she passed a year in the
prosecution of her studies, including architecture and perspective,
continuing her friendship with Winkelmann. Her observations of
Italian art were completed by studies of the works of the Caracci
in Bologna, and Titian, Tintoretto, and Paul Veronese in Venice.
In the last-mentioned city Angelica made the acquaintance of an
English lady--the accomplished Lady Wentworth, wife of the British
resident--who afterward took her to London.
During her stay in Naples she had been received into relations
of intimacy with several noble English families, and had taken
their orders for paintings. It was thought that in London a more
distinguished and more lucrative success would be commanded than she
could hope for in a country so rich in artistic achievements as Italy.
This was in truth the case; and after Angelica had passed through
Paris, availing herself of its advantages, to London, she found open
to her a career of brilliant success, productive of much pecuniary
gain. Her talents and winning manners raised her up patrons and
friends among the aristocracy. Persons attached to the court engaged
her professional services; and the most renowned painter in England,
Sir Joshua Reynolds, was of the circle of her friends. It is said he
offered her his hand, and I have been told by Mr. Robert Balmanno,
who knew Fuseli personally, that he was one of her suitors. She was
numbered among the painters of the Royal Society, and received the rare
honor, for a woman, of an appointment to a professorship in the Academy
of Arts in London, being, meanwhile, universally acknowledged to occupy
a brilliant position in the best circles of fashionable society.
A writer in the Westminster Review gives a romantic account of an
incident that led to the greatest misfortune of Angelica’s life:
“It was in early girlhood, while traveling with her father through
Switzerland to their native land, that she first beheld the man who was
to exercise so fatal an influence on her destiny. Angelica was then
only in her seventeenth year, her dawning talents had already attracted
considerable attention, but as both father and daughter were poor, they
were compelled to travel on foot, resting at night at the little inns
by the wayside. One evening, when, wearied with the long day’s journey,
they entered a humble house of entertainment, they were informed by the
landlord that they must go farther, for a couple of “grand seigneurs,”
just arrived, had engaged all the rooms for themselves and their suite.
The weary travelers insisted on their right to remain, and the debate
was growing warm, when one of the gentlemen for whose accommodation
they were rejected made his appearance, and with great politeness
begged them to enter the dining-room and share their repast. The good
Kauffman, whose frank, confiding nature was always a stranger to
suspicion, at once consented, despite the whispered entreaties of his
daughter, who, with the intuitive perception of her sex, had discerned
something offensive beneath the polished courtesy of their inviter.
She was not mistaken; at the table Lord E---- soon forgot the respect
due to youth and innocence, and attempted some liberty. Angelica
indignantly repulsed it, and on its repetition, rising hastily from the
table, drew her father with her, and instantly left the house.”
Years afterward, while Angelica was living in England--“welcomed with
enthusiasm, sought by the noblest and most gifted in the land, when
all seemed to smile upon her path, in a fatal hour she again lighted
on the man whose undisguised libertinism had so deeply wounded her
modesty ten years before. It was in the midst of a brilliant circle,
where all the _beaux esprits_ of London were assembled, that they again
met. Lord E---- had long since lost every trace of her, and great was
his amazement to recognize in the elegant woman and celebrated artist
the humble little pedestrian of the Swiss mountains. If he had thought
her charming then, how much more lovely did she seem to him now; his
heart and fancy were alike inflamed, and he resolved that this time,
at least, she should not escape him. Feigned repentance for the past,
assurances of unselfish devotion which sought for nothing in return
save the friendship and esteem of its object, flattery, insinuation,
all were employed. Angelica, trusting and guileless, believed him; nor
was it till, fancying himself secure of triumph, he threw off the mask,
that she even suspected his baseness. Equally shocked and indignant,
she would no longer admit him to her society.
“This only stimulated his passions. Perhaps he thought it a pretext
to lure him to more honorable offers; at all events, despairing of
winning the prize by any other means, he laid his rank and title at her
feet. But Angelica was no Pamela to receive with humble gratitude the
hand of him who had insulted her virtue. Her mild but resolute refusal
stung him to madness. If what some of her biographers assert be true,
he forced himself into her presence, and sought by violence that which
no entreaties could win; but here, too, he failed. The rumor of his
worthless conduct got abroad, and he found it most convenient to leave
England for a time, vowing revenge. The subsequent portion of the story
is well known.”
Others say it was an English painter, who, out of jealousy of the
talents of Angelica, instigated to his base plot the man who deceived
her. Be that as it may, she was undoubtedly the victim of a conspiracy
arranged with no less malignity than art. It was a counterpart to the
story of the Lady of Lyons; a rejected suitor vowing revenge, and using
as his instrument to obtain it a man very different in character from
the noble Claude.
A low-born adventurer, who assumed the name of a gentleman of rank
and character--that of his master, Count Frederic de Horn--played a
conspicuous part at that time in London society, and was skillful
enough to deceive those with whom he associated. He approached our
artist, who was then about twenty-six, and in the bloom of her
existence. He paid his respects as one who rendered the deepest homage
to her genius; then he passed into the character of an unassuming and
sympathizing friend. Finally, he appealed to her romantic generosity
by representing himself as threatened with a terrible misfortune, from
which she only could save him by accepting him as her husband. A sudden
and secret marriage he averred was necessary.
Poor Angelica, who had shunned love on the banks of Como, and under the
glowing skies of Italy; and since her coming to London had rejected
many offers of the most advantageous alliance, that she might remain
free to devote herself to her art, was caught in the fine-spun snare,
and yielded to chivalrous pity for one she believed worthy of her
heart’s affection. The marriage was celebrated by a Catholic priest,
without the formality of writings, and without witnesses.
Angelica had received commissions to paint several members of the
royal family and eminent personages of the court, and her talents
had procured her the favorable notice of the Queen of England. One
day, while she was painting at Buckingham Palace, her majesty entered
into conversation with her, and Angelica communicated to her royal
friend the fact of her marriage. The queen congratulated her, and sent
an invitation to the Count de Horn to present himself at court. The
impostor, however, dared not appear so openly, and he kept himself very
close at home, for he well knew that it could not be long before the
deception would be discovered.
At length the suspicions of Angelica’s father, to whom her marriage had
been made known, led him to inquiries, which were aided by friends of
influence. About this time, some say, the real count returned, and was
surprised at being frequently congratulated on his marriage. Then came
the mortifying discovery that the pretended count was a low impostor.
The queen informed Angelica, and assured her of her sympathy.
The fellow had been induced to seek the poor girl’s hand from motives
of cupidity alone, desiring to possess himself of the property she had
acquired by her labors. He now wished to compel her to a hasty flight
from London. Believing herself irrevocably bound to him, Angelica
resolved to submit to her fate; but her firmness and strength of nature
enabled her to evade compliance with his requisition that she should
leave England, till the truth was made known to her--that he who called
himself her husband was already married to another woman still living.
This discovery made it dangerous for the impostor to remain in London,
and he was compelled to fly alone, after submitting unwillingly to the
necessity of restoring some three hundred pounds obtained from his
victim, to which he had no right.
The false marriage was, of course, immediately declared null and
void. These unhappy circumstances in no way diminished the interest
and respect manifested for the lady who, in plucking the rose of
life, had been so severely wounded by its thorns; on the contrary,
she was treated with more attention than ever, and received several
unexceptionable offers of marriage. But all were declined; she chose to
live only for her profession.
One of Angelica’s biographers pronounces her “proof against flattery.”
Nollekens, on the other hand, accused her of having been a coquette
in her youth. While at Rome, before her marriage, he said she
was extremely fond of personal admiration. “One evening she took
her station in one of the most conspicuous boxes of the theatre,
accompanied by two artists, both of whom, as well as many others, were
desperately enamored of her. She had her place between her two adorers;
and while her arms were folded before her in front of the box over
which she leaned, she managed to press a hand of both, so that each
imagined himself the cavalier of her choice.”
After fifteen years’ residence in England, when the physician who
attended her suffering father advised return to Italy, and the invalid
expressed his fear of dying and leaving her unprotected, Angelica
yielded to his entreaties, and bestowed her hand upon the painter
Antonio Zucchi.
This gentleman was born in Venice in 1728, and had worked there
upon historical pieces. He afterward took to landscape-painting and
architecture, and many of his designs were published in learned works
of the day. Being induced to go to England, he obtained an excellent
place, and won the warm friendship of Mr. Kauffman. The marriage
with his daughter took place in 1781, and proved a most happy one,
undisturbed by any untoward occurrence till the death of Zucchi.
Angelica, with her husband and her father, now returned to the sunny
south. Stopping in Schwarzenberg to visit their relatives, they
proceeded to Italy, settling themselves for a prolonged stay. In
January of the following year Kauffman expired in the arms of his
loving child.
The wedded pair, anxious to escape from the shadow of this sorrow,
hastened to Rome, where they fixed their permanent abode, paying only
a few visits to Naples at the command of the royal family. Their house
was the centre of attraction to the artistic and literary society of
that capital of art; and Madame Zucchi did the honors and dispensed
hospitalities with a grace peculiarly her own, without losing a
particle of her energy in the prosecution of her painting, or any
portion of the love for it that had distinguished her early years.
This may account for the uniform individuality discernible in her
productions, in the merits and defects of which may be traced the
peculiarities of her nature and training.
In Rome, Angelica became acquainted with Goethe, Herder, and other
great men who at different times visited the Eternal City. Goethe says
of her in one of his letters, “The good Angelica has a most remarkable,
and, for a woman, really unheard-of talent; one must see and value
what she does and not what she leaves undone. There is much to learn
from her, particularly as to work, for what she effects is really
marvelous.” And in his work entitled “Winkelmann and his Century,” he
observes concerning her: “The light and pleasing in form and color,
in design and execution, distinguish the numerous works of our artist.
No living painter excels her in dignity, or in the delicate taste with
which she handles the pencil.”
At the same time she has been thought deficient in strength of outline,
variety and force of touch; her coloring has been said to lack depth
and warmth; while all acknowledge her grace, sweetness, and delicacy,
and the freedom and ease, with the correctness and elegance of her
drawing. Her works have been justly called “light and lovely May-games
of a charming fantasy.”
Among her character-pictures have been noted particularly “Allegra”
and “Penserosa,” and fancy portraits of Sappho and Sophonisba, with
the goddesses of Grecian mythology; also figures and scenes from the
modern poets, such as the delicate and bewitching Una, from Spenser’s
“Faery Queen,” and simple allegorical representations. These last
were favorite subjects with her, and were taken both from classic and
romantic history, as “Venus and Adonis,” “Rinaldo and Armida,” “The
Death of Heloise,” “Sappho inspired by Love,” etc. The praise can not
be denied her of having essentially aided the progress of modern art,
without parting with any portion of her feminine reserve and purity.
Her pictures, with Mengs’s writings, helped to liberate painting from
the exclusive school of Carlo Maratti.
Among her best compositions have been noted “Leonardo da Vinci Dying in
the arms of Francis I.;” “The Return of Arminius”--painted for Joseph
II.--“The Funeral Pomp of Pallas;” and “The Nymph Surprised,” covering
herself hastily with a white veil. In painting portraits, she had the
habit of waiting, before sketching, to seize on some favorite attitude
or expression. She understood the effects of clare-obscure, and took
care to avoid confusion in her figures. Her draperies were designed
with taste, and not superfluous.
An amateur once said to her, “Your angels could walk without deranging
their robes.”
She was in the habit of throwing on paper her reflections, and
preserving the souvenirs. The following words were written on one of
her pictures:
“I will not attempt to express supernatural things by human
inspiration, but wait for that till I reach heaven, if there is
painting done there.”
Art to her had been as the breath of life, and labor her greatest
delight. They continued to be so, even when, crowned with fame, she was
the centre of an admiring circle in the best society of Rome. Zucchi,
in the hope of beguiling her from too assiduous application, purchased
a beautiful villa--Castle Gandolfo--for their residence; but Angelica
could not bear to be long distant from Rome. Strangers who came to the
city were soon attracted to pay their respects to the lovely artist;
and in the companionship of the great and gifted, either in her own
circle, or with friends like Klopstock and Gessner--who have highly
praised her genius--she exercised an influence that did not fail to
promote the growth of literary and artistic cultivation.
De Rossi says: “It was interesting to see Angelica and her husband
before a picture. While Zucchi spoke with enthusiasm, Angelica remained
silent, fixing her eloquent glance on the finest portions of the work.
In her countenance one could read her feelings, and her observations
were always limited to a few brief words. These, however, seldom
expressed any blame; only the praises of that which was worthy of
praise. It belonged to her nature to be struck by the beautiful alone,
as the bee draws only honey out of every flower.”
Raphael Mengs pronounced upon her a flattering eulogium. “As an
artist,” he says, “she is the pride of the female sex in all times and
all nations. Nothing is wanting; composition, coloring, fancy, all are
here.” But he was her friend, and wrote thus while the recollection of
her charms and virtues were fresh in his memory.
Fuseli, who was honored by her friendship, was a more severe judge.
He says, he “has no wish to contradict those who make success the
standard of genius, and, as their heroine equals the greatest names
in the first, suppose her on a level with them in power. She pleased,
and desired to please, the age in which she lived and the race for
which she wrought. The Germans, with as much patriotism, at least, as
judgment, have styled her the Paintress of Minds (Seelen Mahlerin);
nor can this be wondered at for a nation who, in A. R. Mengs, flatter
themselves that they possess an artist equal to Raphael.
“The male and female characters of Angelica never vary in form,
feature, or expression from the favorite ideal in her own mind. Her
heroes are all the man to whom she thought she could have submitted,
though him, perhaps, she never found. Her heroines are herself, and,
while suavity of countenance and alluring graces shall be able to
divert the general eye from the sterner demands of character and
expression, can never fail to please.”
The lighter scenes of poetry were painted by her with a grace and
taste entirely her own, and happily formed, withal, to meet that of an
engraver, whose labors contributed to the growth and perpetuity of her
fame. This was Bartolozzi, whose talents were in great part devoted to
her.
One feels naturally desirous of knowing something about the personal
appearance of one so much admired. Her portrait, painted by herself,
the size of life, is in the Pitti Gallery at Florence, with that of
two other female artists; and the three attract the attention of every
visitor.
The following is the description of one spectator: “The first in
feature and expression bears the stamp of a masculine intellect; the
touch is vigorous, the coloring has the golden tint of the Venetian
school, but it presents no mark of individuality; this is Maria Robusti
Tintoretto. The second can not be mistaken; even the most unpracticed
eye would discern at a glance that it is a Frenchwoman--piquant,
lively, graceful, evidently not so much engrossed with her art as to be
insensible to admiration as a woman--this is the well-known Madame Le
Brun. Opposite the fair Parisian is a third portrait, a woman still in
the bloom of life, but destitute of all brilliancy of coloring, with an
expression grave and pensive almost to melancholy. She is seated on a
stone, in the midst of a solitary landscape, a portfolio with sketches
in one hand, a pencil in the other. The attitude is unstudied almost
to negligence. There is no attempt at display; you feel as you look on
her that every thought is absorbed in her vocation. This is Angelica
Kauffman.”
The quiet tenor of her life was broken up by the death of her husband
in 1795. This domestic calamity was followed by political events that
shook the world, and our artist suffered amid the universal agitation.
She was much disquieted by the invasion of Italy by the French, though
she found in her art both relief from care and a protection from the
dread of poverty. General L’Espinasse exempted the house in which she
lived from lodging soldiers, and offered her his services for her
security and protection. But no kindness could restore her lost energy
or bring back the cheerfulness that had once sustained her.
In 1802 Angelica was seized with illness, and on recovery was advised
to travel for the strengthening of both her bodily and mental
faculties, and for relief from the oppression of sadness that paralyzed
even her love of art. She visited Florence, Milan, and Como, where she
lingered with a melancholy pleasure amid the scenes of her youthful
days. In Venice she staid to visit the family of her deceased husband.
She then returned to Rome, where she was received by her friends with a
jubilant welcome.
Her time passed thenceforward in her accustomed employments, and the
society of those who loved her. Her health continued to decline, but
her intellect remained bright and vigorous to the period of her death
in November, 1807. Not long before she expired she requested her cousin
by signs to read to her one of Gellert’s spiritual odes. In the midst
of Italian life she was ever true to the German spirit; as, amid her
more than masculine labors, she preserved her gentle, womanly nature.
The news of her decease caused profound grief throughout Rome. All
the members of the Academy of St. Luke assisted at her funeral; and,
as at the obsequies of Raphael, her latest pictures were borne after
her bier. Her remains were placed in the Church of St. Andrew della
Fratte. Her bust was preserved in the Pantheon.
Her works are scattered all over Europe, and are to be found in Vienna,
Munich, London, Florence, Rome, Paris, etc.
CHAPTER XII.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Female Artists in the Scandinavian Countries.--In Sweden.--Ulrica
Pasch.--Danish Women Artists.--A richer Harvest in the
Netherlands.--The Belgian Sculptress.--Maria Verelst.--Her
Paintings and Attainments in the Languages.--Residence in
London.--Curious Anecdote.--Walpole’s Remark.--Women Artists in
Holland.--Poetry.--Henrietta Wolters.--Her Portraits.--Invitation
from Peter the Great.--Dutch Paintresses.--The young
Engraver.--Caroline Scheffer.--Landscape and Flower Painters.--A
Follower of Rachel Ruysch.--An Engraver.--In England.--Painting
suited to Women.--Literary Ladies.--Effect of the Introduction
of a new Manner in Art.--Numerous Dilettanti.--Female
Sculptors.--Mrs. Samon.--Mrs. Siddons and others.--Mrs.
Damer.--Aristocratic Birth.--Early love of Study and Art.--Horace
Walpole her Adviser.--Conversation with Hume.--First Attempt at
Modeling.--The Marble Bust and Hume’s Criticism.--Surprise of
the gay World.--Miss Conway’s Lessons and Works.--Unfortunate
Marriage.--Widowhood.--Politics.--Walpole’s Opinion of Mrs. Damer’s
Sculptures.--Darwin’s Lines.--Sculptures.--Envy and Detraction.--Going
abroad.--Escape from Danger.--Noble Ambition.--Return to
England.--Politics and Kissing.--Private Theatricals.--The three
Heroes.--Friendship with the Empress.--Walpole’s Bequest.--Parlor
Theatricals, etc.--Removal.--Project for improving India.--Mrs.
Damer’s Works.--Opinions of her.
From Germany we now turn to the northern countries, to the Netherlands,
and England, to glance at their female artists of the eighteenth
century.
Few are found among the Scandinavian nations. Female talent had greatly
aided to bring about the rise of literature in Sweden, as in the
instance of Charlotte Nordenflycht and Ulrica Widström by their lyric
poems, and Maria Lenngren by her dramatic productions; but only one
artist of merit appears--the painter Ulrica Frederika Pasch, who, in
1773, was elected a member of the Academy at Stockholm.
In Denmark, where many women cultivated the muses, gaining celebrity
for lyric and dramatic productions, a flower-painter, C. M. Ryding,
and an engraver on copper, Alexia de Lodde, may be mentioned, as well
as Margaretta Ziesenis, who devoted herself to painting portraits and
historical pieces, and was somewhat famous for her copies in miniature,
such as that of Correggio’s Zingarella.
A much richer harvest opens in the Netherlands, in which the number of
women pursuing art as a profession was not less than it had been in the
preceding century. Among the Belgians the name of the sculptress Anna
Maria von Reyschoot of Ghent must not be omitted.
MARIA VERELST.
Maria Verelst was born in 1680, at Antwerp. She was the daughter of
the painter Herman Verelst, and belonged to a family abounding in
celebrated artists. She received instruction from her uncle, Simon
Verelst, and was highly esteemed, not only for her very uncommon skill
in small portraits, while she attempted historical pieces successfully,
but also for her attainments in the languages and music. She went with
her father to London, then, as before and afterward, the rendezvous of
foreign talent, and died there in 1744.
Descampes mentions a curious anecdote of her proficiency in the
languages. During her residence in London, one evening at the theatre,
she chanced to sit near six German gentlemen of high rank. They were
struck with her beauty and distinguished air, and expressed their
admiration in conversation with each other, in the most high-flown
terms which the German language could supply. The lady turned and
addressed them in the same tongue, observing that such extravagant
praise in the presence of a lady conveyed to her no real compliment.
One of them soon after repeated his encomium in Latin. She again
turned, and, replying in the same language, said, “It was unjust to
deprive the fair sex of that classic tongue, the vehicle of so much
true learning and taste.”
With increased admiration the strangers begged permission to pay their
respects in person to a lady so singularly endowed. Maria answered that
she was a painter by profession, and lived with her uncle, Verelst
the flower-painter. They did not lose time in availing themselves of
the opportunity of seeing the fair artist and her works. Each of the
gentlemen sat for his portrait, for which he gave liberal compensation.
The story spread abroad, and proved an introduction for Maria into the
best society.
Walpole remarks of this artist that she painted in oil both large
and small portraits, and drew small history-pieces. She spoke Latin,
German, Italian, and other languages fluently.
In Protestant Holland women artists are found in still greater numbers.
Here the same favorable circumstances which had in former ages brought
art to early bloom existed with little change. As women assumed an
influential position in literature, so they did in the pictorial arts.
The religious spirit that animated many breathed in the hymns and
odes of Petronella Mocas, and in the didactic poetry of Lucretia van
Merken; Elizabeth Wolff made herself known by her poetical epistles;
and the national drama, the fair fruit of the seventeenth century,
had a votary in the Baroness von Launoy, who made translations from
Tyrtæus. In like manner did women show their enterprise in the branches
of study which belong to our subject.
HENRIETTA WOLTERS.
Henrietta Wolters of Amsterdam gained no inconsiderable fame as a
miniature-painter. She was the pupil of her father, Theodore van Pee,
and was early accustomed to copy from Van der Velde and Vandyck. The
miniature portraits afterward painted by her were so perfect in finish
and execution, that the Czar Peter the Great, who seems to have become
acquainted with her during his journey incognito through Holland,
offered her a salary of six thousand florins as court-painter if she
would remove to his capital. She received as much as four hundred
florins for a single picture. She declined the imperial invitation, and
remained in her home, where, having lived with her husband, the painter
Wolters, since 1719, she died in 1741.
Passing over several of little note as artists, though among them are
numbered the Princess Anna of Orange and Cornelia de Ryk, we may pause
to mention Christina Chalon, who was born in Amsterdam in 1749, and
received her education with another artist, Sarah Troost. She painted
chiefly in gouache scenes from country life and family groups, and is
said to have learned the engraver’s art so young that she engraved a
picture when only nine years old. She died at Leyden in 1808.
Caroline Scheffer belongs to the close of this century. She was the
daughter and pupil of a painter, Ary Lamme, and married another, J.
B. Scheffer of Mannheim, with whom she lived long in Amsterdam and
Rotterdam. After her husband’s death, in 1809, she went to Paris with
her two sons, Ary and Henry, to give them the advantage of the best
instruction in painting. They did credit to the care of this good
and affectionate mother in the fame they acquired, and returned her
devotion with due tenderness and filial love. She died at Paris in 1839.
To these names should be added those of several women who devoted
themselves especially to landscape and flower painting--two branches in
which Holland could boast artists of skill and renown. Among these are
Elizabeth Ryberg, who lived in Rotterdam; Maria Jacoba Ommegank, and
Alberta ten Oever of Gröningen, some of whose landscapes, in the manner
of Ruysdael and Hobbema, were seen in the exhibition of 1818. Anna
Moritz, Susanna Maria Nymegen, and Cornelia van der Myin, are named by
Dr. Guhl.
Elizabeth Georgina van Hogenhuizen, a dilettante, born in Hague in
1776, became a disciple of Rachel Ruysch, and gave promise of attaining
to a kindred celebrity, had not her life been cut short in the bloom of
eighteen.
Among engravers on copper, who employed themselves with the pencil
as well as the graver, may be mentioned Maria Elizabeth Simons; she
engraved several pictures from Rubens and Van der Velde in the early
part of the century.
In England, the political greatness of the nation and the appreciation
of art among the nobility, more than any natural predisposition of the
people, proved favorable to the progress of a cultivated taste, and
rewarded talent from other countries. Corresponding to the improvement
in the prospects of art, we find a number of women occupied diligently
in its pursuit.
A writer in one of the British reviews observes: “The profession of
the painter would seem, in many respects, peculiarly fitted for woman.
It demands no sacrifice of maiden modesty nor of matronly reserve;
it leads her into no scenes of noisy revelry or unseemly license; it
does not force her to stand up to be stared at, commented on, clapped
or hissed by a crowded and often unmannered audience, who forget the
woman in the artist. It leaves her, during a great portion of her time
at least, beneath the protecting shelter of her home, beside her own
quiet fireside, in the midst of those who love her and whom she loves.
But, on the other hand, to attain high eminence, it demands the entire
devotion of a life; it entails a toil and study, severe, continuous,
and unbroken.” There is enough in this twofold truth to account both
for the number of women artists and the failure of many to reach the
distinction they aimed at.
The assiduous cultivation of literature among ladies of the higher
class in the eighteenth century is sufficiently attested by productions
that yet remain for popular admiration. The names of Joanna Baillie,
Mrs. Montague, Clara Reeve, Fanny Burney, Harriet and Sophia Lee, Mrs.
Cowley, etc., posterity will not willingly let die; and the improvement
in general education owes much to the beneficial influence of women who
labored for this end, and strove also to introduce into society a less
frivolous tone of manners and a more pervading respect for morality and
religion. Mrs. Trimmer, Hannah More, Mrs. Barbauld, are remembered
with gratitude as having done their part in the good work; as also
Elizabeth Smith, who added to her literary acquirements extraordinary
talents and accomplishments both in music and painting.
It was after the introduction of a new manner by artists who had
partaken of the inspiration of Carstens--such as Flaxman and Fuseli,
near the close of the century--that the greater number of English
female artists came into notice. It is necessary to mention only the
most prominent. One third, at least, of the entire body in England were
distinguished chiefly as amateurs, while in France the contrary was
true, very few having been noted among the artists of this period.
First let us pay some attention to the sculptors. In the early part of
the century Mrs. Samon modeled figures and historical groups in wax. It
is said that the world-renowned Siddons was accustomed to amuse herself
occasionally by attempts in sculpture. Lady E. Fitzgerald, Miss Ogle,
Mrs. Wilmot, and Miss Andross, were also noted for their attempts in
sculpture. But the place of pre-eminence, above all who had appeared
down to the later years of the eighteenth century, belongs to Mrs.
Damer.
ANNE SEYMOUR DAMER.
A rarer honor it is to a nation to be able to boast of a successful
artist of aristocratic origin than of a celebrated statesman. The
subject of this sketch was descended from families of the best blood
of England. Born in 1748, she was the only child of Field Marshal
Henry Seymour Conway (brother to the Marquis of Hertford) and Caroline
Campbell, only daughter of John, the fourth Duke of Argyle, and
widow of the Earl of Aylesbury and Elgin. “Her birth entitled her to
a life of ease and luxury; her beauty exposed her to the assiduities
of suitors and the temptations of courts, but it was her pleasure to
forget all such advantages, and dedicate the golden hours of her youth
to the task of raising a name by working in wet clay, plaster of Paris,
stubborn marble, and still more intractable bronze.”[2]
[2] Allan Cunningham.
The foundation of a pure and correct taste was laid in her superior
education. She devoted herself early to study, and acquired a knowledge
of general literature rare among women; became well acquainted with the
history and arts of the nations of antiquity, and with the standard
authors of England, France, and Italy. Her cousin, Horace Walpole, was
greatly pleased with her enthusiasm, and took delight in directing her
studies.
She had long been accustomed to gaze with admiration on the few
beautiful pieces of ancient sculpture which she had opportunity of
seeing, and she felt in her own soul that inspiration which is almost
always the prophecy of success. It is said the bent of her genius
was discovered by an adventure with David Hume, the historian. When
eighteen or twenty years old, Anne was walking with him one day. They
were accosted by an Italian boy who offered for sale some plaster
figures and vases. The historian examined his wares, and spent some
minutes talking with the little fellow. Miss Conway afterward rallied
Mr. Hume in company upon his taste for paltry plaster casts. He
replied, with a touch of sarcasm, that the images she had viewed with
such contempt had not been made without the aid of both science and
genius, adding that a woman, even with all her attainments, could not
produce such works. The young lady formed a determination from that
moment to convince her monitor of his mistake.
She procured wax and modeling tools, worked in secret, and in a short
time finished a head--some say a portrait of the philosopher, which she
presented to him in no small triumph.
“This is very clever,” observed Hume. “It really deserves praise for a
first attempt; but, remember, it is much easier to model in wax than to
chisel a bust from marble.”
The persevering girl was resolved to compel the satirist to the
admission that a woman could do more than he had supposed. Without
any announcement of her design, she supplied herself with marble and
all the necessary implements of labor. It was not long before she had
copied out in marble, roughly perhaps, but faithfully, the head she had
modeled in wax. She placed it before the historian, who was actually
surprised into admiration, though he found something still to criticise
in the want of fine workmanship and delicate finish. His fault-finding
probably went far to stimulate her to new exertions. From this time the
impulse of genius was strong within her, and she was firmly resolved
even to seclude herself from the brilliant society by which she was
surrounded for the purpose of devoting her life to the pursuit she
found so congenial to her taste.
It could not long be concealed from the world of fashion that the
admired Miss Conway had forsaken the mask and the dance, and was
working, like any day-laborer, in wet clay; that she moved amid
subdued lights; that her glossy hair was covered with a mob cap
to keep out the white dust of the marble, while an unsightly apron
preserved her silk gown and embroidered slippers; that her white and
delicate fingers were often soiled with clay, or grasped the hammer
and the chisel. The strange story ran like wild-fire among the circles
of her acquaintance. Several titled ladies had wielded the pencil
and the brush, but scarcely one could be remembered who had taken
to sculpture. It may well be imagined that the spirited girl found
pleasure in showing her independence, and that she was animated by a
noble ambition to carve out for herself with the chisel a place among
the honored among artists, worthy of a descendant of the Seymours and
the Campbells. Works of genius seemed more than coronets to her; and
noble actions, than Norman blood!
She now took lessons in modeling and the elemental part of sculpture,
from Cerrachi--the same conspirator who was brought to the guillotine
for plotting against Napoleon--while she perfected herself in the
practical part of working in marble in the studio of the elder Bacon,
and studied anatomy with Cruikshanks. She produced a number of ideal
heads and busts, and some figures of animals, executed with skill; but
her progress was slow, and she produced no work of note till seven
years after her marriage.
At the age of nineteen she bestowed her hand upon the Hon. John
Damer, the eldest son of Lord Milton, and the nephew of the Earl of
Dorchester. This marriage proved a sad drawback to the improvement
of our young artist. Damer--“heir in expectancy to thirty thousand a
year--was at once eccentric and extravagant. Those were the days of
silk, and lace, and embroidery, and he adorned his person with all
that was costly, and loved to surprise his friends and vex his wife by
appearing thrice a day in a new suit.” He furnished for Miss Burney,
remarks Mrs. Lee, “in her celebrated novel of Cecilia, a character in
real life--Harrington, the guardian of her heroine.” He became the
prey of tailors and money-lenders in London; his extravagance daily
increased, and he scattered a princely fortune in a few years. In nine
years this unhappy union was terminated by the suicide of the husband,
who shot himself with a pistol, in the Bedford Arms, Covent Garden, in
August, 1776. His wardrobe, which was sold at auction, is said to have
brought fifteen thousand pounds--perhaps half its cost.
The widow, left childless, availed herself of her recovered freedom
to take journeys with the object of gaining new ideas in the art she
loved. She traveled through France, Spain, and Italy, renewing her
studies in sculpture. At this time it was the fashion for ladies to
take a warm interest in politics. Mrs. Damer became an ardent partisan
of the Whig cause, and active in helping to carry elections.
Mrs. Lee observes: “Gentlemen have no objection to ladies being
politicians if they take the right side: to wit, that to which they
themselves belong; and Mrs. Damer conscientiously adopted the opinions
of the Whig party. At that time Great Britain was waging war with her
American colonies. She took the part of the rebellious subjects, warmly
espoused our cause, and bravely advanced her opinions.” She was a warm
friend of Fox.
Walpole thus speaks of his cousin’s works, which soon acquired her
fame as a sculptor: “Mrs. Damer’s busts from the life are not inferior
to the antique. Her shock dog, large as life, and only not alive,
has a looseness and softness in the curls that seemed impossible
to terra-cotta; it rivals the marble one of Bernini in the royal
collection. As the ancients have left us but five animals of equal
merit with their human figures--viz., the Barberini goat, the Tuscan
boar, the Mattei eagle, the eagle at Strawberry Hill, and Mr. Jenning’s
dog--the talent of Mrs. Damer must appear in the most distinguished
light.” Cerrachi gave a whole figure of Anne as the Mùse of Sculpture,
preserving the graceful lightness of her form and air.
The poet Darwin says:
“Long with soft touch shall Damer’s chisel charm;
With grace delight us, and with beauty warm.”
After 1780, she produced several fine specimens of sculpture, both in
marble and terra-cotta. She made a group of sleeping dogs, in marble,
for the Duke of Richmond, her brother-in-law, and another for Queen
Charlotte. She presented a bust of herself, in 1778, to the Florentine
Gallery, and executed several of her titled lady relatives, which were
esteemed as works of great merit, and still adorn the galleries of
noble connoisseurs. Two colossal heads of her workmanship, representing
Thames and Isis, were designed for the keystones of the bridge at
Henley.
Envy was busy, as it generally is, in disputing the claims of this
noble lady to the entire authorship of her celebrated productions; but,
though they exhibit a varied character, there was no proof that she
availed herself of more assistance than is usual for all sculptors,
both in modeling and marble-work. Subordinate hands are always employed
in preparing the model and removing the superfluous material.
Mrs. Damer complied with the fancy of the day in idealizing the
portraits of some of her friends into muses and deities. To please her
fast friend, Horace Walpole, she presented him with two kittens in
marble, wrought by herself, as an addition to the curiosities of his
villa. Still more endearing than their relationship was her agreement
with him in political opinions.
She had lost her father at the time she went abroad in 1779. The
seas were filled with the armed vessels of France, America, and
Great Britain, and there was some danger in crossing the Channel.
The sculptress was protected, it is true, by her sympathy with the
Transatlantic “rebels” and by her character of artist. However, the
vessel in which she sailed encountered a French man-of-war, with which
a running fight was kept up for four hours. But “the heroic daughter of
a hero” manifested both sense and coolness. The French prevailed; the
packet struck its colors within sight of Ostend; but Mrs. Damer was not
detained in captivity.
She now devoted herself more assiduously to the study of classic
authors, with the view of entering more fully into the feeling and
character of antique sculpture. She kept notes of her reflections
as she contemplated the works of art in Italy, with the remarks of
critics. She was bent on accomplishing some great work, the glory of
which should eclipse the lustre of her hereditary dignity. She had more
ambition to become distinguished as a sculptor than as the descendant
of the high aristocracy of Britain.
Returning from Italy and Spain, she took part in the election that
terminated in the triumph of Charles Fox. Mrs. Crewe and the lovely
Duchess of Devonshire joined her in canvassing for their favorite,
the Whig candidate, “rustling their silks in the lowest sinks of sin
and misery, and, in return for the electors’ ‘most sweet voices,’
submitting, it is said, their own sweet cheeks to the salutes of
butchers and barge-men.”
An old elector said to Cunningham: “It was a fine sight to see a grand
lady come right smack up to us hard-working mortals, with a hand held
out, and a ‘Master, how d’ ye do?’ and laugh so loud, and talk so kind,
and shake us by the hand, and say, ‘Give us your vote, worthy sir--a
plumper for the people’s friend, our friend, every body’s friend.’ And
then, sir, if we hummed and hawed, they would ask us for our wives and
children; and if that didn’t do, they’d think nothing of a kiss--ay, a
dozen on ’em. Kissing was nothing to them, and it came all so natural.”
It is recorded, also, that Mrs. Damer was fond of private theatricals,
and recited poetry and personated characters in plays performed at
the Duke of Richmond’s and elsewhere. Her talents in high comedy won
deserved applause, and many of our actresses would be eclipsed by her
performance in the standard old pieces. But though she took part in
such entertainments for the pleasure of others, her own delight was in
sculpture alone. Her busts in bronze, marble, and terra-cotta became
ornaments to the rich collections of her friends. Her statue of the
king in marble was established in the Edinburgh Register Office. She
consecrated a monumental bust to the memory of the countess her mother,
whose pieces of needle-work had equaled the finest paintings. She
formed a design to perpetuate the memory of a noble act by Lord William
Campbell, her uncle, he having once leaped from a boat into the Thames,
and dived down sixteen feet, to save the life of a drowning man. This
work was never finished in marble.
Mrs. Damer’s heroes, out of her own family, were Fox, Nelson, and
Napoleon; and she was acquainted with them all. She executed the
busts of the first two, and it was one of her fancies to record in
a small book the remarks of “the Napoleon of the waves” during his
conversations with her. During her visit in France she formed a
friendship for the Viscountess Beauharnais; and many years afterward
a French gentleman brought her a letter from the wife of the First
Consul, with a splendid present of porcelain. She was invited to Paris
by her former friend, who desired to present her to Napoleon. The
latter asked her for a bust of Fox, which Mrs. Damer brought to the
emperor on a subsequent visit to Paris. The emperor presented her with
a splendid snuff-box and his portrait set with diamonds.
Walpole died in 1797, bequeathing to this daughter of General Conway
for her life, his Gothic villa of “Strawberry Hill,” with its rich and
rare contents--books and artistic curiosities--and two thousand pounds
a year to keep the place in repair. It has “become famous from its
connection with the studies of the accomplished author of the Castle
of Otranto.” Here Mrs. Damer was happy in entertaining her friends,
not only with feasts of good things at her table, but with private
theatrical performances, in which she often took part. Joanna Baillie,
the matchless Siddons, Mrs. Garrick, Mrs. Berry and her daughters,
were among her chosen companions. The classic villa, however, had been
entailed upon Lord Waldegrave, and Mrs. Damer was induced to give it up
to him ten years previous to her own death. She purchased York House
in the neighborhood, the birth-place of Queen Anne. This was her summer
residence, her winter house being in Park Lane.
As she approached the close of life, and saw the heroes of her early
enthusiasm pass away, her love of sculpture increased. She thought
the art might be made to render important aid in the civilization and
religious improvement of Hindostan and the Indian isles, and often
talked with Sir Alexander Johnston of substituting Christian subjects
in sculpture for the idols of heathenism in those regions. She was,
unfortunately, no longer young enough for such an enterprise; yet the
idea was a noble one. She executed the bust of Nelson in marble for
a present to the King of Tanjore--a Hindoo sovereign of power and
influence in the south of Asia. That specimen of her skill may have
tended to disseminate in that remote nation a desire for statuary by
British artists.
A list of thirty of her works has been published. A beautiful bust of
herself, executed by her in marble, was in the collection of Richard
Payne Knight, and was bequeathed by him to the British Museum. Her
group of “The Death of Cleopatra,” represented the closing scene of
Shakspeare’s tragedy. The Queen of Egypt, having failed to excite the
pity of Octavius Cæsar, and resolved to follow her departed love, has
applied the “venomous worm of Nile” to her breast. The words
“Come, mortal wretch,
With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate
Of life at once untie,”
are embodied in the expression.
This tasteful composition was modeled in basso-relievo, and was
engraved by Hellyer as a vignette title to the second volume of
Boydell’s Shakspeare.
Mrs. Damer’s health declined in the spring of 1828, and on the 28th
of May she departed this life, in her eightieth year. She left to her
relative Sir Alexander Johnston all her works in marble, bronze, and
terra-cotta, and her mother’s needle pictures, with directions that her
apron and tools should be buried in her coffin, and that her manuscript
memoranda and correspondence should be destroyed. She was interred in
the church of Tunbridge, Kent.
Whatever difference of opinion there may be respecting the genius and
works of this sculptress, there can be none in pronouncing her an
extraordinary woman. She would have been called “strong-minded” in
our day, for she sent a friendly message to Napoleon on the eve of
Waterloo, canvassed an election for Fox, and entertained Queen Caroline
during her trial! In her estimation, genius and generous impulse were
above the conventionalities of birth and fashion. It is difficult
to estimate fairly the productions of a favored child of wealth and
splendor, and one eminent for learning and wit. Her works have been
severely criticised, and those who most admire her independent career,
are disposed to deny her the possession of great originality and such
a practical knowledge of art as would enable her to finish with a
good degree of perfection. It has been remarked, however, that her
conception was generally superior to her execution.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Mary Moser.--Nollekens’ House.--Skill in Flower-painting.--The
Fashions.--Queen Charlotte.--Patience Wright.--Birth
in New Jersey.--Quaker Parents.--Childish Taste for
Modeling.--Marriage.--Widowhood.--Wax-modeling.--Rivals
Madame Tussaud.--Residence in England.--Sympathy with America
in Rebellion.--Correspondence with Franklin.--Intelligence
conveyed.--Freedom of Speech to Majesty.--Franklin’s Postscript.--“The
Promethean Modeler.”--Letter to Jefferson.--Patriotism.--Art the
Fashion.--Aristocratic lady Artists.--Princesses Painting.--Lady
Beauclerk.--Walpole’s “Beauclerk Closet.”--Designs and Portrait.--Lady
Lucan.--Her Illustrations of Shakspeare.--Walpole’s Criticism.--Other
Works.--Mary Benwell and others.--Anna Smyters and others.--Madame
Prestel.--Mrs. Grace.--Mrs. Wright.--Flower-painters.--Catherine Read
and others.--Maria Cosway.--Peril in Infancy.--Lessons.--Resolution
to take the Veil.--Visit to London.--Marriage.--Cosway’s
Painting.--Vanity and Extravagance.--The beautiful Italian
Paintress.--Cosway’s Prudence and Management.--Brilliant
evening Receptions.--Aristocratic Friends.--The Epigram on the
Gate.--Splendid new House and Furniture.--Failing Health.--France
and Italy.--Institution at Lodi.--Singular Occurrence.--Death of
Cosway.--Return to Lodi.--Maria’s Style and Works.
MARY MOSER.
This lady, a member of the Royal Academy in London, is mentioned by the
biographers of Nollekens as “skillful in painting flowers, sarcastic
when she held the pen.” She liked to visit the illiterate Nollekens, at
whose house, with a cup of tea, she occasionally enjoyed the company of
Dr. Johnson. Smith does not hesitate to charge her with having set her
cap at Fuseli, “but his heart, unfortunately, had already been deeply
pierced by Angelica Kauffman.”
She was the daughter of a German artist in enameling, but was educated
in England. She was truly wonderful in flower-pieces. The tasteful
decorations of some new apartments in Windsor Palace were executed by
her hand.
While in London she wrote thus to her friend Mrs. Lloyd:
“Come to London and admire our plumes; we sweep the sky! A duchess
wears six feathers, a lady four, and every milkmaid one at each corner
of her cap! * * * Fashion is grown a monster; pray tell your operator
that your hair must measure just three quarters of a yard from the
extremity of one wing to the other.”
Queen Charlotte took particular notice of Miss Moser, and for a
considerable time employed her for the decoration of one chamber, which
her majesty commanded to be called Miss Moser’s room, and for which the
queen paid upward of nine hundred pounds.
PATIENCE WRIGHT.
This extraordinary woman, as Dunlap rightly calls her, was born, like
West, among a people who professed to eschew all that is imaginative
or pictorial. Her parents, who were Quakers, lived at Bordentown, New
Jersey, where Patience Lovell was born in 1725. Her uncommon talent for
imitation was shown long before she had an opportunity of seeing any
work of art. The dough meant for the oven, or the clay found near her
dwelling, supplied her with materials out of which she moulded figures
that bore a recognizable resemblance to human beings, and, ere long, to
the persons with whom she was most familiar.
She married Joseph Wright of Bordentown in 1748. He lived only nineteen
years. Before 1772 the lady had gained not a little celebrity in some
of the cities of the United States for her astonishing likenesses in
wax. A widow, with three children dependent on her for support, she was
obliged to seek a larger field for her efforts. The prospect of success
in London was good, and to London she went.
There is testimony in English journals of the day that her works
were thought extraordinary of their kind. She bade fair to rival
the famous Madame Tussaud. Her conversational powers and general
intelligence gained her the attention and friendship of several among
the distinguished men of the day. Though a resident of England, her
sympathies were engaged in behalf of her countrymen during the struggle
of the American Revolution. It is said she even rendered important
aid to the cause by sending to American officers intelligence of the
designs of the British government. She corresponded with Franklin while
he was in Paris; and as soon as a new general was appointed, or a
squadron began to be fitted out, he was sure to know it. She was often
able to gain information in families where she visited, and to transmit
to her American friends accounts of the number of British troops and
the places of their destination.
At one time she had frequent access to Buckingham House, and was
accustomed to express her sentiments freely to their majesties, who
were amused with her originality. The great Chatham honored her with
his visits, and she took the full-length likeness of him, which appears
in a glass case in Westminster Abbey.
The following is the postscript to one of Franklin’s letters, offering
service should she return to America through France:
“My grandson, whom you may remember when a little saucy boy at school,
being my amanuensis in writing the within letter, has been diverting
me with his remarks. He conceives that your figures can not be packed
up without damage from any thing you could fill the boxes with to
keep them steady. He supposes, therefore, that you must put them
into post-chaises, two and two, which will make a long train upon
the road, and be a very expensive conveyance; but, as they will eat
nothing at the inns, you may the better afford it. When they come to
Dover, he is sure, they are so like life and nature, that the master
of the packet will not receive them on board without passports. It
will require, he says, five or six of the long French stage-coaches to
convey them as passengers from Calais to Paris; and a ship with good
accommodations to convey them to America, where all the world will
wonder at your clemency to Lord N----, that, having it in your power to
hang or send him to the lighters, you had generously reprieved him for
transportation.”
Mrs. Wright was sometimes called “Sibylla,” as she professed to
foretell political events. In a London magazine of 1775 she is called
“the Promethean modeler,” with the remark: “In her very infancy she
discovered such a striking genius, and began making faces with new
bread and putty to such an extent that she was advised to try her skill
in wax.”
Her likenesses of the king, queen, Lord Temple, Lord Chatham, Barry,
Wilkes, and others, attracted universal attention. Critics gave her
credit for wonderful natural abilities, and said she would have been
a miracle if the advantages of a liberal education had fallen to her
lot. Noticing her quick and brilliant eyes, their glance was said to
“penetrate and dart through the person looked on.” She had a faculty of
distinguishing the characters and dispositions of her visitors, and was
rarely mistaken in her judgment of them.
Dunlap farther speaks of “an energetic wildness in her manner. While
conversing she was busy modeling, both hands being under her apron.”
Her eldest daughter married Mr. Platt, an American; she inherited some
of her mother’s talents. She became well known in New York about 1787
by her modeling in wax. The younger was the wife of Hoppner, the rival
of Stuart and Lawrence in portrait-painting. The young lady’s sweet
face may be recognized in some historical compositions. The British
Consul at Venice, mentioned by Moore in his Life of Byron, was the
grandson of Mrs. Wright.
Mrs. Wright lost favor with George III. by her earnest reproofs for his
sanction of the war with America. She went to Paris in 1781, but was
in London in 1785, when she wrote to Jefferson that she was delighted
that her son Joseph had painted the best likeness of Washington of any
painter in America. Washington himself said he “should think himself
happy to have his bust done by Mrs. Wright, whose uncommon talents,”
etc.
She wished not only to make a likeness of the hero, but of those
gentlemen who had assisted at signing the treaty of peace. “To shame
the English king,” she says, “I would go to any trouble and expense, to
add my mite to the stock of honor due to Adams, Jefferson, and others,
to send to America.” And she offered to go herself to Paris and mould
the likeness of Jefferson. She wished to consult him how best to honor
her country by holding up the likenesses of her eminent men, either in
painting or wax-work; and hinted at the danger of sending Washington’s
picture to London, from the enmity of the government and the espionage
of the police; the latter, she observes, having “all the folly, without
the ability, of the French.”
The exercise of artistic accomplishment was now so popular, that
culture in painting, drawing, and etching became general in the
education of young ladies. The fashion of patronizing the arts, too,
was in vogue among women of the highest rank. Lady Dorothea Saville
painted portraits and drew admirable sketches. Lady Louisa de Greville
and her sister Augusta were ardent connoisseurs. The Countess Lavinia
Spencer was celebrated for her skill in etching; and Lady Amherst, Lady
Temple, and Lady Henry Fitzgerald, were noted artists.
Two princesses of the royal family took pleasure in painting. Princess
Elizabeth drew with taste and skill. She engraved a “Birth of Love”
after Tomkins, and produced several original specimens of great beauty.
One of her fancy-pieces was “Cupid turned Volunteer,” which appeared,
in 1804, in a series of prints engraved with poetical illustrations.
The designs were beautiful. Three years later, a series of twenty-four
etchings by her royal highness was published. They evinced spirit and
taste, and a deep feeling for the beautiful.
Charlotte Matilda, afterward Queen of Wurtemberg, drew and painted
landscapes after the manner of Waterloo.
LADY DIANA BEAUCLERK.
Lady Diana Spencer, the wife of Topham Beauclerk, and the daughter
of the Duke of Marlborough, was celebrated as an amateur artist, and
produced drawings that gained the enthusiastic admiration of Walpole.
In 1776 he built a hexagonal tower, which he called “Beauclerk
Closet,” as it was constructed “purposely for the reception of seven
incomparable drawings by Lady Diana, illustrating scenes in his
‘Mysterious Mother.’” They were conceived and executed in a fortnight.
In 1796 the lady produced designs for a translation of Bürger’s ballad
of “Leonore,” by her nephew, published in folio the following year.
Lady Diana also finished a series of designs for a splendid edition of
Dryden’s Fables in folio. These show that she possessed an elegant and
fertile imagination, with a truly classic taste. In her portrait of the
Duchess of Devonshire, the nymph-like grace of the figure is like what
a Grecian sculptor would give to the form of a dryad or river-goddess.
She died in 1808, at the age of seventy-four.
MARGARET, COUNTESS OF LUCAN,
possessed a remarkable talent for copying miniatures and illuminations.
She completed a series of embellishments of Shakspeare’s historical
plays, in five folio volumes, now preserved in the library at Althorp.
For sixteen years she devoted herself to the pursuit, indulging in “the
pleasurable toil” of illustrating that great work. She commenced this
enterprise when fifty years of age, and ended it at sixty-six. Walpole
says: “Whatever of taste, beauty, and judgment in decoration, by means
of landscapes, flowers, birds, heraldic ornaments and devices, etc.,
could dress our immortal bard in a yet more fascinating form, has
been accomplished by a noble hand, which undertook a Herculean task,
and with a true delicacy and finish of execution that has been rarely
equaled.”
Lady Lucan also copied the most exquisite works of Isaac and Peter
Oliver, Hoskins, and Cooper; “with genius,” says her admiring friend,
“that almost depreciated those masters;” and “transferring the vigor of
Raphael to her copies in water-colors.” She died in 1815.
The Countess of Tott exhibited in 1804 her portrait of the famous
Elfi Bey. Lord Orford speaks of Mrs. Delany’s skill in painting
and imitating flowers with cuttings of colored paper. This lady is
mentioned by Madame d’Arblay, in her Diary, as the queen’s friend, the
wife of Patrick Delany, who was the intimate friend of Dean Swift.
Among a host of minor women artists may be mentioned Mary Benwell, who
painted portraits and miniatures in oil and crayons, exhibited from
1762 to 1783. She married Code, who was in the army, and purchased
rank for him. He was stationed at Gibraltar, where he died. Mrs. Code
retired from her profession in 1800. Miss Anna Ladd, skilled in the
same branch, died in 1770. Agatha van der Myn also painted flowers,
fruits, and birds in England.
Anna Smyters, the wife of a sculptor and architect, acquired celebrity
for her miniatures and water-color paintings. One, representing a
wind-mill with sails spread, a miller with his sack on his shoulder, a
carriage and horse, and a road leading to a village, was complete, of a
size so small that it could be covered by a grain of corn.
Miss Anna Jemima Provis was said to have made known to some English
artists the receipt for coloring used by the great Venetian masters. It
had been brought from Italy by her grandfather.
Mrs. Dards opened a new exhibition with flower-paintings, in the
richest colors. They were exact imitations of nature, done with
fish-bones.
Mrs. Hoadley, wife of the Bishop of Winchester, was well skilled
in painting. Caroline Watson was eminent in engraving. She was
born in London, 1760. Receiving instruction from her father, she
engraved several subjects in mezzotinto and in the dotted manner. Her
productions were said to possess great merit. Miss Hartley, who etched
admirably, preceded her.
Maria Catharine Prestel was the wife of a German painter and engraver.
She aided him in some of his best plates, particularly landscapes. The
marriage was not happy, and the pair separated. Madame Prestel came
to England in 1786, where she engraved prints in a style surpassed by
no artist for spirit and delicacy. She made etchings, and finished in
aquatinta in a fine picturesque manner. She died in London in 1794.
Mrs. Grace exhibited her works seven years in the Society of Artists.
They were chiefly portraits in oil, rather heavy in coloring. She
attempted a historical subject in 1767: Antigonus, Seleucus, and
Stratonice. Her residence was in London.
Mrs. Wright, the daughter of Mr. Guise--one of the gentlemen of his
majesty’s Chapel Royal at St. James’s, and master of the choristers
at Westminster--was a successful painter in miniature. She married,
unfortunately, a French emigrant, who shortly afterward left her, and
went to France, where he died. Her second husband was Mr. Wright, a
miniature-painter. She died in 1802.
Fiorillo also mentions Betty Langley, Miss Noel, Miss Linwood,
Miss Bell, Madame Beaurepas, and the eldest daughter of Smirke the
academician.
Walpole mentions Elizabeth Neal as a distinguished paintress, who went
to Holland. She painted flowers so admirably, that she was said to
rival the famous Zeghers.
Among English flower-painters should not be forgotten Miss Elizabeth
Blackwell, Miss Gray, Anna Ladd, Anna Lee, and Mary Lawrence, who
busied herself with a splendid work on roses--painting and engraving
the illustrations.
Catherine Read painted beautiful family scenes, and obtained
considerable reputation as a painter of portraits, both in oil and
crayon. A crayon, in the possession of a lady of New York, was
recognized as hers by an eminent American painter. She lived near
St. James’s, and frequently sent pieces to the exhibition. Several
mezzotint prints after her pictures were published. In 1770 she went to
the East Indies, staid a few years, and returned to England. Her niece,
Miss Beckson, also an artist, who went with her to the East Indies,
afterward married a baronet.
Some of Anna Trevingard’s pictures were engraved. Miss Drax and Miss
Martin engraved from Tomkins and Der Petit; Miss Morland and Catharine
Mary Fanshawe drew and engraved twenty pictures of historical scenes.
The zealous and industrious Mary Spilsbury’s studies from country life,
and particularly those in which she represented her rural scenes and
sports of children, have been reproduced in engravings.
It is certainly surprising that engraving and flower-painting did not
boast at this time a greater number of distinguished followers.
It now becomes our task to linger a moment over the history of a
paintress whose genius and attainments won for her an enviable
reputation, and whose life experience illustrates the condition and
circumstances of art amid the higher classes of English society.
MARIA COSWAY.
Maria Hadfield was the daughter of an Englishman who became rich
by keeping a hotel in Leghorn. It is said he lost four children in
infancy, and detected a maid-servant in the avowal that she sent them
to heaven out of love, and meant that the fifth, Maria, should follow
the rest. The woman was imprisoned for life, and the child was sent
to a convent to be educated. There she received lessons in music and
drawing, in common with other branches. Returning home, she devoted
herself to painting, and the acquaintance she afterward formed at Rome
with Battomi, Mengs, Maron, and Fuseli, with her contemplation of
the works of art in churches and palaces, contributed to the farther
development of her talents.
At her father’s death she formed the resolution of entering a cloister,
but her mother persuaded her to accompany her first to London. There
the young girl became acquainted with the interesting and popular
Angelica Kauffman, who easily prevailed on her to relinquish all idea
of taking the veil.
The change of resolution was followed not long afterward by Maria’s
marriage with Richard Cosway, a portrait and miniature painter, who
occupied a high position, and whose soft, pliant, and idealized style
was well adapted to please rich patrons whose vanity desired the most
favorable representation. In his carefully-finished miniatures the most
ordinary features were transformed into beauty, and pale, watery eyes
were made to sparkle with intellectual expression. This faculty of
beautifying rendered him the favorite of the wealthy and aristocratic.
He was, moreover, a member of the Academy, and had the honor of
being called a friend by the Prince of Wales, circumstances which
contributed still more to make him the “fashion.” But, unfortunately,
he had not good sense enough to wear these honors meekly. Vanity led
him into ridiculous extravagances. He dressed in the extreme of the
mode, and kept his servants costumed in the like absurd manner; he
gave expensive entertainments, and succeeded in drawing around him a
number of frivolous young sprigs of nobility, who would do him the
favor of drinking his Champagne and scattering his money at play, and
the next morning would amuse their “set” by laughing heartily over the
pretensions of the “parvenu.”
Such was the situation of Cosway when he fell in love with Maria
Hadfield, wooed, and won her, and took his wife to his magnificently
furnished house. Maria was very young, and, having come recently from
Italy, was inexpert both in the English language and English customs.
Her fashionable husband chose to keep her strictly isolated from all
society till she should learn to appear with dignity and grace in the
distinguished circles where he meant she should move.
Meanwhile he caused her to complete her artistic education, and to
practice on the lessons she received. Her miniatures soon gained such
appreciation that the highest praise was awarded to them of all that
appeared at the Royal Academy exhibitions. Maria was even pointed out
in the street as the successful artist. Then arrived the time when,
in Cosway’s opinion, she was fitted to become the central point of
attraction in his house for the brilliant society he loved.
Very soon the talk every where was of the young, beautiful, and gifted
Italian. Cosway’s receptions were crowded, and half the carriages at
his door contained sitters ambitious of the honor of being painted by
the hand of his lovely wife. Her portrait of the beautiful Duchess of
Devonshire in the character of Spenser’s Cynthia raised her to the
pinnacle of reputation.
Cosway, however, was too prudent, and, at the same time, too proud to
permit his wife to be esteemed a professional painter, for he knew
well that her productions would have greater value as the work of an
amateur. To be painted by her was thus represented and regarded as
a special favor; and costly presents were frequently added to the
customary payments for her pictures.
In another matter the husband was more indulgent. Maria was
passionately fond of music, and he permitted her to exercise her gift
of song at the brilliant companies invited to his magnificent abode.
This completed the enchantment. Visitors came in such numbers that the
house would scarcely contain them; and all who were fashionable, or
had any aristocratic pretensions, were sure to be found in Cosway’s
drawing-rooms. There would be the poet whose latest effusion was
the rage in high circles; the author of the last sensation-speech
in Parliament; any rising star in art, or any hero of a wonderful
adventure; in short, all the lions of London were gathered in that
place of resort, to see and to be seen, and, above all, to listen to
the charming Cosway. The Honorable Mrs. Damer, Lady Lyttleton, the
Countess of Aylesbury, Lady Cecilia Johnston, and the Marchioness of
Townshend, were Maria’s most intimate friends, and were usually present
to add splendor to her receptions; while among the men were General
Paoli, Lords Sandys and Erskine, and his royal highness the Prince
of Wales, the foreign embassadors being also invited upon special
occasions.
The mansion in Pall Mall was soon found too small to accommodate such
an influx of visitors, and to display its master’s works and finery. A
new one was taken in Oxford Street.
Several of Cosway’s biographers mention the fact that the figure of a
lion beside the entrance put it into some wag’s head to stick on the
door an epigram that had a severe point, as the foppish little painter
was “not much unlike a monkey in the face:”
“When a man to a fair for a show brings a lion,
’Tis usual a monkey the sign-post to tie on;
But here the old custom reversed is seen,
For the lion’s without, and the monkey’s within.”
The artist left the house in consequence of this foolish joke, and
fitted up another in the same street, with the magnificence of a fairy
palace. The author of “Nollekens and his Times” says:
“His new house he fitted up in so picturesque, and, indeed, so princely
a style, that I regret drawings were not made of the general appearance
of each apartment; for many of the rooms were more like scenes of
enchantment, penciled by a poet’s fancy, than any thing perhaps before
displayed in a domestic habitation. His furniture consisted of ancient
chairs, couches, and conversation-stools, elaborately carved and
gilt, and covered with the most costly Genoa velvets; escritoirs of
ebony, inlaid with mother-of-pearl; and rich caskets for antique gems,
exquisitely enameled, and adorned with onyxes, opals, rubies, and
emeralds. There were also cabinets of ivory, curiously wrought; mosaic
tables set with jasper, blood-stone, and lapis lazuli, having their
feet carved into the claws of lions and eagles; screens of old raised
Oriental Japan; massive musical clocks, richly chased with ormolu and
tortoise-shell; ottomans superbly damasked; Persian and other carpets,
with corresponding hearth-rugs, bordered with ancient family crests,
and armorial ensigns in the centre; and rich hangings of English
tapestry. The carved chimney-pieces were adorned with the choicest
bronzes, models in wax, and terra-cotta; the tables were covered with
old Sèvre, blue Mandarin, Nankin, and Dresden China; and the cabinets
were surmounted with crystal cups, adorned with the York and Lancaster
roses, which might probably have graced the splendid banquets of the
proud Wolsey.”
But splendor, fashionable position, success as an artist, and the
friendship of princes and nobles could not make Richard Cosway happy.
He saw the sneers lurking beneath the smiles of his aristocratic
guests, and he heard the rumor that he was accused by other artists
of using his talents to flatter the great, whose fleeting favor could
not, after all, confer upon him lasting reputation. Maria’s health,
too, began to fail; and, as the London climate was no longer endurable
for her, her husband took her to travel on the Continent. They went
to Paris and Flanders. One day, as they walked in the Gallery of the
Louvre, Cosway pointed to the naked wall, and said his cartoons would
look well in that place. He presented them to the French king, who
accepted and hung them up, giving the painter in return four splendid
pieces of Gobelin tapestry, which Cosway presented to the Prince of
Wales.
With improved health, Mrs. Cosway returned to England and resumed her
brilliant parties. But her spirits again failing, she accompanied her
brother to Italy, expecting her husband to join her.
Three years’ residence in that soft clime quite restored her health,
and she set out on her return to London. A new and terrible trial
awaited her there: she was called to mourn the death of her only
daughter.
Again she departed for France, and, after the breaking out of the war
between that country and England, pursued her journey to Italy. She
established at Lodi a college for the education of young ladies on a
plan she had arranged for a similar institution at Lyons.
On the establishment of peace she returned to England, and became the
tender nurse of her invalid husband, trying to solace the weary hours
which were passed in weakness and pain.
Upon Mrs. Cosway’s return, Smith informs us, “she had caused the body
of their departed child, which her husband had preserved in an embalmed
state within a marble sarcophagus that stood in the drawing-room of
his house in Stratford Place, to be conveyed to Bunhill row, where it
was interred, sending the sarcophagus to Mr. Nollekens, the sculptor,
to take care of for a time. It is a curious coincidence that the same
hour this sarcophagus was removed from Mr. Nolleken’s residence, Mr.
Cosway died in the carriage of his old friend, Miss Udney, who had
been accustomed, during his infirm state, occasionally to give him an
airing,” and had taken him out that morning, as the weather was fine.
Maria heard the sound of the returning wheels, and, hastening down
to receive her husband, found only his lifeless corpse. He had died
suddenly, upon a third and last attack of paralysis, July 4, 1821, at
the advanced age of eighty.
The widow returned to Lodi, where her ladies’ college was still
flourishing. The place was endeared to her by many happy memories, and
there she was loved and respected by a large circle of friends. She
died in 1821.
In her style Mrs. Cosway appears to have taken much from Flaxman and
Fuseli. In many of her works something fantastic is embodied, which is
associated with more of the wild and terrible than we usually find in
the creations of a mind at ease. No doubt her inconsolable grief for
the loss of her child was the cause of this unfeminine peculiarity. She
originated compositions from Virgil and Homer, as well as from Spenser
and Shakspeare.
The engraving from a portrait of Maria Cosway represents her in the
bloom of youth, with a profusion of light hair dressed after the
then prevailing mode. The fresh and delicate loveliness of the face
is most attractive, and there is a wonderful beauty in the large,
soft eyes, and the artless innocence that beams in their expression.
The celebrated Mrs. Cowley, in a letter to her, thus speaks of her
portrait: “If you can draw every body as justly as the fair Maria
Cosway, you will be the first portrait-painter in the kingdom.”
She painted a portrait of Madame Le Brun. One of her latest works was
a picture representing Madame Recamier as a guardian angel watching a
slumbering child. “The Winter’s Day,” in twelve pieces, was a series
by her, and she also published a book of drawings jointly with
Hopner. Her “Lama,” exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1788, showed a
female figure reclining by a stream; and the striking likeness to Mrs.
Fitzherbert caused no little sensation.
MADAME TUSSAUD.
Madame Tussaud’s famous wax-work collection was first opened in Paris
about 1770, by M. Courcius, her uncle. Though consisting then chiefly
of busts, with a few full-length figures, it attracted much attention
as a novelty; and Louis XVI. was wont to amuse himself by placing
living figures, costumed, among the wax ones. In 1802 Madame Tussaud
opened her exhibition in London; afterward visiting all the large towns
in Great Britain. Her rooms were large and splendidly decorated, and
her figures were magnificently dressed--some in their own royal robes,
with crowns, stars, orders, and regal finery. Among the historical
groups is one of Henry VIII. and his family. The exhibition is still
kept up in the largest saloon in Europe, more than forty persons being
kept constantly employed in the care of it.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Close of the golden Age of Art in France.--Corruption of
Manners.--Influence of female Genius.--Reign of Louis XVI.--Female
Energy in the Revolution.--Charlotte Corday.--Greater Number of
female Artists in Germany.--Reasons why.--French Women devoted
to Engraving.--Stamp-cutters.--A Sculptress enamored.--A few
Paintresses.--The Number increasing.--Influence of the great
French Masters.--Sèvres-painting.--Genre-painting.--Disciples
of Greuze.--Portrait-painting in vogue.--Caroline
Sattler.--Flower-painters, etc.--Engravers.--Two eminent
Paintresses.--Adelaide Vincent.--Marriage.--Portraits and other
Works.--The Revolution.--Elizabeth Le Brun.--Talent for Painting.--Her
Father’s Delight.--Instruction.--Friendship with Vernet.--Poverty and
Labor.--Avaricious Step-father.--Her Earnings squandered.--Success
and Temptation.--Acquaintance with Le Brun.--Maternal Counsels
to Marriage.--Secret Marriage.--Warnings too late.--The Mask
falls.--Luxury for the Husband, Labor and Privation for the
Wife.--Success and Scandal.--French Society.--Friendship with
Marie Antoinette.--La Harpe’s Poem.--Evening Receptions.--Splendid
Entertainments.--Scarcity of Seats.--Petits Soupers.--The Grecian
Banquet.--Reports concerning it.--Departure from France.--Triumphal
Progress.--Reception in Bologna.--In Rome.--In Naples.--In
Florence.--Madame Le Brun’s Portrait.--Goethe’s Remarks.--New
Honors.--Reception at Vienna.--An old Friend in Berlin.--Residence
in Russia.--Return to France.--Loyalty.--Her Pictures.--Death of her
Husband and Daughter.--Advanced Age.--Autobiography.--An emblematic
Life.
The golden age of French literature and art came to a close with the
life of Louis XIV. A shadow only of that fortunate epoch lingered
during the years succeeding, and the general corruption of manners soon
obliterated even that. But in the reign of Louis XV. were glimpses of
a better state of things, and the influence of female genius and merit
was apparent, as a long list of names in literature can testify. Vice
held sway, however, in the latter years of this monarch, and hypocrisy
became the only homage paid by the court to virtue.
The sceptre passed into the hands of Louis XVI., a feeble prince, whose
virtues were those of the man, not the sovereign. When the throne was
shattered, and revolution broke out, the women of France regained
their energy. They were heroines under the sway of the Decemvirs. What
self-sacrifice, for example, can outshine that of Charlotte Corday--the
greater than Brutus? And what was begun by a woman, a woman completed:
Madame Cabarrus shared in the glory of those great events! Those days
had writers, too, whom posterity has crowned with the garland woven by
their contemporaries.
In comparing woman’s progress and her cultivation of art in France
with those of other nations, and especially the German, we may notice
important differences. The number of female artists was far greater in
Germany, perhaps because many cities in that land were central points,
affording employment to labor, and appreciation to those who devoted
themselves to the profession; whereas in France Paris alone was the
great rendezvous. There were, also, several branches of art cultivated
in Germany which in France were little practiced by women, such as
landscape-painting, for instance. The French women devoted themselves
much more to engraving than in Germany; in fact, engravers formed the
majority of female artists in France, where, moreover, female effort
was more in a strictly business line than in any other country. With
this professional devotion among the women engravers in France, it
follows that there were few amateurs; while, on the other hand, those
in Germany and England who handled the implements of art as dilettanti
were very numerous.
Glancing over the prominent Frenchwomen who enjoyed a reputation among
their contemporaries during the eighteenth century, we may notice the
stamp-cutters Marie Anne de St. Urbin and Elise Lesueur, with the
sculptress Mademoiselle Collot, who afterward married Falconnet, and
assisted him in the completion of the statue of Peter the Great. She
was said to be enamored of the czar, and to have executed the finest
bust of him extant. The female painters of this period are but little
known. In the early part of the century, Lucrece Catherine de la Ronde
and Elizabeth Gauthier engraved after Edelinck and Langlais. Marie
Catherine Herault accompanied her husband, the painter Silvestre, to
Dresden; and Geneviéve Blanchot, and the Dames Godefroy and Davin,
among others less noted, complete the list during the first half of the
century.
The number of devotees to art, however, was rapidly increasing, as the
ateliers of Regnault, David, and Redouté could bear witness, when they
became central points of reunion for female enterprise and study.
The influence of those celebrated men, whose fair scholars have
exercised their talents in the nineteenth century, brought more into
vogue the tender and emotional kind of genre-painting, shown by Greuze
and Fragonard to be so well adapted to the taste and the feeling of
woman. Marguerite Gérard, the sister-in-law and pupil of Fragonard,
in this manner painted scenes of domestic life and family groups
with much grace and repose. A Madame Gérard has been mentioned as a
dilettante, who possessed a large fortune, and had a hotel furnished
with facilities for painting Sèvres. Her splendid cupboards of polished
mahogany were gilded and bronzed, and their contents looked like a
rich collection for the gratification of taste rather than for sale.
She purchased some pieces for sixty and eighty louis-d’ors. A pair
of vases, not very large, painted with sacred subjects, sold for
twenty-six thousand livres.
The genre style was practiced by Mademoiselle Duquesnoy and Madame
Gois. Greuze’s manner was also imitated by his wife, Anna Gabrielle,
with Marie Geneviéve Brossard de Beaulieu, who had the honor of
membership in the Academies of Paris and Rome.
Other disciples of this school entered into their profession after the
commencement of the nineteenth century; and they, with the pupils of
Regnault, Redouté, and David, belong to a later period than that under
discussion.
Portrait-painting was more in vogue than any other kind, and that
almost altogether in oil; while miniature-painting, so much in favor
among the women of Germany, was in France much less practiced. Among
those who gained some celebrity, Caroline Sattler deserves mention. She
studied in Paris, and was not only received as a member of the Academy
in that city, but was honored with the title of Professor. Some time
afterward she gave her hand to a merchant named Tridon, and went to
live in Dresden.
Landscape-painting was practiced by very few women. In flower-painting
Madeleine Françoise Basseporte was noted. She was born in 1701,
received her instruction from Aubriet, and in 1743 succeeded him in
his official appointment in the _Jardin des Plantes_. She painted a
series of pieces for the collection of the Duc Gaston d’Orleans, which
are still exhibited as masterworks of art.
Madame Kugler, the wife of Von Weyler, painted the portraits of
distinguished persons in ivory, and had fine pieces, in enamel and
pastel, in the exhibition in 1789. She was employed by the government,
and worked after her husband’s plans. For twelve years she was
distinguished for her labors.
Mesdames Charpentier, Surigny, Capet, Bruyère, Michaud, Davin, Mirnaux,
Anzon, and Benoit--who painted the emperor--were also well known as
artists.
Susanna Silvestre came of a French family of painters. She copied heads
and portraits after Vandyck.
As to the class of women, already noticed, who embraced the profession
of engravers, they were almost innumerable; yet it is difficult to
select any who merit special attention. One of the number--Marguerite
Leconte--about the middle of the century was a member of Art-academies
in Rome, Florence, and Bologna, and enjoyed a position of high
distinction. Geneviéve Naugis, born in Paris in 1746, worked before
she became the wife of Regnault. She copied plants from nature, and
engraved in copper; she also copied history-pieces after different
masters.
Fanny Vernet engraved the pictures painted by her husband, Charles
Vernet; and, in her son Horace, gave to French art one of its greatest
ornaments.
Elizabeth Clara Tardieu was the wife of an eminent French engraver, and
was accustomed to practice the art herself with success.
Mary Magdalen Hortemels, the daughter of a French engraver, and the
wife of Cochin, was a noted engraver. She executed with the point and
finished with the graver, in a light and pleasing style. Several of
the plates for Monicart’s treatise on the pictures, statues, etc., at
Versailles were done by her.
Marie Rosalie Bertaud and Louise Adelaide Boizot were excellent
engravers.
Anne Philibert Coulet was an ingenious engraver of landscapes and
marine views; she wrought in a delicate and pleasing style.
We will now throw back a look upon two female painters, who won for
themselves a nearly equal renown, and who are admirably adapted--each
in her own personal history, and the view of her early efforts--to be
representatives of the condition and characteristics of French art at
that period; and, withal, of the prevalent state of society. These
women are Adelaide Vincent and Louise Elise Le Brun.
ADELAIDE VINCENT.
Adelaide Vertus Labille was born in Paris in 1749, and received her
earliest lessons in painting in that city, from J. E. Vincent, of
Geneva. This artist had come to Paris a short time before her birth,
had gained consideration as a painter of miniature portraits, and was
received a member of the Academy. Adelaide’s teacher in pastel-painting
was at first Latour; but when the son of her childhood’s
master--François Antoine Vincent, who had shared her studies in his
father’s atelier, as a boy, three years older than herself--came back
to Paris, she determined to join him both in the pursuit of art and the
journey of life. Her first husband had been M. Guyard; her second was
the younger Vincent.
Adelaide painted a great number of portraits, among which those of
artists were most noted. One of these--the portrait of the sculptor
Gois--won the prize offered by the Academy, and gained for the fair
artist such celebrity that even the works of her famous rival Madame Le
Brun were thought inferior to it.
A distinguished mark of appreciation was the appointment of Madame
Vincent as regular member of the Academy; this took place on the 31st
March, 1781. When the storm of the Revolution burst upon France she
adhered to the party of her husband, whose attachment to the royal
family caused him to live in continual hostility with the republican
painter David. One of her works was a large picture, in which the
figures were of life size, representing herself before the easel, and
her pupils around her; among them Mademoiselle Capet, the Duchess of
Angoulême, and several other members of the royal family, by whom she
was greatly esteemed and frequently employed.
Another of her greatest productions represents the reception of a
member into the Order of St. Lazarus, by Monsieur, the king’s brother,
grand master of the order, who had given her the appointment of court
painter. This picture was destroyed during the Revolution, and its loss
caused the artist so much vexation that she would rarely touch the
brush afterward. Among her subsequent productions, a portrait of her
husband was celebrated at the time.
This accomplished woman, crowned with honors by her contemporaries,
both as an artist and in social life, and esteemed by a large circle of
friends, died in 1803.
ELIZABETH LE BRUN.
The other distinguished artist alluded to is Marie Louise Elizabeth
Vigée, who, under her married name, Le Brun, is widely known as one of
the most celebrated women belonging to the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.
She was born in Paris, April 16th, 1755. Her father was a skillful
portrait-painter, and, amid the sports of childhood in her home, she
became acquainted with the principles that form the ground-work of this
art. She showed very early both disposition and talents for painting.
When only seven or eight years of age she drew a sketch of a bearded
man, which when her father saw, recognizing it as a token of the
presence of genius, he exclaimed, rapturously, “You shall be a painter,
my daughter, or there never was one!”
Elizabeth long remembered this occurrence, and, in her memoir of
herself, speaks of the deep impression made upon her childish feelings
by the praises her father lavished on this early production.
The lessons she received at home were soon found insufficient for her
rapidly-developing talent. She was introduced, as a pupil in drawing,
to Briard, a painter of considerable merit, who excelled in outline and
sketching. Her teacher in coloring was Davesne, after whom a picture
of Marie Antoinette as Dauphine of France was engraved. The celebrated
Joseph Vernet, then in the midst of his brilliant career, gave her
valuable advice, and always took a fatherly interest in the gifted
child. Her own father died when she was only thirteen years old, but
her mother permitted her to continue her studies of the great masters
in the public galleries.
Here the maiden copied from the mighty works of Rubens, from the
portraits of Rembrandt and Vandyck, and from the delicate and charming
female heads of Greuze. Thus the ground-work was laid of her future
eminence as a colorist, and it was not long ere she was sufficiently
advanced to make considerable profit out of her labors.
Her father had left no property at his death, and her mother had
been too long accustomed to a brilliant and luxurious Parisian life
not to feel privations sorely. She sought the means of indulgence in
her accustomed pleasures by availing herself of the talents of her
daughter, who now found herself obliged to support the family with her
earnings.
Even when the mother entered into a second marriage, some years
later, the condition of things was not improved. Madame Vigée, wedded
to a rich jeweler, found herself disappointed in the expectation of
increased means to minister to her vanity and extravagance. From
the day of the bridal the husband showed himself so avaricious and
penurious, that he refused to furnish his wife and step-daughter even
the necessaries of life.
The labors of our poor little Elizabeth were again in requisition;
and though her old friend Vernet advised her to give her parents only
an allowance from her earnings, and reserve the remainder for her
own use, all she could procure was taken from her and spent, either
in the purchase of articles for the family, or for the gratification
of her mother’s unbounded fondness for dress, promenades, and public
amusements.
Wherever the youthful maiden appeared she was noticed for her extreme
beauty, as well as talked about for her wonderful talents, and the
general interest in her professional career seemed to go hand in hand
with admiration of her rare personal loveliness. She tells us, in her
memoirs, of several men enamored of her, who bespoke portraits from
her hand in the hope, during the sittings, of making progress in her
favor; but her love for art, as well as the principles of morality and
religion in which she had been reared, rendered her proof against all
such attempts to undermine her virtue.
When only fifteen years old she painted a portrait of her mother,
which proved so admirable a piece of work that Vernet counseled her
to present it to the Academy with an application for admission.
Elizabeth’s extreme youth prevented her being received as a member, but
she was permitted, a few years later, to be present at all the public
sittings of the Academy.
It was about this time that she became acquainted with Jean Baptiste
Pierre Le Brun, a painter and picture-dealer, who was then considered
one of the first connoisseurs of Europe. He paid devoted attention
to the lovely young artist, inducing her to visit his rare and rich
collection for the purpose of study, while he manifested the deepest
interest in her success. Six months after his introduction he became a
suitor for her hand. She says, in her autobiography,
“I was far from the thought of marrying M. Le Brun, although he
possessed a handsome face and agreeable person; but my mother, who
imagined him very rich, never ceased urging me not to refuse so
advantageous a proposal. So at length I yielded; but the marriage was
only an exchange of one kind of trouble for another. Not that M. Le
Brun was a bad-hearted man. His character showed a mixture of softness
and vehemence; and his complaisance to every one made him popular. But
he was unhappily too fond of the society of disreputable females, and
this degrading propensity led him to a passion for gaming that ruined
both of us in point of fortune. So completely had he run through all we
possessed, that in 1789 I had not twenty francs for my journey out of
France, although my earnings had amounted to more than a million.”
The marriage, which on the husband’s part was a mere matter of
speculation, for he relied on the talents of his bride to rid him
of his creditors, and enable him to live in ease and luxury, was
one of those alliances common in Paris in the reign of Louis XV.
The experience of our heroine was characteristic of the times. Le
Brun had been previously engaged to the daughter of a wealthy Dutch
picture-dealer, with whom he had transacted business. He begged
his wife to keep their marriage a secret till his former business
arrangements were satisfactorily adjusted. Madame consented, although
she was placed in a most painful position, being beset with warnings
and entreaties from her friends, urging her not to enter into a union
sure to be productive of unhappiness--when, alas! the mischief was
already accomplished. The Duchesse d’Aremberg predicted misery as
the result of such a marriage; the court jeweler, Auber, a friend
of her youth, advised her “rather to tie a stone round her neck and
throw herself into the river than to commit such a piece of folly and
madness.”
The young wife, however, still kept her faith in the excellence of her
beloved. At last the completion of his business arrangements enabled
him to declare the marriage publicly, and very soon it appeared that
all these warnings were but too well founded. Le Brun first took
possession of all the hard-earned property of his wife, and compelled
her to increase her income by taking pupils. The sole advantage
this accession of means procured for her was the more active and
incessant employment that prevented her from feeling too bitterly the
disappointment of her hopes of happiness in domestic life. Her husband
took the money paid for her pictures and lessons to squander it on his
own selfish indulgences. He occupied the first floor of the house,
furnished in magnificent style, and surrounded himself with costly
luxuries; while his wife was obliged to content herself with the second
story, and with very plain living. Such a state of things in married
life, however, was not unusual toward the close of the reign of Louis
XV., and it excited no surprise.
While matters stood thus, Le Brun obtained the credit of being an
indulgent husband by the indifference he showed in allowing even
persons of questionable character to visit his wife, while he seldom
appeared in her circles, and by his disregard of sundry cautions and
rumors on the subject. Scandal, which rarely spares an ill-used wife,
unless the austere seclusion of her life be more than hermit-like,
whispered terrible things of Madame Le Brun, and she was even accused
of owing the large sums paid for her pictures more to personal favors
than to her merit as a painter. Conscious of innocence, she was wont
to complain to her husband of such injustice, and he would answer,
jestingly,
“Let people talk. When you die I will put up a lofty pyramid in my
garden, inscribed with a list of the portraits you have painted, and
then the world will know how you have come by the money you have made.”
Such mocking sympathy was all the return for her confidence and earnest
appeals for protection from the unworthy husband who continued to live
in luxury at her expense.
When twelve thousand francs were sent Elizabeth for a portrait of the
son of Princess Lubomirska, Le Brun appropriated to his own use the
entire sum except two louis-d’ors, which he gave his wife out of it.
With feelings wounded, and alienated from him by such treatment, Madame
Le Brun at length appears to have resolved to make herself as happy
as possible in her own way. French society was then corrupted to the
core, and it was difficult to move in it without partaking of the
contamination. It was especially so for one whose education had been
superficial, and who had never learned to emulate the example of those
pure devotees to art who had found in that a power to preserve and
guide them, even amid the intrigues and dissipation of the circles that
surrounded them.
Madame Le Brun had obtained the favor and intimate friendship of
persons of very high rank. Marie Antoinette not only sent to her for
her picture, but was accustomed to ask her to sing with her, the
painter being almost as celebrated for her “silver voice” as for her
professional merits. The public honors lavished upon her aided to make
her labors profitable.
On one occasion, at a sitting of the French Academy, La Harpe recited a
poem in honor of female genius. When he came to the lines--
“Le Brun--de la beauté le peintre et le modèle,
Moderne Rosalba, mais plus brillante qu’elle,
Joint la voix de Favart au sourire de Vénus--”
the whole assembly rose, not even, excepting the Duchesse de Chartres
and the King of Sweden, and the fair artist was stunned with a burst
of enthusiastic applause.
Her admission into the Academy, which had been hitherto prevented by
personal jealousies and other hinderances, now took place, on the
presentation of her own portrait, in 1783. This picture she had painted
after the famous one by Rubens--“_Le chapeau de paille_”--which she
had seen the year before when on a visit to Belgium. Her work was so
admirable that Vernet, her ever faithful friend, saw at once that he
could by its means procure the immediate enrollment of her name among
the members of the Academy.
In the “poor dwelling” to which M. Le Brun’s extravagance consigned
her, she managed to hold every week an evening reception,
notwithstanding the limited accommodations. Her house became the
rendezvous for all the celebrities of Paris, and for much of its
beauty and high rank. Curious stories were afloat in regard to her
expenditures in entertaining the dignified personages who visited
her. It was said that her table was covered with gold plate; that her
apartments were warmed with aloes-wood, and even that she kindled her
fire with bank-notes. The absurdity of such rumors may well lead one to
doubt others in the _chroniques scandaleuses_ of the day, more nearly
affecting her reputation.
It is certain, however, that she received guests of the highest
distinction, and that her receptions were crowded to excess. The want
of chairs often compelled her visitors to seat themselves on the
ground. Madame Le Brun herself describes, with evident pleasure in the
recollection, the embarrassment of the fat old Duc de Noailles, who one
evening had to stand a long time, on account of the scarcity of seats.
Music was generally a part of the entertainment, and the fair hostess,
though she had paid little attention to the superior cultivation of
that art, sang most charmingly. Grétry, Sachini, and Martini here
rehearsed scenes from the new operas before their representation;
Garat, Azevedo, Richer, and Madame Le Brun supplied the vocal music,
while the instrumental would be furnished by Viotti, Jarnowich,
Maestrino, Cramer, Hülmandel, and Prince Henry of Prussia, brother to
Frederick William III. He was said to be a celebrated amateur.
The _petits soupers_ which usually terminated these delightful
_soirées_, and to which only a few favored guests were invited, became
renowned throughout France. They were said to be brilliant in Attic
elegance and Parisian luxury. The popular Delille, the piquant author
Le Brun, who first flattered the royal family and then became the
Pindar of the Revolution; the luxurious Boufflers, the Vicomte de
Segur, were among the frequenters of this sanctuary of the muses and
the graces. The suppers, indeed, had a European celebrity.
One day the brother of Madame Le Brun read aloud from the travels of
Anacharsis a description of an ancient Grecian banquet. The fancy came
into the lady’s head of arranging one of her suppers in imitation of
the feasts of the luxurious Aspasia.
The cook was immediately furnished with receipts for Greek sauces; the
“little” supper-room was changed into a classic banqueting-hall, and a
table made according to the antique fashion was set in the middle of
the room, surrounded with Grecian draperied couches. A request was sent
to the Comte de Pezay, who lived in the same building, for an antique
mantle of regal purple, while the Marquis de Cubières was levied on for
a golden lyre, on which he was skilled in playing.
Le Brun--not the husband, but the poet--was arrayed by the fair
hands of the artist--whose taste in picturesque costume none could
question--with the purple robe and a classic wig, adorned with a laurel
wreath. He was thus fitted to bear his part as Pindar or Anacreon! Some
young ladies, noted for their beauty, were dressed in Greek tunics,
with classic coiffures, to figure as Athenian maidens; while the
gentlemen guests underwent a corresponding transformation.
Those favored with invitations to this select entertainment took their
places to the music of the golden lyre, and the classic air composed by
Gluck,
“Le Dieu de Paphos et de Gnide,”
while the Pindar of the evening sang Anacreontic odes.
Among the delicacies that covered the board were eels and birds dressed
with Greek sauces and garnished with honey-cakes; figs, and olives,
and grapes of Corinth. Two beautiful slaves--Mademoiselle de Bonneuil
and Mademoiselle Le Brun--served the guests with Cyprian wine, in cups
brought from buried Herculaneum.
Two guests arrived late--the Comte de Vaudreuil and the financier
Boutin--who had not been prepared for the surprise. They stood still,
dumb with amazement, at the threshold, and seemed to think themselves
transported to Athens in her day of intellectual glory!
The next day the classic banquet given by Madame Le Brun was the talk
of all Paris. She was entreated to repeat the entertainment, but with
proper tact declined. Some of her acquaintances took offense at the
refusal and at their own exclusion, and revenged the slight (as she
says) by slandering her to the king. It was averred the supper had cost
twenty thousand francs, and Cubières had much ado to undeceive his
majesty.
The story and the fame of the banquet traveled over the Continent; by
the time it had reached Rome the cost had swelled to forty thousand;
and in Vienna, the Baroness Strogonoff assured Madame Le Brun, it
was reported she had spent sixty thousand. In St. Petersburg it was
naturally as much as eighty thousand. “The fact is,” says Madame Le
Brun, “the little affair cost me only fifteen francs.” She may be
relied on as to her share of the expense, although the cost to others
may have been somewhat greater.
Such exaggerated rumors, and the gossip growing out of them, caused
some disagreement in the general estimation of Madame Le Brun’s talents
and character. The homage she had received and continued to receive
from the nobility, with her appointment as painter-in-ordinary to the
queen, and the favors heaped on her by the court, helped to render her
obnoxious to a people among whom attachment to royalty and aristocratic
forms began to be regarded as a crime.
France was on the eve of that Revolution which was destined to uproot
the existing order of things, and the woman whom Marie Antoinette
had made her companion was not likely to escape without opprobrium.
Besides, had she not, in 1774, before her marriage, published a work
entitled “_Amour des Français pour leur roi_?”
When the Revolution broke out, Madame Le Brun perceived that she could
no longer remain in France. The law protecting artists, and permitting
them to travel in their vocation, was available for her departure.
She resolved to go to Italy, and, with poignant grief, bade adieu to
her home and friends. But the journey commenced so sadly proved a
triumphant progress, crowned with tokens of respect and homage.
In Bologna she was at once declared a member of the Academy. At Rome
she was welcomed by a deputation of artists, who went to meet her;
while the painter Menageot, who had just been appointed director of
the French Academy, assigned her apartments in the palace of the
institution.
In Naples she was received with marks of distinction by the queen, the
sister of Marie Antoinette, and here several residents of rank sat to
her for their portraits--among others, the beautiful Lady Hamilton,
whom the artist painted as a Bacchante reclining on the sea-shore. This
picture was highly praised, and spread far and wide the fame of Madame
Le Brun.
In Florence she was requested to paint a portrait of herself for the
collection of originals to which reference has already been made.
She finished the portrait for this gallery, where it was placed in
1790, two years after that of Angelica Kauffman had been added to the
collection.
Goethe says of the portrait of Angelica Kauffman, comparing it with
that of Madame Le Brun in the same gallery: “It has a truer tone in
the coloring; the position is more pleasing, and the whole exhibits
more correct taste and a higher spirit in art. But the work of Le
Brun shows more careful execution; has more vigor in the drawing, and
more delicate touches. It has, moreover, a clear, though somewhat
exaggerated coloring. The Frenchwoman understands the art of adornment;
the head-dress, the hair, the folds of lace on the bosom--all are
arranged with care, and, as one might say, _con amore_. The piquant,
handsome face, with its lively expression, its parted lips disclosing
a row of pearly teeth, presents itself to the beholder’s gaze as if
coquettishly challenging his admiration, while the hand holds the
pencil as in the act of drawing. The picture of Angelica, with the
head gently inclined, and the soft, intellectual melancholy of the
countenance, evinces higher genius, even if, in point of artistic
skill, the preference would be given to the other.”
From a comparison of the two portraits, a contrast might be drawn in
the contemplation of the lives and characters of the two artists. But
we will return to Madame Le Brun, whom we find pursuing the journeys
she made as a conqueror, receiving new honors and new tributes wherever
she passed.
After visiting Florence and Parma, where she was elected a member
of the Academy, she went to Venice, Verona, and Milan. Italy--the
land where the fairest fruits of female genius in painting had been
found--seemed eager to pay the homage of admiration to the gifted
daughter of another clime. Compliments and felicitations were showered
upon her by the countrymen of a Sirani and a Robusti.
She came at length to Vienna, where the Count Kaunitz received her with
friendly welcome, and immediately introduced her at court. A golden
harvest here awaited her efforts, and gallant attentions from persons
in high places were not wanting. The Prince de Ligne--a type of the
cavaliers of the _ancien régime_, whom she had known in former years
at the court of Versailles--devoted himself to her service, and sang
her praises in amatory verses.
Visiting Berlin, she found an old friend in the person of Prince Henry,
and had a very favorable reception at court. Thence she went to St.
Petersburg, where she lived some years in a brilliant circle of society
under the protection of the Empress Catherine II. and Paul I.
The honors heaped upon her were crowned in 1800 by her election to
membership in the Academy of Arts; but, notwithstanding the favor in
which she stood with the imperial family and the nobility, and the
influx of wealth that grew out of their kindness and the extended
appreciation of her paintings, the condition of her health at last
obliged her to quit Russia. The entreaties of the emperor and empress
could not prevail upon her to remain longer than 1801.
In July of that year she returned to Berlin and received the honor
of being chosen a member of the Academy. Orders for portraits were
not wanting, but her short stay made it impossible to undertake them.
Passing through Dresden she returned to the native land for which her
heart had ever pined, arriving in safety at Paris in the winter of the
same year.
The misfortunes of the Bourbons had filled her breast with sympathizing
grief wherever the news had reached her. She remained true to them
through all reverses, living to witness both the restoration and second
and final exile of that royal line. This loyal feeling manifested
itself even in her relations to the imperial family, when they were in
possession of the throne.
Her picture of “Venus binding Love’s wings” had been engraved in Paris
by Pierre Villu, in 1787. In London she was attacked by the painter
Hoppner, who depreciated her works, and charged her with mannerism. She
succeeded, nevertheless, in obtaining distinguished patrons. Two pieces
that spread her renown were, a knee-piece of the Prince of Wales, and
one of the Signora Grassini in a classic character. The draperies are
luxuriant and rainbow-colored.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, when questioned by Northcote on the merits of two
of her portraits, pronounced them “as fine as those of any painter,”
and he would not except Vandyck, though his remark has been attributed
to a generous unwillingness to interfere with the brief summer of her
popularity. After a residence of three years in England she came to
Paris to paint the portrait of Madame Murat.
At Coppet, whither she went on a journey into Switzerland in
1808-9, she painted a portrait of Madame de Staël, which aided much
in spreading her reputation. Having returned from this tour, she
purchased a country-seat near Marly, which became, as her house in
Paris had been, the resort of a highly cultivated and brilliant
society. Especially at the period of the Restoration, public attention,
influenced by that of the court, seemed turned to Madame Le Brun with
greater earnestness than ever.
The husband of this accomplished woman died in 1813, and five years
afterward she lost her only daughter. Her death was followed by that
of the brother to whom Madame Le Brun was so much attached. These
multiplied afflictions weighed heavily upon her desolate heart. She
sought consolation in renewed devotion to her art, and worked in her
profession as assiduously as ever, notwithstanding the infirmities of
advanced age. When eighty years old she painted the portrait of her
niece, Madame de Riviere, and so remarkable for vigorous coloring and
lively expression was this picture that it has been preserved among the
best specimens of her powers in their prime of energy.
About this time, in 1835, she gave the world her autobiography, in the
work entitled “Souvenirs.” In this memoir she enumerates the paintings
which she had at that time executed during her life. She had finished
six hundred and sixty-two portraits, fifteen large compositions, and
two hundred landscape-pieces, sketched during her travels in England
and Switzerland.
She had nearly completed her eighty-seventh year at the time of her
death, March 30th, 1842. Her long life had been as richly productive in
earnest labor as in the reward of success, and in manifold enjoyment.
It may, indeed, be regarded, in its rare bloom and vigor, as a type of
that brilliant period, gay and luxuriant on the surface, but concealing
numerous imperfections, which preceded the French Revolution, and led,
as a natural consequence, to that tremendous outbreak.
CHAPTER XV.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Women Artists in Spain.--Their Participation a Test of general
Interest.--Female Representatives of the most important Schools.--That
of Seville.--Of Madrid.--The Paintress of Don Quixote.--Ladies
of Rank Members of the Academy.--Maria Tibaldi.--Two female
Artists besides two Poetesses in Portugal.--The Harvest greater
in Italy.--Few attained to Eminence.--Learned Ladies.--Female
Doctors and Professors.--Degrees in Jurisprudence and Philosophy
conferred on them.--Examples.--The Scholar nine Years old.--A lady
Professor of Mathematics.--Women Lecturers.--Comparison with English
Ladies.--Brilliant Devotees of the Lyre.--Female Talent in the
important Schools of Art.--Women Artists in Florence.--Engravers and
Paintresses.--In Naples.--Kitchen-pieces.--In the Cities of northern
Italy.--In Bologna.--Princesses.--In Venice.--Rosalba Carriera.--Her
childish Work.--Her Genius perceived.--Instruction.--Takes to
Pastel-painting.--Merits of her Works.--Celebrity.--Invitations
to Paris and Vienna.--Visit from the King of Denmark.--Invited
by the Emperor and the King of France.--Portrait for the Grand
Duke of Tuscany.--The King of Poland her Patron.--Unspoiled by
Honors.--Her moral Worth.--Residence in Paris.--Her Pictures.--The
Lady disguised as a Maid-servant.--Want of Beauty.--Anecdote of the
Emperor.--Rosalba’s Journal.--Visit to Vienna.--Presentiment of
Calamity.--The Portrait wreathed with gloomy Leaves.--Blindness.--Loss
of Reason.--Death and Burial.--Her Portrait.--Other Venetian Women.
A glance at the women artists of the romantic South will close this
general survey of the eighteenth century. In Spain we find few worthy
of mention. Since the commencement of the Bourbon dynasty interest in
art had ceased to be the essential element in the national life that
it had been under the sway of the house of Hapsburg throughout the
seventeenth century. And in the Peninsula the truth was made apparent
that the participation of women is a test and measure of the general
interest in the studies and products of art prevailing among any people.
The most important schools, however, were not entirely without female
representatives. Linked with that of Seville, we hear the name of the
portrait-painter, Maria de Valdes Leal; her father and tutor, Don Juan
de Valdes, after the death of Murillo, was regarded as the first living
master of this school.
That of Madrid had among its disciples Clara and Anna Menendez, the
latter being remembered as the painter of a series of scenes from Don
Quixote. To the same school belong Donna Barbara Maria de Hueva, and
Donna Maria de Silva, Duchess of Arcos, both celebrated for their skill
in drawing, and members of the Academy of San Fernando, as were also
Anna Menendez, and the painter Anna Perez of Navarre. Maria Felice
Tibaldi, born in 1707, painted in oil, and also miniatures and pastels.
She possessed great skill in drawing from life and copying historical
pieces. A work of her husband, Pierre Subleyras, “The Apostolic
Supper,” was copied by her in miniature. Pope Benedict XIV. sent
her for it a thousand scudi, and placed it in his collection at the
Capitol. After the death of her husband Maria supported herself and her
children by her talents.
To these may be added Maria Prieto, the daughter of a distinguished
_médailleur_; she practiced both painting and engraving, but died in
her twentieth year at Madrid, in 1772.
Portugal, at this period, was justly proud of two women whose poetical
talents had won no small celebrity, Magdalena da Gloria and the
Countess de Vimiero. Beside them we may note two artists of eminence,
Doña Isabel Maria Rite of Oporto, and Catarina Vieira of Lisbon; the
former of high repute as a miniature-painter, the latter noted for
several church pictures which she painted after the designs of her
brother, Don Francisco Vieira de Mattos.
In Italy the harvest of names was greater, but fewer women attained
to eminence during this century than in either of the two that had
preceded it. Of women of poetical genius there was no lack at this
period; and more than ever--though such are not wanting in the early
annals of the principal Italian cities--learned ladies abounded. Female
doctors and professors were far more in plenty than they promise to be
in America in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Such phenomena
were not rare in the classic Italian clime as women occupying the
chair, not only of music, drawing, and modern tongues, but of Greek,
Latin, Hebrew, mathematics, and astronomy. They took degrees as doctors
in jurisprudence and philosophy; for example, Maria Victoria Delfini,
Christina Roccati, and Laura Bassi, in the University of Bologna,
and Maria Pellegrina Amoretti, in that of Pavia. Anna Manzolini, in
1758, was Professor of Anatomy in Bologna; and Maria Agnesi--who,
when only nine years of age, had delivered at Milan a Latin address
on the “Studies of the Female Sex”--was appointed by the Pope to the
professorship of mathematics in the same university at Bologna.
It was not then esteemed unfeminine for women to give lectures in
public to crowded and admiring audiences. They were freely admitted
members of learned societies, and were consulted by men of pre-eminent
scientific attainments as their equals in scholarship; yet, a British
reviewer remarks, “It is doubtful whether the far-famed Novella was
a better Greek scholar than Mrs. Browning; or Maria Porcia Vignoli,
whose statue long adorned the market-place of Viterbo, more learned in
natural sciences than Mrs. Somerville.”
Among the more brilliant devotees of the lyre may be mentioned, in
passing, Emilia Ballati and Giulia Baitelli, who emulated the fame of
Petrarch, and Laura Vanetti, in whose poems Metastasio discerned the
very soul of the bard of Love.
But we must not linger over names, even of the artists who belong to
our special field of observation. None of the important early schools
failed in the eighteenth century, to be able to boast the ornament of
female talent. In Florence, Violanta Beatrice Siries, after a prolonged
course of study in Paris under Boucher and Rigaud, was noted as a
portrait-painter. In the same branch of the profession, Anna Boccherini
and Anna Galeotti were highly esteemed.
In copper-engraving, Catarina Zucchi and Laura Piranesi acquired some
celebrity. As engravers, we hear of Livia Pisani, Violanta Vanni, and
Teresa Mogalli, the last also skilled in painting.
In encaustic painting, Anna Parenti-Duclos was well known toward the
close of the century. Maria Felicia Tibaldi was distinguished in Rome
for her talents as a painter no less than for her virtues as a woman;
and her sister, Teresa, belongs to the same category, with Rosalba
Maria Salviani and Caterina Cherubini. In miniature-painting, Bianca
and Matilda Festa excelled; the latter holding the professor’s chair in
the Academy of San Luca.
The wreaths of poetry and painting were intertwined around the brow of
Maria Maratti, the daughter and pupil of the celebrated Carlo Maratti,
and the wife of the poet Zappi. The like was true of Anna Victoria
Dolora, who died at a great age in 1827, in a Dominican convent.
Naples boasted at this period a famous mathematician in Maria Angela
Ardinghelli. Three gifted sisters, Maria Angiola, Felice, and Emmanuela
Matteis, were also noted here; with the distinguished Angelica Siscara
and Colomba Garri, who practiced flower and genre painting, and
produced a series of kitchen-pieces, in which they sought to idealize
by artistic adornment the ordinary occupations of the frugal and
industrious housewife.
The cities of northern Italy had their share of energetic women. Turin,
Milan, Bergamo, Roveredo, Carpi, and Parma produced artists whose fame
was limited to a narrower circle than those of Bologna and Venice,
where, especially in the former city, the shadow of past glories seemed
to linger.
Professor Anna Manzolini modeled excellent portraits in wax, and
Clarice Vasini obtained no small celebrity as a sculptor, being a
member of the Academy.
Lucia Casalini, Bianca Giovannini, Barbara Burini, Eleonora Monti, Anna
Teresia Messieri, Rosa Alboni, and Teresa Tesi, belonged to Bologna,
and elevated the renown of its women for painting. They aspired to
imitate the example of Elizabetta Sirani.
Carlotta Melania Alfieri is mentioned as accomplished in literature,
music, and painting.
Laura Vanetti, praised as a linguist, musician, and philosopher, also
excelled in painting. In the beginning of this century the Princess
Elizabeth of Parma, afterward married to the King of Spain, was a
famous dilettante. Another Princess Elizabeth, the wife of the Archduke
Joseph of Austria, was, in 1789, on account of her pastels, admitted to
membership of the Academy in Vienna.
In Venice, on the other hand, the fair students of art zealously
emulated the fame of Maria Robusti. This “city of the sea” had many
daughters who did well in painting, though even their names are now
forgotten. She gave birth to one, however, whose fame was destined to
spread into a wider circle, and to renew even in foreign lands the
ancient lustre of the Italian name in art. This gifted being stands
almost alone in the century as one who will be remembered by posterity
with admiration.
ROSALBA CARRIERA.
Rosalba Carriera was born in Venice in 1675. Her father held an office
under government, which occupied his whole time; but he, as well as
his father, had been a painter. He loved art, and encouraged his child
in her early fancies. Her first childish work was at point de Venise
lace. She seemed to care little for the ordinary amusements of young
people, but passed her leisure time in drawing. She tried to copy one
of her father’s designs for the head of a sonnet. A student of art,
who chanced to see this piece of work, showed it to his master, who
instantly perceived the genius of the child artist; and, foreseeing the
excellence to which she would attain, and wishing to encourage her to
persevere, gave her other designs to copy.
Rosalba was desolate when this friend left Venice; but a Venetian
banker, who had noticed her proficiency, lent her some heads in pastel
of Baroche. These studies vastly improved her; and her father, then
satisfied of his daughter’s possession of rare talents, consented
that she should take lessons from Antonio Nazari, who was eminent
as a pastel-painter. The cavalier Diamantini, distinguished for the
freshness of his pencil, also gave her instruction.
Her most valuable knowledge of the technical part of painting,
which gave her the mastery and command of her art that marked her
productions, was acquired under the tuition of Antonio Balestra.
Finally, she obtained from her kinsman, Antonio Pellegrini, a knowledge
of the details of miniature-painting, to which the advice of a lady
friend first directed her, and in which branch she acquired rare skill.
She would willingly have pursued this, but the weakness of her sight
compelled her to abandon it, and take to pastel-painting, in which she
obtained the greatest celebrity--attaining, Zanetti says, the highest
grade of perfection.
Her miniatures were noted particularly for severe accuracy of drawing,
united with rare softness and delicacy of touch; they had the
perfection of proportion, and the brilliancy and warmth of coloring for
which her pastels were remarkable. Her tints were blended with great
tenderness; her heads had a lovely expression of truth and nature.
Her talents met with due appreciation and honor while yet in their
bloom of promise. She was celebrated in her native city as the
“companion of the muse of painting,” and “the ornament of her sex and
of the Venetian school.” Zanetti speaks of her with high praise in his
“Storia della Pittura Veneziana.” Works evincing her extraordinary
ability were shown at most of the courts of Europe. She was invited to
Paris and Vienna to practice her profession there, and was elected to
membership in the academies of Paris, Bologna, and Rome. Her miniature
and pastel paintings were sent to the institutions which conferred
this honor upon her. The King of Denmark came to Venice, and, having
heard of Rosalba, expressed a curiosity to see her. After consulting
Balestra, she presented to her royal visitor some portraits of Venetian
ladies of rank whom he had admired, receiving from his majesty in
return a very costly diamond. She also played and sang for his
amusement with her two sisters, one of whom performed on the violin.
She was invited by royalty to paint the Emperor Charles and the
imperial court; also the King of France. The Grand-Duke of Tuscany
placed her portrait in his gallery; it is painted in pastel, with one
of her sisters. The style is noble and sustained; the expression is
true, and the flesh-tints are so admirable, the face seems scarcely to
want a soul. Augustus III., King of Poland, was her special patron; and
in Modena she painted portraits of the reigning family.
None of these, or similar honors, had power to turn her head nor
to corrupt her heart. Although a daughter of Venice, then the most
luxurious and licentious city in Europe, the deep seriousness, and
even enthusiastic melancholy of her character--dispositions that find
expression in many of her works--kept her aloof from contact with vice,
and her moral purity and worth were as conspicuous and as universally
recognized as her genius. Her own house at Venice was adorned with
portraits and original compositions. This valuable collection she sold
at a high price to the King of Poland, who placed them in a special
cabinet of his palace in Dresden.
In the bloom of her career and her fame, Rosalba accompanied her
brother-in-law Pellegrini to France. She remained a year at the house
of M. Crozat. Two portraits of the king were done by her in pastel, and
one in miniature, besides a victoire for a snuff-box which his majesty
gave to Madame de Ventadour.
Several groups and demi-figures, designed by Pellegrini and executed
by Rosalba, are preserved in Paris, with many heads in pastel done for
Crozat. Many of her symbolical pictures--such as the Muses, Sciences,
Seasons, etc.--were purchased by English travelers. Her crayon-drawings
were distinguished by softness and life-like freshness. She became a
member of the Paris Academy in October, 1720. Her tableau de reception
was a Muse in pastel. The connoisseurs esteemed her portraits for their
perfect likeness, delicacy of touch, wonderful lightness, peculiar
grace, and admirable coloring and expression. They were unrivaled of
their kind.
An anecdote has been mentioned of a lady of rank who wished to study
painting under Rosalba, but knew she could not be prevailed on to take
pupils. The lady presented herself in the disguise of a maid-servant,
and desired employment at the house of the distinguished paintress.
Rosalba was pleased with her appearance, and at once engaged her
services. While faithfully performing her tasks, the lady incessantly
watched the proceedings of the artist; and, by dint of careful
observation, succeeded in learning much of the art. Rosalba noticed
the extraordinary quickness of her maid in these matters; and, willing
to give to native talent all the aid in her power, invited the girl
to observe her while painting, and gave her valuable instruction. The
secret was at last discovered. The lady became afterward an artist so
skillful in miniatures, that she received an appointment from a German
prince as painter at his court.
An Italian writes concerning her: “Nature had endowed Rosalba with
lofty aspirations and a passionate soul, and her heart yearned for that
response which her absence of personal attractions failed to win. She
was aware of her extreme plainness; and had she ignored it, the Emperor
Charles XI. enlightened her, when, turning to Bertoli, a court artist,
who presented her in Vienna, he said, ‘She may be clever, Bertoli mio,
this painter of thine, but she is remarkably ugly.’ But Rosalba, even
if annoyed, could well afford to smile, for Charles XI. was the ugliest
of men.”
While in France, Rosalba wrote a journal which was entitled “Diario
degli anni 1720 e 1721. Scritto da Rosalba Carriera.” It appeared
in Venice in 1793, with notes by Giovanni Vianelli, who had a fine
collection of her paintings.
From Paris she went laden with honors to the imperial court at Vienna,
where, besides the emperor and empress, she painted the archduchesses
and others of the court. The King of Poland had a number of her
pastels, which were highly valued.
Zanetti remarks: “Much of interest may be said of this celebrated and
highly-gifted woman, whose spirit--in the midst of her triumphs and the
brightest visions of happiness--was weighed down with the anticipation
of a heavy calamity. On one occasion--when she had painted a portrait
of herself, with the brow wreathed with gloomy leaves, significant of
death--her friends asked why she had done this. She replied that the
representation was an image of her life, and that her end would be
tragic, according to the meaning here shadowed forth. This portrait was
afterward in the possession of Giambattista Sartori, a brother of her
famous pupil Felicità Sartori. He preserved it as a sacred relic. His
sister married Von Hoffmann, and painted with much success at the court
of the Elector of Saxony.”
It seemed, indeed, that the presentiment of a fast approaching and
terrible affliction, amid the strict seclusion in which Rosalba lived,
had taken possession of this noble and gifted spirit. It might be that
her solitary existence tended to sadden her temperament, and deepen
its natural inclination to melancholy. The forewarning, of which even
in youth she felt conscious, was mournfully fulfilled ere she had
long passed her prime. Before she was fifty years of age she became
totally blind, as she had feared. Her mind struggled long with weakness
and incurable sorrow, but sank at last, and the light of reason too
departed.
The latter part of her life was a blank, yet she lingered to old
age, dying in Venice, on the 15th of April, 1757. Amid the universal
expression of unaffected sorrow and commiseration, she was buried in
the church of San Sista a Modesta. She left considerable property. Her
grave is still pointed out to the traveler as the last resting-place of
one whose genius was an ornament to Venice.
Many of her works have been engraved. The Dresden Gallery has the
largest collection, numbering one hundred and fifty-seven pieces.
The engraving of Rosalba’s portrait shows a youthful face, with a
pleased expression of childish innocence. The hair is brushed back
from the forehead on the top, but curls cluster around the face on the
sides; earrings are worn, and the corsage is low. The eyes are dark,
the forehead is high, and the whole head has a graceful air.
Like Rosalba Carriera, Ippolita Venier was a native of Venice, though
she lived at Udina with the painter her father. In 1765 she painted the
Adoration of the Kings, for a church in the sea-born city. Felicità
Sartori was a pupil of Rosalba, and worked in Dresden, whither she went
with her husband.
Apollonia de Forgue, born in 1767, assisted her husband, Seydelman,
with his pictures. She was a member of the Academy in Dresden.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
More vigorous Growth of the Branches selected for female
Enterprise.--Progress accelerated toward the Close of last
Century.--Still more remarkable within the last fifty Years.--Great
Number of Women active in Art.--Better intellectual Cultivation
and growing Taste.--Increased Freedom of Woman.--Present Prospect
fair.--Growing Sense of the Importance of Female Education.--Women
earning an Independence.--The Stream shallows as it widens.--Few
Instances of pre-eminent Ability.--Fuller Scope of the Influence
of the French Masters in the nineteenth Century.--David, the
Republican Painter.--His female Pupils.--Angélique Mongez.--Madame
Davin and others.--Disciples of Greuze.--Female Scholars of
Regnault.--Pupils of the Disciples of David.--Pupils of Fleury
and Cogniet.--Madame Chaudet.--Kinds of Painting in Vogue.--The
Princess Marie d’Orleans.--Her Statue of the Maid of Orleans.--Her
last Work.--Promise of Greatness.--Sculpture by Madame de
Lamartine.--“Paris is France.”--Painting on Porcelain.--Madame
Jacotot and others.--Condition of Art in Germany.--Carstens.--Women
Artists.--Maria Ellenrieder.--Louise Seidler.--Baroness von
Freiberg.--Madame von Schroeter.--Female Artists of the Düsseldorf
School.--The greatest Number in Berlin.--Rich Bloom of Female Talent
in Vienna and Dresden.--Changes in Italy.--Prospect not fair in Spain
and Scandinavia.--In England, Sculpture and Painting successfully
cultivated.--Fanny Corbeaux.--Superior in Biblical Scholarship.--The
Netherlands in this Century.--Encouragement for Women to
persevere.--Dr. Guhl’s Opinion.--History the Teacher of the Present.
With the foregoing glimpses, the sketch of woman’s active efforts
in art during the eighteenth century may be closed; completing our
bird’s-eye view of her share in those ennobling pursuits during
a history covering over two thousand years. As we approach the
present time, the various branches in which her enterprise has been
influential develop into more distinct and vigorous growth. It may now
be interesting to notice the indications of our own--the nineteenth
century.
The progress of female talent and skill, accelerated toward the close
of the preceding age, has become more remarkable than ever within the
last fifty years. The number of women engaged in the pursuits of art
during that time far exceeds that of the whole preceding century.
This accession is probably owing, in a great measure, to the more
general appreciation of art, growing out of better intellectual
cultivation, and to the growing taste for paintings and statuary as
ornaments of the abodes of the wealthy. But it is due, in some degree,
to the increased freedom of woman--to her liberation from the thraldom
of old-fashioned prejudices and unworthy restraints which, in former
times, fettered her energies, rendered her acquisition of scientific
and artistic knowledge extremely difficult, and threw obstacles in the
way of her devotion to study and the exercise of her talents. We have
seen that, the more enlarged is the sphere of her activity among any
people, the greater is the number of female artists who have done and
are doing well, by their sustained and productive cultivation of art.
At the present time, the prospect is fair of a reward for study and
unfaltering application in woman as in man; her freedom--without
regarding as such the so-called “emancipation,” which would urge her
into a course against nature, and contrary to the gentleness and
modesty of her sex--is greater, and the sphere of her activity is wider
and more effective than it has ever been. The general and growing
apprehension of the importance of female education will gradually lead
to dissatisfaction with the superficial culture of modern schools, and
to the adoption of some plan that shall develop the powers of those
who are taught, and strengthen their energies for the active duties of
life. Many advantages besides these have encouraged the advancement
of women as artists beyond any point reached in preceding ages. We
may thus find an increasing number of young women who, bent on making
themselves independent by their own efforts, spare no pains to qualify
themselves as teachers in various branches of art.
The same observation we made in regard to the increase of art scholars
in the last century is true of the present. The stream which has
widened has grown shallower in proportion; and while the cultivation of
taste and talent has become more general, and many more have attained
a respectable degree of skill, there are few instances of pre-eminent
ability, or of original genius. This seems a law of the world of art,
as well as that of poetry and science; and it holds good no less among
men than women. We must look, therefore, for not many remarkable
examples of talent.
We have already seen something of the influence of Carstens and David
in the bent and direction given to female talent; but these had not
full scope till the beginning of the nineteenth century. David was
inspired by a more earnest feeling than had breathed in the frivolous
and conventional style of a former period; and the depth and vigor,
and more careful execution he brought into vogue, greatly improved the
taste of his day. He may be called the Republican painter, laying the
ground-work of French art as it now exists.
David himself had a goodly number of female pupils, and some of them
displayed no inconsiderable talent. Among them may be enumerated
Constance Marie Charpentier, who, besides, enjoyed the advantage of
instruction under Gérard and Lafitte, with Angélique Mongez, at first
the pupil of David, then of Regnault. She painted a large picture
entirely in the classic style of David. Her painting--the figures life
size--represented “Ulysses finding young Astyanax at Hector’s Grave.”
The design is correct of the antique costume, the disposition is
excellent, and a free and light touch is noticed. So large a picture
had rarely been exhibited in Paris by a woman. This artist, however,
lacked originality and self-reliance, and seemed to follow David too
slavishly. Another large picture was “Alexander weeping at the Death of
the Wife of Darius.” The connoisseurs gave her the credit of a grand
style, but thought her coloring hard.
To these may be added Madame Leroulx and Madame Davin. The latter
received instruction, also, from Suvé and Augustin, and obtained the
gold medal for her miniatures and genre-paintings. Nanine Ballain was
noted for her genre-paintings; and Marie Anne Julie Forestier, for her
romantic ones in this style and for her classic pictures.
Contemporary with these were some female artists who painted in the
manner of Greuze; as Constance Mayer, afterward a disciple and friend
of Prudhon; Madame Elie, and Philiberte Ledoux; the first well known
for her portraits, the latter for her scenes and child-pictures. We may
mention, in passing, Madame Villers, whose numerous works were marked
by truth and pleasing expression. One of her pieces, “A Child asleep in
a Cradle,” carried away by a flood, while a faithful dog plunges in to
save it, with eager expression, is very striking and graceful.
Regnault, the rival of David, had the honor of many more female
scholars. One of them, Madame Anzon, painted large pictures in 1793.
Sophie Guillemard sent to the Exhibition, in 1802, “Alcibiades
and Glycerion,” and, two years later, her “Joseph and Potiphar’s
Wife.” After this, Claire Robineau produced historical pictures and
landscapes, and Rosalie de Lafontaine her delicate genre-paintings.
Aurore Etienne de Lafond and Eugénie Brun obtained medals for their
master-pieces in miniature-painting. Madame Lenoir painted Sage’s
portrait, and was much esteemed. A host of names might be added, were a
mere list desirable.
The disciples and imitators of David also numbered women among
their pupils. Drolling’s daughter, Louise Adéone, studied under his
direction; her first husband was Pagnierre the architect. Fanny Robert
was trained in Girodet’s atelier; Abel de Pujol taught Adrienne Marie
Louise Grandpierre Deverzy; and Gérard finished some of David’s
scholars, as Eléonore Godefroy, who exhibited portraits and copies from
her master after 1810, and Louise de Montferrier, Comtesse de Hugo,
whose genre-paintings were brought to the Exhibition nine years later.
Madame von Butlar, of Dresden, studied under this master in 1823.
These were the latest masters in serious historical painting till
Robert Fleury and Léon Cogniet, who could perhaps boast the greatest
number of gifted female pupils. We should mention here Jeanne Elizabeth
Gabiou, the wife of Antoine Denis Chaudet, born in 1767, and dying
about 1830. She was a pupil of her husband, and painted “A Child
Teaching a Dog to Read,” with many charming little pieces of the kind;
excelling, too, as a portrait-painter. The empress bought one of her
pictures.
The majority of French women artists of this period busied themselves
with portraits. Flower-painting was also much in vogue, and miniature
and porcelain painting furnished continual employment for female
industry and talent.
In modeling and sculpture France has produced some excellent artists
since the commencement of the present century.
MARIE D’ORLEANS.
One in particular, of illustrious station and royal blood, too early
snatched away by death, has conferred lustre upon the whole class by
whom the difficult and delicate art has been cultivated.
Marie of Orleans, the daughter of Louis Philippe, is thus mentioned in
Mrs. Lee’s “Sketches.”
“She was born at Palermo in 1813, and was married in 1837 to Duke
Alexander of Wurtemberg. Her health was impaired, and she went to Pisa
in the hope of recovering, but died there in 1839. Her statue of the
Maid of Orleans is of the size of life, and is placed at Versailles; it
is full of animation and spirit. But her last work, an angel in white
marble, seems to be the result of inspiration. It is in the chapel
of Sablonville, on the sarcophagus of her brother. It may be deeply
lamented that the Princess Marie did not live to give additional proofs
of the capability of her sex for works of sculpture. Her early death
frustrated the efforts of a genius which bade fair to compete with the
graceful forms of Canova or Flaxman.”
Mrs. Lee says, “We were much gratified by seeing a font in the church
St. Germain de l’Auxerrois in Paris, by Madame Lamartine, the wife of
the poet and historian; the font is surrounded by marble angels, who
rest on its margin. It is a beautiful record of her taste, ingenuity,
and benevolence.”
Paris at this period, more emphatically than ever, was the centre
of active efforts among artists. “_Paris--c’est la France_” was an
expression as true as in the literary and political life of the nation.
This was advantageous for the development of talent, and the advance of
skill in details; bringing rival merits more keenly into conflict, and
furnishing the student with more varied means of instruction.
Painting on porcelain became much practiced by French women in the
early part of the present century. Amélie Legris was skilled in it, as
well as in painting in oil, miniatures, and aquarell.
Madame Jacotot was noted for her beautiful paintings on porcelain. She
was sent to Italy by the French government to copy the paintings of
Raphael. She lived in style, was in much society, and was distinguished
for her wit.
Madame Ducluzeau is the wife of a physician, and has gained
considerable celebrity as an artist. The Comtesse de Mirbel painted
miniatures. Louis Philippe, and many persons of his court, and the
nobility, sat to her. She was employed to copy paintings for cadeaus to
royalty.
Madame Aizelin had some charming pieces in pastel in the Paris
Exhibition, 1857. Transparency of tissue was never better rendered than
in her gauze drapery. Madame Fontaine, a pupil of Cogniet, excelled in
the department of still-life. Mademoiselle Augustine Aumont had twelve
panels, giving the flowers of each month. Miss Mutrie, Mademoiselle
Alloin, pupil of Rosa Bonheur, and many other women, were praised for
beautiful groups of fruit and flowers. In this branch, as in portraits,
miniatures, and porcelain-painting, the palm of excellence is awarded
to lady artists. The productions of Madame Herbalin were conspicuous
for delicacy and purity of execution and coloring.
Casting a glance at the condition of art at this period in Germany,
it is noticeable that women took part with enthusiasm in almost every
branch. We have observed the grounding of modern art in this country by
Carstens. He went back to the purer forms of the antique, as his French
contemporary, David, had done; and his restoration of purity, vigor,
and tenderness, found earnest sympathy among his fair countrywomen.
A style expressing the heart’s deepest feelings, and the religious
veneration which had become traditional, could not fail to meet the
aspirations of noble-minded female artists.
Among artist-women who flourished at the close of the eighteenth and
in the present century we may mention Mademoiselle Sonnenschein, who
died in 1816, a member of the Academy in Stuttgard. We should not
drop, among minor names, that of Sophie Ludovika Simanowitz, born
Reighenbach, whose portrait of Schiller is well known.
Magdalena Tischbein, a flower-painter, the daughter of a noted artist,
married the court painter Strack, of Oldenburg, in 1795.
The Princess of Saxe-Meiningen was noted for her beautiful pictures
illustrating Bible history.
Mary Anna Bösenbacher, of Cologne, an engraver, was engaged in the
service of the Elector Max Francis.
Barbara Krafft, born Steiner, of Iglau, painted a number of
genre-pictures of life size, and in this branch was the precursor of
Madame Jerichow-Baumann. She died in Bamberg, in 1825, aged sixty.
One who was busy in Rome at this time was Maria Ellenrieder. She had
before visited the Academy in Munich for the purpose of educating
herself in historical painting. In her works she sought to revive the
spirit of ancient German art, and her longings drew her to the city
which has long been the resort of ambitious art-students, where we find
her in 1820. Among her productions are many altar-pieces, representing
the Holy Family. Some have been lithographed. Since 1825 she has lived
in Germany, where she has completed many works, and has practiced the
art of etching.
Louise Caroline Seidler was at the same time in Rome. Born in Jena,
she studied painting in Munich under Professor Von Langer, afterward
going to Italy to profit by the works of Pietro Perugino and Raphael.
She received the appointment of court painter in Weimar, and executed
several pictures that belong to the romantic genre school. A splendid
fruit of her study of the old masters is a collection of heads taken
from celebrated pictures of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
These were lithographed by Von Schmeller, and published in Weimar in
1836.
Among the German artists in Rome at the same period was Electrine
Stuntz, afterward Baroness von Freiberg. She was the daughter of a
landscape-painter of Strasburg, and devoted herself to historical
pieces. She was in the Eternal City during 1821 and the following
year, and was elected an honorary member of the Academy of San Luca,
occupying a position similar to that held by Angelica Kauffman. Her
works have a serious character, and Madonna pictures abound in them.
About 1823 she was married to Baron von Freiberg, and thenceforward
divided her cares between her family and her art. Several of her
etchings were greatly admired, and brought her high reputation.
Madame Caroline von Schroeter belongs to the same period. She became
distinguished in Rome in 1826 by her beautiful miniature-paintings, and
was there chosen member of the Academy of San Luca.
A few female artists belonged to the Düsseldorf school, while in
Weimar they were indefatigable in supporting the ancient reputation.
But the greatest number is to be found in Berlin. The impetus there
given in various departments of learning, and the patronage of royal
connoisseurs, with the superior cultivation of the people, had the
happiest effect, and brought out the richest bloom of female talent.
No branch of modern art has there been neglected by women, and several
have displayed a genius for sculpture. Dilettanti of the highest rank
have turned their attention to painting; and those who have pursued
art as a profession, from dignified history-pieces down to flowers and
landscapes, have met with encouraging success. In flower-painting and
arabesques some very important improvements have recently been made.
In the other cities of Germany, where women have successfully engaged
in such pursuits, less has been done. Few have taken to the profession
in Vienna, though Dresden has maintained the old repute in this
particular, and her Academy is to this day a genial nursery of female
talent.
Italy, the birthplace of the fine arts, has experienced the change
common to all mundane things, and the participation of her women in
art is by no means so great and significant as in earlier ages. Yet
a few names may be ranked with those who have gone before. Turin,
Milan, and Rome have each produced fair artists of distinction in
various branches, and their success promises to open the way to future
enterprise.
Not so fair is the prospect in Spain and among the Scandinavian
nations. In England, on the other hand, both sculpture and painting
have been successfully cultivated during the present century. We may
mention, in passing, Fanny Corbeaux, an artist and distinguished
Biblical scholar, born in 1812. When she was only fifteen years of
age her father suddenly lost his property, and became indigent. The
daughter had received only superficial instruction in drawing, but
determined to use her small skill to support her father and herself.
With the ardent spirit of youth she threw herself into the undertaking,
sparing herself no severe labor, and so well directed were her efforts
that, before the end of the year, she obtained a silver medal for
water-color drawings. Within the next three years she received another
similar token of approbation, and the gold medal of the Society of Arts.
All this time she had been her own instructor. She afterward painted
small pictures in oil and water-colors, but confined herself chiefly
to portraits. Her superiority in Biblical scholarship was shown by a
valuable series of letters on the Physical Geography of the Exodus. She
published another series entitled “The Rephaim.”
Fanny is described as being small, with figure slightly bent, but
cheerful and charming in manner. Her mother, living with her, is said
to be lively and agile in movement.
Miss Merrifield is the author of a treatise on the Art of Painting.
A “Society of Female Artists” was established in London in 1857.
Among its members, and now secretary to the association, is Mrs.
Elizabeth Murray, the wife of the English Consul at Teneriffe. She
has great celebrity as a water-color artist. Her style is dashing
and vigorous, but highly finished; her coloring bright, transparent,
pure, and sparkling, though something deficient in depth and middle
tint. Mrs. Murray has lately published a book entitled “Sixteen
Years of an Artist’s Life, etc.” She says of herself: “A vagabond
from a baby, I left England at eighteen, independent, having neither
master nor money. My pencil was both to me, and, at the same time, my
strength, my comfort, and my intense delight.” Honorable Mrs. Monckton
Mills, Miss Louisa Rayner, Miss Florence Caxton, and others, are
mentioned with praise. Mrs. Benham Hay is known as the illustrator of
Longfellow’s Poems; and Barbara Leigh Smith, an admirable writer, is an
excellent artist. Of Miss Mutrie’s work Mr. Ruskin says: “It is always
beautiful;” and Miss Howitt and Mrs. Carpenter are noted as artists.
Many whose names are now beginning to be familiar have hardly yet done
justice to their own powers.
The Netherlands have done their share during the present century,
preserving the old Dutch reputation, and producing a number of women
who have made themselves independent by the exercise of skill in
different departments of art.
The encouragement Goëthe has given, in his observations on the women
artists of his day, is applicable to those of the present. They
have taken more firm hold, and manifested yet more ability in the
profession. If many of them have been deficient in creative power, they
have shown themselves capable of the highest excellence in the tender,
the graceful, the pathetic, the ideal, and in the delicacy and quick
perception, which often achieves so much, as by intuition. Dr. Guhl
regards the indications of the present age as exceedingly promising,
and urges women to enlarged ambition and activity. Severe exertions are
demanded, but when was any success worth having commanded without them?
The time is now ripe for their emulation of their most eminent rivals
of the other sex, not by laying aside womanly delicacy, but by labors
entirely consistent with that true modesty which will ever be the most
attractive ornament of the sex. History is the great teacher of the
present; and what we have seen of the achievements of by-gone ages is
so full of encouragement, that it is but reasonable to look for still
greater triumphs in the wider arena now opened, than have yet crowned
the genius or the persevering industry of woman.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
Felicie de Fauveau.--Parentage.--Her Mother a Legitimist.--The
Daughter’s Inheritance of Loyalty.--Removals.--Felicie’s
Studies.--Learns to Model.--Resolves to be a Sculptor.--Labor becoming
to a Gentlewoman.--Her first Works.--Early Triumphs.--Social Circle in
Paris.--Evening Employments.--Revival of a peculiar Taste.--Mediæval
Fashions.--The bronze Lamp.--Equestrian Sketch.--Effect of the
Revolution of 1830.--The two Felicies leave Paris.--A rural
Conspiracy.--A domiciliary Visit.--Escape of the Ladies.--Discovery
and Capture.--The Stratagem at the Inn.--Escape of Madame in
Disguise.--Imprisonment of Mademoiselle.--Works in Prison.--Return
to Paris.--Politics again.--Felicie banished.--Breaks up her
Studio.--Poverty and Privation.--Residence in Florence.--Brighter
Days.--Character of Felicie.--Personal Appearance.--Her Dwelling and
Studio.--Her Works.--The casting of a bronze Statue.--Industry and
Retirement.--“A good Woman and a great Artist.”--ROSA BONHEUR.--Her
Birth in Bordeaux.--Her Father.--Rosa a Dunce in Childhood.--Her
Parrot.--Rambles.--The Spanish Poet.--Removal to Paris.--Revolution
and Misfortune.--Death of Madame Bonheur.--The Children at
School.--Rosa detests Books and loves Roaming.--Remarriage of
Bonheur.--Rosa a Seamstress.--Hates the Occupation.--Prefers turning
the Lathe.--Her Unhappiness.--Placed at a Boarding-school.--Her
Pranks and Caricatures.--Abhorrence of Study.--Mortification at her
Want of fine Clothes.--Resolves to achieve a Name and a Place in the
World.--Discontent and Gloom.--Return home.--Left to herself.--Works
in the Studio.--Her Vocation apparent.--Studies at the Louvre.--Her
Ardor and Application.--The Englishman’s Prophecy.--Rosa vowed to
Art.--Devoted to the Study of Animals.--Excursions in the Country
in search of Models.--Visits the _Abattoirs_.--Study of various
Types.--Visits the Museums and Stables.--Resorts to the horse and
cattle Fairs in male Attire.--Curious Adventures.--Anatomical
Studies.--Advantages of her Excursions.--Her Father her only
Teacher.--The Family of Artists.--Rosa’s pet Birds and
Sheep.--Her first Appearance.--Rising Reputation.--Takes the gold
Medal.--Proclaimed the new Laureat.--Death of her Father.--Rosa
Directress of the School of Design.--Her Sister a Professor.--“The
Horse-market.”--Rosa’s Paintings.--Bestows her Fortune on
others.--Her Farm.--Drawings presented to Charities.--Demand for
her Paintings.--Her Right to the Cross of the Legion of Honor.--The
Emperor’s Refusal to grant it to a Woman.--Description of her
Residence and her Studio.--Rosa found asleep.--Her personal
Appearance.--Dress.--Her Character.--Her Industry.--Mademoiselle
Micas.--Mountain Rambles.--Rosa’s Visit to Scotland.--Her Life in the
Mountains.--At the Spanish Posada.--Threatened Starvation.--Cooking
Frogs.--The Muleteers.--Rosa’s Scotch Terrier.--Her Resolution never
to marry.
FELICIE DE FAUVEAU.
Felicie was born in Tuscany, but was taken, when an infant, to Paris,
where her education commenced. Her parents were persons of much
intelligence and culture. Her mother had great taste for music and
painting, and it was from her that her daughter’s talents received
their first direction and encouragement. The family favored the
aristocrats and Legitimists, and endured much in the cause of the
Bourbons. Madame de Fauveau’s eyes had opened on the terrors of
the guillotine, and she was as proud of those memories of exile,
proscription, and the scaffold as most persons are of honor and titles.
Her chivalrous loyalty looked on them as dignities, and the privilege
of suffering for the family to which she was devoted was cheaply earned
in her eyes by the ruin and exile of her own.
The daughter shared in the mother’s chivalrous sentiments, and her
cherished ideas of monarchy and Romanism became perceptible in her
conversation and works, while her self-sacrificing spirit of loyalty
remained the same amid many vicissitudes. Owing to pecuniary losses,
her parents were compelled, while she was yet very young, to remove
successively to Limoux, Bayonne, and Besançon. While at Bayonne,
in 1823, she met with many partisans in the war then raging on the
frontiers of Spain--men whose loyalty amounted to fanaticism, and
whose piety belonged to the ancient time of the Crusades; from these
her youthful imagination must have received powerful and indelible
impressions.
Her studies were varied and profound; ancient history, classic and
modern languages, heraldry, and archæology received her devoted
attention. The feudal and chivalric traditions of the Middle Ages were
explored with eagerness by her, and she reproduced and utilized the
knowledge thus acquired. During her residence in Besançon, she executed
some oil-paintings which were much praised; but she seemed to feel that
canvas was not the material which would most fully express her ideas.
She had then received no instruction in modeling. One day, in her walk,
she paused before the shop of one of the workmen who carve images of
virgins and saints for village churches. Impelled irresistibly, she
entered and made inquiries as to the method of work, learning thus
the secrets of modeling in clay or wax, and of carving wood or gold.
It then appeared that her vocation was decidedly for the plastic art.
She had the faculty of coloring with skill, and might have been a
great painter, had she not resolved to be a sculptor. Her taste led
her to adopt the mediæval manner, and she took Benevenuto Cellini for
her prototype, occupying herself with art in both its monumental and,
decorative character.
At the death of her father, the family--consisting of the widow, two
sons and three daughters--was in some distress. Felicie determined to
devote her talents to their support. Some of her friends objected that
such employment was unbecoming one who belonged to a noble family.
“Unbecoming!” said she, drawing herself up with a noble pride; “_Sachez
qu’un artiste tel que moi est gentilhomme._”
The first work she exhibited was a group from Scott’s novel,
“The Abbot.” Encouraged by its brilliant success, she produced a
basso-relievo, consisting of six figures--Christina of Sweden and
Monaldeschi in the fatal gallery of Fontainebleau. This work was in
the Exposition des Beaux Arts, and it received from Charles X. in
person the gold medal awarded by the jury. The dramatic energy of the
group, the expression of the figures, and the beauty of the minor
details won universal admiration, and it was hailed as offering the
brightest promise of future excellence. The triumphant artist was then
a girl in the bloom of early youth; and, flattered and delighted at
the appreciation she met with, it is not to be wondered at that her
resolution to adhere to the career she had chosen was steadfast and
immovable.
Felicie remained in Paris with her family till 1830. Her mother’s
house was the centre of a charming circle of persons of high rank,
of cultivated women, and of accomplished artists, such as Scheffer,
Steuben, Gassier, Paul Delaroche, Triqueti, Gros, Giraud, etc. So
distinguished and agreeable was the mother, so sensible and so witty
was the conversation of the daughter, that their society was coveted
and prized. The friends assembled of an evening in their drawing-room
would gather round a large centre-table, and improvise drawings in
pencil, chalk, and pen and ink; or would model, in clay or wax,
brooches and ornaments, sword handles and scabbards, dagger-hilts, etc.
The young lady wished to revive those famous days when sculpture lent
its aid to the gold and silver smith, the jeweler, the clock-maker,
and the armorer. To her may be chiefly attributed the impulse given
to this taste in Paris--a taste that infected England also, reviving
mediæval fashions for ornaments, and also mediæval feelings and
aspirations, which at last found expression in Puseyism in religion,
and pre-Raphaelism in art.
She executed, for Count Portalès, a bronze lamp of singular beauty,
representing a bivouac of archangels armed as knights. They are resting
round a watch-fire, while one, St. Michael, is standing sentinel. It
is in the old Anglo-Saxon style. Round the lamp, in golden letters, is
the device, “_Vaillant, veillant_.” Beneath is a stork’s foot holding a
pebble, a symbol of vigilance, surrounded by beautiful aquatic plants.
The work was poetically conceived, and executed with great spirit and
finish. She also commenced a work which she called “a monument to
Dante,” and sketched an equestrian statue of Charles VIII. On returning
from the expedition to Naples, it was said, the monarch paused on the
ascent of the Alps, and turned to take a last farewell of the beautiful
country--“wooed, not wed”--which he so unwillingly abandoned. The
sculptress was most successful in rendering this expression of sadness
and yearning. The pose of the horse was natural, yet commanding; and
the work would doubtless have been a master-piece; but, unfortunately,
the model had to be destroyed, on the breaking up of her studio.
Mademoiselle de Fauveau had now acquired an eminence and gained
a celebrity which must have satisfied the most ambitious. She was
incessantly occupied with commissions for most of the private galleries
in France; and a place was promised her among those great artists who
are employed to adorn public monuments, and whose works enrich public
collections. She was to have modeled two doors for the gallery in the
Louvre, after the manner of Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise; a baptistery
and pulpit in one of the metropolitan churches had been already spoken
of, when the revolution of 1830 broke up this calm and noble existence,
and ended her career in Paris.
To Mademoiselle de Fauveau, with her extreme opinions, this revolution
was a personal calamity. She had identified the glory and greatness of
France with the elder branch of the Bourbons. The times for her were
evil and out of joint; she abhorred the Paris which had overthrown
what she considered a legitimate, to set up a pseudo royalty, and
she longed, with all the concentration and single-mindedness of her
character, for an opportunity of leaving the city. This soon presented
itself. Among other noble and distinguished persons who were proud of
their acquaintance with this gifted woman, were members of the Duras
family. The married daughter, who bore the beloved but fatal name of La
Roche Jacquelein, sympathized entirely with the opinions and feelings
of her namesake, Felicie. She invited the artist to leave Paris, and
accompany her on a visit to her estates in La Vendée. During this
visit, which was at first considered a mere relaxation from severe
labor and study, riding, shooting, and hunting took the place of
designing, modeling, and casting. But, after a while, a more serious
purpose was contemplated, and a loftier end proposed. Mademoiselle
de Fauveau found herself in the thick of a political conspiracy.
A regular _chouannerie_ was organized, and our poetical artist
distinguished herself by her spirit, energy, and determination. To this
day the peasantry in that part of France always speak of her as “_la
demoiselle_.”
The authorities at last took umbrage, and a domiciliary visit was made
to the chateau. The two ladies, warned in time, escaped, and took
refuge in a neighboring farm-house. But arms and ammunitions were found
in the chateau, with compromising letters and treasonable symbols.
Orders were given to pursue and arrest the fugitives. The farm-house
was searched in vain; the peasants were questioned, but their fidelity
was unimpeachable. Unfortunately, however, some faint sounds were heard
behind an oven; the grated door was removed, and the two rebels, who
had so nearly defeated the search of their pursuers, were discovered,
arrested, and sent under a strong guard to Angers.
At the first stage they stopped at an inn. The captives were conducted
to a room up stairs; the door was locked, and their guards descended to
the kitchen to refresh themselves. Presently a maid-servant was sent
up to receive their orders for supper. In an instant, Madame de la
Roche Jacquelein made herself understood by this woman. As soon as the
supper was brought up, and the door closed, she effected an exchange
of clothes, and, thus disguised, descended boldly, plates in hand,
to the kitchen. She quickly deposited her burden on the dresser, and
then, taking up the milk-pail, announced in the pretty _patois_ of the
country her intention to fetch the milk from the dairy. It is said the
lady looked so captivating in her new costume that a gallant sergeant
made advances to her, which she was obliged to repress vigorously, so
as to proceed unattended. She reached the dairy, went out at a back
door, crossed some fields, and was soon out of reach. Mademoiselle
de Fauveau remained quietly in her room, allowing the servant to
sleep with her, so as to lull all suspicion, and give as much time as
possible for the escape. The next morning the evasion of Madame was
discovered, and caused great consternation. It was thought necessary
to take the most rigid precautions, such as obliging Mademoiselle de
Fauveau to have a guard in her sleeping-room, who was authorized to
disturb her whenever he wished to make sure of her presence, to prevent
her following her friend’s example. She was thus transferred to Angers,
and remained seven months in prison.
Her bold spirit and elastic temperament were not weakened or cast down
by this destruction of her hopes. She took advantage of the forced
seclusion to resume her occupations. In prison she modeled several
small groups; one of them, composed of twelve figures, representing the
duel of the Sire de Jarnee and the Count de la Chataignevaie in the
presence of Henry II. and his court. She also designed a monument for
Louis de Bonnechose, who had lately perished in an affray with some
soldiers sent to arrest him. The background of this composition is
architectural, in the Gothic style, adorned with the blazoned shields,
achievements, and banners which belong peculiarly to the Vendean
party. On the summit of the edifice is an angel, whose face is veiled,
supporting the armorial shield of the deceased; in the foreground
the Archangel Michael, terrible and victorious, has just killed the
dragon. This dragon has a head like a cock--a type of the French
republic. Michael bears in his right hand the avenging sword, and in
his left holds a pair of crystal scales; in one of these are figures
of judges, advocates, and magistrates; in the other, which weighs down
these, is a single drop of blood, with this inscription:
“Quam gravis est sanguis justi inultus.”
In this sketch, as, indeed, in all Felicie’s works, the symbolical
beauty inspires the whole; the ideal gives spirit to the material form,
while the form receives its noblest distinction as the fitting vehicle
of the idea.
After seven months’ imprisonment, Mademoiselle de Fauveau was set at
liberty, and returned to Paris and her studio. Very soon afterward, the
appearance of the Duchesse de Berri in Vendée set on fire all Royalist
imaginations. Madame de la Roche Jacquelein and our fair artist again
left Paris, and worked day and night for the cause so dear to their
hearts, to reap again disappointment, failure, and misfortune. This
episode in Felicie’s life may show how strong was the political bias
which gave tone and character to both her private and artistic life.
“My opinions are dearer to me than my art,” she said, and her actions
proved this. She was one of the forlorn hope that stood up in the
breach to save a falling dynasty; and with its ruins were ingulfed her
own fortune, her prospects, and such part of her success as depended on
the public recognition and acceptance of art in her own country.
After the failure of this second attempt of the Legitimists,
Mademoiselle de Fauveau was among the persons exiled. She first took
refuge in Switzerland; then returned to Paris, in the very teeth of
the authorities, broke up her studio and establishment there, and went
to Florence, where she fixed her permanent abode with her mother and
brother.
Considerable expense and outlay are necessary to carry on the art
of sculpture, and a removal from a studio in which were accumulated
sketches, models, and marbles--most of them not portable--was almost
total ruin. The forced sale of furniture; the transfer, at a heavy
discount, of funds which had to be reinvested, added serious items
to the amount of loss. From the fragments thus thrown aside fortunes
were made. At the very time when the little family was enduring bitter
privation in Florence, a man realized an almost fabulous sum by selling
walking-sticks manufactured from designs made by Mademoiselle de
Fauveau in those happy Paris evenings before mentioned.
The expense attendant on establishing a new studio in Florence had
to be met by the labor of many years. Madame de Fauveau, at this
period, was the guardian angel of the family, and thought no sacrifice
too great for the encouragement of her daughter’s genius, and the
advancement of her views. Her own poetical and imaginative mind aroused
and fostered the ideas of the sculptress, while her unflinching
resignation and humble faith soothed and solaced her heart.
With unparalleled nobleness, in spite of extreme poverty, the family
refused to receive a sous from the princes or the party they had so
served. No fleck of the world’s dust can be thrown on that spotless
fidelity. It was at this period, when each day’s labor scarcely
sufficed to provide for daily necessities, that Mademoiselle de Fauveau
wrote to one of her friends, “We artists are like the Hebrews of old;
manna is sent to us, but on condition we save none for the morrow.”
Brighter days dawned. Labor is not only its own reward, in the
happiness it confers, but those who sow unweariedly and judiciously
shall reap fairly. Our sculptress achieved a modest independence. It
was probably at this time of her life that her friend the Baroness de
Krafft sketched her character, dwelling on the contrasts presented
by her history, in which her mind was developed, and the bent of her
nature determined. “Fire, air, and water,” she says, “are in that
organization;” and it is true that ardor, purity, and impulse are
the characteristics of her genius. On the one hand we see the lady
of the Faubourg St. Germaine, with all the habits, associations, and
prejudices which belong to her order; on the other, the artist, earning
her daily bread, and obliged to face in their reality the sternest
necessities and most imperative obligations; the single woman treading
victoriously the narrow and thorny path which all women tread who
seek to achieve independence by their own exertions; and the genius
which, to attain breadth and vigor, must freely sweep out of its path
limitations and obstacles. These contrasts appear in her person and
manner. Her glance, usually soft, can kindle and grow stern. Madame de
Krafft notices that the movements of her arms are somewhat abrupt and
angular, but her hands “are white, soft, and fine, royal as the hands
of Cæsar, or of Leonardo da Vinci.”
Mademoiselle de Fauveau is described by a visitor as being fair, with
low and broad forehead; soft, brown, penetrating eyes, aquiline nose,
and mouth finely chiseled, well closed, and slightly sarcastic. Of the
medium height, her figure is flexible and well formed. Her ordinary
studio dress is velvet, of that “_feuille morte_” color Madame Cottin
has made famous; with a jacket of the same fastened by a small leathern
belt, a _foulard_ round the neck, and a velvet cap. Her hair is blonde,
cut square on the forehead and short on the neck, and left rather
longer at the sides, in the Vandyke manner. The face, and figure,
and presence, give the impress of a firm but not aggressive nature,
revealing the energy of resistance, not of defiance. Opinions strongly
held and enunciated, defended to the death, if necessary, give such
an aspect. Combined with this peculiarity is a look of thoughtful
melancholy, such as Retzch has represented in his sketches of Faust. In
fact, the head, in a statuette of herself, might serve as an ideal of
the world-famous student. There are two admirable likenesses of her:
one by Ary Scheffer and one by Giraud.
Her dwelling is in the Via delle Fornace, where are also the studios of
Powers and Fedi. A dark green door opens into a paved covered court,
formerly the entrance to a convent, which is now adapted to form a
modern habitation. On one side a flight of stairs leads to the upper
rooms, another door leads to the studio; a third opens on a cool,
quiet garden, shaded by trees. There are dovecotes, pigeon-houses,
and bird-cages; and the walks are hedged with laurels and cypresses,
while there are gay flowers mingled with Etruscan vases and jars.
The artist’s drawing-room looks like the parlor of an abbess,
furnished with antique hangings, carved chairs, silver crucifixes,
and gold-grounded, pre-Raphaelite pictures, some of great beauty and
value. From this drawing-room, half oratory and half boudoir, the
visitor descends to the studio, which is composed of two or three large
white-washed rooms on the ground floor.
The first thing that strikes one here is the evidence of the artist’s
indefatigable industry. Here are casts and bassi-relievi from the
antique, but no goddesses, nymphs, or cupids; it is Christian art of
the mediæval period. Saints and angels cover the walls; in the centre
is a large crucifix of carved wood, beautifully executed, and full
of vigor and expression; near it is a Santa Reparata, designed in
terra-cotta. Mademoiselle de Fauveau has been peculiarly successful
in her adaptation of terra-cotta to artistic purposes. A large
alto-relievo represents two freed spirits flying heavenward, dropping
their earthly chains. A lovely St. Dorothea looks upward, and holds up
her hands for a basket of flowers and fruit which a descending angel
is bringing from Paradise. Bold and rapid movement is expressed in
the flying figure. In the background is an architectural design of a
church, and an inscription describing how it sprang, as it were, from
the martyr’s blood. There is a Judith addressing the Israelites from
an open gallery, with the head of Holofernes on a spear beside her. In
the aspect of the resolute woman of Bethulia there is an undefinable
resemblance to the artist. The expression, indeed, is congenial to her
character, in which there is the concentration of purpose which gives
force, and the ardor that gives decision to the will.
There are also works of a lighter character; the carved frame-work
of a mirror, with an exquisite allegorical design--a fop and a
coquette, in elaborate costume, are bending inward toward the glass,
so intent on self-admiration as to be unconscious that a demon below
has caught their feet in a line or snare from which they will not be
able to extricate themselves without falling. Most of Mademoiselle
de Fauveau’s works have superabundant richness of ornament and
allegorical device. Her designs for gold and silver ornaments are
unrivaled for elegance and imaginative picturesqueness.
She made for Count Zichy a Hungarian costume, the collar, belt, sword,
and spurs being of the most finished workmanship. A silver bell,
ornamented with twenty figures, for the Empress of Russia, represents a
mediæval household, in the costumes of the period, and their peculiar
avocations, assembling at the call of three stewards, whose figures
form the handle. Round the ball is blazoned, in Gothic characters, “_De
bon vouloir servir le maître_.”
It would be tedious to enumerate the works of this indefatigable
artist. The finished specimens of twenty-five years of labor are shut
up in private galleries, the models remaining in her studio. Her last
and most imposing work is the monument in Santa Croce, erected to the
memory of Louise Favreau by her parents. Madame de Krafft published a
description of this in the _Revue Britannique_ for March, 1857. Three
monuments, in different styles, may be seen in the Lindsay chapel. In
her studio are several busts of great beauty, strongly relieved by her
method of placing an architectural back-ground. One is the bust of the
Marquis de Bretignières, the founder of the reformatory school colony
of Mettray.
Besides devoting herself to the actual expression of her ideas, Madame
de Fauveau has, all her life, studied to improve the mere mechanical
portion of her art. She endeavored to revive certain secrets known
to the ancients, which have been abandoned and forgotten, to the
detriment of modern sculpture. To cast a statue entire, instead of in
portions, and with so much precision as to require no farther touch
of the chisel--to preserve inviolate, as it were, the idea, while it
is subject to the difficult process of clothing it with form, has been
her life-long endeavor. In bronze, by means of wax, she succeeded,
after repeated failures, with incredible perseverance. A figure of
St. Michael in one of her works was thus cast seven times. The least
obstacle, were it only the breadth of a pin’s point in one of the
air-vents which are necessary to draw the seething metal into every
part of the mould, is enough to destroy the work. At last her head
workman brought her St. Michael complete; all the energy and delicacy
of the original design being preserved, and none of the pristine
freshness lost in the translation from wax to bronze.
Mademoiselle de Fauveau works almost incessantly, scarcely allowing
herself any relaxation. Her principal associates are a few of the
higher church dignitaries, and two or three distinguished Italian or
foreign families. Retirement is agreeable to her, and her political
opinions have drawn around her a line of demarkation. She has paid two
visits to Rome: one when the Duc de Bordeaux was there. He paid her
much attention, as did the two great princes of art, Cornelius and
Tenerani, at that time in Rome. Thus situated, beloved by many, admired
and appreciated by all, this clever artist and noble woman leads an
honored life, which seems a realized dream of work, progress, and
success.
From every point of view, a life so spent is a curious and interesting
study. There is the independence belonging to an existence devoted
to art, with almost cloistral simplicity and formality. She had been
hardly ever separated from her proud and devoted mother till her
death, in 1858. The loss left her inconsolable. Her brother, an artist
of merit, resides with her, assists in most of her works, and is the
support and comfort of her life. Her happy home and domestic relations
have helped to expand and refine her genius. A woman’s art, as well as
her heart, suffers when the home in which she works is uncongenial. Our
artist’s name--Felicie--has proved a good omen for one who is at once
“a good woman and a great artist.”
ROSA BONHEUR.[3]
[3] This sketch was prepared under the supervision of Mademoiselle
Bonheur.
Rosalie Bonheur--as she is called in her _acte de naissance_--was born
in Bordeaux on the 16th of March, 1822. Her father, Oscar Raymond
Bonheur, was a painter of merit, who had in youth taken the highest
honors at the exhibitions of his native town. He devoted part of his
time to giving drawing-lessons in families for the support of his
aged parents. An attachment sprung up between him and one of his
pupils--Sophie Marqués--a lovely and accomplished girl. Her family
opposed their union on account of the artist’s poverty; and after the
marriage the young people were thrown entirely on their own resources.
Rosalie was the eldest of their four children. Her father was compelled
to give up his dreams of fame and the higher labors of his art, and for
eight years maintained his family by teaching drawing.
Rosalie--or Rosa, as she has always called herself--was a wild, active,
impetuous child, impatient of restraint, and having a detestation of
study. She was a long time in acquiring even the elements of reading
and writing. When not in the fields, she was in the garden. She
remembers a gray parrot, a pet of her grandfather’s, that often called
out “Rosa! Rosa!” in a voice like her mother’s, and would bring her
in, when her mother would seize the opportunity to make her repeat her
catechism. When the lesson was over, the little girl would scold the
bird angrily for the trick it had played her. But if Rosa hated her
books, she dearly loved all objects in nature, and was happiest when
rambling in wood or meadow, gathering posies as large as herself. Her
complexion was fair, with rosy cheeks; her light auburn hair curled in
natural ringlets; and she was so plump that the Spanish poet Moratia,
who then lived in Bordeaux, and spent his evenings at Bonheur’s, used
to call her his “round ball.” He would romp with the merry child for
hours together, and laugh over the rude figures she was fond of cutting
out of paper. Rosa was fond of amusing herself in her father’s studio,
drawing rough outlines on the walls, or burying her little fat hands
in the clay, and making grotesque attempts at modeling, though these
childish efforts were not noticed by her family as showing any genius.
The exiled poet, however, saw the boldness, vigor, and originality of
her nature, and often prophesied that his favorite would turn out, in
some way, “a remarkable woman.”
In 1829 Raymond Bonheur quitted Bordeaux, and established himself
with his family in Paris. Interested in the ideas then fermenting in
the public mind, he entered into the excitement that preceded the
Revolution of July. Periods of national effervescence are not favorable
to art; the painter could not sell his pictures, and had to betake
himself once more to giving drawing-lessons. His wife gave lessons
on the piano; but the growing agitation of the social and political
world made their united exertions profitless. Madame Bonheur sustained
her husband’s courage throughout this trying period, while she was
often compelled, after the day’s labors, to sit up half the night to
earn with her needle a precarious support for the morrow. When public
tranquillity returned, Bonheur resumed his teaching, and had some of
his works noticed in the Paris Exhibition.
Madame Bonheur died in 1833. The father then placed the three elder
children with an honest woman--La Mère Cathérine--who lived in the
Champs Elysées; Juliette, the youngest, being sent to friends in
Bordeaux. La Mère sent her little charges to the Mutual School of
Chaillot. Rosa, now in her eleventh year, and detesting books and
confinement as heartily as ever, generally contrived to avoid the
school-room, and spent most of her time in the grassy and wooded
spots afforded in the Bois de Boulogne, and other environs of Paris.
Two years passed thus; the children being plainly clad and living on
the humblest fare. Rosa meanwhile, with her passion for independence
and outdoor life, incurred almost daily the angry reprimands of La
Mère Cathérine, who was distressed at her neglect of school for her
rambles. “I never spent an hour of fine weather indoors during the
whole of the time,” she often said. But this sort of gipsy life could
not last. Raymond Bonheur married again, took a house in the Faubourg
du Roule, brought the three children home, and endeavored to put them
in a way to make a position for themselves. The two boys--Auguste and
Isidore--were placed in a respectable school, in which their father
gave three lessons a week by way of payment; and Rosa, who could not be
got to learn any thing out of a book, and seemed to have neither taste
nor talent for any thing but rambling about in the sunshine, was placed
with a seamstress, in order that she might learn to make a living by
her needle.
Nothing could have been more disagreeable to the poor girl than the
monotonous employment to which she was thus condemned. The mere act of
sitting still on a chair was torture to her active temperament; she ran
the needle into her fingers at every stitch, and bending over her hated
task made her head ache, and filled her with inexpressible weariness
and disgust. The husband of the seamstress was a turner, and had his
lathe in an adjoining room. Rosa’s sole consolation was to slip into
this room, and obtain the turner’s permission to help him work the
lathe. If he were absent, she would do her utmost to set the lathe in
motion by herself, more than once doing some damage to the turner’s
tools. But these stolen pleasures were insufficient to compensate her
for the repulsiveness of her new avocation; and whenever her father,
with his pockets full of bonbons, came to see her and learn how she
was getting on, she would throw herself into his arms in a passion
of tears, and beseech him to take her away. Every week her distress
became more and more evident; she lost her appetite and color, and was
apparently falling ill. Her father was much disappointed at the ill
success of his attempt to make of his wild daughter an orderly and
industrious needle-woman; but he was too fond of her to persevere in
an experiment so repugnant to her feelings. He therefore broke off the
arrangement with the seamstress, and took her home.
After thinking over many plans for her, he at length succeeded in
making an arrangement for her reception in a boarding-school in the
Rue de Reuilly, Faubourg St. Antoine, on the same terms as those he
had obtained for her brothers. A vast deal of good advice was expended
on her, with many earnest exhortations to make the best use of the
advantages of the school, by diligent application to her studies.
For a short time after her entrance into this establishment, Rosa was
delighted with her new life, for she speedily became a favorite with
her young companions, the leader in all their games, and the inventor
of innumerable pranks. But the teachers were far from being equally
satisfied with the new pupil, who could not be got to learn a lesson,
and who threw the household into confusion with her doings. One of
her favorite amusements was to draw caricatures of the governesses
and professors; which caricatures, after coloring, she cut out very
carefully, and contrived to fasten to the ceiling of the school-room,
by means of bread patiently chewed to the consistence of putty,
and applied to the heads of the figures. The sensation created by
this novel exhibition of portraiture, and the ludicrous bowings and
courtesyings of the paper figures, as they swayed over the heads of
their originals, may be easily imagined. The pupils would go beside
themselves with suppressed laughter; the teachers were naturally more
displeased than diverted. The mistress of the establishment, struck
with the vigor and originality of these drawings, caused them to be
detached from the ceiling, and placed them privately in an album,
where, it is said, they have been treasured to this day. But Rosa was
none the less pronounced a very naughty girl; and she generally found
herself condemned to bread and water about five days in the week.
Rosa Bonheur is by no means deficient in the faculty of acquiring
knowledge, and has since made up, in her own way, for her early
disinclination to study; but it was absolutely impossible for her,
at that time, to constrain her mercurial temperament to the measured
regularity of a class; and the only branch of study in which she made
any progress was drawing, which she practiced assiduously, sharing the
lessons given twice a week by her father in return for her schooling.
Rosa, however, was far from happy. Besides the constant trouble in
which her love of frolic and mischief involved her, there was another
annoyance that poisoned her peace, and gradually rendered her stay in
the school intolerably painful.
All the other pupils being daughters of rich tradesmen, they were
elegantly dressed, and had their silver forks and cups at table, and
plenty of pocket-money for the gratification of their school-girl
fancies. Rosa, with her calico frocks and coarse shoes, her iron
spoon, tin mug, and empty pockets, felt keenly the inferiority of
her position. Her father was as good and as clever as the fathers
of her companions; why, then, was he not rich? Why must she wear
calico and drink out of tin, while the other girls had silver mugs
and beautiful silk dresses? Too generous to be envious, and treated
as a favorite by the other pupils, the proud and sensitive child yet
recoiled instinctively from a contact which awakened in her mind an
unreasoning sense of injustice, and humiliated her, as she felt, for
no fault of her own. She had no wish to deprive her little companions
of the superior advantages of their lot, but she longed to possess
the same, tormenting herself day and night with pondering on her
difficulties, and seeking to devise some plan by which they might be
overcome. To this period, with its secret mental experiences, is to be
traced that firm resolve to achieve a name and a place for herself in
the world--to a perception of whose social facts she was now beginning
to awaken--which sustained her through the subsequent phases of her
artistic development. Yet this resolve, though prompted by a galling
sense of the humble character of her wardrobe and “belongings,”
pointed less to the acquisition of greater elegance of dress and
personal conditions--to which she has subsequently shown herself almost
indifferent--than to the attainment of a superior and independent
social position. She was determined to be something, though she could
not see what, and felt no doubt of the accomplishment of her purpose,
though as yet she had no idea of the mode in which it was to be carried
out. Meanwhile, her secret discontent preyed on her spirits and
affected her health. She became reserved and gloomy, and while seeking,
with feverish anxiety, to devise the sort of work that should enable
her to gain for herself the superior position she so ardently coveted,
she became more and more neglectful of her studies, until, her teachers
and her father being alike discouraged by her seeming idleness, the
latter withdrew her from the school, and once more took her home.
More than ever perplexed what to do with her, her father now left her
for a time entirely to herself. Thus abandoned to her own spontaneous
actions, Rosa, who felt that the idle and aimless life she had hitherto
led was little calculated to help her to the realization of her secret
ambition, and who was full of unacknowledged regret and remorse for her
incapacity and uselessness, sought refuge from her own uncomfortable
thoughts in her father’s studio, where she amused herself with
imitating every thing she saw him do; drawing and modeling, day after
day, with the utmost diligence and delight, happy as long as she had
in her hands a pencil, a piece of charcoal, or a lump of clay. In the
quiet and congenial activity of the studio, her excited feelings became
calm, and her ideas grew clearer; she began to understand herself, and
to devise the path nature had marked out for her. As this change took
place in her mind, the desultory and purposeless child became rapidly
transformed into the earnest, self-conscious, determined woman. She
drew and modeled from morning till night with enthusiastic ardor; and
her father, amazed at her progress, and perceiving at last the real
bent of her nature, devoted himself seriously to her instruction,
superintending her efforts with the greatest interest and care. He took
her through a serious course of preparatory study, and then sent her to
the Louvre to copy the works of the old masters, as a discipline for
her eye, her hand, and her judgment.
Surrounded and stimulated by the glorious creations of the great
painters--the first to enter the gallery and the last to leave it--too
much absorbed in her model to be conscious of any thing that went on
around her, Rosa pursued her labors with unwavering zeal.
“I have never seen an example of such application, and such ardor for
work,” remarked M. Jousselin, director of the Louvre, in describing the
deportment of the young student.
The splendid coloring and form of the Italian schools, the lofty
idealism of the German, and the broad naturalism of the Dutch, alike
excited her enthusiasm; she studied them all with equal delight,
and copied them with equal felicity. To aid her father in his arduous
struggle for the support of his family, now increased by the birth of
two younger children, was the immediate object of Rosa’s ambition;
and, the admirable fidelity of her copies insuring them a speedy sale,
this filial desire was soon gratified. She gained but a small sum for
each, but so great was her industry that those earnings soon became an
important item in the family resources.
One day, when she had just put the finishing touch to a copy of _Les
Bergers d’Arcadie_, at the Louvre, an elderly English gentleman stopped
beside her easel, and, having examined her work with much attention,
exclaimed, “Your copy, _mon enfant_, is superb, faultless! Persevere as
you have begun, and I prophesy that you will be a great artist!” The
stranger’s prediction gave the young painter much pleasure, and she
went home that evening with her head full of joyous visions of future
success.
Rosa was now in her seventeenth year, vowed to art as the aim and
occupation of her life, cultivating landscape, historical, and genre
painting with equal assiduity, but without any decided preference for
either; when, happening to make a study of a goat, she was so much
enchanted with this new attempt that she thenceforth devoted herself
to the cultivation of the peculiar province in which she has commanded
such brilliant success. Too poor to procure models, she went out daily
into the country on foot, in search of picturesque views and animals
for sketching. With a bit of bread in her pocket, and laden with canvas
and colors, or a mass of clay--for she was attracted equally toward
painting and sculpture, and has shown that she would have succeeded
equally in either--she used to set out very early in the morning, and,
having found a site or a subject to her mind, seat herself on a bank or
under a tree, and work on till dusk; coming home at nightfall, after
a tramp of ten or a dozen miles, browned by sun and wind, soaked with
rain, or covered with mud; exhausted with fatigue, but rejoicing in the
lessons the day had furnished.
Her inability to procure models at home also suggested to her
another expedient, the adoption of which shows how earnest was her
determination to overcome the obstacles poverty had placed in the way
of her studies. The slaughtering and preparing of animals for the
Paris market is confined to a few _abattoirs_, great establishments
on the outskirts of the city, placed under the supervision of the
municipal authorities. Each of these establishments contains extensive
inclosures, in which are penned thousands of lowing and bleating
victims, waiting their turn to be led to the shambles. To one of
these--the _abattoir du Roule_--had Rosa the courage to go daily for
many months, surmounting alike the repugnance which such a locality
naturally inspired, and her equally natural hesitation to place herself
in contact with the crowd of butchers and drovers who filled it. Seated
on a bundle of hay, with her colors beside her, she painted on from
morning till dusk, not unfrequently forgetting the bit of bread in
her pocket, so absorbed would she become in the study of the varied
types that rendered the courts and stables of this establishment
so invaluable a field of observation for her. Not content with
drawing the occupants of the _abattoir_ in their pens, far from the
sickening horror of the shambles, she felt the necessity of studying
their attitudes under the terror and agony of the death-stroke, and
compelled herself to make repeated visits to the slaughter-house;
looking on scenes whose repulsiveness was rendered doubly painful
to her by her affectionate sympathy with the brute creation. In the
evening, on her return home, her hands, face, and clothes were usually
spotted all over by the flies, so numerous wherever animals are
congregated. Such was the respect with which she inspired the rude
companions by whom she was surrounded, and who would often beg to see
her sketches, which they regarded with the most naïve admiration, that
nothing ever occurred to annoy her in the slightest degree during her
long sojourns in the crowded precincts of the _abattoir_.
After she had ceased to visit this establishment, she frequented in
a similar manner the stables of the Veterinary School of Alfort, and
the animals and museums of the Garden of Plants. She also resumed her
sketching rambles in the country, and resorted diligently to all the
horse and cattle fairs held in the neighborhood of Paris. On the latter
occasions she invariably wore male attire; a precaution she found it
necessary to adopt, as a convenience, and still more, as a protection
against the annoyances that would have rendered it impossible for her
to mingle in such gatherings in feminine costume. In her masculine
habit Rosa had so completely the look of a good-hearted, ingenuous
boy, that the graziers and horse-dealers, whose animals she drew,
would frequently insist on “standing treat” in a _chopine_ of wine, or
a _petit verre_ of something stronger, to the “clever little fellow”
whose skillful portrayal of their beasts had so much delighted them;
and it sometimes required all her address and ingenuity to escape
from their well-meant persecutions. Her good looks, too, in the
assumed character of a youth of the sterner sex, would sometimes make
sad havoc in the susceptible hearts of village dairy-maids. Some
laughable incidents might be related under this head. In her subsequent
explorations of the romantic regions at either foot of the Pyrenees,
the passion with which she has unwittingly inspired the black-eyed
Phœbes of the south has more than once proved a source of serious
though comical embarrassment to the artist, desirous above all things
to maintain impenetrably the secret of her disguise.
The young artist’s studies were not confined to the exterior forms of
her models. She procured the best anatomical treatises and plates,
with casts and models of the different parts of the human frame, and
studied them thoroughly; she then procured legs, shoulders, and heads
of animals from the butchers, carefully dissecting them, and thus
obtaining an intimate knowledge of the forms and dependencies of the
muscles whose play she had to delineate.
Now that Rosa has arrived at the fame her swelling child-heart
prophesied to itself before she had ascertained the path that should
lead to the fulfillment of her aspirations, the richest and noblest of
her countrymen are proud to place at her disposal the finest products
of their farms and studs; while mules, donkeys, sheep, goats, pigs,
dogs, and rare poultry are offered to her from one end of Europe to
the other. But it is certain that the poverty and obscurity which,
during her first years of effort, compelled her to frequent _abattoirs_
and cattle-markets in search of subjects for her pencil were really
of unspeakable service in forcing her to make acquaintance with a
multitude of types under a variety of action and condition, such as
she could never have seen in any other way, and in giving her a
breadth of conception, variety of detail, and truthfulness to nature,
which a more limited range of experience could not have supplied.
Through all her varied studies, Raymond Bonheur was his daughter’s
constant and only teacher. M. Léon Cogniet, whose pupil she is
erroneously said to have been, merely took a friendly interest in her
progress, and warmly encouraged her to persevere. She never took a
lesson of any other teacher than her father and nature.
Bonheur, with his family, now occupied small six-story rooms in the
Rue Rumfort. His two sons had also devoted themselves to art under his
auspices, Auguste being a painter, and Isidore a sculptor. The loving
family, merry and hopeful in spite of poverty, labored diligently
together in the same little studio. From daylight till dusk Rosa was
always at her easel, singing like a linnet, the busiest and merriest
of them all. In the evening, the frugal dinner dispatched and the lamp
lighted, she would spend several hours in drawing illustrations for
books, and animals for prints and for albums; or in moulding little
groups of oxen, sheep, etc., for the figure-dealers--thus earning an
additional contribution to the family purse.
Rosa delighted in birds, of which she had many in the studio; but it
grieved her to see them confined. To her great joy, one of her brothers
contrived a net, which he fastened to the outer side of the window,
so that they could be safely let out of their cages. She had also a
beautiful sheep, with long silky wool, the most docile and intelligent
of quadrupeds, which she kept on the leads outside their windows, the
leads forming a terrace, converted by her into a garden, gay with
honeysuckles, cobeas, convolvulus, nasturtiums, and sweet-peas. As the
sheep could not descend six flights of stairs, yet needed occasional
exercise and change of diet, Isidore used to place it gravely on his
shoulders, and carry it down to a neighboring croft, where it browsed
on the fresh grass to its heart’s content, after which he would carry
it back to its aerial residence. Thus carefully tended, the animal
passed two years contentedly on the terrace, affording to Rosa and her
brothers an admirable model.
It was in the Fine Arts Exhibition of 1841 that Rosa Bonheur made her
first appearance before the critical Areopagus of Paris, attracting
the favorable notice both of connoisseurs and public, by two charming
little groups of a goat, sheep, and rabbits. The following year she
exhibited three paintings: “Animals in a Pasture,” “A Cow lying in a
Meadow,” and “A Horse for Sale,” which attracted still more notice, the
first being specially remarkable for its exquisite rendering of the
atmospheric effects of evening, and its blending of poetic sentiment
with bold fidelity to fact.
From this period she appeared in all the Paris exhibitions, and in
many of those of the provincial towns, her reputation rising every
year, and several bronze and silver medals being awarded to her
productions. In 1844 she exhibited, with her paintings, “A Bull” in
clay, one of the many proofs she has given of powers that would have
raised her to a high rank as a sculptor, had she not, at length, been
definitively drawn, by the combined attractions of form and color,
into the ranks of the painters. In the following year she exhibited
twelve paintings--a splendid collection--flanked by the works of her
father and her brother Auguste, then admitted for the first time. In
1846 her productions were accompanied by those of her father and both
her brothers, the younger of whom then first appeared as a sculptor.
The family group was completed in a subsequent exhibition by the
admission of her younger sister, Julietta, who had returned to Paris,
and had also become an artist. In 1849 her magnificent “Cantal Oxen”
took the gold medal. Horace Vernet, president of the committee of
awards, proclaimed the new laureat in presence of a brilliant crowd of
amateurs, presenting her with a superb Sèvres vase in the name of the
government; the value of a triumph which placed her ostensibly in the
highest rank of her profession being immeasurably enhanced in her eyes
by the unbounded delight it afforded to her father.
Raymond Bonheur, released from pecuniary difficulty, and rejuvenated
by the joy of his daughter’s success, had accepted the directorship of
the government school of design for girls, and resumed his palette with
all the ardor of his younger days. But his health had been undermined
by the fatigues and anxieties he had borne so long, and he died of
heart disease in 1849, deeply regretted by his family. Rosa, who had
aided him in the school of design, was now made its directress. She
still holds the post, her sister, Madame Peyrol, being the resident
professor, and Rosa superintending the classes in a weekly lesson.
Her already brilliant reputation was still farther enhanced by the
appearance, in 1849, of her noble “Plowing Scene in the Nivernais,”
ordered by the government, and now in the Luxembourg Gallery; of the
“Horse-market,” in 1853, the preparatory studies for which occupied her
during eighteen months; and the “Hay-making,” in 1855. The last two
works created great enthusiasm in the public mind.
More fortunate than many other great artists, whose merits have been
slowly acknowledged, Rosa Bonheur has been a favorite with the public
from her first appearance. Her vigorous originality, her perfect
mastery of the technicalities and mechanical details of her art, and
the charm of a style at once fresh and simple, and profoundly and
poetically true, ensured for her productions a sympathetic appreciation
and a rapid sale. She had produced, up to June, 1858, thirty-five
paintings; and many more, not exhibited, have been purchased by private
amateurs. In these the peculiar aspect of crag, mountain, valley, and
plain--of trees and herbage; the effects of cloud, mist, and sunshine,
and of different hours of the day--are as profoundly and skillfully
rendered as are the outer forms and inner life of the animals around
which the artist, like nature, spreads the charm and glory of her
landscapes. She has already made a fortune, but has bestowed it
entirely on others, with the exception of a little farm a few miles
from Paris, where she spends a great deal of her time. Such is her
habitual generosity, and so scrupulous is her delicacy in all matters
connected with her art, that it may be doubted whether she will ever
amass any great wealth for herself. Her port-folios contain nearly a
thousand sketches, eagerly coveted by amateurs; but she regards these
as a part of her artistic life, and refuses to part with them on any
terms. A little drawing that accidentally found its way into the hands
of a dealer, a short time since, brought eighty pounds in London.
Rosa had presented it to a charity, as she now and then does with her
drawings. Demands for paintings reach her from every part of the
world; but she refuses all orders not congenial to her talent, valuing
her own probity and dignity above all price.
The award of the jury in 1853--in virtue of which the authoress of
“The Horse-market” was enrolled among the recognized masters of the
brush, and as such exempted from the necessity of submitting her works
to the examining committee previous to their admission to future
exhibitions--entitled her, according to French usage, to the cross of
the Legion of Honor. This decoration was refused to the artist by the
emperor _because she was a woman_!
The refusal, repeated after her brilliant success of 1855, naturally
excited the indignation of her admirers, who could not understand why
an honor that would be accorded to a certain talent in a man should be
refused to the same in a woman. But, though Rosa was included in the
invitation to the state dinner at the Tuileries, always given to the
artists to whom the Academy of Fine Arts has awarded its highest honor,
the refusal of the decoration was maintained, notwithstanding numerous
efforts made to obtain a reversal of the imperial decree.
A visitor describes the studio of this world-renowned artist. At the
southern end of the Rue d’Assas--a retired street, half made up of
extensive gardens, the tops of trees alone visible above the high stone
walls--just where, meeting the Rue de Vaugirard, it widens into an
irregular little square, surrounded by sleepy-looking, old-fashioned
houses, and looked down upon by the shining gray roofs and belfry of
an ancient Carmelite convent--is a green garden-door, surmounted by
the number “32.” A ring will be answered by the barkings of one or two
dogs; and when the door is opened by the sober-suited serving-man, the
visitor finds himself in a garden full of embowering trees. The house,
a long, cozy, irregular building, standing at right angles with the
street, is covered with vines, honeysuckles, and clematis. A part of
the garden is laid out in flower-beds; but the larger portion--fenced
off with a green paling, graveled, and containing several sheds--is
given up to the animals kept by the artist as her models. There may be
seen a horse, a donkey, four or five goats, sheep of different breeds,
ducks, cochinchinas, and other denizens of the barn-yard, all living
together in perfect amity and good-will.
On fine days the artist may be found seated on a rustic chair inside
the paling, busily sketching one of these animals, a wide-awake or
sun-bonnet on her head. If the visitor comes on a Friday afternoon, the
time set apart for Rosa’s receptions, he is ushered through glass doors
into a hall, where the walls are covered with paintings, orange-trees
and oleanders standing in green tubs in the corners, and the floor
(since the artist crossed the Channel!) covered with English oil-cloth.
From this hall a few stairs, covered with thick gray drugget, lead to
the atelier, on Fridays turned into the reception-room.
This beautiful studio, one of the largest and most finely proportioned
in Paris, with its greenish-gray walls, and plain green curtains to
lofty windows that never let in daylight--the room being lighted
entirely from the ceiling--has all its wood-work of dark oak, as are
the book-case, tables, chairs, and other articles of furniture--richly
carved, but otherwise of severe simplicity--distributed about the room.
The walls are covered with paintings, sketches, casts, old armor,
fishing-nets, rude baskets and pouches, poles, gnarled and twisted
vine-branches, picturesque hats, cloaks, and sandals, collected by
the artist in her wanderings among the peasants of various regions;
nondescript draperies, bones and skins of animals, antlers and
horns. The fine old book-case contains as many casts, skeletons, and
curiosities as books, and is surrounded with as many busts, groups in
plaster, shields, and other artistic booty, as its top can accommodate;
and the great Gothic-looking stove at the upper end of the room is
covered in the same way with little casts and bronzes. Paintings of all
sizes, and in every stage of progress, are seen on easels at the lower
end of the room, the artist always working at several at a time. Stands
of port-folios and stacks of canvas line the sides of the studio; birds
are chirping in cages of various dimensions, and a magnificent parrot
eyes you suspiciously from the top of a lofty perch. Scattered over
a floor as bright as waxing can make it, are skins of tigers, oxen,
leopards, and foxes--the only species of floor-covering admitted by
the artist into her workroom. “They give me ideas,” she says of these
favorite appurtenances; “whereas the most costly and luxurious carpet
is suggestive of nothing.”
But the suggestion of picturesque associations is not the only service
rendered by these spoils of the animal kingdom. One sultry Friday
afternoon, one of her admirers, going earlier than her usual reception
hour, found her lying fast asleep under the long table at the upper end
of the studio, on her favorite skin, that of a magnificent ox, with
stuffed head and spreading horns; her head resting lovingly on that of
the animal. She had come in very tired from her weekly review of the
classes at the School of Design, and had thrown herself down on the
skin, under the shade of the table, to rest a few moments. There was so
much natural grace and simplicity in her attitude, such innocence and
peacefulness in her whole aspect, and so much of the startled child in
her expression, as, roused by the opening and shutting of the door, she
awoke and started to her feet, that the picture seemed as beautiful as
any created by the pencil.
Here Rosa Bonheur receives her guests with the frankness, kindness,
and unaffected simplicity for which she is so eminently distinguished.
In person she is small, and rather under the middle height, with
a finely-formed head, and broad rather than high forehead; small,
well-defined, regular features, and good teeth; hazel eyes, very clear
and bright; dark-brown hair, slightly wavy, parted on one side and cut
short in the neck; a compact, shapely figure; hands small and delicate,
and extremely pretty little feet. She dresses very plainly, the only
colors worn by her being black, brown, and gray; and her costume
consists invariably of a close-fitting jacket and skirt of simple
materials. On the rare occasions when she goes into company--for she
accepts very few of the invitations with which she is assailed--she
appears in the same simple costume, of richer materials, with the
addition merely of a lace collar. She wears none of the usual articles
of feminine adornment; they are not in accordance with her thoughts and
occupations. At work she wears a round pinafore or blouse of gray linen
that envelops her from the neck to the feet. She impresses one at first
sight with the idea of a clear, honest, vigorous, independent nature;
abrupt, yet kindly; original, self-centred, and decided, without the
least pretension or conceit; but it is only when you have seen her
conversing earnestly and heartily, her enthusiasm roused by some topic
connected with her art, or with the great humanitary questions of the
day; when you have watched her kindling eyes, her smile at once so
sweet, so beaming, and so keen, her expressive features irradiated,
as it were, with an inner light, that you perceive how very beautiful
she really is. To know how upright and how truthful she is, how
single-minded in her devotion to her art, how simple and unassuming,
fully conscious of the dignity of her artistic power, but respecting it
rather as a talent committed to her keeping than as a quality personal
to herself, you must have been admitted to something more than the
ordinary courtesy of a reception-day. While, if you would know how
noble and how self-sacrificing she has been, not only to every member
of her own family, but to others possessing no claim on her kindness
but such as that kindness gave them, you must learn it from those who
have shared her bounty, for you will never know a word of it from
herself.
Her dislike to being written about will prevent many interesting
particulars in regard to her from becoming known; but, if they ever
come to light, they will show her life replete with noble teachings,
and that the great painter whose fame will go down to coming ages was
as admirable a woman as she was gifted as an artist; that her moral
worth was no less transcendent than her genius.
Rosa Bonheur is an indefatigable worker. She rises at six, and paints
until dusk, when she lays aside her blouse, puts on a bonnet and
shawl of most unfashionable appearance, and takes a turn through the
neighboring streets alone, or accompanied only by a favorite dog.
Absorbed in her own thoughts, and unconscious of every thing around
her, the first conception of a picture is often struck out by her in
these rapid, solitary walks in the twilight.
Living solely for her art, she has gladly resigned the cares of her
outward existence to an old and devoted friend, Madame Micas, a widow
lady, who, with her daughter, resides with her. Mademoiselle Micas
is an artist, and her beautiful groups of birds are well known in
England. She has been for many years Rosa’s most intimate companion.
Every summer the two artists repair to some mountain district to
sketch. Arrived at the regions inhabited only by the chamois, they
exchange their feminine habiliments for masculine attire, and spend
a couple of months in exploring the wildest recesses of the hills,
courting the acquaintance of their shy and swift-footed tenants, and
harvesting “effects” of storm, rain, and vapor as assiduously as those
of sunshine. Though Rosa is alive to the beauties of wood and meadow,
mountain scenery is her especial delight. Having explored the French
chains and the Pyrenees, in the autumn of 1856 she visited Scotland,
and made numerous sketches in the neighborhood of Glenfallock, Glencoe,
and Ballaculish. Struck by the beauty of the Highland cattle, she
selected some choice specimens of these, which she had sent down to
Wexham Rectory, near Windsor, where she resided, and spent two months
in making numerous studies, from which she produced two pictures:
“The Denizens of the Mountains” and “Morning in the Highlands.” Her
preference for the stern, the abrupt, and the majestic over the soft,
the smiling, and the fair, makes Italy, with all its glories, less
attractive to her than the ruder magnificence of the Pyrenees and the
north.
Among mountains the great artist is completely in her element; out of
doors from morning till night, lodging in the humblest and remotest of
road-side hotels, or in the huts of wood-cutters, charcoal-burners,
and chamois-hunters, and living contentedly on whatever fare can be
obtained. In 1856, being furnished by families of distinction in the
Béarnais and the Basque provinces with introductions, her party pushed
their adventurous wanderings to the little station of Peyronère, the
last inhabited point within the French frontier, and thence up the
romantic defiles of the Vallée d’Urdos, across the summit of the
Pyrenees. Their letters procured them a hospitable reception at each
halting-place, with a trusty guide for the next march. In this way they
crossed the mountains, and gained the lonely _posada_ of Canfan, the
first on the Spanish side of the ridge, where, for six weeks, they saw
no one but the muleteers with their strings of mules, who would halt
for the night at the little inn, setting out at the earliest dawn for
their descent of the mountains.
The people of the _posada_ lived entirely on curdled sheep’s milk,
the sole article of food the party could obtain on their arrival.
At one time, by an early fall of snow, they were shut out from all
communication with the valley. Their threatened starvation was averted
by the exertions of Mademoiselle Micas, who managed to procure a
quantity of frogs, the hind legs of which she enveloped in leaves,
and toasted on sticks over a fire on the hearth. On these frogs they
lived for two days, when the hostess was induced to attempt the
making of butter from the milk of her sheep, and even to allow the
conversion of one of these animals into mutton for their benefit. Their
larder thus supplied, and black bread being brought for them by the
muleteers from a village a long way off, they gave themselves up to
the pleasures of their wild life and the business of sketching. The
arrival of the muleteers, in their embroidered shirts, pointed hats,
velvet jackets, leathern breeches, and sandals, was always a welcome
event. Rosa paid for wine for them, and they, in return, performed
their national dances for her, after which they would throw themselves
down for the night upon sheepskins before the fire, furnishing subjects
for many picturesque _croquis_. As the _posada_ was a police-station,
established there as a terror to smugglers, the little party felt
perfectly safe, notwithstanding its loneliness.
Rosa was much pleased with her Scotch tour. She brought away a
wonderful little Skye terrier, named “Wasp,” of the purest breed,
and remarkably intelligent, which she holds in great affection. She
has learned for its benefit several English phrases, to which “Wasp”
responds with appreciative waggings of the tail.
Rosa Bonheur has avowed her determination never to marry. Determined
to devote her life to her favorite art, she may be expected to produce
a long line of noble works that will worthily maintain her present
reputation; while the virtues and excellences of her private character
will win for her an ever-widening circle of admiration and respect.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
The Practice of Art in America.--Number of women Artists
increasing.--Prospect flattering.--Imperfection of Sketches of
living Artists.--Rosalba Torrens.--Miss Murray.--Mrs. Lupton.--Miss
Denning.--Miss O’Hara.--Mrs. Darley.--Mrs. Goodrich.--Miss
Foley.--Miss Mackintosh and others.--Mrs. Ball Hughes.--Mrs.
Chapin.--Sketch of Mrs. Duncan.--The Peale Family.--Anecdote of
General Washington.--Mrs. Washington’s Punctuality.--Miss Peale
an Artist in Philadelphia.--Paints Miniatures.--Copies Pictures
from great Artists.--She and her Sister honorary Members of the
Academy.--Her prosperous Career.--Paints with her Sister in
Baltimore and Washington.--Marriage and Widowhood.--Return to
Philadelphia.--Second Marriage.--Happy Home.--Mrs. Yeates.--Miss Sarah
M. Peale.--Success.--Removal to St. Louis.--Miss Rosalba Peale.--Miss
Ann Leslie.--Early Taste in Painting.--Visits to London.--Copies
Pictures.--Miss Sarah Cole.--Mrs. Wilson.--Intense Love of Art.--Her
Sculptures.--Her impromptu Modeling of Emerson’s Head.--Mrs. Cornelius
Dubois.--Her Taste for the Sculptor’s Art.--Groups by her.--Studies in
Italy.--Her Cameos.--Her Kindness to Artists.--Miss Anne Hall.--Early
Love of Painting.--Lessons.--Copies old Paintings in Miniature.--Her
original Pictures.--Her Merits of the highest Order.--Groups in
Miniature.--Dunlap’s Praise.--Her Productions numerous.--Mary
S. Legaré.--Her Ancestry.--Mrs. Legaré.--Early Fondness for Art
shown by the Daughter.--Her Studies.--Little Beauty in the Scenery
familiar to her.--Colonel Cogdell’s Sympathy with her.--Success
in Copying.--Visit to the Blue Ridge.--Grand Views.--Paintings
of mountain Scenery.--Removal to Iowa.--“Legaré College.”--Her
Erudition and Energy.--Her Marriage.--Herminie Dassel.--Reverse of
Fortune.--Painting for a Living.--Visit to Vienna and Italy.--Removal
to America.--Success and Marriage.--Her social Virtues and
Charity.--Miss Jane Stuart.--Mrs. Hildreth.--Mrs. Davis.--Mrs.
Badger’s Book of Flowers.--Mrs. Hawthorne.--Mrs. Hill.--Mrs.
Greatorex.--Mrs. Woodman.--Miss Gove.--Miss May.--Miss Granbury.--Miss
Oakley.
In America the practice of art by woman is but in its commencement.
Although many names of female artists are now familiar to the public,
and the number is rapidly increasing, few have had time to accomplish
all for which they may possess the ability. The prospect, however, is
one most flattering to our national pride.
The sketches of living American women who are pursuing art are chiefly
prepared from materials furnished by their friends. They are given in
simplicity, and may appear imperfect, but we hope indulgence may be
extended to them where they are inadequate to do justice to the subject.
Rosalba Torrens is mentioned by Ramsay, in his History of South
Carolina, as a meritorious landscape-painter. Praise is also bestowed
on Eliza Torrens, afterward Mrs. Cochran. Miss Mary Murray painted in
crayons and water-colors in New York, and produced many life-sized
portraits, which gained her celebrity. Madame Planteau painted in
Washington about 1820, and was highly esteemed.
Dunlap mentions Mrs. Lupton as a modeler. She presented a bust of
Governor Throop to the National Academy of Design in New York, of
which she was an honorary member. Many of her paintings elicited high
commendation. She executed many busts in clay, of her friends. There
was hardly a branch of delicate workmanship in which she did not
excel, and her literary attainments were varied and extensive. She
was an excellent French scholar, and a proficient in Latin, Italian,
and Spanish, besides having mastered the Hebrew sufficiently to read
the Old Testament with ease. In English literature she was thoroughly
versed, and was an advanced student in botany and natural history.
She was the daughter of Dr. Platt Townsend, and was married early
in life. Mr. Lupton, a gentleman of high professional and literary
attainments, resided in the city of New York. After his death his
widow devoted herself to study, that she might be qualified to educate
her young daughter, and, after the loss of this only child, pursued
knowledge as a solace for her sorrows. Her talents and accomplishments,
her elevated virtues and charities, and her attractive social qualities
drew around her a circle of warm and admiring friends. She lived a
short time in Canada, and died at the house of a relative on Long
Island.
Miss Charlotte Denning, of Plattsburgh, is spoken of as a clever
miniature-painter, and also Miss O’Hara, in New York. Miss Jane Sully
(Mrs. Darley), the daughter of the celebrated artist, is mentioned as
an artist of merit. Mrs. Goodrich, of Boston, painted an excellent
portrait of Gilbert Stuart, which was engraved by Durand for the
National Portrait Gallery. Her miniatures have great merit, and are
marked by truth and expression.
Margaret Foley was a member of the New England School of Design, and
gave instruction in drawing and painting. She resided in Lowell, and
was frequently applied to for her cameos, which she cut beautifully.
Miss Sarah Mackintosh was accustomed to draw on stone for a large glass
company, and other ladies designed in the carpet factory at Lowell and
in the Merrimack print-works, showing the ability of women to engage in
such occupations.
Several have made a livelihood by the business of engraving on wood,
and drawing for different works.
Mrs. Ball Hughes, of Boston, the wife of the sculptor, supported her
family by painting and by giving lessons in the art. Mrs. Chapin had a
large drawing school in Providence, and, with facility in every style,
is said to be admirable in crayons. Many others might be mentioned, but
it does not comport with the design of this work to record even the
names of _all_ who deserve the tribute of praise.
ANNA C. PEALE (MRS. DUNCAN).
Several ladies of the Peale family have been distinguished as artists,
and are mentioned in the histories of painting in America. The
parents of the subject of this sketch were Captain James Peale and
Mary Claypoole. Her maternal ancestors, the Claypooles, came to this
country with William Penn, and were among the earliest settlers in
Philadelphia. They claimed direct descent from Oliver Cromwell, whose
daughter Elizabeth married Sir John Claypoole.
James Peale had great celebrity as a painter, and excelled both in
miniatures and oil portraits. He was not only remarkable for success
in his likenesses, but had the faculty of making them handsome withal,
so that he was called among his acquaintances “the flattering artist.”
This pleasing effect he gave, not by altering the features, but by
happy touches of expression; and it was one secret of his eminent
success. He painted, from actual sittings, several portraits of General
Washington and Mrs. Washington. One, a miniature, is now in the
possession of his eldest daughter.
On one occasion, when Washington was sitting for his portrait in Mr.
Peale’s painting-room, he looked at his watch, and said,
“Mr. Peale, my time for sitting has expired; but, if three minutes
longer will be of any importance to you, I will remain, and make up the
time by hastening my walk up to the State House (where Congress was in
session). I know exactly how long it will take me to walk there; and it
will not do for me, as President, to be absent at the hour of meeting.”
Mrs. Washington was as remarkable for punctuality as her illustrious
husband. At one time, during the general’s absence, he wrote to her to
get Mr. James Peale to paint her portrait in miniature, and to send it
to him. Mrs. Washington wrote a note to the artist, saying that her
presence at home was indispensable when the general was away, and it
would not be convenient for her to attend at his painting-room. She
requested him, therefore, to come to her house for the sittings, and
offered to accommodate herself to any hour when it would suit him to be
away from his studio. In his reply Mr. Peale appointed seven o’clock in
the morning. When he left his home to keep the engagement for the first
sitting, it occurred to him that the lady might not be quite ready to
see him at so early an hour. He walked on, accordingly, more slowly
than usual. Mrs. Washington met him with the observation, “Mr. Peale, I
have been in the kitchen to give my orders for the day; have read the
newspaper, and heard my niece her lesson on the harp; yet have waited
for you twenty minutes.”
The gentleman, of course, felt exceedingly mortified, and remarked
that if his engagement had been with General Washington he should have
felt the importance of being punctual to the minute; but he thought it
necessary to allow a lady a little more time.
“Sir,” replied Mrs. Washington, “I am as punctual as the general.” It
may be imagined that Mr. Peale took care to be at the house the next
day at the time appointed.
Dunlap, in his sketch of the artist, mentions his son and two
daughters as having adopted their father’s profession. There were
_three_ daughters who did thus, out of five who showed talent for art,
viz., Anna, Sarah, and Margaretta. The son, James Peale, showed, from
early youth, a remarkable talent for landscape-painting. His sketches
from nature were admirable. For many years, though not a professional
artist, he contributed an exquisite picture to every opening of the
annual exhibition of the Academy of the Fine Arts, in Philadelphia.
Anna was born in Philadelphia, and from childhood showed extraordinary
talent for art. When about fourteen years of age, she copied in
oil-colors two paintings by Vernet; and these, sent to public auction,
brought her thirty dollars, then esteemed a good price for first
efforts. Stimulated by this reward of her labor, she resolved to
persevere, and in time became able to command an independence. Her
father had a large family to support by his profession of portrait and
miniature painting, and his daughter looked forward with pleasure to
the thought of being a help instead of a burden to him. It was not,
however, until two years after that she was able seriously to apply
herself to the art. One other attempt only she made in oil-colors; a
small fruit-piece, from nature. Her father thought miniature-painting
on ivory the most suitable employment for a lady, and urged her to make
a trial of her powers in that branch. She had learned much by standing
behind his chair, hours and hours at a time, and watching his progress.
He took great pains in teaching her, pointing out the peculiar touches
that produced his best effects, by giving a charm to the expression.
Not only was Miss Peale assiduous in the study of her father’s
exquisite miniatures, but she copied several executed by distinguished
artists in that line. One, from a painting by the celebrated Duchésne,
a portrait of Napoleon, was sold to a gentleman in Philadelphia for
one hundred and fifty dollars. Her ambition to attain to excellence,
now fairly kindled, nerved her to industry and enterprise. She painted
a miniature of Washington from a portrait, which was purchased of her
father by one of his friends and brother officers of the Revolution,
Colonel Allen M‘Clain. The first miniature portraits from life which
she undertook were those of Dr. Spencer H. Cone and his venerable
mother. These, with one or two others, were presented at the annual
exhibition of the Academy of the Fine Arts. She and her sister, Miss
Sarah M. Peale, were elected honorary members of this institution. This
sister had adopted portrait-painting in oil as her profession.
The artistic career thus commenced went on most prosperously. Although
she owed nothing to any public notice of her talents, Miss Anna Peale
soon found abundant occupation in painting miniature likenesses. Her
health, however, suffered under her incessant labors, and she was
compelled to put a higher price on her work in order to reduce the
number of applications. She was so frequently solicited to paint the
likenesses of children, and found them such troublesome subjects, that
she charged double price for them.
From the commencement of Miss Peale’s painting to her sister’s
entrance on the arena as a portrait-painter, for some years, it is
believed, she was the only professional lady artist in Philadelphia.
The sisters, after having commenced their labors, passed their time
alternately in Philadelphia and Baltimore; in the latter city receiving
unbounded attention and encouragement from families of the highest
respectability. They were not only well received as artists, but were
welcomed as friends and hospitably entertained. They were much caressed
by the family of the venerable Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Miss
Sarah painted in oil a portrait of his daughter, Mrs. Caten.
The sisters afterward went to Washington to paint the portrait of
General La Fayette, who sat for it at their request. Anna spent the
winter of 1819 in the Federal city with her uncle, Charles M. Peale,
who went there for the purpose of painting the portraits of many
distinguished members of Congress. They worked in the same studio.
General Jackson was one of their sitters. Miss Peale retained his
portrait, and has it still in her possession. President Monroe also had
his likeness taken, and the artists were often hospitably entertained
at the “White House” by the President and his amiable wife. During the
time of her stay in Washington, Miss Peale had her time filled up with
commissions; she painted several of the members of Congress, among whom
were Henry Clay and Colonel R. M. Johnson.
In the following year Miss Peale again visited Washington. She painted
a miniature likeness of that remarkable character, John Randolph of
Roanoke. It is now in her possession. So incessant was her application
to work, that during the summer she was obliged to travel for the
recovery of her health, and to give rest to her eyes. Several times
they were attacked with inflammation, and at one time she had cause to
dread the total loss of sight. Some time after this period she visited
Boston, where she painted several portraits. Daniel Webster sat twice
for a miniature, which she never quite finished.
In 1829 Miss Peale received the addresses of Rev. Dr. William
Staughton, a Baptist clergyman of much learning and distinction. He
was about that time elected president of the Theological College at
Georgetown, Kentucky. They were married August 27th, 1829, and left
Philadelphia for the scene of the husband’s future labors. While
they were in the city of Washington, Dr. Staughton was taken ill. He
died early in December, in a little more than three months after the
marriage. The widow returned to Philadelphia the following spring. She
resumed her profession, and painted with as great success as before.
Her second marriage, with General William Duncan, a gentleman highly
esteemed in social life, may be said to have closed her career as an
artist, though her love for art can never be lost. In her happy home,
surrounded by accomplished relatives, and beloved by a large circle of
friends, she looks back with pride to the days when she toiled to woo
the Muse of Painting, and still acknowledges the truthful remark of the
German poet:
“He who can not apprehend the Beautiful has no heart for the Good.”
The only person to whom Mrs. Duncan ever gave lessons in
miniature-painting was her niece, Mary Jane Simes, now the wife of Dr.
John Yeates, of Baltimore. This lady is an artist of no small celebrity.
Miss Sarah M. Peale excelled not only in oil portraits but in
still-life pieces. She has resided for the last ten years in St. Louis,
whither she was induced to go by the invitation of numerous friends.
She found there such encouragement and success, with such warm regard
from her friends, that she has not as yet found leisure to leave her
engrossing pursuits for a visit to her native city. Her varied talents
and amiable character are justly appreciated, and she has gathered
around her a large and estimable circle. She possesses a fine talent
for music in addition to her other accomplishments.
Mrs. Rembrandt Peale is highly spoken of as a painter in oil-colors.
Miss Rosalba Peale is an amateur artist, and is said to have been the
first lady member of any Academy of Art in America.
ANN LESLIE.
The name of Leslie has been placed by a painter of eminent merit among
the most distinguished of this century, and his sister has contributed
to its fame. She was born in Philadelphia; her parents, Robert Leslie
and Lydia Baker, went to London in 1793, when she was an infant, and
returned in 1799. She showed a taste for painting in childhood, but did
not take it up as a regular employment till 1822, at which time she was
again in London, on a visit to her brother. She copied several of his
pictures, and two or three by Sir Joshua Reynolds, besides painting
portraits of her friends. She returned in 1825 to Philadelphia, with
her sister, Mrs. Henry Carey, and her brother-in-law, but paid another
visit to London four years afterward. Several copies she made from
pictures were engraved for the Atlantic Souvenir. One of “Sancho and
the Duchess” was pronounced equal to the original in execution. Her
skill was great in imitating coloring, but she was accustomed to make
the outlines mechanically.
Her life was passed in cheerful and contented activity. She resided
several years in New York, where she occupied herself chiefly in
copying paintings. She died in the summer of 1857.
Miss Sarah Cole, the sister of the celebrated artist, had a great
deal of talent, and not only copied paintings, but produced original
compositions. She was born in England, but spent most of her life in
the United States. She died in 1858.
MRS. WILSON.
Mrs. Lee mentions Mrs. Wilson of Cincinnati as having displayed much
original talent in sculpture. The following account is from a friend’s
letter:
“She is the wife of a physician of Cincinnati, and was born, I believe,
in or near Cooperstown, New York. Her first impressions of persons
and things are expressed in her conversation. She is a perfect child
of nature, impulsive, but wonderfully perceptive, and with so much
freshness that all persons of mind are attracted to her. Her infancy
and youth were very much shadowed by domestic sufferings, originating,
at first, in the loss of a large property by her father, who in
consequence removed to the West. He died when she was quite young. She
married Dr. Wilson, a most excellent person, of Quaker family. All
circumstances were such, that an early revelation or development was
not made of her artistic powers. In visiting a sculptor’s studio the
desire first awoke; an intelligent friend encouraged and sympathized
with her, and Mrs. Wilson procured the materials. Her feeling was so
intense that it could not be repressed. Her husband was her first
subject. She worked with so much energy that sometimes she would
faint away, and on one of these occasions he said, ‘If you are not
more moderate, I will throw that thing out of the window.’ But it was
finished, proving a perfect likeness, and she chiseled it in stone. It
is in her parlor at Cincinnati, a most beautiful bust, and an admirable
likeness, and seems like a miracle, considering it was her first
attempt.
“Another marvelous work is the figure of her son. He threw himself on
the floor one morning in an attitude at once striking and picturesque.
To copy it required a perfectly correct eye, or a knowledge of anatomy.
She courageously attempted it; the attitude was repeated, and her
success was triumphant. It is only a cast, and the cast does not do
justice to the finish of her work, but she has not been able to procure
a block of marble for the copy. The effect is wonderful for its spirit
and the accuracy of its anatomy. She has commenced other subjects, but
some of them are not finished, and to others accidents have happened.
“She has a family of children, and is a devoted mother. We think
_stone_ will have but little chance with those beings of flesh and
blood whose minds and hearts she is carefully modeling. Perhaps family
cares may be the true secret why female sculptors are so rare; but
we congratulate this lady that she has the true perception of the
beautiful, and feel quite sure it will mitigate the suffering from
delicate health, and scatter fragrant flowers and healing herbs in the
sometimes rugged paths of duty.”
A gentleman acquainted with Mrs. Wilson mentioned an incident that
occurred on a journey to the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. Struck with
the aspect of a distinguished person in the company--Mr. Emerson--the
sculptress gave directions to stop near a bank of soft red clay, and,
putting out one hand to grasp a sufficient portion of the material,
with the other she signed to her subject to remain motionless. In a few
moments she had modeled a very creditable likeness of the author.
MRS. DUBOIS.
Mrs. Cornelius Dubois, now residing in New York, and devoted to the
charitable institution of the Nursery and Child’s Hospital, has shown
much talent for sculpture and cameo-cutting. Mrs. Lee describes her
as having discovered, accidentally, about 1842, a taste for modeling,
in the following manner: “Her father had his bust taken. Before the
casting, he asked his daughter her opinion of it as a likeness. She
pointed out some defects which the artist corrected in her presence,
upon which she exclaimed, ‘I could do that!’ and requested the sculptor
to give her some clay, from which she modeled, with but little labor,
a bust of her husband, and was eminently successful in the likeness.
She then decided to take lessons, but illness having interfered with
her plans, she abandoned the intention, and worked on by herself, with
merely the instruction from the sculptor to keep her clay moist until
her work was completed.
“When she recovered her health sufficiently, she continued to mould,
and, among other works, produced the likenesses of two of her little
children, the group of Cupid and Psyche, a copy; and a novice, an
original piece. She also carved a head of the Madonna in marble; a
laborious and exciting work, which injured her health to such a degree
that her physician interdicted her devotion to the arts.
“She then went to Italy, where she desired the first artist in cameos
to give her lessons. When he saw some that she had cut, he told her
that he could teach her nothing; she had only to study the antiques.
“Her works in cameos are ‘St. Agnes and her Lamb,’ ‘Alcibiades,’
‘Guido’s Angel,’ ‘Raphael’s Hope,’ and the ‘Apollo.’ She took over
thirty likenesses in cameo, requiring only an hour’s sitting, after
which they were completed.
“Notwithstanding the care of a large family, the superintendence of
the education of her daughters, and the sad drawback of ill health,
her energy has never failed her. She has always extended a helping
hand and a smile of encouragement to young artists, one of whom was in
Brown’s studio; another is the sculptor of the ‘Shipwrecked Mother,’
who alludes to her kindness in his short autobiography.
“But, while ascending the ladder to fame, her progress was arrested by
ill health, and she now lives only to feel, as she says, how little she
has done compared to what she might do could she devote herself to the
art. Anxious to impart to others this great gift, and to stimulate her
countrywomen to the development of any latent talent they may possess,
she formed a class of young ladies, and most disinterestedly devoted a
certain portion of her time to their instruction for several months.
“While all who know her admire the artist for her talents, her
unceasing energy, and philanthropic exertions, they behold in her the
good wife, mother, and friend, and the elegant and accomplished woman,
presiding over the social circle. Her heart remains true to the gentle
influences of nature, while her genius is ever responsive to immortal
Art.”
ANNE HALL.
Anne Hall was born in Pomfret, Connecticut. She was the third daughter
of Dr. Jonathan Hall, a physician of distinction. Her talent for art
was early developed, and her father, who loved painting, endeavored
to foster the promise of her childhood. A visitor having presented
her with a box of colors and pencils, she began to use them; and her
father, who was pleased with her progress, procured for her a box of
colors from China. She had a brother who admired and valued pictures,
and whose praise encouraged her to continue her childish attempts.
He supplied her with such materials as she needed for drawing and
painting. Every hint she received from artists was turned to account,
and she gave herself to her favorite occupation with enthusiasm. She
delighted in imitating nature; and fruits, birds, flowers, and even
fish and insects were subjects for her pencil; but she took especial
pleasure in producing likenesses of her friends. Living in a retired
part of the country, she had little access to paintings of value for
a long time; but, being sent on a visit to a relative in Newport,
Rhode Island, she received some instruction in painting on ivory from
Mr. Samuel King, who had been an early teacher of Alston, and also of
Malbone. Miss Hall gained less knowledge from her master’s lessons,
however, than from copying some paintings of the old masters which her
brother afterward sent home from Cadiz and other places in Spain. These
were faithfully copied on ivory in miniature. “A Mother and a Sleeping
Child,” still in her possession, shows her progress at this time. “A
Mother in Tears,” copied from a painting on ivory, was much admired
as evidence of fidelity in copying and skill in coloring. Studying
the pictures procured by her brother, she learned to appreciate their
excellences, while, by comparing them with nature, she was enabled to
avoid the formality of a mere copyist. She began now to give form and
coloring to the conceptions of her imagination, and attempted original
composition.
Miss Hall took some lessons in oil-painting from Alexander Robertson in
New York, but has chiefly devoted herself to painting in water-colors
on ivory. Her merits have been acknowledged by the most distinguished
artists in New York and different parts of the United States to be of
the highest order. Among her miniature copies of oil pictures by old
masters, two from Guido were particularly noticed as executed with
surprising vigor and a rich glow of coloring. Her groups of children
from life were done with masterly skill, and finished with a taste and
delicacy which a woman’s hand only could exhibit. Her portraits in
miniature were acknowledged to possess exquisite delicacy and beauty.
The soft colors seem breathed on the ivory rather than applied with the
brush. A miniature group often sold for five hundred dollars.
Dunlap mentions one of her compositions as “marked with the beautiful
simplicity of some of Reynolds’s or Lawrence’s portraits of children,
evincing a masterly touch and glowing in admirable coloring.”
Miss Hall was unanimously elected a member of the National Academy of
Design in New York. Her portrait of a lovely Greek girl, from life,
was engraved, and the rare beauty of the painting was universally
acknowledged. The floating silken waves of hair have an unrivaled
effect. A group of two girls and a boy is admirable in composition,
color, and expression. Miss Hall’s “management of infant beauty”
is, indeed, unsurpassed; her flowers and children, Dunlap observes,
“combine in an elegant bouquet.”
One of the best of her original compositions is a group of a mother and
child--Mrs. Jay and her infant. The first, clasping the babe to her
bosom, has a Madonna-like beauty; the child is perfect in attitude and
expression. Another group of a mother and two young children, the widow
and orphans of the late Matthias Bruen, has a most charming expression.
One of the children was painted as a cherub in a separate picture,
much valued by artists as a rare specimen of skill. Miss Hall has also
painted the portraits in miniature of many persons distinguished in the
best social circles of New York. Several of her groups have been copied
in enamel in France, and thus made indestructible. Three children of
Mrs. Ward, with a dog and bird; a child holding a grape-vine branch;
with portraits of Mrs. Crawford, widow of the sculptor, Mrs. Divie
Bethune, and the daughters of Governor King, may be mentioned among
numerous works, a single one of which has sufficient merit to establish
the author’s claim to the reputation she has long enjoyed, of being the
best of American miniaturists.
MARY SWINTON LEGARÉ (MRS. BULLEN).
The family of Legaré (once spelled L’Egarée) is of the old stock of
French Huguenots who furnished the best blood of Carolina. Madame
Legaré, an honored ancestress of our subject, being a firm Huguenot,
immediately after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes sent to America
her only child, Solomon, then seventeen years old; parting with him,
as she believed, forever in this life, that he might be saved from
peril, and not be tempted to abandon his faith. This boy--called by
his descendants “The Huguenot”--went first to Canada, and in 1685
to Charleston, South Carolina. He became the ancestor of a numerous
posterity, of which, during the Revolution, thirteen bearing the name
were patriot soldiers, active in the cause of American liberty.
On the death of her husband, Madame Legaré left her native France and
came to America. Here she found her son married, and the father of nine
children. She had given him up for religion’s sake; God restored him to
her arms, able to minister to her declining years. Her grandson, the
great-grandfather of Hugh and Mary Legaré, died in 1774, at the age of
seventy-nine. Yet, when the Colonies entered into a compact for mutual
defense, he resolutely refused to be put on the list of the “aged and
noncombatant,” saying he was able to “shoulder his musket with any
man,” besides managing a charger equal to any trooper; he “would not be
insulted by being laid aside.” Thus our heroine had a great-grandfather
and two grandfathers, besides other relatives, in the patriot army
of the Revolution, where youths of sixteen and eighteen often fought
beside their grandsires.
The father of Miss Legaré married a lady whose grandfather, Alexander
Swinton, of a Scottish family, was sent from England, about 1728, as
surveyor-general of the province of South Carolina. He lost a large
estate by the villainy of executors and guardians; but after his death,
Hugh Swinton, his son, was taken to Scotland by his uncle, and educated
as became a young gentleman of birth and fortune, being married to
a descendant of that John Hayne who fled from the persecution of
the Puritans by Charles II. and his bishops, and fixed his home in
Carolina. Thus, on both sides, a heritage of honor and religious faith
is derived from her ancestors by the lady who fills a place in our
humble annals.
The name of Hugh Swinton Legaré is endeared to all South Carolinians,
the more so as his genius and literary attainments commanded celebrity
on both sides of the Atlantic. His sister’s talents are not inferior
to his, though she has filled no place in the national councils nor
at foreign courts, but in a quiet and uneventful life has made her
impression on the social and intellectual advancement of the day. The
youngest of three children who survived the father, she was born in
Charleston, South Carolina, where her childhood and youth were spent.
Mrs. Legaré, left a widow before she had completed her twenty-eighth
year, devoted her time and means entirely to the education of her
little ones. She was a woman of extraordinary mental powers, and her
mind had been sedulously cultivated. Her ideas of education were broad
and comprehensive, and her efforts were directed to the training of her
children in such a manner as to make their lives exemplary, useful, and
happy, as well as to develop their intellects. How well she succeeded
the honorable career of all her children testifies. The noble character
and life of her eldest daughter, Mrs. Bryan, and the brilliant fame
achieved by the son, add evidence to the fact that she was one of those
mothers whose offspring rise up to call her blessed. Mrs. Legaré died
on the 1st of January, 1843, in the seventy-second year of her age.
It was not strange that the children should grow up cherishing a deep
and intense love for so excellent a mother. Mary, an infant when bereft
of her father, very early showed a fondness for study, and a special
predilection for the languages and the fine arts. Even before she
was able to express emotions of admiration or delight, she evinced a
remarkable sensibility both to melody and color. When less than three
years old, she would be affected to tears or moved to joyous mirth by
different musical sounds. Beautiful pictures had for her young fancy
irresistible fascination at an age when she could hardly be supposed
able to recognize the objects they represented. Her mother frequently
observed of her little Mary that, when she showed signs of impatience
or weariness, or fretted for want of amusement, all that was necessary
to soothe her discontent or charm her into happiness was to furnish her
with paper and a pencil. The child would amuse herself for hours with
her drawings. Her decided talents for music and painting--coloring in
particular--were soon perceived by this tender mother, who determined
to give her daughter every possible aid in the cultivation of tastes
so congenial to her own, Mrs. Legaré being herself accomplished in no
ordinary degree in both these lady-like pursuits.
Miss Legaré had resolved to make herself mistress of the languages even
before she could read and write English with any great proficiency.
She had in these studies, and other branches of scholarship, the best
teachers that could be procured. Her mother was her first instructor
in music. But it was otherwise in the art to which she had determined
especially to devote herself; no efficient teacher of drawing could be
found. Although remuneration for lessons was liberal--thirty dollars
per term being paid--it was almost impossible to find any one capable
of giving proper instruction. The young girl was therefore obliged to
practice unaided the art she began to love with increased enthusiasm,
and her progress was still more retarded by the want of models or
scenes in nature that might take her fancy. The low country of South
Carolina--affording the only landscapes she had ever seen--abounds in
flat and swampy districts. There is much beauty for an unaccustomed
eye in the bleached wilderness of pine-land, with its stately, solemn
groves, through which the wind surges with ocean-like murmur; but it
is not of the kind available for the artist. Nor is that of the swamp,
with its immeasurable extent of wood and impenetrable undergrowth,
through which may be seen at intervals the dark, turbid water soaking
its way through masses of tangled weeds, the slimy abode of reptiles,
or the hiding-place of the water-fowl. There are green morasses choked
with vegetation, into which the sunbeams never penetrate; or over
the quagmire, rank with decay, rise giant trees, twined with thick
creepers, and burying the matted brush beneath them in black shadow.
The trees are often loaded with the gray hanging moss that forms the
ornament of woods in the low lands. The mixture of gloom and beauty, of
luxuriance and horror, is a striking novelty to the Northern visitor.
The ragged thickets, too, are alternated with islands of lovely
verdure; the water-lily decks the dark lakelet with its broad leaves
and white flowers; and graceful vines festoon the evergreens, mingling
bright blossoms with their leaves of sombre verdure.
Such scenes presented little to tempt the copyist, yet, notwithstanding
her difficulties and discouragements in painting, Miss Legaré continued
to struggle on toward the idea of perfection in her untutored
imagination. Her brother Hugh was wont to remark that “her passion
lay there,” in the painter’s art. She found not much sympathy in this
chosen pursuit, till some time in the year 1827, when she became
acquainted with a gentleman who possessed a similar taste, cultivated
in a high degree by superior knowledge of art. This was Colonel John
S. Cogdell, who at that time had considerable celebrity as an amateur
painter. Miss Legaré submitted her efforts to his careful criticism,
and received from him the instruction she needed. She has attributed
her subsequent success to his aid. He procured for her study the
finest new pictures that could be obtained. Among the artists whose
works were now introduced to her, Doughty became, to her fancy, the
beau ideal of excellence. Even when a child she had been accustomed to
turn away in disgust, with a “’Tis not pretty, mamma,” from flaring
or exaggerated colors in a picture. Doughty’s subdued coloring, and
soft, dreamy style, kindled her imagination, and aroused her ardent
emulation. “Could I but paint one picture like Doughty’s!” she would
often exclaim; and it may be said her earliest initiation into the
school of Nature, and into an apprehension of her seductive beauties,
was by seeing the works of this eminent American landscape-painter,
whom his country allowed to languish in bitter penury, for want of the
appreciation his genius should have commanded. Miss Legaré’s first
attempt to copy one of his paintings succeeded beyond the most sanguine
expectations of herself and her friends. Colonel Cogdell encouraged her
still more by saying, “You have an eye for color, which must insure you
success in copying nature.”
In truth, the young artist did not long remain satisfied with spending
all her energies merely in copying the works of others. Though she
had never visited any other region than the low forest country of her
native state, she endeavored to create scenes by combining various
objects into a single composition. Landscapes and rustic scenes in
every variety were her delight; yet, having never seen a mountain,
nor the country in any aspects different from the monotonous views in
her neighborhood, how was she to produce an original picture? How do
justice in any way to the powers of which she felt conscious? It was
not so easy for a lady to travel. In the South particularly, she would
be hampered in many ways; and “Mrs. Grundy” would have devoted to death
by torture any young girl who could have done so heinous a thing as
take a journey of observation by herself! Miss Legaré, therefore, was
shut in to contemplation of the boundless ocean and the swamp forest
almost as limitless. Dark scenes and deep shadows, with warm glowing
skies became features in her paintings, and her trees of great variety,
clear, deep water, and skies were pronounced by critics superior to
those of the artists she most admired. She adopted in a measure the
style of Ruysdael, mingled, in the more delicate shades, with the
warmth of Cuyp.
In the summer of 1833 her longing wish was gratified. She went,
accompanied by her mother, to spend the warm season amid the glorious
mountain scenery of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina. This region has
been thought to surpass in magnificence and majesty any mountainous
district in the Atlantic States. Miss Legaré was far more delighted
with these mountains than with the scenery of Lake George and the
Hudson, which she had visited the year before, finding it, as well
as the Alleghany range, to disappoint her expectations. But when, on
her approach to Asheville, her eyes rested on the exhaustless variety
of form and tint, blended into soft harmony, on the distant Blue
Ridge, the beauty and sublimity of the scene filled her with emotions
she had no language to express. There was awful grandeur as well as
touching loveliness in the view. Pisgah and surrounding peaks towering
skyward--the summit covered with vapor that glowed with gorgeous
colors, like a drapery of scarlet and gold--the vast mass played on by
the mellow purple and violet tints peculiar to lofty mountains--the
delicate azure mingling with fairy lights of golden violet--all
softened into harmony by an atmosphere so transparent, so Claude-like
in its purity, that it seemed the movement of a bird could be discerned
at a distance of forty or fifty miles! Miss Legaré here realized, for
the first time, what few out of Italy can realize, the naturalness of
Claude’s landscapes; the exquisite art of his unequaled coloring, which
gives to his delineations of Alpine scenery so wonderful an effect.
Miss Legaré’s intense enjoyment of the beauties of nature in this
favored region during a three months’ residence gave her an invincible
repugnance to the work of copying the productions of any human artist.
She always painted in oil; and, having brought no materials with her,
could not transfer to her sketches the colors she so admired while on
the spot. But memory had faithfully treasured these delicious pictures,
and on her return to Charleston she lost no time in putting them on
canvas. “A View on the Suwannee,” now in possession of the widow of
Colonel Cogdell, was pronounced by him a master-piece. Another view
on the French Broad, illustrating the distinguishing characteristics
of the scenery of that river, was purchased in 1834 by the proprietors
of the Art Union in New York. The first scene that had so struck Miss
Legaré was painted on too large a scale. It was, however, much admired;
and the same subject, represented in smaller compass, is esteemed a
finer picture.
In Miss Legaré’s landscapes she gives to her coloring and combinations
as much idealizing as truth to nature will admit. An artist, who was
delighted both with her music and her painting, observed of the latter
to her brother Hugh, “It is natural, but more beautiful than nature; it
is poetical.” Another, when Hugh remarked that she must go to Italy,
replied, “No, your sister studies our own wild nature--rich, romantic,
glowing under a tropical sun, luxuriant when touched with frost; if she
go to Italy, or study the old landscape-painters, she may give a finer
finish, but it will be artificial.” These artistic criticisms gave her
encouragement; and when she repeated to Mr. Cogdell what was said in
praise of her works, he would say, triumphantly, “I told you so, but
you would not believe me!”
Her rich foregrounds, transparent water, and distant mountains, as
well as her skies and foliage, have been highly praised by Sully and
other eminent artists. She owed to Mr. Cogdell her introduction to the
science of perspective, having been accustomed in early efforts to be
guided by the eye alone. A knowledge of anatomy was of use, as she
always introduced figures into her landscapes, painted with fidelity
and spirit. She excels, besides, in the delineation of animals, wild
and domestic, especially dogs, cows, and sheep. A Spanish pointer,
painted nearly of life size, was so perfect in anatomy that Dr. Sewell
of Washington pronounced it a study for a student of that branch. “The
Hounds of St. Bernard” is an admirable painting. The piteous, appealing
expression in the face of one that is represented howling for aid
struck even every child who saw it. A little girl exclaimed, “How sorry
that dog is! he is afraid the people won’t come.”
Besides animals, Miss Legaré has painted portraits; but this branch
never enlisted her enthusiasm--that was for landscapes.
On the appointment of her brother as a member of President Tyler’s
cabinet in 1841, Miss Legaré accompanied him to Washington. Her life
of calm enjoyment was soon disturbed by sorrow. She was bereaved of
mother, sister, and brother within the space of a year. She had long
cherished a purpose of visiting the Western country, and in June, 1849,
went to Iowa. Finding the country very productive and well suited to
farming purposes, she sent for some of the children of her deceased
sister. They came with their families to the new home, and formed
a colony of twenty-one persons. The scenery in Iowa, though often
beautiful, is tame compared to the mountainous country of the Atlantic
states. Green fields, luxuriant woods, flower-bordered streams,
and groves carpeted with wild grass, forming a charming variety of
landscape, are presented; but there are few scenes that startle with
their magnificence or grandeur. Miss Legaré found, in the new cares
that surrounded her, and the habits of life so different from those to
which she had been accustomed, such a pressure of occupation, that her
beloved art was for a time abandoned. The Western housekeeper usually
finds little time for the pleasures of the imagination; but she was
not one to forget the best interests of others, particularly of her
own sex. She established an institution called “Legaré College,” for
the liberal education of women, at West Point, in Lee County, Iowa.
Her talents and taste, her varied and uncommon learning and energy, as
well as her means, were devoted to the support of this institution;
but its aim was too far in advance of the age in Iowa, or, rather, its
operations were impeded by that utilitarian spirit which has set its
heavy, ungainly foot on every high aspiration in this country, and has
prevented the progress of woman toward improvement that might enlarge
her sphere of usefulness.
A writer who is intimately acquainted with Miss Legaré--now Mrs.
Bullen--thus speaks of her accomplishments:
“The literature of the world, its science and its art, are with her
as household things. They flow from her eloquent tongue as music from
the harp of the minstrel. No pent-up Utica confines her powers--no
Aztec theory of woman cripples her labors, or impoverishes her mind
or her policy. A Mississippi feeling, and theory, and action actuate
her, and we may all look for corresponding results.” Her influence in
the community where she resides has directed attention to both art and
literature.
Mrs. Bullen intends resuming the pencil she has for years almost
entirely laid aside. She has completed a design for a painting to be
called “The Squatter’s Home.” It shows a wagon under the shade of a
Western group of tall trees, which serves for the sleeping-place of the
emigrant family. The mother is washing beside a stream; the children
are gathering strawberries.
HERMINIE DASSEL.
Mrs. Dassel was a native of Königsberg, Prussia. Her father’s name was
Borchard; he was a banker, and at one time a man of fortune, which
enabled him to secure to his children an excellent education. He lost
his property in 1839, in consequence of financial troubles in America;
the liquidation of his affairs reduced his possessions to a small farm,
depriving his family of teachers, servants, horses and carriages,
and all the comforts which they had enjoyed. Upon the elder children
devolved the duties of housekeeping, and the cultivation of the farm to
some extent, as well as the instruction of the younger members of the
family. At this time Herminie devoted herself to the art of painting
as a profession, hoping to derive from it a support for herself and
family. She would attend to her household duties in the morning, and
then, with port-folio in hand, wander off over the dusty or muddy road
to the city, and again return to attend to the flowers and cabbages,
and the making of cheese and butter. She soon had the satisfaction of
receiving a commission for a full-sized portrait of a clergyman; this
she painted in the church, with her model on the altar, the country
folk standing about, astonished and wondering that such a tiny little
girl could accomplish such a marvel.
She soon went to Düsseldorf, attracted thither by the pictures of
Sohn, which she saw in an exhibition in her native city. She studied
with this artist four years, supporting herself entirely by her own
exertions. Her pictures found ready sale, consisting of such subjects
as “Children in the Wood,” “Peasant Girls in a Vineyard,” “Children
going to the Pasture with Goats,” etc.
After her return home she applied herself again to portrait-painting,
in order to obtain money sufficient for a tour to Italy, which was
the great end of her ambition. She was fortunate enough to be able
to accumulate in one year a thousand dollars. Out of this sum she
furnished her brother with an amount large enough to secure his
promotion to a doctor’s degree, as she wanted to have him accompany her
as a traveling companion.
A journey to Italy was much opposed by all her relatives; a girl so
young, fresh, and diminutive could not protect herself; she would
inevitably encounter serious misfortunes. But her mind was made up; she
packed her things, took leave of her friends, and one morning started
off on the way to Vienna, directing her brother to follow her. She was
never in want of friends; every where persons took an interest in her;
without money one day, it was sure to come on the next; and her faith
was never shaken by any accident or hardship. In Vienna she began her
studies, seeking models in the streets, and taking them to her room.
From Vienna she passed into Italy. Of her studious life in Italy many
sketches bear witness.
The breaking out of the revolution in 1848 obliged Herminie to leave
Italy, and as the route to Germany was unsafe, and she feared becoming
a burden to her friends, she resolved to go to the United States. An
opportunity presented itself to travel in company with a family in
whose house she lived after her brother had been called home by the
government. She rolled up her sketches, put them in a tin box, and
repaired to Leghorn. When about to pay her passage, the draft she
presented was refused. She sat weeping over the disappointment, with
letters before her from friends in Rome and Germany, imploring her
to abandon this suicidal plan of emigration; representing strongly
the dangers of the journey, the hardships she would encounter in a
foreign land, without money and without friends. She came down to
supper. A traveler just arrived, observing her eyes red with weeping,
was led to show an interest in her; she related her troubles, upon
which the stranger examined the draft, and, finding it good, gave her
the cash for it. This gentleman was an Italian, and she continued in
correspondence with him. The next day she was on board a vessel bound
for this country.
She arrived in February, 1849. The only letter of introduction she
brought was to Mr. Hagedorn, of Philadelphia, in whom she subsequently
found a friend and protector. She landed in New York, and at once
began to paint. Her first pictures, representations of Italian life,
exhibited in the Art Union, were much admired, and some of them were
purchased by that institution. She found no difficulty in making
friends.
Five months after her arrival she married Mr. Dassel. After her
marriage she led a happy life, with cares and sorrows incidental to the
care of a family, and to an arduous profession. She triumphed over all,
however, and realized all the comforts which belong to success.
Mrs. Dassel was most successful in portraits in oil of children
and pastel-portraits. Her painting of “Effie Deans” attracted much
attention. Her latest works are copies of Steinbruck’s “Fairies”
and the “Othello” in the Düsseldorf Gallery, which are unusually
successful works of this class. She made steady progress in her art,
and would have doubtless attained a prominent position had she lived to
develop her powers by practice and study.
We should not be doing justice to this noble woman not to allude to the
social virtues which endeared her to so many friends. With nothing to
rely upon but her own exertions, with serious illness in her family,
she was never so poor in time or money as not to interest herself in
behalf of others more unfortunate than herself. Countless instances
are known of her serviceable kind-heartedness. She exerted herself at
the time of the dreadful shipwreck of the Helena Sloman, and obtained
by personal efforts, in a few days, the sum of seven hundred dollars;
and her ministrations among the poor were constant during the severe
winter of 1853. She has, it is true, many peers in similar acts of
benevolence, but few who practiced deeds of this kind in a position so
little calculated to develop them.
Mrs. Dassel died on the 7th December, 1857, and was buried in Greenwood.
Jane Stuart was the youngest child of Gilbert Stuart, the eminent
portrait-painter. Like many of her sisters in art, she inherited the
genius she discovered in early life; but it was not till after her
father’s death that the talent she had shown found development in the
practice of art. She has resided for a long time at Newport, Rhode
Island, in the enjoyment of the celebrity her talents have acquired.
Mrs. Hildreth of Boston deserves mention, especially for her portraits
of children in crayon. Miss May painted landscapes in Allston’s style.
Mrs. Orvis has been mentioned as a flower-painter of remarkable skill.
Hoyt remarked that he knew nothing better in coloring than her autumn
leaves and wild flowers. In this style, Mrs. Badger, of New York, has
acquired reputation by her book of “The Wild Flowers of America,”
published in 1859. The drawings were all made and colored from nature
by herself.
Mrs. Hawthorne of Boston has painted many beautiful pieces. An
“Edymion,” which was greatly admired, she presented to Mr. Emerson.
She also modeled the head of Laura Bridgman. Mrs. Hill is a
highly-successful miniature-painter.
Mrs. Greatorex is a landscape-painter of merit, and is rapidly
acquiring distinction. She has a deep love of wild mountain and lake
scenery, dark woods, and rushing waters; and her productions are marked
by the vigor of tone and dashing, impetuous freedom of touch especially
adapted to that kind of subjects. This felicitous boldness she has in a
remarkable degree, and her works are marked by truthfulness as well as
strength. She has painted many pieces of romantic scenery in Scotland
and Ireland. Her amiable character, her ready sympathy and benevolence,
have interested many friends in her success.
Mrs. George Woodman, the eldest daughter of Mr. Durand, has painted
some excellent landscapes; also Mrs. Ruggles. Miss Gove’s crayon heads
have been much noticed and admired. Miss Caroline May’s landscapes have
proved her claim to the double wreath of artist and authoress. Miss
Granbury’s flowers have attracted attention in the Academy exhibitions.
Some pretty interior scenes were in the exhibition of 1859, painted by
Miss Juliana Oakley. It is necessary to omit many names of artists who
have not yet had experience enough to constrain public acknowledgment
of the genius they possess.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
MRS. LILY SPENCER.--Early Display of Talent.--Removal to New
York.--To Ohio.--Out-door Life.--Chase of a Deer.--Encounter
with the Hog.--Lifting a Log.--Sketch on her bedroom
Walls.--Encouragement.--Curiosity to see her Pictures.--Her
Studies.--Removal to Cincinnati.--Jealousy of Artists.--Lord
Morpeth.--Lily’s Marriage.--Return to New York.--Studies.--Her
Paintings.--Kitchen Scenes.--Success and Fame.--Her Home and
Studio.--Louisa Lander.--Inheritance of Talent.--Passion for
Art.--Development of Taste for Sculpture.--Abode in Rome.--Crawford’s
Pupil.--Her Productions.--“Virginia Dare.”--Other Sculptures.--Late
Works.--Mary Weston.--Childish Love of Beauty and Art.--Devices
to supply the Want of Facilities.--Studies.--Departure from
Home.--Is taken back.--Perseverance amid Difficulties.--Journey
to New York.--Sees an Artist work.--Finds Friends.--Visit to
Hartford.--Return to New York for Lessons.--Marriage.--Her
Paintings.--Miss Freeman.--Variously gifted.--Miss Dupré.--The Misses
Withers.--Mrs. Cheves.--Mrs. Hanna.
LILY M. SPENCER.
Mrs. Spencer’s high position among American artists is universally
recognized in the profession. In her peculiar style, her executive
talent is probably unsurpassed in the country. She has encountered many
difficulties in her path to success, and a glance at her history will
not be without encouragement to those who possess a portion of her
energy and perseverance.
Her parents, whose name is Martin, were born in France, but removed
to England soon after their marriage. They were persons of education,
refinement, and good social standing. Mr. Martin taught French in
academies in Plymouth and Exeter, and gave lectures at his own house on
scientific subjects, especially optics and chemistry. Mrs. Martin at
one time gave instruction in a ladies’ seminary in London. Lily owed
all her proficiency to her parents’ judicious training, and never went
to a school. Her talent for drawing began early to exhibit itself.
One day, when she was about five years old, she got at some diagrams
her father had prepared for a lecture on optics, and drew an eye so
correctly that her turn for art was at once perceived.
She was the eldest of four children, and was not six years of age when
her parents removed to New York, where Mr. Martin was induced, by Dr.
Hosack and others, to open an academy. Mr. John Van Buren was one of
his pupils. Lily’s drawings were much coveted by the little scholars,
who begged them from her, and gave in return the most flattering
expressions of admiration.
When between eight and nine, she was taken to the old Academy of
Design. There she selected the “Ecce Homo,” as a special subject for
imitation. The girl-pupils laughed at her taste, and Lily, abashed,
burst into tears. Mr. Dunlap, then a teacher, came and asked what was
the matter. When informed, he reproved the girls, and predicted that
the young stranger would be remembered when they were all forgotten.
Her power of copying whatever pleased her childish fancy increased,
though she did not then appreciate the necessity of a patient study
of the elementary principles of art. Her health was at this time so
delicate that her parents feared she would not live to reach maturity.
The desire to afford her the advantage of country air and exercise,
with the want of very attractive prospects for their enterprise in New
York, determined them to go to the West. They purchased a farm in Ohio,
a few miles from Marietta, where they soon had a picturesque Swiss
cottage, with a beautiful garden, and a mineral closet filled with the
presents of Mr. Martin’s former pupils.
Lily was enchanted with the change from a city life, and with the
liberty she enjoyed of roaming at will through woods and fields, for,
her health being the paramount object, no restraint was placed on the
child. Her time was passed in working in her garden, playing and racing
with other children, hunting for insects, shells, and minerals, often
wet up to the waist in the search, while her drawing was forgotten.
Thus constantly, like Rosa Bonheur, in the open air, she rapidly
regained strength and health. One day, when about thirteen years old,
she was walking in the woods with her father. A deer, frightened from
his covert, dashed by them to leap a fence. Lily wanted a pet, and
instantly ran after the animal. As he sprang over the fence she caught
his hind legs and clung to them, while her father’s dog throttled the
captive. Some men came up directly, and, seeing the girl with her face
covered with blood, killed the deer, notwithstanding her entreaties
that he might be spared.
On another occasion they were killing hogs at Mr. Martin’s place. A
powerful young porker fled foaming and champing from the slayers of his
brethren, and got over a fence into the orchard. Lily ran to stop his
flight, and the desperate animal made at her. She tried to get a stick
to defend herself, but her feet slipped on the apples that strewed
the ground, and she fell, in the very gripe of the hog. The maddened
creature might have injured her fatally, but her faithful dog sprang
upon him, and diverted his rage to another enemy. Lily saw his teeth
buried in the poor dog’s shoulder, and, resolved not to abandon her
deliverer, struck the hog a violent blow and ran; the foe, still held
by the dog, in swift pursuit. She was overtaken close to a drain, into
which the three combatants tumbled together. At this juncture the men
came running to the spot with three or four dogs, and rescued both her
and her preserver, that to the last would not relinquish his hold of
the porker. Lily’s first care was to pull into place the poor dog’s
dislocated shoulder.
An illustration of her impulsive nature, and readiness to give
assistance where it was needed, is an incident that occurred a few
months later. Six or seven men were burning logs in a field. She saw
them from the house making signals that they wanted one more hand to
lift a log. Seizing a crowbar, the young girl ran to the spot, placed
it under the log, and helped to raise it to the burning pile.
Her love of sketching soon began to revive. In her fourteenth year she
took a fancy to see the effect of a new style of costume which she
thought would be very becoming to herself. She drew a lady’s figure,
thus attired, with black crayons and coarse chalk, on the wall of her
bedroom. Pleased with her creation, it occurred to her that the lady
ought to be attended by admiring beaux, and she added the figures of
two gentlemen. The group was delineated one day when the other members
of her family were absent, and, fearing that her mother would be
displeased at her for daubing the walls, she hung her dresses over the
sketch, so as to screen it from observation.
The next day her young brothers were playing ball in her room, and
chanced to discover the group on the wall. Full of boyish mischief,
they decided that the richly-dressed lady would make a fine target,
and, in spite of their sister’s remonstrances, they commenced throwing
their balls at her. Lily, in great distress at the menaced destruction
of her work, complained to her mother; and instead of being reprimanded
for defacing the wall, was told to go on with her sketch, while the
boys were reproved, and forbidden to enter her room. Encouraged by the
praise she received, Lily worked on diligently. She drew a colonnade
behind her figures, then added other groups, representing persons
enjoying themselves at a place of fashionable amusement. The background
was a landscape of hill and valley, rock and sea. This picture being
much admired, she went on covering the walls of her room from floor
to ceiling with the creations of her romantic imagination. Columns
and statues, fountains and grottoes, appeared in her scenes of luxury
and magnificence; and her landscapes were as charming as the forms
with which she enlivened them. In every panel was a distinct picture.
All her leisure hours, after milking the cows and hoeing the corn,
were devoted to this amusement. It was true of her, as Halleck says
it was doubtful of his Wyoming maiden, that she worked in the field
“with Shakspeare’s volume in her bosom borne;” with Sismondi also, and
volumes of history from her father’s splendid library.
The farmers in the neighborhood, and the ladies and gentlemen of
Marietta, came to see the curious sketches, both on the walls and on
canvas, of which they had heard. Saturday afternoons were appointed
for the reception of visitors. The fame of Lily’s talents began to
spread rapidly, and she was mentioned with praise in several newspaper
notices. At her father’s persuasion she tried to study perspective and
anatomy, but it was more agreeable to her impetuous nature to sketch
from her own glowing fancy, than to pore over the dry bones and plates
of different parts of the human frame. In coloring, also, she would
trust to her intuitive perceptions rather than to a regular course of
study. Her father procured her muslin for her experiments, and, after
covering many yards, she became fully aware of her own deficiencies,
which she resolved to conquer. Her unwillingness to be taught arose
from the self-reliance of an independent character, and not from an
inflated idea of her own acquirements.
Her parents became more and more solicitous to give her all the
advantages they could procure; and a letter from a wealthy gentleman
of Cincinnati, describing the opportunities that would be offered for
studying in that city, determined them to leave the farm and remove
thither.
Miss Martin’s pictures were exhibited in Cincinnati, and attracted the
attention of connoisseurs. They were large, as her figures of life
size best enlisted her own sympathies. Her battle with the world now
commenced in earnest. The jealousy of rival artists was awakened by the
certainty that a rising genius had come among them. Flippant critics
pleased others and their own vanity by decrying her productions. But
she continued to paint, and sometimes had good fortune in disposing
of her pictures, practicing her art with undiminished industry and
enthusiasm, even while discouraged by the want of patronage.
On one occasion she was in company with Lord Morpeth. Addressing him as
“Mr. Morpeth,” she was reminded apart by her father that she ought to
say “my lord.” “No, indeed,” replied the young lady; “I never saw a man
I would call ‘my lord’ yet.”
Miss Martin was married in Cincinnati to Mr. Spencer. When surrounded
by the cares of a young family she continued to paint, but her style
changed. At first her pictures had been poetical and semi-allegorical.
She liked to embody some suggestive idea, or a whole history, in a
group, as in several of her scenes from Shakspeare. Her “Water Sprite,”
representing the escape of Spring from Winter, is of this class. After
she became a mother, her taste was more for bits of domestic life,
and she found matter-of-fact pictures more salable than her cherished
ideals.
After living some seven years in Cincinnati, Mrs. Spencer returned with
her family to New York, stopping a year in Columbus, Ohio, where she
painted portraits and fancy-pieces. In New York she visited the Academy
for the purpose of improving herself by drawing after the antique,
often going in the evening, as her labors and cares absorbed her during
the day, and sitting among the male art-students. One, who noticed the
quiet, modest-looking girl at work, undertook to point out the best
models, but soon discovered he was trying to teach his superior. She
was made a member of the Academy. Her “May Queen” and “Choose Between”
were much praised in the Art Union Exhibition. “The Jolly Washerwoman,”
sold by that institution, became celebrated. It was painted impromptu
from a scene in the artist’s own kitchen. A connoisseur was so much
pleased with one of her pictures that he insisted on paying more than
was asked for it.
“The Flower Girl” and “Domestic Felicity,” exhibited in Philadelphia,
elicited general admiration, and proved Mrs. Spencer’s possession of
the highest order of talent. A connoisseur remarked that the latter
picture excelled any other production that had appeared in the gallery
since its first opening. Its vigor and freshness were as remarkable as
its rich and harmonious coloring, while the drawing and composition
were pronounced admirable. It represented a mother and father bending
over their sleeping children, and several artists observed that they
knew of no one who could surpass the painting of the mother’s hand.
The managers of the Art Union in Philadelphia were so delighted with
this picture that a few of their number privately subscribed to
purchase it, the rules not allowing directors to expend the funds
except for paintings selected by the prizeholders. It was afterward
sold to an association in the West. The Western Art Union purchased
several of Mrs. Spencer’s works, and had one engraved for their annual
presentation plate.
Mrs. Spencer found her kitchen scenes so popular that she adopted
that comic, familiar style in many of her paintings. “Shake Hands?”
represents a girl making pastry, and holding out her floured hand with
a humorous smile. This manner the artist has been obliged to adhere
to on account of the ready sale of such pictures, while the subjects
that better pleased her own taste have been neglected. Yet she has
contrived to introduce a moral into every one of her comic pieces.
“The Contrast” embodies a touching story. It is in two pictures: one
showing a pampered, petulant little dog, barking at some intruder from
his velvet cushion surrounded by silken draperies; the other, a meagre,
skin-and-bone animal, creeping through the pitiless snow-storm in
search of food for its young ones. Mrs. Spencer excels in her pictures
of different animals.
Some time ago Mrs. Spencer made a series of original designs--twenty
or thirty--illustrative of scenes in the volumes of “The Women of the
American Revolution.” All these have not yet been published. Perhaps
more of her paintings have been engraved than of any American artist.
All are of her own composition, and most of them are domestic scenes.
One called “Pattycake” shows a young mother, with her baby on her lap,
teaching it to clap its hands; another, “Both at Play,” represents a
father teasing his little girl by holding an air-balloon just out of
her reach. These are done in the highly-finished German style adopted
by Mrs. Spencer. She usually takes her own children for models.
“The Captive” exhibits a slave in market, her master lifting the veil
that concealed her charms. Its touching expression is admirable.
“Reading the Legend” shows a lovely lady listening to a reading within
view of a noble castle; but we do not like the taste of either the
costume or the attitude of the reader.
Mrs. Spencer encountered serious difficulties in New York before she
acquired the fame she now enjoys. In 1858 she purchased a lovely place
in a retired part of Newark, New Jersey, where she now resides with
her happy family. Her studio is at the foot of her garden, a large
building, with its walls covered by sketches, casts, etc., where the
artist labors assiduously. Visitors from distant cities come here to
see her paintings, and she usually has several in progress at the same
time. “The Gossips,” a large painting _de genre_, with ten figures of
women and children, has attracted much attention. The scene represents
the yard of a tenement-building, where women are engaged in washing,
preserving fruit, cooking, and other sorts of work. They have gathered
into a group to listen to some tale of scandal from a stranger, with a
basket of bread; and the children are getting into mischief the while.
A little boy has fallen into the bluing-tub of clothes, while a younger
girl is laughing violently at his mishap; a dog has laid hold of the
meat a boy has forgotten to look after, and a cat in the window is
skimming the pan of milk. The peaches in a basket in the foreground
look as if they might be picked out and eaten, so rich and fresh is
the coloring. The effect of light on one of the female figures is
exquisitely beautiful. The whole picture is highly finished, and its
merits are enough to make a reputation for any artist.
Mrs. Spencer’s pictures may be seen in many of the shops where works of
art are for sale, and the prints engraved from them are very numerous.
She has now a prospect of independence and success before her, and may
achieve triumphs greater than any she has yet accomplished.
LOUISA LANDER.
This young lady is a native of Salem, Massachusetts, and descended from
some of the oldest and most respected families of that good old town.
She is a daughter of Edward Lander and Eliza West, whose father was
claimed as a relative, while on a visit to London, by Sir Benjamin West.
Mrs. Lander’s maternal grandfather, Elias Haskel Derby, sent the first
American ship to India, giving the first impetus to our commerce with
that country. His were the first American vessels seen at the Cape of
Good Hope and the Isle of France. Captain Richard Derby, his father,
was noted in the Revolutionary struggle. He bought and presented to
the town of Salem the cannon which Colonel Leslie attempted to seize.
When he demanded the arms, at the head of his regiment, Captain
Derby’s reply was, “Find them, and take them if you can; they will
never be surrendered!” and his courage preserved the treasure. He was
instrumental, too, in inciting his fellow-townsmen to the exploit of
raising the drawbridge and sinking the boats--the first repulse of the
British in the commencement of hostilities.
Colonel F. W. Lander, the Pacific Railroad explorer, is the brother
of the subject of our sketch. In various branches of her family has
artistic talent shown itself. Her grandmother and her mother were
remarkable for their fondness for art, and gave evidence thereof
in works of their own. In the old family mansion, where Louisa’s
childhood was spent, are carvings upon the walls and over the lofty
doors, designed by her grandmother, and executed under her directions.
Similar designs, evincing both taste and skill, decorated the mahogany
furniture; and the canopies and coverings of the furniture were
embroidered by the lady, according to the fashion of the day, her own
fancy supplying the beautiful designs. It can hardly be said when
commenced the artist-life of the young girl brought up under such
influences. She was, as a child, singularly grave and thoughtful;
serious and reserved at all times, and decided in her judgment, which
was always according to the dictates of sound sense. A love of art,
which might be called an ardent passion, possessed her nature from her
earliest years. On one occasion--the first time she had an opportunity
of seeing a work of real merit--she stood quiet and absorbed in
admiration. Her sister, who had been pointing out the peculiar touches
of skill, turned to ask her opinion, and saw her face bathed in tears.
This was a surprising demonstration for a child who had been scarcely
ever known to exhibit emotion, and whose self-control was so uncommon
that her manner usually appeared cold. It seems as if art alone could
arouse the full ardor and energy of her spirit.
When a very little child, at different times, she modeled two heads
for broken dolls. One was made of light sealing-wax, and the modeling
of both was so wonderfully accurate that her mother would not allow
the child to play with them, but kept them as curiosities. On another
occasion Louisa brought one of her drawings from school, so admirably
executed, especially in the face, that her relatives thought the touch
a happy accident, and were inclined to disbelieve her assertions that
she had meant to produce the very effect given to her picture.
After her talent for sculpture had been fairly developed, she resolved
on the devotion of her life to that branch of art. Her intense
perception and enjoyment of the beautiful, awakened a thirst within her
which could only be slaked at the fountain-head; and, driven forth, as
it were, by this longing, she left her happy home in Salem--her circle
of beloved relatives and congenial friends--to go among untried scenes,
fixing her abode in Rome. There she speedily acquired a reputation
which drew around her friends interested in the progress and triumph of
genius. She was a pupil of the lamented Crawford--the only one he ever
consented to admit into his studio, for he had discerned in her early
efforts the promise of future eminence. She evinced, from the first, a
remarkable power in portraits, catching the most delicate and subtle
shades of likeness. One of her productions is a bust of Governor Gore,
executed from two oil portraits; a difficult piece of work, as the
portraits were not alike, having been taken at different periods of his
life. The bust was pronounced an excellent likeness by Chief Justice
Shaw and others who remember the governor. Miss Lander finished it in
marble for the Harvard Library. It is to be placed in Gore Hall, in
Cambridge.
This talent for likenesses is observable in the first efforts of Miss
Lander. When very young, before she had attempted modeling, she carved
from an old alabaster clock, with a penknife, several heads and faces
in bas-relief. These were noticed by a friend, who gave her a bit of
shell and some gravers, and at once, without the least instruction, she
carved a head in cameo. Likenesses of her mother and other friends were
made, and pronounced very striking. Her first modeling was a bas-relief
portrait of her father; it was followed by a bust of her brother, the
late chief-justice of Washington Territory.
Her work “To-day,” was seen in ambrotype, on her arrival in Rome, by
Crawford, and his admiration of it perhaps induced him to receive her
as his pupil. The figure is an emblem of our youthful country. The
head is crowned with a chaplet of morning glories; the drapery is the
American flag, fastened at the breast and the shoulder with the stars.
Its look forward typifies progress in so spirited a manner that, at
first sight, one might be startled by the apparent movement of life. A
flower falling from the hair on the neck behind, adds to this effect of
motion. Power and spirit are prominent characteristics of the work.
This, with her “Galatea,” a figure full of grace and tenderness, was
modeled before Miss Lander went to Italy. She had also finished a fine
bust of her father, a perfect likeness, and exquisitely chiseled in
marble.
After Miss Lander went to Rome, she executed many portrait busts, among
them a fine one of Hawthorne, and a bas-relief of Mountford. A letter
from Rome described, as seen in her studio, “A charming statuette
of Virginia Dare,” about three feet in height. This child was the
granddaughter of John White, governor of the Colony of Virginia at the
period of one of the early disastrous expeditions of Sir Walter Raleigh.
“About the month of August, in 1587, Mrs. Dare, daughter of the
governor, was delivered of a daughter in Roanoke, who was baptized the
next Lord’s-day by the name of Virginia, being the first English child
born in the country. Before the close of August, the governor, at the
earnest solicitation of the whole colony, sailed for England to procure
supplies. An unfortunate turn of affairs at home prevented another
expedition from reaching Virginia until 1590, when, upon arrival, it
was found that the houses of the former settlers were demolished,
though still surrounded by a palisade, and a great part of the stores
was discovered buried in the ground; but no trace was ever found of
the unfortunate colony. Bancroft says that, when the governor sailed
for England, he left the infant and her mother as hostages, and it is
presumed that they were carried into captivity by the Indians, as,
after this, European features could be traced in the Indian lineaments.
“Miss Lander represents her Virginia as brought up an Indian princess,
displaying in her erect attitude and beautiful form the fearless
dignity and grace that such a life would impart. The head and face
are very fine, exhibiting the thoughtfulness and spirituality that
would naturally be derived from the dreamy recollections of her early
life. The figure is semi-nude; the drapery, a light fishing-net, is
charmingly conceived and executed, being worn like an Indian blanket;
and the ornaments are wampum beads. This design, possessing the charm
of novelty and historic interest, shows that we have in our own country
rich subjects of sculpture, without resorting to the old heathen
mythology.”
Miss Lander afterward made a life-size statue of Virginia in marble.
Her reclining statue of “Evangeline” forms a fine contrast to this;
“the one full of force and energy, all life and motion; the other so
still and tranquil in her sweet, profound slumber. She is represented
at the moment when, worn out with her wanderings, she sleeps under the
cedar-tree by the river-side,
“‘For this poor soul had wandered,
Bleeding and barefooted, over the shards and thorns of existence.’
Her deep repose is not so much slumbering as like one in a trance. In
the marble this is shown exactly by her attitude, as though she had
dropped from utter weariness; her drapery hangs heavily about her,
and still more heavily falls her hand; the whole figure is expressive
of deep rest--almost painful it would be but for the beautiful face,
lighted up by ‘the thought in her heart’ that her lover is near, and
that
“‘Through those shadowy aisles Gabriel had wandered before her,
Every stroke of the oar now brings him nearer and nearer
(Now she slept beneath the cedar-tree).
Such was the vision Evangeline saw as she slumber’d beneath it;
Fill’d was her heart with love, and the dawn of an opening heaven
Lighted her soul in sleep with the glory of regions celestial.’
Very beautiful she is; and, as I gazed upon her, I seemed to hear
the dash of Gabriel’s oar, as he glided along behind ‘a screen of
palmettos,’ unseeing and unseen, and was ready to exclaim,
“‘Angel of God, is there none to awaken the maiden?’”
Another work by Miss Lander is “Elizabeth, the Exile of Siberia,”
a spirited yet feminine figure, “very pretty in its picturesque
costume--the short cloak, Russian boots, and closely-fitting cap.”
This gifted young artist has finished a statuette of “Undine.” It is a
drooping figure, with expression full of sadness, just rising from the
fountain to visit earth for the last time. The base of the fountain is
surrounded by shells forming water-jets; Undine is in the central one,
and the drapery falls from her hand into water as it drops. She has
also finished a “Ceres Mourning for Proserpine.” The goddess is leaning
upon a sheaf of wheat; her hands and head are drooping, as if she were
planning her daughter’s escape. “A Sylph,” just alighted--an airy,
floating figure, her puzzled attention fixed on a butterfly--is another
of Miss Lander’s creations.
MARY WESTON.
The history of this lady illustrates the development, amid unfavorable
circumstances, of that self-reliant energy which often forms a
marked characteristic of the natives of New England. The spirit of
independence, when joined, as in her case, to feminine gentleness and
grace, is ennobling to any woman, and its working is both interesting
and instructive.
Mary Pillsbury was born in Hebron, New Hampshire. Her father was a
Baptist clergyman, holding the strictest tenets of Calvinism. In
her humble home among the mountains, though surrounded by nature’s
wild beauty, the child found nothing to suggest to her an idea of
what art could accomplish. Nevertheless, she saw objects with an
artistic perception, and loved especially to study faces. When taken
to church, she would sit gazing at those around her, and wishing
that in some way--of which as yet she had no conception--she could
copy their features. One day, when between seven and eight, she
noticed a beautiful woman, and, returning home, went quietly to
her father’s study--creeping in, as it was locked, through two
panes of a window, to which she climbed by a chair on the bed--in
search of a slate and pencil. With this she began to make a sketch
of the face that had charmed her. She made the oval outline, but
could not give the expression about the mouth and eyes. With a keen
sense of disappointment she relinquished the hopeless task. But the
artist-passion was awakened within her.
She loved to read books relating to artists better than any thing else,
though fond of study in general, and her partiality for sketching
was indulged whenever she had opportunity. Having observed the work
of a profile-cutter who chanced to come into the neighborhood, she
persevered in attempts at portraits, and practiced cutting them out of
leaves and paper. She had a beautiful young sister, and often prevailed
on her to sit, improving day by day in her untutored efforts, till at
last she was able, by the eye, to take a correct likeness.
Her next achievement was copying the figures and decorations of Indian
chiefs, who not unfrequently came into the little village. A servant
girl, fifteen years old, who was employed in her father’s family, knew
how to sketch houses, and this knowledge was willingly imparted to
little Mary. Her pictures, though rude in design and execution, were in
great demand among her schoolfellows; but Mrs. Pillsbury thought the
study of painting would interfere with more important branches, and
that a thorough English education should first be acquired. The young
girl, however, could not be prevented from watching the drawing-lessons
of other scholars. She would practice at home; and so earnest was her
application that it was not long before she produced a drawing agreed
on all sides to be superior to the exercises of the regular pupils.
For the colors of her flowers Mary used beet-juice, extract of bean
leaves prepared by herself, etc., till the welcome present of a box of
paints made her independent of such contrivances. The romantic scenery
surrounding her home had now a new charm. Day after day she would
wander about the fields and woods, sketching, and indulging in visions
of an artistic life. When twelve years old, one day she accompanied her
parents to Sutton, in New Hampshire. A protracted meeting was held,
and her father was to preach. Paying little attention to the doctrines
promulgated, as formerly Mary occupied herself in scanning new faces in
the rural assemblage. Near the place of meeting was the colossal figure
of the Goddess of Liberty, richly arrayed, and painted in colors by a
Free-will Baptist preacher. She obtained a seat close to the window
during one of the services, and carefully studied what appeared to her
a perfect triumph of art. After she went home she produced a clever
sketch of it. From this time goddesses of liberty multiplied in her
hands, and became famous in the school and neighborhood. One of them
was actually put into a magazine. So creditable were they considered,
that a rather unscrupulous young girl of her acquaintance presented one
to her lover as her own work; and when he challenged her to produce
another, she came to persuade Mary to make it for her.
Caring little for the sports and pleasures of her age, it was Mary’s
habit to shut herself up in her father’s study, and, seated upon the
shelves, to read over and over again the biographies of great men
and distinguished women. She kept in advance of all the school-girls
meanwhile, and improved in her drawing during the hours stolen from
her spinning-tasks and the duties involved in taking care of the other
children. She entered now on the reading of the standard and classical
works contained in her father’s library, and a new world seemed opening
before her. Ambitious longings and dreams broke on the monotony of her
lonely life. She resolved to become an artist like those persons of
whom she had read, and compel appreciation from the world. But the mode
of accomplishing her wishes perplexed her. She saw that it would be
necessary to leave home and try her fortune among strangers; but she
loved to picture the day when she would return, laden with honors and
a rich reward for her labors--when her family would be proud of her
success.
When about fourteen, she determined to take the first step toward the
goal she panted to reach. Secretly she quitted her home, taking with
her only a change of dress, and set out to walk through the forest
to Hopkinton, on the way to Concord, where she intended to take up
her abode temporarily, to earn a little money by her labor, and then
establish herself as an artist. She walked thirty miles that day, and
very late at night came to a small house in the country, at which she
stopped, requesting permission to warm and rest herself. The simple
people appeared surprised to see so young a girl traveling alone and
so far from home. They inquired into the particulars of her story with
curious interest, and earnestly pressed her to stay all night. She
consented, and supper was prepared for her, after which she went to
sleep, wearied with the day’s fatiguing journey.
On waking the next morning a strangely familiar voice struck her ear.
She dressed hastily, and went down into the parlor, where she found
her uncle, who had come that far in search of her. Both wept at the
unexpected meeting; but when she had recovered from her confusion, Mary
begged to be permitted to go on to Concord. This was decidedly refused,
and, reluctant and mortified at the failure of her romantic enterprise,
she was obliged to consent to be taken home.
She was received with tears and embraces by her family, and no word of
reproach, nor even a distant allusion to her disobedience, followed
her attempt to escape from the restraint of parental authority. The
family seemed to be sensible that she had been hardly dealt with; for
the dreams of youthful hope have significance, and nature’s bent should
not be too rudely thwarted. From this time more indulgence was shown to
her frequent neglect of work in which she felt no pleasure, and to her
devotion to books. She engaged in her studies more ardently than ever.
Mr. Pillsbury was not rich, and his daughter had the prospect of
being ultimately obliged to depend on her earnings for a subsistence.
It was her desire to enter as soon as possible on the life whose
hardships she expected to encounter and overcome. She wished to go
beyond the mountains, into the beautiful world on the other side. To
her imagination the soft and roseate tints reposing on those far-off
summits were emblematic of the delights in store for her. But her
parents opposed her wishes, and urged her to remain with them, for some
years at least.
She was about nineteen when, on a visit to Lynn, she saw a portrait
painted by a lady, which seized her attention amid a collection of
indifferent pictures. The longing to be a painter again possessed her
so strongly that she felt it an irresistible passion. Her first plan
was to accompany the lady to Washington and take lessons, but this
scheme was abandoned. About a year after this she went to Boston.
Passing a shop window, she saw a fine painting, that once more
enkindled the flame of artist ambition in her soul. Her determination
was formed. With the sanguine hopes of youth, she fancied that a year’s
preparation would enable her to paint professionally. She accordingly
devoted herself to the practice of her art with that view. Her friends
ridiculed the idea of her becoming an artist for a livelihood, and
predicted the failure of her scheme without powerful patronage.
But this kind of opposition no longer discouraged her, though she was
much hampered by the want of time. The winter was rapidly approaching,
and she felt that it should not pass without some advance in her
beloved studies. She now resolved to go to some place southward where
she could see an artist work, and to paint cheap pictures for her own
support, living plainly in the country till her lessons were completed.
It seemed that she must either do this or die.
Without consulting any one, with only twelve dollars in her possession,
she left Boston in the early morning train, leaving her trunk behind,
and taking only a basket with a few changes of clothes. The undertaking
was not without prayers for a blessing from the Providence who watches
over all human affairs. Her father needed all the aid she could give
him; he had suffered much, and sickness in his family had crippled his
narrow resources. The thought of all this, and what she might do were
she permitted to work out her own ideas, had tortured Mary and rendered
her desperate. In the ardor of her determination now, obstacles seemed
nothing; she was resolved to succeed.
An old man who occupied a seat opposite her in the car noticed her,
and asked many questions. When they stopped at Providence, his evident
curiosity annoyed and alarmed her so much that she ran with all her
speed to the boat bound for New York. On the way she talked with the
stewardess, and asked if she knew any respectable house in the city
where she could obtain board. The stewardess was ignorant of New York,
but inquired of the clerk, and he directed Miss Pillsbury to the house
of Professor Gouraud, a then famous dancing-master.
On repairing to this place she learned that the professor did not
receive boarders, but was recommended to look for a house in Canal
Street. Here it occurred to her to go to a milliner’s shop; she knew
there must be many girls there, respectable, though poor, and thought
that she might hear of a lodging through some of them. She received a
direction to the house of an old lady, whither she went. On being asked
for references, she frankly owned that she had none, and, as the best
explanation she could offer, related her story. The landlady had heard
through a pious friend in Boston--Mrs. Colby, a lady well known for
benevolence--of the strange girl who wanted to be a painter, and she
willingly received the wanderer.
The next day Miss Pillsbury found out that an artist lived in the
neighborhood, and went to him to see how oil-colors were used. She was
allowed to watch him while painting a portrait. Afterward she went to
Dechaux, who then kept a small store for colors; and, provided with the
implements of art, she went to work in earnest. The little grandson of
her landlady was her first subject, and she painted a good likeness of
him, which was taken in part payment for board. Even the artist was
surprised at her success, and prophesied that she would do well after a
year’s study.
After she had been a week in New York, her hostess advised Mary to
go to Hartford, Connecticut, and gave her a letter to the Rev. Henry
Jackson of that place. She went there, and was kindly received. While
there, she painted a little boy, and produced an astonishing likeness.
She had to prepare her own canvas, and grind her paints on a plate with
a case-knife. In about a week after her arrival in Hartford, Squire
Rider and his wife, of Willington, came on a visit to Mr. Jackson. They
were so much pleased with the pictures Mary had produced, that they
invited her to return home with them and paint the members of their
family at five dollars a head. She was to prepare the canvas, while
they would find paints.
Mrs. Colby, in the mean time, had written to Mr. Jackson, requesting
him to advance money on her account to Miss Pillsbury, should it be
necessary; but Mary had no need of more than she could earn. She
wrote to Boston for her trunk, and received it. Her parents, by this
time, had learned her whereabouts, and no longer opposed her wish for
independence.
She made portraits of all the Riders, and of thirty other persons in
Willington. Among her sitters were members of the family of Jonathan
Weston, Esq. Several persons raised a sum by subscription to pay for
the portrait of Miranda Vinton, the Burmese missionary. Miss Pillsbury
had many offers of a home, and invitations to spend her time in
different families, but she preferred living entirely for her art.
Returning to Hartford, she painted a few more portraits. Mr. Weston’s
daughter became her particular friend, and Mary was always warmly
welcomed by her in her father’s house.
The young lady’s uncle, Mr. Weston, of New York, came to pay his
brother a visit, and took a great interest in Mary’s paintings. He
urged her to come to New York, and improve herself by lessons and
study. After his departure, she became once more possessed by an
intense desire to revisit the city, and find some method of making more
rapid progress. She received a letter from the gentleman’s daughter,
inviting her to come at once to New York, where she could profit by the
instruction of experienced artists. The prospect was an alluring one,
but Miss Pillsbury felt that she could not afford to give herself the
luxury of such lessons. She said this in her reply to the letter of
invitation.
Shortly afterward another letter came from Miss Weston, urging her
coming more earnestly. Her father, she said, would procure her a
teacher, and would make arrangements for the winter. She was pressed to
make her home at his house; and, should she not be successful in her
undertaking, he pledged himself to see her safely back to her friends.
This tempting offer was accepted. During the winter Miss Pillsbury
devoted herself to copying paintings. Ere long she must have made the
discovery that another feeling, besides the wish to foster genius, had
led Mr. Weston to be so anxious for her presence. Suffice it to say
that in three months she became his wife, with the understanding that
she was to pursue the profession she had chosen without restraint.
For a few years Mrs. Weston exercised her skill in painting under
circumstances tending to distract her attention. She became the mother
of two children, and the care of them occupied most of her time.
Several of her copies have great merit. Her large picture of the “Angel
Gabriel and Infant Saviour,” from Murillo, is in the possession of Mr.
Henry Stebbins, who married the daughter of Mr. Weston. She made a very
fine copy of Titian’s “Bella Donna” and Guercino’s “Sibylla Samia.”
That of “Beatrice Cenci” has been pronounced an admirable copy. She
also painted a “Fornarina.”
One evening, at a watering-place, at the first ball Mrs. Weston
had ever attended, she was struck by the appearance of a lady who
passed her, leaning on her husband’s arm. The lovely features of this
stranger, her pure and brilliant complexion, her eyes beaming with
cheerful goodness, and an indefinable grace in all her movements,
impressed the artist as if she had seen a vision. Some years afterward
she met Mrs. Coventry Waddell, and recognized in her the charming
ideal who had been enshrined in her memory. Her portrait of this lady
belongs to Mr. George Vansandvoord, of Troy.
Mrs. Waddell’s appreciation of Mrs. Weston’s abilities, and her
friendship, proved a valuable aid to the sometimes discouraged artist.
Mrs. Weston’s flesh tints are especially natural and beautiful, and
she gives a high finish to her copies of paintings. Those from the old
masters, and others, have such wonderful fidelity that her achievements
in this line would alone suffice to make a reputation. “A Witch Scene,”
from Teniers, is admirable. One of her own compositions is “A Scene
from Lalla Rookh,” and she has painted both landscapes and portraits
from nature. She still resides in New York.
ANNA MARY FREEMAN (MADAME GOLDBECK).
has a high rank among miniature-painters in this country. She is the
daughter of an American painter, though she was born in Manchester,
England, where her parents resided for some years. She came to the
United States when very young, and early devoted herself to the
pursuits of art, from which she has for ten years derived her support.
She is gifted in various ways; she has written some excellent poetry
and stories, and is known as an accomplished elocutionist, having
given readings in New York and elsewhere with success. Her powers as a
painter, however, have been exercised most profitably.
Julia du Pré, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, was educated
at Mrs. Willard’s school in Troy, New York. On leaving the school,
she accompanied her mother and sister to Paris. Mrs. du Pré wished to
cultivate to the utmost her daughter’s talents for music and painting,
and gave her the advantage of the best foreign masters. They had been
three years in France when a sudden reverse deprived them of their
ample fortune; yet, with reduced means, they remained a year longer,
that Julia might devote herself to the study of painting in oil. On
their return to Charleston, Mrs. du Pré and her daughters opened a
school for young ladies, which was attended with success. The continual
occupation of teaching, however, deprived Julia of time and opportunity
for the severe study necessary to perfect herself in the art to which
she had wished to devote her life. Every hour of leisure she could
command was given to portrait-painting, and to making copies of admired
works. Many of these were executed with great skill, and drew praise
from Sully and other eminent critics. One of her best portraits is
that of Count Alfred de Vigny, who had been intimate with her family
during their residence in Paris. Miss du Pré also made a fine copy from
Parmegiano, of a Virgin and Child, and a Dido on the Funeral Pile, from
Giulio Romano. These, and other paintings, gained her considerable
repute as an artist. She married Henry Bonnetheau, a miniature-painter
of acknowledged merit, and continues to reside in Charleston. She spent
the summer of 1856 in Paris, for the sake of improving herself in
pastel-painting, and has lately finished some exquisite works in that
style. “The Love-letter,” in the possession of her brother-in-law, Dr.
Dickson of Philadelphia, “The Liaisons,” and “L’Espagnole” have been
highly praised among these.
Mrs. Bonnetheau’s gifts are crowned with the loveliest traits of
woman’s character. She is esteemed and beloved by a large circle of
friends in Charleston, among whom are some of the best educated men in
this country.
The Misses Withers, of Charleston, South Carolina, paint in oil and
water colors, and cut cameos with much ability and skill. They have
also modeled groups and figures with success, and are devoted to these
branches of art.
Mrs. Charlotte Cheves is an amateur artist who might have gained
celebrity had her life been given to the study of painting. She was
Miss M‘Cord, and was born in Columbia, South Carolina. She married Mr.
Langdon Cheves, and resides on his rice plantation nearly opposite
Savannah. She paints miniatures on ivory, some of them excellent
likenesses, and finished with great delicacy. She has also painted
pictures in oil, and excels in pastels and pencil-sketches. She is a
musician, too, and possesses a very fine voice.
Ellen Cooper, the youngest daughter of the celebrated Dr. Thomas
Cooper, was a native of Columbia, South Carolina. She had a fine taste
and much skill in painting and ornamental work, and was remarkable for
intellectual culture and knowledge of general literature. She lived
some years in Mobile with her sister, and there married Mr. James
Hanna, who took her to reside on his sugar plantation near Thibodeaux,
in Louisiana. She died in October, 1858. Her sister is one of the most
accomplished amateur artists in the Southern States.
About seven years ago a School of Design for Women was started by
Miss Hamilton, which, supported by voluntary contributions, met with
encouraging success. It has now been adopted by the trustees of the
Cooper Institute, and a sum is allowed annually for the support of
teachers. The attendance of pupils in 1859 has been double that of any
former year.
MARY ANN DOUGLAS, now Mrs. Johnson, is a native of Westfield,
Massachusetts, where she at present resides. She was married at
eighteen, and had been a wife four years before her artist-life
commenced. While a prisoner in her room, on account of sickness, she
amused herself by copying a landscape in oil-colors. The success of
this attempt opened to her a new source of activity and pleasure.
She devoted herself to the study of painting, and labored with such
earnestness and fidelity that her efforts were crowned with success
beyond her anticipations. Her attention was directed especially to
portraits. For the last four or five years she has worked in crayon
almost exclusively, and has found employment abundantly remunerative.
A visit to New London, Connecticut, was prolonged to nine months’
stay, so great was the popularity of her works in that place; and
during a trip into Central New York she painted many portraits in oil
at excellent prices. Her indefatigable patience in the execution of
details, the fidelity of her likenesses, and the delicate perfection of
finish in her pictures, are remarkable. In the relations of social life
Mrs. Johnson has shown herself amiable and self-sacrificing. She has
not an acquaintance who does not rejoice in the triumphs so worthily
won in spite of many discouragements.
CHAPTER XX.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
EMMA STEBBINS.--Favorable Circumstances of her early Life to the Study
of Art.--Specimens of her Skill shown in private Circles.--Receives
Instruction from Henry Inman.--Correctness of her Portraits.--“A
Book of Prayer.”--Revives Taste for Illuminations.--Her crayon
Portraits.--Copies of Paintings.--Cultivates many Branches of
Art.--Becomes a Sculptor.--Abode in Rome.--Instruction received from
Gibson and Akers.--Late Work from her Chisel.--“The Miner.”--HARRIET
HOSMER.--Dwelling of the Sculptor Gibson in Rome.--His Studio
and Work-room.--“La Signorina.”--The American Sculptress.--Her
Childhood.--Physical Training.--School-life.--Anecdotes.--Studies
at Home.--At St. Louis.--Her Independence.--Trip on the
Mississippi.--“Hesper.”--Departure for Rome.--Mr. Gibson’s
Decision.--Extract from Miss Hosmer’s Letter.--Original
Designs.--Reverse of Fortune.--Alarm.--Resolution.--Industry, Economy,
and Success.--Late Works.--Visit of the Prince of Wales.
EMMA STEBBINS.
Few lady artists of this or any country have been surrounded with
circumstances more favorable to the development of genius. Her
childhood was passed among those who possessed culture and refined
taste, and she was familiar with the elegant adornments of life. She
learned early to embody the delicate creations of her fancy in song
or pictures, as well as to imitate what pleased her. Her family and
nearest circle of friends were ready--as is not always the case--to
appreciate and encourage her efforts. But, though she had no early
difficulties to struggle with, the steep and rugged path to eminent
success could not be smoothed by the hand of affection, and she has
gone through all the lessoning and exercise of powers demanded for
the achievement of greatness, as well from those favored of fortune as
those to whom the capricious goddess has proved a step-dame.
Miss Stebbins is a native of the city of New York, where, till within
a few years, she employed the rare skill she had acquired in different
branches of art for the gratification of her friends or for charitable
purposes. Several artists noticed in the beautiful specimens which
were shown in various circles as her work the evidence of more than
ordinary talent. Among these was Henry Inman, the distinguished
painter. He invited the young girl to visit his studio, and offered
to give her instruction in oil-painting. She had never before taken
lessons, and was pleased with the prospect of study. She improved
under the directions of her teacher, and to this aid some of her
friends attributed the masterly correctness and grace displayed in her
portraits, and for which afterward her crayon sketches were so much
admired.
One of Miss Stebbins’s early works was a volume to which she gave the
title, “A Book of Prayer.” It contains some beautiful specimens of her
poetry, but is chiefly remarkable for its exquisite illuminations.
It was one of the first among the efforts to revive that style of
illustration; and the originality, grace, and beauty of the designs,
with the delicate and elaborate finish of the execution, made it quite
a curiosity of art. Some other books were illuminated by Miss Stebbins
in the same manner.
The love of art in the child of genius “grows by what it feeds on,”
and claims an undivided devotion to its pursuits. Perhaps no kind of
knowledge is so fascinating when its fruits are tasted. Miss Stebbins
found no charm in the social pleasures at her command which could draw
her attention from painting. She finally resolved on an exclusive
consecration of her talents to art, making it the sole business of her
life. She determined to go to Rome.
Several of her crayon portraits, executed in Rome, received the highest
encomiums from acknowledged judges in that city. A copy she made of the
“St. John” of Du Bœuf, and one from a painting in the gallery of the
Louvre, representing a “Girl Dictating a Love-letter,” were noted among
her oil-paintings. Her “Boy and Bird’s Nest” was done in the style of
Murillo. Her pastel-painting of “Two Dogs” has been highly praised.
Almost every branch of the imitative art has been at different periods
cultivated by Miss Stebbins, and her success proves the scope and
versatility of her talent. Besides painting in oil and water colors,
she has practiced drawing on wood and carving wood, modeling in clay,
and working in marble. It is probably in the difficult art of sculpture
that she will leave to America the works by which she will be most
widely known.
She profited, like Miss Hosmer, by the counsels and supervision of
Gibson, and the careful instruction of Akers. A work from her chisel,
in the spring of 1859, commanded the highest suffrages. Mr. Heckscher,
a large proprietor of coal-mines in the United States, had requested
Miss Stebbins to execute for him two typical statues--one of Industry,
the other of Commerce. The figure of Industry is completed, and has
been represented by the artist, with graceful taste, as a miner. A
critic says:
“The figure is that of an athletic, admirably-proportioned youth,
who bears upon his right shoulder the pick, and in the front of his
picturesque slouched hat the miner’s lamp. The weight of the body is
thrown easily and naturally upon the right leg, and the left hand rests
with the carelessness of manly strength upon a block of marble, drilled
and hewn in the manner of a mass of coal. The symmetrical vigor of
the figure, admirable as it is, is not more admirable than the lofty,
ingenuous beauty of the classic head and face, poised in an attitude
equally unforced and striking, upon the graceful, well-rounded throat.
The drapery of the full shirt, open at the neck and close-gathered
about the waist, is managed with particular skill; and while the whole
figure reminds one strikingly of one of those magnificent Gothic kings
whose images stand in the vestibule of the _Museo Borbonico_, at
Naples, the spirit and air of it are purely modern and American. It is,
in truth, one of the most felicitous combinations of every-day national
truth with the enduring and cosmopolite truth of art ever seen, and it
is a work which does equal credit to the sex and the country of the
artist.”
Miss Stebbins has taken up her residence permanently in Rome, amid
those surroundings and associations sought by artists of all nations as
most favorable to their progress. She has been for some time engaged in
modeling in clay several groups which, though as yet unfinished, have
been criticised favorably by connoisseurs and friends.
HARRIET HOSMER.
In the Via Fontanella at Rome--a street close upon the beautiful
Piazza del Popolo, and running at a right angle from the Babuino to
the Corso, a few steps out of the Babuino on the left--is a large,
rough, worm-eaten door, which has evidently seen good service, and
from the appearance of which no casual and uninitiated passer-by would
suspect the treasures of art it conceals and protects. A small piece
of whip-cord, with a knot as handle, issues from a perforated hole,
by means of which--a small bell being set in motion--access is gained
to the studio of England’s greatest living master of sculpture, John
Gibson.
The threshold crossed, the visitor finds himself at once in the midst
of this artist’s numerous works. In a large barn-like shed, with a
floor of earth, on pedestals of various materials, shapes, and sizes,
stand the beautiful Cupid and Butterfly, the wounded Amazon, Paris and
Proserpine gathering flowers, the charming groups of Psyche borne by
the Zephyrs, of Hylas and the Water Nymphs, and the noble basso-relievo
of Phaeton and the Hours leading forth the horses of the Sun, with,
perhaps, a bust or figure in progress by the workman whose duty it is
to keep the studio and attend to the numerous visitors. Facing the door
of entry just described is its counterpart, opening into a fairy-like
square plot of garden, filled with orange and lemon trees and roses,
and, in the spring, fragrant with violets blue and white, Cape jasmine,
and lilies of the valley; while, in a shady recess, and fern-grown nook
trickles a perpetual fountain of crystal-clear water. The sun floods
this tiny garden with his golden light, flecking the trellised walks
with broken shadows, and wooing his way, royal and irresistible lover
as he is, to the humbler floral divinities of the place, sheltered
beneath their own green leaves, or in the superb shade of the acanthus.
Lovely is the effect of this rich glow of sunlight as one stands in the
shade of the studio, perfumed with the sweet blossoms of the South;
lovely the aspect both of nature and of art, into the presence of
which we are so suddenly and unexpectedly ushered from the ugly, dirty
street without. Having gazed our fill here, we step into the garden,
and, turning to the right, if we be favored visitors, friends, or the
friends of friends, we are next ushered into the sanctum of the master
himself, whom we shall probably find engaged in modeling, and from whom
we shall certainly receive a kind and genial welcome, granting always
that we have some claim for our intrusion upon his privacy.
This room, long and narrow, is boarded, and has some pretensions to
comfort; but throughout the whole range of studios the absence of care
and attention will strike the eye, more especially as it is the present
fashion in Rome to render the studios both of painter and sculptor as
comfortable and habitable as possible. From Mr. Gibson’s own room we
are taken into another rough shed, where the process of transformation
from plaster to marble is carried on, and where frequent visitors can
not fail to discover the vast difference which exists in skill and
natural aptitude among the numerous workmen employed.
As the different processes of sculpture are but little known, it may
not be out of place here to throw some light upon them. The artist
himself models the figure, bust, or group, whatever it may be, in clay,
spending all his skill, time, and labor on this first stage. When
complete--and many months, sometimes even years of unwearied study
are given to the task--a plaster cast is taken from the clay figure,
from which cast the workmen put the subject into marble, the artist
superintending it, and reserving to himself the more delicate task
of finishing. Thorwaldsen, speaking of these processes, says, “that
the clay model may be called creation, the plaster cast death, and the
marble resurrection.” Certain it is that the clay model and the marble
statue, when each has received the finishing stroke, are more closely
allied, more nearly identical, one with the other, than either is with
the plaster cast. So alive are sculptors to the fact of the injury done
to their works by being seen in plaster casts, that they bestow great
pains in working them over by hand to restore something of the fineness
and sharpness which the process of modeling has destroyed. So impressed
with this is Powers, the American sculptor, that, with the ingenuity
and inventive skill of his country, he has succeeded in making a
plaster hard almost as marble, and which bears with equal impunity the
file, chisel, and polisher.
There are in Rome workmen devoted to the production of certain
portions of the figure, draped or undraped; for instance, one man is
distinguished for his ability in working the hair, and confines himself
to this specialty; while another is famous for his method of rendering
the quality of flesh, and a third is unequaled in drapery. Very rarely
does it happen that the artist is lucky enough to find all these
qualities combined in one man, but it does occasionally happen; and Mr.
Gibson is himself fortunate in the possession of a workman whose skill
and manipulative power, in all departments, are of the highest order.
A Roman by birth, the handsome and highly organized Camillo, with his
slight figure, and delicate, almost effeminate hands, is a master of
the mallet and chisel, and, from the head to the foot, renders and
interprets his model with artistic power and feeling. The man loves
his work, and the work repays his love, as when does it not, from the
sublime labors of genius to the humblest vocation of street or alley?
To return from our digression; leaving the workroom, we cross one side
of the small garden, and by just such another rough door as the two
we have already passed through in the first studio, we enter another
capacious, barn-like apartment, the centre of which is occupied by the
colored Venus, so dear to Mr. Gibson’s heart that, though executed to
order, year after year passes on, and he can not make up his mind to
part with it. Ranged around the walls of this capacious studio are
casts of the Hunter, one of the earliest and most vigorous of Mr.
Gibson’s works; of the Queen, of the colossal group in the House of
Lords, and sundry others. Having inspected these at our leisure, and
viewed the Venus from the most approved point, probably under the eye
of the master, who never tires of expatiating on the great knowledge
of the ancients in coloring their statues, a curtain across the
left-hand corner of the studio is lifted, and the attendant inquires
if “la signorina” will receive visitors. The permission given, we
ascend a steep flight of stairs, and find ourselves in a small upper
studio, face to face with a compact little figure, five feet two in
height, in cap and blouse, whose short, sunny brown curls, broad brow,
frank and resolute expression of countenance, give one at the first
glance the impression of a handsome boy. It is the first glance only,
however, which misleads one. The trim waist and well-developed bust
belong unmistakably to a woman, and the deep, earnest eyes, firm-set
mouth, and modest dignity of deportment show that woman to be one of no
ordinary character and ability.
Thus, reader, we Have brought you face to face with the subject of this
sketch, Harriet Hosmer, the American sculptress.
Born at Watertown, Mass., in the year 1831, Harriet Hosmer is the
only surviving daughter of a physician, who, having lost wife and
child by consumption, and fearing a like fate for the survivor, gave
her horse, dog, gun, and boat, and insisted upon an out-doors life as
indispensable to health. A fearless horsewoman, a good shot, an adept
in rowing, swimming, diving, and skating, Harriet Hosmer is a signal
instance of what judicious physical training will effect in conquering
even hereditary taint of constitution. Willingly as the active,
energetic child acquiesced in her father’s wishes, she contrived, at
the same time, to gratify and develop her own peculiar tastes; and
many a time and oft, when the worthy doctor may have flattered himself
that his darling was in active exercise, she might have been found in
a certain clay-pit, not very far from the paternal residence, making
early attempts at modeling horses, dogs, sheep, men and women, or any
object which attracted her attention. Both here, and subsequently at
Lenox, she made good use of her time by studying natural history, and
of her gun by securing specimens for herself of the wild creatures of
the woods, feathered and furred; dissecting some, and with her own
hands preparing and stuffing others. The walls of the room devoted to
her special use in “the old house at home,” are covered with birds,
bats, butterflies and beetles, snakes and toads, while sundry bottles
of spirits contain subjects carefully dissected and prepared by herself.
Ingenuity and taste were shown in the use to which the young girl
applied the eggs and feathers of the nests and birds she had pilfered.
One inkstand, a very early production, evinces mechanical genius and
artistic taste. Taking the head, throat, wings, and side feathers of a
bluebird, she blew the contents from a hen’s egg, and set it on end,
forming the breast of the bird by the oval surface of the egg, while
through the open beak and extended neck entrance was gained to the
cavity of the egg containing the ink.
No one could look round this apartment, occupied by the child and
young girl, without at once recognizing the force and individuality of
character which have since distinguished her.
Full of fun and frolic, numerous anecdotes are told of practical jokes
perpetrated to such an excess that Dr. Hosmer was satisfied with the
progress toward health and strength his child had made; and having
endeavored, without success, to place her under tuition in daily and
weekly schools near home, he determined to commit her to the care
of Mrs. Sedgwick, of Lenox, Massachusetts. Thither the young lady,
having been expelled from one school, and given over as incorrigible
at another, was accordingly sent, with strict injunctions that health
should still be a paramount consideration, and that the new pupil
should have liberty to ride and walk, shoot and swim to her heart’s
content. In wiser or kinder hands the young girl could not have been
placed. Here, too, she met with Mrs. Fanny Kemble, whose influence
tended to strengthen and develop her already decided tastes and
predilections. To Mrs. Kemble we have heard the young artist gratefully
attribute the encouragement which decided her to follow sculpture as a
profession, and to devote herself and her life to the pursuit of art.
Miss Hosmer’s school-fellows remember many pranks and exploits that
showed her daring spirit and love of frolic. One of these was capturing
a hawk’s nest from the top of a very high forest-tree, to which she
climbed at the risk of her life. Her room was decorated, as at home,
with grotesque preserved specimens, among which was a variety of
reptiles, usually the horror of young ladies.
An anonymous squib upon Boston and Bostonians was about this time
attributed to Miss Hosmer. A practical joke upon a physician of Boston
had been the immediate cause of her being sent to Lenox. Her health
having given her father some uneasiness, the gentleman in question, a
physician in large practice, was called in to attend her. The rather
uncertain visits of this physician proved a source of great annoyance
and some real inconvenience to his patient, inasmuch as they interfered
with her rides and drives, shooting, and boating excursions. Having
borne with the inconvenience some time, she requested the gentleman,
as a great favor, to name an hour for his call, that she might make
her arrangements accordingly. The physician agreed, but punctuality is
not always at the command of professional men. Matters were as bad as
ever. Sometimes the twelve o’clock appointment did not come off till
three in the afternoon. One day, in particular, Dr. -------- was some
hours after the time. A playful quarrel took place between physician
and patient; and, as he rose to take his leave, and offered another
appointment, Miss Hosmer insisted upon his giving his word to keep it.
“If I am alive,” said he, “I will be here,” naming some time on a
certain day.
“Then, if you are not here,” was the reply, “I am to conclude that you
are dead.”
Thus they parted. The day and hour arrived, but no doctor made his
appearance. That evening Miss Hosmer rode into Boston, and next morning
the papers announced the decease of Dr. ------. Half Boston and its
neighborhood rushed to the physician’s house to leave cards and
messages of condolence for the family, and to inquire into the cause of
the sudden and lamentable event.
In 1850, being then nineteen, Harriet Hosmer left Lenox. Mrs.
Sedgwick’s judicious treatment, and the motive and encouragement
supplied by Mrs. Kemble, had given the right impetus to that activity
of mind and body which needed only guiding and directing into
legitimate channels. She returned to her father’s house, at Watertown,
to pursue her art-studies, and to fit herself for the career she
had resolved upon following. There was at this time a cousin of
Miss Hosmer’s studying with her father, between whom and herself
existed a hearty _camaraderie_. Together the two spent many hours in
dissecting legs and arms, and in making acquaintance with the human
frame, Dr. Hosmer having erected a small building at the bottom of
his garden to facilitate these studies. Those were days of close
study and application. Lessons in drawing and modeling--for which our
young student had to repair to Boston, a distance of seven or eight
miles--and anatomical studies with her cousin, were alternated with
the inevitable rides and boating on which her father wisely insisted.
The River Charles runs immediately before the house, and on this river
Harriet Hosmer had a boat-house, containing a safe, broad boat, and
a fragile, poetical-looking gondola, with silvered prow, the delight
of her heart, and the terror of her less experienced and unswimming
friends. The life of the young girl was at this period full of earnest
purpose and noble ambition, and the untiring energy and perseverance
which distinguish her now in so remarkable a degree were at this time
evidenced and developed.
Having modeled one or two copies from the antique, she next tried her
hand on a portrait-bust, and then cut Canova’s bust of Napoleon in
marble, working it entirely with her own hands that she might make
herself mistress of the process. Her father, seeing her devoted to her
studies, seconded them in every possible way, and proposed to send her
to his friend, Dr. M‘Dowell, Professor of Anatomy in the St. Louis
College, that she might go through a course of regular instruction,
and be thus thoroughly grounded for the branch of art she had chosen.
The young artist was but too glad to close with the offer; and, in the
autumn of 1850, we find her at St. Louis, residing in the family of her
favorite schoolmate from Lenox, winning the hearts of all its members
by her frank, joyous nature, and steady application, and securing, in
the head of it, what she heartily and energetically calls “the best
friend I ever had.”
Her independence of manner and character, joined to the fact of her
entering the college as a student, could not fail to bring down
animadversion, and many were the tales fabricated and circulated anent
the young New Englander, who was said to carry pistols in her belt, and
to be prepared to take the life of any one who interfered with her. It
was, perhaps, no disadvantage, under the circumstances, to be protected
by such a character. The college stood some way from the inhabited
part of the town, and in early morning and late evening, going to and
fro with the other students, it is not impossible that she owed the
perfect impunity with which she set conventionality at defiance to the
character for courage, and skill in the use of fire-arms which attended
her.
Dr. M‘Dowell, charmed with the talent and earnestness of his pupil,
afforded her every facility in his power, giving her the freedom of the
college at all times, and occasionally bestowing upon her a private
lecture when she attended to see him preparing dissections for the
public ones. Pleasant and encouraging it is to find men of ability
and eminence so willing to help a woman when she is willing to help
herself. The career of this young artist hitherto has been marked by
the warm and generous encouragement of first-rate men, from Professor
M‘Dowell to John Gibson, and pleasant it is to find the affectionate
and grateful appreciation of such kindness, converting the temporary
tie of master and pupil into the permanent one of tried and valued
friendship. “I remember Professor M‘Dowell,” writes Miss Hosmer, “with
great affection and gratitude, as being a most thorough and patient
teacher, as well as at all times a good, kind friend.”
Through the winter and spring of 1851, in fact, during the whole
term, Harriet Hosmer prosecuted her studies with unremitting zeal
and attention, and at the close was presented with a “diploma,” or
certificate, testifying to her anatomical efficiency. During her stay
at St. Louis, and as a testimony of her gratitude and regard, Miss
Hosmer cut, from a bust of Professor M‘Dowell by Clevenger, a medallion
in marble, life size, which is now in the museum of the College. It is
perhaps worthy of note that Clevenger and Powers both studied anatomy
under this professor.
The “diploma” achieved, our young aspirant was bent upon seeing New
Orleans before returning to her New England home. It was a season
of the year not favorable for such travel, and, from some cause or
another, she failed in inducing any of her friends to accompany her. To
will and to do are synonymous with some; and so, Harriet Hosmer having
set her mind upon an excursion down the Mississippi to the Crescent
City, embarked herself one fine morning on board a steamer bound for
New Orleans. The river was shallow, the navigation difficult; many a
boat did our adventurous traveler pass high and dry; but fortune, as
usual, was with her, and she reached her destination in safety. The
weather was intensely warm, but, nothing daunted, our young friend
saw all that was to be seen, returning at night to sleep on board the
steamer as it lay in its place by the levee, and, at the expiration
of a week, returning with it to St. Louis. Arrived there, instead of
rejoining her friends, she took boat for the Falls of St. Anthony,
on the Upper Mississippi, stopping, on the way, at Dubuque, to visit
a lead mine, into which she descended by means of a bucket, and came
very near an accident which must inevitably have resulted fatally; a
catastrophe which, as no one knew where she was, would probably have
remained a secret forever. At the Falls of St. Anthony, she went among
the Indians, much to their surprise and amusement, and brought away
with her a pipe, presented by the chief, in token of amity. She also
achieved the ascent of a mountain never before undertaken by a female;
and so delighted were the spectators with her courage and agility,
that they insisted upon knowing her name, that the mountain might
thenceforth be called after her. In a subsequent visit to St. Louis,
Miss Hosmer found that her rustic admirers had been as good as their
word, and “Hosmer’s Height” remains an evidence of “the little lady’s”
ambition and courage.
On her return to St. Louis, where her prolonged absence had created no
little uneasiness, she remained but a short time, and, bidding farewell
to her kind friends, retraced her steps homeward.
This was in the autumn of 1851. No sooner had Harriet Hosmer reached
home than she set to work to model an ideal bust of Hesper, continuing
her anatomical studies with her cousin, and employing her intervals of
leisure and rest in reading, riding, and boating. Now followed a period
of earnest work, cheered and inspired by those visions of success,
of purpose fulfilled, of high aims realized, which haunt the young
and enthusiastic aspirant, and throw a halo round the youthful days
of genius, lending a color to the whole career. As Lowell wisely and
poetically says,
“Great dreams preclude low ends.”
Better to aspire and fail than not aspire at all; better to know the
dream, and the fever, and the awakening, if it must be, than to pass
from the cradle to the grave on the level plane of content with things
as they are. There may be aspiration without genius; there can not be
genius without aspiration; and where genius is backed by industry and
perseverance, the aspiration of one period will meet its realization in
another.
To go to Rome--to make herself acquainted with all its treasures of
art, ancient and modern--to study and work as the masters of both
periods had studied and worked before her--this was now our youthful
artist’s ambition; and all the while she labored, heart and soul, at
Hesper, the first creation of her genius, watching its growth beneath
her hand, as a young mother watches, step by step, the progress of
her first-born; kneading in with the plastic clay all those thousand
hopes and fears which, turn by turn, charm and agitate all who aspire.
At length, the clay model finished, a block of marble was sought
and found, and brought home to the shed in the garden, hitherto
appropriated to dissecting purposes, but now fitted up as a studio.
Here, with her own small hands, the youthful maiden, short of stature
and delicate in make, any thing but robust in health, with chisel and
mallet blocked out the bust, and subsequently, with rasp and file,
finished it to the last degree of manipulative perfection. Months and
months it took, and hours and days of quiet toil and patience; but
those wings of genius, perseverance and industry, were hers, and love
lent zest to the work. It was late summer in 1852 before Hesper was
fully completed.
A critic in the New York Tribune thus wrote of this work:
“It has the face of a lovely maiden, gently falling asleep with
the sound of distant music. Her hair is gracefully arranged, and
intertwined with capsules of the poppy. A star shines on her forehead,
and under her breast lies the crescent moon. The hush of evening
breathes from the serene countenance and the heavily-drooping
eyelids.... The swell of the cheeks and the bust is like pure, young,
healthy flesh, and the muscles of the beautiful mouth are so delicately
cut, it seems like a thing that breathes.
“The poetic conception of the subject is the creation of her own mind,
and the embodiment of it is all done by her own hands--even the hard,
rough, mechanical portions of the work. She employed a man to chop
off some large bits of marble; but, as he was unaccustomed to assist
sculptors, she did not venture to have him cut within several inches of
the surface she intended to work.”
“Now,” said she to her father, “I am ready to go to Rome.”
“And you shall go, my child, this very autumn,” was the reply.
Anxious as Dr. Hosmer was to facilitate in every way the career
his daughter had chosen, there was yet another reason for going to
Italy before winter set in. Study and nervous anxiety had made their
impression upon a naturally delicate constitution, and a short, dry
cough alarmed the worthy doctor for his child’s health.
October of 1852 saw father and daughter on their way to Europe, the St.
Louis diploma and daguerreotypes of Hesper being carefully stowed away
in the safest corner of the portmanteau as evidences of what the young
artist had already achieved, when, arrived at Rome, she should seek the
instruction of one of two masters, whose fame, world-wide, alone could
satisfy our aspirant’s ambition. So eager was her desire to reach Rome
that a week only was given to England; and then, joining some friends
in Paris, the whole party proceeded to Rome, arriving in the Eternal
City on the evening of November 12, 1852.
Within two days the daguerreotypes were placed in the hands of Mr.
Gibson as he sat at breakfast in the Café Greco, a famous place of
resort for artists.
Now be it known, as a caution to women not to enter lightly upon any
career, to throw it up as lightly upon the first difficulty which
arises, that a prejudice existed in Rome against lady artists, from
the pretensions with which some had repaired thither, and upon which
they had succeeded in gaining access to some of the best studios and
instruction from their masters, to throw those valuable opportunities
aside at the first obstacle that arose. Mr. Gibson had himself, it
was said, been thus victimized and annoyed, and it was represented to
Miss Hosmer as doubtful in the extreme if he would either look at the
daguerreotypes or listen to the proposal of her becoming his pupil.
However, the daguerreotypes were placed before him; and, taking them
into his hands--one presenting a full, and the other a profile view of
the bust--he sat some moments in silence, looking intently at them.
Encouraged by this, the young sculptor who had undertaken to present
them proceeded to explain Miss Hosmer’s intentions and wishes, what she
had already done, and what she hoped to do. Still Mr. Gibson remained
silent. Finally, closing the cases,
“Send the young lady to me,” said he, “and whatever I know, and can
teach her, she shall learn.”
In less than a week Harriet Hosmer was fairly installed in Mr. Gibson’s
studio, in the up-stairs room already described. Ere long a truly
paternal and filial affection sprung up between the master and the
pupil, a source of great happiness to themselves, and of pleasure and
amusement to all who know and value them, from the curious likeness,
yet unlikeness, which existed from the first in Miss Hosmer to Mr.
Gibson, and which daily intercourse has not tended to lessen.
In one of her letters she says:
“The dearest wish of my heart is gratified in that I am acknowledged by
Gibson as a pupil. He has been resident in Rome thirty-four years, and
leads the van. I am greatly in luck. He has just finished the model of
the statue of the queen, and, as his room is vacant, he permits me to
use it, and I am now in his own studio. I have also a little room for
work which was formerly occupied by Canova, and perhaps inspiration may
be drawn from the walls.”
The first winter in Rome was passed in modeling from the antique, Mr.
Gibson desiring to assure himself of the correctness of Miss Hosmer’s
eye, and the soundness of her knowledge; Hesper evincing the possession
of the imaginative and creative power. From the first, Mr. Gibson
expressed himself more than satisfied with her power of imitating the
roundness and softness of flesh, saying, upon one occasion, that he had
never seen it surpassed and not often equaled.
Her first attempt at original design in Rome was a bust of Daphne,
quickly succeeded by another of the Medusa--the beautiful Medusa--and a
lovely thing it is, faultless in form, and intense in its expression of
horror and agony, without trenching on the physically painful.
We have already spoken of the warm friend Miss Hosmer made for herself
during her winter at St. Louis, in the head of the family at whose
house she was a guest. This gentleman, as a God-speed to the young
artist on her journey to Rome, sent her, on the eve of departure,
an order to a large amount for the first figure she should model,
leaving her entirely free to select her own time and subject. A statue
of Œnone was the result, which is now in the house of Mr. Crow, at
St. Louis, and which gave such satisfaction to its possessor and his
fellow-townsmen, that an order was forwarded to Miss Hosmer for a
statue for the Public Library at St. Louis, on the same liberal terms.
Beatrice Cenci, which has won so many golden opinions from critics and
connoisseurs, was sent to St. Louis in fulfillment of this order.
The summers in Rome are, as every one knows, trying to the natives,
and full of danger to foreigners. Dr. Hosmer, having seen his daughter
finally settled, returned to America, leaving her with strict
injunctions to seek some salubrious spot in the neighboring mountains
for the summer, if indeed she did not go into Switzerland or England.
Rome, however, was the centre of attraction; and, after the first
season, which was spent at Sorrento, on the Bay of Naples, Miss Hosmer
could not be prevailed upon to go out of sight and reach of its lordly
dome and noble treasures of art. The third summer came, and, listening
to the advice of her friends, and in obedience to the express wish of
her father, she made arrangements for a visit to England. The day was
settled, the trunks were packed; she was on the eve of departure, when
a letter from America arrived, informing her of heavy losses sustained
by her father, which must necessitate retrenchment in every possible
way, a surrender of her career in Rome, and an immediate return home.
The news came upon her like a thunderbolt. Stunned and bewildered,
she knew not at the moment what to do. An only child, and hitherto
indulged in every whim and caprice, the position was indeed startling
and perplexing. The surrender of her art-career was the only thing
which she felt to be impossible; whatever else might come, that could
not, should not be. And now came into play that true independence of
character which hitherto had shown itself mostly in wild freaks and
tricks. Instead of falling back upon those friends whose means she
knew would be at her disposal in this emergency, she dispatched a
messenger for the young sculptor who had shown the daguerreotypes to
Mr. Gibson, and who, himself dependent upon his professional exertions,
was, she decided, the fittest person to consult with as to her own
future career. He obeyed the hasty summons, and found the joyous,
laughing countenance he had always known, pale and changed, as it
were, suddenly, from that of a young girl to a woman full of cares and
anxieties. He could scarcely credit the intelligence; but the letter
was explicit; the summons home peremptory. “Go, I will not,” was her
only coherent resolution; so the two laid their heads together. Miss
Hosmer was the owner of a handsome horse and an expensive English
saddle; these were doomed at once. The summer in Rome itself, during
which season living there costs next to nothing, was determined upon;
and during those summer months Miss Hosmer should model something
so attractive that it should insure a speedy order, and, exercising
strict economy, start thenceforth on an independent artist-career, such
as many of those around her with less talent and training, managed
to carry on with success. No sooner said than done; the trunks were
unpacked; the friends she had been about to accompany departed without
her; her father’s reverses were simply and straightforwardly announced,
and she entered at once on the line of industry and economy she and her
friend had struck out.
It is said that friendship between a young man and a young woman is
scarcely possible, and perhaps, under ordinary circumstances, where
the woman has no engrossing interests of her own, no definite aim and
pursuit in life, it may be so. Here, however, was a case of genuine and
helpful friendship, honorable alike to the heads and hearts of both.
Under the experienced direction of her friend, Miss Hosmer conducted
her affairs with prudence and economy, and, at the same time, with due
regard to health. The summer passed away, and neither fever nor any
other form of mischief attacked our young friend. She worked hard, and
modeled a statue of Puck, so full of spirit, originality, and fun, that
it was no sooner finished than orders to put it into marble came in. It
was repeated again and again, and, during the succeeding winter, three
copies were ordered for England alone--one for the Duke of Hamilton.
Thus fairly started on her own ground, Miss Hosmer met with that
success which talent, combined with industry and energy, never fails to
command.
The winter in which the Cenci was being put into marble she was engaged
in modeling a monument to the memory of a beautiful young Catholic
lady, destined for a niche in the church of San Andréo delle Fratte,
in the Vià Mercede, close upon the Piazza di Spagna. A portrait
full-length figure of the young girl, life size, reclines upon a low
couch. The attitude is easy and natural, and the tranquil sleep of
death is admirably rendered in contradistinction to the warm sleep of
life in the Cenci.
Miss Hosmer was engaged during the winter of 1858 in modeling a
fountain, for which she has taken the story of Hylas descending
for water, when, according to mythology, he is seized upon by the
water-nymphs and drowned. Hylas forms the crown of the pyramid, while
the nymphs twined around its base, with extended arms, seek to drag
him down into the water below, where dolphins are spouting jets which
interlace each other. A double basin, the upper one supported by swans,
receives the cascade.
During the spring of 1859 Miss Hosmer worked upon her statue of
Zenobia, bespoken in America. The young Prince of Wales visited her
studio to see this unfinished work, which he greatly admired. He
purchased a “Puck,” by her hand, to add to his collection. Miss Hosmer
executed, as a side-piece to this, a “Will-o’-the-Wisp,” said even to
be superior.
NAMES OF WOMEN ARTISTS
A.
PAGE
Abarca, Donna Maria de, 86
Agnes, Abbess of Quedlinberg, 29
Airola, Angelica Veronica, 82
Aizelin, Madame, 239
Alboni, Rosa, 225
Alfieri, Carlotta Melania, 225
Alloin, Mademoiselle, 240
Amalasuntha, 28
Amherst, Lady, 186
Anaxandra, 26
Andross, Miss, 170
Angelica, 86
Anguisciola, Anna Maria, 48
“ Europa, 51
“ Helena, 48
“ Lucia, 51
“ Minerva, 48
“ Sofonisba, 49
Anna Amalia, of Brunswick, 136
Anna, Princess of Orange, 167
Anzon, Madame, 203, 237
Ardinghelli, Maria Angela, 225
Ardoino, Anna Maria, 79
Aristarite, 26
Armani, Vincenza, 45
Aromatari, Dorothea, 55
Aumont, Augustine, 239
Ava, 28
Aveiro, Duchess of, 86
B.
Badger, Mrs., 316
Ballain, Nanine, 236
Basseporte, Madeleine Françoise, 202
Beale, Mary, 123
Beauclerk, Lady Diana, 187
Beaurepas, Madame de, 190
Beckson, Miss, 190
Beer, Maria Eugenia de, 86
Beinaschi, Angela, 78
Bejar, Duchess of, 86
Bell, Miss, 190
Benavides, Maria Cueva, 87
Bennings, Liewina, 57
Benoit, Madame, 203
Benwell, Mary, 188
Bernasconi, Laura, 80
Bertaud, Marie Rosalie, 204
Blackwell, Elizabeth, 190
Blanchot, Geneviève, 201
Block, Joanna Koerten, 126
Boccherini, Anna, 224
Bohren, Mademoiselle, 138
Boizot, Louise Adelaide, 204
Bonheur, Julietta, 275
“ Rosa, 261
Borghini, Maria, 79
Bösenbacher, Mary Anna, 240
Breughel, Anna, 97
Brizio, Plautilla, 80
Broeck, Barbara Van den, 58
Brossard, Marie Geneviève, 202
Brun, Eugénie, 237
Brusasorci, Cecilia, 55
Bruyère, Madame, 203
Bruyn, Anna de, 97
Burini, Barbara, 225
Butlar, Madame von, 237
C.
Caballero, Angela Perez, 89
Caccia, Francesca, 82
“ Ursula, 82
Caffa, Maria la, 83
Calavrese, Maria, 42
Callirhoe, 24
Calypso, 26
Cantofoli, Ginevra, 72
Cantoni, Caterina, 55
Capet, Madame, 203
Carasquilla, Isabella, 88
Carlisle, Anna, 122
“ Countess of, 122
Carpenter, Mrs., 244
Carriera, Rosalba, 226
Casalina, Lucia, 82, 225
Cassana, Maria Vittoria, 82
Caxton, Florence, 244
Chalon, Christina, 167
Chapin, Mrs., 288
Charlotte of Austria, 136
Charlotte Matilda, Queen of Wurtemberg, 186
Charpentier, Madame, 203
“ Constance Marie, 236
Chéron, Élisabeth Sophie, 90
Cherubini, Caterina, 224
Cheves, Charlotte, 344
Cirene, 26
Cleyn, Penelope, 122
“ Magdalen, 122
“ Sarah, 122
Coello, Isabella Sanchez, 86
Cole, Sarah, 295
Collot, Mademoiselle, 201
Cooper, Ellen, 344
Copomazza, Luisa, 78
Corbeaux, Fanny, 243
Coriolani, Maria Teresa, 73
Cosway, Maria, 191
Coulet, Anne Philibert, 204
Crabbe, Anna, 121
Creti, Ersilia, 73
Criscuolo, Maria Angela, 55
D.
Damer, Anne Seymour, 170
Damini, Damina, 81
Danti, Teodora, 43
Dards, Mrs., 189
Dassel, Herminie, 312
Davin, Madame, 201, 236
Delany, Mrs., 186
Denning, Charlotte, 287
Deverzy, Adrienne Marie, 237
Dietrich, Maria Dorothea, 141
“ Rosina, 143
Dietsch Sisters, 141
Dolce, Agnes, 73
“ Maria, 73
Dolora, Anna Victoria, 225
Domenici, Maria, 81, 83
Dorsch, Susannah Maria, 138
Drax, Miss, 190
Drölling, Louise Adéone, 237
Dubois, Mrs. Cornelius, 297
Duchemin, Catherine, 90
Ducluzeau, Madame, 239
Du Pré, Julia, 342
Duquesnoy, Mademoiselle, 202
Durand, Flavia, 65
E.
Eimart, Maria Clara, 114
Elie, Madame, 236
Elizabeth of Austria, 226
Elizabeth Christina of Brunswick, 136
Elizabeth Ernestine Antonia, of Saxe-Meiningen, 136
Elizabeth, Princess, 186
“ Princess of Parma, 226
Ellenrieder, Maria, 241
Eyck, Margaretta von, 34
F.
Fanshawe, Catharine Mary, 190
Farnese, Isabella, 89
Fauveau, Felicie de, 247
Festa, Bianca, 224
“ Matilda, 224
Fiesca, Helen, 47
“ Tommasa, 47
Fischer, Anna Catharina, 114
“ Susannah, 114
Fitzgerald, Lady E., 170
“ Lady Henry, 186
Foley, Margaret, 287
Fontaine, Madame, 239
Fontana, Lavinia, 61
Fontana, Veronica, 73
Forestier, Marie Anne Julie, 236
Forgue, Apollonia de, 232
Fratellini, Giovanna, 83
Freeman, Anna Mary, 342
Freiberg, Baroness von, 241
Friedrich, Caroline Frederika, 142
Fuessli (Fuseli), Anna, 142
“ “ Elizabeth, 142
Fürst, Magdalena, 114
G.
Gabassi, Margerita, 82
Gabiou, Jeanne Elizabeth, 237
Galeotti, Anna, 224
Galizia, Fede, 60
Garri, Colomba, 225
Garzoni, Giovanna, 82
Gauthier, Elizabeth, 201
Gentilesca, Sofonisba, 55
Gentileschi, Artemisia, 66
Gérard, Madame, 202
“ Marguerite, 201
“ Susannah, 57
Ghisi, Diana, 43
Gibson, Susannah Penelope, 121
Gilarte, Magdalena, 87
Ginnassi, Caterina, 65
Giovannini, Bianca, 225
Glauber, Diana, 115
Godefroy, Eléonore, 237
“ Madame, 201
Godewyck, Margaretta, 98
Gois, Madame, 202
Goldbeck, Madame, 342
Goodrich, Mrs., 287
Gove, Miss, 316
Grace, Mrs., 189
Granbury, Miss, 316
Grandi, Paolina, 81
Grassi, Niccola, 80
Gray, Miss, 190
Greatorex, Mrs., 316
Grebber, Maria, 97
Greuze, Anna Gabrielle, 202
Greville, Lady Louisa de, 186
Guadalupe, Maria de, 86
Guillemard, Sophie, 237
H.
Hall, Anne, 299
Hamerani, Beatrice, 80
Hämsen, Catherine, 57
Hartley, Miss, 189
Hawthorne, Mrs., 316
Hay, Mrs. Benham, 244
Hayd, Marianna, 140
Hedwig, Sophie, Princess, 121
Heere, Margaret de, 57
Heinecke, Catharina Elizabeth, 141
Helena, 26
Herault, Antoinette, 90
“ Madelaine, 90
“ Marie Catherine, 201
Herbalin, Madame, 240
Heylan, Anna, 87
Hildegardis, 28
Hildreth, Mrs., 315
Hill, Mrs., 316
Hoadley, Mrs., 189
Hoffmann, Elizabeth, 97
Hogenhuizen, Elizabeth Georgina van, 168
Hollandina, Princess, 115
Hoppner, Mrs., 185
Hortemels, Mary Magdalen, 203
Hosmer, Harriet, 349
Howitt, Miss, 244
Hroswitha, 28
Hueva, Barbara Maria de, 222
Hughes, Mrs. Ball, 287
Hurembout, Susannah, 57
I.
Iberg, Eva von, 57
J.
Jacotot, Madame, 239
Jerichow-Baumann, Madame, 241
Johnson, Mary Ann, 345
Juliani, Caterina, 78
Juvenel, Esther, 113
K.
Kallo, 26
Kauffman, Angelica, 144
Keyzer, Clara de, 57
Killegrew, Anne, 124
Koher, Anna de, 104
Kora, 24
Krafft, Barbara, 241
Kugler, Madame, 203
Küsel, Christina, 114
“ Johanna Sibylla, 114
“ Magdalena, 114
L.
Ladd, Anna, 188
Lafond, Aurore Etienne, 237
Lafontaine, Rosalie de, 237
Lala, 27
Lamartine, Madame de, 239
Lamme, Placida, 114
Lander, Louisa, 326
Lange, Barbara Helena, 114
Langley, Betty, 190
Laodicia, 30
Lawrence, Mary, 190
Laya, 27
Lazzarini, Elisabetta, 81
Le Brun, Elizabeth, 206
Leconte, Marguerite, 203
Ledoux, Philiberte, 236
Lee, Anna, 190
Legaré, Mary Swinton, 301
Legris, Amélie, 239
Lenoir, Madame, 237
Leroulx, Madame, 236
Lescaille, Catharina, 97
Leslie, Ann, 294
Lesueur, Elise, 201
Linwood, Miss, 190
Liscewska, Anna Rosina, 140
Lister, Anna, 122
“ Susannah, 122
Liszeuska, Anna Dorothea, 143
Lodde, Alexia de, 165
Longhi, Barbara, 47
Losa, Isabella, 56
Lucan, Countess of, 187
Lupton, Mrs., 286
M.
Mackintosh, Sarah, 287
Manzolini, Anna, 225
Maratti, Maria, 225
Margaretta, 35
Margravine of Baden-Durlach, 136
Maria Anna, of Austria, 136
Marie d’Orleans, 238
Marmochini, Giovanna, 79
Martin, Miss, 190
Masson, Madelaine, 93
Matteis, Emmanuela, 225
“ Felice, 225
“ Maria Angiola, 225
May, Miss, 315
“ Caroline, 316
Mayer, Constance, 236
Mazzoni, Isabella, 42
Medici, Mary dei, 79
Memorata, Anna, 112
Menendez, Anna, 222
“ Clara, 222
Mengs, Anna Maria, 140
Menn, Dorothea, 138
Merian, Maria Sibylla, 116
Merrifield, Miss, 244
Messieri, Anna Teresia, 225
Metz, Gertrude, 142
Micas, Mademoiselle, 282
Michaud, Madame, 203
Mills, Mrs. Monckton, 244
Mirbel, Comtesse de, 239
Mirnaux, 203
Mogalli, Teresa, 224
Mongez, Angélique, 236
Montferrier, Louise de, 237
Monti, Eleonora, 225
Morata, Fulvia, 112
More, Mary, 122
Moritz, Anna, 168
Morland, Miss, 190
Moser, Mary, 181
Muratori, Teresa, 73
Murray, Elizabeth, 244
“ Mary, 286
Mutrie, Miss, 240
Myin, Cornelia van der, 168
Myn, Agatha van der, 188
N.
Natali, Madalena, 65
Naugis, Geneviève, 203
Neal, Elizabeth, 190
Nelli, Plautilla, 30, 42
Noel, Miss, 190
Nohren, Mademoiselle, 139
Nymegen, Susanna Maria, 168
O.
Oakley, Juliana, 316
O’Connell, Madame, 95
Oever, Alberta ten, 168
Ogle, Miss, 170
O’Hara, Miss, 287
Olympias, 26
Ommegank, Maria Jacoba, 168
Oosterwyck, Maria van, 104
Oostfries, Catharine, 104
Oppendorf Countess von, 141
Ozanne, Jane Frances, 90
“ Mary Ann, 90
P.
Paar, Princess Anna, 141
Pakman, Angelica Agnes, 97, 104
Palladini, Arcangela, 60, 79
Palomino, Francisca, 87
Panzacchi, Maria Helena, 73
Pappafava, Beatrice, 60
Parasole, Hieronima, 80
“ Isabella, 80
Parenti-Duclos, Anna, 224
Pasch, Ulrica Frederika, 165
Passe, Magdalen de, 58
Patin, Carlotta, 81
“ Gabriella, 81
Pazzi, Caterina de’, 55
Peale, Anna C., 288
“ Mrs. Rembrandt, 294
“ Rosalba, 294
“ Sarah M., 291, 293
Pellegrini, Ludovica, 55
Pepyn, Catherine, 95
Perez, Anna, 222
Perrot, Catherine, 90
Peters, Clara, 103
Pflauder, Rosina, 138
Pfründt, Anna Maria, 114
Piccini, Isabella, 79
Pinelli, Antonia, 65
Pisani, Livia, 224
Planteau, Madame, 286
Platt, Mrs., 185
Po, Teresa del, 65, 78
Pompadour, Madame de, 93
Pozzo, Isabella dal, 83
Preisler, Anna Felicitas, 139
“ Barbara Julia, 139
“ Helen, 114
“ Maria Anna, 139
Prestel, Maria Catharine, 189
Preu, Joanna Sabina, 114
Prieto, Maria, 222
“ Maria de Loreto, 88
Provis, Anna Jemima, 189
Q.
Quatrepomme, Isabella, 56
Querubini, Caterina, 89
Questier, Catharina, 99
R.
Raimondi, Madame, 43
Rastrum, Margaretta, 115
Ravemann, Madame, 115
Rayner, Louisa, 244
Read, Catherine, 190
Redi, Giovanna, 79
Renieri, Anna, 81
Reyschoot, Anna Maria von, 165
Rialto, Domenia Luisa, 81
Ricchi, Clena, 78
Riedel, Maria Theresa, 143
Rieger, Maria, 114
Rite, Isabel Maria, 223
Robert, Fanny, 237
Robineau, Claire, 237
Robusti, Marietta, 45
Rodiana, Onorata, 36
Roldan, Luisa, 87
Ronde, Lucrece Catherine de la, 201
Rosa, Aniella di, 75
Rose, Susan Penelope, 122
Rosée, Mademoiselle, 126
Ross, Elizabeth, 138
Rossi, Properzia di, 39
Rusca, Caterina, 60, 83
Ruysch, Rachel, 106
Ryberg, Elizabeth, 168
Ryding, C. M., 165
Ryk, Cornelia de, 167
S.
Salmeggia, Chiara, 83
Salviani, Rosalba Maria, 224
Salvioni, Rosalba, 88
Samon, Mrs., 170
Sanchez, Jesualda, 87
Sandrart, Susannah Maria von, 113
Sarmiento, Teresa, 86
Sartori, Felicità, 232
Sattler, Caroline, 202
Saville, Lady Dorothea, 186
Saxe-Meiningen, Princess of, 240
Scaligeri, Agnes, 83
“ Lucia, 83
Scarafaglia, Lucrezia, 72
Schalken, Maria, 98
Scheffer, Caroline, 168
Schild, Charlotte Rebecca, 138
Schott, Crescentia, 138
Schroeter, Caroline von, 242
Schurmann, Anna Maria, 99
Schwartz, Catherine, 57
Schwindel, Rosa Elizabeth, 138
Seghers, Anna, 57
Seidler, Louise Caroline, 241
Siddons, Mrs., 170
Silva, Maria de, 222
Silvestre, Susanna, 203
Simanowitz, Ludovika, 240
Simes, Mary Jane, 293
Simons, Maria Elizabeth, 168
Sirani, Anna Maria, 72
“ Barbara, 72
Sirani, Elisabetta, 68
Siries, Violanta Beatrice, 224
Siscara, Angelica, 225
Skeysers, Clara, 57
Smirke, Miss, 190
Smith, Barbara Leigh, 244
“ Elizabeth, 170
Smyters, Anna, 57, 188
Sonnenschein, Mademoiselle, 240
Sophia, Duchess of Coburg-Saalfeld, 136
Sophia, Princess, 115
Spencer, Countess Lavinia, 186
“ Lily M., 317
Spilberg, Adriana, 98
Spilimberg, Irene di, 44
Spilsbury, Mary, 190
Stebbins, Emma, 346
Steen, Susanna von, 104
Steenwyk, Madame, 97
Steinbach, Sabina von, 30
Stella, Claudine Bonzonnet, 90
Stoop, Mariana van der, 115
Stresor, Henriette, 90
Stuart, Jane, 315
Stuntz, Electrine, 241
St. Urbin, Marie Anne de, 201
Sully, Jane, 287
Surigny, Madame, 203
T.
Tarabotti, Augusta, 60
“ Caterina, 82
Tardieu, Elizabeth Clara, 203
Tassaert, Henriette Felicitas, 139
Temple, Lady, 186
Terburg, Gezina, 98
“ Maria, 98
Tesi, Teresa, 225
Tessala, Anna, 97
Tesselschade-Visscher, Anna, 98
“ Maria, 98
Theudelinda, 28
Thielen, Maria Theresa van, 131
Tibaldi, Maria Felice, 222, 224
“ Teresa, 224
Timarata, 25
Tintoretto, Marietta, 45
Tirlinks, Lewina, 57
Tischbein, Magdalena, 240
Torrens, Eliza, 286
“ Rosalba, 286
Tott, Countess of, 188
Traballesi, Agatha, 43
Treu, Catharina, 141
“ Mary Anna, 139
“ Rosalie, 139
Trevingard, Anna, 190
Triumfi, Camilla, 83
Triva, Flaminia, 60, 65
Troost, Sarah, 167
Truchsetz-Waldburg, Countess von, 141
Tussaud, Madame, 198
U.
Ulefeld, Eleonora Christina, 121
“ Helena Christina, 121
Utrecht, Constantia of, 58, 104
V.
Vajani, Anna Maria, 79, 82
Valdes Leal, Luisa, 88
“ Maria, 88
“ Maria de, 222
Van der Myn, Agatha, 188
Vandyck, Anna, 81
Vanetti, Laura, 225
Vanni, Violanta, 224
Varotari, Chiara, 81
Vasini, Clarice, 225
Velasco, Francisca Palomino y, 87
Venier, Ippolita, 232
Verbruggen, Susanna, 104
Verelst, Maria, 165
Vernet, Fanny, 203
Viani, Maria, 73
Victoria, of Anhalt-Bernburg, 136
Vieira, Catarina, 223
Vigri, Caterina, 35
Vill’ Ambrosa, Countess of, 86
Villers, Madame, 236
Vincent, Adelaide, 204
W.
Wasser, Anna, 129
Watson, Caroline, 189
Weis, Madame, 138
Werbronk, Jacoba, 143
Wermuth, Maria Juliana, 138
Weston, Joanna, 121
“ Mary, 332
Wieslatin, Maria, 114
Wilde, Maria de, 104
Wildorfer, Maria Elizabeth, 142
Wilmot, Mrs., 170
Wilson, Mrs., 295
Withers, the Misses, 344
Withoos, Alida, 103
Wolters, Henrietta, 167
Wontiers, Micheline, 95
Woodman, Mrs., 316
Wright, Mrs., 189
Wulfraat, Margaretta, 98
Z.
Zarcillo, Inez, 88
Ziesenis, Margaretta, 165
Zucchi, Catarina, 224
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Transcriber’s Notes
Errors in punctuation have been fixed.
Page 93: “engraved and excuted” changed to “engraved and executed”
Page 116: “stones, muscles” changed to “stones, mussels”
Page 161: “Robusti Tintoretti” changed to “Robusti Tintoretto”
Page 243: “Bibilical scholarship” changed to “Biblical scholarship”
Page 308: “approach to Ashville” changed to “approach to Asheville”
Page 343: “The Liasons” changed to “the Liaisons”
Page 379: “Ninenteen Volumes” changed to “Nineteen Volumes”
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