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though he died when his daughter was but twelve years old, he had already so encouraged her talent and so interested people in her as to make her future easy. She had a few lessons from Greuze and others, but she sought to study Nature for herself, and to follow no school or system, and to this she attributed her success. When but sixteen years old, she was brought to public notice by two portraits which she painted and presented to the French Academy.

At the age of twenty, Mademoiselle Vigée married Monsieur Le Brun, who was a careless and unfortunate man and who spent all that his wife earned. In her memoirs, she tells us that when she left France, thirteen years after her marriage, she had not twenty francs, though she had earned more than a million.

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Madame Le Brun painted portraits of the most eminent people; and between herself and the Queen, Marie Antoinette, there existed a true affection. Their intercourse was that of devoted friends. the great state picture at Versailles, in which Madame Le Brun represented the Queen surrounded by her children, one feels the tender sentiment with which the artist painted her sovereign and friend. Marie Antoinette used her influence to have Madame Le Brun elected to the Academy; Vernet also favored it, and the unusual honor was paid her of an election before her reception-picture was finished. This was a matter of great importance at that time, as only the members of the Academy were allowed to exhibit their works at the salons, which are now open to all.

Many tales were told of Madame Le Brun's extravagance; but her own account of an entertainment which she gave, and which was a subject of endless remark, shows how little she merited censure in that instance, at least. She relates that she had invited a number of friends for an evening to listen to the reading of a poet. In the afternoon, while her brother read to her an account of an ancient Grecian dinner, which even gave the rules for cooking, Madame Le Brun determined upon improvising a Greek supper for her guests. She first instructed her cook as to the preparation of the food, and then she borrowed from a dealer, whom she knew, some cups, vases, and lamps, and arranged her studio with the effect which an artist knows how to make.

Among her guests were several very pretty ladies, and they all wore costumes as much like the old Greek costumes as was possible in the short time for preparation. Madame Le Brun wore the white blouse in which she always painted, and added a veil and crown of flowers. Her little daughter and another child were dressed as pages, and carried antique vases. A canopy was hung above the table,

and the guests were placed in picturesque attitudes, and the whole effect was such that when the later comers reached the door of the supper-room they had a delightful surprise. It was as if they had been transported to another age and clime; a Greek song was chanted to the music of the lyre; and when honey, grapes, and other dishes were served after the Greek manner, the enchantment was complete; a member of the company recited odes from a Greek poet of ancient times, and all passed off delightfully.

The fame of this novel affair spread all over Paris, and its magnificence and its cost were said to be marvelous. Some of the court ladies asked Madame Le Brun to repeat it, but she refused, and they were disturbed by it. The king was told that the supper cost twenty thousand francs, but one of the gentlemen who had been present told His Majesty the truth. However, the sum was swelled to forty thousand by the time the story reached Rome. Madame Le Brun writes, "At Vienna the Baroness de Strogonoff told me that I had spent sixty thousand francs for my Greek supper; that at St. Petersburg the price was at length fixed at eighty thousand francs; and the truth is that that supper cost me about fifteen francs."

Early in the year 1789, when the first mutterings of the dreadful horrors of the Revolution were heard in France, Madame Le Brun went to Italy. She was everywhere received with honor; and at Florence she was asked to paint her own portrait for a gallery, which is consecrated to the portraits of distinguished painters. After she reached Rome she sent the well-known picture with the parted lips showing the pearly teeth, and the hand holding the pencil as if drawing. (See frontispiece.)

Madame Le Brun enjoyed her life in Rome so much that she declared that if she could forget France she should be the happiest of women. She could not execute all the orders for portraits which she received, but after three years she was seized with the unrest which comes to those who are exiled from their native land, and, impelled by this discontent, she went to Vienna. There she remained three years; but again she longed for change and went to Russia, where her reception was most flattering.

She spent six years in Russia, and into this time was crowded much of honor, kindness, labor, joy, and sorrow.

In her Paris receptions during the later years of her life, the most distinguished people of the city were accustomed to assemble; artists, men of letters, and men of society, here all met on common ground, and laid aside all differences of opinion. Only good feeling and equality found a place

near this gifted woman, and few people are so sincerely mourned as was Madame Le Brun when she died, at the age of eighty-seven.

Her works numbered six hundred and sixty portraits, fifteen pictures, and about two hundred landscapes from sketches made in her travels. Her portraits included those of the sovereigns and royal families of all Europe, as well as those of famous authors, artists, musicians, and learned men in church and state. She was a member of eight academies, and her works are seen in many fine collections. As an artist, we can not admire Madame Le Brun as much as did many of her own day, but she holds an honorable place in general art, and a high position among women artists.

ÉMILE JEAN HORACE VERNET,

commonly called Horace Vernet, was born in Paris in 1789. As a boy, Horace was the pupil of his father, and before he was fifteen years old he supported himself by his own drawings.

The Taking of a Redoubt" was one of his earliest pictures of a military subject, and from that beginning he devoted himself to the painting of military scenes. Horace Vernet married when but twenty years old, and soon after began to keep an exact account of all the moneys he received or spent. In this record the growth of his fame is shown by the increase in the prices which were paid him for his pictures; they vary from twentyfour sous, or about a quarter of a dollar, for a sketch of a tulip to fifty thousand francs (ten thousand dollars) for a portrait of the Empress of Russia.

When twenty-three years old, he began to receive orders from the King of Westphalia and other persons of rank. In 1814, when twentyfive, he fought on the Barrière Clichy in company with his father and other artists, and for his gallant conduct there he received the Cross of the Legion of Honor from the Emperor's own hand. In 1817 Vernet painted the "Battle of Tolosa," which was the beginning of his triumphs, and he soon became the favorite of the Duke of Orleans (afterward King Louis Philippe), whose portrait he painted in various costumes and characters. Vernet was not in favor with the Bourbons, how ever, and as he had made some lithographs which were displeasing to the King, it seemed best for him to leave Paris. He went to Rome with his father and remained there for some time.

After his return to Paris in 1822, Vernet exhibited forty-five of his pictures in his own studio. After the exhibition of his works orders and money came to him abundantly, and in the year 1824 he received nearly fifty-two thousand francs. About this time Vernet painted the portraits of some dis

tinguished persons, and received an order for one of Charles X.; this made his portraits so much the fashion that he could not receive all who wished to sit to him. He took time, however, to paint some battle-scenes, and in 1825 finished the last of four which the Duke of Orleans had ordered to be placed in the Palais Royal.

In 1828 Horace Vernet was appointed Director of the French Academy in Rome. He lived generously, and held weekly receptions which were attended by artists, travelers, and men of distinction in Rome. These assemblies were very gay, and it seemed as if a bit of Paris had been set down in the midst of Rome. Vernet now painted a greater variety of subjects than before, but he made no advance in serious work. He soon grew very impatient of his life in Rome, though it was full of honor. He wished to follow the French army, and study new subjects for such pictures as he loved best.

In 1833 he was relieved from his office and went to Algiers. There were no active military operations, but Vernet made many sketches and painted some Eastern scenes. During the same year, Louis Philippe ordered the Palace of Versailles to be converted into an historical museum. The King wished Horace Vernet to paint pictures of the battles of Friedland, Jéna, and Wagram. There were, however, no wall-spaces in the palace large enough to satisfy Vernet, and for that reason two stories were thrown together, and a great Gallery of Battle-pieces made.

Louis Philippe desired Vernet to introduce a certain incident into one of his pictures, which Vernet refused to do. He therefore left Paris for St. Petersburg, where he was received with much honor. He was, however, much missed at Versailles, and when suddenly called to Paris by the illness of his father, he was respectfully reinstated at the palace. When the news of the taking of the city of Constantine was received, he was sent officially to Algiers to make sketches for his pictures in the Salon of Constantine, which in the end became a vast monument to this artist. In 1839 Vernet went to Egypt, Syria, and Turkey, and again to Russia, where he made a long journey with the Emperor. He was a great favorite with this sovereign, though he did not always agree with His Majesty. It is possible that this independence of thought was really welcome to one who was too much feared to be often addressed with such frankness as Vernet used. While in Russia, he painted the portrait of the Empress, and received many valuable presents.

After his return to Paris Vernet devoted himself to portrait painting, but his old love was too strong to be resisted, and in 1845 he joined the French

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army in the Spanish valley of Aran. The troops received him with great enthusiasm; they honored him as the great painter of their hardships, their bravery, and their victories. During all his life Vernet received the honors that were paid him with great modesty, and in this manifested the sterling common-sense quality of his character. Horace Vernet died in 1863, full of years and of honors. Vernet was forced to earn his living when so young that he had no opportunity for study, but his quick perception and active mind, with his large opportunities for observation, made him an acceptable companion to men of culture and learning. Horace Vernet was not a poet nor a true artist in the highest sense of the term; his art was not imaginative nor creative; he produced no beautiful pictures from deep resources in his own nature, but his works have great value and interest as a true record of events, and he commands our respect as one who made the best use of all his powers. He was a trifle vain, and loved to upset a box which contained all his decorations, and spill them out pell-mell as if these ribands and stars, which were the rewards of his life-work, were of no value. Cheerfulness and industry were two of his chief characteristics.

Vernet's most remarkable gift was his memory; he has never been surpassed in this regard by any other painter, and it is doubtful if any other has equaled him. He remembered things exactly as he had seen them. If Vernet spoke with a soldier, although he knew neither his name nor any facts about the man, yet long afterward the memory of the artist held a model from which he could paint the face of that particular soldier.

He painted action well; he knew how to suit the folds and creases of his stuffs to the positions of the men who wore them; his color was good, when we remember what colors enter into military subjects; for the crude brilliancy of the reds and yellows in gaudy uniforms are not suited to poetic effects of color.

JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID,

born in Paris in 1748, was, at the close of the last century, considered the first French painter of his time. So great was his influence upon the painting of France, that for some years he was an absolute dictator regarding all matters connected with it. He was a figure painter, and painted but one landscape in his life. Many of his pictures seem to be mere groups of statues; their flesh is as hard as marble, and there is nothing in them that appeals to our sympathy or elevates our feeling. David became the friend of Napoleon, and painted the "Passage of St. Bernard" and other scenes

from the life of the Emperor. After the overthrow of Napoleon, David was banished to Brussels, and his family were not allowed to bury him in France.

JEAN DOMINIQUE AUGUSTIN INGRES,*

born at Montauban in 1781, was the most celebrated pupil of David. His father was a painter, sculptor, and musician, and desired that his son should excel in music. The boy played the violin, and it is said that when thirteen years old he was applauded in a theater in Toulouse. But his love of drawing proved so strong that when seventeen years old he entered the studio of David. In 1801 he took the prize which entitled him to go to Rome, but his poverty prevented his reaching that city until 1806; he remained there fourteen years and then passed four years in Florence.

In 1824, Ingres opened a studio in Paris and received pupils, and a little later he was appointed to the Academy. His work was severely criticised, and this so affected his spirits that in 1834 his friends obtained his appointment as Director of the French Academy in Rome. After holding this office seven years, he went again to Paris, and this time in triumph. He was now praised as much as he had been blamed, and until his death he was loaded with honors, while enormous prices were paid for his works.

In the great Exposition of 1855, a room was devoted to the pictures of Ingres, and he received a grand medal of honor from the jury. He had no charity for those who differed from him in opinion. His appearance was not agreeable; his face has always an expression of bad temper - but extreme determination of character often gives a disagreeable air to a face, and it may be this which disfigures the face of Ingres.

When he first went to Rome he was very poor, and the utmost economy of his means was necessary in order to give him a living and leisure for the pursuit of his art. In 1813 he married, and his wife stood between him and all the petty troubles of life; she sold his works for the best possible prices, and by assuming all his cares gave him quiet days for labor when he dreamed not of the trials from which she saved him by her patient devotion.

The works of Ingres are very numerous. He painted one picture which was sold in England for sixty-three thousand francs. He executed some portraits and a few decorative paintings. He was without doubt a much greater artist than his master David, but there has rarely been an artist concerning whom the opinions of good critics differ so widely. Perhaps justice would neither exalt nor debase him, but accord to him an acknowledgement of all that can be attained by patience and industry *See page 394

through many years, without the inspiration of great genius.

A list of the honors which were showered upon Ingres would be almost as long as the catalogue of his pictures; he was a senator, a grand officer of the Legion of Honor, a member of the Institute, and of six academies, and was decorated by the orders of several countries outside his own.

HIPPOLYTE DELAROCHE,

who is called "Paul Delaroche," was born at Paris in 1797. He was a very careful and skillful painter, and made many preparations for his work before commencing it. At times he went so far as to make wax models for his groups before painting them. He had a clear, simple conception of his subjects, but he was not poetical nor imaginative. He had an intellect which would have won success in almost any career that he might have chosen, but he was not a genius.

The masterpiece of Delaroche is a great painting called the "Hemicycle" in the theater of the Palace of the Fine Arts in Paris, and this work is so famous that one thinks of it involuntarily whenever his name is mentioned. It has seventy-five life-size figures, and the artist spent three years in painting it; it represents the arts of different countries and times by portraits of the artists of those times and nations.

Among his historical subjects were the "Condemnation of Marie Antoinette," ""Cromwell Contemplating the Remains of Charles I.," and other similar scenes. The interesting study which he made for the "Hemicycle," and from which he and his scholars painted that great work, is in the Walters Gallery in Baltimore. When the works of Delaroche are sold they bring large prices; his "Lady Jane Grey" was sold for one hundred and ten thousand francs, or twenty-two thousand dollars. Delaroche was a member of the Institute, an officer of the Legion of Honor, and a professor in the School of Fine Arts in Paris.

FERDINAND VICTOR EUGÈNE DELACROIX,

who was born in 1798, was another gifted painter. While a youth, he lost a fortune, and he was forced to struggle hard for the merest necessaries for existence.

However, he had steadfastness and courage, and when twenty-three years old he exhibited a picture which attracted much attention, and was purchased for the Luxembourg Gallery.

In 1830, he traveled in Spain, Algiers, and Morocco, and painted a few pictures of scenes in those countries. After his return to France, he obtained the commission to decorate the new Throne-room in the Chamber of Deputies. He was severely criticised by other artists, but when his work was done it was found to be magnificent in effect, and from that time he was prosperous. Some of his large pictures are at Versailles, others are seen in the churches of Paris, and he also received the important commission of the decoration of the Library of the Chamber of Peers. 1857, Delacroix was made a member of the Institute, having received a grand medal of honor from the jury of the great Exposition two years earlier.

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The subjects of some of this artist's works were very dramatic, and he has been called "the Victor Hugo of painting." There is no doubt that his forcible imagination is his most noteworthy characteristic. Like all great artists, Delacroix loved space. This is shown in his decorative works, such as the "Apollo Triumphing over Python," on the ceiling of the Gallery of Apollo in the Louvre. It is one of his masterpieces in this kind of painting, and shows him to have been a genius of great dramatic power. It was the terrible which pleased him most, but while the impress of a master's hand is on his pictures, we are not attracted by them and can not love them. One writer has called Delacroix "the last of a grand family of artists," and his name is a fitting one with which to close this paper.

AN EXPLANATION.

BY SAMUEL W. DUFFIEld.

WHEN you see the baby walk
Step by step, and stumble,
Just remember, now he 's here,
Both his wings are gone.-Oh, dear!
Catch him, or he 'll tumble !

When you hear the baby talk
Bit by bit, all broken,
Only think how he forgets
All his angel-words, and lets
Wonders go unspoken!

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