Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins, 1852-1930 / 2008-11-12 00:00:00
Jouin, _Chefs-d'oeuvre: Peinture, Sculpture, Architecture_
(Paris, 1895-7).
BANQUET OF THE ARQUEBUSIERS
_(VAN DER HELST)_
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY
The _Night-Watch_ at Amsterdam is magnificent in parts, but on the side
to the spectator's right, smoky and dim. The _Five Masters of the
Drapers_ is wonderful for depth, strength, brightness, massive power.
What words are these to express a picture! to describe a description! I
once saw a moon riding in the sky serenely, attended by her sparkling
maids of honour, and a little lady said, with an air of great
satisfaction, "_I must sketch it_." Ah, my dear lady, if with an H.B., a
Bristol board, and a bit of india-rubber, you can sketch the firmament
on high, and the moon in her glory, I make you my compliment! I can't
sketch _The Five Drapers_ with any ink or pen at present at command--but
can look with all my eyes, and be thankful to have seen such a
masterpiece.
They say he was a moody, ill-conditioned man, the old tenant of the
mill. What does he think of the "Van der Helst" which hangs opposite his
_Night-Watch_, and which is one of the great pictures of the world? It
is not painted by so great a man as Rembrandt; but there it is--to see
it is an event of your life. Having beheld it you have lived in the
year 1648, and celebrated the Treaty of Muenster. You have shaken the
hands of the Dutch Guardsmen, eaten from their platters, drunk their
Rhenish, heard their jokes, as they wagged their jolly beards.
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