. Sacred and legendary art . s surelyvery beautiful: to my fancythere is something quite pa-thetic in these old picturesof St. Christopher, wherethe great simple - hearted,St. Christopher (Titian) good-natured giant, tottering under his incomprehensibleburden, looks up with a face of wonder at the glorious Child,who smiles encouragement, and gives his benediction fromabove. In later times, the artists desecrated this fine subject byemploying it as a mere tour de force, a display of manly andmuscular form, for which the Farnese Hercules, or, if thatwere not at hand, any vulgar porter or gondoli
. Sacred and legendary art . s surelyvery beautiful: to my fancythere is something quite pa-thetic in these old picturesof St. Christopher, wherethe great simple - hearted,St. Christopher (Titian) good-natured giant, tottering under his incomprehensibleburden, looks up with a face of wonder at the glorious Child,who smiles encouragement, and gives his benediction fromabove. In later times, the artists desecrated this fine subject byemploying it as a mere tour de force, a display of manly andmuscular form, for which the Farnese Hercules, or, if thatwere not at hand, any vulgar porter or gondolier, served as amodel. Thus the religious sentiment was obscured or lost,and the whole representation became coarse and commonplace,when not absolutely grotesque and ridiculous. In the figure by Titian in the Ducal Palace at Venice, theattitude and cliaracter of the saint are precisely those of agondolier, — only that the palm-tree has been substituted forthe oar. In the picture by Farinato, a small spirited sketch at Alton. ST. CHRISTOPHER 439
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjec, booksubjectchristianartandsymbolism
