Meissonier, his life and his art . ndout that Mere Lucrece, the old peasant-woman whose portrait he was THE MAN 99 painting, was in extreme poverty. He at once assigned her alittle pension, which he paid regularly until her death. At Poissyone Sunday the goods of an old blacksmith which had been dis-trained upon, were put upfor sale. Meissonier hap-pened to be passing. Heinquired into the proceed-ings, bought up the pro-perty, reinstated the black-smith, and to ensure hima fair start, guaranteedhis rent for a year. Suchtraits of quiet benevolenceand impulsive generosityare by no means rare int
Meissonier, his life and his art . ndout that Mere Lucrece, the old peasant-woman whose portrait he was THE MAN 99 painting, was in extreme poverty. He at once assigned her alittle pension, which he paid regularly until her death. At Poissyone Sunday the goods of an old blacksmith which had been dis-trained upon, were put upfor sale. Meissonier hap-pened to be passing. Heinquired into the proceed-ings, bought up the pro-perty, reinstated the black-smith, and to ensure hima fair start, guaranteedhis rent for a year. Suchtraits of quiet benevolenceand impulsive generosityare by no means rare inthe life of was always ready tocontribute with pencil orbrush to any work ofcharity. In his old agehe often planned to buy afarm in some remote dis-trict, in the heart of the country, the heart of nature, and to spenda part of the year there. We should take an interest in the poorpeople, we should talk about their affairs with them in the evening,when the days work was over. We should love them, and be belovedby ANTIBES WASHERWOMEN. (Painting, Mus^e du Luxembourg ) II. Dm the master show the same self-forgetfulness, the same amenity,in daily intercourse with his brother artists and his equals ? What welearn from the Conversations on this head is not the least interesting ofits psychological revelations. Meissonier was always sensitive on thepoint of having been trained in no special school, of belonging to no loo MEISSONIER distinctive society or group, and lie never entirely lost that some-what distrustful and irritable reserve common among those who haveknown adversity in early life. The least difficulty, the least rebuff,recalled the difficulties and rebuffs of former times. He was notembittered—his mind was too healthy and too lofty ; but he retiredinto himself, and fenced himself round with a kind of stiffness. Hehad never been a frequenter of drawing-rooms, and had neither theaptitude nor the inclination for social success ; fully conscious of his ow
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