Meissonier, his life and his art . uth is that the earliestartists, who were still lispers in their art, thought only of the dramaticaspect of their more I see of thesegreat masters, the moreconvinced I am thatthey were fascinated,that their whole beinofwas pervaded, by theirsubject, that they stroveto make the specta-tor share the emo-tion which filled theirown hearts,—throbbinof,naive, brutal, incorrect,perchance, — but strik-ing to a degree whichhas never been equalled. We know how thesepictures agitate andtouch us, though wehave lost the ancient faith. What an effect must they
Meissonier, his life and his art . uth is that the earliestartists, who were still lispers in their art, thought only of the dramaticaspect of their more I see of thesegreat masters, the moreconvinced I am thatthey were fascinated,that their whole beinofwas pervaded, by theirsubject, that they stroveto make the specta-tor share the emo-tion which filled theirown hearts,—throbbinof,naive, brutal, incorrect,perchance, — but strik-ing to a degree whichhas never been equalled. We know how thesepictures agitate andtouch us, though wehave lost the ancient faith. What an effect must they have produced on those before whomthey were originally placed—men who believed sincerely in what theysaw represented ! Historians have been too neglectful of the influence of contem-porary works of art on the human mind. During certain periods,these works reflected the feeling of the time so faithfully that theyhave become a very precise source of information as to what we shouldnow term the prevailing condition of mind. c c. PEM SKETCH. 194 MEISSONIER Often, at some particular linur, a landscape which has struck youat hrst sight as somewhat onlinary, grows wonderfully poetic, re-dolent of d(>ep and exquisite calm. You feel it would he good foryou to be there, that your soul would be refreshed : the sensation ofthe gladness of Naturecomes over you. Land-scape painters are happyfolk ! No artist would paintif he knew he was neverto show his work, if hefelt no human eye wouldever rest on It. The artist suffers ex-quisite anguish when hefails to render what hefeels, when he measureshis own weakness, whenhe finds his expressioninferior to his concep-tion.
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