友情提示:如果本网页打开太慢或显示不完整,请尝试鼠标右键“刷新”本网页!
lavengro-第74部分
快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部! 如果本书没有阅读完,想下次继续接着阅读,可使用上方 "收藏到我的浏览器" 功能 和 "加入书签" 功能!
painter glisten。 'Really;' said he; when my brother had concluded;
'it was very kind to think of me。 I am not very fond of painting
portraits; but a mayor is a mayor; and there is something grand in
that idea of the Norman arch。 I'll go; moreover; I am just at this
moment confoundedly in need of money; and when you knocked at the
door; I don't mind telling you; I thought it was some dun。 I don't
know how it is; but in the capital they have no taste for the
heroic; they will scarce look at a heroic picture; I am glad to
hear that they have better taste in the provinces。 I'll go; when
shall we set off?'
Thereupon it was arranged between the painter and my brother that
they should depart the next day but one; they then began to talk of
art。 'I'll stick to the heroic;' said the painter; 'I now and then
dabble in the comic; but what I do gives me no pleasure; the comic
is so low; there is nothing like the heroic。 I am engaged here on
a heroic picture;' said he; pointing to the canvas; 'the subject is
〃Pharaoh dismissing Moses from Egypt;〃 after the last plague … the
death of the first…born; it is not far advanced … that finished
figure is Moses': they both looked at the canvas; and I; standing
behind; took a modest peep。 The picture; as the painter said; was
not far advanced; the Pharaoh was merely in outline; my eye was; of
course; attracted by the finished figure; or rather what the
painter had called the finished figure; but; as I gazed upon it; it
appeared to me that there was something defective … something
unsatisfactory in the figure。 I concluded; however; that the
painter; notwithstanding what he had said; had omitted to give it
the finishing touch。 'I intend this to be my best picture;' said
the painter; 'what I want now is a face for Pharaoh; I have long
been meditating on a face for Pharaoh。' Here; chancing to cast his
eye upon my countenance; of whom he had scarcely taken any manner
of notice; he remained with his mouth open for some time。 'Who is
this?' said he at last。 'Oh; this is my brother; I forgot to
introduce him。' 。 。 。
We presently afterwards departed; my brother talked much about the
painter。 'He is a noble fellow;' said my brother; 'but; like many
other noble fellows; has a great many enemies; he is hated by his
brethren of the brush … all the land and water scape painters hate
him … but; above all; the race of portrait…painters; who are ten
times more numerous than the other two sorts; detest him for his
heroic tendencies。 It will be a kind of triumph to the last; I
fear; when they hear he has condescended to paint a portrait;
however; that Norman arch will enable him to escape from their
malice … that is a capital idea of the watchmaker; that Norman
arch。'
I spent a happy day with my brother。 On the morrow he went again
to the painter; with whom he dined; I did not go with him。 On his
return he said; 'The painter has been asking a great many questions
about you; and expressed a wish that you would sit to him as
Pharaoh; he thinks you would make a capital Pharaoh。' 'I have no
wish to appear on canvas;' said I; 'moreover he can find much
better Pharaohs than myself; and; if he wants a real Pharaoh; there
is a certain Mr。 Petulengro。' 'Petulengro?' said my brother; 'a
strange kind of fellow came up to me some time ago in our town; and
asked me about you; when I inquired his name; he told me
Petulengro。 No; he will not do; he is too short; by the bye; do
you not think that figure of Moses is somewhat short?' And then it
appeared to me that I had thought the figure of Moses somewhat
short; and I told my brother so。 'Ah!' said my brother。
On the morrow my brother departed with the painter for the old
town; and there the painter painted the mayor。 I did not see the
picture for a great many years; when; chancing to be at the old
town; I beheld it。
The original mayor was a mighty; portly man; with a bull's head;
black hair; body like that of a dray horse; and legs and thighs
corresponding; a man six foot high at the least。 To his bull's
head; black hair; and body the painter had done justice; there was
one point; however; in which the portrait did not correspond with
the original … the legs were disproportionably short; the painter
having substituted his own legs for those of the mayor; which when
I perceived I rejoiced that I had not consented to be painted as
Pharaoh; for; if I had; the chances are that he would have served
me in exactly a similar way as he had served Moses and the mayor。
Short legs in a heroic picture will never do; and; upon the whole;
I think the painter's attempt at the heroic in painting the mayor
of the old town a decided failure。 If I am now asked whether the
picture would have been a heroic one provided the painter had not
substituted his own legs for those of the mayor … I must say; I am
afraid not。 I have no idea of making heroic pictures out of
English mayors; even with the assistance of Norman arches; yet I am
sure that capital pictures might be made out of English mayors; not
issuing from Norman arches; but rather from the door of the
'Checquers' or the 'Brewers Three。' The painter in question had
great comic power; which he scarcely ever cultivated; he would fain
be a Rafael; which he never could be; when he might have been
something quite as good … another Hogarth; the only comic piece
which he ever presented to the world being something little
inferior to the best of that illustrious master。 I have often
thought what a capital picture might have been made by my brother's
friend; if; instead of making the mayor issue out of the Norman
arch; he had painted him moving under the sign of the 'Checquers;'
or the 'Three Brewers;' with mace … yes; with mace; … the mace
appears in the picture issuing out of the Norman arch behind the
mayor; … but likewise with Snap; and with whiffler; quart pot; and
frying…pan; Billy Blind and Owlenglass; Mr。 Petulengro and
Pakomovna; … then; had he clapped his own legs upon the mayor; or
any one else in the concourse; what matter? But I repeat that I
have no hope of making heroic pictures out of English mayors; or;
indeed; out of English figures in general。 England may be a land
of heroic hearts; but it is not; properly; a land of heroic
figures; or heroic posture…making。 Italy 。 。 。 what was I going to
say about Italy?
CHAPTER XXXIX
No authority whatever … Interference … Wondrous farrago … Brandt
and Struensee … What a life! … The hearse … Mortal relics … Great
poet … Fashion and fame … What a difference … Oh; beautiful … Good
for nothing。
AND now once more to my pursuits; to my Lives and Trials。 However
partial at first I might be to these lives and trials; it was not
long before they became regular trials to me; owing to the whims
and caprices of the p
快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
温馨提示: 温看小说的同时发表评论,说出自己的看法和其它小伙伴们分享也不错哦!发表书评还可以获得积分和经验奖励,认真写原创书评 被采纳为精评可以获得大量金币、积分和经验奖励哦!