The River and the Desart; Or, Recollections of the Rhone and the Chartreuse Volume 2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1838 edition. Excerpt: ... the chapel of the Lazaretto, but was, when completed, considered so beautiful, that the authorities purchased it, in order to retain it in their city. On a line with this painting, above the mantel, and veiled by a curtain of green silk, is the "Plague" of the immortal Puget, an unfinished basso relievo in white marble; of which it may be sufficient to tell you, that after his decease, the city, anxious for the completion of so exquisite a work, invited a celebrated Italian artist to Marseilles to apply the last touches. The artist came; but when he was placed before it, PLAGUE OF GEBABD. 125 he stood for awhile in silence and surprise; and then suddenly turning away, he gathered his tools together, and bade his employers refrain from the sacrilege of adding aught to a masterpiece, which he felt that individually he dared not touch. Passing this magnificent effort of genius, for which, soit dit en passant, some English nobleman offered 110,000 francs, (although to the honour of the city it was refused); you stand before the " Plague" of the Baron Gerard. The fore-ground of the picture is perfection: the woman, whose stripling-son has just writhed under the plague-spasm, is of the most exquisite beauty. The blended terror and tenderness which are apparent in every line of her fine face, --the dilation of her large dark eye--the curve of her trembling lip, as she buries his face upon her shoulder, and strains him to her breast, as though she dreaded that he should be torn from her--the expression of maternal self-abandon126 PLAGUE OF GERARD. ment with which she clasps infection, are perfectly thrilling; while a sweet infant is clinging to her knee, and gazing up into her face unheeded. She has no thought, no feeling, save for...