14. ILLUSTRATION OF EXODUS I., FROM THE "ICONES," ETC., CALLED HOLBEIN'S, LYONS, 1538. making something fresher than these. It does not seem to have been thought necessary to make new designs, or give new illustrations of well-known scenes; but inasmuch as Dürer's Little Passion was the leading New Testament picture-book, and Beham's Bible History was a popular Old Testament book, it was necessary to make a new set of drawings, and it seems to have been thought an enterprising idea to advertise them in connection with the name of some well-known artist. Dürer was dead. To employ the greatest living artist of Northern Europe, Holbein, for a new set of original Bible pictures was doubtless beyond the means of the Lyons publishers. Besides, the old pictures were popular, and would probably sell better in a cheap book for the people than any new designs, however able and artistic. Among the Lyons publishers, none was more enterprising than Frellon, while in all Northern Europe no artist living in 1538 was so celebrated as Hans Holbein. Holbein was then a resident in England, but from time to time called home (to Basle) by the magistrates, who claimed him as their property. 1538 appeared at Lyons a small book of wood-cuts with brief legends, being a series of Old Testament pictures. "Melchior et Gaspar Treschel fratres" append their names at the end of the book as In printers or publishers. Later editions, however, have the name of Frellon as publisher, from which it would appear that he became proprietor of the book after the first edition, or that there was some reason for suppressing his name as proprietor of the first. This Bible series was entitled "Icones Historiarum Veteris Testamenti," etc. The first edition contained ninety cuts. No artist's signature appears, and no author's name is given in the book. The cuts were of a size a trifle larger than the facsimile copies (Ills. 8, 14). A Latin poem introduced the book, in which one Borbonius lauds Holbein as the first artist of the age and of all ages, and declares these wood-cuts to be the work of "such an artist"-tanti artificis -and subsequently calls them the work Hansi-of Hans. To this poem were added two lines, in Greek and in Latin, in which Borbonius calls the pictures the work, in Greek 'OXẞairov xepóc, and in Latin Holbina manus, which may be correctly translated "of a Holbeinish hand," or "of a hand like Holbein's." The contemporary appearance of a series of wood-cuts representing a "Dance of Death" (so called), the fact that Holbein once painted a "Dance of Death," and this use of Holbein's name by the poet and the publisher of the "Icones," have led 18. ILLUSTRATION OF EXODUS I., FROM THE ENGLISH BIBLE CALLED CRANMER'S, 1539-40, ETC. to the idea that Holbein was the designer | (2) in the middle, Pharaoh commanding of the pictures. Much has been written the Hebrew midwives to destroy the Heon the subject. It is a curious fact that brew male children; (3) on the right, Hebiographers of Holbein have so strenu- brew women throwing children from a ously claimed for him a rank among art- bridge into the river. This curious interists on wood that they have overlooked mingling of subjects became the recogthe very inferior character of much of the nized idea for Bible illustration of this work which they insist on assigning to chapter, and was in favor for a hundred him. It is still more strange that they years. In the succession of illustrations claim for him cuts in so many styles, and Nos. 10 to 15 the reader will see the origiwith such diverse characteristics, that no nal design and its reproduction in various one can recognize a work as what Bor- Bibles and in the "Icones." The old idea bonius would call Holbeinish in style. remained unchanged in all. The picture There is no one known style of his work on wood. It is also remarkable that while many eminent writers have sought diligently, but in vain, to find a Basle edition of these prints, which they believe to have been published about 1530, and a vast deal of learned argument to show that Holbein designed the cuts has been published, accompanied by fac-simile editions of the entire work, with numerous reproductions of single cuts, with careful tracing out of Holbein's whereabouts in 1530 and 1538, no student of art nor biographer of Holbein has looked for the designs of these cuts where they are in large numbers to be found-in Lyons, Venice, Nuremberg, and Cologne Bibles all along from 1475 down to 1530. Whoever was the artist of the "Icones," he preferred copying to designing. He dressed old ideas in new and sometimes (but not always) more beautiful garments. as drawn by the artist of the "Icones" is the prettiest, the bridge scene receding far away, but the design is the composite design of 1475, without the change or addition of a thought. I have selected this picture from the Cologne Bible to reproduce, not because of its showing the artist's ability, but because its composite character leaves no possible explanation of later pictures grouping the same three scenes together except that they are copies of this design. The same is true of the picture of Hannah before the doves (Ill. 4). This scene, not being described in the Bible, is imaginary, and the picture appearing in later Bibles can only be a copy. Another reason for selecting the picture of Hannah is that the cut, as it appears in the "Icones" (Ill. 8), has been a favorite for reproduction by modern writers as an example of the exquisite thought of Holbein in designing these Bible cuts. It is of this cut in the The "Icones," by whomever drawn, "Icones" that Dr. Woltmann, in his superb are in the main only a selection of popu- and exhaustive work on Holbein, remarks: lar Bible pictures out of the great body of "Elkanah is sitting in a simple apartment illustration which had now become famil- by his wife Peninnah, the pair of doves iar to the world. They were not the origi- on the table before them indicating the nal work of any artist working for this sacrifice which they often presented in the book, but copies of old designs by a skill- temple when Peninnah blessed her husful workman for a shrewd book-publisher. band with children. Hannah, however, Many of them are the designs of the Co- his second wife, who was not thus blesslogne artist of 1470-75, which had been re-ed, is standing, bent down and weeping, produced for numerous Bibles at Lyons and elsewhere during the previous fifty years. If after this the admirers of Holbein still insist that he was the artist of the "Icones," they must be content to let him take rank among copyists. Two examples must suffice in this article as illustrations of many. The Cologne artist made a picture to illustrate the first chapter of Exodus. In it he represented three distinct scenes: (1) on the left the placing of Joseph's body in a sarcophagus -described in the last verse of Genesis; VOL. LX.-No. 359.-48 before them. Coldly by Peninnah, but with deep sympathy by her husband, the inquiry is made, 'Hannah, why weepest thou? How feeling and touching is the scene, with all its simplicity!" The words precisely describe the scene in the original Cologne picture of 1475. The very expression and position of the hands of Elkanah and his first wife are retained, and in all the pictures, in all the Bibles and in the "Icones," it is amusing to see that the original rude legs of the table change only into a heavier piece of furni ture, the legs always parting, and never | tions of the Cologne artist and of his sucmade straight. (See Ills. 4 to 9.) scene. I find in a succession of Bibles preceding the Lyons publication. It may be found that others originated with the contempo cessors. For it must be remembered that A curious error in one of the "Icones" in each successive year new designs had is conclusive evidence that whoever made been added to the body of Bible pictures. them copied directly from one of the Ly- We have not undertaken in this paper to ons Bibles, and probably from one of Sa- trace any other than the Cologne designs con's. The Cologne Bible of 1470-75 had to their source. Many others of the illustrated an incident recorded in the sec-"Icones," not from the Cologne designs, ond chapter of the Third (we call it the First) Book of Kings, namely, an appeal of Bathsheba to Solomon after David's death. The cut represented Solomon en-raries of the Cologne artist, or earlier. throned, Bathsheba kneeling before him, The "Icones" were published and reand in the distance the funeral of David. published, copied and recopied. Their The names Salomon and Bersabea over special importance in this history is in the their heads, and David over the body in fact that they gathered up a certain porthe sarcophagus, leave no doubt as to the tion of the Bible illustration of the day, This cut was placed between the and presented it in a style of drawing so first and second chapters of the Third acceptable to the sixteenth century that a Book of Kings. The design was used by fresh impulse was given to the old matelater Bible illustrators, and somehow came rial. Again, these designs went into Bibles. to be placed at the head of the first chap- Froschover, at Zürich, in 1545, published ter. In Sacon's Bibles of 1516 and 1521 | a magnificent Bible in which he used the it so stands, near the top of the column on "Icones" pictures, with a vast quantity of a page, and above it is printed the sum- others from old sources, and many which mary or contents of that first chapter, seem to be drawings by the "Icones" artcommencing with the words, De Senio ist. French Bibles appeared with these David et Abisac, etc. The artist of the cuts, redrawn by artists of the then ris"Icones," in turning over the Bible to ing French school. At Lyons, Bibles conchoose prints which he would copy for tinued to appear with these and many othhis employer, seems to have thought this er of the old designs which the "Icones" suited to his purpose, and glancing at this had not included. Italy again received head line of the chapter, supposed the the old designs in the new dress, and Italprint to represent Abishag the Shunamite ian Bibles contained them. The old cuts presented to David. He accordingly cop-in the styles preceding the "Icones" were ied the design in his own style, made the young Solomon of the Bible prints a feeble old man, labelled the block "The beautiful girl Abishag is given to David," etc., and it so appears in the "Icones." But, showing that he had no original idea in his work, he retained the funeral of David in the distance, because that was in the picture he was copying. The internal evidence thus afforded by a single print of the "Icones" is quite sufficient to convince us that the great artist of the period, Hans Holbein, could not have been this careless copyist. The fact that the designs of a portion of the prints are found in Bibles printed long before Holbein was born sets at rest the theory of some writers that his original sketches of the "Icones" were drawings in distemper. The "Icones" were executed in a style suited to the taste of more southern parts of Europe, and gave new power and increased circulation to the Bible illustra also used in new Bibles. Until the decadence of the art of woodengraving the same old designs in great number were in constant use in Bibles and picture-books, always including more or less of the Cologne designs of 1470-75. Later in the sixteenth century artists of eminence illustrated Bibles, and gathered their prints in small Bible picture-books, using new and original designs, in which we can trace very little influence from the old masters of illustration. The power of the older is illustrated by the fact that the new had only local circulation, and rarely seem to have entered into the body of popular illustration when they attempted scenes already pictured by the old masters. Jost Amman, Hans Brosamer, and others illustrated various editions of Luther's Bible. In Cologne, Dietenberg's Bible was illustrated with beautiful little cuts, in which I find no trace of any memory of the first Cologne Bible artist. But his designs went into England with the wood cuts which were used to illustrate early English translations of the Bible (Ill. 15), and in Holland as late as 1657, when Von Sichem's illustrations crowded the great Antwerp Bible, and were issued in picturebooks (Ill. 9), we still find Elkanah and Hannah on the two sides of the little table, with the doves between them, as the Cologne artist placed them two hundred years before. Perhaps no grander illustration exists of the power of an artist's thought, and the responsibility which accompanies that power. To have made a single picture of a Bible story which instructs a few persons is a work of some force. But to tell one, two, or twenty Bible stories by pictures to millions of men, women, and children of all nations in succeeding generations, century after century, is to do what few, if any, of the greatest commentators and theologians have done by the alphabet and type. organ, blending with the footsteps of late customers to the shops. Located on one of the wide business avenues of the city of New York, this modest home of a clerk with a slender salary held dissimilar elements united by close relationship. The very lamp on the table possessed a different significance to the two women seated beside it. To sister Anne, comely, thrifty, and practical, good wife and mother, it was the humble beacon of welcome to the absent husband. To Agnes, imbittered by hard study, overwork, the failures of youthful rashness in unfulfilled dreams, it meant a dull yellow flame, fed by kerosene oil, and burning monotonously in an ugly room, faintly redolent of cabbage and onions. Such a chamber has often been the cage of genius. "I could not obtain any of the work you propose, if I tried," resumed the young artist. "There are more applicants than labor in all fields and in every land." "True," sighed sister Anne, mindful that a week of illness would replace her husband at the store by a dozen eager competitors in need of bread. A key was inserted in a neighboring door, and the object of her solicitude entered, bringing a gust of keen winter air with him. The husband of sister Anne was a brisk little man, with shrewd blue eyes, flaxen hair, and a spot of red on either cheek-bone. He greeted his family cheerfully while unwinding a silk handkerchief from his throat. "I've got something for you in my pocket, Aggy," he said to his sister-in-law. "The very thing for you." She looked at him with a faint smile. "Yes, I came on it quite by accident, I may say-riding up town in the car," he pursued, with animation. Then he unfolded a newspaper, and placed his finger on a paragraph. The trio read together the following advertise 'That is the difficulty," continued sister Anne, with unruffled composure. "You are impatient, and despise the beginning. One can not spring into a full-ment: fledged artist at one bound. Pray, how did the great European artists commence, about whom you are so fond of reading? Very modestly, I promise you." Agnes made no immediate response. Instead, she ruffled her blonde hair with her hands, and stared moodily at the lamp. The room was plain, and the noise of the street below was audible in the tinkling of a car bell, the rattle of carts on the pavement, the distant strains of a wheezy PREMIUM offered of $100 for best design of Easter card for the approaching season. Competitors are requested to present their applications to LANG AND Co. Sister Anne read over the shoulder of her husband. "What a chance for you, Agnes!" she said. "I am confident you would win the prize. One hundred dollars, too!" "Lang and Co. are the great lithographers, you know," supplemented the hus band. "I saw it by the merest chance in a column of advertisements. Nothing like reading the papers." Agnes studied the paragraph, and made no comment. She grew pale, and her eyes darkened ominously. One would have inferred that she had received some affront, but restrained her indignation. Finally she rose, and took the journal in her hand. "Thank you, and good-night," she said, dryly. 'Is she offended?" demanded the little man, puzzled. "She is very silly," said sister Anne, rather tartly, as she poured a cup of tea and placed some delicate cakes before him. Agnes went to her room, locked the door, knelt beside the bed, and burst into tears. A prize given by a lithographer was offered to her competition! She had dreamed of fame and artistic excellence! Instead of the mountain-peak where she had longed to plant her standard, the slough of the valley of poverty was destined to ingulf her. Oh, the scorching tears of discouragement and humiliation which fell from her eyes! At length she rose and lighted the gas jet, in order to again read the detested advertisement. Her room was cold and bare, partaking of the characteristics of a studio rather than the abode of a woman. In one corner the iron bedstead was concealed by a screen, with a tiny mirror suspended near it; opposite, a stove reached with its rusty pipe to a shelf holding several plaster busts. The windows opened on a glasscovered piazza, the sanctuary of the easel. Here the artist indulged in reveries, or wrought with pencil and brush, forgetful of the hour of the noonday meal, and oblivious of the vicinity of a laundress, who employed the next glass-covered piazza for the purpose of drying linen-a practical industry which brought in far more satisfactory returns, in payment, than did the color box of Agnes Clement. The latter sought the spot now, and seated herself on the sole chair it boasted, mechanically. A large canvas was propped against the wall, representing a life-size Beatrice in Paradise beckoning to a shadowy Dante. Agnes had concentrated the labor, ambition, and hopes of a year's application in this bold attempt, had entered the lists valiantly for exhibition in the National Academy of Design, and suffered the cruel blow of rejection. Beyond was an Ophelia with yellow hair, who had shared a similar fate the previous year. These lovely heroines languished in the obscurity of the glass piazza, without ever having met the approving smile of an appreciative public. Oh, the cold selfishness of the world, and the willful blindness of hanging committees and art critics! For the first time Agnes found the smile of Beatrice insipid, and her gaze vacant. A doubt chilled her heart. Quickly she turned the picture to the wall, and sought the casement, gazing forth into the night rather than longer contemplate her own work. The piazza, located in the rear of the noisy avenue, overlooked the houses of the next street. These residences were aristocratic in proportion as their neighbors were humble. A high brick wall, bordered by a vine of wistaria, inclosed stable and garden of the mansion opposite, while brilliant lights within revealed a conservatory to the observer. The light came through curtains of silk and lace in a more remote drawing-room, where the chandelier was visible, like a great golden cone, and slanted across the conservatory, resting here on a frond of quivering fern, and there on a mass of gorgeous blossoms. At the same time the rippling melody of a piano, touched by a skillful hand, reached the ear of this lonely spectator, who looked down on all this luxury, gayety, and life not so much with a sting of envy as a crushing, overwhelming sense of personal failure. The night was clear, stars sparkled in the sky above, and the radiance of a full moon began to illuminate the city roofs. A girl entered the conservatory, approached a sash, and opened it, leaning out to discover the moon. She wore a pink dress, with soft white lace on neck and arms; a jewel flashed in her hair. Turning aside from the window, her sleeve caught in the branch of a flowering plant, she overturned it, and it fell outside the window with a crash of broken pottery. The girl uttered a little cry of dismay, glanced down on the wreck she had occasioned a moment, then withdrew her head, and closed the sash. The plant, an offshoot of the conservatory's wealth of bloom and fragrance, remained on the ledge where it had fallen. Now the silk curtains separated, and a gentleman joined her. He was a tall and slender young man in evening dress, with a flower in his button-hole, and he tossed aside a cigarette as he approached. |