Identifier: thingsseeninspai00hart (find matches)
Title: Things seen in Spain. With fifty illus
Year: 1921 (1920s)
Authors: Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine), 1867-1928
Subjects:
Publisher: London : Seely, Service
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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are we 221 Things Seen in Spain not too apt to confine beauty to certainforms of accepted expression ? Surely, anyart that interprets life has beauty; and noone can doubt, who knows the Spanishpictures, that life was the inspiration of thesepainters. The Spanish character speaks in everySpanish picture. There is one quality, whichat a first knowledge will impress the carefulobserver, in all these pictures, which, thoughdifferent, all have one aim—it is theirdramatic seriousness. Rarely do you meetwith a picture in which the idea of beauty,whether it be the beauty of colour or thebeauty of form, has stood first in thepainters mind. Almost in vain will yousearch for any love of landscape, for anypassage of beauty introduced for its ownsake. Pictures of Passion scenes, of Assump-tions, of martyrdoms and saintly legends,were painted with a vivid belief in thereality of these things, by men who felt thepresence of the Divine life as a part ofhuman life. To see these pictures in which 222
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• London <:± .\eiu Y THE yiXlS GALLERY IX THE 31LSE0 DEL PRADO^ 3IADRID. The photograph shows Murillos pictures. Spanish Art homely details are introduced into the mostsacred themes is to understand the Spaniardseasy familiarity with his religion. This is the reason why the Spanishpainters always treat a vision as a realscene, and why, too, they present religiousand saintly characters by Spanish models.There is a Spanish picture by Zurbaranin the National Gallery of London; it isentitled St. Margaret. You look at thepicture; you see a Spanish lady, her facepowdered, as was the fashion ; an embroideredsaddle-bag hangs on one arm, in the otherhand she holds a rosary. She is dressedin the picturesque Andalusian costume. Ialways smile when I look at this picture,it is so truly Spanish. The incongruity ofclothing saintship in the garb of fashionwould not be evident to Spanish Zurbaran;he could not see a saint, therefore he painteda woman, but in accordance with the customof the day h

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