The museums are here to teach the history of art and something more as well, for, if they stimulate in the weak a desire to imitate, they furnish the strong with the means of their emancipation.
There is something you must understand about the Soviet system. They have the ability to concentrate all their efforts on a given design, and develop all components simultaneously, but sometimes without proper testing. Then they end up with a technological disaster like the Tu-144. In a technology race at the time, that aircraft was two months ahead of the Concorde. Four Tu-144s were built; two have crashed, and two are in museums. The Concorde has been flying safely for over 10 years. -- Victor Belenko, MiG-25 fighter pilot who defected in 1976 "Defense Electronics", Vol 20, No. 6, pg. 100
"I went to the museum where they had all the heads and arms from the statues that are in all the other museums." -- Steven Wright
"Yes--yes--yes! Run away from home!" she repeated, in a transport of rage. "I won't, I won't be made to blush every minute by them all! I don't want to blush before Prince S. or Evgenie Pavlovitch, or anyone, and therefore I have chosen you. I shall tell you everything, _everything_, even the most important things of all, whenever I like, and you are to hide nothing from me on your side. I want to speak to at least one person, as I would to myself. They have suddenly begun to say that I am waiting for you, and in love with you. They began this before you arrived here, and so I didn't show them the letter, and now they all say it, every one of them. I want to be brave, and be afraid of nobody. I don't want to go to their balls and things--I want to do good. I have long desired to run away, for I have been kept shut up for twenty years, and they are always trying to marry me off. I wanted to run away when I was fourteen years old--I was a little fool then, I know--but now I have worked it all out, and I have waited for you to tell me about foreign countries. I have never seen a single Gothic cathedral. I must go to Rome; I must see all the museums; I must study in Paris. All this last year I have been preparing and reading forbidden books. Alexandra and Adelaida are allowed to read anything they like, but I mayn't. I don't want to quarrel with my sisters, but I told my parents long ago that I wish to change my social position. I have decided to take up teaching, and I count on you because you said you loved children. Can we go in for education together--if not at once, then afterwards? We could do good together. I won't be a general's daughter any more! Tell me, are you a very learned man?"
“_Commissars for the Protection of Museums and Artistic Collections,_ “G. YATMANOV, B. MANDELBAUM.”
The Frenchman had been so impatient to reach the house of Thomson & French that he would not wait for the horses to be harnessed, but left word for the carriage to overtake him on the road, or to wait for him at the bankers' door. He reached it before the carriage arrived. The Frenchman entered, leaving in the anteroom his guide, who immediately entered into conversation with two or three of the industrious idlers who are always to be found in Rome at the doors of banking-houses, churches, museums, or theatres. With the Frenchman, the man who had followed him entered too; the Frenchman knocked at the inner door, and entered the first room; his shadow did the same.
A conference of artists and archæologists, held at the suggestion of Smolny, appointed a commission of make an inventory of the Winter Palace treasures, which was given complete charge of the Palace and of all artistic collections and State museums in Petrograd. On November 16th the Winter Palace was closed to the public while the inventory was being made....
DE KEYSER, THOMAS (1596 or 1597-1667), Dutch painter, was born at Amsterdam, the son of the architect and sculptor Hendrik de Keyser. We have no definite knowledge of his training, and but scant information as to the course of his life, though it is known that he owned a basalt business between 1640 and 1654. Aert Pietersz, Cornelis vanider Voort, Werner van Valckert and Nicolas Elias are accredited by different authorities with having developed his talent; and M. Karl Woermann, who has pronounced in favour of Nicolas Elias is supported by the fact that almost all that master's pictures were formerly attributed to De Keyser, who, in like fashion, exercised some influence upon Rembrandt when he first went to Amsterdam in 1631. De Keyser chiefly excelled as a portrait painter, though he also executed some historical and mythological pictures, such as the "Theseus" and "Ariadne" in the Amsterdam town hall. His portraiture is full of character and masterly in handling, and often, as in the "Old Woman" of the Budapest gallery, is distinguished by a rich golden glow of colour and Rembrandtesque chiaroscuro. Some of his portraits are life-size, but the artist generally preferred to keep them on a considerably smaller scale, like the famous "Group of Amsterdam Burgomasters" assembled to receive Marie de' Medici in 1638, now at the Hague museum. The sketch for this important painting, together with three other drawings, was sold at the Gallitzin sale in 1783 for the sum of threepence. The German emperor owns an "Equestrian Portrait of a young Dutchman," by De Keyser, a late work which in general disposition and in the soft manner of painting recalled the work of Cuyp. Similar pictures are in the Dresden and Frankfort museums, in the Heyl collection at Worms, and the Liechtenstein Gallery in Vienna. The National Gallery, London, owns a characteristic portrait group of a "Merchant with his Clerk"; the Hague museum, besides the group already referred to, a magnificent "Portrait of a Savant," and the Haarlem museum a fine portrait of "Claes Fabricius." At the Ryks Museum in Amsterdam there are no fewer than twelve works from his brush, and other important examples are to be found in Brussels, Munich, Copenhagen and St Petersburg. Entry: DE
_Education and Arts._--The educational system of Denmark is maintained at a high standard. The instruction in primary schools is gratuitous. Every child is bound to attend the parish school at least from the seventh to the thirteenth year, unless the parents can prove that it receives suitable instruction in other ways. The schools are under the immediate control of school boards appointed by the parish councils, but of which the incumbent of the parish is _ex-officio_ member; superior control is exercised by the Amtmand, the rural dean, and the bishop, under the Minister for church and education. Secondary public schools are provided in towns, in which moderate school fees are paid. There are also public grammar-schools. Nearly all schools are day-schools. There are only two public schools, which, though on a much smaller scale, resemble the great English schools, namely, those of Sorö and Herlufsholm, both founded by private munificence. Private schools are generally under a varying measure of public control. The university is at Copenhagen (q.v.). Amongst numerous other institutions for the furtherance of science and training of various kinds may be mentioned the large polytechnic schools; the high school for agriculture and veterinary art; the royal library; the royal society of sciences; the museum of northern antiquities; the society of northern antiquaries, &c. The art museums of Denmark are not considerable, except the museum of Thorvaldsen, at Copenhagen, but much is done to provide first-rate training in the fine arts and their application to industry through the Royal Academy of Arts, and its schools. Finally, it may be mentioned that a sum proportionately large is available from public funds and regular parliamentary grants for furthering science and arts by temporary subventions to students, authors, artists and others of insufficient means, in order to enable them to carry out particular works, to profit by foreign travel, &c. The principal scientific societies and institutions are detailed under Copenhagen. During the earlier part of the 19th century not a few men could be mentioned who enjoyed an exceptional reputation in various departments of science, and Danish scientists continue to contribute their full share to the advancement of knowledge. The society of sciences, that of northern antiquaries, the natural history and the botanical societies, &c., publish their transactions and proceedings, but the _Naturhistorisk Tidsskrift_, of which 14 volumes with 259 plates were published (1861-1884), and which was in the foremost rank in its department, ceased with the death in 1884 of the editor, the distinguished zoologist, I. C. Schiödte. Another extremely valuable publication of wide general interest, the _Meddelelser om Grönland_, is published by the commission for the exploration of Greenland. What may be called the modern "art" current, with its virtues and vices, is as strong in Denmark as in England. Danish sculpture will be always famous, if only through the name of Thorvaldsen. In architecture the prevailing fashion is a return to the style of the first half of the 17th century, called the Christian IV. style; but in this branch of art no marked excellence has been obtained. Entry: DENMARK
The earliest existing British epitaphs belonged to the Roman period, and are written in Latin after the Roman form. Specimens are to be seen in various antiquarian museums throughout the country; some of the inscriptions are given in Bruce's _Roman Wall_, and the seventh volume of the _Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum_ edited by Hübner, containing the British inscriptions, is a valuable repertory for the earlier Roman epitaphs in Britain. The earliest, of course, are commemorative of soldiers, belonging to the legions of occupation, but the Roman form was afterwards adopted for native Britons. Long after the Roman form was discarded, the Latin language continued to be used, especially for inscriptions of a more public character, as being from its supposed permanence the most suitable medium of communication to distant ages. It is only, in fact, within recent years that Latin has become unusual, and the more natural practice has been adopted of writing the epitaphs of distinguished men in the language of the country in which they lived. While Latin was the chief if not the sole literary language, it was, as a matter of course, almost exclusively used for epitaphial inscriptions. The comparatively few English epitaphs that remain of the 11th and 12th centuries are all in Latin. They are generally confined to a mere statement of the name and rank of the deceased following the words "Hic jacet." Two noteworthy exceptions to this general brevity are, however, to be found in most of the collections. One is the epitaph to Gundrada, daughter of the Conqueror (d. 1085), which still exists at Lewes, though in an imperfect state, two of the lines having been lost; another is that to William de Warren, earl of Surrey (d. 1089), believed to have been inscribed in the abbey of St Pancras, near Lewes, founded by him. Both are encomiastic, and describe the character and work of the deceased with considerable fulness and beauty of expression. They are written in leonine verse. In the 13th century French began to be used in writing epitaphs, and most of the inscriptions to celebrated historical personages between 1200 and 1400 are in that language. Mention may be made of those to Robert, the 3rd earl of Oxford (d. 1221), as given in Weever, to Henry III. (d. 1272) at Westminster Abbey, and to Edward the Black Prince (d. 1376) at Canterbury. In most of the inscriptions of this period the deceased addresses the reader in the first person, describes his rank and position while alive, and, as in the case of the Black Prince, contrasts it with his wasted and loathsome state in the grave, and warns the reader to prepare for the same inevitable change. The epitaph almost invariably closes with a request, sometimes very urgently worded, for the prayers of the reader that the soul of the deceased may pass to glory, and an invocation of blessing, general or specific, upon all who comply. Epitaphs preserved much of the same character after English began to be used towards the close of the 14th century. The following, to a member of the Savile family at Thornhill, is probably even earlier, though its precise date cannot be fixed:-- Entry: I
The carving of elegant objects from transparent quartz, or rock crystal, has been carried on since the 16th century, first in Italy, by the greatest masters of the time, and afterwards in Prague, under Rudolph II., until the Thirty Years' War, when the industry was wiped out. Splendid examples of this work are in the important museums of Europe. Many of these are reproduced now in Vienna, and fine examples are included in some American museums. Among them are rock-crystal dishes several inches across, beautifully engraved in intaglio and mounted in silver with gems. Other varieties of quartz minerals, such as agate, jasper, &c., and other ornamental stones of similar hardness, are likewise wrought into all manner of art objects. Caskets, vases, ewers, coupés and animal and other fanciful forms, are familiar in these opaque and semi-transparent stones, either carved out of single masses or made of separate pieces united with gold, silver or enamel in the most artistic manner. Cellini, and other masters in the 16th and 17th centuries, vied with each other in such work. Entry: LAPIDARY
Albert Cuyp, a true child of the Netherlands, does not seem to have wandered much beyond Rotterdam on the one hand or Nijmwegen on the other. His scenery is that of the Meuse or Rhine exclusively; and there is little variety to notice in his views of water and meadows at Dordrecht, or the bolder undulations of the Rhine banks east of it, except such as results from diversity of effect due to change of weather or season or hour. Cuyp is to the river and its banks what Willem Vandevelde is to calm seas and Hobbema to woods. There is a poetry of effect, an eternity of distance in his pictures, which no Dutchman ever expressed in a similar way. His landscapes sparkle with silvery sheen at early morning, they are bathed in warm or sultry haze at noon, or glow with heat at eventide. Under all circumstances they have a peculiar tinge of auburn which is Cuyp's and Cuyp's alone. Bürger truly says van Goyen is gray, Ruysdael is brown, Hobbema olive, but Cuyp "is blond." The utmost delicacy may be observed in Cuyp's manner of defining reflections of objects in water, or of sight from water on ship's sides. He shows great cleverness in throwing pale-yellow clouds against clear blue skies, and merging yellow mists into olive-green vegetation. He is also very artful in varying light and shade according to distance, either by interchange of cloud-shadow and sun-gleam or by gradation of tints. His horses and cattle are admirably drawn, and they relieve each other quite as well if contrasted in black and white and black and red, or varied in subtler shades of red and brown. Rich weed-growth is expressed by light but marrowy touch, suggestive of detail as well as of general form. The human figure is given with homely realism in most cases, but frequently with a charming elevation, when, as often occurs, the persons represented are meant to be portraits. Whatever the theme may be it remains impressed with the character and individuality of Cuyp. Familiar subjects of the master's earlier period are stables with cattle and horses (Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Petersburg and Brussels museums). Occasionally he painted portraits in the bust form familiar to his father, one of which is dated 1649, and exhibited in the National Gallery, London. More frequently he produced likenesses of ladies and gentlemen on horseback, in which the life and dress of the period and the forms of horses are most vividly represented (Buckingham Palace, Bridgewater Gallery, Louvre and Dresden Museum). Later on we find him fondest of expansive scenery with meadows and cattle and flocks, or rivers and barges in the foreground and distances showing the towers and steeples of Dordrecht. Cuyp was more partial to summer than to winter, to noon than to night, to calm than to storm. But some of his best groups are occasionally relieved on dark and gusty cloud (Louvre and Robarts's collection). A few capital pieces show us people sledging and skating or netting ice-holes (Yarborough, Neeld and Bedford collections). A lovely "Night on the Banks of a River," in the Grosvenor collection, reminds us that Cuyp's friend and contemporary was the painter of moonlights, Aart van der Neer, to whom he was equal in the production of these peculiar effects and superior in the throw of figures. Sometimes Cuyp composed fancy subjects. His "Orpheus charming the Beasts," in the Bute collection, is judiciously arranged with the familiar domestic animals in the foreground, and the wild ones, to which he is a comparative stranger, thrown back into the distance. One of his rare gospel subjects is "Philip baptizing the Eunuch" (Marchmont House, Berwickshire), described as a fine work by Waagen. The best and most attractive of Cuyp's pieces are his Meuse and Rhine landscapes, with meadows, cattle, flocks and horsemen, and occasionally with boats and barges. In these he brought together and displayed--during his middle and final period--all the skill of one who is at once a poet and a finished artist; grouping, tinting, touch, harmony of light and shade, and true chords of colours are all combined. Masterpieces of acknowledged beauty are the "Riders with the Boy and Herdsman" in the National Gallery; the Meuse, with Dordrecht in the distance, in three or four varieties, in the Bridgewater, Grosvenor, Holford and Brownlow collections; the "Huntsman" (Ashburton); "Herdsmen with Cattle," belonging to the marquess of Bute; and the "Piper with Cows," in the Louvre. The prices paid for Cuyp's pictures in his own time were comparatively low. In 1750, 30 florins was considered to be the highest sum to which any one of his panels was entitled. But in more recent times the value of the pictures has naturally risen very largely. At the sale of the Clewer collection at Christie's in 1876 a small "Hilly Landscape in Morning Light" was sold for £5040, and a view on the Rhine, with cows on a bank, for £3150. (J. A. C.) Entry: ALBERT
St Vincent \ Brussels cathedral. St Patrice > Rouen. Church of St Jacques \ St Godard / Church of St Martin > Liége. Church of St Foy, Conches. Cathedral / Church of St Gervais, Paris. Church of St Étienne-du-Mont, Paris. _Switzerland._ Church of St Martin, Montmorency. Church of Écouen. Lucerne and most of the other Church of St Étienne, Beauvais. principal museums. Church of St Nizier, Troyes. Church of Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse. The Château de Chantilly. Entry: RENAISSANCE
_Fauna_.--The indigenous mammals of the Canary Islands are very few in number. The dog, swine, goat and sheep were alone found upon the island by the Spanish conquerors: The race of large dogs which is supposed to have given a name to the islands has been long extinct. A single skeleton has been found, which is deposited in one of the museums at Paris. The ferret, rabbit, cat, rat, mouse and two kinds of bat have become naturalized. The ornithology is more interesting, on account at once of the birds native to the islands, and the stragglers from the African coast, which are chiefly brought over in winter, when the wind has blown for some time from the east. Among the indigenous birds are some birds of prey, as the African vulture, the falcon, the buzzard, the sparrow-hawk and the kite. There are also two species of owl, three species of sea-mew, the stockdove, quail, raven, magpie, chaffinch, goldfinch, blackcap, canary, titmouse, blackbird, house-swallow, &c. As to the insects, mention may be made of a species of gnat or mosquito which is sometimes troublesome, especially to strangers. The list of reptiles is limited to three varieties of lizard and one species of frog. The only fresh-water fish is the eel. Marine fishes are not numerous, the reason perhaps being that the steepness of the coast does not allow seaweed to grow in sufficient quantity to support the lower forms of marine animal life. Whales and seals are occasionally seen. The cuttle-fish is abundant, and is sought for as an article of food. Entry: CANARY
The only other public buildings, beyond those at Westminster, which fall into a great group are the modern museums, the Imperial Institute, London University and other institutions, and Albert Hall, which lie between Kensington Gore and Brompton and Cromwell Roads, and these, together with the National Gallery (in Trafalgar Square) and other art galleries, and the principal scientific, educational and recreative institutions, are considered in Section V. Entry: A
BOETHUS, a sculptor of the Hellenistic age, a native of Carthage (or possibly Chalcedon). His date cannot be accurately fixed, but was probably the 2nd century B.C. He was noted for his representations of children, in dealing with whom earlier Greek art had not been very successful; and especially for a group representing a boy struggling with a goose, of which several copies survive in museums. Entry: BOETHUS
DENON, DOMINIQUE VIVANT, BARON DE (1747-1825), French artist and archaeologist, was born at Chalon-sur-Saône on the 4th of January 1747. He was sent to Paris to study law, but he showed a decided preference for art and literature, and soon gave up his profession. In his twenty-third year he produced a comedy, _Le Bon Père_, which obtained a _succès d'estime_, as he had already won a position in society by his agreeable manners and exceptional conversational powers. He became a favourite of Louis XV., who entrusted him with the collection and arrangement of a cabinet of medals and antique gems for Madame de Pompadour, and subsequently appointed him attaché to the French embassy at St Petersburg. On the accession of Louis XVI. Denon was transferred to Sweden; but he returned, after a brief interval, to Paris with the ambassador M. de Vergennes, who had been appointed foreign minister. In 1775 Denon was sent on a special mission to Switzerland, and took the opportunity of visiting Voltaire at Ferney. He made a portrait of the philosopher, which was engraved and published on his return to Paris. His next diplomatic appointment was to Naples, where he spent seven years, first as secretary to the embassy and afterwards as _chargé d'affaires_. He devoted this period to a careful study of the monuments of ancient art, collecting many specimens and making drawings of others. He also perfected himself in etching and mezzotinto engraving. The death of his patron, M. de Vergennes, in 1787, led to his recall, and the rest of his life was given mainly to artistic pursuits. On his return to Paris he was admitted a member of the Academy of Painting. After a brief interval he returned to Italy, living chiefly at Venice. He also visited Florence and Bologna, and afterwards went to Switzerland. While there he heard that his property had been confiscated, and his name placed on the list of the proscribed, and with characteristic courage he resolved at once to return to Paris. His situation was critical, but he was spared, thanks to the friendship of the painter David, who obtained for him a commission to furnish designs for republican costumes. When the Revolution was over, Denon was one of the band of eminent men who frequented the house of Madame de Beauharnais. Here he met Bonaparte, to whose fortunes he wisely attached himself. At Bonaparte's invitation he joined the expedition to Egypt, and thus found the opportunity of gathering the materials for his most important literary and artistic work. He accompanied General Desaix to Upper Egypt, and made numerous sketches of the monuments of ancient art, sometimes under the very fire of the enemy. The results were published in his _Voyage dans la basse et la haute Égypte_ (2 vols, fol., with 141 plates, Paris, 1802), a work which crowned his reputation both as an archaeologist and as an artist. In 1804 he was appointed by Napoleon to the important office of director-general of museums, which he filled until the restoration in 1815, when he had to retire. He was a devoted friend of Napoleon, whom he accompanied in his expeditions to Austria, Spain and Poland, taking sketches with his wonted fearlessness on the various battlefields, and advising the conqueror in his choice of spoils of art from the various cities pillaged. After his retirement he began an illustrated history of ancient and modern art, in which he had the co-operation of several skilful engravers. He died at Paris on the 27th of April 1825, leaving the work unfinished. It was published posthumously, with an explanatory text by Amaury Duval, under the title _Monuments des arts du dessin chez les peuples tant anciens que modernes, recueillis par Vivant Denon_ (4 vols, fol., Paris, 1829). Denon was the author of a novel, _Point de lendemain_ (1777), of which further editions were printed in 1812, 1876 and 1879. Entry: DENON