The Pan-American
Weekly Resume of Events Happening There
A NOTED WORK OF ART
Of Jerusalem on the Day of the Crucifixion.
Buffalo, September 17.—The most artistic
and by far the most refined work of art in the Pan-American grounds
is the magnificent painting of Jerusalem on the day of the Crucifixion,
by Pigelheim, of Munich. Mrs. Governor Jennings, of Florida and
her party were so delighted with this spectatorium that they remained
during two consecutive exhibitions. The painting shows the city
of Jerusalem at the right, the hill of Calvary surmounted by the
three crosses in the centre, and on the left the hill country around
Jerusalem, dotted with the palatial home of Joseph of Arimathea,
and the villas of the Roman centurions.
The electrical effects cause a black
cloud first to creep over the Holy City. This cloud is riven by
zig-zag lightning. In the distance thunder is heard. The cloud grows
blacker until an intense darkness covers the scene[.] Out of the
darkness a pure, sweet tenor voice has been accustomed to sing “Hosanna
in the Highest.” Since the death of the President, this song has
been changed to a well-known melody, the refrain of which is “Thy
Will Be Done.” As these were the last words of the martyred President,
and as the scene on the canvas suggests the same sacred sentiment,
the timeliness and the appropriateness of the change is apparent.
The owners of this painting paid for
it $130,000. It is the finest thing of the kind in America. Twenty
first-class artists were engaged on the canvas for three years.
To properly exhibit it, it requires the building of a circular amphitheatre,
which occupies more space than could be granted by the Pan-American
Exposition Company. If this magnificent feature is secured for Charleston
or for St. Louis, it is to be hoped that it will be situated in
a quiet and beautiful part of the grounds, and where the solemn
suggestions it inspires wil [sic] not be dispelled by its surroundings
as soon as one leaves the oriental columns which support the amphitheatre
in which it is now contained. Dr. Talmage says: “It is worth a thousand
sermons.”
The electrical effects add much to
the entertainment. While the dark cloud hangs over Jerusalem there
is a halo of color around the central figure on the cross which
glows throughout the whole scene until the speaker, who is a fine
elocutionist, concludes the story of Gethsemane and Calvary. At
that moment the electrical effects vanish, the music ceases and
the clear sunlight of an eastern afternoon falls on the splendid
painting. A field of golden sunshine flecks the mountain bordered
pathway leading towards Bethany. The cloud over Calvary has a golden
lining and the Temples of David and of Mariamne, the pillared palaces
of Herod, stand out on the canvas as real as if one stood on a hill
overlooking Jerusalem itself.
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