The Pan-American

Weekly Resume of Events Happening There
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A NOTED WORK OF ART
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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.