The cottage in
the background, the trees and weeds in the middle distance, the
distribution of light and the subdued tones of this impressive picture,
are all excellent. Some critics object to the artist's perspective, but
I fancy that is a bit of hypercriticism.
Then comes Fernand Cormon's _Flight of Cain_, suggested by Victor
Hugo's lines:
Lorsqu' avec ses enfants couverts de peaux de betes,
Echevele, livide au milieu des tempetes,
Cain se fut enfui de devant Jehovah.
This canvas is one of the largest in the Salon--4 by 7 metres. The
chief figures are grandly painted and the whole picture is very
impressive.
Alphonse Alexis Morot's _Good Samaritan_ is an exceedingly strong
picture. The Samaritan is represented holding upon his own beast the
poor maltreated Jew and walking by his side. The figure-painting is
wonderful in its vigor and _verve_.
The fourth picture is Alexandre Cabanel's _Phedre_. The source of the
artist's inspiration was the well-known passage from Euripides:
"Consumed upon a bed of grief, Phedre shuts herself up in her palace,
and with a thin veil envelops her blonde head. It is now the third day
that her body has partaken of no nourishment: attacked by a concealed
ill, she longs to put an end to her sad fate.
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