" Phedre, as she lies
wishing only for death as a surcease of sorrow, gazed upon with
solicitude by her pitying attendants, is a vivid picture of
all-consuming grief. The decorative work of the bed and the wall is
chaste and classic.
Of the minor pictures, that of Dagnan-Bouveret, _Un Accident_, is one
of the best. It is indeed a rare picture in the excellence of its
execution in every detail. A boy has been badly wounded in the wrist by
some accident, and the surgeon is engaged in dressing the injured part.
The dirty foot of the boy as it peeps out beneath the chair, shod in a
rough sabot which fails to conceal its grime, the bowl standing on the
table half full of blood and water while the wrist is now being
skilfully bandaged by the surgeon, whose operations are watched with
great solicitude by the group of sympathetic relatives,--all these
features give a living interest to this painting which is unusual. The
red, grimy hands of the old mother of the boy are very faithfully
painted. The expression on the lad's face of heroic endurance and a
determination not to cry in any case is touching.
As for Mademoiselle Sara Bernhardt's _La Jeune Fille et la Mort_--a
veiled skeleton coming up behind a young girl and touching her on the
shoulder--it would attract little attention if it had not been signed
by the flighty (and lately _fleeing_) actress.
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