HOW
TO STUDY PICTURES
so often the case in nature, a perfectly balanced whole yet, if the artist selects a portion of it suitable for the is
;
of his canvas, he will have to adjust the parts of this part, add to them, or leave out some details, if he would size
make
his picture balanced and harmonious. There is no doubt that Courbet himself did this in the case of his marines and landscapes, notwithstanding his assertions that he painted only just what he saw. In a word, he had
the artist's instinct of selection, however much he have kicked against the restrictions of rules.
And now
may
something of the man and of his motives as a painter, let us turn again to his " Funeral at Ornans. masquerade funeral," the critics called it; "a sneer at the religious ceremony," but that
we
realize
A
—
surely the bearers are performing their task with a simple sense of responsibility; the coffin is not sensationally forced into prominence, but, on the contrary, introduced
much reserve; priest and crucifer no emotion, but they are showing ordinary display
into the picture with
may
attention to their duties; one of the
little
acolytes, as
a boy will, is showing inattention, but throughout the rest of the group, the persons are exhibiting different varieties of feeling from deep affliction to almost complete indifference, just as one may observe to-day on occasion of a largely attended funeral.
A
sensationalist
any
would have emphasized every point
—
that could extract our sympathies the coffin, the beauty of the service, the grief of the mourners, the yawning
Everything would have been keyed up to a draBut Courbet, with a wider vision, and perhaps a larger sympathy, has viewed the incident in its
grave.
matic intensity.
[360]