Chapter XLV: Sir Benjamin West

_American_
1738-1820
_Pupil of the Italian School_

The beautiful smile of his little niece helped to make this man an artist. This is the story:

Benjamin West was born down in Pennsylvania, at Westdale, a small village in the township of Springfield, of Quaker parentage. The family was poor perhaps, but in America at a time when everybody was struggling with a new civilisation it did not seem to be such binding poverty as the same condition in Europe would have been. Benjamin had a married sister whose baby he greatly loved, and he gave it devoted attention. One day while it was sleeping and the undiscovered artist was sitting beside it he saw it smile, and the beauty of the smile inspired him to keep it forever if he could. He got paper and pencil and forthwith transferred that "angel's whisper."

No child of to-day can imagine the difficulties a boy must have had in those days in America, to get an art education, and having learned his art, how impossible it was to live by it. Men were busy making a new country and pictures do not take part in such pioneer work; they come later. Still, there were bound to be born artistic geniuses then, just as there were men for the plough and men for politics and for war. He who happened to be the artist was the Quaker boy, West.

He took his first inspiration from the Cherokees, for it was the Indian in all the splendour of his strength and straightness that formed West's ideal of beautiful physique.

When he first saw the Apollo Belvedere, he exclaimed: "A young Mohawk warrior!" to the disgust of every one who heard him, but he meant to compliment the noblest of forms. Europeans did not know how magnificent a figure the "young Mohawk warrior" could be; but West knew.

After his Indian impetus toward art he went to Philadelphia, and settled himself in a studio, where he painted portraits. His sitters went to him out of curiosity as much as anything else, but at last a Philadelphia gentleman, who knew what art meant, recognised Benjamin West's talent, and made some arrangement by which the young man went to Italy.

Life began to look beautiful and promising to the Pennsylvanian. He was in Italy for three years, and in that home of art the young man who had made the smile of his sister's sleeping baby immortal was given highest honours. He was elected a member of all the great art societies in Italy, and studied with the best artists of the time. He began to earn his living, we may be sure, and then he went to England, where, in spite of the prejudice there must have been against the colonists, he became at once a favourite of George III., a friend of Reynolds and of all the English artists of repute--unless perhaps of Gainsborough, who made friends with none.

West was appointed "historical painter" to his Majesty, George III., and he was chosen to be one of four who should draw plans for a Royal Academy. He was one of the first members of that great organisation, and when Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first president, died, West became president, remaining in office for twenty-eight years.

About that time came the Peace of Amiens, and West was able to go to Paris, where he could see the greatest art treasures of Europe, which had been brought to France from every quarter as a consequence of the war. At that time, before Paris began to return these, and when she had just pillaged every great capital of Europe, artists need take but a single trip to see all the art worth seeing in the whole world.

After a long service in the Academy, West quarreled with some of the Academicians and sent in his resignation; but his fellow artists had too much sense and good feeling to accept it, and begged him to reconsider his action. He did so, and returned to his place as president. When West was sixty-five years old he made a picture, "Christ Healing the Sick," which he meant to give to the Quakers in Philadelphia, who were trying to get funds with which to build a hospital. This picture was to be sold for the fund; but it was no sooner finished and exhibited in London before being sent to America, than it was bought for 3,000 guineas for Great Britain. West did not contribute this money to the hospital fund, but he made a replica for the Quakers, and sent that instead of the original.

West was eighty-two years old when he died and he was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral after a distinguished and honoured life. Since Europe gave him his education and also supported him most of his life, we must consider him more English than American, his birth on American soil being a mere accident.

PLATE--THE DEATH OF WOLFE

This death scene upon the Plains of Abraham, without the walls of Quebec in 1759, must not be taken as a realistic picture of an historic event. West drew upon his imagination and upon portraits of the prominent men supposed to have been grouped around the dying general, and he has produced a dramatic effect. One can imagine it is the two with fingers pointing backward who have just brought the memorable tidings, "They run! They run!"

"Who run?" asks Wolfe, for when he had fallen the issues of the fight were still undecided. "The French, sir. They give way everywhere." "Thank God! I die in peace," replied the English hero. At a time when the momentous results of this battle had set the whole of Great Britain afire with enthusiasm it is easy to understand the popularity of a picture such as this. It was sold in 1791 for £28, and now belongs to the Duke of Westminster. There is a replica of it in the Queen's drawing-room at Hampton Court.

Another famous historical picture by West is "The Battle of La Hogue."

INDEX

About, Edmund Academia, Florence Academy, French Rome, Royal, London, Venice "Acis and Galatea" Adoration of the Magi "Adoration of the Shepherds" "After a Summer Shower" "Afternoon" Albert, King "Alessandro del Borro" Alexander VI. Alice, Princess Allegri, Antonio. _See_ Correggi Allegri, Pompino "Ambassadors, The" "American Mustangs" "Anatomy Lesson, The" Andrea del Sarto Angelo, Michael "Angels' Heads" "Angelas, The" Anguisciola, Sofonisba Anne of Cleves Anne of Saxony Annunciata, cloister of the "Annunciation, The" "Ansidei Madonna, The" "Antiope" Apocalypse Apollo Belvedere Apostles, the Four Apostles' Heads Appelles "Archipelago" Arena Chapel Arrivabene Chapel "Artist's Two Sons, The" "Arundel Castle and Mill" "Assumption of the Virgin" "At the Well" Audran Augusta, Princess "Avenue, Middelharnis, Holland" "Awakened Conscience, The"

"Bacchanal" "Bacchus and Ariadne" Balzac "Banquet in Levi's House" "Baptism of Christ, The" Barbizon Barile Barry, James Bartoli d'Angiolini Bartolommeo, Fra Bassano "Bathers" "Battle of La Hogue" Beaumont, Sir George Beaux-Arts, l'Ecole des Begarelli Bellini, Gentile Bellini, Giovanni Bembo, Cardinal Beneguette "Bent Tree" Bentivoglio, Cardinal Berck, Derich Berensen, Bernard Bergholt, East "Berkshire Hills" "Bianca" Bicknell, Maria Bigio, Francia Bigordi. _See_ Ghirlandajo Bird "Birth of the Virgin" (Andrea del Sarto) (Murillo) "Birth of Venus" Blanc, Charles "Blessed Herman Joseph, The" "Bligh Shore" "Blue Boy, The" Böcklin, Arnold "Boat-Building" Boleyn, Anne Bolton, Mrs. Sarah K. Bonheur, Marie-Rosea Bonheur, Raymond B. Bordeaux Bordone. _See_ Giotto Borghese Palace Borgia family Borgia, Lucretia Botticelli Boudin Bouguereau, William Adolphe "Boy at the Stile, The" Brancacci Chapel Brant, Isabella Breton, Jules Brice, J. B. Brouwer Browning Brunellesco "Brutus" Buckingham, Duke of Buonarroti. _See_ Angelo Michael Burgundy, Duchess of Burke, Edmund Burne-Jones, Sir Edward Burr, Margaret

Caffin Cagliari, Benedetto Cagliari, Carletto Cagliari, Gabriele Cagliari, Paolo. _See_ Veronese Cambridge, University of "Camels at Rest" Campagna Campana, Pedro Campanile, Florence Canova Caprese "Capture of Samson" Capuchin Church Capuchin Convent Carlos, Don "Carmencita" Carmine, Church of the "Carthage" Castillo, Juan del Cecelia, wife of Titian Cellini Centennial Exhibition Chamberlain, Arthur "Chant d'Amour" Chantry, Sir Francis "Charity" Charles, I. Charles V. Charles X. Cherokees "Chess Players, The" "Children of Charles I." "Christ Healing the Sick" "Christ in the Temple" "Christina of Denmark" Church Cibber, Theophilus Cimabue Claude "Cleopatra Landing at Tarsus" "Cock Fight" Cogniet, Léon Colnaghi "Cologne" Constable, John Copley, John Singleton Copper Plate Magazine Cornelia, Rembrandt's daughter Cornelissen, Cornelis "Cornfield" "Coronation of Marie de Medicis" "Coronation of the Virgin" (Ghirlandajo) (Raphael) Corot, Jean Baptiste Camille Correggio Cosimo, Piero di "Cottage, The" "Countess Folkstone" "Countess of Spencer" Coventry, Countess of "Creation of Man, The" "Creation of the World, The" Crozat "Crucifixion, The" (Raphael) (Tintoretto)

"Danaë" Dandie Dinmont "Daniel" Dante "Daphnis and Chloe" Daubigny "David" "Dead Christ, The" "Dead Mallard" "Death of Ananias, The" "Death of Wolfe, The" "Dedham Mill" "Dedham Vale" Delaroche "Deluge, The" "Descent from the Cross, The" (Campana) (Rembrandt) (Rubens) De Witt Diaz "Dice Players, The" Dickens, Charles Digby, Kenelm "Dignity and Impudence" "Divine Comedy" Dolce, Ludovico Donatello "Don Quixote" Doré, Paul Gustave D'Orsay "Duchess of Devonshire and Her Daughter, The" "Duel After the Masked Ball" Dunthorne, John Dupré Durand, Carolus Dürer, Albrecht Dyce

"Ecce Homo" "Education of Mary, The" Edward, King Egyptian art Elizabeth, Cousin of the Virgin Elizabeth, Princess "Embarkation for the Island of Cythera" "Emperor at Solferino, The" Engravers and engraving "Entombment, The" (Titian) (Veronese) Eos "Equestrian Portrait of Don Balthasar Carlos" Errard, Charles Escorial, the Estéban, Bartolomé. See Murillo Estéban, Gaspar Estéban, Therese Etchers and etching "Europa and the Bull" "Eve of St. Agnes, The"

Fallen, Ambrose "Fall of Man, The" "Fantasy of Morocco" Fawkes, Hawksworth "Feast in the House of Simon" "Feast of Ahasuerus" "Ferdinand of Austria" Ferdinand III., Grand Duke Ferrara, Duke of "Fête Champêtre" "Fighting Téméraire, The" Filipepi, Mariano "Finding of Christ in the Temple, The" "Flamborough, Miss" "Flatford Mill on the River Stour" "Flora" (Böcklin) (Titian) "Foal of an Ass, The" Fondato de' Tedeschi Fontainebleau "Fool, The" "Fornarina, The" Fortuny, Mariano Fourment family Fourment, Helena "Four Saints" Francis I. Frari, monks of the Frey, Agnes "Friedland"

Gainsborough, Mary Gainsborough, Thomas Gallery, Berlin Dresden Grosvenor Hague, The Hermitage, The Lichtenstein, Vienna Louvre Luxembourg Madrid Naples National, Edinburgh National, London Old Pinakothek, Munich Parma Pitti Palace Uffizi Vienna Garrick "Gay Company in a Park" Gellée. See Claude Lorrain George III. "Georgia Pines" Gerbier Germ, The Gérôme, Jean Léon Gersaint Ghibertio Ghirlandajo "Gibeon Farm" Gignoux, Regis "Gillingham Mill" Gillot Giorgione Giotto "Giovanna degli Albizi" Girten, Thomas Gisze, Gorg Gladstone, Mr. and Mrs. "Gleaners, The" "Glebe Farm" Goethe "Golden Calf, The" "Golden Stairs, The" Goldsmith, craft of the Goldsmith, Oliver Gonzaga, Vincenzo "Good Samaritan, The" Graham, Judge Granacci Gravelot Grignon, Madame de Gualfonda "Guardian Angel, The" Guidi, Giovanni Guidi, Simone Guidi. Tommaso. _See_ Masaccio Guido Guidobaldo of Urbino Guilds "Gust of Wind"

Haarlem Town Hall "Haarlem's Little Forest" "Hadleigh Castle" Hals, Franz Hamerton Hamilton, Duchess of "Hampstead Heath" Hancock, John "Hans of Antwerp" Haranger, Abbé "Hark!" "Harvest Waggon, The" Hassam, Childe Hastings, Warren "Haunt of the Gazelle, The" Hayman "Haystack in Sunshine" "Hay Wain, The" "Head of Christ" "Head of Medusa" Hearn, George A. Henin Henrietta, Queen Henry III. Henry VIII. "Henschel" "Hercules" Herrera "Highland Sheep" "Hille Bobbe, the Witch of Haarlem" Hill, Jack "Hireling Shepherd, The" Hobbema, Meindert Hogarth, William Holbein, Ambrosius Holbein, Hans, the Younger Holbein, Michael Holbein, Philip Holbein, Sigismund Holbein, the Elder "Holofernes" Holper, Barbara "Holy Family and St. Bridget" Holy Family in art, The "Holy Family under a Palm Tree, The" "Holy Night, The" "Homer St. Gaudens" "Hon. Ann Bingham, The" Hood, Admiral "Horse Fair, The" Howard, Catherine Hudson, Thomas Hunt, William Holman

"II Giorno" "II Medico del Correggio" "Immaculate Conception, The" Indian pottery Infanta "Infant Jesus and St. John, The" Inman Inness "Innocence" "In Paradise" Inquisition, Spanish "Interior of the Mosque of Omar" Isabella, Queen Islay "Isle of the Dead, The" "Ivybridge"

Jacopo da Empoli Jacque "Jane Seymour" "Jerusalem by Moonlight" "Jesus and the Lamb" Jesus in art Johnson, Dr. Jones, George Joseph in art "Joseph in Egypt" "Joseph's Dream" "Judgment of Paris, The" "Judith" Julienne Julius II. Justiniana

Kann, Rudolf "King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid" "King of Hearts" "Kirmesse, The" Knackfuss "Knight, Death and the Devil, The"

"La Belle Jardinière" "La Disputa" "Lady Elcho, Mrs. Arden, Mrs. Tennant" "La Gioconda" "Landscape with Cattle." Landseer, John Landseer, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, Thomas "La Primavera" "Last Judgment, The" (Angelo) (Tintoretto) (Titian) "Last Supper, The" (Andrea del Sarto) (Ghirlandajo) (Veronese) (Leonardo da Vinci) "Laughing Cavalier, The" Laura Lavinia, daughter of Titian "Lavinia, the Artist's Daughter" Lawrence, Sir Thomas "Leda" (Correggio) (Gérome) Lee, Jeremiah Legion of Honour Lemon, Margaret Leonardo. See da Vinci Leo X. Lewis, J. F. _Liber Studiorium_ "Liber Veritas" Library, Boston Public "Light of the World, The" Linley, Thomas Linley, Samuel "Lion Disturbed at His Repast" "Lion Enjoying His Repast" "Lioness, The Study off a" "Lion Hunt, A" Lippi, Fra Filippo "Lock on the Stour" Lombardi "Lords Digby and Russell" "Lord Wharton" Lorenzalez, Claudio Lorrain, Claude Lott, Willy Louis XIV. Louise, Princess "Love Among the Ruins" "Low Life and High Life" Lowther, Sir William Lucas van Leyden Lucia, mother of Titian Lucretia, wife of Andrea del Sarto Luther, Martin Madonna and Child "Madonna and Child with St. Anne" "Madonna and Child with Saints" "Madonna del'Arpie" "Madonna della Caraffa" "Madonna della Casa d'Alba" "Madonna della Sedia" "Madonna del Granduca" "Madonna del Pesce" "Madonna del Sacco" "Madonna of the Palms" "Madonna of the Rosary." Madrazo "Magdalene, The" Manet "Manoah's Sacrifice" Mantegna Mantua, Duke of Mantua, Duke Frederick II. of "Man with the Hoe, The" "Man with the Sword, The" Margherita Maria Theresa "Marriage à la Mode" "Marriage at Cana, The" "Marriage Contract, The" "Marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne, The" "Marriage of Mary and Joseph, The" "Marriage of St. Catherine, The" "Marriage of Samson, The" Martineau "Martyrdom of St. Agnes, The" "Martyrdom of St. Peter, The" "Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, The" Mary, the Virgin, in art Masaccio (Tommasco Guidi) Masoline Mastersingers, Nuremberg Maximillian, Emperor Medici family Medici, Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, Lorenzi de' Medici, Ottaviano de' Medici, Pietro de' "Meeting of St. John and St. Anna at Jerusalem" Meissonier, Jean Louis Ernest "Melancholy" Merlini, Girolama "Meyer Madonna, The" Michallon "Midsummer Noon" Millais Millet, Jean François Millet, Mère "Mill Stream" "Miracle of St. Mark, The" Missions, Spanish Missirini "Mr. Marquand" "Mr. Penrose" "Mrs. Meyer and Children" "Mrs. Peel" Mohawk Mona Lisa Monet, Claude "Money Changers, The" "Moonlight at Salerno" Morales "Moreau and His Staff before Hohenlinden" More, Sir Thomas "Morning Prayer, The" "Moses" "Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law" Mudge, Dr. Murat Murillo (Bartolomé Estéban) Murillo, Doña Anna Museum of Art, Basel Berlin Court, Vienna Madrid Metropolitan, New York Prado Rijks, Amsterdam South Kensington Muther "Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, The"

"Naiads at Play" Napoleon "Nativity, The" (Botticelli) (Dürer) Navarrette "Nieces of Sir Horace Walpole" "Night Watch, The" "Noli me Tangere" Norham Castle Nuremberg "Nurse and the Child, The"

"'Oh, Pearl' Quoth I" "Old Bachelor, The" "Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner, The" Olivares

Pacheco "Pallas" "Pan and Psyche" Pantheon Pareja "Parish Clerk, The" 'Past and Present" Passignano "Pathless Water, The" Paul III. "Paysage" Pazzi family "Penzance" Percy, Bishop Perez family Perez, Maria Perugino Philip II. Philip III. Philip IV. Picot "Pilate Washing His Hands" Pinas Pirkneimer Pissaro "Ploughing" Pope, Alexander "Portrait of Old Man and Boy" Portraits of artists by themselves "Praying Arab" "Praying Hands" Pre-Raphaelites "Presentation of Christ in the Temple" "Presentation of the Family of Darius to Alexander" Prim, General "Procession of the Magi" "Prowling Lion, The" "Psyche and Cupid" Pypelincx, Maria

Quakers "Quin, Portrait of"

Rabelais "Rake's Progress, The" "Rape of Ganymede, The" "Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus, The" Raphael (Sanzio) Reade, Charles "Reading at Diderot's, A" "Reaper, The" "Regions of Joy" Rembrandt (van Rijn) "Retreat from Russia" Reynolds, Samuel Reynolds, Sir Joshua Ribera Rinaldo and Armida "Road over the Downs, The" "Robert Cheseman with his Falcon" Robusto, Jacopo. _See_ Tintoretto Romano, Guilio Rood, Professor "Rosary, Story of the" Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, W. M. Rothschild, Lord Rousseau Royal Princess Rubens, Albert Rubens, John Rubens, Nicholas Rubens, Peter Paul Ruisdael, Jacob van Ruskin, John Ruthven, Lady Mary Sachs, Hans "Sacred and Profane Love" "St. Anthony of Padua" "St. Augustine" "St. Barbara" St. Bernard dog St. Bernardino "Saint Cecelia" St. Christopher St. Clemente St. Dominic St. George "St. George and the Dragon" "St. George Slaying the Dragon" St. Giorgio Maggiore "St. Jerome" St, John the Baptist St. Jovis Shooting Company St. Leger, Colonel St. Lucas, Guild of St. Luke, Guild of St. Mark St. Martin's Church "St. Michael Attacking Satan." "St. Nobody" St. Paul's Cathedral St. Peter "St. Peter Baptising" St. Peter's Church "St. Rocco Healing the Sick" "St. Sebastian." (Botticelli) (Correggio) (Titian) St. Sebastian, Church of St. Sebastian, Monastery of St. Sixtus St. Trinita, Church of "Salisbury Cathedral" Salon Salvator Rosa "Samson" "Samson Threatening His Stepfather" "Samson's Wedding" San Francisco Santa Croce Santa Maria della Pace Santa Maria delle Grazte Santa Maria del Orto Santa Maria Novella Santi, Bartolommeo Santi Giovanni Santo Cruz, Church of Santo Spirito, Convent of Sanzio. _See_ Raphael Sarcinelli, Cornelio Sargent, John Singer Sarto, Andrea del. _See_ Andrea Saskia Savonarola "Scapegoat, The" "Scene from Woodstock" Schiavone Schmidt, Elizabeth Schongauer School Girl's Hymn "School of Anatomy, The" School of Art, Academy, London American Andalusian Castilian Düsseldorf Dutch English Flemish Florentine Fontainebleau-Barbizon Foreign French in German Hudson River Impressionist Italian Nuremberg Parma Roman Spanish Umbrian Venetian "School, of Athens, The" "School, of Cupid, The" "Scotch Deer" Scott, Sir Walter Scrovegno, Enrico Scuola di San Rocco "Seaport at Sunset" Sebastian "Serpent Charmer, The" Servi, convent of the Sesto, Cesare de Seurat Sforza, Ludovico "Shadow of Death, The" Shakespeare Sheepshanks Collection "Shepherd Guarding Sheep" Sheppey, Isle of Sheridan, Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Richard Brinsley Siddons, Mrs. Silva, Rodriguez de Sistine Chapel "Sistine Madonna, The" Six, Jan Sixtus IV. Skynner, Sir John "Slaughter of the Innocents, The" "Slave Ship, The" "Sleeping Bloodhound, The" "Sleeping Venus, The" Smith, John "Snake Charmers, The" "Snow-storm at Sea, A" Society of Arts Soderini Solus Lodge "Sortie, The" _See also_ Night Watch Sotomayer, Doña Beatriz de Cabrera y "Sower, The" Spaniel, King Charles "Spanish Marriage, The" Spinola, Marquis of "Sport of the Waves" "Spring" Sterne, Lawrence "Storm, The" Stour, River "Straw Hat, The" Sudbury Sully Sultan of Turkey "Sunset on the Passaic" "Sunset on the Sea" "Surrender of Breda" "Susanna and the Elders" "Susanna's Bath" "Sussex Downs" Swanenburch, Jacob van "Sword-Dance, The" "Syndics of the Cloth Hall"

Taddei, Taddeo Tassi, Agostine Thackeray Thornhill, Sir James "Three Ages, The" "Three Saints and God the Father" Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) Tornabuoni, Giovanni Torregiano Trafalgar Square "Transfiguration, The" "Tribute Money, The" "Trinity" Troyon Trumbull, American painter Trumbull, English diplomat Tulp, Nicholaus Turner, Charles Turner, Joseph Mallord William "Two Beggar Boys" Tybis, Geryck

Ulenberg, Saskia van Urban VIII. Urbino, Duke of

"Valley Farm, The" Van Dyck, Sir Anthony Van Mander, Karel Van Marcke Van Noort, Adam Van Rijn. _See_ Rembrandt Van Veen Varangeville Vasari Vatican Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, Palma Vecelli family Vecelli, Orsa Vecelli, Orzio Vecelli, Pompino Vecelli, Tiziano. _See_ Titian Velasquez (Diego Rodriguez de Silva) "Venice Enthroned" "Venus Dispatching Cupid" "Venus Worship" Verhaecht, Tobias Vernon Veronese, Paul (Paolo Cagliari) Verrocchio "Vestal Virgin, The" Victoria, Queen "Villa by the Sea" "Village Festival, The" "Ville d'Avray" Vinci, Leonardo da Violante "Virgin as Consoler, The" "Virgin's Rest Near Bethlehem" "Vision of St. Anthony, The" "Visitation, The" "Visitor, The" "Visit to the Burgomaster"

Warren, General Joseph "Water Carrier, The" "Watermill, The" Watteau, Jean Antoine "Wedding Feast at Cana, The" Wells, Frederick West, Sir Benjamin "Weymouth Bay" Whitcomb, Ida Prentice "William, Prince of Orange" William the Silent "Will-o'-the-Wisp" "Willows near Arras" Wilson "Winnower, The" "Winter" Wolgemuth "Woodcutters, The" "Wooded Landscape" "Wood Gatherers, The"

Yarmouth "Young People's Story of Art" "Youth Surprised by Death"

"Zingarella" Zuccato, Sebastian

End of Project Gutenberg's Pictures Every Child Should Know, by Dolores Bacon