WOMAN IN ART
and I was struck by the military character which pervades the grouping and the expression of the faces."
Had the Duke or the English public known of the child-environment of this unusually strong artist, they would have understood this evolution of genius that resulted in that astonishing masterpiece,—astonishing because of the maturity of thought, introspection, and sympathy in one so young, as grasped in her "Roll Call."
A writer who has given at length an account of the earlier years of Elizabeth Thompson's career has, perhaps unwittingly, accented the responsibility and influence of parents concerning interest in developing children. Be that as it may, not only a hint but a reminder may be timely just here, for this is an age and a generation of parents who do not seem to sense their privilege, any more than their responsibility, in bringing up their own children in such home influence and personal helpfulness as would tend to broaden and enrich our literature and art, our reverence for religion and respect for law.
Elizabeth Thompson's success with the "Roll Call" was followed by "Gallop," "Halt," "Charge," "Quatre Bras," and "Scott's Grays." From the very titles one almost views a panorama of the scene, for every word, like every stroke of her brush, means Action. "Dawn at Waterloo" and "Roll Call" express the pathetic, heart-breaking phase of warfare and art. One other canvas must be included with the two, "Listed For the Connaught Rangers."
Years ago, the writer was privileged to view a number of those paintings on exhibition in London. A powerful glass was so placed that the figures were greatly enlarged; focused at the moment on the central group of the 'Roll Call" the effect was startling. Real suffering lined those faces, details of bandage, blood, and exhaustion made the heart throb, the reality of which must have gripped the heart of Florence Nightingale at sight of the carnage and death in the bloody wars of the Crimea.
Referring to that beloved human Nightingale, do we realize that she too was an artist? She practiced the fine art of the Good Samaritan; the soul-developed art of helpfulness and sympathy. Her masterpiece—the Hospital at Scutari—was inspired by a divine love for those who suffered. In this connection another quotation seems apropos. It refers again to the "Roll Call."
"The mere fact that the painter was not a man, but that her subject was the soldier, touched the popular heart, so unexpected in the English art was the association of the soldier and the woman.
"When the exhibition closed, the picture of the year made another little
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