Studio: international art (12.1898)

Studio- Talk

whole Chapel scintillates and glows like a jewelled
crown. Bright blossoms and foliage inlay upon the
gold background their curving spirals of rubied
flower and rich, broad leaf. They wreathe them-
selves round the panels, which are a progressive
series of pictures, and form a deep-set golden frame
to each.

The subject of the decoration of the Chapel,
which is the work of Mrs. Traquair, is a continuous
poetic meditation on the parable of the Ten
Virgins. It is conceived on broader lines than
the (iospel story, or perhaps, we should rather say,
it gives back to the parable the full richness and
maturity that the enlightenment of the ages has
taught humanity to discern in it. The first and
great point in this decoration is that it is a delight
to the eye. What we see at a glance is richness,
purity of colour and imaginative picture-subjects,
full of delicate imagery. And, moreover, it is not
difficult to recognise that the artist has seized hold
of some eternal passions and needs of the human
heart and made them live afresh for us on the
walls of this beautiful little Norman Chapel. Nor
is it difficult to see that art has been used here
(though with absolute integrity) as the expression
of an individual emotional life. The fruit of one
age is the food of another, and it is with the fruit
of the mediaeval age that this artist has sustained
her art. Her work glows with the feeling and
colour of the mediaeval school, yet she has rendered
her thoughts in a way that is completely modern.
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The first panel represents the ten Virgins setting
forth. They all start equally eager; they are
equally equipped with lamps for their life's journey;
lamps, or oil vessels, golden, inlaid and glittering,
such as would delight a maiden's heart to keep
trimmed and burning. Neither here nor elsewhere
are the faces of the maidens strictly beautiful.
The type is an unconventional one, full of emo-
tional expression, with the peculiar interest and
beauty that this alone can bring. In the second
panel of the series, the maidens have advanced on
their journey, the dawn is far behind them, the sun
is low upon the horizon. Two of them have
fallen by the wayside, and three more lean with
drooping heads against their sisters. Weariness-
has crept into the whole picture. Even the brave
unflagging five show signs of a painful eagerness
to reach the goal. Strain is in every gesture.

On the south wall, close to this panel, is a smaller
one of two angels supporting the watchman on his-
watch-tower, below which are the words, "The
vision tarrieth, wait for it ! " Above, on the barrel
roof, is a continuation of the Heavenly Garden,
where angels are ascending and descending as
though they walked in and out at will among men
as a matter of course. The next panel deals with
the awakening. It is almost childlike in its sim-
plicity, the gestures of doubt, surprise, and dismay
among the foolish, who attempt to pour oil from
empty vessels, remind one of the naivete' of a ( ar
paccio. Though the wise here have the suscepti-