I Went Immediately To The Champs Elysees, To
See The People Engaged In Their Amusements.
Some twenty boys, not fully
grown, as it seemed to me at first, were dancing and capering with great
agility, to the music of an instrument.
Looking at them nearer, I saw that
those who had seemed to me boys of fourteen or fifteen, were mature young
men, some of them with very fierce mustaches.
Since my arrival I have seen the picture which Vanderlyn is painting for
the Rotunda at Washington. It represents the Landing of Columbus on the
shores of the New World. The great discoverer, accompanied by his
lieutenant and others, is represented as taking possession of the newly
found country. Some of the crew are seen scrambling for what they imagine
to be gold dust in the sands of the shore, and at a little distance among
the trees are the naked natives, in attitudes of wonder and worship. The
grouping is happy, the expression and action skillfully varied - the
coloring, so far as I could judge in the present state of the picture,
agreeable. "Eight or ten weeks hard work," said the artist, "will complete
it." It is Vanderlyn's intention to finish it, and take it to the United
States in the course of the autumn.
Letter XXVIII.
A Journey through The Netherlands.
Arnheim, Guelderland, _August_ 19, 1848.
After writing my last I was early asleep, that I might set out early the
next morning in the diligence for Brussels.
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