Emma Watson Pussy
Books:
Anna Karenina
War And Peace
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wore a hat and flung a cloak over his shoulder in the
mediaeval style, which, indeed, was extremely becoming to him.
"Here we live, and know nothing of whats going on," Vronsky said
to Golenishtchev as he came to see him one morning. "Have you
seen Mihailovs picture?" he said, handing him a Russian gazette
he had received that morning, and pointing to an article on a
Russian artist, living in the very same town, and just finishing
a picture which had long been talked about, and had been bought
beforehand. The article reproached the government and the
academy for letting so remarkable an artist be left without
encouragement and support.
"Ive seen it," answered Golenishtchev. "Of course, hes not
without talent, but its all in a wrong direction. Its all the
Ivanov-Strauss-Renan attitude to Christ and to religious
painting."
"What is the subject of the picture?" asked Anna.
"Christ before Pilate. Christ is represented as a Jew with all
the realism of the new school."
And the question of the subject of the picture having brought him
to one of his favorite theories, Golenishtchev launched forth
into a disquisition on it.
"I cant understand how they can fall into such a gross mistake.
Christ always has His definite embodiment in the art of the great
masters. And therefore, if they want to depict, not God, but a
revolutionist or a sage, let them take from history a Socrates, a
Franklin, a Charlotte Corday, but not Christ. They take the very
figure which cannot be taken for their art, and then..."
"And is it true that this Mihailov is in such poverty?" asked
Vronsky, thinking that, as a Russian Maecenas, it was his duty to
assist the artist regardless of whether the picture were good or
bad.
"I should say not. Hes a remarkable portrait-painter. Have you
ever seen his portrait of Madame Vassiltchikova? But I believe he
doesnt care about painting any more portraits, and so very
likely he is in want. I maintain that..."
"Couldnt we ask him to paint a portrait of Anna Arkadyevna?"
said Vronsky.
"Why mine?" said Anna. "After yours I dont want another
portrait. Better have one of Annie" (so she called her baby
girl). "Here she is," she added, looking out of the window at
the handsome Italian nurse, who was carrying the child out into
the garden, and immediately glancing unnoticed at Vronsky. The
handsome nurse, from whom Vronsky was painting a head for his
picture, was the one hidden grief in Annas life. He painted
with her as his model, admired her beauty and mediaevalism, and
Anna dared not confess to herself that she was afraid of becoming
jealous of this nurse, and was for that reason particularly
gracious and condescending both to her and her little son.
Vronsky, too, glanced out of the window and into Annas eyes,
and, turning at once to Golenishtchev, he said:
"Do you know this Mihailov?"
"I have met him. But hes a queer fish, and quite without
breeding. You know, one of those uncouth new people ones so
often coming across nowadays, one of those free-thinkers you
know, who are reared _demblee_ in theories of atheism, scepticism,
and materialism. In former days," said Golenishtchev, not
observing, or not willing to observe, that both Anna and Vronsky
wanted to speak, "in former days the free-thinker was a man who
had been brought up in ideas of religion, law, and morality, and
only through conflict and struggle came to free-thought; but now
there has sprung up a new type of born free-thinkers who grow up
without even having heard of principles of morality or of
religion, of the existence of authorities, who grow up directly
in ideas of negation in everything, that is to say, savages.
Well, hes of that class. Hes the son, it appears, of some
Moscow butler, and has never had any sort of bringing-up. When
he got into the academy and made his reputation he tried, as hes
no fool, to educate himself. And he turned to what seemed to him
the very source of culture--the magazines. In old times, you
see, a man who wanted to educate himself--a Frenchman, for
instance--would have set to work to study all the classics and
theologians and tragedians and historiaris and philosophers, and,
you know, all the intellectual work that came in his way. But in
our day he goes straight for the literature of negation, very
quickly assimilates all the extracts of the science of
Anna Karenina page 267 Anna Karenina page 269
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