The SistersSource: The Aldine, Vol. 6, No. 6 (Jun., 1873), p. 114Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20636550 .

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THE ALDINE.

THE SISTERS. ? After Coomans.

THE SISTERS.

There is a curious element of Classicism in the French mind which does not at first sight appear to harmonize with other elements equally powerful. It manifested itself in the Greek and Roman tragedies of Corneille and Racine, which are still the master

pieces of the French Theatre ; it ran riot in the days of the Revolution, when it changed the names of the months and seasons, and turned Monsieur and Mad ame into Citizen and Citizeness, finally stranding both under the iron rule of the First Consul; and it

struggled into the severe domain of Art, in the pic tures of David and his followers, which are as barren of human feeling as the most rigid Classicist could desire. It had its day,

? but it cannot be said to have died, for though it has certainly slept, it lives still in the pictures of Ger?me and Coomans. The

genius of both has been shaped by it, that of the

former to the re-vivification of the public and polit ical life of the Rome of the Caesars, of which his " Death of Caesar" is, perhaps, the most striking ex

ample, and that of the latter to a warmer re-awaken

ing of the domestic life of the Roman people. We

turn from the work of Ger?me with a sense of pain ; we return to the work of Coomans with pleasure.

Enough, we say, of these Roman men, who were

masters of the world, and whose delight was in the

arena where gladiators butchered each other, and

Christian captives were thrown to the wild beasts ; more than enough of these cultured savages without

hearts, who darkened the earth so long. We feel

differently toward the wives who loved them and

bore them children, ? and toward their children,?

the fair daughters and the stately sons who called

them father. Their Home Life is human to us, and

is, therefore, beautiful and touching. It is this which

Coomans loves to depict.

We have a taste of his quality in "The Sisters,"

whom we see m one of their apartments. It probably

opens somewhere into the atrium, or main hall, the

pillars of which are seen above the low wall or screen

behind which the)-' are, though it may be only a part of the atrium separated from the rest by hangings.

They are in negligee, though not as much as we might

think, judging by the modern standard of female dress. It is summer, as we can see b}' the flowers

upon the table, and the marble pavement is no doubt

grateful to their sandaled feet. The one who is sit

ting (let us call her Virginia) has been fanning her

self, and is floating away on a sea of reverie. What

is she musing about ? Sister Volumnia (let us call

the other one Volumnia) evidently knows. Perhaps

Virginia has confessed to her that it is for young Antonius that she brightens her hair. Happy Anto

nius ! Happy Virginia ! Dream on, sweet Roman

girl ! There is nothing in the world like love !

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