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Show II Who Was I ! !i Who? I I' By Louise M. Comstock PARACELSUS THE real Paracelsus, Idealized Into a symbol of the impossibility ot separating knowledge and life by Robert Rob-ert Browning in the poem of that name, was a Swiss physician, chemist and charlatan, who lived from 1-193 to 1541. Like the character he Inspired Paracelsus Para-celsus devoted his life to a search for knowledge and, scorning the Information Informa-tion available to him from the students stu-dents of the past, set out on an independent in-dependent search for the real character char-acter of matter. While professor at the University of Basel, Paracelsus publicly burned the works of Avicenna and Galen, fathers of medical science, and set himself up as "monarch of physic." It was an age when science was still bound up In black magic, when chemistry was as yet alchemy and chemists devoted precious lifetimes life-times to weird searchings for the formulae for-mulae for the creation of life. Though Paracelsus dealt like the rest In much humbug and played vigorously upon the ignorance and superstition of the time, he stands nevertheless as founder of modern pharmaceutics. Browning is not concerned with the real contribution of his hero to the learning of the world, but with the effect of a life devoted exclusively to research upon a man's soul. Written when the poet was only twenty-three years old, "Paracelsus" is astounding in Its revelation of the disintegration of character. THE SISTINE MADONNA FOR more than four centuries artists and scholars strove to fix the identity iden-tity of the model who posed for Raphael's Ra-phael's famous masterpiece the "Sis-tine "Sis-tine Madonna." It was early established estab-lished that her features were those also of "La Fornarina," another of Raphael's treasured paintings. And now we are informed that both, the calm sweet mother, and the comely woman of the world, were Inspired am posed by Margbarita Luti. the daughter of a baker, Raphael's favorite uiodel and some think his one love. The "Madonna di San Sisto," usually known as the "Sistine Madonna," is one of the last of Raphael's paintings and is peculiar in that no studies or sketches for It are known to exist. It was painted in 1518 for the monastery of Saint Sisto at Piacenza. The painting paint-ing was done entirely by Raphael, in Rome, where he was leader of a brilliant bril-liant group including Michelangelo attracted at-tracted there by the pope's love of art and the great project of adorning the buildings of the Vatican then under way. Only recently also have Identities been established for the models for "Pope Sixtus II" and "St. Barbara" who kueel in adoration of the Madonna Ma-donna in the picture. Dr. Moritz Stue-bel Stue-bel of Dresden has produced convincing convinc-ing evidence that Pope Julius II, patron of Raphael and Michelangelo, virtual founder of the papal states and layer of St. Peter's cornerstone, was the' model for the figure of the pope. St, Barbara, this authority claims, was the Duchess of Crbino, the ward of Julius II. HUCKLEBERRY FINN IF HUCK is a very real little boy to every reader of Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn," it is because both the author of his story and the artist who illustrated it used real boys for their models. The Huck Finn Mark Twain wrote about was a childhood acquaintance he portrayed exactly as he was. even to his battered straw hat and the single suspender strap that upheld bis patched overalls. "Huckleberry Finn," wrote Mark Twain In his "Autobiography." "Autobiog-raphy." "was Tom Blankenship. Tom's j father was at one time town drunkard, an exceedingly well defined and unofficial unoffi-cial office of those days. ... In Huckleberry Huckle-berry Finn I have drawn Tom exactly as he was. He was Ignorant, unwashed, un-washed, insufficiently fed; but he had as good a heart as any bad boy. He was the only really independent person, per-son, man or boy, in the community, and by consequence he was tranquilly and continuously happy and was envied en-vied by all the rest of us." The Huck Finn the illustrator F. W. Kemble drew was Courtland P. Morris, now of Audubon. N. J. Mark Twain selected Kemble because be saw a resemblance to Huck In one of Kemble's drawings in Life. Kemble in turn saw Huck in Court Morris, then sixteen years old, whom he found playing in a public schoolyard In the Bronx. For four dollrrs a week Court posed for every character from Aunt Polly to Tom. and It is Court whom most of ur visualize when we think of Huck Finn." Court himself many years later confessed that he spent the weekly four dollars for candy ! (. 1932. Western Newspaper Union.) |