An Unlucky Picture.

MAKART'S FATAL MASTERPIECE,

The New York Sunday American devotes a whole page of luridly-coloured illustration to the strange story of Hans Makart's famous historic painting of Charles the Fifth's entry into Antwerp. At the head is a reproduction of the work — cracked all over, 'and with great irregular white patches where the paint has flaked off altogether. The story, we may be sure, has lost nothing in the hands of the New York journalist, but it is certainly remarkable enough. Consternation (writes f the American) will be created in the artistic world by the news that the great picture by Hans Makart, "The Entry of Charles V. into Antwerp," is falling into a state of decay. Romance, scandal, and ruin have haunted this famous masterpiece, and everybody closely associated with it, from its inception down to the present day. The picture, which is forty feet by thirty in size, is now the property of ! the City of Hamburg, which bought it for the moderate price of £5000 after the Emperor of Austria, for excellent rea- ! sons, had become terrified by its ill-fated associations. Some years ago the director of the Hamburg Museum removed Makart's picture to make way for a representation , of " The Supreme Court of Hamburg in Session," which he considered a more dignified subject. Makart's work was consigned to the damp and dark cellar, and now it has been discovered that it has deteriorated almost beyond remedy. The artist used too much asphaltum in his paint, a device which gives an air of maturity to the painting immediately upon its completion, but later results in premature decay. The asphaltum, which is a dull brown, invades and absorbs the delicate brilliant colours, and the process goes on more rapidly when the canvas is kept in a cellar or m the dark. Moreover, in the present case the paint has cracked and curled up, in addition to losing its beautiful tones. The painting was very popular with the people of Hamburg, and the director's action has called down loud expressions of anger on his head, which will probably end in his removal from office. The picture represents the extraordinary scene that occurrefl when the Emperor Charles V., who was Emperor oi Germany, King of Spain, and sovereign of the Netherlands, entered Antwerp, the chief city of his Netherlands possessions. In addition to decorations oi inconceivable magnificence, the most j' beautiful women among the wives and daughters of the leading citizens were chosen to welcome the Emperor in a costume of Eve-like simplicity. In this way the citizens symbolised thJr uttei subjection to their lord, offering him everything that they held dearest. Now, the most curious feature of Makart's picture is that the women I whose charms are so abundantly displayed in it represent several of the I best known queens and princesses oi the nineteenth century. The five nudes I in the foreground, in the order in which they appear, are : — Left : Empress oi Austria, Princess Camporeale (now Princess Buelow) ; right : Princess Demidoff, Queen oi Naples ; Princess Pauline Metternich. Makart was an Austrian, and lived in Vienna. When he conceived the idea ot j this colossal picture he was not able to I afford the models and properties which I so gorgeous a subject demanded. ' He could not even anord to hire a horse fine enough to be painted as the chargei of the Emperor Charles V., much less a model worthy to be painted as Venus. Someone suggested that the Empress Elizabeth, who owned some five hundred splendid horses, might be willing to lend him one or two of them. An army officer with whom Makart was acquainted introduced him to the Empress in the Imperial Riding Academy. She had heard of the artist's difficulty, and was already prepared to grant his request. As soon as he had explained his ca6e, she offered him the choice of her stable. "And have you chosen your models?" continued the Empress after the question of horses had been settled. "Oh, no, your Majesty," said the wily painter. " That is a most difficult matter. There is but one woman in the world beautiful enough to serve as model for the chief female figure, and she is | beyond the reach of artists and even ol money." Here the artist delicately intimated that he was refeiring to the Empresb herself. " There is little I would not do for art," murmured the Empress. She turned to her companion, a strikingly beautiful young woman of the Italian type, and said to her : " Princess, how would it be if we two should act as models for our friend, the artist?" Her friend, who was the Princess Camporeale, enthusiastically agreed, and then and there it was settled that they should sit as models for the two chiei female figures. The Empress and the Princess went to the artist's studio again and again, and sat for him undraped, at least to such an extent that he was able to reproduce theh- figures and flesh tints accurately. He changed the Empress's hair from bla.ck to blonde, but otherwise her form and features were perfectly recognisable. Aftei this the paiutei was easily able to obtain the co-operation of other beauties of the Viennese court in completing the remaining figures in the canvas. The Princess Pauline Metternicn, wife of the Austrian Ambassador at the court of Napoleon IJI., and the greatest social leader in Paris then, came to Vienna on purpose to be painted surreptitiously by Makart. Another model was the Empress's younger sister, Queen Marie of Naples, wife of the infamous "Bomba." She was not only a beauty, but a heroine. When her husband's last stronghold, the town of Gaeta, was besieged for five months, she was frequently on the ram- ' parts encouraging her soldiers under fire i or in the hospital nursing the wounded. The Princess Marie Demidoff was de- j clared by Makart to be the greatest beauty who ever sat for him, " after the I Empress." When Hans Alakart's picture contain- i ing all these beauties was completed, it was purchased by the Emperor of A us- ; tria, who did not know that his own wife had posed for the chief figure in t it. It was hung in the Belvedere Palace in Vienna. When tha Emperor diseov- i ered the facts he was furious, and there was a domestic quarrel which was nevei , fully healed. It is remarKabie to note tnat misfortunu overtook practically everyone con- J nected with chis astonishing enterprise. The Empress herself is the most conspicuous case. After losing her only son j i in a tragedy, she was murdered by an j , anarchist at Geneva in 1898. Her sister, j I Queen Marie -of Naples, lost her king- i [ dom, and is now an exile. Princess Metternich died in obscurity after seeing j the downfall of Napoleon lll.'s court, in which she was so brilliant a figure. The Princess Camporeale, at about the time the picture was completed, married I a rich Austrian nobleman. Count Doenhoff, but he, too, discovered that she had been an artist's omateur model, and tho result was a divorce. She s'ubse- ! quently married Prince Buelow, the German Chancellor. The Princess Marie Demidoff was be- j loved so deeply by the late Czar Alexander 111. when he was Czarewitch that ho wished to give up his succession to the throne in order to marry her. To •C jid trouble, his father ordered him to

a military command in the Crimea, and while he was away forced her to marry Prince Demidoff, one of his courtiers. The Prince proved a very brutal husband, and frequently beat her. Makart himself, after having been the most famous artist in Europe, lost most of his popularity and all of his fortune, and died in poverty and obscurity, leaving an imbecile son.