POPE LEO XIII. AS A SITTER.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIV, Issue XXIII, 9 June 1900, Page 1064

POPE LEO XIII. AS A SITTER.

If, as the dictionary declares, a sitter be “one who sits.” the term is paradoxical applied to Pope Leo XIII (writes Mr. Thaddeus, who has recently painted a remarkable picture of the Pontiff). Nervously restless, he rarely sits for any length of time, and never without incessant change of attitude. The difficulty of producing, under these conditions, a satisfactorylikeness of His Holiness, may be imagined: rapidity of draughtsmanship is indispensable, and I found quick studies of his individual features, the deep-set eye, the mobile mouth, large and characteristic ear, of great assistance. The Pope has a. preconceived idea of how he desires his portrait to appear. Squaring himself in his seat, his hand upraised, with two fingers extended, as in the act of benediction, a conventional smile drawing back his colourless lips, he would sit motionless for a moment, stiffening every muscle as we all do in photographic expectancy:, then, abandoning the attitude as quickly as he had assumed it. “Voila, mon enfant!" he would exclaim with an air of triumph. A PORTRAIT IX WORDS. This, however, was exactly as 1 had determined not to represent XIII. In painting him one must, as it were, paint the mind and soul of this remarkable man. for they seem to shine through the frail, almost diaphanous flesh they have subdued. Intellectual, ascetic, with broad forehead, the thin skin of which shows the tracery of blue veins, With massive features, and deep set eyes of startling brilliancy. in a countenance pallid and composed as that of a corpse —it was thus that I>eo XIII. appeared to me. a domi-. mint and imposing personality, whether arrayed in the simple sottana of white wool and the plain calotta (skull-cap), as I first painted him. or in splendid Pontifical robes and priceless gems.

THE LONG YEARS OF HIS RACE, Th-' Pope has changed but little since I h'ld the honour, in 1884. of painting him. How well 1 remember my introduction to him! It was my first important commission. The Pope received me with the utmost kindness, but could not conceal his surprise that so young a man should have been chosen for the work. He was much interested in the portrait, and gave me every assistance, except that of remui’iii.g still, which, perhaps, was out of his power. When I submitted the portrait he was somewhat distressed at the took of age given therein, and he reronst rated genthv. saying. “Mton enfant., les Papes n'ont pas d'age!" And truly. Leo Xlll.'s frail form has set the years at defiance. For. whilst prepared for death, as Is'fits one of his extreme sanctity, he believes that Ids race here Itelow is not yet run. “Long life." he said, “is a characteristic of the Vecei family: they live long.

but death comes to them suddenly in the end —very suddenly,” he repeated. This was certainly the case with His Holiness’s grandfather, who died very suddenly indeed, but at the age of ninety-six. THE POPE’S CONVERSATION During the sittings Leo XIII. talkeel incessantly. in French sometimes, sometimes in Italian, and always with extreme rapidity. His range of subjects was extensive. He spoke ot strange experiences in brigand-in-fested Benevento, where as delegate he restored peace: of England, and of his nuneiatur at Brussels. He told me, to my great surprise, that he had only commenced to study French when appointed to Belgium, and “I coifd speak it as fluently as 1 do now by the time I reached Brussels," he said.

“King Leopold used to exclaim, ‘I forget Pecei is an Italian.’ ” Virgil and Dante. Kneipp and the water cure, the condition of Ireland —these are some of the subjects on which Leo XIII. discoursed with knowledge and discernment, taking snuff constantly, latterly, by medical advice, he has renounced this, his one indulgence. I lave been indeed fortunate in my sitters — Gladstone, the Abbe Liszt, the General of the Jesuits, Sir Richard Owen—and many others, whose conversation was an intellectual treat; but. inspired by his wonderful p< rsonalitiy and gracious kindliness, 1 never wor(| d with deeper interest than at the portraits of my august sitter. Pope Leo XIII.