Looking at Pictures 



HOW WE MAY READ THEM AS WE WOULD A BOOK 



BY M. S. EMERT 



IT is he most simple, familiar things 

 in life which are — when we really 

 think about them — the greatest mar- 

 vels. Just what is it that comes to pass 

 when you read Longfellow's "Hiawatha 

 You look at a page of white paper covered 

 with little marks of black ink — that is all. 

 And yet, somehow, through looking at 

 those black marks, put there by a printing 

 press miles awa}^, you ccme to shape in 

 vour own mind the thoughts that Xiong- 

 fellow had forty years ago about the life 

 experiences of the primitive American 

 peoples. You reproduce Longfellow's 

 vivid imaginings by means of your own 

 imagination. 



A similar marvel comes to pass when 

 you look at a photograph or other print 

 of any good picture. Take, for example, 

 Thumann's "Eeturn of the Germans/' All 

 we have here is an assemblage of black 

 streaks and spots on the white papar. But 

 if we know how to read a picture as we 

 know how to read a poem, looking at the 

 picture means entering s}mipaithetically 

 into the artist's own thought, and so en- 

 tering into the experiences of the other 

 lives that he portrays so vividly. 



Suppose we look more closely at this 

 picture of Thumann's. The artist, though 

 a clever German of the present generation, 

 is not one of the really great masters. 

 We will study his Germans to see how 

 much there may be well worth studying 

 and enjoying in even an "average" piece 

 of artistic work. 



Confusing at first sight, is it not, with 

 so many figures doing so many different 

 things all at once? Precisely so. And 

 very appropriately so; for the situation 

 represented is one of noise and confusion. 



of tramping feet and calling and shouting. 

 These warriors are evidently coming home 

 after a battle. They must have been vic- 

 torious; we can read that in the proud 

 satisfaction of the chief, that powerful 

 man on horseback, and in the big, broad 

 smile of the stalwart man with the square 

 shield. The old man with outstretched 

 arms and long white hair seems to be of- 

 fering the horseman some greeting; it is 

 a sort of "Hail to the chief" that he is 

 so fervently pronouncing. 



But what a strange conglomeration of 

 costumes we see! That splendid savage 

 down in the left-hand corner has a furry 

 hide tied over his head and shoulders. 

 His shield is a heavy plank of wood. The 

 brawny fellow over beyond him is carrying 

 a suit of metal armor as a valued trophy 

 — a prize of war. It must be heavy. We 

 can see that by the effort with which he 

 carries it. Who are the two just behind 

 the young fellow with the wooden shield ? 

 They seem to have no part in the rejoic- 

 ings. The older one is sick or wounded. 

 The younger one who turns to look back 

 at the singing and shouting bard is evi- 

 dently a stranger. Are his arms tied be- 

 hind him ? Yes, he and the older man in 

 the cloak must be the prisoners of these 

 rougher, burlier fighters. And are those 

 still other prisoners back there behind the 

 mounted horseman? 



This must be a reminiscence of very 

 old times among the Germans, for we see 

 the baby's handsome 3^oung mother is 

 partially dressed in skins; so is that fair- 

 haired little girl in the middle foreground. 

 Their legs and arms are all bare. 



The full title of the picture is "The 

 Eeturn of the A^ictorious Germans from 



