|
|
Cornugaya Directory 05
Page 01
It usually happens when the male of any species is killed during the
breeding season, that the female soon procures another mate. There
are, most likely, always a few unmated birds of both sexes, within a
given range, and through these the broken links may be restored.
Audubon or Wilson, I forgot which, tells a pair of fish-hawks, or
ospreys, that built their nest in an ancient oak. The male was so
zealous in the defence of the young that it actually attacked with
beak and claw a person who attempted to climb into his nest, putting
his face and eyes in great jeopardy. Arming himself with a heavy club,
the climber felled the gallant bird to the ground and killed him. In
the course of a few days, the female had procured another mate. But
naturally enough the step-father showed none of the spirit and pluck
in defence of the brood that had been displayed by the original
parent. When danger was nigh, he was seen afar off, sailing around in
placid unconcern.
In the parish church at Saas-Grund there are two altar-pieces which
deserve attention. In the one over the main altar the arrangement
of the Last Supper in a deep recess half-way up the composition is
very pleasing and effective; in that above the right-hand altar of
the two that stand in the body of the church there are a number of
round lunettes, about eight inches in diameter, each containing a
small but spirited group of wooden figures. I have lost my notes on
these altar-pieces and can only remember that the main one has been
restored, and now belongs to two different dates, the earlier date
being, I should imagine, about 1670. A similar treatment of the
Last Supper may be found near Brieg in the church of Naters, and no
doubt the two altar-pieces are by the same man. There are, by the
way, two very ambitious altars on either side the main arch leading
to the chance in the church at Naters, of which the one on the south
side contains obvious reminiscences of Gaudenzio Ferrari's Sta.
Maria frescoes at Varallo; but none of the four altar-pieces in the
two transepts tempted me to give them much attention. As regards
the smaller altar-piece at Saas-Grund, analogous work may be found
at Cravagliana, half-way between Varallo and Fobello, but this last
has suffered through the inveterate habit which Italians have of
showing their hatred towards the enemies of Christ by mutilating the
figures that represent them. Whether the Saas work is by a
Valsesian artist who came over to Switzerland, or whether the
Cravagliana work is by a Swiss who had come to Italy, I cannot say
without further consideration and closer examination than I have
been able to give. The altar-pieces of Mairengo, Chiggiogna, and, I
am told, Lavertezzo, all in the Canton Ticino, are by a Swiss or
German artist who has migrated southward; but the reverse migration
was equally common.
|
