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Ghost stories and tales of mystery [by J.S. Le Fanu].
Ghost stories and tales of mystery - by J.S. Le Fanu Author:Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: " For he is not a man as I am that we should come together; neither is tfure any that might lay his hand upon us both. Let him, therefore, take his rod away from... more » me, and let not his fear terrify me." There exists, at this moment, in good preservation, a remarkable work of Schalken's. The curious management of its lights constitutes, as usual in his pieces, the chief apparent merit of the picture. I say apparent, for in its subject and not in its handling, however exquisite, consists its real value. The picture represents the interior of what might be a chamber in some antique religious building; and its foreground is occupied by a female figure, in a species of white robe, part of which is arranged so as to form a veil. The dress, however, is not that of any religious order. In her hand she bears a lamp, by which alone her figure and face are illuminated ; and her features wear such an arch smile as well becomes a pretty woman when practising some prankish roguery; in the back ground, and, excepting where the dim red light of an expiring fire serves to define the form, in total shadow, stands the figure of aman dressed in the old Flemish fashion, in an attitude of alarm, his hand being placed on the hilt of his sword, which he appears to be in the act of drawing. There are some pictures which impress one, I know not how, with a conviction that they represent not the mere ideal shapes and combinations which have floated through the imagination of the artist, but scenes, faces, and situations which have actually existed. There is in that strange picture something that stamps it as the representation of reality. And such in truth it is, for it faithfully records a remarkable and mysterious occurrence, and perpetuates, in the face of the female figure, which occupies the most...« less