The Project Gutenberg eBook, J. S. Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales, Volume 1, by
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

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Title: J. S. Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales, Volume 1

Author: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Release Date: March 24, 2004 [eBook #11699]

Language: English

Character set encoding: US-ASCII

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK J. S. LE FANU'S GHOSTLY TALES,
VOLUME 1***

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J. S. LE FANU'S GHOSTLY TALES, VOLUME 1

Schalken the Painter (1851)

and

An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street (1853)

by

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Schalken the Painter

_"For he is not a man as I am that
we should come together; neither is
there any that might lay his hand
upon us both. Let him, therefore,
take his rod away from 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 the figure 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 background, and, excepting where the dim red
light of an expiring fire serves to define the form, in total shadow,
stands the figure of a man dressed in the old Flemish fashion, in an
attitude of alarm, his hand being placed upon 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 thr