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M. DAGAN-BOUVERT'S NEW PICTURE.

    At Messrs. Tooth's Gallery in the Haymarket there is now on view M. Dagnan-Bouveret's very interesting new picture, "Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus." It is not surprising that the success of "La Cene" should have led the painter to attempt a second illustration of the New Testament story. In the three chief figures of the presented work there is, perhaps, less moderness than in the figures of the young Apostles in "La Vene"; but, on the other hand, the distinctively new feature of the picture is the introduction of three entirely modern spectators, just as the Catholic painters of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance used to introduce the figure of the donor worshipping the Divine person or the Madonna who formed the centre of the composition. The introduction of three modern figures, man, woman, an dchild, is explained by a letter that M. Dagnan has writen; he describes these three as representatives of the modern world face ot face with the Divine mystery. The woman and the child are kneeling; the man stands perplexed. "The figure of Christ remains then after 1,900 years as effuigent as ever, His rule of morals as sublime as ever. To receive His word, woman still kneels down without discussion; and her child, without understanding it, kneels also by her side. But man, after all these troubles, after all these doubts and all these denials, can no longer kneel as he once did. His brow is careworn, anxiety has desolated his heart. Nevertheless he still turns towards woman, because her radiance is sweet as brilliant - because it brightens and because it soothes." It cannot be said that the introudction of this modern and half-allegorical element into the picture is at all illegitimate, or that it is less artistic than ingenious. There is no torturing of the meaning; the picture explains itsself, and the reserve with which the modern figures are treated is such as might only have been expected from a painter so self-critical as M. Dagnan.