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Matilda Betham-Edwards - Holidays in Eastern France
hammering with a hammer on a wooden box; and no kind of notice was taken by his elders. Such a
practice, of course, could only be made tolerable by excessive good-nature, but there is no doubt that our
own system is better both for parents and children.
Ornans is not only extremely picturesque in itself, but interesting as the birth and favourite abiding place
of the famous painter Courbet; it is also a starting place for the Valley of the Loue, and the source of this
beautiful little river, the last only to be seen in fine, dry weather, on account of the steepness and
slipperiness of the road. The climate of Franche-Comte is unfortunately very much like our own, being
excessively changeable, rainy, blowy, sunny, all in a breath. To-day's unclouded sunshine is no guarantee
of fine weather to-morrow, and although, as a rule, September is the finest month of the year here, it was
very variable during my stay, with alternations of rain and chilliness. Fine days had to be waited for and
seized upon with avidity, whilst the temperature is liable to great and sudden variations.
Ornans we reach after a drive of three hours, amid hills luxuriantly draped with vines and craggy peaks
clothed with verdure, here and there wide sketches of velvety green pasture with cattle feeding,
haymakers turning over the autumn hay. Everywhere we find haymakers at work, and picturesque figures
they are.
Ornans is lovely, and no wonder that Courbet was so fond of it. Nestled in a deep valley of green rocks
and vineyards, and built on the banks of the transparent Loue, its quaint spire rising from the midst, it
commends itself alike to artist, naturalist, and angler. These old-world houses reflected in the river are
marvellously paintable, and the scene, as we saw it after a heavy rain, glowed in the brightest and
warmest light.
Courbet's house is situated, not on the river, but by the roadside, on the outskirts of the town, fronting the
river and the bright green terraced hills above. It is a low, one-storied house, embosomed in greenery,
very rural, pretty, and artistic. In the dining-room we were shown a small statue of the painter by his own
hand, giving one rather the idea of a country-squire or sporting farmer than a great artist, and his house -
which is not shown to strangers - is full of interesting reminiscences of its owner. In the kitchen is a
splendid Renaissance chimney-piece in sculptured marble, fit for the dining-hall of a Rothschild. This,
Courbet found in some old chateau near, and, artist-like, transferred it to his cottage. On the walls of the
studio are two frescoes he painted in his happier days, before he helped to overthrow the Vendome
Column, and thus forfeited the good feeling of his fellow-townsmen. Ornans is clerical to the backbone,
and will it be believed? - after this unfortunate affair of the Vendome Column, an exquisite statue, with
which Courbet had decorated the public fountain, was thrown down, of course at clerical instigation.
Morteau, it must be supposed, being more enlightened, rescued the dishonoured statue, and it now adorns
the public fountain of that village. It is, indeed, impossible to give any idea of the vindictive spirit with
which poor Courbet was treated by his native village, and, seeing how much he loved it, it must have
galled him deeply. We were allowed to wander at will over the house and straggling gardens, having
friends in the present occupants, but the house still belongs to the Courbet family, and is not otherwise to
be seen.
All this time I was listening, with no little edification, to the remarks of our young driver, who took the
keenest interest in Courbet and art generally. He told me, as an instance of the strong feeling existing
against Courbet after the events of the Commune, that, upon one occasion when the painter had been
drinking a toast with a friend in a cafe, he had no sooner quitted the place than a young officer sprang up
and dashed the polluted glass to the ground, shattering it into a dozen pieces. "No one shall henceforth
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