Page:Pen And Pencil Sketches - Volume I.djvu/71

called on M. Picot at his private house. He was a little, spare, snuffy man, in skull-cap and spectacles, working on large cartoons of apostles nine or ten feet high, for the decoration of a Parisian church (Notre Dame des Lorettes). He received me very graciously, and having signified his assent to my becoming one of his pupils, we took our departure, and proceeded to the neighbouring atelier. I was soon made aware of its vicinity by a great noise of laughter mingled with shouting and singing. On entering, Calderon was noisily welcomed on his return, while they crowded around me as if I were a specimen of some savage tribe, and criticised my personal appearance with a candour that might have aroused my anger had I been less ignorant of French. The atelier was a large square room, lighted by a skylight, bare of furniture save easels and rush-covered stools. A good-sized throne for models stood in the centre, at one end was a slightly raised platform for those students who painted or who preferred easels and a longer view. The majority worked on the door proper on low stools, with a taller one on which to rest their portfolios ; for drawing-boards, tacks, or strained paper were unknown. Papier Ingrès was univer- sally employed, and a sheet of this pinned to the portfolio. In one corner of the room was a solitary antique figure — the Germanicus. The walls had