Historical subjects are distinctly disadvantageous only when they confine the painter to a field which has not been chosen for artistic but for other reasons, and especially when this field is poor in picturesque and significant objects-if, for example, it is the history of a small, isolated, capricious, hierarchical (i.e., ruled by error), obscure people, like the Jews, despised by the great contemporary nations of the East and the West.
Deliberatuki eragin kaltegarriagoa dute gai historikoek, baldin eta pintorea ez hautaz eta helburu artistikoen arabera baizik beste batzuen arabera hautatutako alorrera mugatzen badute, azkenik baina, alor hori objektu pinturazko eta esangurazkotan pobrea denean, juduena bezalako bazter-herri, ekialdeko eta mendebaleko herri handiek aldi berean mesprezatu txiki, bakartu, setati, hierarkikoa, eromenak menderatu baten historia denean.