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By Kelly Cupp

	God Be With You

BERRYVILLE - A part of north Church Street has been forever memorialized in a painting. However, missing in the art work is the asphalt, parking meters, and electrical lines. What can be seen in the portrait by artist Mort Künstler are horses in the middle of Church Street, horse-drawn carriages, dogs without collars, and men and women in Civil War-era dress.

Künstler's latest painting, God Be With You, depicts the meeting of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. James Longstreet as they part ways after attending a service at Grace Episcopal Church. The church and the Clarke County General District Courthouse are the only buildings visible in the painting, and both look similar to the way they do today.

Clarke County Economic Development Coordinator John W. Sours, Jr. said the painting depicts the two generals as they broke camp on June 21, 1863, and headed for Gettysburg. Sours said this painting is the first one Künstler has done of Clarke County. Locally, Künstler has captured scenes in Winchester and Frederick County. God Be With You, Sours said, will bring more recognition to Berryville and county. The art work is being advertised nationally, he added. Sours said he expects some tourists will head to the scene of the painting and view for themselves what Künstler depicts.

According to Künstler's website - www.mortkunstler.com - Künstler traveled to Berryville after speaking with Jerry Van Voorhis last June. Of the visit, Künstler states on the website, "…I visited the town for the first time and was overwhelmed by the hospitality of the town's residents. I was also impressed by Berryville's history and beauty."

The website states that Lee had paused to attend Sunday worship service at Grace Episcopal on June 21, 1863. After the service, the town's people emerged and gathered in the streets to wish him well. "I like to think that (Lee's) brief moment of worship and prayer in Berryville helped give Lee the strength to face the ordeal that lay ahead (at Gettysburg)," Künstler wrote on the site.

To commemorate the painting, Künstler will be in Berryville from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the General District Courthouse. Kaye Bayliss, owner of Applegate Art in Winchester, said Künstler will sign prints of God Be With You and any of his other prints. Bayliss added that the new prints are selling fast and everyone, including residents from Clarke County, has voiced their approval of the painting. If any of the $200 unframed prints are still available, Bayliss said, they will be for sale at Saturday's print signing.

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