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The 


Burlington  Magazine 


for    Connoisseurs 


Illustrated  &  Published  Monthly 


Volume  XXXVIII  Number  CCXIV— CCXIX 

January — June    1 9  2  i 


LONDON 

THE   BURLINGTON  MAGAZINE,  LIMITED 

17   OLD   BURLINGTON  STREET,  W.i 

JOSTON,  U.S.A.  :     THE  MEDICI  SOCIETY,  AMERICAN    BRANCH  INC.,  755  BOYLSTON  STREET 

PARIS:   THE   BURLINGTON    MAGAZINE,   LTD.,    5    RUE   DE   STOCKHOLM 

AMSTERDAM:   J.    G.    ROBBERS,    SINGEL    151-153 

FLORENCE  :    B.    SEEBER,   20   VIA   TORNABUONI 

BARCELONA:    M.    BAYES,    CALLE   TALLERS    32 

BASLE:    B.    WEPF   &    CO. 


contp:nts 


JANUARY    TO    JUNE,     1921 

(Reftrtnces  to  sections  vthich  recur  monthly  are  given  at  the  end  of  this  table.) 

JANUARY 

Poussin  and  Claude.      By    R.    R.   Tatlock.  ...... 

On  a  dismembered   Altarpiecc  by   Marco  Zoppo.      By   Tancred   Borenius 

The  Architecture  of  Saladin  and  the  influence  of  the  Crusades  (A.D.  i  77  i-i  250) 
By   Martin   S.   Briggs.  ......... 

The  Eumorfopoulos  Collection — XI.  T'ang  pottery  figures  at  the  Victoria 
and   Albert   Museum.      By    R.   L.   Hobson     ...... 

Two  Drawings  by  Aert  Claez.      By  Campbell  Dodgson        .... 

A  new  Teniers  Tapestry  at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  By  Francis 
Birrell       ...,.,.  ...  .  . 

Chinese   philosophy  of   Art — II.       Wang    Wei   and    Chang    Yen-Yiian.       By 
Arthur    Waley  .......... 

For  III  see  [March)  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .111 

For  IV  see  {i3Iay)        .........     244 

Finnish    Rugs.       By   Yrjo    Hirn 

Italian    Furniture,     By    H.   Clifford  Smith 

Two  newly  discovered  Paintings  by  Michael  Pachcr.     By  George  A.  Simonson 

FEBRUARY 

"The    Adoration  of   the   Kings"   by    Peter    Brueghel   the    Elder.      By    C.    J. 
Holmes  ........... 

A    Group   of   drawings   by    Paul    Veronese.     By   Tancred    Borenius 
The  Riza  AbbasI  M.S.  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  By  T.  W.  Arnold 
English  Furniture  at  the  Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club.     By  H.  Avray  Tipping 
Two  Pieces  of  English    1 5th  century  Embroidery  at  Lille.      By  Pierre  Turpin 
A    Gold   Ornament    from   the    Kuban    district.      By    O.    M.    Dalton 
"Vision  and  Design."     By  C.  J.   Holmes  ...... 

Chinese  Porcelain  in  the  Collection  of  Mr.  Leonard  Gow — V.      By  R,  L.  Hobson 
For  VI  see  [April)  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .196 

For  VII  see  [June)  .  .  .  .  ,  .  .  .301 

Reynicr  and  Claes  Hals.     By  C.  Hofstede  de  Groot        ..... 

MARCH 

Editorial.      "&'  iMonumentum  Requiris  Circumspice." 

A  Tondo  by  Luca  Signorelli.       By   Roger  Fry 

Maori  Art.     By  Ralph  Durand 

Chinese  Philosophy  of  Art — III.     By  Arthur  Waley 

A  newly  acquired  Chasseriau  at  the  Louvre.     By  R.  R,  Tatlock 

English   Eighteenth  Century  Ormolu.      By  H.  Avray  Tipping 

N 


PAGE 
3 

9 

10 

20 
25 

31 
32 


3a 
37 
38 


53 

54 

59 
67 

74 
81 

82 

84 

92 

105 

105 
106 

1 1 1 

1 12 
117 


11 


An  unnoticed  Byzantine  Psalter— I.     By  Mary   Phillips  Perry 
For  II  see  (June)         .  .  ..... 

Pictures  at   the   Burlington   Fine   Arts  Club.      By   Roger  Fry 
Claes   Hals.      I — By   A.   Bredius.      II — By   Tancred   Borenius 


282 


APRIL 

Editorial.      Modern   'British  Painting — a^  Proposal.  .... 

Two  Watteau  Drawings.     By  R.  R.  Tatlock  ..... 

Two  Bronzes  by    Nicholas  of  Verdun.      By  H.  P.  Mitchell     . 
The  Textile  Exhibition  at  South  Kensington.      By  Francis  Birrell    . 
A  Portrait  of  the  Ugliest  Princess  in  History.      By  W.  A.  Baillie-Grohman 
An  Early  Christian  Ivory  Relief  of  the  Miracle  of  Cana.      By  Eric  Maclagan 
Chinese  Porcelain  in  the  Collection  of  Mr.  Leonard  Gow. — VI.      By  R.  L. 
Hobson      ........... 


MAY 

Editorial.      Qezanne  and  the  V^tion  ;  The  Nameless  Exhibition  . 
Two  Rembrandt  Portraits.      By  Roger  Fry  .  .  .  , 

A  Portrait  by  Hans  Holbein  the  Younger.     By  Paul  Ganz 
Two  attributions  to  Carel   Fabritius.      By   Percy   Moore  Turner    . 
The  Saracenic  House — I.     By   Martin  S.   Briggs 

For  II  see   {Ji'ne)        ........ 

Limoges  Enamels  of  the  Aeneid  series  at  Alnwick  Castle.      By  Bernard  Rackham 
Chinese   Philosophy  of  Art — IV.      By   Arthur  Waley  .... 

Niccolo  Pio,  Collector  and  Writer.     By  Tancred  Borenius 


289 


By  E.  Alfred 


JUNE 

T'he  Nameless  Exhibition  by  Desmond  MacCarthy 

A  Self-Portrait  by  Rembrandt.      By  Roger  Fry 

The  Barend  Family.      By  John  Hewitt 

The  Engraving  of  Arms  on  Old  English  Plate — I. 

Georgian  Rummers.      By  John  Shuckburgh  Risley 

Othon  Friesz.     By  Clive  Bell       ...... 

An  Unnoticed  Byzantine  Psalter — II.      By  Mary  Phillips  Perry 

The  Saracenic  House — II.      By  Martin  S.  Briggs 

Chinese  Porcelain  in  the  Collection  of  Mr.  Leonard  Gow — VII, 
Hobson      ......... 


Jones 


By  R.  L. 


PAGE 
119 


^S5 
156 

166 

172 
178 

196 


209 
210 
210 
221 
228 

238 
244 
247 

261 
262 
263 
264 
271 
278 
282 
289 

301 


MONTHLY    SECTIONS 

Reviews  (monthly) 


44,  98,  144,  201,  249,  302 


111 


Monthly   Chronicle  page 

The  re-opening  of  the  Wallace  Collection  ;  Etchings  and  Wood  Engravings  ; 
Leicester  Galleries;  Mansard  Gallery;  Independent  Gallery;  Goupil 
Gallery  Salon   [January)         ........  47 

Picasso  ;  National  Portrait  Society  ;  Cyril  Andradc,  8  Duke  Street  ;  The 
New  English  Art  Club ;  The  Fine  Arts  Society  ;  Eldar  Gallery 
(February)  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  ,  98 

Independent  Gallery  (Clive  Bell) ;    Mark  Gertler;   Negro  Art;   John  Nash; 

Modern  Dutch  Art;   Carfax  Gallery;   Agnew's  Gallery   {March)  .         146 

City  Churches;    April  Exhibitions;     Max  Dvorak  (Campbell  Dodgson); 

Adolf  Hildebrand  (Eric  Maclagan)  {<tApril)      .....        202 

The  Crome  Centenary,  (C.  H.  Collins  Baker);   May  Exhibitions;   National 

Gallery  {^lay)  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .254 

June  Exhibitions;   The   London  Group   (A.   Lavelli)  [June)  .  .        313 

Letters  :   (monthly) 

"Early  Italian  pictures  at  Cambridge."      (George  F.  Hill)  (January)  .  50 

The  Cross  and  Candlesticks  by  Valerio  Belli  at  South   Kensington  (H.    P. 
Mitchell)  ;   "Early  Italian  Pictures  at  Cambridge."      (Guido  Cagnola) 
(February)  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .100 

"Vision  and  Design."     (D.  S.  MacCoU)   (March)  .  .  .  .        152 

Auction  Sale  at  University  College,  London.       (Walter  W.  Seton)   {tApril)        205 
Clue  to  subject  of  Piero  di  Cosimo  (Amateur)  {May)         ....        257 

"Cezanne  and  the  Nation"   (C.  J.  Holmes)  (June)  .  .  •        3^3 

Auctions  (/«5n/M') 50,  loi,  152,205,258,314 

Publications  Received  {January,  February,  April,  May.  June)  .  50,   102,  2o6,  258 


LIST  OF  PLATES 

JANUARY   TO  JUNE    1921 


JANUARY.  PAGE 

Poussin  and  Claude.  I — Classical  Landscape, 
bv    Nicolas  Poussin    (Dr.   G.   BeUingham 

Smith).     SJ"  by   iij'  2 

II — [.\]  Infant  Moses  and  Pharaoh,  by  Nico- 
las Poussin  (Dr.  Tancred  Borenius).  7^' 
by  SJ".  [b]  Vie'j.'  of  the  Lake  of  Brac- 
ciano,    by    Qaude    Gellee    (Dr.    Tancred 

Borenius)'.     Sf'  by   laf 5 

On  a  dismembered  .-Vltarpiece  by  Marco  Zoppo. 
[a]  5.  Paul,  by  Marco  Zoppo  (Ashmolean 
Museum,  Oxford).  [b]  Portrait  of  a 
Holy  Bishop,  by  Marco  Zoppo  (National 
Gallerv).    Fcl    S.   Peter,   bv  Marco   Zopp)0 

(Mr.   Heni\' Harris)  ' 8 

The  Architecture  of  Saladin.  I — [a]  Interior 
of  the  Great  Mosque  (formerly  the  Church 
of  S.  John)  at  Gaza,  [b]  The  Chapel  of 
the    Virg^in's     Tomb,     Jerusalem.        [c] 


PAGE 


Remains  of  the  Church  of  St.  George  at 
Ludd.  [d]  West  doorway  of  the  Great 
Mosque  (formerly  the  Church  of  S.  John, 
Gaza) 
II— [e]  The  Citadel  at  Aleppo.  [f]  S. 
Stephen's  Gate,  Jerusalem.  [g]  A  Street 
Fountain  at  Jerusalem,  [h]  The  Citadel 
at  Cairo 

The  Eumorfopoulos  Collection.  I — T'ang 
pottery  with  coloured  glazes,  [a  and  c] 
Two  Ministers.  Height,  42*.  [e]  A 
Lokapala.  Height,  43*  ... 
II — T'ang  p>otter}-  with  coloured  glazes. 
[d]  Groom,  height,  23'.  [e]  Horse. 
Height,    31'  

Two  Drawings  by  .4ert  Claesz.  [a]  The 
Betrayal  of  Christ,  by  .Aert  Claesz  (British 
Museum),      [b]    Christ    before   Pilate,    by 


13 


21 


24 


IV 


Aert  Claesz   (British  Museum) 
A  new  Teniers  Tapestry  at   the  Victoria   and 

Albert  Museum 
Finnish    Rug's — I. 

„     n 

Italian  Furniture,  [a]  Chest  with  the  Arms  of 
the  Delfini  Family.  [b]  Chest  with 
figures  of  Spring-  and  Summer  ... 

Michael  Pacher.  [.\]  The  Marriage  of  the 
Virgin,  by  Michael  Pacher  (National  Gal- 
lery, Vienna).  [b]  The  Flagellation  of 
Christ,  by  Michael  Pacher.  (National 
GaUery,   Vienna) 


PAGE 

27 

30 

33 
-,6 


39 


2'  2'. 


About  1750.       (Col.   H.   H.  Mul- 


42 


FEBRUARY. 

The  Adoration  of  the  Kings,  by  Pieter 
Brueghel,    the     Elder.       43!'    by     321'. 

(National  GaUery) 52 

A  Group  of  Drawings  by  Paul  Veronese.  I. 
— [a]  Studies  for  a  Last  Judgment?  (Mr. 
Henrv  Oppenheimer).  30  by  21  cm. 
[b]  Sheet  of  Studies  (Mr.  G.  Bellingham 
Smith).     30.5  by  21  cm 55 

II — [c]  Various  Studies  (Mr.  P.  H.  Turner). 
12  by  II  cm.  [d]  Mars  and  Venus  (Mr. 
G.    Bellingham   Smith).      10  by    13.5  cm. 

[e]  Christ  at  Simon  the  Pharisee's.  (For- 
merly   in    the    collection     of    Sir  Joshua 

Reynolds)       5^ 

The   Riza  Abbasi   MS.    in   the  Victoria   and 
Albert  Museum.     I — [a]  Shapur  showing 
Shirin     the     portrait  of     Khusrau.         [b] 
Khusrau  and  Shirin  ...  ...  •■•        63 

II — [c]    Meeting  of  Khusrau     and     Shirin. 

[d]  Farhad     kneeling    before     Khusrau. 

[e]  Farhad  carrying  Shirin  ...  •  ■  •       66 
English  Furniture  at  the  Burlington  Fine  .A.rts 

Club.  I — [a]     Mahogany     Commode. 

Height,  2'  9'.  width  4'  9'.  depth  2'  2". 
About  1750.  (Mr.  Leopold  Hirsch).  [a] 
Mahogany  Settee,  covered  with  grospoint 
needlework.  Height,  3'  2',  width,  6'  6'. 
depth.    2'   9'.      -About    1750.      (M.    Henry 

Hirsch)  ^ 

II — [c]  Mahoganv  Armchair  in  the  finest 
manner  of  the  English  rococo  style,  up- 
holstered in  finelv  executed  Fulham  Tapes- 
try.     Height,  3'  ^\\  width,  2'  8',  depth, 


liner).  [d1  Mahogany  pole  screen,  on 
tripod  stand,  w^ith  panel  of  Fulham  Tapes- 
trv.  Height,  5'  3',  width,  2'  3',  depth, 
I'S'.  About  1750.  (Col.  H.  H.  Mul- 
liner)  _     ••■       72 

Two  pieces  of  English  15th  centurv  embroidery 
at  Lille.  I — [a  and  b]  Orphreys  in 
English  Embroidery  (Lille  Museum)  ...  77 
II — [c  and  d]  Orphreys  of  a  chasuble  of  the 
end  of  the  15th  century  attached  to  a 
modem  vestment.  (Catholic  Church, 
Kenilworth)  80 

A  Gold  Ornament  from  the  Kuban   district...       8c 


PAGE 

Chinese  Porcelain  in  the  collection  of  Mr. 
Leonard  Gow.  I — Pair  of  figures  of  bar- 
barians on  lions.  Height,  6^".  K'ang 
Hsi  period.  Bottom  row  :  Pair  of  per- 
fume baskets  and  a  beaker.  Height,  4^". 
Late  Ming  period.  (Mr.  Leonard  Gow)  85 
II — Covered  jar,  one  of  a  pair.  Height, 
2 if.      K'ang  Hsi  period.      (Mr.   Leonard 

Gow) ••■       87 

III — Covered  jar,  one  of  a  pair.        Height, 
2i|'.     K'ang  Hsi  period.     (Mr.  Leonard 

Gow)  90 

Revnier  and  Claes  Hals.      I— [a]   Vie-w  of  the 
Groote  Houstraat  at  Haarlem,  ascribed  to 
Claes  Hals.      (Frans  Hals  Museum),    [b] 
Vie-w  of  a  Village.       Claes  Hals.        (Mr. 

R.   C.  Witt)  93 

n [c]  Girl  reading,  ascribed  to  Claes  Hals. 

(Mauritshuis.  The  Hague).  [d]  Girl 
peeling  apples.  Revnier  Hals.  35  by  25 
cm.  (Mrs.  Crena  de  Tongh.  The  Hague). 
[e]  Girl  se-wing.  Revnier  Hals.  35  by 
25  cm.  (Mrs.  Crena  de  Jongh,  The 
Hague)  96 

MARCH. 

Holy  Family  rvith  Saints,  by  Luca  Signorelli. 
Tondo.  2'  to"  dia.  (Messrs.  Lew-is  & 
Simmons) i°4 

Editorial.      Some  of  the  Threatened  Churches. 

[a]  S.  Magnus  the  Martyr,  Lower  Thames 
Street.  Built  by  Wren  in  1676.  Steeple 
added  in  170=;  bv  Wren.  (Tower  to  be  pre- 
served), [b]  5.  Nicholas  Cole  Ahhey. 
Knightrider  Street.  Built  by  Wren  in  1677. 
fc]  S.  Mary  IVoolnoth,  Lombard  Street,  by 
Hawksmoor,  Wren's  pupU  ■  .  .      107 

Maori  .Art.  [a]  Wooden  pillar,  representing 
Hinenioa  in  the  arms  of  her  lover,  Tutaneki. 

[b]  a  Car\'ing  in  which  facial  tattoo  marks 
are  accurately  represented.  The  figure  has 
the  peculiaritv  of  having  the  correct  amount 
of  fingers.  fcl  Wooden  pillar,  represent- 
ing a  hero  of  Maori  legend  who  invented 
stilts  in  order  to  rob  his  neighbours' 
orchards.  Between  the  stilts  is  represented 
the  man  who  caught  the  thief,  [d]  \ 
wooden  pillar  representing  Hinenoia,  who 
swam  across  Lake  Rotura  to  join  her  lover. 
She  is  represented  with  swimming  bladders 

in  her  hands "^ 

.k  newlv  acquired  Chass^riau  at  the  Louvre. 
[a]  Venus  Marine  (Louvre),  [b]  Sketch 
in  sanguine  for  Vdnus  Marine,  (Arthur 
Chass^riau)         .  •  -  •  •  113 

English  Eighteenth  Century  Ormolu,  [a]  Cup 
and  cover  of  blue  Bristol  glass  with  silver- 
gilt  mounts.  Mounts  marked  T.H.  for 
Thomas  Heming,  Hall  mark  1752,  (Col. 
H.  H.  MuUiner).  [b]  Cassolettes,  one  of  a 
pair  mounted  in  ormolu,  probably  at  the 
Soho  works.  About  1770.  fCol.  H.  H.  Mul- 
liner).  fc]  Tea  urn  of  Battersea  enamel 
mounted  in  gilded  metal.    About  1760   (Col. 


H.  H.  Mulliner).  [d]  Candelabra,  one  of 
a  pair.  Body  of  Derbyshire  spar,  mounted 
in  ormolu,  orobably  at  the  Soho  works. 
About  1770   (Col.  H.  H.  Mulliner)      .  .116 

.•\n     L'nnotioed      Byzantine     I'saltiT.        1  —  [a] 
Frontispiece,    etc.        [b]    The    Ascension. 
[c]  '■  He  sent  flesh  into  their  tent"  .         -123 
II — [a]    The    Entombment,      [b]    .Adoration 
of  the  .\(af^i.     [c]  Communion  of  Apostles. 

[d]  Harrowing  of  Hell,  [e]  Digged  a  pit. 
f]  The  Waters  of  Babylon.  [c]  The 
Resurrection,  [h]  Daniel's  Vision,  [i]  The 
Plagues  .  .  .  .126 

Pictures  at  the  Burlington  Fine  .•\rts  Club.      I — 

The  Nativitv,   Florentine    School,  c.    1450, 

Panel  Sh"  by    25 J"    (Sir    Henry    Howort'h)      i ;,o 

II — Mythological  Sribject,  bv  Piero  di  Cosimo. 

Panel   28"   by   80"    (H.H.    Prince   Paul   of 

Serbia) 133 

III — [a]  Medea  and  her  Children,  Ercole  de 
Roberti.  Panel  18}"  by  12"  (Sir  Her- 
bert Cook),  [b]  Brutus  and  Portia,  Ercole 
de    Roberti.       Panel     ig"     by     12V'     (Sir 

Herbert  Cook) 136 

IV — S.  Jerome  in  a  Landscape,  Venetian 
School,  c.  1530.  T,~"  by  44"  (Mr.  Dnug-- 
las  W.   Freshfield)     .  .         •      '39 

Claes  Hals,  II.  [a]  The  Huckster,  by  Claes 
Hals.  20!"  by  i5f"  (Mr.  E.  Bolton). 
[b]  .4  Roman  Beggar,  by  J.  C.  Van  Has- 
selt.      14^"    bv    2 1 '' 

Monthly      Chronicle. 

[a]  Landscape,  by  Duncan  Grant.  [s] 
Mosaic,  by  Boris  Anrep.  [c]  Portrait  of 
a  Lady,  by  Georg-e  Barne    .  .  .  -147 

APRIL. 

Old  Woman,  by  Antoine  Watteau.     Drawing 
in  red  and  black  chalk.     8^"  by  6f ".     (Mr. 
Augustine  Birrell)     ...  ...  ...  ...      154 

Two  Bronzes  by  Nicholas  of  Verdun.  I — 
Moses  and  a  Prophet.  Bronze;  by 
Nicholas  of  Verdun,  about  1180.  (Ash- 
molean  Museum)      ...  ...  ...  ...      160 

II — Noah  and  David.  Bronze;  modifications 
of  the  figures  on  Plate  I.  (Ashmolean 
Museum)       ...         ...  ...  ...  ...     161 

III — Abraham    and    the    Three    Angels,    by 
Nicholas    of   Verdun,     1181.      Champlev^ 
enamel  on  copper  gilt,  on  the  altarpiece  at 
Klosterneuburg.     S.  Andrew,  by  Nicholas 
of  Verdun,   about   1200.     Repoussd  silver 
figure  on  the  Shrine  of  the  Three  Kings 
in  Cologne  Cathedral         ...  ...  ...      164 

The  Textile  Exhibition  at  South   Kensington. 

I — Falconry.  Franco-Flemish  Tapestry  ; 
early  15th  century.  13'  by  5'  2".  (Mus^e 
des  Arts  Decoratifs,   Paris)  ...  ...      167 

II — Bear  Hunting.  French  Tapestry;  first 
half  of  isth  century.  4'  11"  by  5'  10'. 
(M.   Demotte)  170 

III — Pair   of    tapestry   panels,  with    figures 


'"      (Messrs.    Durlacher)      142 
Independent      Gallery. 


page 
emblematic    of    the    Virtues    and    Vices. 
Franco-Flemish;     i6th     century.       7'    by 
2'    11"   and  6'  6"   by   2'    1 1 ".      (Major  the 
Hon.  J.  J.  Astor) 173 

A  Portrait  of  the  Ugliest  Princess  in  History. 
[a]  Duchess  Margaret  of  Tyrol,  by 
Quentin  Matsys.  Panel,  29°  by  19°.  (Mr. 
Hugh  I^laker).  [n]  Drawing  commonly 
attributed  to  Leonardo  da  Vinci  (Windsor 
Castle  Library)         ...  ...  ...  ...      176 

An  Early  Christian  Ivory  Relief  of  the  Miracle 
of  Cana.  I— The  Filling  of  the  Water- 
Pots  at  the  Miracle  of  Cana.     4J"  by  3^°      179 

II — I.  S.  Peter  and  S.  Mark  in  Rome  (South 
Kensington).  2  and  6.  .S.  Mark  in  the 
Pentapolis  (Milan).  3,  4  and  5.  S.  Mark 
in  Alexandria  (Milan).      Ivory  reliefs      ...      183 

III — 7.  The  Annunciation  (Trivulzio  Collec- 
tion). 8.  The  Miracle  of  Cana  (South 
Kensington).  9.  The  Raising  of  Lazarus 
(British  Museum).  10  and  12.  S.  Menas 
and  S.  Mark  (Milan).  11.  A  Saint  (Cluny). 
[a]  The  Miracle  of  Cana  (Salerno).  |"b"| 
The  Raising  of  Lazarus  (Salerno).  Ivory 
reliefs  ...         •■•         •  •     186 

IV — [c]  The  Angels  appearing  to  the  Shep- 
herds, and  The  Massacre  of  the  Inno- 
cents, [d]  The  Nativity,  and  The  Flight 
into  Egypt,  [e]  The  Healing  of  the  Blind 
Man,  and  The  Maries  at  the  .Sepulchre. 
(Salerno).  Ivory  reliefs,  [f]  The  Last 
Supper  (and  the  Miracle  of  Cana?).  Silk- 
embroidered  roundel  from  Egypt  (South 
Kensington).  [g]  The  Filling  of  the 
Water-Pots.     Miniature  from  the  Gospels 

of  Rabula   (Florence)  190 

Chinese  Porcelain  in  the  Collection  of  Mr. 
Leonard  Gow. — VI.  I — Figures  of  a 
Chine.se  Lady  and  Gentleman,  familleverte 
porcelain.  Height  (of  lady)  14".  K'ang 
Hsi  period.     (Mr.  Leonard  Gow)  ...      197 

II — Pair    of    covered    jars.       Famille    verte 
with  coral  red  grounds ;  and  a  square  vase 
with    black    ground.     Height,   jars  21^", 
vase  20".     (Mr.  Leonard  Gow)     ...  ...     200 

A  Monthly  Chronicle.     Landscape.     Drawing 

in  Indian  ink,  by  Jean  Marchand  ...     204 

MAY. 

Two  Rembrandt  Portraits.  I — Portrait  of  a 
Man  said  to  be  Titus  the  son  of  Rem- 
brandt. 38I"  by  32^"  (Prince  Yus.su- 
poff) 208 

II — Portrait  of  a  Woman,  said  to  be  the  wife 
of  Titus,  the  son  of  Rembrandt.  38!"  by 
32!"  (Prince  Yus.supoff)    .  .  .  .211 

Editorial.  Cezanne  and  the  Nation.  [a] 
Landscape  by  Paul  Cc^zanne  (Miss  G. 
Davies).  [bI  Still-life  by  Paul  Cezanne 
(Miss  G.  Davies)       .  ".  •  •  .214 

A    Portrait    by    Hans    Holbein    the    Younger. 


VI 


Portrait,  attributed  to  Hans  Holbein  the 
Younger.  21"  by  14I" 
Two  attributions  to  Carel  Fabritius.  I — [a] 
Portrait  of  a  Girl,  attributed  to  Carel 
Fabritius.  21^"  by  17"  (Mus^e  des 
Beaux  Arts,  Ghent)       .... 

II — [b]  Portrait  of  a  Man,  attributed  to 
Carel  Fabritius   (Brussels   Museum) 

III — [c]  Portrait  of  a  Young  Man,  by 
Carel  Fabritius  (Boymans  Museum,  Rot- 
terdam), [d]  Goldfinch,  by  Carel  Fab- 
ritius (Mauritshuis,   Hague)  . 

IV — [e]  Abraham  de  Notte,  by  Carel  Fab- 
ritius (Rycks  Museum,  Rotterdam),  [f] 
Soldier  at  the  Gate,  by  Carel  Fabritius 
(Schwerin  Gallery)  .... 

The  Saracenic  House.  I — [a]  The  court- 
yard (hosh)  of  an  old  house  in  Cairo 
showing  the  alcove  (takhtabosh).  [b] 
windows  of  turned  lattice-work  (mush- 
arabiya)  in  an  old  house  in  Cairo  . 

II — [c]  House  of  Gamal  ed-Din  ez-Zahaki, 
Cairo.  The  courtyard  (hosh)  and  the 
loggia  (makad).  [d]  House  of  Gamal 
ed-Din    ez-Zahaki,    Cairo.      The    great 

hall  (ka'a) 

Limoges  Enamels  of  the  Aeneid  series  at 
Alnwick  Castle.  I— [a]  The  signal  for 
war  given  by  Turnus  from  the  citadel  of 
Laurentum.  "Rauco  strepiierunt  cornua 
cantu."  [b]  The  sacrificial  feast  of 
Evander  before  the  walls  of  Pallantium 
interrupted  by  the  arrival  of  Aeneas 
and  his  fleet;  Pallas,  son  of  Evander, 
challenging  Aeneas,  who  answers  from 
the  poop  of  his  vessel.  "  Turn  pater 
Aeneas  puppi  sic  futur  ab  alta  "  . 

II — [c]  Pallas  conducts  Aeneas  from  the 
ship  to  his  father.  "Excepitque  manu 
dextramque  amplexus  inhaesit."  [d] 
Evander  relating  to  Aeneas  how  Fauns 
and  wild  men  once  dwelt  in  the  land. 
"  Haec  nemora  indigenae  Fauni 
Nymphaeque   tenebant  " 

ni — [e]  Venus  making  a  sign  with 
thunder  and  the  flashing  of  arms  in  the 
heavens  to  Evander  and  Pallas  with 
Aeneas  and  Achates.  "Arma  inter  nubem 
.  .  .  rutilare  vident  et  pulsa  tonare." 
[f]  Evander  bidding  farewell  to  Pallas, 
who  rides  forth  with  Aeneas  and  Achates 
to  meet  Tarcho  and  the  Etruscans  ap- 
pearing from  a  grove  in  the  background. 
"Ipse  agmine  Pallas  In  medio,  chlamyde 
et  pictis  conspectus  in  armis."  (The  six 
plaques  belong  to  the  Duchess  of 
Northumberland)  .  .  .  . 

A  Monthly  Chronicle — [a]  Farm  and  Pond. 


PAGE 


220 


223 


226 


229 


232 


236 


240 


241 


by  John  Crome.  14"  by  11"  (Miss  H. 
M.  Fisher).  [a]  S.  Martin's  Gate,  by 
John  Crome.  19"  by  i^i"  (Miss  Faith 
Moore)  .         .  .... 


PAGE 


255 


260 


265 

265 
370 
273 
276 


279 


245 


JUNE. 

A  Self-Portrait  by  Rembrandt.  29"  by 
25!"  (Mr.  G.   Serra)       .... 

The  Barend  Family.  A  Fresco  in  Chichester 
Cathedral,  attributed  to  Barent  Dircksz, 

C-I5I9        •  

The    Engraving    of    Arms    on    Old    English 

Plate.— 1 

Georgian  Rummers.     I  .  .  .  • 

n 

HI 

Othon  Friesz.  La  Bergire  assise,  by  Othon 
Friesz.  Jeune  Femme  a  la  Fenitre,  by 
Othon  Friesz  ..... 

An  Unnoticed  Byzantine  Psalter. — \l,  HI — 
[a]  David  in  Cave.  [b]  David  and 
Philistiiies.  [c]  Coronation  of  David. 
[d]  Beheading  of  Goliath,  [e]  David's 
Escape,  [f]  David  rebuked  by  Nathan. 
[g]  David  and  Goliath  ....  283 
XV — [h]  Elijah  between  Night  and  the 
Dawn.  [1]      Saints.         [j]      Church. 

[k]  "  Breakest  head  of  Leviathan  in 
pieces."  [l]  Jonah,  [m]  The  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary.  [n]  Habbakuk.  [o] 
Horsemen.  [p]  Waters  saw  and  were 
afraid     ....... 

The  Saracenic  House.— H,  III— [a]  Old 
Houses  (Turkish  style)  on  the  bank  of 
the  Khalig-el-Masri,  Cairo.  [b]  Old 
Houses  at  Rosetta.  [c]  Courtyard  of 
the  House  of  Abdallah  Pasha  at 
Damascus       .  ■  •  •  •  .291 

IV —  [d]  Alcove  in  courtyard  of  a  house  in 
the  Turkish  style  at  Damascus,  [e] 
Great  Hall  (Ka'a)  in  the  house  of 
Abdullah  Pasha  at  Damascus        .         .     294 

Chinese  Porcelain  in  the  Collection  of  Mr. 
Leonard  Gow — VH.  I — Kuan-yin  vase, 
with  famille  verte  decoration.  Height 
i8|".         K'ang      Hsi      period.         (Mr. 

Leonard  Gow) 297 

II — Vase,  height  17^",  and  two  covered 
bowls,  height  8^",  with  famille  verte 
decoration.  K'ang  Hsi  period  (Mr. 
Leonard  Gow)  .....  300 
III_Vase,  blue  and  white.  Height,  30". 
K'ang  Hsi  period  (Mr.  Leonard  Gow)  .     303 

Auctions.  [a]  Studies  of  Angels,  by  Ben- 
ozzo  Gozzoli.  [a]  Sick  Woman  in  Bed, 
by  Rembrandt 3'^ 


286 


VU 


V  V !  » 


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Si 

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to 

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POUSSIN    AND    CLAUDE 


BY    R.    R.    TATLOCK 

N  the  smoking-room  of  the  BurHng- 
ton  Fine  Arts  Club  there  has  been 
on  view  for  the  past  few  weeks  a  Httle 
loan  collection  of  drawings  by 
Poussin  and  by  Claude.  The  exhi- 
bition was  a  private  one  but  it  was  of  so  much 
general  interest  as  affording  a  further  and 
exceptional  opportunity  for  the  comparative 
study  of  the  monotone  work  of  the  two  masters 
that  it  would  have  been  regrettable  if  the 
pleasure  it  gave  to  those  who  saw  it  were  not  to 
be  in  some  way  recorded. 

The  organisers  probably  would  not  claim  that 
every  drawing  on  the  walls  is  of  unquestionable 
authenticity  or  even  that  all  the  authentic  ones 
were  produced  at  the  very  height  of  the  artist's 
inspiration.  One  feels  them  to  be  rather  a  set  of 
good  average  productions,  and  for  that  reason 
thoroughly  representative  of  the  two  masters. 
The  majority  are,  as  might  be  expected,  by 
Claude,  who  is,  as  regards  quality  as  well,  rather 
the  more  fortunate.  This  may  be  partly 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  great  mass  of 
his  work,  and  consequently  the  examples  likely 
to  be  available  for  exhibition,  is  singularly  even 
in  quality — far  more  so  than  is  that  of  Poussin. 
This  fact  leads  one  to  compare  the  two  men  in 
other  respects.  We  are  accustomed  to  think  of 
them  together,  for  not  only  were  they  both 
natives  of  the  same  soil,  born  almost  at  the  same 
moment  in  history,  and  subjected  in  youth  to 
similar  influences,  but  they  were  alike  in  study- 
ing in  a  new  way  the  outward  appearances  of 
natural  things.  The  same  kinds  of  subject,  too, 
attracted  both,  and  in  certain  ways  their  in- 
fluence on  later  art  has  been  identified  with  a 
common  movement  which,  as  it  revealed  itself, 
developed  into  one  of  the  most  vital  traditions  in 
the  history  of  modern  painting.  And  yet  the 
more  deeply  one  searches  for  clues  to  their 
character  and  the  more  perfectly  one  responds  to 
the  spirit  of  their  art,  the  wider  does  the  breach 
between  them  grow,  until  at  last  one  stands 
amazed  that  two  such  opposite  characters,  to  each 
of  whom,  as  men,  life  seems  to  have  been  a  com- 
pletely different  thing,  could  come  so  intimately 
together  through  their  profession. 

To  one  who  might  have  met  them  at  the  time 
when  each,  actuated  by  the  same  ambition,  turned 
his  face  to  Rome,  little  enough  resemblance 
would  have  been  apparent  between  them. 
Nicolas  Poussin  was  eager,  vigorous  and  deter- 
mined in  his  attitude  to  the  events  of  every-day 
life;  very  fully  conscious  of  himself,  but  having 
at  the  same  time  a  sufficiently  scrupulous 
sense  of  the  feelings    and    desires  of  others  to 


enable  him  to  be  not  only  respected  but  admired 
and  beloved.  His  was  an  acquaintance  to  be 
sought  by  the  serious  man,  for  he  had  a  happy 
capacity  for  interesting  himself  in  human  ideas 
and  felt  the  philosopher's  relish  in  a  clear  mind 
and  a  problem  resolved.  He  was  eminently 
civilised,  and  his  view  of  men  and  of  nature  was 
the  result  of  a  keen,  quick  observation  that  was 
habitually  and  instinctively  employed  by  him  to 
construct  as  definite,  as  vivid  and  as  complicated 
an  intellectual  concept  as  possible.  In  addition 
to  that  he  possessed  the  precious  gift  for  invent- 
ing arrangements  of  the  material  of  the  visual 
memory,  and  the  art  that  he  produced  was 
peculiarly  distinguished  by  the  success  with 
which  he  made  use  of  these  visions  of  the  intellect 
to  heighten  the  effect  of  his  compositions.  The 
story  of  his  development  as  an  artist  is  the  story 
of  an  increasingly  intimate  fusion  of  one  kind  of 
psychological  concept  with  another  and  the  ease 
and  perfection  of  his  attainment  in  this  respect 
constitutes  one  of  the  most  remarkable  achieve- 
ments in  the  history  of  design.  It  was  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  as  Poussin  grew  older  and  wiser 
and  clever  and  more  celebrated  that  he  became 
more  conscious  of  his  own  place  and  function 
and  increasingly  careful  of  wasting  himself  for 
the  sake  of  mere  company  by  associating  with 
dissimilar  spirits.  When  he  had  relations  with 
his  fellows  it  appears  generally  to  have  been  the 
result  of  some  kind  of  mutual  arrangement  and 
dependent  on  some  common  pursuit. 

It  was  characteristic  enough  of  Poussin  that  he 
was,  in  the  course  of  one  of  these  acquaintance- 
ships, taken  to  Rome  on  a  definite  mission,  and 
it  was  as  characteristic  of  Claude  that  he  went 
there  because  he  longed  to  go,  as  Whittington 
went  to  London.  Claude's  solitary  figure  on 
the  road  to  Rome  would  not  have  impressed  an 
observer  as  having  anything  in  common  with  the 
other.  He  appeared  dark  of  brow  and  slow  and 
clumsy  of  movement,  very  gentle,  very  patient, 
with  little  apparent  ambition  and  certainly  with 
no  pride ;  gloomy  to  a  fault  but  with  an  insistent 
strain  of  good-nature  that,  one  imagines,  could 
on  occasion  broaden  into  humour;  the  sort  of 
man  the  world  loves  if  he  succeeds  and  despises 
if  he  fails.  To  Claude,  life  was  not  a  spectacle 
on  which  his  brain  could  feed.  He  had  conscious 
wish  to  interpret,  much  less  to  influence  the 
things  he  witnessed  around  him.  To  him  nature 
was  a  mysteriously  intoxicating  force  supervis- 
ing the  world  and  including  in  that  supervision 
the  fate  of  Claude  Gellee,  and  he  was  happiest 
when  he  felt  himself  controlled  most  strongly 
and  was  conscious    of    being  most  deeply  sub- 


The  Burlington   Magazine,   No.  214,   Vol.   xxxviii — January,    1921. 


merged  in  and  identified  with  all  that  visible  life 
with  which  he  could  so  fully  live  and  in  which 
he  believed  with  passion  and  devotion.  The 
waters  and  the  si;y  and  the  green  life  of  the  earth 
appeared  to  his  romantic  mind  as  continually 
expressing  sentiments  that  were  native  to  himself 
and  that  had  come  to  be  indispensable  to  him  as 
a  consolation  and  a  refuge  from  the  world  of  men 
and  affairs.  While  Poussin's  isolation  was  in 
reality  an  intelleciual  aloofness,  that  of  Claude 
was  due  to  his  impulse  to  commune  alone  with 
nature  as  others  communed  alone  with  God. 
Claude  believed  in  nature,  and  if  he  brought 
himself  to  love  men  it  was  because  they 
too  were  hers.  He  resembled  in  this 
respect  a  tvpe  of  scientist  now  for  the  last 
twenty  years,  in  the  atmosphere  of  special- 
ised science,  extinct,  who  could  still,  before 
the  invasion  of  Einstein  and  the  psychologists 
made  of  them  a  laughing-stock,  look  upon  the 
clouds  and  listen  to  the  sea  and  the  wind  with 
rapture  and  adoration.  So  the  attitude  towards 
subject  matter  was  strikingly  at  variance  in 
Poussin  and  in  Claude.  The  former  had  visions 
in  his  brain  with  which  he  lived  in  a  luxury  of 
delight.  He  saw  natural  scenery  and  groups  of 
people  as  imperfect  compositions,  as  slovenly 
designs,  unbearably,  tormentingly  ineffectual 
but  full,  in  their  bulk  and  space  and  in  their 
growth  and  their  movement,  of  the  material  of 
which  dreams  could  be  made.  For  him  the 
dream  was  all  and  nature  was  the  disorderly 
force  that  furnished  the  material  for  man  to  use 
in  his  own  way  and  for  his  own  delight.  The 
object  of  nature  was  not  his  object,  her  effort  in 
creating  and  maintaining  life  and  dead  matter 
and  transforming  their  appearances  was  directed 
towards  the  fulfilment  of  a  half  hidden  utilitarian 
scheme  which  to  the  artist  seemed  often  mis- 
directed and  gross. 

When,  however,  it  came  to  representing 
nature  the  two  men  had  more  in  common  and  in 
many  respects  adopted  an  identically  similar 
technique.  But  while  Poussin  invariably 
observed  his  subject  as  a  whole,  Claude  had  an 
unfortunate  trick  of  elaborating  his  preliminary 
sketch-plan  part  by  part — of  thrusting,  as  it 
were,  wedge-shaped  masses  of  landscape  into 
his  picture  from  the  sides,  in  the  manner  of  the 
"  wings  "  in  stage  scenery.  Within  each  mass 
of  this  kind  there  is  always  a  more  or  less  com- 
plete three-dimensional  design,  and  he  relies  on 
his  ability  to  co-relate  the  masses  to  obtain  his 
final  pattern.  The  result  is  that  sometimes  there 
exist  two  kinds  of  composition  in  the  same  pic- 
ture. The  first  consists  of  a  large  two-dimen- 
sional pattern  to  enjoy  which  the  eye  must  accept 
as  a  factor  the  surface  of  the  canvas  or  the  paper, 
as  the  eye  accepts  it  in  the  case  of  the  great 
majority  of  Korean,  Chinese  and  Japanese 
paintings    and    drawings,    or    in    the    case    of 


Whistler.  The  second  consists  of  a  number  of 
far  more  complicated  three-dimensional  designs 
which  affect  us  in  spile  of  the  tint  surface, 
which  is  in  this  case  no  longer  a  part  of  the 
picture  but  is  a  more  means  by  which  the  picture 
was  made,  like  the  paint  and  tiie  brushes.  So 
that  one  linds  oneself, the  moment  a  Claude  draw- 
ing is  seen,  vividly  aware  of  an  effective  balanc- 
ing of  graduated  spaces.  Every  little  seemingly 
representational  or  even  merely  accidental  detail 
stands  poised  in  its  own  place,  fixed  and  indis- 
pensable because  of  its  relationship  to  all  the 
other  details  surrounding  it.  Then,  in  the  case 
of  many  of  Claude's  works,  we  find  ourselves 
picking  otu  a  certain  group  of  trees  here,  and 
then  a  hill  or  field  there,  and  responding  in  a 
slightly  different  way  to  them.  The  artist  seems 
now  to  be  asking  something  more  or  scjmething 
different  of  us.  But  Poussin  demands  this  atti- 
tude of  mind  for  the  whole  of  his  picture. 

Now,  many  people,  as  one  can  satisfy  oneself 
by  experiment,  are  capable  of  reacting  only 
to  two-dimensional  pattern  and  respond  to 
Claude's  "charm",  just  as  they  do  to  that  of 
Whistler  or  of  D.  Y.  Cameron,  but  they  fail  to 
turn  the  corner  with  which  he  confronts  them 
and  remain  blind  to  part  of  his  appeal.  Such 
observers  never  really  understand  Poussin  and 
usually  frankly  say  so.  Claude,  one  suspects, 
will  always  remain,  so  long  as  he  is  judged  on 
pure  design,  the  more  popular  of  the  two. 

It  is  in  this  connection  interesting  that  John 
Ruskin  in  the  course  of  his  involved  arguments 
regarding  Claude  should,  while  advocating  in 
his  own  curious  way  the  practice  of  "  fore- 
shortening ",  have  forefelt  the  importance  of  the 
illuminating  principle  of  the  three-dimensional 
design. 

The  peculiar  individual  characteristics  of 
the  two  masters  may  be  studied  to  advan- 
tage in  the  drawings  reproduced  on  Plate 
n,  A  and  B.  The  superficial  pattern  of  a  sketch 
like  that  of  the  Infant  Moses  and  Pharaoh  is  a 
poor,  tawdry  thing,  and  until  one  feels  the 
depths  depicted  it  imparts  hardly  any  esthetic 
thrill  at  all.  So  completely  indeed  is  the  effect 
of  such  a  drawing  dependent  on  the  transmission 
of  the  sense  of  solidity  and  cubic  space  that  it  is 
only  with  a  considerable  effort  that  one's  eye  can 
accept  it  as  a  flat  pattern. 

In  the  Claude  drawing  of  the  Lake  of 
Bracciano  the  charm  of  the  pattern  insists 
iFself  upon  us  at  once,  but  presently  we 
become  aware  of  a  more  complicated  system 
of  structural  composition  in  the  realisation 
of  the  shrubs  and  grasses  in  the  foreground 
with  the  beautifully  conceived  row  of  darker 
trees  beyond ;  at  first  sight  words  like  charming, 
slight,  effective,  delicate,  come  to  mind;  one 
feels  that  the  fluent  pencil  of  the  artist  in  tracing 


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lufaul  Moses  and   I'luiradh,    1)\    Xirolas   I'nussin.      ;.:"   h\    S|".   (Dr. 
inrret!  Hdrenius) 


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the  contours  of  the  scene,  had  written  down  "this 
thing  is  perfect."  It  is  only  after  an  interval, 
however  brief,  that  one  associates  the  thought 
of  structure,  of  depth,  of  power  and  of  greatness 
with  the  drawing — as  apart,  of  course,  from  the 
subject  depicted,  which  may  easily  have  any  of 
these  qualities.  An  amusing  study  of  this  inter- 
esting drawing  can  be  made  by  a  comparison 
with  a  photograph  of  the  exact  scene  which  hap- 
pens to  exist  in  Sante  Bargellini,  Etruria  Meri- 
dionale  (Italia  Artistica,  ^S),  page  82,  which  de- 
monstrates very  beautifuly  how  Claude  inter- 
preted his  subject  and  based  his  design  upon  the 
great  V-shaped  contour  of  the  hills  and  the  little 
V-shaped  arrangement  of  the  foreground  and  the 
third  and  still  smaller  V-shaped  line  of  the  lake 
bank  connecting  these  two  main  masses.  This 
was  his  favourite,  almost  his  invariable  starting 
point  when  sketching,  though  no  doubt  the  evi- 
dent haste  with  which  the  drawing  was  made — 
which  probably  accounts  for  the  slightly  per- 
functory and  mechanical  treatment  of  some  of 
the  ridges  of  the  hills — enables  one  to  note  the 
characteristic  with  less  of  an  effort  than  usual. 
It  is  a  remarkable  thing  that  so  topographical  a 
drawing  should  succeed  in  imparting  so  vividly 
the  lyrical  delight  experienced  by  the  girtist.  It 
is  noticeable  that  in  this,  as  in  almost  every  work 
of  Claude,  even  those  including  figures,  a  still- 
ness reigns  over  all ;  nothing  ever  moves ;  no  tree 
so  much  as  stirs.  This  is  a  characteristic  of 
much  French  art,  both  that  of  the  distant  past 
and  of  our  own  day.  I  can,  for  instance,  remem- 
ber only  one  picture  of  Cezanne  which  represents 


movement  in  the  way  that  every  little  journey- 
man in  Italy  depicted  it. 

The  drawing  before  us  was  carried  out  with 
pen  and  sepia  and  sepia  and  Indian  ink  wash, 
and  is  signed  below  "  Claudio  fecit  sovra  il  lac 
di  bracciano  ".  (Cf.  Collections  Palgrave, 
W^ellesley  and  Fairfax  Murrav.)  The  Infant 
Moses  and  Pharaoh  is  in  black  chalk,  pen  and 
sepia  with  brush  drawing  in  three  colours.  (Cf. 
the  pictures  in  the  Louvre  and  the  Collections 
Lemperear ;  Lord  Northwick ;  and  see  Fried- 
lander,  p.  225.) 

The  other  drawing  reproduced  of  a  Classical 
Landscape  [Plate  I]  is  a  superb  example  of 
Poussin's  landscape  work,  though  looser  in  both 
design  and  handling  than  was  usual  with  him. 
Its  sonority  and  formal  completeness  has  a  Bach- 
like flavour  that  is  unmistakeably  recognisable 
as  Poussin's.  The  arrangement  of  the  subject, 
with  the  repetition  of  the  pinnacle,  etc.,  escapes 
monotony  because  it  was  Poussin  who  inter- 
preted it.  It  will  at  once  be  noticed  how 
remarkably  the  spirit  and  the  technique  of  Claude 
has  entered  into  the  depiction  of  the  boats,  the 
hills,  etc.,  on  the  extreme  right  hand.  The  draw- 
ing is  in  pen  and  sepia  and  sepia  and  wash,  and 
is  unsigned. 

In  certain  respects  the  most  perfect  work  in  the 
exhibition  is  a  drawing  of  two  ships  by  Claude 
in  which  we  see  him  at  his  best.  The  drawing 
referred  to  has  just  been  published  as  No-  11, 
Pt.  I,  of  the  second  series  of  reproductions  bv 
the  Vasari  Society,  and  the  original  is  in  the 
possession  of  Henry  Oppenheimer,  Esq. 


ON    A     DISMEMBERED     ALTARPIECE     BY    MARCO     ZOPPO 


to  the 
length 


BY    TANCRED    BORENIUS 

NE  of  the  early  Italian  pictures, 
forming  that  remarkable  collection, 
which  the  Hon.  W.  T.  H.  Fox- 
Strangways  (subsequently  fourth 
Earl  of  Ilchester)  in  1850  presented 
.'Xshmolean  Museum  at  Oxford,  is  a  half- 
figure  of  St.  Paul,  on  gold  ground 
[Plate  a].  Through  a  mistake,  which  is  reallv 
not  much  to  be  wondered  at  in  the  early  days  of 
connoisseurship,  this  picture  for  some  time 
passed  as  a  work  by  Luca  Signorelli,  until  Crowe 
and  Cavalcaselle'  recognized  the  author  as  being 
Marco  Zoppo,  as  a  characteristic  example  of 
whose  art  the  picture  has  since  been  referred  to 
by  all  who  ba\e  written  on  the  subject.  Little 
or  nothing  seems  to  be  known  about  the  history 
of  the  panel  prior  to  its  acquisition  by  Lord 
Ilchester,  who,  according  to  his  own  statement, 
bought  the  pictures  presented    by    him    to    the 


'  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  History  of  Painting  in  Italy,  ist 
ed.,  iii.,  35;  2nd  ed.,  v.  121.  See  also  History  of  Painting  in 
North  Italy,   ist  ed.,  i.,  34q  ;  2nd  ed..  ii.,  52. 


Ashmolean  Museum  at  Rome  some  years  later 
than  those  which  he  in  1825-28  collected  at 
Florence  and  in  1828  presented  to  Christ 
Church.  The  picture  itself  only  allowed  the 
inference  that  it  must  originally  have  formed 
part  of  a  series  of  half-lengths  constituting  the 
upper  course  of  a  composite  altarpiece.  Its  size 
is  19J  by   12  inches  (49.5  by  30.5  cm). 

Two  or  three  years  ago  my  attention  was 
drawn  by  Mr.  Henry  Harris  to  a  half-length 
figure  of  St.  Peter  [Plate  c]  discovered  by  him 
in  London,  and  which  plainly  proclaimed  itself 
a  companion  piece  to  the  Oxford  panel.  Not 
only  did  the  style  of  Mr.  Harris'  excellently  pre- 
served picture  point  to  Marco  Zoppo  beyond  the 
possibility  of  doubt,  but  the  manner  of  showing 
the  figure,  and  the  dimensions  of  the  panel  (19 
by  12  inches)  made  it  appear  a  certainty,  that 
the  two  pictures  originally  formed  part  of  the 
same  altarpiece,  no  doubt  as  actual  pendants  on 
each  side  of  the  central  panel  in  the  upper 
course,    which,    as   may    be   seen    from    manv 


instances,  usually  was  a  iialf-lengtli  of  ilic  Dead 
Christ  in  His  tomb.  On  the  gold  haclvi^round 
of  Mr.  Harris'  panel  the  ogival  outline  of  the 
original  Gothic  frame  shows  with  greater  dis- 
tinctness  than   on    tlie   Oxford    picture. 

Discoveries  as  regards  portions  of  dismem- 
bered altarpieces  have  the  projierty  of  gradually 
accumulating:  and  I  was  therefore  more  pleased 
than  surprised  the  other  day,  on  examining  the 
pictures  lately  presented  by  Mr.  A.  de  Pass  to 
the  National  Gallery,  to  find  a  half-length  figure 
of  a  Holv  Bishop  [Plate  i?]  which  evidently  is 
a  third  member  of  the  series  we  have  now  been 
reconstituting.  Again  there  is  complete  identity 
of  stvle  and  mode  of  presentment;  the  size  is  u) 
bv  lo.V  inches — the  picture  having  thus  been 
somewhat  cut  at  the  sides,  whilst  the  top  of  the 
panel  has  been  converted  into  a  semi-circular 
arch.  Nevertheless,  the  outlines  of  the  original 
Gothic  frame  are  showing  on  the  gold  ground 
exactly  in  the  Si\me  manner  as  in  Mr.  Harris' 
panel. 

Perhaps  the  publication  of  this  note  may 
further  the  identification  of  the  still  missing 
parts  of  the  series;  apart  from  the  central  panel, - 

^  In  case  tho  dimensions  make  this  (Xissible,  this  might  quite 
conceivably  be  the  fine  three-quarter  length  of  Christ  in  tlir 
Tomb,  belonging  to  Signer  Roberto  Schiff  of  Pisa  and  rcpro- 


there  must  originally  have  existed  a  pair  to  the 
National  Gall(>ry  figure,  and  there  were  possibly 
still  more  panels  in  the  .series,  if  the  altarpiece 
was  a  very  elaborate  one.  Among  the  surviv- 
ing works  by  Zoppo  I  know  of  no  big  fuJl- 
Icngths  that  could  be  identified  with  the  panels 
in  the  principal  course  of  the  altari)iece;  and  it 
is  just  possible,  that  at  the  time  when  this  was 
dismembered,  the  smaller  panels  may  have 
fared  better  th;m  the  big  ones,  being  more  port- 
able and  looked  upon  as  curiosities.  Where  that 
altarjiiece  originally  stood  is  also  for  the  present 
a  matter  of  conjecture.  We  possess  but  few 
records  of  any  large  polyptychs  by  Marco 
Z()]ipo  :  one  big  altarpiece  ("  palla  grande  ")  by 
him,  dating  from  1468,  there  was  in  the  church 
of  S.  Giustina  in  Venice,"  but  of  this  we  possess 
no  description,  and  it  has  been  missing  since 
the  17th  century.  Although  it  is  thus  impossible 
to  carry  the  process  of  historical  reconstruction 
quite  as  far  as  could  be  desired,  it  is  yet  interest- 
ing to  have  found  out  something  about  a  work 
which  must  have  taken  rank  among  the  more 
important  productions  of  this  fascinating  artist. 

duced  in  Venturi,  Storia  deW  arte  italiana,  vol.  vii.,  pt.  iii., 
p.  39.  I  do  not,  however,  possess  sufficient  data  about  Signor 
Schiff's  picture  to  put  this  forward  as  anything  but  a  sug- 
gestion. 

^  Sansovino,    Venetia,   ed.    Martinioni,    !6f>3,    p.   42. 


THE   ARCHITECTURE    OF   SALADIN   AND   THE   INFLUENCE 
OF    THE    CRUSADES    (A.D.     1 171  — 1250)* 
BY    MARTIN    S.    BRIGGS 


T  would  be  interesting  to  trace  the 
influence  of  the  greatest  soldiers  of 
histor}'  upon  the  architecture  of  their 
respective  periods.  In  some  cases  it 
would  be  very  slight,  in  others  con- 
siderable. Among  the  ancient  despots  of  the 
East,  it  was  common  for  the  King  to  combine 
the  functions  of  commander-in-chief  and  master- 
builder  of  the  State.  Napoleon  found  time  to 
interest  himself  in  the  facade  of  Milan  Cathedral, 
in  the  re-planning  and  embellishment  of  Paris, 
and  in  the  monumental  work,  prepared  under  his 
inspiration,  describing  the  ancient  buildings  of 
Egypt.  Conversely,  Lord  Kitchener  as  a  very 
young  man,  attracted  attention  by  his  archaeolo- 
gical W'Ork  in  Palestine,  long  before  he  conquered 
the  Soudan,  ruled  Egypt,  or  raised  the  Army 
that  finally  won  the  recent  war. 

Saladin,  or  to  give  him  his  full  name  and  titles, 
El-Melik  en-Nasir  Abu-l-Muzaffar  Salah-ed- 
dunya-wa-d-din  Yusuf  ibn-Ayyub,  was  aptly 
christened  "  Honour  of  the  Faith  ",  for  such  is 
the  English  meaning  of  his  name.     As  the  gentle 


*This  article  is  a  sequel  to  Fatimitc  Architecture  in  Cairo 
(a.d.  969-1 171),  by  the  same  author,  published  in  our  issues 
for  Septeml^er  and   October. 


knight  "  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche  "  of  the 
Crusading  story,  he  has  been  popularised  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott  in  The  Talisman,  and  lives  in  more 
serious  history  as  a  great  soldier  without  a  serious 
stain  on  his  reputation  at  a  time  when  cruelty 
and  treachery  characterised  the  records  of  nearly 
all  his  contemporaries,  especially  the  majority  of 
the  leading  Crusaders  themselves.  He  was  born 
in  1 137  or  1 138  at  Tekrit  in  Mesopotamia,  one  of 
the  many  towns  mentioned  in  this  article  that 
have  become  familiar  to  Englishmen  during  the 
past  few  years.  His  father's  name,  Ayyub 
(Job),  explains  the  name  of  the  Ayyubide  dynasty 
in  Egypt  of  which  Saladin  was  the  founder,  and 
the  "  Ayyubide  "  architecture  of  Egypt  and 
Palestine  between  1171  and  1250  with  which  this 
article  is  concerned.  By  birth  Ayyub  was  a 
Kurd  from  Northern  Armenia.  His  son  is 
therefore  one  more  example  of  the  energy  and 
ability  of  the  various  foreign  rulers  of  Egypt, 
like  Ibn-Touloun  in  the  9th  century,  and  the  later 
mameluke  Sultans  who  made  Cairo  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  cities  in  the  world.  At  the  time 
of  Saladin's  birth  the  Turks  had  already  spread 
over  most  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  old  Baghdad 
caliphate,  that  famous  dominion  being  reduced  to 


TO 


a  small  part  of  Mesopotamia.  Their  first  or 
Seljuk  empire  had  included  most  of  Syria  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  nth  century,  but  towards  the 
end  of  that  century  it  broke  up,  thus  contributing 
largely  to  the  initial  successes  of  the  Crusaders, 
who  captured  Jerusalem  in  1099  and  established 
over  most  of  Palestine  a  Latin  kingdom  which 
lasted  nearly  ninety  years.  The  Seljuk  Turks 
were  soldiers  rather  than  artists,  but  they  were 
by  no  means  indifferent  to  culture,  and  provided 
an  excellent  system  of  education  in  their 
numerous  colleges. 

While  the  Crusaders  as  they  settled  in  Pales- 
tine   made    Oriental    marriages    and    contracted 
Oriental  ways,  or  at  any  rate  all  the  less  desirable 
of  Oriental  wavs,  the  Atabeg  or  ruler  of  Mosul 
was  becoming  a  powerful  menace  to  them,  and  in 
1 128  established  his  power  at  Aleppo.     A  few 
vears  later    he    appointed    Ayyub    governor  of 
Baalbek,    and    in    1154    Nur   ed-Din,    King   of 
Aleppo  and  son  of  the  Atabeg  of  Mosul,  entered 
Damascus.     At  his  court  there  Saladin  spent  the 
next  ten  years  of  his  life.     He  appears  to  have 
been  a  retiring    youth,    devoted    to  books    and 
religion,  and  content  to  spend  most  of  his  time 
in  the  famous  medrcsas  (colleges)  of  Damascus. 
From  1163  to  1171  there  was  a  constant  struggle 
between  the  Turks   and   the   Crusaders   for   the 
possession  of  Egypt,  then  tottering  helplessly  to 
its  fall  under  the  feeble  rule  of  the  later  Fatimites. 
The  Egvptians  formed  secret  alliances  with  each 
of  the  invaders  from  time  to  time,  and  in  these 
transactions  the  Crusaders  appear  at  their  worst. 
Saladin  now  arrives  on  the  scene  as  a  studious 
and  self-effacing  officer  on  the  staff  of  his  uncle, 
the  commander  of  the  Turkish  army  in  Egypt. 
In  1 167  he  was  appointed  governor  of  the  fortified 
city  of  Alexandria,  whose  Arab  walls  and  towers 
now  no  longer  exist,  but  are  finely  illustrated  in 
Jomard's     Description     de     I'Egypte     as     they 
appeared  in  1798.  A  truce  having  been  arranged, 
he  was  then  entertained  at  the  court  of  the  Cru- 
sading king.     A  treacherous  invasion  of  Egypt 
bv  King  Amalric  of  Jerusalem  again  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  led  to  a  frantic  appeal  to  Nur  ed-Din 
for  intervention  from  the  Fatimite  caliph.    Sala- 
din was  sent  with  the  Turkish  army,  under  his 
uncle,  who  then  became  wesir,  or  chancellor  of 
Egypt.     In  1 169  Saladin,  though  a  young  man, 
was  chosen  to  succeed  him,  and  two  years  later — 
on    the    death    of    the   caliph — he  ascended    the 
throne  of   Egypt    himself,     acknowledging  the 
suzerainty,  only  so  far  as  was  necessary,  of  Nur 
ed-Din.       He  had  again  fought  against  the  Cru- 
saders, at  Damietta,   Gaza,  and  Deir  el-Belah, 
during  the  two  years  that  he  was  wesir,  and  he 
also  was  forced  to  attack  the  Soudanese  troops  of 
the  Egyptian  army,  who  had  risen  against  him. 
But  from  1171  to  1182  he  ruled  and  resided  in 
Cairo,  leaving  his  mark  on  the  city,  according  to 


Professor  Lane-Poole,  more  strongly  than  any 
other  of  its  numerous  rulers.  Cairo  at  that  time 
did  not  extend  over  the  modern  European 
quarters,  these  being  under  water,  as  well  as  the 
modern  suburb  of  Bulak.  The  strange  hills  on 
the  south-west  of  the  city  that  so  perplex  a 
modern  visitor,  consisting  as  they  do  for  the  most 
part  of  rubbish,  had  just  been  formed,  for  the 
suburb  of  Fustat  had  been  burned  down  lest  it 
should  afford  shelter  to  the  Crusaders.  Saladin 
did  not  occupy  the  famous  palace  of  the  Fatimite 
caliphs  upon  his  accession,  but  allowed  it  to  fall 
into  decay,  while  he  himself  preferred  simpler 
quarters.  This  palace  was  built  in  two  halves, 
separated  by  a  square  then  known  as  Beyn  el- 
Kasreyn  ("  between  the  palaces  ")  and  now 
forming  part  of  the  Sharia  en-Nahhasin,  wherein 
lie  several  of  the  finest  mosques  of  Cairo.  In 
one  of  the  palaces  were  all  the  state  apartments 
and  offices  of  the  court,  in  the  other  and  smaller 
one  the  private  rooms  and  harem  of  the  monarch. 
The  square  was  large  enough  to  form  a  parade 
ground  for  10,000  troops.  Beneath  it  ran  a  sub- 
way along  which  the  caliph  could  ride  on  his 
mule  to  his  private  apartments.  The  incredible 
luxury  of  these  palaces  is  recounted  by  William 
of  Tyre,'  who  describes  the  embassy  of  the  Cru- 
saders to  Cairo  in  1 167.  Among  other  feaures  of 
the  buildings  is  mentioned  an  oubliette. 

Though  one  of  the  most  important  innovations 
effected  by  Saladin  in  Cairo  was  the  substitution 
of  the  orthodox  religion  for  the  heretical  Shi'a 
doctrines  of  the  Fatimites,  the  most  important 
to  us  is  the  building  of  the  great  Citadel  that  still 
dominates  the  town.  Its  original  strength 
vanished  with  the  discovery  of  gunpowder  and 
long-range  artillery,  but  it  commanded  the  city 
for  several  centuries,  and  was  itself  immune  from 
attack  from  the  great  cliffs  of  the  Mukattam  Hills 
that  rose  high  above  it  not  very  far  away.  It 
was  commenced  about  11 76,  and  in  spite  of  con- 
siderable later  alterations  and  additions,  pre- 
serves on  the  side  facing  the  Mukattam  Hills 
very  much  the  appearance  that  it  must  have  had 
in  Saladin's  day  [Plate  II,  h].  At  the  same 
time  he  began  to  extend  the  city  walls,  intend- 
ing to  connect  the  Fatimite  portion  with  the 
enceinte  of  the  Citadel.  However,  he  died 
before  this  work  was  completed.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  he  owed  something  of  his  knowledge 
of  fortification  to  the  Norman  castles  that  had 
by  this  time  sprung  up  all  over  Palestine. 
Besides  this  military  architecture,  he  introduced 
into  the  city  two  new  types  of  building,  the 
muristan  or  hospital,  and  the  medresa  or  school- 
mosque.  The  latter  form  is  of  the  most  import- 
ance to  the  student  of  Saracenic  architecture,  for 
it  was  the  origin  of  the  medresa  plan  that  pro- 

» Quoted  in  Lane-Poole's  Cairo,  pp.  130-2  ;  see  also  M. 
Ravaisse  in  Mimoircs  de  la  Mission  archiologique  francaise 
au  Caire,  torn.  I-lII,  for  conjectural  plans  of  these  buildings. 


I  I 


duced  in  late  years  the  finest  Arab  monuments 
of  Cairo,  if  not,  indeed,  of  all  the  Moslem  world. 
The  word  mcdrcsa  means  a  college,  and  it  was 
part  of  Saladin's  policy  to  suppress  the  Shi'itc 
hercsv  of  the  Fatimites  by  systeinatic  teaching 
of  the  orthodox  faith.  The  four  doctrines  or 
rites  {inazhab)    of    the     Moslem  fnith   were  the 


A  FOUNTAIN  IN  JERUSALEM  (PROHABLV  XVITH  fENTURV)  SHOWINC. 
CRUSADER    INFLUENCE. 

Malekite,  Chafeite,  Hanefite,  and  Hanbalite. 
Now  medresas  had  been  built  many  years  pre- 
viously by  Nur  ed-Din  at  Damascus,  and  in 
these  buildings,  where  Saladin  himself  had  sat 
at  the  feet  of  the  doctors,  the  plan  may  have 
been  dictated  by  common  sense,  or  may  have 
been  copied  from  Mesopotamian  or  Christian 
prototypes.  The  typical  medresa  plan,  of  which 
the  most  splendid  example  is  the  mosque  of 
Sultan  Hassan  at  Cairo,  consists  of  a  square 
central  space  or  sahn,  open  to  the  sky,  with  a 
large  covered  recess  or  liwan,  spanned  by  one 
huge  pointed  arch,  on  each  of  the  four  sides. 
In  each  recess  is  taught  one  of  the  four  doctrines. 
The  plan  thus  obtained  is  a  simple  Greek  cross, 
a  form  that  was  evolved  in  East  and  West  in 
very  earlv  times  (as  the  frantic  partisans  of  the 
two  theories  of  the  origin  of  Saracenic  art  have 
plainly  shown),  or  may  very  conceivably  have 


been  invented  by  Nur  ed-Din  himself.  To 
those  who  have  no  pet  theory  to  advance,  these 
explanations  are  sufiicient,  and  an  architect 
should  be  more  concerned  with  the  development 
of  this  embr)o  plan  into  the  magnificent 
wedresa-mosques  of  the  14th  and  15th  century 
in  Cairo.-  The  first  medresa  in  Cairo  was  built 
near  the  present  tomb-mosque  of  Imam  esh- 
.Shafei  south  oi  the  city  by  Saladin  in  1176,  but 
has  long  ceased  to  exist  even  as  a  ruin.  In  1183 
it  was  described  by  Ibn-Jubeyr^  as  so  surrounded 
by  buildings  as  to  resemble  "  a  township  with 
iits  dei^crulcncies.  .  .  .  Over  against  it  is  the 
hammam  (balh)  with  all  its  needful  offices,  and 
the  building  and  additions  are  still  going  on  at 
a  cost  not  to  be  counted.  The  Sheykh  .  .  . 
himself  oversees  it,  being  imam  of  the  mosque, 
a  pious  learned  man."  Another  medresa  was 
built  by  Saladin  in  Cairo  adjoining  the  mosque 
most  sacred  to  the  Fatimites,  where  the  head  of 
the  martyr  Hoseyn  was  buried,  and  three  more 
separate  colleges  for  the  various  rites  in  different 
parts  of  the  city. 

The  following  is  Ibn-Jubeyr's  description'  of 
the  first  hospital  in  Cairo,  founded  by  Saladin. 
Though  of  little  importance  to  the  architectural 
student,  it  throws  some  light  on  the  arrangement 
of  the  Arab  rnuristan. 

He  has  appointed  here  an  administrator,  a  man  of 
knowledge,  in  whose  charge  a  provision  of  drugs  has  beon 
placed,  with  power  to  com|X)und  potions  with  thes.^ 
according  to  diverse  reci|>es,  and  to  prescribe  them.  In 
the  chambers  of  this  palace  couches  have  been  placed, 
which  the  sick  folk  make  use  of  as  beds,  these  being  fully 
provided  with  bed-clothes,  and  the  administrator  has  under 
him  servants  who  are  charged  with  the  duty  of  inquiring 
into  the  condition  of  the  sick  folk  morning  and  evening, 
and  these  last  receive  food  and  medicines  according  as 
their  state  requires.  Opposite  this  hospital  is  another, 
separate  therefrom,  for  women  who  are  sick,  and  they 
also  have  persons  who  attend  on  them  :  while  adjacent  to 
these  two  hospitals  is  another  building  with  a  spacious 
court,  in  which  are  chambers  with  iron  gratings,  which 
serve  also  for  the  confinement  of  those  who  are  mad,  and 
these  also  are  visited  daily  by  persons  who  examine  their 
condition  and  supply  them  with  what  is  needful  to  ameli- 
orate the  same.  The  Sultan  himself  inspects  the  state  of 
these  various  institutions,  investigating  everything  and 
asking  questions,  verifying  the  statements  with  care  and 
trouble  even  to  the  uttermost ;  and  in  Misr  [Cairo]  also 
there  is  another  hospital,  exactly  after  the  pattern  of  the. 
one  just  described. 

Unfortunately  no  mosque  remains  to  us  of  Sala- 
din's time,  so  that  here  there  is  a  brief  hiatus  in 
the  main  thread  of  development  of  Saracenic 
art.  He  restored  or  rebuilt  a  large  part  of  the 
ancient  mosque  of  Amr  at  Fostar  near  Cairo, 
but  that  much-altered  building  has  had  so 
chequered  a  career  that  it  is  impossible  to  ascribe 
the  various  portions  to  their  respective  authors. 
He  carried  out  other  work,  such  as  the  great 
Dyke    of     Giza,    that    is    military    engineering 

2  For  further  information  as  to  the  medresa  see  Prof,  van 
Berchem,  Corpus  inscriptionum  Arabicarum,  page  251  et 
passim. 

s  Quoted   in   Lane-Poole,   Cairo,   p.    184. 

•'Quoted  in   Lane-Poole's  Cairo,    p.    186. 


I  2 


.1      Interior    (if    tlu-    Greal     .M()S(|iu'     (tnrmfrl\       tlif 
C'luirrl)  iif  S.  jdlin)  ;il  ("laza 


/>'      The  C'liapel  of  ilic  X'ii^in's   I'oiiili,  |l■|■u^-al^n^ 


('      l\t-iiiaiiis  i)t'  the  C'luiri  li  nl  S.  (icuri'e  at  Liulil 


/'      West  door\va\-    of    the  Cireat    -\lo.si|ui'    (lninu-rl\ 
ihe  Cluirrh  of  S.  John,  (iaza) 


Some  f'Xaiiiples  of  Crusader  ("luircht-s  in   Palestine 


/- 


Plate    1.     The   Arcliiteclure  of  Salaclin 


/ 


/•-■     'I'lu'  (."iladel  .11   Aleppo 


I 


*> 


,«w 


^« 


/•      Si.  .SiL'iilien's  (ialc,    Icrusalem 


(j      A  Sireei   I*"i)unl;iin  at  Iciiisalcni 


H     The  Citadel  ;it  Cain^ 

lixamples  of  Saracen    buildings  showing  Crusader  mtlurnre 


'l.iie   II.     The  Architeciure  of  Sal;idin 


rather  than  architecture,  and  even  his  architec- 
tural masterpiece  in  Cairo,  the  Citadel  (or,  as  the 
Arabs  call  it,  "  the  Castle  of  the  Mountain  ", 
el-Kalat  el-Gebel)  only  aflfects  the  development 
of  Saracenic  art  in  matters  of  detail. 

It  was  his  intention  so  to  complete  the  fortifi- 
cations constructed  by  Badr  el-Gamali  nearly  a 
century  before  as  to  render  Cairo  safe  from 
attack.  It  is  impossible  to  understand  his 
scheme  without  recalling  the  very  different  aspect 
of  the  city  in  those  days  from  its  present  topo- 
graphy.^ The  Nile  then  covered  the  modern 
suburb  of  Bulak,  as  well  as  the  present  Ismailia 
quarter,  and  its  eastern  shore  lay  somewhere 
about  the  position  of  the  modern  railway  station. 
There  was  a  quay  or  small  port  at  about  this 
point,  and  at  this  point  was  the  western  end  of 
the  new  wall,  a  tower  named  "  Kalat-el-Maks  ". 
Thence  the  north  wall,  still  to  be  seen  in  part  by 
a  persevering  student,  was  continued  to  join  the 
Fatimite  wall  near  the  Sharia  Khalig  el-Masri. 
The  east  wall  with  its  fortifications,  including 
the  so-called  Burg  ez-Zafar,  is  partly  buried 
beneath  the  "  rubbish  hills  "  already  mentioned, 
but  runs  southwards  towards  the  Citadel,  and  is 
chiefly  the  work  of  Saladin.  Finally  there  is  the 
wall  of  Fostat  on  the  south.  The  position  and 
design  of  these  walls  is  a  matter  for  the  military 
engineer  and  the  archaeologist  rather  than  for 
the  architect.  The  whole  question  has  been 
recently  and  ably  discussed  by  Creswell.'  But 
it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  science  of  masonry  was 
now  developing  rapidly,  thanks,  no  doubt,  to 
intercourse  with  the  Crusaders,  who  brought 
with  them  from  France  a  knowledge  of  stereo- 
tomy'  that  found  a  fertile  soil  in  a  city  like 
Cairo,  where  an  unlimited  quantity  of  fine  lime- 
stone was  to  be  had  for  the  carting.  So  in  these 
walls  we  find  good  ashlar  masonry,  or  rusticated 
blocks  with  drafted  margins.  It  is  thus  the  more 
to  be  regretted  that  in  constructing  the  Citadel 
Saladin's  builders  used,  as  a  quarry,  the  small 
pyramid  at  Giza  seven  miles  away  rather  than 
the  natural  quarry  which  lay  almost  at  their  feet. 
The  great  walls  of  the  Citadel  shown  on  Plate  II, 
with  the  fine  round  towers,  are  of  this  period, 
but  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  the 
whole  fortress  is  the  so-called  "  Joseph's  Well  ", 
descending  290  feet  into  the  earth  to  water  level. 
Steps  wind  spirally  downwards  to  a  platform, 
about  half-way  down,  where  were  stationed  the 
oxen  that  worked  the  slowly  moving  sakkiya  that 
raised  the  water  from  below,  as  water  has  been 
raised  from  time  immemorial  in  Egypt,  and  is 
still   raised  to-day.*     But  obviously   "  Joseph's 


'See  the  excellent  map  in  Lane-Poole's  Egypt  in  the  Middle 
Ages. 

8  K.    A.    C.    Creswell.      Muhainniadan   Monuments   of   Egypt. 

'  See  Clermont-Ganneau,  .-Uchieological  Researches  in  Pales- 
tine, 1896. 

'An  excellent  illustration  of  this  well  is  given  in  Jomard's 
Description  de  I'Egype  (volume,  Etat  moderne). 


Well  "  does  not  preserve  the  name  of  Pharaoh's 
■wezir.  It  is  one  of  the  names  {Yusuf  in  .'\rabic) 
of  Saladin,  *  and  the  Bahr-Yusuf  (a  stream 
familiar  now  to  English  soldiers),  connecting  the 
Nile  with  the  Fayyum,  is  another  case  in  point, 
in  spite  of  popular  legend.'  The  architectural 
features  of  this  citadel  admittedly  show  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Crusaders,  and  it  is  significant  that 
much  of  the  construction  was  carried  out  by 
Christian  prisoners  of  war. 

During  the  eleven  years  that  he  ruled  as  Sul- 
tan in  Cairo,  Saladin  conquered  the  Soudan, 
Arabia,  and  the  Libyan  coast  as  far  as  Tripoli. 
But  his  chief  fighting  was  with  the  Crusaders 
in  Syria  and  Palestine.  The  struggle  was  a  long 
one,  and  his  fortunes  varied.  In  succession  he 
occupied  Damascus,  Hama,  Aleppo,  and  then 
assumed  the  title  of  King  of  Syria.  In  1182  he 
left  Cairo  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  made 
Damascus  his  headquarters.  Finally,  after 
besieging  the  great  fortress  of  Kerak  and  defeat- 
ing the  Crusaders  near  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  he 
captured  Jerusalem  in  1187,  and  thus  put  an  end 
to  the  Latin  kingdom  that  had  ruled  Palestine 
for  88  years.  The  remaining  six  years  of  his  life 
were  not  all  peaceful,  however,  for  it  was  not 
until  after  the  famous  siege  of  Acre,  and  the 
battles  of  Arsuf  and  Jaffa,  that  Saladin  concluded 
a  truce  with  the  Crusaders  in  1192,  leaving  them 
only  the  coastal  strip  of  territory  from  Tyre  to 
Jaffa.  After  making  a  last  tour  of  his  new  king- 
dom to  see  that  its  fortifications  were  all  in  order 
and  his  new  subjects  contented,  he  returned  to 
Damascus,  only  to  die  there  in  1193,  in  the  fifty- 
fifth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  buried  near  the 
great  Ummayad  Mosque,  in  the  little  kitbba  or 
domed  tomb-chamber  that  still  bears  his  name. 

Before  describing  the  architectural  work  of 
Saladin  in  Palestine  and  Syria,  chiefly  in  Jeru- 
salem and  Damascus,  it  is  necessary  to  review 
briefly  the  buildings  of  the  Crusaders,  erected 
during  their  tenure  of  the  Holy  Land.  These 
may  be  divided  into  two  main  groups,  fortresses 
and  churches,  for  the  few  bridges  and  minor 
buildings  that  do  not  fall  within  either  of  these 
categories  may,  for  the  purpose  of  this  book,  be 
neglected.  ^Iention  must  be  made,  however,  of 
the  stone-vaulted  bazaar-streets  of  Jerusalem, 
always  among  its  most  picturesque  features,  and 
in  part  at  least  due  to  the  Crusaders.  The  cita- 
del, walls,  and  gates  of  Jerusalem  have  formed 
the  subject  of  controversy  for  years,  but  the 
greater  part  of  them  as  they  appear  to-day,  as 
well  as  the  beautiful  street  fountains,  date  from 
the  days  of  Suliman  the  Magnificent  (middle 
i6th  century),  that  is,  from  the  post-Saracenic 
period  after  the  Turkish  conquest  in  1517.  This 
is  the  more  remarkable  in  view  of  their  close 
resemblance      to      Crusader-architecture,      and 


'  See  my  book,   Through  Egypt  in    War   Time.  pp.   45-7. 


shows  the  power  of  Crusader  influence.     [Pi.ati-: 
H.  F,  g].  , 

The  "  strong  points  "  of  Palestine  were  forti- 
fied witli  great  castles  with  French  names  now 
replaced  in  Arabic,  such  as  "  CMiatoau  Neuf" 
(Kalat  Hunin).  "  Banias"  (Kalal  Suheibeh), 
"  Belfort  '■      (Kalat      esh-SluiUif),      "  Toron  " 


Ajrrtfs 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  JOHN  AT  GAZA  (.NOW  THE  GREAT  MOSQUE). 
AFTER  CLEKMO.VT-GAN.\Kj\U.  C  =  MIHRABS,  E  =  DIKKA,  G  =  MINARF.T, 
D  =  MIMBAR. 

(Kalat  Tibrin),  "  Montfort  "  (Kalat  el-Kurein), 
and  possibly  "  Mirabel  "  (Ras  el-Ain).  Of 
these  Toron  was  perhaps  the  finest.  The  fort- 
ress of  Athlit  on  the  coast  south  of  Haifa,  built 
by  the  Templars  in  1218,  is  now  partly  ruined. 
The  remains  of  many  fortified  towns,  e.g.,  Arsuf, 
Caesarea,  Ascalon,  Beit  Jibrin,  etc.,  are  also  to 
be  seen.'"  All  these  buildings  prove  that  the 
Crusaders  brought  with  them  from  Normandy 
and  Italy  to  Palestine  a  wide  knowledge  of 
military  science,  as  well  as  of  scientific  masonry, 
and  that  the  Saracens  in  late  years  made  abund- 
ant use  of  this  knowledge. 

The  churches  of  the  Crusaders  in  Palestine 
are  also  very  numerous.  Outside  Jerusalem 
itself,  the  best  preserved  examples  are  at  Ram- 
leh  (now  known  as  the  Great  Mosque),   Ludd, 

">  For  illustrations  of  the  chief  castles  of  the  Crusaders  s*e 
the  various  volumes  of  the  Survey  of  Palestine,  prepared  by 
Lieut.  C.  R.  Conder  and  Lieut,   (later  Lord)  Kitchener. 


Nablus,  Samaria,  Kuryet  el-Enab,  Hebron  (now 
incorporated   in    the   Great   Mo.sque),    and   Gaza 
(now    converted   into   the    Great    Mosque).      Be- 
sides these  there  are  numerous  small  churches, 
as  at  Nebi-Samuel  and  at  Bireh,  as  well  as  a  fine 
church  at  Tortosa    in    Northern  Syria.       With 
this  exce])lion,  all  the  examples  mentioned  be- 
came familiar    to  Kngli.sh    soldiers  during  the 
recent  war,  and,  partly  for  this  reason,  partly 
because  it  is  one  of  the  least  damaged  of  any  of 
the  buildings  metioned  above,  the  Great  Mosque 
of  Gaza    may  be  taken  as  the  typical  church  of 
the  Cru.saders  for  the  purposes  of  this  chapter. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  Englishmen  in  191 7 
watched  shells  pouring  on   to  the  surrounding 
city  for  eight  months,   but  the  sanctity  of  the 
mosque  was  respected,  and  not  until  it  was  estab- 
lished beyond  doubt  that  it  was  used  as  an  ammu- 
nition  dump  did    the    monitors  and  howitzers 
turn  their  fire  on  to  the  building.     It  has  suffered 
severely,  and  now  one  climbs  over  heaps  of  stone 
fallen  from  the  groined  vaulting.     But  the  bat- 
tered interior,    its  marble  shafts  torn   by   shell 
splinters,  still  retains  much  of  its  ancient  glory, 
and  the  exquisite  west  door  still  remains  just  as 
it  was  when  "  Lieut.  Kitchener  "  photographed 
it  in  1874  or  thereabouts.      The  illustrations  on 
Plate  I  are  from  his  negatives,  and  show  the 
building  in  use  as  a  Mosque,  as  it  has  been  used 
for  seven  centuries.       A  study  of  the  architec- 
tural detail  reveals  a  close  similarity    with    the 
Norman-Sicilian  style  then  prevailing  in  Sicily 
and  certain  towns  of  the  mainland,  itself  derived 
from  a  fusion  of  Northern  Gothic  art  in  its  in- 
fancy with  the  work  of  the  Saracen  craftsmen  of 
Sicily.  The  arch  used  by  the  Crusaders  in  Pales- 
tine was  usually  a  simple  pointed  form,  though 
in  Palermo,  Lecce,''  and  elsewhere  in  Italy  the 
pointed  horseshoe  type  is  found.     Vaulting  was 
simple,  usually  groined.     Engaged  or  detached 
columns  were  used,  with  capitals  treated  with  a 
rather  stiff  and  conventional  type  of  acanthus 
foliage.     At  Nablus  a  fine  doorway  remains,  at 
Ludd  a  beautiful  arch,  and  at  Kuryet  el-Enab 
there  is  a  noteworthy  window.     At  Cairo  is  per- 
haps    the     most     beautiful    Crusader    doorway 
extant,    brought   from    the   Christian    church   at 
Acre  in  1291,  and  incorporated  in  the  mosque  of 
En-Nasir.       In  Jerusalem   itself  the  Crusaders 
erected  a  large  number  of  churches,  besides  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  about  which  whole  books  have 
been  written.     That  famous  building,  in  spite  of 
extensive    and    lamentable    alteration,  still  pre- 
serves its  original  plan,  as  well  as  the  nave  of 
the  Crusaders'  Church  (i  140 — 1 149)  with  pointed 
arches,   clustered  pillars,   groined   vaulting,   and 
consisting  of  a  nave  and  aisles,  with  an  ambula- 

11  See  my  book  In  the  Heel  of  Italy,  figs.  7-11,  for  illus- 
trations of  a  church  built  by  Tancraed,  King  of  Sicily,  in  1180. 
This  building  (containing  horseshoe  arches)  should  be  com- 
pared  with   the   Crusaders'   Church  at   Gaza. 


8 


tory  and  semi-circular  eastern  apse.     The  bell- 
tower  (about  1 160-80)  and  the  south  fac^ade  also 
remain.     Other  interesting  relics  of  the  period 
are  the  12th  century  portal  of  the  Hospital  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John  (now  incorporated  in  the 
modern  German  Church  of  the  Redeemer),  and 
the  Chapel  of  the  Virgin's  Tomb  (1161)  [Plate 
I,  f],  a  dainty  little  building  between  the  Haram 
esh-Sherif  and  the  Mount  of  Olives.       In  the 
Haram  esh-Sherif    itself    the    Crusaders'   work 
included  the  remarkable  vaults  known  as  Solo- 
mon's Stables  and  the  beautiful  grille  of  French 
hammered  ironwork,  with  lily-heads  between  the 
spikes,  round  the  central  octagon  of  the  Dome  of 
the  Rock.     The  footprint  of  Muhammad  on  the 
actual  rock  was  temporarily  rechristened  as  the 
footprint  of  Christ,    thus    satisfying  all  hostile 
criticism.    The  rock  was  paved  over  with  marble 
and  an  altar  erected,  but  Saladin  cleared  all  this 
work  away  when  he  restored  the  mosque  to  its 
original  uses  in  1187.     The  mosque  of  El-Aksa, 
too,    was    used  as  a  Christian    church    by    the 
Templars  and  reconverted  by  Saladin.     Speak- 
ing in  general  of  the  churches  of  the  Crusaders 
in  Palestine,  it  may  be  said  that  they  all  possess 
the  following  distinctive  characteristics.     They 
consist  of  a  nave  and  aisles    of    equal  length,  a 
transept,  and  three  apses.     They  are  vaulted  in 
stone,    the    vaults    being    supported    on    simple 
piers,     usually     square     with    engaged    shafts. 
Over  the  crossing    of    nave  and  transepts  is  a 
dome  on  pendentives,  the  remainder  of  the  roof 
being  flat.     Pointed  arches  are  used,  and  but- 
tresses have  slight  projection.       Not  only  were 
the  Norman  knights  of  Sicily  and  Southern  Italy 
partly  responsible  for  the  Norman-Italian  type  of 
Gothic  architecture  that  we  find  used,   but  the 
Pisan,     Venetian,     and     especially     Genoese'^ 
sailors  and  merchants  who  played  so  prominent 
a  part  in  the  Crusades  also  left  their  mark  on  the 
churches  of  the  Holy  Land. 

The  influence  of  the  Crusaders  hardly  appears 
in  the  mosques  built  during  the  time  of  Saladin 
or  of  his  immediate  successors,  except  in  one 
very  noteworthy  instance,  the  porch  of  the 
Mosque  of  El-Aksa  at  Jerusalem.  The  fine 
mitnbar  or  pulpit  in  this  mosque  was  brought 
here  by  Saladin  from  where  it  had  been  installed 
in  the  Great  Mosque  by  Nur  ed-Din  twenty  years 
before. 

The  comparative  absence  of  monuments  of  any 
importance  in  Cairo  between  1193  and  1250  may 
be  ascribed  to  the  general  distress  prevailing  in 
Egypt  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  period,  and 
the  constant  fighting  with  the  Crusaders  that 
lasted  up  to  1249,  when  they  were  finally  driven 
out  from  Damietta,  which  had,  curiously 
enough,  taken  the  place    of    Jerusalem  as  their 

'2  For  the  Genoese  architecture  of  this  period  see  my  articles 
The  Architecture  of  Genoa  (Nos.  I-Il)  in  The  Builder,  July, 
1914. 


objective.       Yet  the  rulers  of  Egypt  appear  to 
have  been  enlightened  men  of  culture,  so  toler- 
ant that  in  1219  we  hear  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi 
preaching    before    the    Sultan,  and  finding  an 
attentive  audience.     The   only    building  of  any 
note  is  the  medresa  constructed  in  1241-4  by  the 
last    Ayyubid    Sultan,    Es-Saleh    Negm    ed-din 
Ayyub    in    the     Sharia   el-Gohergiya,     and   the 
adjoining    mausoleum    completed    in    1250.     A 
large  part  of  the  group  is  ruined,  but  there  is  a 
striking    minaret    in    three    stages,    the    lowest 
rectangular,  the  next  octagonal,   the  third  of  a 
remarkable  mabkhara  form.     The  mausoleum  is 
a  large  square  structure  covered  with  a  simple 
dome  having  primitive  stalactites  in  the  penden- 
tives.    The  mihrab  (when  I  saw  it  in  1916)  was 
somewhat     dilapidated,    and    was    flanked    by 
columns  of  green  marble.     North  of  the  mau- 
soleum is  a  square  porch  vaulted  in  stone,  an 
unusual  feature.      The  facade  is,  unfortunately, 
partly  concealed  by  shops,  but  is  decorated  with 
Persian  arches    and    curious  but  characteristic  . 
battlements  of  Mesopotamian  type. 

In  Palestine  and  Syria  a  good  deal  of  Ayyu- 
bide  architecture  survives  from  the  period  1193 — 
1250.  One  of  the  mu-wazzin  (arcades)  on  the 
south  side  of  the  podium  of  the  Dome  of  the 
Rock,  at  the  east  end,  bears  the  date  A. H.  608 
(a.d.  121 1),  the  remaining  viuwazzin  being  later. 
Damascus,  as  the  capital  in  Saladin's  later  days, 
was  a  city  of  great  splendour.  The  Sultan  him- 
self lived  in  the  castle,  then  isolated  from  the 
remainder  of  the  city,  and  here,  too,  was  the 
Sultan's  mosque.  According  to  Ibn-Jubeyr, 
writing  in  1184,  the  city  contained  at  that  time 
twenty  colleges,  two  free  hospitals,  and  many 
monasteries. 

"  Near  the  castle,  outside  the  town  towards  the  west, 
are  two  Meydans  that  are  like  pieces  of  silk  brocade  rolled 
out  for  their  greenness  and  beauty.  The  river  Hows 
between  the  two  Meydans,  and  there  is  a  grove  of  pop'a^- 
trees  extending  beside  them,  most  beautiful  to  behold. 
The  Sultan  is  wont  to  go  there  to  play  the  game  of  polo 
and  to  race  his  horses;  and  nothing  can  be  pleasanter 
to  see  than  this.  Every  evening  the  Sultan  s  sons  go  out 
there  to   shoot   the   bow,   and   to   race,   and   to  play  i>olo. 

Yet  of  all  these  glories  nothing  authentic  re- 
mains except  parts  of  the  Citadel  and  perhaps 
the  Adeliya  medresa,  though  that  is  a  buildmg 
of  some  importance.  . 

The  monuments  of  Aleppo  still  await  their 
historian,  but  most  of  the  following  bear  inscrip- 
tions authenticating  their  dates  :  the  Munstan 
in  the  Jallum  quarter  (ascribed  to  Nur  ed-Din), 
the  Medresa  of  el-Maruf  (1193),  the  Mosques  of 
Hosevn  and  Sheikh  Mohsin  (1211-13),  the  Great 
Mosque  in  the  Citadel  (1213-14),  the  Medresa 
es-Sultaniya  (1223),  the  Mosque  of  El-Kaltowiya 
(1223),  and  the  Medresa  el-Ashrafiya  or  esh- 
Sharafiya  (1242-3)." 

~i3  For  all  these  dates  I  am  indebted  to  Capt.  K.  A.  C. 
Creswell,  whose  work  on  Muhammadan  Monuments  in  hgypt 
has   already   been  cited  m   this  article. 


19 


Of  these  tlie  most  importam  is  iinddiibicdlv 
the  Citadel,  which  is  strikingly  situated  on  a 
great  mound  or  rock-base,  apparently  partly 
artificial.'*  [Plate  II,  e].  For  centuries  it  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  formidable  fortresses 
in  the  Hast,  as  it  had  need  to  be,  for  it  rom- 
mandt'il  the  junction  of  three  great  trade  routes. 
But  it  is  a  composite  structure,  the  work  of  many 
hands  at  difl"erent  periods.  It  has  a  magnificeni 
approach  across  a  deep  moat. 

In  other  parts  of  Syria  the  Kubbet  el-.Xmjad, 
and  the  Kubbet  Downs,  both  at  Baalbek,  date 
from  this  period;  also  the  Citadel,  the  Arsenal, 

'*  .A  fine  general  view  is  gK-en  in  Girault  de  Prangey's  book. 
Monuments  arabfs  (1846-52). 


ihe  Mosque  of  Al-Ivhidr,  and  liie  so-called 
■  Omar  Mosque  "  at  Bosra  ;  the  old  Khan  of 
Khan  Tuman  near  Aleppo;  the  Shafeyitc  Med- 
resa  at  Ma'arat  an-Numan  ;  and  the  Citadel  of 
Masyaf.'^' 

But  the  full  fruit  of  intercourse  with  the  Cru- 
saders is  onlv  to  lie  traced  in  the  an  iiilecture  of 
liie  Mamelukes  {13,82 — 1517)  in  Cairo  and  else- 
where, when  we  find  the  medresa  plan,  the  use 
of  pointed  arches,  of  fine  ma.sonry,  of  vaulting, 
of  N'orman  military  .science,  and  all  the  other 
features  iiorrowed  from  the  churches  and  ca.stles 
of  the  Holy  Land,  combined  with  the  native  skill 
of  the  Saracen  craft.smen  in  a  long  series  of 
splendid  buildings. 


THE    EUMORFOPOULOS    COLLECTION— XI. 
BY    R.    L.    HOBSON 

TANG     POTTERY     FIGURES     IN     TH1-; 
\ICTORIA  AXD  ALBERT  MUSEUM. 

O  apology  is  needed  for  returning 
1 10  the  T'ang  pottery  in  the  Eumorfo- 
jjoulos  Collection.  The  collection 
K'ontinues  to  grow,  and  the  splendid 
series  of  tomb  figures,  part  of  which 
is  now  illustrated,  is  a  comparatively  recent 
addition,  and  one  which  demands  publication 
not  merely  on  the  ground  of  outstanding  merit, 
but  for  the  historical  interest  attaching  to  the 
find. 


The  unusual  size,  superior  modelling,  and  rich 
glaze-colours  of  these  figures  would  indicate  a 
burial  of  some  importance,  and  this  inference  is 
borne  out  by  the  memorial  tablet  found  with 
them,  a  rubbing  of  which  followed  the  figures  to 
this  country.  Translated  by  Mr.  A.  D.  Waley, 
this  document  yields  the  following  important 
information.  The  tomb  was  that  of  "  the  late 
Chancellor  Liu  of  the  great  T'ang  dynasty, 
General  of  the  Chung-\vu  Army,  Lieutenant  of 
Honan  Fu  and  Huai-\in  Fu,  Privy  Councillor, 
etc.  His  literary  name  was  T'ing-hsiin  .... 
He  died  on  the  i6th  day  of  the  8th  month  of  the 
i6th  year  of  K'ai  Yiian  (728  .a.d.)  at  the  age  of 
72  ".  The  inscription  further  includes  a  lengthy 
discourse  on  the  historv  f)f  Liu's  familv,  wliich 
"  for  20  generations  during  both  the  Han  dyna.s- 
ties  supplied  emperors,  ministers,  judges  and 
barons".  Liu  himself  is  of  course  eulogised, 
and  it  is  clear  that  he  was  an  Admirable  Crich- 
ton.  To  the  great  abilities  displayed  from  his 
earliest  years  he  added  the  moral  qualities  of 
benevolence,  justice,  statesmanship,  modesty, 
loyalty,  truthfulness,  friendliness,  and  deference. 
"  So  that  his  conversation  was  calculated  to  im- 
prove the  age  and  country  in  which  he  lived, 
while  his  behaviour  set  a  standard  which  was 
destined  to  cau.se  a  revolution   in  popular  man- 


ners". He  was  besides  an  adept  in  military 
strategy,  superior  in  swordsmanship  to  the 
famous  Li  Ling,  and  more  than  equal  to  P'ang 
Chiian  in  military  administration.  Naturally 
such  a  man  was  soon  promoted  to  high  com- 
mands. He  led  his  men  with  skill  and  dash, 
and  "when  the  Kitan  Tartars  attacked  the 
frontier  he  cleared  them  away  as  a  man  brushes 
flies  from  his  nose  ". 

Liu's  numerous  campaigns  are  duly  recorded 
on  this  tablet,  and  his  greatness  is  clearly  indi- 
cated by  the  fact  that  he  was  wrongfully  accused 
by  the  famous  General  Li  T'o-lsu  of  plotting 
against  the  Emperor.  This  peril,  we  may 
assume,  was  .safely  surmounted,  for  he  lived  to 
the  ripe  age  of  72  and  was  evidently  buried  in 
princely  state.  Four  laudatory  poems  complete 
the  panegyric. 

The  nature  of  the  T'ang  tomb  finds  and  the 
great  interest,  both  ceramic  and  cultural,  which 
attaches  to  them,  have  been  explained  at  some 
length  in  previous  articles  on  the  Eumorfopoulos 
Collection.  It  is  only  necessary  to  recall  here 
that  the  numerous  objects  deposited  in  the  graves 
were  intended  for  the  service  and  protection  of 
the  dead  man's  .spirit;  and  that  the  more  import- 
ant the  person  buried  the  more  splendid  would 
be  the  retinue  of  figures  and  the  other  furniture 
of  his  tomb.  The  tomb  of  Liu  T'ing-hsiin  must 
have  been  .spacious  indeed,  even  if  it  contained 
nothing  more  than  the  thirteen  figures  now  in  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  Two  of  them 
[Plate  I,  a,  c]  are  evidently  persons  of  standing, 
probably  ministers,  if  we  may  judge  by  their 
dress.  The  hands  folded  in  front  must  have 
held  some  sort  of  emblem,  probably  a  kitei  or 
jade  tablet  of  office,  which  is  now  missing.  The 
headgear  of  the  one  has  two  holes  to  carry  some 
kind  of  plume  or  ornament,  while  that  of  the 
other  is  decorated  with  a  bird.     This  bird  head- 


20 


'cL' 


ZI, 

X 


X 


b/. 


O 

o 


^'^ 


ZI. 

X 


o 


y. 


0^ 


4j 


dress  has  been  seen  on  other  tomb  figures  of  the 
period,  and  has  given  rise  to  much  conjecture. 
The  theory  that  the  bird  may  be  a  dove  and  the 
figure  wearing  it  a  Manichean  priest,  can 
hardlv  be  maintained  any  longer.  There  is 
nothing  priestly  about  our  present  figure.  His 
appearance  is  martial  and  he  wears  over  his 
splendid  robes  a  kind  of  breastplate  supported 
by  shoulder  straps.  What  a  pity  that  the  object 
held  in  his  hands  is  missing  !  It  might  have 
decided  the  question  of  identity  once  for  all. 

Two  fierce  warriors  [Plate  1,  b]  armed  cap-a- 
pie  and  standing  on  recumbent  bulls  are  doubt- 
less two  of  the  Lokapalas  or  Guardians  of  the 
Four  Quarters  of  the  Buddhist  heaven.  The 
prostrate  animal,  which  is  sometimes  a  bull, 
sometimes  a  demon  figure,  is  common  to  these 
and  to  the  figures  of  Yama,  god  of  Death.'  But 
the  fact  that  there  are  two  of  these  mail-clad 
warriors  seems  in  itself  good  evidence  that  they 
represent  the  Guardians  rather  than  the  God  of 
Death.  In  any  case  thev  are  superbly  modelled 
statues  full  of  dignity  and  defiant  power.  The 
details  of  their  armour,  rendered  with  delightful 
precision,  will  make  them  important  for  purposes 
of  study. 

There  are  two  other  supernatural  guardians 
of  the  grave,  the  t'u-kuai  or  earth-spirits,  repre- 
sented as  sphinx-like  creatures  with  wings  and 
horns  and  flame-like  attributes.  One  has  a 
leonine  and  the  other  a  human  face;  and  it  is 
wonderful  with  what  dignity  and  stateliness  the 
T'ang  potter  has  been  able  to  invest  these 
strange  and  almost  grotesque  creatures.  All 
these  figures  are  posed  on  rocky  bases  which 
resemble  in  treatment  those  of  the  now  celebrated 
Lohan  figures.^ 

Two  horses  [Plate  II,  e]  and  two  camels 
with  three  grooms  complete  the  equipage. 
The  animals,  particularly  the  horses,  are 
superbly  modelled  ;  and  doubtless  they  origin- 
allv  had  horsehair  manes  and  tails  fitted 
in  the  now  emptv  sockets.  The  Bactrian 
camels     are    shown    in     the     familiar    posture, 


snorting  with  head  in  air.  They  are  modelled 
with  a  wealth  of  detail,  from  which  we  can  study 
the  form  of  their  pack  saddle  and  their  load  even 
to  such  details  as  the  bird  and  the  side  of  bacon, 
the  fla.sk  and  the  ewer  hung  at  the  sides.  The 
form  of  the  flask,  with  its  foliate  handles,  and 
the  ewer  with  phoenix  head,  are  interesting  be- 
cause we  have  objects  of  like  form  in  our  collec- 
tions.'' One  of  the  camels  is  walking  and  is 
posed  on  a  lozenge-shaped  base.  The  other  is 
standing  still.  One  is  mainly  white  and  the 
other  glazed  with  clouded  yellow. 

The  three  grooms  [Plate  II,  d]  are  delight- 
fullv  real  persons.  Their  attitude  as  holding- 
imaginary  leading  reins  is  full  of  "life-move- 
ment"; and  one  feels  that  one  is  here  in  the 
presence  of  a  genuine  T'ang  citizen,  henchman 
though  he  be. 

The  material  of  all  the  figures  is  fine,  white 
pipe-clay.  The  glaze  is  a  faintly  crackled,  .soft, 
lead  glaze  of  the  usual  kind,  yellowish  white 
where  uncoloured,  but  tinted  for  the  most  part 
with  green  and  yellow  in  large  areas  or  in  mott- 
ling. Much  of  it  is  now  iridescent  with  age; 
but  this  bv  no  means  detracts  from  the  general 
richness  of  the  colouring. 

Dated  T'ang  grave-finds  are  unfortunately 
rare.  Perhaps  one  should  say  that  owing  to  the 
haphazard  wnv  in  which  the  tombs  are  opened 
one  rarelv  hears  of  definitely  dated  finds.  One 
other  example,  however,  is  on  record,''  the  tomb 
of  a  princelv  personage  named  Wen  Shou- 
ch'eng,  who  died  in  683.  The  figures  obtained 
from  this  tomb,  though  smaller,  were  of  the  same 
splendid  workmanship  as  those  which  form  our 
present  theme. 

Mr.  Eumorfopoulos  has  deposited  Liu's  tomb 
figures  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum, 
where  they  are  a  conspicuous  feature  of  the  Loan 
Court.  With  them  he  has  placed  two  other  im- 
portant T'ang  statuettes,  one  a  guardian  figure 
of  an  archer,  and  the  other  a  finely  modelled 
Bactrian  camel  with  a  strange,  impi.sh-looking 
rider  sealed  between  the  two  humps. 


'See  B.   Laufer,   Chinese  Pottery  Figures,  Part    i. 
-See  the  life-sized  pottery  Lohan  In  Buddhist  Room,   British 
Museum. 


3  Hobson,   Chinese  Pottery  and  Porcelain,  Plates  q  and    i,j. 
■*  Ibidem,   Vol.    I,  p.    25. 


TWO    DRAWINGS    BY    AERT    CLAESZ 


BY    CAMPBELL    DODGSON 


HE  painter  Aert  Claesz,  of  Leyden 
(1498-1564),  is  the  subject  of  a 
lengthy  and  careful  biography  in 
Caret  van  Mander's  Schilder- 
Boeck,'  but  no  extant  works  can  be 


1  Vol.  i,  p.  321  in  the  translation  by  Hymans,  1884.  Th< 
latest  critical  account  of  this  painter,  also  called  Aertgen  van 
Leyden,  is  that  by  Dr.  Walter  Cohen  in  Thieme's  Lexikon, 
vii',  35- 


attributed  to  him  with  certainty.  .Ml  the 
more  interest,  therefore,  attaches  to  a  pair 
of  drawings  recently  acquired  by  the  British 
Museum  from  a  private  collection  in  Scotland, 
which  have  been  ascribed  to  this  rare  and  un- 
known artist  by  a  former  owner,  who  must  have 
based  the  attribution  on  old  tradition.  The 
drawings  have  passed  through  the  Lawrence 
and   Woodburn   collections,    and  were   acquired 


25 


by  their  late  owner,  Mrs.  Miller-Morison,  at  the 
sjile  of  tlie  I'r.Tniis  Ahhdtt  rollertion  (stani]), 
Fngfan,  183)  at  Edinburgh  in  January,  1894. 
The  name  "  Arnold  Clacssoon  "  appears  on  the 
mount,  which  was  evidently  made  for  Mr. 
.Abbott,  but  a  mucii  older  piece  of  evidence  is 
the  pencil  inscription  "  Aert  Claesson  van  Ley- 
den,  n.  1498,  ob.  1564,"  in  a  hand  probably  of 
the  iStli  century  and  older  than  Lawrence's  time, 
on  the  bacU  of  one  of  the  drnwintjs,  which  has  the 
rather  surprising  watermark  of  the  arms  of 
Nuremberg,  Briquet  925.  The  paper  must  have 
been  exported,  for  it  is  obvious  that  the  drawings 
are  of  the  Dutch  school,  about  i$p,o,  and  no  one 
could  have  been  surprised  if  thev  had  been 
vaguely  attributed,  as  so  many  unsigned  works 
of  that  school  and  period  have  been,  to  Lucas 
van  Levden.  The  much  more  definite  old  attri- 
bution which  lias  sur\'ived  is  the  more  credible 
because  it  agrees  in  all  respects  with  what  Van 
^L1nder  has  recorded  of  the  style  of  Aert  Claesz, 
and  the  kind  of  subjects  that  this  painter  pre- 
ferred. He  became,  we  are  told,  in  1516,  a 
pupil  of  Cornelis  Engelbrechtsen,  under  whose 
instruction  he  painted  in  oil  and  distemper, 
chiefly  religious  subjects,  avoiding  fiction  and 
allegory.  Later  on  he  was  much  influenced  by 
Scorel,  and  afterwards  by  Heemskerck,  especi- 
ally in  the  architectural  backgrounds,  in  which 
he  showed  much  talent.  The  execution  of  his 
paintings  was  inferior  to  his  composition,  the 
merit  of  which,  according  to  Van  Mander,  in- 
duced Frans  Floris  to  persuade  Aertgen  to  leave 
Levden  for  Antwerp,  which  he  refused  to  do. 
His  figures  are  described  as  long  and  out  of  pro- 
portion. He  made  many  designs  for  glass- 
painters,  and  was  very  badly  paid  for  them ; 
according  to  Van  Mander,  hundreds  of  his 
drawings  of  this  class  could  be  found  at  Leyden, 
where  Aertgen  lived  in  quite  humble  circum- 
stances. He  goes  on  to  describe  a  number  of 
pictures  by  this  artist,  none  of  which  can  now  be 
recognised  with  certainty  as  surviving.  The 
Amsterdam  cabinet  is  said  to  contain  a  drawing 
by  him  of  an  architectural  subject. 

The  two  drawings  that  have  now  come  to  light 
are  circular  designs  for  glass,  of  unusual  size 
(diam.  3-^  cm.)  and  unusual  in  subject,  in  that 
all  the  figures,  with  the  exception  of  Christ  and 
St.  Peter,  are  nude,  a  peculiarity  that  I  do  not 
remember  to  have  seen  before  in  any  Passion 
series.  Thev  are  drawn  with  the  pen  in  Indian 
ink,  and  washed  with  the  same  material,  while  a 


reddish  tint,  which  covers  much  of  the  surface, 
has  been  produced  by  rubbing  red  chalk  into  the 
paper.  In  the  Betrayal  [Plath  a]  there  is  a  very 
noticeable  disproportion  in  size  between  the  head 
of  Christ  and  that  of  the  other  figures,  especially 
Judas,  who  is  about  to  embrace  the  Saviour,  and 
is,  therefore,  in  close  proximity  to  him.  The 
heads  of  the  other  figures  are  small  in  proportion 
to  the  length  of  their  bodies  and  limbs.  This 
subject  gives  an  idea  of  the  artist's  use  of  land- 
scape, while  the  background  in  Christ  before 
Pilate  [Plate  b]  is  architectural.  It  will  be 
noticed  how  in  both  cases  the  round  space  is 
divided  by  vertical  lines,  trees  in  one  case,  pillars 
in  the  other,  into  spaces  artfully  calculated  to 
avoid  a  too  obvious  symmetry.  The  composition 
merits  the  praise  bestowed  by  Van  Mander  upon 
Aertgen,  as  much  as  the  proportions  deserve  his 
censure.  The  drawing  of  the  hands  and  feet  is 
very  curious,  the  fingers  and  toes  being  only 
occasionally  divided  from  one  another,  while 
some  of  the  feet  are  very  ugly  and  deformed. 

The  drawings  show  considerable  affinity  in 
style  with  the  art  of  Scorel,  especially  with  such 
a  picture,  showing  nude  figures,  as  the  Baptism 
of  Christ,  at  Berlin.  I  was  even  tempted  to 
ascribe  the  pair  to  Scorel  himself,  on  seeing  the 
reproductions  of  drawings  at  Budapest  and 
Eriangen,  attributed  to  him  by  Dr.  L.  von 
Baldass.'  But  they  do  not  exhibit  the  peculiari- 
ties, already  mentioned,  that  are  specially 
characteristic  of  the  draughtsman  of  the  Passion 
series,  and  the  close  correspondence  of  that  series 
to  the  recorded  style  of  the  very  painter  to  whom 
tradition  assigns  it  must  weigh  down  the  scale  in 
favour  of  Aert  Claesz. 


2  Mitteill  d.  Geselisch.  f.  vervielf.  Kunst,  igi6,  p.  5.  On 
seeing  photographs  of  the  London  drawings  Dr.  von  Baldass 
wrote  :  "  You  are  perfectly  right  in  your  opinion  that  the 
drawings  are  very  near  to  Scorel  in  style  and  in  the  concep- 
tion of  figures,  landscape  and  trees.  In  spite  of  that,  I  do 
not  believe  that  they  are  by  Scorel  himself,  but  I  would  rather 
suggest  a  younger  artist  who  was  a  pupil  of  Scorel.  Doubts 
are  raised  not  only  by  the  type  of  Christ,  with  broad  cheeks, 
which  is  quite  unusual  for  Scorel,  but  also  by  the  much  more 
elegant  pose  of  the  figures,  the  more  obvious  correctness  of  the 
movement  in  the  nude  figures,  the  less  firm  and  more  lightly 
drawn  lines.  The  more  "academical  correctness,  displayed  in 
some  of  the  architectural  lines,  drawn  with  a  ruler,  combined 
with  the  lack  of  early  Netherlandisch  tradition,  which  is  still 
clearly  recognisable  in  the  Budapest  drawing  and  in  the  various 
versions  of  the  Baptism  of  Christ  at  Berlin,  Haarlem  and 
Philadelphia,  leads  me  to  the  opinion  that  this  is  not  Scorel 
himself,  but  a  pupil  who  is  already  steeped  in  the  new  Italian- 
izing art."  Dr.  Friedlander  wrote  more  briefly  in  the  same 
sense,  and  urged  adherence  to  the  old  attribution  to  Aert 
Claesz. 


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A  new  Teniers  Tajjestrv  at  tlie  X'ictoria  and  Allien  Must-uni 


A     NEW    TENIERS    TAPESTRY     AT    THE    VICTORIA     AND 

ALBERT    MUSEUM 

BY    FRANCIS    BIRRELL 


'HE  Textiles  Department  of  the  Vic- 
toria and  Albert  Museum  has  filled 
up  an  awkward  gap  in  its  tapestry 
collection  by  the  purchase,  out  of  the 
funds  of  the  Murray  Bequest,  of  a 
particularly  good  "  Teniers  "  tapestry. 

As  is  well  known,  this  type  of  tapestry, 
designed  after  compositions  by  Teniers,  became 
so  popular  at  the  end  of  the  17th  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  i8th  centuries  that  French  patrons 
used  to  order  "  des  Tenieres  ",  using  the  term 
generically.  Since  that  date,  these  tapestries 
have  fallen  into  undue  disfavour.  The  great 
merits  of  the  style  will  be  seen  from  examining 
the  Museum's  new  purchase  [Plate],  which 
shows  all  the  possible  cunning  of  the  tapestry 
weaver.  It  is  of  an  unusual  height,  13  feet  by 
8  feet,  and  has  no  border,  which  is  also  unusual, 
though  not  unique.  The  general  composition  is 
good  and  the  middle  foreground  particularly 
felicitous.  The  colour  scheme  is  skilfully  gradu- 
ated to  get  lighter  as  it  goes  up,  the  leit-7nolif 
of  the  foreground  being  dark  green,  of  the 
middle  light  red,  and  of  the  background  yellow. 
The  background  is  nearly  all  woven  in  silk,  the 
foreground  almost  entirely  in  wool,  save  the  high 
lights  on  the  vegetation  which  are  blocked  out  in 
silk.  Such  tremendous  cleverness  may  not  be 
part  of  an  artist's  essential  outfit,  but  to  pretend, 
as  is  often  done,  that  the  later  tapestry  weavers 
did  not  know  their  own  job  is  absurd.  On  the 
contrary,  they  knew  it  much  too  well. 

The  tapestry  bears  the  Brussels  mark  and  the 
signature  of  the  weaver,  D(aniel)  L(eyniers). 
The  Leyniers,  like  the  Brueghels,  the  Teniers, 
and  the  Van  Orleys,  were  a  family  that  kept 
going  in  an  advanced  state  of  artistic  activity 
during  the  better  part  of  two  centuries  (from  1620 
circ.  1794).  In  1630  the  Archbishop  of  Consa, 
papal  legate  at  Brussels,  writes  to  Cardinal  Bar- 
berini  at  Rome  that  one  Daniel  Levis  (Leyniers) 
was  the  first  dyer  and  weaver  at  Brussels.  But 
there  were  several  Daniels  in  the  family.  The 
Leyniers  did  not  specialise  in  any  particular 
style,  but  were  obviously  very  hard-working 
people,  only  too  anxious  to  supply  what  the 
public  wanted.  Heroic  subjects,  sacred  subjects 
and  "  genre  "  were  equally  to  their  taste.  Plate 
xxxii  of  M.  Joseph  Destr^e's  catalogue  of 
Flemish  tapestry  exhibited  at  Brussels  in  1905 
shows  a  magniloquent  Time  enchained  by 
Love,  signed  "  D.  Teniers  Jun.  pinx.  1684  "  on 
the  left  and,  on  the  right,  "Joan:  Leyniers 
fecit".  A  tapestry  illustrating  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  by  D.  Leyniers,  was  sold  at  Christie's 


in  December,  1910;  on  June  6th,  1912,  one  show- 
ing Ceres  sending  Triptolemus  to  instruct  man- 
kind in  the  art  of  agriculture,  four  tapestries 
of  the  "Tenieres"  variety  and  signed  D.  Ley- 
niers, hang  in  the  British  Embassy  at  Paris. 

Plates  cvii,  cviii,  and  cix.  Album  2,  of  M.  G. 
Thermes'  Exposition  de  L'Art  ancien  au  pays 
de  Liege  show  three  tapestries  after  Teniers,  this 
type  being  very  well  represented  at  the  Exhi- 
bition. The  tapestries  in  question  are  in  the 
possession  of  M.  de  Clercx  de  Waroux,  who  sent 
with  them  to  the  Exhibition  the  following  note 
from  his  family  papers. 

"  Ces  pi^c€s  ont  H6  commandoes  par  I'archidiacre  de 
Clercx  pour  !e  chateau  d'Aigremont  et  fabriqu^s  en  1725 
par  le  Tapissier  Urbain  Leyniers.  (Jan)  van  Orley 
exOcuta  le  carton  d'aprfes  Teniers." 

{See  Thermes'  catalogue  of  the  Exhibition). 

The  tapestry  shown  in  Plate  cix  resembles  our 
own  so  closely  as  to  be  almost  identical  with  it. 
The  only  difference  would  seem  to  be  that  M.  de 
Waroux'  piece  ends  with  the  gardener  on  the 
right  and  that  there  are  unimportant  changes  in 
the  treatment  of  the  cottage  on  the  left. 

Urbain  Leyniers  had  a  son,  Daniel,  who 
worked  with  him  in  his  atelier,  so  that  it  is  not 
extravagant  to  suggest  that  it  was  this  Daniel 
who  was  responsible  for  our  variant  on  M.  de 
Waroux'  piece. 

Our  tapestry  recalls  familiar  figures  in 
Teniers'  talkative  canvases.  The  gardener,  who 
is  Teniers'  gardener,  appears  in  Picture  No.  86i 
in  the  National  Gallery,  where  he  stands  in  much 
the  same  position  save  that  he  is  wheeling  a 
barrow  instead  of  holding  a  spade.  The  same 
woman,  to  his  left,  is  washing  a  household  pot, 
though  both  pot  and  wash-bowl  have  been 
slightly  altered  from  the  picture.  So  has  the 
cottage  on  the  left.  The  background  in 
tapestry  and  picture  (where  a  river-scene 
is  shown)  differ  completely  in  subject,  but 
not  in  general  composition,  both  being  of 
an  open  character,  to  contrast  with  the  crowded 
scene  in  the  left  foreground. 

Altogether,  the  Museum  authorities  are  for- 
tunate in  having  been  able  to  utilise  the 
funds  of  the  Murray  Bequest  in  order  to 
purchase  this  important  example.  In  days 
when  grants  are,  much  to  Governmental  regret, 
greatly  curtailed  so  as  to  meet  more  vital  com- 
mitments in  Mesopotamia  or  Whitehall,  our 
museums  are  becoming  increasingly  dependent 
on  external  sources  of  supply.  Benefactors, 
who  feel  tempted  to  make  similar  bequests,  may 
rest  assured  that  their  funds  will  be  spent  with 
the  greatest  discretion  by  the  officials  of  the  Vic- 
toria and  Albert  Museum. 

31 


CHINESE    PHILOSOPHY    OF 
BY    ARTHUR    WALEY. 

WANC;  WVA  AND  CHANG  YEN-YTAN 

HE  canons  of  the  early  writers  were 
tnmied  with  referente  to  figure 
pointing,  and  llieir  successors  were 
rehictant  to  apply  these  standards  to 
landscape.  Accordingly  we  tind  that 
W'ano  Wei  (61)0-759  A.D.),  the  T'ang  dynasty's 
representative  writer  on  landscape,  enunciates 
few  general  jsrinciples,  contenting  himself  with 
observations  proper  rather  to  a  naturalist  than 
to  an  ivsthetician.  "  W^ind  without  rain  only 
affects  the  trees'  branches,  but  rain  without 
wind  causes  the  tree-tops  to  nod.  .  .  .  When 
the  rain  clears  the  clouds  pack  away,  the  sky  is 
pearly-grey,  a  thin  mist  floats  across  the  scene, 
the  mountain  is  tinged  with  a  deeper  blue.  .  .  . 
In  summer,  ancient  trees  cover  the  sky,  waters 
run  green  and  waveless,  waterfalls  seem  to  pierce 
the  clouds.     .     .     ." 

Occasionally,  however,  he  commits  himself  to 
a  more  general  observation  :  "  In  landscape,  the 
idea  must  come  first  :  the  carrying  out  of  the 
idea  follows  ".  Or  again  :  "  Ink-painting  is 
the  foremost  branch  of  the  whole  art.  It  per- 
fects nature  and  completes  the  Creator's  work  ". 
In  this  last  sentence,  thrown  off  casually  and  not 
again  referred  to,  we  meet  with  a  conception 
which  has  formed  the  basis  of  many  European 
theories  of  art.  ^^^hy  he  ranks  ink-painting 
above  other  branches,  Wang  does  not  explain. 
"  Profound  truths  ",  he  says  at  the  end  of  one 
essay,  "  cannot  be  explained  in  words  ",  show- 
ing thereby  his  adherence  to  the  teaching  of  Zen 
Buddhism. 

Chang  Yen-yiian,  who  lived  in  the  middle  of 
the  gth  century,  was  an  art-historian  rather  than 
a  philosopher.  His  theory  of  art  becomes 
apparent  only  incidentally  in  his  writings. 
"  Painting  ",  he  says,  "  perfects  education,  aids 
morality,  explains  to  us  the  operations  of  the 
Spirit,  helps  us  to  penetrate  the  mysteries  of 
Nature.  It  shares  the  merit  of  the  Six  Scripts 
and  the  potency  of  the  Four  Seasons.  It  pro- 
ceeds not  from  effort  but  from  Nature  ". 

One  of  the  principal  objects  of  painting  is  to 

FINNISH    RUGS 
BY    YjRO    HIRN 

HE  illustrations  here  reproduced 
represent  some  choice  specimens  of 
old  Finnish  rugs  of  the  rya  type. 
The  ryas  are,  together  with  the 
Karelian  embroideries  and  the 
Raumo  lace,  the  most  remarkable  products  of 
Finnish  textile  craft.  While,  of  these  three 
crafts,  tho  Karelian  embn^ideries  take  the  prece- 


ART— II. 


record  the  actions  of  the  virtuous.  "  Those  who 
had  distinguished  them.selves  by  loyalty  or 
filial  pietv  were  portrayed  in  the  Cloud  Terrace 
Museum;  those  who.se  iieroism  had  been  con- 
spicuous foimd  their  way  to  the  galleries  of  the 
Unicorn  Tower.  The  sight  of  good  is  in  itself 
a  warning  against  evil,  the  sight  of  evil  arouses 
thoughts  of  virtue.  .  .  .  Ts'ao  Chih  says : 
'  There  is  no  one  who  in  front  of  a  picture  of  the 
Three  Kings  and  Five  Emperors  [the  mythical 
paragons  of  Confucianism]  would  not  raise  his 
head  in  thankfulness;  nor  any  that  before  a 
painting  of  the  depraved  monarclis  of  the  De- 
cadence would  not  heave  a  sigh.  There  is  none 
who  contemplating  the  picture  of  a  good  and 
honest  man  would  not  forget  his  meals;  .  .  . 
nor  any  that  coming  upon  the  image  of  a  licen- 
tious husband  or  abandoned  wife  would  not 
hastily  avert  his  gaze  '  ". 

Chang,  then,  considered  the  aim  of  painting 
to  be  chiefly  a  moral  one ;  but  he  lets  slip  certain 
reservations.  It  is  something  which  "  proceeds 
not  from  effort  but  from  Nature  ",  and  to  this 
touch  of  mysticism  he  adds  the  doctrine  of 
Hsieh  Ho's  first  Canon.  "  Be  the  resemblance 
never  so  great  ",  he  says,  "  yet  if  the  operation 
of  the  Spirit  (Ch'i-yiin)  be  lacking,  it  will  be  of 
no  avail  ". 

Chang  Yen-Yiian's  (almost  unconscious)  art- 
philosophy  refers  solely  to  figure-painting;  in 
his  essay  on  "  Landscape,  trees  and  rocks  "  he 
confines  himself  to  retrospect  and  anecdote.  He 
begins  by  complaining  of  the  lack  of  realism  in 
landscape-painting  previous  to  W^u  Tao-tzii  : 
"  The  peaks  of  their  mountains  were  like  the 
teeth  of  a  comb ;  their  water  does  not  look  as  if 
anything  would  float  on  it ;  the  men  are  larger 
than  the  mountains"!  "  Tiie  revolution  in 
landscape  painting  began  with  Wu,  and  was 
completed  by  Li  Ssij-hsiin  and  his  son  ".  But 
in  what  this  revolution  consisted  Chang  does  not 
tell  us. 

The  copy  of  Chang  Yen-yiian 's  works  which  I 
have  used  was  kindly  lent  to  me  by  Professor 
Osvald   Siren. 


dence  of  age,  and  the  laces  have  the  distinction 
of  supreme  technical  refinement,  the  rugs  appeal 
to  our  attention  by  virtue  of  their  ornamentation 
and  their  warm,  deep,  brilliant,  but  none  the  less 
harmonious,  colouring. 

The  technical  processes  employed  in  the 
making  of  ryas  resemble  those  of  the  Oriental 
weavers.     In  the  ornamental  motives,  too,  manv 


32 


./ 


■r. 


c 
c 


analogies  may  be  found  with  Oriental  carpets. 
The  art  of  weaving  ryas  has  not,  however,  been 
introduced  into  Finland  from  the  East.  On  the 
contrary,  all  the  evidence  is  proving  that  these 
rugs  were  brought  into  the  country  by  the 
Swedes.  They  were  first  used  as  wall-coverings 
in  the  castles  of  the  aristocracy,  later  on  they 
were  employed  in  the  parsonages,  and  at  last, 
about  the-end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  they 
took  their  place  in  the  rooms  of  the  well-to-do 
peasants. 

In  the  patterns  of  comparatively  modern 
peasant  rugs  ornamental  motives  are  met  with 
which  can  be  identified  on  the  samplers  of 
Swedish  ladies  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
.\lthough  the  Finnish  rya  may  thus  be  con- 
sidered as  foreign  in  its  origin,  the  peasant 
weavers  have,  however,  expressed  their  own 
likings  and  taste  in  the  colour  composition.  And 
these  rugs  have  preserved  their  national  char- 
acter well  because  of  the  laudable  conservatism 
with  which  the  weavers  have  stuck  to  the  old 
vegetable  dye-stuffs  of  local  origin.  It  is  even 
known  that  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  peasants  in  some  parishes  decided  at  their 
vestry  meetings  "  to  refrain  from  buying  any 
colour  stuffs  from  the  town  shops,  and  restrict 
themselves  to  such  colours  as  could  be  prepared 
at  home  from  roots,  flowers  or  leaves." 

The  rya  appears  to  have  been  in  Finland  some- 

ITALIAN    FURNITURE 
BY    H.    CLIFFORD    SMITH 

HE  furniture  of  the  Italian  Renais- 
sance occupies  a  high  position 
among  what  are  known  as  the 
"industrial  arts".  Yet,  while  the 
furniture  of  most  other  countries, 
France  or  England,  Germany  or  the  Nether- 
lands, has  received  its  share  of  attention,  that  of 
Italy  at  its  golden  period,  the  Renaissance,  has, 
previous  to  this,  been  unaccountably  neglected. 
We  have,  it  is  true,  Bode's  small  monograph 
and  Schubring's  book  on  chests;  but  for  satis- 
factory illustrations  of  the  subject  our  only 
sources  of  supply  have  been  the  .sale  catalogues 
of  the  Davanzati,  \'illa  Pia,  Volpi  and  Bardini 
collections.  Even  these  at  best  are  but  make- 
shifts, and  as  the  recent  sales  of  those  collections 
took  place  in  New  York  and  most  of  them  during 
the  war — when  attention  was  largely  turned  in 
other  directions — the  catalogues  themselves,  rare 
even  in  America,  are  practically  unobtainable  in 
this  country.  The  large  work  of  two  hundred 
plates  which  Messrs.  Helburn.  of  New  York, 
have  now  published  will  go  some  wav  towards 
supplying  this  want.*     The  practical  value  of  a 

*  Italian  Furniture  and  Interiors,  200  PI.,  in  10  pts.  ;  texi 
by  G.eorge  Leland  Hunter.  $30  ;  separate  parts  .S3.  (William 
Helburn  Inc.,   New  York). 


thing  of  a  social  institution,  for  there  are  docu- 
ments to  prove  that  it  was  generally  given  away 
as  dowry  or  as  a  morning  gift.  In  token  of  this 
the  young  bride's  initials,  and  the  date  of  her 
wedding,  have  often  been  woven  into  the  pattern 
of  the  rug.  It  is  significant,  too,  that  figures 
of  a  man  and  a  woman  are  very  generally  to  be 
found  on  ryas,  and  it  ma\-  be  that  the  old  (Oriental 
tree  of  life  has  accjuired  a  new  and  appropriate 
symbolism  when  it  appears — often  changed  into 
a  tulip  in  a  flower  pot — between  some  anthropo- 
morphic design  on  the  bridal  rugs  of  Finnish 
peasants. 

The  weaving  of  ryas  is  nowadays  falling  out  of 
use  among  Finnish  peasants,  though  efforts  are 
made  to  revive  the  craft,  and  to  collect  old  and 
valuable  rugs.  Last  autumn  an  exhibition  of 
ryas  was  held  at  the  large.st  private  Art  Gallery 
in  Helsingfors,  the  Galerie  Horhammer.  A 
catalogue  raisonn^  of  the  specimens  exposed  was 
published,  and  it  is  from  the  introduction  to  this 
catalogue  (written  by  Dr.  U.  Sirelius,  director 
of  the  Ethnographic  Department  of  the  National 
Museum)  that  the  above  statements  have  been 
taken. 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  proprietor  of  the 
Galerie  Horhammer  to  publish  in  the  near  future 
a  book  on  Finnish  ryas,  with  text  in  English  or 
French,  and  with  coloured  reproductions  of  some 
of  the  oldest  and  fine.st  rugs. 


portfolio  such  as  this,  comprised  of  large  well- 
printed  plates,  is  unquestioned.  Carefully 
chosen  reproductions  of  this  kind  are  likely  to  be 
helpful,  as  Mr.  George  Leland  Hunter  observes 
in  his  short  introduction,  "to  those  who  have 
homes  to  furnish,  and  they  are  indispensable 
to  architects,  decorators,  designers,  students, 
teachers,   libraries,  and  manufacturers  ". 

There  can  be  little  question  of  the  influence 
that  the  direct  study  of  the  early  Italian  Renais- 
sance, as  manifested  in  its  furniture,  has  exer- 
cised in  the  present  decorative  revival  in  the 
United  States;  and  the  distinguished  work  of 
certain  eminent  American  architects  and  de- 
signers of  recent  years,  such  as  the  late  Stanford 
\Vhiie  and  Mr.  Charles  H.  Piatt,  bears  abun- 
dant evidence  of  its  source  of  inspiration. 

This  interest  in  Italian  furniture  and  decora- 
tion was  responsible  for  the  carrying  over  and 
disposal  in  New  York  of  the  important  collec- 
tions already  referred  to.  Among  the  most 
interesting  of  these  were  the  ancient  furnishings 
which  Signor  \'olpi  had  gradually  brought 
together  and  arranged  with  real  artistic  skill  in 
the  Davanzati  Palace  in  Florence.  Visitors  to 
Florence  who  knew  this  fine  old  house,  with  its 


37 


rare  specimens  of  tiirnimre,  cannot  but  regrci 
the  dispersal  of  the  contents.  Photographs  for- 
tunately were  made  while  these  were  still  in 
place;  and  the  series  of  views  of  the  Palace  here 
given,  together  with  a  number  of  other  furnishiil 
interiors,  such  as  the  X'illa  Palmieri,  the  \'inci- 
gliata  Palace,  Florence,  and  the  Art  Museum, 
Cittc^  di  Castello,  form  perhaps  the  most  valuable 
and  suggestive  section  of  the  i)ul)licaiion.  A 
quarter  of  the  volume  is  allotted  to  views  of  this 
kind,  the  remainder  of  the  plates  being  equally 
divided  into  four  separate  groups  of  furniture  : 
tables  and  picture  frames,  chairs  and  benches, 
cabinets,  and  chests.  Of  these,  the  last  were 
unquestionably  the  most  important  on  account 
of  the  leading  part  they  played  as  articles  of 
furniture  in  early  times.  In  turning  over  the 
plates  one  cannot  fail  to  notice  the  frequency 
with  which  the  title  "  X'ictoria  and  Albert 
Museum"  occurs  beneath  the  specimens  illus- 
trated. The  wealth  of  the  Museum  in  Renais- 
sance chests,  in  particular,  is  due  to  the  sagacity 
of  its  founders  some  sixty  or  more  years  ago,  who 
were  responsible  at  the  same  time  for  the  mag- 
nificent collection  of  Italian  sculpture  which  is 
one  of  the  chief  glories  of  the  Museum.  The 
series  of  chests,  carved  for  the  most  part  with 
figure  subjects,  which  are  shown  there  side  by 
side  with  the  sculpture,  is  probably  the  finest 
either  inside  or  outside  Italy. 

These  chests,  as  is  known,  were  generally 
made  in  pairs  as  wedding  presents  for  the  bride, 
to  hold  her  trousseau.  As  showing  the  advan- 
tageous terms  at  which  specimens  of  these  were 
procured  for  the  Museum  in  its  early  days,  it  is 
interesting  to  record  that  the  pair  of  chests  {cas- 
soni),  one  of  which,  carved  with  figures  emblem- 
atical of  Spring  and  Summer,  is  shown  on  plate 
193  of  this  publication,  were  purchased  in  the 
year  1861  for  the  modest  sum  of  forty-six  pounds. 
The  same  price,  again,  was  paid  for  the  sump- 
tuous chest  on  plate  198,  along  with  a  second 
chest  which  forms  its  fellow;  while  the  great 
Florentine  coffer-bench  (casa-panca),  enriched 
with  carving  and  intarsia  work,  illustrated  on  the 
plate  following,**  cost  the  Museum  in  1859  no 
more  than  fourteen  pounds. 

When  the  coat-of-arms  of  the  bride,  as  some- 


*  'Unfortunately    (through   no    fault    of    the    publishers)    by 
rather  a  poor  photograph. 


times  happens,  is  placed  on  one  of  these  chests 
and  that  of  the  bridegroom  on  the  other,  it  has 
been  found  possible  to  identify  not  only  the 
families  who  commissioned  ihem,  but  the  actual 
date  when  they  were  made.  A  striking  instance 
of  this  is  the  chest  in  tiie  X'ictoria  and  .Albert 
Museum  here  reproduced  [Plate  a],  which  bears 
the  arms  of  the  Deltini  family.  The  chest  which 
forms  its  pair  is  carved  with  the  arms  of  the 
Lancellolti  family  of  Rome;  and  research  has 
brought  to  light  the  record  of  the  marriage  of  u 
certain  Julia,  of  the  house  of  Deltini,  with  Paul 
Lancellolti,  which  took  place  in  1570.  It  has 
since  been  ascertained  that  this  pair  of  cassoni 
was  actually  sold  about  a  century  ago  from  the 
Palace  of  Prince  Lancellolti  in  Rome.  In  the 
case  of  the  chest  already  referred  to,  carved  with 
figures  of  Spring  and  Summer  [Pi,atk  b],  and 
its  pendant,  which  has  figures  representing 
Autumn  and  Winter,  the  heraldic  shield  on  both 
of  them  takes  the  form  of  an  impalement  of  the 
coat-of-arms  of  the  husband  and  wife.  It  repre- 
sents the  Bentivoglio  device  impaled  with  the 
arms  of  Sforza,  Count  of  Santa  Fiora  ;  and  recent 
research  has  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  marriage, 
about  the  year  1540,  of  Count  Gianfranccsco 
Bentivoglio,  of  Gubbio,  with  Giustina,  daughter 
of  Bosio  Sforza,  Count  of  Santa  Fiora. 

These  sumptuous  pieces  are  of  more  particular 
interest  to  the  student  of  Italian  art.  But  from 
the  practical  point  of  view  the  simpler  ones  which 
depend  for  their  effects  upon  plain  mouldings 
will  be  found  of  special  value  to  the  craftsman 
and  designer.  This  applies  above  all  to  some  of 
the  examples  of  Tuscan  furniture,  in  the  form  of 
cupboards  and  cabinets,  framed  tables  and  move- 
able chairs.  To  rai.se  a  chest  on  a  stand  and 
open  it  by  the  front  falling  forward,  or  opening 
as  a  pair  of  doors,  was  the  evolutionary  process 
which  made  a  coffer  into  a  cabinet;  and  several 
examples  of  cabinets  are  illustrated.  A  large 
variety  of  simple  tables  are  reproduced;  others 
show  great  richness  of  detail,  as  for  instance 
"  the  ingenious  and  wonderfully  beautiful 
writing-table  of  the  i6th  century  "  in  the  Victoria 
and  Albert  Museum  (on  plate  71),  which  is 
singled  out  by  Mr.  Hunter  for  special  commen- 
dation. The  series  of  illustrations  of  chairs, 
which  occupies  some  forty  plates,  give  a  wide 
and  remarkably  complete  survey  of  the  different 
types  used  in  Italy  in  Renaissance  times. 


TWO  NEWLY  DISCOVERED  PAINTINGS  BY  MICHAEL  PACKER 
BY    GEORGE    A.   SIMONSON 


N  these  times  of  unrest,  events  of 
artistic  interest  which  would  have 
found  ready  chroniclers  in  quieter 
days,  have  been  inevitably  over- 
isaa  looked.     But  better  late  than  never. 


The  object  of  this  article  is  to  draw  attention 
to  an  important  discovery  made,  not  long  ago, 
of  two  pictures  painted  by  Michael  Pacher, 
which  have  found  a  permanent  home  in  the 
National  Gallery  in  \'ienna. 


18 


c 


0) 


X 


c 


r. 


oc 


75 


J 


A      The  Marriage  of  the  I'irf^iii.  hv  \\u-h:\e\rncher.     (Natidiial    (;allrrv,    N'icnna) 


B     The  Flagellation  of  Christ,   bv   -Michael   I'acher.     (National    Gallerx,  X'icnna) 


Michael  Pacher 


Though  Pacher  (the  eminent  Tirolese  painter 
and  wood-sculptor  who  flourished  in  the  second 
half  of  the  15th  century)  has  no  such  high- 
sounding  name  as  Diirer,  who  came  after  him, 
he  stands  in  the  highest  esteem  on  the  Conti- 
nent, and,  even  on  this  side  of  the  Channel,  not 
a  few  students  are  acquainted,  through  graphic 
reproductions  at  least,  with  the  noble  treasures 
of  his  plastic  and  pictorial  art  on  the  altarpiece 
in  the  Church  at  St.  Wolfgang.  There  is  no 
finer  example  of  late  Gothic  carving  in  wood  in 
Central  Europe  than  this  chef  d'ceuvre  of  the 
master. 

For  several  reasons  the  discovery  of  the  two 
Vienna  pictures  will  be  hailed  with  satisfaction 
by  the  scholar. 

Very  few  undoubted  paintings  by  Michael 
Pacher  are  known.  The  coming  to  light  of  new 
ones  is  almost  as  rare  an  occurrence  as  the  visits 
of  angels  here  below,  but  at  last  there  are  two 
fresh  examples. 

A  stimulus  such  as  that  which  they  will  bring 
to  the  study  of  Pacher's  works,  has  been  sorely 
needed,  especially  to  disperse  the  cloud  of 
Olympic  dust  with  which  the  horizon  of  know- 
ledge has  been  obscured,  during  the  last  few 
decades,  by  certain  leaders  of  controversy  abroad 
as  to  some  cases  of  disputed  authorship.  Each 
of  his  two  artistic  birthrights  has  been,  in  turn, 
stripped  from  his  personality.  One  writer  chal- 
lenges his  claim  to  be  a  painter,  another  has 
attempted  to  invalidate  his  title  to  be  a  wood- 
carver.  Unless  these  iconoclasts  of  criticism, 
which  is  at  variance  with  contemporary  testi- 
mony and  tradition,  are  shown  to  be  wrong  by 
concrete  examples  of  Pacher's  work,  such  as  the 
Vienna  pictures,  there  is  a  danger  of  his  being 
some  day  reduced  to  a  mere  shadow  of  his  real 
self.  Within  the  self-imposed  limits  of  this 
article  only  his  achievement  as  a  painter  will 
be  dealt  with,  as  it  appeals  to  the  art-historian 
in  particular. 

Pacher  is  a  most  interesting  figure  in  art- 
history.  Even  among  men  of  true  creative 
imagination  it  is  rare  to  find  the  type  of  genius 
which  has  the  faculty  of  reconciling  apparently 
opposite  ideals.  In  music,  Mozart,  in  literature, 
Heine  exemplify  it.  The  poet  grafted  the  ease 
and  grace  of  the  French  language  upon  the 
genius  of  his  native  tongue.  The  composer 
blended  harmoniously  the  northern  and  southern 
musical  spirit.  Analogously,  the  painting  of 
Michael  Pacher,  in  some  of  its  manifestations, 
exhibits  the  phenomenon  of  fusion  of  ideals,  his 
aim  being  to  fuse  the  Art  of  the  North  and  the 
Art  of  the  South  of  Europe. 

This  ideal  was  thrust,  as  it  were,  upon  the 
early  painters  of  the  humble  Tirolese  School  by 
the  geographical  situation  of  their  country, 
which  lies  intermediate  between  Germany  to  the 
North  and   Italy   in  the  South.     They  consist- 


ently strove  after  this  aspiration,  leaning  now 
more  towards  Northern,  now  more  towards 
Southern  teaching.  But  Michael  Pacher  is  the 
only  exponent  of  his  native  school  who  worthily 
upheld  the  Tirolese  ideal  and,  whilst  realising 
it,  retained  his  own  originality  of  style  and 
refinement. 

To  return  to  the  two  Vienna  pictures,  the  sub- 
ject of  the  one  is  the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin 
[Plate  a].  One  sees  the  Virgin  and  S. 
Joseph  in  the  centre  before  the  High  Priest,  who 
joins  their  hands.  In  spite  of  the  overcrowding 
tendency,  the  composition  is  as  dignified  in 
execution  as  it  is  noble  in  conception.  The 
other  picture  shows  the  Flagellation  of  Christ 
[Plate  b]  .  Christ  is  seen  at  the  pillar  between 
two  soldiers.  In  the  right  background,  Pilate 
is  shown  conversing  with  a  Pharisee.  The 
refinement  of  feeling  and  handling  of  this  sim- 
pler composition  makes  us  condone  a  certain 
exaggeration  in  the  poignantly  tragic  rendering 
of  it. 

Presumably  both  these  paintings,  originally, 
formed  together  the  front  and  back  of  a  single 
panel,  painted  on  both  sides.  One  may  conjec- 
ture that  it  occupied  a  place  on  one  of  the 
shutters,  folding  over  the  main  shrine  of  an  altar- 
piece.  Living  in  the  age  of  the  reign  of  the 
Folding-Altar  in  Central  Europe,  which  dawned 
with  the  beginning  of  the  15th  century  ("that 
solemn  fifteenth  century  ",  as  Walter  Pater 
styles  it,  with  reference  to  its  artistic  taste), 
Pacher  turned  out  one  altar-piece  after  another, 
in  his  workshop  at  Bruneck,  in  the  Gothic  style, 
making  this  branch  of  art  the  speciality  of  his 
artistic  activity.  And  it  is  evidently  to  one  of 
his  lost  altar-pieces  (most  of  them  have  unfortu- 
nately gone  astray)  that  the  pair  of  Vienna 
panels  belonged,  before  they  were  divided  for 
better  preservation.  Each  measures  i  m.  13  cm. 
in  height  and  i  m.  39cm.  in  width. 

It  has  been  plausibly  suggested  that  the 
original  height  was  greater  :  in  other  words,  that 
more  than  a  third  of  each  panel,  at  the  lower 
end,  has  been  cut  off.  Internal  evidence  of 
composition  appears  to  favour  this  view. 

With  regard  to  Pacher's  panel  with  the 
Marriage  of  the  Virgin,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  to  paint,  as  the  later  Venetians  did,  who 
were  masters  of  pictorial  representation,  a  group 
of  personages  as  half-figures,  was  foreign  to  the 
conception  of  art  peculiar  to  him,  as  well  as 
foreign  to  the  spirit  of  his  age  and  school.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  would  have  been  consonant 
with  the  symbolical  meaning  of  the  picture,  for 
the  clasped  hands  of  Joseph  and  the  Virgin  to 
be  the  centre  of  the  composition,  not  only  as 
regards  width,  but  also  with  reference  to  height. 
The  effect  of  its  architectural  setting  (the  nave  of 
a  Gothic  Church)  would  also  be  more  impre.s- 
sive,  if  the  whole  view  of  the  figures,  with  the 


43 


floor  under  their  feet  visible,  were  disclosed, 
instead  ol  merely  half  the  view. 

A  close  examination  of  the  panel  with  the 
Flagellation  of  Christ  conhrnis  the  conclusion 
arrived  at  in  the  case  of  the  companion-panel. 
Had  it  retained  its  original  height,  the  ensemble 
would  be  still  more  telling  than  it  is.  The 
central  hjiure  of  Christ  was  evidently  meant  to 
be  seen  at  a  higher  elevation  than  it  occupies  in 
the  now  curtailed  composition. 

Though  the  writer  is  not  in  a  position  to  offer, 
at  present,  detailed  critical  comments  upon  the 
Vienna  pictures,  or  their  stylistic  and  colouristic 
affinities  with  Pacher's  other  works,  close 
scrutiny,  by  the  aid  of  graphic  reproduction, 
of  the  northern  types  of  faces,  the  expression, 
the  hands,  the  poses  of  the  figures  and  the  treat- 
ment of  drapery  found  in  both  works,  have  con- 
vinced him  that  the  Director  of  the  National 
Gallery  in  Vienna,  Herr  Haberditzl,'  is  amply 
justified  in  ascribing  them  to  Pacher.     Accord- 

nr  NT  Haberditzl — Zwei  Altarhilder  von  Michael  Pacher 
in  der  Oesterreichischcn  Staatsgalcrie.  See  die  Bildenden 
Kiinste,  Wiener  Monatshefte.  II  Jahrgang,  Heft  1/2  pages 
30—32- 

REVIEWS 

Irish  Guass,  An  .Account  of  Glass-Makino  in  Ireland  from 
THE  16TH  Century  to  the  Present  Day.  By  M.  S.  Dudley 
Westropp,  M.R.I..'\.  Profusely  illustrated.  (Herbert 
Jenkins).     1920.     63s.   n. 

This  book  is  an  elaboration  of  the  Author's 
excellent  Guide  to  the  Irish  glass  in  the  Dublin 
Museum  (1913).  Hartshorne  wrote  but  one 
rather  brief  chapter  on  "  Irish  Glass  ",  and 
though  he  was  familiar  with  some  of  the  earlier 
records  and  documents  (including  George 
Longe's  Petition  of  1589),  his  generalisations  as 
to  the  Irish  Glass-Houses  and  their  products 
were  not  supported  by  any  detailed  information 
such  as  that  which  Mr.  Dudley  Westropp  now 
publishes  as  the  result  of  twenty  years'  patient 
and  careful  research.  He  marshals  a  long  pro- 
cession of  names,  dates  and  localities  which  is 
in  itself  a  skeleton  history  of  the  Glass-Houses 
working  in  Ireland  in  the  i8th  and  19th  cen- 
turies, but  the  skeleton  is  clothed  with  a  mass  of 
interesting  detail  relating  to  the  principal  of 
these  Houses,  their  establishment  and  various 
changes  of  ownership,  the  kinds  of  glass  articles 
produced  at  each,  the  extent  of  English  influence 
on  glass  manufacture  in  Ireland,  and  so  on. 

Mr.  Westropp  successfully  explodes  many 
popular  fallacies,  e.g.,  that  all  old  glass  found 
in  Ireland  is  Irish,  that  Irish  glass  is  mostly 
of  "very  early  "  date,  that  the  greater  part  of  it 
is  "Waterford",  that  Waterford  glass  has  a 
more  or  less  pronounced  blue  tinge,  etc.  Except 
in  Dublin,  where  glass  was  made  to  a  varying 
extent  all  through  the  i8th  century,  the  glass 
industry  in  Ireland  did  not  start  on  a  large  scale 


ing  to  this  learned  critic,  they  illustrate  a  phase 
of  Pacher's  ])ainting  which  is  intermediate 
between  his  earlier  manner,  exemj)lilied  by  the 
cyclus  of  six  panels  illustrative  of  the  Infancy 
of  Christ,  inside  the  altar-piece  of  St.  Wolfgang, 
and  the  later  jianels  of  the  Fathers  ol  the 
Church,  forming  together  a  triptych,  in  the 
Munich  Gallery  (.Alte  Pinakothek). 

An  instructive  sidelight  is  shed  upon,  what 
has  been  described  as  the  singularity  of  Pacher's 
aims  as  a  painter  (namely,  the  close  fusion  of  the 
Art  of  the  North  and  the  South)  by  one  of  the 
groups  of  figures  in  the  composition  of  the 
Flagellation  [Plate  b]  .  The  two  soldiers, 
between  whom  Christ  stands  in  the  picture,  have 
an  unmistakably  Mantegnesquc  aspect,  which 
recalls  the  fact  that  the  teaching  of  the  great 
Paduan  crossed  the  Alps  and  made  many  con- 
verts among  the  early  Tirolese  artists.  In  the 
light  of  the  fresh  revelation  of  Pacher's  talent, 
as  seen  in  the  \'ienna  pictures,  it  will  doubtless 
be  easier  in  future  to  follow  his  evolution,  a  task 
which  the  scarcity  of  his  uncontested  works 
made  almost  impossible  in  the  past. 


until  about  1780,  when  the  prohibition  against 
the  export  of  Irish  glass  was  removed.  This 
particularly  applies  to  Cork,  Waterford  and  Bel- 
fast, where  flint  glass  was  produced  from  about 
that  time  to  various  dates  near  the  middle  of  the 
19th  century.  The  greater  part  of  the  output  of 
these  Houses,  at  any  rate,  and  probably  of  all 
the  old  Irish  glass  still  in  existence,  must  there- 
fore have  been  19th  century  work,  and  some  fine ' 
pieces  of  Irish  cut  glass  must  even  be  "  Early 
Victorian  "  !  The  single  House  at  Waterford, 
started  by  the  Penroses  in  1783  and  ending  with 
George  Gatchell  in  1851,  can  have  produced  but 
a  small  proportion  of  the  glass  made  in  Ireland 
during  that  period,  when  at  least  eight  or  nine 
other  Glass-Houses  were  also  at  work.  This  is 
confirmed  by  the  respective  export  figures  for  the 
various  glass  centres  (1781-1811)  compiled  by 
Mr.  Westropp  from  the  Custom  House  books, 
which  also  show  that  a  large  part  of  the  whole 
output  of  glass  manufactured  after  1780  in  Ire- 
land was  exported  to  America,  the  West  Indies, 
and  elsewhere,  and  consecjuently  much  of  the 
glass  now  found  in  Ireland  and  sold  as  Irish  is 
in  reality  English  glass  which  was,  as  Mr. 
Westropp  also  shows,  imported  in  very  consider- 
able quantities. 

In  all  these  circumstances  it  is  evident  that  of 
the  comparatively  small  amount  of  real  Irish 
glass  now  to  be  found  in  Ireland  not  a  very  great 
deal  is  i8th  century  work  and  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  whole  is  actually  "Waterford". 
The  plain  truth  is  that  "  Waterford  "  has  be- 


44 


come  a  mere  trade-label,  like  "  Chippendale  " 
or  "Sheraton  ",  and  is  in  general  used  either 
ignorantlv  or  dishonestly.  As  to  the  blue  tinge 
Mr.  Westropp  establishes  pretty  conclusively 
that  this  was  simply  an  accident  which  might 
occur  in  anv  pot  of  metal,  whether  at  the  Water- 
ford  Glass-House  or  at  any  other.  That  it  was 
not  intentionally  produced  at  Waterford  is 
shown  bv  authentic  pieces  made  of  fine  white 
metal  and  marked  "  Penrose,  Waterford  ". 

There  is,  at  first  sight,  one  conspicuous  omis- 
sion in  this  book,  viz.,  old  drinking  glasses.  The 
explanation  is  simple.  The  earlier  Dublin 
Glass-Houses.  in  producing  the  drinking 
glasses  of  their  day,  followed,  as  their  advertise- 
ments proclaimed,  the  "  newest  London  pat- 
terns", whilst  the  later  Houses  at  Cork,  Belfast 
and  Waterford  employed  English  workmen  and 
English  materials  and  made  drinking  glasses 
from  1780  onwards  practically  indistinguishable 
in  tvpe  or  metal  from  those  being  made  at  Stour- 
bridge or  Bristol.  As  in  the  ca.se  of  other  glass 
vessels,  great  numbers  of  English  drinking 
glasses  were  also  imported  into  Ireland  during 
the  century.  Mr.  Westropp  therefore  wisely 
refrains  from  attempting  to  earmark  any  kinds 
or  types  of  wine  glasses,  etc.,  as  peculiarly  Irish, 
and  to  have  dealt  with  glasses  which  might  well 
be  common  to  England  and  Ireland  would  have 
been  traversing  well-worn  ground  and  would 
have  detracted  from  the  originality  of  his  work 
without  perhaps  adding  very  much  to  what  is 
already  known  as  to  the  drinking  glasses  of  the 
period. 

There  is,  however,  obviously  one  kind  of 
drinking  glass  which  was  most  probably  pro- 
duced in  some  numbers  in  Ireland — the  so-called 
"  Williamite  "  glasses  described  in  his  chapter 
on  Irish  glass  by  Hartshorne,  who  appears  to 
have  invented  the  barbarous  compound  "  Wil- 
liamite". ("Orange"  is  surely  a  more  eupho- 
nious and  significant  epithet).  In  a  brief  men- 
tion of  these  "  Glorious  Memory  "  glasses  Mr. 
Westropp  says  (p.  202)  that  they  are  found  as 
late  as  the  first  half  of  the  19th  century.  This  is 
perfectly  true,  and  it  is  a  fact  not  realised  by 
many  people  who  have  been  led  by  the  term 
"  Williamite"  to  think  that  these  glasses  had 
the  same  sort  of  personal  or  dynastic  significance 
as  the  Jacobite  glasses.  They  were  of  course 
purely  political  in  the  narrowest  sense,  and  were 
made  for  the  anti-Catholic  partv  in  England  as 
well  as  Ireland  long  after  the  public  had  ceased 
to  take  much  interest  in  Dutch  William. 

In  1826  Lord  Eldon,  after  practically  killing 
the  Catholic  Emancipation  Bill  of  that  day  bv 
his  speech  in  the  House  of  Lords,  was  univer- 
sally feted  by  all  the  Protestant  grandees,  and 
in  describing  "  a  most  sumptuous  and  splendid 
set-out  at  the  Duke  of  York's,  twenty  four  rejoic- 


ing Protestants  round  the  table",  he  says  that 
they  drank  "  the  glorious  and  immortal  memory 
of  William  III — but  without  noise  or  riot". 
(Campbell's  Lives  of  the  Chancellors,  vol.  vii, 
p.  414).  Mr.  Westropp  figures  a  "  Glorious 
Memory  "  rummer  [Plate  XXXVIII],  which 
he  correctly  dates  about  1820-30,  and  glasses  of 
this  type  may  well  have  been  used  at  the  Duke 
of  York's  "set-out". 

The  modern  Orange  glass  [Plate  XXXII] 
made  bv  Pugh  of  Dublin  about  1870,  is  a  sad 
monstrosity  and  was  hardly  worth  illustrating, 
but  the  Plates,  generally,  display  an  admirable 
range  of  fine  pieces,  the  decanters  being  particu- 
larly well  represented,  and  the  reproductions  of 
the  Waterford  patterns  (circ.  1830)  for  perma- 
nent record  gives  distinction  to  a  book  which  is 
in  many  respects  a  notable  addition  to  the  litera- 
ture of  old  glass.  J.   S.   RISLEY. 

A  Catalogue  of  Etchings  by  Augustus  John,  1901-1914,  by 
Campbell  Dodgson.  Roy.  410  buckram  (Chenil).  151  pp. 
of   Plates.     £3  3s.   n. 

The  publication  of  this  illustrated  catalogue  of 
all  the  known  etchings,  134  in  number,  by  Mr. 
John,  is  an  event  which  will  inspire  gratitude  in 
everyone  interested  in  etching.  The  work  has 
been  admirably  produced  by  Mr.  Campbell 
Dodgson,  the  plates  are  illustrated  in  occasion- 
ally as  many  as  four  states,  while  the  printing, 
paper  and  letterpress  leave  nothing  tobe  desired. 
Etchings  very  rarely  have  a  purely  aesthetic 
appeal,  or  are  dependent  for  their  value  entirely 
upon  the  aesthetic  emotion  they  produce.  They 
have,  like  all  forms  of  engraving,  an  association 
with  illustration.  It  is  as  though  the  process 
which  they  have  in  common  with  books,  of  being 
printed,  imparted  to  them  a  literary  value.  Be- 
sides their  value  as  illustration,  they  make 
another  appeal — that  of  a  highly  skilled  tech- 
nique, and  they  are  therefore  capable  of  possess- 
ing purely  technical  merit  from  which  painting 
in  oils  is  nowadays  comparatively  free. 

Mr.  John  is  fortunate  in  being  able  to  appeal 
to  these  three  forms  of  appreciation,  and  it  is 
noteworthy  that  precisely  as  he  satisfies  each  one 
of  them,  he  satisfies  the  others.  For  Mr.  John 
is  an  example  of  a  kind  of  artist  one  finds  less 
frequently  in  the  plastic  arts  than  in  music — an 
artist  possessing  a  real  and  great  talent  which  is 
not  primarily  an  imaginative  or  at  all  a  revo- 
lutionary one. 

Where  he  gives  rein  to  his  imagination — 
where  as  an  artist  he  experiments — he  fails,  and 
it  is  when  he  is  held  in  check,  or  one  might 
almost  say,  held  together,  by  the  limitations  of 
medium  and  subject,  that  he  succeeds.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  he  is  at  his  best  in  his  drawings 
from  life,  in  his  portraits,  and  as  the  present 
catalogue  shows,  in  his  etchings.  The  choice 
of  a  definite  subject,  such  as  a  man's  head,  and 


45 


the  small  size  of  the  plalc  hv  employs,  ihus  help 
rather  than  iiimler,  so  that  what  at  first  sit;hi 
seem  to  he  its  fetters  are  really  a  sort  <if  oxtcni.il 
skeleton  which  supports  his  genius.  In  ilic 
majority  of  the  etrhintjs  there  has  heen  a  Knish 
use  of  dry  point  in  the  later  states,  anti  (xcasion- 
allv  there  has  been  too  miuh  work  done  on  ihr 
plates,  so  that  the  earlier  states  have  greaici 
vigour,  clarity  and  directness.  Many  of  the 
plates  were  allowed  to  lie  about  and  became 
.scratched  or  covered  with  verdigris,  and  some  of 
the  best  etchings  bear  the  evidence  of  ilicir 
neglect,  particularly  in  a  dark  toned  background. 
The  catalogue  is  divided  naturally  according  to 
the  subject,  as  <'i  strictiv  chronological  order  has 
not  been  possible  owing  to  lack  of  information. 
The  etchings  are  thus  divided  into  studies  of 
heads,  nudes,  imaginative,  or  perhaps  one 
should  say,  fanciful  compositions  and  miscel- 
laneous sketches,  landscapes,  etc. 

It  is  in  the  portraits  that  Mr.  John  reaches  his 
highest  level,  especially  perhaps  in  those  with  a 
.slight  tendency  to  caricature.  Among  his  male 
portraits  both  heads  of  Wvndham  Lewis,  of 
Charles  MacEvoy,  and  of  a  gipsy — Benjamin 
Boswell,  are  masterpieces  of  a  high  order  which 
will  even  bear  some  slight  comparison  with  the 
greatest  of  Mr.  John's  masters — Rembrandt.  In 
this  first  .section  of  the  book  almo.st  all  are  good. 
The  Old  Man  of  Liverpool  and  the  frontispiece, 
a  portrait  of  the  artist,  .should  perhaps  also  be 
mentioned  as  particularly  successful.  In  the 
portraits  of  women  this  high  .standard  is  main- 
tained. The  lady  in  the  fur  cloak  of  so  early  a 
date  as  1901  shows  that  the  arti.st  has  had 
nothing  to  learn  for  many  years.  Another  earlv 
plate,  Gwendolen,  a  portrait  of  the  artist's  sister, 
shows  greater  originality.  It  is  in  manv  wavs 
the  most  intere.sting  thing  he  has  done.  Others 
of  outstanding  merit  are  Avne  -with  a  feathered 
hat.  and  The  Pheasant.  But  the  high  level 
which  Mr.  John  maintains  almo.st  throughout  the 
portraits  de.serts  him  entirelv  in  his  etchings  of 
the  nude,  only  one  of  which.  The  Woman  in  the 
Arbour,  is  a  successful  piece  of  work.  The  more 
fanciful  Mr.  John  becomes,  the  more  he  strains 
to  compose  or  to  invent,  the  more  he  infuses 
into  his  work  a  strange  unexpected  feebleness. 
This  is  present  in  almost  all  the  original  com- 
positions. In  the  landscapes  and  sketches  of 
gipsy  vans  he  is  better,  but  with  the  exception 
of  one  plate,  A  Man  seated  by  a  Camp-fire,  there 
is  nothing  of  particular  excellence. 

It  would  seem  that  Mr.  John  is  an  artist  whose 
faculties  slumber  unless  they  are  aroused  by  an 
external  object  which  interests  him  intenselv, 
and  that  the  only  subject  w^hich  can  awaken  the 
highest  degree  of  interest  in  him  is  the  person- 
ality of  another  human  being,  and  that  is  onlv 
saying  in  a  roundabout  way  that  Mr.  John  has 


literar\'  instincts  and  the  literary  method  of  ap- 
proach. 

To  say  that  is  by  no  means  a  liostile  criticism  ; 
it  is  .something  that  he  shares  with  many  of  the 
greatest  ma.sters,  but  it  .separates  him  .sharply 
from  the  living  art  of  his  own  day.  This  leads 
us  to  the  consideration  of  Mr.  John's  jilace 
among  the  living,  and  among  the  dead. 

\n  .American  critic  has  recently  announced  as 
a  principle  of  a\sthelic  that  "what  happenswhen 
a  new  work  of  art  is  created  is  something  that 
hajipens  simultaneou.sly  to  all  the  works  of  art 
that  |)receded  it  ".  By  this  standard  Mr.  John's 
work  is  not  new.  It  belongs  to  the  past,  though 
it  does  not  modify  our  view  of  the  past.  Thus 
it  is  capable  of  affecting  the  current  of  modern 
painting  as  little  as  would  the  discovery  of  a 
hitherto  unknown  pupil  of  Rembrandt. 

It  cannot  influence  what  is  growing  up  to-day, 
for  it  has  added  and  can  add  nothing  new  to  the 
existing  heritage.  It  does  not  contain  original 
ideas.  But  this  is  not  a  measure  of  the  delight 
which  it  can  furnish,  nor  of  its  ultimate  value, 
unle.ss  we  decide  that  the  really  great  artist  can 
never  be  entirely  the  child  of  another  age.    d.  g. 

Domestic   Life  in   Scotland  (1488-16S8),   by   John   Warrack 
(Methuen).     7s.   6d. 

Mr.  Warrack  is  to  be  congratulated  on  finding 
a  new  subject  to  write  a  book  about,  though 
domestic  life  in  Scotland  seems  to  have  been 
very  much  like  domestic  life  everywhere  else. 
Mr.  Warrack  should  have  tried  to  find  out  where 
Scottish  life  differed  from  the  life  of  other  coun- 
tries. After  all,  tea,  coffee  and  cocoa,  periwigs, 
powder  and  Sedan  chairs  were  known  to  others 
than  the  burghers  of  Edinburgh.  Still  Mr. 
Warrack  writes  once  more  in  a  lively  fashion 
about  the  troubles  of  the  Scotch,  and  there  are 
some  nice  illustrations  of  interiors,  woodwork, 
i6th  century  embroidery,  etc.  F.  b. 

The  Silver  Coinage  of  Crete.     A  Metrolooical  Note.     By 
George  Macdonald,  C.B.    30  pp.,   i  plate.    Milford.     4s.   n. 

This  reprint  of  Dr.  Macdonald's  paper  from 
the  Proceedings  of  the  British  Academy  is  con- 
cerned not  with  the  art  of  Cretan  coins,  but  with 
their  weight-standards,  to  the  study  of  which  it 
makes  a  very  important  contribution,  applying 
the  newest  method  of  investigation.  It  becomes 
clear  that  two,  or  even  three  different  standards 
were  employed  at  the  same  town,  and  not  always 
distinguished  by  obvious  differences  of  type. 
Like  most  real  advances.  Dr.  Macdonald's  dis- 
covery has  not  made  the  task  of  the  numismatist 
any  easier. 

CARPET  Knotting  and  Weaving. — Tt  may  be 
of  interest  to  state  that  this  book,  reviewed  in  our 
last  issue,  is  the  work  of  Mr.  Cecil  Tatter.sall,  of 
the  Dept.  of  Textiles  at  the  Victoria  and  .Mhert 
Museum. 


46 


MONTHLY    CHRONICLE 

The  Re-opening  of  the  Wallace  Collec- 
tion.— The  re-opening  of  Hertford  House,  to 
judge  by  the  daily  crowds  that  press  their  way 
through  the  galleries,  has  been  enthusiastically 
welcomed  by  the  public.  And  the  public,  from 
whom  part  at  least  of  the  Wallace  Collection 
has  been  withdrawn  for  more  than  seven  years, 
has  every  reason  to  show  its  satisfaction.  Of  all 
the  London  galleries  this  is  perhaps  the  one  most 
calculated  by  its  arrangements  to  appeal  to  the 
general  public  rather  than  to  students  or  crafts- 
men. To  a  large  extent  Hertford  House  pre- 
serves the  amenities  of  a  palace  furnished  with 
masterpieces  for  the  most  part  of  an  obviously 
sumptuous  order,  so  that  Boucher's  large  pic- 
tures and  Riesener's  commodes  seem  to  be  bask- 
ing in  the  congenial  atmosphere  for  which  they 
were  created. 

The  changes  which  Mr.  MacColl  has  taken 
this  opportunity  of  introducing  tend  to  empha- 
sise this  aspect  of  the  collection.  They  are 
lucidly  set  out  in  the  little  pamphlet  report  that 
he  has  prepared,  and  they  have  been  discussed 
tea  considerable  extent  in  the  Press,  so  there  is 
no  need  to  go  into  them  in  detail  here.  Every- 
bodv  will  appreciate  the  improvement  in  the  two 
main  picture  galleries  which  have  been  re-opened 
(the  large  gallery  is  still  closed).  The  new 
lighting  is  most  successful,  the  lowering  of  the 
roofs  has  sensibly  improved  the  proportions  of 
the  rooms  and  the  warm  ivory  of  the  canvas  on 
the  walls  is  in  itself  delightful  to  the  eye.  Light 
backgrounds,  in  an  atmosphere  that  is  too  often 
gloomv,  are  undeniably  attractive;  though  even 
apart  from  the  difficulty  of  keeping  them  clean, 
it  is  bv  no  means  everv  picture  that  looks  its 
best  against  them.  And  it  is  impossible  not  to 
wonder  what  those  walls  will  look  like  after  a 
couple  of  London  winters,  especially  if  any  of 
the  pictures  have  to  be  moved. 

The  three  new  rooms  which  have  been  opened 
on  the  top  floor  represent  a  gain  in  space  which 
has  most  eflfectivelv  reacted  on  the  conditions  of 
the  main  rooms  below.  The  closing  of  super- 
fluous doorways  between  the  rooms  has  given  a 
little  more  precious  wall  space  for  exhibition  pur- 
poses, and  room  has  been  found  for  a  few  inter- 
esting works  of  art  which  have  never  before  been 
made  accessible  to  the  public.  One  of  the  most 
attractive  of  these  is  the  terra  cotta  model  by 
Robert  Guillaume  Dardel  (1749-1821)  for  a 
monument  to  Descartes,  which  has  been 
placed  in  an  intercolumniation  between  Gal- 
leries I  and  n.  Dardel,  a  pupil  of  Pajon, 
seems  to  have  specialised  in  such  retrospective 
sketches  for  monuments,  probably  with  little 
prospect  of  their  being  carried  out  on  a  larger 
scale;  this  particular  terra  cotta  was  exhibited 
at  the  Salon  in   1782. 


The  decoration  of  the  magnificent  grand  stair- 
case has  been  completely  changed  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  family  portrait  busts  to  a  special 
room  dedicated  to  the  founders  of  the  collection. 
Instead  of  them,  the  Coyswox  bust  of  Louis 
XIV  and  the  two  incomparable  portraits  by 
Houdon  of  Madame  de  Serilly  and  Madame 
Victoire  de  France  now  adorn  the  main  landing 
and  the  two  smaller  landings  on  a  slightly  higher 
level  to  each  side  of  it.  The  Louis  XIV  bust 
certainly  shows  there  to  great  advantage.  But 
one  can  hardly  help  feeling  that  the  two  Hcni- 
don  busts  deserved  a  more  restful  place.  They 
must  surely  rank  among  the  supreme  examples 
of  extant  portraiture  in  marble,  and  it  is  a  little 
difficult  for  a  visitor  to  give  them  the  attention 
they  deserve  in  their  pre.sent  position  without 
becoming  a  nuisance  to  his  fellows. 

A  minor  criticism  that  might  perhaps  be  made 
of  the  new  arrangement  concerns  the  Sevres  por- 
celain. Hertford  House  is  almost  inconveni- 
ently rich  in  this  sumptuous  ware,  and  it  is  not 
very  easy  to  place  it  in  harmonious  surround- 
ings. But  it  certainly  does  not  marry  at  all  hap- 
pily with  Oriental  armour,  and  still  less  with 
the  Renaissance  jewels  with  which  it  has  at  pre- 
sent to  share  a  case  in  Gallery  XII. 

But  when  all  such  carping  objections  have 
been  made  the  general  gain  to  the  collection  is 
undoubted.  There  are  pictures  like  the  exqui- 
site little  Guardi  in  Gallery  XII  and  the  two 
Boucher  pastorals  in  Gallery  XVIII  that  are 
revelations  of  beauty  in  their  new  positions.  The 
public  can  re-enter  with  an  added  satisfaction 
into  the  enjovment  of  their  recovered  property, 
and  await  with  fortified  patience  the  revised  and 
renumbered  catalogue  of  sculpture,  miniatures, 
furniture,  and  objects  of  art  which  Mr.  MacColl 
has  promised   us.  eric  maclagan. 

Etchings  and  Wood  Engravings. — Three 
exhibitions  of  these  processes  are  being  held  at 
the  present  time.  The  first,  at  the  Leicester 
Galleries,  is  of  Modern  Masters  of  Etching,  with 
special  reference  to  the  work  of  the  late  Anders 
Zorn ;  the  second,  at  Messrs.  Colnaghi  tSt  Co., 
is  a  collection  of  etchings  and  woodcuts  by 
Auguste  Lepere,  and  the  third,  at  the  Chenil 
Gallery,  is  the  First  Annual  Exhibition  of  the 
Society  of  Wood  Engravers. 

These  considered  together  give  some  interest- 
ing indications  of  the  direction  in  which  modern 
etching  and  engraving  are  moving.  The  work 
of  Zorn  is  too  well  known  to  need  description. 
Comparison  with  his  contemporaries  and  suc- 
cessors suggests  that  he  is  a  rather  isolated 
figure,  one  of  a  small  group  who  sought  to  adapt 
the  technique  of  etching  to  the  purposes  of  the 


47 


Impressionist  School  of  Monet.  I?y  tin-  use  ul 
open  parallel  lines  and  avoitlanoe  of  oiilline, 
Zorn  managed  to  surround  his  figures  with  lii;ht 
and  air.  But  in  so  doing  he  often  siicrilued 
striKture,  especially  in  his  nudes,  and  allowed 
his  method  to  degenerate  into  a  recipe.  His 
portraits  are  probably  his  be.st  work.  In  con- 
trast to  Zorn,  most  modern  etchers  cling  to  the 
traditional  use  ot  line,  in  the  manner  of  Rem- 
brandt and  Goya.  The  examples  by  Whistler 
anil  Seymour  Haden  exhibitcti  at  the  Leicester 
Galleries  show  that,  in  England  at  least,  there 
is  an  unbroken  descent  from  the  older  masters. 
In  technique,  the  work  exhibited  by  Mr. 
Cameron,  Mr.  Rone,  Mr.  McBey,  and  others, 
leaves  nothing  to  be  desired;  but  it  lacks  indi- 
viduality and  often  expresses  the  veriest  com- 
monplaces. Some  of  the  Frenchmen,  on  the 
other  hand,  notably  M.  Dufresne,  show  feeling 
for  design  and  form,  but  do  not  reallv  under- 
stand their  medium.  Their  work  might  almost 
as  well  have  been  done  with  the  pen.  It  is  when 
technical  power  is  united  to  vision,  as  in  the  ca.se 
of  Forain,  tnat  great  work  results. 

Wood  engraving  seems  to  be  following  a 
similar  course  to  etching,  in  abandoning  the 
methods  of  the  last  generation  in  favour  of  those 
emploved  bv  older  masters.  As  examples  of 
technique,  the  wood  engraving  of  the  late 
Auguste  Lep^re  could  hardly  be  beaten.  He 
shows  a  mastery  in  rendering  delicate  inter- 
mingling tones,  which  gives  great  luminosity 
and  atmosphere  to  his  work.  Yet  towards  the 
end  of  his  life  he  abandoned  the  method  he  had 
used  so  successfully,  as  though  he  recognised 
that  it  did  not  give  the  medium  its  full  scope, 
and  took  to  the  use  of  liiie  and  broad  masses  ot 
black  and  white.  This  is  the  technique  adopted 
by  most  members  of  the  Society  of  Wood  En- 
gravers. Mrs.  Raverat  and  Mr.  John  Nash 
sometimes  use  tones  in  the  way  that  Lepere  used 
them.  In  the  case  of  Mr.  Gibbings,  the  other 
extreme  is  reached  and  simplification  is  pushed 
«o  far  as  to  give  nothing  but  a  very  flat  pattern. 
The  possibilities  of  the  medium  are  more  ade- 
quately explored  by  Mr.  Ethelbert  White,  Mr. 
Nash,  and  M.  Lucien  Pissarro.  Mr.  Sydney 
Lee's  work  is  too  much  like  inferior  etching  to  be 
satisfactory.  w.  G.  c. 

Leicester  Galleries. — Paintings  and  draw- 
ings by  Pamela  Bianco.  Paintings  by  C. 
Maresco  Pearce. — There  is  no  doubt  about  Miss 
Pamela  Bianco's  skill.  For  a  child  of  fourteen 
her  work  is  extraordinary.  But  it  is  not  certain 
whether  it  amounts  to  more  than  clever  mimicry. 
Mr.  Pearce's  latest  paintings  are  certainly  more 
interesting  than  the  tinted  architectural  drawings 
and  landscapes  in  a  Japanese  convention  which 
he  used  to  produce.     Both  in  subject  and  treat- 


ment he  is  now  toiling  rather  painfully  in  llic 
wake  of  the  modern  French  School,  with  a 
glance  towards  Belgian  Iniiiicssionism.  His 
vivid  colour  is  agreeable,  though  rather  mean- 
ingless, and  there  is  little  sense  of  space  in  his 
[lictures.  "'    ''    "" 


\v.  (i.  c. 


Mansard  Gallery.  Messus.  Hem..  Old 
and  Modern  Toys. — Industry  may  be  revolution- 
ized, the  conventions  of  art  transformed  ;  but  the 
maker  of  toys  in  all  countries  and  in  all  ages 
plies  his  craft  in  much  the  same  way.  Tradition 
may  have  lost  its  force  elsewhere ;  but  in  the 
manufacture  of  toys  it  still  reigns  supreme.  The 
Burme-se  baby  plays  with  the  same  jumping  jack 
as  his  British  contemporary,  and  .some  toys  of 
modern  Tuscany  closely  resemble  the  little 
figures  found  at  Knossos.  Noah's  Ark  may  be 
indigenous  to  Christian  civilization;  but  it  has 
its  counterpart  in  the  Ea.st.  It  must  be  that  toys 
appeal  to  some  common  element  in  humanity 
which  nothing  can  change  or  eradicate.  The 
variety  of  the  exhibition  at  the  Mansard  Gallery 
is  surprising;  but  its  homogeneity  is  even  more 
remarkable.  Here  one  sees  man  and  all  his 
works  reduced  to  their  simplest  form — just  the 
dominant  facts  of  structure  stated.  This  is  sig- 
nificant form  indeed.  w.  a.  c. 

Independent     Gallery. — An     exhibition     of 
some   fifty   pictures   in  oil  and   water-colour  by 
Mile.  Th^r^se  Lessore,  with  a  number  of  repre- 
sentative     works      by     contemporary      French 
painters,    well  sustains  the   reputation    of     this 
gallery.     Here  is  no  collection  of  rough  sketches 
and   experimental  canvases,    gleaned    from   the 
studio  sweepings    of    Paris;    but  well   selected 
examples  which,  whatever  their  quality,  at  least 
repre.sent    the   artist   adequately.     The  work    of 
Marchand  is  tolerably  well  known  in  London; 
but  the  paintings  and   drawings  here  serve  to 
emphasize  its  great   merits.        Among   contem- 
porary painters,  Marchand  has  been  conspicuous 
for  steady  adherence  to  the  aim  of  building  up  a 
monumental  and  dignified  design  in  planes,  put- 
ting aside  the  lure  of  fantastic  rhythm  and  mean- 
ingless colour.     This  unswerving  devotion  has 
earned  its  reward  in  such  drawings  as  the  simple 
yet  spacious  and  structural  Environs  de  Vence; 
and  in  canvases  like  La  Colle ;   Vue  panoram- 
iqiie,  which,  with  its  great  central  mass  whence 
all  the  others  proceed  in  logical  sequence,  con- 
veys an  impressive  sense  of  reality.     This  power 
of  using  natural  forms  for  creative  purposes  is 
also  shown    in    the  work   of    Fr^laut,     who    is 
scarcely  known  in  England.     At  times  he  shows 
an  anecdotal   tendency,  and   in   the    Vannes  the 
detailed  treatment  of  the  town  conflicts  with  the 
broad  handling  of  the  foreground  trees.     But  in 
this  picture    and  in    La   Chapelle   he   produces 


48 


something  very  real  and  solid.  Rouault, 
another  painter  new  to  London,  is  represented 
by  a  boldly  designed  Paysage,  rich  and  har- 
monious in  colour  but  lacking  structure.  This 
last  is  admirably  emphasized  in  Friez's  La 
Belle  Rose,  but  the  body  beneath  the  dress  is 
not  felt  or  expressed  so  well.  A  Pay  sage  by 
Puy  is  notable  for  the  way  in  which  a  number 
of  otherwise  disconnected  objects  are  welded 
into  a  harmonious  design  by  a  fine  sense  of  space 
and  atmosphere.  Signac  and  Segonzac  are  the 
disappointments  of  the  exhibition.  Some  of  the 
water  colours  by  the  former  are  spotty  and  care- 
less in  design ;  and  not  only  are  the  two  Segon- 
zacs  heavy  in  colour,  but  in  the  figure  subject 
the  head  seems  out  of  relation  to  the  whole 
design. 

Mile.  Lessore's  work  undoubtedly  has  good 
qualities.  The  design  is  almost  always  vigorous 
and  interesting,  and  shows  much  skill  in  utilis- 
ing as  part  of  a  pattern  such  material  as  lime- 
light rays  and  the  edges  of  a  stage.  The  colour, 
too,  is  harmonious  and  related  to  the  design. 
But  there  is  a  sameness  in  her  pictures  which 
suggests  that  they  are  less  the  result  of  a  num- 
ber of  emotional  experiences  than  a  series  of 
examples  of  how  a  given  technical  apparatus  can 
be  used  to  express  one  idea.  This  is  most  evi- 
dent, perhaps,  in  the  group  of  caf^  subjects, 
where  the  device  of  putting  a  few  big  figures 
in  the  immediate  foreground  to  throw  back  the 
more  distant  planes  becomes  rather  wearisome. 
It  looks  indeed  as  though  Mile.  Lessore  con- 
ceives her  design  as  a  flat  pattern  and  introduces 
a  third  dimension  as  an  afterthought.  A  piece- 
meal solidity  is  thus  secured,  but  the  forms  are 
not  really  set  in  space ;  a  defect  emphasized  by 
certain  parts  of  the  design  sometimes  being  left 
absolutely  flat.  Mile.  Lessore  is  more  success- 
ful in  her  theatrical  subjects,  which  enable  her 


to  create  a  delicately  artificial  world  more  con- 
vincing than  her  efforts  at  realism.  A  word  of 
praise  is  due  to  the  framing  and  hanging  of 
Mile.  Lessore's  work.  It  is  rare  to  see  frames 
which  are  at  once  unobtrusive  and  serve  their 
purpose  well.  w.  G.  c. 

GoupiL  G.'VLLERY  Salon. — This  large  and  mis- 
cellaneous exhibition  suggests  a  revived   Inter- 
national Society,  leavened  by  an  admixture  from 
the  New  English  Art  Club.     Most  of  the  work 
on   view   is  technically   accomplished   and  con- 
scientiously modern,    makes  great   use  of  vivid 
local  colour,  and  tends  to  become  a  poster  ver- 
sion of  more  popular  or  more  skilful  work.     The 
more  interesting  exhibits  include  some  drawings 
by  Mr.  John,  which  rouse  the  wish  that  he  would 
abandon  the  brush  for  the  pencil.     Mr.  William 
Nicholson's  "  Still-lives  "  are  exactly  what  one 
expects  from  him,  save  that  the  drapery  is  more 
metallic  than  usual.     Mr.  Wilson  Steer  is  repre- 
sented by  some  delightful  water-colours,  which 
the  underlying  pencil   drawing  saves  from   the 
formlessness  of  his  work  in  oil.     The  Danseuses 
by  Forain  is  interesting  in  treatment  but  defec- 
tive in  design ;  and  in  the  one  Matisse,  Sur  le 
Sofa,    though     the    warm     colour    is    skilfully 
handled,  the  drawing   is   not  very  vigorous  or 
expressive.     The  design  of  a  Cezanne  Paysage 
is  entirely  satisfying,  and  the  colour  is  rich  and 
harmonious;  but  compared  with  his  best  work 
it  lacks  structure.     Other  exhibits  worth  notice 
are  a  mannered  but  vigorous  V'laminck,  and  two 
restrained    and  individual   landscapes    by    Mr. 
Ginner.     The  examples  shown  of  the  work  of 
M.  Denis  and  M.  Bonnard  will  not  add  to  their 
reputations.     The  sculpture  exhibits  mainly  con- 
sist of  work  by  Mr.   Eric  Gill,   simplified  in  a 
rather  mechanical  way,  and  at  times  so  naive  in 
design  as  to  become  ludicrous.  w.  G.  c. 


LETTERS 

"EARLY   ITALIAN   PICTURES  AT 
CAMBRIDGE." 

Sir, — Dr.  Osvald  Siren's  interpretation  of  the 
inscription  on  the  Cambridge  "  desco  "  with  the 
"  Justice  of  Trajan"  will  not  bear  examination. 
"  Sub  Palma  "  cannot  possibly  mean  "  under 
your  protection  ".  If  Dr.  Sir^n  had  remem- 
bered his  Vulgate,   the  inscription  would  have 


recalled  to  him  the  well-known  text  (Ps.  91,  13, 
A. v.,  Ps.  92,  12) :  ivsTvs  VT  palma  florebit — 
The  righteous  shall  flourish  like  the  palm-tree. 
This  is  obviously  the  right  motto  for  an  "  ex- 
emplum  "  of  Justice,  used  as  the  Trajan  story 
was  throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  svb  must 
then  be  a  blunder  for  vt. 

Yours  faithfully, 

George  F.  Hill. 


AUCTIONS 

Messrs.  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  &  Hodge  will  sell,  at  34,  New 
Bond  Street,  on  February  8th,  Persian  and  Indian  miniatures 
from  the  Kosemberg  Collection,  some  of  which  were  shown  at 
the  Munich  Exhibition  of  Mahommedan  Art,  1910;  Persian 
Book-Covers,  the  property  of  Charles  Fairfax  Murray,  and 
Mediaeval  MSS.  of  English,  French,  Flemish,  and  Italian 
execution.     This  collection  is  of  unusual   importance  to   ama- 


teurs. The  Persian  and  Indian  miniatures  are  all  of  e.Tcep- 
tional  interest.  They  include  such  descriptive  subjects  as  lot 
33,  of  Gemini,  one  of  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  representing 
two  youthful  figures  in  attitudes  determined  by  the  motive 
which  is  not  mainly  decorative.  This  drawing  is  6^"  x  4I", 
on  parchment,  and  belongs  to  the  Timurid  School.  Another 
conceived  in  the  same  vein  and  designed  for  the  same  purpose 


49 


is  lot  34.  It  i^presents  the  fish-tailod  goat.  But  curious 
works  of  that  kind  do  not  constitute  a  majority  of  thr  <lraw- 
ings,  which  are  of  groat  importance  from  a  purely  artistic 
standpoint.  Two  of  the  latter  represent  in  a  naive  mannw  the 
native  warfare  of  the  time.  In  lot  li  the  whole  page  is  oixu- 
pied  by  masses  of  cavalry-soldiers  crowded  upon  one  another 
as  in  the  patchwx>rk  figures  on  present-day  Ukrainian  quilts. 
The  subject  is  the  slaying  by  Rustam  of  his  son  in  battle  and 
dates  from  the  lOth  century.  The  other  is  lot  aS,  whoso  sub- 
ject is  equally  gruesome.  The  decorative  elTect  is  here  more 
logically  thought  out,  although  the  main  intontion  is  to  record 
an  episode.  The  drawing  is  14J"  x  82".  A  drawing  like  lot 
1 1  belongs  to  a  class  that  is  well  represented  in  the  collection, 
where  the  subject  matter  is  still  more  strictly  subjected  to  the 
:usthetic  conception,  so  that  the  result  is  an  artistic  product 
of  very  considerable  dignity  and  beauty.  Kai  Khusran  is 
represented  as  seated  in  a  castle  with  nobles  and  ladies  who 
are  being  entertained  by  dancers  who  perform  outside.  This 
drawing  is  in  the  style  of  Muhammod  Qasim,  i6th  century. 
These  examples  represent  the  main  artistic  tendencies  to  be 
found  in  the  Persian  miniatuns.     .Among  the  Indian  examples, 

PUBLICATIONS     RECEIVED 


the  panel  (lot  loj)  of  llie  Moghul  scIukiI,  of  a  luinling  scene 
will  altraet  altonlion.  Within  a  b<)rd<r  of  beasts  and  llowers 
carried  out  in  a  manner  that  s|X'uks  u(  kcvn  observation  of 
natural  lite,  are  a  number  of  lions  and  tigers,  against  which 
are  arrayed  a  row  of  bullocks  mounted  by  armed  hunters. 
B<hind  those  there  is  a  mass  of  elephants,  on  the  backs  of 
which  are  noble  warriors,  one  of  whom  is  Shah  Jahan.  The 
drawing  is  19J"  x  14J".  Some  of  the  European  M.SS.  are 
also  noticeable. 

MiiSSKs.  SoTiiEBY,  Wilkinson  &  Hodge  will  sell,  at  34, 
New  Bond  Street,  on  February  nth,  I-urniture  and  Tapestries, 
etc.,  various  important  properties.  Included  in  this  sale  are 
two  remarkable  pieces  of  Elizabethan  Needlework,  the  property 
of  the  Rt.  Hon.  Lord  St.  John  of  Bletsoo.  These  arc  of  great 
beauty,  one  of  them  having  embodied  in  the  decorative  scheme 
three  circular  panels  with  a  coat  of  arms  and  two  highly 
efTective  animal  subjects,  the  arrangement  of  which  is  carried 
out  with  a  decision  and  grace  that  places  the  work  quite 
abo\e  the  average  product  of  the  age  in  which  they  were  pro- 
duced. 


Publicalioits  cannot  be  included  here  unless  they  have  been  delivered  before  the  16th  of  the  previous  tttonth.  Prices 
must  be  stated.  Publications  not  coming  within  the  scope  of  this  Maga::ine  will  not  be  acknowledged  here  unless  the 
prices  are  stated. 

Serial  Publications  will  be  arranged  here  according  to  the  ordinary  periods  of  their  publication,  and  only  the  latest 
number  of  foreign  serials  actually  received  will  be  entered,  in  order  that  foreign  editors  and  publishers  may  learn  which 
numbers  of  their  publications  have  failed   to  arrive. 


Batsford. 

Chancellor  (E.    Bekesford).     The  xviiith  Century  in  Lon- 
don.    An  .iccount  of  its  Social  Life  and  Arts.     271  pp.  -f- 
128  pi.     35s.   n. 
The  Bodley  Head  (Lane). 

Jackson  (.Mrs.  F.   Nevill).     Ancestors  in  Silhouette,  cut  by 
.August  Edouart.     240  pp.    +  62  pi.     .^,3  3s.  od. 

WiLLIA.MSON  (Dr.  G.  C).  Daniel  Gardner,  painter  in  pastel 
and  gouache.  A  brief  account  of  his  life  and  works.  190 
pp.  +  9  col'd.  pi.  +  6  photogravures  -f  many  half-tone 
reproductions.     ;£,"5    5s.    n. 

Maxwell    (Donald).     A    Dweller    in    Mesopotamia.     Being 
the  adventures  of  an  official  artist  in  the  Garden  of  Eden. 
124  pp.   +  28  pi.,  colour  and  monotone,   +   line  blocks  in 
te.xt.     25s.  n. 
Bell. 

May    (C.    J.    Delabere).        How    to    identify    Persian    Rugs. 
'33  PP-   +  "S  pl-   +  'lis.  in  text.     6s.   n. 
Black. 

.Andrews    (D.   S.).        Cardiff,     A     Sketch     Book.        Artists' 
Sketch   Book  Series.     24  pl.     2S.   6d.    n. 
ChaTTO    &    WiNDUS. 

Fry  (Roger),   Vision  and  Design.     405  pp.   -|-  32  pl.     25s.  n. 
Centro  de  Estudios  Historicos,   Madrid. 

Gomez-Moreno  (M.).     Inglesias  Morarabes.    .irte  Espagnol 
de  los  Siglos  ix  a  xi.     2  vols.     407  pp.  of  text  +  diagrams 
and  351   pl.  respectively. 
Dutton,  New  York. 

Gallatin    (.Albert    Eugene).      Walter    Gay.        Paintings    of 
French  Interiors.     6  pp.  +  50  pl.     Ed.  limd.  to  950.  $25. 
Harvard     University     Press,     Cambridge,     Mass,     U.S. .A. 
(Oxford  Un.   Press,   London). 

Fogg  Art  Museum,  Harvard  University.  Collection  of  Medice- 
val  and  Renaissance  Painting.  Ed.  Edward  W.  Forbes, 
Director,  356  pp.  +  56  pl.  +  2  maps.  32s.  6d.  n.  We  call 
attention  to  this  work  as  an  example  of  what  caii  be  done 
by  an  institution  to  make  of  itself  a  living  force.  The 
authors  have  devoted  a  large  volume  to  cataloguing  and 
reproducing  the  paintings  in  the  museum,  and,  with  the 
help  of  many  of  its  members,  and  those  of  the  Division 
of  Fine  Arts  at  Harvard,  have  included  as  a  help  to 
students  a  7vhole  history  of  European  painting  from  the 
days  of  Byzantium  onwards.  .4  bibliography  is  also  in- 
cluded and  the  whole  work  is  conceived  in  a  scholarly  and 
efficient  manner. 
J.  H.  Ed.   Heitz,  Strassburg. 

Groner  (Dr.  .a.).  Die  Geheimnisse  des  Isenheimer  Altares 
in    Colmar.     42    pp.     2.50   fr». 


Macmillan. 

Graham  (P.   Anderson).     Highways  and  Byways  in  North- 
umbria.     380  pp.,   half-tone   illustrations   in   text    +    map. 
7s.  6d.  n. 
Moring. 

Valentiner   (W.R).     Translated   from   The   Art   of  the   Low 

Countries.     251    pp.    -t-  84  pl.      10s.   6d.   n. 
Fitzgerald.        Rubaiyat    of    Omar    Khayyim.     28    pp.    + 
12   pl.     2S.  5d.   n. 
Privately   Printed. 
Pub.,   N.Y. 

Sherman  (F.   F.).     Albert  Pinkham  Ryder.     78  pp.   +  32  pl. 

and  I  col'd.  pl. 
Catalogue  of  Painters  and  Draughtsmen  represented  in   the 
Library    of    Reproductions    formed   by    Robert    and   Mary 
Witt.     238  pp. 
Technical  Journals,  Ltd. 

Bennet  (Arnold)  and  H.  V.  Lanchester  and  Amor  Ff.nn. 
The  Art  of  E.  A.  Richards.  13  pp.  -|-  126  pl.  Col.  Half- 
tone and  Line.     ;^3  3s.   n. 

PERIODICALS. 

Weekly." — Architect. 

Fortnightly. — Le  Bulletin  de  I'Art  ancien  et  moderne — 
Chronique  dcs  Arts  et  de  la  Curiositi^ — Kleinmbbel  Korb 
und  Kunstgewerbe — Der  Kunstwanderer — Mercure  de  France 
Revisia  del  Centre  de  Lectura  Reus. 

Monthly. — L'.imour  de  L'Art,  7,  i — L'Amatore  d'Arte,  8-10, 
I — Bulletin  of  The  .4r(  .4s5oi:.  of  Indianapolis,  i,  ix — Bul- 
letin of  Cleveland  Museum  of  Art,  9,  vii — Bulletin  of  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  N.Y.  11,  xv — Bulletin  of  the 
Minneapolis  Inst,  of  Arts,  8,  IX — Bulletin  of  the  Worcester 
Art  Museum,  i,  xi — Colour,  5,  xiii — Dedalo,  5-6,  i — Drama, 
2,  I — L' Esprit  Nouveau,  2,  i — Gazette  dcs  Beaux  Arts,  5, 
XI — Kokka,  365 — La  Revue  de  I'.irt,  ancien  et  moderne, 
221,    XXXVIII — Rassegna   D'Arte.     9-10,   vii. 

Bi-Monthly. — L'Arte,  6,   xxiii.     .4r(   in   America,    i,    ix. 

Annually. — The  New  Keepsake  for   1921. 

Occasionally. — Hillmn    3,    i. 

Trade  Lists. — Joseph  Baer  &  Co.,  Frankfurt.  Rheinprovinz 
Westfalen  Waldeck-PyrmonI  Lippe.  .intiquarials  Katalog, 
667 — Camera  Official  del  Libio,  Barcelona.  Bibliografia — 
The  English  Church  Monumental  Society.  List  of  Memorials 
— W.  &  G.  Foyle,  Ltd.  Catalogue  of  Rare  Books — Librairie 
Maggs  Bros.  Autograph  Letters,  Manuscripts,  etc.  Books 
and  Manuscripts  and  Engravings  and  Etchings — Wolf 
Mueller.  Kunst  Biicher — P.  A.  Norstedt  &  Soner,  Stock- 
holm. Norstedts  Nyheter — T.  H.  Parker.  Catalogue  of  Old 
Naval  Prints  relating  to  all  parts  of  the  World — Wilhelm 
Schunke,  Leipsig.  Auslandische  Literatur — C.  F.  Schuiz 
and  Co.  Plauen  i.V.  .4ti(!i}iiflria(s-,4ii£;f'i^t>« — H.M.  Sta- 
tionery  Office,   Monthly   Circular  of  New  Publications. 


50 


TIic  Adoralioil  oj  the  Kiiii^s,  by  Pietcr  Brueghel,  the  Elder.  43^' by  },lj    (NiUional  (.allery) 


i< 


J  HE  ADORATION   OF  THE  KINGS"  BY  PIETLk  bKU i^uHhi. 


THE    ELDER 

BY  C.    J.    HOLMES 

HE  attempt  which  is  now  being 
made  by  the  National  Art  Collections 
Fund  to  help  the  Nation  to  secure 
Brueghel's  "  Adoration  of  the 
Kings  "   will   be   familiar   to 

renders  of  the  Bukmngton  Magazine,  --  • 

rarity  of  Brueghel's  work,  and  the  su' 

of  this  example.     The  illustration    .^ 

the  grandeur  of  the  design,  but  nor  ' 

richness  of  the  colour,   or  the 

variety  with  which  the  mr<'-  -* 

is  adaoteH  to  a  new  and  r  ■ 


most 

n     1... 


,id 


fr.  iin 


vail' 


r.^it  it 

:io  can  help  the 
do   so,    and   that 


.->  queer  tricks,  and  "  Peasant  '■' 
ias  been  one  of  her  victims.  Far- 
-.remg  patronage,  or  accidental  preference,  (we 
cannot  tell  now  which  it  was)  brought  no  less 
than  fourteen  of  his  finest  paintings  into  the 
Imperial  Collection  at  Vienna,  where  his  force 
and  splendour  remained  hidden  from  half  the 
world.  Fortune  also  gave  him  sons  and  dest:en- 
dants,  far  less  capable  but  far  more  prolifi<: 
painters,  to  the  general  discredit  of  the  family 
name.  Hence  the  acquisition  of  even  a  master- 
piece from  his  hand,  has  to  be  accompanied  by  a 
certain  amount  of  explanation,  before  most  people 
know  that  they  have  to  deal  with  a  real  master. 
Sixteenth  Century  Flanders  is  not  in  general 
survey  an  artistic  country,  but  very  much  the 
reverse.  The  grave  and  genuine  conviction 
which  lies  behind  the  work  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, from  Hubert  van  Eyck  to  Van  der  Goes  and 
Memling,  had  weakened  at  the  close  of  that 
[leiiod  under  the  influence  of  the  commercialism 
of  Antwerp.  When  we  come  to  Mabuse  we  find 
that  art  and  faith  alike  have  become  sterile,  con- 
cealing poverty  of  content  by  outward  elabora- 
tion. E%'en  the  outburst  of  the  Reformation  had 
but  little  effect  on  art  in  Flanders.  The  heavy 
hand  of  Spain  was  not  a  thing  to  trifle  with, 
so  Brueghel  is  almost  alone  in  his  daring. 

His  work  is  one  continuotis  revolt  against  blind 
acquiescence  in  tyranny  and  in  superstition.  His 
popularitv  was  gained  by  his  engraved  satires  on 
the   gree.'^.    rhf   f.iUr    and   the    ni!arkf!\'   of   the 


peasant-life  about  him.     When  in  his  las-     •    •  - 
he  takes  to  painting,  part  of  his  theme,  fo 
a  great  artist,  was  the  splendour,  the  c 
and  the  tragedy  of  the  landscapes  he  .^     . 
remembered  from  the  days  when  he  made  his 
journey  over  the  Alps  to   Italy.     Another  part 
was  the  lusty,  vivid  and  highly  coloured  life  of 
the  Flemish  peasant.     In  both  these  aspects  of 
art    he    is    the    great    forerunner    of    Rubens. 
Religious   pictures,  too,  were    needed,  yet    even 
here  Brueghel  would  forego  neither  his  satire  nor 
his  naturalism.     That  group  of   horsemen  with 
uprai.sed  lances,  halting  motionless  in  the  snow, 
to  see  that  no  resistance  " '   .    ..cre 

at  Bethlehem,    is  no  k--.    „  :  r  of 

Spanish  tyranny,  than  the  P  Calvary 

is  of  ciir  hods  of  •     The 

faith  (»f  is  no  tp  this 

sati  '-.elties  anu  ;  >!  in 

thn  le  Kings  "  hes 

its  ;  ification    of  ous 

onded  bo>p  'as- 

•n's  natural  for 

-  (^  the  CI-.  1  of 

L,,     ,-..-;,..,    .,.  .-,  .,.,^  f,;cture  b>   ..........  at 

Trafalgar  .Square,  where  the  significance  of  the 
Epiphany  is  smothered  by  magnificent  dresses 
and  jewels.     Brueghel    will    have    none   of    this 
idealizing ;  he  will  rather  go  to  the  opposite  ex- 
treme.    Look  for  example  at  his  Kings.     Caspar 
is  a  superstitious  old  dotard;  Melchior  is  an  un- 
kempt, ill-dressed  and  dreary  being;  Balthazar  is 
a  delightful  woolly-headed  blackamoor.     Joseph 
is  a  huge  cynical  peasant,  recognising  that  he  is 
in  luck,  and  listening  with   affected  unconcern 
to  the  gallant  who  is  whispering  into  his  ear 
(Heaven  knows  what !)   Is  he  bidding  for  the  de- 
lightful  nautilus-boat   which    Balthazar   carries, 
and  on   which  the  Jew  merchant  has  fixed  his 
hungry  eyes  ?    The  more  we  ltx)k  at  the  pictiire, 
the  more  daring  appears  the  satire.     The  date, 
1564,  may  perhaps  give  a  clue  to  this  audacity. 
It   -v  s  the  year  in  which  Cardinal    Granvelle, 
■nly  attempting  to  force  Philip's  policy 
i''  people  of  the  Netherlands,  was  com- 
10   leave   the   country.      Then    freedom 
iry    triumph.    Three   years 
'.a  came. 


The  Burlington  MAGA/iKH,  Nc   215,  Vol.  xxviii.     January,  1921, 


53 


■(J-  '.. 


The  Adoration  of  the  Kings,  by  Pieter  Brueghel,  the  Elder.  43^  by  32^  (National  Gallery) 


(( 


THE  ADORATION  OF  THE  KINGS"  BY  PIETER  BRUEGHEL 


THE    ELDER 

BY  C.    |.    HOLMES 

HE  attempt  which  is  now  being 
made  by  the  National  Art  Collections 
Fund  to  help  the  Nation  to  secure 
Brueghel's  "  Adoration  of  the 
Kings  "  will  be  familiar  to  most 
readers  of  the  Buki.ington  Magazine,  as  will  the 
rarity  of  Brueghel's  work,  and  the  superb  quality 
of  this  example.  The  illustration  will  indicate 
the  grandeur  of  the  design,  but  not  the  glow  and 
richness  of  the  colour,  or  the  suppleness  and 
variety  with  which  the  method  of  the  Van  E^'cks 
is  adapted  to  a  new  and  more  summary  handling. 
The  value  of  the  picture  to  the  National  Gallery, 
from  all  points  of  view,  will  be  so  evident  that  it 
is  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  all  who  can  help  the 
Fund  on  this  occasion  will  do  so,  and  that 
promptly. 

Fame  plays  queer  tricks,  and  "  Peasant  " 
Brueghel  has  been  one  of  her  victims.  Far- 
seeing  patronage,  or  accidental  preference,  (we 
cannot  tell  now  which  it  was)  brought  no  less 
than  fourteen  of  his  finest  paintings  into  the 
Imperial  Collection  at  Vienna,  where  his  force 
and  splendour  remained  hidden  from  half  the 
world.  Fortune  also  gave  him  sons  and  descen- 
dants, far  less  capable  but  far  more  prolific 
painters,  to  the  general  discredit  of  the  family 
name.  Hence  the  acquisition  of  even  a  master- 
piece from  his  hand,  has  to  be  accompanied  by  a 
certain  amount  of  explanation,  before  most  people 
know  that  they  have  to  deal  with  a  real  master. 
Sixteenth  Century  Flanders  is  not  in  general 
survey  an  artistic  country,  but  very  much  the 
reverse.  The  grave  and  genuine  conviction 
which  lies  behind  the  work  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, from  Hubert  van  Eyck  to  Van  der  Goes  and 
Memling,  had  weakened  at  the  close  of  that 
period  imder  the  influence  of  the  commercialism 
of  Antwerp.  When  we  come  to  Mabuse  we  find 
that  art  and  faith  alike  have  become  sterile,  con- 
cealing poverty  of  content  by  outward  elabora- 
tion. Even  the  outburst  of  the  Reformation  had 
but  little  effect  on  art  in  Flanders.  The  heavy 
hand  of  Spain  was  not  a  thing  to  trifle  with, 
so  Brueghel  is  almost  alone  in  his  daring. 

His  work  is  one  continuous  revolt  against  blind 
acquiescence  in  tyranny  and  in  superstition.  His 
popularity  was  gained  by  his  engraved  satires  on 
the  greed,   the  folly    and  the   quackery   of  the 


peasant-life  about  him.  When  in  his  last  years 
he  takes  to  painting,  part  of  his  theme,  for  he  was 
a  great  artist,  was  the  splendour,  the  character 
and  the  tragedy  of  the  landscapes  he  saw,  or 
remembered  from  the  days  when  he  made  his 
journey  over  the  Alps  to  Italy.  Another  part 
was  the  lusty,  vivid  and  highly  coloured  life  of 
the  Flemish  peasant.  In  both  these  aspects  of 
art  he  is  the  great  forerunner  of  Rubens. 
Religious  pictures,  too,  were  needed,  yet  even 
here  Brueghel  would  forego  neither  his  satire  nor 
his  naturalism.  That  group  of  horsemen  with 
upraised  lances,  halting  motionless  in  the  snow, 
to  see  that  no  resistance  is  offered  to  the  Massacre 
at  Bethlehem,  is  no  less  surely  a  reminder  of 
Spanish  tyranny,  than  the  Procession  to  Calvary 
is  of  current  methods  of  torture  and  death.  The 
faith  of  the  time  is  no  more  exempt  from  this 
satire  than  are  its  cruelties  and  its  follies,  and  in 
the  "  Adoration  of  the  Kings  "  the  satire  reaches 
its  climax.  In  glorification  of  the  miraculous 
birth,  faith  had  been  seconded  both  by  ecclesias- 
tical policy,  and  by  man's  natural  appetite  for 
splendid  pageantry.  We  see  the  culmination  of 
this  splendour  in  the  big  picture  by  Mabuse,  at 
Trafalgar  Square,  where  the  significance  of  the 
Epiphany  is  smothered  by  magnificent  dresses 
and  jewels.  Brueghel  will  have  none  of  this 
idealizing;  he  will  rather  go  to  the  opposite  ex- 
treme. Look  for  example  at  his  Kings.  Gaspar 
is  a  superstitious  old  dotard ;  Melchior  is  an  un- 
kempt, ill-dressed  and  dreary  being ;  Balthazar  is 
a  delightful  woolly-headed  blackamoor.  Joseph 
is  a  huge  cynical  peasant,  recognising  that  he  is 
in  luck,  and  listening  with  affected  unconcern 
to  the  gallant  who  is  whispering  into  his  ear 
(Heaven  knows  what  !)  Is  he  bidding  for  the  de- 
lightful nautilus-boat  which  Balthazar  carries, 
and  on  which  the  Jew  merchant  has  fixed  his 
hungry  eyes?  The  more  we  look  at  the  picture, 
the  more  daring  appears  the  satire.  The  date, 
1564,  may  perhaps  give  a  clue  to  this  audacity. 
It  was  the  year  in  which  Cardinal  Granvelle, 
after  vainly  attempting  to  force  Philip's  policy 
upon  the  people  of  the  Netherlands,  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  the  country.  Then  freedom 
enjoyed  a  momentary  triumph.  Three  years 
later  the  Duke  of  Alva  came. 


The  Burlington  Magazine,  No.  215,  Vol.  xxviii.     January,  1921. 


53 


A    GROUP    OF    DRAWINGS    BY 
BY    TANCRED    BORENIUS 

(ROM  the  point  of  view  of  the 
Jmalerials  employed,  the  drawings  by 
.Paul  \^eronese  may,  roi:ghly  speak- 
\ing,  he  divided  into  three  groups. 
/One  is  formed  by  monoclirome  brush 
drawings,  iieightened  with  wliite,  and  of  the 
many  carefully  finished  examples  of  this  type, 
which  go  under  Paul  Veronese's  name,  a  good 
many  are  probably  in  reality  only  drawings  after 
the  master.  In  its  finest  and  freest  form,  this 
technique  is  seen  in  the  wonderful  study  for 
Venice  Triumphant  which  from  the  collection  of 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke  passed  to  that  of 
Viscount  Lascelles  and  was  shown  at  the 
Exhibition  of  Drawings  by  the  Old  Masters 
at  the  Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club  in 
191 7-18.  Another  large  group  among  the  surviv- 
ing drawings  by  Paul  Veronese  is  formed  by 
studies  of  single  figures,  either  only  heads  or 
whole  or  three-quarter  lengths,  executed  in  black 
chalk,  the  paper  often  being  the  characteristic 
green  or  green-blue  Venetian  one. 

These  two  classes  of  drawings  are  indeed  the 
onlv  ones  mentioned  by  Baron  von  Hadeln  in 
his  article  on  Paul  Veronese  in  Thieme-Becker's 
Dictionary'  which,  brief  as  it  of  necessity  is  in  its 
reference  to  the  master's  drawings,  yet  remains 
the  only  effort  to  grapple  scientifically  with  this 
fascinating  subject  as  a  whole.  There  exists, 
however,  vet  another  fairly  large  group  of  indu- 
bitably authentic  drawings  by  Paul  Veronese, 
which  hitherto  have  never  been  grouped  together, 
but  to  which  it  seems  worth  while  to  draw  atten- 
tion, both  because  of  the  light  which  they  shed 
on  the  work  and  artistic  personality  of  Paul 
Veronese,  and  because  their  true  authorship  has 
not  always  been  recognised. 

The  drawings  in  question  comprise  a  number 
of  sketches,  executed  with  pen  and  sepia  and 
washed  with  sepia,  many  small  studies  of  figures 
being  grouped  together  on  a  single  sheet.  Often 
these  figures  bear  written  notes  in  a  hand  which, 
from  such  autograph  documents  of  Paul  Veronese 
as  are  known  to  exist,  can  be  identified  as  being 
the  master's.  Whether  some  of  these  sheets 
actually  formed  part  of  a  sketch  book  of  his,  or 
whether  he  was  in  the  habit  of  drawing  them  on 
such  scraps  of  paper  as  happened  to  be  handy, 
is  a  matter  which  perhaps  future  research  may 
determine.  Many  of  these  drawings  bear  the 
marks  of  distinguished  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth century  collectors.  Artistically  they  have 
great  attraction  through  the  master's  unfailing 
gracefulness  and  elegance  of  line  and  delightful 
use  of  wash;  and  they  are  also  of  great  interest 

1  Thieme-Becker,    vol.    v.   (ign),    p.    317- 


PAUL    VERONESE 


as  containing  the  first  ideas  for  many  of  his  well- 
known  works. 

The  following  is  a  culalogue  raisonml  of  such 
of  these  drawings  as  have  up  to  now  become 
Ivnown  to  me  :  — 

(i)  Paris,  M.  Emile  Wauters  (27  by  23  cm.) 
This  superb  sheet  of  studies  for  the  Martyrdom 
of  St.  George  in  the  church  of  San  Giorgio  in 
Braida  at  Verona,  is  reproduced  in  Mr.  Frederic 
Lees'  book.  The  Art  of  the  Great  Masters  (Lon- 
don, 1913),  plate  facing  p.  50.  Seeing  that  this 
sheet  and  numljers  (2),  (3)  and  (4)  are  very  nearly 
the  same  size,  the  idea  naturally  occurs  that  they 
may  be  leaves  out  of  a  sketch  iDook ;  but  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  drawings  on  both  sides  of  (2) 
are  executed  on  a  letter  addressed  to  PauJ 
Veronese,  the  hypothesis  seems  inadmissible,  at 
least  as  regards  ail  these  sheets. 

(2)  Paris,  M.  Emile  Wauters  (28  by  20  cm.) 
Drawings  on  both  sides  of  a  letter  addressed  to 
Paul  Veronese  (reproduced  in  Lees,  op.  cit.  p. 
52).  On  one  side  are  various  groups  of  figures 
(some  of  them  nude)  for  none  of  which  I  can 
suggest  a  definite  interpretation  ;  on  the  other 
side  is  at  the  top  a  study  for  a  Judith  ('vna  Giu- 
dita  che  talia  la  testa  A  Holofe  '  as  the  master 
himself  notes)  which  is  clearly  identifiable  with 
the  picture  in  theGalleriaBrignole-Sale-Deferrari 
at  Genoa, ^  though  the  composition  is  reversed ; 
below  is  a  study  for  a  Nativity  ('  Per  un  Prese- 
pio  '),  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  sheet,  David 
kneeling  by  the  body  of  the  slain  Goliath,  with 
Philistine  horsemen  in  flight  further  back. 

(3)  London,  Mr.  Henry  Oppenheimer  (30  by 
21  cm. :  ex  collections  Sir  Peter  Lely,  J.  Thane, 
W.  Esdaile).  Groups  of  figures  [Plate  I,  a].  At 
the  bottom  of  the  page,  above  a  slight  sketch  of 
a  figure,  two  couples  of  figures  are  seen  :  pos- 
sibly the  four  Evangelists,  from  right  to  left 
'  Mate  '  (Matthew),  listening  to  the  angel  inspir- 
ing him,  Luke  seated  next  to  the  ox,  '  Zuane  ' 
(St.  John  the  Evangelist,  with  his  emblematic 
eagle) — the  note  next  to  the  fourth  figure  reading 
however,  more  naturally,  it  seems,  '  Mouese  ' 
(Moses)  than  '  Marco.'  Then,  further  up,  a  group 
of  bishops  (probably  the  Fathers  of  the  Church), 
Christ  enthroned  on  clouds,  his  head  surrounded 
with  a  halo,  St.  Lawrence  with  his  gridiron,  St. 
Andrew  with  his  cross,  and  a  number  of  other 
Saints  and  Angels.  The  whole  giving  the  im- 
pression of  a  series  of  studies  for  a  Last  Judg- 
ment. 

(4)  London,  Mr.  G.   Bellingham   Smith  (30.3 
bv     21    cm.;    ex    collections    Sir    Peter    Lely, 


-  Reproduced    in    Archivio    stortco    dell'arte,    ser.    ii,    vol. 
(1896),    p.    103. 


54 


1  •  -        - ii/-,- 


(^> 


Sjr>i»0^^—   ■        -'^ 


^^ 


_1     X 


c 

a, 
a 
O 


c 


t/' 


^ 


a 


A  '/"^i-k.", 


^1 


C      ]'arious  Studies,  \2  h\    ii  iiii.: 
(Mr.    1\    M.   Turner) 


"4^ 


'^'XM.''  JiF~^\  kFf^  /     ^^ 


\  •'  r 


I)      M<irs  lUiil    \'<'}nts,    111  In     1:5.5   cin.;   (.M|-.   (i.    I5cllini;h;ini 
.-inilli) 


E     Christ    at    Simon    the    l^hariscc's.     (I'drmerly   in   the  Collection   of   .Sir  Jo.slma    Re\  nolds) 


Plate   II.     .\    Group   of    Drawings    bv    Paul    X'eronese 


Richardson  jun.,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  A.  M. 
Champernonwne).  Sheet  of  studies  [Plate  I,  b], 
the  majority  connected  with  a  composition  of 
the  Finding  of  Moses  reminiscent  of  the  picture 
in  the  Prado.  At  the  bottom  of  the  sheet  are 
also  some  studies  of  architectural  details. 

(5)  London,  Mr.  G.  Bellingham  Smith  (lo  by 
13.5  cm.;  ex  collection  Woodburn)  Mars  and 
Venus  [Plate  II,  d].  A  spirited,  almost  Rem- 
brandtesque  sketch  for  an  animated  composition, 
bearing  no  relation  to  the  picture  now  in  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  at  New  York  (for- 
merly in  the  \Vimborne  Collection). 

(6)  London,  Mr.  P.  M.  Turner  (12  by  11  cm.; 
ex  collections  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Francois 
Flameng ;  some  notes  at  the  back  of  the  sheet 
believed  to  be  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds).  Small 
sheet  of  studies  [Plate  II,  c]  connected  with  the 
lost  paintings  in  the  Palazzo Trevisan  at  Murano, 
known  through  some  etchings  by  Zanetti'  and 
four  copies  in  the  library  of  Christ  Church,  Ox- 
ford,** viz.,  a  figure  of  Cybele,  two  groups  of  putti 
and  one  of  Venus  and  Cupid. 

(7)  Northwick  Park,  Captain  E.  G.  Spencer- 
Churchill  (15  by  16  cm.;  ex  collections  Richard- 
son, jun.,  T.  Hudson,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
Lord  Northwick).  Small  sheet  of  studies 
including  camels'  heads,  people  and  hands. 
Sometimes  ascribed  to  Vandyck. 

(8)  New  York,  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  collection 
(size  not  stated ;  ex  collections  Sir  Joshua  Rey- 
nolds, Avlesford,  Fairfax  Murray;  reproduced  in 
A  Selection  from  the  Collection  of  Drawings  by 
the  Old  Masters  formed  by  C.  Fairfax  Murray, 
London,  1905,  plate  90;  and  on  a  larger  scale  in 
y.  Pierpont  Morgan  Collection  of  Drawings  by 
the  Old  Masters  formed  by  C.  Fairfax  Murray, 
vol.  iv.,  London,  1912,  plate  81).  Sheet  of 
studies   for   a   composition    of    the    Finding    of 

3  A.  M.  Zanetti,  Varie  pitture  a  fresco  de'  principali  maestri 
z'eneziani,    Venice,    1760,    plates    20-24. 

■•  T.  Borenius,  Pictures  by  the  Old  Masters  in  the  Library 
of  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  Oxford,  1916,  Nos.  223-226  (with 
reproductions). 


Moses — compare  again  the  picture  in  the  Prado. 

(9)  New  York,  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  collection 
(size  not  stated ;  ex  collections  Sir  Joshua  Rey- 
nolds, Aylesford,  Fairfax  Murray;  reproduced 
in  A  Selection,  u.s.,  plate  90).  Sheet  of  studies 
containing  various  allegorical  figures. 

(10)  Collection  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  1776, 
present  whereabouts  unknown.  Etched  by  Sim. 
Watts  in  C.  Rogers'  Imitations  of  Old  Masters. 
Christ  at  Simon  the  Pharisee's  [Pl.-^te  II,  e]. 
Study  for  the  picture  of  1570,  formerly  in  the 
monastery  of  S.  Sebastiano  at  Venice  and  now 
in  the  Brera  Gallery  at  Milan  (No.  140). 

I  have  little  doubt  but  that  further  research 
may  be  able  to  extend,  perhaps  considerably,  the 
list  of  drawings  given  above.'* 

The  main  object  of  these  notes  has  been  to 
make  the  beginning  of  a  systematic  exploration 
of  a  province  of  Paul  Veronese's  work  which, 
when  some  time  he  will  come  in  for  a  mono- 
graphical  treament  commensurate  with  his 
importance,  will  doubtless  be  deemed  to  be  of 
even  greater  interest  than  appears  now,  seeing 
that — as  mentioned  before — it  is  in  these  slight 
pen  and  ink  drawings  that  one  finds  embodied  so 
many  of  the  master's  premieres  pensees  both  for 
works  that  were  executed  and  such  as  never  were. 
And  turning  to  the  historical  perspective  of  the 
Venetian  School  as  a  whole,  just  as  the  art  of 
Tiepolo  in  general  may  be  described  as  a  trans- 
lation into  the  playful  forms  of  the  Rococo  of  the 
brilliant  decorative  style  of  Paul  Veronese,  so 
we  have  in  the  drawings  of  this  type— the  point 
was  suggested  to  me  in  a  discussion  with  Mr. 
A.  P.  Oppe — the  direct  forbears  of  Tiepolo's 
prodigious  performances  with  pen  and  wash. 

5  Judging   from  descriptions,    I    feel  practically   certain    that 
the   following   may  Ix;   added   to   the   present   series  : — 

(11)  Stockholm,      National      Museum.        Adoration      of    the 
Mas.'    (27.4    bv    18.4    cm.). 

(1^2)  Turin,  Roval  Library.  Study  lor  the  Martyrdom  of 
St.  Justina  m  S.  Giustina'  of  Padua  (1575).  Photographed 
by  ."Knderson,  9856. 
'Both  referred  to  by  Dr.  Sir^n  {Italicnska  handteckningar. 
Stockholm,  1917,  p.  122)  as  showing  "the  light  stroke  and 
quivering    lines  "   of    cerlain    drawings    by    Paul   Veronese. 


THE    RIZA    ABBASI    MS.    IN    THE    VICTORIA    AND    ALBERT 


MUSEUM 

BY    T.    W.    ARNOLD 

lEFORE  anything  like  a  complete 
history  of  Persian  art  can  be  written, 
much  work  will  have  to  be  done  both 

lbs-  the  art  critic  and  by  the  historian. 
'From  Persian  literature  must  be  col- 
lected alf  the  scanty  references  to  artists  and 
their  paintings.  Unfortunately,  during  the 
greatest  period  of  Persian  art,  the  painters  had 
no  Vasari,  and  consequently  materials  for  the 
biography    of    the    earlier    masters    are   almost 


entirely  lacking,  and  when  chroniclers  began  to 
find  a  place  for  them  and  added  to  the  enumera- 
tion of  scholars,  poets,  doctors  and  calligraphists 
in  anv  particular  reign,  some  account  of 
painters  also,  the  details  provided  are  very 
meagre  and  include  no  description  of  individual 
paintings  or  of  characteristics  of  style.  The 
student  of  Persian  art  is  therefore  dependent 
almost  wholly  on  the  data  provided  by  the  paint- 
ings and  drawings  themselves,  and  here  there  is 


59 


much  work  left  fur  him  to  do;  the  distinctive 
characteristics  of  individual  painters  have  still  to 
be  definitely  ascertained  after  a  minute  study  of 
such  paintings  as  can  with  certainty  be  assigned 
to  each,  and  by  means  of  the  results  attained,  the 
manv  forgeries  of  great  names  must  be  exposed, 
and  the  false  ascriptions  ackled  by  later  hands 
for  the  deception  of  the  ignorant  purchaser  must 
be  rectified;  there  will  then  remain  hundreds  of 
pictures  that  bear  no  signature  whatsoever,  and 
if  these  cannot  be  assigned  to  any  particular 
artist,  it  may  at  least  be  possible  to  ascertain  to 
what  period  or  school  they  belong.  Further, 
some  kind  of  inventory  of  Persian  paintings  of 
each  period  is  needed;  and  this  is  by  no  means 
easv,  for  thev  are  constantly  changing  hands, 
and  those  in  private  possession  are  not  readily 
accessible.  But  the  case  is  quite  different  with 
such  examples  as  are  public  property  and  have 
found  a  safe  refuge  in  mu.seums  or  in  the 
libraries  of  permanent  corporations.  In  the  pre- 
sent instance  it  is  proposed  to  give  an  account 
of  an  illuminated  MS.  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum,  which  appears  up  to  the  present  time 
to  have  been  very  little  studied.  It  is  a  copy  of 
one  of  Xizaml's  romantic  narrative  poems, 
based  on  the  old  Persian  story  of  Khusrau  and 
Shirin,  and  it  contains  17  pictures  by  one  of  the 
best  known  of  Persian  painters — Riza  Abbasi — 
who  has  attached  his  signature  to  each  one  of  the 
pictures. 

There  is  no  single  Persian  artist  who 
has  received  more  attention  in  Europe  and  has 
had  more  written  about  him  than  Riza  Abbasi. 
For  ten  years  a  fierce  controversy  has  raged  over 
the  difficult  problem  of  his  identity  and  the  attri- 
bution to  him  of  certain  drawings  that  are  said 
to  bear  his  signature.  A  long  promised  publi- 
cation, containing  facsimiles  of  drawings  in  the 
possession  of  Friedrich  Sarre,  was  published  in 
igi4,  but  on  account  of  the  war  did  not  come 
into  the  market  until  1916.  In  this  volume,  pro- 
duced with  that  care  and  delicacy  characteristic 
of  the  best  German  art-publications.  Professor 
Mittwoch  has  attempted  to  give  a  biographical 
account  of  this  artist,  whose  identity  is  so 
obscure,  though  his  work  is  so  widely  known. 
The  task  is  not  easy.  His  name,  Riza,  was  (as 
it  is  still)  very  common  in  the  period  of  enthusi- 
astic devotion  to  the  Shiah  cause  that  witnessed 
the  founding  of  theSafaviddyna.sty  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Shiah  faith  as  the  State  religion 
of  Persia.  It  is  the  name  of  the  martyred  eighth 
Imam  of  the  Shiahs,  who  was  believed  to  have 
been  put  to  death  by  the  Sunni  Caliph,  Al- 
Ma'mun,  in  818,  and  had  thus  become  a  symbol 
of  Shiah  hatred  for  the  Sunni  domination  from 
which  the  Safavids  by  the  establishment  of  a 
native  Persian  dyna.sty  had  delivered  their  fellow 
countrymen,  and  a  catch-word  of  devotion  to  a 


creed  glorified  by  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  and 
cherished  with   patient    devotion    through    long 
centuries  of  oppression.       The  critic   is  conse- 
((uentlv    faced   with    the    problem    of    choosing 
between  quite  a  number  of  painters  of  the  name 
of  Riza,  and  has  to  decide  to  which  of  them  the 
creilit  of  producing  so  many  works  of  art  is  to  be 
assigned.       The  appellation  Abbasi  is  of  little 
help,  as  it  may  well  have  been  adopted  by  the 
painter  in  token  of  the  service  he  owed  to  his 
sovereign  Shah  Abbas,  just  as  the  poet,  Muslih 
ud-Din,    stvled   himself   Sa'di   after   his  patron, 
.Sa'd  b.  Zangi,  the  .Alabek  of  Fars,  with  the  result 
thai   he  became  famous  under  this  designation 
unlv,  and  his  real  name  became  forgotten,  being 
variously    given    by    different    biographers    as 
Muslih   ud-Din   (which  was  really   the   name  of 
his  father),  and  Musharrif   ud-Din,   &c.      Prof. 
Mittwoch  has  identified  the  painter  with  a  certain 
Maulana  All  Riza  .Abbasi,  who  was  famous  as  a 
calligraphi.st  in  the  reign  of  .Shah  .Abbas  (1387- 
1629),  and  wrote  out  inscriptions  for  some  of  the 
great  mosques  of  Ispahan  ;  he  was  also  appreci- 
ated as  a  copyist  of  manuscripts,  several  of  which 
are    still     preserved     in     libraries     in     Europe. 
Prof.  Mittwoch  thought  that  he  could  read  the 
name  Riza  All  on  the  portrait  of  the  painter  by 
his  pupil,   Mu'In.     (Martin  I,   p.  68).     But  the 
words    are    really    Riza    Abbasi.     Out    of    all 
the    possible    claimants.     Prof.     Mittwoch     has 
made    a     singularly     unfortunate     choice — one 
that     entirely     misses     the     essential     character 
of   Riza   Abbasl's  work   and   the  very  different 
estimation   in   which  the  painter  and   the  calli- 
graphist  were  held  in  Muhammadan  society.  To 
the  latter  was  assigned  the  highest  place  in  the 
artistic  world;  did  not  God   Himself  swear  by 
"the   pen   and    by   what   they   write"    (Qur'an 
chap.  68  init.)? — and   the   highest  honour  was 
paid  to  those  who  copied  out  the  Word  of  God, 
wherebv  the  calligrapher  enjoyed  a  reflection  of 
the  respect  with  which  the  Sacred  Text  itself  was 
regarded.     Even  apart  from  this  religious  aspect 
of    the   art,    calligraphy    was   considered    to   be 
one  of    the   noblest   activities   of    civilised   life, 
since     it     made    possible    the    transmission    of 
wisdom    and  thus  served    as  one  of    the    very 
foundation-stones  of    knowledge    and    culture. 
Accordingly,  it  was  possible  for  the  honourable 
title  of  Maulana  ("our  Master")  to  be  prefixed 
to  the  name  of  All  Riza — an  honorific  that  im- 
plies eminence  either  in  the  field  of  religion  or 
learning,   and  generally  in   both.        But   to  the 
painter  a  very  different  position  was  assigned ; 
by  the  expre.ss  declaration  of  the  Prophet  (who 
frankly  expres.sed  his  detestation  of  all  pictorial 
representations  of  living  forms),  the  painter  was 
doomed  to  Hell ;  on  the  Day  of  Judgment  God 
would  call  upon  him  to  put  life  into  the  forms 
of  men  and  animals  he  had  drawn,  and  on  his 


60 


confession  of  inability  to  fulfil  this  function  of 
the  Creator  which  he  had  attempted  to  usurp,  he 
would  be  cast  down  into  the  fire,  therein  to  abide 
for  ever.  This  ill-esteem  of  the  painter's  art 
explains  something  of  the  choice  of  subjects  that 
Riza  Abbasi  and  many  other  Persian  artists 
made — representations  of  persons  and  activities 
that  Muslim  theologians  have  always  viewed 
with  the  sternest  reprobation,  such  as  drinking- 
parties,  dancing-girls,  love  scenes,  catamites, 
and  the  like,  from  which  the  godly  drew  away 
their  skirts  in  pious  horror,  pictures  which  their 
Puritan  zeal  led  them  to  destroy  whenever  they 
found  opportunity.  To  credit  Maulana  All  Riza, 
who  owes  his  fame  to  the  passages  from  the 
Word  of  God  which  he  inscribed  on  the  mosques 
of  Ispahan,  with  the  paintings  of  Riza  Abbasi, 
is  as  libellous  an  error  as  to  attribute  the  scan- 
dalous pictures  with  which  Giulio  Romano 
decorated  the  Palazzo  del  Te  in  Mantua  for  Duke 
Federico  Gonzaga,  to  his  devout  contemporary, 
Fra  Bartolommeo. 

Moreover,  the  evidence  from  handwriting  goes 
against  such  an  ascription,  for  there  are  several 
Persian  MSS.  still  in  existence  that  were  copied 
by  Maulana  AH  Riza  and  bear  his  signature, 
but  his  handwriting  and  signature  are  manifestly 
unlike  those  of  the  painter,  Riza  Abbasi,  as  we 
find  them  on  numerous  paintings  and  drawings 
which  he  has  signed. 

But  among  the  painters  of  Shah  Abbas's 
reign,  there  is  one  of  whom  the  contemporary 
historian^  gives  an  account  under  the  name  Aqa 
Riza, — and  this  is  the  very  appellation  we  find 
written  bv  former  owners  on  those  drawings  by 
Riza  Abbasi,  to  which  the  artist  did  not  himself 
attach  his  signature.  In  Sarre's  Album  there 
are  two  such  drawings,  with  the  signature  Aqa 
Riza,  in  a  handwriting  that  is  clearly  not  that 
of  the  painter  himself;  the  attribution  must  have 
been  added  by  some  previous  owner  or  cata- 
loguer. More  important  still  for  the  identifica- 
tion suggested  above  is  the  picture  of  a  youth 
by  Riza  .'\bbasi,  reproduced  as  Plate  VII  in 
Karabacek's  monograph  on  this  painter ;  here 
there  are  two  separate  signatures,  one  (in  the 
right-hand  margin)  Agha  (a  variant  of  .A^qa) 
Riza,  and  the  other  (on  the  left  of  the  figure) 
Aqa  Riza  .'\bbasl ;  neither  of  these  inscriptions 
is  in  the  well-known  handwriting  of  the  painter 
himself,  but  they  have  been  added  later  by 
others.  It  is  through  lack  of  familiarity  with 
the  Persian  use  of  honorifics  that  some  European 
critics  have  been  led  to  invent  a  separate  painter, 
Aqa  Riza — distinct  from  Riza  Abbasi — and  Dr. 
Martin-  has  even  gone  so  far  as  to  attribute  to 
this  mythically  distinct  Aqa  Riza  a  portrait  in 


1  Iskandar  Munshi   in  his  Ta'rikh-i-'alamarai-' Abbasi. 

^  The  Miniature  Painting  and  Painters  of  Persia.     Plate  no. 


the  British  Museum,  to  which  Riza  Abbasi  has 
added  in  his  characteristic  handwriting  an  in- 
scription relating  the  circumstances  under  which 
he  painted  it. 

Iskandar  Munshi  describes  Aqa  Riza  as  the 
marvel  of  his  age  in  the  art  of  painting  and  as 
unequalled  in  the  drawing  of  portraits;  but  he 
kept  bad  company  and  spent  much  of  his  time 
with  wrestlers  and  other  such  persons  of  an  un- 
intellectual  type — just  like  another  painter,  his 
contemporary,  named  SadiqT  Beg,  who  also  led 
a  wild  life,  wandering  about  in  the  garb  of  a 
dervish  and  in  one  period  of  his  career  turning- 
soldier.  Though  Aqa  Riza  received  rewards 
and  favours  from  his  royal  patron.  Shah  Abbas, 
he  was  constantly  in  trouble  and  poverty  in 
consequence  of  his  evil  habits.  To  this  need  of 
money  may  possibly  be  attributed  the  large  out- 
put of  Riza  Abbasi — so  strikingly  in  contrast 
with  the  restricted  number  of  paintings  con- 
nected with  the  names  of  other  great  Persian 
artists  :  he  does  not  appear  to  have  ever  received 
an  appointment  in  the  royal  atelier  or  library, 
and  had  apparently  to  find  patrons  among  the 
courtiers,  for  whom  he  painted  pictures  of  their 
favourites,  and  his  inscriptions  on  his  pictures 
often  express  his  obligation  to  their  patronage. 
The  whole  character  of  Riza  Abbasi's  work  fits 
in  better  with  the  above  account  than  with  that 
of  Maulana  All  Riza  or  of  any  other  Riza  of 
whom  we  have  any  record. 

His  paintings  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum  are  contained  in  a  manuscript  written 
by  Abdul  Jabbar,  a  famous  calligraphist  of  Shah 
Abbas's  reign,  and  a  pupil  of  one  of  the  greatest 
calligraphists  of  that  period,  Mir  Imad,  the  rival 
of  the  Maulana  All  Riza  above-mentioned,  who 
is  said  to  have  compassed  Imad's  death.  The 
colophon  of  the  manuscript  bears  the  date  1091 
A.H.  (=  1680  A.D.),  and  the  signature  of  Abdul 
Jabbar.  This  calligraphist  is  said  to  have  been 
a  great  favourite  in  court  circles,  and  to  have 
produced  comparatively  little  because  he  was  so 
much  in  demand  in  the  society  of  the  great.  The 
completion  of  his  part  of  the  work  must  have 
been  considerably  delayed,  as  Riza  Abbasi's 
painting  on  fol.  47  bears  the  date  1042  a.h. 
(=  1632  A.D.).  The  value  attached  to  the  manu- 
script is  attested  by  the  superb  cover  in  which  it 
is  bound,  and  the  binder  was  so  proud  of  his 
workmanship  (as  he  had  a  right  to  be),  that  in 
four  small  lozenges  inside  the  covers  he  left  an 
inscription: — "The  work  of  Muhammad  Muh- 
sin,  of  Tabriz".  The  MS.  contains  17  paint- 
ings bv  Riza  Abbasi,  and  below  each  one  of 
them  he  has  signed  his  name,  and  under  that  on 
fol.  47  there  is  a  longer  inscription,  "Completed 
on  Monday,  the  sixth  of  the  month  Safar,  1042. 
Signed,  the  low-born  Riza  Abbasi".  The  pic- 
tures are  finished  with  great  care,  and  the  painter 


61 


apparently  wished  to  sliovv  that  he  was  capable 
of  the  same  delicate  miniature  work  as  was  pro- 
duced by  his  rivals  in  the  royal  library;  and  in 
this  respect  these  pictures  are  remarkably  unlike 
the  rapid  drawings  and  sketches  with  which  the 
name  of  Riza  Abbasi  is  chiefly  connected,  while 
(on  the  other  hand)  they  closely  resemble  the 
miniatures  he  painted  for  other  manuscripts. 

The  poem  that  Riza  Abbasi  set  out  to  illus- 
trate is  one  of  the  romances  of  NizamI,  giving 
the  story  of  the  adventures  of  Khusrau,  the  Sas- 
anian  monarch,  and  his  love  for  the  beautiful 
Shirin.  This  poem  was  composed  in  1175  and 
for  several  centuries  Persian  artists  had  delighted 
in  illustrating  it;  however  few  might  be  the 
number  of  pictures  that  any  particular  manu- 
script was  to  contain,  a  favourit<»  subject  of  their 
choice  was  the  bath  of  ShIrIn,  as  this  (like  the 
story  of  Susanna  and  the  elders  in  western 
Europe)  gave  them  an  opportunity  of  painting 
the  nude,  such  as  convention  seldom  allowed 
to  the  Persian  artist.  In  his  treatment  of  the 
subject  matter  of  the  poem  Riza  Abbasi  breaks 
away  entirely  from  the  traditional  methods  of  his 
predecessors;  he  was  too  original  an  artist  to  be 
fettered  by  any  previous  atteinpts  to  represent 
the  story,  and  in  his  illustrations  we  lind  nothing 
of  the  hieratic  character  of  the  earlier  artists  or  of 
their  seriousness  of  treatment.  He  selected  17 
incidents  out  of  the  romance,  and  as  the  meaning 
of  his  pictures  is  apt  to  be  unintelligible  without 
a  knowledge  of  the  Persian  text,  a  brief  descrip- 
tion of  them  is  given  here. 

The  story  of  Xizaml's  poem  begins  with  an 
account  of  Khusrau's  exile  from  the  court  of  his 
father,  who  had  been  deceived  by  false  reports 
of  his  son's  disloyalty;  on  fol.  26,  the  artist 
shows  Khusrau  lying  prostrate  at  the  Shah's 
feet;  an  executioner  with  drawn  sword  stands 
over  him,  and  an  aged  man,  wearing  a  mulla's 
turban,  stretches  out  an  appealing  hand  to  the 
monarch  on  his  throne,  while  he  turns  his  head 
deprecatingly  towards  the  executioner.  So  little 
sense  of  historic  fitness  does  the  painter  show 
that  he  makes  the  Shah  look  just  as  young  as  his 
son,  and  repeats  his  features  and  dress  for 
Khusrau  himself  on  fol.  55b,  and  on  fol.  246  for 
the  Atabek  of  Adharbaijan. 

The  young  prince  has  a  friend,  called  Shapur, 
who  tells  him  of  the  beauty  of  ShIrIn,  an  Arme- 
nian princess,  and  in  consequence  of  his  glowing 
description,  Khusrau  falls  in  love  with  her.  His 
friend,  who  happens  to  be  a  painter,  acts  as  his 
emissary  and  arouses  the  interest  of  the  princess 
by  showing  her  a  portrait  of  Khusrau  (fol.  34) 
[Plate  I,  a].  Khusrau  himself  starts  off  for 
Armenia,  and  on  the  way  he  catches  sight  of 
ShIrIn  sitting  by  the  side  of  a  stream  in  which 
she  has  been  bathing,  and  wringing  the  water 
out  of  her  hair;  her  horse,  with  forelegs  painted 


red,  stands  by  her,  and  the  young  prince,  with 
his  finger  on  his  lips  in  the  conventional  attitude 
of  surprise,  gazes  at  her  beauty  from  the  other 
side  of  a  mass  of  rocks  (fol.  47)  [PLATt:  I,  h],  but 
he  does  not  make  his  presence  known  and  rides 
on  to  her  mother's  kingdom.  Meanwhile  ShIrin 
goes  into  Persia,  where  she  has  a  castle  built  for 
her  residence  and  spends  her  time  in  hunting. 
Shajii'ir  returns  lo  Khusrau  and  gi\es  a  report 
of  his  interview  with  the  beautiful  Armenian 
princess  (fol.  55b).  Meanwiiile  the  father  of 
Khusrau  dies,  but  Bahriim  Chobin,  his  inveter- 
ate enemy,  disputes  the  throne  with  Khusrau, 
who  is  in  consequence  driven  from  his  kingdom. 
During  this  second  exile,  he  happens  by  clian  e 
to  meet  Shirin  in  the  hunting  field,  and  the  artist 
has  depicted  the  two  lovers  talking  together, 
while  a  band  of  frightened  ibex  runs  away  in  the 
foreground  (fol.  64b)  [Plate  H,  c]  ;  in  this  pic- 
ture the  colour  has  scaled  off  from  the  faces  of 
the  two  chief  figures,  revealing  the  original 
sketch  ;  but  for  this  defect,  the  picture  is  a  fine 
piece  of  work,  brilliant  in  colouring  and  lively 
in  design.  ShIrIn  takes  the  young  prince  to  her 
mother's  court,  where  she  entertains  him  and  the 
painter  represents  them  drinking  together  in  a 
garden  by  the  side  of  a  stream  (fol.  73). 

Later  on,  Khusrau  succeeds  in  defeating  Bah- 
ram  Chobin,  and  an  incident  of  the  battle  is 
depicted  :  the  prince's  elephant  is  trampling  on 
one  of  his  enemies,  whose  galloping  horse  has 
left  him  lying  dead  on  the  field  (fol.  88).  After 
this  success,  he  is  able  to  enter  into  the 
possession  of  his  kingdom,  and  when  he  is  seated 
on  the  throne  of  his  father,  news  of  the  death  of 
Bahram  Chobin  is  brought  to  him  (fol.  99). 
Shirin  also  has  succeeded  to  the  throne  of 
Armenia,  after  the  death  of  her  mother,  and 
Khusrau  sends  ShapUr  to  ask  her  hand  in 
marriage;  but  the  princess  had  grown  displeased 
with  her  laggard  lover  and  had  meanwhile  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Farhad,  a  talented  sculptor 
and  engineer.  Farhad  falls  desperately  in  love 
with  her,  on  the  very  first  occasion  that  he  is 
brought  into  the  presence  of  ShIrIn  (fol.  114b). 
The  violence  of  his  passion  almost  drives  him 
out  of  his  senses,  and  he  wanders  like  a  madman 
in  the  desert.  Khusrau  comes  to  hear  of  this 
rival  in  the  afTection  of  ShIrIn,  and  sends  men  in 
search  of  him ;  they  succeed  in  catching  him  and 
bring  him  to  Khusrau,  before  whose  throne  he 
is  seen  kneeling  (fol.  123)  [Plate  H,  d].  The 
prince  sets  Farhad  the  task  of  cutting  a  road 
through  the  mountain  of  Blsutiin,  promising  to 
give  him  -Shirin  as  a  reward  for  his  labours. 
Shirin  rides  to  the  mountain  to  see  him  at  work, 
but  Farhad  is  so  bewildered  at  the  sight  of  her, 
that  he  only  recovers  his  senses  when  she  gives 
him  a  cup  of  water  to  drink  (fol.  134)-  As  she 
leaves   him,    her   horse  stumbles  on  the   rough 


62 


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X 


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1/1 

fee 


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'*^*^-^"'-^^ 


T-wism^L 


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11 
c 


o 


mountain  path,  and  the  devoted  Farhad  Hfts 
both  horse  and  princess  on  his  shoulders,  and 
carries  them  back  to  her  castle  (fol.  138b)  [Plate 
II,  E]. 

To  rid  himself  of  his  rival,  Khusrau  treacher- 
ouslv  has  a  false  report  of  the  death  of  Shirin 
conveved  to  Farhad,  whereupon  the  unhappy 
lover  throws  himself  down  from  a  rock  and  kills 
himself.  Shirln  has  a  dome  built  over  his  grave, 
and  enraged  with  the  behaviour  of  Khusrau, 
refuses  to  accept  his  advances.  Meanwhile 
Khusrau  consoles  himself  with  a  fair  lady, 
named  Shakar  ("Sugar"),  who  on  fol.  153b  is 
shown  kneeling  before  him,  presenting  a  cup  of 
wine;  however,  he  soon  tires  of  her  and  pines 
again  for  Shirin.  Passing  over  several  other 
incidents  in  the  story,  Riza  AbbasI  hurries  on 
to  the  denouement  of  the  romance,  and  gives  a 
picture  of  Khusrau  on  a  hunting  expedition 
riding  up  to  the  castle  of  Shirin,  who  looks  down 
from  the  roof  to  talk  with  him  (fol.  166).  She 
upbraids  him  for  his  faithlessness  and  Khusrau 
leaves  her  in  anger,  but  Shirin  now  repents  of 
her  harsh  treatment  of  her  lover,  and  goes  in 
disguise  to  Khusrau 's  camp,  where  they  feast 
together  (fol.  192). 

After  lengthy  discussion  and  exchange  of  pre- 
sents, the  marriage  takes  place  (fol.  211).  But 
their  happiness  did  not  last  long,  as  Khusrau  is 
treacherously  slain  in  his  bed  by  his  son,  Shi- 
ruya  (fol.  225),  whereupon  Shirin  stabs  herself 
to  death  on  the  body  of  her  husband. 

The  last  picture  (fol.  246)  represents  the  poet 
Nizami  being  received  at  the  court  of  Qizil 
Arslan,  the  Atabek  of  Adharbaijan  (i  185-91), 
who  has  stepped  down  from  his  throne  to  em- 
brace the  poet,  and  who  is  represented  by  the 
same  venerable,  bearded  figure  that  Riza  had 
put  into  his  picture  on  fol.  26. 


In  his  illustrations  to  this  romance  (derived 
ultimately  from  the  heroic  period  of  the  history 
of  his  native  country),   Riza  Abbasi  makes  no 
attempt    to  rise  to  the   level  of    such   dignified 
treatment  of  the  subject  as  we  find  in   earlier 
illustrated     manuscripts     of     Nizaml's     poem, 
belonging  to  the  classical  period  of  Persian  art. 
On  the  contrary,  he  reproduces  the  same  plump 
figures  and  unintelligent  round  faces  as  we  meet 
in  the  cup-bearers  and  other  pampered  menials 
that  he  used  to  draw  for  his  aristocratic  patrons. 
Riza  Abbasi  has  here  attempted  to  submit  his 
peculiar  genius  to  the  established  convention  in 
book-illustration,    in  this    attempt  to    rival  the 
work  of  the  orthodox  school  of  painters  working 
in  the  royal  library  ;  but  the  individual  character- 
istics of   his  style  are   too  strong  for   him ;  he 
transfers  his    broad  method  of    treatment    to  a 
sphere    that    the    illuminator    with  his  patient 
elaboration  of  detail  had  for  centuries  past  made 
his  own.     He  is  fond  of  broad  spaces  of  colour, 
and  grows  impatient  when  he  has  to  put  in  a 
plane-tree,  which  in  his  hands  remains  with  a 
wintry    appearance   of  scanty    foliage,    whereas 
Bihzad  or   Mirak  would   have  clothed  the  tree 
with  innumerable  leaves  and  lavished  on  each  a 
wealth  of  elaborate  detail ;  nor  does  he  trouble 
to  put  in  his  foregrounds  those  delicately  veined 
flowers  that  his  predeces.sors  loved  to  dwell  upon. 
He  was  an  innovator  too  in  his  colour  scheme  : 
he  shows  a  preference  for  mixed  colours,   and 
has  a  predilection    for  orange,    cinnamon    and 
plum  colour,  and  we  no  longer  find  the  lapis- 
lazuli  blue  that  gave  to  the  paintings  of  earlier 
artists  so  brilliant  an  effect.     But  his  colouring 
has  a  vigour  and  attractiveness  of  its  own,  and 
in  none  of  his  works  has  Riza  Abbasi  attained 
such  success  as  a  colourist,  as  in  the  manuscript 
described  above. 


ENGLISH  FURNITURE  AT  THE  BURLINGTON  FINE  ARTS  CLUB 
BY    H.    AVRAY    TIPPING 


'HE  Winter  Exhibition  at  the  Bur- 
lington Fine  Arts  Club  is  one  of 
varied  interest,  for  not  only  is  there  a 
charming  collection  of  pictures  from 
various  lands  and  some  English 
decorative  objects  worthy  of  special  notice,  but 
also  pieces  of  furniture  very  carefully  selected  to 
illustrate  the  more  elaborate  and  expensive  sec- 
tion of  the  output  of  English  cabinet  makers 
between  the  years  1730  and  1770.  The  greatest 
number,  and  also  the  most  noteworthy  pieces, 
indeed,  cover  a  narrower  period  and  more 
especiallv  show  how  the  rich  Englishman  fur- 
nished his  house  during  the  second  half  of 
George  2nd's  reign — that  is  at  the  time  when  the 
cabriole  form  was  at  its  zenith.     Beginning  with 


the  century  it  had  already  had  forty  years  of 
vogue  when  the  middle  years  of  George 
II's  reign  were  reached.  Designers  and  makers 
had  therefore  acquired  a  perfectly  assured  hand 
and  almost  every  structural  and  aesthetic  possi- 
bility had  been  probed.  All  problems  of  design 
and  technique  were  solved,  and  variety,  always 
in  demand,  had  to  be  sought  by  inventing  novel 
details  of  form  and  motif  within  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  the  style.  The  contrast  between  the 
severitv  of  the  basic  structure  of  the  classic  style 
and  of  the  baroque  cum  rococo  extravagances 
that  were  seeking  to  envelop  it  with  their  riotous 
and  exotic  growths  was  briefly  stated  in  these 
pages  a  year  ago.^     It  was  shown  how,  eveii  in 

I  Burlington  Magazine,  Vol.  xxxvi,  pp.  78  and  79. 


67 


the  i6th  century,  Italian  cleverness  and  imajjina- 
tion  had  introduced  realism,  mo\enient,  and  oven 
structural  unreasonableness  into  the  austere 
framework  of  V'itruvian  rule.  Eventually  these 
tendencies  ilemoralised  Italian  architecture, 
hut  were  kept  within  strict  bounds  bv  the  Knijiisil 
sclnxil  that  t(H>k  Palladio  and  Ini^o  Jones  as  its 
masters.  I'or  interior  decoration,  however,  and 
for  furniture,  a  good  deal  of  licence  was  allowed, 
and  a  strange  medley  of  decorative  material  was 
ihawn  with  liltle  study  or  judgtnenl  from  all 
manner  of  si>urces — a  llight  into  the  past  produc- 
ing the  Gothic  and  a  flight  across  the  world 
giving  the  Chinese  tastes.  Thus,  though  classic 
puritv  was  still  preached,  not  merely  a  narrow 
loophole  but  a  broad  gateway  was  open  for  the 
influx  of  eccentricity  and  extravagance,  especially 
among  the  more  inventive  and  artistic  race  across 
the  Channel.  In  France  the  existence  of  a  Court 
composed  of  Sovereign  and  nobles,  who  widely 
absorbed  and  freely  squandered  the  national 
wealth,  created  a  demand  for  audacity  of  sump- 
tuous design  and  exquisiteness  of  elaborate 
craftsmanship  in  the  decorative  arts;  so  that  there 
we  find  the  prodigality  of  the  Italian  baroque 
wedded  to  exotic  chinniscries,  and  producing  a 
multitudinous  and  vigorous  offspring  that 
showed  forth  in  high  degree  every  possible  com- 
bination of  inherited  variety  and  excess. 
.Anarchy  might  well  have  supervened,  but  fortu- 
nately the  Ancien  Regime  of  France,  to  meet 
whose  requirements  this  output  was  called  forth, 
prided  itself  with  reason  upon  its  bon  goiit,  and 
this  acted  as  a  sufficient  discipline  to  the  more 
riotous  tendencies  with  results  that  may  not 
always  be  sympathetic,  but  must  always  call  forth 
admiration.  Foreign  ways  constantly  reached 
our  English  shore,  and  it  was  the  French  influ- 
ence that  became  strong  in  England  after  the 
Peace  of  Utrecht,  and  especially  when  the  two 
countries  drew  closer — establishing  indeed  an 
entente — when  Fleury  and  Walpole  were  at  the 
head  of  their  respective  Governments.  Thus  in 
1733  Bramston's  "  Man  of  Taste  "  exclaims  : 

Those   who  of  courtly   Franco   ha\e  made  the  tour, 
Can   scarce  our   English  aukwardness   endure. - 

and  an  anti-Gallican  Society  was  formed  by  the 

honest  men   who  never  were  abroad, 
I^ike  England  only,   and  its  Taste  applaud. - 

Nor  did  the  Austrian  Succession  War,  waged 
against  France,  long  interfere  with  this  tendency, 
and  Chippendale,  a  very  alert  business  man,  took 
care  to  meet  the  fashion  by  giving  the  French 
taste  prominence  in  his  "  Director  "  first  pub- 
lished in  1754. 

The  Gallican  taste,  however,  was  only  an  influ- 
ence, not  an  obsession.  The  national  spirit  and 
bias  and  the  habits  and  economics  of  the  com- 
munity gave  a  native  stamp.  The  humbler 
artistic  aspirations  and  powers  of  the  producers 
combined  with  the  opinions  of  the  consumers  to 

-  Dodsley's  Collection  of  Poems,  ed.    1770,  vol.    i,  p.   286. 


impose  restraint.  The  demand  came  not  so  much 
from  an  exceedingly  wealthy  ,-uid  luxurious  few 
as  from  a  large  class  of  well-to-do  but  not  un- 
thrifty peers,  squires  and  merchants,  who  were 
domestic  rather  than  jialalial  in  their  outlook. 

I'lie  modification  thus  imposed  upon  French 
ideas  and  pieces  of  furniture  of  I'^rench  origin  is 
shown  by  the  commode,  for  which  the  French 
term  was  adopted  since  it  was  not  an  English 
e\-ohuion  from  the  old  oak  chest  to  the  various 
forms  of  |iieccs  of  furniture  with  drawers,  but  a 
|)urely  I'rench  creation  on  the  same  lines.  But  a 
French  commode  under  Louis  XV  was  usually 
extravagant  in  its  curves  and  rich  in  its  surface, 
that  surface  not  showing  the  material  of  the  struc- 
ture, but  a  veneer  of  choice  w(jods  richly  a.s.soci- 
ated.  Yet  despite  their  beauty  and  patterning 
half  their  surface  was  covered  with  large,  intricate 
and  well-wrought  ormolu  handles  and  escut- 
cheons, while  the  generally  acute  and  much 
curved  corners  of  the  commode  were  armour 
plated  from  top  to  toe  with  highly  wrought  rococo 
metal  work,  the  top  being  almost  invariably  of 
marble.  Except  in  name  and  general  form  there 
is  no  great  similarity  between  this  description  and 
that  of  the  mahogany  commode  lent  to  the  Bur- 
lington Club  by  Mr.  Leopold  Hirch  [Plate  I,  a]. 
Certainly  the  front  is  serpentine  and  there  are 
brass  handles  and  escutcheons  much  resembling 
the  more  modest  French  examples  of  the  period. 
But  there  is  no  other  metal  work,  all  enrichment 
being  carved  out  of  the  solid  mahogany,  which 
forms  the  .substance  of  this  piece.  Nothing 
strikes  the  visitor  who  looks  round  this  typical 
collection  of  the  furniture  of  the  period  more  than 
the  dominance  of  solid  maliogany  and  the  total 
absence  of  veneer.  Veneer,  plain,  lined  or  in- 
laid, was  u.sual  enough  in  England  in  the  pre- 
vious walnut  period,  and  was  again  much  used 
in  the  subsequent  age  of  satinwood,  but  is  quite 
rare  under  George  II,  when  mahogany  for  sub- 
stance and  for  surface  held  full  sway.  How  and 
when  it  first  came  and  gradually  as.serted  itself 
can  well'  be  studied  in  the  Oxford  "  Diction- 
ary of  the  English  Language,"  which  quotes  the 
use  of  the  word  by  various  authors.  There  we 
can  see  that  John  Ogilby,  in  his  "  America  ", 
published  in  1671,  mentions  "  Mohogeney  "  as 
among  the  "  curious  and  rich  sorts  of  woods  "  in 
Jamaica.  As  such  it  was  occasionally  used  for 
small  objects  or  little  veneered  panels  under 
Charles  II.  But  under  Queen  Anne  it  came 
over  in  bulk,  so  that  in  a  1703  number  of  the 
London  Gazette  "Mohogony"  is  stated  to  form 
part  of  the  cargo  of  the  Galeon  "  Tauro  ",  the 
.sale  of  which  is  announced.  By  the  time  George 
the  2nd  is  King  the  fashionable  man  will  have 
nothing  else  for  furniture,  and  Bramston's  "Man 
of  Taste  ",  when 

Queer  country-puts   extol   Queen    Bess's  reign. 
And   of   lost  hospitality  complain  ; 


68 


.1      .Mahi)gan\     C'ummnile 
(I\Ir.    Lei)pi»lcl    Ilirsrh) 


Ileii^ht    2'    <)",    wiillli    4'    4",    tleplli    2'    2".        AIjdui    175'). 


B     MahoSianv    Settee,     cuvered     with   !^Tos]3(iint    needlework. 
6'  6",  depth  2'  .)".     Abmil  1740.     (Mr.  '  Ilrnry  Hirsch) 


Hei;^iu     ,V     2",      witltli 


^/ 


Plate    1.     Enaiisli    Furniture    at    the    Burlint-lon    Fine    Arts    Club 


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considers  that  he  has  fully  silenced  them  by  the 
question — 

Say  thou  that  dost  thy  father's  tabk  praise, 
Was  there  mahogena  in   former  days?' 

while  at  the  time  we  are  specially  considering, 
that  is  about  1746,  younfj  Thomas  Warton,  the 
future  Poet  Laureate,  satirically  voices  the  preva- 
lent fashion  at  Oxford  by  exclaiming  :  — 

Odious  !    upon    a    walnut    ijl.iiik   to   dine  ! 
No — the   red-vein'd   Mohogt;ony  be   mine. 

It  was  not  merely  the  texture  and  colour  of 
mahogany,  but  the  strength  of  the  tissue  for  con- 
struction and  perfection  of  the  grain  for  carving 
that  recommended  it  to  the  now  dexterous 
English  cabinet-makers.  The  chairs  and  settees 
of  the  period  thoroughly  illustrate  its  quality,  and 
their  mastery  over  it.  A  settee  lent  by  Mr. 
Henry  Hirsch  [Plate  I,  b]  has  arms  terminating 
with  lions'  heads  and  the  three  front  legs  elabor- 
ately carved  with  lion  masks  terminating  with 
lions'  paw  feet.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  years 
round  about  1740  and  has,  in  simple  fashion  but 
masterly  treatment,  the  same  motifs  as  the 
famous  Penshurst  card  table  of  similar 
date  which  Lord  de  L'Isle  and  Dudley  has  loaned 
to  the  club.  Both  pieces  date  before  the  French 
rococo  influence  and  our  own  Chinese  "  inven- 
tions "  obtained  strong  hold,  but  those  are  pre- 
sent in  an  exceptionally  finely  wrought  chair  lent 
bv  Colonel  Mulliner  [Plate  II,  c].  The  leg  is 
cabrioled  with  acanthus  foliage  on  the  knee  and 
ball  and  claw  for  the  foot.  In  the  centre  of  the 
seat  frame  is  a  satyr's  mask  and  on  each  side  of 
it  spring  rococo  scrolls  which  are  repeated 
throughout  the  framework,  often  taking  the  shell 
work  form.  But  besides  this,  wherever  the  sur- 
face permits  of  it,  there  are  flower  and  fruit  swags. 
Still  more  rococo  and  Chinese  are  the  frame  and 
stand  of  a  Pole  Screen  from  the  same  collection 
[Plate  II,  n].  Here  the  shell  work  is  univer- 
sally present  on  frame  and  stand,  stretching  right 
down  to  the  foot,  where  a  plain  whorl  of  the  then 
named  French  foot  order  stands  on  an  out- 
stretched conventional  shell,  while  this  same 
favourite  rococo  motif  is  built  up  into  a  semi- 
pergoda  form  at  the  top  of  the  stand  through 
which  the  pole  rises.  These  pieces  are  represen- 
tative of  many  others  in  the  club  room,  both  in 
the  substance  of  the  frame  and  the  character  of 
the  upholstery.  Throughout  both  the  walnut  and 
mahogany  periods  the  upholstering  of  chairs  and 
settees  was  apt  to  be  far  the  most  expensive  part. 
We  have  seen  that,  when  William  3rd  was  fur- 
nishing Hampton  Court  in  the  closing  years  of 
the  17th  century,  "  Elbow  Chair  frames  of 
Wallnut  Tree,  carved  foreparts  and  cross 
frames  "*  were  supplied  at  25s.  apiece,  whereas 
the  cut  Genoa  velvet  and  silk  fringes  of  the  cover- 
ing cost  ten  times  that  amount.  Velvets,  cut  and 
plain,  were  still  greatly  in  vogue  for  such  pur- 

3  Dodsley's  Collection  of  Poems,  ed.    1770,  voL   I,   p.  294. 
*  Burlington  Magazine,  VoL   xxxiii,   p.    164. 


poses  whilst  the  Duchess  of  Marlborough  was 
furnishing  Blenheim  and  the  Earl  of  Manchester 
Kimbolton,  and,  moreover,  together  with 
damask,  "  cafoy  ",  and  other  tissues,  they 
covered  the  sets  provided  for  Houghton 
by  Sir  Robert  Walpole  during  the  first  decade  of 
George  II's  reign.  But  as  that  reign  progressed 
velvets  were  less  used.  Various  silken  fabrics 
remained  fashionable,  but  there  was  an  increase 
in  the  use  of  needlework  and  tapestry,  and  these 
alone  are  represented  at  the  Burlington  Club 
show.  Thus  the  settee  loaned  by  Mr.  Henry 
Hirsch  is  described  in  the  catalogue  as  having 
"  the  back  seat  and  arms  covered  with  gros-point 
needlework  in  coloured  wools ;  in  the  centre  of  the 
back  and  seat  is  an  oval  panel  of  fruit  on  buff 
surrounded  by  conventional  floral  designs  on  a 
black  ground  ",  and  various  other  settees  and 
chairs  have  even  finer  coverings  of  both  gros- 
point  and  petit-pomt. 

Such  work  was  largely  a  home  product.  Ladies 
spent  much  time  within  doors  and,  when  there 
was  no  other  household  call,  plied  the  needle  with 
zeal  and  effect.  In  great  households  the  uphol- 
stery needs  were  made  almost  a  business.  The 
Duke  and  Duchess  of  Beaufort  re-edified  and  re- 
furnished Badmington  in  Charles  and's  time,  and 
when,  some  time  about  the  close  of  that  reign, 
Roger  North  visits  and  describes  it,  he  speaks  as 
follows  of  one  of  the  Duchess's  occupations :  — 

The  ordinary  pastime  of  the  ladies  was  in  a  gallery  on 
the  otheT  side  where  she  had  divers  gentlewomen  com- 
monly at  work  upon  embroidery  and  fringe  making  ;  for 
all  the  beds  of  state  were  made  and  fini-ihed  in  the  house.-'* 

For  bed  hangings  floral  patterns  were  often 
embroidered  on  a  silk  or  linen  background,  but 
sometimes  a  fine  canvas  was  worked  all  over  in 
the  manner  of  tapestry,  as  in  the  splendid  bed  at 
Drayton.  The  latter  form  of  needlework  was  best 
adapted  to  resist  wear  and  was  therefore  specially 
used  for  chairs  and  settees.  But  tapestry,  especi- 
ally designed  for  the  purpose,  was  prevalent  in 
France  and  was  one  of  the  types  of  French  taste 
that  obtained  a  large  vogue  in  England.  After 
the  close  of  the  Mortlake  works  in  1703  the  fore- 
most weaver  in  England  was  John  Vanderbank, 
who  made  sets  of  tapestry  hangings  for  William 
and  Mary  before  the  17th  century  closed,  and 
carried  on  his  works  in  Queen  Street,  Soho,  until 
1728.  Whether  he  or  his  shadowy  contempo- 
rary, Morris,  did  much  in  the  way  of  chair  covers 
is  doubtful,  but  Bradshaw,  almost  as  nebulous  a 
person  as  Morris,  certainly  did,  for  though  he 
executed  great  and  splendid  wall  hangings,  such 
as  the  Watteau  scenes  at  Ham  House  signed  by 
him,  he  also  wove  chair  and  settee  covers, 
of  which  a  complete  set  bearing  his  signature 
survives  at  Belton.  A  vase  or  basket  of  flowers 
in  natural  colours  is  his  usual  central  motif,  and 
such  we  find  on  the  Soho  tapestry  covers  of  a  pair 

5  Roger  North's  Lives  of  the  Norths,  ed.  1826,  Vol.  I,  p. 
275- 


73 


of  chairs  loaned  to  ilie  Burlington  Club  by  Lord 
Lascelles.  Birds,  however,  are  the  leading 
features  of  the  tapestry  that  covers  Colonel  Mul- 
liner's  chair  and  screen  [Pi  atk  II,  A  and  b],  and 
these  are  especialh'  worth  noticing  as  they  are  the 
products  of  the  short-lived  I'ulham  Ta])ostry 
Works.*  They  were  conducted  by  a  naturalised 
Frenchman  named  Parisot,  who  certainly  did  not 
wish  to  be  nebuh)us  in  his  own  or  any  future  age, 
for  he  published  an  account  of  his  establishment 
in  1753.  It  would  appear  that  lie  first  set  up  in 
Paddington,  but  other  French  expert  workers 
reaching  London  and  finding  no  opening  were 
absorbed  bv  him  and  he  moved  to  Fulham. 
There  he  produced  tapestries  and  carpets  in  the 
manner  of  the  French  royal  factories  of  Gobelins 
and  Chaillot,  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  especially 
supporting  him  and  presenting  one  of  his  first 
Chaillot  products  to  the  Princess  of  Wales.  Pari- 
sot tells  us  that  not  only  had  he,  in  1 753,  one  hun- 
dred workmen,  but  that  his  establishment  offered 
accommodation  "  for  a  great  number  of  artists  of 
both  sexes  and  for  such  young  people  as  might 


«  W    C.  Thomson,  History  of  Tapestry,  pub.    lyoj,   p.   46^. 


be  sent  ic  learn  (he  art  of  drawing,  weaving,  dic- 
ing, and  all  other  branches  of  the  work".  Bubb 
Doddington  enters  in  his  diary  how  he  calls  in  at 
the  manufacturer  of  tapestry  from  France  set  up 
at  Fulham  by  the  Duke  and  finds  the  work  fine 
but  \erv  dear.  Very  likely  it  was  its  costliness 
that  proved  its  ruin,  for  in  1755  it  came  to  an  end 
and  the  stock-in-trade  was  put  up  to  auction.  One 
of  the  items  included  is  described  as 

.\  superb  State  chair  the  bacU  with   .1 
Parrot  eating  fruit  and  the  seat  a    Landslci]). 

which  description  will  answer  perfectly  for  the 
chair  illustrated,  parrot  and  landscape  each  being 
framed  in  a  border  of  flowers  upon  a  pale  blue 
background.     Another  lot  in  the  catalogue  is 

A   pattern   for  either   chair  or   scretn    with 
a   beautiful   Chinese   Pheasant, 

and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  screen  has  such  a 
pheasant,  the  body  being  red,  the  back  blue  and 
the  head  and  tail  a  yellowish-brown,  the  whole 
evidently  being  a  representation  of  what  we  know 
as  a  Golden  Pheasant.  Parisot  also  offered  sub- 
jects from  .i^isop's  Fables,  and  such  appear  on 
another  pair  of  arm  chairs  lent  by  Colonel  Mul- 
liner,  who  has  done  much  to  call  attention  to  this 
rare  product  of  French  craftsmen  on  English  soil. 


TWO     PIECES     OF    ENGLISH     XV    CENTURY    EMBROIDERY 

AT    LILLE 

BY    PIERRE    TURPIN 


VER    since    the   German    bombard- 

'ment  of  1914,  the  Palais  des  Beaux 

Ifl  ^^W  Arts,    which   sheltered   the   precious 

\\l  K^A/  collections  of  the  Lille  Museum,  has 

remained  in  a  lamentably  damaged 
condition.  One  can  hardly  blame  the  public 
authorities  for  dealing  first  of  all  with  the  more 
urgent  necessities  of  the  population,  and  leaving 
the  repair  of  the  museums  until  later  on,  but 
works  of  art  are  the  patrimony  of  the  whole  world. 
Is  it  too  audacious  to  hope  that  one  day  the 
civilised  world  will  be  moved  by  the  pitiable  con- 
dition of  some  of  the  French  museums,  and  that 
before  it  is  too  late  ?  I  said  that  the  state  of  the 
Lille  Museum  was  deplorable,  as  may  be  judged 
from  the  fact  that  70  shells  destroyed  a  large  part 
of  the  roof;  that  formidable  explosions  later 
added  to  this  work  of  destruction  by  bringing 
down  windows  and  ceilings ;  that  for  months  on 
end  rain  and  snow  have  penetrated  into  the 
building;  while  temporary  repairs  render  the 
larger  part  of  the  galleries  dark  and  inutilizable. 
The  vaulted  rooms  on  the  ground  floor  of  the 
edifice  have  suffered  relatively  less  than  the 
others,  and  it  has  been  possible  to  reconstitute  in 
its  original  state  the  wing  which  shelters  the 
archaeological  gallery,  in  which  mediaeval  em- 
broidery is  remarkably  well   represented. 


The  principal  piece  in  this  collection  is  well 
known, — an  admirable  15th  century  altar-frontal 
with  figures  of  the  Virgin  and  the  angel  Gabriel. 
This  Annunciation  has  often  been  reproduced. 
Notably,  it  is  to  be  found  in  Van  Ysendyck's 
well-known  work,  and  it  is  therefore  useless  to 
describe  it  here.  The  perfection  of  the  work  and 
the  beauty  of  the  whole  are  such  that  one  is 
tempted  to  see  in  it  a  late  example  of  that  "  opus 
anglicanum "  which  in  the  early  part  of  the 
Middle  Ages  was  the  admiration  and  envy  of 
Christian  Europe.  But  it  appears  that  the  work 
is  really  continental,  and  it  is  very  probable  that 
it  should  be  attributed  to  the  Low  Countries.' 
On  the  other  hand  the  Lille  Museum  does 
possess  two  orphreys  in  English  embroidery  of  a 
slightly  later  date.  The  comparison  which  I 
have  been  able  to  make,  from  memory  or  with 
the  help  of  photographs,  between  them  and 
similar  pieces  in  the  Victoria  and  .'\lbert  Museum 
or  in  private  collections  such  as  that  at  Oscott 
College,  Birmingham,  have  left  me  with  no 
doubt  as  to  their  origin.     This  origin  has  also 

1  Such  at  least  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  A.  F.  Kendrick,  who 
examined  the  piece.  It  comes  from  the  little  church  of 
Novelles-les-SecIin,  near  Lille,  and  w.-is  given  to  the  Museum 
by 'the  family  of  the  collector  Gentil,  together  with  the  two 
pieces  of  embroidery  which  form  the  subject  of  the  present 
article. 


74 


been  attested  by  the  presence  of  characteristic 
details  which  it  may  be  interesting  to  study  and 
to  compare  with  others  observed  elsewhere.  The 
characteristics  of  English  embroidery  of  the  15th 
and  i6th  centuries,  as  occasionally  indicated  by 
authors  who  have  made  a  study  of  the  subject, 
are  not  free  from  a  certain  vagueness.  They  are 
based  principally  on  the  general  form  and  move- 
ment of  the  figures, — a  method  which,  it  appears 
to  me,  allows  too  much  scope  to  the  personal 
appreciation  of  the  observer.  The  study  of  Eng- 
lish embroidery  is  in  any  case  relatively  recent 
and  of  necessity  incomplete.  The  critics  whose 
work  has  restored  this  secular  art  to  honour  have 
themselves  expressed  a  desire  to  see  detailed 
observations  lead  to  the  establishment  of  dis- 
tinctive characteristics.  I  hope,  therefore,  that 
I  shall  be  pardoned  for  venturing  on  ground 
usually  reserved  for  technical  authorities  on  the 
subject. 

In  my  opinion,  one  of  the  characteristics 
peculiar  to  English  embroidery  is  ^the  choice  of 
certain  distinctive  attributes  for  the  saints  repre- 
sented. Thus  S.  Philip  is  here  figured  [Plate 
I,  b]  holding  loaves  (whose  hexagonal  form  is 
also  found  in  the  illuminations  of  the  time).  This 
allusion  to  the  part  played  by  the  apostle  in  the 
miracle  of  the  loaves  and  fishes  is  in  keeping  with 
the  text  of  the  Evangelist  (S.  John  vi.,  57,  5,  7), 
but  it  is  peculiar  to  England,  where  it  is  fre- 
quently met  with  at  a  certain  period.'  It  is,  on 
the  other  hand,  absolutely  unknown  on  the 
Continent,  where  S.  Philip  is  represented  with  a 
book,  or  with  one  of  the  supposed  instruments  of 
his  passion, — a  spear,  a  sword  or  even  a  cross. 
It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  figure  of 
S.  Philip  in  this  orphrey  has  hitherto  been  taken 
for  that  of  S.  Etienne.  But  it  is  impossible  to 
mistake  for  stones  the  hexagonal  loaves,  orna- 
mented on  top  with  a  black  spot  which  recalls  the 
customary  baker's  mark.  In  any  case,  S.  Etienne 
would  probably  have  been  dressed  in  a  deacon's 
dalmatic'  In  this  case  the  figure  wears  some 
kind  of  15th  century  vestment,  as  do  the  other 
five  figures  represented.  But  while  these  have 
their  feet  and  heads  covered,  the  apostle's  head 
is  bare  and  surrounded  by  a  halo,  and 
his  feet  are  also  bare, — a  characteristic 
which  is  usual  in  representation  of  the 
apostles.*      The    other    personages   are    not    so 

2  For  instance,  it  is  found  in  stained  glass  at  Wintringlnam, 
North  Tudd^nham,  on  rood-screens  at  North  Walsham,  Mar- 
sham,  Trunch,  and  in  embroideries.  See  Nos.  5  and  23  of 
the  Catalogue  of  English  Ecclesiastical  Embroideries  at  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  by  E.  Maclagan  and  A.  F. 
Kendrick. 

'  See  Cahier,  Caracteristiques  des  Saints,  the  well-known 
work  by  M.  Male,  and  for  the  emblem  of  the  loaves,  Husen- 
beth   and  Maurice  Drake. 

*  As  regards  bare  feet  see  Molanus  (De  Historia  S.  S. 
Imaginum,  p.  541  of  the  Jean-Noel  Paquot  edition,  1771),  who, 
among  other  authorities,  quotes  the  text  of  S.  Matthew  (X. 
9,  10),  "  Do  not  possess  gold  .  .  .  neither  two  coats  nor 
shoM  ". 


easily  identified.  Four  appear  to  represent 
patriarchs,  as  they  do  not  carry  the  volume  which 
ordinarily  distinguishes  the  prophets, — such  as 
the  prophetic  book  in  which  the  fifth  person 
points  out  a  passage  with  his  finger. 

The  second  distinctive  characteristic  which 
shows  the  English  origin  is  the  peculiar  develop- 
ment of  the  foliage  which  crowns  the  arch  of  the 
niches  framing  the  figures.  It  is  remarkable  that 
this  detail  should  have  been  accurately  recorded 
in  the  description  of  orphreys  of  English  origin 
which  figured  in  the  inventory  of  the  chapel  of 
Philip  the  Bold  in  1404  :  "  une  chappe  h.  ung 
orfrois  ou  sont  les  douze  apotres  .  .  .  seans 
en  tabernacles  de  perles  h  deux  troches  d'arbris- 
seaux  .  .  .  et  diet  on  qu'elle  feut  faicte  en 
Angleterre  ".  M.  de  Farcy,  quoting  this  text 
after  Mgr.  Deshaines,  compares  it  with  another 
more  explicit  still,  a  description  of  the  same  cope 
in  another  inventory  dated  1420:  "orfrois  de 
fa^on  d'Engleterre  faicts  k  apdtres  .  .  . 
estans  en  mani^re  de  tabernacles  faiz  de  deux 
arbres  dont  les  tiges  sont  toutes  couvertes  de 
perles  ".'  An  examination  of  the  archives  of 
the  various  French  Departments  would  probably 
lead  to  the  discovery  of  other  no  less  interesting 
accounts  which  have  not  yet  been  brought  to 
light.  Sir  Charles  Wolston  was  kind  enough  to 
inform  me  that  M.  de  Farcy,  whose  qualifications 
to  speak  with  authority  are  well  known,  laid 
stress  upon  this  characteristic  when  affirming 
the  English  origin  of  the  fine  collection  of  sacer- 
dotal ornaments  which  belonged  to  Sir  Charles 
and  Lady  Wolston,  before  they  generously 
presented  it  to  public  collections.  These 
embroideries  were  studied  at  length  in 
the  Burlington  Magazine^  by  Mr.  Cecil  Tatter- 
sall  who,  without  making  any  categorical  pro- 
nouncement, remarked  that  the  appearance  and 
notably  the  design  of  the  ornaments  pointed  to 
the  probability  of  an  English  origin. 

This  appears  to  me  to  be  proved  by  a  third 
peculiarity, — the  presence  of  steps  forming  a 
perron  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  in  a  crucifixion 
which  ornaments  the  chasuble  in  Sir  Charles 
Walston's  collection.  In  a  study  of  a  crucifixion 
in  Coventry  Charterhouse,'  painted  at  the 
beginning  of  the  15th  century,  I  laid  stress  on 
this  unexpected  arrangement,  which  is  so  little 
in  accordance  with  iconographical  tradition.  In 
crucifixions  with  figures  the  cross  is  usually 
planted  in  the  soil,  from  which  emerges  the  skull, 
and  sometimes  the  whole  body  of  Adam,  the  first 
man  and  the  originator  of  the  sin  redeemed  by 
the  Cross.  This  is  more  than  a  picturesque  cus- 
tom, it  is  part  of  a  religious  tradition  in  which, 
with  that  fine  symmetry  of  ideas  which  was  so 

'  Quoted  by  de  Laborde  :  Les  dues  de  Bourgogne,  II,  No. 
4097. 

•  Burlington  Magaeint,  Vol.   29,   p.   49. 
'  Ibid,  Vol.  35,  p.  246,  and  36.  p.  84. 


7S 


sought  tor  in  the  Middle  Ages,  the  cross  was 
pretigiued  by  the  tree  of  liden.  The  text  of 
hymns  preserved  in  the  Catholic  Church  are  full 
of  allusions  to  this  analogy.  In  order  to  explain 
it,  it  was  necessary  for  the  cross  to  be  planted 
like  a  tree,  and  not  situated  on  the  top  of  steps, 
unless  the  latter  were  requisite  for  reasons  of 
construction,  as  in  crosses  made  of  stone.' 

Finding  the  same  peculiarity  in  the  designs  of 
English  embroideries  I  was  curious  to  discover 
whether  this  was  the  result  of  a  fortuitous  circum- 
stance or  whether  it  was  possible  to  establish  the 
existence  of  a  certain  regularity  or  even  custom 
in  its  employment.  Mr.  Kendrick,  who  was 
interested  in  what  I  considered  nothing  more 
than  a  hypothesis,  was  kind  enough  to  help  me 
in  this  search.  He  did  not  find  these  steps  in 
any  foreign  embroideries.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  ascertained  their  presence  in  eight  pieces  of 
indisputably  English  origin.  (Nos.  314,  317, 
324.  326,  326*,  329,  332,  357).  The  most  ancient 
example  goes  back  to  the  end  of  the  14th  century, 
the  most  recent  to  the  beginning  of  the  i6th 
century.  Other  examples  at  Cresswell  Catholic 
Church  and  Oscott  College  allow  us  to  conclude 
that  the  tradition  survived  in  England  up  to  the 
beginning  of  the  17th  century. 

1  can  add  to  Mr.  Kendrick's  list  a  complement- 
ary list  of  pieces  which  contain  the  same  peculi- 
arity. In  some  cases,  such  as  that  of  the 
embroidery  at  Oscott  College,  it  has  allowed  us 
to  rectify  a  doubtful  attribution  and  to  pronounce 
in  favour  of  the  English  origin, — a  decision 
which  is  confirmed  by  a  general  examination  of 
the  piece. 

IX.  Chasuble  mentioned  above  from  Sir 
Charles  Walston's  collection. 

X.  Catholic  Church  at  Kenihvorth,- — orphreys 
of  a  chasuble  of  the  end  of  the  15th  century 
attached  to  a  modern  vestment.'    [Plate  II]. 

XI.  Catholic  Church  at  Cresswell  (Stafford- 
shire). Chasuble  in  purple  velvet  of  the  end  of 
the  i6th  century." 

•  A  study  upon  the  origin  of  the  cross  with  the  perron  would 
be  outside  the  scope  of  the  present  article.  It  is  worth 
remarking,  however,  that  if  this  arrangen:ient  is  always 
employed  for  stone  crosses  in  cemeteries  and  public  places  (see 
Mr.  Aynier  Vallance's  articit  in  the  Burlington  Magazine, 
vol.  33,  p.  79),  its  appearance  in  embroidery  is  peculiar  to 
England.  There  it  appears  fairly  early  in  brasses,  first  in  the 
form  of  a  cruciform  ornament  with  a  foot,  which  frames  the 
figure  of  a  saint  or  a  deceased  person  (East  Wickam,  1325. 
Stone,  John  Lumbarde,  1408).  Later,  as  an  actual  cross  with 
2,  3,  4,  or  even  5  steps,  sometimes  with  the  figures  of  the 
Virgin  and  S.  John  (Higham-Ferrers,  Hildersham,  Cambridge, 
East  Wickam,  Broadwater,  Sussex).  The  same  arrangement 
of  a  cross  with  steps  has  existed  everywhere  in  heraldry  and 
appears   sometimes  in  numismatic. 

•  Crucifixion  with  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  form  of  a  dove, 
two  angels  catching  the  Precious  Blood.  Below,  the  Virgin 
and  S.  John  ;  on  the  back  S.  Agnes  (traces  of  the  lamb),  S. 
Peter  with  the  keys,  S.  Bartholomew  with  a  book  and  a  knife, 
and  finally   a  saint   Incomplete  and  not  identifiable. 

K'This  information  was  supplied  to  me  by  the  Rector, 
Father  Thomas  Scott.  The  collection  of  embroideries  at 
Cresswell  seems  to  be  of  the  highest  interest,  to  judge  from 
the  description  with  which  he  was  kind  enough  to  furnish  me. 

76 


XII.  Valle  di  Cadora  (Italy).  Chasuble  re- 
produced in  Dr.  Costantini's  book  on  the  Cruci- 
fix. The  photograph  of  this  piece,  compared 
with  those  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum, 
leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  English  origin. 

XIII  to  XVII.  Oscott  College.  Here  we  have 
five  chasubles  and  a  veil  for  the  chalice  (of  the 
In'ginning  of  the  17th  century).  Mo.st  of  these 
pieces  were  exhibited  in  the  Burlington  Club  in 
1907  and  iigure  in  the  catalogue. 

XVIII.  VVhitworth  Institute,  Manchester. 
Chasuble  of  the  end  of  the  15th  century  from 
the  Robinson  collection.  Crucifixion  with 
angels,   below,  S.  Christopher  and  S.  George. 

XIX.  The  Somz^e  collection  (sold  at  Brussels 
in  1904).  No.  851  of  the  catalogue  (III  vol.)  re- 
produced on  plate  LXXIX,  is  the  orphrey  of  a 
chasuble  described  as  Flemish  work  of  the  15th 
century.  All  the  details  of  the  ornament,  as 
well  as  the  presence  of  steps  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  go  to  prove  the  c*igin  to  be  English.  But 
the  catalogue  of  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 
published  in  1907  was  not  known  to  the  authors 
of  this  catalogue,  which  refers  for  comparison 
to  a  piece  from  the  collection  of  M.  de  Farcy 
(Plate  68  of  his  book)." 

XX.  The  de  Farcy  collection  (Plate  LXVIII 
La  Broderie).  Chasuble  ornamented  with  sera- 
phims  and  flourishes.  The  author  gives  the  fol- 
lowing description  :  "  riches  fleurons,  feuilles 
retourn^es,  croix  d'une  facture  assez  soignee; 
sur  les  tourelles  voisines  du  Christ  flottent  des 
drapeaux  portant  les  dessins  des  5  plaies".  In 
ornament  this  piece  is  really  very  like  those 
mentioned  above, from  theSomz^e  collection  and 
the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  M.  de  Farcy 
not  having  pronounced  on  the  origin,  there  is 
nothing  to  prevent  us  from  attributing  it  to  the 
English  school  of  the  end  of  the  15th  or  the 
beginning  of  the  i6th  century,  having  regard 
to  the  presence  of  the  characteristics  mentioned 
above. 

One  may  criticise  the  method'*  which  finds 
characteristic  indices  in  the  details  of  the  design 
or  in  the  symbolic  or  picturesque  representation 
of  the  subject  rather  than  in  the  technical  exami- 
nation of  the  textile  materials  employed 
and  the  processes  of  embroidery.  The 
truth  is  that  in  studying  the  records  of  a 
fairly  general  civilisation,  and  of  a  liturgy  as 
stationary  as  that  of  the  Middle  Ages,  details 
are  most  important.  They  indicate  the  origin  of  a 
piece  because,  judged  to  be  without  importance, 
they  were  left  to  the  initiative  of  the  executant, 
who  created  a  sort  of  local  tradition  with  special 
characteristics.     This  is  particularly  true  in  the 

'•  Christ  on  the  cross  with  S.  John  and  the  Virgin,  to  right 
and  left,  angels  catching  the  blood  ;  above  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
the  Eternal  Father  (incomplete) ;  higher,  a  fragment  of  S. 
Madeleine  ;  below   the   cross,   the  figure  of  S.   John   Baptist. 

12  Which  is,  however,  endorsed  by  the  authority  of  M.  de 
Farcy.     (La  Broderie,  p.   50). 


#-^ 


.4  and  B     Orphreys  in    English    Embroidery  (Lille  Museum) 


Plate  I.     Two  pieces  of  English  X\'lli    century   Embroidery  at  Lille 


-7 


^/ 


a,:M,;K;,;:f;!;::;^r'  ^'  '•"^'^^■'"" ''  "■'•  '■-'  "^  ""•  '^'"  — •>  atta^d ,.. . ,.,.,.,,.  .,..„.,... 


(Calhulic 


I'lal^ 


'   II.      Two  pieces  of  En-lish   Wtl,  eeiiiury   l-nibroiderv  al  L 


ille 


A  Gold  Ornament  from  tlie  Kuban  district 


case  of  embroidery.  M.  Marquet  de  Vasselot,  in 
his  introduction  to  the  catalogue  of  the  Martin- 
Leroy  collection,  has  justly  remarked  that  in  the 
15th  century  embroidery  all  over  Europe  showed 
more  or  less  the  same  general  forms,  borrowed 
from  illuminations,  with  the  same  mixture  of 
Flemish  and  Italian  influences.  The  technique 
which  spread  from  studio  to  studio,  or  rather 
from  one  monastery  to  another,  is  everywhere  so 
identical  that  even  the  most  experienced 
specialists  hesitate  to  pronounce  an  opinion,  as 
we  saw  in  the  case  of  Sir  Charles  Walston's 
embroideries.    The  total  of  the  pieces  which  bear 

A    GOLD    ORNAMENT    FROM 
BY    O.    M.    DALTON 

'HE  accompanying  small  illustration 
[Plate]'  may  be  of  interest  in 
view  of  the  origin  and  antiquity  of 
the  object  which  it  represents.  It  is 
a  cast  gold  plaque  in  the  Her- 
mitage Collection  at  Petrograd,  discovered  in 
1903  in  a  tumulus  near  the  river  Kelermes,  not 
far  from  Maikop  in  the  Kuban  district,  east  of 
the  Sea  of  Azov;  it  thus  belongs  to  the  art 
which,  since  the  publication  of  Mr.  Minns'  book 
Scythians  and  Greeks,  we  describe  by  the  con- 
venient general  term  Scythic.  It  lay  by  the 
skeleton  of  a  chief  with  various  objects,  one  of 
which,  a  gold  dagger-sheath,  had  ornament  of  a 
purely  Assyrian  type,  while  others  were  decor- 
ated in  a  mixed  Assyrian  and  Scythic  style. 
Archaeologists  seem  to  be  agreed  that  the  date 
is  not  likely  to  be  later  than  the  early  part  of  the 
6th  century  B.C. 

It  is  clear  that  the  quadruped,  conjectured  to 
be  a  panther,  was  regarded  by  the  artist  above 
all  as  decoration  ;  representation  there  is,  but  it 
already  takes  a  secondary  place ;  it  is  even  more 
subordinated  than  in  the  case  of  the  better 
known  figures  of  deer  from  Kul  Oba  and  Kos- 
tromskaya.^  But  it  is  instructive  to  find  the 
angular  relief  here  illustrated  thus  systematically 
used  on  an  object  still  comparatively  near  to 
nature.     In  later  centuries  we  find  it  employed 

1  The  illustration  is  taken  from  Strzygowski's  recent  work 
Altai,  Iran  und  Volkerwanderung,  Leipzig,  1917,  which  con- 
tains an  important  study  of  early  barbaric  ornament  from 
Further  Asia  to  Europe.  The  Kelermes  finds  are  described 
by  Minns  (Scythians  and  Greeks,  p.  222)  after  an  account  by 
Pharmakovskv  in  the  Archdologischer  Anseiger,  1904,  p.  100, 
but  at  the  time  when  he  wrote  photographic  illustrations 
were  not  available.  The  use  of  cloisonn(^  work  in  the  ear 
of  the  panther  should  be  noticed.  This  is  one  of  the  earliest 
examples  in  Asia  of  this  mode  of  decoration,  which  occurs 
on   another  remarkable  gold  ornament   from   the   same   site. 

-  Scythians  and  Greeks,  Figs.   98  and  129. 


the  characteristic  index  above-mentioned  amounts 
to  a  score,  which  must  be  acknowledged  to  be  a 
fairly  respectable  number.  There  remain  to  be 
examined  the  embroideries  scattered  over  a  num- 
ber of  continental  museums  and  collections.  It 
is  safe  to  predict  that  some  of  these  should  be 
attributed  to  the  English  school,  whose  fecundity 
was  remarkable.  This  school  enjoyed  a  universal 
reputation,  even  when  the  artistic  quality  of  its 
productions  was  on  the  decline,  as  was  the  case 
in  the  15th  and  i6th  centuries,  for  the  triumph 
of  "  opus  anglicanum  "  evidently  belongs  to  an 
earlier  age. 

THE    KUBAN    DISTRICT 


for  highly  conventionalised  or  geometrical 
designs  chiefly  on  small  metal  ornaments  of  gold 
or  gilt  bronze,^  the  object  being  in  all  cases  to 
produce  sharp  and  continuous  contrast  of  light 
and  shade  :  it  is  in  fact  one  of  the  "  coloristic  " 
methods  which  the  East  preferred  to  modelling. 
The  recent  researches  of  Strzygowski  make  it 
more  than  ever  probable  that  it  started  its 
journey  across  the  Eurasian  continent  from  the 
Further  East,  whence  in  course  of  time  it  was 
carried  by  the  various  migrant  peoples  through 
the  South  of  Russia  into  the  West  of  Europe; 
thus  the  hafts  of  bronze  knives  at  Minusinsk  in 
Siberia  and  the  gilt  metal  brooches  of  our  Anglo- 
Saxon  forefathers  are  decorated  on  one  prin- 
ciple. It  penetrated  the  field  of  industrial  art 
in  the  Roman  Empire,  where  its  appearance  was 
so  hard  to  explain  on  any  theory  but  that  of  an 
oriental  origin,  that  Riegl,  who  attempted  the 
task,  was  driven  into  aesthetic  speculations  of  a 
notorious  subtlety.'' 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  earlier  Scythic 
art  was  concerned  with  beasts  rather  than  with 
men.  It  would  have  been  interesting  to  see  the 
human  figure  treated  by  the  original  art  of  the 
Asiatic  steppes  on  the  principles  applied  to  the 
Kelermes  panther. 


3  It  was  also  used  in  wood  carving,  stucco  ornament, 
etc.,  especially  in  Mohammedan  art. 

*They  are  developed  in  his  Spdtromische  Kunstindustrie 
nach  den  Funden  in  Oesterreich-Ungarn,  Vienna,  igoi.  The 
term  used  bv  Riegl  for  what  I  have  called  "  angular  relief  " 
was  Keilschnitt,  or  "  wedge  carving  "  ;  Strzygowski  suggests 
Schriigschnilt  or  "  slant-carving  ",  which  seems  an  improve- 
ment in  so  far  as  it  emphasizes  the  importance  of  the  slopes 
forming  the  sides  of  the  ridges.  When  the  method  is  applied 
to  continuous  patterns,  the  design  may  sometimes  be  seen 
either  in  the  channels  between  the  ridges,  or  along  the  ridges 
themselves,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  background  and 
which   pattern. 


81 


"VISION    AND    DESIGN"* 
BY    C.    J.    HOLMES 

R.  Roger  Fry  has  played  so  pro- 
minent, and,  to  many,  so  inexplic- 
able a  part  in  the  art  life  of  England 
during  the  last  few  years  that 
this  profoundly  interesting  book* 
should  have  an  interest  for  a  far  larger  public 
than  art  criticism  commonly  attracts.  Mr.  Fry 
has  few  rivals  as  an  exponent  of  the  Old  Masters, 
and  those  who  have  enjoyed  his  papers  on  Giotto, 
on  William  BlaUe,  and  Aubrey  Beardsley,  will 
enjoy  reading  them  again,  and  will  regret  per- 
haps that  such  notable  essays  as  those  on  the 
French  Primitives  were  not  also  included.  These 
no  doubt  were  outside  the  scope  of  the  book, 
(already  vast  enough)  which  is  intended  rather 
to  explain  Mr.  Fry's  present  attitude  than  to  re- 
call his  past  achievements.  Only  this  idea,  in- 
deed, could  quite  justify  the  inclusion  of  the 
paper  on  Mohammedan  art.  Excellent  as  it  is, 
many  of  its  points  will  be  almost  unintelligible 
to  the  general  reader  from  the  absence  of  the 
illustrative  accompaniment  required  for  com- 
prehension. But  Mr.  Fry  himself  is  the  main 
subject  of  the  volume,  and  to  him  accordingly 
we  must  turn  with  no  further  prelude. 

The  narrow  conservatism  which  regards  him 
as  Tom  o'  Bedlam  we  may  disregard.  But  to  the 
puzzled  minds  which  are  inclined  to  wonder 
whether  he  is  not  an  aesthetic  Cagliostro,  he  gives 
quite  unconsciously  one  undeniable  opening. 
The  earliest  essay  in  the  volume  is  a  long  and 
most  able  study  of  the  paintings  attributed  to 
Giotto  at  Assisi.  As  a  piece  of  constructive  and 
interpretative  criticism  it  could  not  easily  be 
bettered.  Yet  it  was  written  nearly  twenty 
years  ago,  and  Mr.  Fry  therefore  indicates  in  a 
note  the  change  in  his  own  views  during  the 
interval. 

"  Where  I  should  be  inclined  to  disagree  is  that  there 
underlies  this  article  a  tacit  assumption  not  only  that  the 
dramatic  idea  may  have  inspired  the  artist  to  the  creation 
of  his  form,  but  that  the  value  of  the  form  for  us  is 
bound  up  without   recognition   of   the   dramatic  idea." 

Those  who  have  accused  Mr.  Fry  of  wrapping 
up  his  thoughts  in  unintelligible  words  might 
triumphantly  quote  this  last  sentence  against 
him.  As  it  stands  it  has  no  recognizable  mean- 
ing. Indeed  it  was  not  till  I  saw  it  misquoted, 
or  corrected,  by  another  reviewer,  that  I  was  able 
to  find  out  what  Mr.  Fry  had  intended  to  say. 
Substitute  "with"  for  "without"  and  his  state- 
ment is  plain  enough. 

Bv  taking  the  essays  in  chronological  order  it 
is  easy  to  see  at  what  point  Mr.  Fry's  conversion 
took  place.  His  critical  year  was  1912.  At  the 
beginning  of  that  year  he  was  his  old  self ;  at  the 

"Vision  and  Design,  by  Roger  Fry.  405  pp.  +  32  pi. 
(Chatto  Si  Windus).     25*-   net- 


end  of  it  he  was  another  man,  denying  almost  all 
that  he  had  previously  affirmed.  A  few  repre- 
sentative quotations  will  illustrate  the  contrast 
between  the  old  and  the  modern  point  of  view. 
In  "  The  Artist's  Vision  "  (1919)  Mr.  Fry 
writes  :  — 

"  The  creative  vision  demands  the  most  complete  de- 
tachment from  the  meanings  and  implications  of  api»ar- 
ances.  In  such  circumstances  the  greatest  object  of  art 
becomes  of  no  more  significance  than  any  casual  piece  of 
matter;  a  man's  head  is  no  more  and  no  less  important 
than  a  pumpkin,  or,  rather,  tliese  things  may  be  so  or 
not  according  to  the  rhythm  which  obsesses  the  artist  and 
crystallizes  his  vision.  .  .  By  preference  he  turns  to 
objects  which  make  no  strong  aesthetic  appeal  in  them- 
selves." 

And  in  "  Art  and  Life  "  (1917)  :  — 

"  With  the  new  indifference  to  representation  we  have 
become  much  less  interested  in  skill  and  not  at  all  inter- 
ested in  knowledge.  .  .  .  The  artist  of  the  new  move- 
ment is  moving  into  a  sphere  more  and  more  remote  from 
that  of  the  ordinary  man.  In  proportion  as  art  becomes 
purer,  the  number  of  people  to  whom  it  appeals  grows  less. 
It  cuts  out  all  the  romantic  overtones  of  life  by  which 
men  are  induced  to  accept  a  work  of  art.  It  appeals  only 
to  the  aesthetic  sensibility,  and  that  in  most  men  is  com- 
paratively  weak." 

With  these  we  may  compare  one  or  two  earlier 
passages  from  the  "Essay  in  Aesthetics"  (1909). 

"  If  we  represent  these  various  elements  (the  emotional 
elements  of  design)  in  simple  diagrammatic  terms  .  .  . 
such  diagrams  can  at  best  arouse  only  faint  ghostlike 
echoes  of  emotions  of  differing  qualities,  but  when  these 
emotional  elements  are  combined  with  the  presentation  of 
actual  appearances,  above  all  with  the  appearance  of  the 
human  body,  we  find  that  this  effect  is  indefinitely 
heightened." 

An    illustration   from    Michelangelo   follows. 
Lastly  there  is  a  significant  passage  in  the  essay 
on  Diirer  (1909). 

"  The  decadence  of  Italian  Art  came  about  not  through 
indifference  to  the  claims  of  artistic  expression,  but 
through  a  too  purely  intellectual  and  conscious  study  of 
them." 

We  cannot  help  asking  ourselves  whether  the 
modernists  have  not  themselves  embarked  upon 
this  same  dangerous  course.  I  can  imagine  no 
more  purely  intellectual  theory  of  art  than  that 
which  Mr.  Fry  seeks  to  establish;  by  separating 
from  design  absolutely  every  element  which  does 
not  make  a  direct  assthetic  appeal  to  the  eye. 
Some  element  of  realism  he  himself  feels  bound 
to  retain,  because  he  feels  that  art  must  be  three- 
dimensional,  and  the  suggestion  of  three  dimen- 
sions calls  for  a  corresponding  suggestion  of 
light.  But  with  the  suggestion  of  light,  the 
suggestion  of  nature  creeps  in,  and  with  nature 
associated  ideas,  however  rudimentary.  I  con- 
fess that  on  this  point  Mr.  Fry  and  his  friends 
appear  to  me  to  be  a  little  illogical.  If  we  must 
paint  only  the  aesthetic  absolute,  the  absolute  let 
it  be  and  nothing  else.  Possibly  it  is  some  doubt 
on  this  point  that  inspires  the  last  words  of  the 
book. 


Sz 


"  As  to  the  value  of  the  aesthetic  emotion  ...  it 
seems  to  be  as  remote  from  actual  life  and  its  practical 
utilities  as  the  most  useless  mathematical  theorem.  One 
can  only  say  that  those  who  experience  it  feel  it  to  have 
a  peculiar  quality  of  "  reality  "  which  makes  it  a  matter 
of  infinite  importance  in  their  lives.  Any  attempt  I 
might  make  to  explain  this  would  probably  land  me  in 
the  depth  of  mysticism.     On  the  edge  of  that  gulf  I  stop. " 

No  one  who  studies  this  valiant  attempt  to  cap- 
ture the  secret  of  pure  and  unadulterated  aesthetic 
perfection,  can  do  so  without  respect  for  the  self- 
sacrifice  it  has  entailed  upon  the  part  of  the 
author.  The  book  should  remove  once  and  for 
all  any  temptation  to  regard  Mr.  Fry  in  any 
light  except  that  of  a  most  sincere  and  most 
austere  pilgrim  to  the  shrine  of  truth.  But 
the  secret  itself — well — "  it  needs  heaven-sent 
moments  for  this  skill,"  and  in  one  aspect  we 
may  think  of  Mr.  Fry  as  a  new  Scholar- — Gipsy — 
"  still  nursing  the  unconquerable  hope."  We 
may  know  in  our  hearts  that  the  hope  is  vain,  but 
the  scholar  who  has  cast  all  else  aside  to  wander 
in  search  of  it  is  far  from  a  ridiculous  figure  in 
these  harsh  material  times.  Like  Glanvil's 
wanderer,  he  may  even  inspire  us  with  a  certain 
envy,  as  one  protected  by  his  quest  from  the  jar- 
ring discontents  which  rack  the  modern  world. 

But  if  in  his  private  ideals  Mr.  Fry  may  seem 
like  the  Scholar-Gipsy,  the  fact  that  he  is  a  teacher 
as  well  as  a  searcher  has  to  be  faced,  and  here,  if 
the  comparison  be  not  irreverent,  he  is  perhaps  a 
little  too  like  S.  Peter.  He  will  touch  nothing 
that  is  common.  In  his  essay  on  Renoir  he 
says  : 

"  The  few  artists  or  writers  who  have  shared  the  tastes 
of  the  average  man  have,  as  a  rule,  been  like  Dickens — 
to  take  an  obvious  case — very  imperfect  and  very  impure 
artists,  however  great  their  genius." 

He  then  quotes  Rubens  and  Titian  as  artists 
of  common  tastes. 

There  is  some  truth  in  this  criticism,  but,  I 
submit,  it  is  not  the  whole  truth.  Surely  the 
gross  exuberant  and  material  elements  in  art, 
visible,  tangible  and  acceptable  to  common 
humanity  occupy,  as  it  were,  one  end,  perhaps  the 
lower  end,  of  a  scale.  At  the  other  end  of  the 
scale  are  the  super-refinements  of  art,  the  esthetic 
abstractions,  such  as  that  of  which  Mr.  Fry  and 
his  whilom  opponent,  Mr.  D.  S.  MacColl,  are 
both  in  search.  Now  no  great  artist  works  con- 
tinuously at  either  extremity  of  such  a  scale.  If 
he  were  at  one  end  he  would  be  quite  vulgar ;  if  at 
the  other  he  would  be  quite  empty.  His  art  is  a 
combination  in  various  proportions  of  the 
material  and  the  abstract,  or  in  Mr.  Fry's 
language  of  the  common  and  the  pure.  To  tell 
the  artist  to  give  up  altogether  the  substantial 
dements  in  life  and  to  paint  the  pure  assthetic,  is 
like  asking  any  other  skilled  workman  to  give  up 
all  ordinary  healthy,  natural  food,  and  subsist  on 
the  elegant  extracts  of  Messrs.  Brand  and 
\'alentine.  May  not  the  very  narrow  circle  of 
aims  and  achievements  to  which  Mr.  Fry,  his 
friends  and  his  followers  are  confined,    be  the 


unanswerable  proof  that  this  precept  means 
starvation  of  nine-tenths  of  the  normal  artistic 
stimuli  ?  The  fact  that  a  similar  effort  has  been 
made  in  literature,  and  has  failed  definitely  and 
conspicuously,  points  to  the  same  conclusion. 
The  analogy  of  literature  with  painting  is  indeed 
a  close  one  :  much  closer  than  that  of  either  art 
with  music.  In  poetry  and  in  poetical  prose  we 
have  subject  matter  emphasized  by  rhythm,  and 
so  blended  with  it  in  the  finest  examples  that  we 
cannot  in  any  way  alter  or  separate  them  without 
absolutely  destroying  the  whole  delightful  fabric. 

Now,  I  think,  if  the  theory  held  by  Mr.  Fry 
and  the  modernists  were  sound,  we  should  find 
that  in  poetry,  so  long  as  the  verbal  music  was 
perfect,  an  equally  fine  poetic  result  was  attained 
whether  the  subject  matter  was  insignificant  or 
the  reverse.  But  this  is  far  from  being  the  case. 
When  we  know  but  little  of  a  language,  much  of 
the  finest  poetry  in  that  language  is  practically 
dumb  for  us.  We  can  read  the  words  perhaps, 
and  catch  their  rhythm,  but  the  rhythm  hardly 
moves  us.  It  is  not  until  we  have  mastered  the 
meaning  of  the  words  that  the  beauty  and  fitness 
of  the  rhythm  take  hold  of  us  and  reveal  their 
perfections.  It  is  true  that  when  we  first  read  a 
poet  we  are  apt  to  be  caught  by  his  purple  pass- 
ages, by  obvious  assonance  and  resounding 
rhythm.  But  when  we  know  our  poet  better  we 
find  that  these  are  but  rhetorical  ornaments,  the 
flourishes  of  exuberant  strength,  and  that  the 
heart  of  the  matter  and  his  true  genius  are  often 
conveyed  in  lines  whose  rhythm  is  so  subtle  and 
unobtrusive  that  we  hardly  notice  it  at  first. 
Think,  for  example,  of  the  line  in  which  Catullus 
sums  up  the  dreadful  fate  of  Attis — Ibi  omne  vUcb 
spatium  deae  famula  fuit.  What  a  contrast  with 
the  radiant  imagery  and  fiery  rhythm  of  the  rest 
of  the  piece,  and  yet  the  whole  intensity  of  the 
tragedy  is  concentrated  in  that  "  famula."  The 
contrast  between  the  sonorous  scholarly  music  of 
the  "  Vita  Nuova  ",  and  the  broken  recondite 
phrasing  by  which  the  terrific  images  of  the 
"  Divina  Commedia  "  are  stamped  upon  the 
memory  might  be  quoted  to  the  same  effect. 

The  truth  is  that  rhythm  is  nothing,  or  next  to 
nothing,  except  when  emphasizing  something. 
The  more  significant  that  something,  the  more 
valuable,  and  the  more  powerful  does  the  rhythm 
become.  Mr.  Fry  quotes  the  remark  of  a  friend 
in  the  presence  of  his  still-life  by  Marchand,  that 
"  it  was  like  Buddha."  The  phrase  describes 
not  inaptly  the  monumental  simplicity  of  this  de- 
sign, and  incidentally  seems  to  me  to  give  away 
Mr.  Fry's  case.  When  I  ask  myself  why  I  like 
certain  still-lifes  by  Cezanne,  I  find  that  it  may 
be  because  the  shape  of  a  cloth  or  a  curtain 
suggests  to  me  the  mass  and  large  contour  of  a 
mountain,  and  from  that  association  the  rhythm 
acquires  an  added  largeness  and  grandeur.  In- 
deed, the  aim  of  all  great  artists  is  to  extract  from 


83 


ilie  natural  forms  that  stimulate  them,  not  sonu' 
pure  abstraction  of  pattern,  some  absolute 
.-usthetic  quality,  but  just  those  elements  which 
by  association  with  our  ideas  of  things  large, 
weighty,  splendid,  swift,  subtle,  refined,  spa- 
cious, luminous,  majestic  or  passionate,  will 
awake  in  us  the  appropriate  emotion,  the  particu- 
lar emotion  which  the  artist  wishes  to  inspire. 
The  rhvthm  of  form  and  colour  in  the  piece  is  a 
result  of  this  selecting  process,  and  apart  from 
the  associations  of  which  it  is  the  vehicle,  has  but 
a  shadowy  and  empty  existence. 

Here  we  come  to  the  cjuestion  of  what  is  com- 
monlv  known  as  generalization  of  forms  :  a  prin- 
ciple accepted  alike  by  Mr.  Fry  and  Sir  Joshua 
Revnolils.  This  generalizing  has  too  often  been 
misunderstood.  In  the  past,  when  the  artist  was 
under  the  spell  of  Greco-Roman  Sculpture,  it  led 
to  the  search  for  an  "ideal"  form,  an  ideal  de- 
prived of  all  character  by  its  very  perfection  and 
which  therefore  remained  insignificant  and 
insipid.  Brilliant  executants  like  Tiepolo, 
who  escaped  from  this  failing  by  spirited 
calligraphy,  are  always  in  danger,  as  Mr.  Fry 
points  out,  of  accepting  an  empty  type, 
or  rather,  perhaps,  become  monotonous 
bv  sheer  repetition  of  similar  types.  When 
the  reaction  started  with  men  like  Courbet  and 
Daumier,  the  rugged  contours  of  the  one  sug- 
gested the  scale  and  robustness  of  primitive 
things,  as  the  incisive  swiftness  of  the  other 
suggested  strong  movement  and  life.  The 
Impressionists  in  their  devotion  to  science 
sacrificed  both  these  valuable  contributions 
to  creative  art ;  but  opened  up  a  new 
key  of  tone  and  colour.  Cezanne,  accept- 
ing this  new  key  of  tone,  went  back, 
in  his  best  works,  to  Courbet  for  the  secret 
of  generalizing  form.  Unluckily  he  did  not  see 
that  his  Neo-Courbet  formula  was  not  appro- 
priate to  many  of  the  things  he  tried  to  paint. 
The  writhing  touches  of  Van  Gogh,  again,  repre- 
sent a  generalization  of  form  in  its  way  no  less 
personal  than  that  of  Greco. 

Some  generalization,  we  all  know,  is  essential  to 
creative  design  :  for  design  involves  the  combina- 
tion of  similar  forms,  and  similar  forms  can  only 
be  got  by  abstraction  and  selection.  But  if  the 
similar  forms  we  select  are  geometrical,  as  with 
the  Cubists,  not  only  must  our  designs  have  a 
common     general  character,     and     therewith  a 

CHINESE      PORCELAIN     IN 
LEONARD    GOW— V 
BY    R.    L.    HOBSON 

LATE  I.  comprises  a  group  of  small 
but  rare  and  precious  porcelains  deco- 
rated for  the  most  part  with  famille 
verte  enamels  on  the  biscuit.  The 
pair    of    figures    mounted    on    lions 


certain  monotony,  but  as  the  general  ideas  which 
we  associate  with  geometrical  forms  are  limited  to 
sharpness,  mass,  intricacy,  but  not  much  more, 
the  significance  of  the  designs  will  be  limited  too. 
This  seems  now  to  be  recognized  in  the  case  of 
Cubism.  I  think  in  time  that  implicit  faith  in  the 
formula  of  Cezanne  will  also  weaken.  It  is  con- 
venient for  tiiose  who  have  little  to  say,  for  it 
makes  that  little  look  its  biggest,  by  asswiation 
with  large  and  weighty  things.  i?ut  there  are 
countless  other  forms  of  the  artistic  emotion  for 
which  it  is  inappropriate,  and  when  those  emo- 
tions come  to  be  expressed  a  new  generalization 
will  have  to  be  found  for  each  of  them. 

I  am  grateful  to  Mr.  Fry  for  having  compelled 
me  to  think  of  this  aspect  of  the  arts  more 
seriously,  and  I  hope  more  clearly  than  I  ever  did 
before.  I  only  wish  I  could  carry  into  practice 
one  half  of  what  I  seem  to  have  learned  from  his 
book.  And  it  is  doubtful  whether  this  stimulat- 
ing protest  against  coinmon  materialism  could 
have  been  conveyed  effectively  in  any  way  but 
that  which  Mr.  Fry  has  chosen.  His  frank  self- 
revelation,  touching  the  art  of  the  past  and  of  the 
present  at  a  thousand  different  points,  is  a  more 
illuminative  and  far  more  attractive  presentment 
of  his  theme  than  any  scientific  treatise  could 
have  given  us.  Though  his  one  artistic  absolute, 
his  aesthetic  master-emotion  which  is  (like  the 
Gipsy's  secret)  to  bend  recalcitrant  nature  to  the 
artists'  will,  seems  to  me  a  will-o'-the-wisp,  it  is 
possible  that  in  the  hunt  for  it  he  may  have  run 
past  a  genuine  lantern,  which  is  not  Reynolds' 
lantern  of  ideal  beauty,  nor  Ruskin's  lantern  of 
detailed  imitation,  nor  Whistler's  lantern  of  deco- 
ration, nor  the  Impressionist's  lantern  of  science. 
I  cannot  describe  the  lantern  myself,  I  would 
only  venture  to  suggest,  somewhat  on  the  lines  of 
Mr.  Berenson,  that  form  becomes  jesthetically 
significant  through  association,  not  so  much  with 
specific  objects  as  with  those  general  ideas  of 
mass,  space  and  movement  and  the  like  which 
quicken  our  aesthetic  pulses.  A  great  artist  may 
evoke  these  forms  from  the  humblest  and  sim- 
plest of  themes;  but  he  can  evoke  them  with 
infinitely  more  richness  and  variety  when  his 
theme  is  a  great  one.  Some  degree  of  ascetic- 
ism is  a  necessary  and  valuable  protest  against 
a  vulgar  age.  Elevated  into  a  creed,  it  is  apt 
to  become  merely  a  cloak  for  impotence,  and  a 
cloak  which  soon  wears  thin. 

THE     COLLECTION     OF     MR. 


are  of  a  peculiar  and  intriguing  nature. 
The  beasts  themselves  are  of  the  usual 
type  consecrated  to  Chinese  Buddhism, 
in  which  the  features  of  the  lord  of 
the   forests  have   been   conventionalised   out   of 


^ 


5J 


c 


&L 


o 
■5    O 


:- 
5X)  C 


O    rt 

O- 
o  ^  • 


j-'„    \    v 


.'^"W:  'Sv''''5^^  — * 


'if A' 


Plate  II.    Covered  jar,  one  of  a  pair.    Height  2  i|".    K'ang  Hsi 
period.    (Mr.  Leonard  Govv.) 


^1 


Plate  III.    Ccwered  jcir,  one  <)t"a  pair.    }  Icight  2  if .    K'ang  Hsi 
period.    (Mr.  Leonard  Ciow.) 


recognition.     Harness  hung  with  bells  and  tas- 
sels proclaims  the    subjugation    of    their  savage 
nature  to  the  Law  of  Buddha.     But  who  is  the 
strange  figure  in  Tartar  head-gear  mounted  on 
the  ample  saddle  cloth  which  is  thrown  over  their 
backs  ?     The    best-known    rider   of    lions  is  the 
divine  Manjusri ;  but  here  we  have  to  deal  with  a 
more  mortal  being.     We  have  seen  in  the  white 
porcelain     of     Fukien     figures     of     Europeans 
mounted  on  kylins  which  are  difficult  to  explain 
as  anything  but  caricature.     Here,  however,  the 
composition    was    probably    inspired  by  a  more 
serious  thought,  which  may  be  explained,  like  so 
many  designs  in  applied  art,  by  an  ancient  picture. 
Dr.  Ferguson'  describes  a  famous  picture  screen 
painted  by  Lu  T'an-wei  in  the  fifth  century  and 
copied  by  the  order  of  the  Emperor  Shen  Tsung 
in   1076,  which  has  such  an    important  bearing 
not  only  on  our  present  subject  but  on  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  Buddhist  lion  that  I  am  tempted  to 
quote  at  some  length  from  its   description.     It 
depicts,  we  are  told,  "  the  triumph  of  Buddhism 
even   among   the   barbaric   frontier  tribes."     A 
huge  lion  with  shaggy  mane  is  seated  with  one 
paw  on  a  ball  of  silk  brocade  while  in  front  are 
figures  in  barbarian  dress  with  head-gear  not  un- 
like the  Tartar  cap  of  our  statuettes.     One  of  the 
barbarians  holds  a  chain  which  is  attached  to  the 
lion's  neck.     Here  we  have   the   Buddhist  lion 
drawn  with  the  true  features  of  the  king  of  beasts, 
but  tame  as  Una's  guardian  and  already   fur- 
nished with  the  ball  of  brocade.    An  appreciation 
of  the  picture  from  Shen  Tsung  himself  is  of 
further  interest  : — '  Haughty  are  the  eyes  of  the 
lion,    prominent    is    the    nose.      His    mane    is 
ruffled,  his  tongue  swollen,  and  his  teeth  slightly 
protrude.     His    feet    are    dancing,  his  ears  are 
pricked  up     .     .     He  is  pleased  with  the  appear- 
ance of  his  tail.     Though  fierce,  yet  he  is  gentle. 
Such  playfulness  hung  in  the  Main  Hall  has  the 
effect  of  adding  a  guest  to  the  festive  board.     ." 
Playfulness  has  never  been  associated  with  lions 
in  the  western  mind,  and  it  has  always  been  a 
puzzle  to  us  why  the  Chinese  so  soon  transformed 
the  Buddhist  lion  into  the  spaniel-like  "  dog  of 
Fo."     Here   we    see   something   of   the   line   of 
thought  which  caused  this  curious  transforma- 
tion;  and  at  the  same  time  we  may  look  for  an 
explanation  of  Mr.  Gow's  figures  in  the  picture 
of  the  Barbarian  and  the  Lion.      We    need    not 
quarrel  with  the  porcelain  modeller  if  his  version 
is  not  rigidly  exact  and  if  his  long-sleeved  Tartar 
figure  holds  in  his  left  hand  a  peach,  the  Taoist 
symbol  of  longevity.    Buddhism  and  Taoism  had 
lived  together  amicably    for    many    generations, 
and  nothing  is  commoner  in  later  Chinese  deco- 
ration than  a  blend  of  the  emblems  of  the  two 
religious  cults.     These  two  figures  are  enamelled 
mainly  in  green,  yellow  and  aubergine ;  but  the 

ij    .C.    Ferguson,    Outlines  of  Chinese  Art,   Chicago,   1918 : 
page  215. 


colours  also  include  composite  black,  red  and  the 
violet  blue  which  proclaims  their  origin  in  the 
K'ang  Hsi  period  (1662-1722). 

It  was  long  the  custom  to  attribute 
this  type  of  porcelain  indiscriminately  to 
the  Ming  period,  but  we  now  reahse 
that  the  bulk  of  existing  specimens  is  not 
older  than  K'ang  Hsi.  Lest,  however,  we  should 
go  to  the  opposite  extreme  and  forget  that  the 
type  is  of  Ming  origin,  it  is  well  to  have  our 
attention  directed  occasionally  to  some  of  the  rare 
Ming  examples  of  on-biscuit  enamels.  The  low, 
beaker-shaped  vase  in  the  lower  row  of  Plate  I, 
bears  the  Wan  Li  mark  and  has  a  paste  of  un- 
doubtedly Ming  character.  It  is  richly  enamelled 
whh  two  ascending  and  descending  dragons, 
pale  green  and  aubergine  in  a  yellow  ground. 
The  tails  of  the  monsters  end  in  scrolls  and  they 
hold  in  their  claws  scrolls  of  the  ling-chih  fungus 
of  long  life.  Inside,  the  vase  is  leaf-green  with 
a  scroll  border. 

The  picture  is  completed  by  two  dainty  per- 
fume baskets,  each  with  six  panels  of  peony 
flowers  framed  in  open  work.  The  covers  are 
designed  to  match,  with  lion  knobs;  and  the 
handles  are  painted  to  resemble  wicker-work. 
The  decoration  combines  the  two  methods  of 
enamelling,  on  the  biscuit  and  on  the  glaze,  a 
combination  found  convenient  where  much  use 
was  to  be  made  of  the  coral  red  colour  which  is 
difficult  to  apply  to  the  raw  biscuit  surface.  The 
pierced  hexagon  diaper  is  finely  executed.  This 
kind  of  work,  to  which  the  Wan  Li  potters  gave 
the  name  of  ling  lung  and  which  the  jade  cutters 
call  knei  kung  or  devil's  work,  required  the 
greatest  delicacy  of  touch.  The  piercing  was 
done  while  the  ware  was  still  unhardened  by  the 
fire  and  great  care  was  needed  to  avoid  pressing 
it  out  of  shape.  The  ling  lung  work  in  this  case 
is  coloured  with  enamel  on  the  biscuit,  while 
glaze  has  been  used  on  the  solid  parts.  The  red 
borders  are  in  scroll  design  in  one  case,  and  in  a 
wave  and  blossom  pattern  in  the  other.  When 
one  looks  at  the  base  of  these  baskets  one  finds 
that  the  ware  is  precisely  that  of  the  well-known 
covered  bowls  with  pierced  designs  in  white 
biscuit  combined  with  small  reliefs.  These  are 
assigned  on  excellent  ground  to  the  late  Ming 
period,  and  one  example  is  known  to  bear  the 
date  mark  of  the  reign  of  T'ien  Ch'i  (1621-27). 
Like  our  beautiful  baskets  they  were  intended  to 
contain  fragrant  flowers  and  perfumes  which  the 
Chinese  use  freely  in  their  rooms,  not  only  for 
their  pleasant  fragrance  but  in  the  belief  that 
they  keep  off  disease. 

Plates  II  and  III  illustrate  a  pair  of 
handsome  jars  of  potiche  form  with  dome- 
shaped  covers.  They  are  stoutly  constructed 
and  bare  of  glaze  under  the  base;  and 
the  entire  surface  is  richly  clothed  with  famille 


91 


verte  designs.  The  groiiiui  work  is  a  brocade 
pattern  of  speckled  green  strewn  with  chrysanthe- 
mum blossoms  and  butterflies,  in  which  are 
reserved  panels  of  varying  form,  shaped  like  fans, 
hand-screens,  leaves  and  pomegranates.  In 
these  panels  are  diverse  designs,  including  land- 
scape, rockery  with  flowers,  birds  and  insects, 
baskets  of  flowers,  Po-ku  emblems,  animals  and 
monsters.  On  the  neck  is  a  tine  trellis  diaper 
overlaid  with  the  flowers  of  the  four  seasons — 
prunus,  peony,  lotus  and  chrysanthemum.  The 
animal  forms  are  significant.  They  include  the 
deer  beside  an  ancient  pine  tree,  both  emblems 
of  long  life ;  and  the  kylin  and  phoenix  which  are 
connected  with  spring  in  Chinese  nature  worship. 
Taken  together  these  two  groups  would  suggest 
to  the  Chinese  mind  the  familiar  wish  "  long  life 

REYNIER    AND    CLAES    HALS 
BY    G.    HOFSTEDE    DE    GROOT 

HOUGH  Frans  Hals,  notwith- 
standing his  assiduous  painting, 
never  attained  to  any  fixed  good 
position,  he  gave  one  of  his 
_  daughters  in  marriage  to  a  painter, 

Pieier  Roestraeten,  and  he  states  that  no  less  than 
seven  of  his  sons  followed  the  same  calling  as 
himself.  This  we  know  from  contemporary 
records  brought  to  light  by  Dr.  A.  Bredius.  Not 
all  the  sons  are  known  through  extant  works, 
some,  indeed,  not  at  all,  others  by  only  a  few 
examples.  I  should  like  to  draw  attention  to 
two  of  them. 

Reynier  Hals  lived  from  1627'  to  167 1.  Only 
a  single  picture  of  his  is  mentioned  in  early 
literature,  and  this  came  to  the  Haarlem  Museum 
in  1899  as  the  gift  of  Mr.  Arthur  Kay  of  Glas- 
gow. It  is  a  fully  signed  half-length,  nearly 
life-size,  and  represents  a  young  girl  smiling 
pleasantly  at  the  onlooker.  She  is  about  to  put 
a  spoon  into  a  pot  of  porridge  in  front  of 
her,  with  an  air  of  pleasurable  anticipation. 
The  easy  way  in  which  the  child  grasps  the 
homely  pot  with  one  hand  and  the  wooden  spoon 
with  the  other  makes  it  plain  that  she  posed 
quite  unaffectedly  for  the  painter,  and  probably 
was  one  of  his  own  children  or  a  younger  sister. 
From  an  artistic  point  of  view  the  artist  has  not 
been  quite  successful  in  his  problem.  The 
details  show  a  certain  emptiness  and  weakness  in 
drawing  which  suggests  the  likelihood  of  the 
canvas  being  rather  large  for  the  artist. 

When,   as  early  as   1900,    I   wrote  about  the 

1  On  the  nth  Februarj',  '627,  a  son,  Reynier,  was  born  to 
the  elder  Frans.  However,  according  to  his  own  statement, 
the  former  was  only  33  years  old  in  1663,  in  which  case  he 
must  have  been  born  in  1630.  Yet  it  is  possible  that  Reynier 
born  in  1627  died  early,  and  that  the  parents  had,  between 
Nicolaes,  born  25th  July,  1628,  and  Mary,  born  12th  November, 
163 1,  another   son,   who   was   also  given  the   name   Reynier. 


and  enduring  spring."  The  Buddhist  lion  and 
cub  occupy  another  panel ;  in  others  again  are  the 
kylin  and  tiger,  the  latter  a  defence  against  evil 
spirits  and  disease;  and  finally  there  is  one  of 
those  indeterminate  monsters  which  the  Chinese 
call  hai  shou  (sea  mons'ers)'  and  the  French  have 
graphically  described  as  chimercs.  The  enamels, 
which  throughout  are  brilliant  in  tone,  include 
ilie  fine  K'ang  Hsi  blue  enamel,  composite  black 
which  is  formed  by  a  dull  black-brown  pigment 
under  a  wash  of  transparent  green.  A  little 
underglaze  blue  on  the  knob  of  the  cover  and  a 
few  rings  of  the  same  colour  serve  to  remind  us 
that  this  blue  played  a  prominent  part  in  the 
famille  verte  colour  scheme  before  the  violet 
enamel  ousted  it  from  its  place  in  the  K'ang  Hsi 
period. 


picture  in  the  periodical  Woord  en  Beeld,  I  ven- 
tured the  conjecture  that  the  power  of  the  artist 
lay  in  painting  small  pictures.     This  assumption 
is  confirmed  by  the  two,   herewith   reproduced, 
which  have  since  come  to  light,  and  are  now  in 
the  possession  of  Mrs.  Crena  de  Jongh  van  Eck 
at    the    Hague    [Plate   H,    d,    e].      Both    are 
drawn    amply,    painted     on     wood,      and     36 
by  25  cm.  (14  t\  by  10  tV    inche.s)  in  size,  thus 
considerably  smaller  than  the  Haarlem  picture, 
which  measures  66  by  56  cm.  (26  by  22  inches). 
The  subjects  of  the  pictures  are  clearly  seen  from 
the  photographs  and  need  no  further  explana- 
tion.    The  Girl  peeling  Apples  is  represented  in 
a  dark  dress  and  blue  apron,  the  Seamstress  in  a 
brownish  yellow  bodice  with  deep  red  sleeves. 
In    both    pictures   the   white    of   the   linen   pre- 
dominates, yet  the  general  impression  of  colour- 
ing is  harmonious.    The  execution  is  careful  and 
reminds  one  in  no  way  of  the  school  of  the  elder 
Hals.  Also  the  roguish  smile  in  the  Haarlem  pic- 
ture, which  denotes  the  father's  infiuence,  is  here 
absent.     Both  women  have  a  serious  expression. 
The  attention  with  which  the  one  is  sewing  and 
the  other  is  watching  the  proceeding  in  the  dis- 
tance   outside    at    her    left    is    well   expressed. 
Were     it     not     for    the    signature,     which     in 
the  case  of  the  Seamstress  is  between   the  jug 
and  the   woman,    and   in  that   of  the   girl   and 
apples,  to  the  right  below  (it  reads  here  "  Hals 
rynier  ")  one  would  assume  that  both  were  the 
works  of  a  painter  of  the  Leyden  school,  rather 
than  of  an  artist  so  closely  in   touch  with  the 
great  Haarlem  master,   Frans  Hals,  as  his  son 
continually  was.     For  curiosity's  sake  let  us  also 
mention  that  the  .Seamstress  was  painted  over  a 
newlv-begun  portrait,  of  which  the  collar  is  still 
visible  as  a  pentimento. 

Nicolaes  Hals  was  the  second  son  of  the  great 


92 


i 


a 
^ 


3 


^  E 


I   I 


7; 


C     Girl  Reading,  by  Claes  Hals  (Mauritshuis) 


/)      (Url  peeling  Apples,  by  Reynier   Hals.       14"    by 
10".     (Mrs.  Crena  de  Jongh  Van  V.ck.    Hague) 


/•:      Cirl     Se-ieing.     b\      KeyniiT     Hals.         14"     ''v     10" 
(Mis.  Ciena  de  Jungh  \'an    I'.ck,    Hague) 


Plate    11.      Revnier  and    C'laes   Hals 


artist  of  whom,  thanks  to  the  kindness  of  my 
friend  Robert  C.  Witt,  I  can  give  some  fresh 
information.  According  to  the  biographical 
statement  of  the  Mauritshuis  catalogue,  he  was 
born  on  the  25th  July,  1628,  in  Haarlem,  where 
he  was  also  christened,  and  on  the  17th  July, 
1686,  he  was  buried  there.  In  1656  he  had  be- 
come a  member  of  the  painters'  guild,  and 
in  1682  a  member  of  the  Committee- 
From  1664  he  was  a  brewer.  Hitherto 
the  picture  in  Plate  I,  B,  representing  the 
large  church  in  the  great  Houtsraat  in  Haarlem, 
has  been  ascribed  to  him,  by  reason  of  a  mono- 

M  gram  in  the  left  lower  corner.  It  is 
^  very  difficult  from  this  monogram 
(which  is  more  accurately  reproduced 
^  here  than  in  the  reproduction  in 
the  Haarlem  catalogue)  to  decipher  the  letters 
N.H.,  and  even  if  these  letters  are  accepted 
it  is  not  certain  that  they  stand  for  Nicolaes  Hals. 
Less  ambiguous  is  the  monogram  C.H.  on  a 
picture  of  quite  different  style  at  the  Mauritshuis 
representing  a  young  woman  in  an  attic 
thoughtfully  looking  at  a  picture  book  [Plate 
II,  c].  The  facihty  displayed  in  the  art  of 
laying  on  and  blending  the  colours,  which  at 
least  does  not  speak  against  the  Haarlem 
origin  of  this  little  picture,  has  already 
induced  Dr.  A.  Bredius,  director  of  the  gallery, 
to  ascribe  this  pretty  picture  to  Claes  (Nicolaes) 
Hals.  And  I  believe  I  have  recognised, 
in  an  unsigned  picture  in  the  John  G. 
Johnson  Collection  at  Philadelphia,  the  same 
hand  as  that  of  the  little  picture  at  The  Hague 
(Cat.  No.  437  with  reproduction).  This  picture 
represents  a  smiling  woman  sitting  with  a  pipe 
in  her  right  hand  and  a  glass  of  beer  in  her  left, 
with  a  man  singing  in  the  shadow  behind  her. 
Both  the  touch  and  the  technical  execution  are 
in  such  perfect  accordance  with  the  Hague  pic- 
ture that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  identity 
of  the  author  of  these  two  paintings.  Besides, 
the  cheerfulness — the  joy  of  life — which  this  work 
imparts  to  us,  indicates  an  artist  of  Frans 
Hals's  circle. 

There  is,  however,  no  trace  of  resemblance  to 
be  found  between  these  two  pictures  and  that  of 
the  town  view  at  Haarlem  [Plate  I,  b].  Those 
two  genre  pictures  prove  a  much  superior  gift 
of  art.  Now,  it  is  possible  that  an  artist,  re- 
nowned as  a  purely  genre  painter,  should  for 
once,  in  painting  the  unfamiliar  subject  of  a  town 
street,  fall  short  of  his  other  achievements.  But 
otherwise  it  is  more  likely  that  when  we  have  a 
superior  genre  picture  signed  by  C.H.  and  an 
inferior  street  picture  by  the  artist  of  the  mono- 


gram,  that  we  are  confronted  wit  1  two  different 
artists,  of  whom  the  painter  of  the  street  scene, 
considering  his  subject,  probably  belongs  to 
Haarlem,  and  the  genre  painter,  by  hij  technique 
and  fine  perception,  may  have  been  quite  familiar 
at  Haarlem. 

Were  these  monograms  identical,  the  differ- 
ence in  quality  could  be  disregarded,  and  were  the 
quality  the  same  the  variance  in  the  monograms 
could  be  overlooked,  but  where  both  quality 
and  monogram  differ,  it  were  more  prudent  to 
regard  them,  provisionally,  as  being  the  work  of 
two  different  artists.  If  one  of  these  must  have 
been  Claes  Hals,  then,  for  that  reason,  the 
painter  of  the  street  view  has  the  better  claim  to 
consideration,  because  the  picture  in  Mr.  Witt's 
possession  is  signed  in  the  left  lower  corner  by 

the    full    name    of    the 
f »     ,.  .    /^    1^    master,    and    is,    for  us 

thought  to  have 
the  artist  either 
Haarlem  or  the 
Hague  museum,  a  total 
surprise.  It  is,  as  the  reproduction  shows 
[Plate  I,  a],  a  village  view  with  a  large 
four-cornered  tower,  which  as  the  only  re- 
mains of  an  Abbey  Church,  towers  high  above  the 
peasants'  low  houses  and  determines  the  total 
impression  of  the  picture.  On  the  top  of  the 
tower  is  a  signal  for  mariners ;  therefore  prob- 
ably the  village  and  tower  are  situated  on  the 
duties  not  far  from  the  North  Sea  coast.  A 
broad  uneven  country  road  stretches  beyond  it 
and  the  houses.  In  live  different  spots  there  are 
single  figures  to  be  seen,  and  to  the  left,  at  a 
corner,  two  figures  together.  As  regards  artistic 
character,  we  perceive  no  connection  with  the 
pictures  of  Frans  Hals  nor  with  his  school.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  are  struck  at  first  sight 
by  a  great  resemblance  to  a  certain  group 
of  Ruisdael's  pupils — the  two  painters,  Roelof 
and  Michiel  van  Vries,  later  also  Cornelis  Decker 
and  Solomon  Rombouts,  who  were  all  busy  at 
Haarlem  and  with  more  or  less  preference 
painted  these  subjects.  The  colouring,  with  its 
predominating  brownish  tone,  the  distribution  of 
light  and  shade,  the  treatment  of  the  tree-trunks 
and  foliage,  are  entirely  in  the  style  of  the  last 
mentioned  master.  Were  the  picture  not  signed 
one  would  surely  search  for  its  author  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  those  painters.  We  shall 
be  justified  by  testing  once  again  with  the  aid  of 
this  authentic  work  of  Claes  Hals  the  oeuvre  of 
Ruisdael's  pupils.  Additional  pictures  by  him 
will  then  probably  be  brought  to  light. 


97 


REVIEWS 

h'oi'R  Irish  LASt>sc.\rt  Painters,  by  Iiiomas  Bodkin  ;  .\xi  + 
jjti  pages,  j(>  plates.  Dublin  :  The  Talbot  Press,  Ltd.  ; 
London  :  T.    KUher   Unwin,   Ltd.     £^    •*.  net. 

Local  historiography  in  tlie  domain  of  ;nt 
possesses  an  importance  and  usefulness  far  out- 
stripping its  circle  of  immediate  interest,  seeing 
how  often — owing  to  the  migratory  properties  of 
works  of  art — it  may  be  called  upon  to  render 
services  where  this  may  be  least  expected.  It  is 
not  often,  however,  that  an  illustrator  of  local  art 
effort  brings  to  his  task  the  equipment  of  many- 
sided  and  up-to-date  knowledge  possessed  by  the 
author  of  this  charming  volume  on  four  Irish 
landscape  painters — George  Barret,  sen.,  James 
A.  O'Connor,  Walter  Osborn,  and  Nathaniel 
Hone,  R.H.A. — not  to  be  confused  with  his 
eighteenth  century  namesake  and  kinsman.  Mr. 
Bodkin  modestly  states  in  his  preface  that  he 
believes  the  elaborate  appendices  to  be  the  most 
valuable  portion  of  the  book,  and  they  do  indeed 
contain  a  wealth  of  information  in  tabulated 
form ;  but  it  is  also  a  pleasure  to  acknowledge 
how  valuable  is  the  appreciation  which  Mr. 
Bodkin  gives  of  the  artistic  achievement  and 
evolution  of  the  four  painters  dealt  with  bv  him  ; 
and  on  the  purely  literary  side  there  is  a  delight- 
ful vivacity  in  his  account  of  the  chequered 
career  of  O'Connor,  whilst  an  exceedingly  sym- 
pathetic portrait  is  drawn  of  Nathaniel  Hone, 
whose  death  in  1917  probably  robbed  the  world 
of  the  last  surviving  direct  link  with  the  Bar- 
bizon  school.  Inquirers  into  the  history  of 
eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth  century  land- 
scape painting  will  be  glad  of  tine  reproductions 
(excellent,  as  the  illustrations  throughout  the 
book)  of  the  works  of  George  Barret  (not  infre- 
quently confused,  as  the  author  points  out,  with 
Richard  \A'ilson)  and  O'Connor,  who,  it  may  be 
remarked,  as  a  painter  of  moonlight  scenes  did 
have  an  English  predecessor  in  E.  Childe 
(exhibited  1798-1896),  one  of  whose  works — in 
the  collection  at  Northwick  Park,  Blockley — has 
been  mistaken  by  more  than  one  good  judge  for 
an  Aart  van  der  Neer.  We  hope  that  the  volume 
may  be  followed  by  others,  completing  the  series 
of  notable  Irish  painters.  T.  B. 

MONTHLY    CHRONICLE 

Picasso. — Picasso  is  the  object  of  more 
worship  and  more  abuse  than  any  contemporary 
painter;  and  this  alone  gives  special  interest  and 
importance  to  the  exhibition  of  his  work  at  the 
Leicester  Galleries.  Almost  every  phase  of  his 
development  is  to  some  extent  illustrated.  After 
an  impressionist  period,  represented  by  paint- 
ings such  as  La  Mansarde,  the  study  of  form 
begins  in  the  Jeune  Saltimbanque  and  work  of 
the  same  period.     Then  comes  the  familiar  blue 


Catalogue  of  Painters  and  Draughtsman  reprksknteu  in 
Tin:  I^inRARV  or  Kkproductions  of  Pictures  and  Drawings 
FOUMKD  iiv  RoHERT  AND  Marv  VVitt.  23S  pp.  Privately 
printed. 

If  llic  Witt  lil)rary  of  reproductions  is  nol 
well  known  to  students  it  is  no  fault  of  its 
authors,  but  if  there  still  exist  students  who 
hesitate  to  avail  themselves  of  the  collection, 
the  issue  of  this  catalogue  should  be  more  tJian 
suflicient  to  embolden  lliem  to  cross  Mr.  Witt's 
inviting  threshold.  A  great  deal  of  work  has 
been  done  in  collecting  photographs  and  ex- 
tracting prints  from  all  manner  of  art  publica- 
tions, and  already  the  nucleus  of  a  complete 
library  of  works  of  art  has  been  formed.  It  is 
unnecessary  here  to  describe  either  the  collec- 
tion or  the  catalogue  except  to  say  that  the 
latter  is  a  well  bound  and  clearly  printed 
volume,  and  that  the  important  matter  of 
arrangement  has  been  thought  out  with  admir- 
able thoroughness.  We  are  glad  to  have  it  on 
our  shelves,  where  it  will  be  available  for  any 
readers  who  care  to  use  it.  With  its  help  and 
the  patience  and  courtesy  of  the  attendants  at 
Portman  Square,  connoisseurs  and  studeiHs 
can  have  no  difficulty  in  studying  anything 
contained  in  the  collection.  In  order  to  in- 
crease its  scope  and  usefulness  and  hasten  its 
growth  the  authors  of  the  new  catalogue  wilt 
obyiou.sly  be  helped  by  suggestions  from  those 
who  actually  use  the  library.  To  do  so  is  the 
privilege  of  the  "  serious  student  ",  of  whom 
Mr.  Witt  speaks  in  the  preface  and  for  whom 
he  so  generously  caters.  R.  R.  x. 

The  Modern  Coi.our-Print  of  Orioinal  Design,  by  Malcolm 

C.  Salaman.     28  pp.,  3s.  6d.     Bromhcad  &  Cutts. 

This  book  is  a  plea  for  the  colour-print  that 
is  conceived  and  carried  out  by  one  artist.  The 
author  accepts,  we  feel,  a  little  indiscriminately, 
the  work  of  those  who  adhere  to  this  principle, 
and  he  rejects  unhesitatingly  all  who  do  not. 
While  we  do  not  agree  with  Mr.  Salaman  re- 
garding what  modern  colour  work  is  vital  and 
what  is  not,  still,  for  those  who  do  so,  his  enthu- 
siastic little  book,  limited  though  it  is  in  scope 
and  subject,  will  no  doubt  be  found  readable, 
informative  and  stimulating.  R.  R.  t. 


phase,  with  form  more  emphasized,  but  overlaid 
with  sentiment.  From  this  point  the  paintings 
take  us  direct  to  cubism,  in  which  natural  form 
is  almost  disregarded,  serving  merely  as  starting 
point  for  an  abstract  geometrical  pattern  in  three 
dimensions.  This  pattern  is  at  first  treated 
almost  in  monochrome,  with  perhaps  a  few- 
patches  of  colour;  later,  the  colour  is  used  more 
freely,  and  becomes  more  vivid.  Unfortunately, 
there  is  nothing  among  the  paintings  to  repre- 


98 


sent   the    intermediate   phase  in    which    Picasso 
came   under  the   influence  of   Negro  sculpture, 
and  learned  to  think  in   planes.       Some  of  the 
etchings  and  drawings  supply  this  omission,  how- 
ever, notably  the  fete  de  Fcmme  et  Nature  Morte 
of  1910.    The  drawings  also  illustrate  the  artist's 
very  last  phase,  in  which  there  is  a  return  to  the 
use  of  natural  forms  under  apparently  the  influ- 
ence of  Ingres.     Though  it  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  the  exhibition  is  really  representative  of  the 
artist's  best  work,    it  shows  his  versatility   and 
technical  skill.     He  can  pass  dexterously  from 
the    manner    of    Toulouse-Lantrec    to     that    of 
Rops  :  turn  from  experiments  in  the  manner  of 
Zorn  to  etch  the  fine  L'Aveugle ;  produce  Les 
Trois  Marins  (which  may  or  may  not  have  influ- 
enced Mr.  John),  draw   the  solid  and  weighty 
Nil  Accroupi,  and  within  a  few  years  paint  the 
series  of  Nature  Morte  with  sand  embedded  in 
the  paint.     It  is  all  very  clever  and  ingenious. 
But  it  does  not  make  it  easy  to  understand  the 
great  influence  claimed  for  Picasso.     It  suggests 
rather  that  he  may  have  been  an  early  exponent 
of  ideas  which  would  have  developed  in  any  case, 
rather  than  an  originator.     Still,  it  is  sufficiently 
curious  that  from    the  uninspiring    and  eclectic 
art  of  modern  Spain,  this  Catalan  should  have 
sprung  to  set  Paris  by  the  ears  and  make  such  an 
impression  on  modern  art.     It  recalls  the  case  of 
Goya,  a  similarly    isolated    figure  in  his    own 
country.     But  it  is  another  question  what  rank 
Picasso  will  take  as  a  creative  artist.     Certainly 
he  has  power  as  a  colourist.    In  the  present  exhi- 
bition this  is  most  clearly  shown  in  his  earlier 
work,  where  the  use  of  black,  white  and  grey, 
with  touches  of  more  vivid  colour,  is  most  skil- 
ful.    In  some  of  the  later  cubist  examples,  how- 
ever,   the    colour    distribution     is     naive     and 
mechanical,  rather    like  heraldic    counter-charg- 
ing.      But   the  chief  interest  of  the  exhibition 
centres  round  the    Nature  Morte    lent    by    Mr. 
Clive   Bell,   not   because  of   its   intrinsic  merits, 
but  because  it  raises  in  the  clearest  way  one  of 
the  most  disputed  questions  in  modern  painting. 
Possessing  little  charm  of  colour,  an  unpleasant 
quality   of  paint,   and  a  design  almost  entirely 
independent  of  natural  forms,  its  appeal  rests  in 
the  main  on  the  arrangement  of  abstract  form. 
The  most  that  can   be  said  is  that  the  picture 
leaves  the  case  for  pure  cubism  unproven.     But 
Picasso's  recent  use  of  vigorous  colour,  and  his 
present   Ingres  phase,   must  be  singularly   dis- 
quieting for  those  who  believed  that  in  cubism 
truth  was  at  last  found.  w.  g.  c. 

N.'^TioNAL  Portrait  Society. — The  tenth 
annual  exhibition  of  the  Society  contains  many 
portraits,  but  few  pictures.  Most  of  the  exhibits 
show  considerable  skill  in  reproducing  super- 
ficial characteristics  of  the  sitters,  but  lack  the 
structure  and  solidity  which  give  vitality.     Ex- 


travagant and  tasteless  use  of  local  colour  em- 
phasize the  artificiality  of  the  work ;  and  the 
anxiety  of  some  members  to  show  that  they  are 
familiar  with  modern  French  painting  has  a  simi- 
lar effect.  In  fact,  much  of  the  work  is  both 
mannered  and  vulgar.  Mr.  John  and  Mr. 
Sargent  are  open  to  the  same  charge,  though 
mastery  of  their  material  saves  them  to  some 
extent.  Mr.  John's  drawings  are  more  worthy 
of  his  talents.  It  is  a  relief  to  turn  to  the  sincere 
and  competent  painting  of  Mr.  Russell,  and  to 
the  refinement  and  sensibility  of  Mr.  Steer,  or 
even  to  the  prettiness  of  Mr.  Sims.  M.  Blanche's 
portrait  of  Mr.  Thomas  Hardy  is  a  straight- 
forward and  well  characterized  piece  of  work. 

w.  G.  c. 
Cyril  Andrade,  8,  Duke  Street. — There  is 
an  interesting  collection  here  of  work  in  rock 
crystal,  originally  brought  together  by  Mr. 
Alfred  Simson.  It  includes  a  few  early  speci- 
mens from  India  and  Ceylon,  and  a  bust  of 
Cfesar  Augustus  of  unknown  date  carved  from 
one  piece  cf  the  material.  The  finest  examples, 
however,  date  from  the  i6th  century  or  later. 
Notable  among  these  is  a  cross  three  feet  high, 
standing  on  a  skull,  which  rests  on  a  base  en- 
graved with  instruments  of  the  Passion  ;  a  cup 
of  Austrian  workmanship  in  the  form  of  a  nau- 
tilus shell;  and  a  jug  from  Germany.  Most  of 
the  articles  are  lavishly  decorated  with  the 
precious  metals,  jewels,  enamel  and  niello  work. 
Their  aesthetic  value  is  not  to  be  compared  with 
that  of  earlier  work,  such  as  the  Mexican  mask 
in  the  British  Museum ;  but  as  technical  tri- 
umphs they  are  remarkable.  w.  g.  c. 

The  New  English  Art  Club. — The  generous 
policy  illustrated  by  the  present  exhibition  of 
giving  so  much  wall  space  to  younger  artists 
shows  great  public  spirit ;  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  it  is  in  the  best  interests  of  the  club 
itself.  Much  of  the  work  on  view  is  merely  good 
students'  work,  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  the 
New  English  Art  Club  should  seem  to  lend  its 
countenance  to  the  young  man  in  a  hurry  to 
exhibit.  The  work  of  the  younger  exhibitors, 
however,  has  some  interesting  points;  notably  a 
strong  inclination  towards  Pre-Raphaelitism, 
which  is  in  striking  and  amusing  contrast  to  the 
work  of  the  older  members.  Mr.  Gilbert 
Spencer,  among  others^  does  in  fact  return  to 
the  Italian  primitives;  Mr.  Underwood  and  Mr. 
Chubb,  on  the  other  hand,  take  the  English 
Pre-Raphaelites  as  their  model,  and  share  their 
superficialitv  and  disjointedness.  Mr.  Paul 
Nash  .stands  apart  in  cultivating  pattern,  but 
wave  forms  have  baffled  him  ;  and  Mr.  Guevara's 
expressionist  Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  with  its  incon- 
sistent lighting,  is  ingenious  but  uninteresting. 
The  best  section  of  the  exhibition  consists  of  the 
drawings  and  water  colours.     The  latter  in  gen- 


99 


cral  show  real  understanding  of  the  possibiHties 
and  limitations  of  the  medium.  Conspicuous 
among  them  are  two  examples  of  Mr.  Steer's  art. 

w.  G.  c. 

The  Fine  Arts  Socuctv. — Most  of  the.sc 
etchings  by  Adolphe  Beaufr^re  are  of  landscapes 
in  France  and  in  Algeria,  in  the  treatment  of 
whicli  the  artist  is  certainly  at  his  best.  There 
is  indeed  something  particularly  attractive  in 
Beaufr^re's  line  and  in  his  broad  open  treatment 
of  backgrounds.  In  the  rather  ambitious  etch- 
ings of  the  martyrdom  of  S.  Sebastian,  however, 
there  is  a  stifif,  slightly  suburban  quality,  and  the 
.same  thing  is  particularly  noticeable  in  the  two 
woodcuts,  Nos.  I  and  2.  In  the  introductory 
note  M.  .\rmand  Dayot  .says  he  is  "  inclined  to 
believe  that  the  mysterious  germ  of  mysticism 
which  is  embedded  in  ever\-  Celtic  soul  developed 
in  Beaufr^re  ....  under  the  ever  present 
shadow  of  death  ".  Perhaps  fortunately,  we 
could  find  nothing  in  any  of  the  etchings  to  sup- 
port this  hypothesis.  On  the  contrary,  most  of 
them  are  very  matter  of  fact  and  very  accom- 
plished. D.  G. 

Eld.\r  G.allery. — This  exhibition  consists 
mainly  of  some  of  Boudin's  pencil  notes  of 
figures,  ships,  and  little  corners  of  coa.st  land- 
scape with  all  the  apparatus  of  harbour  life  that 
appealed  so  strongly  to  him.     There  are,   how- 

LETTERS 

"  EARLY  ITALIAN  PICTURES  AT 
CAMBRIDGE  ". 

Sir, — In  his  interesting  article  on  "Early 
Italian  Pictures  at  Cambridge  ",  Mr.  O.  Siren, 
speaking  of  a  tondo  representing  the  Madonna 
with  the  Infant  in  her  arms  by  a  pupil  of  Botti- 
celli, proposes  to  call  this  unknown  artist  "  The 
Master  of  the  Gothic  buildings  ".  After  having 
mentioned  one  or  two  plausible  arguments,  Mr. 
Siren  adds :  "  The  master  may,  however,  be 
still  more  easily  recognisable  by  certain  accessory 
elements  introduced  in  his  pictures,  such  as 
buildings  of  a  northern  type  placed  in  the  back- 
ground. Sometimes  we  see  in  his  pictures 
churches  with  pointed  roofs,  sometimes  northern 
castles  with  high  turrets,  sometimes  palaces  with 
steep  gables,  or  other  specimens  of  mediaeval 
architecture  ".  And  the  author  quotes  a 
Madonjia  in  Turin,  another  with  Gothic  towers, 
and  a  high  bridge  in  the  background,  in  the 
Liechtenstein  Collection  at  \''ienna,  a  tondo  in 
the  Musee  J.  Andre  in  Paris,  and  a  few  others. 

I  would  like  to  observe  that  such 
peculiarities  are  precisely  those  we  find 
in  many  of  the  works  of  Botticelli  him- 
self, who  seemed  to  have  had  a  special 
liking  for  architectural  motives,  Gothic  towers, 


ever,  several  large  paintings,  besides  a  number 
of  more  elaborate  sketches  in  water  colour  and 
in  oil.  All  the  large  works  and  most  of  the 
more  completely  worked-out  sketches  are  ex- 
am])les  of  Boudin  in  the  style  he  habitually 
employed  and  by  which  he  is  so  well  known. 
The  remainder  are  more  or  less  in  the  nature  of 
occasional  exjieriments.  We  see  him,  for  ex- 
ample, in  No.  30,  attempting,  with  considerable 
and  rather  surprising  .success,  to  construct  a 
figure  composition  in  active  foreshortening  and 
interpreting  the  conception  by  means  of  what 
was  for  him  an  entirely  fresh  colour  scheme. 
Or,  again,  we  find  him  occupying  himself  exclu- 
sively with  the  rendering  of  evening  atmosj^heric 
efTects — sometimes  with  such  a  singleness  of  pur- 
pose that  he  seems  to  have  forgotten  composition 
altogether.  A  few  of  the  smallest  of  the  draw- 
ings are  the  merest  unemotional  records  of  facts 
and  serve  only  to  illustrate  how  insensitive  a 
draughtsman  the  artist  could  become  when  he 
allowed  himself  to  be  careless  or  hurried.  But 
here  and  there  one  comes  upon  a  rapidly  executed 
drawing  which,  in  spite  of  a  certain  heaviness 
in  the  line,  stands  out  among  its  fellows,  not 
only  because  of  a  superficial  charm,  but  on 
account  of  real  nobility  of  design.  Examples  of 
these  are  Nos.  7,  16,  57  and  58.  The  exhibition 
illustrates  admirably  the  main  characteristics  of 
Boudin.  R.  R.  T. 


pointed  roofs,  toits  a  poivriere  as  (I  think)  the 
French  say.  We  see  the  same  bridge  of  the 
Liechtenstein  Madonna  in  the  An7iunciation  of 
the  Florentine  Academy,  northern  turrets  and 
castles  in  the  S.  Sebastiati  of  Berlin,  in  the 
Nativity  of  the  National  Gallery,  in  the  Destruc- 
tion of  the  Children  of  Korah,  and  in  the  Christ 
tempted  in  the  Sixtine  Chapel,  which  paintings, 
particularly  the  last  four,  are  admitted  as  San- 
dro's  genuine  works. 

I  do  not  intend  to  discuss  here  Mr.  Siren's 
judgment  about  the  Cambridge  tondo,  which  he 
certainly  correctly  attributes  to  a  pupil  of  Botti- 
celli, but  I  only  wish  to  say  that  the  Gothic 
characteristics  are  a  rather  vague  indication  to 
enable  us  to  distinguish  this  artist  from  the 
master  himself  and  from  others  of  his  followers. 
Yours  faithfully, 

GuiDO  Cagnol.'\. 

Milan,  December,   1920. 

THE  CROSS    AND  CANDLESTICKS    BY 

VALERIO  BELLI  AT  SOUTH 

KENSINGTON. 

SiR,^ — In  an  interesting  article  contributed  to  a 
recent  number  of  L'Arte  (fasc.  IV-V,  vol.  xxiii, 
1920),  Dr.  G.  Zorzi  deals  with  the  work  of 
Valerio  Belli  of  Vicenza,  and  particularly  with 


100 


the  three  chief  remaining  examples  of  it — the 
crystal  cross  of  the  Vatican  Library,  the  crystal 
casket  of  the  Ulfizi,  and  the  cross  at  South  Ken- 
sington. This  last-named  was  described  and 
illustrated  in  the  Burlington  Magazine  for  1906 
(vol.  ix,  pp.  124,  etc.),  and  it  will  interest  Dr. 
Zorzi  to  learn  that  the  candlesticks  belonging  to 
it  were  presented  to  the  Museum  this  year  by 
Mrs.  Leopold  de  Rothschild,  in  order  that  they 
might  rejoin  the  cross. 

Dr.  Zorzi  refers  with  a  good  deal  of  scorn, 
and  perhaps  justly,  to  a  pamphlet  by  a  certain 
Panigalli  made  use  of  in  the  description  pub- 
lished in  your  columns.  But  he  appears  to  over- 
look the  real  service  rendered  by  this  "  dealer's 
puff  ",  namely,  that  its  illustrations  provided  the 
means  of  reconstituting  the  cross,  and  the  final 
proof  of  its  relation  with  the  candlesticks.  Nor 
does  he  do  justice  to  the  writer  in  the  Burling- 
ton in  assuming  that  he  accepted  Panigalli 's 
statements  without  question ;  the  dubious  char- 
acter of  the  evidence  is  explicitly  stated  in  the 
course  of  the  article. 

Dr.  Zorzi  assumes  that  the  South  Kensington 
cross  and  candlesticks  are  a  set  mentioned  by 
Vasari  as  having  been  made  by  Valerio  for  Pope 
Paul  III,  and  further  identifies  this  set  as  one 
referred  to  by  the  artist  himself  in  a  letter  writ- 
ten to  the  Duke  of  Mantua  in  1533.  In  this 
letter  Valerio  declines  a  commission  from  the 
Duke  on  the  ground  that  he  is  occupied  with  a 
"  fornimento  di  altare  "  for  the  Pope  (Clement 
VII),  and  explains  in  the  frankest  way  that  he  is 
unwilling  to  disappoint  the  Pope  chiefly  because 
of  the  handsome  way  his  Holiness  has  remuner- 
ated him  for  all  the  works  he  has  done  for  him. 
Dr.  Zorzi  concludes  that  the  altar-set  was  begun 
for  Clement  and  finished  for  Paul. 

But  Valerio  refers  to  the  subjects  of  deco- 
ration of  these  pieces  as  "  molte  istorie 
della  vita  di  Cristo  " ;  and  Vasari  similarly 
as  "  storie  della  Passione  di  Gesu  Cristo 
in  vari  spartimenti  ".  In  reality  the  cross 
at  South  Kensington  has  only  a  figure  of 
Christ  between  the  four  Evangelists,  and  its 
pedestal  three  subjects: — the  Entombment,  the 
Resurrection,  and  the  Descent  into  Hades.  The 
plaques  of  the  candlesticks  are  without  carving. 
Altogether  they  hardly  tally  with  the  description 
of  Valerio  and  Vasari,  even  allowing  for  another 
subject  on  a  pax  (now  lost)  which  formed  part 
of  their  set.  This  difficulty  is  surmounted  by  Dr. 
Zorzi  by  supposing  that  a  set  of  nine  crystals 


of  which  impressions  were  in  the  Poniatowski 
Collection  (illustrated  in  D'Agincourt,  Hist,  de 
I'Art,  IV,  pi.  43)  may  have  belonged  originally 
to  the  pedestals  of  these  pieces.  These  are 
carved  with  just  such  elaborate  Passion  subjects 
as  the  descriptions  seem  to  imply.  It  is  pos- 
sible, certainly,  to  suppose  that  the  plain  plaques 
of  the  candlesticks  might  have  been  inserted  at 
some  time  in  place  of  carved  originals,  but  why 
the  carvings  on  the  foot  of  the  cross  should  have 
been  substituted  for  other  carvings  it  is  not  easy 
to  say.  Moreover,  the  proportions  of  the  Ponia- 
towski plaques  are  totally  different  from  those 
on  the  pedestals  of  the  cross  and  candlesticks, 
and  this  negatives  the  theory. 

The  cross  at  the  Vatican,  with  three  medal- 
lions illustrated  by  Dr.  Zorzi,  is  believed  to  be 
one  made  for  Pope  Clement  in  1525.  (Vasari, 
Opcre,  ed.  Milanesi,  V,  380).  In  this  it  is  worth 
noting  that  the  curious  error  of  the  South  Ken- 
sington cross  (omitting  to  reverse  the  INRI  label, 
so  as  to  read  correctly  when  seen  through  the 
crystal)  is  avoided.  It  is  certainly  strange  that 
an  artist  of  Valerio's  experience  should  have 
committed  this  error,  but  stranger  still  that  he 
should  have  committed  it  several  years  after  he 
had  successfully  avoided  it  in  a  similar  work. 
And  why  are  the  carvings  at  South  Kensington 
not  signed,  by  an  artist  so  careful  to  sign  his 
previous  works  ? 

In  short,  the  more  closely  the  facts  are 
examined  the  more  uncertain  becomes  the  identi- 
fication of  the  South  Kensington  pieces  as  those 
made  for  Pope  Clement  or  Paul.  Is  it  after  all 
just  possible  that  Panigalli,  the  despised  dealer- 
author  of  the  pamphlet,  may  have  really  drawn 
on  a  i6th  century  manuscript  authority,  as  he 
professed,  for  his  story  of  their  having  been 
made  earlier  in  Valerio's  career,  for  Francis  I  ? 
Finally,  Dr.  Zorzi,  in  remarking  that  we  have 
nothing  but  a  record  of  a  silver-gilt  tabernacle, 
made  for  his  native  town,  by  which  to  judge  of 
Valerio's  reputed  skill  as  a  goldsmith,  overlooks 
the  exquisite  work  in  silver-gilt,  enamelled  with 
charming  floral  designs,  which  forms  the  main 
structure  of  the  South  Kensington  pieces,  a  sub- 
ject duly  discussed  in  the  description  of  them 
in  your  pages.  I  may  add  that,  as  there  stated, 
there  is  a  pair  of  candlesticks,  not  a  single  one 
as  Dr.  Zorzi  supposes. 

Yours  faithfully, 

H.  P.  Mitchell. 

2ist  December,  1920. 


AUCTIONS 

Messrs.  Christie,  Manson  &  Woods  will  sell  at  King 
Street,  St.  James's,  on  March  i8th,  a  number  of  important 
pictures  by  Old  Masters  from  the  collection  of  F.  J.  Austen, 
Esq.,  deceased.  These  include  examples  by  Alunno  di 
Domenico,  Ambrogio  de  Predis,  Amico  di  Sandro,  Cariani,  etc. 


Also  Early  English  pictures,  the  property  of  the  trustees  of 
the  will  of  Sir  William  Clavering,  Bart.,  including  The  Claver- 
ing  Children,  by  Romnev,  engraved  by  J.  R.  Smith,  1779; 
Portrait  of  Lady  Napier,  bv  Romney  :  Portrait  of  Colonel 
Thomas  Thornton,  bv  C.  Romnev  ;  the  well-known  Sportsman, 


lOI 


and  oilurs ;  a  version  o(  The  Beggars'  O/i.rd,  by  lloj^ajili, 
from  the  Louis  Hulh  Collection,  1905.  Portrait  oj  Miss  Kmflia 
Var^sittarl.  by  Reynolds,  painted  in  177J  ;  Portrait  oj  the  Rev. 
John  Home,  by  Kac-burn.  The  most  strikinj-  lot  in  this  sale 
is  the  superb  example  of  Aniioo  di  Sandio,  The  Virgin  and 
Child  -.fith  S.  John,  with  a  background  of  architecture  and 
landscape.  It  is  one  of  those  paintings  by  minor  masters, 
only  tix>  rare  even  in  Italian  art,  in  which  the  maiirierisms 
of  a  great  school  have  been  adopted  as  they  stand  and  em- 
ployed solely  as  a  vehicle  for  a  greatly  conceived  and  nobly 
constructed  design.  There  is  not  a  line  or  a  space  on  the 
canvas  that  does  not  take  its  place  in  the  wonderful  h.irmonj 
of  the  whole  creation.  It  is  the  work  of  artists  such  as  this 
follower  of  Botticelli  as  much  as  that  of  the  great  founders 
of  schools  that  has  placed  Central  Italian  art  in  the  supreme 
position  in  which  we  find  it  to-day.  The  .Ambrogio  dc  Predis 
portrait  is  another  notable  work  of  high  artistic  merit,  and 
unusual  interest  will  be  felt  in  the  two  subject  pictures  of 
.Munno  di  Domenico.  Of  the  English  (xjrtraits  one  is  drawn 
particularly  to  the  finely  felt  Emilia  Vansittart  by  Sir  Joshua. 

R.  R.  T. 
Messrs.  Sotiiebv,  Wilkinson  &  Hodge  will  sell,  at  34,  New- 
Bond  Street,  on  February  nth,  various  collections  of  Old 
English  and  Erench  furniture  and  tapestries,  etc.  The  lots 
are  few  in  number,  but  of  the  highest  quality.  .Among  the 
furniture,  Lot  27  is  a  reinarkable  triple-hooprd-back  soltee, 
in  English  walnut,  with  the  broad  splats  veneered  with  pieced 
burrs,  on  four  front  legs  of  cabriole  form,  hipped  over  the 
broad  veneered  front  rail,  carved  with  ringed  lion  masks  on 
the  knees  and  finishing  in  vigorous  paw  feet.  This  piece  is 
in  original  and  unrcstorcd  condition,  and  comes  from  Lord 
Willoughby  de  lirokc's  Warwickshire  seat,  Compton  Verney. 
Only  those  who  have  attempted  to  collect  this  lion-walnut  of 
the  early  mahogany  years  (1725-35)  know  how  rare  genuine 
examples  are.  From  Fineshade  .Abbey,  in  Northamptonshire, 
comes  a  collection  of  iSth  century  English  furniture  of  excep- 
tional quality,  among  which  a  remarkable  set  of  Hepplewhite 
furniture,    consisting    of    two    settees    quadruple-backed,    with 


oval  backs  filled  wiih  carved  lallice-work  in  a  free  rendering 
of  the  conventional  honeysuckle  pattern,  on  ten  cabriole  legs 
in  the  French  taste,  with  nine  chairs  to  match,  all  of  the 
highest  quality  and  in  remarkable  condition,  may  be  noticed. 
The  most  n-markable  lot  in  the  sale  is  No.  121,  the  property 
of  Lord  St.  John  of  Blelso,  removed  from  Melclibourne  Park. 
This  is  the  extraordinary  panel  (mentioned  in  this  column  last 
month)  of  English  needlework  of  the  period  of  Henry  VIII, 
in  line  cross  and  tent  stitch,  measuring  18  ft.  6  ins.  in  length 
by  4  ft.  7  ins.  in  height.  Messrs.  Solheby,  with  commendable 
modesty,  have  calalogu<d  the  panel  as  IClizabethan,  but  it  has 
every  apjx^arance  of  being  earlier.  It  consists  of  three  circular 
bordered  panels  enclosed  by  laurelled  borders  centred  at  the 
top  with  the  Tudor  rose,  the  central  panel  with  a  coat  of  arms, 
three  lions  passant  on  a  shield  or  surmounted  by  a  crested 
helmet.  The  other  panels  represent  deer  feeding  be- 
neath oak  trees.  The  panels  are  surrounded  by  a  ground  of 
a  small  diced  pattern,  double-bordered,  all  in  fine  tent  stieh. 
.A  petil-|>oint  panel  of  this  size  and  quality,  and  above  all,  in 
mint  condition,  as  this  panel  is,  must  be  unique  in  the  auction 
sale  world.  There  is  another  panel  of  nwdlework  in  the  s.-ini  • 
sale,  and  from  the  same  source,  which  is  nearly  as  remark- 
able, in  quality  and  size,  as  the  preceding,  and  two  tapestry 
panels,  the  one  of  15th  century  Flemish,  of  ecclesiastical  type, 
and  the  other  of  the  early  iSth  century,  after  the  cnanner  of 
Teniers,  which  are  worthy  of  description  and  illustration,  but 
considerations  of  space   forbid   more  than   a   mere  description. 

II.  c. 
Messrs.  Sotiiebv,  Wilkinson  &  Hodge  will  sell,  at  34,  New 
Bond  Street,  on  15th  and  16th  February,  an  important  collec- 
tion of  Old  Master  Drawings,  principally  of  the  French,  Ger- 
man, Dutch  and  English  schools,  comprising  works  by  and 
attributed  to  Claude,  Fragonard,  Poussin,  Watteau,  Pieler 
Brueghel,  Van  Dyke,  Van  Goyen,  Hobbema,  Maes,  Metsu, 
Van  Ostade,  Rembrandt,  Teniers,  Terborch,  Van  de  Vclde, 
etc.,  and  a  series  of  drawings  by  I7lh  and  18th  century  Dutch 
Masters. 


PUBLICATIONS     RECEIVED 

Publications    cannot   be    included    here    unless   they    have 
must   be  stated.        Publications   not   coming  within    the    scope 
prices  are  stated. 

Serial    Publicalions    will    be   arranged    here    according    to 
number   of   foreign    serials   actually    received    will    be    entered, 
numbers   of   their   publications  have   failed   to   arrive. 

Boston  Museum  of  Fine  .Arts. 

Handbook  of  the  Museum.  448  pp.  Profusely  illustrated. 
75  cents.  This  is  a  characteristically  American  publication. 
being  something  between  a  catalogue  and  a  text  booh. 
One  finds  at  the  beginning  instructions  about  how  to 
dispose  of  one's  umbrella  when  entering  the  gallery,  and 
in  the  bulk  of  the  hook,  lavishly  illustrated,  notes  on  the 
art  and  the  artists  of  every  period  and  people,  a  synopsis 
of  art  history,  a  note  on  Chinese  chronology,  etc.  Enter- 
prise and  thoroughness  characterise  the  publication,  which 
is  a  model  of  what  an  inexpensive  museum  catalogue 
ought  to  be. 
Museum  of  Fine  .irts,  Boston.  1870-1920.  38  pp.  Illust. 
in  text. 
Brusse,  Rotterd.am. 

Gelder  (].  J.   de).     Honderd  Teekeningen  van   Oude  Mees- 
ters.     40  pp.    +  qi    pi.     7.00  frs. 
S.\turnino  Calleja,  Madrid. 

Barca  (Pedro  Calderon  de  la).     Teatro.     285  pp. 
Manuel  (Don   JuanV     El   Conde  Lucanor.     338  pp. 
Vega   (Lope   de).     Teatro.     346  pp. 
Spalding,  Cambridge. 

Mathews  (E.  Channing).  Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  in 
black  and  luhite.  42  pp.  +  10  pi.  4s.  6d.  n.  This  little 
book  is  a  product  of  that  small  innocuous  patriotism 
peculiar  to  college  life.  It  may  be  regarded  as  a  pleasing 
variant  of  the  old-fashioned  album  of  photographs. 
Although,  as  art,  the  drawings  are  not  on  a  particularly 
high  level,  they  are  at  any  rate  a  good  deal  better  than 
is  tisual  in  booklets  of  the  kind,  and  Jesus  College  enthu- 
siasts will  be  glad  to  possess  them  and  will  be  interested 
to  read  again,  such  statements  as  thai  the  University 
colour  is  light   blue,   and  those  of  the  College   black   and 


been  delivered  before  the   ibth  0/  the  previous  month.     Prices 
of  this   Magazine  will  not    be  acknowledged  here  unless   the 

the  ordinary  periods  of  their  publication,   and   only  the  latest 
in  order  that  foreign  editors  and  publishers  may  learn  which 

red,  and  that  the  visitor  is  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Ely. 

Treves,  Milan. 
Schiaparelli    (.Attilio).     Leonardo    Ritraltista,    igq    pp.    -(- 
40  pi. 

PERIODICALS. 

Weekly. — .Architect — Le  Journal  des  Arts. 

Fortnightly. — Le  Bulletin  de  I'Art  ancien  et  moderne — 
Chronique  des  Arts — Kleinmobel  Korb  und  Kunstgewerbe — 
Der  Kunstwanderer — Mercure  de  France — Revista  del 
Centre  de  Lectura  Reus. 

Monthly. — II  Bollettino  dell'  Antiquario,  8,  g,  10,  i — Bulletin 
of  the  Cleveland  Museum  of  .Art,  10,  vii — Bulletin  of  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  N.Y.,  12,  xv — Bulletin  of  the 
Minneapolis  Inst,  of  Arts,  q,  IX — Der  Cicerone,  i,  xiii — 
Dedalo,  7,  i — Drama,  3,  i — Drawing  and  Design,  8 — Fine 
Art  Trade  Journal,  187,  xvi- — Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts,  5, 
II — Kokka,  366 — Rassegna  D'Arte,  11-12,  vii — La  Revue 
de   r.Art,   ancien  et   moderne,   222,  xxxix. 

Bi-MoNTHLY. — Museum   of  Fine   Arts    Bulletin,    no,    xviii. 

Quarterly. — ^The  Antiquaries  Journal,  i,  1 — The  Apple  (of 
Beautv  and  Discord),  4,  i — Boletin  de  la  Sociedad  Espanola 
de  Excursions,  4,  xxviii — Music  and  Letters,  i,  11 — Oud- 
HoUand,  3,  xxxviii — Quarterly  Review,  466 — The  Town 
Planning  Review,  3-4,   vili. 

Annually. — Vereinigung  Ziircher  Kunstfreunde,  in. 

Trade  Lists. — L'Art  ancien  S.  A.  Lugano.  Manuscrits  et 
Miniatures,  Dessins  originaux — Houghton  Miffin  &  Co. 
The  Holiday  Piper— L.  H.  Lef^vre  &  Son.  Etchings  and 
Drypoint  Engravings  of  David  Neave — Maggs  Bros.  Library 
Editions  of  Standard  Authors — Murray.  Quarterly  List — P. 
A.  Norstedt  &  Soner,  Stockholm.  Norstedts  Nyheter— 
Schultz  &  Co.  Antiquariats-Anzeigen—ti.M.  Stationery 
Office.     Monthly  Circular  of  New  Publications. 


102 


^.i,^—'" 


EDITORIAL     "/SV     Mona^f^^fnu/fi     Reqmrts^      Kuutumipice 


ORKS  of  art  and  ity  are 

commonly  lo-^  to  ii  ,,  not  in 

the  midst  of  a  storm  ot  public  pro- 
,test,  nor  as  the  result  of  ftirious 
icon(x~iasm.  They  vanish,  un- 
noticed by  those  who  rare  most  for  them,  and 
their  value  is  felt  only  when  it  is  too  late.  It 
l(x>ks  as  if  we  were  oji  the  eve  of  just  such  a 
'-ataslrophe  v  '■■  '•  !1  deprive  us  of  some  of  the 
most  distinc  .amples  of  architectural  de- 

sign tha  een  created  by  the  English 

;'pnit;-  ,  happens,  we  students  of  art 

largely  to  blame,  for  so  far  we  have 
!■  i{)  attempt"  to  formulate  any  expres- 
\\r  attitude, 
borne  months  ago  there  was  raised  in  the  popu- 
lar press  a  furore  over  the  proposed  destruction 
by  the  Church  of   England   of    nineteen    City 
It  served    its   purpose   of   providing 
i>py  "    for    the    editors,     and     rapidly 
passed  away,  not  to  be  revived.     People  felt  im- 
potently  glad  that  "  something  had  been  done  "  ; 
the  flame  of  agitation  was  extinguished  in  a  sea 
of  vague  satisfaction.    But  the  time  of  real  dan- 
ger came,   not  -svith  the  birth  of  the  movement, 
but  with  its  The    deed   will    be  perpe- 

trated, like  uii"  i  uccds  of  the  kind,  in  the  dark 
and  the  silence — in  just  such  an  ominous  still- 
ness as  has  now  descended  upon  the  whole 
question. 

,     The   Lord  Bishop   of   London,    in  "  reply    to 
an    enquiry  I  sent    him,     says,    "  The  matter 
of     the    City    Churches     is  still     under     very 
u!  consideration.     It   is  not,    however,    the 
likely  there  will  be  a  wholesale  demolition 
of  ihfsi-    hurches.     Each  case  will  be  carefully 
considered  one  by  one."     This  comfortless  com- 
munication,    when    one    remembers    the   scant 
,'nition  the  buildings  have  in  previous  dis- 
.  ,,.     .IIS  received  as  works  of  art,  will  leave  all 
conniii-M-i:rs  and  many  cultured  people  anxious 
and  dei-'r*--.'.f d     Our  uneasiness  will  be  appeased 
neither  h\    h^-  ihought  that  the  churches  may  be 


destroyp  '  of  all  together,  nor 

by  the  ni  c>f  the  spires  alone. 

It  shall  be  len  we  have  a  defi- 

nite assuran.  -!'-  stone  is  to  be 

taken  from    ,  jf  the  churches 

for  secular  .iy  or  wrongly,  re- 

garded as  a  heir  destruction  is 

surely  a  des-  pardonable.       We 

do  not  feel  ai    :  n   inclined  to  discuss 

their  merit.       7  -   long  ago  passed  the 

censors  of  criticism,  ami  the  world  thought  them 
for  ever  secure.  As  for  the  argument  that 
"  people  do  not  go  to  see  them  "  :  If  they  do 
not — and  we  are  not  aware  that  they  do  not — 
then  so  much  the  worse  for  "  people  ".  Once 
let  us  admit  that  as  a  principle  and  how  many 
fine  works  of  art  would  have  to  disappear ! 
Many  of  them  were  conceived  by  one  of  the 
greatest  creators  for  whom  our  race  can  account, 
and  he  built  them  on  the  crest  of  a  high  enthu- 
siasm, with  a  fine  sense  of  his  responsibility 
and  an  energy  altogether  worthy  of  himself  and 
the  occasion.  The  Churchmen  of  that  time  rea- 
!  the  greatness  of  Wren  and  the  permanent 
le  of  his  immense  accomplishment.  It  is  for 
the  Churchmen  of  to-day  to  decide  whether  the 
celebrated  epitaph  their  fathers  raised  above  his 
foiiih  hai  to  remain  significant  or  to  become  a 
er  we  and  our  children  shall  look 

.     ;'  the  perfcf;t  legacy  left  for  us  by 

our  Master  Architect  or  at  the  monuments  of  his 
genius  scarred,  disfigured  and  blotted  out? 

I  propose  to  reply  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don by  sending  him  a  list  of  signatures  of  those 
of  us  who,  whatever  our  opinions  may  be  regard- 
ing the  difficulties  confronting  the  Church  in 
this  matter,  wish  to  emphasise  the  importance  of 
these  edifices  as  works  of  art  and  to  express  the 
hope  that  they  may  be  allowed  to  remain  intact 
and  unmutilated.  I  therefore  ask  all  who  share 
this  hope  to  send  me  on  a  postcard  or  otherwise 
the  words  "  City  churches  "  together  with  their 
signature  and  address. 


A  TONDO  BY  LUCA  SIGNORELLI 
BY  ROGER  FRY 


/^' 


hidden  fr.nr 
li 

seated  the  white- 


ondo  which  we  reproduce  as  a 

■  '  nt   number 

\ziNE    has 

from  a  private  cc)llec-. 

nd,    where  it  has  lain 

i:e  of  art  students. 

ited  with  the  Christ 

,  a  table  at  which  is 

jre  of  S.  Bernard.  He 


turns  round  to  listen  with  intent  eagernes- 

Virgin's  discourse  and  holds  one  h.-  ' 
on  a  manuscript,   the  other  hand  '" 

gesture  expressive  of    wonder    i  -a. 

In  front  of  this  hand  Signorelli  "d 

his  favourite  motive  of  the  opene.  ul 

S.  Bernard   is  the  ru  in 

type  of  S.  Joseph.      ■  nd 

wearing  a  grey   monastic   robe   leans  over  the 


The  Burlington  Magazins,  No.  216,  Vol.  xxxviii.     March,  i()2i. 


105 


Jl. 


yifir (Jicfvcy^evMcn    (■  •  Ut-.'> 


EDITORIAL     "A     Mo7iumentmn     Requiris^     Circumspice''' 


ORKS  of  art  and  of  antiquity  are 
commonly  lost  to  the  world,  not  in 
the  midst  of  a  storm  of  public  pro- 
,test,  nor  as  the  result  of  furious 
iconoclasm.  They  vanish,  un- 
noticed by  those  who  care  most  for  them,  and 
their  value  is  felt  only  when  it  is  too  late-  It 
looks  as  if  we  were  on  the  eve  of  just  such  a 
catastrophe  which  will  deprive  us  of  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  examples  of  architectural  de- 
sign that  have  ever  been  created  by  the  English 
genius.  And  if  this  happens,  we  students  of  art 
must  be  held  largely  to  blame,  for  so  far  we  have 
failed  even  to  attempt  to  formulate  any  expres- 
sion of  our  attitude. 

Some  months  ago  there  was  raised  in  the  popu- 
lar press  a  furore  over  the  proposed  destruction 
by  the  Church  of  England  of  nineteen  City 
churches.  It  served  its  purpose  of  providing 
"  tony  copy  "  for  the  editors,  and  rapidly 
passed  away,  not  to  be  revived.  People  felt  im- 
potently  glad  that  "  something  had  been  done  "  ; 
the  flame  of  agitation  was  extinguished  in  a  sea 
of  vague  satisfaction.  But  the  time  of  real  dan- 
ger came,  not  with  the  birth  of  the  movement, 
but  with  its  death.  The  deed  will  be  perpe- 
trated, like  other  deeds  of  the  kind,  in  the  dark 
and  the  silence — in  just  such  an  ominous  still- 
ness as  has  now  descended  upon  the  whole 
question. 

The  Lord  Bishop  of  London,  in  reply  to 
an  enquiry  I  sent  him,  says,  "  The  matter 
of  the  City  Churches  is  still  under  very 
careful  consideration.  It  is  not,  however,  the 
least  likely  there  will  be  a  wholesale  demolition 
of  these  churches.  Each  case  will  be  carefully 
considered  one  by  one."  This  comfortless  com- 
munication, when  one  remembers  the  scant 
recognition  the  buildings  have  in  previous  dis- 
cussions received  as  works  of  art,  will  leave  all 
connoisseurs  and  many  cultured  people  anxious 
and  depressed.  Our  uneasiness  will  be  appeased 
neither  by  the  thought  that  the  churches  may  be 


destroyed  one  by  one  instead  of  all  together,  nor 
by  the  notion  of  the  retention  of  the  spires  alone. 
It  shall  be  appeased  only  when  we  have  a  defi- 
nite assurance  that  not  a  single  stone  is  to  be 
taken  from  its  place.  The  use  of  the  churches 
for  secular  purposes  is,  rightly  or  wronglv,  re- 
garded as  a  desecration.  Their  destruction  is 
surely  a  desecration  still  less  pardonable.  We 
do  not  feel  at  this  moment  inclined  to  discuss 
their  merit.  They  have  long  ago  passed  the 
censors  of  criticism,  and  the  world  thought  them 
for  ever  secure.  As  for  the  argument  that 
"  people  do  not  go  to  see  them  "  :  If  they  do 
not — and  we  are  not  aware  that  they  do  not — 
then  so  much  the  worse  for  "  people  ".  Once 
let  us  admit  that  as  a  principle  and  how  many 
fine  works  of  art  would  have  to  disappear ! 
Many  of  them  were  conceived  by  one  of  the 
greatest  creators  for  whom  our  race  can  account, 
and  he  built  them  on  the  crest  of  a  high  enthu- 
siasm, with  a  fine  sense  of  his  responsibility 
and  an  energy  altogether  worthy  of  himself  and 
the  occasion.  The  Churchmen  of  that  time  rea- 
lised the  greatness  of  Wren  and  the  permanent 
value  of  his  immense  accomplishment.  It  is  for 
the  Churchmen  of  to-day  to  decide  whether  the 
celebrated  epitaph  their  fathers  raised  above  his 
tomb  has  to  remain  significant  or  to  become  a 
sham ;  whether  we  and  our  children  shall  look 
around  us  at  the  perfect  legacy  left  for  us  by 
our  Master  Architect  or  at  the  monuments  of  his 
genius  scarred,  disfigured  and  blotted  out? 

I  propose  to  reply  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don by  sending  him  a  list  of  signatures  of  those 
of  us  who,  whatever  our  opinions  may  be  regard- 
ing the  difficulties  confronting  the  Church  in 
this  matter,  wish  to  emphasise  the  importance  of 
these  edifices  as  works  of  art  and  to  express  the 
hope  that  they  may  be  allowed  to  remain  intact 
and  unmutilated.  I  therefore  ask  all  who  share 
this  hope  to  send  me  on  a  postcard  or  otherwise 
the  words  "  City  churches  "  together  with  their 
signature  and  address. 


A    TONDO    BY    LUCA    SIGNORELLI 
BY    ROGER   FRY 


HE  tondo  which  we  reproduce  as  a 
frontispiece  to  the  present  number 
of  the  Burlington  Magazine  has 
come  recently  from  a  private  collec- 
tion in  Ireland,  where  it  has  lain 
hidden  from  the  knowledge  of  art  students. 

It  represents  the  Virgin  seated  with  the  Christ 
Child  upon  her  knee,  behind  a  table  at  which  is 
seated  the  white-robed  figure  of  S.  Bernard.  He 


turns  round  to  listen  with  intent  eagerness  to  the 
Virgin's  discourse  and  holds  one  hand  resting 
on  a  manuscript,  the  other  hand  opened  in  a 
gesture  expressive  of  wonder  and  admiration. 
In  front  of  this  hand  Signorelli  has  introduced 
his  favourite  motive  of  the  opened  book.  Behind 
S.  Bernard  is  the  aged,  intensely  Signorellian 
type  of  S.  Joseph.  A  young  man  tonsured  and 
wearing  a   grey   monastic    robe    leans  over  the 


The  Burlington  Magazine,  No.  216,  Vol.  xxs 


March,   1921. 


105 


Virgin's  left  shoulder.  He  holds  in  his  hniui  a 
heart.  The  svmbol  suggests  S.  Hcinardino  of 
Siena,  tiiough  he  shows  no  lil<cness  to  the  well 
known  and  authentic  portraits  of  that  saint 
which  occur  so  frequently  in  Italian  art  of  the 
mid-fifteenth  century. 

The  picture  is  painted  on  poplar  wood  (2  ft. 
10  in.  in  diameter)  and  bears  at  the  back  in 
Roman  capitals  the  inscription  pietro  vanucci 
MCCCCLXXi  (or  perhaps  11— ^the  last  figures  are 
doubtful).  Owing  to  this  inscription  the  picture 
has  traditionally  been  ascribed  to  Perugino,  and 
as  such  it  came  into  the  market.  The  inscrip- 
tion is,  however,  obviously  a  later  addition,  pre- 
sumably of  the  18th  century,  and  must  have  been 
added  at  a  time  when  Signorelli's  name  had 
ceased  to  be  as  famous  as  it  has  again  become 
in  our  own  day. 

For  the  picture  bears  throughout  the  evident 
marks  of  .Signorelli's  invention  and  handling. 
The  book  in  the  foreground,  with  its  peculiar 
density  and  solidity  of  matiere,  and  the  hand 
behind  it  with  its  harsh,  blunt,  broad  modelling, 


are  alone  sufficient  as  signatures  of  the  master. 
It  is  only  in  the  upper  part  of  the  picture  where 
some  ai)rasion  anil  softening  of  the  surface  has 
occurred,  that  one  fails  to  lind  so  clearly  Sig- 
norelli's unmistakable  handwriting. 

The  picture  would  .seem  to  belong  somewhere 
about  the  year  1400.  In  its  rather  hot  rich 
colouring  it  reminds  one  slill  of  worJvs  like  the 
Circumcision  of  the  National  (lallery,  but  it  is 
probably  of  somewhat  later  date  and  fits  most 
nearly  into  the  group  of  Holy  Families  of  which 
the  Tondo  in  the  Pitti  and  the  Holy  Family  of 
the  Rospigliosi  galleries  are  examples.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  rather  peculiar  and  unattractive 
type  of  the  Chri.st  Cliild  occurs  in  all  three  pic- 
tures. In  the  Pitti  Tondo  the  motive  of  the 
Virgin's  discourse  is  repeated,  and  though  here 
the  S.  Bernard  of  our  Tondo  is  replaced  by  a 
female  saint,  the  action  of  the  hands  and  the 
motive  is  identical,  suggesting  that  both  pic- 
tures were  based  upon  the  same  general  design, 
which  was  modified  according  to  the  saints 
whose  figures  had  to  be  introduced. 


MAORI    ART 

BY    RALPH    DURAND 

■»5^a  F    anyone   were    to   do   anything   so 

i^^  futile  as  to  raise  a  discussion  as  to 

^^  which  modern  primitive  race  has  pro- 

^^^duced  the  greatest  artists,  the  popular 

-j^^ vote  would  undoubtedly  be  recorded 
in  favour  of  the  Eskimos,  on  account  of  the 
wonderfully  life-like  engravings  of  hunting 
scenes  and  incidents  of  daily  life  which  they  en- 
grave on  reindeer  bone,  as  did  our  palaeolithic 
ancestors  twenty  thousand  years  ago.  If  the 
subject  were  limited  to  that  of  decorative 
design  one  would  have  to  take  into  account 
the  Maoris  of  New  Zealand,  that  is,  the  Maoris 
of  the  period  before  New  Zealand  was  overrun  by 
civilisation.  Maori  carvings  of  recent  date,  made 
with  steel  tools,  though  most  perfect  in  finish  are 
far  less  spirited  than  the  carvings  of  olden  days 
that  were  laboriously  scraped,  with  stone  tools, 
out  of  solid  blocks  of  hard  timber,  jade  or  whale- 
bone. The  Maori  of  that  era  decorated  practically 
everything  he  used,  from  household  pottery  to 
war  canoes  with  designs  of  which  the  human 
figure  was  in  most  cases  the  motif.  The  resemb- 
lance to  the  human  figure  is  not  strikingly- 
apparent  to  the  European  eye.  The  Maori  artist 
believed  that  if  the  representation  was  too  lifelike, 
the  figure  might  actually  come  to  life,  or  rather 
come  back  to  life,  for  the  figures  are  intended  to 
be  portraits  of  tribal  ancestors.  One  may  revere 
one's  forefathers  without  wishing  them  to  come 
back  into  this  world.  Such  a  reincarnation  would 
be  embarrassing.    They  might  wish  to  interfere, 


with  disastrous  effect,  in  contemporary  politics, 
and  they  would  almost  certainly  wish  to  resume 
possession  of  such  property  as  they  had  left  be- 
hind them.  To  guard  against  such  re-incarna- 
tion, therefore,  Maori  artists  depicting  the  human 
figure  usually  ensured  that  the  likeness  should 
not  be  perfect  by  carving  only  three  fingers  and 
a  thumb  on  each  hand.  Figures  on  which  the 
correct  amount  of  fingers  are  represented  are  to  be 
found,  but  they  are  comparatively  rare. 

Every  New  Zealand  village  contains  a  building 
ornately  carved  inside  and  out,  which  is  the  com- 
mon property  and  pride  of  the  clan.  The  roof  of 
such  a  house  is  supported  by  wooden  pillars,  and 
on  each  pillar  is  carved  a  representation  of  one  of 
the  clan's  ancestors,  which  is  said  to  be  the  actual 
temporary  home  of  the  dead  man's  spirit.  Most 
of  these  carvings  bear  so  close  a  resemblance  to 
each  other  that  at  first  glance  they  seem  to  be  all 
of  one  pattern.  More  detailed  examination, 
however,  shows  that  no  two  are  alike  in 
every  particular.  Each  has  its  own  pecu- 
liarity, that  to  the  initiated  reveals  who 
it  is  that  is  represented.  In  some  cases 
the  carving  on  the  face  of  the  figure  accurately 
represents  the  tattoo  marks  worn  by  the  man  or 
woman  whose  portrait  it  is  intended  to  be.  In 
this  case  it  is  easy  to  see  whether  a  man  or  woman 
is  represented;  a  man's  tattoo  marks  cover  the 
whole  face,  and  a  woman's  only  the  lips  and 
chin,  with,  in  some  cases,  a  small  pattern  on  the 
forehead  and  nose.     In  most  cases  the  pattern 


106 


.1  S.  Magnus  the  Martyr, 
l.iiwer  Thames  Street.  Built 
b\-  W^ren  in  1676.  Sti'e]3le 
atldetl  in  1705  by  W'ren.  (Tower 
Id  be  preserved). 


B  S.  Nicholas,  C'.ile  Abbey, 
Knightrider  Street.  Buih  bv 
Wren   in    1677. 

C  S.  Mary  Woolnoth,  Lorn 
bard  Street,  by  Hawksmoor, 
Wren's  pupil 


Editorial.     Some  of  the  threatened  Churches 


..]  —  Wooden  pillar  repi'cscniiny  lluu-nioa  m  ihe  arms 
of  her  lover,  Tutaneki 


/■>'  A  carNin^' 
ill  wliiili  facial 
lalloo  marks  arc 
accuralely  ic|i- 
resciiled.  I'lic 
lif^iirc  has  the 
peculiarity  o! 
ha\'in^  llic  cor 
rect  anioiini  ol 
fini'crs. 


C — Wooden  pillar   representing    a    hero    of    Maori 
legend  who  invented  stilts  in  order  to  rob  his  neigh- 
bours' orchards.     Between  the   stilts   is   represented 
the  man  who  causjht  the  thief. 


D — .A  wooden  jiillar  representing  llincnioa,  who 
swam  across  Lake  Rotura  to  join  lier  lover.  .She  is 
represented  with  swimming  hlatldcrs  in  her  hands. 


Maori  Art 


on  the  carved  figure  is  complicated  by  supple- 
mentary designs,  used  merely  to  fill  up  vacant 
space.  The  protruding  tongue,  for  example,  is 
always  carved  with  tattooing  design,  and  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  no  one  has  ever  submitted  to  hav- 
ing his  tongue  tattooed. 

The  carvings  on  some  of  these  pillars  illustrate 
a  family  legend  such  as  that  of  Hinemoa,  a  girl 
of  noble  birth,  who  lived  among  the  geysers  and 
hot  springs  of  Whakarewarewa  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Rotorua.  She  was  in  love  with  Tutaneki, 
the  young  chieftain  of  the  tribe  that  lived  on 
Mok'oia,  an  island  in  the  lake  four  miles  from  the 
mainland.  Hinemoa's  tribe  was  at  feud  with 
the  tribe  on  the  island.  The  girl  was  forbidden 
to  have  any  communication  with  Tutaneki.  One 
dark  night,  however,  she  escaped  from  her  home, 
and  after  a  perilous  swim  across  the  lake,  joined 
her  lover. 

Carvings  that  illustrate  definite  historical 
events  such  as  the  elopement  of  Hinemoa  neces- 
sarilv  have  their  own  peculiarities.  Strict  con- 
vention as  a  rule,  however,  governs  in  each  tribe 
the  representation  of  the  human  figure.  Any 
departure  from  this  will,  it  is  believed,  bring  bad 


luck  to  the  carver,  and  may  even  cause  his  death 
at  the  hands  of  outraged  ancestral  spirits.  Very 
wide  departures  from  the  original  type  must, 
however,  have  crept  into  the  designs,  if  we  are 
to  believe  a  story  told  of  Rua,  the  original  in- 
ventor of  the  art  of  carving,  who  invited  the  sea- 
god  Tangaroa  to  visit  his  house.  Tangaroa  mis- 
took the  carved  doorpost  of  Rua's  house  for  a 
living  person — so  life-like  was  the  design — and 
even  .saluted  it  in  the  JMaori  fashion  by  rub- 
bing his  nose  against  that  of  the  figure. 

Such  carvings  as  may  be  seen  on  the  Maori 
communal  halls  took  many  years  to  complete. 
Those  applied  to  war-canoes,  few  of  which 
now  survive,  were  the  work  of  successive 
generations.  As  all  have  a  definite,  though  to 
the  European  eye,  obscure,  connection  with 
Maori  history,  it  may  be  imagined  with  what 
veneration  they  are  regarded  by  the  Maoris, 
whose  family  pride  is  intense. 

The  author's  acknowledgments  are  due  to  Mr. 
Augustus  Hamilton,  Curator  of  the  Dominion 
Museum,  Wellington,  New  Zealand,  for  per- 
mission to  publish  some  of  the  photographs  that 
accompany  this  note. 


CHINESE    PHILOSOPHY    OF    ART— III. 
BY    ARTHUR    WALEY 

CHING  HAO. 

'HE  landscape  painters  of  T'ang  had 
worked  in  a  minute  and  laborious 
style.  It  was  Ching  Hao  who,  at 
the  beginning  of  the   loth  century, 

developed    a   broad.     Impressionist 

manner  and  became  the  first  of  the  long  line  of 
Southern  School  painters. 

It  is  true  that  the  critics  of  the  i6th  century, 
wishing  to  claim  a  greater  antiquity  for  the 
Southern  style,  traced  its  inception  to  Wang 
Wei  of  the  8th  century.  But  such  copies  of 
Wang  Wei  as  v/e  possess  suggest  that  it  was 
rather  in  his  attitude  towards  Nature  than  in  his 
technical  methods  that  Wang  was  the  ancestor 
of  the  Impressionist  landscape  painters. 

Ching  Hao  excelled  as  a  painter  of  snow-laden 
hills.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  of  his  pictures 
survive.  The  huge  collection  of  the  Emperor 
Ch'ien  Lung  contained  only  one  work  attributed 
to  Ching  Hao ;  and  this  was  evidently  regarded 
by  the  compilers  as  a  copy.  A  Chinese  art- 
journal  contains  the  reproduction  of  a  17th  cen- 
tury copy  of  a  14th  century  copy  of  one  of  his 
works ! 

But  his  essay  on  landscape  painting  exists. 
By  a  pleasant  literary  artifice  he  puts  his  pre- 
cepts into  the  mouth  of  an  old  man  whom  he  met 
whilst  sketching  pine  trees  on  the  Hill  of  the 
Sacred  Gong,  in  the  T'ai-hang  Range.  "  Paint- 


ing", the  old  man  said,  "is  delineation;'  to 
measure  the  shapes  of  things,  yet  with  grasp  of 
Truth  ;  to  express  outward  form  as  outward  form 
and  inner  reality  as  inner  reality.  Outward 
forms  must  not  he  taken  as  inner  realities.  If 
this  is  not  understood,  resemblance  may  indeed 
be  achieved,  but  not  pictorial  Truth.  A  '  re- 
semblance '  reproduces  form,  but  neglects 
spirit ;  but  Truth  shows  spirit  and  substance  in 
like  perfection.  ...  In  landscape  painting 
there  are  six  essentials — Spirit,  Harmony, 
Thought,  Atmosphere,  Brush,  and  Ink.  Spirit 
makes  the  heart  travel  with  the  brush  and  seize 
unerringly  the  shapes  of  things.  Harmony, 
without  visible  contours,  suggests  form  ;  omits 
nothing,  yet  escapes  vulgarity.  Thought  segre- 
gates the  essential  and  concentrates  the  mind  on 
the  shapes  of  things. 

The  master  of  Atmosphere,'  while  yet  observ- 
ing the  laws  of  the  seasons,  can  search  out  the 
Mysterious  and  establish  Inner  Truth.  The 
master  of  the  Brush,  though  he  follow  the  laws 
and  ordinances  of  painting,  can  yet  move  among 
them  unimpeded;  all  is  flight  and  motion, 
nothing  solid  or  fixed. 

1  Or  delimitation.  There  is  here  a  play  on  two  senses  of 
the  Chinese  word  hua.  1  may  mention  that  I  have  used  the 
text  of  the  Hua  Hsiieh  Hsin  Yin,  checked  by  that  of  the 
Shu   Hua   P'u. 

2  Lit.   "  seasonal  aspect." 


]  I   I 


The  master  of  Ink  can  lieighten  or  lower  his 
tone  at  will,  to  express  the  depth  or  shallowness 
of  things;  creating;  what  seems  liUe  a  natural 
brilliancy,  not  derived  from  the  line-work  of  the 
brush. 

Again,  there  are  four  categories  :  The  Divine, 
The  Mysterious,  The  Mtirvellous,  and  The  Skil- 
jul.  The  Divine  Painter  makes  nt)  etTort  of  his 
own  ;  his  hand  spontaneously  reproduces  natural 
forms. 

The  Mysterious  Painter  first  experiences  in 
imagination  the  instincts  and  passions  of  all 
things  that  exist  in  heaven  or  earth ;  then,  in  a 
style  appropriate  to  the  subject,  natural  forms 
flow  spontaneously  from  his  hand. 

The  Marvellous  Painter  is  profuse  in  ill-con- 
sidered forms.  Often,  while  achieving  resem- 
blance in  detail,  he  misses  the  universal  prin- 
ciples of  the  view  before  him.  This  is  the  result 
of  mechanical  dexterity  without  intelligence. 

The  Skilful  Painter  scrapes  together  little 
prettinesses  and  welds  them  into  the  pretence  of 
a  masterpiece.  But  the  more  he  loads  his  design 
with  decoration,  the  further  it  recedes  from  the 
true  spirit  of  the  scene  which  he  depicts.  This 
is  called  excess  of  outward  forms  with  poverty 
of  inner  meaning.  .  .  .  There  are  two  kinds 
of  faults.  Those  that  depend  upon  representa- 
tion, and  those  that  do  not.     When  flowers  or 


trees  are  out  of  season,  when  a  man  is  larger 
than  a  house,  or  a  tree  taller  than  a  mountain, 
when  a  bridge  does  not  rest  on  its  banks,  the.se 
are  demonstrable  faults  of  form.  .  .  .  Hut 
when  the  operation  of  the  spirit  is  weak,  all  the 
forms  are  defective;  and  though  the  brush  be 
active,  its  productions  are  like  dead  things, — 
then  we  speak  of  '  faults  unconnected  with  repre- 
sentation.' " 

Then  follow  notes  on  the  "  growth  "  of  diller- 
ent  trees,  on  the  technical  terminology  of  land- 
scape painting,  and  on  the  painters  of  antiquity. 
The  essay  closes  with  an  ode  in  praise  of  pine- 
woods. 

Unlike  Chang  Yen-yiian,  Ching  Hao  does 
not  demand  that  art  should  be  "  improving". 
He  takes  Hsieh  Ho's  philosophy  of  figure 
painting  and  adapts  it  to  lancLscape.  It  did  not 
occur  to  him  to  take  into  account  anything  out- 
side his  own  branch  of  painting,  still  less  to 
construct  a  general  philosophy  even  of  the 
plastic  arts. 

But  he  shows  a  vivid  perception  of  the  fact 
that  art  consists  of  something  more  than  mere 
representation,  and  by  leaving  certain  vital  ques- 
tions unanswered,  at  any  rate  avoids  falling  into 
the  absurdities  which  entrapped  his  successor, 
Kuo  Hsi,  to  whom  my  next  article  will  be  de- 
voted. 


A  NEWLY  ACQUIRED  CHASSERIAU  AT  THE  LOUVRE 
BY  R.  R.  TATLOCK 


ONSIEUR  JAMOT  of  the  Louvre 
has  already  described  in  these 
columns  a  number  of  pictures 
recently  acquired  for  the  Paris 
Gallery.  In  speaking  of  Chas- 
seriau  he  did  not  mention  the  little  nude  subject 
in  oils  known  as  the  Veiius  Anadyomene,  but 
entitled  by  Chasseriau  Venus  Marine.  Before 
it  was  presented  by  an  anonymous  donor.  Baron 
Anhur  Chasseriau  had  already  presented  in 
1918  to  the  Louvre  :  Portrait  d'Adele  Chasse- 
riau, the  Ca'id  visitant  un  Donar,  the  Macbeth 
rencontrant  les  Sorcieres,  and  a  drawing  entitled 
La  Paix.  The  Vinus  Marine  [Plate  a]  was 
purchased  at  the  first  Beurdeley  sale  and  now 
goes  to  rejoin  the  Suzanne,  by  the  same  artist, 
with  which  it  was  hung  in  the  Salon  of  1839. 
The  canvas  is  signed  and  dated  1838,  which  was 
Th6odore  Chass6riau's  nineteenth  year. 

There  exist  three  other  interpretations  of  the 
same  subject.  The  first  is  a  sketch  in  oils,  the 
figure  in  which  is  very  like  that  of  the  picture 
itself,  although  the  sea  and  rocks  are  simpler 
and  less  perfect  in  design.     This  sketch   is  in 


the  collection  of  M.  Arthur  Chasseriau.  There 
is  also  the  familiar  lithograph  bearing  the  mis- 
spelt title  "  AffPOrENEIA",  in  which  the 
arrangement  of  the  composition  is  very  like  that 
in  the  picture.  Finally  there  is  a  little-known 
sketch  in  sanguine  [Plate  b]  the  composition 
of  which  closely  resembles  that  of  the  lithograph. 
It  also  is  in  the  possession  of  M.  Arthur  Chas- 
seriau. 

Perhaps  the  reproduction  of  the  painting  and 
the  drawing  side  by  side,  in  addition  to  being 
of  biographical  interest,  will  serve  to  illustrate 
the  similarity  and  the  difTerence  between  the 
genius  of  Chasseriau  and  that  of  Ingres.  In  the 
sketch  especially,  although  the  spiritual  concep- 
tion and  the  specialised  vision  that  manifests 
itself  in  an  exquisite  insistence  on  the  rhythms 
of  contour,  are  strikingly  reminiscent  of  Ingres, 
the  latter's  firm,  deliberate  line,  every  elabora- 
tion of  which  explains,  reveals  and  elucidates, 
has  little  in  common  with  the  slightly  indeter- 
minate and  experimental  character  revealed  in 
the  modelling  of  Chassdriau. 


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-1  Cup  and  Cover  of  blue  Bristol  glass  with  silver-i^ilt 
mounts.  Mounts  marked  T.H.  for  Thomas  Hemming. 
Hall  mark  1752.     (Col.  H.  H.  Mulliner) 


B  Cassolettes,  one  of  a  pair 
mounted  in  ormolu,  probabl\  at 
the  Soho  works.  .\boiU  1770. 
(Col.   H.  H.   Mulliner) 


:IV^- 


rtV^'  ^ 


C  Tea  Urn  of  Battersea  Enamel  mounted 
in  gilded  metal.  About  1760.  (Col.  H. 
H.  "Mulliner) 


D  Candelabra,  one  of  a  pair.  Body  of  Derbyshire 
Spar  mounted  in  ormolu,  probablv  at  the  .Soho  works. 
About  1770.     (Col.  H.  H.  xMulliner) 


English  i8th  century  Ormolu 


ENGLISH  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  ORMOLU 
BY  H.   AVRAY  TIPPING 


HE  strong  hold  which  the  "  French 
Taste"  obtained  over  our  cabinet 
makers  and  their  clients  under 
George  II  was  discussed  in  these 
pages  last  month,'  when  the  furni- 
ture then  exhibited  at  the  Burlington  Fine  Arts 
Club  was  under  review.  It  was  much  less 
notable  in  the  decorative  objects  shown  at 
the  same  time — mostlv  dating  from  the 
earlier  part  of  George  Ill's  reign — four  of 
which  are  now  illustrated.  They  are  composed 
of  various  English  products,  natural  or  manu- 
factured, mounted  in  that  form  of  metal  work 
for  which  the  French  term  ormolu  was  adopted 
into  our  language,  and  which  is  the  subject  now 
to  be  considered. 

Except  among  the  smiths,  who  had  worked  so 
splendidly  at  clairvoyees  and  stair  balustrades 
under  the  inspiration  of  Tijou,  metal  work  re- 
mained unambitious  in  England  during  the  first 
half  of  the  i8th  century.  Moulded  and  engraved 
door  locks  and  furniture  mounts  of  brass  were 
well  designed  and  wrought,  but  no  attempt  was 
made  to  reach  the  high  plane  of  contemporary 
French  metal  workers  at  a  time  when,  among 
others,  Jacques  and  Philippe  Cafieri  were  using 
the  entire  surface  of  commodes  as  a  field  whereon 
to  spread  rococo  scrolls  of  the  utmost  involution 
and  the  highest  technical  excellence,  as  we  can 
see  in  examples  at  Hertford  House. 

Candelabra,  clocks,  and  the  mounts  of  urns 
and  vases  followed  the  same  lines  until  Louis 
XV  grew  old,  and  then  we  find  the  beginnings 
of  a  revulsion  of  taste  in  favour  of  more  reticence 
in  design,  accompanied,  however,  with  even 
greater  delicacy  and  perfection  of  execution. 
Duplessis,  called  Sculptcur  Fondeur,  Ciselcur  et 
Doreur  du  Roi,  but  appointed  Director  of  the 
Sevres  china  works  in  1753,  shows  this  tendency 
in  the  designs  for  the  mounts  of  both  vases  and 
furniture,  and  it  also  appears  in  a  pair  of 
flambeaux  at  Hertford  House  signed  by 
Marti ncourt.  He  ranks  as  the  teacher  of 
Gouthi^re,  who  already  in  about  1765  was 
creating  for  Madame  du  Barry  domestic 
articles  that  were  pure  works  of  art  in 
the  style  which  came  to  be  known  as  that  of 
Louis  XVI,  although  he  did  not  succeed  his 
grandfather  until  1774.  By  that  date  casso- 
lettes' and  candelabra  such  as  are  here  illus- 
trated had  been  produced  at  the  Soho  Works 
near  Birmingham. 

The  revulsion    from    baroque-rococo  extrava- 


'  Burlington  Magazine,  vol.  xxxviii,  p.  67. 
2  "  Cassolet  :  a  small  vessel  us'd   in   the  Burning  of  Pastils 
or  other  odours  ".     Diet.   Rust,   1726. 


gances,  with  their  Chinese,  Gothic  and  other 
developments,  came  even  earlier  and  more 
strongly  in  England  than  in  France,  so  that  any- 
one who,  on  the  accession  of  George  III,  wished 
to  develop  and  improve  the  output  of  ormolu  in 
this  country  would — while  depending  largely  on 
French  examples,  and  even  on  French  craftsmen 
for  technique — not  so  much  copy  French  models 
as  work  out,  at  home  and  with  English  draughts- 
men, designs  on  parallel  but  independent  lines. 
That,  we  gather,  is  what  Matthew  Boulton  did, 
although  so  far  no  attempt  has  been  made  to 
produce  an  adequate  and  critical  biography  of 
this  very  remarkable  man.  He  was  the  initiator 
of  all  the  movements  in  the  commercial  world 
which  led  on  the  one  hand  to  the  aesthetic  im- 
provement in  our  manufacture  exemplified  by 
the  products  of  the  Wedgwood  firm,  and  on  the 
other  to  increased  and  more  effective  output 
through  mechanical  invention,  in  which  Watt's 
steam  engine  played  so  large  a  part.  Emulation 
of  Boulton  had  much  to  do  with  Wedgwood's 
success,  and  without  Boulton's  support  it  is 
doubtful  whether  James  Watt  would  have  per- 
fected his  invention.  Yet  whereas  Wedgwood 
and  Watt  are  included  in  all  biographical  works 
however  cursory,  and  have  whole  volumes  de- 
voted to  their  lives,  references  to  Boulton  are 
few  and  his  career  is  nowhere  separately  treated. 
By  Smiles  it  was  grouped  with  an  account  of 
Watt  and  the  steam  engine,  and  the  whole  of 
the  remarkable  revolution  which  he  effected  in 
the  quality  of  Birmingham  goods  is  related  in  a 
dozen  pages.  We  really  can  make  out  rather 
more  on  the  subject  by  collecting  casual  refer- 
ences and  quotations  from  letters  scattered  about 
the  second  volume  of  Eliza  Meteyard's  "  Life 
of  Wedgwood  ". 

Born  in  1728,  Matthew  Boulton  began,  while 
still  in  his  teens,  to  improve  and  increase  his 
father's  business  of  a  Birmingham  "  Toy 
Maker",  under  which  head  fancy  buttons, 
trinkets,  cheap  watch  chains,  and  the  like  were 
then  grouped.  Before  he  was  thirty  his  father 
died,  and  the  business,  outgrowing  the  existing 
space  and  primitive  equipment,  required  new 
premises.  Boulton  purchased  a  large  area  of 
waste  land  at  Soho,  a  short  way  out  of  the  town, 
and  began  the  construction  of  works  designed 
and  organised  on  a  scale  and  with  a  complete- 
ness that  had  not  hitherto  been  attempted. 
Thither  he  removed  in  1762,  and  within  ten  years 
his  fine  wares  in  ormolu  were  not  only  competing 
with  and  largely  ousting  kindred  French  objects 
in  this  country,  but  also  on  the  Continent,  and 
even  found  a  ready  market  in  France  itself.  This 


I  I 


7 


does  not  mean  tlia'.  Boulton  produced  anyiliing 
that  could  vie  with  the  creations  of  Gouihitire 
during  the  fourth  and  of  Tliomire  during  the 
liith  s<.ore  of  years  of  the  i8th  century.  1  hey 
were  esseniially  individual  works  of  art,  pro- 
duced singly  and  without  limit  to  time  and  cost 
for  the  successive  sovereigns  of  France.  Boul- 
ton, however  much  of  the  artist  and  man  of  taste 
there  was  in  him,  was  primarily  a  manufacturer 
keen  on  builtling  up  the  biggest  possible  busi- 
ness consistent  with  high  quality.  He  was  an 
ardent  seeker  after  improved  mechanical  pro- 
cesses. His  machinery  was  as  comple.\  and  as 
ertective  as  he  could  get  it,  and  every  improve- 
ment was  adopted  as  soon  as  tested.  But  for  his 
ornaments — for  what  could  be  classed  as  objets 
d'art — he  procured  and  trained  craftsmen,  so 
that,  however  hne  were  his  castings,  they  were 
afterwards  tooled  by  hand,  and  the  ciseleur  or 
chaser  was  as  important  at  Soho  as  in  Paris 
workshops.  The  chaser,  however,  might  well 
put  in  more  or  less  time,  give  more  or 
less  quality,  according  to  the  destination 
of  each  example  of  the  same  model.  For 
instance,  Wedgwood  finds,  rather  to  his 
surprise,  that  by  1776  the  Soho  works  had 
already  placed  200  examples  of  a  clock  "with 
\'enus  weeping  over  the  Tomb  of  Adonis  ". 
But  it  does  not  follow  that  all  received  the  same 
amount  of  attention.  For  the  King  and  his 
great  lords,  higher  finish  would  be  given  than 
for  the  ordinary  purchaser.  But  that  it  could 
be  given  is  shown  by  Colonel  MuUiner's  casso- 
lettes, where  the  whole  work  is  very  good  and 
the  chasing  of  the  four  grotesque  marks,  rising 
from  the  guilloche  band  round  the  body  of  the 
vase,  is  quite  admirable.  Are  there  still  such 
cassolettes  and  one  of  the  "  \'enus"  clocks  in 
the  royal  collections  ?  Such  were  obtained  in 
1767,  when  Boulton  writes  that: 

The  King   hath   bought   a   pair  of  cassolets,  a   Titus,  a 
Venus  Clock,  and  some  other  things.^ 

That  was  a  very  busy  year  at  Soho,  Boulton 's 
exceptional  capacity  and  intelligence  in  equip- 
ping the  work,  gathering  and  training  the 
craftsmen,  studying  style  and  obtaining  designs, 
seeking  out  and  establishing  new  markets  at 
home  and  abroad,  having  by  that  date  borne 
much  fruit.  Two  years  earlier  Wedgwood — 
already  planning  Etruria,  which,  however,  was 
not  opened  till  1769  or  completed  till  1773 — had 
declared  Soho  to  be  the  finest  instance  of  orga- 
nised industry  that  England  had  yet  seen,  and 
he  had  noticed  the  exquisite  form  and  detail  of 
its  ormolu  articles  such  as  vases,  candelabra  and 
tripods.* 

At  that  time  there  was  a  strong  bond  of  sym- 
pathy between  the  great  potter  and  the  man  he 

'  Smiles'   Life   of  Boulton   and    Watt.      1865,    p.    174. 
*Meteyard's  Life  of    Wedgwood,  1866,  vol.   II,   p.   26. 


called  "  liie  first  and  most  complete  manufac- 
turer in  metal  in  England".'  The  closest  co- 
operation between  the  older  Soho  and  the 
younger  lururia  seemed  likely  to  develoj).  In 
176S  Wetigwood  is  at  SdIio,  and  he  and  Boulton 
are  working  at  the  "  joint  improvement  and  ex- 
tended sale  over  Europe  "  of  their  wares,  which 
in  large  measure  are  to  be  in  combination,  for 
"  many  of  our  articles  will  be  finished  to  great 
adxaniage  with  works  of  metal  "."'  .Such  com- 
bination he  feels  "  is  a  field  to  the  further  end 
of  which  we  shall  never  be  able  to  travel  ". 
Boulton  surprises  him  by  a  relation  of  "what  a 
trade  has  lately  been  made  out  of  vases  at 
Paris  ",  and  hints  that  if  Wedgwood  does  not 
wish  to  go  in  with  him  he  is  so  set  on  "  an 
alliance  between  the  Pottery  and  Metal 
branches  "  that  he  will  go  elsewhere  or  .set  up 
potteries  of  his  own.  This  po.ssible  rivalry 
Wedgwood  is  quite  prepared  to  enter  into  and 
assures  his  partner  Bentley  that 

It  doubles    my    courage   to    have    the   first    manufacturer 
in    England  to   incounter   with.' 

What  might  have  happened  if  Soho  had  had 
satisfactory  water  power  we  cannot  tell.  As  it 
was  water,  especially  in  summer,  was  very  short, 
and  Boulton  had  to  look  around  for  some  other 
motive  power.  Thus  it  was  that  he  heard  of 
Watt's  experiments  in  Glasgow,  and  Watt 
found  that  the  greater  precision  of  the  Soho 
lathes  and  other  machines  would  enable  him  to 
produce  better  models  there.  But  the  first  Watt 
engine  to  Ije  set  to  work  was  made  in  Glasgow 
and  brought  to  Soho  to  be  put  together.  Boul- 
ton's  attention  was  gradually  attracted  away  from 
art  products  to  the  great  industrial  development 
which  would  follow  the  effective  use  of  steam. 
But  the  first  Soho-made  engine  was  not 
completed  until  1776,  and  during  the  first 
years  that  Watt  was  there  he  had  to  attend 
to  the  ordinary  business  of  the  firm,  in 
which  ormolu  objects  still  played  a  large 
part,  so  that  he  complains  that  when  in  London 
in  1775  he  was  kept  "  running  from  street  to 
street  all  day  about  gilding  ""  The  output  was 
still  remarkable  in  both  quantity  and  quality. 
In  1770  Wedgwood  is  at  Soho  and  finds  that 

They  have  35  chacers  at   work  and  will  have  a  superb 
show   of  vases   for   the   spring.' 

The  home  and  foreign  trade  is  growing,  and 
when  Wedgwood  is  at  Bath  in  1772  he  sees  a 
large  assortment  of  Soho  mounted  vases  in  "a 
very  rich  shop  in  the  market  place  ".  Presum- 
ably the  "  bodies"  of  some  of  these  objects 
were  of  Derbyshire  spar  or  "  Blue  John  ",  as  the 
shopman  declares  that  Boulton   had  the  mono- 


5  Meteyard's'  Wedgwood,   Vol.    II,   p.    27. 

*  Meteyard's    Wedgwood,  vol.    II,   p.  77. 

'  Meteyard's    Wedgwood,   vol.   II,   p.   213. 

'  Smiles'  Life  of  Boulton  and    Watt,  p.  208. 

'  Meteyard's  Life  of  Wedgwood,  vol.   II,  p.  222. 


118 


poly  of  the  "  Derbyshire  Radix  Amethyst 
mine,  the  only  one  in  the  world  ",  which  Wedg- 
wood denies  as  it  is  "  open  to  all  the  world  on 
due  payment  ".'"  Certain  it  is  that  Boulton 
made  large  and  effective  use  of  this  rare  English 
mineral,  which  is  the  substance  of  the  bodies  of 
various  vases  and  candelabra  belonging  to 
Colonel  Mulliner,  including  the  candelabrum 
illustrated  [Plate  d],  which  he  describes  as  : 

One  of  a  pair  :  The  oviform  bodies  are  of  Derbyshire 
Fluor-spar,  ornamented  with  finely  pierced  and  chased 
mounts,  water  gilt  ;  the  bases  are  circular,  spirallv-fluted, 
with  square  plinths  of  statuary  marble.  The  twisted  side- 
branches  for  candles  are  removable,  being  fixed  in  sockets 
formed  of  acanthus  leaves.  The  covers  which  terminate  in 
finials  of  flame  are  reversible,  and  form  a  third  candle 
socket   when    required. 

The  body  of  the  cassolette  illustrated  [Pl.\te 
b]  is  of  alabaster — also  a  Derbyshire  product — 
but  Col.  Mulliner,  who  is  the  first  to  specialise 
in  and  draw  attention  to  Boulton's  ormolu,  has 
another,  with  precisely  the  same  mounts, 
the  body  of  which  is  of  fluor-spar.  The 
general  form  is  again  that  of  a  vase,  so 
that  candelabra  and  cassolettes  as  well  as 
vases  pure  and  simple  may  have  been  in  the 
Queen's  mind  when  she  told  Boulton  that  she 
was  going  to  remove  the  china  from  her  boudoir 
chimney  piece  and  replace  it  with  his  vases, 
enquiring  how  many  it  would  take."  That  was 
somewhere  between  1767  and  1770,  which  will 
be  about  the  date  of  Colonel  Mulliner's  pieces, 
and  quite  a  dozen  years  earlier  than  a  cassolette, 
of  cognate  form  and  decorative  motifs,  in  the 
Musee  du  Louvre,  which  M.  Molinier'^  sets 
down  as  the  work  of  Thomire  towards  the  close 

10  Meteyard's  Life  of   Wedgwood,  vol.   II,  pp.   255-6. 
"Smiles'  Life  of  Boulton   and    Watt,  p.    175. 
12  Molinier,  Mohilier   Roval. 


of  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.  Boulton  certainly 
had  a  sprinkling  of  French  craftsmen  at  Soho 
and  bought  and  borrowed  French  objects  for 
study.  In  1768  a  London  dealer  "  back  from 
Paris  with  fine  things  "  finds  purchasers  in  both 
Boulton  and  Wedgwood.'^  But  we  know  that 
the  former  also  collected  and  borrowed  antiques, 
studied  and  drew  "  rare  works  in  metal  "  at  the 
British  Mu.seum,  and  was  "  desirous  of  culti- 
vating Mr.  Adam's  taste  in  his  productions  ".'' 

The  Soho  products  in  ormolu,  although  the 
name  and  the  instigation  came  from  France, 
may  therefore  be  set  down  as  from  English 
designs,  made  between  1762  and  1776.  In  the 
latter  year  Boulton  assured  Watt  that  in  future 
engines  would  take  first  place  in  his  attention,'' 
and  it  is  probable  that  little  further  trouble  was 
taken  to  obtain  new  models,  although  the  old 
ones  continued  to  be  reproduced.  It  is  likely 
also  that  from  that  date  the  quality  of  the  finish 
began  to  deteriorate  and  that  the  chasers  became 
fewer  in  number  and  lower  in  talent.  It  would 
have  needed  the  continued  driving  power  of  so 
exceptional  a  man  as  Boulton  to  maintain  this 
industry  at  the  high  level  to  which  he  had  raised 
it. 

The  other  illustrations  show  English  gilt 
metal  work  mounting,  in  the  one  case,  a  Batter- 
sea  enamel  urn  [Pl.\te  c],  and  in  the  other  a 
vase  of  deep  blue  Bristol  glass  [Plate  a].  They 
are  very  distinguished  pieces,  but  with  our  pre- 
sent imperfect  knowledge  of  the  Soho  models  it 
would  be  rash  to  assign  the  mountings  to  that 
source. 

'^Meteyard's  Life  of  Wedgwood,  vol.   II,  p.  96. 
^*  Smiles'  Life  of  Boulton  and   Watt,  p.   171. 
15  Smiles'  Life  of  Boulton  and    Watt,   p.   215. 


AN    UNNOTICED    BYZANTINE    PSALTER-  I 
BY    MARY    PHILLIPS    PERRY 


HERE  is,  in  the  possession  of  the 
Western  College  at  Bristol,'  an  illu- 
minated Greek  Manu.script  Psalter 
of  very  considerable  interest,  of  the 
past  history  of  which  nothing  is 
known,  not  even  by  whom  it  was  given  to  the 
College.^  It  is  a  small  volume  of  26,'?  vellum 
leaves  each  measuring  4J  x  t,^  inches ;  the  pages 
have  been  cut  down,  presumably  to  adapt  them 
to  the  present  binding,  a  medijEval  one  of  tooled 
leather  mounted  on  thick  wooden  boards. 

On  palaeographical  grounds  the  manuscript  is 


1  The  writer  is  indebted  to  Dr.  Franks,  the  Rev.  Professor 
Macey,  and  the  .Authorities  of  the  Western  College  for  the 
very  kind  way  in  which  they  have  given  her  access  to  their 
beautiful  manuscript,    and   permission    to   photograph  from    it. 

2  The  manuscript  has  not  been  given  to  the  College  within 
the  memory  of  any  who  have  been  connected  with  it,  and  who 
are  still  living. 


assigned  by  Mr.  J.  P.  Gilson,  Keeper  of  MSS. 
in  the  British  Museum,  to  the  eleventh  century. 
It  is  written\  in  cursive  Greek  minuscules  in 
brown  ink,  most  of  the  capitals  being  illumin- 
ated in  gold,  a  few  in  gold  and  colours,  whilst 
all  prefaces,  and  the  added  liturgical  details,  are 
also  inserted  in  gold.  Throughout,  the  cali- 
graphy  is  of  high  quality,  wonderfully  even,  and 
exact  in  its  spacing.  As  is  usual,  in  a  Greek 
liturgical  Psalter,  the  Canticles  and  certain  other 
portions  of  Scripture  are  included  in  the  volume. 
Admirable  as  is  the  caligraphy,  much  of  the 
interest  of  the  Manuscript  lies  in  the  miniatures. 
Of  these  there  are  two  occupying  a  com- 
plete page,  and  a  series  of  marginal  vig- 
nettes. The  full  page  miniatures  are  formal 
compositions  framed  within  a  plain  band 
of    colour,    having    a    gold    background,     the 


119 


rjold  heinsj  laid  here,  as  elsewliero  tlirouijhout 
the  manujkTipt,  upon  a  red  priming  whicli  ron- 
trihiites  to  the  richness  of  its  effect.'  The  tirst, 
wliiih  forms  the  frontispiece,  represents  David 
in  the  midst  of  liis  Musicians  [Plate  1,  a],  a 
siiiiject  iiclonpinp:  to  early  Cliristian  art,  whicli 
in  Psalters  was  frequenlly  used  in  this  position, 
the  fact  that  David  was  regarded  as  a  type  of 
Christ  and  of  His  Church  rendering  this  arrange- 
ment very  suitable.  In  this  instance,  King 
David,  holding  his  open  book,  sits  enthroned  in 
a  courtvard,  on  cither  side  being  two  musicians, 
each  side  being  carefully  balanced  with  the  other, 
as  mav  be  seen  from  the  pose  of  the  heads,  and 
the  similarity  of  clothing.  .-X  fifth  in  contrast- 
ing dress,  introduced  between  the  pair  on 
David's  left,  serves  to  break  the  monotony  with- 
out disturbing  the  symmetry  of  the  composition. 
The  second  full-page  illustration  is  placed 
after  P.salm  LXX\T,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
second  half  of  the  book;  it  represents  Christ 
enthroned.  His  right  hand  raised  in  the  Gre-'k 
attitude  of  blessing,  and  on  each  side  of  Him  a 
group  of  people.  Unfortunately  one  group  is 
too  obliterated  for  identification,  but  in  the  other 
are  individuals  who  are  dressed  in  monastic 
habit. 

Immediately  following  the  frontispiece  is  a 
beautiful  rectangular  headpiece  [Plate  I,  a] 
based  on  a  pan.sy-like  flower,  executed  in  rich 
blues  and  greens  with  slight  touches  of  red, 
on  a  gold  background;  this  encloses  a  circle 
within  which  is  the  title.  The  design  is  of  the 
type  familiar  in  Byzantine  manuscript,  reminis- 
cent of  an  Oriental  praying  mat,*  and  its  ex- 
tended base  line  is  finished  by  the  upstanding 
floriated  finial  which  is  so  often  associated  with 
such  headpieces,  a  similar  finial  set  diagonally 
being  at  the  upper  corners  of  the  design.  Upon 
the  rectangle  stand  two  peacocks  on  either  side 
of  a  "  Fountain  of  Life  ".  A  band  of  the  flower 
which  is  the  motive  of  the  headpiece  follows  the 
second  full-page  miniature,  whil.st  an  oblong 
design,  based  on  the  same  flower,  introduces  the 
Canticles.  A  few  insignificant  bands  of  orna- 
ment occur  elsewhere,  always  at  the  end  of  a 
Cathisma.' 

The  most  interesting  feature  of  the  illumina- 
tion consists  in  the  marginal  vignettes  which 
adorn  86  of  the  pages,  forming  a  running  com- 
mentary upon  the  text,  and  which  connect  this 

'The  red  priming  is  not  singular  to  this  MS.  It  occurs  in 
Brit.  Mus.  Add.  35030  and  19352  ^the  Theodore  Psaltor),  and  a 
magenta  priming"  in  the  Paris  Psalter  Bib.  Nat.  139.  See 
Illaminated  Manuscripts,  by  J.  .A.   Herbert,  p.  47  and  note. 

*  J.   .\.   Herbert,  op.   cit.  p.  55.  . 

5  These  do  not  occur  at  the  end  of  every  cathisma.  The 
division  is  marked  in  a  few  instances  by  the  use  of  a  more 
elaborate  and  larger  capital,  and  in  several  there  is  no  indi- 
cation, in  the  ornament,  of  any  break,  but  in  every  case  the 
number  of  the  cathisma  is  inserted  in  the  text,  as  well  as  the 
Gloria  whenever   it   was  required. 


m.inuscript    with     the      group     of      Byzantine 
l'.s.ili(Ts  similarly  decorated,  which  are  generally 
referred     to     as     the     "Monastic-theological"" 
group.     This  method  of  illustration   is  tiioiight 
to  have  been  suggested  by  the  calenre,  or  mar- 
gin.tl   glo.ssaries  of  tlieological   teaching  which, 
in  certain  manuscripts,  were  added  to  the  text  of 
Scripture,'  to  be  in  fact  the  translation  of  such  a 
glossary   into  terms  of  Art.       It  is  certainly  a 
method  which  serves  to  draw  attention  to  impor- 
tant ver.ses,  and  to  stress  the  bearing  of  the  pro- 
plietic    pa.s-sages    upon    their    ,sul).sc(iuent    fulfil- 
ment.    F.ach  of  the  miniatures  has  explanatory 
notes  in.serted  in  bright  red  ink,  with,  in  most 
ca.ses,  reference  marks,  also  in  red,  to  the  text  to 
which    tlu'v   ap]>ly.     Certain  of   them   are  intro- 
duced without  a  reference  mark,  but  in  many  of 
these  the  connection  is  .so  obvious  that  it  is  un- 
mistakable ;  for   example,    the  Nativity  without 
reference  mark  illu.strates  the  second  Psalm,  but 
this  Psalm   holds  chief  place  with   Ps.   CIX    in 
those  used  in  the  .special  Offices  for  Christmas 
Day,  and  its  bearing  upon  the  Nativity  had  been 
expressly  pointed  out  bv   S.   Paul  (Acts  XIII, 

The  surviving  manuscripts  of  the  "  Mona.stic- 
theological "  group  of  Psalters  are  few  in  num- 
ber. They  are  as  follow  :'  the  Chludoff  Psalter 
at  Moscow,  a  palimpse.st  written  in  uncials  in 
the  9th  or  loth  century,  over-written  in  minus- 
cules in  the  12th,  the  miniatures  of  which  are 
partly  repainted;  Pantokratoros,  No.  61  of  Mt. 
Athos,  also  a  palimpsest,  the  early  writing  of 
which  was  of  the  loth  or  nth  century,  the  later 
of  the  i2th  or  13th  ;  a  fragment  from  Ps.  XCI — 
Ps.  CXXXVIin  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale, 
Paris,  No.  20 ;  the  beautiful  Theodore  Psalter  of 
the  British  Museum,  Add.  MSS.  19352,  dated 
1066;  a  i2th  Cent.  Psalter  in  the  Barbarini 
Library,  No.  HI,  91  ;  a  12th  century  Psalter  in 
the  Vatican  Library,  Vat.  Gr.  No.  1927  ;  the  13th 
Cent.  Grajco-Latiri  Hamilton  Psalter  at  Berlin, 
Kupferstich  Kabinett,  No.  119;  and  later,  a 
.series  of  Russian  Psahers,  the  earliest  being  a 
Kiev  Slavonic  Psalter  of_  1397,  preserved  at 
Petrograd,  the  latest  dating  from  the  17th  cent.; 
there  are  in  addition  fragments  of  three  other 
Psalters.  With  these  the  Bristol  Psalter  will 
compare  favourably,  as  only  a  few  pages  of  the 
introductory  tables  are  missing,  and  the  minia- 
tures are  in  fair  preservation,  some  being  won- 
derfully perfect. 

Small  as  is  the  scale  of  the  marginal  vignettes, 
most  of  the  figures  being  only  about  an  inch  in 
height,  they  are  vigorous  and  full  of  expression, 
and  are  executed  with  directness,  certainty,  and 


6  J.  J.  Tikkanen,   Die  Psalterillustralion  im  Mittelalter. 
'J.    J.    Tikkanen,    op.    cit.,   p.    9. 
'J.   J.   Tikkanen,   Op.   cit.,   p.   50. 
9  J.   J.   Tikkanen,   Op.  cit.,   pp.    n-14. 


120 


delicacy  of  touch.  There  is  a  breadth  of  treat- 
ment in  the  draperies  far  removed  from  the  over 
reiterated  lines,  and  stifT  folds  associated  with 
later  Byzantine  Art  ;the  figures  also  are  free  from 
the  attenuation  characteristic  of  the  later  period, 
and  its  cold  formal  severity  is  totally  larking. 
There  is  spontaneity,  and  dramatic  feeling,  and 
at  the  same  time  great  dignity  in  the  pose  and 
bearing  of  many  of  the  figures,  particularly  in 
those  of  Christ,  and  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

The  iconographic    scheme    is  a   simple    one, 
being   scriptural    in    origin,     and    uninfluenced 
either   by   hagiology,    or   the    teaching    of    the 
Physiologus.     Almost  all  the  subjects  depicted 
can  be  divided   into  one  of   three   classes  : — (i) 
Scenes  from  the  life  of  Christ ;  (2)  Incidents  from 
Old  Testament  history,   and  the  pictorial   ren- 
dering of  the  exact  words  of  the  text;  (3)  Inci- 
dents in  the  life  of  David.     The  events  from  the 
life  of  Christ  are   not   inserted  in  chronological 
order;  they  often  occur  according  to  the  use  of 
the  passage  illustrated  in  the  particular  services 
for  special  davs  in  the  Eastern  Liturgy.       For 
example,  the  Entombment  of  Christ  [Plate  II, 
a]  is  connected  with  Ps.  LXXXVII,  6,  "Thou 
hast  laid  me  in  the  lowest  pit,  a  place  of  darkness 
and  in  the  deep",  this  being  used  during  the 
services  of  the  evening  of  Good  Friday ;"    and 
the  Communion  of  the  Apostles  [Plate  II,  c], 
which  in  Byzantine  Art  represents  the  Institu- 
tion of  the   Eucharist,    is    associated    with    Ps. 
XXXIII,  8,  which  was  sung  during  the  distri- 
bution of  the  Communion."       This    does    not 
secure  to  the  subjects  a  uniformity  of  position  in 
all  the  Psalters  of  the  "Monkish  theological" 
group.       The  ideas   were  associated   differently 
by  different  minds.     Thus,   the  Communion  of 
the  Apostles,  which  in  Pantokratoros  61  and  the 
Grjeco-Latin  Hamilton  Psalter  illustrates,  "  Oh, 
taste  and  see  how  gracious  the  Lord  is",    Ps. 
XXXIII,   8,   the  same  verse  as  in   the  Bristol 
Manuscript, ^^  is  placed  in  the  Chludoff  and  other 
Manuscripts  of  the  group,    at    Psalm   CIX,    4, 
"  Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of 
Melchisedech  ",  and  on  the  other  hand,  in  the 
Chludoff  and  Barbarini  Manuscripts  the  verse, 
"  Oh  taste  and  see  ",  Ps.  XXXIII,  8,  has  as  its 
illustration  the  feeding  of  the  multitude  in  the 
wilderness.''     In  the  Bristol  Psalter  the  minia- 
ture of    the  Annunciation,    Psalm    XLIV,    11, 
represents  the  Blessed  Virgin  seated  outside  her 
house,  spinning  the  scarlet  thread  for  the  Veil 
of  the  Temple,  and  great  attention  is  paid  to  the 
detail  of  spinning,   derived  from  the  Apochrv- 

'"J.  J.  Tikkanen,   Op.   cit.,  p.   60. 

11  J.   J.   Tikkanen,    Op.    cit.,  p.    54. 

12  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  close  simi- 
larity between  the  composition  of  the  Pantokratoros,  and  the 
Bristol  Communion  of  the  Apostles.  J.  J.  Tikkanen,  Op.  cit., 
p.   54,   fig.   68. 

13  J.  J.  Tikkanen,   Op.  cit.,  p.   52. 


phal  "  Protevangelium  of  James".  The  Virgin 
is  depicted  making  the  spindle  whorl  revolve 
with  her  right  hand  whilst  spinning  the  thread 
with  her  left,  and  a  large  ball  of  scarlet  thread 
is  in  a  basket  on  the  ground  at  her  side.  She  is 
turning  to  look  at  the  Angel  who  approaches, 
whilst  David  points  to  the  fulfilment  of  his  pro- 
phecy, the  explanatory  note,  "God  the  Father 
speaks  ",  written  above  him,  showing  that  he  is 
represented  as  the  Prophet  inspired  by  God.  He 
is  similarly  depicted  in  several  other  miniatures 
of  this  codex,  as  well  as  in  other  manuscripts  of 
the  "Monkish  theological"  group.'* 

All  that  remains  of  the  Nativity  is  the  Christ 
Child,  lying  at  the  mouth  of  a  cave  in  a  hillside, 
in  a  sarcophagus-like  trough  over  the  edge  of 
which  the  heads  of  an  ox  and  an  ass  are  seen, 
whilst  above  is  the  star.  The  earlier  pages  of 
the  codex  have  their  outer  margins  more  severely 
cut  down  than  those  farther  on  in  the  book,  and 
here  the  Blessed  Virgin  at  the  outer  end  of  the 
trough  has  apparently  been  cut  away,  leaving 
only  a  part  of  a  hand  beneath  the  nimbus  of  the 
infant  Christ,  and  a  patch  of  gold  in  the  back- 
ground, a  segment  of  her  nimbus.  Beneath  are 
some  figures,'''  now  too  obliterated  to  identify, 
whilst  at  the  foot  of  the  page  are  the  shepherds 
pointing  to  the  star,  their  flocks  beside  them. 

The  visit  of  the  Magi  [Plate  II,  b]  is  associ- 
ated with  Ps.  LXXI,  II.  "All  kings  shall  bow 
down  before  Him",  and  in  this  resembles  most 
of  the  later  manuscripts  of  the  series,  the  Psalm 
was  used  in  the  course  of  the  special  Christmas 
services.'"  The  Blessed  Virgin,  a  dignified 
figure,  is  seated  beneath  a  draped  arch  with  the 
old-looking  and  fully  clothed  Christ  Child  of 
Byzantine  tradition  on  her  lap.  The  Kings, 
who  approach  in  awkward  and  distinctive  atti- 
tudes," wear  crowns  instead  of  the  Phrygian 
caps  of  early  representations,  and  have  their 
cloaks  flying  in  the  wing-like  fashion,  which 
throughout  this  manuscript,  as  elsewhere  in  the 
art  of  the  period,  indicates  haste. 

The  miniature  of  the  Baptism,  with  its  two 
attendant  angels,  conforms  to  the  usual  Byzan- 
tine type,  but  the  water  has  the  appearance  of 
being  heaped  up  about  the  figure  of  Christ,  and 
is  not  enclosed  between  perpendicular  banks,  as 
is  the  case  in  some  of  the  Psalters  of  the  .series." 

1-1  In  Theodore  Psalter;  also  in  Chludoff,  Hamilton,  and 
1397  Russian  Psalter  (J.  J.  Tikkanen,  Op.  cit.),  and  in  the 
Barbarini    (Ch.    Diehl    Manuel   d'Art   Byzantin,  fig.    279). 

15  This  may  have  been  the  washing  of  the  infant  Christ,  a 
subject  nearly  always  depicted  from  earliest  times  in  Byzan- 
tine Nativities.  See  O.  M.  Dalton,  Byzantine  Art  and  Archcs- 
ology,  p.   654. 

i^J.    J.   Tikkanen,   Op.    cit.,    p.    50. 

I'The  attitudes  of  the  Kings  and  the  detail  of  their  crowns 
are  identical  with  those  in  the  same  subject  in  the  loth  or  nth 
century  Menologium  of  Basil  II.,  Cod.  Vat.  Gr.  1613, 
figured  in  Geschichte  der  Christlichen  Kunst,  F.  X.  Kraus, 
Vol.   I.,  p.  S7S. 

18  As  in  Chludoff,  fol.  72,  figured  J.  J.  Tikkanen,  Op.  cit., 
fig.   64. 


121 


S.  John  Baptist  is  on  a  rather  higher  level  than 
the  Christ,  and  is  represented  in  the  act  of  step- 
ping upwards. 

Tlie  rransfiguration,  as  in  most  Psalters  from 
ChhulofT  onwards,  illustrates  I'salm  LXXWll, 
13,  "Tabor  and  Hermon  shall  rejoice  in  thy 
name  ".  In  it  the  Apostles  are  represented  with 
a  nimbus,  evidently  to  indicate  the  distinction 
conferred  upon  SS.  Peter,  James  and  John,  in 
being  allowed  to  be  witnesses  of  the  event. 
Throughout  the  codex,  the  Apostles  are  gener- 
allv  unnimbcd,  the  only  other  example  with  a 
nimbus  being  the  single  figure  of  S.  Peter 
rebuked,  which  is  connected  with  Psalm 
XXXVIII,  12. 

A  miniature  of  the  Last  Supper  has  Christ 
beneath  a  baldachino  reclining  at  a  semi-circular 
table  with  the  Apo.stles,  one  of  whom  is  dipping 
his  hand  in  the  dish.  This  is  associated  with 
Psalm  XL,  9,  "  Yea,  even  mine  own  familiar 
friend  whom  I  trusted,  who  did  also  eat  of  my 
bread,  hath  laid  great  wait  for  me",  this  being 
the  verse  with  which  it  is  connected  in  most  of 
the  "  Monkish  theological  "  Psahers. 

There  are  two  representations  of  the  Cruci- 
fixion, the  first,  as  in  Chludoff,  Barbarini,"  and 
Theodore;  to  Ps.  XXL  17.  used  in  the  Eastern 
Church  in  the  Vespers  of  Good  Friday.  Christ 
is  depicted  upon  the  Cross,  in  a  long  kilt-like 
loin  cloth,"  whilst  below,  two  people  are  casting 
lots  for  a  blue  and  a  purple  garment.  A  soldier 
on  a  ladder  is  attending  to  a  nail  in  Christ's  left 
hand  with  a  large  pair  of  pincers,  whilst  another, 
now  almost  cut  away,  is  engaged  with  the  nail 
in  His  right  foot.  In  the  second  miniature  of 
the  same  subject,  illustrating  P.salm  LXVIIL 
22,  "  Thev  gave  me  gall  to  eat,  and 
when  T  was  thirsty  they  gave  me  vinegar  to 
drink",  Christ  wears  the  long  sleeveless  purple 
colobium,  in  w-hich  He  is  generally  pourtrayed 
in  Bvzantine  Crucifixions.  A  soldier  on  each 
side  offers  Him  a  sponge. 

The  representation  of  The  Harroiving  of  Hell 
[Pl.\te  H,  d]  is  connected  with  Ps.  LXVH,  i, 
"  Let  God  arise,  and  let  His  enemies  be  .scat- 
tered", as  it  is  also  in  all  the  other  Psalters  of 
the  group.  This  selection  was  made  because  the 
Psalm  was  the  only  one  used  by  the  Eastern 
Church  in  the  Special  Offices  for  Easter  Day,^' 
which  rendered  it  very  fitting  for  the  subject, 
which  was  always  understood  as  the  Resurrec- 
tion (Anastasis).  Christ  in  a  blue  mandorla, 
holding  a  large  patriarchal  cross,  and  standing 
upon   the  prostrate   figure  of   Hades,  leads  the 

"J.   J.   Tikl<anen,    Op.  cit.,   p.    57. 

-"  In  a  similar  miniature  to  the  same  verse  in  ttie  Theodore 
Psalter  (Brit.  Mus.  Add.  19352)  Christ  wears  the  colobium  ; 
the  artist  of  the  Bristol  Psalter  was  more  logical,  and  realis- 
ing that  Christ  must  have  been  divested  of  His  garments 
before  the  lots  were  cast,  sacrificed  the  Byzantine  convention 
to  realism,  as  was  also  done  in   some  of  the  other  Psalters. 

21  J.   J.   Tikkanen,   Op.   cit.,   pp.   60,   61. 


aged  Adam  forth  from  a  qtiiidrangular  pit,  Eve 
and  two  other  souls  are  repie.sentcd  at  .Atlam's 
side,  all  four  being  fully  clothed,  and  three 
ilevils,  "enemies",  scattered  before  Christ  are 
also  depicted,  though  now  much  erased.  The 
rejiresentation  differs  from  tlie  Ciihidoff  (fol.  6.",), 
the  Theodore  (fol.  82b),  the  Hamilton  (fol.  i,",i, 
145),  and  also  from  the  Paris  fragment  (Bib. 
\at.  20,  fol.  19),  as  in  lhe.se  Christ  does  not  bear 
the  cro.ss,  neither  rue  any  devils  included.'"  At 
l'.sa!m  IX,  33,  "  Arise  O  Lord  Goil,  lift  up 
Thine  hand  ",  there  is  a  miniature  of  llie  Resur- 
rection of  Christ  [Plate  II,  c]  in  which  He 
steps  forth  from  an  upright  tomb,  behind  which 
David  stands.^'' 

The  difference  in  treatment  of  the  two  minia- 
tures of  the  Ascended  Christ  is  a  good  example 
of  the  dramatic  discrimination  of  the  artist.  In 
both  the  chief  component  parts  are  identical,  the 
first  representing  the  Coming  of  Christ  in  Glory, 
Psalm.  XVII,  10-13,  "  He  rode  upon  the  cheru- 
bins  and  did  fly",  in  which  the  idea  of  the 
Second  Coming  to  judge  the  earth  is  conveyed 
by  the  "  hailstones  and  coals  of  fire  "  which  fall 
beneath  Him;  the  second  the  Ascension  [Plate 
I,  b],  Psalm  XLVI,  5,  "  God  is  gone  up  with  a 
merrv  noise".  The  solemnity  of  the  Christ  in 
the  first  subject  is  accentuated  by  the  reserve  in 
the  treatment  of  the  angels,  who  seem  oppressed 
by  the  gravity  of  the  scene  of  which  they  form 
part,  whereas  in  the  second  the  Christ,  though 
still  solemn  and  dignified,  is  less  ponderous  in 
expression  and  po.se,  whilst,  in  accordance  with 
the  verse  with  which  it  is  associated,  the  angels 
swirl  upwards  with  a  sense  of  joyous  motion. 
There  is  an  amplification  to  the  Ascension  in  a 
miniature  on  the  .same  page,  below  it,  in  which 
the  "Mother  of  God",  in  the  attitude  of  an 
orans,  stands  between  two  groups  of  the 
.Aipostles"  [Plate  I,  b].  This  refers  to  the 
verse,  "The  princes  of  the  people  are  joined 
unto  the  people  of  the  God  of  Abraham,  for  God 
which  is  very  high  exalted  doth  defend  the  earth 
as  it  were  with  a  shield  ",  Ps.  XLVI,  9,  the  con- 
nection implying  a  recognition  of  the  interces- 
sory power  of  the  Blessed  \'irgin  in  the  theology 
of  the  time.  That  the  two  miniatures  are  inter- 
dependent is  shown  by  the  way  in  which  one 
individual  in  each  of  the  two  groups  is  gazing 
upwards  at  the  A.scended  Chri.st.  The  Blessed 
\"irgin  is  here  larger  than  the  figures  about  her, 
and  elsewhere  in  the  codex  representations  of 
divine  persons  are  on  a  slightly  exaggerated 
scale. 

22  J.  J.    Tikkanen,    Op.    cit.,  compare   figures   75,    76,    77. 

23  A  similar  illustration  occurs  in  Chludoff,  P.Tntocratorus 
61,  Theodore,  and  Barbarini  Psalters,  but  they  are  not  always 
attached  to  the  same  verse,  but  occur  also  with  Ps.  VI,  6, 
and   Ps.   XXIX,   5.     J.   J.  Tikkanen,   Op.  cit.,   p.   62. 

2'*  The  same  association  of  subject  occurs  as  early  as  the 
6th  Century  in  the  Rabula  Gospel  of  Florence,  vide  Ch.  Diehl, 
Manuel  d'Art  By:antin,  fig.    119,   p.   235. 


12a 


,4      Fruniispiece,  etc. 


U*X(  I*  T^.^.1A*  t 


Y^( 


'-i^  v>^ 


/"  y        •   -  ■/  '      ^  • ' 

».   I  liin-^  X  A /T-i  ^o  60- frTa-( --I  »m^  ( -^^M  ; 


Wi^14»-^'. 


ij,. 


.^iK^ 


B     The  Ascension 


C     "  He  scut  flesh  into  their  tent  " 


Plate  I.     An  unnoticed  Byzantine  Psalter 


,9- 


< 


.  ,    _..,.. 


/  .V.  .  ,# 


ii/');ii'ii/ 


/)     Adoratioft  of  the  Mus;' 


r'f-'^.TT^o^t  J.'»i't  -^^i-v/o-.  i-,;c 


X'^oK.' 


C     Communion  of  Apostles 

I      '  -    "         y     ^ ,'  '    '    . 

t»pociV  ■■ 


D     Harroicinz  of  Hell 


^       i^^otrartfc[TiiLj^»lo-'3Arn>»^Kv(<Ofit|<.^ 


A  !  K  ■     •  " 


-I-    -"H^ 


h"         "     />',I,'.i,"'''    "     T'' 


M- 


's-r 


!■■       The    ITcl/./N  .'.'    /.',.'/'v/.m; 


I     / 


X  t  t  K  "  t  li  p  «u  «  i  «  A  q  «V. 


6'      77u'  Resurreclion 


f^: 


o  2l>>l  I M  A  ft  A  t  'TT^Aj  ^J  rrtf  H  *  A 

■Twe  P\<  TTfv  M  6  «j  t  *v"7rv  n 


'  i'  '1  t  T^  >'  "  '^'T-:»t  •  ."^^  I  -^  »f  .X^.c  y^ 


W      Ihiiiiel's    I'isinn 


•"ycDOdirTTanu  ; 


t-^M^— '^r 


^fj'^S* 


/     T/iL'  Plagues 
Plale  11.     An  unknown  l)\zantine  Psalter. 


Turning  to  the  Old  Testament  incidents, 
"  Joseph  who  was  sold  to  be  a  bondservant  ", 
Psalm  CIV,  17,  though  a  badly  damaged  minia- 
ture, is  still  very  dramatic.  Joseph,  in  a  dal- 
matica  enriched  with  circular  ornaments,  stands 
between  two  groups,  his  purchasers  and  his 
brethren.  Of  the  tirst  only  sufficient  is  left  to 
show  that  the  price  was  being  weighed  out,  but 
the  group  of  brethren  is  full  of  expression.  One 
(Judah?)  has  evidently  been  selected  as  spokes- 
man, and  the  others  huddled  together  behind 
him  seem  to  be  edging  him  on,  and  encouraging 
him ;  that  encouragement  is  needed  is  shown  by 
their  leader's  quaking  knees;  the  brethren 
behind  him  have  the  air  and  expression  of  people 
who  have  embarked  on  a  very  questionable  piece 
of  business,  and  knowing  it,  wish  to  efface  them- 
selves as  much  as  possible.  Joseph  looks  at 
them  over  his  shoulder  with  an  expression  of 
reproach  and  disgust.  On  the  next  page  Joseph, 
deprived  of  his  beautiful  coat,  is  represented  in 
charge  of  a  soldier,  when  "  The  King  sent  and 
delivered  him",  Ps.  CIV,  20.  The  selling  of 
Joseph  was  accepted  as  a  type  of  the  Betrayal  of 
Christ. 

Moses  typifies  Christ,  the  Red  Sea  the 
Water  of  Baptism,  and  it  was  with  this  signifi- 
cance that  the  Israelites  being  led  through  the 
Red  Sea  is  depicted,  Ps.  LXXVIl,  14,  15."  As 
the  Egyptians  were  overcome  at  the  Red  Sea,  so 
the  Devil  is  overcome  by  Baptism.  In  this 
miniature  Moses  is  represented  leading  a  group 
of  Israelites  along  a  path,  strewn  with  stranded 
fish,  which  cuts  through  the  sea,  behind  him  is 
an  object  badly  flaked  which  appears  to  be  a  half 
figure  with  hands  helplessly  stretched  out.  On 
its  head  is  a  golden  asped  crown"  reminiscent  of 
the  Egyptian  ur^eus  crown,  with  red  issuing 
from  the  mouths  of  the  asps,  and  below  them, 
two  other  snakes.  The  marginal  note  is  Tha- 
lassa,  but  the  devilish  or  Hades-like  personifi- 
cation, with  the  Egyptian  crown  of  sovereignty, 
seems  to  accord  more  nearly  with  a  personifica- 
tion of  Egypt,  having  a  bearing  upon  the  theo-^ 
logical  interpretation  of  the  scene.  In  the  same 
way  a  curious  miniature  of  Egyptians  drowned 
in  the  Red  Sea,  the  sea  being  a  blue  rectangular 
tank,  enclosed  by  a  thick  brown  line" — land — 
would  indicate  the  discomfiture  of  the  Devil.  A 
picture  of  Moses  striking  the  Rock,  associated 
with  Psalm  LXXX,  17,  "  With  honey  out  of  a 
stony  rock  should  I  have  satisfied  thee  ",  bears 

25  J.   J.   Tikkanen,   Op.   cit.,   p.   2. 

*^  The  asped  crown  seems  to  have  been  depicted  on  the  top 
of  a  building  to  symlxjlise  Egypt  in  a  very  much  destroyed 
miniature  of  Jacob  going  down  into  Egypt.  It  is  not  very 
clear,   but   heads  of  asps  are   there. 

2'  The  Theodore  Psalter  has  a  miniature,  representing  the 
earth  as  a  rectangle,  with  the  personified  winds  blowing  at  the 
corners.  Mr.  Dalton  points  out  that  such  illustrations  had 
their  origin  in  the  9th  century  in  the  Geographical  Miniatures 
of  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,   Op.   cit.,   p.   459. 


a  similar  interpretation,  the  rock  being  Christ, 
from  whose  pierced  side  the  water  of  Baptism, 
and  the  blood  of    the  Eucharist    flows.       This 
Psalm  was  used  in  the  Eastern  Church  on  the 
Festival  of  the  Baptism  of  Christ.       In   many 
places  in  the  Eastern  Liturgy,  the  staff  of  Moses 
was  regarded  as  a  type  of  the  cross  of  Christ.-' 
Psalm  LXVII,  i6,  "  This  is  God's  hill  in  which 
it  pleaseth  Him  to  dwell,  yea  the  Lord  will  abide 
in  it  for  ever",  calls  forth  a  representation  of 
Daniel's  Vision  [Plate  U,  h].  Daniel,  a  young 
man,  is  lying  upon  a  bed  looking  up  at  a  star 
near  the  top  of  a  precipitous  crag^  from  the  side 
of  which  a  large  rock  is  falling.     King  David 
stands  behind  Daniel,  pointing  to  the  star.     The 
allegory  in  this  is  clearly   indicated  by   the  in- 
scription   added  to  it,    "The    mountain    is  the 
Virgin,  and  the  rock  Christ".     In  the  Chludofl' 
miniature    of    the  same   subject    the    head  and 
shoulders  of  Our  Lady  is  depicted  on  the  moun- 
tain side  in  place  of  the  star.-'     The  verse,  "  He 
shall  come  down  like  rain  into  a  fleece  of  wool  ", 
Psalm  LXXI,  6,    was    considered    to    refer    to 
Gideon's  fleece  and  to  be  a  type  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception,  and  is  here  illustrated  by  the 
hand  of  God  stretched  from  the  semi-sphere  of 
Heaven,  and  the  Dove  descending  upon  a  medal- 
lion of  the  Blessed  Virgin  which  rests  upon  the 
earth,   whilst    David   stands  pointing   upwards. 
A    similar  miniature  occurs    in    the   same   con- 
nection   in    Pantokratoros    6i,    whilst    in     the 
other  manuscripts,   except  Chludoff,   which  has 
nothing,  the  passage  is  associated  with  the  An- 
nunciation,^" in  the  liturgy  of  which  Festival  it 
occurs",     Psalm    LXXVIl,     25,     "  He    rained 
down  manna  also  upon  them  for  to  eat,  and  gave 
them  food  from  heaven"  is  depicted  quite  liter- 
ally [Plate  II,  c],  but  it  also  typifies  the  Euchar- 
istic  Bread.     From  a  blue  semi-sphere,  God  the 
Father  in  a  rayed  nimbus  looks  forth  upon  two 
Israelites  with  baskets  full  of  manna.     This  is 
the  only  representation  of  the  First  Person  of  the 
Trinity  in  the  codex,  elsewhere  the  symbol  of  the 
Hand  of  God  is  used.     A  similar  interpretation 
probably  belonged  to  the  miniature  on  the  same 
page,  which  illustrates  in  a  realistic  and  spirited 
way,  "  He  rained  flesh  upon  them  and  feathered 
fowls  like  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  so  they  did  eat 
and  were  well  filled,"  v.  28-30  [Plate  II,  c].     A 
flock  of  birds  in  various  attitudes  of  alighting, 
full  of  life  and  expression,"    are   arriving  near 
two  men,  one  of  whom  is  engaged  in  killing  a 
bird,  whilst  the  other  is  roasting  four  on  a  spit 
over  a  fire. 

28  J.  J.  Tikkanen,   Op.  cit.,  p.   45. 

29  J.   J.   Tikkanen,   Op.   cit.,   p.  44. 

30  Histoire  de  I'Art,  Ed.  Andrd  Michel,  L'Art  Bysantin,  par 
Gabriel   Millet.     Tome   i,  Partie.    i,   p.   227. 

31  J.  J.  Tikkanen,  Op.   cit.,  p.  49. 

32  One  is  instinctively  reminded  of  Japanese  .'Vrt  by  the 
perception,  delicacy  and  directness  with  which  this  flock  of 
birds    is   executed. 


127 


A  naturalistic  representation  is  connecti'(.i  with 
Psiilm  LXXIII,  15,  "  Thou  smotest  the  heads 
of  Leviathan  in  pieces  (the  dragons  in  the 
waters").  A  large  snake,  its  head  a  bright  red 
patch,  lies  in  a  stream  which  pours  from  a  rocky 
hillside,  "  Thou  brougtucst  out  fountains  and 
waters  out  of  the  hard  rocks".  Two  birds  are 
pecking  at  the  snake,  "  Thou  gavest  him  to  be 
meat  for  the  people  in  the  wilderness  ",  and  a 
formal  star  above,  is  the  "  light  and  the  sun 
which  Thou  hast  prepared".  Accurately  illus- 
trative as  this  is,  it  nevertheless  was  intended  to 
convey  a  reference  to  Christian  Doctrine,  for  to 
a  similar  miniature  in  the  ChludotT  manuscript 
a  note  is  added  to  the  effect  that  as  Pharaoh  was 
broken  at  the  Red  Sea,  so  the  might  of  the  Devil 
was  overcome  by  Baptism.^"  Another  picture 
following  the  words  of  the  text  with  exactitude, 
yet  accepted  as  a  reference  to  Baptism^'  illus- 
trates Psalm  LXXVI,  16,  "  The  waters  Sitw  thee 
and  were  afraid  "  ;  two  river  gods  pour  forth  two 
Streams,  which  flow  downwards  in  the  direction 
of  a  figure  of  Christ,  but  suddenly  turn  at  a 
sharp  angle  to  flow  away  from  Him.  Similarly 
the  drinking  stag,  Psalm  XLI,  i,  and  the  closed 
door.  Psalm  XXIII,  7,  though  called  forth  by 
the  exact  words  of  the  text,  had  their  theological 
as  well  as  their  illustrative  value. 

A  miniature  full  of  dramatic  expression  is 
associated  with  Psalm  CXXXVT,  1-4,  "  By  the 
waters  of  Babylon  we  sat  down  and  wept" 
[Plate  II,  f].  A  river  god  pours  forth  a  stream 
by  which  trees  and  plants  are  growing.  On  one 
of  the  trees  hang  musical  instruments,  whilst 
seated  on  a  hillock  beneath  is  a  group  of  sorrow- 
ing Jews,  in  attitudes  of  grief,  most  of  them  with 
their  hands  to  their  chins.  Opposite  these  are 
three  men  in  contrasting  costume  of  breeches, 
cloaks  and  curious  rectangular  turbans, ^^  one  of 
whom  with  hand  outstretched  is  evidently 
requesting  that  a  "Song  of  Sion  "  should  be 
sung,  whilst  the  Jew  nearest  him  has  a  hand 
raised  in  a  deprecatory  attitude  as  if  to  say 
"  How  can  we  sing  the  Lord's  song  in  a  strange 
land?" 

A  subject  repeatedly  represented  in  some  of 
the  "Monkish-theological"  Psalters'*"  occurs 
once  only  in  this  codex,  connected  with  Psalm 
XV,  1,  "  Preserve  me  O  God  :  for  in  thee  have 
I  put  my  trust  ".  David,  in  an  attitude  of 
prayer,  is  depicted  before  an  icon  of  Christ, 
which  is  suspended  from  the  fine  initial   letter 


''  J.   J.  Tikkanen,   Op.   cit.,  p.   51. 

'*}.  J.  Tikkanen,  Op.  cit.,  p.  51.  This  illustration  occurs 
in  most  of  the  Psalters  of  the  "  Monkish-theological  "  group. 

^'  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  dress  of  the  Babylonians 
is  identical  with  that  of  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den  in  the  Meno- 
logium  of   Basil    II.,   figured   by   O.   M.    Dalton.     Op.    cit.,    p. 

479- 

36  In  the  Theodore  Psalter  of  the  British  Museum  and 
others. 


which  begins  the  Psalm.  I-Our  saints  associated 
with  the  verse,  "  All  my  (.Icligiil  is  upon  the 
Siiints  that  are  in  the  earth  ",  I'.salm  XV,  i,,  have 
something  of  the  hieratic  quality  of  the  art  of  the 
Ra\eiina  mosaics,  as  has  also  a  beautiful  figure 
of  the  .\lai.k)nna  as  Orans  in  the  Canticles.  The 
saints  all  lu)ld  crosses,  but  the.se  are  of  varying 
colour,  one  being  red,  two  black,  and  one 
white.'" 

Among  tile  more  inlcresiing  of  what  may   be 
termed  the  lighter  illu.slralions  is  that  of  the  man 
who  has  "  digged  up  a  pit  and  is  fallen  himself 
into  the  destruction    that  he  made    for    other" 
[PL.\Tii  II,  e],   Ps.  VII,   16,  which  has  quite  a 
suggeslic^n   of    humour    in    it ;     and   the  church 
which  illustrates  the  "  habitation  of  Thy  house". 
Psalm  XXV,  8,  in  front  of  which  is  a  row  of 
trees  and  plants,  with  a  reference  mark  distinct 
from  that  of  the  church,  to  the  words,  "  And  all 
Thy  wondrous  works"   (v.  7),  which  shows  an 
appreciation  of  natural  beauty.     That  the  artist 
was  an  observer  of    nature    is    shown    by    the 
quality  of  his  animals;  the  cattle,  discomforted 
by  hailstones,    which    illustrate  the   Plagues   in 
Psfdm   LXXVII,   49   [Plate   II,  j],  are  a  per- 
fectly delightful  group,  quite  convincing  in  their 
feeling  of  discontent.       Their  grouping  is  not 
original,   it  occurs  in   Pantokratoros  61,  which, 
except  for  an  additional  animal,  is  almost  iden- 
tical,^* but,   instead  of  being  blunted   by   repe- 
tition, the  characterization  in  the  Bristol  codex 
is  intensified.     The  horses  of  David  and  Absa- 
lom and  their  soldiers  are  forceful  studies  instinct 
with  life  and  action,   the  rearing  horse  in  par- 
ticular,  notwithstanding  the  impossible  pose  of 
its  rider,    being  quite  remarkable.        Very   dif- 
ferent is  the  careless  presentment  of  some  of  the 
inanimate  objects,   such  as  the  "horrible  pit" 
and   "miry   clay  ",  or  the  "open   sepulchre  ", 
an  open  sarcophagus    of    doubtful  perspective, 
which  are  included  in  the  pictorial  prcjgramme. 
A  good  example  of  the  faithfully   illustrative 
method     followed     throughout      the     codex     is 
afforded  by  the  difference  in  the  representation 
of  the  Day ;  in  the  miniature  of  Moses  between 
the  Night  and  the  Day  [Plate  I,  a],  in  which 
she  is  the  woman  Eos ;  and  the  Dawn,  the  boy 
Orthros,   in  a  miniature  in  the  Canticles,   with 
Isaiah  as  the  central  figure.     Moses  is  associated 
with  Psalm  I,  2,  "In  His  law  will  He  exercise 
himself  day  and  night",  whereas  the  verse  con- 
nected with    Isaiah,    "  With    my    soul    have    I 
desired  Thee  in  the  night,  yea  with  my  spirit 
within  me  will  I  seek  Thee  early  ",  implies  the 
early  dawn. 

{To  be  continued). 

2'  In  the  Coptic  Church  the  Confessors  were  called  "  the 
Cross-bearers  ".  TJie  Daily  Office  and  Theotokia  of  the  Coptic 
Church.   Rev.   De   Lacy  O'Leary,   B.D. 

38  Ch.   Diehl,   Op.  cit.,  fig.   278,  p.   573. 


128 


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X! 
O 


C 

C 
O 

hn 
C 


3 

x; 


en 
1-. 

3 
O 


(1) 


PICTURES    AT    THE    BURLINGTON    FINE    ARTS    CLUB 
BY    ROGER    FRY 


HE  miscellaneous  exhibition  ar- 
ranged for  this  winter  at  the  Bur- 
ington  Fine  Arts  Club  has,  as 
usual,  brought  together  several  not- 
able works  which  deserve  annotation 
ana  record  before  they  return  to  the  comparative 
inaccessibility  of  private  collections. 

Plate  I  reproduces  a  predella  panel  of  The 
Nativity  lent  by  Sir  Henry  Howorth.  It  is  true 
that  this  is  not  by  a  great  master.  The  artist 
who  executed  it  shows  a  rather  helpless  naivety 
in  his  construction  and  in  the  rendering  of  move- 
ment. But  precisely  by  reason  of  these  failings 
he  brings  into  relief  the  extraordinarily  high 
aesthetic  level  of  the  Florentine  tradition  in  the 
middle  of  the  15th  century.  For  this  minor 
artist  of  the  school  of  Pesellino,  in  no  way  dis- 
couraged by  his  incapacities,  goes  straight  for 
the  essentials  of  design.  At  almost  any  other 
period  such  an  artist  as  the  author  of  this  pre- 
della would  have  laboured  after  a  verisimilitude 
which  did  not  come  to  him  naturally,  would  have 
underlined  and  elaborated  details  which  he 
might  hope  would  bring  conviction,  and  would 
have  lost  in  this  effort  the  essentials  of  design. 
But  in  Florence  such  an  artist  had  the  courage 
to  leave  representation  to  take  its  chances  and  to 
concentrate  on  the  purely  aesthetic  relations,  to 
balance  his  masses  with  an  astonishing  instinct 
for  their  relative  weight  and  position,  and  to  find 
for  each  tone  and  colour  its  due  emphasis.  The 
result  is  festhetically  far  more  satisfying  than 
many  celebrated  and  accomplished  perform- 
ances. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  and  sensational 
event  of  this  exhibition  is  the  appearance  of 
Prince  Paul  of  Serbia's  great  panel  by  Piero  di 
Cosimo  [Plate  II]  representing  a  forest  fire.  It 
cannot  be  said  exactly  that  it  throws  a  new  light 
on  the  strangest  and  most  curious  personality  ot 
Florentine  art,  since  it  is  so  entirely  character- 
istic. But  perhaps  in  no  picture  are  his  peculi- 
arities both  of  invention  and  vision  more  deeply 
underlined.  Fifteenth  century  Florence  afforded 
one  of  those  rare  moments  of  civilization  when 
the  pressure  of  the  herd  upon  the  individual  was 
less  overwhelming  than  usual — when  individual 
idiosyncracies,  even  individual  caprice,  were 
fairly  respected.  It  was  a  time  when  even 
fashion  in  dress  scarcely  ventured  to  dictate  to 
individual  taste.  But  even  in  15th  century 
Florence  there  was  only  one  Piero  di  Cosimo, 
only  one  personality  of  such  extravagant  and 
farouche  individualism,  and  only  one  artist  who 
was  capable  of  such  a  strange  phantasy  as  this. 
Even  to  his    contemporaries    who  admired  and 


encouraged  the  peluliar  bent  of  his  mind,  Piero 
must  have  seemed  a  little  odd,  and  to  the  next 
generation,  which  felt  no  longer  the  first  fine 
frenzy  of  the  early  Renaissance,  he  already 
seemed  a  little  reprehensible ;  so  that  the  sage 
and  worldly-wise  Vasari,  though  he  confesses 
to  a  peculiar  fondness  for  his  work,  began  his 
biography  in  the  first  edition  with  a  little  homily 
on  the  folly,  almost  the  wickedness,  of  such  reck- 
less individualism.  'Tf  one  were  to  contemplate," 
he  begins,  "  the  dangers  which  beset  artists  and 
the  distress  which  they  endure  in  life,  one  would 
perhaps  keep  far  from  art,  especially  if  one  con- 
sidered that  if  art  does  well  by  the  most  perfect 
geniuses  it  renders  others  so  distraught  and 
deformed  that  they  fly  the  society  of  men  and 
seek  only  solitude  ...  so  tliat  their  fan- 
tastic way  of  life  leads  them  to  a  miserable  end, 
as  one  may  clearly  see  in  all  the  actions  of  Piero 
di  Cosimo  ". 

It  is  true  that  Vasari  cut  this  out  of  the  second 
edition, but  a  feeling  of  commiseration  and  a  little 
contempt  runs  through  the  whole  of  the  life  of 
Piero.  No  doubt  there  were  those  who  explained 
Piero's  conduct  on  the  ground  that  he  was  a 
harmless  lunatic.  It  seems  to  me  more  probable 
that  he  was  something  of  a  "  crank  ".  He 
rebelled  against  civilisation,  he  wanted  to  lead 
the  simple  life,  and  he  succeeded  to  a  great  extent 
by  never  having  his  studio  swept  nor  his  garden 
weeded,  by  cooking  nothing  but  eggs,  and  those 
fifty  at  a  time.  He  had  clearly  begun,  what  we 
think  of  as  a  modern  invention,  the  worship  of 
wild  nature.  "He  would  often  go  to  observe  ani- 
mals or  plants  or  whatever  things  nature  makes 
by  accident  or  caprice,  and  of  these  things  he 
had  such  content  and  satisfaction  that  he  was 
beside  himself,  and  he  returned  to  them  so  often 
in  his  discourse  that  even  though  he  may  have 
enjoyed  it  himself  it  became  a  bore  to  others." 

Wild  animals  and  wild  plants  were  his  pas- 
sion, and  as  a  result  his  sympathies  turned  also 
to  wild  men.  Classical  mythology  opened  to  his 
mind  a  vista  into  ages  when  men  might  be  sup- 
posed to  have  lived  untrammelled  and  undis- 
turbed by  the  conventions  of  civilization.  It  was 
upon  such  ideas  that  his  solitary  brooding  mind 
dwelt  until  the  strangest  visions  became  lumi- 
nous and  distinct  to  his  inner  sense,  already  well 
stored  with  memories  derived  from  his  own 
curious  observations  of  such  aspects  of  nature 
as  he  could  approach. 

The  two  main  contacts  other  than  jesthetic 
which  were  likely  to  affect  an  artist's  mind  in 
Piero's  circle  were  the  new  world  opened  by  a 
knowledge  of  the  classics  and  the  dawnings  of 


131 


the  scientific  idea  of  nature.  We  have  sein  that 
dassiial  mythology  liad  supplied  I'iero  with  a 
rich  material  for  his  speculative  invention.  How- 
far  was  he  also  inspired  by  scientific  curiosity? 
Here  where  a  few  more  words  from  \'as;ui  would 
be  welcome,  he  only  whets  our  curiosity  in  order 
to  tantalize  it.  What,  one  wonders,  were  Piero's 
relations  to  his  older  contemporary  Leonardo  da 
\'inci  ?  \'asari  tells  us  that  he  was  fascinated 
bv  Leonardo's  nmv  manner  of  paintini;'  ant! 
tried,  though  but  unsuccessfully,  to  imitate  it. 
The  traces  of  this  influence  are  faint  and  only 
to  be  seen  in  one  or  two  of  Piero's  surviving 
works,  but  what  one  would  liUe  to  know  far  more 
is  whetiier  Piero  had  any  idea  of  Leonardo's 
scientific  speculations,  what  were  the  mutual 
reactions  of  two  such  adventurous  and  original 
natures.  Piero  clearly  had,  like  Leonardo,  an 
idea  of  the  inlinite  possibilities  of  observation. 
Apart  from  the  pass^ige  from  V'asari  cited  above. 
Prince  Paul's  picture  shows  us  what  a  wealth  of 
minute  observation  of  natural  forms  Piero  had 
amassed,  and  in  other  pictures  we  find  daring 
new  experiments  in  the  treatment  of  light  and 
shade.  But  as  compared  with  Leonardo's, 
i'lero's  was  a  naive,  almost  childish  nature. 
Whereas  Leonardo's  profound  scientific  intuition 
led  him  to  question  what  is  obvious  and  familiar 
in  order  to  discover  universal  laws,  Piero's 
curiosity  was  mainly  for  what  was  strange  and 
abnormal.  His  was  indeed  a  more  capricious, 
undirected  curiosity  than  the  scientific  curiosity 
of  Leonardo.  It  was  a  simpler,  more  primitive 
impulse  that  led  Piero  to  study  distorted  tree 
trunks,  twisted  rocks,  and  exotic  plants.  He 
had  a  taste  for  the  "curio  "  in  nature. 

1  have  attempted  thus  to  map  out  Piero's 
mental  geography  as  giving  some  kind  of  clue 
to  the  picture  with  which  we  are  concerned. 
Three  other  pictures  must  be  studied  alongside 
of  it,  namely,  the  two  panels  in  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  New  York  reproduced  in  the  Bur- 
lington Magazine  for  February,  1907,  and  the 
Battle  of  the  Centaurs  and  Lapiths  belonging  to 
Messrs.  Ricketts  &  Shannon.  One  of  the  New 
^'ork  pictures  is  of  the  same  subject  as  Prince 
Paul's  picture,  A  Forest  Fire;  the  other,  if  it 
were  a  modern  picture,  would  certainly  be  called 
"  Neolithic  men  returning  in  canoes  from  a  hunt- 
ing expedition."  The  mere  fact  that  such  a 
title  would  appear  natural  shows  how  far  Piero's 
invention  had  taken  him  out  of  the  tracks  of  con- 
temporary imagery,  and  how  deeply  he  had  pon- 
dered his  favourite  theme  of  the  human  animal. 
So  deeply  indeed  that  he  could  build  almost  as 
coherent  a  picture  of  primitive  man  as  we  can 
with  the  help  of  all  the  accumulated  knowledge 
of  the  intervening  centuries.  Two  things  in  this 
picture,  however,  destroy  the  plausibility  of 
Piero's  case,  a  centaur  and  a  satyr.     They  show 


that  cither  he  intended  his  vision  as  fantasy  or, 
as  1  think  more  [)rol)ai)le,  ha\ing  got  his  vision 
of  primitive  stales  through  classical  mythology, 
he  had  come  to  believe  in  centaurs  and  satyrs 
as  hybrids  between  animals  and  men,  possible 
at  a  period  when  man  was  so  muih  more  "  natu- 
ral," so  nearly  akin  to  his  fellow  animals. 
In  Prince  I'aul's  picture  we  see  some  antelopes 
and  wild  boars  with  human  faces.  This  has  led 
some  to  supi)()se  that  the  picture  is  based  on  the 
Circe  legend,  but  this  is  not  borne  out  by  any- 
thing else  in  the  i)icture,  and  it  seems  more  prob- 
able that  it  is  just  an  invention  of  Piero's  own, 
on  the  lines  of  classical  mythology.  That  P-ero 
went  to  the  classics  for  his  inspiiation  would  be 
almost  certain  considering  the  age  in  which  lie 
lived,  but  it  is  clear  from  Messrs.  Ricketts  and 
Shannon's  Battle  of  the  Centaurs  and  Lapiths 
that  he  knew  more  than  the  general  outlines  of 
classical  myths,  for  in  that  case  he  has  followed 
Ovid's  text  very  closely  in  every  detail.  Indeed 
if  I  am  right  in  my  surmise  of  Piero's  mentality 
it  was  to  Ovid  that  he  went  most  for  inspiration. 
When  one  looks  at  such  pictures  as  this  and  the 
two  New  York  panels,  one's  first  surmise  is  that 
Piero  might  have  got  his  notion  of  primitive  man 
from  Lucretius,  but  in  fact  he  was  of  too  flighty 
and  whimsical  a  turn  of  mind  to  be  satisfied  with 
Lucretius's  rationalism.  Lucretius,  for  instance, 
would  have  denied  him  his  centaurs  and  fauns. 

Nor,  I  think,  ought  we  to  suppose,  as  Mr. 
Mather  suggests  in  his  note  on  the  New  York 
panels,  that  Piero  had  got  some  vague  idea  of  our 
evolutionary  theory  such  as,  if  we  may  judge 
from  the  drawings  for  the  Battle  of  the  Anghiari, 
may  have  flickered  across  Leonardo's  prophetic 
mind.  He  was  not  even  Lucretian ;  rather  he 
accepted  Ovid's  account  of  the  gradual  decay  of 
man  from  pristine  simplicity,  a  theory  which 
would  have  fitted  with  Piero's  hatred  of  the 
sophistications  and  conventions  that  human 
society  has  imposed  upon  itself.  It  is  true 
that  so  far  I  have  found  nothing  in 
Ovid  or  elsewhere  that  might  have  suggested 
precisely  the  subjects  of  any  of  these  three 
panels.  Piero  may  have  got  the  suggestion  of 
the  forest  fire  from  Homer,  where  the  simile 
occurs  frequently,  but  I  suspect  these  compo- 
sitions to  be  rather  the  outcome  of  his  constant 
preoccupation  with  the  idea  of  wild  nature  and 
of  man  as  yet  entirely  at  one  with  it. 

The  question  arises  as  to  what  relation  these 
four  fantasies  bear  to  one  another.  The  mea- 
surements of  the  panels  are  as  follows  : — The 
two  pictures  at  New  York  are  28"  x  66" ;  Messrs. 
Ricketts  and  Shannon's  is  27^"  x  102" ;  Prince 
Paul's  is  28"  X  80".  The  fact  that  all  are  ap- 
proximately of  the  same  height  would  suggest 
that  they  all  formed  part  of  a  common  scheme 
of  decoration  of  the  kind  actually  described  by 


132 


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Vasari,  who  says  : — "  He  also  executed,  round 
a  chamber  in  the  house  of  Francesco  del  Pug- 
liese,  various  stories  with  little  figures;  nor  is  it 
possible  to  describe  the  variety  of  fantastic 
things  which  he  delighted  to  paint  in  all  these 
stories,  what  with  the  buildings,  the  animals, 
the  costumes,  the  various  instruments  and  other 
fancies  which  came  into  his  head,  since  the 
stories  were  drawn  from  fables." 

In  favour  of  such  a  view  is  not  only  the  cor- 
respondence of  measurement  but  the  general 
likeness  of  the  colour  scheme  in  all  four  panels. 
At  no  other  period  did  Piero  adopt  quite  the 
same  subfusc  general  tone  of  dull  olive  greens 
and  browns  or  quite  the  same  exquisite  flat 
lacquer-like  quality  of  paint.  All  the  same, 
there  are  differences.  If  I  remember  right, 
Messrs.  Ricketts  and  Shannon's  Battle  of  the 
Centaurs  and  Lapiths  is  clearer  and  fresher,  the 
sky  bluer,  the  browns  more  pure  brown — that  is, 
it  has  not  the  dull  green-olive-brown  tone  of 
Prince  Paul's  Forest  Fire.  This,  I  think,  agrees 
more  nearly  in  colour  with  the  New  York  panels. 

Then  again  the  Battle  of  Centaurs  and 
Lapiths  is  a  complete  composition,  which  re- 
counts the  whole  of  the  story  as  given  in  Ovid, 
and  one  would  expect  companion  pieces  to  con- 
tain similar  mythological  stories  treated  in  the 
same  way,  whereas,  if  I  am  right,  the  three  other 
panels  are  more  purely  creations  of  Piero's  own 
whimsical  invention.  Can  we  then  eliminate  the 
Battle  of  the  Centaurs  and  Lapiths — which  more- 
over differs  slightly  in  dimensions — and  sup- 
pose that  the  two  New  York  panels  and  Prince 
Paul's  formed  part  of  a  single  scheme  of  decora- 
tion ?  Again  I  think  it  unlikely.  There  is  clearly 
a  unity  of  idea  in  the  two  New  York  pieces.  They 
both  represent  the  life  of  primitive  man — man 
before  he  had  discovered  the  need  for  dress. 
But  the  herdsman  in  Prince  Paul's  picture  is 
by  no  means  primitive.  He  is  an  agriculturist 
living  in  a  farm  house,  already  far  too  sophisti- 
cated to  share  with  the  centaurs  and  satyrs,  as 
the  men  in  the  other  panels  do. 

Moreover,  the  composition  of  the  Forest  Fire 
in  New  York  is  curiously  similar  in  main  idea 
to  the  composition  of  Prince  Paul's  picture.  In 
both,  the  burning  forest  makes  a  dark  mass  filling 
the  centre  of  the  panels;  in  both,  diagonal  vistas 
lead  the  eve  awav  to  the  horizon  and  sky,  to 
right  and  left.  In  both,  one  or  more  isolated 
tree  trunks  mnke  a  salient  point  more  or  less  in 
the  cenfe.  It  is  true  that  the  figures  are  com- 
pletely different.  But  these  likenesses  are  such 
as  to  lead  one  to  suppose  that  one  of  these  panels 
is  in  the  nature  of  a  second  version  of  the  theme. 
Whichever  may  have  been  the  first  version,  the 
general  setting  of  the  scene  remains  similar,  but 
in  one  case  the  forest  fire  is  merely  a  background 
to  a  most  exciting  and  melodramatic  fight  be- 


tween primitive  man  and  wild  animals;  in  the 
other,  the  fire  in  the  forest  determines  the  action 
of  all  the  animals  and  birds  that  fly  from  it.  It 
is  unlikely  that  such  a  repetition  would  have 
occurred  in  a  single  scheme  of  decoration,  and 
we  must  suppose  rather  that  more  than  one  mem- 
ber of  the  Florentine  aristocracy  had  a  taste  for 
decorating  his  rooms  with  Piero  di  Cosimo's 
caprices. 

All  the  same,  I  think  all  these  four  pictures 
belong  to  the  same  period  of  Piero's  career ;  they 
flow  from  a  single  source  of  inspiration.  I 
should  put  them  in  the  middle  of  his  career, 
intermediate  between  Mr.  Benson's  Hylas  and 
the  Nymphs  and  the  late  Andromeda  series  of 
the  Uffizi,  where  he  developes  an  entirely  new 
conception  of  space  construction.  Those  later 
works  show  how  profoundly  original  a  designer 
Piero  was,  anticipating  ideas  of  treating  the  pic- 
ture space  which  were  not  fully  realized  till  the 
seventeenth  century.  In  one  of  those  at  least — 
the  Perseus  delivering  Andromeda — he  has  anti- 
cipated the  free  construction  of  more  modern  art. 

Even  in  Prince  Paul's  panel  one  sees  him  as 
an  innovator.  Unlike  the  early  perspectivists 
who,  for  the  sake  of  their  theory,  made  their 
recessions  at  right  angles  to  the  picture  plane, 
Piero  makes  his  vistas  go  out  diagonally  on 
either  side  of  his  central  mass.  This  freedom 
from  the  tyranny  of  the  picture  plane  was  rare 
in  his  day  and  for  long  after.  It  is  the  same 
with  his  foreshortening  of  individual  objects. 
The  cow  in  the  foreground  is  seen  coming  dia- 
gonally towards  the  spectator,  and  Piero  was 
sharp  enough  observer  to  catch,  and  honest 
enough  to  record  the  oddity  and  improbability 
of  such  an  aspect.  He  makes  no  attempt  to 
soften  down  those  unfamiliarities  of  actual 
appearance  which,  by  departing  from  the  con- 
ventionalized aspects  of  things,  tend  to  be  con- 
sidered "  unnatural  "  and  "  unlike."  The 
flight  of  the  birds  shows  again  his  frankness  and 
his  open-mindedness  to  impressions.  One  can 
think  of  no  other  artist  who  had  seen  so 
clearly  as  this  the  effect  of  birds  falling 
forwards  through  the  air  by  their  own 
weight  and  the  momentum  of  their  bodies. 
The  strangeness  and  unexpectedness  of  the 
general  aspect  of  Piero's  pictures  often  makes 
them  seem  more  primitive  than  they  are.  He 
was  really  an  adventurous  innovator,  and  in 
some  directions  fully  abreast  of  the  forward  move- 
ment of  his  day.  As  he  treated  sornewhat  simi- 
lar subjects  to  Botticelli's,  it  is  natural  to  compare 
them,  and  the  comparison  shows  how  great  a 
gulf  there  is  between  the  two,  what  an  immense 
step  forward  in  the  realization  of  the  picture 
space  and  the  recessions  of  planes  Piero's  work 
marks. 

Our  next  plate  shows  two  small  panel  pictures 


137 


from  Sir  Herbert  Cook's  collection,  now  re- 
united by  a  fortunate  chance.  The  stvcalleil 
Medea  has  long  been  known  to  amateurs  as  one 
of  the  masterpieces  of  Krcole  Roberti,  but  the 
other  has  only  recently  come  to  light.  It  repre- 
sents Brutus  and  Portia  [Platk  111,  b].  In  ortlcr 
to  convince  her  husband  that  she  was  worthy 
to  share  in  the  conspiracy,  she  wounded  herself, 
and  is  here  seen  showing  the  wound  to  Brutus  as 
a  proof  of  her  constancy.  The  other  panel  [  Pi.atk 
ill,  a]  is  probably  not  Medea  and  her  children, 
but  Hasdrubal's  wife  immolating  herself  and 
her  children  in  the  burning  temple  of  Carthage 
rather  than  allow  herself  to  fall  into  the 
enemies'  hands.  It  is  evident  that  these  panels 
formed  part  of  a  series  representing  types  of 
noble  women  which  may  have  formed  the  scheme 
of  decorations  of  a  small  room. 

The  newiv  discovered  panel  is  in  perfect  con- 
dition and  is  a  fine  example  of  Ferrarese  colour 
with  its  predilection  for  rather  sharp  harmonies 
and  morbid  colours.  The  subject,  however,  was 
not  one  to  inspire  the  artist  to  such  a  fine  design 
as  the  Hasdrubal's  wife.  In  the  drawing  of  the 
children's  nude  forms  and  in  the  fine  movement 
of  the  central  figure,  Ercole  comes  perhaps  as  near 
as  a  North  Italian  artist  could  to  the  principles 
of  Tuscan  design.  One  suspects  that  the  in- 
fluence of   Piero  della   Francesca  and  perhaps 

CLAES  HALS 

I— BY    A.    BREDIUS 

iS  Dr.  Hofstede  de  Groot,  in  the  last 
number  of  this  magazine,  seems 
[more  or  less  to  doubt  my  attribution 
of  a  Girl  Reading  in  the  Maurits- 
huis  to  Claes  Hals,  I  should  like  to 
explain  why  I  believe  that  attribution  to  be  abso- 
lutely correct. 

I  bought  the  picture,  signed  /""TJ 
in  London,  and  attributed  it  immedi-  v-/f- 
ately  to  Claes  Hals,  having  once  seen  in  the 
Peltzer  collection  at  Cologne  two  small  heads 
in  the  Hals  manner,  signed  in  the  same  way. 
.Another  reason  for  my  attribution  was  that  this 
charming  picture  reminded  me  of  the  work  of 
Jan  Hals,  his  elder  brother.  In  the  Notaries- 
archive  at  Haarlem  I  discovered  a  great  manv 
documents  regarding  him  and  bearing  his  sig- 
nature, which,  with  a  few  exceptions,  was 
/'"Yjf*  °''  /"^  T—^X*  Even  a  document 
^^-T  V—     _it-       written     on     De- 

cember 1st,  1664  (Notary  de  Keyser)  in  which 
Claes  Hals,  painter,  declares  himself  to  be  34 
years  of  age,  "  ofte  daer  omtrent  "  ("or  about 
that  age  ")  is  signed  ^>  |  /  and  to  this 
monogram  the  Notary      ^  jI,     has   added: 


Pollnjuolo  had  .spread  to  Ferrara,  as  indeed  is 
appaii-nt  from  Francesco  Cossji's  work.  In  the 
Brutus  and  Portia  panel,  however,  Ercole  has 
not  kept  his  eye  on  the  main  lines  of  movement 
and  there  are  evidences  of  a  relapse  into  that  more 
[)articularizcd  and  detailed  vision  which  came 
naturally  to  Northern  artists. 

The  picture  of  S.  Jerome  in  meditation  repro- 
duced in  Plate  IV  figures  in  the  catalogue 
merely  as  "  Venetian  school."  It  is  a  most  at- 
tractive picture  finely  composed  and  with  an 
admirable  sense  of  the  mise  en  page  of  the 
figure.  It  is  unusual  to  find  so  modern  a  treat- 
ment of  landscape  at  this  period — a  landscape 
treated  so  essentially  as  a  "  view  "  over  a  wide 
expanse  of  valley,  lake  and  mountain. 

The  dominating  influence  of  Titian  is  clearly 
evident  here,  but  the  picture  does  not  seem  to 
me  purely  Venetian  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word,  but  rather  to  come  from  one  of  the  depen- 
dent schools  of  the  mainland.  The  colour  is 
not  quite  so  rich  as  in  pure  Venetian  painting  :  it 
has,  to  my  eye,  something  of  that  more  suffused 
tonality,  and  the  muted  harmonies  of  the 
Brescian  school.  Among  the  artists  of  that 
school  Savoldo  was  particularly  devoted  to  this 
kind  of  "  poesy,"  and  it  seems  to  me  to  be  in 
all  probability  by  his  hand,  and  by  no  means  the 
least  successful  of  his  works. 


"  Tmerck  van    Claes   Hals"     ("the    mark    of 
Claes  Hals  ").       Since  the  painter  was  accus- 


'^m^r^  Cfi 


tomed  to  put  this  mark  even  beneath  a  notary 
document,  is  there  anything  peculiar  about  his 
having  signed  some  of  his  pictures  in  the  same 
way?  On  October  21st,  1664,  Claes  Hals, 
painter,  again  signing  v""^  'jr  declares 
himself  to  be  about  35  ^  j"^  years  of 
age.  On  January  3rd,  ^.^  J»  1682,  he 
signs    an  account  of    the  Gilde    of    St.  Luke  : 

He     lived 
the  hum- 
blest      sur- 
rou  ndings, 

his  wife  having  been  the  widow  of  a  servant  of  a 
"  baillieul  of  Kennemerland  ".     On  September 


e  Gilde    of    5 


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22nd,  1667,  he  was  very  ill,  and  made  a  Testa- 
ment in  which  he  leaves  something  to  his 
mother,  Lysbeth  Reyniers.  Should  she  die 
before  him,  his  brother,  the  painter,  Frans  Hals 
the  younger,  was  to  be  given  a  certain  suit  of 
clothes  referred  to  as  being  of  medium  quality, 
as  well  as  a  mantle.  (Not.  Geraers).  All  that 
time  he  and  his  wife,  Jenneken  Hendricxdr  \'an 
der  Horst,  lived  in  the  street  called  Turfsteegh. 

Finally,  I  do  not  understand  why  Dr.  Hof- 
stede  de  Groot  states  that  genre  painters  were 
rarer  than  landscape  painters  at  Haarlem.  Have 
not  Dirck  Hals,  Jan  Hals,  Reynier  Hals,  Jan 
Miense  Molenaer,  J.Leyster,  Ostade,  Dusart  and 
many  others  painted  excellent  genre  pictures? 

But  Dr.  de  Groot  has  omitted  to  mention 
something  else,  viz.,  that  there  exists  an  i8th 
centurv  drawing  which  is  a  careful  copv  of  the 
View  of  the  Groote  Houtstraat  reproduced  in  the 
February  Burlington  Magazine.  An  inscrip- 
tion bv  the  artist  mentions  that  it  has  been 
copied  from  a  picture  by  Nicolaes  Hals.  In  the 
face  of   such   evidence   it   is  surely   likely   that 


the  picture  was  regarded  150  years  ago  as  the 
work  of  Claes  Hals.  After  I  had  bought  the 
painting  for  the  Haarlem  Museum,  Mr.  Gonnet, 
the  archivist,  showed  me  the  drawing  bear- 
ing the  inscription  in  the  Ryks-Archief,  of  which 
he  has  been  for  so  long  the  learned  director. 

As  to  Reynier  Hals  :  he  was  already  resident 
at  Amsterdam  before  1637,  ^^^  "^^^s  buried  there 
in  the  Leidsche  Kerkhof,  a  churchyard  for  the 
poor,  on  May  3rd,  1672.  He  lived  in  Vysel- 
street,  near  the  Reguliers  Tower,  in  the  imme- 
diate neighbourhood  of  Aart  van  der  Neer.  His 
widow  existed  in  poverty  by  selling  old  clothes, 
furniture,  etc.,  and  was  buried  in  the  Wester- 
kerkhof,  beside  the  Westerkerk,  on  April  loth, 
1689.  She  had  lived  in  Hartestreet,  near  the 
Keizersgracht.  A  most  amusing  scene,  wit- 
nessed ijy  Jan  Hackaert  and  Aert  van  der  Neer, 
is  mentioned  as  having  occurred  in  1667  in  the 
studio  of  Reynier  Hals,  who  was  then  living  in 
the  room  of  a  house  on  the  Singel  called  the 
Green  Organ.  I  hope  to  be  able  to  publish  this 
soon  in   "  Oud  Holland  ". 


II — BY    TANCRED   BORENIUS 

^O  the  reconstruction  of  the  work  of 
Claes  Hals,  begun  by  Dr.  Hofstede 
de  Groot  in  his  article  in  the  Feb- 
ruary number  of  the  Burlington 
Magazine,  I  am  in  a  position  to 
make  a  small  contribution  by  drawing  attention 
to  a  picture,  brought  to  my  notice  by  its  owner, 
Mr.  E.  Bolton.  The  picture  in  question  [Platea], 
a  panel,  measuring  2of  by  15I  inches,  represents 
a  huckster,  outside  a  dilapidated  cottage,  offer- 
ing his  goods  for  sale  to  a  woman  who  puts  her 
glasses  on  to  examine  them  ;  on  the  right  of  these 
figures  are  grouped  a  number  of  children.  In 
the  foreground  on  the  left  is  seen  a  hen-house, 
on  the  shadowed  wall  of  which  is  the  artist's 
signature,  the  initials  C.H.  neatlv  written  as  in 
the  examples  facsimiled  in  Dr.  Bredius's  paper 
above.  The  artist's  afifinity  to  Frans  Hals  ap- 
pears very  strongly  marked  in  the  figures,  more 
especially  so  in  the  children,  whose  dresses  make 
a  piquant  medley  of  gav  notes;  while  the  huck- 
ster is  draped  in  a  mantle  of  slaty  blue  which — 
as  pointed  out  by  Prof.  W.  Martin  in  discussing 
the  picture  with  me — marks  a  point  of  resem- 
blance with  the  scheme  of  colour  of  the  Maurits- 
huis  picture.  The  background  shows  an  effec- 
tive Ruysdaelesque  glimpse  of  sombre  trees 
against  a  grey,  clouded  sky. 

As  I  am  on  the  subject  of  Dutch  masters, 
hitherto  only  known  from  records,  I  should  like 
to  seize  the  opportunity  of  referring  to  the  case 
of  the  painter  J.  C.  van  Hasselt,  whose  signa- 


ture, with  the  date  1659,  authenticates  a  picture 
on  panel  (21  ins.  by  14I  ins.)  in  the  possession  of 
Messrs.  Durlacher  [Plate  b].  Wurzbach's 
Dictionary  of  Netherlandish  Artists  refers  under 
Jacob  van  Hassel  to  a  landscape  painter,  men- 
tioned at  Utrecht  about  1638  and  1643,  and 
stated  to  have  worked  for  a  long  time  in  Rome. 
Mention  is  also  made  of  an  Isak  van  Hasselt, 
a  landscape  painter,  referred  to  by  Houbraken 
as  a  foundation  member  of  the  Guild  of  S.  Luke 
at  Dordrecht  in  1642,  with  an  expression  of  the 
possibility  that  he  may  be  identical  with  the 
artist  whose  name  is  given  as  Jacob  van  Hassel ; 
apparently  the  name  van  Hasselt  was  a  frequent 
one  in  Utrecht,  where  one  Isack  Janssen  Hasselt 
in  1619  was  a  pupil  of  Paul  Moreelse's.  The 
picture  here  published  does  not  settle  conclu- 
sively the  question  of  the  artist's  Christian  name 
as  it  only  gives  the  initial ;  artistically,  it  shows 
the  painter  working  somewhat  in  the  manner 
usuallv  associated  with  the  name  of  Pieter  van 
Laer  (il  Bamboccio),  though  there  is  no  little 
individuality  in  the  clever  planning  of  the  com- 
position, which  shows  a  Roman  beggar  seated 
outside  the  vaulted  gate  of  a  building,  into  the 
winding  staircase  of  which  the  opened  door 
admits  the  view;  and  the  treatment  of  light  and 
shade  throughout  the  picture  is  of  considerable 
delicacv  and  charm.  The  signature  and  date 
are  on  the  "  cartoccio  "  shield  on  the  left  of  the 
gate. 


H3 


REVIEWS 

Twelve  Water  Colours  bv  Ropis  (portfolio).     Cicorg  <'t  Cio, 
Geneva.     450    fr. 

Because  the  connection  between  art  and  the 
reasoning  faculties  is  obscure,  critics,  philo- 
sophers, and  even  artists  have  often  been 
tempted  to  talk  nonsense  about  works  of  art.  In 
the  past  this  nonsense  was  usually  laborious  and 
systematic,  an  attempt  to  philosophize  about  a 
subject-matter  not  understood  and  perhaps  never 
experienced.  Nowadn\s,  tiie  non.'iense  tries  to 
be  art  rather  than  philosoph)' ;  no  effort  is  made 
to  prove  a  statement  or  to  connect  one  statement 
with  another ;  assertions  are  made  as  if  thev  were 
wrung  out  of  the  depths  of  the  soul  and  as  if 
hearing  them  was  believing.  The  critic  aims  at 
that  divine  caprice  which,  according  to  Whistler, 
is  the  mark  of  the  artist ;  and  he  has  all  the 
inconsequence  of  the  butterfly,  without  itscharm. 
His  method  often  is  to  choose  an  artist  who 
becomes  for  him  an  immaculate  mv.sterv  to  be 
understood  by  his  own  intuition  alone.  This 
mystery  he  reveals  in  sayings  that  remain  mys- 
terious; and  if  you  do  not  understand  them  it  is 
because  you  do  not  understand  his  chosen  artist  ; 
and  if  the  artist  himself  has  the  habit  of  talking 
about  his  art,  his  most  casual  sayings  are  quoted 
as  if  they  were  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and 
in  them,  we  are  told,  a  whole  gospel  of  art,  a 
whole  philosophy,  is  implied. 

Rodin,  more  than  most  artists,  seems  to  have 
had  the  habit  of  talking  about  his  art;  we  may 
even  suspect  from  some  of  the  reports  of  his  con- 
versation that  he  was  tempted  by  obsequious 
listeners  to  say  more  than  he  meant,  more  even 
than  he,  or  at  least  his  listeners,  understood. 
For  this  we  need  not  blame  him  ;  he  worked  hard 
and  it  was  his  diversion  to  be  an  oracle.  Some- 
times, no  doubt,  he  .said  a  good  thing,  sometimes 
he  failed  to  say  it ;  but  to  the  listeners  it  was  all 
one ;  they  took  it  down  at  the  time  or  remem- 
bered it,  perhaps  imperfectly,  and  then  made 
their  gospel  out  of  it. 

So  M.  Gsell's  introduction  to  these  12  admir- 
ablv  reproduced  drawings  by  Rodin  consists  of 
remarks  by  Rodin  with  a  commentary  by  M. 
Gsell.  They  may  sound  better  in  French  than  in 
the  language  into  which  Mr.  Davis  has  translated 
them,  which,  though  usually  intelligible  to  an 
Englishman,  is  not  English.  At  first  I  thought 
that  Mr.  Davis  was  deliberately  practising  his 
own  theory  of  translation,  that  he  was  resolved 
to  be  as  literal  as  he  could  without  caring 
whether  or  no  he  wrote  English.  The  effect  was 
surprising,  but,  I  thought,  there  might  be  .some- 
thing to  sav  for  it.  Here,  for  instance,  is  an 
early  sentence  : — "  When  it  is  question  of  a 
great  sculptor  envy  has  a  good  chance  of  exert- 
ing itself  on  his  pencil  or  his  brush.       Being 


unai)U'  to  bite  the  statuary  it  works  up  for  it  on 
the  draughtsman  ",  but  when  I  found  him  call- 
ing Virgil,  "  Virgile  ",  and  making  Rodin 
assert  that  Corot  "  always  hatl  C'hcrubin'sage  ", 
1  began  to  suspect  that  he  must  know  French 
at  least  better  than  l-inglish.  ['"inally,  near  the 
end,  1  came  on  this  passage,  "  He  applied  him- 
self by  noting  what  up  to  then  his  colleagues 
had  completely  neglected,  acrobatic  movements, 
falling  back,  quartering,  astonishing  disjoint- 
ings.  Under  his  pencil  or  his  brush  the  body 
is  agitated  as  if  it  despaired  of  ever  becoming 
.supple  enough  to  satisfy  all  the  caprices  of 
imagination  ".  The  disjointings  are  indeed 
astonishing,  and  they  have  left  me  wondering 
what  Mr.  Davis  was  trying  to  do. 

As  for  M.  Gsell,  so  far  as  he  is  to  be  under- 
stood in  the  translation,  he  insists  that  all 
Rodin's  drawings,  if  not  all  his  sculpture,  are  an 
expression  and  glorification  of  the  .sexual 
instinct.  "  No  fig  leaf!  Rodin  expressed  him- 
self as  if  in  private.  As  indifferent,  as  the 
creator  himself,  as  to  what  one  calls  decency  or 
indecency,  he  triumphantly  celebrated  the 
supremacy  of  sex.  Without  the  least  embar- 
ra.ssment  he  interpreted  the  most  secret  raptures, 
the  most  extravagant  paroxysms  ".  In  fact 
M.  G.sell  seems  resolved  to  arouse  expectations 
that  are  not  aesthetic.  Rodin,  he  tells  us, 
executed  some  small  terra  cottas  that  were 
deliciously  immode.st.  ''  We  hope  that  these 
exquisite  groups  will  be  united  in  a  reserved 
room,  which  will  recall  the  Cabinet  secret  of  the 
Naples  Museum.  The  drawings  that  are  too 
free  to  be  shown  to  everybody  will  be  assembled 
there.  Only  those  who  will  see  these  works  are 
the  visitors  who  will  ask  to  know  them  ".  And 
so  on.  But  I  hasten  to  say  that  no  drawing  in 
this  portfolio  is  too  free  to  be  shown  to  every- 
body;  and,  if  Rodin  himself  said,  as  M.  Gsell 
makes  him  say,  that  all  his  drawings  were  ex- 
pressions or  glorifications  of  the  sexual  instinct, 
then  the  drawings  themselves,  I  think,  show  that 
he  was  mistaken  or  talking  to  amuse  himself. 
This  is  not  a  question  of  English  prudery,  but 
of  fact.  We  should  expect  to  find,  in  a  drawing 
that  expres.sed,  only  or  mainly,  the  sexual 
instinct,  little  curiosity  about  form  or  movement; 
we  should  expect  the  figures  themselves  to  be 
mere  symbols  or  instruments  of  desire.  But 
what  is  expressed  in  these  drawings  is  the  most 
searching  curiosity  about  form  and  movement, 
a  curiosity  which  Rodin  could  not  express  so 
well  in  his  sculpture;  and  I  see  no  reason  to 
make  a  mystery  about  them  or  to  say,  as  M. 
Gsell  says  in  his  last  sentence  : — "  Well  !  Rodin 
has  perhaps  been  the  greatest  prophet  of  this 
new  religion    and    his  drawings  will    probably 


144 


remain  the  most  significant  pages  of  the  modern 
gospel  ".  There  is  no  new  religion  in  them, 
no  modern  gospel,  but  only  that  curiosity  which 
is  as  old  as  art  itself.  It  seems  new  with  each 
example  of  it  because  the  artist,  familiar  with  the 
observations  of  past  artists,  implies  what  they 
have  observed  and  pushes  his  own  researches 
further;  and  this  he  does,  not  because  of  his 
sexual  instinct,  which  he  shares  with  many  who 
cannot  and  do  not  wish  to  draw,  but  because, 
being  an  artist,  he  finds  in  drawing  an  experi- 
ence of  reality  to  be  valued  for  its  own  sake,  an 
experience  which  he  himself  makes  instead  of 
merely  allowing  it  to  happen  to  him.  Mr. 
MacColl  said  once  that  all  drawing  is  gesture ; 
it  is  in  fact  the  artist's  emphasis  upon  what 
delights  him ;  and,  instead  of  merely  gesticu- 
lating to  show  his  delight,  he,  as  it  were,  recre- 
ates the  object  with  his  gesture.  Rodin  seems 
to  have  taken  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  thus  recre- 
ating" the  object  at  the  very  moment  of  his  experi- 
ence, or,  to  put  it  more  simply,  in  drawing  from 
nature.  But,  in  drawing  from  nature,  he 
managed  to  forget  more  completely  than  most 
artists  what  the  public  expects  in  a  drawing. 
M.  Gsell  is  right  when  he  says  that  Rodin 
expressed  himself  as  if  in  private,  but  he 
is  wrong  in  the  reasons  which  he  gives.  He 
expressed  himself  without  regard  for  his  public ; 
he  talked  to  himself,  as  it  were;  but  not  inces- 
santly about  his  sexual  instinct.  In  fact  the 
sexual  instinct,  as  an  explanation  of  everything, 
is  becoming  a  bore. 

M.  Gsell  tells  us,  more  than  once,  that  these 
drawings  are  astonishing;  but  they  will  not 
astonisii  a  public  jaded  by  many  efforts  to 
astonish ;  and,  after  all,  there  is  nothing  very 
astonishing  in  a  drawing  of  a  woman  standing 
on  her  head,  even  if  she  has  no  clothes  on. 
Anyone  can  do  it,  with  more  or  less  plausibility, 
who  can  draw  at  all ;  anyone  could  think  of  doing 
it  without  being  able  to  draw.  The  peculiar 
excellence  of  Rodin's  drawings  consists,  not  in 
the  unusual  attitudes  he  sometimes  chooses  to 
depict,  but  in  the  fact  that  he  can  draw  from  life 
and  with  extreme  swiftness,  combining  all  his 
particular  observation  with  a  rhythm  that  yet 
seems  to  have  an  abstract  beauty.  He  had  a 
gospel  of  his  own,  not  this  tiresome  gospel  of 
sex,  but  a  gospel  that  the  most  piercing  and 
authentic  beauty  is  to  be  got  direct  from  the 
facts  of  reality ;  and  in  these  drawings  he  often 
does  get  it ;  it  is  a  particular  model,  who  seems, 
as  it  were,  to  have  traced  herself  on  to  the  paper, 
yet  the  lines  have  a  calligraphic  beauty  and  flow 
and  part  and  flow  together  again  as  if  they  were 
in  a  dance.  If  drawing  is  always  a  gesture,  this 
drawing  is  a  beau  geste,  yet  it  seems  always  to 
be  action,  and  not  a  gesture  of  mere  rhetoric. 
Clearly  to  Rodin  this  kind  of  drawing  was  a 


compensation  for  the  labours  of  his  sculpture ; 
there,  however  momentary  the  movement  he 
might  try  to  represent,  the  process  must  be 
laborious  and  he  could  not  surrender  himself  to 
the  moment ;  but  in  the  drawings  he  seizes  the 
moment  as  it  flies  and  lives  in  eternity's  sunrise, 
expressing  an  instant  delight  with  an  execution 
utterly  suited  to  it.  It  is  always  hit  or  miss, 
and  in  some  even  of  the  drawings  reproduced 
he  seems  to  have  missed,  to  have  said  too  little, 
to  have  lost  both  fact  and  flow ;  but  there  are 
several  in  which  fact  and  medium  are  one  as 
much  as  in  music ;  and  they  are  surprising 
because  the  line,  the  emphasis  is  not  the  same 
as  that  to  be  found  in  the  work  of  any  former 
artist;  with  a  vast  deal  of  knowledge  im- 
plied, Rodin  can  actually  see  what  other  artists 
have  failed  to  see  and  can  draw  it  so  that  we 
see  it.  He  makes  us  look  at  the  human  form 
with  his  experienced  and  expert  eyes,  frees  us 
from  our  own  unfamiliarity  with  it,  and  shows 
us  secrets  of  unexpected  beauty  that  he  has  ex- 
plored. That  is  why  I  refuse  to  believe  in  the 
sexual  theory ;  those  who  look  at  a  body  with 
appetite  see  only  with  the  eyes  of  appetite ;  and 
such  vision  would  not  have  made  Rodin  a  great 
sculptor  ;  they  would  have  kept  him  a  salon  prac- 
titioner, concerned  to  represent  only  what  inter- 
ests the  moyen  homme  sensuel.  But  that,  the 
great  artist  never  is,  because  for  him  there  is  a 
science  of  beauty,  because  he  rises  to  an  experi- 
ence of  it  in  his  art  utterly  different  from  the 
experience  of  appetite.  It  is  this  other  experi- 
ence that  we  see  in  Rodin's  drawings. 

A.    CLUTTON-BROCK. 

Some  Contemporary   English    Artists.     (Birrell   &    Garnett, 
19,   Taviton   Street,   W.C.i).      10  pp.    +  22   pi.     2s.   6<i. 

This  little  book  is  something  of  a  novelty.  It 
consists  of  a  number  of  half-tone  illustrations  of 
the  works  of  a  group  of  London  artists  who  are 
now  exhibiting  at  the  Independent  Gallery  (fully 
noticed  in  another  column).  The  production 
conveys  an  adequate  idea  of  the  scope  and  qua- 
lity of  the  non-Academic  art  of  to-day.  Books 
of  the  kind  are  usual  in  France,  but  few  attempts 
have  been  made  here  to  go  beyond  the  dull 
catalogue  of  artists'  names  and  picture-titles. 
The  reproductions  are  admirably  printed  and 
are  sufficiently  large  to  give  a  fair  impression  of 
the  originals.  An  unsigned  foreword  gives 
character  to  the  book,  which  bears  on  the  cover 
an  interesting  design  by  Mr.  Duncan  Grant.  A 
book  of  this  kind,  published  at  so  low  a  price, 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  all  interested  in 
modern  art. 

Chats  on  Sheffield  Plate.     By  Arthur  Hayden.     302  pages. 
(T.    Fisher  Unwin).     21s.  net. 

This  volume,  written  in  the  "  chatty  "  vem, 
characteristic  of  the  series,  will  without  doubt 
be  warmly  welcomed  by  those  amateurs  who  at 


145 


the  outset  find  themselves  in   need  of  a  kindly 

guide   to   this   branoli   of    the  colleciinj:;    hobljy. 

The  book  is  well  and  liberally   illustrated  with 

reproductions   which   should   serve  not   onlv  to 

familiarise  the  reader  with  the  types  and  styles 

common   to  Sheffield  Plate,   but  also    to   enable 

him  to  dilTerentiate  between  what     is    desirable 

in  this  direction,  and  what  is  meretricious. 

Ancient  Ec.yptias,  Assyrian  and  1'ersian  Costume,  by  Mary 
G.  Houston  and  K.  S.  IloKNni.owKR,  25  pi.  (16  of  (hem 
in  colour)  and  60  lino  diagrams  in  tht"  text  (A.  &  C.  Bl.irk). 
■  OS.   6d. 

These  coloured  illustrations  from  Egyptian, 
Assyrian  and  Persian  costume  may  be  useful  to 
certain  students.  But  not  much  attempt  has 
been  made  towards  fitting  the  book  into  a  his- 
torical or  social  setting,  and  the  authors  have 
avoided,  doubtless  wisely,  the  dangerous  seas 
of  comparative  archajology.  This  is  the  more  to 
be  regretted,  as  the  best  way  to  interest  voung 
people  in  history  is  to  show  that  the  inhabitants 
of  former  ages  were  after  all  very  like  ourselves. 

F.  B. 

MONTHLY    CHRONICLE 

Victoria  and  Albert  Museum. — By  an 
arrangement  between  the  French  and  British 
Governments  a  retrospective  Exhibition  of  Tex- 
tiles has  been  opened  at  the  museum.  We  hope 
to  deal  with  this  important  matter  in  our  next 
issue. 

Mr.  Arthur  M.  Hind,  of  the  Print  Room, 
British  Museum,  will  deliver  a  course  of  four 
lectures,  illustrated  by  lantern  slides,  on  "  The 
collecting  of  prints  and  drawings,"  in  the  Stein- 
way  Hall,  on  Thursdays,  March  3,  10,  17  and  23, 
^t  5.30  p.m.  Lecture  I  :  The  making  and  keep- 
ing of  collections.  II:  Old  prints.  Ill:  Modern 
prints.     IV.  :  Old  master  drawings. 

The  Independent  Gallery.— This  exhibition, 
and  the  book  of  photographs  {Some  Contem- 
porary English  Artists  :  Birrell  &  Garnett, 
2S.  6d.)  which  apparently  it  called  into  existence, 
is  the  most  hopeful  symptom  manifested  for 
some  time  by  that  chronic  invalid,  British  Art. 
The  patient,  one  is  tempted  to  believe,  has  now 
reached  a  state  from  which  recovery  is  not 
out  of  the  question.  One  cannot  say  more;  and 
to  be  able  to  say  as  much  seems  to  me  extra- 
ordinary. Only  a  dozen  years  ago,  such  was  the 
atmosphere  of  self-complacent  stagnation  that  it 
seemed  impossible  almost  for  a  young  English 
painter  of  talent — and  in  England  it  is  never 
talent  that  lacks — to  grow  into  anything  more 
considerable  than  a  British  portrait-painter. 
Whereas,  to-day,  the  better  sort  realise  without 
an  effort  that  there  is  in  art  something  more 
important  than  a  thousand-guinea  commission  ; 
what  is  more,  they  seem  dimly  to  be  aware  of 


Medici  Society's  Prints. — This  society  have 
recommenced  issuing  their  well-known  colour- 
collotypes.  A  beginning  was  made  by  the  pub- 
lication of  large  colour  prints  of  two  well-known 
pictures  from  the  Buckingham  Palace  Collec- 
tion :  The  Card  Players,  by  Pieter  de  Htxich, 
and  The  Letter,  by  Gerard  Tarboch.  These 
have  been  followed  by  two  others  :  Romney's 
undistinguished  Madame  de  Genlis,  from  the 
collection  of  Major  Buxton,  and  the  little  Pesel- 
lino  Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints  from  the 
Holford  Collection.  The  quality  of  the  prints 
is  high,  the  Romney  being  the  most  successful. 
W'idely  separated  schools  of  painting  are  repre- 
sented, but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  there  will  be 
no  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  editors  to  choose 
pictures  simply  because  the  artists'  names  are 
familiar  to  the  public.  Would  it  not  be  possible 
to  reproduce  some  examples  of  Poussin,  El 
Greco,  etc.,  with  whom  the  casual  art-lover  is 
not  so  familiar? 

r.  r.  t. 


what  that  "something"  is. 

For  this  happier  state  of  affairs  we  have  to 
thank  in  the  first  place  the  contemporary  French 
movement,  with  its  pervasive  influence ;  in  the 
second,  that  habit  recently  acquired  by  British 
painters  of  looking  at  pictures.  It  is  becoming 
as  common  almost  to  meet  English  painters  in 
the  National  Gallery  as  it  has  always  been  to 
meet  French  in  the  Louvre,  and  one  result  of 
this  can  be  seen  clearly  enough  at  the  Indepen- 
dent Gallery  :  the  new  generation  has  a  far 
better  notion  than  the  old  of  what  sort  of  thing 
a  picture  is.  As  for  the  French  influence,  it  was 
the  indispensable  means  to  freedom  and  serious- 
ness; but  I  will  admit  that,  in  the  beginning, 
some  of  its  consequences  were  unfortunate.  For 
instance,  it  created  a  fashion  of  spreading,  at 
the  last  moment,  over  a  very  dry  hunk  of  literal 
representation,  a  few  blobs  of  butter  borrowed 
from  the  larder  of  Cezanne.  The  result  was  not 
appetising.  But,  unless  I  mistake,  the  influence 
is  now  beginning  to  sink  deeper  and  manifest 
itself  more  intelligently.  Certainly,  the  best  of 
the  younger  men  are  all,  or  almost  all,  disciples 
of  Cezanne.  The  business  of  an  artist,  however, 
is  not  to  follow  a  leader,  still  less  to  adhere  to  a 
doctrine  or  a  tradition,  but  to  express  himself; 
and  because  in  this  exhibition  we  see  half  a 
dozen  or  more  English  painters,  who  have  not 
been  too  proud  to  learn  from  their  neighbours, 
trying  honestly  to  express  their  own  feelings,  a 
visit  to  "  The  Independent  Gallery  "  is  encour- 
aging. 

Because    these    painters    are    English,    with 
English  temperaments  and  reactions,  what  they 


146 


B     Mosaic  by  Boris  Anrep 


C     Portrait  of  a  Lady,  hv  George  Barne 


Monthlv   Chronicle 


produce  should  be,  if  they  have  to  any  extent 
mastered  their  instrument  and  learnt  their 
lesson,  English  art.  And,  sure  enough,  it  is  of 
that  we  get  a  taste.  Here,  once  again,  is  art  that 
may  be  called  English  :  and  I  would  emphasize 
the  word  "  art  "  because,  though  you  can  find 
in  scores  of  galleries  a  home-grown  product  free 
from  all  trace  of  foreign  adulteration,  you  will 
find  also  that,  as  a  rule,  it  is  as  free  from  any 
trace  of  artistic  intention.  But  here  is  some- 
thing which  the  sanguine,  at  any  rate,  may  take 
for  the  first,  faint  dawn  of  a  genuine  Renais- 
sance ;  and,  by  extraordinary  good  fortune,  this 
young  movement  has  in  Duncan  Grant  a  poten- 
tial chef  d'ecole.  By  a  chef  d'ecole  I  do  not 
mean  a  schoolmaster,  still  less  an  object  of  imita- 
tion :  I  mean  an  artist  who  has  unquestionably 
"made  good"  on  a  tack  which  others  are  still 
pursuing.  Duncan  Grant  is  thoroughly 
English ;  his  descent  is  from  Piero  della  Fran- 
cesca  through  Gainsborough  and  Constable : 
and  his  two  pictures,  Landscape  [Plate  a]  and 
Snow  Scene  seem  to  me  the  sort  of  masterpieces 
about  which  there  can  be  no  further  dispute 
amongst  sensitive  and  educated  people.  The 
sparkling  and  subtle  beauty  of  his  paint,  his 
curiously  sure  and  personal  sense  of  construc- 
tion, and  the  way  in  which,  without  rhetoric  or 
trickery,  he  can  key  every  inch  of  his  picture 
up  to  the  sharpest  accent  and  most  luminous 
passage,  prove  him,  past  question,  a  master.  But 
it  is  the  almost  Elizabethan  fantasticality  of  his 
vision,  a  queer  mixture  of  lyricism  and  sensuous- 
ness  in  his  reaction  to  material  things,  and  that 
gesture  of  genius  by  which  he  converts  poetry 
into  paint,  which  prove  him  not  only  a  master, 
but,  rarest  of  all  rare  things,  an  English 
master.  For  the  rest,  the  safe  criticism  to  make 
on  Duncan  Grant's  pictures  is  that  they  lack 
plasticity,  which  will  impress  me  more  when  1 
have  been  persuaded  that  plasticity  is  an  end  in 
itself. 

I  wish  that  interesting  and  steadily  improving 
artist,  Mark  Gertler,  were  better  represented. 
His  Bathers,  which  I  had  seen  before,  disap- 
pointed me  rather  :  the  composition  seemed  not 
less  admirable  or  less  admirably  established  : 
but  the  picture,  as  a  whole,  struck  me  this  time 
as  laborious  and  concocted  and  too  frankly  unin- 
spired. I  gather  he  is  to  be  seen  to  greater 
advantage  at  the  Goupil  Gallery,  so  that  is  where 
he  should  be  studied.  Of  other  British  artists 
of  more  or  less  established  reputation  there  con- 
tribute to  this  exhibition  Roger  Fry,  John  Nash, 
Vanessa  Bell  and  Walter  Sickert.  It  is  always 
a  pleasure  to  see  a  Sickert,  and  to  hang  a  picture 
by  him  does  honour  to  any  gallery;  so  there  are 
two  good  reasons  for  his  inclusion.  But  Walter 
Sickert  has,  of  course,  little  or  nothing  to  do 
with  the  new  English  movement,  if  such  a  move- 


ment there  be.  And,  as  about  Mr.  Fry  and  Mr. 
Nash  I  have  lately  said  my  say,  I  need  pause 
only  to  note  that  the  exquisitely  finished  and 
personal  art  of  Vanessa  Bell  is  bound  to  have 
enthusiastic  admirers  so  long  as  there  are  civi- 
lised people  to  find  themselves  alive  and  lonely 
in  a  barbarous  age. 

Of  the  less  known  or,  at  any  rate,  to  me  less 
familiar,  painters,  Mr.  Porter  and  Mr.  Seabrooke 
are  perhaps  the  most  interesting.  The  latter, 
manifestly,  is  still  in  search  of  a  style;  and  Mr. 
Porter,  I  fancy,  is  finding  some  difficulty  in 
fitting  into  the  narrow  creed  of  another  school 
his  own  fresh  and  to  him  perhaps  disconcerting 
discoveries.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  expect 
better  things  of  both.  Mr.  Adeney,  too,  is  free- 
ing himself  to  some  purpose  from  a  tiresome 
convention  :  while  Paris  has  already  done  Miss 
Hamnett  a  world  of  good. 

In  a  note,  of  which  the  main  purpose  has  been 
the  strengthening  of  a  faint  belief  in  an  English 
renaissance,  it  has  been  impossible  to  write  of 
two  artists  whom  I  gieatly  esteem.  Mr.  Anrep 
is  a  Russian  who  has  taste,  talent  and  scholar- 
ship ;  and  perhaps  no  man  alive  possesses  so  pro- 
found a  knowledge  of  the  mosaicist's  craft 
[Plate  b]  .  It  is  preposterous  that  he  .should 
still  want  an  opportunity  of  showing  on  a  grand 
scale  what  this  glorious  art  might  do  to  conceal 
the  poverty  of  our  forlorn  modern  architecture; 
or,  if  such  rare  beauty  as  that  of  the  naked 
interior  of  Westminster  Cathedral  must  be 
covered,  that  he  should  not  be  allowed  to  cover 
it  worthily.  Also  there  is  Mr.  George  Barne. 
As  he  lives  and  works  entirely  in  France  he  can 
hardly  be  claimed  for  our  movement.  Never- 
theless I  venture  to  reproduce  one  of  his  pictures 
[Plate  c]  because  it  is  good  to  see,  from  time 
to  time,  what  is  being  done  by  one  of  the  best 
English  painters  alive.  clive  bell. 

Mark  Gertler. — We  have  long  ago  accus- 
tomed ourselves  to  speak  of  all  the  best  artists 
of  our  own  day  as  "  young  ",  and  after  the 
passage  of  a  decade  or  two  we  still  continue  to 
apply  the  compliment,  in  an  artistic  as  in  a  per- 
sonal sense,  indiscriminately  to  the  youth  whose 
star  is  just  rising  and  to  the  man  whose  head 
has  turned  hoary  with  age,  with  unsympathetic 
markets  and  with  the  long  martyrdom  of 
many  criticisms.  Mr.  Gertler  is  scarcely  to  be 
included  in  either  of  these  categories.  He  is 
just  at  the  age  when  he  is  apt  to  find  himself 
sandwiched  between  the  critics  of  the  older  gen- 
eration, by  whom  he  is  regarded  as  a  somewhat 
unnecessary  child  who  has  no  real  business  to 
have  any  merit,  and  the  critics  of  his  own  day, 
who  are  so  familiar  with  every  line  on  his  face 
that  they  fail  to  notice  the  signs  of  maturity 
coming  upon  it.     These  observers  mechanically 


'49 


apply  to  his  work  tl:e  same  remarks  that  pleased 
us  bv  their  fitness  wiien  he  was  a  little  younger 
and  a  little  different.  At  the  Hampsiead  Gallery 
some  six  months  ago  we  found  ourselves  attnu- 
ted  in  a  new  way  by  a  couple  of  his  pictures, 
and  to-tkiy  at  the  Goupil  we  see  him  justifying 
the  belief  we  then  expressed  that  he  would  before 
long  occupy  an  important  place.  We  are  lai 
from  feeling  even  now  that  Gerller  is  a  made 
man — much  less  that  he  has  proved  himself  a 
master.  He  is  obviously  feeling  his  way  for- 
ward, but  is  not  that  one  of  the  invariable 
characteristics  of  genius  ?  As  it  iiappens,  his 
somewhat  odd  technique  dcjes  not  specially  ap- 
peal to  us.  His  quite  peculiar  artistic  tempera- 
ment corresponds  indifferently  with  our  own. 
Several  of  the  pictures  in  his  exhibition  leave  us 
cold,  and  standing  alone,  give  no  hint  of  unusual 
gifts.  Nevertheless  the  impression  received 
from  a  visit  to  the  Goupil  Gallery  was  of  a  con- 
summate artist  who  is  fast  learning  to  express 
himself  in  a  highly  personal  and  effective  style. 
And  if  he  has  mannerisms  they  are  rendered 
innocuous  by  a  vast  store  of  genuine  originality 
that  is  not  the  cold  originality  of  a  deliberate 
solver  of  problems,  but  the  bright-eyed  vision  of 
a  spirit  reacting  in  its  own  w-ay  to  the  reality 
around  it  and  after  long  labour  getting  the  upper 
hand  of  a  stubborn  but  beloved  medium  of  ex- 
pression. One  can  count  on  one's  fingers  the 
living  English  artists  of  whom  the  same  can 
quite  honestly  be  said.  It  is  one  thing  to  be  a 
clever  expressionist  in  a  multitude  of  moods  that 
are  familiar  to  a  multitude  of  onlookers — that 
way  popularity  lies — and  quite  another  to  be  the 
faithful  exponent  of  one's  own  richly  mutable 
nature.  Every  artist  who  does  that,  demands 
and  deserves  a  consciously  sympathetic  and  dis- 
passionate study.  It  is  only  when  one  allows 
Gertler  to  take  one  into  his  confidence  in  this 
way  that  it  becomes  possible  either  to  estimate 
hiiTi  critically  or  to  enjoy  him  in  the  wider  sense 
And  a  collection  of  his  pictures  more  fullv 
adapted  for  such  a  purpose  could  not  be 
imagined  than  that  at  the  Goupil  Gallery. 

R.    R.  T. 

Negro  Art.— The  exhibition  of  Negro  Art 
at  the  Goupil  Gallery  is  hardly  more  than  a 
footnote  to  the  collection  in  the  British  Museum, 
and  interesting  though  it  is,  adds  little  to  our 
knowledge.  The  exhibits  are  for  the  most  part 
pure  Negro  work,  brought  mainly  from  Nigeria, 
the  Ivory  Coast  and  the  Congo  Basin.  One 
mask  is  described  as  coming  from  "  Cale- 
donia ",  which  throws  new  light  on  the  origins 
of  Scotch  art ;  and  in  other  respects  the  catalogue 
is  not  beyond  criticism.  But  the  compilation  of 
a  catalogue  is  almost  superfluous,  since  we  do 
not  know  the  history  of  these  Negro  images,  or 


when  or  by  whom  they  were  made.     There  are 
indications    that    at    one    time    a    great    Negro 
Empire  dominated  Central  Africa,  and  that  art 
transceiuled  tribal  boundaries  as  it  did  in  Europe 
in   the   .Middle  .Ages.     But   the  earliest   reliable 
information   shows  only   a   number  of  separate 
tribes,  each  fashioning  its  fetiches  and  idols  in 
accordance     with     its    own     tradition.      When 
Europe  comes  into  touch  with  Africa,  the  art  is 
already    degenerate,    often  a    mere  repetition    of 
forms  which  have  lost  their  meaning;  and  as  the 
result  of  European  contact,  the  Negro  apes  our 
art  and  becomes    increasingly    realistic.       The 
much  vaunted  work  of  Benin,  of  which  an  ex- 
ample appears  here,   is  a  case  in  point.       The 
object  of  the  earlier  Negro  Art  is  not  reproduc- 
tions of   the   human   figure,   but    provision   of  a 
local    habitation   and   a    home   for   tribal    gods. 
Indeed,  among  many  tribes,  too  much  anthropo- 
morphism would  be  regarded  as  sacrilege.  Thus 
the  maker  of  idols  was  set  the  task  of  creating 
some  solid  object  which  would  inspire  worship 
and  would  not  be  too  like  humanity.       At  the 
same  time,  definite  religious  symbols  had  to  be 
introduced  such  as  the  enlarged  stomach,  denot- 
ing fertility.     Within  these  limits,  the  task  was 
akin   to  the  architect's,  and   gave  the   Negro's 
feeling  for  design  full  scope.     How  considerable 
that  feeling  may  be  is  shown  by  the  numerous 
examples  of  formal  decorative  work  we  possess, 
inadequately    represented    in  the  exhibition  by 
two  cups  from  the  Ivory  Coast  ornamented  with 
interlaced  patterns,  and  by  an  idol  in  \vood  and 
brass  from  the  Bakota  tribe,  remarkable  for  the 
large  part  metal  plays  in  its  construction.     But 
the  Negro's  knowledge  was  small  and  his  tools 
poor.     Realism  being  both  undesirable  and  diffi- 
cult,  he  was  content  in  his  work  to  emphasize 
the  elementary  facts  that  a  head  resembles  a  box, 
the  trunk  and  limbs  resemble  cylinders,  and  to 
let  his  material  shape  his  conception.     It  is  facts 
such  as    these  which    give  the    more    primitive 
negro  work   its   interest  and  fascination.     It   is 
when  imitation  begins  that  the  images  lose  their 
dignity  and  descend    to  earth.       Contrast,    for 
example,  the  two  realistic  idols  from  the  Ivory 
Coast  (Nos.  27  and  29)  with  the  earlier  specimen. 
No.  22,  from  the  same  district.     There  is  every 
evidence  that  the  Negro  constantly  strives  for 
closer  correspondence  with  natural  forms.  Like 
a  child,     however,   he  is  apt  to  imitate    details 
rather  than  essentials.       Divest    these    idols  of 
their  strange  proportions  and  attitudes,  probably 
prescribed  bv  tradition,  and  it  is  remarkable  how 
closelv  individual   peculiarities  are   reproduced. 
For  example,  the  nose  and  lips  of  the  pure  Negro 
type,  the  aquiline  noses  of  races  containing  Arab 
blood,  and  the  elongated  breasts  of  the  Bush- 
ongo  women,  all  appear  in  the  images.      This 
imitation  even  extends  to  the  cicatrization  prac- 


150 


tised  among  many  tribes.  Earlier  Negro  Art 
has  a  fantastic  dignity  of  which  even  museums 
and  exhibitions  cannot  rob  it;  but  later  mani- 
festations have  not  been  able  to  survive  Euro- 
pean influence.  w.  g.  c. 

John  Nash. — The  exhibition  at  the  Goupil 
Gallery  leaves  the  impression  that  Mr.  Nash  has 
spread  his  considerable  talent  over  too  wide  an 
area.  In  consequence  his  work  lacks  substance. 
Particularly  does  this  apply  to  his  oil  painting, 
which  confirms  the  view  aroused  by  other  exhibi- 
tions that  there  is  to-day  in  England  a  slump 
in  that  medium.  The  explanation  seems  to  lie 
in  the  practice,  apparently  followed  by  Mr. 
Nash,  of  working  from  a  small  sketch  with  little 
or  no  subsequent  reference  to  nature.  Such  a 
method  leads  to  improvizations  and  generaliza- 
tions which  may  be  adequate  in  the  sketch,  but 
are  bald  and  unconvincing  in  larger  work.  It 
may  be  argued  that  in  this  way  alone  can  the 
artist  keep  clearly  in  mind  his  whole  conception 
and  design.  But  at  the  same  time  it  is  his  busi- 
ness to  fill  in  the  inevitable  gaps  by  constant 
study  of  nature;  and  it  is  in  this  filling  of  gaps 
that  Mr.  Nash  fails.  Even  the  pure  Cubist 
cannot  dispense  with  nature  entirely;  and  Mr. 
Nash  is  not  a  Cubist.  Design,  indeed,  is  his 
first  consideration,  but  it  is  based  entirely  on 
natural  forms.  When  he  forgets  the  Japanese 
convention,  this  design  frequently  results  in  a 
pleasant  and  delicately  coloured  sketch.  But  in 
the  oil  paintings  the  superstructure  is  inade- 
quate to  the  design.  For  example,  in  the  Saw- 
mill, Daneways,  and  the  Landscape  in  the  Cots- 
wolds,  the  cloud  convention  does  not  adequately 
express  their  character  and  structure.  Certainly, 
a  cloud  has  three  dimensions;  but  it  differs  from 
an  iceberg.  Again,  in  The  Dingle,  the  blue 
trunk  in  the  foreground  might  pass  in  a  flat 
colour-pattern ;  but  it  is  out  of  harmony  with 
the  plein  air  treatment  of  the  rest  of  the  picture. 
It  is  in  his  drawings  and  woodcuts  that  Mr. 
Nash  is  at  his  best.  Here  he  is  working  on  a 
scale  in  proportion  to  his  present  knowledge, 
and  the  result  is  more  interesting  and  satisfying. 

Modern  Dutch  Art. — The  organisers  of  the 
exhibition  of  Modern  Dutch  Art  at  the  White- 
chapel  Art  Gallery  are  to  be  congratulated  on 
their  enterprise.  The  collection  is  well  chosen 
and  fairly  representative,  though  some  of  the 
exhibits  could  have  been  omitted  with  advan- 
tage. That  the  art  of  Holland  does  not  always 
appear  in  a  very  favourable  light  is  the  fault, 
not  of  those  responsible  for  the  exhibition,  but 
of  the  artists.  These,  in  imitating  the  masters 
of  their  own  and  other  countries,  have  too  often 
lost  the  Dutch  tradition  of  fine  colour  and  good 
craftsmanship.     The   Hague  school   has  had  a 


host  of  followers,  all  striving  without  con- 
spicuous success  to  reproduce  its  characteristic 
cool  grey  tonality  and  feeling  for  atmosphere. 
Here  and  there,  however,  attempts  have  been 
made  to  break  away  and  to  use  more  positive 
colour,  notably  in  the  case  of  G.  H.  Breitner. 
Another  group  is  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
Monet,  but  works  in  a  shriller  and  more  vulgar 
key.  Of  a  third  group,  trying  to  mingle 
Rubens  and  Mr.  Brangwyn  in  canvases  covered 
with  loosely  handled  masses  of  bright  colour, 
the  most  individual  is  M.  A.  J.  Bauer.  The 
younger  generation  have,  however,  turned  to 
modern  France.  Among  others,  Jan  Toorop 
and  Willem  van  den  Berg  have  adopted  the 
subdued  colour  and  sharply  defined  planes  of 
the  Cubists  to  clothe  an  academic  art.  The 
most  interesting  figure  among  the  younger  men 
is  undoubtedly  Jan  Sluyters,  who  has  a  sense 
of  design  and  form  which  make  him  con- 
spicuous. Leo  Gestel  clothes  Huysum  and  de 
Heem  in  modern  French  dress  without  improv- 
ing them.  Piet  Mondriaan's  abstract  "  Com- 
positions "  have  little  merit.  w.  g.  c. 

Carfax  Gallery. — Mr.  Ethelbert  White  is  a 
conspicuous  example  of  concentration  upon 
design,  combined  with  insufficiency  of  content. 
His  method  is  that  of  the  defined  contour  en- 
closing areas  of  flat  colour,  and  his  treatment 
of  natural  forms  somewhat  resembles  the  Italian 
primitives.  But  his  naivety  is  as  a  rule  too 
calculated  to  be  interesting;  and  lacking  the 
early  Italian  feeling  for  structure  and  reality, 
the  units  of  his  design  are  frequently  mannered 
and  lifeless.  This  is  particularly  the  case  in  his 
larger  figure  compositions,  such  as  Quarry  Men 
and  Hawaiian  Musicians,  the  latter  of  which  is 
little  more  than  a  parody  of  Gauguin.  In  his 
landscapes  he  is  more  successful,  but  even  here 
he  often  fails  to  express  the  structure  of  trees  and 
clouds.  This  weakness  in  the  units  of  the  design 
is  rarely  compensated  for  by  the  design  itself, 
which  is  frequently  flat  and  carried  out  in  over- 
vivid  greens  and  purples.  In  The  Linhay,  how- 
ever, Mr.  White  has  produced  an  interesting 
and  harmonious  arrangement.  In  particular, 
his  treatment  of  suburban  houses  is  prosaic.  It 
may  express  their  essential  character,  but  it  does 
little  more.  A  group  of  woodcuts  in  the  tra- 
ditional method  of  white  on  black  is  worth 
attention. 

Agnew's  Gallery. — This  exhibition  is  an 
attractive  one  and  contains  many  charming  water 
colours,  though  none  of  outstanding  importance. 
There  are  a  number  of  Turners  of  varying  excel- 
lence, all  of  which  depend  almost  entirely  for 
their  merit  upon  his  particular  sensitiveness  to 
colour,  and  it  is  amusing  to  contrast  them  for  a 


151 


moment  with  the  water  coldurs  by  Blake  on 
exhiliiiiiin  at  the  Tate  Gallery,  which  have  all 
Turner's  delicacy  of  colour,  with  the  added  (]ua- 
lities  of  great  imaginative  conception  and  power 
of  design.  After  the  Turners,  perhaps  the  most 
striking  series  is  by  F.  Towne  (1740 — 1816), 
chiefly  landscapes  of  Italy  anil  the  Lake  District, 
translated  into  a  cold,  rather  severe  notatit)n,  and 
admirably  internally  balanced.  Nos.  39  and  40 
are  particularly  remarkable  in  these  respects. 
There  are  also  many  very  beautiful  works  by 
Girtin,  all  characterised  by  mastery  of  teciinique, 


by  perfect  restraint  and  a  certain  sweet  serenity. 
The  same  qualities  in  a  much  lesser  degree  are 
shared  by  1  )ayes,  who  is,  however,  sometimes  a 
little  awkward.  Others  well  worthy  of  attention 
are  the  Constables,  and  No.  74 — a  charming  i8th 
century  view  of  Melford  Hall  by  I\l.  :\.  Rooker. 
But  it  woidd  lie  misleacling  to  omit  any  reference 
to  the  less  attractive  exhibits.  P.  de  Wint, 
Copley  Fielding,  Birket  Foster  and  Pinwell  are 
all  represented.  The  least  satisfactory  are  cer- 
tainly the  Fred  Walker  and  the  Ho]m;in  Hunts. 

D.  G. 


LETTER 

"  VISION  AND  DESIGN  " 

Sir, — Mr.  Holmes's  review  of  Mr.  Fry's  book 
in  the  February  Burlington  seemed  to  me  a  just 
one,  both  in  praise  and  criticism  ;  all  the  more 
because  his  chief  objection  (including  the  repre- 
sentational character  of  the  third  dimension  and 
the  feeble  effect  of  word-music  apart  from  mean- 
ing) were  points  upon  which  I  had  myself  laid 
stress.  But  I  was  completely  puzzled  by  one 
sentence,  viz.,  "at  the  other  end  of  the  scale  are 
the  super-refinements  of  art,  the  aesthetic  abstrac- 
tions, such  as  that  of  which  Mr.  Fry  and  his 
whilom  opponent,  Mr.  D.  S.  MacColl,  are  both 


in  search  ".  Mr.  Holmes  has  probably  tried  to 
pack  too  much  into  a  single  sentence,  at  the 
sacrifice  of  his  usual  lucidity.  Without  attempt- 
ing to  unpack,  may  I  assure  your  readers  that 
my  views  have  not  changed  since  I  discussed 
Mr.  Fry's  position  in  your  columns.  The  recent 
exhibition  of  Picasso's  works  has  been  a  suffi- 
cient reductio  ad  absurdum  of  one  of  the  pre- 
tended "  abstractions  ". 

Your  obedient  servant, 

D.  S.  MacColl. 

15th  February,  192 1. 


AUCTIONS 

Messrs.  Navili.e  et  Cie,  Geneva,  will  sell  at  the  Galferies 
Fischer,  Lucerne,  on  April  4th,  old  Greek  Coins  from  the 
collection  of  the  late  Dr.  S.  Pozzi,  who  had  amassed  a  vast 
collection,  including  some  great  rarities  and,  it  was  said,  not 
a  few  forgeries.  Most  of  the  latter  have  been  weeded  out 
by  the  very  skilful  compiler  of  the  sale  catalogue,  though 
to  judge  by  the  illustrations  a  few  suspect  pieces,  especially 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Macedon  and  Thrace,  still  remain. 
Of  the  3,334  lots,  the  most  remarkable  is  perhaps  the  gold 
stater  of  .Athens  with  the  name  of  Mithradates,  of  which  the 
only  other  extant  specimens  are  in  Berlin,  London  and  Paris. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Athenian  Museum  will  secure  this. 
The  catalogue  is  an  excellent  piece  of  work,  all  the  weights 
being  recorded,  and  is  illustrated  by  loi  admirable  plates. 
In  fact  it  puts  in  the  shade  even  the  fine  catalogues  issued 
in  the  years  before  the  war  by  Hirsch  and  Egger.     G.   F.  H. 

Me.  F.  Lair-Dubreuil  will  sell  at  the  Gal^rie  Georges  Petit, 
Paris,  on  March  4th  and  5th,  Modern  Paintings,  Water 
Colours,  Pastels  and  Drawings;  also  Objets  d'.Art  and  Furni- 
ture, etc.,  the  collection  of  Georges  Petit.  This  is  of  course 
an  important  collection  of  French  work,  the  majority  of  which 
indicate  an  inclination  towards  the  more  romantic  attitude 
to  art.  Amongst  the  many  familiar  examples  by  the  greater 
Impressionists  are  a  number  of  well  selected  pictures  by 
artists  who  never  actually  tjecame  leaders  of  important  schools 
or  movements.  The  catalogue  includes  works  by  Corot,  Dela- 
croix, Monet,  Pissarro,  Tfi.  Rousseau,  Sisley,  Stevens  and 
Georges  Moreau.  Regarded  from  a  purely  artistic  standpoint 
the  quality  is  very  uneven.  Side  by  side  with  subject-pictures 
whose  aesthetic  appeal  is  rudimentary  one  finds  such  things 
as  a  remarkable  Corot  landscape  (lot  66)  or  La  Caiixette  i)y 
Pissarro  (lot  loi)  or  the  wonderfully  arranged  composition  by 
Lebasque  entitled  Siir  la  terrasse ;  jour  d'iti  (lot  82).  It 
would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  collection  of  works  more 
capable  of  conveying  an  accurate  idea  of  the  whole  Impres- 
sionist movement,  with  its  science,  its  singular  group-conscious- 
ness, its  indomitable  faith  in  colour  and  its  groping  after  new 
conceptions  of  design.  r.   r.  t. 

SoTHEBY,  Wilkinson  &  Hodge   will  sell  at  34  &  35,  New 


Bond  Street,  on  the  7th  of  March,  a  collection  of  Persian  and 
Indian  paintings,  together  with  some  Arabic  and  Persian 
MSS.  Among  them  are  some  fine  examples  of  the  early 
Safavid  school  (e.g.  No.  74),  and  several  belonging  to  the 
school  of  Riza  Abbasi.  There  are  two  noteworthy  examples 
of  the  work  of  Akbar's  artists  :  No.  24  was  sketched  by 
Basawan  and  painted  by  Dharmdas,  and  No.  31,  also  sketched 
by  BasaWan,  appears  to  have  been  painted  by  an  artist 
named  Chitra.  (In  both  instances  the  Catalogue  attributes 
these  characteristic  examples  of  Indian  workmanship  to  the 
Bihzad  School  of  Persia.)  Deserving  of  special  notice  is  a 
portion  of  one  of  the  frescoes  from  he  Caves  of  Ajanta 
(No.  139).  It  is  said  to  have  been  removed  about  i8ig,  wlien 
these  Caves  first  became  known  to  Europeans  ;  but  no  other 
specimen   is  recorded  as  having  been   brought  to  this  country. 

T.    W.    A. 

Me.  F.  Lair-Dubrfuil  will  sell  at  the  Hotel  Drouot,  on 
March  gth,  a,  collection  of  pictures  including  examples  by 
Both,  Greuze,  Hals,  Hobbema,  Rubens,  D.  Teniers,  and  an 
important  composition    attributed  to  Van    Dyck. 

Me.  F.  Lair-Dubreuii.  will  sell  at  the  Hotel  Drouot,  Paris, 
on  March  16th,  Modern  Pictures  and  Drawings  from  the  col- 
lection of  M.  Pierre  Baudin.  This  sale  includes  works  by 
Corot,  Gauguin,  G^ricault,  Toulouse-Lautrec,  Marquet,  Pis- 
sarro, Puvis  de  Chavannes,  and  Renoir.  Lot  i  is  a  telling 
figure  composition  by  Corot.  In  the  Femmes  cucillant  dcs 
Fic'ur.':  (lot  8)  Gauguin  expresses  himself  with  more  than  usual 
breadth  and  simplicity.  In  lot  18  and  several  others  Guys* 
caprice  and  charm  are  evident.  There  are  several  excellent 
examples  of  Lautrec,  lot  27,  L'etifant  au  Chien  being  a  remark- 
able design.  Marquet 's  Lc  Pont  dc  la  Concorde  is  familiar  to 
all.  The  Millet  drawings  vary  in  quality,  the  well  known 
version  of  La  Bergcre  is  the  best,  but  Le  Faiine  is  of  interest 
only  as  a  biographical  fact.  La  Toilette  is  a  characteristic 
Renoir  in  which  the  problem  of  the  relationship  of  contour 
and  modelling  which  so  constantly  fascinated  and  intrigued 
him  may  be  advantageously  studied.  The  only  English  work 
is  lot  46,   a  fairly  effective  genre  painting  by   .Alfred  Stevens. 

R.    R.    T. 


152 


Old     Woman,     bv     Antnine     Watteau.       Drawini^-    in     red    and     black     ilialk. 
Auiiustine    Birrell) 


Actual    size.      (Mr. 


EDn ORIAL  :     Modern   British    Tamtr- 

HERE    is    hardly    a    critic    w'   ■  -.w 

attitude  towards  the  painting  ci 
day  would  not  be  fairly  reflects  i 
an  expression  used  by  Mr.  Clive  i 
in    our    last    issue — "That    chn.; 

invalid,  British  art."     There    are   critics,    nv 

akin  to  artists  than  to  judges  of  art,  whose  ws. 

are  gestures  responding  to  the  appeal  of  S'  ■ 

beloved  and  completely  understood  exampl' 

art.    There  are  critics  whose  habit  being  al.' 

wholly  introspective,  grope  wonderingly  i'.: 

the  tangled  labyrinth  of  their  own  emoi 

actions,  with  an  unqueno!i:rnI<^  hope  c^l 

coming  upon  a  clue  to  some  simpler,  \'   - 

plete  aesthetic.     There  are  critics  wi. 

lo  art  is  almost  a  devotional  one,  for 

ncailv  a  religion  and  certain  artists  . 
':ni,  labour  ir 
are  filled  -^^ 

tent  II  some  slight  ray  fror 

ledge  they  carry  should  pt- 

which  it  had  seemed  too  mu 

would  ever  again  h      ' 

together  with   the  i' 

now  appears,  the  p 

common.  ''■  •:  'ii   -      .,..    ,,  . 

of  oppi 

des: 


D.     J. J 


The    Morning 
newspaper    to 


.  that  some  n 
lirilish  Art. 
\     vigorous   correspondence 


in 


Post  has  been  extended  from 
newspaper  antil  the  attention 
of  the  whole  country  ha«  been  focussed  upon  con- 
temporary art  in  a  manner  that  reminded  one  for 
.1  time  of  the  days  of  the  Ruskin-Turner  out- 
bursts. 

"^   ■  ''  a  iu>.s  ind  discontent  would  seem  clearly 
•;h  two  things  :  first,  that  there  is  a  wide- 
.sp  !'  ;n  and  a  strong  demand  for  art  of 

son  r  another ;    sw^cond,    that    it    is    as 

wi(l:  strongly  felt  that  something  is 

wroi  mjichinerv  h\  who.se  agency  that 

art  i  Tom  the  ari'si  ro  the  public.     If 

these  u  *rue,  as  !  bi'Hevf  ihem  to  be,  we 

cannot  first  of  tl. n 

satisfar  he   secc 

regret .  that    .1 

.so    mu  lers  to  ■ 

seem     >■  ill     un 

ous  soil,   .  le  in  th<    - 

be   crying    •  for    art, 

be   a    sufiRii.  c^    indui 

set  about  the    .  ut  eithei 

tion.  oi  settr:  luiise  in  order 

attempt  to  (i'  discover,  as  is  commonly 

found  in  su'  that  it  is  easier  to  see  what 

is  \^  '  'ht.     Nearlv  everything, 

if  V.  inost  I'lojielv  concerned 

wit!  _,.     The  R(iv  al  Academy 

anil  rsr-niiri!-    "    ff'-'al"  art. 


with  too  much 

too    much 

ime,     when 

man  would 

an      ungener- 

<'.:■<■<%       -'lOuld 

;  rely 

us  to 

i  hesita- 

When  we 


.ni'  hr-ljpve? 


Of  his  easy 
ijj.     :.ni   1  ""nvy   like 

iig   in  a   gei'  or   rises 

lo  be  permitted  to  shake  hani.i>,  .vi!!.  it)\altv,  or 
to  make  an  appointment  with  his  chiropodist,  or 
to  take  it  into  his  head  to  "explain"  the  pictures 
to  the  ladies  at  some  grotesque  private  view,  and 
afterwards  to  write  about  it  all,  with  no  ghost 
of  a  genuine  emotion,  but  as  one  of 'the  things 
that  is  expected  of  one^  that  one,  alas,  lives  for. 
And  truly  it  must  be  admitted  that  seldom 
indeed  is  the  critic  to.  be  found  who  searches 
diligently  among  everything  that  is  produced 
for  what  is  good  or  is  of  good  promise  instead  of 
for  what  is  merely  of  good  report,  respecting 
always,  generous  unfailingly,  rigorously  taking 

•  --ath  and  his 


stock  of  his  desire  for 
yearning  for  repntariryn 
him 


!s  stern  with 
II"  unknown 

pai'  lim,  like  the 

sti;.  onsibility  to  the  art 

and   \  Some  have  said 

th:!»   fh  wrong,  and  one  is 

•  ven    liiat   strong   statement 

:'rs   the   criticism    of    former 

7ie  of  Rembrandt,  for  example, 

s  .-juincicni    CO   tempt   the  suggestion   that  our 

inheritance    is    simply    on   the   one    side.    Art, 

passionately  and  bravely  continuing,  and  on  the 

other,  Criliri  =  m    si!i>n(  or  else  m'^ri-'lr.i;s' v    intern- 


The  BcFLiNGTOjn  .M*o»nKE,  No.  317,  Vol,  ixjivjii,    .^pril,  1921. 


:)3 


Old     ]\'oman,    by     Antoine    Watteau. 
Augustine    Birrell) 


Drriw  in"-    in     red    and    bl 


Actual    size.      (Mr. 


EDITORIAL  :     Modern   British    Tainting— A    Proposal 


HERE  is  hardly  a  critic  whose 
attitude  towards  the  painting  of  tOr 
day  would  not  be  fairly  reflected  bv 
an  expression  used  by  Mr.  Clive  Bell 
in  our  last  issue — "That  chronic 
invalid,  British  art."  There  are  critics,  more 
akin  to  artists  than  to  judges  of  art,  whose  words 
are  gestures  responding  to  the  appeal  of  some 
beloved  and  completely  understood  example  of 
art.  There  are  critics  whose  habit  being  almost 
wholly  introspective,  grope  wonderingly  through 
the  tangled  labyrinth  of  their  own  emotional  re- 
actions, with  an  unr|uenchable  hope  of  one  day 
coming  upon  a  clue  to  some  simpler,  less  iiicom- 
plete  jesthetic.  There  are  critics  whose  attitude 
to  art  is  almost  a  devotional  one,  for  whom  art  is 
nearly  a  religion  and  certain  artists  almost  gods; 
who,  infinitely  patient,  labour  in  the  dark  places 
of  art  history,  and  are  filled  with  a  great  con- 
tent if  some  slight  ray  from  the  torch  of  know- 
ledge they  carry  should  penetrate  a  recess  into 
which  it  had  seemed  too  much  to  hope  that  light 
would  ever  again  be  thrown.  All  these  critics, 
together  with  the  majority  of  artists  and,  as  it 
now  appears,  the  public,  have  this  one  thing  in 
common,  that  they  each  feel  sure,  for  a  multitude 
of  opposite  reasons,  that  some  malady  has  lately 
descended  upon  British  Art. 

A  surprisingly  vigorous  correspondence  in 
The  Morning  Post  has  been  extended  from 
newspaper  to  newspaper  until  the  attention 
of  the  whole  country  ha*  been  focussed  upon  con- 
temporary art  in  a  manner  that  reminded  one  for 
a  time  of  the  days  of  the  Ruskin-Turner  out- 
bursts. 

Such  a  fuss  and  discontent  would  seem  clearly 
to  indicate  two  things  :  first,  that  there  is  a  wide- 
spread belief  in  and  a  strong  demand  for  art  of 
some  kind  or  another ;  second,  that  it  is  as 
widely  and  as  strongly  felt  that  something  is 
wrong  with  the  machinery  by  whose  agency  that 
art  is  conveyed  from  the  artist  to  the  public.  If 
tiiese  things  are  true,  as  I  believe  them  to  be,  we 
cannot  accept  the  first  of  them  with  too  much 
satisfaction,  nor  the  second  with  too  much 
regret.  The  fact  that  at  this  time,  when 
so  much  that  matters  to  civilised  man  would 
seem  to  be  thriving  ill  on  an  ungener- 
ous soil,  the  very  people  in  the  streets  should 
be  crying  out  at  us  for  art,  sliould  surely 
be  a  sufficienth'  strong  inducement  for  us  to 
set  about  the  task  without  either  delay  or  hesita- 
tion, of  setting  our  house  in  order.  When  we 
attempt  to  do  so,  we  discover,  as  is  commonly 
found  in  such  cases,  that  it  is  easier  to  see  what 
is  wrong  than  what  is  right.  Nearly  everything, 
if  we  are  to  believe  those  most  closelv  concerned 
with  the  matter,  is  wrong.  The  Royal  Academy 
and  the  other  bodies  representing  "official"  art. 


K 


The  Burlington  iMaoazine,  No.  217,  Vol,  xxjivjii.    .^pril,  1921. 


are,  one  is  informed,  turning  dimming  and  de- 
spondent eyes  toward  the  crepuscular  obscurity 
of  the  tomb.  The  New  English  Art  Club  is 
regarded  as  maintaining  cunningly  and  with 
much  risk  to  life  and  limb,  a  dangerous  equili- 
brium between  two  stools;  the  London  Group  we 
are  assured  is  now  quite  lost  in  a  forest  of  super- 
fluous, preposterous  and  irrelevant  theories. 
The  Cubist  sits  nearest  to  heaven,  cold-toed  but 
ever  painting  unsaleable  creations  in  an  attic 
without  a  stove  ;  and  ever  and  anon  in  some  back 
street  of  the  West-End,  little  "  groups  "  appear 
for  a  moment — at  great  expense  to  themselves — 
and  grow  hikirious  over  the  sale  of  a  bad  draw- 
ing on  half  a  sheet  of  unclean  notepaper,  darting 
out  of  obscurity  and  nibbling,  in  the  manner  of 
rats  at  dusk,  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  the 
tables  of  the  rich. 

Of  course,  hardly  anyone  believes  that  all  these 
criticisms  are  justified,  but  nearly  everybody 
believes  them  to  be  all  justified  except  one.  But 
these  are  not  the  only  complaints.  The  critics 
are  as  bad,  indeed  far  worse  than  the  artists. 
One  of  them  keeps  screaming  out  about  the 
Royal  Academy  but,  all  unknown  to  himself,  the 
Academy  he  has  in  mind  is  not  that  of  to-day 
but  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  when 
he  last  visited  an  exhibition  at  Burlington  House. 
Another  never  moves  all  afternoon  except  to 
turn  from  side  to  side  in  the  deeps  of  his  easy 
chair,  growing  ripe  and  round  and  heavy  like 
an  egg  hatching  in  a  generous  nest,  or  rises 
to  be  permitted  to  shake  hands  with  royalty,  or 
to  make  an  appointment  with  his  chiropodist,  or 
to  take  it  into  his  head  to  "explain"  the  pictures 
to  the  ladies  at  some  grotesque  private  view,  and 
afterwards  to  write  about  it  all,  with  no  ghost 
of  a  genuine  emotion,  but  as  one  of  the  things 
that  is  expected  of  one,  that  one,  alas,  lives  for. 
And  truly  it  must  be  admitted  that  seldom 
indeed  is  the  critic  to  be  found  who  searches 
diligently  among  everything  that  is  produced 
for  what  is  good  or  is  of  good  promise  instead  of 
for  what  is  merely  of  good  report,  respecting 
always,  generous  unfailingly,  rigorously  taking 
stock  of  his  desire  for  the  easier  path  and  his 
yearning  for  reputation,  remaining  as  stern  with 
himself  and  his  artist  friendsas  with  the  unknown 
painter — the  critic  who  feels  within  him,  like  the 
sting  of  conscience,  his  responsibilily  to  the  art 
and  to  the  artist  of  his  day.  Some  have  said 
that  the  critics  are  always  wrong,  and  one  is 
tempted  to  excuse  even  that  strong  statement 
when  one  remembers  the  criticism  of  former 
times.  The  name  of  Rembrandt,  for  example, 
is  sufficient  to  tempt  the  suggestion  that  our 
inheritance  is  simply  on  the  one  side.  Art, 
passionately  and  bravely  continuing,  and  on  the 
other,  Criticism,  silent  or  else  mercilessly  intem- 


peratelv  vociferous  in  ;\ll  bin  inartii  iilatc  fri>n/.y 
of  condfnination. 

In  order  to  round  olT  I  lie  srone  of  yinom,  1 
might  add  that  ihi'  puliHc  also,  as  wi'll 
as  the  artists  and  their  groups  and  ihc 
critics,  are  in  the  wrong,  but  the  iliing  lias 
been  s.iid  already  far  too  often  ;  ami  even  if  we 
had  some  notion  of  what  we  mean  by  "  the 
public,"  it  is  douijiiul  whether  there  is  anv 
truth  in  the  assumption  that  our  public  is 
very  difTerent  from  that  with  which  artists  of  the 
past  have  had  to  deal.  The  public  is  a  very 
formidable,  even  a  terrifying  image,  but  so  is 
anything  else  that  doesn't  really  exist.  We  can 
s;ifelv  dispose  of  the  public  by  classing  liim  with 
the  bogev-man.  And  if,  as  is  said,  that  vague 
shape  recjuires  to  be  educated,  we  who  are 
members  of  it  have  much  need  of  a  dose  of  the 
same  strong  and  unpalatable  physic. 

Then,  lastly,  there  are  the  purchasers.  They 
too  are  condemned  bv  all,  and  having  failed  to 
organise  themselves  into  a  "  group,"  arc  con- 
demned by  their  own  number  as  well,  so  that 
they  are  traditionally  regarded  as  the  indispens- 
able clowns  of  the  show. 

Is  there,  then,  any  way  (a)  by  which  artists 
mav  have  their  work  seen  ff)r  once  perfectly  fairly 
by  critic,  by  purchaser  and  by  anybody  from  the 
street  ?  (fe)  by  which  critics  may  be  free  to  look 
at  modern  pictures  unjaded  by  the  accumulated 
memories  of  many  shows,  by  the  battalions  of 
artists'  surnames,  the  nomenclature  of  schools, 
groups  and  influences,  and  by  the  shrill  pres- 
ence of  their  own  oft  repeated  opinions?  (c)  by 
which  the  public  will  be  able  to  .see  modern  art 
for  themselves  and  not  through  the  eyes  of  group 
enthusiasts?  Careful  consideration  of  this 
question  leaves  it  plain  that  these  ends  can  be 
attained  only  in  one  way. 

An  Exhibition  of  Contemporary  Painting 
would  have  to  be  organised  by  some  neutral  bod)' 
of  serious  scholars  of  art  whose  integrity  is 
bevond  doubt.  The  collection  would  have  to  be 
thoroughly  and  honestly  representative  of  all  the 
manv  tendencies  of  the  day.     This  alone  would 

TWO    WATTEAU    DRAWINGS 
BY    R.    R.    TATLOCK 

N  the  Print  Room  at  the  British 
Museum  is  a  drawing  in  sanguine 
and  black  chalk  by  Antoine  Watteau. 
It  represents  an  old  woman  seated, 
y— Qwith  an  alms  box  (  ?)  over  her  arm  and 


a  stick  in  her  hand.  The  drawing  is  on  a  sheet 
of  writing-paper,  the  fold  across  the  centre  of 
which  can  still  faintly  be  made  out  cutting  across 
the  figure.  On  the  back  of  the  paper  is  written 
in  Watteau's  fine  and  rather  flamboyant  hand- 
writing the  following  commencement  of  a 
letter  :  — 

156 


make  such  an  exhibition  dilTereni  from  an\'  other 
ili.il  has  lieeii  held  in  this  countr\  for  manvvears. 
Hul  the  pictures  hung  would  have  to  be  not  onlv 
cosmo[K)litan  and  include  work  from  the  extreme 
right  of  the  Royal  .Xcademy  to  the  latest  abstrac- 
tions of  Cubism,  but,  in  addition,  there  would 
have  to  be  no  clue  to  the  authorship  of  the  ivorkx 
on  the  ivalls.  They  woidd  have  to  be  hung  with 
an  eye  solely  directed  to  giving  each  picture  the 
best  possible  opportvmity  to  be  advantageously 
seen.  The  exhit)ilion  would  have  to  be  in  .some 
accessible  and  spacious  galler\'  not  identified  with 
the  propagation  of  any  particular  group  or  cidt. 

There  being  really  noin.surmountable  difificulty 
in  making  these  arrangements,  we  have  taken  it 
upon  ourselves  to  organi.se  such  an  exhibition, 
ho[)ing  that  the  name  of  Thk  Burlington  Maga- 
ziNK  will  be  an  adequate  guarantee  of  fair  play 
and  of  the  works  of  art  exhibited  being  thor- 
oughly representative.  The  greatest  care  and 
pains  are  being  taken  to  bring  together  a  really 
fine  collection  of  British  paintings.  Our  I'^xhibi- 
tion  will  be  held  in  the  Grosvenor  Gallery,  Bond 
Street.  The  opening  day  has  been  fixed  for 
May  20th,  and  the  work  will  be  exhibited  for 
about  six  weeks.  Towards  the  clo.se  of  the 
Exhibition  the  names  of  the  artists  will  be 
divulged.  The  show  will  be  known  as  the 
NAMELESS  EXHIBITION.  The  names  of 
the  artists  exhibiting  will  be  known  only  to 
mvself,  and  will  be  kept  perfectly  secret  until 
after  the  Exiiiiiilion  has  been  open  for  some 
weeks.  The  enterprise  will  in  due  course  be 
suitably  advertised. 

I  feel  satisfied  that  this  step  will  result  not 
only  in  a  fresh  interest  in  contemporary  painting 
as  a  whole,  but  in  something  much  more  precious 
to  all  who  really  care  for  art — that  it  will  break 
down  cantankerous  prejudices  and  lift  a  veil  from 
the  eyes  of  every  one  of  us  and,  above  all,  that  it 
will  tend  towards  that  width  of  outlook  and  that 
spirit  of  toleration  without  wliich  art  or  anything 
else  that  matters  descends  from  its  true  place  to 
become  little  better  than  a  breeding-ground  for 
common  snobbery. 


Monsieur, — J'ai  reiju  aujourdhui  .nu  matin  vos  deux 
lettres  en[seml3!e]  qui  ont  autant  donn^  de  peine  au  facteur 
qu'clles  [m'ont]   caus^  df  surprise — 

Another  drawing  by  Watteau  [see  Pl.\te]  has 
recently  come  to  my  notice.  It  has  for  many 
years  remained  quiteunobserved  by  connoisseurs 
and  does  not  seem  ever  to  have  been  published. 
It  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Augustine  Birrell, 
who  was  given  it  by  his  relative,  Sir  Frederick 
Locker  Lampson,  who  was  a  collector  of  some 
renown.  This  drawing  is  also  in  sanguine  and 
black  chalk,  on  a  piece  of  writing  paper  exactly 
similar  to  the  other.     It  represents  the  same  old 


woman  in  the  same  dress  and  with  the  same  odd 
paraphernalia  in  her  possession.  In  this  case, 
however,  slie  is  standing.  On  the  back  of  tlie 
paper  is  the  following,  written  by  Watteau's 
fiand  :  — 

Monsieur, — J'di  rei;u  aujourdhui  vos  deux  lettres  eu- 
siinble  qui  out  autant  doniii;  de  peine  au  facteur  pour  uie 
les  remettre  t-n  main  qu'eiles  ni'ont  caus6  de  surprise  par 
la  quality  que  vous  nie  donnez  de  |>einlre  de  son  A.  A. 
Monseigar.  Le  Due  d'Orleans  nioy  indigne  et  qui  n'a 
aucun  talens  pour  y  aspirer  a  moins  que  d'un  miracle. 
J  'ai  tant  de  ley  en  vos  reliques  que  je  ne  doute  nullement 
de  son  accomplisement  si  vous  voulez  avoir  la  bont6e  de 
joindre  vos  pri^res  au  desir  que  j'ai  d'acquerir  du  credit 
et  de  la  faveur  mes  desirs  sont  sans  bornes  quand  me — . 

The  only  available  information  regarding  the 
history  of  tiiis  fascinating  little  souvenir  of  the 
artist  is  contained  in  a  pencil  note  written  by 
Locker  Lampson,  wliich  is  as  follows  :  — 

30,  Lower  Sloane  Street,  S.W. 
Miss  James  has  a  drawing  by  Wattcau  very  similar  to 
this,  but  the  old  woman  is  sitting  clown.  1  was  much 
interested  to  sec  it,  and  on  looking  at  the  back  of  it  1 
found  the  sam^  letter  in  A.W.'s  handwriting,  but  only 
just  begun  and  different  in  the  preamble.  It  is  evident 
that  VVatteau  had  been  writing  a  letter  and  made  two 
rough  copies  [versions]  of  it.  Miss  James  inherited  the 
drawings,  a  fine  collection  by  Rembrandt  and  VVatteau, 
from  her  father. — F.  L.  L. 

The  Other  drawing  to  which  he  refers  is  of 
course  that  now  in  the  Print  Room,  Miss 
James's  collection  having  been  sold  and  dis- 
persed. The  style  and  handling  of  both  draw- 
ings are  exactly  alike.  There  is  no  indication  as 
to  whomWatteau's  letters  were  addressed,  but  the 
terms  in  which  he  refers  to  the  due  d'Orleans 
make  it  probable  that  they  were  written  at  the 
time  when  the  Duke  was  Regent.  Now,  at  that 
time  Watteau  frequented  the  theatre  of  a  com- 
pany of  Italian  comedians  who  had,  in  1697, 
been  banished  by  Louis  XIV,  but  who  had,  after 


Louis'  death  in  lyiSj  been  recalled  by  the 
Regent  amid  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Paris  play- 
goers, whereupon  they  advertised  themselves  as 
"  Comediens  italiens  de  S.A.R.  Monseigneur  le 
due  d'Orleans  ".  A  second  glance  at  the  two 
drawings  leaves  one  in  little  doubt  that  the  "old 
woman  "  and  her  picturesque  belongings  and 
dress  was  some  character  in  a  play,  for  not  only 
is  there  in  both  cases  a  certain  air  of  unreality 
in  the  appearance  and  costume  of  the  figure,  but 
in  the  British  Museum  one  there  is  indicated  in 
the  background  a  few  vague  shapes  that  almost 
certainly  represent  stage  scenery.  Accepting 
these  evidences,  the  drawings  must  have  been 
made  between  June,  17 16,  when  the  comedians 
returned  to  Paris,  and  July,  1721,  the  date  of 
Watteau's  death. 

Both  sketches  represent  the  artist  in  one  of  his 
less  frequent  moods,  when  he  drew  with  a 
harder,  heavier,  and  more  restless  line  than 
usual  and  accentuated  the  deeper  shadows  in 
black  chalk  with  a  certain  harshness  very  unlike 
his  treatment  in  those  languorous  eclogues  with 
which  his  name  is  popularly  associated.  By 
means  of  the  drawings  and  of  the  two  letters  so 
obviously  revealing  his  desire  to  become  the 
recipient  of  the  Regent's  favour,  one  is 
enabled  to  imagine  very  vividly  the  unfortu- 
nate painter  mingling  with  the  favoured  actors 
and  actresses  at  the  theatre  where  his  love  of 
delineating  types  could  so  conveniently  be  satis- 
fied. One  sees  him  imprisoned  by  his  failing 
strength  and,  shrewdly  conscious  of  the  near 
approach  of  death,  looking  on  with  fascinated 
and  perhaps  with  envious  eyes  at  the  courtesies 
and  flippancies  of  that  butterfly  life  that  had 
grown  to  be  so  dear  to  him. 


TWO    BRONZES    BY    NICHOLAS    OF    VERDUN 
BY    H.    P.    MITCHELL 


MONG  the  bronzes  exhibited  in  the 
Ashmolean  Museum,  Oxford,  is  a 
group  of  four  seated  figures  of 
mediaeval  work  and  pronounced 
.character.  Nothing  is  known  of  their 
history  but  that  they  were  transferred  from  the 
Bodleian  Library,  probably  in  1887,  with  a 
number  of  other  objects  of  art.'  The  figures 
shown  on  Plate  I  represent  Moses  and  a 
Prophet;  on  Plate  II,  Noah  and  David.  They 
are  seated,  clad  in  flowing  robes,  and  each  holds 
with  his  left  hand  an  emblem  serving  to  identify 
him — Moses,  the  tables  of  the  law ;  the  Prophet, 


I  No  record  exists  of  how  they  entered  the  Bodleian  Col- 
lection. They  do  not  appear  in  Thomas  Hearne's  Hst  of 
curiosities  kept  at  the  date  1710-1713  in  what  was  then  the 
Anatomy  School,  to  which  the  bulk  of  such  things  were  con- 
signed ;  but  that  does  not  exclude  the  possibility  that  they 
were  kept  in  some  other  place.  (For  this  information  I  have 
to  thank  Mr.    H.   H.   E.   Craster,   Sub-Librarian.) 


a  scroll-case  (most  of  the  scroll,  which  doubtless 
bore  an  identifying  quotation,  unfortunately 
lost) ;  Noah,  a  model  of  the  ark ;  while  David, 
whose  harp  has  disappeared,  is  identified  by  his 
attitude,  by  wearing  a  crown,  and  by  the 
character  of  the  head.  The  first  two  are  seated 
on  chairs  of  antique  X-form — that  of  Moses 
ending  in  knobs  (two  to  left  broken  otT),  the 
Prophet's  in  heads  of  serpents  (one  wanting) — 
and  the  other  two  on  thrones  with  sides  of  scroll 
form.^  The  lower  part  of  the  seat  in  each  is 
intentionally  incomplete  at  the  back,  where  pro- 
vision is  made  for  attachment  to  some  larger 
object  from  which  it  has  been  forcibly  detached. 
Above  the  level  of  these  seats  the  figures  are 
modelled  at  the  back,   the  two  first  with  some 


2  The    square     blocks      seen 
course,  only  museum  mounts. 


the    photographs    are,    of 


^S7 


care,  tlic  otluT  two  very  rouglily  ;  tln-y  show  no 
trace  of  jjikliiig. 

From  the  technical  point  of  view  these  bronzes 
are  exceeihngly  interesting.  Tlie  iM uses  and  the 
Prophet,  tiu'  two  thinner  and  hner  pieces,  are 
cast  liollow  by  the  cire-perdiie  process,  and 
traces  of  tiie  s;ind  core  remain  inside.  The\- 
have  a  wide  opening  down  tiie  middle  of  tiie 
back,  inchithng  the  liead,  tlic  purpose  of  whiili 
is  not  obvious.  In  the  .\h).ses  this  opening  is,  in 
tiie  iiead,  hiied  with  a  piece  of  sheet  bronze,  let 
in  and  chased  as  part  of  the  general  surface,  and 
apparently  by  the  same  hand ;  down  the  back  of 
the  tigure  the  gap  is  tilled  by  another  piece  of 
sheet  bronze,  hammered  to  give  the  requisite 
modelling.  The  gap  in  the  Prophet's  figure  is 
grooved  for  similar  fillings,  which  are  lost.  A 
channel  cut  on  the  right  shoulder  of  this  last 
perhaps  helped  to  hold  the  figure  in  place. 
Hoih  figures  are  chased  with  great  care  and 
linish,  especially  in  the  faces,  hair,  beards,  and 
hands.^ 

The  Noah  ant!  David  are  much  heavier  and 
coarser  work  than  the  other  two;  the  bodies  and 
heads  have  no  opening  at  the  back  and  are  cast 
solid,  and  the  chasing  is  much,  rougher.  The 
chief  point  of  interest  about  them  is,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  illustrations,  that  while  the  heads 
and  hands,  with  the  emblems,  are  varied,  the 
rest  of  each  is  virtually  reproduced  from 
the  Moses  and  the  Prophet  respectively.  The 
drapery  in  each  case  follows  the  same  lines  not 
only  in  its  masses  and  flow,  but  even  the 
individual  folds  are  mainly  reproduced.  A  close 
comparison  of  the  heads  shows  that  here  too 
it  is  rather  modification  than  substitution  which 
has  taken  place.  The  pose  and  proportioning  of 
the  heads  are  similar;  the  main  masses  of  the 
beard  of  Moses  can  be  traced  in  the  more 
rugged  counterparts  of  Noah,  and  the  same 
holds  good  between  the  Prophet  and  David.  It 
is  prettv  clear  from  inspection,  and  careful 
measurement  confirms  the  conclusion,  that  casts 
(probably  in  wax)  have  been  made  of  the  Moses 
and  the  Prophet,  that  the.se  casts  have  been 
modified  to  form  the  figures  of  Noah  and  David, 
and  have  served  as  the  models  from  which  the 
bronzes  have  been  cast.  Where  the  change  has 
been  drastic,  as  in  the  right  arm  of  the  Noah, 
the  junction  of  the  original  model  with  the  modi- 
fication is  clearly  apparent  in  the  surface. 
Under  this  arm  the  bold  swathe  of  drapery  seen 
in  front  is  abruptly  ended,  and  is  given  a 
direction  across  the  back  quite  different  from  the 
original. 


3  The  figure  here  designated  as  a  Prophet  is  labelled 
"  .\aron  "  at  Oxford,  but  I  can  see  no  real  ground  for  that 
identification.  The  scroll  inscribed  with  a  quotation  from  his 
prophecy  is  the  time-honoured  emblem  of  a  prophet,  and  it 
seems  unlikely  that  .Aaron's  priestly  office  would  not  have 
been  indicated  by  some  more  appropriate  attribute.  See  also 
Note  6  t)eIow. 


The  extreme  mea.surement  of  the  figures  from 
top  to  toe  is  as  follows:  Moses,  tj.2  in. 
(2,^4  cm.),  the  Prt)phet  S.O  in.  (Ji.i)im.),  Noah 
ij  in.  {22A)  cm.),  David  S.45  in.  (21.5  cm.).  The 
measurements  of  the  Noaii  aiui  David  lliiis  show 
such  a  reduction  as  woidd  be  ex|)e(  leil  from 
shrinkage  in  casting  from  the  original  figures  of 
Moses  and  the  prophet.  A  corresponding 
reduction  is  given  by  transverse  measurements.' 

It  is  obvious  from  their  charatter  that  the 
Mo.ses  and  the  Prophet  are  late  Romane.s(|ue 
works  of  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century. 
The  grandeur  of  style,  the  expressive  modelling 
of  the  heads  and  hands,  the  movement  of  the 
ligures,  and  ihe  fiow  of  the  draperies  are  very 
striking.  Among  the  artists  of  this  peritjd  was 
one,  the  goldsmith  Nicholas  of  Verdun,  whose 
work  is  remarkable  for  just  these  qualities.  On 
Pi,.\te:  III  two  examples  of  his  work  are 
shown,  one  selected  from  the  magnificent 
figures  repou.ss6  in  silver  on  the  shrine  of  the 
Three  Kings  in  Cologne  cathedral.''  The  com- 
parison with  these  figures  amply  justifies  us  in 
attributing  to  the  same  hand  the  bronzes  of 
Moses  and  the  Prophet.  They  show  precisely 
the  same  nobility  of  style,  the  same  gift  of 
action,  the  same  fine  modelling  of  heads  and 
hands,  the  same  treatment  of  overlapping 
swathed  folds  of  drapery.  Only  such  difference 
of  handling  is  apparent  as  is  due  to  the  difTerence 
of  technique  between  casting  in  bronze  and 
repousse  work  in  silver,  and  to  (he  development 
of  greater  freedom  and  maturity  of  style  in  the 
work  in  silver,  indicating  a  more  advanced  stage 
in  the  artist's  career.'  Another  comparison 
is  provided  by  the  figure-drawing  on  the 
enamelled  panels  of  the  Klosterneuburg  altar- 
piece  (referred  to  later),  one  of  which  is  shown 
on  Pl.ate  III,  dating  about  twenty  years 
earlier  than  the  Cologne  shrine. 

The  same  artist  was  clearly  not  responsible 
for  the  Noah  and  David  based  on  the  other  two 
bronzes.  Not  only  are  these  modified  figures 
much  less  highly  finished  than  their  originals, 
but  the  modelling  is  of  a  different  character  and 
spirit.  The  flowing  curves  of  drapery  in  the 
Moses  and  the  Prophet  are  here  purposely 
broken  and  are  made  more  angular;  the 
sinuous  lines  of  the  hair  are  similarly  replaced 
by  broken  masses.  The  work  is  much  less 
accomplished;  but  it  is  not  merely  a  loss  of  skill 
in  the  artificer,  but  a  change  of  taste  and  style 

••  In  the  technical  questions  involved  I  have  had  the  assist- 
ance of  a  sculptor,  Mr.  Cecil  Brown,  who  has  kindly 
examined  the  bronzes  with  me  and  has  given  me  the  benefit 
of  his  expert  knowledge  of  casting. 

5  Reproduced  from  O.  v.  Falke,  Der  Dreikonigcnschrt'in 
des   Nikolans  v.    Verdun   ini    Coiner   Domschalz,   pi.    XIX. 

*  It  is  worth  remarking  that,  on  the  shrine  of  the  Three 
Kings,  the  figure  of  .'\aron  is  distinguished  by  the  mitre  and 
jewelled  breastplate  ;  Moses  appears,  not  as  the  law-giver^  but 
as  the  author  of  Genesis,  with  tablets  inscribed  with  the 
opeiiing  words  of  the  book. 


158 


Moses  and  .4  Prophet.     Bronze;  by  Nicholas  of  Verdun,   about  iiSo. 
(About  half  actual  size) 


(.\slimi>l('an  Museum,  ( )\forel) 


Plate  I.     Two  Rronzes  by  Nicholas  of  Verdun 


Soah    and    David.     Bronze:    modifications  of  the  figures  on   Plate   1.  (Asiunolean   Museum, 
Oxford)     (About  half  actual  size) 


Plate  II.     Two  Bronzes  by  Nicholas  of  \'erdun 


2) 


<<)  'KO 


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that  is  indicated.  Similarly  the  substitution  of 
thrones  for  chairs  of  X-form  is  not  only  a 
simplifying  of  ditlicully  but  a  change  of  fashion. 
What  interval  of  time  is  represented  by  the 
difference  of  style,  and  to  what  period  do  the 
Noah  and  David  belong  ? 

The  question  might  well  be  insoluble  were 
there  not  a  very  similar  instance  in  the  work  of 
Nicholas  of  Verdun  which  may  perhaps  furnish 
the  solution.  His  earliest  authenticated  work, 
the  celebrated  altarpiece  in  the  abbey-church  of 
Klosterneuburg  near  Vienna,  consists  of  three 
horizontal  series  of  subjects,  two  from  the  Old 
Testament  and  one  (in  the  middle)  from  the  New 
(designated  by  the  titles  ante  legem,  sub  gracia, 
SUB  lege)j  executed  in  champleve  enamel  on 
fifty-one  panels  of  gilt  copper.'  The  work  is 
shown  by  an  inscription  to  be  of  the  year  1181, 
and  has  had  a  varied  history.  Designed 
originally  as  a  covering  for  the  ambo,  it 
probably  so  remained  until  the  occurrence 
of  a  hre  in  13 18,  when  it  was  greatly 
damaged.  It  was  sent  to  Vienna  to  be 
repaired  and  regilded,  and  on  its  return  was  set 
up  as  a  retable  to  the  altar  at  the  choir  screen. 
The  work,  aclayed  by  adverse  circumstances, 
was  only  completed  in  1329;  paintings  were  at 
the  same  time  done  on  the  back  (then  standing 
free).  This  arrangement  seems  to  have  lasted 
until  1714,  when  the  church  was  transformed  in 
the  Barock  style  and  the  retable  was  removed  to 
the  treasury.  The  nineteenth  century  saw  it 
again  brought  into  use,  under  three  different 
arrangements,  and  it  now  adorns  the  high  altar. 

In  the  reconstruction  executed  between  1318 
and  1329,  it  appears  that  the  goldsmiths  of 
Vienna,  in  order  to  adapt  the  work  to  its  new 
purpose  as  a  retable,  added  six  fresh  enamelled 
panels.  These  six  panels  *  are  extremely  inter- 
esting examples  of  mediaeval  imitative  work.  In 
outline,  dimensions,  colour,  and  general 
character  they  conform  to  the  type  of  the  original 
panels  of  the  twelfth  century,  with  which  they 
are  arranged.  The  desire  to  make  them  har- 
monise with  the  earlier  work  is  evident.  There 
is  an  obvious  effort  to  emulate  Nicholas  of 
Verdun's  gift  of  facial  expression,  and  in  the 
drawing  of  the  nude  the  twelfth-century  method 
of  duplex  outlining  of  the  muscular  masses  is 


'  Fully  illustrated  in  an  album  of  phototype  and  coloured 
plates  by  Drexler  und  Strommer,  Dcr  Verdiwer  Altar  .  .  . 
im  Stifle  Klosterneuburg  bei  Wien,  1903.  Also  in  full-size 
chroino-lithographs  in  Camesina  und  Arneth,  Das  Niello- 
Antipendium   (sic)  zn  Klosterneuburg.      1844. 

*  Plates  22,  23,  24  and  28,  29,  30,  in  Drexler's  work.  The 
author  demurs  to  the  view  of  their  being  executed  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  considering  rather  that  they  may  be 
original  panels  renovated  (pp.  4,  11);  but  the  testimony  of 
style  is  conclusive  against  this  theory.  See  Camesina  und 
Arneth,  p.  5  ;  and  O.  v.  Falke  in  Zeitschrift  fiir  Christliche 
Kunst,  XIX,  326-7,   1906. 

'  CI.  Adam   and  Eve,   Drexler   und  Strommer,   pi.   2S. 


bravely  attempted,"  strangely  repugnant  though 
it  must  have  been  to  the  fourteenth-century 
artist.  In  the  accompanying  inscriptions  and 
subsidiary  fillings  of  detail  which  he  had  to 
supply  we  see  further  curious  imitations  of  the 
twelfth-century  work.  But  when  it  comes  to  the 
draperies  of  the  figures  the  power  of  imitation, 
and  apparently  even  the  desire  to  imitate,  breaks 
down.  The  result  is  that  we  have  a  fourteenth- 
century  rendering  of  broken  folds  and  angular 
turns,  corrupted  and  weakened  by  the  example 
of  fiowing  lines  and  curving  swathes  which  the 
artist  had  before  his  eyes  as  an  example. 
In  short,  the  figures  in  these  added  plaques, 
whether  in  the  faces,  the  nude  surfaces,  or  the 
draperies,  exhibit  a  bastard  style  with  the  beauty 
neither  of  the  twelfth-century  original  nor  of  a 
pure  fourteenth-century  treatment. 

This  is  a  very  similar  case  to  that  presented 
by  the  figures  of  Noah  and  David,  where  a 
twelfth-century  model  is  taken  as  the  basis  of 
the  design,  retaining  thus  an  outward 
resemblance,  but  freely  modified  and  instinc- 
tively transformed  in  treatment  in  the  spirit  of  a 
later  period.  The  alteration  of  flowing  curves  in 
the  drapery  by  transverse  and  angular  strokes, 
the  breaking  up  of  flowing  locks  of  hair  into 
rugged  masses,  and  the  attempted  lively 
characterisation  of  the  faces  substituted  for  the 
originals,  are  examples  of  this  modified  imita- 
tion, resulting  in  a  mixed  style. 

It  is  of  course  mere  speculation,  but  the  pos- 
sibility is  worth  considering,  that  these  four 
bronzes  of  Old  Testament  characters  may  be  a 
part  of  the  retable  as  set  up  at  Klosterneuburg 
between  1318  and  1329,  and  removed  in  1714. 
If  that  be  so,  the  Moses  and  the  Prophet,  as 
twelfth-centurv  work,  would  have  formed  a  part 
previously  of  Nicholas  of  Verdun's  decoration  of 
the  ambo,  removed  with  the  rest  after  the  fire  of 
13 18.  It  is  obvious  that  these  two  figures  would 
aptly  suit  the  bottom  series  of  subjects  (sub 
lege).  Their  height  would  consort  very  well  with 
that  of  the  panels  (about  9^  inches  with  their 
inscribed  borders).  We  can,  if  we  please, 
imagine  the  ambo  with  its  three  faces  each 
clothed  with  three  rows  of  panels,  and  the  figure 
of  Moses  and  the  Prophet  bracketed  on  the 
angles,  with  two  other  pairs  of  figures  for  the 
series  ante  legem  and  sub  gracl4  above  them. 
The  Noah  and  David  would  be  additions  by  the 
Viennese  goldsmiths  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
required  to  complete  the  adaptation  of  the  work 
to  its  new  purpose  as  a  retable.  In  considering 
this  possibility  it  is  desirable  to  take  into 
account  the  fact  that  the  reconstruction  of  the 
fourteenth  century  included  a  piece  of  work  about 
which  there  has  been  considerable  discussion, 
but  which,  in  the  plain  sense  of  the  words,  seems 
not  unlikely  to  have  been  a  tabernacle  for  the 


165 


Host  arranged  as  part  of  tlie  retable.'" 

1  lie  known  lads  of  Nicholas  of  VeitlLin's  lite 
are  scaiuy  enougli.  llis  i>roi.hu'lioiis  iiuliide  iwo 
signed  works — llie  i-iiainellcil  allarpieie  al 
Kloslerneuburg,  dated  iiSi,"  and  llic  Sliiinc  ol 
Xotrc-Uanie  at  lourniiy  tinislu'i.1  in  1205.'- 
These  two  w'orks  serve  as  the  standard  b\  whii  h 
his  style  is  knt)wn.  By  coniparative  criliiisiii 
the  shrines  oi  St.  Anno  at  Sit'gluirg  and  of  Si. 
Albinus  at  Cologne,  dating  from  1183  and 
11^0  respectively,  have  been  attributed  lu 
him,  anil  the  shrine  of  the  Three  Ivings  at 
(.ologne  has  been  recognised  as  his  master- 
piece.". 1  his  kist  was  no  doubt  executed  in  the 
interval  between  1186  and  1205.  Nicholas  of 
Verdun  is  thus  identified  as  the  successor  of 
Frederick,  the  monk  of  St.  Panialeon,  in  the 
leadership  of  the  Cologne  school  of  goldsmiths, 
and  the  introducer  of  the  Lotharingian  style 
observed  about  this  date  in  iis  productions.  A 
smaller  work,  a  reliquary  formerly  at  Arras,  is 
also  his,  as  shown  by  the  distinctive  I;ite 
Romanesque  foliage  decoration  on  a  blueground 
which  was  one  of  his  characteristics." 

'"  The  words  of  the  chronicle  recount  the  sending  of  the 
damaged  work  to  the  goldsmiths  at  Vienna,  who  regildtd  it 
"  und  machten  das  schonn  zibarn  daraulT  und  unser  frauen 
bildt  mitten  darein  in  der  eeren."  (Urtxler  und  Strommcr, 
p.  3.)  Dr.  V.  Kallie  assumes  that  the  "  Zibarn  "  was  the 
enamelled  ciborium  on  a  foot  still  belonging  to  the  church. 
(illustrated  and  described  in  l^rcxler  und  List,  Goldsi:h»iicde- 
Arbeiten  in  dl^m  regul.  Chorherrnstifte  Kloslerneuburg  bei 
Wieii,  1897,  pi.  6.)  But  that  interpretation  is  by  no  means 
certain.  (O.  v.  Falke  in  Zeitschrijt  fur  Chrislliche  Kunst, 
XI.X,  324-5,   1906.) 

11  See  .Note  7. 

'-  Illustrated  and  described  by  L.  Cloquet  in  Kevue  de  I'Art 
Chretien,  XLll,  1892,  with  coloured  plates  of  the  enamels. 
See  also  O.  v.  Falke,  Der  Dreikotiigenschrein  (as  before), 
figs.  11-15.  The  inscription  giving  the  name  of  Nicholas,  now 
lost,  was  fortunately  recorded  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
(Cloquet,  p.  309.) 

"O.  V.  Falke  in  Zeitschrijt  fur  Christliche  Kunst,  XVllI, 
161,  1905.  The  shrine  of  the  Three  Kings  is  magnificently 
illustrated  in  the  same  author's  Der  Dreikonigenschrein, 
already  referred  to.  For  the  .^nno  and  Albinus  shrines  see 
V.  Falke  und  FVauberger,  Deutsche  Schmeharbeiten  des 
Miltelalters,  pi.  49-54,  and  col.  pi.   xiv-xxii. 

'*  More  than  fifty  years  ago  a  gifted  French  antiquary 
observed  that  this  object  and  the  Shrine  of  the  Three  Kings 
were  by  the  same  hand.  See  C.  de  Linas,  Einaux  chatnpleves 
de  I'Ecole  Lotharingienne.  Notice  sur  un  reliquaire  appur- 
tenant aux  religieuses  Ursulines  d' Arras,  1866  (5  plates), 
p.  39.  (Reprinted  in  pju-t  in  Le  Beffroi,  111,  1S66-70.)  A 
photo-lithograph  in  Weale  and  Maes,  Album  des  objels  .  .  . 
exposes  a  Maliites  en  1864,  Orfevrerie,  No.  14.  See  also  v. 
Falke,    Der   Dreikonigenschrein,    fig.    16. 

THE    TEXTILE    EXHIBITION 
BY    FRANCIS  BIRRELL 

HE  Franco-British  exhibition  of 
textiles  now  on  view  in  the  North 
and  adjoining  courts  at  the  Victoria 
and  Albert  Museum  enables  those  of 
us  who  rarely  have  left  England  to 
judge  for  ourselves  what  French  weaving  means, 
and  great  pains  have  been  taken  to  put  the 
exhibits  in  a  sympathetic  setting.     But  it  is  par- 


It  is  highly  probable  that  Nicholas  was  trained 

ill  ihr  worksho])  of  (iodcfroitl  de  Cljiire.''^  It  is 
i)i)\ious  lliat  his  work  al  Kloslerneuburg  must 
iia\i'  iicen  ]ircccded  by  a  long  jiraclice  in  the 
goldsinilli's  art,  dating  back  perhaps  into  the 
middle  \ears  of  ihe  twelfth  centurv.  His  name 
indicates  an  inhabitant,  and  ])roi)ably  a  native, 
of  X'eiiliin,  anil  like  the  style  of  iiis  art  |)roclaims 
liim  as  belonging  to  Ltitharingia  willi  its  tradi- 
tions of  ilassical  antiquity.  We  iiave  no  know- 
iftlgo  of  aiiv  work  executed  bv  him  at  \'erdiin  ; 
lie  appears  as  one  of  tho.se  lay  craftsmen  then 
beginning  to  replace  the  monastic  workers  of 
liic  earlier  age,  travelling  from  jjlace  to  place  as 
their  work  demanded.  He  disajipears  early  in 
the  liiirleenlli  centurs'  ;  the  ciuls  of  the  shrine  of 
the  'Three  Kings  already  show  the  hand  of  a 
successor,  and  the  'Tournay  shrine  of  1205  gives 
the  latest  date  known  for  his  work.  The  relation 
to  the  stained  glass  of  the  period  shown  by  the 
drawing  of  his  enamels  is  obvious,  and  it  has 
been  suggested  that  another  Nicholas  of  Verdun, 
a  giassworker,  admitted  as  a  burgess  of  Tournay 
in  1 217,  may  be  his  son.'" 

The  mastery  of  action  and  expression  in  the 
human  figure  displayed  by  Nicholas  of  Verdun, 
the  beauty  and  characterisation  of  his  heads,  and 
the  easy  flow  of  his  handling  of  drapery,  place 
him  in  the  front  rank  of  medijEval  artists.  The 
astonishing  quality  of  his  art,  eloquently 
appreciated  by  a  distinguished  critic,  the  late 
M.  Emile  Molinier,"  has  been  still  more  clearly 
demonstrated  since  the  researches  of  Dr.  v. 
Falke  identified  the  finest  of  the  great  shrines 
at  Siegburg  and  Cologne  as  his  work.  The 
beautv  of  the  figures  in  silver  on  the  shrine  of 
the-  Three  Kings  may  best  be  judged  by 
saying  that  in  style  they  approach  the  figures 
in  the  sketch-book  of  Villard  de  Honnecourt, 
and  the  Visitation  group  of  Reims  cathedral. 


"^  The  grounds  for  this  conclusion  are  stated  by  v.  Falke 
in  Zeitschr.  fijr  Chr.  Kunst,  XVIII,  167,  and  Der  Dreikoni- 
genschrein, p.  14.  See  also  Burlington  Magazine 
XXXVII,    17,   note    16. 

'^Cloquet,  op.   cit.,   p.  325. 

1'  "  Nicolas  de  Verdun  peut  prendre  place  A  c6li  des 
plus  grands  sculpteurs  du  Xlle  et  du  Xllfe  sitele ;  c'est  un 
artiste,  auprfes  duquel  les  autres  orf^vres,  quels  que  soient 
leur  savoir  ou  leur  virtuosity,  passent  au  second  plan." 
(L' Orfevrerie,  p.    164.) 

AT    SOUTH    KENSINGTON 


ticularly  important  when  reviewing  an  exhibition 
of  this  importance  to  try  to  .straighten  out  one's 
aesthetics.  It  is  surely  true  that  tapestry  weav- 
ing is  one  of  the  purely  decorative  arts.  Like 
stained  glass  and  wallpaper,  it  has  been  most 
successfully  practised  in  two  dimensions.  But 
after  the  sixteenth  century,  it  followed  painting 
in  the  search  for  three-dimensional  expression. 


166 


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and  along  these  lines  was  never  able  to  do  more 
than  feebly  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  painters. 

That  extraordinary  achievement  of  the  modern 
Gobelins  factory,  the  imitation  of  the  RafTaelino 
del  Garbo  in  the  Munich  gallery,  is  the  reditctio 
ad  absurdum  of  the  method.  Thus,  for  all  his 
limitations,  Morris  has  been  the  most  successful 
of  modern  tapestry  weavers,  for  he  returned  to 
two-dimensional  composition. 

We  are  happy  to  be  able  to  admire   in   the 
present      exhibition    two     supremely     beautiful 
specimens   of    mediaeval    tapestry,    the    famous 
Falconry   [Plate   I],   lent  by    the    Musee    des 
Arts    Decoratifs,    and    the    hardly    less    lovely 
Bear-hunting,  lent  by  M.  Demotte  [Plate  II]. 
These     pieces,     small     and    unobtrusive    com- 
pared with  the  huge  products  of  the  Gobelins 
factory,    represent   the   golden    age   of   tapestry 
weaving.     The   designers  have   realised  clearly 
the    limits    of    their    craft,    and    by    observing 
the    convention^    have    achieved    a    breadth    of 
design  we  shall  not  find  again  in  our  pilgrimage 
through  the  centuries.     The  three  pieces  from 
the  famous  set  which  once  decorated  the  walls  of 
Reims  Cathedral  are  fine  specimens    of    early 
sixteenth-century  work,  and  as  the  compiler  of 
the  guide  excellently  remarks,  are  without  that 
insincerity  which  mars  so  much  early   Renais- 
sance work.     But  still  they  show  the  designers 
feeling  their  way  after  the  third  dimension,  and 
this  attempt  imparts  an  almost  niggling  quality 
to    the    design,     which    hinders    the    complete 
triumph  that  it  almost  obtained.    And,  in  truth, 
the  designers  are  saved  by  their    own    limita- 
tions.    Raphael  had  not  yet  shown  them  how  it 
ought  to  be  done.     For  rarely   has  a   first-class 
genius  interfered  in  somebody   else's  job  with 
more  disastrous  results.  His  cartoons  are  among 
the  supreme  achievements  of  Rennaissance  art. 
But  he  sent  all  the  tapestry  weavers  running  off 
in  the  wrong  direction.     Very  charming  too  are 
two  small  Franco-Flemish  panels,  lent  by  Major 
the  Hon.  J.J.  Astor.  and  which  represent  carnal 
and  spiritual  love.     [Plate  III.]     Though  these 
pieces  date  also  from  the  early  years  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  the  conventions  have  been  per- 
fectly   observed,    without    this    implying     any 
archaistic   limitation  of  technique.     These   two 
little   tapestries  enable   one   to   realize   that   the 
search  after   pictorial   effect   was    not  inevital^le,, 
and  that  there  was  room  for  development  along 
the  old  lines. 

The  North  Court,  now  for  continental  reasons, 
transmogrified  into  a  "  Salle  d'honneur,"  con- 
tains some  of  the  most  famous  tapestries  ever 
produced  by  Gobelins,  which  are  well  known  by 
reproduction  to  all  interested  in  the  subject.  It 
is  a  privilege  to  be  able  to  see  them,  and  they  are 
well  shown  in  their  proper  surroundings,  with 
furniture  and  carpets  of   the  period   to   match, 


But  we  feel  they  were  made  a  bit  too  much  with 
an  eye  on  the  "  salle  d'honneur."  The  best  art 
is  outside  time  and  space  and  hence  liberates  no 
historical  or  archeological  complex  ;  we  are  much 
too  interested  in  looking  at  the  thing  itself  to 
pay  any  attention  to  our  learned  companion 
babbling  in  our  ear.  But  it  is  impossible  to  look 
at  these  great  seventeenth-century  Gobelins,  with 
their  Savonnerie  carpets,  commodes,  and  sofas, 
without  thinking  of  the  setting  for  which  they 
were  intended  and  the  great  king  whose  glory 
they  were  designed  to  increase.  The  set  Les 
Sujcis  dc  la  Fable,  designs  attributed  to  Giulio 
Romano  and  Raphael,  are  most  bold  in  colour 
and  cunning  in  technique.  But  still  we  now  lend 
a  willing  ear  to  our  learned  friend,  who  did  not 
notice  our  earlier  indifference,  as  he  tells  us  of 
Versailles  and  its  superb  monarch,  of  Turenne 
and  Colbert,  and  above  all  of  Saint  Simon.  In 
fact  our  deepest  nature  is  not  stirred,  though  our 
intellect  is  vastly  entertained.  To  be  bored  by 
the  historian  now  would  prove  not  an  excess  of 
sensibilitv,  but  an  absence  of  general  education. 
This  does  not  mean  that  "Louis  XIV"  was  bad. 
On  the  contrary  it  had  great  merits.  It  was  at 
any  rate  the  careful  product  of  a  dignified  and 
well-educated  age.  Most  "  art  "  satisfies  neither 
the  intellect  nor  the  emotions.  As  Dr.  Johnson 
said  of  the  metaphysical  poets  :  "  Great  labour 
directed  by  great  abilities  is  never  wholly 
lost.  .  .  To  write  on  their  plan  it  was  at  least 
necessary  to  read  and  to  think."  But  more  is 
necessary  than  reading  and  thinking,  though 
both  are  excellent  things,  and  we  could  do  with  a 
good  deal  more  of  both.  But  the  artificers  of 
Louis  the  Great  lacked  the  spiritual  earnestness 
that  can  alone  achieve  the  highest  success. 

We  were  particularly  glad  to  notice  the  excel- 
lent display  of  furniture,  which  the  Museum  was 
able  to  provide  from  its  own  collections.  The 
bequests  of  Mr.  H.  Kdnig  and  Mrs.  Lyme 
Stephens  were  among  the  best  things  in  the 
court,  though  we  would  particularly  commend 
the  good  firescreen  covered  with  Royal 
D'Aubusson  tapestry,  lent  along  with  some 
extremely  "  handsome  "  Savonnerie  carpets 
by  the  Earl  of  Crawford.  Passing  out  of 
the  "  salle  d'honneur  "  into  the  adjoining 
court,  we  are  in  happier  mood.  As  we  look  at 
these  delightful  products  of  eighteenth-century 
legerete,  we  feel  that  the  iron  grip  of  the  old 
tyrant  has  been  rriercifully  removed.  Both  as 
literature  and  art,  these  charming  eighteenth- 
centurv  panels  are  preferable  to  the  seventeenth- 
centurv  products.  The  rhetoric  and  constant 
straining  after  effect  are  gone.  It  is  not  for 
nothing  that  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  have  got 
out  of  their  Greek  clothes,  while  even  when 
they  are  dressed  up,  one  feels  they  arc  just  happy 
people  off  to  a  fancy-dress  ball.  The  Chinoiseries 


lyi 


are  cli-liglitful  in  their  folly,  the  Depart  pour  la 
pcchc,  showing  at  llie  xinie  time  real  merit  as 
design,  while  the  Fra^s:mcnts  d'Opi^ra  (\'ertum- 
mis  and  Pomona)  shows  the  eiglUcentli  reiitury 
at  its  best.  Tiie  treatment  is  most  sympatlictic, 
and  a  sense  of  design  very  inten-stingly  controls 
the  whole.  This  piece  of  Heauvais  is  given  to 
Boucher,  the  cunning  forerunner  of  the  astonish- 
ing Goya,  some  of  whose  Ia|)estr\'  designs  were 
recently  to  be  seen  at  Burlington  House.  An 
amazing  attempt  at  realism  are  two  tapestries 
from  a  series  Convois  militaircs,  lent  by  Mr. 
Wildestein.  These  are  late  eighteenth-century 
Beauvais  work  and  show  a  curious  blend  of 
naturalism  with  a  baroque  courage,  picked  up 
perhaps  in  Tiepolo's  workshops. 

The  magnificent  array  of  Napoleonic  silks  in 
the  Central  Court  is  almost  blinding  in  its 
effect;  they  are  no  doubt  in  their  way  very 
successful.  But  they  are  terribly  the  appurten- 
ances of  the  parvenu,  trying  to  keep  up  the  style 
of  the  "  old  massa."  Still  they  are  very 
important  historically.  From  them  the  modern 
French  standards  descend.  Napoleon  broke  one 
tradition  and  started  another,  in  art  as  in  politics. 
Nothing  could  be  the  same  after  the  deluge. 

In  contrast  two  brocades  woven  for  Marie 
Antoinette,  charm  the  eye  with  their  com- 
parative chastity. 

.After  all  this,  it  is  quite  a  relief  to  turn  to  the 
F.ngJish  side  of  the  exhibition,  though  the  work 
of  our  own  country  is  not  nearly  so  richly  repre- 
sented as  that  of  France.  But  when  we  say 
Engli-sh,  we  mean  English,  and  emphatically  do 
not  mean  a  mere  ba.stard  imitation  of  what  was 
most  repulsive  in  the  French  art  of  the  day.  The 
Moorfields  carpet,  dated  1769,  has  all  the 
ugliness  of  the  worst  .Aubusson  carpets  without 
any  of  their  strident  energy.  But  very 
lovelv  is  a  heraldic  stole  of  the  early  four- 
teenth century,  an  exquisite  specimen  of  opus 
anglicanum,  which  was  exhibited  at  the  Bur- 
lington Fine  .Arts  Club  Exhibition  of  English 
Embroidery.  We  envy  the  owner  of  this 
delightful  piece,  and  should  like  to  see  it  in 
our  national  collections  near  the  Syon  Cope. 
Worthy  of  notice,  too,  is  an  excellent  collection 


of  late  Elizabethan  and  James  I  embroideries, 
mostly  charming  tunics  and  caps,  as  delightful 
to  wear  as  to  look  at. 

I'inglish  tapestry  is  hiil  jioorh'  represented. 
There  is  no  specimen  of  our  Warwickshire 
looms.  It  is  a  great  pity  ilia  I  the  tapestry  maps 
couUI  not  \vd\o  been  stayed  for  the  occasion, 
riiey  could  have  held  their  own  with  llicir  French 
allies.  Nor  is  there  much  Moitlake,  from  whom 
Gobelins  learnt  so  much,  though  the  Naked 
Boys,  lent  by  the  Duke  of  Rutland,  is  a  charm- 
ing specimen  of  Mortlake's  later  style.  They 
are  but  variants  of  Italian  children  born  in 
Ferrara  some  160  years  earlier,  and  who  can  be 
seen  in  the  Salting  collection,  along  with  the 
original  sketch  attributed  to  Giulio  Romano. 
But  with  the  passage  of  time  these  children  have 
taken  on  an  English  quality. 

The  absence  of  any  early  English  carpet  is  to 
be  regretted.  It  would  have  been  good  to  see 
Lord  Sackville's  beautiful  example,  which  shows 
such  a  genuine  understanding  of  Oriental  art. 
Among  many  other  important  loans  we  should 
have  liked  to  discuss  more  fully  is  an  admirable 
series  of  "  Teni^res,"  lent  by  Lord  Crawford, 
which  may  be  compared  with  that  recently 
acquired  bv  the  Museum  and  illustrated  in  the 
Burlington  Magazine.^  These  tapestries  really 
have  decorative  value,  and  the  artists  have 
developed  a  formula  for  three-dimensional  ex- 
pression, which  is  more  successful  than  any 
known  to  Gobelins  designers.  A  curious 
Flemish  tapestry,  dating  from  the  earlier  years 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  is  lent  by  H.M.  the 
King.  Tt  is  astonishing  that  such  work  should 
be  produced  so  late.  It  is  a  perfect  example  of 
the  decadent  primitive,  which  Major  Astor's 
panels  emphatically  are  not. 

But  it  is  impossible  when  reviewing  so 
important  an  exhibition  to  do  more  than  notice 
very  inadequately  some  of  the  more  important 
loans.  For  the  exhibition  is  of  real  historical 
importance  and  reflects  the  greatest  credit  on  the 
committees  concerned  in  its  organisation.  We 
offer  them  our  heartiest  thanks. 


Vol.   xxxviii,  p.   31  (Jan.,   1021). 


A    PORTRAIT    OF   THE    UGLIEST   PRINCESS    IN   HISTORY 
BY    W.    A.    BAILLIE-GROHMAN 


HE  accompanying  plate  [a]  is  from 
the  portrait  of  Duchess  Margaret  of 
Tyrol,  better  known  as  Pocket- 
mouthed  Meg,  by  the  hand  of  Ouen- 
tin  Matsvs.  For  more  than  half  a 
centurv^  it  was  buried  away  in  the  private  collec- 
tion of  the  Seymours,  and  one  of  the  last  con- 
noisseurs who  examined  the  panel  seems  to  have 
been  Waagen,  who  described  it  (II.  243)  as  "  A 


frightful  old  woman  ;  half-length  figure  larger 
than  life,  painted  with  fearful  truth  in  his  (Quen- 
tin  Matsvs')  later  brown  flesh-tones-  Greatly 
resembling  a  caricature  of  a  similar  kind  drawn 
by  Leonardo  da  Vinci.'"  Wurzbach  (p.  117), 
when  giving  a  German  translation  of  this  pass- 
age, adds  that  in  the  year  1856  the  picture  was 
in  the  collection  of  H.  Danby  Seymour.  From 
him  it  seems  to  have  passed  into  the  possession  of 


17a 


Pair  of  tappstrv  panels,  with  figures  emblematir  of  the  Virtues  and  \'ices. 
b\'  2'  11"  and  7'  by  2'  11".     (Major  tlie  Hon  J     J.   Astor) 


Franco-Flemish ;    i6th    century.      6'  6" 


Plate  in.     The  Textile  Exhibition  at  South  Kensington 


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the  iate  Alfred  Seymour,  who  bequeathed  it  to 
his  daughter,  Miss  Seymour,  by  whom  it  was 
sold  at  Christie's  on  January  23rd,  1920,  at  a 
price  which  did  not  reach  four  figures.  I  obtained 
permission  from  the  courteous  purchaser  of  the 
panel,  Mr.  Hugh  Blaker,  to  examine  it  at  greater 
leisure  than  was  possible  while  it  hung  on  the 
walls  of  the  King  Street  rooms. 

The  panel,  which  measures  29  by  19  inches, 
and  is  in  a  very  perfect  state  of  preservation, 
shows,  in  the  treatment  of  the  white  draperies, 
the  persistent  use  of  the  "  point  " — probably 
the  sharpened  end  of  the  paint-brush — by  which 
means  the  modelling  of  the  folds  is  accentuated. 
The  same  is  to  be  said  regarding  the  pattern  of 
the  head-dress,  the  dark  ground  showing  through 
the  design  which  is  picked  out  in  green  and  red 
pigments,  and  thus  given  the  effect  of  minute 
finish.  Though  it  is  many  years  since  the  writer 
saw  another  Hapsburg  portrait  by  the  same 
hand,  i.e.,  lunperor  Maximilian's  in  the  Amster- 
dam Museum,  if  memory  is  not  at  fault,  a  similar 
technical  manipulation  is  there  observable. 

If  Waagen's  acute  judgment  was  correct   in 
respect  to  the  brown  flesh-tones  being  noticeable 
only    in    Matsys'    later    works,    one    panel    was 
painted  long  after  Matsys'  emigration  to  Antwerp 
from  Louvain  where,  as  Van  Evens  has  shown, 
he  was  born  (he  is  entered  in  the  Liggern  in  1491, 
his  name  being  spelt  Massys).     Not  improbably 
it  was  painted   in  the  third  decade  of  the    i6th 
century  after  his  meeting  Albrecht  Durer  on  the 
latter's    famous    journey    to    the    Netherlands. 
This  brings  us  to  the  drawing  [Plate  b]  pre- 
served   in    the    Windsor    Castle    Library,    and 
which,  almost  certainly,    is    the    one    to    which 
Waagen  alludes  as  a  work  of  da  Vinci's.   Doubts 
as   to   the   correctness  of   this   attribution    have 
lately  been  raised,  and  the  writer  is  informed  that 
some  little  time  ago  the   Director  of  the   Uffizi 
expressed  the  opinion  that  the  drawing,  though 
strongly  reminiscent  of  certain  of  the  grotesques 
at  Windsor  and  Venice,    is  not  by   da  Vinci. 
However  this  may  be,  it  is  very  improbable  that 
the  drawing  was  copied  from  the  painting.     An 
artist  sketching  the  picture  would  have  adhered 
more  closely  to  the  details,  such  as  the  pattern  of 
the  head-dress,  the  folds  hanging  over  the  same, 
the  position  of  the  chin,  and  would  have  kept 
more  closelv  to  the  proportions  of  the  face  and 
particularly  of  the  forehead.     Hence    one    may 
assume  that  the  drawing  is  the  earlier  of  the  two, 
though,   of  course,   it  cannot    have  been   taken 
from  life,  for  Margaret  died  nearly  a  hundred 
years  before  Matsys  was  born.   Curiously  enough 
the  picture  or  the  drawings  struck  the  fancy  of  two 
later  artists.     Hollar's  engraving,  of  the  Rex  et 
Regina    de    Tunis    proves    this,    though    it    is 
puzzling  how  he  came  to  give  the  couple  that 
impossible  title.     He  also  brings  da  Vinci   into 
the  frame  1     An  artist  of  our  own  time,  Tenniel, 


must  also  have  been  acquainted  with  one  or  the 
other  when  he  drew  his  famous  Duchess  in 
"  Alice  in  Wonderland."  He  may  have  seen 
our  picture  in  the  collection  of  Alfred  Seymour. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  present  owner  will 
continue  his  efforts  to  trace  a  portrait  of  the 
Duchess  which  we  know  was  included  in  the 
second  half  of  the  i6th  century  in  the  collection 
of  Archduke  Ferdinand  of  Tyrol  at  his  castle  of 
Ambras  near  Innsbruck.'  Subsequently  it  may 
have  passed  into  the  hands  of  Archduke  Leopold 
William,^  for  an  inventory  mentions: — "  Ein 
Contrefeit  eines  alien  Weibes  mil  blossen  Brus- 
ten  in  einem  rothen  Kleid  und  Schleier  auf  dem 
Haupt,  Hiihe  2  Spann  i  Finger  und  1  Spann  g 
Finger  breit.  Original  von  Quenline  Masseys, 
Mahler  von  Leuwcn."  By  identifying  the 
painter  as  a  native  of  the  city  which  he  left  for 
good  in  or  about  1491,  the  age  of  our  panel  would 
be  increased  by  some  thirty  years. 

The   princess  was  reputed  to   be  the  ugliest 
woman  of  her  time,  and  the  legends  of  which  she 
is  the  centre  would  suggest  that  she  was  also  the 
wickedest  and  most  licentious.     The  Duchess's 
father,  Duke  Henry  of  Tyrol  and  Goricia,  was 
the  most  improvident  of  spendthrifts.     In  1317, 
a  year  before  Margaret's  birth,  certain  Innsbruck 
wine  and  fish  merchants,  and  soon  afterwards, 
the  butchers  of  Bozen,  went  so  far  as  to  capture 
him  and  hold  him  up  to  ransom.     Politically  he 
was  also  unfortunate,  for  his  claim  to  the  throne 
of  Bohemia  on  the  strength  of  his  having  wedded 
the  King  of  Bohemia's  daughter  never  material- 
ized in  more  than  his  empty  title  of  King.     Not 
having   any    sons,  Margaret   became   heiress  to 
vast  dominions.     Her  father  tried  to  regain  for 
his  family  the  lost  throne  by  marrying  her  at  the 
age  of  twelve  to  the  even  more  youthful  Prince 
John,  son  of  the  blind  King  John  of  Bohemia 
who  was  killed  at  Crecy.     She    must    have    de- 
veloped her  virago's  temper  at  an  early  age,  for 
she  chased  her  husband  and  his  Bohemian  cour- 
tiers summarily  out  of  the  country  on  the  plea  of 
his  impotencv.     The  ensuing  divorce  suit  heard 
by  the  Bishop  of  Choire  brought  to  light  details 
that  made  it  the  most  sensational  case  of  the  age, 
and  one  of  which  two  historians  have  left  very 
curious  details.'     Margaret  did  not  await  the  end 
of  it,  and  as  intervening  King's  Proctors  were 
unknown  in  mediaeval  Tyrolese  jurisdiction,  she 
boldly   defied   the  Pope's  fulminations  and   ex- 
communication   by    wedding    in    an    altogether 
illegal  manner  the  stalwart  and  handsome  Louis 
of  Bradenburg,  son    of    the    then  Emperor    of 

i  Primisser  mentions  that  this  portrait  bore  the  number  78. 
He  adds  that  the  Hapsburg  portraits  in  voller  Emhicmatiir 
us.d   to  hang   in   the   famous  Saal,   a  gallery   <;ome  140   feet   in 

''"s^Th'is  son  of  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  II.,  who  for  many 
years  was  Governor  of  the  Netherlands  (in  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century)  owned  a  very  famous  collection  of 
paintings. 

3  Cf.   Steyerer   and  Tgnatz  Zingerle. 


77 


German)-.  l?iit  cxen  he  was  unable  to  satisfy 
her  amorous  proclivities;  cduntlfss  intrigues,  not 
a  few  with  lowly-born  but  haiuisonie  peasant 
youths  who  received  substantial  rewards  in  the 
shape  of  estates  and  noble  rank,  being  episodes 
of  her  dissolute  reign.  Finalh'  poi.son  is  said  to 
liave  removed  from  her  vicious  path  her  husband 
and  her  son,  just  as  the  latter  had  attained  his 
majority  and  was  abi>ut  to  take  up  the  reins  of 
government. 

When  we  examine  into  the  origin  of  her  nick- 
name, Miiultiischi',*  a  word  which  English 
writers  have  turned  into  Pocket-mouthed,  we 
find  that  the  idiom  of  the  time  tiie  w-ord  meant 
bo.x  on  the  ear.  A  tale  is  told  how  in  a  youth- 
ful squabble  with  one  of  her  f^avarian  cousins 
of  the  Wittelsbach  clan,  the  latter  smote  Margaret 
on  her  cheek.  She  did  not  let  the  incident  inter- 
fere with  her  subsequent  intercourse  with  her 
Munich  kinsmen.     During  her  long  life    these 

■*  .Vow  obsoK'te,  it  was  still  used  in  that  cerise  a  couple  of 
ct-nturifs  later.  In  a  curious  MS.  qiioled  by  .Schoft  it  is  said 
that    Christ    received    102    Maiillascheit   from    the  Jews. 


and  her  not  quite  so  clo.sely  related  Ilapsburg 
kinsmen  were  rivals  for  her  fa\-our,  and  at  the 
licath  of  her  son  anil  her  heirs  these  rivals,  to 
one  of  whom  the  two  tluchies  of  Tyrol  and 
Goricia  were  bound  to  fall,  tumbled  over  each 
other  to  first  reach  Margaret's  side.  But  for  once 
the  Hapsburgs  proved  the  nimblest,  and  bv  a 
jjlienomenally  fast  winter  trip  over  the  snow- 
laden  Alps  from  Vienna,  the  energetic  Rudolph 
W  of  .\u.stria  managed  to  reach  his  cousin's 
court  on  the  thirteenth  day  after  the  yoimg 
Prince's  "  sudden  demise,"  thus  forestalling  his 
slower-footed  rival,  who.se  case,  however,  was 
anyhow  a  doomed  one,  for  dissimulating  Mar- 
garet had  apparently  never  forgotten  the  Maul- 
liisclie  he  had  inflictcHl  upon  her  when  they  were 
children.  The  day  following  Duke  Rudolph's 
arrival,  on  January  26th,  1363,  Duchess  Mar- 
garet signed  and  sealed  the  great  parchment 
sheet  by  which  Tyrol  and  Goricia  pa.s.sed  to  the 
Hapsburgs,  in  who.se  hands  it  rem;iined  imtil  the 
other  day. 


AN   EARLY    CHRISTIAN    IVORY   RELIEF   OF   THE    MIRACLE 

OF   CANA 

BY    ERIC    MACLAGAN 


HE  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 
has  recently  acquired  from  an  old 
English  collection  an  ivory  relief 
which,  though  unfortunately  only 
half  of  the  original  panel  has  been 
preserved,  may  serve  to  throw  light  on  a  dif^cult 
problem  in  the  history  of  Early  Christian  art. 
Apart  from  its  archseological  importance  the 
relief  is  of  peculiar  and  remarkable  beauty,  as 
mav  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  illustration 
[Pl.  I;  cf.  Pl.  hi,  viii],  enlarged  for  con- 
venience to  twice  the  linear  dimensions  of  the 
original. 

The  panel  itself  measures  93  millimetres 
(3.65  inche.s)  in  width,  but  it  may  possibly  have 
lost  a  millimetre  or  so  on  the  right  hand  side; 
the  height,  to  the  top  of  the  central  figure,  is 
113  millimetres  (4.45  inches).  The  ivory,  which 
is  slightly  worn,  is  yellowish  in  colour,  the  back 
considerably  scratched.  The  panel  is  pierced 
with  four  circular  holes,  no  doubt  for  pegs  to 
attach  it  to  a  larger  framework.  It  has  been 
given  the  number  Ai — 1921. 

The  scene  represented  is  clearly  part  of  the 
Miracle  of  Cana.  In  front  are  six  pots  of  very 
peculiar  form,  subtly  arranged  in  a  pattern  of 
varied  rhythm.  To  the  left  is  a  servant  filling 
one  of  these  pots  from  a  wine-skin  (which  is 
marked  with  a  small  incised  circle);  the  twisted 
stream  which  flowed  from  the  mouth  of  the  skin 
has  been  broken  away.    To  the  right  a  younger 


servant  carries  on  his  shoulders  a  little  wine-jar. 
In  the  centre  a  third  servant,  whose  right  arm 
has  been  broken  away,  holds  in  his  left  h;uid  a 
slender  cylindrical  vessel,  apparently  an 
alabastron  or  scent-bottle.  Each  of  the  servants 
is  wearing  a  short  sleeveless  tunic,  decorated  with 
embroidered  or  tapestry-woven  ornament.  The 
boy  with  the  jar,  whose  tunic  seems  to  be  slit  at 
the  sides  like  a  modern  shirt,  has  a  neck-band 
and  a  nearly  square  panel  on  the  breast.  The 
other  two  servants,  whose  tunics  (like  the  boy's) 
are  girdled  at  the  waist,  have  narrow  clavi  on 
each  side  of  the  breast  as  well  as  the  neck-band. 
Fortunately  another  ivory  relief  enables  us  to 
reconstruct  with  some  certainty  the  missing 
upper  part  of  the  panel,  which  was  probably  a 
little  smaller  than  the  part  which  has  been  pre- 
served. The  great  ivory  paliotto  which  now 
serves  as  an  altar  frontal  in  the  sacri.sty  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Salerno  includes  a  panel  the  lower 
half  of  which  represents  the  Miracle  of  Cana 
[Pl.  hi,  a].  Here,  though  the  shape  and  dis- 
position of  the  vases  has  been  completely 
changed,  the  figures  of  the  three  servants  are  so 
closely  related  to  those  on  the  panel  at  South 
Kensington  that  some  community  of  origin  may 
be  taken  as  certain.  We  may  conclude  accord- 
ingly that  the  central  figure  was  holding  up  in 
his  right  hand  a  cup  of  the  miraculous  wine  and 
offering  it  to  Christ,  Who  was  .seated  (or  rather 
reclining)  to  the  left  of  the  usual  -<;f^ma-shaped 


78 


The  Filling  of  the  Water-Pots  at  the  Miracle  of  Cana     (South  Kensington) 
(Enlarged  to  twice  linear  dimensions) 


Plate  I.      An  Earlv  Christian   Ivory  Relief  of  the  Miracle  of  Cana 


table  (perhaps  with  the  \'irgin  beside  Him), 
while  the  "  ruler  of  the  feast  "  was  on  the 
spectator's  right. 

The  exact  relation  of  the  Salerno  and  South 
Kensington  reliefs  is  a  matter  of  great  interest, 
but  it  may  be  more  convenient  to  discuss  it  at  a 
later  point.  The  South  Kensington  relief, 
however,  does  not  stand  alone,  and  at  least  two 
other  ivories  are  so  closely  similar  to  it  in  style 
that  we  may  almost  be  justified  in  regarding 
them  as  being  by  the  same  hand.  These  two 
panels,  one  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  Museo 
Archeologico  at  Milan  and  the  other  in  the 
Musee  de  Cluny  at  Paris,  each  represent  a  saint 
standing  in  the  attitude  of  prayer  [Pl.  Ill, 
X  &  xi].  The  figure  on  the  Paris  panel  has  no 
symbol  which  might  make  identification  possible, 
but  the  kneeling  camels  and  the  inscription  on 
the  Milan  panel  show  that  the  saint  represented 
is  St.  Menas,  whose  shrine  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Alexandria  was  a  chief  centre  of  devotion  in 
Christian  Egypt.  The  tunics  worn  by  the  two 
saints  are  sleeved,  and  reach  below  the  knee  ;  but 
the  embroidered  or  woven  ornament  is  treated  in 
precisely  the  same  way,  by  light  cross-hatching 
within  a  bordering  line.  Both  tunics  have  a 
border  at  the  hem,  and  medallions  at  the  knees 
or  a  little  above  them.  St.  Menas  wears  clavi 
with  heart-shaped  or  leaf-shaped  pendant  ends, 
like  the  two  taller  servants  in  the  South 
Ken.sington  relief,  while  the  saint  at  the  Cluny 
Museum  wears  a  rectangular  panel  on  the  breast 
like  the  boy.  The  faces,  with  their  peculiar 
narrow  eyes  and  pouting  lips,  are  almost 
identically  rendered,  as  are  the  tight  rose-like 
curls  that  surround  them. 

Even  if  these  two  reliefs  of  saints  are  not  (as  I 
am  inclined  to  think  they  are)  by  the  same  artist 
as  the  Miracle  of  Cana  relief,  there  can  be  no 
question  that  they  belong  to  the  same  period  and 
school.  But  the  St.  Menas  panel  is  traditionally 
and  stylistically  connected  with  a  well-known 
and  remarkable  series  of  ivories,  five  or  six  of 
which  are  exhibited  beside  it  in  the  Museo 
Archeologico  at  Milan.  These  ivories  repre- 
sent scenes  in  the  life  of  St.  Mark  the  Evangelist 
[Pl.  II,  ii-vi,  III,  xii],  and  it  has  long  been 
believed  that  they  formed  part  of  the  decoration 
of  an  ivory  chair,  said  to  have  been  that  of 
St.  Mark,  which  was  formerly  venerated  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Grado  among  'he  lagoons  at  the 
head  of  the  Adriatic. 

The  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  already 
possesses  another  ivory  relief  (270-1867)  belong- 
ing to  this  series.  It  represents  St.  Mark  writing 
his  Gospel  under  the  dictation  of  St.  Peter,  who 
is  inspired  by  an  angel  [Pl.  II,  i].  Like  the 
relief  of  the  Miracle  of  Cana,  this  has  lost  its 
upper  part,  which  an  inscription  shows  to  h.-ive 
represented  the  city  of  Rome,  no  doubt 
svmbolised  by  an   architectural   background  of 


roofs,  domes  and  towers  like  those  in  the  Mil  .11 
reliefs.' 

Two  other  ivories,  representing  scenes  in  the 
Gospel  story,  have  been  associated  on  purely 
stylistic  grounds  with  the  St.  Mark  series.  One 
of  these,  with  the  Raising  of  Lazarus,  is  in  the 
British  Museum  (No.  27  in  Dalton's  Cata- 
logue); the  other,  with  the  Ayinunciation,  is  in 
the  comparatively  inaccessible  Trivulzio  Collec- 
tion at  Milan  [Pl.  Ill,  vii  &  ix].  These  two 
reliefs,  though  closely  related  to  one  another  in 
design,  appear  to  show  some  diflferences  of 
handling.  Maskell  in  his  1872  Catalogue  of 
Ivories  (p.  no)  had,  however,  already  recognised 
the  kinsship  of  the  Lazarus  panel  to  the  St.  Mark 
and  St.  Peter.  We  have  then  twelve  ivory 
reliefs  more  or  less  closely  connected  with  one 
another,  not  indeed  all  by  the  same  artist  but 
probably  all  (with  one  possible  exception)  from 
the  same  school  and  period  as  well  as  from  the 
same  piece  of  church  furniture.' 

The  twelve  reliefs,  with  their  subjects  and 
dimensions,  are  given  in  the  following  list  :  — 

Pl.  II,  I,  St.  Mark  writing  his  Gospel  at  Rome 
under  the  dictation  of  St.  Peter — the  upper  part 
missing.     H.13.5,  W.io.i  centimetres.' 

Pl.  II,  II,  St.  Mark  delivering  his  Gospel  in 
the  Pentapolis  of  North  Africa  (the  Cyrenaica). 
H.19.5,  W.io.S." 


1  It  is  hardly  possible  to  accept  Mr.  Alfred  Maskell's  con- 
tention {Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts  (11.  igog),  p.  3g4)  that  the 
South  Kensington-  St.  Mark  and  St.  Peter  does  not  belong  to 
the  Milan  series,  but  is  a  ninth  century  imitation  of  the 
Carrand  diptych  in  the  Bargello. 

2  The  literature  connected  with  these  ivories  (excepting  the 
Miracle  of  Cana  relief,  here  published  for  the  first  time,  and 
the  relief  at  Cluny,  which  so  far  as  I  know  has  not  previously 
been  published,  at  any  rate  in  relation  with  the  others,  though 
it  has  been  incidentally  mentioned  by  Venturi  and  Strzygowski) 
is  a  considerable  one.  The  fullest  account  of  the  St.  Mark 
series  at  Milan  and  South  Kensington  is  that  given  by 
Graeven  in  his  essay  Dcr  heiligc  Markus  in  Rom  tind  in  der 
Pentapolis  (Romische  Ottartahchrift,  XIII  (iSgg),  pp.  logff.) ; 
there  are  photographs  of  these,  of  the  Milan  St.  Menas,  and 
of  the  British  Museum  Rai.wtg  of  Lazarus  in  Graeven 's 
Elfenbeinwerke,  I  &  II  (from  which  the  corresponding  blocks 
on  Pls.  II  &  III  have  been  made),  and  reproductions  of  the 
reliefs  in  Italy  (including  the  Trivulzio  .innunciation)  in  the 
second  volume  of  Venturi's  Storia  (Figs.  439  &  451-457). 
Other  general  references  are  to  be  found  in  Berlaux,  L'.irt 
dans  I'ttalie  Miridionale,  I.  pp.  43off.  ;  Cabrol,  Dictionnairc 
d'Archiologie  Chritienne,  s.v.  Alexandrie  (Arch^logie), 
col.  1124;  Dalton,  Byznatine  Art,  pp.  213  &  234;  Kaufmann, 
Handbuch  dcr  christlichen  Archdologie,  pp.  543-4  ; 
Strzvgowski,  Orient  oder  Rom,  pp.  73!!,  Hellenistische 
und  koptische  Kunst,  p.  80,  and  Byzantinische  Zeitschrijt , 
IX  (igoo),  p.  606  (the  last  a  review  of  Graeven's 
essay).  Particular  discussions  of  the  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Mark  at  South  Kensington  are  to  be  found  in 
Maskell's  Catalogue,  p.  log,  and  in  Westwood,  Fictile 
Ivories,  p.  68  (for  the  Milan  (Museo  Archeologico)  ivories,  of 
all  of  which  there  are  casts  at  South  Kensington,  see  pp.  69 
and  70) ;  of  the  Raising  of  Lazarus  at  the  British  Museum  in 
Dalton's  Catalogue  of  Ivory  Carvings,  p.  21,  and  Catalogue 
of  Early  Christian  and  Bytantine  Antiquities.  No.  296;  and 
of  the  5(.  Menas  at  Milan  in  Kaufmann,  Ikonographie  der 
Menas- Ampullen,  pp.  q6  &  98-9,  and  Die  Menasstadt,  p.  65. 
The  Trivulzio  Annunciation  is  carefully  engraved  in  outline, 
full  size,  in  Garrucci,  Storia.  VI,  453  ;  see  also  Schlumberger, 
L'Epop^e  Byzantine.  I.  p.  48,  Stuhlfauth,  Altchristliche  Elfen- 
heinplastik,  pp.  I76ff,  and  Molinier,  Les  Ivoires,  pp.  77-8. 


181 


Pi  .  II,  111,  St.  Mark  gazing  upwards  ;it  a  vision 
— a  Irai^nient  only,  split  vorlirally  iKuii  ilic 
panel.     H.19.5,  \\\  about  4.5.' 

i'l..  II,  IV,  St.  Mark  entering  .Alexandria  and 
healing  .Anianus  the  shoemaker,  afterwanis 
bishop.     H.19.5,  ^^  •>).* 

1'l.  II,  y,  St.  Mark  ha[5tising  Ani.inus  and 
his  hou.sehold.     n.u).5,  \V.»).5.* 

Pi..  II,  \'i,  St.  Mark  conseiraling  a  liishop 
and  priests  on  his  second  visit  to  the  I'fntajjolis. 
n.iq.5.  W.g.s.* 

Pi.   III.  \ii,   Annunciation.     II. 111.5,   W'.tj.;.' 

Pi.  Ill,  \iii,  .Miracle  of  C"ana — the  upper 
part  missing.     H.11.3,  W.g.^.' 

Ft..  Ill,  i.\.  Raising  of  Lazarus.  Il.u).=i, 
W.q.'. 

Pl.  Ill,  X,  .St.  Menas  in  pr.iver.  H.10.2, 
\V.8.5.* 

Ft..  111.  XI,  .\  Saint  in  prayer.     H.io,  W.8.' 

Pl.  Ill,  XII,  .\  Saint,  perhaps  St.  Mark 
entering  Aquileia,  holding  a  scroll.  H.10.2, 
\V.8.5.' 

It  will  be  observed  tliat  tiiese  reliefs  may 
readily  be  divided  into  three  groups.  The  first 
[Fl.  H,  i-vi]  is  entirely  concerned  with  the  life 
of  St.  .Mark;  the  second  [Pl.  Ill,  vii-ix]  with 
scenes  from  the  Gospel  story,  none  of  them, 
however,  related  by  St.  Mark  in  his  Gospel. 
These  nine  reliefs  (excepting  Pl.  II,  i,  and 
Pl.  Ill,  \'iii,  the  two  reliefs  at  South  Kensing- 
ton, each  of  which  has  lost  the  upper  part)  all 
measure  exactly  nineteen  and  a  half  centimetres 
in  height ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppo.se  that 
the  missing  portions  of  Pl.  II,  i,  and 
Pl.  Ill,  VIII,  w-ould  not  have  brought  them  up 
to  the  same  height.  Their  width,  excepting 
Pl.  II,  III,  which  is  clearlv  a  fragment,  varies 
between  nine  and  about  ten  and  a  half  centi- 
metres, but  one  of  the  narrowest  of  these 
[Pl.  Ill,  ix]  seems  to  have  lost  the  flat  flanges 
at  the  sides  which  may  be  seen  in  most  of  the 
others,  and  it  is  probable  that  parts  of  the.se 
flanges  may  have  been  pared  off  in  others  as 
well.  Allowing,  however,  for  a  slight  variation 
in  width,  we  may  consider  these  nine  reliefs  as 
being,   for  practical  purpo.ses,   uniform  in  size." 

The  third  group  [Pl.  Ill,  x-xii]  is  also 
uniform  in  size,  at  about  ten  by  eight  and  a  half 
centimetres;  the  measurements  of  Pl.  Ill,  xi 
are  taken  from  the  old  Cluny  catalogue  which 
ignores  fractions  of  a  centimetre.  This  is  prac- 
tically half  the  size  of  the  other  reliefs.  It  is 
just  possible  that  two  reliefs  like  Pl.  Ill,  x  and 

'  In  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  South  Kensington. 

*  In   the   Musco   .Archeologico   (Castello  Sforzesco),   Milan. 

^  In  the  Trivulzio  Collection,  Milan  ;  I  have  never  seen  this 
ivory,  and  can  judge  it  only  from  the  one  photograph  avail- 
able.     The    mea<:urements   are  from    Garrucci's    engraving. 

^  In  the  British  Museum. 

'  In  the  Musee  de  Cluny  (1048),    Paris. 

*  The  individual  figures  on  the  ivories  vary  considerably  in 
scale,  even  on  the  same  ivory,  e.g.  Pl.  II,  iv.,  where  the  little 
figures  are  smaller  than  the  servants  in  Pl.  Ill,  viii. 


I'l.  Ill,  XI  in,i\-  lia\e  been  s.iwii  .ipart,  but  if 
ilic\  once  formed  one  panel  it  would  be  at  least 
a  rcnlinictn^  taller  and  narrower  than  the 
others,  "  and  it  seems  far  more  lik(>lv  that  ihev 
formed  part  of  a  .separate  series  or  row,  though 
they  are  almost  certainly  of  the  sami^  iicriod 
ami  style  as  the  r(\st.  On  the  other  hand, 
Pl  .  Ill,  XII  is  obviouslv  diflercnl  in  style  and 
nuicli  coarser  in  execution,  and  it  is  (]iiite 
probable  that,  as  Gra<'\-en  has  suggestetl,  it  was 
atkled  at  a  lal(M'  date  to  fill  a  material  gap,  or 
to  complete  the  legendary  scenes  represented  so 
as  to  suit  local   requirements. 

But  setting  aside  Pl.  Ill,  xii,  it  can  hardly 
be  doubted  that  all  the  other  ivories  belong  to 
the  .same  period.  This  is  bv  no  means  obvious 
at  first  sight  when  the  two  reliefs  at  .Souili 
Kensington  [Pl.  II,  i,  and  Pl.  Ill,  viii]  are 
.seen  side  by  side.  The  handling  is  not  quite 
the  same.  The  ivory  itself — that  chameleon 
among  materials — has  reacted  differently  to  the 
conditions  of  light  and  atmosphere  to  which  it 
as  been  exposed.  And  yet  the  links  which 
join  them  together  will  bear  testing. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  insist  further  on  the  many 
[loints  of  resemblance  which  indicate  the 
common  origin  of  Pl.  Ill,  viii,  x,  and  xi. 
But  it  is  impossible  to  compare  the  architec- 
tural backgrounds  of  Pl.  Ill,  x  and  xi  with 
tho.se  of  the  St.  Mark  group,  particularly 
Pl.  II.  II  and  vi,  with  their  odd  decoration  of 
curling  leaves  like  ostrich-feathers,  without 
realising  that  they  are  closely  connected.  Turn- 
ing from  the  architecture  to  the  figures  we  find 
the  same  peculiar  narrow  eyes,  the  .same  lean 
fingers;  the  curly-headed  boy  on  the  right  hand 
side  of  Pl.  II,  vi  might  be  a  brother  of  the 
younger  servant  on  Pl.  Ill,  viii,  the  new  panel 
at  South  Kensington.  Again,  the  panels  of 
the  St.  Mark  group  are  inevitably  connected 
bv  the  unusual  type  of  the  Evangelist,  which  is 
so  like  that  as.sociated  in  normal  Christian 
iconography  with  St.  Paul  that  until  the  pub- 
lication of  Dr.  Graeven's  es.say  the  South 
Kensington  panel  [Pl.  II,  i]  was  taken  to  repre- 
.sent  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  in  Rome. 

In  the  Raising  of  Lazarus  [Pl.  Ill,  ix]  the 
same  peculiarities  of  eyes  and  fingers  are  com- 
bined with  the  same  fantastic  architectural  back- 
ground ;  the  feet,  too,  have  the  same  long, 
almost  prehensile  toes.  And  if  the  types  of  the 
Annunciation  [Pl.  Ill,  vii]  are  more  solid  and 
the  architecture  more  classical,  still,  to  judge 
from  the  reproduction,  the  resemblances  of  this 
noble  relief  with  others  in  the  group  under  dis- 
cussion, and  especially  with  Pl.  Ill,  ix  are  too 
marked  to  admit  of  a  different  origin.  When  in 
addition  to  these  formal  points  of  comparison 
we  observe  the  material   identity    in   size  of   the 

9The  top  of  the  St.  Menas  relief  does  look  as  if  it  had  been 
cut  away  or  pared  off. 


82 


{Missing  upper  part  represent- 
ing the  City  of  Rome) 


1.     S.   Peter  and  S.  Mark  in 
Rome     (South  Kensington) 


II.     5.  Mark  in  the  Pentapolis 
(Milan) 


^: 


.y^ 


III.     S.    Mark     in 
Alexandria  (MWan) 


IV.    S.  Mark  in  Alexandria  V.     S .  Mark  in  Alexand- 

(Milan)  -ria     (Milan) 

(Reduced  to  half  linear  dimensions) 


\'l.     S.  Mark  in  the  Penta- 
polis    (Milan) 


Plate  II.     An  Early  Christian  Ivory  Relief  of  the  Miracle  of  Cana 


f 


(Missiiii;  iipf^cr  j^arl   rcprc- 
sentiiii; tilt'  W'rddiiii:,-  FaisI) 


\'ll.     The       .Inniinciatio}! 
(Triviilzin  Collection) 


\'lll.      / '/('       Miititic      oj 
Cana     (South  Kensinqton) 


X.     5.  Menas     (Milan) 


IX.     Raising    of    Lazarus 
(British  Museum) 


XI 1.     S.  Mark     (Milan) 


Kfi0atmm 


y 


•iaMaito 


^^lii^i^-:^ 


/ 


Jl 


-  V 


'\ 


A     The  Miracle  of  Cana     (Salerno) 
(Reduced  to  half  linear  dimensions) 


^ty^'-h^""^ 


rr- 


B     The  Raising  of  Lazarus    (Salerno) 


Plate  III.     An  Earlv  Christian  Ivory  Relief  of  the  Miracle  of  Cana 


first  nine  of  these  ivories  (allowing  for  the 
obvious  mutilation  of  Pl.  I,  i  and  Pl.  Ill,  viii), 
and  the  presence  in  every  one  of  the  twelve 
panels,  except  the  very  fragmentary  Pl.  II,  in, 
and  the  admittedly  aberrant  Pl.  Ill,  xil,  of 
similarly  spaced  holes  for  fastening-pegs,  it 
may  fairly  be  taken  for  granted  (as  indeed  most 
recent  authorities  have  agreed)  that  a  common 
place  and  period  of  origin  must  be  sought  for 
the  whole  group. 

But  as  to  this  place  and  period  two  very 
divergent  views  have  hitherto  been  expressed. 
it  is  hardly  necessary  to  detail  here  the  opinions 
held  as  to  separate  panels  before  the  continuity 
of,  at  any  rate,  the  main  part  of  the  group  had 
been  recognised."  But  Graeven  in  his  essav  of 
1899,  and,  following  him,  Strzygowski,  Kauf- 
mann,  Leclercq  (in  Cabrol's  Diclionnaire), 
Diehl  (in  L'Art  Byzantin)  and  others,"  place 
the  fabrication  of  these  ivories  in  Egypt  or  its 
immediate  neighbourhood  at  a  date  in  or  about 
the  sixth  century;  while  Bertaux,  Venturi,  and 
Dalton  date  them  five  or  six  centuries  later 
and  suppose  them  to  have  been  made  in  South 
Ital\-,  under  the  influence  of  Monte  Cassino, 
in  the  same  school  as  the  Salerno  paliotto. 

The  evidence  in  favour  of  Graeven's  view  has 
alwavs  been  verv  strong.  To  begin  with, 
Bertaux  himself  admitted  the  difficulty  of  ex- 
plaining the  presence  of  so  definitely  Egyptian 
(or  Coptic)  a  saint  as  St.  Menas,  treated  in  so 
Egyptian  a  fashion,  in  a  South  Italian  work  of 
a  date  when  his  cult  must  already  have 
declined.'^  It  is  true  that  there  were  early 
churches  dedicated  to  him  in  Constantinople 
and  Rome,  and  that  he  figures  (though  in  a  very 
different  form)  on  the  gorgeous  eleventh  century 
Byzantine  enamelled  book-cover  with  the  relief 
of  St.  Michael  in  the  centre  in  the  Library  of 
St.  Mark  at  Venice."  But  a  comparison  between 
the  ivorv  relief  [Pl.  Ill,  x]  and  a  fifth  or  sixth 
centurv  marble  relief  from  the  nunnery  of  St. 
Thekla  at  Dechele.  now  in  the  Museum  .at 
Alexandria,  published  by  Kaufmann  (Ikono- 
graphie  der  Menas-AmpuUen,  Fig.  7,5),  makes 
it  almost  impossible  to  doubt  that  they  belong  to 
the  same  period  and  school.  The  marble  relief, 
though  it  has  no  architectural  background  and 
the  draperv  is  treated  in  a  simpler,  more  "  clas- 
sical "  fashion,  without  ornament,  has  even  the 
same  peculiar  convention  (which  may  be  paral- 
leled in  Coptic  stone-carvings)  for  the  curled 
'•air,  the  eyes  and  the  mouth. 

Graeven    himself  has    dealt    fully     with     the 


•  »  Maskell,  for  example,  had  dated  I.  in  the  ninth  century, 
Wfstwood  II-VI  in  the  ninth  or  tenth,  Srhlumberger,  I  and 
VTl   in  the  eleventh   as  Byzantine  worjss  of  art. 

11  For  the  bibliographical  references  see  Note  =. 

1=  There  is  an  interesting  account  of  St.  Menas  and  his  cult 
in  an  article  by  Miss  M.  A.  Murray  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Societv   of  Biblical  Archcrology   for    1907. 

13  Illustrated  in  Dalton,  Byzantine  Art,  p.  511,  and  else- 
where. 


Egyptian  or  Coptic  character  of  the  long- 
bearded  type  of  St.  Mark  and  of  the  piled-up 
architectural  backgrounds  which  occur  in  so 
many  of  the  ivories  under  discussion  ;  both  these 
features  are  found  in  the  presumably  Coptic 
relief  of  St.  Mark  and  the  t,S  Patriarchs  of 
Alexandria  in  the  Louvre  '*  which  is  perhaps 
definitely  datable  soon  after  the  year  607. 

As  to  date,  the  argument  in  favour  of  the 
sixth         century         for  the        Annunciation 

[Pl.  Ill,  vii]  based  by  Graeven  ^^  on  the 
wording  of  the  inscription  has  been  attacked 
by  X'enturi,'"  who  does  not  even  admit  that  this 
ivory  belongs  to  the  Milan  group.  Venturi's 
reasons  do  not  seem  very  convincing,  but  the 
point  about  the  wording  is  not  perhaps  of  very 
high  evidential  value,  though  the  forms  of  the 
letters  apparently  do  suggest  the  earlier  rather 
than  the  later  date.  In  the  St.  Mark  group  itself, 
however,  sufficient  attention  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  paid  to  the  costume  of  the  bishop 
who  is  being  consecrated  in  Pl.  II,  \"i.  His 
vestments,  a  loose  chasuble  worn  over  a  long 
tunic  with  two  vertical  stripes  reaching  down 
to  the  feet,  correspond  exactly  with  those 
familiar  in  the  sixth  century  mosaics  at  Ravenna 
(e.g.,  the  figure  of  Archbishop  Maximian  in 
S.  \'itale).  It  is  hardly  possible  to  suppose  that 
a  bishop  or  priest  (other  than  an  apostle)  could 
have  been  represented  as  late  as  the  eleventh 
century,  when  the  regular  liturgical  vestments 
were  already  well  established  both  in  the 
Eastern  and  the  Western  churches,  in  so 
primitive  a  fashion. 

The  relief  at  Cluny  [Pl.  Ill,  xi],  which  was 
apparently  unknown  to  Graeven,  adds  no 
positive  evidence  as  to  date,  except  in  so  far  as 
its  close  resemblance  to  the  relief  of  St.  Menas 
[Pl.  Ill,  ix]  shows  that  the  latter  does  not 
stand  alone.  But  the  newly-acquired  relief  of 
the  Miracle  of  Cana  does,  I  venture  to  think, 
considerably  if  not  conclusively  strengthen  the 
case  for  an  early  origin  for  the  whole  group  to 
which  it  so  clearly  belongs,  and  a  few  of  the 
points  connected  with  it  may  be  noted  here. 

To  begin  with,  Hellenistic  influence  is 
obviously  still  dominant  in  the  composition, 
tiiough  it  has  been  transformed  by  the  new 
breath  of  life  which  was  stirring  through  the 
art  of  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  in  the 
sixth  centurv.  The  vigorous  movement,  the 
rhythmic  interplay  of  the  figures,  can  only  be 
Greek  in  their  inspiration.  It  does  not  even 
seem  impossible  that  the  three  figures  may  have 
their  origin  in  the  representation  of  some  purely 
.secular  banquet.  Treated  as  they  are,  it  would 
be  difficult  indeed  to  place  them  in  the  eleventh 

14  Monuments  Plot  [I,  Pl.  xxiii]  ;  see  also  Dalton,  Byzan- 
tine Art,  p.  212,  and  Strzygowski,  Orient  oder  Rom,  I.e. 

15  Der  heilige  Markus,  p.   125. 
listeria,  II,  p.  611,  n.l. 


87 


(t-nturv.      The    costume    again    is    clearly    late 
classical.      The    tunics    are    closely    similar    in 
ornament    to   those   which    have  been    toinul    in 
such  numbers  in  the  burying  grounds  of  I'-gypi, 
though  my  colleague  Mr.  Kemirick  informs  me 
that    he    is    not    acquainted    with    any    actual 
example   of  a    tunic   with   a  mere   central    panel 
of  ornament  on   the  breast,   like  those  worn   by 
the  bov  to  the  right  and  the  saint  on  Pt..  Ill,  xi. 
But  (lie  chwi  or  stripes  with  their  heart-shaped 
ends  can  be  exactly  paralleled,  as  can  the  two 
medallions    worn    about     knee    height    by     the 
saints  on  Pl.  Ill,   X  and  xi.     This  is  valuable 
evidence  as  to  date,  for  the  type  of  ornamenta- 
tion  with   short   clavi  seems  to  have  gone  out 
soon   after   the  seventh  century   except   perhaps 
for   ceremonial  dress.      It   may     be     noted     that 
long-sleeved  tunics  with  clavi  and  orbiculi,  very 
similar  to  that  on  the  Cluny  ivory  [Pl.  Ill,  xi], 
are  worn  bv  the  two  attendants  on  the  fourth  to 
fifth   century   silver   Casket   of    Projecta   at  the 
British  Museum  (Dalton,   Catalogue  of  Bycan- 
tinc  and  Early   Christian  Antiquities,   No.  304, 
Pl.  XVIII,  w^hich  may  be  of  Alexandrian  origin. 
But  it  would  perhaps  be  unwMse  to  press  this  in 
claiming  an  Egyptian  origin  for  the  group,  for 
there  isno  evidence  to  show  that  similar  tunics 
were    not    worn    all    over    the     Mediterranean 
region,  or  at  any  rate  all  over  the  Eastern  part 
of  it.  in  what  we  might  call  the  Early  Christian 
period,  though  accidents  of  soil-conditions  and 
burial-habits   have    preserved    them    in    Egypt 
alone.     Certainly,  however,  there  is  nothing  in 
this  form  of  dress  to  militate  against  Alexandria 
as  a   place  of  fabrication ;  and  that  the  artists 
concerned     treated     costume     with      particular 
realism  mav  be  seen  from  the  strange  garments 
worn    bv    the    natives    of    the     Pentapolis    in 
Pl.   II,  II,  on  which  Graeven  has  already  com- 
mented.'' 

For  the  strangely  but  very  beautifully 
moulded  wnter-pots,  I  know  of  no  exact 
parallel.  More  or  less  similar  vases,  but  always 
with  handles,  occur  not  infrequently  as  motives 
of  decoration  on  textiles  from  Egypt,  and 
several  examples  mav  be  seen  in  the  collection 
at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum."  Inciden- 
tallv  it  mav  be  noted  that  they  are  of  a  shape 
utterlv  impossible  for  the  pots  of  stone  .specified 
in  the  Gospel  story  of  the  miracle.  The  smaller 
jar  carried  by  the  boy  on  his  shoulder  is  more 
normal  in  shape.     If  the  cylindrical  vessel  held 

'"The  rare  scene  of  St.  Mark  delivering  his  Gospel  in  the 
Pemtapolis  also  occurs  in  an  eleventh  century  fresco  in  the 
crypt  of  Aquileia  (see  Lanckoronski,  Der  Dnm  von  Aqitileia, 
p.  90  and  Pl.  XVn,  but  the  composition  is  not  much  like 
that  on  the  ivory.  For  a  full  discussion  of  the  use  of  tunics 
in  Early  Christian  art  sec  Griineisen,  Sainte  Marie  Antique. 
pp.   i68fl. 

•s  The  shape  mav  also  be  compared  to  that  of  the  handle- 
less  water-pots  on  the  lid  of  the  silver  box  (perhaps  late  fourth 
century)  at  S.  Nazario  in  Milan  (Venturi,  Storia,  I,  p.  513). 
But  the  resemblance  is  by  no  means  complete   in  either  case. 


i)\  the  central  figure  is  (as  1  think  it  must  be) 
an  ahihastron,  it  is  certainly  of  rather  unusual 
length  and  size,  though  it  may  lairly  be  com- 
pari'tl  with  rather  iwrlier  E.gyplian  vessels 
exiiiiiiteil  in  the  Louvie  and  el.sewhere.'"  Such 
an  alahastron  may  have  been  the  mark  of  a 
butler;  for  a  vessel  absolutely  identical  in  shape 
with  that  on  the  ivory  is  carried  by  the  chief 
butler  in  the  ninth  century  fre.sco  of  Pharaoh's 
Feast  on  the  left  wall  of  S.  Maria  .\ntiqua  at 
Rome,"  who  further  holds  a  cup  like  that  on  the 
Salerno  relief. 

As  a   representation   of  the   Miracle   of  Cana 
the  relief,  if  we  may  imagine  it  in  its  complete 
form,  is  not  altogether  without  parallel,  though 
it     differs     widely    from     the    ordinary     Early 
Christian   iconography    of   the   scene.      This   is 
conveniently    siimmari.sed,    with    several    illu.s- 
trations,    in    the  article  (s.v.    Cava)   in    Cabrol's 
Dictionnairc,  and  in  E.  Baldwin  Smith's  Early 
Christian  Iconography  and  the  School  of  Pro- 
vence (1918),  Table  5'.    The  interest  is  normally 
concentrated  on  the  actual  performance  of  the 
miracle,  so  that  the  scene  is  condensed  on  the 
gilt  glass   discs  to  the  single   figure  of  Christ 
surrounded  by  the  water-pots  which  he  touches 
with  a  wand.     In  the  earliest  of  all  known  repre- 
.sentations,  the  wall-painting  in  the  Catacombs 
of  SS.  Pietro  e  Marcellino,  "the  feast  is  seen  as  a 
background  to  the  miraculous  act,  but  as  a  rule 
Christ  appears  either  alone  (as  on  the  doors  of 
S.  Sabina)  or  with  attendants  (as  on  the  ivory 
panel  from  the  chair  of   Maximian     or    in     the 
mosaic  of  S.  Apollinare  Nuovo    at    Ravenna), 
touching  or  blessing  the  water-pots.      On    the 
well-known   sixth   century  ivory    book-cover   in 
the  Treasury  of   Milan   Cathedral  "  the  water- 
pots    are    actually    being    filled,    while    Christ 
ble-sses  them,  bv  a  servant  with  an  amphora  on 
his  shoulder.     In  Egypt  a  fuller  representation 
may  be  traced  in  a  wall  painting  of  which  un- 
fortunately  only   fragments  have  survived;   the 
feast    was     represented   (with   an   almost   naked 
woman    reclining  at    the   table),    and     servants 
certainly  figured  at  one  side,   as  may   be  seen 
from  the  inscription.^^ 

1'  The    curious    resemblance,   pointed  out    to    me     by     Mr. 

Arthur  Smith,  with  a  type  of  very  early  (Mycenaean)  Greek 
terracotta  vessel,  apparently  a  wine-taster,  excavated  in 
Cyprus,  can  hardly  be  anything  but  an  accident.  See 
Excavaiions  in  Cyprus,  by  Murray,  Smith  and  Walters  (iqno), 
Fig.  68,  No.  iioS,  p.  40.  ,         .    r, 

20  See  Griineisen,  Sainte  Marie  Antique  (lou),  It.  xxiv,  s, 
The  whole  composition  mav  be  compared  with  that  of  the 
Cana  Feast;  it  is  more  or  less  derived  from  the  corresponding 
miniature,  three  centuries  earlier,  in  the  Vienna  Genesis 
(fol  xvii),  where,  the  butler,  standing  like  the  figure  on  the 
ivory,  carries  a  very  long  amphora-shaped  vessel  ^^;'tnou' 
handles.  A  classical  analogy  for  the  Feast  is  supplied  by  the 
Banquet  of  Dido  in  the  almost  contemporary  Vatican  Codex 
Romauiis  of  Virgil.  , 

21  Venturi,    Storia.   1,    p.    A^4:    cf.    Dalton,    Byzantme    Art, 

''  =3  In  the  apse  of  the  Catacomb  of  Karmouz,  near  Alexandria 
(perhaps  third  century).     Cabrol,  I.e.,  Fig.  1987. 


188 


<•  (-- 


N 

\ 

^ 

1, 

,    \ 

V 

;  The  Angels  Appearing  to  the 
ihcpherds,  and  The  Massacre  ot  the 
nnocents 


/)     The   Nativity   and    The   Flight 
into  Egypt 


E  The  Healing  of  the  Blind 
Man,  and  The  Maries  at  the 
Sepulchre     (Salerno) 


F     The  Last  Supper  (and  The  Miracle  of  Cana  ?)     Silk- 
embroidered  roundel  from  Egypt  (South  Kensington) 


G     The  Filling  of  the    Water-Pots.     Miniature  from 
the  Gospels  of  Rabula  (Florence) 


Plate  IV.     An  Earlv  Christian  Ivory  Relief  of  the  Miracle  of  Cana 


On  the  gold  altar  of  S.  Ambrogio  at  Milan 
^of  whiuh  the  best  available  illustrations  are  in 
Zimmermann,  Oberitalnnische  Plastik  (1897), 
pi.  60-64),  "^  relief  to  the  left  of  the  frontal 
(pi.  61)  shows  the  Miracle  of  Cuna.  In  this  very 
strange  composition  the  water-pots  are  being 
filled  in  the  foreground  by  two  tiny  servants, 
one  of  whom  distinctly  recalls,  by  the  movement 
of  his  arms,  the  left-hand  servant  in  the  ivory  at 
South  Kensington ;  Christ  stands  behind  the 
water-pots  in  front  of  a  building,  with  the 
gigantic  figure  of  the  Virgin  towering  above  him, 
and  in  the  upper  corner  the  "  ruler  of  the  feast  " 
sits  tasting  the  wine.  The  date  of  this  part  of 
the  much-disputed  altar  may  be  about  the 
twelfth  century.  The  very  fragmentary  fresco 
in  S.  Clemente  at  Rome  dating  from  the  middle 
of  the  ninth  century  (of  which  there  is  a  small 
woodcut  in  Eitelberger's  communication  to  the 
Miltlieilungen  der  k.k.  Centralkommission 
(Vienna,  1863),  p.  307,  Fig.  5)  shows  Christ  and 
the  Virgin  standing  tsefore  the  water-pots  with 
three  other  figures,  one  of  whom  is  designated 
by  a  vertical  inscription  as  architriclinvs. 
Later,  about  1174-1182,  the  Mosaic  at  Monreale 
Cathedral  (Gravina,  II  Duomo  di  Monreale, 
PI.  17c)  has  the  Feast  in  front  of  a  building 
behind  a  sigma  table ;  one  servant  fills  the  water- 
pots  from  a  jar,  and  two  more  with  napkins,  the 
second  carrying  a  covered  cup,  move  towards  the 
table  from  the  right. 

But  a  closer  parallel  to  part  at  least  of  the  new 
South  Kensington  relief  is  furnished  by  a  page 
of  the  Syrian  Gospels  illuminated  by  Rabula  in 
586  at  Zagba  in  Northern  Mesopotamia,  and 
now  preserved  in  the  Laurentian  Library  at 
Florence.  On  the  margin  of  one  of  the  opening 
pages  with  the  Eusebian  Canons  the  Miracle  of 
Cana  is  represented;  at  one  side  of  the  arched 
border  are  the  figures  of  Christ  and  the  Virgin, 
at  the  other  two  servants  filling  the  water-pots 
[Pl.  IV,  g].  These  figures  are  here  reproduced 
for  the  first  time  from  a  photograph,"  and  it 
will  be  seen  at  once  that  (allowing  for  reversal) 
they  have  many  analogies  with  the  two  similarly 
employed  figures  in  the  ivory. 

1  believe  that  another  parallel  may  be  found 
in  an  embroidered  roundel  or  medallion  from 
an  Egyptian  grave^  unfortunately  very  imper- 
fectly preserved,  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum,  No.  815-1903  [Pl.  IV,  f].  This  is 
one  of  a  series  of  silk-embroidered  medallions,^* 
probably  from  a  robe,  most  of  which  as  far  as 
can  be  judged  enclosed  two  scenes  from  the 
Gospel  story.  They  probably  date  from  about 
the  seventh  century.  The  upper  part  of  the 
composition  clearly  represents  the  Last  Supper, 

23  I  have  to  thank  CommT  Guido  Biagi  for  permitting  me 
to  have  this  photograph  taken  ;  the  page  is  engraved  in  Asse- 
manus  and  in  Gairucci,  Storia.  Pl.  131.  For  the  MS.  itself 
see  Dalton,  op.  cit.  p.  448. 

3*  About  8  or  9  inches  in  diameter. 


with  the  Apostles  seated  behind  a  si^ma-shaped 
table.  But  this  subject  exactly  fills  half  of  the 
roundel,  and  no  more.  Of  the  lower  half  only 
the  figure  on  the  extreme  right  remains,  a 
servant  carrying  a  small  jar  on  his  shoulder. 
But  the  upper  part  of  the  body  corresponds 
almost  line  for  line,  so  far  as  the  rather  inade- 
quate skill  of  the  embroiderer  would  allow,  with 
ihe  right-hand  servant  on  the  ivory.  It  is 
difficult  to  suppose  that  the  whole  foreground  of 
a  medallion  of  the  Last  Supper  would  have  been 
filled  with  figures  of  servants  and  mere  acces- 
sories, and  I  suggest  that  this  medallion  origin- 
ally combined  the  two  scenes  of  the  Last  Supper 
and  the  Miracle  of  Cana^  just  as  one  correspond- 
ing medallion  (No.  814-1903)  combines  the 
Annunciation  and  the  Visitation,  and  another 
(No.  813-1903)  the  Apparitions  of  the  Angel  and 
i)f  Christ  to  St.  Mary  Magdalene. 

There  is  a  close  connection,  iconographically 
TtS  well  as  symbolically,  between  the  two 
scenes.^^  When  the  Wedding  Feast  at  Cana  is 
represented  in  Early  Christian  or  Byzantine 
art  it  is  generally,  as  Millet  has  pointed  out,  a 
condensation  of  the  scene  of  the  Last  Supper. 
In  some  cases,  as  in  the  eleventh  century 
miniature  of  the  Byzantine  Gospels  at  Parma  " 
(and  apparently  in  the  small  square  panel  of  the 
Milan  book-cover  cited  above),  the  F'east  is 
reduced  to  four  persons.  Christ  reclines  at  one 
end  of  the  sigma  table,  the  "  ruler  of  the  feast  " 
at  the  other,  and  two  figures  are  seated  between 
them;  immediately  below,  in  a  separate  com- 
partment of  the  miniature,  Christ  advances  fol- 
lowed by  the  Virgin  and  the  Apostles  to  bless 
the  water-pots,  behind  which  stand  three 
servants.  In  the  narrow  space  available  in  the 
missing  upper  part  of  the  South  Kensington 
ivory  the  feast  may  have  been  similarly  com- 
pressed; but  in  the  Salerno  version  of  it  we 
have  besides  the  half-length  figure  of  the  Virgin 
(almost  an  essential  for  the  adequate  representa- 
tion of  the  scene),  and  a  third  guest  at  the  table 

The  persistence  of  iconographical  types  in 
much  of  the  art  produced  under  Byzantine 
influence  makes  it  hazardous  to  lay  any  heavy 
stress  on  arguments  derived  from  them  in  a 
discussion  as  to  date.  But  at  least,  while  the 
general  character  of  the  South  Kensington 
Miracle  of  Cana  points  to  an  early  date,  there  is 
nothing  in  the  iconographic  evidence  to  con- 
tradict such  a  conclusion.  A  close  connection 
between  Syrian  or  Syro-Palestinian  types  and 
those  in  use  in  Egypt  is  fully  in  accordance  with 
other  evidence  as  well  as  with  historical  pro- 
babilities. And  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
such  a  connection  has  already  been  suggested  by 

■  25  The  early  iconography  of  the  Last  Supper  has  been 
elaborately  investigated  by  Millet  (Recherches  sur  I'lcono- 
graphie  de  I'Evangile,  1916),  and  by  Dobbert  in  Reperlornim 
XIV  and  XV  (1891-2). 

26  Millet,  op.  cit.  Fig.  608. 


19: 


Graeven  and  Sirzygowski  hotween  the 
Anuunciaiioii  relief  [I'l..  111.  \  ii]  and  the  minia- 
ture of  the  same  subjeet  in  ilu-  lusi  hniiad/in 
Gospels,"  a  nianiisiTi[)t  iluscly  relateil  to  the 
Gospels  of  Kabula  at  l-"loreiue ;  while  eerlain 
parallels  may  perhaps  be  traced  between  tlic 
Raising  of  Laaarus  relief  [i'l..  Ill,  ix]  and  the 
corresponding  miniature  in  the  Codex  Rossaii- 
ensis.'^* 

It  is  exceptionally  diHiciili  to  tix  with  any 
degree  of  certainty  the  place  of  origin  of  move- 
able objects,  such  as  ivories,  belonging  to  the 
i^arly  Christian  period.  But  if  this  group  of 
ivories  is  taken  as  a  wliolc  it  mav  fairlv  be  said 
that  the  prominence  given  to  St.  Mark,  the  first 
Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  and  (in  five  cases  out 
of  six)  to  scenes  from  his  life  directly  connected 
with  Hgypt  or  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
Ivgypt;  the  peculiar  bald  and  long-i)earded  type 
assigned  to  him;  the  inclusion  of  the  locally 
honoured  St.  Menas,  and  the  striking 
resemblance  between  the  ivory  representing  liim 
and  the  Alexandrian  marble  relief  already 
referred  to;  the  preference  for  piied-up  archi- 
techtural  backgrounds;  and  such  general  con- 
clusions as  may  be  drawn  from  iconography  and 
costume,  all  converge  to  make  it  exceedingly 
[jrobable  that  the  ivories  were  made  in  Egypt, 
perhaps  in  or  for  Alexandria,  at  a  date  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  sixth  century. 

Against  such  a  conclusion  at  least  one  argu- 
ment fairly  presents  itself.  We  are  acquainted 
with  a  number  of  ivories  (and  a  larger  number 
of  bone-carvings,  mostly  of  small  importance 
artistically)  such  as  the  St.  Menas  pyxis  in  the 
British  ^Iuseum  (Xo.  12  in  Dalton's  Catalogue), 
and  the  St.  Mark  relief  in  the  Louvre,  which  are 
very  probably  Coptic  or  Egyptian  work  of  about 
this  period.  Besides  these,  a  whole  mass  of 
ivory  carvings  of  the  noblest  quality,  including 
the  Throne  of  Maximian  at  Ravenna  and  the 
reliefs  associated  with  it,°'  are  now  frequently 
ascribed  to  Egyptian  artists.  Yet  among  all 
these  it  is  hardly  possible  to  find  any  close 
analogy  for  the  very  definite  stylistic 
peculiarities  of  the  group  of  ivories  now  under 
discussion,  in  particular  for  the  narrow  folds  of 
drapery,  the  almond-shaped  eyes  with  their 
clearly-marked  lower  lids  and  the  sharp  pre- 
cision with  which  hair  and  hands  and  feet  are 
defined.  The  only  partial  comparison  I  can  sug- 
gest is  with  the  beautiful  diptych  at  Berlin 
(Voge,  Elfenbeinbildwerke,  PI.  II),  which  in  its 
turn  clearly  connects  with  the  Ravenna  Throne. 

"'  See  Strzygowski,  Das  Etschmiad:in-Evangeliar  ;  the  mina- 
lures  in  question  are  considerably  earlier  than  the  text  of  989. 

2S  Best  published  by  Haseloff  in  1898  and  by  Munoz  in 
1907  ;  probably  early  sixth  century. 

-'This  group  of  ivories  is  fully  discussed  in  Dalton, 
op.  cit.,  pp.  203ff.  It  seems  at  least  as  likely  that  they  are 
Syrian  in  origin,  in  spite  of  the  jerboa  which  DiJtschke 
(Ravennatische  Stiidien,  pp.  279  ff.)  id<=ntified  among  the 
animals  carved  on   the  throne. 


It  is  perhaps  on  such  grounds  that 
Strzygowski  has  been  led  to  suggest  that  the 
St.  Mark  ivories  may  have  been  made  in  the 
Pentajjolis  itself  rather  than  in  Alexandria.'" 
Hut  without  taking  refuge  in  such  distant  pos- 
sibilities it  may  legitimately  be  urged  that  Alex- 
andria, in  the  long  years  of  pros|)erity  that  pre- 
ceded the  di.sasters  of  the  seventli  century,  was 
a  place  of  great  wealth  and  activity,  rich  in 
artistic  as  well  as  intellectual  enterprise.  Such 
works  of  art  as  have  survived  can  be  no  more 
than  a  small  part  of  w'hat  was  then  jiroduced,  but 
if  our  series  of  documeiils  were  more  comijlele 
we  might  be  able  to  trace  the  rise  and  fall  of 
whole  movements  of  which  the  isolated  remains 
only  perplex  us.  And  it  can  hardly  be  denied 
that  these  ivories  have  as  valid  a  claim  to  an 
Egyptian  origin  as  almost  any  of  the  rest  men- 
tioned above. 

Such  a  claim  is  considerably  strengthened  if 
we  take  into  account  the  traditional  connec- 
tion^' of  the  St.  Mark  group  at  Milan  witli  the 
lost  Chair  of  St.  Mark  at  Grado. 

The  history  of  this  chair  is  not  altogether 
clear. ^'  So  far  as  I  know  the  first  mention  of  it 
occurs  in  the  Ar|uileian  (V^enetian)  Acts  of  the 
Evangelist, ^^  which  are  dated  by  Lipsius  "*  as 
belonging  to  the  eighth  century,  if  not  earlier; 
they  are  obviously  later  than  the  Alexandrian 
Acts,  which  recard  the  scenes  represented  in  the 
Milan  and  London  ivories  [Pl.  II,  i-vi].  Here 
the  existence  of  a  throne  or  chair  is  cited — ex 
ebore  antiquo  cathedra  poJitis  compacta  tabulis 
— made  of  polished  or  ornamented  '"  panels  of 
ivory,  already  described  as  old,  which  was  pre- 
served in  the  Cathedral  of  Grado.  It  was 
believed  to  have  been  the  chair  on  which  St. 
Mark  sat  when  writing  his  Gospel,  and  no 
Bishop  had  since  ventured  to  take  his  place  on 
it;  indeed  the  supports  had  been  heightened  to 
make  this  impossible.  The  next  reference  is  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Synod  of  Mantua  '"  in  826,  which 
state  incidentally  that  the  Chair  had  been 
brought  to  Grado  (with  the  Chair  of  St.  Herma- 

^o  In  Hellenistische  und  Koptische  Kunst,  p.  80,  where  they 
are  dated  just  before  the  Arab  domination.  The  two  currents 
of  influence  on  Early  Christian  art  in  Egypt  distinguished  by 
Strzygowski  and  otliers  would  account  for  a  good  deal  of 
divergence  in  style. 

3'  .'\dmitted  by  Bertaux,  op.  cit.,  p.  434. 

^-  Much  of  ttie  material  is  to  be  found  in  the  learned  and 
voluminous  work  of  the  Jesuit  Padre  Secchi,  La  Cattedra 
.ilessandrina  di  S.  Marco  (Venice,  1853).  This  curious  book 
is  divided  into  five  parts,  Historical,  Philological,  ArchiEO- 
logical,  Hirmeneutical  and  Dogmatic  ;  the  index  is  enlivened 
by  such  entries  as  "  Morgan  Lady  teologhessa  anglicana  e_d 
iliusioni  sue  "  !  See  aUo,  for  the  Venice  throne,  Garrucci, 
Sturia,  VI,  pp.    141  ff. 

33  A.  SS.   Boll.  April,  III,  pp.  349-50. 

s*  Die    apokryphcn    Apostelgeschichlen,    II    (2),   p.    346. 

35  I  do  not  see  why  politis  need  be  pressed  to  mean  plain 
polished.  Facciolati  refers  to  Pliny,  "  argenio  et  aiiro  polita 
anna,"  and  ivory  was  too  precious  a  material  for  ornamental 
purposes  to  be  wasted. 

30  In     De    Rubeis,     MomnMenta      Ecclesiae      .'\quileianensis, 

P-  4'5- 


192 


goras,  the  disciple  of  St.  Mark  at  Aquileia)  by 
Paul,  Patriarch  of  Aquileia  (557-569),  on  his 
flight  from  the  Lombard  invasion  in  568.  But 
in  the  Supplemcntum  to  the  Chronicle  of  Grade 
by  John  the  Deacon,"  written  between  980  and 
1008,  it  is  recorded  that  the  most  pious  Emperor 
(who  should,  if  the  reference  is  taken  strictly, 
be  Justinian  (528-565),  though  Migne  notes  that 
Heraclius  (610-41)  is  presumably  meant)  gave 
to  Primogenius  or  Primigenius  the  Patriarch 
(630-649)  the  chair  of  Blessed  Mark  the  Evan- 
gelist which  Heraclius  Augustus  had  taken  from 
Alexandria  to  the  Royal  Town  (i.e.,  Constan- 
tinople). A  variant  of  the  latter  part  of  this 
story  in  the  Venetian  Chronicle  is  that  the  chair 
was  taken  from  Alexandria  to  Constantinople  by 
the  Empress  Helena.  The  Chronicle  '^  of  the 
Doge  Andrea  Dandolo  (1342- 1354)  states  defin- 
itely that  it  was  Heraclius  who  both  took  the 
chair  from  Alexandria  to  Constantinople  and 
later  bestowed  it  on  Primigenius. 

The  balance  of  probability  seems  strongly  in 
favour  of  the  latter  of  these  two  conflicting 
accounts.  It  is  impossible  to  make  consistent 
sense  of  the  phrase  in  John  the  Deacon  as  it 
stands;  and  so  many  of  the  treasures  of  Grado 
must  have  been  taken  there  in  568  that  the  state- 
ment in  the  Acts  of  the  Mantuan  Synod  admits 
of  an  easy  explanation.  But  the  Heraclius 
story  may  very  well  be  historical.  Alexandria 
was  not  actually  taken  by  the  Mohammedan 
invaders  until  just  after  Heraclius'  death,  but 
the  troubles  caused  by  the  Persian  occupation  in 
616  may  well  have  given  an  excuse  for  the 
removal  of  such  a  precious  object  as  the  Chair, 
and  the  Emperor  had  every  reason  for  showing 
substantial  favour  to  his  protegi  Primigenius. 

In  the  Commentarii  Aquileianenses  of 
Giovanni  Candido  (Venice,  152 1)  the  writer 
notes  that  he  had  himself  seen  the  chair  in  a 
damaged  state,  decorated  with  ivory,  in  the 
sanctuary  at  Grado.''  At  this  point  some  con- 
fusion arises  owing  to  the  desire  of  Venetian 
writers  such  as  Stringa  to  identify  the  Grado 
chair  with  the  well-known  throne  of  cipollino 
now  shown  in  the  Treasury  of  St.  Mark's  at 
Venice,  which  seems  to  make  its  first  appear- 
ance there  about  1534-''°  But  this  identification 
is  definitely  disproved  by  the  evidence  of 
Palladio  degli  Ulivi  about  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  In  his  Historic  delta  Pro- 
vincia  del  Friuli  (Udine,  1660),  where  the  state- 
ment is  perhaps  more  definite  than  in  his  Latin 


37  In   Migne,   S.   L.   CXXXIX,   pp.  871  ff. 

3"  In   Muratori,    R.I.S.,  XII,  p.    114. 

3^  Vidimtis  illatn  in  sacrario  Gradensi  lacerani  ehore  con- 
sertam  (p.   13,  v.). 

*°  This  throne  is  illustrated  and  fully  discussed  by  Secehi 
and  Garrucci,  as  well  as  by  Pasini,  II  Tesoro  di  S.  Marco, 
pp.  105  ff.  What  is  supposed  to  be  a  retrograde  Hebrew 
inscription  on  it  has  been  rather  dubiously  interpreted  (by 
Professor  Barges)  as  signifying  Cathedra  Marci  qui 
EvangcUtim    ■^tabilivit   Alexandriae. 


Rerum  Foro-]uUensium  Libri  IX,  cited  in  this 
connection  by  Graeven,  he  writes  that  the  ivory 
chair  given  by  Heraclius  to  Primigenius  was  in 
his  own  day  preserved,  though  ina  ruinousstate, 
at  Grado.'"  Here  the  chair  disappears  from 
history.  That  not  the  smallest  trace  of  it 
remained  at  Grado  in  the  second  half  of  the  last 
century  is  clear  from  the  testimony  of  the  then 
parrocco  of  Grado,  Don  Giovanni  Rodaro,  cited 
by  Garrucci.  The  chair  of  St.  Hermagoras,  of 
which  no  sort  of  description  has  survived,  seems 
also  to  have  vanished ;  unless  (which  may  be 
within  the  bounds  of  possibility)  it  is  to  be 
identified,  by  some  confusion,  with  the  stone 
chair  in  the  Treasury  of  St.   Mark's. 

There  is  nothing  in  this  history  to  militate 
against  the  tradition  that  the  St.  Mark  ivories 
at  Milan,  and  with  them  the  other  reliefs  belong- 
ing to  the  group,  once  decorated  the  chair.  A 
date  before  6io  or  6i6  suits  perfectly  well  on 
other  grounds  for  them  ■*- ;  the  St.  Mark  subjects 
are  hardly  suitable  for  any  decorative  whole  that 
was  not  immediately  connected  with  the  Evan- 
gelist (the  Gospel  subjects  would  of  course  have 
been  appropriate  anywhere)  and  the  introduction 
of  St.  Menas  would  be  natural  at  Alexandria. 
Excepting  for  the  tradition  as  to  the  Milan  set 
none  of  the  ivories  concerned  can  be  traced  back 
(so  far  as  I  know)  beyond  the  nineteenth 
century,  with  the  exception  of  the  British 
Museum  Raising  of  Lazarus.  This  was  for- 
merly at  Amalfi,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Andrew,*' 
and  afterwards  in  the  eighteenth  century  (when 
it  was  engraved  by  Verkruys  for  Gori)  in  the 
Museum  of  the  Convent  of  the  Holy  Apostles  at 
Naples.  But  we  have  seen  that  the  Grado  chair 
was  already  mutilated  by  152 1,  and  more  than 
one  panel  might  have  been  detached  from  it  even 
before  that  date. 

The  Throne  of  Maximian  at  Ravenna  is  the 
only  ivory  chair  of  about  the  same  period  which 
has  survived,  and  from  this,  though  it  has  never 
fallen  into  complete  disrepair,  panels  have  at 
various  times  been  detached.  From  it  we  may 
perhaps  form  some  idea  of  what  the  Grado  chair 
was  like.".    On  the  sides  are  ten  panels,  vary- 

11  E  composta  d'avorio,  <S^  hoggidi  si  coitserva,  benche 
deieriorata  del  tempo  (p.  51).  The  Latin  text  has  :  Iliiiiis 
sedis  tion  memoria  tanttim,  sed  structura  etiam  iiitegra  ad 
nostra  tempora  pervcnit,  qiiam  ebore  intersectatn  se  Gradi 
vidisse   refert   Candidus  (p.    q8). 

■*2  There  is  of  course  the  possibility  that  these  reliefs, 
though  they  may  have  decorated  the  Chair,  were  added  to  it 
after  it  was  brought  to  Grado;  but  the  evidence  of  the  Acts, 
that  the  ivories  were  already  old  not  later  than  the  eighth 
century,  is  strongly  against  such  an  hypothesis. 

■•3  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  Raising  of  La::arus  was 
sent  to  Amalfi  by  Pius  II.  But  Gori  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  no)  only 
says  that  it  decorated  a  shrine,  the  relics  in  which  had  befn 
presented  by  Pius  II. 

■•*  It  is  hairdly  worth  while  to  refer  here  to  the  Chair  of 
St.  Peter,  enshrined  in  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  (cf.  Garrucci, 
Storia,  vi,  pi.  412),  which  has  never  been  adequately  photo- 
graphed and  is  completely  inaccessible  to  students  ;  its  decora- 
tion includes  ivory  reliefs  of  uncertain  date,  some  of  which 
represent    the    Labours  of   Hercules.     The    ivory   "  Throne   of 


193 


ing  to  some  degree  in  size,  with  ilie  slorv  of 
Joseph;  the  iiirved  b;ick  was  deioralcil  wilh 
sixteen  more,  eiglit  of  them  i-;irveil  on  both  sule.s, 
to  show  twenty-four  si-enes  from  the  earlier  part 
of  the  Gospel  slory  (from  tlie  Annunciation  lo 
the  Mirailes)),  while  ihe  lower  pari  of  ilu-  from 
has  elaborate  decorative  panels  and  five  full- 
length  figures  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  ilu- 
Hvangelists  on  a  much  larger  scale/^  If  the 
Grado  chair  was  adorned  to  a  similar  extent  it 
may  well  have  carrieil  thirty  or  more  i)antls. 
And  if  we  are  justifuHl,  as  1  belie\e  that  we  are, 
in  regarding  the  twelve  ivories  under  discus- 
sion as  having  once  been  among  them,  we  mav 
imagine  that  lliev  incluiled  two  sets  t)f  upright 
panels,  of  approximately  the  s<ime  dimensions, 
with  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Si.  Mark  and  the 
Gospel  story,  and  another  set  of  smaller  jaanels 
with  single  saints,  probably  saints  more  or  less 
connected  with  Alexandria. 

But  before  such  a  conclusion  can  be  accepted 
it  is  necessary  to  consider  the  reasons  which  led 
Bertaux  (whose  too  early  death,  directly  due  to 
his  patriotic  devotion  during  the  war,  is  surelv 
one  of  the  heaviest  losses  that  art  criticism  has 
recently  sustained)  to  ascribe  the  whole  series  of 
these  ivories  to  the  eleventh  century  and  to  a 
South  Italian  school.  These  reasons  (which  had 
independently  led  V'enturi  to  similar  conclu- 
sions) have  been  sufTicient  to  convince  such 
authorities  as  Millet^'"  and  Dalton,^'  the  latter 
of  whom  had  previously  ■"*  agreed  with  the  sixth 
century  date  assigned  to  them  by  Graeven  ;  and 
I  feel  very  considerable  hesitation  in  differing 
from  them. 

Unfortunately  the  Salerno  paliotto,  on  com- 
parisons with  which  the  whole  discussion  must 
turn,  has  never  been  really  adecjuately  pub- 
lished, and  no  large  photographs  from  it  (so 
far  as  I  know)  are  available  for  study.  Ihe  best 
account  of  it  is  in  Bertaux,  L' Art  dans  I'ltulie 
Meridionale,  pp.  43off-,  where  all  the  panels 
with  figure  subjects  at  Salerno,  as  well  as  the 
isolated  panels  at  Berlin,  Buda-Pesth  and  Paris, 
are  illustrated  by  very  small  collotype  reproduc- 
tions of  photographs;  the  half-tone  reproduc- 
tions in  V'enturi's  Storia  dell'  Arte  Italiana,  II, 
Figs.  458-469,  which  are  equally  reduced, 
include  the  decorative  panels  at  Salerno  but  not 
the  figure  panels  outside  Italy.  There  is  a  com- 
plete set  of  casts  (unfortunately  not  very  good 
casts)  from  the  panels  of  the  paliotto  itself  (not 

Ivcn  l!i"  ."t  ti.e  Kremlin  was  said  to  have  been  brought 
fr-oni  Constantinople  in  the  fifteenth  century,  but  to  judge 
from  the  reproduction  in  Maskell's  Ivories  (1905),  PI.  XXV, 
there  is  not  much  Byzantine  work  visible  on  it  ;  the  same 
plate  also  gives   an   illustration  of   the   Chair  of   St.    Peter. 

■"•^  It  is  quite  clear  that  the  ivory  panels  of  the  Ravenna 
Throne  are  not  all  by  the  same  hand,  and  they  differ  con- 
siderably in  merit. 

■»6  Recherches   sur  I'Icotiographie    de    I'Evaiigile,   p.    249. 

•"  Catalogue    of   Ivory    Carvings,    No.    27. 

*^  Catalogue  of  Early  Christian  and  Byzantine  Aiilitjuities, 
No.  296. 


including  the  .separate  p.inels,  except  the  one  at 
Berlin)  at  .Soutli  Kensingion,  and  another  at 
Najiles;  .it  .South  Kensington  there  are  also 
earlier  ami  rather  belter  casts  of  ten  of  ihe  panels 
of  the  puiiotit)  from  which  the  illustrations 
I  Pis.  Ill,  ,\,  and   1\',  c-i;J  have  been  taken. 

The  paliotto,  as  it  has  Ijeen  irregularly  recon- 
structed at  a  comparatively  recent  date,  consists 
of  eighteen  large  upright  ivory  panels,  24  centi- 
metres high  (nearly  t^J  inches),  and  of  varying 
wielili — the  panel  with  the  Miracle  of  Cana  is 
just  over  1.3  centimetres  wide — each  of  which 
(with  one  exception)  contains  two  scenes  from 
Ihe  Gospel  story;  of  twelve  oblong  panels, 
iji  centimetres  high  and  about  2,3  centimetres 
wide,  each  with  two  scenes  from  the  earl)-  part 
of  the  Old  'Icstament ;  and  of  decorative 
borders,  with  twelve  heads  of  .saints,  and  strips 
of  foliage  with  birds  and  animals.  Half  of  one 
of  the  upright  panels  is  separately  preserved  at 
Salerno,  half  of  another  at  Berlin  ;  two  complete 
oblong  panels  and  halves  of  tvso  others  are 
separately  preserved  at  Salerno,  there  is  a  com- 
i^lele  oblong  panel  at  the  Louvre  and  a  half 
|)anel  at  Buda-Pesth.  The  range  of  subjects, 
as  rearranged  and  identified  by  Bertaux,  extends 
from  the  V'isitation  to  the  Descent  of  the  Holy 
Gho.st  at  Pentecost,  and  from  the  Beginning  of 
Creation  to  the  Giving  of  the  Law  on  Sinai  ; 
but  at  least  one  pair  of  subjects  is  missing  at  the 
end  of  the  second  series,  and  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  the  first  series  must  have  begun  with 
a  panel  the  upper  half  of  which  represented  the 
Annunciation.^'-' 

On  general  stvlislic  grounds  it  seems  pretty 
clear  that  these  ivories  belong  to  the  eleventh  or 
twelfth  ''"  century.  Pope  Gregory  VII  con- 
.secrated  an  altar  at  Salerno  for  Robert  Guiscard 
in  1084,  and  this  date  would  fit  well  enough  with 
the  few  details  (such  as  the  helmets  in  tlie  scenes 
of  tlie  Magi  before  Herod  and  the  Massacre  of 
the  Innocents)  [Pl.  IV,  c]  that  suggest  con- 
tem])orary  costume. 

An  examination  of  the  casts,  or  even  of  the 
small  reprtiductions  in  Bertaux  or  Venturi, 
makes  it  cjuite  clear  that  there  is  a  definite  and 
sometimes  a  close  relation  between  the  Salerno 
ivories  and  the  group  that  has  been  a.ssociated 
wilh  Grado.  In  the  absence  of  available  photo- 
graphs it  would  hardly  be  worth  while  to  specify 
the  manv  general  points  of  resemblance;  the 
piled-up  architectural  backgrounds,  with  small 
domes  and  pointed  roofs,  that  occur  in  so  many 
of  the  Salerno  panels;  the  heavy  folds  and 
fringes  of  the  dress  worn  by  the  Virgin  in  the 
Salerno  Visitation  and  a  seated  woman  in  the 
Salerno  Nativity  [Pl.  IV,  d]  recalling  the  dress 

i^  There  are  isolated  panels  from  another,  closely  similar, 
set  of  ivories  with  Gospel  subjects  at  South  Kensingtoti 
(701-1884   and   238-1867)   Berlin,    Bologna,  and   the   Louvre. 

5"  But  hardly,  I  think,  as  Venturi  suggests  (Ic,  p.  621) 
to  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century. 


194 


of  the  Virgin  in  the  Trivulzio  Annuncitiiion  ; 
the  agitated  movement  of  tiie  Salerno  Shep- 
herds [Pl.  IV,  c]  in  their  short,  sleeveless 
tunics,  girdled  like  those  of  the  servants  in 
the  South  Kensington  Marriage  of  Cana.  But 
in  two  specific  instances  the  relation  is  much 
closer.  In  the  Salerno  Raising  of  Lazarus 
[Pl.  Ill,  b]  the  figure  of  Christ  and  of  the  man 
who  follows  him  can  hardly  have  been  designed 
independently  of  the  British  Museum  Raising 
of  Lazarus;  and  the  definite  correspondence  of 
the  Salerno  Marriage  of  Cana  ''  with  the  South 
Kensington  ivory  has  already  been  pointed  out. 

This  relation  can  of  course  be  explained  by 
supposing  both  groups  to  belong  to  the  same 
school  and  period.  Ikit  the  difference  in  style 
is  hardly  less  clear  than  the  resemblances  noted 
above.  To  take  one  example  alone,  the  treat- 
ment of  the  eyes  in  the  Salerno  ivories,  with 
their  heavily  emphasised  pupils  and  overhang- 
ing upper  lids,  is  conspicuously  difTerent  from 
that  of  the  eyes  in  the  St.  Mark  series;  and  this 
is  only  one  of  a  number  of  similar  distinctive 
peculiarities  of  technique.  Again,  the  inscrip- 
tions that  occur  on  the  Salerno  ivories  (on  the 
Crucifixion  panel  and  the  first  panel  of  the 
Creation)  are  in  Latin ;  the  inscriptions  on  the 
Grado group  [Pl.  II,  i,  ii  and  Pl.  Ill,  vii,  x]  are 
in  Greek,  incised  or  [Pl.  II,  i,  and  Pl.  Ill,  vii] 
in  relief. 

But  if  the  two  groups  are  not  of  the  same 
school  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  them  to 
be  of  the  same  period.  A  comparison  between 
the  two  compositions  of  the  Miracle  of  Cana 
makes  it  certain  that  while  the  Salerno  relief 
might  verv  well  have  been  copied  or  adapted 
from  that'  at  South  Kensington  the  reversed 
relation  would  be  impossible ;  and  the  same 
applies  (with  much  less  certainty)  to  the  two 
compositions  of  the  Raising  of  Lasarus.  In 
both  cases  we  see  a  narrow  upright  design 
adapted  with  more  or  less  success  to  a  horizontal 
oblong.  Tiie  Raising  of  Lazarus  is  a  common 
subject  in  Early  Christian  art,  and  the  Salerno 
relief  adds  the  figure  (common  in  typically 
Byzantine  renderings)  of  the  man  unwinding 
the  grave-clothes.  But  the  group  of  three 
.servants  with  wine-skin,  cup  and  jar  occurs  in 
no  other  known  representation  of  the  Miracle  of 
Cana;  and  when  we  see  how  at  Salerno  the 
characteristically  classical  details  have  been  mis- 
understood, so  that  the  clavi  on  the  tunics  have, 
become  detached  strips,  and  the  long  slender 
alabasfron  has  apparently  turned  into  a  stirring 
rod,  it  becomes  exceedingly  probable  that  the 
.Salerno  ivorv  was  actually  imitated  from  the 
ivory  now  acquired  for  South  Kensington. 

Once  this  can  be  admitted  the  whole  problem 


s'  Tlie  upper  part  of  the  Salerno  Miracle  of  Cana,  with  its 
Imost  Sassanian  figure  of  the  "  ruler  of  the  feast,"  is  clearly 


suggestive  of  an  Eastern  origin. 


becomes  soluble.  If  we  suppose  that  the  makers 
of  the  paliotto  "  had  access  to  the  chair  of  St. 
Mark  in  its  complete  state,  nothing  is  more 
natural  than  that  they,  like  so  many  other  crafts- 
men of  the  eleventh  century  revival  of  the 
plastic  arts,  should  have  profited  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  earlier  work,  copying  or  adapting  the 
Gospel  scenes  which  were  of  common  interest 
and  ignoring  the  episodes  in  the  Life  of  St. 
Mark  which  appealed  only  to  districts  where  he 
was  specially  venerated  as  the  introducer  of  the 
Faith.  There  are  many  panels  at  Salerno  where 
h-^  influence  seems  completely  difTerent;  but 
'Jiere  are  others,  particularly  among  the  Miracle 
subjects,  where  it  is  tempting  to  imagine  a 
reflection  from  a  lost  narrow  upright  composi- 
tion like  those  in  the  Grado  group."  And  such 
a  relationship  would  completely  explain  the 
resemblances  of  architecture  and,  above  all,  of 
costume  which  (as  I  believe),  misled  Bertaux  in 
tentatively  assigning  the  same  period  to  both 
groups. 

The  opinion  of  Bertaux,  though  it  has  been 
widely  accepted,  is  expressed  with  extreme 
caution.  He  admits''''  that  it  is  difficult  to 
suppose  that  "  the  costume  of  Alexandria  in  the 
seventh  century"  came  into  fashion  again  in 
Campania  in  the  eleventh,  or  that  St.  Menas 
was  a  figure  likely  to  appeal  to  an  Italian  artist 
of  that  date.  And  his  conclusion  is  this  :  "  La 
question  ne  peut  etre  actuellement  tranchee  :  les 
modeles  de  I'autel  de  Salerne  seront  inconnus 
tant  que  les  origines  des  ivoires  de  Milan 
resteront  douteuses."  I  venture  to  believe  that 
the  newlv  acquired  ivorv  of  the  Miracle  of  Cana, 
here  published  for  the  first  time,  shows  where 
one  at  least  of  the  models  of  the  paliotto  is  to  be 
found,  and  that  its  characteristics  go  far  to 
support  the  traditional  view  that  the  Milan 
ivories,  and  the  others  grouped  with  them,  were 
carved  in  (or  at  any  rate  for)  Alexandria  about 
'he  sixth  century  to  decorate  that  lost  Chair  of 
St.  Mark  which  for  so  many  centuries  adorned 
in  Grado  the  remote  and  ancient  church  now 
returned  by  the  issues  of  the  war  into  Italian 
hands^ 

52  There  is  not,  as  far  as  I  l^now,  any  conclusive  ground 
for  maintaining  that  the  Salerno  ivories  were  actually  m.ide 
in  Southern  Italy  ;  thev  are  quite  isolated  in  style  and  might 
perhaps  have  been  brought  from  the  North,  though  the  pre- 
sumption that  they    were  made    in   Campania   is   a   legitimate 

one. 

53  The  original  of  the  Salerno  Nativity,  or  at  any  rate  an 
earlier  stage  in  the  development  of  the  composition,  is.  I 
believe,  to  be  found  in  a  curious  oblong  ivory  panel  published 
from  the  Chalandon  Collection  bv  Migeon  in  Les  Arts, 
June,  1905.  p.  22.  This  panel  appears  to  be  very  closely 
related  to  the  Grado  ivories;  a  little  niche  with  a  hanging 
lamp  and  a  pierced  screen  below  almost  repeats  those  on  the 
Milan  St.  Menas,  the  recumbent  Virgin  recalls  the  standing 
firture  in  the  Trivulzio  Annunciation,  and  the  ornamentation 
of  the  couch  recurs  on  the  arch  in  the  Milan  Consecration 
[Pl  II,  vi].  Migeon  dates  it  sixth-seventh  century:  but  it 
is  difficult  to  judge  from  the  publfshed  reproduction  whether 
it  can  be  by  the  same  artists  as  any  of  the  Grado  ivories. 

5*  L.c,  p.  435. 


195 


CHINESE 
LEONARD 
RV    R.    L. 


PORCELAIN 
GOW— VL 
HOBSON 


IN     THE     COLLECTION     OF     MR. 


^--i^^^ac-rC)  oHf  wlio  compares  our  large  coi- 
U  lOwr^  ))  li'ilioiis   of    I'airopean    and   C'liinesi- 

l^tVX^N  iH>ivt"lain  can  fail  to  notice  the  rela- 
tive preponderance  of  statuettes  and 
i:froups  of  fitjures  amoncf  the  western 
wares,  it  is  not  that  llio  Chinese  lacked  in  anv 
way  the  aptitude  for  this  kintl  of  ceramic  work. 
They  have,  on  the  contrary,  shown  exceptional 
skill  in  figure  modelling  when  they  have  turned 
their  attention  to  it.  The  scarcity  is  due  rather 
to  the  limitations  which  they  have  voluntarily 
imposed  on  their  choice  of  .subjects.  If  we  ex- 
clude the  Buddhist  and  Taoi.st  divinities  and  a 
few  deified  mortals,  Chinese  figures  in  human 
form  will  be  exceedingly  rare.  \'or  is  the  Ea.stern 
modeller  restricted  only  in  the  range  of  his  sub- 
jects. Any  individuality  he  may  possess  is  apt 
to  be  obscured  by  the  enforced  observance  of 
conventions  and  set  types.  The  genre  figures 
inspired  by  everyday  life  which  offered  a  limit- 
less field  to  the  European  modeller  have  been  for 
the  most  part  neglected  by  the  Chinese.  The 
result  is  that  the  rare  exceptions  of  this  type 
have  a  greatly  enhanced  interest;  and  it  is 
refreshing  to  turn  from  the  superhuman  dignity 
of  Buddhist  saints  and  the  exaggerated  ferocitv 
of  demon  faces  to  such  naive  and  lifelike  repre- 
sentations as  those  illustrated  in  Plate  I. 

Modelled  with  a  simple  directness  which  cap- 
tures our  immediate  sympathy,  this  lady  and 
gentleman  are  so  obviou.sly  human  and  Chinese 
that  they  seem  to  bring  us  into  intimate  touch 
with  Chinese  familiar  life.  Their  gaily  brocaded 
costumes,  which  show  incidentally  how  little  dif- 
ference there  is  in  China  between  male  and 
female  attire,  are  just  those  of  two  well-to-do 
persons  in  "  Sunday  dress  ".  The  man  wears 
a  pigtail  unconcernedly  thrown  over  his  left 
shoulder,  showing  that  he  at  least  felt  no  resent- 
ment against  the  Manchus  who  imposed  this 
fashion  of  headdress;  and  in  his  right  hand  he 
carries  what  appears  to  be  the  shaft  of  a  ju-'i 
sceptre.  The  characters  ju  i  mean  "as  vou 
wish  ",  and  the  good-luck  sceptre  to  which  they 
give  their  name  was  a  suitable  gift  at  marriages, 
on  birthdays,  and  at  the  New  Year.  The  ladv 
carries  a  lotus  frond  in  her  right  hand  and  a  bud 
in  her  left,  which  may  or  mav  not  have  a 
religious  significance;  and  her  hair  is  neatlv 
coiled  upon  her  head. 

To  the  porcelain  collector  the  technique  of 
these  figures  is  of  no  little  interest.  While  much 
of  the  enamelling  is  on  the  biscuit,  the  decorator 
has  not  hesitated  to  insert  patches  of  glaze  where 


his  projected  colours  would  re(]uire  thai  medium 
for  their  proper  development.  Thus  in  the  man's 
costume  the  yellow  of  the  under  robe,  the  green 
of  the  over  garment,  and  the  green,  yellow, 
aubergine  and  violet  blue  of  the  brocade  flowers 
area[)plied  direct  to  the  biscuit,  while  the  patches 
of  glaze  are  decorated  with  underglaze  blue  and 
overglaze  coral  red  and  gold.  The  hair  and  a 
few  other  details  are  black.  The  hands  and  face 
are  biscuit  with  a  thin  wash  of  almost  colourless 
green,  and  the  raw  biscuit  emerges  only  at  the 
ba.se. 

The  dress  of  the  companion  figure  is  similarly 
treated.  Her  coat  of  brilliant  leaf  green  is  bro- 
caded with  chry.santhemum  flowers  and  covers  a 
garment  of  aubergine  ;  and  her  under  robe  is  of 
very  pale  brownish  green  brocaded  with  lotus 
scrolls.  The  colouring  throughout  is  exception- 
ally good;  and  both  figures  are  modelled  in  a 
delightful  naturalistic  style  without  any  trace  of 
stiffness  or  conventionalism.  They  are  cleverly 
built  up  so  as  to  stand  on  the  bases  of  the  robes 
and  the  feet  which  emerge  in  front,  without  the 
aid  of  rock  or  tree  trunk  or  any  other  adven- 
titious support.  Three  smaller  figures  of  the 
same  type  are  illustrated  by  Gorer  &  Blacker,' 
and  there  is  another  in  the  Salting  Collection  in 
the  \'ictoria  and  Albert  Museum. 

On  the  right  and  left  of  Plate  II  is  a  pair  of 
covered  jars  which  may  once  have  formed  part 
of  a  set  of  five.  They  have  a  form  and  plan  of 
decoration  which  one  associates  with  some  of  the 
finer  K'ang  Hsi  blue-and-white ;  but  here  the 
design  is  expressed  in  rich  famille  verte  colours 
with  a  predominance  of  coral  red.  The  centre 
of  the  field  is  occupied  by  the  well  known  "  rose 
and  ticket  "  pattern  without  the  tickets;  but  the 
large  rose-peonies  are  not  white,  but  violet,  blue 
and  aubergine,  lighted  occasionally  with  gold, 
and  the  foliage  scrolls  are  pale  green, 
while  the  pulsating  blue  ground  is  replaced 
by  a  rich  mottled  red.  This  design  is 
enclosed  by  two  deep  bands  of  lappets 
shaped  like  the  head  of  the  jii-i  staff,  with  stiff 
leaves  between,  each  member  of  the  pattern 
being  edged  with  blue  and  filled  with  arabesque 
flowers  in  a  pale  green  ground.  On  the 
shoulders  are  symbols  :  and  there  are  borders  of 
brocade  diaper.  The  necks  and  covers  are  decor- 
ated to  match.  Vases  of  the  same  type  and  size, 
though  by  no  means  common,  are  to  be  seen  in 
the  celebrated  collection  of  Augustus  the  Strong 

i^Chinese  Porcelain  and  Hard  Stones,  PI.  XC.  One  is 
described  very  unconvincingly  as  a  Kuan-yin  and  the  otlier  two 
as  court   ladies. 


196 


.^ 


r 


Plate  I.       Figures  of  a  Chinese  lady  and  gentleman,  famille  verte   porcelain.      Height  (ot  lady)    14" 
K'ang  Hsi  period.      (Mr.  Leonard  Gow.) 


,^1 


v  .— 


0-2- 


< 


< 
n 

n 


TP 


< 


at  Dresden  and  among  the  ornaments  at  Buck- 


ingham Palace. 


Between  these  two  jars  is  one  of  those  hand- 
some square,  club-shaped  vases  which  are 
usually  decorated  with  pictures  of  the  flowers  of 
the  four  seasons.  In  this  case  the  facets  are 
painted  with  varieties  of  the  beautiful  prunus 
design.  On  two  sides  we  have  the  prunus  with 
birds,  and  on  the  other  two  the  prunus  and 
moon,  a[5parcntly  representing  the  lovely  tree  by 
dav  and  night.  Ornamental  rocks  and  graceful 
bamboos  are  the  usual  adjuncts.  This  frequent 
but  never  stale  design  had  long  been  a  favourite 
with  Chinese  artists.  Dr.  Ferguson'  describes 
a  well-known  scroll  in  which  "the  Prunus  is 
painted  in  its  four  stages  of  development — first 

-  Outlines  of  Chinese  Art,  Chicago,  1918,  p.   237. 


with  wintry  branches,  then  with  flowers  and  no 
leaves,  again  with  flowers  and  leaves,  and  lastly 
in  its  spring  appearance.  A  pair  of  birds  appro- 
priate to  the  period  of  development  is  found  in 
each  of  the  four  paragraphs."  He  tells  us 
further  that  a  picture  of  birds  hovering  over 
branches  of  prunus  and  hibiscus  was  painted  by 
Chao  Ch'ang  in  the  eleventh  century.  The 
porcelain  printers  delighted  in  rendering  these 
pictures,  as  on  our  vase,  in  the  beautiful  famille 
verte  enamels  against  a  background  of  graded 
black  pigment  washed  with  transparent  green. 
The  decoration  of  the  neck  of  the  vase  consists 
of  birds  and  rocks  and  flowering  plants;  and  on 
the  shoulders  there  is  a  brocade  pattern  of 
peonies  in  a  yellow  ground.  Under  the  base  is 
the  K'ang  Hsi  mark  in  a  sunk  panel. 


REVIEWS 

ROMISCHE  UND  RoMANISCHE  Palasti-,  by  Karl  M.  Swaboda. 
279  pp.  Illust.  (Kunstverlag  Anton  Schroll  &  Co.,  Vienna). 
40  m. 

This  is  a  learned  historical  investigation  into 
the  development  of  domestic  architecture  roughly 
from  the  ist  century  to  the  12th.  The  author 
traces  the  descent  of  palace  and  villa  design  from 
the  original  hellenistic  forms  at  Pergamon  and 
Priene.  He  points  out  how  the  peristyle  was 
the  dominant  feature,  and  added  to  it  the  occiis 
or  living-room  with  its  prostas  or  verandah,  a 
combination  similar  to  the  arrangement  of  a 
templum  in  antis.  He  finds  a  relation  to  this 
type  in  the  Domus  .Augustana  at  Rome,  and 
shows  how  the  Roman  town  house  elaborated 
the  earlier  forms  with  the  atrium,  courtyard  and 
great  peristyle  garden ;  as  for  example  the  house 
of  the  Faun  at  Pompeii.  Seneca  and  Cicero 
are  produced  as  witnesses  and  help  us  to  under- 
stand how  the  great  Roman  villas  were  really 
town  houses  in  the  country,  like  the  villa  at 
Chiragan  (Garonne).  Next  we  have  the  portico 
villa,  a  smaller  type  generally  and  often  a  rect- 
angle with  an  open  colonnade  down  one  side. 
Details  at  Silchester  illustrate  it.  Another 
development  is  the  U-form,  like  the  Golden 
Hou.se  of  Nero  and  the  villa  at  Tetingen,  and 
the  combination  of  this  with  both  the  portico 
type  and  the  peristyle.  Admirable  plans  and 
some  photographs  from  mosaics  illustrate  the 
argument.  The  fusion  of  the  portico-type  with 
the  U-form  became  the  dominant  form  and 
developed  by  shortening  the  portico  between 
the  wings  and  by  withdrawing  the  wings  them- 
selves to  mere  massive  blocks  of  building  to  the 
important  "  Portikusvilla  mit  Eckrisaliten." 
This  type,  the  author  shows  us,  continued  to  the 
end  of  antiquity  and  beyond.  There  is  a  good 
example  of  it  at  Mansfield  Woodhouse  and 
another  in  the  great  villa  at  Hennig.  The  palace 


at  Flie.ssem  is  important  as  it  multiplies  the 
standard  plan  to  great  elaboration.  Local  tra- 
dition became  strong  about  500  a.d.,  and  though 
a  faint  reflection  of  the  underlying  type  is  some- 
times apparent,  cross  influences  almost  obliter- 
ated it.  The  Palace  of  Diocletian  at  Spalato 
shows  the  influence  of  military  requirements,  and 
in  North  Syria  and  Asia  such  buildings  as  the 
villa  at  Djemmerin  and  the  Pandocheion  at 
Tourmanin  show  an  almost  complete  indepen- 
dence. However,  the  author  labours  to  include 
them  in  his  pedigree,  and  thereby  wearies  the 
reader.  In  chapter  vi,  for  instance,  the  Fondaco 
dei  Turchi  at  Venice  is  brought  up  as  a  building 
absolutely  based  on  late  Roman  villa  plans, 
owing  to  the  arrangement  of  its  facade  with  two 
rows  of  arches  (Portikos)  between  two  solid 
masses  of  buildings  (Eckrisaliten).  The  author 
lavs  so  much  stress  on  the  similarity  as  to  sug- 
gest that  the  architect  of  the  building  was  guided 
only  bv  the  desire  to  follow  tradition.  1  think 
it  much  more  probable  that  the  arrangement  was 
dictated  bv  the  necessity  to  concentrate  the  max- 
imum amount  of  light  into  the  centre  of  the 
building  from  a  flat  front  on  a  crowded  street. 
One  might  as  well  say  the  south  front  of  the 
Piccadilly  Hotel  was  based  on  later  Roman  villa 
designs  and  not  on  the  necessity  to  light  the  back 
of  the  Regent  Street  rooms.  This  book  then 
suffers  from  the  burden  of  a  difficult  argument, 
and  is  less  valuable  therefore  to  architects  than 
to  historical  students.  The  latter  will  be  inter- 
ested in  the  notes  on  Carolingian  castles  with 
which  it  ends.  A.  s.  G.  B. 

The  Vasari  Society  for  the  Reproductions  of  Drawings 
BY  Old  Masters.  •  Second  Series.  Part  I.  Oxford  Univer- 
sity  Press.     1920. 

We  compliment  the  Vasari  Society  firstly  on 
the  reappearance  of  their  Portfolio  in  a  convenient 
size,  and  on  their  attention  to  humdrum  practical 


ZQl 


deuiil,  siuli  as  tlu'  iiiilitv  of  tlu-ir  tlesiiiptive 
notes.  These,  now  issued  in  t)Ota\\>,  can  really 
be  referred  lo  with  ease.  Secoiuliy,  we  are  ylacl 
of  the  wider  range  of  tlie  drawings  reproduced. 
Though  the  more  modern  drawings  may  be  re- 
garded as  an  earnest  of  future  policy  as  mucii  as 
in  tliemselvcs  a  complete  |)erformance,  we  are 
grateful.  Too  often  learned  Societies  fall  to 
attaching  a  superstitious  and  specialist  import- 
ance to  drawings  because  tliey  are  old  or  puzzling 
or  rare.  None  of  these  considertaions  really 
reconciles  one  to  poverty  of  aesthetic  stimulus. 
\\'e  can  conceive,  for  instance,  no  interest  other 
than  academic  being  whetted  by  the  antiquarian 
attractions  of  tlie  Hausbuch  Master's  Stained 
Glass  design  or  the  unknown  Paduan's  Knight 
in  a  ]]'ood.  Nor  is  the  example  of  tlie  usually 
over-rated,  if  fashionable,  Altdorfer  likely  to 
quicken  perception.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Portfolio  is  worth  while  for  a  number  of  fertilising 
influences.  Foremost  we  rank  I.eonardo's  Rider 
on  a  diilloping  IJorsc  ;  and  Rembrandt's  .S^/'/'c')' 
al  Emmaiis  ("  and  He  vanished  out  of  their 
sight  "),  surely  the  most  efficient  expression  in 
all  art  of  spiritual  imagination.  The  suggestion 
of  corporeal  matter  swifilv  translated  into  ghostly 
passing  light  is  miraruious;  the  rendering  of  the 
disciples'  natural  amazement  unique.  Next  we 
place  Van  Dyck's  brilliant  note  of  actually  seen 
landscape.  In  comparison  Corot's  Landscape 
Study,  the  Gainsborough  compositions  and  Cor- 

MONTHLY   CHRONICLE 

City  Churches. — We  have  received  a  con- 
siderable number  of  signatures  from  readers  and 
their  friends  who  wish  to  support  us  in  our  appeal 
in  favour  of  the  retention  of  Wren's  Churches, 
but  we  know  that  many  who  are  of  our  opinion 
in  the  matter  have  not  vet  sent  in  their  names. 
We  shall  be  grateful  if  readers  -will  do  so  now,  as 
"we  -wish  as  large  a  list  of  names  as  possible.  The 
appeal  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  London  is  framed 
in  the  most  moderate  and  friendly  spirit,  and  no 
hesitation  need  be  felt  by  those  who  sympathise 
with  the  difficulties  confronting  the  Church.  The 
words  "  City  Churches  "  with  signature  and  ad- 
dress on  a  postcard  is  sufficient.  A  list  of  signa- 
tures will  be  published  later.  In  the  meantime 
we  thank  all  who  have  responded.  Will  those 
who  have  sent  letters  in  support  of  our  step  ac- 
cept our  gratitude  and  excuse  any  further 
acknow  ledgment  than  this  note  ? 

Apkii.  Exhibitions. — Among  the  exhibitions 
open  during  April,  a  full  list  of  which  will  be 
found  on  p.  ii  of  our  advertisement  columns,  are 
those  of  the  R.B.A.  and  the  R-S.W.  Messrs. 
Colnaghi  will  exhibit  water  colour  drawings  by 
Muirhead  Bone  and  D.  S.  MacColl.  The  Fridav 
Club  are  showing  at  the  Mansard  Gallery  and 
the  Goupil  Gallery  have  a  collection  of  Modern 


reggio's  rei'i])e  notes  are  uncniixincing.  They 
ajjpear  mere  ri'pelilions  of  lircd  itlcas,  ain.uh'  in 
the  artists'  heatls,  rather  than  (he  mettlesome 
expression  of  some  discovery  which  generated 
new  imimlse.  Blake's  famous  River  of  Life 
seems  to  us  to  li.ill  :  ii  is  not  a  spontaneous  or 
"aulornalic"  transciiption,  made  as  it  were  under 
|)oss('ssion  of  a  living  vision,  so  much  as  a  careful 
morning  reconstruction  of  a  dimly  remembered 
dream.  And  we  confess  that  the  "  suburban  " 
George  l\"lii  l\|ic  of  Blake's  celeslial  ligures 
impedes  our  pleasure  h\  imphing  either  an  im- 
perfect apprehension  of  visions  vouchsafed,  or  a 
parochial  invention.  Very  different  in  apparent 
authenticity  of  vision  are  the  Job  masterpieces. 
Nor  can  we  honestly  declare  that  the  puerility  of 
this  conception  of  Paradise  makes  no  difference 
to  our  estimate  of  Blake's  rank  as  a  Seer. 
Ailmirers  of  Watts  will  rightly  be  confirmed  in 
their  re.spect  by  the  fine  drawing  of  a  J^ude 
ivoman  stooping,  which  holds  its  own  surpris- 
ingly with  a  Nude  by  Alfred  Stevens:  indeed 
it  makes  the  Stevens  look  a  little  tame.  Rossetti's 
admirers  will  welcome  the  tensely  characteristic 
Miss  Siddal  of  1S54.  The  collotype  reproduc- 
tions are  excellent.  c.  H.  coij.ins  baker. 

The  Antiquaries'  Journal. — The  Journal  of 
the  Society  of  Anticjuaries  of  London.  Vol.  I., 
No.  I.  Jan.,  192 1.  (Oxford  University  Press). 
5s.  We  draw  attention  to  this  important  new 
quarterly  and  wish  it  every  success. 


British  and  French  paintings.  At  the  Leicester 
Gallery  there  will  be  some  work  by  Wyndham 
Lewis,  and  at  the  Alpine  Club,  Modern  British 
art.  A  collection  of  modern  French  paintings 
will  be  on  view  at  the  Independent  Gallery.  We 
reproduce  on  the  accompanying  plate  one  of  an 
interesting  series  of  drawings  by  Marchand  in- 
cluded in  the  last-mentioned  exhibition.  The 
paintings  by  French  artists  which  form  the 
greater  part  of  the  exhibition  comprise  what  is 
perhaps  the  most  important  collection  we  have 
seen  at  this  gallery.  The  large  Matisse  oil  of 
Skates  on  the  Beach  seems  to  sum  up  all  that  the 
artist  stands  for.  Its  singular  simplicity  and 
frankness  are  repeated  in  the  little  picture  of 
boats  on  the  sands  which  is  one  of  the  most  ex- 
quisite works  of  art  of  our  day.  There  is  a  char- 
acteristic Degas  pastel  of  two  dancers,  and  a 
large  unfinished  oil  by  the  same  artist,  in  which 
his  technique  can  be  studied  with  unusual  ease. 
There  are  a  number  of  examples  of  Segonzac  both 
in  oil  and  line,  an  important  Frieze,  several 
Marchand  landscapes  with  a  still  life,  and  the 
drawings  just  mentioned.  Among  the  other 
exhibits  are  some  examples  of  Frelaut,  an  artist 
whose  work  impresses  one  more  and  more  as  it 
becomes  familiar.     It  will  be  interesting  to  com- 


202 


^' 


c 


c 

C 


c 


3 


'E 
o 


c 
c 


pare  the  Prench  work  in  oil  in  this  exhibition 
with  that  by  British  artists  at  the  Goupii  and 
the  Alpine  Club  and  with  W'yndham  Lewis's 
compositions  at  the  Leicester.  Perhaps  a  com- 
parison between  the  Marchand,  Frelaut,  and 
Segonzac  drawings  at  the  Independent  with  tlie 
drawings  by  Muirhead  Bone  and  D.  S.  MacCoU 
at  Messrs.  Colnaghi's  Gallery  will  prove  even 
more  instructive.  R.  R.  T. 

Max  Dvorak. — The  .study  of  art  in  German 
Austria  has  suffered  a  serious  loss  by  the  un- 
timely death,  on  February  8th,  of  Max  Dvorak, 
Professor  of  the  history  of  art  in  the  University 
of  Vienna,  in  his  47th  year.  He  was  generally 
recognised  as  the  ablest  of  the  band  of  scholars 
trained  bv  Wickhoff,  whom  he  succeeded  in  the 
professorship.  Though  a  Czech  by  race,  he  was 
devoted  to  Austria,  and  resisted  last  year  the 
temptation  to  desert  that  afflicted  country  and 
become  professor  at  the  newly  revived  university 
of  Cologne.  As  president  of  the  Commissions 
for  Museums  and  for  the  preservation  of  State 
monuments  and  editor  of  the  publication,  Oester- 
reicbisclie  Kunsttopo graphic,  he  took  an  active 
part  in  the  studv  of  monuments  of  art  in  all  the 
Austrian  provinces,  and,  since  the  war,  in  pro- 
tecting those  which  remain  to  Austria,  in  the 
narrower  sense,  from  the  threat  of  foreign 
spoliation.  His  best-known  work,  probably, 
is  Das  Rlitsel  der  Kunst  dcr  Briider  Van  Eyck 
(1904),  a  lengthy  essay  published  in  the  Jahrbuch 
of  the  Imperial  collections.  He  also  wrote  a 
monograph  on  the  Palazzo  Venezia,  edited  the 
writings  of  Wickhoff,  and  edited  the  Jahrbuch  of 
the  K.  K.  Central-Commission,  and  an  excellent, 
but  short-lived,   periodical,    KunstgeschichlUchc 

LETTER 

AUCTION  SALE  AT   UNIVERSITY 

COLLEGE. 
Dear  Sir, — May  I  be  allowed  to  say  through 
your  columns  that  the  students  of  this  college 
are  raising  £6,000  for  extending  and  for  paying 
off  the  debt  on  their  athletic  ground  at  Perivale? 
It  is  proposed  to  raise  funds  by  means  of  an 
auction  sale  of  books,  MSS.,  pictures,  prints, 
drawings,  textiles,  furniture,  etc.  The  staff  of 
the  Slade  School,  which  is  part  of  the  college, 

AUCTIONS 

MkSSRS.     SOTIIKHY,     WILKINSON    &     HoDGR     will    Sell,     at     34, 

New  Bond  .Street,  on  7th  and  8th  April,  Japanese  colour 
prints  anxJ  Chinese  and  Corean  drawing's  and  works  of  art, 
the  property  of  Arthur  Morrison,  Esq.,  of  Miss  Josephine 
Richardson,  of  Sir  Edmund  Backhouse,  and  of  Admiral 
James  Ley. 

Messrs.  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  &  Hodc.i;  will  sell  at  34,  New 
Bond  Street,  on  15th  April,  furniture  and  textiles,  v.-irious 
properties. 

Messrs.  Sotiieby,  Wilkinson  &  Hodge  will  sell,  at  34, 
New  Bond  Street,  on  22ind  April,  embroideries,  tapestries,  and 
carpets    and    Old    English    and  coiUinrntal    furniture,    the    pro- 


Anseigen,  which  maintained  the  Wickhoff  tradi- 
tion of  fearless  and  trenchant  exposure  of  shal- 
lowness and  empty  phrases  in  art  criticism.  His 
learning,  sound,  humane  and  wide,  was  by  no 
means  confined  to  Austrian  subjects.  The  few 
Engli.sh  students  who  had  the  privilege  to  know 
Dvorak  will  cherish  the  memory  of  a  lovable  per- 
sonality, with  a  delicate  sense  of  humour  and  an 
engaging  smile.  campbell  dodgson. 

Adolf  Hildebrand. — The  recent  death  of 
the  sculptor,  Adolf  Hildebrand,  at  a  ripe  age 
(for  he  was  born  in  1847)  calls  at  least  for  a 
brief  mention  in  the  Burlington  Magazine. 
His  work  is  not  perhaps  widely  known  outside 
Germanv,  though  many  travellers  must  recall  the 
big  Wittelsbachbrunnen  in  Munich,  and  some 
the  more  modest  and  attractive  Brahm.sdenkmal 
at  Meiningen.  But  in  his  ideal  figures  (mostly 
done  towards  the  beginning  of  his  career)  and 
still  more  in  his  portrait  busts,  he  revealed  a  plas- 
tic imagination  of  very  high  quality.  The  sculp- 
ture of  "the  Italian  Renaissance,  by  which  he  was 
much  influenced,  appealed  at  once  to  his  love 
for  realism  and  his  craving  for  simplified  form, 
and  the  best  of  his  busts,  whether  in  marble  or 
in  terracotta,  are  not  unworthy  of  the  successors 
of  Donatello.  Hildebrand  paid  deep  attention  to 
the  theory  as  well  as  to  the  practice  of  his  art,  and 
his  short  but  highly  compressed  and  in  conse- 
quence rather  difficult  book.  The  Problem,  of 
Form  in  Art  (which  has  been  translated  into 
English)  is  of  permanent  value  as  a  contribution 
to  .-esthetic  theory.  eric  m.\clagan. 

Dr.  De.\rmer's  new  course  of  free  lectures  on 
Gothic  Art  will  begin  on  Wednesday,  May  4th, 
at  King's  College,  Strand. 


and  the  students  of  which  use  the  athletic  ground 
actively,  are  co-operating.  I  hope  this  letter 
will  meet  the  eye  of  many  who  can  bring  them- 
selves to  part  with  some  item,  perhaps  a  dupli- 
cate, from  their  collections.  I  shall  welcome 
offers  sent  to  me  at  LIniversity  College,  London. 
Those  who  give  will  be  helping  University 
education  on  sound  and  healthy  lines. 
Yours  truly, 
Walter  W.  Seton,   D.Lit.,   F.S.A. 


perty  of  the  late  Edwin  Abbey,  R..\.  ;  a  fine  Chippendale 
commode,  two  famille  rose  vases,  and  a  series  of  six  panels 
of  F'lemish  tapestry,  the  property  of  Lady  Leveson  ;  a  William 
and  Mary  lacquer  cabinet,  a  rare  central  Persian  carpet, 
c.  1600,  etc.  The  sale  includes  (Lot  128)  part  of  a  wonder- 
fully fine  example  of  Flemish  tapestry  representing  a  Roman 
triumph.  Even  in  its  mutilated  condition  it  is  a  thing  of  the 
rarest  beauty,  which  should  be  examined  by  all  who  are 
interested  either  in  applied  art  in  general  or  in  textile  work 
in  particular.     Other  lots  are  of  similar  interest. 

Messrs.  Ward,  Price  &  Co.,  Scarborough,  will  sell  on 
24th,  25th,  and  26th  May,  the  furnishings,  etc.,  of  the  Tudor 
mansion    house.    Gwydyr    Castle.      The   sale    will    include    six- 


205 


teonlh  century  and  eighteenth  cenliiiy  furniture,  etc.,  which 
is  all  of  a  more  or  loss  sumptuous  and  ix>nd<-rous  naturt-. 
Lot  88  consists  of  a  riMiiarkalilc  series  of  panels,  chimney 
piece,  and  frieze.  The  work  was  carried  out  in  1040  and  is 
alleged  to  be  by  Inigo  Jones.  \  piece  of  curious  interest  is 
the  John  Wynn's  Court  cuplx»ard  (Lot  7S)  naively  designed  in 
Ciothic  style.  1-ot  1 1  j  is  a  walnut  armchair  whose  rtorid 
bulk  rather  reminds  one  of  the  throne  of  one  ol  Wagner '> 
heroes.      It    has    the  Russian    Royal  arms  on   (he   li.ick   and    is 

PUBLICATIONS     RECEIVED 

i'iii>/i<(i/n)".«    ■■<inru)(    be    iiuludcd    luie    unless    tliey    have 
must   be  staled.        Publications    not    coming   within    the    scope 
prices  are  slated. 

Serial    i'ublicalions    will    be   arranged    here    according    to 
number   of  foreign    serials  actually    received    wilt    be    entered, 
numbers   of   their    publications  have   failed    to   arrive. 

Kelix  .Alcan. 

TiLD  (JE.^N).     Goya.      I.a  Collection   .\rt   et  Et-lhetique.      142 
pp.   +   16  pi.     to  frs.  n. 
Phillip  .Allan. 

Edwards  (Trystas).     The  Things  ^vhich  are  .Seen,     ^jf)  p|>. 
Illus.   in  Text.     i8s. 
Joseph  Baer  &  Co..  Frankfurt.  .A.M. 

Rosenberg    (Marc).      Zellenschmelt^.      80    pp.        Illus.      in 
text.      690   mks. 
M.  Bav(;s.     Barcelona. 

CiERVo     (Joaquin).       EI    .\rte     y     el      I'lrir     de     Forliiny. 
42  pp.  +   105  pis. 
Bell  &  Son. 

Litchfield  (Frederick).  .Intiques  Genuine  and  Spurious. 
278    pp.    +    48    pis.      Coloured    Frontispiece.      2Ss. 

BlBLIOTECA    \'aLLICELLIANO,     RoME. 

Orbaan  (J..\.F.).  Miscellanea  delta  R.  Societa  Romana 
di  Storia  Patria  ;  Vol.  VI.  Documenti  sut  Barocca  in 
Roma.  660  pp.,  and  in  addition,  6  large  plates  of  views 
of  ancient   Rome. 

UlKRELI.    &    GaRNETT. 

Some    Contemporary    English    .\rlisls.       in    pp.     +      22     P'- 
2S.  6d.  n. 
Cambkidc.e  University  Press. 

Hervev    (Mary).      The   Life    of    Thomas    Howard    Earl    of 

Arundel.  562  pp.  +  23  pi.  63s. 
Jackson  (Sir  Thomas  CiRAHAMJ.  Byzantine  and  Roman- 
esque Architecture.  2nd  edition,  vol.  I,  pp.  xxii  +  274; 
vol.  II,  pp.  viii  +  286.  171  pis.  (5  in  colour),  153  ills, 
in  the  text.  ;^4  4s.  n. 
Shakespeare,  Iol.  /.  The  Tempest.  Ed.  Sir  A.  Quiller 
Couch.  116  pp.  +  3  pi.  7S-  6d.  Tlie  art  of  artistic 
type-spacing  having  almost  vanished  since  the  war,  it  is 
a  great  plea.sure  to  be  able  to  draw  attention  to  a  new 
edition  of  Shakespeare  in  -which  the  production  of  the 
book  is  worthv  of  the  contents  and  of  the  scholarly 
labours  of  the  editors.  The  volume  is  free  both  from  the 
slovenly  ugliness  of  half-skilled  workmanship  and  from 
the  still  more  objectionabe  flamboyance  and  silliness 
apparently  inseparable  from  the  "  decorative  "  reprints 
of  our  greatest  literature. 
Jonathan,  Cape. 

Sheridan   (Claire).      Russian    Portraits.     202   pp.    +    24   pi. 
los.  6d. 
Edouard  Champion,   Paris. 

Lami    (Stanislas).      Dictionnaire   des   Sculpteurs    de    I  Ecole 
Fran^aise  au  dix-ncuvieme  siecle.     Vol.   IV,  378  pp.  30  fs. 
Chapman  &  Hall.  .    .,   j 

Ward   (J.).      History   and  Methods   of  Ancient    and   Modern 
Painting.     Vol.  V.     344  pp.   +  24  pi.     15s. 
Delphin-Verlag. 

Mayer  (.August  L.).     Matthias  Grimewald.     92  pp.   +  62  pi. 
.\rchitektur  und  Kunstgewerbe  in  .ilt-Spanien.     24   pp.    + 
176  pi. 
Pfister   (Kurt).     Rembrandt.     56   pp.    +   47   pi. 
Gazette  des  Beaux-.Abts.  Paris. 

Bricon    (Etienne).      Les   Trois    Salons    de    1920.       88     pp. 
67  illus.  in  text  and  one  wood-cut. 
Heinemann. 

Felice     (Roger     de).       Translated    by     F.     M.     Atkinson. 
French  Furniture  under  Louis  XVI  and  the  Empire.     142 
pp.   +  64  pi.     Coloured   frontispiece.     4s.  6d.   n. 
Henri  Laurens,   Paris. 

RtAU   (Louis).      L'Art   Russe    Des    Origines     d     Pierre     le 
Grand.     387  pp.  +   104  pis.     40  frs. 


slated  to  have  be«^n  made  by  Peiej  ilie  Great.  Among  a 
large  number  of  other  cosily  ^■xanlple^  is  a  gorgeous  bed 
"  on   which   Uilh  (Juren    Eli/alielh  and  Charles    I.  sU-pl." 

iMisSKS.  t'liRisriE,  Manson  \'  Woods  will  sell  al  S,  King 
Street,  on  2()lh,  27lh,  and  jSth  April,  arms  and  armour,  earl) 
English  oak  and  tapestry.  i:olleclion  of  the  late  Morgan 
Williams,  Esq.  Lot  38,  early  war  harness  from  ihe  Biard- 
MUire  I'ollection  ;  Lot  2^,  th<-  Viking  sword  found  near  Wesl- 
minstir    Hridgi' ;  and   many  other  lols  ,iii'  of  snpn  ine   inleresl. 


been   delivered   before   the   lOlh   of   the   previous  month.      Prices 
of    this    Magazine  will   not    be   acknowledged  here    unless    the 

the   ordinary   periods   of  their   publication,    and   only   Ihe   latest 
in  order   that  foreign  editors  and  publishers  may   learn  which 

Mauritius-Veri.ag,  Berlin. 

Grantoff   (Otto).      Die    Fran::osische    Malerei     Seit,     1914. 
50  pp.   +   40  pi. 
.Alexander  Morino. 

FiNBERG  (.Alexander  J.).     The  First  Exhibition  of  llie  New 
Society  of  Graphic  .-Irt.     8  pp.     2S. 
.Murray. 

Baldwin   Brown   (G.).     The  Arts  in   Early    England.     Vol. 

V.     420  pp.    +   43  pi.  and  ills,  in   text.     30s. 
Gregory    (Ladv).      Hugh    Lane's     Life    and    Achievement. 
240  pp.   +   10  pi.     i8s. 
Cecil  Palmer. 

Richmond    (Sir    William    Blake,    K.C.B.,     R.A.).       Demo- 
cracy— False  or  True?     172  pp.     6s. 
Oxford  University  Press. 

Gardner  (Percy).     A   History  of  Ancient  Coinage.     700-300 
B.C.    456  pp.   -f   II  pi.     18s.  n. 
Seeley,  Service  &  Co. 

Vicat  Cole  (Rex).      Perspective.     279  pp.     Copiously   illus- 
trated. 
G.  Van  Oest  &  CiE,  Brussels  and  Paris. 

Errera  (Isabella).     Repertoire  des  Peintures  Dati'es.     Vol. 

1,  PP-  4S1- 

Victoria  and  Albert  Museum. 

Kendrick  (.a.  F.).  Catalogue  of  Textiles  from  Burying- 
Grounds  in  Egypt.  Vol.  I,  Graeco-Roman  Period. 
142  pp.   +  33  pi.     5s. 

Warren  &  Son. 

Le  Couteur  (J.  D.).  Ancient  Glass  in  Winchester.  160 
pp.   -H  40  pi.  and   s  plans.     8s.  6d.  n. 

PERIODICALS. 

Weekly — Architect — Le  Journal  des  Arts. 

Fortnightly — Le  Bulletin  de  I'Art  ancien  et  moderne — 
Chronique  des  Arts  et  de  la  Curiosity — Kleinmobel  Korb  und 
Kunstgewerbe — Der  Kunstwanderer — Mercure  de  France — 
Revista  del  Centre  de   Lectura  Reus. 

Monthly — L'Amatore  d'.Arte,  I,  II — The  .Art  Trade  Journal, 
189,  XVII — The  Bookplate  Chronicle,  6,  i — Bulletin  of  the 
Cleveland  Museum  of  Art,  2,  xviii — Bulletin  of  the  Metro- 
politan Museum  of  Art,  N.Y.  2,  xvi  Bulletin  of  the 
Minneapolis  Inst,  of  Arts,  2 — Bulletin  of  the  Worcester 
Art  Museum,  4,  xi — Der  Cicerone,  4,  xiii — Dedalo,  9,  i — 
The  Diagonal,  g,  i — L. 'Esprit  Nouveau,  5,  i — (iazette  des 
Beaux  Arts,  5,  in — Kokka  368 — Rassegna  D'.Arte,  2,  viii 
La  Revue  de  I'.Art  ancien  et  moderne,  223,  xxxix — \'ell  i 
Nou,  10,   II,   I. 

Bi-Monthly — L'.Arte    i,    xxiv — .Art    in    America,   i,    2,    ix. 

Quarterly — The  Cambridge  Magazine,  2,  x — The  Journal 
of  the    Imperial    Arts   League,    43. 

Annually — Jahrbuch  der  Preuszischen  Kunstsammlungen — 
Kunstmuseets   Aarsskrift,    1920 — The   Year's   .Art,    1921. 

Trade  Lists — George  Allen  &  Unwin,  Ltd.,  Announcements 
Spring,  192 1 — Joseph  Baer  &  Co.,  Frankfurter  Biicher- 
freund,  Asiens  Sprachen  und  Literaturen — N.  Bayi^s,  Bar- 
celona, Catdlogo,  1920-21 — Martin  Breslauer,  Berlin, 
Verzeichnis — CSmara  Oficial  del  Libro,  Bibliografia — 
Cambridge  University  Press,  The  Cambridge  Bulletin — 
Gilhofer  &  Ranschburg,  VVien,  Antiquariatskalalog — 
Gutekunst  &  Klipstein,  Bern,  Alte  und  Moderne  Original- 
Graphik — P.  A.  Norstedt  &  Soner,  Stockholm,  Norstedts 
Nyheter — T.  H.  Parker,  Monthly  Journal — E.  Parsons  & 
Sons,  Illustrated  Books — Schultz  &  Co.,  Antiquariats- 
Anzeigen — H.M.  Stationery  Office,  Monthly  Circular  of 
New  Publications — G.  Van  Oest  &  Cie.,  Paris,  Extrait  da 
Catalogue. 


206 


Portrait  of  a  Mnii,  said  to  be  Titus,  the  son  ot  Rcmbranat.   ^Sf  by  32^.  (Prince  Yussupoff) 


Plate  I.  Two  Rembrandt  portraits 


nlji  1  ORIAL  :    Ch 


unHL 


arid   the    ISui^ 


)  uce  on  ar 

I  -    which    !■ 

subject  of  a  contro^• 
columns  of  the  "Obv 
Hugh   Blaker  wrote 
indignant   letter    in    which    he    sta!> 
pictures,  which  he  had  offered  on  lo. 
foreign  section  at  the  National  Ga!l« 
Art,     had    be-^n     r>       ■    '        Mr. 
director,  rep'ie.;  :r.  :;atory  v 

out  that  til  '11!  for  f 

foreign  •■  ■'  ''"'"'  '• 

add^t! 


some  offered  on 
r-n  from  time  to 


th. 
tru 
pi,  :  as  gilts  and 

The  position  ilien  would  appear  ; 
two  Cezannes  '  either  {t,  n 

theii    ')!i;ility,  .  'here  is  no  • 

x\x  ;i)  because  the  conditions  of  loan 

in  ■'      roncludiftg   sentence  of    M 

At;  ";s  to  imply  that  the  quality  >  ■ 

the  Cezannes  is  not  up  to  the  Tate  standard. 
The  fact  that  one  of  then?,  the  landscape,  has 
already  been  reproduced  in  The  Burlington 
Magazine  is  a  sufficient  comment  on  our  opinion 
regarding  it,  and  it  will  be  apparent,  even  from 
the  plate  on  page  214,  that  the  still  life  is  an 
equally  characteristic  and  important  example  of 
Cezanne.  As  for  there  being  no  room  for  them, 
— which  is  the  reason  formally  given — in  a  large 
collection  like  that  at  Millbank,  room  can  be 
found  for  any  two  small  pictures  if  they  are 
re-lily  wanted"  And  as  regards  the  conditions  of 
loan  ;  the  pictures  are  stated  to  have  been  offered 


sim[ 


P 

ten. I 

tion, 

jar  a  t 
F.x; 


lor  an  indefmif 
;he  property,  W" 
Davies,  whose  di^ 
are,  of  course,  ^'^^ 
lis  almost  to  .'^. 

■    •    -ise   wc 
.      But 
e  we   h.' 


■over, 

HJ1V, 


/if: 


i'.able 


howe\  ■ 
;^ncour 
Hut  brs 


'ig    inob- 

};, ....    .icxt   issu' 

pictures    will    be    on 
therefore  take  this  ftnril  opportunity  ^ 
ing  readers  that  the  N  uneless  Exhibit 
opened  at  the  Grosvenor  Gallery 
Our  aim  has  been  to  I'-' 
of    British    art    unn- 
pictures  that  p 


fpnf; 


We 

;nind- 

will  be 

20th. 

school 

.  >     select 

authors 

V    the 

hands 

I  onks, 

.^r    as 

s   will 

od  of 

■f-d 

..;  be 

ity,  for 

ti'JRLINGTON 


2CiO 


Magazine.  No. 


Pi)/7/  <  'Liii,  said  to  be  i  itus,  tnc  ^on  ut  KcmDiuii^t.  38f  by  32^.  (Prince  Yussupoff) 


Plate  1.   Two  Ktr.i^irAuut  portraits 


EDITORIAL  :     Cezan?je  and  the  Natioii 


indignant 


E  reproduce  on  another  page  two 
C^zannes  which  have  been  the 
subject  of  a  controversy  in  the 
columns  of  the  "Observer."  Mr. 
Hugh  Blaker  wrote  a  wise  and 
etter  in  which  he  stated  that  the 
pictures,  which  he  had  offered  on  loan  to  the  new 
foreign  section  at  the  National  Gallery  of  British 
Art,  had  been  rejected.  Mr.  Aitken,  the 
director,  replied  in  a  conciliatory  vein,  pointing 
out  that  there  is  no  room  for  more  than  a  few 
foreign  pictures  until  the  new  wing  is  built.  He 
adds  that  "  for  sufficient  reasons  "  and  "  except 
in  special  circumstances  "  offers  of  pictures  on 
loan  will  be  refused,  and  that  the  whole  gallery 
already  contains  twice  as  many  pictures  as  can 
be  shown.  The  absence  of  any  Government 
grant  is  also  spoken  of ;  and  the  letter  ends  with 
the  assertion  that,  for  the  reasons  stated,  the 
trustees  must  "  weigh  carefully  the  quality  of 
pictures  offered  as  gifts  and  the  conditions  of 
proposed  loans." 

The  position  then  would  appear  to  be  that  the 
two  Cezannes  were  rejected  either  (i)  because  of 
their  quality,  (ii)  because  there  is  no  room  for 
them,  or  (iii)  because  the  conditions  of  loan  were 
impossible.  The  concluding  sentence  of  Mr. 
Aitken 's  letter  seems  to  imply  that  the  quality  of 
the  Cezannes  is  not  up  to  the  Tate  standard. 
The  fact  that  one  of  them,  the  landscape,  has 
already  been  reproduced  in  The  Burlington 
M.'\GAZINE  is  a  sufficient  comment  on  our  opinion 
regarding  it,  and  it  will  be  apparent,  even  from 
the  plate  on  page  214,  that  the  still  life  is  an 
equally  characteristic  and  important  example  of 
Cezanne.  As  for  there  being  no  room  for  them, 
— which  is  the  reason  formally  given — in  a  large 
collection  like  that  at  Millbank,  room  can  be 
found  for  any  two  small  pictures  if  they  are 
really  wanted.  And  as  regards  the  conditions  of 
loan  ;  the  pictures  are  stated  to  have  been  offered 
simply  "  for  an  indefinite  period."  Moreover, 
they  are  the  property,  we  are  permitted  to  say, 
of  Miss  G.  Davies,  whose  disinterestedness  and 
generosity  are,  of  course,  beyond  dispute.  Mr. 
Aitken  seems  almost  to  say  "  I  don't  think  we 
can  take  loans  because  we  must  reserve  our 
space  for  purchases.  But  we  cannot  make 
purchases  because  we  have  no  money."  He 
certainly  implies  that,  with  an  occasional  excep- 
tion, none  but  the  unconditional  gift — always  a 
jara  avis — can  be  accepted. 

Experience,  however,  has  shown  that  the 
surest  way  of  encouraging  gifts  is  to  welcome 
suitable  loans.     But  besides  the  Cezannes,  many 


other  modern  French  pictures,  some  offered  on 
loan  and  some  as  gifts,  have  been  from  time  to 
time  refused,  and  the  fact  that  most  of  the  largest 
collectors — among  whom  a  strong  feeling  un- 
doubtedly exists — are  known  to  be  willing  to 
lend  examples,  makes  the  policy  of  refusing 
loans  hard  to  defend.  One  of  the  best  collections 
to  be  found  anywhere  could,  it  is  felt,  be  rapidly 
formed  free  of  cost.  What  these  collectors  and 
others  ask  is  that  modern  French  art  should  be 
shown  alongside  the  other  pictures  at  Millbank, 
then  if  after  continued  examination  they  come  to 
be  condemned,  they  can  at  worst  be  returned  to 
their  owners.  Now  that  it  is  decided  that 
there  is  to  be  a  foreign  section  it  would  surely  be 
well  to  welcome  really  heartily  the  aid  of  the 
collectors,  who  at  any  rate  have  for  many  years 
studied  this  section  of  painting  with  the  faith 
and  passion  through  which  alone,  successful 
collecting,  private  or  public,  becomes  possible. 
Although,  of  course,  the  opinion  of  such 
enthusiasts  varies  greatly  regarding  the  relative 
merit  of  the  painters  of  modern  France,  all  have 
come  to  an  agreement  about  Cezanne,  who  was 
born  as  long  ago  as  1839,  is  universally  re- 
cognised as  the  father  of  the  whole  movement, 
and  is  now  given  a  place  in  great  public  col- 
lections throughout  the  world.  A  Gallery  of 
Modern  Foreign  Art  without  Cezanne  is  like  a 
gallery  of  Florentine  art  without  Giotto. 

"T/ie    Nameless    Exhibition 

?HE  arrangements  for  our  exhibition 
of  Modern  British  Art  of  all  schools 
are  progressing  most  successfully. 
Before  our  next  issue  appears  the 
pictures  will  be  on  view.  We 
therefore  take  this  final  opportunity  of  remind- 
ing readers  that  the  Nameless  Exhibition  will  be 
opened  at  the  Grosvenor  Gallery  on  May  20th. 
Our  aim  has  been  to  leave  no  tendency  or  school 
of  British  art  unrepresented  and  to  select 
pictures  that  are  as  characteristic  of  their  authors 
as  possible.  With  these  objects  in  view  the 
work  of  selection  has  been  placed  in  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Charles  Sims,  R.A.  of  Professor  Tonks, 
and  of  Mr.  Roger  Fry.  In  order  as  far  as 
possible  to  dispel  prejudices,  the  artists  will 
remain  anonymous  during  the  first  period  of 
the  exhibition,  but  their  names  will  be  divulged 
before  the  last  two  weeks.  The  hanging  will  be 
carried  out  in  a  similar  spirit  of  impartiality,  for 
the  maintenance  of  which  The  Burlington 
Magazine  holds  itself  responsible. 


The  Burlington  Magazine,  No.  iiS,  Vol.  xxxviii.  May,  1921. 


N 


209 


TWO    REMBRANDT    PORTRAITS 
BY    ROGER     FRY 


T  will  be  a  relief  to  all  lovers  of  art 
to  know  that  the  two  portraits  of  a 
man  and  woman  which  were  the 
i^lories  of  the  Yussupoff  Collection 
at  Petrograd  are  safe.  During  the 
Russian  revolution  they  were  securely  stored  in 
London,  where  they  still  remain.  By  the  kind- 
ness of  Prince  Yussupoff  we  are  able  to  repro- 
duce them  in  the  The  Burlington  Mag.azine. 
In  the  present  case  we  have  suspended  our 
ordinary  rule  of  reproducing  only  new  or 
scarcely  known  work,  first  because  works  of 
such  supreme  importance  and  beauty  can  hardly 
be  too  well  known,  and  secondly  because  the 
reproductions  in  text-books  on  Rembrandt 
(excepting  of  course  Dr.  Bode's  monumental 
and  expensive  work)  give  but  little  idea  of  the 
extraordinary  quality  and  subtlety  of  such  works 
as  these.  It  is  generally  futile  to  say  of  any 
work  that  it  is  the  finest  that  a  particular  master 
ever  produced,  but  it  is  true  that  these  two 
portraits  stand  alone  in  the  aetivre  of  Rembrandt. 
At  the  end  of  his  life,  when  he  had  at  last 
attained  to  supreme  mastery,  Rembrandt  was  a 
lonely  and  unsuccessful  man,  neglected  by  the 
great  world  which  had  once  admired  and  em- 
ployed him.  He  had  to  look  for  models  in  the 
immediate  circle  of  his  family.  He  himself 
indeed  became  his  best  and  most  constant  sitter. 
For  the  rest  there  were  humble  old  men  and 
women  who  may  have  had  nothing  better  to  do, 
or  humble  bourgeois  families  like  those  in  the 
Brunswick  "  family  group."  From  a  purely 
aesthetic  point  of  view  this  want  of  choice  in 
Rembrandt's  sitters  is  of  no  consequence  what- 
ever, but  the  fact  that  for  once  at  so  late  a  date 
as  1660  Rembrandt  was  commissioned  by  this 
unknown  gentleman  and  lady  does  mark  out  the 
Yussupoff  pictures  with  a  singular  if  onlv  acces- 
sory charm.  For  in  this  case  clearly  the  models 
themselves  had  distinction  and  a  certain  magni- 
ficence of  bearing  that  Rembrandt  has  made  use 
of  as  only  he  could. 

Rembrandt  had  so  miraculous  an  instinct  for 
the  characteristic  that  he  could,  one  imagines, 


have  discovered  an  expressive  design  from  any 
conceivable  material.  Certainly  at  the  end  of 
his  life  he  found  such  again  and  again  from 
the  stiff  rheumatic  poses  of  old  cronies,  from 
the  clumsy  ungraciousness  of  their  limbs  and 
the  dumb  wooden  pose  of  their  hands. 

But  here  for  once  he  had  other  material. 
These  two  persons  have  not,  one  must  admit, 
the  supreme  elegance  and  "  scioltessa  "  of 
Branziows'  aristocrats.  Something  of  the  thick- 
ness and  phlegm  of  the  Dutch  character  is  there, 
but  they  have  the  poise  and  balance  of  well-bred 
people.  In  response  to  this,  Rembrandt  has 
here  developed  a  more  sweeping  silhouette,  a 
more  flowing  rhythm  in  the  lines  and  a  general 
sense  of  amplitude  and  ease  that  give  to  these 
two  pictures  so  singular  a  charm. 

It  is  perhaps  in  the  hands  that  this  peculiarity 
is  best  seen.  The  man's  hands  have  a  certain 
facility  for  gesture  as  of  one  who  could  be 
eloquent  at  moments,  and  in  the  woman's  there 
is  the  quality  of  repose  without  deadness.  They 
express  admirably  the  same  mood  of  gentle 
reverie  and  abstraction  that  the  poise  and  ex- 
pression of  the  head  also  suggest.  For  the  rest, 
even  from  the  accompanying  reoroductions  the 
reader  may  guess  that  these  works  have  all  the 
supreme  qualities  of  Rembrandt's  mature  style. 
The  profound  understanding  of  plastic  form,  the 
fulness  and  intensity  of  the  modelling,  the  per- 
fection of  the  mhe-en-page — all  these  are 
apparent  enough.  What,  however,  we  cannot, 
alas,  convey  is  the  great  beauty  of  the  colour. 
In  this,  too,  what  distinguishes  the  Yu.ssupoff 
portraits  is  the  peculiar  charm — the  delicious 
quality,  the  sweetness  of  the  greys  and  blacks, 
and  the  luminosity  of  the  flesh.  Fortunately 
these  peculiar  examples  of  Rembrandt's  maturest 
activity  are  admirably  preserved  and  in  almost 
perfect  condition.  It  may  be  rash  to  hope  that 
at  such  a  time  as  this  some  great  English  col- 
lector will  come  forward  and  retain  them,  but 
nothing  could  be  more  desirable  for  the  future 
understanding  of  art  in  this  country. 


A    PORTRAIT    BY    HANS    HOLBEIN    THE    YOUNGER 


BY    PAUL    GANZ 

HERE  are  not  more  than  a  dozen 
portraits  known,  which  were  painted 
by  Hans  Holbein  between  the  years 
1515  and  1526,  if  we  omit  the 
portrait-group  on  the  Darmstadt 
Madonna.  This  fact  is  all  the  more  singular, 
when  we  realise  the  great  number  of  portraits 


he  painted  in  his  later  years.  Still  we  may 
assume  that  Holbein  was  even  then  considered 
a  master  in  this  branch  of  art. 

A  portrait  has  recently  been  discovered  in 
England,  which  in  my  opinion  belongs  to 
Holbein's  early  time,  the  size  of  the  picture, 
21  inches  by  14J  inches,  shows  the  importance 


210 


Portrait  of  a  Wonirui,  said  to  be  the  wife  of  Titus,  the  son  of  Rembrandt.   jSf  by  32^'.  (Prince  Yussupoff) 
Plate  II.   Two  Rembrandt  portraits 


:i 


,^ 


Landscape,   bv    Paul  Cezanne.      (Miss  G.   Davies) 

l^'-s^^-r^-^fiJI".'""  '""1 


Still-life,  by  Paul  Cezanne.     (Miss  G.  Davies) 


Editorial.     Cezanne  and  the  Nation. 


attached  to  the  sitter  and  the  effort  the  artist 
made  to  make  it  a  masterpiece.  There  is  a  good 
impasto  and  modeUing  of  form  and  colour.  The 
man  is  sitting  behind  a  table  with  his  right  arm 
resting  on  a  thick  red  cloth  of  coarsely-woven 
material,  showing  a  geometrical  pattern  in  blue, 
vellow,  brown  and  white.  His  left  hand  grips 
the  edge  of  the  table  and  pushes  the  cloth  into 
folds.  The  face  is  turned  three-quarters  to  the 
right  and  is  lit  from  the  left  side.  He  wears  a 
close-fitting  cap,  made  of  plaited  gold  cord, 
such  as  was  worn  by  rich  men  in  those  days.' 
His  thin  dark  brown  hair  already  shows 
traces  of  grey.  His  blue-grey  eyes  are 
vivacious.  It  was  one  of  the  characteristics 
of  Holbein's  work  that  he  could  give  the 
moisture  and  the  mobility  of  an  eye.  His 
strongly-formed  nose  is  modelled  like  a  piece  of 


sculpture  and  shows  with  the  chin  and  massive 
neck  a  strong  personality.  On  the  dark  violet- 
grey  sleeves  is  a  beautiful  damask  pattern  of 
greenish-black  flowers.  A  sleeveless  jacket  has 
a  brown  fur  collar  and  is  trimmed  with  black 
braided  stripes. 

1  Stephen  and  Lucas  Baumgartner  in  Durer's  altar  piece 
at  Munich;  Jakob  Fugger  in  Durer's  portrait  (1520)  at 
Munich  and  tjie  same  in  the  coloured  woodcut  of  Burgl<mair. 
See  Lijtzow,  Geschichte  des  deutschen  Kupferstichs  und 
Hohschnitts,  Berlin,  1891,  p.  184. 


More  attention  has  been  given  to  the  head 
than  to  the  hands,  which  are  painted  somewhat 
stiffly.  The  architectural  oackground  of  the 
picture  is  formed  by  an  arch,  through  which  one 
sees  a  brilliant  blue  sky  like  the  one  in  the 
Meyer  ^  portrait.  The  renaissance  arch  is  in 
grisaille,  the  design  of  which  occurs  in  a  draw- 
ing by  Holbein  on  a  book-title  of  1517,^  which 
he  further  enriched  with  garlands.  Sculptures 
crown  the  two  side  pillars;  mermaids  in  profile 
are  put  on  each  of  them.  Out  of  the  large  crown 
of  each  mermaid  streams  a  mass  of  hair  like  a 
flame.  Cupids  clasp  the  bodies  of  the  mermaids. 
These  identical  figures,  which  he  also  used  in  his 
Lucerne  time  for  the  book-title  as  well,  again 
appear  on  Holbein's  authentic  sketch  for  the 
facade-painting  of  the  Hertenstein  House,  where 
these  peculiar  sculptures  ■*  are  put  on  both  sides 
of  the  arched  doorway  of  the  'chief  entrance. 

The  newly-discovered  portrait  marks  a  stage 
in  young  Holbein's  development,  of  which  we 
hitherto  had  no  proofs.  In  these  years 
Holbein  began  to  find  his  own  way,  but  the 
transition  goes  on  so  slowly,  that  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  distinguish  the  different  hands  of  the 
father  Holbein  and  of  his  two  sons.  The 
Darmstadt  portrait  of  a  young  man  '  (1515)  and 
that  of  the  painter  Hans  Herbster  in  Basle 
(1516),  given  formerly  to  Hans,  are  now 
assigned  to  his  brother  Ambrosius,  as  are  the 
two  boys  in  the  Basle  Museum.  These  pictures 
show  quite  a  different  linear  arrangement,  a 
variegated,  more  decorative  style  and  a  greater 
delicacy  of  expression.  A  resemblance  in  the 
colouring  and  the  manner  of  drawing  between 
the  two  brothers,  is  not  surprising,  if  we  con- 
sider, that  the  two  sons  trained  in  their  father's 
school  arrived  at  a  point,  where  they  can  only 
be  distinguished  and  separated  by  the 
psychological  differences  of  temperament  and 
artistic  comprehension.  In  spite  of  the  youth- 
ful strength  and  firmness  of  execution,  in  many 
places  this  picture  shows  a  harshness  and  an 
awkwardness  only  explicable  in  a  young  artist, 
not  yet  quite  able  to  deal  with  such  a  ceremonial 
portrait. 

The  picture  is  painted  by  a  man,  who  was 
first  and  foremost  a  designer  and  inventor,  a 
man  who  found  his  joy  in  pattern  and  intricacy 
of  line,  a  man  rich  in  ideas    and    with    great 

2  Diptych  with  the  portraits  of  Jakob  Meyer,  burgomastei 
of  Basle,  and  his  wife,  1516,  in  the  Basle  Museum.  See 
Ganz,  Hans  Holbein  d.J.  (Klassiker  der  Kiinst  XX),  pp.  12 
and   13. 

3  This  book-title,  given  by  Woltmann  to  Ambrosius 
(Vol.  II,  p.  205)  was  made  by  Hans  Holbein  the  Younger 
for  the  printer  Frobenius ;  first  published  in  March,  1517. 
See  Hans  Koegler,  Monatshefte  fiir  Kunstwissenschaft. 
Vol.  IV,  p.  397,  and  Heitz  30. 

*  Arthur  B.  Chamberlain,  Hans  Holbein  the  Younger. 
London,  1913.  Vol.  I,  p.  68,  and  the  facsimile  reprod.  in 
Ganz,  Les  dessins  de  Hans  Holbein  le  Jeune.  Geneve,  1921. 
Vol.  II,  PI.  IX,   13. 

'  See  Ganz,  Klassiker,  pp.  203   and  204. 


215 


facility  in  expressing  these  ideas.  His  sureness 
of  hand  never  hindered  the  translation  of  his 
thoughts,  and  he  combined  with  great  realism 
an  illogical  turn  of  mind,  so  that  he  was  capable 
of  giving  a  cast  shadow  on  a  wall  to  an  orna- 
ment whilst  failing  to  see  that  the  solid  body  of 
a  man  cast  a  shadow.  It  is  only  possible  to 
explain  this  contradiction  by  the  hypothesis 
that  he  completed  his  decorative  wall  first  and 
painted  his  figures  to  it.  Frequently  the 
figures  and  their  surroundings  are  as  completely 
separated  as  if  thev  were  stained-glass  designs. 
It  is  typical  of  Holbein  of  this  period  that  he  was 
more  interested  in  line  and  pattern  than  in  the 
connection  of  sitter  and  background,  seen  as  a 
unity.  In  what  this  picture  says  and  what  it 
leaves  unsaid,  there  are  proofs  of  Holbein's 
workmanship  which  make  it  impossible  to  assign 
it  to  another  hand.  Certainly  the  use  of 
decorated  architecture  as  a  background  or  frame 
for  the  figures  and  the  idea  of  an  arch  over  their 
heads  was  not  confined  to  Holbein  alone;  but 
in  this  picture  we  have  the  complete  development 
of  the  mermaid  and  Cupid  invention,  which  was 
undoubtedly  used  in  two  instances  by  Holbein 
in  Lucerne.  It  is  most  improbable  that  another 
designer  would  take  a  Holbein  sketch  or  a 
Holbein  idea  and  improve  it;  but  it  is  a  logical 
thing  for  Holbein  himself  to  play  with  and 
improve  on  a  fantasy  which  was  to  his  liking, 
and  so  to  develop  it  himself.  The  primitive 
idea  of  the  mermaids  is  on  the  Hertenstein 
design  and  its  full  development  and  execution 
is  here.  The  picture  is  instinct  with  intellectual 
qualities  of  invention,  whilst  lacking  in  the 
broader  artistic  qualities  of  Holbein's  maturity. 
It  is  therefore  the  work  of  a  young  man,  whose 
rich  conceptions  are  still  in  a  stage  of  evolution. 
It  is  again  typical  of  Holbein  at  this  period, 
that  his  work  was  emotionless.  In  his  marvellous 
quality  as  a  draughtsman  he  gives  a  vivid 
translation  of  the  differences  of  bone  and  muscle, 
of  soft  flesh  and  hard  surface,  rendering  them 
triumphantly  by  a  shade  or  a  few  lines.  The 
nuances  of  colouring  are  much  more  variegated 
than  on  the  Meyer  portraits,  and  the  highest 
effect  is  obtained  by  the  marvellous  disposition 
of  light  and  brilliant  colours.  The  man's  head 
and  hands  are  modelled  in  a  strong  light,  more 
accentuated  than  in  other  parts  of  the  composi- 
tion. The  darker  parts  are  cleverly  lit  up  by 
reflections  on  the  sword-handle  and  the  gold 
chain,  so  that  the  wonderful  play  of  various 
colours  animates  the  whole  picture.  The  com- 
position is  not  spontaneous,  not  seen  as  a  whole. 
It  shows  that  the  beautiful  decorated  arch  would 
have  to  be  larger,  so  as  to  have  a  correct  pro- 
portion with  the  head.  However,  if  the  arch  had 
been  larger  the  quantity  of  the  blue  in  the  sky 
would  have  been  too  great  for  the  flesh  colour  of 


the  face  and  the  gold  and  russet  of  the  figure.  In 
the  stained-glass  painting  of  1517  of  I'lccken- 
slein  in  Lucerne,'  the  sculptured  figures  of  the 
liackground  have  their  shadows,  whilst  the 
human  ligurcs  arc  shadowless.  In  this  picture 
the  interest  the  designer  shows  in  the  ornament 
is  quite  equal  to  the  interest  he  takes  in  the 
man.  T^ven  the  colouring  is  projDortioned  as  a 
designer  would  weigh  and  t)alance  it,  and  this 
is  one  of  the  great  characteristics  of  Holbein's 
work  at  this  time. 

Again,  Holbein  loved  to  give  the  quality  of 
surface  of  what  he  saw;  the  differences  of  fur, 
metal,  cloth,  silk,  marble,  delighted  him,  and 
one  sees  here  the  joy  in  subtly  analysing  his 
brocade,  his  rough  table-cloth,  his  gold  chain, 
his  plaited  gold,  and  the  quality  of  the  skin  of 
his  model,  framed  in  by  the  hard  arch  and  its 
sharp-cut  ornaments. 

There  is  a  portrait  in  the  collection  of  Count 
Lanckoronski  (the  only  one  known  with 
certainty  as  a  work  of  Hans  the  Klder)  which 
also  shows  a  man  turned  three-quarters  face  put 
against  the  light  blue  sky,  framed  in  by  a  square 
renaissance  window.'  It  is  dated  1513.  The 
inscription,  "  Johannes  Holbein  in  Augusta 
bingebat,"  is  on  the  second  half  of  the  diptych, 
to  which  the  portrait  belongs.  This  is  a 
Madonna  and  child  in  the  collection  of  Prince 
Montenuovo  at  Vienna.  The  portrait  has  all 
the  typical  qualities  of  the  father's  work  :  a 
plain,  almost  weak  perception  of  the  human 
being,  empty,  dry  ornaments,  but  a  harmonious 
colouring  without  contrasts.  Our  portrait 
seems  to  have  still  nearer  relationship  to  the 
Sebastianaltar  in  Munich,  about  1516,  which 
once  stood  in  the  Dominican  church  at  Augs- 
burg.* The  enamel-like  brilliancy  of  the  colour, 
as  well  as  the  renaissance  ornaments  on  the  two 
wings,  have  at  first  sight  a  great  resemblance 
with  the  colouring  and  ornament  of  the  newly- 
found  picture.  As  soon  as  we  compare  the  two 
paintings  more  closely,  we  verify  a  number  ol 
variations  only  to  be  explained  by  the  different 
perceptive  faculties  of  the  two  artists.  The  one 
is  content  with  the  decorative  beauty  of  the 
form,  the  other  enlivens  it. 

If  we  compare  the  newly-found  portrait  with 
the  first  of  Hans  Holbein's,  dated  1516,  we  may 
reasonably  ascribe  them  both  to  the  same  hand. 
In  the  double-portrait  of  the  burgomaster  Meyer 
and  his  wife  we  find  the  same  colour  problem,  a 


•  See  Ganz,  Les  dessins  de  Hans  Holbein  le  Jeune,  Vol.  I, 
PI.   V.  4. 

'  See  Campbell  Dodgson,  Burlington  Magazine,  1908, 
p.  37.  The  "  Madonna  "  is  reproduced  in  \V.  Suida, 
Oesterreichische   Kunstschdtze,   Wien,    1911,    Vol.    I,    PI.    27. 

8  The  altarpiece  was  long  attributed  to  Hans  Holbein  the 
Younger.  See  Karl  Vol!,  Die  Meisterwerke  der  kgl.  alteren 
Pinakothek  zu  Munchen,  Hanfstdngl,  1905,  and  Fiihrer  dutch 
die  Alte  Pinakothek.    Munchen,   1908. 


216 


Portrait,  attributed  to  Hans  Holbein  the  younger.     21"  by  14^-" 


A  Portrait  bv  Hans  Holbein  the  Younger. 


ol^ 


.4     Portrait  of  a  Girl,  attributed  to  Carel  Fabritius.     21I"  by  17"    (Miisee  des  Beaux  Arts,  Ghent) 


Plate  I.     Two   attributions    to   Carel     Fabritius. 


head  put  against  a  light  blue  ground.  The 
headdress  and  the  gown  of  Meyer's  wife  are 
painted  with  the  same  exactitude  and  observa- 
tion as  the  details  of  the  new  picture.  The 
hands,  with  the  nails  so  very  typical  for  Holbein 
the  younger,  are  nearly  as  stiff  as  in  the  Meyer 
portrait,  and  the  modelling  of  the  head,  so  full 
of  life  and  character,  is  already  much  better.  Our 
portrait  is  contemporary  and  very  near  to  the 
Mever  portraits,  but  it  surpasses  them.  The 
same  can  be  said  about  the  portrait  of  ^  Bene- 
dict von  Hertenstein  at  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  in  New  York.  There  Holbein  tries  to 
put  the  man  into  the  space,  and  he  solves  the 
problem  by  a  clever  composition.  In  spite  of 
the  happy  outline  the  face  is  flat  and  less 
animated  than  the  strong  plastic  head  of  the 
man,  whose  bearing  is  that  of  a  ruler,  with  an 
iron  will. 

All  this  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
portrait  is  one  of  Holbein's  early  period,  and 
that  it  was  probably  painted  at  Lucerne.  More- 
over there  have  been  found  traces  of  the  date 
1517,  and  of  an  inscription  in  the  middle  of  the 
arch.  The  portrait  of  Bonifacius  Amerbach  '" 
(1519)  already  shows  Italian  influences,  which 
are  not  yet  visible  in  our  picture. 

Should  not  the  two  mermaids  which  Holbein 
also  painted  about  the  year  151 7  above  the 
great  entrance-door  of  the  Hertenstein  house 
connect  us  with  the  man,  who  then  was 
Holbein's  patron  ,the  burgomaster  Jakob  von 
Hertenstein  ?  He  worked  for  him  through  the 
years  1517  and  1518.  The  arms  on  the  ring 
are  not  distinct  enough  to  identify  the  man,  nor 
can  we  base  any  conclusions  on  the  so-called 
portrait  of  the  burgomaster,  attributed  to 
Holbein  the  elder. ^'  This  picture  exists  as  an 
original,  with  an  inscription  added  much  later, 
and  in  two  copies.  The  inscription  is  incorrect 
in  certain  details,   and  so  the  identification  of 


^  See  Chamberlain.     Vol.   I,  p  72,   plate. 

10  Se«  Chamberlain.     Vol.   I,  p.   86,   plate. 

11  Formerly    in    private    possession    in    Buonas    Castle    near 
Zug. 


this  man  with  Jakob  von  Hertenstein  is  probablv 
incorrect  also. 

We  know  from  Ulrich  Hegner  that  Hans 
Holbein  the  younger  painted  the  portrait  of  the 
burgomaster  Jakob  von  Hertenstein.  It  was 
still  in  the  possession  of  the  family  in  the  year 
1826.  According  to  another  record  it  was  sold  a 
year  later  by  the  last  of  the  family  at  Basle. 
From  there  it  may  have  passed  into  one  of  the 
foreign  collections,  as  well  as  Holbein  pictures 
out  of  the  Barfiisserkirche  in  Lucerne.  They 
were  sold  to  England  by  the  painter  Marquard 
Wocher,  and  that  may  be  the  channel  by  which 
our  portrait  came  to  London.  This  picture 
appears  later  in  the  century  in  the  collection  of 
Wynn  Ellis,  the  famous  English  collector.  It 
may  well  be  that  he  bought  it  in  Basle  or  soon 
after  it  left  Switzerland. 

We  know  Jakob  von  Hertenstein  from  the 
wall-painting  in  the  rooms  of  the  Hertenstein 
house."  There  he  is  pictured  hawking  accom- 
panied by  his  two  sons  and  his  wife  on  horse- 
back. The  son  Benedict  could  even  be  recog- 
nised from  the  bad  copy,  made  in  the  year  1823 
just  before  the  demolition  of  the  house.  This 
copy  helped  to  identify  the  person  in  the  New 
York  portrait. 

Jakob  von  Hertenstein  is  also  to  be  recog- 
nised ;  his  heavy  square  body,  his  short  neck 
and  his  round  head  with  the  strong  nose  and 
the  round  double  chin,  are  very  like  the  portrait. 
He  also  wears  nearly  the  same  cap.  Between 
Benedict  von  Hertenstein  in  the  New  York 
portrait  and  the  old  powerful  man  in  our  picture, 
there  is  certainly  a  family  resemblance  not  only 
in  the  structure  of  the  head,  but  also  in  the 
setting  of  the  eyes  and  in  the  form  of  the  nose. 
In  conclusion  we  believe  in  the  hypothesis  that 
the  man  in  our  picture  painted  in  Lucerne,  and 
showing  the  same  mermaids  as  the  Hertenstein 
house,  is  most  probably  Jakob  von  Hertenstein, 
the  powerful  protector  of  Hans  Holbein  the 
younger. 

12  See   Ganz.   Glassiker,    p.    155,    2.     The   copies  are   in   the 
Biirgerbibliothek  in  Lucerne. 


TWO    ATTRIBUTIONS    TO    CAREL    FABRITIUS 
BY    PERCY    MOORE    TURNER 


MONGST  the  numerous  pupils  of 
Rembrandt,  many  of  whom  pro- 
duced works  of  enduring  quality, 
eclipsed  only  by  the  transcendent 
genius  of  their  master,  none  is  of 
greater  importance  than  Carel  Fabritius.  The> 
intrinsic  merit  of  certain  of  the  pictures  un- 
doubtedly from  his  hand  raises  him  to  the  fore- 
most rank  of  Dutch  painters.  Who  can  deny 
the  quality  of  the  Goldfinch  [Plate  III,  d]  in 


the  Mauritshuis  at  the  Hague ;  the  Music  Seller 
which  is,  or  was  in  the  collection  of  the  late  Sir 
William  Eden ;  the  Portrait  of  a  Yoiing  Man 
[Plate  III,  c]  in  the  Boymans  Museum  at  Rot- 
terdam ;  and  the  Soldier  at  the  Gate  [Plate 
IV,  f]  in  the  Schwerin  Gallery  ?  Certain  phases 
of  his  art  cause  one  instinctively  to  associate 
him  in  quality  with  Vermeer  of  Delft  and  with 
Rembrandt,  his  best  work  being  actually  com- 
parable with  certain  authentic  examples  of  those 


221 


mighty  masters.  Rembrandt,  like  all  great 
geniuses,  was  unoqual ;  he  had  his  uninspired 
moments  when  lie  spoke  more  in  the  language 
of  the  teohnitian  than  the  aesthete.  1  his  is 
chielly  observable  in  what  might  be  termed  his 
transition  years  between  1635  and  1648,  when  he 
was  evolving  from  his  early  period  with  its 
directness  and  restraint,  and  ridding  himself  of 
the  exigencies  of  popularity  ;  when  the  degrad- 
ing inlluence  of  wealthy  patronage  was  finally 
giving  way  before  the  quest  for  the  sublimely 
abstract  quality  of  his  later  manner — the  full 
and  mature  expression  of  his  genius. 

Carel  Fabritius  also  was  unequal.  In  spite 
of  their  interest,  as  authentic  examples  of  his 
work  and  their  fine  craftsmanship,  the  portrait 
of  Ahraliam  de  Xotte  [Plate  IV,  e]  in  the 
Rycks  Museum  at  Amsterdam  and  the  Tobias 
and  His  Wife  at  Innsbruck  can  hardly  be 
said  to  be  of  as  great  aesthetic  worth  as 
other  productions  of  his  brush  which  have 
descended  to  us.  These  two  examples 
have  been  equalled,  if  not  surpassed,  by 
Barend  Fabritius.  Among  the  most  striking 
of  such  works  by  that  painter  is  a  picture  which 
was,  and  perhaps  still  is,  in  a  private  collection 
in  Belgium,  and  which  is  ascribed  by  its  owner 
to  Carel  Fabritius. 

We  must  nevertheless  be  grateful  that  time 
has  spared  the  Amsterdam  and  Innsbruck 
pictures,  for  their  absence  would  seriously 
reduce  the  small  number  of  examples  generally 
accepted  as  being  unquestionably  from  Carel's 
brush.  Of  higher  aesthetic  worth  are  the  two 
portraits  of  men,  one  formerly  in  the  DelarofT 
collection  at  Petrograd ;  the  other,  noted  in  the 
erudite  work  on  the  master  by  Dr.  Hoftstede  de 
Groot,  as  being  then  in  his  possession,  I  know 
only  from  the  reproduction.  But  if  Carel 
Fabritius  had  painted  nothing  better  than  the 
Delarofif  picture,  we  should  not  be  justified  in 
claiming  for  him  the  elevated  rank  in  seven- 
teenth century  painting  which  is  his  due.  There 
is  a  lack  of  inspiration  in  the  portrait,  a  certain 
absorption  in  the  technical  side  of  his  art,  occa- 
sioned probably  by  the  task  of  portraying  a 
sitter  with  whom  he  was  not  in  much  sympathy. 

What  a  contrast  we  find  when  we  compare 
this  work  with  the  magnificent  portrait  at  Rotter- 
dam. Here  Fabritius  seems  to  rise  to  the  level 
of  Rembrandt  in  his  best  period.  The  picture 
was  indeed  for  long  attributed  to  Rembrandt, 
and  it  was  as  late  as  1859,  as  Dr.  Hoftstede 
de  Groot  informs  us,  that  Carel  Fabritius's 
signature  was  discovered  hidden  beneath  the 
frame.  In  this  portrait  Fabritius  exhibits 
a  breadth  and  vigour  of  handling,  a 
supreme  sense  of  unity,  and  a  profundity 
of  abstract  appeal  which  places  him  among 
the    very    first    of    the    Dutch    painters,    and 


justifies  us  in  proclaiming  the  picture  to  be  his 
masterpiece.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  it 
with  the  Music  Seller  and  the  Soldier  at 
Schwerin  in  order  to  see  how  l'"abritius  could 
adapt  his  manner  of  paintmg  to  works  of 
smaller  dimensions,  whilst  still  retaining 
cohesion  and  force  of  presentation.  If  a  painter 
of  less  capability  than  Fabritius  had  attempted 
to  paint  the  Music  Seller,  the  technique  of  such 
a  work  would  inevitably  have  been  petit.  But 
what  a  sense  of  power  and  concentration  he 
succeeds  in  imparting  in  so  small  a  space,  and 
this  in  spite  of  meticulous  attention  to  detail  I 
How  exquisitely  every  object  is  drawn.  Some- 
what similar  qualities  are  embodied  in  the 
Soldier  at  Schwerin  painted  two  years  later. 
Fabritius  here  shows  a  rather  broader  vision 
and  the  same  absorption  in  the  problems  of  light 
that,  in  spite  of  the  widely  different  outlook  of 
the  two  men,  engrossed  his  fellow  townsman 
Jan  V'ermeer  of  Delft. 

More  akin  to  the  Schwerin  than  to  the  Eden 
picture,  is  the  wonderful  tour-de-force  the  Gold- 
finch at  the  Mauritshuis.  This  example  is 
perhaps  the  one  in  which  most  of  the  technical 
qualities  of  the  few  works  known  certainly  to 
be  from  Carel's  hand  are  concentrated.  It  is 
from  this,  amongst  others,  that  we  are  justified 
in  basing  the  comparison  of  technical  and 
aesthetic  qualities  which  enables  us  to  approach 
certain  other  extant  works  to  the  artist. 

Amongst  these,  the  splendid  Portrait  of  a 
Girl  [Plate  I,  a],  which  the  Ghent  Museum  was 
fortunate  enough  to  secure  some  years  ago, 
should  certainly  be  considered.  This  picture  was 
acquired  as  the  work  of  an  anonymous  Dutchman 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  on  the  strength 
of  its  aesthetic  merits  alone.  The  question  of  its 
rightful  attribution  has  given  rise  to  much  dis- 
cussion. The  problem  has  been  in  a  measure 
complicated  by  certain  repaints  in  the  costume, 
the  presence  and  disposition  of  which  have 
probably  been  responsible  for  the  erroneous 
impression  that  the  picture  was  left  in  an  un- 
finished state  by  its  author.  These  repaints, 
however,  are  far  from  being  of  such  a  character 
as  effectually  to  conceal  the  identity  of  its 
creator,  or,  indeed,  seriously  to  interfere  with 
its  high  artistic  qualities.  In  an  article  in 
"  L'Art  Flamand  et  Hollandais  "  (October  15th, 
1912,  p.  120)  Dr.  J.  O.  Kronig  is  inclined  to 
look  to  Jan  de  Bray  for  its  authorship.  He 
compares  it  with  that  painter's  works  in  the 
Haarlem  Museum,  with  a  Portrait  of  an  Old 
Woman  from  the  Dahl  collection  at  Dusseldorf, 
and  particularly  with  a  pair  of  portraits 
formerly  in  the  Maurice  Kann  collection 
in  Paris.  One  of  these,  the  portrait  of  a 
man,  is  reproduced  in  Dr.  Kronig's  article. 
Dr.    Kronig    says    of    it :     "  Le    models    des 


222 


B     Portrait  of  a  Man,  attributed  to  Carel   Fabritius.     (Brussels  Museum.) 


Plate    11.     Two  attributions  to   Carel    Fabritius 


s 


3 


C3 


'**'kr'^--3^"'*:  y*.'*-.*^ 


u 


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a. 

formes,  le  dessin  soign^,  le  coup  de  pinceau 
large,  mais  non  souple,  les  eclats  de  lumi^re  sur 
les  paupieres,  sur  I'arrete  du  nez,  les  femmes  en 
general  plantureuses.  Le  fond  des  Regents  de 
I'hospice  des  enfants  pauvres  (Musee  de  Haar- 
lem) est  du  meme  gris-pale  transparent  que 
celui  du  portrait  de  Gand,  et  Ton  retrouve  dans 
ce  dernier  '  les  tons  clairs  '  de  toutes  les  oeuvres 
citees  plus  haut."  Dr.  Kronig  says  that  the 
Ghent  picture,  on  account  of  the  colouring,  and 
particularly  because  of  the  pale  grey  back- 
ground, leads  one,  at  first  sight,  to  think  of  the 
Vermeer-Fabritius  group.  But  an  examination 
of  the  technique  reveals  nothing  which  causes 
him  to  associate  either  of  those  masters  with  it. 
He  misses  the  fat  painting  of  Fabritius.  Further 
he  is  of  opinion  that  the  portrait  does  not  come 
from  the  Rembrandt  but  rather  from  the  Frans 
Hals  School. 

Prolonged  acquaintance  and  recent  com- 
parison with  the  Haarlem  de  Brays  and  a  dis- 
tinct recollection  of  the  portraits  formerly  in  the 
Maurice  Kann  collection  fail  to  convince  me 
that  the  Ghent  picture  is  from  the  hand  of  Jan 
de  Bray  or  even  of  the  Haarlem  School. 

Carel  Fabritius  and  Jan  de  Bray  are  dis- 
tinctly removed  from  one  another  in  emotional 
expressiveness  and  technical  qualities.  De  Bray 
painted  with  more  fluidity  and  achieved  his 
modelling  by  gradually  building  up.  Striking 
examples  of  his  method  are  the  Christ  Blessing 
Little  Children,  at  Haarlem,  and  the  Moses  in 
the  Bulrushes,  at  Rotterdam.  Fabritius,  on  the 
other  hand,  attains  his  effects  by  the  use  of  broad 
planes — the  Rotterdam  portrait.  Dr.  Hoftstede 
de  Groot's  picture,  and  the  Goldfinch  are  all 
characteristic  examples  of  his  methods,  and  with 
these  the  Ghent  picture  presents  striking  affin- 
ities. The  painting  throughout  the  latter  is 
fatter  than  in  any  work  of  Jan  de  Bray  with 
which  I  am  acquainted,  and  in  this  respect 
approximates  to  Fabritius.  The  quality  and 
texture  of  the  background,  as  well  as  the  high 
lights,  strongly  resemble  those  of  Fabritius;  the 
manner  of  treating  the  shadows  is  reminiscent 
of  the  Goldfinch  and  of  the  portrait  at  Rotter- 
dam. Further,  the  general  quality,  the  curious 
incomplete  fusion  of  blue — much  favoured  by 
Fabritius — in  the  dress,  flesh,  hair  and  back- 
ground, lead  one  almost  involuntarily  to 
Fabritius.  Again,  there  is  evidence  of  an  abso- 
lutely original  compromise  between  the  two 
dominating  influences  by  which  Fabritius  was 
surrounded — Rembrandt  and  Jan  Vermeer  of 
Delft — that  of  Rembrandt,  in  the  dress  especi- 
ally— compare  the  shirt  in  Rotterdam.  We  see 
Fabritius   swaying  towards   Rembrandt    in   the 


Tobias  and  the  Rotterdam  portrait,  whereas  in 
the  Goldfinch,  the  Soldier  at  the  Gate,  and  the 
Ghent  portrait  he  exhibits  a  marked  tendency 
in  the  direction  of  Vermeer.  The  evidence  of 
this  dual  influence  points  distinctly  to  a  Delft 
picture  of  the  time,  and  further  investigation  in 
that  direction  leads  one  to  Carel  Fabritius. 

Another  portrait  of  supreme  aesthetic  quality, 
in  the  possession  of  Belgium,  also  suggests  the 
name  of  Carel  Fabritius.  This  is  the  Portrait 
of  a  Man  (No.  713)  [Plate  H,  b],  which  the 
Brussels  Museum  was  fortunate  enough  to 
secure  at  the  Werner  Dahl  sale  in  Amsterdam 
in  1905.  This  picture  has  been  ascribed  to 
Simon  de  Vos,  largely  on  account  of  a  supposed 
affinitv  with  the  portrait  of  that  painter,  which 
is  in  the  Antwerp  Gallery,  then  considered  to  be 
a  self-portrait  by  Simon  de  Vos,  but  since 
known  to  be  a  capital  work  of  Abraham  de 
Vries.  Neither  in  technique  or  vision,  however, 
have  the  Brussels  and  Antwerp  portraits  any- 
thing in  common. 

It  is  again  in  the  direction  of  Carel  Fabritius 
that  we  must  look  for  the  authorship.  There  is 
the  same  quality  of  opposition  between  the  back- 
ground and  the  portrait,  the  same  admixture  of 
blue  in  certain  parts  of  the  flesh,  the  ruff,  hand 
and  cuff,  the  same  sure  character  of  outline  in 
the  face,  mouth,  and  brim  of  the  hat,  the  same, 
spontaneity  in  the  painting  of  the  tassels,  face, 
hand  and  hat  as  that  displayed  in  the  Ghent 
portrait.  It  is  instructive  also  to  compare  the 
painting  of  the  dress  at  Ghent  and  the  hand  and 
cuff  at  Brussels  with  that  of  the  Rotterdam 
portrait.  The  remains  of  Rembrandt's  influence 
passing  across  another  and  intensely  sensitive 
temperament  is  at  once  apparent.  It  is  possible 
that  the  Brussels  portrait  is  one  of  the  latest 
we  know  from  Fabritius's  hand.  The  evolution 
from  the  Notte,  the  date  of  which,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  it  has  been  tampered  with,  we  can 
assume  to  be  1640 — to  the  Music  Seller  (1652) 
and  the  Schwerin  and  Hague  pictures  (both 
1654)  points  to  the  fact  that  the  Brussels  portrait 
makes  a  definite  advance  towards  Vermeer. 

The  quality  of  both  these  portraits  is  such  that 
no  admirer  of  Carel  Fabritius  need  suffer  any 
pangs  upon  seeing  their  authorship  fathered 
upon  him.  From  their  qualities  of  craftsmanship, 
their  power  and  concentration  of  presentation, 
the  knowledge  and  facility  of  painting  revealed  in 
them,  and,  what  is  far  more  important,  by  the 
quality  of  their  emotional  appeal,  they  are  worthy 
of  his  highest  achievements.  Beside  them,  the 
Amsterdam  and  Innsbruck  pictures  fall  to  the 
level  of  the  work  merely  of  a  fairly  good  painter. 


227 


features 

Persia,     even    from 

an    elaborate    structure 

later    Fatimites    and    next 


THE    SARACENIC    HOUSE— I 
BY   MARTIN    S.    BRIGGS 

HE     primitive     mosijue,     a     rude 
structure  of  mud  anil  palm-trunks, 
gradually    developed     all    through 
the  Middle  Ages,   generally  under 
external    influence.       Assimilating 
from     Rome,     Constantinople,      and 
India     itself,     it     became 
of    stone    under    the 
underwent    further 
changes     as     a     result      of       intercourse      be- 
tween  Egypt    and   the    Crusaders.    The  mame- 
luke    sultans    carried    the    architecture    of    the 
mosque  to  a  still  higher  pitch,  culminating  in 
the    wonderful  buildings  of  Kait  Bey  and  El- 
Ghuri.     Lastly,  under  Turkish  dominion,  came 
the    substitution     of     Byzantine     domes      and 
"  pencil  "  minarets  for  Saracenic  motives,  and 
the  final  decline  of  Saracenic  art  as  a  living  style. 
During  all  these  centuries,  the  development  of 
the  dwelling-house  in  Egypt  and  Palestine  was 
curiously  dissimilar  to  that  of  the  mosque.     Of 
its  earlier  stages  few  examples  remain,  but  there 
is  surprisingly  little  difference  between  the  oldest 
surviving  houses  (of  the  thirteenth    and    four- 
teenth centuries)  and  those  built  on  traditional 
lines    even    so    recently  as  last  century.     The 
reason  for  this  apparent  stagnation  is  not  easy 
to  find.     The   plan   of  the   mosque  was    deter- 
mined by  the  requirements  of  the  Moslem  faith, 
which  has  hardly  been  modified  since  its  founda- 
.  tion.    And  though  life  in  Cairo  as  Edward  Lane 
described     it     in     the     fourth     decade    of    last 
century,   was  probably   more  medi.-evnl  than   in 
any  country  of  Europe,   there  must  have  been 
certain  alterations  in  the  habits  of  the  people — 
or  at  any  rate  of  the  upper  classes — that    one 
would  expect  to  see  reflected  in   the  plan    and 
.style  of  their  dwellings.    Certainly  no  European 
country  can  show  such  a  slight  change  in   its 
nrchitecture  from  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  present 

day. 

The  factors  that  have  produced  the  typical 
Arab  house,  which  one  sees  best  in  the  older 
quarters  of  Cairo,  are  partly  climatic,  partly 
social,  and  partly  religious.  In  the  Northern 
countries  of  Europe,  houses  are  planned  with  a 
view  to  obtaining  the  maximum  amount  of  sun 
and  resisting  rain  and  cold.  In  Egypt,  where 
the  annual  rainfall  is  negligible  even  on  the  sea- 
coast  and  practically  non-existent  in  parts  of 
the  interior,  hardly  any  provision  is  made  for 
resisting  the  weather.  The  sudden  deluge  of 
rain  that  may  descend  on  Cairo  once  in  a  year 
plavs  havoc  with  many  of  its  flimsv  modern 
houses  in  the  poorer  districts  and  floods  the 
narrow    streets     of    the     older     quarters.       In 


Palestine  and  Syria,  where  the  winter  rains  are 
heavy  and  prolonged,  more  precautions  are 
taken  in  the  construction  of  roofs,  and  the  old 
streets  of  Jerusalem  are  paved  with  stone,  but 
Damascus  in  mid-winter  is  a  sea  of  mud.  Yet 
the  sun  in  Syria  is  hardly  less  powerful  during 
the  summer  than  in  Cairo,  so  that  the  need  for 
shade  is  equally  important.  The  effect  of  this 
climatic  factor  on  the  Egyptian  house  is  seen  in 
the  provision  of  an  open  makad  or  belvedere 
facing  the  north,  in  the  use  of  the  maJkaf  or  roof 
ventilator  to  catch  the  cool  north  wind  that  sets 
in  some  hours  after  sunset  in  the  hot  months, 
and  in  the  substitution  of  unglazed  frames — 
filled  with  musharabiya  or  ornamental  wooden 
lattice-work — for  glazed  windows.  The  need  for 
plentiful  cold  water,  so  vital  as  to  be  hardly  com- 
prehensible to  an  untrayelled  Briton,  but  a  very 
real  need  to  any  man  who  has  served  in  an 
Eastern  campaign,  is  met  by  the  placing  in  the 
open  courtyard  of  a  well  or  fountain,  in  larger 
houses  by  a  similar  though  more  ornamental 
fountain  in  the  great  reception-room,  and  in  all 
houses  by  shaded  and  ventilated  shelves  in  the 
7nusharabiya  windows  for  the  porous  clay  jars 
in  which  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  keep  cold 
water  for  drinking.  It  is  perhaps  the  remark- 
able suitability  of  the  Egyptian  house  to  the 
exacting  demands  of  the  climate  that  chiefly 
explains  the  slight  change  in  its  development 
through  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  years, 
for  on  old  frescoes  at  Thebes,  more  than  thirty 
centuries  old,  may  be  seen  pictures  of  houses 
provided  with  a  makad  and  a  malkaf,  facing 
north.  There  are  some  things  in  Egypt, — the 
shadoof,  the  sakkiya,  and  the  sails  of  the  Nile 
boats, — that  never  change. 

The  extreme  simplicity  of  Oriental  domestic 
life  is  dictated  partly  by  the  great  heat  that 
prevails.  Even  a  mediaeval  castle  in  Europe 
contained  a  fair  amount  of  portable  furniture — 
tables,  chairs,  carved  oak  chests,  and  so  on. 
There  was  usually  an  elaborately  decorated  fire- 
place with  logs.  The  walls  were  panelled  with 
wood  or  hung  with  tapestry.  The  age  of  the 
Tudors  saw  a  great  advance  in  comfort  and  com- 
plexity, and  by  the  times  of  the  late  Stuarts  an 
approach  had  been  made  to  modern  conditions. 
Nowadays  the  word  "  furniture  "  almost  pre- 
supposes upholstery,  while  carpets  and  curtains 
are  regarded  as  elementary  necessaries  of  life. 
It  is  only  of  recent  years  that  tables,  chairs, 
curtains,  mirrors,  fireplaces,  wall-paper,  iron- 
mongery, sideboards,  framed  pictures,  and- 
"  knick-knacks,"  have  been  introduced  into 
Cairo  to  disturb  and  vulgarise  the  austere  sim- 


228 


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plicity  of  the  Arab  house.  Originally  it  was 
designed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  an  exact- 
ing climate.  The  rooms  were  stark  naked, 
according  to  our  European  ideas,  devoid  of  up- 
holstery, carpeted  only  w-ith  a  few  mats  of  good 
design,  and  furnished  only  with  divans.  But 
they  were  cool. 

The  third  factor  dictating  the  arrangement  of 
the  Arab  dwelling  is  to  be  found  in  the  various 
precepts  of  Islam.     First  among    these    is    the 
injunction    that    the    women  of  the  household, 
veiled  when  they  go  abroad,  should  be  invisible 
at  home  to  all  male  visitors  save  their  own  men- 
folk.    The  rapid  Europeanisation  of  Cairo  has 
made  the  veil  little  more  than  an  added  attraction 
to    the    charms   of    the    Egyptian  women,  who 
display   more  than  was  ever  intended    by     the 
founder  of  their  faith.     But  the  privacy  of  the 
older  Arab  house  is  so  contrived  that  no  modern 
innovations  can  effect  much  alteration.     It  is  so 
built  that  a  visitor  on  entry  has  to  pass  a  door- 
keeper, then   an  angle  in  the   entrance-passage 
that  prevents  any  outsider  from  gazing  into  the 
house,  and  lastly  a  locked  door  from  the  inner 
courtyard    that    gives    reluctant    access    to    the 
women's    portion    of   the    house.      The    rooms 
towards  the  street  on  the  ground-floor  are  very 
seldom  entered  by  women,  but  the  windows  are 
placed  so  high  up    in    the    wall    that    even    a 
passer-bv  on  camel-back  cannot  see  within,  and 
the  musharabiya  bays  and  windows  above  allow 
the  women  to  see  out  while  not  becoming  visible 
themselves.    The  house  is  so  planned  that  none 
of  its  windows  look   into  any  other  house,  nor 
can  the  courtyard  be  seen   by  any   neighbours 
from  their  roofs  or  windows.     From  one  point 
only  is  it  possible  to  look  into  these  jealously- 
guarded  abodes,  and  that  is  from  the  top  of  a 
lofty  mosque-minaret.     It  is  for  this  reason  alone 
that  the  office  of  muezzin  came  to  be  the  prero- 
gative of  blind  men  only.     There  was  no  great 
novelty  in  this  segregation  of  women.     It  was 
practised  among  many  primitive  races,  especially 
in  the    East,    and    both    Greeks    and    Romans 
favoured   it  to  some  extent.     But  only   among 
Moslem  and  other  Oriental  nations  has  it  per- 
sisted so  long,  and  in  Cairo  its  fate  is  sealed. 

The  comparative  scarcity  of  notable  mediaeval 
houses  surviving  in  Egypt  and  Palestine  is  due 
to  some  extent  to  superstition.  It  was  generally 
held  that  the  house  in  which  any  man  had  died 
was  unlucky,  and  should  never  again  be 
inhabited.  For  that  cause  the  mameluke  sultans 
and  emirs  preferred  to  build  their  palaces  of 
ephemeral  construction  as  compared  with  their 
mosques  and  city-wallSj  and  to  concentrate  all 
their  energies  on  decoration.  The  uncertainty 
of  life  during  this  period  may  surely  have  been 
a  contributory  factor,  for  the  existence  of  the 
Cairo  courtier  was  apt  to  be  a  very    transient 


one,  and  if  he  never  knew  from  day  to  day  when 
an  assassin  might  cut  short  his  career,  he  was 
hardly  likely  to  waste  much  time  in  building  his 
own  house.  It  was  part  of  his  fatalism  to  take 
no  thought  for  the  morrow. 

Before  proceeding  to  a  detailed  examination  of 
the  historical  development  of  the  Arab  dwelling, 
we  may  well  pause  to  visit  an  imaginary  house 
in  Cairo,  such  as  has  been  described  at  various 
times  by  competent  writers,  and  such  as  may 
still  be  found  in  odd  corners  of  that  wonderful 
city,  preserved,  without  serious  modification 
from  its  original  state,  by  the  care  of  the 
"  Comite  "  or  by  the  zeal  of  some  cultured 
owner. 

The  exterior  of  the  building  is  bare  in  the 
extreme.  One  side  only,  as  a  rule,  faces  a  street, 
and  that  street  is  narrow.  In  such  an  example 
as  the  so-called  "  House  of  the  Kadi,"  only  the 
elaborate  makad  or  belvedere  remains,  and  that 
formerly  stood  within  an  enclosed  court,  not,  as 
now,  on  a  wide  thoroughfare.  This  severity  of 
external  treatment  is  due  partly  to  the  constant 
faction-fights  among  the  mamelukes  that  often 
made  the  streets  of  Cairo  dangerous,  partly  to 
the  narrowness  of  the  street  itself — giving  no 
view  and  allowing  of  little  fresh  air — and  partly 
to  the  concentration  of  all  decoration  in  the 
private  part  of  the  house,  invariably  grouped 
round  an  internal  court.  But  in  spite  of  modern 
ideas  of  hygiene  there  is  something  to  be  said 
for  these  narrow  alleys  between  towering  houses 
that  nearly  touch  overhead.  Except  at  mid-day, 
they  are  always  shady  and  cool.  Moreover,  they 
protect  one  to  some  extent  from  the  khamsin 
wind  and  the  sandstorms  that  sometimes  sweep 
through  the  city.  The  wide  boulevards  at 
Khartoum,  laid  out  in  accordance  with  British 
ideas,  offer  little  protection  against  either  sun 
or  sandstorm. 

The  lower  part  of  the  external  walls  is  faced 
with  the  fine  limestone  obtained  from  the  neigh- 
bouring Mukattam  hills,  carefully  dressed  and 
with  fairly  narrow  joints.  The  upper  part, 
except  in  the  earliest  examples,  is  of  lighter  con- 
struction, usually  of  brickwork  filled  in  between 
wooden  posts,  or,  as  we  call  it,  "bricknogging." 
This  frequently  overhangs  the  stone  sub- 
structure, and  in  such  cases  is  supported  by  great 
stone  corbels  or  wooden  brackets,  boldly 
designed  and  placed  at  short  intervals.  These 
brackets  form  the  most  picturesque  feature  of 
many  a  Cairo  street.  The  overhanging  upper 
part  is  usually  plastered  in  Cairo,  though  not, 
as  we  shall  see  later,  in  all  other  towns  of  Egypt. 
Sometimes  the  substructure  is  formed  of 
alternate  layers  of  red  and  white  stone,  as  in  the 
case  of  many  of  the  mosques.  From  the  main 
wall-face  project,  as  a  rule,  one  or  more  of  the 
magnificent     oriel   windows,    filled   with   mush- 


233 


arabiya  or  lattice,  that  have  already  been  men- 
tioned.     These  are  characteristic    of    Saracenic 
architecture,  but  especially  of  the  architecture  of 
Cairo,  where  they  are  treated  with  a  wealth  of 
fancv  and  a  beauty   of  desijjn   not   found  else- 
where in   Egypt  and   Palestine.     They   may   be 
said  to  fulfil  a  triple  object.      In  the  first  place 
the    word    vmsharabiya    means    "  a    place    for 
drink,"  '  and,  more  precisely,    a    place    where 
drink  may  be  kept  cool,  hence  a  place  protected 
against  the  sun,  yet  well  aired,  for  the  greyish- 
white      porous     clay      water-jars,      known      as 
"  Efoolas  "    or    "  zias  "    and    made    chiefly    in 
I'pper    Egypt.      These    vessels    have    the    pro- 
perty   of    keeping    water    surprisingly    cool    in 
the     hottest     weather,     if    shaded     and     placed 
near    a     current    of    air.       They     may     stand 
in    a   large    latticed   oriel,    or    in    a    small   oriel 
projecting  from  the  front  or  ends  of  a  larger  one, 
or  even  from  a  large  lattice  flush  with  the  wall, 
this  latter  type  being  by  no  means  uncommon. 
The  second  object  fulfilled  by  these  musharabiya 
windows  is  to  prevent  pas.sers-by,  or  neighbours 
in  houses  across  the  street,  observing  the  women 
of  the  household  within.    The  lattice  is  formed 
of  small  turned  bars  of  wood,   often    of    great 
beauty    and    design,    arranged    in    squares    or 
diagonally,  the  di.stance  between  the  centres  of 
each  pair  of  bars  varying    from    \\    inches    to 
if  inches.    This  spacing  fulfils  the  third  object 
of  the  lattice,  for  it  enables  the  women  within  to 
watch    the   traffic   in   the  street   below   and    the 
frequent  processions  and  street-ceremonies  that 
in  former  times  were  almost  the  only  events  in 
the  world  without  that  penetrated  to  the  eyes  of 
the  ladies  of  the  harim.    Where  the  musharabiya 
lakes  the  form  of  an  oriel,  there  is  frequently  a 
flat  lattice  above  it.  [Plate  I,  a].    Windows  are 
not,   however,  always  of  this  form,   and  some- 
times gratings  of  iron  or  of  turned  wood  bars 
are    used    approximating  in  size  to  the  leaded 
lights   of    houses    in    England    in    Elizabethan 
days . 

The  top  of  the  fac^ade  to  the  street  is  usually 
quite  plain,  but  occasionally  one  finds  a  crested 
battlement  such  as  was  used  in  mosques  of  the 
fifteenth  or  sixteenth  centuries.  The  roof  is 
invariably  flat,  and  is  constructed  of  palm 
trunks  covered  with  cement  or  mud.  The  chief 
feature  of  most  fa(;-ades  is  the  entrance  doorway, 
often  decorated  with  the  arms  of  the  owner,  with 
a  verse  from  the  Koran  in  ornamental 
characters,  or  occasionally  with  a  stuffed  animal 
such  as  a  young  elephant  or  a  crocodile.  The 
latter  objects  are  supposed  to  ward  off  ill-luck, 
and  thus  show  a  superstition  akin  to  the  fear  of 
the  "  evil  eve  "  in  Southern  Italy  and  other 
lands.    These  doorways  may  have  pointed  heads 

iThe  word  "sherbet"  now  .Anglicised,  has  the  same 
derivation. 


with  Huted  moulding  round  them,  a  stalactited 
head  as  is  so  often  found  in  the  porches  of  the 
manu'luke  mosques,  or,  most  commonly  of  all,  a 
scjuare  or  segmental  head  formed  of  elaborately 
joggled  voussoirs  surrounded  by  a  delicate  inter- 
lacing moulding.  The  characteristic  fastening 
of  the  door  is  a  wooden  latch  called  a  dabba,  of 
absurdly  primitive  design,  with  small  iron 
pins  that  slip  into  small  holes. '  A  mediieval 
burglar  would  have  no  difficulty  in  dealing  with 
so  childish  a  contrivance,  and  Edward  Lane 
naively  observes — "  It  is  not  difficult  to  pick 
this  kind  of  lock."  At  nights  the  door  is  secured 
by  another  mediaeval  survival,  a  heavy  bar  right 
across  its  width.  Outside  the  doorway  there  is 
frequently  a  mounting-step  and  an  iron  ring  for 
tving  up  one's  mount. 

Entering  the  house  then,  by  fair  means  or 
foul,  we  find  further  access  guarded  by  the 
boab — a  doorkeeper  or  concierge — who  sits  just 
inside  the  doorway  on  a  stone  or  wooden  bench 
(a  mastaba)  in  the  narrow  and  dark  entrance 
passage.  This  passage  always  has  a  right- 
angled  turn  in  its  length  before  it  reaches  the 
inner  courtyard,  so  that  instead  of  a  glimpse  of 
a  cool  cortile  with  sunlit  orange-trees  within, 
such  as  so  often  provides  a  delightful  surprise  in 
Roman  or  Genoese  streets,  our  prying  gaze  is 
confronted  with  a  frowning  blank  wall  of  stone. 

If  our  credentials  are  good,  we  pass  the  boab 
and  the  angle  in  the  passage,  and  find  ourselves 
in  the  real  heart  of  the  house,  the  hosh  or  inner 
courtyard.  No  rule  can  be  given  for  the  shape 
or  dimensions  of  this  court,  but  it  is  often 
approximately  square.  On  the  ceremonial 
occasions  that  occur  in  better-class  Egyptian 
households  a  great  tent-cloth  or  awning,  with 
red  and  blue  patterns  on  a  cream  or  buff  ground, 
such  as  is  still  made  near  the  Musky,  is  hung 
over  the  whole  area  of  the  court,  and  the 
turbaned  guests  of  the  host  sit  round  with 
cigarettes  or  pipes  to  listen  to  flowery  Oriental 
oratory  or  the  curious  syncopated  music  of  the 
country.  No  women  are  ever  present  in  the 
court  on  such  occasions,  or  indeed  on  any 
occasions  when  a  stranger  might  be  admitted. 
In  the  centre  of  the  court  is  often  a  well,  whence 
the  brackish  water  of  the  Nile  that  percolates 
I'.nder    all    Cairo   is   drawn,    or  occasionally   an 

namental  fountain  occupies  this  position. 
Round  the  court  are  grouped  the  servants'  apart- 
mpots  (such  as  they  are)  and  the  stables  for  any 
animals — horses,  donkeys,  even  camels — that  the 
owner  may  possess.  The  floor  of  this  court  is 
paved,  but  a  tree — often  a  palm — frequently  is 
found  there,  very  seldom  a  garden  as  we  under- 
stand the  term.     For  ordinary  business,  visitors 


*  See    excellent    illustration    in    Lane's     Modern     Egyptians 
(1914  edition),  p.  20. 


234 


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of  no  great  social  standing  are  received  in  a  room 
or  alcove  called  the  takhtabosh.  This  is  a  square 
recess  of  which  one  side,  towards  the  court,  is 
open,  and  in  the  middle  of  this  side  is  usually 
found  a  pillar  to  carry  the  floor  of  the  rooms 
above.  The  takhtabosh  is  fur.i'^hed  with  a  lon^- 
wooden  sofa  or  dikka  on  one,  two,  or  three  of 
its  walls.  It  is  usually  one  or  two  steps  above 
the  level  of  the  court.  The  latter  is  sprinkled 
with  water  during  the  summer  months.  [Plate 
II,  c] 

Visitors  (and  by  this  is  implied  male  visitors 
only)  of  any  importance  are,  however,  received 
in  a  much  more  pretentious  apartment,  the 
mandara  or  reception-hall.  This  room  is  usually 
lofty,  and  in  one  important  case  at  least  its 
central  portion  rises  to  the  height  of  three 
storeys.  It  consists  of  a  central  portion,  the 
durka'a,  into  which  one  steps  on  entering  the 
room,  and  one  or  more  liwanat  or  alcoves  raised 
a  foot  or  less  above  the  level  of  the  durka'a. 
Before  one  ascends  into  a  liwan,  on  the 
courteous  host's  invitation,  one  removes  one's 
shoes,  for  the  floor  of  the  liwan  is  carpeted. 
Where  two  or  three  liwanat  are  found,  as  in  the 
largest  houses,  the  same  effect  is  obtained  as  in 
the  medresa  or  cruciform  mosque,  for  the  ceiling 
of  the  durka'a  is  often  higher  than  the  rest.  The 
ceilings  of  these  State  apartments  are  always 
their  chief  ornament,  formed  of  heavy  beams  of 
dark-coloured  wood  placed  about  a  foot  apart, 
stop-chamfered,  carved  and  gilt,  or  of 
geometrical  interlacing  panelling  in  intricate 
designs.  The  walls  are  usually  quite  bare, 
whitewashed  and  plastered.  The  floor  is 
frequently  paved  with  marble  mosaic,  and  in  the 
centre  of  the  room  is  often  an  ornamental 
fountain,  the  faskiya.  In  the  walls  are  recesses 
for  ornamental  cupboards,  usually  shallow,  with 
arched  openings  for  vases,  and  delicately  carved 
and  panelled  doors.  There  is  sometimes  a  suffa, 
a  marble  or  stone  sideboard  with  an  arcaded 
front  where  are  placed  the  few  but  often  very 
beautiful  vessels  required  for  Arab  hospitality. 
The  only  remaining  articles  of  furniture  are  the 
seats.  These  in  their  simplest  form  consist  of 
"  divans,"  long  stuffed  mattresses  on  the  floor, 
on  which  host  and  guests  sit  cross-legged.  But 
sometimes  these  mattresses  are  placed  on  a 
frame  of  palm-sticks  (serir),  commonly  known 
in  Cairo  as  "  affass-work,"  or  on  turned  legs 
connected  by  a  wooden  framework  and  rails. 
On  these  divans  or  seats  are  laid  cushions.  The 
divan  is  commonly  about  a  yard  wide,  and  the 
cushions  about  a  yard  square.  Sometimes  the 
divan  is  placed  in  a  small  recess  or  sidilla.  In 
summer  the  floor  of  the  liwan  is  covered  with 
the  palm-leaf  matting  so  largely  used  in  the 
more  sacred  part  of  the  mosques,  and  with  mats 
laid  upon  it,   but  in  winter  carpets  are  added. 


Of  movable  furniture  the  only  example  gener- 
ally used  is  a  kursi,  a  small  and  very  low  poly- 
gonal table  made  of  wood,  often  richly  inlaid 
with  mother-of-pearl,  ivory,  and  ebony.  The 
only  utensils  commonly  found  in  such  rooms 
are  a  brass  basin  and  ewer  for  ablution,  water- 
bottles,  coffee-cups,  and  vessels  containing 
perfume,  all  of  which  stand  on  the  sufja.  This 
somewhat  detailed  description  of  the  appearance 
and  contents  of  a  mandara  indicates  that  in  its 
simplicity  it  represents  the  taste  of  the  architect 
rather  than  of  the  upholsterer. 

Occasionally  one  finds  in  the  hosh  a  small 
private  mosque,  containing  a  mihrab  niche, 
and  separated  from  the  courtyard  by  a  latticed 
screen. 

On  an  upper  floor  is  situated  a  makad  or 
belvedere,  in  all  houses  of  the  larger  sort.  This 
is  the  most  attractive  feature  of  the  Arab  house, 
and  closely  resembles  the  loggia  of  an  Italian 
palace.  It  is  an  open-air  sitting-room  or 
verandah,  often  8  or  lo  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  hosh,  and  used  as  a  reception-room  for  male 
visitors.  Invariably  it  faces  north  for  coolness 
sake.  The  front  to  the  hosh  consists  of  an  open 
arcade,  usually  of  two,  three,  or  four  slightly 
horse-shoe  arches,  stilted,  on  stalactite  capitals 
and  supported  by  plain  or  spiral  columns  of 
limestone  or  marble.  Between  the  bases  of 
the  columns  is  fixed  a  low  balustrade  of 
musharabiya  lattice.  In  the  best  examples  the 
ceiling  is  lofty,  coved,  and  richly  carved  and 
decorated,  the  favourite  colours — if  colour  is 
used — being  dark  blue  and  gold.  In  some  cases 
the  makad  is  sheltered  from  the  sun  by  a  great 
eaves  carried  on  carved  brackets.  A  flight  of 
steps  leads  up  from  the  hosh  to  the  makad,  the 
latter  thus  forming  an  ante-room  to  the  more 
domestic  parts  of  the  house.  And  although  the 
makad  is  essentially  a  male  apartment,  the 
women  of  the  harim  are  occasionally  permitted 
to  watch  the  happenings  therein  through  a 
musharabiya  communicating  with  one  of  their 
own  rooms.    [Plate  II,  c] 

From  the  makad  the  next  step  towards  com- 
plete penetration  of  the  house  is  the  entry  into 
the  ka'a,  the  largest  chamber  in  the  house.  In 
nearly  every  case  this  is  an  imposing  and  very 
lofty  hall,  consisting,  like  the  typical  mandara 
just  described,  of  a  central  durka'a,  which  is 
higher  than  the  two  liwanat.  In  the  centre  of 
the  ceiling  of  the  dwkaa  is  a  small  lantern- 
cupola  (memrak)  with  musharabiya  sides,  pro- 
viding both  light  and  ventilation.  Other 
latticed  openings  are  often  found  in  the 
clerestory  of  the  durka'a  roof.  The  beams  of 
the  gorgeous  ceiling  are  carried  on  great 
stalactite  consoles.  The  walls  are  for  the  most 
part  plain,  decoration  thus  being  concentrated 
in  the  ceiling  where  it  is  sufficiently  distant  not 


*37 


to  trouble  the  eyes,  but  a  high  dado  of  colourt-d 
marbles  is  often  found,  and  the  floor  is  similarly 
paved.  A  central  fountain  is  sometimes  used, 
and  if  so  is  always  ornamentally  treated.  Like 
the  nuiiidara,  the  ku'u  contains  laltiird  windows, 
a  suffa,  and  recessed  cupboards  with  elaborately 
panelled  doors.  Round  the  upper  part  of  the 
walls  runs  a  narrow  shelf  of  wood,  used  to 
display  the  owner's  china,  and  thus  supplying 
a  feminine  note.  In  fact  the  ka'ti  corresponds  to 
a  modern  drawing-room,  and  at  the  same  time 
is  the  Ultima  Thule  of  favoured  visitors,  who 
may  be  scrutinised  through  a  lattice  by  the 
ladies  of  the  household.  Ihis  is  the  exact 
prototype  of  the  grille  in  the  Ladies'  Gallery 
in  the  English  House  of  Commons.  The  recent 
removal  of  the  latter  interesting  survival  shows 
that  we  are  several  years  ahead  of  Moslem 
Cairo  in  that  respect  at  least. 

Except  for  the  master's  office  or  study  adjoin- 
ing the  makad,  the  remaining  apartments  on  the 
upper  floor  constitute  the  harim.  1  his  misun- 
understood  term  properly  includes  both  the 
women  of  the  household  and  the  rooms  they 
occupy.  It  signifies  "  set  apart,"  and  simply 
means  the  private  apartments  used  by  the 
owner  and  his  family,  as  opposed  to  the  recep- 
tion-rooms where  male  guests  and  business 
visitors  are  received.  The  word  is  even  painted 
on  the  op-^n  portions  of  tramcars  and  the  com- 
partments of  railway  carriages  that  are  reserved 
for  women,  thus  implying  no  more  than  our 
"  Ladies  only."  In  a  Cairo  house,  a  separate 
doorvvay  usually  leads  from  the  hosh  to  the 
harim,  this  doorway  being  ornamentally  treated. 
The  smaller  rooms  are  loftier  than  in  this 
country,  14  feet  being  a  usual  height.  The 
wood  used  in  their  ceilings  gives  harbour  to 
bugs,  which  are  very  prevalent  in  Cairo.  The 
walls  are  often  painted  with  clumsy  representa- 
tions of  Mecca  and  other  subjects,  but  these 
are  of  late  workmanship.  Until  recently  there 
were  no  rooms  furnished  as  bedrooms  in  our 
sense  of  the  word.  The  bed  simply  consisted 
of  a  mattress,   resting    on    one    of    the    palm- 

LIMOGES  ENAMELS  OF  THE 

CASTLE 

BY    BERNARD    RACKHAM 

N  one  of  his  charmingly-written 
studies  of  the  enamel-painters  of 
Limoges,'  Monsieur  J.  J.  Marquet  de 
Vasselot  has  described  the  work  of 
an  anonymous  artist  known  to  the 
world  only  as  the  author  of  a  series  of  plaques, 
unsigned    and    undated,    illustrating    incidents 

1  Une    suite   d'^maux    limousins    k    sujets    tirfe   de  I'En^ide 
(Bull,  de  la  Soc.  de  I'Histoire  de  I'Art  frangais,   Patis,   1912). 


Stick  frames  or  crates  already  described,  and 
was  placed  in  a  recess  during  the  daytime,  thus 
allowing  the  room  to  be  used  as  a  parlour. 
But  in  the  matter  of  furniture,  the  upper  and 
inidille  clas.ses  of  Cairo  have  adopted  European 
ideas  to  a  large  extent,  notably  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  their  bedrooms. 

The  bathroom  of  a  Cairo  house  has  one 
notable  characteristic,  a  small  domed  ceiling 
of  cement,  pierced  with  glazed  circular  openings 
for  light.  This  practice  is  somehow  remini- 
scent of  Rome.  The  baths  are  heated  in  the 
same  way  as  the  public  baths,  and  even  those 
who  have  a  private  bathioom  in  their  o\\  n  home 
frequently  resort  to  the  public  baths  for 
purposes  of  amusement.  Of  the  sanitary 
arrangements  even  in  the  larger  houses  the 
less  said  the  better,  though  it  may  be  remarked 
that  it  is  perfectly  possible  to  modernise  the 
systems  existing  in  the  old  Arab  mansions 
without  in  any  way  infringing  Moslem 
traditional  custom.  The  historic  houses  of 
Cairo  have  no  fireplaces.  Their  inhabitants 
shiver  round  a  brazier,  when  the  temperature 
in  winter  drops,  and  on  the  rare  occasions  when 
snow  falls  they  suffer  greatly.  Of  the  means 
employed  for  ventilation,  mention  has  already 
been  made.  The  vialkaf  or  roof-ventilator 
resembles  in  appearance  the  top  of  a  staircase 
leading  on  to  the  flat  roof  of  a  modern  building 
in  England,  but  with  this  difference,  that  it  is 
not  closed  at  the  top  by  a  door.  It  invariably 
faces  north.  Sometimes  an  open  summer 
sitting-room,  the  jesaha,  is  found  in  the  harim 
part  of  the  house. 

The  only  remaining  features  requiring  notice 
here  are  seldom  found  except  in  the  larger  and 
older  houses.  The  makhba  or  strong-room  is  a 
hiding-place  for  treasure.  The  bab  es-sirr  is 
an  entrance  to  a  convenient  secret  passage,  con- 
necting the  house  direct  with  the  street,  and 
thus  allowing  the  master  to  escape  from  justice, 
vengeance,  or  assassination,  or,  conversely, 
according  to  the  best  authorities,  to  enable  a 
paramour  to  enter  the  harim. 

AENEID  SERIES  AT  ALNWICK 


from  the  Aeneid  of  Vergil.  Though  not  paint- 
ings of  the  first  order,  these  works  are  not 
without  attraction  by  reason  of  the  balance  and 
harmonious  richness  of  their  colours,  in  the 
choice  and  arrangement  of  which  a  certain  con- 
servative tendency  is  apparent.  The  chromatic 
composition  of  the  series  carries  on  the  tradition 
of  which  Nardon  P^nicaud  was  the  greatest 
exponent ;  the  gilt  stars  and  clouds  with  which 


238 


A     The 
can  til." 


sienal  for  war  uiven  l)\     rurniis  from  the  citadel   of   l.aurrniuni.      "  Rauco  strepuerunt  cornua 


B  The  sacrificial  feast  of  Evander  before  the  walls  of  Pallantiiim  interrupted  by  the  arriv, 
and  his  fleet;  Pallas,  son  of  Evander,  challenging  Aeneas,  who  answers  from  the  poop  of 
"  Turn  pater  Aeneas  puppi  sic  fittur  ab  alia 


d  of  Aeneas 
his  vessel. 


Plate    I.     Limoees   Enamels  of  the   Aeneid   series  at  Alnwick 


't^V' 


ft 


C     Pallas  conducts  Aeneas  from  the  ship  to  his  father. 
in  hues  it  " 


'•  Exccpitqiic   manu  dextramque  amplcxits 


liTi 


*CF. 


r^V'j 


E.TilS*V 


T-iK;  T 


•vVi. 


■/  iV  ■ 


iU#?i 


''^ 


Ji^ 


D     Evander  relating  to  Aeneas  how  Fauns  and  wild    men  once    dwelt    in    the    land.      "  Haec   nemora 
indigenae  Fauni  Nymphaeque  tenebant  " 


Plate  1 1 .     Limoges  Enamels  of  the  Aeneid  series  at  Alnwick 


in  many  of  the  plaques  the  sky  is  brightened 
are  in  accordance  with  the  practice  of  the  late 
Gothic  school  at  Limoges.  The  archaic  aspect 
of  the  series  is  emphasised,  as  we  shall  see,  by 
the  source  from  which  the  designs  are  drawn. 
At  the  same  time  there  are  not  wanting,  in 
the  treatment  of  some  of  the  subjects,  signs  of 
awakening  Italian  influence,  and  a  technical 
feature,  the  fondant,  or  wash  of  colourless 
translucent  enamel,  with  which  the  plaques  are 
covered  on  their  back,  in  place  of  the  thick 
purplish  enamel  of  early  times,  shows  that  their 
date  is  not  as  early  as  might  at  first  sight  be 
thought.  It  may  be  fixed  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  1530. 

As  M.  Marquet  de  Vasselot  has  shown,  there 
are  certain  peculiarities  which  give  to  the  series 
a  place  apart  in  the  history  of  Limoges  enamel- 
ling. Whereas  from  about  1515-1520  onwards 
the  copying  of  engravings  was  the  rule  amongst 
the  Limoges  painters,  it  is  extremely  rare  to 
find  an  enameller  basing  his  work  on  the  illus- 
trations of  a  book  and  reproducing  them 
systematically  one  after  another,  as  in  the 
present  instance.  Nor  is  any  other  case  known 
of  so  large  a  series  of  panels  of  virtually  uniform 
size,  undoubtedly  intended  to  make  up  a  set  and 
destined  for  an  identical  purpose.  Triptychs 
and  other  arrangements  of  plaques  with  religious 
subjects  are  of  cour.se  common  enough ;  sets  of 
small  plaques  framed  together,  such  as  the 
splendid  series  of  the  life  of  Christ  by  Jean  H. 
Penicaud  at  South  Kensington,  are  not  unusual. 
But  here  we  have  the  unique  case  of  a  suite 
numbering  upwards  of  sixty  panels.  As  the 
learned  conservator  of  the  enamels  at  the  Louvre 
has  pointed  out,  the  destination  of  such  a  suite 
appears  to  be  indicated  by  the  mention,  in  an 
inventory  of  the  effects  of  Catherine  de  M^dicis, 
of  a  "  Cabinet  des  emaux  "  decorated  witii 
enamel  paintings  set  in  the  panelling  of  the 
apartment.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the 
Aeneid  series  was  executed  to  the  order  of  a 
single  individual  for  a  parallel  destination. 

As  long  ago  as  1867,  twelve  plaques  shown  at 
the  Paris  Universal  Exhibition  of  that  yeai  were 
recognised  by  Victorien  Sardou  as  being 
identical  in  design  with  the  cuts  of  a  Lyons 
edition  of  Vergil,  dated  1529,  in  his  possession. 
Shortly  after,  it  was  pointed  out  by  Alfred  Darcel 
that  this  book  was  based  on  an  earlier  one,  pub- 
lished by  Johann  Griininger  at  Strasburg  in 
1502.  The  enamels,  therefore,  are  based  on 
German  woodcuts  of  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  their  archaic  aspect  is 
thereby  largely  accounted  for. 

In  1897  other  plaques  of  the  series,  including 
two  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  were 
recorded  by  Dr.  Bode  in  his  catalogue  of  the 
Hainauer   Collection.     The   researches    of     M. 


Marquet  de  Vasselot  brought  the  total  number 
identified  in  his  monograph  to  63. 

To  this  number  it  is  now  possible  to  add  six 
hitherto  unrecorded.  It  has  been  my  good 
fortune  to  identify  as  belonging  to  the  series  six 
plaques  framed  together  which  form  part  of  the 
art  treasures  preserved  at  Alnwick  Castle.  I 
have  to  thank  the  Duchess  of  Northumberland 
for  her  kind  permission  to  reproduce  photo- 
graphs of  them  in  the  accompanying  plate. - 

The  subjects  of  all  six  plaques  are  taken  from 
the  Eighth  Book  of  the  Aeneid.  They  are  there- 
fore, as  it  would  seem,  amongst  the  latest 
executed  by  their  unknown  painter,  his  last 
subjects  being  tal-cen  from  the  following  (Ninth) 
book.    The  incidents  depicted  are  as  follows  :  — 

(i)  The  signal  for  war  given  by  Turnus  from 
the  citadel  of  Laurentum  ("  Raiico  strepuerunt 
corniM  cantu  "). 

(2)  The  sacrificial  feast  of  Evander  before  the 
walls  of  Pallantium  interrupted  by  the  arrival 
of  Aeneas  and  his  fleet ;  Pallas,  son  of  Evander, 
challenging  Aeneas,  who  answers  from  the  poop 
of  his  vessel  ("  Turn  pater  Aeneas  puppi  sic 
fatur  ab  alta  "). 

(3)  Pallas  conducts  Aeneas  from  the  ship  to 
his  father  ("  Excepitque  manu  dextramque 
amplexus  inhaesit  "). 

(4)  Evander  relating  to  Aeneas  how  Fauns 
and  wild  men  once  dwelt  in  the  land  ("  Haec 
nemora  indigenae  Fauni  Nymphaeque  tene- 
bant  "). 

(5)  Venus  making  a  sign  with  thunder  and 
the  flashing  of  arms  in  the  heavens  to  Evander 
and  Pallas  with  Aeneas  and  Achates  ("  Anna 
inter  nubem  caeli  in  regions  sertna  Per  sudum 
rutilare  vident  et  pulsa  tonare  "). 

The  objects  held  by  a  hand  thrust  down 
through  the  clouds,  indistinctly  seen  in  the 
enamel,  are  shown  by  the  woodcut  to  be  a 
breastplate  with  thigh-pieces,  a  helmet  with 
lion's-head  crest  and  a  shield. 

(6)  Evander  bidding  farewell  to  Pallas,  who 
rides  forth  with  Aeneas  and  Achates  to  meet 
Tarcho  and  the  Etruscans,  appearing  from  a 
grove  in  the  background  ("  Ipse  agmine  Pallas 
In  medio,  chlamyde  et  pictis  conspectus  in 
armis  "). 

One  of  the  two  plaques  in  the  Victoria  and 
Albert  Museum  (No.  1604-1855,  the  dream  of 
Aeneas  on  the  bank  of  the  Tiber)  comes  in  order 
between  the  first  and  the  second  of  the  above .^ 

Of  the  woodcuts  here  reproduced  for  com- 
parison with  the  plaques,  five  were  photographed 
from  a  copy  (in  the  Library  of  the  Victoria  and 

2  I  wish  also  to  thank  Mr.  J.  C.  Hodgson,  librarian  at 
the  castle,  for  his  kindness  in  arranging  to  have  the  photo- 
graphs taken  by  Mr.  J.  Candlish   Ruddock,  of  Alnwick. 

'  The  other  (No.  2036 — 1855)  represents  the  death  of 
Anchises  ;  that  in  the  British  Museum  (Waddesdon  Bequest), 
Aeneas  talking  leave  of  Dido. 


243 


Albert  Museum)  of  the  German  translation, 
published  at  Strasburg  in  1515.''  It  is  iinportant 
to  note  that,  in  the  last  of  these,  one  letter  in 
each  case  is  missing  from  tliree  of  the  labels 
set  above  the  tigures,  whereas  in  the  correspond- 
ing enamel  this  omission  does  not  occur, — a 
proof,  apart  from  other  considerations,  that  the 
enameller  did  not  use  this  edition  for  his  model. 
A  more  definite  proof  is  atTorded  by  the  fact 
that  the  second  subject  of  the  Alnwick  set  has 
no  counterpart  in  this  German  edition,  and  must 
be  sought  for  in  the  original  Latin  edition  of 
1502.'  This  is  the  case  also  with  several  others 
of  the  enamels  scheduled  by  M.  Marquet  de 
V'asselot,  many  of  the  cuts  of  the  first  edition 
being    omitted     from    the   German    translation. 


*  With  the  title  Vergilii  Marois  dryzche  Aeneadische  liiicher 
vott  Troianischer  zcrstorttng  utid  ufjgang  des  Komische  Reichs 
durch  doctor  Mtirncr  vltitst. 

'Cut  on  fol.  311  vo.  1  have  to  th.-ink  Mr.  \V.  King  for 
identifying  this  in  the  copy  at  the  British  Museum  from 
which  the  accompanying  reproduction  was  taken.  The 
remaining  five  cuts  are  printed  on  folios  308  vo,  312  vo, 
3'7  \'°i  3^3i  324  respectively  of  this  edition. 


There  is  no  need  here  to  repeat  the  reasoning  by 
which  he  has  proved  further  that  the  enamels 
were  not  copied  from  any  of  the  other  editions, 
published  at  Lyons  and  in  Italy,  in  wiiich  the 
Griininger  cuts  were  used. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  enameller  has  not 
allowed  himself  any  great  deviations  from  the 
original.  Here  and  there  only,  a  slight  modifica- 
tion is  observable,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  first 
of  the  six,  in  winch  the  legs  of  the  hornblower 
are  altered,  and  iji  the  last,  where  Evander  in 
the  woodcut  is  shown  actually  shaking  hands 
with  Pallas.  The  relative  positions  of  the 
figures  are  also  modified  in  several  cases.  In 
this  respect  there  is  a  difference  from  the  practice 
of  most  of  the  later  painters — who  generally 
adhered  closely  to  their  engraved  originals. 

This  discovery  at  Alnwick  prompts  the  hope 
that  more  enamels  of  this  suite  may  yet  come  to 
light.  It  is  with  this  object  in  view,  and  in  order 
to  make  more  widely  known  the  learned  mono- 
graph of  M.  Marquet  de  Vasselot,  that  this 
article  has  been  written. 


CHINESE    PHILOSOPHY    OF    ART- 
BY    ARTHUR    WALEY 

KUO  HSI  (PART  I.). 

UO  HSI  was  born  c.  1020.  He 
•specialised  in  the  painting  of  vast 
landscapes  on  the  walls  of  princely 
palaces.  Consequently  few  if  any  of 
•  his  works  have  survived.  The 
Kokka  Company  has  reproduced  (as  a  separate 
publication)  a  roll  attributed  to  him  and  formerly 
possessed  by  Tuan  Fang.  But  Mr.  Taki  him- 
self has  doubted  its  authenticity.  The  catalogue 
of  the  Emperor  Ch'ien  Lung's  paintings 
mentions  seven  pictures  attributed  to  Kuo  Hsi ; 
but  in  so  curt  a  way  as  to  suggest  that  the  com- 
pilers could  not  accept  them  as  genuine. 
Fortunately  he  was  a  writer  as  well  as  a  painter. 
His  essay  on  "  The  Sublime  in  Landscape 
Painting,"  edited  by  his  son,  Kuo  Ssu,  may 
still  be  read  and  has  been  noticed  by  several 
European  writers.  Fenollosa  {Epochs  of 
Chinese  and  Japanese  Art,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  12-19) 
gives  considerable  extracts  from  it,  using  a 
translation  made  for  him  by  Japanese  friends. 
Like  most  English  renderings  of  Chinese  texts 
made  by  Japanese,  this  translation  is  exceed- 
ingly inaccurate,  and  in  places  nonsensical. 
Petrucci  {Ostasiatische  Zeitschrift  I.,  395)  has 
translated  and  annotated  two  passages.  The 
essay  is  devoted  entirely  to  landscape-painting. 
The  sentence  (Fenollosa,  p.  15)  where  Kuo  Hsi 
seems  to  be  discussing  flower-painting,  has  been 
mutilated  by  Mrs.  Fenollosa,  who  made  extracts 
from  the  complete  Japanese  version.    The  refer- 


-IV. 


ence  to  flowers,  etc.,  is  a  comparison — "  Just  as 
in  flower-painting  ...  so  in  landscape  .   .   ." 

Kuo  Ssu's  introduction  opens  with  the  usual 
quotation  from  Confucius  and  etymological 
speculations.  The  actual  essay  of  Kuo  Hsi 
begins  as  follows  :  — 

Wherein  lies  the  reason  that  good  men  so  much  love  land- 
scape? It  is  because  amid  orchards  and  hills  a  man  has  ever 
room  to  cultivate  his  natural  bent  ;  because  streams  and  rocks 
never  fail  to  charm  the  "  rambler  who  goes  whistling  on  his 
way."i  It  is  because  fishing  and  wood-gathering  are  the 
natural  vocations  of  the  hermit  or  recluse,  hard  by  where  the 
flying  birds  and  chattering  apes  have  made  their  home. 

Noise  and  dust,  bridles  and  chains — these  are  what  man's 
nature  is  ever  weary  of.  Haze  atnd  mists,  saints  and  fairies — 
for  these  man's  nature  pines  eternally,  and  pines  in   vain. 

In  times  of  tyranny  and  misrule,  Kuo  Hsi 
continues,  it  is  natural  that  wise  men  should 
betake  themselves  to  the  hills  and  forests.  But 
in  times  of  peace  we  are  held  to  the  city  by 
filial  and  feudal  ties.  Woods  and  streams, 
nature-spirits  and  fairies  are  seen  by  us  only  in 
our  dreams. 

Now  comes  a  painter,  and  by  his  skill  all  these  things  are 
suddenly  brought  to  us.  Still  in  our  home,  stretched  on  the 
divan,  we  hear  the  cries  of  gibbons  by  many  streams,  the  song 
of  birds  down  many  valleys ;  while  our  eyes  are  flooded  by 
the  gleam  of  hills,  the  hues  of  falling  streams.  Does  not  this 
illustrate  the  saying,  "  Charmed  by  another's  purpose,  I 
attain  my  own  desire  "? 

It  is  for  these  reasons  that  the  world  honours  the  painting 
of  landscape.  If  it  be  approached  under  the  dominance  of  any 
other  spirit,  carelessly  or  light-heartedly,  it  is  as  though  one 
should  defile  the  sanctuary  of  a  God,  or  cast  impurities  into 
the  clear  wind  of  heaven.  .  .  .  Landscapes  have  been  classi- 
fied as  those  fit  to  walk  through,  those  fit  to  gaze  on,  those 
fit  to  idle  in,  those  fit  to  live  in.  A  painting  of  any  of  these 
may   reach   the  standard   called   "  miao,"    pre-excellent.      But 

1  From  a  poem  by  T'ao  Ch'ien. 


244 


E     \'enus  makinij  a  sien  with  thunder  and  the  flashing  of  arms  in  the  heavens  to  Evander  and  Pallas 


with   Aeneas  and  Achates.     "  Arma  inter   niibcrn 


rutilare  vidcnt  ei  pidsa   tonarc 


F  Evander  biddinjj  farewell  to  Pallas  who  rides  forth  with  Aeneas  and  Achates  to  meet  larcho  and 
the  Etruscans  appearing  from  a  grove  in  the  background.  "  Ipse  agmine  Pallasln.  medio,  chlamyde 
et  pictis  conspectus  in  armis."     (The  six  plaques  belong  to  the  Duchess  of  Northumberland) 


Plate  III.     Limoges  Enamels  of  the  Aeneid  series  at    Alnwick 


those  fit  to  idle  in  and  those  fit  to  live  in  make  better  subjects 
than  the  others.  Why  is  this?  Look  at  the  landscape  paint- 
ings of  to-day.  In  a  panorama  of  several  hundred  leagues  not 
more  than  three  or  four  parts  in  ten  will  be  such  as  might  be 
dwelt  in  or  idled  in.  Yet  the  painter  will  certainly  regard 
the  scenery   as   of  the   "  residential  "  or  "  pleasure  "  class. 

Now  it  is  just  for  the  sake  of  these  beautiful  spots  (suitable 
for  residence  or  pleasure)  that  wise  men  thirst  and  pine  for 
the  country.  The  painter  and  the  critic  must  both  bear  this 
in  mind.  To  do  so  is  what  is  called  "  not  losing  sight  of 
the  essential." 

The  above  account  of  the  purpose  of  land- 
scape-painting seems  to  us  very  absurd ;  but  it 
corresponds  exactly  to  the  view  of  most  people 
in  Europe  to-day.  The  average  man  admires  a 
landscape-painting  because  it  reminds  him  of 
some  place  where  he  has  pleasantly  "  idled  or 
dwelt."  The  painter  who  ignores  this  has,  in 
several  senses,  "  lost  sight  of  the  essential." 
Kuo  Hsi  speaks,  and  speaks  charmingly,  for  the 
great  majority — those  for  whom  art  has  only  an 
associational  value.  A  few  lines  later  Kuo 
continues  : 

In  painting  any  view,  whether  it  be  large  or  small, 
whether  it  contain  many  details  or  few,  the  artist  must  con- 
centrate his  powers  in  order  to  unify  the  work.  Otherwise 
it  will   not  bear  the   peculiar   imprint  of  his   soul. 

His  whole  soul  must  attend  the  completion  of  the  task. 
Otherwise  his  energies  will  be  dulled.  He  must  have  deep 
seriousness  wherewith  to  dignify  his  work  ;  else  it  will  lack 
depth  of  conception.  He  must  use  reverent  toil  to  perfect  it ; 
else  it  will  be  incomplete. 

If  a  painter  forces  himself  to  work  when  he  feels  lazy  his 
productions  will  be  weak  and  spiritless,  without  decision. 
This  is  because  he  cannot  concentrate.  If,  when  he  is  feeling 
distracted  and  bothered,  he  decides  to  muddle  2  through,  his 
forms  will  be  fogged  and  frightened  ;  they  will  have  no  fresh- 
ness. This  is  because  his  whole  soul  has  not  attended  at  the 
completion  of  the  task. 

If  the  work  is  dashed  off  light-heartedly,  the  forms  will  be 
evasive  and  incomplete.  This  defect  comes  from  lack  of 
seriousness.  If  it  is  hurried-on  feverishly,  the  composition 
will  be  rough  and  arbitrary ;  it  will  lack  consistency.  This 
defect  comes  from  lack  of  reverent  toil. 

2  A  literal  translation. 

NICCOLO  PIO,  COLLECTOR 
BY    TANCRED    BORENIUS 


T  is  but  fitting  that  the  rise  of  the 
'S=fl  historiography  of  Italian  art  should 
^i-^  have  taken  place  in  Tuscany,  where 


the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century 
saw  the  publication  of  its  most  im- 
portant and  monumental  work,  the  Lives  of 
Vasari  (first  edition,  1550,  second  edition  1568). 
The  position  of  supremacy  in  the  art  world  of 
Italy,  and  indeed  of  Europe,  which  the  Counter 
Reformation  gained  for  Rome  is,  however, 
reflected  in  the  long  series  of  Artists'  Lives 
composed  in  Rome  during  the  Seicento  and  the 
Settecento  and  to  which  belong  the  well-known 
published  works  of  Baglione  (1642),  Bellori 
(i672),Passeri  (written  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  published  in  1772)  '  and  Pascoli  (1730). 
Two  works,  forming    part    of    this    remarkable 

1  A  MS.  copy  of  this  book,  differing  in  important  par- 
ticulars from  the  printed  version,  was  some  years  ago  in  the 
possession  of  Messrs.  Loescher  of  Rome  (Catalogo  89, 
No.  3550). 


Now  indecision  leads  to  loss  of  lucidity  ;  lack  of  freshness 
destroys  charm ;  incompleteness  mars  composition ;  lack  of 
consistency  leads   to  sudden  transitions. ^ 

These  are  the  main  defects  of  painters.  But  they  can  only 
be  discussed  witti  those  who  understand  the  subject. 

The  above  passage  calls  for  no  comment.  It 
expresses  admirably  the  conditions  under  which 
a  work  of  art  is  produced  and  shows  Kuo  Hsi 
speaking  no  longer  as  a  member  of  the  undis- 
tinguished public,  but  as  that  rare  and  individual 
thing,  an  artist.  It  should  be  mentioned  that  the 
term  "  immobility  d'esprit,"  which  Petrucci 
finds  so  felicitous,  occurs  only  in  his  translation 
and  not  at  all  in  the  Chinese  text. 

The  editor  of  the  essay,  Kuo  Ssu,  annotates 
this  passage  as  follows  : 

I,  Ssu,  remember  that  when  my  father  was  at  work  on 
several  pictures,  he  would  often  suddenly  put  them  aside  and 
not  return  to  them  for  ten  or  twenty  days.  .  .  .  This  was 
because  he  felt  disinclined.  And  disinclination,  what  is  it  but 
the  "  laziness  "  of  which  he  speaks  above?  If,  however,  he 
was  in  a  good  humour  and  his  work  was  going  well,  every- 
thing else  was  forgotten.  But  if  the  least  thing  happened  to 
distract  or  disturb  him,  he  would  at  once  stop  painting. 
This  is  what  he  means  by  saying  that  one  must  not  attempt 
to  paint  if  one  is  feeling  "  distracted  and  bothered." 

On  days  when  he  was  going  to  paint,  he  would  seat  him- 
self at  a  clean  table,  by  a  bright  window,  burning  incense  to 
right  and  left.  He  would  choose  the  finest  brushes,  the  most 
exquisite  ink ;  wash  his  hands,  and  clean  the  ink-stone,  as 
though  he  were  expecting  a  visitor  of  rank.  He  waited  till 
his  mind  was  calm  and  undisturbed,  and  then  began.  Is  not 
this  what  he  meant  by  saying  that  one  should  not  dash  off 
one's  work  light-heartedly? 

What  he  had  completed,  he  would  sift  again.  What  he  had 
enlarged,  he  would  amplify.  When  once  might  have  seemed 
enough,  he  would  not  even  be  content  with  twice,  but  would 
improve  upon  it  !  He  would  recommence  each  picture  many 
times,  as  though  at  war  with  a  pitiless  adversary— till  at  last 
he  was  content.  Is  not  this  what  he  meant  when  he  said 
that  a  work  of  art  must  not  be  hurried-on? 


3  Lit,  "  To  the  quick-slow  method."  I  do  not  see  how 
I'etrucci  gets  his  "  m^thode  de  la  composition  "  out  of  this. 
He  seems  to  have  borrowed  it  from  the  clause  before. 


AND    WRITER 


series,  exist  to  this  day,  however,  in  MS.  only  : 
namely,  the  very  interesting  Lives  written  by 
Giulio  Mancini,  physician  to  Pope  Urban  VHI, 
of  which  several  codices  are  known, ^  and  which 
were  composed  about  1621  ';  and  the  Vite  di 
Pittori,  ScuUori  et  Architetti,  in  compendio,  in 
niimero  di  ducento  venticinque,  completed  by 
Niccol6  Pio  "  dilettante  romano  "  in  1724,  and 
of  which  only  one  copy  is  known  at  present,  in 
the  Library  of  the  Vatican  (Cod.  Capp.  257). 
It  is  of  this  latter  collector  and  writer  that  the 
present  article  will  treat,  since  a  recent  dis- 
covery enables  one  to  throw  a  much  clearer  light 
on  his  personality  and  work  than  has  hitherto 
been  possible. 

2  Cj  Th.  Schreiber,  in  Gesammelle  Studien  zur  Kunstge- 
schkhte  .  .  .  A.  springer,  1S85,  pp.  103-110;  L.  Venturi,  in 
L'Arte.  Vol.  xiii.  (1910),  p.  192. 

3  The  date  of  this  work,  which  has  been  the  subject  ot 
some  conjecture,  is  quite  plainly  stated  on  ff.  19  and  29  recto, 
of  the  Cod.  Harl.  1672. 

247 


Let  us  first  siiinniarise  wliat  up  to  now  has 
been  Unmvn  aln.ut  NiccokS  Pit).  From  tlie 
prefatory  note  of  tlie  Vatican  MS.*  ii 
appears  that  Pio,  who  had  made  a  collection 
of  drawings  by  225  masters,  the  a'ltvrc  of 
each  being  preceded  by  a  portrait  and  a 
biographical  note,  was  compelled  for  financial 
reasons  to  part  with  the  collection  of  draw- 
ings, and,  as  he  sadly  notes,  "  solamente 
gli  sono  restate  le  sue  misere  fatiche  delle  vite 
manoscritte,"  which  to  his  bitter  regret  he  had 
no  means  of  publishing.  Pio  himself  does  not 
state  who  the  acquirer  of  the  drawings  was,  but 
his  name  is  known  from  other  sources :  it  was 
the  famous  collector  Pierre  Crozat,  among 
whose  purchases  °  made  at  different  times, 
Mariette  mentions  "  la  Collection  entiere  du 
sieur  Pio  de  Rome,"  giving  in  another  place  the 
following  details  about  the  Roman  drawings  in 
the  Crozat  Collection  '^  :  — 

La  plus  grande  partie  de  ces  Dessins  des  Peintres  & 
Sculpteurs  de  I'Ecole  Romaine,  a  ^t^  rcssembMe  par  un 
curieux  de  Rome  nomm^  Pio.  It  avoit  entrepris  dc  former 
un  Recueil  de  Dessins  de  tous  les  Maitrcs  dont  il  pouvoit 
d^ouvrir  des  ouvrages ;  &  dans  celte  vue,  il  fit  Iravailler 
tous  les  .Artistes  qui  vivoient  de  son  tcms  i  Rome.  L'on 
peut   croire  que  I'^mulation   les  excita  k  faire  de  leur  mieux. 

I  am  not  aware  that  Niccol6  Pio  had  any 
"collector's  mark,"  properly  speaking;  and  a 
provenance  from  his  collection  can  therefore  in 
most  cases  only  in  a  general  way  be  surmised 
for  such  extant  drawings  of  the  late  Roman 
school  as  are  known  to  have  come  from  the 
Crozat  Collection.^ 

All  along  it  has  thus  been  known  that  there 
attaches  to  Niccol6  Pio  a  double  character  of 
collector  and  writer,  which  differentiates  him 
from  the  general  run  of  Roman  art  historians. 
This  double  aspect  of  his  work  is  still  further 
emphasized  bv  the  discovery  of  a  portion  of  his 
collections,  which  hitherto  seem  entirely  to  have 
escaped  general  knowledge  :  namely,  his  exten- 
sive collection  of  woodcuts,  engravings,  and 
etchings,  grouped  in  conformity  with  a  definitely 
thought  out  scheme  according  to  authors  or 
subjects. 

There  has  recently  passed  into  the  possession 
of  Messrs.  Batsford  a  set  of  32  mostly  large 
folio  volumes,*  bound  in  contemporary  vellum, 
formerly  belonging  to  the  Foley  family.  With 
the  exception  of  one  volume,  which  contains 
drawings  only  (among  them  one  made  by  one 

*  See  the  transcription  of  E.  Miintz  in  his  publication  of 
some  of  Pio's  Lives  of  French  .'\rtists  in  the  Nouvelles 
Archives  de  I'Art  franfais,  1874-5,  P'  '9i"203.  I  ^m  indebted 
to  M.   L.  Demonts  for  drawing  my  attention   to   this  article. 

^  Description  somviaire  des  dessins  ,  .  .  du  cabinet  de  feu 
M.  Crozat,   Paris,   1741,  p.  ix. 

^  Ibid.  p.  33.     Cf.  Abeccdario,  iv.  161. 

'  The  descriptions  of  the  Pio  drawings  in  the  Crozat  Cata- 
logue are  very  summary  ;  among  the  more  easily  identifiable 
examples  are  eighty  portraits  of  mostly  Roman  painters, 
divided  into  five  lots  (Nos.  329-333). 

'  One  of  smaller  format  and  three   in  oblong  folio. 


Odoardo  de  Silva  for  Niccol6  Pio  at  Easter  1717), 
these  books  are  filled  with  woodcuts,  engrav- 
ings, and  etchings,  pasted  on  the  leaves,  the 
sum  total  of  subjects  being  upwards  of  5,500. 
Several  volumes  bear  the  inscription  "  Kx  LibriS 
Nicolai  Pii  in  R[oma],"  and  a  still  larger 
number  have  MS.  introductions  in  the  same 
hand,  giving  biographies  of  the  artists  repre- 
sented— the  relation  of  these  lives  to  those  of  the 
Vatican  MS.  would  be  a  matter  of  interest  to 
determine.  The  volumes  are  numbered,  the 
highest  number  being  39;  but  seven  lower 
numbers  are  missing — i,  3,  9  ,25,  28,  37,  38. 
All  of  these  volumes  are,  however,  not  lost :  for 
through  a  curious  chance  I  acquired  myself 
some  years  ago  from  an  entirely  different 
source,'  two  folio  scrapbooks  of  engravings, 
which  the  absolutely  identical  binding,  lettering 
and  MS.  annotation  prove  conclusively  to 
belong  to  this  series,  although  they  show  no 
numbers.  One  contains  engravings  after 
Raphael  and  his  school ;  the  other,  engravings 
and  etchings  by  or  after  Pietro  Testa,  Ribera, 
Correggio,  Baroccio,  and  the  Zuccari.  What, 
one  wonders,  has  become  of  the  remaining  five 
volumes? — and  did  the  original  total  possibly 
exceed  39  ? 

A  necessarily  very  brief  synopsis  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  collectiori  will  nevertheless  give  an 
idea  of  its  scope.  Vol.  II  contains  a  series  of 
works  by  Diirer,  Cranach,  Hans  Baldung,  and 
Beham;  Vols.  IV-VII  are  devoted  to  Marc- 
antonio  and  his  school;  Vols.  VIII,  X  an?  XI 
to  Raphael  and  his  school;  Vol.  XII  is  filled 
with  engravings  after  Michelangelo  and  contem- 
porary Florentine  masters;  and  Vol.  XIII  with 
engravings  after  Titian.  Vol.  XIV.  contains 
portraits,  notably  a  series  of  Roman  Emperors 
and  Empresses,  and  then  follow  Vols.  XV.  to 
XIX  in  which  the  oeuvrc  of  the  Carracci 
is  illustrated  with  a  perfect  wealth  of  material. 
The  next  two  volumes  deal  with  the  Carracci 
school — Vol.  XX  with  Guido  and  followers,  and 
Vol.  XXI  with  Domenichino  and  Guercino. 
Polidoro  da  Caravaggio  and  Parmigianino 
between  them  fill  Vol.  XXII,  Tintoret  and  Paul 
Veronese  Vol.  XXIII,  and  Lanfranco  and 
Albani  Vol  XXIV;  Callot  and  Stefano  della 
Bella  are  represented  in  Vol.  XXVI,  Antonio 
Tempesta  in  Vol.  XXVII,  and  Carlo  Maratti  in 
Vol.  XXIX.  Vol.  XXX  differs  from  the 
remainder  of  the  collection  inasmuch  that  it  con- 
tains only  drawings,  113  in  number;  they 
include  a  long  .series  after  Polidoro  da  Cara- 
vaggio, and  an  interesting  drawing,  bearing  the 
date  1619  and  the  name  of  the  elder  Gerard 
Terborch       (i  584-1 667.       in       Rome       1604-9). 

s  The  Library  of  Sir  Samuel  Bagster  Boulton,  of  Copped 
Hall,  Totteridge,  Herts,  sold  by  auction  on  Oct.  14,  igi8, 
and  four  following  days. 


248 


Vol.  XXXI  is  devoted  to  The  Sadelers, 
Vol.  XXXII  to  Pietro  Santi  Bartoli,  and 
Vol.  XXXIII  to  Pietro  da  Cortona.  The  con- 
tents of  Vol.  XXXIV  are  miscellaneous, 
Vol.  XXXV  is  filled  with  reproductions  of 
Roman  Antiquities,  and  Vol.  XXXVI  with 
miscellaneous  portraits — Kings,  Popes,  Car- 
dinals, painters— whilst  Vol.  XXXIX,  lettered 
"  Boscarec  e  Paesi  diversi,"  contains  landscape 
engravings  and  etchings  by  various  masters. 

It  is  doubtless  true  that  many  of  the  items  in 
this  vast  collection  are  of  interest  in  themselves 
as  fine  and  rare  examples;  but  the  chief  im- 
portance of  it  lies  nevertheless  in  the  collection 
as  a  whole,  and  more  especially    as    a    unique 

REVIEWS 

Albrecht  DCrer  der  Kupferstecher  und  Holzschnitt- 
ZEICHNER,  by  Max  J.  Friedlander.  152  pp.  with  illus- 
trations in  text ;  55  plates.  (500  copies).  Berlin.  (J.  Bard). 
600  marks. 

This  magnificent   book,   a  stately   folio  large 
enough  to  contain    full-sized  facsimiles  of    the 
Apocalypse  woodcuts    and    the  St.  Eustace,   is 
intended  not  so  much  for  the  specialist  or  student 
as  for  the  rich  collector,  possessed  of  ample  book 
shelves  and  spacious  tables,  or  still  more,  per- 
haps, for  the  man  of  general  culture,  similarly 
endowed,  who  will  find  in  its  incomparable  illus- 
trations a  substitute  for  a  Diirer  collection  of  his 
own.     The  scope  of  the  book  is  limited  to  the 
engravings  and  woodcuts,  of  which  a  large  pro- 
portion is  reproduced  with  the  utmost  perfection 
of   modern  facsimile   engraving.       Pictures  are 
excluded  altogether ;  of  the  drawings  only  a  few, 
immediately  related  to  the  prints  as  preparatory 
studies,   are  reproduced   in  the  text.     But  such 
praise  of  the  illustrations  must  not  be  taken  as 
implying  that  this  is  only  a  picture  book.     The 
text  contains  a  detailed  appreciation  of  Diirer  as 
an  engraver,  written  with  all  the  courage,  origin- 
ality and  point  which  we  are  accustomed  to  find, 
as  well  as  erudition,   in  every  page  written   by 
the  director  of  the  Berlin  Print  Room  and  Pic- 
ture Gallerv.     Dr.  Friedlander  is  a  master  of  his 
native  language  as  well  as  a  first-rate  authority 
on  Flemish  and  German  art ;  he  is  one  of  the 
few  critics  among  his  compatriots  of  whom   it 
may  be  said  that  he  never  wastes  his  words,  but 
always  has  something  definite,  fresh  and  infor- 
mative to  say  and  can  express  it  in  a  clear  and 
interesting  style.     It  is  not  a  very  easy  thing, 
after  all  that  has  been  written  about  Diirer,  to 
go  through  all  his  engravings  and  all  his  wood- 
cuts, to  explain  them,  comment  on  them,  criticise 
them,  and  never  to  write  a  page  that  is  common- 
place or  dull.     But  Dr.  Friedlander  has  achieved 
this.     As  he  is  writing  for  the  intelligent  lay- 
man,  not  for  the  art  historian  or  specialist,  he 
states  in  the  text   his  own   point   of  view,    the 


illustration  of  practically  the  entire  field  of  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  century  Italian  paint- 
ing. It  also  brings  out  in  the  most  vivid  relief 
what  one  can  only  describe  as  Niccol6  Pio's 
absolutely  insatiable  desire  to  track  all  the 
available  material  for  his  studies,  which  is 
presented  by  him  in  as  ordered  and  lucid  a 
manner  as  possible.  And  anyone  attempting  a 
study  of  any  of  the  numerous,  fascinating  and 
still  neglected  subjects  supplied  by  the  late 
Cinquecento  and  the  Seicento  would  find  the  dis- 
charge of  his  task  made  singularly  lighter  and 
more  effective  through  the  results  here  preserved 
of  the  ant-like  industry  of  the  now  well  nigh 
forgotten  "  dilettante  romano." 


results  to  which  he  believes  research  has  led, 
avoiding  polemics  and  the  detailed  proofs,  with 
interminable  reference  to  documents,  which  make 
much  of  German  art  criticism  almost  unreadable. 
So  much  of  this  as  he  thinks  necessary  is  placed 
apart  in  an  appendix  occupying  only  ten  pages, 
which  the  "  KoUegen  "  for  whom  it  is  intended 
will  find  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  book. 
His  notes  on  every  section  are  full  of  precious 
hints  and  observations,  and  contain  a  precis, 
critical  but  sympathetic,  of  all  the  more  note- 
worthy utterances  on  Diirer,  scattered  among 
numerous  periodicals  and  brochures,  most  of 
which  have  appeared  during  the  war  and  are 
difficult  of  access,  even  now,  to  readers  in  foreign 
countries. 

The  body  of  the  work  is  divided  into  eleven 
chapters,  in  which  Diirer's  activity  is  traced  from 
1492,  the  year  of  his  earliest  authenticated  wood- 
cut, to  1527,  when  the  book  on  Fortification  ap- 
peared. Woodcuts  and  engravings  are  kept 
apart,  and  receive  treatment  in  alternate  chap- 
ters. On  the  engravings  there  is  not,  and  can- 
not be,  very  much  to  say,  by  way  of  statement 
of  fact,  that  is  not  already  generally  known. 
An  engraving  of  a  sitting  Turk,  at  Amster- 
dam, unfinished,  has  recently  been  attributed 
to  the  youthful  Diirer  by  another  writer;  Dr. 
Friedlander  does  not  positively  accept  or  reject 
it,  but  dates  it  about  1497,  if  it  is  by  Diirer  at 
all.  All  the  other  engravings  mentioned  have 
their  recognised  place  (but  not  always  their 
recognised  date)  among  the  canonical  works, 
and  scope  for  originality  is  only  to  be  found 
in  comment  on  the  subjects  and  the  technical  or 
jesthetic  merits  of  the  engravings.  In  this,  as 
we  have  said  already,  the  author  excels. 

The  woodcuts  afford  much  more  room  for 
discussion,  for  the  list  of  authentic  works  is 
still  far  from  being  established  by  the  general 
agreement  of  critics.  No  writer  of  authority 
has   hitherto   gone   so   far   as    Dr.    Friedlander 


249 


in  the  additions  which  he  makes,  or  accepts, 
to  the  universally  acknowledged  works.  It  is 
especially  the  work  of  Diirer's  youth  that  is 
thus  extended.  Long  before  the  so-called 
■■  Sturm  und  Urang  "  period,  the  period  of 
the  Apocalypse,  Great  Passion,  and  other 
large  woodcuts,  with  which  the  more  conser- 
vative chronological  catalogues  used  to  com- 
mence, we  are  now  asked  to  believe — not  for 
the  first  time — that  Diirer  was  a  prolific  and 
facile  illustrator,  whose  woodcuts  numbered 
many  scores,  if  not  hundreds,  before  1498.  Dr. 
Friedlander  knocks  down  the  various  puppets 
whom  hypothesis  after  hypothesis  has  set  up 
on  insecure  legs  as  substitutes  for  Diirer  :  the 
Master  of  the  Bergmann  printing  house,  the 
Brigittenmeister,  Benediktmeister,  Wechtlin, 
and  the  "  Doppelgiinger."  Diirer  and  no  other 
is,  for  him,  the  illustrator  of  Terence  and  the 
Ritter  von  Turn,Brant'sNarrenschifT,  theStrass- 
burg  Missal  of  1493,  the  Revelations  of  S. 
Bridget,  S.  Lucy  of  Narni  ,and,  long  after  the 
appearance  of  many  authenticated  works,  the 
two  long  sets  of  woodcuts,  Bible  illustrations 
and  Saints  (1503),  which  the  writer  of  this 
review  published  with  a  commentary  in  which, 
alas !  one  of  the  puppets,  not  Diirer  himself, 
got  all  the  credit.  The  chapter  in  which  all 
this  early  work  is  put  together  and  discussed 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  book,  and 
will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  do  much  towards  clear- 
ing away  clouds  of  doubt  and  error  and  win- 
ning credence  for  the  simplest  explanation  of 
many  otherwise  inconvenient  and  contradictory 
facts.  At  later  stages  of  Diirer's  career  Dr. 
Friedlander  also  claims  for  him  decidedly  cer- 
tain woodcuts  which  have  not  been  at  all  uni- 
versally recognised,  such  as  the  title-page  with 
Pirkheimer's  arms,  the  round  Madonna  with  a 
little  landscape  sketch,  the  Freydal  cuts,  and 
the  much  rarer,  and  more  rarely  mentioned, 
woodcut  of  an  owl  attacked  by  other  birds 
(reproduced  in  Hirth's  "  Meisterholzschnitte 
aus  vier  Jahrhunderten"),  for  which — a  fact  un- 
known to  Dr.  Friedlander,  but  valuable  as  con- 
firming his  insight — a  slight  sketch  by  Diirer's 
hand  exists.  Though  the  inclusion  of  the  St. 
Bridget  illustrations  is  still  unlikely  to  prove 
acceptable  I  believe  that  this  wider  recog- 
nition of  Diirer's  authorship  in  many  unsigned 
works  in  different  styles  is  neither  rash  nor 
revolutionary,  but  actually  conservative,  and 
marks  a  healthy  reaction,  deliberate  and 
mature,  against  a  tendency  which  grew  up  in 
the  last  years  of  the  19th  century  and  went  too 
far;  a  tendency  to  be  over  jealous  for  Diirer's 
honour  and  consequently  reluctant  to  admit 
his  authorship  of  certain  works  which,  if  not 
actually  "  pot-boilers  ",  were  not  up  to  the 
highest  standard,   and  on   the  other   hand  too 


full  of  zeal  for  certain  obscure  pupils  of  Diirer, 
whose  oeuvrc  it  was  tempting  to  enrich  at  his 
expense.  There  are  still  several  woodcuts  on 
which  it  would  be  interesting  to  read  Dr. 
I'"riedl;inck'r's  opinion,  for  instance  Judith  cuts 
in  the  "  Beschlossen  Gart  "  and  the  two 
6".  Scbalds  of  1514  and  1518.  In  conclusion  it 
must  be  said  that  rather  more  proof  might  be 
expected  of  the  belief  which  the  author  holds, 
in  opposition  to  all  writers  on  woodcuts  for  a 
generation  or  two  past,  that  Diirer,  in  youth 
and  for  many  years  of  his  maturity,  cut  his 
own  blocks.  The  evidence  is  admittedly 
scanty  ;  before  1509  (arms  of  M.  Behaim  assigned 
by  the  author  to  that  year),  there  is,  so  far  as  I 
remember,  no  evidence  at  all ;  all  the  evidence 
that  we  have  after  that  date  is  on  the  other  side. 
It  is  pardonable,  therefore,  to  remark  that  the 
strongly  asserted  defence  of  "Eigenhandigkeit" 
in  this  respect  is  more  subjective  than  con- 
vincing. CAMPBELL  DODGSON. 
Zorn's  Engraved  Work.  By  Karl  Asplund.  A  descriptive 
Catalogue  translated  by  Edward  Adams-Ray.  xxviii  + 
464  pp.,  fully  illustrated.  Stockholm.  (A.  B.  H. 
Bukowski's    Konsthandel).      £s^    'o^.      (3^5   copies.) 

Zorn,  who  died  on  August  22nd,  1920,  aged 
sixty,  lived  to  see  the  first  part  of  this  catalogue 
published,  in  an  equally  limited  edition,  in  the 
original  Swedish.  Never  has  an  etcher  enjoyed 
such  world-wide  fame  in  his  lifetime.  On  his 
fiftieth  birthday  he  was  already  feted  as  a  great 
genius.  In  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life,  his 
etchings  rose  immensely  in  reputation  and 
value,  and  British  collectors,  notably  those 
living  north  of  the  Tweed,  competed  eagerly 
for  the  newly  published  etchings,  after  French 
and  Germans,  Americans  and  Hungarians, 
quicker  to  discern  their  merits  than  we  were, 
had  bought  up  most  of  the  early  ones,  on  the 
whole  the  more  desirable.  The  prices  have 
risen  again  rapidly,  in  obedience  to  the  well- 
known  psychological  and  economic  laws  which 
govern  such  cases,  since  his  death. 

There  was  already  a  good  catalogue  of  all 
Zorn's  work  down  to  1909,  that  of  M.  Loys 
Delteil,  but  it  is  out  of  print  and  scarce,  and  no 
supplement  has  appeared  to  bring  it  up  to  date. 
Moreover,  as  regards  description  of  states  and 
correctness  of  chronology  it  is  now  proved  to 
be  less  perfect  than  was  supposed.  It  will  still 
be  of  great  value  to  those  who  are  not  lucky 
enough  to  afford  the  much  more  sumptuous 
and  exhaustive  catalogue  written  by  Mr.  Karl 
Asplund,  and  there  are  many  cases  in  which 
the  two  catalogues  supplement  one  another  by 
reproducing  different  states.  The  splendid 
Swedish  catalogue,  beautifully  printed  on  fine 
paper  and  illustrated  by  reproductions  of  which 
a  large  number  are  in  photogravure  and  the 
rest  produced  by  the  offset  process  and  printed 
on  the  same  page  with  the  type,  consists  of  two 


250 


quarto  volumes,  not  too  heavy  to  be  easily 
handled.  Zorn  etchings  have  become  a  luxury 
for  the  very  rich,  and  it  is  fitting,  perhaps,  that 
the  book  which  describes  them  should  be  the 
same. 

The  catalogue  takes  us  from  1882  to  1919,  and 
contains  288  numbers.  It  deserves  much 
praise  and  very  little  blame,  but  books 
are  rarely  quite  perfect,  and  this  one  suffers 
from  a  few  defects  which  more  consci- 
entious proof-reading  might  have  avoided. 
The  title,  in  the  first  place,  is  a  misnomer ;  it 
should  have  been  "  Zorn's  Etched  Work  ". 
There  are  little  faults  both  in  the  introduction 
and  in  the  body  of  the  work;  Mrs.  Gardner,  of 
Boston,  for  instance,  is  called  repeatedly 
"  Gardener  ";  it  was  not  W.  Armstrong,  but 
E.  A.  Armstrong,  who  wrote  a  book  on  Axel 
Haig;  St.  Gaudens'  first  name  is  given  under 
No.  113  in  the  German  form,  "  August  ".  It 
is  not  very  clear,  by  the  way,  why  this  etching, 
to  which  the  date  1898  is  given,  is  called 
"  No.  I  "  and  placed  before  the  other  portrait 
of  St.  Gaudens,  which  is  dated  1897.  The 
state  reproduced  of  No.  154  is  not  the  fourth, 
but  the  third.  It  is  unlucky  that  the  author  does 
not  say  whether  the  new  signature  first  appeared 
in  the  fourth  state  or  the  fifth.  The  biographical 
notes  on  the  sitters  are  excellent,  but  in  the 
case  of  M.  Albert  Besnard  it  should  have  been 
mentioned  that  he  etches.  The  typographical 
arrangement  of  "  Delteil  N  :o  75  "  looks  odd 
to  English  eyes;  this  has  been  corrected  in  the 
second  volume. 

In  one  respect  in  which  Mr.  Asplund  departs 
from  M.  Delteil,  the  omission  of  sale  prices, 
he  is  heartily  to  be  commended.  After  a  year 
or  two  such  quotations  become  absurdly  mis- 
leading and  have  only  an  antiquarian  interest. 
The  page  looks  much  more  dignified  without 
them,  and  the  proper  place,  if  they  must  be 
given  at  all,  is  in  an  appendix. 

CAMPBELL   DODGSON. 

A  Record  of  European  Armour  and  Arms  through  Seven 
Centuries,  by  Sir  Guy  Francis  Laking,  Bart.  (Bell). 
5  vols.     £1$  153.     Volume  II,  xxxi   +   347  pp.   +   396  pi. 

The  first  volume  of  this  work  covered  the 
period  from  1000-1400  approximately.  The 
present  one  deals  with  the  14th  and  15th 
centuries.  Having  already  dealt  with  this 
work  on  general  lines  in  our  notice  of  the 
first  volume,'  we  will  content  ourselves  here 
with  mentioning  some  outstanding  features  of 
the  second.  In  chapter  x.  The  Salade  head- 
piece from  the  i^th  to  the  16th  Centuries,  Sir 
Guy  Laking  distinguishes  three  groups — the 
Italian  Celata,  the  German  Schallern,  and  a 
tailed  variety  called  French.  The  last  is  then 
sub-divided  into  three — the  single-piece  Salade, 

J  Burlington   Magazine,  .'\pril,    1920. 


the  movable-visor  Salade,  and  those  merg- 
ing into  a  close  helmet  of  the  armet  type. 
Baron  de  Cosson  had  previously  differentiated 
the  Italian  and  German  Salades,^  and  Sir 
Guy  Laking  has  carried  the  matter  a  stage 
further  by  defining  this  last  group.  The  gener- 
ous number  of  illustrations  with  which  he 
supports  this  classification  will  be  of  the  utmost 
value  to  students  since  so  many  of  the  pieces  are 
now  made  accessible  for  the  first  time.  Many, 
however,  will  deem  insufficient  the  evidence 
upon  which  so  many  of  the  pieces  are  dated. 
The  origin  of  his  third  group  is  not  very  clearly 
established  as  French — 

The  next  family  or  group  of  salade  head-pieces  which 
we  shall  consider  are  those  of  the  tailed  order  which  we 
have  very  vaguely  termed  "  French  ",  to  distinguish  them 
from  the  types  already  dealt  with.  We  call  the  class 
"  French  "  merely  because  the  form  appears  to  have 
originated  in  France  ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  almost  imme- 
diately on  its  introduction  the  French  salade  found  uni- 
versal favour,  especially  in  Germany,  where  the  finest 
examples  are  still  to  be  seen  (p.  18). 

And  again — 

Although  we  have  accepted  the  Bashford  Dean  salade 
as  being  of  French  origin  (it  is  stated  to  have  been  found 
at  [sic]  Meuse),  we  must  admit  that  its  proportions  very 
closely  resemble  those  of  the  head-piece  on  the  Neville 
effigy  to  which  we  have  already  referred.  (Fig.  330).  On 
the  brass,  too,  of  Sir  Robert  Staunton  the  visored  salade 
may  be  seen  most  clearly  represented  (Fig.  363).  The  date 
of  this  brass  is  about  1455,  which  illustrates  clearly  how 
very  difficult  it  is,  even  when  some  marked  national 
characteristic  is  present,  to  assign  with  certainty  a  helmet, 
or,  in  fact,  any  piece  of  armour,  to  any  given  country, 
on  the  mere  ground  of  a  general  similarity  of  form  (p.  23). 

Moreover,  the  close  general  resemblance  which 
this  "French"  tailed  type  has  to  the  North  Italian 
Salades  reproduced  on  page  30  (Figs.  373-4), 
suggests  that  it  is  much  more  likely  that  this 
"French"  type  is  Italian  or  Italian  in  origin, 
especially  when  we  remember  the  merit  of  the 
Italian  armour  of  the  period.  On  page  90  Sir 
Guy  Laking  sets  out  to  define  the  Spanish  type 
of  Armet — 

Of  the  purely  Spanish  tyf>e  of  the  armet  head-piece 
we  can  give  no  better  illustration  than  the  third  armet  in 
the  Wallace  Collection,  No.  8i  (Fig.  433).  Its  entire 
surface  is  blued,  and  though  its  workmanship  is  on  the 
whole  poor  and  rough,  a  good  deal  of  spirit  is  shown  in 
its  general  form.  A  characteristic  Spanish  feature 
may  be  noted  in  the  fluting  of  the  visor  immediately  below 
the  snout.  This  we  also  find  on  a  visor  of  a  Spanish 
armet  formerly  in  our  possession,  but  now  in  a  private 
Continental  collection  (Fig.  444).  There  is  an  armourer's 
mark  of  some  importance  on  the  back  of  the  skull  of  the 
Wallace  Spanish  armet ;  but  it  has  been  so  rubbed  down 
in  the  past  by  overcleaning  of  the  helmet  as  to  be  almost 
obliterated. 

Now  a  recent  examination  of  the  mark  upon  the 
Wallace  armet  (probably  the  letters  M  F  R 
crowned)  shows  that  it  bears  strong  resemblance 
to  one  upon  the  Claude  de  Vaudry  suit  at 
Vienna  which  was  attributed  by  Boeheim  to  the 
Merate  Fratelli  (the  brothers  Francesco  and 
Gabriel  '),  and  if  this  be  the  case  the  so-called 

'  Arch.  Journ.,  xxxvii  (1881),  pp.  472-3. 

»  Album  aus  der    Waffensdmmhing  des  Kaiserhauses,    Weu- 
delin  Boeheim,   I,  p.  26. 


251 


Spanish  type  of  armet  has  still  to  be  proved  to 
be  Spanisli.  It  is  true  that  the  same  mark 
appears  upon  the  armet  of  a  suit  at  -Madrid 
(A4),  but  it  is  concei\abl('  that  tills  also  may 
turn  out  to  be  Italian.  1  he  few  references 
which  Sir  Guy  Laking  makes  to  armourers' 
marks,  and  the  absence  of  a  single  reproduction 
of  them,  do  suggest  that  he  was  inclined  to 
untler-value  the  evidence  wiiich  the\'  afford.  His 
knowletlge  of  form  and  material  it  mav  l)e  was 
so  great  that  minor  evidence  seemed  super- 
fluous. 

Our  records  of  armourers'  marks  are  never  likely 
to  be  in  better  case  until  all  known  marks  are  re- 
produced and  classified ;  and  it  is  obvious  that, 
even  if  the  name  of  an  armourer  is  lost, 
grouping  bv  the  evidence  of  marks  is  not 
to  be  despised,  and  a  good  example  of 
this  is  the  Spanish  armet  referred  to  above, 
whether  it  be  the  work  of  the  Merate  Brothers 
or  not. 

The  thirteenth  chapter  deals  with  The  Helm 
of  the  i^th  Century,  and  contains  reproduc- 
tions of  well-nigh  every  known  example  of 
importance  whether  in  private  or  public  pos- 
session. Chapter  xiv  on  Chain  Mail  and 
interlined  Textile  Defences  reminds  us  of  the 
lamentable  fact  that  there  is  hardlv  a  hauberk 
of  mail  extant  whose  pedigree  is  authentic 
enough  to  take  it  back  even  to  the  15th  centurv 
— all  have  been  so  altered  and  cut  that  the  only 
grounds  upon  which  an  approximate  date  can 
be  assigned  is  the  slender  and  dubious  evidence 
of  the  form  and  riveting  of  the  links.  With  the 
advance  of  the  i6th  centurv  the  whole  shirt  of 
mail  beneath  plate  armour  was  discarded,  and 
mail  became  of  secondarv  importance.  The  short 
chapter  on  The  Gauntlet  traces  its  development 
from  the  pouch  or  mitten  of  mail  of  the  13th 
centurv  to  those  remarkable  examples  of  technical 
skill  produced  in  the  i6th.  The  True  Shield  of 
the  i^th  Century  is  also  discussed  at  length  with 
illustrations  of  its  changing  form  until  it  finally 
became  a  circular  or  rectangular  buckler.  Sixty 
pages  are  devoted  to  The  Sword  of  the  i<,th  Cen- 
tury, and  chapter  xviii — Swords  of  Ceremony  in 
Ens^land — admittedly  largelv  based  on  Sir  St. 
John  Hope's  Corporation  Plate. 

No  more  need  be  said  to  show  that  in  this 
second  volume  Sir  Guv  T,aking  has  more  than 
fiilfillpd  the  promise  of  the  first,  and  although  he 
mav  not  have  given  all  that  that  the  scholar 
desires — his  appetite  is  notoriously  insatiable — 
we  havp  here  a  bodv  of  evidence  in  picture  and 
text  that  will  be  of  the  greatest  interest  and  value 
to  every  student  of  the  subject.  s.  j.  c. 


Lustre    Tottery,     by     Lady     Kvans.       i^R    pp.     +     24    pi. 
(Mcthui'ii).     52s.  6d. 

This  hand.some  volume  is  embellished  with 
excellent  photographs  of  over  a  hundred  speci- 
mens of  different  sorts  of  lustre  ware,  the  text 
proviiling  a  connected  history  and  a  commentary. 
Though  the  text  is  in  fact  little  liut  a  compilation 
summarising  the  conclusions  of  previous 
authorities,  the  majority  of  the  documents  in- 
corporated are  either  somewhat  inaccessible 
j)am[5hlels  or  extracts  from  foreign  jieriodicals. 
Footnotes  full  of  references  enable  any  doubt- 
ful point  to  be  decided  on  the  evidence  of  the 
original. 

The  most  copious  section  of  the  book  is  devoted 
to  Hi.spano-Moresque  pottery.  It  is  akso  the  most 
successful,  ba.sed  as  it  is  upon  the  researches  of 
Mr.  Van  de  Put  and  Serior  (or,  as  Lady  Evans 
prefers  to  call  him,  Don)  de  Osma.  In  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  dealing  with  Persian  and 
Egyptian  wares,  Lady  Evans  is  on  comparatively 
unexplored  ground.  Lady  Evans'  account  of  the 
origins  of  lustre  might  well  have  contained  a 
reference  to  M.  Charles  Vignier's  article  on  the 
so-called  "  Samarra  faience,"  a  lustre  ware  of 
gth  century  date  (Burlington  Magazine,  vol. 
XXV,  page  211).  We  may  note  too  that  recent 
archaeology  (as  represented,  e.g.,  by  M.  Maurice 
P^zard's  Ceramique  archa'ique  de  I'lslam)  tends 
to  confirm  M.  Saladin's  theory  of  the  Qth  centurv 
origin  of  the  Kairouan  mosque-tiles  (see  Lady 
Evans,  pp.  12-13). 

The  last  chapter  deals  with  Italian  lustred 
maiolica  and  with  English  experiments  of  the 
i8th  and  19th  centuries.  The  treatment  of  the 
former  is  somewhat  perfunctory,  and  is  marred 
bv  the  statement  (p.  126)  that  the  Beit  Collec- 
tion contains  a  Deruta  lustred  plate  dated  1477, 
though  no  dated  piece  of  lustred  maiolica  is 
known  earlier  than  1501.  The  Gubbio  dish 
with  bathing  nymphs  in  the  Wallace  Collection, 
a  masterpiece,  is  not  even  mentioned.  The 
statement  on  p.  127  that  "  the  subjects  of 
Gubbio  lustred  ware  are  sometimes  taken  from 
known  works  of  art  "  is  scarcely  happy.  It  is 
becoming  increasingly  more  evident  that  after 
1500  practically  all  the  subjects  of  maiolica 
painters  were  borrowed  from  contemporary  en- 
gravings. On  the  last  page  of  the  book  is  an 
unfortunate  sentence  which  siigge.sts  that  both 
De  Morgan's  pottery  and  the  manufacture  of 
"  Lancastrian  ware  "  were  in  existence  about 
1856. 

Students  of  Spanish  tile-work  who  may  desire 
to  study  original  examples  of  the  tiles  figured 
in  Plate  X,  Nos.  31  and  3.^,  may  be  spared  a 
journey  to  Madrid  and  New  York  bv  the  infor- 
mation that  similar  specimens  are  to  be  found  at 
the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  w.  K. 


25a 


KoNSTHisTORisKA  Sallskapets  PuBLiKATiON  1919.    Stockholm  : 
A.   B.   Svenska  Teknologforeningen. 

The  last  volume  to  hand  of  this  attractive 
publication,  of  which  two  previous  issues  have 
been  noticed  in  The  Burlington  Magazine 
(Vol.  xxix,  p.  214)  contains  a  number  of  valuable 
papers  on  a  variety  of  subjects.  It  opens  with  an 
article  by  Prof.  Strzygowski,  treating,  with  the 
author's  customary  largeness  of  perspective,  of 
the  place  of  the  North  of  Europe  (defined  as  the 
whole  stretch  of  continent  between  the  North 
Sea  and  China)  in  the  general  evolution  of  art; 
whilst  a  fascinating  problem  of  applied  aesthetics 
is  discussed  in  Dr.  Paulsson's  paper  on  spatial 
representation  in  art.  Coming  to  the  articles 
dealing  with  individual  works  of  art,  we  note  a 
paper  by  Dr.  Gauffln  on  a  magnificent  three- 
quarter  length  portrait  of  the  Due  de  Iraslin, 
painted  by  Alexander  Roslin  in  1762;  this  re- 
markable example  of  Roslin's  art  is  a  recent 
gift  to  the  National  Museum  at  Stockholm.  M. 
Carl  Robert  Lamm  discusses  a  variant  of  the 
composition  known  from  the  Vierge  sous  le 
pommier  on  the  outside  of  the  wings  of  Rubens' 
Triptvch  of  St.  Ildefonso;  the  picture  in  ques- 
tion, formerly  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of 
Carnarvon,  now  forms  part  of  M.  Lamm's  in- 
teresting collection  at  Nasby  Slott,  near  Stock- 
holm. Having  been  skilfully  restored,  this 
Nasbv  example  is  now  proved  to  have  been  con- 
siderably enlarged  in  the  eighteenth  century  (an 
engraving  by  Earlorn  of  1771  shows  the  addition 
as  having  already  been  effected).  M.  Lamm,  in 
the  course  of  a  closely-reasoned  argument,  sug- 
gests for  the  picture  the  date  of  1619,  which  is 
considerably  anterior  to  that  of  the  St.  Ildefonso 
Triptvch  (1630-32),  some  deductions — which  it 
would  perhaps  be  more  prudent  not  to  treat  as 
mathematically  binding — being  drawn  from  the 
ages  of  the  models  for  the  figures.  No  reference 
is  made  in  the  article  to  a  paper  by  M.  Max 
Rooses  on  this  very  picture  which  appeared  in 
L'Art  flamand  et  hoUandais,  Vol.  xviii  (July- 
Dec,  1912),  and  in  which  it  is  described  as  "  un 
jovau  inconnu  jusqu'^  ce  jour  de  la  couronne 
artistique  du  grand  maitre."  Dr.  Sir^n  reviews 
an  exhibition  of  early  Italian  pictures,  held  at 
the  National  Museum  in  Stockholm  in  1019; 
Some  of  the  pictures  in  question  are  well  known, 
and  have  indeed  been  discussed  in  these  pages ; 
others  include  a  noble  Portrait  of  a  Woman  by 
Pontormo,  a  striking  Madonna  and  Child  by 
Salvia!  i,  and  a  characteristic  Portrait  of  a  Man 
by  Lotto.  T.  B. 

NOLLEKHNS  AND  HIS  TiMES,  by  JoHN  Thomas  Smith.  Editf-d 
and  Annotated  by  Wilfred  Whitten.  2  vols.,  illustrated 
(Bodlcy   Head).     /:i    us.  6d. 

Mr.  Wilfred  Whitten  has  done  a  good  service 
to  art-historians  by  his  most  adequate  reprint  of 
J.   T.   Smith's  spiteful  memorials.     The  period 


in  which  Smith  lived,  moved  and  had  his  being 
is  rather  out  of  favour  just  now,  but  these  two 
volumes  serve  to  remind  us  that  George  III  and 
George  IV  were  the  only  English  Kings,  e.xcept 
Charles  I,  who  ever  took  art  seriously.  We  may 
read  here  lively  gossip  about  that  amazing  par- 
liamentary committee  of  ignoramuses  which  sat 
to  decide  whether  the  Elgin  marbles  were  worth 
purchasing  for  the  nation.  Our  leading  artists 
were  unanimous  in  opining  that  the  best 
figures  in  the  collection  were  better  than 
the  Townley  marbles  and  very  nearly  as 
good  as  the  Laocoon.  Also  that  their 
exhibition  had  already  raised  the  standard  of 
British  art.  Nollekens  himself  Dr.  Johnson  has 
adequately  described  :  "  My  friend  Nolly  can 
chop  you  out  as  good  a  bust  as  any  man  ".  But 
his  character  was  more  amusing  than  his  works. 

These  two  volumes  will  cast  light  on  the 
careers  of  greater  artists  than  Nollekens :  Rou- 
billac,  Hogarth,  Gainsborough,  Reynolds,  and 
many  others. 

Smith  had  an  eye  for  topography,  which  ren- 
ders this  book  melancholy  reading.  Who  can 
learn  without  pain  of  the  fine  row  of  walnut  trees 
which  ran  along  Tottenham  Court  Road,  or  of 
the  splendid  mansion  and  gardens  which  he  saw 
being  destroyed  to  make  room  for  the  kings  or 
slaves  of  the  rising  industrial  system?  Mr. 
Whitten  is  our  best  living  London  topographer, 
and  his  is  an  excellent  edition  of  a  most  enter- 
taining book.  F.  B. 

Russian  Portraits.     By  Claire  Sheridan.     202   pp.,   21,   pi. 
Jonathan  Cape.     los.  6d. 

When  Mrs.  Sheridan  was  in  Moscow  she 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Nicholas  Andrew,  a 
sculptor,  and  the  following  conversation  took 
place  : — "  I  consider  that  there  are  a  few  people 
in  the  world  who  are  worth  any  effort  to  do,  even 
if  they  do  not  give  one  a  chance  to  do  one's 
best  work.  Andrew  laughed  and  said  that  was 
journalism  in  art."  Both  were  of  course  right. 
Mrs.  Sheridan's  sculpture  is  nothing  really  but 
journalism  in  art,  but  its  value  as  such  is  con- 
siderable, because  she  has  got  good  likenesses 
of  a  group  of  men  who  are  of  exceptional  interest 
to  the  world.  In  her  journal  she  has  the  same 
happv  knack  of  getting  a  likeness.  Why  is  it, 
one  wonders,  that  Mrs.  Sheridan's  account  of 
her  visit  to  Russia  should  be  so  much  better 
than  any  similar  record  that  has  been  pub- 
lished? Can  it  be  that  she  went  off  gaily  on 
her  adventure  without  the  least  idea  of  what  it 
was  going  to  be  like,  whereas  all  other  writers 
have  gone  with  preconceived  ideas?  In  any 
case,  if  one  wants  to  know  what  the  Bolshevist 
leaders  are  like  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  Mrs. 
Sheridan's  book  and  in  her  sculpture  you  get 
them  to  the  life.  d.  g. 


253 


MONTHLY  CHRONICLE 

The  Crome  Centenary.— In  opening  the 
representative  Centenary  Exhibition  of  Crome's 
work  at  Norwich,  the  Director  of  the  National 
(iallcry  cryptically  remarked  that  one,  if  not 
two,  of  tile  exhibits  were  wrong.  Feverish 
speculation  as  to  the  identity  of  the  two  pictures 
lie  had  in  mind  was  rife  that  afternoon  in 
Norwich,  where  the  remnant  of  the  devoted  band 
of  students  had  gathered  to  pay  Crome  homage, 
and  detect  dubious  exhibits.  For  the  first  time 
since  1821,  ample  opportunity  was  given  to  study 
Crome's  development;  from  his  earliest  tentative 
efforts  almost  to  the  great  fulfilment  of  his 
genius,  Crome  could  be  explored  in  his  Cen- 
tenary Exhibition.  He  is  resolved  as  the  master 
of  some  ten  or  twelve  incomparable  works,  which 
rise  from  a  compact  assembly,  of  secondary  im- 
portance, perhaps,  but  still  of  invariable 
soundness. 

Mr.  Nutman's  and  Mr.  Fuller  Maitland's  little 
Wilsonian  examples  of  Crome's  early  days ; 
Capt.  Hnnbury's  Lime  Kiln;  and  Sir  Leicester 
Harmsworth's  Sheds  arid  Old  Houses  (35);  Mr 
Colman's  Cow  Tower;  his  lovely  Dawn  and 
noble  Carrow  Abbey;  and  the  Tate  Gallery's 
solemn  Slate  Quarries,  progressively  illustrated 
Crome's  first  steps.  His  middle  period  was  fully 
represented.  Perhaps  the  most  notable  examples 
were  Miss  Faith  Moore's  delicately  .sensitive 
S.  Martin's  Gate  (45)  [Plate  B],  one  of  the  most 
forged  of  Crome  composition ;  the  Norwich 
Museum  Yarmouth  Beach,  which  has  the 
grandest  and  most  monumental  of  all  Crome 
skies;  Mr.  De  Zoete's  Yarmouth  Jetty  (57)  and 
Major  Benedict  Birkbeck's  View  on  the  Wensum 
(11).  The  next  stage  in  Crome's  development 
was  best  exhibited  by  the  Crown  Point  Road 
with  Pollards  (18),  Miss  Fisher's  Farm  and 
Pond  (30)  [Plate  A]  ;  Sir  Eustace  Gurney's 
Norwich  from  Household  (32),  Mr.  Darell- 
Brown's  largely  painted  Moonlight  (29);  the 
beautiful  Mousehold  Heath,  Boy  Keeping 
Sheep  (5)  from  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum,  and  the  lovely  Mousehold;  Mill  and 
Donkeys  (i)  from  the  National  Gallery.  This 
stage  heralds  Crome's  unique  achievement, 
which  is  his  large  Mousehold,  and  Poringland 
Oak  in  the  National  Gallery,  and  perhaps  The 
Willow  in  Mr.  Billing's  Collection  in  California; 
Mr.  Colman's  Postwick  Grove  (17)  is  a  small 
example  of  this  final  achievement.  In  these 
masterpieces  and  their  immediate  predecessors 
the  Road  with  Pollards,  Mousehold  Boy  Keep- 
ing Sheep,  and  Sir  Eustace  Gurney's  View  of 
Norwich,  Crome's  greatness  and  solitude  are 
declared.  No  other  painter  approaches  him  on 
this  ground. 

Outside    the    main    current    of    his    develop- 
ment   lies    a    variety    of    charming    and    bril- 


liant pictures — notably  Mr.  Darell  Brown's 
Yarmouth  Harbour  (27)  and  Bathing  Scene  (28) ; 
Mrs.  Raphael's  Return  of  the  Flock  (49a)  which 
so  strikingly  forestalls  Rousseau  and  Corot ; 
Mrs.  Lubl)ock's  limpid  Yarynouth  Beach  (40), 
Mr.  Samuel's  Thistle  and  Vole  (52),  the  Norwich 
Museum  Burdock  (7)  and  Mr.  John  Gurney's 
conspicuously  blond  Boulevard  des  Italiens  (34) 
and  Fishmarkct  (33).  In  these  last  the  Crome 
.student  has  a  delightful  stock  of  novelty. 

Crome's  work  falls  in  four  main  groups.  His 
purely  Wil-sonian,  early  pieces,  with  their  pale 
silvery  colour;  his  Velazquez  and  Rembrandt- 
like phase;  his  smaller  Dutch  style,  in  which 
Hobbema  and  Ruisdael,  Van  Goyen  and  Van 
der  Neer  are  reflected,  and  his  uniquely  grand 
manner  in  which  all  that  went  before,  with  Cuyp 
added,  is  transmuted  into  the  Crome  we  mean. 

The  Crome  we  mean  is  the  master  who  in  all 
landscape  art  is  unparalleled  in  his  breadth  and 
mass  and  openness;  in  spacious  dignity  of 
design  and  simplicity  of  subject;  in  grave  in- 
spiration and  in  the  knowledge  of  how  to  express 
the  subtlest  richness  of  light  and  air  with  classic 
serenity  and  weight.  This  is  the  master  of  the 
early  Moonrise  on  the  Marshes  and  Slate 
Quarries;  of  the  mid-period  Boy  keeping  Sheep 
and  Norwich  from  Household;  and  of  the  later 
Moonlights  of  Mr.  Darell  Brown  and  the 
Norwich  Museum ;  the  two  National  Gallery 
Mousehold  Heaths,  the  Poringland  Oak  and 
Postwick  Grove.  Having  just  reached  this  stage 
in  his  development  Crome  died,  in  the  prime  of 
an  artist's  life. 

I  am  glad  of  this  chance  to  amplify  the  refer- 
ences made  in  my  "  Crome  "  to  Mrs.  Ruffer's 
Cottage  on  the  Yare  and  Mr.  Konig's  Trowse 
Lane  (catalogued  by  me  as  Wood  Road  :  Horse 
and  Cart).  Both  are  important  genuine  works; 
Mrs.  RufTer's  is  the  earlier,  and  Mr.  Konig's 
belongs  to  the  same  phase  as  the  large  Marling- 
ford  Grove,  which  unluckily  was  not  exhibited. 
Equally  regrettable  was  the  absence  of  Mr. 
Michaelis'  Norwich  River;  Afternoon. 

As  for  Mr.  Holmes'  provocative  and  enigmatic 
allegation  of  doubtful  pictures  in  the  exhibition. 
The"  View  near  Woodbridge  (36),  lent  by  Mr. 
Hirsch,  naturally  came  in  for  some  discussion. 
The  student  who  is  unprepared  for  abnormal 
Cromes,  and  Cromes  of  a  lower  rank  than  his 
average,  would  instinctively  suspect  this  picture. 
He  would  also  doubt  the  quite  genuine  Woody 
Landscape:  Woodman  and  Children  in  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  But  he  who 
knows  that  Crome's  standard  did  vary  and  who 
recognises  the  difference  between  his  lowest 
pitch  and  the  highest  of  his  followers,  will,  I 
think,  be  satisfied  that  Crome  painted  the 
greater  part  of  this  Woodbridge.    The  sky  and 


254 


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o 


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o 

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oj 

c 
o 

u 

O 
c 

"o 


x: 


X 


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O 
u 

o 

c 
o 


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c 
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c 

U 

E 
c 

o 


the  scrubby  foliage  against  it  are  for  me  con- 
clusive evidence.  But,  all  said,  this  picture  is 
an  indifferent  Crome.  It  came  from  Sam 
Mendel's  sale,  in  1875,  and  the  Price  Sale  of 
1895.  Another  obvious  butt  for  criticism  was  the 
large,  dramatic.  Wantage  Sea  Piece  (39),  for 
which  John  Berney  Crome's  name  was  sug- 
gested. But  here  again  I  submit  that,  unusual 
and  unrepealed  though  this  picture  be  in 
Crome's  oeuvre,  it  is  certainly  his,  and  that  the 
solidity  and  breadth  of  the  painting  and  the 
forms  and  impasto  in  the  sky  are  quite  above 
John  Berney 's  level.  No  doubt  Crome  had 
Turner  in  his  mind,  and  we  may  fairly  judge 
that  this  experiment  exhausted  his  interest  in 
this  direction.  Two  other  pictures  were  severely 
scrutinised  by  a  judge  whose  intimate  knowledge 
of  Crome  must  command  attention.  They  were 
Mill  near  Lakenham  and  Cottage  near  Laken- 
ham  (Nos.  53,  54),  lent  by  Mr.  Samuel.  Mr. 
P.  M.  Turner  suggested  that  Ninham  painted 
them.  In  their  skies  there  are  meaningless 
touches  of  impasto,  unlike  Crome's  clouds,  and 
the  detail  drawing  in  the  buildings  is  a  little 
shaky.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  they  have  a 
subtlety  of  lighting  and  tone  far  exceeding  any 
quality  in  any  Ninham  I  have  seen.  Unless 
conclusive  evidence  is  produced  I  should  regard 
the  charge  against  these  pictures  as  unproven. 

C.   H.  COLLINS   BAKER. 

LETTER 

CLUE  TO  SUBJECT  OF   PIERO   DI 
COSIMO. 

Sir, — Since  no  one — Mr.  Roger  Fry  not 
excepted — seems  to  have  found  a  satisfying  in- 
terpretation of  Prince  Paul  of  Serbia's  Piero  di 
Cosimo,  recently  exhibited  at  the  Burlington 
Fine  Arts  Club,'  may  I  call  the  attention  of  your 
readers  to  Lucian's  "  True  Story." 

Lucian  starts  by  telling  us  how  everything  in 
his  story  is  a  more  or  less  comical  parody  on 
one  or  other  of  the  poets,  historians,  and 
philosophers  of  old,  who  have  written  much  that 
smacks  of  miracles  and  fables.  He  gives  some 
of  their  names  and  says  they  made  up  false- 
hoods patent  to  everyone — telling  of  huge  beasts, 
one-eyed  men,  animals  with  many  heads — 
transformations  of  their  comrades  by  means  of 
drugs,  etc.  He  then  tells  us  that  he  is  about  to 
lie  as  valiantly,  but  more  honestly,  than  any  of 
them.  His  hero  sailed  out  from  the  Pillars  of 
Hercules  into  the  Atlantic.  After  many  adven- 
tures he  and  his  boat  are  swallowed  by  a  whale 
150  miles  long.  Inside  the  whale  there  was 
land  with  hills  on  it,  a  forest  of  all  kinds  of  trees, 
garden  stuff,  and  everything  appeared  to  be 
under  cultivation.    The  coast  of  an  island  inside 


1  See  The  Burlington  Magazine  for  March   1921,  p.  131. 


May  Exhibitions. — An  extraordinary  variety 
of  schools  will  be  on  view  in  London  during  this 
month,  ranging  from  the  Royal  Academy 
Summer  Exhibition  and  the  R.B.A.  Spring 
Exhibition  to  the  London  Group  at  the  Mansard 
Gallery  and  Friesz  at  the  Independent.  The 
Goupil  will  have  a  show  of  paintings  by  British 
and  foreign  artists,  and  Max  Beerbohm's  work 
will  be  on  view  at  the  Leicester.  Polish  Art 
will  be  shown  at  the  Whitechapel  Gallery.  Our 
Nameless  Exhibition  will  open  on  20th  May  at 
the  Grosvenor  Gallery,  where  every  tendency  in 
British  Art  will  be  represented,  the  artists 
remaining  for  the  first  few  weeks  anonymous. 
Fuller  particulars  of  these  and  other  exhibitions 
will  be  found  on  p.  ii.  of  our  advertisement 
columns. 

National  Gallery. — During  the  past  month 
a  selection  of  the  Milanese  pictures  at  the 
National  Gallery  has  been  hung  in  Room  V, 
which  has  now  been  opened  to  the  public,  and 
the  gallery  begins  to  look  more  like  its  former 
self.  As  in  all  the  other  rooms  at  Trafalgar 
Square,  the  wall  decoration  has  been  thought 
out  with  great  care  and  taste.  Underlying  the 
arrangement  is  the  primary  intention  of  giving 
the  visitor  the  fullest  possible  opportunity  of 
being  impressed  by  each  individual  picture.  The 
paintings  included  in  the  new  room  could  hardly 
look  better  than  they  do. 


the  whale  was  27  miles  long,  sea  birds  were  nest- 
ing on  the  trees,  and  gulls  and  kingfishers 
abounded.  There  was  a  temple  of  Poseidon,  a 
farmhouse,  dogs,  etc.  The  hero  then  meets  a  man 
and  a  boy  who  take  him  to  their  house  and  tell 
him  of  the  grape  vines  in  the  forest,  the  birds 
and  fish  they  catch,  the  lake  on  which  he  sails, 
and  of  the  unfriendly  and  oddly-built  people 
who  live  with  them — the  Tritongoats,  the  Sole- 
feet,  etc.  They  then  form  an  alliance,  and  with 
their  50  men  attack  and  exterminate  all  these 
creatures,  which  may  suggest  what  Piero  di 
Cosimo  had  in  his  mind  when  painting  the  New 
York  picture  referred  to  by  Mr.  Roger  Fry. 
They  live  in  luxury  for  a  year  and  eight  months 
and  then  decide  to  escape  ;  but  after  digging  into 
the  whale's  side  for  5  furlongs  they  give  it  up, 
and  decide  to  kill  the  whale  by  setting  fire  to 
the  forest.  It  burns  for  nine  days  before  the 
whale  dies,  and  they  then  escape  through  his 
mouth. 

Though  every  detail  in  Prince  Paul's  picture 
may  not  be  absolutely  consistent  with  Lucian's 
"  True  Story,"  and  Piero  di  Cosimo  may  have 
added  from  his  imagination  to  that  of  Lucian, 
yet  it  seems  to  me  to  fit  it  better  than  any  other. 
Yours  faithfully. 

Amateur. 


^57 


AUCTIONS 


Mkssks.  Sothkdv.  Wilkinson  &  Hodoe.  34,  Now  Bond 
Street.  MAY  10,  Medals,  Plaqucttcs  and  Coins,  property  of 
R.  C.  Fisher,  Esq.;  and  MAY  11,  Commemorntivc  Medals 
nnd  Tickets,  property  of  Talbot  Ready,  Esq.  This  collirlion 
of  moilals  and  coins  is  rtniarkable  and  contains  many  inter- 
esting, rare  and  impi>rlant  lots,  some  examples  being  unique. 
The  concluding  part  of  the  Ready  collection  contains  a  number 
of  line  items,  such  as  that  by  Briot  with  Prince  Charles  and 
his  father,  and  the  beautiful  Royalist  Badges.  M.\Y  25  to 
JUNE  3,  Library  of  the  late  Sir  J.  .X.  Brooke.  Rare  illu- 
minated MSS.,  handsomely-bound  library  sets,  and  a  fine 
series  of  incunabula.  Among  an  abundance  of  remarkable 
things  are  Lot  ijby,  a  copy  of  the  statutes  of  S.  .Michael, 
date  1460;  Lot  1174,  the  register  of  Innkeepers'  Cor|>oration 
of  Perugia,  1379,  with  their  su|x;rb  miniatures,  and  that  rare 
and  beautiful  example  of  decorative  printing,  Spencer's 
Ainoretii  (1359).  Other  items  include  very  scarce  or  unique 
works.  JUNE  13,  Egyptian  and  Oriental  antiquities.  The 
sale  is  mainly  of  pieces  of  antiquarian  interest.  Perhaps  the 
most  beautiful  are  Lot  193,  probably  a  door  jamb,  having  a 
bas  relief  portrait  of  some  delicacy  (18th  dyn.).  Ix)t  255, 
statuette  of  a  state  official  is  a  capital  Theban  example ; 
Lot  842,  limestone  fragment  of  the  face  of  an  .^khenaten 
statue,  hints  at  the  power  of  the  complete  work  ;  Lot  847,  a 
simple  incised  head  on  a  slab  of  limestone,  has  peculiar 
elegance  of  design.  JUNE,  Engravings,  property  of  the  late 
H.   \V.    Bruton,   Esq.,   comprising  rare  Cruikshank   items   like 


The  Humorist  «nd  The  Fairy  Library,  and  tlie  .ilniost 
uniqui'  cnncelled  wrapper  of  "  Sketches  by  Boz."  Two  vols, 
of  charming  Rowlandson  drawings.  Mezzotints  after  Rem- 
brandt, Joseph  Wright  of  Derby,  etc.  A  male  portrait  by 
Lawrence,   of  Samuel   Lysons,   will   also  be  sold. 

M'  F.  LAiR-DiinREUiL. — At  the  Galerie  Georges  Petit,  8  rue 
de  Size.  May  30  to  June  1.  This  very  important  sale  in- 
cludes the  fine  polygonal  panel — Lot  1 — given  to  Matteo 
Balducci,  similar  in  subject  —  Diana  and  Acteon — <tc.,  to  that 
lent  by  the  Earl  of  Crawford  to  the  Burl.  F..\.  Club  in  1904; 
Lot  3,  Virgin  and  Child,  altrib.  Th.  Bouls ;  Lot  4,  two 
Portraits  of  Men,  attrib.  Bramantino  and  belonging  to  a 
dispersed  series  described  Buki.incton  Maoazink,  \ov.  1905  ; 
Lot  5,  Clouet's  fine  Portrait  of  a  Man;  Lot  9,  the  curious 
and  charming  early  XVth  century,  Le  mauvais  riche  cl 
lacarre,  Ecole  de  Boheme ;  Lot  10,  late  XVth  century, 
Flemish  Phillippe  le  Beau  ;  lx)t  14,  Ecole  de  Souabe,  Nativity 
of  S.  John  ;  Lot  18,  Holbein,  the  younger,  Portrait  of  Ma:i, 
a  very  important  example,  fine  condition,  circular  panel  (c.f. 
Fitzwilliam  Mus.  Cam.);  Lot  17,  jeune  I'emme,  by  the  rare 
master  Alexis  Grimon  ;  Lot  21,  Le  repas,  an  Umbrian  work, 
given  in  the  catalogue  to  I'erugian  school.  A  large  number 
of  Egyptian,  Greek  and  Roman  antiquities,  Rhages  Pottery, 
Limoges  Enamels  ;  Superb  .S.  Porchaire  faience  cup,  epoch  of 
Henri  IL  Gothic  and  Renaissance  Sculptures  and  Gothic 
and  other  Textiles  of  the   first   importance  to  collectors. 


PUBLICATIONS     RECEIVED 

Publications    cannot    be    included    here    unless    they    have 
must   be  stated.        Publications   not   coming  ivithin    the   scope 
prices  are  stated. 

Serial    Publications    will    be   arranged    here    according    to 
number   of  foreign    serials  actually    received   will    be    entered, 
numbers   of   their   publications  have   failed    to    arrive, 

B.  T.  Batsford. 

Graves,  F.S..'\.  (.Algernon).     Art  Sales.     From  early  in  the 
XVIIIth  Century  to  early    in  the  XXth  Century.     Vol.  IL 

38s  PP- 
A.  &  C.  Black. 

Sharpley    (R.).      The    Thames:    A    Sketch-Book.       24     pi. 

3s.  6d. 
Woollard   (Dorothy    E.  G.).      Bournemouth  and    District : 
A  Sketch  Book.     24  pi.     2S.  6d. 
Selwvn-  Blount,  Ltd. 

Lyon,    M.A.    (Thomas    Henry).      The    Attribute   Proper    to 
Art:  "  Pure  .4r(   Value."     94  pp.  +   frontispiece.     3s.  6d. 
Castle  Museum,  Norwich. 

Souvenir    Catalogue    Crome    Centenary     Exhibition.      With 
an   .Appreciation  of   John    Crome     by     Laurence     Binyon. 
46  pp.   +   10  pi.     2S.  6d. 
Georc.  et  Cie,  Geneva. 

Renoir.  Coloured  reproductions  of  10  water-colours, 
sanguines  and  pastels  by  Auguste  Renoir  ;  in  large  port- 
folio ;  introduction  by  Ren^  Jean,  translated  by  Ronald 
Davies.  37  pp.  15  copies  with  i  supplementary  draw- 
ing, numbered,  700  Fs. — 185  copies,  numbered,  500  Fs. 
John  Lane. 

Bryant     (Lorinda     M.).        American     Pictures     and     their 
Painters.     307  pp.   +   176  pi.     21s. 
Methuen. 

Collins  Baker  (C.  H.).     Crome.     206  pp.  +  52  pi.    £s  Ss. 
Kaines  Smith  (S.   C).     Looking  at   Pictures.     151   pp.    + 
8  pi.    6s. 
F.  Rieder,  Paris. 

Sedeyn  (Emile).     Le  Mobilier.     124  pp.   -|-   24  pi.     8  Fs. 
LtoNCE  Rosenberg,  Paris. 

Doesburg      (Tnto      Van).        Classique-Baroque      Modertte. 

31   pp.   +    16  pi. 
Mondrian  (P.).     Le  Neo-Plctsticisme.     14  pp. 
Privately  Published. 
Musnings    (A.    J.),    A.R.A.       The    Tale    of   .Anthony    Bell. 
16  pp. 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum. 

Review  of  the  Principal  .Acquisitions  during  the  year   1918. 
64  pp.   -t-  27  pi.   +  half-tone  ills,  in  text.    3s.  6d. 


been  delivered  before  the   16th  of  the  previous  month.     Prices 
of  this   Magazine  will  not   be  acknowledged  here  unless   the 

the  ordinary   periods  of  their  publication,   and  only  the  latest 
in  order  that  foreign  editors  and  publishers  may  learn  which 

PrideaUX  (S.  T.).  Notes  on  Printing  and  Book-binding :  .4 
Guide  to  the  exhibition  of  tools  and  materials  used  in  the 
processes.     40  pp.  •+-   16  pi.     2S.  6d. 

PERIODICALS. 

Weekly — Architect. 

Fortnightly — Le  Bulletin  de  I'Art  ancien  et  moderne — 
Chronique  des  .Arts  et  de  la  Curiosit(5 — Der  Cicerone — 
Kleinmbbel  Korb  und  Kunstgewerbe  Der  Kunstwanderer 
— Mobilia. 

Monthly — The  Antiquaries'  Journal,  2,  i — Art  et  Decoration, 
227,  xxiv — The  Art  Trade  Journal,  190,  xvii  The  Book- 
plate Chronicle,  7,  i — Bulletin  of  the  Cleveland  Museum  of 
Art,  3,  viii— Bulletin  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 
3,  xvi — Bulletin  of  the  Minneapolis  Institute  of  Arts,  3,  4,  x 
— Dedalo,  10,  i — Drama,  5,  6 — L'Esprit  Nouveau,  6 — 
Gazette  des  Beaux-Arts,  714 — Kokka,  367-369 — Rassegna 
D'Arte,  3,  viii — La  Revue  de  L'Art  ancien  et  moderne  224, 
225,  xxxix — Veil  i  Nou,   12,  i. 

Bi-Mo.sTHLY — .Art  in  America,  3,  ix — Museum  of  Fine  Arts 
Bulletin,  3,  xix. 

Quarterly— Bolletin  de  la  Sociedad  Espanola  de  Excursiones, 
I,  xxix — The  Quarterly  Review,  467 — Music  and  Letters, 
a,   ii — Oud-Holland,  4,   xxxviii — Rupam,   iv — Theatre  Craft. 

Annually — Onze  Kunst,  xxxviii. 

Occasionally — Hilimn,  4 — The  Pennsylvania  Museum  Bul- 
letin 67. 

Trade  Lists— P.  J.  &  A.  E.  Dobell,  English  Books  of  the 
Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Centuries — W.  &  G.  Foyle, 
Ca(o!o^ue— Gilhoffer  &  Ranschburg,  VVien,  Seltene  und 
Wertvolle  Bucher  Manuskripte  Meist  mil  Miniaturen — 
Gutekunst  &  Klipstein,  Bern,  Alte  und  Moderne 
Original  Graphik — Karl  W.  Hiersemann,  Leipzig,  Archeo- 
logie  und  Klassische  Philologie — Maggs  Bros.,  Bibliotheca 
incunabulorum — Martinus  NijhofT,  Hague,  Choix  de  livres 
sur  les  Beau.x-Arts — P.  A.  Norstedts  &  Soner,  Stockholm, 
Norstedts  Nyheter — T.  H.  Parker,  Monthly  Journal — C.  F. 
Schultz  &  Co.,  Antiquariats-Anzeigen — H.M.  Stationery 
Office,  Monthly  Circular. 


258 


Self  Portrait  by  Rembrandt.  29  by  25I  (Mr.  G.  Serra;  reproduced  by  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  T.H.  Robinson) 


The  Nameless  Exhibitio?i.—V>Y   Desmond   MacCarthy 


ROSE,"  it  is  said,  "by  any  other 
name  will  smell  as  sweet."  This 
is  not  always  true  of  a  picture. 
It  the  wail,  "  How  am  I  to  know 
,  if  a  picture  is  good  if  I  don't  know 
who  painted  it?  "  was  not  constantly  audible  at 
The  Nameless  Exhibition's  press  day,  it  was 
only  because  it  was  unbecoming  on  the  lips  of 
critics.  Yet  how  excellent  a  thing  it  would  be 
if  on  press  days  catalogues  were  always  withheld 
and  signatures  obliterated  !  Newspaper  criticism 
might  in  the  end  pass  from  the  hands  of  men 
who  have  learnt  the  safe  sort  of  things  to  say 
about  artists,  into  the  hands  of  men  who  have 
learnt  to  look  at  their  works. 

The  object  of  this  anonymity  was  not,  how- 
ever, to  provide  an  assinometer  for  critics.  It 
was  an  essential  part  of  an  experiment.  The  ex- 
periment was  to  hang  pictures  chosen  independ- 
ently by  three  judges,  who  take  very  different 
views  about  works  of  art,  side  by  side,  so 
that  the  public  who  have  only  seen  such 
pictures  in  different  exhibitions,  should  com- 
pare them,  and  get  a  clearer  idea  of  the  aims 
and  methods  of  different  schools  of  painting  :  so 
that  we  should  look  at  the  pictures  with  as  few 
prejudices  as  possible,  the  names  of  the  artists 
were  withheld. 

The  result  is  most  instructive.  We  are  vividly 
impressed  with  the  nullity  of  painting  which 
sacrifices  charm  of  treatment,  representation  and 
imaginative  interest  to  design — without  achiev- 
ing it,  and  with  the  emptiness  of  pictures  which 
imitate  what  is  conventionally  supposed  to  be 
nature,  as  though  design  was  no  concern  of  the 
artist.  The  exhibition  shows  us  how  an  artist 
can  safely  dispense  with  representation  if  only 
he  finds  a  non-literal  equivalent  of  an  aesthetic 
impression,  and  also  that  he  may  achieve  an 
aesthetic  result  without  deviating  from  the  con- 
ventional interpretation  of  colour  and  form.  In 
short,  the  exhibition  is  the  best  stimulus  imagin- 
able to  that  critical  sense  which  lies  dormant  or 
servile  in  most  of  us. 

Mr.  Sims,  R.A.,  Mr.  Tonks,  and  Mr.  Fry 
have  each  collected  independently  one-third  of 
the  pictures  exhibited.  Mr.  Sims  stands,  of 
course,  for  the  Royal  Academy  tradition ;  Mr. 
Tonks  for  the  taste  of  the  New  English  Art  Club 
in  its  hevday,  and  Mr.  Fry  for  the  movement 
dubbed  vaguely  Post-Impressionist.  There  is 
no  difficulty  in  spotting  the  pictures  which  could 
onlv  have  been  hung  by  Mr.  Sims,  and  those 
which  only  Mr.  Fry  could  have  selected.  Mr. 
Fry  would  have  rather  had  his  teeth  torn  out 
one  by  one  than  allow  merit  to  such  pictures  as 
(i)  Preparing  for  the  Ball,  (21,)  A  Dutch  Family, 
(73)  Firelight,  (79)  "  Listening  now  to  the  Tide 


in  its  broad-flung  shipwrecking  roar,"  (99)  The 
Monastery,  or  (113)  The  Aeroplane,  to  mention 
a  few  obviously  R.A.  pictures;  while  the  most 
persuasive  wild  horses  could  not  have  dragged 
consent    from     Mr.    Sims    for    hanging    such 
P.I.  pictures  as  (17)  The  Visit  or  (21)  The  Water 
Carriers,  or  the  two  imitation  Matisse  (102)  and 
(106).     (It  is  a  mistake  to  follow  Matisse  with- 
out possessing  extremely  delicate  sensibility.)  or 
(77)  Bursting  Shell,  or  (86)  Landscape,  or    the 
geometric  design  (166).     With  the  exception  of 
The  Water  Carriers,  which  is  in  a  different  class 
altogether  (though  it  is  marred  by  heaviness  of 
treatment),  these  pictures  have  as  little  artistic 
merit  as  the  preceding  list.     What  is  it,  then, 
that  makes  Mr.  Fry  (or  you,  reader)    kind    to 
them  and  contemptuous  of  the  others,  and  Mr. 
Sims  (or  you,    reader)  vice  versa?     The   main 
difference  is  that  the  basis  of  the  R.A.  ^Esthetic 
is  that  Art  is  the  copy  of  something,  and  being 
the  copy  of  something,  it  follows  that  a  picture 
is  (i)  the  better  for  being  the  copy  of  a  pleasant 
thing,  and  (2)  that  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  artist 
to  represent  it  in  such  a  way  that  the  emotions 
a  spectator  would  feel   in  the   presence  of  the 
original    are   repeated.     (Hence   the    inclination 
of  this  school  of  painters  towards  sentimental 
subjects  or  those  which  suggest  a  mood  or  a 
story.)     For    instance,    Kitty,  the  Flower-Girl, 
must  have  a  pink  shell-like  complexion,  for  that 
is  agreeable  in  real  life,  and  the  shoulder  of  the 
young  lady  Preparing  for  the  Ball  must  be  of 
pearly    smoothness    for  the  same  reason.     The 
more    pink    and    shell-like,    the    more    pearly- 
smooth    these    objects    are,     the     intenser    the 
emotions  in  the  spectator  (it  is  taken  for  granted 
these  emotions  are  esthetic)  will  then  be.     The 
Dutch  Family  must  be  resemblant,  lady-like  and 
well  off.     But  supposing  one    does    not    know 
them  !     Does  one  still  want  to  spend  years  in 
the    company    of    a    group  of  small  replicas  of 
these  kind,  refined,  handsome  women?     In  real 
life  they  would  talk  to  one  and  offer  one  tea. 
There's   the  rub !      Art   cannot    compete     with 
life.     Fire-light,  for  instance,  is  very  like  fire- 
light, but,  alas,  not  so  delightful,  for  real  fire- 
light   warms    and    changes,  and  flickers.     We 
should  like  to  be  walking  at  the  foot    of  that 
"  Monastery,"  among  the  cypress  trees  drink- 
ing star-light,  while  the   bowed  form    of    that 
young  monk  is  passing  by.     But  where  are  the 
tiny  stufifless  noises  of  the  night?     Where  the 
solemn   monastery   bell?     Where,     indeed,   our 
own  fragrant,  sentimental  cigar  ?     If  we  want  to 
hear  "  the  broad-flung  shipwrecking    roar  "  of 
the  sea,   it  is  best  to  go  to  the  sea-side;  if  we 
want  to  watch  its  welter,  and  cannot  leave  town, 
we  can  see  its  wash  and  movement  better    on 


The  Burlington  Magazine,  No.  2ig,  Vol.  xxxviii.     June,  1921. 


26  I 


the  cinematograph  than  in  Number  ()().     Thus 
Life  heats  the  Artist  lioUow  at  inspiring  com- 
plex, keen  emotions,  and  lie  must  find  another 
aim,  or  fold  up  his  stool  like  an  Arab  and  as 
silently  steal  away.     But  what  he  can  do  is  to 
record'  and   intensify   a  little  thin   but   piercing 
sensation,  which  tlie  shapes,  colours  and  propor- 
tions of  objects  inspire  in  human    beings.     At 
that  game  he  can  beat  nature.       ihe    problem, 
then,  is  how  far  can  he  permit  himself  to  deviate 
from  actuality  in  order  to  intensify  that  sensa- 
tion.    Mr.  Fry  would  say  there  are  no  limits  to 
the  degree  of  distortion  the  artist  may  introduce; 
Mr.  Tonks  would  certainly  say  that  in  order  to 
receive  this  sensation  in  perfection  we  must  feel 
we  are  contemplating  recognisable  objects.    The 
difiference  between  Mr.   Tonks'  aesthetic  and  Mr. 
Sims'  lies  in  the  former's  insisting  on  a  certain 
delicate  detachment  from  those  emotional  values 
of  everyday  life  which  the  R.A.  tradition  strives 
to  communicate  on  canvas.     Although  each  of 
the  three  judges,  as  autocrats,  would  thus  have 
rejected  the  bulk  of  each  other's  selections,  in 
collaboration  they  would,    I   think,     have    con- 
sented to  hang  (with  varying  degrees  of  reluct- 
ance)  a    fair    number   of    the   pictures    actually 
shown.    Thev  would,  all  three,  have  passed,  I 
think    (9)    Ballad  Seller  (possibly   deprecating 
murmurs  from  Mr.  Fry),  (7)  Breton  Landscape 
(resistance  from  Mr.  Sims,  but  ultimate  consent 
on  the  understanding  he  was  presently  to  get  a 
handsome  quid  pro  quo),   (10)  Landscape,  (11) 
Strolling  Players,  (14)  Reading,  (17)  Brighton 
Beach,  (32)  P.   Wilson  Steer,    (51)     Viganello, 
(58)   Victorian  Portrait,  (78)  Lemons,   (81)  Still 
Life,  (96)  Lemons.     And  the  interesting  thing 
is  that  although  this  list  (which  is  far  from  com- 
plete) of  the  pictures  over  which  as  a  hanging 
committee  they  might  not  have  quarrelled,  is  not 
equivalent  to  a  list  of  the  best  pictures  actually 
exhibited,     the     proportion     of     good    pictures 


among  them  is  very  much  iiigher  than  among 
any  one  of  the  sections  which  represent  the  in- 
dividual tastes  of  the  judges.     It  is  instructive 
to  compare  (85)  Pines  with  (7)  Breton  Landscape. 
In  the  former  the  colour  and  the  trees  are  copies 
of   nature   seen   at  a  twilight   moment;   in   the 
latter  they  are  used  for  the  purpose  of  design. 
Let  the  spectator  ask   himself  of  which  of  the 
two  pictures  he  would   tire  soonest.     (No.    17) 
Christ  carrying  the  Cross  is  a  picture  in  which 
distortion  is  subjective.     It  is  employed  with  the 
object  of  intensifying  an  imaginative  emotion, 
as  is  often  the  case  in  Blake's  pictures,  and  the 
picture  itself  has  an   interesting  dream-like  in- 
tensity.    (No.  25)  Marionettes  is  an  example  of 
immense  skill  unaided  by  design.     (No.  48  The 
Anrep    Family,    and   (No.    72)    Italian    Village, 
are  attempts  to  secure  fidelity  to  fact  and  an  im- 
pression of  simplification,  without  making  design 
the  primary  aim ;  they  fail.    (No.  65)  Portrait  of 
an  old  man  and  (No.  105)  A  Butler  are  examples 
of  distinguished  realism  ;  numbers  (76)  and  (63) 
of  undistinguished  ditto.     (No.  156)  Himalaya  is 
an  attempt  to  combine  poetic  emotion  with  sim- 
plicity of  design ;  but  the  poetry  is  without  dis- 
tinction  and  has  got  the  upper  hand  entirely. 
(No.  104)  Nymphs  a7id  Shepherds  is  a  failure,  but 
it  is  interesting  as  an  object  lesson.     The  artist 
yearned  to  make  a  pattern  in  two  dimensions, 
but  could  not  abandon  three  dimensional  repre- 
sentation :  the  resuh  is  fidgeting  and  ungainly. 
Mr.    Fry    has   been    too   indulgent    to    many    a 
picture  which  showed  a  determination    to    put 
design  first ;  Mr.  Tonks  to  many  a  picture  which 
showed  a  certain  fastidiousness  in  handling  light 
and  shade  and  emotional  detachment;  Mr.  Sims 
to  pictures  which  showed  skill  in  producing  illu- 
sion   and    recording    sentiment.      But    together 
they  have  collected  some  admirable  pictures  and 
produced  one  of  the  most  interesting    and    in- 
structive of  recent  exhibitions. 


A    SELF-PORTRAIT  BY    REMBRANDT 
BY    ROGER    FRY 


HE  work  which  we  reproduce  as  a 
Frontispiece,  though  not  generally 
known  to  the  public,  has  been  seen 
and  discussed  by  art  historians.  It 
is  reproduced  in  the  new  volume  of 
rediscovered  works  of  Rembrandt  in  the 
Klassiker  der  Kunst  series,  which  we  hope  to 
review  in  our  next  issue.  But  the  reproduc- 
tion there  given  hardly  does  justice  to  the 
original,  which  is  better  represented  in  the 
accompanving  plate.  It  would  appear  to  be  one 
of  the  latest  of  Rembrandt's  self-portraits.  Dr. 
Valentine  gives  the  date  1663,  but  I  should  be 
inclined  to  put  it  even  later  than  that.  It  is  a 
work  of  the  most  consummate    art.      I    doubt 


whether  the  possibilities  of  expression  by 
pictorial  means  have  ever  been  pushed  so  far 
as  this.  It  exhausts  every  conceivable  resource 
of  the  painter's  art.  What  brilliance  and 
surety  of  handling  in  the  rapid  brush  work  of 
this  '  amazing  notation  of  form !  What 
miraculous  co-ordination  of  eye  and  hand; 
Rembrandt  was  so  gifted  that  the  greatest 
wonder  of  all  is  that  he  survived  the  menace  of 
his  gifts.  Had  he  succumbed  he  would  have 
been  but  another  and  a  more  brilliant  Frans 
Hals.  Fortunately  for  us  he  had  got  hold  of 
something  infinitely  more  exciting,  the  imagin- 
ative comprehension  and  construction  of  form — 
the    discovery    as    here,    for    instance,    in    the 


262 


tangled  complexities  and  irrationalities  of  his 
own  battered  countenance,  of  a  coherent  and 
systematic  idea.  To  express  that  with  perfect 
logical  explicitness  and  yet  to  lose  none  of  the 
sense  of  its  infinite  complexity  and  variety 
needed  all  the  accumulated  and  superbly  dis- 
regarded gifts  of  his  lifelong  apprenticeship. 
Out  of  this  there  emerges  even  for  those  who 
miss  this  discovery  of  formal  sequences  a  spirit 
which  brings  conviction  not  so  much  of  its  ever 
having  been  actual  as  of  its  being  necessary  and 
eternally  real,  so  that  what  Rembrandt  made  of 
Van  Rhyn's  head  becomes  almost  a  mytho- 
logical personification,  an  ideal  figure  :  but  ideal 
and  universal  without  losing  anything  of  the 
sharp  particularity  of  the  individual. 

I  must  speak  too  of  the  colour.  Deep  golden 
olive  greens  in  the  shadows  with  almost  black 
accents  pass  in  the  half  tones  through  dull 
vinous  purples  to  brick  reds  over  which  play  the 

THE    BAREND    FAMILY 
BY    JOHN    HEWITT 

N  Chichester  Cathedral  there  are 
I  several  pictures  attributed  to  an 
Italian  painter  named  Theodoricus 
iBarnardi  or  Theodore  Barnard. 
I  These  works  though  not  of  special 
artistic  merit,  are  of  interest  in  as  far  as  ihey 
show  sufficient  evidence  to  prove  that  they  are 
the  work  of  Barend  Dircksz  or  Dirk  Barentsz, 
one  of  the  earlier  and  lesser  old  masters  and  a  not 
unimportant  member  of  the  Dutch  School.  The 
work  illustrated  [Plate]  is  perhaps  as  repre- 
sentative as  any.  Unfortunately,  these  paintings 
have  lost  many  of  their  original  touches  owing  to 
their  being  "restored"  by  a  comparatively  un- 
known and  unskilful  British  artist,  named  Tre- 
mayne.  Local  information  about  the  paintings 
is  as  follows  :  — 

The  pictures  were  painted  by  order  of  Bishop  Sherbourne 
(variousl)'  spelt),  Bishop  of  Chichester  (1508-1536),  and  it  is 
generally  believed  that  he  employed  for  this  purpose  and  for 
other  1  decorative  work  in  the  cathedral  and  palace,  an  Italian 
artist  named  Barnardi. 

In  Walpole  and  Vertue's  "  Anecdotes  of 
Painting  in  England,"  Vol.  i,  p.  174,  I  find  the 
following  :  — 

In  Chichester  Cathedral  are  pictures  of  kings  of  England 
and  bishops  of  that  See,  painted  about  the  year  1519  by  one 
Barnard,  ancestor  of  a  family  still  settled  in  those  parts.  They 
were  done  at  the  expense  of  Bishop  Sherbourne.  Carl  van 
Mander  mentions  one  Theodore  Barnardi  of  .Amsterdam, 
master  of  Michael  Coxie,  who  (Virtue  thinks)  painted  these 
works  at  Chichester,   as   they  are  in   Dutch   taste. 

Another  extract  says  :  — 

In  Italy  Dirk  Barend,  or  Barentsz,  came  under  the 
patronage  of  Bishop  Sherbourne,  of  Chichester  Cathedral, 
who  was  also  on  a  visit  to  Italy.  About  that  time  Barent 
visited  England  under  persuasion  of  Bishop  Sherbourne. 

On  reading  the  above  I  formed  the  opinion 
that    the    painter    in    que.stion    was   probably    a 

1  These  are  also  to  be  seen  in  the  cathedral.  They  are  of  a 
floral  and  slender  pattern  chiefly  in  cold  green. 


silver  greynesses  of  the  high  lights.  The  repro- 
duction tends  to  understate  these  and  reduce 
somewhat  the  full  salience  of  the  relief. 

The  picture  has  recently  been  admirably 
cleaned  under  Dr.  Bode's  supervision,  and  is 
in  .superb  condition.  Indeed  I  have  rarely  been 
able  to  read  with  such  certainty  and  ease  every 
detail  of  the  original  handling. 

Once  more  one  cannot  but  bitterly  regret  that 
the  opportunity  of  retaining  in  the  country  such 
supreme  masterpieces  as  this  and  the  Youssoupoff 
portraits  comes  upon  us  at  a  time  when  our 
financial  condition  gives  little  hope  of  grasping 
it.  Personally  I  would  rather  see  this  picture  in 
the  National  Gallery  than  twenty  examples  of 
even  the  most  interesting  secondary  artists.  How- 
ever different  from  Rembrandt's  an  artist's 
methods  may  be,  he  cannot  but  recognise  here 
the  consummation  and  achievement  of  all  those 
principles  by  which  he  works. 


Dutchman  named  Dirk  Barend  or  some- 
thing similar,  —  certainly  not  Barnard  or 
Barnardi.  I  found  no  further  account  of  this 
painter  under  either  of  the  latter  names,  but 
under  the  name  of  Barend  I  fotmd  much  which 
gave  support  to  my  idea  that  the  two  paintings 
in  Chichester  Cathedral,  and  possibly  the  one  in 
Amsterdam  were  executed  by  the  .same  master — 
who  was  neither  Italian  nor  English.  In  the 
technique  of  the  pictures  at  Chichester  I  found 
characteristics  peculiar  to  the  artists  both  of 
Holland  and  Italy,  though  obscured  by  the  hand 
of  the  so-called  restorer.  The  pictures  are  un- 
doubtedly similar  in  subject,  composition  and 
general  tone. 

As  previously  stated,  the  paintings  in  Chi- 
chester Cathedral  were  executed  about  1519. 

In  support  of  my  argument  it  may  be  noted 
that  the  names  Theodoricus  (Italian)  and  Theo- 
dore (English)  are  Christian  names  synonymous 
with  the  Dutch,  Dirk  or  Dirck,  and  Barnardi 
(Italian)  and  Barnard  (English)  are  surnames 
synonimous  with  Barend,  Barent,  Barentssen  or 
Barentsz.  The  last  is  an  abbreviation  of  Barent- 
szoon — Barent's  son.  Thus,  Dirk  Barentsz 
means  Dirk,  son  of  Barent. 

It  is  believed  that  the  painter  of  the  pictures  at 
Chichester  returned  to  Amsterdam  some  time 
before  13.34,  and  afterwards  settled  in  England 
with  his  family,  residing  here  till  the  time  of  his 
death,  also  that  a  family  of  that  name  lived  in, 
or  near,  Chichester.  Other  information  regard- 
ing the  Barend  family  is  to  be  found  in  Wurz- 
bach  (Niederlandisches  Kunstlcr-Lexikon)  who 
says  that  Barent  Dircksz  (Doove  Barent)  was  the 
father   of    Dirk    Barentsz.      Karl    van    Mander 


263 


mentions  one  of  his  pictures  in  the  Amsterdam 
Town  Hall  (still  there  in  1604^  reprcsentinfj  the 
Disorders  of  the  Aiuibul'tists  in  Ihc  year  1535, 
including  six  pictures  representing  tlicir  punish- 
ment. The  Albertina  in  \'icnna  possesses  a 
mvstic  or  allegorical  picture  having  as  the  sub- 
ject .1  BiJiiqtiet,  where  the  guests  are  coming 
in  pilgrim  dress  and  reading  hooks,  the  work 
being  in  reddish  brown  tone  with  pale  green 
high  lights.' 

Ulric  Thieme  and  Felix  Beaker'  say  that  :  — 

Barend  Oircksz,  known  as  Doaf  Barcnt  (falhor  of  Dirk 
Barentsz.  born  at  Amsterdam  1534),  is  probably  identical 
with  Barcnt  Dircks?,  who  in  1550  receivrd  four  shillings  for 
weapon  painting.  His  portrait  is  to  be  found  in  an  early 
edition  of  Van  Mandcrs  (1764),  and  he  is  mentioned  as  rather 
a  good  portrait  painter.  In  the  Rijk's  Museum  catalogue 
(1903),  Barentsz  is  mentioned  as  follows:  Barentsz  (Dirck), 
born  at  Amsterdam  1534;  interred  there  26th  May,  1592; 
student  of  his  father,  Barent  Dircksz,  called  Doovc  (deaf) 
Barent.     At  Venice  he  was  in   the  studio  of  Titian. 

In  the  work  by  Thieme  and  Becker,  quoted 
above,  the  following  al.so  occurs  :  — 

.'\nthonv  Barendsz,  son  of  Dirck  Barendsz  (Theodoricus 
Barnardi)  was  born  at  .\msterdam  1514  (!)  and  died  in 
Chichester    1619   ( I). 

3  In  the  work  referred  to  atmve  there  is  also  this  entry  : 
"  Theodoricus  Barnardi,  who  came  to  Chichester  in  1519  or 
before." 

3  Allgeineines  Lexicon  der  bildeiidon  Kuitsllcr  von  di'r 
Antike  his  ztir  geyenwart. 

THE    ENGRAVING    OF    ARMS 
BY    E.    ALFRED   JONES 

HE  embelli-shment  of  English  plate 
with  armorial  bearings  goes  back 
many  centuries.  It  was  customary 
before  the  Elizabethan  era  to  enamel 
the  arms,  as  may  be  observed  from 
the  few  remaining  pieces  of  Tudor  and  earlier 
plate  which  have  survived  the  three  great  periods 
of  destruction  of  ecclesiastical  and  domestic 
plate  in  England,  namely,  the  Wars  of  the 
Roses,  the  Reformation  and  the  Civil  War. 
.Among  secular  plate  thus  embellished  is  the 
rose-water  dish  of  the  year  1493-94  at  Corpus 
Christi  College,  Oxford,'  and  in  ecclesiastical 
plate  the  very  rare  example  in  a  paten-cover, 
belonging  to  a  silver-gilt  chalice  of  1564-65  in 
the  chapel  of  All  Souls'  College."  At  Cam- 
bridge there  is  among  other  pieces  the  historical 
silver-gilt  cup  of  1435-40,^  enamelled  with  the 
arms  of  Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  and  his 
second  wife — the  noble  bequest  to  Christ's 
College  of  the  foundress,  Margaret,  Countess  of 
Richmond  and  Derby,  mother  of  Henry  VII; 
and  the  beaker  of  about  1350  at  Trinity  Hall,* 
as  well  as  the  rose-water  dish  and  ewer  of  the 
year  1545-46,'*  which  are  enamelled  with  the 
arms    of    Christ  Church,  Canterbury,  impaling 

1  H.  C.  Moffat,  Old  Oxford  Plate,  1906,  PI.  Ixvi  ;  ^  Ibid., 
PI.  xlii. 

3  E.  Alfred  Jones,  The  Old  Plate  of  the  Cambridge  Col- 
leges,   1910,    PI.   Ixxv  ;   *  Ibid.,    PI.    xxxv  ;   »  Ibid.,    PI.    xlix. 


Hryan  and  other  authorities  repeat,  to  some  ex- 
tent, the  information  already  given. 

iMom  n  study  of  the  examples  of  their  work 
which  have  comi'  down  to  us,  I  am  led  to  con- 
clude that  the  Harcnd  family  was  constituted  as 
follows  :  — 

Oircksz  ;  F.ither  of  Barent  Dircksz.  Probably  born  in 
Amsterdam    .-ilxiut    the   middle   of    llie    fiftccnlh    cenlury. 

Barent  Dircksz  :  Son  of  Dircksz  me'rui<ined  above.  Painter 
and  decorator.  Born  Amsterdam  in  or  before  1488,  learned 
much  of  his  art  while  visiting  Italy.  There  worked  in 
Titian's  studio  and  met  Bishop  Shcrbournc  of  Chichester. 
Returned  with  Sherbournc  to  England  and  painted  the  pic- 
tuns  in  Chichester  Cathedral  about  1519.  Some  time  before 
1534,  returned  to  Amsterdam  for  a  short  lime.  His  son 
Dirk  (Uirk  Barentsz)  born  there  1534.  Possibly  then  painted 
picture  in  Rijks  Museum,  now  catalogued  "  Ainsterdam 
School  by  unknown  master."  Returned  to  England  with 
family    and    resided    in    Chichester    until    death. 

Anthony  Barendsz  :  Son  of  Dirk  Barentsz  and  grandson  of 
Barent  Dircksz  (?).  The  particulars  about  this  painter  as 
supplied  by  Thieme  and  Becker  confusing.  If  date  of  birth 
is  correct  (1514),  could  not  be  son  of  Dirk  Barentsz,  who  was 
born  1534.  Might  be  brother  of  Dirk  Barentsz  and  son  of 
Barent  Dircksz.  Probably  born  .Amsterdam,  1514,  before  his 
father  Barent  Dircksz  went  to  Italy,  and  assisted  his  father 
at  Chichester  probably  in  decorative  work.  If  dates  of  birth 
and  of  death  (1619)  are  both  correct,  his  life  must  have  been 
very  long. 

Dirk  Barentsz :  Probably  born  Amsterdam,  1534.  Dutch 
technique  with  traces  of  father's  influeince.  No  influences  of 
the  Italian  school  apparent,  certainly  none  of  Titian.  Pi-o- 
bably  did  not  leave  Holland  to  practice  his  art,  but  m..y 
have  visited  parents  at  Chichester. 

ON  OLD  ENGLISH   PLATE — I 


those  of  the  donor,  Matthew  Parker,  the  great 
bibliophile  and  collector  of  rare  objects  and 
first  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  after  the 
Reformation. 

Medi£eval  mazer  bowls  were  frequently  em- 
bellished with  a  print  in  the  interior,  enamelled 
with  arms  or  sacred  devices. 

The  custom  of  adorning  or  marking  plate 
with  enamelled  shields  of  arms  did  not  die  out 
after  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  as  will 
be  noticed  from  the  ecclesiastical  piece  men- 
tioned above  and  from  other  examples  of  plate, 
but  it  was  an  uncommon  practice.  Indeed,  the 
little  Elizabethan  plate  engraved  with  armorial 
bearings  would  seem  to  indicate  modesty  in  the 
owners,  or  impatience  in  the  goldsmith  with 
the  notion  of  introducing  a  (to  him)  meaning- 
less and  unnecessary  shield  of  arms  to  spoil  the 
effect  of  his  elaborate  decoration,  and  is  thus 
in  striking  contrast  to  the  plate  of  Charles  II, 
where  the  arms  are  engraved  in  a  bold  and  un- 
mistakable manner,  such  as  to  suggest  pride 
rather  than  modesty  in  the  owner.  In  the  little 
space  allowed  by  the  Elizabethan  goldsmith  for 
the  arms,  it  was  impossible  to  include  the  crest 
and  supporters. 

In  the  amazing  collection  of  historic  English 
plate  in  the  Kremlin  at  Moscow,  only  seven 
pieces  are  adorned  with  heraldry,  namely,  a  pair 


264 


^ 


c 


c 

C 


C 

U 

5 

c 

o 


<1^ 


of  Elizabethan  bottles  of  1580-81,  two  cups  of 
the  years  1616-17  and  1617-18,  which  are  pricked 
with  the  arms  of  the  donor,  James  I  of  England ; 
and  a  pair  of  flagons  of  the  year  161 7-18,  bear- 
ing the  arms  of  Charles  I,  by  whom  they  were 
given  to  the  Tsar  Michael,  the  first  of  the 
Romanoff  line.  The  seventh  piece  is  a  Jacobean 
cup,  dated  1614-15,  adorned  with  the  arms  of 
Nevill  of  Raby. 

As  with  the  plate  itself,  there  is  little  change 
in  the  taste  for  displaying  arms  in  the  reign  of 
James  I.  In  the  time  of  his  son  and  successor, 
Charles  I,  a  marked  change  is  noticeable  both  in 
the  style  of  domestic  plate  and  in  the  manner  of 
engraving  arms.  The  tendency  is  towards  a 
larger  shield,  covering  greater  space  on  the 
plainer  plate  then  coming  into  vogue,  accom- 
panied by  new-fashioned  mantling. 

An  early  example  of  Carolean  mantling  is  on 
the  pair  of  flagons  of  1626-27,  given  by  Valen- 
tine Carey,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  to  Christ's 
College,  Cambridge,  engraved  with  the  arms  of 
the  see  impaling  the  Bishop's  arms  (Fig.  i.) 

A  plain  chalice  of  great  historic  associations, 
made  in  the  year  1629-30,  is  engraved  with  the 
arms  of  Sir  Henry  Henne,  baronet,  in  a  plain 
shield  with  a  mantling  of  feathers  and  palm-like 
leaves,  tied  together,  though  the  heraldic  orna- 


mentation is  a  few  years  later. '^  This  historical 
relic,  which  was  the  actual  vessel  in  which 
Charles  I  received  the  last  sacrament  on  the 
scaffold,  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Duke  of 
Portland  (Fig.  2). 

Contemporary  with  this  ornate  Carolean 
mantling  was  a  plain  shield,  devoid  of  all 
mantling,  such  as  may  be  seen  on  a  good  deal 
of  plate,  including  the  arms  of  the  donor, 
William  Foxwist,  engraved  in  1645  on  a  cup  of 
1615-16  belonging  to  the  Corporation  of  St. 
Albans.  Another  variety  of  Carolean  mantling 
is  the  wreath,  as  on  the  "  Box  "  flagons  of 
1640-41   at  Oriel  College,   Oxford. 

In  the  next  stage  in  the  development  of 
mantling,  a  plain  palm  leaf  was  engraved  on 
either  side  of  the  shield  and  tied  below.  This 
was  continued  during  the  Commonwealth  and 
into  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  A  good  example  of 
a  Commonwealth  piece  of  plate  is  the  plain 
tankard  of  1655-56,  the  gift  in  1656  of  Isaac 
Creme  to  the  defunct  Barnard's  Inn  and  now  in 
the  collection  of  the  Earl  of  Rosebery  (Fig.  3). 
Similar  mantling  is  engraved  on  a  cup  and  stand 
of  the  year  1659-60,  the  property  of  Mr.  J.  M. 

«  The  baronetcy  was  created  in  1642,  which  would  be  the 
earliest  date  for  the  engraving.  Sir  H.  Heniie  died  in  or 
before  1668. 


267 


Kirk  wood.' 

I'his  plain  palm  leal  mantling  is  far  from 
common  on  Charles  II  plate,  though  miuli 
favoured  on  the  elaborate  bookbindings  of  that 
King,  which  are  attributed  with  insufficient 
reasons  to  .'^amuel  Mearne,  who  was  not  a  prac- 
tical bookbinder,  but  the  royal  stationer  who 
supplied  the  palaces  with  ink,  paper  and  other 
necessaries  for  the  writing  table.  .Specimens  of 
these  bindings  are  on  exhibition  at  the  British 
Museum. 

The  feather  mantling,  a  characteristic  feature 
of  Charles  II  plate,  is  not  confined  to  one 
variety,  as  might  be  assumed  from  a  casual 
glance  at  a  quantity  of  plate  so  engraved.  There 
are,  in  fact,  several  varieties,  as  may  be  seen 
from  those  illustrated  here.  The  first  shows  a 
mantling  composed  of  six  feathers  tied  by  a  knot 
below  the  shield,  on  the  two-handled  "Hooper" 
cup  of  the  year  1677-78  at  Exeter  College 
Oxford  [Plate  4],  a  number  increased  to  eight 
on  the  "Davenant"  tankard  at  Trinity  Hall,  Cam- 
bridge (Fig.  5).  A  mantling  of  ten  feathers  is 
engraved  on  the  "  Bankes  "  tankard  of  the  year 
1674-75  at  Queens'  College,  Cambridge  (Fig.  6), 
and  on  the  earliest  known  English  coffee-pot  or 
teapot,  dated  1681-82,  formerly  the  property  of 
the  East  India  Company,  and  now  in  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  A  slight  varia- 
tion in  the  size  and  arrangement  of  the  same 
number  mav  be  seen  on  the  alms  dish  dated 
1680-81,  at 'All  Souls'  College,  Oxford.  The 
engraver  of  the  arms  of  Sir  William  EUys,  the 
donor  of  a  caudle  cup  of  the  same  year  at 
Lincoln  College,  Oxford,  has  increased  the 
number  of  feathers  to  fourteen,  which  is  the 
greater  number  observed  on  Plate  7. 

Although  the  approximate  date  of  English 
plate  may  be  assigned  by  the  style  of  the 
mantling,  without  reference  to  the  marks  or  to 
the  fashions  of  the  objects  themselves,  armorial 
bearings  have  frequently  been  engraved  a  few 
vears  later  than  the  date  of  the  pieces.  Foi 
example,  the  deduction  might  be  made  that  the 
arms  of  Alderman  Sir  Thomas  Bloodworth  on 
the  Cromwellian  cup  of  1653-54,  given  by  him 
to  the  Vintners  Company,  were  engraved  in  that 
year,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  mantling 
is  of  the  feathered  style  of  Charles  II,  and  was 
added  in  the  year  of  the  gift,  1682. 

A  rarer  varietv  of  feather  mantling,  with  the 
feathers  finished  in  a  slight  foliation,  appears  to 
have  been  a  somewhat  later  development.  It 
occurs  on  the  large  caudle  cup  of  Thomas 
Mansell,     dated     1684-85,     at     Jesus     College, 


'  C.  J.  Jackson^   The  History  of  Old  English  Plate,  p.  222. 


Oxford,*  and  on  the  Firebrace  arms  on  the  large 
bowl  and  cover  of  1691-92  at  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge."  Interesting  as  a  .specimen  of 
American  engraving  in  this  style  is  the  large 
plain  baptismal  basin,  engraved  with  the  arms 
of  Clarke,  given  by  Mary  Saltonstall  to  the  Old 
South  Church  at  Boston  and  wrought  bj'  John 
Coney  (1655-1722),  silversmith,  of   that   place.'" 

A  fact  deserving  of  notice  in  the  history  of 
mantling  is  that  while  the  large  foliation  hang- 
ing from  the  helm  which  supports  the  crest  is  a 
conspicuous  feature  of  bookplates  by  Albrecht 
Diirer,  Hans  Sebald  Beham,  and  other  German 
artists  of  the  sixteenth  century,  this  variety  was 
not  generally  adopted  by  engravers  of  armorial 
bearings  on  English  plate  until  the  time  of 
Charles  II.  English  portrait  engravers,  William 
Faithorne  and  other  artists  had,  however,  in- 
troduced it  some  years  earlier,  while  bookplate 
engravers  had  adopted  the  style  in  the  first  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  as  may  be  observed 
in  the  Lyttelton  bookplate,  done  on  paper  made 
anterior  to  the  year  1650  by  one  William 
Marshall,  who  died  in  1646.  It  may  also  be 
seen  in  the  bookplate  of  John  Tradescant,  1656, 
which  is  with  the  Lyttelton  bookplate  in  the 
Franks  Collection  in  the  British  Museum.  An 
interesting  dated  example  is  the  bookplate  of 
William  Penn,  proprietor  of  Pennsylvania, 
1703.  Although  not  firmly  established  on  Eng- 
lish plate  until  the  reign  of  Charles  11,  an  earlier 
example  may  be  observed  at  Trinity  Hall,  Cam- 
bridge, on  the  tankard  of  1635-36,  which  was 
engraved  shortly  after  1645  with  the  arms  of  the 
benefactor,  Thomas  Eden. 

For  historical  specimens  of  the  "  Durer  " 
mantling  there  is  the  set  of  four  silver  beakers 
of  the  seventeenth  century  of  Dutch  craftsman- 
.ship,  but  engraved  by  an  English  engraver  with 
the  curious  inscription,  Ralph  Lord  Hopton's 
Little  Kitchen  of  Silver  Plate,  formerly  the 
property  of  Ralph,  Lord  Hopton,  the  distin- 
guished royalist  leader,  who  died  in  exile  at 
Bruges  in  1652.  The  beakers  were  given  to 
Gonville  and  Caius  College,  Cambridge,  by 
Richard  Watson,  royalist  divine  and  poet,  and 
faithful  friend  and  chaplain  to  Lord  Hopton 
until  that  nobleman's  death. 

This  foliated  mantling  (Plate,  8)  remained 
in  favour  for  bookplates  into  the  reign  of  George 
I,  for  .some  years  after  it  had  been  superseded  on 
silver  plate  by  the  "  Jacobean." 

»  H.  C.  Moffatt,   Ibid. 

9  E.  Alfred  Jones,  The  Old  Plate  of  the  Cambridge  Colleges, 
PI.   xcix. 

10  Illustrated  in  The  Old  Silver  of  American  Churches,  by 
E.  Alfred  Jones,  1913,  p.  58. 


(To  be  continued.) 


268 


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b'i 


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12 


Plate   I.     Georefian   Rummers 


GEORGIAN    RUMMERS 


BY 


SHUCKBURGH    RISLEY 


JOHN 

r  may  well  be  that  the  English  word 
'  rummer  "  has,  as  stated  in 
Murray's  Oxford  Dictionary,  a  con- 
tinental origin — the  Flemish  rommer 
and  the  Dutch  and  German  roemer — 
but  the  drinking-vessels  usually  included  under 
the  English  term  and  dealt  with  in  this  article 
have  nothing  in  common  with  the  continental 
roemer,  which  was  hollow  right  down  to  the 
foot,  the  "  stem  "  (if  it  can  so  be  called)  having 
almost  as  great  a  diameter  as  the  bowl.  Bate 
describes  and  illustrates  examples  of  the  larger 
wine  goblets,  having  plain,  spiral,  or  cut  stems, 
as  rummers  {English  Table  Glass,  p.  67,  and 
Plate  xxxiv),  but  this  seems  to  introduce  un- 
necessary confusion  into  glass-nomenclature, 
and  it  is  better  to  reserve  the  term  for  the  large 
class  of  drinking-vessels,  usually  of  a  solid  and 
heavy  nature,  possessing  three  well-marked 
characteristics  which,  in  combination,  separate 
them  entirely  from  any  class  or  group  of  wine- 
glasses. These  are  a  wide-mouthed  capacious 
bowl,  a  very  short  stem,  and  a  foot  small  in 
proportion  to  the  bowl  and  nearly  always  of  less 
diameter. 

This  kind  of  drinking-vessel  may  perhaps 
claim  as  its  prototype  the  Verzelini  Goblet 
(1586)  in  the  British  Museum  (illustrated  in 
Hartshorne,  Plate  27,  and  Bate,  Plate  ii),  and 
its  descent  may  possibly  be  further  traced 
through  Greene's  beer-glasses  with  big  bowls 
and  short  stems  (Hartshorne,  Plate  30),  but  the 
rummer  as  defined  above  was  introduced  little, 
if  at  all,  earlier  than  1750,  and  did  not  come 
into  general  use  until  the  last  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  earliest  dated 
example  illustrated  here  is  of  the  year  1766 
[Plate  II,  No.  10]  and  the  earliest  that  has 
come  under  the  author's  notice  was  dated 
1758.  According  to  Murray's  Dictionary 
the  word  rummer  occurs  in  English  litera- 
ture as  early  as  1654,  and  instances  are 
given  of  its  use  by  Davenant  (1668),  Dryden 
(1673),  and  Ward  (1706),  but  it  is  only  possible 
to  conjecture  what  type  of  drinking-vessel  was 
thus  characterised  in  England  between  1650  and 
1750.  During  the  first  half  of  this  period  it 
seems  probable  that  the  word  was  merely  an 
Anglicised  form  of  roemer,  and  that  in  such 
context  as  "  a  rummer  of  Rhenish  "  allusion 
was  made  to  the  continental  drinking-vessel. 
There  may  possibly  have  been  English  drink- 
ing-glasses  during  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  styled  rummers,  but,  so  far  as  the 
present  writer  is  aware,  there  is  no  evidence  as 
to  what  their  form  may  have  been  and  none  to 
bear  out  Bate's  suggestion  that  the  larger  wine- 


glasses of  that  period  were   in   their  own   day 
known  as  rummers. 

Hartshorne  appears  content  to  connect  the 
word  with  the  liquor  rum  and  associates  the 
English  "  rummer  proper  "  with  the  consump- 
tion of  punch  and  "  hot  grog."  Punch  was 
known  here  as  early  as  the  seventeenth  century, 
but  rum-punch  was  only  one  of  its  many  kinds, 
and  there  is  no  apparent  reason  why  other  kinds 
of  punch  should  be  drunk  out  of  glasses  called 
rummers.  The  case  in  favour  of  grog  is  dif- 
ferent. Rum  and  water  only  became  known  as 
"  grog  "  on  its  substitution  for  neat  rum  as  a 
naval  ration  in  August,  1740,  by  Admiral 
V^ernon,  known  in  the  Service  as  "  Old  Grog  " 
from  his  grogram  boat-cloak,  and  it  is  at  least 
a  plausible  proposition  that  the  word  rummer 
in  its  earlier  use  referred  to,  and  was  an 
Anglicised  form  of,  the  continental  roemer,  and 
that  the  term  was  aptly  transferred  to  a  purely 
English  type  of  glass  for  rum  and  water  only 
about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  after 
the  introduction  into  the  Navy  of  "  grog." 
However  this  may  be,  the  drinking-glasses  with 
which  this  article  is  concerned  are  certainly  not 
earlier  than  that  date,  and  only  reached  their 
best  about  1790-1810,  and  although  they  con- 
tinued to  be  made  long  after  1820  and  are  now 
still  produced  (mostly  as  indifferent  copies  of 
the  old  shapes)  their  interest  for  the  collector 
ends  with  the  Georgian  era. 

Before  the  bowl-forms  of  the  rummer  are 
described  it  may  be  as  well  to  deal  briefly  with 
the  stems  and  feet.  The  stem  is  always  short, 
seldom  much  more  than  an  inch  long  and  often 
less,  most  commonly  of  a  plain  cylindrical  type 
though  occasionally  taking  a  baluster  form 
[e.g.  Plate  II,  Nos.  6  and  8,  Plate  III, 
No.  5],  and  a  simple  glass  collar  at  the 
with    the    bowl    is    an    almost    con- 


in  general,  round 
"  step  "  upward 
seen  very  plainly 
of     examples     in 


junction 

stant  addition.  The  foot  is, 
and  often  has  a  single 
to  the  stem,  which  may  be 
in,  e.g.,  the  first  row 
Plate  II.  In  a  far  less  common  class  may  be 
placed  the  square  foot,  sometimes  solid  but  more 
often  hollow,  with  a  pressed  interior  which 
resembles  an  old-fashioned  jelly-mould,  a 
feature  which  produces  a  brilliant  lighting 
efTect.  The  square  foot  appears  to  be  associated 
only  with  the  cup-shaped  and  bucket-shaped 
bowls.  In  the  accompanying  illustrations  the 
height  of  at  least  one  piece  in  each  row  is  given, 
and  this  will  enable  the  reader  to  gauge  the 
height  of  the  other  glasses  in  the  same  photo- 
graph. 

Probably  the  most  common  form  of  bowl  is 

271 


that  which  may,  for  the  want  of  a  better  general 
term,  be  described  as  cup-shaped.  Tliese  cups 
vary  in  their  lines  just  as  china  cups  do,  the 
"  pot-bellied  "  example  in  Plate  1,  No.  i,  fining 
down  through  Nos.  2  and  3  to  the  elegant  shape 
shown  in  No.  4  (5^  inches).  It  is  not  suggested 
that  this  is  a  chronological  evolution.  Un  the 
contrary,  the  character  of  the  oil-gilded  engra\- 
ing  on  No.  4  shows  it  to  have  been  a  much 
earlier  glass  than  No.  2,  which  is  actually  dated 
(181 7)  bv  the  series  to  which  it  belongs  described 
below  [see  Plate  III,  Nos.  4  and  6].  The 
second  row  of  glasses  in  Plate  I  illustrates  a 
similar  variation  of  lines  in  the  cup-shaped 
rummers  possessing  square  feet,  and  here, 
again,  the  style  of  the  engraving  on  No.  7 
(5  inches),  an  example  of  the  solid  square  foot, 
proclaims  it  much  the  earliest  glass  in  the  row, 
whilst  the  subject-matter  of  Nos.  6  and  8  shows 
them  to  have  been  earlier  than  No.  5,  which 
probably  dates  after  1800. 

In  the  third  row  in  Plate  I,  Nos.  9 
(5f  inches),  10,  and  11,  show  a  similar  variation 
of  lines  in  another  type  of  cup-shaped  rummer, 
those  with  pressed  flutes  on  the  lower  portion 
of  the  bowl.  Neither  No.  10  nor  No.  11  has  any 
collar,  and  No.  10  is  of  interest  in  that  it 
possesses  practically  no  stem  at  all,  the  flutes 
being,  as  it  were,  simply  gathered  together  and 
joined  to  the  foot.  No.  12  illustrates  a  cup- 
shaped  "  trick-rummer  "  (4J  inches).  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  bowl  has  double  "  walls,"  a 
short  hollow  stem,  and  a  high  domed  and  folded 
foot.  The  modus  operandi  was  to  turn  the  glass 
upside-down  and  fill  the  "  wall-space  "  with  a 
liquid  of  the  right  colour  to  represent  the  liquor 
to  be  offered  to  the  intended  victim  of  the  trick. 
The  stem  was  then  corked  and  when  the  glass 
was  set  on  its  foot  the  liquor  appeared  to  be 
"  swimming  "  within  the  bowl  in  the  most 
natural  manner  possible.  In  the  absence  of 
close  scrutiny  the  illusion  is  absolutely  perfect, 
as  the  author  can  vouch  by  personal  experiment, 
and  perhaps  it  is  not  surprising  that  not  very 
many  trick-glasses,  from  "  yards  of  ale  "  down 
to  rummers  of  this  type,  have  survived  the 
horse-plav  of  the  tavern  parlour. 

The  next  type  of  bowl,  shown  in  the  first 
row-of  glasses  in  Plate  II,  ma}-  conveniently  be 
called  waisted.  No.  i  (a  fine  piece  6|  inches 
high)  shows  this  waist  in  the  most  pronounced 
form,  in  No.  2  (5^  inches)  it  is  less  marked, 
whilst  in  No.  3  it  has  almost  disappeared,  this 
glass  being  distinguished  from  the  cup-shaped 
type  only  by  the  fact  that  the  lines  of  the  lower 
portion  of  the  bowl  continue  to  be  straight 
instead  of  being  curved.  Rummers  of  this  type 
are  seldom  engraved  except  with  the  name  of 
some  individual  or  inn,  or  with  a  date  just  below 
the  rim.     No  dated  specimen  earlier  than   1800 


has  come  under  the  author's  notice.  No.  4 
illustrates  a  waisted  rummer  with  pressed  flutes, 
a  verv  pleasing  variety.  In  the  next  row  are 
illustrated  tiie  bucket-.shaped  bowl  (No.  5),  the 
barrel-shaped  bowl  (No.  6),  and  the  double 
ogee  bowl  (Nos.  7  and  8).  The  two  last- 
mentioned  types  are  those  least  frequently 
found,  and  No.  7  (5J  inciies)  is  perhaps  worthy 
of  note  for  the  unusual  length  of  its  stem,  and 
No.  6  for  the  unusual  size  of  its  foot,  the 
diameter  of  which  is  slightly  larger  than  that  of 
the  bowl.  Other  examples  <jf  tiie  bucket-shaped 
bowl  may  be  seen  in  Plate  III,  Nos.  2  and  5, 
and  it  is  a  shape  particularly  associated  with  the 
series  of  commemorative  Nelson  rummers  issued 
after  the  State  Funeral  in  1806  and  in  the 
immediately  succeeding  years.  By  1814  the 
sides  of  the  bucket  had  already  been  given  a 
slope  [Plate  III,  No.  5],  and  this  tendency 
became  still  more  pronounced  in  later  years,  as 
may  be  seen  in  most  of  the  "  Sunderland 
Bridge  "  rummers,  which  have  no  as.sociation 
with  its  opening  in  1796,  but  were  made  to  com- 
memorate its  being  widened  under  the  direction 
of  Robert  Stephenson  in  1858. 

It  remains  to  give  a  few  illustrations,  and  to 
refer  the  reader  to  others  already  published  else- 
where, representing  finely  engraved  or  inscribed 
examples,  which  will  serve  to  give  some  idea  of 
the  varied  part  which  the  rummer  played  in  the 
social  life  of  the  country  in  the  time  of 
George  III.  Loyal  and  patriotic  sentiment, 
political  party-feeling,  the  interest  of  an  island 
race  in  all  nautical  afifairs,  the  importance  of 
commerce  and  farming,  freemasonry,  heraldry, 
sport,  convivial  toasts,  and  all  the  small  affairs 
of  local  or  private  life  alike  found  record  on  the 
rummer  of  the  day. 

The  fine  bucket-shaped  glass  (7^  inches) 
figured  in  Plate  III,  No.  2,  commemorating  the 
Jubilee  of  George  III,  is  a  good  example  of  the 
"  loval  and  patriotic  "  rummer.  Others  in- 
scribed "  King  and  Constitution  "  are  occasion- 
ally found.  A  bucket-shaped  rummer  with  a 
pronounced  "  slope  "  commemorating  the 
Coronation  of  George  IV,  and  engraved  with  a 
representation  of  the  King's  Champion,  is 
illustrated  in  Bate  (Plate  Ivii,  No.  216),  and 
another  of  similar  type  commemorating  the 
King's  visit  to  Dublin  in  1821,  is  shown  in  Mr. 
Dudley  Westropp's  Irish  Glass  (Plate  xxxviii). 

As  regards  "  political  "  rummers  reference 
may  be  made  to  the  example  concerning  the 
General  Election  of  1802,  which  is  figured  in 
Plate  III  accompanying  the  article  on 
"  Georgian  Electioneering  Glasses  "  in  The 
Burlington  Magazine  of  November,  1920. 
The  rummer  illustrated  here  [Plate  I,  No.  6] 
inscribed  "  Success  to  Fair  Trade  "  (5|  inches) 
is  hardly  political  in  the  strict  sense,  though  it 


272 


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> 


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Plate  II.     Georgian  Rummers 


Plate  III.     Georgian  Rummers. 


may  be  regarded  as  an  eighteenth  century 
protest  against  the  excessive  duties  on  wine  and 
brandv.  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  Fair  Trade 
or  Protection  as  known  to  EngHsh  poHtics  since 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  un- 
doubtedly commemorates  the  smugglers,  who 
called  themselves  indifferently  "  Free  Traders  " 
or  (by  way  of  euphemistic  synonym)  "  Fair 
Traders  "  in  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

Rummers  of  general  "  maritime  "  interest 
were  dealt  with  in  the  article  on  "  Sea  Power 
under  George  III  Illustrated  on  Contemporary 
Glass,"  in  The  Burlington  Magazine  of 
November,  1919,  and  a  representative  series  of 
nine  rummers,  including  specimens  of  the 
Nelson  glasses  already  referred  to,  will  be 
found  illustrated  there  in  Plate  III. 

The  rummer  reproduced  here  in  Plate  I, 
No.  3,  is  engraved  with  the  Farmer's  "  Arms  " 
(an  example  of  pseudo-armorial  bearings  antici- 
pating Mr.  E.  T.  Reed's  humorous  devices  of 
that  kind  in  Punch  some  years  ago),  and  is  in- 
scribed on  one  side,  "  May  farming  flourish," 
and  on  the  other,  "  A  trifle  from  Yarmouth." 
Similar  glasses  were  no  doubt  common  in  most 
agricultural  centres.  Genuine  coats  of  arms  are 
often  found  on  rummers,  those  of  public  bodies 
occurring  more  frequently  than  those  of  private 
families.  Examples,  may  be  seen  here  in 
Plate  III,  No.  8  (the  City  of  Norwich),  and 
No.  9  (University  College,  Oxford).  The 
rummer  figured  in  Plate  II,  No.  9  (6  inches), 
is  engraved  with  the  arms  of  the  Goldsmiths 
Company  on  one  side  and  the  crest  above  the 
initials  J.S.A.R.  on  the  other,  additional 
details  being  crossed  barley  ears,  the  date  1790, 
and  the  initials  S.W.  within  a  wreath — a  fine 
and  well-covered  piece. 

As  might  be  expected,  rummers  associated 
with  freemasonry  are  numerous,  and  examples 
will  be  found  in  Plate  I,  No.  5,  and  Plate  II, 
No.  1 1 .  The  latter  is  well  engraved  with  masonic 
emblems  with  a  triumphal  garland  on  one  side  and 
on  the  other  bears  the  initials  B.S.K.  and  the  date 
1795  above  a  floral  wreath.  Very  few  genuine 
"  sporting  "  rummers  remain.  No  doubt,  like 
the  trick-rummers,  they  were  peculiarly  sus- 
ceptible to  casualties  and  the  great  majority  of 
those  engraved  with  cock-fighting  or  hunting 
scenes,  etc.,  now  to  be  found  are  poor  modern 
forgeries.  An  interesting  "  toast  "  glass  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  graceful  rummer  (5|  inches) 
decorated  with  deep-cut  and  polished  festoons 
after  the  Adams  fashion  figured  in  Plate  III, 
No.  7.  It  has  an  air  of  "  breeding  "  which  is 
even  enhanced  by  a  toast  of  the  right  eighteenth 
century  flavour  written  with  a  diamond  beneath 
the  foot,  "  Incomparable  Miss  Charters."  One 
example  of  "  local  patriotism  "  has  already  been 


seen  in  the  Norwich  rummer  [Plate  III,  No.  8] 
and  the  Sunderland  Bridge  rummer  figured  in 
Plate  I,  No.  8,  is  another.  It  is  engraved  on 
one  side  with  a  representation  of  the  bridge 
with  a  ship  beneath  it,  and  above  the  inscription 
in  diamond-point,  "  Sunderland  Bridge,  Height 
100  Feet,  Span  236  Feet."  On  the  other  side 
within  an  elaborate  circular  design  are  the 
initials  H.P.  This  glass  commemorates  the 
opening  of  the  bridge  in  1796,  and  is  of  precisely 
the  same  type  as  the  rummer  dated  1794  shown 
in  Pl.\te  III,  No.  3. 

Finally  the  large  class  of  rummers  associated 
with  matters  of  private  and  domestic  concern 
are  still  full  of  human  interest,  although  most 
of  the  individuals  commemorated  may  have  been 
of  no  importance,  and  in  any  case  have  long 
been  forgotten.  The  small  rummer  (5  inches) 
simply  inscribed  "  J.B.  1789,"  with  a  conven- 
tional floral  design  on  the  other  side  [Plate  III, 
No.  i]  has  private  memories  as  to  the  nature  of 
which  not  even  a  guess  can  now  be  made,  but 
it  has  the  extra  little  bit  of  interest  which  always 
attaches  to  a  genuine  dated  example.  Many  rum- 
mers however  tell  their  own  story.  Amongst  the 
people  who  could  not  afford  silver  cups  a  rummer 
duly  inscribed  must  have  been  a  common  form  of 
christening  gift.  The  early  example  already 
alluded  to  [Plate  II,  No.  10]  is  inscribed  round 
the  rim,  "  Rebecca  Greedey,  Born  April  23rd, 
1766,"  the  rest  of  the  bowl  being  covered  vvith 
a  design  of  grapes  and  vine-leaves,  and  the 
square-footed  rummer  figured  in  Plate  III,  No.  3 
(5|  inches)  is  inscribed  "  Edward  Norton, 
South  Cove,  Born  5th  July,  I794."  and  engraved 
on  the  other  side  with  the  ever-recurring  hover- 
ing bird  [cf.  Plate  I,  No.  7]. 

The  two  weighty  glasses  [sf  inches]  illus- 
trated in  Plate  III,  Nos.  4  and  6,  form  together 
with  the  two  others  shown  in  Plate  I,  Nos.  2 
and  II,  an  interesting  series  of  what  may  be 
termed  "  family  and  commercial  "  rummers. 
The  first  [Plate  III,  No.  4]  records  on  one  side 
the  marriage  of  Richard  Sexton  and  Esther 
Edwards  at  Morton  (in  Lincolnshire), 
January  4th,  1816,  and  is  inscribed  on  the  other 
with  the  following  verse  :  — 

"  Let  mutual  Love  be  ours 

And  two  faithful  Hearts  our  Bow'rs. 

Let  Virtue  like  the  Ivy  twine 

And  mine  be  thine  and   thine  be  mine." 

Underneath  this  gem  is  inscribed  "  J.  Carr," 
a  name  not  familiar  to  the  present  writer 
amongst  the  great  array  of  English  poets.  The 
second  glass  [Pl.^te  III,  No.  6]  records  on  one 
side  the  birth  of  Edward  Sexton,  February  9th, 
1817,  and  is  inscribed  on  the  other  with  the 
following  verse  :  — 

"  Was  I  so  tall  to  reach  the  Pole 
Or  grasp  the  Ocean  with  a  span, 
I  would  be  measur'd  by  the  Soul    ; 
The  Mind's  the  Stature  of  the  Man." 


277 


This  quatrain  is  quotoJ  (with  six  verbal 
mistakes  of  which  the  most  important  is 
"  stature  "  for  "  standard  ")  from  Dr.  Isaac 
Watts'  False  Greatness,  and  it  seems  probable 
that  his  name  as  its  author  would  have  been 
inscribed  beneath  it  if  J.  Carr  were  the  author 
of  the  eflusion  on  the  other  rummer.  He  may 
have  been,  of  course,  but  the  more  probable 
conclusion  is  that  "J.  Carr  "  was  the  signature 
of  the  engraver  and,  as  all  collectors  know, 
engraved  glasses  signed  by  the  engraver  are 
extremely  uncommon.  The  other  two  rummers 
[Plate  I,  Nos.  2  and  11]  are  inscribed,  clearly 
bv  the  same  hand,  "  R.  Sexton,  Whalebone 
Inn,"  anil  thus  complete  the  picture  of  the 
Sexton  family  and  business  in  1817.  It  was 
probably  a  common  practice  for  inn-keepers  to 
have  glasses  or  sets  of  glasses  inscribed  in  this 
way  "  for  the  good  of  the  house,"  and  another 
example  may  be  seen  in  Plate  III,  No.  5,  boldly 
inscribed  in  large  capitals,  "  Hastings  Arms, 
George  Sargent,  1814." 

Amongst  all  the  %'aried  subjects  chronicled  by 
the  rummer  which  have  been  mentioned  or  illus- 

OTHON    FRIESZ 
BY    CLIVE    BELL 

RIESZ  is  a  painter  who  has  'come 
on  '  visibly  since  the  war.  He  has 
drawn  right  away  from  "the  field" 
to  join  those  leaders — Matisse,  Pic- 
asso, Derain,  Bonnard,  shall  we 
say,  with  one  or  two  more  in  close  attend- 
ance— a  cursory  glance  at  whom,  as  they 
flash  by,  provokes  this  not  unprofitable  exclama- 
tion :  "  How  different  thev  are!"  Apparently, 
amongst  the  chiefs,  that  famous  movement  no 
longer  counts  for  much.  I  ook  at  them ;  to  an 
eye  at  all  practised  these  arti.sts  are  as  unlike  each 
other  as  are  hounds  to  the  eye  of  a  huntsman. 
Certainlv,  they  all  owe  something  to  Cezanne  : 
but  what  other  important  characteristic  have  they 
in  common  which  they  do  not  share  with  the  best 
of  the  last  hundred  years?  It  was  ever  so :  the 
best,  who  are  all  alike  in  some  ways,  in  others 
are,  from  the  first,  the  most  sharply  diflferentiated 
simply  because  they  are  the  mo.st  personal.  Also, 
as  they  mature,  they  become  more  and  more 
peculiar  because  thev  tend  to  rely  less  and  less  on 
anything  but  themselves  and  the  grand  tradition. 
Each  creates  and  inhabits  a  world  of  his  own, 
which,  by  the  way,  he  is  apt  to  mistake  for  the 
world  of  everyone  who  is  not  maliciously  preju- 
diced against  him.  And  Friesz,  whose  char- 
acter and  intelligence  are  utterly  unlike  those  of 
his  compeers,  is  now,  naturally  enough,  produc- 
ing work  which  has  little  in  common  with  that 
even  of  Matisse — Matisse  to  whom,  not  fifteen 


trated  here  the  collector  will  note  that  the 
memories  connected  with  the  Jacobite  cause  have 
not  been  included.  The  author  has  never  seen 
or  heard  of  a  genuine  Jacobite  rimimer,  i.e.  one 
contemporary  with  the  movement,  and  engraved 
with  the  emblems  or  mottoes  of  the  culte  whilst 
it  was  still  a  living  political  force.  There  may, 
perhaps,  be  one  or  twt)  .sucii  glasses  in  existence, 
but  their  extreme  rarity  (or  non-existence,  as  the 
case  may  be)  may  be  taken  to  support  the  general 
proposition  of  this  article  that  the  English 
rummers  only  came  into  jiopular  use  about  the 
last  quarter  of  the  eiglUcenth  century  when  the 
Jacobite  movement  had  shot  its  bolt.  The 
so-called  "  Williamile  "  glasses,  on  the  other 
hand,  which  might  more  correctly  and  euphoni- 
ously be  called  "  Orange  "  or  "  Anti-Catholic  " 
glasses,  continued  to  be  produced  as  long  as  the 
agitation  against  Catholic  emancipation  lasted, 
i.e.,  until  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  1829,  and  a 
bucket-shaped  rummer  with  sloping  sides  (circa 
1820),  engraved  with  an  equestrian  figure  of 
King  William  III,  and  inscribed  "  The  Glorious 
Memory  of  King  William,"  is  figured  in  Mr. 
Dudley  Westropp's  Irish  Glass  (Plate  xxxviii). 


years  ago,  I  saw  a  picture  of  his  attributed  by  a 
com.petent  amateur  who  was  the  friend  of  both. 

Friesz  has  an  air  of  being  more  professional 
than  any  other  artist  of  this  first  rank — for  March- 
and,  I  think,  is  not  quite  of  it.  Indeed,  for  a 
moment,  Friesz  may  appear  alarmingly  profes- 
sional. Certainly,  he  leaves  nothing  to  chance  : 
all  is  planned,  and  planned,  not  in  haste  and 
agitation,  fingers  itching  to  be  at  it,  but  with  the 
deliberation,  the  critical  thoroughness,  of  an 
engineer  or  an  architect.  There  is  so  much  of  the 
painstaking  craftsman  in  his  method  that  for  a 
moment  vou  may  overlook  the  sensitive  artist 
who  conceives  and  executes.  But,  in  fact,  the 
effective  alliance  of  practical  intelligence  with 
fine  sensibility  is  the  secret  of  his  strength,  as  I 
realised  one  day,  when  I  had  the  privilege  of 
studying  a  large  decoration  (a  sketch  for  a  frag- 
ment of  which  is  to  be  seen  in  this  exhibition) 
which  Friesz  had  just  carried  out.  Since  then  I 
have  not  doubted  that  he  was  the  man  who  might 
give  this  age  that  of  which  the  age  talks  much 
and  gets  little — monumental  decoration. 

Large  decorative  schemes, — when  they  are  not, 
what  most  are,  mere  wastes  of  tumid  pomposity, 
— are  apt  to  fail  for  one  or  two  reasons  :  either 
they  are  too  much  like  pictures  or  too  little  like 
works  of  art.  Because  very  few  artists  are 
capable  by  taking  thought  of  adapting  their 
means  to  an  unfamiliar  end.  it  will  happen  that  a 
sensitive  and  gifted  painter  sets  about  a  decora- 


278 


^l"^ 


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tfl 

'C 


o 

J5 


tion  as  though  he  were  beginning  an  easel  pic- 
ture. He  has  his  sense  of  the  importance 
of  richness,  of  filling  a  picture  to  the  brim ; 
he  has  a  technique  adequate  to  his  con- 
( option ;  but  he  has  neither  the  practical 
readiness  nor  the  intellectual  robustness 
which  would  enable  him  to  adjust  these  to  a  new 
problem.  He  endeavours,  therefore,  to  key  every 
part  of  his  scheme  up  to  the  highest  pitch  of 
intensity  that  line  and  colour  can  bear.  He  is 
attempting  the  impossible  ;  liis  conception  is  in- 
appropriate ;  and,  in  any  case,  his  technique  is 
unequal  to  so  vast  an  undertaking.  He  produces 
something  which  may  be  delicious  in  detail  but 
is  pretty  sure  to  be  unsatisfactory  as  a  whole. 
He  fails  to  fill  his  space.  His  work  has  the  vice 
of  Sidney's  Arcadia  and  the  Religio  Medici : 
it  is  good  to  dip  into.  You  cannot  write  an  epic 
as  though  it  were  a  sonnet. 

On  the  other  hand,  you  must  not  write  an  epic 
as  though  you  were  telling  a  tale  in  the  bar- 
parlour,  lest  you  should  create  another  Earthly 
Paradise,  leaving  quite  untouched  the  subtler 
and  more  energetic  chords  in  your  listener's 
appreciative  faculty.  The  craftsman  decorator, 
though  he  may  know  how  to  fill  vast  spaces,  will 
never  fill  them  with  lively  images,  flis  plan  may 
be  cleverly  devised  to  surmount  difficulties  of 
structure  and  material ;  it  will  not  be  inspired. 
Incapable  of  keying  his  instrument  too  high,  he 
will  be  satisfied  with  a  slack  string  and  abomin- 
able flatness.  His  forms  will  be  conventional; 
his  handling  impersonal ;  ten  to  one  he  will  give 
us  a  row  of  insipid  Gothic  figures  or  something 
in  the  pseu do- Veronese  taste. 

Almost  everyone  would  admit  that,  considered 
as  pictures,  those  great  decorations  in  the  Doges' 
Palace  were  a  little  empty  ;  no  one  can  deny  that 
as  parts  of  a  vast  scheme  they  are  superbly  ade- 
quate. Very  much  the  same  might  be  said  of 
the  decorations  T  have  in  mind.  It  is  clear  that 
Friesz  plotted  and  reasoned  with  himself  until  he 
had  contrived  a  method  of  matching  means  with 
ends.  Bv  constructing  it  out  of  forms  less 
charged,  more  fluent,  and  more  in  the  nature  of 
arabesques  than  those  he  habitually  employs,  he 
gave  to  his  scheme  continuity  and  easy  compre- 
hensibility  :  but  never  did  he  allow  those  forms 
tO'  subside  into  mere  coloured  spaces,  or  the 
lines  to  become  mere  flourishes  :  always  every 
detail  was  doing  something,  and  so  the  whole 
was  significant  and  alive.  The  scheme  which 
was  planned  with  caution  was  carried  through 
with  passion. 

Now  obviously  a  painter  capable  of  perform- 
ing this  feat  must  possess  a  rare,  at  this  moment 
possibly  unique,  gift.  Friesz  is  one  who  can 
bring  the  whole  weight  of  his  intellect  to  bear  on 
his  sensibility.    That  sensibility  let  no  one  under- 


rate. Before  his  vision  of  the  external  world, 
especially  before  what  we  are  pleased  to  call 
Nature,  Friesz  has  a  reaction  as  delicate  and 
enthusiastic  as  that  of  an  English  poet.  Only, 
unlike  most  English  painters,  he  would  never 
dream  of  jotting  it  down  and  leaving  it  at  that. 
Such  hit-or-miss  frivolity  is  not  in  his  way.  He 
is  no  amateur.  He  takes  his  impressions  home 
and  elaborates  them ;  he  brings  his  intellect  to 
bear  on  them;  and,  as  the  exhibition  at 
the  Independent  Gallery  shows,  without 
robbing  them  of  their  bloom,  makes  of 
them  something  solid  and  satisfying.  To  realise 
what  a  power  this  is  we  may,  1  hope  without 
indiscretion,  glance  for  an  instant  at  another 
handsomely  endowed  French  painter.  That  M. 
Lhote  does  not  want  for  sensibility  is  shown  by 
his  sketches  and  water-colours,  that  his  intellect 
is  sharp  enough  is  proved  by  his  writings;  but 
the  devitalized  rectitude  of  his  more  ambitious 
pieces  shov.'s  how  appallingly  difficult  it  is  to 
bring  intellect  to  bear  on  sensibility  without 
cru.shing  it.  The  failure  of  M.  Lhote  is  the 
measure  of  M.  Friesz's  achievement. 

If  1  am  right,  it  is  only  natural  that  pictures  by 
Friesz  should  improve  on  acquaintance.  The 
studied  logic  of  the  composition  may  for  a  time 
absorb  the  spectator's  attention  and  blind  him  to 
more  endearing  qualities ;  but,  sooner  or  later, 
he  will  begin  to  perceive  not  only  that  a  scrupu- 
lously honest  vision  has  been  converted  into  a 
well-knit  design,  but  that  the  stitches  are  lovely. 
In  every  part  he  will  be  discovering  subtle  and 
seductive  harmonies  and  balances  of  which  the 
delicacy  dawns  on  him  as  he  gazes.  The  more 
he  looks  the  more  will  he  get  of  that  curiously 
gratifying  thrill  which  comes  of  the  recognition 
of  unostentatious  rightness. 

But,  though  he  offers  the  sensitive  amateur  an 
unusually  generous  allowance  of  the  amateur's 
most  delicate  pleasure,  Friesz  is  above  all  a 
painters'  painter.  He  has  been  called  a  theorist. 
And,  because  he  is  a  painter  of  exceptionally 
good  understanding,  who  thinks  logically  about 
his  art  and  can  find  words  for  what  he  thinks,  I 
suppose  the  appellation  is  admissible.  But,  re- 
member, he  never  dreams  of  trying  to  convert  his 
theories  of  art  into  theories  of  life.  His  are  not 
of  the  kind  that  can  be  so  converted.  He  is  not 
a  journalists'  painter.  Also,  unlike  those  of  the 
mere  craftsman,  his  theories  are  based  always 
on  the  assumption  that  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  art — something  that  is  created  by  and 
appeals  to  peculiar  faculties,  something  rare 
and  personal  and  not  to  be  had  simply  by 
taking  thought  and  pains,  something  as  utterly 
unlike  honest  craftsmanship  as  it  is  unlike  the 
cryptic  mutterings  of  boozy  mountebanks  :  sub- 
ject, however,  to  this  assumption,  his  theories  are 


281 


severely  practical.  They  have  to  do  solely  with 
the  art  of  painting  ;  they  are  born  of  his  own 
experience;  and  he  makes  visible  use  of  them. 
That  is  whv  1  call  Fries?  a  painters'  painter.  I 
wonder  whether  the  Italian  iiriniitives,  with  that 
disqiiietingly  iinsolfconscioiis  ins])iration  of 
theirs,  directed  with  such  amazing  confidence 
along  well-devised,  practical  channels,  were 
not  a  little  liUe  him. 

The  exhibition  at  tiic  Independent  Gallery  is 
fairly  representative  of  Friesz's  later  work  ;    and 

AN    UNNOTICED    BYZAN IINE 
BY    MARY    PHILLIPS    PERRY 

HE  third  class  of  subject  repre- 
sents scenes  from  the  life  of  David, 
several  of  which  are  incidents  re- 
corded in  the  historic  preamble  to 
a  particular  psalm,  for  example, 
Davitl  hidini;  himself  in  a  cave  (Psalm 
hi)  [Plate  III,  .'\],  the  Philistines  taking 
him  in  Gath  (Psalm  Iv),  and  his  escape 
from  the  assassins  sent  bv  Saul  (Psalm 
Iviii)  [Plate  III,  b  &  e]  ;  in  the  last  the 
king  is  seen  being  let  down  from  his  house  by 
Michal,  his  wife,  and  also  hastening  away,  the 
double  representation  in  the  same  miniature 
being  unique  in  this  codex.  But  the  greatest 
artistic  interest  in  the  David  pictures  consists  in 
the  close  similarity  between  certain  of  these,  and 
those  of  the  fine  psalter  with  full-page  illustra- 
tions of  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Paris, 
M.S.  Grec.  139.  The  Paris  manuscript  belongs 
to  a  section  of  psalters  which  has  been  named 
the  "  Aristocratic  Group,"  since  they  were 
thought  to  have  been  executed  for  rich  patrons, 
probably  by  a  court  painter.  These  differ  en- 
tirely from  the  "  Monkish  theological,"  in  that 
the  miniatures  form  a  supplement  and  are  not 
closelv  related  to  the  text ;  they  do  not  add  to 
the  teaching  value  of  the  codex.'  Each  is  a 
fully  developed  enclosed  picture  with  a  land- 
scape, or  architectural  background. - 

One  of  the  most  striking  resemblances 
between  the  Bristol  and  the  Paris  psalter  is  in 
the  representation  of  the  history  of  David  and 
Goliath.  In  the  Bristol  manuscript  this  is 
depicted  in  two  miniatures,  the  first  illustrating 
Psalm  cxliii,  i,  "  Blessed  be  the  Lord  my 
strength  :  Who  teacheth  my  hands  to  war  and 
my  fingers  to  fight."  [Plate  III,  g]  shows 
David,  a  youthful  figure  with  sling  and  stone, 
supported  by  an  angel  "  strength,"  meeting  a 
man  in  armour,  Goliath,  who  has  just  thrown 
his  lance,  and  behind  whom  is  an  allegorical 
figure    of    "  boastfulness  "  turning  away  with 

'  J.  J.  Tikkanen,  op.  cit.  p.   14. 

'  H.  Omont,  "  Fac-similes  des  Miniatures  des  plus  anciens 
Manuscripts  Grecs  de  la  Bibliotheque  Nationale  "  (PI.  i,  xiv). 


if  it  cannot  he  .s,-ud  quiie  to  simimarize  a  stage  of 
his  career,  at  least  it  is  a  niileslone.  Friesz  has 
arrived:  that  is  to  say,  what  he  has  already 
achieved  siifiices  to  affirm  the  existence  of  a  dis- 
tinct, personal,  talent,  entitled  to  its  j^lace  in  the 
rc|)ublicof  i:>ainting.  .\t  that  ])c)int  we  leave  him. 
Hut  we  may  be  sure  that,  with  his  remark- 
able gift  and  even  more  remarkable  power  of 
turning  it  to  account,  his  energy,  his  patience, 
and  his  manifest  ambition,  he  will  .soon  have 
gone  beyond  it. 

PSALTER— II 


hand  to  forehead  in  an  attitude  of  despair.  In 
the  second  miniature,  which  follows  the  last  of 
the  psalms,  David  is  represented  decapitating 
Goliath  who  is  kneeling  with  his  hands  stretched 
awkwardly  downwards  towards  his  helmet  on 
the  ground  before  him,  two  soldiers  stand 
behind  Goliath  [Plate  III,  d].  In  the  Paris 
psalter  the  two  scenes  are  superimposed  to  form 
one  full-page  illustration — the  first,  the  upper 
one,  is  a  faithful  counterpart  of  the  Bristol 
miniature;  in  both  cases  the  details  of  the 
costume  of  David,  the  stole-like  enrichment, 
the  cloak  twisted  round  his  arm,  the  dis- 
tinctive curve  of  his  garment  over  his 
knees  are  identical,  as  also  are  Goliath's 
pose  and  costume,  the  position  of  his 
shield  and  spear,  and  most  telling  of  all  the  pose 
and  gesture  of  "  boastfulness."  The  decapita- 
tion of  Goliath  below  duplicates  the  second 
Bristol  miniature  as  far  as  the  principal  figures 
are  concerned,  the  two  soldiers  being  expanded 
in  the  Paris  manuscript  to  two  groups,  one 
behind  each  of  the  chief  actors.  The  first 
of  the  two  scenes  is  also  reproduced  in  the 
thirteenth  century  Graco-Latin  Hamilton 
Psalter  of  Berlin  ' ;'  the  allegorical  figures  are  no 
longer  included,  but  the  pose  of  David  and 
Goliath,  particularly  the  right  arm  of  Goliath, 
are  strikingly  like  the  Paris  and  Bristol  minia- 
tures. 

There  are  marked  points  of  resemblance 
between  the  representation  of  David's  rebuke  by 
Nathan  [Plate  III,  f]  in  the  Bristol  and  Paris 
codices.  In  the  Bristol  manuscript  it  belongs  to 
Psalm  I,  the  preamble  to  this  psalm  referring  to 
the  incident.  David,  watched  through  the 
window  of  a  garden  house  by  Bathsheba,  has 
left  his  throne,  and  is  abasing  himself  before 
Nathan  whilst  an  allegorical  figure  of  Penitence 
is  in  the  background.  The  pose  and  dress  of 
David,  his  broad  belt  and  the  design  on  his 
sleeves  are  very  like  similar  details  in  the  Paris 
miniature,    as    also    Nathan's   pose    and    dress, 

3  J.  J.  Tikkanen,  op.  cit.,  Fig.  127. 


282 


-"«»  e  •H-H  > 


A     David  in  Cave 


\r-t  P  CO  '^  T«  4  , 


'  4  »  •  '^     •»    >.    -  I    '^i-. 


(J  •'  r  'y«»/3o(j.ii^o<.jiT>r 


3?^^' 


/i     Ihivid  and  Philistines 


E     David's  Escupi 


V.I  /  f  /  ^ 

*  I  ■  ■  .^  X '{'• -rl^nrn  rr  ■  /t 

C     Coronation  of  David 


/<"     David  rebuked  bv  Natlian 


'  »  f  *>'^U^,i-.«.j^p-Tn 


tor     fS   ,•  ■-'   * 


'  f^*  1  j^j  <Wy>  0-1 4i 


p  o  rr    <*»  1 1  - 1  nr. 


I  o  ?      « 


D     Beheading  of  Goliath 


>  --^y    '^•-•''it  ,^>^  .^*.t;"  "•'•«- 


(.'     David  and  Goliath 


Plate  III.     An  Unnoticed  Byzantine  Psalter — II 


>' 


^.^ 


\\    -lO^nr^^^pJirt 


H     E/i/fl/i   between  Nighl  diui  the   ndi^^n 


iJu»j  jj-jOLTt  t»  rr^  \i  6 rxT  «^  i  >  4—  ^\  14  P\*-0^ 


L     Jonah 


t"  r*  f  u     !•»-■"»' 


O   »JLA^»  ♦-»-*> 


o  L»^  '^« ' ' 


/     Saints 


Jf  r 


M     The  Blessed 
\'irgin  Mary 


CT>N 


4. 


UO-OIJ 

r-L\.i 

I  pop  '^ 


N     Hahbakiik 


«.*o  t  I  •■■ 


^     ^ 


.f^'tiimm. 


J      Church 


l\ 


1..4C. 


'^ 


•t'v 


m 


1?^^' 


J^-f' 


0     Horsemen 


'    \ 


0  VJ  I  ^  H  p  01^  riff- TiyT>'T«HJ-0  »>Cr  H  ■"-fi-'H^  ■ 


K     "  lUcakesl  head  of  Leviathan  in  pieces 


P     "   Waters  saiv  and  ivere  afraid 


Plate   IV.     An    Unnoticed    Byzantine   Psalter — 11 


his  covered  left  hand,  and  especially  the 
figure  of  Penitence,  which  is  almost  identical 
in  both  miniatures,  the  likeness  between  the 
sorrowful  pose  of  her  left  hand  and  the  pulpitum 
at  which  she  stands,  being  particularly  arrest- 
ing. There  are  also  similarities  in  the  scene  of 
the  coronation  of  David,  which  in  the  Bristol 
codex  illustrates  Psalm  xx,  3,  "  And  shall 
set  a  crown  of  pure  gold  upon  his  head." 
[Plate  III,  c]  David  is  being  raised  upon  a 
shield,  according  to  the  Byzantine  coronation 
rite,  and  crowned  by  an  allegorical  figure,  pre- 
sumably Fortune.  The  pose  of  Fortune's  right 
arm,  and  the  method  of  holding  the  crown  by 
the  back  of  the  circle,  repeat  exactly  the  detail 
in  the  Paris  psalter,  whilst  David's  drapery, 
three  of  the  figures  holding  the  shield,  and 
particularly  the  knot  and  point  of  drapery  of  one 
figure,  are  markedly  similar  in  both  instances. 
The  same  scene  occurs  in  most  of  the  psalters 
of  the  "  Monastic-theological  "  group,  but  in  the 
Theodore  manuscript  the  allegorical  figure  has 
given  place  to  an  angel.  The  similarity  between 
the  Paris  psalter  and  the  Bristol  codex  is  not 
confined  to  scenes  from  the  Life  of  David,  it 
extends  to  certain  of  the  miniatures  which  illus- 
trate the  Canticles,  chief  of  these  is  the  repre- 
sentation of  Isaiah  between  the  allegorical 
figures  of  Night  and  the  Dawn  [Plate  IV,  h], 
which  except  for  a  few  small  details  is  a  duplicate 
in  vignette  of  a  page  of  the  Paris  psalter.^ 

The  figures  also  of  Hannah  and  Hezekiah 
have  a  certain  resemblance  in  both  manuscripts ; 
in  the  Bristol  psalter  the  dress  of  Hannah  and 
her  pose  are  almost  identical  with  that  in  the 
Paris  psalter;  Hezekiah  also  in  the  detail  of  his 
garments,  the  pose  of  his  hands  and  something 
in  the  general  stamp  of  his  figure  and  cast  of 
countenance,  has  a  common  factor  in  both.  Of 
lesser  significance  is  the  large  oar  held  as 
sceptre,  both  by  Thalassa  who  rides  the  hippo- 
campus in  the  Jonah  miniature  of  the  Bristol 
psalter  [Plate  IV,  l],  and  by  the  sea  goddess 
in  the  corner  of  the  Red  Sea  picture  in  the  Paris 
miniature.* 

The  similarity  in  certain  respects  between  the 
detail  of  the  Paris  psalter  and  of  the  Bristol,  is 
here  dwelt  upon  at  length  to  show  that  these 
manuscripts,  one  belonging  to  each  of  the  two 
groups,  had  something  in  common  in  artistic 
tradition,  as  well  as  in  subject-matter.  Whether 
the  artist  of  the  eleventh  century  Bristol  manu- 
script was  acquainted  with  the  tenth  century 
Paris  psalter  and  was  directly  influenced  by 
that,  or  whether  the  artists  of  both  drew  from  a 
common  model,  there  is  no  evidence  to  prove, 

*  This  miniature  of  the  Paris  psalter  is  reproduced  by 
Ch.  Diehl  op.  cit.  Fig.  274,  and  "  Histoire  de  I'Art,"  cd. 
by  Andr^  Micliel,  Tome  I,  Fig.  124,  as  well  as  by  H.  Omont, 
op.  cit. 

5  Ch.  Diehl.  op.  cit.  fig.  275. 


but  there  certainly  was  some  artistic  point  of 
contact.  The  inclusion  in  the  Bristol  psalter  of 
two  full  page  miniatures  suggests  the  example 
of  a  codex  of  aristocratic  type,  but  although  the 
Bristol^  is  now  the  earliest  known  Byzantine 
psalter  to  include  both  full  page  and  marginal 
illustrations,  there  is  no  reason  to  assume  that 
such  was  originally  the  case. 

An   important  point  in  considering  the  rela- 
tionship of  the  two  manuscripts  is  the  employ- 
ment of    allegorical    personifications.      For   the 
powers  of  nature,   Helios,  Thalassa,  rivers  and 
winds,   personification   was  the  usual   means  of 
expression     throughout     the     "  Monkish-theo- 
logical "    group,     but    the     personification     of 
abstract    ideas    was    exceptional,'    and,    in    the 
Bristol   manuscript,  this   is  confined    to    those 
miniatures  which  are   related  to  those     in     the 
Paris  psalter,   which  admittedly  owes  much  to 
classic    tradition,    whence  such  personifications 
were  derived.     In  the  pictures    of    the    Bristol 
psalter  the  personifications  of  rivers  and  winds 
which  occur,  are  for  the  most  part  small,  dusky, 
seated  figures  of  grey  or  blue,  many  of  whom 
wear    large    crowns,    or    wreaths    with    ribbons 
flying    in     the    wind     [Plate     II,     F     &     i], 
biit  the  river  god  which  illustrates  Ps.  i,  3,  is 
of  a   much  finer  type;  it  is  a  large  semi-nude 
forceful   figure  of  realistic  colouring,    at    once 
suggestive  of  a  classic   prototype.     There   is  a 
classic  feeling  also  about  many  of  the  less  active 
figures  in  the  codex,  such  as  the  single  figure  of 
Habakkuk  [Pl.^te  IV,  n].     Another  inheritance 
from  the  same  source  is  the  use  of  the  coloured 
nimbus  for  Caiaphas  and  Nathan,  as  well  as  for 
Night,     Day,    and    the    Fortune    who    crowns 
David,  which  resemble  in  this  the  Paris  psalter. 
There  is  an  ill-understood  representation  of  the 
Helios  chariot  (Psalm  xlix,   i),  a  subject  which 
occurs  in  almost  all  the  psalters  of  the  "  Monkish- 
theological  "  group,  as  do  also  idols  represented 
on  pillars. 

In  the  Bristol  manuscript  the  flesh  tints  are 
very  warm,  of  a  pinkish  red  colour,  shaded  with 
brown,  though  the  female  figures  are  of  a  paler 
tint  with  greenish-grey  shading,  a  distinction 
which  it  is  significant  to  note  is  also  made  in 
the  Paris  psalter.'  The  colours  used  elsewhere 
are  for  the  most  part  clear  and  brilliant,  different 
shades  of  bright  azure  blue  being  predominant. 
There  is  no  bright  yellow  except  gold,  though 
to  a  small  extent  a  dull  shade  of  ochre  is  used. 


6  1  believe  this  to  be  correct  ;  I  can  remember  no  reference 
to  anv  full  page  combined  with  marginal  illustrations  before 
the  Grseco-Latin  Hamilton  psalter  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
M  P.P. 

7  J.  J.  Tikkanen,  op.  cit.  pp.  41.  42-  Pi^of-  Tikkanen  can 
only  cite  one  example,  that  of  "  Compassion  m  ChludoH 
Psalter    fol.   "K^' 

«  The  writer  is  much  indebted  to  Professor  Tikkanen  for 
having  kindly  looked  at  the  flesh  tints  of  the  Paris  psalter 
on  her  behalf,   after  having  seen   the   Bristol   manscnpt. 

287 


Curiously  brilliant  are  the  ;irrliitei-tural  details, 
the  huiklings  beinij  often  of  jiinU  or  mauve, 
roofed  with  the  brightest  blue  or  red. 

In  the  matter  of  colour  the  Bristol  manusiri[)t 
is  a  great  contrast  to  the  Theodore  psalter  of  the 
same  century,  in  which  the  flesh  tints  ;ire  nmrh 
colder  with  greenish  shading,  and  the  general 
efTect  of  the  rest  of  the  colouring  is  heavier  and 
less  transparent.  In  the  Theodore  psalter  the 
draperies  are  emphasized  by  means  of  line  gold 
lines,  anil  hatching,'  a  metliod  which  is  entirely 
absent  in  tlie  Bristol  codex,  where  gold  is  used 
rather  sparingly  for  the  enrichment  of  detail, 
or  for  armour,  but  is  always  laid  on  broadly. 
The  contrast  between  these  two  manuscripts  is 
emphasized  by  the  difference  in  the  iconographic 
programme,  that  of  the  Theodore  psalter  being 
much  more  extensive,  and  including  non-scrip- 
tural subjects  such  as  scenes  from  the  lives  of 
the  Saints,  or  incidents  of  the  iconoclastic  con- 
troversy. Another  difference  lies  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  miniatures;  in  the  Theodore 
psalter  they  are  fairly  evenly  distributed 
throughout  the  volume  whereas,  in  the  Bristol, 
there  is  a  great  falling  off  in  the  number  at 
the  end  of  the  Book  of  Psalms,  only  three 
miniatures  occurring  between  Psalm  cvi  and 
the  beginning  of  the  Canticles.  A  somewhat 
similar  diminution  is  also  found  in  other  psalters 
of  the  group.'"  With  the  strong  traditional 
tendency  of  Byzantine  art  such  contrasts, 
originating  within  a  comparatively  short  space 
of  time,  make  it  probable  that  the  two  manu- 
scripts w-ere  illuminated  in  different  schools. 
Both  in  colour  and  in  breadth  of  treatment  of  the 
draperies  the  Bristol  resembles  more  nearly  the 
Paris  than  the  Theodore  psalter.  There  are 
points  of  similarity,  between  the  Bristol  codex 
and  Pantokratoros  6i,  of  Mt.  Athos,  which  in- 
cline to  the  suspicion  that  if  full  data  for  compari- 
son were  available,  some  artistic  contact  between 
these  might  be  found. 

Throughout  the  Bristol  manuscript  the  type  's 
constant  for  the  representation  of  Christ,  and  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  both  follow  the  Byzan- 
tine tradition.  David  is  represented  in  two 
ways,  as  a  curly-headed  youth  in  the  scenes  of 
his  more  active  adventures,  or  as  a  bearded 
king  when  the  occasion  is  a  solemn  one 
[Plate  I,  a,  Plate  II,  g  &  h,  Plate  III,  b,  d,  e, 
G,  Plate  III,  f,  etc.],  but  both  types  are  consist- 
ently maintained  to  be  quite  recognisable. 
Moses  also  is  young,  as  the  leader  of  the 
Israelites,  old,  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration 
and  between  the  Night  and  the  Day  [Plate  I,  a]. 
Wherever  there  is  a  repetition  of  a  prominent 
character,  the  individuality  is  preserved. 


'  Professor  Tikkanen  points  out,  op.  cit.  p.   i8,  that  a  light 
gold   hatching   is   used   in    the   Chludoff   psalter. 
1"  J.  J.  Tikkanen,  op.  cit.  p.  89. 


The  chief  architectural  features  are  Basilican 
churclu's  witli  single  domes  on  drums  [Pl.vfe 
1\',  j],  lushion  capitals  with  volutes  at  the 
corners  [Plate  II,  h  &  c,  Plate  III,  f],  one 
design  being  constantly  and  conscientiously  re- 
pealed, even  when  the  scale  is  only  one-sixlcenlh 
of  an  inch  in  entire  width,  sometimes 
with  a  lunette  above  [Plate  IV,  j],  many 
of  which  occupy  the  entire  front  of  the  build- 
ing. The  scale  of  the  buildings  is  quite  out  of 
proportion  to  that  of  the  figures,  being  much 
smaller.  The  style  of  doorway  is  rather  sug- 
gestive of  some  Asiatic  or  Egyptian  influence, 
but  if  .so  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  this 
was  direct ;  it  might  quite  well  have  been 
embodied   in   an   artistic   tradition. 

Not  many  devils  are  represented,  but  it  is 
curious  that  wherever  these  occur  they  are 
obliterated,  as  though  purposely  [Plate  II,  d]. 
A  good  many,  though  not  all,  of  the  devils  in 
the  Theodore  psalter  have  been  treated  similarly. 

The  artist  of  this  manuscript  was  often  defec- 
tive in  technique,  his  perspective  being  impos- 
sible, and  his  method  of  repre.senting  a  backward 
look  in  some  instances  being  the  childish  ex- 
pedient of  setting  the  head  on  the  shoulders  the 
wrong  way  round  [Plate  IV],  yet  working  to  a 
fixed  theological  programme,"  on  an  exceedingly 
small  scale,  he  has  managed  to  preserve  a  fresh- 
ness and  spontaneity  throughout,  imparting  to  his 
figures  a  living  interest,  and  filling  their  tiny 
faces  with  expression.  In  spite  of  the  minute 
size  of  the  faces,  only  J  to  J  in.  long,  and  the 
care  with  which  the  principal  ones  are  modelled, 
they  are  free  from  any  feeling  of  over-elabora- 
tion, and  are,  in  proportion  to  their  scale, 
broadly  treated.  The  individuality  of  a  real 
artist  has  here  risen  triumphant  above  his 
limitations. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  all  the  passages  illustrated  in  the 
Bristol  Psalter,  the  references  being  numbered  according  to 
the  English  Authorized  Version,  Roman  numerals  indicating 
the  psalms,  and  Arabic  numerals,  the  verse.  The  references 
in  the  text  of  the  article  are  to  the  passages  in  the  Greek 
Psalter,  as  the  Greek  text  is  the  one  to  which  most  authorities 
on   the   subject   of   Byzantine   Psalters   refer. 

I,  2,  3,  5?  (almost  erased);  II,  2,  II,  Nativity;  HI, 
Preamble;  IV,  8  ;  V,  7,  9;  VII,  15;  VIII,  Triumphal  Entry 
into  Jerusalem,  7;  IX,  17;  XII,  6  Resurrection  of  Christ; 
XVI,  3;  XVIII,  3,  10-12  Christ  in  Glory,  15;  XIX,  3;  XXI, 
3;  XXII,  18  Crucifixion,  21;  XXIII,  2,  4  &  5;  XXIV,  7; 
XXVI,  7  &  8  ;  XXIX,  Baptism  of  Christ ;  XXXIV,  Preamble, 
8  Communion  of  the  Apostles ;  XXXVI  ?  (much  erased) ; 
XXXIX,  11;  XL,  2;  XLI,  9;  XLI,  Last  Supper;  XLII,  i; 
XLV,  Annunciation;  XLVII,  5  Ascension,  9,  L,  i;  LI, 
Preamble;  LIl,  Preamble;  LIV,  Preamble;  LVI,  Preamble; 
LVII,  Preamble;  LVIII,  4;  LIX,  Preamble;  LX,  Preamble; 
LXIII,  Preamble;  LXV,  4;  LXVIII,  i  Harrowing  of  Hell, 
15-16,  27;  LXIX,  21  Crucifixion;  LXXll,  6,  11  Adoration 
of  the  Magi;  LXX,  14,  ?;  LXXVII,  16;  Full-page  miniature 
before  Ps.  LXXVIII  ;  LXXVIll,  13-14,  23-24,  27-29,  44-45, 
47-48,  51;  LXXIX,  i;  LXXXI,  16;  LXXXIIl,  11; 
LXXXVin,  6  Entombment  of  Christ;  LXXXIX,  g,  12 
Transfiguration;       XCI,       11-12        The      Temptation;       CII, 

11  "  The  Council  of  Nicaea  had  decreed  that  the  composi- 
tion of  each  subject,  down  to  the  smallest  detail,  was  the 
province  of  theologians,  the  part  of  the  artist  was  confined 
to  the  execution."    O.  M.   Dalton,  op.  cit.  p.  250. 


288 


Preamble;  CV,  17,  20,  23,  29-31,  33,  34,  36,  39,  40;  CVI,  11, 
19,  28,  37,  42;  CXXXVII,  i;  CXLIV,  i;  Extra  Psalm  of 
Greek  Version,    Beheading  of   Goliath. 

Illustrations   to   portions   of   Scripture    included    with    Greek 
Psalter  : 

THE   SARACENIC  HOUSE — II. 
BY   MARTIN   S.   BRIGGS 

rHE  earliest  example  of  a  mediaeval 
dwelling-house  in  Cairo  dates  from 
the  thirteenth  century,  whereas  the 
history  of  Arab  art  is  six  hundred 
years  older,  and  even  in  the  ninth  and 
tenth  centuries  Cairo  was  a  large  and  wealthy 
city.  The  recent  excavations  at  Fustat,  the 
southern  suburb  of  Cairo,  founded  in  the  middle 
of  the  seventh  century  by  Amr,  give  some 
slight  indication  of  the  most  primitive  dwel- 
lings. Nasi-i-Khosrau,  a  traveller  of  the 
eleventh  century,  visited  Egypt  during  a  period 
of  tranquil  prosperity.  He  states  that  the 
caliph  himself  owned  twenty  thousand  houses, 
five  and  six  storeys  high,  but  these  were  let  in 
tenements — the  raba  mentioned  later  in  this 
chapter.  They  were  built  of  stone,  not  brick, 
and  had  good  gardens.  A  French  visitor  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  just  before 
the  Turkish  conquest,  describes  the  house 
assigned  by  the  sultan  to  his  embassy,  where  he 
was  an  official. 

'"It  contained  six  or  seven  beautiful  halls,  paved  with 
marble,  porphyry,  serpentine,  and  other  rare  stones, 
inlaid  with  wonderful  art ;  the  walls  were  of  similar 
mosaic,  or  painted  with  azure  and  rich  colours  ;  the  doors 
inlaid  with  ivory,  ebony,  and  other  singularitez ;  yet  the 
workmanship  excelled  the  materials.  Extensive  gardens, 
filled  with  fruit-trees,  surrounded  the  mansion,  and  were 
wate-red  from  the  Nile  night  and  morning  by  means  of 
horses  and  oxen.  Such  a  house,  he  exclaims,  might  have 
cost  80,000  scraps  of  gold  ;  yet  it  was  but  one  of  a  hundred 
thousand    more  beautiful  still."  ' 

Turning  from  these  hysterical  exaggerations 
to  concrete  examples  still  existing,  we  find  the 
earliest  authenticated  in  the  Ka'a  or  "  Hall  of 
Beybars,"  otherwise  known  as  the  "  House  of 
Osman  or  Othman  Katkhoda,"  but  in  reality 
the  ka'a  of  the  now  non-existent  palace  of 
Muhammed  Muhebb  ed-din.  (1253.)  This 
building  stands  in  the  Sharia  Beit  el-Kadi  and 
was  constituted  "wakf"  (i.e.  a  charitable  trust) 
by  Osman  Katkhoda^  a  Turkish  official  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  It  was  restored  by  the 
Comit6  in  1911-12.  It  consists  of  a  fine  ka'a 
over  50  feet  high,  with  a  durka'a  and  two  Uwanat, 
the  former  lit  by  a  lantern,  now  unfortunately 
missing  .  Loggias  filled  with  musharabiya  in 
the  east  and  west  wall  allowed  the  ladies  of  the 
harim  to  watch  festivities  down  below.  The 
chief  features  of  the  design  are  the  stone  lining 
of  the  interior,  the  fine  stalactite  corbels,  and' 
the  sunk  fountain  or  faskiya  in  the  floor.     The 

3  From  l^ane-  Poole's  Art  of  the  Saracens,  pp.  86-7,  quoting 
Jehan  Th^naud. 


I  Sam.  II,  i-io  Hannah;  Hab.  Ill,  1-19  Habakkuk ; 
Isaiah  XXVI,  9;  Jonah  II,  10;  Song  of  the  Three  Children; 
S.  Luke  I,  46-55,  Blessed  Virgin  as  Orans  ;  S.  Luke  I,  68-79, 
Priest  Censing  Zacharias ;  Isaiah  XXXVIII,  Hezekiah ; 
Prayer  of  Manasses  ;  Manasses. 


latter  is,  however,  comparatively  modern  *  and 
was  brought  from  the  house  of  Ayesha  el- 
Bezada. 

The  Palace  of  the  Emir  Yushbak '  (com- 
monly called  Hosh  Bardak)  adjoins  the  great 
mosque  of  Sultan  Hassan.  An  inscription 
states  that  it  was  restored  by  Yushbak  in 
1475-6,  but  Creswell  '  adduces  an  elaborate 
argument  to  prove,  on  architectural  grounds, 
that  the  original  building  must  have  been 
erected  about  the  year  1337,  thereby  differing 
with  M.  Van  Berchem.  Although  largely 
ruined,  it  is  still  an  imposing  pile,  and  possesses 
one  of  the  finest  of  the  great  porches  with 
stalactite  heads  in  all  Cairo,  comparable  with 
the  Bab  el-Kattanin  at  Jerusalem.  It  is  almost 
entirely  built  of  dressed  stone.  The  facade  is 
featureless  in  its  present  state,  but  contains  some 
remarkable  groups  of  windows,  such  as  might 
be  caused  by  piercing  rudimentary  tracery 
through  a  wall  several  feet  thick.  The  ground 
floor,  beyond  the  stalactited  vestibule  leading 
from  the  porch,  consists  of  chambers  with 
painted  vaults  of  stone.  On  the  upper  floor  is 
a  gigantic  ka'a  with  vast  horseshoe  arches  of 
stone. 

The  Palace  of  the  Emir  Beshtak  '  (i337  or 
1339)  had  a  great  reputation  in  the  days  of  the 
fifteenth-century  historian,  Makerizi,  who  states 
that  from  its  topmost  windows  one  could  see  the 
Nile,  and  praises  the  richness  of  its  decoration. 
It  lies  in  the  Sharia  en-Nahhasin,  and  is  largely 
submerged  by  modern  buildings.  A  modern 
staircase  leads  up  to  the  remarkable  ka'a,  which 
consists  of  a  durka'a  and  four  Uwanat.  The 
larger  of  the  two  latter  are  on  the  east  and  west, 
and  have  noteworthy  ceilings  *  coffered  in 
hexagons.  The  two  smaller  Uwanat  are  separ- 
ated from  the  durka'a  by  a  triple  arcade  of  horse- 
shoe arches.  The  plan  of  the  whole  kaa  is  thus 
cruciform.  The  walls  are  all  lined  with  stone, 
and  the  kda  is  in  good  condition,  though  the 
rest  of  the  building  is  ruinous. 

The   porch,    the   only   surviving   part   of   the 

*  See  Mrs.  Devonshire.  Rambles  in  Cairo,  p.  93,  for  good 
illustration  and  reference  to  this  fountain. 

'  Creswell.     A    Brief  Chronology,  etc.,  p.   99. 

6  Illustrated  with  plans  in  report  of  Comity  for  1894,  and 
in  Mrs.  Devonshire  (op.  cit.)  and  Creswell  {op.  cit.). 

'  See  Report  of  Comity  1909,  with  illustrations  (also  report 
for   1902   for   life  of  Beshtak). 

8  Illustrated  in  above  report,  also  in  Mrs.  Devonshire, 
op.  cit. 


289 


palace  of  the  Emir  Manjak  es-Silahdar,"  is 
siiuau't.1  in  tlu"  Siik  el-Selah  lu-ar  tiie  Sharia 
MuhamnuRl  All,  and  is  daU'd  io4t>-7  by 
Cresweil,  who  advances  historical  arguments  in 
support.  Although  this  porch  or  vestibule,  with 
a  domed  roof  supported  on  pendentives,  is  an 
interesting  example  of  construction,  it  adds 
nothing  to  our  knowledge  of  the  plan  of  the 
mediaeval  house. 

Little  more  remains  of  the  Palace  of  the  Kmir 
Taz  (1352),  near  the  great  mosque  of  Sultan 
Hassan,  though  in  this  case  the  walls  and  the 
substructure  of  the  ka'a  exist,  incorporated  in 
a  modern  school-building  . 

From  this  period  there  is  a  gap  of  over  a 
century  till  we  find  dated  examples  of  any 
importance,  in  the  reign  of  the  famous  Sultan 
and  builder,  Kait-Bey.  But  neither  his  palace 
(14S5)  near  the  mosque  of  El-Mardani  nor  his 
makad  in  the  Eastern  Cemetery  (1474)  have  the 
interest  or  importance  of  the  beautiful  building" 
that  is  commonly  called  the  Beit  el-Kadi  '° 
("  House  of  the  Kadi  "),  but  which  is  in  reality 
tile  makad  of  the  palace  of  the  Emir  Mamay 
(1405),  the  remainder  of  the  palace  having  dis- 
appeared. This  gem  of  Saracenic  domestic 
architecture    (Fig.    I.)  lies   close    to   the    tomb- 


name  from  the  court  of  the  Kadi  or  judge, 
which  sat  here  for  over  a  hundred  years.  In 
the  i\ai)oleonic  Descripliun  de  VEgyple  it  is  so 
styled.  It  has  been  extensively  restored  in 
recent  years  by  the  ComiU.  ihe  Emir  Mamay 
was  killed  in  1496-7  as  a  result  of  faction-lights 
with  a  rival.  The  wide  open  space  in  front  of 
the  makad,  and  extending  thence  towards  the 
present  police-station,  probably  represents  the 
liosk  of  his  great  palace.  Fragments  of  dressed 
masonry  support  this  view.  I'he  makad  itself 
is  32  metres  long  and  11.20  metres  high  to  the 
ceiling,  with  an  arcade  of  live  horseshoe  arches 
— characteristically  stilted — supporting  a  ceiling 
unrivalled  for  beauty  in  all  Cairo.  'Ihe  adjoin- 
ing portal  with  its  stalactite  head  precisely 
resembles  others  in  contemporary  mosques. 

The  House  or  Palace  of  the  Emir  Kairabek 
(c.  1501)  adjoins  the  mausoleum  of  the  same 
emir,  to  which  it  is  connected  by  an  arch. 
Cresweil  "  gives  historical  reasons  for  the  above 
date.  The  so-called  House  of  Zeinab 
Khatoun,'^  in  the  Haret  el-Dawidari,  is  of 
uncertain  date,  probably  posterior  to  the 
Turkish  conquest  of  Egypt  in  1517,  and  consists 
of  a  handsome  ka'a,  now  approached  by  a 
separate  staircase  provided  by  the  Comite.  It 
also  has  a  small  but  well-designed  bathroom. 
Another  ka'a  of  note  survives  from  the  house  of 
El-Haramein,'''  and  is  dated  by  the  Comite  at 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  has  a 
lofty  durka'a,  with  a  remarkable  ceiling  carried 
on  stalactite  consoles,  and  two  liwanat. 

From  the  seventeenth  century  at  least  four 
important  houses  are  known  to  survive  in 
Cairo.  First  among  these  is  the  House  of 
El-Giridlia  '"  (1631-2),  which  adjoins  the 
entrance  from  the  street  to  the  famous  mosque 
of  Ibn-Touloun.  It  is  therefore  familiar  to 
tourists.  Both  internally  and  externally  the 
walls  are  of  dressed  stonework.  A  sebil 
occupies  the  external  angle.  The  hash  is 
8.10  metres  square,  and  contains  a  makad  and 
some  fine  stalactite  corbelling.  The  heads  of 
the  doors  and  windows  are  treated  with  great 
diversity. 

The  House  of  Gamal  ed-din  el-Zahaki," 
(1634  oi"  1637),  in  the  Sharia  Khosh  Kadam,  is 
the  most  perfect  example  of  this  period.  The 
owner  is  believed  to  have  been  Master  of  a 
Merchants'  Guild,  as  he  is  referred  to  as 
"  Sheykh  of  the  Merchants."  It  has  been 
acquired  and  extensively  restored  by  the 
Comite.  One  enters  from  the  street  through  the 


Fig.  I 

mosque     of     Kalaoun   in    the    most    interesting 

quarter    of    all    Cairo.      It  derives   its    popular 

'  See  report  of  Comiti  for   1892,   with   illustrations. 
I"  Illustrated  in   reports  of  Comiti  ior   1893   and  1902  ;   also 
in   Eber's   Egypt,   vol.   II. 


11  Cresweil,  op.  cit. 

12  Report  of   Comity   for    1909  ;   Mrs.    Devonshire,    Rambles 
in  Cairo    p.  95. 

13  Illustrated  in   report  of   Comiti  for   1909. 
'*  Illustrated  in  report  of  Comiti  lor  1909. 

"  Illustrated   in   Franz   Pasha,   Kairo  ;  and   in   Mrs.   Devon- 
shire,   Rambles  in  Cairo. 


'.go 


A     Old  Houses  (Turkish  style)  un  tlie  bank  uf   the  Khalig 
el-Masri,  Cairo 


H     Old  Houses  at  Rosetta 


C     Courtyard  of  the  House  of  Abdallah  Fasha  ai  Damascus 


Plate  IH.     The  Saracenic  House — H 


O 


c 
u 


■4-t 


usual  discreet  door  and  crooked  passage  into  the 
hosh.  Here  has  been  placed  a  faskiya  or  sunk 
fountain-basin  from  another  building.  On  the 
ground-floor  are  a  ruined  mandara,  a  well,  and 
various  unimportant  rooms.  The  graceful 
makad  [Plate  II,  c]  has  horseshoe  arches  and 
mav  be  compared  with  the  "  Beit  el-Kadi  "  just 
described.  The  entrance  to  the  makad  from  the 
hosh  is  as  usual  through  a  fine  doorway 
approached  by  a  flight  of  steps,  but  in  this  case 
is  in  the  wall  at  right  angles  to  the  arcade  of 
the  makad.  Through  a  lattice  the  women  of 
the  household  can  look  into  the  makad  and  the 
hosh.  This  house  also  contains  a  small  bath- 
room with  domed  ceiling,  but  the  most 
important  room  is  the  great  ka'a  [Plate  II,  d] 
on  the  upper  floor.  This  has  a  pavement  of 
marble  mosaic  with  steps  up  into  the  two 
liwanat,  and  a  marble  dado  about  4  feet  high. 
There  are  recesses  for  "  divans,"  recessed  and 
panelled  cupboards,  open  ceilings  with  great 
stalactite  consoles,  and  all  the  characteristic 
features  already  mentioned  as  typical  of  thee 
Cairo  house. 

The  House  of  Radwan-Bey  '"  (1654-5)  "  is 
situated  in  the  Shoe-Bazaar,  opposite  the 
Mosque  of  Mahmud  el-Kurdi  and  south  of  the 
Bab  Zuweila.  It  was  originally  very  extensive, 
but  has  been  merged  in  the  buildings  of  an 
elementary  school,  and  only  the  ka'a  and  the 
makad  are  preserved.  The  latter  resembles  the 
"  Beit  el-Kadi,"  but  has  only  three  arches,  and 
the  columns  beneath  them  are  fluted  spirally. 
The  ground-floor  rooms  round  the  hosh  are 
used  as  workshops,  the  upper  rooms  as 
tenements. 

The  so-called  "  House  of  the  Mufti  "  or  of  the 
Sheykh  el-Mahdi  "  is  believed  to  have  been 
built  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  or  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Its  name  is  derived 
from  the  Sheykh  Abbassi  el-Mahdi,  Grand 
Mufti  of  Egypt,  who  inhabited  it  during  the 
nineteenth  century.  It  has  become  familiar  to 
students  in  England  owing  to  having  been 
measured  in  1866  by  Mr.  R.  Phene  Spiers,  who 
subsequently  published  his  drawings  in  the 
R.I.B.A.  Transactions  for  1890.  This  house 
stands  in  the  Sharia  Khalig  el-Masri,  which 
runs  on  the  line  of  an  old  canal,  now  filled  in. 
It  consists  of  a  very  fine  room,  on  the  ground- 
floor,  described  by  Mr.  Spiers  as  a  mandara  and 
by  Herz  Bey  as  a  ka'a.  Unfortunately,  since 
the  former  made  his  drawings,  much  of  the 
beautiful  marble  and  faience  lining  has  gone, 
and  other  parts  of  the  room  have  been  badly 
treated.      The    size    of    the     room     is    31     by 

1'  Illustrated  in  report  of  Comity  for  1912,  in  Eber's  Egypt, 
*o!.   11,  and  in  Franz  Pasha's  Kairo. 

^' This  date  is  uncertain.     Franz  Pasha  gives  1766. 

1'  Illustrated  in  report  of  Comiti  for  1912  ;  also  in  notes  by 
R.  Pheni   Spiers   in   R.I.B.A.   Transactions  for   1890. 


10  metres.  It  has  a  lofty  square  durka'a,  with 
three  liwanat  of  unequal  size.  The  principal 
liwan  is  not,  as  one  would  expect,  opposite  the 
entrance,  but  on  the  right  of  the  doorway,  so 
that  the  plan  is  not  symmetrical.  The  walls 
have  the  usual  recesses,  and  in  the  centre  of  the 
durka'a  is  a  sunk  fountain  of  marble.  In  a  recess 
in  one  wall  is  another  fountain,  formed  with 
slopes  and  steps  so  that  the  sound  of  running 
water,  so  pleasant  in  a  hot  climate,  is  con- 
tinually heard. 

An  old  house  in  an  alley  off  the  Sharia  el- 
Gamalia,  popularly  known  as  the  Musaffer 
Khan  "  or  lodging  for  travellers,  dates  from 
1779,  and  contains  good  woodwork  detail, 
especially  panelled  cupboards.  Other  interest- 
ing dwellings  of  this  late  period  are  the  houses 
of  Muhammad  el-Kassaby  (1796)  and  Ibrahim 


Fig.  2. 

es-Sennary  ^''  (Fig.  2).  The  latter  lies  in  a 
small  cul-de-sac  adjoining  the  Sania  Training 
College  for  Girls,  and  well  repays  a  visit.  The 
ka'a  on  the  upper  floor  is  of  no  great  interest, 
but  the  small  hosh  contains  some  musharabiya 
projecting  windows  and  a  graceful  doorway,  now 
blocked  up,  in  the  Turkish  style. 

In  Coste's  large  folio  of  drawings  of  Cairo 
buildings.  Plates  45  and  46  represent  "  a 
dwelling-house  belonging  to  a  rich  merchant  in 

19  Illustrated  in  Franz  Pasha,  Kairo  ;  and  in  Eber's  Egypt, 
vol.  II. 

'0  Illustrated  in  Mrs.  Devonshire,  Rambles  i"  Cairo. 


295 


the  Ihiiich  Knd:i  ^'  quarter."  These  illustra- 
tions have  also  been  redrawn  by  Mr.  Spiers  in 
the  paper  just  quoted.  They  depict  a  house 
differing  in  one  very  important  respect  from 
any  yet  described,  viz.,  in  having  a  watidaru. 
as  usual  level  wiiii  the  hash  floor,  so  loft\  that 
its  central  portion  or  durka'a  rises  forty  feet,  and 
thus  corresponds  to  the  height  of  three  floors  of 
ordinary  rooms,  and  practically  lakes  the  place 
of  tlie  ka'a  on  the  first  floor. 

Coste  also  illustrates  two  other  very  familiar 
types  of  Cairo  houses,  those  in  the  Sharia  et- 
Tabbana  renowned  for  their  long  row  of  simple 
projecting  miisharahiya  windows,  and  those 
originally  lining  the  banUs  of  that  old  canal 
that  has  become  a  busy  thoroughfare  with 
tramlines.  The  latter  type  [Plate  III,  a]  in 
many  cases  has  a  plan  more  resembling  the 
European  casino  than  the  ordinary  Arab 
dwelling-house. 

There  are  many  other  old  houses  under  the 
care  of  the  Comite  in  Cairo,  others  again — not 
mentioned  in  this  chapter — that  have  been 
described  and  illustrated  in  books  on  Saracenic 
architecture.  But  it  is  important  that  these 
buildings  should  be  safeguarded  for  posterity  at 
all  costs,  even  if  they  may  be  at  present  in 
private  ownership,  and  that  such  vandalism  as 
is  recorded  by  Presse  d'Avennes  "  or  bv  Mr. 
spiers"  should  be  rendered  for  ever  impossible. 
The  latter  instances  the  famous  French  Con- 
sulate at  Cairo,  a  veritable  museum  of  objects 
torn  from  ancient  buildings  bv  Count  St. 
Maurice  during  his  period  of  office,  many  of 
them  now  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 
Given  sufficient  authority,  the  Comite 
established  in  Cairo  to  preserve  these  monu- 
ments should  prevent  any  similar  occurrences." 

So  far  we  have  been  concerned  only  with  the 
town-houses  of  the  capital  of  Egvpt.  Of 
suburban  and  country  houses  there  is  little  to 
say,  for  no  vestiges  remain,  and  indeed  during 
the  turbulent  days  of  the  Mamelukes  few  people 
lived  outside  the  walled  towns.  But  in  the 
towns  of  the  Delta  a  local  style  of  domestic 
architecture  was  evolved,  differing  in  manv 
respects  from  that  of  Cairo.  There  is  a  differ- 
ence in  planning  as  well  as  in  construction.  At 
Damietta  the  house  usually  forms  three  sides  of 
a  square,  with  an  entrance  on  the  south  leading 
into  an  open  space  with  a  covered  reception- 
room  adjoining  on  the  ground-floor,  open  on 
one  side  to  the  court,  and  in  some  cases  with  an 
additional   reception-room  enclosed    with    walls 

2'  Possibly  Khosh  Kadam. 

=2  Presse  d'Avennes,  L'Art  Arahe,  etc.  "  Text  "  volume 
p.    151.. 

"R.   Phen^  Spiers,   R.I.B.A.  Transactions     1890,  p.   237, 

2*  See  special  report  of  Society  for  Protection  of  Ancient 
Buildings,  1883,  on  the  measures  adopted  for  preserving  the 
Arab  monuments  of  Egypt 


and  doors.  At  Rosetta  there  are  generally 
shops  and  warehouses  over  the  whole  area  of 
the  ground  floor,  and  a  separate  entrance  to  a 
staircase  leading  to  the  residential  floors  above. 
In  Rosetta  especially,  hut  al.so  in  Damietta, 
.Menzala,  Mansura,  .Samanud,  Mciialla  cl- 
Kubra,  Mataria,  and  in  the  oldest  parts  of  the 
Arab  town  at  Alexandria,  the  houses  are  lofty, 
often  five  floors  in  height,  though  of  apparently 
light  construction  with  overhanging  storeys. 
The  rooms  resemble  those  of  Cairene  houses 
already  described,  but  they  are  furnished  only 
with  deep  recesses  for  divans,  instead  of  with 
large  liwanat,  and  the  appointments  generally 
are  far  less  sumptuous.  Occasionally  one 
comes  acro.ss  a  fine  room,  such  as  that  in  the 
house  of  Abdiilla  Bey  Bakri  near  the  river  at 
Damietta,  which  has  a  richly  carved  and  painted 
ceiling.  A  beautiful  panelled  room  from 
Rosetta  is  exhibited  in  the  Arab  Museum  of 
Cairo.  There  are  local  differences  in  the  form 
of  musharabiya  lattices.  Thus  while  in  Rosetta 
and  Alexandria  these  are  made  of  turned  wood- 
work, resembling  that  of  Cairo,  though  less 
elaborate,  the  window-openings  of  houses  in 
Damietta,  Mansura,  Mataria,  etc.,  are  filled  with 
a  trellis  formed  of  delicately  fretted  strips  of 
wood,  equally  attractive  in  a  different  way. 
Doors  are  often  carved,  and  Damietta  abounds 
in  examples  of  fine  geometrical  door-panelling. 
Sometimes  a  small  "  wicket  "  is  provided  in  the 
centre  of  a  large  entrance-door.  Ceilings  are 
seldom  constructed  of  the  heavy  carved  beams 
found  in  the  larger  houses  of  Cairo,  and  are 
more  usually  formed  of  plain  unpainted  planks. 
Roofs  are  invariably  flat,  and  parapets  have  no 
battlements  or  cresting.     [Plate  III,  b.] 

But  the  chief  characteristic  of  these  old  houses 
in  the  Delta  towns  is  the  almost  invariable  use 
of  brickwork,  though  in  Damietta  and  Alex- 
andria, where  stone  is  more  easily  obtained  by 
river,  one  sometimes  finds  stone  facing  for  the 
lower  part  of  the  building.  In  Rosetta  red  and 
black  bricks  are  used  to  form  geometrical 
patterns,  with  narrow  white  joints.  In  some  of 
the  mosques  in  Rosetta  and  Alexandria  this 
ornamental  brickwork  is  very  skilfully  treated, 
especially  in  the  entrance  porches.  In  the 
bouses  it  is  less  common,  and  almost  always 
restricted  to  the  ground-storey.  The  over- 
hanging upper  floors  are  "  bricknogged,"  and 
here  the  craftsmanship  is  of  a  rougher  kind. 
Another  feature,  peculiar  to  Rosetta,  is  the  use 
of  antique  columns  at  the  angle  of  a  building. 
These  columns  were  obtainable  in  large 
quantities  from  the  ancient  city  of  Bolbitin^, 
which  lav  on  the  site  of  the  Arab  town. 

Among  these  houses  at  Rosetta  mav  be 
mentioned  the  following  examples  as  typical  : 
The  House  of  Ali  el-Fatairi  "  in  the  Haret  el- 


296 


Plate  I.      Kuan-yin  vase,  with  tamillc  verte  decoration. 
Height  1  8i".     K'ang  Hsi  period.     (Mr.  L.eonard  Gow.) 


c^^' 


c 
-a 


c 


> 


o 

1) 

u 
u 

> 

O 


3J 


Ghazl,  bearing  the  date  1620  on  a  carved  beam 
built  into  the  facade,  and  with  an  external  stair- 
case leading  to  the  two  doors  of  the  men's  and 
women's  apartments  respectively;  the  House  of 
Ahmed  Agha  ^'  in  the  Sharia  el-Ghabachi  on  the 
west  of  the  town,  now  partly  buried  in  drift- 
sand;  a  panelled  room  in  the  House  of  EI- 
Meizouni^^;  the  House  of  Sheykh  Hassan  el- 
Khabbaz  '^  in  the  Sharia  Dahliz  el-Molk,  with 
interesting  lattice  windows;  and  the  House  of 
Osman  Agha"  (1808),  containing  some  very 
beautiful  panelling,  at  a  cross-roads. 

In  Assiut,  Medinet  el-Fayyum,  and  other 
towns  of  Middle  Egypt,  there  are  few  examples 
of  any  note. 

In  Palestine  and  Syria  differences  of  climate 
and  tradition  are  reflected  in  domestic  archi- 
tecture. The  typical  large  house  of  the  six- 
teenth, seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  in 
Damascus  was  luxuriously  furnished.  A  great 
advance  had  been  made  from  the  days  of  the 
caliph  Moawiya,  who,  when  he  had  built  a 
palace  of  sun-baked  brick,  is  said  to  have  shown 
it  to  a  Byzantine  envoy,  who  made  this  diplo- 
matic criticism  : — "  The  upper  part  will  do  for 
birds,  and  the  lower  for  rats."  In  later  days 
Damascus  acquired  a  reputation  for  the 
splendour  of  its  dwellings,  which  were  usually 
grouped    round    a    large  courtyard,  containing 

25  See   report  of   Comiti   for    1896. 
2'  See  report  of  Comiti  for  1893. 

CHINESE     PORCELAIN     IN 
LEONARD     GOW — VII. 
BY    R.    L.    HOBSON 

HE  vase  on  Plate  I  is  a  splendid 
example  of  K'ang  Hsi  porcelain. 
From  its  shape  it  would  be  known 
by  the  Chinese  as  a  Kuan-yin  vase ; 
and  its  graceful  proportions  accord 
with  the  best  traditions  of  the  Chinese  potters 
in  one  of  their  most  brilliant  periods.  The 
decoration  is  characterised  by  skilful  draughts- 
manship and  a  sumptuous  display  of  famille 
verte  enamels  on  the  glaze,  with  here  and  there 
a  glint  of  gold.  The  design  consists  of  a  series 
of  pictures  displayed  in  three  rows  of  arched 
panels,  in  counter-changed  arrangement 
bordered  by  a  ribbon  of  brocade.  The 
subjects  are  doubtless  borrowed  from  paint- 
ings on  silk,  illustrating  scenes  from  history  or 
romance,  or  maybe  from  the  artist's  imagina- 
tion. In  any  case  such  stories  are  well-nigh 
impossible  to  identify  here  with  the  small 
amount  of  material  at  our  disposal.  They  all 
contain  figures  in  a  landscape  setting;  and  in 
each  case  it  is  the  landscape  rather  than  the 
figures  which  arrests  the  eye. 


orange-trees  and  a  large  rectangular  tank  of 
water  supplied  from  the  river  Barada.  Mr. 
Spiers  "  describes  a  typical  house  of  moderate 
size,  with  such  a  courtyard,  and  on  its  south 
side  an  alcove  corresponding  to  the  takhtabosh 
of  a  Cairene  house  and  facing  north.  The  same 
feature  is  found  in  the  old  French  Consulate  and 
elsewhere.  Opposite  is  the  large  reception- 
room,  the  equivalent  of  the  Cairene  mandara, 
with  three  Hivanat  and  a  central  durka'a.  On  the 
west  side  of  the  courtyard  is  another  room,  with 
a  kitchen  adjoining.  The  durka'a,  as  in  Cairo, 
is  loftier  than  the  liwanat.  The  ceilings  are 
treated  with  applied  ornament  in  gesso,  coloured 
and  gilt,  on  the  beams.  Stone  arches,  resting 
on  stalactite  corbels,  separate  the  liwanat  from 
the  durka'a. 

The  house  of  Abdallah  Pasha  at  Damascus, 
otherwise  known  as  the  Old  French  Consulate, 
is  the  most  famous  example  in  the  city. 
[Plates  III,  c,  IV,  e.]  A  comparison  with  the 
illustrations  of  the  larger  Cairo  houses  shows 
many  striking  difTerences,  especially  the  great 
size  of  the  internal  court,  and  the  striped  stone 
arches  separating  the  liwan  from  the  durka'a  in 
the  reception-room.  The  Maison  Stambouli 
[Plate  IV,  d]  is  an  instance  of  the  more 
decadent  style  affected  by  the  Turks,  and  marks 
the  end  of  the  Saracenic  tradition. 


s'  R.  P.   Spiers,  op.   cit. 


THE     COLLECTION     OF     MR, 


In  the  two  lowest  panels  are  (a)  landscape 
with  water,  rocks  and  pine  trees,  and  a  horse- 
man, whose  rank  is  indicated  by  an  umbrella- 
bearer,  approaching  a  bridge;  (b)  a  hillside, 
water,  and  a  willow  tree  by  which  are  two 
dignified  persons,  and  in  the  distance  a  build- 
ing half  hidden  in  mist.  In  the  middle  row 
(a)  a  horseman  with  fan-bearer  and  attendant 
is  seen  approaching  a  mountain  dwelling  in 
which  a  lady  stands  awaiting  his  arrival  :  a 
graceful  willow  is  conspicuous  in  the  fore- 
ground ;  (b)  a  man  reclines  at  ease  in  a  pavilion 
built  out  into  the  water,  while  two  fishermen 
below  discover  a  thievish  bird  helping  himself 
out  of  their  fish-basket.  In  the  two  panels  on 
the  neck  are  sages  in  landscape. 

There  is  no  mark  under  this  vase,  but  the 
grand  style  of  its  workmanship  proclaims  it  of 
the  best  period  of  the  reign  of  K'ang  Hsi,  which 
should  be  about  1700.  The  centrepiece  of 
Plate  I.  is  a  vase  of  somewhat  similar  form, 
but  less  robust  in  style.  Its  more  sophisticated 
lines,    its    peculiar    folded    mouth-rim,    and    a 


301 


certain  daintiness  in  its  brushwork  belong  to 
the  last  years  of  ihat  long  and  glorious  reign. 
it  is  finely  painted  in  famille  verte  colours  with 
a  stately  scene  which  seems  to  represent  an 
Emperor  with  his  family  and  attendants  by  a 
pavilion  in  one  of  the  Imperial  pleasure-grounds. 
Sprays  of  season  flowers  adorn  the  neck,  and 
the  mouth  and  base  are  edged  with  borders  of 
brocade.  Under  the  base  is  a  double  ring  in 
blue  enclosing  a  seal  with  characters,  which 
appear  to  be  hsing  wu  (apricot  house),  doubtless 
the  studio  name  of  the  potter.  This  dainty  vase 
stands  between  a  pair  of  deep  scrap-bowls  which 
are  covered  with  gorgeous  famille  verte  decora- 
tion. The  groundwork  is  a  rich  brocade 
figured  with  peony  blooms,  feng  birds,  and 
black  scroll  diaper  in  a  green  ground.  This 
pattern  is  interrupted  by  four  oblong  panels 
containing  groups  of  vases  and  emblems 
selected  from  the  Hundred  Antiques.  Below 
the  lip  is  a  band  of  trellis  diaper  with  four  com- 
partments enclosing  a  picture  scroll,  a  go  board, 
a  lute  in  its  case,  and  book-rolls,  the  emblems 
of  the  four  accomplishments — painting,  go  or 
checkers,  music,  and  literature.  The  covers  are 
decorated  to  match ;  and  in  the  cavity  of  the 
handles  is  a  feng  bird  or  phoenix. 

Plate  III.  illustrates  a  remarkable  specimen 
of  blue  and  white,  a  club-shaped  vase  of  slender 
proportions  and  unusual  height.  The  porcelain 
and  the  blue  are  both  of  the  highest  quality ; 
and  the  elaborate  designs  which  cover  the  sur- 
face are  executed  w'ith  a  skilful  brush.  The 
scene  is  set  on  a  tumultuous  river  on  which  is 
riding  the  Imperial  dragon  barge.  Under  the 
deck  canopy  the  Emperor  sits  in  state  sur- 
rounded by  courtiers  and  women ;  and  a  punt 
has  arrived  alongside  bringing  a  dignified 
visitor     resplendent    in    military    dress.      The 

REVIEWS 

Crome.      By    C.    H.    Collins    Baker.      206    pp.    +    52    p'- 
.Methuen.     ;^s  53. 

There  is  no  section  of  the  early  English 
School  of  Painting  more  in  need  of  systematic 
investigation  than  the  Norwich  School.  It 
presents  most  complicated  problems  of  attribu- 
tion, and  it  is  perhaps  because  of  these  difficulties 
that  art  historians  have  shirked  the  task. 

The  book  at  present  before  us  marks  a  distinct 
advance  towards  grappling  with  the  tangle,  at 
all  events  as  far  as  John  Crome  is  concerned,  and 
if  we  cannot  entirely  agree  with  Mr.  C.  J. 
Holmes  in  his  introduction  and  go  to  the  length 
of  accepting  Mr.  Collins  Baker's  effort  as  a 
"definite  catalogue  raisonn^  " — the  construction 
of  which  would  entail  a  firsthand  sieving  of 
American,  Continental  and  other  collections — 
we  can,  at  least,  regard  it  as  a  more  than  useful 


Emperor's  barge  wears  a  festal  appearance,  the 
women  carrying  musical  instruments,  while 
from  the  stern  is  suspended  a  trapeze  on  which 
an  acrobat  is  performing.  On  either  bank  ot 
the  river  are  groups  of  courtiers  and  on  the  near 
side  is  a  cluster  of  tents. 

The  shoulders  are  decorated  with  trellis 
liiaper  enclosing  medallions  of  symbols  :  on  the 
lU'ck  is  a  broad  band  of  foliage  scrolls  reserved 
in  white  in  ;i  blue  ground  ;  and  above  it  are  three 
figures  supernaturally  borne  above  swirling 
waves.  One  of  them  is  Hou  Hsien-Sheng, 
whom  the  Japanese  call  Gama  Sennin,  standing 
on  a  leaf  and  angling  for  the  white  three-legged 
toad,  his  familiar  spirit.  The  second  is  an 
Immortal  poised  on  a  lotus  leaf  and  carrying  a 
dish  of  the  peaches  of  longevity.  The  third  is 
K'uei  Hsing,  the  demon-faced  god  of  literature, 
who  balances  on  the  head  of  a  fish-dragon.  Of 
Hou  Hsien-Sheng  little  is  known  beyond  that  he 
was  a  Taoist  wizard.  The  bearer  of  the  peaches 
is  generally  regarded  as  an  attendant  of  Hsi 
Wang  Mu,  Queen-mother  of  the  West.  The 
story  of  K'uei  Hsing,  who  was  canonised  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  is  better  known.  As  a 
literary  aspirant  he  had  taken  a  high  place  in 
the  State  examinations ;  but  he  was  denied  the 
office  for  which  he  had  qualified  on  account  of 
his  excessive  ugliness.  In  despair  he  threw 
himself  into  the  Yellow  River,  only  to  be  rapt 
to  stars  by  a  fish-dragon.  He  now  is  the  star 
K'uei  and  has  supplanted  Wen  Chang  as  the 
most  popular  god  of  Learning.  The  other 
attributes  of  K'uei  Hsing  are  a  brush  held  aloft 
in  his  right  hand  and  a  cup  or  cake  of  ink  in 
his  left.  Under  the  base  of  the  vase  is  the  empty 
double  ring,  so  often  found  on  tine  examples  of 
K'ang  Hsi   blue  and  white. 


foundation  for  further  investigation.  Mr. 
Collins  Baker  has  approached  little-understood 
phases  of  John  Crome.  It  is  quite  evident  that 
before  Crome  could  produce  anything  so 
masterly  as  the  Hautbois  Common,  now  in  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  at  New  York,  which 
dates  from  1810,  he  necessarily  underwent  an 
evolutionary  process  and  subjected  himself  to 
various  influences.  A  study  of  Crome's  works 
during  what  might  be  called  his  apprenticeship 
stage — a  number  of  which  works  have  hitherto 
been  wrongly  rejected  because  of  their  tentative 
qualities — affords  a  clue  to  these  influences.  In 
pursuing  this  phase  of  the  artist,  Mr.  Collins 
Baker  has  done  invaluable  work  in  the  cause  of 
one  of  the  world's  greatest  landscape  painters. 
In  treating  of  these  early  works  and  the  in- 
fluences   which    brought    them    into    being    he 


302 


3' 


Plate  III.     Vase,  blue  and  white.     Height,  30". 
K'ang  Hsi  period.     (Mr.  Leonard  Gow.) 


rightly  thinks  that  the  Claudian  tradition  as  it 
descended  through  Richard  Wilson  had  a  pre- 
dominating influence  upon  him ;  but  when  he 
goes  so  far  as  to  describe  Richard  Wilson  "  as  a 
better  model  than  Dutch  masters,"  we  frankly 
take  issue  with  him.  Whilst  not  wishing  to 
underrate  in  any  way  the  qualities  of  Richard 
Wilson,  it  can  scarcely  be  urged  that  he  was 
much  more  than  a  meritorious  exponent  of  the 
Claudian  tradition,  and  was  far  from  being  an 
innovator  and  creative  genius  as  Ruisdael  was. 
The  extensive  view  of  a  flat  country,  in  the 
National  Gallery,  and  the  Jewish  Burial  Ground 
in  Dresden,  to  cite  but  two  examples,  are 
essentially  stones  in  the  evolution  of  landscape 
painting,  and  are  of  infinitely  more  creative 
import  than  anything  Wilson  achieved.  Crome 
as  he  approached  maturity,  whilst  still  profiting 
by  the  Claudian  lesson  as  it  passed  across 
Wilson,  rightly  perceived,  unconsciously  per- 
haps, how  much  more  vital  were  certain  Dutch 
masters  than  Wilson.  This  line  of  thought, 
coupled  with  other  factors,  leads  us  to  a  different 
conclusion  from  Mr.  Collins  Baker,  viz.,  that 
Gainsborough  finally  influenced  Crome  more 
deeply  than  Wilson.  In  Gainsborough's  early 
works  Crome  perceived  the  influence  of 
Wynants  and  Ruisdael  in  examples  of  the 
Cornard  Wood  and  Dedham  type,  and 
further  he  realised  the  effect  upon  the 
mature  Gainsborough  of  the  dominating 
influence  of  Rubens — one  of  the  most 
potent  factors  in  the  development  of  modern 
landscape  painting.  Gainsborough's  example 
was  of  more  importance  to  Crome  than  anything 
he  could  learn  from  Wilson.  Striking  evidence 
of  Crome's  attachment  to  Gainsborough  will  be 
apparent  to  those  who  have  seen  the  Willow 
Tree,  one  of  the  most  ethereal  and  spontaneous 
of  all  Crome's  pictures. 

In  looking  through  Mr.  Collins  Baker's 
list  one  feels  much  satisfaction  at  his 
whole-hearted  acceptance  of  those  typical 
examples,  which  have  from  time  to  time 
been  unjustly  doubted,  the  Brathey  Bridge  and 
the  Slate  Quarries,  and  his  partial  acceptance 
of  the  sturdy  Near  Hingham  in  the  Tate 
Gallery.  For  the  coupling  of  the  last-mentioned 
with  the  name  of  Crome  the  writer  of  this 
article  has  fought  long,  and  goes  further  than 
Mr.  Collins  Baker  inasmuch  as  he  accepts  the 
whole  work  as  being  from  the  hand  of  Crome. 
The  theory  that  Crome  never  painted  a  subject 
that  he  had  etched,  or  vice  versa,  upon  which 
some  of  the  objections  to  the  Near  Hingham 
have  been  based,  will  not  bear  investigation, 
and  the  suggestion  made  in  Norwich  that  Alfred 
George  Stannard  was  its  author  can  be  sum- 
marily dismissed,  not  only  on  account  of  the  essen- 
tial characteristics  of  Crome  which  it  embodies 


and  of  which  Stannard  was  incapable,  but  also 
upon  the  conclusive  ground  of  the  age  of  the 
pigment  and  canvas.  The  nebulous  talk  of 
Stannard  imitations  of  Crome  has  become 
almost  a  local  tradition.  Yet  in  the  course  of 
many  years'  experience  the  writer  has  never 
seen  any  work  by  Stannard  which  could  be  con- 
fused with  an  original  work  by  the  master. 

But  we  are  not  invariably  in  agreement  with 
Mr.  Collins  Baker's  attributions.  One  instance 
can  be  cited — the  important  Heath-Sunset, 
which  the  National  Gallery  of  Scotland  (No.  226 
in  the  catalogue)  is  fortunate  enough  to  possess. 
This  is  dismissed  as  not  being  the  work  of  Crome 
and  Mr.  Collins  Baker  suggests  J.  B.  Ladbrooke 
as  its  possible  author.  It  seems  to  the  writer  as 
difficult  to  connect  it  with  Ladbrooke  as  to  de- 
prive John  Crome  of  this  characteristic  and  mov- 
ing landscape  of  his  maturity.  Not  only  does 
John  Berney  Ladbrooke's  style  quite  definitely 
differ  from  that  employed  in  the  Heath-Sun- 
set, but  the  age  of  the  pigment  and  canvas 
makes  it  clear  that  Ladbrooke  who  could  not  well 
have  been  out  of  his  earlv  teens  when  it  was 
painted,  was  not  the  the  author. 

The  chapter  on  Crome's  watercolours  might 
perhaps  have  been  made  more  extensive.  One 
can  hardly  agree  that  in  this  medium  Crome 
occupied  "  a  very  inferior  position."  It  would' 
seem  scarcely  possible  to  maintain  this  view 
when  one  remembers  the  fine  example  owned  by 
the  Whitworth  Institute  at  Manchester,  to  name 
only  one.  It  is  probable  that  watercolour 
played  a  not  unimportant  part  in  the  synthesis 
of  his  work  in  oil.  One  is  inclined  to  think  that 
he  led  up  from  drawings  in  pencil  to  a  fairly 
complete  idea  in  watercolour  before  beginning 
some  of  his  important  pictures.  Extant 
examples  in  watercolour  tend  to  substantiate  this, 
and  time  may  bring  still  others  to  light.  These 
watercolours  reveal  some  of  his  best  qualities, 
and  prove  that  when  he  is  working  in  this 
medium  he  is  not  to  be  lightly  dismissed. 

The  chapter  on  Crome's  imitators  and  fol- 
lowers is  instructive,  but  it  would  seem  that  we 
are  still  as  far  off  as  ever  in  running  definitely 
to  earth  either  of  the  Pauls,  the  elder  of  whom 
was  by  far  the  most  dangerous  and  amongst  the 
most  prolific  imitators  of  Crome.  The  Forest 
Trees  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  is 
from  his  brush.  Of  the  men  working  on  original 
lines,  the  sons  of  Crome — John  Berney,  William 
and  Fred,  are  amongst  those  usually  confused 
with  their  father.  An  exposition  of  the  method 
and  style  of  these  two  last-named — the  first  is 
adequately  dealt  with — would  have  been  wel- 
comed. An  important  point  in  connection  with 
John  Crome  attributions  is  raised  by  Mr.  Collins 
Baker's  remark  that  "  So  far  as  I  know  Crome 
never  painted  on  twill  canvas.     Usually  his  can- 


305 


vas  is  large-grained  with  the  coarse  strands  cross- 
ing at  right  angles.  Sometimes  his  grain  is  finer. 
But  1  have  never  seen  a  genuine  work  by  him  on 
a  canvas  with  a  diagonal  or  'twill'  rib."  Mr.  J. 
.\.  Wiley's  Luiidscape  and  Mr.  Konig's 
Tro-wsc  Lane  are  both  on  "  lierring-bone  " 
canvas,  and  no  doubt  there  are  others.  But 
when  one  realises  how  many  painters,  more 
or  less  competent,  were  at  work  in  and  around 
Norwich  at  that  time,  and  the  number  of  pupils 
all  of  them  had  and  upon  whose  productions 
they  worked,  it  will  be  seen  how  complicated  is 
the  study  of  the  Norwich  School. 

Splendidly  as  John  Crome  is  represented  at 
the  National  Galery,  the  following  types  of  his 
work  still  badly  need  representation  :  a  woody 
landscape  of  the  type  of  the  beautiful  Beaters, 
belonging  to  Lord  Swathling,  one  of  the  distant 
views  of  Norwich,  in  the  possession  of 
Sir  Eustace  Gurney  and  Lord  Rothermere ; 
and  again.  The  Norwich  River :  After- 
noon, belonging  to  Mr.  Max  Michaelis.  We 
might  thus  supplement  the  magnificent  Mouse- 
hold  Heath  and  others  we  know  so  well.  It  is 
further  to  be  hoped  that  one  or  two  examples 
of  the  other  prominent  painters  of  the  Norwich 
School  may  soon  be  added  to  the  Trafalgar 
Square  collection.  Amongst  them,  George 
Vincent,  who  is  not  included  at  all,  and  John 
Sell  Cotman,  who,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  three 
oil  paintings  have  entered  the  gallery  under  his 
name,  is  still  represented,  as  the  writer  thinks, 
by  only  one  damaged  and  not  characteristic  pic- 
ture, the  Wherries  on  the  Yare.  p.  m,  t. 

The    Life,   Corrhspondenxe,    and    Collections    of    Thomas 
Howard,    Earl   of    Arundel.      By    Mary   F.    S.    Hervey. 
Cambridge   University  Press,    1921.     63s.   net. 
It     is     always     a     melancholy     thing     when 
handling  a  volume  fresh  from  the  Press,  a  new- 
born book,  especially  when,  as  is  the  case  with 
the  one  now  before  us,   long  years  have  been 
spent  in  its  making,   to  be  told  in   the  Preface 
that  the  busy,  conceiving  brain  and  the  faithful 
transcribing  hand  never  lived  to  see  the  fruit  of 
their  joint  labour.     The  composer  of  this  book, 
after  devoting   nine  years  to    its    preparation, 
died  a  few  days  after  the  first  proofs  reached  her 
side.     Pious  hands  have  added  final  touches. 

Sunt  lachrymae  rerum  et  mentem  mortalia 
tangunt. 

The  result  of  Miss  Hervey's  research  has 
taken  the  shape  of  a  very  elaborate  biography 
of  the  most  famous  of  English  collectors,  for 
though  there  were  brave  collectors  before 
Arundel,  he  was  the  first  to  attract  the  sluggish 
attention  of  the  "  general  reader,"  and  even  in 
this  well-informed  age  it  is  probable  that  in 
answer  to  the  question,  "  Mention  some  famous 
British  Collectors,"  the  examinee,  after 
scribbling  the   names  of  Arundel    and     Elgin, 


would  be  found  biting  his  pen  and  gazing 
around  him  as  if  "  to  catch  the  casual  sug- 
gestion." Miss  Hervey  planned  her  work  on  a 
generous  .scale,  on,  perhaps,  too  generous  a 
scale,  but  there  is  no  need  for  those  of  us  who 
love  detail  to  quarrel  with  a  method  which  has 
crowded  four  hundred  pages  with  human 
interest  and  emotion. 

To  be  born  a  Howard  in  Tudor  days  was  as 
risky  an  enterprise  as  any  mortal  infant,  born 
with  a  head  on  his  sht)ulders,  could  have  had 
thrust  upon  him,  and  yet  this  was  the  fate  of  the 
man  who  has  been  styled  by  Horace  Walpole 
"  the  Father  of  Vertu  in  I-lngland."  A  glance 
must  be  cast  upon  the  pedigree  of  this 
"  Father  "  or  otherwise  his  lofty  shade  will  be 
mightily  offended,  for,  as  Clarendon  says  of 
him  in  that  too  famous  Character  Sketch,  which 
we  fear  can  never  be  wholly  obliterated  from 
men's  memories,  "  Lord  Arundel  thought  no 
other  part  of  history  considerable  but  what 
related  to  his  own  family."  Lord  Arundel's 
great-great-great-grandfather  was  the  first 
Howard  to  become  a  Duke  of  Norfolk.  He 
died  on  Bosworth  Field  in  1485,  fighting  on  the 
wrong  side,  and  his  estates  were  forfeited.  His 
son  was  the  hero  of  Flodden  (15 13)  where  he 
slew  with  his  own  hand  the  King  of  Scotland, 
thereby  regaining  the  family  honours,  titles  and 
possessions.  The  third  Duke,  who  lives  for  us 
in  one  of  Holbein's  portraits,  after  a  long  and 
dangerous  career  in  the  days  of  Henry  VIII. , 
just  saved  his  head  in  his  8oth  year  by  surviv- 
ing his  master,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
grandson,  the  fourth  Duke,  whose  father,  the 
accomplished  Earl  of  Surrey  (of  blank  verse 
celebrity)  had  lost  his  head  in  1547,  a  family 
misfortune  which  befell  the  fourth  Duke  in 
1572.  Philip,  the  son  of  this  last-named  duke, 
married  a  famous  devout  Catholic  lady,  Ann 
Dacre,  and  after  a  life  of  captivity,  died  in  the 
Tower  in  1595,  leaving  a  ten-year-old  boy,  the 
future  collector,  to  succeed  to  the  barren  titles 
of  Arundel  and  Surrey.  How  much  history, 
how  much  tragedy,  how  many  heart-breaks 
are  shut  up  within  the  compass  of  these  few 
sentences ! 

But  this  paternal  pedigree  of  Lord  Arundel's 
hardly  explains  how  he  came  to  be  a  Collector 
of  Vertu,  though  it  might  well  suggest  the 
probability  of  a  violent  end.  We  think  the 
bacillus  of  the  Antiquary  may  be  found  on  the 
distaff  side,  in  the  person  of  his  maternal  grand- 
mother, Mary  Fitzalan,  the  daughter  and 
heiress  of  the  fourteenth  Earl  of  Arundel,  the 
sumptuous  owner  of  Arundel  House  in  the 
Strand  (long  disappeared),  and  the  extravagant 
decorator  of  the  gorgeous  palace  of  Nonsuch 
(also  gone),  which,  begun  by  Henry  VIII.,  was 
made  rich  and  rare  by  Fitzalan. 


306 


Ex  quovir  ligno  Mercurius  fit. 

All  things  considered,  the  young  Lord 
Arundel,  though  apparently  born  to  be  a 
beggar,  for  the  poor  boy  was  surrounded  from 
the  first  by  a  hungry  horde  of  Howard  uncles 
and  aunts  all  doing  their  best  to  grab  bits  of  the 
forfeited  Norfolk  estates,  did  very  well  for 
himself  in  the  reign  of  James  the  First.  He 
had  been  brought  up  by  his  saintly  mother  in 
the  strict  rigour  of  the  old  religion,  but  in  his 
later  life  he  conformed  to  the  Anglican  Estab- 
lishment, and  in  the  gay  Court  of  the  new  King 
became  a  distinguished  figure,  taking  an  active 
part  in  the  masques  and  revels  and  tiltings  of 
the  time.  Inigo  Jones  was  his  intimate  friend, 
and  he  also  shared  the  noble  tastes  as  well  as  the 
delightful  society  of  Henry  Prince  of  Wales, 
whose  untimely  death  was  not  only  a  blow  to 
T-lngland  but,  as  events  turned  out,  a  bad  stroke 
of  fortune  to  Arundel.  The  "  Royal  Martyr  " 
never  took  to  Arundel,  which  was  a  pity,  for 
collectors  ought  to  love  one  another !  Charles, 
on  succeeding  to  the  throne,  began  to  "  bully 
Arundel,  who  by  this  time  had  not  only  become 
an  Anglican,  but  had  married  a  wealthy  Talbot 
heiress,  and  was,  in  all  respects,  a  magnificent 
nobleman.  Still  Charles  could  not  away  with 
him,  frequently  forbidding  his  coming  to  Court 
or  to  Parliament  and  often  confining  him  to  one 
of  his  numerous  houses.  Perhaps  Edward 
Hyde  was  at  the  bottom  of  this  dislike,  which  he 
fully  shared.  Times  grew  troubled  and 
Arundel  was  a  moderate  politician,  and 
though  often  employed  on  State  occasions, 
there  was  soon  no  room  for  him  in  England, 
and  he  retired  to  his  beloved  Italy,  where  he 
died  at  Padua,  on  the  24th  of  September,  1646, 
in  his  sixty-seventh  year,  much  impoverished  in 
fortune  and  sick  at  heart.  His  descendants, 
children,  and  grandchildren  either  reverted  to 
the  old  religion  or  had  never  been  allowed  to 
leave  it. 

When  and  where  did  Arundel  begin  his  great 
work  as  a  collector?  The  answer  is,  about  1616, 
and  in  Italy,  where  on  one  occasion  he  spent 
more  than  a  year  in  the  intelligent  company  of 
Inigo  Jones.  Milan,  Venice,  Florence,  and 
even  Rome  herself,  then  hard  of  access  for  a 
loyal  Englishman,  revealed  their  treasures,  and 
excited  in  Arundel's  breast  the  Fitzalan 
bacillus.  The  Earl  rode  his  hobby  boldly  and 
never  grudged  the  expense  of  the  mount. 
Arundel  House  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 
became  a  store-house  of  pictures.  The  fifth 
Appendix  to  this  book  contains  the  famous 
Inventory  of  1655  prepared  at  Amsterdam  after 
the  death  of  Arundel's  widow.  It  occupies  25 
pages.  In  August  and  September,  191 1,  it  was 
printed   and   explained   in   this   magazine. 

The  Arundel  Marbles  came  from  the  Levant. 


We  have  some  hesitation  in  directing  the  atten- 
tion of  the  "  general  reader,"  always  a  stern 
moralist,  to  Miss  Hervey's  20th  chapter, 
entitled  "  Research  in  the  Levant,"  where  are 
unfolded  with  some  gusto  and  in  great  detail 
the  methods  of  collectors  in  foreign  lands.  The 
Earl  had  a  rival  collector  operating  on  the  same 
market — the  Duke  of  Buckingham  !  Both  Earl 
and  Duke  employed  agents  who  did  not  stick  at 
trifles.  Each  nobleman  reaped  a  harvest, 
though  the  Duke  never  lived  to  see  his  share  of 
the  plunder.  Felton's  dagger  saw  to  that  !  At 
this  point  the  reader  should  turn  to  two  portraits 
reproduced  opposite  page  142  [Plates  X-XI]. 
The  first,  probably  by  Mytens,  exhibits  the 
Earl  seated  in  the  Sculpture  Gallery  of  Arundel 
House,  the  second  his  Countess  seated  in  the 
Picture  Gallery  —  both  stately  figures. 
Collectors  have  their  joys  amid  their  collections. 
But  after  the  joys  of  collections  come  the  horrors 
of  dispersions.  What  sad  and  sordid  scenes 
does  this  dread  word  evoke !  Fonthill  and 
Stowe !  Where  now  are  the  Arundel 
Treasures?  Oxford  in  her  Ashmolean  holds 
most  of  the  Marbles.  The  Bust  of  Homer  is 
one  of  the  glories  of  the  British  Museum.  The 
pictures  were  scattered  in  all  directions. 
Arundel  House  has  disappeared  and  not  even  a 
good  print  of  it  remains.  Vanitas  vanitatum. 
All  is  Vanity.  It  should  be  added  that  Miss 
Hervey's  book  has  twenty-four  illustrations,  all 
of  great  interest.  'augustine  birrell. 

Delphi.  By  Frederik  Poulsen.  Translated  by  G.  C. 
Richards.  With  a  Preface  by  Percy  Gardner.  338  no  , 
164   illustrations.     (Gvldendal.)     21s.    net. 

This  is,  we  believe,  the  first  substantial  work 
of  a  Danish  classical  archjeologist  to  appear  in 
English.  Most  English  scholars  would  have 
remained  ignorant  of  the  work  of  such  writers 
as  Julius  Lange  or  Ludwig  Miiller,  if  they  had 
not  been  accessible  in  German  or  French.  It  is 
our  loss,  for  Danish  scholarship  has  the 
thoroughness  of  the  German,  combined  with  a 
much  finer  instinct  for  the  essential.  The  firm 
of  Gyldendal  are  doing  their  best  to  make  con- 
temporary Scandinavian  literature  known  to  us, 
but  this  IS  their  first  venture  of  the  kind  in  the 
archffiological  sphere.  No  better  combination 
than  that  of  Dr.  Poulsen  and  his  translator 
could  have  been  found  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
before  the  general  reader  what  is  known  of 
Delphi  from  its  excavations.  The  book  is  well 
produced,  and,  considering  the  present  state  of 
prices,  very  cheap. 

We  are'  accustomed  to  regret  the  systematic 
looting  of  Greek  sites  in  antiquity:  and  of  all 
treasuries  of  ancient  art,  Delphi  probably  suffered 
most  grievously.  But  incapable  as  the  Romans 
may  have  been  of  learning  the  true  lesson  of 
Greek  art,  they  nevertheless  kept  alive  the  rever- 
ence for  it;  and  it  was  through  them  that  the 


307 


spark  was  handed  on  to  tlie  Renaissance.  The 
ahernative  would  have  been  that  such  remains  as 
did  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Turkish 
destrover  would  have  stayed  underground  until 
the  davs  of  moilern  excavation.  But,  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  long  tradition  preserved  by 
Rome,  would  those  days  ever  have  come?  Per- 
haps, then,  when  Nero  removed  no  less  than  500 
bronze  statues  from  Delphi,  he  did  not  do  un- 
mixed harm  ;  there  is  little  doubt  that  if  they  had 
surv'ived  until  the  Turkish  conquest  they  would 
have  suffered  the  fate  of  those  which  the  sacri- 
legious Phocians  converted  into  cash  in  the 
Second  Sacred  War.  As  it  is,  something  of 
them  may  possibly  have  survived,  though  un- 
recognised bv  us,  in  the  work  of  Renaissance 
artists. 

Dr.  Poulsen  takes  what  remains  of  Delphi  in 
more  or  less  chronological  order.  The  site  has 
retained  no  single  original  work  of  the  very  first 
rank ;  for,  extraordinarily  interesting  as  the 
bronze  charioteer  may  be,  it  is  not  a  masterpiece, 
and  the  .\gias,  a  new  document  for  the  develop- 
ment of  Lysippus,  is  only  a  marble  copy  of  a  lost 
bronze  original.  Like  most  new  documents,  it 
has  led  to  more  disturbance  than  solution.  Dr. 
Poulsen  discusses  all  the  more  important  works 
thoroughly  in  their  general  bearings,  and  his 
handling  of  the  two  statues  mentioned  appears  to 
us  to  be  the  be.st  thing  in  his  book.  His  com- 
parison of  the  charioteer  with  the  river-god  of 
Gela  confirms  the  first  impression  made  by  the 
statue  on  the  present  writer.  Other  works  are 
discussed  with  equal  care  and  acumen,  either  for 
their  individual  qualities,  or  as  stages  in  the 
development  of  artistic  schemes  :  good  instances 
are  the  Europa  metope  from  the  Sicyonian 
Treasurv,  and  the  Heracles  and  Theseus  metopes 
of  the  Athenian  Treasury.  It  may  be  observed, 
however,  that  the  operation  performed  by 
Heracles  on  the  lion  which  Dr.  Poulsen  illus- 
trates from  a  black-figure  vase  as  an  example  of 
the  strangle-hold  is  something  different ;  Heracles 
is  tearing  the  beast's  jaws  apart,  like  Samson. 

The  book  is  on  the  whole  well  balanced ;  there 
is  only  one  curious  digression  of  five  pages  on 
ancient  views  of  the  evils  of  war,  which  is  more 
relevant  to  our  own  times  than  to  the  subject  of 
the  book.  Mr.  Richards's  translation  is  very 
readable;  it  is  seldom  that  it  betrays  a  slight 
stiffness.  For  instance,  "  smukt  "  is  a  proper 
Danish  epithet  for  a  finelv  built  vigorous  male 
figure;  but  "pretty"  will  hardly  do.  On  page 
219  the  tripod  and  statue  of  victory  should  be 
described  as  "  wrought,"  not  "  erected,"  by 
Bion.  On  page  226  a  sentence  has  fallen  out  (or 
been  deliberately  omitted?)  :  "  the  former  view 
(namely  that  the  chariot-group  was  placed  so  as 
to  be  seen  from  the  front)  would  seem  preferable, 
because  one  figure  would  hide  the  other  if  placed 
in  profile."     But  we  wish   all  foreign  archaeo- 


logical works  were  as  haiijiy  in  tlieir  translators 

as  this  one.  <-••  !•'•  H- 

Old  Bristou  Potteries,  by  W.  J.  Pountney,  with  forewords 
by  R.  1..  ItonsoN  and  Bernard  Rackiiam  ;  xxxiii  +  370  pp. 

liliisi.      Urisiol.      (Arrowsmith.)     /J2    us.   (xl. 

It  has  long  been  a  matter  of  reproach  that  with 
the  single  exception  of  Mr.  Hobson's  Worcester 
Porcelain  there  existed    no   monograph    dealing 
worthily  with  any  Hnglish    ceramic    factory    in 
accordance  with  the  methods  of  modern  criticism. 
This  was  the  more  to  be  regretted  by  contrast 
with  the  number  of  splendid  volumes  devoted  in 
pre-war  davs    by  German    connoisseurs    to    the 
porcelains  of  their  country.     The  appearance  of 
the  present  work  is  thus  an  event  of  significance. 
The  first  and  major  portion  of  the  book  consists 
of  an  exhaustive  account  of  the  delft  ware  pot- 
teries;  of  one  of  these,  which  still  flourishes,  Mr. 
Pountncv's  father  was  manager    from     1813    to 
1852.    The  negative  evidence  of  Mr.  Pountney's 
excavations  finally  destroys  the  old  myth  of  the 
existence  of  Brislington  lustre  ware ;  the  dishes 
on  whose  behalf  this  claim  was  put  forward  are 
clearly     all     imported     Spanish     wares.       Mr. 
Pountney's  important  discoveries  in  connection 
with   the  earliest   Bristol   porcelain   factory  will 
not  be  new  to  readers  of  the  Burlington  Maga- 
zine (see  vol.  xxxii,  pp.  151,  175)-     About  1750 
soapstone  porcelain  was  made  for  a  short  time 
at  Bristol,  but  it  remained  for  Mr.  Pountney  to 
identify  the  factory  as  Lowdin's  China  House, 
as  well  as  to  establish  its  site  and  to  unravel  the 
fact  that  by  1752  it  had  migrated  to  Worcester 
and  become  amalgamated    with    the    porcelain 
factory  of  Dr.  Wall. 

Mr.  Pountney  spares  us  no  detail  of  the  lives  of 
his  dramatis  persona;;  in  some  cases  his  pas.sion 
for  exegesis  rather  gets  the  better  of  his  judg- 
ment. Thus,  on  page  148,  Mr.  Pountney  mis- 
quotes as  "  Thomas  Rowla,n,d  "  the  name  on  the 
"  William  Rowland  "  j  ;  in  the  Bristol 
Museum,  and  then  seeks  10  identify  this  ghost 
of  his  own  creation  with  a  real  Thomas  Rowland 
whose  name  he  has  discovered  in  a  local  docii- 
ment.  Similarly  on  page  243  he  mistranslates  die 
sabbati  as  Sunday,  and  this  enables  him  to  draw 
an  illogical  conclusion.  A  Latin  entry  quoted 
on  pp.  155  and  295  appears  to  have  eluded  the 
vigilance  of  the  proof-reader;  the  two  versions 
differ  slightly,  but  as  they  stand  both  are  equally 
baffling  to  the  best-intentioned  translator.  The 
fine  punch-bowl  made  by  Joseph  Flower  and  now 
in  Mrs.  Swann's  Collection  is  said  on  page  139 
to  be  dated  1747  and  on  plate  xxxv  to  be  dated 
1 741,  the  truth  being  apparently  (Burlington 
Fine  Arts  Club,  1914  Exhibition,  Catalogue  page 
63)  that  the  date  is  badly  written  and  can  be  read 
in  either  way. 

But  these  are  minute  points.  Mr.  Pountney 
may  be  congratulated  on  having  added  a  volume 
to  the  library  of  standard  works.  w.  K. 


308 


Ursprung  der  Christlichen  Kirchenkonst.  Neue  Tat- 
SACHEN  UND  Grundsatze  der  Kunstforschung  erortert 
VON  Josef  Strzvgowski.  Acht  Vortrage  der  Olaus  Petri- 
Stiftung  in  Upsala.  Deutsche  vermehrte  Originalausgabe 
mit  64  Abbildungen  auf  36  Tafeln.  Leipzig.  J.  C.  Hin- 
riclis'sclie  Buchhanalung.     xi  +  204  pp.     M. 12.50  +  60  %. 

This  is  a  challenging  book  written  in  a 
provocative  style  by  an  explorer  of  new  land, 
urging  students  of  the  history  of  art  to  widen  their 
range  of  vision,  to  embrace  a  field  which  stretches 
from  Scandinavia  to  China,  and  from  the  Yenis- 
sei  to  the  Upper  Nile.  It  is  at  once  a  confession 
of  faith,  a  chart  of  the  author's  life-work,  and  a 
summary  of  his  conclusions — a  restatement  of  the 
results  set  forth  in  detail  in  his  massive  volumes 
on  Amida,  on  Armenia  and  on  Altai-Iran.  Three 
deeply  rooted  prejudices  have  in  the  past  pre- 
vented anv  adequate  study  of  the  origins  of 
Christian  art.  As  against  those  who  would 
seek  the  origins  of  Christian  art  in  a  purely 
Mediterranean  environment  —  in  Hellenistic 
art  and  the  art  of  Imperial  Rome — Strzv- 
gowski would  accentuate  the  fact  of  the  early 
eastward  expansion  of  Christianity  in  Meso- 
potamia and  in  Persia.'  Here  in  the  East, 
especially  in  Persia,  early  Christianity  had  a  freer 
field  for  a  natural  development,  unhindered  by 
the  religious  oppression  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
The  true  picture  is  thus  not  that  of  a  western 
church  with  its  centre  at  Rome  and  of  an  eastern 
church  with  its  centre  at  Constantinople — that  is 
the  creation  of  Islam — but  rather  of  a  Christianity 
divided  into  three  zones:  (1)  a  Mediterranean 
world,  including  the  Greek  cities  of  Alexandria 
and  Antioch  and  the  coasts  of  Asia  Minor,  (ii)  a 
Semitic  zone  embracing  Egypt  beyond  the  influ- 
ence of  Alexandria,  Syria,  the  Hinterland  of  Asia 
Minor  and  Mesopotamia  with  its  centre — its 
Brennpunkt — in  the  triangle  formed  by  Edessa, 
Nisibis  and  Amid?  ^nd  (iii)  Iran  and  Armenia  : 
i.e.,  West  and  E?  Aryans  divided  by  a  great 
Semitic  wedge.  The  West  Aryans  dominated  by 
classical  Mediterranean  traditions  take  as  the 
model  for  their  churches  the  Basilica  with  its  flat, 
wooden  roof,  and,  as  ground  plan,  a  building 
based  on  length  rather  than  breadth.  The  East 
develops  its  own  style  of  construction,  based  on 
the  vault,  barrel  vaulting,  it  seems,  mainly  in 
Persian  Mesopotamia,  the  cupola  in  Iran.  By 
the  fourth  century  the  vault  was  the  form  of 
Christian  architecture  which  was  supreme  in  the 
East. 

As  against  those  who  would  base  their  recon- 
struction of  the  history  of  early  Christian  art  only 
on  such  monuments  as  chance  to  have  been  pre- 
served, Strzvgowski  contends  that  it  is  essential 
to  argue  back  from  the  stone  vaulting  of 
Armenian  churches  to  the  earlier  vaulting  in 
crude  brick  which  the  later  buildings  presuppose, 
and  from  the  true  vault  to  infer  an  earlier  form  of 


'  E.   Sachau  :    Zur    Atisbreitung   des  Chrislcntums   in    Asicn. 
Berlin,    1919. 


overlaid  wood  construction  (Dbereckung)  which 
gradually  closed  up  the  space  left  by  the  walls  to 
form  a  roof. 

As  against  those  who  have  understanding  only 
for  an  art  of  Representation  (Darstellung)  Strzy- 
gowski  would  show  us  the  importance  for  early 
Christianity  of  an  art  of  flat  ornament  filling  a 
given  space  with  a  pattern  which  has  no  end. 
Where  in  the  later  art  of  the  West  the  archaeo- 
logist sees  only  a  rigid  and  petrified  Hellenism 
(e.g.,  in  landscape  scenes),  Strzygowski  would 
note  rather  the  emergence  of  a  true  Aryan  art 
emancipating  itself  from  the  dominance  of  Medi- 
terranean traditions ;  it  is  this  hostility  to  an  art 
of  Representation  which  characterizes  the  Chris- 
tian art  of  Armenia.  We  naturally  ask  :  where 
did  the  Eastern  Christians  find  the  originals 
for  this  art  of  ornament  and  symbohsm  ? 
Strzygowski  would  answer :  in  a  widespread 
Iranian  Mazdaic  art  embodying  the  native  tradi- 
tions of  the  East  Aryans  in  revolt  against  the  art 
of  Representation  practised  by  the  Semites  of  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates  valley -civilisation.'  This 
Mazdaic  art  is  lost,  but  its  ornament  and  the 
symbolism  of  its  Paradise  lie  behind  the  art  of  the 
Eastern  Christians.  This  inference  is  one  of  the 
boldest  applications  of  Strzygowski's  principle 
that  the  historian  of  art  must  face  the  problems 
implicitly  raised  by  those  later  developments  of 
which  alone  monumental  evidence  is  preserved. 

Before  ever  Christianity  was  recognised  by  the 
Roman  state  in  the  West,  there  were  Christian 
kingdoms  in  Osroene  and  in  Armenia,  and  here, 
Strzygowski  insists,  national  Christian  traditions 
alike  in  ornament  and  architecture  had  been 
formed.'  Constantine  to  give  prestige  to  the 
revived  monarchy,  to  add  to  the  pomp  and  cir- 
cumstance of  a  Court  founded  on  Oriental 
theories  of  absolutism,  is  prepared  to  use  all 
styles  in  his  imperial  buildings :  the  cupola  and 
vault  of  Eastern  Christianity  seem  on  the  way  to 
conquer  the  traditional  western  form  of  the  Basi- 
lica. But  the  fourth  century  empire  realises  that 
if  the  church  is  to  be  a  support  to  the  throne,  that 
church  must  itself  be  one  in  faith  and  practice, 
while  the  church  with  the  prestige  of  the  new 
alliance  reinforcing  its  activity  develops  its  own 
hierarchic  organisation  and  takes  for  its  model  the 
centralisation  of  the  imperial  civil  reconstruction. 
A  western  uniformity  is  imposed  upon  Eastern 
Christianity,  and  that  We.stern  uniformity  starts 
from  the  Basilica — a  building  based  on  length 
(Ldngsbau) — and  from  an  art  of  Representation. 

The  fifth  century  thus  checks  the  triumphant 

2  Strzygowski's  attempted  explanation  of  tiie  abandonment 
by  the  Semite,  when  settled  in  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  valleys, 
of  his  native  art  of  pure  form  seems  quite  inadequate.  Here 
surely  the  influence  of  Sumerlan  art  must  be  considered. 

'.Strzygowski's  picture  of  the  national  .Armenian  Christianity 
of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  apf)ears  exaggerated  ;  has  he 
considered  the  implications  of  the  account  given  by  Faustus 
of  Byzantium  of  early   ArmeniaTi   Christianity? 


309 


advance  of  the  cupola  :  the  Aryan  of  the  West  is 
subjected  afresh  to  the  dominance  of  Mediter- 
ranean forms  of  architecture  :  wiien  at  length  he 
has  sought  to  assert  his  own  indiviiiiiality  in  the 
development  of  Gothic  architecture  the  revived 
classicism  of  the  Renascence  subdues  him  yet 
again  to  an  alien  influence,  and  only  in  our  own 
da\'  are  there  signs  that  the  North  is  beginning 
to  work  out  its  artistic  salvation  and  to  see  its 
future  in  an  art  of  significant  form  rather  than 
in  an  art  of  representation,  while  it  may  yet  find 
its  architectural  solution  in  the  external  buttresses 
of  Gothic,  and  the  radiate  cupola  building  of 
Armenia,  both  the  work  of  the  Northerner. 

In  the  East  the  attempt  of  the  West  to  impose 
its  own  uniformity  results  in  a  compromise  :  the 
cupola  remains,  but  the  church  assumes  a  length- 
ened form — its  classical  expression  is  the  cruci- 
form cupola  church  with  double  axis — while  the 
native  art  of  the  Northerner  refuses  to  accept  the 
pictorial  tradition  of  the  West. 

And  what  of  Byzantium  ?  It  would  seem  that 
for  Strzvgowski,  Constantinople  stands  but  as  a 
bridge-head  between  two  worlds  for  which  con- 
tending forces  struggle.  The  cupola  early  gains 
entrance  and  holds  its  ground,  but  the  Iconoclast 
with  Armenia  and  the  East  behind  him  is  beaten 
back  bv  the  Iconodule,  and  the  supremacy  of  the 
sacred  image — of  an  art  of  Darstellung — is 
henceforward  unquestioned.* 

Of  much  else,  of  the  architecture  in  wood  of  the 
Scandinavian  North,  of  the  Northern  influences 
brought  by  Goth  and  Lombard  to  Italy  and  Spain, 
of  the  penetration  of  Europe  by  the  Northerner  of 
the  East,  especially  through  that  postern  gate  of 
the  West,  Marseilles,  by  which  Syrian  and 
Armenian  found  entry  into  Gaul,'  of  the  Islamic 
art  of  the  desert  nomad  and  how  it  joined  hands 
with  the  kindred  art  of  Iran,  of  all  this  and  more 
there  is  no  space  to  speak  here.  n.  h.  b. 

Old  English  Furniture  and  its  Surroundings  from  the 
Restoration  to  the  Regencv  ;  by  MacIver  Percival 
(Heinemann).     30s. 

This  sort  of  book  is  to  be  encouraged,  and  it 
is  a  pitv  that  it  cannot  cost  less  than  30s.  It 
does  not  pretend  to  be  a  book  for  students,  but 
aims  successfully  at  bringing  before  ordinary 
people  that  tradition  of  good  taste  which  only 
left  England  with  the  coming  of  industrialism 
and  the  Gothic  revival. 

The  book,  which  is  admirably  illustrated, 
begins  with  the  Italian  and  French  influences, 
which  came  back  with  the  triumphant  cavaliers, 

*  Cf.  Bibliothek  des  Ostens  :  Band  III.  J.  Strzvgowski  :  Die 
bildende  Kunst  des  Ostens.  Pp.  55  sqq.  Leipzig.  Klink- 
hardt.     1916. 

'  Chambre  de  Commerce  de  Marseille  :  Congr^s  franijais  de 
la  S}Tie.  Stances  et  Travaux.  Fasc.  II.  Pp.  75-qS,  103-126. 
151-167.     Marseille.     1919. 

[Note. — We  understand  that  Mr.  O.  M.  Dalton  of  the 
British  Museum  is  engaged  on  a  translation  of  the  work 
reviewed  above  which  it  is  hoped  will  be  published  by  The 
Oxford  Press. — Editor.] 


and  we  see  clearly  the  arrival  of  the  Dutch  taste 
with  William  and  all  the  chinoiserie  of  Chippen- 
dale and  the  l-'nglish  tapestry  weavers  that  ran 
tiiroiigh  the  uSth  century,  till  the  French  Revo- 
lution reintroduced  the  politics  of  Brutus  and 
what  was  ccmceived  to  be  the  artistic  taste  of 
Sulla. 

This  book  very  properlv  treats  the  room  as  the 
unit,  and  mouldings,  staircases,  chair-coverings, 
lapc-stry  and  pepper-pots  fall  into  their  proper 
places,  as  ministers  in  the  temple  man  has  con- 
structed for  his  own  worship.  Our  museum 
.'luthorities,  happv  in  their  watertight  compart- 
ments, might,  if  they  were  sufTiciently  humble, 
learn  something  about  displaying  their  own 
wares  from  Mr.  Percival's  book.  Those  who 
want  to  furnish  their  own  rooms  will  learn  that 
there  is  an  alternative  to  art  nouvcau  and  that 
extreme  discomfort  is  not  the  inevitable  helpmeet 
of  good  taste.  We  would  particularly  commend 
the  section  of  the  book  which  is  devoted  to  up- 
holstery. Here  if  anywhere  there  was  an 
English  tradition  till  well  on  into  the  icjth  cen- 
tury. It  is  a  thousand  pities  if  all  memory  of  it 
must  die.  Perhaps  reading  this  book  may  help 
to  make  the  British  public  realise  the  advantages 
to  be  gained  from  studying  more  closely  the 
unique  collections  in  the  South  Kensington 
Museum.  f.  b. 

The  Miniature  Collector.     By  Dr.  G.  C.  Williamson.     308 
pp.   +    16  pi.     (Jenkins).     7s.   6d.   n. 

To  consult  any  of  Dr.  Williamson's  books 
as  a  work  of  reference  is  a  source  of  exaspera- 
tion. He  is  cumbrous  and  inaccurate,  and  his 
judgments  are  those  of  a  brocantcur  rather  than 
of  an  art-critic.  His  new  book  (an  inexpensive 
summary  of  the  history  of  portrait-miniature, 
containing  a  good  deal  of  information  not 
readily  accessible  to  the  general  reader)  furnishes 
examples  of  his  faults.  There  are  errors  in 
dates,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  accept  his  identifica- 
tion of  the  persons  represented  in  some  of  his 
illustrations.  For  example  Mr.  F.  M.  Kelly 
points  out  that  the  so-called  "  Alen^on  "  in 
Plate  V  is  a  version  of  the  portrait  of  Raleigh 
by  N.  Hilliard  in  Vienna.  Dr.  Williamson  has 
written  more  fully  than  anyone  about  minia- 
tures, and  the  historical  interest  of  his  subject 
attracts  a  limited  number  of  serious  students  as 
well  as  the  more  numerous  amateurs  of  pretty 
trifles.  The  appreciation  given  to  his  volumin- 
ous and  unreliable  works  will  vary  as  his  readers 
fall  into  one  class  or  the  other.  R.  s. 

GOVA  ;  by  Jean  Tild.     142  pp.   +   16  pi.     Paris  (F^lix  Alcan). 

10  fs.  n. 

Goya  was  one  of  the  rare  cases  in  the  history 
of  art  of  an  artist  of  great  power  who  had  more  or 
less  what  the  layman  fondly  imagines  to  be  the 
"  artistic  temperament."  He  was  capricious, 
vehement  and  impulsive,   fond  of  display,  and 


.310 


3" 


•^. 


^"--^ 


A     Studies  of  Angels,  by  Benozzo  Gozzoli 


c;^ 


;^'-'^- 


y^ 


B     Sick  Woman  in  Bed,  bv  Rembrandt 


Auctions 


the  social  prestige  which  he  owed  in  part  to  his 
genius,  in  part  to  his  love  affairs.  Goya  went  as 
near,  perhaps,  as  an  artist  with  such  a  tempera- 
ment can,  to  greatness,  but  he  missed  inevitably 
the  higher  reaches  of  the  imaginative  life.  M. 
Tild,     therefore,    quite     naturally     devotes    the 

MONTHLY  CHRONICLE 

The  London  Group. — As  a  foreigner  accus- 
tomed to  Parisian  exhibitions  the  London  Group 
at  the  Mansard  Gallery  came  to  me  as  something 
of  a  surprise.  When  I  visited  the  exhibition  of 
the  same  group  two  years  ago  I  could  never  have 
foretold  so  remarkable  an  advance.  Then  the 
majority  of  the  works  showed  signs  of  anarchy 
or  there  was  at  least  a  strong  desire  to  produce 
startling  effects.  What  strikes  one  now  is  the 
admirable  "  tenue,"  and  the  calm  and  concen- 
trated effort  to  work  out  essentially  pictorial 
problems  which  most  of  the  pictures  show. 
There  are  no  masterpieces,  but  one  must  admit 
that  even  in  Paris  one  would  seldom  come  upon 
"  un  ensemble  "  of  such  sustained  level.  Few 
indeed  are  the  works  in  which  unity  of  design, 
colour  and  solid  construction  have  been  sacri- 
ficed to  either  literary  motives  or  to  would-be 
originality.  Of  late  years  it  has  been  my  good 
fortune  to  see  representative  exhibitions  of 
modern  Italian,  Dutch,  and  Spanish  Art,  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  among  those  countries,  whose 
art  has  come  under  the  salutary  influence  of  the 
traditionalist  revival  in  French  art,  England  now 
stands  first.  Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at,  if  one 
remembers  that  the  English  have  a  natural  gift 
for  colour  and  a  sincere  sensibility.  The  defects 
of  English  art  have  been  due  to  these  gifts  never 
having  been  sufficiently  controlled  by  a  sense  of 
design. 

As  yet  one  cannot  acclaim  any  great  outstand- 
ing figures,  but  if  this  movement  in  England  can 
survive  these  difficult  times,  the  future  of 
English  art  is  most  hopeful. 

Among  those  exhibitors  whose  works  I  saw 
before,  the  following,  in  particular,  seem  to  show 
a  satisfactory  change  of  direction.  Mr.  Elliot 
Seabrook  has  become  a  serious  and  accomplished 
landscape  painter;  Mr.  Meninsky,  certainly  in 
his  admirable  nude,  shows  a  strong  sense  of 
design,  and  Mr.  John  Nash's  landscape  is  a  real 
effort  towards  coherence  of  line  and  colour.  Mr. 
Porter  has  progressed  steadily  along  his  own 
path,  and'the  same  kind  of  progress,  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Keith  Baynes,  may  be  deduced  from  his 

LETTER 

"  CEZANNE   AND  THE   NATION." 

Sir, — Since  Mr.  Aitken's  name  figures  rather 
largely  in  your  article  on  the  lending  of  pictures 
by  Cezanne  to  the  Tate  Gallery,  it  is  only  fair 


greater  part  of  his  little  book  to  the  entertaining 
and  diversified  story  of  Goya's  life,  which  he 
tells  well.  But  he  follows  it  up  with  an  adequate 
account  of  his  works,  adding  some  judicious 
remarks  on  the  quality  of  his  art  and  his 
important  influence  on  modern  painting,  r.  f. 


charming  and  delicately  seen  still  life.  Mr. 
Duncan  Grant  has  an  exquisite  sense  of  the 
decorative,  and  very  exceptional  invention  ;  these 
qualities  tell  in  every  picture  he  paints,  but 
seldom  so  distinctly  when  he  attempts  more  solid 
treatment.  Mrs.  Bell  is  really  gifted,  and  when 
her  compositions  are  simple  she  may  trust  com- 
pletely her  own  personal  taste  as  an  artist.  Mr. 
Roger  Fry's  landscape,  The  Estuary,  one  of  the 
most  important  pictures  in  the  exhibition,  has  a 
great  deal  of  atmosphere  and  colour,  and  the 
space,  lines,  and  intervals  in  it  are  extraordin- 
arily well  contrived.  The  exhibition  is  very 
well  hung.  A.  Lavelli. 

Publications  Received. — Our  usual  list  of 
art  books  and  periodicals  published  during  the 
past  month  will  be  found  facing  page  xxxvii  of 
our  advertisement  columns. 

June  Exhibitions. — A  list  of  exhibitions  open 
during  this  month  will  be  found  on  p.  iii  of  our 
advertisement  columns.  Amongst  these  are  The 
New  English  Art  Club  at  the  R.W.C.S. 
Gallery,  The  Royal  Academy,  and  The  London 
Group  at  The  Mansard  Gallery.  Lack  of 
space  prevents  our  commenting  at  length  on 
these,  but  we  publish  in  this  column  an 
impression  of  the  London  Group  exhibition 
written  by  a  French  visitor  to  London.  We 
refrain  also  from  criticising  our  Nameless 
Exhibition  at  the  Grosvenor  Gallery,  but  Mr. 
Desmond  MacCarthy  contributes  a  note  on  the 
subject  which  occupies  our  usual  editorial  page. 
We  take  this  opportunity  of  expressing  our  grati- 
tude to  Mr.  Charles  Sims,  R.A.,  and  Professor 
Henry  Tonks,  who  together  with  Mr.  Roger 
Fry  undertook  the  exacting  work  of  selecting 
and  hanging  the  pictures.  The  exhibition  owes 
its  success  mainly  to  the  enthusiasm,  knowledge 
and  discrimination  of  these  three  gentlemen.  It 
may  be  useful  to  add  that  their  efforts  were  not 
in  a  single  case  hampered  by  any  of  the  diffi- 
culties for  which  we  prepared  ourselves  when 
undertaking  to  bring  together  artists  aiming  in 
so  many  different  directions. 


to  him  to  point  out  that  the  decision  about  them 
was  taken  by  the  Board  as  a  whole.  So  far, 
indeed,  as  Mr.  Aitken's  personal  record  can  be 
guessed   in  connection  with  the  acceptance    of 


313 


loans  liv  tlie  Tate  G;illery,  1  tlunk  it  will  hc 
found  to  be  one  of  consistent  generosity  ami 
of  conspicuous  success.  If  tiie  Board  on  this  or 
anv  other  occasion  may  seem  lo  depart  from  that 
poiicv,  its  character  and  constitution  are  now 
surelv  guarantees  that  a  departure  is  not  made 
without  good  reason  :  ant!  tiiose  who  have  fol- 
lowed the  iiistory  of  the  National  Gallery  with 
anv  attention  will  know  that  trustees  have  cause 
to  scrutinize  with  caution  all  offers  of  loans, 
even  when  the  offers  are  made  by  private  owners 
of  repute  and  independence. 

To  descend  from  generalities,   I   much  regret 

AUCTIONS 

Mbssks.  Glkndinnisc.  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  7,  .Argyll  Street,  on 
JIN'E  6th,  7th,  Sth  and  oih  :  Tsuba,  Netsuke,  .Sword  fittings, 
Inro,   Swords,   etc.,   properly  of  l.ntc   Henri  L.   Joly,   Esq. 

Messrs.  Sothi:hv,  Wilki.sson  &  Hodge,  34,  New  Bond 
Street. — Jl'NE  sjnd  :  Third  s.ile  of  illuminated  manuscripts, 
property  of  Mr.  Henry  Yates  Thompson.  Fifty-four  of  this 
collector's  hundred  manuscripts  have  been  sold  already  and 
four  given  away,  leaving  forty-two  still  for  sale  or  presenta- 
tion. Fifteen  of  these,  with  one  not  included  in  the 
"  hundred,"  are  to  be  sold  on  June  22nd,  together  with 
fifteen  printed  books,  all  but  one  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
.■\mong  the  most  notable  manuscripts  are  three  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  a  missal  of  the  .Austin  Canons  of  St. 
Stephen's,  Dijon  (pars  hibernalis),  the  second  volume  of  a 
French  bible  of  which  the  first  is  among  the  Harley  manuscripts 
at  the  British  Museum,  and  an  .Antiphoner  of  the  Cistercian 
.Abbey  of  Beaupr^,  near  Grammont,  once  the  property  of  Mr. 
Ruskin,  whose  habit  of  cutting  out  leaves  to  give  away  to 
friends  or  institutions  has  sadly  mutilated  it.  With  these  may 
be  mentioned  a  fourteenth  century  Epistolar  of  the  Sainte 
Chapellc,  at  Paris,  with  very  beautiful  miniatures,  one  of 
sixteen  manuscripts  which,  according  to  Mr.  S.  C.  Cockerell, 
can  be  assigned  to  the  studio  of  Jean  Pucelle.  Of  different 
but  no  less  interest  is  a  fine  Lancelot  MS.  of  which  two 
volumes  are  early  fourteenth  century  and  the  third,  fifteenth. 
Of  non-French  manuscripts  perhaps  the  most  attractive  is  a 
fifteenth  century  Horae  in  the  Haarlem  dialect.  The 
printed  books  include  a  Mentelin  Bible,  a  Sweynheym  and 
Pannartz  Lactantius  (1468),  the  Venice  De  Civitate  Dei  begun 
by  John  of  Speier  and  finished  by  Wendelin  (1470),  Schoeffer's 
Latin  Bible  of  1470  (New  Testament  only),  and  five  of 
Pigouchet's  Horje,  including  a  fine  copy  of  that  of  16  Septem- 
ber,  1498,  one  of  his  chief  masterpieces. 

JUNE  23rd  :  Wilton  House  collectiofi  of  arms  and  armour. 
In  view  of  the  amount  of  quite  second-rate  stuff  now  fetch- 
ing extravagant  prices  in  the  open  market  this  sale  assumes 
special  importance.  .At  no  time  (apparently)  have  the  Earls 
of  Pembroke  been  mere  "  collectors,"  so  that  it  seems  safe 
to  assume  that  most  if  not  all  of  these  pieces  were  made  for 
actual  use  in  the  sixteenth  to  seventeenth  centuries.  The 
greater  part  is  ordinary  enough  :  portions  of  armour  designed 
for  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Pembroke  retainers.  But  there  are 
two,  if  not  three  lots,  which  suffice  to  raise  this  sale  well 
above  the  common  ruck.  No.  118,  the  suit  made  in  the  last 
quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century  bv  "  Jacobe  "  of  Greenwich, 
for  Henry  Herbert,  second  Earl  of  Pembroke  (!534?-i6oi)  is 
the  pearl  of  the  Wilton  armouries  ;  a  suit  that  would  be  a 
notable  acquisition  to  the  foremost  public  collections.  It 
possesses  a  threefold  claim  upon  the  interest  of  armour- 
lovers  (i)  as  a  homogeneous  suit  of  the  finest  quality,  (2) 
owing  to  its  unquestioned  provenance,  as  attested  by  the 
famous  contemporary  Album,  at  South  Kensington,  (3) 
because,  with  the  exception  of  the  Cumberland  armour  at 
Appleby  Castle,  it  is  the  only  surviving  "  Jacobe  "  suit 
known,  that  has  not  been  absorbed  into  Royal  or  public 
collections.  Plainer  and  of  less  exalted  pedigree  than  the 
last-named,  the  fine  armour  for  man  and  horse  (No.  117, 
third  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century)  by  reason  of  its 
admirable  quality  will  scarcely  fail  of  its  appeal  to  the  heart 
of  the  true  amateur.  The  harness  for  the  man  is  an  anime,^ 
a  type  rarely  seen  nowadays,  doubtless  owing  to  its  perish- 
1  Cf.  Notes  on  the   Anime.     Burl.   Mac,  Jan,    1919,   p.   23. 


that  as  a  member  of  the  Board,  1  am  precluded 
from  commenting  on  the  paintings  them.selves, 
hut  I  must  compliment  your  pliotograjiher  on 
the  t.-ictful  ilatterv  with  which  he  has  handled 
the  less  fortunate  of  his  two  subjects. 
I  am,  Sir, 

Yours  faithfully, 

C.  J.  Holmes. 

I  We  gladly  publish  the  above.  We  used  Mr,  Aitken's  name 
only  when  quoting  from  his  letter  to  the  press  which  was  the 
immi'dialo  occ.ision  of  our  comment.  But  we  never  for  a 
moment  thought  or  suggested  that  he  or  any  other  individual 
was  wholly  or  chiefly  responsible  for  what  we  believe  to  have 
been   a  mist.ike. — Editor.] 


able  structure.  Excepting  Vienna  and  the  Tower,  the 
greatest  collections  only  afford  isolated  examples.  The  bards 
for  the  horse  are  of  notably  fine  .ind  uncommon  design. 
No.  40  is  remarkable  chiefly  for  its  rare  peculiarities  of  con- 
struction :  notably  the  skeleton  brassards  of  longitudinal  slats 
and  its  gorget  designed  to  fit  over  back  and  breast.  The 
lames  above  the  waist  in  front  and  behind  are  most  skilfully 
articulated,  F.  M,   K. 

JULY  4th  and  jth  :  Drawings  by  Old  Masters,  property  of 
late  Lord  Northwick.  This  large  mixed  collection  contains 
many  im|)ortant  lots  from  various  schools.  We  reproduce 
two  examples  [Plate]  from  the  first  day's  sale,  which 
illustrate  almost  ludicrously  the  dissimilar  passions  of  two 
familiar  masters.  Benozzo  (iozzoli's  is  a  characteristic  ex- 
pression of  his  delight  in  the  graces  of  line  and  surface  reveal- 
ing itself  in  these  four  elegant  and  elaborately  pencilled  figures, 
with  gaps  of  space  as  shapely  as  themselves,  adjusted  together 
with  a  dexterity  so  effective  as  to  impart  a  thrill  of  enjoyment 
to  the  most  casual  observer.  The  drawing  is  in  pen  and  ink 
with  white  high  lights  on  a  prepared  pink  paper.  The  figures 
were  obviously  drawn  from  the  model,  and  we  find  that  they 
are  studies  for  the  standing  and  kneeling  angels  in  the 
Adoralioii  of  1459.  There  are  several  other  figures  on  the 
back  of  the  paper.  The  Rembrandt  sketch  exemplifies  a  com- 
pletelv  different  vision  of  actuality  and  system  of  design  as 
well  as  a  separate  technical  method.  It  does  not  succeed  like 
the  Gozzoli  as  a  charming  essay  in  the  manipulation  of 
balances  in  the  complex  division  of  a  rectangular  surface.  As 
we  look  at  it  we  rapidly  grow  less  clearly  conscious  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  actual  drawing  and  find  ourselves  be- 
coming subject  to  the  dimly  perceived  presence  behind  it 
until  out  of  the  seemingly  disordered  ink-marks  there 
emerges  at  least  a  hint  or  two  of  Rembrandt's  morose  and 
parsimonious  spirit.  The  impatient,  rugged,  almost  brutal 
brown  lines  of  the  penwork  are  used  with  unerring  precision 
to  create  those  bulks  and  intervals  which  were  at  the  time 
when  this  drawing  was  made,  1650-60,  the  single  and  sufficient 
material  of  his  designs.  The  relationship  of  the  mass  of  the 
attendant's  head  to  the  receding  plane  between  the  arms  of 
the  woman  on  the  bed,  the  significance  of  the  larger  shadow 
masses,  the  placing  of  the  maze  of  ink  over  the  woman's  left 
elbow,  the  control  exercised  over  the  whole  pattern  by  the 
scratches  that  indicate  the  wall  belong  to  the  order  of  things 
for  which  Rembrandt  gave  up  the  world.  The  impulse  to 
create  out  of  that  wild  tract  of  blot  and  line  a  powerful  and 
passionate  design,  we  ran  readily  understand,  even  in  a 
slight  measure  share,  but  the  method  by  which  it  was  accom- 
plished remains  a  secret  probably  impenetrable  even  by 
Rembrandt  himself,  R.   R.   T. 

Messrs.  Hodgson  &  Co.,  15,  Chancery  Lane,  JUNE  loth  : 
Rare  Books,  including  library  of  the  late  John  Shelly,  Esq. 
Consists  partly  of  unillustrated  works,  but  there  are  a  con- 
siderable number  of  books  primarily  interesting  from  an 
artistic  standpoint,  including  250  of  the  original  plates  for 
.Audubon's  Birds  0/  America  in  good  condition,  a  large  paper 
copy  of  Goddard's  Military  Costume  oj  Europe,  2  vols., 
Roberts'  Views  of  the  Holy  Land,  coloured  as  drawings,  and 
Autograph  letters  to  George  Cruikshank  from  eminent  authors. 
Christie,  Manson  &  Wood.  JUNE  Sth:  English  Silver 
Plate,  16th,  17th  and  i8th  c,  and  early  Spoons  belonging  to 
Lt.-Col.  H.  R.  Crompton-Roberts.  Includes  (Lot  20)  a  Queen 
Anne   Coflee-pot   by  Thos.   Corbet,    1703. 


314 


CLASSIFIED  INDEX  TO  VOLUME  XXXVIII,  No.  214,  JANUARY 
TO  No.    219,  JUNE    1 92 1 

EXPLANATORY  NOTE. — Cross  references  are  given  under  the  following  headings  :  Architecture — Artists  and  Craftsmen — 
Authors  (of  writings  included  in  this  volume)— Ceramics  and  Enamels — Drawings — Engravings — Furniture — Metalwork 
— -Miniatures — Mosaic — Ownership  (of  objects  referred  to,  owned  (i)  Collectively,  by  Nations,  Public  Corporations  and 
Private  Associations,  (2)  Individually,  by  Private  Owners  and  Dealers) — Portraits — Sculpture  and  Carving — Textiles 
(including  Embroiderv  and  Costume) — Titles  (the  titles  of  the  articles,  etc.,  are  interspersed  in  alphabetical  order  with  the 
titles  of  the  following'  sections,  Auctions,  Letters,  Monthly  Chronicle  [M-C],  Publications  Received  and  Reviews). 
The  definite  and  indefinite  article  in  all  languages  is  printed  throughout  but  ignored  in  the  alphabetical  series. 


ARCHITECTURE— 

The    .Architecture    of    Saladin    and    the    Influence      of      the 

Crusades   (a.d.    1171-1250)     10;   PI.    13,    16 
The    Saracenic    House — I     228;    PI.    232,    236      —II     289; 

PI.  291,  294 
Some  of  the  Threatened  City  Churches     105  ;  PI.   107 

ARTISTS  AND  CRAFTSMEN— 

Anrep  (Boris).     Mosaic  [M-C]     146  ;  PI.   147 

Barne   (George).      Portrait  of  a  Lady  [M-C]     146  ;    PI.    147 

Brueghel     (Pieter,     the     Elder).     The     Adoration     of     the 

Kings  (National   Gallery)     53  ;  PI.   52 
CfezANNE    (Paul).      Landscape    (Miss    G.    Davies) ;    Still-life 

(Miss  G.   Davies)     209;   PI.   214 
Chass^riau  (Thi^odore).      Venus  Marine  (Louvre),  sketch  in 

sanguine    for    Venus    Marine    (Arthur    Chass^riau)   112; 

PI.  "3 
Claesz   (Aert).      The  Betrayal   of  Christ  (British   Museum) ; 

Christ  before    Pilate    (British    Museum)     25 ;    PI.    27 
Claude    GellJe.      View   of   the   Lake     of     Bracciano     (Dr. 

Tancred   Borenius)     3  ;   PI.  5 
CosiMO    (Piero    di).      Mythological    Subject    (H.H.     Prince 

Paul   of   Serbia)     131  ;    PI.    133  ;    Clue     to     Subject     of 

[lett]     257 
Crome    (John).      Farm    and    Pond    (Miss    H.    M.    Fisher) ; 

5.     Martin's    Gate    (Miss     Faith    Moore)     [M-C]     254 ; 

PI-   25s 
Da    Vinci    (Leonardo)    attributed    to.       Drawing    (Windsor 

Castle  Library)      172  ;   PI.    176 
DiRCKSZ    (Barent).      A    Fresco     attributed     to      (Chichester 

Cathedral)     263  ;   PI.   265 
Ercole  de'Roberti.     Medea  and  her  Children  (Sir   Herbert 

Cook) ;    Brutus    and    Portia    (Sir    Herbert    Cook)     131  ; 

PI-   136 
Fabritius    (Carel).      Portrait    of    a    Young    Man   (Boymans 

Museum,  Rotterdam) ;  Goldfinch  (Mauritshuis,   Hague) ; 

Abraham     de     Notte     (Rycks     Museum,      Amsterdam); 

Soldier   at    the    Gate    (Schwerin   Gallery)     221  ;    PI.    226, 

229 

Attributed  to — Portrait  of  a  Girl  (Mus^e  des  Beaux  Arts, 

Ghent);    Portrait    of   a    Man    (Brussels    Museum)     221; 

PI.  220,  223 
Friesz  (Othon).      La    Bergere    Assise,    Jeune     Femme    a    la 

Fenetre  278  ;  PI.  279 
Gertler  (Mark).     [M-C]     149 

GozzOLi  (Benozzo).     Studies  of  Angels  [auct]     314;   PI.  312 
Grant   (Duncan).     Landscape  [M-C]     146;   PI.   147 
Hals   (Claes)     138 ;    View   of  a    Village   (Mr.    R.    C.    Witt ; 

View  of  the  Groote  Houtstraat  (Frans   Hals  Museum) ; 

Girl    Reading    (Mauritshuis,    The    Hague)     92  ;    PI.    93, 

96.      The    Huckster    (Mr.    E.    Bolton)     143 ;    PI.    142 
Hals    (Reynier).       Girl    Peeling    Apples    (Mrs.      Crena     de 

Jongh)  ;  Girl  Sewing  (Mrs.  Crena  de  Jongh)     92  ;  PI.  96 
Hasselt    (J.    C.    Van).      A    Roman    Beggar    (Messrs.    Dur- 

lacher)     143  ;   PI.    142 
Holbein  (Hans,   the  Younger).     Portrait  210;  PI.   217 
Marchand   (Jean).      Landscape  [M-C]      202  ;    PI.    204 
Matsvs  (Quentin).     Duchess  Margaret  of  Tyrol  (Mr.   Hugh 

Blaker)  172  ;  PI.  176 
Nash  (John).  [M-C]  151 
Nicholas  of  Verdun.     Two  Bronzes  Moses  and  A  Prophet ; 

silver    figure    S.    Andrew  ;    enamel    Abraham     and     the 

Three  Angels     157;  PI.  160,  164 
Pacher    (Michael).      The    Marriage   of   the    Virgin   (National 

Gallery,   Vienna) ;  The  Flagellation  of  Christ  (National 

Gallery,   Vienna)     38;   PI.   42 
Picasso  [M-C]    98 
PoussiN    (Nicolas).      Classical    Lat:dscape    (Dr.    G.    Belling- 


ham  Smith  ;  Infant  Moses  and  Pharaoh  (Dr.  Tancred 
Borenius)     3  ;  PI.  2,  5 

Rembrandt.  Portrait  of  a  Man  (Prince  Yussupoff) ; 
Portrait  of  a  Woman  (Prince  Yussupoff)  210;  PI.  208, 
211.  A  Self-portrait  (Mr.  G.  Serra)  262;  PI.  260. 
Sick    Woman  in  Bed  [auct]     314;   PI.   312 

RlZA  Abbasi.  M.S.  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 
59  ;  PI.  63,  66 

Signorelli  (Luca).  Holy  Family  with  Saints  (Messrs. 
Lewis  &  Simmons)     105  ;   PI.   104 

Veronese  (Paul).  Studies  for  a  last  Judgment  (?)  (Mr. 
Henry  Oppenheimer)  ;  Sheet  of  Studies  (Mr.  G.  Belling- 
ham-Smith) ;  Mars  and  Venus  (Mr.  G.  Bellingham- 
Smith) ;  Various  Studies  (Mr.  P.  H.  Turner) ;  Christ  at 
Simon  the  Pharisee's  (formerly  in  the  collection  of  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds)     54  ;  PI.  55,  58 

Watteau   (Antoine).      Old    Woman    (Mr.    Augustine   Birrell) 

156;  PI.   154 
Zoppo   (Marco).      S.    Paul    (Ashmolean    Museum,    Oxford) ; 
Portrait      of     a      Holy      Bishop      (National      Gallery) ; 
S.   Peter  (Mr.   Henry   Harris)     9 ;   PI.  8 

authors- 
Amateur.     Clue  to  Subject  of  Piero  di  Cosimo  [lett]    257 
Arnold   (T.    W.).      The    Riza   Abbasi   MS.    in    the    Victoria 

and  Albert  Museum     59  ;  PI.  63,  66 
Baillie-Grohman    (W.    A.).      A    Portrait     of     the      Ugliest 

Princess  in  History     172  ;  PI.   176 
Bell     (Clive).        The      Independent      Gallery      [M-C]     146; 

PI.   147  ;  Othon  Friesz     278  ;  PI.   279 
Birrell     (Francis).       A     new     Teniers     Tapestry     at     the 

Victoria     and     Albert     Museum     31  ;      PI.     30.        The 

Textile   Exhibition   at   South  Kensington     166  ;   PI.   167, 

170.   173  ,        .  , 

Borenius    (Tancred).      On    a    dismembered    Altarpiece      by 

Marco    Zoppo      9 ;    PI.    8.      A    Group    of    drawings    by 

Paul    Veronese     54 ;     PI.     55,     58.       Claes     Hals     143  ; 

PI.    142.     Niccol6    Pio,    Collector   and    Writer     247 
Bredius  (.a.).     Claes  Hals     138 
Briggs   (Martin   S.).     The   .Architecture  of   Saladin   and   the 

Influence  of   the  Crusades  (a.d.    1171-1250)      10;   PI.    13, 

16.      The    Saracenic    House — I     228 ;      PI.      232,      236. 

— II     289  ;  PI.   291,   294 
Cagnola    (Guido).       Early    Italian    Pictures    at    Cambridge 

[lett]     100 
Clifford  Smith   (H.).     Italian   Furniture     37 ;   PI.   39 
Collins    Baker    (C.    H.).      The    Crome    Centenary    [M-C] 

254 ;  PI-  2SS 

Dalton    (O.    M.).      a    Gold    Ornament    from     the     Kuban 

district     81  ;  PI.  80 
Dodgson  (Campbell).     Two  Drawings  by  Aert  Claesz     25  ; 

PI.   27 
DuRAND  (Ralph).     Maori  Art     106;  PI.  no 
Fry   (Roger).      A   Tondo   by    Luca   Signorelli   105 ;    PI.    104. 

Pictures      at      the      Burlington     Fine    Arts    Club     131  ; 

PI.    130,    133,    136,    139.      Two     Rembrandt     Portraits 

210;  PI.  208,  211.     A  Self-portrait  by  Rembrandt     262; 

PI.  260 
Ganz    (Paul).      A    Portrait    by    Hans    Holbein    the    Younger 

210;   PI.   217 
Groot    (C.    Hofstede    de).      Reynier    and   Claes    Hals      92 ; 

PI.  93,  96 
Hewitt  (John).     The   Barend   Family.     263  ;   PI.   265 
Hill    (George   F.).      Early    Italian    Pictures    at    Cambridge 

[lett]     49 
HiRN  (Yjro).     Finnish   Rugs     32  ;   PI.  33,   36 
HoBSON    (R.     L.).        The      Eumorfopoulos      Collection — XI 

T'ang     pottery     figures     in     the     Victoria     and     .Albert 

Museum     20;    PI.    21,    24.      Chinese    Porcelain    in    the 


315 


Collection   of    Mr.    Leonard    Gow — V     84 ;    PI.    85,    87, 

90.     —VI     196;    PI.   197,    ioo.     —VII     joi  ;    PI.    397, 

300,   30J 
HoLMKS  ^C  J.).     ■■  The  .Vdoration  of  the  Kings,"  by  Pieter 

Brueghel  the  Elder    53  ;  PI.  53.     "  Vision  and  Design  " 

8j.     C^anne  .ind   the  Nation  [lktt]     313 
Jones    (E.    Alfred).      The    Engraving     of     Arms     on     Old 

English   Plate— 1     264  ;    PI.  265 
Lavblu   (A.).      rhe   London   tiroup  [M-C]     313 
MacCarthy    (Desmond).       I  he    Nameless    Exhibition     201 
MacColl  (D.   S.).     \ision   and   Design  [lett]     152 
Maclaoan   (Eric).      An    Early   Christian    Ivory    Relief  of   the 

Miracle  of  Cana     178;   PI.    179,    1S3,    1S6,  190 
Mitchell  (H.  P.).     The  Cross  and  Candlesticks  by  Valerio 

Belli    at    South    Kensington    [lett]     100.       Iwo   Bronzes 

by   Nicholas  of  \erdun     157  ;   PI.    mo,    101,    1(4 
Perry    (Mary    Phillips).      An    Unnoticed    Byzantine    Psalter 

—I     119;  PL    1J3,    126.     —II     282;   PI.   283,   286 
Rackhau    (Bernard).      Limoges    Enamels     of      the     Aenied 

Series  at  .Mnwiok  (."asile     238;   PI.   240,   241.    -45 
RiSLBY     (John     Shuckburgh).       Georgian     Rummers     271  ; 

PI.  270,  273,  276 
Sbton    (Walter    \V.).      .Auction    Sale   at    University    College 

[LETT)      205 

SlMONSON  (George  A.).    Two  newly  discovered  paintings  by 

Michael  Pacher    38 ;  PL  42 
Tatlock   (R.    R.).      Poussin    and   Claude     3 ;    PI.    2,    5.        A 

newly     acquired     Chass6riau      at      the      Louvre        112; 

PI.    113.     Two  Watteau   Drawings     156;   PI.   154 
Tipping   (H.    Avray).      English    P'urniture   at   the   Burlington 

Fine    .■Vrts    Club     67 ;    PI.    69,   72.      English    Eighteenth 

Century  Ormolu     117;  PI.   116 
Turner      (Percy      Moore).       Two     Attributions     to     Carel 

Fabritius     221  :  PI.  220,   223,  226,  229 
TuRPiN  (Pierre).     Two  pieces  of   English   Fifteenth  Century 

Embroidery  at  Lille     74  ;  PI.  77,  80 
Waley     (.Arthur).       Chinese     Philosophy     of     Art — II     32  ; 

—III     III  ;  —IV     244 

CERAMICS,  ENAMELS  AND  GLASS— 

Abraham  and  the  Three     Angels.       Enamel.       Nicholas     of 

Verdun     157  ;   PI.    164 
The    Eumorfopoulos    Collection — XI.     T'ang    pottery    figures 

in    the    Victoria    and    Albert    Museum     20;    PI.    21,    24. 

Chinese    Porcelain    in    the    Collection    of    Mr.    Leonard 

Gow— V     84;  PI.  8s,  87,   90.     —VI     196  PI.    197,  200. 

—VII     301  ;  PL  297,  300,  303 
Georgian  Rummers     271  ;  PI.  270,  273,  276 
Limoges    Enamels  of    the   Aenied  Series    at   Alnwick    Castle 

238;    PI.   240,    241,    245 

DRAWINGS— 

CHASSfeRiAU  (Thtedore).  Sketch  in  Sanguine  for  Venus 
Marine  (Arthur   Chass^riau)     112;    PI.    113 

Claesz  (Aert).  The  Betrayal  of  Christ  (British  Museum), 
Christ   before  Pilate  (British   Museum)     25  ;   PI.    27 

Claude  Gell^e.  View  of  the  Lake  of  Bracciano  (Dr. 
Tancred  Borenius)     3  ;  PI.  5 

Da  Vinci  (Leonardo).  Drawing  attributed  to  (Windsor 
Castle  Library)     172  ;   PI.    176 

GozzoLi  (Benozzo).     Studies  of  Angels  [auct]     314;  PI.  312 

Marchand  (Jean).     Landscape  [M-C]     202  ;  PI.  204 

PoussiN  (Nicolas).  Classical  Landscape  (Dr.  G.  Belling- 
ham  Smith).  Infant  Moses  and  Pharaoh  (Dr.  Tancred 
Borenius)     3  ;   PI.   2,   5 

Rembrandt.     Sick    Woman  in   Bed  [auct]     314;   PI.  312 

Veronese  (Paul).  Studies  for  a  last  Judgment?  (Mr. 
Henry  Oppenheimer  ;  Sheet  of  Studies  (Mr.  G.  Belling- 
ham-Smith),  Mars  and  Venus  (Mr.  G.  Bellingham- 
Smith) ;  Various  Studies  (Mr.  P.  H.  Turner) ;  Christ  at 
Simon  the  Pharisee's  (formerly  in  the  collection  of  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds)     54;   PI.   55,  58 

Watteau  (.Antoine).  Old  Woman  (Mr.  Augustine  Birrell) 
156;   PI-    154 

FURNITURE— 

English    Furniture   at    the    Burlington    Fine    Arts    Club  67 ; 

PI.  69,  72 
Italian   Furniture     37  ;  PI.  39 


METALWORK— 

A   tiold   Ornament   from  the   Kuban   district    81  ;    PI.   80 

English   Eighteenth  Century  Ormolu     117;  PI.    116 

The    Engraving    of    Arms    on    Old    English    Plate — I     264 ; 

PI.   26s 
Two   Bionzes   by    Nicholas   of   Verdun     157;    PI.    160,    161, 

164 

OWNERSHIP   (COLLECTIVE)   OF   OBJECTS 
ILLUSTRATED— 

Amsterdam.      Rycks    Museum.     Carel    Fabritius.      Abraham 

de  Notte     221  ;  PI.  229 
Bristol.     Western  College.     A  Byzantine  Psalter     119,  28a; 

PI.   123,   126,  283,  286 
Brussels  Museum.     Carel   Fabritius,  attributed  to.      Portrait 

of  a  Man     221  ;  PI.  223 
Chichester      Cathedral.        Barent      Dircksz.        A      Fresco 

attributed  to     263  ;   PI.   265 
Cologne    Cathedral.       Nicholas    of    Verdun.      Silver    figure 

S.  Andrew     157  ;  PI.   164 
Florence.       Laurentian      Library.        Miniature       from      the 

Gospels  of  Rabula     178;  PI.   190 
Ghent.     Mus^e  des  Beaux  .Arts.     Carel  Fabritius,  attributed 

to.     Portrait  of  a  Girl     221  ;  PI.  220 
Haarlem.     Frans  Hals   Museum.     Claes   Hals,   ascribed  to. 

View   of  the   Groote   Houtstraat     92  ;   PI.   93 
Hague.       Mauritshuis.       Claes     Hals,      Girl     Reading     92 ; 

PI.   96.     Carel   Fabritius.      Goldfinch     221  ;   PI.   226 
Kenilworth.      Catholic    Church.      Orphrcys    of    a    Chasuble 

of   the   fiflccnlh   century     74  ;    PI.    80 
Klosterneuburg.      Nicholas   of   Verdun.      Enamel.     Abraham 

and  the  Three  Angels     157  ;   PI.    164 
Lille    Museum.       Orphreys      in      English      Embroidery     74 ; 

PI.  77 
London.      British    Museum.      Aert    Claesz.       The    Betrayal 

of    Christ,    Christ    before    Pilate     25 ;      PI.    27.        Ivory 

Relief.      Raising  of  Lazarus     178;   PI.    186 
National    Gallery.      Marco    Zoppo.      Portrait    of    a    Holy 

Bishop     q ;    PI.    8.      Pieter    Brueghel,    the    Elder.      Tht 

Adoration  of  the  Kings     53  ;  PI.  52 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.     T'ang  pottery  figures  with 

coloured    glazes     20;    PI.    21,     24.        A      new      Teniers 

Tapestry     31  ;    PI.    30.      The     Riza    Abbasi    MS.       59 ; 

PI.   63,   66.      Ivory   Reliefs.     Miracle  of  Cana,   S.   Peter 

and  5.    Mark.      Embroidery  from   Egypt     178  ;   PI.    179, 

183,   186,   187 
Milan.      Museo    Archeologico.      Ivory    Reliefs    of    S.    Mark 

178;   PI.    183,    186.     Trivulzio  Collection.      Ivory   Relief. 

The  Annunciation     178;  PI.  186 
Oxford.       Ashmolean    Museum.       Marco    Zoppo.      S.     Paul 

9;   PI.   8.      Bronze   Figures     157;    PI.    160,    161 
Paris.       Louvre.       Thtodore     Chass^riau.        Vinus     Marine 

112  ;  PI.   113 
Muste    des    .Arts    D&oratifs.        Franco-Flemish     tapestry. 

Falconry     166  ;  PI.   167 
Mus^e  de   Cluny.      Ivory   relief.     A   Saint     178;    PI.    186 
Rotterdam.       Boymans     Museum.       Carel     Fabritius.       Por- 
trait of  a   Young  Man     221  ;  PI.  226 
Salerno.      Cathedral.      Ivory    Reliefs     178 ;    PI.    186,    190 
Schwerin   Gallery.      Carel    Fabritius.      Soldier    at    the    Gate 

221  ;  PL  229 
Vienna.      National    Gallery.      Michael    Pacher.      The    Mar- 
riage   of    the    Virgin,    The    Flagellation    of    Christ     38 ; 

PI.  42 
Windsor    Castle    Library.      Leonardo    da    Vinci.      Drawing 

attributed  to     172  ;  PI.   176 

OWNERSHIP   (INDIVIDUAL)   OF  OBJECTS 
ILLUSTRATED— 

Astor  (Major  the  Hon.  J.  J.).  Tapestry  Panels,  Franco- 
Flemish     166;   PI.    173 

Bellingham-Smith  (Mr.  G.).  Nicolas  Poussio.  Classical 
Landscape  3  ;  PI.  2.  Paul  Veronese,  Sheet  of  Studies. 
Mars  and   Venus     54  ;  PI.  55,  58 

Birrell  (Mr.  Augustine).  Antoine  Watteau.  Old  Woman 
156;  PI.   154 

Blaker  (Mr.  Hugh).  Quentin  Matsys.  Duchess  Mar- 
garet of  Tyrol     172  ;   PI.   176 

Bolton  (Mr.  E.).     Claes  Hals.     The  Huckster     143  ;  PI.   142 


316 


Borenius    (Dr.    Tancred).      Claude    GelMe.       View     of     the 

Lake  of  Bracciano     3  ;  PI.  5.     Nicolas  Poussin.     Infant 

Moses  and  Pharaoh     3  ;  PI.  5 
ChassSriau    (Arthur).      Th<iodore    Chass^riau.      Sketch      in 

sanguine  for   Vinus  Marine     112;  PI.  113 
Cook    (Sir    Herbert).       Ercole    de     Roberti.        Uedea      and 

her   children,    Brutus  and   Portia     131  ;  PI.    136 
Davies    (Miss    G.).      Cezanne.      Landscape,    Still-lile     209; 

PI.   214 
Demotte  (M.).     French  Tapestry.      Bear     Hunting.       166  f 

PI.  170 
Durlacher     (Messrs.).       J.     C.     Van     Hasselt.       A     Roman 

Beggar     143  ;  PI.   142 
Fisher   (Miss    H.    M.).      John    Crome.       Farm     and     Pond 

[M-C]    2541   PI.  255 
Freshfield     (Mr.      Douglas     W.).       Venetian     School.        S. 

Jerome   in   a   Landscape     131  ;    PI.    139 
Gow   (Mr.    Leonard).      Chinese   Porcelain.     84;    PI.   85,    87, 

90 — 196  I  PI.   197,  200 — 301  ;  PI.  297,  300,  303 
Harris  (Mr.   Henry).     Marco  Zoppo.     5.  Peter.     9 ;  PI.  8 
Hirsch    (Mr.    Leopold).      Mahogany    Commode,    Mahogany 

Settee     67  ;   PI.  69 
Howarth    (Sir    Henry).      Florentine    School.      The    Nativity 

131  ;   PI.    130 
Jongh  (Mrs.  Crena  de).     Reynier  Hals.     Girl  peeling  apples. 

Girl  sewing    92  ;  PI.  96 
Lewis    &    Simmons    (Messrs.).        Luca     Signorelli.        Holy 

Family  with  Saints     105  PI.    104 
Northumberland    (Duchess    of).      Limoges    Enamels    of    the 

Aenied  Series     238;  PI.  240,  241,  245 
Moore    (Miss    Faith).      John   Crome.       S.     Martin's     Gate 

[M-C]    254;  PI.  255 
Mulliner   (Col.    H.    H.).      Mahogany    Armchair,    Mahogany 

pole    screen    on    tripod    stand     67 ;    PI.    69.      Cup,    Cas- 
solettes,  Tea-urn,  Candelabra  in  Ormolu     117;   PI.    116 
Oppenheimer  (Mr.   Henry).      Paul  Veronese.     Studies  for  a 

last  Judgment?     54;    PI.   55 
Paul   of   Serbia  (H.H.    Prince).      Piero   di   Cosimo.      Myth- 
ological Subject     131  ;  PI.  133 
Serra      (Mr.      G.).        Rembrandt.        A      Self-portrait     262 ; 

PI.  260 
Turner    (Mr.    P.    H.).      Paul    Veronese.        Various     Studies 

54 ;  PI-  S8 
Yussupoff    (Prince).        Rembrandt.      Portrait     of     a     Man, 

Portrait   of  a    Woman     210;    PI.    208,  211 
Witt   (Mr.    R.    C).      Claes    Hals.      View   of  a    Village     92  ; 

PI.  96 

PORTRAITS— 

Abraham  de  Notte..     Carel  Fabritius  (Rycks  Museum,   Rot- 
terdam)    221  ;   PI.   229 
Duchess   Margaret   of    Tyrol.      Quentin    Matsys   (Mr.    Hugh 

Blaker)     172  ;   PI.    176 
Portrait.      Hans    Holbein    the    Younger     210;    PI.   217 
Portrait   of  a    Girl.     Attributed   to   Carel    Fabritius   (Mus4e 

des  Beaux  Arts,  Ghent)     221  ;  PI.  220 
Portrait  of  a  Man.     Attributed  to  Carel  Fabritius  (Brussels 

Museum     221  ;   PI.   223 
Portrait    of   a    Young    Man.       Carel     Fabritius     (Boymans 

Museum,  Rotterdam)     221  ;  PI.  226 
A  Self-portrait.     Rembrandt  (Mr.   G.   Serra)     262  ;   PI.  260 
Titus,  Son  of  Rembrandt  (said  to  be).     Rembrandt  (Prince 

Yussupoff).     210;  PI.   208 
Wife  of  Titus,  Son  of  Rembrandt  (said  to  be).     Rembrandt 

(Prince  Yussupoff)     210;  PI.  211 

SCULPTURE— 

Ivory    Relief  of    the    Miracle   of   Cana     178;    PI.    179,    183, 

186,   190 
Maori  Art.     Ralph  Durand     106;  PI.  no 

TEXTILES— 

Finnish  Rugs    32  ;  PI.  33,  36 

A  New  Teniers  Tapestry  at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 

30;  PI.  31 
The  Textile  Exhibition  at  South  Kensington;   ifi6  ;  PI.   167, 

170,   172 
Two   Pieces   of   English    Fifteenth    Century   Embroidery   at 

Lille     74;  PI.  77,  80 

TITLES— Complete  Index  of — 
Adolf  Hildebrand  [M-C]     205 


"  The   Adoration   of   the    Kings,"   by    Pieter    Brueghel  the 

Elder.     C.  J.  Holmes.     53;  PI.  52 
Agnews   Gallery  [M-C]     151 
April   Exhibitions  [M-C]     202  ;   PI.   204 
The    Architecture   of    Saladin     and    the     Influence     of     the 

Crusades    (a.d.     1171-1250).       Martin     S.     Briggs     10; 

PI.  13.  '6 
Auctions — 

(Jan.)   49  ;   (Feb.)    101  ;   (March)    152  ;   (April)   205  ;    (May) 

258  ;  (June)  314 
Auction    Sale    at    University    College.      Walter     W.     Seton 

[LETT]      205 

The   Barend   Family.     John    Hewitt     263  ;    PI.    265 
Carfax  Gallery  [M-C]     151 

Cezanne  and  the  Nation.     C.  J.  Holmes  [lett]     313 
Chinese    Philosophy    of    Art.      Arthur  Waley.      U     32  ;    III 

III.     IV     244 
Chinese   Porcelain   in   the   collection   of   Mr.    Leonard   Gow 

R.     L.    Hobson.       V     84;   PI.   85,   87,   90.     VI     196; 

PI.   197,  200.     VII     301  ;  PI.  297,  300,  303 
Claes   Hals.     A.   Bredius     138 
Claes    Hals.      Tancred    Borenius     143  ;    PI.    J42 
Clue  to  Subject  of   Piero  di   Cosimo.     Amateur  [lett]     257 
The  Crome  Centenary.     C.   H.   Collins   Baker  [M-C]    254  ; 

PI-  2SS 
The    Cross    and    Candlesticks    by    Valerio     Belli     at     South 

K^-nsington.     H.   P.   Mitchell  [lett]     too 
Cyril  .'\ndrade  [M-C]     99 
An   Earlv  Christian   Ivory  Relief  of  the   Miracle  of   Cana. 

Eric' Maclagan     178;    PI.    179,    183,    l86,    190 
Early    Italian    Pictures    at    Cambridge.       George     F.      Hill 

[lett]  49 
Early  Italian  Pictures  at  Cambridge.     Guido  Cagnola  [lett] 

100 

Editorial  Articles — 

5!   Momimentum  Requiris,   Circumspice     105 ;    PI.    107 
Modern   British   Painting — A    Proposal     155 
Cizanne  and  the  Nation     209;  PI.  214 
The  Nameless  Exhibition     209 
Eldar   Gallery      [M-C]     100 
English    Eighteenth    Century   Ormolu.      H.    Avray    Tipping 

117;  PI.  116 
English   Furniture   at   the   Burlington   Fine   Arts   Club.      H. 

Avray  Tipping     67  ;  PI.  69,  72 
The    Engraving    of    Arms    on    Old    English    Plate — I.      E. 

Alfred  Jones     264;  PI.   265. 
Etchings  and  Wood   Engravings      [M-C]     47 
The  Eumorfopoulos   Collection— XI.     T'ang  pottery  figures 

in    the   Victoria    and   Albert    Museum.      R.   L.    Hobson. 

20  ;  PI.  21,  24 
Fine  Arts  Society      [M-C]     100 
Finnish  Rugs.     Yrjb  Him     32  ;  PI.  33,  36 
Georgian  Rummers.    John  Shuckburgh  Risley     271  ;  PI.  270, 

273,  276 
A  Gold  Ornament  from  the  Kuban  district.     O.  M.  Dalton 

81  ;  PI.  80 
Goupil   Gallery   Salon      [M-C]     49 
A     Group    of     Drawings     by     Paul     Veronese.      Tancred 

Borenius     54  ;  PI.  55,   58 
Independent  Gallery      [M-C]     48 

The  Independent  Gallery.     Clive  Bell      [M-C]     146 ;  PI.   147 
Italian   Furniture.     H.   Clifford  Smith.     37  ;   PI.  39 
John   Nash      [M-C]     151 
June  Exhibitions      [M-C]     313 
Leicester  Galleries      [M-C]     48 

Letters 

(Jan.)  49;   (Feb.)   100;   (March)   152;  (April)   205;  (May). 

257;  (June)  313  

Limoges  Enamels  of  the  Aenied  Series  at  Alnwick  Castle. 

Bernard   Rackham     238;   PI.   240,   241,   245 
The  London  Group.     A.  Lavelli      [M-C]     313 
Mansard  Gallery      [M-C]     48 
Maori  Art.     Ralph  Durand     106;  PI.  no 
Mark  Gertler      [M-C]     149 
Max   Dvorak     [M-C]     205 
May  Exhibitions     [M-C]     257 
Modern  Dutch  Art     [M-C]     151 

Monthly  Chronicle — 

(Jan.)    47;    (Feb.)    98;    (March)    146;    (April)    202;    (May) 
254;  (June)  313  „     ^      ,.         ^ 

The   Nameless   Exhibition.     Desmond  MacCarthy    261 


317 


National  Gallery     [M-C]     357 

National  I'orlrait  Socit'ly     [M-C]     99 

Negro  Art    [M-C]     150 

New  English  Art  Club    [M-C]     99 

A     Newly-acquiri-d     Chassdriau     at     the     Louvre.       R.     R. 

Tatloik     1 1 J  ;   PI.    113 
A    New     Teniers    Tapestry    at      the     Victoria     and     Albert 

Museum.     Francis  Birrell     31  ;  PI.  30 
Niccol6  Pio,   Collector  and   Writer.     Tancred  Borenius     247 
On   a  dismembered   .Mtarpiece  by   Marco   Zoppo.     Tancred 

Borenius     9 ;   PI.  8 
Othon  Kriosz.     Clive  Bell     378  ;  PI.  379 
Picasso     [M-C]     98 
Pictures    at    the    Burlington    Fine    Arts    Club.      Roger    Fry 

131  ;  PI.   130,   133,  136,  139 
A    Portrait    by    Hans    Holbein    the    Younger.      Paul    Ganz 

210  ;   PI.  317 
A    Portrait    of    the    Ugliest    Princess    in    History.      VV.    A. 

Baillie-Grohman     172  ;   PI.    176 
Poussin  and  Claude.     R.   R.  Tatlock     3  ;  PI.  3,  5 

Publications  Received — 

(Jan.)   so;   (Feb.)    102:   (April)   306;   (May)  358 
The  Re-opening  of  the  Wallace  Collection     [M-C]    47 

Reviews — 
(Jan.)   44;    (Feb.)   98;    (March)    144;    (April)    201;    (May) 

249  ;  (June)  303 
Albrecht   Durer.     Max   Friedlander     349 
Ancient  Kgyptian,  Assyrian  and  Persian  Costume.     M.  G. 

Houston     146 
Chats  on  .ShofVielcl  Plate.     A.  Haydcn     145 
Crome.     C.  H.  Collins  Baker    303 
Delphi.     Ftiederick  Poulsen     307 
Domestic   Life   in  Scotland.     John  Warrack     46 
Etchings  by  Augustus  John.     Campbell   Dodgson     45 
Four   Irish   Landscape   Painters.     Thomas   Bodkin     98 
Goya.     Jean  Tild    310 
Irish  Glass.     M.  S.  Dudley     44 
Konsthistorika    Sallskapets    Publication     253 
Life  and  Collections  of  Thomas  Howard,  Earl  of  Arundel. 

M.  F.  S.  Hervey    306 
Lustre  Pottery.     Lady  Evans     352 
Medici   Society's   Prints     146 


The   Miniature    Collector. 
Modern    Colour-Print.      M. 
Nollekins  and  his  Times. 
Old    Urislol    Potteries.      W. 


Dr.    Ci.    C.    Williamson 
C.   Salaman     98 
J.  T.   Smith     253 
J.    Pouiilniy     31)8 


3>o 


Old    English    Furniture.      Maclver    Pcrcival     310 
A    Record  of    ICuroix-an   Armour.      Sir   Ci.   F.    Laking     251 
Romische  und  Romanische  Palaste.     K.  M.  Swaboda    aoi 
Russian    Portraits.      C.    Sheridan     253 
Silver   coinage  of   Crete.      Ci.    Macdonald     46 
Some    Contemporary   English    Artists      145 
Twelve  Water  Colours  by   Rodin      144 
Unsprung   der    Christlichon    Kirchenkunst     309 
The  Vasari  Society.     2nd  Series,   Pt.    I      301 
Vision  and  Design.     Roger  Fry  [art]     82 
Witt   Library   Catalogue     98 
Zoin's  FZngraved  Work.     K.  Asplund     350 
Reynier   and   Claes   Hals.      C.    Hofstede   de   Groot     92  ;   PI. 

93.  9'' 
The   Riza  Abbasi  MS.   in  the   Victoria  and   Albert   Museum. 

T.  W.  Arnold     59;  PI.  63,  66 
The  Saracenic   House.     Martin   S.   Uriggs— I     338  ;  PI.   333, 

336.     U     389 ;  PI.  391,  394 
A  Self-Portrait  by   Rembrandt.      Roger   Fry     262  ;   PI.   260 
The     Textile     Exhibition    at    South    Kensington.       Francis 

Birrell     166;  PI.  167,   170,   173 
A  Tondo  by  Luca  Signorelli.     Roger  Fry 
Two  Attributions  tc  Carcl   Fabritius.      1" 

221  ;   PI.  220,  323,  226,  229 
Two  Bronzes  by  Nicholas  of  Verdun. 

PI.    160,   161,   164 
Two   Drawings   by   Aert    Claesz.      Campbell  Dodgson 

PI.  27 
Two     Newly-discovered     Paintings     by     Michael     Pacher. 

George  A.   Simonson     38 ;  PI.  42 
Two    Pieces   of    English    Fifteenth    Century    Embroidery    at 

Lille.     Pierre  Turpin     74  ;  PI.  77,  80 
Two   Rembrandt   Portraits.     Roger   Fry.     210;   PI.   208,   211 
Two  Watteau  Drawings.     R.   R.  Tatlock     156;  PI.   154 
An    Un'noticed    Byzantine    Psalter.      Mary    Phillips    Perry — I 

119;  PI.    123,   126.     II     282;  PI.   283,   286 
"  Vision   and   Design."     C.   J.    Holmes     82 
Vision   and   design.     D.   S.    MacColl     [lett]     152 


105;  PI.   104 
rrcy   Moore  Turner 


H.  P.  Mitchell     157; 


as; 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  CONTRIBUTORS 


AMATEUR 

T.  W.  ARNOLD 

W.  A.  BAILLIE-GROHMAN 

CLIVE  BELL 

FRANCIS  BIRRELL 

TANCRED  BORENIUS 

A.  BREDIUS 

MARTIN  S.  BRIGGS 

GUIDO  CAGNOLA 

H.  CLIFFORD  SMITH 

C.  H.  COLLINS  BAKER 

O.  M.  DALTON 

CAMPBELL  DODGSON 


RALPH  DURAND 

ROGER  FRY 

PAUL  GANZ 

C.  HOFSTEDE  DE  GROOT 

JOHN  HEWITT 

GEORGE  F.  HILL 

YRjb  HIRN 

R.  L.  HOBSON 

C.  J.  HOLMES 

E.  ALFRED  JONES 

A.  LAVELLI 

DESMOND  MACCARTHY 


D.  S.  MACCOLL 

ERIC  MACLAGAN 

H.  P.  MITCHELL 

MARY  PHILLIPS  PERRY 

BERNARD  RACKHAM 

JOHN  SHUCKBURGH  RISLEY 

WALTER  W.  SETON 

GEORGE  A.  SIMONSON 

R.  R.  TATLOCK 

H.  AVRAY  TIPPING 

PERCY  MOORE  TURNER 

PIERRE  TURPIN 

ARTHUR  WALEY 


318 


.  — .^u      C-:    APR  23  1937 


N 

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