Studio: international art (13.1898)

Reviews of Recent Publications

tion of paintings and works of art. The volume just while others arc not in accord with modern practice,
published from the pen of M. Gruyer, of the maybe cheerfully conceded ; hence there clearly
Institut, is really a sort of illustrated catalogue of exists a necessity for a concise book on the subject
the contents of these galleries. The two volumes of carpentry and joinery which may be not only
deal, one with Foreign Schools, the other with the useful for reference to the architect and engineer,
French School, and each contains forty helio- but also may to some extent meet the requirements
gravures, executed by the firm of Braun et CL\ of the craftsman. Beginning with a clear descrip-
Nothing could be more instructive from the stand- tion of the various woods in use and their charac-
point of historical art than this work, in which M. teristics, the authors proceed to concern them-
Gruyer analyses with charming literary skill each selves with the tools in common use by the car-
of the works displayed in the splendid home of penter and joiner and the purpose for which each
the Conde's. As for the Italian School, it is repre- is used. Having thus cleared the way, they pre-
sented by absolute masterpieces of Giotto, Peru- ceed to an elaborate survey of the various joints
gini, Ghirlandajo, Fra Bartolommeo, Botticelli, used in carpentry, rightly considering that these lie
Raphael, Pollajuolo, and Filippino Lippi; while at the very root of the craft. The main objects of
in the Flemish and Dutch Schools we find carpentry are then considered, and the construction
examples of Ruysdael, Pourbus, Van Eyck, Roger of the roofs, bridges, shorings and struttings, floors,
van der Weyder, and Van Dyck. From France floor-coverings, and framings, as in partitions and
itself we have Lebrun, Largilliere, and Rigaud of so forth, are clearly and logically explained. The
the seventeenth century; Oudry, Lancret, Watteau, latter portion of the volume deals with ornamental
Drouais, Van Loo, Greuze, and Huet in the eigh- carpentry, and with such interior fittings as doors,
teenth century; and in the present century, Geri- windows, skylights, and so forth. There is an
cault, Charlet, Gros, Delacroix, Meissonier, Corot, excellent chapter upon staircases and a suggestive
Jules Dupre, Fromentin, and Baudry, to name but one upon bevels. The book is throughout illus-
a few among many, all seen in beautiful work of trated with admirably drawn diagrams, which are
matchless quality. This delightful book bears wanting in neither clearness nor accuracy. Alto-
striking testimony of the enlightened taste exhibited gether, this little handbook seems in every respect
by that perfect grand seigneur, the Due d'Aumale. an admirable one, and quite likely to be of use to

The Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance, all those classes of professional men and others for

By Bernhard Berenson. (London: G. P. whom it is professedly designed.
Putnam's Sons.)—This excellent handbook, uni- The Story of the Potter. By C. F. Binns. With

form with previous works by the same author on fifty-seven illustrations. (London : Newnes, Ltd.)

the Venetian and the Florentine painters of the Price is.—A useful little history of pottery and

Renaissance, is to be followed by another on the porcelain, written by one well acquainted with the

North Italian Schools. Space forbids the detailed art. The subject is too extensive to be satis-

notice that it well deserves. It may be that the essay factorily treated upon in such a small book, and

itself is a little "precious " at times, but it reveals perhaps no one is more conscious of that fact than

a student and a scholar, and the index (so called), the author himself. This makes it all the more

which covers some seventy pages, is most valuable, remarkable that so much could be said in so little

giving as it does, under each artist's name, his space. The illustrations are very tiny, and conse-

principal works and their whereabouts; a frontis- quently convey but a poor impression of the objects

piece, after Raphael's La Donna Velata, is well depicted. It is a pity the publisher could not

reproduced in collotype. The series supplies a have reproduced them upon a larger scale, even if

distinct need. he had been compelled to charge a few pence more

Carpentry and Joinery. A Text-book for Archi- for the book. By the way, the titling of the illus-

tectSy Engineers, Surveyors, Craftsmen. By Han- tration on p. 63 as " Damascus Ware" is surely an

nister F. Fletcher, A.R.I.B.A., and H. Phii,lips error.

Fletcher, A.R.I.P.A. (London: 1). Fourdri- The Year's Art. 1898. (London : J. S. Virtue

nier, 1898.)—This is a fairly concise treatise upon & Co.)—The nineteenth annual issue of this ex-

a subject concerning which many elaborate and cellent publication comes to hand even fuller and

exceedingly scientific treatises are already in exist- more comprehensive in scope than its predecessors,

ence. That, however, as the Messrs. Fletcher and the extraordinary amount of valuable informa-

themselves point out, many of these more im- tion to be found between its covers renders the

portant volumes are cumbersome and verbose, volume indispensable to all who interest themselves

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