Studio: international art (28.1903)

Reviews

VIENNA.—-It is rare that one has the oppor-
tunity ot seeing two such noble works
of art as those made by the young
Viennese sculptor and medallist, Rudolf
Marschall, for the Emperor of Austria and the
City of Vienna as their offerings to the Pope on his
triple Jubilee as Pope, bishop, and priest. That
given by the Emperor, The Good Shepherd, is 65 cm.
long and 31 high, and is made of gold somewhat
reddish in tone. The figure of the Saviour, with the
long simple robe, shows manly dignity and power.
The hands and feet are beautiful in form and
execution, and in the whole there is some-
thing very inspiring. At the Saviour's feet are a
ram, three sheep and a lamb. There is such sim-
plicity, such an absence of anything like banality,
that all our thought and attention are concentrated
on the chief figure—on the Saviour. The stela
upon which it rests is of African marble of rare
kind and colour, the first that has been used
for such purposes in Vienna. Mr. Marschall
had to seek long before finding the particular
red violet shades in the marble he had determined
on for his pedestal, and the block out of
which this, and that also for the medallions,
was cut; was on the outside pure white. In
these stelas the tones play among one another,
from, creamy violet to the dark tones, and
from pale to dark reddy violet, thus harmonising
with the red gold. On the sockle is the artist's
signature in Latin, " Rudolphus Marschall Vindo-
bonensis fecit," while it bears an inscription in
Latin, " From Francis Josef I., Kaiser of Austria,
Apostolic King of Hungary." The Pope sat for
the medallion to Mr. Marschall, who has managed
to catch just the right expression and the pecu-
liarities of his features. The reverse of the medal
is very simple, but also very finely chiselled,
and represents a landscape of the Eternal City,
the dome of St. Peter's rising in the background
from the long horizontal line. In the foreground
is a rock from which three palms rise, sending
out their broad leaves to the heavens. The stela
to which the medallions are fixed is 162 cm. high.
Both these works of art are worthy of the places
they have in the Vatican library—places which
Mr. Marschall himself chose with the permission
of the Pope. A. S. L.

REVIEWS.

lean Goujon. By Reginald Lister. (London:
Duckworth & Co.) £,2 2s. net, or Edition de Luxe
^5 $s. net.—As is well pointed out by the learned
Librarian of the House of Lords in his preface to

this beautiful volume, that cannot fail to interest
all students of art, one of the most noteworthy
characteristics of the Renaissance was the restora-
tion of the human figure to the position it
held amongst the Greeks, as the highest form of
beauty. In this restoration Jean Goujon un-
doubtedly took a very great share, and his sculp-
tures for the world-famous Fountain of Diana,
designed for the Chateau at Anet, but now in the
Louvre, where much of its original effect is lost;
those for the Fontaine des Innocents, with the bas-
reliefs of the Screen of St. Germain l'Auxerrois,
show, with much original invention, considerable
Greek feeling. Constantly employed by Diane de
Poitiers, who, in spite of her many faults, was
acknowledged to be the most beautiful woman of
her day, the French sculptor owed much of his
inspiration to her, and whether it be true or not
that she often posed for him, he no doubt worked
her face and features into many of his compo-
sitions. The illustrations in this, the first satis-
factory monograph on Jean Goujon that has
appeared in English, includes, in addition to
numerous photogravures after his work, one of the
unique Portrait of Diane owned by Earl Spencer
and wrongly attributed to Janet, in which the
coldly chaste yet haunting beauty of the woman
who despotically ruled France for twelve years
is rendered with surpassing skill. Above the head
is inscribed the favourite, but here singularly in-
appropriate, text of her royal lover, " Comme le
cerf brait apres le decours des eaues, ainsi brait mon
dme apres Toy, O Dieu" a strange example of
the manners of a time when there seemed nothing
incongruous in the blending of the initials ot
the king and of his mistress, even in the royal
chapels.

Scottish History and Life. Edited by James
Paton,F.L.S. (Glasgow: Maclehose&Sons.) £2 2s.
net.—Although primarily a joint memorial, with the
companion volume on " Nineteenth Century Art,"
of the Glasgow Exhibition of 1901, this beautifully
illustrated book is far more than that. It is a
deeply interesting history of the inner life of the
sturdy people of Scotland, as reflected, in the first
place, in what may be called the accidental relics
of the past, such as pre-historic remains ; and, in the
second, in the jealously-guarded heirlooms handed
down from generation to generation, or preserved
in public museums, the value of which has been
recognised from the first. In choosing collabora-
teurs to aid him in dealing with the vast mass of
material accumulated for a short time on a rare
occasion, the editor has shown very considerable