Studio: international art (30.1904)

Reviews

out theory of Mr. W. L. I )ickes, as to the identity
of the figures embodied in his recently published
"Ambassadors Unriddled," and declines to express
any further opinion than that he partially accepts
the view of Miss Hervey, founded on the seven-
teenth century parchment discovered by her in
1895. "The question at issue," he says, "is one of
the value of evidence on one side or the other," a
value that must be assessed by each student for
himself. The exquisite reproductions of typical and
thoroughly well authenticated examples of Holbein's
work given in this beautiful volume—which, in
view of the number of photogravures it contains, is
a marvel of cheapness—are fully worthy of the
scholarly letterpress they adorn. The Longford
Castle Portrait of Erasmus and that of the Louvre
are both masterpieces of translation into black-and-
white of the subtle tone values of the originals.
The Jeweller Hans of Anfrverfi from Windsor
Castle and the Bonifacius Auerbach of the Basel
Museum lose not an iota of their remarkable tech-
nique ; in the Ambassadors, the tragic mischief
wrought by alien hands is all too evident; the
Anne of Cleves of the Louvre retains its quaint
charm and distinction, and not one of the many
renderings of the famous Meier Madonna of
Darmstadt can be said to rival that given here.
The reproductions of the designs for glass, with
their skilful recognition of the limitations of the
medium in which they are to be worked out; the
chalk drawings of heads—of such infinite value to
the student—and the marvellous series of wood-cuts
are all of equally high excellence, whilst absolute
completeness is given to the publication by the
addition of such minor proofs of the master's
versatility as his drawings for jewels and book-
covers.

A Book of Country Houses. By Ernest Newton.
(London: Batsford.) 215.net.—There is, perhaps,
no branch of art in which the education of the
general public has been more neglected than that
of domestic architecture, yet it is, perhaps, the
one in which good teaching would yield the most
useful results. It is indeed rare to meet with an
expert, able and willing to give the results of his
experience in a form likely to be of any real use to
those who wish to build for themselves a home in
the best sense of the term, in which suitability,
comfort and beauty are combined. That Mr. Ernest
Newton, who is one of the best living designers of
such homes, has already done much to dissipate
the ignorance that so long prevailed is proved by
the fact that his little book, published in 1890, went
rapidly out of print, whilst the hints given in it were

largely followed by house builders, professional and
amateur. In the new volume the numerous illus-
trations, which include plans, single rooms, and
completed designs, the architect has given a selec-
tion of the best work he has produced during the
last ten years, in which he has indeed fully carried
out his own ideal and proved the truth of his asser-
tion that, "although house building is very much
a practical art, the practical requirements may be
met gracefully and pleasantly; there is scope for
dignity, humour, even romance. But," he adds,
"the house-planner must recognise his limitations,
and it is often this recognition which is the secret
of complete success."

Old English Doonvays. By W. Galsworthy
Davie and Henry Tanner, jun. (London :
Batsford.) 2\s. net.—The fine collotype repro-
ductions of photographs, taken by the well-known
expert, Mr. Galsworthy Davie, in this delightful
volume, include a truly remarkable series of typical
examples of Renaissance doorways, the earlier of
which are arranged in historical sequence, so that
the gradual architectural changes reflected in them
can be easily studied ; whilst the later specimens,
produced when their style had become fully estab-
lished, are arranged in groups. In his all-too-brief
explanatory notes Mr. Tanner, who has made
English wood-work his special study, explains that
in order to do full justice to the subject it was
necessary for him to supplement Mr. Davie's photo-
graphs by sketches made on the spot, to elucidate
their details, and these sketches will be found not
the least useful feature of a book which should be
studied by every modern architect, so rich is it in
suggestions for the adaptation of the old in the
new.

Nature's Laws and the Making of Pictures.
By W. L. Wyllie, A.R.A. (London : Edward
Arnold.) \^s. net.—To write a book on a subject
generally considered too technical for the general
public, and needing to be mastered by those who
intend to become professional artists alone, in
such a manner as to interest all into whose hands
it may fall is indeed a tour de force. Yet this tour
de force has been successfully achieved by Mr. Wyllie
in his remarkable volume, with its wealth of original
illustrations, that should be studied not only in
schools of art properly so-called but wherever the
young are being trained to take an intelligent
interest in the world in which they live; for it
teaches the eye how to see and the brain how to
understand what it sees, as well as the hand how
to interpret the comprehended vision. Wisely
taking it for granted that what he has to say is

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