DOI issue:
No. 161 (August, 1906)
DOI article:Reviews and notices
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20715#0293
Reviews and Notices
out that it was George III. who first appreciated
its unique possibilities, George IV. who converted
a small, unsatisfactory house into a beautiful palace,
and Edward VII. who completed his work by having
the pictures properly arranged. Beginning with
Van Dyck, who, in spite of his foreign birth, is
justly placed at the head of the British school,
eleven very fine examples of his style are given,
including the remarkable equestrian portrait of
Charles I., the bust of the same monarch in
three positions, the beautiful group of Thomas
Killigrew and Thomas Carew, and the representa-
tive subject picture of St. Martin of Tours giving
his cloak to a beggar. These are succeeded by
the very noteworthy portrait of James, Duke of
York, by William Dobson, the eager admirer of
Van Dyck; the marvellous David Garrick and his
wife, in which William Hogarth excelled himself in
effective composition and masterly delineation of
character ; the equally typical likeness of Garrick
as “ Kitely,” by Sir Joshua Reynolds; the portrait
of Thomas, Lord Erskine, from the same hand,
that was given by the great Whig advocate to the
Prince Regent, and Hoppner’s exquisite portrait
of Princess Mary, fourth daughter of George III.,
as a child, considered one of its artist’s happiest
efforts. Equally well represented are Thomas
Gainsborough and Sir Thomas Lawrence; the
former by his charming portraits of the boy princes
Adolphus and Augustus, and the latter by his fine
likeness of Sir Walter Scott. Although not so
numerous as the Van Dycks, the Holbeins at
Windsor Castle are very representative of the rare
German limner, whose portrait of Derick Born,
a young German merchant, exceptionally well
reproduced, is considered one of Holbein’s best
works and is painted in his simple early manner,
whilst that of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, the
chief agent in Wolsey’s fall, is typical of the
master’s more matured style. Most noteworthy of
the Flemish pictures reproduced are the so-called
portrait of Thomas Linacre, by Quentin Matsys,
that has now been proved not to represent the
learned physician whose name it bears, and the
portrait of himself by Peter Paul Rubens in a very
different style; whilst amongst the Dutch master-
pieces the palm must certainly be given to Rem-
brandt’s portrait of his mother, which was given to
Charles I. during the lifetime of the artist by
Robert Ker, Earl of Ancram.
The Character of Renaissance Architecture. By
Charles H. Moore. (London: Macmillan.
New York : The Macmillan Co.)—The author of
this ambitious volume, who claims to have set forth
the true character of Renaissance architecture,
certainly has the full courage of his convictions,
for he dares to challenge the conclusions of experts
whose verdicts have hitherto been generally
accepted as final. He questions, for instance, the
rightness of construction of Brunelleschi’s master-
piece, the dome of the cathedral of Florence,
declaring that the great architect led the way in a
wrong direction, adding that the following of his
example has led modem designers still further
from the true path. In spite, therefore, of his
somewhat hackneyed subject Mr. Moore’s book
will be found full of original assertions, and the
untiring industry of which it is the outcome will no
doubt win a certain meed of admiration. But
the illustrations are mostly commonplace, and fail
to bring out the salient characteristics of the
buildings they represent.
Stanhope A. Forbes, A.R.A., and Elizabeth
Stanhope Forbes, A.R. W.S. By Mrs. Lionel
Birch. (London : Cassell & Co.) $s.—Written
with the consent of Mr. and Mrs. Forbes, this
account of two exceptionally successful careers is
marked by the reserve which is unfortunately too
often wanting in literature dealing with living
workers. It reveals none of the secrets of home
life that should be held sacred, yet with sympa-
thetic touch it calls up a faithful picture of two
deeply interesting personalities, bringing out the
close sympathy between them, yet at the same time
emphasising the characteristics that differentiate
one from the other. Mr. and Mrs. Stanhope
Forbes are both true artists, looking at everything
from the aesthetic point of view; but the work of
each is essentially individual, the most distinctive
peculiarity of that of the former being strong realism
and forcible delineation of character, whilst that of
the latter is marked by a deep feeling for the poetic
and romantic side of human nature, expressed
both in painting and in literature in a manner
that appeals straight to the heart. Incidentally
Mrs. Birch’s narrative also gives delightful glimpses
of the environment in which so much beautiful
work has been produced, describing the foundation
and growth of the Newlyn art colony in the remote
Cornish village, the delightful camaraderie of its
members, and the love of the fisher-folk for Mr.
and Mrs. Forbes, in whose triumphs they rejoice
without fully understanding their significance.
There is, indeed, not one dull page in the book,
and the numerous illustrations are thoroughly
representative; but by far the most charming
portions of the text are those contributed by Mrs.
Forbes herself, who, with delicate tact, tells just
272
out that it was George III. who first appreciated
its unique possibilities, George IV. who converted
a small, unsatisfactory house into a beautiful palace,
and Edward VII. who completed his work by having
the pictures properly arranged. Beginning with
Van Dyck, who, in spite of his foreign birth, is
justly placed at the head of the British school,
eleven very fine examples of his style are given,
including the remarkable equestrian portrait of
Charles I., the bust of the same monarch in
three positions, the beautiful group of Thomas
Killigrew and Thomas Carew, and the representa-
tive subject picture of St. Martin of Tours giving
his cloak to a beggar. These are succeeded by
the very noteworthy portrait of James, Duke of
York, by William Dobson, the eager admirer of
Van Dyck; the marvellous David Garrick and his
wife, in which William Hogarth excelled himself in
effective composition and masterly delineation of
character ; the equally typical likeness of Garrick
as “ Kitely,” by Sir Joshua Reynolds; the portrait
of Thomas, Lord Erskine, from the same hand,
that was given by the great Whig advocate to the
Prince Regent, and Hoppner’s exquisite portrait
of Princess Mary, fourth daughter of George III.,
as a child, considered one of its artist’s happiest
efforts. Equally well represented are Thomas
Gainsborough and Sir Thomas Lawrence; the
former by his charming portraits of the boy princes
Adolphus and Augustus, and the latter by his fine
likeness of Sir Walter Scott. Although not so
numerous as the Van Dycks, the Holbeins at
Windsor Castle are very representative of the rare
German limner, whose portrait of Derick Born,
a young German merchant, exceptionally well
reproduced, is considered one of Holbein’s best
works and is painted in his simple early manner,
whilst that of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, the
chief agent in Wolsey’s fall, is typical of the
master’s more matured style. Most noteworthy of
the Flemish pictures reproduced are the so-called
portrait of Thomas Linacre, by Quentin Matsys,
that has now been proved not to represent the
learned physician whose name it bears, and the
portrait of himself by Peter Paul Rubens in a very
different style; whilst amongst the Dutch master-
pieces the palm must certainly be given to Rem-
brandt’s portrait of his mother, which was given to
Charles I. during the lifetime of the artist by
Robert Ker, Earl of Ancram.
The Character of Renaissance Architecture. By
Charles H. Moore. (London: Macmillan.
New York : The Macmillan Co.)—The author of
this ambitious volume, who claims to have set forth
the true character of Renaissance architecture,
certainly has the full courage of his convictions,
for he dares to challenge the conclusions of experts
whose verdicts have hitherto been generally
accepted as final. He questions, for instance, the
rightness of construction of Brunelleschi’s master-
piece, the dome of the cathedral of Florence,
declaring that the great architect led the way in a
wrong direction, adding that the following of his
example has led modem designers still further
from the true path. In spite, therefore, of his
somewhat hackneyed subject Mr. Moore’s book
will be found full of original assertions, and the
untiring industry of which it is the outcome will no
doubt win a certain meed of admiration. But
the illustrations are mostly commonplace, and fail
to bring out the salient characteristics of the
buildings they represent.
Stanhope A. Forbes, A.R.A., and Elizabeth
Stanhope Forbes, A.R. W.S. By Mrs. Lionel
Birch. (London : Cassell & Co.) $s.—Written
with the consent of Mr. and Mrs. Forbes, this
account of two exceptionally successful careers is
marked by the reserve which is unfortunately too
often wanting in literature dealing with living
workers. It reveals none of the secrets of home
life that should be held sacred, yet with sympa-
thetic touch it calls up a faithful picture of two
deeply interesting personalities, bringing out the
close sympathy between them, yet at the same time
emphasising the characteristics that differentiate
one from the other. Mr. and Mrs. Stanhope
Forbes are both true artists, looking at everything
from the aesthetic point of view; but the work of
each is essentially individual, the most distinctive
peculiarity of that of the former being strong realism
and forcible delineation of character, whilst that of
the latter is marked by a deep feeling for the poetic
and romantic side of human nature, expressed
both in painting and in literature in a manner
that appeals straight to the heart. Incidentally
Mrs. Birch’s narrative also gives delightful glimpses
of the environment in which so much beautiful
work has been produced, describing the foundation
and growth of the Newlyn art colony in the remote
Cornish village, the delightful camaraderie of its
members, and the love of the fisher-folk for Mr.
and Mrs. Forbes, in whose triumphs they rejoice
without fully understanding their significance.
There is, indeed, not one dull page in the book,
and the numerous illustrations are thoroughly
representative; but by far the most charming
portions of the text are those contributed by Mrs.
Forbes herself, who, with delicate tact, tells just
272