Studio: international art (85.1923)

refinement of the Roman bath for two
thousand of the wealthy classes. Others
of the larger Roman plates are A Perform-
ance at the Colosseum.—a wonderful vision
of the ** gladiator's bloody circus " with a
great multitude present—and Exterior of
the Colosseum, The Forum, A Court of
Justice, The Stadium, of Domitian. On a
smaller scale are the two charming plates
The House of Sallust, seen in the hey-day
of its splendour, and the Villa Quintilii,
the beautiful and stately home of the
wealthy brothers Quintilian—of which but
a fragment survives on the Via Appia. In
the print we are shown the arrival of the
Emperor Commodus, whose friendly visit
was merely a subterfuge to murder the
amiable brothers and possess himself of
their estates, 0 a 0 a 0
Although Walcot's imaginative etchings
of the antique world bear the general title
“ Roman Compositions," included in the
series are this remarkable artist's vision of
Athens when the Acropolis was in all its
architectural glory, and of wondrous
Babylon, with its palaces and temples and
its great plain. In this series also are two
plates of impressive beauty and originality,
called Antony in Egypt, in which Walcot's
imagination has pictured the mighty mas-
sive architecture of Egypt as a background
to the magnificence of the Roman
Triumvir's dalliance. The Visit to
Cleopatra, and The Morning of the Festival,
describe particularly the human interest
of these two masterly plates. In his latest
dry-point. An Egyptian Palace, the artist
has responded again to the fascination of
ancient Egyptian building in its living
aspect, though “ Temple " rather than
u Palace " might, perhaps, have been a
more accurate description, since the massive
character of the architecture is superbly
suggested in the design, and the authorities
tell us that the Egyptians built their palaces
of lighter and less durable materials, and
consequently so few have survived. But
whether it represent palace or temple, it
is a beautiful plate, which nobody but
Walcot could have conceived or wrought.

[All the etchings and dry-points repro-
duced on the preceding pages are, with the
exception of the two New York plates,
published by Mr. H. C. Dickins, London.]

THE . ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBI-
TION, 1923. 0 a a 0

IN this year's exhibition at Burlington
House the outstanding works are very few,
and the number of those entitled to serious
consideration rather bewilderingly large.
Mr. Sargent's portrait of Sir Edward H.
Busk, M,A., LL.B., with its masterly ex-
pression of character and splendid certainty
of handling, is in a class by itself ; and the
portraits by Mr. Sims take a place of hardly
less distinction by their originality of treat-
ment and delightful sense of style. Sir

FIGURE ON GREAT WESTERN
RAILWAY WAR MEMORIAL
PADDINGTON STATION
BY C. SARGEANT JAGGER

(Photo Paul Laib)

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