THE PUBLIC PICTURE GALLERIES OF EUROPE.* Tuis is a useful

little book, inasmuch as it comprises in a small compass a short catalogue of the principal works in all the chief galleries of Europe, both the titles and the numbers of the pictures in the catalogues being given. In so far as the work attempts more than this—and half its pages are filled with a description, critical and biographical, of the history of painting—it is simply a poor reproduction of others' work, neither very accurate in detail nor edifying in matter. To write even an abridged sketch of the rise and pro- gress of Painting in the various countries of Europe, requires far more knowledge and research than can be gained by a yearly visit to Continental galleries, and Miss Thompson has, we think, been ill-advised in encumbering the really useful matter of her book with a mass of undigested matter, frequently

misleading and utterly unreadable. Not to go any further for examples of the style of this portion of the work, than the de-

s3ription of English painting, which may be supposed to be that with which Miss Th ompson is best acquainted, what good pur- pose can be served by such criticism as the following ?—

" Reynolds's power displayed itself in a fine appreciation of colour, -and in a knowledge of the art of most gracefully posing a sitter, and very happily arranging the accessories of a portrait. No doubt, his -drawing was weak, and in the extremities often quite neglected ; but his mastery of the brush, largeness of style, and cleverness of painting -what he would not stay to define, sufficed in great measure to cover the defect. His style was particularly suited to express the delicate -traits and unrivalled beauty of English women, especially of those belonging to our noble families."

Poor Sir Joshua! What would be his feelings, if he could read the above ? Surely immortality of this kind would give him more pain than pleasure. Why, if he had been the Court photographer, Miss Thompson could scarcely have hit him harder. A little further on we learn that "William Blake was the author of several poetical works, and, in lorder to illustrate them, made numerous drawings, most of which are extremely defective as works of art, although some display a curiously wild and original treatment of the subjects." 'This is also a curiously wild and original criticism and descrip- tion of Blake, who was an artist by profession, not by chance, and who worked under Basire, the engraver, from his early youth ; and because he did not get on with his fellow- .apprentices, was employed by his master, as early as the age of fifteen, to make drawings for engravings of the in- terior of the various churches in and about London. His subsequent career was almost entirely that of an engraver and book illustrator, chiefly reproducing his own designs. However, shortly put, the significance of Blake's work in the history of English Art is that he was the first of the pre-Raphaelites. He protested vehemently against Sir Joshua

Reynolds's theory of breadth of treatment and generalisation of detail, and dwelt upon the necessity of making continually finished copies of Nature; even saying "that the difference be- tween a good artist and a bad one is that the bad seems to copy a great deal, and the good one does copy a great deal. To gene- ralise is to be an idiot, to particularise is the great distinction of merit."

The same sort of criticism which leaves out the vital quality in the master's work may be noticed in the account of Spanish painting, where, in the course of three or four

pages devoted to "Spain's greatest master, Don Diego Velasquez," his power as a colourist, quite the most essen- tial of his qualities, is never mentioned at all, as amongst his merits. Surely Miss Thompson must be aware that this artist was, before and above everything, a colourist. Per- haps it may be new to our author that the greatest colourist

England has ever had, said of Velasquez and his work, that he (Sir Joshua Reynolds) "was trying to do with great labour" what "Velasquez did at once."

Without, however, entering into any more details as to the critical merits and demerits of this little work, which are, in- deed, not of its essence (for, as we have said, the bodily removal of the critical and descriptive portions would, in our opinion,

• The Public Picture Galleries of Europe. By Miss Kate Thompson. London : Macmillan and Co.

add to the value of the work as one of reference), let us point out one or two errors of statement and omission, that could be easily rectified in a future edition. First, Cimabue's "principal achievement" is not "a series of frescoes in the south transept of the lower church at Assisi, where there is also a Madonna of large size in fresco." This may be more confidently asserted, because there is no series of frescoes by Cimabue in the place mentioned, his only work there being an enthronement of the Madonna, now almost wholly spoilt. Surely, in this instance, Miss Thompson must have made an exception to not mentioning "any picture which has not been seen and examined by herself," as there is no similarity whatever between the work of Giotto's pupils, Memmi and Gaddi, who painted the series (probably under Giotto's directions), and that of Cimabue, the difference between the Byzantine manner of Cimabue and the naturalism of the shepherd-painter being startling in its intensity, con- sidering that the last was the pupil of the first-named artist.

Second, Giotto's skill as a sculptor is not "shown in the statues" which adorn the Campanile at Florence, because Giotto never executed any statues. Miss Thompson here is thinking of a series of designs for the small bas-reliefs round the base of the tower, which Giotto prepared previous to his death. The statues above are by Andrea Pisan°, and justly celebrated as some of his finest works. The only other statues on the Campanile are by Donatello.

In the catalogue of the principal works in the Uffizi Gallery the magnificent " St. Sebastian," by Sodoma, has been omitted, though its representation in outline is given in another place, in one of the small sketches which adorn the book. The picture of the "Agony in the Garden," put down as attributed to Giotto, has been for two or three years known to be by "Lorenzo Monaco." Sandro Botticelli's " Fortitude " is wrongly described as "Force," and there is an omission of several other pictures of considerable interest. In the catalogue of the Moretz-Kapelle at Niirnberg, the two pictures assigned to A. Darer are by later hands, and of far inferior merit to any of that artist's work to whom they are ascribed; and there are other works erroneously assigned to him in the German Museum of the same town. The only genuine one of these is that 1348, generally known as the "Portrait of the Burgomaster." We must mention one more criticism of Miss Thompson, this time of the Italian master, Tintoretto. After saying of this master that the small works in the Ducal Palace are better than the larger in quality of workmanship, the author proceeds, speaking of the great compositions in the Scuola San Rocco :—

"They have little or no claim to beauty of colour. The painter's power of drawing the human form in every attitude is indisputable, exemplified, as it is here, by the energetic action which characterises almost every figure. To a student of the present day, this predomin- ance of action is incompatible with the repose and dignity which many of the subjects require. A most noticeable instance is afforded by the excessive noise, movement, and bustle displayed in the Last Supper.' The Pool of Bethesda' and the Brazen Serpent,' among others, exhibit a confusion of figures in every variety of contortion. One of the best is the Assumption,' on the ground-floor. The most famous is the Crucifixion,' in the Sala dell Albergo, on the second- floor, a crowded composition, containing all the incidents of the narrative."

Of this extraordinary paragraph it is difficult to speak with adequate patience, and yet a few words must be said. The reason for Miss Thompson's preference of the quality of workmanship in the small pictures of the Ducal Palace is easily explained, as those works have been repainted pretty well throughout, and are now nice and new-looking ; but her asser- tions about the San Rocco pictures can hardly be more than dismally smiled at. The "Assumption," on the ground-floor, which is described in the above quotation, is the only work in that room which has been much restored, and it was only an accident which prevented the two and twenty being retouched, as they were all taken down for the purpose.

However, as Mr. Osier, in his life of Tintoretto, says, "The man providentially died, and only one was spoiled,"—the "Assumption." Of the assertion as to the lack of colour- beauty, we can say nothing, for, as Ruskin says, an eye for colour is as definitely denied to some people as an ear for music; but we close our review with one sentence from our greatest Art critic, which may, perhaps, make Miss Thompson look a little more carefully into Tintoretto's large works, before she reiterates her statements as to their deficiencies in quality of workmanship and other merits :—" The 'Paradise' of Tintoret, his largest work, and the most wonderful piece of manly and masterly oil-painting in the world."