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• • ¦ 68 T H E L EADEB. [Saturday ^
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. History in Buins. A ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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• • ¦ 68 T H E L Eadeb. [Saturday ^
• • ¦ 68 T H E L EADEB . [ Saturday ^
Books On Our Table. History In Buins. A ...
BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . History in Buins . A Series of Letters to a Lady , embodying a popular Sketch of the History of Architecture , and the Characteristics of the various Styles which have prevailed . By George Godmn , F . R . 9 . Chapman and Hall . Thb author of this little work is known , somewhat beyond professional limits , as an earnest and diligent pursuer of his subject for practical ends . ^ The scope of the book is best described in the sub-title , which w 6 therefore give at length . Several of the monuments illustrated are far from being in rums—scarcely in decay—and have not " Forgotten Their very records . " Indeed the last chapter brings us down to the street-architecture of Chambers , Dance ' and Soane , whose time immediately preceded that of living architects . We will endeavour to sketch an outline of Mr . Godwin ' s pleasant and elegant little volume and to suggest , by details here and there touched in , the charm of colour which he has conveyed into his representation of—we fear the words must be spoken —a not generally attractive . abject . Having premised that he intends dealing historically with that subject , and not taking an aesthetic point of view , —a restriction which soon proves a little too much for his self-denial , —he begins by assuming the correctness of Biblical chronology , as sufficient for his purpose , and starts confidently along the road thus opened to him . The origin of types , continued indefinitelbthe founders of great citiesis referred to simple accidents of locality ,
y y , climate , and the pursuits of men in primitive existence . As , for instance , we nnd the Egyptian type to have its undoubted origin in the cane hut , which nomadic tribes would have built with a view to lightness as well as strength . Stones of memorial are noticed as the first indication of religious structures , and the rude altar is pointed to as « the germ of all religious temples . " " A pavement about the altar , for the sake of cleanliness , and then a slight inclosure of upright stones around that , ag a protection "—it is easy to connect the stages which follow . Fiye chapters , or letters , are given to Scriptural architecture , with collateral instances in Mexico and India , and a dissertation on Druidical remains . The sixth chapter starts afresh with classic forms , glancing at Pelasgic and Cyclopean distinctions , and then recurring to the subject of early types . Under this head , the origin of columnar structures is minutely considered , and exemplified by woodcuts . The
progress of Grecian architecture , the development of its orders and styles , the birth of sculpture , fill two of the most interesting letters in the series ; and lere the ubject widens . Rome , Pompeii , and Herculaneum close the history of classic architecture , and in the short chapter which tells their tale , preparation is made for a more extended survey . The continuance of the Roman basilica } by Constantino forms the link between the classic and the Christian sera ; and then we see how Byzantine art spread first over Italy , and then over Germany , and then filled every land on this side the Alps . From it spring the Mohammedan and Moorish types ; while Russian architecture is wholly formed on its principles . To no locality is assigned the origin of pointed architecture , but it is carefully disconnected from the Goths , after whom it has been named , at first , most probably , in derision . A step backward has to be taken when we come to the history of architecture in Merry
England . Roman remains arc , of course , too fertile a topic to escape the writer fired with antiquarian zeal , and Mr . Godwin dwells fondly on this portion of his work . Another break occurs in the chain , where the occupancy of Britain by the Romans ceased ; and the story is resumed with the commencement of Saxon dominion . Again Byzantine art obtrudes its influence , through Norman as well as Anglo-Saxon agency . Gothic art grows into form , and its beauties arc exemplified in our fine old cathedral churches . To England , indeed , Mr . Godwin almost entirely confines this passage of his history , and the regretful tone in which he takes leava of church architecture , rather indisposes us , by the converse force of
ideas , towards the " Renaissance , " which we are next called on to observe-. It is in a temperate and candid spirit that he speaks of the cinque-centists , who certainly had this in their favour , that they revived in their own country what had spontaneously grown there . But , as we cannot too strongly insist , nothing which haa died deserves to live again ; and we should have forgiven Mr . Godwin a greater display of warmth in asserting that " a real style must have its growth out of the country and the purposes for which its structures aro required . " —_ . - ——— ^ Th , Comet ,. By J . It . Hind . J- W . *•*« » nd B ° » - Jlohn ' t CUutieal Library -Snllii » t , Florut , and Vellriru * Fatereulut . H- " Uol \ n . Jtokn ' i Standard Library History of the Origin of lUprettntativc Oovrnment m f { ur ff j to y % Th * Charm Almanack fi * 1853 . _ , A { }^ , { £ " The Prophet * and Kim ,, or the Old Te , lament . Tly F . D . Maurice . Macmillaii ami Co . An Inquiry into Human Llure . By Join . Y . Maovicar , I ) . I ) . Sutherland and Knox . Th » Australian and California * . Gold Discoveries , and their Trohable CorueqnenceB . Uy V f Stirlintj K It N . K Oliviir and Jloyu . Civil War , and Monarchy ' in France in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuri ** . Iiv Leopold Hank . ' . ivolH . WatHoh . The Reavoner . . li ,, l ,, i nml fn llistoire it ,: la Kestauration . I ' ar A . Do T . amurliiio . ir r ! w Mark UurdlcUme . Hy Mr * . Rlor . lio . 2 vols . ?}"'!** ' } ! v ' Pour Day * in Connemara . Hy Hir I > . N .-avo . n A , _ . Kll ' V tr ' ,. £ " ? f / Tutculana ; or , Notes and Ue / lec / ion » written Jurini , Vacation . By Andrew I « l K » r . W . 1 itfcoriiifc . The . Prize Treatise on the . Mtte Aria Section of ttie Great lixhibttion of 1 H 51 . ^ . ^ j ^ jj a , " Co Letter , left at thn Pastrycook's . . ^"" vS'lS' , m ! l Oo The Valv . of Lanherne , and other Poem ,. Hy II . H . HlolcOH . Longman , J » rown , « ll ' . 111 d < ; '" Letter , from Ireland . Hy Hiirri .-t MiirUneiui . „ . John IJiiipiiian ThcJtiour LibrarV A IVhim and its Convene * . R " iTiMlS Select nHti ^ Hlo ^ ence Hy V , A . Uoodru-k , !> . !> . » X ^ TCrftr \ " i ^ i Th ,- Water Lit ,, on the Danube . Hookh . m . »»< l Hoiih . The New Quarterly Review . Chapman and . llall . % ™ zp ^ t- ™«» g 2 z ? K « mm » -,- ™ : "" : i & iv ' rtnf ^ bouaL Jen-oM-Punch ' s Complete Lcttcr-WriUr . V ^\ J ™§™ £ Sf . Tail ' s Kdinbnrah Miu / iiztne .. T | i j ( 1 ^ j ) ay LuwHonii Merchant . * ' Miu / azine . l » Brt . ridK « ' aiid () nk « y ! lHo rat > hicid Miiaaxxne .. HaniPBon Low , H < ..., and Co . N ^^ ' ^^^ Li "; : ± Buyer ' , Alm ,,, ack . for . HunA * ,.. I j . ^ Hg ; . -mj Oo . Tk ,, ScuUUk Te ^ erLc * Leayu ,, Renter and Abstains Almanack . ] j jubton « . «! < « Ihf . Urotlinh Uevmw . No . I . r > IJv « r mul H .. v , l History , f EunUih Literature . Hy W . Hpaldll . g . Himrikin M Xv 1 ami S ' Ma ,:,, haiV » Edu , b , lri , h Ker / etiattiral Journal . Rimpkin , Miuh 1 an U « i . The I'U-tur * I'leaiure Hook The Charm ( himm ' t lloutehold Storien . ^••« ' « 'V «(««'¦<^<> . A Plea for ,,, „¦ , , << oa * t and our Cave Colon , / Ode on the Death , f the » uke f Wdhnijlon . Hy \\ . T . Hrailhwailo .- Lujht and Shade ) or , tha Young Artitt . Hy A . 11 . J )^ ir ^; j ( j | lOT ; 1 Th « Univertal Library , 1 ' urtB I to V . Ingrain , Cuok , and Oo .
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^§ # ^ wfo of ify ®^ ^« Htffl » J BY HENBY MEHHITT . " Who in contemplating one of Eaphael ' s finest pictures , fresh from the master ' s hand , ever m ' ' beXweTiffight on theWched littfe worm which works its d £ ^ X GBWOBTH . CHAPTEE II . DIRTY PICTURES . tT has been said that the delight of a connoisseur is " a dark , invisible , very fine old picture ; " and there can be no doubt of the existence , among admirers of the old Masters , of considerable reverence for the mysterious stains and discolorations which pictures acquire by neglect in the lone lapse of years . Enthusiastic collectors will exult in the " golden splendour of a Claude , the -glowing warmth" of a Cuyp , or the " rich transparent browns" of Rembrandt , which qualities , in a large degree , are occasioned bcoatings of discoloured varnishes and oils , producing upon the
y pictures effects similar to layers of stained glass . A celebrated critic , speaking of Sebastiano del Piombo ' s " Raising of Lazarus , " in the National Gallery , grows eloquent on the dark incrustation by which that famous composition is obscured . He says , " the figure of Lazarus is very fine and bold . The flesh is well baked , dingy , and ready to crumble from the touch , when it is liberated from its dread confinement to have life and motion impressed on it ao-ain . " Thus it is inferred that Sebastiano stooped to the trivial artifice of imparting an appearance of half putrefaction to the exhumed corpse . The " baked" look of the figure is an affair of time and the critics , and not of the original painter . Did not Hazlitt overlook the too evident fact that coverinof half
the noble picture referred to is embedded beneath a thick g opaque varnish , modern paint , and common dirt , and that the figure of Lazarus is only discoloured in the same degree as the other portions of the work ? The same critic dwells rapturously on the decayed cartoons of Raphael at Hampton Court . After describing the spirit and beauties of those divine pictures , he proceeds to account for their transcendental qualities , which he thinks " perhaps are not all owing to genius—something may be owing to the decayed and dilapidated state of the pictures themselves" which ' " are the more majestic for being in ruins . " He delights to observe " ¦ that all the petty , meretricious part of the art is dead in them ;" that " the carnal is made spiritual ; " that " the corruptible has put on
incorruption ; " and that " amidst the wreck of colour , and the mouldering of material beauty , nothing is left but a universe of thought , or the broad , imminent shadows of calm contemplation or majestic pains . " We dissent with deference from the opinions of one who so often thought justly , and always expressed himself well . But when the mind escapes from the enchanting thraldom of these imposing words , we are disposed to ask , Did it never occur to critics accepting these views absolutely , that if the painter had intended all these appearances of decay , and included the infirmities of age among the beauties of his design , it was in his power to have produced them before he dismissed the work from his studio ? Doubtless , he never
contemplated such effects , and we are bound to study the intention of the master , and to respect it . Is not every eminent picture-buyer jealous of the imposition of modern copies upon him as the incontestable productions of the master ? The artistic impostor—the dread of the connoisseur and the disgrace of art—owes the success of his counterfeit issues to this fashion of preserving the genuine productions in a half invisible state . Artificial discolorations and layers of dirt are to these creators of the " modern antique" what night and darkness are to the highwayman and the burglar . If decay is to be trusted as the source of so much beauty , it should lead to practical results , which we never see attempted by any partisan of the theory . Whatever princip le is true may become the foundation of practice : but what would be said if some ingenious theorist , of a scientific
turn , should Imply discover some process by which the tlecay of pictures might be facilitated , and the picture-gazer of this age be enabled to possess himself of intellectual delights which in the ordinary course of things lu ; would never live to enjoy ? What would be said if , seized with this idea , the trustees of the National ( JJallery should order the most valuable of the pictures in their charge to undergo an ordeal to get rid of their gross " material" and " carnal" qualities ? We should soon see this theory of beauty by destruction considerably recast . The value in which the learned Doctor Cornelius held the " rust , the
precious « : rngo , " which clung ho tenaciously to the famous ( shield , is not extraordinary , when contrasted with the singular affection manifested by able connoisseurs for the " venerable verdure" which obscures so many chefs-d ' oeuvre of the old painters . The strange appearances of decay winch that learned doctor styles " the traces of time , " and " beautiful obtieurities , where doubts and curiosities ^ o hand in hand , and eternally exercise the speculations of the learned ; " thetie awaken quite us much interest und admiration when discovered on tho surfaces of old pictures , as
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 15, 1853, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15011853/page/20/
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