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has had the advantage of being illustrated with much learning and research by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Mr. Scharf; and his treatise can be obtained by purchasers together with the chromo.

The mention of this valuable essay introduces us naturally to another department of the Society's publications, which, though it has never attained the importance contemplated for it in early days by Mr. Bellenden Ker, has nevertheless contributed much to the primary object of promoting the knowledge of art; we mean the literary contributions, both of members of the Council and strangers, accompanying and illustrating the various graphic publications. The first production of this class was the work of Signor Bezzi, a translation of Vasari's Life of Fra Angelico, illustrated with notes and twenty-one outlines by Mr. Scharf, from some of the painter's works. The next was Giotto and his Works in Padua, by Mr. Ruskin, containing an interesting and valuable life of that great artist, and a comment on his frescoes in the Arena Chapel. Then followed a series of biographical and critical memoirs by Sir H. Layard, describing the lives and works of the various Italian masters whose frescoes were being successively published by the Society-Perugino, as illustrated by the Martyrdom of S. Sebastian,' at Panicale; Nelli, by his Madonna and Saints,' at Gubbio; Pinturicchio, by his three frescoes at Spello; Giovanni Sanzio, by his fresco at Cagli; Domenico Ghirlandajo, by his Death of S. Francis,' in SS. Trinità, Florence; and Masolino, Masaccio, and Filippino Lippi, by their combined series of frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel of the Carmine Church in the same city. Next, Mr. James Weale gave the Society the benefit of his profound knowledge of Flemish art by a notice of Memling, founded on the Bruges triptych, published at the same time. The late Mr. Wornum likewise wrote for the Society a notice of Holbein on the occasion of the reproduction of the Darmstadt picture; and Mr. Kitchen, now Dean of Winchester, a life of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pope Pius II.), to illustrate the scenes painted by Pinturicchio in the Piccolomini Library at Siena.

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Such is the series of literary publications devoted to the illustration of Painting, accompanied throughout by engravings and chromo-lithographs from the works of the Masters who in Italy, Flanders, and Germany, had chiefly adorned the art. But in a society whose principles were so catholic, sculpture could not be overlooked in the literary any more than in the reproductive department. As, therefore, it had been resolved to illustrate the sepulchral monuments of Italy both by chromo-lithography and photography, as will presently be more fully shown, the occasion was thought suitable for publishing an historical and critical notice of this department of sculpture. Accordingly the late eminent architect, Mr. Street, who was a member of the Council, volunteered to write an introductory

essay to the illustrated work on the subject proposed for the Society by Mr. Stephen Thompson. Various notes and studies were made for this essay by Mr. Street, but his incessant occupation, and at length his untimely death, prevented the fulfilment of his intention. Most fortunately, however, for the Society, which had promised the works to its subscribers with the introductory essay included, the well-known American writer on Italian sculpture, Mr. Perkins, came to its assistance, and in the most generous manner devoted much time and trouble to the preparation of an essay in which the principal part of Mr. Street's notes are incorporated, and which deserves the attention of every one interested in Italian sepulchral monuments. Lastly, and as a further illustration of the sculptural art, though on a smaller scale, the late Sir Digby Wyatt and Mr. Oldfield have dealt, in one of the early publications of the Society, with the subject of ivory carvings, reproductions of which in a fictile material are one of the branches of publication. Unfortunately, though of the greatest interest both to the artist and the antiquarian, these ivories are but little known, and therefore it is well to give a short account of them derived from the published catalogue and documents of the Society.

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In the year 1855 it was determined to give a series of fac-similes of the carvings. The materials were originally collected by Mr. A. Nesbitt, assisted by Mr. Westwood, author of Palæographia Sacra, and Mr. Franks, of the British Museum. These gentlemen made impressions in gutta-percha of the most remarkable specimens of ivory carvings preserved in the principal museums and private collections of Europe. From those impressions types or models for moulding were made by Mr. Franchi, the formatore, and from these types again, by means of elastic moulds, casts were produced in fictile ivory.' Desirous of promoting the objects of the Arundel Society, these gentlemen transferred to it all their materials, and the entire collection was then distributed into fourteen classes, each of which represented either the workmanship of some particular school, or the application of the art to some special purpose, while within each class the carvings were as far as possible chronologically arranged. The classification was made by Mr. E. Oldfield, who was then on the Archæological Staff of the British Museum, and who also drew up a descriptive catalogue of the whole. A more general view of the subject, comprehending a short historical sketch of the introduction and application of ivory to purposes of decoration, was supplied by Sir Digby Wyatt, in a lecture delivered by him at the rooms of the Society. This lecture, together with Mr. Oldfield's catalogue of the carvings, formed part of the annual issue for the year 1855.

The peculiar value of this collection consists in the completeness and continuity with which it illustrates all the vicissitudes of the sculptural art, exhibiting its first decline from the exuberance of Roman luxury to the laborious littleness of Byzantine formalism, its

collapse in Western Europe after the overthrow of Imperial civilisation, its reviving struggles in the rude hand of Norman vigour, and its eventual emergence in all the grace and spirituality of the best Gothic period. It would take up too much space to give a list of these carvings, 195 in number; but of those of the Imperial period may be mentioned one of Esculapius and Hygeia, probably of the time of the Antonines, another supposed to represent the Emperor Philip presiding at the secular games, and another having full-length portraits, probably of Valentinian III. and his mother, Galla Placidia. Then there are Christian diptychs, specially one preserved at Monza, and according to tradition presented by St. Gregory to Queen Theodolinda; carvings of the Greek, Italian, French, English, and German schools up to the sixteenth century, two of which, of the fourteenth, may be specified-one representing with a charming naïveté and delicacy the elopement of Ginevra with Sir Launcelot; and the other, with no less playfulness and grace, a favourite allegory, 'The Siege of the Castle of Love."

There remains one more branch of the work of the Arundel Society, to which a brief reference has already been made. It was thought by the Council that advantage might arise both to architects and sculptors, no less than pleasure to the general public, from the publication of some of the beautiful and characteristic monuments of the dead which are so rife in Italy. That country still possesses in her churches and burial-grounds a series of sepulchral memorials second only, if indeed second, in beauty and interest to the masterpieces of painting.

As examples of the successful combination of architecture, sculpture, and pictorial or other surface enrichment, these monuments are unrivalled. During the summer of 1867 and 1868 Professor Gnauth, of Stuttgart, was engaged by the Society to make drawings from a few which seemed suitable for illustration. These consist of coloured perspective views and elevations, with outline portions and details done to scale. The following were the monuments selected :—Of the Doge Morosini and the Doge Vendramini in the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice; the monument of Can Grande della Scala at Verona; the Turriani monument from the Church of S. Anastasia, also at Verona. Of all these interesting monuments, chromo-lithographic views have been executed, and are sold as separate publications. Besides these representations in colour, a series of forty-nine illustrations by photography has been brought out, taken from some of the finest examples of the Medieval and early Renaissance periods in Italy. This series, which is sold both separately in seven parts, and collectively in a folio volume, entitled Sepulchral Monuments in Italy is accompanied by a descriptive text by Mr. Stephen Thompson, the artist by whom the photographs were taken. The monuments have been

arranged in the work chronologically, and their localities and, when possible, their dates and their artists' names are given with them. The list of places from which these examples of monumental decoration have been derived will show how widely the Society's researches have been extended-viz. Arezzo, Assisi, Perugia, Pisa, Florence, Verona, Padua, Bologna, Lucca, Forli, Ferrara, Rome. It was with a view to give greater completeness to this publication that Mr. Street undertook to draw up the essay to which allusion has already been made, which has since devolved on Mr. Perkins, and which is now sold either separately or as an introduction to the entire volume on Sepulchral Monuments.

Having described at perhaps somewhat undue length the objects of the Arundel Society, and how far it has been carrying out those objects, a very material point remains to be adverted to, namely, its present constitution. One of the first questions usually asked is, What is its government? The administration is in the hands of a Council composed as follows:-The Marchese d'Azeglio; Mr. Oscar Browning; Mr. F. W. Burton (Director National Gallery); Mr. P. H. Hardwick; Mr. C. Harrison; Mr. G. Howard, M.P.; Sir William Gregory; Sir Henry Layard; Mr. T. Norton, hon. sec.; Mr. Oldfield, treasurer; Mr. E. Poynter, R.A.; Mr. G. Richmond, R.A.; Mr. J. Ruskin; Earl of Warwick; Earl of Wemyss.

These names are a guarantee as to the aggregate technical knowledge, experience, and taste possessed by the body which, meeting monthly, has to decide on the works to be copied in water colour by the various artists employed, on the selection to be made for chromolithography or other forms of reproduction, and to superintend the preparation and issue of the several publications in their respective classes. The subscription is but one guinea annually, or a composition of fifteen guineas for life, in return for which a set of publications is given each year. An additional guinea entitles the subscriber to a second set of publications in the same year, different in subject, but equal in value to the first. Another question that has been asked is, What is the usual annual dividend of the Society? It seems absurd to reply to such a question; still, considering how often and by what class of persons the question has been put, it is right to answer it. The Society, though it endeavours to make money, declares no dividend, and works for no personal gain. It is anxious to obtain funds, but only with the view to maintain and to extend its operations. It is obliged, in its publications, to regard profit and avoid loss, in order to maintain its own solvency, but it willingly undertakes the copying of important and perishable works in some cases without much expectation of repayment of its expenses. to the last few years its career has been uniformly prosperous and progressing, or the result detailed could not have been attained. But recently the total receipts have somewhat declined. The falling

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off is no doubt in great measure due to the general financial depression, which affects, immediately, all institutions whose funds are derived from the sale of what are regarded as luxuries. But in part, also, it may be feared that since chromo-lithography has lost its novelty, it has lost some of its popular charm, and since the public has been so amply supplied with high-class artistic publications, the demand for them is beginning to slacken. It cannot be said that the Society's work is inferior in merit to what it was, or that the subjects published are less acceptable. Its work was never better done, and recent publications have been deservedly popular and commended.

The object of the present article is to call attention to this work and to these aims of the Society, to make it better known, to invite visitors to inspect the show-rooms, and to endeavour to procure additional members, in order to have the means to procure copies without loss of time of those frescoes which are reported to be perishing, or of others in distant localities which would be of the highest value to students of art, though they might not be remunerative as publications. At the present moment there are some remarkable. pictures in Spain and Portugal of the greatest merit, but virtually unknown, and in the most imminent danger of being destroyed, not merely by neglect, but by ruthless and appalling restoration. At Vizeu, in Portugal, there is still intact a picture of St. Peter by the mysterious painter Gran Vasco, upon whom are fathered all paintings. in that country of the first half of the sixteenth century. It would be one of the chief ornaments of any gallery in the world from its grandeur and simplicity, but it is on the verge of being treated like its fellows in the same Sacristy by the same artist, and utterly repainted. Again, at Oporto, in the Misericordia Hospital, there is another splendid work erroneously attributed to the same painter, representing King Manuel and his family in devotion before Christ. These and other works in the Peninsula the Arundel Society might be induced to take in hand. They fully recognise how desirable it would be to have them copied and made known, but the road is long, and the expense heavy, and the artist (not yet found) must be paid not only for his handiwork, but for his discomfort.

There cannot be the least doubt that all the Society requires is to be better known, and it will not fail to obtain the requisite support.

In the present scientific mode of study of pictorial art the reproductions of the fresco paintings of the early great masters must be of the greatest value to those who have not the time or means to wander in search of them throughout Italy. Easel pictures can be studied and compared in galleries with comfort, but to obtain a thorough knowledge of Italian fresco, many a long mile has to be travelled, and many a rough night to be endured. The greater part

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