Lectures on the National Gallery. By J. P. Richter. (Longmans
and Co. 9s.)—Dr. Richter is somewhat of a "minute philo- sopher." In these lectures it is hardly art he discusses, but the science of the identification of pictures by small and hitherto overlooked facts. The research required for such work is great and the result useful, even if we are asked to believe that no work by Cimabue exists except a much-restored mosaic. In this case we are tempted to wonder how the critic formed his standard test by which he finds all the works ascribed to this painter spurious. The opening sentence of this book—from which we differ entirely—gives the attitude of mind of Dr. Richter towards his subject in these lectures. He says :—" The end and object of public museums and galleries is not so much entertainment as instruction" It is, indeed, the death of art when pictures are regarded as puzzles for professors, and not as joys for the whole world.
Mr. Malcolm Bell's Sir Edward Burne-Jones : a Record and Review (Bell and Sons, 7s. 6d.), has been reprinted in a handy form, and with the information brought down to the painter's death last spring. The volume is embellished with numerous illustrations, and is full of interesting matter and appreciative criticism.
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