31 JULY 1953, Page 12

Limited Achievement

(Piranesi, Careen, Plate VI) Seeing his stale vocabulary build The same decor—observe this" gloomy vault "— We tire of this good fellow, highly skilled No doubt, but pertinacious to-a fault.

The same few dismal properties, the same Oppressive air of justified unease, Proclaim the practised hand from which they came, Although these show a willingness to please.

Yes, some attempt undoubtedly was made To lift the composition, and to pierce The bald tympana—vainly, I'm afraid ; The effect remains, as ever, gaunt and fierce.

Those were his true proclivities ? Perhaps. Successful in his single narrow track, He branches out, but only to collapse, Imprisoned in his own unhappy knack, Which, when unfailing, fails him most perhaps.

DONALD DAVLE.