FLORENCE.* Mn. LUCAS does not attempt to be original or
profound, but instead gives us the impressions of a cultivated mind wander- ing at ease among masterpieces, "contented if he may enjoy the things that others understand." Sometimes this attitude is a little tantalizing. Often we seem to be brought to the point where the obvious delight of the writer in some great work of art appears to be prompting him to a deep inquiry or illuminating criticism ; but suddenly the ground is shifted and another statue, picture, or building is brought under consideration, to be treated in the same way. With Mr. Lucas's taste we have no fault to find; it is wide, and can include many different manifestations of art. He himself confesses that the appreciation of Florentine sculpture came to him later than his lore of pictures, but now he has much to say that is of interest about that art of which Donatello, Luca della Robbia, and Michel-
• A Wanderer in Florence. By E. V. Lucas. London: Methuen and Co. (Cs.]
angel° are the greatest exponents. Indeed it is impossible to appreciate truly either Florentine sculpture or Florentine painting alone. Nowhere else in Italy were the two arts so closely combined. We may pass weeks in Venice and give little thought to bronze or marble. Indeed the only statue of commanding excellence there is the incomparable Colleoni which was made by the Florentine Verrocchio. In the Tuscan town it is different; here the outlook of either artist was the same, for each was eternally preoccupied with the expression of solid form and movement. Giotto led the way, and after him all followed the same path. The Florentine artist never despised matter, but made it express the spirit. To the sculptors must be joined the architects, for nowhere else were the two so intimately connected. Elsewhere buildings may be covered with statues, but in no other place are they so much part of the same idea. How can we think of Brunelleschi's loggia of the Innocents without Andrea delta Robbia's medallions in the spandrils of the arches, to take one instance alone ? In speaking of the two, uncle and nephew, Luca and Andrea, Mr. Lucas says that had they " been entrusted with the creation of the world it would be a paradise." Indeed, these two performed a miracle, for they carried simple beauty and sweetness to the furthest possible limit, and without ever a hint of prettiness. Mr. Lucas very truly says that most people go from church to church, thinking only of pictures and statues and forgetting the architects, and he asks what would the city be without Brunelleschi? It is this wide out- flowing of genius that makes Florence stand alone. Where else can we find the coats of arms of the city guilds, the decorations of the Foundling Hospital, the tombs of the princes, the portraits of notable citizens, the frescoed walls of the churches, and the great buildings, public, private, or religions, all manifesting the unmistakable signs of pure genius ? Mr. Lucas has given an outline of many of the historical episodes, and especially of those related to the Medici, and at the end of the book is to be found a useful historical chart. In this the course of events in Florence can be compared with the general stream of European history. It is needless to say that Mr. Lucas's book is written with charm and humour, and the obvious delight of the author in its subject carries the reader along with him.
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