Andrea Palladio. By Banister F. Fletcher. (Bell and Sons.
1 ls.)—Travellers in Italy often get wearied by the soulless multiplication of buildings coming under the general style of " Palladian architecture." By reading the present work and study- ing its illustrations, or, better still, by going to Vicenza, we realise that the difference between Palladio and his imitators was enor- mous. He was a great artist, whose buildings possessed the true soul of architecture,—rhythmic proportion. The most convincing demonstration of this is the Basilica at Vicenza. Mr. Fletcher points out that although Palladio's knowledge of Roman architec- ture was most extensive and complete, he was never a slavish copyist, but always broke Vitruvian rules when it suited his pur- pose to do so. Also we are told that he never used the broken pediment, or any of those vulgarities of the rococo style which made the reaction against classical architecture so strong in the nineteenth century. Besides reproductions of photographs of buildings, this interesting volume also contains plans and architectural details.
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