29 JUNE 1901, Page 41

The Painters of Florence. By Mrs. Ady (Julia Cartwright). (John

Murray. 6s. net.)—This book consists of a series of essays beginning with Cimabue and ending with Michelangelo. The authoress writes with sympathy and taste, and if not very pro- found, the book is pleasant reading. The illustrations are very well chosen, as they are taken from the less familiar pictures. The frontispiece — Leonardo's cartoon in possession of the Academy—reminds us of one of the incongruities of art in London. Nowhere, we imagine, but in England would two in- comparable works like this cartoon and Michelangelo's bas-relief be put in a never-visited annexe, encumbered with the pictures, incredibly bad with few exceptions, the Academicians think good enough for diploma works.