6 JUNE 1896, Page 26

The Midsummer of Italian Art. By Frank Preston Stearns. (G.

P. Putnam's Sons.) — This book gives a good general view of the art and spirit of the Renaissance, and will prove useful to those who have not before taken a general survey of the golden age of painting. Some details, both as regards the works of art and the estimates of the artists' characters, are hardly to be relied on. Both the "Captives" by Michelangelo are in the Louvre, and to find "modest manliness" either in Cellini or his " Perseus " is indeed surprising.