fIllr 3r1s.
THE ARUNDEL SOCIETY.
The publications of the Arundel Society for the eighth year of its enistence (1856), only recently issued, commence the series of engravings after the great Italian frescoes of which Mr. Layard took tracings a few years ago. Mr. Layarcl's laborious exertions in this enterprise can hardly be too warmly applauded in the interest of art, more especially when the neglected, ruinous, or perishing condition of the original frescoes, as of so many others all over Italy, is borne in mind ; and the liberality with which he has presented these most valuable records to the Arundel Society, and undertaken, at his own risk, the engraving of the first specimen, is worthy of the spirit in which he toiled. We need hardly add that, with such an addition to its own ordinary annual issue, the Society makes its subscribers an unprecedented return for their guineas.
The specimen selected by Mr. Layard is the fresco by Perugino, at Panieale, of the martyrdom of St Sebastian, which is published in the form of a chromo-lithograph by Mr. Vincent Brooks, 23 inches high by 23 broad, from a water-colour copy of the same size made by Signor Mariannecci, a Roman artist. As a typical example of Perugino, it might be difficult indeed to find anything more eligible than this fresco. Its eminence in this respect, however, implies, to our thinking, some grave objection to it on the ground of art. Perugino is an anti-natural painter, petting every recondite fancy of his own for castigated or sublimated expression, formal symmetry of grouping and architectural arrangement, idealistic presentment of subject, and the like ; and, when he allows himself full swing, as in this case, the result is something not in the least answering to any real straightforward conception of the facts, and very alien indeed from the sympathies of us poor workaday men and women. Perugino lives in a rarefied atmosphere of his own, wear- ing on his rather pinched visage one of those self-complacent smiles which he bestows equally upon a cherub, a martyr, and an executioner ; and he finds it very extraordinary that other men choke in that air, and prefer to live lower down in a grosser. But so they do, and so they always will and ought ; and, while they will hug a Giotto, a Massed°, or a eusni, as a friend, there will ever be a corner in their hearts whieh rebels against a Perugino, and hints to him that there is a narrowness in hie elevation, and even a spice of what vulgar moderns call " priggish- ness " in his predilections. So much by way of caveat against a Peruginism "pure and simple," like that before us, and without derogating from due recognition of the master's_ noble gifts. Mr. ruicent Brooks's chromo-lithograph is delicately and carefully done. It is accompanied by five lithographed outlines, on a large scale, of the upperportiona of the principal figures—the saint and the four archers; valuable aids towards a deliberate study of the work. It is to be
regretted that these otherwise acceptable outlines are deformed by that ugly, vulgar, and false manner of contour-drawing which makes some of the lines thicker and blacker than others.
Along with Mr. Layard's Peruginos come two more of the wood-cut series from the Giottos of the Arena Chapel ; and a general view of the chapel itself, also in chromolithography by Mr. Brooks. The Last Supper is one of the less interesting of the Giotto; though still with a loving and solemn spirit in it : the Hiring of Judas is remarkable for the arid, prying face of the betrayer, and for the conception of the Devil at his elbow, who, though little more in form than a mere childish mice_ tore, is deadly and dreadful not the less. The view of the Arena Chapel is executed from a drawing by Mrs. Hifford Burr, who, with no infe- rior enthusiasm and persistence, cooperated with Mr. Layard in his stu- dies. It forms a very large and striking chromolithograph, including, with strong definition, many of the frescoes and decorative details ; if it is the trustworthy transcript which it purports to be, possesses a very high degree of interest. But we have with concern heard it main- tained, and that by persons whose assertion is not to be slighted, that some liberties have been taken with the subject, apparently in order to get as much into the picture as possible ; and Mrs. Burr has committed a very deplorable mistake in introducing figures of Giotto and Dante, with some accessory personages, as present in the Chapel. In all courtesy and respect for her talents and industry, we must tell Mrs Burr that these little puppets have no business whatever there, even were they well done—the purpose and value of the view being simply imitative, in the way of architectural record, not pictorial ; and that, done as they actually are, they go far towards making the whole print an absolute eyesore. Our parting word, however, must not be one of objurgation. The Arundel Society is doing excellent service to art, and is only anxious for the means of enlarging its sphere of usefulness. We think it worthy of all possible support, and believe that an amateur who wants to spend a guinea advantageously for himself and for art cannot do so better than by becoming a subscriber.
[For Booxs, see Monthly Supplement.]
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