Giovanni Bellini and Titian. It is the Descent of the Gods to taste the Traits of the Earth, half-comic in conception, hot remarkable for the grace of some of its figures; the landscape is by Titian, and Dr. AVaagen says, justly, that “ it is, without comparison, the finest that up to that period had ever been painted,”—and we would add, few finer have been painted since.
Meanwhile Sir Charles Iiastlake has obtained a picture by Mantegna, and another by Bellini, both of which rank very high among the works of these masters, and both in excellent condition. And Air. Alexander Barker, whose collection is becoming one of the best selected and most interesting in England, has purchased several pictures of great value, especially one by Verocchio, the master of Leonardo da Vinci, which Dr. Waagen speaks of as “ the most important picture I know by this rare master.” Mr. Barker has also made an addition to his collection so recent as not to be described even in this last volume of the “ Art Treasures,” hut which is of unsurpassed interest. He has purchased from the Manfrini Gallery at A'emce, a gallery which has long been famous as containing some of the best works of the Venetian school, eighteen of its best pictures, and was lately in treaty for a still larger number. He has already secured Titian’s portrait of Ariosto, Giorgione’s portrait of a woman with a guitar, and other works by these masters, by Palma Vecchio, Giovanni Bellini, and other chief Venetian painters. We trust that he may bring to England (if it must leave Arenice) Bellini’s St. Jerome, a picture of the most precious character.
This catalogue, long as it already is, by no means completes the list of the last three years’ gains of pictures for England. Such a record shows how compact with treasures the little island is becoming. And meanwhile, what is America doing in this way 1 The overestimate of the importance and value of Mr. Belmont’s collection in New York shows how far the American public yet is from knowing its own ignorance and poverty in respect to Art.
No praise can be given to the execution of Dr. AVaagen’s book. His descriptions of pictures are rarely characteristic; his tone and standard of judgment are worthless; his style of writing is poor; his inaccuracies frequent; and his flunkeyism intolerable. It would be an excellent undertaking for a competent person, using Dr. AVaagen’s book as a basis, to compress the account of the principal private galleries, those which really contain pictures of value, into one small and portable volume,—to serve as a handbook for travellers in England, as well as for a guide to the present place of pictures interesting in the history of artists and of Art. Such a volume, if well done, would be of vastly more value than these heavy four. The usual delightful liberality of English collectors in opening their galleries to the public on certain days would make such a volume something more than a mere tantalizing exposition of treasures that could not be seen, and would render it, to all lovers of Art, an indispensable companion in England. AVe may add that this liberality might be imitated with advantage by the directors of some collections in which the public have a greater claim. Are tried once in vain to get sight of the portraits of Alleyn and Burbage at Dulwich College, and were prevented from seeing the Hogarths in the Sloane Museum by the length of time required for the preliminary ceremonies.
The New American Cyclopaedia. A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge. Edited by George Ripley and Ciias. A. Dana. Vol. I. A—Araguay. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 8vo.
The design of this work is to furnish the American public with a Cyclopaedia which shall be readable as well as valuable,—possessing all the advantages of a dictionary of knowledge for the purposes of reference, and all the interest which results from, a scholarly treatment of the subjects. Judging from the first volume, it will occupy a middle ground between the great Encyclopedias and the numerous special Dictionaries of Art and Science; and if its plan be carried out with the vigor and skill which mark its commencement, it will, when completed, be the best and most condensed Cyclopedia for popular use in any language. The guaranty for its successful completion is to be found in the character and abilities of the editors,
