I like to think that that Campanile of "porphyry and jasper" was not raised by one who dwelt amidst cold dreams of architectural proportion and gave his life to the designing of geometrical ornament, but by the man who could feel the humour of the dog, the patience of the oxen, and love to have such things carved about the base of his tower; and as I sit here in its very shadow, it seems to me as if the most fitting meed of praise with which to conclude an essay on the old painter, is, not that he painted the purest and loveliest frescoes in the world; not that he raised above Florence a tower, which has been the wonder and delight of all succeeding ages, but that he was the first to show by his work, that Art was useful to man, not only as a teacher, but as a friend.
[72] Mr. Ruskin has here been mistaken in asserting that this fresco has not suffered from restoration; a good opera glass will satisfy any one of this fact, as the restoration has not only been great in amount, but most execrable in the quality of its work.
[73] Amongst those with which I am personally acquainted I hear on good authority that the panel picture known as the Stefaneschi altarpiece, at Rome, is of exceeding beauty.
_Coronation of the Virgin._ By Giotto, 128
" frescoes in the Arena Chapel at Padua, 47
R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS. BREAD STREET HILL, E.C.
ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GREAT ARTISTS.
The increasing love of art in our own country and the great desire for knowledge in all matters connected with the literature of art and the lives of the Great Masters called for the publication of the very important information which modern research has gathered together on every side, and which has now attracted the attention of all students of art-biography both at home and abroad.
The intention of the projectors of this Series has been to produce, in an easily accessible form and at a price within reach of every one, the results of the recent investigations which have been made by many well-known critics, especially those of Germany and the Netherlands.
Dr. Woltmann lately published a new edition of his great work on HANS HOLBEIN; Professor Carl Lemcke on RUBENS and on VAN DYCK; Dr. Anton Springer on RAPHAEL and MICHELANGELO; Herr Vosmaer has issued a revision of his celebrated treatise on REMBRANDT, and Herr Thausing an elaborate Life of ALBRECHT DÜRER. These works correct old statements that have been proved to be untrue, impart new facts, and add materially to our interest in the histories of the painters. Many of the Italian art-critics have likewise recently issued treatises on the great artists of their own country; and in France scarcely a week passes without the appearance of some new contribution to the History of Art. All this matter has been carefully studied.