The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-02-18
RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
Paris.

Grant Allen, who died recently, PROB
ably was the most versatile English writ
er of the last decade. He knew how to
write delightful. clean fiction; his short
stories were always entertaining, his
sketches never lacked interest and usually
impressed the reader with the belief that
they were true word pictures of what the
writer saw and heard; his natural history
articles showed he was a thorough stu
dent of biology, and his work entitled
Paris" (printed in two volumes) proved he
had a marvellous knowledge of the
churches, art galleries and other places of
interest in the French metropolis. In fact,
If he had written nothing else. Paris
would have kept his name long in men,
DRY after his death. The work is not a
guide book there is nothing in 1t that
savors of Baedeker. It might properly be
called IAN expert review of the many
works of art to be found in Paris but 1t
is really more than a mere review; ii is
critical, technical and descriptive. Mr..
Allen spent thirty-five years in foreign
travel, and much of this time was devoted
to studying the architecture, sculpture.
painting and minor arts of the countries
he visited. He was therefore well quail
fed to judge good from bad, and his con-
illusions should have greater weight than
the hastily-formed opinions of many So
called critics. Mr.. Allen, in his preface.
disclaimed any pretcnse of posing as a
connoisseur or an art critic, but the reader
of his work will say he was both, and
that he was too modest to claim genius in
either line.
The first volume tells of the origin of
Paris (old and new, the lie de la Cite
the Palais de Justice, the Sainte Chapelle,
Notre Dame. the Roman Palace, the Musee
de Cluny. the hill of Ste. Genevieve, the
Louvre, the Sale des Primitifs, the Sale
Duchatel, the Salon Caree, the Long Gal
lery, the German, English and French
schools. and hints on the paintings on the
Louvre. The second volume treats of the
Madonnas in the Louvre. tells how to- STUDY
the paintings in the Louvre, describes and
explains the various collections of sculp-
ture-classical, Renaissance and modern
and has chapters on the modern city, the
great boulevards, the Faubourg St. Ger
main, and st. Denis, with .'conclusion
devoted to places of historic interest out
side the great city"
No city in the world has furnished more
material for history than Paris. There
is something of giobe-wide interest in
every church and public building. and
each notable painting is either founded on
an historic incident or is a part of his
tory itself. All this has been explained
by Mr.. Allen, who said, in describing his
method: "A church, as rule, is built over
whose special honor it was originally
erected. That saint was usually one of
great local Importance at the moment of
its erection, or was peculiarly implored
against plague, foreign enemies or some
other pressing or dreaded misfortune. In
dealing with such a church, then, ] en-
deavor to show what were the circum-
stances which led to it's erection, and what
memorials of these circumstances it still
retains. In other cases it may derive It's
origin from some special monastic body
Whenever / have to deal With such
a church / try as far as possible to ex-
hibit the effects which its origin had on
Its architecture and decoration, to trace
the image of the patron saint in sculp-
ture or stained glass throughout the Iao-
rio, and to set forth the connection of
the whole design with time and place, with
order and purpose
Concerning paintings its author said he
intended his work to be mainly historical,
antiquarian and. above all, explanatory.
His criticisms are those of the most au-
thoritative experts. What he aimed at,
he said. was Ito put the intelligent reader
| in such position that he may Judge
for himself of the aesthetic beauty and sue
cess of the object before him. To recog-
nize the fact that this is a Perseus and
Andromeda, that a st. Barbara enthroned.
the other an obscure episode in the legend
of ST. Philip, is not art criticism, but it is
| often an almost indispensable prelude to
| the formation of a right and sound judg-
ment. We must know what the artist
was trying to represent before we can
feel sure what measure of success he has
attained in his representation"
| The books will prove Of great value to
tourists who wish to do Paris in few
weeks. and they also will be found inter-
esttng to people who never expect to cross
| the sea- but who desire to know some
| thing about the greatest art treasure city
| in the world. Both volumes are generously
| illustrated. l.. c. Page & Co., Boston.