New-York tribune., 1907-12-15
ART FOR THE L4IM4N.
T7co Illustrated Books Of Tntech-
nicai Study.

A HISTORY OF SCULPTURE BY Ernest H
Short With Numerous Illustrations sVo' Pr
XVI, 327. T.. i. Dutton x Co.
THE CHRIST FACE IN ART. BY James a. Burn n,
With Sixty-two Illustrations. svo. PIP xxi, -.
E p. Duttcn & Co
One Of the pathetic spectacles of modern HE
is that which is presented by the CONSCIENTIOUS
but uninterested traveller. engaged in the back-
breaking task Of doing" the sculpture galleries
NJ the Vatican. say, or Of the Louvre. The long
rows Of statues and busts seem terribly c"id 10
the 1,ninitiated eye. Not unnaturaliy has many
a wearied tourist fed from the company OF the
masterpieces of Greek and Roman sculpture
with the remark on his lips that he felt as If
he had been wandering in a cemetery. 4 great
deal of this discoura-eInent is due to nothing
more nor less than the tendency OF writers on
SCULPTURE to take a hopelessly archaeological
tone and to Wreak themselves on questions Oh
style in such wise that only the tralhed SUI
dent can grasp what they have TO say Inc
average reader longs for an Interpretation OF
the subject which viii really animate it, heip-
ing him to see the great sculptures not as MUS
trations of some mysterious artistic develop
rnent but as the works OF human hands lie VIII
find something Of what he wants III MI Shoi'
book.
II is not an ideal book Mr.. Short crlticai
qualifications are not of the highest character
s
on French sculpture and on the artists OF mod
ern times But he should prove very helpful
TO the beginner, inasmuch as he takes sculpture
ont Of the realm of technical and dry discussion
and describes it as the expression of national or
local feeling A good example of his method Is
provided in his treatment Of the Dlscopous
Of Myron He has nothing very Illuminating 10
say about the character Of this particular piece
of sculpture as a work of plastic art pure ana
simple but he is at great pains to connect it for
the reader with the whole broad Greek sehu-
rnent which produced it. giving him a glimpse
of the Olympian games and emphasizing WHAT
might be called the social significance OF the
statue. The traveller mentioned above might
not be prepared after reading Mr. Shorts BOOK
to grasp all the technical clements in an antique
statue of a discus thrower. but at least he would
approach such a statue with liveiier sympa-
thy and through the flip given to his imagi-
nation, il more souvenir of the human
past less as lifeless archaeological relic. This
volume is not devoid of passages calculated to
quicken the readers sense Of plastic beauty
But chiefly it directs his attention to the things
that lie beneath and behind the marble surface.
the ideas and emotions Of men in antiquity. In
the Renaissance and In later times.
1.-The Christ Face in Art is an interesting
little Christmas book. The authors aim has
been "to trace the growth and historical de-
yelopment of sacred Art as expressed in the
Face OF Christ, and as conceived by the great
est artists OF each age and country" The sub
feet is one on which It is easy to dogmatize. OF.
at any rate to make daring conjectures. but
Mr. Burns fs careful not to claim too much, not