New-York tribune., 1909-09-05

sought, and so rare have they become that wse,
good example gets into the market il nro
vokes bitter competition among private coIlec
tors and the public museums of Euroue III
richest body of statuettes TO be found anvwba-.
to-day is that which was formed bv ner,be-,
of the house of Medici and is now in the Va.
! tionaI Museum at Florence Other noted colAo
tiOnS adorn divers Italian museums; there is o,a
of great interest at Vienna and. largely throag,
DR. BODIES efforts. the collection at Berlin bsv
been carried to a high plane. In Germany +,
Paris and in London there are numerous m
, yate owners whose galleries are admire blv filed
The only American collector who has given sne
cial attention to Italian bronzes is Mr.
Morgan. His statuettes are temporarily On
exhibition at South Kensfngton.
Two points brought out by DR. Rode IeaJ
quickly To the secret of the Renaissance bronze
In the first place, it permitted the artist n
treat the nude. theme excluded from the mass
of work done for the Church Secondly. yvbila
statue placed. as has been noted with lis bact
TO the wall or in recess needed 10 be modelled
only where it met the eye. the movable U-rla
bronze was naturally designed SO as 10 be seen
from all sides. and hence put the SCULPTOR q,
his mettle in respect to research in matters NJ
form. 1t became source of stimulus and dis.
for the cxaggeration which he gives 70 its in1u-
ence in the following passage on the gift Of
Florence 10 italian art through her statuettes:
This delicate became Of prrnordial fra,ortar,
for the whole of ItalyS free-Standinas FerisSsnCs
pIastique an Importance which on J-o'I5 $500
expect from a first glance at these small ana
rather ungainly statuettes. II became the scboSi
producing the nude based on antique tra ,.irionS
These small bronzcS opened thr eyes % the ir7p0r
tanCe OF isolated free-staniin-. figures rf r-ir
CCt6CulDE f4-- ,rru.I
and bringing them out from their reca~ses 1e-
veIoped the taste for variety. symmetry and har
mony OF grouping II brought movement + I5e
position OF the figures and the different parts Of
for plaStique Eventually il gave tie artist ne
refined comprehension of the silhouette.
Here the devoted advocate allows lis fervor
70 carry him shade too far. TLere was too
much sheer creative genius abroad in tie
RenaissancC Tor this particular phase oI expert
ence 10 have quite the indispensable reference
To the growth Of plastic art which Or Bois
would attach 10 it, But il is easy u understand
his slight dsIocation Of tie perspective in which
his subject is to hc appreheuded for t. training
involved in the making II these brunzcs was in
dubitably of high value. one kindles a- the idea
of what it must have meant 70 Ecrto.I5 or Al-
tonic Polaiuolo or Eccio 10 make tile expert
nlent of embodyiDs some pi-tureSque or poetic
idea in a small model. lovingly caressins T.
turning il about. discovering new bcauties @.
contour and new charms in the modaIation ot
surface, and finding somehow. within norai-
nally narrow limits. a certain delist tf., free
dom Unquestiouably these sCulp-ors must
have learned precious lessons as they lit upon
novel possibilities in composition unexpected
felicities of design. They gave themselves 10
the work with peculiar susto- In those repro
ductions from the antiqu, which Were especially
popular in the fifteenth century You sometimes $
perceive a painstakjnE fidelity q tae claSsc
style. but with their tirSling energy The sculp-
tors could hardly follow their originals i'm q "a
tient and literal manner Archaeological er-