New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-11-18

C,ncise Iconography, by ..,cnard Tbay-
er Holbrook Illustrated after the
Original Portraits. ito, Up NiA' -o-'
The Houghion Mifiiin Company
Everybody is familiar with certain
physiognomy known as that of Dante
but few stop to ask just how vaiid tha1
traditional profile may be. For the Few
this subject is hauntingly attractive and
to the connoisseur of curious learning
Mr.. Holbrook's volume must make a
strong appeal. II is minutely exhaust
i've. This as il happens, is not TO say
that the author has flooded an old mys-
terry with new light and set straight all
the controversies that have ragged
around il. Mr. HolbroOk does not pre-
tend To speak with absolute fnality.
But. on the other hand. the student who
wants to get at all the facts relating to
the portraits OF Dante will have to read
this book. Have to read It? He VIII
batten on II with joy. Ranging far ana
wide for every last scrap of information
that might serve his purpose, Mr. Hoi-
brook has beautifully clarified and ar
ranged his tumble Of items, and with his
aid one may traverse the iconography OF
the poet as though in some well ordered
picture gallery. The numerous illustra-
lions enable him TO give telling force to
avery stroke i'm his difficult task of
elucidation.
1t is the difficulty, the bitter scarcity
of the kind of data for which one Graves
that gives zest to the whole affair. Re-
search has a multitude of so-called facts
with which to deal and actually next to
nothing to go on in the reconstruction OF
the visage sought There are any num-
Der Of portraits Of Dante, but they all
trace back to one painting and TO one
piece Of prose Here is the latter as il
was written by Giovanni Boccaccio, some
forty-odd years after Dante died at Ra-
VIENNA:
our poet was of middle height and in hi
later years he walked somewhat bent over
with a grave and gentle gait. He was cla'
always i'm most seemly attire, such as be
fitted his ripe years. His face was long
his nose aquiline and his eyes rather piI
than small His jaws were large, and M
lower lip protruded. His complexion wa
dark his hair and beard thick, black AM
curly. and his expression ever meianchol.
and thoughtful. And thus it happened on
dav in Verona, when the fame Of hi
works had spread everywhere, and espe
ciaIly that part of his Commedia entitled
the Inferno, and when he was known b!
passing before doorway where severa
women were sitting, one Of them said sotu.
10 the others, yet not so softly but ina
she was heard by him and by whoeVe
was with him: do YOU see the man VIII
visits He'll and come back when be pleases
bringing news up here OF those who ar
answered YES. you must be right. Don
YOU zee how his beard ia crisped from IN
heat and smoke down there" Hearin
these words spoken behind him ana know
ing that they came Of genuine BELIEF. an
teing almost glad they held such an opin
ION. he TDantel passed on
Mr.. Holbrook's treatment of this IA
NOUS souvenir is typical of his book al
a whole. Interrogating all the available
evidence that bears upon its origin HI
very effectively. but without the forcing
~ so much AS a word, fixes its value II
what we might call a scientific restora'
ton Of Dantes lineaments. BoccacciC
he counts a contributor of prime i'm
portance TO the solution Of the problem
The only other painter of the poets por-
trait 10 he taken with equal seriousness
Is a master of the brush, Giotto. gen.
orous amount of the authors space Is
given 10 the renowned profile Of the
Barcello. now sadly showing the marks
If time and mishandling. but preserved
for MS in something like It's integrity in
Kirkup's tracing and in the Arundel re-
production made long ago. 1t is fas-
cinating to follow the analysis Of this
phase of the subject. to study the ques-
ton of Giotto's relation TO the poet, and
10 pursue the fortunes of his portrait, a
hundred knotty little episodes straight
ching themselves out in charming fashion
under the historians lovingly skilfu
hand. He shows us how the familiar
Torrigiani mask. and even the better
known and more admired bust at Naples
with other portraits of fairly serious sig
nihcance derive nevertheless. in all prob
ability. from Giotto's painting.
That painting. of course, represents
the poet much younger than we know
him in most OF the works which essay tC
put his features before us. How then
are the more mature traits when are
crystaulzed in our minds to be accounted
for? It takes Mr.. Holbrook a good
many pages and much delicate reason
ing TO expose in approximate outlines the
growth OF traditional form in Dan
tesque portraiture. and we cannot at
tempt TO retell his close packed nara
tive But this. indeed, is unnecessary
We have simply to commend the boob
FOR the positively exhilarating manner il
which II brings order out Of kind o.
chaos and go Eliminates this or thai
portrait in crowded company that wc
arrive at better estimate Of its rela
tive significance than we had ever before
been able to frame. The record is car
ried down only as far as Raphael in The
body of the book. but there is capita
descriptive catalogue covering the por
traits in manuscripts and printed books
ancient and modern. and a quantity o
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