New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-30

As q rule the process leads him to
persuasive conclusions. He opens
wide field Of opinion, and occasionally
70 be sure, his remarks provoke dis
sent. In his chapter on the Ncnetlans,
for example, II is trltie disconcertlng
90 learn thar there is nothing for which
TintorettO has been more overpraised
than for the truth and power OF ms
Imagination. His treatment OF subject
is rarely more than vigorously pct
uresdue," etc. Mr.. Cox must have for
gotten the paintings at the School OF
San Rocco. In the notes on nineteenth
century painting, too, he IS little
less than lust 70 the virtuOsity Of For
funy and BC,dini. But these, we re-
peat, are matters OF opinion. The IN
portant thing in this book is its funda-
mental soundncss. laycrsing scores
of painters, cid and modern, Mr.. Cox
chavactnrIzcs them in the terms which
insensibly lead the reader 10 better
understanding not only Of the masters
cItod hut of painting as painting.
We end as we began, with refer
ence to a New York institution. The
Hispanc Society, like the Metropoli-
tan Museum, eXerts its influence
through elements beyond its art gal
lcries or its book library. Il makes
books, also. and these are often OF
considerable value. The latest in the
list is q stout volume on Spanish Ar
chitecture of the Sixteenth Century
C. =. Putnam's sons, written by
Arthur Byne and Mildred Stapley. Mr..
Byne is responsible. too, for the nu-
merous drawings and photographs with
which the book is illustrated. a place
was surely waiting for this study.
Historians of architecture pay q GER
tain amount of attention to Spain, but
they give very little space 90 the as
poets of the subject that are here sur
veyed at length. And they are fascl-
mating aspects The Spanish Renais-
sance differed from the Italian in some
decisive matters. il was far less distin-
gui he'd in taste. The Picturesque and
Herrera styles seem coarse and redun-
dant beside the austere beauty of the
Italian masters. But what the Spanish
architects Of the sixteenth century
lacked in elegance, in proportion, in
pure beauty, they made up in certain
racv picturesq ueness. Their best works
might specifically appear to be those
in which they most closely approx
mate to Italian models such as
the uncompleted palace begun for
Charles V at Granada, projected by
Pedro Machuca, who had studied be
side the divine Rafael da Urbino, and
was the first to bring TO Spain the
maxims of the Renaissance in al their
classic purity" But the really char
acteristic buildings Of the period are
those which wears thoroughly Span
rsh Dhy5iognomy. like the Hospital de
Santa Cruz, at Toledo. or the famous
Avuntamicnto, at Seville. This book
as wisely framed to embrace not only
works of architecture in the strict
sense. but tombs. woodwork and mis-
cellancous manifestations of the an
cicnt Spanish craftsmanship. The au-
thors show. as they have already
shown in their books on Spanish iron
work. their feeling for the genius of
"a reople, the spirit peryading all the
forms OF art. They bring to. light
good deal Of material not only un-
familiar, but really inaccessible in any
other publications. Lovers of Spain,
whether architectural students or not,
will delight IN their book.