New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-28


lished in Sweden, revised with the aid
Of William Rankin and others, is pre-
cisely what is needed by the layman
who wishes TO be initiated into that
side OF the subject which most concerns
him-namely, the great Italians art.
Leonardo is a kind of cosmos, type
OF universally. DR.. Siren wisely ad-
dresses himself 70 the analysis Of the
masters work in painting and sculpt-
ure, thereby simplifying his theme and
wildly Illuminating it. We especially
appreciate the systematic nature Of his
discussion. the order which he has in
troduced into portentously compll-
Gated field. His purely biographical
notes are perfectly arranged. In the
period OF Leonardo's apprenticeship,
wherein II is so easy for the critic to
become entangled in his own>dubieties.
be pursues the troublesome question OF
Nerrocchias influence with lucidity
we cannot too warmly commend. And
in the same manner thenceforth ne un-
folds his fascinating story through the
earlier paintings and drawings, through
the first stages of the Milanese period,
through the obscure yet positively
thrilling phase of Leonardo's interest
in equestrian sculpture, and so on down
to the end. Collateral questions are
always creeping in, the relations which
extend from Leonardo into scores OF
different directions. and on occasion
as in the case Of the famous Lichten-
stein portrait - DR.. Siren widens the
scope Of his inquiry enough to please
the most ardent devotee of the game OF
attributions. But his main purpose Is
TO interpret Leonardo's genius, to re
create the masters atmosphere, and ne
does this with freedom from pedantlc
iargon which by itself commands our
sympathy. His book has unity. with
its innumerable excellent illustrations
il is a true guide, true hel p.
Mr.. Clapp. like DR.. Siren, has written
not only to instruct, but to give pleas
ure. In a delightful preface TO the
book Mr. Mather remarks: Il shuddef
when think what German or Ger
manized American scholar would have
made of the subject of Pontormo." II
is good saying. Mr.. Clapp has done
an almost incredible thing. He has per
formed a labor of love, in the service OF
a master not of the highest rank-snd
he manifests his enthusiasm without
overriding it. One may share his ad-
miraton for Pontormo or one may not
one may not 20 quite as far as ne does,
butnowhere in this volume does the read
er feel that he is brought under compul-
sion. Mr.. Clspp is content to state the
facts of his hero's life and to express
his own convictions in urbane terms
As for the facts, they are here set fortn
in ideal fulness and orderliness. ron
tormo's biography, organized with MI
mute care. is briefly traversed. Quanu-
ties of his paintings and drawings are
then given in good reproductions. AFTER
these come catalogues, including, under
sensrate heads, pictures attributed to
him. lost pictures, etc. Documentary
evidence winds up the scheme. Mr.
Clapp will not accept the conventional
dictum that Andrea del Sarto was the
last great Florentine artist, and ms
Younger contemporaries, one and all,
mere facile eclectics whose work Nasarl
summed up in the frescoes OF the Palaz-
20 Vecchio" He would cite Pontormo IN
refutation. For our own part we are
not altogether with him. Neither IN
Pontornio's religious paintings nor IN
his portraits, fine as they often are, do
we recognize creative genius adequate
10 the task of maintaining him on a
plane higher than that on which modern
criticism has been content to leave him.
Nor do the drawings which constitute
his true title TO fame seem to us as
rich as they seem to Mr.. Clapp in sim
pie and majestic patterns" But we
feel the force of the suggestion thus ex-
pressed:
He perceived dimly perhaps. but still
more clearly than any Italian of his time,
that in every work Of art there is an element
OF decoration. source of our pleasure. and an
clement Of representation, source OF our
sense Of reslity-an emotional and scientnc
side And he also perceived. think. that the
Florentine Renaissance had been naturallsuc
that its best ardor had been spent in solving
problems of representston-sn anatomy, move
ment. perspective. contour, light and shade
in a word in the eyocation through the figure
arts Of sensations allied to those that are
awakened By the visible world, and that by
$40 all the discoveries of the school, from
Masaccio TO Michael Angelo, had been con-
densed into elaborate formulas. Against TINS
tendency he reyolted. He tossed and twisted
the vast nudes that he had inherited from
Michael Angelo to MT strange combinations
of shapes that haunted him. Emotional de-
sign. that was his aim arrangements OF
lines and masses that stir our sensation oil
form without the intervention Of the mind
That. in a nutshell, is the enchant
mont of Pontormo in his drawings. He
could not, like Michael Angelo, dip into
plav emotionally with form, using
power of draughtsmanship which, If
not of the highest significance, had
nevertheless a remarkable potency. he
had, in a measure, style. If he missed
the magic Of the kings of art ne had
the kindred charm which belongs to its
princes. Mr.. Clapp's book commemo-
rates what was, for him, an adventure.
81 had discovered Pontormo," he says.
in recalling his first adequate view OF
the deposition" in Santa Felicia at
Florence. He passes on, with an IN
spiriting touch, the sensation of the DIS
coverer. Whatever the readers final
impression of Pontormo may be 1t Will
be the richer and more sympathetic
for his study of Mr.. Clapp's pages.
And once more, as we take leave of the
book. we must allude to its meaning as
coming from Yale. OF more and more
discoveries" such as this one Of Pom
tormo we may be the more confident,
among American scholars and students
of art. because the university thus con-
spicuously recognizes their Importance.