24 Historical Synopsis or Italian Art

. In vain do we. attempt to construct new tri umphal arches, basilicas and theatres on the Roman model; the opulence and Roman sense of empire are lacking. The various parts of the edifice may have corresponding proportions, measurements marked' by square and compass according to the antique; but the whole result is mechanical, material, pallid, cold. All the ornamentation is volute as with the Roman; but it has no color and falls into identical stero typed forms.

The decorative painting of the Appiani at tempted to recall to life the grotesque figures of the Roman thetwiae and of the houses of Pom peii; but they were meaningless in their con ventional elegance. All this art passed like a comet which obstructs the light of the sun only to leave long trails in the wretched art produc tions of the 19th century.

The Ottocento (19th century) was the cen tury of archaeology. The art of the past was persistentlyrecalled; but neither the Cincinnati nor the Coriolani created by the art of the king dom of Italy; neither the lords and ladies under the dazzling Roman sky nor the saints of the Pre-Raphaelites with heads in a frame of gold fastened to their dress can express the new life. At times art idolized classic beauty, and again contorted itself in the neo-Gothic spears; now it had mystic fervor; now it became concu piscent ; sometimes it turned towards the grace ful Qwsttrocento, sometimes toward the solemn Cinquecento, or the ponderous Seicento or the unrestrained Settecento. Thus the art of the

past century is without unity, its aims are unde fined and its only progress is technical. It would seize upon the past as a plank of safety or it would take refuge in the kingdom of dreams and sail without a compass. But hav ing achieved technical progress and being per suaded that counterfeits of the antique are valueless, having abandoned academic ecclesi asticism and feeling the need of adaptation to the sentiment of the common people, Italian art is preparing to speak the final word.

Bibliography.— Consult Valeri, F. M., 'La Corte di it Moro' (Vol. I, Milan, 1913; Vol. II, 1915) ; Venturi, A., (Vol. I, Milan 1901 to Vol. VII, Part IV, Milan 1915) ; Ricci, C., 'Art in North ern Italy) (New York 1911) ; Layard, A. H., 'The Italian Schools of Painting) (2 vols., Lon don 1902); Marquand and Frothingham, 'His tory of Sculpture) (New York 1907) ; Muther, R., 'History of Modern Painting) (4 vols., New York 1907) ; Meier-Graefe, J., 'Modern Art) (2 vols., New York 1908) • Villari, L., (London 1901); Perkins, C. C, 'Tuscan Sculptors) (2 vols., London 1864 ; and 'Italian Sculptors) (2 vols., London 1864); Champlin and Perkins, 'Encyclopedia of Paint ers and Paintings) ' • Kuhn, 'Rome, Ancient and Modern' (New York 1914) ; Crowe and Caval caselk, 'History of Painting in Northernitaly.)