marvellously ill-favoured. The contrast between the abstract Greek
treatment of the idea of death and the Roman concrete realisation of the
individuals who have died is extremely curious.
Besides the tombstones, the new Sculpture Room contains some most
fascinating examples of Roman decorative art under the Emperors. The
most wonderful of all, and this alone is worth a trip to Bloomsbury, is a
bas-relief representing a marriage scene. Juno Pronuba is joining the
hands of a handsome young noble and a very stately lady. There is all
the grace of Perugino in this marble, all the grace of Raphael even. The
date of it is uncertain, but the particular cut of the bridegroom's beard
seems to point to the time of the Emperor Hadrian. It is clearly the
work of Greek artists and is one of the most beautiful bas-reliefs in the
whole Museum. There is something in it which reminds one of the music
and the sweetness of Propertian verse. Then we have delightful friezes
of children. One representing children playing on musical instruments
might have suggested much of the plastic art of Florence. Indeed, as we
view these marbles it is not difficult to see whence the Renaissance
sprang and to what we owe the various forms of Renaissance art. The
frieze of the Muses, each of whom wears in her hair a feather plucked
from the wings of the vanquished sirens, is extremely fine; there is a
lovely little bas-relief of two cupids racing in chariots; and the frieze
of recumbent Amazons has some splendid qualities of design. A frieze of
children playing with the armour of the god Mars should also be
mentioned. It is full of fancy and delicate humour.
On the whole, Sir Charles Newton and Mr. Murray are warmly to be
congratulated on the success of the new room. We hope, however, that
some more of the hidden treasures will shortly be catalogued and shown.
In the vaults at present there is a very remarkable bas-relief of the
marriage of Cupid and Psyche, and another representing the professional
mourners weeping over the body of the dead. The fine cast of the Lion of
Chaeronea should also be brought up, and so should the stele with the
marvellous portrait of the Roman slave. Economy is an excellent public
virtue, but the parsimony that allows valuable works of art to remain in
the grime and gloom of a damp cellar is little short of a detestable
public vice.
THE UNITY OF THE ARTS: A LECTURE AND A FIVE O'CLOCK
(Pall Mall Gazette, December 12, 1887.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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