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FINE ARTS (GERMAN)

673

FINE ARTS (RUSSIAN)

Casa d'Oro, the Golden House of Venice. See Stones of Venice by John Ruskin; Venice by Molmenti; and Venice by F. Hopkinson Smith.

GERMAN ART. Romanism ploughed ^ its way across Germany at an early period, with the result that by the tenth century a large number of wealthy monastic buildings were established on or near the Rhine and Danube Rivers. However, no churches of great importance were erected before the eleventh century, excepting the octagon of Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle and the Romanesque cathedral at Bamberg. The monks in the aforesaid monasteries painted exquisitely on parchment, and produced some interesting pottery and glassware. It was not until late in the thirteenth century that Gothic art in its perfected form appeared, and culminated in Cologne cathedral. The Saxon city of Dresden was the cradle of Rococo art with,the Z winger building as an illustration of this period in its most exaggerated or baroque style. By way of the Meissen potteries, in the neighborhood of Dresden, the rococo garlands and scrolls, as painted on china, migrated from country to country and became a familiar and popular type of decoration. Berlin is the center of huge government and private palaces where the work of the distinguished architect Schinkel has been enthroned. Yet neither city could command the same unqualified approval from art-critics in general as the old town of Nuremberg, with its lofty dwellings peppered with quaint gable-windows, and the possession of that group of men known as the Little Masters.

To understand German stonecutting, one should study the carvings on the church of St. Sebaldus, Nuremberg, executed in the fifteenth century by Adam Krafft. To appreciate something of the endless and minute labor expended upon a single monument, days should be spent in examining the bronze shrine of the saint within the church, the work of Peter Vischer and his five sons, who were thirteen years modelling it. A crucifix and several large reliefs in the choir by Veit Stoss exhibit master-carving in wood, which is one of the leading German crafts. The greatest of German artists, of the Nuremberg masters, was Albrecht Dtirer (1471-1528) painter, engraver and goldsmith, whose nobility of character and versatility of talent place him on a pedestal of fame that will never topple over. The two Holbeins rank next in importance to Dtirer; Hans Holbein, court-painter to Henry VIII, was a strong technician and a fertile inventor. His pictures of home-life are charming and versatile.

Among the modern masters of Germany are Schwanthaler (sculptor) and Cornelius, Overbeck, Von Kaulbach and Richter (painters), who were the proteges of kings and

the idols of the people. The heroic bronze figure of Bavaria by Schwanthaler is a metal epic that dominates Munich, now the art-center of the empire. Cornelius and Von Kaulbach have executed important modern wall-decorations, and Overbeck's group of large engravings of the Life of Christ is a national treasure. No pictures of children's faces are purer or sweeter than the lovely composition known as the Song on Christmas-Eve by Ludwig Richter. A new school called the Sessionists has sprung into being and met support, and Franz Stuck has been the leading spirit. Se* History of Art by Lubke; Gems of Modern German Art by Scott; Northern and Southern Germany by Baedeker.

RUSSIAN ART

The churches of Russia, as well as some of the palaces, are stamped with Byzantine design, mingled with an exuberant local feeling that is barbarous, without being effective from a truly artistic viewpoint. At a distance the numerous highly colored and gilded cupolas, domes, spires and other bulbous projections, which are heaped upon one building, lend it the form of a vegetable bouquet. However, taken singly, nearly every one of the turnip, carrot or onion-shaped domes or towers, with its gilded or colored surface, is intensely interesting. There is a general disposition to build the central dome or tower unbroken from within, so that the wall-paintings of enormous figures may be carried up the funnel-shaped openings from above the congregation to the top. A succession of granite steps leads to the pompous portals, thus adding to the grandeur and solemnity desired by the builders. High, dark arches gleaming with antique gold spread like bats' wings above the many shrines which are spangled by ever-burning lamps. A huge iconastos or screen, composed of holy pictures, separates the congregation from the priests who may be seen officiating at the altars through doors in this screen. Innumerable icons are hung about the church with racks for candles. These sacred pictures are modeled after the ancient icons painted by Rublof, a monk of the fourteenth century. The pinched, wan faces are supposed to inculcate habits of piety and temperance. The faces and hands are painted, and the hair and clothing are composed of etched metal-plates. Every room in every building, from the palace to the tavern, has its icon, which is placed in a corner directly beneath the ceiling.

The most interesting examples of architecture in Russia are the buildings included in the Kremlin or Citadel of Moscow, the cathedral of St Isaac and the Peterhof at St. Petersburg and St. Sophie at. Kief. The royal palace of Peterhof is situated on a hill which is a cascade of buildings, trees,