On the opposite wall Arturo Noci has a very striking interior.  There is nothing tricky about this most effective canvas.  The result is simply and directly attained by good, sound painting.  The red curtain in the distant room is a trifle raw and refuses somewhat to take its place in the picture.  Two landscapes on this wall deserve mention for their fine skies and their decorative note.  Giuseppe Carosi’s little landscape with the oxen is so much better than the one below by the same artist that it is hard to believe both were done by the same man.  “La Valle dell’ Aniene,” by Dante Ricci, is big in feeling, well painted, and unquestionably one of the best landscapes in the Italian section.

Gallery 23.

The east gallery is almost entirely given over to sculpture, with one exception which is notable so far as the dear public is concerned — a painting, “The Arch of Septimius Severus,” by Luigi Bazzani.  I cannot fathom why Luigi Bazzani should go to all this trouble in trying to imitate a photograph when the result over which he so painfully laboured could be done by any good photographer for less than five dollars.  It seems to me an absolutely futile thing to try to represent something in a medium very badly chosen for this particular stunt.  A stunt it is, and always will be, no matter how much we admire the painstaking drawing and the infinite care involved.  Texturally the canvas is all wrong, because the sky, the stone, everything in the picture, looks like glass and not like the various things it is intended to represent.  However, it is a wonderful piece of patience — so much should be said for it.

Millet’s man with the hoe sitting down is the strongest piece of sculpture in this gallery.  The figure doubtless belongs to an older school, as its discolorations as well as its technical treatment indicate.  Alongside the rest of the things in this small room it is, in spite of being carried somewhat too far, very forceful and convincing.  No matter whether the man succumbed to the dreariness of work or to the malarial fever of the Pontine swamps, all that has ever been said about Millet’s man and the terrible fatalism of his facial expression is found in this piece of sculpture.

Rodin’s influence is making itself felt in most of the other pieces in this room, as in the Vedani kissing pair.  The beautiful colour in the marble in this group puts much life into it.  Nicolini’s work shows much breadth and a fine mastery of form.  A frame of animal plaques by Brozzi adds considerably to the artistic merit of the sculpture.  A certain muscular mannerism is evident in all of them, though not in the least disturbing.

Gallery 24.

Two portraits by Enrico Lionne of very repulsive colour are prominently hung in the east gallery, without convincing one in the least of this artist’s high standing at home.  Cold and artificial, they are not deserving of the prominent place they occupy.  Near the door on the opposite wall Vincenzo Yrolli presents a street musician and his audience in a canvas riotous with good colour.  The composition and the literal technical treatment of this work commend themselves highly by good judgment and spontaneous handling.  The two figure pictures by Pietro Chiesa, on an adjoining wall to the right, ought to be remembered, and also an interior on the opposite wall by Vianello.