to London town EXQUISITELY displayed. most
intelligently catalogued. the exhibition of the Treasures of ' Cambridge, laid out in the chanIdelicred magnificence of the Gold: smiths Hall. London, draws the city inan from his lunch, his wife up from the country, and half the residents of Cambridge itself (" we've never had such an opportunity to see all the best things in one place") to enjoy a most beautifully ordered medley of rare objects.
I.uca di Torruree's " Madonna and Child with Angels" welcomes the visitor from an emerald shrine on the staircase; its suave grace and serenity sets the mood of scholarly meditativeness which is ken up inside by another Sien nese artist, Simone Martini, whose three saints gaze in rapt contemplation upon a world they do not see. Domenico Veneziano's " Annunciation." a monumental picture of infinite spaces in miniature; a Jacobo Bassano's "Journey to Calvary," a countryman's conception of the theme smelling faintly of hay; and some fine Impressionists are alone worthy of a visit.
But pictures play a small part in iisis exhibition, and most people base come for the glitter of gold plate and the shining silver. The CLIPS, the candlesticks, the crucifixes and chalices, the jugs and the salvers display the superb craftsmanship of English smiths, which persists in small quantities even today-see the modern section with its fine work by Leslie Durbin and Eric G. Clements.
Illuminated MSS. include a medieval monk's sketch spread with studies of birds intended for working up in books or in embroideries; exquisite Books of Hours-one belonging to Anne of Austria and the other to Lady Margaret Beaufort, both from the French school; the Metz Pontifical (also French) in which solemn instructions on ceremony are enlivened in the margin by drolleries bearing no relation to the text, showing monkeys and hares playing tricks. and an Italian illuminated Gospels which belonged to St. Augustine, probably sent to him by his friend Pope Gregory to cheer him on his mission to the Anglo-Saxons.
Furniture, portraits, drawings, coins and medals, scientific instruments, books and autographs, tapestries, watches and jewellery, pottery, porcelain, glass, metalwork, and sculpture make up the variety of this fascinating reflection of the taste of a University as it has developed over the centuries.