Book excerpt: Excerpt from A History of French Art, 1100-1899 In other nations we see that their Art has undoubtedly been affected by conditions of race, soil, and climate. The blue Sky and blue waves Of Italy - its vines, and olives, and cypress groves, the grace and charm of its women, in whom the mysterious attraction of the goddess Of antiquity seems to live afresh, were predestined to produce that most perfect flower of Art, which has made the whole country a shrine. And to that shrine a ceaseless stream of devotees have flocked for hundreds of years, paying eternal homage to eternal beauty. In Spain - the land of fierce adventure and, passionate serenade, severe in its natural aspects, with a people of strongly-marked characteristics, tough as their own Toledo blades, gloomy and fanatical in their religion - we get the very key to Spanish Art. And the inex pressible charm which reigns over the English landscape - the sense of tranquil security - the country life and love of nature which are SO closely bound up with the life of the whole nation - the deep, heavy colour - the moist verdure of hedgerow and pasture, woodland and moorland - to all these elements we owe our great landscape artists, who have so nobly interpreted the solid, steadfast, yet tender beauty of their country. France is in some respects the most richly-dowered country on earth, both in the characteristics of her race and in the diversity of her natural gifts. And France has always captivated the world by her very contradictions. Despite momentary irritations and impatiences, she must always be, not only to her children, but to all who have once experienced her subtle charm, what she was called of old La douce France Her race, composed of many elements, has pre served the characteristics Of each, and gradually fused them into a harmonious whole. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.