An Interregnum of the Sign: The Emblematic Age in France. Essays in Honour of Daniel S. Russell. David Graham
interest in such things was rather greater than one might expect, and presents many of the royal and aristocratic collectors as having more knowledge and aesthetic sense with regard to the arts and classical traditions than one might expect. Francois I and Jean du Bellay figure prominently here, but so do the Cardinal of Lorraine and Anne de Montmorency, and even Charles VIII receives some credit for wanting to collect works of the best quality. Over time, McGowan argues, the French shifted from collecting fragments of the past to organizing and classifying them for their own use. The remaining two thirds of the book examines the various ways in which French artists and artists drew on what they found in Rome. Beginning witli artists and architects, McGowan tries to show how the French used their knowledge and experience of Roman ruins as the inspiration to invent their own ways of reconstructing them, creating their own new styles in the process. While this discussion may not be entirely satisfying to historians of art or architecture, it serves well in terms of setting up her more extensive consideration of French writers in the period. The poet Joachim du Bellay emerges as a central figure here, and McGowan deftly connects significant aspects of his works to the emotional and psychological effects of living in sixteenth-century Rome, and parallels his own approach to Roman literary traditions with what the artists and architects were doing with the examples provided by the physical ruins of Rome. She then turns to Michel de Montaigne, attempting to equate his own idiosyncratic writing style with the impression that the ruins of the city made upon him. While she clearly demonstrates a connection of sorts, her interpretation is less compelling than what she says about du Bellay, for whom the Roman experience was clearly more central than it was for Montaigne. Later on, however, when she turns to Montaigne's views of Julius Caesar and his use of Caesar in his essays, her analysis is powerful and draws effectively upon the earlier section. In many ways, her handling of Montaigne parallels much of the rest of the book. Starting with what may seem trivial, McGowan develops creative interpretations that enhance the reader's understanding of French culture in the period. JAMES R. SMITHER Grand Valley State University