88  ART  EDÜCATION.
examining  the  aids  for  teaching,  specimens  by  the  pupils,  &c.,
whicli  were  to  be  seen  at  the  Exhibition.
Dark  days  intervened  for  France  between  the  years  18G7  and
1873,  and  the  fury  of  war  rudely  compelled  the  Studios  and  the
Workshops  to  pause.  But  in  spite  df  these  drawbacks,  the  country
appeared  in  the  arena  of  labor  at  Vienna  most  gorgeously  decked.
In  art  (painting  and  sculpture)  not  muck  tliat  was  new  was  to  be
seen,  the  traditional  character  being  represented  on  the  whole  ;  but
in  industry  an  important  advance  in  the  revolution  of  taste  was  to
be  noticed.  The  style  of  the  time  of  Louis  XV.  is,  indeed,  still
dominant;  flowers  and  plastic  Ornaments  are  still  to  be  found
where  neither  of  them  belong;  but,  nevertheless,  forms  of  welldeflned
  style  are  gaining  ground  step  by  step,  and  the  architectonic,
  which  used  to  be  tabooed,  has  found  its  way  into  designs  for
textile  fabrics,  into  bronzes,  faiences,  &c.  That  the  elements  of
the  reform  liave  not  yet  been  adopted  to  a  greater  degree,  and  that
the  imitation  of  old,  and  especially  of  Oriental  art,  is  more  generally
  preferred,  may  perhaps  be  owing  to  national  pride,  which  at
present  is  more  irritated  than  ever.  In  these  imitations,  however,
  in  consequence  of  the  national  character,  the  effective  is  frequent^- ­
  preferred  to  the  beautiful.
We  must  now  endeavor  to  answer  the  following  questions:
What  is  the  prevailing  tendency  in  the  schools  in  regard  to  style  ?
And  what  position  does  art-instruction  in  general  occupy  in  France
at  present?
As  regards  the  first  question,  the  most  important  point,  which  we
will  liave  to  place  above  all  others,  is  this:  “  What  is  it  that  is
drawn  in  the  schools?”  for  the  practieal  draughtsman  will  fiually
express  himself  in  the  forms  in  which  he  was  trained,  or  will  at
least  find  pleasure  in  them.  The  importance  attaching  to  copies,
models,  &c.,  has  long  been  recognized  in  France,  and  for  decades
Parisian  firms  liave  mied  the  world  by  the  drawing-copies  published  ’•
by  them.  ,
Julien,  w-ith  bis  numerous  works,  was  the  leading  author  until
after  the  year  1850,  and  not  in  France  alone.  Plis  smoothlyexecuted
  heads,  his  showy  Ornaments,  —taking  to  the  eye,  but  of
doubtful  value  for  rational  instruction,  —  were  to  be  found  wher-