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HUS, A., Les bronzes étrusques. Latomus, Bruxelles, 1975. 164,75p. ills.(B&W photographs and line drawings). Series: Collection Latomus, volume 139. ‘Greek bronzes have long been the subject of intensive study and classification, with the results that there now exist a number of publications providing information on such topics as their stylistic development, their regional schools, their significance and uses, the technical processes of their manufacture. But no such comprehensive work has hitherto been attempted for Etruscan bronzes. The task of writing a handbook on Etruscan bronzes is indeed a peculiarly difficult one, for unlike Greek art, Etruscan art does not develop logically, but steers an erratic and wayward course, sometimes responding, in locally varying degrees to stimuli from outside (the Near East and Greece), sometimes going its won fanciful way. Moreover, the problem is aggravated by the fact that many of the Etruscan bronzes in our museums come from old collections or from clandestine excavations and so have no provenance and consequently no value for the establishment of regional styles. This brave attempt by Professor Hus to supply the long-felt need for such a book deserves therefore a warm welcome, and so far as is possible in the short space of 156 pages he has succeeded in providing a coherent survey. It begins with a section on technique, after which there follow chapters on the stylistic and chronological development of bronzes from the eight-first centuries B.C., the objects discussed including weapons, armour, instruments, utensils and figures. Professor Hus concludes his survey with brief appendices on public and private collections and on some of the criteria which enable us to distinguish between Greek and Etruscan bronzes. There are 75 plates of good quality (…). The usefulness of the work to the student is, however, severely curtailed by the author’s arbitrary choice of references. In too many cases no mention is made of the most recent publications of the specific groups of bronzes or of the individual pieces which he has selected to discuss at some length.’ (SYBILLE HAYNES in The Journal of Roman Studies, 1977, p.84). From the library of Prof. Carl Deroux. € 35.00 (Antiquarian)