In its adoption of an examination in Greek mythology and the Bible the division of Fine Arts has subscribed to the fashion current in the field of the humanities of widening the latitude of study to embrace topics related to the central theme in their status as background or sources. An understanding of these rich stores of artistic symbolism will deepen the meaning of the carved or painted subject for the student. There have been men who could explain the significance of Judith and Holofernes in oil or marble, who did not know, to borrow sporting parlance, what league these principals played in.
The introduction into the system of examinations for degree of identification of slides, even of monuments, is insurance against a too academic consideration of a mass of material. Anyone who has sat in a darkened room and tried his wits at snap judgments on a series of pictures appreciates the intensive training necessary for any kind of success. The gain to concentrators in the Fine Arts should be that which comes from expansion without diffusion.
