Asters, Renaissance Italian ae Vi 18es and CALIFORNIA PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR LINCOLN PARK SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA CATALOGUE OF A Group of Old Masters, Renaissance Itahan Furniture, Majolica Vases and Other -Art Objects FROM THE COLLECTION OF CARL W. HAMILTON NEW YORK GALLERY 19 SEPTEMBER I, 1927 TO JANUARY 6, 1928 (AONVALNA LNOYA AO MAIA) AONOH AO NOIDAT AHL AO ADVIVd VINYOUITVO AHL “se: aeons | i. Acknowled gment ABZ A st O those in search of the beautiful and who have felweace a standard oi art the fine treasures of the great galleries of Europe, many pleasant surprises will be revealed upon visiting the important selected group of old masters, furniture, majolica vases, and other art objects now installed at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor which are lent by Mr. Carl W. Hamilton of New York, through the influence and efforts of Mr. Herbert Fleish- hacker, President of the Board of Trustees. It is felt certain Hiatemot,e only the artists, art lovers, and the public in general of San Francisco, but the travelers to and from the Orient and from all parts of the world will be deeply interested in this most: unusual exhibition. Board of Trustees of the (alifornia Palace of the Legion of Honor LINCOLN PARK, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA PRESIDENT, HERBERT FLEISHHACKER M. EARL CUMMINGS PAUL SHOUP WALTER D. K. GIBSON ALMA DE BRETTEVILLE SPRECKELS WILLIAM F. HUMPHREY WILLIAM SPROULE GEORGE TOURNY EX OFFICIO MAyorR OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS DIRECTOR, CORNELIA B. SAGE QUINTON SECRETARY, W. M. STROTHER CURATOR, WILLIAM WARREN QUINTON ORGANIST, MARSHALL W. GISELMAN % ¥, % THE CALIFORNIA PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR IS OPEN EVERY DAY INCLUDING SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS FROM 10 O'CLOCK A. M. TO 5 O’CLOCK P. M. Sketch of the (California ‘Palace of the Legion of Honor LINCOLN PARK, SAN FRANCISCO ¥, t ¥, LAG The California Palace of the Legion of Honor is placed at the summit of one of the hills overlooking that “Golden Gate” which opens the immensities of the Pacific to the voyager leaving San Francisco. This Museum was presented to the City by the late Adolph B. Spreckels and his wife, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, in memory of the California soldiers who fell in the Great War. It is intended to honor the dead while serving the living. Erected on ground offered by the San Francisco Municipality, its glorious lines rise in the magnificent frame of Lincoln Park. The style of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor is French Renaissance of the period of Louis XVI, which lends itself well to the quiet, digni- fied treatment necessary for museums. Behind the Triumphal Arch, which is surrounded by colonnades, and which constitutes the entrance to the Palace, extends a spacious Court of Honor, surrounded by Ionic columns prolonging those of the facade. The Rotunda is the point of departure of the long galleries, destined for the exhibition of tapestries, paintings, sculptures, engravings, prints, and other works of art. Constructed of stone and steel, under the direction of the American architect, George Adrian Applegarth, a native of California, the Museum is equipped with a perfect lighting system permitting of visits both by day and by night. On the main floor there are nineteen galleries for painting, sculpture, and all works of art, which include the Tapestry Hall and the two Garden Courts, where fountains, semitropical flowers and plants are placed, and where one may rest while making the circuit of the Museum. On the terrace floor are the offices, library, tea room, studios, and theater. Another magnificent feature of the Palace is the unique pipe organ installa- tion, which is the splendid gift of the late John D. Spreckels. The main instru- ment is placed over the vestibule, and the echo-organ at the opposite end of the building. In the Triumphal Arch is installed a full set of chimes and a fanfare of trumpets, which may be heard for several miles over the city and out at sea. The setting of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor is most dramatic and beautiful. There are few monuments in history which have had sites equal to this. The Taj Mahal has a very beautiful location, but not as dramatic. The Parthenon has a most commanding situation, but not as beautiful an approach. Many of the English cathedrals are finely placed, with spaces parked about them; but the French, Italian, and Spanish cathedrals are usually situated in the center of the cities with the habitations surrounding them, under their protection, as it were. The California Palace of the Legion of Honor stands in its majesty high on a hill. On one side far, far below lies the blue water of the Pacific. In the middle distance one sees the Golden Gate, and to the right San Francisco, shimmering in the sunlight, has the appearance of an Italian or a Spanish city. The above are only a few suggestions of some of the interesting features of the Palace, but it needs a visit to the building itself to tell the whole story. It is then that the thought and purpose of this great gift to San Francisco can be fully appreciated. CoRNELIA BENTLEY SAGE QUINTON, Director. WILLIAM WARREN QUINTON, Curator. ‘Prefatory The Italian Renaissance was an epoch-making development in the world of art as well as an event of great importance in the history of human intellect. Architecture, sculpture, and painting all felt the new impulse, and flowered into masterpieces which had not been equalled since the days of classical Greece. This development was due especially to three causes: First, after centuries of conven- tionalized treatment of the human figure, artists again began to study nature itself, and to draw from the living model. In general, artists now endeavor to depict the real world of men and things about them, and no longer were satisfied with the stiff symbolical representations of the Middle Ages. In the second place, in addition to the study of nature they also became interested in the sculpture and other artistic remains of classical Greece and Rome. From this they gained new ideals of harmony, grace, and beauty, to modify the harsh realism to which their study of nature tended. Third, from antiquity and other sources, they learned better technical methods of execution. Among these were the discovery of the laws of perspective, which were now worked out in systematic form, and the process of painting in ols, which had been found by Flemish painters and possessed many advantages over the methods of painting hitherto used. The art of the Renaissance was not an imitation of classical models, for in Italy, as in the north and east of France, there was an initial Renaissance in the fourteenth century, which owed little, if anything, to antiquity. The Renaissance was, rather, the logical development of the great Gothic style, passing gradually to naturalism, from the art of the “imagiers” under St. Louis, to that of the portraitists of the time of Charles V. Gothic naturalism found its way into Italy, and awoke Italian realism, which had been slumbering for a century. But, whereas in France and Flanders naturalism was unbridled and soon degenerated into triviality, in Italy, due to the dawn of Humanism and the study of antique examples, it was chastened and disciplined, and learned to desire beauty even before expression. Thus the part played by antiquity was that of a teacher, not a mother; it regulated, but it did not create the Renaissance. This revival of the fine arts was closely related to the political and economic conditions of the country at that time. Just before this period, Italy had become disunited politically, and numerous vigorous and important cities and city states had arisen. The flourishing commerce and manufactures of these Italian cities, and of Florence especially, brought wealth and leisure to the great burgher families, avhich in turn enabled the citizens to take an interest in learning, art and literature and Italy soon became the intellectual and artistic center of Europe. The English writer Symonds says: “Florence was essentially the city of intelligence in modern times. Other nations have surpassed the Italians in their genius. But nowhere except at Athens has the whole population of a city been so permeated with ideas, so highly intellectual by nature, so keen in perception, so witty and so subtle, as at Florence. The fine and delicate spirit of the Italians existed in quintessence among the Florentines. And of this superiority not only they, but the inhabitants of Rome and Lombardy and Naples were conscious. The primacy of the Floren- tines in literature, the fine arts, law, scholarship, philosophy, and science was acknowledged throughout Italy.’ Among other important cities were Milan, Venice, Palermo, Perugia, and Sienna, the art of which was devoted to the Virgin. In each of these, there evolved a separate and distinct school of painting and the present collection gives abundant proof of the richness of the outflow of the talents of many of the Italian cities. The artists of this period produced paintings of great beauty and splendor. The subjects painted were largely drawn from mythological and religious sources; but the landscapes and costumes depicted were those of the artists’ own time and place, thus making their work of great value historically as well as for its artistic merit. The individualism of the Renaissance manifests itself in the painting of portraits of real persons, which was very little practiced in the Middle Ages, and even in the characters depicted in religious and classical scenes one often can recognize portraits of the artist himself, his patrons, and his friends. CORNELIA BENTLEY SAGE QUINTON, Director. WILLIAM WARREN QUINTON, Curator. NOTES AND OPINIONS Notes and opinions of American and European connoisseurs on some of the outstanding examples in the collection here represented: American Art News, date June 12, 1926, on Discovery of Dominicho Vene- Dr. ziano Panels from Predella of his famous altar-piece in the Uffizi Gallery,—“The last discovered panel, that in the Hamilton collection, is perhaps the most romantic of the scenes. The space spreads gently about the figure of the young Baptist, who stands in luminous solitude among the sharp-edged rocks. . . One of the art events of the year.” Ricardo Ricci says: San Roch by Francia is “the touchstone of his art from which all his other work must be judged.” Berenson, on the Piero della Francesca “Crucifixion,” autographed, says: “IT have never seen anything grander in conception and more exquisitely painted. In my eyes and in my taste it is an absolutely perfect work Seer ee Fiero is, tor anyItalian singularly like Van Eyck, but very much greater still. . . The “Crucifixion” is noble and intellectual and at the same time as resplendent as a jewel. . . It stands com- parison with the best of his I have seen in fresco and far surpasses Siyiiseetiepanc!) . « Although of smatl.sizé it is large in scale and produces nearly the same impression as’ his famous frescoes at Arezzo. What differences there are, are rather in favour of the /O@rucinxion, ~~. That great master never drew better and, to my knowledge considering the present state of his paintings, never colored fomweinee we la brief | have seldom beén aroused by a work of art ase ai by this one.” Protessor Richard Offner, on the “Crucifixion” by Piero della Francesca, Cialis Castagno was one of the greatest masters of form the world has ever known, the genius of Piero della Francesca who painted the “Crucifixion” was completer, profounder and more temperate. Piero’s genius is perfectly harmonized and lucid. The greatest mathematician of his day, his work is eminently clear; only that with Piero clarity, which is an intellectual attribute, becomes an aesthetic value. He avoids violent expression because he would rather reveal through the acquiescent consciousness of his figures and his wide landscapes the deeper action of primal force.” Berenson on Beatrice d’Este by Bernardino de’ Conti: “She has been held as a work of Leonardo’s own hand, but in my opinion was painted by his well-known follower, Bernardino de’ Conti who was_ probably the author of the altar-piece in the Brera at Milan. The work exercises an immense fascination upon many people, and of course, historically, is most interesting, the sitter being so famous in the court annals of the Italian Renaissance.” Berenson on Fra Filippo—‘‘Madonna and Child,” autographed, says: “One wishes that, like Bellini, Fra Filippo had painted more such _ tender, thoughtful madonnas, and of such delightful color. Unhappily, they are rare, scarcely half a dozen are at all equal to this one.” The following authors on furniture have been quoted: “The History of Italian Furniture’ two volumes by William M. Odom. “Ttalian Furniture and Interiors,’ by George Leland Hunter. “Purniture and Decorations of the Italian Renaissance,’ by Frieda Schottmuller. “Decorative Furniture,’ by George Leland Hunter. No. 1. BEATRICE D’ESTE By BERNARDINO DE’ CONTI. CATALOGUE 1. BEATRICE D’ESTE. By BERNARDINO DE’ CONTI (1450-1525). Milanese School. An Italian Work of Art of the late XV Century. From the collections of Signor Giovanni Barbi-Conti, Ferrara, and of Prof. Caval. Galdino Gardini. She is seen at three-quarter length, framed in a long oval, facing full- front with the head turned slightly toward the left; dark brown eyes look- ing at the observer. Her hair, which is black, is worn in the prevailing Milanese fashion of her day—a mass of close waves on either side of her head from a center parting and falling behind her shoulders, Encircling her head is a slender gold fillet. She is dressed in a white chemisette, adorned with grey bow-knots and narrow wavy ribbons, over which is a gold brocade robe, cut low at the bosom, with black velvet insertions in the form of narrow perpendicular panels, giving the dress a striped appear- ance; the sleeves are puffed with white lawn and tied with small bow- knots; her shoulders and throat are bare. Over her arms is a voluminous white silk mantle, and evidently continued behind her waist. Her hands, within soit gray closely fitting gloves, are held before her—the right at her waist, touching a buckle, upon which is inscribed her name, BEATRICIA, and the left, in which she holds a small medal, slightly below it. Back- ed of blue sky, above a distant undulating landscape, with hilltowns, lakes and trees. A panel: Height, 30 inches; Width, 25 inches. Beatrice d’Este (1475-1497), Duchess of Milan, one of the most beautiful and accomplished women of the Italian Renaissance, was betrothed at the age of five to Lodovico Sforza (known as il Moro), Duke of Bari, regent and afterwards Duke of Milan, and was married to him in January, 1491. She had been carefully educated and availed herself of her position as mistress of one of the most splendid courts of Italy to surround herself with learned men, poets and artists, such as Niccola da Correggio, Bernardo Castiglione, Branmante, and many others. In 1492 she visited Venice as ambassador for her husband in his political schemes, which consisted chiefly of a desire to be recognized as Duke of Milan. On the death of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Lodovico’s usurpation was legalized, and after the battle of Fornovo (1495), both he and his wife took part in the peace congress of Vercelli between Charles VIII, of France, and the Italian princess, at which Beatrice showed great political ability. But her brilliant career was cut short by death through childbirth, on the 3rd of January, 1497. She belongs to the best class of Renaissance women, and was one of the cultural influences of the age. To her patronage and good taste are due, to a great extent, the splendor of the Costello of Milan, of the Certosa of Pavia and of many other famous buildings in Lombardy. Bernardino de’ Conti, it is assumed, was a follower of Zenale, of whose life no record has been kept, but it has been stated that he died at Pavia in 1525 at the age of seventy-five.t A profile bust of a prelate in the Berlin Museum bears his name and date (1498); it is a somewhat somber panel with flesh shadows of an earthy tinge. In the same gallery is a portrait of MARGHARITA GALLEONE, and in the Vatican is a panel representing Francesco, the son of Gian Galcazzo Sforza, with long flaxen hair, and dressed in a quilted coat, painted in 1496. Of similar technical treatment, and reminiscent alike of the schools of Zenale and Gian’ Pedrini, is a MADONNA AT SCHLEISSHEIM, known as a Garofalo, and has suffered from flaying ; it is the original of a replica of feeble character in the Lochis Gallery at Ber- gamo. These are signed and dated works of his between 14.96 ead et Olen LT these, he shows himself clearly under the influence of Leonardo, and whatever little individuality he possessed, appears in his portraits. 2. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY YELLOW DAMASK. 1 Carotti,-in L’Arte, III, 307. 11 THE CAROL W..). BAUM 1 Lit ON CO Lar EGah ious 3. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE INLAID WALNUT CASSONE. Rectangular shape; domed and molded hinged lid secured by a con- temporary iron lock and molded base; lid, front, sides and plinth inlaid with lighter wood; the front and sides with panels, occupied by putti holding wreaths enclosing coat-of-arms, the lid with arms of the Counts Bargaglo-Petrucci, and the plinth with an acanthus-leaf spiral. 4. SIXTEENTH CENTURY PAIR OF ITALIAN BRONZE CANDLE- STICKS. Composed of turned baluster-shaped shafts of superimposed bobbin design, supported upon wide spreading molded bases, and terminating in wide spreading molded cup-shaped piatelli or sconces with pricket candle- holders. Height, 11% inches. 5. ITALIAN WOODEN BOX OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 6. FIFTEENTH CENTURY PAIR OF VENETIAN GOTHIC WROUGHT- IRON TORCIERI. Both identical in shape, composed of slender cylindrical standards, spirally twisted in the center, surmounted by flat-iron crown-shaped piatelli, or sconces, attached to which are four boccinoli, or candle-sockets applied’ to the outer rims around a central socket, beneath being large strap-iron rings supported by three short trefoil brackets above, and three longer ones below. The legs are composed of three cylindrical iron curves developing at the center into trefoils and ending in flattened feet. 7. A FRANCISCAN MONK. By JOSEF DE RIBERA (1588-1656). A Spanish Work of the XVII Century. A bust portrait of an ecclesiastic, probably about fifty years of age, seen at almost full face, the left side in shadow, with the body turned toward the right. He is dressed in the dark brown habit of a friar, with cloak and hood, the former being turned back at the arms while he is in the act of writing—a pen being in the right hand and a creased sheet of paper in the left. The face bears a dignified and ascetic expression, with a certain animation playing upon the lightly closed lips and vivacious eyes. The features are well modelled and interesting, with indications of warts on the left cheek. A skull-cap is just visible. The background is dark. On canvas. Height, 29% inches; Width, 25 inches. Josef or Jusepe de Ribera, called Lo Spagnoletto. Born at Xativa, near Valencia, January 12th, 1588; died at Naples, 1656; son of Luiz Ribera. The parents of this celebrated painter were poor, and yet destined him to enter one of the learned professions. They sent him to the University of Valencia, but he preferred the School of Francisco de Ribalta, the painter, to those of the University. He must have made very rapid progress in painting, for he was so young when he arrived at Rome that he was known among his fellow students as LO SPAGNOLETTO (the little Spaniard), and had at first to depend for a livelihood upon their assistance. Despite all difficulties, he pursued his studies with unfailing energy. The works of Raphael and Annibale Carracci, and those of Correggio at Parma were in succession the models from which he endeavored to improve his work. When he returned to Rome, the strong, if exaggerated, style of Caravaggio was so much in fashion that de Ribera was obliged to adopt it to some extent (if 1 Illustrated in ‘Decorative Furniture,” p. 127; “Italian Furniture and Interiors” plates 25 and 147; ‘“‘History of Italian Furniture’? by Odom, p. 75; ‘“‘Furniture and Decoration of the Italian Renaissance,” p. 17. 12 < ive bee CoAsR Lae Veo ACM Ih lO8N = (CO t.E.G Ll OoN he did not study under that master), and, when he afterwards removed to Naples, to choose those terrible subjects which were most admired by his countrymen. There he married the daughter of a rich picture-dealer, and found powerful patrons in the Viceroy, the Duke of Ossuna, and his suc- cessors. Many of Ribera’s pictures were sent to Spain. Even now, when they have been dispersed all over Europe, there are about sixty in the Museum of Madrid, and it is there that the correctness of his drawing and richness of his colouring may be duly appreciated. It is impossible to determine now what share he had in the doings of the Cabal of Naples, which used every means to drive other artists from that place; but the strength of it appears to have ceased with the death of Caracciolo in 1641, although Ribera did not die until 1656. It must not be forgotten also that Ribera was elected a member of the Academy of St. Luke at Rome in 1630, and received Velas- quez in a friendly manner when the latter visited Naples in that year. Ribera was decorated by the Pope in 1644 with the order of the ABITO DI CRISTO. Moreover, it is certain that Ribera died rich and honoured at Na- ples, and that the story of his only daughter’s having left him is not true, as he had five children, two of them girls, one of whom married Don Tomasso Manzano, who held an appointment in the War Office. Maria Rosa, the elder daughter, painted and sat occasionally to her father as a model. 8 SIXTEENTH CENTURY ITALIAN WALNUT “DANTE” CHAIR. Curved arms, supports and legs, with turned rosettes at the inter- section and scrolled arms; seat and. back in old red velvet with red silk fringe and velvet-covered cushion.+ 9. THE MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH AN ANGEL AND ST. JOHN. By SANDRO BOTTICELLI (1447-1510). A Florentine Work of Pio! tie wate XV Century. ae In the center of this tondo, which is painted in Botticelli’s third man- ner, the Virgin sits with her back to a pedestal-like wall of stone. She leans her head on one side with an inexpressibly sorrowful air of fore-, boding in her beautiful face and presses to her right cheek the curly head of the Divine Child, who looks upward to His Mother with a look of loving commiseration on His baby face. He is dressed in a simple garment fas- tened under his right shoulder and doubly girdled around him by a ribbon. | Om the Virgins left and the spectator’s right stands an infant, St. John the Baptist, clad in the traditional garment of skin and holding in his left hand a label to which with the right he directs attention. It bears the inscription in Roman lettering: ECCE AGNUS DEI (Behold the Lamb of God). On the picture’s left is a typical Botticellian boy angel, with long, wavy hair falling over his shoulders, dressed in a loosely gathered robe and holding an Easter lily, which he seems to present to the Mother and Child. On either side of the background are presented glimpses of a delightful landscape. On panel. Diameter, 30% inches. Alessandro Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli, the youngest son of Mariano Filipepi, a Florentine tanner, was born at Florence in 1447, or somewhat earlier. He was apprenticed in his youth to a goldsmith, but he soon abandoned this art and devoted himself to painting, which he studied first under Fra Filippo Lippi and afterwards under the brothers Pollaiuoli. Among his earlier works are an allegorical figure of FORTITUDE, origin- ally in the Mercatanzia2; a ST. SEBASTIANS, which he painted to the order of Lorenzo dei Medici in 1473 for the Church of Sta. Maria Maggiore at Flor- ence; and a beautiful little picture of the MADONNA AND CHILD WITH AN ANGEL, formerly in the possession of Prince Chigi.* His first important work was an ADORATION OF THE MAGI, painted about the year 1476, in which he seems to have emulated the style of Domenico Bigordi, called Ghirlandaio. This picture’ contains several portraits of the Medici family, the first Mage representing Cosimo, PATER PATRIAE; the second, Piero 1 Illustrated in “Italian Furniture and Interiors’ by George Leland Hunter, plate 26. 2 Now in the Uffizi at Florence. 3 Now in the Berlin Gallery. 4 Now in Mrs. Gardner’s Collection, Boston. : ee 5 Formerly in the Church of Sta. Maria Novella, now in the Uffizi, Florence. 1 THE CC A RiLe ew HAM TD Lal OUN) COA TAR CCahomoOmed Cosimo’s elder son; and the third, Giovanni, his younger son. In 1478 Sandro was commissioned by Lorenzo dei Medici to paint the effigies of the Pazzi conspirators on the walls of the Bargello, or Public Palace of Flor- ence. In 1480 he executed a fresco of ST. AUGUSTINE, in the Church of Ognissanti, a work of great power and depth of thought, and in the same year he painted the political allegory of PALLAS WITH A CENTAUR, a very beautiful picture which for many years was completely lost sight of and was discovered in the Pitti Palace in 1895. Botticelli was the favorite painter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, for whose sumptuous villas he painted the panel known as MARS AND VENUS?! as well as his great master- pieces of the ALLEGORY OF SPRING? and the BIRTH OF VENUS. These pictures, decorative in character and poetical in subject, were to a great extent inspired by the classical imagery of the poems of Lorenzo the Mag- nificent and Agnolo Poliziano. Between the years 1481 and 1483, Botticelli, called to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV, collaborated with Ghirlanraoi, Perugino, Pinturicchio and Cosimo Rosselli in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel. His work consisted of three frescoes representing (1) the PURIFICATION OF A LEPER with vignettes of the TEMPTATION OF CHRIST2; SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF MOSES’; THE PUNISHMEND FOR CORE DATHAN AND ABIRON, and Vasari says that it brought him great re- nown “beyond any of his collaborators.’’ On his return to Florence he exe- cuted commissions for some of the leading Florentine families, and about the year 1840 he painted for his friend, Antonio Segni, his famous picture of CALUMNY, in imitation of the lost masterpiece of the Greek painter Apelles, as described by Lucian. Among his religious pictures must be mentioned a large altar-piece of the MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS AND SAINTS* painted for the Convent of St. Barnaba, and a CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN'*, painted for the Guild of St. Marco. Sandro was the originator of the tondi, or circular pictures, of the MA- DONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS, the most beautiful of which is the masterpiece of the MAGNIFICAT®. These tondi became very popular and gave rise to a large number of imitative works by his scholars and followers, which, widely varying in merit, are now scattered through the galleries of Europe and, in some cases, have been mistakenly attributed to Sandro himself. Botticelli’s pictures are generally distinguished by a quaint grace of form combined with a profound melancholy of sentiment. His most distinctive qualities as a painter lie in his unique power of conveying the sense of light, swift movement, and in his genius for lineal design. Accord- ing to Vasari, he practiced engraving to a limited extent, but none of the engravings attributed to him have as yet been identified as his work. There is no doubt that he furnished designs to some of the engravers of the period, especially to Baccio Baldini. The latter’s copper-plate illustrations of the INFERNO (nineteen canti in all) in Landini’s edition of Dante, published in 1481, were executed after Botticelli’s designs. Later on Sandro himself illustrated (in silver-point gone over with pen and ink) a manuscript of the DIVINA COMMEDIA for Lorenzo di Piero Francesco dei Medici, a work to which Vasari says he devoted considerable time and labor. This manuscript, from which several drawings are missing, was formerly in the col- lection of the Duke of Hamilton.? Eight of the missing drawings have since been discovered in the Vatican Library. Towards the end of his career, Botticelli fell under the influence of Savonarola, and the pictures of this period, although fewer in number and perhaps less masterly in execution, are far more devotional in feeling than the works of his youth and maturity. His last picture, and the only one he ever signed or dated, was the little NATIVITY® which is full of fervent, almost ecstatic religious feeling. In his old age he became, Vasari says, infirm and incapacitated; and during the last ten years of his life he appears to have entirely abandoned painting. He died May, 1510, at about the age of sixty-three and was buried in the church of Ognissanti at Florence. 10. SIXTEENTH CENTURY TUSCAN CARVED WALNUT COFFER. Rectangular shape; sunken paneled and molded hinged lid; front divided by four pilasters with molded capitals and bases and paneled fronts carved with rinceaux of foliage springing from fluted vases, into three panels with guilloche and acanthus-leaf carved moldings; carving heightened with gilding; molded and carved paneled sides and molded base carved in a water-leaf patterning. Height, 1 foot 814 inches; Length, 6 feet 244 inches; Width, 1 foot 11 inches. 1 National Gallery, London. 5 Academy at Florence. 2 Academy at Florence. 6 Uffizi. 3 Uffizi. 7 Berlin Museum. 4 Academy at Florence. 8 National Gallery, London. 14 erie be CoAS Rel Wied Aare OUNe CO laleE Ge lOuN 11. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FAENZA WARE (CASA _ PIROTA) MAJOLICA JUG OR BROCCA. Peeiateo jue, Of ovoid form, shaped at the top to form a neck and spout, and spreading slightly at the foot to form a base; a stout handle is affixed to the neck and body. The ground is of blue enamel upon which three large enwreathed circular medailions are equally placed, the inter- vening spaces being filled with candelliere pattern of foliated grotesques and cherubs in white enamel, the neck and base being decorated with an endless acanthus scroll. The medallions consist of: on the left, the bust of Elisha the Prophet (Elises), with white beard, wearing a turban-like head-dress and green and yellow robe and reading from a large book opened before him; at the center, the figure of a youth in yellow mantle and brown hose seated upon a mound playing a viol, blue landscape and castles in the background; on the right, the bust of a man in green and yellow robe and dark blue cap, represented as playing a mandolin. Below each medallion is a ribbon bearing the date 1536. Height, 1234 inches. Poole COmLECTIION OF J. PIERPONT MORGAN. Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1913-1916.1 12. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE WALNUT “SAVONAROLA” CHAIR.? Having curved sides and legs formed of square interlacing supports with slat seats, pivoted for the purpose of folding. Has twelve interlacing supports, square straight arms terminating in knobs and rings, and shaped back carved. with the coat-of-arms, within a circle, of the Vitelli Family, and base-rails ending in lions’ paws. Height, 41% inches. 13. THE MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ST. MARY MAGDALENE AND ST. JEROME. By GIULIO FRANCIA (1487-1540). A Proloencece VWork of Art of the Early XVI Century. £4, , fr Seated in the center of the picture is the Virgin, with plainly smoothed - hair parted in the middle and covered with a transparent veil, her head slightly inclined to the left and looking at the observer with an expression ; of ineffable but foreboding sweetness. She holds on her lap the Infant Christ, who gazes out of the picture, toward the left, with a solemnity of expression akin to that of His Mother. The Virgin is dressed in a red robe, cut square at the neck, where it shows the narrow edging of a cambric undergarment; over this is a voluminous cloak of blue lined with green. Behind her at the left stands St. Mary Magdalene, in a red mantle, with a white cambric undergarment. She holds her attribute—a vase of precious ointment—in her right hand. Her long fair hair is divided in the middle and brushed on either side of the brow, whence it flows in wavy mass behind her. At the right is seen the venerable bearded form of St. Jerome, in the red habit of a cardinal. His back is partly turned toward the observer, and his head almost in profile, as he looks over the Virgin’s shoulder towards the Divine Child. The background is occupied by a landscape of green hills, trees and buildings, over which is a pale sky flecked with clouds. On panel. Height, 2514 inches; Width, 21 inches. 1 Illustrated and mentioned in the Loan Exhibition Catalog, De 50-572 2 Illustrated in ‘Italian Furniture and Interiors” by George Leland Hunter, and in “Furniture and Decorations of the Italian Renaissance,’’ plate 24 p. 23. 15 THEY CART |W. HAMLE TON] COLL.E CG ierous _ Giulio Francia, younger son and pupil of Francesco Francia, was a painter and goldsmith. He was born in 1487 at Bologna and worked in conjunction with his brother, Giacomo, on the respective pictures represent- ing THE VIRGIN IN GLORY! and FOUR SAINTS?. The two brothers had a natural affinity to the art of their father, even to the Raphaelesque depth and vapor in their treatment of landscapes and the easy composure and lifelike readiness, very truthful modeling and rich transparent coloring rendered throughout their compositions. The hand of the goldsmith is always apparent in the finish and minuteness of the hair and other details in their paintings. Giulio died at Bologna in 1540. 14. SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPANISH WALNUT TABLE. Rectangular shape, with plain top supported by four turned legs square at their base, joined from plain cross bars. The drawer directly under the top is inlaid in a decorative pattern. | 15. GOTHIC WOODEN BOX OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 16. FIFTEENTH CENTURY UMBRIAN WALNUT “TYROLEAN” CHAIR.® Composed of a floriated back, octagonal seat and three square out- spreading legs. The decoration is of a rich geometrical design with pointille fillings between incised circles, carried out in chip carving, the edges of the seat and legs having a simple incised carved pattern. Height, 37 inches. 17. VENETIAN COPE OF RED CUT VELVET OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 18. SIXTEENTH CENTURY TUSCAN CARVED WALNUT CREDENZA.+* Of oblong shape, with plain molded top enriched with a carved astra- galled fluted patterning. The body is composed of plain paneled ends and three front sunken paneled doors divided by four narrow vertical panels, both doors and panels having similar ornamented carved guilloche moldings of double ribbon spirals enclosing a central bead, surrounded by a bead and reed edging. Two large circular bosse handles carved with gadroon and astragal motifs within a raised border are applied to the two outer doors, the central door having a carved ribbon cartouche with the two lions rampant vis-a-vis above a field bendy, in the center. The frieze is composed of three drawers with flutings and molded borders, each having a carved knob, and separated by medallions carved with double horizontal flutings. The base member is carved with astragalled gadroons, and is supported on carved lions’ paw feet. “The credenza, or side-board—the larder of the palace as well as of the smaller house—shows the same design tendencies as are displayed in the cassone. The general form of the sixteenth century credenza, with few exceptions, is an oblong rectangle, its front spaced with two or three doors, each intersected by narrow vertical panels or pilasters that have brackets or carved ornaments placed directly over them in a frieze con- taining drawers. The bases are generally molded and often carved with a gadrooning and raised on lion feet. Figure 18, a typical Tuscan inter- pretation of this type, coming from the Palazzo Davanzati collection, dates about 1535. The front, with three doors—with decorations of an escutcheon and fluted rosettes—is separated by narrow vertical panels, all of which, together with the doors, are framed with wider carved molds, 1 Berlin. 2 Pinacoteca at Bologna. 3 Illustrated in ‘‘Italian Furniture and Interiors’ by George Leland Hunter. 4 Illustratea in ‘‘History of Italian Furniture’? by William M. Odom, p. 144. 16 fits ee GrAGRs an VV cere ViO lel) OFNe CG Ol LE Gil) LON such as appear in most characteristic designs between the years 1520-1550. Directly over the doors, drawers—with fluted panels alternating with voluted medallions—compose the frieze. The vigorous carved base rests on lion feet, while an applied carved mold encircles the top.” Height, 444 inches; Length, 78 inches; Width, 24 inches. 19. FIFTEENTH CENTURY FAENZA WARE MOJOLICA DISH OR FRUTTIERA. A circular fruit dish, in the center of which, on a dark blue ground, is represented the FLAGELLATION OF CHRIST. The central figure is seen at a pillar which terminates in a dark yellow mass. The two flagel- lants stand on either side, the left one in the act of delivering a stroke with a thonged and knotted whip, and the one on the right, with his back turned toward the observer, appears to be preparing to give a blow in his turn. The two men are dressed in doublet and hose of yellow and brown pigments, differently designed, while the figure of Christ is nude save for a loin-cloth. The border is of a blue and white chevron pattern on a yellow ground, the angles of which separate three small green mounds placed one above two on the exterior edge. Diameter, 1414 inches. Pivot COMLECTION OF J. PIERPONT MORGAN. Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1913-1916. 20. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FAENZA WARE PHARMACY JARS OR ALBARELLI. Both of identical cylindrical form, contracted at the upper part and base, spreading slightly at the lip and foot respectively. Both are deco- rated with the figure of a youth standing in a mountain landscape, one holding a dart-pierced heart in his right hand, with a flaming anvil before him, and the other holding a bauveret in his right hand and a large slashed hat in the left. Both are dressed in doublet and hose in motley. Each jar is inscribed on the back with the letter “B.’’4 Height, 8% inches. fish te eCOLIECTLON OF J.-PIERPONT MORGAN. Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1913-1916. 21. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE CARVED WALNUT AND LEATHER ARM-CHAIRS. Straight backs with square side supports and finials carved as honey- suckles and gilded; flat molded arms on turned baluster-shaped supports, square legs and base-rails, and deep front rails pierced and carved scrolls of acanthus form; backs and seats covered with contemporary leather, gold tooled as to the backs with scrolled shields surmounted by visors with acanthus lambrequins, seamed by double rows of round brass-headed nails and finished with a silken fringe. 22. SAINT ROCH THE PILGRIM. By FRANCESCO RAIBOLINI, called FRANCIA (1450-1517). A Bolognese Work of Art of the early Sy 1 Century. St. Roch is represented in an attitude of adoration, gazing towards an apparition of the Eternal in the Heavens. He is dressed in the habit of a pilgrim and behind him is a well-lighted and undulating landscape, repre- senting a view of the valley seen from Perugia, with the lake of Trasimeno 1 This mark occurs on the face of a piece figure in Delange’s folio work, pl. 54, from the Azeglio collection, and it may or may not be the mark of the workshop. We THE CARL WW. HAM LL O WN: $C:01 LD EeCaaieorn in the center. The pilgrim is standing, supporting a staff with his left arm, and raising the right hand toward the Holy Father. His tunic is red and over it is a dark green mantle. His hose are violet, turned over below the knees, leaving the thighs bare, and terminating at the feet, the toes being exposed. At his left two slender trees rise to the full height of the picture, and in the lower corner at his right a small branch bears a tablet. On panel. Height, 7 feet 2 inches; Width, 5 feet. FROM THE COLLECTION OF SIR WALTER ®RePAR ote BART., LONDON, 1894. PAINTED IN 1502 FOR GIOVANNI BEN i? VOGEIO) VY RANI OFM BOLOGNA Exhibited at British Institution, 1847 (No. 46); Art Treasures. Exhibition, Manchester, 1857; Royal Academy, Old Masters, 1885, (No. 176). Francesco Francia (of the School of Bologna) took his name FRANCIA from a master goldsmith to whom he was apprenticed. He was born in Bologna. The first years of his activity were devoted to working in metals, niello, medal cutting and designing, and in jewelry; also he worked as a typefounder. In all these branches he was famed. Precisely when he began to paint is not known, but it is reasonably supposed that the advent of Lorenzo Costa to Bologna (1483), and his subsequent friendship with Francia, caused the latter gradually to take up pictorial work. The influence of Costa on him is obvious, and later that of Ercole Roberti. With Costa he worked on an altar-piece for the Church of the Misericordia. Francia’s earliest dated work is the MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS (1494), painted for this church.t Before it probably were produced the HOLY FAMILY2, the ST. STEPHENS, and the CRUCIFIXION4. In 1495 he painted the MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ST. JOSEPH!®; in 1499 the MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS AND THE POET CASSIO§®, and the MADONNA AND SAINTS’. IN 1500 the MADONNA with SS. JEROME AND LAWRENCE! and the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION? were executed, and two years later the Berlin MADONNA WITH SIX SAINTS. Between 1505 and 1507 he painted, with Costa, the series of fres- coes in the Chapel of St. Cecilia, and the MADONNA DEL TERRE- MOTO”. His later pieces are dated as late as 1517, including a HOLY FAMILY (1512) MADONNA WITH SS. LUKE AND PETRONIUS (1513)"*, a MADONNA WITH FOUR SAINTS (1515)* and MADONNA (1517)**. Besides religious pictures, Francia painted portraits, as the BAR- TOLOMMEO BIANCHINI*. He died in 1517 and is supposed to have been buried in the Church of San Francesco near the tomb of his son, Gia- como. Under him and his partner, Costa, studied Amico Aspertini, Chio- darolo, Tomarozzo and Timoteo Viti. His son’s signature closely resembles his. 22a. ITALIAN VELVET COPE OF BOTTICELLI GREEN, OF THE SIX- TEENTH CENTURY, WITH EMBROIDERED ORPHERY. 23. SIXTEENTH CENTURY BRESCIAN WALNUT TABLE.1 Rectangular shape, with molded and fluted top and apron carved in low relief with panels of scrolled oak leaves; supported at either end by rectangular chamfered pedestals, breaking the apron, and carved with oval coats-of-arms, surrounded by scrollings and flanked by carved console brackets formed as stags’ heads with guilloche patterned voluted bodies, imbricated fronts and lions’ paw feet; on molded cross bases. Height, 2 feet 10% inches; Length, 6 feet 8 inches; Width, 2 feet 11 inches. 1 Gallery of Bologna. 9 Bologna. 2 Berlin. 10 Palazzo Communale, Bologna. 3 Borghese Gallery. 11 Northbrook Collection. 4 Bologna. 12 Vienna. 5 Collection of Count Jean Palffy, 13 Parma. Pressburg. 14 Von Sternburg Collection near 6 Bologna. Leipsig. 7 Bentivoglia Chapel, S. Giacomo 15 No. 2487, National Gallery, Maggiore, Bologna. London. 8 St. Petersburg. 16 Illustrated in “‘Italian Furniture and Interiors,’’ plate 59. 18 ie eee On NT ee Vise EAT Vi eke oly OD Ni ONE Len Gat il OUN, 23a. ANTEPENDIUM OF ALTAR CLOTH, EMBROIDERED WITH GOLD THREAD AND COLORED SILKS. Spanish Workmanship of the XVI Century. A frontal of three panels, the center piece being larger than the two ends. The whole field is occupied by a series of scroll, ribbon and palmette motifs in blue, red and green silk, and gold threads, within a border of scroll and ribbon design. The center panel is enriched with two circular reserves enclosing, respectively, the Greek cross and the fleur-de-lys. The end panels are embroidered with a suggestion of baskets of interwoven strap design, containing various fruits in colored silks. The whole is very richly composed and the needlework of sumptuous workmanship. Length, 108 inches; Width, 28 inches. 24. SIXTEENTH CENTURY DERUTA WARE MAJOLICA DISH OR FRUTTIERA. Eyelaree=citcular fruit dish on whichis painted a scene representing two captains fighting a duel with swords and holding shields. Both are dressed in blue doublet and yellow hose, with a feather in each of their caps. In the background is a walled city, with an inscription on either procminestiics sky space; left side—EL CHAPITANO FALLA TU TI feo ee eebOete PASSO EL. MEZUCHO,; right side—-EL CHAPI- fee hh ONE ORK ESAME CH NO MAGO PIU POPNI, which trans- lated freely means: “Captain, if you fail to protect yourself, I shall put my sword through your body” and “Captain, unless you strike, I must strike you.” The wide border is decorated with masks, acanthus scrolls and medal- lions containing a coat-of-arms above and below, and on either side the inscription AMIRA QUI TU, which, translated, means: “Admire these two.” The whole is painted on a pale yellow ground. Diameter, 17 inches. ioe COLLECTION OF J. PIERPONT MORGAN. 25. PAIR OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY VENETIAN BRONZE CANDLE- STICKS. By ALESSANDRO VITTORIA (1525-1613). Shaped as a tripod formed of three voluted scrolls faced with female caryatid figures and with feet formed as dolphins’ heads, separated by masks; vase-shaped candle-sockets modeled with figures of putti and rams’ heads. Height, 7 inches. 26. ANTIQUE RUG, K’ANG H’SI PERIOD (1662-1722 A. D.). During the K’ang H’si Period large ceremonial carpets were possessed by the Chinese Emperor and members of the Court. The fragment on exhibition is all that remains of one of the masterpiece carpets of this period. The design is frequently seen on Chinese porcelain of the Sung Period. An authority contends that this fragment was woven during the Sung Period. Its marvelous beauty speaks for itself. 27. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE IRON AND BRASS FALD- STOOL.+? A carule chair, or faldstool, composed of two arms of brass formed of turned baluster-shaped uprights terminating in large bobbin-shaped finials, each of which is surmounted by a cardinal’s coat-of-arms, which is that of Cardinal Jerome Doria, who died in Genea in 1558, and by whom the chair was probably used. He became prominent in the govern- 1 Illustrated in ‘‘History of Italian Furniture’ by William M. Odom, p. 338; Decorative Furniture’ by George Leland Hunter, p. 128. 19 THE CARL -W.- HAMILTON COL 22 Gnas ment of the Republic of Genoa, and rendered great service as a diplomat, until he entered the Church, becoming Cardinal and Archbishop of Tar- ragona the year of his death. The baluster-shaped uprights are connected by two turned brass crosspieces. The legs are of bent wrought-iron six- sided rods, with crosspieces and feet similar in shape to the finials. The framework is joined by a pivot, between the upper and lower sections, to serve in folding. The seat is stuffed and covered by a velvet cushion spread, edged with fringe, and falling over each of the four sides. Height, 34 inches; Width, 28 inches. 28. STRIP OF ITALIAN BLUE VELVET OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 29. ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. A _ life-size half-figure in carved wood with polychrome surface. A Florentine Work of the XVI Century. Depicted as a youth, half-length, at full-front, facing the observer; wearing a Closely-fitting robe with sleeves and a loose mantle over the right shoulder. The right hand is placed upon his heart and the left rests upon a missal before him. A small opening in the upper part of the left hand suggests that he once held his attribute, the attendant eagle, the wings and tail of which are seen beneath his arm. The whole is covered with a fine surface of polychrome, heightened with a gilt damask pattern. The face and hands are of a delicate flesh color. In early art St. John is an aged man with white hair and long white beard, but with the later painters and sculptors, St. John, as evangelist, although nearly a century old, is represented as beardless, with light curling hair, and has all the attributes of the youthful apostle. He is sometimes seated, with his pen and his book—sometimes standing. The attendant eagle is always near him and frequently holds the pen or ink-horn in its beak, Height, 26 inches. 30. SIXTEENTH CENTURY TUSCAN CARVED WALNUT CABINET. Of rectangular shape, oblong top, with lamella and tongue cornice, below which are three drawers posed between four small panels, the center drawer having an iron loop handle. The body is flanked by two Tuscan columns, and two pilasters decorated with a looped lambrequin with a mask above and an imbrication of flat shell pattern. Two central doors are formed of simple molded panels, and wooden knob handles, the right door having a lozenge-shaped lock escutcheon. The plinth is formed of broken moldings continued on either side in the form of feet. 31. SIXTEENTH CENTURY UMBRIAN WALNUT “SGABELLO” CHAIR. Lyre-shaped back with scrolled sides enclosing a scrolled cartouche; square seat with molded corners, circular molded depressions and plain edges; lyre-shaped front supports, with sides carved with opposed reverse- curved volutes enclosing a pecten shell above which is a large petalled flower. Height, 40 inches. 32. THE INFANT CHRIST AND ST. JOHN. By BERNARDINO LUINI (about 1475-1531-2). A Florentine Work of Art of the late XV Century. Standing before a background of iris, and upon the bare earth where kingcups are growing, the two children are clinging to their mutual symbol, which was to develop afterwards into the Agnus Dei. The infants are 20 ree CrAchsL ys VWVieel ASM LO UN C Ont Ee TalOeN both nude. The Christ Child, at the right, glances with radiant expression towards the observer and entwines both arms about the neck of the Lamb, which submits in a docile manner to the playful treatment. St. John, gazing towards his companion, grasps the back of the Lamb with both hands. He is depicted with a more rugged touch than is the Infant Saviour, iis stature is more sturdy and his abundant curls are a char- acteristic to be found in similar and more youthful representations by Stieneedtiy painters and sculptors. At the back of his head is a circular nimbus, whilst that of the Infant Christ is a decorative ray. This group represents the two children with both divine and playful characteristics, with picturesque softness in the expression of each child, and all stiffness banished as the painter succeeded in doing at a later stage in his career. The two heads of the children have a touch of naive and childlike ease, putamen oeasoreat extent to the children in the MADONNA DELLA MOCCHein the (Louvre; both are lively, charming and gracious in their smiling expressions, such as are found throughout many of Leonardo’s sketches and paintings, until he reached at last that perfection which beams upon us from the countenance of MONA LISA. The painter’s infinite patience is also in evidence in the background, in which every flower and detail has been wrought with the most delicate execution. On canvas. Height, 31 inches; Width, 24 inches. Pio Mee COLLECTION OF PRINCE JEROME BONAPARTE (KING OF WESTPHALIA), 1784-1860. Bernardino Luini, the most celebrated master of the Lombard School of painting founded upon the style of Leonardo da Vinci, was born at Luino, a village on Lago Maggiore. He wrote his name as ‘“‘Bernardin Lovino,” but the spelling ‘‘Luini’? is now generally adopted. Few facts are known regarding his life and, until a comparatively recent date, many even of his works had been, in the lapse of years and laxity of attribution, assigned to Leonardo da Vinci. It appears that Luini studied at Vercelli under Giovenone, or perhaps under Stephano Scotto. He reached Milan either after the departure of Da Vinci in 1500, or shortly before that event; it is thus uncertain whether the two artists had any personal acquaintance, but Luini was at any rate in the painting school established in Milan by the great Florentine. In the later works of Luini a certain influence from the style of Raphael is super-added to that far more prominent and funda- mental form and style of Leonardo; but there is nothing to show that he ever visited Rome. Bernardino, who hardly ever left Lombardy, had some merit as a poet, and is said to have composed a treatise upon painting. The precise date of his death is unknown; he may, perhaps, have survived till about 1540. A serene, contented and happy mind, naturally expressing itself in forms of grace and beauty, seems stamped upon all the works of Luini. The same character is traceable in his portrait, painted in an upper group in his fresco of CHRIST CROWNED WITH THORNS!—a venerable bearded personage. The only anecdote which has been preserved of him tells a similar tale. It is said that for the single figures of saints in the church of Saronne he received a sum equal to 22 francs per day, along with wine, bread and lodging; and he was so well satisfied with this remuneration that, in com- pleting his commission, he painted a NATIVITY for nothing. A dignified suavity is the most marked characteristic of Luini’s works. They are constantly beautiful, with a beauty which depends at least as much upon the loving self-withdrawn expression as upon the mere refinement and attractiveness of form. This quality of expression appears in all Luini’s productions, whether secular or sacred, and imbues the latter with a peculiarly religious grace—not ecclesiastical unction, but the devoutness of the heart. His heads, while extremely like those painted by Leonardo, have less subtlety and involution and less variety of expression, but fully as much amenity. He began, indeed, with a somewhat dry style, as in the PIETA?2, but this soon developed into the quality which distinguishes all his most renowned works. Luini’s paintings do not exhibit an impetuous style of execution, and certainly not a negligent one; yet it appears that he was a_ very rapid worker, as his picture of the CROWNING WITH THORNS, painted for the College del S. Sepolcro, and containing a large number of figures, is recorded to have occupied him only thirty-eight days, to which an assistant added 1 Ambrosian Library in Milan. 2 Church of the Passions. val THE CARL W. HAMILTON COLE ECA ON eleven. His method was simple and expeditious, the shadows being painted with pure color laid on thick, while the lights are of the same color thinly used, and mixed with a little white. The frescoes exhibit more free- dom of hand than the oil pictures, and they are on the whole less like the work of Da Vinci, having at an early date a certain resemblance to the style of Mantegna, and later on to that of Raphael. lLuini’s colouring is mostly rich, and his light and shade forcible. 33. SIXTEENTH CENTURY SIENESE PAINTED ARMOIRE.! Rectangular-shaped. The body, with molded cornice is arranged as a cupboard with four paneled hinged doors, having wooden knobs and fronts tempera-painted in colors on a white ground with Renaissance “srotesques’ consisting of amorini, putti, dogs, squirrels, birds, chimerae, fountains, scrolled foliage and tablets with inscriptions in Roman charac- ters. Molded base and shaped bracket feet. Height, 5 feet 6 inches; Depth, 1 foot 71% inches. | 34. SIXTEENTH CENTURY DERUTA WARE MAJOLICA JUG. Lustered with a golden pigment of peculiarly pearly effect in certain lights and enamelled in chamois and blue. It consists of a spheroid body surmounted by an incurved neck, to which is attached a spout and a handle, and is supported by a short incurved foot. The decoration is of a large floriated pattern relieved by an imbrication of scale motif and perpendicular panels. Height, 8% inches. FROM THE COLLECTION OF M. CHAN ERI cote LY ONSSERAN GE: 35. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FAENZA WARE PHARMACY JARS OR ALBARELLI (Two). Of identical shape in the form of incurved cylinders with narrow incurved necks and feet; enamelled in blue on a white ground with a floral pattern above and below wide bands, on which are inscribed on the one, ZUC. BORAG (Sugar of Borax), and onthe sotaer ee GEMMI (Vine-bud Water). On the face of each are identical figures of the Recording Angel within a cartouche above the name band, and coats- of-arms with a scroll shield and a cartouche, below the band. Height, 7% inches. FROM THE COLLECTION OF M. CHAMP ERT RR eco LYONS, FRANCE: 36. A CASSONE FRONT IN TEMPERA WITH PASTIGLIA DECORA- TIONS ILLUSTRATING “SALADIN AND MESSER TORELLO D’ISTRIA.” From _ Boccaccio’s Ninety-ninth “Novella” of the Decameron.” By an artist: of the SCHOOM@OR NiCGG ead PIETRO GERINE and LORENZO DI NICCOLO] SAS vig entae Work of Art of the XIV-XV Centuries.? The scenes of this panei are the oldest known illustrations of Boccaccio’s “Decameron,” and belong to the Story of Saladin as it as) told bye nine the last but one “Novella” (Giornata Decima, Novella XCIX), being identified as follows: 1. Messer Torello d'Istria receiving Saladin and his companions. 2. The Wife of Torello presenting Saladin with changes of garments. 3. The Wife of Torello presenting him with a ring on his departure. 1 The painting of the armoire is attributed to Baldassare Peruzzi, of Siena, a noted artist who was a contemporary of Raphael. 2A replica of this panel is in the Museo Nationale of Florence, and illustrated in “History of Italian Furniture,’ by William M. Odom, p. il. pats ee Oras Rolie Vion ideAy Mi isle OeN eS C.OUs LE Cal LOwN The “Novella” of the ‘“Decameron” does not end with these episodes, Bemilidusttated7on cassoni, as a later’ part of the story has recently come to light,) giving three other episodes of the ‘Saladin’ subject, in order of sequence, supporting the contention that it was almost always two cassoni that the bride received with her dowry. In this case a single story was divided between the two chests. Passages taken from Boccaccio might serve, word for word, as a description of the above three scenes. In the first scene Torello receives Saladin and his two companions at his house in the country; in the second, the three travelers, whose oriental character is in this scene even better indicated by their costumes and the arrangement of their hair, receive from Torello’s wife, accompanied by her two little sons and a serving maid, the gift of the clothes; in.the third scene Torello departs for the Holy Land and receives from his wife the ring which is to remind him of their love. The subject of the Saladin story was particularly appropriate to a marriage chest. Indeed, no more beautiful example of gentleness of soul and conjugal fidelity could be offered to the newly married than Messer Torello d’Istria and his wife—so cordial in their hospitality to the unknown travelers to their house, so tender in the act of farewell, so mindful of one another during their enforced separation, and so joyful when the miraculous return permitted their reunion. The scenes, almost oval in shape, are painted in colors on a gesso ground. Around them, forming a kind of framework, are twisted fillets of raised pas- tiglia, opening at regular intervals, giving a rectangular effect to the scenes. These fillets are continuous throughout, and in their wider openings, flower motifs are introduced. Between the episodes four small plectrum-like shields, within small six-lobed frames, are added; all intervening spaces are decorated with leaf motifs in low relief. Height, 17 inches; Length, 49% inches. Niccolo di Pietro Gerini, who flourished in the closing years of the 14th century, probably received his early instruction from Taddeo Gaddi, but afterwards became the pupil and assistant of Spinelli d’Arezzo. His earliest existing work is a series of frescoes representing scenes from the PASSION, with the RESURRECTION, the NOLI ME TANGERE, the ASCENSION, and the DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST,? which are signed by him and dated 1392. At Prato, in the convent of San Francesco, is likewise a series of frescoes by Niccolo, representing scenes from the life of St. Matthew, and other subjects from the New Testament. At San Bonaventura he painted scenes from the PASSION, of which but fragments remain. The Sacristy of the Church of Santa Croce, Florence, contains frescoes that are assigned to this artist. His latest known work is dated 1401. It is the right side of an altar-piece in three compartments,? and contains the figures feat errr ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, ST. JAMES, AND ST. BENEDICT. The central panel contains the CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN, by his son, Lorenzo, whilst the left side consists of figures of Saints by Spinello Aretinon. An ENTOMBMENT,‘ assigned to Taddeo Gaddi, is by Crow and Cavalcaselle ascribed to Niccolo di Pietro Gerini. | Lorenzo di Niccolo Gerini, the son of Niccolo di Pietro Gerini, flourished in the fifteenth century. In the passage leading to the Chapel of the Medici in Santa Croce at Florence is a CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN WITH ATTENDANT SAINTS, painted by him in 1410, but his principal work is an altar-piece® representing the CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN with a predella containing the ADORATION OF THE MAGI, signed by Lorenzo in 1440. Little is known about his life or death. 37. SIXTEENTH CENTURY ITALIAN WALNUT “SAVONAROLA” CHAIR.® Formed of ten reverse curved square supports pivoted at their inter- sections and with square base rails having fluted ends; curved arms with sunken rosettes and shaped back with incised shield. 1 Burlington Fine Arts Club Exhibition, 1919. 2 Convent of San Francesco, Pisa. 3 Academy at Florence. 4 Academy at Florence. 5 San Domenico, Cortona. ; : i 6 Illustrated in “Furniture and Decorations of the Italian Renaissance,” p. 20. Zo f9 4 , -L-. \ Z Onrae Hier Nes AAMIHE CARL W. HAMILTON COLLECIgg@@ Se (4 €0s. THE HEAD OF CHRIST. By IL CONTE FRANCESCO MELZI. | Milanese School (about 1491-1568). An Italian Work of Art of ( &) the XVI Century. The head is seen in direct profile towards the left, with the beard curled, the hair long and wavy, at the back of which is indicated a cruci- form nimbus. The gown, arranged in soft pleats, is embroidered with a gold fillet around the neck. The mantle, turned wback eat =the = meacu is green. On panel. Height, 19% inches; Width, 1434 inches. Il Conte Francesco Melzi, to give him his full name, a painter of the Milanese School, was born in Milan of noble parents about 1491. He died Int SOS, He was a pupil and friend of Leonardo da Vinci, Francesco being in attendance at the time of Leonardo’s death. Melzi succeeded to the master’s arenes instruments and the other materials with which the master had worked. This young nobleman painter practiced painting rather for the pleasure it gave him than to make a career for himself. While many paintings in museums and private collections are ascribed to him, there are only four or five that are definitely known to have been painted by him, one of them being the CHRIST HEAD. 39. SIXTEENTH CENTURY ITALIAN WALNUT “SAVONAROLA” CHAIR.1 Formed of ten reverse curved square supports pivoted at their inter- sections and with square base-rails having fluted ends; curved arms with sunken rosettes and shaped backs with incised shield. 40. THE MADONNA AND CHILD WITH TWO ANGELS. By PIETRO VANNUCCI, called PERUGINO (1446-1523). Umbrian School. A Florentine Work of Art of the XV Century. The Virgin, in an old-rose colored tunic edged with gold embroidery around the throat, and a blue mantle lined with green, is seated and seen "ae at full-length, turned slightly towards the right. Her right foot, which is UTA bare, is advanced before the left. Her head, around which is a white veil which also encircles the shoulders, is inclined slightly to the left, as she gazes in that direction. Upon her right knee and seatedseupon sa ee cushion is the nude Child, whom she supports with both arms. His head lA} is directed to some unseen worshipper at the right upon whom He bestows Vim | His benediction. Golden nimbi encircle the heads of the Virgin and Infant ; Saviour. On either side, depicted at full-length, standing with bare feet in adoration, with fingers meeting in an attitude of prayer, is an angel, each slightly directed towards the center. The figure at the right, with purple-tinted wings, is dressed in a peach-colored mantle with red shadows, and a lavender and green undergarment, over the sleeves of which floats a veil of transparent purple. The left figure, with wings of a reddish- purple tint, is dressed in a brown mantle with purple shadows and an undergarment of light brown and green. The background is a typical Umbrian landscape, with a distant range of hills, seen beyond a low wall placed immediately behind the three figures. On panel. Diameter, 50 inches. Pier della Pieve or Pietro Vannucci, born at Castello della Pieve, is usually called Perugino, from Perugia, where he spent his youth and learned his art. He was probably pupil to Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, and was influenced by Signorelli and largely by Verrocchio, in whose studio he probably worked with Leonardo and Lorenzo di Credi, before 1475, when he was commissioned to paint in the Palazzo Pubblico, Perugia. The frescoes he made have per- ished; of those executed in a chapel at Cerqueto in 1478 a ST. SEBASTIAN and other figures remain. An earlier work is alleged to be the ASSUMP- TION,? finished in 1469 by Perugino for Piero della Francesco, for the church 1 Illustrated in ‘“‘Italian Furniture and Interiors.” 2 Now at Borgo San Sepolcro. 24 Xe ql ee CrAsRel aan VViee | eA Mel Lal OuNmnC Ola: EG) hOrN of St. Augustino. In 1481-82 he was at Rome, employed with Signorelli, Cosimo Rosselli, Ghirlandaio and Botticelli, to paint in fresco in the Sistine Chapel. Of his four works, three, which filled the altar-end, were destroyed to make room for Michelangelo’s LAST JUDGMENT; the fourth, the DELIVERY OF THE KEYS TO ST. PETER, still remains. After his de- parture from Rome, he had studios at Florence and Perugia, but was himself frequently elsewhere attending to his many engagements. In 1489 he was invited to Orvieto to paint the Chapel of S. Brizio in the Duomo, but after negotiations, renewed _ at intervals of years, he renounced the undertaking. In 1490 he was in Perugia, in 1491 in Rome again, working for Cardinal della Rovere, on the altar-piece now in the Villa Albani. In 1493 he was a councillor in Citta della Pieve, and in Florence, where he painted a MADONNA AND CHILD for San Domenico in Fiesole. In 1494 he was in Venice and Cremona, in 1496 at Pavia working for Il Moro, Duke of Milan, and the same year in Venice, Florence, and Perugia, so much was he in demand. In 1497 Perugino was on a commission, in Florence, to assess the value of certain frescoes of Alesso Baldovinetti; he visited Fano, too, and probably Perugia; in 1498 he was again in Florence. In 1499 he began his most important frescoes in the Cambio, Perugia, into which he introduced his own portrait. Between 1502-17 he was at Florence, Perugia, Citta della Pieve, Foligno and Rome; perhaps Assisi, and certainly Siena and Citta della Pieve, in 1512-17. His influence in Umbria and Siena was wide; Lo Spagna and Pinturicchio are prominent among his followers. He died of plague, presumably, at Fontignano, 1524. Poona re COLLECTION OF LORD NORTHWICK. Exhibited at Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester, 1857; Glasgow Museum of Art. 41. SIXTEENTH CENTURY CARVED WALNUT UMBRIAN CASSONE. Peiemiornmor a rectangular sarcophagus. The lid is hinged and raised in the center with a large single molded, domed panel and finished with molded edges. The front is composed of a sunken panel within a molded border, and is divided into two smaller rectangular raised panels with acanthus scrollings and beaded moldings separated by a circular wreath enclosing a ribbon escutcheon, above which is a key-hole. The base is formed of fig-shaped gadroons with articulated edges. The angles are composed of perpendicular sheaths of acanthus leaves terminating in small volutes and spreading at the base above lions’ paws which form ies cet. 42. SIXTEENTH CENTURY MAJOLICA VASE. 43. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FAENZA MAJOLICA PLATE OR TAGLIERI (Two). O eercilar oti, with spora azzuro decorations on a wide border composed of arabesques, dolphins, cherubs and scrolls. The center is hollowed and of small dimensions, bearing an undetermined shield of arms surrounded by a fillet edging, one being inscribed around the depression: Pee soOR DICLETA. DINAVARE, MDXXXV. Diameter, 9% inches. Peo Vee heCOLLECTION OF J. PIERPONT MORGAN. 44. SIXTEENTH CENTURY UMBRIAN WALNUT _ “SGABELLO” CHAIR.! Lyre-shaped back with scrolled sides enclosing a scrolled cartouche; square seat with molded corners, circular molded depressions and plain edges; lyre-shaped front supports with sides carved as dolphins enclosing a scrolled cartouche, their voluted tails supporting a guilloche molded and rosetted frieze, their heads forming feet. Height, 40 inches. 1 Illustrated in ‘‘Furniture and Decoration of the Italian Renaissance,” p. 15. 25 THE CARL W. HAMILTON COLL ECiLOMN 45. STRIP OF ITALIAN BLUE VELVET OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 46. THE CRUCIFIXION. By PIETRO DEI FRANCESCHI, called PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA (about 1416-1492). A Florentine Work of Art of the XV Century. In the center of the composition Christ is seen nailed to the Cross, the body drawn simply as that of an inert man, reposeful and without any sign of suffering. The Virgin, in blue mantle, is seen at the left, near the foot of the Cross, supported by St. Mary Magdalene, in red mantle and flowing hair, and at the back by Mary and Martha, whilst St. John the Evangelist, in rose-colored mantle, stands in a supplicating manner towards the Cross at the right. In the center foreground three soldiers are drawing lots for the purple robe upon which they are seated. A centurion on horse-back, at the left, is raising his hands in adoration, behind him being Roman lance and banner bearers. On the extreme right a horseman raises his stave authoritatively towards the Cross, and before him there are more lance and banner bearers, some carrying shields upon which are the initials of Senatus Populus—Que Romani. The back- ground is formed of a group of low hills, with two large trees in the middle distance. The sky space is entirely of gold. The scene appears thronged with horsemen, with flags and banners and upright spears, and, in the absence of all the more barbarous features, assumes a kind of splendor seldom associated with the Crucifixion, Through- out the picture the masses of light and shade are managed with the utmost skill, and the deep dark and high lights are very strongly contrasted. The figures seem to fall naturally into ordered form, and indicate to a large extent the geometrical training of the master’s hand and eye. The Christ is probably drawn from the same model who served for the Christ in the FLAGELLATION,! and there is much similarity to the Christ in the altar- piece of the MADONNA DELLA MISERICORDIA?. The figure of St. John the Evangelist also possesses a great likeness to the one in the latter painting, which is considered to be the earliest of Piero’s extant pictures. The landscape is in Piero’s ordinary style, but somewhat more carefully handled than usual. The horses, inspired presumably by his assiduous study of antique forms, are nevertheless full of life and admirably drawn, as is the grouping of the soldiers and the detail of their costumes and helmets. The disposition of the uplifted spears and banners reminds us somewhat of the larger group in the same artists DEFEAT AND DEATH OF CHOSROES, KINGsO EEE Rois On panel. Height, 14 inches; Width, 16 inches. Exhibited at Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1918; Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1920; Loan Exhibition at the galleries of Duveen Brothers, 1924. FROM THE COLLECTION OF-MARCO ANTONIGSCGRG PRINGEsOL PAL DANG: Pietro di Benedetto dei Franceschi, to give him his full name, a leading painter of the Umbrian School, was born at Borgo San Sepolcro, a city situated midway between Arezzo and Urbino. The exact date of his birth cannot be fixed. He died in 1492 and, if, as Vasari states, he lived eighty- six years, he must have been born in 1406. The master is generally named Piero della Francesca, and his father was a certain Benedetto dei Franceschi, a member of a family which had been established in the city for three generations, and had given seven members to the Consiglio del Commune. This Benedetto married Romano di Perino di Carlo da Monterchi, and he continued living during many years of Piero’s career, dying, according to 1 Urbino. : 2 Chapel of the Hospital at Borgo San Sepolcro. 3 Church of San Francesco, Arezzo. 26 alia OrA Rel aenVY meet eAS Vi ilaleosOuNeen ClO) Uelebn Grlal Onn) Signor Gaetana Milanesi, somewhere about the year 1465, a fact which contradicts Vasari’s statement that the boy’s education was left entirely to the care of his mother. The painter is also named Piero Borghese, from his birthplace, and, judging from his signature on his works, he would probably have called himself Pietro del Borgo. The true family name was as above stated, Franceschi, and descendants still exist under the name of Marini-Franceschi, and live in the master’s native town of Borgo San Sepolcro. Piero first received a scientific education, and became an adept in mathematics and geometry. This early bent of mind and course of study influenced to a large extent his development as a painter. Skillful in linear perspective, he fixed rectangular planes in perfect order and measured them and thus got his figures in proportional height. He preceded and excelled Ghirlandaio in projecting shadows, and rendered with considerable truth atmosphere, the harmony of colors, and the relief of objects. He was naturally, therefore, excellent in architectural painting, and, in point of technique, he advanced the practice of oil-coloring in Italy. The majority of his pictures were painted in oil, then a comparatively new medium for colors, and he carried out many improvements in the usage of this vehicle. The earliest trace that we find of Piero as a painter is in 1439, when he was an apprentice of Domenico Veneziano, and assisted him in painting the Chapel of Sant’ Egidio, in Santa Maria Novella of Florence. Towards 1450 he is said to have been with the same artist in Loreto; nothing of his, however, can now be identified in that locality. In 1451 he was by himself, painting Rimini, where a fresco still remains. Prior to this he had executed some extensive frescoes in the Vatican, by the order of Pope Nicholas V. but these were destroyed when Raphael undertook on the same walls the LIBERATION OF ST. PETER and other paintings by command of Julius II. His most extensive extant series of frescoes is in the choir of San Francesco in Arezzo, the HISTORY OF THE CROSS, beginning with leg- endary subjects of the DEATH AND BURIAL OF ADAM, and going on to fem vero tORACLIUS INTO, JERUSALEM AETERY THE OVERTHROW OF CHOSROES. This series is, in relation to its period, remarkable for efiect, movement, and mastery of the nude. The subject of the VISION OF CONSTANTINE is particularly vigorous in chiaroscuro, and a preparatory design of the same composition was so highly effective that it used to be ascribed to Giorgione. A noted fresco at Borgo San Sepolcro, the RESURRECTION,! may be later than this series. An important painting of the FLAGELLATION OF CHRIST,? is later still, probably towards 1470. Piero appears to have been much in his native town of Borgo San Sepolcro from about 1445, and more especially after 1454, where he finished the series in Arezzo. He grew rich there, and there he died, being buried in October, 1492. Piero used to work assiduously from clay models swathed in wet draperies producing a multitude of folds. Luca Signorelli was his pupil, and probably to some extent Perugino; and his own influence, furthered by that of Signorelli, was potent over all Italy. Belonging as he does to the Umbrian School, he united with that style something of the Sienese and more of the Florentine mode. Two statements made by Vasari regarding Piero della Francesca are open to controversy. He says that Piero became blind at ‘the age of sixty, which cannot be true, as he continued painting for some years later; but scepticism need perhaps hardly go to the extent of inferring that he was never blind at all. Vasari also says that Fra Luca Pacioli, a disciple of Piero in scientific matters, defrauded his memory by appropriating his researches without acknowledgment. This is hard upon the friar, who con- stantly shows a great reverence for his master in the sciences. One of Pacioli’s books was published in 1509, and speaks of Piero as still living. Hence it has been propounded that Piero lived to the patriarchal age of ninety-four or upwards; but, as it is now stated that he was buried in 1492, we must infer that there is some mistake in relation to Pacioli’s remark; perhaps the date of writing was several years earlier than that of publication. Piero was known to have left a manuscript of his own on perspective; this remained undiscovered until a recent date, when it was found in the Ambrozia Library of Milan, ascribed to some suppositious ‘Pietro, pittore di Bruges.” In the London National Gallery are four paintings attributed to Piero della Francesca. One of them, a profile of ISOTTA DA RIMINI, may be safely rejected. THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST, which used to be the altar-piece of the Priory of the Baptist in Borgo San Sepolcro, is an important example; and still more so the NATIVITY, with the Virgin kneeling, and five angels singing to musical instruments. 5 1 Palazzo d’Conservatori. 2 Cathedral of Urbino. 27 THE CARL’. W.. BoA MLE TO Ne (COU LE Cones 47. FIFTEENTH CENTURY VENETIAN CARVED AND INLAID WAL- NUT COFFER. Rectangular shape. Sunken paneled, molded and dentelled hinged lid, with frieze inlaid in a pattern of rectangular interlacements; front divided by four pilasters with Gothic capitals, paneled and inlaid shafts and molded bases, into three molded panels inlaid with geometrical patternings and enclosing two quatrefoil and one circular medallion carved with late Gothic traceries, the side medallions enclosing rayed rosettes of inlay, the center one a carved coat-of-arms; carving heightened with gilding; paneled inlaid and carved sides; plinth inlaid with geometrical patterning and molded base. Height, 2 feet 1 inch; Length, 4 feet 2 inches; Width, 1 foot 8 inches. 48. SIXTEENTH CENTURY DERUTA WARE MAJOLICA DISH. Of circular shape with molded edge and flat rim, the border of which is decorated with an imbrication of scale pattern, the pattern of each being shaded to give a jewelled effect. The depression is ornamented with a classic head crowned with a laurel wreath, the body being covered with a Floren- tine shield of arms. At the left is a phylactery bearing the inscription: NO TE FIDARE CHE OGNI E PASTORE E LUPO swite eee means, TRUST NOT ALL SHEPHERDS: ONE MAY Brown and blue lustered glaze. Diameter, 15% inches. FROM THE COLLECTION OF MR, THOMAS SU SEX, ENGLAND: 49. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ITALIAN BRONZE CANDLESTICKS.* Two balaustro candlesticks, identical in shape, formed of sconce, stem and base. The shallow sconce of cup-form surmounts a shaft of three divisions, the upper part being ornamented with a band of raised circlets and single pearls alternately placed, below which is a tulip-like stem above a gadrooned vase-shaped standard. The whole is supported by a wide circular base repousse with gadroons, with a spreading and molded foot. Height, 16% inches; Diameter, 10% inches, 50. SEXTEENTH CENTURY UMBRIAN WALNUT “SGABELLO” CHAIR.? Shaped back with scrolled sides enclosing a scrolled cartouche; square seat with rounded corners, a circular molded depression and fluted edges; lyre-shaped front supports with sides carved with dolphins enclosing a scrolled cartouche, their voluted tails supporting a guilloche molded and rosetted frieze. Their heads form the feet. 51. ANTIQUE CHINESE RUG, K’ANG H’SI PERIOD (1662-1722 A. D.). Antique Chinese Rugs cover a period of 1,200 years. Examples of the weaving of the T’ang Dynasty, 618-906 A. D., are preserved in the Imperial Treasury at Nara, Japan. The design of these weavings consists of lotus and sprays and birds on a dull gold ground. Of all the periods of Chinese Rugs, however, collectors prefer the rugs of the period of K’ang H’si. Here occurred the grand crescendo of the art omecan aes decoration, color scheme and fine technique. Rugs of earlier period are by comparison primitive; rugs of later period over-elaborate and assertive. The example of weaving which is the subject of this description is unques- tionably one of the finest which the K’ang H’si Period produced. 1 Illustrated in “Decorative Furniture’? by George Leland Hunter, jon eaie 2 Illustrated in ‘“‘History of Italian Furniture and Interiors.’ 28 elise eCrAsR La Ws ti AUM LibeO Ne ClO LE Cal FON This masterpiece has a burnished brown color which has been obtained probably by the fading of yellow and red. It is doubtful if this color has ever been duplicated. The design consists of the four emblems of the scholar—namely, box of books, chessboard, rolls of paintings and harp— associated with some of the so-called “hundred antiques.” This composite pattern is the favorite design of the cultivated Chinese gentleman. Among the “hundred antiques” can be observed vases, screens, writing sets, brushes and ink cakes, lotus flowers and other sprays. The corners are formed of geometric dragon-headed figures in light colors, which have become subdued with age and now blend with the body of the rug. There are three heavy contrasting borders—one of Blue T fret, another a floral design delicately traced, and finally an outer border of swastika fret with lotus buds inserted at intervals. 52. CARVED WOODEN POLYCHROME STATUE. GERMAN, SWA- BIAN SCHOOL. Representing the Virgin standing, holding the Child in her arms. The Virgin is dressed in a long mantle reaching below the knees, open at the breast and held in folds under the forearms as she supports the nude figure of the Child on her left arm. She wears a long gown beneath her mantle, Cutssduate at the throat and encircled at the waist by a girdle, Her hair falls in long waves over her shoulders. On her head is a crown. ‘Traces of polychrome decoration are seen upon the carving. Height, 40 inches. 53. SIXTEENTH CENTURY UMBRIAN PANELED WALNUT MONAS- TERY CABINET. Of rectangular shape, faced with four large vertical panels with four smaller panels above and four below, divided by molded stiles, and opening at the center as hinged doors; molded cornice and base, supported upon shaped bracket feet. Height 48% inches; Width, 47 inches; Depth, 2134 inches. 54. TWELFTH CENTURY PAIR OF FLEMISH DINANDERIE CANDLE- STICKS. Posed right and left, and in the form of a pilgrim carrying a child on one arm, and leaning upon a staff, terminating in a candle-holder, with the other; standing upon a short molded pedestal beneath which is a shallow bobbin-like turned stand. The figure of the pilgrim is dressed in a smock reaching to the knees, and the legs are indicated as being in hose. The candle sconces are of lantern form and supported on two looped legs. The metal is of brass or latten. 54a. SIXTEENTH CENTURY WALNUT UMBRIAN' “SGABELLO” CHAIR.! Shield-shaped back with sides carved with voluted scrolls and center surrounded by scrolling; front support carved with dolphins, guilloche pat- ternings, rosettes and scrolled egg-shaped medallion; shaped back supports, carving throughout heightened with gold. 55. TERRA COTTA PLAQUE, representing THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. By DOMENICO ROSELLI (1439-1498). A Florentine Work of Art of the XV Century. The Virgin, seen at full length, seated upon a rectangular banquette with a red cushion, supports with both hands the nude “Christ Ghildieas He stands upon her left knee. The biue mantle of the Virgin is arranged in 1 Illustrated in “‘History of Italian Furniture and Interiors.” 29 THE CARL W. HAMIL DON “COL LEC ios soft and ample folds and covers her entire figure, except where her red gown is showing from the throat to the waist, at the right forearm and a little at the foot. Her hair falls in abundant waves on either Side or the head to the shoulders, and is bound backwards at the ears. Her veil is fashioned in the form of a hood. Her countenance is expressive of a pen- sive mood, while He, holding His Mother’s girdle with the right hand, gazes with interested attention before Him. Height, 24 inches; Width, 14 inches Domenico Roselli was a follower, if not a pupil, of Desiderio da Settig- nano. His first work seems to have been the Font,! with reliefs of the BAPTISM OF CHRIST and the VIRTUES, the figure of HOPE being reminiscent of Agostino di Duccio. He went to Florence about 1464, and worked at the Monumental Slab of AGOSTINO SANTUCCI in S. Croce. In 1476 he went to Urbino, where he helped to decorate the Ducal Palace, probably under the direction of Ambrogio di Milano. The Santucci family were evidently his patrons, for in 1479 he made the MONUMENT OF CALAPATRISSA SANTUCCLI in the court of the Palace, and decorated the Santucci Palace. In 1480, he went to Fossombrone and carried out his masterpiece in the Cathedral, the ANCONA of the high altar, with five figures of Saints and five reliefs. In the lunette over the door is a relief of the Virgin between St. Francis and St. Bernardino. His figures are dignified and life-like, and his taste as a decorator is correct. In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a MADONNA by him, a work of great beauty. 56. FIFTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE PANELED WALNUT WRIT- ING DESK AND PRIE-DIEU. Of rectangular shape and with hinged open and dentelled top, serving as writing surface and lid-top desk. Below the body is arranged as a deeply recessed cupboard with two twin paneled hinged doors with slender paneled projecting pedestals ‘and paneled sides; supported on a molded base. Height, 34 inches; Width, 32 inches; Depth, 15 inches. 57. SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPANISH EBONY AND IVORY CRUCIFIX. A small altar Crucifix with carved ivory figure of the Saviour mounted upon a pyramidal ebony base with three billettes on either edge, the lower ones serving as feet, the face being inlaid with mother-of-pearl representing the initials I. H. S. with cross and nails within a radiation enclosed within an elipse, minute crosses filling the intervening spaces. The cross is of ebony with a backing of beechwood. Height 2034 inches. 58. SIXTEENTH CENTURY UMBRIAN WALNUT “SGABELLO” CHAIR.? Lyre-shaped back with scrolled sides enclosing a scrolled cartouche; square seat with molded corners, circular molded depressions and fluted edges; lyre-shaped front supports with sides carved as dolphins, enclosing a scrolled cartouche, their voluted tails supporting a guilloche molded and rosetted frieze, their heads forming the feet. Height, 40 inches. 59. AN ITALIAN GOTHIC COPE OF FIGURED VENETIAN VELVET WITH GOLD EMBROIDERED ORPHREYS. Last Quarter of the XV Century.* Orphreys finely wrought in colored silks and gold threads, displaying crocheted Gothic canopies with slender columns, occupied by standing figures of saints; fine original hood, executed in the manner of the orphreys, rep- 1 Collegiate Church of S. Maria a Monte, near Empoli. 2 Illustrated in “‘Furniture and Decorations of the Italian Renaissance,” p. 15. 3 Illustrated in color in George Leland Hunter’s ‘‘Decorative Textiles,’ p. 33, New York, 1918. on 30 Heiter ChACR Wee AML LT ON (COL EG E10 N resenting the Virgin enthroned; field of yellow velvet woven in light and dark tones, exhibiting conventionalized carnations and clustered pomegran- ate motifs. 60. FIFTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE DAIS BED OF INLAID WALNUT.! The bed proper has a rectangular head-board, with a molded dentelled cornice, a frieze with a lozenge-shaped inlay, and is divided into eight molded panels by stiles inlaid with lines in a geometrical interlacement. The foot-board has a molded cornice, a band of inlay, and is divided into four molded panels with stiles inlaid in geometrical interlacements. The high dais on which the bed stands has its ends and sides divided into molded panels with inlaid stiles. This characteristic type of bed was used in Italy, especially in Tuscany, during the late XIV and early XV centuries. Height, 56% inches; Length, 104 inches; Width, 85 inches. 61. BED COVER OF ITALIAN GREEN VELVET OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY .? 62. SIXTEENTH CENTURY ITALIAN WALNUT CHAIR.? Sgabello character; shaped back with scrolled sides enclosing a crowned shield carved with the coat-of-arms of the Albergotti family of Arezzo; octagonal molded seat and lyre-shaped front support carved with side scrollings and a large grotesque mask. 63. THE VIRGIN AND CHILD, known as THE MADONNA DELLA VIA CAVOUR. By DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO (1428-1464). A Florentine Work of Art of the XV Century. This plaster, modeled in bas-relief, represents the Madonna three- quarters to the right, dressed in a brown robe, light veil and gilded cloak, supporting the Infant Christ upon her knee. She is seated upon a banquette, of which the volute of the arm just shows at the lower left corner of the panel. She embraces the Child, who is dressed in a red gown, with both arms, her left passing behind His back and the right hand resting beneath His chin, while He clasps His Mother’s right arm with both hands. Gilt halos and dark background. This plaque is a free rendering of the famous marble Madonna which adorns a labernacle in one of the angles of the Palazzo Panciatichi in the Via Cavour, Florence. Two Madonnas only, of this order, are accredited to Desiderio, the one in the Via Cavour and its variants, and the other in ine Museum at Turin. Writing of these works in his LA SCULPTURE FLORENTINE, 1899, page 75, Marcel Reymond says: “These Madonnas are of great beauty, and their relations with the art of Donatello are such that they were for a long time attributed to this master. Upon this delicate question we have nothing to affirm but it appears that this art, in which are to be seen some of the characters of Donatello, notably the finesse of treatment, the suppleness of the draperies, the slight thickness in the reliefs, and at the same time less gravity, but more tenderness, represents more faithfully the art itself of Desiderio.” Height, 29 inches; Width, 20% inches. Po siege Ee eCOLLECTION SOF” PROPESSOR. -GLISSANET PLOREN CE, 1 Illustrated in ‘‘Italian Furniture and Interiors’? by George Leland Hunter, plates 7 and 128; ‘‘History of Italian Furniture’ by William M. Odom, p. 47. 2 Illustrated in ‘‘Furniture and Decorations of the Italian Renaissance,” p. 26. 3 Illustrated in “Italian Furniture and Interiors’ by George Leland Hunter. 31 THE CARL, W. HAM Li TON £CO bik Gammosn Desiderio was one of Donatello’s most distinguished pupils, and one of those fortunate personalities with a keen sense of beauty allied with an adequate power of expression. Considering how thorough his method was a large legacy of achievement was scarcely to be expected of him, and the cruel brevity of his life made the list of his works a very scanty one. Little is known of his early years. It is quite possible that the decoration of the frieze of the portico of the Pazzi Chapel in S. Croce, with cherubs’ heads, in collaboration with Donatello, may have been an early work of his. This ascription, now generally accepted, has no documentary support, but the characteristics of the two masters are plainly apparent. There is strength and character in the infant faces, which Desiderio alone would scarcely have imparted to them, and their open mouths recall the boys on the Cantorio and on the altar at Padua. Angelic softness which does not cloy, as it too often does, is the mark of Desiderio’s hand. His masterpiece is the TOMB OF CARLO MARSUPPINI, who died in 1455, in S. Croce. This noble monument is too well known to demand detailed description. Without doubt Desiderio took for his model the Tomb of Leonardo Bruni by Bernardo Rossellino on the opposite wall, and in passing over from one of these masterpieces to the other it is difficult to adjudge. 64. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE WALNUT CABINET DESK. Rectangular shape, with molded top and frieze enriched with circular medallions, separated by triglyphs and guttae, and fitted with two drawers; supported at each side by console brackets with carved fronts, and arranged as a cupboard with two hinged and molded paneled doors flanked by vertical molded panels; molded and broken base. Height, 36 inches; Length, 48 inches. 65. FIFTEENTH CENTURY WALNUT “TYROLEAN” CHAIR.1 Composed of floriated back, octagonal seat and three square outspreading legs. The decoration is of geometrical design with stippled fillings between incised circles, carried out in chip carving; the edges of the seats, legs, and the cross-rail of chair having a simple incised continuous pattern carved upon same. Height, 37 inches. 66. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FAENZA MAJOLICA PLATE OR TAGLIERI. 67. SIXTEENTH CENTURY ITALIAN WALNUT CHAIR.? Sgabello character; shaped back with scrolled sides enclosing a crowned shield carved with the coat-of-arms of the Albergotti family of Arezzo; octagonal molded seat and lyre-shaped front support carved with side scrollings and a large grotesque mask. 68. FIFTEENTH CENTURY WALNUT “TYROLEAN” CHAIR.? Composed of floriated back, octagonal seat and three square outspreading legs. The decoration is of geometrical design with stippled fillings between incised circles, carried out in chip carving. Height, 39% inches. 69. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY BLUE VELVET. 70. ST. JOHN IN THE DESERT. By DOMENICO VENEZIANO (About 1400-1461). A Florentine Work of Art of the XV Century. This scene represents St. John the Baptist at the time of his retire- ment to the desert to prepare for the coming of Christ. He is seen as a semi-nude figure, casting off his garments before his adoption of a camel hair covering. He holds with his right hand a cloak over the right shoul- 1 Illustrated in ‘‘Furniture and Decorations of the Italian Renaissance,” p. 25. 2 Illustrated in “Italian Furniture and Interiors’ by George Leland Hunter. 3 Illustrated in ‘‘Furniture and Decorations of the Italian Renaissance,’’ p. 16. 32 ieee Cenc ho lume VWVi en lt sACVirleLed OsNe iC Ot ECON der, and with his left hand he casts a red robe to the ground. The figure leans forward slightly towards the left. Above his head is a gilt halo. At the right is a representation of the River Jordan winding its way through a valley. The background is formed of sharply defined mountains and hills interspersed with shrubs. This painting is one of the five small panels, which formerly composed the predella of the famous altar-piece by Domenico! On panel. Height, 12% inches; Width, 11 inches. Porat Newt HE COLLECTION OF BERNARD BEREN- SON, ULCORENCE. Of this painter extremely little is known. Although he called himself a Venetian, it is uncertain whether he was such by birth or by descent only. He was at Perugia in 1438, where he decorated the vestibule of the Casa Baglioni with five and twenty figures of illustrious men. He next appears in Florence, whither he had probably been invited by Cosimo de’ Medici, “Tl Vecchio,’”’ and between 1439 and 1445 was painting in the chapel of Sant’ Egidio in S. Maria Nuova. His works there no longer exist; they may have shown traces of the assistance of his distinguished pupil Piero della Francesca, as well as evidence of the use of an oil medium in Italy at that period. Vasari says that, after Domenico’s advent in Florence, both master and scholar painted together at Loreto. But, if they really worked conjointly there, it is more likely to have been after than before the com- pletion of their labors in S. Maria Nuova. His alleged association with Andrea del Castagno in the work of S. Maria Nuova, is invalidated by the absence of any evidence that his labors there were prolonged beyond 1445, while those of Andrea were not begun before 1451. More direct testimony disproves the tale of his murder by Andrea. Domenico died at Florence in May, 1461, and was buried in S. Pier Gattolino. 71. SIXTEENTH CENTURY TUSCAN CARVED WALNUT CABINET.? Of rectangular shape, oblong top, with lamelle and tongue cornice below which are three drawers posed between four small panels, the center drawer having an iron loop handle. The body is flanked by two Tuscan columns and two pilasters decorated with a looped lambrequin with a mask above and an imbrication of flat shell pattern. Two central doors are formed of simple molded panels and wooden knob handles; the right door having a lozenge-shaped lock escutcheon. The plinth is formed of broken moldings continued on either side in the form of feet. 72. SIXTEENTH CENTURY DERUTA WARE MAJOLICA VASE. Lustered with a golden pigment of peculiarly pearly effect in certain lights and enamelled in chamois and blue. It is composed of a hemispherical body surmounted by an abruptly incurved neck to which are attached two handles, and is supported by a short baluster foot. The decoration is zonal; the under part of the body of a gadroon pattern with an imbricated band above, ana )a tloriated design, relieved by imbrications around the neck, with a band of small discs above. Height, 834 inches. Me oe oe COULECTION OF Mo CHAMBRIERE ARLES, i ONS RAN CE. 73. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE WALNUT “SAVONAROLA” CHAIR.?* Having curved sides and legs formed of eight reverse-curved interlacing supports, pivoted so as to fold; slat seat; shaped back with plain incised shield and shaped base-rails ending in claw feet. The arms are curved at their upper surfaces and are carved with sunken rosettes at the terminals. Height, 41 inches. 1 Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Two of the four other pieces are in the Fitz-William Museum, Cambridge University, one in the Kaiser Friederich Museum, Berlin, and one in Rome. 2 Illustrated in ‘‘Italian Furniture and Interiors”? and ‘“‘Furniture and Decorations of the Italian Renaissance.’”’ 3 Illustrated in ‘‘Furniture and Decorations of the Italian Renaissance,” p. 20. 33 TH E CA RL] W... HOA M TIAt ON CO 17D Ee GGmn 74. MADONNA AND CHILD, “LA MADONNA DELLA STELLA.” By FRA FILIPPO LIPPI (about 1406-1469). Florentine School. A_ Fif- teenth Century Tempera Painting on Wood. From the Monastery of the Carmine Brethren, Florence. The Virgin with head half turned and inclined towards the right is represented as a half-length figure in the act of tenderly caressing the Child, whom she supports with both arms, the left leg of the Child resting on her right arm, whilst the right leg drops comfortably behind. The Child is clothed in a winding drapery of purple hue, and grasps with the left hand the folds of the Virgin’s head-dress as it falls on her neck, and with the right hand He touches His chin, His head being turned towards the spectators and inclined slightly backward. The Virgin is clad in a dark green hooded mantle with wide gold trimmings, fastened with an open strap of embroidered gold across the breast, under which she wears a crimson garment pleated from the neck downwards. On the right shoulder of the mantle is an embroidered star, expressing her title, according to allusion—LA MADONNA DELLA STELLA. The head-dress, exposing a small quantity of fair hair, 1s of frilled muslin continued in a loose twist on the neck. The halos of the Mother and Child are of gold, each radiating with impressed lines from the center, and stippled with dot-pattern. The background is composed of a loosely hanging drapery of gold brocade, also stippled with dot-pattern. In this Madonna there is a certain simplicity and dignity, together with beautiful tenderness of feeling and motherly love. There is every probability that Lucrezia Buti, the young nun of the convent of Santa Margherita, served as a model for this picture, a theory which is all the more acceptable as true if a comparison of the features is made with those which Fra Filippo portrayed in the celebrated tondo now in the Pitti Palace at Florence. We have here the same high forehead, the samé expressive eyes, the full lips, the dilated nostrils, the slightly dimpled chin, which give the girlish face such a strangely fascinating interpretation. The type of the Virgin’s head, like most of those of Fra Filippo, is oval and modeled broadly in a low and flattened relief. The neck is, as usual, slender, whilst the Child is healthy, robust and short-necked, a peculiarity of extreme infancy. It cannot be denied that Filippo’s love for Lucrezia inspired some of his finest works. Besides the Pitti tondo the sad, sweet face of the young nun excites our compassion and admiration, as she gazes down upon us in all humility from the frescoes of the Duomo, and she may be traced through the whole series of panel pictures executed during the Prato period. The coloring, too, 1s always rich and harmonious, and Masaccio’s influence is evident in the modeling of the Virgin’s head and hands, and in the graceful lines of the drapery. Vasari tells us, “Truly marvelous was the grace with which he painted and very perfect the harmony that he gave to his works, for which he has been ever esteemed by craftsmen and honored by our modern masters with consummate praise; nay, so long as the voracity of time allows his many excellent labors to live, he will be held in veneration by every age.” On panel. Height, 325% inches; Width, 243% inches. Exhibited at Loan Exhibition at the galleries of Duveen Brothers, 1924. Filippo was the son of Tommaso Lippi, a butcher by trade, and was born in the Contrada dell’ Ardiglione in Florence, behind the Convent of the Carmine, about the year 1406. Soon after his birth his mother, Mona Antonia, died, preceding his father’s demise by two years, which left Filippo an orphan in the hands of an aunt, Mona Lapaccia, Tommaso’s sister. At the age of eight years, however, his aunt was unable to continue the duties of a mother owing to her poverty, and she entrusted the boy to the care of the friars of the neighboring convent. Seven years later, in 1421, when 34 ie iebee Cra RL Wie HA Mlb ON COLE ClO IN TS Filippo was about fifteen years of age, he was registered in the Carmelite community, having taken the vows of a friar; judging, however, from later events, more from necessity than inclination. From that time till 1432 he remained an inmate cf the monastery, devoting himself to his profession of painting, and coming under the potent influence of Masolino and Masaccio, whose beautiful frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel undeniably inspired the friar during the whole of his artistic life. Masaccio may be called the pioneer of naturalism in Italian painting, and his expression received its strongest impulse from the Florentine friar, who, eventually breaking his monastic vows at the age of twenty-six, and being stirred by all the passions of his time, boldly and successfully shattered the fetters of religious painting. By degrees and without any apparent effort, merely by a natural expansion of sympathy, the human type with all its variations was sub- stituted for the monotony of the traditional type divine. Madonnas became living virgins and real mothers, lovingly invested by the painter with the beauty of maidens whom he admired and of mothers such as he could understand. He was the first to represent in painting the Virgin as a real Florentine mother in all her youthful human beauty; the first also to render in a way that was true to nature the plump baby form of the Infant Jesus. In this respect Robert Browning has summed up the charm and feeling of Fra Filippo’s work in his well-known poem on the painter, where the monks criticize his work because of his venturing to paint nature as he sees it. The moment chosen by the friar for his return to the world could not have been more favorable. At the time when Florence was going through a glorious transition, he painted his great picture, THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN, which, according to Vasari, brought him to the notice of Cosimo de’ Medici, the ruler of Florence, with whom he found himself in high favour. At times the friar was given to idle and dissolute habits, which, it is said, sorely tried his patron, but on the whole Cosimo seems to have regarded his escapades with indulgence. Early in the year 1442, upon the recommendation of Cosimo de’ Medici the Pope appointed Filippo Lippi perpetual Abbot and Rector of San Quirico, at Legnaia, near Florence. A period of comparative prosperity now began, marred, however, in the year 1450, by a most unscrupulous act on his part in forging the signature to a receipt in favor of one of his assistants. This brought the friar to the rack, upon which he was tortured so unmercifully that he was finally driven to confess his crime, but it was not until five years later that he was relieved of his benefice. After this humiliating affair Fra Filippo left Florence and retired to Prato, where, nothing daunted, he was appointed chaplain to the nuns of the Convent of Santa Margherita early in the following year. It was in this convent that he was attracted by the singular grace and beauty of one of the young nuns, Lucrezia Buti, who sat to him for the portrait of the MADONNA OF THE GIRDLE’. From this time she was destined to play such an important role in his future career, and to figure so fre- quently in his Madonna pictures. On the occasion of a certain festival Filippo abducted Lucrezia, and carried her off to his own dwelling, for which he was deprived of his chaplaincy. Through the intercession of Cosimo de’ Medici, however, the Pope, Pius II, was prevailed upon to grant them a special brief of absolution from their monastic vows, and allowing them to marry. They were always devotedly attached to each other, and two children were born to them, one being Filippino Lippi, whose fame as a painter afterwards even rivalled that of his father. The last field of Fra Filippo’s labors was the town of Spoleto, where he was called upon to paint the choir of the Cathedral. Thither he went in 1467, dying there two years afterwards, away from his family, at the age of sixty-three. 75. SIXTEENTH CENTURY TUSCAN CARVED WALNUT COFFER. Rectangular shape. Sunken paneled and molded hinged lid; front divided by four pilasters, with molded capitals and bases and paneled fronts carved with rinceaux of foliage springing from fluted vases into three panels with guilloche and acanthus-leaf carved moldings; carving heightened with gilding; molded and carved paneled sides and molded base carved in a water-leaf patterning. 76. SIXTEENTH CENTURY SIENESE WARE MAJOLICA PHARMACY JAR. Of ovoid shape, standing on a flat, round base and terminating in a short, narrow neck to which is applied, in front, a stay to strengthen a spout rising obliquely from the body of the vessel. A molded and curved handle is 1 Prato Gallery. 35 Saran oy x . F. » € x sf L ¥ f THE CARL W. HAM LETON {CODD E Caro applied at the back. The decoration consists of a blue and white ornamen- tation on a yellow ground, and is composed of a circular reserve bearing the inscription CONSERV. VIOLAR. (Preserve of Violets), above being two hinds vis-a-vis, separated by acanthus leaves, and a winged cherub below. Surrounding this is a widening circle enclosing a leaf and tendril motif, and around the whole is a wreath of laurel leaves with fruit and flowers in brown, yellow and black. Height, 13 inches. FROM. THE COLLECTION OF MR. THOMAS 3) iy SEX, ENGLAND. 76a. SIXTEENTH CENTURY ITALIAN “DANTE” CHAIR. Curved arms, supports and legs, with turned rosettes at the intersection and scrolled arms; seat and back in old red velvet with red silk fringe and velvet-covered cushion. 77. A VENETIAN NOBLEMAN presumed to be THE DOGE ANDREA GRITTI. Attributed to VECELLIO TIZIANO, called TITIAN (1480- 1576). Venetian School. An Italian Work of Art Gfethne on vt Century. A half-length portrait, representing the sitter under fifty years of age, wearing the costume of Provveditore, or Governor of the Venetian Republic, a red heavily embroidered cloak with an edging of ermine and a black sash on the left shoulder. The head leans somewhat towards the right. The face is beardless and the hair is long. The identity of this portrait, as being that of Andrea Gritti before he became Doge of Venice, may be established by the fact that in a number of his pictures Titian painted portraits of his con- temporaries and friends as spectators in the scenes. Among them we find types strongly reminiscent, if not actual replicas, of celebrated portraits that he painted. For instance, in the MIRACLE fresco! we recognize the por- trait of Dr..Parma, as well as in the ST. JOHN in THE EN FOMEMENT2 THE MAN WITH THE GLOVE? and THE MAN IN BLACK.? In the CHRIST AND THE TRIBUTE MONEY? we recognize the portrait of ANDREA GRITTI, whom, some years later, Titian painted as a St. Andrew. Vasari states that—‘‘In the year when Andrea Gritti was elected Doge, Tiziano painted his portrait in a picture with Our Lady, St. Mark and St. Andrew, wherein St. Andrew is represented with the countenance of that Doge, which is a very rare thing. This picture, a most marvelous work, is in the Scala del Collegio.” This is not surprising, as Andrea Gritti was a personal friend of Titian, as Vasari again records in writing of the picture of ST. PETER MARTYR—‘This work being seen by Gritti, who was . always very much the friend of Titian.’ As soon as he was elected Doge, on the 20th of May, 1523, Gritti gave him the commission to decorate a church in the Ducal Palace. Judging from the style of the head of our picture, a beardless face with long hair, this portrait must have been painted in the first years of the six- teenth century, in 1501, in fact, according to an old inscription, which makes it the earliest known portrait by Titian. In 1501 Andrea Gritti was forty- seven years old, and held the office of Provveditore della Republica. In this portrait he is shown wearing the costume of that office, and the very fine and unusual shade of red, and the manner of painting the embroidered surface of the mantle of Pesaro in THE CASA PESARO MADONNA‘? are identi- cal in technique and color with the red gown in the portrait here concerned. The face still has the final glaze which, in too many cases, has been removed. On canvas. Height, 32 inches; Width, 2534 inches. i} Padua: 2 Louvre. 3 Dresden. 4 Church of the Frari, Venice. 36 Periph Ceoch elma VV se Hc ASM Lie ON = CO) lL) Ink Gil O:N ; Vecellio Tiziano, commonly called Titian, was born at Capo del Cadore, in 1489; died at Venice, 27th August, 1576; studied under Zuccato and the Bellini; painted historical, mythological subjects, and landscapes. This celebrated painter was a member of the family named Guccello or Vecellio, established in the valley of Cadore, a portion of the Tyrol, which then belonged to the Venetian Republica. The family had already produced _more than one person locally distinguished, among others, S. Tiziano, Bishop of Oderzo. Titian was the son of Gregorio di Conte Vecellio, and was born in one of the most beautiful valleys of the Tyrolese Alps. Little is known of his life as a child, yet there is a tradition that he showed extraordinary precocity and a taste for drawing, which caused his father to place him, when he was about ten years old, under Sebastiano Zuccato, of Treviso, to learn the painter’s art. Titian left him to study under Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, the last being his principal instructor. Giorgione (Gorgio Barbarelli of Castel Franco), who probably was born in the same year as Titian, was his fellow-pupil in the school of Giovanni Bellini. It is necessary to bear the above facts in mind, because of the rivalry which afterwards arose between these two pupils of the Bellini. It has been justly observed that it was the natural qualities of the vigorous race of men to which he belonged, combined with the effect produced upon his mind by the state and splendor of Venice, and the life of her citizens, that molded Titian into the great artist which he became, and enabled him to invest the scenes he represented in his pictures, and the actors in them, with a grandeur or dignity befitting them. Although so nearly of the same age, the development of the genius of Titian appears to have been slower than that of Giorgione, as the first authentic record of his employ- ment on any work of great importance is that of his having painted part of the decorations on the exterior of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the German merchants’ exchange and warehouses, apparently as an assistant to Giorgione, to whom, as a painter of generally acknowledged ability, had been entrusted the execution of such an extensive work. This was in 1507. Titian had, nevertheless, after leaving the School of the Bellini, painted pictures for churches and portraits which partook more or less of the style of the Bellini. Among the latter was that of Catherine, Queen of Cyprus, who bequeathed that kingdom to the Venetian Republic. William Woodburn saw also, about fifty years ago, in the collection of General Boutelin at S. Petersburg, a whole-length portrait of the DOGE GRIMANI by Titian, dated 1494. The death of Giorgione in 1511 left Titian without a rival in that style of painting which they had adopted, and it was only natural that to him should be entrusted the completion of what Giorgione had left unfinished. Although Giovanni Bellini did not die until the 6th of December, 1516, it also naturally followed that in 1513 Titian should have assigned to him the works which Bellini was unable to paint, owing to his age, as well as, six days after Bellini’s death, the annuity of a hundred ducats which Bellini had received from the Senseria of the above Fondaco, the holder of which was bound to paint for eight crowns the portrait of any Doge elected in his time. The date of the portrait at S. Petersburg, however, shows that as Grimani only succeeded Loredano,! in 1521, Titian must have painted the portrait of Grimani seven years before he became Doge. Titian had already shown how capable he was of succeeding the above great painters by the frescoes with which he decorated the Scuola del Santo2 and his magnificent ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN, painted in oil in 1516 for the great altar of the Church of S. Maria de’ Fraro.2 That he also painted portraits in pastels is proved by a letter written by Paulus Jovius to Pietro Aretino in 1546. From about 1515 Titian became the chief painter in Venice, and it is not possible, without greatly extending this notice, to do more than give the dates of the principal events in his life, and particulars of a_ few of his more famous pictures. In 1516 he was invited by Alfonso, Duke of Ferrera, to his court, and painted, among other pictures, for him, the BACCHUS AND ARIADNE# and a portrait of the poet, Ariosto, who men- tions Titian in the “Orlando Furioso.’’ In 1528 he produced his masterpiece, the picture of S. PETER MARTYR, for the chapel’ of that saint, in the Church of the SS. Giovanni e Paolo, which perished when that church was burned in August, 1867. There remain, however, old copies of it, and some studies Titian made for it. Charles V, having come to Bologna in 1530 to receive the Imperial Crown from the hands of, Pope Clement VII, Titian was, on the recommendation of his intimate friend, Pietro Aretino, summoned to that city to paint a portrait of the Emperor, and was again called by him in 1532. Among other rewards, Titian received the diploma, signed by Charles at Barcelona, May 10th, 1533, by which he was created a Count Palatine of the Empire, and a Knight of the Order ope oy leewexey, LEE 1A portrait of Loredano by Bellini is in the National Gallery. 2 Padua. 3 Academy at Venice. 4 National Gallery. a7, THE (CARL OW. BAM LE TON] GOW EiGiaioen may be useful to state here that the balance of evidence is against Titian’s ever having been in Spain, although Cean Bermudez assumes that he went with the Emperor to Barcelona. Before he returned to Venice, Titian accom- panied Fedorigo Gonzaga to Mantua, and visited Asti. He next resumed his work at the Doge’s Palace in Venice. At that time Titian had there for rivals such formidable artists as Sebastiano del Piombo, Pordenone, Paris Bordone, Tintoretto, and Paolo Veronese; yet he maintained his superiority to all of them for the remainder of his life. In 1543 Titian was called by Pope Paul to Ferrara to paint his portrait. Paul also invited him to Rome, but it was not until 1545 that Titian could profit by the invitation. Titian was received with much honor in Rome, and during his stay in that city. Michelangelo paid him_a visit. He returned to Venice, where he arrived in 1546, by way of Florence. The Emperor again requested his attendance when at Vienna in 1548. Titian ar- rived there early in that year, remained in that city until June, and returned to it in October, 1550. He was also with the Emperor at Innsbruck, about September, 1555, during one of the sessions of the Council of Trent. After the abdication of Charles, his son, Philip II, was as strong a supporter of Titian as Charles. He admired and acquired a good many of the artist’s pictures. Philip IV also bought several, in England, at the sale of Charles I’s pictures, and, even now, there are still above forty pictures or portraits by Titian in the Museo at Madrid, to which must be added many formerly there but now in Vienna. During the remainder of his life, with the exception of a short journey into the Friuli in 1557, and one to Cadore in 1565, Titian remained in Venice. The most active portion of his life as an artist appears to have been between 1550 and 1565, and the number of pictures he painted between those years was very large. He moreover, worked up to the conclusion of his long life, as when Henry III of France was in Venice in 1574, and paid him a visit at his home, he found the aged painter still busy at his easel. He however, never finished the picture upon which he was then engaged; it was completed after Titian’s death. The subject is THE ENT OMBMENT. 4 Titian died of the plague at the great age of ninety-nine. He had three children by his wife, Cecilia, who died in 1530—Pomponio, Orazio, and Lavinia. The eldest was a priest, and survived him; Orazio died of the plague which killed his father; and Lavinia, who was married, in 1547, to Cornelio Scarnelli, died in childbirth at the age of 30. Marco di Tiziano was his nephew. That Titian’s method of painting varied very much is certain, from the contradictory accounts that are given of it, and it is no less certain that he bestowed extraordinary care on the sketches and the preparations for his pictures. When Hecquin transferred from panel to canvas the PETER MARTYR, which Mission, who saw it in Italy in 1695, says was already then much obscured, he found that many alterations had been made in the original design, which appeared to have been done with a pen on the white ground with which the panel was covered. There is also a pen- drawing in the British Museum which differs from the finished picture, and the writer of this notice had one in red chalk which differed from both. It would be useless to dwell here upon the beauties of Titian’s pictures. They have excited more general admiration in every country in Europe than that produced by the works of any other master. His landscapes also are very fine and often have quite a modern look, owing to the dresses ard occupations of the country people, introduced into them, which are so much more appropriate in Italian landscapes than the mock classical figures used indiscriminately by many painters. The degree of skill which Titian reached as a colorist has been generally admitted; and his drawing, like that of Rubens, is always elegant and well suited to his subject. When they drew for engravers, they both proved that they were not so ignorant or careless in that respect as the followers of Michelangelo, whose pictures have little to recommend them, asserted. Many Italians were at some time pupils of Titian, and among the Flem- ings were Calcar, Barent, and Lambert Zustris, who made copies of his works and imitated his manner very closely. In the lists of the prices paid at auctions, in London and Paris, for pictures attributed to Titian since 1761, they vary from £7.7s for a portrait of verdezotti at Biondi’s sale in 1776, to £2,520 paid at a sale in 1892, for A MOTHER AND CHILD. Others produced £200 and upwards. 78. SIXTEENTH CENTURY UMBRIAN WALNUT TABLE.’ Octagonal shape; heavy plain top on tripod pedestal, the sides decorated with scrolled acanthus leaf and voluted carvings, the tripod shaped as three eagles’ legs with voluted knees; feather-carved legs and lions’ paw feet. Height, 2 feet 9 inches; Diameter, 4 feet 8 inches, 1 Academy of Venice. f : 2 Illustrated in ‘Italian Furniture and Interiors’? by George Leland Hunter, plate 69d. 38 eis Genesee VV 0 HAS Mel Let OIN = GOW ECt LON 79. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE PAPER HOLDER. Rectangular shape; of red silk; divided into three portions, the center one of which has a projecting lappet and five horizontal bands to receive papers; embroidered in gold and silver with panels of scrolls, flowers and leaves, and with borders of voluted scroll patterning. Length, 2 feet 2 inches; Width, 1 foot 10 inches. 80. SIXTEENTH CENTURY PESARO WARE MAJOLICA TABERNACLE. Of cylindrical shape, with dome top, surmounted by a pine cone held in place by a bronze cartouche. The dome is painted with six infant angels, who surround the surface with joined hands, and placed alternately back and front, representing the glory of the firmament, with puffy clouds, stars and a blue sky. The body is painted with two representations of Moses and the Children of Israel, divided by a small brass door (of later workmanship) within an architectural frame, on which is cast in relievo the Baptism of Christ. On the left of the door is seen the figure of Jehovah in the clouds appearing to the congregation of the Children of Israel during the gathering of the manna in the wilderness; on the right of the door is represented the congregation before Moses on the sixth day, in the background being a camp with angels and kneeling figures. Height, 16 inches. FORMERLY IN THE COLLECTION OF J. PIERPONT MORGAN. 81. SIXTEENTH CENTURY TUSCAN BEECHWOOD MONASTERY CHAIR.! Formed of seven curved ribbon standards, crossed by six, and pivoted at the intersection so as to fold; movable seat of thirteen slats, and shaped back-rail carved with a circular medallion in low relief, straight base-rails. Height, 36 inches. 82. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE WALNUT “SAVONAROLA” CHAIR.? Having curved sides and legs formed of eight reverse-curved interlacing supports, pivoted so as to fold; slat seat; shaped back with plain incised shield and shaped base-rails ending in claw feet. The arms are curved at their upper surfaces and are carved with sunken rosettes at the terminals. Height, 41 inches. 83. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE CARVED WALNUT “SAVO- NAROLA” CHAIR.?* With curved sides and legs of ten interlacing square supports pivoted so as to fold; straight arms carved with acanthus leaves and ending in carved rosetted knobs, to which are attached loose wooden grooved rings. The shaped back-rail is richly carved and molded with dolphin sides and a circular medallion with an oval coat-of-arms in the center. The front arm-supports and legs are carved with scrollings and profile masks, and the base-rails end in lions’ paws. Height, 41 inches. 1 Illustrated in ‘‘Italian Furniture and Interiors’ by George Leland Hunter, plate 101; “History of Italian Furniture’ by William M. Odom, p. 36. 2 Illustrated in ‘‘Furniture and Decorations of Italian Renaissance,’ p. 20. 3 Illustrated in “Italian Furniture and Interiors’ and ‘‘Furniture and Decorations of Italian Renaissance.”’ oF THE CARL Wo BAM AGT ON CO sb Grrr 84. FIFTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE WALNUT ‘“SGABELLO” STOOL (Two). Formed of seats, plinths, lyre-shaped support, and single stretcher rails; is devoid of carving and is surmounted by an octagonal seat with molded edge, below which is a simple box-shaped plinth with shaped apron. The supports are of plain lyre-shape united by a plain square stretcher. Is pierced with hand-holes for carrying. Height, 20% inches. 85. FIFTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE WROUGHT-IRON LAVABO, or WASHSTAND.! A wrought-iron tripod stand with central shaft and curved brackets of iron rods supporting, on a bracket formed of three wrought-iron scrolled leaves, a copper basin repousse with the figures of the spies returning from Canaan with the grapes of Eshcol. From one of the tripod feet a spirally turned iron rod, ending at the top in a large ball, supports an iron disc with two candle sockets and a pricket, also a bracketed arm with a hanging copper fountain with a tri-lobed handle loosely joined and covered with large circular caps. At the junction of the bracket and standard is a winged gryphon in wrought iron, and in the triangular space beneath are two wrought-iron ribbon shields placed back to back with a cartouche beneath. Height, 535% inches; Width, 53% inches. 86. FIFTEENTH CENTURY UMBRIAN LINEN TOWEL. Hand towel of white linen with a woven pattern in blue. 87. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE BEECHWOOD “SAVONA- ROLA” CHAIR.? Having curved sides and bases, formed of seven interlacing square sup- ports, pivoted at their intersections so as to fold; square slatted seats, shaped back-rail with three circular perforations, and fronts carved with incised rosettes; straight arms with bell and molded end to which is attached a loose ring; straight base-rails with claw-like ends. Height, 36 inches. 88. CANDLESTICKS, SPANISH, XVI CENTURY. Each consisting of a slender circular shaft expanding in the middle, carved with close spiral staves and supported by an incurved triangular molded and spreading base carved on each face with strap-work scrolls in low relief, surrounding a coat-of-arms in polychrome. Each sconce consists of a bowl resting on a volute capital, with gadroons radiating from the center on the lower surface, and a pierced metal gallery encircling the upper edge. In the upper center of each is a metal candle-holder of cylindrical shape. The coats-of-arms, at the moment unidentified, are respectively: 1 A mallet and crossed staves, in white on a blue field. 2 Alternate gold and red stripes, placed perpendicularly. 3. Five fleurs-de-lys on a white field. 1 Illustrated in ‘‘Furniture and Decoration of Italian Renaissance’? by Frieda Schott- muller, p. 25. _2 Illustrated in “Italian Furniture and Interiors’ and ‘‘Furniture and Decorations of Italian Renaissance.’’ 40 iat ee Cr lah eee V\tGeeetdoAy Mel TON C Olin EoC LP asO os 89. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE WALNUT “SAVONAROLA” CHAIR.! Having curved sides and legs formed of square interlacing supports with slat seat, pivoted for the purpose of folding; has eight interlacing supports. curved arms terminating in rosettes, and shaped back with a simple incised shield in center and base-rails ending in perpendicular incisions. Height, 41 inches. 90. FIFTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE WALNUT ‘“SGABELLO” CHAIR.? Of antique oar-blade shaped back, in the upper center of which is a scroll shield enclosing three heraldic mounds below a star; octagonal seat with a molded edge, below which is a simple box-shaped plinth with molded base; supported upon two antique oar-blade shaped legs placed back and front with a turned base-rail between, the ends protruding in button form. Height, 39 inches. 91. FIFTEENTH CENTURY ITALIAN WROUGHT-IRON CAULDRON or BRAZIER.* An open-air cauldron, or brazier, of wrought iron in the form of a large circular basin with molded rim and two large swinging handles on a circular iron ring supported by an octagonal stand of eight columns of spiral rope design, ending, above the ring, in alternate pointed and mushroom finials, and below, in wrought lions’ paw feet. Three main carrying handles of looped and spiral rope pattern are suspended from the upper ring and placed alternately between the columns. Height, 1534 inches; Diameter, 23% inches. 1 Illustrated in ‘“‘Italian Furniture and Interiors’ and ‘‘Furniture and Decorations of Italian Renaissance.”’ 2 Tllustrated in “Italian Furniture and Interiors’ and ‘*‘Furniture and Decorations of Italian Renaissance.”’ 3 Illustrated in “Italian Furniture and Interiors” by George Leland Hunter, plate 24. 41 ILLUSTRATIONS No. 74. MADONNA AND CHILD By FRA FILIPPO LIPPI. No. 9. THE MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH AN ANGEL AND ST. JOHN By SANDRO BOTTICELLI. ‘VOSHONVUA VITAG OUAId 4d NOIXIAIONAD AHL ‘9b ‘ON No. 40. MADONNA AND CHILD WITH TWO ANGELS By PERUGINO. No, 63. THE VIRGIN AND CHILD, A PLASTER PLAQUE, POLYCHROMED By DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO. No. 32. THE INFANT CHRIST AND ST. JOHN By BERNARDINO LUINI. No. 55. THE VIRGIN AND CHILD, A TERRA COTTA PLAQUE, POLYCHROMED By DOMENICO ROSELLI. o. 22. SAINT ROCH THE PILGRIM By FRANCIA. ’ ' N 4 ‘ ie Q ) C r Lov den Mahe of V "y I<4 1 2 4 p 4 { u(x j Sty WK . Tonal pana, Sake eos ee . \ a + Von : A ; 5a \ ( A : ob r rej CEL Ga. Lok. ; (SX) WMA, (Qc ie: (125 | No. 29. BUST PORTRAIT OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. No. 38. THE HEAD OF CHRIST By IL CONTE FRANCESCO MELZI. ‘ONVIZHNYA OOINAWO 4d Nvauol AHL LV DNIGOUSIG NHOL ‘LS ‘0Z ‘oN No. 13. THE MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ST. MARY MAGDALENE AND ST. JEROME By GIULIO FRANCIA. SIXTEENTH CENTURY CARVED TUSCAN WALNUT CREDENZA. 18. No. SHIVHO .aLNVd, LOANIVM NVITIVLII AYNLINAD HINGYLXIS ‘“v9l pue § SON SIXTEENTH CENTURY UMBRIAN “SGABELLI” CHAIRS. Nos. 44 and 58. No. 12. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE WALNUT “SAVONAROLA” CHAIR. ‘AINOSSVO NVINAWA LONIVM GHAXVO AYNLINAD HLNGAALXIS ‘Th ON “LONTVM CIVINI 4O Gad SIVA ANILNAXOTA ANNLINAD HLINAHYLAHIH ‘09 ¢cN “ANOSSVO LOANIVM CIV’INI ANILNAXYOTA AYNLNAD HLNAALXIS ‘€ ON 4 M GaANVO NVOSOL AMOQLNAD HINAALXIS ‘Ot ON ‘MaGAA00 LAN TV No. 51. ANTIQUE CHINESE RUG. K’ANG H’SI PERIOD (1662-1722 A. D.» No. 11. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FAENZA WARE (CASA PIROTA) MAJOLICA JUG OR BROCCA. SIXTEENTH CENTURY SIENESE PAINTED ARMOIRE. 33. Oo N a2TAVL LONTIVM NVIOSHAA AUNLNAD HLNAALXIS ‘€Z ON SHIVHO .VIOAVNOAVS,, LANTIVM AYNLNGAD HLINGALXIS ‘6€ pue LE ‘son MAIAOO LANIVM CIVINI GNV CHAAVO NVILANGA AUYNLNAD HLNAALAIA “Lb “ON No. 64. SIXTEENTH CENTURY FLORENTINE WALNUT CABINET DESK. ‘MIVHOD «.NVATOUAL, LONTVM ‘AIVHO AYALSVNOW GCOOMHOdAAA NVINAZWN AUYNLNAD HINAALAIA ‘9T ON NVOSOL AXYNLNAD HLINGALXIS 18 ON ‘No. 20. TWO SIXTEENTH CENTURY FAENZA PHARMACY JARS OR ALBARELLI. Zz. ne ni ‘3 is tees HL Ba ‘y_ Com